Standart Disclaimer: Unfortunally I neither own Rurouni Kenshin nor the 
characters but at least the story is mine.


Again, a great thanks to Mara, who still helps me a lot. I honestly donīt know 
what I would do without her!!!!
(By the way, have you already read her new story "The right side?" I strongly 
recommend it!!!!! Itīs great, really!)

AND what I totally forgot the last time: THANKS TO MICA-CHAN, who originally had 
the idea to write a fic about this most crazy pair! Muita obrigada! Já estou ā 
espera para a tua estoria ^_~!



Part Two: Weather-Weasel


One hour after dusk.

Silently and seeming peaceful the huge house layed beside a still lake with its 
many doors open to the dark night. The stars hung low over the distant horizon, 
a mere stroke of light between heaven and sea but in spite of their brightness 
and a tiny night-lamp, plugged directly into the outlet over the far wall, the 
place remained dark, creating a feeling of twilight and unreality, dim and 
distorting. 

In one corner of the front room, a man was patiently kneeling, hiding his face 
in the darkness, not allowing his awaited visitor to recognise his features. 
"Well?" he asked in an oddly agreeable voice. "Motoki, isnīt it?"

The addressed man, who had just entered with slow, hesitating steps, bowed 
hastily, nestling his fingers nervously and hiding his hands in the sleeves of 
his jacket. "Yeah, thatīs right", he answered quickly. "Itīs...itīs my pleasure, 
sir."

A deep lyrical laughter was his answer. "So, itīs your pleasure?" the faceless 
voice asked playfully. "Well, my acquaintances donīt tend to compliment me in 
this way very often. But letīs place the jokes aside, Motoki-kun and quickly 
tell me how the operation in Japan is working."

Motoki bowed a second time, his nervousness still increasing. While he tried to 
hide his uneasiness, another element of the room strucked him, a fragrance, 
almost a perfume, not sweet but somehow delicious, making him feel a kind of 
craving. Whever this man, all over Shanghai only known as the Phantom, was, he 
had an extraordinary elegant taste. 
"To be honest", he began hesitating, gathering all what was left of his courage
before he continued. "Well, we are facing problems, sir. It looks as though the 
Japanese police got information about our movements."

"And you call this a problem?" the voice asked sarcastically. "Good man, it is a 
well-known fact that the cops of the Meiji government are even less powerful 
than a child in itīs cradle. It hasnīt passed enough time since the bakumatsu to 
ensure things in Japan."

"True enough, sir..." Again, Motoki hesitated swallowing. "But you know...there 
are rumours..."

The body belonging to the faceless figure in the corner stiffened in a sudden 
movement. "What kind of rumours?" The melodic voice suddenly got sharp, 
indicating the visitor to think twice before answering...

Motoki gulped over the sudden change. "We cannot be sure of it, sir, but there 
are people who swore that a man belonging to the Shinsengumi during the 
Bakumatsu is part of the Japanese police", he stuttered. "A man without whom 
Shishio Makoto wouldnīt have failed three years ago..." thoughtfully he paused, 
not knowing what effect the name would cause. "Do you know about a person called 
Saitou Hajime?"

The sudden silence in the room stroke him oddly. "Sir?" he asked irritated.

"So the miburo dares to cross my way another time?" The man in the corner stood 
up and approached his shaking visitor, who was now able to see his boss for the 
first time face to face. Deeply suprsised by the redeeming aristocracy he 
discovered, his mouth opened wide. 
The Phantom was very tall and elegantly rapped in precious clothes that 
underlined the extravagant grace of his white skin and his superior charisma. 
The bones of his face were gracefully sculptured and would have been beautiful 
to look at if his forehead had not been disfigured by a long ugly scar. His deep 
blue eyes, colder than ice itself, narrowed as a playful yet cruel smile 
appeared on his full lips. "Now things finally begin to become interesting."

Motoki still stared wide-eyed at him. "What do you mean? Do you know Sai..."

His voice suddenly died into an almost inaudible breathless croaking as pain 
twisted through his body. Unbelievingly he stared at the dagger that suddenly 
stood out his breast. Falling onto his knees, his hand slipped to the wound and 
felt the wetness and the warmth of his own blood there. "But why...?" he finally 
managed to stamble.

The man bend over him smiling. "You are out of my plans."

The fragrance was suddenly overwhelming, filling the entire room. It mingled 
with the burning oak logs in the fireplace, the charred smell of the bricket and 
the fresh air emerging from the lake, making Motoki wanting to do nothing but to 
breath deeply. 
"And I donīt appreciate too many people to know my outward appearance, you 
know?" he heard the Phantomīs voice from very far away. "It ruins my mysterious 
reputation."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pressing her eyes together, Misao looked up into the sky and sighed deeply and 
resigned. It seemed that nothing on this day would work as it should. 

"Hey, Saitou!"

Uninterested the police officer turned around and flicked her a slightly 
contemptuous glance. "I wonder what it is now, Weasel", he drawled bored. "Has 
one of the squirrels tried to attack you?"

"I doubt that any animal would come near to us if they just see your face!" the 
girl shoot back, very hard fighting against her temper that was once again 
yearning to break some of this insufferable manīs bones. "And by the way, your 
obsession with these freaking squirrels isnīt normal anymore!"

He eyed her completely unimpressed, taking a deep drag from his cigarette. "Is 
that so? Then tell me what is going on instead."

Fuming through her teeth she swore to herself that she would made him pay for 
his arrogance some day, even if it costed her life! Then she casted a glance at 
the bright sky once again, this time even surer of her discovery.
"The weather is going to change", she answered him shortly, "Sooner or later we 
will be standing in the rain or - if we are out of luck - in a storm."

Saitouīs smile was as ironic as ever. "Well, which one is it? Sooner or later?"

"Judging from the air up here, Iīm guessing sooner", she explained defiantly, 
not really expecting him to believe her since the sky, free from any clouds, did 
not reveal his bad intentions to an untrained eye. 
Nevertheless she had to try.

The wolf eyed her thoughtfully. Then he suddenly shrugged his shoulders. "In 
this case we should better look for a safe place" he stated composedly, 
surprising the girl with his sincerity.

"No jokes about needing glasses?" she asked suspiciously.

His eyes were as cold as always as he unfolded and studied the card he was 
carrying with him, before turning around and indicating her to follow him. "The 
Oniwabanshuu were always the best at what they are doing and therefore I trust 
your prediction", he returned in his usual unconcerned tone. "If you remember, 
youīre onmitsu capabilities were exactly the reason why I took you with me." [1]

"How generous!" she hissed back, anger churning in her belly. "But it is not 
like you had much of a choice! Without our sources and our spy system you could 
wait for the end of days and achieve nothing in Osaka!"

He sighed deeply. "If you like so", he returned. "And now please stop that 
senseless bubbling and follow me. According to the card, we must reach a little 
secret police station in about fifteen minutes. I donīt feel like getting caught 
in the rain."

"Well, okay, I just meant to..HEY! SAITOU!!!"

Running after him - for he had simply continued his path without looking back-, 
she cursed him loudly to eternal redemption, naturally without getting any 
response.
That mean psycho!
But she knew that she was right for she had heard him say the words to Jiya 
herself.

*There are limits for the secret police that does not exist for Ninjas like you 
who operate in the dark,* Saitou had explained rationally to the old man. *Your 
organisation is the only one with integrity still working and can therefore 
gather me the information I need. Furthermore we have the same aims concerning 
this special case.*

It had sounded rather logical and therefore she had not hesitated when Okina had 
asked her to help the former Shinsengumi on his way to Osaka, although she had 
been aware of the fact that the old man was only sending her because he could 
not endure her lamenting over Aoshi anymore.
But if she thought about it now...

"Saitou? Why did you accept me to come along with you? Why did you not ask 
Aoshi-sama for example?"

You've always made your opinion of me plain, she added to herself.

Not even bothering to turn around, he sent ashes to the ground. "Will you go on 
enumerating every single person I could have asked instead of you?" he drawled 
in a tone that made Misao long for her kunais again. "Think rationally for once 
and you will see that it is all quite logical for a couple will simply raise 
less attention than two men. Besides", at this he turned around and gave her a 
sarcastic glance. "You still owed me a favour."

Embarrassment made her bluster. She did not like to be reminded, but she knew 
exactly of what he was speaking. The events in Shingetsu three years ago, her 
attempt to save Eiji and the sudden attack of that bewildered fanatic - if not 
for Saitou she could have very easily died on that occasion.

Deep within her thoughts, she followed him in silence. True, Saitou had been 
insufferable from the very first moment on, but if she wanted to be honest, she 
herself had not been very helpful either; she did not even give him her thanks 
on that day. But then so many things had happened. They had met with Shishio and 
that always smiling boy had broken Himuraīs sakabatou so that she had simply 
forgotten about...

"Stop daydreaming, Weasel. We have reached our destination."

Looking up, Misao saw herself face to face with the most wretched house she had 
ever seen in her life, a spidery ruin in midst of the forest, which the vines 
threatened to swallow completely.
"Who the hell lives here?" she whispered, finding her voice oddly loud in the 
lonesome place.

Saitou stepped up onto the veranda and slid back a heavy wooden door, which 
squealingly glided open to a dark and rather uninviting room. "Nobody", he 
explained shortly. "If you had listened to me before, you would be aware of the 
fact that this station has been closed a very long time ago. And now I would 
appreciate you to be useful for at least one time and lit up a fire."

"What? Oh yes..." Hastily Misao searched in her pockets for a match and some of 
the other basics, a ninja had to carry around all the time and a few minutes 
later a little fire illuminated the place while outside thunder began to roar 
threateningly. 

Straightening to his full height the older man looked out into the stormy rain. 
"Well, it seems that it was not such a bad mistake to take you with me, Weasel 
Girl", he murmured sarcastically while searching in his pockets for a new 
cigarette.

"Oh thank you very much!" the girl shoot back in an offended tone. Then she let 
herself fall on the floor. "And what are we going to do now?"

Folding his long legs, Saitou sat down opposite to her, eyeing her intently. "We 
should use the opportunity to plan our next moves carefully",he suggested in his 
usual cold tone. "If nothing happens anymore, we should reach Osaka in about 
three days and I donīt want you to ruin everything with your immature 
behaviour."

"IMMATURE BEHAVIOUR?!"

Choosing to ignore her, the police officer lightened up another cigarette and 
continued in his bored voice. "I donīt think that I have mentioned it earlier, 
so you better listened to me. For the time being, we will live together under 
the mask of a well-earning man and his mistress, so you should better learn to 
behave more like an adult soon."

She almost choked on that, turning first white, then red in the face. 
"His...WHAT?!" she finally managed to squieck.

A smothered chuckle emerged from Saitouīs thin lips and Misao felt her face burn 
even more. The bastard found this comical?! 

"Youīre not serious, Saitou, are you?!" 

Lifting his burning cigarette to his mouth, he looked at her with a bored flick 
of one eyebrow. "Donīt act like a child; this is probably the best camouflage we 
could get. Nobody will consider it as odd when a man in his best years likes to 
spent his money on a girl that easily could be his daughter." A sarcastic smile 
spread over his face. "So much for the advantages of age."

She was still chewing on his words.
His mistress...just the thought...She and Saitou. Saitou and her. Wolf and 
weasel. Oh GOD, how REVOLTING! That was the most ill-minded thing she had 
ever...oh Nooooooo!!!! 

"...through your spies in Osaka we will hopefully get the information we 
need..." 

It endured some minutes before she realized that he was still speaking. 
Half-heartedly and still with a burning face, she listened to the plan he had 
explained her already several times before as if she were some sort of idiot. 
Well, in his eyes she probably was.
While he went on, her thoughts drifted away a second time. There was still 
something the wolf did not inform her about, something he hid from her but what 
she felt with her sharp ninja senses. She couldnīt lay her finger on it but she 
knew for sure that his plan did not went as easily as he pretended.

"There is something you donīt tell me!" she finally interrupted his monologue. 
Time for some answers!

A lazy smile appeared on his face. "Of course there is." Inhaling a deep drag of 
his cigarette delightfully, he leaned back. "But donīt think that I will tell 
you. It would be a great disturbence if my trumphet card would be revealed to 
the enemy by a over-exited weasel."

Forgetting her embaressment, she reached out for her kunai. "I know as much 
about honour as you, you cold-blooded cop!" she told him, her blue-green eyes 
burning with dangerous anger. "Come what may, I would never ever betray an 
ally!!!"

Still he remained unimpressed. "People tend to forget their honour when 
confrontated with torture", he stated rationally. "I really canīt believe that 
you are an exeption."

"TORTURE?!" She did not believe her ears anymore. "But havenīt you told Jiya 
that there would absolute no danger for me?!"

His cruel smile widened, obviously enjoying her reaction. "Well, the old man 
would have never let you go if I had mentioned the fact that his precious one 
could be in danger", he stated cooly. "Neither would have Shinomori."

The anger light in Misaoīs eyes dimmed away. "I would not be so sure of that", 
she murmered sadly to herself, memorizing how Aoshi had not even given her his 
goodbye but barely nodded as she had informed him about her leave. Then she 
lifted her chin again. "And how am I suppossed to trust you when you do not even 
tell me the whole truth about what is going on?!"

"Well, somehow youīve got to manage."

At this laconic remark, fury clenched again in the girlīs chest but as she met 
his sardonic cold gaze, she suddenly had to smile, realizing something she had 
almost forgot. "You said it was to save Japan and you wouldnīt have lied about 
this."

A raise of an eyebrow. "I would not?"

"Nep!" Extending legs and arms, Misao tried to make herself more comfortable. 
"There are not many things you would hesitate to do, but you would never lie 
when Japanīs future is on the bill. That would be against your beliefs." Daring 
to hold his cool gaze, she turned towards him. "Shinsengumi wa Shinsengumi, 
isnīt it that way?" [2]

A small smile twisted his thin lips. "Sometimes you actually manage to suprise 
me, Itachi musume," he murmured, obvioulsy lightly amused. [3]

This made Misao grin. Suprise him? Well, this was for sure better than going 
restlessly on his nerves. Not that she cared.

Her eyes silently examined him, the thin features of his face, the irritating 
cold amber of his eyes, the hard line of his mouth and for the first time she 
realized that he was actually somehow attractive. In a severe, angular sort of 
way but nevertheless attractive.
Then she violently shook her head. What was going on with her? Exquisite beauty 
like Aoshiīs was her thing not that psychoīs cool fassade.

Again she eyed him surreptiously. 
She did not know much of this man who once saved her. He was like the wolf after 
which he was named; he appeared from time to time, hunted and than disappeared 
into the shadows again, nothing like herself. And nothing like Aoshi-sama 
neither.

Although, she had to admit, there was one aspect, the two men had in common; 
nobody of them thought that their duty ended just because the cause they 
believed and trusted in, the cause they fought for was dead and buried.

But at least there was some rest of the Oniwabanshuu, some rest of familiar 
comfort for Aoshi - even if he choose to ignore it, the girl added bitterly to 
herself -, while Saitou had nothing but his his fanatical devotion to duty and 
his strong sense of justice.

Nearly pitiable...

"How long do you still plan to stare at me like a brainless weasel?"

...if it would not be cold, psycho Saitou of course. 

"What else is in this freaking hole to look at!" she hissed back. "And believe 
me, youīre not exactly the kind of thing I would call an agreeable sight! Itīs 
just that I..." her voice trailed off.

He raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Well I-" she hesitated, unsure whether it was safe to speak about personal 
matters. "Donīt you ever wonder how funny things worked out?" she finally asked. 
"I mean, you are Shinsengumi and I am Oniwabanshuu, both groups deeply rooted in 
the Edo dynasty, and now we are working for the Meiji Government."

"We don't work for the government," Saitou corrected her cooly. "We work for 
Japan."

"For Japan?"

"Of course." Taking a deep draw on his cigarette, he smiled sarcastically at 
her. "In a way, things havenīt changed so very much since the Bakumatsu. The 
people are still the same, they are too concerned with their own meaningless 
lives to face an enemy and so they need people to protect them."

"īThere aren't many people who are brave enough to place their life on the line 
to defend their honor and dignity as a human being. Just surviving, like an 
animal, you don't need honor and dignityī", the girl murmered absent-minded. [4]

At this, Saitouīs eyes flickered. "You still remember that?"

Holding the older manīs amber stare, the girl nodded. "Of course I do, Iīm not a 
senile like you!" Suddenly a sad smile appeared on her lips. "Hanya-kun once 
told me always to pay attention when somebody speaks up important matters", she 
added quitely. "He said I could learn a lot by this."

His eyes narrowed. "Hanya...was this one of Shinomoriīs old group?"

The girl nodded. "Yes."

For a moment there was silence. Then Saitou stood up and moved towards the 
window. "I donīt think that we will head much further today. Letīs better stay 
here and regain monumentum."

Misao yawned in agreement. For the moment she was too tired to think further 
about that crazy copīs motives.

********************************************************************************
Notes:

[1] Onmitsu: Ninja
[2] Shinsengumi remains Shinsengumi (this is one of the most famous Saitou 
speeches! Well, one of my favourites, at least ^_~)
[3] Itachi Musume: Weasel Girl (I considered it boring always to call her 
Weasel)
[4] When Saitou and Misao met for the first time, he told her this pearl of 
wisdom by putting his hand on her head (which I always found rather cute ^_^). 
The translation comes from Maigo-chan!


To answer some questions: Yes, I will mention Tokio and her relationship to 
Saitou but you still have to wait quite a lot for this passage. These first two 
chapters were more or less only an exposition, so please continue to read my 
unworthy work and R&R for I always need some encouragement to fight against my 
lazyness ^_^!!!!