Author's Note: Alright, this is where the story branches out for bit, involving hardly any Sano at all. It's mostly focused on Megumi, with some Kenshin, and next chapter Kaoru comes in properly. Sorry this chapter took a while to come out, I'm on holiday at the moment. Meanwhile, I've had lot of positive reviews and enthusiastic support for this story, I hope it continues, and I hope I can finish this fic deserving it. So, I thought I'd name-check a few people: CosmicFish201, Akanke, Roosterboy, Lunascorpio, Crewel, Shysie, MissTeak and Lara. Some of you have written particularly heart-wrming reviews, others have just been faithful, reviewing every chapter. Thank you, I hope this is up to your standards.
Chapter 6
Megumi had only been at Kenshin's for a few hours when Sano realised something he had not foreseen.
The three of them had sat around Kenshin's coffee table, making awkward small talk as best they could. Megumi felt bad for imposing, which it was clear she was. Sano felt shy for introducing her to the world he lived in, knowing it was so very far below her own, while also being aware that Kenshin's clean and well-kept house made a much better impression than his Crapshack would. He dreaded what she was thinking, but he knew it would be infinitely worse if he hadn't convinced Kenshin to let her stay, and had housed her himself. Kenshin meanwhile was feeling awkward because he knew nothing about the woman, had no way to entertain her, and was frankly feeling very put out at having to forego his usual daily routine in order to baby-sit Sano's latest cause.
However, as evening began to draw down on them, the two men began to get antsy. Now was the time that they usually went to work, neither of them having what you might call a nine-to-five. This was a problem Sano had not taken into account. There was no way he could stretch his finances sufficiently to be able to afford to stay with Megumi in the evenings. Of course, he knew Megumi understood what he did, as she herself was a client, but it was just professional courtesy not to leave one woman in order to go meet others. But tonight, it seemed he had no choice, especially since Megumi had been forced to withdraw her custom.
So by about seven thirty, he decided he had waited about as long as he could, since he would have to walk back to his place, check his answering machine to see if any of his regulars wanted an appointment, and change into something a lot less conservative before going out on the streets.
"Well, I guess it's time for me to go now, guys," he said awkwardly, getting to his feet. He felt shitty for having to leave the two alone when they were still so uncomfortable with each other, but it had to be done.
Megumi looked startled. She obviously hadn't been expecting him to leave, but clearly it would be even more of an inconvenience for both of them to impose on Kenshin's hospitality.
"You're going home?" she asked. They had moved her car earlier in the day to a covered lot, so she was feeling a little trapped.
"Yeah, well, you know, we can't both stay the night here. Kenshin'll look after you, don't worry," he said, edging towards the door. He didn't want to tell her his real reason for leaving.
"Can't you stay a bit longer?" Megumi asked in a low voice. She knew Kenshin would hear her, but she instinctively wanted to avoid offending her host.
For Kenshin, in a bad mood already, it was painful to watch. He knew why Sano was leaving, of course. It would soon be late enough for the real creeps to come out looking for company, so if Sano wanted to earn his bread in a half-decent way, he would have to leave now.
Sano kept making awkward and vague excuses, until he was at the door and able to extract himself from the nervous woman who had been following him out. Megumi stayed by the door, feeling lost, until Kenshin took pity on her and called her back.
"Sano's not leaving you, now is just the best time for what he does," he said softly once the woman had seated herself opposite him again.
For a moment, Megumi didn't follow, but then she realised what he must mean.
"He's going out to get picked up by some woman, you mean?" she confirmed. For some reason, she didn't like that idea.
Kenshin shrugged, "He has bills to pay, just like everyone else. He can't afford to stop working for the time you spend here, though I'm sure he wishes he could. But Sano usually lives on the money he earned the night before, it's always been like that for him, and he doesn't have you tipping him hundreds anymore," explained the redhead.
"Are you saying it's my fault? He knows I can't afford - I'm being investigated by the Police…" Megumi was reaching for something to explain why she was feeling upset.
"He understands that, that's why he's going out, instead of staying here, trying to work you," said Kenshin calmly.
Megumi looked away, thinking about it. It suddenly came to her how horrible it must be to be a prostitute. She knew she had hired him, but she hadn't cared at the time. He was just a tool, a simple way to relieve stress and get the kind of pleasure she couldn't get anywhere else. But then she had made him her date, and now she was staying with his best friend, and somewhere along the line, she had stopped seeing him as a means to an end. Now he was a person, someone funny and charming and kind, and she didn't want him to have to sell his body in order to survive.
"How often does he have to…?" Megumi felt weak for shying away from saying the words to describe what Sano did, what he was presumably doing right at that moment. She wasn't a blushing pre-teen, for Heaven's sake.
"He goes out most nights, sometimes one of his regulars makes an appointment," answered Kenshin. He knew Sano wouldn't want him filling Megumi in like this, but he felt that there was some things the woman needed to understand. She needed to know exactly what she was involved in, and who it was that was going to so much trouble for her.
Regulars… That was the problem, wasn't it? thought Megumi. That Sano was sleeping with other women for money. Tonight he would be touching someone as intimately as he had touched her, he would do whatever they asked him, and at the end of it all, they would bring him pleasure too, because that was how it worked, wasn't it? If they asked him to pretend he was in love with them, he would, and then they would have got something from him that she never had. Was that what she was? Just another regular?
Of course, she scolded herself, what else?
Tomorrow, he would come to see her, with a few hundred bucks in his pocket, and they would pretend nothing happened, because it wasn't like they were dating, or anything. He was just doing his job.
"But, with the kind of money he makes, or at least with what he charged me, he shouldn't have to go out that often," said Megumi, her brows drawing together in confusion.
Kenshin seemed to consider her before answering, looking away before meeting her eyes again. "I could tell you that you don't get hired every night you go out, and that would be true, but the real reason Sano sells it as often as he does is that he has his vices, just like anyone else. They cost him more money than he has, unfortunately."
Megumi went cold and hard. "Drugs?" she asked in an unforgiving tone. She felt betrayed that the man she had hired and had been sleeping with was spending her money on something as stupid and weak as narcotics, when it could have been giving him food, shelter, clothes, and allowing him to stay off the streets more often.
"No," answered Kenshin. "Sano has seen what drugs do to a person. His problem is with gambling. At his worst, he ran up some very serious debt, that he's still paying off now. But he's got much better, now he only plays little games here and there with people he knows, and only when he can afford it. He asks me to go with him to keep him out of trouble. But he still can't resist playing with big money if he ever gets his hands on it. I'm telling you this in case you decide to keep seeing Sano when this is all over. Hundred dollar tips are nice, four hundred dollar debts are not."
Oh.
Megumi suddenly felt very small, and bad. The man before her was obviously wiser than he looked. His words were not judgemental, though he clearly felt no warmth for her, but he cared for Sano. He was seeking to educate her, and improve his friend's relationship, such as it was. A part of her was grateful, but then she was also feeling guilty and foolish. She felt horrible for assuming Sano was a drug addict, recognising the stereotype of a 'crack-whore,' especially since she was a doctor and would have recognised the signs if he was a junkie. She also felt compassion for him, having to sell himself as often as he could in order to feed the demons he had conjured in the past and that he was now trying to escape. And she hadn't been helping him by paying him extra. By being generous, she was actually hurting him more. She wondered what he'd done with the six hundred dollars she'd given him for accompanying her to the gala dinner.
"He told you about that, then?" she wondered aloud, not quite able to look at him yet.
"He usually tells me everything," answered Kenshin, and Megumi felt ashamed. She almost blushed, did this man know all about what she asked Sano to do for her? But she also felt the stirrings of outrage, how dare he gossip about her and what she considered to be something very private? And sadness, because there was just more evidence that Sano didn't distinguish her from his other clients at all, but then, what right had she to expect differently? Kenshin continued, thankfully amending what he had just said, "But he has been strangely reticent about you for a long time," he allowed.
So, Sano had been protecting her privacy, after all. Once again, she had easily thought the worst of him. What did it mean, though, about either of them? She thought again of what she had just learned about him, and the problems he had in his life that was becoming more and more different from hers.
"I didn't know," she said pathetically, knowing it didn't help anything. She suddenly found herself admiring Sano's friend, and wishing that he would be on her side as well.
Kenshin acknowledged her subtle apology with a sympathetic look, but then his eyes flicked casually to a clock on the wall.
He stood up, "I also have somewhere I have to be, Miss Megumi," he said. "You'll be alright here by yourself? I won't be back until quite late." Normally, Kenshin would never have left a stranger alone in his house, but the idea that this woman would steal anything was ludicrous. It was quite clear to him that, when left alone, she would most likely just sit where he left her until she tentatively went to sleep on the couch. He hoped it was her good manners and upbringing that made her so averse to offending him, and not any impression he had given her.
"Oh… yes," she agreed nervously. "Are you… going to work, too?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't take offence. Instead he smiled at her, the first real smile he gave her. It made her feel better just to see it.
"Yes, but I don't do the same work Sano does. I'm a dancer at a club," he answered, amused by her shyness.
"Like an exotic…" Megumi tried to shut herself up before it was too late. She shouldn't be prying into this man's life, she'd imposed enough. She felt way out of her depth.
Kenshin had been watching her reactions and he wasn't disappointed.
"A stripper, yes," he confirmed. He was rewarded with a faint blush as she hurriedly dropped her gaze. He almost laughed, she was supposed to be such a ball-breaker. Sano had always described her as being so confidant and self-assured. He decided to tease her a bit more. "People tell me I'm quite good, you could always come along and be my judge," he said, holding in a laugh as her eyes widened and her blush deepened. She opened and closed her mouth, trying to think of a polite way to decline without offending him.
Finally, he did laugh. "Relax, I was just teasing. You're good value, Miss Megumi. I don't mind you staying here after all," he said, and left the room to get ready for work.
Megumi exhaled heavily and tried to calm herself down. It seemed she and Kenshin were comfortable with each other now. Though the image of her host taking his clothes off on stage for a room of screaming women was definitely something she could have done without. He was attractive, sure, but he did nothing for her. He was at least a foot too short, and his look was too exotic for her. She much preferred Sano's scruffy brown hair and warm, laughing brown eyes to Kenshin's long red mane and violet eyes. She forced herself to calm down, if she was going to be staying here, she couldn't very well spend the next three days walking on eggshells. She'd go crazy from the stress.
When Kenshin re-emerged, His hair was pulled back in a high ponytail so tight it looked like it should hurt, and Megumi was alarmed to see his eyes were actually a different colour, a shocking amber that pierced right through her as if she was prey, aided by the black kohl lining them. His face looked thinner, and he instantly looked quite cruel and dangerous. On his shoulder he carried a back pack, presumably containing whatever else he would need for his performance, and in the opposite hand, was a sword.
He caught her looking, and said "Don't worry, this is just a prop, couldn't cut through butter. You think the manager would let me use my real one? Never in a million years. But it's a good effect, isn't it?" he said, turning his head as if to get her opinion.
"Yes, very effective. I take it you're trying to scare people?" replied Megumi.
Kenshin flashed her a smile that was definitely part snarl. "It's surprisingly popular," he answered. Then his eyes fell on the wall-clock again and he took his leave.
"Kenshin! Before you go, can I use your phone? I'd like to call my friend and get her to drop some stuff off for me," she said.
He would normally have hesitated to let a woman call a friend on his phone, but he remembered that Sano had agreed to reimburse him for every cent, so he pointed her in the right direction before he left.
Megumi waited until she was sure Kenshin was gone to phone Kaoru.
"Hello?" answered her friend quickly. She knew how Enishi hated it when Kaoru let the phone sound for more than three rings.
"Kaoru? Hi, it's me," said Megumi, a wave of relief and comfort sweeping over her at her friend's voice.
"Megumi? How are you doing? Are you at Kanryu's?" asked Kaoru, not without a note of distaste.
"No, actually, I… um… I've kind of been seeing someone else, and he's letting me stay with him, well, with his friend." Megumi had not told anyone when she had started hiring Sano.
"What?! You never told me, who is he?"
After all the kindness she'd been shown, she wanted to be honest about who was helping her. "Well, actually Kaoru, he's a… prostitute," she said, hesitantly.
There was a pause, but then she heard Kaoru say, "Seriously?" with an obvious smile in her voice. Megumi should have known that Kaoru would never react negatively. Not only was she completely free from the prejudices that everyone else Megumi knew was host to, but since her boyfriend kept her squashed tightly under his iron thumb, Kaoru was always in favour of anything out of the ordinary that could pass for an adventure.
"Yeah, I've been picking him up for a couple of months now, but I had to stop when this damn bullshit investigation started, so he came to find me to make sure I was alright."
"Wow, that was really nice of him!" encouraged Kaoru, and Megumi realised that it really was, completely above and beyond the line of duty for a prostitute.
"Yeah, so I told him I was going to have to go back to Kanryu's, and he offered to let me stay with a friend of his instead, and I said yes, because frankly, you know, it's Kanryu," said Megumi.
"Why his friend? Why not let you stay with him?" asked Kaoru.
"Who knows? He said I wouldn't like it. Maybe he doesn't want me interfering with his business," Megumi said a bit more sourly than she intended.
"Oh." Kaoru had obviously detected the problem immediately, and there was a bit of an awkward pause afterwards.
"Anyway, Kaoru, I wanted to ask if you could go round to my apartment and bring some stuff over?" Megumi said, changing the subject.
"Sure, just say what and where to," her friend replied, eager to help. Megumi gave her the list of items she needed that she had been compiling in her head, and Kenshin's address.
"I'm looking forward to meeting these new friends of yours, Megumi," she said, before ringing off.
"Me to, I think you'll like them," replied Megumi.