"That isn't the point!" Sano screamed as he glared at Saitou. "I thought you were dead you bastard."

Saitou scoffed. "You're being an idiot."

"Just fucking stop it! Alright! Just stop!" Sano pushed a shaking hand through his hair. "Didn't you care that we all thought you were dead? Didn't you care, even in the slightest, that we would care if you died?"

Saitou raised an eyebrow. "Ahou."

Sano balled his fists up in an effort to stay in control. "We fought beside each other. Even if it was for only a day, Saitou, we still fought beside each other. Don't you care about that?!"

"No."

Saitou turned and began to walk away. He heard a roar of anger from behind, and, knowing the other male as well as he did, braced for the idiot's attack. As he rounded the corner and cast a glance to where Sagara had been standing a few moments ago, he saw the street empty and a trail of dust curling lazily around another corner. Saitou shrugged and strolled on. He had more important things to do today than to baby sit that idiot.

For a moment, Saitou's feet halted against his will, and he cursed his own curiosity silently. The ahou was a creature of habit, he knew, one ruled by his emotions. The ahou's favorite pass time was to try to provoke Saitou into a fight. He never missed a chance, and the altercation a minute or so ago was an ideal opportunity. Saitou could clearly tell that Sagara was beyond pissed, so why had the youth not attacked and instead simply walked away? A point of menial interest the swordsman had to admit.

Still, Saitou had business to attend to. He had cases to work on and maybe if he was fortunate enough, he would invoke justice onto the corrupt politician that he was tracking. Saitou smirked, all thoughts of Sagara out of his mind. He continued on his way down the street, nodding to passersby and smiling that unnerving smile of his, and turned down an alleyway that eventually lead to the police station.

The night had progressed as usual for Sano. A new pop-up gambling hot spot provided a few wagers that he, as usual, lost. He followed his losses with sake to drown out his bad luck, only to lose more money while drunkenly gambling. It was a vicious cycle that Sano thought would likely be happening repeatedly tonight.

Sano plopped down on an uncomfortable cushion. He had never been to this bar before, so they might be willing to open a tab for him. So with that in mind, he had put as much sincerity as he could muster into his smile and had ordered a large sake. The young waitress blushed before she went to collect his order, and, as he waited for the alcohol to arrive, Sano fumed about the meeting with Saitou earlier that day. He was pissed that the bastard had shown up out of the blue, without word of his survival, and hurt when the realization that Saitou thought so little of him and had no respect for him what so ever, sunk in.

So when the sake, along with a small cup, was placed on the table in front of him by the friendly young waitress, Sano eagerly stared pouring. He was pissed and hurt, and he hated that combination. He was hoping that with enough alcohol he wouldn't remember his own name and, hopefully, the effects would remain permanent.

Over the next hours, Sano had almost succeeded in his plan until a familiar voice was heard over the multitude of drunken swears and shouting, over the rolling of the die, and over the sake clouding his brain.

"Hey, rooster head! Long time no see. What you doin' here?"

Sano craned his head upwards to see that Chou's blonde hair was still reaching the impossible heights it normally did. The sword fighter was dressed in regular street-clothes, Sano noted through his clouded mind, and had a grin on his face saying he was looking for trouble with Sanosuke. The drunken young man looked back down at his sake glass with disdain. He swirled the remains in the cup and then lifted the glass to his lips. He swallowed, and the customary burning feeling slid down his throat.

"Rooster? What's wrong? You don't seem your stupid cheerful self." Chou said with a hint of worry.

"Jus' go away will ya'?" Sano grumbled. "I don't wanna talk to ya', alright?" he looked at the far wall. "I don' wanna talk to anyone righ' now."

Chou raised both eyebrows. "Wow, the eternally and annoyingly cheerful Sagara Sanosuke ain't so cheerful."

Sano growled. "Jus' go away."

"Nope. Don't suppose I will." And with that, Chou sat down with a plop.

Sano grumbled incoherently and went back to drinking, never once meeting Chou's face. Chou looked Sano over, and the younger man was sure he knew what the police officer was thinking. He knew that he had a look of weariness about him that shouldn't be there. There were dark circles under his eyes and his face seemed to be fixed in a permanent frown.

Chou seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts and he watched Sano thoughtfully for a moment. The younger man felt himself frowning at the blatant observation and decided to knock himself out with alcohol. Though, as he glanced around the makeshift gambling hall, he had to admit that losing consciousness might not be a good thing to do when the local pimps gambled a few tables away. Chou watched as Sano poured the last of the bottle into the cup and downed in it in one gulp.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" Chou asked before he could stop himself.

Sano answered the question with stubborn silence, and after a minute or two asked one of his own. "Why are you here? Don't you have some girl to chase after, or someone to annoy that's not me?"

Chou chuckled. "Nope! I've chased after every tail worth chasin' after and I only annoy you buddy boy."

Sano growled.

"To tell you the truth, I'm here on a mission." Chou continued, placing his head on his right hand, and Sano looked at him through fogged over eyes. "The police want to raid this place, and I'm doing recon for the boss."

"The boss? You mean Saitou?"

Saitou's name came out sounding like something disgusting on the bottom of a shoe, and Chou raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he sent me instead of coming himself."

Sano scoffed. "Typical."

"Man! What's with you?"

Sano didn't answer and both men lapsed into silence. It seemed an eternity when Sano's patience broke.

"I'm not trash. I'm not something someone can use and throw away. I deserve respect, just like anybody else. Just because I may not be as strong doesn't mean I'm worthless."

Chou listened to him and realization dawned on the blonde's face when he easily connected the dots. After all, Saitou was one of the only people that could get Sano riled up and then destroy his self-esteem like it was nothing but a loose clump of dirt. Chou most likely knew that the keshin-gumi would eventually figure out the older man was alive - how could they not, when the officer was stationed in Tokyo - but Chou was probably surprised that it was Sano that found out first. The blonde would usually have put money on Himura. However, even Sano knew that Saitou hated the ronin enough to fake his own death. It shouldn't be that surprising for Chou that Kenshin wasn't the first to realize.

But it still hurt Sano a little when it was.

As Sanosuke ordered another bottle of sake, he and Chou sensed a certain presence across the room by the door. Chou turned around and, sure enough, in the back corner of the room lurking in the shadows was Saitou, watching them with a cool glare. Chou stood up and looked back at his friend.

"See ya' later, rooster head." He gave a cheerful wave.

"Yeah, yeah." Sano waved a hand dismissively, doing his damnedest to ignore the tall glowering figure in the distance.

Chou rolled his open eye before he wadded across the room. Sano watched from the corner of his vision as the blonde slunk up to Saitou, and frowned slightly as the bastard cop continued to watch him instead of looking at Chou. The temptation was too great for the youth, and he strained his peripheral sight to lip-read their conversation.

"Man, you sure do a number on someone's self-esteem."

Chou's statement was met with a hardened glare.

"Jeeze! Can't take a joke." Chou looked over at Sano. "Do you want me to drag him out of here? Or are you going to arrest him like all the others?" He turned back to Saitou.

Saitou glanced over at Sano's table and glowered. "Leave, Chou. Tell the others to move-in in a half-hour. I'll take care of the ahou."

"Um, are you sure? I'm not sure Imuran would appreciate hearing that his rooster-headed friend was murdered."

Saitou's look was enough to send Chou scurrying out of the gambling hall as fast as he could travel, and Sano felt a flash of amusement very much against his will.

Saitou turned his attention back to the ahou, sighed, and walked over to the table to stand in front of Sano, staring down at him with irritation. Sano futilely hoped that the past quarter-hour had only been an extremely vivid hallucination and that it was just the sake making him see things, but that hope was dashed when Saitou spoke up.

"Ahou. You'll pass out at this rate."

Sano downed another glass of the burning liquid and mumbled while looking down at the empty cup. "Hope so."

Saitou rolled his eyes. "You can kill yourself that way."

"It's not like anyone would care."

Saitou narrowed his eyes and looked over at the table to his left, scowling at a leering low-level thug. The man paled, and Saitou turned his attention back to Sano.

"Ahou."

"Yeah, that's right. Call me an idiot. That's all I'm good for apparently."

Saitou raised his eyebrow. "I mean, Megumi didn't even notice I had been gone for a whole friggin' month and a half, Kenshin didn't say anything to me, and all the girly had to say was no mooching off her."

Saitou's gaze didn't falter, but Sano thought he caught the slight shift of curiosity behind the golden stare. He waved the sake cup in a forward half-circle, towards Saitou.

"And you." He stopped and didn't continue.

Sano poured another glass of sake and felt a smirk when Saitou glared at him.

"Ahou."

"Is all that you can say? Ahou this and ahou that."

Sano looked to his right, hoping Saitou would take that as a hint to leave him alone. No such luck. Saitou continued to stand there. After minutes of silence the older man grew impatient.

"Boy, you're being childish."

He watched Sano for some sign of aggravation, but Sano refused to fall into the blatant trap.

"You're sulking simply because of something I said."

Sano decided he'd had enough. He slammed the empty cup down on the table and stood up. Waves of dizziness washed over him, making him waver. He managed to collect what precious little balance he had left and wobbled past Saitou toward the door. Half way through the crowded tables, he felt a hand latch onto his wrist and he was pulled down to the ground.

He found himself on the lap of a gambler, and, even through the haze of the alcohol, Sanosuke knew that the lap belonged to a very dangerous pimp. The man's whores usually wound up dead in a gutter somewhere in the poorest districts of Tokyo. The police could never find enough proof that it was the pimp that killed his own prostitutes, and Sanosuke knew it had to rankle Saitou that he wasn't allowed to arrest him. The guy had scraggly brown hair and rat eyes and was currently smiling at Sano with yellowed teeth.

"Hey," he said, and Sano smelled bad breath and foul cigarette.

The alcohol he had imbibed in the past few hours made him feel heavy, and so all he could do was watch as the pimp's disgusting mouth descended towards his. Before Sano was assaulted, however, he was violently wrenched from the man's grasp, and he was only allowed a second to gain his balance before being shoved towards the door.

Saitou pushed him away from the crowd and glared at the man, kicking the table the pimp was at spitefully. No one dared to do anything other than grumble as the police officer shoved the brunette out the door. Once outside, Sano turned around to thank his rescuer but his sanity kicked in, and he realized that this was Saitou Hajime in question. His smile turned into a glare and he whirled back around, stumbling away from the taller male.

He was upset that his plan had not gone the way it should have. Sano should have drunk himself stupid, alone, until he wasn't able to remember anything and then, when he stumbled his way back to his roach infested apartment, should have crashed into deep sleep till morning. The brunette had been planning the evening all day, and broom-head and the bastard, Saitou, had to go and ruin it. He stumbled a little and righted himself, grasping the wall of a building as he continued on. Saitou watched the show of stupidity and, apparently, decided that he'd had enough. He casually walked up to Sano and slipped an arm over his shoulder for support.

"Hey man! Leave me alone!" Sano growled, pushing at the firm arm.

"You're going to pass out on the street ahou."

"So? I don't give a crap, and I'm sure you don't either."

"Hn."

"Man, just leave me alone."

"No."

"Stop it!" Sano managed to break away from Saitou. He lost his balance and careened backwards into the wall of a nearby apartment. There was a loud thump as he landed against it, and Sano glared at Saitou, an alcohol induced blush staining his face, even in the dark. "Why do you fucking care? Why are you fucking playing with my fucking mind?"

Saitou looked at him silently and shook his head. "You know, you're wasting your life like this. You could accomplish so much if you only try. Instead you drink yourself into oblivion."

"Yeah, well, it works for me," he said flippantly.

Saitou moved with such speed that Sano could not avoid the blow that landed on his cheek.

"You're selfish! You don't care about the others, and you certainly don't care about yourself!"

"The others? Of course I care about them man."

"You don't act like it when you get drunk and disappear for months on end."

"Hey! What I do is none of your goddamn business!"

"I honestly don't know why, but they consider you a part of their family. Imuran cares about you."

"Yeah well, that's debatable."

With that Sano stood straight and started walking again. Almost immediately, he heard Saitou starting after him with long determined strides. Frustration was fraying the last of Sanosuke's patience, and he bit his tongue to hold back the viciousness that wanted free.

"You know, if you hadn't been taken in by Sagara you wouldn't have turned out like this." Saitou accused heatedly, causing Sano to jerk to an unsteady halt.

Sano's hands balled up into fists and he ground his teeth, feeling another strand of control snap. "Sagara did what was best for me and Katsu. He saved me from death."

"And after that? Because of his actions and subsequent death, he forced you to grow up fighting and poor. You had no one, ahou. You were a child and alone. You grew up hating government, hating the authority that could make you into something worth-while."

"No." Sano hissed, cold fury driving his words, making every one of them sting sharply. "I don't hate government, just the Meji and their fucking hypocrisy. It reminds me of you, actually. And you're right. When Captain Sagara died I was all alone for a while, but even though I had nothing and I was orphaned and thrown out onto the streets like fucking garbage, I'm grateful for him. He may not have been much, but if it weren't for him, I'd have never met Adam, and Adam is ten times the man you are." Sano's balled fists shook with the fury pulsing through him, and it took all he had to walk away from the man that brought almost every single childhood wound back to the surface.

An hour later, Saitou found himself walking through one of the numerous poor districts of Tokyo, his mind still turning over Sagara's speech. He turned the corner and had just passed an ally when a slumped figure registered in his line of vision. He stopped and went back, and, sure enough, there was the ahou, slumped against the wall. It made Saitou roll his eyes in exasperation.

He could leave the idiot out here in the night and run the risk of him getting killed by thieves or he could drag the idiot back to wherever it was the boy lived. After many moments of wavering, he decided to escort him back to the hellhole the kid called home. As he approached the slumped figure, the boy stirred and looked up at Saitou.

"Man, I just can't get rid of you, can I?" he sighed, defeat lacing his tone.

"It seems not. Get up, Ahou. You're polluting the streets."

"Ha, in case you haven't noticed, they're already polluted."

"Up."

"Why are you here?"

"Though it's none of your business, I'm walking home."

Sagara raised an eyebrow incredulously, looking around at the run-down buildings. "You live around here?"

"No. I live in the district up the street."

"Oh. That's a nice district up there." The rooster looked at Saitou appraisingly. "You must be makin' a lot of money to live there."

"And why would that be?"

"Those places have to go for hundreds of thousands of Yen."

It was Saitou's turn to raise an eyebrow. "And how would you know that?"

Sagara looked sheepishly away and shrugged. "I dunno. I kind of have experience with pricy things."

Saitou scoffed. "I doubt it."

The younger male shrugged again. "Believe what you want."

Comfortable silence passed over them, and Sagara used the quiet time to gaze up at the twinkling stars above. Saitou observed the other for a minute before asking a question he was wondering about.

"Where were you this past month?"

Sano broke his gaze from the stars and looked Saitou in the eyes. The swordsman felt the urge to fidget under the surprisingly intense gaze, but pushed it down and kept eye contact. After a long, uncomfortable moment, Sagara seemed to find what he was looking for.

"I was visiting my family."

Sagara, cunningly, used the shock factor his words created and staggered up and walked off down the alley. Before Saitou shook himself free of the stupor he was in, Sagara was gone. Saitou stood replaying the ahou's words. Visiting my family, indeed. Saitou looked up at the stars and realized the boy has more secrets than anyone knew.

The next day, Saitou had free time, and, with nothing better to do, his thoughts traveled back to the ahou and the strange conversation they'd had the night previous. The kid had said he was visiting his family for the month and a half he was gone but that didn't make sense. Saitou had read the kid's file. He had no family.

He was orphaned at 11 and taken in by Sagara Sozo shortly before the slaughter of the Sekiho Army's first unit, and at the age of 12, orphaned again. Sagara and his men were butchered because of the government's need for a scapegoat. The kid and his friend, the bomb expert, were left on their own to fend for themselves. It didn't make any sense. How could he have family?

Saitou turned in his chair to gaze out the window onto the busy street before him. Women and children were passing by and occasionally a man with a little child on his shoulders. Saitou ground out the cigarette he was smoking and turned his attention to the ahou's file on his desk. He drummed his fingers on top of it and contemplated the kid's behavior last night.

The boy claimed to know about expensive houses. He had been right last night. The houses in that neighborhood could be, and often were, sold for hundreds of thousands of Yen. And then there was a conversation they had before they fought Shishio. The boy was eavesdropping on Saitou and Imuran as they spoke about Enji. Saitou told Imuran that the boy was being taken care of and Imuran had asked where he was. Saitou had told him in English that the boy was in a boarding school, assuming the red-haired idiot could understand him. Imuran looked confused and asked to translate. Saitou sighed but before he could respond, the kid had relayed what he'd said. Saitou had looked at the boy in curiosity and a look of panic crossed the boy's face. When Imuran had asked how he had known that, the ahou had mumbled about 'just guessing.'

Saitou's eyes narrowed. He was so stupid sometimes. The kid clearly understood and maybe even spoke English. The swordsman stilled his tapping fingers, the memory of Saraga's heated speech coming back to him. The ahou had mentioned someone named Adam. Something about him being ten times the man Saitou was.

Saitou snorted but recognized the respect and admiration in the younger man's voice. The way he spoke about the man, it gave Saitou the opinion that this man and the kid weren't related, but it was clear he was one of the people the ahou was visiting. So, what did that mean?

A knock on his office door startled him out of his contemplations, and he scowled.

"Come in." Saitou said, jotting the name 'Adam' onto a blank page in the file. He flipped the folder closed as Chou entered the room with a grim expression and dropped it into the middle drawer in his desk.

"Sorry boss. But it looks like you've another case; it's a doozy." Chou said as he handed the thick file to Saitou.

Saitou opened it and narrowed his eyes, rape. He hated rapists. He nodded and Chou continued his briefing.

"It's not the first time, Boss. So far there are six, all young men." Saitou looked down at the file. "Here's a picture of the last victim." Chou said handing over a black and white photo, watching Saitou's reaction closely.

Saitou took the photo, and he had to fight the widening of his eyes. The victim bared a striking resemblance to Sagara, the facial features sharper or rounder in certain places. Saitou looked at Chou and Chou answered Saitou silent question with a serious look in his eye.

"He had brown hair and eyes." He paused. "Look a lot like someone we know?"

Saitou nodded absentmindedly. "But this isn't the ahou. What about the other five, Chou?"

Chou looked away and Saitou had his answer. The other victims also looked like the ahou. Brown hair and eyes, tall and lean, well built. Saitou looked down at the picture again. The resemblance was uncanny. Saitou studied the picture. He wondered about the rapist. Was he targeting people with these characteristics randomly or did he have a certain person in mind? An image of a grinning ahou swam into Saitou's mind, and he shook it away. He turned his attention to Chou and tapped the file.

"Any witnesses?"

"Nope. The attacks happened late at night, in abandoned area in the poor districts, and they were strangled so no one heard any screaming. If there was any." The blond officer continued at his superior's raised eyebrow. "The victims were bound and gagged so they couldn't scream loudly. The sick fuck knows what he's doing, boss."

"That may be, but he'll mess up sooner or later and then we'll kill him." Saitou smirked evilly. "Aku Soku Zan."

"Damn straight." Chou nodded firmly. "I mean, he deserves it, the sick fuck."

"Hn."

"So, what's the plan of attack?"

"Send out the word for people to avoid going out at night. We don't want anyone else attacked."

"Right!"

"And then go around recruiting officers that match this description." Saitou held up the photograph. "We're going to put bait out for this son-of-a-bitch."

"Right. Um, how are we going to get them to volunteer? I mean they would be risking their lives. I mean more than usual."

Saitou thought for a moment. "Offer them double pay. And to any officer who helps capture this psycho," Saitou thought carefully. "Triple."

Chou whistled at that. "Too bad I'm blonde."

Chou noticed Saitou looking down at the picture, and the older man glared at the other until he gave a strained grin and left the office. Saitou had been surprised when he had seen the victim. That, he knew Chou noticed. He had hidden the shock well, but for an instant Chou had seen the emotion so foreign to the third Shinsengumi captain. However, Saitou didn't have the luxury of killing the man. While Chou was an annoying pest, he was also surprisingly good at his job. The detective would just have to find a creative way of torturing his subordinate into silence. He lifted the photo and glanced over the black and white details hidden within the image, thinking of the rooster head as he did so. He would need to keep an eye on Imuran and his little band of misfits. There was no way of telling what trouble they would draw. The ahou got enough attention as it was, he didn't need any more.

One of Saitou's self-appointed jobs was to look after the block head ahou. He smirked, goaded, and pummeled the kid until he realized that Saitou was right, and by doing that, kept the ahou out of harm's way. The boy got into enough trouble on his own, even when he wasn't looking for it. Saitou had protected the kid more times than he could count, even Imuran would be surprised at the number. Especially after the Shishio incident. Shady characters came into Tokyo all the time, but the number doubled since they caught word of Sagara's victory. They either wanted a piece of him, his service as a fighter for hire, or his body.

It was common knowledge that anywhere and everywhere the rooster head went, heads turned. He was attractive and the blockhead didn't even know it. He had no idea that he was probably what made some people's fantasies. As Chou had so eloquently put it one dull afternoon, 'Sagara Sanosuke was one of the most fuckable men he'd ever seen.' Of course that didn't make Chou gay. Saitou knew Chou was a woman's man and would stand by what he said to the rooster last night. The blonde chased after every woman worth panting over, but that didn't make him blind. Sano was clueless really. And sometimes, that was the worst thing.

Saitou's mind went back to the picture. The poor kid looked just like the rooster head. They were about the same build. They had the same eyes and hair. He was sure that Sagara was going to be in trouble. The kid wasn't the type to hide. In fact, he was the exact opposite. He was the type to draw attention to himself, even when he didn't mean to, and even when he didn't know it. This sick fuck was bound to spot the kid sooner or later. Saitou was sure of it; just as he was sure Chou knew it as well.

He was going to have to have Chou keep an eye on the rooster head; possibly both.

The breeze was cool and refreshing as it caressed Sano's face. The vendors called out the sales for the day as he walked through the market on his way towards the wharf and some extra cash from crate slinging. Crab, tofu, silk, pearls, hundreds of items up for sale at the various booths and stalls.

"Pearls! Pearls for sale! Only two hundred yen!"

"Really? That seems a bit much." A polite voice made its way into Sano's ear.

He stopped and turned to see young woman in a lavender kimono standing at the pearl seller's stall. A man with brown hair stood beside her, looking at the other merchandise. The seller held up the cream colored jewels and the young lady gasped.

"They're lovely."

"200 yen."

Sano walked closer. He caught a closer look at the necklace and narrowed his eyes.

"Well, I guess," the woman said reluctantly, her long fingers digging into a man's coin sack, most likely her husbands.

"Don't waste your money." Sano spoke up, glaring at the vendor.

"What? Get lost kid!" The man spit out harshly, turning to smile tightly at the woman.

Sano turned to the woman. "They're fake. I may not look like much, but I know fake jewels when I see them."

The woman looked from Sano to the man then back to Sano. She gave him a small smile and turned back to the vendor and glared. She turned around and walked off, patting Sano on his arm as she passed, and Sano gave the vendor a "that's what you get" look and continued his stroll towards some extra cash.

Sano never felt the sharp gaze on him as he made his way down the street.

Saitou made his rounds at the station before leaving for the day. He made his way down the side streets into a residential area and stopped in front of his goal. He lifted a hand towards the door's handle, but the wooden barrier was opened from the other side before his hand touched the wood. Sagara Sanosuke stood there, obviously leaving for his evening rounds at the bars. Brown eyes widened at the obstacle in the doorway, and Sagara yelped as he lost his balance in surprise and fell backwards onto the ground. Ken shin, hearing the commotion from the side yard, came around the corner and glared unpleasantly as he saw just who it was that stood at the door.

"Saitou." Thinly veiled contempt laced the red-head's voice.

"Himura." Saitou said evenly, controlling his dislike of the shorter swordsman.

He looked on as Ken shin crossed the yard to stand beside a rising Sano, who just happened to pick up on the veiled hostility. He was glancing between them nervously, obviously deciding which way to leap if the swords came out. Saitou found it highly amusing. Ken shin's glare deepened, and the shorter man subtly shifted to stand partially in front of the ahou.

"What are you doing here? Your visit is a surprise, that it is."

Saitou felt the familiar urge to twitch at Chimera's ending. He absolutely loathed how the other would finish his sentences like that.

"I came to warn you, a rapist has emerged. So avoid going out at night until the police catch whoever is responsible."

Ken shin's eyes widened slightly in genuine surprise at Saitou's willingness to warn them. "Yes, of course. Thank you, Saitou. I'll warn Kaoru-dono, that I will."

"That wasn't who I was referring to. All the victims so far have been male."

Both the other men looked suitably horrified, and, with that, the police officer turned to walk off. However, he stopped after a few steps or so and glanced over his shoulder to look at the still open doorway. Sano stuck his head out the door shortly afterwards, most likely making sure Saitou had left, and gasped when he saw the swordsman still standing there. The brown mop of hair pulled back and the door slammed closed, and Saitou nodded once before resuming leaving.

There was paperwork he needed to finish at home and a murderer on the loose.