Author's Notes (3-11-05): Almost finished. Things are coming to a head, finally. 8D The tone is changing and chapters are probably going to get a little longer since it's becoming harder to decide where to break them up. Don't want to leave you guys with too many cliffhangers. :P

Special Thanks goes to lolo popoki for taking a look at this chapter for me! It would have been another three days without your helpful suggestions!

Disclaimer: Don't own it.


Juunishi Part 16

"This is the place." Enishi announced. He'd put his nose to good use even after he'd transformed back into his original form. Kenshin thought it was a little bit odd, the way some of them had picked up animal traits and abilities, but it was useful so he didn't really mind.

"The Room of Sharp Pointy Things." Kenshin blinked and read the sign above the door once more to himself, just to be sure. "I thought Aoshi was joking."

"Hm. Hard to tell with that man." Enishi replied seriously. "I swear I've seen blocks of tofu with more emotional range."

Kenshin cracked up, causing Enishi to shoot him a questioning glare.

"Are you laughing at me?" He asked with a measure of irritation.

Kenshin shook his head and tried to stop giggling. "Block of tofu... Aoshi's a block of tofu."

Enishi relaxed and took his hand off the hilt of his Chinese sword. Apparently his former archenemy merely found his comment amusing? Enishi didn't have a lot of experience with jokes.

Kenshin was still laughing. "If he could carve a perfect replica of himself, he could leave it meditating in a Zen temple somewhere and no one would know the difference."

Enishi couldn't help but be caught up in the humor of the moment. Kenshin's laughter was infectious, like some kind of virulent disease. "Yeah, and I'm sure that the weasel-girl wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

Kenshin nodded and smiled gleefully. "Maybe he's been doing that all along to ditch her?"

Somewhere off in distant parts of the Labyrinth of Doom, Aoshi and Misao both started sneezing.

"Are you getting sick?" Soujirou asked his companion. "Maybe we should slow down?"

"No, I'm fine." Aoshi said as they continued to sprint down the corridor. "I just have this feeling like someone's talking about me." To top it off, he had the strangest feeling that the people talking about him had just uncovered one of his deepest, darkest secrets…

"Well anyway, let's go save Misao." Soujirou smiled cheerfully. "She's gotta be close. I think I heard her sneezing."


The maze was incredibly confusing.

Even with all 50 of the maps, Saitoh was having difficulty navigating. He decided to take a fifteen minute smoking break and try and puzzle out his whereabouts.

He spread the maps out on the ground, fitting them together with anal retentive precision. Chou had tried to borrow a few of them but Saitoh had refused.

It was good to be the boss.

He reached into his front pocket for his nicotine fix. Everything was proceeding within acceptable parameters. He was alone and soon he would find his wife and rescue her. Then he'd find out how the Souma clan had managed to transfer their age old curse. He was sure it wouldn't be too hard to undo because he knew just who to beat the information out of. He smiled to himself.

Saitoh was a little surprised when the only thing in his first pocket was the faded picture of Tokio. He ran a critical eye over it, inspecting it for any creases or stains. Sagara Sanosuke was an idiot, but he was a lucky one. He'd managed to bring no harm to the priceless possession. Saitoh traced one finger across the picture, reminiscing about the day it was taken.

When he was through being sentimental, he replaced the mask of his cold exterior. It just wouldn't do to have someone wander in and spot him looking all sappy.

That would be irritating.

In fact, he was getting really irritated just thinking about it. He realized that it was way past time to satisfy a certain craving.

Saitoh stuck his white-gloved hand into his next pocket, looking for his cigarette stash. He came up empty.

He searched his next pocket and the next, with similar results. "Empty." He said, searching another pocket. "Empty. Empty. EMPTY!" Before he could even begin to wonder how many pockets he had, a realization exploded into his head like one of Katsu's bombs.

In all the madness of being separated from his special picture, he'd forgotten about his cigarettes.

He jumped to his feet, the wind scattering his neatly placed maps.

"That idiot!" Saitoh growled as he held his clenched fists up, raging against the world. "It's all HIS fault!"

He could practically see Sano standing before him, mocking him. The imaginary gangster turned and started heading down the hallway and Saitoh glared as he noticed the writing on his back. His nicotine deprived senses focused on that single kanji, until he could think of nothing else.

The character for evil: Aku.

Saitoh drew his sword like some kind of possessed marionette. "Aku. Soku. Zan."

When he snapped back to full awareness, he spent a moment wondering why his sword was lodged in the wall. It seemed silly to waste time gatotsu-ing inanimate objects.

Then he remembered his predicament.

He quickly decided to go back and find The Room of Confusion. He picked up some of the maps and flipped through them frantically. There was no way he was going to be able to use them. It would take more concentration than he was willing to muster without help from a little roll of tobacco.

He angrily started sprinting down the hallway. It took him a moment to realize that he'd left his sword in the wall and when he ran back to get it he experienced the strangest sensation.

The hair on the back of his neck started standing straight up, bristling like a dog's hackles.

Someone was there with him in the maze.

A split-second later his super-sensitive hearing detected the distinct and familiar sound of someone striking a match. He spun on his heels, facing off down a side passage. His unwanted companion was nowhere in sight.

The pleasant odor of cigarette smoke wafted down the hall. He didn't need his super-sensitive dog smelling to know that whoever-it-was was smoking his brand. It didn't take a genius to extrapolate from there.

Well, actually, it might have. But Saitoh prided himself on being pretty damn smart.

"You're awfully cocky." He put on an air of casual indifference. "I thought you would have learned your lesson when we fought the first time."

A playful voice seemed to drift from nowhere in particular. "You know as well as I do that I let you win the first time, Saitoh Hajime."

Saitoh smirked coldly. "Care to come on out and test that theory? Or is the great Souma Gure afraid?"

A man wearing traditional clothing stepped out of a secret passageway in the wall. Saitoh watched him, impassively.

Souma Gure smiled around a stolen cigarette and nodded his greeting to his enemy. "These are some quality smokes." He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew a cloud in Saitoh's direction. "I'm betting that you're dying to get your hands on them."

"Nobody's dying here but you."

Gure looked amused. "You're quite the comedian. A tad violent for my tastes, but funny nonetheless."

Saitoh pulled his katana out of the wall and slid into his infamous stance. "You have something of mine."

Gure looked at the cigarette. "Aren't you overreacting? I've only smoked one of them."

He might have been able to fool someone else with his clueless act, but Saitoh knew better. "You know what I'm talking about."

Gure gave him an appraising look. "Of course I do. And I know that you knew that. I was just teasing."

"I don't like games."

"Liar." Gure replied with a grin. "You just don't like games that you're not in control of."

Saitoh narrowed his eyes and prepared to launch his attack. "Where is she?"

"I'm not planning on hurting your woman, so you can relax. In fact, I've become quite fond of her. Tokio is an amazing woman, wouldn't you agree?"

Saitoh had heard enough. He shot down the hallway in a flash, sword aiming directly for Souma Gure's heart. Nobody messed with his woman and lived to tell the tale.

The man either didn't have a chance to move, or didn't want to and in all his unbalancing rage, awareness dawned just a moment too late for Saitoh.

It was a trick.

A second before the tip of his katana would have punctured Gure's chest, it impacted against glass. In the dim lighting of the corridor, Saitoh hadn't even noticed it. There was a tremendous crash as the pane shattered, sending shards everywhere. Saitoh barely managed to shield his eyes from the dagger-like fragments.

There was a long moment as time seemed to slow. Saitoh's senses were engulfed by the sound of the glass as it tinkled to the floor.

When it stopped, he lowered his arm and inspected a large triangular shard embedded in his arm. His shirtsleeve was sliced to ribbons, bright red blood trailing from a series of lacerations.

He looked down to find the rest of his body in much the same condition. He felt oddly detached from it all.

Gure stood safely out of his range with the same carefree grin plastered to his face. "That was pretty impressive." He watched as Saitoh pulled a long shard of glass from his side with a shaking hand. "I know you don't want to hear this, but you're quite predictable. I knew if I mentioned your wife, you'd rush me without a thought, straight through the booby-trap glass."

"Tokio..." Saitoh looked up at his enemy, snarling viciously. "If you hurt her..."

"I already told you I'm not going to hurt her." Gure assured him. "But if you're still intent on rescuing her, you'd better hurry. Pretty soon all of your efforts are going to be meaningless."

Saitoh was reminded of some of his top secret information about the Souma clan. "Mind erasure. You're going to wipe her mind blank and keep her for your own." He was starting to feel a little lightheaded from the blood loss. He jabbed his sword into the ground and used it to prop himself up, exposing his current weakness.

"Bingo." Gure commented. "I thought it was a nice little touch. Once I figured out how to transfer the curse, the first thing on my mind was women." He grinned. "And by taking all of yours, we save ourselves the trouble of having to deal with crazy women seeking revenge."

Gure turned and pressed a section of the wall, exposing a secret passageway with a ladder. "Your widow and I will be waiting upstairs." He turned and headed inside, grabbing a rung and hoisting himself up. "Take your time, see to your wounds."

"If you want me dead, kill me now." Saitoh told him, his eyes narrowed and calculating as he stood there bleeding helplessly.

Gure laughed and continued climbing. "Oh please, I know you're putting on an act. If I attacked you now you'd waste me with your Zero stance."

His amused laughter faded as he ascended.

Once he was out of sight and sound, Saitoh stood up easily. He took his sword and flicked it once to remove the trail of his own blood before sheathing it.

His injuries weren't life threatening, but they'd certainly slow him down and make things difficult. He'd paid for the price for losing his cool. It was a mistake he wouldn't be making twice.


With her arms bound, Megumi had no way to catch herself as her captor pushed her roughly into a cavernous room.

"Welcome to The Room of Eternal Torment." He smiled ruthlessly and removed her gag.

The big room was empty. Megumi wasn't sure what was supposed to be so scary about it.

"If you're trying to frighten me, it's not working." She stated defiantly. "And just for the record, I won't be falling for any of your tricks. I've seen right through you, you pathetic psycho."

Some people would have tried to appease their kidnapper by being polite. Megumi knew better. She had a strict policy of speaking her mind, even in the most dangerous of situations.

It would probably get her in trouble one day. She hoped it was one day far far away.

"You're lucky that you're so attractive." The man crouched on his heels, bringing his face to her eyelevel. He reached out and brushed some hair out of her eyes.

He wanted her to flinch. Megumi didn't. Instead, she smiled wryly. "I can't say the same for you."

He grinned and then winced at the pull of tender flesh. One side of his face was covered in a deep purple bruise. Megumi didn't need to be a doctor to know that the man had had a run in with someone's fist, repeatedly. And judging by the severity of the wound, she had a really good guess who had been doing the punching.

Besides, most skilled warriors knew better than to punch their opponents directly in the face. You were more likely to break your own hand in the process.

"I hope that Sanosuke finishes the job he started when he comes to rescue me. Your face will look great in purple. It'll be a real improvement."

He slapped her. Her lip split and she could taste blood. It was worth it though. He was pissed.

"I can't wait to teach you some manners." He said, his eyes glinting cruelly. "Everyone who disobeys me regrets it."

"I'm sure that everyone who meets you regrets it." She quipped.

He drew his hand back to slap her a second time and Megumi braced for the blow. It never came as her captor lowered his hand, chuckling to himself.

"I certainly chose the right woman." He commented. "I was worried when they told me that you and that mentally deficient bottom-feeder were partners. I figured that any woman he could get would be gutter-trash at best. What kind of woman falls for a freeloading gangster?"

Megumi's eyes flashed darkly. She wasn't sure if she was more insulted for herself or Sano. "For one thing, Sanosuke and I are not partners." Megumi corrected him. "And compared to him, you're pond scum."

"You're awfully free with your words." He stated threateningly. "I'd show the proper respect, if I were you."

"Well, if I were you I'd drown myself in a mud puddle."

"Shut up, Woman!" He spat. "I am Souma Rekuno! The Souma Clan Leader's Right Hand Man!"

"Gosh you're boring." Megumi said with a little fake yawn. "Can you wake me when my rescuer gets here?"

"You're not going anywhere." Rekuno said angrily. "When your boyfriend arrives I'm going to kill him and THEN I'm going to have my cousin erase your memory."

"Sanosuke's definitely not my boyfriend." She countered. "And you can shut up about the memory erasing stuff because I know it's not possible. You can't scare me. I'm a doctor."

"I think I'm starting to get a really good idea about why you and the gangster aren't actually married. Maybe I was a little presumptuous about his intellect?"

Megumi didn't want to take the bait, but she was curious. "What do you mean?"

"Who'd want to be stuck with you for the rest of his life? You could drive any man insane. I've only been alone with you for a few hours and I'm starting to feel this urge to pound my head against the wall."

"Feel free. I won't stop you." Megumi didn't bother to hide her anger.

He watched her in furious silence for a few moments and then turned and headed toward the entrance to the spacious room. There was only one other exit and Megumi decided to try and make a run for it.

She was just about on her feet when a dagger flew through the air, pinning her kimono to the floor. Her captor hadn't even bothered facing her as he threw it perfectly. Megumi spent a moment reassessing exactly how much trouble she was in.

"Don't you just wonder why this place is called "The Room of Eternal Torment"?"

Megumi remained silent.

"It's my favorite room. My boss and I come down here quite often to meditate and contemplate the fate of the illustrious Souma Clan."

He pulled a hidden lever and a portion of the wall next to him rotated around, revealing an intimidating display of exotic weapons.

"You see. My clan is cursed. It has been for centuries." He pulled two metal gauntlets off the wall and slid them on. He flexed one fist and three claw-like daggers protruded with enough force to slice bone. He smiled and opened his hand. The daggers slid away into their hidden compartments with a hiss.

Megumi watched him coolly as he continued. "I've spent my entire life helping my clan look for a way to break the curse. And we finally found one. The only thing left is to clean up the mess." He chose a vicious looking foreign sword with a serrated edge. He inspected the blade and then slid it into an empty sheath on his back. "I know that you and your self-righteous friends may have difficulty imagining it, but sometimes people must be sacrificed for the good of others."

"I understand sacrifice." Megumi stated simply. "But what you're talking about is murder."

"I'm talking about saving my clan!"

"You're talking about killing 12 men who have nothing to do with you or your stupid curse! Most of them are GOOD men who only want to live peaceful lives."

"Just about every one of your "good" men deserves to die. Assassins, gangsters, terrorists, arms dealers, mercenaries… We chose them for a reason. And while I'm not proud of it, I am willing to kill to achieve the goals of my clan."

"Yeah," Megumi laced her words with sarcasm. "You're a hero."

He stood up proudly. "I am." He came back to her side and pulled her to her feet, the dagger ripped her kimono, but Megumi had bigger things to worry about. Her captor dragged her back toward the entrance and all his wicked looking weapons.

"Don't kid yourself." She said, desperately trying to keep her cool. "I've met genuine heroes. They're the men who're coming right now to rescue me and the others."

In a flash, he clenched his fist and brought the daggers under her chin, threatening her. "Scream." He commanded.

She stared back defiantly. "I won't."

"How do you expect your hero to find you if you don't make some noise?" He said with a disturbing grin. "Now scream."


"That's Megumi!" Sano pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the pain. "She's in trouble." She had to be. He'd never heard her scream like that before. She wasn't easily frightened.

"I think she's just trying to get our attention." Anji commented. "If we keep heading in this general direction we should be able to find her."

"Well, c'mon then." Sano took off at a run but his injuries caught up with him. He stumbled, barely catching himself against the side of the corridor.

"You can barely stand." Anji pointed out the obvious. "How are you planning on rescuing your girl?"

Sano grinned stupidly. "Well, I was thinking I could kind of sit there on the floor while you kicked some bad guy ass for me."

Anji had just a moment to stare at the ex-gangster before Sano pushed himself back to his own feet. His look had changed to one of stubborn determination. It was a look that Anji remembered from their duel at Shishio's.

"Just kiddin'." Sano continued. He started off again, keeping close to the wall incase he lost his balance.

Anji followed behind but pulled to a stop, abruptly.

Sano noticed and turned to face the large man. "What?"

Anji looked down at the ground. He could feel the floor shaking, like the early tremor of an earthquake. "Don't you feel that?" Anji asked.

Sano didn't.

"The ground is shaking."

"Oh." Sano replied dumbly, looking down at the wooden floor. "I thought that was just me."

The quaking picked up in intensity and was soon accompanied by the horrible screech of grinding metal. Whatever it was, it was big and headed straight for them.

"Run!" Anji commanded and immediately followed his own advice. Sano stumbled after him but judging by the tremors and increasing volume, he wouldn't be able to outrun whatever it was that was on their tail.

Anji wasn't famous for his speed, but Sano found himself having trouble keeping up with him.

The situation was bad, but it got a whole lot worse when all the openings to the side passageways slammed shut with a loud clunk, leaving them with one long straight hallway.

The grinding sound was getting closer. Sano cast a quick glance over his shoulder and wished he hadn't.

They were being followed by a messy wall of twisting spikes and vicious drill-shaped shredders. The machine or vehicle or whatever it was, was gaining on them with alarming speed. If Sano strained his ears, he was sure that he could hear the sound of maniacal laughter. It was actually kind of scary. He spent a moment wishing that he was back at the Aoiya drinking.

Sanosuke was too distracted by the approaching catastrophe to notice the tripwire. He felt it slice against his shin as he collapsed face first into the floor. Something clicked, but the background noise was too great for either of them to notice.

He had barely grunted his surprise, but somehow Anji had realized that his companion was in trouble. The giant of a man was at his side in an instant and roughly pulled him to his feet by the back collar of his white and black shirt.

"Go!" Anji gave him a guiding shove and Sano took a few stumbling steps before he realized that the fallen monk wasn't following.

"Anji, what the hell are you doing?" Sano turned to face the giant man who stood facing off against the Meat Grinder of Doom.

"Run! I'll buy you some time!" Anji's voice boomed out above the horrendous sound.

Sano couldn't let Anji be ground into hamburger to save his sorry hide. It just wouldn't have been right. "I'm not going anywhere!" He started back toward his friend and former mentor. Maybe they could combine their strength and defeat it? Things were about to get ugly. Really ugly. Ugly like Shishio without his bandages. Ugly like a sleep deprived Kaoru on a bad-hair day. Ugly like… Well, there wasn't really anything uglier that Sano could think of in that limited space of time.

"You can't die here." Anji turned and Sano could see a strange burning glow of determination in the fallen monk's eyes. "You've got a woman to save, Sagara Sanosuke."

Thoughts of Megumi filled Sano's head and he knew Anji was right.

"Anji..." There really weren't any words he could say to express his appreciation. He nodded his understanding and took off with renewed strength and speed. He vowed to live the rest of his life so that Anji would smile down upon him happily from above.

He'd barely taken ten running steps when the passageway slammed shut 5 meters in front of him.

"Shit."

He skidded to a halt and turned back anxiously to see what was going on with Anji and the grinder. The machine would close in on the fallen monk in a matter of seconds, but before that could happen, another unexpected and unfortunate turn of events took place.

A section of the ceiling came down, sealing off his view of Anji, and making a kind of ramp that led up into the dark unknown. Something large was moving inside the darkness and if Sano had been born about one hundred years later he might have experienced a sense of déjà vu.

A large, perfectly round boulder came hurtling in his direction. Sano didn't have the time to consider where someone could purchase a perfectly round giant boulder, but if he did, he probably wouldn't have because he didn't really care. Mostly he was just worried about getting flattened.

He took one look at the speeding boulder and one look at the wooden wall blocking his path. He made up his mind and pulled back his fist, letting it fly. He didn't even have to use the Futae no Kiwami to shatter the wooden barrier.

He took off running with a brand new sense of urgency as the boulder crashed through the remains behind him.

A brick wall slammed itself down, sealing off the passageway. Sano barely slowed as he pulled back his right fist and unleashed his devastating double punch. The bricks shattered and Sano broke on through to the other side.

The boulder was gaining but Sano had other things to irritate him as his path was blocked, once again, by a slab of solid stone.

Sano had always enjoyed shattering stone and it would have brought up nostalgic memories of the week he'd spent learning the Futae no Kiwami if his brain wasn't so busy thinking about other things. Stone made the most satisfying sound when it exploded.

Sano continued on, unhindered, for about 3 seconds.

A steel door became his next obstacle. Sano was really becoming irritated. If they were trying to piss him off, they were succeeding. Sano didn't pause as he punched the door with the Futae no Kiwami. The steel groaned as his hand passed straight through and he ripped a person-sized hole in the twisted metal.

The boulder didn't slow as it crashed through the remaining steel.

Sano had learned the pattern by heart so he wasn't surprised when the next door slammed down, blocking his path. It was reinforced steel with large protruding spikes.

Sano had had enough of their games. He came to a complete stop in front of the wall and turned back to face the rolling ball of death. The boulder wasn't any different than the stones he'd used to practice his moves on. Well, it was a whole lot bigger, but Sano was too angry to worry about details.

With a roar he threw both fists forward for a simultaneous Futae no Kiwami attack. During his five year world travels he'd had plenty of time to perfect the move with different parts of his body. He'd learned how to use his left fist barely a month after leaving Japan. It had been kind of necessary since his right fist spent a lot of time being broken and useless.

The boulder exploded into pebbles. Sano rounded on the spiked door and obliterated it.

He stomped down the hallway, mad as hell and unwilling to jump through any more hoops. Apparently his tormentors were through playing games with him because he made it all the way to the large, spacious room without any more surprises.

He stepped into The Room of Eternal Torment without a moment's hesitation. Dumb names couldn't scare him after everything he'd just been through.

On the far side of the otherwise empty room, Sano spotted the one person he wanted to see more than any other. Unfortunately, she was in the company of someone that Sano hadn't thought he'd ever meet again.

Megumi noticed him immediately and her face brightened up. "Sanosuke!" She called his name and it was the sweetest thing he'd heard in a long while. To say that she was happy to see him would have been an understatement.

It seemed she'd forgiven him for his earlier misbehavior. Life or death situations really had a way of bringing people together. Assuming that they both survived whatever was in store for them…

Souma Rekuno grabbed Megumi and pulled her close. "Glad you could join us." He called out to Sano. "But don't you think three's a crowd?"

Sanosuke tensed like a steel coil, ready to rush across the room and pound in his opponent's face. "Three is a crowd." He growled. "Let her go, you bastard!"

"Not just yet." Rekuno grinned evilly and reached for a lever on the wall. Sano wasn't sure what was going to happen if he pulled it, but he decided it would probably be very bad. He raced toward the man but the room was far too big to cover in that amount of time.

Rekuno slammed the lever down and laughed.

Sano fell as a section of the floor dropped out from underneath him. Luckily, his momentum carried him far enough forward to catch a part of the floor that hadn't dropped. He pulled himself up and stood transfixed by the sight before him.

It was like ninja magic. The entire room had been transformed into a series of raised walkways and pits full of meter long spikes. It had become a twisted obstacle course with swinging blades, shooting flames, rickety walkways, and all manner of booby-traps.

Megumi screamed his name as Rekuno dragged her off into the far exit, laughing the entire time.

Sano's shoulders slumped as he stood there in the middle of The Room of Eternal Torment.

"This sucks."


Author's Notes 2: I spent the last weekend riding around on a charter bus with my co-workers. (btw, I live in Japan) We spent one day in Osaka and then cruised around to different places of interest. At one point, we ended up stopping at a rest stop in the town of Ueno in Mie Prefecture. This city is the famous breeding ground of Ninjas! I kept warning people not to buy anything because the minute they paid money for the ninja goods, they'd probably disappear. The place was absolutely crawling with ninjas. I was on my guard the whole time. And then, one of my co-workers asked me if I'd ever SEEN a ninja... Poor ignorant fool... Haha.

Review Comments

lolo popoki: Hey hey, thanks for all the help! I wouldn't have posted today without you. 8D I'm glad I got your opinion on this before I posted. Anyway, thanks for the great review and the comment on my sister's art. She really appreciated it (and it's the only way I can continue to get her to do fanart for my fanfics). 8D I'm glad that you enjoyed the Enishi and Kenshin scene (in this chapter and the previous). Those two really have an interesting dynamic. I've got some great battles in store for them and everyone else. Enjoy!

GirlWaterShaman: I like how you cheer for Aoshi and Misao and then clearly state that Soujirou is yours. So I'm wondering; do you really like Aoshi and Misao as a couple? Or do you just want Soujirou for yourself:P

JML: Damn, I figured if anyone would know about Advent Children's release date, it would be you. Oh well. Everyone on the main website says that it's going to be released directly to DVD... but how cool would it be to have a theatrical release? Uh, and yeah... history paradox. Chances are pretty good that the Souma clan isn't going to be any more successful at defeating the Kenshin-gumi than anybody else has been. 8D

Mimi-san:MEDIC! I don't wanna lose one of my faithful readers before the end! Hopefully you'll be able to survive all the coming suspense. Hehe. Glad you enjoyed all the stuff with Kenshin and Enishi, though when you wrote "Kenshin x Enishi" you gave me funny thoughts about the two of them. 8D

Night-Owl123: Thanks! I will! 8D

Nominis Expers: Aww, you're not No one anymore... Don't worry, you'll always be No one to me! 8D Thanks for snogging me! Was it good for you, too? And I had to laugh about your Aoshi x Misao prediction... Have you been reading my mind, or what:P

GreenEyedFloozy: Ah ha! See? You were almost off your chair! If it was really funny you'd be on the floor:P Anyway, glad you're enjoying this!

FairyMage: Wow! You get my MVR title this time around! (Most Valuable Reviewer!) You came and left me a review for all 15 chapters right in a row... I was truly impressed. You've got so many good comments that it's hard to reply to them all. But, just for the record, I really got a kick out of shoving Tsubame into a cupboard. If you're demented and evil for getting a kick out of it, what does that make me? Mwahaha. Thanks for hopping aboard this crazy ride. Hope you love what I've got in store for everyone!

Lexi-Teniro: I love you for loving this! 8D I've always wondered if "serieses" is a real word though... I mean, I use it all the time but my spell-checker tells me that it's not. Oh well. Hehehe. Thanks for the review!

Firuze Khanume: Thanks for the spectacular review! I really enjoy hearing what you've got to say about this stuff. I'm glad I could do Enishi and Kenshin's relationship justice. It's sometimes hard to find his voice when all I have to go on are bad translations of the manga and my own limited Japanese comprehension. (not to mention the Seishouhen... but let's just not mention that). 8D As for the Meiji day Souma's, only some of them are directly based on their modern day counterparts. Guys like Ryoshi aren't really based on the FB characters, or else he'd be a shy little girl with no self-esteem. Heh. Oh yeah, thanks for the great comment about my sister's work. She really appreciates it!

MZ.AMbER EYES: Hehe. Yeah, I see your point. Watching the guys squirm can be quite enjoyable.

princess-oro: Hanzo IS gorgeous. Just imagine the most gorgeous man you can think of and that's him. 8D Hm, does Enishi love love Kaoru? Good question. At this point I doubt he really understands what he's feeling. Kaoru kind of helped save his soul. You can argue that he loves her like a little brother would, but judging by his messed up perceptions of familial bonds, it could be much more than sibling love. 8D

marbles: Hiya! Thanks for the cool reviews. I'm glad you got a kick out of everything. (especially Aoshi, ne?) I could have made Aoshi the dragon, but really, Kenshin is soooo the dragon. And yeah, Aoshi and Hatori have more in common than Kenshin and Hatori, but that wasn't exactly what I was going for. Anyway, thanks for reading!

Hidari: A hopeless romantic, eh? I could tell you what's going to happen with the couples, but that would ruin all the fun. 8D Glad that I've convinced you to go spend lots of money on FB DVD's. Heck, I don't even own them, and here I am doing all this free advertisement for the series... I should be getting paid. 8D

Kaoru4: I'm glad you enjoyed Enishi's declaration of love. 8D Maybe he'll get a chance to prove how much he loves Kaoru in the next chapter or so? And thanks for the comment about the art. My sister really appreciated it! I thought the glasses were a really nice touch. 8D

Queeney: Gosh, anything could happen from here on out. ANYTHING. Hope you love it!

ChunkyMonkey241: Hey, why do you have 241 in your penname? What's it stand for? Dunno why, but I'm suddenly curious. Hehe, cheerful Soujirou. Yeah, he's a little over-the-top isn't he? It's good fun.

M.Kasshoku: Enishi kicks all sorts of ass. I don't think I'm really doing him justice but I'm having a lot of fun writing him. Now, mind you, he's a little more friendly and mentally stable in Juunishi than he was in the manga. He's probably my favorite bad guy of all time though (well, unless you count Saitoh, who doesn't really count anymore). Glad you liked Ryoshi. If I could get my sister to draw him I'd spend hours drooling. 8D

XxOtakuxBeanxX: Thanks for the review! Ninja jokes are hilarious, but real ninjas are even MORE hilarious. Just the other day I left my window open and I came back to my apartment to find it CRAWLING with ninjas. I had to go to the convenience store and buy ninja-repellant and ninja-poison. They have this special brand of poisoned ninja-snack that you leave sitting out and when the ninjas eat them and die, you throw their bodies out with the burnable trash. 8D Isn't that convenient?