Part VI – Everything You Know is Wrong

"He What?" Kaoru looked both indignant and amused. Indignant on Megumi's behalf, and amused by her friend's own irritation. "Sanosuke said THAT?" Her eyes sparkled with amusement, which won over the irritation.

"I don't see what's so funny," Megumi fumed.

"I don't see what isn't," Kaoru countered. "Think about it, Megumisan." She took another bite of her noodles. Oguni Genzai had brought a message to her that Megumi wanted to meet her for dinner - her alone. No Boys Allowed. Kaoru, only too grateful for the rare chance to see her friend, had enthusiastically reinforced that distinction to her husband and their guests. Now, for the second time that day, Megumi was at her favorite little out of the way noodle stand, indulging herself in the Kitsune Udon that was her favorite comfort food. Kaoru was shaking her head as she spoke. "For a woman who was so concerned that she'd never find someone, as a doctor, you're doing pretty well for yourself."

Megumi's cheeks flushed. "Given a choice between the tori-atama, and being a trophy wife to that arrogant, overmuscled..."

"You're repeating yourself," Kaoru pointed out. "Besides, I know he doesn't show it much in front of you, but Sanosuke's grown a lot in the last five years. You intimidate him, Megumisan. You intimidate a lot of people," she added wryly, "but him more so than most. And there are those who think you and Hikosan make a very handsome couple."

"Well, I admit he's not completely unattractive. But he's so arrogant!"

Kaoru couldn't help the slight smirk that fought its way past her sympathetic look. "Well, if you'll forgive me, Megumisan, you aren't always the shy retiring sort yourself."

"Well, of course not! I'm a doctor. I don't have time for false modesty!"

Kaoru wisely kept her mouth shut.

"I don't want to choose between them. I feel like they're forcing me to make a choice. I barely know Sanosuke anymore," she admitted softly, "and I don't know Hikosan at all. One day and one date is hardly basis for a marriage. You and Kensan took your time about it, after all." Kaoru did not miss the flicker in Megumi's eyes as she mentioned Kenshin's name with her own in the same breath. She had accepted Megumi's "surrender"; both women knew that one's heart could not choose what it wanted. It simply wanted. And Megumi had never stopped loving Kenshin. Though she might move on, her heart would always hold a special place for him. Such was the nature of love.

"That's true," Kaoru shook her head, "but I don't think you want to wait that long." She made a face. "I certainly didn't!"

Megumi shook her head in response. "No. I want them both to go away right now. Oh. And thank you for bringing me my shoes." Both women laughed.

"So how did you find this place, Megumisan?"

"A patient's uncle owns it," she said. "As much as I enjoy the Akabeko, sometimes you want to go where everyone does not know your name."

Kaoru nodded. "I understand that. You can't even imagine how grateful I am to get out of the house! I worry about leaving the men alone, but at the same time I'm very glad to get away from them."

~It can't be much easier for her than it is for me, sometimes. Opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet we share the same pain.~ "No privacy," Megumi said aloud. "Not a moment to yourself. And how much worse could it be if I were married? Sometimes, for all of that, I don't envy you."

Kaoru blinked at Megumi in surprise. "Megumisan..."

"I'm serious. Kaoruchan, I never bothered pretending that I don't envy you. You have things I always imagined I wanted. But now that the chance has arisen, all I want to do is run back to Aizu and pretend none of it ever happened." The rueful grin she offered didn't last.

"Well, it's not as if it's an easy choice," Kaoru conceded. "I mean, after all these years, suddenly now Sano speaks up? I'd think Hikosan did it on purpose to provoke something but there's no way he would do such a thing. He's too proud," she grinned. "Both of them are, really. Sano punched a huge hole in the wall again after you left. Apparently Hiko heard what he said to you."

Indignation flashed on the older woman's features, only to be replaced by resignation. "Do you think I could just go back now without anyone noticing?"

"You really have changed. There was a time you would have expected this as your due," Kaoru said, only half-teasing.

"Well, it IS," Megumi tosses her hair with a grin. "It's just a lot more trouble than it's worth. It would be different if either one of them were Kensan," she smirked. Kaoru shook her head, amused. Megumi's grin faded. "But to choose between the likes of Sanosuke and Hiko Seijuurou... I could see becoming friendly with the man, although he doesn't have much use for people. But a wife? And Sanosuke! We've both changed over the years, and while I grant the man is attractive, I certainly hope he doesn't think attraction is enough to found a marriage. I don't know him anymore. And neither one of them knows me."

"And you're afraid if they did, they wouldn't want you anymore?"

Once again Megumi's temper began to flare, and once again she stopped herself. "That's not even it, which is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you," she smirked at Kaoru's flabbergasted expression. "It's more that I'm afraid they both want someone more like Kensan."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "More like... Kenshin...?" Her eyes continued to widen as an image of Hiko and Sanosuke making doe eyes at her husband began to form itself in her brain. "You mean... they're..."

"No, silly girl," Megumi rolled her eyes. "They want someone to fulfill the role of a traditional wife. Someone to cook and clean and take care of them. Which, unfortunately for them, is what I need. A wife." Megumi made a face. "Kensan is the only man I've ever net who hasn't run in terror at the very concept. At least Yahiko's learned some of that from you two," she shook her head in amusement.

"If he hadn't, he would never have had any training." Kaoru smirked. "Bad enough Sanosuke was always freeloading... You're right. I can't see him doing housework. He barely kept his own apartment habitable. He has changed, Megumisan. He really is different when you're not around."

"That's the problem. When I'm around, he seems to be exactly the same lazy bum he was when I left for Aizu five years ago." Megumi sighed. "No, I think I'm better off alone. It's not an easy life, but a husband would not make it easier."

"Oh, Megumisan," Kaoru sighed sympathetically. "I don't envy you in the least." She sank into thought for a long moment. "But I do have to say that Hikosan looks frighteningly good for a forty-eight year old man. He doesn't look much older than Kenshin at all."

Megumi shook her head in consternation. "I admit that is intriguing. I'd like to examine him. I can't figure out what makes them tick. Why should Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu make them look so much younger than anyone else their age? Kensan hasn't used it in five years and he still looks barely into his twenties. Hikosan is twenty-one years older than I am and looks like he's my age! If anything, I'd think that the speed they use would make them age faster. But-"

"Umm, Megumisan?" Kaoru looked a little panicky.

"Oh! Sorry, Kaoruchan. I guess I do get a little carried away where medicine is involved."

Kaoru smiled at her friend. "Just a little."

Megumi ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know what to do."

"I don't think I've ever seen you look so lost, Megumisan." ~And the truth is, it makes me a little nervous. You've always been so composed, even when you lose your temper.~ "I wish there were something I could do to help..."

Megumi smiled gratefully, looking very tired. "Me too, Kaoruchan."

The women finished their meal in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Kaoru's mind drifted from Megumi's problem. "I wonder what the boys have been up to," she said as they paid their tab.

And well she might. Upon delivering Megumi's message, Oguni Genzai had set himself down to watch the fireworks. Sano had decided to move back into the apartment he had given to Yahiko while Hiko stayed at the dojo. It wasn't that there wasn't enough physical space, but he did not want to share a room with Hiko Seijuurou.

"Are you sure, Sano?" Kenshin eyed his old friend skeptically. "There isn't very much room there..."

"I'm sure Yahiko won't mind stayin' here, but really, Kenshin, you can't honestly expect me to stay under the same roof with him... Not after that." Sanosuke looked embarrassed and angry as he thought about what had occurred more than an hour earlier.

Hiko had gone for a walk, under the excuse that he wanted some time alone. He had told his former student that he would be dining with them upon his return. Kenshin had believed the man's excuse that he had had enough "annoying personal contact" for the time being, but with Sanosuke's return, wondered if his master was perhaps not just seeking his own solitude - but granting his rival some privacy. ~Of course. NOW he would. Not before.~ But even as the uncharitable thought crossed his mind, Kenshin realized that such was the point. Hiko had already ascertained that Sanosuke had feelings for Megumi. He'd wanted to know how she would react.

However, Kenshin had wrangled a promise from Hiko that the man would not go anywhere near the direction Kaoru had headed. While Kaoru had mellowed, somewhat, in the past few years, it was still his hide from which she'd extract payment. As it was, he had somehow been granted the sole responsibility of repairing the wall. While he had been working, Sano had come by, taken one look at the slight redhead working on the damage he'd inflicted, sighed, and told him to sit down and play with his kid.

"I did the crime, guess I gotta do the time." He had completed the repair in surprisingly little time, and done a fairly solid (if not completely seamless) job of it. Now he and Kenshin were working on smoothing over the edges and repainting. Kenji was rediscovering the joys of mud pies. Kenshin cringed at the thought of the extra work he'd have to do on the laundry. By now, however, he was used to it, though at times it wore thin. But as his friend had said, he'd done the crime... ~Fatherhood is its own lifelong punishment. Worth it, but not always easy.~

Neither man had said a word from the time Sanosuke joined him until they were working on the finishing touches of the wall, when the tall man had mentioned his desire to leave the dojo he'd stayed at for three months.

"I can't see Hiko stayin' at an inn, not when he can bum off of you for free," Sanosuke said with a knowing smirk. "But I can't stay under the same roof as him right now either. Kenshin, I wish I'd never said anything to her. I REALLY wish no one else had heard it. But damnit, I meant it, I meant every word. The kid called it. He knew I'd be following her back to Aizu eventually. I don't know if I loved her then, but I do now. And no matter what she decides, I always will. I'm not the kid who ran from the law five years ago. But she's not the same woman either. I need to know if the woman I love is the woman I know."

Kenshin stared at his friend, his eyes wide. "Sano... Can this one be honest with you?"

"I didn't know you could be anything else." Sano's smirk evoked a smile from Kenshin.

"Well... This one is a little leery of the whole situation. Megumidono is a trusted friend, but Shishou..." Kenshin looked uncomfortable. "Shishou's always been like a father," he muttered, "and this one does not wish Megumidono to fill the role of a stepmother figure."

Now it was Sanosuke's turn to stare in complete befuddlement as Kenshin's words sunk in. As Kenshin stewed in discomfort, the younger man's eyes began to bug out of his head and his lips quirked oddly.

"Shut up," Kenshin glowered. It was the last straw. Sagara Sanosuke threw his head back and laughed as he had not in a long time. He laughed until tears streamed from his eyes and he could no longer stand on his own. Doubled over against the wall, he slowly tilted over onto his side, curling up and chuckling madly when laughing hurt too much. Kenji wandered over and jumped on his "Uncle". giggling as madly as that adored man, while Kenshin got redder and redder. The intervention of his son prevented him from decking his friend, although he was tempted indeed.

"Are you QUITE done yet," he growled as the earthquake of amusement finally seemed to subside.

"Megu... Megu... Ss... Ste... Step... Moth... mother... other.. Megumi!" Sanosuke managed to choke out before dissolving into an aftershock of snickers.

"If you ever say anything about this to anyone, it will be the very last thing you say," Kenshin growled.

"Sorry, Kenshin," Sano choked out as he tried valiantly to regain his composure. "Sorry. It's just... The Kitsune as your -"

"DON'T." Kenshin's glare narrowed further, and Sanosuke began to realize that the man really was genuinely annoyed about his own reaction.

"You're somethin' else, Kenshin," the younger man grinned. "I won't say a word, but you do realize that all you have to do is point that little detail out to her and she would almost certainly leave the country before ever so much as talkin' to him again. Not that I'd complain about that part."

Kenshin opened his mouth and inhaled, then thought about it... "You may have a point there," he conceded. "It's preferred that Megumidono not leave the country, but this one would not complain if there were some way to convince Shisou to seek his... bride elsewhere."

Sanosuke's grin widened at the way Kenshin shuddered at the word "bride". He wasn't inclined to argue, though he had his own reasons, but something niggled at him. "Oiy, Kenshin?"

"What is it?"

Long brown hair hung over lowered features. "There's one thing... What if he could really make her happy?"

Kenshin visibly flinched, though whether it was the idea of his friend finding happiness with his teacher, or the other ramifications - most notably, Sanosuke's having been the one to bring it up. Kenshin had already considered the possibility but he knew how much even voicing that possibility must cost his friend. At the same time, his respect for the man went up even further; the Sanosuke of old would have been more inclined to barrel in, eyes and fists blazing, to win Megumi's heart and make himself her happiness. That the man before him now could even consider something like that... "It would be foolish of Megumidono not to consider all of her options," he said cautiously. "Yet this one cannot help but think that if you are as serious about this as Shishou seems to be, you should show her directly."

"You mean take her on a date?"

"Yes. But Sano, just now you asked if it is possible that Shishou could make her happy. This one is concerned for the happiness of his friends... Shishou probably wants a traditional wife, who will cater to him. Megumidono is not a very traditional woman. What is it you want in a wife?"

Sanosuke stared at the floor. "If you'd asked me that even three months ago, I would've said I want a traditional wife too. I'm not much good at most household stuff," he admitted with a rueful grin.

"Really? This one never noticed," Kenshin said, picking up his mud-covered son at arm's length. "Come, Kenji, let's get you cleaned up before your mother gets home and makes us both pay for this mess as well. Want to help, Sano?"

The look on the tall young man's face was priceless.

"If you want to prove yourself suitable marriage material for Megumidono..." The wicked grin gracing Kenshin's face did nothing to improve Sanosuke's mood. "Besides, it's only mud. It could be worse," Kenshin added cheerfully.

He covered his young son's ears rather than let the child hear what Sano was muttering as he followed the redhead inside.

"You know it makes sense."

Sanosuke continued to glare as Kenshin piled Kenji's muddy clothes into the disgruntled man's hands. "I know how to do laundry."

"You've never demonstrated that for as long as we've known you."

"That doesn't mean I don't know how. But, y'know, since you're always kind enough to do it..." The tall young man grinned unrepentantly. "I was always raised to be polite."

Kenshin looked skeptical.

"I didn't say it was a success," Sanosuke shrugged, grinning shamelessly.

Unable to find a good comeback that wouldn't get him flattened, Kenshin just shook his head.