I live! The virus failed to infiltrate my home! I live!

Yo.

Kenshin yawned and trudged out of the guestroom at the smell of ham and bacon. He smiled sleepily at the thought of Kaoru cooking and hummed in a low tone at the anticipation of a good meal. Kaoru couldn't be that bad of a cook and now he had a chance to prove her wrong and get himself on her good graces with his gratitude. However, the sight that met him in the kitchen was not the lovely fire-blooded ravenette.

It was a boy. A short, spiky headed boy in an apron too big for him and several shades too pink. Yahiko was unaware of the fact that he was watched and Sanosuke seemingly appeared from nowhere to nudge his partner gently by his side. He snickered under his breath as he waved around his polaroid camera.

'Kaoru's gonna get a kick out of this! He's completely housebroken! Tamed! Domesticated!' He slapped his knee as he laughed quietly. Yahiko flinched at the noise, realizing he had been caught and froze. 'And they say these things don't happen overnight!' Yahiko slowly turned and faced the bounty hunters with a terrified expression.

Three things suddenly became apparent to the redhead. For one, Kaoru had specifically warned them over dinner to not let Yahiko do any funny business till she awoke. Two, Yahiko's present condition was funny business in every conventionally funny way, but that meant that Kaoru's words had not been heeded and they were in tons of trouble. Three, that trouble should have come by now, given the time of the day and the issue on ground that they had to deal with.

Kenshin spun on his heels, leaving behind two confused spiky heads and went straight for Kaoru's room. He knocked once, twice, and then three times before he forced the door open. Kaoru's room was drafty, and for good reason - the windows were left open and the room was empty.

Sanosuke was just behind him in seconds, Yahiko secured tightly in his grip by the collar.

'Did you know about this, kid?' The older spiky head growled threateningly, but Yahiko vehemently denied knowing anything about her plans or motives.

'But we do know her motives, Sanosuke-san,' Kenshin's voice had a deceptive calm to it as he spoke. He turned his transfixed stare to his partner, his eyes an angry amber. 'And we know where she's going.'

'Right.' Sanosuke nodded stiffly, understanding the current mood his partner was in and feeling his worry and annoyance in equal measure. Both of them looked down to meet Yahiko's eyes which were wide with disbelief and fear, as it also occurred to him what was happening.

'She went after a bunch of thugs on her own... she's crazy. Tanuki-san is actually crazy...' he trailed off when he realised he was under both men's scrutiny and cleared his throat. 'We talked during her shift and she asked about little details like how the bases operate and their watch schedule, but I swear I thought it was curiosity! Honest!'

'I believe you.' Kenshin could only pat his head reassuringly and Sanosuke did the same, albeit with a lot less gentleness.

'Yeah little man, your cooking stint won me over!' Sanosuke declared with a shark-eating grin and bent over to meet his eyes. 'Now you're just gonna prove worthy of that trust and take us to the missus, yes?'

…

Kaoru's hands pensively settled on the controls, regretting not for the first time since she boarded the Battoussai 2.0, her refusal to learn how to fly. She had nearly crashed Kenshin's precious fighter-jet three times already before she had gotten a grip of how to stir and slowdown the thing.

Not that she had intentions of slowing down – she had a couple of bones to pick with a bunch of thugs. They had murdered respectable women in her neighbourhood, threatened the reputation of her school, dragged her family name through the scandalous mud, wrecked her home, tried to kill her at least twice and apparently, they wanted her property? Kaoru was done playing the earnest but helpless civilian and was going to bring down the wrath of the Kamiya Kashin style so help her-

The craft shuddered as the wing scrapped against a skyscraper and Kaoru swallowed at the idea of what the vehicle must be looking like right now. Hopefully, Kenshin would forgive her for this. Coming up a bend, she stepped on the brakes hard enough to drift by it before going to a higher altitude with considerably fewer obstacles. Once in the clear – just below the clouds – she set the jet on auto-pilot to recalibrate her agenda.

Yahiko was expected to return within a specific time frame via an agreed location: the market. If he had been caught but managed to escape, he was to take find his way between the residential and commercial districts to a secondary base. The only place safe enough for Kaoru to infiltrate was the main base – a run-down arcade at Tokyo's now-defunct airport district. People still parked their crafts there all the time, but there were no regulating or safety officers and no law-enforcers. This made the pilots and the craft fair game to any gangs that lurked the area – specifically the Hiruma's.

She stroked the four-leafed clover Kenshin hung by his rearview mirror absentmindedly for luck and entered the co-ordinates of her destination into the autopilot's GPS. She was humming to herself, a small smile on her face despite the danger she was going to walk right into. The communication systems were the one's that snapped her out of bursting into song. She winced as she felt for the ringing phone she had connected to it and groaned when she saw the caller ID.

'Sanosuke I am fifteen minutes away from their base. You couldn't stop me if you seized control of the district's airspace right now.'

'You overestimate my friend's reach of influence, Kaoru-dono.'

Oh.

'What? No answer for me? I bet you would not even pick up if I had called you on my phone.'

That was not true exactly.

Hearing his voice had brought her out of her calm and her nerves had started eating her up inside. If she had seen his ID instead of Sanosuke's, the panic would've broken free much sooner and she'd be on her way back home, breaking down over the phone to tell him how scared and angry and confused she had been all this time. How him calling her only let her out of her denial to realise this.

'I'm sorry for being such a nuisance recently Kaoru-dono, but we are all very worried for you. Let me make it up to you and bring you the justice you need. You don't need to do this.'

Kaoru's eyes narrowed to slits on the phone and she promptly ended the call.

She didn't need to do this - he was right of course. And she would have listened if she knew he was calling. He would have reached right into the centre of her worries and calmed her down. He'd soothe her, reassure her and probably even give her tips on how to fly back home and she would not have to go through with this.

But she wanted to do this. She wanted to take justice for herself.

She re-assumed control of the aircraft and stepped on the accelerator, hoping to get there faster than she had originally estimated.

She wasn't even mad at Kenshin anymore.

Meanwhile, Sanosuke had to pry out of his partner's iron grip to get his phone back.

'Hey! Kenshin, man - hey. Hey!'

He had managed to snap his smaller built partner out of his daze of fury and soon had his eyes locked with a pair of molten amber. Sanosuke tightened his grip on Kenshin's shoulders and nodded slowly.

'She's smart, Kenshin. She's not going to die.'

''You realise she nearly died twice by their hand already.'

'But she didn't - despite being caught by surprise no less.'

'She's hopelessly outclassed Sanosuke and I do not intend to have her further at risk by trying to convince myself otherwise.' Kenshin made to step to of his partner's grip but said grip only tightened even more.

'I'm not overestimating her Kenshin. We are going to go to her. But she's smart. She has a plan - whatever the hell it is. And if we get in the middle of it then she's more likely to die now isn't she?' Kenshin narrowed his eyes and then looked away, his expression still furious. The taller man nodded and side-glanced the direction Kenshin was glaring at. 'You're the one who calls the shots man, so make sure your head is clear before you shoot any.'

Kenshin only sighed and closed his eyes.

'Yahiko.'

'Yeah?' the young boy had quietly been observing the two men, in awe of how much they seemed to have changed yet again, moreover how it easy it was for them to do so ever so often. When Kenshin turned to look at the boy his eyes were their normal amethyst again. Yahiko wondered who the Battousai was before he was a bounty hunter.

'You remember what Sanosuke said about proving yourself worthy of our trust, yes?' the boy nodded fervently and Kenshin only sighed. 'You don't have to do anything to prove yourself to us. That you are here is enough-'

'What?' Sanosuke began but Kenshin shook his head at his partner. 'I don't trust him that much! Hence the need to prove himself! Come on man-'

'Gee, thanks.' Yahiko deadpanned in a dry tone. 'Mighty swell of ya.'

'-and you can risk being captured again if you come with us. The Hiruma would not take kindly to your failure or betrayal.'

Yahiko blinked and hung his head.

'Well its nothing they can do to me that I haven't taken before - short of getting killed,' he had the gall to chuckle nervously and sighing. 'And I'm sure the tanuki is tough and all - but if she slips up, she wouldn't be able to handle what those bastards will do to her.' He clenched his fists as he looked at the hunters with determination in his eyes. 'Besides the only person who can kick her ass like a proper gentleman is me!' The amused expression on their faces made him compose himself and he cleared his throat. 'I guess you both stand a chance, but she'll probably wipe the floor with you. She's a pretty scary one, that wench.'

Sanosuke laughed and clapped his hands together.

'Do you kiss your mother with that mouth kid?'

'Nah, just her headstone.'

The men groaned and avoided his blank expression.

'Not cool punk ass. Now you have two reasons to wash that mouth.'

Yahiko shrugged and looked at Kenshin with the same determined browns from before.

'So how do we get Kamiya-sensei back?'

...

She was going to learn to fly after this. Maybe Sanosuke would teach her.

Then again the bounty hunters wouldn't stay with her forever now would they?

She decided she would enrol for weekend classes. Maybe a few nights too.

The hangars were mostly untended to, loitered with the standard ne'er do wells and riffraff. The entire airport seemed void of respectable people altogether. Unphased, she made for the hangar most populated with aircraft and parked the jet there. It was perfectly wedged between two luxury jets, no doubt acquired through ill means.

Once she was sure the aircraft as secure enough to be left alone, she made her way out of the hangar and walked out on to the tarmac she had made a show of flexing her aching muscles and popping the air bubbles in her joints. She was in one of her more expensive clothing, specifically her mother's matching hakama and keikogi, with one of her father's kimono bearing the family emblem on the back. Whatever spies were present would already be falling over their feet to inform the bosses of her presence. They probably were already expecting her to find her way back to them anyways. She didn't mind. She wanted them to know she was here, brazen and bold and foolish even. She needed them to know she was here.

A few eyes scooped her in and Kaoru made a point to note the ones affiliated with the Hiruma brothers. Yahiko had told her that the favoured colour was green and the tattooed they wore paid adage to their bosses' last names - daylight. Tattoos of the sun, the number of noon, kanji or symbols, if they alluded to the daylight hours then the wearers served the Hiruma brothers. It was a nifty cliché, but Kaoru appreciated its functionality. She had already identified six of the loafers slouching around. They were sharper than the others - more watchful, alert of their surroundings. They were watching her too. She smiled and started to walk her way leisurely along the runway tarmac.

She didn't even pick up the pace when she started being followed.

'Kamiya-san.'

'Did you hit your head?'

'On your way here?'

Kaoru didn't stop walking even though the two speakers were right behind her now.

'My travels were well, thank you.'

'Ouu she isn't scared~'

'Which is stupid of her really.'

'Let's correct that and give her something to fear.'

'After all, fear is the beginning of wisdom.'

The two exchanged smiles behind her. Between their red eyes and their ashen white hair, they looked like harbingers of death. They unsheathed their long knives and crisscrossed to her front. They smiled when her carriage shifted from relaxed to alert and leapt back in the air when they closed in to attack. Kaoru narrowed her eyes but the two only smiled and tugged at their knives again. Before gravity could let her descend into landing, iron lines so thin they could barely be seen snapped around her ankle and dragged her back towards the ground. But rather than fall back to where she leapt from, Kaoru turned her body mid-air and landing to the side rather than in their line of sight, unsheathing her blade and holding it before her. They only shared another smile.

'You must think of yourself a match Kamiya-san.'

'But you've played sensei far too long'

They tugged at their knives again with twice as much force, but nothing happened to her. The look they exchanged this time was one of confusion.

'We got the boy you sent to us singing like a canary in the mating season after our session with him. And I know the tricks the Hiruma Brothers' most prized hit men play to win.' Kaoru dusted her sleeves as she spoke before fixing them both a levelled stare. 'Now I can demystify you both in the presence of all these people and word will spread so far that rivals will encroach your turf to challenge your bosses, which will make them upset.' Kaoru could have been lecturing a pouting child. She stood up from her stance and held her sword to her side. 'Or you can take me to them and make them happy, yes?'

The white-haired mercenaries glared at her for a moment but when they groaned in unison, Kaoru quietly released the bated breath she didn't know she was holding. Yahiko had told her about the Kisaki brothers, mercenaries who were feared mostly for using "black paralysis/puppeteering magic" on their targets. This was possible with a simple magnetic contraption of high tensile wires connected to the hilt of their blades. Combining the strength of the magnets with the precision of their throws made them far more threatening than they actually were. If one could successfully avoid being caught by those wires or escaping their hold, that undid the "spell" and forced the brothers to rely on their average combat skills. This would be enough for most civilians, but not against a teacher of swordsmanship.

She followed their lead as they made their way to a more occupied hangar, careful to keep her guard up against anyone planning to creep on her and knock her out. The idea of being unarmed in front of the brothers' was terrifying enough to keep her alert. Sure enough, members of the mob group that were sprinkled in the clusters of society's less-stellar civilians started moving in the same direction she and the Kisaki brothers were going, though they didn't try to close in towards them. They seemed aware that Kaoru was watching though, so they didn't do anything. She narrowed her eyes all the same and made sure to never let her hand leave the hilt.

The closer they got to the hangar, the more relaxed Kaoru became. Occasionally she would sweep round a glance to see that the others were simply heading where she was, albeit skulking in the shadows instead of joining them. But it seemed clear that no one was ready to attempt to jump her. She decided to focus her attention on the brothers. They were talking quietly amongst themselves and shuffling the pockets of their hakama. The corner of her eye noticed similar movement, but the person was only fiddling with their turtleneck.

She relaxed again when she saw another one only tie on a bandana on his mouth. She let her eyes wander and she saw that the turtleneck fiddler only had his collar over his mouth. She rolled her eyes and caught sight of one sneezing into his handkerchief before she looked ahead. They were entering the hangar, and no sooner did a couple of beats pass before she was suddenly aware of how humid the air was. The windows were shut and maintenance engines were running so hard the air was hot. She wondered how everyone was comfortable with masks on –

Masks?

Kaoru focused her attention on her escorts. They were smiling back at her as they pulled a mask over their nose. One glance told her that everyone else was wearing masks too. She reached for her hilt but then the toxins in the gas finally hit her full force. Her senses were assaulted by double vision, then tunnel vision.

Then black.

...

Sanosuke and Kenshin stormed the gambling pit in the slums of the market district, swords unsheathed and all. People inched away from Sanosuke's giant horse-cleaving broadsword and cowered from Kenshin's burning gaze. Some braver ones, comrades of the dealer no doubt tried to confront him, but a couple of punches was enough to keep them at bay.

'Are you punks crazy? What's your deal with us eh, come by my joint and make a damn scene? I don't owe you nothin-'

'I do not need your ill acquired fees, that I don't,' the redhead calmly interrupted. 'But I am very hard-pressed for time, so it would be in your best interest to not waste it.' The tip of the reverse-edged katana nicked the throat of the dealer, drawing blood. Recognition instantly flashed in his eyes and he raised his hands defensively. Sanosuke frowned when the guy showed no intention of concealing his daylight tattoo of the sun and the noon hour, and the street thug grinned at him.

'I take it you're looking for that sword-happy wench then?' he teased and then cried out when Kenshin applied more pressure to the sword. 'What do you want already? Didn't that cocky gutter-punk tell you guys where to find the boss?' Kenshin only pressed even more and the man was gasping now. 'The broad and the boy? Alright fine! No more nasty words!'

Kenshin only tilted his head and raised a brow at him.

'The location Yahiko gave us was to lead us into a trap, wasn't it?' He said evenly. 'Neither Kaoru nor your comrades were present at the hideout that he informed us to be your HQ. My jet, the one Kamiya-san flew in belonged to me. It's not there either, but the tracks were. You anticipated his being caught and had plans to move all this while.'

All around them people watched he exchange cautiously, gasping from the sidelines of bystanders and taking pictures but not saying intervening. The gamble dealer chuckled mirthlessly and let out a raspy sigh.

'Battousai they never really arrested that killer, right?' he questioned with a tut in his tone. 'Wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea since you share the same name, and with what you threatening me in the open like this too.'

'Tell him what we need to know or I'll make sure every gambling pit owned by your boss in Tokyo is trashed, and I'll slather your name all over it. They'll have your head for not managing this right.' Sanosuke said finally, his own patience since gone. 'Where did you people take the lady sensei?'

'They're already gone man,' he sighed wistfully and then winked. 'There's more than one way a woman can pay up a debt by the way, did you know Battousai?'

Kenshin narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

'Kenshin! Sanosuke! I got in and got everything we need! The boss' location is locked in here.' Yahiko's voice rang through the crowd, the distraction caused by the older man successful in letting him infiltrate the Hiruma stronghold. Sanosuke caught sight of the boy waving around some keys and a tracking device then turned to nod at Kenshin. In turn, the redhead sheathed his sword and used the hilt to knock out the dealer, sticking his red adam's apple with enough force to send him to the ground. He then turned to apologize to the spectators of the scene with a remorseful bow.

'I apologize for all the trouble. We will be on our way now.' He stood up and gave a small, comforting smile. 'But a call to the police would be most helpful. That man is complicit to a kidnapping!' Sanosuke rolled his eyes and yanked his partner by the arm into motion. 'Sanosuke! You should have apologized as well!'

'Later mom, gotta go save dad.'

'Wha- excuse me, sir, I'll have you know my daddy energy is-'

'Shush Kenshin.'

'Yes sir.'

The two met Yahiko holding onto his findings tightly.

'The boss switched bases today. I think he was expecting someone to show up because he had been planning the move for a while. Kaoru showing up instead must've changed course. They're heading for their spaceship.'

'Damnit the bastard wants to get away!'

'Yeah, but I got us a way to catch up really fast.' Yahiko dangled the keys to motorcycles with a smug expression on his face and tossed them to the samurai bounty hunter. Kenshin, in turn, handed one to his partner. The boy lumped the redhead by the arm. 'i'm riding with Kenshin!'

'Of course, you are,' Kenshin couldn't help but chuckle. He nodded to his partner, his expression quickly turning serious.

'Let's go get her back.' Sanosuke urged with a nod. The other two males nodded back.

...

Kaoru woke up to the sound of jazz music and the smell of tobacco.

'Nii-san, the wench is awake.'

'Now now Gohei, that's not how to treat a lady of this calibre.'

'Well give me a knife and I'll do it right nii-san.'

Kaoru wanted to say something to catch them off their rocker, but her tongue felt so heavy and her head was all fuzzy and...

..drugged?

Gohei grumbled at the older man who lounged in the sofa of her location. An effort-intensive glance told her she was in some sort of space ship, though it was far more luxurious than the Banza. She returned her gaze to the Hiruma brother just in time to be face to face with Gohei's cruel grin.

And then his grainy boot.

Kaoru let out a heavy grunt as her head reeled from the impact of the shove and she spat out blood from the wound that formed in her mouth.

'Gohei! See what you did, now there's blood on my floor!'

'Not enough if you ask me,' the bigger, darker man grunted and then walked off to the sidelines. The other brother gave Kaoru a sympathetic smile and rose to his feet. He was short and grey-haired, with skin wizened by age and a life full of mobster living. He tapped the butt of his cigar till ashes dropped in the ashtray on his stool and then made his way to the bound up Kaoru. On the floor, half kneeling and half lying down, she was just a bit below his eye-level.

'Forgive my little brother, he's never had the sense to act decently around a woman.' he tipped his head lightly at the wary sensei. 'Hiruma Kihei, Kamiya-san.'

'Eat... a-aa-ass...' Kaoru hissed and spat on the man's face. 'S-s-sc-scum.'

The old man was not amused.

'Well it would appear you're not ready to be civilised.' he mused, drawing a deep breath from his cigar. 'I mean you had avoided perusing and then death - I had thought you did all that just so you could come to me personally to negotiate like true equals. I see now I am wrong. Perhaps Gohei would make for better company?'

The ravenette weakly turned to the man who was fuming at her audacity to scorn his older brother. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as his eyes gleamed with a promise of wickedness and she turned away so fast her neck hurt. She examined herself and realised she was purple with bruises and her father's kimono mostly ruined by manhandling

...damn it.

'...m-my apologies H-hiruma-sama.'

'I knew you were a real lady!' Kihei beamed and pat her head like she was an obedient dog, before signalling to his brother. With a grunt, the man walked away and the older man shook his head forlornly. 'Gohei has had so many run-ins with women in power he may have gone mad with anger, so forgive him truly. Your father having set him on the path to delinquency makes the situation much worse for you, I imagine. A shame really.'

Kaoru let out a weak snort ad polled her head to the side to appraise her captor.

'G-gohei was already r-r-rotten, H-hiruma-s-s-ssama.'

The older man only shrugged, turning to head back to his couch.

'He was certainly foolish. Risking our plans to acquire such an inconspicuous asset on a foolish gamble. All because of an ego problem of being second best to a woman.'

'Yahiko n-never said w-w-woman-'

'Yahiko doesn't know as much as he likes to think,' Kihei retorted with a snort, reaching behind him to grab a beer. 'He was promising, by the way, but you had to interfere with that too, didn't you?' he helped himself to a gulp and sighed heavily. 'No matter. He's replaceable. We were talking about your mother after all.'

For the second time looking up hurt her.

'M-mother?'

'Yes, that was who he threatened with a gun. Surely you at least watched your video archives. You know she was in his class.' Gohei couldn't stand the fact that it was so. And as captain of the school, he hated that he was passed over because of her skill.' Kihei raised a brow at her. 'She was the top of their class and became the captain.'

'That's how things should be, the best should lead.' Kaoru's voice was so strained in completing that sentence properly that it was raspy. She scowled at him, infuriated by the fact that everything she did seemed to hurt. 'What did you do to me?'

'Nothing major, just gas poisoning. Gohei wanted to bring you more harm but that was unnecessary so I stopped him. He'll be getting the antidote with the lawyer to broker our deal.' The grey-haired geezer leaned back as he lit another cigar. 'He didn't believe women should lead much even if society said they merited it. It's not his fault though,' he smiled at her and suddenly Kaoru's skin wanted to crawl in under itself and perish. 'He got that from me.'

Just then Gohei returned to the room, with a blue-tailor suit-wearing lawyer armed with a briefcase behind him. His index finger pushed up his circular glasses up his nose bridge. Kihei smiled at Kaoru before making his way to introduce the attorney.

'This is Barrister Kurokuma Lin, a dear old friend of the family. He'll be presiding over the signing over of deeds to our family, wouldn't you Kurokuma-san?' The lawyer had the most bored expression on his face, but he sighed and nodded. Kihei beamed. 'Now Gohei if you could give Kaoru the antidote? She needs to be fully conscious and consent to us, no?'

'..n-n-neverrr...'

'Careful you feisty witch or I'll burn it all and no one will have it.' the old man signalled his sibling to do the honours. Gohei swiftly closed in and forced her mouth open, a vial of dark blue in his hand. 'Drink up you little slut,' he forced the bitter liquid down her throat and held her jaw with nearly enough power to snap it. 'You should have stayed at home to swallow the Battousai's own liquid, but no. You forget your place and come here thinking you have a chance to beat me.'

Kaoru wished she could have spat it all out if only to spite the foul murderer, but the pain was too much and she needed to move freely again. When the liquid finished he shoved her aside and started to return to his position by the wall of the spaceship's room.

'Where do you think you're going? Am I expected to write like this?' she held up her shackled wrists, smug with glee from finally feeling like herself again. Gohei groaned when his brother had him unbind her. He groaned louder when she immediately used her head to butt him under his chin. She immediately sidestepped his angry stagger toward her and launched for the lawyer. 'Hiruma-san you must think really low of women if you just expected me to submit so easily.'

The old man scowled and rolled his eyes at her holding his attorney in a death grip.

'Woman he's just as disposable as Yahiko. Do your worst, but I promise you Gohei will carry you out of this room in piec-'

'Relax old man, I'm not going to kill your disposable lawyer.' And she didn't. She kicked him in the crook of his knee and him crumble with a low groan. 'I'm sorry Kurokuma-san, but I don't need you to broker this deal for me.' At that Kihei's ears perked and he appraised her curiously.

'You actually came to negotiate?'

'Of course.' Kaoru said smugly and nodded in Gohei's direction. 'Unless this Battousai wouldn't want a woman to best him, finishing what my parents started?'

Gohei scowled and cracked his knuckles.

'Your parents were nothing. You are even less. I will enjoy putting you in your place, wench.'

'Right back 'atcha bro.' Kaoru chuckled dryly and looked away, hoping he wouldn't smell her nervousness.

Kihei frowned and glared at his brother.

'We lost the last time you did something so foolish, Gohei. Do not risk the fate of this mob on your foolishness again.'

But Gohei did not even acknowledge his brother. He reached for the sword's sheath at his side and tossed the shorter one to Kaoru.

'Outside, Tanuki. Come learn your place.

It seems I need to split this into two. Huh.

Happy Reading! =UwU=