CHAPTER 4

An Unlikely Occupation

"The only difference between doctors and lawyers is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you, too."

Megumi stabbed her filet mignon and pushed the piece into her mouth. She forked an asparagus and shoveled it in as well. Sanosuke was having an animated conversation with Minoru and after greeting her in the drawing room, hadn't looked at her since. It was as if they were strangers and it was as if they didn't spend the previous night bickering like elementary school children. Today, he wore a suit and used sophisticated words like "cross-examination", "testimony", "soliloquy", and "pathos." Megumi narrowed her eyes at him as he nodded at something Minoru said, cutting his steak deftly. What was he? How can be an irritating good for nothing one day and a buttoned down refined gentleman the next? Perhaps Sanosuke had a twin and this was him. But no, he had been introduced to her as Mr. Sanosuke Sagara. What was he? Megumi frowned, irritated by her own thoughts.

"Are you alright, Megumi?" Mitsuo whispered.

"That depends on your definition of 'alright'," Megumi answered, knifing her steak again.

Minoru looked over as Megumi's knife clanged with the plate. "What do you think of Mr. Sagara, Megumi?"

"He's quite interesting," Megumi said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "What is it that you do again, Mr. Sagara?"

"I'm a lawyer," he answered with something akin to amusement in his eyes.

"Really?" Megumi asked, a hint of sarcasm escaping from her lips. "I wouldn't have guessed that in a million years."

"Do you know each other?" Aoshi chimed in curiously.

"Miss Megumi did a wonderful job patching up my bruised hand yesterday," Sanosuke offered evenly, holding up his still bandaged hand. "I've never been so well taken care of at a hospital."

"You didn't tell me you had a well respected lawyer as a patient, Megumi," Aoshi replied.

"I didn't know he was a lawyer," Megumi said, keeping her narrowed eyes on Sanosuke. "He wasn't wearing a suit yesterday."

"Yesterday was my day off," Sanosuke chuckled. "One mustn't judge a book by its cover on its days off."

The lunch table chuckled. Megumi wasn't amused.

"I've hired Mr. Sagara to be our family's lawyer," Minoru announced. "I decided to get informed early about the technical legal end of setting up a hospital."

"Your father would have been so proud of you, Minoru, dear," Mayumi cooed, raising her champagne glass to him.

Megumi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Mayumi was putting on a show again. By the way Minoru and Mitsuo tightened their jaws, it was wildly apparent that they were aware of it as well.

"So are you all siblings?" Sanosuke asked, looking at Megumi and the three men surrounding her.

"Aoshi is Megumi's fiancé," Mitsuo answered as Sanosuke's probing eyes flicked to Aoshi. "But Minoru and I are Megumi's elder brothers."

"Congratulations on your engagement," Sanosuke said.

"Thank you," Aoshi answered.

Megumi punished her asparagus again, shoving it into her mouth. He was a lawyer alright, she deduced. He knew just what to say to get everyone on his side. If she hadn't met him the previous day, she would have been swindled herself. Sanosuke must have been good at his job. Megumi hesitated over her steak as she watched him answer one of her mother's questions. Was the Sanosuke she met yesterday the act or was it the Sanosuke sitting in front of her that's the act.

Aoshi, Minoru, and Mitsuo had begun talking about medicine, hospitals, and pharmaceuticals after lunch. Aoshi was a physician, Minoru was a surgeon, and Mitsuo was a pediatrician. Sanosuke was sorely out of place in their conversation. He would have left with some pansy ass excuse of having another appointment but rain sloshed and raged outside, threatening to turn into a storm and the good Mrs. Takani (who had disappeared to get a shiatsu massage) wouldn't hear of his leaving and insisted he wait the storm out. The Takanis were potential clients. Sanosuke thought it was best not to offend one of them. Sanosuke looked over to the window to see Megumi staring wistfully out into the rain, her cup of tea perched primly in her hand. She seemed as if she was wishing herself away, hoping she could be anywhere but where she was. Sanosuke looked over to her fiancé. Aoshi seemed completely absorbed with his conversation with the Takani brothers. Sensing an opening, Sanosuke walked over to Megumi.

"Rain's great, isn't it?" he asked, sipping his own tea casually.

Megumi looked up at him and scoffed. "You're going to talk to me about the weather?" she asked incredulously.

"It's a perfect conversation starter," Sanosuke chuckled.

"I hate the rain," Megumi said tersely.

Sanosuke said. "Yeah, it sucks," he agreed. "It's keeping me from a six pack of beer I got at home."

Megumi looked at him incredibly. The statement seemed quite out of place coming out of a man who was wearing an expensive suit. "I didn't expect you to be a lawyer," Megumi confessed.

"You're such a snob," Sanosuke shook his head. "What did you think I was? A janitor? A mechanic?"

"Perhaps," Megumi confessed.

"And what if I was?" Sanosuke challenged. "A working class job is better than no job at all in my opinion."

"I guess," Megumi sighed.

"This is a large house," Sanosuke observed.

"Evidently," Megumi said blankly.

"I grew up poor, you know," Sanosuke admitted solemnly, drawing a curious look from Megumi. "I didn't have anything like this as a kid. I used to think my family would be happy if we had money, if we weren't poor." He gave her a penetrating stare. "That's not true, is it?"

Megumi smiled sardonically. "No, it's not," she confessed.

She felt as if she just confirmed his theories about how dysfunctional her family was but she didn't care. Her family was dysfunctional. Money or lack thereof wouldn't have changed the fact.

"Why didn't you say you were a lawyer?" Megumi demanded.

"You didn't ask, sweetheart," Sanosuke grinned at her. "Plus, I didn't think we were that intimate with each other."

"We're not," Megumi said curtly.

Sanosuke chortled. "You know, when I think of going back home, I think of good things," he began. "Watching a game with my Dad, eating my Mom's cooking." He gave her a searching look. "It's not the same for you, is it?"

Megumi gave him an annoyed look. "Don't psychoanalyze me," she threatened. "I'm not on trial here."

"You wouldn't be a very good witness anyway," Sanosuke shrugged. "I can read your face like a book."

"I thought honesty was important in a trial," Megumi argued.

"You're innocent if you think that way," Sanosuke grinned mockingly. "Trials are all about winning or losing."

"You say that like it's a game," Megumi said, sipping her tea.

"Everything is a game," Sanosuke said bitterly. "There's always a winner and a loser."

He was right, Megumi thought as she stared out into the rain. There was always something to be won or lost and there was always someone who would win or lose. Megumi looked over her shoulder at Aoshi. Had she lost or won by agreeing to marry him?

"I don't want to be here, Kaoru," Megumi complained as she followed Kaoru to the bar.

"Would you stop being a prude," Kaoru told her as she ordered a beer for herself and Megumi. "It's Saturday night. Have a little bit of fun. Dance with someone."

"I'm engaged, genius," Megumi reminded her.

"You're not married yet," Kaoru laughed.

Kaoru had obviously ingested her fair share of alcohol and was currently loopy. Kaoru had dragged Megumi away from her reading and forced her into a burgundy bandage dress and dragged her to a night club. The pulsating beat grated Megumi's nerves and the dim lighting gave her a headache. Megumi desperately wanted to leave. She had already been groped once by some drunken bastard and she wasn't eager to repeat the process. Kaoru, however, was perfectly content as she spiraled into drunken oblivion, swaying to electronic beat, her beer in her hand.

"Can we leave now?" Megumi asked for the umpteenth time.

"No!" Kaoru yelled. "I'm meeting Kenshin here!"

"Then why did you bring me along?" Megumi asked indignantly.

"Because you would have turned into hermit if I- KENSHIN!"

Kaoru lunged forward and threw her arms around Kenshin. Kenshin was dressed in a smart fuchsia button down shirt, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He would be the only man who would look good in pink, Megumi assessed.

"Miss Kaoru, are you alright?" Kenshin asked worriedly.

"Kaoru has had a few drinks," Megumi informed him.

"I'm sorry we made you wait," Kenshin apologized.

"We?" Megumi raised her eyebrow.

"Hey, sugar, you drinkin' that?"

Sanosuke appeared out of nowhere behind Kenshin, swiped the beer from Megumi's hand and took a large swig, leaning against the bar lethargically. He was eyeing a blonde to his left who was already grinning at him like a feline. Megumi resisted the urge to smack him across the shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Megumi asked Sanosuke as he grinned devilishly at the blonde.

"Kenshin told me he was coming to a night club and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be in the presence of some stunning women," Sanosuke explained, his eyes never leaving the blonde for a second.

"You're appalling," Megumi scowled.

"I'm going to take Miss Kaoru somewhere to sit," Kenshin said, supporting Kaoru and leading her away, a worried look on his face.

Megumi watched them go, a twinge of jealousy nipping at her. Kaoru had a man who actually took care of her, who protected her, and had her best interests at heart. Megumi didn't remember the last time Aoshi took care of her. She supposed he never had before. Of course, she was a grown woman and she was fully capable of taking care of herself but it would have been nice to let someone else be strong for once. It would have been nice to lean on someone instead of standing on one's own all the time. It would have been nice to indulge herself in weakness.

"You can't afford to be weak, Megumi. Only the strong survive in this world."

Aoshi's voice buzzed through her head. She sighed silently. Even when the music was blaring, she could still hear his voice loud and clear in her head.

"You were right."

Megumi looked to her left to see Sanosuke giving her a curious look as he took a swig of his purloined beer.

"What?"

He nodded to the spot where Kenshin and Kaoru had been. "They didn't hook up last night," he explained.

"I told you so," Megumi rolled her eyes. "Not every man is as perverse as you."

"I bet he thought about it though," Sanosuke reviewed as he took another gulp of beer.

"Thought about what?"

"Coitus with your friend over there," Sanosuke said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's utterly ridiculous!" Megumi exclaimed. "You make it seem like men think about sex all the time."

"Not all the time," Sanosuke admitted. "But a good portion of it. We only need just a little stimulation to make that leap. For example," he went on, his eyes landing on Megumi's body and taking a leisurely stroll downwards to her creamy thighs, "do you have any idea what's running through my head right now?"

His eyes skated back up her body and he locked eyes with her. As if a switch had been flipped, Megumi felt charged with sexual tension and she had to mentally coax herself not to touch Sanosuke Sagara. She was a taken woman. She was a taken woman. She was a taken woman. Megumi's heart only beat harder and faster and she couldn't help the desire from tightening inside her. As if sensing how hard she was resisting, Sanosuke gave her a smoky smirk. He pushed himself off the bar, grabbed Megumi's waist and pulled her close to him, leaning in to whisper seductively in her ear.

"Why don't you and I find some privacy, doc?" he asked with his devil's grin. "What do you think of that?"