Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Separate Lives ❯ chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter 14

It was an appropriately dreary day and Aoshi stood beneath the cover of a large western style umbrella to watch the ceremonial police guard place the simple wooden coffin into the baggage car of the train bound for Kyoto. He sensed a presence coming up from behind but remained motionless, shifting his weight to turn his stance to a defensive one just in case.

"The legendary Wolf of Mibu shot down in a gutter like the mongrel dog he was."

Aoshi glanced over to look at the man who'd come up along side him. So Kurogane himself had finally decided to put in an appearance. "I beg your pardon?"

Kurogane smirked as only a self-absorbed, petty bastard could. "With that problem out of the way now I can concentrate on larger, more annoying problems."

Aoshi replied in a low tone, each word perfectly modulated to deliver the impact he sought."What a remarkable coincidence. I was thinking the very same thing not five minutes ago."

The flicker of uncertainty was gone in an instant but Aoshi had caught it nonetheless and as Kurogane spun on his heel and got into the large black carriage waiting for him, Aoshi allowed himself a grim smile.

It wouldn't be long now.

* * * * *

"Ahhh, this is the life," Kano Tama said, putting his feet up on a leather footstool in the den of the elaborate house Aoshi had recently rented much to inspector Kawaji's consternation.

"You can say that again," Hideaki Sanada agreed, doing likewise

"Don't get too accustomed to it," Aoshi told the men he'd called in from the Tokyo area. "I don't think we'll be here more than three weeks." He suppressed a grin at the disappointed looks of his old friends.

Kano and Hideaki had been part of the old Oniwabanshuu guard of Edo Castle and in the years following the Revolution had become respectable citizens much like the Kyoto members had done. Like him they'd been Okina's pupils, but unlike him they hadn't driven themselves past their mortal limits to surpass even their master.

"So just why have you brought us out of retirement?" Kano asked.

"I need men I can trust with my life, men whose own abilities will keep them alive and fighting until the end of this war for control of Yokohama's illegal trade."

Kano and Hideaki exchanged a quick questioning look and Aoshi couldn't entirely suppress his amusement. "Trust me, it's for the greater good and not my own personal gain."

Without warning he threw the two kunai daggers he had wedged in between the chair cushions. Both Hideaki and Kano caught them between their fingers, though Hideaki did come away with a gash on his thumb.

"Not bad," Aoshi said before standing. "I equipped a room for training, we'll loosen up a bit and I'll explain exactly what I need you to do."

* * * * *

"That is an interesting bit of news and I'm sorry I didn't think of her sooner," Kurogane said as he swirled the glass of English brandy in his hands. "I'd forgotten about that little whore Kanryuu had working for him. The opium she made was quite in demand as I recall and since our sales here have fallen off thanks to that bastard Shinomori a cheaper stronger version might just be what we need to get back on top."

He looked over at his new second-in-command "Bring me the Takani bitch and her brat."

* * * * *

Megumi dropped the bouquet of chrysanthemums the instant she stepped into the kitchen of her small house. "Sakura!" she shrieked rushing towards the fallen woman. She rolled her over and gasped when she saw the blood staining the front of her kimono. She checked for a pulse but found none and shakily got to her feet her only thought the whereabouts of her son.

"Kaemon! Kaemon where are you?" She ran towards Kae's room and ran right into a very large, very cruel looking man in a dark western suit.

"He's right here, safe and sound and he'll be that way as long as you come along with us and keep your mouth shut."

Behind him was another man holding Kaemon who giggled happily totally unaware that the man allowing him to play with his shiny pocket watch had the knife that had undoubtedly killed Sakura protruding from the waistband of his trousers.

She tried to go to her son but the first man blocked her path. "Why? Who are you people? What do you want?"

"You'll find out when we get to Yokohama," the man said, grabbing her shoulder near her neck until she fell unconscious.

* * * * *

"What's wrong?" Kano Tama asked when Aoshi returned from his late night meeting with one of the "customers" he'd taken from Kurogane.

"Has anyone new been coming or going from Kurogane's house? A Woman?"

"Not that I've seen." Kano turned to Hideaki.

I haven't seen anyone but his usual lackeys. And his wife and kid."

Aoshi's icy eyes narrowed. "Kid?"

"Yeah. His wife has been outside in the yard with their kid. A boy about one or two I guess."

Aoshi's blood ran cold. "Kurogane only has a daughter. She's about seventeen and in school in Tokyo." He clamped down on the emotion trying to swell within him and stared at his comrades. "You two go to the opium den near the waterfront the one Kurogane used to sell to. Find out what you can about their new merchandise. I want to know everything, how it looks, how it's packaged how strong it is."

Kano nodded then reached to pour himself a cup of sake first.

"Do it now!"

* * * * *

The knot that had been twisting Megumi's stomach for the past week didn't ease a fraction until Kaemon was safely in her arms once again when she finished in Kurogane's lab after midnight.

She eased onto the futon and slid her arms protectively around her sleeping son who had no real idea what was going on around him.

Kurogane's wife seemed to be treating Kae well enough but she knew that could change at any second-as Kurogane and his henchman told her repeatedly while she made him the cheap, strong opium that she'd once been forced to make for Kanryuu.

Why had this happened? How had these men found her? And what on earth could she do to get away? Ken-san wasn't here to save her as he had in Tokyo. What was she going to do?