PREYS
by Kamorgana
Disclaimer: I don't own
RK,
and even if I wanted to I couldn't get money from that stuff I wrote.
So don't sue me!
This chapter continues the exposition. It presents most of the other
main characters and a few facts. No action here ( starts next chapter).
Chapter 2:Team
Coming back in the empty main room, Saitoh opened a new cigarette pack,
and began to think about his situation. He still had mitigated feelings
towards this whole team stuff. He had accepted to be part of it only
for
Kondo, who had been his first partner when he entered the police
forces. After his partner had become captain, then Chief of the
Criminal Department, Saitoh had teamed with Okita. Finally, 4 years
ago, his mentor had taken the risk to give up this high rank in order
to create this section, and
asked Saitoh and Okita to follow him. They had agreed without a second
thought.
Saitoh knew that Kondo had wanted only the best for his Violent Crimes
section. Yukishiro Enishi, coming from the Narcotics, was a genius when
it came to investigate Mafia and traffics, which made up for his rather
unbalanced temper. Kondo had teamed him with the taciturn and sensible
Kitaoka Tsunan, expert in explosives and anti-terrorist strategy.
Himself and Okita were getting the highest arrest and conviction rate
of the criminal department. They were the perfect incarnation of the
famous good cop/bad cop combination. He had however been surprised and
more reserved about the others. Sagara Sanosuke had connections
everywhere
in the streets because he was an ex-thug, and Makimachi Misao was a
specialist in information gathering, with no field experience. They
also had the top forensic doctor, Takani Megumi, and the famous
profiler, Shinomori Aoshi, collaborating with the team.
Until last year he had never regretted his decision to join. The
section was efficient. He was even getting along more or less well with
them, mostly thanks to Okita, who was easy going and had made the
bridge. He wasn't really in the friendship that was linking the others,
but he could stand to stay in the same room with them without feeling
murderous (well, if Sagara was not staying too long, he was still such
a moron). Yet their values were different. They still thought in terms
of criminal
and victims, still hoped that they could make justice triumph. Saitoh
knew better. He knew that evil was a lingering force, and that they
were just parts of a never-ending fight. Slaying evil, but never be
able to eradicate it, was the irony of their task. The others were
doing their
jobs, and would retire one day. He had taken an oath, and would follow
the
path until he died. As did Okita: they had very different tempers, yet
they had the same point of view. Kondo understood that. He had taught
them.
And as long as Kondo was at the head of the section, there was a point
in being part of it.
When Kondo had decided to accept the Mayor's offer to become the Chief
of Police Forces, it didn't alter Saitoh's respect for his mentor. He
and Okita had both refused his following proposition to take his place.
He had then expected Kondo to ask Hijikata, his successor at the head
of the Criminal department, to step in. But no, he had chosen Takagi
Tokio. Saitoh had felt betrayed. It was not the fact that she was a
woman, or younger than he was, nor even that he disliked her: it was
that she was
not a cop. She was a substitute attorney, in charge of the DA's
criminal affairs: her career had been on a fast track. Yes she was
smart, yes she was a gifted lawyer, yes she knew how to rule her team.
Still she was
only a bureaucrat. He was not surprised that she could jump from one
side
to the other, as he knew that she was coming from an influent family,
first
contributor to the Mayor's campaign. Kondo had insisted that it was his
idea. They had specialists in every field but law, his ex-boss had
added, and had asked him to trust his judgment. Well, she didn't screw
everything up like he had expected her to, but he just couldn't stand
to
see her in Kondo's place, acting like she deserved it. She was a bossy
bitch. She was.
Enishi and Tsunan entered the spacious room, frowning at his darkened
face. They sat at their desks and several seconds passed by before they
talked.
"Are we out?" asked finally Kitaoka.
Saitoh shook his head. The door of the chief's office opened and Tokio
stepped out, her gray suit jacket on her shoulders, her purse in one
hand. She walked to the main door, glancing severely at the younger men.
"Saitoh is taking care of the report. I make it clear with you two.
Next time you move I want you to inform me before. Good night,
detectives." Without a second look, she left, her long ebony hair
whirling behind her.
Enishi blew a sigh. "Phew. She is pissed." He seemed to find that
really entertaining.
"We followed you knowing it was against the orders. Are you alone in
trouble?"
Saitoh smirked. "This report is all I get, along with a scold." He
hesitated. "You've helped."
"Are you kidding? I worked for the Narcotics long enough to know there
is nothing to expect from them. No way I'd let Kanryu escape again.
Moreover, it was quite funny to act without supervision," smiled
dangerously Enishi.
"Hey, we are a team. Okita got shot, We had to see that it would be
repaid. Our revenge is our business." Tsunan exchanged a knowing look
with his white-haired partner.
Saitoh sighed. He had been honest with Takagi. For him, it had not been
about revenge. He hadn't wanted to let his prey escape. He was chasing
a violent murderer, which had turned out to be Kanryu's right arm. A
weaker link of Kanryu's organization, Hatsume, had leaked them where to
find the suspect, but it had been a trap and Okita had ended severely
wounded. As the Narcotics were investigating Kanryu first, the
hierarchy had decided that they had to handle them the case. There was
no way he could let that happening. It was HIS case. He had gone to get
Hatsume and made the necessary. He had fulfilled his duty. Kanryu had
only been
a bonus.
"What about that scum who gave you the information? As he's
unfortunately still alive, shouldn't we expect him to sue?" wondered
aloud Yukishiro.
Tsunan, who had lit his own tobacco stick, blew the smoke, watching
inquiringly at Saitoh.
"She said she had taken care of that," he answered reluctantly.
"I know you don't like her. But she is doing a good job. She has always
covered our butts. I trust her."
Yes, Yukishiro, and you have personal reasons for that. So your
judgment is blurred, thought Saitoh.
"And she's quite pleasant to look at," added Tsunan.
The amber eyes narrowed in scorn.
The main door flew open, a girlie voice exclaimed: "Yuck!!!! Smoking
guys, you are disgusting!" and a tornado ran through the room, to open
wide the big windows.
"Hey, I was not smoking, Misao-chan. I could even stop definitely for
you."
"Hands off my partner, Sunglasses," interrupted a young, male voice.
"Great. Dumb and Dumber" mumbled Saitoh between his teeth.
He stared without sympathy at Sagara and Makimachi. Way too impulsive
for his taste, and too hot-tempered. He had to admit that they had
results, but mostly because they were incredibly lucky, if anybody was
interested
in his opinion.
Ignoring Sagara's protective stance, Enishi went on: "How was your day,
honey?"
As Sano had pissed her off all day, whining around that he was bored,
she entered Enishi's game and giggled the most girlishly she could:
"Less interesting than yours. We had to spend it in court." She sighed
deeply, her young features making a baby face. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah, just being questioned by lawyers who tried to make us say the
opposite of what happened, while you had all the fun." Sagara was half
pouting.
Kids, thought the older cop.
Tsunan grinned to his friend. "At least you didn't get scolded by our
new boss like Saitoh"
"She's hot. She can even spank me if she wants." The two of them shared
a knowing smile.
Before Saitoh could make a sarcastic comment, the storm broke.
"HEY!" yelled Misao. "I'm fed up with your attitude here. First, she is
not THAT new. It's been than one year. Second, she is doing a good job,
enough for you not to dare hitting on her or making your disgusting
remarks when she's here. Third," she went on, turning to Saitoh," if it
bothers
you that much to have a boss, you should have accepted Kondo's offer to
step in." As he opened his mouth, she said quickly: "I know you said
nothing, but it's been a while that I wanted to tell you."
She took a deep breath, and had a wonderful, shiny smile, her sapphire
eyes clearing from anger within a second. "Phew. I feel better. See you
tomorrow, guys." She ran out of the room, after grabbing a pile of
files.
Saitoh turned to Sano. "Are you sure your partner doesn't have multiple
personalities disorder? I almost feel sorry for you."
Scratching his rebel hair, he shrugged, not paying attention to the
ironic tone. "Oh, no. She just hates trials. It gets on her nerves. I
should have been careful.Talking about partners, how is Okita? Misao
and I were relieved when Takagi called us this afternoon, to say he
will make it."
"I dropped by at the hospital before coming back here. Now that he
regained consciousness, the doctors say that it's a matter of time.
Lots of time." Oh, Takagi was playing the team's mother now?
" Hey, we are going for a drink at Kamiya's. Won't you join us?"
proposed Tsunan. "We have to celebrate that capture, and Okita's
recovery."
" I can't. I'm grounded tonight, remember? Report to write for our "not
so new" boss". Saitoh couldn't hide his spite on the last words.
***
Kamiya's was just two streets away from the police station. It was a
pub: the lights were dim, the main room smoky, the walls and seats dark
green, and the furniture made of wood, making the atmosphere discreet
and comfy. Most of the detectives liked this place. The proprietor
being the daughter of the previous chief of police made sure they had a
warm welcome and some free drinks.
"Hi, guys! So some of you had a hard day.."giggled one of the twin
waitresses as she brought Tsunan, Sano and Enishi their usual pints.
"Where did you hear that from? Some Narcos here?"
"Cut it off, Sagara. You're not fighting in my bar. Sae, waves from
table 5."
Sano lifted his hands at the petite, green-eyed girl who glared at him
severely. "Hey, what wrong with you today Jo-chan? You don't say hello
when we arrive, and now you're as warm as a winter day. What did we do?"
She put a plate of French fries in front of them.
"You'll have to wait a while for the sandwiches. Kenshin is not back
yet from shopping."
Enishi snorted. She glanced at him, tightening her fists.
"If you don't like this place or the people here anymore, you don't
have to come. I won't bother," she let out spitefully, before returning
to the kitchen, fuming.
Sae and Tae passed by their table again, arguing.
"You blabbermouth, why did you talk about today?" "I didn't know she
was just behind, idiot! You should have done something.."
"Hey!" yelled Sano. "What the hell.."
Tsunan shook his head, nodding towards Enishi, who was staring at his
glass, teeth gritted.
"She is just worried about you," he said calmly. " Maybe you should.."
Enishi drank some of his beer. "She made a choice. She hasn't to worry
anymore."
"If I were you, I'd just kick the ass of this wimp and.." Sano shut up
at his colleague's killing look.
"Talk about the devil.." murmured Tsunan.
A red-haired man entered the bar, getting down the stairs carefully
with his hands full of grocery bags. Kaoru ran out of the kitchen.
"Kenshin! It took you some time!"
He missed a step. "Oroooooo!"
"Kenshin are you okay?"
She helped him back on his feet. He was barely taller than she was.
"I'm sorry, there was that old lady who wasn't feeling well when I came
out of the supermarket, I couldn't leave her like this, so I took her
to her home and..."
The girl's expression had softened. "Kenshin... it's always the same:
old ladies, lost children...You're just too nice, people take advantage
of that."
They couldn't hear the rest of the conversation as the couple was
walking to the kitchen, but the blushing of Kaoru and the soft smile of
Himura were enough.
"Oh, please..this is pathetic," groaned Tsunan.
Tae smacked him on the head. "This is love. This is cute. Take notes."
***
Closing his laptop, Saitoh stretched his legs. These damn chairs were
really made for dwarfs. He had completed his report. He pondered for a
moment the idea of going for that drink, but he didn't feel like seeing
anybody. It was too late to go back to the hospital and visit Okita
anyway. Maybe he'd go to the gym for a boxing session..He knew whose
face he could imagine instead of the sandbag.
The phone rang as he stood up.
To be continued.
Author's notes:
Yep, the lamest cliffhanger.
Sorry I waited so long to update and only for this kind of chapter, but
I needed to write more and be sure that I won't contradict myself later
and that some details that I could have explained here won't come out
of the blue. This fic needed some more exposition. The tone in this
chapter is still light but it's not reflecting the general tone of the
story.
There's a lot of characters, I hope the fact that all of them are taken
from the manga will make easier to picture them (selfishly, I had fun
trying to find them an occupation in that A/U).Enishi has an important
part, yet it will be developed some chapters away (the main characters
being my dearest Saitoh/Tokio). First time I write about him.hope he
won't be too OOC.I see him as a smart but unbalanced man, who can have
some humor (usually used to bother people), and has a very soft spot
towards women (a need to protect them). It's the way I figured him out
after reading the manga.
The little part of interaction between K/K is there to stress that
there will be no WAFF here. Tsunan's opinion is mine (although I enjoy
and write WAFF, there is no place for it in that particular fic).
Thanks to the reviewers: Mara: I finally posted the second chapter. I
really
hope you won't be too disappointed. Saitoh is a bit off in this
chapter,
maybe his considerations are OOC but I thought that Okita's absence was
renewing his feeling to be alone and to have different values than the
others. I don't see him as revengeful either, more like a predator
(one of the reasons I settled on that title). I hesitated on the
never-ending
fight part (heavy) yet I think it would fit a modern version of Saitoh.
But at least he won't be romantic in anyway here, promise! Thanks for
your
encouragements and everything else (^^)! Devil: I hope it will stay
interesting
enough. The main plot will take a while to start fully but I hope there
will be enough of interaction between the characters so all the
chapters
will be entertaining.... Jadegoddess: thanks for reviewing all my fics.
No real Saitoh/Tokio interaction in this chapter, but he will take
orders from her believe me (and will find a way to respond..) Mibu no
ookami:
thanks for your other reviews too! Yep, his partner is Soushi (who
else?)! Syngen-Segumi: Unfortunately, I plainly have no style in
English! The characters' stuttering is only the reflection of my own
battle with words! I do my best, but letting it flow is wayyyyy up my
abilities. Moreover, English is not the language that I'm supposed to
improve right
now (I have to deal with all these kanji first), so I'm really afraid
it
won't get any better..I'll try! Yes, it's obvious the main plot is
about these two, I wrote S/T fic in the summary. The genre is not
romance because hopefully, this fic will involve more than that. Thanks
for your
interest!
See you, thanks for reading! (and no flames please!)
Kamorgana
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