Uwaah! I've finally finished school! *ahem* Thank you for the lovely reviews :D

~Chapter 3: Ripples in a tranquil pond~

"Oh. just you Kiri-chan? What's with the get-up?"

Shin-chan yawns and looks at me with a disinterested face as I brush my long hair back out of my eyes. "Just a disguise I have to wear while pretending to be a maiko, genius. What are you doing walking around like that?"

He raises an eyebrow and pulls the chair next to me out and sits down with a thud. "Oi, Atsushi, the usual." He sighs and massages his temples slowly before turning his face to look at me. " There's been rumours...of onryo roaming the streets at night." He grabs the cup from Atsushi and chugs it down quickly, throwing his head back so his fringe brushes his cheeks and reveals the scar next to his eye. "...Several men have been killed or injured due to the onryo, all reports are fairly consistent, with descriptions of them having white hair, red eyes, unnaturally sharp teeth and all possessed swords. Geez.." he rests his head onto his right hand and stares at the tiny drops of sake left in his cup as they slide down slowly "I don't know the details, but something tells me this is more than just something to lower morale . Geez, I'm already worked to the bone and now this?"

"Pfft, what are you doing listening to baseless rumours like that?" I laugh and elbow him playfully so that his hand shakes and the remaining liquid in the cup splashes on his face. " Even I've heard of stories about the Onryo roaming the streets at night, it's something Onee-sama used to tell me to make me come home before dark. Don't tell me you're turning back into a child again. Aww. does Shin-chan miss being a little kid?"

"My naïve Kiri-chan, there's always an element of truth to every rumour. No matter how unbelievable it might be." He wipes the sake off his face while still managing to look cool and flicks me on the forehead for payback "My instinct tells me that there could be a connection with the Bakufu...or perhaps some yasha have been angered? hehehe.." he falls silent for a moment then smiles as if a sudden evil plan popped into his head. "Shall we leave now? Being out together at a time like this...mm.. I wouldn't want Otome-shi to kill me ."

He has a point. Even though everyone knows we're practically family, that doesn't stop the rumours of Shin-chan and I being a couple from surfacing. ..and knowing my dear big sister, if rumours like that were to reach her ears; there's no doubt she'd bare-handedly slit Shin-chan's throat and keep me locked up indoors until she finds a 'suitable husband'. No thank YOU.

~x~x~x~

"By the way, have you heard anything from Miyabe-san lately?" I climb onto the fence and spread my arms out for balance while Shin-chan walks on the ground like a normal person. "Nup. Nothing at all, and this is quite strange for a violent and impatient bastard like that. My guess is he took Ryo's advice and headed down to Edo to blow off some steam safely."

I nod silently and keep walking. Miyabe-san is someone we can somewhat call an ally since he too supports the Emperor and disproves of the Bakufu, however while Onii-sama and Shin-chan are more focused on politically resolving this issue, Miyabe-san and quite a lot of the other Ishin Isshi believe violence is the answer. The last we had seen of him, he had gotten his ass handed neatly to him by Onii-sama and thrown a tantrum before stomping off to Edo. Though, seeing as we hadn't heard anything about him , which was out of character made me feel somewhat uneasy. Now there was also the issue of the Onryo roaming the streets. Things just can't go smoothly for me it seems.

"...uhh.." A man walks unsteadily over to us, his head slightly askew and stands motionless for a moment "...guuh..." Seeing that his hakama is torn in several places and covered in blood stains, not to mention the swords at his side, it's safe to assume that this man is possibly a ronin.

"Uh, is something the matter?" I leap down from the fence and look worriedly at him, maybe he just came back from a job...being a mercenary perhaps? Hmmm... the man says nothing, only makes groaning noises and seeing as I'm unsure of what to do, I glance over at Shin-chan in the hopes he'll lend me some sagely advice. "..Kiri-chan. Get behind.." His gaze is focused on the swordsman and his right hand is fingering the hilt of his sword. "huh?" I dumbly struggle to understand what he just said. Thankfully, Shin-chan is aware not everyone can follow his genius and explains in simple terms for me.

"Tsk, take a good look at his haori. Notice anything?" I follow the direction of his finger. That's when I see it. The torn flapping cloth near the man's waist, clearly has the design of the Roshigumi uniform. Well, now was a more ideal time to leave then ever. Keeping a low profile was what we were supposed to be doing after all.

"...hurts...IT HURTS! Graaaaaah! ARGHH!" The Roshigumi's veiny hands clutch at his head tightly, as he convulses in pain writhing on the ground. "guhhh...rughhh..." A choking guttural sound escapes his throat and his messy black hair slowly fades to a blinding white which seems to glow in the dim streetlight. "...hrgh..." Red eyes blink slowly as the man shakily gets to his feet and bares his unusually long teeth into a twisted smile. Make that unusually long and sharp teeth. This doesn't look good.

I sneak a glance at Shin-chan who frowns and tightens his grip on my arm. "You know how you were talking about the Onryo?...well, looks like it's not a rumour after all." Evidently Shin-chan seemed to notice the Roshigumi's 'miraculous transformation' before I did because the katana he normally keeps sheathed at his side has been drawn out and pointed towards the so-called 'Onryo'. "Back me up Kiri-chan." I nod and sprint to the other side so that we surround the Roshigumi. The two remain motionless, staring each other down in a tense silent stand-off. I slide the Apache onto my knuckles and draw my fists up to my chest, ready to back up Shin-chan.

"graaar!"

The Onryo is the first to make a move, his katana raised diagonally over his right shoulder and slashing in a forward motion ahead of himself. Shin-chan nimbly steps just beyond the katana's reach and sidesteps back again, smirking as the Onryo growls in frustration and randomly waves the sword around, creating small blasts of air with each destructive swing. I guess he's lost his humanity AND sense of reason now. "...scum.." Shin-chan raises the hilt of his katana above his shoulder, so that the kissaki is aligned along with the ground and puts his weight onto his left foot. He sucks in a breath and swiftly springs forward, using the boost to add more damage to the slash and lowers the sword with deadly speed.

There is a faint crunching noise as Shin-chan's sword saws through flesh and blood. The Onryo's hands fall to the ground with a wet thud, one of the hands is still gripping tightly onto the katana. It rolls carelessly on the ground with a hollow sound, before resting at the end of the street. "GRRR...GYAHHH!" The Onryo howls in what I assume to be a mixture of anger and pain and convulses as blood spurts from the stumps on its arms. "Tch." Shin-chan flicks his sword and wipes the blade with the edge of his haori."...!" He whirls around sharply, just in time to counter a rough swing from ANOTHER Onryo. He's also wearing the Roshigumi's distinct haori and stares at us with a possessed look on his face.

"GIVE...ME...BLOOD!" A wild swipe barely misses slicing my face clean off. Panting slightly, I duck to the right and raise my foot up high, slamming as hard as I can onto his spine. There is a cracking sound and my foot instantly tingles with recoil as the Onryo roars with pain and charges ahead at me. Guh, what a time to NOT have my trusty Snyder with me!. The body crumples to the ground and lays twitching pitifully. "Bloood...give...me..." The half collapsing body slowly gets to its feet, completely ignoring the gaping hole in its chest. From the looks of it, these guys aren't going down so easily, in that case, striking the head should do the job. Clenching my fists tightly around the Apache and cocking it as far as I can, I hunch my back and sprint towards the Onryo. One step, two, three, four! I focus my strength I and punch as hard as I can. The mechanism fires upon impact and the rest of my lower arm digs right through its skull. *Shlck* The familiar boiling sensation around my lower arm sends a shiver down my spine and I quickly withdraw my hand from the collapsing head.

"huff.." I pant and shake my wet fists, spraying red droplets onto the ground. "..errggh...disgusting.." I shudder a few times and wipe as much of it as I can onto the sleeves of my kimono. Ah well, looks like I've got major explaining for Karyu-sama... Why the hell did the maiko kimonos have to be so expensive!

Slightly up ahead, Shin-chan has already dispatched the Onryo's head from its body and is calmly wiping his blade clean with the sleeves of his haori. Dammit Shin-chan, don't you know how hard it is to wash blood out of clothes? not to mention YOU'RE the one who insists on wearing the same haori practically everyday! 'lucky' haori my ass.

"...Shin-chan? what are you doing?"

"Huh. What do you think?" He nonchalantly grabs the corpses by the hair and proceeds to drag them behind him, ignoring the fact that he's literally painting the streets red with their blood and smearing offal in the process. " Now that I have decisive evidence of the Roshigumi up to something dangerous and no doubt threatening the peace, I'll definitely use it."

I say nothing and follow him silently, resisting the urge to retch when the smell still lingers around the area. "ugh..." My hands are caked in blood and as it gradually hardens, the feeling is unbearable. "Shin-chan...shouldn't we bring the corpses directly back...instead?" Lugging these things all the way back to our base would be harder, but I figure actually ensuring Onii-sama and all the other membes see it with their own eyes makes a much more credible source. "Come on, the suns coming up and this might get uglier than it already is."

"...what..." Right before our eyes, the bloodied corpses of the Roshigumi are fading away to dust, as though there was never anything there at all. "..." Shin-chan's face is white with disbelief and the edge of his jawline slowly tightens. "...what...the...hell..." he swallows and throws the left behind clothing in a pile in the town square. "I need to inform everyone about this. If my instinct Is right, the Roshigumi will be done for. Hehehe..."

I smile slightly at him and start heading towards home. "The sooner we bring them down the better. Letting Kazu's killers run around like that just doesn't sit well with me."

"S-serizawa...I think they've escaped." One of Niimi's men assigned to guard the experiments of the Ochimizu had paled at the sight of the smashed door and no sign of the inhabitants.

"WHAT?" Serizawa had glared at them angrily with his wolfish face still stuck in its normal grimace "What the hell are you doing? Hurry up and find them! Where the hell is the damned dog now? " He roared angrily and marched off, only for Ibuki to creep in from across the hallway and follow suit, flinching a little as he slid the door open. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd been a little more careful Heisuke." Shinpachi aimed a scowl at Heisuke though it was in a joking manner. Heisuke puckered up his face with annoyance and glared at Shinpachi "Don't just pin the blame on me! Sides, nobody told me Niimi had THIS much guys locked up." He shook his hands as if to shake away the blame and ran off outside the building.

"Well, guess we gotta head out too." Harada gave an unamused Hijkata a shrug and left with Shinpachi yelling at him to wait up. "Tch. Damn Niimi and his carelessness. Leaving me to do the cleanup." The frown permanently etched on his face deepened and he marched off with a few lower ranked members following suit.

"Souji!"

The brown haired was standing amid a pool of blood, his hand on his chin in a thoughtful gesture. "Looks like somebody else beat us." He crossed his arms and looked smugly at Hijakata "Well! Now what?"

The Roshigumi Vice-captain's face was pinched in a dark scowl as he grit his teeth in anger. "Ask around. See if there were any witnesses. Those experiments wouldn't have killed themselves on their own. " He briefly surveyed the area, most of the telltale signs a swordfight had taken place were there, though...the one thing that was out of place was the remains of the Rasetsu,

"Yamazaki."

The loyal ninja companion answered almost immediately "yes?" HIjkata remained staring ahead at the mess of bloodied clothing " Keep a close eye on Niimi and Serizawa's movements. Make sure not a single word of this gets out to the public."

"Understood." Yamazaki nodded for emphasis and sped off.

"I suppose it's fortunate that their corpses disintegrated once the sun came up." Harada looked cheerful as ever but his face quickly turned serious "...well, about the rest of them."

Hijikata felt a vein in his forehead snap. "What is it? Spill it." He sighed and looked expectantly at Harada who shrugged, being used to Hijikata's moodiness and pointed a finger carelessly towards the town square. A small crowd was gathering around a makeshift podium upon which a bloodied and torn Roshigumi haori lay covered in blood and remnants of dust. Dust. A million questions and possible scenarios, all of them bad whirled around in his head.

"Uhh, Toshi?

"Quiet." The older male snapped angrily at Heisuke who shrugged and waved the crowd away. He muttered something angrily to himself and called up the rest of the Roshigumi "Someone else knows about that. Ask around for information. Do whatever it takes."

"Look, just sell it to me! You stupid jiji!"

I sigh to myself and continue the delicate task of selecting fresh fish for tonight's dinner. Arguments and sometimes fights are commonplace among customers who purchase things from the dodgy merchants here.

"Argh! What's your problem?"

That voice sounds familiar. I turn around slightly and see none other than Ibuki-kun glaring daggers at Tago-san the artisan who is smugly clamping his rather meaty hand over a row of inkpots. "Psh, why the hell would I sell my wares to a brat like you who doesn't have any respect? eh?"

"Tago-san! You must not discriminate against your customers! It is not fair to do so!" Kosuzu appears from out of nowhere and yells loudly, despite having a petite frame. The entire marketplace becomes temporarily silent before continuing with the daily routine.

"H-heh, you're right oujo-chan. Alright, you can have it. "Tago-san snatches the coins from Ibuki-san's palm and practically tosses the inkpot at his face. "you better thank oujo-chan here. Psh"

He shoots another glare at Ibuki and quickly switches to his 'I'm a jolly salesman' mode when another customer shows up. Kosuzu is still standing there and looking at Ibuki silently.

"Huh, must be nice being a maiko. As long as you sleep with a man, he'll treat you well and give you money. He must have recognised you. " He tucks the inkpot into his pouch and looks roughly at Kosuzu who looks taken aback. Oh boy, you've just signed your death warrant Boya. "Ibuki-san." Kosuzu's lower lip is trembling with rage and she rolls up the sleeve on her right arm with steady determination.

"..what?" His head suddenly turns violently to the left as Kosuzu slaps him as hard as she can with her right hand, leaving a deep red imprint of her dainty palm on his cheek.

"uuufff!..." He falls to the ground and tumbles dramatically, rolling once and hitting his head on a table before crouching in an awkward position. "...y-y-you.." I can tell he's trying his best not to cry, especially since curious onlookers are starting to gather. "...tch." He unsteadily stands up, his knees knocking together as he scowls at a somewhat bemused Kosuzu .

"..Forgive me.." She presses her hand gently against his cheek, filling in the red handprint she had made just moments before. "... Though I advise you to avoid speaking ill of people, especially if you are still lacking in understanding about them. Farewell." She spares him a final look and walks off elegantly into the crowd. Everyone parts ways for her to slip through, looking at her fleeing back in silence then back at Ibuki-kun with expectation.

"..." Ibuki is staring, speechless. His hand slowly travels to his red cheek and stays there, as if doing that will conjure up Kosuzu again. Come on Ibuki-kun, now's your chance to run after her and apologise! I silently cheer him on, but the dense idiot is just standing doe eyed at Kosuzu's back which gets tinier by the second. Ugh, I can't take it any longer.

"Ibuki-kun." I march out from among the crowd and grab him by the wrist. "Come with me." He stared bug eyed at me and allows himself to be dragged off. "Man, you should know better than that. Didn't Kosuzu tell you herself that she's a MAIKO not a GEIKO?"

"huh?" He looks at me with confusion "...how do you know about that Osho-san?" I momentarily stop in my tracks and resist the urge to slam my head repeatedly against the wall. How could I be so careless! Letting something like that slip...ugh..."A-ahaha. Well Kosuzu-chan and I are somewhat acquaintances and I happened to hear about that from her." I glance sideways at Ibuki-kun who seems to have accepted my excuse. Whew, safe for now. "Say, Ibuki-kun, do you like Kosuzu?"

Ibuki-kun makes a strangled choking noise and looks angrily at me with his face all red. "Tsk. NO! W-why would I like somebody who slaps me for making a mistake. " he shakes his head and flings my hand off "S-sorry Osho-san. I should go. Serizawa-dono might be angry."

"ah, Ibu-" He runs off before I can remind him to apologise to Kosuzu. This really is unlike me. Why am I even getting myself further involved? I've got more things on my plate without needing to play matchmaker for someone.

~x~x~x~

"Ryunosuke-kun, if you like her, do something about it." Harada claps a hand onto his shoulder and squeezes it in a friendly manner.

"N-no! What do you think you're doing?!" Being much weaker and shorter than Harada, Ryunosuke had no choice but to let himself be dragged all the way to Kosuzu's home at the maiko establishment. "..please...don't.." his whispered begging was completely ignored.

"Alright, Go up to her and apologise. That's what a real man would do." Ryunosuke shook his head violently and attempted to run away. "*sigh*" Harada grabbed him by the collar and proceeded to call out Kosuzu.

"Kosuzu-san!" Harada knocked on the door, stepping back as Kosuzu opened it slowly and bowed. Her eyes darted around nervously before noticing Ryunosuke's cowering figure, whereupon she frowned slightly and turned down the corners of her mouth. "you..are...from the other day.."

"That's right, I'm Harada Sanosuke from the Roshigumi. My friend here has something to say to you." As soon as he said that, Harada grabbed a startled Ryunosuke by the neck and pushed him into the seiza position onto the ground, making his head touch the ground. "He wants to apologise for what he said to you yesterday. Please hear him out."

Kosuzu's hands tightened against the frame of the door but she said nothing, only allowing a nervous Ryunosuke to see her cold gaze. "It does not matter anymore. I cannot see any sincerity within him. I would like to take this opportunity to point out that I am a maiko, I dance and pour drinks to entertain customers instead of selling my body. "

"...i.." Still being held down in a submissive position by Harada, Ryunosuke clenched his hands and raised his head slowly "K-kosuzu-san...I...was an idiot. I never realised or thought about that. For saying something so...insulting like that. I-I-I'm so sorry!" He bowed his head down low and remained that way until the faintest hint of a smile blossomed on Kosuzu's face.

"I see." She gently placed a hand on his stinging cheek "I am glad you understand now...forgive me for striking you like that. "

"N-no! It's fine! I'm the one who deserved it! Y-you don't need to apologise at all Kosuzu-san!" he turned redder than ever and began flapping his hands around which made her giggle lightly. "uh...um..T-tell Nanaya-san I said t-thank you!"

"Then I suppose everything is alright between us then." Kosuzu smiled and placed a hand on her cheek "..ara?.. Nanaya-san?..I have not seen her lately. Not even at Shimabara, perhaps she has been assigned somewhere else? I apologise Ibuki-san, but I shall pass on your message when I see her next." She bowed deeply and left.

The door shut gently and the two men stared at it in silence, thoughts whirling around their minds before Harada spoke first. "Say...have you ever seen Nanaya before?"

Ryunosuke looked confused at Sanosuke and shook his head "..no?. T-then again, I don't really visit Shimabara very often." he blushed slightly and scuffed his foot on the ground, hoping that his manliness wouldn't be questioned.

"hmm." Sanosuke had a thoughtful expression on his face "Well, I'm practically a regular and that was the first time I saw her. Though, doesn't something seem off about her?" He stood up straight and stretched a little while Ryunosuke peeled himself off the ground. "..um..no?"

"It's almost impossible for Kosuzu not to have seen her around at Shimabara." A curious expression flickered across his face as he chuckled "Also, her hands...were very unusual." he raised his own hands up and glanced at the calloused, scarred skin gained from years of wielding his yari. "Compared to a maiko, she had the hands of a labourer . I have a feeling this Nanaya woman may be more than what she seems."

"...I...guess." Not exactly understanding what was going on, Ibuki shrugged and stared wistfully at the doors before turning to leave. Things would be different. Next time.