All for Love- Chapter Eight Disclaimer: All characters of Rurouni Kenshin belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki, JUMP comics, and Sony Entertainment. The building was huge. Sanosuke stood outside of the Austin compound, in awe of its size. He must have two hundred members of various Yakuza situated here, he thought to himself, as he raised his fists and slammed them together. He was ready to be a ganster once again. He was ready to go in as Zanza-although he didn�t expect to be noticed. He had not spotted the presence of guards, but apparently they had spotted him. �Oi, you. What are you doing in the vicinity of the Austin compound? Mr. Austin does not appreciate those who loiter about his grounds,� said one who had his sword drawn. Sanosuke stopped and turned to look over his shoulder at them. He recognized one of them. He had beaten the crap out of him a few years ago. I wonder if he remembers me? The familiar one looked at Sano, recalling something. Then he turned to the other guards. �That�s the street fighter Zanza. He is very well known in Tokyo. What are you doing so far from home, Zanza?� The other guards looked disdainfully at Sanosuke. �If he is so well known then Mr. Austin would have him in his army. As far as I know, he is nobody. Zanza is nothing compared to the warriors we have inside, and Zanza should turn around and forget that he came this way. Find your way home gangster boy, before you get involved in something that you won�t be able to handle.� This one had his sword drawn, and he now pointed it at Sano. �I said go home. I�m being very nice to you, since you are a fellow gangster. But you�re out of your league here. Go before you get hurt.� Sano stood still as he listened to them. Then he answered them the only way he could- he laughed. �You�re telling me to go home? How about this? I go in to see, Mr. Austin when I beat all of you.� The guard was taken aback, and lowered his sword a bit. �You talk big for a man who is offering to take on seven warriors by himself. The odds are not in your favor. Think about it before-� �I don�t have to do any thinking! You�re wasting my time, which is what I don�t have much of at the moment.� He drew his sword. �Time for me to go.� He was instantly behind them, and with one swipe they all fell down with large gash marks across their backs. This time his sword was smeared with lots of blood, but with one flick of his wrist he sent it flying off the blade. He stopped for a moment to listen. No one was coming anytime soon. It was safe to go in, but he wondered how long it would take before the whereabouts of these soldiers was questioned. Sanosuke looked back at the fallen guards and wondered if he had made a mistake in fighting them. This would make his infiltration more difficult to accomplish. Then another thought came to him. Why were there only seven guards? With someone who is supposed to be so important, wouldn�t he have more than seven warriors surrounding the compound? Something wasn�t right. He had made another grave mistake. God, I�m fucking up this whole operation! I need to keep my head, or else I won�t be of any help to Megumi. Sanosuke stopped thinking for a minute. Her name always made him stop all other thoughts and concentrate his mind on the image of her face. He had left her just this morning, yet it felt as if he had been away from her side for years. He remembered the odd feeling of foreboding from earlier that day, and he wondered if he was taking too much responsibility on his own. Perhaps he should have listened to Saitou. Maybe there was something else he could have done for this case. Now it seems as if I am on the way to screw things up. A faint step came from behind. This immediately alerted Sano, but when he turned around he froze in his spot. He had come face to face with an imposing individual who wore strange Western garments. Black fitted slacks, black shirt, a tan colored trench coat, and these strange looking boots that were shiny and had these small circular, yet pointed objects attached to them just above the heel. Sano wondered if they were some kind of weapon. A large hat was drawn forward so that it covered the individuals face. He could have been mistaken for an American-but as far as Sano knew Americans did not carry Japanese swords. Two katanas were positioned on his left side, while he had a holster with a pistol on his right. This character looked dangerous, and Sano wondered if he had seen what had just occurred. The individual raised his head revealing his face. He was Japanese all right. He looked to the fallen soldiers with no regard. Then his gaze met Sano�s, who immediately felt his heart freeze. The feeling of foreboding came once again, only this time it was mirrored through that man�s eyes. He is going to be responsible for something involving me, Sano thought trying his hardest to hide his apprehension. The man seemed unfazed, but he did not put off any indication that he wanted to fight. He seemed to be very interested in Sanosuke. �You took them all down with one strike. I have never seen anything like that since the days of the Bakumatsu. I did not think that swordsman such as you still existed. I�ll be damned.� The last sentence was said in a strange language. Sano wondered if this was the gangster that was mentioned in the file; the one who spoke English. The man scanned the guards once again, and gasped when he realized that they were breathing. �You didn�t kill them? How is that? I saw you slice into their backs. They should all be dead.� He turned to Sanosuke. �Who are you? Why has Mr. Austin not taken you under his command?� Sano smirked. �I don�t follow anyone�s command. I�m my own boss. The name�s Zanza and I�m here to see the one whom you call, Mr. Austin. I hear that he�s got some plans for Tokyo, and I�m here to say that the territory belongs to me. If he wants to do anything within it, he needs to consult with me.� The man narrowed his eyes. �Mr. Austin has the top Yakuza of Tokyo in his army. They know of all the gang activity in this area and they never mentioned anything about a gangster named Zanza. They did mention an ex-gangster who goes by the name of Sagara Sanosuke. They say that he was a strong fighter. He has the endurance of an entire army combined, and he�s got this mean right hand punch that can break boulders into dust. But he seemed to disappear from the public eye as of a year and a half ago. He is spotted every now and then but he isn�t like his old self. He doesn�t fight anymore, and the gambling halls have missed his presence. But they say that he still looks the same. Tall, strong build, red bandana, and a white gi with the kanji �evil� on the back of the jacket. You know, now that I think it over, it seems as if those guys were describing you.� Sano felt like laughing. Was this guy trying to be subtle? �I guess you found me out,� he said thinking about his conversation with Saitou earlier that day. He had been concerned with the Yakuza having too much information about him, and he realized that he was right to be suspicious. They definitely knew too much about him, and he wondered how much more information they had. The man was studying him closely, his eyes narrowed into slits and he noticed something of interest. �You were recently injured. Your side bleeds, as does your shoulder. Is there trouble following you?� he asked. Sano refrained from answering the man right away. He wanted to take this slowly, cautiously so as not to give away too much. He read the expression on the stranger�s face; the man was intrigued- and Sano wanted to keep it that way. �It�s nothing I can�t handle. This is just a scratch. My opponent looks worse than I do.� With this thought he stopped to think about Saitou. He wondered if he had regained consciousness, and if so how angry was the wolf? He quickly put that thought to rest. He had no time to worry about that wolf. �My, you sound sure of yourself. Why don�t you come inside? I�m sure that Mr. Austin would be interested in meeting someone like you. You could be of use to us here. Do you know all of Downtown Tokyo?� Sano nodded. �Down to the rats. I�d like to meet Mr. Austin too. I want to know what he�s doing here.� He looked at the man sizing him up, noting how he seemed to master the art of looking relaxed, yet keep his body tense and ready for a fight. He was intrigued with this individual as well. He had never seen him here before. He must be from another part of Japan. He must have been educated abroad since he spoke the language of his master, and even dressed like him. At least Sano assumed that Mr. Austin dressed in those silly clothes. They wouldn�t look any better on him, than they do on this guy. I�d never be caught dead in a getup like that, he thought to himself and a sudden notion came to him. This man had something about him. Sano felt it from within the stranger. He was going to influence the result of his destiny. If that was the case then Sano needed to know one thing before he accepted the fate that hovered over him. �Oi, I never got your name.� The stranger had turned away to lead Sanosuke inside the compound. Now he stopped to look over his shoulder. �Irushi. Kyuuto Irushi. That is my Japanese name. In America I am known as Corpus Kyuuto.� He paused a moment. �That is a name that Mr. Austin gave me. He thinks that I have the personality of a corpse.� He laughed lightly at that. �He�s a silly old bastard. I think that you would like him very much.� Irushi turned toward the door again, and continued on. �Come, Sanosuke. I want you to meet with Mr. Austin before he decides to take a nap. Planning a takeover seems to take a lot out of him. Perhaps with your help it won�t be so hard on him. He is so old. He should retire from the yakuza business. But what do I know, eh?� Irushi made a gesture for Sano to follow him, and he obliged. Sanosuke walked slowly, with a heavy heart and his thoughts wandering to Megumi. He hoped that she was safe. Chapter 9 Fanfiction Archive Back to Main Page |