Here in Chapter Two we'll learn the nature of Kaoru's ailment. It has been brought to my attention that I spelled Kaoru and Sanosuke's name incorrectly. I did and I apologize for that. I hope to have that corrected soon. As far as addressing the characters by their proper titles, I never saw Rurouni Kenshin until Toonami. I would love to get the DVD, but I'm having a hard time finding the complete series with Engllish dialogue. I hate subtitles! Since I don't know what the proper form of address is, I'd rather not use them at all until I do. If someone wants to email me and educate me, I would be extremely grateful. As to the reviews, thanks for the ones so far. When my son set this up, he unknowingly set it up to accept signed reviews only and he doesn't know how to fix it yet, so please bear with us. We're working on it! Thanks!
Chapter Two: Diagnosis: The Battle Begins
"Try not to worry, Kenshin. It's probably nothing serious." Said Sanosuke from where he was sitting leaning against the wall of Kaoru's room. H e knew Kenshin was worried about Kaoru and wanted to say something to ease his anxiety. Sanosuke was worried about Kaoru too and perhaps wanted to convince himself as much as Kenshin that this was just an ordinary illness, not something more serious. After putting Kaoru to bed, Kenshin had seated himself on the floor by her bed, legs crossed in front of him, his hands on his knees. He had not moved or spoken since then, his eyes never leaving Kaoru's face. Sanosuke was not even sure Kenshin had heard him.
A few minutes later Kenshin raised his head and looked toward the door.
"They are here."
Sanosuke never ceased to be amazed at how acute Kenshin's senses were. His own hearing was excellent, but it was another minute before he heard them.
"Kenshin!" Yahiko called from the hall. He raced burst through the door, stopping short when he saw them. Miss Megumi was close behind him.
"The doctor was away, but Miss Megumi came. How is Kaoru, will she be all right?" Though he constantly argued with Kaoru, she was like an older sister to him and he was extremely protective of her.
Megumi hurried into the room and knelt beside Kaoru's bed. Kenshin and the others explained what happened while Megumi did a preliminary exam. When she satisfied she had gotten all the information from them she addressed them all,
"I'm not sure what this is yet. I'll need to do a more thorough examination. "
She looked around the room expectantly. All of them stared at her in confusion.
"Megumi cleared her throat and tried again.
"A very THOROUGH examination."
Their faces cleared and all of them rose to their feet and filed out of the room with muttered apologies. Kenshin paused in the doorway and turned, placing his hand on the doorway, He watched Miss Karou in silence for a minute, then turned and walked slowly to the front door.
Once outside, everyone sat on the front porch of the dojo. Kenshin stared out at the yard, lost in his own thoughts. 'We never did finish the laundry. I suppose I should empty the tub, Karou likes things neat and orderly around here, that she does. I would not want her to wake up and find it out here. I knew something was wrong. I should have called the doctor sooner. Kaoru works to hard and tries to do too much. She has a lot of extra work with Yahiko and I staying here. I should have realized it sooner.' He didn't want to think about Kaoru lying in her room unconscious. It hurt too much.
It was Yahiko who finally broke the silence.
"Kenshin do you think Kaoru will be all right?"
Kenshin looked up, startled from his thoughts by Yahiko's question. It took a minute for him to answer.
"I don't know, Yahiko. I hope so." He could see the anxiety on the boy's face, but could not lie to him. He started to say more, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Everyone shot to their feet and turned expectantly toward Miss Megumi. She shut the door behind her and turned to face them. From the serious look on her face, they knew the news wasn't good.
"I'm afraid Kaoru is very sick. It looks like she's been infected with some kind of deadly poison. Unless we can find an antidote, I'm afraid the outlook isn't too good. And without knowing what kind of poison it is for sure finding the antidote will be almost impossible. If I give her the wrong medicine, the results would be disastrous."
"So if we don't find an antidote, Kaoru will…?". Yahiko's voice quavered childishly. He could not bring himself to complete the thought.
"Well, there is one thing we can try. If we can keep her fever down and make sure she gets plenty of fluids, we might be able to flush the poison out of her system. If she can survive the night, she just may stand a chance."
Everyone sat in silence trying to absorb this news. Then Kenshin rose to his feet, a look of fierce determination o his face.
What can we do to help, Miss Megumi? Just tell us what you require and we will do it, we will."
Yahiko and Sanosuke jumped up as well.
"Yeah, what can we do?"said Yahiko.
" Yeah, we'll do anything to save her." added Sanosuke.
"Excellent. I'll need all of you to help. Sanosuke, I'll need some ice to bring down Kaoru's fever. Yahiko, you can fetch me some water. Kenshin, we're going to need clean linen and bedding. And hurry, if we're going to have any chance of saving Karou we must act quickly!"
Hardly had Miss Megumi finished speaking when the three men ran off to do as she instructed. She watched them go, then sighed and turned to open the door. She had to get back to Karou's room. They had a long battle ahead and there was no guarantee they would win.
Sanosuke had just left the school to get the ice when he saw the note pinned to the door outside. When he read the note, his expression grew thunderous. He ripped the note off the door and growled, "Yahiko can get the ice, I need to show this to Kenshin. He'll want to see this right away!"
Kenshin finished the note, his expression grim. It read, "I have the antidote you need. Meet me outside of town on the road at the edge of the forest at 10 pm. I'll be waiting. Signed, an old friend."
"So, what are you going to do, Kenshin?" asked Sanosuke, leaning against the wall by the linen closet.
"Sano, I would like you and Yahiko to stay here and help Miss Megumi. I will take care of this and be back with the antidote as quickly as possible."
"But, Kenshin…"
"I would feel much better knowing you and Yahiko were here looking after Miss Karou. Please do as I ask, Sano."
"All right, Kenshin."
