Disclaimer: I do not own PMK or RK.

Rated PG-13 for the Comedian Trio's mouths in the locker room.

Case 011: Bad Boys

"Okita-san, your clothes. I had them washed and dried at the 24-hour laundry." Tetsu placed the folded clothes Okita had kindly lend him last night on the captain's table. "Arigato!" Okita chirped. He had taken a lift to work on Hijitaka's scooter. His friend had slept over at his place.

Locker room. The Trio is joking about as usual. "Say, has Hijitaka gone all the way with Okita yet? One of my juniors claimed he saw Hijitaka at Okita's place last night, when his sis was out," Toudou drawled as he returned his calendar to its place in his locker.

"Hey, it's not our place to question what goes on after work, behind closed doors…" Nagakura snickered. They had seen the young captain riding pillion behind Hijitaka as they drove to work on the vice-chief's scooter. "But if he's sleeping his way to the top…"

"Guys…" Harada looked up and went pale.

"Naa, Souji-chan has eyes only for Toshi. Next we'll see them pushing for gay marriages…" Toudou hooted. "G-guys…" Harada's tone became more insistent.

"Sano, what's up now?" The short redhead Shinpachi snapped as the giant stuttered. "When the mantis hunts the cicada, it should mind the oriole's not behind it…" Saitou quoted and indicated that Shinpachi and Heisuke should look behind them. They did…

"OMIGOSH!!" The Demon vice-chief was standing behind them. The Trio fled the locker room with Harada being dragged along by his friends. Saitou simply shrugged. "Toshi, pay no heed to idle tongues…" They are worse gossips than a market of old fish-wives.

"I'd rather rip them out," Hijitakagrowled as he opened his locker. Saitou smiled. Same old Demon.

"Understood?" Tetsu nodded as he stood before Hijitaka. The man's scary. He had already been punished for messing up Okita's breakfast order. He returned with red-bean pancakes when Okita wanted peanut. Okita didn't mind but Hijitaka did and rapped the boy's head for it. Now they want him to keep watch on the lock-up.

"Toshi, you're scaring him…" Okita coaxed in his gentle voice. "Souji, you're always too lenient with the men!" The pair left, leaving Tetsu alone to stand guard while they attend a Shinsengumi meeting. Okita had entrusted the keys to him. Tetsu took a look at the lock-up's occupants.

There was a pair of elementary schoolboys who had run away from a children's home. The boys had vandalized a patrol car. The irate officer whose car they had vandalized had popped them into a vacant cell. Being minors, they will not be charged. Tetsu would be expecting a social worker by the name of Sagara to pick them up soon. Now the pair was playing tic-tac-tie and vandalizing the cell wall with their markers.

The other two occupants were older teens. One was a spiky-haired punk known as Yahiko. They had hauled him in for disturbing the peace when drunk. Now sober, he was causing a fair racket. The other, Soujirou, looked like a model student who had just drunk a bit too much for his own good. He now sat with his head buried in his hands as if dreading how his brush with the law will reflect on his academic records.

"Lemme go! I'm a law-abidding citizen! Bloody Shinsengumi!" Yahiko hollered. "Shaddup!" Tetsu snapped. Yahiko stared down at his pint-sized jailer. Since when did they start admitting elementary school kids into the Shinsengumi? "You shaddup, kiddo!"

"I'm not a kid! Baka…" Tetsu retorted. Yahiko released a string of expletives. The youngsters in the next cell pricked up their ears at the exchange of insults. Young Sano and Katsu grinned and swore to use their newfound vocab on their long-suffering minder Sagara if he tries to get them to go to school. In the other cell, Soujirou smiled.

Still stinging from Yahiko's name-calling, Tetsu's thoughts were interrupted by Soujirou's polite voice. "Excuse me, sir. I need to use the washroom please." Hijitaka-san had warned him about one of their 'guests' but he can't recall which… He studied Soujirou's smiling face with his I'm-so-honest look. Then he looked at Yahiko's I'm-a-punk-and-I'm-gonna beat-you-up look. Surely they must mean him.

"Don't be too long…" Tetsu unlocked the cell door. "Arigato!" Still smiling, Soujirou slammed a fist into Tetsu's midriff. Tetsu fell to his knees and almost blacked out from the pain. Soujirou took off. "Stop him…" Tetsu gasped out. But it was too late, Soujirou was gone like a slippery eel past the unsuspecting men. Tetsu blacked out.

Seta Soujirou, yakuza boss Shishio's second-in-commander may be still a minor, but he is deadly. The Shinsengumi had finally managed to nail him after he let too much sake get to him and shot dead a New Shimabara barman and two waitresses with his Colt revolver.

Social worker Sagara and his escort were surprised to find Tetsu unconscious in front of the empty cell and the remaining occupants laughing at the redhead's ill-luck. Sagara took his two young charges and left. They passed kendo instructress Kamiya Kaoru in the corridor as she came to bail out her student.

Yahiko may be a foul-mouth with a loud voice and hot temper, but he's the Kamiya dojo's star pupil. He was mostly harmless apart from when he gets a bit too much sake at a party. Yahiko swore in front of his teacher not to overindulge again.

"Souji, are you sure about this?" Hijitaka asked as the meeting was dismissed. It will be an undercover gig. Okita has volunteered to infiltrate a highly-dangerous cult they are investigating. It is headed by a weirdo who claimed to havemystical powers. The cult is suspected of anti-bakufu and terrorist activities, including a subway bomb attack.

"I'm sure. Besides, I resemble that Kichi guy they arrested so much. And he's in the inner circle, I can easily… Toshi?" Okita was surprised when Hijitaka actually threw his arms about him and hugged him tightly.

"Souji, please be careful. The cult is totally ruthless. The Oniwabanshu's calling us on this because they suspect a mole in their works. I simply don't want anything happening to you…" The Oniwabanshu agents sent in either showed up dead or went MIA.

"Toshi, I'll be fine. I can look out for myself… let's go and check on Tetsu-kun!" Okita changed the subject as they stepped out of the conference room. Two men carried a stretcher past them. On the stretcher was an unconscious Tetsu. The pair sweatdropped.

Tetsu, what did you do now? You didn't let Smiling Seta get you, did you?

Author's notes:

The quote by Saitou about the mantis, oriole and cicada simply translates to 'watch you back'. Smiling Seta,punk Yahiko & the Sano-Katsu duo are from RK. (took some liberties with their ages though) Poor Sagara taicho's not really that well-respected as a social worker by his charges.

Note never to leave Tetsu to watch the lockup. There still some things your career week rookie can't be privy to, especially after the chappie 9. (Grin)

Next, three's a crowd on routine patrol...