Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me . . . and stuff.

XXXXX

Sawagejou Chou groaned.

'Go do patrol duty, Chou. I transferred you to Tokyo, Chou. What was you're name again?'

Chou groaned. Saito was such an a$$ sometimes. Walking down Tokyo wasn't easy either. Being the ex- Sword Hunter, people often gave him strange looks. Some other Tokyo officers even stopped him accusing him of illegally carrying swords. Then Chou would have to show them his badge (I don't know what the police used to show that they were real officers back then). One guy even brought him to the station where Chou had an argument with the chief there about wearing that stupid blue jumpsuit of a uniform.

His stomach grumbled loudly.

'Need something to eat . . . 'Wonder if they're any good restaurants 'round here . . .'

Chou wandered around until he stopped at one particular place.

"'Akebeko'. Sound's good to me." Chou stepped inside.

There was a young girl handling some money at a desk before she noticed him. She looked alarmed at the first sight of him, but then he showed him his badge.

"It's all right. I'm an officer. Now can I get a meal or what?" Chou said with grin.

The girl looked at him rather strangely, almost as if saying "Are you SURE?" or "How can I trust you?"

She nodded. "I-I'll go get Tae . . ." She hurried off.

Chou was starting to get really annoyed. He paused. "Tae". The name sounded familiar. Oh well.

The girl came back with a much older lady – Tae, obviously - and went back to counting yen.

"Can I help you, sir?" She asked with an accent.

"I'm just looking for lunch, that's all," Chou said, showing her is badge. She looked over it and nodded.

"This way please," Tae led him to a spot in the back. "What's your name, sir? I've never seen you before," She said in that same accent.

"Chou," he answered. "And you?" Chou wanted to kick himself. He already knew her name!

"Tae, Sekihara Tae," she answered. Chou sat down.

"Your accent . . . You're from Konsai, ain't ya?" He asked.

Tae gasped. "Y-yes! How'd you know?"

"I'm from Konsai myself," Chou replied. Tae gawked at him. Chou raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"You . . . Now I recognize that hair! You're Sawagejou Chou!" Tae exclaimed.

"You . . . you're that girl . . ."

XXXXX

Joy. Shortness is a blessing.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, this is the first TaexChou EVER.

The reason why? As soon as I found out that both Tae and Chou originated from Konsai, I knew it would be cool if they were childhood friends or something.

So, flame if you must. I don't blame you – it's a messed up pairing.

Sorry if I don't really get the accents right. I'm not good at those kind of things.