Disclaimer: Watsuki Nobuhiro and a whole lot of other people that do not
include myself own Rurouni Kenshin. I?m just borrowing them because a
character I came up with when I was nine started to jump up and down in
my head insisting to be allowed to play with them. So please don?t sue
me. I?m broke.

Summary: Kenshin?s past comes back to haunt him and a new danger starts
to hunt in Tokyo.

Rating: R, swearing, death, murder, blood and all around nastiness.

A KILLING MOVE

By COLLEEN

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Chapter 17

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As Saitou walked an alternate route to the games final destination he
wondered how long it would take Battousai to realize that the killer
wouldn?t necessarily need to follow after him. Thanks to the maps
instructions the murderer would know where his prey would be heading and
even what path he would take to get there. Saitou was now the uncertain
piece on the board. While the policeman hadn?t been certain it would
work out this way it now appeared that the killer had taken the bait and
decided to keep track of him.

For the first time this night he felt eyes watching him. The presence of
someone observing was so strong in fact that it almost felt as if the
watcher was walking with him. That sense faded after a few minutes and
Saitou thought that the killer had realized his mistake and hidden his
presence once again.

************

Kenshin was currently kicking himself. The ghost, the earlier attack and
the traps must have been taking a greater toll on his mind than he
realized. It had taken him several minutes to figure out the flaw in his
earlier logic.

The killer was probably following Saitou.

He felt torn between continuing on his way or circling around to keep an
eye on the policeman. The problem was he couldn?t be sure if he was
being followed or not. Even the ghost that kept popping up in his life
was easier to sense than the killer was.

As if the thought were deed Kenshin suddenly felt a cold front pushing
at the air near him. He narrowed his eyes and turned towards the empty
space that he was sure now held someone.

?Lady?? He asked.

The intruder stilled and the presence along with the cold that came with
it faded until Kenshin could no longer sense anything there. He
swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. He was sure that
something had been there but he was somehow equally sure that it hadn?t
been the ghost in the sea green kimono.

A thought he had locked away when he had first met the Lady came back
and knocked on the door of his mind. If the ghost of one person he had
killed had found him then how many others of the hundreds of people he
had killed were looking for him?

************

Saitou was surprised to once again feel someone following him. At first
it seemed that whoever it was didn?t care if the policeman knew he was
being tailed.

Then he realized that his stalker was just incompetent.

He gave a little sigh and turned to where the man was attempting to hide
in the shadows. ?Come out, now,? he said.

His follower stepped timidly out of the patch of gloom that he?d failed
at being invisible in. The sky was lightening as the hours speed on
towards morning and the even grey light of the false dawn was bleaching
out the available darkness. Saitou sighed again when he realized it was
one of his own men he?d caught flatfooted. After this mess got cleaned
up he would have to see to it that his men?s training was intensified.
At their current level of skill the idiots would get them selves killed
far to quickly.

He remembered the boy in front of him from earlier this evening.
?Constable Yoshitomi isn?t it? ?Mind telling me what you?re doing out
here and why you?re following me.?

The young man looked like he?d been caught by the devil with his hand in
a cookie jar. As Saitou waited for his answer the lanky policeman
suddenly wished for a smoke. The rookie before him was already sweating
under his gaze but Saitou knew that with a lit cigarette in his hand he
would appear even more menacing to him.

?This is my beat sir,? the young man told him.

Saitou cocked an eyebrow at him and waited for the rest of his question
to be answered.

?I-I was just curious about what you were doing.?

Saitou studied the young man. An extra blade would be useful right now
however the boy in front of him was too fresh to the field to be of much
use. Not only were his sword skills suspect but he couldn?t even control
his ki. It was all over the place and it practically screamed out his
innocence and vulnerability to anyone who could read it.

Of course if he left him here the killer might pick the constable off
just for having talked with him. Saitou gave into one more sigh. As much
of an inconvenience it would be he had better take the young man with
him. If it came down to a battle then the boy would have to look out for
himself but at least if he stayed with him he?d have a fighting chance.

Besides one more person could possibly change the balance of the killers
game. So far he had managed to deal with having two people playing
instead of the one he?d planned for, a third party would hopefully
stretch things to far for him to cover. Having to move against one more
person just might get the game player to finally show his face.

Well either way the constable would have to come with him.

?I?m following a suspect; you may as well tag along.?

?Hai, sir,? was the young mans enthusiastic reply. The boy executed a
perfect salute and Saitou was hard pressed not to roll his eyes at the
eager response.

?Just keep up,? he told him.

?YES SIR.?

Damn, but he needed a cigarette.

************

Two dead souls were currently kicking themselves for having gotten to
close to the swordsman they were following. Zenko was pissed at himself
for letting the goofy redhead notice that he was trailing him. He hated
the fact that he had screwed up and once again verified his fledgling
status.

He backed away from the worried looking rurouni and vowed to keep a
little more distance between the two of them.

Meanwhile the Sea Green Lady was annoyed at being noticed by the police
officer. She hated messing up and looking like an amateur. She should
have known that a swordsman that Battousai knew would have good senses.
Instead she had just walked along with him expecting him to be
completely oblivious to his surroundings.

And she had to admit he was good. Not only had he sensed someone there
but he?d almost fooled her into believing that he didn?t know it. If it
hadn?t been for a slight shift in his ki she would still be thinking
that he felt nothing.

She was also impressed when he rooted the young constable out of his
hiding place. True the boy couldn?t shadow anyone to save his life but
the older policeman noticed him moments before she had. As she was
usually aware when something warm and alive entered her general area
that was a fair accomplishment.

The only thing she could sense better was the dead and the dieing.

************

Kenshin had shaken off his unsettling thoughts and continued on with the
game. He would leave the question of what had approached him for when he
had more time to deal with it. Assuming, of course, that it could be
dealt with.

The map had eventually led him to a place much like the contests
starting point. The final arena was near an area of several warehouses
backing onto a communal open air yard. The space no doubt used for
loading and unloading of supplies. This time however his target was
inside one of the storage houses rather than the outdoor ring created by
the buildings.

He sized the structure up in is mind, looking for a means of entry. He
quickly dismissing the large loading doors and instead opted for the
smaller, person sized door beside them.

It was padlocked, of course.

Kenshin gave a silent apology to whoever owned the warehouse before
acting. In one blurred motion he drew his sword, flipped the blade and
sliced the padlock in two. He had the blade sheathed again before the
lock even hit the ground.

He reached out and grabbed the ?U? shaped piece of metal still hanging
from the hasp and pulled it out, dropping it to the ground as he opened
the door. Kenshin stepped through the entry and into an empty cavernous
space. Either the building had recently been cleaned out of its? stock
or it was waiting for new supplies to arrive, or both. He gave the dirt
floor and rafters a hard look, making sure that there were no barrels or
knives waiting to fling themselves at him.

There appeared to be nothing. No traps and no killer. The only thing in
the entire building was the third flag. The blue piece of cloth hung
from the end of a wire in the centre of the room. Suddenly feeling very
tired of the entire situation Kenshin stalked over to the flag and with
a quick motion yanked the material out of the air.

And then he waited.

After a few minutes had passed without any traps going off he gave a
little sigh of relief and looked down at the flag in his hand. His whole
body jerked in surprise as his mouth went drier than the dirt at his
feet and his heartbeat decided to move in double time.

It was the ribbon Kaoru had been wearing earlier this evening.

************

They watched as two ghosts trailed two warriors.

They watched as a constable joined his superior.

The watched as a man feared for a loved one.

They watched as the trap formed.

They chose to do nothing.

Grey and for the most part unseen the victims of the game player?s
excesses watched as their last hope for vengeance converge on the final
playing field. Their pain would end soon, either by the death of the
killer at the hands of the two samurai or by the addition of one or more
ghosts to their fold.

The group?s power was currently balanced as if on a pinhead and for the
next few hours the addition of one new dead soul was all it would take.
One more death and they could tip the scales of power in their favour.

They could take their own revenge.

_

End of Chapter 17

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