AN: Hello everyone here is chapter 21. Thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter. On with the show… fanfic… whatever.

Sword of the Revolution

Chapter 21: Finding the Swords

At four in the morning Kim stirred awake slowly as her Kimmunicator's alarm buzzed out. Slowly she opened her eyes and reached over to the bedside table and turned it off. She then rolled onto her side and found herself looking at Ron's bare chest. Her mind quickly recalled her situation and she let out a small breath. Her eyes slowly adjusting to the light she examined a short but deep cut that was over his left shoulder. She reached out and began to slowly trace over the scar when Ron's hand shot up and grasped hers. His eyes shot opened and quickly took in the situation and he quickly released Kim's hand.

He looked at her with a sheepish look on his face, "Sorry, I didn't hurt your hand did I?"

Kim shook her head, "No, but you did give me a little shock… I shouldn't have touched you there. I'm sorry."

Ron got a sad look on his face, "No, don't be, I don't mind. It was just a reflex. To tell you the truth I was kind of afraid the scars would scare you."

Kim giggled, "Oh Ron, you now I've got my own little collection, although yours were gotten in a bit more… brutal way." She then bit her lip and looked thoughtful, "Do you mind telling me how you got that one?"

Ron was silent and then spoke, "No… I got this when I fought Isami Kondo."

Kim asked, "Who was he?"

Ron concentrated, "He was the Major in charge of the Second Battalion of the Shinsengumi."

Kim looked surprised, "He fought with Saito?"

Ron nodded and spoke in a lecturing tone, "The Shinsengumi were a group of thirteen men who were under the direct command of the Emperor. They had about five hundred men under their direct command. The thirteen Shinsengumi divided themselves into three battalions. The first had four members and they were the ones that relayed information from the Emperor to others, and they were commanded by Kamo Serizawa. The third had four members and was used mainly for defending locations and people, and was commanded by Yoshio Tonouchi. The second with five, commanded by Isami Kondo, was the group that did most of the dirty work."

Kim's curiosity continued, "So those leaders of the battalions were the best?"

Ron shook his head, "No, they were good, but the best warriors were the leaders of the first three squads of the Second Battalion Soji Okita, Toshizo Hijikata, and Hajime Saito."

Kim asked, "Did you fight all of the them?"

Ron spoke, "Those three? Yes I did in fact I fought all of them multiple times. Okita three times, Hijikata two times, and Saito five times. Saito is actually the reason Kondo was able to give me this scar."

Kim looked confused, "How was he able to do that?"

Ron's eyes took on an odd look, "Saito was the first member of the Shinsengumi I fought and the first person who was able to fight me to a stand still. Anyway, Saito and I fought which wore the two of us out. After a while he had to break off his assault and a short time later I met and fought with Kondo, and because I was still tired he was able to slash my shoulder. Of course I still killed him, but at the time I was really worried."

Kim was quite for a few seconds before speaking again, "How many of them did you fight?"

Ron's eyes still held the same look, "Seven, I killed four of them."

Kim nodded and gave his hand a firm squeeze. The two laid their not speaking for several minutes before Kim spoke in a light tone, "Well come on we need to get up and go to that meeting or Saito might try to kill you again."

Ron gave a small laugh and nodded, "Right."

At five on the dot the planning room was filled with the same group that had been in on the meeting the previous evening. The room was a buzz with several light conversations as two Oniwaban agents cleared the light breakfast that had been prepared away. At that point Saito cleared his throat and waited for the chatter to die down.

Looking around a brief moment he spoke, "Alright we're all here so let's get started. First and foremost is our only hard target, Saizuchi's lab in Sakyo. Himura and myself decided that Master Sensei would be a good choice to check it out. Seeing as there is no need to send someone young to deal with an old man like Saizuchi, and even if he does try to put up a fight Sensei is competent enough to deal with anything he could come up with."

Ron gave Sensei an apologetic look, "Those are Saito's words not mine Sensei."

Sensei smiled and gave a small nod, "I understand, my son, both your reasoning for choosing me and Saito's back-handed compliment."

Saito smirked and continued, "Now Shego, I don't think this is much of a lead, but like I said last night Iwanbo has been sighted at a rundown gym in Fushimi. Now I say that's it not much of a lead because I don't think he's been given any vital information, and even if the guy is stupid I don't think he's stupid enough to still be hanging around at the same place he has been staying at for four days. So do what you can and find out what you can."

Shego, who looked ready to go back to bed, nodded and yawned, "Sure thing."

Kim rolled her eyes as Saito spoke, "Right, Okina tells me he has put out a few messages thorough the old Oniwaban spy network to get in touch with Shinomori."

Okina spoke up at that, "I don't know if he has gotten my message but I will be waiting at the meeting place just the same."

Ron spoke, "Good, and we won't be around so as not to spoke him."

Saito gave him a piercing look, "If he doesn't come in or worse plans to join Shishio what do you plan to do?"

Okina returned the look, "What I must."

Saito kept his gaze on the old man for several moments before going on, "Right, Possible you will be following up on a few old friends of Yumi. First off you'll be visiting her old home in Higashiyama, and after that a few of her old roommates who still live in the city."

Kim slammed her hand down on the table, "Hold on! Why am I stuck with interviewing civilians, and not out there actually dealing with the bad guys?

Saito rolled his eyes as Ron spoke, "Look KP you're the best person for this job. I mean any of us could deal with Iwanbo or Saizuchi, and it's best for Okina and Saito to meet with Aoshi and Kamatari since they already know each other. You are by far the best people person though and therefore the best person to talk to civilians."

Kim gave Ron an appraising look; "You're not just giving me this job to keep me safe are you?"

Ron gave Kim a tired smile, "KP there are still two unaccounted for Juppongatana that we don't know anything about. The only way I could truly keep you safe would be for me to make sure you stayed here… or went home, and since we both know that won't happen I gave you an assignment that only you could really pull off well."

Kim's look had softened and she spoke in a sheepish voice, "I can't speak a whole lot of Japanese."

Saito spoke, "Misao will be going with you. She's a fully trained Oniwaban member so if the two of you do end up in fight she wont slow you down."

Okina spoke, "She knows something has happened with Aoshi-sama and she's starting to feel left out of the loop. By helping you she will be able to focus on something else and she will feel useful."

Kim nodded, "Okay… what should I do if she asks about Aoshi?"

Okina looked sheepish and blushed, "I don't know… I was hoping you might be able to explain things to her in a way that she won't be that upset. She likes you a lot and respects you so that might make things easier."

Kim sighed, "I'll do my best."

Saito continued, "Now, Himura and I talked this out last night and I'll be searching around for Kamatari while Himura will be checking out what we believe to be one of Cho's safe houses in Yamashina near the Lake Biwa Canal. Now make sure all of you remember that there are still two members of the Juppongatana unaccounted for so be on guard. That's why we'll all be carrying GPS panic buttons, so if you're in trouble press the button and you'll have some form of back at your location ASAP. Megumi and Yi will be in charge here, so… let's get moving."

Kim and Misao were waiting at the entrance of the hotel; each dressed in dark Kimonos. After a few minutes Ron, who was dressed in a navy blue Kimono top and white bottoms, walked over to them.

Kim spoke, "Be careful."

Ron nodded, "You too."

The two females walked outside, got in a small car, and were driven away. Ron watched the car go off into the distance and after it was out of sight he turned and began to walk down the street. He would walk several blocks before getting into a cab. Kim and Misao were silent all during the drive, but as soon as they arrived at their drop off point and their driver drove away Misao turned to Kim with expectant eyes.

"Kim-oneesan, please tell me… has something happened to Aoshi-sama?"

Kim gave the younger girl a sad look, "Misao… we think Aoshi may be involved with Shishio."

Misao's face drained lost all of its color, "What do… do you mean?"

Kim spoke, "We learned that Cho had scouted Aoshi and that Shishio was going to contact him. If Aoshi decides to help him then… things are going to be a lot tougher for us, but if he tells him no Shishio might…"

Misao's eyes began to get misty, "Aoshi-sama… why won't he come back to me?"

Kim questioned, "Misao… what makes you love Aoshi?" thinking that that might be to personal she amended the question, "I mean how did you become engaged?"

Misao gave a wistful smile, "I don't know how much Ron-san has told you about Yamanouchi, but our group lived in a whole community, not just a school like them, and our lifestyle was much more… old fashioned and conservative. Aoshi-sama's father was a great warrior and was my father's right hand man, and he died saving my father's life. Aoshi was only two at the time and his mother died of an unknown sickness shortly afterward so my family took him in. He was like his father and showed great promise as a warrior so my father began to train him. I was born a short time after that so I've always known lord Aoshi and when we were children he was very protective, kind, and gentle. We were very close and I thought of him as a brother. When my father was dying from a sickness he gave control of our groups military to Aoshi-sama, and he asked him to take care of me, so Aoshi-sama, who was only twelve at the time, promised that he would marry me and spend the rest of our lives together watching out for me. At first I was scared that he might treat me differently, but instead he became even more caring and sweet. I slowly began to feel something for him something that was much more than as just a brother. We were very happy with our new relationship, but then the war happened and Aoshi-sama became so worried and stressed. Then it abruptly ended and our group while not a major participant in the fighting hadn't made many friends in the new government and we were punished. Aoshi felt guilty and thought he had failed us, so he made arrangements and left to become stronger and a more fit leader." Misao's eyes finally began to shed tears, "I wanted to go with him and the others, they were my life, but he told me to stay with Okina and continue to learn. He promised me he would come back when he was stronger, but now…"

Kim hesitantly reached out and pulled the girl into a hug, which the younger girl returned. Kim thought over what Misao had told her and felt a new level of kinship with the smaller girl. She had known Ron for almost as long as she could remember and the times she recalled when she hadn't known him were cloudy at best. Kim hadn't felt as strongly of Ron as Misao had of Aoshi until very recently, but she did feel the same way now. If Ron left her again… Kim slowly pulled Misao away, gripped her shoulders, and looked into her eyes.

"Misao, I know you're hurting, but be strong, it'll get better soon I promise. I'll do my best to make sure Aoshi gets back to you safe and sound, and I know Ron will help… they have a lot in common."

Misao nodded and began to wipe her eyes, "Thank you Oneesan."

Kim smiled at the girl, "Now… let's get this mission started."

AN: Sorry this took so long! I've been trying to find a place to live for the fall semester. Got that out of the way. :) Now please read and review. Enjoy!