Chapter Eighteen

A stray cat growled low from the darkness of an alleyway as Sojiro walked by, and he turned an absent smile on its hostility. Instant hissing barred its teeth at him threateningly, and he blinked before walking on. The shopping bag in his hand swung lightly with the breeze as low hanging clouds darkened the sky. A storm was rolling in off the ocean, and with it came relief from the harsh heat of summer.

The small office building he entered was old and worn down, but the exterior was perfect to disguise what it held within. Its age had much to do with its remote location as well, as many of the neighboring buildings were abandoned now in the wake of progress. Most companies had moved inwards to the heart of Neo-Tokyo, and those residents that worked for those companies had moved with them. Unfortunately, he had made a mistake by thinking no one would bother to investigate such an area, and had failed to form a barrier around the building initially. As a result, Kaoru had slipped through his fingers before he was ready to let her go.

Not that it mattered. Things were working out well, albeit slower than he had predicted.

The barrier let him walk through without so much as a tingle of energy, and banging was suddenly audible from high up above him. Master Shishio was angry again. Tilting his head, Sojiro's grin slanted his eyes as the cadence was not so much sharp but drumming instead.

Ah, finally.

Unlocking the door, he pocketed his keys and went straight for the basement. Gein preferred the dampness of the basement to the comfort of the upper floors. It was also easier to keep some of his… ingredients fresh in a cooler climate. Settling the shopping bag on an empty table next to the door, Sojiro stepped quietly so as not to disturb his companion's concentration.

Four extra limbs sprouted from Gein's back, and each one carefully inserted an individual strand of razor floss hair into the doll's head. The doll was no longer a mass of wires and metal frame, but was now nearly complete. Caramel-colored skin covered its length, and even its face had small pores to imitate real flesh. Clear, though hardened, nails adorned each finger and toe, and even its lashes looked soft. Nothing looked out of place, with the exception of the split in its sternum from collarbone to stomach.

Twenty minutes later, the final strand of hair was positioned gently so that it draped over the top of the metal table and off onto the floor with the thousands of others. Still standing perfectly still and to the side, the hands clasped behind Sojiro's back tensed. The doll was a masterpiece. Finally, Gein turned his head, and the skull mask stopped on him. Sojiro perked up.

"I found the dye you need."

The long, hairy limbs behind him rattled excitedly.

"Let me see." His raspy voice was quickened by delight.

From within the shopping bag a small bottle of dark red dye was removed. Gein held it up to the light, and grinned with a happy sigh.

"Perfect."

Immediately, a small bowl was collected, and the dye was emptied into its sterile container. A syringe was then gathered from a drawer to use as a medium for dispensing the dye. Delicately, the eyelids were pried open, and the syringe was inserted into the iris of the left eye. With the same patient precision he had shown with the hair, Gein allowed the color to spread within the iris until they were the deep brown red flame of 600˚ Celsius. The right eye was shown the same treatment. When all was done, Gein stepped back and even his breath was taken away by the perfection of what he had created. No mere doll laid on that metal table before him. It was art.

"He looks so peaceful." Sojiro's observation sounded playful in his soft tenor voice, but Gein knew well that there was no true emotion behind his words or smile. However, Gein did not expect him to gush with praise. Their partnership had a different level of appreciation. "Like he could be sleeping."

Gein bowed low. "He is ready for you, Master Sojiro."

"You left room like I asked?"

"Of course."

"Then let's add the finishing touches."

In the far corner of the room, a small safe protected the black box Sojiro had left in Gein's care. With a long pair of tweezers, Sojiro withdrew the solidified chunk of magma he had stolen from Megumi's lab and transferred it to a table already prepared for his use. Light sparkled across the surface of the fire demon tear, as if it still cried out in agony. The tweezers were settled next to it, and Sojiro tucked his hand inside the dark depths of his jacket for something else.

"Is that Master Shishio's sword?"

"Yes." Responding absently, Sojiro gestured for another table to lay it on. "It has something very important." As he worked the studs loose from the handle and slid it from the tang, he spoke aloud his praise and adulation for the man they both called master.

"Master Shishio was only a mist demon, with particles as sharp and deadly as thin blades, but his constitution made him the perfect covert killer. In fact, his kill count far exceeds the numbers officially attributed to him. Not that it matters anymore. No one in this age remembers or knows how powerful he was, and that is unfortunate. But despite that, it was his final kill that would have made him a legend. Those in higher positions of power thought it would be detrimental if others knew what he did. Or rather, what they had asked of him to do."

Several long minutes later, and Sojiro had the wrappings completely undone from the hilt of the sword. Coiled around the dark cording, a thin red length of hair shimmered back at him.

"After all." The long red hair was worked free, and he held it up to inspect its shape. "Killing a dragon is a mortal sin, even for a demon."

Gein looked thoughtful. "Is that why Master Shishio's demon trait was altered?"

"I believe you are correct. Dragon fire probably isn't simply hotter than demon fire, and Master Shishio was bathed in it at the end. I wonder what it felt like?" Curious, Sojiro tilted his head.

"Probably like hell."

"The term seems quite pedestrian and overused. Purgatory, perhaps? Like being suspended in between life and death with no escape?"

"Perhaps." Gein considered Sojiro quietly as he painstakingly straightened the tangled piece of hair. "How did you discover he was a dragon? Even before the war, dragons were rare, and everyone believed he was a fire demon. The most powerful fire demon alive, but still just a demon."

"You're right. Even his son thought so." Sojiro actually managed a fake laugh at the irony. "It was simple really, if you think about it clearly enough. Here we are." Holding it stretched between two pairs of tweezers, Sojiro's smile remained slight. "Fire dragon hair. And it's still hot."

"Will that be enough?"

"It's more than enough. Fire demon… I mean dragon, hair is not just disposable. We are fortunate that it maintained its form after all these years, though. A testament to the strength of its owner. Combined with the energy contained within this tear, it will be enough to power the core of your doll and fulfill what I need it for."

With the hair twisted around the magma tear, it glowed bright like superheated wire and heat instantly rolled off the pair in waves.

"Quickly now. Open the chest."

Gein held the chest open as Sojiro slipped the core into the already waiting heart. As soon as he backed away, Gein immediately went to work closing him up. Sojiro busied himself with putting Master Shishio's sword back together in the meantime.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" It was hard to contain his excitement with their endgame finally on the horizon.

"It should take about a month to set the seals. After that, I will need some time to work on control. I've never had the pleasure of doing this to a dragon. I want to take my time with it."

"Of course. Should we retrieve Kaoru? Master Shishio has missed her terribly."

"No. Not yet."

"Are you not concerned they may figure out the seals?"

Sojiro's eyes closed, and his grin remained. "Not in the least. Our man on the inside has kept me updated, and I've paid him to make sure he keeps them running in circles. Even without his misdirection, they're so slow, it's embarrassing really. It took them over half a year to remove the pin from her tongue."

Gein's raspy laugh echoed in the room. "That was only a temporary measure to keep Master Shishio happy without risking her influence overwhelming him. They should be happy I set it so precisely, otherwise she might have permanent damage."

"That would be unthinkable, Gein. I will not have my perfect little doll damaged."

Dark eyes looked him up and down from out of the human skull mask. "What about this man on the inside? Are you sure we can trust him?"

"To a point. He's greedy, so he's allegiance runs only as deep as his benefactor's pocket. I know he's selling the same information to certain members of the government to turn a profit. Fortunately, he knows nothing but what I want him to know. So even if they catch him, he won't be of much use. They'll be more concerned about the information he was selling us, and most likely take him out, like the trash he is. That should save us the trouble.

"As for the seals, they'll remove the one on her tongue when I want them to and not before. Even if they do figure out the others, they wouldn't dare remove them."

"And the one on her chest?"

"I loosened that months ago." A falsely happy smile beamed upwards toward the ceiling. "I've kept track of its progress, and it's been steadily releasing since. Once it has fully dissolved, she should be ready. And then my doll will truly shine. Such a rare and beautiful advent of destruction she shall be."

Gein frowned. "There is still that element of unknown about her. She disobeyed, even when she should not have been able to."

Sojiro's smile disappeared. "Yes. That pesky freewill she has does make her difficult. Which is why I'm allowing her to stay where she is. It will be like a test run. Once she remembers, I'm counting on her rage to blind her from fighting my control. Her kind really are fueled by such rage. If she performs the way I want her to, I'll collect her for the finale."

"And if she doesn't?"

"We'll make some adjustments. I can use her either way."

Banging sounded from above them, and Gein glanced upwards with a slow grin. "And Master Shishio? He's been… bored lately."

"Yes. It's about time we let him out."

X

Several stories below the lab was a large empty room that spanned nearly the entire width of the building above ground. It was reinforced, and cold, and perfectly safe for all manner of experimentation. When asked, Megumi had directed Kenshin there as the most secure area for him to practice control over his flame. It was eerie in the wide-open room, and dark despite the overhead lighting. It was also uncomfortable for other reasons. Once upon a time, Megumi had forced him to use his flame in that very room, over and over again. For research. Although Kenshin knew the government had coerced her, to an extent, the experiments had brought out a side of her he would never forget… or understand.

That was long since in the past, and Kenshin urged his thoughts away from the darkness he had been subjected to. But that darkness lingered at times, and being down in the depths made it difficult to fight. Even still, it compared little to the time he had spent before that under the thumb of humans.

No matter how bad his experience was in Megumi's lab, being in the Arctic Lab had been worse. The humans had tormented him, poked and prodded him, until his mind had receded from reality. His blood alone could melt steel. His hair could cut through any non-liquid material, as long as it was not super-chilled. Pieces of his flesh produced enough heat to last years inside their coal plants. Then they found a way to shave away pieces of his soul. How pleased they had been with themselves to discover that they could harness the power he possessed. With barely a drop, they could lay waste to an entire country without the fallout of a nuclear warhead. He was a national treasure, a trump card they would use to decimate everything in their path.

What had left that lab was not the fire demon that had entered it, but the broken husk of a demented soul. It was no wonder his own kind had feared him, and why he had very few people he could call friend. No doubt it was difficult, getting close to someone so thoroughly terrified of any form of contact.

Pulling violet eyes up, Kenshin recognized how this place had destroyed him, but in a different way. Megumi had pushed him to his breaking point every day, and every day Tomoe had put him back together. No cutting, no torture like the humans had done, but there had been no mercy or relief. Flames had raged out of him until he was exhausted, with himself and with the world. Until that one day when he had finally looked around him and saw what he had become. That one day, when he had wanted to be something else.

This is no longer a place where I will be destroyed. This is now a place where I will create something stronger.

White hot flames flickered at the edge of his vision, burning his irises into a bright blue-violet. Completely focused and in control, the flames spread slowly down his cheeks, engulfed his hair, and flooded down his arms and torso like liquid. With his entire body covered by the hottest flame he could currently create, he stood slowly to his feet and exhaled clear flames from his mouth. Now came the hard part. Trying to maintain the layer of flame around his form, Kenshin released the Kagu-tsuchi from his core and called it directly to the palm of his right hand, the way Hiko-sama had done with his weapon. It had taken many days and nights of impatient barking from the master, but the technique had finally taken.

For thirty minutes, he was able to walk himself through the kata his father had taught to him while keeping the flame alight. If he tried to go any faster, the fire would diminish with the loss of focus. It was all he could manage for now, but it was more than he could manage only a few months before. More than he had ever managed in that very room.

An alarm beeped at him from a panel next to the door, and he released the flames on a controlled breath. He had something important to do today, and taking some time to prepare was a must. After all, it was probably best if he didn't show up to a job interview smelling like something burnt or half-cooked.

Inside the rec room of Kaoru's small host-lab, Kenshin paused to find the young woman seated on the couch and coughing violently into a damp cloth. Lightly, Tomoe was patting her on the back, and Enishi stood nearby looking puzzled but concerned. After a few seconds, the coughing ceased, and she glanced up weakly to see him standing there. The cloth, with her hand, dropped into her lap, and she immediately smiled, like all was fine and there was no reason he should suspect she had just attempted to hack up a lung.

"What happened?" The instant curl of his brow and anxiety in his voice softened the smile on her face briefly, but she doggedly pushed forward with her conviction by shaking her head to deny anything had happened at all.

Enishi grunted angrily.

"We don't know."

Tomoe embellished.

"Her chest started hurting her, so I made her lie down, but then she began to cough a few minutes ago. Drink your water." A half empty water bottle was pressed into Kaoru's free hand, and she suppressed another weak cough before complying.

"She keeps saying she's fine." The growl of Enishi's voice said he believed otherwise. Kaoru flashed a few hand signs, and Enishi pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "She says her throat tickled."

One gentle hand pushed Kaoru's bangs behind an ear, and Tomoe sighed. "It could be a respiratory infection. She's not running a fever, though. Either way, we'll figure it out." Dark eyes glanced up at him, but did not maintain contact. "You have an interview this morning, right? You should get ready. It would not be a good first impression if you show up even a little late."

"Right." For a few seconds, though, he couldn't move. It seemed like such a silly thing, but for Kaoru to suffer from even a minor illness upset him. Finally, he stepped forward, and placed a hand carefully on the crown of her head.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

The same happy smile she had showed to him their first night together assured him that she was. Though he was conflicted, he chose to believe her.

"I'll be back in a few hours."

X

Tae was a cheerful tanuki towards her customers, but straight business to her employees and vendors. She loved food, money, and others who loved to buy her food. Her restaurant was located near enough to a university campus to get business from the college students, but was also close enough to the medical campus Megumi's lab was a part of for their lunch or dinner rush. As a result, business was good. Unfortunately, it also made it difficult to keep help. Her applicants were either college students only looking for a part-time job, or didn't last due to the high volume and fast pace their clientele provided.

Or so Tae told him as he sat across from her at one of the empty tables. From the kitchen, he could hear her workers busying themselves with their preparations for opening time.

Kenshin had hesitated to apply at the Akabeko for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, he didn't think it wise to hide the fact that he was a fire demon anymore, for fear of a similar scene from his last job harming whatever business he might be hired on to. If a customer did get upset, it would be best if it didn't come as such a shock to his boss. Secondly, it was near the lab. This was also one of the reasons he had applied, however. If he could work there, he would be nearby if needed, and the commute wouldn't take as long. Unfortunately, it was undoubtedly going to cause an issue with finding somewhere to live.

Not only would an apartment near there be expensive, due to most of the cheaper apartments having already been snatched up by college students, any openings would probably be almost impossible to find. Never-the-less, the pros had outweighed the cons in his mind, and he had gone for it halfway expecting he would be rejected. Strangely, when he confessed to her what his demon trait was, she blinked at him in blatant disinterest.

"But can you cook?"

Kenshin blinked back.

"Because that's what the application claims." The paperwork he had completed for the position she had advertised was lifted from the table. "I don't see any schooling on here, though."

"Ah…"

"But you have experience." She cut him off before he could even articulate a response. "Which is fine. I wouldn't want to pay you some outrageous salary just for a school's name. You willing to demonstrate?"

There was a short pause before Kenshin took a breath. "Now?"

"That's right. I don't have all day."

Kenshin stood immediately and jerked a quick bow with his head. "Yes, Ma'am."

She led him into the back, and barked orders at one of her workers to free a station.

"Is there anything in particular you would like?"

"Surprise me." Her arms crossed and she tapped her foot impatiently.

It was a bit uncomfortable having someone watch his every move, but Kenshin was confident in his cooking more than anything else. After all, it was the very first thing he had found joy in after coming out of his deadened stupor at the lab. When the dish was finally presented, Kenshin smiled harmlessly and waited for the verdict.

Tae took one bite and handed it off to one of the waiters walking by.

"You're too slow. If our customers wanted to wait on their mama's food, they'd go home. You'll have to work faster. Think you can do that?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"This is good!" The waiter had taken a bite out of the dish, and exclaimed the verdict loud enough to garner everyone else's attention. Soon enough, the rest of the kitchen staff was agreeing that the food he had created was better than their own.

"I could use your help today. Can you start now?"

Violet eyes shot back to the boss in surprise, and he almost instantly agreed. But in the back of his mind he thought about Kaoru, and his claim that he would be back in only a couple of hours. The memory of her smiling features reassured him, and he let out a held breath. If she truly wasn't feeling well, it would be best if she rested. And he really did need the money.

"Well?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

X

A/N: So much info was given up in this chapter. I was so excited about it, I could hardly keep myself from posting it immediately after finishing. (Good thing I didn't, though, I would have missed some edits that were necessary.) That and I like what happens immediately in the next chapter, but I'm a sap, so sue me. I was a little sad at missing out on using the tanuki thing for Kaoru, so I was happy to be able to use it with Tae. She's straight business in this story, that's for sure. Let me know what you think! I love the different perspectives! If any of the information revealed by Sojiro seems confusing or contradictory, that's fine! (Or perhaps you've figured it all out!) I'd love it if you made some guesses! (I've always liked that part of reading.)

Side note: Why am I only now watching these live-action films?! They're so fun! And how did I accidentally match the golden wrappings on Kenshin's sword with those in the live-action? (Wait, should I pretend like I did that on purpose?) Yeah, that was totally on purpose, heh.