kenkao oneshot; On the Wrong Track, pt1
When Kamiya Kaoru, a freelancing Tracker mage in desperate need of money for an increasingly urgent rent, had been paid for a surveillance job on a cheating fiancé, this was not what she had expected. Even if the amount of cash had been suspiciously high, the fact that the fiancé was a mage of the Law Enforcement Guild (also known as L.E.G, which amusingly results in many bad puns (such as ‘are you pulling my leg?’ or ‘break a leg’)) had nullified her concerns. Spying and keeping track on the law was always slightly more complicated; magic used in that sense had many layers of different meanings and is, quite frankly, open for interpretation.
Still, the job description had mentioned nothing of the fiancé’s former post as a rather ruthless Assassination mage, quite a few levels above her own skill, nor had it mentioned exactly who the mage was. Nothing but a name, place and brief summary of his daily habits had been in the folder her current employer - the brother of the unfortunate (should the accusations prove valid) woman in the relationship - had handed her after barging into her small office demanding her services too early in the morning (she hadn’t even had time to drink her tea). Instead, she had been privileged to discover all those little details on her own once she started with her basic research. Finding no existing files of the fiancé’s life prior to his post as an inspector in the Law Enforcement Guild, it had led her on a rather wild chase (involving shady bars and contacts she hadn’t used in over a year) that ended with one chilling realization.
Kamiya Kaoru, 17 year old orphan utilizing her Tracker skill as a freelancing, detective-for-hire, had been commissioned to supervise the private life of a former mage of the Assassination Guild publicly known as the Battousai.
She should’ve known there was something fishy about this case when her client had avoided answering any of her questions concerning the history of this cheating fiancé. That Battousai was even engaged in the first place had given her quite the shock (he was a legend, in her mind, not really a person, and less so an actual man), but that the brother of his woman had gone to a private investigator of meager mage talents expecting it to work was even more absurd (if you didn’t reason that it would be the most unlikely thing to do, because that argument worked almost everywhere - in theory). Hadn’t he heard of the rumors? The man was infamous for his efficiency in the shadows of the City! Of course, only the full Guild member mages knew more of him than his name and just a few “others” - such as herself - had enough contact with the other face of society to hear the whispers of his feats. To the otherwise ignorant population, he didn’t exist, because he was a member of the Assassination Guild. And there couldn’t be a Guild for that nowadays, could there? Surely not after the Revolution was over and done with!
Right.
Sometimes Kaoru envied their simple-minded ways of life. In times like these, for example. Perhaps if she hadn’t known, had chosen not to see, then she might not be nervously biting her lip or glancing around expecting Battousai to jump out at any given moment just because she had been commissioned to undertake a spying mission on him mere hours ago.
But, then again, Kamiya Kaoru had never backed down from a challenge. Be it to apply membership at a Guild (the Freelance Trackers’ Guild) under a false identity after her father’s murder had left her alone, underage and almost completely uneducated in her mage powers (and using another alternative identity for education bought on the streets) or make her living cleaning as much of the criminality off the streets as she could, she always came out of it alive.
Granted, she had gotten on the bad side of several different Guilds occasionally, due to her occupation, but it had been nothing more than solving a case already in the Law Enforcement Guild’s care before they could, exposing a rather juicy scandal in the Guild of Celibacy (they preferred it worded that way, rather than Celibacy Guild, and always made sure this fact was known whenever someone mentioned them. No one had ever bothered to find out why) or retrieving stolen jewelry from the Kleptomania Guild which happened more frequently (there really was a Guild for everything, she mused - it wasn’t a coincidence the City was called the City of Guilds more often than its actual name).
Though, this time around, she was sure she would be messing with the truly wrong kind simply because he was an ex-Assassin of the Revolution. The mages of the Assassination Guild were people she hated dealing with because they were so insufferable. Always pop up in strange places, absolutely loves to sneak up behind you, are never late, possesses personality quirks not listed in the physiology books of the Guild of Psychologists and tends to make the worst death jokes during the most absurd moments (like when they answered their phone with ‘Hello, this is Death. I am not in right now, but if you leave your name and number, I'll be right with you’). They never showed their face either, but that was part of their job description. She was hoping the former Battousai wasn’t fond of old habits and had quit following the strict contract of the Assassination Guild when it expired.
However, the fact remained that it would be nothing but a simple fiancé-has-an-affair case. It was common; it was daily work and occurred far more often than chasing actual criminals, much to her dismay. She sincerely preferred making a difference rather than playing paparazzi on people suffering from relationship issues. But she had risen to the challenge, accepted the well-needed money that would feed her and keep the landlady off her back, and dove in head-first.
oOo
Subject: Himura Kenshin
Age: 28 years old
Occupation: Mage at the Law Enforcement Guild (L.E.G), ranked Inspector
Former occupation: Mage at the Assassination Guild, then known as the Battousai
Location: 13th Earlstreet, West, the Old City
Kaoru regarded the basic information scribbled in her rather sloppy handwriting for a few moments before attaching a slightly blurred Polaroid on the opposite page in the folder. Righting the paper clip, she straightened the picture and sighed. She’d had it confirmed the man no longer heeded to the restrictions of his old Guild when she’d seen he’d let himself get photographed. Oh, and despite his obvious experience with being sneaky, the man sure was good-looking enough to get away with cheating anyway. Long, fiery red hair of a foreigner pulled together in a low ponytail and delicate features of a particularly fine specimen of the Eastern Kingdom male, and his huge, violet eyes would slow her own thought process should they give her the look they were gracing his pictured fiancé with. Slow them enough to forget the extra hour spent late at work, she was sure.
Shaking her head, she resumed briefing through the little information she had gathered about the former Battousai. Her father many times mentioned the younger mage’s great contribution to the Revolution he himself had been an avid supporter of, but it was only recently she had remembered. It had seemed so irrelevant at the time, and once she had been old enough to understand it wasn’t fairytales and legends, Battousai had long since left the field to become a ‘proper’ employer of the law (as most Guilds, mages and civilians saw it, anyway).
History: Birthday June 20, 1849. Orphaned at 7. Studied at the mage dojo for Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū , tutored by Hiko Seijuro (current age 43, swordsmanship and mage instructor, pottery artist; relatively irrelevant). Began working for the Assassination Guild at age 14, doing minor errands. Became infamous Battousai shortly after, was then anonymous beside his code-name. Became member of the Law Enforcement Guild at age 20, have since then climbed in their ranks.
Current life: Engaged to Yukishiro Tomoe for 8 years, lives together in spacious apartment (see blueprint). Leaves for work at 5.30am, usually home around 8.30pm. Every second week he works over the weekend. Occasional business trip. Life outside of work; none. Friends equal colleagues. Possible rendezvous with mistress; weekends and any overtime spent art work, business trips.
Suspects(mistresses): Part-time waitresses Takani Megumi (22 years old, medic student at the University) and Makimachi Miaso (16 years old, mage student at the Oniwabanshū Academy, studies ninjutsu) working at the café Akabeko frequented by Himura and his colleagues.
Well, for a two-timer, Himura Kenshin, ex Battousai, was interesting; not your usual cup-of-tea. And, she admitted with a sigh, the list of suspected mistresses was so far suspiciously short (and disturbingly young, but then again, she wouldn’t say no to that face either; probably believing it was aged 20, and not 28). However, she supposed it would grow as soon as she got to the surveillance part of the mission, since investigating surrounding sources from her improvised office in the little one-bedroom apartment she rented only provided a few dry facts.
Sano, a rough mage - a Guildless mage - she had met up with less than a year ago, had been of big help, since he’d had many personal run-ins with Himura on duty. She had actually forgotten how many times she’d had to bail him out from the cells of the Law Enforcement, but stopped counting a while back. It would seem, however, as if Sano had acquired some sort of twisted friendship with the older man much to Kaoru’s bemusement. And to think, she had assumed Ken-san to be one of those chubby, doughnut-eating mages who couldn’t even light a candle with the amount of magic they possessed whenever Sano had mentioned him in the past (those kind of mages could only be found in Guilds such as the Law Enforcement, where sometimes, they only ever needed people to fill up space in order to make it look fancier). The world was, indeed, a bit too small for Kaoru’s liking during time like these. Remembering her call to her ruffian friend, she allowed herself to roll her eyes before closing the folder of Himura Kenshin and setting it in her desk’s top drawer. Sanosuke accused her of being too trusty, but sometimes, she wondered about him as well.
“Hello Sano, do you have time?”
“What, you need help with a case, Missy? Is it exciting? Then yes, I have plenty of time!”
“Good, because I think you might like this.”
“Oh?”
“You know about Battousai?”
“Yes, why?”
“His fiancé’s brother has paid me to snatch a few pictures of him and his mistress.”
“Eh?! What?? Ken-san, Himura Kenshin THE I-shall-never-again-wrong-anyone-and-live-in-peace-behind-a-desk SAINT, is having an affair?! You gotta be kidding me, Missy. Have you run a check-up on the brother? He sounds like a fishy person…”
“Hold on, Sano, wait up! How the hell do you know Battousai’s name? And Ken-san? Isn’t that the annoying friend of yours, in the L.E. Guild? And no, the brother does not sound suspicious! Besides, I don’t investigate my clients, Sano.”
“Ken-san, Kenshin, Battousai; same person, alright? And I know, but make this an exception. Screw paid integrity! I know Kenshin, alright? He wouldn’t do that! Especially not to Tomoe!”
“I’m gonna let it slide that you’ve kept your relationship with the Battousai from me for now, Sanosuke. But really, Sano, her brother wouldn’t pay me to do this if he didn’t have any valid suspicions. Not for the amount of money he offered! Besides, he’s a former Assassin. He’s been engaged for 8 years, still no date set for a wedding. He spends more time in his office and on ‘business trips’ than he does home. There are a lot of signs for possible cheating here, Sano. I’ve seen it countless times before, I trust you remember. It is part of my income, after all.”
“What, stalking people?”
“Sano! I do not stalk! I ‘track’!”
“Yeah, whatever, but Missy you’ve gotta trust me on this; there’s been some kind of mistake. If you don’t believe me, fine, see for yourself!”
“Good! I will do just that! Now, I have some questions…”
From there she had managed to get a hold of Hiko Seijuro, Himura’s old teacher, who proved to be more than willing to share stories contradicting with the image of the happy-go-lucky man of Sano’s, and the ruthless legend of Battousai. It would seem like Himura was quite the brat as a child. Suppressing a giggle, Kaoru shook her head. To be completely honest with herself, she had to admit she’d reached a TMI in her ‘basic’ research. Too much information. She really didn’t need to know that he wet his bed at age 9, nor would it benefit her case to know his birthday. He was just extremely…interesting. As the former Battousai, of course. This case was a perfect excuse to look into the man behind the name, right?
Kaoru groaned, dropping her head to the desk with a thump. She sounded like a stalker. Which she was not. She was an accomplished Tracker, at the young age of seventeen, thank you very much! Raising her eyes she found her trusted, well-used camera staring back and she sighed. Time to get to work.
oOo
NEXT PART
Still, the job description had mentioned nothing of the fiancé’s former post as a rather ruthless Assassination mage, quite a few levels above her own skill, nor had it mentioned exactly who the mage was. Nothing but a name, place and brief summary of his daily habits had been in the folder her current employer - the brother of the unfortunate (should the accusations prove valid) woman in the relationship - had handed her after barging into her small office demanding her services too early in the morning (she hadn’t even had time to drink her tea). Instead, she had been privileged to discover all those little details on her own once she started with her basic research. Finding no existing files of the fiancé’s life prior to his post as an inspector in the Law Enforcement Guild, it had led her on a rather wild chase (involving shady bars and contacts she hadn’t used in over a year) that ended with one chilling realization.
Kamiya Kaoru, 17 year old orphan utilizing her Tracker skill as a freelancing, detective-for-hire, had been commissioned to supervise the private life of a former mage of the Assassination Guild publicly known as the Battousai.
She should’ve known there was something fishy about this case when her client had avoided answering any of her questions concerning the history of this cheating fiancé. That Battousai was even engaged in the first place had given her quite the shock (he was a legend, in her mind, not really a person, and less so an actual man), but that the brother of his woman had gone to a private investigator of meager mage talents expecting it to work was even more absurd (if you didn’t reason that it would be the most unlikely thing to do, because that argument worked almost everywhere - in theory). Hadn’t he heard of the rumors? The man was infamous for his efficiency in the shadows of the City! Of course, only the full Guild member mages knew more of him than his name and just a few “others” - such as herself - had enough contact with the other face of society to hear the whispers of his feats. To the otherwise ignorant population, he didn’t exist, because he was a member of the Assassination Guild. And there couldn’t be a Guild for that nowadays, could there? Surely not after the Revolution was over and done with!
Right.
Sometimes Kaoru envied their simple-minded ways of life. In times like these, for example. Perhaps if she hadn’t known, had chosen not to see, then she might not be nervously biting her lip or glancing around expecting Battousai to jump out at any given moment just because she had been commissioned to undertake a spying mission on him mere hours ago.
But, then again, Kamiya Kaoru had never backed down from a challenge. Be it to apply membership at a Guild (the Freelance Trackers’ Guild) under a false identity after her father’s murder had left her alone, underage and almost completely uneducated in her mage powers (and using another alternative identity for education bought on the streets) or make her living cleaning as much of the criminality off the streets as she could, she always came out of it alive.
Granted, she had gotten on the bad side of several different Guilds occasionally, due to her occupation, but it had been nothing more than solving a case already in the Law Enforcement Guild’s care before they could, exposing a rather juicy scandal in the Guild of Celibacy (they preferred it worded that way, rather than Celibacy Guild, and always made sure this fact was known whenever someone mentioned them. No one had ever bothered to find out why) or retrieving stolen jewelry from the Kleptomania Guild which happened more frequently (there really was a Guild for everything, she mused - it wasn’t a coincidence the City was called the City of Guilds more often than its actual name).
Though, this time around, she was sure she would be messing with the truly wrong kind simply because he was an ex-Assassin of the Revolution. The mages of the Assassination Guild were people she hated dealing with because they were so insufferable. Always pop up in strange places, absolutely loves to sneak up behind you, are never late, possesses personality quirks not listed in the physiology books of the Guild of Psychologists and tends to make the worst death jokes during the most absurd moments (like when they answered their phone with ‘Hello, this is Death. I am not in right now, but if you leave your name and number, I'll be right with you’). They never showed their face either, but that was part of their job description. She was hoping the former Battousai wasn’t fond of old habits and had quit following the strict contract of the Assassination Guild when it expired.
However, the fact remained that it would be nothing but a simple fiancé-has-an-affair case. It was common; it was daily work and occurred far more often than chasing actual criminals, much to her dismay. She sincerely preferred making a difference rather than playing paparazzi on people suffering from relationship issues. But she had risen to the challenge, accepted the well-needed money that would feed her and keep the landlady off her back, and dove in head-first.
oOo
Subject: Himura Kenshin
Age: 28 years old
Occupation: Mage at the Law Enforcement Guild (L.E.G), ranked Inspector
Former occupation: Mage at the Assassination Guild, then known as the Battousai
Location: 13th Earlstreet, West, the Old City
Kaoru regarded the basic information scribbled in her rather sloppy handwriting for a few moments before attaching a slightly blurred Polaroid on the opposite page in the folder. Righting the paper clip, she straightened the picture and sighed. She’d had it confirmed the man no longer heeded to the restrictions of his old Guild when she’d seen he’d let himself get photographed. Oh, and despite his obvious experience with being sneaky, the man sure was good-looking enough to get away with cheating anyway. Long, fiery red hair of a foreigner pulled together in a low ponytail and delicate features of a particularly fine specimen of the Eastern Kingdom male, and his huge, violet eyes would slow her own thought process should they give her the look they were gracing his pictured fiancé with. Slow them enough to forget the extra hour spent late at work, she was sure.
Shaking her head, she resumed briefing through the little information she had gathered about the former Battousai. Her father many times mentioned the younger mage’s great contribution to the Revolution he himself had been an avid supporter of, but it was only recently she had remembered. It had seemed so irrelevant at the time, and once she had been old enough to understand it wasn’t fairytales and legends, Battousai had long since left the field to become a ‘proper’ employer of the law (as most Guilds, mages and civilians saw it, anyway).
History: Birthday June 20, 1849. Orphaned at 7. Studied at the mage dojo for Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū , tutored by Hiko Seijuro (current age 43, swordsmanship and mage instructor, pottery artist; relatively irrelevant). Began working for the Assassination Guild at age 14, doing minor errands. Became infamous Battousai shortly after, was then anonymous beside his code-name. Became member of the Law Enforcement Guild at age 20, have since then climbed in their ranks.
Current life: Engaged to Yukishiro Tomoe for 8 years, lives together in spacious apartment (see blueprint). Leaves for work at 5.30am, usually home around 8.30pm. Every second week he works over the weekend. Occasional business trip. Life outside of work; none. Friends equal colleagues. Possible rendezvous with mistress; weekends and any overtime spent art work, business trips.
Suspects(mistresses): Part-time waitresses Takani Megumi (22 years old, medic student at the University) and Makimachi Miaso (16 years old, mage student at the Oniwabanshū Academy, studies ninjutsu) working at the café Akabeko frequented by Himura and his colleagues.
Well, for a two-timer, Himura Kenshin, ex Battousai, was interesting; not your usual cup-of-tea. And, she admitted with a sigh, the list of suspected mistresses was so far suspiciously short (and disturbingly young, but then again, she wouldn’t say no to that face either; probably believing it was aged 20, and not 28). However, she supposed it would grow as soon as she got to the surveillance part of the mission, since investigating surrounding sources from her improvised office in the little one-bedroom apartment she rented only provided a few dry facts.
Sano, a rough mage - a Guildless mage - she had met up with less than a year ago, had been of big help, since he’d had many personal run-ins with Himura on duty. She had actually forgotten how many times she’d had to bail him out from the cells of the Law Enforcement, but stopped counting a while back. It would seem, however, as if Sano had acquired some sort of twisted friendship with the older man much to Kaoru’s bemusement. And to think, she had assumed Ken-san to be one of those chubby, doughnut-eating mages who couldn’t even light a candle with the amount of magic they possessed whenever Sano had mentioned him in the past (those kind of mages could only be found in Guilds such as the Law Enforcement, where sometimes, they only ever needed people to fill up space in order to make it look fancier). The world was, indeed, a bit too small for Kaoru’s liking during time like these. Remembering her call to her ruffian friend, she allowed herself to roll her eyes before closing the folder of Himura Kenshin and setting it in her desk’s top drawer. Sanosuke accused her of being too trusty, but sometimes, she wondered about him as well.
“Hello Sano, do you have time?”
“What, you need help with a case, Missy? Is it exciting? Then yes, I have plenty of time!”
“Good, because I think you might like this.”
“Oh?”
“You know about Battousai?”
“Yes, why?”
“His fiancé’s brother has paid me to snatch a few pictures of him and his mistress.”
“Eh?! What?? Ken-san, Himura Kenshin THE I-shall-never-again-wrong-anyone-and-live-in-peace-behind-a-desk SAINT, is having an affair?! You gotta be kidding me, Missy. Have you run a check-up on the brother? He sounds like a fishy person…”
“Hold on, Sano, wait up! How the hell do you know Battousai’s name? And Ken-san? Isn’t that the annoying friend of yours, in the L.E. Guild? And no, the brother does not sound suspicious! Besides, I don’t investigate my clients, Sano.”
“Ken-san, Kenshin, Battousai; same person, alright? And I know, but make this an exception. Screw paid integrity! I know Kenshin, alright? He wouldn’t do that! Especially not to Tomoe!”
“I’m gonna let it slide that you’ve kept your relationship with the Battousai from me for now, Sanosuke. But really, Sano, her brother wouldn’t pay me to do this if he didn’t have any valid suspicions. Not for the amount of money he offered! Besides, he’s a former Assassin. He’s been engaged for 8 years, still no date set for a wedding. He spends more time in his office and on ‘business trips’ than he does home. There are a lot of signs for possible cheating here, Sano. I’ve seen it countless times before, I trust you remember. It is part of my income, after all.”
“What, stalking people?”
“Sano! I do not stalk! I ‘track’!”
“Yeah, whatever, but Missy you’ve gotta trust me on this; there’s been some kind of mistake. If you don’t believe me, fine, see for yourself!”
“Good! I will do just that! Now, I have some questions…”
From there she had managed to get a hold of Hiko Seijuro, Himura’s old teacher, who proved to be more than willing to share stories contradicting with the image of the happy-go-lucky man of Sano’s, and the ruthless legend of Battousai. It would seem like Himura was quite the brat as a child. Suppressing a giggle, Kaoru shook her head. To be completely honest with herself, she had to admit she’d reached a TMI in her ‘basic’ research. Too much information. She really didn’t need to know that he wet his bed at age 9, nor would it benefit her case to know his birthday. He was just extremely…interesting. As the former Battousai, of course. This case was a perfect excuse to look into the man behind the name, right?
Kaoru groaned, dropping her head to the desk with a thump. She sounded like a stalker. Which she was not. She was an accomplished Tracker, at the young age of seventeen, thank you very much! Raising her eyes she found her trusted, well-used camera staring back and she sighed. Time to get to work.
oOo
NEXT PART