A/N: Welcome, welcome...I wish to continue this little story, if you life...so here we go!

"The whole faction of the police that were devoted to capturing and putting a stop to the end of the two families were getting to the end of their ropes. They were getting tired of taking pictures, of having too much evidence that led nowhere. They were tired of the whole charade. The only useful evidence we got was from one of our two field agents, and he was more in it for the fame than anything else. But even the evidence that he turned in seemed more like he was giving us dust off the body than the body itself...we just had to keep biding our time."

-Cho Sawagejo

I was ecstatic at Kaoru's news and knew that I needed to tell the family. I figured, appropriately, the first person that I should go to should be Hiko. Anymore, Hiko wasn't in his office at work. The work as our head seemed to be swamping him. He was all over the country anymore, which was something he hated. It was he, however, that refused to create a base for his affairs. He felt that would paint a target on both him and the family, and he didn't want to put us in anymore danger than we were already in. Besides, he was a businessman wasn't he? He was suppose to travel.

I had heard the he was using a fake ploy of trying to "expand" the restaurant as a reason for his travels, but it was obvious he was having talks with not only other family heads in other cities, but also he was mingling with the political elite. This was something he did, not out of enjoyment, but out of interest. He'd always been interested in politics, but Kogoro had never put it as a first and foremost item on his "to do list". Hiko, on the other hand, felt that if there men in his back pocket, it would let the family breath easier.

I arrived on his porch step early in July. I had brought him a small gift, almost like a home warming gift because it had been awhile since he was actually at home relaxing.

I knocked on the door, listening for him to bellow out. When he didn't, I knocked again. I knew he was home. His car was in the driveway, so I wondered what was keeping him.

The door opened, I'izuka popping his head out. "Oh, I thought you were someone else."

I raised a brow. "Someone...else? Who else would come calling to his home?"

"Takasugi's been persistent," I'izuka said. "Come on in. He's just in the living room."

I was somewhat worried that Hiko had gotten sick, or his heart was giving him trouble since he didn't bother to answer the door himself. These thoughts were whisked away when I saw him sitting on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table, and what looked to be some sort of legal document in his hand. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" I asked when seeing Sozo sitting in a chair opposite of Hiko.

"Not at all," I'izuka assured me. "Just curious, were you followed?"

Now I got it. I'izuka and Sozo were a front for Hiko, and they were playing as middle men for him while he sat at home. It meant that he didn't need to go outside and the police didn't have a chance to photograph him, if they were around. Lately there had been unmarked cars following us. Though we were all aware that it was entirely possible for any normal citizen to be following us, it seemed very impossible that they would be going to some of the places that we were, unless of course it was a restaurant.

"Nothing was behind me," I said.

Hiko finally looked over to me; the document now lay discarded on table. I found it almost hilarious that he was wearing glasses now, but it was only for reading and nothing more. He took them off and folded them in his lap. "What brings you?" he asked.

"I bear gifts," I laughed out, setting the "gift" on the coffee table. "It's a cake. Thought I'd be nice."

"Something brings you," Hiko said, prying open the cake dish. I'd made a neat little chocolate cake. On top of it, along with some coconut shavings, was a small piece of paper. Hiko smirked, pulling it off and reading it quickly. "Miami huh?" he asked, crumbling the small piece of paper in his hand. He glanced to Sozo and I'izuka, motioning for them to leave.

"I think I should stay," Sozo said. I'd long since figured him to be Hiko's consigliere. He was often a part of many of the meetings with Hiko. When Hiko glanced at him once again, he got the message that he should leave. The two of them wandered back through the house and onto the back porch, like a watch.

"They've been around a lot," I commented.

"I never thought I'd need protection," he said quietly, "but times change."

"Are there snipers hanging around or something?" I laughed. I went into the kitchen, bringing out a knife and two plates. It didn't surprise me that Hiko had swiped his finger through the icing before I got back. "Yeah, seems like Miami's the place," I said. "It doesn't surprise me. All the lords are down there. Colombians, Cubans," I untensed my shoulders, cutting the cake. "Dirty business. I don't like being a part of it."

"You haven't gone to the doctor yet have you?" he asked. I put my hand to my nose, just to make sure it wasn't bleeding. "Figures. You never take my advice."

"That's a lie," I rebuked. "I take your advice all the time. The nosebleeds have stopped. There's no need for me to go to the doctor."

"You could just talk to Sagara's wife."

I sighed. Mortality was always on Hiko's mind. "I'm alright. I won't die of a nosebleed. I promise."

He just hummed in his auspicious way. Afterwords, we sat back and ate slowly, my eyes wandering around the home I hadn't resided in for so long. Everything was in it's place, as Hiko's tidiness made it. On the mantel there were still the same pictures, like the one of him and his wife and son. I always wondered what had become of her. Though I was aware they divorced, I was always curious as to why Hiko never brought her up. He had mentioned that the divorce was civil, but that didn't really tell me anything other than he was choosing to avoid the conversation.

"Guess those years really amounted to something," he said, setting the empty plate on the table. "I'm glad I slapped some sense into you."

I didn't want to be reminded. "I have some good news," I said, putting my half eaten piece of cake down. "Kaoru told me. She says she's pregnant."

"Took you two long enough," he folded his feet under him. "When did she tell you?"

"After you guys left," I met his eye, something I wasn't fond of doing, and I could sense a little distrust in him. I knew Hiko to be a skeptic, but in this, I couldn't believe that it was impossible for him to just be happy for me. "What's the matter?"

"You were out what? Three weeks? It's either a fluke or she's seeing someone else," Hiko said. He turned his eyes away from me, his gaze seemed occupied elsewhere, no doubt at the conversation being had between Sozo and I'izuka outside.

"Maybe it is a fluke. Or...maybe we're just that good. In any case, she hasn't got her flow since I've been home, so I think it's pretty safe to assume that it's true. And she doesn't even look it, so maybe I just got her at the right time"

"It's an awful lot of 'ifs'," Hiko said. "She's a good girl, I'll put a little faith in her.'

I smiled. "Well, thanks. That makes me feel a little better," I kept looking towards the pictures, and I noticed that in the picture I'd seen so many times of Hiko and his wife, I had really noticed that man that stood a little bit away from them. I could clearly see it, however, as being Katsura Kogoro. "When did you meet Katsura?" I asked. I knew them to be childhood friends, but never much more than that.

"Around 1935 when we were still young. We were both trying to find work for our families. We sold things like pencils and apples to make a few nickles," he said. "What's that got to with anything?"

"I've just, never really asked any questions."

"It's better you don't."

My lips down-turned. "Why's that?"

"The less you ask about a person, the less you know. That way you can make up for want you don't with something that's a little more meaningful and worthwhile." He gave me his gaze again. "I didn't know much about Katsura either, just as he didn't know much about me. We trusted each other and our decisions that way. It's how I got into this whole mess," he said.

"Mess?"

"This," he waved his hand around. "At the time we were just kids. But during the Depression we were...well...tired of being depressed and about hearing our parents gripe that they had nothing. At first we did it just to get out of the house. Mostly favors for a few dollars, but that fed the family for over a week. After a while, we grew accustomed to being around these guys. Things like Murder Inc. didn't scare us. Katsura was really good at being a leader and had a sort of "gang" by the time he was fifteen. Some of the guys who were in his crew were older than he was, and still taking orders from him."

"Was the...family established by Katsura?"

"No; they'd been around since the 1890's," Hiko said affirmatively. He unfolded his feet from under him and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He didn't talk about these things much.

"If you don't like people to know about you then why are you telling me this stuff?"

"Because history's a very important thing," he said. "You learn from you're mistakes. Like I'm sure Sano's learned from this past act," he said. I didn't know if Sanosuke had or not. I think he was just aware of the fact that he could screw up and accepted it, making sure to shut his trap when the time came. "I was a part of his crew too. We sort of, ran it together since Katsura didn't like being left behind. His crew was noticed by some of the higher rank members. Most of us were made by the bosses."

"Made," I repeated, thinking about how I couldn't be. I wasn't entirely sure of why, but I think it was because my heritage was wrong. In the least, I knew Hiko and Katsura were both full blooded. "And after?"

"It's a food chain," he said. "The better you make yourself the better you become. Some guys find there niche in being shys or runners. Katsura liked to lead I guess. He never actually tried to take over. It happened instead. He had this strange calmness that coincided with malevolence. He never tried to hurt anybody, but knew how to get what he wanted. He was the boss by '62 and I was his right hand man."

I didn't really mean to get all the information that I did. Hiko spilling his guts wasn't something I was use to either. But I knew that the more I acted like I didn't really mean to ask or be the way I was, the more information that I would get.

"So...what...you were in it for the ride?"

He shrugged. "Like I said. It was for the money first. After that, it was for the opportunity, and after that, it was being institutionalized," he said, creating a darkness about his voice. "It's a strange prison to be in. We trap ourselves in our violence. We treat death like it's a friend, and we make up ways to make that friend get further away. I pity Sano for being trapped as far as he is."

"We can get out," I said.

"Sure. With your tail between your legs, changing your name. Reforming. It's hard to live a different life once you've had everything handed to you," he said. "I don't regret being here though. Though I would prefer the solitude I once had in my office."

Hiko was that guy you could see behind a desk just because you knew that was where he belonged. I gave a shallow smile. "You're probably busy," I said, standing up. "I should go."

"Are you scared?" he asked, his words haunting from when I was fifteen years old. I turned to look back at him, and somewhere I still felt like a fifteen year old nobody, still washing dishes in the sixties.

I shook my head, and he sighed. I remembered what he had said to me back then, when I had been frightened by his outburst against the waiter, Tobias. I remember that he told me it was good that I was frightened, and that I was surprised that I'd been able to admite it. He said I still had my humanity. I wondered if I did now. My heart was almost spasming thinking about the things that he'd just spoke about, but it wasn't really out of fear, just out of wonder.

"Enjoy the cake," I said, and took my leave.

I took pleasure in being able to take my son to school every morning. For a few months I sat comfortably because I knew I was doing nothing illegal. Maybe a little association with those that I wasn't suppose to be with, but it wasn't anything that a P.O. could get me for, at least, nothing that they could see.

Kaoru was three months along; it was the real deal when it happened. I had just gotten lucky with her the night that I came home. We'd been to the doctor and everything, it all seemed right and in order. But I never really thought that there could ever be anything wrong in the first place. Hiko was a skeptic, and I could see why, but it was more or less because of the timing. I would be concerned too, if I were my own parent.

I was happy.

Of course, as time would often prove, happiness needed to be taken as it was given, and only in that instant. It took a woman nine months to create this creature fully, and it took time to get it out too. Kaoru was only at three months, and I'd become faintly aware of the fact that she was always a bit of a target.

I didn't immediate freak out. There was only so much that someone could get away with. I was home so often that it was like I wasn't associated with anyone. I could keep my eye on her as she milled about the house. I would go with her to the grocery store, or to the department stores where she started to get a few maternity clothes. And even when I was at work, I would call her frequently, or she would call me. None of the guys saw it as anything bad. They just thought I was a little overprotective.

I told them: "Hey, it's my kid, I'm going to be overprotective," and that shut them up.

One day, I called her and she didn't pick up. Again, I didn't immediately freak out. It was around Halloween, and as it was often proved, Kaoru was always out putting up decorations. Out house was that house. We were the ones that always had a few too many little attractions, but in the least, we got rid of all our candy. I figured that she was out putting up decorations. I waited about an hour.

"'Ey, Ken! Shouldn't your wife be calling?" someone called out to me. I turned around, looking at the phone that hung on the back wall. I looked to the clock above it. She tended to call everyday at two. She knew that was the best time for me since the lunch rush had finished and we were working mostly as in-betweeners just getting everything else ready for the dinner rush.

"Yeah," I said. I walked over to the phone and dialed.

It rang a few times, but Kaoru never picked up.

Now, I was freaking out. I walked out of the kitchen and toward Hiko's office. It was one of the few days that he was actually at the office. I knocked on the door and entered. "Hey, I'm gonna go home real quick," I said. He glanced up at me.

"Why?"

"I think there's something up with Kaoru. I'm worried."

Hiko looked up to the ceiling, contemplating, and then nodded. "Come back when you find out she's just snoozing or something," he said, laughing to himself. I left his office, pulling off my coat as I went back into the kitchen. I hung it up and walked out the back entrance, revving up my car and leaving the place. I had a bad feeling in my stomach, but I thought that might have been gas since there was a little bit of pressure.

I got home, and nothing looked too out of the ordinary. I got out of the car, pulling out my keys ready to unlock the door. I told Kaoru to always leave the door locked, so that she was safe. I was about ready to put them in the lock when the wind blew, and the door shook open. I pressed my hand against it, the door gliding in. There were scuff marks where the lock was.

I rushed through the house. "Kaoru!" I yelled out. "Kaoru, honey, where are you?"

There were muffled sounds coming from the bedroom. I marched through the house and opened my bedroom door. Kaoru was curled up on the floor, her hands grasping her night gown. "Kaoru, Kaoru what's wrong?" I knelt down next to her.

"Ken-Kenshin," her eyes pleaded to me. I turned around swiftly, looking where the door was closing itself.

"You're so predictable Himura," Enishi cackled out. "Coming to your little whore's rescue."

I gently picked Kaoru up, noticing that she seemed a little weak and pale. I didn't put it past Enishi to terrorize her, but I feared there was something else that was wrong with her. "You leave Kaoru out of it!"

"Sure, I'll leave her out of it like you left Tomoe out of it!"

I set Kaoru on the bed, touching her stomach. She winced, but I didn't notice then. I looked over my shoulder to Enishi, backing up slowly toward the dresser where I had a few things hidden away. He lunged at me before I could get to the dresser. I grabbed him at the shoulders, but he still backed me against the wall. I still rested my hands against his shoulders. I grabbed the lapels of his jacket and threw him to the ground, stumbling a little bit. I went over to the wall across the room, grabbing an antique katana off the wall. Unsheathing it, I threw the sheath to the ground, pointing the weapon at Enishi. I had no idea how to use the weapon, but I was in danger, and it was best viable option.

For a moment, I allowed myself to look over to Kaoru who laid relatively still. That was when I noticed the blood that had began seeping from between her legs. Anger boiled up in me. I ran forward, brandishing a sword that I wasn't even sure was sharpened. It didn't matter. I struck Enishi in the shoulder as hard as I could, assured that even if the blade was not sharpened, that the blunt edge itself could do damage. He immediately gripped his shoulder as I pulled back.

His arm hung limp at his side. He began charging at me again. He hit me so hard that the air was pushed from lungs, and I was once against pinned to the wall. This time he had his hand at my throat. He brought up his near useless hand, gripping my throat. I dropped the sword. I could feel myself being pushed up the wall, a painful ripple going through me.

The only thing about Enishi being in the position he was in, was that he couldn't see Kaoru as she crawled off the bed, being as quiet as she could, and go for the dresser drawer that I hid anything lethal in. She opened the drawer slowly, all the while, I tired to make sure I was still getting oxygen to my brain. I began banging my heels against the wall, hoping that maybe that would keep my awake, because it certainly wasn't helping my situation.

Kaoru brought herself to a standing position, her hands shaking as her pointed the gun at Enishi. She pulled back the hammer. Enishi let me go. "What the..?" he turned around and looked at Kaoru, a spark of fear in his eyes. I searched his person for a place he might hid a pistol, like a shoulder or ankle hostler, or even in the back of his pants. He reached around for it in his pants, pulling up his jacket.

"Low-life sonofabitch!" I cried out, knocking into his legs. He was caught off guard, his hand falling off the gun. "How dare you hurt my wife!"

His heel came back, striking me in the face. Blood started pouring down my lip.

"You don't have enough guts to pull that trigger," Enishi said. He saw her lip quivering, her eyes twitching. I could see the color drain from her, and one strand of blood run down her calf. "How old are you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Well, sweetheart? How old are you?"

Kaoru, though hesitant, answered: "Twenty-four."

He smirked. "If you leave now, you might survive," he said to her softly. Kaoru never lowered the weapon, but the look on her face was uncertain. "Maybe you'll get smart and get away from this schmuck like Tomoe did. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble."

Kaoru never faltered, and I finally stood, putting my arms around Enishi to hold him. He elbowed me in the side before I could get a good grip, and finished by striking me over the head. He walked out of the room, a gun still pointed to his back, and I was left to wonder why he was leaving at all. For some reason, despite it all, I couldn't make myself follow him, and Kaoru couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.

I took Kaoru to the hospital, fearing for her life as she began to grow paler and weaker. She spent three days, mostly as precaution, but nothing could be done to help the baby.

She had a miscarriage.

For the days after she came home, she sat silent, staring blankly at the house. I told her that it wasn't her fault and that would could try again. She just looked at me tiredly and said: "We should move."

"Kaoru," I hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry."

She put her chin on my shoulder. "I'm sure you are," she whispered. I tightened my grip on her, biting the shoulder of her shirt.

When the news of this reached Hiko, he was outraged. To me, it looked like he was a candle that could no longer be contained in its jar. He was most outraged by the fact that Enishi had broken boundaries, and not only that, was low enough to actually attack a woman, and not come out straight foreword and attack me.

I told Hiko I would do anything to get Enishi back. He stopped me. "Two wrongs don't make a right," he said, which was simple wisdom. I was still angry, too. "It wouldn't matter if you did anything anyways," he continued. "Enishi disappeared shortly after the incident. We think he's hiding from the police."

"What'd he do?" I asked.

"We're not sure," he said. "Believe me, when he'd found him, something will be done."

Somehow, I didn't think Enishi was ever going to be found. Sure it was a coincidence that he had vanished, supposedly because of pending charges, but I knew better by now. I looked around at my colleagues, I looked at Hiko, and at Sozo and Sanosuke, and I had to wonder silently to myself for a while.

A/N: Well, till next time, KenSan out!