And, Chapter four is a go. By the way, I appreciate the reviews. On with the (albiet twisted) story.

Chapter 4.

Kaoru awoke the next morning to the smell of freshly brewed tea. Kicking her covers off, she put on her bright yellow slippers. She grimaced at them. "I really hate these slippers," she said sourly. Leave it to her stepmother to give her something so gaudy. She glanced at her clock. Nearly seven. She groaned. That meant she had only slept six hours last night. Stupid bills.

She grumbled as she walked into the kitchen. A pot full of tea was set on the table, along with some rice balls. She lifted an eyebrow. Who ate rice for breakfast?

"Kaoru-dono, you're awake." Kaoru nearly screamed. "What's a guy doing in my...ugh, I'm slow this morning." Shinta walked over to the tea. "I have prepared breakfast. I hope you're hungry."

"Um, yeah, I am," Kaoru said, scratching her sleep tousled hair. "I usually drink coffee though."

Shinta shook his head. "Coffee is not as good as tea." He glanced at her. "My, my, someone slept rather well. You have sleep marks running all over your face."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "Uh, yeah, I was really tired." She glowered at him as she sat down and picked up a rice ball. "You really should just mind your own business."

Shinta laughed. "Now what fun would that be?" Kaoru growled but let it go. She watched the strange man walk around the kitchen, his movement fluid and precise. And his hair! Never had she seen hair like that before. She thought of her own hair and silently wished she could have hair like her servant's. Maybe people would notice her more if she did.

"So, Kaoru-dono, what do you do for a living?" His question brought her out of her thoughts. "Eh, I really just mooch off of my father. I do teach some martial arts down at the military camp, though. I've always been a bit of a tomboy."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with doing something you like. I myself am a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, as it were. Never did find something that quite suited me." "Except one thing." He shook the thought off.

"So, why did you come to this colony? Anything you have going for ya here?"

Shinta poured himself some tea and spoke without looking at her. "No, not really. I just wanted to see what's up here, what makes it so different from Earth, Mars, Venus, and all the other colonies."

"And that's worth placing yourself in indentured servitude for two years?" Kaoru asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I believe it was. For instance, never have I seen such mountains anywhere else." He pointed out the window, indicating the imperial pink-green hued mountains in the distance. "I mean, look at those unusual colors and grand height. It is a site worth all the money I have." He grinned and turned back to his tea. Kaoru noticed a small, red scar with a rounded tip on Shinta's cheek with some amusement.

Kaoru shrugged. "Yeah, but after a year, you forget all about them."

Shinta held up a finger. "Ah, but in two years, you might notice them again." He finished cooking the rice and sat down at the table to eat. He sipped his tea and glanced at Kaoru, who was staring at him intently.

She smirked. "You know, you're a very strange man." Shinta merely sipped his tea and looked at her. "I bet you get that a lot. Your service papers say your Japanese-Earth origin. How's it like there."

Shinta shrugged. "Much like everywhere else, except unique in its own way. People are people, no matter where you go, that's all they are. No man is greater than the other, no matter how much authority or money one possesses."

"Ya could've been a philosopher. You definitely sound like one." Kaoru reached for another rice ball, appreciating its subtle flavor. Her cooking always seemed to want to make sure the smoke detector worked. She sighed mentally. Then, thinking of the bills, she groaned. "Shinta, I feel like shopping today. You wanna join me?"

"I don't know. I saw a large pile of laundry that seemed in need of a desperate wash." He glanced in the direction of the laundry room. "But, I suppose I should keep you company."

Kaoru grinned. "Great, we'll buy you some new clothes."

Shinta looked down at himself. "What's wrong with the ones I have on?" He had a on a pair of jeans, a large buckled belt, and a simple once-red-now-pinkish long-sleeved shirt. They were a little stained and a little ragged, but they served their purpose.

"You look like a hobo, that's what's wrong with them. Have you no eyes, man?" She grabbed some keys off of a hook on the wall. "Come on. We'll get some food while we're out."

Instead of taking Kaoru's sleek air car, Shinta managed to convince her that walking was best. As they browsed the stores, Kaoru managed to amass a large amount of bags in just a few hours, which she forced Shinta to carry. As Kaoru was admiring a pair of shoes behind a window, a small kid suddenly grabbed her purse.

"Hey," yelled a rather infuriated Kaoru. Depositing the bags onto the ground, Shinta calmly selected a bottle of water from one of them and flung it into the air. The water hit the kid square on the head, causing him to pause and rub the now sore spot. Shinta swiftly closed the gap between them and took the purse from him. By now, people were beginning to clap at the red-head's heroic deeds. He glared at them all, and what little applause there was died away. As soon as they stopped looking, Shinta pulled his very skinny wallet out of his pants and threw it to the surprised pickpocket. "That was unwise, my friend. Thievery is strictly punished around here."

The boy stared in surprise at the wallet before tossing it back to the strange man. "What do you know? I've got the fingers of a magician and the skill of a professional robber. Where do you get off telling me what to do and giving me pity money?"

Shinta shrugged. "Well, I just assumed you needed the money to live. Otherwise, I doubt that you would be stealing." The young boy scowled, irritated at the short girly-man. Suddenly, his stomach rumbled. He turned around quickly and started heading the other way.

"Oy," Kaoru said as she retrieved her purse from Shinta. "That was quite a throw." Shinta ignored her and put a hand on the retreating boy's shoulder. "Would you like to join me and Kaoru-dono for something to eat?"

The boy looked startled then shrugged. "Eh, why not. I'm not such a dope as to pass up free food. Where we eating?"

Shinta grinned. "I saw a pleasant little Italian place just a little that way." He turned to Kaoru. "Would that be acceptable, Kaoru-dono? I'll even pay for it. I do have a little money."

"Um, sure, whatever you want to do."

"Wonderful. By the way, what's your name, kid?" Shinta turned to the boy.

"I'm Yahiko and I'm not a kid."

Kaoru smirked. "Kid, you have a lot of spunk, dontcha? Where do you live?" She nudged him lightly. "Wherever I want to," said Yahiko defiantly. "What do you care, you hag."

Kaoru rapped him on the head with her knuckles. "Hag? I may not be the prettiest, but I am not a hag." Yahiko rubbed his head ruefully, muttering darkly to himself. Shinta smiled at their antics, carefully noting the pair of eyes observing them.

Several stories above them, a tall, broad-shouldered man with unruly brown hair watched the trio closely. "I see your target, sir."

An implant in his skull swiftly brought a reply to his inner ear. "Good, gather data. Make sure you don't screw up." The implant's telephone shut down. The man scowled and blinked twice, activating his retinal implants.

"Scan and save," he intoned to his implant. The implant beeped quietly as it focused on Shinta through the implants and scanned his image. "Zoom, x-ray scan, save." The implant did as it was told. Seconds later, an image of Shinta's bone structure appeared in his line of sight. Glancing at the image with a practiced eye, the man whistled softly. Picking up a small stone, he glanced down at the red-head. "Time for a little experiment. Implant, motion camera." A small red "rec" sign appeared in the corner of his vision.

Shinta's body tensed as he sensed the stone speed toward his head before willing himself to relax. Don't want to reveal much to our vigilant spy. The stone struck his head with incredible force, raising a large bump on his skull. "Oro," Shinta said softly, more out of habit then anything else.

The man sighed and turned his implant's phone on. "I'm sending you the data. You can analyze it yourself."

"No, you analyze it. You will be attacking. We will transfer you the money when I have his head hanging over my fireplace. Again, don't screw this up, Sano."

Sano nearly growled again. "Yes, sir. Himura Shinta is a dead man walking." He turned the implant off and watched as the trio walked into a restaurant.

And that's that. I'm working on Chapter five, so I can't promise a story update tomorrow. Can you tell I'm having fun with this?

-Ravanor