Opium Dreams

A mysterious woman arrives in Tokyo . She has the face of an innocent, but behind her peaceful amber eyes lie dark secrets she alone knew...

\"Excellent fist-fighting style!\" The third man said, clapping his hands and casting a cursory glance at his fallen companions. He stepped over their prostrate forms and stepped in front of Sano.

Sano snorted. \"Hmph. You want some of that too?\" He asked, holding out his fists.

The man merely smiled, making his face look even more like a rodent. \"Perhaps some other time,\" he said, the rat smile never leaving his face, \"but for now, I wish to speak with this young woman here, if you don\'t mind.\" He suddenly grabbed the girl\'s right forearm. His grip was tight and his long fingernails soon began to form grooves on her skin.

\"No!\" The young woman screamed, flailing her arms helplessly.

\"Hey, rat-face! Can\'t you see the woman doesn\'t want to?\" Sano said, a dangerous look in his eyes.

The man ignored him as he continued to pull the young woman up from Kenshin\'s arms. An annoyed expression creased his brows as he said, \"Come on, Megumi-san. You don\'t really think we\'ll let you go just like that, do you?\"

\"No! Let me go! Let me go!\"

\"Hey, rat-face! I said let her go!\" Sano said. There was anger in his voice.

\"Or what?\" The man said, a challenging look on his face.

\"Or you\'ll taste this!\" Sano\'s fist descended towards the man\'s face. Alarmed, the man quickly let the young woman go and jumped back. He watched Sano warily, studying him from a distance. Sano returned his stare, balling his hands furiously into tight fists. Glancing at Megumi, the man suddenly smiled and flicked his fingers. Something light and tiny flew from his hands and headed straight towards Megumi. He didn\'t wait to see whether it hit her or not as he went to make his get away.

\"Watch out!\" Sano yelled.

Megumi gaped at the projectiles with a dazed look on her face. Panic rendered her immobile so that she could do nothing but stare at the rapidly approaching projectile with wide eyes. When it was about an inch from her face, fear made her close her eyes.

In the relative safety of the darkness that resulted, she waited for the feel of the weapon on her throat, feel its shiny tip graze her skin, feel it cut through the epidermis to reach the veins and spill her blood. She waited...but nothing happened.

There were two grunts, followed by thuds as though something soft had fallen hard on the floor. One of the sounds was right in front of her; the other was a few feet to her left. Slowly, she opened her eyes and found herself staring at the darkest, most luminous eyes she had ever seen.