Summary: In Meiji 26 (1891), the remaining Kenshingumi members reunite again. Now that Kenshin and Kaoru are gone, it's up to them the mission of protecting Japan. S+M, Y+T, A+M, and 15-year-old Kenji-kun, of course. After-Seisou Hen, OVA spoilers ahead!
Disclaimers: Rurouni Kenshin © 1997 by Nobuhiro Watsuki.
II - As soon as possible
The afternoon was already ending. The sky varied in color shades, from a deep blue in the East, changing to millions of lilacs, pinks, oranges, and ending on a mixture of bright red and yellow around the golden circumference of the Sun, setting behind the mountains. Vesper already sprang up in the multicoloured atmosphere, a diamond forgotten in the immensity of the Space.
Sano laid on the dojo's yard, his gaze lost. Turning his head to his left, he would see the spot where Kaoru used to practise with Yahiko every sunny morning. He could see the image of the young kenjutsu assistant master, correcting the 10-year-old's posture and scowling at the boy's stubbornness, then turning to Kenshin, asking him to prove she was right. Turning his head to his right, he would find the wooden laundry tub in which Kenshin would have been easily found, washing the dojo resident's clothes. Again, an image from the past came to Sanosuke's mind: the redheaded rurouni, stopping his house chores to give Kaoru a kind smile which would stop any argument.
- Sano, your food will get cold. Aren't you going to eat? - from inside the house, Megumi's call awoke him from his little reverie. The sky was already dark.
- I'm not hungry, thanks.
- Now that's odd! I suppose all that travelling was good for your stomach, at least. - she teased him, giggling.
- Go ahead, laugh, Fox - he chuckled, raising and brushing the dust off his clothes with his hands. Then, he went to sit by the veranda's step, resting his back against a wooden column. - I'd like to see you laughing like that if you had to eat ship hold rats for a week.
- Well, that's the cost of being a stowaway, isn't it? - the lady doctor concluded, kneeling elegantly by his side.
- Yeah, that's it.
Coming from inside, Yahiko went to the veranda, Tsubame a step behind him.
- Megumi-san, Sano... it's getting late. Tsubame and I should better get going.
- Fine. See ya guys tomorrow?
- Sure! I want to know the rest of your adventures around Europe. You haven't told us yet how was the night-time in Paris - Yahiko said, winking, meaning he was more than curious about certain aspects of European females, especially after what Sano had confessed him about the French brothels. - See ya, then!
- Goodbye, Yahiko-kun, Tsubame-chan - waved Megumi while the young man offered his arm to the girl by his side. She politely accepted, and the couple walked together through the dojo gates.
- These two are an item, ain't them.
- What do you mean, 'an item'. They are married.
- Married? The brat and the girl?
- For three years now. They have grown up a tiny bit while you were away, in case you didn't notice. - she sighed, shaking her head at his density.
- Oh, I did. Yahiko's almost my size! Still, I didn't think that lil' punk would have been trapped before me! - he joked, and they laughed together. But when the laughs ceased, silence reigned over them. Sano's gaze on her body was so intense, she had to turn her face to hide her flushed cheeks. His eyes held a blaze, a burning desire, something deeper and stronger than what any other man had ever showed towards her.
- You haven't changed an inch. - he said seductively.
- You better mean it as a compliment - she growled.
- It was one hell of a compliment! - he answered, laughing.
- You, on the other hand, have changed a lot.
- I did? - he flashed her a cocky grin. - For good or for bad?
- Your personality is terribly worse - she giggled foxily, then said in a whisper, looking at her hands on her lap. - But the rest... the rest is quite better.
- ... I missed you.
She just smiled.
- So... we've talked a lot about me and my trips, but you haven't said a word about you.
- There's not much to say anyway. I have found one of my brothers, Toshio. He now works with me on a clinic in Aizu. He must be mad at me by now, for leaving it all into his hands for almost an year. I was very happy when I found him. Unfortunately, I've also had bad news. My other brother had died on the fire. And my mother has had a very hard time after that. She... got sick a few months after the war was over. Still... - she sighed - ... I felt my heart a bit lighter after knowing all that. At least I was able to find one of them, ne?
- What about ya husband? Children?
She averted his gaze, awkwardly bowing her head.
- Oh, actually... I... haven't got married.
At that, Sano couldn't suppress a delighted laughter.
- What's so funny? - she retorted.
- Nah, it's just that... - he whispered, caressing her flushed faced. - ...I was wondering... guess it means I still have a chance, ne?
- Aw, come on, stop that - she giggled uneasily, waving his hand away.
- What, I'm serious. I'm just waiting for your approval. But you gotta gimme three kids, at the very least. - he laughed.
- You're not being yourself - she shook her head, dismissing her puzzled thoughts, then began to get up when he gripped her arm.
- Megumi... please... stay here by my side. - he begged in a low voice. - I might not be my old self today... especially after what you guys told me about them... but it doesn't change the fact that I want to be with you. - he finished, then gently held her chin and abridged the distance between their faces.
His lips were almost touching hers when the shoji door was suddenly opened, the light from the lampshades inside the building bathing them and making them squint their eyes.
- Sorry to interrupt you - Kenji mumbled. - Megumi-san, I took your things back to the guest room. I didn't know where Sagara-san was going to sleep, so his sack is still in the corridor. - he stated, clearly meaning that he didn't plan on having the rooster-head as his roommate.
- There's still the other room, the one w-- the other room - she began to say, then quickly rectified herself.
- ... The one where my father used to sleep before. Go ahead, say it. It doesn't hurt. The place is quite messy, Sano-san, though I guess you won't mind. G'night, you two. - he commented, a bit annoyed, then closed the door.
- Is he always like that?
- And it seems to get worse everyday. Kenji-kun is a very difficult person to deal with. - Megumi sighed.
- Geez. Is there any reason for him to act all sulky?
- I don't know for sure... I believe it has to do with the fact that he hardly saw his father. Ken-san decided to go back to the battlefields when the boy was very young, and since then he hadn't spent a long period of time at home. Kenji-kun has never been too fond of his father, or at least that's the impression he passes. I've never seen them going for a walk together or having a nice conversation. - she murmured, nearly whispered, as if afraid that the boy might have been able to listen.
- Ain't that funny?... Kenshin's always been able to read his opponents' minds, but it seems that he couldn't understand his own kid.
- Maybe. Or maybe he did understood Kenji-kun... and he was just trying to show his love in another way. Ken-san's way of showing affection was sometimes hard to understand, wasn't it? We almost had to push him into Kaoru's arms, remember?
- How can I forget? - he laughed. - Everybody knew they were made for each other, except themselves.
- These were good times...
- You know what intrigues me? I've been with you guys here at the dojo for, what, less than two years, but as I think of it, those two years feel like a lifetime. It's the place I can call home, even though I've never really lived here. I can't think of me without knowing Kenshin and Jou-chan, I can't imagine my life without this dojo anymore. - he fell silent, once again getting closer to her. - ... I can't imagine my life without you anymore.
This time, instead of letting him approach her, she turned her face.
- Sano... I'd like to... think about what you've said. I mean, unless you aren't really interested on having a serious relationsh--
- I'd marry you right now if I could, silly! - he joked. - That's right, I'm really interested on having a serious relationship with you. Not a doubt on that. - noticing she had distractedly turned her face to him again, he bent over and lightly brushed his lips on hers. - You have all the time you want to think about it, Megumi... just don't forget that I love you. - Still taken aback after his unexpected move, Megumi simply nodded, seeing him get up and go inside.
The city slept. The darkness embraced and invaded every corner, every room. It was two in the morning.
With imperceptible movements, Megumi partially opened the shoji door of her bedroom, stepping out. She closed back the door trying to make the less noise she could, and tiptoed through the thin, dark corridor. The first door after her room was slit open. She looked inside, slowly adjusting her vision to the great blackness. Kenji was wrapped in his blanked, his chest raising and lowering in a calm, soothing rhythm. He slept soundly. Assuming there would be no witnesses to her little naughtiness, she resumed her walk to the end of the corridor.
But if she had looked to the ceiling, she would have found a pair of olive-green eyes spying on her.
Hell, Sano, you're such an idiot.
The thought kept gnawing at him since he left the veranda. Now he laid on his back on the moth-eaten futon, counting the laths of the ceiling. He sighed tiredly: he had been unable to sleep all night, because every time he closed his eyes he would see her image. Her image feeling uneasy at his flirts, her image trying to avoid him, her image saying she wanted to think, and a vision of her rejecting him. It was a great foolishness on his part, to believe that she wouldn't have married because of him. Because she was waiting for him. Why should he assume that? She was an independent woman, she didn't need to marry anyone if she didn't want to. And she didn't need to marry him either. Why would she anyway?
A faint sound from the corridor brought his mind back to the dojo. An attack? His warrior instincts told him to be alert. However, he soon found out there was no need to prepare for battle. Through the thin rice-paper of the sliding door, he could distinguish the female silhouette he adored so much.
- Megumi? Is that you? - he asked, even though he knew it was her; he would be able to describe every single detail of her body that made her different than any other woman in the world.
- ... Yes, it's me. Can I... can I come in? - she said, hesitating for a second.
- Just a moment - he pulled the blankets over his naked legs and abdomen, sitting up. - Ok, come in.
She slid the door open, entering the room, them shut it behind her, leaning on the wooden frame for a few seconds. The moonlight passed across a gap on the small window, giving the room a blueish gleam. The light, though, wasn't enough to expose her small blush. Walking slowly towards him, she knelt by his side at the edge of the futon, her back to him.
- I couldn't sleep. - she whispered.
- Me either. - he said, his fingers timidly playing with a lock of her hair. - Is there something wrong?
- I was... thinking of what you've said.
- And... have you come to a conclusion already?
- ... Yes, I guess so.
- ... And that would be...? - he asked, afraid that her answer would disappoint him.
- I'm already thirty-seven, Sano. - she stated in a serious tone. There she goes, he thought, and by the tone of her voice, it'll be rejection for sure. - And I'm not getting any younger.
- Then?...
- ... Then, if you really want your three kids, I believe we should begin as soon as possible, ne? - She smiled mischievously and, as if on cue, the left sleeve of her night yukata fell down her arm, showing him the pale skin of her cleavage.
- As you wish, Fox - he breathed behind her ear, his quick hands already undoing her obi knot.
Author's Notes: I guess it's a nice size for a less important chapter. (I believe it's the longest fiction chapter I've ever written in all my life - at least with so few events.)
Who cares if it's big or important? It's S+M, that's all that really matters ^_^'' I have plans on adding some Y+T, and even some A+M, in the next chapters.
Chapter III: While the guys remember the old days, something is going to happen in the city.
