HELLOOOOOOO.

GOD THIS LIFE THING IS HARD AS HELL.

...no really, e do be difficult.

But I haven't croaked yet, and I'm not planning on helping life along to do that for me. So till then, I live!

I WRITE!

Lol.

I wish I was half as happy as I am energetic.

Anyways, happy reading!

Kaoru was not a stranger to the BanZa. Not really. But with the redhead was another story.

'Kamiya-dono.' Kenshin had startled when she followed his partner through the main hatch and into the ship, before offering her a small smile and bowing courteously. 'Welcome aboard.' The sensei found her self rolling the words on her tongue as Kenshin straightened up and glanced at his partner. He nodded at his partner as he followed the young woman inside. 'So it was Yahiko then, who followed you Sanosuke?'

'Mmhmm.' Sanosuke could only sigh. 'I knew I should have paid attention after noticing that I was being tailed, damn!'

'You should have.' Kaoru's words were accusatory, but the tone fell through as dry instead. Kenshin turned to her with a curious expression across his face.

'So he followed Sanosuke without you knowing then?'

Said man glanced at the sensei furtively, but she ignored him, her eyes locked on Kenshin's in anger.

'Yes he did, he didn't come back from the errand I sent him on to get dorayaki.' The words had considerably more bite than he expected and the samurai flustered considerably at her peevishness.

'Pardon me, Kamiya-dono. I know you're worried about Yahiko too.' He bowed again apologetically. 'Forgive me.'

'Don't call-' she started again heatedly, but then visibly deflated and let out a tired sigh. She glanced at a nervous Sanosuke and nodded stiffly. 'It's fine. This isn't your fault. Either of you.' She gave Kenshin a long look and then crossed her arms. 'But there's no way you are keeping me out of this mission though. Not with knowing that Yahiko's out there like some sentient money bag among thieves.'

'I wouldn't ask that of you.' He said quietly and gestured for them to follow him to the monitor hangar of the ship, where the hologram projector resided. Kaoru wordlessly took in stock of the place, computer, navigation controls and all, half attentive as Sanosuke pulled up a file to be displayed via hologram.

'I still have links to the people that helped me identify Yahiko while we were investigating Gohei and Kihei. It's obvious that he would be going back to some of them. Yahiko knows that with the Hiruma brothers gone the operation of the gang to set up base here in Tokyo has scattered. Most likely, he's going to go after the low ranking Yakuza, like the goons.'

'For what?' Kenshin and Kaoru asked at the same time with incredulous expressions. Kenshin turned to her in surprise, but the woman didn't seem to even realise she had spoken in tandem with the samurai bounty hunter. Sanosuke raised a brow at this like the answer was obvious.

'Obviously information.'

'From goons?' the incredulity in Kaoru's voice only rose. Kenshin matched her words with a look at his partner, before deciding to speak.

'Goons won't know anything Sanosuke. All the top-ranking members under the Hiruma brothers have left the sector by now. But that doesn't mean people in the know are no longer within reach.'

'You sound like such an expert.' Kaoru retorted derisively.

'I am.'

He is.'

It was Kaoru's turn to appraise the two of them after they spoke in unison. Kenshin was looking away from her with an unreadable expression while Sanosuke was yet to lose his nerves. She peered at them doubtfully, before relaxing and sighing.

'Fine then. I guess you'd know.'

Kenshin raised a brow at her words but said nothing of it when he started to speak.

'Sanosuke the local gangs and dealers that got in cahoots with Yakuza have leaders that were likely being groomed to run different territories of their would-be Tokyo sectors. I expect Yahiko to find one that's likely to know more than the average goon.'

'A favourite?'

Kenshin nodded, then turned his head to Kaoru, who shifted uncomfortably under the attention and glanced away from him.

'What are you looking at me for?' she said with a small pout. Kenshin allowed himself a small smile at the lack of bite in her words and turned back to Sanosuke.

'Can your network take you to one of such people?'

'Can it?' Sanosuke retorted haughtily with a shark-eating grin.

...

The wooden door to an old school three-storeyed concrete building reused one time too many for the modern era was kicked to the ground. All of the patrons of the run-down bar erupted in screams and curses, jumping out the windows and rushing past the intruders through the front door. The bartender remained unflinching at the commotion, calmly cleaning away at the whiskey glass her last patron had used.

'They take down your top boss and suddenly every damn upstart comes to ransack a poor lady's honest livin'.' She mused loudly as the last of her patrons ran from what they had the good sense to know would be a messy altercation. When the blonde bartender finally looked up, her amused expression turned sour. 'Mother fucke-!' She reached for the gun holster on her hip, but Sanosuke fired his gun at her hand, forcing her to put her hands back up in the air to avoid getting her finger shot off.

'Not so fast missy.' He tutted and wagged his finger in her face as he flashed his hunting licence at her. 'I promise, we didn't come here looking for a fight. We just have some questions for you, that's all.'

'Really now?' she sneered in a drawl, putting her hands at the back of her head. 'And you break my fucking door down? Bobbycock Mr. Bountyhunter.' In a flash, she pulled a senbon from her messy hair bun and flung it straight past Sanosuke and at the woman behind him.

It never got to Kaoru before Kenshin cut it down in a flash. His eyes were hard and lips in a scowl as he glared at the blonde woman who tried to attack the sensei. She shot a shit-eating grin right back at him, much to Danosuke's annoyance.

'Hey hands up where I can see them!' Sanosuke fired his gun at her again, just shy of her head by a few centimetres to let her know who was in charge. The blonde rolled her eyes and flipped him off, nevertheless doing as was told. She spat on the floor beside her in contempt.

'That gutter rat first shows up and steals all my shit and now these clowns come here and spoil my business. I'll bet you beat up my boys, didn't ya?' She didn't wait for an answer before spitting in disgust again. 'Useless, all of 'em. Couldn't catch the boy, couldn't stop you-'

'Boy?'

'I wasn't talking to you, Honey-bun!' she drawled out sarcastically, much to the sensei's annoyance. Kaoru lurched forward with full intent to claw at her eyes, but the two men grabbed her and stopped her from doing anything hasty. The bartender laughed out loud at the display, mocking Kaoru even more. 'Aw, do you need the two big strong men to check that temper, sensei?'

'My name is Kaoru Kamiya!' Kaoru roared, aggressively shrugging both men off of her. She glared at the smug bartender and stalked towards her with clenched fists.

'You don't know if there's a trap Kamiya-dono!'

'Leave me alone Kenshin!'

'Your boyfriend's right missy!'

'He is not my boyfriend, you fucking hussy.' She hissed venomously. The bartender's grin only grew wider as Kaoru drew closer, waiting till the sensei was close enough for her to be taken hostage and held at the gunpoint of her companions as leverage. When Kaoru got close enough, the woman let out a snarky chuckle under her breath and made her move against what she saw was an assuming school teacher with a victorious thought in mind.

Dumb bitch.

'Gotcha.'

The bartender was surprised at Kaoru's cocky declaration and found the hand going at Kaoru's neck deflected and twisted back. Kaoru was behind her in a flash, her heel digging into her back and gushing it against the counter. She found her arm twisted at a painfully dangerous angle and cursed under her breath when Kaoru took hold of her gun and held it to her blonde head.

'Whoa there! Bitch do you even know how to handle a gun?'

'Ask me another stupid question and you can find out.' Kaoru snapped and pulled harder on the twisted arm. The captive woman cursed out loud but Kaoru remained unflinching, unaware to the surprise and shock of her companions at her butality.' We're looking for Yahiko!'

'Of course you are, you didn't expect... to keep that stray did ya, Kamiya-chan?' The bartender taunted with a sneer despite the pain, but Kaoru only dug her heels harder into her back and the woman grimaced. 'I don't know where the brat is, alright? Finding him was no longer an agenda since the Boss and his brother got thrown in the slammer!'

'We know that, Dorama-san.' Kenshin finally addressed the woman directly. His tone was calm and serene, which both irked and unsettled her. 'She didn't say you knew where he was though, did she?'

'Don't talk nice with me pretty boy,' Dorama scoffed, 'why else did you come here? And how the hell do you even know my name?'

'That's the real Battousai Dorama-san, and we all know what he was doing before he joined the hunt. You don't want to ask him stupid questions either,' Kaoru pressed the barrel of the gun into the crook of Dorama's neck in warning. Kenshin shot her a startled look, more than uncomfortable with how she threw his reputation in the blonde's face. But he ignored it and pressed on.

'We know he was here. We asked your men as we tied them up. So I implore you to tell us what you know. I want no violence, but I cannot speak the same for the boy's swordmaster or my partner.'

'And in case you're thinking of any funny tricks, remember that I'm aiming at your pretty blonde head too.' Sanosuke called out cheerfully. Dorama groaned out loud, rolling her eyes before grunting her reply.

'Ugh~ fine! Just tell this damn woman to get off me!'

Kenshin opened his mouth to speak, but under Kaoru's glare, he wisely deferred to his partner. Sanosuke fought to not chuckle at the exchange under their current circumstance.

'Jou-chan bring the gun over!'

'Alright!' With a leap off her captive's back, the sensei landed and quickly spun to keep the gun trained on Dorama, walking backwards to join her companions. 'Take a seat Dorama-san.'

The woman gave Kaoru an ugly glare and flipped her off, much to the indignation of the sensei, but Sanosuke grabbed her by the arm before the ravenette could inflict more damage that would render Dorama unable or unwilling to talk.

'The brat came up to my apartment by around midnight,' Dorama nodded her head up at the ceiling in a gesture to the floor above them. 'Looted me of all my shit, took my fucking Void card and hid all my weapons too! He woke me up with ice water and I found myself tied up with a dagger to my neck! Fucking hellspawn.' Kaoru seemed to be the only person surprised by this narrative and she looked up at her companions in disbelief. Dorama chuckled at the doubt on the younger woman's face. 'Honey, you didn't seriously think your new student was a harmless tree mouse did ya? With that bounty on his head? Ha! He was gonna rob you eventually if he didn't get all stir crazy from playing house too long.'

'Yahiko would never-' she started with a snarl. But she caught herself and sneered instead, clenching her fist. 'You don't know him!'

'Right... anyway the kid is threatening to slice my neck for info and fishing about the whereabouts of Boss Ikubo. Said something about a botched assassination and this Kuujo dude.'

Kenshin and Sanosuke exchanged brief, furtive glances. Boss Ikubo was the Yakuza boss of the Kansai region whose loan sharks the Myojin family had owed. He had ordered the original assassination of the Myojin family and didn't even have any real territory in Tokyo, other than his holiday estates at most. They hadn't even considered him, since they had no idea he was in the sector at all.

'What about him?' Sanosuke pressed, deciding against revealing their ignorance to Dorama. She gave him a chilling grin and threw her head back in laughter.

'He wants to kill them all of course. And I know you know why as well as I do.'

'How did he even know Ikubo was in the city?'

'Why Zanza, the same way you know everything,' the woman purred, smug at the surprise of her knowing who he was. 'Oh you can't think a gang leader doesn't know her cut of top-class mercenaries, do you? I gotta know my competition.' Kaoru was surprised at this revelation as well and looked up briefly at Sanosuke. She tried to imagine him as a mercenary and quickly realized that she should not have been surprised; she could totally see him lead that lifestyle.

'I'm obviously retired.' Sanosuke growled, irritated that this woman seemed to know more than he did, but Dorama's grin only grew wider.

'So where is Yahiko-kun now?' Kenshin started walking towards her and the woman tensed up, all signs of taunting leaving her at the sight of the Battousai approaching her.

'I don't know where he is, I've said it before. I gave him directions to the Boss' territory. That's all there is'

'That doesn't make any sense!' Sanosuke frowned. 'Boss Ikubo isn't the man Yahiko is after. It's Ushijima Kuujo!'

'The man who put the bounty to wipe out his entire family isn't who Yahiko is after? You people really think this kid is a fucking housecat or something huh?' Dorama leaned over her counter, malicious glee oozing in her eyes and her voice. 'That fucking stray is riding on one hell of a high, punks. He's got one hell of a vendetta against the man who made him what he is today. I looked into his eyes and I knew he'd slit my neck if I didn't give him what I want. I saw something in him I ain't never seen on him since the Gecko gang started working for the Hiruma Brother's yakuza and had access to their pickpocket. Revenge doesn't even cut it! He wants fucking heads to roll!'

'And you just gave him the address?' Kaoru was all but screaming now, completely unnerved by the glee with which this woman spoke of a child. 'You let a fucking child take on a mob boss?'

'Of course, I did! That little fucker'll never make it to the Boss! And that's what he gets too! Selling us out and scattering business for us! The Yakuza was good business for us out here. Small-time mob bosses don't pay us district gangs enough! So that punk had one job! Reel you in and help them get the fucking dojo! But he just ups and plays house instead! He'll bite that fucking dust before he draws first blood-!'

'I'm going to shoot her.' Sanosuke said finally and undid the safety of his gun. Kenshin swiftly turned back to see his partner ready to put a hole in the blonde.

'Sagara!'

'Sano no!'

Kaoru grabbed Sanosuke's arm and had the gun shoot into the ceiling, instead of the bartender. Dorama took the distraction as an opportunity to run, but Kenshin caught up to her and had her subdued in no time. He tied her up and dragged her back to the center of the bar.

'As I said, I cannot speak for my companions when I declare that I desire no violence. All we require now is the address of Boss Ikubo.'

'Kenshin she's obviously lying! There's no way Yahiko would do any of-'

'It's still a lead, Kamiya-dono.' Kenshin spoke without looking at her, his eyes focused on the woman below him who was now glaring.

'Let Kenshin do his job, Jou-chan.' Sanosuke whispered in her ear, 'I know I'd rather put a bullet in her.'

'I understand the sentiment,' Kaoru said quietly, no love lost as she glared at the head of the Gecko gang. 'But you don't believe what she said about Yahiko, right? He wouldn't lose himself like that, would he?'

Sanosuke sighed as he looked her in the eye for a while, before lowering his eyes.

'He's probably in a world of hurt right now and I honestly can't imagine what is going through his mind right now.' He held her shoulder and reluctantly met her gaze again. 'I don't think he even knew anything about his parent's murderer when I think about it. It had to be the first time he ever learned anything about that night for him to just fly off the handle like that.'

'The boy has spent his whole life making himself invisible,' Kenshin took both of them by surprise and found Dorama unconscious with a small bump on her forehead. Kenshin, for one, seemed completely unapologetic about it. 'Dorama-san has a very disconcerting way of speaking.' He offered helpfully.

'You'd rail her though.' Sanosuke teased smugly, a knowing smile creeping on his cheeks.

'If she was gagged so I don't have to listen to her?' He drawled out doubtfully. 'And probably if I had too many to drink.'

'So never. Because for someone with the alcohol tolerance of tundric bear you sure are vanilla Ken-man.'

'Ahem.'

'Kamiya-dono!' Kenshin bowed deeply, his ears red with embarrassment. Kaoru looked away, her entire face matching the shade of his hair. 'My apologies!'

'You were saying about Yahiko?'

'Yes!' He shot back up at the chance to move on from his verbal indiscretion and cleared his throat to retain a semblance of dignity. 'We thought this ended with Kuujo but with this information, it's becoming clearer that Yahiko-kun never had the chance to process his trauma since he went underground. Maybe even before then. It's fairly obvious that discovering more intimate details of his family's demise has set off a vengeful streak in him. But we didn't think he'd go that far in his search for revenge.' He let out a heavy sigh as he gave their captive a glance. 'Dorama-san was right to say he'd be killed if he embarked on a direct attack on the man who ordered the hit in the first place. But if he's actually considering that, it means he's in a dark place as it is. That child's trauma probably runs deeper than most of us realise.'

'But not you, right?' Kaoru asked, rolling her eyes and sounding exasperated. Her tone irked him to the end of his limits, and he fixed a hard stare on her, his mouth thinning into a tight line.

'That boy reminds me more of myself than you would think. He's lucky he has someone to care for him at all, reckless as she may be to expose him this way.'

Kaoru sputtered indignantly at the implied accusation and clenched her sweaty palms as her voice raised pitch.

'Excuse me?' She took a step back as Kenshin narrowed his amethysts at her. 'What the hell does that mean?'

'You didn't think I'd buy that a child was able to give you the slip in your own house, did you? The same child you discovered was stalking you before he realised he had been noticed when you two first met?' Kenshin's frowned deepened as he pressed on. 'Or that Sanosuke was agitated when you decided to tell your own version of how we got into this mess?'

'I-' she had the grace to looked ashamed at being found out, but Kenshin didn't let that stop him from saying his mind, not after doubting that he knew the risks of what she had unwittingly thrown Yahiko back into as she tried to dive in herself.

'You wanted a mission so bad? You got one, Kamiya-dono.' He said evenly, 'it cost you your student, but you have one. And now when I tell you that I know of the life that I wanted to keep Yahiko from getting back into, from getting you mixed up in, by keeping you from following my line of work, you still doubt my judgement more than yours. After you threw him back in it.'

'Kenshin-' Sanosuke started finally, moving to his partner calm him down, but the redhead hoisted the unconscious bartender over his shoulder.

'I have the address to the estate where Boss Ikubo is. Dorama-san, as the head of a neighbourhood gang, has a sector-bounty on her head. We can cash her in while you use your network to find out where Kuujo could be hiding. I imagine he would be staying low till sector border security eases up for him to make his lucky break.'

He walked passed the other two and out of the building, leaving Kaoru just shy of shell-shocked at his words. Sanosuke held her shoulder and squeezed it gently, at a loss of what else to do for her.

'I told you lying to Kenshin is impossible, Jou-chan.'

'Yeah...' but she didn't seem to hear him as she stared at her feet shamefully. 'What did he mean? Like - what life was he talking about, that he wanted to... protect us from?'

'Ah... well,' Sanosuke rubbed her shoulder gently. 'That's his story to tell, Jou-chan.'

...

Yahiko checked the void card he looted off of Dorama to see how much he had left with him before he started selling the valuables on him for cash. So far he had managed to procure a floor plan of the Ikubo Estate inclusive of real-time footage of abandoned secret passageways, booby-trapped and guarded ones, the configuration of the security cameras and infrared sensor networks in the house. It was costly to get, costlier to keep silent. Getting an effective disguise was twice as hard. But the last thing he needed was even the lowliest of goons recognizing him and alerting their boss to his resurgence.

He'd never give the bastard a head start.

The estate was an old family property that had been renovated and bought after the original owners couldn't pay the exorbitant interest on the original sum they had owed the Yakuza. If only his family had property this expensive to pay off the slimy bastard, then maybe his parents would still be alive.

But thoughts like that were pointless. They had been dead for a long time. Their killers had lived long enough too.

He pulled out another of his other purchases: a directional emp-gun. He could kill the electrical supply of any network completely, be it cameras, lights or otherwise. He could also channel the emp in a particular direction, but that kills off all power supply, irrespective of what particular electrical network. With its mid-range, it was the best way to infiltrate the heavily secured estate.

'Myojin-senpai! Myojin-senpai look! The scraggly man stepped out, Senpai!'

Yahiko looked out of the abandoned dingy scrap house at the boy who tugged at his sleeve gently. From the makeshift metal fortress in the abandoned communication's tower, the older boy could see the murderer make his way out of fast food restaurant at the aero-gas station. He narrowed his eyes as the man nervously glanced this way, clearly uncomfortable in his shifty and ineffective disguise. Yahiko's lips curled with distaste at the sight of his right hand trembling just by his pocket.

Those hands had killed his parents.

'Myojin-senpai you'll follow him yeah? For a job yeah?'

'Yes Ton-ton,' Yahiko patted the younger child's head as he clambered into the watchtower to join the other kids.

'You'll come back?' Yahiko tore his eyes away from the man to stare at the kids, his heard twisting in his chest as he realised that they weren't liberated to chose their own paths like he was. They were all still sleeping away to keep their head on their shoulders like he had for so long.

'You know you guys could go to the Kamiya-dojo. There's this cranky tanuki, but she's a great swordswoman.'

'Tanuki-sensei?' The kids giggled mischievously and Yahiko nodded.

'But she's a really - don't tell her - nice onee-san,' Yahiko whispered conspiratorially. The children giggled, wide-eyed at the idea of a big sister spoiling and pampering them. Yahiko watched the expression with a small grin. 'Wanna go see her?'

At that, their dreamy expressions fell away and they all shook their heads, pouting and hiding away their faces.

'Can't leave,' Ton-ton spoke up finally, 'boss...' he fiddled with his hands and then sighed, 'boss needs us, Senpai.'

'Damn,' Yahiko sighed, visibly deflating.

It wasn't so much that their boss was benevolent than he was unwilling to let his sticky-fingered money grabbers loose, but the kids didn't even realize that, and even he knew that there was little he could do to help them. There had to be something he could do for them to make their life easier, and after a short while, it came to him. 'If I visit with food and clothes?'

The children nodded so enthusiastically that a stranger would be worried their too big heads would fall off their too skinny bodies. Yahiko laughed as he packed up his stuff, before giving Ton-ton a thick roll of cash and a bag of jewellery.

'Give the bling to your boss when he asks why you took so long. Tell him you got a renter and nothing but. You just keep the cash for yourselves and stick together, 'kay? I'll come back with food some other time. Promise.'

'Yes, Myojin-senpai!'

'Good boy.' He beamed at the red-haired kid and waved his goodbye to them all. 'Sayanora!'

'Sayanora!' the children chorused, watching as their senpai didn't even bother to climb back down, but instead holding on to the outer corner edge and sliding down to quickly catch up with his target.

Yahiko reached the ground just in time to catch Ushijima Kuujo start moving. The intel he had gathered on Kuujo was that he was desperate for a place to hide. No one wanted to host him since apparently, he wasn't a very good hitman and hence not worth protecting from the authorities. Yahiko needed a way to make the man desperate enough to go seek out his old employer, to gather all his enemies in one place and light them all up. He quickly shed the hair and contact disguises, and pulled the several shades lighter skin mask off his face and prepped himself. 'One. two, three... go.!'

He bolted towards him and then in front of him. Ushijima was startled by the obstruction and scowled at him.

'Get out of my way punk.'

'...murderer...' he spat, hanging his head to hide his face from the man. It wasn't hard to project loathing into his voice, in fact, it was harder to keep his rage in check for his plan to work.

'What's was that, you little bastard?'

Yahiko looked up and met his parents' killer's eyes with glistening angry browns.

'Murderer!'

His scream got the attention of the people around him as he tackled the man to the ground. 'You killed my parents! Kotaku Myojin and Yirin Myojin! You killed them for the money you slimy bastard! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you! Help me kill this man! He murdered my family! He's a fucking murderer!'

An angry mobbed quickly gathered round to join him in attacking the man, giving Yahiko the opportunity to seep into the crowd and away from the scene and to put on his new disguise. He quickly moved to higher ground to watch Kuujo give the crowd the slip and tail him to Ikubo's estate. With the information that he was in the same city as them, Ushijima Kuujo would beg for refuge while promising to "return" Yahiko to the boss. He didn't think Ikubo would accept the deal, but Yahiko's goal didn't need them to agree.

It just needed them together.

And then it would be all over.

E do be what? E do be things, my Gees. Please.

Yahiko got so dark so fast. Like I never thought fleshing out the outline of this arc would go deep down dark angst land. I hope it isn't too jarring. Anyways, a Void card can be considered to be a credit or debit card of the black market/dark web, which is referred to as the Void in this universe. Anyways, the arc has one more chapter left before we move on to the next. If you can guess what it is, you get a free cookie! =UwU=

Anyways I'm in a much better mood than when I started this particular chapter, even with my life continually turning into one soap opera or the other. In case you couldn't tell, I still need a beta. I beta my chapters as best as I can after I have like six unbetaed chapters up. But till then, no betas. We die like real men - said a woman.

I hope you enjoyed reading! And to be honest a review would be a little more than appreciated. Just for the moment. To stir me a bit quicker for now in my emotionally/mentally lethargic state. I try to keep my tone from dry humor to peppy in these ANs but it's been rough recently. So yes, reviews, constructive or appreciatory, would go a long way for me rn.

But fret not! Regardless, I'll see you soon!

EDIT: This chapter was reading with missing gaps and I felt it needed reworkings to the pacing. Hopefully, it reads better. Reviews would help with me noticing these errors faster tbh, but regardless I hope you enjoyed it.

=UwU=