Chapter Thirty Three

I had to ask myself how this all began. It started innocently enough. All I wanted to do was seduce my married co-coworker and use him for my pleasure. That pretty much summed it all up. I was looking for a little fun in the sack and at work. Sure, Carter warned me not to mix business with pleasure, but none of us could have expected the flurry of events that followed and the gravity of the eventual situation. Who would have thought the wife of my married lover was the sister of a Yakuza king? How was I to know Kenshin was also Yakuza and our client was a former client of his, but in a much different capacity? Who would have thunk that Misao would fall for an ice prince that was really in love with his best friend's wife, the same wife whose brother is a complete and utter psychopath? And let's not leave Megumi out. Who would have thought the high saddity bitch would fall in love with an ex-con, who was also linked with Kenshin?

What was supposed to have been an exciting and temporary affair had turned into a nightmare. I still have to ask myself, was it my entire fault? If I hadn't slept with Kenshin, would any of this have happened?

I looked down into my lap and shook the 8 – Ball in my hands, silently asking the question.

"Probably"

The 8- Ball was quickly thrown across the floor in a fit of anger. Not the answer I was looking for, but it was probably correct…and that bothered me greatly.

I was a virtual prisoner of the situation I had wrought. I knew my house, car and phone were all bugged…as were the phones of my friends. Luckily, pay-per-use phones were extremely easy to come by, though figuring out how to distribute the number to those who needed it was not. I had managed to do it, however. Now, all I could do was wait…wait for calls to come in. Then I had to leave my home and walk and talk in hopes of not being heard by prying ears.

Walking over to the window, I looked out into the world, a world I realized I did not understand. The early morning sun was bright and the brilliant colors of dawn had yet to leave the sky. The houses across the street blocked the view a bit, but it was still lovely. This beautiful day, I knew, would be a nightmare. I could feel it deep down. Maybe it would be a nightmare in a good way, I thought. Then I realized that made absolutely no sense. I wanted this all to be over.

RING! RING! RING!

Who was calling me? Was it a lead? I walked casually to my nightstand and picked it up. The number on the Caller ID was not familiar, but I knew I had to answer.

"Moshi, Moshi" I said.

All I heard was three taps on the receiver. That meant it was Megumi. Quickly, I grabbed my jacket and wallet and exited my house. Once I got a good distance away, I began to speak.

"Where are you?" I asked quickly.

"Service entrance," was the reply.

Quickly, I hung up. What in the world were they doing at the train station? It used to be a spot me, Missy and, believe it or not, Megumi, used to play. It was still beautiful when it first closed, but it quickly fell into disrepair. We had explored every inch of the place from top to bottom and for a long time, the service entrance in the basement was the only way to get in. It was underground and fairly well hidden. The perfect place for a clandestine meeting.

I had to be careful to make sure I was not followed, so I walked around my quiet suburban neighborhood for a while. I slowly wandered to the main street, grabbed a coffee at the Starbucks and after some time, hopped on the bus that ran to downtown. It would be a long ride, but it would be much easier to spot someone trying to tail the Iron Pimp.

Once I arrived at my destination, I hopped the fence that was supposed to keep the rest of the world at bay while the magnificent station died a slow death from decay. From there, I made my way to the meeting place. It was dark and the halls reeked of mold and mildew. There were holes in walls once covered in marble, light penetrating where it should not. It was majestic and startling all at the same time.

"Snap out of it," I heard Megumi in an annoyed tone. "This shitheap isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

"What happened," I asked as Sano walked in behind her.

"Someone tried to kill us," Megumi said flatly.

"It was Enishi. He must be stopped," I said, more to myself than to the others.

"No shit, Sherlock," Megumi snapped. "He fucking tried to kill us! If you had just kept your panties on, this wouldn't be happening."

"You don't think I haven't thought that, Megumi? Is what I did really any worse than fucking someone you KNOW is a criminal?" I retorted.

"Hey, why the low blow?" Sanosuke said.

"SHUT UP!" Megumi and I screamed in unison. Being somewhat intelligent, Sanosuke backed up and let us have at it for a few moments. After we had emptied our fangs of their venom, Megumi and I stared at each other, arms folded as Sano took notes on some of the colorful insults we hurled at each other.

"Just what are you going to do to fix this, Kay? This isn't one of your court cases," Megemi said.

"I know it's not. That's why I need Sano's help. Of course, the both of you need to lay low until this is all settled, but I need to know what you," I said, turning to Sano, "know about the Yakuza and Enishi. I can't do this alone."

"And what's in it for me? You know I've been working hard to play it straight," Sano whined. Megumi slapped her boyfriend on the back of his head and shook her own.

"You get to live, baka, if that means anything to you," she said.

"She's right, you know. Look at the position I'm in, Sano. I could lose my license if this goes wrong…but people can and will lose their lives if I do nothing. Please, Sano," I said in a pleading voice I was unaccustomed to using and no one was used to hearing.

"Just say yes, for goodness sakes," Megumi chimed in, "I can't stand her groveling."

"If you had just let me talk to him this never would have happened," I snapped.

"If you hadn't slept with another woman's husband this never would have happened," she retorted.

"If you weren't my best friend I swear I'd rip your heart out," I screamed.

"What? You don't get enough joy out of doing that to any man that crosses your path?"

This time, Sano stood between us and said in a tone that broached no nonsense, "Shut up, both of you!"

Properly chastised, we retracted our claws and looked away from each other. I needed to get whatever information Sano had and Megumi was just being a total bitch about things. Ok, so maybe I was being a bitch to her, seeing Enishi was trying to kill her to get my attention.

"Kaoru, of course I will help you. And, Fox, it's not fair to blame Kay. I have a feeling this would have happened eventually. Enishi is nuts. Me, Kenshin, O'Nelly…we're all just pawns in his world. Aoshi and Kenshin somehow made it through undetected. I was a bit more hard-headed and caught a case. But, being in jail opened up a whole new world for me," Sano paused as he leaned against a crumbling wall. "Enishi pushes Mary Jane, cocaine, women and meth. Meth is probably his biggest business right now and when I left, he had one of the most organized rings here and in Japan. He's in control of endless capital and resources."

"How do we get to him? How do we stop someone like this?" I began to fret. It sounded so easy when I was talking to Saitou. Torture him. But how do you torture someone that has control of everything?

"Enishi has one weakness, and we all know who it is," Sano said calmly.

"You call his sister a weakness? He's doing this over his obsession with her?" Megumi yelled before I could.

"And he'd do anything for her," Sano began, "except leave the Yakuza of course."

"Are you suggesting that we get Tomoe to vouch for are side? That's fucking insane," I said.

"You don't think he'd listen to her?" Sano asked, puzzled.

"No," Megumi and I said in unison.

"You two are scary when you're together," he whined.

"Sano, are you telling me that's the best you can come up with? Just ask her to relay a message?" Megumi sneered. "I know we can't take her hostage. All Enishi would do is go after family and friends. Plus, she'd never cooperate with us."

"But, she might cooperate with her lover," I said as the thought entered my head. Megumi and Sanosuke looked puzzled and I went on to explain the situation between Aoshi, Missy and Tomoe.

"So, you can talk to Missy. Missy will talk to Aoshi and Aoshi talk to Tomoe? I don't think that's a very good plan," Sano said.

"No, I will deal with Aoshi," I said with a hint of malice in my voice. "I will get him to talk to Tomoe and get her on our side."

"But how?" She asked.

"I'm still not completely sure yet. I have to find out how much leverage Aoshi still has with Tomoe and whether or not Enishi has put his foot down regarding their relationship," I explained.

After gathering a bit more information, I instructed the pair to wait until dark to leave the station. From there, they were to follow the train tracks into Mexican Town and hide out. They would blend in fairly well if they were to be seen, but they knew that was not to happen. All that was left for me was to get a hold of Aoshi. For this, I would use Missy. I knew the best approach would be the direct approach, so I simply went to her apartment and asked her if she'd like to go on a walk. She agreed and we were on our way out. By this time, my trackers had finally caught up with me, but I made sure they stayed just out of listening distance.

"I need to talk to Aoshi," I said without preamble.

"I do not talk to him anymore," Missy said quietly.

"I will need his number, then."

"You will use him to get to Enishi?"

"Hai. Will you help me?"

"Hai."

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Missy."

"Probably get into more trouble."

I giggled a bit, and then I was silent for a few moments. My little sister was an innocent victim of this whole situation. If I had to regret anything, it would be hurting her in any way. I noticed that she seemed to be a different person now. There was an air of quiet sophistication about her now…or was it just sadness?

"Are you ok, Missy?"

"I am fine."

"No, I mean…how are you dealing with everything?"

Missy was reflective for a moment. I could almost read the emotions that played on her face. Then, without looking at me she simply said with a smile, "I think about how old Aoishi is and figure my true knight has to be one a bit closer to my age."

Things were falling in place rather quickly. I obtained the information I needed to contact Aoshi. My plan would work. It had to work. Enishi was a madman. He had created so much chaos in my world, chaos I had unwittingly invited. Was it as inevitable as Sanosuke suggested? Sure, I'd like to believe that, but if I were a different person, would I have seduced Kenshin? Probably not, but there also was no doubt I loved Kenshin unlike I've loved any other man. And I know the feeling was mutual. Had we met and I had not the intention of seduction, would we had went down the same road? Would Missy have been hurt? Would Enishi have found out about Kenshin and me? Or, would he have found some other reason to go postal? I did not like not having the answer to so many questions.

Day had given way to evening, and the air was still heavy with the heat of the day. I had already returned to my home to freshen up and change. I chose my outfit carefully, as I almost always do. One never knew who they would encounter in a day, what purpose they would need to fulfill in the span of time between when one left home and when they returned. Dress with purpose, dress with intent. Even the Devil wears a pinstriped suit when the occasion calls for it. This evening, I would be the Devil.