Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Samurai X Fan Fiction ❯ Stalemate ❯ Chapter I ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: While some of you may recognize the whole “federal agent goes to a small town to help investigate a murder” thing from the (quite old) TV show Twin Peaks, others may not know what I'm talking about. For the ones who do, I assure you that the similarities end there, as this story will evolve in totally different directions. This is an Alternate Universe (AU) fic, set in modern times.

 

One more thing: English is only my second language, so you might (even though I'm trying my best) find some grammar or spelling mistakes in my writings, although very sporadic. But it's probably not so bad, so why not read it? ;)

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Surprising, no?

 

 

 

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Aoshi Shinomori stared in dismay at the main street of the small and dull town of Toba. It seemed almost impossible that such a gruesome murder had taken place in the woods surrounding the city and that the victim, a 22-year-old girl, had shopped in the supermarket around the corner, had a cup of coffee at the restaurant nearby, not even two days ago.

 

Now she was dead and had undoubtedly left many who had once known her crying for her permanent absence. Aoshi had never even seen her face, but he always regretted that such young lives had to leave the world of the living so very soon, maybe in reminiscence of the years we had so foolishly thrown away by getting involved in not-so-appropriate situations.

 

He shook his head. This was not the time nor the place to be thinking such things. «Not now, not ever...» he added in thought. The local chief of police was probably waiting for him at the police station (and he had no idea where it might be located) and, looking at his wrist watch, he noted he was half an hour late. The chief of police would surely be furious... but he really didn't care. Brushing away the strands of shiny black hair that insisted on falling in his eyes, he set out to find the police station. «Seeing this town, it probably might be a wooden shack somewhere» Aoshi thought, smirking.

 

 

XxXxXxX

 

 

At last Aoshi was able to find the police station; it wasn't far from the place where he had been contemplating both the town and his own thoughts. The chief of police, a man in his mid-thirties, amazingly tall and broad-shouldered and with a menacing glint in his amber eyes was waiting for him at the door.

 

“Shinomori, that's you, right?” he asked, blowing the smoke of the cigarette he was smoking in Aoshi's face.

 

“Yes.” he curtly answered, obviously displeased by the manners (or lack thereof) of that small town cop. “And you are...?”

 

The man's lips curled in a sarcastic smirk. “Saitou. Hajime Saitou. Chief of Police of this town in the middle of nowhere.”

 

“Federal agent Aoshi Shinomori, from Kyoto...”

 

Saitou promptly cut him off, raising his hand.

 

“Stop. I already know. Or do you think we don't have phones around here?”

 

Aoshi's cold blue eyes shot him a dangerous look. Whom did that idiot think he was talking to? One of his underlings?

 

“I'm counting on your full cooperation on this case.” Aoshi declared in a threatening tone. “I was hoping you'd show more consideration to a colleague who's here to help you.”

 

“Help me? You must be joking. I didn't ask for anyone's help, much less yours. I want to make it very clear,” Saitou pointed, almost piercing through Aoshi's eyes with his finger. “that your help, as you so merrily call it, is not welcome at all. For me, this is more like a certificate of incompetence with my name written on it.”

 

“Certificate of incompetence? Well, they must have their reasons.” Aoshi smiled mischievously, glad that Saitou had given him such a good pretext to laugh at his expenses. Any thoughts related to cooperation between both sides were immediately abandoned.

 

“Ouch! If looks could kill...”

 

Both men looked in the direction the voice was coming from and saw a young man around twenty years old, tall and a bit on the thin side, brunette and with a haircut too gravity-defying to be considered normal.

 

“Don't tell me you're that agent from Kyoto!” he exclaimed. “Saitou here has been complaining all the time since the moment he heard you were coming.”

 

“The agent has a name.” Aoshi calmly stated, but not without giving his voice a somewhat gelid touch. “For you and your boss, it's Shinomori-san.”

 

The boy seemed to take it lightly and, with a broad smile, he pointed to himself.

 

“My name's Sanosuke Sagara and this is my first case! That is, if the `murder' of old Ogata-san's cat last week doesn't count.”

 

“Do me a favour and shut up... ahou.” Saitou growled, giving him a murderous look.

 

Sanosuke did not appear to be the type of guy to just hear Saitou's insults and remain quiet, but surely his curiosity to know further details concerning the case had gotten the better of him, seeing as he followed them to Saitou's office without protesting.

 

Aoshi sat in the comfortable leather sofa near the only window in Saitou's office. The ill-humoured policeman tossed him the briefcase containing all the information pertaining to the case as well as some pictures of the body, obviously aiming at his head. Aoshi glanced briefly at him before opening it. He examined the pictures as Saitou lit yet another cigarette and Sanosuke sat on the desk, earning a dirty look from the smoking policeman.

 

“Tomoe Himura, born Yukishiro.” Aoshi whispered to himself, going through the victim's personal data. Letting his eyes linger on the pictures of the pale and naked corpse, he regretted once more that so many people had to die like that. Tomoe's long black hair contrasted dismally with her almost impossibly white skin. The blood that stained her had been partially washed away by the water of the shallow creek by which she had been found. Multiple cuts and stab wounds gave away the cause of death.

 

“Raped?” Aoshi asked Saitou.

 

“Probably yes.” he answered, his face hidden behind a thick cloud of smoke. “However, we can't be sure.”

 

“What do you mean? You ran an autopsy, I presume?”

 

“Once again, I am forced to remind you that, even though this looks like the end of the world, in reality it isn't. Of course we have a coroner and of course we ran an autopsy.”

 

“So? What seems to be the problem?”

 

“Her husband, Kenshin Himura, has locked himself up in his house since he found out about his wife's death. When we went to question him he didn't even utter a single word. Either he's in shock or he went completely mad. We cannot prove that the traces we found on the body belong to the killer and possible rapist. They could as well be Himura's.”

 

“I'll have to talk to this Kenshin Himura. Where does he live?”

 

“Did I not make myself clear? The man won't talk to anyone, much less to someone he doesn't know.”

 

“Even so, I have to talk to him. Will you take me there or must I find the way for myself?”

 

“So be it.” Saitou sighed. “I'm not in the mood for arguing, and not with you of all people.”

 

“Damn right, because I am here for that!” Sanosuke suddenly barked. “Or have you forgotten we still have a score to settle in combat?”

 

Aoshi stared at them, cursing the lack of professionalism and general inefficiency of those two, who even discussed about becoming each other's punching bags during work hours. Now that he noticed, the kid looked too young to be a police officer; it was something he'd have to ask Saitou about once he had interrogated Kenshin Himura.

 

“Can we go now?” he asked, looking bored, after he got tired of watching Saitou and Sanosuke verbally abuse each other.

 

 

XxXxXxX

 

 

 

The three men stopped in front of a well-kept dojo that Saitou said belonged to Himura.

 

“A dojo?” Aoshi murmured.

 

“Yeah, the Himuras, husband and wife, taught kendo to the kids here in town. They all got along pretty well.” Sanosuke informed him. “Sometimes I even came here uninvited to eat my meals... since the salary I get from Saitou makes it impossible for me to eat in a restaurant.”

 

“Have you tried to cook, rooster-head?” Saitou retorted.

 

Sanosuke showed him the finger and Saitou retaliated by blowing the smoke of his ever-present cigarette in his face. Aoshi had to prevent himself from smiling once he recognized the pattern in Saitou's `attacks': blowing smoke in other people's faces and, who knows, some day later offer them a lung cancer as a present.

 

Saitou slid the rice-paper door open.

 

“Err...” Sanosuke started hesitantly. “Shouldn't we knock first?”

 

Saitou didn't share his opinion and got in without further ado, followed by Aoshi. As he squinted to get his eyes used to the darkness inside the dojo he managed to catch a glimpse of a man sitting on the floor in a corner, leaning against the wall with his head between his knees. He was holding a sheathed katana and sat completely motionless. He did not budge an inch, not even when Saitou and Aoshi stopped right in front of him. Aoshi could now see that this mysterious man's long hair was of a flaming red, something he had never seen before. A cross-shaped scar marred his left cheek, partially hidden by some unkempt red strands.

 

“Himura!” Saitou called. “We want to talk to you.”

 

Kenshin Himura raised his head slightly but his strangely void eyes gave no assurance that he was listening.

 

“We want to talk to you about your wife... Tomoe-san.” Aoshi said softly.

 

“Tomoe...” Kenshin whispered. “She...”

 

Saitou and Aoshi had their eyes focused hard on him, expectant. Sanosuke joined them then, sad beyond words at seeing Kenshin like that, a mere shadow of what he had once been.

 

“It's my fault.” Kenshin declared, lowering his head. “I'm tired... I want to sleep, but I can't close my eyes without seeing her...”

 

Saitou made an impacient sound. «This man isn't making any sense. Why are we here wasting our time?»

 

Kenshin rose slowly.

 

“Can I see her?” he asked in a strangled voice.

 

 

 

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