Samurai's Heart. Battosai's Heart

Chapter 4

Sano looked down at his shoulder, where Kanna, now called Slip, was falling asleep. Her sharp cheekbone bit into his skin uncomfortably, but he didn't move. Kaoru smiled and leaned over to whisper to Kenshin.

"Aw, look. That's sweet. And Sano isn't even moving her off."

"She must like him. She used to do that to me a lot."

Kaoru grinned. Slip did seem to have picked Sano to be her personal pillow, snoring slightly before shifting so her forehead rested against his arm. The tall man looked back up at the other two, then at Yahiko, who was trudging off to go to bed himself. He sighed and eased her up into his lap, then stood, holding her in his arms as easily as he would hold a child.

"Where do you want me to put her?"

Kenshin scratched his nose, thinking. He hadn't thought of where Slip would be sleeping. He looked at Kaoru, who was already standing and pulling a spare futon from it's cupboard and a blanket to go with it.

"She could stay with Sano, Kenshin. He wouldn't do anything, would you?"
Sano glared as Kaoru giggled and handed over the spare bedding.

"But you could put her in the bathhouse if you like."

Sano looked at the sleeping woman, who held on to his shirt with one small hand in her sleep, and sighed.

"I'll take her to my place. I wanna keep an eye on her anyway. She didn't look too good when I first met her. I guess I'll see you in the morning."

Sano stepped out into the street and shifted Slip so that he could carry her more comfortably, a slight smile on his face.

"I haven't had a visitor in a while, so pardon the mess."

He laughed at himself. He had been using a line that Kaoru always made when there were visitors, even though Kenshin kept the place clean.

He kicked the door to his shack open and set her down, but when he went to get up to set up a place for her to sleep, he discovered her grip on his shirt was stronger that he thought. He sighed and kicked the rolled bedding, sending it a little further than he had meant to, but it unrolled at least. He picked Slip up again and deposited her on the futon and went to stand, and nearly broke his neck trying to avoid falling on and crushing her. Her grip was now two handed and had graduated to a deathgrip.

He went to pry her fingers loose when he saw her face. Her skin was pale and she was starting to sweat, her eyes darting back and forth under her thin eyelids. She made a tiny squealing noise and gave a jerk.

'a nightmare huh? Well, I guess I can sit here until either she wakes up because of it or it goes away.' He yawned and covered her in the blanket after a five minute struggle to hook said blanket with his toe. He looked around and yawned again. 'I'll just lean back a little, it'll be more comfortable, with that nasty grip. Man, I'm tired… I'll just shut my eyes for a minute… just for a… second…'

Sano was asleep on seconds, and Slip wiggled and squirmed until she was as close as she could get without breaking her grip. As soon as she was close enough to feel him breathing, she sighed and smiled in her sleep, the nightmare dissolving into nothing.

A/N

Aww! Wasn't that sweet! I did that to my poor cousin once, and he laughs about it still. (I speak of the deathgrip in my sleep that didn't let up until he had himself fallen asleep. I had a deathgrip on his arm… Sorry Jim!)

So, yeah… What do you think? Sano/Kanna (aka Slip) sound okay? I'm kinda tired of him being with Megumi. He's one of my favorite characters too! Other than Kenshin, of course!

I love reviews, so please send them in! Ideas for where this should go, your thoughts on what occurred, etc. Flames are not paid any heed, so don't bother sending them.