Sakon was walking through the streets of Tokyo, having just one through a puppeteering routine with his good friend Ukon. It was late and he was headed to the bus stop so that he and his wooden puppet could get home within a timeframe that his mother would not overly worry about him, though she did tend to worry about him traveling at night, but with Ukon, Sakon really didn't worry about these things.

The air of the night had a staleness to it that had a sight mystery to it, not to mention an air of magic one might say. Sakon could feel running through his veins a feeling that was both dreading something that was to come, yet excited that it was coming to. Sakon had come to pay attention to these feelings having solved quite a few murder mysteries himself.

A car rumbled past him, suddenly splashing up water from the street in front of him. This caused Sakon to close his eyes tight and then open them to look at the vanishing car, but what he saw was not a car at all, but an old fashioned carriage being pulled by horses. Some of the buildings had taken on a newer look to them, while others were completely different from the buildings that had been there before.

"Not again," Sakon murmured to himself, remembering the time before that he had time traveled. He felt behind him and sighed with relief. This time Ukon was actually with him, the time before the puppet had not been able to travel with him, for obvious reasons. Sakon suddenly slipped and fell into the wall of the building and winced in pain. Lights came on and someone came out.

"It's just a boy," a man muttered under his breath lifting Sakon up off his feat.

"Doesn't he know that there is a serial killer on the lose," a woman also stated. "They say that it is the Battosai… the Hitokiri Battosai of the Bakamatsu Era."

"Which just means that the police will never catch him," the man stated with menace in his voice. He helped Sakon into the place and the teenager glanced around. The place could be called a restaurant during his time period. It had tables low to the ground.

"What kind of service to you provide during the day?" the boy asked, surprising them. "And there really is a killer on the lose?"

"This is a beef-pot shop. My name is Tae and this is my brother," the woman smiled at him kindly.

"You must be hungry?" the man asked.

"No… I am not," Sakon waved of what the man had said in his nervous way. His eyes then narrowed and he pulled out his puppet.

"Ah! The boy is a puppeteer!" the woman smiled. "What a beautiful child's puppet. As lower class we tend to not see things like that!"

"You possibly arrived in town late tonight and are a traveling puppeteer," the man sighed. "It is no wonder that you have not heard the news about the Battosai.

"I do know that the man was a great warrior during the Bakamatsu Era and fought in the war that brought about the Meji Era," Ukon stuck his thumb into the air.

"Koi!" Tae squealed with delight. "The puppet is a cute as the puppeteer."

If Sakon had been without Ukon on his hand, he would have winced right then and their. He saw that Tae's brother wasn't exactly happy with the situation. Sakon nodded his head at him. "I do Ukon's voice by a trick called ventriloquism. It takes practice, but here…"

Sakon carefully changed his voice to that of Tae's brothers. "One can find one like you to have some suspicion, unless fully explained."

Her brother's jaw dropped all of a sudden but Tae nodded her head. "A great demonstration. It sounded just like him. He is rather stuck up."

"And Ukon can be rude at times, so I have to be careful with him… he has… a different personality then me," Sakon stated, though he knew that was only half of it. "I do not wish to intrude… but what year of the Meji is it… I tend to be scatterbrained about dates… it would help greatly."

"This is the eleventh year of the Meji boy," the man stated suddenly indicating one of the places with the tables. "Feel free to spend the night there. It would be inhospitable for us to refuse to let you stay there… everything is locked up tight, so we do not fear you stealing with us."

"Aniki, shame," Tae san commented. She then turned to Sakon. "You do not look to be a thief, seriously, but just a weary traveler. With the serial killer on the lose, we are obliged to let you stay."

"I have no money," Sakon stated. "So I can not pay you for it."

"Boy… that puppeteering you did for us is enough to pay for staying the night, and if you ever are in need of a good meal, come perform for our customers one day and we shall oblige you," the man stated. "Come Tae, it is time to go to bed."

The two disappeared upstairs and Sakon leaned back. Ukon whispered to him. "Sakon… they are rather trusting… but then in the Manga… Tae was rather trusting."

"The Manga…" Sakon's eyes narrowed.

"The Rurouni Kenshin Manga that Auntie got me… she got you the Detective Conan one, though I ended up reading both. I'll tell you, the serial killer isn't…" Ukon started.

"Don't tell me Ukon… I wish to solve this mystery on my own," Sakon stated. "This is unexpected, but quite interesting."

Ukon raised an eyebrow of his then turned away in a huff. "Great… of all the times to turn creepy detective on me… I don't like this… knowing the truth of the matter and all."

Sakon awoke the next morning just as Tae was getting up with her brother. He did them a favor and found what could be equated as a broom and swept the ledges that contained the tables off. Tae and her brother were both grateful, though her brother was still wary of everything. News that came later did not help things at all.

A customer came in and instantly gasped out the news, in front of a few others coming in. "The Battosai killed his tenth victim last night!"

"Oh… this doesn't fare well for Kaoru," Tae muttered to herself. "Things have just been getting worse and worse for her dojo."

"Why so?" Sakon asked.

"Well… you defiantly have a different personality when you have that puppet on you, don't you," Tae's brother muttered. Kamiya Kaoru is the… was the daughter of the one who taught the school Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. The Battosai is using this style to kill people."

"When was the style created," Sakon suddenly asked, fishing Ukon out.

"What… what do you mean?" Tae's brother became started.

"He means, when the style was first brought about…" Ukon asked.

"It… it was after the Meji period, why?" the woman stammered out.

"Then one can come to these conclusions. First, whoever is doing the killing can not be the Battosai from the time era before as he is using a style that was created after he was about and doing his thing in the war. Thus one can come to the second conclusion… someone is possibly trying to frame Ms. Kamiya Kaoru," the boy stated, a glint in his eye.

"The serial killer isn't the Battosai. He must be kidding me… the man ran around killing his victims! Surely this is not possible for the… you can't be right," the man stated.

"I am right and I know it," the boy commented. "I highly doubt that a great swordsman would suddenly change his style."

"What about if the person changed his style to get revenge on the school?" Tae muttered.

"Who do you know might happen to have a grudge on the school?" Sakon asked simply. "Or perhaps it isn't a grudge, but someone wants something else from her… there are people that greedy."

"What kind of psychopath are you?" Tae's brother asked. "Saying these things about a good friend of ours?"

"I apologize," Sakon commented.

"And you said I say the wrong things at the wrong times," Ukon suddenly piped up, annoyance in his voice.

"I do not have a great deal of physical strength, so I have to go with my knowledge. I happen to like deducting what one might call… puzzles of this sort," the boy stated. "If you don't mind, I will try to find out more about this… and I promise I won't bring it down on your heads."

"Only if you promise that you'll do your best to remain safe!" the man commented. "Otherwise the answer is no."

"Understood," Sakon bowed his head and left the restaurant.

"Sakon… I could tell you all the answers to this one," Ukon commented.

"Where is the fun in that Ukon?" the boy smiled.

"Oro…" Ukon stated, causing Sakon to raise an eyebrow at his friend, wondering where that one came from.

M

Sakon placed Ukon into his box, and left the beef pot shop. He then set out to find a place to set up. What he had in mind, was a place he could draw a crowd, yet also collect some information. As he walked down the street, between other people, he suddenly bumped into someone, his left shoulder crashing into the person's left. Sakon could also hear Ukon click in the box. This caused the youth to turn around, and his violet eyes look at the man.

The man was walking away, also glancing back, and chewing on a piece of grass. He wore a white bandana. The man had swung over one shoulder, a white jacket, that Sakon thought to have had the symbol for evil in black, but Sakon couldn't be sure about this. Sakon blinked a couple of times, as he stood there, wondering if there was some special meaning. However, the man quickly disappeared into the crowd, without letting Tachibana have a chance to apologize.

Truth of the matter was, the two was rather on the busy side of things, considering the period, this was one of the tows that was at the head of the Japanese industrial revolution, in its own way. Sakon shrugged his shoulders, situation Ukon onto his back a bit more, then continued to look for just the right spot. What he was looking for, in truth wasn't easy to spot. Thus, it took time for him to find the place, and the sun indicated it was one to two hours away from noon.

He removed his box from his shoulders, and set it on the ground. He opened the box and removed Ukon, Tachibana then stood up, as he received a few odd looks from people passing by. However, this in fact did not stop him. Taking a deep breath, he stood there, making Ukon suddenly come alive. Most people choose to pass on by, but a few happened to stop and watch. There were quite a few children, including one with dark skin, and unmannered hair.

Even though there were children there, that didn't stop the adults from talking when they did start to gather. One voice suddenly commented, as they happened to find an acquaintance within the crowd. "I hear the bottosai struck again."

"The legendary manslayer. Until recently, I thought the man was a myth, a story to tell children before they go to bed," the other commented.

"Well, it is still a story to tell children, to make sure they stay in bed. A killer running around… not even us adults want to go around at night."

"The police have yet to run into him, however, the witnesses say, he was part of a certain school for fighting."

"Kamiya Kasshin-ryu is the dojo. I can't believe they let a bloody killer from the war, into their school."

Some coins were being tossed into the box, and Sakon continued to hear similar things from other people, relatively speaking. Something though, about the information struck him as odd, or funny. After a couple of hours, he finished, as it was getting hot. On top of gathering information, he had gathered a fair sum of coins, to tide him over, until he could find a way back for him and Ukon.

The crowd dispersed, and Sakon placed Ukon in his box, traveling towards a place that was a bit desolate, without anyone truly about. He found a spot, near a bridge, on a riverbank. He then proceeded to pull the puppet out. "So, Sakon. What do you think?"

"I have to wonder, why someone from the war, would need to join a dojo," the boy stated firmly.

"What do you mean? Wasn't he of the school before the war started?" the puppet stated firmly, only to not get an actual answer from his partner.

They sat there, for a few minutes longer, the box on Sakon's left side. Suddenly, the green haired teen's hand, suddenly reached out to grab the brown hand that was reaching for the coins in the box. "Take what you need, but don't take more than that.

This caused Ukon to glance in that direction, and suddenly look at the perpetrator. It was the rather scruffy looking boy from earlier. "One would wonder, what with the laws, that you would go about stealing."

"So, if you're talking to each other, you're insane, right?" the boy suddenly muttered back. "I mean, your making that thing talk, and actually talking back to it."

"Wouldn't that mean that I'm a ghost and you're the one who's insane," Ukon suddenly chuckled, rubbing a finger under his nose, his mirth growing, as the boy grumbled.

"While most people are superstitious, I've heard the stories that are going around," the boy muttered, suddenly sitting back as Sakon let go of his wrist. His eyes looked for a way to get out of there.

"Like what?" came Sakon's question, his overly inquisitive mind taking over.

"I don't know. I've only heard the rumors. Still, I bet there is something that can play back sound," the boy stated, rather defiant.

"I believe it's called a phonograph," came Sakon's reply.

"I see… so that's how you do it?" the boy suddenly stuck his face right in front of Ukon's.

However, the youth found himself being pushed away by puppet limbs moving in a way that caused him to back away. The red head puppet moved his arms to indicate rough dimension and shapes of sorts. "Baka, a phonograph is too big."

"Then how… is he really a ghost," the dark skin of the boy's face suddenly paled.

Ukon suddenly put a fist to his mouth and let out a cough, then began speaking in the boy's voice. "It's a kind of performance trick."

"Ahh… isn't that a trick ninja's use?" the boy's face twisted into a scowl.

"So what if it is?" Ukon folded his arms across his chest.

"My guess is, your parentage is of some samurai linage," Sakon's first statement was directed at the boy. His second was directed at the puppet. "Samurai and ninja's have different fighting styles."

"Ninja's tricks are cheap," the boy muttered, glaring at the puppet.

Ukon pointed at himself. "So my voice is a cheap trick? Isn't it cool?"

"Cool?" the boy's eye twitched at the odd terminology.

"Awesome? Neat? Entertaining?" came the trial and error from the wooden puppet, tapping his chin as he did so.

"I'll give that it is entertaining," the boy stated, suddenly getting up to leave, realizing that Sakon wasn't going to report him.

"I told you to take what you need to," Sakon stated, suddenly looking at the boy, his aura becoming odd.

"I don't take charity," the boy sighed, and over his back, raised his hand in a farewell.

"What about a trade for information. You are a pick pocket, so you might know something," the green haired youth commented.

The boy turned, his face paling. "Are you seriously trying to get the people I'm trying to pay my family dept off to, to kill me?"

"Think of this information giving, either as neutral for them, of beneficial," came the puppeteer's response.

"Sakon… you really want to help bad guys out?" Ukon gave his companion a wary look.

"How might this be beneficial to them?" the boy's curiosity was peeked.

"It's about the battosai," Sakon replied calmly.

"Are you crazy?" the boy shook his head.

Ukon could only nod his head in agreement. "Unfortunately, yes… he is."

"I know that there is a chance I'll end up dead," Sakon stated. "That way, it is neutral."

"But how would it be beneficial?" the boy glowered at him.

"I wouldn't be surprised, if this battosai figure is hurting the night time business of those you're under. If he's gone, then they can start getting customers back, who are to scared at night."

"Fine, what do you want to know," the boy stated, suddenly going to sit in the grass in front of Sakon.

"About the school he's supposed to be from," the older of the two remained nonchalant.

"So… not how many he's killed… or the legend?" the boy shook his head, a bit confused about the odd line of questioning.

"I've already heard plenty of that," the man smiled.

"All I know, it's a school started after the war. The master of the school died, and left it to one of his relatives. It seems to be doing poorly," the boy stated calmly.

"Thanks. Take what you want," came the sudden statement.

The boy went and grabbed a few coins. "That's it?"

"That you told me, answered my question," the boy stated firmly. "Arrigotto."

"Yeah, whatever… the puppet is right, you are crazy."

Ukon watched the retreating figure. "You know, that even though this is a different time period, and there are special circumstances, I don't like helping the bad guys?"

"Neither do I… but this battosai thing is more important."

"Care to tell me what you figured out?"

"Maybe later," the boy stated.

"This sadly reminds me of… of all the other times you say something like that," the puppet groaned.

M

Ukon was placed back into his box and Sakon continued looking for information and asking questions about the area, using the fact that he looked to be a traveling merchant, or in truth… a traveling performer to his advantage. He moved about slowly, asking a question here, asking it there, moving on if said question didn't garner any answers.

"Ukon honestly wonders why I have to solve this mystery without him telling me the answers, however, the thing is… I am not sure if this is the way we are to get home, me finding out the answer to the whole thing or not. Or will myself being involved actually change the whole future?"

At this, he paused, then shook his head. "There was a reason I became involved the last time. I will do what I feel like I need to do."

At that, he approached one shop keeper rather nervously. "I was wondering about the local dojos in the area."

At that, the shopkeeper glanced up. "You don't look to be someone who would wish to challenge a dojo for its honors. You look to be a traveling sales man."

"Actually… I am a traveling puppeteer." Sakon let out a small laugh, then glanced down at the wares. "I am trying to familiarize myself with the area."

"Well, I don't know much about the local schools in the area, I am a merchant after all and not of the fallen samurai class. There are two schools that have come across as having reputations though that even the likes of my self will have interest in. I suggest staying well clear of them though."

"I take it that the reputations aren't good?" The green haired male asked, watching the man as he spoke up.

"Well, one of them… the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu style happens to be the school that the batosai comes from. The other happens to be turned into a gambling hall."

"That is such a shame, turning a place into a gambling hall of all things." Sakon shook his head.

"Well, the samurai are dishonored, so I don't see why anyone should care about that." The man shook his head at Sakon. "I am more worried about the fact that the local area has one more slum place that leads to more people of the destitute showing up. Two months and I swear I have more people swiping goods from my shop."

"I was thinking, yes… the day of the samurai is passed, but the use of the sword can still be seen as an art form, as is the making and collecting of swords. The art of swords craftsmanship is one of our countries finest achievements."

"You do have a point. I've heard that the people in the West like to collect such things. But while the sword smith still has a place in our society, those who carry on the style of swords fighting, it has no point. It simply isn't sellable. You can't make money off of it. That is why that one dojo got turned into a gambling hall."

At that point, Sakon bowed his head, thanking the man for his help and continued on his way, looking around for various spots to look for information. He could hear various mumblings about the killings that had occurred, and could only shake his head at the fact that it was obviously something deeper.

The basic information that everyone knew was that the killings had been going on for an entire two months. Ten had been killed as of last night, something that caused ones stomach to twist. It seemed as if this so called batosai had no feelings about killing children and women, not to mention the elderly.

Sakon's mind went to the fact that the other dojo that everyone had been talking about had also been turned into a gambling hall around the same time. He couldn't help but feel that these things were connected. Well, truth of the matter was, if it had been a more modern time frame, where more businesses cropped up in a smaller area, he would have doubts.

But the thing was, this in fact wasn't the case. This particular case was taking place during a different time era and the fact was, new businesses didn't just suddenly appear over night A person got a job where they could and they turned their luck to making a good life of things. Few were yet privileged to make their own means and run their own business.

"They fought for freedom, but true freedom is yet to come," Sakon thought to himself as he walked down the street. His eyes glanced up suddenly as he heard a commotion coming from some armed cops and he turned to see two figured being harassed by the cops. "Another way that freedom is taken away. The abuse of power."

One of the figures was a small female and she argued about the fact that her dojo was innocent, or at least her tone kept up that argument. A face was placed now as to who the daughter of the former dojo leader was. However, he found himself more intrigued by the person near her.

The man next to her was a man with hair a vivid red color. Upon his cheeks was a cross like scar and his eyes came across as childish. The man carried a sword at his hip, which seemed to be what the officers were arguing about. It clicked with Sakon that the man had to have been someone great at one time, but who he was remained a mystery.

This man reminded him of Ukon and he also felt as if the man had more then one personality. Like Sakon, he had the one that he showed normally, a childish persona so to speak. The green haired youth also gleaned the fact that the man's personality changed with the lifting of a sword, just as his personality changed with the lifting of a puppet.

"He has the freedom to be who he wants to be, but at what cost?" Sakon thought to himself, before moving on. He stopped at another spot and sat down under a tree, pulling out Ukon as he did so.

"Are you sure you don't want me to tell you the answer to this one?" Ukon piped up, only to have Sakon shake his head at the puppet.

"I am guessing that someone wants revenge on the one school." The teenager commented.

"Revenge?" The puppet shook his head. "There are two people involved."

"You mean that man who was following the two of them at a distance with his grey hair?" Sakon spoke up suddenly. "The one that is now leaving?"

"Well… yes…" The puppet blinked a couple of times.

"It is out of revenge that this is going on. But it is more then that, truth be told. Someone has figured that they will make some sort of money out of taking revenge." Sakon let out a deep sigh. "I am going to go to the dojo that the batosai claims to be a part of and ask some questions."

M

Sakon's feet hit the ground and he headed to the dojo that had opened up. Ukon was packed into his pack, so as he moved he would bump into people and apologize to everyone he bumped into. He was given strange looks and the boy let out a sigh as he finally arrived at the place. Ukon spoke up from inside of the case. "Sakon... you do know that this isn't a good idea. Something bad is going to happen."

"Yeah... but... well, you know." The boy paused, quickly fishing out the puppet. "You know..." It was then that Sakon's voice changed and instead of speaking and giving the reason the boy fell silent.

"Yeah, yeah... you have a morbid thing for mysteries. One of these days it is going to get you killed." Sakon simply moved around the spot, listening to what was going on within the dojo. The coming and goings were odd. None of the members were dressed like dojo members. In fact, they weren't dressed as middle class people of the time frame would dress. Sakon found a quiet spot.

"It looks to be a gambling hall."

Ukon crossed his arms. "Now that is a real shame, taking a lovely dojo and turning it into this kind of place. Perhaps I should be grateful that said dojo isn't yet considered historical. Seriously... treating ones culture with such disdain."

"Shush... not so loud." Sakon narrowed his eyes at the puppet. It was then that the boy heard something behind him.

"Hey, you kid."

Sakon turned around only to find his head hit. For a brief time he blacked out, but when he got up he saw that he was now on the ground in the dojo. Ukon was also on the ground, but thankfully not harmed. Sakon reached down and touched the puppet. "Good. He isn't harmed."

"Excuse me?" One of the guys pointed his blade at the boy. "Are you trying to tell me that you don't know whose property you was trespassing on?"

Sakon swallowed, his eyes wide knowing full well he was in trouble. He didn't have time to put Ukon on his hand either. A voice from behind him spoke up. "Now, now... it's not very nice to gang up on someone." The dark haired boy turned his head to look at the person speaking and saw someone with red hair and a cross shaped scar on his cheek. The man stepped forward. "Why don't you just let the boy go?"

"No... I think we should bring you two to the boss. Your heads that is."

Oh? You mean the Batossai? I was meaning to talk to him, but I very well can't talk to him with my head cut off now can I."

"Shut up you. The boss is going to get his revenge on that brat's father for ruining his brother's hands, so don't you..."

It was then that a crash was heard as the man moved forward and used the palm of his hand to knock the man who was speaking unconscious, making it so that the blade that was coming down went in another direction."

Sakon slipped Ukon back onto his hand. The puppet blinked a couple of times as he and Sakon watched the red haired swordsman dance. He then placed a finger into his ear and began to wiggle it. "Sheesh. I could have told you this was going to happen. I mean... I remember from the book that..." Ukon paused. "Wait... you don't want to tell me."

"So, this person shows up in the Manga and rescues someone?"

"No... he just randomly shows up and starts beating them up. Well, he doesn't start beating them up. He just walks in."

"Well he didn't just walked in."

Ukon blinked a couple of times. "Wait... are you telling me that in your stupid need to find out who the murderer was, you had to go and change history? Sakon, haven't you heard of the butterfly effect."

"You know... I haven't a clue what you two are talking about." Sakon turned to see that the swordsman had now knocked everyone out and was kneeling down to look Sakon right in the eye. The boy however didn't flinch. Instead it was Ukon who jumped.

"Hey! That is completely creepy!"

"Yes, well... I would say that your kind of creepy yourself.. whatever that word means."

Sakon looked right at the man, frowning. "You have more then one personality."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but watching you when you do and don't have your puppet makes me think you have more then one personality. Anyways... I have to get back to rescuing that young lady. I can't very well leave you here alone as this isn't a good place for a kid." The man stood up and then scooped up Sakon under his arm, taking off at a fast pace.

Sakon's reaction to this movement was to remove Ukon from his hand and hug him tight, his eyes closing shut. Ukon of course continued to speak. "Hey! This is not fun being carried like this! You put Sakon down now!"

"Well... aren't you the interesting pair." The swordsman stopped and opened up a door before setting him down. "You two stay put."

"Excuse me?"

Sakon looked up to see that a big man was glaring at them. The red head man continued to stand there as if nothing was bothering him. The girl spoke then, calling the red headed man Kenshin. Sakon listened as the man apologized for being late and then said the man could not use the name of the Botosai. Soon all the men were on the ground and the red head spoke to the girl. Sakon took in the fact the man's blade couldn't kill.

"By the way... I think I've gotten you a border."

"Kenshin... I need students, not borders."

"Well... I think this kid can pay his own way. I saw him doing a good job with his puppetry and he brought in a lot of money. He's likely going to need a place to stay."

"Sakon... can I talk to you privately?"

The female suddenly paled. "Ghost!"

"Actually... I think it is something called ventriloquism." Kenshin spoke up.

Sakon bowed. "I am honored that you would let me board here, but I really need to talk to my partner."

"In other words he needs to think about it a bit."

The dark haired teen stepped out of the room and let out a sigh. Ukon crossed his arms. "Seriously Sakon... we don't need you going and changing the past anymore then you have."

"Don't you think it is a bit late?" Sakon turned his head to look at the man. The man continued to speak. "I don't quite understand your situation, but I know that you two aren't normal. I personally think that fate has caused you to be in Ms. Kaoru's life and you can help her out. On top of this if you're from the future... well, perhaps there is something you are meant to do. Of course I really don't understand these things."

Sakon let out a sigh. "We'll stay. There is no telling where things will lead us, or how things will change if at all."