Disclaimer: Don't own RK.

Special thanks to:

Tamakia'gss: Thanks for taking the time to review. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Thieves of Darkness

Chapter 10: The Prey

3 AM

While most of the city slept, Kanryu Takeda was enjoying himself at his club, Opium. Set in the shadier part of town invisible from the main roads, only the elite and high priority knew about it (In this case meaning thieves, smugglers, and corrupt rich men). Tonight there was a decent crowd, made mostly of men, who had come to see his latest attraction, the dancing sensation Megumi Takani. A delicate looking beauty, Kanryu was quite pleased with her. He should be too, the amount he had paid for his new pet hadn't been cheap.

Sitting at the bar, Kanryu cast a look over the club, taking in who was there. As far as he could tell, tonight's crowd held no one of significance and was made mostly up of corrupt politicians and some thieves. The few women who were there sat cozily with their man, avoiding gazes other men through their way.

"Sir, he is here to see you."

Looking up, Kanryu found one of his men at his side.

"Well then, lead the way."

Discretely, both men headed toward the plain wooden door marked "Employees Only" right next to the bar while the rest of it's occupants continued to stare at the beautiful Megumi. Or so Kanryu thought.

Sitting in the back corner out of sight, a pair of green eyes watched Kanryu's every movement while another kept theirs glued to Megumi.

"Hey."

The one watching Megumi looked to his left at the woman clutching his arm.

"Is it time to get going?"

The woman nodded, and the man couldn't help but give a snicker.

"What?"

"Sorry. I still can't believe how good you look as a woman Kenshin," the man whispered.

The woman aka Kenshin frowned, "Knock it off, we need to get going Kaoru."

Kenshin was not happy about having to dress up as a woman. He had no problem with wearing the face mask, but the whole pantyhose thing and fake breasts did nothing but lower his manly pride. His red hair was covered by a long light brown wig, and the dress he had to wear was so tight that he could hardly breathe.

Kaoru on the other hand was having no problem being a man. She also had a face mask, and bits of her blonde wig stuck out from the black hat she had donned. She wore long black trench coat which stopped at her ankles, showing little of her black dress pants and shoes.

The couple slowly got up, Kenshin first, making "her" way to the bar. It was his job to keep the bartender occupied, along with any of the other men whose eyes weren't glued to that Megumi.

"Hi there," Kenshin said in a rather squeaky voice. It was the best he could do.

The bartender didn't seem to notice, "What can I get ya doll?"

Remembering what Kaoru had told him, Kenshin flashed the guy a fabulous smile, "I don't know, what do you recommend?" Kenshin leaned forward, pretending to be interested, obscuring the view of the bar to the man.

Kaoru drifted towards the pay phone while Kenshin made his way to the bar. Picking up the phone she dialed some obscure number while keeping her eyes on her surroundings. She watched amused as Kenshin flirted with the bartender, doing exactly as she had instructed. Nobody seemed to notice she was there. Nobody's eyes darted towards her, and Kaoru was relieved. This made her job a whole lot easier. Kenshin leaned forward, and Kaoru made her move, moving as quietly as she could to the door. She reached the door with ease and turned the handle. It was unlocked. She swung the door open as quickly as she could, but it creaked. The bartender began to turn his head, but thinking quickly, Kenshin slid his hand over the man's with a flirtatious smile, diverting the man's attention long enough for Kaoru to slip through and closed the door.

Behind the door, Kaoru knew exactly what she had to do. The thieves had already gone over the blueprints to the place, and found the "Employee" section of Kanryu's place to be quite big. Quickly slipping into the room for the entertainers (after making sure no one was in there), Kaoru quickly went into one of the changing rooms marked "Tsuki". She pulled off the black hat to reveal a long blonde women's wig, messily sitting on top of her head. Next, Kaoru tore off the face mask to reveal another one, this time female. The trench coat and pants quickly came off, a blue halter top and matching skirt underneath. Kaoru kicked off the shoes, pulling a pair of blue sandals from the trench coat pocket and putting them on. Grabbing the brush sitting on the dresser, Kaoru fixed her hair and applied some of the makeup sitting there to her mask. Once she was done, Kaoru looked smugly at the mirror. Tsuki smiled back at her.

Tsuki Yasuma. She was a back up dancer for Megumi. Too bad she was going to be unable to make it to her job tonight. Sano has seen to that personally. It had been a breeze to find where she lived, and even easier to knock the girl out. All Sano had done was ring her door bell, pretending to be a new neighbor and he was in. Tsuki invited him in for tea, and Sano just discreetly slipped the drugs into her cup. She was out in an instant. The drugs would keep her out for a good 12 hours while Kenshin and Kaoru were putting their plan into action. Sano laid her in her bed, grabbed one of her work outfits, and left. Poor Tsuki wouldn't remember his visit or that she missed work. The only thing should would find in the morning was that she had a horrible headache. With his job done for the moment, Sano headed home to wait.

Kaoru had no time to wait. The moment she stepped out of the changing room, Megumi was at her throat.

"And where were you?" she yelled at Kaoru, "You're half an hour late!"

Kaoru gave a sheepish grin, trying to pull of Tsuki's voice, "Overslept."

The recording Sano had given her had not been that great. Nobody seemed to notice if there was any difference in Tsuki's voice however.

A hand slap to the face brought her back from the thought.

"If you're ever late again," Megumi screamed at her, "I'll make sure Kanryu deals with you. Personally."

'Bitch. She's a big diva for somebody who dances at a shady bar.'

The other backup dancers in the room shuddered at the mention of Kanryu's name, each heading to their changing room not wanting to get caught up in the mess.

Kaoru pretended to be upset, "Oh Megumi, I swear, I never meant to oversleep! I would never ruin your show!"

Megumi smirked. 'That's better.'

A knock on the door stopped Megumi from speaking. In walked the same man Kaoru had seen escort Kanryu into the back.

"Megumi, Kanryu request that you bring him and his guest something to eat and drink."

"Very well," she replied annoyed, "I'll be there in a moment. Tsuki will help me."

The man left, and Megumi turned to Tsuki, "Stupid Kanryu. Come on, we better be quick."

A few minutes later, Kaoru found herself just where she needed to be, in the meeting between Kanryu and some messenger. Megumi had put her in charge of serving the drinks, and Kaoru was now waiting for Kanryu to speak of the information she needed. She stood next to Megumi, Kanryu with his back to them.

"You do have the cash with you now I assume?"

The messenger nodded, "Yes Kanryu sir." He put a large briefcase on the table and opened it up. "Here's half. You'll get the rest when we get our goods."

Kaoru glanced at Megumi. These women were obviously used to Kanryu's dark dealings. 'I wonder how he threatened them into not speaking of it.'

"Very well," Kanryu grinned, taking the case, "Tell your boss you are to meet me at the docks in two days. Cargo hold number 5."

Kanryu snapped his fingers, and Megumi brought him the last of the dish. He motioned for her to come closer, and proceeded to whisper something in her ear. Megumi nodded, nudging Kaoru, and both women went to get more refreshments. In the empty kitchen, Megumi turned her back and Kaoru took advantage of the situation. A quick jab to the back of the neck, and Megumi collapsed onto the ground. Kaoru pulled a vial out of her top, putting it into the glasses of wine. It was the same drug that Sano had used on Tsuki, but it had a much shorter knockout time. Taking one glance at Megumi who hadn't moved, Kaoru headed back to finish the job.

Kaoru handed each man a drink, leaning down to whisper to Kanryu, "Megumi will be here in a moment. She is preparing what you require."

He nodded, lifting his glass to the messenger, who did the same. They were out instantly. Kaoru pulled a knife out of her skirt, slitting the unconscious messenger's throat. They couldn't have the information getting back to his boss. She turned toward Kanryu and the briefcase, but the door flew open. Megumi stood in the doorway, a dagger in her hand.

"You're not Tsuki are you?" she asked coldly.

Kaoru smirked, "And you're not just a dancer, are you?"

Megumi lunged at Kaoru.

Kaoru realized her first mistake after Megumi appeared back in the room. She should have made sure that the woman was out cold before she had returned to Kanryu. It was obvious now that this was not some ordinary dancer. No, the form she was standing in looked much like an assassins, and she held the dagger expertly. She was fast too.

"Who are you?" Megumi asked between swipes.

Kaoru busy trying to avoid the dagger, just smirked, "You'll never find out."

Screaming out in anger, Megumi swung widely, catching Kaoru in the arm.

"Not bad for one of Kanryu's little bodyguards."

Megumi stopped swinging and laughed, "Me a bodyguard of his? Stupid girl, I want his blood!"

This threw Kaoru, "What?"

"This man, he murdered my family. I've been waiting for the right opportunity to kill him. I'm no dancer, I'm an assassin. Now, you're standing in my way, and you know my secret, so you must die!" Megumi lunged once more.

This time Kaoru grabbed both her arms, throwing Megumi into the wall, "Go ahead, I've got what I came for, Kanryu is all yours."

Kaoru ran towards the door, grabbing the briefcase along the way and vanished from Megumi's sight.

"I'll be seeing you again," a voice whispered.

Megumi stood up, ready to go after the girl, but turned her attention back to Kanryu. She lifted the dagger above her head and brought it down as hard as she could. It was over. Funny she didn't feel any better. Taking one last glance at the room, Megumi left, pausing only to pick up something that caught her eye.

It was a strand of raven hair.

And that's the end of chapter ten! Megumi has made an appearance and killed Kanryu. Let me know what you think, REVIEW!

-Les723