A/N: This is going to be a story about Saito and his wife Tokio. How they met, how they came to be wed etc etc. I kept some things from history, I followed the manga but this is all nothing but my humble opinions and views on that enigmatic figure and how must she be like to attract/stand/be attracted to Saito. It will be a short one, about eight chapters max, no matter the size - lol - and it'll be somewhat fragmented on purpose. If anyone asks why I'm publishing this though I'm already delaying chapters in my other story...then be informed I lack conviction and motivation. But I swear, I'm writing as much as I can.

I do not own any of the characters from or even Rurouni Kenshin the manga.

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The dark sky revealed no stars, as if they were all gone for some mystic reason. The heat of a summer breeze was nothing but a distant memory and only cold, chilling gusts remained in its place, worse than the autumn airs. And nothing in this narrow alley, with no lamps or any other source of light, made him feel welcome. Still, he had to walk the streets; it was an imperative, if he ever wanted to reach his destination, no matter how foreboding everything felt: from the absence of usual sounds to the existence of out of season bugs.

He huffed; he needed a drink. He, Hajime Saito, third squad leader of the Shinsegumi, was on his first undercover mission. He didn't find it particularly challenging; he knew not to underestimate the enemy so blending in as an ishin shishi would not be a big deal so long you remembered their ridiculous ideas and dogmas. Even changing out of his usual Shinsegumi uniform and putting on a simple hitatare with a blue haori and a grey hakama he felt like a different person. Also, that uniform was so engraved into his character by now, he literally felt he couldn't recognise himself so quite possibly few people would do, too.

He put his hands in his sleeves, trying to both warm himself and look bigger. All he had to do was show up at the Takagi ryokan, on the west side of Kyoto and play the good loyalist membe—

An ear-splitting scream broke the silence of the night! Without realising, his fingers had already curled around the hilt of his sword while his body was slumped forward, towards the direction of the shout. A moment later he straightened again, calmer and ready to solve this problem.

A woman's scream, he assessed immediately. She's being attacked by a person, most possibly a man, and even more possibly the one who's been terrorising this area lately. The perpetrator – if he be the same – has already raped nine women and killed two making a grand total of eleven punishable actions. Is he adding to his crimes?

His feet carried him while his brain did the thinking for him; meanwhile some more, muffled sounds of struggle could be heard and he took all of those in at the same time…especially the moment when the fighting stopped. The implications were enough to shallow his breath and grind his teeth. He might have been going as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough and it may have well cost a person their life!

Just as he made the final turn to reach his new destination, a dagger flew past his face! It lodged on the wall behind him, two metres away. He'd reacted out of instinct by grabbing his sword yet out of experience, he knew it was too far away so he did nothing in the end. He just looked at it as he came to the dim light: it was ornate with carvings on its hilt and vibrant colours while small designs covered the blade…a woman's preference.

"Don't you dare take another step, villain!"

What did she call me?

His predictions were correct: he happed upon two of them. One was an unconscious woman with her black long hair dishevelled and free from their band. Her colourful kimono was somewhat undone – he could see some of her skin – , consistent with a victim of rape or attempted rape. The second was the one who'd thrown the knife. She was relatively tall for a woman, standing at 1,65 and her stance was defensive, one hand clutching another beautiful dagger in front of her face. Her bangs framed it but the rest were up on a ponytail, though messy now. Her kimono had dark colours, blending in with the colours of the night.

"Or what? You'll miss me with more of those daggers?" Even though he baited her, he didn't take another step forward—he could see there had been trouble and the still standing woman looked sort of menacing. Still, his reply was enough for her face distort in an unforgiving snarl.

"Or I'll actually aim for you, next time I throw this."

"Oh, is that how you call it?"

Her frustration apparent, she took a deep breath; he hadn't cared before but now he realised the rasp quality of her voice wasn't due to shock or anything, it was her own. "Show me the inside of your left arm now or face the consequences—another one of these." She would have no rejections, or else she'd pounce!

"That is…an odd request. But if it makes you put that dagger down, I can do it."

Unceremoniously, he took the sleeve off and showed her what she asked; for the first time, she didn't act on instinct and started thinking. And if his guesses were right again, then he figured the one on the ground was attacked and the one standing protected her. If she were equipped with weapons, it made sense, especially since she knew how to hold them for maximum damage to the assailant.

"I came here because I heard a scream, coming from her I guess," he pointed to the unconscious woman "and I thought I should help. But I see you have this under control, so I shall—" The woman lost interest in him the moment he started explaining; in a surprising turn of events, she turned around and ran! "—take my leave."

Shaking his head, he went right after her, though he wasted a second or two to make sure the woman on the ground was alive, decent and hidden.

"What are you doing—don't follow me! Take her to the Shinsegumi or something!"

"I'm not your valley; the only reason I'm following you anyway is because I believe you know where her attacker went."

"Why would you believe that?"

"You requested to see my bare arm; you were either with or closer to the woman and managed to see the attacker and fended him off. I doubt she managed to drive him away, and judging by her state I should guess she didn't do much talking, too. Thus, you saw him, scared him away and saw where he's headed."

"…" She ran next to him for a long time without saying anything. "You're annoyingly right; but it's a long story—I'll tell you once I have him!"

"Heh," he chuckled and allowed her to lead him. Spirited person, isn't she?

It didn't take long for them to switch places; her guidance was excellent and soon enough they were close enough for Saito to spot him by listening. The manhunt was coming to an end second by second; he looked to his right to warn the woman away and maybe direct her back to the fainted one but she'd just turned left jumping over a short wooden fence! Without missing a beat he took the next left too and wound up in another dimly lit alley. It led to a dead-end but that wasn't the amazing thing here. What truly amazed him was the cry from a man five metres away! He was brought to his knees, as red dripped down his stomach and her hand.

"What? You don't like it when people do it to you," the woman snapped sadistically as she turned the knife while still inside him?

This is getting out of hand; he thought bitterly as the realisation he wouldn't be making his first appearance as an ishin shishi tonight hit him. At least he was building a good profile for his later appearance: helping women, catching criminals, badmouthing the Shinsegumi for lack of proper policing…this ordeal had its perks. But its risks also; he should step in and stop her from inflicting any more damage on the man, or she might kill him.

She relished his cries of pain as she pulled the knife out of him and let him fall, watching his every move like a hawk. On all fours now, the pale haemorrhaging man tried to crawl away. "Have a safe trip to hell, asshole."

In the blink of an eye, there he was, holding her hand from dealing a decisive blow. "What do you think you're doing? Let go of my hand!" She shouted, emotions getting the better of her. Her cheeks were flushed and there were veins popping out of her neck.

"You don't want to kill this man," he said calmly.

"I do; let go of me."

"Let me rephrase. You don't want the consequences that come with killing this man."

There was a pregnant pause of stares and gnashing, her feelings not abating. "I said let go of me." Another pause. "Very well." Her free hand delved into layers of fabric and came up with yet another dagger…which he stopped again. "What in Buddha's name is wrong with you? Let me do as I please!"

By now, he was certain she did the opposite of what he suggested just so she'd do the opposite. "I can't do that yet. Put the knives away first."

"Don't tell me what to do and let me go; besides, why are you protecting him? He deserves to die!"

"Yes he does. And for a person who doesn't like to be told what to do you sure are quick to give orders and do as you please…"

He was holding both of her wrists from behind; he was taller so it was easy for him, but entirely uncomfortable for her. He wasn't causing pain to her either, he just stopped her hands. And he was in the right, technically, but she didn't want her pride to suffer and do as he commanded so she couldn't let the daggers fall; but truth is, her rage calmed, and she didn't want to kill the man any longer…just hurt, hurt, hurt him. She clenched her teeth; her knuckles became whiter for squeezing the daggers so much.

"Steady," he advised.

And suddenly, she kicked the man on the ground! Using his unrelenting grip for more momentum, she jumped, knowing he'll hold on to her; both her feet landed with viciousness and hatred onto the man's belly, pushing out even more blood! The secret Shinsegumi just stood there looking at her.

"Very well," she said in the end "I didn't kill him." He let her go. As if a fire went out that same second, she forgot all about the two men, or at least pretended to and tried to run in the opposite direction. Yet once more she was stopped by Saito's hand on her wrist and she just wanted to punch him in his smug little face…!

"And here I thought you wanted to get him to the Shinsegumi," he commented, pointing at the now unconscious man at his feet.

In response, she pursed her lips and looked at him with the edge of her eyes. "I'll do that, too but she comes first."

"So you were going to the victim. Is she a friend of yours? And what is up with this whole ordeal?" She looked at him offended for even thinking she would just share personal information for no reason. "Explain."

"Don't tell me what to do-!" she caught herself from shouting any further, clenching her fist, and looked up at the tall man. "Just pick the swine up and let's go to Reika – yes that's the name of the victim – and then to the police station."

"So you do know the victim; how? And why exactly were you there, armed, waiting to catch this person?" When Saito was looking for the "swine's" hands and feet, he discretely pulled up his left sleeve; the wound of a dagger was there. Now he was certain.

"Reika-chan is in my employment. She fell victim to this monster," she really snarled just at mentioning him, giving a curt nod "not a week ago. Tonight, we figured we'd go hunting, lay in wait to ambush him. I've been going at it alone the past two weeks, but I had no luck finding him. I figured I just wasn't his type. When…Reika-chan was attacked she said she felt worthless for not resisting. You see the ones who resisted weren't raped—just killed. And she really didn't want to die. So in order to cleanse herself, she said she'd help me. And sure enough, a day after she decided to join me, he strikes again."

She spit on the ground.

"I finally managed to capture him…instead of killing him. Because of you."

"How can anyone be in your employment—are you some sort of madam in the red light district?"

He could have murdered her whole family and her pet, yet the indignation and pure shock that was reflected in her eyes in this moment wouldn't be nearly as strong. "I beg your pardon! I am the proud heir and owner of the west Kyoto ryokan, Takagi Tokio! I do not provide those sorts of services to the people, mostly men undoubtedly, that visit my establishment."

Feeling a smirk reaching his lips, he coughed to cover it; not only was this woman delightfully prudent and easy to poke fun at, she was also the owner of the place he wanted to reach. Nothing could go smoother. "I'm surprised you didn't slap me yet, to be honest."

"Feel better at the thought of me wanting to."

"Oh, this is us;" he said so casually it drove her mad "I hid your friend so no one would take advantage of her. She's in here," he nodded at a dark small spacing between two houses. She saw her friend propped against the wood and was about to snap, but there was an element of care in her placement; she refrained.

"Reika-chan…Reika-chan can you hear me? It's me, Tokio."

Her eyes began to open; disoriented, she started looking around. "Tokio…sama? Is it all over?" Reika's voice was soft and sweet. It reminded him of red natto beans, if they were a voice.

"Yes, we caught the animal. We're handing him over to the Shinsegumi right after we leave here. Would you prefer we drop you off to the inn first?"

"…no, please take me with you. But who are the "we" you're talking about?"

Saito came into view, with his usual soft smile, the one he wore around everyone. He took a small bow, just enough not to worry her. Seeing the perpetrator of the terrible crimes on his shoulders, like a sack of potatoes, she felt a little better inside. She returned the smile, weak but grateful. "What is your name sir?"

Seeing Reika was preoccupied with the man, Tokio went to collect her knife, lodged into the wall.

"Fujita Goro," he gave the fake name he had made up for this mission; first time using it, too "glad to be of service."

Tokio rolled her eyes purposefully slower and way more emphatically than Reika had ever seen her do before as she put her hands on her hips just as exaggeratedly. "Can we go now please, Fujita-san?"

The trip to the police station was an uneventful one. It had to do with the passive attitude she kept all the while, for the sake of her employee, and the odd polite way he too behaved in favour of the victim. Both were cordial though a little witty and both knew when to throw a fake smile to blow over some argument that was about to start.

When they finally reached the place where the station was, they relieved them of their "cargo" and immediately requested to speak to the victim first, while the two of them would wait.

"No, Tokio-sama is very capable and kind! She keeps us all safe, away from the streets, and all of that all on her own. She stands up to powerful people and factions just by her sheer will power and individual strength. She is a magnificent person," Reika wrapped up some sort of argument.

She bowed to both separately and followed a man in a room.

"And an unmarried one, too I realise," he picked up from where the woman had left off, a smirk replacing his polite grin "how brave of you to remain unwed in these turbulent times and rely on your own abilities."

She thundered him; if she were an element, she would be the sea with her high tides, he mused entertained.

"I am twenty one years of age and I am of means; I see no reason to be tied down by an entitled boy who thinks he's a man while trying to take over my own business from me, under some ridiculous pretext that he owns whatever I own, too and certainly he could do it better despite having none of my experience."

"It sounds like you talk from experience…but I understand; you don't like to be told what to do. It's only normal for a woman with your way of thinking to be a spinster."

"Excuse me?!"

"Oh, I don't judge; I happen to be unwed myself…though I am a twenty three year old man, so it is no big matter for me, spinster-girl."

If looks could kill he'd be dead ten times over. "I am a useful member of the society with purpose and drive. I see no reason it should be a big matter for me, too."

"I agree; I'm only saying others might not…spinster-girl."

The sound she made mustn't have been human! That hissing and bearing of teeth, he was sure he'd seen it on some animal or another…yet with all his comebacks and his smarts he was at a loss of how to respond to her. So he just laughed. He laughed till he couldn't throw his head back anymore and his stomach felt sore.

"You're odd, spinster-girl but what's odder is that you are also going to be my land lady. You see, my destination before I reached you was the Takagi ryokan. I suppose we will have plenty of time to sort out our misunderstandings there."

"Oh, ho, ho believe me there's nothing to sort out. Though I won't deny you stay you're nothing but a tenant and that's that."

With conviction, she raised herself from the western chair they had at the waiting room and located herself at least three metres to the left. Distinctively looking the other way, she stared outside the window, waiting patiently for Reika to come out and then her turn…which sadly was after Saito's. "I guess we'll all be returning together then," he half-teased, half-announced and followed the officer into the same room Reika had gone into.

The moment the door closed behind him though, the Shinsegumi man fretted. "Hajime-san why are you involved in this? Is your cover identity blown already?"

"Ah no, I just had to help; there was an issue with a rapist, as you informed me when I arrived yesterday. It wasn't my intention to capture him, but it happened too close. I would not ignore this."

"Of course, sir; but could you give us a detailed recount of what happened while the girl was unconscious?"

"I heard a very loud scream and ran towards the danger; more sounds of struggle issued but then they suddenly stopped. I was worried the victim might have died but when I arrived at the scene I saw a woman protecting another that had fainted. She thought I was the assailant as it was dark and I match him in height and weight so she asked me to identify myself by revealing my left hand. I wasn't the one who attacked her friend so she immediately went towards the direction the assailant had taken.

When we reached him, she fought him; she managed to deal a blow with her knife and then she kicked him for good measure. He was out cold so I carried him here, after we went to pick up the victim, too.

They are both from the Takagi ryokan—the one who stabbed him, Takagi Tokio, is the owner, while the other, Reika, an employee. She was prowling the streets to stop him, but he eluded her, till the second fell victim. Wanting to avenge herself and save potential victims, she joined Takagi Tokio in her search and finally found him.

Have we identified him yet?"

"His name is Daigoro Heisuke; he's the son of a big fish here in Kyoto. But this one will go down without a hitch because he's notorious! Everywhere there's a poster of notice or warning about his crimes, he won't get away with it."

"Very well; I take my leave now. You don't have to question Takagi Tokio. I have to go to the ryokan as soon as possible."

This woman threw a dagger at him, threatened to do it again, ignored his suggestions and nearly murdered a man yet he said none of these things to his subordinate. He even went as far as to basically order him not to question her under the false pretence of having to be at her ryokan the sooner the better though he had perfectly accepted the reality of not going there tonight at some point.

And all of that because he found her interesting and fun; he didn't regret his decision but suddenly he was wondering. No matter what, he let none of it show and found himself in the waiting room; the moment they appeared, Tokio stood. She was holding Reika's hand till now, relentlessly. "I am ready to-."

"There will be no need ma'am, as mister Fujita gave us a full account of your actions. We are very lucky he wasn't killed by accident during your fight or else you might have faced some charges and we wouldn't be able to make the arrest public." She turned scarlet to that. "But thank you for your help."

They all bowed in their respectful ways and made to leave.

But Tokio knew there was something wrong in this picture. What about her deposition on what had transpired prior to this man showing up? How did they know how she located the rapist? What sort of power did Fujita Goro have for his word to be this well-trusted? Why didn't he mention any of the attempted murders on that guy when he was so adamant about it? Why was he so adamant about it, when it looked like he too wanted that bastard dead?

She kept stealing glances at him, wondering all the while. Though pleased she wouldn't get mixed up with the law and her name remained spotless and glad this was over with the best outcome possible, she couldn't help but be suspicious.

"So uncharacteristic of you not to speak a word, Tokio-sama," the soft voice of Reika pulled her out of her thoughts. Concern coloured it but it was as discreet as her. "Is something the matter?"

"Ah, no, I am just overthinking I guess." She gave a smile she was ashamed to show but she couldn't help it. But what struck her the most was Fujita's reaction: he caught on to her putting up appearances, as if she were a book to read even when Reika failed to notice the deceit.

"What could be so important that rendered you of all people speechless, spinster-girl?"

She tried not to be too upset, chanting mantras mentally. "Nothing that should concern you," she snubbed the man though it was nothing but lies "or worry you Reika-chan," she continued like the previous line wasn't uttered with absolute forbiddance and spite. "Shall we go on in silence from my part without it consisting as a topic of discussion?"

Saito's smirk grew. "Who can say no to such a request? You must be truly troubled to wish no part in making small talk."

Her jaw did a thing where it tightened for just a second and then it was gone by her swallowing, as if her own words. With great displeasure and no small amount of self-control, she kept walking. Genuinely entertained, he made no further attempt to soil her mood.

The rest of the way there, she made no attempts to join the conversation but she kept a very sharp eye on all of his responses and mannerisms. There was something about the way he talked and acted; she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was obvious he was capable of great sarcasm and uncivil tongue yet whenever he was directed anywhere else other than her, he was the model of goodwill and kindness. He was too dubious. She didn't know if he should be allowed in her ryokan or not after all. Even if he would never deny him entrance and stay, that didn't stop her from keeping an eye out.

A/N: I love Saito! Please review and/or message me your opinions~!