Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Life Insured ❯ Foxy Lady ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: Thanks to everyone that reviewed! I'm glad you like it so far, and this chapter is the best so far, in my opinion. It's definitely lot's of fun, since Megumi gets added into relationship dynamics. A couple people have asked me about the appearance of Battousai in this fic… and that's a very very interesting question.

Without giving anything away, I'll just say that, while Kenshin does have a harder edge underneath all of that goofiness, he was never named Battousai. But that doesn't mean he can't get gold eyes once in a while. Hehe I know that's really vague, but if you stick around, I think you'll be satisfied to see how Kenshin's going to grow and change as a character. Please review, and give me comments and suggestions!!

"Life Insured"

Chapter 3: Foxy Lady

Sanosuke leaned against the wall casually, ignoring the way the jutting and crumbling bricks of the building were unevenly placed behind his back. One of his feet rested flat on the wall beneath him, as he took a long drag on his cigarette. His hat was pulled down low over his eyes. To any passerby, he would be inconspicuous. The only thing striking about him was his abnormal height, and the flicker of the hot coal in the shadows of the alleyway. No one would pay him a second glance.

Well, if he was lucky, one person would pay him that second glance… the one he had been waiting for, for the past twenty minutes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure in a gray trench coat and sunglasses, with long flowing hair, moving toward him. Lazily flicking the end of the butt with his middle finger, he pretended not to notice, and instead pushed himself off the wall to move deeper into the darkness of the space between the old buildings.

Before he had taken five steps, a hard and sweet voice stopped him in his tracks. "Don't move any further, or I'll shoot."

Sano chuckled to himself, raising his hands above his head in surrender. Turning around slowly, he saw his partner standing five feet away, her finger sticking suspiciously like the shape of a gun, in her pocket. His lips quirked up in a devilish smile, and he winked at her cheekily.

"Nice to see you too, fox." With one toss of his wrist, he had dropped the burning cigarette onto the cement, and scuffed it out gracefully with the sole of his shiny, black shoe. He dug his hands into the pockets of his slacks.

Megumi tossed her hair haughtily, though even she couldn't hide her relief at being able to see Sano- if only just for a brief moment. "You know, you really should stop smoking those things. They'll be the death of you…not that I wouldn't be happy to see it…"

Sano chuckled again. "…Says the woman who involves herself with the mafia…"

She rolled her eyes, moving on to scold him. "We don't have time to joke around anymore… I could have been followed." She now remembered to lower her voice.

The brunette agent's smile vanished, and he stepped close to her, casually scanning the street for any suspicious passerby. He could smell the sweetness of her perfume, so close. He then tilted his head so it was right next to her ear. "What have you got, then?"

"Shishio's best hit man on the outside of the ring is causing some suspicion. He's changed his codename, his phone number, and is now posing as an insurance agent."

Sano was silent for a moment, and Megumi could imagine him quirking a brow, even if she couldn't see his face. "What does that mean?"

"Shishio hasn't heard anything about it yet. Soujiro has spoken with the man on the phone, and believes that everything is normal. But, Shishio's mistress, Yumi, is the one that is the most suspicious of him."

"What do you think?"

Megumi pursed her red-painted lips. "I don't think he's who he says he is."

"What do you plan to do about it?"

"I'm going to go to him tomorrow, and see what I can see."

"Getting into more danger?" He felt less-than-thrilled about handing over the best woman on the force into yet another possible trap…even less thrilled at the fact that it was Megumi in the position.

"I can handle myself, rooster-head!"

Sano shrugged. He stepped back after a second, sweeping an eye over her. "Not getting attached to any mob bosses, are you?" he teased.

"Jealous, Sano?" He couldn't see her eyes behind her dark shades, but knew they were twinkling flirtatiously at him.

"I'm not jealous of what the agents are going to do to Shishio when we track him down." He winced appreciatively at the thought of it.

She nodded, solemnly. Neither one mentioned that just finding Shishio would be the hardest task. Megumi herself, being planted under the cover as an F.B.I. agent who had betrayed the federal organization, had never seen him. Though the entire show was being directed by Shishio's puppet strings, his right hand workers did all the dirty work. He was just a legend to his followers…someone defined by shadow.

Out in the street behind them, the sound of a police siren split the twilight with its shrill yell. It was almost as if it were the signal that Megumi had to leave. Briefly reaching up to pat her partner tenderly on the cheek, the tall woman turned on a heel, and was exiting the alley.

He didn't need to tell again to be careful. The words already were apparent in the way he had looked at her.

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Kaoru fidgeted nervously, alternately scared and then wondering why exactly she was hiding behind a wall. Could it have been because Kenshin was walking her way so that he could get to the break room? Or maybe it was that she was itching to talk to him.

She hadn't seen Kenshin since the Friday before, when she had listened in on his phone call by accident. He had called in sick on Monday, a rarity for the prompt insurance agent. Over the past few days, Kaoru had been running the conversation over in her mind, trying to make sense of what she had heard. Who could have been on the other end that would have caused Kenshin so much distress- was he in danger? Or was he really planning on doing something dangerous?

Now that he was finally back in the office, she knew she had to find out one way or another. If he really were involved with some underground organization…well, then she would just have to be the one to stop him from doing something illegal. That's what she kept telling herself, at least.

Kaoru could no longer pretend she was a part of the break room wall when Kenshin entered, and instead sat herself down at the circular table with its unstable leg and scratched surface. He looked up at her, and suddenly she wasn't sure why she had ever thought this man could be a killer. His eyes were watery with stress, dark circles were apparent under his eyes, and yet he still smiled at her with a kind, simple grace. Kenshin Himura was no murderer.

But, that didn't mean he wasn't capable of deceiving her. Was this job just a cover-up after all?

Kenshin was pouring himself a cup of warmed-over coffee, his shoulders slumped slightly. Her eyes traced the hard lines of his torso absently, wondering what she would say to him when he turned around.

At last, he set the coffee pitcher back in its holder, turning to join Kaoru at the table. Mostly focused on the drink in his hands, he flickered a glance to the woman beside him. Before she could bring up the subject of the telephone call, he started the conversation with a wry chuckle. "Don't you get tired of spending your mornings with such an old man?" He took a sip of the coffee.

Kaoru left her nervousness for a second, giving him a quizzical look. "Old man? You can't be a day over thirty, can you? … Just how old are you?" She eyed him suspiciously. She supposed she had never once thought to ask.

Kenshin smiled sheepishly. "Actually, Miss Kaoru, I just turned thirty eight."

"Thirty eight…what?!" Her voice rose incredulously. Kenshin shrugged. He had often been mistaken for a teenager… perhaps it was only his scar that made him look of legal age.

Why, he's over a decade older than I am… She processed the age difference after a long moment. When the silence fell over them again, she finally remembered what she had waited to ask him about. Shifting nervously in her chair, her fingers began tapping on the tabletop. She had become in the habit of using her fingers as an outlet for her nerves.

He noticed quickly with concern that she was looking out of sorts. "Is anything the matter, Miss Kaoru?" he asked, worriedly.

She chewed on her lip nervously, took a deep breath and then, without looking his way, spit out what she had wanted to tell him for days now. "I heard your telephone conversation on Friday." She winced slightly, the irrational and fantastical half of her imagining dark men in ski masks leaping from behind the potted plants to silence her. Of course that didn't happen.

Kenshin was quiet for a long moment. She watched as he painstakingly set his coffee cup on the table in front of him, placing his hands flat on the surface. He looked up slowly through his bangs, and gave her a tired smile. It was at that moment that she realized what she hadn't noticed before- Kenshin looked an absolute wreck. His hair was a bit disheveled, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, and his bright smile was wavering in a kind of nervous twitch.

"You heard it, that you did….? Which…which one…?" His voice was almost a whisper.

Kaoru looked apologetic, and began pushing the ends of her index fingers together. "I, well… there was something about… blood…and, er… killing people…" She glanced sidelong at him, and then looked away quickly. "Who are you?!" It came out so bluntly, that she felt like slapping her hands over her mouth. Kaoru had never been renown for her subtlety. "If… if it's anything bad, I won't tell anybody…"

Kenshin's eyes were pleading and yet resigned as they pierced hers. He shakily reached up one hand to run it through his long bangs. "I'm exactly who you think I am. But, this is all a huge misunderstanding…" he took a deep breath. "I have nothing to do with the mafia… someone just seems to think that I do." He didn't quite know how to explain.

Kaoru's eyes lit up in worry, and she leaned towards Kenshin so she could speak more confidentially. "Someone… believes you're part of the mafia?" The question was a gasp.

He nodded, dazed. "It seems as if I'm the mafia's… hit man." He said it as if he still had yet to believe it.

"WHAT?! What are you going to do, then? You've never killed anybody before! Er… you haven't, right?" she was currently feeling unsure.

"NO!" he looked horrified. He then steeled himself unsuccessfully in the reflection of his coffee. "I'll just…I'll fix it somehow. I'll call the police." Inside, he knew that wasn't an option. Hiko had told him that the organization would kill him if he made any false moves. And he knew too well what people like that were capable of. "Or…well, I'll straighten it out somehow." He smiled reassuringly at the pretty woman, though it was obvious he himself was not sure in his conviction.

"But…"

Kenshin raised a hand to stop her, and he backed out of his chair almost too quickly to be natural. "Don't worry, Miss Kaoru, I'll fix it on my own. Just… please, I don't want you in any kind of trouble… so, don't ever mention it again. This is not the kind of problem you should involve yourself in." Before she could protest, Kenshin had grabbed his coffee cup from the table, and had vanished from the room.

She sighed in worry and confusion. How was Kenshin planning on handling the mafia on his own? Even if he was trying to act brave, she knew that even he had to be afraid of what might happen.

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The men at the front desk of Imperial Insurance were surprised, to say the least. It was very rare that any customer request for a specific insurance agent on their first time dealing with the company. It was even less rare that a customer request especially for Kenshin Himura. And it was almost unbelievable that that customer would be a woman like this one.

Megumi Takani sweetly thanked the boys for their help, after which she sauntered daintily towards the lobby's elevator. She knew that they were leaning out of their desks to catch a glimpse of her, and she was glad that, even if mafia men were dangerous and often crude, most at least had enough self-respect to keep their tongues from rolling onto the floor.

When she reached the thirtieth floor, Megumi stepped out with a swing in her body that defined an experienced woman. Her heels moved one in front of the other with practiced delicacy, as she went straight for row 8, cubicle 6, where she knew her man would be.

Kenshin looked up, startled, seeing the woman standing at his door. She was a beautiful woman, with a carriage that wasn't normally seen in his daily customers. She was long-legged, with dark hair and makeup that was fresh, yet daring. While most slightly-attractive women relied on skimpy skirts and revealing tops as their fashion crutch, this tall woman had a simple blouse over her ample bosom and a skirt that fell past her knees. But the way she moved made the cloth covering her body even more alluring than would be bare skin.

Taking this all in with one glance, Kenshin leapt courteously from his seat to greet her. "Miss…?" he asked for her name. She smiled at him, her red lips still pursed together even in the smile. She took an immediate liking to this diminutive man who, unlike every other male in the building, was not gawking at her. His eyes were shining in natural respect for a beautiful woman.

She considered to herself that anyone else might have laughed that a man like this could have been mistaken for a hit man. But, Megumi knew better. She had seen Soujiro Seta, a man smaller and ten years younger than Kenshin, kill ten men in the blink of an eye. "My name isn't important," She said softly. "The only important thing is that you listen carefully to what I have to say."

Kenshin realized, with sudden dread, that he had just received yet another customer that wasn't looking for insurance advice. He drew in a sharp breath, wishing futilely that he could be anywhere but in that cubicle. His voice lowered accusingly. "Are you…one of them? The people that called me?"

Megumi crossed her legs delicately after seating herself, lacing her long fingers together in her lap. "Yes and no. First, I need to know if what I expect is true. You aren't the `silent killer' that Shishio has contracted all these years."

Kenshin's eyes lit up with a hopeful glint. "No…no, I'm not a hit man…I was set up!"

Megumi looked pleased. "Very good. It's very unfortunate that an innocent civilian had to get involved in something as dangerous as mafia work, but it can't be helped anymore."

Kenshin's hopes crashed again. "What do you mean, `it can't be helped'?"

"I'm sure you know. If they knew that you weren't who you they think you are…you would already be in some dumpster."

"Dumpster…?"

Megumi rolled forward a little bit in her chair, leaning so close to Kenshin that he could smell the sweetness of her perfume. He colored slightly, watching her dark lips move as she whispered to him. "But, I can help you out of this if you'll agree to do what I say…"

Suddenly, behind Megumi sounded a small cough of apparent disapproval, and the woman whipped around to see who was standing in the narrow hallway. Kenshin looked up, too, to see Kaoru watching them. He considered what it might look like to Kaoru, seeing this alluring woman leaning so close to Kenshin. He had enough decency to squirm in embarrassment.

Kaoru eyed Megumi with suspicion. "Kenshin, who is this woman?" Some remembrance of her training in dealing with customers told her that maybe she shouldn't be so rude, but the woman was practically on top of Kenshin!

Kenshin smiled innocently, which made Kaoru's eyes narrow even further. "This is…" he remembered very fast that he hadn't learned her name. He looked helplessly at Megumi.

"I'm Megumi," she purred. "I'm a client of Kenshin's." She saw the annoyance in the younger woman's face, and purposefully moved a long-nailed hand to squeeze Kenshin's knee. Kenshin jumped at the pressing touch, his cheeks reddening. He hoped silently that Megumi would not anger Kaoru any further.

"You must be Kenshin's secretary, hm?" she smiled sweetly, yet condescendingly at Kaoru.

Kaoru's eyes bugged out. "Secretary?!" she squawked loudly.

"Oh," Megumi tittered innocently. "Forgive me. I guess I just assumed that someone so young and inexperienced wouldn't be anywhere near the same level as dear Kenshin…"

The younger woman's eyes were spitting fire, and her fists clenched dangerously at her sides. As much as she adored Kenshin, some days she wished she could just smack the red-haired man upside the head, in order to knock some sense into him. "Well, I guess I'll leave you two be, then…" Kaoru bit the reply out through clenched teeth, and then moved towards her own cubicle, her eyes still glaring at Megumi as she left.

"You know, you really shouldn't tease Miss Kaoru like that," Kenshin warned. "She doesn't respond well to it, that she does not…" He watched Kaoru move away with a dry look on his face. When he turned back to Megumi, he saw that her eyes had already lost some of the teasing twinkle that had been there before. They both knew that playtime was over.

He sighed. "Just who are you, Miss Megumi?"

Her voice was lowered to a murmur once again, so that even Kaoru, who was most likely eavesdropping from the next cubicle, would not be able to hear her speak. "I'm with the Federal Bureau of Investigation." She had quickly pulled out a small badge from her purse, with the insignia of an agent emblazoned on it.

Kenshin looked relieved. "This means you can protect Miss Kaoru and I from any further involvement with these people, right?"

Megumi's smooth mask broke for a moment in alarm. "That girl knows?!"

Kenshin looked regretful. "I'm sorry. It wasn't her fault. She accidentally heard my telephone conversation with Hiko Seijuro."

Megumi sighed, obviously frustrated. "OK, then…two innocent civilians involved unnecessarily. Whoever this Hiko Seijuro is, he should have learned some decency...but I guess hired killers aren't always perfectly sane." She thought offhand of Soujiro again… he was a brilliant and sweet boy, but everyone knew he was repressing too many dirty memories behind that smile of his. Such was the mind of a murderer.

"What do you want me to do now?" Megumi noticed that Kenshin's previous vague tone had been discarded, and now his voice was more even. He understood that Megumi's words could mean the difference between life and death, even if it hadn't been spoken aloud.

"You're going to pretend to be who they think you are. You're going to go on with your daily life… try to relax, as hard as that may seem. If they call you again, remain as cool as possible."

"But, what if they request me to perform a `hit' for them?"

Megumi nodded. This certainly was not the man Shishio would desire as hit man. Even though Kenshin was sharp and had hidden strength that none of these other slouchy middle-aged insurance lackeys could dream of matching, he was not a cold-blooded killer. She slipped two fingers into the small handbag she was carrying, producing a small business card, which she held out for Kenshin.

He held the card with care, as if it were a symbol of his last lifeline, noticing with brief interest that it wasn't made out of ordinary paper, but was some alternative, heavier material. There was a single name printed across the card, followed by a seven-digit number. There were no other words.

"Sanosuke Sagara," Megumi stated. "He's my partner, who is the other half of this operation. If and when you get the call to help Shishio out, I want you to take a taxicab to a phone booth that's not in the business district. Tell him exactly what they told you, and he'll tell you what to do."

"When will I be able to speak to you again?"

She smirked sadly. "I don't think that we'll be able to arrange another meeting. I've been working on gaining the trust of Shishio's men for months now. I'm taking a huge risk by even coming here."

He nodded solemnly, realizing how much Megumi had potentially sacrificed by coming to speak to him. "I appreciate your help, that I do, Miss Megumi… I just…" he smiled sheepishly. "I know little about acting like a hit man… I'm afraid I'll be of little help to anyone."

Megumi's hand crept out to grab a hold of Kenshin's pink tie. She pulled him a little closer with the end of the tie, flirting shamelessly once again. "Ah, dear Kenshin; you look like you've never had a day of fun in your whole life," she winked at him. "Here's your chance."

He detached Megumi's fingers from his tie with a calm air, that vague and neutral smile of his lifting his lips again. He was sure Kaoru was probably peeking at them through the cracks, trying to listen in on the conversation.

As Kenshin quickly slipped the business card Megumi had handed them into the back of one of his desk drawers, Megumi's eyes flickered over the surface of Kenshin's desk. It had long ago become a normal reaction as an agent and spy to take in all of her surroundings to the very last detail. Raising a smooth, white hand, Megumi leaned to touch a small picture frame that sat near his computer. It was of a serenely beautiful young woman with dark hair and the whitest skin she had ever seen.

"Is this your wife?"

Kenshin flinched almost unnoticeably, not looking up. "No, no… just a picture of an old friend, that's all. It's just old memories. I should take it down soon, that I should…" His light and dismissive smile didn't look very convincing, as his eyes weren't meeting the agent's. Megumi nodded, silently, understanding that it was something she shouldn't prod any further.

Seeing the stress apparent on the man's face, she realized it was time they part. She stood carefully from her chair, letting Kenshin shake her hand. He looked grateful, though she knew that inside he was probably frightened of what was to come. She didn't blame him at all. It was the most unfortunate thing in the world that this nice, bright man was involved in something so terrifying.

"I think you'll do better than you think you will, Kenshin. Just remember the general rule for all shady dealings: if you act like you know what you're talking about, they have to believe you."

He nodded, smartly. "Thank you, Miss Megumi."

"Remember to call Sano."

"That I will."

And, without any more words, the fox lady exited in the same way she had arrived: with style.

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A/N: Ahh… Megumi… to quote Mike Myers in Wayne's World "She's a fox. In French, she would be called "la renarde" and would be hunted with only her cunning to protect her…" XD

Please let me know if there's any problems/comments/nitpicks you have.

Stay tuned for Chapter 4!