As we youngins would say over here... e choke, abi XD

Can't go off apologizing and not show some remorse about it. So enjoy the chapter! 22 is finally here~~~

No Betas, we die like Yahiko's parents.

...too soon?

Oh dear~

Happy reading!

'My my my. Zanza?' The old man threw a dish rag over his shoulder, a hearty smile laugh booming through the quaint shop. He then sneered at the bounty hunter, whose stature made for quite an imposing frame at the entrance of the quaint noodle shop. 'Are you tryna run me out of business on my own turf, boy?'

Sanosuke took a deep breath, steeling himself against the urge to hoist the man by the scruff of his neck and drill him on the whereabouts of his lover. The gang had discussed how this was going to go and after a whole day of chasing? Sanosuke was not going to lose his cool with Kitsune on the line.

Not yet at least.

The sun was soon to set on that side of Tokyo, but down Sanosuke's warpath, it felt as if the day was just beginning. The bounty hunter clenched his fist and took a deep breath, before grinning and stepping in, slouching just enough to not have his head touch the ceiling.

'Ma, ma Okei-jii,' the hunter laughed, though the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. 'Wouldn't dream of ruining your retirement plans for ya!' He winked at the shrewd business man. 'You're the best in these parts, so I thought to say hi and call in a favor.'

'Nice try,' Pa Okei's sneer lingered as he eyed the younger, much taller man pulling self a wicker chair and making himself comfortable. 'You don't have pay favors left to cash out with me you cheap stake.' He turned his back to reach for another plate to wipe. 'If you want something, you're gonna pay like everyone else.' The old man tossed a glance over his shoulder, smirking at the bounty hunter. To his surprise, Sanosuke smirked right back.

'Well, that's alright! Just gimme your extra spicy cold soba!' The hunter kicked up his leather-booted feet on the settee table, and fished out a cigarette from his white overcoat. 'And a beer too!'

'Right...' Pa Okei raised a brow as he drawled out, and then shrugged. He knew that the bounty hunter was probably trying to lure him in a false sense of security, but he was too old to fall bait to such tricks. He yelled Sanosuke's order into the kitchen, where the kids worked up a storm to deliver in record time. He turned back to the bounty hunter, who was in the process of creating his own little raincloud of nicotine and ash. ''You want anything else then?'

'Yeah! Another soba, for you jii-san!' He raised his voice so the staff in the kitchen could hear him. 'Oi brats! Make that 2 soba noodles! Your boss is eating with me!' There was a yell of acknowledgment, and Pa Okei scowled at this, but didn't instruct the children to do otherwise.

'Screw it Zanza, I'm not kicking it with you just so you can wrangle information out of me for free.'

'Oh please,' Sanosuke threw his head back with a laugh, before sapping it forward to glare at the ma, a shark-eating grin on his face. 'You're gonna convince me to not turn you in!'

Pa Okei laughed out loud, dish-rag and plate in hand as he bent over and held on to his knees hollering. Sanosuke kept grinning, unphased by how the old ma's condescending laughter made him look. When the man was done, he smirked at the outy hunter.

'Get out of here before I call the big boys to deal with you for the trouble, kid,' the man said finally, wiping some tears out of his eyes as his laughter finally died into a chuckle. Sanosuke's shark-eating grin only grew.

'Oh but I really do want the soba, jii-san. It's been a long day, and I want you to eat with me,' Sanosuke said cheerfully. 'So I can convince my partner not to take you in, see? He's pretty much more black and white about this business than I am.' The old man scoffed, rolling his eyes.

'Do not play me for a fool, Zanza.' He scowled, annoyance quickly replacing the scornful smirk on his face at the allusion to Kenshin, 'there are too many people paying to keep any talk of the Battousai being alive little more than rumors for him to be in the same sector as-' His eyes narrowed immediately, but Sanosuke took his foot off the table and leaned forward.

'Yes?' He prodded innocently, 'same sector as who?' Sanosuke smiled innocently, like he wasn't trying to goas the man to give up his trading cards. He pat across the table where a second wicker chair sat empty. 'Come sit and tell me about it.' At this moment, one of Okei's boys, a child shorter but rounder than Ton-ton, waddled out with a tray of two soba bowls, with wasabi stew and root beer. Sanosuke clapped his hands together excitedly. 'Thanks, kid! I'll let Yahiko bring my tip later.' He winked at the child, who beamed at the mention of his sendai and ran to tell the others. Okei's frown deepened at the hunter's tactics to keep his young staff distracted from their conversation.

'So you got the Myojin rat to squeal?' Sanosuke sighed at the old man and rolled his eyes, having dug into his food.

'Jii-san,' he began patiently, before putting more noodles in his kouths with chol sticks, 'take a seat, and let's talk all about Myojin and the Battousai and the person with who he's sharing sectors,' Sanosuke spoke through mouthfuls, slurping his food with gluttonous delight. 'Cause if I leave without the information I'm afraid my partner's gonna have no choice but to bring you in. You might not owe me a favor, but he does. And he's more than happy to let me cash out on it.'

Okei sighed, weighing the pros and cons of engaging Sanosuke. He couldn't exactly be brought to the book - Pa Okei's position in Tokyo's underground was cemented, he had earned the right to retire the hard, bloody way. He had embedded himself in Tokyo's more covert and corrupt sector of the law to guarantee it, all without letting the sector lose its reputation as one of low crime and peacability. To bring someone like him to justice was to let the system unravel by the seams and cause a hassle for everybody.

He wasn't worried that he would be brought to book because the system would protect him in order to protect itself. But the Battousai was never a man for politics. This was a man whose hands once took lives with a one-tracked mind for the cause behind it, so while bringing Okei in wouldn't bring long-term results like trials and incarceration, it definitely would be more than a mild inconvenience. People were forced to do something when the Battousai got involved for some reason. And Zanza's connections to the law enforcement wouldn't make things any easier, even though the other hunter was more shades of grey than his partner.

'Fuck you, Sagara,' the old man said finally as he sat down. 'All this because you don't want to pay for information.'

'I'm a cheap stake, jii-san,' he quoted the oldman sarcastically, slurping his bowl dry. The old businessman was half impressed - despite chugging a bowl's worth of wasabi, the bounty hunter had not touched his beer to counteract the spice. 'Besides,' said bounty-hunter called the man's attention to him and the elder one took a double-take. Sanosuke had lost all pretense at niceties, and his eyes were red and screaming bloody murder. 'A sell-out like you deserves what you fucking get, selling out the Kitsune to Shinomori like that.'

Okei blinked. The anger would explain his powering through the pepper like nothing.

'So you really got the brat to talk huh?'

'Business as usual Okei-jii,' Sanosuke sneered, 'now I know you didn't watch all that drama unfold and let it fly by without you finding out what it was all about,' the bounty hunter got out his phone and held it out so the older man could see the speed dial reading his partner's contact, 'so I suggest you start spilling, else you start the long process of bureaucracy fucking you over as the Battousai drags you in for bounties.'

'You owe me, Sagara,' the old man hissed, grabbing Sanosuke's unoccupied hand squeezing tightly by the wrist as his face twisted into a futious scowl, age lines grey hair and all. The elderly one had a surprisingly tight grip, but to his credit the younger one didn't even flinch. 'You come to my turf and threaten me with something as infuriating as clogging the system just because you won't pay rates-?' The man cursed as Sanosuke freed himself and gripped the man back twice as hard.

'Don't you have arthritis, old man?' Sanosuke hissed back ruthlessly, the shark-eating grin on his face as he taunted. 'I would rather just beat what I need to know out of you, but I don't play the game that lets me play bad cop anymore. You want favors, take your damn favors and call it in whenever. But I want to find that woman. Where she could be, and why they want her, and why the fuck Shinomori is here. If the Oniwanban group is here too. Else I'll lose my fucking shit and beat the damn thing out of you anyway, and still let my partner drag you in for the system to fuck everyone over trying to get you free from the charges.' His grin turned to a sneer. 'Are we good?'

He let up enough for the man to snatch his hand away, glaring hatefully at Sanosuke.

'We are not good, Sagara. Hell, you're fucked, because I'll call in a hell of a favor from you when you least expect it, and you'll be sorry if you don't pay up.'

But Sanosuke knew they were done, and the old man was just trying to save face, so he clicked his tongue and pointed at the time on his phone.

'We don't have all day old man. So start talking.'

...

While Sanosuke was drilling the owner of Pa Okei's noodle shop for information, Yahiko had gone the way of the wind for information, going back to the district where Kaoru had run into Sanosuke's mysterious lover. Dusk was falling, and in the evenings those who went about their businesses were far chattier about the day's affairs. It was a sure-fire way to gather information for young eavesdroppers.

That left Kenshin and Kaoru to coordinate the information as they got it.

According to Yahiko, who was relaying to Kenshin, Sanosuke had started a fight in the bar where "Kitsune" had been. She was in a meeting with a bunch of mysterious men, what Kenshin quickly chalked up to be members of the Oniwanaban group, based on the descriptions. They had been arguing before Sanosuke, presumably after trying to track her, stepped into - "a negotiation gone wrong", as Yahiko had quoted one chatty waiter. They were also in the company of men and women who seemed to be dressed as executives of the corporate world, and on their directive, the Oniwanban men had started manhandling her when Sanosuke stumbled in and escalated it to a fight. Hell had quickly broken lose in a 3 against one brawl, with Kitsune slipping away in the chaos of it all. Likely, Yahiko had mused, she was trying to run, but those executives must have noticed and gotten more Oniwanban mercenaries to intercept her.

This left Kenshin wondering who these people were and if they were behind the situation "Kitsune" was in. Perhaps employers of the mercenary group Kenshin was avoiding?

Sanosuke, through Kaoru, quickly answered these questions.

'Kitsune Fatale - her name as we know it from the bounty archives - is a freelance mercenary, but apparently also a chemist and physician,' he has said on his call to Kaoru, on his way back from the meeting with Pa Okei on the Zanbatou 2.0. 'Figured she was also into something like that,' this earned raised eyebrows from the kendo sensei as she relayed the message to Kenshin. He gave her a look that said later, urging her to continue.

'The executives that Yahiko said were at that restaurant work for a Kanryu Takeda. He's the heir to the Takeda Pharmaceutical in Nara District, Kinki Region.'

'That company has been on a decline for the past 50 years or so,' Kenshin said almost immediately, opening up a file of the said heir. 'His father is dying, and Takeda has been gambling away the company's profits. They were already on a decline, actually, but since he took over they've taken a steep dive into their reserves.'

'Do you think he wants her for her skills in the medical field, to revive the company or something?'

'Takeda doesn't want Kitsune for that,' Sanosuke said bitterly over the phone. 'Tell Kenshin to check the bastard's files. There more to it than gambling, given what the old geezer told me.'

'Ah yes,' Kenshin nodded when Kaoru relayed this to him. 'Yahiko just mentioned that the executive was heard talking in code about shipments. Yahiko thinks it might be drugs, and going on the files I'm pulling on his financial accounts I'm inclined to agree. Takeda's has been sending money to accounts in multiple regions, and these accounts are linked to drug cartels.' The redhead sighed. 'According to the general receipts, the Oniwanban group were last hired for inter-regional protection by the Takeda estate. But going by other, older receipts, they were hired to track a black bounty.' Kenshik whistled. 'She's been running from them for 6 months.'

'She had started working with him before that, but then she called it quits and has been trying to take off ever since,' Sanosuke laughed almost hysterically as hebpieced the information together. 'We knew there were bounties, but for drug dealing?'

'Wait,' Kaoru frowned, 'You both knew she had a bounty at all? Do you guys even know her name?'

Sanosuke didn't say anything in response.

'I don't, but I'm cross-checking the database for a profile match,' Kenshin announced, and when he found the results silence followed. 'Well... it explains the medical background.'

'What did you find?' Kaoru eyed him warily, and the redhead sighs tiredly.

'Her family has a history of medicine. They used to run a pharmaceutical empire ages ago, but the family estate turned to medical research and funding in the last century.' Kenshin shrugged and shared the file with Kaoru, who gaped in surprise. 'It's a large family, and many members branch out on their own. It would seem she comes from one of such.'

'And you guys are just learning all this. Today.'

Sanosuke still didn't have anything to say, but Kenshin smiled sheepishly.

'Once they got involved it wasn't my place to snoop, so I had to respect his judgment call.'

'And look where that got you!' She snapped impatiently. Kenshin could only duck his head bashfully, but Kaoru for the life of her couldn't tell what was going on in Sanosuke's head. Before she could ask, Kenshin started speaking, apparently to Yahiko, who was radioing back in with new information.

'I know where they're taking her!'

'How do you even-' Kaoru sputtered, but Kenshin was already commending Yahiko and writing down the address, sharing the note-app's screen with her.

'Where are they taking her?' Sanosuke said finally, his voice through her radio set surprising the younger woman.

'Uhmm...' Kaoru hesitated, before sighing and relenting, 'the docks at New Harbor.'

'The coastline?'

'Yeah. But Sanosuke! Don't do anything crazy alright - and he's gone.' Kaoru let out another sigh. 'Ugh, that oaf...' Kenshin chuckled quietly, but Kaoru shot him a glare and the red-head wisely fell silent. 'We should pick up Yahiko so we can catch up to the rooster head before he does something asinine.'

'We should,' he agreed and gave instructions to Yahiko to wait for them to pick him up. 'When i get you, I'll tell you both all about Sanosuke's les affairs with his Kitsune Fatale.' His smile had no humor to it. 'Let's get to the BaNza.

...

Sanosuke's story with Kitsune turned out to be, for all intents and purposes, just as out of character for him as his being the most responsible of the three of them. They apparently went back into the start of their hunting careers, barely a year after Sanosuke and Kenshin had met. Sanosuke had taken up a black bounty, and somehow he and the Kitsune Fatale - who was going about her own business - crossed paths. Following a misunderstanding, bullets were traded and a tentative alliance of convenience ensued soon after, the two of them and Kenshin working together in the face of imminent betrayal. As far as Kenshin saw, the two never got along, their interactions full of bickering and verbal lashings.

But a day later he returned to the BaNza and found her sneaking out to leave as he was about to retire to his quarters, she had noticed his presence. Not that Sanosuke having romantic company over was new anyway, so he thought nothing of it till Sanosuke would later implore him to not do any research about who she was. His partner had agreed, with the condition that he would not inform his latest paramour of his presence on the ship should she come by. It was here Kenshin realized that there was more to it. To them.

He observed his partner. It was clear that there was chemistry, despite never having been around her or seen her beyond catching her slip off the ship the few times when she seemed to think that he wasn't around. Though the first time they rendezvoused she had left quickly and stealthily, it soon became apparent that she had merely been cautious. Sanosuke was not one to let his adventurings affect his mood beyond a minor inconvenience if one got too attached, so he knew Sanosuke couldn't be pining for this Kitsune. No, theirs was a two-way street. He had even seen her sport a blush once as she snuck out early in the morning, mouth still full of the take-out Sanosuke had ordered for them.

Kenshin had been a good sport, teasing his partner about their "forbidden" romance and making light jest of the vulnerable, romantic side whenever it occasionally slipped in his presence.

One night they had been at a hotel in some high brow district of the Kinki region, lodged for the weekend after a particularly exhausting but rewarding mission. They hadn't shared a suite, but rather separate rooms. And he soon had realized why.

Kitsune was in town.

There was some physical romance, and then later a confession. A heated argument and verbal violence broke out, and Sanosuke, heartbroken and ego-wounded, had kicked her out. A knock soon followed on the door to Kenshin's room, and wordlessly Sanosuke sat in the armchair there. The older man had dutifully ordered room service for the finest galaxy whisky and the two had drunk into the death of that night in silence.

He would have thought that as the end of it. It certainly seemed so as Sanosuke seemed to withdraw from affairs altogether. A few exceptions with some of his male friends from his life as a cop or anything else, but the cassanova was gone.

For a time.

Kenshin had known his partner was over it when he met a cute buxom blonde in the ship's kitchen, making a cold cereal for her and Sanosuke. Since then he saw many other men and women, just like before. But he never saw the Kitsune. Though when he had asked, Sanosuke had shamelessly admitted to still seeing her casually. He didn't consider it the most prudent decision, but Sanosuke was a grown adult and not stupid. He wouldn't have gotten involved with her again if it would be detrimental to him. He figured that whatever issue not withstanding, Sanosuke was okay.

Though it was easy to tell when they had or were going to meet. Sanosuke would seem a little more on edge when Kenshin caught him going to meet her. In turn, if the redhead caught his partner on returning from the vixen, he would be far more melancholic or wistful than his other flings. This was usually followed by an impulsive, not so in-character, but harmless act, usually in the form of indulging Kenshin's sweet tooth from his personal pocket or donating to an orphanage somewhere.

Kenshin even went as far as to guess that the impulse to adopt the Belyayev was a result of one such encounter too.

'Huh.' Kaoru said finally, having somehow ended up eating through a bowl of popcorn during the narration. She was sitting in Sanosuke's piloting chair, despite having no idea how to pilot a ship. 'He probably met me for the first time after seeing her too, now that you mention it. I don't imagine he really had a need to meet me, but with you describing the impulse thing... I see it.'

'Where is Kitsune-chan?'

The adults fell quiet at Yahiko's question. The said boy spoke from the couch in the ship's lobby. He had tired himself out after the initial excitement of having boarded the BaNza for the first time.

'She has been lurking in the Zanbatou 2.0 for some time,' Kenshin mused finally. Hopefully, she's a good enough pet for his anxiety.'

'Huh.' Kaoru said again, her mouth full as she chewed on her snack. She glanced up at the screen, which had a holographic map over the view of the dark skyless sky they were flying through, before looking at the pilot of the ship. 'The name Kitsune-chan seems a lot more uninspired now, in retrospect.'

'Huh.' Yahiko pursed his lips in surprise agreement. After a while, then rolled his eyes. 'They're both so stupid.'

'Oh?' Kenshin was amused as the boy spoke up, turning his own chair to face the child. 'You would think so, wouldn't you Yahiko?'

'Yeah,' the boy responded unironically and eyed the bounty hunter curiously, 'wouldn't you?'

'I suppose,' the redhead winked back and responded coyly as his eyes shifted to Kaoru, who was watching the interaction non too invested while mindlessly eating away at her buttered popcorn. 'Adults do stupid things sometimes, wouldn't you agree Kaoru-dono?'

Called from distraction, she turned to him in confusion mid-chew. 'What?' She frowned at his flirtatious, conspiratorial stare, but as her mind caught up and registered what she had heard in passing, her face fell into an unreadable expression and she looked way, not really saying anything else. Yahiko snickered as Kenshin let out a sigh.

'I see what you mean Kenshin,' the child snorted, causing Kaoru to instinctively scowl. Ignoring them both, she turned back to the control panel, turning on the radio after a quick search for its controls.

'He's already at the coastline, yes?' Her hand pointed at the blinking red dot on the map, which was the indicator of Sanosuke's personal jet. It had stopped moving, which meant he had probably landed.

'Indeed,' Kenshi nodded, reaching for his own radio set and putting it on. 'I imagine I should try co-ordinating with Sanosuke, seeing that I'm supposed to remain unnoticed by the hired security personnel if I can help it. He is probably calmer after all that flying.'

'What is that about anyway?' Yahiko piped up, and the man glanced back at him. 'You got beef with Oniwanban group or something?'

'Young Yahiko,' Kenshin's smile was light and teasing. 'The stories to tell. Let that be for another t-' the redhead frowned and paused mid-sentence, reaching for the voice scrambler button. He mouthed at Kaoru to hit the red speaker button.

'-re so fucked Takeda! Shit shit shit-'

'Zanza!' Kenshin's voice scrambled and came through as androgynous over the radio, protecting his identity from the possibility of being recognized via audio. 'What's the situation?'

'B-yo!' Sanosuke caught himself and cursed again, 'Shinomori and his people are already climbing aboard the fucking ship. They're going out to sea on a private yacht!' Kenshin frowned as he worked the controls to latch on to Sanosuke's coordinates. 'Where the fuck are you?'

'We're still nine minutes forty-eight seconds away,' the pilot let out a frustrated sigh. 'Can you plant a tracker on them?'

'Nah I can't do that from this distance without blowing my cover.' Sanosuke cursed again and fell silent for a bit, '...there are a bunch of private boats - I could get on one and tail them quietly.'

'Zanza heading out without proper backup is dangerous-'

'What difference would it make? You can't come with, and Jou-chan's good, but the Oniwanban are an assassination guild. '

'Mercenary group-'

'Oh please K-man. Stuff it! You know that's a whole lot of croc. And what, you think Jou-chan's enough for a merc group with the brat at her skirts?' The brunette snapped. Kaoru and Yahiko exchanged glances and frowned. They clearly didn't like the idea of being underestimated, even though Sanosuke sounded like there was credence to his skepticism. 'Oi, I have to go. They just took Kitsune onboard, and they're about to set sail.' There were sounds of the hunter gearing up and getting ready to leave. 'I've got these bastards.'

And then the radio was off on his end. Kenshin sighed as he took off his headset.

'Well,' he looked up to find Kaoru glowering furiously. 'My apologies for his words, Kaoru-dono. I'm sure he didn't mean them.'

'Save it Kenshin,' she held her hand up and cut him off curtly, 'oh he meant it alright, so don't you dare defend him.'

The rest of the flight was short and quiet and by the time they had arrived at the docks, all they found were the signs of a scuffle in bullet shells and wrecked vehicles. Ruined weapons lay on the floor, but the Zanbatou 2.0, while marred on the exterior by different sorts of holes and scratches, was intact. Yahiko scoured the private jet for the fox, but it was no where to be seen.

'Did the idiot really take a pet to a crime scene?' he asked himself quiety as he alighted the jet. Sanosuke's headband was on the ground, torn up and bloodied and as he picked it up, Yahiko wondered if the blood was from the enemy being on the receiving end of a headbutt from the bounty hunter. There were grunt men on-site, but they were wounded and unconscious so Kaoru took initiative to bind and blindfold before Kenshin went on to identify them.

'They're just grunt workers, not of the Oniwanaban group. Probably Takeda's regular detail to watch his yacht,' Kenshin eyed the road vehicle he figured Kaoru and Sanosuke had seen Kitsune enter, which was in bad shape. The tellings of the Zanbatou sword were all over it and he shook his head at the sight. 'Sagara-san's on a warpath.' Behind him, Yahiko whistled. The man gave the younger one instructions to get the police on the scene so they could cash in the smaller bounties. 'Plus some of the wrecked property here might be for rent. We might end up needing to pay those tabs off.' He looked up and found Kaoru working on an undamaged speedboat and frowned. 'Kaoru-dono, dear?' The sensei looked up from her task. 'Pray to tell what you're doing?'

'Oh well, obviously I'm on a suicide mission, given that I don't know how to do shit according to Sanosuke.' She gave him a would-be disarming smile and went back to work on the boat. She started up its engine to warm it up and anchored it before getting off and walking towards the BaNza. The redhead pinched his nose bridge and let out a tired sigh.

'Oh dear,' he sounded exasperated, and Yahiko spared him a glance while on the phone, trying not to chuckle, 'Kaoru-dono please let's not take unnecessary risks.'

'Nothing unnecessary,' she glanced back to reassure him, though her bravado did little to actually reassure him. 'I have a tracker that you can share coordinates with so I can catch up to him. A phone to reach and track me with, as well as my trusty bokken.' She added the last part with a sarcastic tone and a wry smile, holding up her training sword for them to see.

'Kaoru you're not going to go up the guarded ship of a drug dealer with a wooden sword-'

'I also have my father's Daisho back on the BaNza. I didn't really think I'd need it, but as a matter of principle I should probably let the fucker know why I'm in possession of such in the first place.'

'Petty much?' the redhead muttered, but primely shut up under her glare.

'I figured you won't be getting directly involved, given this whole thing with Battousai the manslayer being "dead" to the underworld as we know it,' she smiled thinly, 'but would you have given me your sword if I asked?'

'You wouldn't be able to use it anyway. The Sakabato is reverse bladed,' he smiled back coyly, his eyes raised in a teasing challenge. 'I can't exactly stop you though. And I've learned to trust you.' The woman eyes him for a bit and then mused dryly.

'I bet you have,' she didn't sound like she believed him. She didn't have to though. She retrieved the daisho set from the mothership and set off after Sanosuke, with no resistance from the former manslayer. Yahiko, having gotten the police, stood beside the redhead as they watched the speed boat get smaller and further in from their sights. The bot looked up to the older man.

'You really do trust her?'

Kenshin snorted and gently pat Yahiko's head.

'Of course not.' Kenshin said with a warm smile. 'But Aoshi Shinomori is not a man to indulge in senseless killings. And his underlings I imagine would have to go through Sano,' Kenshin's face settled into a contemplative expression, 'and Megumi Takani, if she has any conscience.'

Yahiko squeezed Sanosuke's bloodied headband and hung his head solemnly as he considered the redhead's words. He took a deep breath as he sent out a silent prayer for the best, before scoffing dismissively at the samurai.

'Yeah right. There's no way you would let her go if you didn't trust her, restraint of an opponent notwithstanding,' Yahiko rolled his eyes. 'You were right about adults being stupid.'

'Young Yahiko,' Kenshin only laughed kindly again, before he gave the boy an eerie smile. 'Please stop talking and call the police so I can coordinate with them to secure the boat.' He stepped closer to the boy, and despite how gentle his expression was, there was a foreboding sense of danger around the samurai bounty hunter. Yahiko nodded stiffly, taking a couple of steps back for good measure, before calling the police again.

Edit: No beta we die like Tomoe. But I tried a bit to edit the glaring mistakes.

The arc is almost over! happy dancing~~

Hope you enjoyed this chappie, can't say I'm impressed with this one though.

Have I told you guys that I'm in love~~~?

Teehee.

Reviews and critiques are always welcome, and I'll see you soon.

=UwU=