Chapter 9 I take a long drag of my cigarette. There are several people here who have fighting ki. Only one has the intent of murder though. The Kamiya brat is in the alley way across from me. He thinks Enishi is up to something. Oh how wrong he is. The former ’demon’ is actually doing well. It’s surprising considering the hell he put the Battousai’s strange family through and his involvement with the Shishio faction. The yakusa have surrounded the seemingly unsuspecting family like a pack of wolves. I say wolves with venom. They wouldn’t stand a chance against the wolves of Mibu. I alone could take all of them out, but I have questions. My sword will have to wait. The white tiger’s eyes dart. He switches the child to his inside arm and hip in order to better protect her. The atmosphere has thickened. The yakusa are about to make their move. Enishi’s hand lashes out just in front of the child’s head. My golden eyes spot a small dart dropping from his grasp. He doesn’t bother to attack. If he were to fight the man, his charges would be left wide open. This is my job. My speed bests the man who fired the dart. He barely has time to turn around to see me looming behind him. Aku Soku Zan. My eyes glint at him. Unfortunately, I can’t fulfill my belief immediately. I still have to interrogate him. “Firing a dart at a mere child is weak.” As usual, his carbon copy black eyes widen in uncontrollable fear. The expression gives me a rush. I grasp his tan kimono near his shoulder and lift him off the ground. “I have some questions for you. Won’t you join me?” Smirking, I don’t give him the chance to answer as I ram his head against a nearby wall. Immediately, he passes out. As he slumps against the wooden panels, I watch for more possible newcomers to my jail. Much to my amusement, Yahiko has finished another one opposite me. No one appears to be hurt out of the targets, so I assume the brat took him out before he got the chance to fire. The kid is getting smart. He will eventually come in handy. I file that for much, much later eventual use. My attention snaps back into focus as another glint speeds toward the targets. It’s a much bigger glint this time, a small dagger perhaps. Enishi’s hand shoots out again. He won’t make it. It’s completely opposite him. The young woman, Liya I believe, will be hit. * * * “No!” I nearly drop Cho to make it to Liya in time, but I already know I’ll be too late. Simultaneously, two cries echo in my sensitive ears. The squish of a dagger in flesh assaults me. I smell blood. It overwhelms my senses bringing me to the brink of insanity once again. Onee-san appears before me with the smile I was once accustomed to seeing during my Jinchuu. She wants revenge. Yes Onee-san. I will get you revenge. I put the child down a bit too roughly and launch myself in the direction of the one who threw the dagger. “Tang Mu…Ni hao…” I turn mid-lunge. So that’s what they were doing. The same skinny bastard from when I met Liya is ripping the knife from Kaemon’s hand and her chest. The twenty year old has been thrown to the side. He stares dazedly at the offending yakusa member. “Take a step and this perfect face of hers won’t be so perfect.” He holds a knife to her cheek. * * * Enishi’s light teal eyes almost glow with anger, just like Kenshin’s when he becomes the Battousai. A man has a knife to the woman’s cheek. I can feel the demon’s uncontrollable ki all the way over here in the shadows of the alley. Tentatively, I take a step forward so I can hear what they’re saying better. What is Enishi and this other guy up to? They have to be using this woman for some reason. Enishi’s a bastard who only thinks for himself. He doesn’t have the same look as Kenshin because he wants to protect that woman. He just wants to use her. That’s it. “Take a step and this perfect face of hers won’t be so perfect.” Enishi stops. I’m close enough now to see his expression and movements clearly. His eyes dart from the woman to the man with the knife. A little girl is sitting right in the middle. Her legs are curled to either side of her as she cries. The other man I saw with them at the Akabeko is laying in a heap of blood staring at his hand and the woman with drunken anger. Enishi’s nostrils flare as if he’s a tiger waiting for his prey to make a mistake. “Not very talkative are you.” The woman’s chin is tilted with the tip of the knife. Tears stream from her eyes as the man further proves his ‘dominance’ by running a hand through her hair before pulling it to force her to tilt her chin even more. “Maybe you should get to know your protector a bit more Tang Mu. After all, he killed your parents.” Enishi’s eyes blaze even more with that comment. He sends death warrants to the man through his gaze as he dares to take a step forward. “Ah, ah…You wouldn’t want her face to scar. Would you?” He sets his jaw forcing himself to remain still. “Please…Let me go…Just let me go…” “No, I don’t think I will. You’re too fun to let go. You remember what kind of fun we used to have. Don’t you?” She blinks releasing more tears. “You still have a debt to pay anyway. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you, captain of the third squad of the Shinsengumi, Hajime Saitoh.” The said wolf stops several steps behind the man. “Well, now that we’re all here. I think it’s time for us to leave. Don’t you Tang Mu?” The man looks up where Enishi should be to see nothing. Audibly growling, the white haired demon is directly behind him. His eyes glow with the intent to kill as he drops the knife to his side. The once dominant man gasps at the swiftness of Enishi’s work as he stares at his now empty hand. Beady black eyes stare into the fearsome depths of teal that will soon feast upon him. A hand lashes out and the man is held high off the ground by his throat. “You can tell Michio that I will not allow you or anyone else to touch her ever again. Her family and her honor will be avenged through me.” He nearly squeezes the life out of the man as he growls. “You can’t kill him yet. I still have some questions. I’ll take it from here.” Enishi’s wild eyes narrow and shift their attention to the direction the voice is coming from. With one final squeeze, he drops the man. The demon watches him writhe in pain and gasp for air while Saitoh calmly steps beside him. “You can visit him in jail and torture him all you want, but I believe you have more important things to attend to.” Both sets of glowing eyes dart to the woman, child, and drunk man before returning to the minion of that Michio person. “I’ll be back for you.” I don’t know why, but I find myself approaching the scene. My foot scuffs against the dirt road causing several eyes to glare in my direction. I glare right back and stoop to regard the crying child. “Hey…toughen up. Huh?” The kid stops wailing to hiccup at me. Almost immediately, she begins wailing even louder this time. Her arms throw themselves around my neck forcing me to sit in a sprawling, flailing sort of manner. What do I do now!? “Hey! Stop it!” “Hey brat…” I look up to see Enishi picking up the woman. What did they call her? Tang Mu I think. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds okay to me, so I guess I’ll call her that. “Follow us. We’re going to the clinic. You think you can watch her?” I growl at him. ‘He can’t order me around,’ I think as I pick up the wailing kid. Of course, her grip is like iron right now. Even if I didn’t have my arms around her, she’d probably be able to keep herself from falling. He’s being so gentle with Tang Mu. I didn’t think he’d ever show any kind of gentle side. Well, he did show that in the Akabeko, but that was only to make Ms. Tae less afraid of him. He was using the kid to make himself look like a better person. Yeah. That’s it. Enishi pauses next to the drunk man. “I can walk. Put me down and carry him.” Tang Mu spoke, but I have no clue what she just said. Whatever she said, it was really quiet. The demon’s eyes look unsure for a second before he gently sets the woman down on her feet. She wobbles slightly and he immediately has his arms around her again. Wow! Maybe I was kind of rough on him that one day. “I’m fine…just let me lean on you.” “Hey brat…” Stop calling me that! “Let her lean on you while I pick him up.” Fine. Fine. I guess I can do that. Reluctantly, I walk over to Tang Mu. She laces her arm through mine and leans heavily against my side. I hear her sigh and look up. Weakly, her mouth twitches as if it’s going to smile. “Let’s go…” And so, we walk to Dr. Gensai’s clinic. * * * Author's Notes: I know Yahiko sounds really out of character while he's watching the events transpire, but I liked the description I used so you'll just have to bear with it. Thanks! Other than that, no real notes. Thanks for reading my fic for so long I know the chapters are getting up there in number. I never intended for it to go on this long. Actually, the whole reason I wrote it was for Enishi to get laid, but this huge drama came out instead. I'm glad you guys like it so much! I really appreciate all your support!