A/N: Kay...time for more...

"We were never sure when the right time was to strike without making it look too obvious. Of course we had Shinomori in as an operative, but we didn't want to go through him to get what we wanted just yet. We wanted to see what we could pull off first before we started really getting deep into everything. Our way of starting our little "operation" was in the spring of 1978. We believed that enough time had passed that we could start making our moves. We were getting tired of picking off the little guys; the gamblers, the number runners or the soldiers that ran the illegal gambling operations...we wanted to hit it in the heart...and we started at the right place."

- Commissioner Saito Hajime

14.

Kenji turned four in May of 1978. He was a blossoming little boy who was looking like me more and more every day that passed us by. He wasn't into me as much as he was Kaoru. He was on her like a leech, but then I guess I couldn't blame him. I hadn't been in his life for two years, why was he suppose to call me "Dad" and love me? That said, he did love me all the same, but his affections geared more toward Kaoru who was with him. She hovered over him, watching him grow up. I came in like a camera. I had snapshots of everything, but I missed the things that were in between all of that.

On his fourth birthday though, work came home with me. Not saying that was a bad thing. The family was over at our house, eating and drinking and having a good time celebrating his birthday. The family did everything together. Vacations, birthdays, you name it, we were all together, getting drunk, having a good time.

I was a decent enough pastry chef to make my son's birthday cake, not that I had real good coordination when it came to decorating, but I managed. I came out with the four candles bunched together, singing for him as I did. Kenji was in his grandfather, Hiko's, lap, babbling to him about how he wanted to get a dog and hoped that was his present this year. Hiko had taken to Kenji after he got past the fact that Tomoe was his mother.

I think maybe that was the start of a lot of things. Hiko, after taking the seat as our Boss, our Don, had made his first order of business to start negotiating "treaties" with the Yukishiro's. It had become so sudden that all on both sides were taken aback by it, but with Hiko's fervor there were lines drawn up that we were meant to follow.

We still looked over our shoulders of course, but there was a little less tension. We banded together against the police knowing that they were becoming a major threat for both parties. We had also set up rules when it came to the killings of each others members. Call it our little code, but when it was proven there was a murder by one clan, it was the other clan's turn to get redemption. The war had scaled down to come scuffles, but it was still going on.

The whole family bunched around the table, me and Kaoru at each side of Kenji as we sang for him. He stood on Hiko's knees pulling a cowboy hat back and waiting for us to finish singing to him. I knew he was really eyeing the two tables full of presents across the room. He blew out that candles immediately, the family clapping for him. He fell back in Hiko's lap giggling as we began to cut the cake. I stood back smiling. Everyone acted as if it were a wedding, but it was just a four year old's birthday. This was one of those perks I guess, being able to be cared about.

Amidst all the commotion, Sanosuke came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked down taking a good look at the ring on his finger. He and Megumi had finally gotten married the year before, in June. It was a beautiful wedding, just as good as mine and Kaoru's. I think Sanosuke needed something to settle down on though. With Megumi he seemed a little less rambunctious.

"What's the matter?" I asked, noticing a bit of distress on his face.

"There's someone at the door."

"Who?" I asked, furrowing my brows. "Isn't everyone here?"

Kaoru looked back at me. I told her that I was going to answer the door. The commotion had finally died down then and I was more or less obligated to open the door since everyone was looking. Hiko settled Kenji on the chair. He got up and followed me, lingering in the threshold between the living and dining rooms.

I opened the door and the first thing I saw was uniforms.

"Are you Kenshin Himura?" one asked.

"Yes."

I was trying to act casual even though my muscles were tightening at the sight of them.

"We have a warrant to search the premises."

Now, let me explain something. This wasn't the first time that this happened, but usually I wasn't home to answer the door. Kaoru had been through this on several different occasions. She let them through and they never found anything that was out of the ordinary. I knew I shouldn't have been worrying. There was nothing they could get anyone at the party for. No one here had a warrant for their arrest, as far as I was aware. I just couldn't shake that feeling.

"Um..."I lowered my head. "I understand this is your job but could you...come back in two hours or something?"

"'Fraid not," one of the cops said. I realized what I said was suspicious.

"My son's birthday part is today, it would be a real downer..."

"I'm sorry. We are required to search the premises," he pulled out the search warrant, showing it to me. "If you could please read and sign this."

I begrudged this whole thing, but took the paper and signed it quickly. I looked back at Hiko with and expressed my worry, but he just bobbed his head to call me back in the dining room. I wondered if it was illegal for them to search during a kid's birthday party. I knew it was planned but had no way to prove it if I ever got my day in court.

I sat silently with the rest of the group. They all huddled around me, Kaoru and Kenji. Kenji had started to cry; Kaoru and Megumi were trying their hardest to console him as we heard the police opening drawers and pulled out our things. Finally they came back. I stood up defensively. One of them was holding a gun. It was the gun that I had used to beat one of the Yukishiro thugs, the gun that I had protected Kaoru with. "Is this yours?" he asked. I kept my mouth shut, as I knew was best. "I bet I can presume you don't have a license to carry a firearm." I still kept quiet. Kaoru grabbed my arm tightly. "We're going to have to take you in if you can't present the proper license to hold this," the officer said, holding the gun up. It still had blood on it.

The second one came up to me and for a second I questioned if I should resist or not. I was aware that it was in my best interest to just stay calm with it all and let them take me. I was aware of my rights and I fully intended to make sure that I used them to my benefit. They pulled my hands behind my back and cuffed them together. All the while they were scanning all the people sitting or standing around the table, Hiko most of all. I saw a mocking look appear on Hiko's face. They had no reason to try and arrest him, so it was almost like the police were dogs on a chain. They got up as close as they could and barked but they couldn't grab at Hiko so it really did them no good.

I strained to look at Sanosuke as they started to walk me out my front door. Sanosuke made a gentle nod to me, assuring me that everything was going to be alright. I knew everything was going to be alright. Sanosuke was my counsel. As soon as he had passed his bar exam, despite my knowing whether or not he was actually a good lawyer, I took him on as my counsel for any of these situations. He was my best friend after all, it seemed like the logical thing to do.

"As you seem to know well," one of the officers said to me. "You have the right to remain silent and anything you say can be used against you in a court of law..." Miranda rights. Under the case of Miranda v. Arizona back in '66. It was a family member's best friend, not that we talked to the police anyways. We were known, at least for the longest time, not to self incriminate or incriminate others. Of course, as history shows, those sorts of things start crumbling down...

I looked at my house to see the people of the party flooding out the front door. Kaoru had hold of Kenji and the look on her face was more than I could bare. I lowered my head, but I had looked long enough to see that Sanosuke was getting in his car and was ready to follow us. Lately he kept a nice suit jacket in the backseat of his car so he could look nice for the cops.

They took me to the station and put me in a cell, but they didn't let me sit their long. This was the type of break they were looking to have for the longest time. I sat back in the bland interrogation room and waited for Sanosuke to show up. All the while they were trying to grill me, asking me questions about the family, who my associates were, if I knew anything about the recent robberies that had been going on. I just kept my lips sealed and waited for Sanosuke. I wondered what exactly was taking him if he had been following us the entire time. I tried to convince myself that it was all for the best.

"'scuse me!" I heard. It made me perk up the slightest bit and look at the door. A few officers let Sanosuke through. He cleaned up real nice if you just put a suit jacket on him and combed back his hair. "Sanosuke Sagara, I'm Mr. Himura's attorney," he said sticking his hand out to the cops. Neither of them really looked like they wanted to shake hands with him. He was all right with that. He sat down next to me and laid a manila folder on the metal table. "So, if I may know, what are the charges?" I sat back comfortable, my fingers fiddling with one another.

"Illegal possession of a firearm Mr. Sagara." The name rolled off their lips with spite. I was curious if that was because they that they had another family member in their midst, or if it was because they could somehow tell that Sanosuke was going to send them to the cleaners.

"These charges are the only pending charges?" Sanosuke asked.

The officers looked at one another curiously. I looked at the window that was probably two way and I smiled hoping that Saito was on the other side. "Yes," they answered. "But if there is no proof of license then he will be indicted on the charges."

Sanosuke got this sly grin on his face. "Well, maybe you should start doing your homework gentlemen. I'm aware you asked if the gun was my client's, correct?" The officers somehow remained passive when Sanosuke spoke. I was half expecting them to try and keep him quiet and allow me to speak, but I was sure that they were happy to have anything said to them since I'd been quiet for over an hour. "Correct?"

"That's correct. It's a standard question, which he failed to answer."

Sanosuke lolled his head to the side. "It's mine gentlemen," he said coolly. I paused, looking over to him with one of my brows up questioningly. I'd hoped that they didn't see me be so unsure when he said that. Whatever Sanosuke was saying, he was putting himself on one hell of a rope for me. "I know this seems crazy to you..."

"Hold on, it's yours?" one asked.

"Yes, mine. I was at the party that was decided to be dropped in upon. Obviously it was seen to be a children's party?" Sanosuke sighed and started to shuffle through some papers of his. "I have proper and up to date license on the handgun. I asked my friend, my client, to put it in a safe place so nothing would happen," he handed the paperwork over to the two officers. I looked to them with a bit of a smile on my face. I had never considered the fact that I had borrowed it from Sanosuke. I did consider, however, that the documents were fake. Fake or not though, they were the convincing sort of fake. "I'm sure there is nothing against having a friend hold onto it for a party? Through previous searches of the premises made, it is obvious this firearm was not in Mr. Himura's possession but in mine, as I have license to carry a concealed weapon. So, the charges are..?"

I zoned out shortly after that not wanting to hear all the legal hooplah. After a while Sanosuke took me by the arm and motioned for me to leave. A weight was pulled off of my chest, but I knew it was only because my friend, despite his idiotic moments, had thought things through.

I stood in the front of the station looking around at the few police officer's milling about and other people, possibly criminals, they were also hanging around. I went up to my wife who was sitting, waiting, for me. I hugged her tightly, looking over her shoulder toward the commissioner standing near the door the I had just come out of. He had this look on his face, a weird mix of pleasure and pain. He winked to me, an auspicious kind of wink. I felt my stomach tighten, but I kept my ground.

"Thank you Sanosuke," I turned toward the taller man. "You are one sly man."

"What do you think I went to school for? I didn't waste all that time to fuck up in the end." He laughed.

When we were outside he took me aside and said, "You need to be really careful. Saito's out for you man, and I mean out for you. I don't know what he thinks he'll get from you, but he thinks that there's something there. Look over both shoulders, if you can. And for the love of God Almighty, don't say a fuckin' word, or else."

"I didn't."

"Plead the fifth the entire way," he turned toward me, hugging my shoulders. "'kay?"

"I can do that."

"You sure?"

"I'm not incompetent."

Sanosuke laughed. "I hope not man...I hope not."

In June, around when my birthday was coming up, I was working in the kitchen once again. After the longest time I was the head of the kitchen, in control of everything that was going on. I was Hiko's eyes and ears anymore. Once I'd been considered 'trustworthy' I reported to him every so often about what was going on in the kitchen. He seemed to believe everything I was saying. There was a little less tension in the kitchen since he wasn't doing his normal walk throughs.

I was nearing the end of a late shift on the 9th. There were still several people out on the floor and we were working our hardest to try and keep up with the orders. I was preping some of the food where one of employees had called in sick.

"Lloyd! Hurry upon table five's order!" I called out. I had almost forgotten everything that happened at Kenji's birthday party the month before.

"I'll get it done quicker when Hiko gets a new stove!"

I shook my head and almost started to laugh. All of a sudden I looked up to the back door where the summer wind fluttered in unexpectedly. I put down my knife and picked up a clever almost protectively. There was a chicken ready to be cut up and fried, but anyone who knew me knew that I really wasn't one for cutting up the fowl.

"Himura," I heard. I didn't give the visitor the time of day, focusing on what was at hand. I looked up to Lloyd.

"Maybe it's the operator," I said to him, "because the stove is new."

The visitor was white haired and awful familiar. He sent a chill down my spine, though thankfully not a visible one. I brought the clever up and lopped the head of the chicken off. "I think we need to talk."

I pursed my lips. It was only a matter of time before the Yukishiro's tried to do something that fucked with the new agreement.

"I don't think we really need to," I said, using the clever to open up the insides of the fowl. "And if you can't really tell, I'm a little busy with something more than your petty arguments," I said, upturning my head to look at Enishi. He had approach the other side of the counter that I was working at. Her gave me this malevolent grin, but he said nothing to my, just watched.

The rest of the employees in the kitchen were watching the encounter between us, like they knew something was about to happen. "You're a little off your territory, if you don't remember where we drew our lines," I said, lopping off one of the chicken's legs, putting it in a pot that was sitting on the counter nearby.

"Well I know," he said in this faux excited tone. "There's nothing violent going on. We might as well chat. Like, how's my nephew?"

I slammed the clever down, lopping off the other leg and putting it in the pot. "Leave Kenji out of this," I said. "As far as the Yukishiro's seem concerned, he doesn't matter."

His hand was sliding across the counter, his fingers touching the blood of the chicken that was being cut at. I bounced the clever a bit, smiling to myself. If there was something I would expect, it would be that Enishi would lash out immediately. I threw the tip of the clever down on the sleeve of his shirt, breaking the cuff link as I did. "Get the fuck out of my kitchen," I roared, walking over to the stove that Lloyd was working at. "It's done. Put it on a plate and give it to Katsu," I said, motioning my old dish washing buddy as he came through the door.

"Look who's the one that's forgetting the rules," Enishi said, pulling the clever out of the cutting board. I turned around enough to watch him arch back and throw the clever past my face, clattering against the wall, the metal blade breaking from the handle. "It was your screw up you asshole!" Enishi said, charging over to me. The whole kitchen seemed to go in an uproar when he punched me across the cheek. A little blood well up in my gums, my hand covering the scarred cheek. "You and your boss can go to Hell! He has no goddammned idea what he's gotten himself into! Agreement? Well....I don't know anything about that. Words lie very easily..."

I caught his hand before he hit me again. He took the opportunity to turned me around, my back to his face. He pulled something out of his jacket pocket and put it around my neck. It was a cold metal, something that felt like a bike chain. I got one of my hands up far enough to dig part of it away from my neck, but the other side started to bite into my skin the harder he pulled. "This is what you get for fuckin' my sister around you worthless prick! She's dead because of you. Died of grief you believe that! Because you married that stupid little whore!"

I heard utensils dropping, and a drawer opening. Someone behind us cocked a gun faster than I could blink and put it to the back of Enishi's head.

"Let him go or I blow your brains out," I heard Katsu snarl. Behind him, from what I could see, was Sozo holding a caste iron skillet with both hands, him being close enough to strike the Yukishiro in the back of the head. I elbowed him in the kidney, forcing him to his knees and letting me out of his grip, falling forward. I coughed a bit, biting back the blood that was in my mouth. A bit of blood was trickling down my neck, but the bike chain was in my hand.

I turned around, the bike chain tight in both my hands. I had never wanted to whack somebody as much as I wanted to whack him at that moment. I lunged forward, pushing him to the ground, straddling him as I shoved the bike chain the front of his neck, pushing in his Adam's apple. "Don't you dare talk about Kaoru like that," I pushed harder, he didn't seem to be in pain, but I knew he was doing his best to hide it. Someone grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up, pushing me into the counter. Katsu and Sozo grabbed Enishi, each taking an arm, and started to drag him, kicking and screaming out of the kitchen.

I held my neck where I was still having trouble breathing. A new dishwasher named Yahiko Myojin, the one who had pulled me back, stared at me with these fiery eyes. "Are you alright Mr. Himura?" he asked. I knew he was going to get involved, and I knew that he was already fond of me. He was going to be like I was to Hiko, I could just tell, but at that moment I was at a loss of words.

"Go get Hiko," I said. He looked at me strangely. "Mr. Seijuuro. Tell him that I sent you, he'll let you in, promise."

He nodded, and I gained my composure as Sozo and Katsu came back. "He's on his way," Sozo said to me. "You alright?"

"I'm gonna kill that bastard," I hissed. Sozo grabbed my shoulder and made me look at him square in the eye before his hand hit my cheek. "What the hell was that for!"

"Cool down," he said to me. "You're not the one that needs to deal with this. Unless you want to risk Kaoru and Kenji's lives too," he said. I slumped against the counter breathing heavily, like a bull ready to charge. Hiko entered and I looked at him with the most pissed off look I could, and I showed him the bike chain lying on the floor.

He just sighed.

A/N: War sorta got worse didn't it? Well, till next time, KenSan out!