A/N: Omg a quick update (relatively) for once. Not as much happens in this chapter as previous ones, but it felt like a good stopping point.

Sanosuke's shoulder was throbbing by the time the guards escorted him to the infirmary. The room had three futons, all stacked in the corner, ready to be laid out for the next victims to be treated. Everything else in the room was very Western, with a desk and chairs on one side. Cabinets filled to the brim with medicinal herbs and creams and medical instruments lined the walls.

Sanosuke was made to sit in one of the chairs by the desk. A moment later, a young man not much older than Sanosuke entered and sighed upon seeing his injured shoulder. He gave a dry look to the guards.

"Really? He hasn't even been here a day and he's in my office," the doctor said. He shook his head. "Let's get you patched up then. Take off your jacket." He opened up a cabinet which held many rolls of bandages and pull one out. Then he retrieved a container of something Sanosuke could not see.

"What's your name?" The young doctor asked Sanosuke, while picking up a notepad from his desk drawer.

"Sagara Sanosuke," he answered. "What does it matter?"

The Doctor gave Sanosuke a smile. "Any self-respecting Doctor keeps records of their patients."

Sanosuke glared back at him. "Any self-respecting doctor wouldn't be working for a guy like Kitamura."

"Then I suppose I must be lacking some self-respect." The doctor conceded, smiling with an air of—what? Sadness? Pity? Apology? Sanosuke felt himself studying the doctor as he began to inspect his shoulder.

Something was off.

"What's your name?' Sanosuke asked.

The doctor never dropped his attention from the wound. "Masato Yuki."

"So, how does a man of medicine end up working in a place like this? You people are supposed help people, not patch them up and send them back to die like dogs for profit."

Masato didn't say anything for a moment. "It isn't is bad as it looks," he eventually said. His was gaze still focused on the battered shoulder, and Sanosuke wasn't sure if he was answering his question or referring to the wound.

"The cut isn't too deep, but it's messy. Not unusual for Urumi. I'm going to put in a few stitches to the cleaner parts. For the rest, I'll just have to apply a salve and bandage tightly to keep it clean and together. Try to go easy on it for a couple of days.

"A couple of days? Hah. Kitamura said I'm fighting tomorrow. Seems to me he's a guy who sticks to his schedules."

"That is unfortunate." Masato sighed. "I can do nothing but give my medical opinion."

"Bullshit!" Sanosuke yelled. He felt his anger building up. "Don't pretend to have no influence! It takes a lot of people to set up a place like this. That's a lot of people who have given in to fear or greed, to give Kitamura this death pit. You've seen most of this shit first hand. If you were a real doctor you might stand up for all the guys locked up in those cells! It's weak idiots like you that really drive me crazy!"

"Tell me, Sagara-san!" Masato countered. "How many people can a dead doctor save?"

The words struck Sanosuke silent.

"They could kill me. If I die, who will replace me? How can I know that my replacement will give a damn about anyone? At least if I stay, I might help a few survive."

Sanosuke sighed. He really couldn't argue with that. Infuriating as his atitude was, the doctor's rebuttal definitely filled Sanosuke with hope. If Masato was being honest (Sanosuke did feel he was being sincere) then this disgruntled doctor could be the crack in the armor that Sanosuke and Saitou needed. They just needed to figure out how to use him.

"So, are you gonna patch me up, Doc, or what?"

Masato didn't waste any more time. He grabbed a cleanser for Sanosuke's shoulder. It burned like hell when he applied it to the cut. Sanosuke grunted at the pain. Why did it always seem that treatments were worse than the injury themselves? With little apology Masato went about stitching up the shoulder where he could. When he finished, he applied a salve. It almost instantly began to sooth the pain that the doctor had inflicted moments before.

"How does it feel?"

Sanosuke flexed his arm a bit. "Stiff, but much more comfortable. Thanks."

Masato handed Sanosuke his 'aku' jacket, then reached out to shake his hand. As soon as Masato's hand enclosed around Sanosuke's, the young fighter winced and tried to pull away.

"What's wrong with your hand?" He demanded, forcing a closer look. "This bandaging isn't just for protecting your knuckles. No one said you had anything wrong except your shoulder, so this must be an old wound."

"Hey! Don't manhandle it!" Sanosuke barked.

"I'm not manhandling anything Sagara-san." Masato poked about the bandaged area, eliciting another hiss from the young fighter. "It's like you shattered a window and tried to glue it back together, poorly. How did that happen? An accident?"

Sanosuke growled as he pried his injured hand away. "Only if you call Shishio Makoto an accident."

Now a true look of bewilderment passed Masato's features. "Shishio Makoto? The...well...man who almost well...took over?"

It was Sanosuke's turn to be surprised. "Most people don't know who Shishio is, let alone that he attempted a secret revolution."

Masato's tone was cautious. He glanced about, making sure that the guards were out of ears reach. "You asked how I could work for a man like Kitamura. I wouldn't be here if Shishio Makoto had never existed. And even now, with him gone, I'm still trapped by that demon's legacy." He took a deep breath. He began to replace the wrappings on Saosuke's battered hand. "I was the local physician in my town. When Shishio showed up, he rooted out anyone who would be useful. I left to protect my family. Even in death, nothing changes. The Meiji government will never account for everything that man did, or all the people that helped in him there."

"You're saying Kitamura was buddies with Shishio Makoto?"

Masato nodded. "They had many business dealings. I do not know the specifics." He took a breath. "So you managed to defeat him?"

Sanosuke shook his head. "I'm not the hero there. It was a group effort. In the end, Shishio sort of destroyed himself."

Masato quirked an eyebrow.

"It's complicated," Sanosuke said.

"But still. It means you are strong. Probably the strongest man I've seen in this arena." The doctor seemed to be contemplating something crucial. Finally, all he said was "good luck" before calling the guards back in. Sanosuke could do nothing but wonder what the doctor had been pondering as he was escorted back to his prison cell.

Or at least, it was all he could think of until he heard the ruckus coming from the prison wing. As they neared, the shouting grew louder. The same cackling and jeering remarks that had heralded Sanosuke's arrival were now intermingled with the frantic shouts of Kitamura's men. Before Sanosuke and his captors entered the long hallway a man ran past their group, back in the direction of the doctor's office. There was blood all over his clothes.

"Hey, what's going on?" One of the henchmen called to him as he made off. The man kept running, but shouted something about a 'traveler' and 'dead'. Sanosuke began to grow anxious. His fears were realized when they finally got to Sanosuke's cell.

In the adjacent hold, Chou was crumpled on the floor. Men were locking his door with a sense of urgency and sending messengers to inform Kitamura of an infiltrator.

At that point all Sanosuke could think was that they were all finished. Chou was supposed to be their lifeline. If he'd been captured, then their whole plan was in jeopardy. Who was going to tell the Kyoto police their whereabouts? Shit. None of this was any kind of good.

"Joji!" Sanosuke called over to the next cell. "What the hell's going on here?"

Joji already had his face poking through the bars. "Dunno. I was just resting here when I here the commotion. Some traveler came along and trashed the place, I guess. Took a few of Kitamura's men down before they got him in. At least two guys are dead. Another guy was all bloodied up. Not sure if it was his blood though."

Sanosuke took in this new information. So Chou killed a couple guys on his way in. Sanosuke fervently hoped that if Chou was here, then maybe he'd already notified the police. He looked over where Chou was lying on the floor. "He doesn't look good."

"He's been poisoned." It was Masao who spoke. Sanosuke and Joji looked to the old man. "I've seen it before. If he took down two men on his way in, then they would have needed to subdue him some other way. His eyes were clouded as they dragged him here. He only passed out completely a few moments ago."

"Will he live?" Sanosuke asked.

Masao studied Sanosuke carefully. "They rarely kill anyone they've locked up—not before sending them to fight at least. They might have more questions to ask. But just by looking at him, it might be a few hours before we'll have any new information."

The hallway din began to hush as Kasatsuki, Urumi, and Kitamura approached the newly occupied cell.

"What happened?" Kitamura demanded.

"This guy showed up, said he was lost," explained one of his lackeys. "He had swords on him, so we decided to bring him in. He was strong—we were five on one, and he got two of us before we managed to bring him down."

"People don't just wander into town." Kitamura frowned. "I want extra patrols on the perimeter. Make sure every man is well armed. We can risk anyone else getting in."

"Yes, sir!"

As the lackey trotted away, Kasatsuki spoke up. "I'd be happy to interrogate him when he wakes up, boss."

"We shall see," Kitamura said, neither giving nor denying permission. "I want to know if there's a threat to our business before I send him to the arena. His fate can be decided there. Urumi!" The boy had been silently observing the situation. "I want you to oversee the patrols. Anyone who wanders in is to be killed on sight."

The boy silently bowed then slipped away.

Kitamura looked to Chou then to Sanosuke and the rest of the prisoners. "All of you, stop your gawking. You'll want to be rested for tomorrow's show. I have a feeling things are going to get very interesting." He chuckled as he left. Kasatsuki followed his boss, but not before giving a sinister glare to all the prisoners. His eyes landed on Sanosuke and he let his lips curl into a smirk that actually managed to irk the young man. There was something in that smile that went beyond the realm of disdain or hatred. Sanosuke didn't want to know what it was. He just hoped that all this would be resolved quickly, before anything else could go wrong.

He settled down to wait, praying Chou would wake up soon.

Outside the compound, patrols were stretching far into the surrounding forest.

A lone figure was crouched in the shadows waiting to make his move.