Chapter 22: Plans

"Heh heh," Hiko muttered, grinning dumbly as he counted the money he had one at his 'meeting'. "I am the poker master…. I mean… I'm sure my students will learn a lot."

"I wondered how long you'd be in there."

"Huh?" Hiko's eyes traveled to his car. "Saitou-san…"

"Himura…" Saitou sent a puff of smoke into the air.

"What about him?" Hiko asked.

Saitou narrowed his eyes and lifted his shirt tail up in the front. A large but not deep cut was slashed across his abdomen, scarring his body. "I was fortunate that his sword was reverse-bladed at the time…"

"He-" Hiko muttered.

"Yes… I'm not a man of denial," Saitou stood up and walked carelessly across the parking lot to look out at the cars on the street. "I won't say I wasn't foolish for trying to push the Battousai beyond his limits."

"His name is Kenshin," Hiko growled, clenching his fists.

"I believe that's the name you gave him," Saitou said, making an icy chill run through Hiko's veins.

"You… saw what I-"

"No," Saitou dropped his cigarette offhandedly to the ground and stepped on it. "I know my information, remember?"

Hiko grabbed Saitou suddenly and slammed him against the wall, leaving him stunned. "Saitou!"

Saitou's eyes widened from surprise, then narrowed in anger.

"Do you mind… telling me where you got all this information?" Hiko was fuming.

Saitou stared down his nose at Hiko. "Touchy, touchy," He said smoothly. "You need not collect what you have seen with your own eyes."

"You haven't seen all of it," Hiko's grip tightened on Saitou's shirt.

"You're more intelligent than you let on, Hiko-san," Saitou smirked. "It's true. I've gathered some of the information from another source."

"How about telling me what that source is," Hiko said, the blood vessel on his head pulsing.

"Put me down," Saitou said.

"Not until you tell me the truth, Hajime!" Hiko yelled.

Saitou shoved his foot into Hiko's stomach so quickly that he hadn't even seen it coming. Hiko's grip loosened, then let go, and he fell to his knees holding his abdomen.

"You, boy, don't seem to have your guard up. You may be ten years older than me, but you act ten years younger than your stupid apprentice," Saitou said, then grabbed the front of Hiko's shirt and turned the tables on him. "How dare you try something like that?"

"Who… is it?…" Hiko choked, still standing on his feet since he was taller than Saitou.

"…" Saitou punched him in the jaw. Hiko spit the blood out and glared at him. "Seta Soujirou."

"What!" Hiko cried.

Chou swung open the door in the warehouse to what Soujirou had claimed as his room. "Souji-" He shut his eyes when loud, screaming metal music blew through his ears.

"Hello!" Soujirou greeted, looking up from his notebook. He had dressed himself in blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a navy blue jacket, laying on his futon with a pencil in his hand.

"Turn that down!" Chou yelled.

"WHAT!"

"TURN IT DOWN!"

"WHAT! I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE MUSIC! LET ME TURN IT DOWN!" Soujirou reached over and turned down the music on his stereo.

Chou sighed, exasperated. "Jeez… You almost blew out my eardrums…" Chou said, sticking his finger in his ear.

"What's the matter?" Soujirou asked, smiling emotionlessly.

"Shishio-sama's house burned down…" Chou muttered.

"I know," Soujirou said, scribbling kanji down on the paper.

"Eh?" Chou did a double-take. "-but-"

"Shishio-sama wants his fight with Himura-san to be the same, but this time, he won't lose. He says he wants Himura-san to recognize him."

"HE BURNED HIMSELF ALIVE!"

"Yeah, but it's not like he hasn't done it before," Soujirou giggled, ripping out the paper and folding it up. He placed it in an envelope and licked it.

"What's that?" Chou asked.

"I'm sending out a letter to a 'friend'. The school dance is coming up, and what better a time to test Himura-san?"

"We can test him ourselves," Chou said.

"No, no, no…" Soujirou shook his head, standing. "It will be much more interesting this way."

"Who will it be?"

"The only other man to bring Himura-san close to breaking," Soujirou said.

"No…" Chou muttered, his eyes wide.

"Of course!" Soujirou said, heading down the steps. "I'm off to the post office!"

"That's all the way across town…"

"I have a bicycle," Soujirou said proudly.

"Sheesh… and they think I'm psycho for collecting swords… Speaking of which, I'd better go polish mine!" Chou zoomed off up another flight of stairs.

Soujirou jumped the last two steps and stumbled slightly before walking past the group laying lazily on a couch that someone had thrown out, watching the television that had been… 'thrown out' -per say-.

Kamatari looked up from his magazine. "Where are you going?"

"To mail a letter," Soujirou said simply.

"Ooh! I want to come!" He cried, hopping over the couch to a few protests of the Juppon Katana with the fact that he was wearing a brown and yellow plaid mini-skirt. He had pulled a yellow sweater-vest over a white dress shirt as well.

"Okay," Soujirou said sweetly as Kamatari put on his yellow socks and penny-loafers. "Let's go, then."

"Wee-hee!" Kamatari cried cheerfully, following Soujirou out the door.

"I'm glad I'm blind," Usui said as soon as they had shut the door.

Miscellaneous others moaned, covering their eyes.

Kaoru stepped into her living room, looking at the blue ribbon in her hand. "Ah… I remember now! I found this ribbon at that old dojo a year or so ago!" She said as it suddenly hit her. "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the stain out… Why did I even keep it?"

"KAOOORRRUUUUUU!"

She looked up from the ribbon to meet eyes with Misao as she entered the room. "You need to learn to lock your door."

"Misao-"

"I want you to come with me to shop for prom dresses!"

"-but-"

"Come on! You can't wear the same thing every year. You need a new dress, Kaoru," Misao put her hands on her hips, speaking matter-of-factly.

"-but I-"

"Look, this is senior year, Kaoru," Misao put her arm around her, leading her out the door. "It can't just be any old dress. It's the last dance you'll ever have, Kaoru! The last chance for high school romance, if you know what I mean. I mean, this year, I'm asking Aoshi. I WILL MAKE HIM MINE!"

"Misao… It's just that… I still don't have a date…"

"Don't worry, Kaoru. You're captain of the cheerleading squad. You probably haven't been asked because they're intimidated. Ask them. Do them a favor."

"I don't have anyone I want to…"

"What's with the ribbon?"

"Ah-" She looked down at it in her hand, and the thought that had gathered in her mind before of his strong arms around her penetrated her mind once more. "AHH-" Her whole face turned red. "LET'S GO SHOPPING!" She yelled, tying the ribbon in her hair and zooming out the door.

"HEY! Wait for me!" Misao cried. "I'm driving!"

Every time I look at that ribbon, I think of Kenshin! Could it have something to do with what I saw yesterday in the gym?… Kaoru wondered.

(A/N: I bet this chapter is a bit difficult to read, ne? I had break lines for scene changes, but it appears that has removed them. No matter what I do to fix it, it's no good, so I hope you can bare with me with that. By the way, I've just gotten a scanner, so pretty soon, I'll be able to put some fanart up for this story! I'll tell you when I get it up, but in the meantime, please review! Thank you all SOOOOOOO much for the reviews you've given me. This is my most popular story, and because you are all so wonderful, I'll do all I can to produce more great RK fanfics for you in the future. I already have many plans including the "Rebirth" double series (not telling! If you want to know, you have to email me!). Anywho, that's about all I have to say. Hope you enjoyed it!)