Author's note: So how did this chapter come out so quickly? Really, really simple.

1. I ordered Seisshonen and it should be here any day. From what I've read, I'm guessing that after watching it, my creative skills are going to be seriously diminished and I'll just write a lot of bad poetry about how the world sucks.

2. A coworker lent me a new CD… one that might just rival Crystal Method. It's from Disturbed, called The Sickness. Wow, did I have fun writing to this one.

Anyway you guys are reviewing too fast for me to thank everyone personally again. All I can say is I'm really really happy the last chapter worked. Humor is really hard to write for me. I love reading it but I never know if it'll work when I do it. So it's nice that people enjoyed it.

* * *

"There will be no argument."

Aoshi blinked in surprise, something that rarely happened. But he steeled himself to argue further. He was not going to back down. "Mi…"

"NO!" Misao yelled, hands on her hips, eyes near black with anger. "Megumi is at a conference, Kenshin and Sano went to gamble and you're the one who caused all the problems. So I am taking Kaoru and we are going out and you are not coming with us."

"This is Las Vegas, it's not…"

Misao's hand snapped out and grabbed his collar. The move caught him completely off guard. It was completely uncharacteristic but…completely proving her determination in this matter.

"I owe her for Tokyo," Misao said firmly.

Aoshi took in a deep breath. He had a bad feeling that he was going to regret this but… "Fine. Be back…"

"You're not our father," Misao said walking away with a smile before he could finish.

She left the living room of the suite and entered the bedroom where Kaoru was sitting on the bed flipping through a magazine about Vegas. Misao shot her a thumbs-up.

"He actually agreed?"

Misao paused. "Well… umm…"

"You didn't tell him," Kaoru finished.

"Well, I didn't lie. I told him we were going out to have some fun."

Kaoru looked at her with a frown, as if chastising her for lying to Aoshi. But then her face broke out into a smile.

"I see you learned quickly," Kaoru said.

Misao rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we need to have a talk about that. The whole big brother thing…"

"Ah… remember the gun at the door," Kaoru replied quickly. "I think I understand."

"So how do you get him to stop?" Misao asked.

"Actually… I was kind of hoping when he partnered with you he'd leave me alone." She shrugged when Misao shot her a look. Neither of them was going to win against Aoshi. "Anyway… what's the plan?"

Misao shook the anger off and smiled. "It's a great plan. I promise." She walked out of the room with Kaoru behind her and quickly headed for the door before…

"By 2AM," Aoshi said from his seat on the couch.

Misao sighed. Not fast enough.

* * *

"Blackjack my ass," Sano said looking at the table. "This is what I like. Might not be even/odd, but it's close enough."

"Place your bets!" the dealer called.

Sano held up a chip. "Okay, Kenshin… what should I pick, red or black?"

Kenshin looked at him blankly and then back at the roulette table. "Eh… red?"

"RED!" Sano said, slamming the chip down with a smile.

The dealer let the ball go and it spun around a few times before coming to a stop. "10, winner is 10 black."

Sano laughed a bit. "Okay, just a bad start. Try again."

"Anou… Sano, I don't think this is such a…"

"Just pick a color, how hard could it be?"

"Why don't you just pick a color?"

"Kenshin…"

Kenshin sighed. He didn't want to know. Sano had tried to explain it, something that resembled Feng Shui but had to do with gambling. He had to pick the right table, pick the right spot and then he'd be lucky. And apparently, he was under the impression that Kenshin was going to be his good luck charm.

"Black?" Kenshin tried.

"34, 34 Red!" the dealer called out.

"Black," Kenshin said, deciding from Sano's glare that just switching back and forth wasn't going to work.

"30, 30 Red!"

Sano blistered. He looked over at Kenshin and paused. "Okay… what now?"

"Eh… Red," Kenshin said.

Sano slammed his chip down on black.

"Oro?" Kenshin muttered watching him. "I said red." But Sano held up a finger and told him to wait.

"6, 6 Black!"

Sano nodded firmly. So that's how it was going to be. He looked over at the redheaded man with a smile that almost scared him. In fact, Kenshin feet were instinctively moving away. But Sano hand snapped out and he pulled the man back.

"Oh no you don't," Sano said. "Start guessing again."

Fifteen minutes later, Sano had amassed a small fortune thanks to picking exactly the opposite of what Kenshin said. Looking at chips, he realized that there were several thousand dollars there. And Kenshin's bad luck wasn't changing.

If things kept up, Sano might have enough money to buy a new car! No more groveling at jou-chan for a ride. No more pleading with megitsune to lend him her car.

"Okay, what next?"

There was no response.

"Oi, Kenshin," Sano said looking at the other man. But Kenshin's attention was not at the table anymore. He was watching the scene in front of him unfold.

People were moving away from the main walkway, floating like tiny waves to either side to create a path for the trio that was walking down the center. The two men were non-descript and large, dressed in black. They had the menacing look that could only mean they were bodyguards. And it was what they were guarding had everyone's attention.

Her black hair was pulled up, held up with a clip that sparkled in the casino lights. Her porcelain skin was touched with the only the faintest traces of make up. The Chinese style shirt followed every curve of her body, blending in perfectly with the black skirt with two slits on the side that almost went to waistline.

But it was her eyes that made most people freeze in awe. Crystal gray, almost white, orbs stared at them with a perfect balance of aloofness and demureness. In short, utter perfection was walking down the aisle and she had just locked eyes with Kenshin. A smile played across her painted lips as she shifted directions to head towards him.

Sano was no longer concerned with the roulette table. If he had any semblance of intelligence left, he may have noticed that even the dealer was no longer spinning the wheel.

"They told me," she said suddenly, her voice filling the casino with the song of a nightingale, "there was a man who's luck was so bad that his friend was actually winning every time by choosing the opposite of what he had. And I thought… that sounds so much like a man I once knew. But that man would never dare set foot in this city without seeing me first."

The spell broke for Sano and he went to ask her who the hell she thought she was talking to Kenshin like that. But the redheaded man held up a hand and shook his head. And without another word, simply followed her out of the casino.

* * *

"Misao…"

"What's wrong now? I thought we had gone through this five times already!"

"I just have one question."

"What's that?"

"What part of this," Kaoru said pointing to the cotton tail on her leotarded butt, "is a," she continued pointing to the bunny ears on her head, "good idea?" she finished pointing to the fishnet stocking and high heeled shoes.

Misao sighed, looking at the bunny outfit. "I'm in the same thing too, okay?"

"No… no," Kaoru said shaking her head. "See when you said we would be working undercover… well, I kind of thought it would involve a bit more covering," she finished attempting to pull the neckline a bit higher only to have it slope back down immediately to her bustline.

"It's the uniform they use here! It's not my idea. But you don't have to help," Misao replied.

"Yes I do," Kaoru said. "Because your plan involves two people."

Misao smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Come on how bad could it be?"

Kaoru looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm guessing it might just top this afternoon's antics." But she took in a deep breath and resigned herself to the fact that some part of her really, really wanted to do this. After all, she hadn't worked undercover since before the surgery.

She grabbed the tray and strapped in on, looking down at the assortment of cigarettes there. She walked out of the backroom and onto the floor of the casino. This was nowhere as nice as the one in the Bellagio. In fact this was way down the road from her luxury hotel in the more rundown section of town

But according to Misao this is where they needed to be. And Kaoru knew she could trust the girl's information because she could trust Misao. Aoshi had told her the entire story of what happened on the ship after she was shot and if anything, Kaoru owed her this for getting help back then.

A few minutes later, Kaoru's hand was smarting from the amount people she had had to swat away. Really now… just 'cause a girl dresses this way doesn't mean it's a feel-for-all.

"Hey honey bunny!"

Kaoru cringed slightly but turned to face the guy with a smile. It almost dropped when she realized who it was. She shot a glance across the room at Misao and the other girl nodded. Okay, Kaoru would get their attention so that Misao could slip the bug into their clothes.

Kaoru walked forward, plastering a smile on her face. "Yes, gentlemen," she said in her best English. "What do you need?"

"I'll take a pack of Marlboros," the thin, greasy one said. Misao rounded from the back of the table towards them, placing her tray down on an empty table.

"Give me a pack of Camels," the one with broad shoulder added. Kaoru nodded and leaned forward to pull the packs out of the tray just as Misao slipped the small device into the jacket slung against the back of the chair.

"Hey honey, get me a pack of Camels too. Sorry I'm late, you wouldn't believe what happened this morning…"

Kaoru froze. Oh no… she recognized that voice.

"Hey, sweetheart, anytime now."

Misao shot her a worried glance, unsure of what was going on. But before Kaoru could react the man had grabbed her and spun her around.

"Are you liste… YOU!"

Hiruma turned a few shades of pale. "You're the psycho cop," he continued, switching to Japanese.

The word 'cop' was enough for his partners to look up with venom in their eyes. Kaoru backed up quickly, unhooked the tray, letting it fall from her neck and pushed her heels out of the shoes as they attacked.

She ducked and rolled, coming out of the high heel shoes. She turned and stood up, just in time to throw a mid level block as Greasy threw a punch. She countered quickly, grabbing his wrist and spinning under his arm, pinning his hand painfully to his back. Her right leg snapped back suddenly, catching Shoulders right in the gut as he attempted to catch her from behind.

Her grip had loosened on Greasy's hand when she kicked and he squirmed away, turning and throwing his own kick right at her. Kaoru leant backwards, in a weird sort of move she usually reserved for limbo contest, and let his foot harmless pass over her.

She reached up and grabbed his foot firmly in her hand. Standing back up, she used the momentum to push him away and stumbling back into a casino table. Not wasting a moment, she introduced him to a few moves she learned at the Academy and had him firmly secured on the ground in a few seconds.

Looking over, she saw Misao had gotten Shoulders in a similar position. Looking around, though, Kaoru suddenly realized that Hiruma had gotten away again.

* * *

Sano cursed as he kicked at the ground. The night had gone from bad to worse. As soon as Kenshin and the woman left, the dealer had spun the wheel and Sano had lost. Looking over at the retreating form of his friend, Sano could only shake his head. Kenshin would take care of himself and considering his reaction to the woman, he didn't want Sano involved.

Besides… Sano had just lost. He needed to win it back right away.

Ten minutes later, he had lost all his winnings and walked out of the casino to get some fresh air. The main strip glittered in the night's sky but it was only another distraction to him. So he turned down one of the side roads and started to walk.

Las Vegas' beauty slowly faded and turned into modular houses and empty lots. A few people sat outside, enjoying the warm night's air but for the most part, the place was dead.

A spire of light suddenly appeared out of no where and Sano paused looking up at the source. A sprawling Cathedral lay in front of him, its stony façade weaving up towards the sky. It was lit up with lights from the ground and the stain glass in the center seemed to have another source of light behind it.

The door suddenly swung open and a man came stumbling out, his arms full of an array of items. Sano watched with confusion as he ran straight towards him and Sano effortlessly caught him before the man passed him by.

"Oi, what's the rush?" Sano asked.

The man looked up at him with wide eyes and without warning dropped the items and swung at him. Sano moved back slightly so that the punch only grazed him. He smiled and threw his own punch, sending the man sprawling at the ground.

"You want a fight?" Sano asked advancing. "You got…"

"Stop it right now!"

Sano paused looking down at his arm and the two tiny hands latched on to it. He looked down and saw a woman almost completely covered in black looking up at him. Even her hair was hidden beneath a long black headdress.

"What?" Sano asked.

The man took his chance and ran off. The nun lost her interest in Sano and moved after the man. "Wait Norris! You…" the woman's head sunk.

"Look what you did!" she said unhappily as she walked towards him.

"What are you talking about? He tried to hit me first!"

She knelt down and collected the dropped articles. With a sigh, Sano started to help but stopped when he noticed exactly what they were. "This is silver!" he said.

"Yes," the woman said, grabbing it from him.

"So wasn't that man stealing this from you?" Sano asked."No… no, he was just… borrowing them," she said.

Sano was about to ask for further clarification when a noise from behind distracted him. Turning around, he saw a police car coming to a stop in front of the church. A tall man walked out and straight towards them. He seemed vaguely familiar.

"Magdaria," he said, reaching them. "Is everything okay?"

"No, it's not," the nun said. "I was trying to help…"

But the man's attention had turned from her to Sano. "What the hell did you do?"

"What?" Sano asked. "I didn't do a damn thing but help prevent a robbery!"

"Shouzo! Please."

The policeman backed down and looked at the nun. "What happened this time, Magdaria?"

"Nothing… I was just helping Norris to get back on his feet."

Shouzo's brow furrowed. "Norris? As in Norris the drug user I have arrested at least ten times this past year?"

"He was going to stop this time," Magdaria replied. "He just needed some money to start."

Shouzo's anger abated and he sighed. "All right, let's just go back inside and straighten things up."

Magdaria nodded and turned to Sano. "Peace be with you," she said, before leaving.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Shouzo turned to Sano. "Thank you for your help. I'll take it from here."

Sano barely heard him. It wasn't until they were both gone that Sano's thoughts finally calmed down. Peace be with you? What the hell did that mean?

* * *

"Tell me you were on your way to see me."

Kenshin frowned and sat back in the seat, trying to find a truthful answer that wouldn't result in severe pain and dismemberment.

The woman across from him sighed. "Well I'm glad I had a meeting at the Bellagio then," she said. She leaned forward and tapped on the divider between the driver and the main compartment. It rolled down and she gave a few silent orders before turning back to her guest.

Kenshin frowned as the limo turned away from the Main Strip. Coming here had been dangerous. Refusing would have been worse though. This was not a woman who was refused.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

The woman looked a bit surprised but smiled. "Don't worry. We're taking a short cut. I want to make sure that we're not being followed."

Kenshin looked through the back window of the limo, seeing a pair of headlights flash towards them and then turn off. "I don't think your meeting went well," Kenshin said.

"Very perceptive," the woman said. She knocked on the glass three times and the limo sped up.

"I think we have a few moments before the fun begins," she said with a smile. "So are you going to tell me why you're here? Business or pleasure"

"Pleasure," he said firmly.

Her gray eyes sparkled. "I know. I saw the paper this morning."

Kenshin's frown deepened. Not only had she known he was here for almost half a day… she knew about Kaoru. Things were getting progressively worse.

There was a gunshot and the limo swerved. The woman was completely unfazed. "And were you going to share that pleasure with me at all?" she said with a small pout.

"I'm smarter than that."

She laughed just as the car swerved sharply to the left. "Yes, you were always smarter than you let on." The car suddenly spun around, screeching to a stop. The woman frowned. It was obvious one of the tires had just been shot out.

"So what do you say?" she said, flipping the seat bottom next to her up. Beneath it was an array of guns, two of which she handed up to the front of the car. "One more time for old times sake?"

"I'm not in that line of business anymore," he replied firmly.

She smiled. "I know. But I also know… you still like to protect your family."

Before he could say anything, she opened the door and stepped out. Her movements were almost unreadable as she pulled the two pistols out with her. From his vantage inside, he saw them exploding with fire as she moved across the street.

He clenched his hands. Damn it… she was right. He couldn't let her get hurt. He leaned forward and stopped in surprise. No… it couldn't be.

There was a gun lying in the pile, a small tag hung off the bottom. It had his name on it. Rather… it had Battousai Shinta on it. He shook his head. No, he was not going to play her game. But he wasn't going to just sit here either.

There was a yell of pain and one of the bodyguards went down. Kenshin took his chance, throwing open the opposite door and tumbling out onto the deserted street. With inhuman speed he cleared the open road before the attacker even had a chance to shoot at him.

He knelt down by the foliage, sparse as it was, and took cover around the corner of the building. His mind was racing through options when he suddenly saw movement from the other side of the street.

Guns blazing, the woman crossed the street and dove back into the limo. A second later she ran towards him, only one gun in her left hand firing without pause. In the other hand… no, it couldn't be.

She skidded to a stop in front of him. "I had hoped they were wrong but…" She held up the sword. It should have been destroyed, sunk to the bottom of the Japanese Sea. "Some things survived the ship wreck," she said, reading his thoughts.

He paused and looked up at her, reading the double meaning in her words. She nodded firmly and then pointed towards the back of the building. He shook his head in defeat before he took off. He hadn't even cleared the back corner when he heard her firing again.

He rounded around the back, coming up behind the thugs. He took a quick count. There were only four still standing. There had to be at least eight men lying on the ground, motionless. She hadn't changed a bit, he realized.

Slipping the sword through a belt loop, he crouched down and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. He paused for a moment longer before taking off, heading towards the group before they realized what was going on.

The sword came out of the scabbard and arced towards the first man. The front of the blade hit the target and suddenly something warm hit Kenshin's face. Blood! His eyes opened in horror. It wasn't the reverse blade sword!

The muscles in his arm screamed in protest as he tried to move against every force of nature to stop himself from finishing the move. He fell forward, the blade scratching the gravel and sending up sparks as it did.

Kenshin turned around, realizing he had just come to the spot in the middle of four enemies with a weapon he couldn't use. They turned to face him but four shots rang out in rapid succession and they fell to the ground in a heap.

Turning he heard the soft clicks of shoes as the woman walked towards him. "You can't blame me for trying," she said with a smile.

"You…" Kenshin said, feeling the anger raising.

"Now now," the woman said with a smile. "I knew what would happen. Look around."

Kenshin paused and looked down at the ground. Every man around him was bleeding from the same place, a gash at the side of his head. She had hit them all in the same place… enough to knock them out but not to kill them. Her legendary skills hadn't diminished at all.

He looked up at her, unable to hide the surprise. She was toying with him, knowing his vow not to kill and still trying to push him into breaking it. But at the same time…

"Why?" he demanded, bring the sword up to the light so that a tiny river of red twirled down it.

She laughed. "I just wanted to have a little harmless fun."

"HARMLESS?" he yelled.

"Calm down," she said evenly. "I know what happened in Tokyo, I know all about your vow to not kill anymore. But… I need help. And Tokyo can't spare that many people. What I said before… it's true."

Kenshin looked at her. So the Juppongatana had survived. Which meant that Yumi really was here.

"So I needed you," she said. "This was just a test."

"A test?" he asked. "Tempting me with a gun… giving me a right sided blade was a test?"

She smiled. "No… having you help me survive this attack was the test. The others…" She looked down the street, seeing the approaching car.

"I tamed the Wolf," she said as the car came to a spot. "I just wanted to see if I could retrain the Assassin."

Kenshin glared at her as she opened the door. "I won't help you," he said firmly.

"Yes you will," she said. "Because once you're in the family, you can never just leave it. You know where to find me. Just give them my name at the front desk."

He watched the car disappear. Standing in the light of the streetlight, the sword by his side, blood still fresh on it and his face, Kenshin realized it was far worse then he originally thought.

Give them her name, eh? Well, she didn't need to tell him that. The mere mention of it made most people jump at attention. After all, there was no one in Las Vegas that didn't know the name Saitou Tokio.