Author's note: Hi all! Survived the trials of wedding parties this weekend and I'm slowly recovering from that.
Anyway, one thing from last chapter that seemed a bit confusing. When I said "Unless Saitou's blade was sharpened to an atom-thin point…" it didn't mean the whole blade was only an atom width. This is just a really poetic way of saying "The blade was really #$@%^@# sharp." ^_^
And wow… rj caught me!! I never explained how Aoshi got so good with a kodachi. So I filled in the gap in this chapter.
Okay, so the craziness begins since chapter 5 is usually my midway point. Enjoy ^_^
* * *
The next morning, the largest suite at the Bellagio looked like a hurricane had swept through it. Megumi sighed as she straightened her suit, looking wistfully back at the two sleeping girls on the king sized bed, Misao sprawled along the bottom with Kaoru curled in a ball at the top. She needed about another five hours worth of sleep herself but that was impossible with all her meetings in the morning.
Megumi eyed them, a bit of anger in her eyes. It would have been just fine, waking up at the crack of dawn, if Aoshi and the two girls hadn't come stumbling in at a god-awful hour, yelling at each other and about how Saitou was in Vegas and extremely pissed off.
She turned around and saw Aoshi sleeping soundly on the couch, face completely impassive as he lay on his back with fingers laced in the center of his chest. He looked like the dead sleeping like that, Megumi thought as she walked over to the coffee machine. Hopefully he sleeps just as soundly because there was no way she was leaving the suite without a cup of coffee.
She turned on the water and filled the glass carafe with clear, warm water. As she was walking back, she found herself suddenly face to face with something terrifying.
"God! What are you doing looking at me like that?" Megumi demanded.
The taller man looked down at her, normally spiky hair having fallen somewhat flat. His skin was a bit pale and his eyes were completely bloodshot, dark bags around them.
"What… did…" Sano started.
"Excuse me," Megumi said, walking around him, taking the carafe with her, "but some of us are here to do more than just drink and gamble."
He followed her, watching as she tore open the pack of coffee. "What did…" he tried again.
"What did what?" Megumi demanded, turning the machine on.
"What's going on?" Kaoru asked, peeking through the door.
"How should I know?" Megumi asked. "I was just making coffee."
"Don't act innocent!" Sano said, pointing a finger at her. "I know you put something in the water you gave me last night!"
Megumi raised an eyebrow.
"Megumi!" Kaoru yelled. "You didn't!"
"Oh she did!" Sano retorted. "Kenshin'll vouch for me," he said pointing at the half asleep redhead who had decided at that moment to appear at the door.
"Ah…" Kenshin muttered, trying to think of the best way to get out of this, without having anyone angry with him.
"I just want to know what it was! I looked through everything in the bathroom! I didn't sleep at all… damnit, I want to know what it was!!"
Megumi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Really, you're being so…"
"A laxative?" Sano asked.
"No," Megumi replied, watching the coffee drip down.
"Birth control pill?"
Megumi snickered. "Nope."
"Prozac?"
"No," she said with a sigh as the coffee stopped dripping.
"What was it!" he demanded.
Megumi sighed and poured the cup of coffee. She looked over at the couch where Aoshi was now sitting up holding his head. Misao appeared at the door, rubbing at her eyes. Everyone was looking at Megumi.
"It was aspirin," she said finally with a sigh. "Really, and here I was just trying to help you with what was probably going to be a killer hangover and you…"
"You did that on purpose!" Sano yelled. "You knew I would think that you…"
"I don't understand, I thought you liked woman who were kind," she said with a shrug.
"Oh… now I get it! You were jealous," Sano said, with a smile, seeing a tiny shred of light that might let him salvage some dignity.
"Hardly," Megumi said, sipping at the coffee. "Why should I care if you and Ken-san want to pick up women?"
Kenshin blinked. Wait a minute… how was he getting dragged into this?
"Wow! You and Himura were picking up chicks last night?" Misao called from the door.
Oh, he thought to himself. This wasn't going to be good. "Now, let's not exaggerate things," Kenshin said, holding up his hands. "There was no…"
"Feh, you are jealous," Sano said, trying to drive the point home. "Don't try to hide it Kenshin. If Megumi doesn't have a problem with it, there's nothing to hide."
"Sano," Kenshin said firmly, "I did not 'pick' anyone up."
"Didn't have to, right?" Sano said with a smile. "The best looking broad in all of Vegas picked him up."
Kenshin frowned slightly. Sure, he felt bad for his friend being toyed with the lady doctor. But he really didn't want to be part of this display of posturing.
"Go Himura!" Misao called. "What was her name?"
"Misao," Kaoru chastised, "it's none of our business what they do on their free time," she said pushing the girl inside.
"Demo…" Kenshin said, attempting to explain.
"Let them do whatever they WANT!" Kaoru yelled slamming the bedroom door shut. Kenshin's head sank. Well, that couldn't have been much worse.
Which is when he felt the icy glare on him that could only have come from one source. Turning over, he saw Aoshi's stare and understood that they had apparently both realized that Kaoru was upset.
* * *
Sano kicked the ground, walking down the same road he had last night. Stupid Megumi, he thought with a frown. She was so damn aggravating! And such a cold fish. Feh, forget her. All she was was a thorn in his side.
He stood in front of the church and looked at the open door. There was something else that was annoying the hell out of him. At least, he was pretty sure he could do something about this.
Walking in to the cathedral, most of his anger started to ebb away. There was peaceful feeling inside the stone walls and by the time he had found someone that looked like a clergy member, most of his anger had settled into a deep frown.
After a few questions, the man had Sano wait while he went to find the sister. Rocking back and forth on his feet, he looked around until he heard the shuffling behind him.
"You're the man for last night," Magdaria said softly.
"Ah… yeah," he said suddenly feeling kind of foolish.
"I was having a cup of tea, please join me," she said walking to the back of the church.
Sano took a seat at the wooden table there and let her serve him a cup of tea. They sat in silence for a moment before Magdaria spoke.
"Thank you for last night," she said. "I know it looked bad, but I was really trying to help that man."
"From what your cop friend said, he's not the type to be helped."
"All people deserve a second chance," she replied. "Don't you agree?"
Sano nodded slightly. He knew all about second chances. He was living one right now. "So that's what you do? Help people."
"It's one of the things I do," she replied with a small smile. "Can I help you with anything?"
"Yeah," Sano said. "Last night, when you said 'peace be with you'… what did you mean?"
"It's something we say in church," Magdaria replied. "But last night… I just had the feeling you need to hear right then. All of us strive for peace… some times we just need to be reminded that we can achieve it."
Sano looked at her, watching her talk when he realized something. She had no eyebrows, no hair on her face. Even from beneath the habit, there was no sign of any hair.
"It's from the chemotherapy," she said quickly, reading his face. "It makes all the hair fall out after a while."
"I'm sorry," he said softly, looking down at his tea.
"It's all right," she said with a sad smile. "I've come to terms with it. Maybe that's why I some intent on helping everyone while I still can."
She took her tea in her hand and looked out the nearby window. "Do you know what I wanted to name my daughter when I was younger? Irene. It's the Greek word for peace. I thought it would be perfect but…" she trailed off, not needing to say the rest.
"It is a nice name," he said, struggling to say anything that wasn't offensive or stupid but failing miserably.
"I'm glad you like it," she said, softly. "And I hope you find that peace in your life. Just remember it is possible." She started to stand up but shook her head. "I'm sorry… I get worn out so easily lately."
"It's okay," he said, standing up instead. "I should be going anyway." He pushed his hands into his pockets and started to walk away.
"Peace be with you," she called out.
* * *
Kenshin looked at the man behind the registration area, watching the man flit about as he attempted to deal with everyone at the same time. Kenshin had no real desire for him to move any faster. The longer he was busy with everyone else, the longer Kenshin could avoid what he was about to do.
He knew that this meeting was inevitable, but he had wanted some more time, maybe a chance to check in with a few people around Vegas. But when Kaoru, Aoshi and Misao had stumbled in last night, yelling at each other about how Saitou was around. And he knew they weren't talking about Tokio.
"Mr. Himura?" Kenshin turned around at the English and came face to face with a petit blonde woman. "Mrs. Saitou has asked me to escort you upstairs."
Kenshin looked around, spying the security camera in the wall and nodded. No avoiding this anymore. He followed the girl into a small elevator in the back and waited as it made the long climb to the top of the Luxor.
At the tip of the glass pyramid, lived one of the true queens of Las Vegas. Seated on a curved sofa, Tokio could have passed for an empress. The dark blue silk kimono spilled over onto the marble floor and she smiled as soon as the younger girl bowed and left Kenshin behind.
"I knew you'd come," she said with a smile.
"This isn't a social visit," Kenshin said firmly.
"So you won't be sitting with me?" she said with a smile, patting a bare foot on the edge of the sofa.
"And give him a reason to kill me?" Kenshin said pointing into the shadows.
There was a shifting in the darkness before Saitou Hajime walked out, his dark blue suit barely making a noise as he took a seat in the armchair next to his wife.
"Now, now," Tokio said. "You know that would never happen."
"Well, he almost killed a couple of my friends," Kenshin said, folding his arms across his chest.
"Oh…" Tokio said with a sigh. "Is that what this is about? It was a misunderstanding…"
"Well I wanted to make sure that there were no more misunderstandings," he said firmly, looking at the woman. Saitou shifted slightly next to her but she held up her hand slightly.
"Now, let's not get nasty," she said with a smile. "Hajime was a bit… angry. And his target was never any of your friends." She paused. "Do you know who he was after?"
Kenshin's eye narrowed. "I really don't…'
"Sodojima Hoji," Tokio said, letting silence fill the room as Kenshin processed the name. "That's right," she said watching the emotions play out on his face. "He's here, Yumi's here, it's just one big happy Juppongatana reunion."
"Do you know why they're here?" Kenshin asked.
Tokio's face lit up, like a fisherman who had just reeled in the big one. "We're trying to find out. We thought maybe they were just regrouping but… it's something more than that."
"They're talking with a man," Saitou suddenly broke in. "He's a doctor on a conference here."
Kenshin watched her intensely. "What was his name?"
* * *
"Dr. Von Strasbourg," Megumi said as soon as she caught sight of him.
"Ah… Dr. Takani," the older man said.
"Your lecture was very well done," Megumi said with a small bow.
"Thank you," he nodded. He tried to say more but an assistant was already steering him towards more conference goers. "I guess we'll have to continue this later tonight.
"Of course," Megumi said with a bow. "I'll meet you at the restaurant at seven."
* * *
"His specialty is burn trauma," Tokio said, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "He's been pretty clean but… lately he's been depositing large amount into a bank account and meeting with a man called Hiruma."
"I know who that is," Kenshin said grimly.
"Then you know who he works for. Hiruma has also been meeting with someone else. A scientists by the name of Shougo Amakusa, who has been working on a genetic cure for cancer," Tokio stated. "It's for his darling sister, a nun who lives in the area and has been give a few months to live. But he realizes the danger in releasing something before all the failsafes are in place."
"What do the two of them have to do with one another?" Kenshin asked.
"Well, Von Strasbourg is world renowned for keeping burn victims, who should be dead, alive. And if the rest of the scientific community is right, Shoujo's cure will be based on sending commands to certain cells, telling them to either stop growing or to start growing once again."
Kenshin paused, realizing his biology wasn't even at the high school level. Still, it seemed that Tokio was taking him along the right path. If Von Strasbourg could keep someone alive and Shoujo's technique could make things grow again…
Kenshin brow furrowed and he looked over at Tokio, watching a smile spread across her face.
"That's right," she said. "Someone was burned very badly… but good old Von Strasbourg kept him alive. Now the only problem is repairing the damage." She tilted her head to one side. "Tell me, do you know of anyone who might have suffered some bad burns lately, from falling in a fire let's say."
Kenshin suddenly realized exactly where this path was leading. "It's not possible…"
"Of course it is," Tokio said. "The Juppongatana are not regrouping because they never came apart. They're just here to get the best care for their leader."
* * *
"So Kenshin can't help us either," Misao said, leaning back in the sofa and putting her arms on around the back of her head. "We're running out of people to send undercover," she said unhappily.
"Well it's not like it matter anyway," Kaoru said, straightening out the newspaper in her hand. "Megumi is at the conference and Sano is off sulking somewhere."
"Ah," Misao said, shooting a quick look at Aoshi to make sure he was out of earshot. "Well, he's not the only one sulking."
Kaoru looked up from the article she had been trying to read. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
Misao looked at her skeptically and cleared her throat. "From the morning, and I quote 'Let them do whatever they WANT'… SLAM!"
"So?" Kaoru said. "What about it?"
"Well, it would have been believable if you hadn't yelled half the sentence and then slammed the door in their faces. So… was there any truth to that picture from the airport."
Kaoru felt her ears go pink. "I don't know what you are talking about," she said firmly. Misao snorted. "It's true!"
"Sure it is… so I guess there's no problem that he's probably off seeing this woman right now."
The paper crinkled slightly in Kaoru's hands. "It's… fine…" she said evenly. "I'm neither of their keepers. What they do is their own business."
Misao arched an eyebrow and paused while Kaoru slowly dismantled the newspaper. "That was a bit more believable but you're going to have to refrain from hurting inanimate objects."
Kaoru looked down at the now mangled paper with a frown.
"What's that about inanimate objects?" Aoshi asked dropping down the plates of food in front of them.
"Eh…I was just asking Misao how you got so good with the kodachis… dad never taught you anything like that."
Aoshi shrugged as he took a piece of toast. "Picked it up during training."
Kaoru raised an eyebrow but Misao nodded. "He's kind of a genius with things like that." Even if he is a complete blockhead when it comes to other things, she added unhappily to herself.
"It's… umm… useful, I guess," Kaoru said.
"Well, I realized that if the yakuza liked to play around with sword," Aoshi said, "it would be a good idea to know how to fight with something like it. You could do something like that too. Your father taught you some kendo."
She raised an eyebrow. "Right," she said. "Well I like my sword wooden and hanging at home but my guns loaded and by my side… seems more effective that way."
There was movement at the door and it opened again. Kenshin walked in and shot a look at the small group sitting in the living room with lunch spread out in front of them.
"Welcome back!" Misao said cheerfully. "Did you have fun on your date?"
Talk about pouring salt in the wound. There were some descriptions Kenshin knew he was never going to escape. Cold blooded killer, ex-yakuza assassin… but there was no way he was adding playboy that list.
"It wasn't a date. It was a meeting," he said firmly, walking over to join them. "With… someone I knew from a long time ago."
"Yakuza connection?" Misao said, suddenly perking up. Aoshi seemed to thaw and even Kaoru perked up.
"Yes," he said.
"Who was it?"
Kenshin paused. "I really can't…"
"Saitou Tokio," Aoshi suddenly said. Kaoru and Misao blinked and looked quickly over at him. "It makes sense. Hoji was blubbering about how he hadn't meant anything personal by attacking Saitou's wife. And Sano said the woman was beautiful and pretty much caused the entire casino to stop. It seems to fit in nicely."
Kenshin didn't say anything. He would have been surprised if he didn't know that Aoshi was once the best detective for the Tokyo PD. So there was no hiding it, he just nodded.
"Saitou has a wife?" Kaoru said. Misao looked a bit pale.
"A dangerous woman," Aoshi said. "She's the Hiten representative in Las Vegas. Has her hand in half of the casinos here. The file on her is… impressive."
"Impressive?" Misao asked, a bit of green flashing in her eyes.
Aoshi looked over at her but was saved by the knocking at the door. He made his way over and found a messenger from the hotel there. He took the envelope and headed back inside.
"It's for Megumi," he said, showing them the front.
"Give it to me," Kaoru said, bounding up and snatching it away. "I'll give her a call."
While the rest of the group ate lunch, Kaoru used the phone in the bedroom to call her friend. It took a few rings but Megumi finally picked up her cell phone.
"Hai… moshi-moshi…"
"Megumi! It's Kaoru," she yelled, pressing her hand over her free ear. It was extremely noisy wherever Megumi was. "Someone just delivered an envelope for you!"
There was a pause before Megumi spoke again. "Go ahead and open it."
Kaoru tore open the seal and watched as two small rectangular pieces of paper fell into her lap. She looked at the front and suddenly squealed in delight.
"Kaoru! Don't DO that!" Megumi said on the other end of the phone.
"Sorry… but its tickets to the Master of Illusions show! It's been sold out for months!"
"Who's it from?"
Kaoru unfolded the note inside the envelope. "It's from the conference… a thank you for participating in the conference."
"When's the show?"
"Tonight at 7pm."
Megumi sighed. "Well, I can't go. I have to have dinner with a colleague."
"I can try to change the date for…"
"Never mind," Megumi said. "Just take the tickets and go yourself."
"Really?" Kaoru asked happily. "You don't mind?"
"Not at all. Kaoru, I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Ja ne!" Kaoru hung up the phone and quickly ran back into the living room.
"So what was that all about?" Aoshi asked.
"Megumi got free tickets to a magic show tonight but she can't go so she said I could have them instead. Isn't that great!"
"How many tickets do you have?" Misao asked.
"Well… only two," Kaoru said, holding them up.
Misao looked at the tickets, did some math and then let out a deep sigh. "Well, I can't go," she said. "Aoshi and I have that thing to do."
"What thing?" he asked.
"That thing… the ultra top secret JIA thing," Misao said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Aoshi said.
Misao rolled her eyes. Blockhead was the word. Better play her trump card. "Fine, I'll just go by myself then. I mean US military defenses were never too tough to get through. All they can really do is fire those submachine guns at you and I can outrun them most of the time."
Aoshi frowned and looked at Kaoru. "Apparently, I have to break into a military base this evening."
"Ah," Kaoru said, holding the tickets and trying not to mangle them as she turned to Kenshin. "Well, do you want to…"
"Oh," he said suddenly realizing without Sano he was the only one left. "Well, if you don't mind…"
"No, no," Kaoru said with a smile, "not at all. I mean, there are two tickets. It'd be a shame to let one of them go to waste."
"Of course," he said with a smile.
Misao was smiling too and suddenly Aoshi got the idea that he just been duped by his partner.
* * *
Megumi was walking through the convention hall when she spotted Von Strasbourg again. "We have to stop meeting like this," she said with a slight smile as she walked up to him.
"Yes," the older man said. "But we will have dinner tonight."
Megumi was about to say something more when she heard the cell phone in her bag ring. With an apologetic look, she fished it out and answered it. "Hai… moshi-moshi…" she said, covering her ear to block out the sound of the people in the hall.
"Megumi! It's Kaoru. Someone just delivered an envelope for you!"
Megumi frowned and pointed outside to let the other doctor know where she was going. Halfway there, she let Kaoru know to open it. There was a pause as she tore open the envelope and then a sudden high-pitched scream in Megumi's right ear.
"Kaoru! Don't DO that!" Megumi yelled.
"Sorry… but its tickets to the Master of Illusions show! It's been sold out for months!"
"Who's it from?"
"It's from the conference… a thank you for participating in the conference."
"When's the show?"
"Tonight at 7pm."
Megumi sighed. "Well, I can't go. I have to have dinner with a colleague."
"I can try to change the date for…"
"Never mind," Megumi said. "Just take the tickets and go yourself."
"Really?" Kaoru asked happily. "You don't mind?"
"Not at all. Kaoru, I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Ja ne!"
Megumi sighed. Wonderful, yet another chance to have fun that she was going to miss because of the conference. There were footsteps behind her and she saw Von Strasbourg walking up to meet her.
"Was there a problem?" he asked.
"Not really," she said with a sigh. "Just going to miss a magic show with my friends."
Von Strasbourg's face darkened. "That's too bad," he said. "Excuse me, but I am the one who needs to use their phone. Just wait here a moment."
"Of course," Megumi said, taking a seat on one of the stone benches. She let the warm desert air slowly brow against her face. Las Vegas was nice, she would have to come back and visit once when there was a conference to attend.
From behind her, she suddenly realized that her colleague was yelling into the phone rather loudly. But it was in German and she had no idea what was going on. And then, just when she thought he would pass out from all the yelling, he snapped the phone shut and walked over to her.
"I'm sorry," he said with a smile. "There was a bit of a misunderstanding."
"I know how that is," she said. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Unfortunately not," he said with a smile. "The mistake was not made by me but rather someone in another organization. You see, you were supposed to get those tickets for tomorrow."
Megumi was nodding at his statement before she realized what he had just said. "What?" she asked.
"The tickets were supposed to be for tomorrow," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the word to be saying. "That way, I could talk to you tonight and see how useful you would be. But now… I have to skip that step."
Megumi stood up just as he pulled out the small pistol, pointing it right at her.
"What the hell is going on?" she demanded just as a limousine came tearing around the corner.
"We need to have a talk about a patient of mine," he said.
"Absolutely not!" Megumi cried. "I don't know or care who this patient is. There is no way I am going anywhere with you."
The door to the limousine swung open and a cold voice wafted from inside. "Listen to him dear… doctors are easy to replace."
Megumi felt her blood run cold. She turned around and looked inside the car. There sitting stretched out against the back seat was the woman from her nightmares. Yumi. Megumi wanted to run but there was something against her back and she realized that she had just run out of options.
* * *