"Love your enemies…it confuses them!" – Unknown

Jasmine: (Grins) YAY! I'm a happy little fanfiction authoress! I was hoping to get three reviews, max, and I got NINE! Thank you all, so MUCH! If I owned Rurouni Kenshin, do you actually think Himura Kenshin would be the main character? Nah-uh! Well, here we go! Next chapter! Forward, march!

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The Difference Between Love And Loathing – Chapter 2: Partner

(With Saito at his house, March 17, 2005…3:01 a.m.)

Saito glared at the image staring back at him in his cracked bathroom mirror, noticing with a bit of disdain that he looked…old. Older than he should look, anyway. The deep dark circles under his eyes contrasted horribly against his abnormally pale skin and he appeared to be slightly gaunter than usual, his cheekbones standing out more prominently. All the stress was starting to show. Well, had actually been showing for a while, but he hadn't really noticed it until now, under the harsh glare of his florescent bathroom lights. Hn…it seems I've been living in the dark for too long…

At least his hair wasn't going gray. That was a plus. Of course, he was only thirty (so his hair wouldn't really be going gray, anyway), but one never knew. Stress does bring about gray hair, correct? That was the last thing he wanted. Then I'd really be old, ne? Heh... Maybe he needed a vacation? Yeah, that would be good. He could go off to some nice, warm place and just do nothing for a few weeks.

The wolf ran his fingers through his hair in a futile attempt at re-slicking it back and growled a bit when his bangs merely flopped forward again, silently taunting him. No, he couldn't go on a vacation. Not with the string of recent murders he had to look into. Those deaths were probably the reasons why his nightmares had started to get more vivid recently. In fact, it almost seemed as though the killer was a - copycat - murderer…

And then the guilt came flooding back, as it always did whenever he thought of Tokio. Tokio, his lady: the one thing he had been unsuccessful at protecting.

"Hn, stop thinking about that, ahou." The wolf turned away from his reflection and crossed his arms, angrily refusing to let himself travel down that endless path of shame again. It was his accursed nightmares that kept reminding him of his biggest failure. Why wouldn't they leave him alone?

Because you deserve them.

Great. Just great. Baka guilt. Baka nightmares. Baka failure.

All your fault…

How many times was it now that he told himself that? Over and over and over until the words lost all meaning, all denotation…

You're a failure, just admit it.

Saito rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned back to the mirror. You can say that again… He sighed and studied his appearance once more. I should probably change out of this shirt. His poor black muscle-shirt was practically soaked through with sweat. Yuck. The wolf reached down into the hamper and pulled out a slightly wrinkled, light-blue T-shirt. I suppose this'll have to do. He quickly stripped off his sweat-drenched muscle-shirt, chucked it in a remote corner of the bathroom, and pulled the T-shirt over his head.

He straightened the T-shirt and reached up for the medicine cabinet. After rummaging around in it for a few seconds, he found what he was looking for and pulled it out. Clutched in his fist was a bottle of sleeping pills. The wolf uncapped the top and downed two of them, then turned on the faucet of the sink, cupped his hands under the water, and swallowed that as well. He still had a few more hours to himself until he had to leave for work, and getting more sleep would definitely be a good idea.

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(With Misao at her house, March 17, 2005…10:23 a.m.)

"So I s'pose I'll see you later, huh?" Makimachi Misao grinned happily up at her icy-eyed boyfriend, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes in the process.

But Shinomori Aoshi was unmoved. "…Aa…" His usual, emotionless response.

Misao's grin widened despite his seeming lack of interest. "I'll take that as a yes! Biya, Aoshi-sama! See ya' tomorrow!" The energetic woman waved vigorously back at the man before disappearing through her front door and into her house beyond it. Oh, how dreamy he was! And he had even walked her to her door! Misao skipped gleefully around in circles for a minute, content to just be happy the rest of the day. There wasn't possibly anything that could happen to bring her down!

"Oh! I almost forgot!" The ninja catapulted herself back out the door and attacked her mailbox with delight. "Mail! YAY! Hmm, bill, bill, junk, bill, junk, junk, what the hell is this?" Misao set her pile of mail down on the ground and blinked at the little piece of folded paper she held in her hand. A secret love-letter, perhaps? A pirate's treasure map? Well, only one way to find out! She opened it…

You're next.
-The Akuma

"…Wha'?"

The paper was stained with dried, rusty-colored blood.

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(With Saito at the Police Station, March 17, 2005…1:38 p.m.)

"Kondo-san, sir, you wanted to see me?"

The police chief looked up from his pile of papers to grin widely at the wolf in the doorway. "Ah yes, Hajime, take a seat." He gestured to a small, red-cushioned chair sitting in front of his mahogany desk. Saito hesitantly complied, amber orbs immediately narrowing upon his superior. He didn't trust the mischievous glint in Kondo's eyes. He'd seen that same look before, when -

"I've found you a new partner, my boy!"

Groan. Not again!

"Kondo sir, I've told you many times before, I don't need a partner." The word came out sounding like he had just swallowed poison.

"Nonsense, Hajime! Just because the last one you had is in a mental institution and the one before that hasn't been seen in over five months doesn't mean you don't need one!" Hearty chuckles followed that statement. Saito bit back a growl.

"Sir--"

Kondo abruptly cut him off. "Oh, don't you 'sir' me, Hajime. Come on; try it out one more time! This time, I think I've found the perfect partner for you!"

And that was exactly what he had said last time. And the time before that.

But when Kondo wanted you to do something, you did it. No exceptions.

Saito sighed inaudibly, knowing that he had lost. That didn't mean that he had to like it, though. "Hn. Yes sir."

The police chief grinned, knowing that he had won and was fully enjoying it. He tipped his chair back and called out in a far-too cheery voice, "Chou, you can come in now!"

The doorknob turned and the door slowly squeaked open. A blonde head peeked out nervously from behind it. "Err…"

"Don't be shy, my boy! Come on in!"

The wolf was already starting to get annoyed. This partnership was going to be just dandy. The ahou probably didn't even know how to use a gun!

Chou stepped away from the door and regarded Saito with quite a bit of apprehension. He wiped his hand on his jeans and held it out for the wolf to shake. "Eh, hey, th' name's Sawagejou Chou. Nice ta' meetcha!" The grin that followed was a bit forced. Well, more than a bit.

Saito ignored the hand and instead studied Chou up and down. The boy's (for he could only really be described as a "boy" as he didn't look a day older than twenty) long blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. His left eye (for some reason) was closed, but his right eye was bottle-green and open and alert despite his nervousness. Faded jeans, a white T-shirt, and old shoes completed his attire. The wolf wasn't terribly impressed and didn't see any difference in the boy from his other (worthless) partners. "…Saito Hajime." He graced Chou with a simple nod.

Kondo was smiling from ear-to-ear. "See! You've already introduced yourselves!" Apparently, he figured that that was a good start to their partnership.

The Osakan laughed nervously and sweat dropped at the chief's enthusiasm. "Eh, yup, eh-heh heh…" Sheesh, this Saito Hajime looked like a really fun guy! It was just his luck to get a partner without a sense of humor!

The wolf was just getting up to leave (for he had had about enough of this stupidity), until Kondo stopped him with a hand on his arm. "One more thing, Hajime. I'm taking you off The Akuma case."

Time stood still for a few seconds while a black aura seemed to envelop Saito like an evil cloud. Chou stepped away from him for fear of bodily harm.

"…What?"

The cloud of evil grew bigger. Saito now resembled an enraged Hijikata after a certain first captain stole his haiku book.

Kondo didn't seem to notice the coalescing darkness in the center of the room for he merely continued on as if nothing had happened. "We know who The Akuma is going to target next and she needs protecting. And you, as my most trusted detective, are going to become her bodyguard!" He beamed cheerfully at the dark cloud that was Saito. "Won't that be fun?"

If Sawagejou Chou was ever more terrified in his life, he couldn't remember a time at the moment. He pressed himself backwards into the nearest wall in a useless attempt to escape the murderous-looking, evil cloud-covered wolf. This guy was scary. No wonder he was so good at his job. All he had to do was glare at the murderer and the criminal would give himself up on the spot.

Fortunately for all in the room, Saito managed to regain his normal composure. He took a few deep, calming breaths. His happy-sounding tone came out quite strained, though. "…Must I baby-sit some child, sir? Can't you ask Okita or Harada to do it in my stead?" Okay, so maybe he was pleading, but this definitely wasn't a job he wanted. Okita was much more suited to babysitting than he was.

"Nope! Sorry, my boy, but I want you to do it! And besides, this'll be good for you! You need a little break from all these recent murder cases!" That infuriating grin was back on the police chief's face. Saito's heart sank.

But what Kondo wanted, Kondo got.

"...Yes sir…"

"Good! Now, would you be so kind as to show Chou around the station? I'm sure he would appreciate his new partner giving him a tour!"

The wolf turned towards the Osakan with hidden fire in his eyes.

Chou sweat dropped."Eh-heh heh heh?"

"Go on, you two! Get! Oh, and Hajime? Come back here a little later. I want you to meet the girl! She's quite nice if I do say so myself…" Kondo couldn't help but wiggle his eyebrows suggestively at the wolf, who merely snorted in derision.

Saito grabbed Chou's wrist and dragged him bodily out the door, only stopping long enough to throw the police chief one last lethal look before he left. The door slammed shut with a bang.

Kondo laughed joyfully. "Ah, they don't call you the 'ippiki ookami' for nothing, my boy."

And he returned to his paperwork, not even aware of the events he had unknowingly set into motion.

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(With Saito and Chou, out in the hallway)

Once Saito had dragged Chou a sufficient distance away from Kondo's office, he let the boy go and gave him his legendary, "here are the rules, so follow them or die", glare. "Okay Ahou, three things," the wolf held up three fingers and ignored the blank stare he was getting from the Osakan. "One," one finger went down. "You refer to me as 'Boss' and not 'Partner', or any other stupid nicknames you come up with."

"But--"

"Two," another finger went down. "Make sure you know how to fire a gun because I'm sure as hell not going to teach you. Don't even think about getting any thoughts about us being a team. I work by myself, end of story. Tag along if you wish but I will not help you if you mess up or get yourself into trouble."

"But--"

Saito interrupted him again. "And three," all the fingers were down. "Get your hair cut, boy, you look like an idiot."

The Osakan gave the wolf a look of stunned outrage. "C-cut mah hair?"

"Yes. If you can follow these three things, we might be able to make this stupid partnership work. Now, go ahead and do whatever it is you do here, Ahou. I'll be in my office." Smoking away this annoying day, he thought dismally. How could his life possibly get any worse?

And it would, believe me. It would.

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Jasmine: (Sweat drops) I really wasn't planning on updating this so soon, but you guys insisted. It's not as long as my other chapter, but that's 'cause it was a prologue! Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm referring to Misao as "ninja" even though this is an AU, it's because she takes ninjitsu! (Even though I don't really know any ninjitsu moves…) Oh, and Saito's going to be doing Tae-Kwon-Do, because I take Tae-Kwon-Do, and I actually know the moves! (Sweat drop) Remember…reviews make me update faster! Well, until next time, loyal reviewers, this is Jasmine Reinier, signing off!

"People only have hope…because they cannot see Death standing behind them."

Japanese Words:

Baka: Stupid/Idiot
Akuma: Demon
Ippiki Ookami: Lone Wolf
Ahou: Moron/Idiot
Osaka/Osakan: Osaka is the part of Japan where Chou is from. Its dialect is Kansai, and it is characterized in the anime as a southern accent.