Dedicated to: tanuki-chan (since Tomoe is dead, her souls no longer exist in Gehenna. I'll clarify a bit more on everyone's chosen souls in later chapters, but I don't know if I can fit it in... ^_^), Susan (thanks for finally stopping by! *smiles* Hiko's ego? I hadn't thought of it, but now the wheels are turning... I might introduce him! *grins*), Sagara Sanosuke (Oh God! He signed it again!! Sorry I made you seem so wimpy, but you're just an 8 year old kid right now... and maybe I'll put in a fight for you, just depends on how much I want to torture you first), Zanza (Oh dear, different egos are signing in now... is the story that compelling? *evil evil smile* You're right, with Zanza here we'll get some "real" action...), eri (*bows graciously* I aim to surprise, perhaps freak out ^_^ I wonder how many chapters I can keep improving before I go downhill...), Kat (I made Megumi old because it just seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, I wanted to make her ugly so Shinomori would know for certain that Sanosuke doesn't love Megumi for her looks, but what's inside. In chapter 8, this is a very important turning point, so stay tuned! No, I can't have you in Sano's place, but you can imagine, ne?), Carolyn (*reads newspaper* "Reader jumps so far out of seat she hits ceiling". Should I continue, or are you going to go through the roof? *cracks up*), J. Liha (Thank you very much, that's exactly what I'm trying to accomplish here. Zanza has a LOT of surprises, on in particular really shocking...), Xara (Hey!! My favorite vodka girl! *grins* Kenshin x Tomoe eh? Well, you'll like this fic then, it's got a mix of everything ^_^), and Yaslana (Nope, he didn't get hit on the head, he just got his soul taken by a seemingly harmless camera! Mmm, a Sano for every day of the week... I love it!)

Whew, long list... on with the show!

*********

They Say Cameras Are Only Good For Pictures... 6
By: Karina Kineshi (coronaflare@mail.com)

"How much of that did you hear?" Battousai growled. It wasn't a question; it was a threat. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "You'd better start talking. You may be new here, but listening in on other people's conversations is taboo in the real world as much as is it here."

Sanosuke put his hands up and sighed. "If I told you a lie, would you know?" The question caught Battousai off guard as an impish smile crept over the boy's face. Sanosuke grinned. "You can't do anything to me."

"Try me." Battousai rolled his eyes from annoyance and defeat. Upon seeing that the sword did not make the other ego the least bit scared, he resheathed it and sighed. "Where do you get the gall to be insulting me like this?" Battousai had to admit; the kid had guts. He wouldn't admit it, but he was starting to grow on the hitokiri.

"First..." By the way that Sanosuke summoned up a chair from the foggy ground, you would be fooled that he'd only been there for less than three hours. "What's the deal with the camera? Did that thing really steal my soul? What's 'heaven's light'? And what's the three pillars you were talking about earlier?"

"You heard that too?" Battousai was incredulous.

Sanosuke tapped his ear and smiled. "I may have been looking in the cauldron, but I have fantastic hearing. Well..." He grinned. "You guys were just talking too loud."

"Is that so?" Battousai actually smiled; he couldn't believe how a child like this could make him feel joy in the short time he'd been here. Already, he had smiled more than four times, and Shinomori didn't even have that privilege in all the time they'd spent together. "Is that so..."

"So."

Such a kid...

"Listen here. This is very, very important. We believe that your soul was tricked out of your body."

"Well duh."

Battousai took a deep breath and ignored the rude outburst. "There's only three ways to get into Gehenna..." he counted off on his fingers. "Anger, drunkenness, or divine mandate. Now, can you guess what happens during each one?"

Sanosuke scratched his hair. "You're the teacher, not me, but I'm guessing that these are the three pillars."

The redhead nodded in agreement. "Yes. First, you have anger. You know that feeling that takes over you when you are angry? That... you don't know what came over you?" Sanosuke started to bob his head slowly, soaking up each word. "That, in actuality, is a different soul taking over your own body for a brief moment. You would never do the things you do when you're angry if you weren't. Do you... understand?"

"Sort of..."

He sighed. "'Sort of' is better than 'no', I guess... Drunkenness is the same thing. You realize that you don't remember anything when you are drunk? Like what happened the night before?" Battousai looked at Sanosuke, as much as he tried to pay attention, he should have known that an eight-year-old attention span was trapped in the grown man's spirit. "Let me put it in words you can understand. You wake up in the morning next to a beautiful woman and you wonder, "What in the world did I say to get this chick with me?""

Sanosuke clapped his hands together and threw his fist in the air. "Now, that's what I'm talking about!" He sobered up just as quickly. "You mean to tell me... that's another soul taking over?"

"Right."

Sanosuke grumbled. "Aww... how come he gets all the fun?"

Battousai summoned a table, took off his sword and set it on the top. "My, the more unorthodox ways of explanation work better on you." He scowled at the drunken smirk on his pupil's face. "The last pillar is divine mandate. That's where the soul in Gehenna actually does a switch with the soul in the body by order of our divinity."

"Okay, now this is where you lose me. Who's the divinity?"

Battousai sighed. "Each area has a divinity that oversees all souls coming in and coming out. She's the one with the absolute power over whether you get to stay or you get to go. She is also very special because she has only one soul that tends to us when her mortal body is asleep."

"She has only one soul? You mean, only one soul period?"

"Yes, sleep is the only time when souls are really free from their bodies. There are those rare people that have only one soul, the chosen soul, from the beginning. They are the most in touch with their inner feelings. Sometimes, the chosen soul is made from bits and pieces of other souls." A puzzle box dropped into Sanosuke's lap. "Pretend that each of those pieces are a soul. There are a lot of them, right? Well, some people have already completed their puzzle and their one soul has all of those souls' best traits mixed in."

Sanosuke stared at the box for a couple of minutes with curiosity shining in his eyes, then set it on the table next to the sword. "So basically, these people are perfect in every way."

Battousai tilted his head from left and then to right as if trying to make a decision. "You could say that. As perfect as mere mortals can be, anyway. She acts the same as she does in public, in private, drunk, angry, whatever simply because she is so balanced."

"Then, who is the divinity? Do I know... her? It's a her, isn't it?"

The hitokiri let out a sharp laugh that startled Sanosuke. "Of course! Women are the most in touch with their inner selves. The woman's name is Fujita Tokio. You may have heard of her."

Fujita... Tokio...

The name rang a bell inside Sanosuke's head, but he dismissed it. "So what does she do?"

"Sometimes, a the soul stays too long outside the body. It is unhealthy for all that anger to be repressed. Let me try this way... do you know anyone by the name of the Tenken? Seta Soujiro?"

Sanosuke nodded; he knew the boy well. "He always smiled; but he was damn good at what he did. Almost beat Kenshin to a bloody pulp."

Battousai rolled his eyes. "Go figure, Shinta didn't ask for help, right? He should have called on me when he was fighting at Shishio Makoto's..." He coughed and apologized. "Sorry, I got sidetracked... you did see the Tenken when he "broke", right?"

Sanosuke closed his eyes and shuddered. That was the worst thing that he could ever imagine in his life, all that rage finally building up and your inner demons being let go so violently. He remembered his horror at seeing one of the most composed people he had ever met snap so suddenly, banging his head on the ground, glaring at Kenshin, smiling no more...

"Tokio declared that his anger was to take over; he'd reached the breaking point of Gehenna. Gehenna is large, but not large enough to contain his repressed anger. Staying so calm on the outside while being furious inside would have shaken Gehenna, perhaps irreparably."

"I see... there's only so much a person can take before they reach their breaking point, just like Soujiro... so, a person's inner breaking point is the actually breaking point of Gehenna."

"You're catching on quickly."

Sanosuke beamed at the compliment. "What else does she do?"

Battousai shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. No one knows better than Shinomori, and he's told me everything he knows. Supposedly, Tokio gets orders directly from the Ultimate Divinity, God. I'm sure she does more, this is just what we souls know for a fact."

"Well, are there any rumors?"

"They say she calls a soul home when it is their time to leave; for the mortal body to die. She's the one who's holding the lantern that guides the soul to heaven or hell."

"The light at the end of the tunnel right?"

Battousai nodded. "Something like that. That is called 'heaven's light'." Battousai stood up and grabbed his sword. The chair he was sitting on dissipated into mist. "I shall leave you alone with your thoughts now. I have some business to attend to."

"Does it have to do with me?"

"Do you have to be so nosy?"

"Yes."

Battousai rearranged the sword on his waist and turned around. "I'm going to watch the real world; I'm very interested in what's going on with your alter ego and mine. I'd invite you to come, but—"

"—yes. I'm coming no matter what you say."

"Oh..." Battousai feigned surprise. "I thought you were not done pouting yet over your inability to solve the situation."

Sanosuke crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out. "If you say it like that, maybe I just won't grace you with my presence. I have unfinished business as well, so there!"

"You act more and more like Shinomori every day; that's starting to scare me, kid. Goodbye."

Sanosuke kept on smiling at nothing until Battousai completely disappeared. His grin slowly turned into a mask of determination. He reached into his white gi and removed a rather colorful piece of fruit the size of an outstretched palm. "... I have some unfinished business as well..."

A new sound rang out. "Batty? Where are..." Shinomori's voice instantly died off when he saw the new arrival, Sano-chan, standing all by himself in the center of the fog. His face was raised to the sky; eyes closed. He was singing something very, very faintly. Shinomori strained to hear and squinted to get a better sound.

Kage wo tsukuranai hikari wa nai... kanashi keredo...

[There is no light that does not pierce the darkness... it is sad, but...]

Ii to omou no no yasashisa wa... mayou bakari...

[As long as the ache inside you heals... there kindness will be...]

"Sano-chan!" Shinomori recognized the song just a second too late.

He was gone.

*****

By the time Kenshin and Kaoru finally got back from the train with that suitcase full of clothing, Megumi had enough time to ponder this new Sanosuke. They had been waiting under the eaves of a local restaurant at the other end of the town where Aoshi and Misao were. The people chattering all around her was starting to get irritating, but she focused her mind. Was he acting like this just to impress her? If so, she had to admit that it was working wonders. He had a more intense gaze about him now; as if he carefully scrutinized any move she made.

She liked the attention, of course, but that look could make her melt into a puddle in the middle of the street. It was that look that could freeze fire and make it burn even brighter. Megumi squirmed. "What Sanosuke? Is there something wrong?" He didn't respond for a few seconds as if to think out an answer. "Well?"

Zanza shook his head. "No, nothing wrong at all."

"Oh..." Her lips curled into a small smile while she played with a loose strand of hair nervously. "... because when you look at me like that, you always say I'm doing something wrong." Megumi felt relieved when Sanosuke shook his head again and turned away from her, appearing to be lost in thought. What she said was partially correct, Sanosuke would never tell her straight to her face that she was being "too flirtatious" or some such nonsense. She would always have to drag it out of him. "That's good. Really good."

"Megumi-dono? Sano?" Even though Megumi couldn't see the owner of the voice among the crowd of people, she already knew whom it belonged to. The main street in Kyoto was bustling today; Megumi cursed herself for not choosing a more out of the way meeting place.

"We're here Ken-san!" Megumi called over the din.

A voice that was even farther than the beginning one answered her. "Megumi-dono?"

After about a minute that consisted of Kenshin and Megumi yelling over the crowd, Kaoru appeared suddenly from the mob, breathless. In one hand was the suitcase, in the other, a disembodied arm. She sighed and yanked the limb forcefully. Kenshin fell over in a daze from being squashed in between two passersby. "That's how you have to do it Kenshin. If they won't get out of your way, knock them over."

"B-But..." Kenshin stammered. "I deserve to be knocked over, not them!" Kaoru rolled her eyes lovingly; it really was interesting to see all the different ways she could get her poor husband to flounder. Kenshin saw the glance in her eyes and smiled gratefully. She wasn't serious. "Whatever you say, Kaoru."

"Since when did you stop calling her without that –dono at the very end of her name, Himura?" Zanza raised his head and addressed him as formally as Megumi had ever heard. Even Kenshin was surprised.

This certainly isn't routine...

Kaoru winked and nudged his ribs. "Wouldn't you like to know? I would tell you... but..." She shot a playful look at Kenshin. "... he might get mad at me."

"Kaoru-dono!"

"Kaoru-chan!"

The two were scandalized; Megumi had her mouth covered by her hand and Kenshin had his covered the redness on his face with his hand. Kaoru was oblivious; she had the widest grin on her face. Either that, or she was doing it on purpose to test her "man skills". Now Megumi was seriously wishing she hadn't told Kaoru about the untold power that women have over their men. Sanosuke reflexively took a step back and gave her a questioning look. "And when did you change clothing?"

Before Kaoru could explain, Kenshin stepped forward haltingly. "Well, we were surprised that you actually brought the clothes Sano, we were sort of stuck on the train with everyone crowding us... so we just changed there. We thought it would save more time."

Kaoru pressed the suitcase into Megumi's arms and winked. "Kenshin and I will be walking around while the two of you get dressed." She pointed at the sign right above Zanza's head. "I don't think the innkeeper will mind if you borrow one of his rooms for a couple minutes."

Megumi looked at her companion's face with a mixture of amusement and suspicion. She took Sanosuke's arm and held her chin up high. "We shall meet you and the gentleman with you in say... twenty minutes?"

"Thirty."

Megumi blinked, then smiled again. "Well, if rooster wants thirty minutes, I suppose he can have it. He's been awfully nice to me today." She tugged his arm and started to head into the inn. "Thirty minutes", she repeated.

The last thing Kenshin saw before they disappeared inside was a crooked smile from Sanosuke. He turned to his wife and said with a twinkle in his eye, "Does it take that long to get dressed?"

Kaoru grinned back. "With those two, who knows?"

Once inside, the elderly innkeeper graciously let them borrow one of the empty rooms once he saw their suitcase. "Anything for a pretty lady" he said with a smile. It was enough to make Megumi smile in amusement and Zanza to hold his head up in pride.

"Why did you want thirty minutes Sanosuke? It doesn't take that long to change out of these things..."

You're right... it doesn't.

*****

"Megumi..."

"That's Megumi-sensei to you. I knew you'd come back."

"You did?"

"You forget that I know all that goes on here in Gehenna, boy."

"Sorry."

"So why have you come?"

"I wanted to see you again."

"No, you didn't. You want to use me for something."

"That's where you're wrong..."

*****

Upon not receiving an answer from the man, Megumi began to methodically remove her dress. She took another look at him; he had already taken off his jacket and dress shirt. He was concentrating directly at the floor, eyes never leaving it. Megumi hesitated when she untied the lace corset in the front of her waist; this felt almost too uncomfortable for words. Under normal circumstances, she would be enjoying this and something would most definitely be happening, but now...

"Megumi?"

She gripped the freed cord even tighter, wishing that she had something to say. Anything was better than silence: the weather, the rising price of bean curd, anything...

Zanza repeated, this time a little bit louder. "Megumi." He noticed that she was a bit preoccupied while undressing, and waves of discomfort radiated around the room. How could this not be going according to plan?

No distractions, but... she's just...

Megumi hesitantly raised her head, "Yes?"

Zanza opened his mouth to saw something, but decided against it. This in turn caused the woman to blink, and then resume the tedious task of slipping off the English gown. He noted with wryness that she was partially covered by a rice paper screen; something he could have sworn was not there before.

When did that happen?

She was uncomfortable around him, no doubt in his mind. He didn't suspect that she knew why, but she was still acting distant. "I'm really sorry for that kiss earlier today..." Zanza started haltingly. How in the world did apologies become so hard? He casually folded his suit and dress shirt and draped his gi over his shoulders. "... and I'm sorry for the way I've been acting today, I guess... I guess you could say that I want to change if... that would make you happy."

*****

"I don't want to hurt you at all, don't you understand?"

The woman's eyes grew soft. "Of course, that's what everyone says." The very statement seemed to dishearten her. She shrank even further into herself and closed her eyes. Her voice was barely audible as she whispered, "... that's what everyone says."

Sanosuke felt his heart break. "But I'm not like everyone."

Upon saying so, she raised her head again and gazed at him with those soulless eyes. She was locked in a moment of indecision; believe, or don't believe? How simple it would be to just disregard the boy with a wave of her hand, but yet... he spoke with such a sincerity that caught her off guard.

Why am I thinking such things?

Sanosuke caught her hesitancy and gave a small smile. "You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, Megumi."

A reprimand to say her name with respect hovered on her lips, but she decided to keep her mouth closed. "What is it that you wanted from me? I know you came for something..." she said quietly. "Just take what you want and leave me in peace."

Sanosuke saw that she had given in to submission; was this what she did all the time when she was with Kanryuu? If so, that man could just take what he wanted and when he was done, threw her to the wolves. "I don't want sex or opium, Megumi. Let's get that straight right now." He emphasized the point by shaking his head firmly. "There's two things that I want from you right now, but I know that it won't require much."

Megumi-sensei numbly nodded. "And what is that?" She felt like hitting herself, the boy was just too adamant for her to continue the charade. His cheekiness at not adding the honorable "-sensei" to her name insulted her, yet he had something special about him...

Sanosuke noted with happiness that she sat up much straighter now and was looking into his eyes more often. He wanted to tell her, but if he had told her that she had changed ever-so-slightly, he would have lost ground and respect from her. Just one false step would be all it takes to lose her. Sanosuke sighed and looked at the ground. "I... well... I'm concerned about you, in the outer world." He met her eyes; she was staring intently. "Do you... do you know of Zanza's intentions?"

She put her gnarled arms across her chest and raised her face to the heavens. "Zanza. Yes..." She nodded to herself as if rerunning a past event in her mind. "The current body is inhabited by Zanza..."

"Do you know what his plan is?"

"Yes."

"Will you tell me?"

She let out a hollow sounding laugh. "Sorry, I can't do such a thing, Sano-chan."

He frowned in exasperation. It was like she was just toying with him; something that Megumi did very well on her own. "Why not?" When she didn't answer for a couple minutes and turned her face away from him, Sanosuke began to lose patience. He resorted to desperate measures: pleading. "Please, I don't want her or you to get hurt. Why won't you tell me?"

Megumi-sensei whirled around so suddenly that her body seemed to wobble under the speed. Instead of being angry like he expected, she was scrutinizing him with those eyes. She looked up and down him with the eagle's eye vision that made him feel like shattering like glass. After what seemed like an eternity of earsplitting silence, she said simply, "We have company."

There was a slight rustling to Sanosuke's left. "Sano-chan. The time to visit Tokio is now." Shinomori's voice had come so quietly that Sanosuke almost missed it. He searched for the owner of the voice and finally found him, hidden in shadow.

How long had he been standing there?

Shinomori gestured for him to stand up and Sanosuke stumbled to his feet. He looked at the other soul with curiosity in his eyes. The woman resumed her former position that she always took; the fetal one. Sanosuke ambled over to Shinomori, eyes downcast, as if leaving her was the worst tragedy he'd ever faced. He was about to say something comforting until the boy spoke softly over his shoulder. "Megumi, the other thing I want... is for us to be friends."

Friends? Why would you want to be friends with me?

The two men had already vanished, one taking the other's hand just as a father or mentor would. "Sano-chan..." she turned around and said to no one in particular. Why does he care so much?

"No man has ever cared for me like that before... why should he be any different?" she muttered to herself. "After all, men are just good for nothing anyways..."

But he's different...

She couldn't reveal Zanza's plan to him; he would most likely inform Tokio of it as soon as word got out. Megumi-sensei knew that Tokio would find out anyways; but she had made a promise to keep her mouth closed. Her mouth cracked into a small smile; of course, this didn't come for free. It wouldn't be worth keeping silent unless something was in it for her too.

Why does he want to protect me so much? Both of them, Sano-chan and Zanza...

"I just want us to be friends..."

Before laying her head back down on her chest again, she noticed a subtle splash of color against the layer of fog on the ground. She cautiously picked it up and she felt her heart jump in her chest and her eyes water with tears of surprise.

It was a mango. Her favorite fruit.