Part 12
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Kenshin ran towards the tavern district, worry clouding his brow. He'd managed to convince Kaoru-dono to wait for him back at the dojo, leaving her with strict instructions not to follow him, and was now heading off to investigate the dragon's appearance earlier. He'd have thought it was just a hallucination, if not for the fact that *everyone* saw it. Strange that he'd never heard of a dragon haunting Tokyo before. He thought he knew just about every legend there was to know about his adopted city. He *was* concerned about its appearance, however. Stuff like this *never* happened without lots of unpleasant things happening to the people nearby. He hoped noone had been hurt in the explosion. With a muttered prayer, he hurried on.

* * * * *

Yahiko got up, brushing himself off.

Reaching down, he helped Tsubame to her feet. For some strange reason, she looked really scared.

"Doushita no, Tsubame-chan?" he asked, concerned. "Why do you look so scared?"

"Didn't you see it, Yahiko-kun?" she asked, trembling against him.

He held her closer as she buried her face against his chest. "See what, Tsubame-chan?" Yahiko was feeling slightly giddy. Tsubame smelled really nice.

"Kuroi no ryu," she whispered.

"Nani?!"

"A black dragon was screaming," Tsubame shuddered, burrowing closer to him. "He looked so angry..."

"Kuroi no ryu ka...?" Yahiko grew thoughtful. If what Tsubame said was true, then something really strange was going on in Tokyo. Since in Yahiko's experience *every* strange occurence somehow involved Kenshin or one of his other friends, he decided to go investigate for himself. After all, who knew what kind of trouble his friends had gotten into this time?

* * * * *

Sanosuke slowly lowered his arms. The screaming seemed to have stopped. Sighing in relief, he levered himself to his knees and stole a peek around the overturned cart he'd used for cover. Yahiko was sitting on the ground, cradling Kenshin's head in his lap. He warily scanned the kid's face. Steeling himself, he got up and began approaching the duo. He fervently hoped the kid wouldn't begin remembering all the insults he'd thrown at him. He really didn't want to end up like Gohee. He stared at the charred lump with a shudder. The term extra crispy didn't even *begin* to describe it.

"I wonder where Yahiko learned to do that," he mused as he neared his two friends. The thought was quickly followed by a quieter, more wistful one.