Guy's Night Out

Chapter 11

Several blocks away from the Kamiya Dojo, Sagara Sanosuke was also starting his day out on an interesting note. The most interesting aspect of it so far lay spooned against him in bed, Takani Megumi.

If it weren't for the fact that his stomach was starting to growl, he could have contemplated her lovely sleeping face for at least several more hours. "Well, maybe not hours," he thought, "but definitely a good long while."

He yawned and stretched out, then leaned over to lightly nibble her shoulder to awaken her. "Hey, woman, get up," he said, "I'm starving! You can't give a man a workout like last night and not feed 'em."

"You and your endless stomach," she mumbled sleepily. "Leave me alone, I rarely get to sleep late, and I'm going to enjoy this. Fix your own breakfast, and while you're at it, bring me some, too."

"Okay, okay, but I'm going to make you pay for this later, kitsune," he grumbled.

He stood up and stretched again, pulling on his loose pants, scratching his unruly hair, and padded out to the small kitchen area of her house. Soon, there was the sounds and smells of a decent morning meal cooking. Megumi sighed and rolled over. She loved it when her bed smelled like him in the morning, and she buried her face into the bedclothes, inhaling his pleasant male fragrance, reminiscent of smoke, spice and something indefinably Sano.

"You gonna get up, lazy fox, or do I have to bring you your food in bed like an invalid?" she heard his voice call from the kitchen.

"I'm getting up," she called back. She slipped on a blue yukata and joined him for breakfast.

"So, what kind of trouble did you get into last night?" she asked him when they were finished. "Who said I got into any trouble?" he retorted.

"No one, but I know better," she said. "Your eyes were gleaming like a weasel in a hen house when you got here last night, a sure sign that you'd had an exciting evening."

"Me and Kenshin did have an interesting evening, I'll say that," Sano said. "We ran into Saitou for one thing. Gods, I hate that jerk!" Sano spat.

"Saitou!" exclaimed Megumi, "Where were you two last night?"

"A newer place down the road aways, called "The White Tiger", ya know, usual kind of place, fair gaming and decent sake, I've been there a time or two before. Turns out, its owned by the spider-haired creep's cousin or sumthin."

"Really," murmured Megumi, encouraging him to keep talking.

"Yeah, and well, there were some cops there, all drunker than a fallen priest, who we had a few words with, but I promise you, no fighting. At least not with my bad hand," he chuckled. "I did have to kick this one fat moron in the ass to get his attention. The others ran like rabbits when they realized that Kenshin was the infamous Hitokiri Battousai. I'll never get over how those two words can change some cocky bastard into a yellow- bellied coward."

"How does Saitou enter into the picture, then?" she asked, curious.

"He was sittin' in the back in a special room, la de da, and apparently heard our little trash talk with some of his men. Seems he has reason to believe that one or more of them might not be exactly trustworthy. Selling police information to some drug lord named 'Kageboushi'."

Megumi paled. "What's wrong, babe, you look sick, my cooking isn't that bad, is it?"

"No, no, Sano, its not that. Did you say, Kageboushi?" she asked hoarsely as her throat went dry with fear.

"Yeah, that's the name. Whassa matter, Meg, that mean something to you?"

Megumi had gone so white that Sano reached around her shoulders to keep her from falling over. "Hey, you know sumthin about this guy, don't you?

She nodded, gulping. "I met him twice, at Kanryuu's mansion. He's absolutely ruthless . Kanryuu was a greedy, sadistic fool, but Kageboushi was just icy and silent. I've never met anyone else who projected such cold menace." She shivered as though the actual temperature of the room had just fallen.

Sano held her tightly, wishing he could erase her painful memories of the days she'd been Kanryuu's captive, forced to use her medical skills to make opium for him. And the god's knew what else he'd used her for. It made him wild with rage just to think about anyone hurting her, using her for their own sadistic pleasure.

She still couldn't bring herself to talk about everything that had happened then, but Sano knew that her dreams were sometimes filled with terror because of him. She'd been ready to take her own life to end the torment when he and Kenshin had finally rescued her from that criminal's grasp.

"Sorry, koishii, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," he said soothingly into her hair. She leaned against him and tried to control her panic. "I'll be fine, its all in the past now, and someday, maybe my stupid heart will realize it too. Kanryuu is gone."

Sano nodded. "Yeah, last we heard he was exiled after his little stint in jail and using most of his fortune to bribe his way out. I hope it was fun for him."

He went on, "Saitou asked us to follow some guy that meets with these four cops sometimes at The White Tiger and see if he can lead them to where this Kageboushi is. Kenshin and I told him we would, it's easy work and the pay will be good."

"Be careful, Sano, Kageboushi is no one you want to meet face to face. Let the police handle that."

"All we have to do is follow this guy and see where he goes with the information. Then, its up to Saitou and his cops to do what they want with it after that. I don't see it being anything but laying low and keeping our eyes and ears open."

Megumi said nothing, but tightened her grasp on his arms. "Please tell me you and Kenshin won't do anything else. I'm scared, Kageboushi is the very devil himself."

Sano laughed, "We've already met the devil once and did away with him, I'm sure Kageboushi can't be any worse than Shishio Makoto. That freak was crazier than a shit-house rat and ten times harder to kill."

He leaned down to kiss her. "Don't worry, koishii, I'm a big boy and so is Kenshin. We'll be fine."

She returned his kiss fiercely, seeking to drown her fears in his sweet taste.

"I don't know about you, itoshii, but if you don't stop that, I'm not going to be going anywhere anytime soon except back to bed."

She smiled against his lips. "Just what the doctor ordered."