A/N: There was a bit of confusion at the last chap on the wording on the last paragraph...anyone who hasn't go back and check it as it has been edited.

Anyways...onward.

"Sano had this...charisma as a child. I always knew he needed to bottle it up into something. I never expected for him to be anything horrible. He was a body and he liked playing war and cops and robbers. What little boy didn't do that? But then came the day that he tripped me, had set up the trip wire in the kitchen and everything, then laughed at it when it happened. I made myself think that there was nothing with that. The sadism that seemed to be embedded in his as deep as his DNA. The thing about Sano was that he was never outwardly a bad person. He kept the things he did to himself; like a fetish.

"I knew one day it would grow out of proportion. He would never attack his own kind, he'd been taught better than that. But after about '70 he became their tool. He was fearless, heartless, soulless in the face of other people's tragedy, believing that he was punishing them and that was what they deserved. I had little say in the matter as he was commanded to do these acts; it was a dirty job that someone had to do. I just sat back and watched it eat him whole."

-Sozo Sagara

It was the dead of night when we arrived at a home. It was typical suburbia. Nothing was out but the dogs barking at the sound of Sanosuke's tires crunching on the gravel. He put it in park then looked up to the house. It's lights were the only one on making it obvious this was where we were suppose to be. I sighed and got out of the car, walking up to the home, Sanosuke waiting calmly in the car, lighting up a cigarette as he did. I knocked on the door. It opened immediately, Kaoru looking me in the face. She had been crying; she was in her bathrobe and her hair was down. She fell into me.

"I...I was on my way," she said to me. "I was coming to meet you..."

"What happened?"

"Some guys," she said, her hands tightening around my waist. "Some guys jumped me. Oh God I don't know who the hell they were. There was this one that just wouldn't stop smiling."

"Did they hurt you?"

"They grabbed and touched and..."she sniffled, "they didn't get anywhere but...but," she made a few cries as she grabbed my jacket. Her roommate was standing in the doorway, her hand on her hip looking out. She didn't look like she was all that sober at the moment.

"I know w-who the jerkwads were," she proclaimed, her hand up. She had her hair braided over her shoulder; she was shorter than both me and Kaoru, which seemed almost impossible. "T-they are these thugs. Hang out around the d-diner downtown or something."

I tightened my grip on Kaoru's robe. I knew who she was talking about right away. The Yukishiro associates hung around the diner in town. It wasn't too far from the restaurant. It hadn't surprised me that there were some low lives as their associates.

"I want you to come with me," I really didn't ask. I grabbed her hand in mine and led her to the car where Sanosuke was making smoke rings and admiring his handiwork. "Put that out," I told him, hoping maybe he would get the idea that there was a lady coming in the car. Kaoru sat in the backseat as I instructed Sanosuke to go the diner and park discreetly. For the fifteen minute drive Kaoru was silent, her head leaned back and her eyes staring out the back window. I was sure that her and her roommate had been having a drinking session when I arrived hoping it would help Kaoru.

She had called me after it happened. She had her roommate park about five minutes away from the restaurant so she could walk by the shops and look it. That was when the guys got her, following her all the way from the diner. She must've screamed loud enough that her friend came back to get her. I was happy to see that there was nothing physically wrong with her.

When we arrived in front of the diner I told Sanosuke to go inside and get malts for us. He obliged, getting out of the car and walking up innocently. It was all a game at this point. I turned around to Kaoru and touched her face. Her eyes were dry now, and she really looked like a PMSing woman instead of a hurt little girl.

"Is that them?" I asked, turning back to a pack of guys across the street. She looked over without turning her head, nodding at the sight. "Alright," I kissed her forehead. "Sano'll be out in a minute; I'll be back."

I knew Sanosuke like the back of my hand, so when reaching under teh seat it didn't surprise me that there was a gun sitting there. It wasn't anything big, or even really all that powerful. It wasn't loaded either, but just to be sure I put the safety on and tucked it in the front of my pants. I got out of the car and started over to the guys. They looked at me like I was crazy, which could have been right, but I had no time to comtemplate whether or not I was menacing. I walked up to the "smiling man" who I assumed was the ringleader. Without hesitation I pulled out the gun and proceeded to beat him over the head with it.

There was darkness all around us. A fence separated the diner from this small shack that was called a home. A long shadow was cast by the neon light the diner gave off. There were no other cars in sight. But I would have beat this man senseless in broad daylight. I just know I would have.

I pulled back, blood sticking to my fingers and making it hard to keep hold of the gun in my hand. He had fallen back into his friends who seemed to be scared shitless. Pretending to play the hero I said to them: "Keep your fucking hands off her ya fucking pricks. Next time I hear anything about you or you fucking friends laying one finger on her, this will be down your throat!" I put it in my pocket and walked off, my hands wiping against each other. Sanosuke had come back and was talking to Kaoru, sipping on the malt. I got back in the car.

"Mind if I keep this?" I asked, flashing the gun. He shook his head. "Alright," I put in back in my pocket. Sanosuke drove away without me having to say a word.

I finished school in May of '74, deciding to take off a little bit from the restaurant to relish in the fact that I had finished. I hadn't planned on doing anything but watching the summer roll by. I sat outside on the apartment balcony and watched the children play in the parking lot. There was a certain amount of freedom that they possessed that was beautiful to watch. I sipped at a little vodka. I wasn't usually one to drink when it was early, but it just seemed to strike me at the moment and I had nothing else to do that day. At least, I didn't think so.

It was August 8th, a pretty typical day of the year. It was getting to become a rather warm summer that year. Both talking about weather and about politics.

Everyone on the face of this planet had heard about the Watergate scandal no doubt. When in the times it seemed almost surreal to find out that Nixon had tried hiding tapes and that he was trying to wiretap Democratic lines during the convention. At first I didn't seem so opposed to him. He still to this day has been one of my presidents, save Reagan of course, especially since Nixon was the first one I ever voted for. I had a strong liking for American politics. Maybe it was because I had pride in my country, or because I knew that while we as a family were crooked, this crooked thing called "politics" still showed the backbone of a country that was leading the world.

I didn't ever want to believe that it was possible. I debated with myself and others about the whole scandal. I almost got myself in some deep shit over it too. Then, as reality sank in, I realized that it didn't matter whether or not he had gotten us out of Vietnam, or if he was smart. He was screwed and he had screwed himself over. Royally.

On August 8th Sanosuke came and got me, telling me that we had something that we needed to do. I drank the rest of the vodka and looked down at the kids one more time, longing for the innocence of skip rope and hopscotch.

Sanosuke drove to a house nearly a mile out of the way of anything that I was truly familiar with. He pulled up and led me inside. It was a nice house. A typical house. But it wasn't a typical man. I realized the moment that Sanosuke went into the bedroom and pulled him up by his collar that he was someone to be reckoned with. A man that was associated with Katsura and Hiko. A man who had personal connections with all these men leading back to their childhood in the 30's. I was leaning on a pool table when Sanosuke brought him out.

I had admired the pool table for a moment. It had the normal green felt, but it was fresh. Like a new car that had just come off the lot. That was when I realized that why Sanosuke and I were here. New. Completely and utterly.

This man was wearing a nice suit jacket and shirt, but was stark naked below the waist exposing his aroused self. I turned my head away and listened as Sanosuke's slammed him face first into the pool table's felt. It was beginning to stain with blood making a dingy brown color. One thing I noticed when looking back at him was the look on his face. Sanosuke had the uncanny anility to scare the shit out of anyone if he wanted to. This man wasn't scared, or afraid. Humiliated to be found in the state that he was, but other than that he remain nuetral as Sanosuke grilled him on how it was stupid to try to take one red cent from the family.

He grabbed a pool stick from the rack and proceded to shove it into this man's anus. I turned away just as I heard a yelp of pain. No doubt Sanosuke was shoving it so far up that no one would ever be able to get it out. What's worse was the 'crack' I heard. Sanosuke had broken off the back of the stick and stood the man straight. "Good thing you're in good hands," he said, implying that he was spared his life. He told me that we were leaving, and I turned and walked with him.

At first I wasn't too sure why I was brought along, but then I realized that I was an asset.I held a level of importance in this family. My presence itself was a threat to the men that they were dealing with the wrong people. I was the person, or at least one of the next generation, that were going ot be taken and taught how to keep others in line. Not necessarily useful for these kinds of deeds, but I was the son of an underboss. The next man in line in the family. For being an associate I had power. There was something menacing about my presence, as though I were Katsura or Hiko.

As we left Sanosuke spat on the man's floor. I looked back to him, my eyes trying to stay above the waist. He just stayed there, silent, without any look to indicate that he was feeling any sort of humiliation. In the background I hear:

"...therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow..."

You realize a lot of things as time passes. One of those things is that you find there is a longing for someone very important to you. Someone you will protect, someone you will cherish and someone that you just want to be in your life forever. For better or for worse. I wasn't sure at first if my decision was entirely out of my love; my grief and my guilt had no doubt played a part of it when I walked up to Kaoru's house one morning, on a whim, and knocked on the door. She had already left for work, but I had nothing better to do. I stayed with her roommate Misao all day, talking to her. She had her own views on the presidency, but she was childish. She thought that Nixon was awful for what he'd done. I was just curious what would come after. If Ford would be decent, and after that. What would become of the country that I was so use to in the hands of a man I was so use to?

Kaoru came home, tired. She was a secretary it looked like, but she began undressing the moment she walked in. She saw me before she took her shirt off and smiled.

"Hey!" she came over and sat on my lap. "So, what brings you here?" I knew that no one coul've told her what had happened next, because even for me it was a whim. I knew that the moment I opened that box I didn't have to say a word to her, she just knew. Her hands went up to her mouth and she got tears in her eyes. I wasn't sure what went through her head, but I knew she was thinking about many things, selfish or not. Like how she wouldn't have to work for anything anymore. Or how she was going to have someone like me. That may have been me talking though.

After a few moments of tears and hyperventilating, she got a grip of herself and said yes, pulling the ring out and chucking the box across the room. She hugged me and hugged me, and Kaoru had Misao start calling any friends that she had to tell them that she was getting married. I was just as thrilled as she was.

After that, I went to the restaurant to break the news to everyone, which thankfully Hiko was in the kitchen when I arrived. All gathered round as I told them, Hiko standing in the back. I was curious at what the customers thought when they heard the whooping from the back, but it struck me that this was too important to worry about what other people thought about me. I smiled and I told them it was just a whim, and I looked back at Hiko who, despite his smile, seemed to have a skewed look on his face. He looked at me funny, his hand at his chest.

"You alright?" I asked him. He wasn't the type to get choked up, though I was sure he was feeling something. He crouched a little, but congradulated me nonetheless. I was in a moment of heaven, so I really wasn't too concerned. Hiko had been complaining lately that he was getting older and these little blips that he got in were nothing. Hiko had been born in 1929, so he was only 45 years old. I continued talking to people for about an hour, sitting in the back and just gabbing to some of the guys I'd known forever. Katsu and Sozo especially. All of a sudden we heard the door opening.

"Kenshin!"

Someone came running to the back, his breath was gone. It took him a minute to be able to say anything to me, and I was wondering if this was some sort of prank. After all, this man was a new as far I knew.

"It's Hiko..." he said to me. I looked over to Sozo and Katsu and stood, going to the floor of the restaurant. People lingered around wondering what the commotion was about. Someone pointed me to his office, but I didn't need to walk too far to realize that something was wrong. He was laying on the floor halfway between his office and the hallway, the door propped open against him.

A lump felt like it had just grown in my side.

A/N: Obviously the quote is from Nixon...sorry about the political crap..i like politics to a degree....i guess....

so, anyways...tell me what you think. Till next time, KenSan out!