Important Please Read - General Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I 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 just for fun.

Cover Art by the wonderful Eeni! You can find her art over on her tumblr page. Please check out my profile for a link to her page and to see the other amazing project she's part of. :)

= Several days later at Takagi's Law Office (Okay it's really her kitchen table) =

Tokio looked down at Takani's file; it had required quite a bit of sweet talking to get her hands on it, all the while tapping her pen against the table.

It was a straightforward case, possession and intent to distribute. Or so it seemed. When Sano had called Tokio, she had been expecting one of his scuzzy friends. Instead, her prospective client turned out to be an extremely well dressed, polished, and refined woman. Takani Megumi, for all her haughtiness, did not look or act like the drug dealer she had been charged as. And that was the problem.

No hardened dealer would carry around that much merchandise while looking for a buyer, unless they were truly desperate. And while there was something urgent about Megumi's actions, Tokio seriously doubted she was a professional.

Megumi had been careless and unfortunate; her intended buyer had ended up being an undercover cop. And of course, Megumi was being rather tight-lipped about where she had gotten the opium from and why someone so well dressed seemed to have nothing.

Sighing, Tokio leaned back in her chair only to frown and sit up straight; the act reminded her far too much of a certain prosecutor.

"Taka-san." Tokio looked up only to see Sano walk in and take a seat across from her.

"Sagara-san, did you find anything?" Tokio registering the scowl on his face, thought with a hint of despondency, this was no straightforward case.

= Back at the Himura Boarding House =

Megumi looked around, realizing that the house, for once, was empty. Without it's usual raucous energy the house felt lonely and stale. Loneliness wasn't new to Megumi but being alone was; growing up she had had her older brothers. Then at home, if she could call her husband's place home, there was always someone coming and going.

Sighing, Megumi continued to prepare the fish for tonight's dinner. They would all be back soon.

Kenshin had gone out to do the weekly shopping, Yahiko was still at school, Kaoru was teaching kenjustu classes down at the local dojo, and Sano was "working", whatever that entailed.

At the thought of the bird head, Megumi's eye began to twitch. If it hadn't been for her own bad luck she wouldn't have had to call her brother's old friend. But she had been desperate. She still remembered how he had come sauntering into the holding cell . . .

"What are we waiting for? I thought you came to bail me out."

"Well," Sano shrugged. "I can't. So, I called Taka-san she'll take care of it."

Megumi glared, she should have known better.

"Hey!" Sano bristled at Megumi's annoyance. "You called me. Why not bail yourself out?"

"I don't have any money," was Megumi's snide response.

"Your clothes look expensive enough."

"Unfortunately they don't accept couture as bail," Megumi coolly replied. "If I had any money do you think I would have called you?"

However, a knocking at the front door interrupted Megumi's thoughts. "Just a minute!"

Megumi opened the door to reveal a man with his hat tilted down, obscuring his face. "Hello, may I help you?"

"How nice." Lifting his hat, the man revealed a deeply scarred face that caused Megumi's eyes to widen, but before she could successfully shut the door he had placed his foot on the threshold. "What kind of welcome is that for an old friend? Takeda-san is not very happy. Now listen up if you don't want your new friends to get hurt."

= Police Station =

The officers of this particular station had long since become accustomed to the strange characters that roamed the building. So, when Detective Okita walked down the hall, humming the opening song to the Yakuza Papers with two overstuffed trash bags slung over his shoulder, they didn't even blink an eye.

Okita smiled slowly, changing his tune when he noticed a certain tall and lanky figure, "In touch with the ground, I'm on the hunt, I'm after you, scent and a sou –"

Before Okita could continue a large and heavy fist came thundering down onto Okita's head. "OW! You didn't even let me get to the good part," Okita whined scrunching his eyes shut.

Saitou merely raised an eyebrow, "I was doing everyone a favor, no one needs to hear that." Saitou ignored Okita's pouting and mutterings about curmudgeonly old prosecutors.

"Speaking of your lack of aptitude, I see that Hijikata finally gave you an appropriate job -janitor."

"Ha! I put Sherlock Holmes to shame." Okita lifted his head in a superior manner, wincing slightly, that fist to the head was still vibrating throughout. Damn that man.

"Besides, I am not the one being constantly outwitted by a certain defense attorney."

"Idiot. I've seen her do a fine number on you out on the witness stand."

As the two men continued to argue they bypassed the exit leading to the dumpsters. Instead stopping in front of a door. The office beyond the door was large, immaculate, and decorated in a traditional Japanese style.

Saitou began taking off his shoes before stepping on to the tatami mats, "Take off your shoes."

"Right. We don't want to be rude." Shoes now off and having closed the office door behind them, Okita set the trash bags down and proceeded to open and dump its contents, shredded paper.

"Speaking of feisty women, a Takani Megumi was booked the other day." Okita remarked in between throwing fistfuls of paper up into the air.

Saitou watched with a fair amount of amusement, as the office soon began to snow shredded paper. "And?"

"AND, it might interest you to know that she's actually Takeda Megumi. I didn't even realize who she was until Shinomori showed up looking for her," Okita laughed at having had the wife of a suspected smuggler under their noses.

"You think she ran away. What was she charged with?" Saitou, cigarette hanging from his lips, didn't seem at all surprised by the news, instead began to fish through his pockets.

"Possession and possession with an intent to distribute." Okita by now had moved on to the second bag.

Saitou made his way to the desk as he talked, pulling out a lighter from one of the drawers. Cigarette now lit, "Any reports of abuse?"

"Nothing. She doesn't even have a record." Okita could see his friend's mind at work, analyzing, planning, and processing. He was always amazed at how fast Saitou's mind worked. It was one of the reasons that Saitou was a fearsome opponent in the courtroom; it also helped that Saitou could look pretty damn scary when he wanted to.

Saitou smirked, his eyes glinting with the thrill of a challenge, tapped his cigarette allowing the ash to fall to the floor, "We'll just have to wait and see what Tokio brings us."

"Speaking of our Tokio-chan, I am ashamed of you. What did you say to her? I heard that she ran out on you the other night. You probably bored her out of her mind talking about where to find the best soba. Probably for the best though, she deserves better than some cranky, chain-smoking district attorney." Okita shook his head and let out a sigh, throwing the last of the paper into the air.

"Okita," Saitou growled his voice threatening.

"Poor Tokio! Thankfully, she has a date with a much more qualified candidate today." Okita really should have seen it coming; it is dangerous to provoke a wolf after all.

Yet, Okita found himself flat on the floor looking up at the ceiling with an aching backside and cigarette ash on his forehead. Did that ornery wolf really sweep his feet?

Okita was just about to get up when he heard Saitou on the other side of the door.

"Hijikata, you might want to take out the trash in your office."

"Shit!" Okita looked around for an escape but the door slid open.

"Wh – SOUJI!"

= Himura Boarding House =

"Megumi-dono! I am back, I am going to start laundry. Do you have anything to add?" Kenshin stopped unpacking the groceries when Sano walked into the kitchen, piece of paper held tightly in his hand.

"She's not here."

Notes:

I am sorry it took me so long to update but life happens. And when life decides to happen, it happens all at once! The past year has definitely been a rollercoaster ride but I never forgot about this chapter. In fact, this chapter went through several versions and rewrites but I hope you enjoyed it. Anyways, several things:

First, if you want to hear the song that Okita is humming follow (well, copy and paste) the link. www. youtube watch?v=tGiQsaF-vqE

Secondly, last chapter I mentioned that Okita had a fishbowl with three little goldfish in office. Remember that? Well, it was a homage to Angrybee's story titled Hajime and Tokio. I am curious whether anyone might have caught that, granted it was a vague reference.

Thirdly, this is more of a fun fact than anything else; Okita's antic with the shredded paper in Hijikata's office is based off my own experience. Except I wasn't the perpetrator but the victim, it was my own bosses too! I arrived to work early one morning and my office was covered in shredded paper. Paper from those industrial shredders and let me tell you, it was a pain to clean up. No worries though, I got them back. :-D

Lastly, a very special thank you to Anreg for all her help and motivation. Thank you to everyone who helped me out!