Author's Note: I know it's been nearly a month, but hey, I was busy. So, here's the next chapter. Review responses will be posted at the bottom from this chapter on. (please wish me luck, I have a midterm in my photography class tommorow!)

Disclaimer: If I owned this, Sano would never have left Japan and married Megumi right away and had many, many little kids. Oh, and Kenshin and Kaoru would have more kids. And Saitoh would show up more often. And we'd see who the heck Saitoh married. And we'd see more of Aoishi. And..well, I think you're getting the general idea. So, yeah, I don't own this, but maybe in the next life or two..well..we'll see.

"Bai Ru, don't fall behind!" Sanosuke taunted his friend. Shouldering his heavy pack, he started running up the steep mountain trail.

Cursing, Bai Ru quickly finished shoveling dirt over the coals of last night's fire. "Dammit, can't you wait a minute?" he yelled back in exasperation at the swiftly retreating figure of the Aku symbol-bearing punk. Grabbing his own pack, he hoisted it into place and began to run after Sanosuke.

The two friends finished their last job in a town not five miles from their night camp. Now they traveled back to the former temple they found abandoned a year ago. There they would train rigorously along with several other friends, gaining more strength and mastery over their talents. Rakshasa, a form of shapeshifter found throughout lower eastern Asia, tended to form groups in which they traveled. Bai Ru ran across Sanosuke not long after he came to China. Discovering Sanosuke had rakshasa blood, he introduced him to the rest of the rakshasa he traveled with. Bai Ru normally took the form of a tiger, but in order to blend in with city life, he took the form of a man- or a house cat if he wanted to avoid authorities. Sanosuke only inheirited the strength a rakshasa possessed with a slight possibility of learning to shapeshift as he aged. Four others formed the rakshasa group: Heng Hai, Li Jin, Shui Ping, and Osamu. Together, the group worked in pairs as bodyguards for merchants, earning money to feed and clothe them. They lead a fairly simple life, other than the occassional fight with bandits while they guarded merchant trains.

While Sanosuke enjoyed living this life, he missed his friends he left in Japan. More specifically, he missed the fox woman, Megumi. She was in his thoughts more often than the rest of the Kenshin-gumi, though he did think of them often as well, just no where near in the same light. Megumi, he believed, could match him in so many ways. He loved her and decided that he would go back to Japan soon and ask her to marry him. Bai Ru knkshasa group: Heng Hai, Li Jin, Shui Ping, and Osamu. Together, the group worked in pairs as bodyguards for merchants, earning money to feed and clothe them. They lead a fairly simple life, other than the occassional fight with bandits while they guarded merchant trains.

End notes: A rakshasa is kind of like a were-wolf in the sense that they are shapeshifters. The thing is, though, that a rakshasa can shapeshift into any form they please. They're stronger than normal humans (I say normal humans because look at Aoishi for heaven's sake...), but they're not invunerable. They can be immortal, but only if someone doesn't manage to stick a sword or some object (not necessarily sharp) through their heart, major arteries, throat, eye(s), etc. I don't know if they really move in groups, but for the sake of this story, they do. :P Poetic liscense here.

Ok, second thing is, those names do mean something. They are not random. Bai Ru means white and scholar. Why he is called this will be made clear pretty soon. I plan to make many bad puns with the names of my original peeps. Heng Hai means eternaland sea. Li Jin means black and metal. Shui Ping means water and peaceful. Osamu means law abiding. All but Osamu are Chinese, but the last name is Japanese. There is a reason for this. Ok, enough with the hints.

Review Responses

Serlgee: Thanks. I hope you like this chapter, too.

omasuoniwabanshi: So did I. Why send him off to China? I would have made him marry Megumi, myself. I tried very hard to keep Hiko in character. He's one of my many favorites because of his personality. And no, he is not your conventional European vampire. You see, there are many, many different kinds of vampires, like the Carribean for example has four different kinds on that island alone, the soucoyant, the tobago, the fearsomeOl' Higue, and the Loogaroo. China is the country I decided to pull the type of vampire from I'm using for Hiko. The Chiang-shi does not suck blood. They, instead, devourchi, which is the life force of the body. They can fly and transfigure, but their powers come from the moon. So, my ideas for my vampires don't come from Bram Stroker's train of thought, nor Anne Rice's. Oh, and Chiang-shi don't burn up in daylight, so Hiko can move around all he likes.