Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ A Certain Clarity ❯ 22 ( Chapter 22 )

Title: A Certain Clarity (22/30)

Author: Franzi Dickson

E-mail: fdickson@ix.netcom.com

Archive: The SxSAS Archive, fanfiction.net and others (eventually). If you want it on your site, just ask.

Rating: NC-17 for wet dreams, sex, drugs, violence and other badness.

Warnings: m/m sex, lemon, assorted bad things in this part and future ones

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me. I'm just doing bad things with them. Don't sue me.

Chou chuckled to himself as he approached the foxy doctor's clinic; the look on the boss's face had been just too priceless!

"What's this?"

"Paperwork."

"So I see..."

"Well, if you're going to be spending the day hiding in my apartment while I investigate for you, you can at least do the work *I'm* supposed to be doing."

And he couldn't do anything, no matter how much he wanted to strangle his subordinate, because he was the stubborn idiot who wanted to hide out. Still grinning, Chou rapped on the gate. He waited around for a while, but no one answered. Was she out? He peered up and down the street and spotted an elderly neighbor sweeping her yard. Perfect.

"Excuse me, madam, do you know where the lady doctor has gone?"

She sniffed in a longsuffering manner. "That one! Always out and about, when a proper lady should be staying indoors. Shameful, that's what it is!"

Uh oh.

"Why I tell you, just the other night, she had a *man* visiting in the *middle of the night*. Now, I ask you!"

Chou tried to look sympathetic. Hopefully, she would be too wrapped up in her complaint to pay much attention to him.

"And drunk too!" She leaned towards him, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I happen to know for a fact that he had to be helped to the carriage!"

"And do you have any idea where she is now?"

"Well, I *heard* she was assisting in a birth, but you never know. Probably illegitimate too!"

Such a nice young man, though rather quiet. She hoped he wasn't suffering from anything; his voice had sounded awfully strained. Well, no doubt that hussy would find something for him. *Her* kind always treated the handsome ones well. Still, she was bound to come to a bad end. Perhaps it would be through drugs, or maybe prostitution...

With this delightful train of thought, Mrs. Nakamura went back to sweeping her yard.

Chou looked around the street. Hopefully the crazy old lady had gotten the directions right. He really didn't want to talk to her again. He snickered. "Drunk" indeed! This should be the house...

"Doctor Takani, perfect timing. I trust the birth went well."

"Officer Chou?" Her smile wavered. "Yes, it went well..."

"Is something the matter?"

"I suppose you don't know yet. Walk with me." She turned towards the clinic.

Oh, right, he didn't. Oops. "Know what? Have you seen the boss? I've been looking for him all morning. He didn't show up at the station yesterday."

"Then you haven't talked to Sano."

"Should I have?" The boss hadn't said anything about talking to the rooster-head. Of course, he did say that the rooster-head had followed him to the clinic...

Her face was rapidly crumpling. "You haven't seen him either? I asked Ken-san, but he didn't know anything. He just took off. I tried to stop him. I was afraid..."

"What? What happened?" He must really have been pissed off if he busted up the herb shop like that. Well, that made sense; he hadn't reacted too well the other time the boss had almost bought it.

"I'm afraid... Officer Saitou won't be coming in to work."

So true! He'll be sitting in my apartment finishing all that paperwork. Whoops, have to look worried. "What do you mean?"

"He's dead. I'm sorry. I did what I could, but..."

Her voice was so flat. He wished he could say something.

"I see... I was worried. He never misses work. How did it happen?" He knew he probably didn't sound upset enough. Oh well...

"It was some sort of poison, similar or the same as the one used in your case." She seemed to draw strength from the clinical description. "He hadn't eaten much, so I can't be sure about some of the symptoms, but there were similarities. The lack of convulsions is troubling though. I must have been mistaken about my identification of the poison. Still, he said he had a headache and some of the other symptoms match." She frowned." "He kept trying to touch his lips... The poison I mentioned before does tend to leave a burning sensation in the mouth, but he didn't say..."

"Yes, I think he mentioned that you had a possible ID. Even if it's not the right thing, any lead is a help. Can you tell me anything else about it?"

She sighed. "It's usually in the form of a green powder, but if it's mixed with something, you'll have a very hard time identifying it. I'm afraid that's all I can give you." She looked at him quizzically.

Damn... Oh, wait, she was giving him that look... Right, he didn't know anything at all. "So what happened to him, and why didn't you come find me earlier? Oh, and what does the rooster-head have to do with this?"

"He brought Saitou to the clinic."

He could hear the tightness in her voice.

"He couldn't even stand by himself."

Oh, so he 'followed' you, did he.

"It was really too late already... I really hoped, for Sano's sake... but..."

Huh?

"He looked so lost when it happened. The way he was holding him... I had to pull him off the body; he just wouldn't believe that he was really gone." She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. "I could see how much it hurt him to be crying in front of me. He kept begging him not to die."

Jeez, boss!

"I never would have thought he'd be back so quickly. It was just here, at the gate, that we spoke. I told him... I told him I'd be happy to inspect a poisoning victim if you found another one... Poor Sano!"

She kept saying that... Was she implying what Chou thought she was implying? Weird... Well, actually, he could sort of see it, but the boss had never said anything about it. Of course, he never said much of anything anyway... He *had* brought the rooster-head along to the station for no apparent reason. No way! The Wolf of Mibu?

"You really haven't seen him?"

"What? The rooster-head, you mean? No."

She sighed. "Saitou asked him to find you... To avenge him, I suppose. I didn't really hear much of it."

Oh, thanks; trying to leave me with all the work, as usual.

"I suppose he must have forgotten... I had to go... I asked him to wait, but he went out and got drunk instead..." She dabbed at her eyes again. "I suppose the strain was too much."

So the fool went and busted up the herb shop. Man!

"I think he might have been able to handle it... if... I had to go! I had patients waiting who needed me."

He nodded. She seemed awfully distraught...

"They stole the body!"

Uh oh...

"I suppose it must have been whoever he was after. Maybe I could have found some evidence if I'd been able to examine him... Sano... He just lost it when he came back. I know he'll blame himself. Not even having a grave to visit..."

Oops. "So you have no idea where the rooster-head is now?"

"No... I should have found you before, I know, but I... I went to find Ken-san and then it was late and today I *had* to help with the birth... I asked Ken-san to keep an eye out for him, but... I don't' know what he'll do." She was clinging to his sleeve.

"Umm... Ok, I'll see if I can find him." He patted her hand and detached it. "I'd better go... report this to the station."

He left her there at the gate. Damn it, boss! Shouldn't they have been looking for the rooster-head before this? Can't leave him loose busting up the town. Sheesh. If it were Chou, that's the first thing he'd have done when he woke up... unless Saitou didn't... Well, the foxy doctor *had* been talking about the rooster-head and not the boss, but still... Man that's cold!

He fidgeted while he waited at yet another gate. He'd tried to ask the boss about the rooster-head, but he'd just brushed it off. Chou thought he was worried though. They were here after all.

The gate finally creaked open. "Hello? Officer Chou?" The girl's eyes fell. "Please come in."

He followed her inside. Served the boss right, having to wait in the cold! They entered the dojo. They were still awake, despite the hour. The room was poorly lit. The Kamiya girl must not have enough money for decent lamps. They looked up at him.

"Please sit down, de gozaru."

He flopped bonelessly onto the tatami. "The foxy doctor told me she came to see you guys."

"She told us... Oh, I'm so sorry! Poor Saitou!"

She looked on the verge of tears.

"If there's anything I can do, de gozaru..."

"I thought the old fart was immortal."

He looked around. Chou hadn't even thought the Kenshin-gumi types liked the boss, but... Sometimes he really hated his job. "Err... Thanks. I actually came to ask about the rooster-head... Sagara, that is. I know the doctor was looking for him earlier..." Excuse... plausible excuse... "I sort of promised I'd help her. Have you seen him since then?"

The girl shook her head. "Kenshin spent the whole day looking for him, but... His house isn't there anymore... I would have thought he would have come here."

He glanced at the battousai in time to see the ghost of an expression passing over his face. What was that? His eyes had narrowed faintly...

"I thought perhaps he had visited another friend, but none of them had seen him."

Damn.

"We'll certainly let you know if we hear anything. May I see you out, Officer Chou?"

"Yeah, sure..." Curious, he followed the battousai to the gate. They stopped just outside.

"I am worried about Sano."

"Um... yeah..."

"This isn't good for him."

The redhead seemed to be speaking very... precisely. Was he angry?

"I hope that the investigation is concluded soon so that this will no longer be necessary." He was scanning the darkness around them. "It would be a pity if something happened to Sano because his judgement was impaired."

"Hey, I wouldn't worry too much; the rooster-head's done lots of stupid things before and been fine..." He saw the battousai's expression; he swallowed.

"We were together coming back from Kyoto. We beat Shishio's forces. I do not know where he is now and we do not know who we face." His eyes narrowed. "I would be very upset to think that this was not for a worthy cause."

"Well, I'm not sure I..."

"I didn't know either until I woke up." The ghostly whisper floated from the shadows, too quiet for anyone farther away to have heard.

The battousai did not look in that direction, but his face relaxed into its usual affable lines. "Well I wish you the best in finding him, de gozaru yo. I wasn't able to find all of his old friends; Tsukioka Katsuhiro, for example, seems to have disappeared. Do please tell us when you know something." He stepped back through the gate.

"Boss?" He waited. They continued to walk in silence.

"He'd obviously guessed. He wouldn't have followed you out otherwise."

"Yeah, but..." He wasn't really sure what the question was. Maybe he just wanted to know why Saitou felt the need to justify himself. Feeling guilty, boss?

"We'll look for the friend in the morning. He's a radical; there are probably files on him. He shouldn't be that hard to find."