Warnings: First of all this is going to be eventually be either a Tomoe & Kenshin, and even further down the line maybe a Kaoru & Kenshin fic. I love certain pieces of cannon to much to change that.

Second, this chapter and perhaps a couple more for a little while will feature Kenshin as a she temporarily. I do not have have a Saitou tryst planned, so there shouldn't be any slash in this fic. Even with regards to one of Kenshin's own comments later. There is a plot twist later, but no Yaoi planned for this fic.

Of course I own nothing related to Rurouni Kenshin, so don't bother asking me for money, 'cause I am certainly not making any off of this. This is for amusement purposes only, and slight wonder...

Last time:

-"God damn it Himura! Just because you're a god damn freak of nature that walks in the sun, doesn't mean you have to go and wake me up in the f-ing daylight hours!" Rin-

Kenshin had just gone shopping at the market...

~Just after Eleven~

He arrived two hours early to the small shop where he had met Saitou Hajime earlier. He wondered what the other would think of his new appearance, he was wearing a light but expensive kimono that framed his new build perfectly. His hair had been given a darker shade of red, so dark it was almost black… His calm eyes held the light lavender shade he had been known for as a small child, and the most important feature….

He was now sporting some very convincing non-male anatomy, in fact he was a she for the time being. Considering that his original species was genderless it wasn't impossible for him to switch back and forth. He just liked being male for the most part, it had less drama involved. He was supposedly born as a male, he just assumed his body assumed whatever form it felt safer as…

So he now sat as a full-fledged She waiting patiently, trying to think of a new name that would fit her appearance. After all she didn't think it was appropriate to use her Choshu nickname amongst the enemy, it also would make her stay easier if she didn't use it. Then a name came forward, she appreciated the wolves effort towards accepting her rank… She smiled lightly as her escorts appeared right on time, if not a little early. The captain of the third squad of the Shinsengumi was pleasantly surprised when she practically floated down to stand before them.

"Absolutely beautiful," one of them breathed so lightly had she been any other being she would have missed it. She blushed lightly focusing on Saitou's face.

"Kawashiro Kiirie, the pleasure is mine to be in your fine company this evening," she bowed to Saitou and the others who returned her bow. "Saitou san, how much do they know of the situation?"

"These are my pack mates that will be staying with us," Saitou answered still staring, "should you require any assistance we will provide it without question." Kiirie smiled lightly, she had already assumed what would be expected.

"All I require is your charming assistance to escort me there, unless of course you've decided I cannot stay there now," Kiirie's pitch was lighter than his normal, and quite a bit more alluring. The captain looked at her with an odd look.

"Why would we dishonor ourselves by rejecting such a guest such as yourself? Battosai, even if you are still working for the Ishin Shishi I would not hesitate to invite you to visit at anytime you are able," Saitou was frowning, "all I ask is that you keep your work for them separate from your rank. Which I assume you would ask the same of us?"She nodded, the deep red mane flowing down her shoulders reminded them of a waterfall of blood.

"Of course," she smiled, the other Shinsengumi members disappeared leaving her alone with Saitou for the walk back to the Mibu Den. "Thank you, for letting me be a pain in your ass for the time being." The wolf beside her smirked, then drew his sword as they felt the disturbance in the air. Kiirie let out a small string of un-lady like words, "of all the days to go unarmed…" Saitou nodded, he was not amused by the idea of bandits either.

"Should we stay and fight Kiirie san?" Saitou asked quietly. He knew the Battosai was adept with swords, but he had no idea if the heir had any other training. "How fast can you run?"

"You wouldn't be able to keep up. Saitou, teach them a lesson about prowling the streets during the darkest night," she smiled, "I'll be fine, it would take men of the former counts power to kill me." The Shinsengumi captain walked forward hand on the hilt of his sword, Kiirie following behind him unphased by the lecherous looks being thrown her way as they came out of an ally way.

"You'd best make your way elsewhere, or your corpses' will line the way across Kyoto tonight," Saitou half warned. Kiirie was aware that she was one of a kind, in the fact she had mastered sword drawing techniques, she wondered how fast Saitou could unsheathe his sword and still have control over it. The lowlife thugs swarmed, they seemed like they liked a challenge, and they saw Kiirie as quite the prize. She tried not to seem as bored as she was at the whole display, but she really wished she hadn't chosen such a pretty appearance to hide away as.

"We'll take the girl and let you walk away in one piece…" one of the thugs mentioned. Kiirie frowned, she would actually rather fight them than stand behind Saitou and watch. The thugs drew their swords, Saitou smirked, Kiirie took a few steps back.

"I'd like to see you try, would you like to use my wakizashi Kiirie san?" Saitou offered. She was very tempted to accept, except she was supposed to be a lady. She nodded anyways, she'd work on her ladylike issues later, there were thugs to beat down now. Saitou tossed over the short blade, which she caught easily, which surprised the thugs.

Kiirie held the wakizashi in her left hand ready to draw, but proceeded to watch Saitou fight them first. The Shinsengumi captain allowed them to make the first move, his sword held parallel to the ground in his left hand(*1). She assumed it was some sort of sword thrust technique, but she soon became distracted by the thugs inching near her that she never got the chance to see him move. Seeing as she was working with a wakizashi, her range was a lot shorter than the thugs, she scowled.

"I suggest the rest of you retreat, you are beyond outclassed," she warned as the first thug fell to her short range Battoujiitsu. As the blood sprayed out the back of their comrade's fatal wound, she jumped aside with a quick chiburi to avoid the careless swings of their blades. She had no doubt that the wakizashi she had been tossed by Saito was of good quality, but she almost wanted to reach down and use the fallen thug's katana. She wasn't sure if the blade however could take quite the amount of force she tended to use when wielding her own blades.

In the end she ended up gutting two more thugs, whom by that point had figured out she was not some helpless prize had started to run. Saitou dispatched them easily as Kiirie checked over her kimono, she thankfully had not gotten any blood on the brand new robe. It was only her recent practice during her assassinations that had allowed her to come out clean. Saitou took one look at her and laughed as she did a final chiburi. As she sheathed the wakizashi he shook his head as she returned it to him. He was covered from head to toe in varying blood splatter patterns, while she had not one drop on her person.

"Battosai, you are a particularly interesting creature… There are not many men, or women I think, that can go through an entire fight and not have so much as a speck of blood on their clothes. Be it theirs or a foe's," Saitou's words had a touch of humor. Kiirie shivered trying not to think about the substance, as Kenshin, when he had first murdered in the name of the Ishin Shishi she could not remember getting a drop on anything but the landscape. As for before that, her very first kill in the name of her brother's honor it had coated her body. Although a lot of it was hers considering she had been but a child…

"It's a talent refined from centuries of practice, when I was young the blood make my stomach roll uncomfortably for days at a time," she explained, trying to disconnect herself from that past at the same time, "it became necessary to develop that talent, so much so it exists even now when the texture, smell, and sight of blood no longer effects me that way. It was not difficult to accomplish really…" Kiirie skipped over the blood puddles, wondering what would become of the thugs bodies absentmindedly.

"I would never have guessed a vampire, let alone one as high standing as yourself, was ever squeamish at the sight of blood Battosai," Saitou led her ahead through alleyways and narrow corridors to a secluded courtyard where he stopped abruptly, "did you have a cover story in mind? I mean about your coming to stay with us." She had of course thought of a cover story, she wasn't sure that Saitou would approve, but it wouldn't question her presence in his quarters.

"But of course, I had dared to assume I could pretend to be your faithful whore actually," she answered casually shrugging her shoulders, "or something along those lines… I'd sooner trust you than the human half of the Shinsengumi." She remarked waving a hand off handedly. Saitou's eyebrows had shot up at the whore comment anyways, she had no idea what he was going to say to that.

"Come now Ba- Kiirie," he corrected himself with a smirk, "why would I ever deem you a whore? Besides, something tells me you're a virgin anyways." With the suggestive look he was giving her she felt inclined to raise an eyebrow at him. Where would he have gotten that idea?

"Sorry to disappoint, but I lost that before your grandfather was born," she commented flatly, "I will however, take that statement as a complement, seeing as I am a lady at present." She added with a small smirk of her own to confuse him. Saitou merely looked bemused by the development, he opened the door and escorted her into the Mibu den. She frowned at the expression that suddenly crossed his face.

"Who would have thought that you could spar with words as well as you spar with swords Battosai," Saitou hissed in her ear making her twitch as the breath tickled against it, "follow me Kiirie san." As they worked their way deeper into the den of Mibu's wolves she had the sneaking suspicion that she was going to have a hard time sleeping for the first couple of nights. A couple of dirty looks, and one almost beheaded officer later she was sure of it.

Author's notes: *1. this is the Gatotsu, Saitou's own adaptation of the Hirazuki technique, however at this point I don't believe that Kenshin has fought or come across this technique yet. Seeing as this would be shortly after his introduction to the Choshu clan. The Gatotsu is explained by Kenshin actually during the fight with Saitou in the anime as Saitou's own perfected technique based off of the Hirazuki technique that was developed by someone else, the name escapes me at the moment.

Chiburi is the name of that oh so impressive blade flick Kenshin and them (sword users in general) are always doing to clean the blood off their swords.

If you have any questions pertaining or about the random Japanese I leave scattered in these, feel free to ask me or google translations if you'd rather.

Also, I am unimpressed with the Rurouni Kenshin Wiki, it needs a serious overhaul and quite a bit of information added. If I didn't have 1-21 of the manga and sound knowledge of the events that transpire in both Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal as well as the First and Second Arcs of Rurouni Kenshin I might have been in trouble. I've seen Pokemon pages with more useful information.