Meanwhile, back at the Kamiya Kashin Dojo...

"I wonder how Megumi and Sano are doing?" Kaoru asked during her and Yahiko's morning regime. "It's been at least two days now; I wonder if they've reached Yokohama yet."

"They're probably not even halfway there yet," Yahiko answered. "You know how Sano hates trains, so it'll probably be a few more days before they even get close to Yokohama on foot."

"I know," she said, wringing her bokken worriedly, "but I just can't help thinking that something bad might have happened to them. I mean, it's such a long way to Yokohama on foot that just about anything could happen to them."

"Please cheer up, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said from the porch, "there really is nothing to worry about. Sano is more than capable of handling anything without my help and Megumi-dono is much to crafty to get fooled into anything. They'll be just fine."

"Yeah," Yahiko said with any evil grin on his face, "unless they kill each other first."

He promptly received a Thwack! on the head from Kaoru's bokken.

"Hey! What did you do that for, you ugly girl!"

"Because you shouldn't say things like to a girl when she's worried, that's why. AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'UGLY'!"

"Now, now you two," Kenshin stammered as Kaoru chased Yahiko around the courtyard, "fighting never really solves anything, that it does not. Besides-"

A presence.

He looked up and saw his arch-rival, the last remaining Wolf of Mibu, Saito Hajime, standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here, Saito?" he asked, deadly serious.

"I was in the neighborhood on business and thought I'd drop in and say hi," the policeman said. He looked over at Kaoru and Yahiko, who were still fighting despite the policeman's arrival. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, but that still doesn't tell me what you want with us here."

"Hmm, perceptive as always, Battosai," he mused. Then straightening up, he said, "If you must know, I was transporting a dangerous fugitive to prison, and I didn't feel like going all the way to Kyoto." By this time the Tanuki and the Mouse had stopped fighting and were now listening intently to what Saito was saying.

"Really? How dangerous was he? Did you have to you your 'Gatotsu' on him?" Yahiko asked, mimicking the stance in question.

"Actually, he was drunk at a tavern when I found him."

Yahiko groaned in disappointment.

"Which reminds me why I came here in the first place," Saito continued. "When I found him, he was spouting off the descriptions of all the people he killed in his "Quest to avenge his sister". More to the point, he'd just killed the 'Fox-like witch whore responsible for it all' and her 'Chicken-headed companion' the day before burying them in a cave-in.

"Know anyone by those descriptions?"

For a minute Kenshin just stood petrified, trying to comprehend what he'd just taken in. Yahiko and Kaoru were a bit more vocal.

"Wait, are you talking about Megumi and Sano?" "Did he actually say it was them?" "You're absolutely sure it was them?" "How drunk was he?"

"Where did it happen?"

"Huh, when did what happen, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.

"The place where this man said he killed Megumi-dono and Sanosuke, where was it exactly?" As Kaoru looked in his eyes, she could begin to see traces of his old Hitokiri personality. 'Wow,' she thought, 'this must really be serious if it could bring out some of Kenshin's old Battosai.'

"It happened about ten miles east of a trading town a day from here." He walked over to the door and opened it, "You could get there faster with a carriage."

Outside the dojo was parked a municipal carriage.

"Cool, we'll get there in no time with this," Yahiko said, rushing to get in the carridge before anyone else.

"Wait," Kaoru said, eyeing the policeman suspiciously, "why you being so nice to us? I thought you wanted to kill Kenshin."

"Let me put it this way," he said bluntly, "I don't want you guys nagging me for the rest of my life about not telling you about this. Besides," he had a mischievous, evil glint in his eyes, "we were getting rid of this one, anyway."

"How very generous of you," Kaoru deadpanned, climbing into the cab.

"And Battosai," the policeman said as Kenshin was about to get in, "when you find that moronic bird-head, tell him I think he's incredibly stupid for letting himself get trapped like that in the first place."

"Achoo!" Out of nowhere Sano suddenly let out a sneeze.

"What was that for?" Megumi asked, surprised at the sudden intrusion on the silence.

"I don't know," Sano shrugged, "there must be some dust in the air or something."

"Just don't start getting sick on me, or else I'll have to find a way to 'cure' you," she said with an evil glint in her eye.

"Wh-why did you say 'cure' like that?" Sano asked nervously. Megumi chuckled.

"I was only joking, Sano," she explained. "You really shouldn't take things so seriously all the time."

"You're right. I guess being trapped in a cave for my last days on earth is just making me a little antsy." He punched the wall with his good hand, "On top of that I hate it when I feel useless, and not being able to use my Futae no Kiwami to get us out of here isn't helping things."

"You could help me change my bandages," Megumi said, looking down at her shoulder.

"Well," he sighed, "at least it's something."

After he changed her dressing he made a fire and boiled the last of the rice.

"You know," she said, "it might be a while until we have food again after that's finished."

"You're probably right," he said, "so then we should probably enjoy this stuff as much as we can, right?"

She wanted to come up with some snappy retort, some insult of how idiotic that suggestion was, but she couldn't. She'd just admitted that she loved him, and there was a strong chance that they wouldn't live for very much longer. Not mention everything else he did for her sinse this whole misadventure started; the crooked cart driver, offering to go with her, protecting her from the young man bent on revenge, tending to her wound...

She decided to humor him.

"You're right," she said, smiling, "we should enjoy this meal. Do we have anything besides the rice?"

"Well," Sano said as he rumaged through the bags, "here's some of the Missy's Onigiri she made for us."

"..."

"Throw them away?"

"Right."

After Sano scrounged up a few more odds and ends from the food sack he mixed them in with the cooking rice and sat down next to Megumi.

"You never told me you could cook," she smirked teasingly.

"What, this? This is nothing. I mean, how hard is it to cook rice?" Megumi chuckled.

"Now I know why you're always freeloading at the Kamiya dojo."

"I do not!" Sano shouted indignantly. "Well, OK, maybe I do, but still!" He stopped when he suddenly noticed she was laughing. "Hey, what's so funny!?"

"I'm sorry," she said, trying to calm herself down, "it's just that this is the first I've laughed like that in forever, it felt really good. Thank you."

"Uh, no problem?" he said, somewhat at a loss for words. He wasn't expecting quite that response. "But anyways, I think the food's ready."

They ate mostly in silence, savoring their last meal together. When they did speak it mostly consisted of "thank you"s and "don't mention it's". For some reason there just wasn't that much to talk about.

Eventually they finished eating and decided to get some sleep for the night. At least they thought it was night out. Truth be told their wasn't much light in the cave except for the fire they made.

"Sano," Mehumi said, laying her head on his lap, "there's something I want to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Well, it's just that...If anyone every asks me how I would spend my last day on earth, I'd tell them I'd spend it with you."

"But what about all your sick patients at the Clinic?" Sano asked. "You wouldn't be a very good doctor if you just neglected all of them, would you?"

"Don't worry," she said as she kissed his cheek, "I'd help them the day before."

.oOo.

Crash!

Sano and Megumi jerked awake by the sound of crashing rocks.

"What was that?" the startled doctor asked.

"I don't know," Sano growled, "but if it's another nut-job with a vendetta, I'm seriously gonna develop a complex."

"Please be careful," Megumi pleaded. "They probably have a canon or something equally as powerful to make that kind of noise."

"Don't worry, I've faced down much worse than a canon." He was about to go give whoever this new intruder was a piece of his mind, when...

"Sano, Megumi-dono, are you here? Where are you!"

"Hey, that when Kenshin!" Sano exclaimed. "How did they get here?"

"More importantly, how did he find us?" Megumi asked.

"Why don't we ask him ourselves?" In one swift motion he stooped down and lifted Megumi in his arms, then ran towards the newly re-opened cave mouth as fast as he could.

Meanwhile, at said cave mouth...

"Whoa," Yahiko breathed, "it's hard to believe that one little rocket could do all this."

"Actually," Kenshin said, "I've heard that Chinese rockets are quite powerful, that they are."

"Do you think they're alright in there, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked. "I mean, I packed them enough of my Super Special Onigiri, but..."

"What the heck were you thinking!" Yahiko shouted. "were you trying to kill them? Besides, they probably both got buried when the entrance fell down."

The instant Yahiko's head made a hasty reunion Kaoru's bokken, he knew he shouldn't have said that.

"Yahiko, you really should be more sensitive to a woman's feelings at a time like this," she said, her eye's beginning to well up with tears. "Besides, they were your friend too. You should really be more-"

"They're still alive in there," Kenshin said, touching the pile of rubble, "but I cannot tell if they are both well, that I can't."

"Well then we have to get in there," Kaoru said, grabbing a large rock and pulling with all her might. "Eeaauugh! Come on, help me move this thing!"

The other two just stared, dumbfounded.

"I do not think that will do any good, Kaoru-dono, even with your man-like strength."

She glared at him.

"However, I do believe that the Hiten Misturugi-Ryu will come in handy here quite nicely, that I do."

"Are you gonna use the Amakake Ryu no Hirameki?" Yahiko gasped.

"No. I believe Ryo-Tsui-Sen will be more than adequate for this purpose."

"Oh well," Yahiko sighed, "whatever gets them out. Hey, Ugly, you'd better get back here before Kenshin goes crazy on these rocks!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?!?!?!" Kaoru screamed, chasing Yahiko up and down the road.

"Oro?" Kenshin moaned.

Getting back into focus he leaped into the air, bringing he Sakabato on the heap of rubble with such force that the mound shattered and flew in every direction at once.

When the rubble stopped flying he stepped into the cave and shouted, "Sano! Megumi-dono! Are you here? Where are you!" He was about go further in when he saw a shape moving in the darkness.

"Hey Kenshin!" the shape called.

"Sano! You're alive and well, I see," the ruroni called back.

"Yeah, but not so much for Megumi here."

Kenshin's face became dark.

"What happened?"

"I got hit in the shoulder with a bullet," Megumi said, hanging form Sano's neck. "Sano removed the bullet. I'm in no danger of dying, but I should still see a doctor as soon as possible."

"Right. Yahiko and Kaoru-dono are waiting outside with a carriage, we should get going as soon as possible, just as Megumi-dono said. Sano nodded his agreement.

"By the way Kenshin, thanks for coming to get us."

"I'm afraid I cannot take all the credit for this, that I can't. Yahiko and Kaoru-dono did come as well, and Saito Hajime was the one who provided us with the carriage."

"WHAT!" Sano exploded. "That sneaky, no-good, good for nothing low-life knew about us and didn't do anything?!?!"

Meanwhile, wherever Saito is...

"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!"

"Is something wrong, good sir?" the owner of the noodle stand asked the policeman standing before him.

"No," he said, "it's probably just someone talking about me somewhere."

And I think I know who.
___________________________________

Hey everyone, Layman here!

Whew! I finally finished the sixth chapter. Just one more to go!

Anyways, what did you think of the story? Like it? Hate it? Whatever you think, please drop me a line. Just click the little button at the bottom of this page. It's the one that says "Review this Story/Chapter".

Now let's get back on track with tonight's guest host, Misao Makimachi of Aoi-Ya! Leader of the Oniwabanshu!

Tee hee, Hiya!

Thank you for joining us, Misao. Would you mind give the disclaimer?

Of course not! *clears throat* The Layman does own Ruroni Kenshin or any related materials. How was that?

That was fine. Now, since this is your first time appearing in this, do you have any questions about the story?

Yeah, I do. First of all, why did you bring Saito into this? That guy gives me the creeps.

Actually, my reason for doing that was completely selfish. Mostly, he was the only person I could think of to inform Kenshin and his friends about Sano and Megumi's predicament.

That may be true, but WHAT ABOUT ME?! *breaks down into tears* I'm the leader of the most comprehensive spy group in all of Japan. WHY COULDN'T THAT BE ME!

Um, well...

"Flying bird kick!"

BONK!

Oro?

Yuko returns next time, so be sure to tune in, OK.