That Which Lingers

Chapter Seven: Signs of Error

Kaoru had her misgivings as she began to change into her attire for that evening. Honestly, who wouldn't? She highly doubted that the Wolf had any fashion sense.

But, as it turned out, her disguise was not the low quality, homeless garb she'd expected to be dressed in. To her surprise, the ugly brown paper packaging had been lifted away to reveal a wonderful folded expanse of silky fabrics.

The kimono unveiled was a rich midnight hue, collared in a white flowery dappled band of, pale cerulean blue. Snowy clusters of peach blossoms dusted over the length of the sleeves like petals caught in a spring storm. The obi was a ghosting of cream layered around her waist to be drawn up in an elegant knot. Socks, sandals, even a gauzy length of ribbon for her hair, nothing had been forgotten.

She should have known it was all too good to be true.

Her disguise was in no way like any of the garments she usually wore. It fell quite short of the ground, exposing the lower half of her calves and ankles. The collar swept wide showing off her pale neck and practically fell from her shoulders. The neckline sunk low outlining a generous portion of her chest.

While the fabric contrasted nicely with her complexion there was no dodging the fact that the kimono was leaning on the scandalous side of fashion. Though she did try, no amount of tugging would make the garment to fall any other way. She couldn't deny that her training gi, at times, was similarity revealing, however, there is a difference between revealing skin and deliberately revealing skin. This kimono was most definitely on the latter.

That no good Wolf expected her to go out in public wearing something like this!?

She shook the wrappings in frustration, willing the brown paper to magically produce something to cover her shoulders with. Instead of the desired result, a scrap of overlooked paper fell to Kaoru's feet. Curious, she picked it up.

The written message was brief.

Wear it. - Hajime Saitou

That arrogant... Kaoru fumed, giving an angry huff.

Of course, despite her underlying anger, Kaoru knew she should have expected to be dressed like this in the first place. After all, she was supposed to be 'bait', right? And 'bait' was supposed to look attractive enough to lure out their murderer.

Not that she felt attractive in the slightest.

Her expression of distaste fell slightly.

Normally, Kaoru would give herself a cute. She may not be as elegant as someone like Megumi, or as mature. Practicing kenjutsu didn't exactly let one exude feminism; but she felt confident enough in her own way. For now though, that level of normalcy didn't exist.

A hand moved tentatively up to her left shoulder, and she felt where the smoothness of skin gave way to the roughened texture of bandaging. Her injury revealed by the low neckline of the kimono.

She had debated with herself on whether or not she should leave the bandage on. Leave the unrefined appearance of the bandage or expose the still tender cut to the elements and whoever's eyes may be looking. Inevitably she remained injured so good sense led her to loop a fresh change of bandaging around her shoulder, tighten it, and focus on healing well.

At least the bandaging was a pale tan that blended in nicely with her skin tone. Kaoru's frown fell further and her hand moved in a futile attempt to cover up the roughened material entirely. Not that it was any consolidation on her appearance.

Suddenly all of Yahiko and Megumi's barbs about her being a tomboyish Tanuki held more potency than before.

Busu, indeed.

Kaoru gave herself a violent shake needing to physically jar such thoughts from her head.

This was not about the kimono. Kaoru knew well enough that she could just grab a shawl and be rid of the whole issue. But, in doing so, she would have disrupted everything she was trying to prove by acting as a lure.

She wasn't fickle. She wasn't foolhardy. And, she was not the weak link in their so called Kenshin-gumi.

It didn't matter how she looked; she was only doing this for one reason. There was some sick murderer out there making Kenshin look bad, and she was going to put a stop to his slashing spree or her name wasn't Kamiya Kaoru.

Her focus steadied, Kaoru fisted her hands at her sides in a silent declaration of determination.

"Kaoru-dono, are you ready?" Having at least temporarily learned his lesson about barging into Kaoru's room unannounced, Kenshin rapped gently on her shoji called gently. "If we're to make it to the station in time we should leave soon."

Upon hearing the rurouni's voice, no amount of sacrificial gusto was able to slow the sudden racing of Kaoru's pulse.

"Uh y-es, I'm...ready." She managed after a taking an unsuccessfully calming breath. Unable to hide her embarrassment, she couldn't stop the nervous squeak that escaped her mouth.

Cringing slightly, she steeled herself for the inevitable and pivoted around to face the door. Placing a tentative hand on the shoji, she slowly slid it open.

"That's good." Kenshin replied, from his position on the other side of her door. "If the noise from the kitchen means anything sessha believes Sanosuke is ready, as, well, that, I-"

He came to a forced stop, unable to form words past his stuttering. His mouth still held slightly agape. The rurouni grin had vanished, replaced with a look of shock as his violet eyes went wide. Kenshin was frozen, staring unabashedly at the young woman in front of him.

The silence fell with a tension that was almost palpable.

Unable to meet the rurouni's stare, Kaoru's eyes fell to her tabi. Her hands clasped together fiddling nervously, fingers plucking absently at the flowing sleeves

Watching her fidget, the rurouni's gaze traced the over the elegant expanse of figure flattering fabrics to the loosely pinned up knots of her raven hair. Though she didn't meet his stare, he could easily see the pink hue that occupied her features. His violet eyes followed the path of her blush as it traveled past her cheeks all the way down-

He stopped there.

It wasn't that he'd never seen a woman wearing a kimono in such a revealing cut before, far from it. Despite himself, he did have to admit that, if nothing else, this kimono did stay somewhat on the modest side.

Still this was not some random, unknown woman wearing such a kimono. This was Kaoru. And, she was going to be going into the worse part of town...with him hiding on the sidelines unable to properly protect her.

His mouth formed a tight lipped line.

He frowned. He didn't like this, not at all.

"You're wearing that." It wasn't a question. The rurouni's voice was strangely low.

Not knowing how to respond, Kaoru remained silent, nodding ever so slightly as she answered the obvious. It didn't help that she was unable to stop blushing. Her gaze remained on anywhere but the rurouni.

Trying to shake off her growing unease under Kenshin's unrelenting stare, she made to move forward past the rurouni. Her voice broke free under a long moment's hesitation. "It is getting close to time. We should get go-"

She didn't make it any further than that first step. The usually meek rurouni became an impending roadblock as his arm shot out, effectively blocking her passage.

Had the situation been any different, the rurouni may have blushed, stuttered 'oro's and other such nonsense. His inhibitions normally would filter whatever he might express in his usual off-handed 'rurouni' mannerisms.

But this situation could not be called normal, now could it?

Kaoru's breath caught in her throat as Kenshin abruptly drew close, his suddenly looming presence causing her to shuffle backwards uncertainly. The process was repeated until Kaoru had been lead step by step back further into the room under the rurouni's sudden advance.

He slid the door shut behind them.

"Kaoru." Just her name, no suffix. No polite barrier. His low voice fell as an insistent request upon her ears.

Her eyes widened in surprise at the abrupt lack of formalities. Though she'd be lying if she said the change was unwelcome, never before had she heard him make such a lapse when addressing her. Kaoru's head flew up. Her embarrassment, a lingering blush, flared up with renewed force as her eyes met his for the first time that night.

They weren't violet. Amber swirled unmistakably in with the steely lavender.

Whatever words Kenshin had planned to say next seemed to fail him. His posture was rigid. He started forward again; then halted. His fist clenched against his side, the gesture needed to physically stop himself.

"There might be another way." Kenshin finally managed. The words escaped him in a rush, as if to hastily push aside whatever else he might have said.

Confusion crossed, over Kaoru's features momentarily during the long moment it took for the meaning of what he was trying to say to reach her conscious. As realization hit, her expression fell.

It was his final attempt at reasoning with her. He was still trying to convince her to change her mind. Even now, the rurouni still thought it would be best to sever her involvement.

Tasting a bitter disappointment, Kaoru shook her head slowly. A determined negative to the rurouni's prodding poised on her tongue; she opened her mouth to speak. "I-"

"There might be another way to go about doing this." He repeated, not giving her a chance to speak. Though his voice was low, the words were no less heated than if they had been shouted. "Let Saitou deal with his own problems."

This coming from the same man who charged from issue to issue with nothing but his blade and his desire to help all he can? Her azure stare was disbelieving. Kaoru honestly couldn't believe that he'd meant it, and her expression said as much.

"Kenshin," she told him plaintively. "We're involved already. If this person isn't stopped the city... People are going to get upset."

As tactfully as she had put it, it was clear what had been left unsaid. If the murders weren't stopped the townsfolk would feel an increasing need to 'protect themselves'. So far unrest had remained low, only the foolhardy or more bold had acted out. But, if mob mentality set in, trouble was a guarantee.

They both knew this fact well enough.

Yet, the rurouni's gaze strayed to her bared shoulders. His eyes fixed, not on the alluring slope of her exposed neck, but the rough bandaging wrapped around her collarbone. His fist tightened at his side, the knuckles turning white.

"You shouldn't have to be involved." Kenshin said tightly. His voice remained in its deeper octave as gold briefly threatened to shallow all traces of violet. He quit dancing around the subject, stating plainly. "I don't think you should do this."

It still had the guise of a request, but the words held none of the rurouni's softness. He spoke instead with all steel-edged rigidity of the hitokiri.

"You already know what my answer is." Her tone was gentle but no less firm, as she responded, sapphire gaze meeting his golden orbs steadily.

A slow sigh escaped the rurouni and he let his eyes slide closed. Loath to admit it though he was Kenshin knew it would be impossible to argue the point any further. Despite the misgivings he had, in the end, he was in no position force the matter to the desired end. Even being unable to do so grated against his better judgment.

When his eyes reopened they were once again a lavender shade. The depths shadowed by a concern that was too poignant to be masked. "You'll be careful?"

"I promise." Kaoru promised releasing the breath she hadn't been aware that she'd been holding. It was a tentative peace, but peace nonetheless. And, while both knew true peace of mind would be long in coming, for now, under the circumstances, neither of them could do any less.

Giving a slow sigh, the rurouni's rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to take some measure of comfort in her assurance. Inevitably, his eyes trailed back to Kaoru's apparel with a long, calculating look.

Kaoru had just begun to squirm under the renewed intensity of Kenshin's gaze when the rurouni moved.

Reaching past her, Kenshin procured a shawl, randomly, from her folding rack. Before she realized what he was doing he came close, quickly wrapping the orange length of fabric over her shoulders in a protective fashion.

Her eyes widened slightly as his fingertips brushed over her exposed skin, carefully straightening and settling the cloth into place. Then, as realization set in, she stuttered a protest. "But I - Kenshin, Saitou's instructions said-"

"You'll be cold." Kenshin interrupted her, simultaneously giving the shawl a firm securing tug. "Sessha will deal with Saitou."

The officer's name came out as low growl. It was not lost on the rurouni that it was the wolf's 'instructions' that had brought the two of them to this point, and, in Kenshin's opinion, the less Saitou got his way the better.

She blushed, silently thankful for the rurouni's gesture, and nodded her acceptance.

"Now," He finished, giving Kaoru a gentle smile. "We should be going before Sano begins to wonder what's taking so long."

They exited the bedroom heading towards the dinning room where Sanosuke had been left putting together the camouflage for Kaoru's bokken.

The kitchen was a mess to put it simply.

Furniture, tableware, both lay strewn about in a careless nature. The sink, which had been cleaned and emptied upon the completion of supper was now overflowing which a renewed stack of dishes. Chucks of rice lay plastered about both the walls and the floors. One corner of the dinner table was dipping with what looked suspiciously like soy sauce.

Amidst the culinary war zone sat the culprits. Yahiko poised on one side of the table, plate of onigiri in hand. Sanosuke lurked on the other side, a hungry gleam in his eye. Both showed signs of battle damage and both were completely oblivious to the reappearance of their two friends; their argument continuing without so much as a pause.

"I told you: get your own." Yahiko took a swipe at Sanosuke as the older male attempted to scale the short table between them. "I made these rice balls so I get to eat them."

The rooster dodged with a practiced ease, having the advantage of longer limbs as he snatched a morsel off of Yahiko's plate. A full mouth, however, didn't stop Sanosuke from talking. "And I told you: we're leaving soon. As soon as Jou-chan gets done primping we're gonna get to it. I don't wanna sit out all night on an empty stomach."

Yahiko gave a frustrated cry as a second onigiri was gobbled and, abandoning his plate, prepared to jump Sanosuke in an effort to stop the rooster's thieving.

A cough cut the two off mid-scuffle.

Slowly, the two looked up from where they we're settling their culinary debate. The sight that met them was enough to strike fear the bravest of men. A Tanuki, hands on hips, foot tapping a funeral cadence, and as annoyed as hell.

"What do you two think you are doing?" Kaoru asked slowly, careful to enunciate each syllable so the two morons before her would be able to understand. Leaving Kenshin's side she advanced on the two whom had messed her beloved house.

Yahiko withdrew from the fight sullenly, knowing that look on his sensei's face all too well.

It was only the fact that he knew her bokken was not on her person, that kept the carefree smile on Sanosuke's face; and, as he took in her abnormal attire, that little smile grew into a smirk. "Hi Jou-chan, like your new kimono?"

He looked pointedly at her ankles.

Kaoru returned his smile with a glare, hearing the thinly veiled laugher in his voice and seeing the snorts of mirth Yahiko hid behind his hands. Though a part of her was relieved in the fact that the shawl kept at least her upper half covers, her tolerance was strained, already grated low. Their laughter snapped what was left of her restraint lighting her infamous temper. Stalking forward, she raised an arm, intending to pound out her frustration on the two of them.

Only to be stopped, as Kenshin moved up from behind her. His hand gentle closed over her fist.

"Did you finish Kaoru-dono's bokken?" Though the rurouni's tone was amiable, there was no hiding the admonishment in his gaze as he looked over Kaoru's shoulder to Sanosuke.

"Yeah, I just set it in the kitchen to dry." Recognizing Kenshin's somber expression for what it was, Sano nodded, joking aside. Brushing stray rice from his pants, he stood up. "Gimme a second and I'll go get it."

Sanosuke only took a moment to duck into the kitchen. Grabbing the weapon turned accessory in one hand he brought it out into the dinning room for the others to see.

It looked like an umbrella. Despite the odd nature of the various materials' the rooster had brought together, it seemed to have worked. The oilcloth was propped up by the prongs and glue in a nice even shape, resulting in a passable umbrella.

"Well?" Sanosuke asked, looking eager as they examined his handiwork. "What do you think?"

Stepping out of Kenshin's hold Kaoru took hold of her beloved weapon, examining the altered structure carefully before propping it above her head like an umbrella.

"I think it looks pretty good." Kaoru told Sanosuke with a smile. Her eyes trailed back towards the rurouni, as she half expected him to protest again.

But Kenshin remained quiet save for a soft noise of approval. His violet eyes distant as he watched the other three begin to chat easily over the properties of Kaoru's altered weapon. Hand falling to his him, the rurouni's thumb ghosted over the catch of his sakabatou.

It was a silent promise.

He would not allow for Kaoru to be put into a position where she would need to use bring that bokken to bear. Stake out or not, he would be there at the first instant of trouble.

"Argh..." Yahiko groaned loudly as he watched the adult's gather up the few things they'd be taking with them. The youngster's tone turned into a low whine as he complained. "Do I really have to stay here while you guys are gone?"

A tolerant scowl appeared on Kaoru's face as she opened her mouth to respond, but it was the rurouni who answered.

"Yahiko, you will clean up the rice mess while we're gone." Kenshin told the boy evenly.

"What?! But I-" Yahiko stopped at the look of complete seriousness on the rurouni's face. A seriously displeased frown on his lips the youth, fought the urge to pout at the unfairness of the situation. "Okay."

As Yahiko sat back down at the table, a silent consensus moved through the group. It was time.

Sanosuke ruffled Yahiko's hair in a big brotherly fashion. "Don't worry runt, I'll get some punches in for you on the guy, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Yahiko replied unenthusiastically, pulling away from Sano's hold.

"We'll be back probably sometime early next morning," Kaoru said. "Don't stay up too late waiting for us."

The boy waved aside their concerns with a grumble. Starting Kenshin's cleaning assignment as he tried to look completely indifferent to the fact that he was being left out. As the closed the door, however, his voice called after them. "Good luck, Busu."

Outside, the night was already dark and gloomy. The cloud cover was thick overhead in the surrounding skies. Though the rain had finally begun to let up, it had transformed from fat droplets to a fine penetrating mist that seep through layers of clothing to chill the skin.

Worse than the weather was the guest leaning upon the dojo gate.

Had they missed the glowing tip of Saitou's cigarette the distinctive aroma of nicotine on the night air was sign enough of the cop's presence.

He greeted them with a smug grin.

"Saitou," Sanosuke looked at the cop with an expression of utter distaste His hands were shoved forcefully into his coat pockets. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to meet you, not the other way around."

"I took a detour." The cop replied straightening up, flicking his cigarette to the ground with a sharp motion. "After all, I wouldn't have wanted Battousai to weasel out at the last moment."

Kenshin's glare turned hard at the barb, more because of the truth behind it than anything else.

"Besides," Saitou's tone turned lofty. "There were matters I needed to attend to." The wolf jerked his thumb to the left pointing out a small, previously overlooked, box sitting in the shadows of the archway.

Not a box, Kaoru realized as she stepped forward curiously. It was a basket. A basket filled with flowers, not too pretty, wilting flowers.

"Flowers. Really, Saitou, you shouldn't have..." Kaoru's voice was sarcastic.

"Tanuki." The officer's voice was hard as he cut off her rambling. "You are even more foolish than I expected if you fail to see what's in front of you."

Kaoru bristled at his tone, and she was not alone in doing so. Almost immediately Kenshin had sidled up closer to her, his eyes locked on the offending cop. It was only through force of will that the rurouni kept his hand from his blade.

"Explain," Kenshin's voice was clipped.

"A cover." Exasperated the officer gave a small growl of annoyance. "Did you think the Tanuki would just be able to sit twiddling her thumbs until the bastard shows up? She has to appear to have a valid reason to be on the street."

"And she's going to sell flowers." Sanosuke interjected, looking fairly pleased with himself that he'd figured out the plan; that is, until he was sent matching glares from the older men.

"As it was explained in the paperwork I distributed to you." Saitou finished as he transferred his look of distaste back from the rooster to the rurouni. "Did you actually focus on anything besides the general supplies and overview?"

A shared negative expression crossed their faces and the cop was able to draw his conclusion.

"Amateurs." With a low sound of frustration the wolf turned on his heel, stalking out the dojo gate so he could get this stakeout, which was already turning into the kind of fiasco he abhorred, underway.

The walk there was uneventful. The silence between the four was weighted but not unwelcome. It would belittle what they were about to do to waste breath on small chat.

The streets themselves were almost completely devoid of life, stories of the disappearances had made most wary of traveling outside of their homes into the night. The few souls, who were out, were hurried, hasty to get from one point to the next. The progression of the four unique individuals who traveled placidly along the back alleys was treated with suspicious stares by the rare townsfolk they encountered.

Approaching the lower end of the city, the night life changed. Here, there were still many about. Businesses, small shops that would be open to the wee hours of the morning, had their doors opened wide. Here, time was more than money, it was life. The poorer classes scrabbled to make ends meet and in doing so, quite literally, everything was for sale.

Here was the den of their rat.

While most pedestrians kept to the dim lighting of the streets, Saitou lead the three of them down the darkened narrow path between buildings. The small space led to the brick wall of a dead end. Even so, the wolf took a long pause, his gaze piercing through the shadows, to confirm that they were truly alone before he spoke in a low, gravelly whisper.

"This is where we part ways." He looked over the heads of the shorter men, catching Kaoru's eye to ensure that she was paying attention. "Tanuki, when you leave the alley-"

"Wait." Kenshin interjected. "Sessha was under the impression we were to escort Kaoru-dono to where she would be staying."

"We did." Saitou answered nonchalantly. Raising an eyebrow as he found himself on the receiving end of a lavender gaze, the wolf continued sarcastically. "What did you expect? To accompany her every step of the way? It would be inevitable that she would be spotted. Make no mistake Battousai, coming as far as we did is concession enough any further and we would jeopardize Tanuki's cover."

The rurouni didn't argue, but he didn't look pleased with this new bit of information either.

Surprisingly enough it was Sano who spoke up in Saitou's defense. "We're only a few blocks away, aren't we? It shouldn't be too far for Jou-chan to walk." When the rooster was shot three incredulous looks he bristled. "I did the research, remember? And the two Tea houses that complained about missing women are close by to here. Right around there is where Jou-chan's gonna be."

The last bit was spoken more as a statement than question, but Saitou nodded regardless, grudgingly confirming Sanosuke's assumptions. "And each building in a five block radius has several officers posted on it as well."

"And, I'll be careful." Kaoru said, more for the rurouni's benefit then anything else. Her sapphire eyes serious, she questioned. "So, tell me where I need to go."

"Left," the cop answered. "Then go two blocks and go left again. There's a small stand set up for you. So play your part."

Her grip tightening on the flower basket, Kaoru nodded.

"Shawl." Saitou ordered abruptly, before anyone could begin to move out, extending one hand expectantly to the Tanuki.

"What?" Kaoru squeaked, frozen like a raccoon caught in a trap, knowing all too well what the wolf was demanding. Her free hand instinctively clasped at the fabric in protest.

Sanosuke, clueless as to just what Saitou was asking blinked looking at the shawl, to Saitou's outstretched palm, and back again.

"It's cold." As promised Kenshin spoke up, giving the wolf a warning look. He left the reasons he further disliked the idea of Kaoru removing the shawl unsaid.

"I would prefer not to have to do this multiple times, Battousai." Saitou remarked calmly, not bothering to return Kenshin's gaze he kept his eyes trained on Kaoru as he awaited her compliance. "You know better than I the deceptive nature of judging by one's appearance." It was a barb on the former hitokiri's scrawny physic; something that had led many to mistakenly underestimate Kenshin in the past. The officer gestured to her 'umbrella' with his still extended hand. "I think it should be enough to chance that the Tanuki take her stick. Now give me the shawl so we can get this ordeal underway."

She flinched slightly, both from the fact that the arrogant jerk had called her bokken a 'stick' and from the fact that his words rang true. Her grip on the orange fabric relaxed. The wolf's logic was irrefutable, and she had expected that it would be too much to believe she could wear the thing...Besides; the orange really did clash horribly with blue kimono.

Kaoru relinquished the shawl.

Realizing why they were arguing over the stupid piece of fabric a bit too late, Sanosuke nearly choked on the fishbone that had found its way in his mouth as he seen the upper portion of what the Tanuki had been made to wear. He covered his laughter by coughing harder.

"Jou-chan, you look...nice." Though he somehow managed a straight face, Sano's shoulders shook with barely contained amusement.

"Don't start with me, Sagara." Kaoru's threat and glare were muted by the fact that she was red in the face with embarrassment. Meeting the rurouni's already worried gaze only hesitantly, she made as if to say something, but quickly looked away. Taking her things more securely in hand she turned, "I'm going to get going then..."

Trying to ignore the exposed feeling that swept over her, at the decidedly cool night air against her skin Kaoru began to head back towards the mouth of the alley. Repeating her instructions mentally while she walked.

"And Tanuki, for Kami's sake stay put when you get there." Saitou called after her. "I don't need you mucking things up."

She waved a hand at the wolf, not dignifying him with a response to the obvious. Then, peeking out and around the side of the building, she was gone.

Back in the alleyway, Kenshin's stomach clenched painfully in concern the moment she disappeared from sight. His hand came up to grip his sakabatou, but he found scant reassurance in the weapon's presence.

He had a bad feeling about this.

Caught up in his turbulent emotions, the rurouni wasn't even aware that he was being called until Sanosuke smacked him upside the head.

"Kenshin. I said, 'come on'. If you don't hurry up Jou-chan will get into place before we do." Tugging the shorter man off balance, Sanosuke began to drag Kenshin to the far corner of the back alley where Saitou had already disappeared. The rurouni found himself shoved up to a crude set of steps hued into the side of the wall, stealthily concealed among the litter.

Climbing nimbly up the hand and foot holds, the two of them quickly found themselves atop the building. The view was terrific in that they were easily able to see down into the flow of the streets while they themselves remained hidden from view from those below.

The wolf stood a couple paces away. His narrow, amber eyes fixed on a distant point as he made a quick gesture with one gloved hand.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, then, across the way, an officer on the adjacent roof top ducked out from what appeared to be an abandoned line of laundry swaying in the damp breeze. Giving a quick salute the man gave a returning gesture.

Almost immediately, the shadowed tops of the surrounding buildings stirred into action. Silently the supporting troops moved to the fore, swiftly dealing out their nonverbal queues in rapid succession to their commanding officer.

Despite themselves, they were impressed at the obvious complexity of the trap that had been set.

"They know the Tanuki is out." Saitou relayed, calmly walking across the rooftop as though he just happened to scale buildings everyday. Starting off across the roof, he led the way with a smooth confidence. "We need to go further down if we're to be in any position to see what's happening."

The so called look-out was the roof of small restaurant housed between two other buildings of an unsavory nature. As the three climbed down from the rickety catwalk from a tall 'motel' onto the lower building they found themselves looking down the business end of a pistol.

However, almost as soon as the threat had appeared, there was a yelp of embarrassment. The young officer whom had been temporarily assigned to the roof nearly wet himself as he recognized Saitou and realized just whom he had pulled a gun on.

"Sir!" Scrambling in his haste to withdraw his weapon, the young man nearly dropped his gun. Hurriedly, his hand was brought up into a salute. "Forgive me Fujita-san; I didn't realize it was-"

As unfazed as Saitou was by the rookie's behavior, he had no patience for idiocy. "Just give your report."

"Generally unchanged," the officer said quickly. "Many people just passing through. There are new impoverished holed up in the far alley for the night, and the drunk is still...er...passed out drunk, Sir."

Saitou nodded taking in the information in stride.

Leaning as close as he could to the edge while staying out of sight, Sanosuke spoke up. "It looks like Jou-chan is coming around the corner."

At the news, Kenshin quickly moved into a position to see as well.

She was there. A faint red glow of embarrassment still upon her cheeks, they were able to watch as Kaoru made her way to the small stand that had been set up alongside one of the buildings across the street. As she set about putting on a small show of setting up her 'wares', for the benefit of any onlookers; the rurouni set about assuring himself that she had been not been hassled on her walk into place.

Kenshin exhaled slowly. Though he knew that they really had yet to begin what was certain to be a long night, the fact that he could now see Kaoru once more relieved him to no end.

If he could see her, no force in the world could stop him from leaping to action at the slightest hint of trouble.

The rurouni was not the only one staring.

"Nice..." The rookie's quiet, almost stunned appraisal of their bait's appearance was met by the suddenly harsh glare of the rurouni's lightened violet eyes. Two and two were put together quickly, as the officer amended his statement, backing away slowly. "I mean, we'll do our best to ensure the lady remains unharmed, Sir."

"You're dismissed." Saitou told the quaking young man. A dry amusement at the rookie's lapse in intelligence was visible in his eyes for only a second before he ordered. "Now get to your secondary post."

The rookie, eyes wide, rushed to follow the order.

Sanosuke snickered.

Acting as though nothing had happened Kenshin made himself comfortable. Finding a spot with an unobstructed view he sat down crossing his arms and propping his sakabatou upon his shoulder.

It was going to be a long night.

. . . . . . . .

Kaoru practically growled. She was starting to get pissed.

She had been sitting around for several hours now.

Despite the near emptiness of the dirty, city streets Kaoru had encountered at least a dozen people so far. She hadn't had much trouble, relatively speaking. Other than a couple cases of overactive testosterone, most of those who stop at her stand really did just want to buy some flowers.

That last one though, his hands had started to wander. It had taken most of her self-control not to use her bokken on him. Knowing that it wasn't worth ruining her cover over a punk, she'd settled for giving him the iciest glare she could manage, a move she'd learned from Megumi, and threatening him with a short trip to lifelong celibacy.

He'd left pretty fast after that.

Taking a deep breath she stored her anger for future use and gave a lengthy sigh. Poking at one of the daisies sticking out of her basket, a frown touched Kaoru's lips.

Beyond that, nothing particularly notable had happened.

Kaoru didn't know much about city nightlife, but it seemed to her that the disappearances had people spooked. Even with the few who'd tried, poorly, to flirt with her had left quickly. With a killer on the loose, no one wanted to go looking for trouble.

Then again, for all she knew, one of the men who'd tried flirting with her may have very well been the murderer.

Kaoru tore the petal she'd been playing with off entirely, muttering darkly under her breath.

She wished that she could have been given some idea of what to look out for, but there had been no such luck.

Stay put. That was the wolf's sole bit of counseling for this endeavor.

It was beginning to occur to her that the police had even less of an idea of what to look for than she did and that Saitou must have been getting pretty desperate if this stake out was his best course of action.

Back then, when Gohei had been trying to bring down her school, at least she'd had a notion of what she was looking for. The dead had been left scattered, clearly marked by the katana that had done them in as the lumbering man tried to pass himself as Hitokiri Battousai. And it was that katana that had given Kaoru an idea of where to start in defending her school.

Yes, she'd wound up attacking the wrong man, a mistake that she would never regret making; but everything had played itself out.

Now, they didn't even have the luxury of knowing the murder weapon. The women were simply never found.

The increasing chilled air along the alley was coupled with thickening rain drops. Holding her umbrella more securely over her head, Kaoru shivered, drawing her arms close to her body. Wistfully, she began to lament relinquishing her shawl so quickly for a reason other than modesty.

A sneeze echoed down the enclosed hedge of buildings.

Blinking slightly at the sound, it was movement further along the street that caught Kaoru's eye.

Peeling himself out of the muck of the gutter was the figure of a man slowly making his unsteady way down the street. It was impossible to tell where the mud on his clothing ended and the fabric's true color began. His hair was greasy and hung in short clumps about his face. But despite his obviously impoverished state, the sake jug clasped loosely in his fist was swung with a cheerful zeal.

One of the several street bums she'd passed on the way to her station, apparently just waking up from his drink induced nap.

Humming nonsensical tunes to himself, he'd almost passed Kaoru's little shop when he did a double take and treated her to a lecherous grin.

"Hey there sweet cakes..." The man staggered, swaying slightly as he moved to lean over the small table that passed for a stall. A slur accented his speech. "Whaddya say I let you treat me to a drink?"

Not again.

Though the smile she gave was friendly, Kaoru was unable to hide the disgust in her eyes or the crinkle of her nose as the stench of cheap alcohol swept over her. As she'd done several times before, Kaoru dredged up her most 'maidenly' voice, blinking innocently as she tried to shoo the loser away. "Oh, no, I couldn't. I have much too much to do."

"S'all right." Congenial enough, for a drunk, the man gave a parody of a sagely nod, leaning heavily on the table as his entire body seemed to list to one side. "You've got a business here ta run, and I res'pect that. Business iz business."

Apparently proud of the wisdom behind his own words, he gave a bright smile, and finished his speech with a gesture so extravagant that he promptly fell over. Unable to support the drunk's weight, the table Kaoru had been given for her stand collapsed.

The downed man gave a groan.

Kaoru placed a hand on her temple as she felt an impending headache coming on. Resisting her initial urge to pummel the idiot she crouched down, prodding him in the side. "Hey? Are you all right?"

Shaking himself off slightly, and checking to make sure his sake was still safe, the man pulled himself off of the ground. The abrupt action brought him nose to nose with a surprised Kaoru. As she began to pull away, rocking back on her heels, his hand shot out to catch her wrist.

In their sudden proximity, the man smirked.

"So please understand, this is only business... Kamiya-san." The hurried whisper was low, intended for her ears alone. His voice had no trace of its previous slur.

Kaoru didn't even have time to react. The blow moved faster than the eye, jabbing harshly into her stomach and leaving her the one collapsed, gasping for air.

The man whirled away from her, oversized clothing swirling loosely around him as he moved, leaping nimbly to his feet. His eyes instantly locked on the roof of the small restaurant, which had been the head 'lookout' post, where Kenshin was already jumping down, sakabatou unleashed.

The man's smug grin only grew at the quickly approaching rurouni. With one arm he raised the sake jar into the air in a high arch. His voice rose to a challenging shout. "Battousai! Hunt us if you can!"

Shattering pottery sounded.

The result was instantaneous - fire. Whatever substance the jar may have contained, the power was explosive. Flames lit, racing across the center of the street between the police task force and their downed bait.

More importantly, it blocked off Kenshin from Kaoru.

"Kaoru-dono!"

Arm clenched tightly around her stomach while she hurried to push herself off the ground, Kaoru coughed. Her freehand grasping the handle of her bokken as she called out. "Kenshin!"

Before Kaoru could act, a new set of hands viciously grabbed her. A foul smelling cloth pressed harshly across her face. The fumes were choking and Kaoru's vision swarmed before pitching into blackness.

Kaoru, unconscious, wouldn't feel the man who grabbed her; hauled her up over his shoulder and ran like the Hounds of Hades were after him. She wouldn't hear the clash of weaponry as the police task force was taken out by the rapid succession of surprise attacks to follow by the group of black-swathed men, who seemed to appear just as the flames raged highest. She wouldn't see it as the attackers scattered, disappearing from the scene just as the rain began to quench the flames in a bath of steam.

And, she wouldn't see the enraged samurai left standing amid path of destruction, his eyes ablaze with gold.

- - - - - - - - - -

Disclaimer: And I do -lawyers swarm- NOT own Rurouni Kenshin

Authoress Notes: I live...despite some probable doubts. After a long awaited chunk of time we have a new chapter! The main reason behind this being that originally, I had started writing this chapter as the predictable 'Eek! I'm mostly naked' light-hearted scenario. After writing about a fourth of the way through I realized that it did no possible justice to the situation...and scrapped everything I had written.

So? Is it what you were expecting? I sure hope not. Assumptions are lethal! Prepare for the twisting of everything you thought you knew...and more than a little Battousai-kun in the mix!

Questions? Comment? -looks nervous- General death threats? Please review! Remember leave your e-mail after the tone and the Authoress will be sure to get back to you. Shout outs to everyone on my 'thank you for your awesome, inspiring reviews' list: animegurl23, Annabella5, Nekotsuki, Spriggan, starfairy14s, kik-ting, laura harvey, Jupiter's Light, Kokuei, Kenjutsu Priestess, phone booth, Behold the Void, airmed, JDFielding, Charmed18, TanukiGirl22

Alea Seikou

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. - John Powell