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Preys	By : kamorgana Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 5568 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. I don�t own Rurouni Kenshin. The characters belong to Watsuki, but the plots, ideas, OCs and text are *mine*.
Preys
Chapter 30: Back to life

Heavy. Her body was heavy and she couldn�t move it. Smell. It smelled bad, this she hated, what was it already�.Pain. She was in pain. Not too much, just bothering. Alone. No. She was not alone�.
It took her a lot of efforts to lift her lids. Her vision was blurred, yet she saw a figure. It cleared suddenly.
�Saitoh�.�
The croaking sound of her voice horrified her. Her mouth was awfully dry. It horrified him too, probably, as he brought a glass with a straw to her lips.
�Water,� he said plainly. �You�re dehydrated because of the anesthesia.�
She took long sips. Saying that she felt like she had been in a desert for days was a clich�, but it was exactly how that must have been. She almost choked on the deliciously cold liquid.
�Not too fast, you moron,� he mumbled.
She smiled weakly. And remembered everything. She tried to sit up, moaning in pain.
He sighed. �Your back has a nasty cut. But they said that your life is not in danger.�
She caught the dubious light in his amber eyes. They had said that for Okita too�She gathered her forces to smile again.
�I�ll be fine.�
�If you rest,� he snapped.
�How is everybody? Kaoru-san?�
�She stayed today in observation, but she just had scratches. She�s down with the shock. Yukishiro is with her, I guess. He�s fine, too. The others are finishing the paperwork. Kondo gave a press conference this morning to announce that this case was solved. We have two bodies, this time. It�s over.�
�How did you know�� Her voice was no more than a sigh. She was so tired.
�Later. Now you rest,� he ordered. As she opened her mouth, to protest, if he correctly interpreted the stubborn light in her eyes, he added, sternly: �I have to go and phone the others. They�re worried about you. Yukishiro and Takani especially.�
The light faded immediately, replaced by something close to guilt, and she nodded weakly.
�Tell them I�m fine. They shouldn�t�.�
He�d rather not have to manipulate her like this, but if she refused to behave sensibly, she left him no choice. Otherwise she was able to demand explanations until she fainted with exhaustion. He stood up.
She looked by the window, hoping that Meg and Enishi weren�t too upset. It was dusk, the sun setting, coloring the sky in oranges and yellows. Dusk?
�Hajime�.� she whispered, hoping he would hear her call. She was so, so tired. He came back closer to her, and she made him a sign to approach his face more.
He thought she had something to say, but she imperceptibly lifted her head, and brushed her lips to his. He sat down next to her, his hands on either side of her face, answering to her kiss, playing lightly with her mouth. He didn�t want to hurt her, but was unable to stop himself when her lips parted, invitingly, and slid his tongue between them.
He finally broke off, reluctantly, and narrowed his eyes. She was gazing at him, with a soft yet daring smile.
�You�ve stayed all day.�
He shrugged. �Don�t be stupid.�
�Thank you.�
�I�m going to call,� he said coldly. Still he couldn�t help to lay a last, quick kiss on her lips before leaving.
From the taste of his mouth, she could say that he didn�t have a cigarette for a long, long time�.she was still smiling as she closed her eyes again.
***
Thursday morning.
Tokio was preparing herself to eat the breakfast provided by the hospital. That looked terrible�.The fish seemed to be full of bones, the rice was overcooked, and the miso shiru probably came from a pack.
She sighed. She was too old to be grumpy about food, all right�.on the other hand, she was wounded, that allowed her to be a little selfish, no?
Somebody knocked at the door. Oh, no. She already had her temperature taken, her blood taken�.She was going to stay all day here, to be bored to death, BUT for some reason they had to wake her up at seven, and make her feel nauseous with that so-called food already. She decided that if it were a nurse, she would send the tray to her head.
�Come in,� she managed to say, not to dryly.
Her face lit as Enishi appeared.
�Hi, Tokio-san!�
She didn�t see him so calm and�.serene, in a long time. She had never seen him like this, in fact.
He was hiding something behind his back.
�How are you today? You were sleeping again when we came to visit you last night,� he said, putting some white roses in the empty vase, avoiding looking at her face.
She smiled. He was so cute, looking suddenly like a shy little boy.
�Thank you. I�m fine,� she added quickly. She didn�t want to embarrass him. �How is Kaoru-san?�
�Shocked. Feeling guilty. Terribly confused. She�s strong, she�ll get over it, but it�ll take some time. Tae and Sae are with her now.�
He paused a second, and sat on the chair next to her bed. �And I wanted to thank you. For her, and for me. I created so many troubles for you.�
She reached for his hand. �You put yourself in trouble to protect me. I won�t forget it. Just promise me you�ll never do that again. What?�
His expression had changed at her last words. He was smiling smugly at her. �Oh nothing�.I just heard more or less the same words from Saitoh yesterday.�
�What?� she repeated, rather dumbly.
Oh, no.
�He was half mumbling, I�m not sure I got it right. There were only the two of us. He said something clearly, like I had thought of protecting you, that was fine�and then he groaned something about staying out of his business from now on. Not that I didn�t notice�.�
Hajime you are soooo dead.
The brat was teasing her, his usual cynical, did-I-manage-to-piss-you-off expression firmly back on his features.
She answered with a devilish smile. He seemed to forget whom he was dealing with. He needed a little reminder.
�Oh, Enishi, I didn�t thank you enough for these wonderful roses. It�s so sweet of you�.Do you also know the flowers� language? I�m sure Kitaoka and Sagara would be interested�.�
�I absolutely misunderstood what Detective Saitoh said. I have a fertile imagination.�
He stayed silent for a while, before asking seriously again. �You never thought that I was guilty?�
�When you appeared at the hangar, I wondered for a second�.But no, I never believed that you were.�
He pressed furtively her hand. �And�. The way I called you��
She smiled soothingly. �I�m flattered. But don�t mess up again. Or else�.�
He smiled back. �I know. You�ll kick my ass. You�re the boss.�
***
Tokio had to spend two weeks at the hospital. The wound was not so deep, but she had to wait for the total cicatrisation. She had been very lucky, yet she should be careful, repeated Dr Oguni, each time she was trying to bargain an early exit. She sighed, happily. Today at last she could leave this place. Just a few minutes to go. It hadn�t been that bad, still.
Everybody had come to visit her. She had joked with Enishi about the food, and everyday, Tae or Sae sneaked in with decent one. If they couldn�t, it was Sano and Tsunan with pizzas or sushi, and some beer. She had barely refrained to hug them the first time they had arrived with the alcohol.
Misao had brought her a laptop, and she was continuing to follow the cases with it and by phone. All the VCS members popped in from time to time for quick briefings. The nurses were going crazy as, following Saitoh the first day and Enishi the second, nobody gave a second thought to the hospital�s rules. Between that, the beer incidents and the media that had camped around the place during the first days�.and Tokio had to admit that she was a slightly difficult patient. It was not completely her fault: if they had let her smoke, she would have been in a better mood.
Well, they had been less grumbling when Seijuro had come to visit her. They were all starry-eyed and squealing around. Tokio smiled. He was going to win the elections again, if she took their reaction as a reference. He was doing fine: Tsubame�s murder had been punished, and he was satisfied. He had retrieved his old ways completely: he had sent her a huge, extravagant and expensive basket of flowers every two days. The first one had been for real, as a thank you and wishes for recovery. She had phoned him after the receipt, and had answered at his teasing that no, �her wolf� was not offering her flowers. Of course, it had provoked the expedition of the following ones, his cards indicating clearly to her that it was to �educate� Saitoh, and to piss him off, needless to say. As usual, Seijuro�s strategy had been a complete success to that last extent: Saitoh had looked scornfully at the first one, but she�d bet that he was ready to go to the City Hall and compel Hiko to eat the last one at gunpoint. And a total failure to the other, needless to say either: it would snow in hell before Hajime brought her flowers. She couldn�t care less, to be honest.
Kondo had come, too, and they had talked about the future of the section. She was of course still in command and Enishi was totally reintegrated, with apologies. It was also definitely time to replace Okita. They had hesitated. Not easy to find somebody to work with Saitoh, or whom the team could accept, after the rumors they had been victim of. Aoshi had made a good work, and she had finally asked her friend if he would consider becoming a team member permanently, without real hope of a positive answer. She had been surprised that he accepted. He needed something different, he had said, and had enough of working alone in his office. She had wondered how much Misao was weighting in his decision. Aoshi, reading her thoughts as usual, had assured her, quite definitely, that there was nothing of this kind between them, and that there wouldn�t be. Anyway, she wasn�t in position to judge him, considering her own private situation.
She had also talked with Kondo about the loose ends of the Slayer case. The military secret organization, whatever it really was, wouldn�t be exposed. The opening of the files had sent a virus into Makimachi�s computer, completely destroying not only the data that she had hacked, but also the whole machine. She was as furious as the girl, because Misao had had the time to see a reference of that Preys game Seta had talked about, in their files. The military had known. They had let serial killers menacing and executing innocent citizens, because they might need their �talents� again. They were as responsible as Shishio and Himura, because the ex-soldiers� need to avenge their dismissal had partly triggered the crimes, and because they had created them. Saitoh�s informer had learnt, before the ones he had met had vanished, that they had found Shishio�s repair through Himura, and Himura through their investigations on the VCS members. The rest was easy to re-build. They had been hiding near the hangar during the whole confrontation. They had been waiting coldly for the outcome, hoping that the Slayers confronted each other, after killing her, Kaoru and Enishi. The most convenient solution to them. She could imagine the sniper with his finger on the trigger, watching them die, ready to kill the survivor, and the rest of the team ready to get the bodies of Shishio and Himura. Saitoh and Aoshi were sure that they had intervened only because of the police�s arrival. Himura�s hesitation at killing Kaoru might have been another cause. He might have accepted to be arrested, and to talk. They had had no choice but let the bodies, yet they had eliminated any possibility of a testimony. They were guilty as sin, didn�t have any more consideration for human life than the Slayers, and they got away with their crimes. She was almost as insanely pissed off with this last fact, as Saitoh and Enishi were.
The only one who might have answers was Seta, but he was in a nearly catatonic state since he had been informed of, and proved, the death of his master. Was that a play? Aoshi said that it wasn�t. Saitoh thought that he was trying to save himself from a similar elimination. Evil didn�t have feelings, he had asserted, contemptuously. Tokio wasn�t so sure about it.
She wasn�t sure that the Slayers didn�t have some. Shishio was a monster, but she was certain that he had loved Komagata, in his strange way. Aoshi was still convinced that he was killing prostitutes because he wanted to kill symbolically the part of her that didn�t fit his ideal. She disagreed. He was choosing his victims because they were convenient, according to his own words. And if Komagata had accepted that monster in him, he surely didn�t mind her past. Yet, except for that odd kind of love, Shishio was rotten to the bone. He was born with no conscience, he enjoyed killing. There was no other reason to his deeds.
Himura�.he was different. A product, said Aoshi. A victim, said Kaoru. After her initial shock, she had found a way to go on, in denial. She assured that Battousai had been another personality of her boyfriend, that Kenshin didn�t know about him, and that the two had nothing in common. He was sick, she had stubbornly assured to Aoshi, who had stated strongly, after examining the reports, that Himura�s state was not pathological. Kaoru had then contradicted herself, affirming that Kenshin had been fighting with Battousai personality, and might have won if not for the military squad�s intervention. Tokio had advised Aoshi, and Enishi, who was utterly dismayed at her attitude, to stop pushing the girl on the matter. She needed to believe that the man she had loved, and who had loved her, wasn�t a monster. It hurt no one, and allowed her to find a certain peace of mind.
Tokio, herself, didn�t know what to think. She wondered how deep had been his �Kenshin� side. She knew that for Seta, who had been under the influence of Shishio since he was a child, innocence was just a cover. Concerning Himura, she had no certainty. �Battousai� and him were conscious of each other, so he couldn�t be considered as an innocent victim. He didn�t go to the police and confessed, neither had he sought for help, he was hence fully responsible. He had been struggling when Kaoru had woken-up, though. Did his love for her reveal a part of him that didn�t exist before, or did it give the strength to his good side to fight the evil in him? According to Aoshi again, Himura�s psyche had been hurt by an abused childhood, with nobody to rely on. This lack of moral structures had led him to slowly drown into the sensation of power that killing gave to his broken ego; hence his need of challenging the police and Shishio, hence his jealousy towards Enishi, hence his choice of victims. Very probably, Battousai was born from the frustrations and humiliations of a nice little boy, and took over, changing him into a near-demon.
The role of the secret organization�s bosses was, once again, blatant. They had encouraged his dark side to blossom, and to grow. They had taught him to forget his human side, they had taught him to see people as objects, as targets, instead of human beings. Tokio couldn�t help herself to feel sorry for him. He had *also* been a nice guy, and when he had entered the Self-defense forces, his goal had been obviously to make a difference, to do something good. Yes, Aoshi was right, it had been a reaction of arrogance, at discovering that he could be useful and admired, a way to compensate for his hurt ego. Yet, his intentions couldn�t be denied. Unlike Seta, he had tried to walk the right path. He only had been cheated on the way, manipulated and transformed by them into a cold-blooded killer, when he had meant only to save and protect. Meeting Shishio, being subject to his influence, had finished their work.
All this left her the impression of a terrible waste. If he had led a different life, met different people, maybe he wouldn�t have surrendered to his dark side. The Kenshin whom Kaoru remembered and mourned would have had many things to offer to other people.
An awful waste, indeed. How sad.
Two arms circled her waist. Sighing, she leaned on Saitoh�s shoulder.
�I didn�t hear you come in�.�
�Too busy thinking?�
He would never understand her point of view. They had already argued about it. Pity for criminals was absolutely not in his way of thinking.
She shifted to kiss him. She didn�t want to argue with him now. He had visited her everyday, but it hadn�t been enough. Stolen kisses, stolen embraces�.it was all they could share lately.
The problem with being wounded, having to be discreet and everybody visiting all the time was that they had barely had time for themselves. Two longs weeks�.At last the moment was close. She purred in his mouth, anticipating the soon-to-be bliss.
�Ready do go?� he finally asked, parting, slightly out of breath.
�Where? � Your place or mine was what she meant.
�Kamiya�s,� he uttered, almost spitting the words.
�What?�
If he hadn�t been that frustrated he would have enjoyed her disappointed face.
�They prepared a welcome back party there. I was sent to fetch you as I was refusing to help. Morons.�
If she hadn�t been so frustrated she would have laughed at his disgusted expression.
�I hate nice and friendly people, finally,� she decided aloud.
He smirked. �I knew you were sensible.�
***
At Kamiya�s, Megumi was sitting apart from the others, who had started partying without waiting for Tokio�s arrival. The tables were gathered in the center of the room, but the mood was definitely different from the last time they�ve all been there, after Okita�s funeral. She thought of everything that had changed since. She was slightly depressed. She felt better, she was making progresses, but she still had the feeling that her two only friends were getting away from her.
A glass of wine appeared suddenly in front of her face.
�Care for a drink, Doc? White is your favorite, right?�
�Thank you,� she uttered, recovering from her puzzlement to see Tsunan next to her.
She took the glass, gratefully.
Their fingertips brushed, and Megumi was surprised as, again, she didn�t feel repulsed. She couldn�t even endure Aoshi�s contact, and he was her friend. But when Tsunan had helped her to a seat in her office, or squeezed gently her shoulder at the hospital when she was so worried about Tokio, she hadn�t felt the unbearable, usual disgust. Maybe her shrink was right. Maybe the shock of Tokio being kidnapped had been stronger than her fears, and she had been able to overcome her trauma. She didn�t know if she really had, but for the first time in so many years, she hoped. She hoped that the nightmare would be over someday. She wouldn�t accept the idea to be hurt forever again, like she had when she had interrupted her therapy.
Tsunan sat on the chair next to her, taking a sip of his beer, wondering what was going on in her head. She was so obviously depressed that he had felt like cheering her up a bit, because it was so unlike her. Takani was always very calm and seemed so sure of herself. At least she had been until the beginning of this case. Was her nervous state connected directly to it, or were the personal troubles he assumed she had over now? Anyway, she wasn�t aggressive anymore. She was staring at his hands, her cinnamon eyes thoughtful.
�Should I leave you alone?�
She looked up, briefly confused, and he was surprised as she gave him a little smile.
�No, it�s fine. I was lost in my thoughts. Sorry.�
�The case?�
�Yes,� she lied. �I completed my final report this morning, with the old files of the orphanages we could locate. Definite closure of the Slayers case.�
�Shinomori�s profile was right, as usual.�
She sighed. �I already knew it with the autopsy. Some scars can talk millions.� Her gaze drifted to Kaoru.
�She knew. She told Tae that Himura looked so sad when she tried to ask, that she stopped,� explained Tsunan. �She didn�t really care about his past, anyway.�
Kaoru was carrying a tray full of glasses, talking animatedly to Enishi, and he was listening to her indulgently.
Tsunan snorted, and placed a cigarette to his mouth. As he felt Takani�s insistent gaze on him, he cut his gesture off.
�Sorry. I didn�t ask you if you are bothered by the smoke.�
She had a bemused grin. He liked that expression, it was�.her: smart, sharp, and slightly disabused. �You forgot who my best friend is.�
He smiled slyly in answer, and lit the tobacco stick, darkening again as Kaoru, passing by Enishi, confiscated the one he had in hands.
�You still resent her? For what she said about him?�
What happened to her? She was getting too personal, he would be offended�.She relaxed as he answered, he didn�t seem to mind.
�Not personally. She�s a nice girl. She�s way more depressed than she seems now, and I can�t deny that she had guts, neither that they have feelings for each other. But she doesn�t trust him. I don�t want him to be expecting too much from her again. I should talk to him.�
�Maybe you shouldn�t. I recently learnt that it�s better to stay out of your friends� love life.� She sighed. �They don�t listen to you anyway.�
�You�re right. Enishi is stubborn. He�ll close like an oyster.� he approved.
Tsunan caught Enishi lighting a new cigarette as soon as Kaoru had turned her back. He added with a smug smile:
�Maybe he�ll be all right. Thank you for the advice. I trust your experience, Doc. After all, considering who your best friend is currently, ahem, let�s say dating, I guess that she didn�t listen to you.�
She glared at him severely, but she couldn�t completely conceal her bemusement.
�I don�t know what you�re talking about. My best friend assured to me yesterday that she was dating -was that the word? - no one. And certainly not whom I thought she was.�
�Your best friend is a very poor liar. Too bad for a lawyer.�
�But she�s very good at retaliating, and everybody *else* under her command should remember that fact, if they don�t want the whole team to pay for an awkward remark.�
�So maybe everybody should keep on pretending that we are too stupid to notice.�
�Some friend of yours should be looked after closely in that case. You know, the one who can�t keep his mouth shut.�
Her eyes rested on the Rooster, who was already drunk and laughing out loud, with Misao and the twin sisters. Megumi smiled as Aoshi, who was sipping his tea calmly, one table away, was confronted to the attempts of the little weasel to include him in the conversations. She was even trying to convince him to have some alcohol. Good luck, little girl! After several seconds of thoughtful silence, Aoshi ordered some sake. Gasping, Megumi checked the content of her own glass, she couldn�t be drunk enough to have hallucinations with the few sips she had! She reported her attention on Tsunan, who was watching Sanosuke, an amused glint in his green eyes.
�There�s no risk of disaster. This friend is the only one who actually suspects nothing.�
She looked at him blankly, eyes widened, for a few seconds, and laughed heartily. Since when hadn�t she laughed this way? She suddenly felt wonderful. She saw Kaoru put the sake on the table, was Aoshi actually going to drink alcohol, she wondered in disbelief.
�Welcome back, Boss!� yelled Sano.
Everybody turned to the door, where Tokio had appeared, followed by Saitoh, who just walked straight to sit next to Aoshi, without waiting for her, as if he was relieved to get rid of a chore. The profiler, without a word, pushed the flask of warm sake and the cup in front of him. They exchanged a quick look, and Saitoh smirked at his partner, lighting one of his eternal cigarettes.
�He�s a very good liar,� stated Tsunan, mockingly admiring.
She gave him a sideway look. He liked her, he thought. He didn�t have female friends except for Misao, and it was a pity. It was time to change that. It was nice to share some time with a woman without trying to seduce her.
�His retaliations wouldn�t be less deadly, though.�
She was in the mood to party, now. It had been so long since she didn�t feel some complicity with a man, other than Aoshi, without being afraid of him going after her or touching her. Tsunan could be trusted. It would be nice to have him as a friend.
They joined the central tables, where the others were already gathered, greeting Tokio, and everybody sat down.
Tokio looked around as the joyful laughs and conversation stopped, crossing the expectant gazes of everybody, but Hajime, who was obviously bemused.
She sighed inwardly. It seemed that again, she wouldn�t be spared to make a speech.
As she was looking for something meaningful to say, memories of the last weeks flew to her, events and feelings mixing as in a merry-go-round. One face lingered, smiling at them all. She lifted her glass.
�To Okita.�
To be continued.
Author�s notes:

Tying up the loose ends of the mystery plot� For the last time, I don�t see here Kenshin as a �villain�, but as a very tragic character. I prefer Kenshin with an edge (I don�t like perfect heroes. Perfection is annoying). I didn�t explain everything (Shishio and Kenshin�s meeting, why Kenshin had to kill Tsubame, Shishio knowing about the E/K/K relation�all this is linked (^-^)), because the characters can�t have access to these information, so it would have been unnatural. I already found Shishio/Kenshin a bit too talkative in chapter 28, but I put that on the fact that they didn�t meet each other for sometime, and that they were at last revealing their real motives to each other. But with a bit of reading between the lines, the logical answers to the lingering questions are there (^-^).

I didn�t label this story as a tragedy or dark fic, because all my main characters made it alive�.and that all ends pretty well for them (^-^).

A note for A/M fans: I kind of left it hanging, sorry, but I love this couple too much and wanted to transpose their relation in this AU with care. Hey, they already know that they are in love�.BOTH of them (^-^). I promise that the following will not disappoint you (^-^). Their relationship will be developed very thoroughly�hehehe.

A few previews on the sequel:

-The plot will not be about serial killers, but about another kind of predators. Yep. Predators will be the title, how awfully lacking of originality, but I�m never original in my titles anyway (T-T).

-Lots of elements hinted in Preys will resurface, as well as some of my personal favorite secondary characters, old enemies, families�.and the section will welcome a new member (^-^). They were getting a bit too comfortable, weren�t they? The VCS has some very rocky days ahead. Back on the edge.

Next chapter: an epilogue, just for S/T�.hey, it�s their romance here. *can you hear Mendhelsson?* (LOL).
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