Act 10: Shenanigans in Shanghai- Part Two
Disclaimer: If I owned Rurouni Kenshin, Seissouhen would not have happened. Therefore, it can safely be concluded by the fact Seissouhen exists, that I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
Notes: Many thanks to everyone who wrote in with their opinions on what
to do next! Sorry, Joak-san, but Soujiro got outvoted badly. ^^; But given
I have never played Dynasty Warriors 3, I should fare relatively unscathed
through any forced reading =p But don't worry, ideas slapped me upside
the head, so I'll DEFINITELY have a chapter with smiley-boy. =) I probably
have something else to ramble about, but for the life of me I can't think
of it now. *shrugs* Maybe I'll remember in time for the closing notes.
Oh yeah, this chapter is in part dedicated to all
you Sano x Megumi fans!
Sano brushed his hair out of his face and pondered
the boats floating in the harbor. He hadn't left Shanghai since he'd brought
Kenshin there, and for reasons the ex-gangster wouldn't admit to himself,
he couldn't bring himself to leave the city, either. It had been a long
time since he left Japan, and in that time he'd virtually circled the globe,
learned at least three different languages, and had enough misadventures
to last at least five lifetimes.
And he still wasn't sure if his vision, for lack
of a better term he could think up, of Kenshin and Kaoru was just a dream,
a hallucination caused from over drinking, or if he had in fact been visited
by the spirits of his two friends. When he'd sent Kenshin, or rather, the
broken, muddled man that had once been Kenshin, on his way back to Japan,
Sano knew, though he didn't want to admit it at the time, that he would
never see the redhead alive again.
Kuso! And Kenshin was so wasted that he couldn't
tell me anything about how Jou-chan and everyone was doing! Sano mentally
cursed. One of the disadvantages he'd learned early on his travels was
that traveling alone left him with only his thoughts for company, and no
distractions. In the course of his wanderings he'd tried various means
of distraction- drinking, women, and so on, with little success. Especially
when one of the thoughts he kept trying to distract himself from centered
around a certain raven-haired lady doctor back home.
It had been fifteen years...
Ever since the ghosts appeared, Megumi had been
occupying Sano's thoughts- more than she usually had.
With a muted grumble, Sano turned away from the
docks and made his way back to the abandoned building he'd been living
out of since he'd arrived in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, a solitary ghost watched and followed,
shaking his head. You want to go back, I know it. Bandana and coat
shifting slightly in an unseen breeze, Sagara Souzou continued his self-appointed
watch over the roosterheaded fighter.
While dodging through the crowded streets, Sano
saw a familiar spray of red hair and did a double-take, nearly falling
flat on his face in the process. When he looked again though, it was gone.
Great,
now I'm seeing things.
Souzou recognized the presence of some other
life-challenged people and quickly spotted the redhead rurouni and his
dark-haired companion drifting now a few feet over the hustle and bustle
of the street, also keeping sharp watch over Sano. Curious as to what the
pair was doing back in Shanghai, the former Sekihoutai captain propelled
himself into the air and came up behind the other two ghosts.
"Himura-san?" He inquired simply, quickly catching
the pair's attention.
"Sagara-san!" Kaoru grinned. "We saw Sano and were
wondering where you were."
"Kaoru-dono and I were talking on the way here from
Tokyo and decided on something, but we may need your assistance." Shinta
glanced over his shoulder at Sano's retreating figure.
"My assistance?" Souzou raised an eyebrow at the
pair of younger ghosts, who nodded and began to explain what they had in
mind.
Several hours later, the trio of ghosts tailed the
rooster as he proceeded to the nearest establishment that served food.
He already had a few drinks in him, not enough to cloud his judgment, but
just enough for a pleasant buzz.
"Sanosuke! Over here!" A female voice sang out,
catching Sano's attention. The dark-haired girl and her two companions,
one female, the other male, LOOKED familiar, but for the life of him, Sano
couldn't figure out where he'd seen them before. A moment later, he registered
that she spoke Japanese, and he hesitantly joined the trio.
"Do I know you?" He opened the conversation.
"Mou... you don't remember us?" The dark-haired
girl mock-pouted. Kaoru grinned inwardly. So far, the plan was going well
enough. They'd picked up some pointers from Souzou on physical manifestations,
and appeared just different enough to Sano as to feel familiar, but to
not be instantly recognizable. She was just uncertain how long they would
be able to hold the appearance together- it was draining. She stole a glance
over at Shinta, who was glaring at nothing in particular, just this side
of having glittering amber eyes. Souzou proceeded to make idle chatter
with Sano, and Kaoru elbowed the redhead under the table.
"Shinta, at least act the part." She hissed in his
ear. "With your hair, he would have recognized you period!"
Shinta sighed and took a few deep breaths to try
and regain some semblance of calm, picking at the sleeves of his... er...
very feminine kimono. Having been inspired by Tomoe's tale of revenge for
the underkimono thefts, Kaoru had recommended Shinta disguise himself as
a lady. The poor rurouni had resisted with many protests until Souzou pointed
out some legitimate reasons why Shinta couldn't disguise himself as a guy
and get away with it. After which, he had grudgingly followed Kaoru's directions
for his ... um... appearance.
By now, Souzou and Sano were heartily discussing
the virtues of women, and Kaoru's eyes widened at some of the things the
former Sekihoutai captain was saying. Shinta fought down the urge to oro
at some of the subjects the two men were discussing.
"SOUZOU WA HENTAI BAKA!" Kaoru finally caved to
her instincts and clobbered Sano and Souzou with a bokken that had materialized
out of thin air. It was so realistic that it even broke over Sano's head.
"Itai-!" Sano cringed at the unannounced head trauma,
while Souzou, not nearly as accustomed to hard blunt objects making sudden
and repeated impacts with his head (after all, being dead for over twenty
years generally dulls one's sense of things like that.), keeled over, swirly-eyed.
"Ano..." Shinta sweatdropped and took in the scene
while Kaoru realized she had just thoroughly blown their cover.
"Geez!" Sano rubbed the lump on his head. "You act
just like-" He paused, realization taking this opportunity to smack him
upside the head. "Jou-chan?!"
"Ah... well..." Kaoru fumbled for an explanation.
"Wait! You came here looking for Kenshin, didn't
you?!" Sano jumped to a conclusion. Unfortunately, it was the wrong conclusion.
"I sent him back to Japan a few weeks ago! You've got to go back! He was
in bad shape when I found him-" The rooster was babbling.
"Oro..." Shinta finally let out the oro that had
been begging for release. That stopped Sano dead in his tracks and he stared
at the redhead. "K-KENSHIN?!"
"Hai" The redhead squeaked, face flushing red as
his hair. Sano gaped at the redhead, dressed all prim and proper and...
feminine.
"What did she DO to you?!" The rooster finally blurted
out, sweeping the rurouni into a bear hug. "I thought I'd never see you
again-" He froze again as he came into close contact with the redhead's
manifestation. Which was... um... very well padded.
With a startled yelp, Sano dropped Shinta, who landed
on his feet with an 'oro'. Kaoru noticed by now they were drawing lots
of attention.
"Ano... we should probably go outside, preferably
somewhere private." She sweatdropped. Souzou, meanwhile, finally shook
the swirlies from his eyes and sat back up.
One short ditching-without-paying later, the group
arrived at Sano's temporary bachelor pad. During the short trip, Shinta
had quietly fixed his appearance to normal while nobody was looking, and
Souzou disappeared entirely, with a quiet grumble to Shinta that Katsu
was easier to watch over than Sano, and that he was going to take a break
and check on the journalist.
"Okay, you two." Sano opened the conversation. "Why
the hell are you in China? Let alone why you-" He looked at Shinta. "-are
not only all cured of an 'incurable' disease, but also look at least ten
years younger than when I last saw you."
"Ano... Sano..." Kaoru began.
"Don't tell me. You two are dead and visiting from
beyond the grave, right?" Sano interrupted. "I wasn't sure if I'd just
had too much to drink last time, but I KNOW I'm sober right now."
"Oro... so you do remember the last time we came
to visit?" Shinta asked. Sano faceplanted at the confirmation of what he'd
tossed out into the conversation as a joke.
"Baka." Kaoru scowled at the rooster. "And we have
a message to deliver, too."
"Message-?" Sano removed his face from the floor
and looked at the very real images of the ghosts.
"Hai." Shinta nodded. "Megumi-dono said that she
wants you to come back and soon, and..." the redhead paused for effect.
"She also said she's not getting any younger, that she isn't."
"And I KNOW what it's like to be waiting for years
for a guy." Kaoru nodded, shooting a look at Shinta. "Don't you want to
see Megumi again?"
"Well, I..." Sano floundered, blushing slightly
under the intense scrutiny.
"I knew it!" Kaoru beamed. "So what's the problem?
It's BEEN fifteen years, and the government has more important matters
to attend to than a hunt for you."
"Megumi-dono is still in Tokyo." Shinta nodded.
"If you sell your horse, you could easily pay the boat fare."
"all right already!" Sano threw his arms in the
air in frustration. "Go away now. I need time to think."
With a chuckle, the two ghosts disappeared.
That's just creepy the way they can just disappear
like that. Sano glanced around the room. It still felt like he was
being watched.
"I SAID to scram!" Sano shouted at the empty air
around him in mock annoyance. He was fairly certain the news that his two
friends were dead, not to mention finding this news out from the two dead
friends in question, ought to have disturbed him more than it did. It was
actually kind of reassuring to know that there was something after, and
that even after death, they still cared about his well-being. He'd always
thought of death being oblivion, and it was relieving to know that he was
wrong on that subject.
The ex-gangster let his thoughts drift back to Megumi.
She had actually ADMITTED to wanting him to come back? He wondered if she
was still as beautiful as she was the last time he'd seen her.
I'll need to get cleaned up before I go anywhere
near her. He noted to himself, sprawling over his makeshift futon and
rubbing the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. Before he knew it, he'd dozed
off.
In the meantime, the two ghosts kept watch, quietly
discussing their own plans for the future. Souzou returned a little while
later, and the trio made idle chitchat to pass the time.
It was late at night when the three heard a slight
noise outside, and the crackling of flame.
"What the-?" Kaoru glanced in the direction of the
sound.
"Someone set fire to the building?" Souzou also
looked in that direction.
Before Shinta could add to the conversation, the
flames shot upward along the dry wood and started to ignite the beams supporting
the sagging roof.
"Sano! Wake up!"
The rooster grumbled in his sleep and rolled over,
unaware of the activity.
When a few more seconds of shouting proved futile,
Kaoru tried whacking him, but to no effect.
"He's too deeply asleep." Souzou checked the condition
of the roof. "Try his dreams."
Sano, meanwhile, was having a particularly pleasant
dream about Megumi, and looked around in sudden annoyance when the scenery
changed and the fox vanished.
"Oi! The hell?" He spun around and took in the sudden
scene change. An acrid odor filled the air, as did a grey-black haze. It
reminded him of smoke, actually...
"Sano! Snap out of it!" He heard the redhead yelling,
but could hardly see him.
"Wake up! You'll die if you don't!" Kaoru's voice
added.
"What?!" Sano's eyes widened.
"Sano." Souzou also appeared in the haze, freezing
the rooster in his tracks.
"Teichou-" He gaped.
"You're asleep. The building caught fire, and if
you don't wake up soon, the roof is going to fall on your head." The Sekihoutai
captain explained briefly. "And then you won't ever be able to go back
to your Megumi-san."
"Megumi-!" Sano sat bolt upright and realized that
his dream was right. The building WAS on fire.
"Kuso-!" In a flash, the rooster was on his feet
and out the door, and not a second too soon. Just moments after he got
clear, the roof collapsed, the fire starting to spread to a few other nearby
structures.
The three ghosts let out a collective sigh of relief
as Sano stormed away from the wreckage, cursing.
By morning, the fire had burned itself out, and
Sano was down by the docks again. Selling his horse off hadn't been too
difficult. After talking at length with some of the captains, he found
the one he'd been looking for, and in short order had booked passage back
to the island nation.
Ghosts or what, they're right. Sano gazed
thoughtfully over the water. If I wait too long... He thought back
to Kenshin and Kaoru. If he hadn't found the redhead, Kenshin would have
died alone, away from Kaoru. He certainly didn't want to end up like that.
The ghosts' visit had been the kick in the rear he'd needed.
While he had time to kill before the boat set sail,
he used some of the leftover money to acquire some new (and clean) clothing,
and took the time to get cleaned up, meaning a good shave and a haircut.
He wanted to impress the others (Megumi especially) with how much he'd
grown up since he'd left, and looking like a bum certainly would not help
any.
Arigatou Kenshin, Jou-chan, Sagara-teichou.
He thought to himself as he watched the harbor recede into the distance.
Megumi, I'm coming home. Wait for me just a little longer.
Author's notes: Sorry for the delay, but.. *shrugs* Anyways, I think
this last chapter got a little waffier than I usually prefer, but I think
it's still good. And yes, our dear little redhead was decked out as a girl
^o^. I can just picture Sagara Souzou with swirly-eyes after getting clobbered
by Kaoru for some comment. I didn't want to come UP with the actual comment-
I'll leave that to your imaginations.
Quick note about language usage- I know Sano refers
to Souzou as Sagara-something-or-other-starting-with-a-t, so I looked up
"captain" on a Japanese>English dictionary online, and it came up with
'teichou', which certainly sounded right to me. If anyone out there with
a better grasp of Japanese than I do knows otherwise, please, feel free
to correct me ^^;
And I just remembered what else I wanted to say!
I finally got done with the Kyoto arc of the anime, and have some better
ideas for the chapter dealing with Shishio. But I need some help peeps.
I need volunteers. People who want to have some representation of themselves
in Hell, probably for the sole purpose of pestering, bothering, annoying,
or otherwise interacting with Shishio and his crew. You don't have to like
the guy, but you do need to be willing to be 'dead'. If you'd like to be
party to the madness that will be "Hijinks of Heaven and Hell", I need
the following information, either in an email or a review-
1) Your name/pen name (so I can give you credit)
2) Your email address (so I can let you know when
that chapter is finally up)
3) The name/gender you want your persona to be known
in the story. (Preferably a name name. Not an online type of name. Like
my persona will not be Firefury Amahira. She'll probably be like Stephanie
Amahira or something.)
4) A little bit of information about your persona.
Whether you love or loathe (or anything in between) Shishio, and some quirks
and crazy things your persona does. The crazier the better, since Shishio's
going to find out conquering Hell ain't all it's cracked up to be ^.~ *evil
laughter*
I don't know how many people will actually volunteer,
but hey, it worked for Talaco-san's party with the Kenshin-gumi, so I might
as well give it a shot ^.~
Next up for the story... I'm thinking either Continued
Chaos in Kyoto, or the Enishi chapter. I changed the 'chapter 10' to my
'to do' list for the story, so there's some expanded information on stuff,
including a little bit about the future chapters that will deal with Saitou.
^.~
And, as always, reviews and comments are greatly
appreciated, minna-san!