Chapter 4

After the dinner, Sano didn't see Megumi again. He had told Kenshin about the event when he had asked, but he found himself holding back the details. He didn't feel right telling his friend, it felt somehow like he was betraying Megumi's trust, which was ridiculous really. He'd never hesitated to gossip about the most sordid aspects of his other clients and their meetings with Kenshin before, but for some reason, Megumi was different. Kenshin was suspicious, but in the end he just decided that there must not be anything to tell.

However, when she didn't show up on Tuesday like she usually did, Sano had to keep himself from feeling affronted. It was becoming harder to remember his place. He was a hooker, not a boyfriend, and their Tuesday night routine wasn't a date. She was the boss, and he was just along for the ride.

He didn't like the fact that he didn't hear from her at all though, and the next Tuesday, as he stood by his broken lamp-post, he felt himself becoming increasingly worried as she didn't show up. She hadn't said anything the last time they'd met, she hadn't warned him that she would be out of town or anything like that. When someone else drove by, and he turned them down, just in case, he knew it was no good. He had to go home, and when he got there, he spent a good hour or two staring at the scrap with her number on it, wondering if he should call. He couldn't figure out what he would say though. Everything he thought of just made him sound like a clingy and insecure boyfriend. There was no way for a prostitute to ask a client why she hadn't engaged him for the night.

The fact of the matter was, Megumi could be fine. It might just have slipped her mind that she was going away and she forgot to mention it. She could have been called away suddenly for a family emergency, or some sort of business thing, whatever it was that she did for a living. Or maybe she just didn't feel like seeing him. She was too busy, or just wasn't lonely enough.

Or, Sano thought, she could have found herself a real boyfriend, someone she could actually date. If that happened, well, she wouldn't need him anymore, would she? She could be getting her quota of tall from somewhere else. But he wouldn't be a better lover than he was, Sano thought bitterly. He was the best. But women have other needs, like bouquets of roses and meeting the family.

Sano was angry with himself. When had he become so unprofessional? He had known this was going to happen eventually, in the beginning, but he'd let himself get too comfortable. Their relationship had come to its end, just like dozens before it, and he would just have to get over it. Find someone else. Another regular to supplement his income. He would miss the money more than the woman, he told himself. He was back to harsh reality now, not being able to pay his rent on time, and risking his neck working the street.

Sano tossed the number away from him with a growl and reclined on the couch. It was so thinned out he could feel the wooden struts digging into his back, but he ignored it. He tried to put Megumi, her fancy apartment and the luxurious bed in which he had pleasured her week after week, out of his mind.

The problem was, he couldn't shake this paranoid little nagging voice telling him that it was his fault. That he had done something wrong at her fancy party and that was why she hadn't contacted him again. Looking back, he knew he hadn't, he'd only done what she told him to do, even participated in her little show in the bathroom. But maybe there was some little etiquette thing that he'd neglected because he hadn't know about it. If that was the case then he couldn't be blamed for it. An uneducated whore couldn't be expected to blend in seamlessly with the upper classes, he'd warned her that taking him as her date would be her funeral.

Then another possibility occurred to him. He could have been found out. The other guests, all her co-workers and associates, might somehow have discovered that he wasn't really an artist popular with European princes. If that happened, then of course, Megumi would want to sever all ties with him. She would be so embarrassed to have hired a hooker to be her date, and no one would ever let her forget it. If she continued seeing him, it would only make things worse, especially if they were watching her.

Sano snorted at himself and rolled onto his side. They were watching her? How much further was he going to delude himself? This was straying from the unlikely into the realm of fiction. He doubted that whoever Megumi was, she was important enough to be spied on. He was reaching, and he knew it. What he needed was to get his feet back on the ground, focus on his other clients, maybe squeeze some extra cash out of them until he replaced the fox.

In the meantime however, he was not in the mood for working, and he didn't think his prospects were very good at this kind of time. No, tonight felt like a night for drinking until he passed out.

OoO

Sano awoke to more sunlight than he ever got in his apartment, and the faintest smell of cleaning products and detergent, something else he never got in the Crapshack. He groaned as he woke more fully and became aware of a dire headache and a hellish taste in his mouth. His whole being felt fuzzy and crumpled. He wondered where he was and how late he'd slept.

There was a dull thud as a large glass of water was put in front of him, accompanied by two pain pills.

"Good morning," said Kenshin sardonically, as Sano forced himself to sit up and squint at his host. Kenshin was sitting opposite him, legs crossed, completely at ease, and looking fresher than anyone had any right to when Sano was feeling so terrible. He knew it had to be mid-afternoon if Kenshin was up.

He tried to talk again, reaching for the water and the meds, but he only succeeded in making a muffled moan.

"You're at my house," Kenshin spoke as Sano drank. "You didn't quite make it back to your place last night, so the bartender called me, because, you know, I just love dragging your drunk ass home with me, at the crack of dawn, when I've already put in a night's work at the club and don't have a car or anything." Somehow he managed to keep his positive tone propped up by sarcasm.

"Sorry," Sano croaked after a moment's concentration.

Kenshin just tipped his head and shrugged. "It's not the first time, and I know it won't be the last. You'd just better remember this if I ever need a favour," he said.

Sano just dedicated himself to getting his eyes open without searing, blinding pain.

"Can we have the drapes closed?" he said.

"No," answered Kenshin, conversationally, looking at his nails with his nose in the air. He always did this when Sano was hung-over and had spent the night at his place, he wouldn't exactly make things worse for Sano, but he would refuse to be accommodating. This meant bright lights, and the clattering of pans and the radio if it was meal time. As far as Kenshin was concerned, it was Sano's own fault if he was hung-over and he was going to suffer the consequences. And Sano knew he couldn't complain or Kenshin would kick him out on his ass.

"Can I take a shower?" asked Sano.

"If you want," replied Kenshin, waving him down the hall, leaving him to stagger to his feet as best he could.

Sano showered quickly, not wanting to run up his friend's water bill, and rinsed out his mouth. Kenshin's house was a small bungalow in a bad neighbourhood that he could only afford because he had inherited it, and therefore had no rent or mortgage payments. From the outside, it looked derelict, but once you got inside, you could see what good care Kenshin took of it. The rooms were small, but they were clean and everything worked. There wasn't any peeling wallpaper or loose nails, and the furniture didn't look like it had been found next to the freeway.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he was going to take his leave and go home, but Kenshin stopped him before he could open his mouth.

"You've made the papers," he said. "In a way."

The redhead held out a newspaper folded over to a story a few pages in. The first thing Sano noticed was Megumi's black and white picture in the middle. There were several smaller photos, one of which was taken at the dinner at the museum, obviously by one of the photographers at the front steps. Megumi was smiling and looking like a movie star at a premiere, and it was true that Sano stood behind her, his hand gripping her arm as he spoke into her ear.

The picture made him feel strange. It was clear how mismatched they were - Megumi with her diamonds and class, him with his scruffy hair - but the way he held her and whispered to her, it made them look like they shared some dark, lustful secret. It was a passionate shot, enough to make plenty of women jealous just with the suggestion it made.

The headline read; "Hospital Tycoon Investigated for Stealing," and Sano immediately scanned the rest of the story. It seemed Megumi - Sano now learned her last name was Takani- was suspected of embezzling from various hospitals that she apparently owned and ran. So that's what she does for a living, Sano thought. All her money, the hundreds that she tipped him with and her expensive car and jewellery, it all came from owning hospitals all over the country. It said that she also took a very active part in the direction of the institutes, which was how she was in a position to steal from them.

Sano noticed that the emphasis was on the city's children's hospital, a foundation Megumi had recently been collecting donations for. Anger rose in him at the journalist and the newspaper. Megumi would never have done this. The article also said her accounts had been frozen for the duration of the investigation. This would definitely explain why she hadn't come to see him. She would be being very careful with her money at the moment, and the last thing she needed was the police or the journalists monitoring the case to discover that her lover was for hire.

Sano was also struck by how concerned he was for her. He found he wanted to be there with her and comfort her, make sure she was dealing with it alright. And with her accounts frozen, it wouldn't be as her employee, it would just be as her friend.

"So that's her, huh?" said Kenshin, bringing Sano back to the present. "Bet you had no idea what she was up to."

"She didn't do it, Ken-man," replied Sano. Kenshin looked at him,

"Sano… You're not going to get involved, are you? I mean, you know better than that, right?" said Kenshin slowly, worried.

"Do I?" replied Sano, his eyes scanning the article again.

"Oh no, Sano, come on, you hardly know her!" Kenshin was afraid he recognised where this was going.

"That's not true," was the taller man's touchy reply.

"Oh yeah? I bet you didn't know her last name or what she did for a living until you read that article, did you?" Kenshin knew he could try to make his friend see sense, but he felt it was already too late.

"It takes more than that to know someone. I know what she's like as a person," Sano replied stubbornly.

"Knowing whether she prefers to be on the top or the bottom is not the same as knowing what she's like as a person," the redhead scorned.

"Don't talk about her like that," said Sano with an angry flash in his eyes.

Kenshin held up his hands defensively. "You're right, I'm sorry, but can't you see where this is going? It's your goddamn hero complex acting up again, you just have to rush in if you see a woman in trouble."

"And some men, if I recall correctly, Kenshin," said Sano, giving Kenshin a cold but meaningful look. "And since when is that a bad thing?"

Kenshin sighed, "It's not a bad thing. It's just that this isn't some woman getting hit on by a thug in a bar, this is over your head. This is lawyer stuff, she could go to jail. She doesn't need you turning up. Face facts, Sano, you're not going to be her white knight, you're just going to end up getting your face rearranged by the angry boyfriend like usual. "

He was willing the rooster-head to listen to him, but he knew it was futile. There was some things that Sano just couldn't wrap his head around, and his place in the world was one of them. He had always been too much of a romantic to be a whore, but it was also what made him so good. He treated every woman with love, but at times like these, that could backfire when he elected himself their personal protector. Kenshin could tell this was going to end badly.

But Sano wasn't listening. There were times when Kenshin's defeatist, 'gritty realism' outlook on life got on his nerves. But he never wanted to get in a fight with him, Kenshin was the best friend he had, probably the only real one.

"I'll see you later, man," he said, and left the house, leaving Kenshin exasperated on the couch in his wake.