Karta: Zzzzzzzz. . . Hm? Hello everyone. I've finally updated! Although, I suppose all of you guys are used to my late updates, hm? I have a valid excuse this time, though. Like most of you guys, I'm still in school. Unfortunately school is taking up ALL of my time. All I've done since August is eat, sleep, and do homework. I was only able to write bits and pieces of this chapter each time I sat down at my computer. Finally it is complete. I hope you like it! ^____^

Oh! One more thing. . .

THANK YOU REVIEWERS!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU! I made it to 54 reviews and it's all thanks to you guys. I never dreamed that one story of mine would get so much response. I'm so happy *sob*. Not only that but a bunch of you reviewers put this story on your FAVORITE stories list. I know. I checked. Thanks again! You guys ROCK!

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Tsubame was worried. In her time at the Akabecko, she learned at lot about people. One person she had gained a vast knowledge of was Tae. For the past few hours, under much secret supervision, the older woman had done many un-Tae like things. It bothered Tsubame and made her worry. It bothered Yahiko that Tsubame wouldn't tell him what happened, and that in turn bothered Tsubame more. Finally, she cracked under the pressure.

"Yahiko!!!" The small girl lunged at her dear Yahiko, and clung to his waist for dear life. "TAE'S GONE INSANE!!!" She wailed, sobbing a great deal.

"What? What's going on!?" Yahiko inquired, startled by the added weight to his midsection.

"Tae's been acting really funny! She snapped at me and the customers and everyone and everything and it's really SCARYYYY!" Tsubame had a sudden burst of pent up sobbing.

"Look, why don't you, um . . .Take a break." Yahiko suggested, slightly uncomfortable around the weeping female. "I'll talk to Tae. Okay?" The slim brunette nodded sadly.

It didn't take Yahiko long to find the, in his opinion, inconsiderate woman. Tae was mopping, with much more force than necessary, near the Akabecko's entrance.

'Scary. . .' Yahiko mused to himself, eyeing the annoyed woman. "Hey Tae! How's it going?"

"Fine."

"Erm. . ." The boy swordsman was taken aback by the curt reply. "Hey, want to hear a funny story?"

"No."

"Well I'll tell you anyway!"

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Yahiko's View: Version 3

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Sano stepped back from Saitoh with a nod.

"That, officer, is the proper way to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation." Sanosuke stated professionally.

"Very informative." Saitoh muttered, with some annoyance, "I think I've had more of this dojo than I can stand. I'll be back to talk to the Battosai later."

The police officer was just about to leave when they came. Ninjas, ten of them. Saitoh immediately assumed a fighting stance, ready to take them all on. The ninjas merely laughed.

"Ha! You think that you and your puny little sword can stop us?" The head ninja threw his head back and let out an irritating cackle.

"Of course." Saitoh grinned humorlessly. The police officer used his lightning fast reflexes to unsheathe the weapon that remained always faithful by his side. Unfortunately, a certain problem can occur when one wears gloves during a fight. The Mibou Wolf's grip slipped causing the sword he carried to fly back, and smash Sano's face in. Saitoh began glancing from Sano to his weaponry, in a disbelieving manner.

"Oh. Er, Tokio just washed these. . . They're a little erm. . . Slippery?" Saitoh explained, pulling at the gloves nervously.

"Oh, I have a wonderful trick for preventing that!" Katana called from the sidelines.

"Oh! Tell me after the ninja fight!" Saitoh called cheerfully, "Oh right! Ninjas!" Saitoh grabbed the hilt of his fallen sword and repositioned himself for battle.

"Hah! You're not even worth our time!" One of the ninja's called exasperated.

"Well that's just uncalled for!" Saitoh exclaimed, angrily. "Come on! It's GO TIME!"

The fight began, police officer verses ninjas. It took only seconds for the winner to stand victorious.

"No fair! Cheaters! I wasn't ready! I thought we were on a team!" Saitoh complained, trying to shrug off the ninjas that latched onto his arms.

"We won fair and square so HA!" The ninja leader laughed in poor Saitoh's face. The dark haired officer burst into tears almost instantly.

"That's it! I'm going home!" Saitoh wailed, wrenching his arms away from the masked fighters.

"No way! You always do this!" The head ninja yelled.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"DO TOO!"

"How would YOU know! We've just met TODAY!" Saitoh stuck out his tongue heatedly.

"Well you still lost!" The ninja sulked.

"Well. . . Shut up!" Saitoh retorted, "You're such a jerk!"

"I know that you are but what am I?"

"A jerk!"

"THAT'S IT!" Yahiko stepped forward, bokken in hand. "If the two of you don't SHUT UP and go away then I'm going to be forced to beat the snot out of both you guys AND your little friends!"

"But-"

"No buts!" Yahiko shouted. In an instant both Saitoh and the ninja squad were scrambling towards the dojo gate (Stepping on Sano as they ran). This left the mighty Yahiko, defender of dojos, standing tall. For no one-

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Version 4 end

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"Yahiko!" Tae yelled with annoyance. "I told you I don't want to hear your story! Now go make out with Tsubame or something! I'm busy."

"Yes, Ma'am." Yahiko walked away dejectedly. The waitress sighed, feeling a bit guilty for yelling at the poor boy, but all the insane stories were starting to try her almost infinite patience.

"I should go wait tables! That'll take my mind off things." Tae mumbled, with a satisfied grin. Unfortunately, luck was not on the brunette's side. The minute she got to the first of her tables, that much was clear.

"Welcome to the Akabecko! Can I. . . Oh!" Tae stared at the police officer, she now knew as Saitoh. He seemed in a genuinely bad mood, but the waitress was curious enough to pry.

'He seems level-headed enough. If he told me what happened. . . It would likely be the real story. . . Right?' Tae thought to herself. "Excuse me Officer?"

"Hn."

"You were the man I saw at Karou's dojo, were you not?" Saitoh nodded. "Well erm, this is a bit awkward, but could you tell me exactly what you and Sano were, um doing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, it's just Katana said you two were kissing, but Karou told me Sano tripped onto you, and then Yahiko said it was just-"

"Asking those morons for an explanation was a bad idea to begin with." Saitoh growled, "I know what happened. Sit down and I'll make this quick."

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Version 4: Saitoh's View

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Sano stepped back from Saitoh with a joyous look in his eyes.

"Oh love, love, love! Isn't love beautiful Mr. Officer-man?" Sano asked, twirling about happily. Saitoh restrained the urge to kill the gangster.

"Oh yes! Love and friendship are both big and huge and pretty!" Karou added, throwing an arm around Sano.

"Yeah! Bigger than the sun and the earth and the moon and the stars and the-" Katana stopped her tirade. "Wait, what were we talking about? Hey, flowers!"

"I believe I'll take my leave now." Saitoh growled, irritated by the inane babbling.

"But you just can't!" Karou wailed latching on to the police officer's waist. Unfortunately, for Saitoh anyway, it was impossible to break the female's iron grip. Saitoh knew that any injury he caused Karou would weigh heavily on his conscience later. For this reason, he chose to release his frustration in a more constructive way. By punching Sano's face in.

"Aw, you're just sad deep down, huh?" Katana asked, stepping over Sano's prone figure. "Well you know what always makes me feel better?"

"No."

"Oh I know! Choose me!" Karou called, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Is it singing?"

"Yup! Come on Saitoh! Sing with us," Katana giggled. "This is one of my favorite songs!"

"You are my sunshine! My only sunshine!"

"Stop it."

"You make me happy when skies are gray."

"Stop it."

"You'll never know dear, how much I love you!"

"STOP IT!"

"So please don't take my sunshine away."

Saitoh growled, irritated that he was forced to listen to the entire thing. Luckily it was a nice short song. . .

"Okay everybody! Now let's try it again! Louder this time!" Katana clapped her hands briskly.

"You are my-"

Katana and Karou stopped their singing as Saitoh's fist made contact with Sano's face once more. Of course this moment of silence didn't last long. Katana began singing the same song in D minor, which got Karou going again.

Saitoh knew it. He knew it was futile to even make an attempt at stopping them. Though he was not a quitter, the police officer was able to accept his defeat. With a cigarette lit the mighty swordsman stalked off into the sunset. Tomorrow though, they would have to pay tomorrow.

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End Version Four

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Saitoh glanced up to find himself alone once more. He knew that such a story would drive Tae away. Some people just got upset over the tiniest things. . .

Meanwhile Tae packed hastily for her impromptu vacation. Things were just getting too weird for her. It seemed unlikely that things would be any better later on, but it's good to have a dream.

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Karta: Whelp, I think the ending for Saitoh's POV was a tad choppy, but other than that. . . Anyway, I hope some of you people will review. If you do I'll do a happy dance! Hope this hasn't been a huge waste of your time. Till next chapter!

See ya!