A/N: First of all, I must again apologize, che seems I do that every time I update anymore, huh? There were several… unexpected things that kept me from posting my story, mostly personal. I hope you all can forgive me for my faults, and still enjoy my story

Okay! Now that the hard part's over with, I'm ready to get going.

Now, onto my every so lovely reviewers:

Estelle Stafford: Hah, I do try my hardest, thank you.

Puck: LONG time no see! Hah, it was a couple months then, but now it's more like a year and a quarter! ; I always saw Saito as more of a mentor to Sano, but very hands off, teaching him how to deal with situations besides beating the crap out of things, and I tried to capture that in this story.

Shinpiteki Aka Vaz: Glad to know that there are other Sano/Karou fans out there, and I don't plan on taking this off. Hopefully, it will be finished though!

Fiaea: Glad you like it. Chou's one of my favorite 'villian' characters, next to Anji.

SailorKagome: -chokes down cookie- Ah… thanks!

Thank you all for your kind words, you helped me gain back the courage to continue to post this story, even after so long.

Once again, apologies, and I hope you all can still enjoy my writing style as I try my best to weave this tale of adventure, romance, and redemption as it has played out in my head for the past year. Thank you very much, and enjoy the chapter.

Omake & Disclaimer

Kin: Yo yo yo, check it out, K.D.'s back in the heezy for reezy! Hit 'em up with the disclaimer mah bruffah!

Kai: (Kin's brother) Whatever… Kinetic doesn't own much of anything in this story aside from the plot, and one character thus far known as Garret Minokin, a pretty lame name in my mind.

Kin: Stick to the script!

Kai: sigh All other characters are from the popular Japanese animation Rurouni Kenshin and belong to their respective owners.

Kin: In other words, I ain't gett'n paid fo dis!


Traveling Blues

The night was dark, and Misao stood alone outside of the Aoiya, letting the cool breeze run past her, the wind playfully tossing the long braid of black hair out behind her. It felt so good to be home, especially after that incident with Enishi. Finally, she could relax. A sudden sound of rustling clothing startled her out of her thoughts. Turning quickly, kuni in hand she pointed one out at her, as of yet, shadowed opponent. "Freeze! Who are you and what're you doing back here?"

The shadow said nothing, but walked forward into the soft moonlight. Misao stood stone still, shocked. "A-Aoshi-sama," she finally whispered, dropping her weapons and flinging her arms around the stoic leader of the former Oniwabashu. "Aoshi-sama!" she said again, excited to see her lover return from his daily meditations.

Aoshi looked down at her and, was that a smile? Was her Aoshi-sama finally beginning to soften? Misao blushed, her heart beating excitedly as she looked up into the chilling blue eyes he possessed. At once, his arms were around her, his body pressed against her, and he whispered softly in her ear, "Misao, I'm so proud of you."

The young ninja-girl's blush deepened, but her leader still continued. "You helped save all of Japan, and have grown up into such a beautiful young woman. Misao, would you…"

"Y-Yes Lord Aoshi?" she mumbled, closing her eyes and moving her face towards his.

"Would you… snap out of it you stupid weasel girl!" he shouted.

At once, Misao's eyes shot open, and she found her face inches from Sano's. The rooster-head was flushed, panting, as if he'd run to catch up with her.

"You idiot, you've been leading us in circles for the past hour! Pay attention to where we're going!" he shouted, shaking his heavily bandaged fist in front of her face.

Realizing it was just her imagination running wild, her dreamy, confused look contorted into a snarl. "Oh yeah, fine, blame the girl! I see how it is; you could just have easily been leading, but noooo! 'Misao, whenever I head off somewhere, I always end up getting lost!'" she whined, attempting to imitate Sanosuke's voice.

This set off a whole new slew of insults between the two, mostly starting or ending with 'weasel', and 'rooster'. Chou leaned back against a nearby tree, watching them go at it with a resigned sigh. He may be working for Saito now, but that didn't mean he had to get along with either of these, civilians. It struck him as funny; just a few months ago he had gone toe to toe with the one known as Himura and, to a lesser extent, the rooster-head. The kuni that buried itself next to his head caused him to stop thinking, and turn back to his two violent partners.

The verbal argument between the two had escalated, and now they looked about ready to tear each other's heads off or at least give the other a good pounding. Standing about ten feet away from Sanosuke, Misao stood at the ready with her kuni, vowing something like she wouldn't miss again, to which the thug replied that he wouldn't let a stupid weasel get off another chance. Shaking his had, Chou stepped between the two of them, glaring at Misao, then Sano.

"Shut da hell up, both ya," he growled, causing his partners to pause and assess this newest threat. "We're s'posed to be workin as a team, not takin each other out, it'll be bad enough if we gotta do that in the tournament." He looked between the two of them again, hoping he'd done the right thing and wasn't about to get riddled with kuni, or blown to pieces for that matter. Thankfully, both of them relaxed, though they still glared at each other. This would be another moment they'd swear never to forget, but would eventually pass, as had all their arguments in the past.

Nodding, Chou lifted a slip of paper from his belt, waving it some before opening it. "Now that the mission is underway, I've got some additional information from Captain Hajime." As he read over it, the other two waited intently. With a few more brief nods, Chou folded up the paper and started down the path. "We'll talk while we walk, we don't have time to waste.

Sanosuke and Misao shot one last glance at each other, and then hurried after their broom-haired companion.


"Fresh Vegetables! Freshest in town!"

"Tofuuuuu! Tofuuuuu! You'll find no better meal than one filled with Tofuuuu!"

"Sake! Sake! hiccup I've tasted it myself, and this is a fine batch!"

Karou shook her head at the vendors as they called out to her, trying to get her attention, not to mention her meager earnings. It felt like years since she'd been down here to buy food, what with the battles against Shishio, then Enishi and her subsequent kidnapping, Still, it was enough to take her mind off of Sanosuke, if only for a while. Still, shopping could only do so much, for so long, and her thoughts began to drift to the previous night.

"Those idiots," she growled, clenching her fist tight around the basket of vegetables she had bought for tonight's dinner, referring to the guards she had encountered. Throwing her voice to sound a little deeper, she did a rather poor impression of them. "'Oh, sorry, but he's a dangerous criminal and we can't let anyone besides Saito see him,' what nerve!" she shouted, nearly throwing the basket to the ground in her blind rage. Thankfully she caught herself before the future dinner was ruined. On the other hand, she failed to notice where she was walking until too late.

CRASH!

In the next instant, Karou found herself on her rear, vegetable basket overturned a few feet away, and the greens covered in dirt and grime. Before she could shout, or even move, she saw a soft hand reach down to her.

"Oh, my goodness! I'm so sorry young lady, you aren't hurt too badly are you?" the quiet voice attached to the hand asked, almost panicked. Looking up the hand to the arm, then to the face of the speaker, Karou suddenly discovered that she couldn't find words to even whisper. A soft face, showing just the slightest hint of crow's feet around her beautifully set sapphire eyes, shrouded by a black veil of silky hair, her face only further intensified by the pale purple kimono she wore around herself. The creature in front of her, for there was no way it could be human, was stunning, to say the least.

As if a world away, Karou took the woman's hand, and allowed herself to be helped up. All throughout, the woman continued to apologize, but Karou missed most of it, still entranced by this woman's appearance. After a few moments, and a concerned stare from the older woman, she shook her head.

"I-I apologize, I wasn't looking where I was going and…" Karou stammered, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse.

"Oh, are these yours?" the woman asked, pointing to the vegetables, most likely festering with bacteria by now. Following her finger, the kendo instructor gasped, and hurried over to them, trying to salvage what she could of 'dinner', before giving it up as a lost cause. Kneeling down by the basket, she shook her head, closing her eyes. This simply was not her week. Covering her eyes with her hands, she struggled to keep herself strong, not for anyone's sake but her own. At once, she felt a comforting presence behind her, and lifted her head from her palms, turning and looking up at the woman who had run into her earlier.

"I'm so sorry… I should have been more careful young lady," the woman smiled weakly.

"No… no I should have been. I apologize," Karou returned the weak smile, getting to her feet and dusting herself off.

"Please, allow me to make up for ruining your dinner by inviting you to my home to eat tonight. You can bring your husband and child too," the woman smiled.

"H-husband? Child!" Karou yelped, blushing deeply, shocked that the woman could think such a thing. She didn't look that old, did she?

"Yes… children. An attractive young woman such as you must already be married, and it seems like too much food for simply two people to eat on their own, or am I mistaken?" she asked, looking genuinely concerned that she had offended the Kamiya girl.

Shaking her head, Karou allowed the blush to slowly fade. "No no, I'm not married, I simply have thr…" pausing she bit her lip, dropping her eyes for a moment as she finished, "two houseguests."

"Oh, I see…" the woman whispered. "Well, none the less, the offer still stands. I would like to make up ruining your meal. I promise it will be edible."

Karou smiled, laughing softly, before realizing she hadn't properly introduced herself. In a small panic, she bowed her head, "I'm sorry, I'm Kamiya Karou."

The woman bowed softly back, smiling as well. "It is truly a pleasure Karou, now, if you don't mind, I would like to show you to my home. I shall have my husbands go and get your guests." Gracefully, the older woman began leading Karou through the city, walking as quickly as the confining kimono would allow.

Following along behind, the younger woman was treated to quite a sight. This was where the upper class lived. Either her husband was a former samurai, or a very powerful government official. They continued walking for several more minutes, before stopping.

"Never a place like home is there Karou?" the older woman smiled, pushing her way into the house. "Dearest! There will be guests tonight!"

"What have I told you about guests? You know that I despise them, I'm not even sure I can prepare a meal for any more people," another voice, much harsher snapped out, causing Karou to jump. She knew the voice, but the tone made it difficult to place. However, when the kind woman's husband walked into view, still complaining quietly, there was no doubt in her mind, this meal would be one of the most difficult ones to endure.


A/N Ex: Serious Karou stage time this time around. I felt it was only fair, I've given her illicit lurver so much time, almost ignored her. Don't worry though, she'll definitely have more now. Stay tuned next time when our intrepid trio arrives at Minokin's complex, and the Kenshin-gumi will attempt to survive the most dangerous dinner EVAAAAAAH! Who could this mysterious couple be? Do you know? And what the hell's up with Misao coming along instead of Aoshi? Some of this and more, next time!

Like the newish style? Hate it? Got any advice to get me back on the writing horse? Review my readers, tell me what you think. I, for example, don't like how this story isn't uploading the way it used to, so I'll likely be tinkering with it until Ifeel it's right. Anyway,till next chapter, Kinny D, signing out.