Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Captive Seduction ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Captive Seduction

- Chapter 3 -

The campfire crackled pleasantly in the all encompassing shadows of nightfall, an illuminating glow cast upon all in the immediate vicinity. Two figures sat upon a fallen log not too far away, staring into the dancing flame, each lost in their own thoughts which centered around the same woman.

Misao.

Himura Kenshin sat, elbows resting on bent knees, fingers laced together as his chin rested upon them. His face was drawn up in worried lines as he tried not to think of the unsuccessful search that he and Sano had just carried out. They had found no sign of Misao anywhere, not one, and it burdened the rurouni so much that he was close to the point of growing desperate. At this point he felt he would even go to Saitou for any leads on where his Misao was. He felt Sano's gaze as the tori atama shifted slightly to look at him.

Sagara Sanosuke sighed. "Guess there's only one thing left to do, eh Kenshin?"

The ex-hitokiri's violet eyes closed in resignation. "That it is, Sano. Though I think Saitou will not enjoy seeing us any more than we will enjoy seeing him, that I do."

"Keh," Sano replied, flicking away the fishbone he had been chewing on. "The baka Wolf is more than likely to just throw us out than help us find Itachi girl."

"Maybe." Kenshin murmured. "Maybe not. Saitou is alot of things, that he is. But when it comes to doing his job, he's just as stubborn as you, Sano-"

"DON"T COMPARE ME TO THAT GUY!!!" Sano screeched, the eruption of sound practically blew Kenshin away...almost into the fire.

Well, that was bound to happen. I can only wonder why it didn't happen sooner. Kenshin thought bemusedly as he stamped out the smouldering tail of his hakama.

Sano snorted in disgust at having been compared to the quote/unquote psycho cop, Hajime Saitou, otherwise known as Fujita Goro. Kenshin on the other hand, simply chuckled, feeling a bit light-hearted at the moment before an image of Misao flashed in the back of his mind, once again plunging him into a pool of dispair. Shaking his head slightly to dispell the haunting visage, Kenshin turned to the still grumbling Sanosuke.

"I believe that if we are going to pay a visit to Saitou tomorrow, then we should get some rest now, Sano, that I do."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Kenshin." Sano agreed with a grumble. "Still can't believe you compared me to him. That's just wrong!"

Kenshin did not respond, being too depressed to express the good humor that the situation called for. Sighing softly, the rurouni retreated to his bedroll, settling down for the night. They were going to see Saitou in the morning, and despite their past altercations, Kenshin hoped that the Wolf would be of some help to his -- to their plight.~*~

Hajime Saitou sat in his office glowering at the ominous pile of paperwork laid before him. A cigarette dangled precariously from his thin lips as a ring of smoke wafted from its tip, encircling his head like a halo. He had been heading up the investigation of the kidnappings plaguing Kyoto for the past month and so far no leads had been forthcoming. This fact had the Wolf growing impatient and had taken to snapping at a few of his employees at one time or another.

A knock sounded at the door and with a grunt of acknowlegement from the former Shinsengumi captain, it swung open to reveal one of the officers under his command. When the newcomer did not immediately state his reason for the interruption, Saitou pinned the nervous looking man with his amber gaze.

"You needed something?" The hint of a growl in his voice caused the officer to jump slightly.

Swallowing visibly, the man finally managed to get out what he had come to tell his very intimidating boss. "Th-There's someone to see you, sir."

Arching an eyebrow, Saitou waved him away, muttering instructions for the impromptu visitors to come in. His eyebrow rose even higher as two men, both of which he he could have done without seeing, entered his office.

As creatures that rose from the battlefield, in the end, that is where we are destined to fall... The words echoed in his mind. Words that he himself had spoken not so long ago to the same man now standing before him.

"Well, well... " Saitou drawled as he sat back in his chair, bringing his arms up, bending them at the elbows, and laced his fingers behind his head as he made himself comfortable. "I had a feeling I'd be seeing you again, Battousai, but I had no idea that it would be this soon."

Kenshin's violet eyes narrowed. "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, that I did." The rurouni said with a sigh of defeat, the sound drawing a chuckle from Saitou.

"Is that so, Battousai? And just what is it that brings you and the tori atama here?"

Kenshin gave a shuddering sigh, bracing himself to speak the words the dreaded, aloud. "Misao-dono has gone missing. She left Tokyo over a month ago to return to the Aoiya, and we think she may have fallen victim to the recent kidnappings in Kyoto, which I am sure you know of."

"So, you've lost your weasel, have you Battousai?" Saitou replied with a smirk. "And you need my help to find her again. Huh, interesting."

With flashing amber eyes, Kenshin repressed a growl of irritation. "Do not call her weasel, her name is Misao."

"Kenshin's already under alot of stress with her missing." A fuming Sano stepped forward, clenched fist raised. "Now, he has to come to you, of all people, for help, and you rub it in his face? You gonna help us or not, Hajime?"

The humor left Saitou's eyes as a dangerous glint appeared in the depths of the amber orbs. "You two aren't the only ones who've lost someone to these abductions. You'll get no special treatment or sympathy from me."

Sano growled angrily and stepped forward, intending on pounding some sense into Saitou, but was quickly restrained by Kenshin's outstretched arm. The rurouni then fixed the Wolf with a heated expression. "Saitou, if you cannot help us to find Misao-dono, then we will not waste anymore of your--or our--time, that we will not." he said.

"Hmph. You're a natural waste of time as it is, so is you're little rooster-" Saitou's taunt was interrupted by a retort from an irate Sanosuke.

"Grrrr. I'm not anyone's rooster! I'm not a pet!"

"Please," Saitou snorted. "Anyway,who says I can't help you? Shouldn't the statement be, 'If you won't help us'?"

"Perhaps. But be that as it may, Saitou, we cannot waste anymore time than we already have, that we cannot. We must fine Misao soon." Kenshin insisted.

"If I help you find the little weasel, will you let me be? It's not a matter of I can or cannot help you, but whether I do or don't, and I have better things to do with my time...Battousai.

"You selfish bastard! How can you even think like that?!" Sanosuke snarled, shaking a clenched fist intimidatingly at the cop.

"Now, now Sano. It is Saitou's decision if he will help us find Misao-dono, that it is." Kenshin's soothing tone broke the tension. The rurouni turned his gaze to Saitou as he spoke.

"Yes, I suppose I could help you find your pathetic weasel, if it would allow me to eventually get some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any good solid leads since this whole debacle began."

It was then that another one of Saitou's lackeys burst in, gasping breathlessly. Proof to the fact that he had just raced to bring the important information he had in his possession to his boss.

"Fujita, sir, we've just gotten an anonymous tip. Someone said they-"

"Nakamura!" Saitou growled, bringing the young officer's ramblings to a halt. Nodding in the direction of Kenshin and Sanosuke, he said, "Perhaps my visitors would see fit to excuse me as I speak with my officer for a moment?"

Saitou felt his jaw clenching at the insubordinance Nakmura had just displayed. And in front of the Battousai no less. He made a mental note to thoroughly chastize his officer in the near future.

Kenshin nodded, and without a word, turned toward the door to leave. Sano lingered a moment longer, eyeing the cop with a look of utter disgust before following his red-headed friend's lead. As they exited the police headquarters, Sano opened his mouth, intent on ranting about Saitou. He was cut off as Kenshin grabbed his arm and subtly pulled him around the building.

"Hey Kenshin, what's the big idea?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Sano, that it does." Kenshin replied.

Sano's shock dissolved as a smirk took its place. "Heh, I didn't know you had it in you, Kenshin. Welcome to the dark side."

Kenshin shook his head in reply. "I may be on the dark side by doing this, Sano, but I will never be as bad as you, that I will not."

He and Sano continued until they were positioned just under Saitou's office window. Luckily, it was slightly ajar, allowing the two to faintly hear the discussion taking place inside.

"....heard a woman's scream outside their door. They listened through the wall and heard voices talking about kobe port. It might be tied in with the kidnappings. Permission to send out a reconassiance team to the port, sir?" Nakamura's voice finished filling in his commanding officer.

"Hmm...kobe port, eh? It is a possibility." Saitou's voice was close to the window, obviously still sitting at his desk.

The slight pressure of Kenshin's hand on Sano's arm, told him that the ex-hitokiri had heard all he needed to know. Beginning to withdraw quietly, Sano could not stop himself from getting in just one good jab at the Wolf. Straightening up, he peeked through the window and spoke in an amusing and audible voice. "Well, looks like we won't need your help after all...thanks for the info, Saitou!"

Both cops whirled toward the window, Nakamura in shock, Saitou in fury; his jaw clenched tightly in his anger. He should have known....

Giving a swift salute, Sano bolted away from the window in the direction that Kenshin had taken as curses and other not so nice expletatives drifted from within the office.~*~

Kenshin and Sanosuke swiftly made their way across town, knowing their first move should be to procure transportation to kobe port. It was a good distance away and so the fastest way would be by horseback. Luckily Sano knew someone who ran a stable, which was pretty ironic seeing as how he didn't like horses, or the "dumb brutes" as he referred them. Kenshin selected two acceptable looking mares. A solid white one with a flowing mane and tail and a red roan with a black mane and tail.

Sano was a bit hesitant, having never been on a horse in his life. But after subtle encouraging from Kenshin, ("Think of Misao-dono.") the ex-street fighter was in the saddle, albeit a bit precariously, in no time. They rode out of Tokyo a few minutes later in the direction of the port, Sano's voice bellowing commands at his mount the entire way.

"Hey! Steady now. No! Don't go that way!! Follow Kenshin you stupid animal!"~*~

TBC....

Buffybot76: Yes, I know it's about time and I'm so sorry that it's so short. But honestly, I"m just happy to have this to post for you. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner and it looks like this fic may wind up being shorter than I'd originally thought. Shorter, yes, but no less exciting. Please leave a review and I will do my best to get the next chapter out. Ja ne!

Reviewer responses:

Phillip Sneazelburg XI: Hey, cat-chan! Thanks for reviewing, I really appreciate it. Here's hoping the next chapter to Taro is out soon! ~.^

Devil1: Thanks for reviewing.

moonstorm: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you like the fic so far. Update Dance of the Damned soon, okay?

Silverstar: Thanks for reviewing. (O.o geez, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record!) Here's another chapter, but you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out what's happening to Misao. But hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner than this one!

mimi-sama: Glad you like the fic!ayu: Well, here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it.

meow mix: *snaps to attention* Yes, ma'am! Here's the update!

dynast: *makes placating gesture* Calm down, calm down. Hehe. Here's the next chapter to tide you over until the next. Hopefully it won't be as long in coming as this one was.

Red Dragon 9: Well, wait no more Red! Here's the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

Wistful-Eyes: Hehe. I'm glad you liked the Sano/Kaoru pairing, I don't really care for Kaoru all that much, hence my pairing him up with Misao (but that may also be because I really like Misao cause she's more like me than Kaoru. o.O) Ahem Anyway, you're right. I do like sticking Misao into these situations. Quite sadistic, aren't I? Don't worry, Kenshin'll save her! So here's the next chapter, enjoy!