Megumi's Song
"I don't believe this." Megumi Takani grumbled
as she lugged her backpack up the hill.
"Ya think I can, kitsune?" Sanosuke
Sagara shot back as he kicked a pebble away.
"I mean, seeing your face once a week is enough, but EVERYDAY, EVERY
MILLISECOND? I don't think so."
Megumi kicked a pebble back at him,
"Ken-san no baka…"
"Now you're talkin', fox." Sanosuke
grinned at her.
(a/n- ahem, allow me to explain…Kenshin
and Kaoru, our well-known couple, sent the duo off to a little "trip" in the
mountains for a week. Why they did
this? Because, Kenshin knows that
Sanosuke likes Megumi, and Kaoru knows that Megumi likes Sanosuke, no matter
how they protested it, they do. And so
they planned this getaway for them while Genzai minded the clinic and Kenshin
minded the gambling…only because Sanosuke wouldn't leave unless he
agreed-_-;;;;;;)
~*~
It was dusk.
"I guess this would do it." Megumi kicked
at her separate orchid purple tent and dove in, admiring her work of
decoration: the light pink sleeping bag matching her kimono and a small oil
lamp sat burning brightly at the corner of the tent.
"Oi, onna, you bring any food? I'm starvin'." Sanosuke peered into her
tent, bending down to get at the low entrance.
Megumi turned around as much as the tiny
space would allow her and hissed, "Get out tori-atama, everyone is entitled to
privacy and that includes me!"
Sanosuke backed away, "Jeez, so touchy…I
don't even have a tent!"
Megumi absorbed the last saying
slowly…Sanosuke didn't have a tent—he'd have to sleep outside. But he didn't even have a sleeping bag, and
he brought his futon. But still, a
futon on the hard cold ground? And
outside where the temperature drops to below five degrees farenheit? Yes. She mentally told herself. There was no way, absolutely no way, she was
sharing a tent with the rooster head, much less this tiny tent. But…
She sighed, relenting to her conscience
and a tiny sting in her heart. "Ne,
Sano," she called.
"Aa aa?" he replied, his body outlined
against her tent.
"Bring your futon in," she commanded.
"AA AA?!?!" this time the rooster yelled
in disbelief. "You want me to
sleep with ya in dat tiny tent?!"
Megumi suspected as much, "Hai, and you
better hurry up unless you plan on turning into a human popsicle overnight."
With a grunt the gangster struggled to
drag the heavy futon in, forcing Megumi to back up and in doing so, her
sock-clad feet accidentally kicked over the oil lamp.
The fire caught onto the flammable
surface of the tent and the whole thing began flaring up and Megumi
screamed.
Sanosuke sensed something wrong and immediately
tossed his futon aside (or frankly, outside, since there wasn't much space
inside). He ducked into the tent and
hurriedly took Megumi's wrist, shouting, "C'mon, kitsune, get up! You're gonna get burned alive if you don't
hurry!"
"A-aa…" the doctoress stammered, her eyes
transfixed on the wall of flames dancing before her. She couldn't move—she felt paralyzed with fear!
"Come on!" Sanosuke yelled,
yanking Megumi's arm. This sudden
movement seemed the jolt her and she abruptly stood up as much as the tent
would allow her and ducked out with Sanosuke.
As soon as they were out of the burning
tent, Megumi collapsed onto Sanosuke's arms.
"A-arigatou…" she gasped out.
Sanosuke hugged her tightly against
him. "No problem, fox, but what are you
gonna do about your tent and sleepin bag?
It's all burnt to da ground now."
"Oh no!" Megumi cried, pulling back from
him. "That means—I'll have to sleep on
the ground…"
"Ya think?" Sanosuke laughed. "I'm not gonna let you do dat, vixen. Sleep in my futon, I'll sleep on the
ground."
"Iie!" Megumi responded with such a force
Sanosuke was taken aback. "You're not
giving up your futon for me! Do you
understand?"
Sanosuke grabbed her wrists, forcing her
to look into his eyes, "You're not makin this any easier for me,
kistune-onna. I've got a stronger body
than you, 'sides," he added a little sadly, "I'm used to sleepin on da ground."
Megumi twisted out of his grip, eyes
ablaze. "This is ridiculous, it's my
fault the stupid tent burned to the ground!
So I'll just have to take the consequences and live with it! Heck, it's only one week! We can just take turns!"
Sanosuke smiled deviously, "I've got an
idea, why don't we sleep in it together?"
Megumi's eyes widened.
"HENTAI!" she kicked at his shins.
"You're not laying a finger on me or you'll be answering to my fists!"
Sanosuke laughed again, "Oh yeah? What about my fists?" he clenched and
unclenched his fists in mockness.
"Besides, who would wanta lay a finger on a tigress like you?"
Megumi started to reply, but found that
it was hopeless. No one can win him in
a fistfight, that was for sure, and she was no Saitou, so she'd just have to
live with it. Heck one week may just
flit by. But, a small voice in
her head added softly, maybe it isn't enough.
~*~
"I don't believe this." Megumi repeated
to herself quietly for the umpteenth time as she felt the warm bulk of Sanosuke
right beside her.
"I believe it." He had jokingly replied
the first time, but stopped at the tenth time.
Megumi was in a terry bathrobe she had
changed into at the bushes, but Sanosuke just shrugged off his gi and shuffled
in with her. The night was dark and
there seemed to be eyes peering out everywhere. She shuddered and scooted a millimeter closer to Sanosuke.
Sanosuke peeked back at her from his
shoulder (he was turned against her), "Scared, kitsune?"
"As if!" she tried to sound confident,
but her voice gave her away and Sanosuke turned to face her and squeezed her
hand, "Don't worry, I'm here."
For some reason she strangely really felt
more relaxed after that, and she even let him hold her hand.
~Out here in the quiet of the night
Beneath the stars and moon
We both know we've got somethin' on our
minds
We won't admit, but it's true~
"Sano…" she whispered quietly.
"Yuh?"
"Can I…get a little closer? It's kind of cold."
A smile appeared. "Sure."
Megumi tugged nervously at her hair as
she inched closer into the warmth of her—no, no way, but she had to
admit it—her crush.
Sanosuke's arms welcomed her and they circled her as she
went closer. Her head was pressed
against his chest and she breathed in his musky scent. He tilted her head up and looked into her
eyes. She avoided his gaze.
~You look at me
I look away~
"Kitsune…" Sanosuke sighed and let go of her chin.
She caught a glimmer of hurt in his amber
brown eyes and she somehow felt a sense of regret.
~I wanna tell you what I'm feeling
But I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you
But now I'm afraid you might break my
heart
Oh, why should anything so easy ever be
so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
And to say that
I love you~
"Tori-atama…" she whispered softly.
"Hai?"
"Y-you don't think there's bears out
here, do you?"
"Hell, can be anythin out here, dinosaurs,
even."
"Stop it, you're scaring me!" Megumi
buried her face in his chest, hugging him tighter.
Sanosuke chuckled softly and stroked her
hair. How I wish I can tell you…
~I practiced all the things I could say
Line by line, every word
I tell myself, today could be the day
But every time, I lose the nerve~
Megumi's face brushed against Sanosuke's chest and she
blushed lightly as his arms tightened around her and he began murmuring soft
words to her, lulling her to sleep.
The blanket that covered them, which
seemed so heavy just hours ago, now seemed too light and the cold air was
intruding.
Sanosuke's skin began to show hints of
blue and Megumi was instantly alert.
She wanted to get up to get his gi, but it was so far away—and she
didn't want to break the embrace. So
instead she shifted the blanket upper and began to huff at the blue spots,
hoping to warm him somehow. She looked
up at him and a tinge of red appeared on his face, and he looked away,
embarrassed.
~I look at you,
You look away~
"Don—" Sanosuke started gruffly.
Megumi looked up.
"Don't waste your breath."
"Oh." She felt a sting of pain and
settled deeper into the blankets, her arms loosening around his waist and
returning to her side, clutching the blanket top securely.
"Hey, no offense." He added quickly,
seeing her reaction.
"None taken." Megumi replied softly.
~I wanna tell you what I'm feeling
But I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you
But now I'm afraid you might break my
heart
Oh, why should anything so easy ever be
so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
And to say that
I love you~
"Aw c'mon fox, don't be like dat!"
Sanosuke begged tilting her chin up again.
"I meant good, honest!"
"I know, Sanosuke, I know." Megumi
replied coldly.
"Sanosuke? What happened to tori-atama?" Sanosuke narrowed his eyes.
Megumi snapped. "J-just be quiet
alright? I'm trying to sleep, in case
you forgot!"
Sanosuke's eyes softened, "Right, my
bad. Gomen nasai."
Gomen nasai? Megumi thought, and her inner mind was already scolding
her. Why did you go and snap at
him? You know you like him—love him,
even!
~Why, do you turn away
It must be, you're afraid like me
I try, but I can't pretend that I
Don't feel for you the way I do
Can't you see~
"G-gomen." Megumi mumbled. "I didn't mean to snap at you…I'm sorry."
Sanosuke grinned, "No problem, fox. As long as you're not mad at me, I'm happy."
Megumi looked up, surprised. The teenager was blushing, amazed at his own
boldness.
"Really?
You're happy as long I'm not mad at you?" she said in a whisper, afraid
for the answer.
"H-hai." Sanosuke gulped and managed to
meet her piercing gaze.
But her reaction startled him, for Megumi
threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his embrace. "Oh, gomen ne, rooster—I, I didn't know,
didn't know…"
"Didn't know what?" dread was lumping in
his throat.
"I didn't know that I loved you earlier!"
"Nani?!?!" Sanosuke's eyes bugged
out. "Seriously? You like me?"
"Love," she corrected, smiling.
Sanosuke broke into a grin. "I've been waiting to do this for so long."
He murmured, and took her face in his hands, thumb stroking her cheek, and with
a furious passion, he kissed her.
Megumi kissed back, tears streaming down her face in joy. "Aishiteru, tori-atama, aishiteru."
Sanosuke felt her salty tears and he
stopped to kiss all her tears away.
"It's okay, you're with me, nothin to be afraid of anymore…I won't
become another Kanryuu…"
Megumi smiled at him and kissed him
again.
~I wanna tell you what I'm feeling
But I don't know how to start
I wanna tell you
But now I'm afraid you might break my
heart
Oh, why should anything so easy ever be
so hard to do?
I wanna tell you what I'm feeling,
And to say that
I love you~
A/n- datz dat! Like it? Ok, so I didn't
put da whole week out. I was planning
to let them just sleep (no lemony puns intended!) for da first night and maybe
declare their love the last night, but somehow it just turned out this way—if I
get over 10 reviews I might consider a sequel—I already have a plan in mind.
::wink wink::
Later dayz!
CyberSerpent .~
