Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I wish I did, but I don't. I haven't seen the entire anime or manga, but I have a general idea…I hope. The ages should be about right. This story takes place maybe a year before Kenshin leaves. Just because it's not a Sano and Megumi fic doesn't mean you shouldn't read it! Bad use of double negatives by the way. I don't really know how big a yen is… Without further ado, A Rose's Thorns…

Sanosuke was hungry. Starving would have been a better word, but he wasn't exactly starving. He could have survived a few more minutes without food, but what was the point in that? Especially since Karou was treating this time. Well, she treated every time, but this time was special. It was her son's fifth birthday and there was nothing he could do to spoil her mood. That included gorging himself to the brink of death.

He never understood why it seemed to be the hungrier he was, the longer food took to come. He was positive everyone--Karou, Kenshin, Yahiko, Megumi, and himself--had sung Happy Birthday to Kenji a half hour ago, and there was still no sign of food. Just the tantalizing smells the Akebeko always offered. He was about to resign to his fate of dying as a bag of bones when the glorious, wonderful food arrived. The site alone almost brought to tears to his eyes, but just as the first delectable bite was about to enter his awaiting mouth, he saw her.

She was nothing short of an angel. He half expected birds to fly from somewhere and lift the tail of her pink and white flowered kimono off the floor and escort her to the table. Her raven-black hair was pulled back into a neat bun which brought out her gorgeous green eyes. Her shape, her walk, and he bet even her voice was perfect. He didn't even notice when the piece of meat had fallen from his fork and back on his plate, but Yahiko and Megumi were quick to point it out.

"You should stop drooling. She might see." Yahiko muttered.

"Don't bother. She just screams money." Megumi commented slightly amused.

For once Sanosuke had no smart retort. He was so focused on her appearance that he didn't notice the quality of her attire. When she moved her arms, he could catch glimpses of what looked like a solid gold and ruby bracelet on her wrist while a diamond barrette held her hair in place. Those two pieces of jewelry probably cost more than the entire Kamiya Dojo. If she was an angel, then she just reached the level of goddess. Then again, he was beginning to think he would have a better chance of a goddess talking to him than her.

With great effort he tore his gaze away from her to return to his food to find it…gone. He was heartbroken and to top things off hungry. Yahiko was going to pay. Sanosuke pushed Yahiko back and promptly began stealing back what was stolen from him. Kenshin tried to be the peacemaker, but Sanosuke was on the warpath. Not even Karou's threats could break this fight.

They fought down to the last bite. While the other's desperately tried to hide their heads, Sanosuke and Yahiko stabbed the last piece. Sanosuke knew he had the strength advantage, but Yahiko knew his one weakness…

"Miss Perfect's looking at you." Yahiko stated.

At the mere mention of the woman's new alias, the food was forgotten. Yahiko may have gotten the last bite, but she was looking at him! Actually half the restaurant was watching them, but her eyes weren't among them. In fact, she was completely focused on the menu. Well at least she wouldn't notice if he gawked at her awhile longer.

Tsubame was her waitress and Sanosuke was tempted to see Yahiko's reaction, but that would have involved breaking his gaze. When Tsubame walked away, the woman must have felt his eyes for she turned and looked directly at him. It was brief, but Sanosuke knew she smiled! She smiled at him! He might die a bag of bones, but he was going to be one happy sack.

"This one thinks she has company…" Kenshin commented as three men approached the woman.

No sooner than the words were out of Kenshin's mouth, Sanosuke was out of his seat. He made it just in time to catch one of the men grabbing the woman roughly by her arm. If he wasn't able to touch her, there was no way he would let scum like them touch her either. He tapped the man on his shoulder and greeted him with a fist to the face. The woman jerked back as the man fell back onto her table which upset Sanosuke even more. That guy could have at least fallen on the floor.

"Why you…" One of the men growled as he charged at Sanosuke.

It was always the amateurs that started trouble. Judging by the way they stumbled as they followed Sanosuke out of the restaurant he guessed they were drunken amateurs as well. He almost felt guilty as he beat them senseless, but they wouldn't remember in the morning anyway. Besides they too fell in an awkward spot. They were blocking the door way and the angel was trying to get out. She was smiling once again, but this time the smile was in gratitude. Not pity, but gratitude!

"Thank you Mr.?"

Just when he thought she couldn't get more perfect, she spoke with an accent. Made sense since there was no way someone like her could have been from around here. It took him a full minute to realize she was holding her hand out to him for assistance. He quickly helped her walk over the bodies when something else struck him.

"Its uh…My name is…San…" Sanosuke stuttered.

"He means his name is Sanosuke, and you are?" Kaoru asked as the rest of the Kenshingumi left the restaurant.

The woman opened her mouth to answer, but a black horse drawn carriage pulled to an abrupt stop beside her. Five men in matching black suits jumped out and surrounded her. They all carried swords at their waists and each looked ready to draw at any moment. She waved one hand and the two in front of her stepped aside, but stopped her when she tried to move forward. Either these men were doing a lousy job of kidnapping her, or they were bodyguards. Personally Sanosuke was hoping for the first choice. The woman had to fall for the guy who saved her life twice.

"Please forgive their rudeness. They become…nervous when I'm out of their site for more than a minute. I believe I have made us let for another appointment correct?" She asked a man standing to the side who merely nodded.

Sanosuke knew he was the roughest looking member of the Kenshingumi, but the guards didn't have to stare only at him. He was the one who saved her life after all when they were probably busy harassing the other women in town. Well at least he remembered why he hated anything representing the law. Most were biased old fools. The woman nodded to another guard as she stepped in the carriage who reached into his suit and pulled out a pouch that he tossed to Sanosuke.

"She believes 60,000 (about 500 American dollars) yen should cover your troubles."

With that gesture, the man stepped back into the carriage and was gone as suddenly as they came. Sanosuke stared after the carriage until it rounded the corner before the fact that a complete stranger just gave him 60,000 yen hit him. Gambling and sake was calling his name, or maybe it was just Tae.

"And about 12,000 (about 100 American dollars) of that is mine for the enormous tab you've raked up." Tae commented as she snatched the bag and pour out her portion.

"And the rest I'll take for your living expenses." Kaoru stated grabbing the bag before Sanosuke could take it back.

Great now he was broke…Again.

"Didn't you three have a job to do?" Megumi asked breaking Sanosuke from his despair.

"Oro? Yes we do, but we still have a few hours until the meeting time." Kenshin answered.

The rest of the day was spent with Sanosuke moping and Yahiko teasing him about not getting the woman's name. Kaoru and Kenshin spent his hard earned yen buying toys and sweets for Kenji while Megumi constantly pointed out things they "had" to have. Some friends they were. Kenji he didn't mind, but he was pretty sure Kenji didn't want a painting of some flowers. They had no sympathy for him at all.

"Isn't it time for us to go?" Yahiko asked as the sun began to lower.

"This one believes so. The police chief will be waiting." Kenshin answered patting Kenji on the head in farewell as he, Sanosuke, and Yahiko left.

A businessman was visiting Tokyo and wanted a discreet location and this area was about as discreet as Tokyo could be. To ensure nothing went wrong, Chief enlisted the Kenshingumi's help, specifically Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sanosuke. Sanosuke had better things to do than guard some rich man with nothing to do with his money, but the sum they were offered was hard to refuse. Really the businessman had nothing to do with his money. He even bought Kanryu Takeda's (Megumi's Opium's boss) old mansion and had remodeled just for this visit. The chief ran to greet them at the gate, but his face fell instantly.

"You could at least pretend to be happy to see us." Sanosuke muttered indignantly.

"Forgive me. I thought you were Mr. Williams." Chief explained with sigh.

"Williams? I've never heard that name before." Yahiko commented.

"He's an American businessman. He was supposed to be here an hour ago, but there has been no site of him…" The chief explained.

Chief had just motioned for them to enter when in Sanosuke's opinion, all heck broke lose. An explosion from a third floor room sent part of the mansion falling to the ground. Fire and glass seemed to be coming from every inch of the mansion. People fled from the mansion from every door way and even windows they could find.

"That was supposed to be Mr. Williams room! Secure the premises! Allow no one to leave until we figure out what's going on!" The chief shouted forgetting entirely about Sanosuke and friends.

"That won't be necessary Chief."

"Yes…We'll explain exactly what's going on."

All eyes turned to focus on two figures standing in a large tree in the corner of the yard. When exactly they arrived, Sanosuke didn't know, but he knew they had something to do with this havoc. One wore a short red kimono that barely reached the knee while the other wore a similar long blue kimono. They were women, but black masts covered their faces from the nose down. The woman in the red kimono carried two twin katana at her waist while the other carried a traditional samurai sword. How they intended to fight dressed like that Sanosuke didn't know.

"We condemn Mr. Williams and anyone in possession of a sword to death." The woman in the blue kimono stated simply.

"We ask that all of you who do not meet these requirements to please leave the area." The woman in red continued.

Kenshin's hand moved to his sword and Yahiko did the same. Sanosuke knew neither wanted to fight a woman, but what choice did they have? The women dropped down from the tree and had their weapons drawn in one swift move. One guard approached them slowly and once he was in range the woman in blue swiftly slit his throat. The move was so fast the man seemed to think about his death before he fell to the ground. She flicked the blood from her sword before speaking again.

"May your sins be forgiven in the next life…"