Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.
A female silhouette whizzed past decaying Tokyo buildings. Bloody feet pattered against the pavement while rain descended from the darkness and quick ragged breaths cut across the quiet stillness of the night. Her lungs burned, legs cramped, heart spasmed and tears seared bruised cheeks before mixing with raindrops as relentless as the pain that afflicted her body. Adrenaline and fear forced Tae to keep running. Adrenaline, fear, and Kaoru.
Kaoru! Tae had to tell her what she knew. She had to tell her the horrors she experienced. She had to Kaoru about ---a sudden noise from behind turned Tae's blood to ice and caused her to increase her speed even more. They were near. She couldn't see them but she sensed it. She knew it. They would kill her and worse they would kill Kaoru, especially once they discovered she was a special agent. The whole case would be ruined. Tae couldn't risk that. She refused to let all her suffering be for nothing.
Tae looked straight ahead. Two blocks till Kaoru's. Only two blocks. She had been so close. A car screeched. Tae turned left. It was up to the team now. It was up to Kaoru.
Kaoru Kamiya arrived at the crime scene in a bad mood. Everyone could tell from the moment she got out of her car and her blazing sapphire eyes flashed in anger. All the cops and medical examiners who knew better found something far away that needed investigating. Saito stayed put and took one last drag of his cigarette before moving to intercept Kamiya.
"Wait a second, Tanuki." Saito moved in front of Kaoru blocking her completely from the crime scene.
Kaoru's blue eyes flashed dangerously. "... Do you not understand the meaning of day off. As in that thing I was supposed to be having today. I swear Saito, this better be one hell of a crime scene and all the other agents better have contracted a disease that turns your brain into mush and are therefore unable to figure this out on their own- what's wrong?" asked Kaoru finally noticing the look in Saito's eyes.
Saito looked away before reaching for another cigarette. "Kamiya…listen I just want you to know the only reason I called you today was because I know that you would have killed me if you found out from someone else…I'm..sorry."
Kaoru stared at Saito in disbelief. She had never heard the man apologize for anything, not even accidently running over his own dog.
"Saito..what's wrong?" The anger in her eyes had dissipated into concern.
Saito looked at the tanuki with pained eyes. He never usually got affected by the all the dead bodies they came across. But this was different. This was one of their own. Saito put the cigarette to his lips and stepped aside, taking a long drag.
Kaoru watched his movements closely before pushing past a photographer to get a better look at what happened.
"no..no..no…NO, NO, NO , NO!" Tears flowed from Kaoru's eyes as her broken cries filled the air. She collapsed onto the floor, her sobs so strong they racked through her whole body. "No..Tae, please no. Tae..I'm so sorry. Tae I'm so sorry. No!"
Everyone stopped working and gazed at the normally strong Kamiya feeling their hearts break along with hers. Saito knew later she would regret letting everyone see her weak so he moved towards her and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to guide her towards the car.
"Kamiya, stop. Get control over yourself."
Kaoru whipped around and beat against Saito's chest with her hands. "Get control over myself! How can you say that! Tae is dead. She worked for you. She was there because of you. She's dead because you couldn't protect her! I couldn't protect her. I promised her that everything would be all right. I promised her..and now she's dead…because of me. She's dead because of me."
Kaoru fell limp against Saito's body and sobbed into his chest. Her tears soaked his shirt and she clung to him. Saito sighed and stared at Tae's bruised, mutilated body. He wrapped his arms around the girl. He wasn't used to seeing her so…fragile.
"Kamiya, let's get you home…Kamiya?"
Kaoru fell to the floor and vomited on Saito's shoes.
Sadness, confusion, and fear hung in the air. The agents sitting around the coffee table sat in an uncomfortable, pregnant silence. Some looked into their coffee cup, not drinking. Others found something on the wall to stare at. Saito glanced at the empty chair to his left, wondering if the Kamiya girl was crying herself to sleep or just sitting somewhere paralyzed with thoughts of yesterday morning. He shook his head trying to clear his mind. They had a job to do.
"Alright, listen up. I know that we all missed and cared about Tae. She was a compassionate and brave girl who risked her life going undercover in order to find The Akuma. We need to forget the image of Tae we saw yesterday and- what.."
Everyone watched in awe as Kamiya slipped into her chair beside Saito. She looked awful. Her hair was a mess, her clothes wrinkled, and her face pale. But her sapphire eyes were burning with determination, anger and something else.
A concerned friend and fellow agent named Ryoku put his hand on Kaoru's shoulder. "Kamiya-san, what are you doing here? We can handle this-"
"I'm fine. Go ahead Chief."
Saito hesitated for only a second and then nodded his head.
"Tanuki the Chief part means you don't tell me what to do. As I was saying, we need to remember the sacrifice that Tae made. Unfortunately, we will never be able to know the information she obtained while undercover. I want half of you working on finding Tae's killers. We will hold every person involved accountable. No one degrades one of my agents or this agency and gets away with it."
Everyone nodded their heads, determined to bring revenge upon Tae's assailants. Kaoru merely gazed intently at Saito.
"As for the other half, we need to find a way to get back in. One hundred girls have been snatched in the last three months. We've caught a couple of puppets but I want the damn puppet master. Any suggestions?"
"I'll do it."
Ryoku turned and started to protest but Kamiya continued.
"I'll take Tae's place. I'll get myself captured and then-"
"Stop." Kaoru eyes flashed at Saito. "Kamiya, I just lost one agent that way, I'm not going to let it happen again. Even if you were to get yourself captured and then sold into slavery, and even if we matched you with the right person that does not ensure that you will ever be able to meet The Akuma . Besides it's a well known fact that you are a virgin and I doubt you'd be able to do some of the things the job would require." Saito smirked to himself as he saw a blush stain her cheeks and some of the other agents trying not to smile. "Any other suggestions, perhaps some that will actually work?"
For awhile, there was silence.
"We could try the 5 Rings…"
All eyes turned towards the blonde agent who had spoken.
"It's a rumor in the underworld, but I have a pretty decent source that says it's real. It supposed to be put on by The Akuma. Basically it's an epic sword fighting competition to the death. It starts in 2 weeks. There will be five competitions going on simultaneously- one on each of the main islands and one in Okinawa. Each competition starts with 25 fighters. During the 1st Ring five fighters are killed off, then 15 go onto the 2nd Ring where 5 more die, then 10 go onto the 3rd Ring where again five more are killed off and then 5 fighters make it to the 4th Rring. In the 4th Ring the top 5 fighters on all the islands fight till the death until there is only 1 winner for each Island. Here's where it gets helpful for us. The top 5 fighters in the whole country are then sent to a secret location where they will fight before The Akuma himself. At the end of it all, the last person standing becomes The Akuma's next assassin. But everyone who makes the top 5 gets to meet The Akuma. So if we can get someone who's skilled enough to go that far-and it won't be easy-then we would finally be able to know the identity of The Akuma and could then take him down."
Everyone was quiet as they took in all this new information. Saito's eyes bore into the blond agent's.
"What's the catch?"
"Well, if my source is right, then the whole thing is a front for some more slave trading. In order to compete, each fighter must pay a 500,000 dollar competition fee AND bring a beautiful girl to sacrifice. When the fighters arrive at the 1st Ring the girls are assessed. They have to meet certain beauty standards and a certain minimum value. The more beautiful, the younger and the more…unused a girl is the more likely it is that she and her fighter will qualify. The girls are with their fighters throughout the entire competition and serve as companions and doctors when their fighter gets hurt. But, if her fighter was to be killed in the fight then she would be taken and sold, most likely to disgusting nobodies but if she were special enough, she might be sold to The Akuma himself. So if you fight, you risk not only your life but the life of your woman companion."
Kaoru stared at the table top and listened to all the details of this disturbing competition.
"Look, I know it's a long shot but honestly right now it's all we got. The money is not a problem. Unfortunately most of us kill with guns. We would need to find a skilled swordsman who had the potential to if not win the entire thing, at least make it to the 5th Ring. We would also need a woman to go undercover with him who could leak us information. It's extremely dangerous. For the swordsman it would be a fight for his life. To lose the competition is to die. And for the woman who goes undercover if she is sold…we might never be able to find her again. But if we succeed, we bring this monster down and all the drug, killing, and sex slave operations he has going on. If we succeed, we create a better Japan."
Kaoru stood up. She clenched her fists to her sides and hid her eyes behind her bangs.
"I, Kamiya Koaru, will sacrifice myself, for this agency, for Japan, and for…Tae. If you find me a capable swordsman I will be his..companion. This may be our only chance."
Protests rang out and Ryoku looked down hopeless knowing there was no changing her mind. Saito hearing the determination in her voice, silently consented, even though he was putting his best agent on the line.
"Fine. Kamiya will be the companion. As for the swordsman….I only know of one person in all of Honshu with the skills needed to reach the 5th Ring."
Kaoru's head shot up and she stared at Saito with wide eyes.
"Saito. No."
"It's our only hope. We must awaken—"
Kaoru shook her head rigorously. "NO."
"—the Battousai."
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