**Pechan would graciously like to thank anybody who is still reading this story, since it feels it's dragging on too long. Thank you thank you thank you so much, you have no idea how much it brightens her day to get a nice review, saying 'nice job' or something like that. It feels especially nicer, considering she doesn't own any of the Rurouni Kenshin franchise.

~ Saito, Hajime ~

"WHOA!!" exclaimed Tokio, as she entered first class. He opened the door to their own private compartment, and she nearly keeled over. Indeed, first class was great. Their room had cushioned seats, and satin curtains. The general color was burgundy and ebony, and even the frame work of the seats were carved.

She giggled, plopping on a seat, "Damn, Fujita!! You always travel like this?"

"Not always," he answered, closing the door. "There is a reason why I decided to get our own private car. So that I may talk to you a bit more freely."

Her heart beat so loud, she was afraid he could hear it.

He sat across from her, unbuttoning the top two buttons on his jacket, "If we were in a regular car, the people around us would here about the whole Hakode plan. I don't want a rat to go ahead of us first."

She fell over, "Oh, I see."

He smirked, "Expecting something more?"

She sighed, rolling up her sleeves, "Noooo, no no no, I'm fine." She ran her fingers over the carving, "Say, are these the kind of compartments that bring food, too?"

"Perhaps, depends on how well you'll cooperate with me."

She laughed, and laid down on the large chair. "Figures, nothing's free," she sighed, placing her hands under her head. She turned her face to him, "So!! What else do I have to know?"

"There was a lay out of the building. I'd like you to, after you get the job, to lure three of them into a room. While your busy entertaining them, we'll pick off the ones somewhere on the other side. We wouldn't want them to go alerting the town or anything," he smirked, "....that'd make the Meiji Government look bad."

"Look bad?"

"Imagine if news spread that the government sent it's own police to raid a hot springs hotel and kill all it's employees."

Tokio frowned, "But, they're evil people!! They deserve what's coming for them, the town knows it!!"

"But Japan doesn't, and tabloids always love bringing the worst in every story," he pulled out a cigarette, and a box of matches. "And people love to hear things bad about the government so that they have a reason to bring it down."

Tokio pouted, "You're gonna smoke in this box?"

"Does it bother you?"

Tokio looked back up to the ceiling. Actually, the smell didn't bother her anymore. In fact, whenever she smelled it, it reminded her of him. She smirked, shrugged, "No, guess it doesn't."

She dipped her hand into the bag, and took out a hard candy. She forgot what it was called, but when she popped it into her mouth, it tasted like sugary orgasm.

"................................ does it now?"

She nearly spit it out, sitting up. She had her hand on her mouth, holding it in, "You heard me?!" she muffled.

Goro let out a thin stream of smoke from the side of his smirk, "You have an odd habit for speaking things unintentionally, Miss Tokio. Perhaps you should see a doctor about that."

Tokio mopped her face with her hand, wishing she could just die, "Ya know, I used to have a normal life. Till I met you."

He smirked, "Do you regret it now?"

She blushed, and sank into her chair, "Maybe." After a few minutes, she put on of her hands on the glass, and watched the trees zip by. She tried counting the ones passing by, until her head shook so much it felt like it was going to fall off. She groaned, "Damn, never knew how much trees can make you dizzy."

"Focus on something farther away. Or close your eyes."

She spied a mountain. Mount Fiji? Ah, she couldn't remember. She wasn't much for geography. But, it made her head spin a little less. But not less enough. She groaned, and put her hand on her forehead, leaning back, "Last time I watch trees," she declared. "I hate the forest. When I get a nice house, it'll be somewhere in the heart of the city."

"Funny. I live in the heart of the-"

She laughed, "Hah!! Don't even finish it."

Goro said nothing, and watched her roll on her side. She laid down with her back to him, her knees bent slightly. She mumbled, "Sorry, but, can I lay here for a few minutes without you talking? My head........"

"Of course, Miss Tokio."

She frowned, "Quit being so polite. It sounds like your mocking me."

"So how should I address you?"

"Tokio's just fine, like you sometimes say."

"Very well, Tokio."

"Mmm," she mumbled, and found herself asleep. Some people fall right asleep on a moving vehicle (Pechan can't stay in a car for more than ten minutes without falling in her partners lap, asleep) Goro stubbed his cigarette in a glass ashtray, and rested his elbows on his knees. He thought over this carefully.

Bringing her could endanger her life. But, he was fairly sure the people weren't dangerous enough for him to handle by himself. Besides, he promised her.

He shook his head leaning back. He rested his head against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. What was he really doing? He usually didn't do stuff like this. He could handle himself. So why was he going out of his way to add her IN his way? He reached for another cigarette, and scratched his match against the wall. He stuck the cigarette in his mouth, and lit it, his eyes falling back to her again. He closed his eyes then opened them.

Hajime Saito wondered why this woman struck his fancy. She was beautiful, but he had seen many pretty women before. Living and dead. Was it her lips, the way they pouted so innocently? Or her eyes? They weren't big and innocent like many women. They were shaped smaller, almond shaped. Her eyes had seen more than she should have, he knew. Those eyes belonged to people who have been on the brink of death and back. Perhaps this was because of her suicide.

Why try to commit suicide in the first place? He watched her curl into a tighter ball, letting a gentle moan/sigh go in her sleep. She said her family had died. He asked her again, and she said they were all dead. Meaning she was the only left. Meaning they were taken away from her, because no one's family dies of a sickness that excludes one. Unless by some miracle........

No. They were murdered. She was a child of the Revolution. Worse, a young girl. She said she was nineteen, so subtracting four years made her fifteen. Children don't know what happens in a war. He had seen innocent babies still in their mother's arms, staring at him. Their face still pertained innocence, and then gurgled as they tugged on the dead mother's hair. Children have no understanding of death. He had seen the corpses of children, still have eyes open wide in surprise with a blade sticking out of their torso. They had no idea what was coming. They felt nothing but surprise. Nothing else, except for a sting.

But fifteen. Tokio was already a teenager, a girl. A young woman. A child that old knows death. They have a vague understanding that death means never seeing someone again. And some already know that is means leaving this world forever. Many were afraid of it. Afraid of the unknown. That is the one primal fear that lingers within a human for the rest of their life.

- "Does thinking they deserve it make your blade sink any easier?" -

Hajime remembered Tokio's words. Why did it bother him? He had words said to him like that before. 'Does killing make you feel stronger?' 'How much did that man deserve death?' and he had ignored them. The first few kills bothered him a bit, but he didn't regret it. He just wished he made the cut cleaner; he had to clean the bloodstains out of his uniform. And those were hard to clean. But no regrets were made.

Hajime frowned, smoking. So why did it bother him when she said it? He pondered, then came up with a solution. Perhaps it was because he was not used to the face she used. She usually was smiling, or pouting. He admitted he liked her pouting, what man doesn't? She had been mad at him before; he remembered the night she broke into his house. Ah, it was the same face. That......... that face, eyes narrowed and full of poison for him. Accusing him. That was it.

He took a long drag. She had been mad, and it had been funny. Cute, even. But he didn't quite like it when she was mad at HIM.

She threw things at him, she said things to him, and she even tried to kick him a few times. None of that bothered him, and in fact it amused him. But................

He pulled the cigarette from his lips, and let out a thin line of smoke to circle above him. That face was used by people who hated. Ah, that must have been it. He can take her anger, but not her hatred.

"Hnh........." he mumbled, cigarette in mouth. Why did it bother him? Many people, men and women, hated the Shinsengumi. He had been cursed at by a young boy, blaming him for his loss. The loss was his father and brother, of course. And his eyes held pure hatred, and retching loathing.

Tokio's eyes were calm, contained. As if waiting. But could this foolish girl be possibly planning?

A light knock came at the door.

"Come in," he called.

A waiter opened the door, and bowed, "Excuse me, but we are almost at the stop to Hakode."

Goro nodded, "Thank you, sir."

The waiter bowed out of the compartment, and closed the door. Hajime stubbed his cigarette, and leaned back into his seat. He looked back at Tokio, who was waking up. She moved a lot in her sleep. Her lips were parted again, and her chest rose and fell with her breathing. Her bun became loose, causing black loops and curves to seem perfectly placed for a picture. One of her hands dangled over the chair, and one knee was bent. He noted she had thin ankles and wrists. Hard to believe she could knock someone out with those. In fact, her body was so thin, it surprised him how she could take a hit. She looked so frail. No, frail didn't seem to be a word that suited her. Delicate, more like.

He shook his head. He can watch her some other time. Right now, he had a job to do. He stood, and gently bent over her sleeping form, "Tokio."

She didn't stir. He snapped his fingers, "Tokio."

She didn't move.

He coughed into his hand, and kicked her chair. The response was her turning in her sleep, mumbling, "....cho.....kora ......to....."

He smiled. She'll be fat one of these days, dreaming of candy.

He turned away, and unbuttoned his jacket. Tokio was a strong woman, who refused to bend to the will of others. In all his time of knowing, she suffered two incidents that would usually toss a woman into silent despair. But she had pulled through.

He dropped his jacket on the chair, and reached up to the compartment on the walls. He pulled out a box, and opened it on his side of the compartment. The lid fell, and he pulled out navy blue haori and gray hakama. He glanced over his shoulder to Tokio. Just to make sure..........

"Tokio, you have to be the loudest, rudest woman I have ever met who has no chance with any man."

She said nothing, fast asleep.

He smiled, turning again, and unzipped his pants. "Except this one, perhaps."