A/N: Here it is! What you've all been waiting for - Kenshin in action! I've never really written an action scene before so hopefully it's coherent. I love, love, LOVE your reviews so please keep 'em coming. They keep me motivated. Enjoy!
Trigger Warnings: Gender-based violence, discussion of sex work and allusion to rape, swearing.
Disclaimer: Watsuki doesn't deserve some of these characters, especially the women. So, I'm gonna take them off his hands for a while. #sorrynotsorry
Megumi propped herself up against the wall of her building and tried to ignore the smell of old urine wafting up from the pavement. She ran her fingers along her scalp and torso, assessing the damage. Sora had actually gone easy on her. He already knew that Megumi had an incredible tolerance for pain and that nothing could scare her more than Tsubame turning up in her hospital. So he had seen little reason to give her a proper work up. The bruised ribs and mild concussion were really to prove a point, more than anything. Leaning her head back, she tried to summon the energy to get up and away from the putrid curb. Right as she had gathered her resolve, however, she heard a familiar voice.
"Meg?"
Shit.
"What they hell are you doing sitting on the sidewalk?!" Sano towered over her. He was wearing jeans and a nice t-shirt, a far cry from the faded track suit he usually wore.
"Hey, Sano." She said tiredly, struggling to get up but stumbling to the side instead. Damn, that concussion might be worse than I thought.
"Woah! Whoah! Hey there missy." Sano caught her and saw her wince as he put his arm around her waist. He frowned and his voice became stern. "What happened?"
"Just get me upstairs, Sano."
He tossed her arm over his shoulders and limped with her into the building. "Easy does it. There we go." He crooned softly.
"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked as she leaned into him. She breathed in deeply, trying to stave off her growing nausea, and noticed that Sano smelled quite nice for a change.
"I was coming over to watch a fight with Kaoru." He held up a six-pack that had been dangling from his free hand.
They paused at the steps and Sano shot a doubtful look at Megumi. "Hey Fox, if I gave you the beer to hold, do you think you'd let me carry you?"
Megumi stared up the long staircase and noticed that the straight lines were a little wobbly. She shook her head, which only aggravated the headache that was beginning to rage in her skull. Shutting her eyes tightly, she ground out "I don't think I have much of a choice."
"Thought not." Sano grunted. He placed the six-pack in her arms and swept her knees up into the air. "I'll try to be smooth."
"Never gonna happen." Megumi quipped against his shoulder.
He chuckled as he began the long climb.
Kaoru jumped as she heard what sounded like someone kicking down her door. Rushing to the peep-hole, she found Sano holding her roommate. She flung the door open and gave him an acid stare, "What did you do?"
"Helped your broke-ass roommate home!" he shot back. "Now let us in before I drop her!" He was breathing heavier than he'd like and would rather his crush didn't think he was a total wuss.
Kaoru stepped back and directed him to the couch while she grabbed a cold compress, water, and some Advil. Once Sano had settled Megumi on the couch, Kaoru knelt before her and sternly looked into her eyes. "What happened?"
Megumi downed the Advil and water before pressing the compress to the back of her head. "It's a long story."
Kaoru sat back on the the coffee table and folded her arms. "Then you should start at the beginning."
Megumi looked from Kaoru to Sano, who had deposited himself in the armchair across from her with his six-pack, and sighed. "I'm having some trouble with a former employer."
Sano scoffed and cracked open the first beer. "What kind of employer beats up on women?"
"The illegal kind."
He paused with the beer partway to his lips and narrowed his eyes. "How illegal?"
Megumi was silent.
"Kaoru's right. Start at the beginning."
Admitting defeat, she laid back on the couch and spoke to the ceiling. "I don't have any family. Not really one for friends either."
Sano took a swig. "Join the club."
Megumi glared at him from the corner of her eye, worried that moving her head would send the room spinning. "Do you want to hear this story or not?"
"ok ok, sorry." He settled back into the chair to listen.
Megumi talked for a long time. She told them how her family died in a house fire her sophomore year of college. How she worked three jobs to make ends meet and pay for school after she lost her scholarship. How she drank away half her paycheck after college, asking herself 'What's the point, maybe she should just die too." She told them how she ended up in a hospital with alcohol poisoning, and about the Dr. Gensai that had saved her life. She wasn't sure if it was the concussion that was loosening her lips, or if it was the simple fact that she had never said any of this out loud before. But she found that once she started, she couldn't stop. She told them how Dr. Gensai had written her a recommendation for medical school, and personally advocated to the board on her behalf, despite her weak application. Through it all, she was vaguely aware of Sano working his way through his six pack.
When she got to the part about medical school, she paused. "Medical school is... expensive."
"No shit." Sano said over his last can.
Megumi ignored him. "Even with Dr. Gensai's personal appeal, they only just let me in. I had no chance at a scholarship, and loans... I just couldn't justify that kind of debt. I was out at a bar downtown, trying to find a solution at the bottom of a glass when this woman hit on me."
Megumi glanced at Sano, waiting for a comment, but he remained silent. She took a deep breath. "She told me I was stunning and that it looked like I could hold my liquor too. We got to talking and after about an hour, she handed me her card, paid my tab, and left. The card was black and completely blank except for a web address. I looked it up when I got home. It was an escort service."
Sano was very still all of a sudden. Then Megumi heard an aluminum crunch as he stalked off to the kitchen. Grabbing a bottle of liquor off the top of their fridge, he returned to the armchair and poured himself a glass. Kaoru rolled her eyes at him and returned her attention to her roommate. "Go on."
Megumi sighed. "Well you guys can put together the rest. It was good money. Not like these 15-minute, 'one and done' operations on the street corners. Our clients wanted an experience, a woman that could offer more than a hole to stick it in. They paid for your clothes, jewelry, make-up. One girl had an apartment here and in Paris, completely paid for by a client. We had regulars, we would work black-tie events, sometimes clients would even just pay for the pleasure of your company. Take you out, wine and dine you, then drop you off to your own bed with a thousand bucks in your hand. I had enough for tuition, books, and a nice apartment."
Sano poured himself another glass.
"Like I said, it was good money. I felt like I had really lucked into something. I didn't mind the work, I even enjoyed it sometimes. I was good at it and I was making people happy and... and it was easy. Until..." She trailed off.
"The black eye." Kaoru said.
"Yeah."
"What happened?"
"You know I don't even remember his name? He was a new client. One of the reasons I stayed with the agency after I learned how the business worked was because of the security. They vetted all of the clients, escorted you to and from events, checked in on you throughout the night. It was comforting, thinking that someone was looking out for you. This guy though..." she shrugged, "he slipped through their net - a friend of a friend of a long-time client, or something like that." She swallowed as the memories came back to her. "He had said on his profile that he liked it rough, but this was..." She trailed off, lost in thought before shaking herself back to the present. "Lets just say I didn't enjoy it." She said with pursed lips. Sano was now drinking straight out of the bottle. "I seriously thought about quitting after that night, but I couldn't afford it. So I did the next best thing, I joined your class." She said matter-of-factly. "And it worked. After that night, no one laid a finger on me again without my express consent."
"'til tunight, ya mean." Sano said darkly from his chair.
"Yes, until tonight." Megumi said sullenly. She filled them in on the rest, how she quit once she graduated and moved in with Kaoru, giving up the agency assets and her client list. How she tried to turn down Kanryu's initial offer, the subsequent visits from Sora, the beating they gave Tsubame, and her unfortunate encounter earlier that night. "And that pretty much brings us up to now," she finished lamely.
Kaoru shook her head and rose to get a fresh compress. "I can't say I'm all that surprised," she sighed. "The way you focused your defense work, it makes sense. I'll admit I wondered once or twice if you did sex work."
"Really?"
"Ya, but I dismissed it because you had so much nice stuff! Shit, if I had known there were services like that when I was on the street, I would have signed up in a heart beat!" she joked, trying to make her roommate feel better.
Megumi tried to chuckle but just winced instead. "They wouldn't have taken you anyway, you have far too dirty of a mouth."
Kaoru gently tossed a pillow at her, careful not to put any real force behind it, and laughed.
Sano laughed harshly from his armchair, but there was no mirth in it. "Oh ya, sure. Gettin yer face beat 'n fer money is hi-lar-ious."
Kaoru glared at her friend, but Megumi spoke first. "It wasn't like that."
"No? cuz thas wha is lookin like from here, sister."
"That guy was a mistake and it never happened again. I don't regret my choices and I certainly don't have to justify them to you."
"Nah, jus gotta jus'fy 'em to that girl n tha hospital, don ya?"
Kaoru jumped up. "You're outta line, Sano!"
"I'm outta line? I'mmm out line?! I'm not tha one goin' round, selling drugs and gettn beat up an god knows what else!" He gestured wildly to the room.
"I don't sell drugs." Megumi's tone was ice cold.
"'Course not. Cuz even call-girls s'got morals, am'a right?!" He stood up on unsteady legs. "And here I thought you'er outta my league, bein'a fancy doctor 'n'all. Turns out I just couldn't afford you," he hissed.
"Shut up, Sano." Kaoru had moved around behind him, ready to pounce if he didn't take her advice.
He spun around to face her, "No no! By all means. Les keep laughing bout 'gumi gettin 'er head bashed in by tha henchman ofva washed-up whore."
Megumi jumped up from the couch and immediately clutched her head. "Don't call me that!" she collapsed back on the couch as Sano turned with a surprised look on his face. Kaoru took the opportunity to give him a swift kick to the head. He hit the deck, hard, and laid still. She bent over to check his pupils and breathing before collapsing back in his now vacated chair. "He's alive."
"Pity," Megumi said rubbing her temples on the couch.
"Ya, I should've taken the bottle away when he brought it back from the kitchen."
"Clearly." Megumi said sardonically.
"So what now?"
"Now? Now we get his sorry ass out of our apartment."
Kaoru chuckled. "What was that about a dirty mouth?"
"Shut up." She tossed a pillow at her friend, who deftly caught it. "Just help me, will ya?"
"Ok, ok. Take it easy. You're in bad enough shape as it is."
It took both of them a minute to maneuver Sano's lanky body around the couch and to the front door. Megumi positioned limbs while Kaoru dragged the bulk of his weight across the floor. Eventually, they made it to the front entrance and Megumi held the door open while Kaoru pushed. Having negotiated his torso over the threshold, they decided the most efficient way to complete the job was to take his legs and shove them over his head, there-by negating the need for any more dragging and ensuring that he was deposited face down, in case he decided to throw up. They had each grabbed one foot and had them hoisted to chest height, ready to flop them over, when they heard a quiet "Oro?" from across the hall. They both looked up in time to see a wide-eyed Kenshin staring at them from his open doorway, clad entirely in black. Kaoru had a split second to register what an improvement his chic new threads were over his typically garish wardrobe before looking back to Megumi. The roommates realized they in no way wanted to explain the situation to their neighbor. Quickly shoving Sano's legs over his head, they ducked back into their apartment and slammed the door shut, trying not to feel as guilty as they looked.
Kenshin just stood there, blinking. See, told you they can take care themselves. He shook his head and walked over to check on the man, who had moaned and rolled over onto his stomach. He reeked of alcohol, but otherwise seemed ok. Kenshin adjusted his body so he didn't wake up with a sprained neck, sighed, and headed down the stairs. That man is going to have one hell of a headache in the morning.
Megumi rubbed her temples, still battling the headache from the night before. She and Kaoru had tried to stay up and brainstorm solutions to her current predicament, but instead had just finished off the bottle Sano had been working on. Eventually, they had given up and decided to think on it for a day. After an all-too-short night's sleep, Kaoru had gone to school and Megumi had gone to the hospital to check on Tsubame. She was recovering well and hadn't made a break for it, so Megumi claimed she was feeling sick (which wasn't entirely untrue) and taken the rest of the day off. Trudging up the stairs, she was looking forward to a long nap. Reaching her landing, she fumbled with her keys. She was exhausted, which is probably why she didn't notice the man lurking in the stairwell above her. Finally managing to get the key in the lock, she sighed as the door swung open. Stepping through the threshold, the hairs stood up on her neck. As she turned to close the door behind her, she gasped as Sora and another man she didn't recognize shoved her into the apartment and slammed the door shut behind them.
Megumi was furious. She should have known better than to be so spaced out as she had entered her apartment. She knew that they knew where she lived, she never should have been so careless. They had tied her hands and gagged her on the couch. The one man had suggested taking advantage of her escort skills, but Sora had reminded him not to under-estimate her. So they had left her there while they ransacked her room, presumably looking for 'merchandise' but really just destroying her things. Apparently Kanryu was testing a theory that she cared more about her belongings than her life. Which of course was ridiculous. Sure, Megumi enjoyed looking nice, but more often than not her fine clothes and jewelry were a means to an end, that end being a big fat tip.
What she really cared about, right then, was what would happen when Kaoru got home from class in a few minutes. Her initial reaction was panic, not wanting Kaoru to end up like Tsubame. Then Megumi realized that Kaoru was a black-belt instructor, and might be her best shot at getting out of this mess. At that thought, a tiny blossom of hope had sprung up in her chest, only to be replaced once again with panic. What if Kaoru went to the gym after class, as she so often did? Would Sora leave her alone with the new guy? Would they take her somewhere after they finished trashing the apartment?
Her questions were answered, however, as she heard keys rattle against the lock. She found herself experiencing equal parts fear and relief, not wanting her friend to be in danger, but also not wanting to face that danger alone. Unfortunately, Sora had chosen that exact moment to look in the kitchen and heard the lock turning. Springing to the door with lightning-quick speed, Megumi could only watch in dismay as he pulled out his gun. As Kaoru swung the door open, he stepped forward and pressed it to her temple. Meanwhile, the stranger had come up behind Megumi and yanked her to her feet. Kaoru's eyes widened for a split second before narrowing into angry slits.
Sora spoke in a menacing voice. "Close the door."
Kaoru step into the apartment and quietly closed the door behind her.
"Drop your bag." She did. Waving his gun, Sora told her to sit on the couch. She moved slowly and deliberately.
"Who are you?" She asked, as she sat down.
"You don't really need to know that," was Sora's terse reply.
"Wait a minute, I know you. Sora, right? Who's your friend?"
Sora glared at her. "Unimportant. What's important, is how yer gonna help us get Megumi to see reason."
Kaoru chuckled darkly. "Not gonna happen."
"Oh it will happen, eventually. We just need to find the right pressure point. Who knows, maybe it will be you." He leered at her but didn't move any closer.
Kaoru glanced over at Megumi and could see she had gone white. The other man had a firm grip on her elbow, but she seemed unharmed. God, Kaoru hoped she wasn't Megumi's pressure point. Setting her mouth, she caught her friends eye and they shared a look. Kaoru needed Sora to get closer. He was huge, but she was fairly confident she could take him with Megumi's help.
"You already beat the shit outta that other girl, what makes you think I'd be different?"
"Little Tsubame belonged to our world, under our control. I think maybe Megumi might feel more strongly if her unfortunate roommate were drawn into this mess." A wicked grin slowly tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"I hate to disappoint you, but I'm no stranger to your world, and I'm not unfortunate."
Sora chuckled, "We'll see about that." He pulled a set of zip ties out of his pocket. "Here," he said, tossing them at Kaoru's feet. "Put these on."
Kaoru just glared. "Make me."
Sora stepped forward, placing his gun just a few inches from Kaoru's face. "With. Pleasure."
Kaoru tried not to smirk as she leaned forward, glancing at Megumi as she bent to pick up the ties. Right as her fingers touched the firm plastic, she felt Megumi lunge back, knocking her head against her captor and sending them both tumbling to the ground. At the same instant, Kaoru threw the ties in Sora's face and knocked his arm towards the ceiling before aiming a punch at his sternum. He jumped back before her fist could connect and then all hell broke lose.
Kenshin sighed as he entered the lobby. What a night! he thought tiredly. Normally local jobs were quiet. If the company was sending him out of town, the extra cost and inconvenience generally meant that the clients were in quite serious need of their expertise. Locally though, their services were cheaper and were therefore sought after by paranoid parents in addition to those facing a real threat. Kenshin had thought this job had been of the paranoid kind. The contract had lasted two weeks and he had spent every night of those two weeks playing chess or watching TV with Misao. Last night, however, it seemed that the parent's worst nightmare had come true. Their house had gotten completely shot to shit and he and Misao both were sporting some nasty bruises. Thankfully, the kids had been unharmed and they had apprehended the assailants. Kenshin didn't mind a good fight, but between the property damage and the involvement of the police, there had been a mountain of paperwork he'd had to complete. It had taken him most of the morning and he was absolutely exhausted.
Staring balefully at the stairs, he began to climb considerably slower than his usual pace. Several flights later, he paused with his foot on the landing to his and Kaoru's apartments. It sounded like there was a wrecking crew in hers. Loud crashes and what sounded like bodies hitting floors came drifting across the hallway. He hesitated, looking between his door and hers. She's fine, his professional voice whispered in his mind. She's probably just finishing what she started with that poor bastard on the floor last night. He turned to his door, keys in hand. But what if that guy had brought back friends? he wondered.
She has a roommate, she's not alone. Besides, she has made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want you poking around in her business. If she really needs help, she'd ask for it. Kenshin had doubts - it really did sound like a nasty fight - but his exhaustion and reasoning were taking over. Putting his key into his lock, he sighed, ready for a good long nap, when he heard a gunshot pierce the air. You can't ask for help if you're being shot at! he thought fiercely and crossed the landing in two steps. Bursting through the door, he ducked to the side as a huge body came flying at him. Snaking his leg out, he kicked the man hard in the gut. The man crashed into a side table and lay still. Turning to the rest of the room, Kenshin saw Kaoru pulling another man off her roommate. The man spun away and pulled a pistol out of his waistband. She grabbed his arm before he could properly take aim and they crashed against the far wall. Kaoru twisted and elbowed the man hard before slamming his hand through the window. He screamed and dropped the gun as shards of glass pierced his arm.
Just as Kenshin was about to step forward to help, he felt a ligature sweep over his head. Shoving his fist next to his neck before the noose could properly tighten, he slammed backwards into the massive body behind him. The man fell back with Kenshin on top of him. Kenshin flipped his legs over his head, twisting the mans arms up with him and came to land on his knees above the man's head. He savagely knee'd the giant's skull until his grip loosened and Kenshin wiggled out of the noose. The man rolled away from Kenshin's sharp blows, but Kenshin still had control of one of the mans fists. Shoving his knee into the center of the guy's back, he twisted the mans arm down and around his torso before yanking back on the fist as hard as he could. He pulled up towards the mans spine until he heard a blood-curdling pop. The man screamed and writhed on the floor. Kenshin rolled away, grabbing his own pistol from his shoulder holster and pressed it to the man's temple. "Shut up," he said in an icy tone. The man went completely still, cradling his arm on the floor.
Kenshin looked up in time to see Kaoru place her opponent in a blood choke. She had her legs wrapped around the mans waist and her arms pressed expertly on his carotid. In a matter of seconds, the man's eyes rolled back in his head and his body slumped. Kaoru shoved him away and stood, chest heaving as her breath came in ragged gasps. Kenshin just stared. She was wearing a pale blue tank-top that was about one size too small for her. Her lip was bloody, there was a nasty bruise forming over her right eye, and her hair was sticking out every which way. Kenshin vaguely thought he had never seen anyone so sexy in his entire life. Thankfully, before he could really register that thought, she spoke.
"I knew you were full of shit."
"Excuse me?!"
"You! With your stupid hair and your stupid clothes and your stupid grin. I knew it was bullshit! Who are you?"
Kenshin's mouth was hanging open. Had he really been that obvious? He glanced down at the giant on the floor and finally recognized him as the delivery guy from the other day. "Um, I can't really answer that right now."
Kaoru had walked over to Megumi and untied her. "You pulled a gun in my apartment. You will answer whatever I damn well ask." She spat at him.
"I pulled a gun after I heard gunshots. Excuse me for trying to help!" He said indignantly.
"Whatever. I had it under control."
Kenshin gestured to the trashed apartment. "Clearly."
"Stop it, both of you." Megumi stood up. "We need to figure out what to do with them."
Sora glared up from the floor. "You might as well kill me, because if you don't I'm gonna tear each and every one of you limb from limb."
Kenshin rolled his eyes and pistol-whipped the giant. His head fell back and he was still. Kenshin kept his gun trained on him while he checked the pupils of both the assailants, ensuring that they truly were unconscious, before turning to the girls. "I have resources that I could make available to you." He said calmly.
"What kind of resources?" Megumi asked suspiciously.
"I have ways of... making people go away. Or rather, my company does."
"Your company disposes of bodies?" Kaoru asked skeptically, folding her arms across her barely-covered chest.
"What?! No! Well..." He shook his head. "No! No, I meant we can convince these gentlemen to leave you alone."
Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "Why would your company want to help us?"
Kenshin sighed. "They could care less about you. But I'm involved now. I dislocated a man's shoulder and then pistol-whipped him. I'll have to report it."
"What do they care if you rough a guy up in your spare time?"
"I have no spare time, I'm on duty 24/7," he explained.
"What kind of consultant is on duty 24/7?!"
"The expensive kind." He responded in clipped tones. He was getting tired of the 20 questions. "Look, do you want my help or not?"
Megumi stepped forward. "Thank you for the offer, but, we'll pass. I don't want to trade one underhanded agency for dealings with another. We'll manage from here."
Kenshin looked at the two women, the unconscious attackers, and the completely wrecked apartment. For a split second he thought about pressing the issue, but decided against it. "Suit yourself," he said, holstering his weapon and turning to the door. "Let me know if you change your mind," he called over his shoulder before stepping over the threshold and slamming the door behind him.
In the end, they decided to call Sano. Kaoru wasn't sure if he would even pick up after the night before, but in the end it only took three tries (the last of which on Megumi's cell), to get him on the line. "Hello?" he growled into the receiver.
"Don't hang up!" Kaoru quickly said. "Something's happened."
"What?! Where are you? Is Megumi alright?"
"She's fine. But we need you to come over. Can you bring your truck?"
He got there in record time, probably breaking every traffic law known to man on the way. When he stepped into the apartment, he froze and let out a low whistle. "Fuck." he said.
"Yea," Kaoru responded. "Look, we gotta get them out of here before they wake up. Do you think you could help us?"
"Sure, but, where do you want them to go?"
"Kanryu's" Megumi said, walking in from the kitchen. "I want that bitch to know what happens when she sends people after me."
"Are you sure that's a good idea Meg?" Sano asked. "She's pretty pissed as it is."
Her lips were set in a thin line. "I'm sure."
It took the three of them about half an hour to get the intruders down to the truck. Kaoru had never been so grateful to live in such a shitty building. What few neighbors they did come across kept their heads down and their eyes averted as they hurried past. They tied and gagged the men before setting off to Kanryu's. Kaoru stayed behind to clean up the apartment, so Sano and Megumi found themselves waiting for sunset, parked down the street from the agency. Megumi had her head propped against the window, trying to get some badly needed rest when Sano spoke.
"I never called you a whore."
"What?" she cracked open her eyes.
"Last night, before Kaoru knocked me out. You told me not to call you that but I didn't. I'd never say something like that to you."
Megumi sighed, closing her eyes again. "I told you not to call me 'Gumi'. I hate that name."
"Oh." He was quiet for a while, then, "I'm sorry I called you a call-girl though."
Megumi just shrugged. "It's what I am."
"It's not who you are. It's just your job." He said stubbornly. "And not even that anymore, from what I understand."
"That's true."
He shifted in his seat to face her squarely. "I just, I want you to know that I'm sorry for how I acted. I was upset. And not for the reason you think. You're not the first woman I've known to do sex work. I meant what I said, it's just a job. But..." he swallowed. "It scared the shit outta me, thinking of you getting hurt like that girl in the hospital. And I reacted badly. I'm sorry."
Megumi turned her head and looked at him. He looked like he was going to be sick. She wanted to be mad at him, he really had been an ass. But he had also helped her haul two beaten bodies out of her apartment. Besides which, she was too damn tired to be mad at anyone other than Kanryu. "It's ok." She sighed, and scooted over to lean her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and she slept soundly until well after dark.
They got back to the apartment a couple hours after sunset, with Megumi driving the truck and Sano following on the motorcycle she had left the day before. Sano had insisted on staying the night with them in case of any retribution for their drive-by delivery. Kaoru admitted it was probably a good idea and had offered to let him sleep in her bed while she took the couch, since his long limbs would never begin to fit on their sofa. They had all gone straight to bed, bone-tired from the last 24 hours. Sano and Megumi passed out immediately, but Kaoru tossed and turned for over an hour. Staring at her stained ceiling with a pillow clutched to her chest, she blew out an exasperated breath and sat up. Mumbling to herself about red-head's with stupid clothes, she stalked over to the kitchen and got a bottle of whiskey out from under the sink. Grabbing her keys and a couple of chipped mugs from the cupboard, she quietly stepped out onto the landing and triple-checked that her front door was locked. Then she marched over to her neighbor's door and began pounding.
"Hey, freak! Open up!"
The door swung open almost immediately to reveal her neighbor clad only in a pair of dark jeans. Momentarily stunned by seeing his perfect abs where a neon shirt should have been, Kaoru forgot what she had planned to say.
"Did you change your mind?" He asked politely.
His cheery voice shook her from her stupor and she glared at him. "No. We handled it. Does your camera feed catch our front door?"
"Uh, yea."
"Good. Pull the feed up so I can see it. You and I are gonna talk."
Kenshin stared at her for a moment with hooded eyes before swinging the door wide and stepping back to let her in. She marched past him and he quietly shut it behind her, leaving a small echo on the now-deserted landing.
