I think that it's really ridiculous that American law considers a person adult enough at the age of 18 to join the army, own a gun, have a credit card, own a business, buy a house or car, buy cigarettes heck even marijuana now in some states! But you are not adult enough to buy alcohol…that is so endlessly dumb! If you're not adult enough to buy alcohol then you sure as hell are not adult enough to do any of the other stuff I just listed! Seriously!? I know plenty of 18 year olds who can't even balance a check book and probably shouldn't even be allowed to set foot in an army recruiting office! *sigh*

Anyhow, enough ranting! *I jump off my soapbox* (haha I don't think anyone remembers what those are!)

For the purposes of my stories the legal age of adulthood for everything is 18 only because if I had to wait for 21 it would extend my timeline too much and the character development point I'm trying to get to would take too long to get to and feel very out of place.

A Rite of Passage

"Let me recap for the rest of you because it is relevant. In middle school and my first year of high school I was a violent delinquent," Aoshi began. Everyone huddled close to listen quietly to Aoshi's story. Hajime's words still resonated in all of them.

"And by "I" he means "we"," interrupted Sano "Me and him with Kazuma, Yusuke and Hiei. Kenshin and Kurama were always a couple of boring goody-goody dorks!" Sano added throwing Mai a teasing wink. Mai and Seto laughed.

"Oh…no wonder. I told mom I was with you Sano, but she's still texting me for my hourly check-ins," said Anzu as she typed a reply to her mother on her phone. Everyone laughed and teased her as she explained that she had to check in with her mom on an hourly basis right now because she and her dad were out of town. She didn't mind now the teasing or the constant check in calls and texts, Hajime's lecture had deeply affected her.

"Our record followed us to America. My father had kept the kidnapping incident mostly out of the media to protect our privacy. But I arrived in America already with the symbol of "Bad" branded on my back," Aoshi continued. He put a stone on the board and continued explaining that while that was no big deal in high school it became a big deal in college.

"I was 17 when I entered college and I kept to myself for the most part. My father insisted I receive a higher education but I was eager to get past college as quickly as I could. So, I followed Tokio's example: I kept my nose in the books," Aoshi added.

"Sano, Hiei and I didn't join him until the following school year. So Aoshi was alone almost all the time for his whole first year of college," Kenshin explained. Aoshi was doing a double major of international business and law. He spent most of his time studying with a very heavy school load.

"Not to mention all the martial arts and weapons training we did," Sano put in.

"But in the culture of American colleges, a young man of the age I appeared to be – I looked older than I actually was – was expected to behave a certain way. I did not behave as they expected me to," Aoshi continued.

"Meaning: he wasn't a beer swilling, horny, party animal," Sano interrupted once more with a shake of his head.

"That doesn't sound like stuff Aoshi would do. He's a proper gentleman," Anzu retorted self-righteously.

"You are both correct, thank you," Aoshi added nodding graciously towards Sano and his sister. "I was constantly beset by invitations to parties and the women in campus always seemed to want my attention at all times," with an annoyed sigh he explained that back then it was hard for him to find anyone – other than his closest friends – anything other than irritating.

"I outright ignored them as I passed them in the halls. I was suspicious of their interest. I was the only child of a very wealthy man,"

"And you had recently been kidnapped and held for ransom. Seems logical to me to keep your guard up," Seto put in calmly. He'd had his own run ins with gold diggers lately. He was quick to put them in their place. He always kept his guard up!

"Exactly, I was often propositioned by people looking for a piece of my considerable inheritance so turning people away and being suspicious was second nature to me," Aoshi added.

"While here at home it wouldn't have been unusual, in America it proved problematic," Aoshi continued thinking now of what Hajime had gotten him to remember on the night of his bachelor party…

-0-

Aoshi sat at the bar with Sano and Kenshin. They were the cheerful drunk kind of guys and were having a lot of fun but Aoshi didn't really feel like celebrating. Kaoru had managed to get Kenshin to dance with her. Kaoru was starting school with Kenshin and Sano next semester.

He received some birthday cards from his friends still in Japan but he could only think of one of the cards he had received. Misao's grandfather had sent a card to him. Both his sons had signed it and all three men had written little messages on the card. Misao had signed the card last. She had just written her first name with a happy face.

Nothing more.

It had made him feel so heartbroken. He couldn't quite wrap his head around why he felt this way. He was glad that she had moved on. He was no longer part of her life and that made him feel relieved. She would be safe now. It wasn't fair that after finally escaping all the years of pain and fear she suffered under her father's fist, he drag her into his war. It's what he wanted most for her, to be free! But it still made him feel like he was locked in a dark room, alone.

He looked down at the nearly empty glass in front of him. Sano was trying to make him believe that this was still the same first glass he had been drinking and that it was "just tea". But Aoshi knew it was the third one Sano had slipped him and it was absolutely not tea. His family had a long history of alcohol sensitivity. For some reason their bodies just couldn't metabolize it. His father had been lucky to avoid it and his mom apparently had been almost immune to alcohol, according to his uncles.

His aunt however had nearly died when his uncle Kamo put sake in her tea to get her to loosen up. He had a feeling he had the sensitivity too. The room was beginning to swim around him and the loud music pounded painfully against his head. He got up and headed towards the restrooms. He tried to steady himself as the floor seemed to sway beneath him.

He had taken Hajime's advice and drank lots of water and eaten plenty of starchy food before coming but the alcohol still got to him. He managed to remain steady as he reached the urinals, once relieved he moved to the sink to wash his hands and splash cold water on his face. He closed his eyes, the music was now somewhat muffled by the walls of the bathroom.

There was laughter filtering in from outside and suddenly he was in that horrid little room a year ago… Horribly painted faces shrieked in evil delight… The room swam in and out of focus… a hand with sharp metal claws on its fingertips reached for him and ripped his clothes…

He jumped, panic coursing through him as his eyes flew open. He patted himself, checking his clothes but they were intact, his shirt properly tucked in, his belt properly buckled. He panicked when he didn't feel his wallet but then remembered that he had left it at home. His sensei had insisted he leave it and take only his mobile phone. The party expenses were on her tonight. He checked and the phone was still in his pocket with his new id. A man was talking to him.

"Hey dude, you ok?" the man said.

"Not sure," Aoshi replied uncertainly and splashed his face with cold water some more.

"Looks like you've partied enough tonight man!" the guy commented amused. Aoshi stepped away from the sink but the room swayed dangerously. He reached for the wall and barely managed, with a little help from the man talking to him, to catch himself on it without falling.

"So what's the occasion?" he asked with a smirk.

"It's my birthday," Aoshi replied.

"Well, Happy Birthday dude! How old are you now?" he asked cheerfully.

"Eighteen," slurred Aoshi.

"Alright! Eighteen! Congrats man! I would offer to buy you a drink but it looks like you've already had too many," the guy teased.

"Too many," Aoshi slurred back. Two more men entered the restroom and the first man told them it was Aoshi's eighteenth birthday. The men teased him and gave him congratulatory pats on the back. But whatever their names were or what they said to him was lost. The room spun and he felt the walls closing in. He didn't realize he was hyperventilating.

"Oh man! You don't look so good. Maybe you should see a doctor," the first man said worriedly. A light penetrated the dark haze in his mind. Tokio's sweet face popped into his mind.

"A doctor…yes excellent idea. I'll do that. Thank you," Aoshi replied. He struggled for a moment to right himself but once he managed, he was able to walk more or less a straight line out the door…

-0-

Faster than Seto had ever seen a person move, Anzu got up off her chair and punched her brother in the stomach.

"I take it back: they're dorks but they're oh so much fun sometimes!" Mai laughed and Seto laughed with her, surprised by Anzu's ferocity.

"Oh, I taught you to do that a little too well," groaned Sano doubled over. Anzu yelled at him about poisoning his best friend and Seto found the "friendship is magic" speech was much more fun to hear when it was directed at someone else and she was dealing out punches with it. So entertaining was Anzu's tirade at Sano, Kenshin and Kaoru that Seto almost didn't notice when Misao and Aoshi stepped away. She looked very upset.

"Alright already! Friendship is magic! I got it! Geez!" Sano protested. Fists clenched, Anzu glared at them still.

"I looked up to you, you know," she added with disappointment at Kaoru. Kaoru looked remorseful and admitted that she should have stopped Sano after the second drink. Everyone could tell the alcohol was getting to Aoshi faster than any of them.

"Ok, let's not get dramatic," Sano scolded Anzu telling her to cool down now and take her seat. Looking decidedly unhappy she sat back down but still glared at her brother.

"Hey dragon boy, where'd they go?" Sano asked Seto. He sighed, Hajime had quite the influence on Sano it seemed. It would be hard to get him to stop calling him that. He found he didn't mind too much.

"Back towards my office. Misao looked upset," Seto replied.

"Do you suppose what Hajime said is still bothering her?" Mokuba asked worriedly, he would have left to follow her if Seto hadn't kept him at his side.

"No and yes, the birthday card, that's what set her off I think," Kaoru began solemnly. She explained for them that after the kidnapping Kenshin, Sano and Aoshi literally disappeared from their lives. Anyone who had been involved in the fight to get them back had become incredibly distant from the two of them. They felt abandoned and for Misao it hit very hard. She thought back to a few nights after the kidnapping and while they waited for Misao and Aoshi to return she related her piece…

Kaoru tried to concentrate on being cheerful as Misao applied paint to her nails. They were listening to music, looking at fashion magazines and doing makeup on each other. All the things girls their age were supposed to do when they get together to have a slumber party. Misao was explaining to her that American girls like to do this sort of thing all the time. She explained that the girls who took care of her when she was in California, often did this with her.

Shuura was with them and she bopped her head to the music and made jokes as she played a card game with Keiko. She refused to talk about Kenshin, Sano or Aoshi. She would make up an excuse and leave the room if they asked. Keiko would pretend she didn't hear them and change the subject. Misao was making an effort to be cheerful but Kaoru could see it was hard. Aoshi was all Misao thought of and he hadn't said one word to her since the kidnapping. He had even sent Misao away from his hospital room.

She had to do something!

"You know what? Forget it! They don't want us around, it's their loss! They wanna be mopey, broody jerks, I say let them! We don't need them!" Kaoru declared self-righteously.

"You know what? You're right! We're too cute to be sitting around pining!" Misao agreed a little too eagerly. Neither girl noticed the sudden shift that came over Keiko and Shuura's moods. Their was a look of surprised outrage on Keiko. Shuura's face was suddenly dark with rage.

"That's right! We're far too cute to wait around for them to finish moping!" agreed Kaoru and both girls began to laugh but Shuura was up now. She kicked over the tray with the manicure supplies and dumped them all over Misao. Before Kaoru could protest, Shuura's fist barreled into her face. The punch knocked her flat on her back. Without saying a word Shuura ran from the room and out of the house…

"And as the blood dripped from my lip I knew that I was the jerk," Kaoru continued. She had understood finally that something unspeakably horrible had happened to Kenshin and his best friends.

"That it was so horrible they couldn't even look at us," she explained solemnly. She understood also that their powerlessness to defend themselves made them push away everyone that was precious to them.

"If they couldn't protect themselves, how could they hope to protect someone they loved?" she added. Keiko had already known all of this because she had convinced a traumatized Yusuke to confide in her. She just gave both Kaoru and Misao a disappointed look and went home.

"So, they pushed us away because they were afraid we would not be safe with them. They thought that what they needed was for us to be far away from them. My sister knew all of this, but was bound by her word to say nothing. She isolated herself emotionally like the boys did," Kaoru concluded.

"But Misao did know – or at least guessed – what happened to Aoshi. She was the only one among you with the experience to make a very good guess," Seto put in, breaking the solemn silence that followed Kaoru's story.

"You're right Seto. She was and it scared her more than any of us. We didn't understand it the way she did. And we ended up taking different paths because of it," Kaoru replied.

"I realized that night that, while Kenshin and Shuura wanted me to be far away from them so I could be safe, that was not what they needed. I chose to give them what they needed. I chose to be by their side, to fight for my sister and to bring Kenshin back into the light," she concluded firmly. She took Kenshin's hand; he smiled proudly at her and kissed her fingers. Wiping a tear from her eye Anzu got up to hug Kaoru.

"I'm sorry. I'm a jerk! I take it back, I still look up to you!" she said tearfully. Seto rolled his eyes and decided to jump in before Anzu could rev up one of her overly sappy friendship speeches.

"But Misao went in a different direction. She decided to give him what he wanted and cut him from her life," Seto added solemnly. Mai poked him in the shoulder with an amused smirk.

"You are scary! You're gonna be the new favorite. I'm calling it now," Mai cut in amused and everyone laughed. Seto chuckled. He looked at his brother. Mokuba was still casting worried glances in the direction Misao and Aoshi had gone.

"You're right Seto. She gave him what she told herself he needed. But mostly I think she was scared. She'd barely escaped one scary life, she couldn't face another one so soon. Misao was only fourteen when it happened. I understood that too, so I never said anything to her about her choice. At least not until she asked me about mine, which didn't happen for many years. I wish I had," Kaoru explained regret obvious in her tone. Seto mulled everything over in the silence that followed and was the first to break it again.

"Which brings us back to Aoshi's birthday card…she just signed her name and nothing else as a way of telling him: my life is too busy, I've moved on," Seto surmised.

"Ok dragon boy, quit showing off the big brain," Sano rejoined annoyed.

"Oh don't listen to him Seto, they're all a bunch of show offs," Mai scoffed. Seto laughed.

"You hit that nail on the head again Seto. That's exactly what she did. Every time she knew he was going to show up somewhere that she was going to be, she made sure to bring lots of her cheerful new friends and a date with her," Kaoru elaborated.

"As you said Seto-kun, she wanted to send Aoshi the message she thought he needed, her message was: Look Aoshi! I'm having a great life without you!" Kenshin added sadly.

"The wolf really got to her today you know," added Sano. He was playing with his little keychain again.

"Saito-san knows us better than we like sometimes. Especially now that he is privy to all of our adventures with Tokio-dono," Kenshin added amused.

"Damn wolf!" Sano grumbled as he fiddled with tiny Optimus Prime. Seto asked then what happened to Aoshi after he left the club. He wanted the story to get back on track. He thought he had a pretty good bead on Misao's personality but he wanted to hear more about Tokio. She, the wolf and whatever it was they did for a living seemed far more interesting. There was opportunity there and Seto was not a guy who missed an opportunity.

Misao took a seat on Aoshi's chair and Mokuba moved from his spot on Seto's chair to sit on the armrest on the left of Misao while Aoshi sat on the right. She smiled reassuringly at him. Aoshi and Misao returned as Kenshin and Sano explained they didn't know when Aoshi had left the club, once they realized he was gone they panicked. Their first thought was to call Hajime. He yelled at them then rushed over to pick them up. He dropped all of them off at Momma's house and went out to look for Aoshi.

"She yelled at us for like an hour!" Sano added his brow furrowed. It had not really been an hour but it felt like it. He didn't like remembering the panic in Emi's voice and the tears she wiped from her face in her worry. Hajime had returned soon and let them know that Victoria had told him Night had taken Aoshi to a doctor. To say that Hajime was angry was an extreme understatement. Night arrived later and took Hannya to see Aoshi, leaving momma to deal out punishments and lectures.

"And you deserved it! You poisoned your best friend and you lost him!" Anzu retorted.

"Applying a bit of a double standard there, aren't you little miss Anzu? You lied about your age on applications and got a job when your parents had forbidden you from working so you could concentrate on school. You did not do this for your friends as you claim in your many speeches on the subject, yet put them at risk by your actions. You've shown repeatedly the past two years that you are as much of a troublemaker – more so in some instances – than your brother," Aoshi very calmly retorted. Anzu shrunk in her chair grumbling that she at least hadn't poisoned anybody. Yugi took her hand and gave her a commiserating look, he said something in her ear that made her smile a little as Seto spoke up once more.

"So what happened after you left the club?" Seto asked with a smirk of amusement. As entertaining as it was to watch Anzu get a taste of her own medicine, he wanted to know what happened on the night of Aoshi's eighteenth birthday.

"Nightraven once told me he got me out of the club and took me to Tokio's apartment to get detoxed. When I woke at her place, my father was there, so I assumed that what I remembered I had just imagined," Aoshi began…

-0-

"So where are we going?" asked Night casually. There was a teasing smirk on his face that annoyed Aoshi. Night had been following him since he left the club. He had made a couple of phone calls but Aoshi was having a hard time keeping his mind focused on where he was going. He had no idea who he had called.

'Most likely he was calling Sensei. I hope he didn't call nii-sama,' he thought alarmed. Tokio was their secret; he couldn't let his big brother in on it… yet.

"You didn't call nii-sama, did you?" he asked glaring at Night annoyed. Night laughed.

"No, I called Vicky to let her know you're ok," he replied amused but Aoshi had the feeling there was something the old man was not telling him. He continued walking, feeling a little better with the cool evening wind blowing across his face.

"So, where are we going?" Night repeated with an amused smirk that was really irritating him now. Aoshi didn't answer, Night sighed and didn't ask again. He looked for a second as though he was bracing himself for something…something he did not want to do.

"Vicky told me you got birthday cards from Japan yesterday. Your friends sent them through her internal mail system from our Asia headquarters in Tokyo," he commented. Aoshi turned his head slightly to glare suspiciously at Night.

"Did you get one from Misao?" the old man asked. Aoshi sighed.

"Of course not. She's moved on," Aoshi replied though saying the words out loud sent a shock of grief through him that stopped him dead in his tracks. His head spun, people moved around him as Night held him up.

"Breath slowly," the old man said softly, his brow furrowed in concern. He did as he was told and slowly the world more or less righted itself. They soon began walking again but Aoshi's steps were halting and very unsteady as he leaned on Night's shoulder. Night continued talking as they walked.

"That's good that she's moved on…she just turned fifteen, right? She's still just a little girl…" Night paused and again Aoshi noticed the furrow in his brow for a second that made him think the old man was bracing himself to do something awful.

"And you're an adult now…like both of your best friends…and like Tokio," Night added casually. Again, that ray of light that was Tokio's face shot through the alcohol haze in his mind. He took a deep slow breath and released his hold on Night's shoulder.

"Yes, just like her," he replied, suddenly feeling more clear-headed than when he left the club. With one firm foot in front of the other, he marched himself now towards Tokio's apartment building. Night's voice took on a strange quality. It was almost as though his words were coming from inside his head. Was it Night? Was it his conscience?

"So, where are we going?"

"To Tokio's apartment,"

"Why?"

Why not?"

There was a familiar chuckle in response…he was almost certain it was Night talking to him and not his conscience.

"What will you find when you get there?"

"I don't know…that's why I'm going there…to find out,"

"How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know…"

(a chuckle again) "You're not gonna make some cheesy speech are you?"

"What if I am?"

(another chuckle) "Because that's lame! You're a grown-up now, act like one! Ask her for a kiss her! A real kiss!"

"What if she says no?" he asked, his steady steps did not slow.

"Then you have the answer to your question,"

"What is my question?"

Another chuckle from Nightraven but he said nothing more.

He spotted the building Tokio lived in. Tokio was standing in the lobby by the door. He could see her face clearly now as she opened the door. She smiled at him and he felt some of the tension and pain melt away. He knew every aspect of her smiles. They were always gentle and kind but sad, they were always a comfort though. He watched her face as she smiled and waved him towards her.

'There…there it is,' he thought as she quickly glanced sideways. Her smile always faltered for a second or two while she scanned her surroundings. He knew what that sideways glance always meant: It was the constant guard she kept – always looking out for the threat that loomed over her life. He had known someone else who smiled like that.

'She doesn't do it anymore. Misao's free…she doesn't do it anymore. She's moved on…I let go of her already, I let go of that life,' he thought as he picked up speed towards Tokio. He thought about how much more alike he and Tokio were now. Not like he and Misao…he knew he had nothing in common with her anymore. She was a happy girl, free of fear, living the cheerful life that she deserved to have.

Tokio opened the door as he arrived. She smiled up at him as she greeted him in the warm and cheerful manner that he had become accustomed to. She pulled him in and put one arm around him, steadying him as the floor swayed under his feet once more. She smiled up at him and asked him what he was doing here. So he tried to put into coherent words what he wanted to ask but his brain was a mess again. She hadn't expected him to come by tonight but was pleased that he came any way.

"It's my birthday and I wanted to tell you something," he began but couldn't get his brain to work properly. He tried to tell her what he was thinking…he wanted to ask her a question…or did he want to make a speech? He was no longer sure what it was he came to do…where was Nightraven? Or did he imagine him? How did he get here again? He wasn't sure of anything anymore. His mind was fogging over once more.

'You wanted to kiss her,' said an amused voice inside his head. Oh, right! But he forgot how he was supposed to ask…

"Better if I just show you," he said. Tokio smiled at him, and for one final time that evening his mind banished the alcohol induced haze. Her face was crystal clear, her eyes shined.

"Yes Aoshi, of course it's better," she replied sweetly and put both arms around him. He didn't waste any time, he put his arms around her waist and picked her up off her feet and let instinct take care of the rest…

-0-

"And that was when I kissed her," Aoshi concluded. A shocked silence followed, the kids looked at each other not quite knowing how to react to the story. Seto looked pensive.

"That was not quite what I was expecting," began Jou exchanging a confused look with his sister.

"Yea it seemed…" Yugi paused not quite knowing how he was feeling about this story.

"Confusing?" offered Mai.

"Oh yes quite," Bakura chimed in with murmurs of assent going around his friends.

"You were expecting something along the lines of Seto's story about Shuura," Aoshi reasoned calmly.

"Yea! Exactly!" Jou exclaimed.

"Seto's story is sort of funny and exciting…" Serenity added and stopped not knowing quite how to continue.

"But this felt…different," Yugi added with a confused look on his face.

"That's how they are…" murmured Seto lost in his own thoughts for a moment. He was beginning to get a sense that Tokio and Hajime never did things the way people expected them to. Everyone turned to him but Seto ignored their stares for a moment. There was more to this story. Something else had been happening behind the scenes that Aoshi had not been aware of when he made his way drunk and confused towards Tokio's apartment.

'He was maneuvered into asking for that kiss,' Seto realized to himself. That part had been obvious. A switch went off then!

"You mentioned at the beginning of this story that your tendency to be suspicious and your stoic demeanor was problematic in America, why did you mention that? What does it have to do with Tokio? Why would she kiss you like that when it seems clear to me she's always seen you as a little brother?" Seto asked thinking he might know the answer but wanting to check first. To his surprise – and everyone else's – Aoshi smiled at him.

"I realized after that night that my question wasn't: how does Tokio feel about me? I already knew the answer to that. I knew that she saw us as the little brother she lost. That was always obvious in the way she treated us," he paused. He understood now how Sensei felt every time he accomplished something. He was proud of Seto! In just a few hours he had come so far and understood so much!

"The question was how you felt about her…and everyone else around you for that matter," Seto added. Again Aoshi smiled.

"Yes, that is correct. I learned that night that I cared about her then the same way I care now. She's my older sister and I love her as such…. then and now," Aoshi replied. But since the incident in the warehouse, he had felt nothing but anger and shame. He thought he would never be able to feel anything for anyone ever again. He thought that all he would ever feel around the people who loved him was shame and fear. But as time passed he found himself in moments where he felt happy with his friends or his new family and it made him feel irrationally guilty for feeling any happiness.

"I felt as if I was betraying my cause by being anything other than angry, which I know makes no sense. I learned that that night," Aoshi concluded. He realized after that that it was ok to take a break from anger and revenge from time to time. That he could have feelings other than shame or regret for the people that loved him.

"Sensei realized that this would happen to me and that was why she sent us to her from the start," Aoshi added.

"Tokio-dono had been on her dark journey longer than us. There was no one who could better understand us," Kenshin put in solemnly.

"She was also best qualified to understand and head off dangers that I could not see," Aoshi pointed out.

"Which brings me back to your questions Seto," Aoshi smirked at Seto once more. Aoshi spent much of his time in Tokio's apartment. She was a great help with his studies. Tokio's neighbors were the most stereotypical bunch of rich kids attending college on mommy and daddy's dime. They came from the most sheltered backgrounds. None of them could have possibly understood the lives that Tokio and Aoshi led.

"As a consequence they could not understand why I did not behave as they did. They're descriptions of me evolved from shy, to weird then finally to potential sociopath," Aoshi explained. Tokio followed quietly their opinions of Aoshi and became aware of this final description as soon as it began to surface. She quickly put those people in their place!

"She pointed out to them that while she treated me like a human being; they had treated me like a piece of meat. She accused them of throwing themselves at me like harlots – those were her words by the way," Aoshi added his eyes shined with amusement as the kids laughed.

"She wasn't wrong and I bet she had their full attention after that!" Seto commented amused. He made a mental note to email Tokio later this week. He was certain he could come up with a few scientific questions with which to start a dialogue with her.

"Indeed, but she realized right away that her quick defense would not be enough. She had suffered for years the effects of unfounded rumors. Her classmates had often accused her of being a woman of ill repute who traded sexual favors for better grades because of her association with Victoria's Secret and it often caused setbacks in her academic pursuits," Aoshi explained solemnly.

"What a bunch of jerks!" Duke interjected indignant to agreements from his friends.

"Tell me about it! When it comes to goody-goody dorks my sister in law is queen! Who knows where they got their delusions?" Mai added equally indignant. Anzu was revving up one of her friendship speeches and; while Seto agreed that judging Tokio that way was quite obviously way off base and most likely spurned by jealousy, he did not want to hear one of Anzu's sappy speeches!

"So Tokio understood that your cause could be damaged by amateur investigators," Seto cut in quickly.

"Precisely, in fact the father of one of the women she confronted is a high ranking FBI profiler. Tokio saw the dangers their injured prides represented to my mission," Aoshi continued.

"Yea, especially with Kanryu and Gozaburo on high alert about your family, they sent spies out everywhere you and your father went but you still managed to catch them by surprise," Seto commented impressed with Tokio's foresight.

"Tokio turned the problem in her mind and knew what needed to be done to head it off. I presented her with the perfect opportunity to help me when I showed up late that night," Aoshi continued, pleased that Seto was catching on so quickly now. Tokio enlisted some of her close friends, Nightraven, his father and his Sensei. Together they conspired to create the illusion that he and Tokio were a couple.

"So my status was downgraded from potential sociopath to shy guy again from that night on. Tokio and her friends' careful manipulations led them to the conclusion that I was simply a shy kid who worked up the nerve to express his feelings to the girl he liked, once he became old enough to do so and – lucky for him – his feelings were reciprocated," Aoshi concluded.

"It's like the wolf said to us once: anyone watching him would think Aoshi was living the dream life! Lots of friends, cool car, lots of money in his wallet and a super-hot, super-smart totally devoted girlfriend who jealously protected his privacy. 'Cuz nothing made rumors fly like not saying anything and pretending like nothing's going on," Sano added chuckling amused as he played with his little keychain. Seto laughed too.

"So when Kanryu's spies were reporting to him all they had to say was that you were just a normal guy living an enviable and harmless life. No red flags, no warning when the first attack came," Seto added amused. It took Kanryu a long time to figure out it was Aoshi and the little group he formed that were sabotaging his operations. Aoshi's war against Kanryu and Gozaburo had provided Seto with the perfect cover for his own machinations against Gozaburo. The old man was so distracted he never saw Seto's coup coming!

"Tokio – with a seemingly small action – bought me time and gave me the freedom to act on my mission without interference. It was almost three years before authorities began catching on to what we were doing. Kanryu took almost as long to figure it out," Aoshi added putting a stone on the board and bringing the score a little closer to Seto. Their game was almost done but he knew now that there was no way he was going to beat Seto.

'Seto will win this game but I have the greater victory in earning his friendship. Tokio was right,' Aoshi thought.

"Not small at all…according to what Hajime was saying earlier it sounds like it cost her a great deal to help you this way," Seto added solemnly. Again, Aoshi was pleased by how closely Seto was paying attention. He surprised himself by how quickly he was stepping into the role of teacher and how much he enjoyed it.

"As I said, seemingly small. The attacks on Tokio's character were renewed for a time. Sanosuke was most effective in quieting the most offensive of the attackers," Aoshi elaborated.

"And by that he means: I nearly got myself expelled when a couple of guys made some not-so-nice remarks to Tokio and I had to punch their lights out," Sano added chuckling amused "I had no choice, had to make them eat their words," he chuckled. Seto chuckled for a moment amused as did most of Yugi's friends. Yugi frowned however.

"It's terrible that Tokio was subjected to so much violence in her life…it is so unfair," Yugi commented in a deep solemn tone. Another little light went on in Seto's head.

"This is why Nightraven was reluctant to let her help you this way, right? He maneuvered you into asking her to kiss you but he didn't want to, you know that," Seto put in then.

"Seto is on fire!" Kaoru commented with a loud laugh.

"What did I say about showing off the big brain dragon boy?" Sano teased. Seto smirked but didn't reply waiting for Aoshi to answer.

"Correct Seto," Aoshi continued pleased by Seto's deductive mind "Night did not want her to help me. He would've preferred to use someone else…anyone else. He is protective of her. However, Tokio knew that the misguided talk about her would in fact lend credibility to the ruse she was building," he added solemnly.

"Tokio is a very practical person, isn't she?" Seto noted pensively. An equation started forming in his mind that he would be sure to email her about come Monday morning. He knew he had to start that dialogue sooner rather than later.

"Quite right Seto-kun! Tokio-dono can be a very practical person when the need arises," Kenshin pointed out cheerfully.

"Just like Hajime," Misao commented. It was the first time she'd spoken since they began talking about Aoshi's birthday. Seto noticed ever since talking to Tokio and Hajime she was very subdued. Everyone was quiet as she continued.

"People say the two of them are very different from each other but they're not. They are a lot alike," she began. Seto nodded pensively. He had the feeling that this was the case but didn't have enough evidence to support it.

"The only real difference between them is the way they show who they are. Hajime is right in your face! He tells you who he is from the get-go and does not care what you think about it! Tokio is cool and logical. She hides who she is behind many masks. You want her to show you her true face you have to work for it," Misao elaborated.

"In fact, when I first met Tokio I thought she was he!" Misao laughed "You guys are lucky! You got to see the real Tokio today. That's rare," she added with a nostalgic smile.

"Ok, back up…how could she have been mistaken for a boy?" Duke asked voicing the incredulity on the faces of his friends; his young mind had immediately conjured the picture of Tokio in a very skimpy outfit from the Victoria's Secret book and he could not believe Misao. Seto frowned, wondering the same thing but thinking of the motherly smile and girly cheerfulness on the Tokio he met earlier. Aoshi answered the question.

"One of her defense mechanisms. She prefers to avoid confrontation and so in her first years as an orphan she adopted a disguise that let her blend into the background and disappear. It allowed her freedom to move around unhindered," Aoshi explained.

"Wait Aoshi…I have a picture in here…" Mai interrupted scrolling through her phone's memory. She found a picture of Tokio and her old friend Tripp Campbell that Night gave her a long time ago. With a smirk of amusement she passed it first to Seto. Seto frowned as he looked at the photo. The disguise was simple but well executed. If he had not been told that one of the people on the picture was Tokio he would not have known.

"That is impressive," Seto commented solemnly. He passed it to Mokuba who was as surprised as Yugi and his friends were when it was their turn. None more so than Duke – who still couldn't get the Victoria's Secret image out of his mind.

"Hey…isn't that guy next to her from the Iron Weasels?" asked Honda. Aoshi affirmed that it was Tripp Campbell and he was Tokio's best friend. He had taught Aoshi how to play the guitar though it was Tokio's uncle – Dak Tracer, lead vocalist and songwriter for Jagged Metal – that first forced him on stage to perform.

"Wait… Tokio's uncle is Dak Tracer?! Jagged Metal Dak Tracer!? That is so awesome! That's my brother's favorite band! How crazy is that!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"Mokuba!" Seto chastised. He liked Aoshi and his friends just fine but he did not want his most personal and private hobbies discussed by Yugi and his pals! Aoshi seemed to understand this because before Mokuba could protest he put the story back on track.

"I believe we are getting sidetracked…Misao brings up an important trait about Tokio which brings me now to the next story. I believe that I promised to tell you about Helmajistan," Aoshi intoned solemnly. Misao pulled Mokuba to her and whispered something to him that mollified his little brother and made him giggle. Seto relaxed a little. He put out of his mind his little brother's good intentioned scheming for now…