In All My Ways
Chapter 11: "Looking for Trouble"
Kaoru decided sometime during supper, after seeing a shadowy look come over Kenshin's face, that he was going to do something drastic, and she didn't like the idea of that. She racked her mind, and all she could come up with was that he was going to leave... She tried to think of some way to convince him to stay, but still couldn't come up with anything.
If only I could clear his name somehow, then he would stay. An idea began to form in her mind. . . In the morning, she was going to go have a talk with someone who might be able to help her.
-oro-
Hajime Saitou gave her the nastiest stare that Kaoru had ever squirmed under. Kaoru averted her eyes, nervously, to the window. It was still dark outside; she had purposely left early so that no one would be awake. However, because it was so early, she had to wait outside the police station until she recognized Saitou's tall, familiar figure approaching.
He'd seen her. And before she could say anything, he'd given a scoffing laugh and brushed past her into the police-station. Kaoru had had to scamper after him. She'd called his name, ineffectually, all the way to his office. Once Saitou was sitting behind his desk and had realized she wasn't going away, he'd asked rudely, "What do you want?" Then he'd gotten out a cigarette and lit it.
"I want to clear Kenshin's name," she'd blurted out, nervously. That was the point at which Saitou had leveled her with the "his cigarette should've gone out" stare. Kaoru forced her gaze back to Saitou.
"And what exactly led you to believe that I would even consider helping you?"
"I-I didn't..." Kaoru stammered. "But you can, can't you?"
Saitou's eyes narrowed even further. "Of course I can, but I won't. I have no wish to get involved in your idiotic quest to save the soul of a reprobate man."
Kaoru glared defiantly. "Kenshin is a good man! He deserves to live a life without being hunted."
"Are you sure about that?" Saitou wondered, dryly. "The Battousai was the greatest swordsman of the Meiji Revolution. How do you think he got to be called that?"
Kaoru felt as if her blood had drained out, and now she was nothing but a cold corpse. "I know he killed... but it doesn't matter. Everyone deserves a second chance."
Saitou's wolf-amber eyes stayed on her for a long moment as if he was considering. "All right."
"What?" Kaoru exclaimed, blankly.
"I'll take you to Kyoto."
-oro-
They left right away, and Kaoru immediately started to try and make small talk. She found that she was just too keyed up and nervous to be quiet. Saitou seemed to be trying to be patient, but she caught him looking irritable every now and then.
When he was most annoyed, she noticed he would light up another cigarette. Those dreadful things seemed to have a calming effect on him, she decided. "Are you married, Mr. Saitou?" she asked, timidly.
"Yes," he said, rather stiffly.
Kaoru sat there in silence for the rest of the ride. There was just no way he was going to loosen up, so she would just have to leave him alone.
-oro-
"Is Enishi Yukishiro in town?" Saitou inquired at the desk of the inn they'd finally stopped at in Kyoto.
The shady-looking inn-keeper replied, "Who's asking?"
Saitou leaned across the desk and grabbed the man by his collar. He gagged and struggled, and Saitou hissed, "If you knew any better, you wouldn't have to ask me that."
"Le'go, le'go!" the man hollared, "He's in town, all right. Nastiest swordman ever, in my opinion... You didn't hear it from me..."
Saitou released him, satisfied by that meager tidbit of information. Kaoru sighed with relief over the end of the violence, and whispered, "Are we going to go look for him right away, or can we rest a bit?"
"You can do as you wish," Saitou informed her, coldly. "I will go find where Yukishiro is presently located."
"Uh, all right," Kaoru agreed. If Saitou's way of finding the whereabouts of Enishi Yukishiro was anything like his actions just a few seconds earlier, she didn't want to be with him while he searched for Tomoe's killer.
-oro-
A/N: If anyone has any suggestions about how this should end, it would be extremely helpful. Thanks. Misao.