Author's Note: It's been a while since I last wrote. Admittedly, I haven't had time to do anything and the last pieces I wrote made me cringe. I hope my writing style's better this time around. Anyway, enjoy. Let me know what you think and if you have any violent reactions to anything.

Please remember that this is an AU story, so the setting will be completely different from what we all know from the manga. I retained most of the characters' personalities, but I had to alter some of the others so they can fit the story better. I have a pretty good idea on where I can take this story in terms of character and plot development. I just hope I can get enough inspiration to keep writing everything down.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor any of its characters. All information in this story (especially those relating to the Japanese government and their public officials) are all fictional.

It Is What It Is

Chapter 1

"Kamiya!"

Kaoru cringed. She knew this was coming, but the loud voice booming from inside her boss' office still made her jump in surprise. It was a good thing she just placed her mug of coffee on her desk before the volume of her supervisor's voice filled the entire floor of their office, otherwise there would've been a big mess and—another—mug broken.

'Damn it. There goes my coffee break', she thought to herself.

A familiar chuckle brought her out of her annoyed thoughts and made her turn around to face the highly amused face of her partner and best friend, who was currently leaning on her office's doorframe. "You just never learn, do you, Kaoru? Ever heard of self-preservation? What did you do now?"

"Oh come on, Enishi. You know none of those were my fault. Compared to the piece I brought him, the collateral damage shouldn't even matter much", she said.

"And the ten other cases before this?" Enishi replied, mirth shining brightly in his eyes as he asked mockingly. "I heard you got a cat killed this time. How'd that happen? It's not like it could've been withholding information from you."

"Fuck off, Yukishiro."

"Kamiya Kaoru get the hell in my office right now!" boomed her supervisor's voice again.

Most of the other employees gave her pitying glances as she walked towards the direction of the loud voice. They all knew she was brilliant at what she did, and some of them even felt jealous of the fact that she was the only writer that Hiko actually bothered to learn the name of, but the amount of times she got creamed for whatever she did to get the information for her reports was horrifying, and as a result, they could only be thankful that they weren't in her shoes. They could only wonder at how writing lifestyle articles could possibly merit such harsh and loud reactions from their boss.

Kaoru sighed again as she turned the last corner that will lead her to her boss' office. 'Really, I don't even understand why he feels the need to do this every single time. We all know he'd end up paying for everything. After all, if it wasn't for my exposés, this newspaper wouldn't even be doing half as good as it is now.'

While unbelievably arrogant, the journalist's thoughts were true. It's been two years since she first got the chance to publish an exposé on a corrupt politician's underground business and since then, the newspaper's sales got a three hundred percent increase because more and more people started watching out for another one of her unbelievably courageous columns. It seemed that every article posted under her alias had at least one or two incriminating evidences that would eventually lead to the prosecution and impeachment of whatever politician her article was written against. The officials' power and influence over many facets of society never fazed her. To Kamiya Kaoru, power had no right to be held by disgusting money-hungry mongrels. Of course, the masses had no clue of what was going on behind the closed doors of most of their government officials' offices—which is why the journalist took it upon herself to shed light on these issues so the people could elect someone better suited for the position; someone who'd actually deliver on their promises of creating a better Japan, both through transparency and integrity. The proud nation had no need of superficial structures and consistent economic growth—not when these only benefited those with power and wealth while the middle and lower classes had to suffer through unbearable taxes, hunger and poverty.

That's not to mention all the mysterious disappearances of influential, albeit poor and seemingly insignificant, activists. It seemed as though for every step towards the country's growth, a thousand lives had to suffer. It was this that Kaoru found despicable and disgusting.

Kaoru graduated with flying colors from Tokyo University with a degree in journalism. A fact that most critically acclaimed newspaper and publishing houses were highly aware of, which easily made Kaoru the most sought after journalist in Japan. Despite starting her career as a lifestyle writer—due to the insistence of her previous employer, seeing as Kaoru had connections in every elite social group in the country—the twenty-seven year old beauty eventually found a fulfilling career when she transferred to Tokyo Shimbun, a well-respected and honest broadsheet publishing company which, at the time, was only second to Chunoichi Shimbun where she was originally employed.

Sadly, though, there were still some major complications that she had to go through to get the position she has now. One of which was the issue of her safety, especially since the pieces she wrote weren't exactly safe. This is why Seijuro Hiko, their editor-in-chief and Tokyo Shimbun's highly esteemed owner, strongly insisted that she use an alias for her news exposés. He also made her agree to continuing to write lifestyle pieces so their broadsheet's readers won't get too suspicious, seeing as she published her first piece as an investigative journalist immediately after she moved to their company. Doing so would lessen the possibility of her being discovered as the one responsible for tarnishing the names of various government officials.

Kaoru scoffed internally at that, 'More like the asshole just doesn't have the patience to interview any other lifestyle journalists'.

This wasn't really something to complain about since she felt it was relatively easy to write about various events that she would be forced to attend anyway due to her deceased parents' social standing. Kaoru felt that she had to continue to be in good graces with her parents' friends because this was one of the ways that she could make sure that people wouldn't forget her parents and the cause that they stood for. Charity wasn't really something that the high and mighty bothered with, which is why the Kamiya family felt that getting a chance to remind the elites that writing checks for foundations and other charitable organizations wouldn't really hurt them and could actually bring them really good karma. It sounded superficial, yes, but it got the job done. After all, talking about poverty, hunger, and other pressing societal issues would only upset their so-called friends, which would lead to getting nothing but a snore or a soft chuckle instead of a donation that could be used to fund a special cause. In the world that we are all currently living in, you have to know how to play your cards right to achieve whatever you want to achieve. This is a principle that was fully ingrained into Kaoru's heart and spirit, which made her an excellent journalist because this is exactly what she needs to get the necessary information for whatever she's writing.

"Kamiya! Now, goddamn it!", echoed the angry voice once again.

"I'm here, I'm here!", Kaoru said as she entered. "You really have to learn how to control your temper, Hiko. Didn't you learn anything from the anger management books I got you for your birthday?"

The raven-haired woman raised her eyes to meet the angry gaze of her red-faced supervisor. She could see the vein pulsing on his temple—a tell-tale sign of how angry he was, and ordinarily, any employee would cower at the sight of the large and burly man's mad disposition. Kaoru, however, was completely unfazed by it. She knew he had a tough façade, but she also knew that this was only a cover-up for his generous and caring nature. Not everyone saw it though, and Enishi swore up and down that she was just imagining it, but Kaoru still believed that it was there.

"What. The. Flying. Fuck. Were. You THINKING?!" bellowed the disheveled man before her as he stood up to his full height of 6'2". Seijuro Hiko normally appeared composed and calm, and his temper was something that wasn't often fully expressed. He usually opted to use low and menacing tones when talking to someone who has upset him… until he hired Kaoru.

"Were you even thinking at all?! Are you fully aware of the damage that you've brought on to the good name of this paper?!" he screamed again.

Kaoru gave Hiko a cheeky grin and stepped closer to him, knowing that her close proximity would get him to at least lower his voice. "I'm guessing you liked the piece I gave you, then?"

Her boss gave a longsuffering sigh and closed his eyes to try to calm himself down.

"You're fired."

Kaoru scoffed, "No, Hiko, I'm not."

Hiko glared up at her as he dragged his memo pad closer to him to read off of the notes he wrote down during the infuriatingly long—and loud—phone call that he received from the latest politician that his employee recently wrote about. "You trespassed onto his property,"

"It was unlocked! I don't think that counts as trespassing!" she reasoned.

"broke his window,"

"It was already broken when I got there, I swear! It's not my fault the ass didn't notice. He was probably off—"

"killed his CAT,"

"Hey! I take no blame for the cat running out onto the street and getting run over by a car! If anything he should be looking for the driver who—"

"and hacked his PERSONAL computer to access PRIVATE files that were never meant to be released in the first place!", Hiko finished with a growl.

"…well, how else was I supposed to get the info I needed?" Kaoru retorted. "It's not like anyone would really be willing to talk to me about his connections with the Kyoto Drug Ring. And you KNOW the people needed to know this!"

Hiko sighed and sat down, massaging the bridge of his nose as he did so. "You're still fired."

"Oh come on, Hiko. You know you love me." Kaoru chuckled as she sat down on one of the chairs in front of her supervisor's desk. "And you know that article was perfect. I even got to tell people about how one of the "foundations" he ran was actually a cover up for the damned drug transfers. That was really hard to track down!"

"Yeah, I can see that. It's so hard it's going to cost me 50,000 yen to appease Yazuo-san's damaged mental and emotional state." Hiko muttered.

"You know that's not gonna matter when Saitou gets his hands on him. He's going to be behind bars before you know it, and this'll be just a memory that we'll all laugh about one day, you'll see." Kaoru said with a bright smile.

Hiko looked back up at her angrily, "Until you find your next politician to terrorize".

Kaoru grinned at him again. "You know me too well, Hiko-sama", she said mockingly.

"Get out of my office, Kamiya. I have no time for your annoying antics. I'm dealing with YOUR mess, after all", said Hiko as he waved a dismissing arm at his employee.

Kaoru stood up to leave, but not before reaching for Hiko's arm to give her weary boss a comforting touch. "I can't say I'm completely sorry about this, but I do swear I'll try to be more careful next time", she offered sincerely.

Hiko looked up and studied the writer's face with a scowl. "Come off it, Kamiya. That hasn't worked on me before and it's not going to work this time. Get out."

Kaoru smiled, knowing that she was already forgiven without having to hear him actually say it. "Again, you know me too well", she said as she walked out of Hiko's office.

"Kamiya."

She turned back around at her editor-in-chief to find him looking at her with a menacing glint in his eyes. He had something horrible planned for her and he knew she wasn't going to like it one bit. "What now, you big oaf?"

Hiko frowned slightly, but it didn't sway his intent to annoy her as punishment for all the trouble she brought him today. He knew that she knew what was coming. After all, this was a ritual they developed back when her investigations started to get messy, and she was fully aware of that. Every time he ends up trying to fix the horrifying messes she somehow managed to create, he would assign her to write a shallow and air-headed lifestyle piece that required no sense of intelligence at all. He knew she hated those columns, which is why he took immense pleasure in seeing her reactions every time she'd be forced to write another one. "Talk to Tae. I have another assignment for you and you're not allowed to back out of it. If you don't do it, I won't let you publish any of your other crap for the next three months."

The younger journalist's mouth flew open in shock, her left hand rising to her left hip as she leaned to one side. "What the hell do you have planned for me?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Now get out and do your job. I'm not paying you two people's worth so you can ruin other people's houses and slack around."

Kaoru gave her boss one last glare before she turned around and walked out of the spacious office, grumbling about insensitive, annoying, demanding, horrible bosses the whole time.

Hiko sighed as he watched the twenty-seven year old walk out of his office, 'What am I going to do with you, Kamiya?'

"I'm what?!" Kaoru yelled as Tae, their lifestyle editor and her supervisor, took her through the brief for her next assignment.

"I'm sorry, Kaoru-chan", said Tae sincerely, "he refused to let anyone else interview him for this and we really need to write a piece about him to get our female market interested again."

"What do I care about what those twits think?" Kaoru asked. "It's not like they're going to end up leading Japan one day."

"Now, now, Kaoru-chan. You know writing these could be fun. Who knows? Maybe you could even end up liking this guy more than you think!" teased Tae. The editor was immensely concerned for Kaoru's love life—or lack thereof. Kaoru was secretly touched by her concern, but at times like these, it did nothing but annoy her to no end. If Tae wasn't who she was, Kaoru would've probably ended up strangling the life out of her to ease her temper. But alas, this was indeed Tae and without her, Kaoru would never have had the chance to know what home-cooked meals taste like, seeing as how the older woman took it upon herself to bring Kaoru delicious bento-boxes every time she'd have the spare time to cook.

"There is no way that's happening, Tae. I'd rather shoot myself than even think about getting anywhere close to that scum", she admonished.

"What are you going on about now, Kao?"

Kaoru and Tae turned to find Enishi sauntering towards them, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in one hand. His bright green eyes were full of mirth and his bleach blonde hair was shining merrily under the fluorescent lights of their office. It wasn't every day that you could encounter a person with features as strange as his, but oddly enough, Yukishiro Enishi pulled it off flawlessly. A lot of people found him attractive, and his sexy wit and gentle disposition helped immensely with his overall appeal.

Kaoru and Enishi have been close friends for two years now, the same amount of time that Kaoru has spent working for Hiko. Enishi was originally assigned to show Kaoru the ropes of the company's different processes and rules, and he eventually became Kaoru's unofficial partner—when it came to writing the hard news articles, anyway. Despite all the rumors going around about them being more than work partners behind closed doors, Kaoru and Enishi had nothing but platonic feelings for each other. It was probably better anyway seeing as how they both grated on each other's nerves from time to time, mostly because of Kaoru's workaholic and slave driving tendencies that made him end up spending more time in their office than he'd like.

Tae smiled brightly at Enishi's approach and gladly told him about what Kaoru was going to be writing next for their lifestyle section.

Enishi gave a low whistle and looked worriedly at Kaoru, watching as her anger slowly faded away to worry once she was fully able to digest what she would be doing that afternoon. "Sagara Sanosuke, Kao? You sure you're up for this?"

Tae looked confusedly at her two officemates, "Is there anything wrong? Will there be a problem, Kaoru-chan? Do you know Sagara-san personally?"

Kaoru shook her head and forced herself to smile brightly at Tae, though both Enishi and the lifestyle editor noticed that her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "No, it's nothing, Tae. I'll be there. I should have the piece ready for you by Monday."

"Are you sure?", Tae asked, worried that there might be something deeper than Kaoru's general dislike for writing lifestyle articles—much less a piece about one of the most eligible bachelors in Japan. Sometimes, she really didn't understand why the little spitfire worked as a lifestyle journalist if she hated it so much. Kami knows how many times she's tried to convince Hiko to let the girl try something else, but he would have none of it. It even looked as if the man enjoyed terrorizing the young journalist, seeing as how he assigned her the most mindless topics.

"Yeah, no problem", Kaoru replied reassuringly.

Tae smiled back at her and bid both Kaoru and Enishi farewell as she walked back to her office, intent on finishing her work early so she can have time to cook for Kaoru that night. 'Maybe at least giving her food will make her feel better about whatever it is that's bothering her.', she thought.

Kaoru looked back at Enishi to ask what he wanted her for when she found the white-haired man raising the pack of cigarettes he was holding. "Thought you'd need this after you got chewed out by Seijuro", he said teasingly.

"My hero!" she chimed as she linked her arm through his, leading them out onto their office's spacious balcony to smoke a couple of well-deserved cigarettes.

"So how do you really feel about this?" Enishi asked.

The two friends were leaning against their balcony's railing, both looking down at the city of Tokyo with cigarettes in hand. Kaoru sighed and took a deep drag of her cigarette, "I don't know. I mean, I haven't seen the guy for two years now. Who knows what he thinks of me?"

Enishi looked at his friend, then, already understanding where her discomfort was coming from. "He's not gonna do anything horrible to you, Kao. He probably just misses you."

"Yeah, but what if he hates me? Like I said, it's been two years since I last talked to him. Normally, people who just drop out of their friends' lives won't really have anything to go back to. It's one thing to know that he hates me, it's a whole other thing to get affirmation of that."

Kaoru and Sagara Sanosuke had a relationship that most people would call colorful. They met in college, back when most of her nights were mostly composed of investigating and writing about the disgusting deeds of some of their professors and school officials. Their eventual friendship was far from expected, especially since it started with Sano making a drunken pass at her in a bar close to their university. Kaoru, of course, brushed him off and told him to leave her alone—in very explicit sentences that explained how men with IQs such as his didn't deserve women with standards like her. The drunk twenty two year old laughed and told her about how much she reminded him of a foxy friend of his and introduced himself. Kaoru, knowing that the worst part was over, told him her name and laughed at how amazed he was when he realized that it was "a puny little missy" like her that was responsible for outing the perversion of his Economics professor who recently got fired on the grounds of sexual harassment.

The next night, Sano bumped into Kaoru in the same bar and introduced him to his other friends. It was this that marked the start of her amazing friendship with, undoubtedly, the best people she knows. Truthfully, it was these people whom she treated as her family, just as they did her. Without them, she never would've gotten over the grief of losing her parents and thus being thrust into the world of adulthood orphaned and alone. Looking back, she didn't really understand why she decided to put them all behind her in favor of giving herself a fresh start, free from all the ghosts that haunted her whenever she thought of them and what drove her to move forward without them. It really was a dick move on her part, knowing how attached they all were to her.

Enishi turned to face her fully this time, "Are you saying you're going to chicken out of this? I told you to at least go talk to your friends when you told me about what happened to you last year", he scolded. "Anyway, if what you've told me about them is right, especially about Sagara, then you probably have nothing to worry about", he explained.

Kaoru said nothing as she took another long drag of her cigarette, watching the smoke float through the air as she thought. She knew Enishi had a point, and knowing Sano, he'd most likely just give her a warm hug and chew her out for not contacting him at all the past two years. However, it wasn't really Sano that was worrying her.

"He's not going to be there, Kaoru." Enishi said. "I think you've made it pretty clear that you never want anything to do with him again."

Kaoru looked up at her best friend, knowing that it wasn't Sano that he was talking about.

"It's been two years. He's probably moved on." He continued, "and if he hasn't, then just cross that bridge when you get there. We can pick the pieces up back together if it ends up in shit."

Kaoru chuckled at that, finally getting the shine back into her eyes after about an hour of moping and feeling sorry for herself. "Yeah, you're probably right."

She put out her cigarette on a nearby ash tray, looking down at herself as she did so. "How do you think Sano'll react when he sees me? Do I look alright?"

Enishi, annoyed at being asked such a feminine question, glared up at her and said "Kao, how many times do I have to tell you that I will never answer that question? I'm not a good judge of what you girls think look good and what don't."

Kaoru laughed again, remembering the time when Enishi had the misfortune of telling her that he didn't think her shoes matched her outfit during one of her particularly bad PMS episodes. From that day on, he'd refused to answer anything remotely related to what Kaoru chose to wear.

That's not to say that Kaoru didn't look good. On the contrary, she looked every bit like the fierce and menacing journalist that she was-not that people were aware that she was responsible for the exposés that were always so talked about. However, how she looked now was admittedly a far cry to how she was two years ago. After finally accepting the job that Hiko offered her, she felt like she was being given a fresh start, which she wanted to give herself one hundred percent.

With that thought in mind, she traded her long, beautiful raven locks for a short pixie cut to make it easier for her to move around. Her skirts and pastel-colored tops were traded in for outfits that would make it easier for her to accomplish her stealthy missions. Of course this didn't mean that she walked around looking like one of those journalists that didn't even care about what they wore so long as they met their deadlines. No, her mother would never have forgiven her for throwing all those years of etiquette classes and proper clothing away in favor of comfort. Although Kaoru favored wearing jeans and leather jackets now, she still made sure that everything she wore was nicely coordinated. This, partnered with the dozens of fashionable boots, sandals, flats, and high-heeled shoes that she owned and loved wearing—she once jokingly told Enishi that wearing heels actually made her feel empowered instead of stifled, a far cry from what the other feminists in the world have been saying for years and years—, gave her a persona that is completely different from how she appeared two years prior.

After spending another ten minutes joking around and smoking another cigarette with Enishi, Kaoru announced that she'd better leave soon lest she get stuck in the horrible Tokyo traffic that late afternoons brought. Enishi gave her a noncommittal wave and told her he'd see her tomorrow, but she should feel free to call if anything comes up.

"Yeah, I'll call you if Sano decides to kill me. Bury me under a sakura tree, will you?" Kaoru joked as she walked away from the handsome—although she'd never admit that to his face—man.

"Too much hassle, Kao. I'll tell Hiko to keep your body frozen in the pantry instead!" laughed Enishi.

Kaoru dropped by her office to change out of the sandals she had on and into the pair of navy blue pumps that she kept under her desk in case of emergency lifestyle interviews such as this. She gave herself one last once-over before deeming herself presentable enough for meeting the friend she's been avoiding for two years now. She grabbed her purse and car keys, and sighed to herself after getting in the elevator that was going to take her down to the basement.

'Here we go.'

Ten minutes later, Kaoru found herself parking her car in front of the venue Tae mentioned, and what she knew was Sano's favorite café. It was a quaint little shop, five blocks away from her office and from the detectives' headquarters that Sano worked in. She sighed one last time before grabbing her purse and proceeding to get out of her car. She walked towards the café, pressing the lock button on her keys—you never know what people can do these days, really—and stopped when she saw a familiar rooster-headed man sitting on one of the coffee tables on the sidewalk by the café.

Nervously, she walked to where her friend was seated and sat down in front of him, not quite finding the strength to look up and face the man yet.

Sano was wearing a white, long-sleeved polo with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, partnered with a classic pair of black slacks and black leather shoes. Though his outfit was relatively conventional, his physique still gave him the impression of a man that was not to be, under any circumstance, trifled with. His polo was stretched around his torso, letting the people around him see his hard and undeniably masculine features. His messy hair was pulled back by a red bandana—which she used to mock him about all the time back when they were still students in the university, while his cheery chocolate eyes kept glancing around him to look for his friend.

One glance at Sano and you wouldn't be able to help but be intimidated by his overpowering presence. That is, until you get to know him, and all your respect will fly out the window. Goofy and easy-going in nature, Sano had an amazing talent with making most of the people around him laugh. His mischief and not-quite-but-almost addiction to gambling made him all the more interesting and fun to be around, especially if you get to witness his pathetic losing streaks. Though he seemed superficial and uncaring, he is actually known to be fiercely protective of those closest to him. It didn't matter what they did or who they messed with, no matter the situation, you can count on Sano to have your back—which is why Kaoru was so afraid of him telling her that he no longer had the same regard for her as he did two years ago.

"Uh…sorry Miss. I'm kinda waiting for someone and I don't think she'd appreciate me sharing the table with a stranger." Sano said politely. "If you want, though, you can give me your number and maybe we can get to know each other a little bit later", he added suggestively.

Kaoru chuckled and looked up at his arrogance, her bright blue eyes worriedly locking with his chocolate orbs. "I don't think Megumi would appreciate that, eh, Sano?".

Sano's jaw dropped in surprise as he finally got the chance to see his friend's face. He spent quite a few seconds taking in and digesting every bit of Kaoru that changed in the last two years that he hasn't seen her personally.

"HOLY FUCK, JOU-CHAN!" he yelled once he finally got control of his surprise again and stood up to give her a gigantic and warm bear hug.

Kaoru laughed and stood to hug him back, immensely grateful that her friend still appeared to be the same brother-figure that he was, prior to her dropping out of the face of the earth. "Settle down, Sano. You're causing a scene", she chuckled.

After a minute of just standing there in each other's friendly embrace, Sano finally let her go and sat back down.

"Damn, I heard from Tomoe that you changed a lot, but fuck, jou-chan!" he said loudly.

"Keep your voice down, you oaf. People are looking!" she admonished half-heartedly, still elated at the fact that Sano's affection for her seemed to remain the same as well. "And I figured you guys would keep tabs on me through her. After I found out that Enishi was her brother, I didn't even bother trying to cover my ass. You guys would've found out eventually."

"Yeah, what the hell's that about? You replaced all of us with that white-haired pansy ass?"

"Don't talk about him like that, you brute, he's my best friend."

Her friend sighed, "Well at least that confirms that you're not seeing him."

Kaoru was immensely grateful to the universe when a waitress appeared to drop off drinks for the both of them, seeing as Sano already ordered for her before she got there. The implications of what he just said were too thick and she didn't have the courage to face that just yet.

"I got you your favorite," Sano said proudly. Then, his gaze turned into a shy one as he realized that what he ordered might not be her favorite anymore. "I can get something else in case you don't like that anymore, though", he said after a moment.

Kaoru warmed at his concern and eased his worries, "Don't worry, Sagara. I may have changed, but not by much."

"Are you kidding me?! You've changed so much I barely even recognized you when you got here!" he exclaimed. "If it weren't for those eyes of yours, I would've brought you in for questioning when you mentioned Megumi."

"Still keeping it under wraps for your fan club?" Kaoru teased.

Sano blushed and looked down for a bit, "Ah come on, jou-chan. Ya know it's nothin' like that."

Kaoru scoffed.

Sano chuckled, "yeah, maybe a little."

They spent a few minutes just looking at each other, each trying to digest how much has really changed since they last saw each other. Kaoru, uncomfortable with the sudden silence, rummaged in her bag for her pack of Marlboro Lights and lighter. She lit her cigarette and took a long drag out of it before looking back at Sano.

The detective cleared his throat and said, "So, uh, ya never quit smoking huh?"

Kaoru looked at him, "Yeah. Hard to break a habit, you know?"

Sano cleared his throat again, suddenly nervous about where the direction their conversation was taking. 'She did start smoking when it all started happening', he thought.

This time, it was Kaoru who broke the awkward silence, "So, how's everyone?" she asked with a smile.

Sano lit up and readied himself to tell her about what's been going on with each of their friends for the last couple of years, "Well, I guess you should know that Megumi and I are living together now."

Kaoru choked on her cigarette smoke and said, "How the hell did that happen?!"

"Long story, jou-chan," he explained, "but to cut it short, she lost a bet. Ya remember how I always lose when I gamble, but when it comes to the important ones I always end up winning? Well, that's basically what happened with me and the fox."

"She lost… a bet? And you ended up living together?" Kaoru asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean we ain't sleepin' together!" Sano proudly stated. "Seriously I think that fox has an addiction with—"

"Sano!" Kaoru scolded, blushing hard at what her friend was about to say. "There are some things I really don't need to know about. God." She took another drag out of her cigarette, "So what was the gamble? What'd you bet about?"

"On when Aoshi and Misao were finally gonna get together."

Kaoru's eyes widened even more, if that was even possible seeing as her eyelids were wide open already. "They're together?!"

"Yeah, well…" Sano started, "ya know, jou-chan, maybe it'd be better if you find out for yourself. You can ask them tonight. It's Thursday after all."

She sighed at what he said. Somehow she knew that this was how it was going to play out, and she wouldn't go as far as to lie to herself by not admitting that she was hoping for a chance to rekindle their lost friendship. Still, though, that didn't make the thought of actually meeting them again any less daunting. Kaoru remembered how their group had a habit of meeting every first Thursday of the month in their favorite bar to just drink and be merry. Of course, she didn't know they still kept the tradition when she left and she didn't even bother trying to check, but that just proved that she really was the only one who felt like a drastic change was necessary in order to move on from what happened.

Kaoru turned somber eyes at her friend, "I don't think that's a very good idea right now, Sano."

"The fuck? Why not?!"

"I just…" she said, inhaling another puff of smoke, "I don't think they'll be ready yet."

"To hell with that!" he exclaimed. Kaoru gave him another reproachful look and Sano took that as his cue to bring his voice down to a normal level, "You're the only one who's not ready, Kaoru. We've been ready for two years."

The journalist looked down as she put off her cigarette on their table's ash tray. "I don't know, Sano. I just—"

"Come on, jou-chan. You only broke up with him… not all of us." Sano reasoned.

Kaoru didn't reply, opting instead to think about the possible repercussions of what would happen if she did agree to go with Sano.

Sano sighed, "Tell you what," he said as Kaoru looked up at him, "either you come with me tonight or I don't answer any of your interview questions."

The blue-eyed woman looked up at him, surprised and indignant. "Hey! Don't go involving my work with our personal lives!"

Sano looked back at her, strength and determination in his eyes, "Kaoru, you knew this was going to be personal the moment they told you I asked for you."

Kaoru glared at him, but realized that this was a battle she was most likely going to lose. With a sigh and a mental note to ensure that Sano was going to be reborn as a toilet brush in his next life, she acquiesced. "Fine. Whatever. Just give me the damn interview. I'll show up to say hi and high tail it out of there as soon as I could."

Sano smiled and agreed. Honestly, he was glad that he got into this absurd bachelor list, if only for the fact that he knew he'd get a chance to get back in touch with his jou-chan.

The tension eased as the pair went through their interview, with Kaoru having to scold Sano for giving crude answers from time to time. Just because this interview and feature was going to be exclusive to their newspaper doesn't mean that they have the freedom to publish such crass language.

About an hour passed before Kaoru deemed that she got enough information to write a pretty interesting article for their lifestyle feature. She was busy fixing her things and steeling herself for the inevitable and long overdue meeting when Sano suddenly broke the silence.

"He still misses you, ya know", he said somberly. "Doesn't tell anyone about it, but we can tell."

Kaoru stopped. For a brief moment, she swore everything around her stopped making a sound. All she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears. She steeled herself and replied scathingly, "I don't give a fuck, Sano."

The detective sighed, "Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that."

She didn't reply, opting to light another cigarette up. She smoked a lot these days, and she figured she'd start smoking even more given what was happening.

"At least be civil when you see him, jou-chan. It's been two years. Ease up a bit on the guy."

She still didn't speak. When her cigarette was reduced to nothing but ashes and her anger was back under control, she decided to just take the high road and make this easier on everyone. After all, if I'm not going to be seeing any of them after tonight, what's the point of digging up old issues?

"Fine. But no funny business, Sano. I mean it", she warned.

Sano practically glowed after she said that. "That's great! See, this is why I never gave up on you, Jou-chan!" he reached out to lock her head in his arms and rub her head affectionately, "It's 'cause of that big, ginormous heart a' yours!"

Kaoru couldn't help but giggle at his antics, finally easing her tensed muscles into submission. God, I really did miss this guy.

A few more minutes later, Sano paid the bill—insisting loudly that this was his treat and that he didn't want his jou-chan thinking that he hasn't landed up anywhere good during the time they weren't able to talk—and they got up to leave. As Kaoru was walking back to her car, she was surprised to find Sano following close behind her, looking sheepish. She raised her eyebrow in question and laughed internally when she realized what he wanted, but she wanted him to say it anyway. It's been two years since she last heard him grovel for something and she'd be a liar if she said she didn't miss that about him too.

"So, uh… mind if you give me a ride? I asked one of my officemates for a ride here earlier. Tryin' to save up on gas, 'ya know?"

Kaoru shook her head, completely amused. "Get in the car, cheapskate."

End of Chapter 1