Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin © or anything connected to it. All characters are property of Noubiro Watsuki. The only thing I own is this really, really crappy plot.

Summary

Enishi is hurt after the death of his lover, and hides his true self from the rest of the world. Being one of the top leaders of the underworld, Enishi is responsible for the murders of many. The saving grace of one victim, however, is about to change all of that, and show Enishi just what justice is all about. ExK

The signal

...............................................................

Chapter one First encounters

He stood silent for a while whilst she drew her dressing gown closer about her.

"Enishi," she began, playing with a loose stand of hair. "Enishi, we can't see each other any more."

He frowned into the curtain of rain that was dripping noisily down the window. He drew a puff of his cigarette and waved a dismissing arm, a smirk dancing across his lips.

"No," he said. "Of course we can't."

She looked up in amazement. Did he not care? Would he not miss her as she would? She didn't know what to say. She decided to nod. Enishi swiveled round, letting the sheet draping his hips hang a little more loosely than before.

"Of course, you'd have to tell your brother that I never existed, lest he should try to...exterminate me"

She nodded sadly. "Ah...that will also have to be done..."

She looked down at her nails sadly for a moment, but then, with gathering determination, decided to press Enishi with what plagued her mind most.

"Won't you miss me?"

Enishi looked up from his cigarette and stared at her, amused. "Well what do you think, Sayo?"

Sayo twisted her sheets nervously between her fingers. Would he miss her? She wasn't so sure. Sayo had believed that she could reform the man - an almost impossible task, in her mind. Unfortunately, she had been unable to do so, by the look of things. She shook her head, her hair swaying softly, coordinating with her movements.

"You won't, will you?"

Enishi shook his head. "It's not healthy for me to be pining over a woman, Sayo"

Her shoulders sagged slightly. "Oh...I see"

"It's not that I don't like you; it's far from that - but a man needs his space. Can you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Sayo broke down into s series of convulsive sobs, racking her body and making her seem like she was having a mini-seizure.

"God will hate me," she sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "God will hate me because I have sinned...because I have allowed my body to be defiled!"

Enishi rolled his eyes. "Come now, Sayo," he muttered. "You're eighteen. It's about time you lost your virginity to a criminal mastermind." He stared at her shaking body for a moment before adding to his commentary. "Grow up. Your brother is afraid to see you grow up. You, on the other hand, should not be."

"Grow up?!" she cried. "How am I to grow up when the man I love tells me that he does not love me after he sleeps with me?!" She pointed an accusing finger in his direction. "How dare you do such a thing to me, to use me when you know that I am against such things?! Enishi! How could you! I expected you to understand! I thought you were the only man apart from God that would listen and understand!"

Enishi snorted. "God does not exist." Enishi took yet another toxic inhalation of his ever-shrinking 'cancer stick'. "If he did," he said, facing away from her dumbfounded and incredulous expression, "then we wouldn't have to live the shitty life that we're leading now"

She was gaping. "H-how dare you?!" she cried, angry tears threatening to spill like a river trying to break a dam.

Enishi ignored her and continued. "Either he does not exist, or he doesn't give a damn about us anymore." He turned his head ever so slightly and looked her in the eyes. "God," he said, "is nothing."

Sayo looked as if she were about to roll over and die at any moment. She suddenly burst into prayer, begging forgiveness whilst Enishi did no more than watch her with a silent viciousness that seemed natural to him.

"Don't you understand, Sayo? Nobody listens, nobody cares. Not anywhere on this goddamn earth does anyone think about anything but themselves." He paused to listen to the singing of the raindrops on the roof of her apartment. "There are no angels, there is no heaven. There is no Satan, there is no hell. Life is only what you make it, Sayo -it is absolute nothingness unless you have a purpose."

She took a deep breath and pointed a pale finger towards the door. "Go," she whispered. "Now."

Enishi chucked the half-burnt cigarette onto the floor and stamped on it. He gathered his shoes in one hand and walked towards the far end of the room, where his vestments lay in a muddled heap. Enishi bowed and gathered up his clothes from the floor. "I will, Sayo," he murmured, all too knowing that he would never be able to forget the look on her face if he saw it again. The sheet dropped to the floor as Enishi put on his underwear and white shirt. He stooped to pick up his trousers and put them on with cat-like agility, his several earrings glistening in the cold moonlight.

He opened the door and took one last look at the woman that he had actually fallen for. The woman he would give up, for her sake. "I'll see you around." He smirked lopsidedly as he stepped into the hallway.

"No," she whispered. "You won't."

He grinned. "Sayo," he called.

She didn't look up. Enishi swept into the room again and gathered her up in his arms with such strength and agility that she had no time to protest. He pressed his forehead against the base of her neck and inhaled softly.

"Sayo," he muttered, opening his mouth to nip her tender flesh. "Can't you see what you're doing to me?"

"I am doing nothing, Enishi."

He smirked into her hair. "That's what you think"

She succumbed to the temptation and relaxed, her body unnaturally comfortable against his own. He drew the sheet away from her and pushed her down onto the bed. She raised her leg ever so slightly so that Enishi slid effortlessly between her thighs. He raised an amused eyebrow.

"Ready to play games again, are we?"

She smiled, tracing a cold finger across his exposed neck. "Only with you"

"Well, Kitty," began Enishi, pretending to be completely dispassionate, "you told me to leave"

She drew him closer to her. "I may have said that, but I never told you not to come back"

He smirked and traced his tongue between her exposed breasts. "No, you didn't, did you?"

She smiled. "So," she said, gasping a little when Enishi got hold of flesh that was slightly more sensitive, "would you have missed me?"

"Never." He said. "I know you're always there for me, so you don't need to be missed."

Sayo snorted and pulled him up by his shirt collar. "That's nothing to say to a woman. If you want results, then you have to woo her the right way"

Enishi looked her in the eye, eyebrow raised as it always was in it's usual cocky fashion. "Dear," he murmured, taking hold of her lips between his teeth, "I do not woo"

"That's a shame, because I think Kenshin does"

Enishi frowned. "You'd go crawling to the battousai just because he woos?"

She giggled. "Of course!"

"In that case," muttered Enishi, allowing his hands to trail lower that they had a few minutes before, "consider yourself a one-night stand"

She laughed. "Done."

"Excellent," he grinned, taking full advantage of his strength and charm to turn the event into a pleasant game of hide and seek.

And so the game continued well into the night, until neighbors with threatening proclamations decided to take a stand.

Sayo fell back against the now flattened pillow, curled with cat-like unctuousness in Enishi's arms. He reached out and tucked a tendril behind her ear.

"If God does exist," he said, "then you must be my salvation, and angel sent to rescue me from the terror that is myself."

"Maybe..."

He smirked. "Not maybe, kitty, it is a fact."

She swatted him. "Whatever, I'm going to sleep now..."

"You should."

She smiled.

"Sweet dreams, kitty."

.........................

"Yukishiro-sama"

He looked up. "Yes?"

"Yukishiro-sama, Makoto-san is on the phone. He says it's urgent."

Enishi waved a dismissive hand. "Very well, direct the call to my office."

The messenger nodded, bowed and then left. A few minutes later, the phone rang.

"What?"

"Yukishiro-san," murmured a deep, husky voice. "All is going as planned. Kiyosato-san is at the docks at Kobe."

Enishi suppressed a smirk. "Very well. I will be there shortly, and Shishio?"

"Yes?"

"Try not to let things get too out of hand? We can't afford to draw attention to ourselves."

"Right."

Enishi hung up and made his way out of the office, his white coat swaying gently as he walked.

............

Kiyosato Akira wiped the sweat from his brow and made his way down the wooden platform. The sea was much calmer than it had been for the past few weeks, although the wind had failed to subside. He looked around nervously, and then glanced at his watch.

2:30

They weren't due for another one hour. He sighed. He had come there to escape the malicious man, but to no avail. It seemed like his power knew no limits. He looked around desperately, hoping, praying for a miracle. That was when he saw her. She was walking into one of the little restaurants, followed closely by a group of people, most of them men, and good-looking ones at that. She was by far the most ravishing thing he had ever laid his eyes on, with her long, black hair that shone in the sun like polished ebony, her deep, blue eyes that caught his attention even through she was several meters away.

He looked left, and then right. He couldn't see either one of them. He sighed in relief, and then made his way towards the little café.

......

She was sitting at the bar, sipping at a margarita stingily. One of her admirers leant against the counter and looked pleadingly into her eyes.

"Come on, Kaoru. Once more? Please?"

She shook her head. "Nope." She pointed to the drink in her hand. "Besides," she said, my throat hurts from earlier on."

The man walked dejectedly back into the crowd, taking a long drag on his cigarette. She snorted. This was when Kiyosato Akira decided to make his move.

"Hey," he said. "Can I buy you a drink?"

She laughed. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm quite tipsy already."

He looked around nervously again, and this time spotted a familiar figure sitting behind the 'Daily News'. "Will you walk with me?" he blurted out, quite unexpectedly. 'Good,' he thought. 'As long as I have a witness then they can't do anything to me.'

She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do you usually ask a girl out five minutes into meeting her?"

He laughed awkwardly, stealing glances at the man in the corner of the room.

"Of course not," he smiled, "you are the exception."

She laughed and took his extended arm. "So," she began. "What's you're name?"

"My name?" he asked. "Tetsuma. Yeah, that's it. Tetsuma Makimichi."

She smiled. "Well, I'm Kaoru. Kamiya Kaoru."

"Now," he said. "Where would you like to go?"

She grinned. "The funfair," she replied promptly. "The funfair and then I need to see a man about a car downtown." She turned to face him. "You will accompany me, won't you?"

He sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, of course I will."

Her smile grew wider. "Excellent." She stood up and stared at him expectantly. "Well then, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

......

Kaoru thoroughly enjoyed herself at the fair. She had forced her new friend to ride a rather vicious-looking roller coaster and the teacup ride, including the brightly lit merry-go-round. Twice.

"Well," she laughed. "That was fun, ne?"

The two walked along the wooden platform, the wind blowing through their hair. Kaoru's dress billowed out from behind her, and the warm, noon-day sun shone gently upon the both of them, casting a romantic light.

"It's so romantic here," she sighed. "I don't want to go home."

"You from the city then?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm studying architecture in Tokyo."

"Tokyo? Why I too-" he was cut off by the sudden appearance of a man, much younger than he, wearing a white suit. Akira frowned. "Excuse me," he snorted, his eyes flashing slightly.

The man turned round on his heel and stared expressionlessly back at him. Akira's palms began to get sweaty. The man in the white suit smirked.

"Why, I've been looking for you for ages, Kiyosato-san. What a coincidence that I ran into you here, of all places."

Akira responded a little to quickly. "What on earth? Who are you? I've never seen you before in my life! And my name isn't Kiyosato, it's Tetsuma!"

The man in the white suit made an acknowledging expression. "Oh yes, I forgot. That's your name. Tetsuma."

Kaoru, who was really quite lost, smiled at the newcomer and extended her hand. "Hello," she said. "I'm Kaoru Kamiya." She turned to face Akira and drew him back slightly. "Is he a friend of yours, Tetsuma-san?"

Akira shook his head vigorously. "Never seen him before in my life," he said, a little too quickly.

"But he seems to know who you are!"

"Must've mistaken me for someone else."

They turned back to face the man in the white suit, who had by now lit himself a cigarette and was puffing at it happily. He grinned at Akira's anxious expression.

"You have till three, Kiyosato," murmured the man.

"Whatever are you talking about?!"

The man smirked. He seemed to enjoy Akira's unease. "Three o' clock."

Then, with a half-bow in Kaoru's direction, the mysterious stranger in the white suit melted into the crowd. Kaoru stared perplexedly after him.

"I wonder who he is..."

"No one important, I'm sure," breathed Akira heavily. "Shall we move away from this area now?" "Tetsuma-san, are you quite well?"

He nodded. "Very. Why?" "You seem a little...jumpy."

"Jumpy?" laughed the man nervously. "Jumpy? M-me?"

She rolled her eyes. "He was rather cute, don't you think?"

"Oh, very...and dangerous," he muttered as an afterthought.

"And his hair was so...weird"

"Yes, yes," said Akira, looking around. "Very weird..."

"But he looks so young! How do you suppose his hair got like that?" "Hn? Got like what, Kamiya-dono?"

"So...white?"

"Dye. Now can we go?" She laughed. "Alright, Tetsuma-kun, let's go."

.............

Akira was twisting his hands nervously. Kaoru had suddenly declared that she wanted to bathe in one of the little bathhouses along the way, so she had left Akira standing, exceedingly exposed and vulnerable, on the street. He looked at his watch.

2:57

He swallowed the lump in his throat unconsciously, and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.

2:58

Akira glanced at his watch and then longingly at the bathhouse. It was rather hot for his liking. He noticed a man selling chilled fruit juice on the other side of the road. He called him over, and bought a drink.

2:59

Akira sipped at the liquid thankfully. Then, he stopped. His face convulsed for a few moments, and he spat the remainder of the juice out. He grabbed his throat, and fell on his knees. The street was completely deserted.

3:00

A gunshot resounded through the silence. Akira twitched for a few moments before finally laying still. Kaoru walked out five minutes later, and screamed.

.......................................................................... Finally, the first chapter.

I wasn't quite sure what to write in the first chapter. This was originally going to be a one-shot between Enishi and Sayo, but I changed my mind. For the best? I dunno, you tell me. So REVIEW ME!!

A MILLION APOLOGIES!!

I've uploaded the wrong document! I was so confused when I got all these things commenting on SK... iiee. Right. ~

~seraph