In the apartment above the Akebeko, the group of conspirer's continued their scheming. "Sure if Kenshin says he'll do it, he would... but just in case we better back him." Sanosuke noted, scribbling on a paper, "Now imagine this is Tokyo."
"Baka yarou! That ain't Tokyo!!" Yahiko charted, "That's a f--king mess! I'll show ya Tokyo!!" He then scribbled on the back of the paper. Everyone made a face. "OI! What's wrong with it?!"
"Looks like a child's drawing. Lemme at it!" Tae said, scribbling onto her own floor. Everyone stared. "NANI?! That's TOKYO!!"
Katsu cleared his throat, "I apologize to the beautiful and intelligent Tae-san, daga that type of map won't help us. Let a master get to work." He took hold of the sumi brush and painted onto the long roll of rice paper he provided for himself. The room filled with 'ooo's and 'aaa's as the real Tokyo was shown.
"Yoshi! Since we've been following the Tanuki's trail, we should know when he'll strike next!" Sanosuke uttered, the four of them huddling around the professionally done map, "Hmm... what do you think?"
Tae tapped her chin, "Considering the Industry district is by the water, do you think Tanuki-han will have to turn his ugly tail back?"
"Aa," Yahiko uttered, "So we'll have to cut it off from going any further. But how? Food is too dangerous! He gets cranky if he doesn't get his fill!!"
Katsu fixated a smile. "All of you are mistaken... if you all had taken a closer look, you would've seen that the Tanuki-Kaishuu is not a male. But a female."
A series of mouths drop open in shock. Suddenly Sanosuke smacks his friend. "OI HENTAI!! What's wrong with you?! You actually looked...?!?!"
"Itai... well, I did do some novel sketches of the beast and it's obviously a female beast." Katsu uttered, rubbing his sore head, "And if you hit me again, I will seriously have to shove a pineapple bomb down yer throat and watch you blow up to smithereens... that hurt so much I could cry..."
Yahiko crossed his arms. "So we know the evil thing is a girl - so what is new? How is this piece of information gonna help us? All we know he, I mean - SHE could still eat us all if she wanted to!"
Tae shook her head. "I'm not gonna be eaten by that monster who defaced Okita-sama! I will get my revenge!!" she exclaimed, her face scaring the others, and so was the flames building up in her now open eyes, "Tsunan-han, you have bombs right?? Yahiko-kun, I need you to get more food... and Sano-han, I have a special job for you!"
"Eh?!" Sanosuke gasped, "N-Nan de, Tae...?"
She just grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the other room. The other two watched the shadows behind the screen, Sanosuke screaming as Tae grabbed hold of his clothes and threw them aside. Nose-bleeding, Katsu uttered, "We're in for it now..."
* * *
Kaoru dried her eyes and pushed the barrel of yams away. 'Mou... Kenshin... no baka...' she sobbed. Pulling herself up and she saw that it was getting dark soon. 'Oh no! I have to hurry, before...!!'
Meanwhile, Kenshin had passed by Smith's room. He was gone already. Wondering where the English swinger went, he heard footsteps behind him. He could tell it was Kaoru by the sudden dizziness that came over him. Frantic, he quickly ran into his room and shut the door. "Orororororo...!"
"Ano, Kenshin..." uttered the shadow behind the screen, "Anata wa... eto... y-you dropped your sakabatou..."
He gazed towards her timid form on the other side. 'That's where she'll always be if you don't open the door.' he told himself, getting onto his feet and walking towards the screen. It suddenly opened by itself. He stopped and gazed into her tear-stained face. 'Kaoru...'
"Kenshin!!" she sobbed, throwing the sakabatou aside and hugging him. He stood completely still, his arms at his side. Her voice was soft in his ear, "I have to tell you the truth... please listen to me. It's killing me not being able to tell you..."
"Iya, Kaoru-dono, you don't have to say anything. Sessha already knows the truth de gozaru yo." he uttered, pulling her away and gazing into her surprised face, "And no matter what Kaoru-dono says, Sessha cannot change his feelings. Sessha has decided not to go through with it, datte - it would be wrong! So very wrong de gozaru!"
"Kenshin..." Kaoru gasped, not believing what she had just heard. He just smiled and nodded his head, that cute goofy smile. But tears were building up again in her eyes as she backed away. "Sou na... why did I even bother?!"
"ORO?!" he cried as she ran away in tears, 'I don't get it! Didn't I just say a good thing?! Shit, I better go fix up this misunderstanding before she turns into a raccoon again!'
* * *
'Oh Kami-sama! I'm so stupid!!!' Sanosuke thought, standing in front of a mirror. He was covered from head to toe with brown fur, which came from the strange grizzly bear rug that Tae's sister, Sae, had sent her. He even had a big tail and little ears, "TAE!!!"
"Jotto ne," she replied, painting whiskers on his face, "Kore! Now you will be able to swoon the Tanuki-kaishuu into submission."
"Heh, I'm kinda missing the equipment if ya know what I mean." he chuckled, swinging his hips and swishing his tail.
"Hihihi, gomen na. We kinda ran out of fabric."
"OI!!" Yahiko exclaimed, "While you two are fooling around, we've got the food and bombs all set. Let's get ready to go now! It's already getting' dark out!"
They nodded and followed him out the door. Katsu gazed at his friend and then burst out laughing. "You're a giant teddy bear!"
"KUSO! I ought to f--king kill you right now, but I'm afraid of ruffling my fur! Now shut yer yap and tell me what I'm supposed to do in this getup!"
Yahiko replied, "Considering we don't know what Kenshin's going to do, so we'll wait a bit longer. Still we'll have you stationed near the industry district and lure the Kaishuu away to the trap we'll set up. The food will be icing. And the bombs will be for our protection..."
"What about my protection!?" Sanosuke exclaimed, "You want me to frolic with an oversized raccoon under romantic moonlight?!? Saa, that's insane!! I'm a HUMAN!!!"
Tae patted him on the fuzzy head, "Maa maa, you're a human with a big heart and a big debt. Because you'll do this courageous act, I'll automatically take off 10% of your tab and then tell Takani-han that 'you and Ken-han aren't really lovers'."
"NAN DE?!!? KENSHIN... ORE?!?!"
Yahiko chuckled, "It was a joke... I didn't mean for it to escalate into the latest gossip..." He then hid before Tae and Katsu from the raging raccoon.
"WHY YOU!! TEME!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!"
* * *
Kenshin hurried around the house looking for Kaoru, but couldn't find her anywhere. 'Masaka! Has the transformation taken place yet?! The sun is barely setting...!'
He then saw her, at the gate. In front of her was Smith. Moving closer, he could hear bits of the conversation. "Darling, you know I love you. And you love me too right??"
He saw the back of Kaoru's head bobbing up and down. 'Sou na!!'
"Run away with me, Darling! Let me take you away to a place where there's no cruel samurai boys to break your heart. No, the place I will take you to will be blissful and covered with rivers, no mountains of chocolate!!"
'CH-YO-KO-RE-TO???' Kenshin wondered, scratching his head. It was then that he realizing that Kaoru was eating some brown thing, and it was covered all over her mouth. She couldn't stop eating. 'ORO!'
"That's right, Darling. You don't have to worry. I will take care of such things as 'citizenship' and 'marriage licenses'. You can eat chocolate everyday of your life. Picture it, swimming in a pool of chocolate, your body all covered with chocolate!!"
"Ooooooh, dame!!" Kaoru cried, feverishly, "Dame yo! I can't take it anymore! I-I... I need more!! MORE!!!" He took out a fresh bar and she started to eat it right away.
"YAMERO!!!!" Kenshin exclaimed, charging at them, "Stop trying to seduce Kaoru by means of this type of... drug! I won't allow it!!"
Kaoru just turned around. "K-Kenshin?! Oh, I'm so ashamed!" she cried, wiping her face, "It's addictive I tell you! Kenshin, don't come close, you'll get inflicted with it too!"
"Kaoru! Get away from that man! He's only out for lust!" He halted, sweat running down his face, 'Okay, okay, so am I at times, but can ya blame me - I'm just a lonely rurouni and you're sooo darn hot at times... what am I saying?!? I honestly love her!!' He quickly drew his sakabatou, "Kaoru, don't worry! I'll protect you!"
"Demo..." she stammered, "I... I'm almost finished... there's just one more night, I promise!"
"ORO?!" he gasped, as she and Smith turned heel and ran off together, hand in hand. "What just happened here?! Kaoru has chosen to be with that pervert over Sessha...?! IYA! I won't allow it!!"
And so a chase scene took place. But the man was able to get a carriage and hopped in with Kaoru. Kenshin was high on their tracks until an uneasy feeling caught him off guard. 'Why do I feel like I'm being watched?!'
The running continued, but as they turned a corner, he saw that the carriage had suddenly vanished. "Oro?! Where did they go?!" The road ahead was empty. Rubbing his chin, he deduced they went through the alleyway. And that alley was headed in the direction of the industry district. 'Yoshi! I know where they're going!'
* * *
Sanosuke stood in the middle of the deserted street, holding an oversized white radish. 'Yakuso! If I live through this, I'm definitely getting those bastards who did this too me!!' he vowed to himself, taking a chomp out of the vegetable.
It was then he heard the husky voice around the corner. "EH?!" he gasped, slightly turning around, "N-Nice... tanuki... don't come near me..."
The two beady eyes looked at him and flashed. Within seconds she came out and started charging him on all fours. Screaming, Sanosuke started to run. The stomps behind him became louder and louder. "WAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
"He's doing great!" Tae said, watching from atop a building. "Nee, how is Tsunan-han doing in his area?" she asked the tired Yahiko, who had just arrived, "Nee???"
"Actually, we've got some problems. Apparently, someone saw us unloading the bombs and notified the police that we were terrorists. A group of swat team cops are on their way!!"
"NANI?!"
"Tsunan and I reloaded the bombs and hid them away. But the team is still coming and Sanosuke's only hope is the food trap, but even that won't hold her still. Tae, got any ideas!?"
"I'm thinking... demo, Sano-han can ran for a bit longer, can he??"
"WAAAAAAH!!! HELP ME!!!" Sanosuke yelled, waking the entire neighborhood. Behind him, the Tanuki had already ripped off his tail, "AAAAAAA! Next will be my legs! Someone help! TAE! YAHIKO! KATSU! KENSHIIN!!"
The Tanuki tackled him down, leaning over him and lapping his face. "YUCK! DAME!! YAMEROOO!! I'M STILL A...!!!"
And then suddenly she disappeared. Sanosuke rolled onto his stomach, trying to catch his breath. He heard the sounds of footsteps. "Eto..." He was completely surrounded by cops.
"They saw that a giant raccoon has been robbing and terrorizing civilians all week. Could it be...?!"
"Iyaa! You got the wrong guy!!"
* * *
Kenshin suddenly stopped, that strange feeling coming back to him again. Turning around, he saw the charging figure right as it tackled him to the ground. "Tanuki-dono... iya, Koishii." he uttered, arms around the furry neck.
The raccoon smelled so good, her watery blue eyes gazing at him so lovingly as they held each other. She then started to lap at his face, him sighing with delight.
"Aishiteru, aishiteru..." Kenshin uttered, returning the kisses, "I love you more than anything else in the world. I want to love you right here, right now, for the rest of my life..."
Nearby, Tae, Katsu, and Yahiko were watching in disgust. "WHAT IN THE HELL?!?"
Suddenly, the sounds of guns being prepared startled everyone. The swat team had surrounded the two lovers, aiming and ready to fire. "IYAAA!" Kenshin screamed, holding onto his beloved tanuki, "DAME DE GOZARU!!!!"