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A Path Unsure	By : SaitouLover Category: Rurouni Kenshin > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1811 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin nor do I make any profit from my work. I'll take reviews however.

Chapter List
- 1-A Path Unsure
- 1
“That isn’t the point!” Sano screamed. He glared at Saitou with tears forming at the corner of his eyes. “I thought you were dead you bastard. Don’t you have any kindness in you?”

“Kindness?” Saitou scoffed. “You’re being an idiot.”

“Just fucking stop it! Alright! Just stop! By kindness I meant, didn’t you care that we all thought that you were dead? Didn’t you care even in the slightest that we would care if you died?”

Saitou raised an eyebrow. “Ahou.”

Sano balled his fists up in an effort to stay in control. “We fought beside each other. Even if it was for only a day, we still fought beside each other, man. Don’t you care about that?!”

“No.” Saitou turned around and started to walk away. He heard a roar of anger and mentally braced for the idiot’s attack; which never came. He rounded the corner and cast looked to where Sano had been standing, only to find is empty. Saitou shrugged and walked on. He had more important things to do today than to baby sit that idiot. So what if they had fought side beside each other? It wasn’t if the ahou could actually hit Saitou in a fight, let alone become his equal and therefore demand respect from him.

Saitou’s steps halted for a moment. The ahou was a creature of habit, ruled by his emotions. When he was happy the world could see that stupid grin of his. He laughed when happy, growled when confused, and caused property damage when angry. The ahou’s favorite pass time it seemed was to try to provoke Saitou and then attempt and fail, might he add, to win a fight with him. He never missed a chance and that was an ideal opportunity a moment ago. Saitou could clearly tell that the ahou was beyond pissed. So, why had he not attacked? Why had he simply walked away? A point of medial interest Saitou had to admit.

Still, Saitou had business to attend to. He had cases to work on and maybe if he was fortunate enough, he would invoke justice onto the corrupt politician that he was tracking. Saitou smirked, all thoughts of Sano out of his mind. He walked on down the street nodding to passersby and smiling that unnerving smile of his. He turned down an alleyway that lead to the police station. He had a lot of work to do and he was looking forward to Aku Soku Zan.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The night had progressed as usual for Sano; a few drinks, a few wagers that he, as usual lost, followed by more sake to drown his bad luck, only to lose more money gambling. The newest streak of losses would then be drowned in more sake and then the gambling would start again. That process, Sano thought, would likely be happening several times tonight.

Sano plopped down on a cushion in a new gambling hall that was outside his neighborhood. He had never been to it before so they might be willing to open a tab for him. So with that in mind he had dragged himself into it and had ordered a large sake. As he waited for the alcohol to arrive, he fumed about the meeting with Saitou earlier that day. He was pissed that the bastard had shown up out of the blue, without word of his survival, and hurt when the realization that Saitou thought so little of him and had no respect for him what so ever, sunk in.

So when the sake, along with a small cup, was placed on the table in front of him by a young waitress, Sano eagerly stared pouring. He was pissed and hurt and in his opinion, he hated that combination. His plan: drink himself into oblivion, until he wouldn’t even remember his own name and, hopefully, the effects would remain permanent. Over the next hours Sano had almost succeeded in his plan until a familiar voice was heard over the multitude of drunken swears and shouting, over the rolling of the die, over the pounding in his ears, and over the sake clouding his brain.

“Hey, rooster head! Long time no see. What you doin’ here?” Sano tilted his head upwards. Chou’s hair was still reaching the impossible heights it normally did. He was dressed in regular street clothes, Sano noted through his clouded mind, and had a grin on his face saying he was looking for trouble with Sano. The drunken young man looked back down at his sake glass with disdain. He swirled the remains in the cup and then lifted the glass to his lips. He swallowed and the customary burning feeling to the alcohol slid down his throat.

“Rooster? What’s wrong? You don’t seem you stupid cheerful self.” Chou said with a hint of worry.

“Jus’ go away will ya‘?” Sano grumbled. “I don’t wanna talk to ya’ alright?” he looked at the far wall. “I don’ wanna talk to anyone righ’ now.”

Chou raised both eyebrows. “Wow, the eternally and annoyingly cheerful Sagara Sanosuke ain’t so cheerful.”

Sano growled. “Jus’ go away.”

“Nope. Don’t suppose I will.” And with that, Chou sat down with a plop. Sano grumbled incoherently and went back to drinking, never once meeting Chou’s face.

Chou looked Sano over. He noticed that the other man had grown some; maybe an inch. Though that wasn’t the only difference. The fighter-for-higher had a look of weariness about him now that shouldn’t have been there. There were dark circles under his eyes and his face seemed to be in a permanent frown. The rooster head hadn’t smiled once since Chou walked in, and that was over half an hour ago.

He had strolled into the illegal gambling hall in order to scope out its layout for the bust that was going to happen later that night. He had been inside for only a minute or two when he had spotted the rooster head in the far corner by himself, drinking. Chou had backed up and stood leaning against a wall, deciding to watch the idiot until he noticed his presence. But after half an hour of watching the rooster head drown himself in sake, he realized his presence wasn’t going to be noticed.

He knew something was wrong with the younger man. The rooster was known in the slums for the constant smile on his face and his ability to bounce back quickly. If he was angry he broke something, and then went back to smiling good-naturedly. But the rooster hadn’t smiled the whole time Chou watched; he never came close. Not even when the young and good-looking waitress had flirted with him, pushing her lovely bosom against Sano's shoulder as she set a new bottle on the table. Chou would be the last to admit it, but he was kind of worried about the guy.

Chou shook himself out of the memory and watched Sano from over the drunk’s glass. The young man was frowning and was clearly trying to knock himself out, not a good thing to do when local pimps gambled away a few tables over. He watched as Sano poured the last of the bottle into the cup and downed in it in one gulp.

“Why are you doing this to yourself?” Chou asked the question before he could stop its escape from his mouth.

Sano answered the question with stubborn silence and after a minute or two asked one of his own.

“Why are you here? Don’t you have some girl to chase after, or someone to annoy that’s not me?”

Chou chuckled. “Nope! I’ve chased after every tail worth chasin’ after and I only annoy you buddy boy.”

Sano growled.

“To tell you the truth, I’m here on a mission.” Chou continued placing his head on his right hand. Sano looked up at him through fogged over eyes. “You see, the police want to raid this place and I’m doing recon for the boss.”

“The boss? You mean Saitou?” Saitou’s name came out sounding like something disgusting found under a shoe. Chou inwardly raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, he sent me instead of coming himself.”

Sano scoffed. “Typical.”

“Man! What’s with you?”

Sano didn’t answer and both men lapsed into silence. It seemed an eternity when Sano broke the silence.

“I’m not trash. I’m not something someone can use and throw away. I deserve respect just like anybody else. Just because I may not be as strong doesn’t mean I’m worthless.”

Chou listened with dawning realization. It seemed that the rooster head had seen Saitou already. Now that Chou thought about it, Saitou was one of the only people that could get Sano riled up and then destroy everything about the guy’s self-esteem like it was nothing but a loose clump of dirt.

The rooster, by now, was ordering another bottle of sake and Chou sensed a certain presence behind them. He turned around and, sure enough, in the back corner of the room in the shadows was Saitou, watching them with a cool glare. Chou stood up and looked back at his friend.

“See ya’ later, rooster head.” he gave a cheerful wave.

“Yeah, Yeah.” was all Sano said to Chou’s departure.

Chou wadded across the room and slunk up to Saitou and he frowned slightly as his employer continued to stare at Sano.

“Man, you sure do a number on someone’s self-esteem.” Chou’s statement was met with a glare. “Jeeze! Can’t take a joke.” Chou looked over at Sano. “Do you want me to drag him out of here or are you going to arrest him like all the others?” He turned back to Saitou.

Saitou glanced over at Sano’s table and glowered. “Leave, Chou. I’ll take care of the ahou.”

“Um, are you sure? I’m not sure Himora would appreciate hearing that his rooster headed friend was murdered.”

Saitou’s look was enough to send Chou scurrying out of the gambling hall as fast as he could travel.

Saitou turned his attention back to the ahou. The kid was sitting at a table in the back corner of the hall, away from everyone else. Saitou had been standing in the shadows for a good while watching as Chou tried to talk to the boy, and watched as he failed. The boy had been ignoring Chou the whole time. Even when Chou tried to bait him into a fight, the rooster just ignored him. Saitou glared. The ahou could be such a child. The kid was bothered by every little thing it seemed. He was naïve. He allowed his emotions to rule him. He bonded with anyone who showed him an ounce of interest, and he would continuously open himself up to the pain and hurt that he could have avoided. Saitou sighed and walked over to the table to stand in front of the boy, watching him with irritation.

Sano, even through his sake induced fog, knew when Saitou walked up. He was hoping that it was just the sake making him see things, but that hope was dashed when Saitou spoke up.

“Ahou. You can knock yourself out that way.” Sano downed another glass of the burning liquid. He mumbled while looking down at the empty cup.

“Hope so.” Saitou rolled his eyes.

“You can kill yourself that way.”

“It’s not like anyone would care.”

Saitou narrowed his eyes and looked over at the table to his left. “Ahou.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Call me an idiot. That’s all I’m good for apparently.” Saitou raised his eyebrow. “I mean, Megumi didn’t even notice I had been gone for a whole friggin’ month, Kenshin didn’t say anything to me, and all the girly had to say was no mooching off her.”

Saitou looked back at the kid. Did he just say he was gone a whole month? Saitou hadn’t noticed. True, he noticed there were fewer drunken brawls over the past four weeks, but he hadn't known that the ahou was absent from Tokyo completely. Still, it wasn’t his business. Sano continued in a drunken slur.

“And you.” He stopped and didn’t continue. Sano poured another glass of sake. Saitou glared at him; the kid was clearly upset about something that Saitou had said.

"Ahou.”

“Is all that you can say? Ahou this and ahou that.” Sano looked to his right hoping Saitou would take that as a hint to leave him alone. No such luck. Saitou continued to stand there. After minutes of silence the older man grew impatient.

“Boy, you’re being childish.” He watched the ahou for some sign of aggravation but the kid didn’t bat an eyelash. “You’re sulking around here just because of something I said.”

Sano had had enough. He slammed the empty cup down on the table and stood up. Waves of dizziness washed over him. He wavered and managed to collect what precious little balance he had left and wobbled past Saitou as he made his way to the door. Half way there, however, he felt a hand latch onto his wrist and felt himself being pulled down to the ground.

Sanosuke found himself on the lap of a gambler and even through the haze of alcohol, he knew that the lap he was in belonged to a local pimp. The guy had scraggly brown hair and rat eyes and was currently smiling at him with yellowed teeth.

“Hey.” He said and Sano smelled bad breath and foul cigarette.

The alcohol he had imbibed in the past few hours made him feel heavy and so all he could do was watch as the pimp's mouth descended towards his. But before he was kissed, he was violently wrenched from the man’s grasp. Sano was only allowed a second to gain his balance before he was shoved towards the door.

Saitou pushed the idiot away from the crowd and glared at the man. Normally he wouldn’t have interfered but the man that had grabbed the ahou was a known criminal and it wouldn’t do to have the boy associate with him. The man’s whores usually wound up dead in a gutter somewhere in the poorest districts of Tokyo. He could never find enough proof that it was the pimp that killed his own prostitutes and it rankled him that he wasn't allowed to arrest him. He kicked the table the man was at spitefully and no one dared to do anything other than grumble as the police officer shoved the brunette out the door.

Once outside Sano turned around to thank his rescuer but once he saw that it had been Saitou, he glared. He turned back around and walked away unsteadily. He was upset that his plan had not gone the way it should have. He should have drunk himself stupid, alone, until he wasn't able to remember anything and then when he stumbled home to his roach infested apartment, crashed into deep sleep till morning. He had been planning the evening all day and broom-head and the bastard Saitou just had to go and ruin it. He stumbled a little and righted himself, grasping the wall of a building as he continued on.

Saitou watched the show of stupidity with growing curiosity. He was slightly confused as to why the ahou was not trying to attack him... he wasn’t even growling. The boy was simply ignoring him. Saitou looked on as the ahou stumbled and caught himself. As he pressed on, despite his growing inability to walk, Saitou decided that he'd had enough. He casually walked up to the boy and slipped an arm over his shoulder for support.

“Hey man! Leave me alone!”

“You’re going to pass out on the street ahou.”

“So? I don’t give a crap and I’m sure you don’t either.”

“Hn.”

“Man, just, just leave me alone.”

“No.”

“Stop it!” Sano managed to break away from Saitou. He lost his balanced and careened backwards into the wall of a nearby apartment. He landed against it and glared at Saitou, an alcohol induced blush staining his face even in the dark. “Why do you fucking care? Why are you fucking playing with my fucking mind?!”

Saitou looked at the pathetic young man and shook his head. “You know, you’re wasting your life like this. You could accomplish so much if you only try. Instead you drink yourself into oblivion.”

“Yeah, well, it works for me.”

Saitou moved with such speed that Sano could not avoid the blow that landed on his cheek.

“You’re stupid! You don’t care about the others and you certainly don’t care about yourself!”

“The others? Of course I care about them man.”

“You don’t act like it when you get drunk and disappear for months on end.”

“Hey! What I do is none of your goddamn business!”

“I don’t know why but they consider you a part of their family. Himora cares about you.”

“Yeah well, that's debatable.” With that Sano stood straight and started walking again, Saitou starting after him with long determined strides.

“You know, if you hadn’t been taken in by Sagara you wouldn’t have turned out like this.” He accused coldly causing Sano to jerk to an unsteady halt. His hands balled up into fists and he ground his teeth.

“Sagara did what was best for me and Katsu. He saved me from death.”

“And after that? Because of his actions and subsequent death, he forced you to grow up fighting and poor. You had no one, ahou. You were a child and alone. You grew up hating government, hating the authority that could make you into something worth wile.”

“No.” Sano hissed coldly. “I don’t hate government. Just the Meji and their fucking hypocrisy, reminds me of you, actually. And you're right. When Captain Sagara died I was all alone, but even though I had nothing and I grew up fighting, if it weren’t for Adam I’d be dead.” Sano balled fists shook with the fury pulsing through him and it took all he had to start walking away from the man that brought every childhood wound back up.

Saitou watched as Sano made his way towards his home. The last words the boy had spoken ran through Saitou’s mind. What did that mean? Saitou had read the boy’s file before he left him as a message to Himura. Nowhere in that file did the name Adam pop up. Adam, that was an English name. It appeared the kid had a few secrets that no one knew about. Hmm, interesting indeed. It seemed that Saitou had another little mystery to solve.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An hour later and Saitou found himself walking through one of the numerous poor districts of Tokyo. He had turned the corner and had just passed an ally when a slumped figure registered in Saitou’s line of vision. He stopped and went back to the alley. Sure enough, there was the ahou slumped against the wall and it made Saitou roll his eyes. He was now faced with a dilemma. He could leave the idiot out here in the night and run the risk of him getting killed by thieves or he could drag the idiot back to wherever it was the boy lived. After many moments of wavering, he decided to escort him back to the hellhole the kid called home. As he approached, the boy stirred. He looked up at Saitou and sighed, defeated.

“Man, I just can’t get rid of you, can I?”

“Hn. Get up. You’re polluting the streets.”

“Ha, in case you haven’t noticed, they’re already polluted.”

“Hn.”

“Why are you here?”

“Though it’s none of your business, I’m walking home.”

Sano raised an eyebrow. “You live around here?”

“No. I live in the district up the street.”

“Oh. It must be nice. That’s a nice district up there.” Sano turned to Saitou. “You must be makin’ a lot of money to live there.”

“And why would that be?”

“Because those places have to go for hundreds of thousands of Yen.”

It was Saitou’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “And how would you know that?”

Sano looked sheepishly away. He shrugged. “I dunno. I kind of have experience with pricy things.”

Saitou scoffed. “I doubt it.”

Sano shrugged again. “Believe what you want man.”

Silence passed over them for the hundredth time that night. The stars shown above and Sano watched them twinkle. Saitou observed Sano for a minute before asking a question he was wondering about.

“Where were you this past month?” Sano broke his gaze from the stars and looked Saitou in the eyes. He searched for anything that would hint oncoming ridicule, and when he found none, he answered quietly.

“I was visiting my family.” The silence after that drunken confession was intense and Sano looked Saitou straight in the eye. He staggered up and walked off down the alley and before Saitou could follow him, he was gone.

Saitou stood alone replaying what the ahou had just told him. Visiting my family, indeed. Saitou looked up at the stars and thought, the boy has more secrets than anyone realized.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sano sat at a table in the restaurant the next day contemplating how horribly he had messed up the night before. He had told Saitou that he had been visiting his family. He was so stupid! No one was supposed to know that. No one was supposed to know that he had an actual family. Adam told him to be careful. Adam... Sano was sure he had mentioned Adam as well. Well, the man wasn’t going to be happy when he found out. Sano had spent the past nine and a half years guarding the secret of his family and he had blown it last night; to Saitou of all people.

Sano dropped his head on his hand. He was in so much trouble. What if Saitou figured it out? What if he figured out who Adam was?

Sano groaned and shook his head. Man, he was in so much trouble. Saitou was sure to figure it out. Saitou wasn’t stupid and he certainly wasn’t blind like Kenshin. Sano looked out the window. The older man was undoubtedly going through the conversation and picking it apart piece by piece. He was probably running through other conversations they'd had and was picking up on whatever clues Sano had stupidly dropped.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Across town, Saitou was doing just that. He had free time and with nothing to do, his thoughts traveled back to the ahou and the strange conversation they'd had. The kid had said he was visiting his family for the month he was gone. But that didn’t make sense. Saitou had read the kid’s file. He had no family. He was orphaned and taken in by Sagara, and at the age of 12, orphaned again. Sagara and his men were slaughtered because of the government’s need for a scapegoat. The kid and his friend, the bomb expert, were left on their own to fend for themselves. It didn’t make any sense. How could he have family?

Saitou turned in his chair to gaze out the window onto the busy street before him. Women and children were passing by and occasionally a man with a little child on his shoulders. Saitou ground out the cigarette he was smoking and turned his attention to the file on his desk; the ahou’s folder. He drummed his fingers on top of it and contemplated the kid’s behavior last night. What was it that he had said? 'I kind of have experience with pricy things.' Saitou reflected on that . The boy claimed to know about expensive houses. But how? He had been right last night. The houses in that neighborhood could be, and often were, sold for hundreds of thousands of Yen. And then there was a conversation they had before they fought Shishio. The boy was eavesdropping on Saitou and Himora as they spoke about Enji. Saitou told Himora that the boy was being taken care of and Himora had asked where he was. Saitou had told him in English that the boy was in a boarding school, assuming the red-haired idiot could understand him. Himora looked confused and asked to translate. Saitou sighed but before he could respond, the kid had relayed what he'd said. Saitou had looked at the boy in curiosity and a look of panic crossed the boy’s face. When Himora had asked how he had known that, the ahou had mumbled about 'just guessing.'

Saitou’s eyes narrowed. He was so stupid. The kid clearly understood and maybe even spoke English. English. Hadn't the boy said a name last night? 'A' something, an English name. Alex, Abraham, Adam? Yes, that was it Adam. The ahou had said Adam. Something about if it wasn’t for Adam. The way he spoke about the man, it gave Saitou the opinion that this man and the kid weren’t related. But it was clear he was one of the people the ahou was visiting. So, what did that mean?

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Saitou said. He placed the folder in a drawer in his desk. Chou entered. He had a grim look on his face.

“Sorry boss. But it looks like you’ve another case; it’s a dozy.” He handed over the file to Saitou. Saitou opened it and narrowed his eyes. It was a rape. He looked up at Chou. Chou spoke gravely. “It’s not the first time, Boss. So far there are six. Everyone a young man.” Saitou looked down at the file. “Here’s a picture of the last victim.” Chou said handing over a picture, watching Saitou’s reaction closely.

Saitou took the photo and he had to fight the widening of his eyes. The victim looked almost like the ahou. The facial structure was the same. Saitou looked at Chou. Chou answered Saitou silent question.

“He had brown hair and eyes. Looked a lot like someone we know?” Saitou nodded.

“But this isn’t the ahou. What about the other five, Chou?”

Chou looked away. Saitou had his answer. The others also looked like the ahou. Brown hair and eyes, tall and lean, well built. Saitou looked down at the picture again. The resemblance was uncanny. Saitou studied the picture. He wondered about the rapist. Was he targeting people with these characteristics randomly or did he a certain person in mind? An image of the ahou grinning swam into Saitou’s mind. He shook it away. He turned his attention to Chou.

“Any witnesses?”

“Nope. The attacks happened late at night, in abandoned area in the poor districts, and they were strangled so no one heard any screaming. If there was any.” Saitou raised an eyebrow. Chou continued. “The victims were bound and gagged so they couldn’t scream loudly. The sick fuck knows what he’s doing, boss.”

“That may be, but he’ll mess up sooner or later and then we’ll capture him and then,” Saitou smirked evilly. “Aku Soku Zan.”

“Damn straight.” Saitou looked up. “I mean, he deserves it.”

“Hn.”

“So, what’s the plan of attack?”

“Send out the word for people to avoid going out at night. We don’t want anyone else attacked.”

“Right!”

“And then go around recruiting officers that match this description.” Saitou held up the photograph. “We’re going to put bait out for this sick-son-of-a-bitch.”

“Right. Um, how are we going to get them to volunteer? I mean they would be risking their lives. I mean more than usual.”

Saitou thought for a moment. “Offer them double pay. And to any officer who helps capture this psycho,” Saitou thought carefully. “triple pay.”

Chou whistled. Triple pay? Things must be bad. Chou noticed Saitou looking back at the picture. Saitou had been surprised when he had seen the victim. That Chou noticed. He had hidden the shock well but for an instant, Chou had seen the emotion so foreign to the man in front of him. Chou turned and left the room. He now had the proof to back up his theory. Saitou Hajime felt something for the rooster head. It was clear to him now. The way he had reacted to the photo, last night at the gambling hall, and even back before Shishio. Saitou had always looked after the block head, in his own way of course. He smirked, goaded, and pummeled the kid until the kid realized that Saitou was right, and by doing that, kept the kid out of harm’s way. Saitou had protected the kid more times than he knew, or even Himora knew. Especially after the Shishio incident. Shady characters came into Tokyo all the time, but the number doubled since they caught word of Sano’s victory. They either wanted a piece of him, his service as a fighter for hire, or his body.

It was common knowledge that anywhere and everywhere the rooster head went, heads turned. He was attractive and the blockhead didn’t even know it. He had no idea that he probably was what made people’s fantasies. Sanosuke Sagara was one of the most attractive men Chou had ever seen. Of course that didn’t make Chou gay. Chou was a woman’s man. He stood by what he said to the rooster head last night. He had chased after every woman worth chasing after. But that didn’t make him blind. Chou knew that a few of the police officers thought that the rooster head was hot and they said so when they thought that no one was around. Sano was clueless really. And sometimes, that was the worst thing.

Chou turned the corner. His mind went back to the picture. The poor kid looked just like the rooster head. They were about the same build. They had the same eyes and hair. Chou stopped. He was sure that Sano was going to be in trouble. Sano wasn’t the type to hide. He was the type of person to draw attention to himself even when he didn’t mean to and even when he didn’t know it. This sick fuck was bound to spot the kid sooner or later. Saitou was sure of it also. Chou knew it from the boss’s reaction to the case.

Chou heard voices coming his way. He started walking again. He was going to have to keep an eye on the rooster head; possibly both.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The breeze was cool and refreshing as it caressed Sano’s face. The vendors called out the sales for the day. Crab, fish, tofu, kimonos, silk, pearls, and other items up for sale.

“PEARLS!!! PEARLS FOR SALE. THE BEST PEARLS FOR ONLY 200 YEN!!!”

“Really! That seems a bit much.” A woman’s polite voice made its way into Sano’s ear. He stopped and turned. A young woman in a lavender kimono stood at the pearl seller’s stand. An older man with brown hair stood beside her looking at other jewels. The seller was holding up the cream colored jewels of the sea. The young lady gasped. “They’re lovely.”

“200 yen lady.”

Sano walked closer. He caught sight of the necklace and narrowed his eyes.

“Well, I guess,”

“Don’t waste your money.” Sano spoke up glaring at the vendor.

“What? Get lost kid! You don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man spit out harshly, turning to smile tightly at the woman.

Sano turned to the young land. “They’re fake. I may not look like much but I know fake jewels when I see them.”

The woman looked from Sano to the man then back to Sano. She gave him a small smile and turned back to the vendor and glared. She turned around and walked off, and Sano gave the vendor a “that’s what you get” look and walked off.

Sano never felt someone’s gaze on him as he made his way down the street.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He made his way down the street towards his goal. He stopped at the door and had lifted his hand towards the handle when the wooden barrier was opened from the other side. Sagara

Sanosuke stood there, ready to leave. The brown eyes widened at the obstacle in the doorway and Sano yelped as he lost his balance in surprise and fell backwards onto the ground. Kenshin, hearing the commotion from the side yard came around the corner and glared as he saw just who it was that stood at the door.

“Saitou.” Thinly veiled contempt laced the red-head's voice.

“Himora.” Saitou controlled his dislike of the shorter swordsman. He looked on as Kenshin crossed the yard to stand beside a rising Sano.

“What are you doing here? Your visit is a surprise, that it is.” Saitou felt the familiar urge to twitch at Himora’s ending. He absolutely loathed how the other would finish his sentences like that.

“I came to warn you, a rapist has emerged. So avoid going out at night until the police catch whoever is responsible.”

Kenshin’s eyes widened slightly and he felt genuine surprise at Saitou's willingness to warn them. “Yes, of course. Thank you, Saitou. I’ll warn Kaoru-dono, that I will.”

“That wasn't who I was referring to. All the victims so far have been male."

Both the other men looked suitably horrified, and with that the police officer turned around to walk off. However, he stopped after a step or so and turned back to look at the still open doorway. Sano stuck his head out the door shortly afterwards, making sure he had left, and gasped when he saw Saitou still there. The brown mop of hair was pulled back and the door slammed closed and Saitou nodded once before resuming leaving.

There was paperwork he needed to finish and a murderer on the loose.
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A Path Unsure