Okay... Fourth chapter comin' right up! ^.^ Not much to say... So... Oh yes.. For all of you who aren't familiar with marstanuki's brilliant fan fiction "Flames of Passion", I advise you to read it. Very excellent indeed. ^.^ I'd give it my highest recommendation. Anyway, now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of it's characters... However, I do own Seija and Tougi. ^.^ But if you'd like to trade, than I'd be more than happy.... *evil grin*

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The Kenshin-gumi arrived in America about a half an hour later. They were all fascinated with their surroundings.

"The buildings are all so tall..." Megumi said, looking out the window.

"Yeah, they are. Sometimes I can't help but feel intimidated by them." Tougi chuckled.

Kenshin looked over at Kaoru. She had been awfully silent since they had come out from the store. Had something happened? Was she hurt? She seemed fine... He sighed. He would look after her in Chicago. He had heard what a place it could be, all the bad things happening there. He smiled and his hand went to his sakabatou. He had brought it along just in case they ran into trouble, which they were bound to. They always ran into trouble. He smiled and shook his head.

Aoshi stared out the window at seemingly innocent people. He hated big cities like this. It brought back memories of days before Kenshin talked some sense into him. Days when he was a cold hearted killer. He imagined there were tons of killers hidden among all the commoners in this city. That's how it always was... He growled. If one person so much as touched Misao, he wouldn't hesitate to unsheath his Kodachi.

Kaoru was lost in her thoughts. Should she go see that guy? She really wanted to see him again, yet a small part of her thought it was dangerous. But why would he be dangerous? He seemed so sincere! She sighed as she looked out the window.

The car came to a complete stop. "I have some business to take care of, so I'll meet you all back here at say... 7:00?"

Every one nodded at Tougi and got out.

"So what are we gonna do?" Asked Sanosuke as the limo pulled away.

Kaoru fingered the address in her pocket, looking around at every one else.

Misao looked dumbfounded. "I don't know. This place is kinda creepy..." She edged closer to Aoshi.

"Sano should feel right at home.." Megumi teased as a gothic person walked by.

"Wait right there!" Sanosuke said, running into a nearby store. He emerged a few seconds later with three slips of paper in his hand.

"Hey, what do ya have there?" Misao asked, peering at them.

"The lottery." He said with a grin.

Aoshi rolled his eyes. "Do you know how hard it is to win those things?"

Sanosuke looked at him in surprise. He spoke!

"Aoshi is right, that he is. You'd have better chances of being struck by lightning." Kenshin said, smiling.

"Hey! Just what are you trying to say!?"

Kenshin waved his hands around infront of him in an attempt to keep the peace. "N-nothing!" He said, still smiling.

"Let's get something to eat, I'm starving!" Misao said, changing the subject.

"Come to think of it, so am I." Sanosuke agreed.

"Where do we go?" Asked Megumi.

"Um. There?" Kensin pointed to a small restaurant. It looked decent enough, so they all nodded.

**************

"Mmmmm! That was great!" Sanosuke exclaimed.

"It was. I didn't know American food could taste so good." Misao nodded her agreement.

They were on the same street they had been on earlier. Every one was satisfied with the meal.

"You six! Stop right there!" They froze and turned around. It was the police.

"You!" Said an officer, pointing at Sanosuke. "Are under arrest for armed robbery."

"Armed robbery! Y-ya gotta be kiddin' me!" He said, looking around at his friends.

"But how could you have done that? You were with us the whole time!" Kaoru pointed out.

"Maybe he looks like some one that did rob a bank." Megumi said.

The police continued. "And your companions are under arrest for carrying weapons."

Every one sweat dropped.

"What should we do?" Asked Misao.

"Officer, I can assure you, my friend didn't commit any robbery, that he didn't." Kenshin said with a smile.

"You have the right to remain silent." The officer snapped.

"Oro..."

"I hate to say it, but the only thing we can do is.... run!" Aoshi commanded. Every one ran in groups of two. Aoshi with Kenshin, Megumi with Sanosuke, and Misao with Kaoru. Each group went in a different direction.

Aoshi and Kenshin took to the roof tops. The cops wouldn't be able to catch them way up there. They easily lost the cops within minutes.

Megumi and Sanosuke rounded a LOT of corners, then ran into a coffee shop and acted like normal customers.The cops blew right past.

Misao and Kaoru took the back alleyways, and also successfully got away.

"Phew.... That was close!" Misao exclaimed.

"Yeah... But doesn't this place kinda creep you out?" Kaoru asked, peering around in the darkness. The alley way was big enough for a car to pass through, but still very dark. The road was made of gravel, and at the end there was a dumpster, and a chain link fence.

Misao gulped. "Yeah, it does."

"I think we're lost..." Kaoru said. "Did you pay any attention to where we came from?"

"No... Just a whole bunch of dark alleys, that's all I know..."

"That's not good." Kaoru didn't like this place. She could have sworn she heard voices over by the dumpster.

"Let's turn around Misao..." Kaoru whispered. Misao nodded, and they both turned around. They jumped back in surprise. Two very built men were blocking their way out.

"Step aside!" Kaoru commanded, taking out her bokken. Misao readied her kunai as well.

One laughed. "So the pretty little girls think they can scare us do they?"

Kaoru snarled and brought her bokken down on his head. The guy stepped back, holding his head.

"Fall in!" He yelled, a bunch more men coming out of where the dumpster was. They formed a circle around the four standing there.

"You'll wish you'd never done that little girl." Said the man, stepping forward to grab her wrist. She attempted to smack his hand away with the bokken, but he caught it and flipped her over his head.

"Ahhh!" She went flying over his head and crashed into the ground. The other figure advanced on Misao, who immediately slashed him with her Kunai, and did a flip over him.

"Kaoru, are you ok!?" She asked frantically. Kaoru nodded and slowly stood up. The circle was closing in.

"Let's both attack at once. We might be able to make an opening in the circle."

They both ran forward, Misao slashing at people and Kaoru knocking people one by one into the brick building next to them. That is, until they were each picked up by their collars (from behind).

"What do ya say boys? What should we do with 'em? Oh wait, that was a silly question." Said the guy who had picked them up. He threw them against the wall.

Kaoru held out her bokken, ready to do some serious Kamiya Kasshin Ryu if any one dared to touch them. A sword was drawn and sliced right through her bokken, cutting it in half. Her eyes widened, but she still held out the half of the bokken that she had left. She scanned the circle, and saw familiar blue eyes.

"Seija?" She asked. He looked up at her, and she could tell he was not at all surprised to see it was her.

"You tricked me!" She snapped, fumbling with the piece of paper. She read the address, and looked for something that could identify where they were. A light was shining on a street sign a several yards away. Dult. That was the street in the address. She had been tricked.

"Fine! I didn't even come to see you!" She fumed. "I came here accidentally. It was mere coincidence that this is the address you gave me!"

Misao looked at her in confusion. Kaoru knew that man?

Seija's blue eyes changed from a soft, guilty look to a cold steel. "I'm sorry you feel that way." He said, turning and walking away.

"Hey wait!" She called. He stopped and turned. "You're just going to leave me here!?"

Shadows hid his eyes as he smiled. "Yes." And with that he was gone.

Kaoru couldn't believe it. Of all the nerve.... One of the "gang" members reached out to touch her. She gave a startled cry of alarm and smacked his hand away with what was left of her bokken.

Misao slashed out at a guy who was drawing closer to her. He stepped back, grunting in pain. Just then, all of the gang members began to close in. Her kunai were ripped from her hand as the men started to touch her.

Kaoru was also disarmed. She watched helplessly as her bokken crashed to the ground about 10 feet away. One of the men began to lift her shirt. She lashed out violently and sent him scampering away. There were too many! She couldn't possibly beat them all!

They both tried to fight off the men that were coming at them from all directions, but it was all in vain. They were both pinned to the wall, having to endure the sickening sensation of hands roaming their bodies. And they both screamed.

**************

"I think the cops are gone..." Sanosuke said, peeking out from a newspaper.

"Where are we?" Asked Megumi, studying her surroundings.

"S-t-a-r-b-u-c-k-s. Stahbuks?" Sanosuke tried to read the English sign.

"Starbucks." Megumi said. "Famous for it's coffee."

"Coffee? I've never had coffee before..." Sanosuke grinned. He walked up to the counter and managed to order something. Once he had recieved his order, he went back to Megumi.

He took a sip. "Mmmm... Not bad." He said, taking another sip of the burning hot liquid. "Actually, this stuff is really good..." He let Megumi try it. When she agreed, he went back to get some more...

**************

"We lost them." Aoshi said.

"That was too easy." Kenshin said, looking around. "Maybe it's a trick."

"Or maybe they didn't expect two commoners to jump up on roofs of buildings to make their escape."

"Oro..."

"We should find the others." Aoshi said, observing the people wandering the sidewalks below.

Kenshin nodded. "Did you happen to see the direction in which any one went?"

"I think so. I think Misao and Kaoru went this way."

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What will happen next? Will Misao and Kaoru be saved by some unknown hero, or will Kenshin and Aoshi reach them in time? And will Sanosuke know when to stop drinking coffee!? MUAHAHAHAHA.... Hahaha... I really am evil, leaving it at that cliffhanger and all.... But not to worry, I'll aim to have to next chapter out tonight (really late) or tomorrow. It will probably be tomorrow... But any way...

donna8157 - Thank you ^.^ I'm glad you're enjoying it. Hope you keep reading. ^-^

CurlsofSerenity - Yup. ^_^ I'm glad this holds your attention for a short bit. ^.^ I was trying to figure out whether to make Seija a bad guy, or a good guy. And I decided there had to be an encounter with thugs and such. And it just wouldn't do to put Megumi in that situation, since you can't really rape the willing... -.o lol, just kidding. But she doesn't seem to fit there, so I used Kaoru and Misao. (I didn't really mean the willing thing. ^-^' Don't hurt me!)

Princess of Darkness and me - Yes. Kaoru is lucky. -.- I wish I could have three hot guys after me... Although I usually attract the defected ones... The ones that have tempers, and that don't have any sense of responsibility... which happened to be an 18 year old who acted like an 8 year old -.- Anyway... ^.^ Hope you're enjoying the story!

Marstanuki - lol! I'm guessing you're not much of a Megumi fan. To tell the truth, neither am I. I find her very.. Oh how shall we say... an evil, cunning, intimidating person. Oh how I wish I could feed her to the sharks... But in this fic, I'm going to try to make her at least somewhat civil and normal.. ^-^'

jonathan - I'm glad you like it ^.^ No worries, I shall finish it. ^-^' I dunno how soon, but I'll try really hard to get most of it done before I go back to work... Oh dear... work... yuk... Anyway, thanks for reading, and hope to see future reviews from you ^_^ By the way, can you tell I like these faces? -.o

Akayia - Thanks for your support ^.^ It really means a lot. It keeps me encouraged that people like the story enough to keep reading ^_^ And therefore, it makes me a happy writer. And therefore after that, I write more often, knowing I have people I can't disappoint. ^-^' Anyway, thanks!

Okay, I guess that's it. See ya in the next chapter!

~Seien