Chapter 11
The four of them walked home. It was dark out. Sano got his happi jacket back, retaining the wicked symbol. And he'd been patched up temporarily. Megumi fashioned a sling to keep his shoulder in place. Speaking of Megumi, she was carefully not talking to him or looking at him.
Shortly after Koton's downfall, Kenshin pointed his sword in the direction of a conscious fighter, who was just regaining his feet. "Go get the police, if you will. Or I will find you." Seeing Kenshin fight, no one could deny the truth of this. The fighter nodded fearfully and did what he was told.
They waited an hour until the police arrived. They appeared on a fleet of cantering horses, led by the police chief who had been following a string of crimes tied to Koton. "We've been searching for Koton's hideout for months. Thank you once again, Himura, for bringing these men to justice."
Kenshin looked sheepish and tried to put off the police chief's praise. Sano didn't mind. He may have beat the battles, but Kenshin won the war. In the end Sano accomplished what he set out to do: Save Megumi.
"Actually," Kenshin began. "Sano did most of the work. He disbanded the Tabemono for good."
The police chief smothered his surprise and thanked them again. After he left to supervise the rounding up of criminals, Kenshin turned to him.
"Did you really mean that?" said Sano.
"From what I could tell, Koton's followers thought he was all powerful, that their leader would protect them. But you showed them all that Koton was a coward in the end. And they lost faith in him. I couldn't have done that with my sword."
Sano wasn't one to shed tears, but he felt a suspicious tickle in his throat. He clasped Kenshin by the forearm. "We did it together."
Maybe Kenshin was right. If Sano hadn't driven Koton to fear with his defeat of the giant, his followers might have risen stronger later, filled with the need to avenge their leader. Now they scattered without purpose, and police rounded up the ones in sight. Kodo was likely already booking passage to another country, one that had the best sweets. He wished him well.
Yahiko had caught up with them halfway home, letting them know Shizu was in Dr. Gensai's best care. Ayame and Suzume had already brought the older man flowers and made best friends with him. Yahiko continued along with Kenshin and Katsu, wanting to hear the details of the "fun" he'd missed. Kenshin laughed while Katsu filled him in.
Their voices became faint as Sano and Megumi trailed farther behind. He watched the gentle sway of her hair, flowing like silk and shining in the moonlight. The contrast of her porcelain skin and red lips seduced him.
It seemed like a dream that she'd been abducted only a few days ago. Everything had changed.
What would happen now? Would they go back to normal, whatever that was? Did she regret what happened between them? He knew that sometimes in danger, people got caught up in the moment. But for Sano, his feelings were constant. He stopped walking.
She seemed to sense his troubled thoughts, and half turned. "Sanosuke?" She looked more closely at him. "Is it your shoulder?"
His shoulder was killing him. "No."
There were worse ways to die. Or live.
Kenshin, Yahiko, and Katsu casually continued ahead, leaving them alone.
"What is it?" she asked.
He grasped for the right words, and came up empty. There was too much he wanted to say. And he worried that it wouldn't be enough. He wasn't good at this sort of thing.
He shifted and looked at the moon, giving her his profile. "Your landlady doesn't like me."
"What?" Her eyebrows shot up.
"Yeah, she doesn't like me. I don't think I'll be able to come around your place anymore."
Megumi's expression was a mixture of bewilderment. She put her hands on her hips. "Well it's a women's boarding house."
"That's another problem. If we're going to live together." He gave her a sidelong look.
His meaning seemed to register. She smiled slowly. "What if I don't want to live with you?" It was her turn to shift away.
He sputtered. "But we were together. I wasn't raised to...abandon a woman. What if you're–" Pregnant. Sano couldn't seem to get the word out. And part of him hoped. He wanted all of her. And whatever the future gave them.
His face felt like it was on fire. Or his wound was gathering an infection.
"Why, Sanosuke, are you blushing?" She looked at him over her shoulder. The fox was coming out.
"No."
"Don't worry. I will take care of that possibility. I've always taken care of myself."
Take care of that possibility. Sano suspected she meant ending it before it started. His stomach plummeted, the fierce reaction surprising him. Whatever she really felt, she would do it thinking she was making his life easier. Maybe she would hide her pain. Just the thought of her going through it alone sparked his anguish.
It was time for their isolation to end. They'd both had separate, difficult lives. They'd both grown into the people they wished to be. He wanted their paths to run together, finally.
She was faced away from him, shrouded in mystery, shielding herself. He pulled her against his chest, and rested his hand on her flat belly. He breathed in the floral, meadowy scent at her neck, nuzzled her ear. She sighed with pleasure, and the heat of her back warmed him. She was still affected by him. It made him smile into her skin.
"I know you can take care of yourself," he said. "You take care of everybody. But...would it be so bad if I took care of you, too?"
She turned in his arms to face him, surprising him with wet eyes. "I don't know how to do this."
"Neither do I."
She sighed. "What I mean is, after Kanryu, I promised I would live a life of repentance. I never thought I could live...a happy life."
Her words shocked him. Was she admitting that a happy life meant one with him in it? His chest expanded so much he feared it would burst.
He cupped her face, catching a fallen tear with his thumb and brushing it away. He didn't have poetic speeches or grand gestures. Unless one included running off to fight in a pit to save the woman he loved. And he loved her, deeply.
"It's hopeless, isn't it?" she said.
"How could it be, when I love you," he said simply.
Then he kissed her with aching tenderness, pouring all of the raw passion he felt into it. Her lips parted for him, and her tongue touched his, making him shiver. They joined with familiarity now, and he knew she was changed too. They couldn't fight what they had. He wanted to take in her sorrows, her regret, her pain.
Megumi wrapped her arms around him, accepting him.
He winced as a bolt of pain spread up his arm
"I'm sorry! Your shoulder."
"I was shot, you know."
"It was very heroic."
She began to inspect it, but he shrugged it away and chuckled. He pressed his forehead against hers. "Doesn't hurt at all. Nothing hurts."
"I feel the same way."
He took her hand in his, lacing their fingers for the world to see. "Let's go home," he said.
"Where? Not the Ruffian Row House, I hope."
The vein in his forehead flexed. She killed him. "All right. The Kamiya dojo."
"I guess we can freeload for a night."
"The missie will be glad to see you're safe," he agreed.
She slanted a look at him. "You know we'll have to figure something out."
"I'll build a nice house. It'll be small, but enough room for us. And maybe two kids. They'll play on the grassy hill overlooking the water. It's the perfect spot."
She stopped in her tracks and looked at him. "You've thought about all of this?"
The intensity of her gaze, even in the dark, made him feel a little embarrassed. Self-awareness creeped along his throat, and he forced himself not to scratch at the spot. He hadn't thought about it long, but it was easy to imagine all of those things with Megumi.
"Yeah," he said.
She surprised him with a quick kiss on the lips. "Then let's go home."
.
.
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The End
I hope you enjoyed this little story. It was so much fun to write!
Thank you for the comments. They've encouraged me along the way. I hope to write more Megumi/Sano adventures. *heart*
