Author's note!

Hello again! Wow… I guess the idea for this story was pretty good considering the outpouring of reviews for the first chapter. Well, it definitely inspired me to get the next chapter out quickly so here it is.

Thanks to Messi, Mikazuki, Sophie6_13, Nimbus Rey, Arashi,Britzy, Linay, omochi for the complements!

~le bleu phenix - don't worry, a lot more RK characters made an appearance today and the number will keep growing.

Kamimura Kaoru – It's only my first A/U fic but thanks for the compliment!

Angelbake - *sheepishly ducks her head* Typos?? Me??? No WAY! Okay, seriously, I'm not the best person to check over my work but I did run over this one a couple of times, not that that says much.

Well, I hope you enjoy the next chapter! Leave a review if you feel so inclined! Thank you!!

* * *

Kaoru watched from behind the two-way mirror as the two uniformed officers put the suspect under intense interrogation. With a sigh, she turned to Aoshi and saw he was lost in thought. The door opened and an officer walked in, handing her a folder.

"What does it say?" Aoshi said breaking his silence.

"Sanosuke Sagara," she said reading the first page of the file. "He joined a vigilante group when he was younger but they were killed by a yakuza hit squad. Ran away from home, managed to rack up a few petty theft charges but… nothing that would warrant a hit from the Juppongatana."

Aoshi's face didn't change. "Anyone with him that might have been the real target?"

Kaoru frowned. "There was someone else but I didn't get a good look at him. I can ask Megumi if she saw anything."

"It's probably a good idea," Aoshi said, turning back to the interview. Kaoru sighed, realizing that was all the conversation she was going to get out of the detective. Besides, she wanted to head to the hospital to check on Megumi and her patient.

Aoshi heard the door close but didn't break his vigil. The two officers were yelling again but the suspect was not responding at all. He seemed pretty confident for someone who was just arrested for attempted murder with the weapon still in hand.

A moment later, a suit entered the room and Aoshi stood up. Looks like his lawyer had shown up. Aoshi opened the door and walked out, almost getting run over by another officer.

"Sorry sir," the officer said, "but I was just coming to get you. I have someone you probably want to meet." Aoshi fell into step with the officer and walked towards the front of the precinct.

He saw her sitting on a chair, feet moving back and forth. She was wearing torn jeans, a tattered coat and a grimy shirt. Her outfit screamed homeless but for some reason, there was no sign of despair or defeat on her face. Her blue eyes sparkled as she turned to face him and the long braid bounced off her back as she stood up.

"This is Detective Shinomori," the officer said motioning to Aoshi. "This is… ah…"

"Makimachi Misao," she said with a bow and a smile.

"Makimachi-san said she has some information about what happened at the club tonight," the officer said.

"I have lots of information," Misao said with a smile. "But… I haven't had dinner so I can't really remember things so clearly…"

Aoshi frowned and moved forward. "Let's go get some food then," he said walking towards the door, Misao following close behind.

* * *

Megumi carefully peeled off the gloves and tossed them in the bin. She stretched her back a bit before venturing outside the operating room where she found Kaoru waiting for her.

"Hello Kaoru," she said, tiredly. "Thank you for the wonderful evening."

Kaoru looked at her apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "I guess trouble follows me wherever I go." Megumi frowned and nodded. "So how's the patient?"

Megumi sighed. "Fine, for someone who was just shot in the stomach at close range. He'll pull through.'

Kaoru nodded. "Did the man who came with him stay?"

Megumi shook her head. "As soon as one of the nurses told him that his friend would be okay, he bolted."

"Do you remember what he looked like?" Kaoru asked. Megumi yawned. "I'm sorry, Megumi-chan. You must be very tired. Can I drive you home?"

Megumi shook her head. "No point, I'll be back on shift in three hours. I'm just going to stay here and try to get some sleep." She paused for a moment. "Kaoru… there is one thing that puzzles me."

"What is it?"

"Well, I've seen a lot of people come through here after a Juppongatana hit but this one… it just doesn't feel right. Their assassins usually shoot a victim right in the heart, to make sure they killed him."

Kaoru frowned. "Maybe because of the crowd…" But she trailed off. Looking back, it did seem a bit strange. An assassin should not have been so easy to catch. And the person shot was someone who had no obvious connection to Juppongatana or one of their enemies. "Megumi, do you have the bullet?"

"It was taken away by an officer," she said, with another yawn.

"All right," Kaoru said. "Why don't you go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow." Megumi nodded and walked off to the doctor's lounge. Looking over her shoulder, she made sure Kaoru was gone before she walked back towards ICU. Taking a seat next to the young man she had just save, Megumi stretched out and fell asleep on the chair.

* * *

Misao's eyes widened as soon as the waitress put down the large plate of food. Taking a deep breath, she promised herself she would not inhale the food in one breath. Besides, the guy standing across from her was really hot and she didn't want to look like an idiot. Slowly cutting the steak, she carefully chewed on it, trying to remember any manners that may have been taught to her before she had been tossed out on to the street. But at the first taste of the warm meat, those thoughts completely melted away and Misao went on a rampage.

Aoshi watched her, drinking on his tea occasionally. Just as he thought, she was from the streets. Looking at her, he realized she couldn't be more than eighteen. What a waste, to be so young and already lost. But there was definitely something about her that made him think she hadn't given up.

Misao looked up with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I guess I was hungrier than I thought." Her plate was pretty much cleared at this point so she started picking at the remains. "So detective… what's your first name?"

Aoshi was taken off guard by the question. "Aoshi," he said briskly.

"Nice name," she said with a smile. "So have you been a detective long?"

"A couple of years."

"Do you like it?"

"You certainly ask a lot of questions."

Misao smiled and reached for the soda. "Of course I do," she said. "Its how I survive and how I'm going to help you. You'd be surprised what people talk about when they don't think anyone can hear them."

"So you do have some information about the Juppongatana hit that occurred tonight?"

Misao wiped her mouth on the napkin. "How about the fact that it wasn't the Juppongatana?" Aoshi raised an eyebrow. "Come on, I thought you guys were the police! You really bought that it was them? Just 'cause the guy wore a red bandana and shot someone at close range with a gun?"

Aoshi put the cup down. "And how did you come to the conclusion it wasn't them?"

Misao looked right at him and held up her hand to tick off her reasons. "One, the bandana was on the wrong hand. Two, the gun didn't have a name engraved on it and the Juppongatana have an obsession with naming their weapons. Three, their target didn't die because the assassin didn't hit him in the right place. A real Juppongatana assassin would have shot him right in the heart to kill him. And four, the guy they shot is a no-name street punk. If they were after anyone, they would have tried to kill his friend but that's worth more then you can spend right now."

Aoshi blinked. "How did you…"

Misao looked down at her plate. "Like I said, people tend to talk when they don't see anyone around or if they think the people around them are just drunk trash. Oh," she said standing up and dropping the napkin on the table, "you might want to pull that bouncer from the Hiken club in Roppongi that's working for you. The club owners found out and are contracting a killer to take him out two days from now.

"I'll stop by the precinct when I have more," she said with a smile. "Of course, it'll cost you another dinner. Ja!"

And before Aoshi could say anything else, she walked out of the diner.

* * *

The next morning, Kaoru pulled up to the station in her little white car. Looking over, she saw Aoshi's motorcycle already there. Workaholic, she though to herself as she turned off the engine. He probably never left.

Walking into the office, she was greeted by some of her fellow officers. It had been three weeks since she went undercover and it was good to see some familiar and friendly faces. She barely managed to make it to the locker room when someone pulled her over and said that Aoshi was looking for her.

With a sigh, she gave up on the thought of a morning cup of coffee and headed to his office. Walking inside, she found him sitting at his desk, looking over a file. He looked up at her, with just the slightest bit of emotion in his eyes. Kaoru stopped in her tracks.

"Oh no," she said.

"Kamiya, take a seat," he said.

"No," Kaoru said folding her arms. "I know that look. It's the 'I'm about to send Kaoru on another mission' look."

"We came across something…"

"Just stop right there," Kaoru said getting angry. "There is no way I am going undercover again so soon! I was gone for three weeks, I deserve a break! I promised my brother I would take him to Disneyland!"

"Kamiya," Aoshi said firmly. "Something very big is going on." Kaoru's anger faltered. "And obviously no one would be asking you to do this if there was another way." Kaoru sighed and sat down in the chair.

"Upon further investigation," Aoshi said handing her a folder, "we have determined that the hit last night was not from the Juppongatana but from someone trying to set them up to take the blame."

"Who would do that?" she said leafing through the report.

"The Hiken," he said. "At least that's the only connection we can make between the assassin in custody and anyone else."

"But to do this," Kaoru said softly, "to cast the blame on the Juppongatana would enrage them and…" She stopped talking.

"A full blown war between the two largest yakuza in Tokyo," he said with a nod. "We're keeping this entire matter very quiet. Our official word is that the attempted murder is still under investigation and that there are no suspects."

"Okay," she said, "but where do I fit in?"

"We need to know why the Hiken are moving now. The two groups have been in balance for a while now but someone decided it was time to should end up on top."

He threw another folder at her. "There's a job opening for a bartender at one of the Hiken clubs, the Cho. A lot of the higher ranking members of Hiken go there from time to time."

"So you want me to watch for them and report back anything I see or hear?" Kaoru asked. Aoshi nodded. "And the stylists are already here right? The new apartment's already been set up? I mean, I really don't have a say in this."

Aoshi frowned, the first sign of real emotion she had seen from him in a while. "I'm sorry Kamiya."

Kaoru sighed. "All right, then I better be going. Yahiko is never going to forgive me for not taking him to see Disneyland so you better believe I'm getting a large bonus for this."

* * *

The Cho was in the loudest part of Tokyo, in the heart of Roppongi. Though right now, early in the afternoon, it was almost quiet. The red Mazda Miata pulled up to the side street next to the club and the window rolled down. The guard looked inside at the car and his eyes widened. Quickly, he opened the gate and let the driver through.

Inside the club, a couple of men were examining several drinks. They heard the back door open and turned to see who was approaching.

"Well either this drink is stronger than I thought or hell just froze over," one of them said.

The man didn't pay them any attention but rather kept walking straight, the black fabric of his pants not making a sound as his did. His long red hair was tied back low on his back, moving slightly against the black turtleneck.

"Look at that, Himura Battousai has decided to grace us with his presence." Another said. "But I'm not sure he's welcome here."

The third stood up with a smile. "Of course he is. Himura-san, we've been expecting you."

"Soujirou," Kenshin said, watching the smiling young man make his way towards him.

"It is good to see you again," Seta said with a smile. "I'll go get him."

Kenshin shot a look over at the two men, wondering if they were actually going to be stupid enough to act on their threat now that Seta was gone. But they just glared at him in silence.

"Battousai."

Kenshin looked up and saw the tall man walking down the staircase. He frowned. "That's not my name anymore," Kenshin said firmly.

"Really?" the man replied. "Then why are you here? What possible interest could the Hiken yakuza have in you? The last time I checked, we were not interested in hiring piano movers." The two men laughed but Kenshin did not look amused.

"That is what you are here for correct? A job? Your friend is dying in a hospital and you don't have the money to pay his bills. Well, if you've come to ask for a loan…"

"I'm not here for a loan," Kenshin said firmly.

"Well, there is a bartending position open," the man said. "And from what I've heard, no one has met the requirements yet. But that's not what you are, Battousai. And I have no use for you unless you have decided to return to your former career

Kenshin frowned. He knew it was a mistake to come back but it was the only thing he could think of. He needed money fast. The doctor had said she would shuffle the paperwork for a bit until he could get it but that wasn't going to last long.

"I have an idea!" Seta said. "One of our bouncers just quit rather suddenly," he smiled. "Maybe Himura-san could take his place here." There was silence and Seta leaned over to talk into his boss's ear so Kenshin couldn't hear. "It'll give us a chance to bring back the fighter in him and in a few weeks, we'll have our assassin back, Saitou Hajime-san."

Saitou paused and considered Seta's request. With an aggravated nod, Saitou walked away, heading back to his office on the top floor. Seta turned to Himura and smiled. "Is that acceptable?"

Kenshin let out a breath of relief. "That will be fine."

"Excuse me?" The men in the room turned towards the feminine voice. "But is this where I can apply for the bartending job."

The men looked up as Kaoru started down the stairs. The heels of her sandals made soft clicks as they stepped on the metal stairs, the long black flare brushing against the exposed part of her foot. A metallic jingle came from waist as the metal chain around it hit the button of her low ride pants.

The shirt was of course the clincher, picked out by some sadistic police wardrobist who thought it would fit the theme of the bar. The large jeweled butterfly's wings were fully expanded, covering all the essential parts of her chest but leaving a lot of skin exposed. Most of it on her back, actually, which only had a crisscross of laces to cover it and hold the thing in place.

Her hair had been highlighted so that blonde was mixed in with the natural black (which was apparently the fashion). Her eyes had been tinted green, a color she was assured was completely exotic and desirable. The dark makeup around them made them really stand out as she cast a glance over at the assembled men.

As her feet hit the ground, Kaoru held back a smile. It wasn't the happy sort of smile. It was more the I'm-going-to-kill-Aoshi type of smile. Still at least it was working, except on the redhead.

"Ah…" one of the men at the bar said.

"Bartending job," she said, pronouncing the syllables slowly. "Is this…"

"Yes it is," Seta said suddenly bounding up to her with a smile. "Are you here to apply?"

The smile unnerved her but Kaoru pushed it back, letting the fabricated persona that had been created for her come into full effect. "Yes, Matsuda Hana," she said holding out a résumé.

Seta took it and glanced it over. "It looks good, Matsuda Hana-san, " he said. "Why not try mixing a few drinks?"

Kaoru nodded and tossed her purse in front of Kenshin. He looked up at her with unreadable violet eyes and Kaoru just walked to the back of the bar. Idiot, she thought to herself, stop trying so hard. Remember you are Matsuda Hana, cool as ice professional bartender.

Kenshin watched the scene with a mix of emotions. He recognized the girl instantly as the same cop who had helped him in the bar last night. But he was torn. On the one hand, he knew she was working for the police and he should turn her in right now. On the other hand, she had helped Sano last night and caught the guy who did it. And finally, there was Saitou… who Kenshin would really mind seeing annoyed by the authorities.

"Anything special?" Kaoru asked taking a place behind the bar and looking over their stock. Her mind raced, trying to bring back all the things they taught her at the bartending course.

"Just impress us," Seta said with a smile.

Kaoru nodded. She was going to show them what the taxpayers dollars had bought last year. She grabbed a bottle and spun it in her hand while she grabbed a glass in the other. She poured the drink, added the soda and a cherry in five seconds flat and shot it down the bar to Seta.

He smiled as he picked it up. Examining it he handed it over to one of the two men at the bar. He took a sip and nodded. "That's really good," the man said, finishing it off.

"Good!" Seta said, looking over at Kaoru. "I like the bottle spinning," he said.

"This?" Kaoru said grabbing the bottle and spinning it in her hand again. When she had enough momentum, she let spin on her fingertip before throwing it up in the air catching it behind her back. Oh yeah, Tom Cruise in Cocktail had nothing on her.

Seta smiled. He looked over at Kenshin and saw the former assassin staring intently at the girl. "She's good, right?" he asked him.

Kenshin blinked and looked over at Seta with a shrug. "She's okay."

Kaoru's temper flared a bit. Okay? Did he say she was just 'okay'? Bastard! She was decked out in at least thirty thousand yen worth of clothing and hair styling, showing them her most impressive bartending skills and it was just… okay???

"Don't mind him," Seta said, stretching out a hand with a smile. "Congratulations, you can start tonight."

Kaoru shook it firmly. "Great," she said picking up her purse. "See you all tonight then. Ja!" She left much the same way she had come.

Seta smiled and looked over at the two men who were still enraptured. He looked over to Kenshin and walked over to him. "Himura-san?" he asked.

"What?" Kenshin said looking away from the door.

"Please do us a favor," Seta smiled. "Follow her and make sure she doesn't go anywhere she shouldn't. Good help is so hard to find these days and I'd hate a repeat of what happened with the man who previous held your job to occur."

* * *

Kaoru walked down the street and refrained from pulling off the shoes right then and there. Oh, she was going to get Aoshi and then she would hunt down the people who decided her wardrobe would be like this. And then she would happily teach them why you do not toy with a master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu.

She stopped in the middle of the street and smiled. It had been a while since she thought back to that. Her father had taught it to her when she was younger. Despite the fact that swords were rarely used in modern day Tokyo, he told her it was to improve her character as well.

And then he had really been surprised when she announced her attentions to join the police like he did! All those years of the Sword the Protects made it nearly impossible for her to choose any other career but that. Besides, she had always looked up to him and wanted more than anything to be just like him.

She could only that he would have been proud.

With a sad little sigh, she reached into her purse and pulled out a stick of gum. She unwrapped it and popped it her mouth. Walking past a trashcan she tossed the wrapper in and continued on her way.

From several steps behind her, Kenshin watched. He waited for several minutes until someone else came up to the trash can. The man threw up his paper and then went back for it, riffling through the trash as if he hadn't wanted to throw it all away.

As soon as he was gone, Kenshin walked over to the can and pulled out the paper. He looked and realized the gum wrapper was gone. He had been right. This was her drop off point and that man had just come to collect the message.

* * *

Later that night, Kaoru found out exactly how popular The Cho was. The moment the doors opened at 11, the place was packed. She hadn't stopped mixing drinks since then either. She had to keep up the pace, knowing that a real bartender wouldn't slow down. So the bottles kept spinning, the drinks kept being poured and Kaoru's tip jar was overflowing. Maybe she could use the money to buy a Playstation2 for Yahiko to make up for Disneyland.

"Hello, Matsuda Hana-san!"

It took Kaoru a millisecond to realize the person was talking to her. "Soujirou-san," she said looking at the young man.

"It's going well, I see," he said, pointing to the jar. Kaoru nodded. "Very good. Ah… wait a minute," he said reaching behind him into the crowd and pulling someone forward. "Matsuda Hana-san, I want you to meet Yukishiro Enishi."

The man looked away from whomever he had been talking with to stare at Kaoru. White hair, sunglasses worn inside. Kaoru's heart stopped as she recognized who it was. The top assassin of the Hiken yakuza. The man was legendary in the department.

"Hello," he said with a smile, looking her over.

"Hi," she said with a detached coolness that took every ounce of her acting training to do.

"Excuse me," Seta said, "but I'm on my way upstairs." He disappeared and Kaoru found herself alone with the killer.

"I heard that they had hired a new bartender," he said, reaching out his hand. "But their descriptions didn't do you justice." His finger brushed against her cheek and Kaoru fought back the urge to hit him very hard.

Suddenly, Enishi's hand was pinned to bar. Looking up, Kaoru saw the red haired man from before. Enishi's eyes flashed angrily as he looked up at the man who had grabbed him.

"So they were telling the truth," Enishi said, a small smile playing on his lips. "You have come back to us. But as a bouncer right?" The smile faded. "So what right do you have to touch me?"

"Just back off," Kenshin said, eyes flashing an angry amber as he placed himself in front of Kaoru.

Enishi stopped and looked behind him at Kaoru with a smile. "Ah, I see… well," he said leaning forward to talk into Kenshin's ear. "Tell me when you're done with her. I always enjoying the things you hand down to me."

Kenshin let go of his arm and pushed him away, back into the crowd. He frowned at what Enishi had said. The man was everything Kenshin had heard he was. Egotistical, cold, and not afraid of anything. If being the Battousai still mattered to him, Kenshin might have been annoyed at the way some people said that Enishi was the better killer.

"Ano…" Kenshin turned around and saw Kaoru looking at him. "Thank you," she said, trying to maintain her composure.

Kenshin's eyes blinked and flickered back to violet. "It's nothing, Hana- dono. I'm supposed to make sure no one bothers the bartenders," he said with a smile.

She hadn't seen him smile before and instinctively she smiled back. "Wait, let me make you something to drink as repayment," she said, quickly whipping out a couple of bottles.

"Ah…" Kenshin started but a drink suddenly appeared in front of him, a swirl of orange and yellow, with a little umbrella on

"One Tokyo Sunrise," Kaoru said pushing it towards him. Leaning forward to him, she whispered, "And don't worry, no alcohol. Wouldn't want you to get in trouble," she said with a small smile. She pulled back quickly and slipped back into the Hana persona as she walked down the bar to get someone else's order.

Watching her disappear, Kenshin picked up the drink and took a sip. True to her word, it was just fruit juice. He watched her race around and fill orders, with the same coolness she had from before. But those brief moments when she smiled, he got a glimpse at the real person, not Matsuda Hana but whoever this young officer really was. Maybe he'd keep her secret for just a little while longer…