Chapter Three

The man, who went by Sanosuke Sagara in life, loved being a gaijin. His new existence appealed to him on every level: the immortality, the strength, the never-ending good looks, and especially, the food. If someone had told him during his mortal life that there was a place where the food never ran out and the sake flowed non-stop, he would have laughed that person off as a nut, or perhaps knocked his lights out for implanting such a distracting fantasy in Sano's head. Sano never would have considered such a place to be real, or immortality possible, until Kenshin Himura gave both to him. In hindsight, challenging Battousai to a fight to the death had been the smartest thing Sano had ever done.

The words Kenshin murmured cheerfully in his ear after Sano collapsed, having received the final beating from the rurouni as Zanza, hadn't really registered until much later, and even then, Sano thought he'd misheard or imagined them, considering his brains had been scrambled at the time. 'Take this gift; and next time, I won't go so easy on you.' The comment hadn't made much sense, with Sano believing the gift was having the living hell kicked out of him. How would he even survive a next time? And how sick was Kenshin for sounding pleased about it? Later, he'd realized he was getting stronger, but never connected to that first fight with Kenshin; especially after the beating Saitoh dished out seemed to nearly kill him.

He could only grind his teeth now that he realized Saitoh was gaijin too, and had purposefully let loose because the bastard knew Sano was immortal, and therefore would survive. Only Kenshin and one other being had the power to kill a gaijin. Or that was what he'd been told by Misao when he'd awoken abruptly one day in the gaijin castle. It had taken a bit of convincing on her part to assure him he wasn't dead. After that, she'd begun her explanation, which proved to be lengthy, and complicated without being very enlightening, on what he'd become.

Sano's abrupt departure from his mortal life was due to Kenshin's officially inheriting the title of Battousai, an event the gaijin had been waiting for, but had been delayed for some reason. Every gaijin had been pulled out of the mortal world, except two, and those two were causing a bit of a problem. Shishio was one of them, (Sano wasn't surprised in the least to hear that asshole was immortal, or that he was making trouble.) but Misao wouldn't say who the other was. He hadn't really pushed for the information at the time, using his limited opportunity to get a word in edgewise around Misao's non-stop talking to ask if there was anything to eat or was he going to spend the rest of his immortal life with a rumbling stomach?

Since then, Sano could usually be found lounging somewhere about the kitchen, which was practically as big as the Kamiya dojo, a jar of sake close to hand. He found it mighty convenient therefore, when the kitchen spontaneously moved across the hall from his rooms. Less convenient was how Misao tracked him down later that day in a particularly bad mood. He briefly noted how surprisingly older she looked with her damp hair gathered in a loose bun rather than that whip-like braid, and wearing a kimono similar to what Jo-chan used to wear. The thought of Kaoru sent a fleeting pang through him. Sano missed his Jo-chan and the brat, Yahiko. Why hadn't Kenshin made them immortal also? Especially Kaoru, since he'd been so obviously in love with her.

'Sano. Battousai is requesting our presence in the receiving hall.'

Sano may not have been a gaijin for very long, but he knew that any request from Battousai was, in fact, an order. The days of putting Kenshin in a headlock were over. He let the sake jar rest on the floor as he got to his feet.

'What's up?'

'Shishio has been found. We're all going after him.'

'All of us? Is that necessary?' Not that he wasn't ready for a fight--but the kitchens were just across the hall!

Misao led him away towards Kenshin's rooms. Belatedly, he noticed she wore her ninja shoes under her kimono, rather than the plain straw sandals. The trip was short. The castle had shifted again. 'Yes and no.'

Sano waited for a few moments before realizing she wasn't going to elaborate. He'd rarely known Misao to be so reticent. It made him nervous. Reaching Kenshin's door, Misao took a deep breath before sliding it open. Sano had only been in this room once; Kenshin hadn't been in it at the time…but neither had that huge, black, swirling mass of nothingness.

'What the fuck is that?'

'That,' Aoshi, spoke from behind them, pausing for a moment as he took in Misao's appearance. 'is the reason we need to find Shishio.' Misao seemed oblivious to the attention, but she refused to look at Aoshi directly. Sano briefly wondered what was going on between those two before getting back to the point.

'Shishio did this?'

Kenshin motioned them forward, which had Sano twitching. First, Kenshin's eyes were practically glowing, and although Sano knew this wasn't exactly the same man he'd known in life, it still chilled him. Second, and perhaps more important, he did not want to be in the same room as that…void. They stood in a small circle—close to the door, much to Sano's relief.

'No.' Aoshi replied, bringing Sano's attention back to his original question. When Sano looked expectantly for more information, Aoshi dropped his gaze to Kenshin. Sano gritted his teeth. He was getting the impression there was a big something they weren't telling him, and it was beginning to piss him off. 'Can someone please explain what is going on here?'

Kenshin's head dropped so that his eyes were hidden behind his bangs and he spoke in a low voice. 'Sano, there is something you should know.'