A/N: Should start hurrying the other chapters up. School is so frighteningly near...@_@
Chapter Two:
To Walk With a Lady
He could see her walking down the staircase in an elegant, blue kimono that took his breath away. Quickly turning around from her sight, he silently berated himself for having been so easily distracted. Any more of that attitude would result into actions she might not appreciate, and Kami-sama knows what kind of hot water would that make him land into.
"Sano, I'm ready," came Megumi's voice.
You sure are, was what he wanted to say but instead he answered cheerfully, "That's pretty fast for the kitsune." This earned him a jab on the ribs which he had completely foreseen.
"So, I hope you know places here other than where to find the best drinks," said Megumi pointedly as they took the street. She spotted a boy shouting his services with a rickshaw and said, "Ever ridden in one of those?"
"Rickshaws?" said Sano, scratching his neck. "That was one of my jobs when I first came here. Want a ride? I know a place where fox women like to hang out: it's called the shopping bazaar."
Megumi was about to pull his ears but thought better of it.
Sano approached the boy and said, "You strong enough for us?"
The boy beamed a wide grin through the dirt that caked his face. "You betcha."
"Then give us a ride to the place that women like to hang out." Sano winked at him and the young boy laughed, "Hao pa, hao pa."
"Jump up," said Sano to Megumi, holding out his hand. "Watch your step. These things can be pretty unsteady."
Megumi effortlessly carried herself onto the rickshaw with great aplomb, saying, "The only time that things can get pretty unsteady is when you're in it."
Sano climbed in and sat beside her. "Is that a compliment or an insult, fox?"
"I'd rather not say. We might fall out of the rickshaw."
Sano decided that any more pleasant attempts of conversation would fall on deaf ears.
The boy picked up the rickshaw and began running down the street. The sound of the wheels and the boy's pit-pat-pit-pat filled their ears.
Megumi asked curiously, "Can their backs really stand the weight of adults?"
"They sure can. They'd grow up with big muscles too." Sano patted his own biceps. "But they can't be as large as mine."
"Not as large your mouth, that's for sure."
Sano crossed his arms. "Why is it that when I try to be nice, you just get even more kitsune?"
Megumi eyed him, propping her arm on the small window and resting her head. "It's called a defense system, Sagara. A woman can't be safe around someone like you."
Sano gave his widest grin. "I'll say. Pretty girls are dangerously liable to be captivated by my chocolate-brown eyes and my rugged, manly looks."
"You are the vainest man I've ever met on this planet."
"So ka? Well, what's this?" Sano quickly dabbed a finger on Megumi's made-up face. He felt a pleasant tingle that ran through his nerves, but he disregarded it and continued, "Paint?"
"It's called make-up, you dolt, in case you've never seen it before." Megumi edged away from him.
Sano made an imitation of sniffing the air. "And what's this? Perfume? Kitsune-onna, we're just going to have a walk around town, not a dinner party."
Megumi reddened, saying, "You keep quiet, Sagara-san, or I'll knock your teeth out."
"Many men have tried, but failed. Well, you are a kitsune-onna...now that's an entirely different matter."
Megumi looked peeved enough to breathe fire, but she just turned away and looked out of the window, brows drawn together. Sano leaned back and put his arms behind his head.
The rickshaw boy piped out almost sympathetically, "Xiao jie shr ni de taitai ma? Is the missy your wife?"
Sano was indignant as he exclaimed, "No, she's not! Get back to your rickshaw!"
The boy grinned cheekily and said, "Then it must be hidden attraction, mister."
"Keep your eyes on the road!"
"Sanosuke, stop shouting, for goodness's sake!" said Megumi, looking annoyed.
"He started it!" replied Sanosuke defensively, pointing at the rickshaw boy who was happily whistling a tune as he ran.
"Oh? What did he say?"
"He said-" Sano caught himself and his train of words took another route. "He said that the fee would be pretty high because the place we're going is quite far."
Megumi stared at him. "And that was enough to make you scream like a banshee?"
"I did not scream like a banshee!"
"Well, you are now!" And Megumi turned away from him again huffily.
Sano slouched even lower on his seat and fumed. Well, at least it was like old times.
"Can we please go now?!"
Megumi ignored him as she piled on him another package.
"We've been here for four hours!" pleaded Sano, trying to get out of the noontide sun's heat. "How much shopping could you still do?"
"Never ask a woman that, rooster. It would just make it worse," answered Megumi as she walked into another stall. "Besides, this was your idea." She admired a violet-colored cloth. "Isn't this pretty?"
"I wouldn't have suggested it if I knew you had this much money to spend!" hissed Sano, almost knocking down a vase as he struggled to balance all the packages he was carrying. "Let's go, let's go!"
"Quiet, rooster."
"I will once you say that we're going already!"
Megumi decided to ignore him.
"Say 'Let's go' already!"
Megumi looked at him, irritated. "Really, Sano, one would think that you were teaching a parrot to talk!"
"I'm just teaching a fox that too much shopping might leave one of us with heatstroke!"
"Ooh, look at that!"
Sano groaned and resignedly followed the Fox to the next stall. Megumi was looking at an old man with a pair of scissors snipping colorful pieces of paper efficiently with holes. On his table were many flat, 2-dimensional figures of animals such as dogs, monkeys, horses, cats, and the like, all finely snipped from paper.
"What's he doing?" asked Megumi to Sano.
"It's the Chinese art of paper-cutting," replied Sano, dropping Megumi's packages on the floor tiredly. "He's cutting out shapes of things from paper. Kind of like what we do to origami, only that he's doing it with scissors."
"Interesting," Megumi said.
The old man laid down a figure of a prancing horse and grinned toothily at both them. Taking one look at Sano, he took his scissors and a square sheet of black paper. After snipping it with lightning speed in what seemed to be in every direction, he brought up a detailed form of...
"A rooster!" exclaimed Megumi, doubling from laughter. "I'm starting to like this paper-cutting business already, Sano! Could you ask him if he has bigger pieces?"
"Sheesh." Sano bent down to match the height of the paper-cutter. "Oi, lao ye! The lady would like to know if you have any bigger works."
"You ah, you ah." The old man nodded vigorously. "I'm currently working on one."
He took something out under his desk and brought it up. It was a beautiful figure of a dragon, considerably big in size and in black paper. It had been meticulously worked on; each aspect of the dragon, from its whiskers to its tail, had been snipped out. Each scale on the body of the dragon was a finely-cut polygon the size of a fingernail. Its claws were sharp, its teeth curved at the right angle, and its eyes were big and wide. Smoke curled from its nostrils. The dragon's movement looked like it was soaring upwards to heaven, arms outstretched. And all its accuracy was from cutting out fragments from a thin sheet of paper.
"It's gorgeous," breathed Megumi.
"It's not finished yet," the old man told Sano. "I'm working on the phoenix, and then it shall be complete."
"The dragon and phoenix," translated Sano to Megumi. "Nice concept there."
"What is?"
"Here in China, the dragon and the phoenix are used to represent the ideal man and woman. It's actually used to symbolize royalty: the dragon is the king and the phoenix the queen."
"How so?"
"The dragon is a strong man, a powerful creature that can bring either good or harm with its great strength. Its scales are impenetrable armor, its fire a great weapon, and its drawn claws and teeth signs of bravery and nobility. As for the phoenix," explained Sano knowingly, "she's a brave, elegantly beautiful woman who just can't be put out. Myth has it that when a phoenix is killed, she'll burn herself into cinders, but she'll rise back to life from her ashes and fly again. You can kill her or torture her, but that's not going to achieve anything for you. She'll be back, even stronger."
Megumi was quiet as Sano ended his narration. "That's a beautiful way of putting it," she said. "And you really put a lot of emphasis on the phoenix."
"A lot of the Chinese name their sons Dragons and their daughters Phoenixes," said Sano, swatting a mosquito on his arm. "It kind of shows that they're the best of their breed. So of course, all the dragons in China want a phoenix for a wife. You should hear how the guys at the gambling tables talk about their women. Suddenly, you're not sure if they're talking about a human or a mythological creature." Sano laughed.
Megumi looked thoughtful as she fingered the gossamer-thin dragon shape. "I'd love to see the entire thing when it's complete."
"Well," said Sano, looking up to the sun, "it won't be finished today, so we'll have to get a move on if you don't want to be late for your convention, fox."
"Oh, yes, the convention." Megumi looked at her watch. "And I still have to freshen up and get my things. Come on, slowpoke, let's go back to the inn."
"Best thing I've heard all morning," said Sano with a sigh of relief as he lugged her packages towards a rickshaw.
When they arrived in the inn, Sano made a beeline for Megumi's room and thankfully dropped the packages on the bed. He sank into a lacquered chair, groaning, "I'm beat!"
"You just have no endurance, rooster. Look at me: I came all the way with you, and I'm still as fresh as a daisy."
"An' you would have wilted like one if you were carrying everything you shopped for!" shot back Sano. "All you did was carry your wallet!" Sano proceeded to sit on his hands. "My hands are killing me!"
Megumi stopped combing her hair. Her eyes strayed to look at the reflection of Sano blowing his hands on her mirror, then she continued to run the comb through her raven tresses. "How's your hand?"
"I just told you that they're ki-"
"No, I meant the hand."
Oh. That one. She still remembered? Sano drew his bandaged, right hand into a fist. He could still feel the ligaments contracting in protest. The pain was still there.
"It's fine, thanks," he said, his attitude suddenly more quiet.
Something in his tone made Megumi stop combing her hair again and turn around to face him. "It's been quite a long time since I had a look at that."
Sano lifted his eyebrows in agreement. "Quite a long time," he repeated.
"How frequently do you usually get that bandaged?"
Sano hesistated, but there was no use in fooling a doctor. "Once."
"Once every week?"
Sano did not quite meet her eyes. "Once since I...left Japan."
There was a loud clank as Megumi dropped the comb on the table. "Sagara Sanosuke, are you telling me that in all these years you only had it re-bandaged once?"
Sano shrugged listlessly. "Didn't think of it much."
"What do you mean, you didn't think of it much?! That is no reason to neglect it!" Megumi quickly made her way towards him and sat on the opposite chair. "Here, give me your hand."
"Come on, fox, it's no big deal..."
But Megumi ignored him and snatched his hand. Sano bit his lip to avoid flinching.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" asked Megumi.
Sano gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"Why didn't you see a doctor? No, don't tell me, it's in the male psyche not to ask for help, isn't it?"
Sanosuke didn't answer.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm bandaging it for you." Megumi stood up to get her equipment.
Sano protested. "Look, there's no reason for you to really do this."
"You're hurt, and that's reason enough," she said, authoritatively returning with a roll of gauze in her hand and a pair of scissors on the other. She took his hand carefully and began to unwrap the bandage.
"This is bad," she said, observing the limp fingers. She raised his palm to her eyes, rolling it. "You're going to need lots of time to recover."
Sano tried not to feel the excited tingles his nerves were rushing into his brain. This was hardly the time to be bothered by his animal instincts. Had he really missed her this much?
Suddenly, without even thinking, he grabbed the hand holding his. His grip was gentle, but firm.
Megumi looked surprised. "Sanosuke? Is something wrong?"
Tell her that she filled your thoughts by day and your dreams by night, a voice told him. Tell her that you tried to forget her-
"Thanks," was all he could say to her through his beffudled brain.
"Oh." Megumi's face and voice seemed to be devoid of any expression.
"You should...you should probably bandage it now," he said, releasing her. "You're really going to be very late."
"Of course." As Megumi proceeded to silently wrap his hand with new bandage, she noticed the scar that ran right in the middle of it. There were other scars on the hand, but this one, as it used to before, caught her eyes again.
The hand that saved her from her own knife; blood that was shed so that hers would not be. The scar was a constant reminder that she was not alone in this world, and seeing it once more brought a flood of memories.
She finished bandaging it and quietly put away her equipment, feeling very odd.
Sano stood up immediately, mumbling "Thanks" again, feeling very stupid. He shoved both his hands into his pockets as he followed Megumi out of the door.
Both sat together in a rickshaw as the puller threaded through the busy streets. Each was occupied with his or her own thoughts. The air was moistly warm and the sea brought in a salty scent into the city.
Sano felt like he just drunk a dozen cups of sake, so disoriented that he was. He wasn't in self-denial or anything of that sort: he knew that he was falling in love with the fox. It was plain. But that was exactly the problem. He didn't want to fall in love with her. Long before he first laid eyes on her, he was the Zanza, strong, free-willed, doing what he pleased, harboring no emotion save vengeance, and that was always settled quite easily by a whack of his zanbatou. But the moment he met her, he felt chained to her as her protector, to make sure no harm came to her. For the first time after the Sekihoutai disbanded, he worried greatly for someone else other than himself.
Sano looked at his right hand. It was bandaged, but he could still see in his mind the huge scar on it, the one he took for her. What made him grab that knife from her that other night, so long ago, he still wasn't sure. All that had possessed him was the thought that he couldn't let that beautiful woman hurt herself. Everything else had been automatic. He didn't even feel the pain the blade inflicted when he snatched it from her.
It frightened him to think that he would have to look out for someone with a great degree of care. It made him feel vulnerable, a weak spot that could be easily seen by all people. When he left Japan, what he left most was her. He felt the changes of leaving her the most powerful, as if he was another man. Once more, he was obliged to take care of only one person: himself.
Sano gave an inward groan. Poverty had driven him into offering his services as a guide. If he only had a little more money, he would never had taken this job. Being with her everyday was only weakening him. And he couldn't risk that. He was hurt by love once; he didn't want to be hurt again. He just wanted to be left alone.
Megumi stared at the hooting barge that sailed across the river. Her heart had been racing when Sano had held her hand like that. It was as if he never wanted to let go. She thought this was it, the day that barriers would be broken and what they felt for each other finally revealed. But in the end, it proved that she had been deceiving herself again. She felt disgusted that she could even think of such a day. How could a man love someone who had killed his friend?
But then how could a woman love a man such as Sagara Sanosuke? He was vulgar, lazy, and boorishly stupid. He lived his life by the day and never planned ahead. True, he had good looks and great strength, but he could never raise a family having only that.
Vanity. This was all vanity. Her convention would end in a week's time, and they would part professionally as a city guide and his client would, the same way a doctor and her patient would. She would have to get used to that.
"Here we are," said Sano when the shaw stopped. They were quite far from downtown Shanghai. The air was quieter, less warm, and the waves of the sea could be easily heard. In front of them was a little hill with a reasonably large mansion atop it. There was a gate from where they stood.
Megumi paid the man and gathered her things. After Sano helped her out, she handed him some money. "Your return trip and your lunch."
Sano waved his hand dismissively. "I'll be fine with my own."
"Take it." Megumi would not take no for an answer.
Sano was firm. "No."
Megumi felt a bit irritated. "Take it, please."
"One would think you were teaching a parrot to talk, fox."
Megumi grew red, but she forcefully pressed the money into Sano's palm, saying, "Read my lips: you take the money. You look like you hadn't eaten since you left Japan."
Sano grudgingly accepted the money and pocketed it. "Thanks," he said for the third time. Then he gave her a crooked grin before jumping back into the rickshaw, saying, "By the way, you have great-looking lips."
When the rickshaw departed, Megumi touched her lips cautiously. She wondered.
chapter two, end