A/N: Okay now...hm...how bout we keep moving eh?

7.

"We'd been watching Golden Dragon [Seijuuro's restaurant] for some time because of reports of strange activities there from the customers. Over time, out inspections seemed very fruitless, but we had the feeling there was something there. It wasn't until December 23rd, 1972 that we got anything that was worthy of a search warrant.

"When Koshijiro Kamiya showed up dead, an apparent suicide, we took this as our chance to move in, at least discreetly. I was one of the first put on the job. (sighs) Himura had been my friend for the longest time, along with Sagara, but then things just started to change. They were both distant and when it came to speaking about where they had been there were very few words that they spoke. By the time that we were older, all that was left was Christmas and birthday cards to show that we knew everyone was still alive.

"In '74 I started playing my part as the long lost friend. Sagara got me a job at the restaurant, at least part time. Seijuuro was very accepting of me. But I knew what my job was..."

-Aoshi Shinomori

In October of 1973 things seemed to be going bad economically. OPEC wasn't being very nice to the U.S. and gas began shooting up like a bottle rocket. For most this was a worry. It endangered there way of life. As many put it, gas was going up but the wages weren't. During that period we saw a sharp decline in those that came to the restaurant, even though it was close to suburbia, even in walking distance of most folks. But, even with business bad, Hiko was in a very good mood. One business was failing, but the other was thriving.

One day Sanosuke came in through the back of the restaurant, his face splashed with delight beyond all recognition. He plowed into Hiko, grabbing his shirt and pulling him toward the back where several cars were parked. I walked with Hiko, suspicious of what had gone on. Leaning out the door gave me enough clue. Sanosuke had hit some serious money; I mean serious. This was the kind of money that you saw on game shows or the lottery and it was all piled up in the back of several nondescript cars with untraceable license plates. I had to ask Sanosuke where he came across all this, and all he said to me was:

"I fucking love airports."

I didn't really need to ask because I heard what had been going on while I was in the kitchen. There was going to be money coming through the airport one afternoon, and Hiko had a few friends over there in control who wouldn't get in the way of Sanosuke and his friends pecking the money out of the load. It would have to sit overnight in the airport before it moved. It moved alright...

"Good for you. Where are you taking me?" I joked, imagining a Caribbean cruise. I hadn't been on a vacation since I was a child, with Mom and Dad to the beach. I was wearing diapers and going into ocean water when that happened though.

"Hell, I don't know. Anywhere you want with this kind of jack."

Hiko got his cut, and so did Sanosuke and his goons. I found it hilarious that in a time where everyone knew that money was really tight, we were laughing it up with more than we could count. I was laughing too; maybe I shouldn't have been, maybe then I could have breathed easier as I got older.

After that, things seemed to be quiet and laid back. I was going to college, my final year around the corner, and I was still rather steady with Tomoe. Though Hiko had said that she was bad news, there was only so much that he could say. I had free will and I liked who I liked. Sure, Tomoe was no Kaoru, but then I needed something. Early into 1974, we were deep into a relationship. We had gotten carnal. It wasn't just a kiss or a hug or a movie. She was coming to my apartment, staying for three or four days, and usually we never slept. We dug into each other like we were burrowing our way to China. My clothes had a new place to hang out: my floor, and so did hers. Needless to say we were animals. If anything, this was filling the void that had been empty for such along time. Each time we touched I felt all my emotions run through my veins. Anger pulsating, and fear gripping me and pulling me into her flesh. Sadness working in overdrive as I wondered why I was taking in so much joy and happiness. I would wake up at all hours of the night to make sure that I would get up the next morning for class.

One morning she grabbed my pant leg: "C'mon babe, let's keep going," she could say, slurring. I knew that Tomoe wasn't going on sheer energy alone. Long ago she dismissed her own body and let the shot of adrenaline she gave herself every evening last until she needed the next. I was amused at how good she could be at conversation, sounding like she was drunk. I was amazed at the appearances that she kept, and the normalcy she had. Tomoe was one of a kind. High as a bird most of the time, but something told me that no one would ever know the difference if she was off. I had to beg to differ.

Another morning I got up wondering why she wasn't laying next to me, but she was standing on my balcony with nothing but her robe on, and she wasn't even trying to hold it closed. Her body was pressed against the railing, her head leaning over like she was waiting for the axe to come down. I pulled on a pair of pants and leaped outside, my hand on my shoulder. There were little chunks of something in her hair and looking down I realized that my neighbors would be in for a surprise.

"Tomoe, babe, what's wrong are you sick?"

"Let me go," she didn't really resist; she only rolled her shoulders like she was untensing. She wriggled beneath my grasp.

"Tomoe, what's wrong?"

"I said let me go...b-bastard."

I should have seen it coming. She had gotten off her buzz a little early. I had seen this before, not that I really was intending to find it, but I knew that dealing with these situations was very delicate. While I had the chance I should have backed away for the sake of my own body but instead I moved closer, my stomach against the railing leaning out with her, trying to coax her to move back in. I remember telling her that I would get her a cup of coffee then...

I was gripping my face, a few pieces of the ceramic between my fingers. At first I didn't know what she had done, but one quick look showed the potting soil splattered over the balcony floor, along with the orange ceramic pieces. The plant hadn't been living too long, in case you were wondering. My hands clasped where warm blood fell down my cheek.

"Goddammit!" I screeched out, tears dripping from my face. I looked up at Tomoe sharply; she was still brandishing what was left of the lip of the pot. I took my hands off my face and in a burst of anger let my palm strike her face. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" I winced and drew back into the corner of the balcony. "Dammit..." blood fell from nose too, but I could distinctly feel the marks where the ceramic had cut.

"Y-You..." she stammered out. Her hand was on the railing trying to steady herself. "Y-You..."

"Out with it!"

She burst into tears. Her face was streaked with the blood that I had on my palm. "Bastard!" she cried out, her tears nearly drowning out the words. "Why...what..."

"Why? Why yourself you stupid..." I sucked in a deep breath and touched the skin again. I went into the kitchen and pressed a cloth against it, hoping to stop the bleeding. After ten minutes it was still persisting, blood dribbling down my chest. I took one look at my hands, covered with caked on blood, before I looked back at Tomoe. Her face was in her knees, her arms hugging around her body. She was distraught, tired, scared. I was sure that this was the first time she had experienced reality in a while. It sucked.

"Tomoe?" I asked quietly. She sobbed and turned away from the voice. "Tomoe...I-I'm sorry...Tomoe."

The begging wouldn't help. It didn't matter what the woman did to you, you never hit her back. It was something of a complex that men should have had, but as time went on it seemed to grow more scarce. I was amazed at the thoughts of my hand reaching out and striking her in rage, just as she had done me. I felt terrible about it, but I couldn't have been sure that her tears were that of anguish or not.

I pressed the towel against my cheek once more and grabbed a shirt to put on. Chances were I wasn't going to class that morning.

I should never have left her alone that morning. I went to an urgent care hoping that it would make things a little easier on me. I didn't have to give as many explanations to what had happened, I just needed to stop the bleeding. When they took me in I was a little light headed. I was sure if there was some artery in my face that she had struck, but there was something there that refused to quit bleeding. It was like the time that I had gotten a nosebleed when I still lived with my Dad. It didn't stop bleeding for several hours and I was afraid I was going to die. When it did stop, I felt the same way. Tired and lightheaded. But, even under the circumstances, I shouldn't have left Tomoe by herself, even if I was dying.

I walked out with my cheek covered with thick bandages and my eye a bit swollen. There were stares by the dozens just walking out to the car and getting in. I was drained physically and mentally. All I wanted to do was go home and lay down. When I got there, I didn't find Tomoe anywhere. She'd left clothes, make-up and paraphenalia behind, but she was no where to be seen. I thought that she would call because it was an easy way for me to get out of things. I propped up my feet and laid back on the couch with ice on my forehead. Hour after hour I waited, but up until midnight that night things were silent.

I passed out until early the next morning when there was a rapping on my door. I jumped up and rushed over praying that it Tomoe so my guilty conscious would be cleared, but my hopes deflated when seeing Sanosuke leaning in my doorway.

"Sano..."

"Whoa...what did you get into?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Musta been bad," Sanosuke mumbled. "You missed your shift yesterday."

I had forgotten in all the worry, but that didn't matter. I really couldn't make up for that one happening. I sat back down and closed my eyes. "Was Hiko furious?"

"Concerned more."

"That's a stretch."

Sanosuke shrugged and sat next to me. "Well, he was, even if you don't wanna believe it," Sanosuke looked around at the clothes strewn on the floor. "You have a party with some strippers?"

"Not quite."

Sanosuke crossed his arms. "Good, cuz if you did and didn't invite me you'd be pounded," he was trying to cheer me up. It was a very thoughtful gesture, but there was nothing in me to laugh at him. I nodded and felt myself drifting off. "Man," he grabbed my shoulder, "you alright?"

"Fine."

"You don't look it."

"My head hurts. I hit it yesterday."

"Oh," he nodded as if he didn't already know that. "You want me to tell Hiko you can't make it in?"

"Would you?"

He said yes, but then added something strange. "The temp will take over."

I bolted up immediately, wondering what he meant. My eyes shot toward Sanosuke. There was no way that in a day there was someone new there. Not without my knowing a few days in advance. I continued to prod him with these questions of the eyes, and finally he said: "Yeah, actually you know him pretty well."

"Oh?"

"Shinomori. Aoshi? You remember. Yeah, he's in a slump with money right now and he's working with Hiko. A few recommendations from me really."

"I thought that Aoshi had a nice job," I said, curious about my old friend. I hadn't spoken to him in the longest time and was curious whether or not he was still alive. We hardly spoke of him at all, as if he had just disappeared off the Earth. "Huh, must be fate," I said, hoping that it was that because my head couldn't take any more thinking.

"Yeah. Well, I'll leave you be. Call if you need anything though, seriously."

"I will, promise."

I fell asleep after that, all my dreams plagued with finding Tomoe.

It took me a few more days to recover. It was mostly the effort of trying to get out of bed in the morning that was taking it out of me. The headaches and confusion had subsided, and it had sunk in that Tomoe wasn't coming back, not even for her expensive shoes that she liked to show off to everyone. I started picking all her things up, throwing them in a trash bag as I did. They had her smell all over them, so I couldn't disregard them that easily. I kept the bag in a corner of the apartment and headed out for my shift that night, my hands shaking.

The bandage still ate a fourth of my face, and the bruising and swelling had only gone down slightly. It was no wonder when I came through the employee entrance that there were looks. I threw on an apron and started to work, hoping it would keep people away from me. There were too many questions; it was just too hard to think under all the noise and confusion. It was as if, somehow, someone had taken my anatomy and rearranged it. There was nothing right anymore. All my nerves seemed hypersensative, all my senses seemed to take in way to much. It hurt to think. I wondered why. Was Tomoe really that big a deal as she seemed? I guess maybe she was. She filled that hole for a while. She filled that sensation, that longing to be touched, that longing to be held and to know that there was someone there who cared about you in some way, even as primal as if was.

I sat down on my beak and rubbed my temples hard, a commerical coming on the radio real loud. There came someone up to me with loud shoes and the smell of dishwater and cologne mixing together. I glanced up to see the piercing blue eyes a rugged bangs of a friend that I had lost.

"Are you alright Himura?" he asked casually. He sat down next to me, wiping off his hands even though I was sure they were dry.

"Fine just...lost."

"You haven't been saying much to anyone. What bothers you?"

Aoshi wasn't one to beat around the bush; he hadn't been even when he was a kid. I had to applaud him for not changing a bit as he grew older, though he seemed to be the only one to have sense and actually cut his hair as the times changed.

"I, a girlfriend."

"Tomoe?" he asked. It didn't surprise me that he knew. Everyone in the kitchen knew about her. She frequented the restaurant enough to be a benefactor. "What about her?"

"She's...vanished." I said it like it was a fantasy, because that was what it seemed like. There was no way that Tomoe would leave everything behind and up and leave; at least not without telling anybody that she was leaving. I could have approached Enishi, but I had enough headache with problems, I didn't need and earful from Hiko to add onto it.

"Oh?"

"Yeah...she..."I rubbed my temples. "It's nothing okay. I'll be fine," I didn't want to tell him too much just because I wanted to save my energy to be able to finish the shift. He seemed more than happy to oblige; neither of us were really talkers.

After a while, all these things had been so routine it was boring. My face healed up eventually, but it didn't look pretty. There was a ragged cross on the skin, a pale red color that seemed almost to glow in the right light. As if Tomoe, when striking, had made sure that she made her point to try and hurt me; to let me know that she was always going ot be there. I couldn't help but touch the marred skin every time I looked in a mirror. It made me agonize over what had happened.

No one had really said anything about her though. If she was so important, there would have been something in news about her. But there wasn't. Enishi wasn't asking for help finding her; there weren't any missing persons out on her. I assumed, after I had convinced myself that this was the only possibility, that she had left just because she wanted to get out and anything that was there was just too much for her to handle. I kept telling myself that, even as I looked for her on the streets of where ever I was.

Sanosuke called me one night and began begging and pleading for me to go out to eat with him. He said he would make it worth my while, which usually meant that he would be the one to cough up the money, not me. I didn't want to go, but then, I needed something lift my spirits up. It was the only thing that was left for me to do. He was my best friend, I couldn't deny him.

He met me at a small restaurant that was obscured from most people's view. It was pitch black that night; the moon was new, the clouds that passed by almos tlooked like fog, and the stars were dimmed. Sanosuke and his partner who I'd yet to recognize were illuminated by bright red lights above their heads. The lights flashed, a stinging sound whirring in the air. I approached cautiously, wondering if this was the scene to walk into. I studied it, and I studied his partner. She was almost as tall as Sanosuke, and that was without platform shoes. She seemed to be very simle; her hair was down and her clothes weren't too gaudy, but her make-up seemed to make up for things. Her lips glowed in the light where the same colors blended, and her eyes were brought out by the contrast. She wanted people to notice her slim face and foxy like eyes.

"Hey, you made it."

"Well, you said you had something special," I reminded him. I never removed my hands from my pockets, even as the woman introduced herself as 'Doctor Megumi Takani'. A doctor, and by the looks of it she seemed a bit older than Sanosuke as well; not enough that it made any difference though. I closed my eyes and looked around.

"I'm a third wheel huh? Guess I shoulda brought a date," I said laughing at him.

"Oh, don't worry," Megumi purred. She seemd to grip onto Sanosuke like a cat, her nails extended and grabbing into the crevices of his jacket. "I have a friend coming that you'll like a lot. She should be here any minute."

I felt dirty. I jumped out of the relationship with Tomoe so suddenly that it was whiplash, and I had never recovered from Kaoru. I guess that it was the idea of thinking I'd found love and then realizing that I was only dreaming.

Then again, Sanosuke was trying to be nice and trying to make me feel better. If there was anything that he could say about relationships, it was that he knew them very well. Megumi was a new girlfriend, one that hadn't really been around him long enough to know him, and I would guess when she started to realize that Sanosuke was all the chivalrous she wouldn't stay too long either.

My eyes drew to a car pulling up because Megumi and Sanosuke's did as well. The light flickered off for nearly twenty seconds letting only headlights allow me to see the face of who was arriving. When I did see the face my whole body froze.

"I..."

A/N: Heehee...leaving it there...yays! Another chappie. Heehee...till next time, KenSan out!