A Reborn Wanderer

by Shadow Master

BtVSRurouni Kenshin For one Xander Harris life is difficult enough dealing with the problems and baggage that can build up in a normal human lifespan. However as he is about to discover things can always get worse.

5. A Hitokiri in Sunnydale

Where am I? Kenshin asked himself as he looked around at the entirely unfamiliar environment he suddenly found himself in.

His mind was clouded by much confusion as he tried to discern how he had come to this place. Was he here on a mission of some kind? Or had he been ambushed, drugged and taken somewhere against his will by allies of the Shogunate? No. The Shogun and their allies seldom took prisoners, preferring to kill every Imperialist they discovered, so it is unlikely that they were responsible for taking him to this foreign land. The fact that he appeared to be unharmed lent more weight to the belief that his enemies were not responsible for his new location. Regardless of whatever orders they were given no enemy of the Imperialist army would hesitate to take some measure of revenge against one of their hated foes regardless of their rank. If he had been bound and in the company of the enemies of the Imperialists there would most certainly be some evidence to support the possibility on his person. For the next few moments he attempted to deduce how he had come to be in this place and what possible purpose he might have in being here. Eventually though he mentally pushed such thoughts away for in his mind it was useless to attempt to perceive the truth when he possessed so few reliable facts.

Focus on the here and now. Focus on what your senses can relate to you. He thought to himself as he allowed his gaze to sweep over the environment for information, I appear to be in an foreign town constructed in a manner not found in Japan nor in any of the neighboring countries. Based on certain elements around me such as the street lamps, the apparently mechanical carriages and the examples of English script I am most likely in a British colony.

While the British were not the only nation to use the form of script he could see on the mechanical carriages they were the only nation threatening Japan to his knowledge. With this first bit of information he swiftly but silently ran from where he had been standing in the middle of a street and hid in the shadows cast by a nearby house. Since he was in a British colony it would not be in his best nature to be seen by anyone whether they be civilians or soldiers. No doubt the British government has already manipulated the consciousness of its people into believing that what they were doing in Japan was right and just. More than that the government had likely told its people that the Imperialists were a band of bloodthirsty criminals or something to that effect. Therefore it would only take one person seeing him for word to reach the local police and military and then matters would get worse. They would search this town endlessly for him and while he was not concerned with facing a handful of soldiers at a time he had the disadvantage of being alone in a foreign land with nothing but the clothes he had on and his weapons. No matter how skilled he might be he knew that sooner or later they would succeed in killing him should they learn of his presence in this town. His only advantage was in that no one knew he was here and his survival would depend on keeping it that way for as long as he possibly could. Hopefully he could maintain his invisibility here until he could find a way to return to Japan and his allies in the Choshu clan.

After taking a moment to get his bearings via the stars he then decided to make for the outskirts of this town he was in since it would mean less people for him to avoid. He made it all of three rows of houses before he saw something that made him stop in his tracks, dive into the shadows and watch silently at the two figures came into view. One was red haired foreigner who was either a whore or a woman who had been forced to leave her home before she could clothe herself in something decent. The other was a European noblewoman if he was not mistaken. He had only seen one once when accompanying Katsura to a meeting between the clans allied to him and nations willing to offer covert aide to the Imperialists. He himself of course had not been present during the meeting but rather had been stationed nearby in case it turned out that the potential allies turned out to be enemies instead. The two seemed to know one another or at least the red haired one seemed to know the noblewoman judging from the tone of her voice and her insistence that the dress wearing woman follow her. In any case he saw no reason to linger but rather a strong reason to leave the area as soon as he was able. A noblewoman walking around the streets at night was suspicious as it was not uncommon for nobles to have a bodyguard of some kind with them at all times. Even though most of the colonists believed that they were safe here among their own people it would still be considered proper that women traveling at night should have an escort of some kind. That being the case the likely scenario was that the noble's bodyguard/s were holding back a sizeable group of threats and had ordered the two women to run while they could. Whether that meant that the men held little hope that they'd survive their encounter with the group of assailants or that they intended to catch up with the women later mattered little. With such chaos abound it would likely reach such levels that the local militia would be sent in to restore order.

I will have to be gone before then. He thought to himself as he turned to resume his journey to the outskirts of the small town.

However he had taken no more than ten steps before a feeling he could only describe as opposition stopped him from moving any further. It was as if some inner voice was trying to prevent him from moving any further than he already had. He tried a few times to shove the feeling aside using logical reasoning for why he had to leave the area immediately as he thought that perhaps reasoning with this inner voice might silence it. However it did not and whenever he tried to ignore the voice and take another step forward it got even worse. Puzzled at what could have caused such opposition he went back over the last few moments in an attempt to deduce what new variable had awakened this voice that barred him from doing what he must. Of all the things he had seen and taken note of since he had woken up in this strange colony that might account for his inner voice's vehement opposition to his departure were the two young women he had just seen now. Why seeing two young women alone amidst such chaos in a British colony would cause a part of him to refuse to leave them he did not know. They were strangers to him in every sense of the word and revealing himself to them risked word reaching the British soldiers no doubt stationed nearby. Yet no matter how much he tried to push aside this unexplained attachment to the two women it remained as unaffected as Mount Fuji itself.

While he did believe he could proceed with his original plan to go to the outskirts of this town he knew that the inner voice would likely become more and more of a distraction as he proceeded. That would not be to his benefit. If he wanted to remain undetected by the people living here and the soldiers stationed nearby he would need to focus all his concentration on his environment to pass by unseen and unheard. If his concentration was divided, even by only a little, it could lead to him making a mistake and one mistake here would be all it would take to bring his death to him. Perhaps if he merely made sure that they reached a place of safety the inner voice would go silent and he could go about his business without further distractions.

I will follow them secretly and only intervene if something threatens them. Kenshin thought as moved silently parallel to the two women while remaining hidden in the shadows.

For awhile it seemed as though the women had no set destination in mind but then the red haired young woman seemed to decide on a course of action and told the noblewoman to follow her. Hopefully the red haired woman's intended destination was not too far away as he did not wish to be sidetracked from his own dilemma longer than was absolutely necessary. While it was the protection and safety of the innocents that drove him to join with the Imperial army in their war against the corrupt Shogunate he knew that he had to choose his battles carefully. He could not stop to prevent every malady or dilemma of the people he came across. He had to employ his skills where they would do the most good but as he was not as knowledgeable of the state of the world as some people were he left the choosing of his assignments up to Katsura. The man was not only the head of the Choshu clan but also the man who had recruited him from Takasugi Shinsaku's training fields. As such Katsura had been his guide into the war between the Shogun and the Imperialists and he trusted the man to guide him in the right direction. In this situation he had no doubt that Katsura would agree to his wish to aid the women in reaching safety but would discourage intervention in any other conflicts he happened upon. His first and foremost objective would always be to find a way back to his comrades.

As he continued onwards alongside the women he noticed a figure approaching them that the two of them had yet to take notice of yet. For a moment he thought it might be human but as it came closer and his night-trained eyes could see more details he concluded that it was not human. He had encountered a few creatures like this, both during his training in Hiten Mitsurugi and with the Imperialists, and knew that he would have to move fast to deprive the demon of its meal. With nary a sound he crossed the road behind the two young women and after leaping the fence moved to quickly intercept the youkai. When the gap between he and his target had reached a little more than fifteen feet he grasped the sheath with his left hand and used his thumb to loosen his katana. It was not until he approached the seven feet mark that the demon sensed his approach but it was too late for the youkai. With all the speed he believed it would take he drew his sword and following the teachings of Master Hiko executed the Ryūshōsen. Landing behind the demon and letting his momentum die he noticed something that troubled him somewhat. What troubled him was that when he looked to examine the effectiveness of his attack he noticed that his blade had cut through the demon's neck a full inch and a half higher than he had intended. While some might dismiss this as simply a normal variance in accuracy he knew that his teacher had taught him each technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi style until he could perform them all perfectly. That of course led him to only one possible reason for the slash of the Ryūshōsen missing its mark to this degree.

The demon must have been in the process of dodging my attack. Kenshin thought with concern at what such an anomaly implied.

By its very nature Hiten Mitsurugi was designed for a one versus many situation with each technique capable of killing an opponent on its own. A large part of its success as a style of swordsmanship is the speed at which the attacks are delivered. It is with god-like speed that these attacks are executed so that not only does one's enemy not have time to react but also so that the user does not remain in once place for too long. As such his Master did not consider a technique mastered until it could be performed with the speed, skill and precision required. That being the case, even though he did not use all the strength and speed he possessed, the Ryūshōsen should still have been executed too fast for the demon to dodge it at all. That meant, by following the logic, that either the demon was faster than he had thought it would be or he had executed the technique slower than he had intended to do it. While he would have preferred to be able to claim the former as the reason it was unsupportable based on how he had seen the demon approach the two women. That meant that for some reason he could not fathom he was not as fast as he remembered being when last he walked in the land of his birth.

What could have happened to me? Kenshin thought in confusion as he tried to find out what could have happened to reduce his speed and skill to such a degree.

Without really thinking about what he was doing he flicked the demon's blood off of his katana and slid it into its sheath. So occupied were his thoughts and contemplations that he did not hear the approach of the red haired woman and the noblewoman until they had already seen him.

"Xander!" the red haired woman exclaimed with a look of relief on her face as she approached, "Thank god we found you!"

Puzzled by the woman calling him by a name not his own he took up a defensive posture just in case she was trying to deceive him. This had the desired effect of causing her to stop moving but it had a side effect he had not anticipated in that her face contorted into a combination of surprise and fear. In her defense though she was quick to push those emotions aside and that in his mind spoke of great inner strength.

"Xander?" she inquired tentatively as if she were testing the stability of an old bridge.

He could understand the woman as it was thought that during the stalking of his target some useful information might come from that person's lips. So while his understanding of the English language might not be complete simple conversations and words were easy enough for him to understand. It also allowed him to talk to those who spoke English as well.

"I am afraid you are mistaken. I am not Xander." He stated as simply and as bluntly as he could so there could be no room for misinterpretation.

For a moment it looked as though she might argue with him on this point but before she could he looked at her in a way that made it clear it would be both futile and dangerous to try.

"T-then w-who are y-you?" the red haired woman asked clearly intimidated by the look he had sent to her.

He could not give her his true name for even though he doubted that any man in the British military would take anything she had to say seriously it was part of his job as the manslayer in the shadows to 'not exist' in the eyes of both the allies and the enemy. Still he knew he would have to give her some sort of name in order to satisfy her curiosity if only a little.

"My name is Shinta." He replied calmly and honestly.

Using the name he had been born with was safe. Aside from his Master Hiko no one else knew that the Hitokiri Battousai, also known as Kenshin Himura, once went by the innocent name of Shinta. The only other people who might attach that name to him were all dead. Even if his name did filter down into the ears of those with military or political power it is unlikely that they would ever make the connection between a lone swordsman and a hitokiri of the Imperialists.

"Okay, Shinta, we need to get someplace safe." The red haired woman said carefully, "I know of a place nearby. Will you escort us there?"

This request seemed to quiet the inner voice that had been preventing him from leaving the two women unprotected to a certain degree and so he took it as a sign of what the voice wished for him to do. With the official request made for an escort to safety it would be considerably easier for him to deal with his inner voice quickly so he could resume dealing with his own situation.

"I will be your escort." He stated simply as he left the defensive posture he had been in and waited for the red haired woman to lead the way to this 'safe place' she knew of.

"Good. This way." The red haired woman said as she began to walk in the direction she had her noblewoman companion had been traveling before they likely heard his encounter with the demon.

So with eyes, ears and nose alert for signs of enemies he followed the pair with one hand on his katana at all times.

Summers Home, Twenty Minutes Later, Kitchen

Using the key that Willow knew Mrs. Summers kept under a pot of flowers by the back door she unlocked the door and began to open the door so they could get in.

She had only moved the door an inch before Xander placed a hand down on the door handle and stopped her. She looked up at the Japanese swordsman her best friend had become and wondered why he was stopping her from letting them all get inside. As if in reply to this question he motioned for her to step back and she understood then that he wanted to go in first to make sure it was safe before she and Buffy went in. Nodding in agreement she stepped aside and watched as he pushed the door open so slowly one might think it had been blown open by a gentle breeze. Once the door had been moved enough for him to enter the house he stepped forward like a cat, not making a single sound that she could hear, with his right hand near his sword the entire time. He continued to walk forward until he was entirely inside the house before coming to a stop and letting his eyes pass over everything in sight as though committing it all to memory. For a moment she thought he would go through the entire house from basement to the upstairs bedrooms before giving them the all clear to come in. However she was fortunate in that no more than ten seconds after that thought crossed her mind Shinta signaled them that it was safe to enter.

Whoever this 'Shinta' was that Xander had decided to dress up as for Halloween he was one scary person. So scary in fact that as soon as they got everyone back to normal she was going to give her 'best-friend-since-pre-school' a piece of her mind and ask him what moment of insanity made him choose to dress up as a coldhearted swordsman. After all it had only been around three weeks since he had collapsed on the front steps of this very house covered in blood with a frightened child in his arms and two deep slashes on his front and back. She had been on the verge of a panic attack when Buffy had called her from the hospital in the middle of the night with the terrible news. Despite her parents' arguments that she could wait until tomorrow to visit her friend she had gotten dressed as quickly as she could and had almost ran the entire way before her father reluctantly offered to drive her there himself. It had been a nerve wracking couple of hours before the doctor had come out of the operating room and explained how her best friend was doing. According to the doctor both slashes were serious but by some miracle none of the major organs were damaged or trauma given to Xander's spinal cord. That had been one of her major worries when she had been told that he had been cut open in the back. She just couldn't bear to think that her friend might have been forced to live the rest of his life in a wheel chair because he was trying to do the right thing. By the time the all clear was given and visits were permitted she had made the decision that she would keep a closer eye on her friend and keep him from getting into trouble.

Of course that had been under the assumption that the trauma of what Xander had gone through would be enough to keep her best friend from tempting fate or doing something stupid. In her mind dressing up like a Japanese swordsman was definitely in the same ballpark as daring both deities and devils to do something Hellmouthy. Given that everyone seemed to have become their costumes she was fairly certain one or more supernatural beings had taken notice of her friend's defiance. Hopefully though now that they were all safe and sound at Buffy's they could think the matter through and find out how to put a stop to all this chaos.

"Where are we?" Buffy asked with what Willow had come to call her 'Queeny' voice.

"Your place. Now we just need to..." Willow replied or rather began to reply before a banging on the front door grabbed everyone's attention.

Moving more like a wraith across the room Xander flattened his body up against the wall to the right of the door. Stepping ever so silently closer to the door he peered through the windows in the door to see what was causing the noise. As he did this she noticed that his left hand had loosened the longer of his two swords from its sheath with his thumb while his right hand seemed to be itching to grasp the sword's handle. She had already seen firsthand what he was capable of with that sword since she had been the first one to turn the corner and view the decapitated remains of what she hoped had been a demon. After all just because Giles had said that Halloween was a 'stay inside' night for vampires it didn't mean the same could be said for other kinds of demons. She hoped that the corpse she had seen had indeed been a demon for if it was not then her friend had just killed an innocent person. True it had looked like a demon but then again so had some of the children she had been chaperoning around the neighborhood when the change had overtaken them. Tonight no one could trust what they saw to be the truth especially those who knew what really went on in this town after nightfall. In the end though all she could do was wait and look through the coroner reports tomorrow to see if anyone had died via decapitation. Then of course she'd do her best to make sure Xander never found out what he had done while under the influence of the spell or whatever had done this to everyone.

"It's gone." Shinta/Xander stated as he moved away from the door before sitting down across from said door on the stairs.

It chilled her to the bone to hear such a cold voice come from a person that any other day personified thinking with your heart. When she and Buffy had come upon him after killing that demon/costumed person he had the same look on his face as he did now. Cold, remorseless, completely without any emotion of any kind and a look in his eyes that frightened her completely which was kind why she was making a concentrated effort not to look him in the eye if she could help it.

"This... this could be me." She heard Buffy say with an uncertainty she had never heard in the Slayer's voice.

Turning around she saw that her best female friend had picked up a framed picture of herself.

Stepping up next to her friend she said "It is you. Buffy, can't you remember at all?"

"No! I, I don't understand any of this! Uh, uh, th... This is some other girl!" Buffy replied obviously choosing to live in denial, "I would never wear this, that low apparel, and I don't like this place, and I don't like you, and I just wanna go home!"

"You are home!" Willow exclaimed in frustration as the young woman who should have been the fearless Slayer broke down into tears, "She couldn't've dressed up like Xena?"

Just as she was about to try her hand at convincing 'Shinta' that he was really her best friend Xander Harris a clawed monster hand smashed through the glass window of the front door and flailed around looking for something to grab a hold of. Before she could say or do anything Shinta/Xander sprang up from his spot on the stairs and in a move that slightly surprised her he slammed the blunt end of his katana's sheath into the hand breaking several of the monster's bones in the process. The unknown monster howled in pain as it withdrew its hand from the window and unless she was hearing wrong running away quickly. Shinta/Xander's action had surprised her because given his emotionless response to decapitating someone she had fully expected him to kill whoever or whatever had been on the other side of the front door. He looked at her with those emotionless eyes and seemed to sense the question she was about to ask him.

"The blood I would have spilled might have attracted other demons and predators to this place." Shinta/Xander said to explain his actions.

Nodding in that it made sense considering how many demons living on the Hellmouth would likely smell the blood and come looking for a meal. It gave her some comfort to know that this Shinta character/person wasn't entirely a cold-blooded killer and could be kept from hurting anybody if given a practical reason for doing so. Deciding to resume her attempt to convince Shinta he was really Xander she opened her mouth to speak but was swiftly interrupted by an all too familiar sounding scream. Moving over to the window she looked out and saw Cordelia running away from a hairy something screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Ohmygod! It's Cordelia!" she exclaimed before turning to Shinta/Xander, "You gotta go out there and help her!"

"It would be dangerous. If we attempt to gather too many people here the demons will soon take notice and converge here." Shinta/Xander said in a coldly analytical and tactical voice.

"We just got here! Saving one more person and bringing them in here won't do any harm!" she exclaimed getting a little frustrated with her best friend's costumed personae's attitude.

For a moment the Japanese swordsman seemed to consider her words and then, faster than her eyes could keep up with, he opened the door and darted out into the night. Moving as quickly as she could given her form she went back to the living room window to see if he would go for another non-lethal tactic or if she'd have one more coroner report to bury.

"Surely he'll not desert us!" Buffy exclaimed with anxiety as the faux noblewoman got up from the couch and strode to the red haired ghost's side.

"Whatever." Willow muttered to herself with a roll of her eyes at the behavior of her 'distinctly-not-Buffy' friend.

The only thing that comforted the redheaded genius was that once the spell had been broken Buffy's memories of tonight would make sure she would never want to be a noblewoman ever again. She couldn't believe how different a real noblewoman was from all the movies and TV show examples she had seen so far. They had always seemed so refined an beautiful but if this was what they were really like she was personally sending a prayer of thanks to the spirits of the women who fought for women's rights. Looking back out the living room window she looked outside just in time to see Shinta/Xander swing the sheath-covered sword and hit the furry monster thing in the back of the head. It slumped to the ground unconscious thankfully and a few moments later both Shinta/Xander and Cordelia came running inside before Shinta/Xander shut the door.

"What's going on?" Cordy asked in confusion which probably meant that she was under the same spell as Xander and Buffy.

"Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends. Well, sort of." Willow said as she tried to explain to whomever Cordelia was supposed to be who she really was.

"That's nice, Willow. And you went mental when?" Cordy asked in a tone usually reserved for people who stated the perfectly obvious with regard to fashion and make up.

"You know us?" Willow asked with a little confusion as she had expected the Queen of Sunnydale High School to be like Buffy and Xander in not knowing who she really was.

"Yeah. Lucky me. What's with the name game?" Cordy asked with a little bit of confusion in her own voice.

"A lot's going on." Willow replied as she tried mentally to condense what she knew into something the shallow cheerleader would both understand and actually listen to without getting distracted.

"No kidding. I was just attacked by Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy. Look at my costume!" Cordelia exclaimed as she indicated a sizeable tear on her sleeve, "Do you really think that Partytown's gonna give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."

"Okay. You guys stay here while I get some help. If something tries to get in, just fight it off." Willow said to the three before turning specifically to Shinta/Xander, "But NO killing! Understand?"

"Yes." Was all he said before he returned to his spot on the stairs in front of the front door of the Summers' house.

"Well, i-it's not our place to fight. Uh, surely some men will protect us." Buffy said meekly from behind Cordelia.

"What's that riff?" Cordelia asked as she tried to inch away from the disgustingly cowardly Slayer.

"I-it's like amnesia, okay? They don't know who they are. Just sit tight." Willow ordered and without another word she walked right up to and through a wall intent on using her status as a ghost to reach the one person who might know what's going on.

"Who died and made her the boss?" was the last thing she heard before all the brick, wood and plastic side panels prevented her from hearing what else Queen C might have to say.

Inside the Summers' Home, Five Minutes After Willow has Left

"So what's your deal Mr. Cold-and-Deadly?" the woman in the skin-tight outfit asked him in an arrogant and condescending tone.

"My name is Shinta. I came here with those two women to ensure their safety." He replied keeping his response to the most essential facts, "That is all you need to know."

It looked for a moment that the indecently dressed woman might take issue with the tone he had used but a stern look from him discouraged her just as he had hoped it would. He had hoped that once he had gotten the noblewoman and the red haired one to this house the inner voice that had prevented him from dealing with his own problems would vanish. However not only was that inner voice not gone but now it was insisting that he remain here to ensure their safety. Internally it frustrated him that something was so effectively keeping him from returning to Japan and the Choshu clan but he kept that emotion off his face. His training as a swordsman forbid him from openly revealing what he was feeling to anyone lest they learn to use his expressions to predict his actions. With his emotions locked away inside of him and his mind focused on his duty as a hitokiri and whatever his current assignment was his thoughts would be as ethereal as smoke to others. Hearing footsteps approaching him and sensing the ki of the noblewoman he shifted his eyes in her direction and the cold stare he gave her was apparently enough to stop her approach but not enough to keep her silent.

"Surely there's somewhere we can go. A safe haven." The one the red haired woman called Buffy asked him with a hopeful look on her face.

"The one called Willow instructed us to remain here." Shinta replied in tone that made it clear he would follow those instructions.

"You would take orders from a woman? A-are you feeble in some way?" Buffy asked in surprise and a little confusion.

"As it appears that Willow is the only one of us who has actually lived in this town it is safe to assume that she would know which areas were safe better than we would." Kenshin replied and tried to explain the situation rationally to the noble, "Therefore I suggest that you attempt to calm down and make yourself comfortable. Despite my lack of familiarity with this land this house appears to be strong enough to offer us some protection."

"Coward." Was the only response he received from the noblewoman Buffy before she sat down in a chair and made her dissatisfaction with the situation known in both her eyes and body to any who would look at her.

Just as he was about to resume his passive monitoring of the house with all its sounds, smells and residents a soft sound reached his ears that he almost missed. He reached out with his senses to try and detect the ki of whatever was causing the sound for he was certain it was something alive that had caused the soft sound rather than an object. What he found was the soft glow of a human spirit but what shocked him was that it was not alone as there was a demonic presence in close proximity to it. While the human spirit was unfamiliar to him he knew the foul feel of the demonic presence and what sort of demon possessed it. Moving with a speed and grace that was far greater than that which he had used to decapitate the demon who had threatened Buffy and Willow earlier he stood up and quietly ran into what appeared to be the dining room intent on circling around the intruder and catching it from behind. He had already seen the entrance to the dining room when they had entered the kitchen and then walked down a hallway to this living room so he knew he could slip around this intruder without difficulty.

As he entered the kitchen he saw the form that the vampiric demon he had sensed earlier was in. A man a little taller than himself, black short hair, dressed in black leather pants and a black coat. Silently loosening his wakizashi from its sheath he crept up behind the monster ready to strike if he should dare to harm the two women in the living room.

"Oh, good! You guys are alright. It's total chaos out there." The vampire with a human spirit said with relief.

"Who are you?" asked the noblewoman Buffy with confusion and no recognition.

There was a short pause before the vampire asked "Okay, somebody wanna fill me in?"

"Do you live here?" Buffy asked with a mix of anxiety and uncertainty.

"No, and you know that. Buffy," the vampire replied with confusion of his own, "I'm lost here. You... What's up with your hair?"

"Buffy and Xander don't know who they are, everyone's turned into a monster, it's a whole big thing." Cordelia said with some irritation and impatience before asking cheerfully, "How are you?"

"Xander's here too?" the vampire asked in surprise before turning to Buffy and asking "Buffy? Don't you remember anything?"

Sensing the noblewoman's growing unease it was then that Kenshin decided to put an end to things and swiftly placed the blade of his wakizashi up against the throat of the vampire.

"Do not move." Kenshin said in a tone usually reserved for the Shinsengumi.

For a moment the vampire attempted to move away from the blade but it was to no avail and to emphasize that it was not a good idea to continue the attempts to escape he pressed the blade hard enough against the undead man's throat to start a trickle of blood. Just as he was about to inquire about the vampire's presence here and how he was able to gain entry considering the fact that he likely did not live here all the lamps and light in the house suddenly extinguished. Deciding that he could deal with the vampire later he withdrew his wakizashi from its position next to the undead's throat and sheathed it. There was also the matter of him being able to enter this home. If he recalled the rules that governed the undead they were unable to enter the home of a living person unless invited. That implied that this vampire had been invited into this house prior to tonight. Add to that the casual way in which the woman named Cordelia spoke to him and the presence of a human spirit alongside a demon spirit and it was enough to convince him to reserve judgment.

The vampire turned around and for a moment a look came over its face that might have been recognition as well as fear. However it vanished as soon as it appeared and the demon-animated corpse chose to survey the immediate area. Choosing to place his suspicions about the reaction aside for the time being and moved to look out of the window in the living room facing the street. However he got no more than three steps before his ears once more picked up a sound that did not belong in a house with only three people and one vampire in it. Raising a hand to silence the bickering going on between Buffy and Cordelia, something about proper clothing, he listened again carefully for the sound. Three seconds later he heard it once more and was able to identify the sound immediately.

"Stay with the women vampire. Protect them." Kenshin ordered the undead man with a cold voice and a deadly stare that made it clear what the consequences would be for failure, "I will deal with the Oniwabanshū."

Without even waiting for the vampire's acceptance of his bodyguard position he moved quickly up the stairs as the sounds indicated that the intelligence agents of the Shogunate would enter via the upstairs windows. Keeping his right hand on the handle of his wakizashi he let his ears be his guide as he sought out the ones seeking to covertly enter the house. It was when his search came to the second bedroom that heard the sound of cloth being ruffled and he knew that he had found ones he sought. Using his left hand to loosen the wakizashi from its sheath he crept slowly, step by small step towards the door intending to strike the moment they opened the door. As he was about to take the final step that would put him in prime position to end the skirmish with the ninja as soon as it began a voice in his mind yelled at him to get away from the door quickly. Choosing to trust the inner voice that had been directing him from the moment he awoke in this town he leapt backwards away from the door. A moment later the door exploded outwards sending smoke and fragments of wood everywhere in the immediate vicinity. He had no time to attempt to discern how the inner voice had known what the ninja's were going to do as said Oniwabanshū charged him with kunai in hand.

There were three Oniwabanshū and such numbers could imply various reasons behind their intrusion into the house. They could be a simple scout the building and observe the inhabitants. Another possibility was an assassination of a single person known to live in this house. Bringing up the blade of his wakizashi to deflect a shuriken thrown at him he then slid his body to the side to avoid the thrust of a kunai wielding intelligence officer before employing mineuchi to render the man unconscious. While it was true that he should simply kill these intruders rather than run the risk of one of them regaining consciousness at an inopportune time he chose not to. While killing the demon on the street had been necessary in order to protect the lives of Willow and Buffy the shedding blood here would draw too much attention to his presence. These Oniwabanshū were likely spies of the Shogunate meant to ensure that the terms of agreements made between them and their European allies were adhered to and that treachery was swiftly dealt with. While the Shogunate might appear to be engaged in friendly relationships with the Europeans those of insight and wisdom knew that neither side fully trusted the other.

If I merely render them unconscious to be found by the British authorities it may be enough to cause elevated mistrust between them and the Shogunate. Kenshin thought to himself as the one that had thrown the kunai at him closed in to use hand-to-hand combat to defeat him, However if they revive before the British authorities arrive they will either die by their own hands for their failure or at the hands of their immediate superiors. Either possibility would be favorable to me since word of my being here would be seen as an attempt to convince their superiors to let them live.

Any further contemplation of the possibilities ended swiftly as it was taking a surprisingly greater amount of speed and agility for him to evade the ninja's attacks. In this instance fortunately it was not because of any perceived loss of physical ability but rather the fact that the hallway was not providing him much room to maneuver. It was one of the reasons why he was using his wakizashi rather than his katana. In such a narrow hallway his ability to use a katana effectively would be limited as he would only be able to employ vertical slashes and thrusts. If he attempted to use horizontal slashes or even diagonal slashes there ran the risk of the blade being slowed down by the wall or even stuck in it. That would give the ninja he faced now opportunities to attack and perhaps succeed in killing him. By employing the shorter wakizashi his choices would be slightly less limited due to its length and it would allow him greater defense from thrown weapons. Fortunately the narrow hallway also helped him in that it forced his enemies to come at him one at a time and eliminate the possibility of thrown weapons from the one in the back as it was unlikely he would risk hitting a comrade. Still he would have to dispatch these intruders quickly and return to the others downstairs in case there were more ninja nearby that he was unaware of.

Seeing signs in the body of the ninja that he was fighting that a punch with the Oniwabanshū's full weight behind it was coming he settled on a course of action. As the punch was thrown he used, if only for a second, all the speed he could muster to dodge it and then bring himself inside the man's defenses. Flipping the wakizashi so that the pommel of the weapon was pointed at the ninja rather than the blade he thrust the weapon forward and rammed the pommel into the ninja's throat. Gagging as the flow of air was cut off the ninja was completely unprepared when he brought the pommel around for another blow but this time to the side of the man's head near the temple. As he had intended the man dropped to the floor as he slipped into unconsciousness leaving only the final member of the group to deal with. That proved to be little trouble as the sole member of the team that was still conscious seemed to be almost frozen in fear at the sight of one who had taken down his two comrades in mere seconds for that was how much time had passed since the door had been destroyed. Time had seemed to slow down after he had unsheathed his wakizashi and while to him it may have seemed that minutes had passed not even one had truly expired since the battle had begun.

I should deal with this one quickly before he has the chance to summon what remains of his courage to do something drastic. Kenshin thought to himself as he closed the gap of space between himself and his enemy.

Flipping his sword so that the blunt edge was facing down he put on one final burst of speed before executing the Ryūsōsen technique bombarding the last ninja with numerous successive strikes from the blunt edge of his wakizashi. Needless to say as soon as the blows ceased to rain down upon him he dropped unconscious to the ground and did not move again. He sheathed his wakizashi and turned to return to the others when a scream, one belonging to the noblewoman Buffy he believed, pierced the silent night. Running down the stairs as swiftly as he could he tracked the woman Cordelia and the vampire to the kitchen but no matter where he looked Buffy was not with them. All that indicated where she might be was an open door that was still in motion indicating that whoever had opened it had been in a hurry.

"What happened?" he asked the vampire with a voice that could not be opposed.

"I heard something in the kitchen and went to check it out. Turned out to be one of the trick or treaters that are running all over town." The vampire replied with barely a sliver of fear visible in his eyes, "He attacked me and must have scared Buffy enough to cause her to run. We have to go after her!"

Kenshin could tell that the vampire wasn't telling him the whole truth, that was clear to him by the way the undead man's body was moving, but it didn't change the fact that Buffy was now alone in the chaos outside and thus vulnerable. Given his unfamiliarity with the town his chances of being able to track her down himself were not encouraging and while Cordelia did live in this town she was no tracker. That left him with the unenviable choice of having to rely on the vampire's demonic senses to track her down.

"Can you follow her scent?" he asked bluntly without any preamble.

Nodding only once the vampire ran for the door immediately and after Kenshin grabbed Cordelia by the wrist the two of them followed as closely as they could. As they left the backyard of the house they had been in the Hitokiri wondered if he would ever be allowed to return to his original mission of getting back to Japan. All he got in response was a chuckle of amusement from his inner voice.

Sunnydale High School, Library, Same Time

I wish those children outside would quiet down! Rupert Giles thought to himself as he continued to catch up on some paperwork and cataloging that he needed to do.

It had been a fairly typical Halloween evening, like many before it both on and off a Hellmouth, with the only oddity being a sudden rise in noise coming from outside created by the costumed children running around. Fortunately though focusing on a task and putting on some soothing music in the background was sufficient to prevent the adolescent noise from giving him a headache. Currently he was examining a series of books that had to be placed back on the shelves but all of the stickers that were placed on the spine of every library book to indicate where they belonged in the stacks had been removed. Whether this was done by accident on the part of the student that had last signed them out or on purpose to aggravate him he couldn't quite say. However it did mean he would have to look through the card catalogue in order to properly replace the missing stickers as well as to return the books to their proper places on the shelves. Taking the first three of the five that had to be returned he walked over to the card catalogue, briefly looking at the title and author name, and began to look through the relevant entry. He had made it about one third of the way there when something happened that not only caused him to nearly have a heart attack but also caused him to rip a handful of cards from the drawer and toss them into the air.

What happened was one Willow Rosenburg, dressed in the clothes of a hooker, passing through the card catalogue and the wall behind it as if both things weren't there.

"Jeez!" he said in all his surprise as he tried to get his heart to stop thumping so hard as well as restore some manner of composure to his face.

Willow turned to him and for a moment his mind thought she might be the bloody ghost of Christmas present come to show him the error of his ways. The only two problems with that theory was that it was October and the clothes she was wearing would only make it harder for someone to pay attention to what she was saying.

"Hi." She said as if she had just walked through the library doors like she did every day instead of through a sodding wall.

"Uh... ah..." he said as he tried to articulate what he wanted to say through all his confusion and distraction, "huh...?"

Brilliant Rupert! Bloody brilliant! He thought sarcastically at his choice of wording.

An Estate on the Outskirts of Sunnydale, One Minute Later, Owner's Office

"An adequate performance wouldn't you say so my Lord?" Hiroshi asked as he used the remote in his hand to terminate the replay of the events at the Summers home that had been transmitted to them via cameras hidden on the ninja team sent there.

"Indeed. A little too adequate." The Lord of the Estate replied with a frown on his face and some irritation in his eyes.

"Sir?" Hiroshi asked wondering what in the informative video had displeased his Lord and Master.

The two of them had watched the encounter from the moment the leader of the group of ninja had tracked the target to the house to the moment the last of them had been defeated. From his point of view the test had been a complete success and phase two was well on its way to completion. Mr. Harris had received the costume from Mr. Rayne as per his Lord's orders and based on the footage he had just witnessed had successfully transformed the American teenager from who he was into one of the most feared manslayer's Japan had ever seen. Neither the setting nor the face of the warrior had mattered to him once he saw the way Alexander Harris had dealt with the leader of the ninja team and his two subordinates. If he tried he could easily compare his past memories of the Battousai with the man in the footage and claim that they were the same man. Others might point out that Harris was only fighting with such skill and ability because of the spell that had been cast on him but they would be incorrect. Unlike the rest of the people of this godforsaken town Alexander's costume had been specially enchanted so that the requisite memories and skills would be drawn from within rather than without. In essence the spell had been instructed to look inside of young Mr. Harris for the information needed to complete the Hitokiri Battousai identity. With this special condition in place every memory that lay buried deep within the young man's spirit, from the moment of birth to the height of the Battousai's career as a manslayer, would be located and thrust to the surface. The reason for this was twofold: 1st) Any spells placed in the host body by the spell cast by Ethan Rayne would become nothing more than a fading memory when the night came to an end and 2nd) It would put the reborn Hitokiri in the exact mindset his Lord wish him to be in.

The Himura Kenshin we will be dealing with thanks to this spell will not be the pathetic peace loving wanderer, the man who swore never to kill again, but rather the unrepentant manslayer all too willing to kill to see his desired world become a reality. Hiroshi thought to himself as he found himself looking forward to seeing a Battousai untouched by weakness and foolish ideals.

However despite this good news something displeased his Lord and for the life of him he could not fathom why given the results they had both just viewed.

"I'm not surprised you were not able to tell given that you are not a swordsman and have only ever seen the Battousai fight once Hiroshi." His Lord replied as he rose from the plush couch he had been sitting on, "I however saw it clearly! The speed and strength Alexander Harris exhibited was higher than what should have been possible even with the changes that had been made to him by the spell. Even with the memories of his past life restored and a weapon placed in his hand it should have taken him twice as long at least to defeat three of my ninjas!"

"If that is true my Lord then how what could have enabled him to exceed what was expected of him?" Hiroshi asked not quite understanding what his Lord was implying but believing him completely in his assessment of the situation.

"There is only one person who could have tampered with the effect the costume should have had on my old nemesis." His Lord replied with the irritation in his eyes growing into anger, "Ethan Rayne!"

Like a lock clicking into place Hiroshi now understood completely what his Lord was getting at and began to feel some anger of his own. How dare a mere mortal like that interfere with such an important objective! While he did not know what alterations the chaos mage might have made to the enchanted costume it was clear that it would have an affect on his Master's plans for young Mr. Harris.

"Indeed sir! If you wish I can have Mr. Rayne brought in to explain his actions as well as what precisely he did to alter the costume's special attributes." Hiroshi said with the utmost determination and vindication.

"No. That fool will not set foot in this house." His Lord said in a tone that spoke of pain and misery if his command should be ignored, "Send Suzu to the costume shop. Tell him that he is instructed to apprehend Rayne, interrogate him and then dispose of him. Also make sure he understands that he is not to be spotted by any of the Battousai's acquaintances but neither is he to kill one of them under any circumstances."

"As you command my Lord." Hiroshi said with a bow before turning towards the door and leaving the office.

As he walked down the hallway to the stairs that would take him to the basement and the quarters where one of his Lord's elite warriors resided he found himself slightly in awe of his Lord's choice of operatives to deal with Rayne. Suzu was one of the best warriors his Master had under his command with only two others ranking above him not including the Master himself. Usually the man known as Suzu was sent on special assassination missions to eliminate key government or military officials that were considered to be potentially annoying threats to his Lord. In fact the assassin tended to become downright insubordinate whenever he was ordered to eliminate a target that he considered to be too far beneath him. Fortunately his Lord had a means of ensuring Suzu's obedience and it usually only took a subtle reminder of this to convince the assassin to comply with the orders he was given. Hopefully the opportunity for torture and bloodshed would be enough incentive to ensure that Suzu accepted this mission without argument.

I just hope that he will be smart enough to remember to get the information my Master has asked for before he kills Mr. Rayne. Hiroshi thought to himself with some distaste, My Lord will not be merciful to him should he allow his 'playfulness' to get the better of him.

Sunnydale Library, Sunnydale High School, Ten Minutes Later

"I don't even know what I'm looking for. Plus I can't turn the page." Willow said as she looked down at the book Giles had laid down in front of her and examined its contents for the tenth time.

After Giles had calmed down and stopped acting like a kid when he looked at her she had quickly gone through what was going on. She had been in something of a hurry, worrying about what might happen to the others if left to themselves for too long, so she had only stuck to the main points of the current Hellmouth surprise. Those points being that somehow people had been transformed into whatever they had dressed up as for Halloween. She had even gone so far as to explain what sensations she had felt as the spell had passed over her and changed her from someone pretending to be a ghost into a real one. That had apparently been enough to get Giles started looking through his various tomes and volumes for some clue as to what particular spell had been cast and how it might be undone. So far though he was still looking and her current state of intangibility meant her progress depended on how often the Watcher would turn the page for her.

"Well, alright, l-let's, let's, let's review." Giles said as he placed the books he had gathered down on the table she stood behind, "Um, so everybody became, uh, whatever they were masquerading as."

"Right. Xander was a Japanese swordsman named Shinta and Buffy was an 18th-century girl." Willow replied as she glanced back into her memory for the specifics.

Giles paused for a moment as though something had tickled the edge of his memory before looking at her and asking "A-and, uh, your, your costume?"

"I'm a ghost!" she replied with irritation as if he had just asked her if she was a girl.

"Yes. Um... w, uh, uh, uh, the ghost of what, exactly?" he asked while under obvious strain to look at her without getting flustered.

Taking in how she must look to him she covered her bare midriff as best she could before she replied "Well, this is nothing. You should see what Cordelia was wearing. A-a, a unitard with cat things, like ears and stuff."

"Good heavens. Uh, sh-sh-she became an actual feline?" Giles asked with surprise no doubt at both the danger Queen C was in as well as the power of the magic that had transformed her.

"No! She was the same old Cordelia. Just in a cat costume." Willow replied as she quickly knocked the conclusion that the Watcher had come to aside before putting the truth before him.

"She didn't change?" Giles asked with some confusion at the presentation of such an anomaly.

"No. Hold on... Partytown. She told us she got her outfit from Partytown." She replied as she realized that they had just come upon an important clue in solving the problem.

"A-a-and everyone who changed, they, they, they, they acquired their costumes where?" Giles asked with urgency as he too came to believe that this bit of information would prove vital to ending the spell that had affected so many.

"We all got ours at a new place. Ethan's." Willow replied as she connected the dots and came to the conclusion that the owner of that store was either helping the person who cast the spell or was he himself the one responsible for this mess.

It was with her answer that a foreign look of rising anger came over the Watcher's face that she had never seen before.

"Take me there." He demanded in a tone that made it impossible for her to either speak or deny him his request.

The Streets of Sunnydale, Five Minutes Later

It had been almost twenty minutes since the three of them had left the house in search for the missing noblewoman Buffy and yet they seemed to be no closer to finding her than they were when they started. If they did not begin to make some progress soon he would have to begin re-examining his choice to allow the vampire to lead them in their pursuit of the missing young woman.

"Are you certain she came this way?" Kenshin asked the vampire as he made sure his own eyes kept him informed of their environment and all it contained.

"No." the vampire replied with honesty and mayhap a little frustration all his own.

"She'll be okay." Cordelia said in an obvious attempt to lighten their spirits.

"Buffy would be okay. Whoever she is now, she's helpless. C'mon!" the vampire snapped as he urged them to pick up their pace.

With no other course of action to follow the Hitokiri followed the undead man hoping that their search for the young woman would end soon. It was not only his wish to return his attention to his own concerns that motivated him to finding Buffy sooner rather than later but also a knowledge of the facts. The entire town was enveloped in chaos and the longer the young woman known as Buffy remained missing the greater the likelihood that some terrible fate might befall her. For some reason this troubled him and made the inner voice that had started him on this path all the more insistent that he find the young woman as soon as possible.

Hopefully this time when I ensure her safety the voice in my head will be silenced for it is becoming quite annoying. He thought to himself as he followed the vampire around a corner.

The Costume Shop "Ethan's", Five Minutes Later, Inside the Front Entrance

Rupert Giles entered the shop with an itch of suspicion in his mind and a growing flame of anger in his heart.

It had taken only Willow speaking that one name to cause the majority of the theories he had constructed to explain the events the young woman had described to vanish. With the name 'Ethan' a sick feeling had developed in the pit of his stomach as memories and his own gut feelings mingled to provide him with the identity of the person most likely responsible for the chaos that continued outside this shop and abroad. A ghost from his past had reappeared and he shuddered to think what his charge and her friends would think of him should his past mistakes be brought into the light. With this in mind he decided that the moment he either confirmed his suspicions he would send Willow away to look after the others. He would deal with the prat on his own and hopefully convince the snake to slither back under his rock for good this time.

"Hello! Anyone home?" he said at a volume between speaking normally and yelling.

When no response came he thought for a moment that the proprietor of the shop was not here or that they had been mistaken when they had thought this store was the source of the chaos outside.

"Giles..." he heard Willow say and when he looked at her he saw that she was pointing at a curtained off back room in which an eerie green glow was visible through the fabric.

Feeling his suspicions that this was where the trouble outside had come from he approached the curtain and with a cautious move of his arm parted the curtain to reveal what was inside. His eyes narrowed with the confirmation of his suspicions as he looked upon a bust of the Roman mythical God Janus, its eyes glowing a bright green.

"Janus. Roman mythical god." Giles stated so as to inform Willow of what was before them.

"Primarily the division of self. Male and female, light and dark." He replied as he tried to decide whether or not approaching the bust would be the smart thing to do.

"Chunky and creamy. Oh, no, sorry, that's peanut butter." Came voice that both chilled the Watcher's bones and stoked a fiery hatred in him that he rarely ever felt.

"Willow, get out of here, now." Rupert ordered the young woman never once taking his eyes off the black haired man that had just made his presence known.

"But..." Willow begins to say with no little confusion and fear.

"Now!" he yelled in a tone that he never wanted her to hear coming from him.

Waiting two minutes in order to make sure the student from Sunnydale High School was gone he decided it was time to get the obvious out of the way.

"Hello, Ethan." He said in a tone that could have frozen the sun itself.

"Hello, Ripper." Ethan said back in a playful and mischief filled tone of voice.

The Warehouse District, Sunnydale Twenty Minutes Later

It was with a scream of fear that Kenshin knew both that Buffy was close and that she was in danger. Breaking from the group he ran towards where he believed the scream had come from but did not ignore the alleyways he passed just in case the screamer was actually closer than she sounded. However as he turned his targeted alleyway he chastised himself for doubting his abilities for even a moment for there before him, attempting to crawl away from a filthy pirate, was the noblewoman Buffy. Seeing that the pirate was closing in on her he pushed his legs as hard as he could to cross the distance in time. To the pirate it must have seemed as though he appeared out of nowhere for one minute he had been about to grab the pretty woman by the arm and the next something hard slammed into his jaw launching him five feet into the air before landing in a pile of trash. While some might have thought that it had been a fist that had connected with the pirate's jaw it had in fact been the pommel of Kenshin's katana. Without even bothering to unsheathe it he had thrust the blunt pommel of his sword forward and caught the foul man solidly on the chin. However much to the Hitokiri's surprise the pirate somehow managed to get back to his feet though the slightly wobbling nature of the man's walking told Kenshin that he had indeed done some damage.

"How dare ye interfere wif' my fun! I'll have yer guts fer garters!" slurred the pirate either from drunkenness or due to the effect the blow had on his brain.

With a foul bellow of rage the foul smelling pirate charged him head on with his curved sword extended out in front of him. To the Battousai it was a pathetic attack that didn't even warrant meeting his enemy with his own blade. Waiting until just the right moment he shifted his body position to allow the sword of the pirate to pass right by him and then thrust his right elbow into the sickening man's jaw. Bone met bone but with the pirate's own momentum used against him it had a much greater effect than it would have had if the criminal had been struck while standing still. Not only did the blow stop the filthy man's head from proceeding along with his feet but there was also a distinctive cracking sound that indicated a bone had broken. Fortunately when he allowed his right arm to fall to his side he felt no pain so it could not have been his bone that had broken. Turning a bit and looking down at the pirate, who thankfully had been rendered unconscious by this last attack, he noticed a growing discoloration on his jaw and if he looked closely he could see the jawbone itself slightly askew. Apparently he had broken, or at the very least dislocated, the man's jaw. He would likely be unable to speak or eat normally for quite awhile and for some reason this news seemed to please him immensely.

With the matter of the noblewoman Buffy's assailant taken care of he turned to face the woman in question to find her already on her feet with some remaining fear on her face.

"Are you injured?" he asked her politely but strongly as he doubted she would hear him without some strength in his voice.

"I do not believe so." Buffy said with some distraction as he looked up at him before looking down at herself to look for visible signs of harm.

"Then we should return to the others and find a safe place to wait out the chaos that has engulfed this town." He said as he began to walk back the way he had come to where he could now hear both the vampire and Cordelia approaching from.

"No! I will not go back! That man! He's a vampire!" Buffy exclaimed making it clear that if he pressed her to return with him she would likely flee once more.

Apparently the vampire had revealed his true face to her back at the house and it had driven her to flee lest she fall prey to his evil. While he agreed with the need for caution around the vampire he believed that on this night when all manner of order and peace had gone it was better to be part of a group then alone. Add to that the number of oddities he had observed about the vampire and he was not entirely certain he was a threat anymore. When he had gone upstairs in the house to deal with the ninja the vampire had an opportunity to kill both women and feed upon them without his knowing. Add to that his basic ability to enter that home and he had a feeling that the vampire might be the exception to the rule that all vampires are evil. Nevertheless he doubted that these reasons would persuade the noblewoman Buffy to return with the group so he had to come up with another suitable reason on his own.

"Indeed he is but I swear to you Buffy that I will protect you until you are reunited with your family." He said hoping that a promise from a skilled warrior would be enough to ward off her fear and allow them to walk with the others without difficulty.

With the words he spoke the fear did indeed seem to disperse from within in her but it also had another effect that he had not anticipated. With a smile of relief on her face she rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him hugging him tightly and laying her head on his chest. To say that he was unprepared for this would have been an understatement but when he considered pushing her away he found that he could not. For some reason it pleased a part of him to have her this close to him and almost unbidden his own arms wrapped around her body. An unfamiliar warm feeling began to manifest in the cold darkness that had formed within him after he took on the role of the Hitokiri in the shadows. However before he could make sense of this new sensation the vampire and the woman Cordelia came around the corner causing him to raise the barriers between him and his emotions once more. Gently removing her arms from around his body he stepped forward and took a position that would allow him to intercept the undead man should he attempt anything hostile.

"Is Buffy alright?" the vampire asked with concern and a bit of suspicion in his voice.

"She is fine." Kenshin said in a cold and professional tone, "However I believe we should find someplace safe to hide. I doubt this pirate is the only threat roaming this area."

No sooner did he finish that sentence then a familiar voice yelled "Guys!"

Turning towards the voice he saw the woman Willow running towards them but with a look of fear on her face that told him something dangerous was nearby.

"Willow!" the vampire exclaimed both in surprise and relief.

"Guys, you gotta get inside." Willow said urgently before looking back the way she had come.

Looking in the same direction as her he quickly saw the source of her concern as a group of demons and monsters were walking towards them led by a vampire with snow white hair dressed all in black. They were of all shapes and sizes with none of them looking like they would grant mercy to any they chose to attack. For a moment he considered ordering the others to flee while he dealt with this threat by himself but discarded that idea when he looked back to see the fear in Buffy's eyes. If he left her to deal with the group she would likely flee soon after as she would only have Cordelia and the vampire for protection. She was counting on him to keep her safe and he had promised to protect her until she was returned to her family so dealing with the problem on his own wasn't an option.

"We must get into one of these buildings and barricade the doors." He stated as he began to look for an entrance to the building closest to them.

Needing no further direction from him they began to quickly move in the opposite direction of the approaching demons.

The Back Room, "Ethan's", Two Minutes Later

"What? No hug? Aren't you pleased to see your old mate, Rupert?" Ethan asked as he tried to see through what he was sure was a clever disguise his old friend had put on.

"I'm just surprised I didn't guess it was you. This Halloween stunt stinks of Ethan Rayne." Ripper replied coldly but with a fiery anger in his eyes.

"Yes, it does, doesn't it? Don't wish to blow my own trumpet, but it's genius. The very embodiment of 'be careful what you wish for'." He said proudly without divulging that the idea wasn't his to begin with.

After all he was fairly certain his employer would not appreciate him divulging such confidential information with his expressed permission.

"It's sick, brutal, and it harms the innocent." Ripper said with venom and distaste at his taking pleasure from the chaos outside.

"Oh, and we all know that you are the champion of innocents and all things pure and good, Rupert. It's quite a little act you've got going here, old man." Ethan said with a sneer as he was getting a little tired of trying to find a crack in his old friend's disguise.

"It's no act. It's who I am." Ripper said with certainty and in defiance of any statement that implied something to the contrary.

"Who you are? The Watcher, sniveling, tweed-clad guardian of the Slayer and her kin? I think not. I know who you are, Rupert, and I know what you're capable of." Ethan said sarcastically as he let his old mate know exactly what he thought but then something occurred to him, "But they don't, do they? They have no idea where you come from."

"Break the spell, Ethan. Then leave this place and never come back." Rupert demanded not even giving the chaos mage's suspicions a second thought or a first thought for that matter.

Seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere trying to talk his old friend into returning to his past self Ethan decided to try a different tactic.

"Why should I? What's in the bargain for me?" he asked with false interest and sincerity.

"You get to live." Rupert replied plainly and bluntly.

"Oh, Rupert, you're scaring me." Ethan said mockingly with false fear in his voice.

Unfortunately he soon realized that perhaps he had overdone his acting a bit as he soon found all the air knocked from his lungs and a dizzying paid shoot through his jaw.

Still it's hardly the sort of behavior one would expect from a tweed-clad watcher so at least I am making progress. He thought to himself as Ripper delivered a painful kick to his ribs.

The Warehouse District, Sunnydale, Five Minutes Later

"Over here!" the vampire yelled to them.

Looking to where the vampire stood Kenshin was relieved to discover that the undead man had found a building which did not have all its doors locked or sealed shut in some way. Grabbing Buffy by the hand he pulled her towards the door the vampire had opened and led her inside quickly. The others followed and once everyone was inside the vampire slammed the door shut. Not bothering to inform the others of what they already knew must be done he began to look for objects to barricade the door with. Once the door was sufficiently blocked off they could do the same with any other entrances or exits that the place might have. Barrels, boxes and anything made of thick wood or heavy metals were piled around the door in the hopes of keeping it closed or at least making it impossible for the demons to get through that way. As he placed a metal grate on top of the barrels he had placed there though a thunderous booming began coming from the door as the youkai attempted to break the door down. Quickly he looked about for something more, something heavier, to place in the pile in the hopes that it would hold the enemy party back but sadly anything that might be able to the job was too heavy for them to move into place in time. Resigning himself to the fact that they would not be able to hold the enemy back he ceased attempting to pile more objects in front of the door and moved to a strategic position a few feet away.

"What are you doing?" Cordelia asked while trying to ignore Buffy's efforts to cling tightly to her.

"We will not be able to keep them from entering this building." He replied as he withdrew his katana from its sheathe, "Better to prepare to fight than persist in a futile venture."

"What! Are you mentally challenged?" Cordelia exclaimed in both anger and surprise, "There's no way beat them even with Angel's help!"

"It matters not whether or not we can defeat them." He stated as his eyes locked on the door waiting for it to break down, "They will break the door down soon and try to kill us. I have no intention of dying without a fight."

To this she merely looked at him as though he was insane and perhaps to a certain degree he was mad. He had not had time to gain an accurate count of the demons trying to get in but he estimated that were at least ten including the leader. That meant that between himself and the vampire they would have at least five demons apiece to deal with including the vampire leading the enemy party. While he had little doubt that he'd be able to handle his five the vampire had no weapons aside from himself to use against his half of the demons. Hand-to-hand combat was done in close quarters and relied on the assumption that either the user would get in close to his opponents or that the enemy would attack him. In this case however there were at least two other potential targets that the demons would consider prey and would likely attack once they determined that he and the vampire were difficult prey. That would mean that unless he and the vampire finished off their opponents quickly the remaining demons would make short work of Cordelia and Buffy. The first few seconds would decide the battle and as these demons would likely be the biggest threat they would all face tonight he would fight them with all the strength he could muster. It was for moments like these that Hiten Mitsurugi was created and he would obey its principles by defending these innocents from harm.

With a symphony of clangs and bangs as the various objects that had been placed in front of the door to bar the demons' path fell aside the threat was upon them all and the battle joined. As the demons began to pour in he decided that the best course of action would be to defeat each of them in one stroke and quickly move onto the next one. If he took to long to take care of one another would make it past him and threaten the two women under his protection. With that in mind he chose to try and disperse the enemy group to prevent them from forming any sort of collective strategy.

"Hiten Mitsurugi style: Doryusen!" he yelled as he struck the ground with all his strength and speed.

With the impact of his blade he sent a barrage of both stone fragments from the floor as well as shockwaves from the force of the attack into the front ranks of the oncoming demons. While not as effective as he had hoped, given that it knocked down only four demons when he had hoped to knock six to the ground, it did produce the result he had hoped for by dispersing the enemy party.

"Deal with the four who were sent to the ground vampire." Kenshin ordered as he charged forward to deal with, "I will dispatch the rest."

Not even bothering to wait for a reply he leapt over the fallen demons to face those that while dazed by his attack still remained firmly on their feet. The demon he faced first recovered quicker than anticipated and attempted to slash at him but a correctly execute Ryūkansen later striking with the blunt edge of his katana ended that confrontation swiftly. From there matters cot a little more complicated as the demons he was forced to fight were of below average height and surprisingly nimble on their feet. No matter how he tried to deliver a swift but non-lethal blow to them they managed to evade this katana each time. It was then that he realized that he had been exercising unusual restraint with these demons when logically he did not need to. They were demons, not humans, and as such were likely as big a danger to the British colonists as they were to him at the moment. He doubted that the local government would care very much if a few were to die and by restraining himself in this manner he was giving them a sizeable advantage. He knew that if fought to the best of his ability and acted without restraint he could dispatch these small demons quickly but something of which the young woman Willow had spoken about earlier stayed his hand. From what he could recall of her words she seemed to believe that by some manner of magic people in this town had been changed, transformed, against their will. If that was indeed the case with these short demons then they might actually be children completely unaware of what they do. If that was indeed the case he could never justify to himself the use of lethal force on them.

Nevertheless I must deal with them swiftly before any harm befalls Buffy or Cordelia. Kenshin thought to himself as he traveled through his mind for a solution to his current problem.

It came to him in a flash as he deduced the one way he could get them all in one attack. All that was needed was for him to draw them in as close as possible in order to ensure that they received the full force of the attack.

"Is that all you small demons are capable of? Jumping?" he asked them with his best condescending tone, "You are not worth my time."

This caused the three mini-demons to stop their evasion tactics immediately as they glared at him with anger at his insult to their abilities. Then they did the one thing he knew they would in retaliation and attacked him all at once no doubt with the intent of making him regret his words. He grinned minutely in his mind as once again it was proven that if you made fun of a demon it was pretty much guaranteed to attack immediately. In the cases of the more intelligent demons it was because of their pride or their belief that demons were superior to humans in every way. For the dumber ones it was just the usual anger at being made fun of that made them attack. In both cases it was not until their defeat was upon them that they realized that they had been suckered.

So too would it be with these three.

As they flew threw the air towards him he waited until the last possible second before getting his katana into position and executing the Ryūmeisen technique. Slamming the katana back into its sheathe at ultrasonic speed did the trick as it sent a potent shockwave through the air impacting on all three of the attacking mini-demons. This had the effect he desired by temporarily disorienting them and creating an opening for him to neutralize them with minimal effort. Taking his katana out once more he moved swiftly and with three precise swings of his sword he rendered each of the mini-demons unconscious before they even hit the ground. With that threat eliminated he looked about the area for any other threats for him to deal with but what he found made him narrow his eyes in anger. The vampire he had asked to deal with the four demons he had knocked to the ground had indeed done so he had failed to keep three others from getting by him and capturing both Buffy and Cordelia. Not only that but judging by the way he was just now pushing himself to his feet he had been rather soundly beaten in the process. Now matters were worse and as he saw the snow haired vampire that had been leading the group grab the noblewoman Buffy by the throat he knew he would have to make a choice soon.

"I don't know how you got so good with that pig sticker Droopy but it won't help you now." The British Vampire said with hostile intent, "Now drop it or I snap the Slayer's neck like a twig."

The Costume Shop "Ethan's", The Back Room, One Minute Later

"And you said the Ripper was long gone." Ethan managed to get out amidst the groans of pain from his numerous bruises and quite possibly a cracked rib.

Giles ignored that comment of course regardless of how it was somewhat true given that a Watcher wouldn't be nearly as efficient when attempting to extract information. However dire times called for serious solutions and he refused to waste time attempting to reason with the man when his charge was running around thinking she was an airhead of woman with the IQ of a grain of rice. It made him angry to no end when he thought of her choice of costume especially when he had a fair idea what her reason for choosing it had been. While the evidence thus far did indicate that Angel was not your typical vampire and that he was fighting on the side of good he was still not entirely comfortable with the idea of a relationship developing between them. They were just of such different worlds that it would no doubt bring them significant heartache should they continue further and possible heartbreak should there be an obstacle they are unable to overcome. In any case it was neither here nor there at the moment and he would have to break the spell that his former friend had cast before anything could proceed one way or another.

"Tell me how to stop the spell." He said in a tone that made it clear what would happen if he didn't obey.

"Say 'pretty please'." Ethan said mockingly with a laugh almost ready to leave his mouth.

This could take a little more effort than I had anticipated. Giles thought to himself as he delivered a swift kick to the man's gut, I just hope Buffy and the others can stay out of trouble until I can break the spell.

It was only during his application of a little more physical persuasion that he realized hoping for Buffy to stay out of trouble was like hoping all the demons in the world would suddenly drop dead.

To put it plainly his hope was utterly ridiculous.

Warehouse District, Warehouse Number 13, One Minute Later

"Well? What's it going to be Droopy? You gonna drop the sword or am I gonna have to show this bint what it's like to see things sideways?" the snow haired vampire asked with a bit of impatience.

"Since it is almost a certainty that you will kill all of us regardless of what I do I refuse to do as you ask." Kenshin said in a voice so cold even the Grim Reaper would shiver if he heard it.

This took just about everyone by surprise but only the snow haired vampire, the vampire with the human spirit and Willow chose to exclaim "WHAT!"

"However there is one fact that you should be made aware of before you take action." He stated without any emotion whatsoever.

"Oh? And what's that?" the snow haired vampire asked still reeling from this unexpected turn of events.

"That in the time it takes for her to fall to the ground I will be able to cross the fifteen feet between us and separate your head from your shoulders." Kenshin replied with honesty, confidence and deadly intent.

"Xander NO! Don't risk it!" the vampire with the human spirit inside yelled as he tried to free himself from the demon that held him.

"I know not why you have mistaken me for this Xander vampire but I am not him." Kenshin said with his eyes never leaving those of the snow haired vampire, "I have only known Buffy and the others for a few short hours. Their lives mean nothing to me as does yours."

These words seemed to rock the listeners even more than he refusal to drop his Katana and he could see the first signs of anxiety begin to manifest on the snow haired vampire's face. It was time to put the final element of his hastily constructed plan into effect and hope that they all did not pay for it with their lives.

"However as you die take some solace in the fact that the white haired vampire and his minions will be joining you in death not more than a minute afterwards." Kenshin declared as he placed both his body and his sword into an offensive position.

With this final declaration he could see that all three of the enemy vampires including the leader were beginning to wonder if they had enough courage to bet their lives on the belief that the human would not sacrifice his own kind if he could help it. The less intelligent looking demons were definitely looking like they were giving serious thought to abandoning their leader and preserving their own existence. The vampires still seemed confident in their position but that was likely to the unwarranted arrogance that their kind possessed when they compared themselves to ordinary humans. As a whole he could tell that it would take one more push to send them running for their lives but the one move he could think of possessed serious risk to him. However as he saw them begin to misinterpret his silence and lack of movement as evidence stating that he had only been bluffing about not caring about the hostages he knew he had no choice.

"Do not worry though. I will not send you to hell without knowing the name of your killer." He said as he steadily began to stalk towards them, "My true name is for my friends but you may call me Battousai."

It was in that one instant that two things became clear to him: 1) The time to strike was now and 2) these vampires had heard of a name known only to a few select Imperialists. Disregarding the revelation that someone within the Choshu clan had revealed his existence to demons he quickly changed his pace from slow stalking to the speed that was one of three elements that made Hiten Mitsurugi deadly. Like a serpent lashing out at its prey he thrust his katana forward as soon as he was within range of the snow haired vampire skewering his neck just to the right of the middle. The combined shock produced in the vampire from both his sudden increase in speed and the fact that there was a blade in his throat was enough to get him to release Buffy as his hands automatically reached up to grab the foreign object lodged in his throat. However that was what Kenshin had been waiting for and with a little more than a jerk of his arms he decapitated the vampire turning him to ash and killing him for the final time. He did not stop there though for he knew that without their leader both the two remaining vampires as well as the demons would act unpredictably. With this in mind he turned to the vampire on the left and charged him. Apparently though the vampire was still coherent enough to throw a punch at him as he approached but it did the undead man no good as a perfectly executed Ryūkansen swiftly caused the head of the animated corpse to tumble off his shoulders before transforming into a pile of ashes.

One more vampire left to deal with. Kenshin thought to himself as he turned to face the vampire that had been on the right of the leader when his attack had begun.

The Costume Shop Called "Ethan's", Back Room, Same Time

"Now, tell me how to stop the spell." Giles asked his 'old friend' once more after viciously kicking him in the ribs.

"Janus. Break its statue." Was all Ethan could apparently get out given how painful it was for him to breath at the moment given his injuries.

This had bloody better work! Giles thought to himself as he walked over to the bust of Janus and picked it up with both hands.

Raising the stone sculpture above his head he heaved it downward with all his strength towards the stone floor in front of him. When stone met stone one of them had to break and given that the floor was much stronger than thicker than the puny stone head it had little trouble turning one single piece into many pieces. With the destruction of the focus of the spell the energy that had been emitting waves that spanned the town gave off one final surge of power before dissipating completely. Little did the Watcher assigned to the current Slayer know that while most of those changed by the spell would return to normal with only fading memories left in them there would be one who be a constant reminder of what happened this night.

Needless to say when he found out who that reminder was his desire to beat his 'old friend' to a bloody pulp was significantly raised.

Warehouse District, One Second After the Janus Bust was Shattered

For one Xander Harris good timing was something that he never really associated with himself given how he always seemed to have arrived home just in time to catch the brunt of Tony's drunken rage or too late to take a test that he really needed to ace. Willow had tried to help him fix this little quirk but unfortunately all they managed to do was pass his bad timing onto her. Their only real hope had been that it was something he would grow out of eventually but here tonight his bad timing decided to remind him that it was still there and going strong. One second he was in the middle of a street getting ready to take some kids to the next house on their trick or treat route and now he was holding onto the katana that had been packed with his costume and the pointy end was stuck halfway through a vamps neck.

"What the…?" he said in confusion but before he could complete his sentence or form a new one the vamp he was cutting into decided to give him a painful surprise.

One punch to the jaw later and he was on the floor seeing stars while the vamp pulled the sword out of his neck and decided to take care of an obvious threat to his kind. Xander looked up just in time to see the vamp ready to cleave him in two before someone kicked the bloodsucker in the back causing him to drop the katana as he stumbled forward. That same someone caught the sword before it could hit the ground and finished the job he had started lopping the corpse's head off with one swing. The Zeppo smiled as there was only one person he knew of who could do all that in one go without making a mistake. His theory was validated when the vamp dust cloud cleared and he saw Buffy standing there with katana in hand.

"Hey Xan!" she said as she gave the sword a quick twirl, "You alright?"

"Nothing a pack of ice and some painkillers wouldn't cure." He said getting up with his right hand rubbing the sore spot where the vamp's fist had connected.

"I'll get you an ice bag when we get home." Buffy said as she looked down at the katana in her hand and asked, "Xander? Why are you carrying around a real katana and not a fake costume one?"

That question hit him out of left field and he was left fumbling for an answer that wouldn't have the Slayer tearing up the town for human she couldn't kill but who were all too willing to kill her.

"I'm scared! I want my mommy!" Bellowed one of the kids setting off a storm of crying and whining that immediately drew the attention of every young adult in the room.

"How about we deal with these kids first and then ask about the perfectly explainable sharp katana?" he asked as he extended his hand in an unofficial request to have it back.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment but then she nodded in agreement with his suggestion and his request as he passed the katana back to him. Not hesitating and hoping that the out of sight out of mind strategy worked on the Slayer he placed the katana back in its sheath. Hopefully by the time they got all the kids back to their parents and then got back to the Summers house Buffy would be too tired to interrogate him until a much later date. Right then it was like a bolt of lightning shot through his head as at the mention of the Summers' house he remembered the destroyed bedroom door and the three unconscious ninja. The ninjas were probably back to being plain old trick or treaters and hopefully would just head back home rather than do something nuts like ransack the place. The door on the other hand would be a tad harder to cover up when Mrs. Summers got back as he doubted any 'normal' excuses he and Buffy could come up with would fly with Joyce.

On the plus side though it was Buffy's door and that means that until it's replaced I'll have an unobstructed view into her room! He thought to himself as his mind entered a happy place, Definitely well worth the verbal thrashing from Mrs. S!

A Back Alleyway, Two Blocks and Growing From the Costume Shop "Ethan's"

Two Minutes Later

Better luck next time Ripper! Ethan thought to himself as he continued to put as much distance between himself and his former 'business' as he could.

While he was tempted to stick around Sunnydale for the foreseeable future in order to needle his old chum some more he decided this once to choose a quick escape instead. While he was fairly certain he could handle any sort of trouble the old boy through his way he was not quite sure he was in such a favorable position with the man who had hired him to pull this little bit of chaos off in the first place. The man hadn't been exact with the specific details of what he wanted to have done aside from 'get this costume to that boy and perform the spell' so there was no telling how he'd take the spell ending so soon or it being traced to an actual person. If he had unknowingly slipped into the 'loose end' category then it would be in his best interest to disappear for a few months and wait for his former employer to lose interest in finding him. Then he could use what resources he had to forge a new identity for himself and start his fun anew.

However a fiery pain in his leg and an unexpected tumble to the ground however informed him that his plans had been rewritten rather forcefully. He tried one time and one time only to get back to his feet but the moment he tried to put any weight on his right leg the pain he felt went from fiery to straight from the sun pain. Looking down at the problematic leg he quickly discovered why he couldn't stand up as there was a rather peculiar looking spear sticking out of it just above the knee joint. It was peculiar because while at one end it did have the requisite sharp point on the other end it had what looked like a solid metal sphere about the same size as a bowling ball. The next question on his mind while important was answered before he could even think it as a man dropped down on his right. The man was fairly tall with 'not ugly but not handsome' features dressed in black ops gear and what looked like a small metal shield on his back. What caused Ethan to begin trembling in fear though was that the man wore a strip of cloth across his eyes with the words 'Eye of the Heart' written on it in Japanese.

"B-bloody HELL!" he exclaimed in fear as all the rumors, half-truths and crumbs of info he could remember about this man surged to the front of his mind.

"Not yet Mr. Rayne but soon." The man said in a perfectly polite and courteous tone of voice, "I'm afraid my master is most displeased with how you performed the task you were hired for and wants some information before he is done with you."

"I'll tell him anything he wants to know! Anything!" Ethan exclaimed quickly as a glimmer of hope concerning his continued existence began to grow.

"You misunderstand me Mr. Rayne. You will not be talking to my Master but rather to me." The 'Eye of the Heart' stated never losing his polite tone of voice, "Also I will be handling your travel arrangements after you give me the information my Master wants. Don't worry, it will be very warm indeed!"

It was in that moment that Ethan Thomas Rayne learned that there was indeed such a thing as karma and that any evil deeds you do unto others would eventually be visited on you.

Summers' Home, The Next Morning

Man! What a night! Xander thought to himself as he opened the door to his room on the way to the bathroom.

It had taken the gang two hours to meet back up and return all the kids they had been assigned to the high school but in the end they did it and thus avoided any gleefully dispensed punishment from Herr Snyder. Once that was done they all decided that the best thing to do now was to head home and catch some sleep both to cope with not being in the driver's seat of their own bodies for a few hours as well as all the running they did. By the time he had opened the door to his bedroom he had been too tired to even bother to take off his costume and had more or less collapsed on his bed going off to dreamland a few seconds later. Mrs. Summers had apparently returned before them as he and Buffy had found a note on the counter informing them that they'd talk about the demolished door tomorrow. Needless to say both of them had been eager for sleep after reading the note as neither one of them wanted to even think of what trouble awaited them the next day.

Knowing our luck she's going to have us install the new door and pay for it as well! He thought to himself as closed the bathroom door and answered nature's morning call.

Once that stinky bit of business was out of the way he walked up to the mirror intent on brushing his teeth when he decided he might as well take off the wig and take out the contact lenses first and foremost since he'd look a little odd going downstairs for breakfast. Reaching up with his right and left hand he began searching the edges of the wig for the clasps that had kept the wig from getting knocked askew or off last night. However he soon became somewhat confused since no matter where on the boarder between hair and skin he touched he could not find a way to reach under the wig and undo the clasps. Figuring he must've just done too good a job at making sure the clasps weren't visible by tucking them under pretty deep he decided to go for the slightly painful route of just pulling the wig off. Sure he would lose a few pinches of hair and it would hurt but it would only be temporary. So grabbing a handful of reddish-orange hair with his right hand he gave a powerful yank and let out a potent cry of pain less than a second later. Against all logic he could currently come up with it had felt like he had been trying to pull out his own hair just then rather than wig hair. Deciding to give it one more try just in case it was the too tight wig clasps that had caused his pain rather than the unthinkable alternative. Yanking on the red-orange hair again he was treated to yet another helping of pain as the sensation of pulling on one's own natural hair once more graced his senses. It was with this second failed try at removing the 'wig' that an unpleasant possibility crept into his mind and immediately caused him to get up real close with the bathroom mirror. Opening his left eye as wide as it would go and then opening it wider with his fingers he reached up with his right hand to try and remove the contact lenses. True this was his first time using them but he figured as long as he was slow and gentle he shouldn't poke out his own eye by mistake.

Unfortunately fate decided to decree he should go O for two in his attempt to remove his costume since after five painful tries and much blinking later he discovered much to his rising feelings of anxiety that his contact lenses were lenses no more. To this new situation there were numerous reactions he could have employed to deal with the thoughts and emotions he was now feeling. In the end though he decided to do what came naturally to him.

"Um, Buffy? I think I have a bit of situation going on here!" he yelled in much the same way someone would yell to get their sibling to help them clean up a mess before their folks got home.