Fix Me Now

Note: This was the first fanfic I ever wrote. I wrote it two years ago, I think, when I had just discovered Rurouni Kenshin and the internet. My english wasn't that good then (I'm spanish, spare me), so even if I've proof-read and spell-checked it before posting, some sentences might sound a bit weird. I'm sorry. :)

Anyway: this contains a truckload of Megumi/Sanosuke WAFF. Who belong, as the rest of the RK cast, to Nobuhiro Watsuki and a lot of other people. The song "Fix Me Now" belongs to Garbage. Did you notice the cleverly hidden disclaimer here? Oh. Okay.

Thanks for reading!

_Meg.

[Things don't have to be this way;
Catch me on a better day.]

Megumi sighed. It was raining heavily. She sat in front of the table, looking at the window. Her head resting on her arms, she closed her eyes slowly. For a long time only the sound of rain falling was heard, until Megumi, who had fallen half-asleep, felt a warmness on her cheek. She opened her eyes. The sun had appeared between the clouds, dying them with red, pink and orange, and the light came through the window and onto her.

Bury me above the clouds
all the way from here

She suddenly felt the urge to wake up and get out. She caught her umbrella and went through the door, not caring to put on her apron, only wearing her form-hugging kimono.

She walked alone on the street, watching the puddles become little pools of blood, reflecting the colours of the sky. She laughed at the hideous thought, and the sound of clacking zori mixed with the drops falling on her umbrella.

Megumi felt melancholic. It was the perfect day to do so. Rain wouldn't stop falling, and it didn't bother her. The warmness on her pale cheeks, the torn skies and the chills going across her skin made her feel alive. A small smile crossed her face, maybe a naughty smile, and stayed there.

take away the things I need
take away my fear...

Sanosuke rested his head on the wall. He was sitting at the dojo's porch, because the ambient inside the dojo was getting way too quiet for him. Kaoru and Kenshin chatted somewhere inside the house, and Yahiko had decided the best thing to do on a rainy day was sleeping. He didn't feel like teasing the pair inside; they were getting more and more confortable with each other's feelings, and it had taken long enough, he thought; so he'd better not interrupt.

He had fallen half-asleep when he heard a well-known noise coming down the street. Clack, clack, clack, clack... He saw the top of a red umbrella heading towards the dojo's door. The sound stopped, and for a little while the umbrella's wielder stood there. But then decided not to enter, and the umbrella moved on.

Hide me in a hollow sound
happy evermore

¿Megumi? It was strange, the Fox Lady wandering alone on a day like that. For some reason, he stood up and opened the dojo's front door. He looked down the street, just in time to see her red umbrella and lilac kimono disappearing on a corner.
He closed the door and started following her, not caring about his already soaked shirt. She walked rumbless, it seemed to him; she'd turn a corner or walk along a street without looking where she was going. Sanosuke looked at the sky; it was one hell of a beautiful sunset, a powerful sun appearing between the dark clouds.

everything I had to give
gave out long before

She didn't notice she was being followed until she reached the way next to the river. She had left the outskirts of Tokyo behind her long before. She couldn't see who it was because of her umbrella, and decided to stop walking. Her follower didn't see her stopping, and bumped into her.

"Ow!" Sanosuke? What was he doing there? "Oi, Fox, you could've warned if you were going to stop!"

"Sanosuke! Were you following me?" she looked completely puzzled.

"Ahem... yeah..." was his embarrassed response. He didn't know why he had done it, he had just decided following her in her walk. The air was cold now, and his wet shirt didn't help. He shivered. Megumi looked beautiful, her pale cheeks now reddened because of the cold breeze. She was getting nervous. He noticed he was staring at her. Of course she was nervous.

"And... why?" Not only his constant gaze on her made her uneasy, now the idea she had been followed by him during all her merry trip was turning nervousness into anger.

Fix me now, I wish you would [Fix me now]
Bring me back to life [Fix me now]

"Well... no reason, I just saw you walking down the dojo's street, and... erm..."

"So you just felt the urge to follow me?" her blue eyes shone. She was really angry, he thought. But why? It wasn't a crime to follow her! He sneezed; the soaked shirt didn't help at all.

"Geez, Megumi! You don't have to be so dramatic about it! It was just an impulse-- look out!"

They had been so lost into their argument he hadn't noticed the carriage coming straight to them until the driver shouted. Sanosuke didn't think; he jumped, taking Megumi by the waist and making them both fall, landing next to the river, several meters under the way's height. Sanosuke managed to put her on top of him, so he'd receive the impact instead of her. His back hit the muddy bank hard.

Kiss me blind, somebody should [Fix me now]
From hollow into light

Megumi was too shocked to do anything. She had been getting gradually angrier with Sanosuke, maybe excessively, and he'd shouted just after she'd heard the carriage coming to them. She had wanted to turn her back to look; it had sounded too close... but she had been suddenly lifted by Sanosuke's strong grip, and then fallen.

She was lying on top of him. Her hair was wet by now. The sun had hid again, and the rain had intensified. Her umbrella had fallen to the river. She looked at Sanosuke and gasped. His eyes were closed, his expression pained. He had hit the bank very hard; the way was very high from it at that point. And he'd done it so she wouldn't be hurt, neither by the carriage nor the impact...

She struggled to break free of his still strong embrace and see his injuries, but he held her too tight. "Sanosuke..." she started calling his name. "Sanosuke! Are you OK? Sanosuke!" Oh, no. Oh, no. He wasn't reacting. She touched his wet face. "Sanosuke! Wake up!"

Crashing, silent, broken down
falling into night

She felt incredibly relieved when his eyelids started moving. "Sanosuke... Sanosuke, are you OK?" He opened his eyes. "Whoa, Fox, you sure look good with your hair soaked like that..." he said in a soft voice, and then closed his eyes for a moment, a pained look on his face again.

Megumi wasn't even annoyed at his comment. "So you wake up after scaring me to death and just throw compliments? Typical. But how are you?" She struggled again. "Let me wake up and see!"

"Hmm... yeah..." so she wanted to wake up. Kuso, he thought. It wasn't unpleasant to have Megumi lying on top of him, to hold her tight. But his head felt dizzy, and his back hurt, so he didn't argue that much. He let her go, and watched as she stood. Her kimono was muddied by now. Her dark hair had some mud also, and fell down her face and back, completely soaked.

who gave up and who gave in
I'll go without a fight

"C'mon, Sanosuke, let me see if you're injured." He tried to stand up, but it hurt. He was startled when he saw her hand in front of his face. She offered him help. He held her hand, and she pulled, with surprising strenght for the delicate woman she looked like. He managed to sit down.

"This isn't the best place for an analysis, but I want to check you're okay." She pulled his shirt up and looked at his back. He had a nasty cut on it, but that wasn't supposed hurt him so much when standing up. So she started pressing lightly spots in his back, asking him to tell her wether it hurt or not.

Cut me down or cut me dead
cut me in or out

Sanosuke was puzzled at the least. The Fox Lady had ordered him to take his shirt off, and was checking his back for injuries. She was now pressing the end of his back, and asking if it hurt. The pleasant feeling he had felt before, when she was laying on top of him, took over him again.

"Well, it hurts a little everywhere, but there isn't a special place where it hurts more." he answered. "Good. That means you haven't broken any bone." "Or that I've broken all of them." he joked. He smiled when saw her laughing face. "I think it's just numbness from the impact. Shall we go back? If you can walk, we can go to the consult and I'll clean and bandage this cut." She smiled down to him. She wasn't mad at him, at least. This was one of the little times when they were actually nice to each other, without any bickering or fighting. He tried to stand up again, but it hurt. "Um, Megumi? It doesn't hurt especially, but it does hurt."

"Oops, sorry." she kneeled and put her arms under his, pulling up. He held onto her and stood. They were silent for a moment, Megumi's arms around his waist, and his around her shoulders. He looked at her. She blushed involuntarily, rain streaming down her face, her eyes shining. Without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed her.

kiss me blind time after time
take away my doubt...

She opened her eyes wide. She wanted to pull away, but Sanosuke was standing up thanks to her, and she was sure he'd fall if she did. And she was beginning to like it... come to think about it, he was a good kisser. Megumi closed her eyes and returned the kiss.

But Sanosuke tripped suddenly, catching Megumi off-guard and making her lose her balance. This time he fell on top of her, her arms still entwined around his waist. Ow, she thought. He is heavy. "This is just great," she said outloud. Her hair was completely muddied now, and she had no idea just how to make herself and Sanosuke stand again.

Sanosuke looked worried. "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? Megumi!" "Not really. But you are sure heavy!" she rolled her eyes. He smiled. "Then... it's okay..." And kissed her again. The sun appeared between the clouds again, shining on the horizon. It shone dark red. The rain kept falling. They separed. "You look so beautiful..." he whispered.

Fix me now, I wish you would [Fix me now]
Bring me back to life [Fix me now]

"We should go back." she replied. She looked uncomfortable now. "Um, yeah..." What was that for? Why did she pull away like that? He stood up again, regaining more or less his balance on his own this time, and offered a hand to her. She didn't take it, and stood by herself. "If we follow the river's bank, we'll get to the bridge. We can get back to the way from there." she said.
He wasn't interested in giving up so easily. So he pretended tripping, and held onto her when she helped him again. "Um... I'm sorry, but I think I'll need your help to do that..." "O--okay." she said reluctantly.

They walked in silence. It was dark already, and rain had stopped falling. But their clothes were still wet and muddy. Sanosuke's back had stopped hurting a long time ago, but he knew the moment Megumi knew that she'd separe from him, and he didn't want to.

Kiss me blind, somebody should [Fix me now]
From hollow into light

"Sanosuke..." she asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"Why did... why did you do that?" he looked at her. She was blushing again.

"Well, you looked so beautiful on that sunset... I don't know, I wanted to, and it just felt like the right thing to do– And you did return the kiss."

"But... why? We aren't a couple! We aren't in love! We–" he cut her solemnly.

"Aren't we?" She stared at him in shock. "Megumi– I've never been in love. I've been with girls, I've had hopeless crushes. But you're different from everybody."

"Sanosuke..."

"Please, let me finish. As you can see, I don't know what love is. All I know is that it must be wonderful. And our kiss... wasn't it wonderful? All I know is that. If love exists, that was it."

[Things don't have to be this way;
Catch me on a better day.]

Megumi was silent. "Why not, Megumi? Didn't you enjoy it? Don't you like me?"

"It's not that, Sanosuke..."

"Don't you like my hands? My caresses?" he separed from her, standing on his own, and brought a hand to her cheek, softly touching her. "Don't you?"

She closed her eyes. Maybe he was right. It felt right at least, for one of the first times in her life. Maybe it was worth a try... "Yes, I do."

The clouds cleared at last. The moon shone bright then, illuminating them both with its milky twilight. Megumi felt lifted up, suddenly. She opened her eyes wide. Sanosuke had lifted her in his arms. They kissed deeply.

Nowhere only down from here
pick me off the floor

"Ow!" he shouted as he put her down. The cut in his back hurt more than he had thought. "I don't think that was a very wise thing to do, Sano... are you okay? Can you stand?"

"Yeah... I think..." he said, biting his lip. "You shouldn't have done it!" "But it was worth it."

take away the things I dream
one time one place one more

She put a mock 'why-me' face and held him by the waist. "I think this time I need your help for real." Sanosuke said.

"So you were lying before?" she asked. Bad move, Sanosuke. "Um... not exactly lying–" She cut him this time.

"But it was worth it, ne?" they smiled and kept walking. There was a long way left.

Fix me now, I wish you would [Fix me now]
Bring me back to life [Fix me now]

Kaoru yawned as she got out of her bedroom. Last day had been great, she thought. Kenshin and her had been talking the whole day, without Yahiko or Sano bothering them. They had talked about their thoughts, about Enishi, about Tomoe, about their feelings... In the evening, they'd sat in the dojo's porch and looked the sunset. She had rested her head on his shoulder, and Kenshin had held her by the waist. It had been perfect...

Kiss me blind, somebody should [Fix me now]
From hollow into

She got out of the dojo. Kenshin was there, cooking the breakfast. Yahiko was there, also, practicing with his bokken. "Good morning," she said. Yahiko replied with a 'hi', and Kenshin smiled warmly at her. She winked at him. "Where's Sano, by the way? He's always around when there's food to eat..."

"I last saw him yesterday afternoon." Kenshin said. "I haven't seen him, either." Yahiko replied.

Fix me now, I wish you would [Fix me now]
Bring me back to life [Fix me now]

"Strange," she said.

Kiss me blind, somebody should [Fix me now]
From hollow into light

Megumi and Sanosuke tried to hide their laughter from outside the dojo's door. They decided not to enter yet. Their clothes were dirty and muddy, but at least dry. They wrapped into a tight embrace and kissed again.

[Things don't have to be this way;
Catch me on a better day.]

Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko stared wide-eyed at the scene before them. Yahiko had said he'd heard something muffled outside, and had opened the door. Sanosuke and Megumi were kissing deeply, oblivious to the world around them. They looked as if they'd spent the whole night under the rain.

[Things don't have to be this way;
Catch me on a better day.]

Kenshin broke the silence. "I'm going to prepare two more portions of breakfast." He smiled at the couple who'd just broken the kiss and entered the house. Kaoru and Yahiko followed him, not before Kaoru casted a grinning glance to Megumi.

"Shall we enter?" Megumi asked.

"They can wait a little more..."