Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Gathering of Wolves ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

I admit I've tried to avoid yaoi thoughts of Saitou and Sano but Philalexandros has gone and made the subject so appealing with Fast Carriage on a Runaway Road, Kitaku and Nokoru that this little tale began to seep into my brain.

I own nothing to do with any anime (s) this may be inspired by.

A Gathering of Wolves

by

BarbaraSheridan

Tokyo 1904

Saitou Hajime massaged his aching left elbow and wrist. It was early summer and another damned rain shower would fall before morning. He might as well take his evening walk now before parts of the route became a muddy mess. He pulled on an old brown hoari to ward off the evening chill then ventured out, silently cursing the ahou who so unceremoniously up and left without a word of warning or explanation. He should have known better than to take the moron into his home in the first place. After eight years one would think he'd have learned the meaning of loyalty.

Saitou paused by the front door and slipped a dagger into his belt then took a quick swig from the sake bottle on the little wooden tray atop the low cabinet before venturing out. He'd reached the outskirts of Tokyo by the time day slid into night. His earlier annoyance having faded he wasn't ready for the unexpected sound of someone following him. His warrior's instincts sprung to life, his body tensed his hand reached instinctively for his weapon.

Suddenly an all too familiar voice assaulted him from the shadowy corner to his right.

"Still patrolling, old man? I thought you retired from the police force years ago."

"Old man my ass," Saitou said with a smirk as his longtime companion stepped into the pale moonlight revealing his tall lean frame. Though Sagara Sanosuke's handsome face was beginning to line with age he still possessed the spark of youthful life and fierce determination in his flashing brown eyes.

Saitou slid his dagger back into its sheath. "Crawling back are you? What makes you think I'll let you?"

Sano leaned in to whisper in Saitou's ear."Because you love me. And you know I wouldn't up and leave without a reason." He broke into a grin when Saitou gave him a smirk and turned away.

"Let's go home, ahou. It's going to rain."

Sano shook his head and chuckled softly as he stepped alongside Saitou Hajime. It had taken him a long time to get used to being called a moron with every other comment but as time wore on and circumstances brought him and Hajime to friendship and beyond he realized that it wasn't so much an insult as the old samurai's sign of affection.

* * * * *

"Well?" Saitou asked with a pointed look as he refilled his bowl of soba. He tried not to let the sensual aspect of Sanosuke's sucking on a fishbone distract his thoughts. "Where were you for the past seven weeks?"

"Keeping track were you?"Sano quipped. He stood, taking his empty plates to the sink. "I had to take care of a few things and look up a few people who were pretty hard to track down."

"Why?"

"Because I needed to," Sano said simply, coming back. He poured them each a cup of tea. "I did leave a note telling you it would be a month or two." Saitou's reply was only a narrowing of his amber eyes. " Don't worry it was nothing illegal or immoral." He needed to change the subject or risk spoiling the surprise he was working so hard to make happen. "I'm going to run down to the tavern to see how Katsu's been holding up."

It tugged at his heart to see Hajime scowl and turn to stare down at his bowl of soba and Sano knew it was to cover the hurt he felt that he hadn't been the one told any details of the trip or the one put in charge of the tavern. But it couldn't be helped. To say anything about his trip would have spoiled the surprise and as much as he tried to make his business respectable it got very rowdy some nights and he wouldn't have been able to keep his mind on his search if he'd been worrying that Hajime might get sick.

He'd taken to drinking heavily when his wife Tokio died unexpectedly nine years earlier. He slowed down considerably once he and Sano begun their relationship but over the past few years the doctor had warned Hajime repeatedly that he risked aggravating his ulcer if he didn't stop completely. Sano wasn't prepared to risk Hajime making things worse with an abundance of alcohol at his disposal.

"I'll be back in an hour or so," Sano said, rubbing Saitou's shoulder and placing a soft kiss on the nape of his neck.

"Hn. As if I care."