Update #3 this month! I probably should be looking up more things than I am... and yes Yue san is what they are calling Tomoe.
~Meeting up with Rin the following evening~
"An inspector had Saitou snap my neck yesterday, it was an interesting experience to say the least," Kiirie spoke fondly, "have you found Yue San yet?"
"No, and the traitor has yet to reveal himself either, I'm concerned Battosai," Rin frowned, "your stay with the wolves isn't causing half as much trouble as it ought to be. Katsura is having difficulties with some of his allies, perhaps you should show up to one of those meetings to set them straight?"
"No," she responded, "I am not about to interfere in human affairs like that. They need to work together to accomplish their goal."
"You forget just how insane Miyabe is," Rin reminded her, "bring Saitou if it makes you feel better, but you need to meet with Katsura. He needs a moment of sanity, and I can't give him that."
"Have Katsura meet us here in an hour, I'll contact Saitou. I suppose he'll have something to say about the whole matter," Kiirie mumbled, "Miyabe has never been of the sensible sort." It didn't take her long to find the Wolf of Mibu, he was out on patrol in Mibu territory as she suspected. Kiirie ducked out of sight to change back into her form back to that of Kenshin. The wolves of Mibu circled around him until he let out a bit of chi which nearly knocked them on their collective arses.
"Battosai, what are you doing here?" Saitou asked, the only wolf who wasn't knocked back.
"I'll owe you a favor, but I need to borrow you for a little while. Your safety is guaranteed, and you might get some information for your superiors," Kenshin responded, hands in the air.
"Who are you taking me to see?" Saitou asked.
"Katsura, leader of the Choushu. This also lets you know if I am actually telling information or not," Kenshin answered. Saitou's eyebrow raised but he signaled off his company, he followed the Battosai up over the rooftops into Choshu territory.
"I'm surprised you would want me anywhere near your leader Battosai," Saitou responded as they sat down.
"Rin suggested it, and lately too many things have been going wrong for Katsura. He has nothing to lose by you being here," Kenshin responded glancing around, "one of Katsura's fellow clan leaders has been causing trouble, and he wants no part of it."
"You're early Battosai," Katsura greeted them warmly as Rin helped steady the human on the rooftop, "but is a rooftop really necessary?"
"Better visibility, you are far less likely to be ambushed on a rooftop than in a building Katsura san. This is Saitou, I'm sure you're aware of his allegiance?" Kenshin introduced them, "he's been helping with my other project."
"Ah, the pleasure is all yours I'm afraid. I'm glad Rin got my message to you about a meet up though. It was my request to have you here," Katsura conceded, "Miyabe is planning something terrible, and I'm afraid since the Battosai is unable to stop it I must ask you to. It is nothing political, and nothing that would get you in trouble."
"You are speaking of Miyabe's intentions to burn Kyoto to the ground then?" Kenshin asked, Katsura nodded grimly.
Saitou now understood why the Battosai had brought him, even if he was the heir he didn't have enough influence to prevent an attack of that nature on the city, at least not yet. He also knew his superiors would welcome any information to prevent an attack like this.
"Miyabe is convinced that this is a good idea and trying to get the rest of the clans to believe the same, but I want no part of it. His plan is to burn the city to the ground on the night of the Jigan* festival," Katsura spoke with weariness.
"Why is it you want no part of this attack Katsura, because it seems to me you wouldn't have that much to lose in a city wide attack like this," Saitou questioned.
"The innocents in this city, they do not deserve to be burned alive due to our conflict with the current government and its enforcers. We may not agree on everything, but I cannot allow the city of Kyoto to be burned down because of their foolishness. It will cost us far too many lives on both sides," Katsura explained, "Battosai, will you assist them in preventing this? I know I can trust you to work them without issues."
"I have no issue assisting the Wolves of Mibu to prevent Miyabe's madness from gripping this city by its throat. What would you have us do?" the Battosai was not one to be used, Saitou knew that if he trusted Katsura then the information was probably more than secure enough.
"There will be a meeting the night before, I will send Rin with the details as before. They won't send the information until that evening," Katsura informed them, "I trust you won't do anything rash until then?"
"There is another possibility, the Battosai could lock all of them down using his nifty chi trick. They would be alive and unharmed, but they would be detained," Saitou suggested, "he could theoretically prevent any bloodshed and my group would not have to be involved."
"Is this true Battosai?" Katsura looked to him. The Battosai raised a hand to his cheek, he was thinking about it.
"It is an emergency option, nothing more. When I locked those people inside their own chi I was used my own to lock them in, it is a method not unlike the Shi no Ippo practiced by Jine Udo. It was entirely accidental at that time, and I hesitate to think of what I could do if I was intending to do that again… I might lock down the whole city on accident," he admitted, "if we can't stop them the way you suggested I could. I would warn against it however, there are things that go bump in the night that neither of you understand. Those things would come running, and Kyoto would be more dangerous than ever."
"Then we will have to prevent the fires manually, it would help if the Battosai himself would come forward with this information to my superiors," Saitou countered, "he is more than powerful enough to break free of them, and I suspect it would be easier if he could do it as his alternate persona. That would keep your clan clear and that would prevent any conflicts of interests. It would also protect his identity further."
"If Katsura requires it, as the heir I do not want to be involved with the affairs of man. As an individual however I will not watch Kyoto burn," the Battosai agreed, "are you sure that is a better way to convince your superiors Saitou?"
"If you come to them as the heir looking to prevent bloodshed I believe there is a greater chance of Kyoto surviving this war," Saitou admitted, "but I agree that using your position in the human's affairs is not a wise decision. Perhaps we can convince the council of my people to get involved, you would owe them one, but it would also give the city a certain amount of protection."
"I would be more than agreeable to that, or they could call it even for me attending the festival. I would owe you a personal favor for our current setup," the Battosai countered, "I do not like it when people owe me favors, it has ended badly for me in the past."
"So be it, I will make the arrangements. I will put in a good word for you in the future Katsura," Saito bowed his head, "your heart appears to be in the right place. You'd best keep it that way."
*Jigan is more than likely not the name of that festival. It is in fact the name of the sword style that Saitou names in Samurai X. I just wanted to make sure that people didn't get confused, there is still the regular festival in that movie in addition to the Lunar festival that Saitou's clan is holding. That's all, see you next chappie.