CHAPTER FOUR – BEWARE THE CRAFTY RACCOON! Kaoru's Plot for the Fox and the Rooster
Thwack!
"Wake up, Chicken-head," Isamu's voice came into Sanosuke's consciousness barely over the pain of the fresh lump on the street fighter's head.
Sano rolled over onto his side, his hand covering his wounded head. "It's too early to kill you now, brat," he mumbled drowsily.
Isamu promptly hit him with his crutch again. "You can do that later. Doctor Megumi wants you up so you can eat breakfast with us like a civilized person."
That got his attention. "Food?" Sano's eyes snapped open and his stomach took that as a cue to grumble loudly.
"Yeah," Isamu answered, already having hobbled off the porch and beginning his way to the main building, "but it won't be there if you don't hurry . . ."
Sanosuke did not need to be told twice. Sitting up and pulling his jacket off the top of his sheets, he was ready in a flash, but stopped when he felt something fall from one of the sleeves. Smirking at the lacy garment that had fluttered to the floor, he shoved it under the futon for safe-keeping – who knew when the next time he could make the Fox blush like that would present itself?
Sanosuke's stomach rumbled again, reminding him that he should probably get a move on if he did not want the Brat to eat his share of breakfast . . .
"Auntie Megumi, is it ready yet?" Ayame tugged on the doctor's smock.
"Yeah, ready yet?" Suzume chimed in.
Doctor Gensai chuckled. "Now now, girls. We should just leave Megumi to her work. It'll be ready in due time. And when it's done you know it'll be the best meal you've ever tasted. So sit down now and wait for it."
"Okay . . ." the two said sullenly and knelt themselves back down at the table.
Megumi smiled. "You flatter me, Doctor Gensai."
"You think that will make it ready sooner?"
"No," Megumi shook her head, "but it's certainly inspiring."
"Good," the elder doctor smiled as he sat down at his own space between his granddaughters, "because I can't wait to eat either!" Picking up his chopsticks, a sudden noise caught his attention and he looked toward the hall.
"Well now, Kikeiko," his tone was amiable, "are you feeling up to eating with the rest of us now?"
The girl gave a soft smile and nodded fervently, smelling the delicious aroma coming from Megumi's handiwork. She sat down beside Suzume, adjusting the obi on her tiny kimono – she had been bedridden for quite some time and had almost forgotten how to put it on – and tying her long, dark brown hair in a queue. She looked back over her shoulder to Megumi, a puzzled expression on her face. "What happened to that really tall story guy?"
"Who? That Sanosuke fellow?" Gensai guessed, catching her attention. At the girl's unfamiliarity at the name, he continued, "Tall, brown pointy hair, rather thin . . ."
"Yeah, he told me stories yesterday and helped fight the monsters in my sleep," Kikeiko's eyes were starry.
Megumi groaned as she placed some dumplings on a tray. "That rooster-headed idiot is probably still sleepi-"
"Dammit, brat, if you hit me with that again, you're gonna need more than just a crutch when I'm through with you!"
"What's the matter? Can't catch up with a cripple?" Isamu taunted as he hobbled through the doorway, a flustered Sanosuke rushing up behind him, adorning several new bruises.
"Never mind then," the assistant doctor set the last of the food down on the table. "I guess Isamu managed to pry you out of bed."
"Pry?" Sano finally caught the back of Isamu's shirt and held him up above the ground, the boy's limbs flailing desperately, trying to get loose. "This brat nearly beat in my skull this morning!"
"It'd take more than a crutch to get through your thick head," the vixen sat herself down in a graceful manner. "Now hurry up and eat your food. We have a busy day today."
"We?" Sano had already dropped his quarry and begun to devour his rice dumplings.
"Yes, we," Megumi sat up straight and chewed delicately. "Part of the agreement was that you'd run errands for me. I need to purchase some supplies and I need someone to carry them for me."
"I don't see why you can't carry your own supplies," the fighter-for-hire managed to say through a full mouth.
"Because it's part of our deal that you pull your weight around here," Megumi glared.
Sanosuke took another swallow. "Only for three days of the week. There are still four more that I don't have to do anything for you."
Her delicate hand smacked the table sharply. "You can't just spend the night and not work the next day! You're taking too much leeway with the deal here!"
"I can do whatever I want with the deal, Fox!" Sano shouted back. "I did help make it!"
"Why you . . . you . . ." Megumi's brow twitched in fury. She stood and leaned across the table, threateningly close to Sanosuke. "If you don't hold up your end, I swear I'll-"
"Stop it, Doctor Megumi!" a voice cried out.
Megumi turned. "Kikeiko . . .?"
The girl's eyes were trembling but were drawn in a tight scowl. "I won't let you hurt Mister Sanosuke. You should be ashamed . . . h-he's a guest!"
"I didn't invite-" Megumi started, but then thought better of arguing with a child. She sighed and took her seat once more. "I'm sorry Kikeiko. You're right. I shouldn't have made such a disturbance at the meal table. But," she gave a pointed look in Sanosuke's direction, "that doesn't mean I was wrong about my convictions. You will go to market with me and . . ." she blinked at his empty space at the table.
"Thanks for the diversion, Kikeiko!" was all Sano said before he escaped out the shoji and down the road.
Kikeiko blushed profusely while Isamu ground his teeth together.
Megumi nearly knocked the table over when she got up and shouted:
"Come back here, Rooster-head!"
The methodical brushing of the floor echoed in the large room, off the nameplates and shinai hung so caringly on the wall. The sunshine of the slow approach of mid-morning glinted on the wooden flooring (despite the fact that it still needed to be cleaned) and sparkled off the ebony hair of its cleaner. Kaoru Kamiya swept the interior of the dojo with less vigour than she normally would have. Staring down at her feet, her mind wandered elsewhere . . . specifically, to her discussions with Kenshin last night.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru finally caught up with the red-headed wanderer. "Tell me what I'm missing here!" She grabbed on to his shirt and swung him around to face her.
"M-Miss Kaoru, it's really not my affair to discuss!" he stammered.
"I don't like being left out!" she held her wooden sword dangerously above his head.
"But-"
She gripped the fuchsia fabric tighter in her fist. "Kenshin, you'd better tell me, or else . . ."
Kenshin gulped.
Maybe I was a little hard on him, Kaoru surmised as she finally set the broom away. After all, he was right . . . it really wasn't any of our business. She went over to the wall and pulled a sword down, feeling its smooth, wooden surface and taking a practised swing. Training always helped her relax before.
But it's still so unbelievable . . .
"Sanosuke really likes Megumi, instead of hating-?"
"Shh . . . not so loud, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin covered her mouth swiftly. "You never know when one of them, especially Sano, might pop up around here, that you don't."
"But . . . but they're always fighting!" Kaoru pulled his hand off her face. "Why would you fight with someone you're in love with?"
"That is something I don't quite understand either . . ." his amethyst eyes looked into her own.
Kaoru blushed and looked away.
"Maybe," Kenshin said, his eyes closing with a small smile, "maybe they just don't know how to tell the other one . . . or they're afraid they might get hurt if they do. Don't you think, Miss Kaoru?"
Looking back up at him, she blushed even more, realizing that she had yet to release his hand.
"Well?" he asked again. "Don't you think that may be it?"
"Uh, well m-maybe . . ." she said, unsure of what to do. She wanted to let go, but then she did not. She tried to draw attention away from their joined limbs. "B-but I think they're just being silly!" she summoned up her confidence. "I mean, why can't I-they just say how they really feel? It's not so hard, is it?"
"Indeed, that it isn't," the moonlight darkened his eyes and brightened his smile with its playful shadows. "But then again, it is."
"What do you mean, Kenshin?"
"To tell someone you love them is to expose your heart," he looked up at the moon, his normally bright red hair a soft auburn in the night, drifting in the breeze, "and something like that takes time and courage. While courage may be something they have, it still may take a while for one of them to find the right time."
"K-Kenshin . . ."
"Yes, Miss Kaoru?" he looked back at her gently . . . until he too noticed that their hands were still coupled.
"ORO!" his hand flew away as fast as though it had been bitten. "I'm so sorry, Miss Kaoru! I didn't intend any presumptuousness out here, that I didn't!"
Kaoru's originally soft countenance hardened immediately into a frown. "And just what do you mean by that? Do you have something against touching me? Am I that ugly to you?"
"NO! I mean, no! I just-"
"Oh, so you thought you'd just be all smooth in the moonlight and play a joke on me? Hey, where are you going, Kenshin? I'm not done with you yet!"
"ORO!"
Then again, Kaoru thought as she took another swipe with the shinai, it's not all that unbelievable. She blushed again at the mere memory of Kenshin holding her hand . . . his hair blowing in the breeze . . . his eyes gazing into hers . . .
"Hey, Ugly! Why'd you start without me?"
"Y-Yahiko!" she snapped out her reverie. "What are you doing here?"
"Duh!" he gave her a tap on the head with his bokken. "Are you such a stupid raccoon that you forgot that I'm your only student here and it's time for my session?"
"Don't call your master stupid, idiot!" she hit him in the gut with her sword.
"I'll show you who's the idiot!" Yahiko countered with a kick to her feet.
What would have begun as a simple lesson soon developed into a sparring match. Blow after blow and insult after insult the two managed not only to give the other an extremely difficult fight, but also to dirty up the floor that had previously been cleaned. The shouts and swearing could be heard right through the doors and all the way out into the street, where quickening footsteps approached the dojo entrance.
"You're getting too slow, Kaoru!" Yahiko gloated as he danced away from another attack.
Kaoru growled. "And you're getting too full of yourself!" she shouted as she hit him on his side. "Still think I'm slow, Yahiko?"
"Too slow to dodge this!" he grinned as he feinted a blow to her shoulder and aimed a kick at her stomach.
Kaoru deftly dodged. "Hah! It'll be a long time before you can beat me with a stunt like th-"
"Where is Sanosuke?"
Both assistant master and first pupil stopped and blinked at the intrusion on their fight. Megumi stood in the doorway, her eyes almost glowing red and her face looking as though she were a fox demon rather than a fox woman.
"M-Miss Megumi . . ." Kaoru stammered in surprise.
"Where is he?"
"He hasn't been here," Yahiko said, a little intimidated by the fiery glare she had. "I haven't seen him since Kaoru dragged him off to the clinic yesterday."
"He may be in a gambling house somewhere . . ." Kaoru tried to be helpful. "Or maybe he went down to the river to take a nap or something."
Megumi turned on her heel and rushed away as swiftly as she came.
"Well that was weird," Yahiko said.
"I'll say," Kaoru stared after the older woman as she left, an ominous invisible cloud of fury following behind her purple apron-clad form.
"What do you suppose she wants with Sano?"
'To tell someone you love them is to expose your heart, and something like that takes time and courage,' Kaoru heard the memory of Kenshin speaking to her. Maybe . . . maybe Megumi's way of showing her courage is anger? That must be it! She must have found the right time to tell Sanosuke how she feels!
Yahiko looked at her like she was crazy. "Kaoru, what are you grinning like an idiot for?"
"Come on, Yahiko! Hurry up!" she yanked him by the arm, despite his loud protests, and raced after Megumi. "If we don't hurry, we might just miss it!"
"Sometimes it's real nice to get away from everything," Sanosuke smiled as he leaned back on the grass by the river. Clouds rolled by languidly across the sky, as blue as the river before him, and the wind blew the stray pieces of hair comfortably out of his face. One foot resting upon his bent knee, he chewed on a long stalk of grass with his hands behind his head, closing his eyes and enjoying the calm weather of early summer. "Definitely nice to get away from Megumi, anyway," he added with a yawn, "and that bratty Isamu."
The river's soft trickling and the early afternoon bird-life lulled him in the warm sun, his thoughts blissfully blank and relaxed until . . .
"Any last words, Sanosuke?"
He nearly choked on the stalk in his mouth as he sprang up. "Megumi? How'd you find me here?"
"Oh, I only just ran all around town trying to hunt you down for the past hour," she said with sarcastic bitterness. "I was lucky Kaoru guessed you were here."
"Kaoru . . ." Sanosuke felt a little betrayed by the girl he thought to be his friend. "That little Missy'll sure get a piece of my mind the next tim-"
"You've got more important things to worry about," Megumi said flatly.
Sano rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. I'll help you out tomorrow. How does that sound?"
"No good," the doctor responded, stepping closer and looking down her nose at him.
"Yahiko! Move your head! I can't see through your bushy hair," Kaoru complained as she shoved the boy lower, peering through a bush beside a tree at the unsuspecting couple.
"What the hell are we supposed to be watching anyway?" he asked in a not-so-nice way, glaring at how her hand still squashed his head down.
Kaoru's eyes turned big and watery with emotion. "We're watching love unfold right before our eyes!"
". . . Right . . ." Yahiko finally pulled her hand off and forced her down. "It just looks like Megumi chewing Sano's head off to me."
Kaoru dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "Sure, it seems that way, but that's only because you don't have any experience in the area of romance."
"I don't have any experience?" the boy huffed. "Look who's talking, you loveless Raccoon!"
"Shut up!" she thwacked him on his head with her bokken. "You'll give our spot away!"
"Did you hear something?"
"No," Megumi said, still angry.
"I could have sworn . . . ah well. Anyway, it's no use going shopping now," Sanosuke pointed out, switching the grass in his mouth to the other side as he spoke. "The streets are packed."
"I noticed," Megumi brushed a tangle out of her hair with her hand (no doubt a result of her running through the crowded streets). "You know," she glared, "we could have already gotten the shopping done if you had just gone with me in the beginning."
"Yeah," he said, "but thinking like that doesn't do you any good now. The best thing to do is just to wait for the crowd to die down and go then."
"Are you volunteering now?"
"Only if I can get an extra meal."
Megumi made a distasteful sound and frowned, looking away from him. "Fine," she spat. "But what am I supposed to do until I can go?"
"Sit and wait," he tugged on her kimono, forcing her down onto the grass next to him.
"Oh my," Kaoru gasped. "I thought Megumi came here to tell Sanosuke about her feelings, but I think it might end up being the other way around!"
"For a spy, you sure are loud . . ." Yahiko grumbled. "Besides, don't you think it's kind of rude to be watching them like this . . . if they even are talking about getting together?"
Kaoru's love bubbled deflated. "You don't think that's what they're talking about?"
"Not when Megumi looks that pissed."
"Well, that shows how much you know then!" Kaoru laughed. "I know for a fact that they love each other."
Yahiko looked sceptical. "And how do you know that?"
"Any woman can tell when another woman is in love!" she said pedantically. "It's intuition."
"What the-" Megumi's voice carried to the two eavesdroppers. "Idiot! Now my kimono will have grass stains!"
Yahiko looked sly. "You still so sure about that intuition of yours?"
"Oh quit your whining, Fox," Sano drawled. "I'm sure Kenshin would be more than happy to scrub them out for you."
"That's not the point! I still have to wear this into town, you know!"
Sanosuke sighed and leaned deeper into the tall grass. "You shouldn't sweat so many of the little things."
"What was that?" she glared at him.
"I'm just saying you're too uptight," he looked at her askance. "You need to relax more. You have a good life . . . try to enjoy it sometimes. Besides, I didn't pull you down that hard."
Megumi's frown remained, but she amended. "Well, maybe I did overreact a little bit. You just caught me off-balance, that's all."
"Me? Catch you off-balance?" he laughed a little, pushing some irritating hair out of his eyes with his right hand. "That'll be the day."
"What's that?" she asked, pointing to his hand.
He blinked. "What's what?"
"That," she grabbed his hand and flipped it over. Her fingers traced along the lines of a dark, rough scar across the palm. Grasping his wrist with her left and unfurling his fingers with her right, she found that she had never realized how big his hands were. She pushed that thought from her mind. "When did you get this?"
Sanosuke tried to get his hand back, but Megumi's hold was surprisingly strong. "I . . . I don't remember."
"Yes you do," she frowned at him. "You just won't say."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he blushed, looking in the other direction.
"You're a terrible liar," Megumi said off-hand, still examining the cut. "This . . . this can't be more than a few weeks old. It's a pretty precise laceration . . . most likely caused by a . . . knife . . . oh," she finally realized, her eyes growing wide.
Sanosuke suddenly felt his hand being crushed in a vice-like grip. "Ow! Hey, wat-"
"Why didn't you let me examine this when you got it?" her eyes were snapping. "If you had told me after we left Kanryuu's mansion, I could have been able to prevent this from being permanent!"
He pulled his hand back and covered the offending cut, almost guiltily. "I didn't think you'd have time to, since you were busy getting yourself situated in Tokyo. So I just patched it up myself."
"You idiot."
"Were they just holding hands?" Yahiko asked, stunned.
"Of course they were!" Kaoru grinned. "A woman's intuition is never wrong."
"Well I'll be damned," the boy scratched his head. "You might actually be right about something for once, Kaoru."
She tightened her grip on her wooden sword, looking threatening. "What do you mean 'for once'?"
"Nothing," he quickly prevented the impending Yahiko-bashing session. "I-I . . . it's just that . . ." he put his hand behind his head, searching for an excuse. "I was just so surprised at what Sano and Megumi were doing I didn't know exactly what I was saying . . . ehehe . . ."
Kaoru took that as an acceptable apology, but did not stop sending dirty looks in his direction.
Megumi's eyes looked at the grass beneath her feet when she spoke. "Maybe . . . maybe if we move fast enough, we can make it through the crowd and go back to the clinic. I think I have some ointment that may be able to heal most of that scar . . ."
"Don't bother," Sano said, putting on his typical tough-guy face.
"Why not?"
"I don't need it. My hand's been fine for this long," he sat up, "it'll be all right on its own."
She glanced over at him, watching him cover the hand in question. "Now you're just being stubborn."
"So?" he said. "What are you going to do about it?"
Megumi sighed and curled her knees up to her chest. "I guess I can't make you do it, can I?"
Sanosuke's ears perked up. "What? Is the mighty Fox actually giving up?" he looked toward her as the sun shone off her inky tresses drifting in the wind. Her eyes were closed, the long lashes sweeping over the cherry-blossom skin of her cheeks and the red lips normally smiting him with harsh words still and full. "That's not like you," Sano breathed.
She tilted her head up to the rolling clouds above. "I've just been so overwhelmed by my work lately . . . I guess I haven't really been feeling like myself."
Sano contemplated while chewing on his stalk of grass, looking out over the water.
"All the more reason for you to get up off your lazy rear and help, right?" she smirked.
He stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Well, I can't run from you much anyway," he surrendered. "You'd just hunt me down again."
"There, see how easy that was?" Megumi said, beginning to get up, but struggling in her kimono and apron ensemble. "Now, if you had just . . . agreed . . . like that . . . in the first . . . place . . . we-" she stumbled.
"Come on, Fox," he grabbed her arm and hefted her to her feet. He grinned at her surprise in catching her. "Now where would you be without me?" he said smugly.
"Probably a lot better off," she slapped his arm away and dusted her dress. Sanosuke just turned with a wry smile and started walking up the hill to the market.
"I think the streets have probably mellowed out a little bit by now . . ."
Megumi followed him, watching the 'aku' on his back flutter as he walked. "They had better. Goodness knows I've wasted enough of my time today."
Yahiko looked a little disappointed. "But they didn't do anything . . ." he whined.
"You little pervert," Kaoru admonished him. "Of course they didn't . . . yet. It takes time," she put a thoughtful finger to her chin. "But, you may have a point there . . ."
"Where?"
"They are taking a long time. I would have thought they would have at least embraced each other by now . . ." Suddenly her pensive expression turned into something decidedly crafty.
Yahiko was wary. "Kaoru . . . I don't like that look you have . . ."
"Ohohoho," Kaoru gave a laugh that sounded suspiciously like Megumi's trademark sly-fox-laugh.
"You're scaring me, Ugly," Yahiko started to slowly back away. "Just what are you up to?"
"Why, I would have thought it'd obvious," Kaoru snatched her first pupil and brought him back near her.
"We're going to help speed things along with those two."
"You mean play matchmaker?" the boy looked dubious.
"Exactly."
