I noted with dry amusement that Kaoru and Kyosuke had fallen back into their old chumminess, meaning they had gone back to arguing about the silliest things. When we first got on the train, which was roughly five hours ago, Kaoru had still refused to address Kyosuke's presence, remnants from her anger with his deceptions.

Kaoru gave new meaning to "frost bite" when she put her mind to it. I have certainly felt the full force of it when she unexplainably snubbed me for something that had to do with what I can only attribute to insensitivity on my part with regards to Matsuhime's visit.

I honestly could not tell what she was so angry about. I think it was because I kept insisting that she must have misheard Matsuhime on her relations with Katsura-sama. It was an entirely odd affair. It still confuses me.

And now, five hours after being in the same carriage as Kyosuke in the train, she apparently forgave him and started talking to him, which of course resulted in another one of their loud debates. They eventually got tired fighting so much, and after another hour and a half of dynamic discussion, the carriage was quite.

Kaoru stared out of the window, watching the late afternoon view, bored into silence.

Kyosuke's subdued stare gradually became a slumped snooze on his seat.

He had been dozing for several minutes before he started to snore quietly. This prompted Kaoru to pull her gaze from the view. She scooted to my side and leaned her head on my shoulder.

Giving her a tender smile, I put my arm around her and she snuggled against me, making herself comfortable in my embrace.

This was pleasant, and I nuzzled my nose in her hair, expressing my appreciation for the closeness. How I love this woman. So much so that she has me haring across Japan, back and forth, just to make sure that she will live to see the future she had sacrificed so much for.

"Kenshin," she whispered so that she would not wake Kyosuke.

I responded in the same volume, caring more for the privacy Kyosuke's slumber afforded us than staying quiet in consideration for his nap.

"I've been meaning to ask you," she continued. "Did you have something with Matsuhime-san before?"

What a surprising question. "Oro! Something, Kaoru?"

"You know," she said softly. "Like a very special relationship."

More surprising still, but I chuckled. "Like the kind of relationship this unworthy one would like to have with you?"

Her cheeks flushed an adorable pink. "Oh, you know what I mean."

"Well, why do you want to know?" I asked, honestly curious.

"Oh nothing," she replied, staring up at me with a small grin. "It's just…well, I'm trying to figure out if you have a taste for women who are pristine and perfect. Tomoe-san was like her, ne?"

"Oro!" I said quietly with a contained laugh. "Tomoe had more cares in the world than Matsuhime-dono ever will. It bears mentioning however, that even if Tomoe and Matsuhime-dono did have the same type of breeding, they were about as much alike as Matsuhime-dono and you. And let it be said that the common thread is not between Tomoe and Matsuhime-dono, but between you and Tomoe."

"Kenshin, quit teasing!" She admonished me in a hushed tone.

"I'm not," I told her, pinching her chin gently. "Though I will never compare you and Tomoe, you do have a common trait. You're both strong, here," I said, placing a hand on her heart.

She turned even redder.

After a moment, she began to look annoyed. "Kenshin, you're evading my question!"

"Maa…I am not," I said. "No, I did not have that kind of relationship with Matsuhime-dono. She is a very good friend, a person I could talk to when I was stationed with Katsura-sama, but nothing more than that."

"Oh well, then now I feel really silly," she said to my absolute astonishment.

"Oro! Was it something I said?" I asked. I hardly know with Kaoru these days.

She chuckled. "Yes, it was something you said. I was kind of…well, frankly I was jealous."

Orororo…. "Jealous…?"

"Yes. She's beautiful and elegant, while I'm cute and hoydenish."

I'm still quite flustered by her confession, but I laughed nevertheless. "Cute?"

She frowned. "Hey I'm cute at least. I'm not ugly or anything."

It occurred to me that she misunderstood the meaning of what I had been trying to imply, and finally absorbing what she had said about jealousy and such matters as my relationship with Matsuhime, I cupped her jaw in my palm and quite brazenly rubbed my nose against hers. I was quite elated when she didn't pull back.

"Kaoru, cute is the least of your attributes," I said softly.

"Oh is that so?" she responded with a mischievous smile.

"Of course," I replied, wanting to brush my lips against hers, to which she tilted her face up, as if to welcome it. "I always thought you rather breathtaking, especially when you're fighting off goons and training in the dojo."

She laughed softly. "Yes, my bokken completes the look."

I chuckled, her lips so temptingly close. "What do you think won me over that first day we met?"

"Mou…that's the best mistake I've made to this date," she whispered.

"Better…" I began teasingly. "Than that mistake in the dojo yesterday?"

She smiled at me, caressing my cheek with her delicate finger. "That wasn't a mistake. That was me, telling you without words how I felt because I couldn't exactly say it."

My heart beat decidedly faster. With her, this closeness…this intimacy could mean anything. Kaoru was far too complicated for me to assume anything anymore.

"You have to understand…" she continued, almost in an embarrassed tone. "It's hard to let go when I've been so guarded about my feelings since I joined the Shikeigai. It was too dangerous then, and when the war was over, it just took too much effort to change things. It was…comfortable, though it was lonely."

I rubbed my thumb against the satin smoothness of her cheek and listened in rapt attention.

"You sort of…got through those barriers and it was so unfamiliar that it was frightening. Am I making any sense?"

"Absolutely," was my entranced reply.

"And then it occurred to me that I didn't have to be afraid," she said. "Not when it's you."

Her words sent me into a spiral, and all I wanted to do was claim her lips. She just had to tell me…so I can be sure. Was she accepting me? Did this mean…?

She whispered my name in a way that toppled my reservations in one fell swoop. It was too much for me to hold back.

I let my lips brush hers tentatively, and she responded, encouraging me to venture for a kiss that would linger. Our lips touched again, and this time neither of us pulled back. The gentle deepening intoxicated me further, the catch of her breath intensifying the sensations. We could go on and on.

Unfortunately, Fate thought it enough for the moment, because Kyosuke gave a most annoying snort as he roused himself from sleep.

Kaoru broke away and sighed. I was so taken that I would have coaxed her to ignore Kyosuke, but she leaned back on her seat and merely exchanged apologetic glances with me.

"Wow, nodded off for a second there," Kyosuke said, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Kaoru, be a doll and get us some wake-up tea."

Taking a deep breath, I ran my hands through my hair and resigned myself to the inevitable. Could Kyosuke be more irritating?

"Get it yourself," Kaoru muttered, moving back to the window.

Kyosuke looked between Kaoru and me suspiciously. "Hey…did you guys fight or something while I was asleep?"

Neither of us replied.

"Ookay. Sorry I asked," Kyosuke said. "But take it from me, you two lovebirds ought to patch things up. It ain't right to be fighting when we're on such an important mission. Come on now…kiss and make up."

My lip twitched. He has got to be kidding.

"Kyosuke, shut the freak up," Kaoru said to him.

Thankfully, he did.

We arrived in Aizu at around eight in the evening, and after getting our bags from the luggage platform, Kyosuke showed us out of the station and right through town.

True to Kyosuke's narration, the entire town was abuzz with preparation for the upcoming festival. Colorful paper lanterns, most of them red, were hung up in trees and posts, some strung on ropes, set aside and ready to be strewn, not yet lit but nevertheless brightening the streets with their brilliant hues.

Akabeko, red paper maché cows with heads that bobbed on interior springs, peered and nodded from every corner and house. Though a lot of burnt structures were still prevalent in the area, reminiscent of the Aizu Wakamatsu great fire during the Boshin Civil War, their dreary facades were properly outdone by the festive atmosphere.

E Rosoku lined the front of homes and erected food stands, the painted flowers on their waxen bodies just waiting to be illuminated at nightfall.

Some people were already walking around the streets with face paint and costumes, some held masks in their hands, and there seemed to be some kind of assembly, the participants carrying instruments as they discussed amongst themselves with jolly laughter.

We made our way through the throng, Kyosuke's face concealed in a mask he had bought from a peddler on our way out of the station. He wore the face of an angry old-school samurai, complete with a high hairline and streaks of paint to make the image more terrifying.

More than once, I'd hear a complete stranger tell me. "Nice costume, kido! Like the battle-worn samurai look!" Which caused Kaoru to giggle every time she heard it.

I suppose…I can get myself a new pair of pants and a gi when we get back to Edo.

Kyosuke said that Kaoru and I ought to stay at the Wakamatsu no Ikken, a small house that had been converted into an inn. The only place that would fit our budget and live up to my "decency" standards, he says. He also said, "If you don't get accommodations in there, you either stay in those fancy high end hotels or bunk in the streets. Because trust me, the people you'd encounter in the streets are way more decent than those staying in the Rathole Inns, I'll tell you that."

When I asked him where he would stay, he said that he would be safe in his Bankoyaki workshop, also his makeshift home. He said nobody really expected him to be there. Besides, he added, nobody worked during Aki Matsuri, not even mobsters.

"You make pottery?" Kaoru asked him in reference to his workshop.

"Hey, I gotta eat, you know. It's my means of income," Kyosuke replied in scorn. "What'd you think? That I steal my food?"

Kaoru frowned. "I was just saying--"

"Well, excuuuuse me, shihondai. We can't all be kenjutsu instructors!" He snapped, his voice muffled by the mask.

"Mou! Sor-ree! But I wasn't dissin' your occupation!" She huffed back, stomping through the doors of the inn.

Kyosuke's magic touch has once again ruined Kaoru's perfectly affable mood.

Sighing, I turned to Kyosuke before I followed her inside. "If you don't feel safe enough in your home, feel free to come and stay with us, Kyosuke-san."

"And disturb your little love-nest? Himura, I ain't that much of a jerk. If there's anything I respect, it's somebody getting some--"

I left him at the doorstep.

As it turns out, Wakamatsu no Ikken was full almost to the brim with tourists, except for one small room with a single futon.

It was quite awkward. Kaoru and I merely stared at the receptionist without much to say about our predicament.

"I'm sure you and your wife will fit on the futon just fine. You're both not very big," said the kindly woman at the front desk.

My wife, she called Kaoru.

I expected Kaoru to deny it, but she merely reddened and waited for me to say something.

What could I say? There was no where else to go, and telling the receptionist that Kaoru isn't my wife would likely scandalize the receptionist to no end, immediately tagging Kaoru as "comfort" company. I looked over my shoulder at Kyosuke, hoping he was not hearing this. The masked man was currently occupied in watching the activity on the streets.

"W-We'll take the room," I stammered, unable to look Kaoru in the eye. "I-Is there any way we could perhaps get an extra futon…?"

"I'm sorry, but all the futons have been accounted for," replied the receptionist. She winked and added with a roguish grin, "Maybe you could put-off being so rough tonight, ey tiger?"

And that was the end of it.

Telling Kyosuke to wait for us, we were brought to our chamber, once again left to discuss our sleeping arrangements.

When the room attendant left us, I said to Kaoru, "This unworthy one can sleep on the--"

"Don't start, husband," she interrupted me, plunking her bag down on the floor and walking out.

And that was the end of that.

Kyosuke said that Kaoru and I ought to be wearing our own masks when we went out on the streets to go to Gen-ichi's house. It was better if we purchased masks similar to the ones everyone wore, so that we can disappear easily in the crowd. Kaoru and I got masks that only covered the upper portion of our faces. It was more comfortable than the full-face ones, and we could see a score of people wearing them already. Frankly, I felt that if I really wanted to disappear in a crowd, I ought to shave my head, or perhaps dye my hair.

Kyosuke would meet us back in the hotel in an hour and a half. In the meantime, we got dressed like all the other attendees of the festival.

I really didn't bring anything special, just some essentials and an extra gi. My dark blue one. Kaoru however, had managed to cram an extra kimono in her travel bag. It was not very fancy, but the elegance of the obi that went with it will make it extraordinarily nice. Seeing the ensemble, I made it my resolution to stay by her side wherever we went tonight. No point in letting the other men think that she was unescorted, ne?

An hour and a half later, bathed, dressed and masked, we waited for Kyosuke at the small front hall of our inn.

A man entered the hotel with tall feathers sticking out of his head, dressed in an exaggerated rendition of samurai paper armor and a cardboard katana at his hip. We recognized it to be Kyosuke though, because of the mask.

"Kyosuke?" Kaoru asked.

"Yeah?" He mumbled.

Kaoru suddenly threw back her head and laughed so loudly that the other guests could not help but smile in her direction. "So what are you suppose to be, a chicken-headed samurai or something?" She asked amidst her guffaws.

"For your information," Kyosuke said, his expression hid behind his paper face. Only his eyes were animated. "The feathers indicate that I'm a high ranking samurai."

I could not recall there ever being distinguishing ranks among samurai. We just knew this or that guy was the boss, without need of feathery embellishments. I was sorely tempted to tell him that Samurai never got themselves up in such ridiculous finery, but then, there were more important matters to discuss.

"Kyosuke-san, are you sure you will blend in a crowd with that costume?" I asked while Kaoru laughed in the background.

"'Course I'm sure," he said, a bit of a scowl in his voice. "You think I want to draw attention to myself?"

"Could've fooled me," Kaoru quipped, leading the way out to the streets.

To his credit, Kyosuke was indeed not the only one with feathers on his head. It seemed to have become some sort of addend to what would have been a dull costume. Plumes sprang out of heads around us, but Kyosuke's crown was just a tad higher, a touch more colorful than the rest, and I heard Kaoru calling him Cock Head, which would have been hilarious, if it wouldn't offend half of Japan's matrons.

We waited for the parade to begin so that we wouldn't be so obviously moving around with a crowd waiting patiently in anticipation.

Standing still among the throng, I was constantly surprised by people asking me, "Are you part of the Byakkotai?" and "Aren't you suppose to be lined up already?"

I asked Kyosuke if I looked anything like a White Tiger Brigade parade participant. I really don't think so. I'm 30 years old, for goodness sake. How in the world could they mistake me for a teenager, as the Byakkotai were known to be?

The mock emperor and empress stepped out into the constructed balcony somewhere ahead of us. The wooden structure they stood on was decorated with paper, shaped and painted into castle bricks. Their costumes were elaborately done. The embroidery on their clothes were real, perhaps a robe borrowed from one of the few lords left in Aizu, if the actors weren't the lord and lady themselves.

The emperor waved, the crowd cheered and the parade began. Festive music waft from the group heading the parade. Drum Beaters situated on decorated carts with their man-sized drums, pulled by lavishly dressed escorts, danced and jumped to their own beat. The large group was followed by masked samurai, swinging around their bamboo swords in forms that were more dance-like than deadly. When the Geisha came round, the males in the crowd whooped and whistled, though Kaoru whispered in my ear that some of the Geisha players had "bobbing apples" on their throats. Hearing the crass comments of several lewd onlookers, her observation was well worth the laugh.

Fujinbutai followed. A group of female warriors who fought in the Boshin Civil War. For this part of the parade, the participants were obviously female, and more catcalls ensued, though less boorish in their tone. Moving in perfect form, the Fujinbutai players seemed rather learned in the craft, and none of the men watching were willing to test their abilities with the wooden weapons they held. Some of them looked like they were in their thirties and forties, making it entirely possible that the members of the group had actually been Fujinbutai. Kaoru confirmed my assumption by saying, "Wow. Are they really the members? They move awfully well."

After a long procession of other historical depictions, the Byakkotai finally came. Boys of youth who were reenacting an interpretative mass suicide, prancing in a mock plunge and slash with their respective decapitators following the beat.

Their faces were painted in red, accented by gold shaped stars, diamonds and swirls. The music that came from the head of the parade swam with the unearthly demonstration of sepukku.

I looked overhead. The lamps that had been earlier set aside were now hung above us, bright against the night, daring the moonlight to cast a more radiant glow. The moon's paleness marked a sharp contrast. Shadows had no place here, though the phantoms of the Bakumatsu danced among the living.

The merry colors of the festival borrowed time from the commemorative scarlet, fighting against the richly hued banners festooned from post to post, bridging houses by their windows, crisscrossing streets like an unplanned weave.

It was brilliant, but the mood contrasted with our own feelings of apprehension, or rather it was a morbid antithesis, that death should thus be celebrated with such revelry.

I took Kaoru by the wrist and pried her from her fascination of the Fujinbutai.

She sidled up to me and spoke over my shoulder. "I should have brought my bokken. I would have blended right in the theme."

I smiled at her. "Let us hope you really won't be wanting of it, Kaoru. Not tonight."

"Mou! Planning to protect me again, aren't you?" She said, a tad scornfully.

"Let's just say…" I began, pulling her closer. "That this unworthy one is not planning to let you out of his sight."

"I ought to fujinbutai you one," she grumbled.

I chuckled, noting a real reluctance in her tone to be completely dependent on me.

Kyosuke grabbed both Kaoru and I by our collars, poising himself to speak into our ears. "We have to stick together! Gen-ichi's house isn't too far off!" He somewhat yelled.

"Well, that goes without saying," Kaoru replied.

Kyosuke smirked. "You've never been in an Aki Matsuri, have you?"

Kaoru shook her head but was a little sidetracked by somebody bumping a bit forcefully against her.

"The crowd's already restless," Kyosuke said. "They have a tendency to show the women a good time. Pretty harmless fun in general. Just dancing and mild flirting, but we don't have time to join in it right now. However, if we do get separated…"

"That shouldn't even be considered a possibility," I instantly replied, unconsciously tightening my grip on Kaoru's wrist.

Kaoru frowned and wriggled her wrist away. "Kenshin…"

Realizing that she had figured me out, I addressed the issue. "It wouldn't do for you to be unescorted in this crowd."

"Kenshin, for the love of God, let up! We're on a mission here!" She scolded.

I refrained from mentioning that love was certainly the issue, but not God's. Instead I said, "I could not let you go traipsing around alone!"

"Traipsing!" She cried incredulously. "I will not be traipsing! If we get separated, I can take care of myself Kenshin!"

Kyosuke sighed and looked me squarely in the face. "We have no time for this! If we want to sneak into his house, we better get going. We'll figure out where to look for the journal when we get there."

"Well, let's go then!" She muttered, pushing through the throng.

I suppose the issue is resolved, according to her, at least.

Kyosuke and I followed her, me more desperately than him.

Kyosuke grunted against the press of bodies. "If you happen to see a big guy. Length and width, with a white streak of hair going up his hairline, like a Raccoon's, usually surrounded by big guys and lots of women, we can at least be sure Gen-ichi isn't at home. Though I highly doubt that he'd miss the fun here. You can ask around for him and no one will think the worse of you because he gives shots of sake to the guys that make him laugh and gifts for the girls he thinks pretty enough."

"He sounds like a jolly guy," Kaoru said to us over her shoulder. "If he weren't such a crook."

A loud shout began to ripple through the crowd and a new strain of music with drums pervaded the air. The empty street that the parade had left open was engulfed in a sea of people and almost immediately, Kaoru found herself swept in the jovial arms of a stranger who laughed and danced merrily.

Even through the noise, I heard her give a sharp yelp.

"Oh shit!" Kyosuke cursed. "I just knew it!"

"K-Kaoru!" I cried as she was whirled and spun deeper into the mass of celebrating people. Gritting my teeth, I tried to get through the twirling bodies, trying to keep my eyes pasted on her fast disappearing figure.

Kyosuke followed close behind me, swearing epithets of the worse kind. "We have to get her back!"

"Do you not think I'm trying to do just that?" I said in irritation.

"Half an hour!" Kyosuke cried as he went in another direction. "Emperor's platform! One of us better have Kaoru by then!"

It was severely unsettling for me that I could no longer see her. She had, in fact, dissipated before my very eyes.

I saw the man who had first swept her into the revelry and I glared at him. I don't think he even saw me.

Just great, Kamiya. Juuust wonderful! Now where the heck am I? And where are my supposed companions? Some escorts they turned out to be.

Well, okay. Some of it's my fault for prying myself free from Kenshin, but goodness! One of 'em should have been alert enough to grab hold of me, ne?

I'm guessing that Kenshin's in a panic right now. He's probably imagining me to be in the worse possible scenarios at this very moment, worried out of his wits.

Kenshin could be so impossible at times. It's sweet that he's looking after me and all, but sometimes he could just overdo it. An over-protective boyfriend.

Well…he is more than just my best friend now, isn't he? That little talk I initiated in the train told him a lot of things, with and without words. The amorous gestures and kisses certainly made mush of me, and I did practically tell him how I felt about him, but that stupid Kyosuke has terrible timing. He just had to wake up and ruin things.

Still, as much as I love that rurouni, he can be awfully unreasonable when it comes to my safety.

It was difficult trying to get away from the men who all insisted on taking me for a dance, but I easily discovered that bitchiness was a great deterrent. My resounding, "In your dreams, pal," and "Take a hike and save me the trouble," worked wonders on their egos, and they promptly left me, the "acidic witch", alone. If I were on vacation, I would have gladly obliged them, but I'm on a mission here, and I've got more important things to think about.

It took awhile, but I finally pushed through a clearing, and climbing a food crate, I scanned the crowd for a redhead. It was impossible, what with all those infernal multi-colored feathers and scarlet being the official color of the festivities.

"Mou!" I said to myself.

Looking a bit more, I caught sight of a man who seemed to fit Kyosuke's earlier description of Gen-ichi. He was big and burly, sitting in the middle of a circle of people. He wore fine robes and drank from expensive pottery. The white streak of hair on his head somehow added distinction. If I didn't know he was such a crook, I'd mistake him for a respectable businessman.

Some of the men sitting beside him looked about as important as he did, while the others just hung around at the back, tough and mean. The women didn't look all that beautiful, but they were a voluptuous bevy of females, giving each other knowing winks while they stroked and teased their willing victims.

Sometimes, one of his thugs would approach him with a coquettish young girl trailing behind. The girl would be presented, Gen-ichi would laugh and give the girl's butt a pinch then send her on her way with a small parcel. The girl would skitter off in delight while Gen-ichi tossed a tiny pouch to the man who brought her over. Great, a commission.

I could see some of the surrounding men being offered sake in small cups.

So, Kyosuke wasn't exaggerating.

Hmph! Men!

Gingerly, I hopped off my perch and landed gracefully on the ground.

"Hey, you!" Somebody suddenly said to me.

Damn perverts.

"I'm talking to you, girl," said a man who had suddenly clamped his hands on my shoulder.

I tried to shake his hands off but his grip was strong, and I saw that he was almost as big as the guys guarding Gen-ichi's back. "Buzz off, creep." I hissed.

"I think Gen-ichi would be delighted to give you a present," he grinned, ignoring my rude retort.

I stared at him and then at Gen-ichi through the milling figures. It occurred to me that Gen-ichi had such thugs walking around the crowd, looking for young girls who would amuse their master and get them some coin. I shook my head. "I don't think so. Go keep your stupid gift."

"Oh, I think so. Gen-ichi has a taste for firecrackers," he said.

I gasped as he pulled off my mask. "Very nice," he said, immediately dragging me roughly by the wrist.

Terrific. With all this chaos, I couldn't make a scene even if I wanted to. Believe me, I tried, but no one ventured to take my struggles seriously.

Pulled in the middle of the open circle, I felt strangely vulnerable. When my "agent" shoved me forward, I felt like a buffet, and I fidgeted uncomfortably under the gaze of the men.

I glared at Gen-ichi, but said nothing.

"You've outdone yourself, Fumio," Gen-ichi said in his baritone drawl, hitching an arm on one of his upraised knees. "You always had better taste than the rest."

Everyone chuckled, drawing their gazes on me with slow, covetous stares.

I feel like a prized cow! Please God, let him just give his gift and I'll be out of here fast.

Fumio bowed. "Thank you, Gen-ichi-sama. Do you like this one? She's rather feisty."

Aaaaaaargh! Men! Can't believe that I have to put up with this kind of treatment…like livestock! Feh!

Gen-ichi merely smiled, not saying anything, but with a sinking heart, I saw that Gen-ichi had pulled out an unusually heavy pouch, flinging the whole thing in Fumio's direction. "I adore the feisty ones. Good work, Fumio," he said.

Fumio gave a respectful nod and went back into the crowd of people.

I just hope Kenshin doesn't find me here. This is embarrassing!

"What's your name, missy?" Gen-ichi asked me, holding out his saucer for a refill of sake.

I racked my brain for a name. These things don't come easy under scrutiny. "Naoko," I replied, my female Shikeigai handle coming to me.

"Well, Naoko, come and claim your present," he said, plucking a parcel from a pile behind him and holding it out for me to take.

I'd rather spit at his feet, but then that just might make him sweeter on me. After all, he had said he liked the feisty ones.

Hastily, I grabbed the colorful box from his hand and tried to make a quick exit, but to my utter surprise, he grabbed my butt, grasping a fist full of my kimono and pulling me to him.

I yelped and fell back against him. It was a rather soft landing, considering he was flatulent, but he was strong too, so I couldn't really get away fast enough. "G-Gen-ichi-sama, I must--my father is waiting for me--"

"Hush now, my young spring chicken," he said, his breath awfully alcoholic.

Spring chicken?!? His Spring Chicken?!?! "I ought to peck your brains out!" I snarled then immediately after desired to strangle myself. I shouldn't have said that!

"Ooh!" He said in delight, his round, massive face breaking into a toothy smile. "Not a chicken after all! A little kitty cat with claws and fangs!"

His declaration elicited laughter from the others.

"Wouldn't touch you to scratch you," I sputtered.

This made him roar in laughter.

Oh why can't I just keep my mouth shut?

"This one's coming with me," Gen-ichi said decidedly, getting to his feet and pulling me with him by the waist.

This is…a nightmare! He was so huge my feet didn't even touch the ground as he lifted me! Why do I get myself into these things? I should scream. I should fight him off, but there were so many people who could make this situation worse, and I couldn't jeopardize the mission. I could in fact go with him and dispose of him when the opportunity for privacy presented itself.

Maybe I ought to start crying. Yes, that's right. He likes 'em spiny, and I could act just like the opposite.

Fake tears pooling in my eyes, I pleaded to him. "P-Please Gen-ichi-sama…d-don't. I'm…I'm a virgin…"

"Good! I like 'em even better than firecrackers!"

All right, big mistake.

Oh, where is Kenshin when I need him?

Was that her? I had just seen a woman standing on…probably a platform of sorts, peering out to the crowd, but I couldn't be sure. Apart from the mask she wore which was identical to the hundreds of festival-goers, I couldn't quite see the details of her characteristics because of this stupid mask on my own face.

"Kaoru!" I tried to call at the top of my lungs. I got no response from her. I doubt if she heard me, and even if she did, it was quite possible that it wasn't her after all.

And now she had disappeared from sight again, sinking into the sea of people. It's a long-shot, but it's better than nothing.

Squeezing through the throng was near impossible, and a considerable amount of time had passed before I even got to the spot I had seen the Kaoru-lookalike. There was a crate there, most probably the platform she had stood on. Looking around me, I scratched my head and tried to figure out what to do next.

It's times like these that I hate being such a small man with a somewhat soft voice.

Where is she? I am terribly worried. Why did she force me to let go of her? I know I should trust her to take care of herself, but…

I gave it some thought then shrugged. Well, why not? I stepped up the crate and scanned the crowd. I spotted a rather open circle some distance away from where I stood. There were some distinguished looking men seated in a semi-circle, being attended to by what looked to me as Geisha. They looked like a cheerful group, but it bore little consequence to me.

"Hey Himura! Is that you?"

No. I'm just another Japanese guy with red hair.

It was Kyosuke's voice, and I frowned to myself.

I jumped down from my crate to meet the man in the feathered gear. "Have you seen Kaoru?" I asked him immediately.

He grabbed me by my shoulders and hustled me in another direction. "Hell yeah I did! She's in trouble. Gen-ichi's got her, and he ain't known to be gentle on women, if you know what I mean."

Oh God.

I ordered Kyosuke to get us to Gen-ichi's house, before something happened to Kaoru.

The bodyguards followed close behind us, and I had given up struggling against Gen-ichi's grip.

This was all oddly…making me nauseous. I've gone through this, and all my childish fears, despaired resignation, began to thicken in my chest. So real that I could almost smell it.

Thoughts I had long buried in the depths of my mind began to rush back to my brain. "It'll be over soon…", "All I have to do is close my eyes…", "It won't hurt so much if I lie still…", "Won't be so bad if he had me on my hands and knees. At least I don't have to look at him that way…"

I pushed the thoughts back down and breathed deeply to steady my emotions. No…not like that. I could get through this without him having to touch me. These days, I can fight back! I don't have to take it. I'm not a little girl anymore pretending to be a loyal member of the Shinsen-gumi!

Besides, I told Kenshin I could take care of myself, and I will!

"I'll be good now, Gen-ichi-sama," I said prettily. "You can put me down."

"Ah, my little kitty. What if you run away?"

Well, I can't now can it? We're surrounded by your lapdogs. "I won't, Gen-ichi-sama…"

"Make sure she doesn't," Gen-ichi said to his men over his shoulder.

He planted me on my feet and I followed dutifully behind him.

We got to the part of the town that wasn't so crowded and arrived in front of a home with a high perimeter gate.

There were no guards, but then I figured, nobody would be as stupid as we were to break into a mob boss' house.

We entered the gate and I saw that the house was quite huge. Gen-ichi made a lot of money from his on-doings, apparently.

Kyosuke was right. There was nobody around if the darkness of the house was any indication.

"Wait out here," Gen-ichi told his men as he ushered me inside.

I decided to try and make this worth my while. "The girls say that you have many secrets, Gen-ichi-sama."

"Young girls like you ought to keep their traps shut," he said, pushing me forward by the shoulder.

I stifled a familiar kind of whimper that bubbled up my throat. My heart was beating rapidly and I had to summon all of my willpower not to let my fears overcome me.

"Ooh, this house is nice, Gen-ichi-sama," I chimed. "Do you have an office table like those European foreigners? I always wanted my first time to be on a desk like that…" I batted my eyelashes at him. That was terribly nasty of me, but it was the only way I could think of to extract information from him, however lame it sounded.

"You rogue…" he said, grinning. "A very naughty virgin, are you?"

Ugh! I hate this! I blushed for real.

He caught me again by the waist to carry me and he lumbered through the hallway.

This is not going as well as I'd like. I would have to put a stop to this soon if I wanted to preserve some of what little virtue I have left.

He slid open a door to a room with some Japanese type shelves lining the base of a wall. In the corner of the room was a writing desk, and at the center was a futon stuffed in a varnished wooden frame. It looked like a large western bed without legs. I yelped as he tossed me on the mattress carelessly.

Gods! He really is strong! I have to get out of here!

Before I could scamper off the bed, he grabbed me by my hips and flipped me over on my hands and knees.

Shit! "U-Umm…Gen-ichi-sama, please don't be so rough…" I said, desperately thinking of a way to get out of this fix.

He pulled roughly at my obi, and I nearly lost my breath when he yanked at the wrong end and tightened the sash unbearably.

I gasped. "Tight," I whimpered.

"Dammit! This knot's too fucking complicated! Undo it immediately!" He commanded me.

"Y-Yes, Gen-ichi-sama," I said obediently. I spied an opportunity.

Turning around to face him, I undid my hair, intent on mesmerizing him into a stupor that would allow me the chance to administer a Cat's Paw technique on him.

I overestimated his patience.

I cried out as he lunged at me, toppling both of us over on the bed.

Dammit! He's too heavy!

I squirmed to get away, no longer in the frame of mind to play this out.

"Hold still!" He barked, pulling at my kimono roughly.

He took one of my wrists and held it above my head while he figured out a way to get rid of the obi that was hampering him from my nakedness.

I let him figure it out. The opportunity has just presented itself.

"Stop!" I yelled to distract him and let his bodyguards think that Gen-ichi was having the time of his life. "Please don't!"

As he loosened my kimono in front of me, I snaked my other hand to his chest. I let my fingers and wrist work their magic, making my points with accuracy.

A second later, he was slumped over me, unconscious.

I stopped for a moment to calm myself.

Having gathered back my senses, I grunted to push him off me.

His flatulence was giving me a hard time of it.

Prying my leg from beneath his bulk, I tried to get him to roll to his side with my hands and my foot. He budged a little, but I was going to have to put more muscle into my efforts.

The worse thing about being small is having a very limited amount of strength, but if I was going to at least get something accomplished for all this trouble, I should get him off me fast. The silence might already be making his bodyguards suspicious.

I heard a clutter from outside his room and I immediately began making sounds of protest and pain, hoping that the bodyguards would decide to turn back, hearing that their boss was busy. I put in a sob for more effect. If they found me with their boss knocked out of his wits, they aren't going to let me out of here without paying a fleshly toll.

The door was thrown open and my voice dwindled into silence. My eyes widened at the sight of an amber eyed Hitokiri, rage emanating from his face, his sword glinting against the darkness.

BASTARD!

Kaoru beneath him…between her LEGS!

Haven't killed a soul in more than a decade, but maybe just this once…

Taking three large strides, I clapped my hand on his back and hauled him off Kaoru with sheer fury.

"K-Kenshin!" She cried, scrambling to her feet.

Everything has suddenly gone very red, and all I looked forward to was having my sword plunged into his gut. Nobody touches Kaoru when she didn't want to be touched! I'll have his head!

"N-No!" Kaoru screamed, flinging herself at me forcefully, almost like a tackle.

"I'll tear him to shreds," I growled through my teeth, struggling to get past her so I can do my work. "Just watch me."

"Kenshin, he didn't! All right? He didn't!" She shrieked frantically.

"What's going on here?" Kyosuke demanded from the door.

"I'm alright!" Kaoru told me desperately. "I knocked him out before he could do anything! See? He's out cold!"

Her words got through and it finally occurred to me that Gen-ichi was still fully dressed, and that he was indeed unconscious.

I looked at Kaoru. She was decidedly rumpled, her kimono a bit skewed, exposing a bit of her chest. "Are you sure?" I asked her doubtfully, my gaze penetrating her eyes.

"Yes!" She replied with emphasis. "Now please…calm down…please."

For a moment, I stayed still, watching her for a glimmer of anything that might mean she was lying. There was none. She's okay.

After another minute of silence, I sheathed my sword and she gave a sigh of relief. "Kenshin…Gods, you scared me. I thought you were going to kill him…"

"Battousai would have," I said softly, gently taking the edges of her kimono top and pulling it more snuggly on her.

She blushed and adjusted her clothing.

"So…" Kyosuke suddenly said. "Are we okay now?"

Kaoru nodded. I did not.

Something like this…it cannot happen again. From the looks of things, it had been close. Even if Kaoru had managed to get away from the boss, what would she have done against his bodyguards?

"Kyosuke, you've done business with him," Kaoru said. "Does he have an office?"

Kyosuke nodded and jerked his head to the side. "Yeah. Follow me."

Kaoru motioned to follow him but I reached out to caress her tousled hair. She stopped and gave me an embarrassed smile. "I'm okay, Kenshin. He was just a little rough, that's all."

I shook my head in disapproval, not smiling back. "I will not let this happen again," I told her resolutely.

"It won't happen again," she replied. "I just got dragged into this situation…"

"I will not let this happen again," I repeated, walking ahead of her.

Kyosuke led us through complicated hallways and we went deeper into the mansion. There were rooms left and right, but no one occupied them at this time.

Kaoru asked us what we had done with the bodyguards. I could barely remember. All I know is, I slashed through them with my sakabatou and followed the sound of her screams. She was all that mattered.

"Himura paralyzed them," Kyosuke said as he brought us before a western type door, sharply in contrast with the Japanese style home. "Should we break it down?" He asked, nodding towards the door.

"And risk injuring yourselves?" Kaoru said, stepping forward. "Men are so violent, I tell you…"

She fished two pins from her disheveled hair and knelt to the doorknob. With the lock at eye-level, she examined the keyhole and then bent one pin into a small hook while she straightened the other.

Sliding both pins into the hole, she began tinkering with the lock delicately. A few seconds later, there was a click and she straightened to full height. Pushing down the knob, the door swung open.

"Honestly Kyosuke," she said disdainfully as we walked into the room. "It's like you didn't learn anything from the Shikeigai."

"Oh shut up," he said, annoyed by her condescending tone.

Opening Chinese cabinets and pulling out drawers, we sifted through the books and papers stacked in compartments.

"How many journals are we looking for, Kyosuke?" I asked, flipping a logbook open.

"Four or five," Kyosuke replied. "Shouldn't be too hard to find, if it's here."

Almost an hour later, we could not find the journals.

"They're not here," Kyosuke concluded in frustration.

"Wait," Kaoru said, getting to her feet. "I have an idea."

She rushed off again before I could protest.

"Cool it, Himura. No one's out there to hurt her," Kyosuke said, crouching over a drawer and looking idly through some papers, tossing them on the floor sheet by sheet, sometimes two at a time.

I folded to my knees wearily. "Can you blame me? After all that's happened?"

He shrugged. "I must admit, if it were my woman under that hunk of lard, I would have strangled him, whether or not he was unconscious." He pulled out a folder and upon opening it, a broad smile spread across his face. "Bingo! Gen-ichi's dirt portfolio! Let's see…what do we have here? Aizu's favorite sumo is gay. Ho-hum, as if half the town doesn't know about that already. Oh, and here's proof that the Widow Aiko did widow herself for the money. Big deal. Everyone knew she was on to something when she married him. Eighteen-year-olds don't marry grandfathers on a regular basis, you know. Useless…useless…Ah! Here we are! Did you know that the biggest distributor of fish in Aizu is doing his neighbor's wife? If his wife catches him, her father will disinherit him of a boatload of riches."

I looked at him in annoyance. "We are on a serious mission, Kyosuke."

"I am serious! Look-ee here, see? It sez 'My dearest Yukari, words cannot describe how wonderful our last tryst was…' and it's signed, 'Love, Hirofumi.' And it's a dirty letter too! With details about how he 'cannot forget the silken feel' of her womanly body parts. Now, that's what I'm talkin' about…" He said, with a wink and a nod.

I shook my head. "Kyosuke…" My voice trailed off as my eye caught something distinctly familiar.

Snatching a sheet from the top of the ream in Kyosuke's hand, I examined the seal at the bottom of the page. I read its contents. "…Ooka Taka…dispose of him…one thousand yen upon acceptance of the task…one thousand yen upon completion…burn this letter…"

"What the hell…?" Kyosuke whispered, reading the sheet atop his pile. "Yasushige…" He flipped through the sheets beneath it. "Kaoru's…Gack! Here's mine! Himura, these are…"

"The orders," I finished for him. "And it has Saitoh's seal."

"Is he stupid or something?!?" Kyosuke cried incredulously. "Why the hell would he mark orders to kill someone with his personal seal?"

I sighed in exasperation. "I don't know, Kyosuke-san. To gain Gen-ichi's trust? Who knows? I doubt if they even know this is Saitoh's seal, but it's his. I've seen it."

"Shit! What are we gonna do?" Kyosuke asked me.

"We leave it for the police to find," I told him, gathering the letters and stacking all but one on the desk. I straightened Kyosuke's mess and stuffed the irrelevant documents back into its drawer. "We're going to the station right now. Gen-ichi's unconscious and the bodyguards are pretty much incapacitated. We have time to go to the police, but they have to be the ones to find this, so that they can proceed officially on all matters." Taking the orders for the murder of Ooka Taka, I folded it and tucked it into my sleeve.

Kyosuke looked troubled. "Why the hell will they listen to us?"

"They will listen to me," I told him in a tone that said he shouldn't ask anymore questions.

He was perceptive enough to stay silent.

"I found them!" Came Kaoru's voice from the hallway. "I found the diaries!"

She appeared, flushed and laden with books with fading gray covers, an embossed golden border going down its length.

"Where?!?" Kyosuke asked her.

"In Gen-ichi's room. In his shelves," she replied, pleased with herself. "And you wouldn't believe how they got rid of Kiyokawa Hachirou!"

Kyosuke gave a start. "Saitoh killed Kiyokawa Hachirou?"

"No, Hijikata Toshizou did, but the details are in here," Kaoru replied.

"Take the diaries and leave the letters," I said, getting up to hustle both of them out of the office.

"What letters?" Kaoru asked.

Taking the journals from her and handing half of the load to Kyosuke, I replied to her question. "Evidence, Kaoru. Enough to indict Fujita Goro."

She said nothing, astonished by my words.

Hastily, we made our way out of the house.

The Aizu police department was quick to take me seriously once I showed them the document drawn by Kawaji to assert my credibility.

The head of the department was quite speechless when he first read the contents of the evidence I presented to him. He had thought that Ooka Taka's case would rot in its file folder, and now here was evidence that Gen-ichi had perpetrated the crime.

"Where did you get this?" He asked me in shock.

"In Gen-ichi's home office," I simply replied.

The captain raised his eyebrow. "And did Gen-ichi invite you inside?"

"No," Kaoru's voice broke through. "He invited me, and then tried to rape me. Kenshin broke into the house to save my virtue. Is that legal enough for you? Incident to my rescue, we found this letter, so this evidence was not illegally obtained. Besides, we're civilians. The law cannot dismiss the case on an illegal search and seizure that was performed by a civilian. That law only applies to the police."

She never ceases to amaze me. "You will find others like it in the office of Gen-ichi, in his home. Is it enough to get you a search warrant?"

"Y-Yes…" replied the captain, a bit dazed by Kaoru's legal references. "Do you realize who owns this seal?"

"So you recognize it then?"

The captain nodded. "He corresponds with this department…"

"Get the warrant and wire any information you gather tonight directly to Kawaji Toshiyoshi in Edo, at once," I told him. "Please…there can be no delays, Captain."

"Understood," he responded, getting to his feet immediately.

Kaoru, Kyosuke and I sat outside of the captain's office, silent in the waiting area. None of us said much. I suspect that we were all still dazed from everything that's happening.

"What about these journals, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked me.

"I'm not sure, but I know someone who might be interested in them," I replied, thinking about Nakagura Daisuke. This was a delicate matter. Even with Saitoh masterminding the murders, I wondered if I could be so heartless as to give the journals to Daisuke for Saitoh's absolute demise. He certainly deserves no mercy. He wants my Kaoru killed, but maybe I should at least leave him his honor…

It took two hours for the captain to process the necessary documents for the search, but the moment he procured his warrant, the force was set into motion.

Gen-ichi's compound was raided, the bodyguards and Gen-ichi himself still unconscious. Finding the letters, the Aizu police department made the arrests incident to the search, even if they had to haul the crooks out on stretchers. The detainment facility would be full tonight.

We just sat back and watched it all happen, posing no interference to the process.

Late into the night, while Aizu was still celebrating, the captain informed me that he had wired a report to Kawaji, and that he had recommended Fujita Goro be hauled in for questioning.

It is done.

Exhausted, we tiredly made our way to our respective quarters.

[If you are interested in the lemon-version of this part, click to the next chapter NOW. If not, read the text below (which is the R-version) and forego the next chapter, as there will indeed be details containing sexual content. Yours, in humble service, anna-neko.]

Kenshin has been aloof. From the moment I walked into the room coming from the communal bath to my efforts to engage him in light conversation as I sat brushing my hair on the futon, he would not give me more than Yeses and Nos.

It was not pleasant. In fact, it was horrible. The day had not been an easy one. 12 hours on a train, being hauled off to a strange man's room, almost getting raped, waiting in the police station, I could at least expect some sort of tender loving care from my rurouni. But now, with both of us bathed and ready for sleep, he wouldn't even come near me. He just sat by the window, staring out in the street that was still rather busy from the festivities.

After running my brush through my hair for the seven hundredth time, I've had enough and decided to come out with it. "Are you angry at me?"

He paused, not even turning to look, then he replied. "No…yes."

He is and he isn't? What the hell?!?! "What--Why? What did I do?" I asked, quite perplexed.

There was another pause, and I can see by the angle of his face that he was bereft of expression. "Yes because you refused to be protected and no because you refused to be protected."

That has cleared nothing up as far as I'm concerned. "Well that settles it," I said somewhat sarcastically. I was getting a bit irritated.

"You know," he said, finally facing me. "I've…I've had to deal with a lot of things in my life. I know you understand this…you and I, we’ve been through so much, together and separately. In the same manner you've built defenses to help you cope…I have my own obstacles."

Kenshin…

"I lost about as much as I can bear during the war, and because of that, I swore that as long as I was around, I will keep safe the ones I love. I…I want to be the one to protect you," he continued with deep intensity. "I suppose I could be unreasonable when it comes to that, but only because it is important to me that I keep this promise. I'm angry because sometimes, you wouldn't let me protect you, but then I know I shouldn't be angry, because I could not fault you for believing in yourself. I keep telling myself that you'll always need my protection, but that just isn't how it is. You helped yourself when Gen-ichi tried to hurt you, didn't you?"

I frowned. "Are you blaming me for what happened with Gen-ichi?"

Kenshin shook his head emphatically. "No. No, Kaoru. I am not blaming you for that. None of it was your fault. What I'm trying to get at is…I want to protect you, but I have to accept the fact that it couldn't be that way all the time. I'm angry because I couldn't always control things, and basically I'm…" He sighed. "I'm taking it out on you because you're the one who made me realize this."

It's funny what goes through Kenshin's head. He's so wrapped up in his concern for others, me in particular, that he's confusing himself. Dear, sweet man. Dear, sweet Kenshin. Only he could be angry with me and still manage to intensify my affection.

"So, have I earned your trust, Kenshin? That I'd be able to take care of myself when the situation calls for it?" I asked him.

He nodded slowly. "When the situation calls for it, I will trust you, but if I can help it, I will always protect you."

I smiled at him. "That's a good enough compromise for me."

He took a deep breath and he tuned out for a moment, pondering to himself.

Troubled over nothing, my rurouni. Does he not realize that what he is feeling is basic human nature? Does he not see that in spite of my protests to his actions, my reluctance to being totally dependent on him, I actually appreciate his concern?

Do I really have this effect on Kenshin? Complicating his thoughts when the simplicity of it is staring him right in the nose? Oh Kenshin, Kenshin…you are spoiling me, dearest.

This will not do. I can’t let him do this to himself.

"Kenshin, get over here," I told him, patting the space beside me on the futon.

He looked at me uncertainly, not stirring.

"Come here, silly," I said, chuckling.

Gingerly, he crawled to my side.

The moment he was within reach, I cupped his jaws in my hands and kissed him tenderly on the lips. His astonishment took but a second, and upon realizing that he liked this surprise, he began to kiss back, placing his thumb on my chin as if coaxing me to part my lips. And so I did, letting our tongues caress each other in gentle flicks. It felt wonderful, especially when he thought it best to pull me closer in his arms.

When we separated we were breathless, and I couldn't quite believe how this man could make me feel so much love and desire in something so simple as a kiss.

I'm not sappy. Not normally, but it wasn't so much the feel of his body so close to mine as it was the thought that he could and would ignite passion in me because he loves me, and because I love him.

Nestling my head under his chin, I sighed happily at the pleasant warmth of our embrace.

I felt his fingers running idly through my hair as he placed a loving kiss on my forehead.

His gentleness conveys a kind of carefulness I did not expect, as if I was some sort of fragile virgin. It will not do, of course. I ought to remind him that being virginal is the last thing I'll ever be in this life time, and that whatever reservations he may have in touching me should be discarded in view of the circumstances.

Placing my lips against his throat, I rolled my tongue over his skin and grazed my fingers against the fine lines of his chest, tracing muscles and scars in delicate precision.

He hissed, more like the sound of one affected than annoyed, so I continued my ministrations, earnestly wondering where it would take me.

I was surprised when he clamped his hands around my wrists and coaxed my straying hands from off him. Looking up at his face, I asked myself whether it was possible that I had offended him. Maybe…he doesn't want a woman like me. Used too often…

He smiled, alleviating all of my fears when he let his lips claim mine, then rasping his teeth against my chin before pulling away. So enamored was I with this maneuver that I had not noticed how he had directed both of my hands on my back, holding them there with his own.

It was my turn to hiss. I've never been so aroused by incapacitation in my entire life.

"Your hands," he said, his voice taking on the baritone I had fantasized about a countless number of moments. He kissed me several times on my neck, and I shuddered every time I felt the velvety stroke of his tongue. "Your hands…are roguish…"

I closed my eyes and a moan escaped my throat, pushing myself higher against him with my knees, tilting my chin up for more of his kisses. I barely knew what I was saying when I replied, "My hands…are the least of my roguish attributes…"

He gasped my name, like he was shocked, but not at all deterred by it. "You don't know what those words do to me," he murmured, pulling me even closer, directing me to straddle him because there was no other way to be nearer to each other.

Placing my lips close to his ear and biting slightly at the lobe of it, I smiled to myself before whispering that I knew exactly what it was doing to him at this moment. He groaned, unable to deny my words.

He couldn't, not with the way I was pressed against him and the way his body, or should I say, "body part" was betraying him.

I still had my hands behind my back, he still held them, and not that I didn't like it, but if he wanted to play, I would have to know. So I told him in a soft, seductive tone that if he wanted to use his hands, I promise not to move mine.

Unexpectedly, he stopped, looking up at my face. He seemed…struck, and I was afraid that I had ruined things with my own lack of inhibition. Slowly, his hands slid up my elbows, coaxing them over his own shoulders.

"Kaoru…" He said while I pulled my eyes away from his gaze in shame. "Have you ever…been loved by a man?"

My brows knotted and I began to pull myself away from him. He held me, preventing me from doing so. Why is he asking me that? Does is matter to him all of a sudden? "You know I've been…" I said somewhat bitterly. "I'm sorry if that--"

He shook his head and hushed me softly, planting a tender kiss on my lower lip and biting gently, as if to prove the meaning behind my words wrong. "No…no, that's not what I meant," he said. "Just that it seems to me…that no one has cared enough to touch you the way you want to be touched…"

This astonished me. "I…but you…"

"This is not about me tonight, Kaoru," he whispered, kissing my throat and flicking his tongue on the hollow of it.

I purred, taking in the full force of his words, making it swim in my senses.

"Tonight you will know how it is to be loved by me," he said in sweet assurance.

I closed my eyes and I knew. My surrender is his ardor, and that was all he asked of me.

His hands gliding up the contours of my body, touching where I needed him most, caressing where I wanted him to soothe. There has not been and neither will there ever be any other lover but him. He heard my cries and responded, listened to my voice and gave me what I desired, and what I could not fathom in the depths of this new kind of touch, he made possible, consuming me in its entirety.

I did not know, and I did not dream. He is teaching me, and showing me the reality.

And when I was enlightened, given all that I had longed for and never even envisaged of receiving, it was only then he took. That was all he demanded, and I was more than willing to impart what he had so lavishly bestowed: To love and be loved in return, to find completion only in the passion of another.

To be continued…

Author's Notes:

~~AKA means "red" and BEKO is the local word for "cow" (usually a cow is called "ushi" in Japanese). The akabeko is a famous souvenir of Aizu. Red is believed to be a lucky colour. The idea apparently came from the "red cows" that were needed to move the big stones to make the castle (Tsurugajou). It is one of the few Fukushima folk crafts to be well known throughout Japan. Akabeko, with their free-swinging head that bobs up and down.

~~E-rosoku are handmade candles with brightly colored sketches of flowers and flowering plants painted on the sides. They are one of Aizu Wakamatsu's more unique folk crafts. Although they can be found throughout Japan, Aizu Wakamatsu's e-rosoku are the only ones to be made and painted entirely by hand. With their brilliant depictions of chrysanthemums, peonies, and plum blossoms,etc., they are valued for their uniqueness and exceptional beauty.

~~Ikken means "house", so Wakamatsu no Ikken is translated as House of the Wakamatsu.

~~Bankoyaki, basically pottery, is usually made in Tajima, south of Aizu.

~~The Byakkotai, or the White Tiger Brigade, a group of boys ranging from 15 to 18 years of age. They studied Bushido at Aizu Nisshinkan, and they fought during the war for the Shogun against the Meiji Emperor. In the height of the Boshin Civil War, they mistakenly saw Tsurugajou castle (Tokugawan castle) in flames. Thinking that the war was lost and their masters felled, 19 of the boys committed ritual suicide, or sepukku. Seppuku isn't your average kind of suicide. In consists of the "suicide-ee" plunging a sword through his gut, slashing down and then sideways to disembowel himself (Ouch! Very painful!), but it doesn't end there. Something like that would only make them bleed to death, so when they've properly suffered from their self-inflicted wounds, their "partner" would have to decapitate them from behind. Unfortunately for the Byakkotai, the castle did not burn down, and the war raged on.

~~The Fujinbutai actually existed, though I have to check around for how much they actually contributed to the war, and which side they were on.

~~In case you've forgotten, I mentioned Kiyokawa Hachirou in Chapter One as the Shinsen-gumi traitor. Hijikata Toshizou was the Shinsen-gumi "big boss" and he did get rid of Kiyokawa, after torturing him for hours on end. Tsk, tsk! Messy business.

~~After the war, Japan had a French-based justice system, an American-based educational system, and a European-based political system of government. They were a parliament after all. They did have a Legislative, Judicial and Executive branch, but because of their inherently imperial rule, the functions of government were not all clear cut. "Social liberties and civil rights" were still a bit difficult to instill in their leaders, most especially "Freedom of Speech." However, basing it from the information I've gathered, it's entirely possible that Japan would have laws concerning the indictment, trial and conviction/acquittal of suspected criminals. Though laws on warranted searches and seizures were probably loosely applied (if they were applied at all), I let Kaoru have a gleaning of it, just so the subject of the legitimacy of Saitoh's arrest wouldn't be so open-ended.