Part X – Say the Word

Dawn came, slow and heavy with the storm that had not yet broken. Megumi lay under the blanket, staring up at the ceiling, her thoughts rushing about with the rising winds.

Was Kensan right? Should she go back to Kyoto for her own things before moving back here? Was moving here with her half-brother, a man she in fact barely knew, the right decision? He seemed to be trustworthy, and his clientele spoke for his skill in medicine, but was it enough?

She rose and dressed quickly. She would spend another full day at the clinic before making a final decision. If she chose to stay, she would go back to Kyoto to say proper farewells even though she would be in easy contact range, given her growing friendships with the Oniwa Banshu here in Aizu. She would bring her belongings back with her and resurrect the Takani name.

Or perhaps she might decide that she preferred life in Kyoto after all. She had become used to running her own practice, and while it was nice to have a partner and the idea of a legacy had its appeal, it would be hard to get used to the idea of not being in charge again. The last several weeks had been almost as emotionally trying as the time when Kensan had come here to fight Shishio, she reflected.

She emerged from the room and nearly tripped over a slight figure propped up against the doorway.

"Kensan! What are you doing?" Startled, her voice came out shriller and louder than she intended.

"Megumidono." In one smooth motion, he rose. "I wanted to make sure you didn't, ahh, need anything." He was trying to look innocent, she noted, only he didn't quite succeed.

"You wanted to make sure I didn't try anything foolish." She folded her arms and looked at him. He looked embarrassed.

"Maa, maa, Megumidono, I was just worried." He sobered. "You've been going through a lot over the last few weeks. Few can handle as much emotional upheaval as you've been taking on lately and NOT do something foolish."

She couldn't dispute the truth of that. "Still, what did you think to accomplish by sleeping outside my doorway?"

"Is there a problem?" Amaya spared him from answering by her appearance. She too was fully dressed and seemed to have been reading a letter.

"No problems here, everything's fine." Kenshin still looked embarrassed, but Megumi let her arms fall back to her sides. "I was just seeing if Megumidono was coming to breakfast."

Amaya raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Is that all. Well, fortunately, breakfast is ready so you can both come whenever you're ready." She turned back the way she had come. The letter in her hand made a soft sound as it brushed against the doorframe. Megumi didn't seem to have noticed it but Kenshin recognized the writing on the front.

Machiko kept up a running monologue throughout breakfast; today she was talking about a kite she had seen yesterday. "I know I'm too old to play with them on my own but maybe I could borrow someone's kids, you know, so I can teach them to fly a kite properly. They're so pretty! I wish I could grow wings and fly sometimes."

"If you grew wings, you'd probably trip over them in midair," Yoshio grumped at her. "Where do you get so much energy in the mornings?"

Machiko rolled her eyes. "You old grouch, how can you not love mornings?"

"It's gonna storm," he growled.

"Yes, but even a storm is full of promise. Maybe it's frightening and dangerous if it's a bad one, but rain helps things grow, and it cleans the air, and makes everything so much brighter afterward!" A flash of lightning underlined her words, and a distant rumble of thunder seemed to agree.

Megumi rose from the table. "If it's going to storm, I'd better head out. I wanted to spend the day at the clinic with Kagesensei before I make any decisions," she said. She meant announce, but didn't see the sense in telling them so.

"That sounds fair," Yoshio said. "Want me to walk you?"

Machiko glowered at the table. Amaya smiled.

Megumi noticed. "No, thank you, Yoshiosan. I'll be fine. It isn't very far after all, and I'd hate for you to have to come back in the storm." She left the room and returned a moment later, satchel in hand and a walking staff in the other.

The others looked confused – they'd never seen her with it before since the journey – but seeing that Kenshin looked reassured, they too relented. She left quickly, thunder rolling again as she turned the corner.

"I noticed you heard from Aoshidono?" Kenshin indicated the letter that Amaya had left on the table.

Machiko blinked at him. "How did you know that was from him?" she said suspiciously. "Are you readin' our letters?"

"I recognized the writing on the outside." Indeed, the letter lay folded with the address facing up.

Amaya nodded. "Actually, I'm afraid the letter won't have been much warning," she said. She didn't seem upset. "He will arrive today. He doesn't say as much but I believe he is worried about Takanisensei. I had to write him, Himurasan."

Kenshin nodded. "I'd have been more surprised if you hadn't."

Amaya sighed. "I don't have a good feeling, Himurasan. I'm worried that Takanisensei might do something that will hurt him. Not deliberately, of course, but out of the moment."

"Out of fear." Kenshin thought for a moment. "I'm sure she'll make the right decision, but that doesn't mean we can't influence her a little in the right direction," he added slowly. "It's just a matter of proving to her that her fear is unfounded."

Startled eyes met his. "Are you saying you would manipulate her? You would make her choose him?"

Violet eyes were brimming with innocence. "Of course not! But if something were to happen in Kyoto, something requiring her care… Well, she could hardly say no to someone who needed her." Thunder rumbled closer, as though it agreed.

"Himurasan, you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?"

Looking at Amaya, Kenshin was quick to understand her suspicion. "No, not at all," he said seriously. "But I'm sure that, in order to lure Megumidono back, Okinadono might be willing to play the invalid for a little while."

Amaya burst into startled laughter. "That old letch! He hasn't changed a bit, has he then? I'm not surprised – and I'm sure he would be thrilled to lure Takanisensei back, especially if it was to make Aoshisama happy…" She trailed off, chuckling wickedly. "Why, Himurasan, I am impressed! There's a side of you I'd never imagined!"

Kenshin shrugged. "This one is but a simple man," he demurred, laying it on thicker than usual.

"I'll write the letter now; I can always send it tomorrow if things don't pan out well today."

Megumi glanced anxiously at the sky. The storm was approaching quickly, though the lightning was infrequent and the thunder fairly subdued. The first drops of rain began to fall as she approached the clinic.

"Excuse me, miss? Can you tell me which way to the market?" A young woman, her small daughter resting her head on her mother's shoulder, stopped her just outside.

"I'm afraid it's been quite some time since I've lived here, but it ought to be that way," Megumi pointed, "Although you might want to wait the storm out." Lightning flashed again as the rain fell harder.

"What I want doesn't matter as much as what she needs," the woman indicated the child in her arms. "Sometimes a mother has to sacrifice dry hair for fresh milk. I'm visiting my brother, who hasn't any children yet, and he didn't have enough. Besides, the rain feels nice. " she said with a smile.

"Family is wonderful, isn't it?" Megumi waved her on. "Go, then, before it gets any worse."

"Yes, it is. Thank you!" The woman hurried off down the street and Megumi rushed into the clinic. Her hair glistened with myriad raindrops and her clothing was dappled with small wet spots, but she was still dry.

Kage Takeshi heard her come in. For once, his hair was not yet mussed up; Megumi guessed it was too early. He emerged into the waiting area, still fastening his grey coat and pausing to push his glasses up his nose. "Ahh! I didn't realize you'd be here this early," he said with a smile. "I expect it to be quiet today. It'll most likely storm all day and not too many people will be out and about which ought to cut down on accidents."

Megumi nodded. "It's started to rain heavily."

"Let me show you around properly then."

Kage's prediction proved accurate; the day passed quietly and there were no emergencies except for a two year old with a splinter. His mother had looked far too tired and as Kage extracted the splinter, she had explained to Megumi that she had five other children under the age of 10. "All boys," she'd said proudly. "All very healthy, energetic boys."

"Which is to say every last one of them is a handful on his own but together they're impossible?"

The woman laughed. "I take it you have sons of your own, Takanisensei?"

Megumi forced herself to maintain a cheerful façade. "No, sadly, not yet. I am not yet married."

The woman looked surprised. "Someone as beautiful as you, and not married?"

~Well, let's see, after the war destroyed everything I'd ever known, I ended up making drugs for an evil maniac, then fell in love with someone who married someone else, and now I've just met my half brother about whom I never knew…~ "I chose to focus on my career first."

The woman nodded as her son held up his heavily bandaged finger. "Boo-boo!"

"Yes, I see, and you were very brave," she said, kissing his forehead.

"I'd suggest valerian to help you sleep some nights. That and sending the boys to stay with someone else for a few days," Megumi walked the woman to the door.

"If only! You know," the woman lowered her voice, "Kagesensei is a good man. He's very sweet, if a little absentminded, and could use a good woman to look after him."

Megumi stared at her. "There's also a good possibility he's my long lost brother; I was separated from my family after the war came here." ~That should shut her up,~ she thought uncharitably.

"Oh. Well. My. Then I wish you all the best!" She seemed about to say something else but her son interrupted her to show her his "booboo" again.

Kage came up behind her, laughing. "Was Ogawasan trying to throw me at you?"

"This is something she does often then?"

"Oh yes! Ogawa Keiko is very sweet but she does have a thing about marrying everyone off. She could probably make a career of it, except that she comes up with the wildest ideas for matches…" Kage shook his head, still laughing. "I'll have to remember that, what you said about being long lost siblings. I suppose I could only make it go so far for me, but I like it!"

He started telling her stories of some of his clientele, and as the day passed, Megumi grew more impressed with this man who reminded her more and more of her father. He had a sharp wit not unlike her own, and an oddly familiar habit of pushing his glasses higher on his face. Nothing convinced her more than his laugh; when he did, he sounded exactly as Takani Ryuusei had. She mentioned it to him at one point.

He had thanked her for that, and they had continued to talk about their father and their respective childhood memories until another silhouette appeared in the doorway.

"Kensan! Is everything all right?"

The redhead nodded. "Hai. Amayadono sent me to bring you both lunch. On the house."

"Ahh, lunch from the Midoriya! A rare treat!" Kage smiled. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I've seen you before," he said, squinting slightly as he looked at Kenshin.

"Kensan is the hero who saved my life," Megumi said with an obscure grin. The man in question squirmed slightly. "He came to Aizu with me. Himura Kenshin, this is the man I am certain is my half brother, Kage Takeshi."

Studying the man before him, Kenshin could see some resemblances to Megumi. Though his eyes were darker, they were almost exactly the same shape as hers, and his eyebrows were an untamed version of hers. His nose had the same line as hers and his mouth had the same shape. He was of average height and build, and his hands were a more masculine version of hers.

"Takanisensei and I were just talking about our father. I didn't know him well, and she has been kind enough to tell me what she remembers of him."

Kenshin nodded. "Why don't you eat, and I can bring the dishes back when you're done?"

"Why don't we eat, and I'll bring the dishes back when I come back tonight?"

"Why don't you join us, Himurasan? If you saved my sister's life, then I want to know all about it."

Kenshin shook his head. "It's not my story to tell."

"Takanisensei's already told me her side of it. I'd like to know more. Tell me about her!" Kage grinned wickedly, and Kenshin saw the resemblance even more.

"I'm Right Here," Megumi said through clenched teeth.

"I know. But I never had the experience of a sister growing up, so I figure I'd better make up for lost time!" His wicked laugh convinced Kenshin once and for all.

They ate and chatted for a while until well after lunch when someone came in complaining of a headache. Kage escorted the man to his examination room while Megumi walked Kenshin to the door.

"Kensan, I'm convinced. When I first found out, I was devastated. But the more I speak with Kagesensei, the more certain I become that he is indeed the only family I have left. I think I should stay here, in Aizu, and restore my family name. Even if it goes no further into the future," she said sadly.

"Megumidono, are you sure?" Kenshin couldn't help himself; the worry showed through.

She nodded. "I just have to tell everyone. That will be the hard part… saying goodbye. If I write a letter, would you carry it for me?"

He sighed. "Megumidono, I still feel that you should not do as I did."

"That's why I'd send a note," she said pointedly, playing with the ends of her hair.

"Takanisensei? I need to run to the herbmonger, could you stay for a bit?" Kage showed his patient out, seeming oblivious to the tension in the air.

"I planned to stay the whole day, Kagesensei. I was thinking about staying longer, actually."

Kage did not miss Kenshin's expression; if she noticed it, Megumi gave no sign. He took in the situation at a glance; there was more going on than what she was letting him see. This would be a perfect opportunity for him to get Himura Kenshin alone and find out what he knew. He hid his thoughts for the time being. "That's wonderful! Then if you don't mind, I'll help Himurasan bring back these dishes and thank everyone for their kindness while I'm out. I rarely get a chance to escape during the day," he admitted.

"That will be fine," Megumi said as she eyed them distrustfully.

"Thank you, Takanisensei! I won't be long. I know you can handle anything that comes in this door," Kage commented as he took up his umbrella. "I won't be long!"

Megumi nodded and stood in the doorway, watching the rain fall and the men walk away. "I hope I don't regret letting them talk," she murmured to herself as thunder rolled again.