Chapter 4

Katsura didn't know why Ikumatsu-dono's kidnappers wanted him, of all people, to shut off the power to half of the city. While it was true that he had the means and ability to pull off such a feat, there had to be someone safer or more easily bribed to deal with for the task. If the kidnappers knew him well enough to know of his friendship towards their victim, then they had to know how dangerous he could be. As far as he was concerned the only person in Edo that might be more dangerous than him to blackmail was Gintoki.

Given the time frame that was set, Katsura couldn't afford to waste much of it on idle speculation. He needed information. The kidnappers killing their messenger made tracking them down more difficult, but, if he could find the assassin that they had hired, he could probably obtain even better information. His next logical course of action would obviously have to be to head to the amusement park and to take a ride on the teacups.

Still wearing the stolen Shinsengumi uniform, he headed for the amusement park. He enjoyed spending time there. Many of the games were great for conditioning reflexes and hand eye coordination. In the past he had even worked there to make some extra money to help fund his Joui activities.

Katsura made good time to the park. He smiled when he saw one of his fellow Joui members, Amaro-san, working the ticket booth. It would mean that he wouldn't have to sneak in to avoid the gate cost.

When he finally made it to the front of the line, Amaro-san recognized him despite the uniform he was wearing. "On behalf of Edo Parks I'd like to thank you for your service sir. Please go right on in," he said to Katsura with a conspiratorial grin and Katsura solemnly nodded in response.

Once inside he made a beeline for the cotton candy vender. It wasn't that he was a fan of the sticky confection, but when one went to the amusement park one must buy some cotton candy. He only hoped that they still had some of the green colored stuff left.

The first vender he found was sold out. The man tried to offer him some of the purple but that would make for a poor substitute of green cotton candy. The second vendor also seemed to be sold out of the green colored sweet. The man even had the nerve to get mad at him when he voiced his complaint. Yes, he knew that each color tasted the same but it was imperative that he had the green colored. When he bought cotton candy he always bought the green.

Finally at the third vendor he found a small stick of green colored cotton candy. He sighed with relief. He didn't know what he would have done if the whole park had been sold out. He gave the man a couple hundred yen and then made his way over towards the spinning teacups.

Katsura got in line for the teacup ride, holding the cotton candy like a torch to light his way. Just as he was about to get on the ride the conductor stopped him. "No food or drink on the ride," he said pointing to the rules sign posted in the most inconvenient spot to read.

"I'm sure you can make an exception, sir," Katsura replied respectably.

The man's eyes narrowed and gave Katsura a though look. "No exceptions," the man said succinctly, pointing to the sign once more.

Katsura gave an exasperated sign. "I would like to talk to your manager, sir."

The conductor gave him an unrepentant grin. "Sure, whatever you want. He's in the back," he said pointing to the small building behind the ride. "But be warned you won't get any further with him than you did with me."

Katsura made the short trek to the small building, knocked twice and entered without waiting for a response. Inside there was just one room. A table separated the room and on the far side sat an old man sipping tea.

"Throw away that infernal cavity inducing crap and come site down," the man irritably said to him.

Spying a trash can to his left he unceremoniously dropped the cotton candy into it. "Why make people buy cotton candy as a signal to request a visit if you hate it so much?"

The old man made a sour face and pulled a pair of fake teeth from his mouth. "Years ago, when I started this gig, I had all my teeth and would enjoy eating the damn confection. Now with them all rotted out I've lost my taste for it and it's too much of a pain in the rump to change the signal." Without his teeth globs of spittle flew from his mouth as he talked. He put his dentures back in before he continued. "Now tell me what you want Kotaro Katsura before I decide to turn you in to the Shinsengumi myself for the price on your head."

Katsura ran down the list of the few things he knew about this old man in his head. It seemed nobody knew his name. When someone did mention him to others, it was always in hushed tones and he was only referred to as 'the old man'. He had strong ties to the seedy underground of Edo, but somehow kept himself free from its backstabbing politics. He was probably the only man Katsura could go to for the information he needed and he knew that it wasn't going to come cheap.

"I need to find an assassin."

"You expect me to believe that Kotaro Katsura needs to hire an assassin," he laughed. "Bah, tell me the reason you need an assassin.

"I would rather not say," Katsura replied.

"Listen well boy, I'm not going tell you anything about any assassin until I know you're not planning on killing one. I have no damned interested in getting in the middle of some maudlin revenge plot."

"It is not the assassin I am looking for, just her last employer."

"And what if this evidently female assassin refuses to give up her employer's name? Some of them can be quite picky about that I'm told." The old man took a sip from his tea cup. Though he looked relaxed Katsura could tell that he was ready to strike at any sign of provocation. It was just as well that Katsura had no plans of provoking him.

"I am not a murderer. You have my word as a samurai that I will not harm her."

The old man gave him a hard look and then nodded his head in acceptance. "The price for my information will be a favor from you once your business has been completed. If you agree to this price then tell me the name of the assassin you're looking for."

"Her name is Haku."