I'm posting a day early because I'm in flight tomorrow. Enjoy!

Resolutions

"Tenken." The voice was deep and thunderous, containing all the natural authority of a natural-born leader. Seijiro-san's voice was enough to make him want to run very, very far away and never come back or hide in a deep, dark hole for a few decades. Kirei and Gohei thought they could compete with that?

Pausing to ensure that his voice wouldn't crack as he addressed the clearly displeased leader of the Dragon Council, Soujiro answered as pleasantly as he could.

"I don't know that name, Hiko-san. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Don't lie to me, boy. I know that you're the Tenken. The child assassin. What I want to know is why you're attempting to befriend my daughter. Who hired you and since murder isn't on your mind, what are your true intentions for her?" The man brought his will to bear on the assassin, determined to have his answers. The incident in Tokyo was two weeks behind them. Agatha had healed of course; It was hard to bruise those of African descent and even harder to get the bruising to stick. The ring around her neck from Isao's meaty palms had long since faded. The man that had hurt her and the mastermind behind it - both humans - were scheduled for trial in another week.

But Hiko was more interested in the deadly assassin in front of him. The boy had been in her life for months with no indication as to why he was there. Considering his occupation since he'd murdered his parents, it was a wonder that his little girl wasn't lost to him already. He didn't know what he would do if she was taken from him. He'd already lost her mother and the loss of her would have driven him over the edge if he hadn't had his precious little one to watch over. As it was, the loss of Dalia had left him wounded in a way no one could ever fix. Everyone knew that the girl was off-limits - who would risk evoking his wrath and why?

Soujiro quailed under the force of the man's ki like the child that he was. He'd never learned ki; he was a physical presence, not a spiritual one. Usually, that was more than enough for his victims, but this was different. He felt that he was drowning under the force of that piercing glare. Worse yet, everything in him was still screaming for escape. He wanted to run. He wanted to hide. And under the weight of that abject terror, an abject terror that he hadn't felt since he'd rid himself of his demons at age twelve, he didn't have the presence of mind to lie.

"I… I was hired to gain your daughter's trust and lead her into an ambush by the Hiruma brothers. They planned to hold her hostage against your good behavior and demand your seat on the Dragon Council in return for her safe return."

"Safe and unspoiled?"

"Safe," the boy confessed. He whimpered when the Master's temper exploded. All over the country, humans and dragons alike were finding it hard to breathe or function for the few moments where his fury was allowed its head. Then he was back in control and there was only that terrible pressure bearing down on the boy he was interrogating. That pressure that demanded answers and swift justice. Under HIko's flat glare, Soujiro confessed everything, from his own doubts about the plan to the Hirumas' location. His power was undeniable; had the greedy brothers truly thought to outwit this giant of a man? Using his one weakness, his only child, against him had been a smart plan. But obviously Seijiro-san had seen right through it. Making plans to disappear tonight and to stay gone forever, he was completely unprepared for the elder dragon's edict concerning him.

"You are to continue your efforts to befriend my daughter at her school. If you betray her, I will kill you. No harm is to come to my daughter under your watchful eye, am I clear, Seta-san?"

"Y-yes, sir," the boy agreed quickly. Then he looked confused. "But sir, why would you trust me with her safety? You know what I am. You know what I was about to do to your little girl."

"I also know that Gohei likely wanted to turn this into an assassination, and you refused. In time, my daughter will want to go to America. She'll need to be looked after and you have no ties to Japan anymore. You work for me now, Soujiro-san. You work for me exclusively until I release you from service, do you understand? No freelancing. It may distract your focus at a critical moment when you need to protect my daughter."

"I understand perfectly, sir," Soujiro said happily, suddenly free of his old life. He would no longer be the Tenken, the child assassin. He looked at the sunset with hope. He would get Aggie-chan to trust him, if it took the rest of his life. And he would not betray the trust of his new client. "What about… What about the Hirumas? They are getting impatient with me. I wouldn't be surprised if they made a run at Agatha soon."

"The Hirumas are no longer your concern, Seta-san. Your only concern is protecting my child. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Seijiro-sama," the teenager said cheerily.

… …

Hiko stole into the deepening shadows of the warm twilight. He was hunting. Likely the Hiruma brothers had felt his rage and were already retreating into the sewers like the vermin they were. He wasn't going to allow that to happen. The Hirumas were never going to threaten his family again. Drawing on years of skill and stealth, he disappeared from the cheerful boy's home, hunting his prey. He found them fleeing the city with only the clothes on their backs. The leader of the Dragon Council stalked the two to a remote location and dealt with them in a manner befitting their treachery. What they'd wanted to do to his little girl was unforgivable and knowing that they would come back and try again once they forgot the extreme fear of his wrath tonight drove the dragon to dispose of them in a very terror-inducing way, the memory of their screams and pleas being embedded into the same area where they met their end. Humans and Dragons would avoid this place for generations, sensing the horror that befell the two greedy dragons.

When he was finished with the two, he was covered in blood and viscera, his sharp, tailor-made suit ruined. The Oniwabanshu were waiting for their chance to dispose of the evidence and take their leader home. Still full of blood lust, he sparred fiercely with Okina after cleaning up. The old man was just barely able to keep up and only because even in his rage, he was holding back. Once he got all his aggression out, he showered again, slipping into his new suit, and had his faithful servants drive him home. His students were waiting up for him; why wouldn't they be?

"Poppi, I think something awful happened tonight," Agatha said fearfully. "I was meditating in the dojo about three hours ago and I got this overwhelming feeling of dread and terror in the pit of my belly. I think that-"

"Your meditation has served you well, little one," he said firmly. "But I think that the problem has been solved. You should try and get some sleep now."

"But… the feeling-"

"The feeling is long gone by now, correct me if I'm wrong? Have you felt anything like it since?"

"Well… no. But what if it comes back? I think we should investigate somehow. That feeling was overwhelming and somehow all-consuming. Something terrifyingly bad must have happened to-"

"Be at peace, little one," Hiko soothed his daughter, placing a calming hand on her head. He pushed his power through the connection he had with her, calming her troubled spirit. Soon his child was drousing where she stood. "It's time to sleep." The girl allowed herself to be led to bed like a child, barely able to keep her eyes open. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

"Master," Kenshin said as the mountain of a man left his daughter in peace to sleep, "you may want to send a similar wave of calm throughout Japan. My new friend Iroh in Sapporo called tonight, asking how he might serve you. Every dragon in Japan is preparing for war right now after feeling your wrath. What happened?"

"I took care of it," Hiko told his heir seriously. "No one will ever threaten my daughter like that again. I will deal with the residue of my anger. Goodnight, Kenshin." With that, he left the teenager standing in the hall fretting and returned to his inner sanctuary. Once the shoji slid shut with a pop, he was enveloped in the peace of his private rooms. The dark blue of the walls soothed him. He approached the shrine of his beloved Dalia, feeling guilty that he'd upset her daughter so completely tonight. How many other daughters and children were trembling with fear from his display?

Taking a meditative stance before his wife's shrine, the man opened up his spirit and poured all his calm out to cover the whole of his territory. Humans and Dragons alike calmed down and stopped preparing for the worst. Hot-tempered younger dragons stopped preparing for war and settled down to sleep for the night. He could feel his country settling under his influence. The emergency meeting called by the human government officials when they first felt that terrible feeling disbanded as the officials felt an unknown sense of peace where the panic had been moments before. Hiko spent the rest of the night flooding the country with peace and tranquility. By morning, most people were willing to dismiss that terrible feeling of dread from the night before.


Whew! I'm glad that situation worked itself out. See ya next week :D