Author's Note: does dance> Look! It's the "I-don't-own-anything-in-this-story" dance! I honestly don't, unfortunately. I wish I owned Sano, but I think then Neko-chan would steal him. ^_^ Owning the woods somewhere near Kyoto would be nice, and so would owning the mountains....sadly, I own neither. I don't even own the song "Starfish"! It belongs to Sister Hazel. If you sue me, you'll only get pocket lint. rummages around in pockets> Ooh! Collector's edition pocket lint! Hah! Wait, I just gave you a reason to sue....

This fic was inspired in part by Neko-chan's fic, "Poor Sano!!"

Starfish

Arashi Kenji glared at the map in her hand with a gaze that would have killed a few small animals. "Lost again..." she muttered venomously, as if it was the map's fault that this had happened. "I can't believe it! And this time Duet's not around to- ow!"
Arashi's face suddenly and rather forcefully met with the dirt below her. She pulled herself to her knees and spat. "Ick...what'd I trip on?" She turned around and was met with the sight of a man covered by leaves sprawled out in the middle of the path.

I saw a starfish on the ground
He was half-buried in the sand
"??" Arashi scooted over to the prone figure. "What the heck is he doing?" She poked him a few times. The man grunted and sat up, adjusting his clothing. The teenage girl blinked at the uniqueness of his clothing; he was wearing white pants, black Chinese shoes, and a white jacket with the kanji for "bad" on the back. His unruly, spiky brown hair was held back by a red piece of cloth, and there were bandages wrapped around his ankles and chest.
"Whaddya want?" he muttered, scratching his head and looking up at the girl.
Arashi snorted.
"What?!" he asked suspiciously.
"Y-your hair!" she managed to get out between giggles. "It looks like a rooster's head...or a starfish!!" The redheaded girl burst into peals of laughter again.
The man grumbled something incoherent and shot a look at Arashi that would have made Heero Yuy proud...that is, if he knew who Heero Yuy was.
Just so out of place and ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
He was a long long way from home
"What are you doing here?" he snapped irritably. "No one's been through here in I don't know how long."
"I'm lost, thank you very much." Arashi replied with the same amount of courtesy, or in this case, lack of it.
"Hn. You too?"
I was a long long way from home
And so we talked a little while
"Yup." The girl grinned in a way that could have been mistaken for baring her teeth.
The man smirked back at her and stuck out his hand. "Sanosuke Sagara."
"Arashi Kenji," she replied, shaking his hand.
Then I shook his hands and ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
I was a long long way from home
"So, what are you doing all the way out here?" Arashi asked conversationally.
"Tryin' to get to Kyoto." Sanosuke grumbled. "Damn...where'd I put that newt..." He proceeded to rummage through a small pack that the girl hadn't noticed before.
"Newt?" she questioned him, wrinkling her nose.
"Yup. A guy's gotta eat, ya know."
"Ew. Don't you have anything else to eat?"
"Oh, yeah, I do. I just like newts." he replied sarcastically. "No, I don't have anything else!"
"Okay, sorry!" she snapped back. Looking around, she asked, "Where's your tent?"
"Don't have one."
"Really?" she started to say, but then thought better of it. "No, don't even say it."
"Say what?" Sanosuke blinked innocently. The girl was not fooled for an instant.
Arashi suddenly had a thought. "Do you want to share my campsite?"
"Hm? Why?"
"Because I have room, baka." the girl replied.
"Well, excuse me. I've worked with villains too long to not question people's motives."
"All right, all right. You don't have to get offended. Now help me gather some wood for a fire."
"Why should I?"
Arashi drew herself up to her full height and glared down at Sanosuke. "Because I said so!"
"Oh, really?" Sanosuke also drew himself up to his full height. He smirked, seeing that he was about two feet taller than Arashi.
The girl twitched slightly. "Well, how about this, then: because I'm sharing my tent with you, and you're a lot stronger than me!"
"OK, OK, you don't have to get mad," he muttered.
Everything is wonderful
Everything's all right
So all right
The fire crackled in front of the duo as they sat and warmed themselves.
"Kami, it's cold," Arashi said to herself. "Geez, Sano, aren't you even a little bit chilly?"
He shrugged. "You get used to this sort of thing when you've had my life. And who gave you permission to call me 'Sano', anyway?"
Arashi grinned cheekily. "Me."
The taller man grumbled incoherent words and phrases under his breath.
Arashi leaned back and looked toward the sky. "Look, Sano, you can see the stars."
"Yeah, big deal. They're always there."
"You're right, but you can't always see them. Kind of like some people. But the reason you can see so many is the same reason it's so cold. It's really clear out tonight."
Sano leaned back as well. "Mm."
A bright light streaked across the sky.
"It's a shooting star! Quick, make a wish, Sano!"
There we were
One less star tonight
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Arashi was awakened by the chirping of birds outside of her window- or where the windows would be if her tent had them. Oh, how picturesque, she thought before opening her eyes.
She promptly screamed.
WHAP!
"Ow," Sano muttered, rubbing the red imprint of Arashi's hand that was streaked across his left cheek. "Can't you take a joke?"
Arashi was still breathing heavily from fright. "Well, what the hell did you think you were doing? Making a face at me just as I opened my eyes...you deserved what you got." she finished, scowling.
Sano mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "baka violent onna". A glare from Arashi shut him up again.
"Now, what do you want for breakfast?"
"I have newts," he offered.
"No." she stated flatly.
~*~
Sanosuke leaned back and patted his stomach. "Ahh....that was good."
Arashi beamed. It wasn't often that she got compliments on her cooking.
"Of course," he continued with an evil grin, "I'd eat anything after the stuff my diet's been made of recently. Pig slop would taste good!"
The girl struggled to keep her temper from exploding and wreaking its wrath on Sano. "Sano, keep in mind that I made this breakfast for you and that I also have a nice large kitchen knife in my bag that I used to prepare it."
"Point taken. Anyway, you done eating?"
"Pretty much, why?"
"I'm gonna head up to the mountain over there. It'll give us a better view of where we are."
"OK."
We thought a better place to go
Might be the top of purple mountains
So close to outer space and ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
We were a long long way from home
Packing up had been fairly easy, partly because Sano and Arashi had so much experience in packing and partly because the author is too lazy to write a packing scene. So there they were, on a ledge protruding from a rather large mountain and looking over the countryside.
"Recognize anything?" Arashi inquired after about five minutes.
Sanosuke grunted from where he was crouching. "Not a thing. I don't understand it- it's like Kyoto vanished or something."
"Well, that's OK," the redhead replied cheerfully, pulling a book from her backpack. "It's nice up here, so we can stay as long as we want."
We'd bring some records and a game
Might take a walk or read a book
Twelve hours later, they were in the same predicament. Arashi had gone through her book seventeen and a half times and was now scratching a doodle into the ledge below her with a rock.
Sano sighed loudly. "Who am I kidding?" he said aloud to no one in particular. "I'm never going to find Kyoto. I've been looking for so long..."
But it's not the same no ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
We're still a long long way from home
Arashi blinked at her companion's sudden change of attitude. It didn't seem like him to give up just like that.
"Let's face it," he continued dejectedly. "Saitou was right. I'm just a liability. Kenshin doesn't need my help..."
Arashi stalked up to him, bent down, and slapped him straight across the face.
Sano looked up at her, bewildered. "Wha...?"
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Sagara!" she commanded, standing up. "Get a grip! That's completely self-indulgent and it makes everyone else feel guilty. You're right, you'll never going to get to Kyoto! Not with that attitude, you won't!" she finished, glaring at him pointedly.
Sano continued to stare at her blankly. He'd never run into a girl like this before...
"Now, if you're quite finished- no, on second thought, I don't care if you're finished- we're going to have dinner. Pull yourself together." With that, she returned to her place by her pack and proceeded to rummage through it to find anything that might pass for a meal.
"Well? What are you waiting for?"
Sano grinned. In some strange way, that girl had made him feel better.
Everything is wonderful
Everything's all right
So all right
Arashi hummed a little song as she stirred the frying pan of fried rice. "It's nearly done, Sano!" she caroled to her companion.
"Hn," he replied, busy pawing through his belongings. "I'll need this...'n this too...oh! I forgot I had this....um, where'd that come from...?"
The redhead's gaze softened and she smiled, listening to the oddities pouring out of Sano's mouth. Then she turned back to her fried rice and continued to cook.
There we were
One less star tonight
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
The next morning, Sanosuke rose before dawn and packed up all of his belongings. He cast one last glance inside Arashi's tent and whispered, "Sorry, kiddo. I can't stay anymore. You were right- I just had to pull myself together. See you."
With that, he left the campsite and began heading in the direction he presumed was towards Kyoto.
~*~
Arashi yawned. Mmm....what a nice dream. Her eyes fluttered open in an action identical to the one the previous morning.
This time, the girl did not scream.
"Hmm," she murmured. "Sano must have decided to be polite today. Wonder what's wrong with 'im." She quickly dressed and made her way outside her tent to her bag of possessions.
"How's a Western-style breakfast sound, Sano?" she called, not looking up from her pack. When there was no answer, she repeated her question. There was still no answer.
"OK, Sano," she said, standing up, "Now that's just plain ru-" She cut herself off abruptly.
Sano was nowhere in sight.
Arashi didn't call out for him anymore. She knew, somehow, that Sano wouldn't hear her, and if he did, he wouldn't respond. She sank to her knees, anger starting to let itself be known. "You idiot..." she muttered furiously, hot tears threatening to leak from her eyes. "Jerk.....SANO, YOU JERK!!!!!!!!!"
~*~
The teenage girl's cry of frustration echoed for a long while.
Sano looked up from the path in front of him. I guess she's onto me, he thought. Not allowing himself to dwell on the subject, the man concentrated on staying on the path.
~*~
An hour later, Arashi was still in the same place. Whatta jerk, she screamed internally. How could he just leave me like that? Idiot, moron, stupid, jerk!!!! She sat up suddenly. No, she corrected herself. I'm the moron for letting him just get to me like this. What happened to my composure? I must be stupider than I look.Finished with her mental scolding, she stood up and walked purposefully over to her pack. She had an idea.
~*~
Sano didn't understand it. He couldn't get that girl- Arashi, he reminded himself- out of his mind. What's wrong with me? he asked himself. I keep hearing her scream.... He shook his head sharply. "Get a grip, Sagara," he muttered, and mentally slapped himself for it. Arashi had uttered those same words to him the previous day.
I'm Arashi Kenji. Do you want to share my campsite?
Look, Sano, you can see the stars. Quick, make a wish...!
"Get out of my head, Arashi..." he muttered, frustrated. His mind didn't comply. Arashi's words continued to echo through his mind, accompanied by an image of her sleeping face.
Sanosuke....
Sanosuke...
"Dammit, Arashi!" he screamed. "When I want to see your face, I'll tell you so!!" Breathing heavily, he forced himself to concentrate on Kyoto and only Kyoto. It was harder than it sounded, but that was only because he had gotten up so early- or so he kept telling himself.
~*~
Half an hour later, Sano was in the same predicament. He couldn't find Kyoto, he was hungry, and he still kept thinking of Arashi. He was pissed. Sitting down heavily on a convenient rock, he sighed and tried to clear his mind.
Sanosuke....
Sanosuke...
Sano....
He exhaled tiredly. Who am I kidding? he asked himself. I really do want to see her. It's impossible, but I do. I keep hearing her voice....
Sanosuke....Arashi's voice echoed in his head.
Sano...
Sano...
"Sano!!"
Sanosuke put his head in his hands. "Stop playing games with me," he ordered his mind under his breath.
"Sano! Oi, Sano!!!"
He shook his head a bit sadly. That really sounded like her....but it can't be...
"My god, Sano, what does it take to get your attention?! Would you turn that spiky head of yours around and pay attention?!"
Sanosuke's head snapped up. He turned around and was treated to the sight of a very bedraggled, very angry Arashi Kenji.
"...Arashi?"
The girl in question crossed her arms. "About damn time you noticed. I've only been calling you for five minutes, you know."
Sano could only stare at her. "But....what are you doing out here?"
"I followed you, blockhead! Do you honestly think that you can just leave me behind whenever it's convenient?? You shared my campsite, pal. You're stuck with me."
A slightly stupid grin crossed Sano's face for a moment, but was quickly replaced by a smirk. "Oh, really?"
"Yes, really," Arashi proclaimed, coming to stand next to him. "Now, are you going to sit on this fossil all day, or are we going to get to Kyoto?"
He sat up instantly. "Let's go....that is, as long as you can keep up with me." He grinned.
Arashi stuck her tongue out at him. "You mean, if you can keep up with me."
The two headed off on the path, still arguing.
I saw a starfish on the ground
Oh, he was half-buried in the sand, yeah
Now he's not so all alone
And he's probably goin' home
So I stopped and I shook his hands
And we were singin'
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Somehow, while they were walking, Arashi's hand found Sano's and clasped it.
There we were
One less star tonight
He let it stay there.
There we were
One more star tonight

~End~