Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ A Certain Clarity ❯ 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Title: A Certain Clarity (4/30)

Author: Franzi Dickson

E-mail: fdickson@ix.netcom.com

Archive: The SxSAS Archive, fanfiction.net and others (eventually). If you want it on your site, just ask.

Rating: NC-17 for wet dreams, sex, drugs, violence and other badness.

Warnings: m/m sex, lemon, assorted bad things in this part and future ones

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me. I'm just doing bad things with them. Don't sue me.

Great, he thought to himself: Just great! The first time he shows up in god knows how long and you can't even say hello properly. You could have at least asked him how he's been or been polite or something.

`Polite?' whispered another voice. Is it polite to come back to Tokyo and not even bother telling anyone? He must have been here for months already. It's not like he came back here just for this case. How long do you suppose it would have been before he would have come to see you all?

Why the hell was he thinking this way? Saitou was here now, wasn't he. Sure, it had taken him a while, but then they weren't exactly friends, now were they. He didn't owe any of them. Sure, it might have been nice if he'd told someone he was in town, but he'd shown up eventually.

Saitou was still staring after Megumi, lost in thought.

Yes, he came to find *her*.

So what?, he answered it defensively. It's none of my business who he sees.

But why would he want to see *her*?

She's a doctor. He wanted help on the case! Why was this making him so uneasy? It wasn't like Saitou was going to hurt her or anything, but still, she'd been so quick to trust him. She couldn't really have been serious when she'd said that thing… could she?

"What are you staring at, ahou?" The golden eyes regarded him coldly.

He jumped. "Uh… I didn't know you knew Megumi so well." Shit. That wasn't what he'd meant to say. "Err… That is, you were talking for such a long time. I mean. Uh"

The policeman's face was creased by a brief frown. "What are you babbling about, ahou? Isn't it a little early in the day for you to be drunk already?" Saitou looked faintly troubled, but his voice held its usual sarcastic edge.

Smooth. You really are an ahou sometimes… "Hey wait, where are you going?"

"The police station. Unlike you, the rest of us work for a living." The policeman was already striding away from him.

"I'm coming." He jogged to keep up.

Saitou stopped, looking annoyed. "We'll be discussing the case. Would you like to hear about the body again?"

Damn it! He could feel the slow burning working its way over his cheeks. It's not like I'm some sissy or something, he thought. It's just that I keep picturing him… I didn't even know the guy that well, but… And here I thought I hated drugs before, but if I try to explain it, I'll just look like more of an idiot.

After a moment of silence, the policeman turned away. "Very well, if you think you can handle it, ahou."

Sanctimonious prick! He'd be damned if he let some psycho cop underestimate him. He wouldn't be gotten rid of *that* easily.

Saitou entered the police station, a fuming Sanosuke still trailing behind him. He lead the way through the crowded front room and into his office. Sano was surprised that the station was still so busy at this hour, but then he hadn't had all that much contact with police stations… well, aside from the cells. As they entered, Chou looked up from the report he was studying.

"Oi, rooster-head, what happened? You get arrested for bad fashion sense?"

"Actually, ol' Saitou here wanted to come give you a few pointers on your hairstyle" Sano returned amiably.

"Rooster-head!"

"Broom-head" They were both grinning.

"Information."

"Eh?"

"I thought he might be able to help provide us with some information about the case. The usual informants haven't been very forthcoming."

Sano looked at him in surprise. Really? Saitou thought he might be useful?

"You actually think the rooster-head knows something?"

"For effective hunting, it is important to understand how one's quarry thinks" was the cryptic reply.

Hey. "What's that supposed to mean?" He looked at Saitou suspiciously. The policeman lit a cigarette. Damn it. He had almost thought it was a compliment.

Saitou continued to ignore him. "Have you turned up anything new since I've been out?" he asked, seating himself at his desk.

"Naw, I've just been organizing the file. The father came to pick up the body earlier. You were right about the pressure; he was leaning on the chief somethin' fierce. In his office for like half an hour." Chou rolled his eyes.

"Shall we review the case then?" He sat back.

Chou's eyes flickered over Sano briefly and he wondered if he ought to leave, but Saitou was still ignoring him. Fine! He'd just stay then. The broom-head shrugged and opened the file.

"Right. First the bodies: There have been five so far that we know about, all male, all young. They are always dumped, completely nude and without identifying features in secluded spots in sparsely populated parts of the city. We aren't sure how they were transported, but some of them could have been brought most of the way there by water. They were probably dumped shortly after death like our most recent body, but the others weren't found until a couple of days after the fact because they were in relatively deserted areas. Finding this one was a total fluke, being behind those abandoned warehouses like it was." Chou paused.

Saitou flicked ash off of the end of his cigarette.

Chou resumed reading. "They all seem to have died from overdoses of an unknown drug. There were no signs that force was used, so it was probably something they took themselves, though we can't rule out the possibility of poison. The drug caused vomiting and maybe convulsions." He rifled through his notes. "

"Hmm."

"Oh yeah, and they all smelled funny too." Chou wrinkled his nose.

"And they'd had `company' as the doctor so delicately put it." Saitou tapped his cigarette thoughtfully. "Perhaps there is some prostitution connection."

Sano felt his insides trying to curl in on themselves again.

"Yeah, I guess it could be being distributed through a brothel maybe."

God, how could anyone *stand* to live that way. He'd rather starve than let some rancid old man touch him like that. And what had Megumi been babbling about anyway. Actors? Yeah, sure, that was one thing - they went around tarted up in women's clothing for god sake, but *samurai*? Yeah right. Probably just another manifestation of the fox lady's weird sense of humor, he thought.

"…religious ceremony of some kind. The doctor did say he fasted first." The broom head was still talking, Sano realized.

"Indeed. Perhaps I should interview the officer that found the body and then I can fill you in on what I have discovered."

"Right. He should be in the station. They've had him cooped up doing paperwork all day in case you wanted him." He got up, returning moments later with an extremely nervous looking young officer.

"Fujita-san." He bowed. If he was surprised by Sano's presence, he didn't show it.

"Yo, calm down man, just tell us how you found the body." Chou looked amused at the younger man's discomfort.

He smiled weakly. "I happened to be passing that area, we've been having extra patrols lately because of the bodies I guess, and I thought I saw a few figures disappearing around the corner of a building. They were too far away to make out clearly, and when I got there, they were already gone. It wasn't that far from the river. I guess maybe they had a boat somewhere. I don't know. It was pretty dark." He looked apologetically at Saitou.

"Continue."

"Uh, right. Anyway, I retraced my steps to try to see what they'd been up to and found the alley. I walked a short way into it and smelled that weird smell, so I investigated. When I realized there was a dead body, I went back to the main street and found someone to go find help and returned to the body. Then Chou showed up and that's when he sent me to find you" he finished lamely.

"Can you tell me anything more about the figures you saw?"

"They were wearing something dark… cloaks maybe, but I couldn't tell what color. I'm sorry."

"Very well, you may go." He lit another cigarette.

"So, you said you went to see that lady doctor?"

"Yes, the doctor…" Saitou looked thoughtful.

Why did Sano suddenly feel so cold?

"She suggested that the drug in question might be an aphrodisiac of some sort, though admittedly, not a very effective one."

Chou whistled. "We'd better check out the prostitution angle then."

"Hmm… yes."

Sano really didn't want to hear about this again, and it was obvious that Saitou was just going to continue ignoring him. He stood up. "Uh, it's been fun and all, but I've got stuff to do." He left hurriedly, before they could say anything, missing the odd expression on the older man's face. Brothels? Yeah, whatever. Drugs came from drug dealers, and he knew just where to find a few of the scum to beat up. Yeah, maybe he'd feel less tense after a little action. And if he found out some information, all the better. He'd show Saitou yet! Old geezer doesn't know everything, he thought resentfully as he slouched off towards one of the less savory gambling establishments to vent his frustration.