Guy's Night Out

Chapter 8 (AN: This chapter will get a bit lime-scented, but no lemons, I promise, gentle readers. I like a well-written one as good as the next hentai, but I've already upgraded my rating once! Some necessary translations: nushi- lover, itoshii-lovely, sousou, "oh yes").

Taking their leave of Saitou Hajime, AKA Fujita Gorou, Sanosuke and Kenshin stayed for a few games of chance, but their attention to the game was disturbed by the information they'd gotten from the policeman.(Sano was losing badly anyway, as usual.) Having had more than enough "entertainment" for one evening, Kenshin desperately wanted nothing more than a hot bath.

As he and Sano walked home through the darkened streets of Tokyo, he went over the conversation with Saitou at The White Tiger again in his mind.

"Uh, Kenshin, I'll let you go it alone from here, I have a little appointment to keep before I go home."

"Megume-dono," Kenshin guessed to himself, but kept his mouth shut. He'd already gotten on his friend's bad side earlier about the subject and was loathe to bring it up again.

"Certainly, Sano, keep your 'appointment,'" he said.

Sano strode off into the darkness, in the general direction of the little street where Megumi rented a small house near the clinic of Genzai-sensai.

"I was right about those two," Kenshin mused. He was not a judgmental man. "Precious little happiness in the world, I suppose, and none of my business anyway" he sighed.

His thoughts turned towards home. Who and what waited for him there. He smiled in the darkness and quickened his step.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sano felt his heart quicken as he approached Megumi's house. There was a small light burning in the back room, he saw. "Good, she's still awake," he thought. Gone were the days when he had to use treating his inevitable cuts and bruises as an excuse to visit her. He chuckled to himself.

"Good thing, I don't know how many stupid fights I started just to have a reason to drag my sorry ass over to the clinic."

He tapped lightly on the door. "Hey, Megumi, it's me," he hissed.

She opened the door and peered out. "Come in quickly," she whispered, "It got so late, I was wondering if I should just go on to bed."

He grinned, white teeth flashing in the dimness, "Not without me, koibito."

She pulled him inside, stifling a giggle. "Ah, nushi, I don't have to be at the clinic tomorrow, Genzai-sensai won't mind, not many patients scheduled, I already asked."

"Good, because we won't be doing much sleeping tonight, kitsune, that I can promise you."

"Big talk, but can you deliver on that promise?" she asked archly, flipping back her hair.

He grabbed her gently by the shoulders and looked down at her with twinkling eyes, "Ah, kitsune, you know better than to challenge Sagara Sanosuke to a contest of endurance!" he joked.

She pressed her hands against the muscular planes of his chest. "Yes, you do seem strong enough, nushi." She raised her mouth to receive his impassioned kiss. "Itoshii" he whispered against her mouth as his hands reached around her waist and then lowered to caress her more intimately. Pulling her closer, he began to kiss her neck with an open mouth, nipping her until she gasped.

"Don't you think we should do this somewhere more comfortable, koishii, I don't want to end up on the hard floor again," she breathed into his hair.

He stopped long enough to pick her up and carry her to the bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kenshin slid the door open quietly, not wanting to wake Kaoru or Yahiko.

"Gods, I need a bath, I reek of Saitou's cigarettes and street dirt," he thought.

"Kenshin, is that you?" he heard a voice ask softly.

Kaoru had waited up for him! Mildly surprised, he whispered back "Sousou, it's me, Kaoru-dono."

"Did you have fun, Kenshin?" she whispered back.

"Uh, well, I suppose," he replied in an uncertain voice.

"You don't sound very sure about that," Kaoru said.

"Let's go out on the back porch so we don't wake Yahiko," Kenshin said to her in a low voice, "I want to heat some bath water anyway."

"Okay, I'll help you," she said, "I'm not sleepy anyway."

As he started a fire to heat the water, she asked him again, "So, was your evening out everything you hoped for, Kenshin?"

He sighed. "Not really, Kaoru, I would have preferred to stay home and enjoy a quiet evening with you and Yahiko."

She drew closer to him. "I'm so sorry to hear that. There weren't any problems, were there?"

"Nothing serious, just the usual Sagara Sanosuke evening out on the town," Kenshin snickered softly. "But, we did run into Saitou Hajime, he had a drink or two with us."

"You're joking!" gasped Kaoru.

"No, sessha is not joking with you, that I am not," he replied. "Do you know he has children?" asked Kenshin, shaking his head.

"Ittai!" she gasped again. "Who would have thought it?"

"Well, Kaoru, he is married, after all."

"Still, hard to believe," she said. "I don't know if I can picture Saitou as a papa!" She giggled at the mental image of Saitou, the former Wolf of Mibu bouncing a baby on his knee and chucking it under the chin.

"It does stretch the imagination somewhat, that it does," chuckled Kenshin.

"But, you like children, Kenshin. Suzame and Ayume adore you. You're so good with them, so kind and patient."

"And you're thinking 'How can a man with so much violence in his past be that way?' I suppose?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Actually, I think you're probably 'that way' because of your past," she said thoughtfully. "After all, who needs the innocence and acceptance of a child more than someone who has had to live with what you have?"

He had no reply to that for a few seconds. He gazed up into her thoughtful eyes.

"What did this unworthy one do to deserve you, is what I really wonder."

"Oh, Kenshin!" she sighed and reached around from behind to embrace him, her head pressing against his back. "Did I say that out loud?" he thought, blushing a bit in the darkness.

Turning within the circle of her arms, he looked into her shining eyes. Gently, he pressed his lips to hers. She sighed again, and began to innocently respond to the kiss, softening her mouth and slightly parting her lips, returning his light pressure. His pulled back his head and broke the contact of their mouths.

"Kaoru" he said, husky voiced, "I, I, don't want you to do anything that makes you feel compromised."

"Compromised?" she queried. "Don't you like kissing me?" she quavered, and her eyes filled with the sheen of threatening tears.

"L-like?" he stammered. "That is an understatement, that it is," he murmured, trying to control his voice.

"So you do like kissing me," she stated softly. "Maa, maa, I was so afraid that you never would want to kiss me. Maybe I'm not pretty enough, or maybe you..."

He broke off her words, kissing her again, this time more passionately. She sighed against his lips and her arms went around his neck to pull him closer, her lips parted, her tongue hesitantly touched his lips, tasting him. He groaned faintly into her mouth. He didn't resist, and his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

His mind was a whirl of images, past blending into the now, and his breathing grew ragged with the overwhelming emotions consuming him.

Feelings and sensations he hadn't felt in years, maybe had never really felt, made his skin tingle hotly and he broke off the kiss again.

"Kaoru, I, I, need to take a bath, the water is ready, that it is," he said hoarsely.

She was flushed and her face had a dreamy, unfocused look to it. "My first real kiss," she sighed against his chest. "I'm so glad it was you, Kenshin. So glad."