Suenagaku na Aki

Chapter 11

"Oi Kenshin! Wait up!" Sanosuke called out.

Kenshin ignored him and kept walking. In the background smoke could be seen coming from the middle of Tokyo. Something had happened, and the ex-gangster was willing to bet all his money, not that he has any, on it being sabotage. But somehow the smaller man in front of him managed to pretend that nothing happened while continuing to walk toward the temple where they were supposed to meet Kaoru's kidnapper.

Frankly speaking, Sano didn't know what to make out of this new development in the former hitokiri. It seemed that the kidnappers had a somehow awakened Kenshin's dark side. No, he decided. Perhaps it was earlier than that. Kaoru's faked murder by Enishi has had forever changed the way that Kenshin saw the world. The invincible Battousai finally had a major weakness.

"Oi Battousai!"

Kenshin stopped. "What?" he barked.

'Nani!? No "de gozaru" added to the sentence? No statement about 'sessha is not a hitokiri any more?"'

"Well?"

Sanosuke didn't know what to say. His brain has suddenly stopped working.

After waiting for Sano to say something, Kenshin slowly turned toward him.

Sano half-expected to see amber eyes. He was wrong. They were still violet. But the eyes that bore into him almost caused him to whimper. The shin no ippou used by Jin'eh Udo was never as frightening as this.

"Do not worry about the fire" Kenshin began to walk once more. Sanosuke followed, resolving to keep his mouth shut, focusing instead on a flying pigeon in the sky, envious of its freedom and lack of responsibilities. Little did he realize that the pigeon landed on the Ichijo's left hand after only few minutes.

Ichijo read the message that the bird carried and frowned. ''This can be a problem. Battousai is actually ignoring the diversionary attack on the police station''. She was expecting him to be distracted by the attack, as he was with the earlier tussle at the marketplace. She didn't want to attack the police station, as doing so could be detrimental to her plans, but she had to do it to buy some time to settle another problem at hand. But at by that time, she had begun to regret her action. The Meiji security force would certainly be on full alert. Shredding the letter, she turned toward her men. She would deal with the consequences later.

"Kato! Delay Battousai and his companion"

''Yokai (understood)''

"Shin. Continue with the attack on the harbor now. Try to destroy as much as you can while without being caught. Target every pier on site"

"Acknowledged"

As she looked at her two men leaving the temple grounds, she hoped that they would be successful despite the odds against them.

Thirty minutes later,

Sanosuke yawned. "That was barely a good fight" Five trained assassins fighting against him and Kenshin didn't exactly count as a good workout for him. Five ninjas against him alone, now that would be considered as something. Sanosuke waited for a reply from Kenshin.

"We're nearly there"

'That's a very friendly response from you' "Let's kick some butts, right?"

"Ie. Kaoru's safety must be ensured"

"Right" 'There he goes again, clipping off the –dono suffix this time. Who is this man in front of me?'

As if sensing Sanosuke's question, Kenshin sighed. "Sorry for being cold, but sessha is worried about her safety"

Sanosuke nodded. "Let's get Jo-chan home" he said as he sprinted toward the temple. Kenshin kept in the pace with him.

As they stepped through the door, a voice greeted them. "Welcome, Himura Battousai, Ie, Himura Kenshin. And welcome to you too Sagara Sanosuke, as you would like to be known. Or should I refer to you by your original family name?"

Sanosuke snorted. Both Kenshin and he looked where the sound came from. Ichijo was standing on a beam supporting the roof. A quick examination of the inside of the temple revealed that she was alone.

"Where is Kaoru", Kenshin hesitated and quickly added, "-dono?"

"Don't worry about her. She will be united with you soon" Ichijo jumped down and landed safely on the floor. Despite her being his enemy, Sano couldn't help to wonder how she managed to do that without breaking her bones. Ichijo slowly walk to them in a seductive way,

"Oi!" Sano replied. "We want to see her now"

Ichijo flashed him a flirtatious smile. "While waiting for her, why don't the three of us have some fun?"

"Feh. Only idiots will fall for the beauty trap" Sanosuke was quite proud of himself for not repeating the same mistake he had made at the entrance to Shishio's secret base. At that time when Yumi appeared, he warned Kenshin and Saitou not to fall for her beauty. He was rewarded with a sarcasm from Saitou and something that resembled a putdown from Kenshin. 'Heh. This time, I get to say that statement'

The woman ninja in front of him smirked. "Why? Don't you found me enticing?"

"Che. I'll take our fiery tempered, tomboyish and or unskilled cook Jo-chan over you anytime"

"Nice to hear that you care, Sano" The three of them turned toward the newcomer who was standing at another entrance.

"Kaoru-dono"

"Hai. Super tomboyish chef in person" Sanosuke noted the sarcasm in her voice, knowing well that he would pay for his comment later along with interest. But that could wait for now. He turned to seek that Ichijo was staring at Kaoru with disbelieve disbelief.

"How?" she croaked.

"Ohayou, Ichijo-san"

"Kso" Ichijo kneeled and punched the floor in front of her in anger "I had asked for you to be captured. And my men informed me that the operation was a success"

Kenshin also wanted to know why Kaoru hadn't been captured. He looked at her

"Obviously, they thought the dojo owner to be someone with unparalleled beauty" Kaoru answered with a sad smile. "Guess they were mistaken"

'But unparalleled beauty is what the dojo owner has' A foreign voice in Kenshin whispered. The rurouni felt as if his primal instinct was trying to take over. 'And kami-sama knows how much I want to take her, stain her and make her my own. My Kaoru' Kenshin put a hand on his head, commanding the voice to stop. He didn't need this... this voice to make its presence felt while in the middle of a major crisis. He must maintain control of himself.

"What do you mean?" Ichijo asked.

Megumi and Yahiko came into view.

"Oh!" Understanding came to Ichijo that her ninjas had kidnapped the wrong person. And as a result of their idiocy, they probably had been beaten by the real Kamiya and her student while trying to bring the doctor back to the temple. This wasn't what she planned, she told herself. The angered ninja continued to punch the floor a few more times in exasperation.

Then Ichijo felt something. Smiling, she stood. "Very well. It is not as I planned, but all of you are here" She turned toward Kaoru and smirked. "Remember your question that night, Kamiya-san? Now I will tell you what you want to know"

****************************************

Meanwhile, not far from Tokyo Harbor,

Shin was looking at the harbor using binoculars, assessing the damage. Despite his men being inexperienced with the weapons the foreigner Neuwindst had supplied, they had managed to inflict sizable damage to the place. Including the attacks his leader's right hand men lead, their group have had destroyed or damaged three ports and two army camps.

"Leader Shin"

"Yes?"

"This is the first time we attacked a large port"

Shin pondered on the statement from the man. Now that his man mentioned it, he began to wonder why he was ordered to attack the Tokyo harbor. Surely his commander wanted to destroy something. 'Or to prevent ships for anchoring there', his mind supplied. Then he felt everything click into place. That was why he was told to destroy the piers. He smacked his head. "Oi! You"

"Yes sir?"

"Do you know the name of the ship Saitou is traveling on?"

"Kai Maru"

"Good. Ensure that the ship will never dock at the port"

"But it already did" A voice replied, causing Shin to became agitated.

"WHEN?" he growled.

"An hour before you arrived here" Upon hearing that, Shin's head snapped in panic. Quickly, he and his mean unsheathed their swords and turned toward the intruder.

Saitou calmly let out puff of smoke. "You were so busy attacking the harbor that you didn't notice me nearby" He took a long pull from his cigarette. "I was wondering about the reason why you attacked" Saitou smirked. He knew that he would never have gotten the ninjas facing him to say anything if he tried to force them to reveal their secrets. "I found find it amusing that Orochi finds me to be enough of a threat to warrant a welcoming fireworks display for my arrival," he taunted.

Shin and his men didn't say anything and attacked.

Saitou lazily threw the half burning cigarette away.

****************************************

Yuri pointed at Kenshin. "Himura, I have come to extend an invitation for you and the Rooster head"

"Hey! Do you mind?!" Sano protested but Kenshin raised his hand to stop him. "What do you mean by this... invitation?"

"My leader will like you to join Saitou and the others"

"To do what?" Sanosuke asked her.

"Patience Sagara-san. Its best for you to ask them yourself"

"OK"

"Then why are you still here?" Yahiko interjected. Behind him, Megumi stood anxiously.

Yuri smiled evilly and snapped her fingers. A few men appeared by her side. "Compared to the hired ninjas you fought just now, these men belong to my organization. You will find them... different and they should prove to be more than of a challenge for you"

"HELL! And you just told us to join Saitou and now you're attacking us?!" Sano shouted.

"Maa maa maa maa, Sagara-san. The invitation is from Orochi-sama, not me. My duty to him has been satisfied as you now have been informed". Ichijo smiled. "But since I'm already here, it will would be a shame for me not to take the opportunity to see for myself what made the Battousai so famous" She then motioned at Kaoru.  "Kamiya-san, o tano shimi wa… Kore kara yo! (Kamiya-san, the fun… starts now!)"

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Author's notes (3 February 2004)

1. Half of this chapter is written using my Clie PDA using Palm 4.01. Imagine writing at the speed of 5 words per minute. Now that's fast! Not.

2.The speech "O tano shimi wa kore kara yo" I heard from the anime "Your under arrest". Pretty nifty phrase. Pity I don't know who's who in that anime.

Geminidragon

--------------- If one to enjoy the corn fully, one should it in a vertical manner instead of the usual horizontal method (From the Iron Chefs tv Show)

This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum