Disclaimer: Nope, Kenshin is not mine; neither are Sano, Yahiko, Saitou, Kaoru, Seijuro or any of the Juppongatana. Neither do I own Girl Scouts, or their cookies, overpriced or otherwise…and I'm not knocking Girl Scouts, I was one for 5 years, and they do make awesome cookies…

Anyway, enough of my tangents and on with the story. And a good bit more Kaoru in this one for Nixy-Chan ;)

Lives in the Balance

The night after the accident, Kenshin walked with new purpose in his stride, but the normally calm man was tense, looking on the verge of a snapping point. He had stayed late that morning after his shift ended, and then had come in early, spending hours of digging through files and cases long forgotten by the general public. But his search had yielded results. Unfortunately. He walked over to where Captain Seijuro was talking with Saitou and Sano. Kenshin didn't want to be acknowledged, but walked right over to him.

"Captain we need to talk. Now." Kenshin said urgently.

Seijuro looked him over with a bored eye. "Spit it out Himura." Seijuro doubted anything Kenshin had dug up would be worth much. This man had disappointed him in the past, and he had better things to do then waste his time.

Kenshin looked at the other two for a long moment. They respectfully turned aside to give them some room, Saitou studying posters on the wall, Sano pursing the ever-present pink box of donuts. Kenshin turned back to Seijuro, not wasting any more time.

"Captain, I know what's going on here. With the bombings." He said hurriedly, lowing her voice slightly.

"Oh you do, do you?" Seijuro raised a brow.

"It's the Juppongatana."

Seijuro almost chocked and Saitou half turned, his eyes widening slightly at the name. "What? It can't be…we broke them up 10 years ago, and there's been nothing out of them since." Seijuro protested.

The Juppongatana had been an elite crime ring, drug running, black market, smuggling, assassinations, anything dirty they had had their fingers in. But it had just been assumed they'd gone under after the bust of the group years before, after nothing more had surfaced about them. But Kenshin had never been surer of anything.

"You and I both know they still have a few members scattered around, they've kept their noses clean, so we just have let them be. People like Sadojima and Saizuchi." Kenshin said pointedly.

Seijuro looked at him. "What are you saying Himura?"

"I looked up their records. They both had ties within the Juppongatana. And remember Makoto?" Kenshin looked hard at him. "They just let him out of jail last week. He was their leader."

Seijuro shook his head. "Are you out of your damn mind? We watched Makoto very closely in prison, he never showed any signs of being violent, dangerous….and why the hell would he go around blowing up his own people?"

"Remember what happened? Remember the bust, remember what happened to him? He was set up! He knows he was set up! He's getting his revenge!" Kenshin was almost frantic trying to get Seijuro to believe him. "If we don't stop this now who knows what will happen!"

"Himura, that's enough. You're basing this on a few assumptions…you're putting two and two together and getting eight! You have no evidence!" Seijuro glared down at Kenshin.

"It's at least worth looking into! I can't just overlook what's right under my…." Kenshin shot back.

"Listen, when you get evidence, then come talk to me! Until then, just go back out with your donut patrol and leave this sort of work to the specialists." He lowered his voice, glaring at Kenshin even harder. Kenshin paled, knowing just what Seijuro was referring to.

"Captain, you're being unreasonable, that was…." Kenshin started quietly

Kenshin's concentration was broken when Seijuro was suddenly hit on the side of the face with half of a donut. "Hey Seijuro!"

Seijuro's head jerked up, eyes burning into the culprit, who continued

"Yeah, I'm talking to you! Donut patrol, eh?" Sano's voice rang out, he had heard the last comment, and didn't like the way Seijuro was treating Kenshin either. "I knew we were the bottom of the barrel, but come on! Now, Kenshin here was talking to you, I suggest you pay a bit of attention to his idea. He's not known to just run off half cocked."

Kenshin looked down, shaking with barely controlled anger and embarrassment, it was bad enough he was making an idiot of himself, now Sano wasn't helping. "Sano, sit. I have control of this."

"Oh really?" Sano stood up, and crossed closer, bending to pick up the half of the donut. "Waste of a perfectly good donut…." He muttered before looking at Seijuro again.

"W do you think you're doing?" Seijuro glared at Sano, who smirked back.

"Well seeing as how you referred to us as Donut Squ…" Sano started, but Kenshin cut him off.

"Oh for the love of…Sano could you act like an officer?" Kenshin snapped, glaring up at the two men. "I said I had this under control, I meant it."

"Oh yeah, that looked like it was under control!" Sano retorted.

"Like throwing a donut at him was going to solve anything?" Kenshin demanded. "It was behavior like that that got you here in the first place!"

"Kenshin! Lighten up…. this isn't even our case! News flash, you can't always fix everything!" Sano snapped.

"I'm amazed you even noticed anything was going on, all the time you spend playing around and chasing after that paramedic! This isn't a game Sanosuke! Our work is life or death, and there's no room for people who can't take that seriously!" Kenshin shot back angrily.

"So what are you implying?" Sano answered defensively. "What, you're saying I'm not good enough to be a cop?"

"All I'm saying is that some of us…have earned the right to wear this uniform!"

"Oh God here it comes…Kenshin the damn martyr. I don't have time for this!" Sano rolled his eyes and turned away, but paused, looking back. "You know Kenshin, I respected you and I thought maybe you had a bit for me too. Guess this is something else I didn't notice." Sano said bitterly before spinning on his heels and walking away.

Kenshin looked like he'd been hit in the stomach. "Sano….wait…"

Sano didn't turn back around, he just kept walking past a startled Yahiko who had come in just a few minutes before, and had been watching the argument. "C'mon kid…we're going on patrol."

There were several moments of long, awkward silence between the three remaining men. Seijuro finally broke the silence.

"Himura…go home." He said quietly.

Kenshin turned and looked at him, amber swirling with the usual violet of his eyes. Seijuro was startled; it had been a long time since he'd seen that look. "Go home." He repeated. "You're in no shape to go out on patrol. Come back tomorrow."

"I'm fine." Kenshin started to push past him, but Seijuro caught his arm.

"It wasn't a request Himura."

Kenshin looked at him for a long moment, before jerking away, walking out the door, frustration clear around his form.

On his way out the door Kaoru met him. "Kenshin…what's wrong?"

"It's nothing Miss Kaoru." Kenshin said flatly.

Kaoru looked at him worriedly. "Where are you going?"

Kenshin sighed, and his anger seemed to crumble. "Seijuro sent me home."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "Why? What happened?"

Kenshin just shook his head. "I was stupid, that's what happened."

Kaoru looked at him expectantly. They were both outside before Kenshin spoke again.

"I thought I had a lead on the bombings. But Seijuro didn't seem to want to take it seriously, and Sano had to jump into the middle of it, and I…I lost my temper at him. He's mad, Seijuro is mad, Yahiko probably thinks I'm a jerk and Saitou must be laughing at me…and for what? I proved nothing…" He ran a hand through his red hair, sighing again in frustration.

Kaoru touched his arm. "Aw Kenshin…I'm sorry…"

He turned, forcing a half smile. "It's not your fault…" he turned serious again. "It's just…I know what's going on here, and no one will take it seriously."

One mistake, he had made one mistake years ago, and now getting anyone to believe him was almost impossible. Maybe Seijuro was right, maybe all he was good for was neighborhood patrols. They walked in silence until Kaoru got to her car. She turned and looked at Kenshin.

"Listen…I really can't do anything to change Seijuro's mind, but if you wanna talk…call me." She said, looking at him seriously. She had never seen him so moody, it scared her.

Kenshin smiled at her again, then stepped back as she got into her car and pulled out of the parking spot. Burying his hands in his pockets he walked back to his own car. Getting in he sat in silence behind the wheel for a long moment, before finally thumping his hands down on it in frustration. What could he do to convince these people?

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Kenshin only slept a few restless hours, and was up again barely at dawn. He was edgy, and had to do something to work that off, before he went crazy. Turning on the radio he started to do the one thing that always could keep him distracted. Housework.

About mid morning he looked outside, and at the mounting snow. "Might as well shovel it…nothing else to do …" he muttered.

Once outside though he quickly caught the attention of the two little girls outside on the porch next door.

"Mr. Ken! Mr. Ken!" They echoed each other excitedly, running over to wrap themselves around his legs.

Kenshin laughed as he tried to free himself. "Ayame, Suzume…what are you two doing out in this?"

"Waiting for Grandma!" Ayame announced. "Gran'ma!" Suzume announced with a knowing nod.

"I see." Kenshin remembered when they'd moved in about three years ago with their grandfather, the retired Dr. Genzai and his sister. He didn't know, or care to know all the details, only that somehow their own mother wasn't able to take care of them anymore. But the sisters seemed to have adjusted well, and had taken an almost instant fascination to Kenshin.

"'Cause we're selling Cookies!" Ayame announced. "Girl Scout Cookies!" Suzume added again. "Do you want some cookies?" Ayame asked, giving Kenshin a pleading look he felt himself melting under.

Kenshin smiled down at her. "Of course I'll get some of your cookies."

Ayame's face lit up as Genzai's sister, the woman dubbed 'Grandma' emerged from the house. "Alright girls, let's hurry or we'll be late!"

"But Grandma, Mr. Ken wants some cookies too!" Ayame bounded through the snow back the woman.

She looked back up at him. "Are you sure Mr. Himura?" she sounded uncertain.

Kenshin smiled and nodded. "Positive." It was worth buying a few boxes of overpriced cookies to see their excitement.

"Well….I'll get you the form when we get back then, alright?" she called back as she ushered the girls into the back of her mini-van.

Kenshin nodded as he went back to shoveling his sidewalk. The moment had been a nice break in his tense morning, but it also renewed his desire to get someone to listen to him, before someone like one of those kids got caught in the aftermath of this mess.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was 2 in the afternoon, and Saitou still hadn't gotten any sleep. Instead he'd come home from work, and went right for a pot of coffee, pack of cigarettes, and the computer. He'd spent all morning digging around the internet, and back stories from the news, Kenshin's idea not leaving him alone. What if it was the Juppongatana? He'd been with Seijuro in the belief that they were gone, but if they were to come back, this is how they'd most likely do it.

The front door slammed, followed by the sound of heels crossing the hardwood floor, but Saitou didn't hear it. He didn't seem to register the voice that started talking to him as soon as it came into the room. Suddenly a manicured hand adorned with a vaguely familiar diamond wedding set crossed into his field of vision. He blinked and sat back. "Hm?"

"So you are in there. I was starting to wonder." His wife tilted her head slightly as she looked down at him. "I've been talking to you for 10 minutes, but you didn't seem to hear."

"I'm sorry. I was concentrating." Saitou muttered.

"No kidding. This place smells like an ashtray…I thought I asked you to open a window when you did that, or take it outside. You also left a pot of water on the stove, and it boiled down to nothing…I swear I can't leave without wondering if you'll burn the place down. Did you remember to call the Fujitas and tell them we'd be at their cocktail party on…"

Saitou looked back to the computer screen, ignoring the rest of his wife's ramblings. It seemed most of the time all that woman did was nag. And everyone wondered why he tended to not spend a lot of time at home. But back to business, if Kenshin had been right, and Saitou had to admit, he usually was, they were in deep. Maybe if he went and talked to Seijuro, he'd listen. After all, Saitou was the unsocial one, not the screw up. All he needed…

A pair of arms wrapped around his neck, along with the faint scent of lilac. "What's wrong dearest? You're so distracted today."

Saitou just shook his head. "Nothing. Just work." He reached over, closing the window he'd been reading from.

"Well if you're sure…" She kissed his cheek and pulled away. "I'm sorry I snapped…if I can do anything…" she smiled playfully, rubbing his shoulders before walking back into the other room. Saitou's eyes followed her, every once in a while, she was alright. He allowed himself a half smile, half smirk.

"Just make sure when you're done, you clean out that ashtray, and not in the trash inside…I'm having company in a few hours and I don't want the place smelling like that…" Her voice rang from the living room. Saitou frowned. Every once in a while.

But it just gave him one more reason to want to get back to work. Besides, some way or another, he was going to get Seijuro to at least listen to him, if nothing else.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The TV was playing in the background, and Kaoru wasn't really paying attention to it.

"…And in breaking news, another in what seems to be a series of recent bombings…"

Kaoru spun around, almost tripping as she rushed to turn up the volume, her attention caught.

"…the townhouse of a yet unidentified man. Police on the scene state this follows in the pattern set by two other bombings within the past week…"

Kaoru shook her head, a feeling of cold dread settling into the pit of her stomach. Whatever was going on here, wasn't just going to go away. Someone crazy and dangerous was out running around, and the man who had answers was being blown off. Pulling a list of phone numbers off her desk, Kaoru flipped through them until she found the one she wanted. Dialing it she waited.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon answer the phone…" she murmured to herself.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Kenshin was up to his elbows in dishwater, listening to the latest reports on the radio of another explosion. Just then the phone rang, causing his cat to shoot up from it's perch on his desk, running wildly into the living room. Even Kenshin jumped involuntarily. Drying off his hands he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Kenshin?"

Kenshin about dropped the phone. "Miss Kaoru? What…is everything alright?"

"Yes…I mean…no…I mean, did you hear? It's all over the news and…"

Kenshin nodded slightly. "I have the radio on right now."

"Kenshin…what are you going to do?" Kaoru sounded frightened.

Kenshin sighed. "I don't know right now…"

"Kenshin…this isn't going to just end…it's only going to get worse, isn't it?" She wasn't really asking a question.

"I certainly hope not, that I do." Kenshin leaned against the counter as he spoke.

"I just wish that…they'd do something about this…" There was a long pause. "Kenshin…I…I'm scared. This has me…freaked out…and I'm scared."

Kaoru's words struck something deep in Kenshin. Something he thought he'd lost a long time ago, a deep protectiveness of this woman he'd long admired from afar, but never got up the courage to approach with his true feelings.

"Nothing will happen to you Miss Kaoru. I'll see to that." He spoke quietly but firmly.

There was another long pause. "Kenshin…what are you saying?"

"I promise that no matter what happens, I'll make sure you're protected." It was the best Kenshin could offer her.

"I…no…I mean…I'll be alright…I'm more worried about you…" Kaoru stammered out the words.

"I'll be alright, that I will." Kenshin reassured her.

They talked for a few more minutes, but Kenshin wasn't really focused on what was said, instead thinking about the feelings that had suddenly surfaced in him. He did care about her, deeply. He would protect her as best he could, he just hoped that someday he'd have the courage to take things beyond just friends, but he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was reading too much into this, maybe she didn't care about him that way at all…

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

As Kaoru hung up the phone, she found herself comforted, but confused. She had liked Kenshin almost from the first, but after 5 years on the force she had become convinced that all the man would ever see her as was just 'Miss Kaoru who worked swing shift'. But then out of nowhere he'd said that. No man had ever said he would protect her, promised it to her. She smiled, the happiness growing inside her, maybe Mr. Himura wasn't as oblivious as he always acted like. Maybe there was room for more to grow. And she didn't doubt for a moment his words; she was safe with him looking after her.

Authors Note: This one was longer, and maybe not a lot towards the 'action' aspect of the story, but I just love writing the interactions between characters…it just makes them more real to me I guess and not so much of the 'action flick' feel…Stay tuned for the next chapter coming soon…defiantly a lot going to be happening there!

SSD