Ruroni-chan: Oh! My! GOD!! (Glomps you) I've Missed every single one of you. I haven't been able to post in so long!!

Twilight-kun: Damn Ruroni-chan… Don't strangle them…

Ruroni-chan (Evil glare shot and Twilight-kun): I've been lonely. I haven't heard anything from anyone in almost three months. If people don't review it's going to make me cry!!

Twilight-kun: When'd you get all weepy?

Ruroni-chan (Refreshes evil glare): When I stopped hearing from people.

Twilight-kun: (Sighs) Alright I'll give the disclamer… Ruroni-chan would like everyone to know she does not own the Characters Saito Hajime, Cho, or any other characters mentioned in this chapter, who are also in Ruruoni Kenshin.

Thank you, please read and review.

Ruroni-chan: PLEASE I REALLY WANT TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE!!

Hiraru stepped carefully out of the rickshaw, taking the hand of her escort, Korin's dresser, Tariu-san, and staying under the umbrella. It had been sunny almost every day for the past few weeks, but this morning it had decided to rain. Ignoring everyone else's suggestions, Hiraru had dressed up, put on the long wig and insisted on going to see Hajime. She'd carefully picked up the edge of her kimono, and was wearing her "priestess" mask. She stepped over a puddle and adjusted her kimono, as Tariu-san retrieved the bundle that was her grandfather's sword from the rickshaw. She held the bundle as Tariu paid the runner.

Hiraru wore a scarlet under-kimono, with flowers embroidered into the color so that it would look like the kimono was black with red flowers. Over this she had on a cream kimono, with autumn leaves embroidered so they looked like flames kissing at the creamy cloth. Her obi was patterned to look like a forest of green bamboo branches and leaves. Around her waist, and under the kimono, she wore a traveling skirt, which looked like a lake with maroon leaves floating on the surface, so that the overly long tail of the kimono would not reveal more than was lady-like. Even though kimono were supposed to make a woman look like a cylinder, Hiraru had not added the padding to her kimono that would cause this effect. Therefore, the kimono hugged her every curve. When Korin had seen her fully dressed, her jaw had dropped and she'd said that Hiraru would make a beautiful poster child for the red light district. Hiraru had simply raised a freshly plucked eyebrow.

Hiraru ran a hand through the long tresses of her wig. The wig had been delivered the day before, the bangs had been cut to perfectly resemble her natural bangs, and framing her face were shorter locks that were, again, the same length as her natural hair. The rest was pulled back into a low tail, which extended down her back well past her hips, and almost to her knees. Korin had commented about how much Hiraru had looked like a younger version of her grandmother. When Hiraru had seen herself in Korin's full length mirror, she'd felt sadness in seeing her mother looking back at her, with her father's bangs and eyes. She'd nearly ruined her kimono with tear stains before she regained control of her emotions.

Tariu-san finished paying the rickshaw driver and instructed him to be back in an hour. Tariu-san then took Hiraru's bundle and walked with her into the police station. As Tariu-san shook out the umbrella, Hiraru made a bee-line for the young man at the front desk. The man greeted her and asked what he could do for her, taking her dress and figure in with the eyes of a man who thought he was dealing with a geisha.

Hiraru decided to exploit this, just a little. She gave him a smile from under lowered lids, "I was hoping someone would be willing to let me see Fujita Goro? Do you know where he is?"

The man smiled and leaned forward on his elbows, "Now why would you want to see Fujita-sama? He's much too scary for a pretty lady like you."

Hiraru smiled at him, and looked down at him, "I wish to see Fujita-san for my own reasons. Now will you take me to see him, or do you honestly think a reception boy like you could get anything resembling a date with me?" Hiraru raised an eyebrow at him.

He swallowed as Tariu-san joined her at the counter, "Of course, Ma'am." He stood, "Please follow me." He stiffly led Hiraru and Tariu-san through the halls and up a set of stairs. Hiraru noticed the police officers that would go quiet or look up from their work to watch her pass. She held her head a little higher and pretended to ignore them.

The reception clerk stopped in front of a small desk right before a larger office, "Cho-san, this lady is looking for Fujita-sama." The clerk bowed to the tall blond man who looked very annoyed at that moment, and quickly left.

The blond man looked her over as she did him. He was a fighter; the swords next to his desk said that more quietly than the way he seemed unable to move without a sword at his side. He wore red and purple and his blond hair stood up at the top of his head like a broom. He seemed to be always winking, though he wasn't. He was the one who spoke first, "So you want to see the boss? I hate to say this, but is he expecting you?"

Hiraru waited patiently as he grumbled for a minute about not being a damned secretary, then replied, "No, but he'll see me. I'm sure he will."

The man, Cho, opened both his eyes and let his eyebrows rise, "Really, and why would a lady like you want to see the boss? Much less say that you're sure he'll see you?"

Hiraru smiled, his 'a lady like you' was different than the clerk's. He was actually thinking of her as a lady, not a geisha. "I'm here to see him because I wish to call on a debt. I'm sure he'll see me when you show him this," she held the chain of her mother's locket out to him. His eyes took in the silver charm, before his gloved hand closed around it and he turned to take it into the office.

Hiraru sighed and shifted her feet so she could stand easily. Her mother's locket had been her grandmother's before being hers, and her grandfather had carried it when he traveled, with a picture of first his wife and himself, and later his wife and his daughter. Hiraru had removed her parents' pictures from the silver locket and placed her grandparents' pictures in their places. The old photos were from right after her grandfather and grandmother had married. Her grandfather was still wearing his marriage robes, half glaring, half frowning at the print taker and her grandmother wore a finely decorated kimono with her hair pulled over one shoulder as she smiled at the camera.

It took only a few minutes before Cho reappeared at the door and beckoned Hiraru into the room. Hiraru took the bundle that held her sword from Tariu-san and motioned him to stay there. She walked into the office. A tall and thin man, taller than Cho, stood behind a large desk reading a report. He was wolfish in appearance, with small, golden eyes and a few strands of hair escaping his slicked back hair.

"Fujita Goro?" She asked hoping to draw his attention

His amber eyes never left the report as he asked, "How did you get this?"

He was referring to the locket which was open on his desk, the pictures facing him. "My mother gave it to me," she said simply, waiting for him to look at her.

Instead he turned his back to her before closing the file and letting it slap on his desk. He picked up the lock and looked at it again, "And how did your mother get it?"

Hiraru looked at the open door, she didn't want the whole police station knowing her family's connections to this man. "Cho," the man barked, "Close that door. Baka, where were you raised, a barn? Wait don't answer that, you probably were." The broom haired man gave the wolf man a dirty look before reaching for the door knob to close it. Hiraru gave him a smile in thanks.

"My mother received that locket from her mother, before she ran away from a marriage she did not want," Hiraru said, after the door had made a satisfying click.

The man looked up to glare at her then, but instead of just glaring and then returning to his paperwork, his eyes narrowed, "What's your name?"

"Hiraru," She supplied holding her chin up, but just barely

"And why are you here, Hiraru-chan?" He sounded like he was mocking her.

"I wish to call upon the debt that is owed to Akira Tatsuo," She said, doing her best to keep eye contact.

"I don't know any Akira Tatsuo," The man waved a hand in her direction.

"You may not, Fujita Goro, But I'm sure Saito Hajime does," She said, "After all, he did train under Akira Tatsuo's closest friend, and nearly married my mother."

Fujita shot Hiraru another glare, "Saito Hajime is dead."

Hiraru smiled under his glare, and removed a envelope from her sleeve pocket, "That's not what Toshiyoshi Kawaji, and Okubo Toshimichi before him, told Akira Tatsuo." Fujita's eyes narrowed, "My grandfather kept an eye on his old friends, and their apprentices. He, if not I, know every important action you've made. When I started this journey, my grandfather though it might be helpful for me to be able to contact you, so he gave me Toshiyoshi-san's address and I visited him, more than a year ago, shortly after Okubo-san's death."

Fujita-san nodded without thinking about it, "Fine. Sit down. So why isn't Tatsuo-san here?"

Hiraru let her smile become sad, as she settled into a wood chair, and fiddled with the collar of her kimono, "My grandfather has become very ill. He's remaining at our family's shrine…he told me you would honor the owed debt and repay it… even without him being here."

Saito sighed without realizing it. Hiraru looked up at him, meeting his gaze, and this time with hope of understanding. "I shouldn't have to pay this debt. How do I even know your Tatsuo-sama's granddaughter?"

Hiraru smiled, "I knew you would ask that, which is why I brought this." She reached for the bundled sword. Taking it into her lap, she began to unwrap the sword, "My grandfather carried this in his years after his second war, I believe you saw him with it." She pulled the cloth away, and hung it from the back of her chair. Standing, Hiraru offering the sheathed sword to him.

Saito looked from her to the sword, after a moment he took it from her. He examined the sword in its sheath for several seconds then drew it with practiced skill, and only a moment's hesitation as it snagged on the hilt. He looked the blade up and down, running his hand on the dull side, "Someone's taken good care of it, though they haven't oiled the guard properly." He fingered the inscription, with his thumb, "After a battle, when Tatsuo-san would clean the blade he would smile and say the same blessing…"

"My Hirarus, may their smiles show me my path, and protect me from the darkness. They already guided me in the last battles." Hiraru smiled at the tall man. Then she chuckled, "Grandfather used to say that when he finished telling us about his old war stories, they were our bed time stories." She swallowed, "He added me to that blessing when I started learning how to be the next priestess."

Saito sheathed the sword and put it on the desk the locket nearby, "How's Head Priestess Hiraru?"

Hiraru let a smile pass her lips, "She died five years ago…"

Saito looked at her calmly, "And your mother, Lady Hiraru?"

Hiraru swallowed again with difficulty, "She passed on as well, seven years ago, when I was twelve."

"So your father and Tatsuo-sama cared for you? And your…" Saito prompted.

"My three brothers and I were cared for by my grandfather, since I was fourteen, I played the part of housekeeper," Hiraru supplied. "Three years ago, grandfather collapsed, since then he's declined in health."

Saito raised an eyebrow, and moved around the desk to stand in front of it, "So that no good bastard your mother married left her with four children to take care of, and probably no money either. I assume that's why you're here; you need money to pay off his debts?"

Hiraru stood up quickly, and pulled her hand back to hit him. Before she could he caught her hand, "My father was not a bastard. He loved and protected my mother with his every action. You have no right to speak of him in such a way."

Saito coldly returned the glare she gave him, "He stole my fiancé, I can say anything I want."

"My mother never agreed to marry you," Hiraru countered. "Grandfather arranged that marriage with you, when mother found out she tried to send you a letter telling you she wanted nothing to do with it. When grandfather tore up the letter, that's when she ran away with father. Mother was never yours to start with; she was already father's when grandfather started that damn engagement."

Saito continued to glare coldly, "So your father did leave your mother?"

Hiraru tried to hit him with the other hand, he caught it just as easily. "My father was killed, beheaded by the government for a charge that was wrongly placed on him by the Meiji government. He left my mother with more money and land then she could ever use, she gave them up because she feared the government coming after us children. My father was taken from us. He did not 'leave us'."

Saito stared at her, his amber gaze like ice, before he released her wrists, pushing her into her chair. He went back around the desk before Hiraru could try to hit him again. He kept his back to her, "If you don't need money, why would you come to ask to be repaid for a life debt?"

Hiraru took a deep breath, regaining her composure, "I ask you to pay back the debt you owe my grandfather, for him saving your life, by finding some information for me. Then I need you and the officers of the police to stay out of my way."

Saito turned and looked at her, "What would be so… dangerous that you'd need to use a death debt to get some information?"

Hiraru lifted her chin, "I need you to track down the men who killed Sagara Sozo. Give me their names and addresses, and I'll consider the debt paid, as will the rest of my family."

"Sagara Sozo?" Saito sat back in his desk chair, "So that was the name of the coward that was your father?"

Hiraru's grip on the hem of her kimono tightened, "Sozo is the name of my father's dead brother, and the name of my baby brother. Sagara is a name my father looked up, and found no heirs too. My father was called Shiro, my elder brother was named for him. My father's family name is Kojima, I am the Hiraru of the Kojima. The name of my father was not Sagara Sozo, it was Kojima Shiro. He went by the name Sagara Sozo to protect my mother and us children."

Saito chuckled, "It would be faster if you asked one of Sagara's Cadets. I hear Sagara Sanosuke is in a long house in the 'bad' part of town."

Hiraru shook her head, "I can't ask him. He would ask questions I have no answers to."

Saito laced his fingers in front of his chin, "I can't give you information if you are going to use it to kill others."

Hiraru shook her head, "None of them men who killed my father will die by my hand. On that I will swear my honor as a Hiraru."

Saito watched her for a moment then leaned back in his chair, "I'll send word to you if I find all the names. Where are you staying?"

Hiraru smiled in thanks, "With the owner of the Samatsu tea house in the red light district, her daughter is the fiancée of my brother." She bowed, "Please work quickly, I'm running out of time."

Saito raised an eyebrow, "You mean the priestess ceremony?"

Hiraru nodded as she re-wrapped the sword.

"Tatsuo-sama should let you use his honor for it," Saito said bluntly, "After all, his daughter never used it."

"No, mother didn't," Hiraru agreed, surprising the wolf man. She looked up at him as she replaced the locket around her neck, "But I would rather use the honor my father kept, if I can find it." She bowed one more time and made for the door.

"Hiraru-chan," Saito stopped her, "I went to the temple for the first time in years, just two years ago. You've been gone from there for nearly three years. How much longer do you think you can stay away, before your brother comes to fetch you?"

Hiraru stood with one hand on the door knob and looked at him with sad eyes, "I fear not much longer, that's why I've visited my second to last option." She smiled and opened the door, walking out with practiced grace.

Saito muttered after her, as he lit a cigarette, "Women…"

Ruroni-chan: How'd everyone like that? Was it good? I worked really hard to have Hiraru seem graceful and at the same time more characterized. I wanted her to be a stronger character, but with a weak point. I hope you saw that!

Twilight-kun: Don't give them all the details. You have to let them figure it out.

Gerry-sama: For once the twerp is right.

Ruroni-chan (looks at both of them): 'Twerp'? You're starting to sound like Sano, Gerry-sama…

Gerry-sama (Glares): Say that again… I dare you!!

Ruroni-chan (hiding behind Twilight-kun): I'm going to end this conversation before I end up getting hurt… Please Everyone… The voices in my head are getting really loud… They get quieter when you review, so REVIEW!!

Please press the button and the left side of the screen before I go completely crazy… Please Review.