Important Please Read - General Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I am not an attorney and cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies in the law and/or procedure. I am writing this for purely entertainment purposes, though I may at times use real life cases, this is not meant to be educational in any way or form. This is for fun.

*Gasp* Can it be? Yes! I am actually updating and continuing my story. Whoo! I want to thank everyone has read my story and an extra thank you to those that have reviewed.

This chapter is more of an introduction to the rest of the cast and background. I wanted to give you all an update before I disappeared for a bit, finals.

Just to give you an idea of how stressful this time of year is. . . This morning, I found myself driving away from school instead of towards school. When I realized this and made a U-turn but instead of driving to school I found myself still driving away from school… Even my subconscious is tired and overwhelmed.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and that I live up to your expectations.

The plaque on the door read "Detective Okita Souji." There was no secretary in sight, only an empty desk. Shinomori Aoshi knocked. Nothing. He knocked again, and this time he heard a mumbled reply and opened the door. He had stepped inside when a voice stopped him.

"AH! Close that door!"

It wasn't often, if ever, that Aoshi was taken aback but he did as he was told. Once inside he looked around, there was no sign of anyone. Then he saw it, brown tufts of hair and then a body, as the man who had yelled at him earlier crawled out from behind the desk. Surely, this wasn't the famous Detective Okita Souji? The man seemed far too . . . there wasn't a word to adequately describe the man crawling indignantly along the floor carefully inspecting said floor.

Okita raised his head and looked over at his visitor, "Have a seat." He motioned towards a pair of chairs with a hand. "Just be careful where you step, she escaped again and she does bite."

"Excuse me? She?" Aoshi stopped mid-step and looked to the floor. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Nothing to worry about but if it feels like something bit you, it might be a good idea to get it checked out." Okita paused and added, "Immediately." He grinned, standing up and dusting off his slacks.

Aoshi decided to ignore the statement; besides what did one say to something like that? Instead, he moved towards the pair of chairs Okita had indicated and removed the files on one of the chairs. The chair's companion was holding an empty tank. Most likely from whence "she" had escaped.

It took all of two minutes for Shinomori Aoshi to survey the office as he sat down and he cringed inwardly. It was a mess. There were books and files everywhere; spilling out of bookshelves and stacked on the floor. In fact, there didn't seem to be enough floor space for all the books. On one particularly unsteady stack sat a fish bowl with three little goldfish, oblivious to their precarious placement on the edge of the tall stack. The desk itself was placed in front of the large window, with empty water bottles and copious amounts candy wrappers littering its surface. And then, in the corner of the office, leaning innocently against the wall, was a nerf gun and a katana.

"I apologize, it seems that I am interrupting . . ." Aoshi trailed off; he wasn't sure what he was interrupting. Obviously a search for "her": maybe a pet snake, or some other form of critter with a deadly bite.

"No worries, I'll catch her eventually." Okita made his way to his desk but his next step caused a loud crunching noise. Aoshi watched as the man's eyes grew wide and as he cautiously lifted his foot.

"Phew, just a bag of chips. That would have been bad, if I had stepped on her." He scratched his head sheepishly. "ANYWAYS, how may I help you?"

For the second time that day, Aoshi found it best just to ignore what had happened.

"I am the Takeda family attorney, Shinomori Aoshi. I am here about my client, Takeda Megumi. I believe she was arrested last night."

"Takeda Megumi?" Okita tilted his head back and scratched his nose, looking thoughtful. "Nope, don't recall any Takeda but we did have a Takani Megumi."

Takani? Aoshi narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

"That's her maiden name. Her husband is quite worried about her. May I speak to her?"

"Of course!" Okita smiled and placed his hands serenely on his desk.

Aoshi waited a few seconds for the Detective to take some action. When Detective Okita continued to stare at him.

"…. Well?"

"Oh! You wanted to talk to her now. Well, I can't do that. You see, someone posted bail last night. She's not here anymore."

"I see. I don't suppose you can tell me who posted bail?"

"Nope!" Okita's grin only seemed to grow wider.

"…Doesn't matter. Thank you for your time. If you do happen to see Takani or whatever name she is using at the moment, please tell her to return home. Her husband is worried about her." With that Aoshi stood up, dusted off his pant legs, bowed and carefully walked out.

Once Okita was sure that Aoshi was not going to be returning, his smile vanished. He sat back in his chair and wondered about the abrupt departure of his guest. He had noticed the slight change in his guest upon hearing that Takani Megumi was using her maiden name.

"… Somehow, I think Takani- san doesn't want to go home." A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, "Ah! There you are, you naughty girl! Trying to escape, are we?"

Outside and sure that he would not be overheard; Aoshi pulled out his cellphone and dialed the familiar number.

"Hannya. She's not here, I need you to find her."

= Elsewhere that same morning =

"This is delicious!"

Around the dining table sat an odd foursome: a strikingly beautiful dark-haired woman, a man with vibrant red hair and a cross-shaped scar along his cheek, a boy of 10 with spiky, unkempt hair, and a another dark-haired woman with innocent eyes and hair clinched in a ponytail. The odd group where in fine form that morning.

"Yea! I don't care how you got here but I am glad you did. Ugly over here is always trying to poison us."

"Poison?! I am just making sure the meat is completely cooked! Haven't you ever heard of salmonella?"

"Yea, and haven't you ever heard of a cooking thermometer? It's a good thing Kenshin cooks all of our meals, otherwise I'd have a permanent bed in the hospital."

"HOHO! Ken-san it's obvious you need a real woman around here." The strikingly dark-haired beautiful woman, Takani Megumi winked and smiled seductively at Kenshin.

"Oro," Himura Kenshin nervously continued eating.

"You can stay as long as you like," Yahiko beamed. "As long as you keep cooking."

"Yahiko! You don't get to make those kinds of decisions. We don't need a woman around here, we have –"

"We have Kenshin. He does the cooking and cleaning." Sagara Sanosuke suddenly appeared and sat down next to Yahiko, taking Yahiko's bowl in the process.

"Why are we attacking my masculinity now?" Kenshin spoke up.

"Oh, I am sure you're all man. Ken-san," Megumi took the opportunity to sidle up to Kenshin and place her head on his shoulder, watching Kaoru through her lashes as the younger woman began to turn red.

"There's always so much energy and excitement. By the way, Taka-san said something about dropping by. Probably wants to discuss your case." Sanosuke casually leaned to one side and stuck his elbow out as far he as he could to keep the bowl out of Yahiko's reach.

"Punk! Give that back! I am a growing boy!"

"Yea, well, me too."

The remaining three ignored the struggle between the man and boy or rather, the struggle amongst the boys.

"Case? What did you do?" Kaoru had whirled around and turned on Megumi at the mention of 'Taka-san'.

"Eh, Kaoru-dono, don't you have to get to the dojo?" Kenshin was anxious to draw her attention away from their latest houseguest. It was one of those mornings in which Kenshin felt more like a ringmaster than a landlord of a boarding house. If he had known that running a boarding house required this much maneuvering and strategizing, he might have stayed in the army. "I'll get your and Yahiko's lunch."

At that moment, they heard the doorbell ring.

Before Kenshin could stand up, Megumi got to her feet.

"I'll get the lunches Ken-san. It must be so hard to have such an unruly bunch and a useless girl."

"Useless?! I'll have you know that I am kenjutsu instructor . . . "

Kenshin shook his head as he headed towards the door, away from the bickering. Megumi hadn't even been at the boarding house a whole day and already she was starting to fit in.

"Takagi-san! I didn't expect you so early." Kenshin opened the door to find Takagi Tokio.

"Oh? Didn't Sagara-san tell you? I told him last night before he and Takani-san drove off that I would be by in the morning." Tokio looked slightly confused.

"He said you would be by but he didn't say when," Kenshin explained. At that, he and Tokio let out a mutual sigh. It was so like Sano to forget an important detail.

Kenshin closed the door behind Tokio and led her into the house. As they walked through the hallway, Kaoru and Yahiko ran past them, obviously in a hurry.

Kaoru caught Tokio's eye but at Tokio's smile she made a mental note to drag whatever was going on out of Kenshin or Sano.

"How did Kaoru-chan take having another woman around?"

Kenshin turned to see a mischievous light in Tokio's eyes.

"Eh?" For the life of him he couldn't figure out what Tokio meant. "They get along…for the most part."

"Men are so oblivious," Tokio let out a laugh. But even as Tokio laughed an unbidden thought crossed her mind; men weren't the only ones oblivious when it came to the attentions of the opposite sex.

Reviews are always appreciated!

Saitou will be returning in the next chapter and Okita may make another appearance.