Standard disclaimers apply.

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Chapter 4: Dread

"The wound isn't very deep." remarked Megumi as she applied a poultice on Koneko's leg. The lady doctor was still awake by the time Sano entered with Koneko, seeking her help. She then ordered Sano to set Koneko down on a table and proceeded to examining the injury. Cleaning it and making a poultice didn't take long and Koneko was soon able to hop off the table.

"Just let it heal for a few days and there won't be a scar." Megumi instructed, gathering her medical things to the cabinet.

"Arigatou, Megumi-san." Koneko said as she fixed her kimono around her legs, conscious of Sano leaning against the doorframe.

The lady doctor closed the cabinet doors. "If you stay away from fights, you'll heal faster."

"I-I'll see what I can do."

"If you're anything like Kenshin," Sano interrupted. "You can't help but get involved."

"As if you're not like Kenshin either, baka tori." Megumi commented.

"Who're you calling 'baka,', kitsune-onna?"

"Only a certain tori-atama."

"Oi!"

Koneko glanced at the door when she heard footsteps. Megumi-san didn't say that she was expecting somebody, but doctors are usually alert to unexpected patients. And it might be Kenshin, checking on them after talking with the police. Whoever it was, must be someone familiar. Koneko didn't think anyone would be cruel enough to attack a doctor in her own home.

She absently watched the door slide open, revealing a familiar red-haired man in a purple hakama. He regarded the bickering couple with surprised eyes and quickly raised his hands in a peace gesture. "Maa maa, Sano, Megumi-dono. Do you have to fight so often?"

"I wouldn't have to if baka tori weren't so baka." Megumi replied.

"And kitsune-onna keeps thinking she's so smart." Sano snorted.

"Of course I am!"

"Sez who?"

"I say so! And you claim you're smart!"

"I am smart! I've gone through a lot of fights with Kenshin..."

"Oro?" said Kenshin, startled.

"...and come out of them in one piece! That requires cleverness!"

"In one piece?" Megumi was incredulous. "I always run out of bandages every time you come to me after a fight and you say you come back in one piece? And don't bring Kenshin into this! He has a lot more sense than you do."

"Ororo?"

"Some sense!" Sano huffed. "How can you say he has sense when he keeps up with that 'oro' of his?"

"Maa maa, can't we all just get along?" Kenshin was waving his hands now, still with his placatory smile that was rapidly turning into a hopeless one.

"Are they always like that?" Koneko asked him, watching the two from the corner of her eye.

"Not always." Kenshin had a sheepish grin as he turned to her. "There were a few times when they behaved properly."

"Only a few?"

He sighed in defeat. "Hai, de gozaru."

"And they always ignore you when you try to placate them."

"Hai, de gozaru." His grin was increasingly sheepish.

Koneko returned his grin with one of her own. "Let me try." She turned to the bickering couple and raised her voice a few notches. "Minna! I think it's about time I returned home."

"Home?" Megumi stopped arguing and turned to her. "Aren't you staying with Kenshin?"

Koneko shook her head. "Iie. My father will be worried about me."

"It's late. You might as well stay the night with us." Kenshin offered.

"And there is no way I'm allowing you to walk all the way home with that leg of yours." Megumi said with finality. "Using it too long will only ruin all the work I did."

"But my father..."

"We will go with you when you return home in the morning." Kenshin smiled gently. "Your father will understand."

"You'll be sleeping with Jou-chan, if you're worried about that." said Sano.

Koneko glanced at their sincere faces, inwardly desiring to stay with them for as long a time as possible. They were all so open and cheerful... But then there was her father. He would be worried about her, as he had been when she came home late this afternoon. Koneko didn't want him to worry about her.

"Koneko-dono?" Kenshin asked softly.

She smiled at them half-heartedly. "Hai, I'll stay with you. For the night."

"Then we'd better start walking back. I'll help you walk-"

"Iie, I can walk on my own." She took a few steps to prove her statement, not wavering once.

Kenshin nodded and started to leave. "We'll be seeing you tomorrow, Megumi-dono."

"Make sure you do, Ken-san."

"Sano?"

"I'm going back home in a while." Sano waved him off.

"Aa de gozaru. Oyasumi." Kenshin followed Koneko out the door, waving good night to his friends.

They walked in silence at first, respecting each others' privacy. Koneko's wound throbbed a little but she could easily ignore the feeling. Kenshin-san was nice enough to offer his help but being carried by men twice in one night would be too much for her father's wishes. And she didn't want Kaoru-san to assume anything bad. Kenshin-san had saved her life, the least she could do to repay him was to avoid getting him in trouble.

"Koneko-dono?" he called to her softly.

"Hai, Kenshin-san?"

"You seem to know the Ranmyaku-gumi."

Koneko almost missed a step but she quickly recovered her balance so it was barely noticeable. She had expected the question to be asked of her some time, but she didn't expect it so soon. She decided to tell him of what she knew for fact, and not her speculations. "My father had visitors from the Ranmyaku-gumi. Only on some nights. My father had a lot of visitors."

He was silent for a while as Koneko watched her surroundings, alert for any danger. After a second or two, he broke the silence. "Were you always close enough to hear them talk?"

"Iie," Koneko shook her head. "My father disapproves of eavesdropping."

"But tonight, you overheard them."

Koneko dropped her gaze to the ground. "I didn't mean to. But I did."

"And that's why you were at the Iwata district tonight."

"Hai."

They kept walking, gazing at the surrounding ahead of them.

"You don't always follow your father at night, do you?" Kenshin asked, his voice soft.

"Iie. I respect my father."

"Sessha knows you do, Koneko-dono. But what made tonight different?"

Koneko kept herself calm, forcing her mind to the simple act of walking. She didn't know Kenshin noticed or thought about these things. She didn't really expect him to be so observant. He always seemed so calm, she didn't realize his mind worked so sharply. She gathered her thoughts to herself, trying to think of a good answer to his question. One that wouldn't incriminate her father or herself. Keeping silent about it would only bring suspicion.

Koneko finally decided to say the truth, at least half of it. "One of the Ranmyaku who attacked Chihiro-san came to my father tonight, asking for help. I thought I would follow them just in case my father was attacked."

"And then you stumbled on the Ranmyaku-gumi."

"Hai."

She saw Kenshin nod from the corner of her eye. "They tried to kill Hiroshi tonight."

"I know. Sanosuke-san told me on the way to Megumi-san's."

"Did he also tell you that you saved Hiroshi's life?"

This time, Koneko stopped in her tracks, drawing a concerned look from Kenshin. "Koneko-dono?"

She shook her head, waving him off. "It's nothing. Just my leg."

"Is it painful?"

"A little. I'll be fine."

To her relief, he didn't push the issue. Koneko didn't think he would, if she said that she wasn't glad she saved Hiroshi. Instead, she was frightened. The Ranmyaku came out to kill a government official, bringing their plans into fruition. They will not be happy to have one person put all those plans to waste. And if she was right that her father was working for them...to have his own daughter bring their work to nothing...

It was only tonight that she began to dread going home to her father.

Chapter 5