Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters
The beginning of the end
It was morning now. Outside, Omasu, Okon and Hiko were standing guard. Megumi and Sano were sitting on the clinic steps with Suzume, waiting for the others to wake up
"They had a long night" said Megumi
"The hell they did. There was even a shouting match between the icicle, the wolf and Kenshin over Misao, it was fun" said Sano
"Rooster!" said Yahiko from the distance
"Brat, good morning Yahiko-chan" said Sano with malice "I see you brought your girlfriend. What is that, in the bundle?"
"These are for you guys out here, is breakfast" answer Tsubame shyly
"Thank you Tsubame, very kind. Forgive the rooster head here." Said Megumi
"I wanna see them Megumi" said Yahiko
"Me too" said Suzume
"They are sleep, but they must wake up and take the medicine, its time" she said getting up and motioning everyone to come inside
They all went to the recovery room and opened the door. The view was quite fun. Kenshin was spooning Kaoru, the same than Saito was Tokio. Aoshi lay on his back, and Misao, well… she was resting her head on the wall behind her.
Kenshin and Saito felt the presences, but only Kenshin acknowledge them. He got his head up, sleepily and looked around trying to see anything trough his daze gaze
"They look so cute" said Megumi
"Grouse" said Yahiko
"Hey Suzume, why don't you go and say hello to Saito-oji?" said Sano to Suzume
"Hai" she answers, passing through the adults. She went to the side of Saito's bed and then jumped on it, hugging Saito and Tokio from behind. Saito jumped almost to the ceiling, only in his western loincloth, and then Tokio screamed. Kenshin, who was still sleepy, recovered quickly, but before he could do anything, Kaoru got alarm and went to rise, putting her heel up and hit Kenshin in… well a very painful place. Kenshin fell from the bed to the floor smoothly, only in his loincloth. Misao woke from the screams and she jumped in alarm. Laughter could be heard from 70 kilometers
Saito landed gracefully on his food, at Battousai's side. When he saw the ball that was half cover by red hair, and the look of horror from the tanuki, he could imagine what happened. Everyone was laughing soo hard. He kneeled and said
"Are you ok Battousai?" asked Saito in understanding
"He is not wolf" said Sano between laughs "if you did not want children Jou-chan, I am pretty sure Kenshin would of understand, but that was drastic"
"Yeah busu, you made a good one now" said Yahiko laughing
"My baka-deshi wont have any baka's running around I see, what a relieve" said Hiko, who was laughing very hard. Omasu and Okon were at his side, laughing behind their kimono sleeve. Aoshi turned around and saw the most feared and deathly samurai of all Japan on the floor, on a ball. He could not help but laugh
"Anata are you ok?" asked Kaoru pushing Saito out of the way.
"I………….." Kenshin could not talk. He never felt such a pain 'why did I have to fell in love with a kenjutsu instructor?'
"Himura, are you ok?" asked Misao
"Ken-nii, are you ok?" asked Suzume walking to the border of the bed and looking down
He tried to stand but could only manage to fell to the side. Megumi went to his side and said
"Breath"
"I am trying" he said in a hiss
Saito turned around and gave Suzume the hug that she wanted earlier. After they separate, Suzume went to Aoshi's side and kiss his cheek
"Baka-deshi get up, is not that bad" said Hiko
"Go to hell" said a very, very, very cold and dangerous voice
"Don't you dare talk to me like that" said Hiko
"I speak to you as I wish and yes, go to hell" said Battousai bitterly
Saito went to retrieve his pants and put them on. His limbs were still numb, but at least he had a good star compare to Battousai. He putted his shirt and then said
"I know that you are in pain, but we need to go to the station. Get up, come on" said Saito
Kenshin got on his knees, and the stood up in his full height. His bangs covered his eyes. He quietly took his hakama and haori, put them on and then went out of the door, pushing the small crown aside.
Kaoru looked hurt, but Saito said "You might rather not hear him now. He is piss, but not because of you" he said looking at Hiko. He took the nijontou and the sakaba and went out of the door
"We will be at the dojo a little after lunch. See you then" said going the way the Battousai had gone. He found him on a corner, with a bag of ice between his legs. Saito laughed at this
"Zip it wolf, or you will suffer the same" said Battousai
"No thanks" he said throwing him the sakaba "let's go"
Kenshin got up and began to walk, in a lot of pain, to the police station. He had his eyes covered by his bangs, his sakaba at his side and was dress in a bloody haori and dirty hakama.
They got to the police station soon after, without speaking a word to each other
"Inspector Fujita, are you ok sir? I heard about what happened last night" said a young officer
"Aa… This is Himura" said Saito pointing at Kenshin. The young officer fidgets when he sees Kenshin all cover in blood "Korei, go bring a pair of pants and a shirt that would fit Himura. I need you to make an appointment with Uramura, Kawaji and Yamagata-san as soon as possible. Say that is quite urgent that we hear word from them. What are you waiting for? An invitation maybe?"
The young officer ran as fast as he could to do as his inspector said. You could hear a murmur of 'moron' coming from Saito
"Come Himura, follow me"
'I don't like the wolf busing us around'
Me neither, but I am afraid that we have to hear him. You know he is a good allie
"As soon as that moron returns, you can put the cloth he brings. We have to meet Yamagata now. I am sure that last night attack was because of the trouble with those morons at the entrance of the festival. They did not know who we were, but even so they were after blood. I kind of have a bad feeling, they had guns and access to a pretty powerful poison. They did not have skill, but even so the guns worry me" said Saito seriously
"I wonder if this is something bigger than just yakuzas. I hope that is nothing big"
There was a nock on the door and Korei entered the room with a blue pant and a nice white shirt "This is what I could fine sir. The meeting is schedule in a half an hour. The carriage will be waiting for you at the door. Anything else sir?"
"Aa, get out" said Saito
"Here Battousai, get this and try it on, we don't have much time" said Saito throwing Kenshin the pant and the shirt
"Do I really have to put this on?" asked Kenshin
"Aa, or do you wanna meet Yamagata and company in a very bloody haori and give the wrong impression? You know what I mean." Said Saito eying Kenshin carefully "Let me state something, our grudge was not personal, it was all business. I do wanna fight with you again, but that is because I wanna prove my skills, but we will postpone that indefinitely. Now go try that behind the screen. I am pretty sure that there is a black undershirt there, you can have it also."
Kenshin went behind the screen feeling not all too comfortable and put on the pant. It was not that bad, they were similar to the one that he used to train with in the mountain. He put the undershirt on, a little big but not that much and then put the white shirt over it. He got out of behind the screen
"Well, well Battousai, is not that bad" said Saito with a mocking smirk "need help with the buttons?" his smirk widen
"No thanks wolf. Let's go to that meeting and lets get it over with" said Kenshin throwing the bundle that was now his cloth over Saito's desk and taking his sakaba in his hand. They got out of the office
"Sir, here you have some shoes, I hope that they fit you" said officer Korei
"Thank you Korei-san" said Kenshin. Saito growled
They entered the carriage and Kenshin began buttoning the shirt. After what seamed like hours, he finished the button and went to put his shoes on. He felt quite weird, but not quite uncomfortable.
"So what is the plan Saito? What are we going to say?" said Kenshin
" Well I thought that we say all that happened last night and ask if they have any idea of what is going on. This smell kind of bad"
"Aa, I agree"
"Let's just hope that its nothing much, but tanuki and Tokio's good, I don't think that they could stand another Shishio affair" said Saito looking worried
"Sir, we are here" said the driver
They got down and went inside of the Ministry of Defense, where Yamagata's office was located. A young officer made a move to take the katana's that both men had in their hands but stopped suddenly when he saw whom those two people were. The tall, grumpy guy was the police senior inspector and the shorter one, red hair, cross-shaped scar…
"Battousai!" the officer screamed. Everyone went deathly silent after that. Saito shot a glare towards the officer and then went on his way.
They went through a large hallway. Kenshin was feeling kind of bad with the reactions of the people there. They soon stood in front of a large door and opened it
"Himura, Saito, welcome" said Uramura, the police chief and commander "I thought that you did not like western cloth Himura"
Kenshin's eyes turned gold while he answer in a low voice "I am dress like this because of circumstances, nothing more"
"Wait, no politeness? Are my eyes deceiving me and I am seeing the old Himura? I can see that the years have not change you one bit. You might have learned to hide the smart-ass mouth you were, but I knew you were still in there. Last time we saw, I was quite surprise of how polite you were" said a voice from the shadows. Kenshin looked around, confuse at the comment
"Yamagata" said Kenshin simply
"Aa Himura. I am impress, every time I look at you, instead of seeing you older, you look the same" said Yamagata. Kenshin's face was emotionless
"Yes, he does look the same, like a kid" said Kawaji
Kenshin's solid gold orbs turned to him with a deathly glare. Kawaji shivered
"It is true!"
"Is it true that you were attacked last night? I understand that it was by a group of yakuza because you punch two bosses for messing with your women, am I right?" said Yamagata, saving Kawaji the uncomfortable and not so pleasurable glare from the former Battousai
"Are you married Himura?" asked Uramura carefully "How is your wife Saito?"
"She is fine. No, Himura is not married yet, and yes, you are right" said Saito to Yamagata "they did not know who we were when we hit them, only me, but somehow they either suspected that we were warriors or they just decided to take precautions by poising us with a real potent piece of work"
"Well Saito, I am sure that they knew you were assistant inspector Fujita Goro, but not Saito Hajime" said Kenshin
"Inspector Battousai, and yes they knew about Fujita, but not you. They almost pie their pants when they recognize you" said Saito
"They trusted the poison. I am the first to acknowledge that it was pretty potent, but still, it is kind of weird, which makes me wonder…" Kenshin just went deep inside his thoughts
I wonder if this is not coincidental
What do you mean?
The drug was very, very, very powerful. I lost reason and some reflexes for quite a long time. They have guns, drugs… it makes me wonder if this could be a case of arms deal
Then this is worst than we first thought. This might have something to do with Kanryuu's league, and it could even be him
"Battousai, come back with us would you?" said Saito snapping his fingers in front of Kenshin's face "what were you thinking?"
"This is way bigger than you think" said a very angry Kenshin "this is an arms deal issue, of that I am sure. Why then they know who you were, why did they want to kill you after they got us poison, maybe they did not want you to know something about them, a deal perhaps?… why would they have access to guns and drugs… I am sure they knew you and I have the suspicion they knew Aoshi too. They did not know who I was, mainly because I am not suppose to be allies with Shinomori Aoshi and the wolf of Mibu, and much less with Fujita Goro. I think this goes as far as Takeda Kanryuu"
"Wait a second, is a common knowledge, for anyone who cares to ask, that you are allies with Shinomori and the Oniwabanshu" said Saito
"Perhaps, but if I am right as how far this goes, they might not know that or suspect that is just a way for Shinomori to get close to me. They might know that Shinomori Aoshi, former Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, former member of Shishio's Jupongatana and they might know now that he is in love with the actual Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, allies or just friends for convenience to me, close friends somehow… and you Saito, are with us for some reason… They did not think that they would have to face us, of that I am sure. What do you think?"
"It sounds logical to me. They also wanted to pass unsuspected. Then this is really worse, this is underworld" said Saito
"What is their goal then? Just arms dealing or something bigger?" asked Uramura
"I am afraid that if we don't act quickly enough, this might become something of Shishio's league" said Yamagata
"So we need to go underworld with the best we have and kill the leaders" said Uramura
"Aa, I am afraid so" said Yamagata
"They must have or are beginning to ensemble an spy network… I believe that we must do it fast and put the best of the best in there" said Kawaji "It needs to be done fast enough so they don't get advantage. I suspect that this is an early stage of some kind of a plan, and we are early enough to stop anything so we need to move fast"
"We need to kill the leaders. That is a must do" said Yamagata
Saito and Kenshin looked at each other, and they shared a concern look
"We are not going to the shadows" said Kenshin
"I agree"
"We don't need you two in the underworld. We need you to deal with the bosses" said Yamagata
"Since when do I work for you?" said Kenshin acidly
"Stop been an smart ass with me Himura. Damn it, this is serious." Said Yamagata "I don't feel like fighting a revolution and seeing how the young die in front of me again"
"I know what you are expecting from me, and my answer is no. I have change Yamagata, I am not Meiji's toy anymore" said Kenshin
"Think Himura, your woman is in danger too. They know who you are; you are a symbol and clearly a very huge obstacle in their way. All the people you know, including the former and present Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, the ex-fighter for hire, the couple of doctor with the small children, the wolf, his wife and the kid you saved from Shishio's village, Eiji, but especially your woman and the ex-pick pocket kid, they are all in grave danger now" said Yamagata
Kenshin, no… Battousai walked to the table they were sitting in and he went to stand in front of Yamagata, locking his fire amber gaze with him and said in a very low, dangerous and piss voice, several octaves lower than his normal rurouni one
"Are you treating me?" said Battousai "don't pretend that you care, you never have"
"Of course I did care Himura. Kenshin, I regret all that I had put you through, as well as Katsura… I really do, I wish that there was another way… for goodness sake, I almost got you insane, but now duty calls again" said Yamagata
"Shut up, keep your lies to yourself Yamagata. I wont kill for you again and that is final"
"I sympathize with you Himura, I really do, but you almost did yesterday when they were threatening Kaoru and the rest" said Saito, mildly curious to what would be Kenshin's reaction
"Saito, my rurouni part is willing to break the vow to protect her, true, but not kill at will just because. My Hitokiri part is not just willing to kill for her, but to also die for her" said Battousai covering his eyes with his bangs "Do you understand wolf?"
"Aa, I really do Himura, that is why I am afraid that we have to help them. I will do what is necessary to protect my family and even yours. Remember what happened to Shinomori for being selfish, all the best Oniwabanshu warriors died by a Gatling gun"
"You don't have to remember me about it, I was there" said Battousai "but is not an easy decision and neither is mine alone, not anymore"
"You found your sheath I see" said Yamagata smiling. Battousai turned his yellow bright orbs to him "That was Katsura's and my dream, to see you settle and finally happy"
Battousai's
eyes got softer to a pleasant gold. He merely turned around saying
"Yamagata, are you asking me to go back to the shadows to kill the
leaders?" asked Kenshin
"Aa… can you at least think about
it?" asked Yamagata
"Please Himura, Saito, think about it, we depend upon you" said Uramura
"We will get back to you in two days" said Saito "shall we go? Everyone must be getting back to the dojo and I am sure that you would like to have lunch with them or something. See you in two days, no sooner, no later"
"All right Saito. Himura" said Yamagata
Kenshin and Saito turned around and went to the exit where the carriage was waiting for them. Kenshin was trouble and Saito saw it, and was wise enough not to say anything but
"Put your best face for your Tanuki girl Battousai, calm down a bit, you will have time to talk about it later"
Kenshin looked up and simply nodded. They were going to have to do a lot of thinking later… the "happy" morning awakening seams like ages ago now. He was about to be force to decide something that he might regret forever yet again.
Please read and review I like how the story is going, but give me your opinion, PLEASE?
Onegai???
