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"Night Visitor"
"All in the Family"
"Romancing the Wolf"
WARNING: This story is "semi-dark" -- it has dark elements (violence, profanity, etc.) but it's not a darkfic! Actually, there's quite a bit of romance in it.... ^_-
This story takes place after the end of the Kyoto story arc. After that, it takes a sharp left turn into its own world. Elements of the Revenge story arc may or may not show up later on in the story. The Kenshin Gumi already know that Saitoh survived the destruction of Shishio's stronghold.
As always, C&C is greatly appreciated! ^_^
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Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Rurouni Kenshin belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shuiesha, Sony Music Entertainment, and associated parties. The characters of these series are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit. Original portion of the fiction included here is considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author.
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Text Conventions:
( ) are character thoughts
* ----- * ----- * marks the start and end of flashbacks
[ ] denote visual or time notes
The people gathered in the main room of Dr. Genzai's clinic-Kaoru, Kenshin, Sano, Yahiko, Megumi, Misao-stared blankly as Tokio calmly put out another place setting for her husband.
Through the open doorway, Saitoh Hajime could see Shinomori Aoshi sleeping in the adjacent room. He glanced at Misao and said, "I heard you were looking for him. I see your hunt was successful."
Misao clenched her right hand and gritted her teeth, but said nothing.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Sano asked irritably.
Saitoh raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly. "Idiot. My wife left me a message."
As Tokio handed her husband a cup of tea, Kenshin watched curiously as Saitoh reached out to take the cup from her hand.
(Why didn't he wait for her to put it down? That doesn't seem like Saitoh at all...) Kenshin suddenly realized that that oddly intimate act was actually just a cover for Saitoh's real gesture. With a subtle flick of the fingers, Saitoh brushed back Tokio's sleeve, exposing her wrist... and the clear band of darkening bruises around it.
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, then glanced up at his wife. Tokio patiently returned her husband's gaze and continued to set out his dinner. Except for Kenshin, no one else seemed to notice the brief interchange between husband and wife.
(Bruises? Where did she get... oh, no... Sano.) Kenshin felt a definite twinge of uneasiness. (If Saitoh finds out that he left those bruises....) Although Saitoh had not expressed any sign of marital affection-either by word or deed-instinct told Kenshin that it was NOT because of any lack of feeling on Saitoh's part.
As he calmly began to devour the fish Tokio placed in front of him, Saitoh said, "Perhaps you'll be interested in knowing that Mr. Honami-the man who decided to kill himself by smashing his brains all over the street-was being pursued by the police. It appears that some neighbors caught him in the act of slaughtering his entire family with a sword. He was shot several times, but he still managed to elude them."
Misao whispered, "Then... you've caught the murderer... the person who's been killing all those people recently...."
"No," Saitoh calmly corrected.
"WHAT!?" everyone shouted.
"He definitely killed his own family, but he couldn't have killed the other five families. We had his whereabouts checked," Saitoh said as he casually stole the fish off Sano's plate.
Kenshin stiffened. "You mean to say...."
"Yes. He is a murderer, but not THE murderer... if there is a single killer."
"You think there's more than one?" Kenshin said.
"There's least two killers and perhaps more. There's a pattern in this madness. The trick is to figure out what it is."
Kenshin murmured, "All these deaths... they're totally random, but at the same time, they're not random at all."
Sano slammed his rice bowl down and said, "I don't understand what the hell you guys are trying to say!"
Saitoh snorted and said, "Of course you don't." With his chopsticks, he leisurely started putting peas in six separate heaps on the table.
"Assume that each pea is a death. There have been six distinct groupings of murders." He pointed at a single heap of peas. "Everyone within a group is related somehow -- by blood, marriage, or close friendship-but no group is related to any other group. They have virtually nothing in common. The groups don't have mutual acquaintances and they don't have similar social, economic, or political affiliations. Do you get that much?"
Sano glared furiously at Saitoh. "Of course I do! What do you think I am? An idiot!?"
Misao muttered, "Don't answer that."
Saitoh continued, "There are only three things that all six groups have in common. First, all these people are dead. Second, they all died the same way."
Kenshin quietly said, "Killed by a highly skilled swordsman."
"Exactly."
Kenshin glanced curiously at Saitoh. "But what's the third thing?"
Saitoh carefully put a piece of bright orange carrot in each heap of peas.
"Third, there's a suicide associated with each group of deaths. Again, the suicide is related to the murder victims by blood, marriage, or friendship. Curious, isn't it?"
"'Curious' is not exactly the word I would use, Saitoh," muttered Kenshin.
"Now I get it," said Yahiko, staring at the little heaps of vegetables scattered across the tabletop. "Random in some ways, but not random in others."
Saitoh smirked at Sano. "Well, if the brat can understand what I'm talking about, surely YOU can."
"Why you...!" Sano growled as he started to get to his feet.
Megumi yanked him back down onto his cushion and snapped, "Hush! This is getting interesting!"
As Sano and the doctor started yelling at each other, Kaoru asked, "But why are you involved? Murder, even mass murder, doesn't it seem to be a matter for the secret police?"
Saitoh gave them a chilly smile. "On the contrary. When expert killers suddenly show up and start slaughtering people in my jurisdiction, then I consider it my business. Even more so when I end up being a prime suspect in these murders, at least initially."
"There were traces of Shinsengumi-style swordwork," Kenshin replied.
"Hmph. I don't argue that."
There was a soft groan from the next room.
"Aoshi-sama!" Misao tried to get up, but nearly fell over because of the stiffness in her muscles.
Megumi gave Sano a last angry look and hauled herself to her feet. She patted Misao on the shoulder. "You stay put. I'll take a look at him."
Just as Megumi left the room, Tokio came from the kitchen and looked around. "Where's Megumi-san?"
Sano muttered in a sulky voice, "She's checking on Aoshi. He finally decided to wake up."
"Thank you." Tokio headed off as Misao started yelling at Sano.
Over the noise, Saitoh put a piece of red pepper on the table. "Assume that this is the killer. Or rather, the killers." He added a few more red pepper chunks.
With his own chopsticks, Kenshin replaced the carrot cube in one heap of peas with a piece of red pepper. "But we know that the unfortunate Mr. Honami is both the suicide AND the murderer associated with this group of people."
"Yes. Which makes me wonder about the other suicides...," said Saitoh. With his chopstick, he thoughtfully nudged a carrot chunk in one of the other heaps of peas.
As they all stared at the neatly arranged vegetables, Kaoru said, "But how does Misao fit into this picture?"
Saitoh shrugged. "No idea. So is someone going to tell me what happened between Shinomori and the Weasel Girl?"
nbsp;Misao stopped arguing with Sano and glared angrily at Saitoh. "Will you stop calling me that!?"
Sano plunked down a chunk of onion on the tabletop, away from the other vegetables. "Say that this is Misao." He then placed a single, tiny grain of rice beside it. "And this is Aoshi...."
"What!? You jerk! How DARE you use a measly piece of rice to represent Aoshi-sama!?"
Yahiko butted into the conversation by saying, "No way! He should be a piece of cold fish!"
Misao squeaked in outrage.
As she, Yahiko, and Sano got into a heated three-way fight about the virtues and faults of Aoshi, Kenshin sighed wearily. "I think they're taking your demonstration a bit too seriously."
Saitoh uttered a malicious chuckle, then said, "So what happened? The Weasel Girl's no match for Aoshi, even if the fool was holding back."
"Do you have any more soy sauce? You appear to be out...."
Megumi murmured, "I can't decide who should be first. That idiot Sano or Ken-san...."
Tokio cocked her head slightly and said, "Excuse me? I didn't quite catch what you said...."
Megumi turned around, black sword in hand and a wicked glint in her eyes.
"That sword's EVIL, I tell you!" Misao protested.
"What, are you going to start telling me stories of demons and ghosts, now?" Saitoh said. "Or are you suggesting that the thing's somehow cursed?"
(He... doesn't sound like he's entirely joking,) Kenshin realized with astonishment.
Misao yanked her hair and shouted, "Why am I wasting my time? You obviously don't believe a word I'm saying! That damn weapon was probably MADE for someone like you!"
"Oh ho. Now I'm curious. So, where is this diabolical sword?"
Kaoru said, "I don't know. I think Kenshin had it...."
They all turned to stare at him. Kenshin glanced around in bewilderment, then suddenly frowned.
(Yes, I did have it... so where did I put it?) He was a little startled to realize that he couldn't quite remember where he had left the sword.
Saitoh smirked, "Going senile already, Battousai?"
"HAJIME!!!"
The next instant, Saitoh was on his feet, his sword half-drawn. Through the open double doorway leading to the main sickroom, both he and Kenshin saw Tokio hastily throwing herself over Aoshi's bed in a desperate attempt to evade the dark blade slashing toward her. Saitoh's wife rolled off the bed and landed on the floor with a thud. Scrambling to her feet, Tokio hastily backed away as Megumi jumped effortlessly over the bed and cornered her at the other side of the long ward room.
The doctor burst into a vicious snicker, then held the sword parallel to the floor. Her other hand was extended before her, hovering just above the blade, and she crouched slightly. It was an instantly recognizable stance.
A stunned Kenshin thought, (That's a form of the Gatotsu! What is Megumi doing?!) He started as he heard a soft growl beside him. That faint sound, along with the narrowed eyes were the only signs of Saitoh's tightly controlled fury. But even as the former Shinsengumi captain started to move, Megumi lunged toward Tokio.
(We're not going to reach them in time!), thought Kenshin.
With no place to go, Tokio grabbed the first thing she could in a desperate attempt to shield herself. Amazingly, there was no fear or panic on her face... only grim determination. In that instant, Kenshin caught a glimpse of what must have attracted Saitoh to an apparently helpless woman like Tokio.
(A soul of steel... total dedication... two kindred spirits....)
A wolf and its mate....
Megumi's powerful thrust drove the black sword right through the metal basin in Tokio's hands. By some miracle, Tokio somehow managed to deflect the path of the blade just enough. The tip of the sword missed its main target and ripped open the sleeve of her kimono. Tokio didn't make a sound as she clung desperately to the basin. It was the only thing, which kept Megumi from cutting her to pieces.
Kenshin yelled, "Megumi! Stop!"
Amazingly, she did. She turned to stare at Saitoh and Kenshin. Saitoh inhaled sharply and Kenshin felt an eerie chill run down his spine at the look of almost unholy joy that suddenly appeared on Megumi's face. It was an expression of almost elemental recognition.
"Battousai... and Saitoh...." Megumi's smile widened even further. "Both of you... I've found you, at last!"
As Megumi attempted to wrench her blade free from the metal basin, Saitoh took instant advantage of the opening and launched his own attack.
"HIYAHHH!!!"
"SAITOH!!!" bellowed Sano as he threw himself at Saitoh. He had no real idea what was going on. All he knew was that Saitoh had every intention of killing Megumi.
Saitoh caught a glimpse of Sano's charge from the corner of his eye. With his right fist, he viciously punched Sano aside without even slowing. But that instant of istraction was more than enough for the doctor. Unable to pull her blade free in time to deflect Saitoh's attack, Megumi grabbed Tokio's sleeve and yanked the woman in front of her....
....right into the path of Saitoh's Gatotsu.
He could see Tokio turning... trying to get out of the way... but it wouldn't be enough.
Too late to stop... and no way to miss her....
....the pale blur that was a woman's hopelessly vulnerable back....
....the smear of darkness that was blood....
....images he would never forget....
"NO!!!" Kenshin leapt over Sano's sprawled body and lunged with every bit of speed he had.
With bone-jarring force, they all ended in a great heap... four people, three swords, and a perforated metal basin.