Over Him
by Mirune Keishiko
chapter twenty-six
Negotiations and Love Songs
He got down with her at her stop. He walked with her the two blocks to her dorm, with long strides easily keeping pace, his hands in his pockets; she did not make conversation, or even eye contact, and neither did he. In equal stony silence they went up the steps to the doors. And finally Megumi stopped, turned, and looked up at him, a patient smile affixed to her face.
"Thank you, toriatama, for seeing me home," she lilted. "I'll just study in my room tonight, so you can go now."
He pouted and held up his bandaged hand.
"The girl at the hospital didn't do it the way you do it," he said plaintively. "I think it's cutting off my circulation, Megitsune."
Megumi sniffed—but glanced at his outstretched hand. "Looks fine to me. You're probably just imagin—"
"Oh my God! I think my fingers are going blue!" howled Sano loudly, slumping dramatically back against the building, clutching his bandaged hand with his good one.
Megumi felt herself go red as passersby glanced up at them. "Okay, okay, just shut up already!" she hissed, tugging at him as she pushed on the revolving door. The girl at reception had sat up at the outburst and now looked askance at the intruder—it wasn't a coed dorm—but Sano gave her a wink that Megumi pretended not to notice, and the girl sat back down behind the desk with her magazine and a smirk.
"I don't want you to do that here, it's so public, it's embarrassing," bawled out Sano as Megumi coaxed him toward a sofa in the lobby.
"You're an asshole," said Megumi tiredly as she fished in her bag for her key, having led a suddenly much more tractable Sanosuke up three flights of stairs and down a long corridor to the door of her room. "You know that, don't you?"
The key sank home. His good hand covered hers, startled her into silence. "Yeah, I know that." Megumi suppressed a shiver as his breath tickled her ear. His fingers tightened on hers. "I'm sorry, Megumi."
She stood wordlessly for a moment, head bowed; then she unlocked the door and led him in.
"With all the practice I've had with you, I should specialize in orthopedics instead," she muttered, pulling up a chair as he turned toward her on the couch, holding out his hand.
He looked at her closely as she began unwrapping his bandages. "So you've picked a field then?"
"I've gotten into residency, yeah." And she found herself telling him about the program she had been accepted into, that it was three hours away by plane, that she was going to leave right after Kenshin and Kaoru's wedding; the delicate bones and calloused skin of Sano's palm twitched only slightly beneath her fingers. She left out Dr. Shinomori's involvement in her admission. She spoke almost absent-mindedly, her movements deft and sure, knowing where to make it snug and where to leave room—it wasn't the first time Sano had come to her having injured his hand at work.
Dusk had fallen by the time she finally sat back, inspecting the finished product with satisfaction. "Now go away and leave me alone," she said good-naturedly as Sano rose to his feet, carefully flexing his hand and smiling. "I don't want to see your face or anybody else's for a week."
"Aw, come on. We haven't seen each other in a while." Megumi's eyes flared and Sano quickly added, "I'll bring you dinner. Your favorite. Turkey gyro and raspberry iced tea..."
Megumi sighed. He knew she couldn't refuse a free and conveniently delivered, favorite meal—not when she wanted to save all her time for studying.
"And strawberry daifuku and I'm not paying you back, and after that you get out of my face. Deal?" She was herding him toward the door, the much taller man backpedaling before her.
"Aww, come on," said Sano again, grinning down at the young woman glaring testily up at him. "Ten minutes. Just to rest, c'mon, that's four flights of stairs we're talking about!" ("Three," Megumi corrected.) "Three, but all that food's going to be heavy, you know! And those stores aren't exactly right next to each other! And me with only one good hand! And come on"—Megumi had yanked the door open behind him, he very nearly fell through the doorway—"aren't you even just a little bit lonely, Megitsune?"
She thought of the photograph, the studied distance between viewer and viewed seeming to both mock and pity her, how her proud, sad, small black figure seemed lost and foreign and almost doomed against the light and life all around her. Perhaps, at that moment, staring out across the sunlit water, she had been thinking—as she had constantly thought during her brief stay in Prague, gazing in admiration at the history and the beauty all around her—how nice it would have been to share it all with someone, someone just as unfamiliar and awestruck and excited, who would marvel as she marvelled and smile as she smiled at each gorgeous and fascinating discovery. With whom she would bother strangers to take photographs of them in ridiculous poses against historic landmarks—she never did update that webpage Kaoru set up for her months ago, it was probably still that old ugly ID photo posted on her profile ("But it was the only photo of yours I could find!" Kaoru pointed out)...
She met his oddly gentle gaze with a grudging one. "Strawberry daifuku, and four boxes of black bitter marble Pocky, or don't bother coming back."
Sano's jaw dropped. "But that's so hard to find!"
"You're the best, toriatama," said Megumi sweetly, and shut the door in his face.
tsuzuku
Two chapters uploaded this time, if only in gratitude everyone who has so kindly read and waited (and reviewed ;). I actually had a somewhat different end in mind for these installments, but hey, when the muse calls, you've got balls! Further Author's Notes (yeah, I know those are the real highlight of each upload, har har) after the jump. Special thanks to Paul Simon, who made an absolutely fantastic album I have herein shamelessly ripped off.