Resoultions Chapter 1
By Tokimaru
tokimaru@excite.com
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Harbor/6466/rk.html


"Wait up you asshole!"

The words rang out impulsive and fiery, but had little effect 
upon the small man who evaded Sagara Sanosuke's punch with motion 
that was fluid effortlessness. A contemptuous smirk and a glare 
of malevolence were the last fleeting impressions Sanosuke was 
left with before his adversary slunk through the temple archway 
and dissolved into the inky pool of night.

"Shit."

Sanosuke ran a few steps down the pathway, but his feet knew 
before his heart that the guy was lost to him and so they 
faltered, then stopped. The crescent moon shone a weak light into 
the empty courtyard that barely illuminated the trees lining the 
path to the heart of the temple.  They merely swished gently as 
though pretending nothing at all unpleasant had occurred to 
violate their quiet majesty.  Sano turned around and kicked
violently at the ground, his grumble stabbing the quiet night as 
he returned to the interior.

"Dammit.  Why the hell would anyone attack a temple - and just 
about kill a harmless old priest.  Bastard.  When I catch up with 
that screwed asshole...!!!"

Sanosuke's fervent declaration faded away into nothing at the 
sight that met his wide eyes - the temple's caretaker, fallen 
into a small, motionless heap in the centre of the impoverished 
room, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and flowing 
more freely from a sword slash to his
abdomen.

"Ah hell," he mumbled, hovering uncertainly over the injured man.
Fighting he could do, but he didn't know what to do when faced 
with wounds like these.  A grimace for the sense of powerlessness 
that immobilized him twisted his mouth, uncomfortable and  
unwelcome to a normal brash nineteen year old.  "Gotta get you to 
a doctor before I chase after that guy." Sanosuke reached a 
tentative hand towards the man's pulse point, hoping there was a 
reason to do so.  One long, disquiet moment passed before a
brief flicker was barely felt beneath his sensitive fingertips, 
but it was enough to produce a sigh of relief from the young man, 
and his searching eyes suddenly fell on a cloth of some sort 
folded in a little alcove. That'd do.  He pressed the folded 
cloth to the worst of the wound as best he could to staunch the 
blood.

"Uckh..hh..."

Sanosuke's eyes rounded as he looked up to the source of the 
faint sound. The old monk's eyes were open! Sano cringed and 
lightened up the pressing on the wound. God, he was probably 
hurting the poor guy but what else could he do?

"Don't worry, you're gonna be fine," he assured him, hating 
himself at the same time for what was most likely a laughable 
untruth. "I'll get you to a really good doctor.  Just hang in 
there, old man."

The monk just stared at him some more, eyes moist and hurting, 
seeming to beg for something he couldn't give voice to, but Sano 
didn't know what it  was and he didn't think there was much time 
to find out.  He secured the cloth as best he could and hefted 
the guy into a comfortable carrying position. Dammit, he was 
wasting time.  The sooner he got to the Fox Lady's clinic, the 
better. 

~*~~*~~*~

The door to the clinic's main operating room slid open with a 
weary swish, sighing for the young woman who appeared too tired 
to do even that. Sanosuke looked up from where he had waited on 
the floor, the bloodied cloth still clutched in his hands.  He 
stuffed it into his pocket and began to unfold his stiff limbs.

"So, Fox Lady?  Is the old guy okay?"

Megumi Takani knelt beside the wash basin and began to soap her 
bloodied hands.  There was a reluctant pause before she replied, 
"He's alive..."

Sanosuke released his held breath, though by the doubtful tone 
with which she had answered, he didn't get the feeling there was 
cause for celebration.

Megumi confirmed this when she continued, "... but I don't know 
if he'll make it.  He's old and the wound was deep... I can only 
hope there'll be no infection, but..." Her lips pursed into a sad 
frown as she slowly dried her hands, momentarily in a distant, 
melancholy world.  Then she straightened up and with a flash of 
her usual acerbity she turned to face Sano.  "And what trouble 
have you been getting into this time?" she demanded.

Sano made a disgusted 'Che' and glared right back at her. "What 
do you mean 'trouble this time'? I was just stopping by a temple 
and I heard a racket inside.  When I got there some guy was 
attacking this monk, I tried to stop him but he got away and so I 
brought him here.  That's it."

Megumi lifted a finely shaped eyebrow.  "/You/ were stopping by a 
temple?" she queried archly.

Sano shrugged.  "I was going to pray ... for luck at dice."  His 
voice faded into a mumble.  For some reason, when he said it 
aloud, it did seem a little... ridiculous.

Megumi's eyes slowly closed and she sighed a long-suffering sigh.  
"Praying for luck at dice.  When are you ever going to grow up?"

Sanosuke jumped to his feet, bristling with annoyance to the tips 
of his spikey hair, but the only retort he could come up with 
was, "Stop acting like you were my mother or something.  It ain't 
any of your business,"and ended up sounding more like a sulky 
child than an adult.  "If I hadn't gone there to pray for luck, 
then I wouldn't have found the guy in time, would I?"

Megumi returned no answer to the challenge, but her brows were 
creased together in worry as she cast a glance towards the room 
her patient lay in.  From the room they could both hear faint 
sounds of the other doctor finishing up  "In time..." she 
repeated dully.

Sano couldn't find a reply for that.  "Uh... well I guess I 
better head over to the police station and report this or 
something."

Megumi lifted her eyes and nodded her agreement.  "I'd forgotten 
about that- they'll want to question you I'm sure."

Sano made a face.  "Great.  What a way to spend the rest of the 
evening." He was about to turn and go when a glance at Megumi 
struck him with how exhausted she looked.  "Oh yeah, thanks for 
looking after him and everything."

She managed a smile.  "A doctor's life."

This time he returned the smile, and it was sincere.  "Oh yeah, 
and try not to let Kenshin or Jou-chan know what happened.  You 
know Kenshin, if there's even a hint trouble then he'll feel 
obligated to go investigate. I don't know what's wrong - I hope 
there isn't anything more to it, but I'm not sure whether it was 
just a robbery..."

Noises, scuffles, harsh words, a higher, wavering cry.  Running 
towards the archway, flinging aside the curtains, two men 
fighting before him.  An old monk, falling as he is slashed in 
the abdomen with a sword held by a small, but deadly attacker, 
hissing rapid words at him.  His own battle cry, raised fist 
connecting with air and the attacker gone.  The old man's
peculiarly intent stare, for... what...?

Megumi gazed at Sano, her tired eyes gentling with concern. "I 
won't -but... you take care of yourself too okay?" She then 
sniffed with assumed disdain. "And leave it all to the police to 
deal with- I've got enough patients to worry about."

Sano grinned and gave her a thumb's up before dashing out the 
door. "Daijoubu.  Ore wa tsuyoi yarou dakara sa!"

                                  ~*~~*~~*~

"Moratta!"

The punch connected with a satisfying crunch into his opponent's 
face, and Sanosuke's boast rang out gleefully into the night.  He 
ignored the pain that lanced through his hand and swiftly drove 
it into the belly of the next guy, who fell to the ground with a 
gratifying grunt of agony. A swift hand across his mouth wiped 
the irritating drip of blood that tickled the corner of his lips 
and without a pause he turned to meet the attack of another. A 
feral grin bared his fangs and he met the offensive with the
same enthusiasm with which he met the first two.

"Yowai!  Yowasugiru!"

"Kisama - ckk!" The man's curse was broken by the punch to the 
throat which threw him clear across the alleyway.  He hit the 
wall and fell to the ground with telling stillness.

Sano didn't pause to check his fate but laid into the rest of the 
gang, his heart beating fast and as furious as his fists, energy 
invigorating his limbs as he fought.

Aaah, but it had been a long time.  Sano kicked to the groin of 
the third then followed it up with a swift backhand, ignoring the 
pathetic punch the fourth guy connected to his shoulder.  It was 
less than nothing.  His movements felt almost like a dance as the 
old familiar style came back to him from his gangster days.  
Breathe in, hit and breathe out, turn, block, slam fist into 
face. He'd almost forgotten how exhilarating a good old-fashioned 
street brawl could be.

"Y'know," Sanosuke informed his attackers in a conversational, if 
slightly breathless voice, "I wanna thank you guys for coming t' 
play. It's been ages since I've had a fight, even a stupid one 
like this. I guess it's kinda bad of me to lay into a group of 
losers like you, but I really thought since I hadn't been 
'kenkaya' for so long that I might have lost my touch and it 
wouldn't be so much of an unfair fight." He slammed his left
fist into another cheek and sent the guy sprawling.  "But I guess 
not. Dontcha worry though, it ain't a shameful thing if you're 
beaten by Zanza even if it is eight to one."  A smirk and a fist 
were the last two things the remaining man saw before his world 
left him.

Sano stared around the quiet alleyway, nursing his right hand 
under the other arm.  God his hand felt bad.  Truth was his whole 
body hurt and perhaps he /was/ a little out of condition.  But 
the gang that had attacked him for whatever reason were all 
sprawled in varying attitudes of unconsciousness around him so 
the fight was finished. Sano decided to just leave them as they 
were for the police to deal with and walked away. They had 
severely underestimated him.  He was used to that.  He was also 
used to being attacked by kenkaya upstarts who wished to beat the 
famous Zanza, but... he paused in his walk for a moment.  Usually 
when people attacked him for no reason it was just for the chance 
to beat one of the best, but ever since he'd given all that up a 
nearly two years ago that hadn't happened in a long time and 
usually that sort of thing was one on one.

The walk back from the gambling house to the place he called home 
was a long one, and it was more like very early in the morning 
rather than late at night by the time he reached it. The communal 
hovel he lived in was dark and very quiet, but through ease of 
long familiarity he opened the door to his room and walked 
inside.

::ch-ck::

Cold steel pressed against his throat.

"Okaeri Sagara Sanosuke-san" a voice hissed in his ear. Sano 
froze and his eyes widened.

"Dare da, teme~ wa?" he gritted out.  A sharp line of cold fire 
pressed a little deeper into his throat, just enough to guarantee 
the man's seriousness.

"My name isn't going to be important to you." The voice had an 
unpleasant sneer to it. "I hope you enjoyed your little diversion 
on your way home. I see they didn't succeed in killing you, but I 
never really expected they would, and I do think it's better to 
get you alive perhaps..." the voice trailed off musingly. "I'm 
here regarding a certain incident at a temple a week ago. You 
interrupted the work of one of my subordinates."

"Then I'm glad you came." Sanosuke glared at the man out of the 
corner of his eye. "Because it saves me the effort to find you 
and kill you for having that old man murdered."

His only reply was a long chuckle.  "You?  Don't make me laugh." 
While Sanosuke was still trying to work out whether he could 
deflect the blade at his throat quicker than the bastard could 
cut it, a second blade was pressed meaningfully against his 
abdomen, insistent enough to draw some blood. "You don't have the 
ability. But that also means I don't really have to kill you, 
depending on whether you answer my question."

Another pause, and Sano could practically /feel/ the guy smile 
nastily. "Where is it?" the man asked in a mock sweet tone.

"Outside, the small door opposite," Sano retorted. "If you're 
that desperate for a shit, you coulda just ducked behind a tree." 
It was completely beneath him to feel afraid of the possible 
death the twin blades represented, but he didn't want to get 
killed by scum like this. Being made vulnerable to the steel 
against his naked skin was making him mad even while his head 
demanded caution.

But at the moment the man merely chuckled in a fashion which 
suggested he wasn't really all that amused, and sliced a deeper 
wound into his flat belly.  Sano had to grit his teeth not to 
cry out at the line of fire-pain while his attacker continued 
smoothly, "You are as unco-operative as expected, Sagara-san. But 
I'm willing to be patient... a little.  Let me explain." He began 
to talk in the tone of a teacher addressing a very young student. 
"That monk was hiding something, boy, something which my employer 
wants very badly. A simple map which would mean nothing to you, 
Sagara-san. But a thorough search of the temple this past week 
has failed to locate it. The late caretaker of the temple no 
longer has anything at all... and the last person there was you, 
Sagara-san. We know the monk brought the map to the temple with 
him that night, but it is no longer there... "

"The only thing I brought outta that temple was the monk. If 
there's a map around, it'll still be there. Meanwhile, I wanna 
go get some sleep, so fuck off."

His attacker 'tsked' sorrowfully.  "You don't seem to understand 
the situation.  There is absolutely no room for refusal here."  
He let the tip of the blade he was holding at Sano's abdomen 
trail gently up towards his chest then down again, pressing down 
the ties of his trousers in a slow, obscene caress.   Sano closed 
his eyes in disgust away from the leer in his attacker's voice, 
but it continued on regardless.  "I could, perhaps, threaten you 
with torture or death for the information, but I get the feeling 
such tactics wouldn't work with a young man like yourself. 
However... I'm not so sure you'd wish for anyone else to suffer 
in your stead."

This prompted a cry of inarticulate anger, propelling Sano a pace 
forward, ignoring fresh, sharper pain at his neck and belly.  
"You bastard!  If you try and hurt any of my friends I'll - ugh!"

Another sharp blow to the chin silenced him long enough for his 
opponent to laugh in satisfaction and insert silkily, "I won't 
need to hurt anyone, as long as we get what we want. I'll be 
generous with you, boy. Perhaps it is true that you don't have 
that map, perhaps not. In any case, I'm giving you the opportunity 
to get it for us.  I would like that paper by sunset tonight 
Sagara-san.  If you and the paper are not at the temple - alone- by 
then... well, who knows what may happen to a beautiful kendo 
instructress, or her young pupil, a graceful restaurant owner or 
her shy young assistant..." He paused long enough to ensure that 
his words had struck home before he let his prey go and made a 
swift, graceful exit.

"Shit! Wait, you!"  Sanosuke's swung fist met air, the guy was 
already disappearing out his window.  Sanosuke cursed again and 
flung his own larger body through the window after him, but his 
exit was clumsy and slow, and by the time he scrambled outside, 
there was no sign of him.

"GOD-DAMMIT!!!"  he ran down the road towards town as fast as he 
could, but the lane appeared empty as far as he could see so he 
staggered to a halt, panting. "I can't believe he got away. I 
shoulda been faster.  I shoulda tried to kill him before. Dammit. 
/Damnit/."  His self-accusing tirade sank into a tired, despondent 
groan. "Dammit.  How am I gonna find this stupid map or whatever it 
is by tonight?  It wouldn't have been with the monk's clothes or 
the fox-lady would've found something, and I don't have it, and if 
it's not in the temple... stupid thing could be anywhere and I 
can't look everywhere. Shit. What'm I gonna do?"

One thing he knew for sure was that he needed help.  He didn't want 
to have to, but if Jou-chan, Yahiko, Tae or Tsubame were really in 
danger, then he had to have help.  The first thing that came to 
mind was to tell Kenshin, but... he was really reluctant to follow 
that course of action.  After the whole Shishio thing, and then the 
Enishi thing, it was about time his red-headed friend had well-
deserved peace, and it seemed as though the ex-rurouni didn't have 
much heart for fighting anymore anyway.

The most logical choice, which he had been trying to ignore until 
now, shoved Kenshin aside and demanded proper attention, but this 
whole concept was even more disagreeable than the first, for 
completely different reasons altogether. But he argued reluctantly 
to himself, Even though he's a total bastard, he /is/ a policeman 
and he's really clever and strong.  If he couldn't find out a way 
to stop these guys before any of the others got hurt, then no one 
could.  Having to ask him for help would really stink, but he would 
know just what to do.

But then a sly, hitherto silent voice in his head slid into his 
most immediate consciousness and sneered at himself.  Or maybe 
you're just trying to kid yourself.  The truth could be that you're 
secretly glad to have the excuse to go see him. The former captain 
of a Shinsen-gumi squad, and a famous Bakumatsu swordsmen. Tall, 
scornful, intelligent and deadly, stronger than almost everyone. 
Think rubbing shoulders with a man like that would rub some of that 
power onto you - a chick with stars in his eyes? If he knew what 
you were thinking, he'd ridicule you, and call you 
the ahou that you are.

Sano resolutely shook his head to deny those insinuate thoughts, 
but he knew that his decision had been made the minute he stood up 
and found himself walking towards the main Tokyo police headquarters.
He didn't even know if Saitou was there, but all of a sudden he 
wanted badly to see him.