Amateur Night

By lawless

Outside was eerily quiet. Only the distant sound of traffic and a neighbor's dog barking down the street could be heard. Since the fire exit down the hallway outside was out of the question, they would have to find another way out.

Sagara Sanosuke closed the door silently and looked around the tiny one-room apartment. He spotted the glass windows that led to a small ledge that served as a window garden for those tenants that are so inclined. Figuring that the next adjoining rooms had the same feature, he crossed the room in a rush and went out through the windows. He took a moment to confirm his belief before he turned and offered a hand out to his companion.

Footsteps. Their pursuers were moving up the stairs.

"We'll have to jump over to the other side," Sano told Megumi.

"What?" She stared at the window garden of the next apartment. It was at least five feet away. "Are you crazy? No." She shrank away from his proffered hand.

"Yes," he insisted. "I'll go first. Then, you jump. I'll catch you."

Somewhere behind them, a door was being forced open. There was a scream from one of the tenants and then a harsh shout. The muffled sound of a blunt object hitting something soft. More footsteps.

Sano was raising himself up on the iron railings. He swung his arm back and forth before he leapt and caught the rails on the other side with both hands. For a moment, he hung suspended some twenty feet above the ground. Then, he pulled himself up easily and made it safely on the window garden, stepping on some plant pots along the way.

Next was Megumi. She stared nervously at the ground and sure death if she missed.

"Come on," Sano said, holding out his arms.

Reluctantly, she stood up on trembling legs.

"Don't look down," he advised.

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's going to fall to their death or a lifetime of disability," she muttered as she assumed the best position to make a huge leap. "If my underwear turns you on, that's your problem."

And then she jumped.

Sano caught her, issuing a grunt as soon as he felt her weight tug at his arms. One of her hands started to slip out of his. Megumi let out a tiny scream.

"I got you," he said through gritted teeth. Using his legs to anchor himself, he slowly pulled her up.

"Oh god, I'm going to die," Megumi kept whispering as she tried to get a foothold. The high heels made it difficult.

"Shut up. You're okay," he told her in a harsh tone. "Put your right foot over there," he said indicating the protruding water pipe in the corner.

Megumi did as told, ripping her skirt in the process. Without giving this a single thought, she pushed herself up, using the water pipe as leverage, at the same time that Sano pulled. The ordeal lasted for about a minute. Afterward, Megumi sat awkwardly on the railing with Sano standing between her legs, facing her, his hands still around her waist. They took a moment to catch their breaths, steady their pulse rates.

Then, Sano looked up, grinning. "I never figured you for white lace."

Megumi merely glared at him and said, "Oh, shut up."

In a moment, he helped her down and then turned to the next window garden. "Hold on. We're not done yet." They still had five more window gardens to navigate before they were home-free.

Megumi followed the direction of his gaze and made a sound that was somewhere between a moan and a grunt. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Alright," Sano just said, ignoring her comment. "Same ol' same ol.' Try not to make a sound this time, doctor lady."

By the time they reached the fourth one, the whole thing had become almost routine and Megumi felt like there was not much difference between her and a monkey expertly swinging from tree to tree. Sano jimmied the lock on the windows of the fifth apartment and cautiously climbed inside.

The room was deserted. But that didn't mean it would be for long. He glanced back at Megumi and mouthed for her to follow him. She did, gingerly sidestepping the empty beer cans and instant noodle cups on the floor. Sano was standing next to the door and he motioned for her to stay behind cover as he carefully opened the door just a crack.

The first thing he saw was an overwhelming array of bright colors – tracksuits. Fudosawa's men. They were in the process of breaking open the door to the farthest room where he and Megumi just came from. There were two stairways: one on the far side of the hallway where their pursuers were standing and the other was just a few steps away from the room they busted.

"We can make a run for it," Sano said, turning to Megumi. Then, he looked down at her feet. Particularly the kind of shoes she was wearing. "Take those off," he ordered.

"But they're Prada," she protested.

"For god's sake," he started.

"Fine, dammit!" She whispered harshly as she took off first one shoe and then the other. But instead of completely discarding them, she held them close to her chest.

Sano rolled his eyes, and then told her to run on his mark.

"One."

Fudosawa's men finally succeeded in breaking the door open.

"Two."

They started filing inside the room one by one.

"Three."

As soon as the last one disappeared inside, Sano pushed the door wide open and stepped out.

"They're not in here!" One of Fudosawa's men shouted. "Check outside!"

Sano grabbed Megumi's arm, whispering lowly, "Run."

"There they are! After them!"

The whole thing went by in a blur.

Megumi went stumbling along, conscious only of Sano's back before her and Fudosawa's men behind them. Her knees were water. She felt faint, a looseness to the bowels. She was certain her brain was detached from her body. She did what she was told, allowed herself to be herded down the stairwell, pulled, pushed into a stolen car.

And then, it all happened at once. No sequence. One minute, Sano was backing the car up, bumping into some garbage bins sitting at curbside. And then the next instant, he was shouting for her to "Get down!"

A shot rang out. Megumi ducked as Sano stepped on the gas and accelerated. The inertia forced her back against her seat. She looked up then and saw a lone man, wearing shiny, shark-skin suit, calmly kneeling down. He was holding something up in front of him. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw that the black thing was actually a gun and it was pointed straight at her.

Sano reached across and forced her head down at the same time he made a sharp left with the car. Megumi covered her ears as shots were fired, shattering the windshield and showering them both with broken glass. Now there were yells, shouts. Pedestrians scattering on the street in panic. Squeal of breaks as cars pulled up, drivers ducking down out of sight. There was a great blaring of horns, a momentary traffic jam at the corner, then more screams and shrieked curses.

Sano never eased down on the accelerator and kept his eyes straight on the road. Megumi looked back. She saw more of their pursuers emerge from the hotel. She thought she saw two cars pull up but Sano made another quick turn, disappearing out of sight. He did not let up on their speed even as they ended up in Tokyo's winding backstreets and Megumi was secretly relieved. Never mind if he was driving like a maniac.

It was only when they emerged out of the city's general hubbub into a quieter neighborhood that Megumi began to think they might actually make it.

"You hurt?" Sano asked.

"I'm fine," she answered. "You?"

He breathed sharply through his teeth. "The son of a bitch got me."

"What?" She said in alarm, glancing at him. She immediately saw the dark stain on his left shoulder where a bullet had gone through.

1. Gunshots and Prada

AN This is a re-upload of a fic I posted a while ago. A little edits here and there, a little tightening of dialogue. I missed these two. Hope you enjoy!

To anybody who has read and saved my old SanoxMeg fic, Half a House, I lost my original draft and I'd like to have a copy. Pls PM me.