Notes: Ehh... sorry about this one being so short! In the next one, I can promise a lot of action! Get ready! ^___^

Warnings: AU, Sano/Saitou, Sano/Kaoru (significantly residing) Kaoru/Kenshin (new boy-toy) Hiko/Kenshin (hints, nothing big at all)

Reperio ac Diruo Terra Operation

By: Emmy and Anji

Part Nine

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I froze as I saw the two rise from their seats to greet us. Kenshin's eyes widened as he looked at me, jaw dropping.

"Kenshin!? What are you doing here!?" I bit off, and he glanced in-between myself and Hiko many times.

"Sano, what are YOU doing here!?"

"What the hell do you think, I'm a fucking captive!"

"Then why are you out in the open!?" Kenshin spat back and Kaoru placed a hand on our shoulders.

"I take it that you two have met?" She asked innocently.

We nodded, and that was about the time Hiko spoke up. "I should have known that you would get caught so easily. But if you were caught... where is Saitou? And why ARE you out in the open?"

"Jime's still out there... Kaoru decided to tortu-- help me by taking me in." I lied quickly, receiving a dirty look from the psycho.

Hiko and Kenshin exchanged looks, repeating amongst themselves, "'Jime?'"

"I hate to break this up," Kaoru interrupted, "But I have to fulfill my duties as commander. I need to show the recruits a tour of the ship. By the way, my name is commander Kaoru Kamiya. I take it you," she nodded to Hiko, "Are Seijirou Hiko. And this," She gave a very flirty look to Kenshin, "Is Kenshin Himura."

I wanted to loose the little food I'd had the previous night. What a slut! Kenshin smiled back politely, but I could see Hiko was practically retching from behind her back.

Kaoru grabbed Kenshin's hand and pulled him out into the corridor. Hiko and I followed. She gave them the same tour I had remembered been given so many months ago... Or at least it seemed that way...

She treated Kenshin the same way she had treated me, and Hiko the same way she had treated Saitou. Maybe in a couple of weeks Kenshin would be her new sex toy -- I would have been long gone by then.

Finally, after she had showed them all the main areas, she headed for the sleeping chambers. "Sano, I'll take Kenshin to his room. Would you be a sweetheart and take Hiko to his? It's B202."

I would have liked to say no, but thoughts of Saitou filled my head, so I refrained. It didn't matter anyway, though, because she didn't wait for an answer. Instead she smiled widely and said, "Thanks!" Before walking bouncily away. I heard Kaoru telling Kenshin that, "Sano's great, really the big brother type, you know?"

I wanted to laugh. Last time I checked brothers and sisters didn't do the types of things she had been doing to me every night. But that was OK -- anything to get her to leave me alone.

After watching their backs until their turned the corner, I looked to Hiko.

"So how have you been these past few months?" I asked as he led the way to the B hallway. I knew that Hiko was miffed at the display that Kaoru had been putting on; it would have been better for me to start some kind of pleasant conversation.

"We've been trying to find you. The media thinks that you're still out there, it took more than what you'd imagine. The only way we were actually able to find you was when we heard a transmission between Hiradake and Kamiya. We told Commander Aoshi and he agreed to send us over to retrieve you after making an alliance with Hiradake." Hiko finished as we entered his room.

"No fucking way..." I trailed off. Aoshi gave into Hiradake!? What was he thinking!?

"So... why did you come here...?" I asked hesitantly.

Hiko glared, "Since you were captured we thought that you may need a rescuer."

"Ha! You two my knight on a white horse!?" I demanded, laughing my ass off.

"Shut up. Who else would come to rescue you!?" He demanded right back. "Saitou obviously abandon you!"

"Don't talk about Jime like that! Right now you should be worried about Kenshin and the chick he's with!" I snapped quickly.

"Yeah... I noticed..."

"You might want to go check out what's happening." I advised and Hiko frowned.

"What room are they in?"

"They probably took a detour to Kaoru's room." I said with a smirk. They had gotten there, whether it was willing or not. She had led him there...

"Come on, I'll show you. I've spent enough time there to find it in my sleep."

"So what have you been doing all this time?"

"Eating, sleeping, getting raped by Kaoru, getting raped by every single soldier on this ship... you know, the usual."

Hiko didn't reply, but his pace quickened the slightest bit. I could tell that he was getting more and more worried about what was happening to Kenshin.

I knew Kenshin wouldn't give in, but I figured we needed to hurry before she framed Hiko and Kenshin and got Battousai for a "birthday present."

She would twist everything around again and get Kenshin from her daddy. But then she was going to take the wrath of Hiko, tacked onto the already arriving wrath of Saitou... and he was going to be here soon.

Tonight.... I hoped that Hiko wasn't going to do something that would get me in trouble, I needed to be in Kaoru's room tonight!

... but what if Kaoru got her way with Kenshin...?

Was I going to go back in the dungeon? What could I do then?

Finally, we arrived in Kaoru's room. Hiko didn't bother to knock, and the door was surprisingly open.

I almost laughed. It was a good thing that I didn't because it would have drawn attention and Hiko and I would have missed a great show. A great show for me -- I'm not sure Hiko was enjoying it very much. In the time that he stood dumbfounded staring in the room, we saw Kaoru give a very stiff and downright terrified looking Kenshin a back rub that gradually became lower. Until she reached under his seat and threw him up with her immense force I had became very familiar with. With a loud, "Oroooooo!?!?!" Kaoru had Kenshin on his back.

"Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin yelled, but Kaoru mistook it as groan of pleasure.

"Kenshin!" She yelled back. That seemed to snap Hiko out of his trance.

"What is going on in here!?" Hiko roared, and Kaoru fell onto the floor, Kenshin looking up wide-eyed.

"Hiko-san?!"

"Shishou!?"

"Well!? I do believe I asked a question." Hiko's voice was low, and his eyes were flashing a bit of gold.

'Shishou..." was all Kenshin could get out. I'm sure he was as surprised as I had been. Of course, he didn't know what was going on, just as I hadn't.

"It's OK, Hiko." I placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"This is a big misunderstanding!"

"It is, Kaoru-san. Get away from him."

"I... I..." Kenshin shuttered, looking very confused.

"Got yourself a new boy toy, Kaoru?" I asked with a smirk. She glared.

"Let's go, Kenshin." The redhead stood up, making Kaoru roll over.

I watched Kaoru hopefully as the two men started to leave. "I'll just go then--" I began, pointing to the door way but she interrupted.

"You'll stay right there! I'm not done with you!"

Damn, why couldn't she have kept Kenshin and allowed me to leave? I guess I couldn't blame her, exactly. I mean who would want someone else when they had Sanosuke Sagara? But a guy can hope.

After Hiko and Kenshin were safely outside, Kaoru shut the door tightly before turning to me abruptly and saying, "We need to kill Hiko."

"What--?" Whatever I had been expecting, it definitely wasn't that.

"I know," she said distinctively, "you guys used to be friends of something." The demonic glint returned to her eyes. "But think about it: if we kill Hiko, Kenshin will have to join us!"

Join us? What was she talking about?

"Us? We?"

"OK, so let me get this straight." I replied, "You want to kill Hiko so you can have Kenshin. Right?" She nodded hungrily. "But what do I want with Kenshin?"

"Sanosuke! You want Kenshin because you want me to be happy, and having Kenshin will make me happy!"

"Damn, that's some fucked up logic, Kaoru..." I stated, trailing off.

Yeah, kill Hiko? Like that one was going to happen. I could probably do it if I tried really, really hard and killed myself in the process, but I could... uhh... maybe I really couldn't...

Oh well. Done with the detail thing now.

"Oh yeah, let's kill him tomorrow and just hang here plotting tonight, order some room service, sound good?" I suggested helpfully with a smile glued on my face.

Damn, all this so she could get Kenshin. And here I was expecting some kind of threesome. Oh well. Whatever happens, happens.

I could plan for tomorrow as much as I wanted, I wasn't going to be here tomorrow.

I would be long gone with Saitou...

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Saitou's eyes scanned over the clock. It was just about time to put his plan into motion. He sighed, his course for the ship was set. Now all he had to do was wait a little longer...

He felt terrible about being so incompetent. He had to make up for it... and he had a way.

Kaoru Kamiya's death was scheduled for tonight right after Sanosuke retrieval.

This would be part of his repentance, but it would only be a part. He owned Sanosuke so much more.

He took to his feet and walked over to the closet, clothing himself in a pilot uniform so random guards wouldn't recognize him. He could sneak in and walk casually to Kaoru's room, but after he let that bullet lined with Kamiya's head fly, it would be a race against time and the ship to get back to Sanosuke and their little escape.

But as soon as they were back to their ship they were home free.

The supplies had been bought and the course was set to Earth after that. More sitting and waiting...

But this time... the ahou would be with him.

Time was moving too slowly, as time tends to do when you're filled with anticipation. Every second was like a minute; every minute like and hour. All he could do was sit and wait and watch the map on his screen. He was gaining on the colony at a steady rate and would reach it ahead of schedule, but to Saitou the dot that indicated his ship was moving agonizingly slow, as if it would never reach the mass that was the colony where Sano was being held captive.

It was noon and he was expected at nine forty-six.

Saitou knew he should eat - knew that he would probably need energy after doing nothing for months but sitting there looking at the computer, but he couldn't pull himself away from the controls. He wasn't going to move for another nine hours and forty six minutes.

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I laid on the bed, resting my chin in my hands. I was pretending to listen to Kaoru come up with stupid plots to kill Hiko. I had other things on my mind.

"Sano!" Kaoru cried, interrupting my pleasant thoughts. "Are you listening to me!?"

"Of course, Kaoru! I personally think you should go for the malice decapitation technique..." I commented dryly. She shook her head viciously.

"If you had been listening you would have heard that -although it was a personal favorite tactic- it would get the floor much too messy for what I can afford right now! I don't want to bother with the clean up and excuse...!!"

"Then drown him in the community pool. Doesn't sound messy to me."

Her face turned into one of thought, pacing around the room continuously.

"That may work, but then I have to--!"

Her voice faded away was I went back to my thoughts.

Saitou was coming... and he was coming soon! Seven more hours!

Then I would be home free...

I snapped back as Kaoru laid a hand on my shoulder.

"My plan is perfect!"

"What?" I blinked.

She groaned, "Damnit, Sanosuke! You're going to help me get Kenshin by seducing Hiko so I don't have to kill him!!"

"Excuse me!?!"

"It will work perfectly! You get Hiko, I get Kenshin!"

"I don't want Hiko!!"

"Oh yes, you do!"

"No! I don't! Believe me on this one!"

"But if you're with Hiko, Kenshin will be with me and I'll be happy! If I'm happy, you're happy! See?"

"Kaoru, I'll do a lot of stuff for you, but seducing Hiko is not one of them!" I assured her, jaw dropped in shock from the mere concept.

"You can, and you will, he was your friend!"

"Not friend, superior! He's an asshole!"

"So was Saitou, but you seduced him and liked it. You can seduce Hiko!"

"No! I won't!"

"Sanosuke!" She warned and I waited for her to continue. "You will. Understand?"

She had a faint twinkle of something terrifying in her eyes.

I gulped. "Fine. I'll start tomorrow."

"Good boy."

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It was time.

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End of part nine