Author's Note: Hey guys. So, I know you're all waiting for the big Sano/Megumi scene, but you're going to have to sit through a bit more of Kenshin/Kaoru first before you get there. So, yeah, next chapter. I'm such a little tease, aren't I? Please don't lose interest/flame me/kill me in my sleep. It's just K/K is so tempting for me, and easier too, since they're what I'm used to. Kenshin is hot, and I love the character for Kaoru that I've created in this, the confused, half-weak, half-strong, blind and dependant person who is slowly freeing themselves from all that. Mwuhahaha, cliff hanger, as well. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially Cosmicfish, I look forward to yours. I tried to make this chapter longer than usual, I know they've been getting short recently.

Chapter 14

Megumi stayed quiet for the rest of the evening, but Kaoru didn't think much of it. After all, it was understandable if she had a lot on her mind, Shinomori had given her quite a story. The idea that whoever was embezzling the money from the hospital was using it to fund a narcotics operation just made things so much worse. Kaoru decided it was best to give her friend the time and space she needed. She would talk when she was ready.

The next morning, the older woman was lying apathetically in bed when Kaoru went to take her shower, and when she came out again, Megumi was sitting up under the covers, looking out of the window with her mobile in her hand. She wasn't moving, and now Kaoru was beginning to get worried.

"What's up?" she asked tentatively.

Megumi lifted the phone an inch or two before letting it flop back onto the covers. "My landlord just called. He says if I can't pay the rent, he's going to put my apartment on the market in a week. I'm being evicted," she said, still staring into the distance. Her voice had a careless, far-away tone to it, and the ghost of a frown had formed on her brow.

"Don't worry. We'll get this all sorted out, you'll see," Kaoru told her, but Megumi didn't reply. She tried to get her moving, energised a bit. "Come on, get dressed, we'll go to breakfast."

"You go," Megumi said, languidly tearing her eyes away from the window. "I need some time to think."

Kaoru bit her lip, but ultimately she left her friend alone. She finished dressing and then left the room, heading downstairs to the dining room. Kaoru knew how annoying it was to keep getting pestered about something personal. Sometimes, other people thought you had a problem, when really it was nothing, and none of their business. So although Megumi had spent the last couple of years hassling her about Enishi, she wouldn't do the same to her.

However, she did not deliberately waste time, returning to the room less than an hour later. There she found Megumi dressed and walking around as if she had made up her mind about something.

"Can you give this to Sano, please?" she said, handing Kaoru something in one of the hotel's envelopes. "There's something I need to do."

The way Megumi was looking at her, as if it was absolutely vital that she carry out this simple task, made Kaoru agree. She was hesitant about it, she didn't understand why her friend was acting so frantic without seeming happy at all, or what it was that Megumi had to do, but it was obviously important.

Almost as soon as the unsure "Y-yes," was out of Kaoru's mouth, Megumi thanked her and was out of the door. Kaoru stared after her for a minute, trying to figure it all out. She looked around the room, hoping to find a clue of some sort, but all she saw was that Megumi hadn't tidied up after herself the way she normally did. Things were far from messy, but the bed had creases in it, her clothes were not in the wardrobe, and the dresser was still strewn with Megumi belongings, such as her keys, and phone. Kaoru wandered where she had gone where she wouldn't need any of those things. It must be somewhere nearby, she reasoned, and she didn't plan to be gone long.

Kaoru looked down at the letter in her hand, curious about what it could say that was so urgent. Obviously, Megumi had meant for the envelope to reach the man as soon as possible, so Kaoru picked up her handbag and headed out, still none the wiser.

She pulled up in front of Kenshin's house, her stomach in a knot. She had no idea how else to reach Megumi's prostitute friend, so she had been forced to come to the only contact she had for him, but she didn't like it. It was embarrassing, turning up on his doorstep unannounced yet again. It had been less than twenty four hours since she had last seen him, he would undoubtedly start to imagine she was stalking him. She couldn't blame him.

Kaoru sighed heavily, and slapped the envelope against her palm. She had come up with multiple theories of what it could be on the drive over. At first she had thought it was money, since what else did you give a prostitute, but she couldn't imagine where Megumi could have found any money, having even sold her car. So Kaoru eventually settled on the theory that it was a letter asking him to meet her somewhere, wherever she had rushed off to, which made Kaoru feel a bit put out at being used as a courier service.

But she couldn't be sure of it until she delivered the letter, so with a deep, bracing breath, she got out of the car and walked to Kenshin's front door. She knocked, and it was opened by a tired looking redhead. On seeing her standing there apologetically, he sighed and leaned against the jam, closing his eyes.

"I was this close to having a full night's sleep," he said jovially, and he smiled at her.

Kaoru recognised the same baggy black pants that he had opened the door in the first time, but at least he was wearing a shirt this time, it was a faded magenta colour and made of some soft, threadbare material. He hadn't done any of the buttons on it though, so although it was more modest than previously, it did still afford a view of a four inch strip of uninterrupted skin from his collarbone to his waistband.

"I'm really sorry about his, but Megumi asked me to give Sano something, and I didn't know where else to look," Kaoru explained, holding up the letter.

Kenshin smiled again. "Come in," he said, holding the door open for her. She stepped inside nervously. Kenshin walked past her to the kitchen, and she followed. He was hunched over the counter next to where the phone hung on the wall, writing something on a small pad of paper.

"This is Sano's address. If you need him, you can go there. Let him get dragged out of bed for once," said Kenshin, still without any indication in his voice that he was angry at having to answer the door. He sounded like he was joking, and looking forward to having his revenge on Sano. "In fact, I'll come with you. I'll just get dressed quickly," he added as an afterthought, holding the address out to Kaoru. She took it, and Kenshin disappeared into his bedroom.

As she waited, Kaoru looked around the kitchen absent-mindedly. She had been in it before, but now she was alone, and free to move without appearing nosey. Her eyes fell on a timetable stuck to the fridge, marking the hours that Kenshin was due to perform at the club. Over each little box, he had scribbled either "Rurouni" or "Battousai" in black pen. Kaoru had had her idol's schedule memorised for so long that it seemed funny to see it written down. Of course, that was back when he was just a fantasy, something attractive to enjoy, with about as much personality or history as a Ken doll. Now he was a person, a kind and generous, slightly vindictive person, an international kenjutsu champion before he had been cheated out of what he loved. It was impossible to objectify him the way she once had. The idea of the Rurouni was ruined for her now, she knew that even if she did go back to the club, she would only ever see Kenshin, and she didn't want to see that man prostituting himself for her.

Kenshin came back into the kitchen and she turned away from the timetable. He was dressed in simple jeans and a t-shirt, his hair tied back. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," she answered, but when she moved away from the fridge, Kenshin noticed what she had been looking at, and as they walked through the house to the car, he said,

"You missed a show," he teased lightly. "First time that's happened in a while."

"Hmm," was Kaoru's reply. She wasn't going to ignore his comment and be impolite, but it made her uncomfortable. Not only did it embarrass her by reminding her of the deluded pervert she had been, but also put her in the awkward position of deciding whether or not to tell him about her decision to end her patronage of Cupid's Arrow. Would he take it personally? But if she didn't tell him, then surely that would just be rude, especially since they were now acquaintances of sorts. She decided it would probably be best to tell him, and hope he didn't make a thing of it.

"Actually, I don't think I'm going to go anymore," she said, grateful for the distraction of unlocking the car so that she didn't have to look at him.

"Why not?" he asked as they climbed in. Kaoru shrugged noncommittally. "Do you feel differently now that we've met in person?" he suggested astutely.

Kaoru was relieved that he understood, but it was still the sort of conversation she hated having. Good rarely came from talking about her feelings.

"Basically," she agreed, paying close attention to starting the car and pulling out into the road. "But I shouldn't have gone in the first place," she added, trying to talk around her cringing to express her shame.

"Why not?" said Kenshin. Kaoru cursed him for not letting it drop.

"Because… it's disrespectful. You're a person, not a piece of meat." She kept her eyes on the road.

"I don't mind. It's my job. Maybe it's not what I'd prefer to be doing, but if I hated it that much, I'd find something else," Kenshin said. He was watching her carefully, turned towards her in the passenger seat.

Kaoru didn't have an answer, and she didn't want the conversation to continue, so she stayed silent. A moment passed, and she thought maybe she'd got away with it, that he'd let it go, but then he said quietly, intrusively, "It's okay to want something, Kaoru."

She couldn't keep her eyes from flicking across to him, reclining against the door, his gaze laid steadily on her. He looked so tempting that it was almost cruel of him to talk to her like that. What did he mean anyway? It's okay to want something. Did he mean him personally, or just in general? Was it advice from one friend to another, or an invitation? Why hadn't he said someone instead of something?

Was he telling her that she could have him if she wanted? Kaoru found that hard to believe, and it would be very dangerous territory if she did. She couldn't allow herself to consider pursuing a relationship with him, of making her fantasies a reality. She wouldn't survive it if she had misunderstood, and he wasn't interested in her that way. She would have to give up Enishi if she was going to go down that path, and he was all she had. But more worryingly still, she had the gnawing fear that just to look down that road was perilous, because if she saw what life with Kenshin could be like, she was afraid Enishi wouldn't be enough anymore. She could feel herself teetering on the edge of falling for the redheaded gentleman, and that wasn't a risk she was willing to take. She wanted to keep her blinders on, keep on the path she knew, what was safe and familiar, with Enishi.

She shifted anxiously in her seat as she remembered that she may not have Enishi anymore. They had not parted on anything resembling good terms, and she hadn't heard from him in a few days. What would she do if Enishi never contacted her, if she was really cast off, on her own, free? Well, she wouldn't linger, she wouldn't hover in Limbo. If she didn't hear from him after a certain amount of time, she would seek her own conclusion. She would assume it was over for him, and end it for herself as well. Eventually.

Kenshin's words had struck a cord in her, though. She wanted to think that they were unnecessary, that she did things for herself all the time, but the unsettling truth was that she couldn't remember the last time she did something because it was important to her, because it made her happy. She'd quit her job for Enishi, and hadn't replaced it with anything creative or fulfilling, just housework and chores. It occurred to her that Enishi could be the thing she did for herself. After all, she was always defending him against Megumi, wasn't she? She was always cooking and cleaning and looking pretty for him, wasn't she?

Her eyebrows drew together in concern. That didn't make her happy.

"Turn left here," spoke Kenshin suddenly, startling her out of her thoughts. Kaoru followed his instructions through the narrow streets of downtown, concentrating on the complicated traffic layout of one-way streets and No-Entries instead of untangling her complex emotions.

Eventually, they came to a run-down apartment block, built out of dark dirty brick, with most of the ground floor windows covered with graffitied plywood. It was the kind of place that Kaoru would never have set foot near if she was alone, even during the day. She couldn't see a car anywhere nearby, and she worried for the safety of her own.

"Don't worry, we won't be long," Kenshin reassured her, getting out of the car. Kaoru followed, making sure to lock up after she got out, and watched as Kenshin pressed one of several identical buttons set into the wall beside the door. Any labels they had ever had denoting to which inhabitants they belonged were either crusted over with dirt or worn away by time.

"Yes?" answered a voice that Kaoru didn't recognise.

"Katsu, it's Kenshin, let me in, I'm going to annoy Sano," Kenshin spoke into the wall.

"Ooh, he won't like that," the man replied, but they heard the harsh buzz of the door being released anyway. Kenshin pushed it open and held it for Kaoru, who stepped in, a bit confused. She didn't understand the necessity of not calling Sano directly. She must have looked concerned, because Kenshin told her as they began climbing dirty stairs,

"Don't worry, this is just a little fun between me and Sano, a little payback. The number of times he's gotten me out of bed… He won't take it too seriously. I hope," he finished, laughing.

Eventually they got to the fourth or fifth floor, Kaoru trying not to pant like a fat elephant, telling herself she needed to get back into her training. Kenshin, meanwhile, was completely unfazed, looking cool as a cucumber, although she did notice that he kept his hand pressed against his thigh as if it was bothering him.

He smiled at her as they broke away from the stairs, moving across the landing to a door with darkened and chipped red paint. He then startled her by abruptly turning and hammering on the door, kicking it and making the most ungodly racket. Kaoru was sure that Sano would have heard a more conventional three-noted knock, and that this endless erratic cacophony was going overboard.

Suddenly, with an alarming wrenching sound, the door was briskly heaved open, and a very un-amused Sano replaced it. He had clearly been brought out of bed, as he was wearing only a pair of boxers and his red headband. He didn't look particularly fresh, though his hair looked the same as it always did, funnily enough. Kaoru quickly fixed her eyes to the wall next to her head due to his state of undress, but not fast enough to notice how different he looked when he was unhappy. She had only ever seen him with a smile on his face, cheerful and teasing, now he looked intimidating as he towered over them, his expression murderous.

He didn't say anything, he just exhaled sharply through his nose, like a bull snorting before it charged.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" asked Kenshin lightly, somehow finding the gall to smile pleasantly at the rooster-head, but not without the twinkle of sweet revenge in his violet eyes.

Sano's face compacted, his eyes narrowing and his lips tightening, as he brought his hand off the door and extended it with its pair towards Kenshin's neck.

Kenshin took a step back, but he didn't look afraid.

"Kaoru's brought you something," he said conversationally.

She quickly fished the letter out of her bag and held it out to pacify this Frankenstein's Monster-esque being and possibly save Kenshin's life. "Megumi gave it to me," she said hastily.

Sano stopped lurching forward as the envelope was thrust under his nose, and he took it unwillingly, turning away from Kenshin with a scowl and walking back into his apartment. They followed him inside as he ripped into the envelope and read its contents.

Kaoru looked around, but she tried not to stare. The place was filthy, covered in dirt and grime, to the extent that she wouldn't have deemed it liveable. Every step she took crunched. There was a beaten up TV sitting on a small table that looked to be twenty or thirty years old. It still had bent and twisted bunny-ears antennae, and knobs to change the channel. She couldn't even guess at what colour his couch had been originally, the upholstery had worn away in several bald patches, and it looked like it was on the point of collapse anyway. Facing it at an angle were parts of an armchair that had been piled and propped up against each other to make something that resembled the silhouette of a chair. Between the couch and the TV was a bare mattress with a tired old quilt lying over it messily.

That was the living room area. There was a dirty sort of kitchen beside Kaoru that thankfully didn't look as if it saw much use, because it looked like it would burst into flames if anyone tried to actually cook anything in it. There were no doors leading out of the room except the one they had come through. The most recent thing in the whole apartment seemed to be the telephone and answering machine combo that sat on the window sill.

Kaoru was surprised at just how badly Sano lived, but he didn't seem to mind. He stood in the centre, frowning over the letter Megumi had written.

"Kaoru," he said, making her look at him. He had a strange expression, somewhere between confusion and pure fear "When did Megumi write this?"

"This morning," Kaoru replied, unsure of what could possibly be in the letter make him react in that way.

"Did anything else happen this morning?" he asked, as if it was it was of the greatest importance, taking a step closer. "Did she seem depressed or… did she get any bad news?"

Kaoru thought. "Her landlord called to say that she had a week to pay the rent before he evicted her," she replied, still in the dark, but Sano's fear was contagious, and she felt a nervous twisting in her gut. She had obviously missed something vital.

He winced, and swore violently, crumpling the letter in his hand. "What did she do after she gave you the letter? Where is she?"

"I don't know, she said she had something to do, she went out," Kaoru replied awkwardly, her eyes flicking to Kenshin in case he knew what was going on. The other man was also frowning at Sano's worrying behaviour, having straightened up and crossed his arms, paying close attention.

"Okay, Kaoru, this is important," He came and held her shoulders, looking down at her. She could feel his hands shaking. "Did she take anything with her? Her bag, her phone, anything?"

Kaoru tried to remeber through the frenzy to when she had left the hotel. She remembered the mess Megumi had left, her affairs strewn out on the dresser.

"… No," she replied, sensing that this was the momentous answer Sano was dreading.

"Shit!" he said, releasing her and immediately grabbing some jeans from a pile of clothes on the floor. "I've got to stop her," he continued, wrenching on his trousers and tossing on a shirt, driving his feet into his shoes.

"Sano, what is it?" asked Kenshin firmly, moving closer. Sano thrust the single sheet of hotel stationary with Megumi's letter on it at Kenshin's chest.

"Read that," he said. "I've gotta go," and he marched out of the apartment, gaining speed and leaping down the stairs.

Kaoru moved closer to Kenshin as he looked at her, perplexed. They read the letter, hoping to find some answers.

Sano,

I couldn't do this without at least trying to rectify some of the mistakes I've made. When I said that you were just a prostitute, it was because I wish things were that simple. I guess if I'm going to do this right, I need to be honest. You've been the best thing in my life since we met, and I don't know what to make of that. There is no future for us. If I had the money I had when we met, I would ask you to live with me, be mine. I would spend every dime I had if I could see you everyday, and have you all to myself, without being eaten up thinking of all your other clients. You wouldn't have to work another night in your life, I would give you everything you could ever want, because you've already done that for me.

But I don't have that money anymore, I don't have anything anymore, so we can't be together. I'm not going to stay and watch my life steadily crumble into ruins. People have already died because of me, but I know this is not the end of it. Things are going to keep getting worse. I know what happens next - I get sent to prison. Maybe I deserve it, but I know I can't handle it. I'm not strong enough. It's better to take my fate into my own hands. I'm going to put an end to it myself. The train will be quickest.

Tell everyone I'm sorry. I'm sure Kaoru will cry, but who knows, maybe Kenshin will be able to comfort her. Try to keep her away from Enishi, he really is bad for her. Tell Kenshin thank you for everything he's done for me. I've left instructions with my lawyers that everything that's worth anything goes to you, I hope it's enough to make a difference, and don't worry, it's off the books so you won't inherit any debt.

To you, one last time, I'm sorry, for everything. Goodbye.

Megumi Takani, MD.

There was a shocked silence as they came to the end of the letter. They were afraid to look at each other and have their suspicions confirmed in the other's eyes.

Kenshin swallowed, and spoke first. "You don't think…" He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"What does she mean, she's going to put an end to it herself?" asked Kaoru.

Neither of them had an answer. They turned back to the letter in shock.