(This chapter is rated R for language.)

Saganno's Choice

The next evening…

"Mom. Dad. I need some money." Saganno asked.

Megumi and Sanosuke looked at each other with questioning expressions on their faces. Saganno never asks for money. Unlike his free loading father, he worked hard for his money.

"What do you need money for?" Sano asked.

"I want to take a short trip but I don't have enough for a round trip ticket on the train."

"The train! Where are you going?" Megumi asked. Concern was creeping into her voice.

"I can't tell you but I'll only be gone for three days maximum. Will you lend me the money? I'll pay you back."

Megumi frowned and shook her head, "I don't know Saganno. I wouldn't mind lending you the money but I have a right to know where you're going. What if something happens to you?"

"Thrust me mom. I'll be all right." He walked over to her and gave her a quick squeeze. She sighed.

"I just don't know-"

"You don't have to pay us back." Sano spoke up then he pulled out his money pouch. "How much do you need?"

"Sanosuke!" Megumi exclaimed.

"Oh come on, hon. Our twenty year old son has never asked us for anything his whole life and today he asks us for a little money and his trust. I think we can oblige. And besides everyone knows not to mess with a Sagara. He'll be all right."

Saganno smiled at his father, "Thanks dad."

"I guess your father's right." Megumi went to her room and got her money. "How much was it that you needed?"

"Um…I don't know."

"Nevermind." Sano took the pouch out of Megumi's hand and added it to his own then gave it to Saganno. "This should be enough."

Saganno was flabbergasted, "I-I don't need this much."

"Just go ahead and take it. It's better to have a little extra money than not having enough." Megumi said, "Are you at least going to tell us when you're leaving?"

"The train leaves first thing tomorrow morning." Saganno added the money into his own pouch.

"Well, I hope you have a nice trip and we'll see you in three days." Sano patted him on the back. "I'm going to bed."

"Thanks again, dad."

Megumi gave him a long hug. "You be careful, okay?"

"I will, mom and thank you."

It was evening by the time Saganno got to the station in Kyoto. The train ride wasn't as bad as his father made it out to be. It was actually pleasant. He slept all the way there. Misao, Asao, and Meshi met him on the platform. He contacted Aoshi a couple of days ago to find out if there was an inn he could stay at. Aoshi told him he could stay at their house free of charge. Saganno was more the grateful.

"Hey Saganno!" The twins called out in their usual fashion.

Saganno smiled and waved. "Hey girls!"

"Do you have any luggage?" Misao asked.

"Just this." He showed her the small bag he was carrying.

"That's it?"

"Well I'm not staying that long."

"Well, okay. Let's get going. I know you're probably starving."

Right when she said that, Saganno stomach started to growl loudly. He blushed. "Um…yes I guess you could say that."

They all started to laugh.

After dinner, Aoshi took him to the shrine and gave him the information he asked for.

"I have a question." Aoshi stated. Saganno looked at him but said nothing.

"Why?" Aoshi asked. When he didn't speak up, Aoshi continued, "It was obvious to everyone that you love her very much. Now that he's out of the picture, you have a chance. So why are you doing this?"

Saganno sighed, "You all ready answered your own question."

Aoshi raised his eyebrow.

He continued, "It's because I love her, that is why I am doing this………She loves me but only as a friend………However, she is in love with him……….I remember when he held her after he cut her in their duel. I wanted to KILL him…….but…….. the way they looked at each other. I've never seen two people stare at one another that way. There was a look in her eyes that I've never seen before in all the time I've known her. That's when I knew. Right at that moment I knew I couldn't make her happy the way he could…….But it's been two years now and I'm tired of her being so miserable. Even though she doesn't show it, I can feel it in my heart that she's miserable. I know because I was depressed without her. Basically, it's time for him to come back to her. Even if I have to drag him back to Tokyo myself."

Aoshi took Saganno hand and shook it. "Saganno, I have to say. No matter how Kiriko feels about this guy, you are the bigger man. And just the fact you put your own feelings a side for your friend shows that you are the better man as well. I just wanted to shake your hand."

Saganno blushed slightly and smiled. "Thank you, Aoshi."

"Well, I think you better get some rest. You have a long day tomorrow." They went back to the house.

It was a long hike to Shio Makoto's place; however, Aoshi directions were easy to follow. Aoshi told him that ever since the fight, the Oniwaban group had been keeping a watchful eye on Shio Makoto. They recorded his every move. He used to live in a residential part of Kyoto before but he moved deep into the mountains when he came back from Tokyo.

Saganno looked at the map again. From what he read, he only had a couple of miles to go. After an hour of hiking, he came into a small opening. There was a little shabby house surrounded by thick trees. This must be the place, he thought. Saganno walked up to the door and knocked twice.

There was no answer.

He tried again. (KNOCK, KNOCK)

"WHAT!"

Saganno nearly jumped out of his skin from the loud out burst that came from the other side of the door. "Um…Does Shio Makoto live here?

"Who wants to know!"

"Saganno Sagara……Kiriko Himura's friend."

There was silence on the other side of the door. Saganno waited patiently for any type of sound. Finally, the door slowly opened. His eyes widen when he saw the man standing before him. It was Shio all right but he looked awful. His hair was all over the place. Some parts were knotted and matted to his head. His chin had scattered whiskers and his hakama was dirty. Saganno figured if he had his gi on that would probably be dirty too. He had the urge to cover his nose because the stench of sake was pouring out the door. But the worse thing of all was Shio's eyes. His once bright crimson eyes were now dull and almost lifeless. They were also bloodshot from all the drinking. Kiriko loves this? Saganno thought trying to keep his eyes from watering from the smell.

"What do you want?" Shio eyed Saganno suspiciously. All of a sudden, his eyes widened and he grabbed Saganno by the collar of his gi and yelled in his face. "What happened to Kiriko!"

"Nothing! She's fine! I just came here to talk to you." He said pushing Shio away from him. He stunk too.

"Oh." Shio let go of his gi. "Come in." He walked inside. Saganno followed. The place was bigger on the inside then what it look like from the outside. There was practically nothing in it but a futon, a medium kitchen, and dozens of empty sake jugs all over the floor. Saganno pushed some of the jugs out of the way and sat down. Shio grabbed his gi and put it on.

"So…" Shio sat down on the futon across from Saganno. "Who are you again?"

"Saganno Sagara"

Shio picked up one of the jugs and was about to take a drink but stopped and put it down. "THE Saganno?"

Saganno didn't know what he meant by 'the' but he answered anyway, "Yes."

Shio narrowed his eyes at him then finally took a long swig. When he was done he spoke up again, "Kiriko used to talk a lot about you."

Saganno said nothing.

"How is she by the way?" He asked. Saganno heard the slight change in his voice. It became softer.

"Kiriko's just fine. The wound on her stomach healed up completely."

Shio sighed, "Good."

Saganno continued, "yet the wound in her heart still remains…Kiriko pretends that she's happy but on the inside she's miserable…… Fortunately, she's not sad and pathetic like you."

Shio's eyes flickered with red flames. I see I struck a nerve, Saganno smiled inwardly. "What the hell are you doing here anyway!" Shio barked angrily.

"Shio, it's time for you to stop your self loathing, get up off of your dirty ass and go back to Kiriko."

Shio couldn't help but to smirk at his comment. "You know, you got some big balls coming up in my place and start insulting me like this. How do you know I won't kill you?"

"Oh please!" Saganno scoffed, "You've probably never killed a fly before! I don't know how Kiriko could have fallen in love with a sorry excuse of a man like you!"

The smirk disappeared off Shio's face and his eyes became a brighter red. "You're tryin my patience. Don't test me boy." Shio said through clenched teeth.

Saganno calmed himself. He was here for a reason and it wasn't to fight with Shio. "Okay, let me cut the crap. I'm here to bring you back to Kiriko. She needs you, Shio. She's miserable with out you and it's obvious that you're unhappy without her too. You've had plenty of time to punish yourself. I'm here to tell you that your punishment is over. Now it's time to go back to her so that she can be happy again."

"I can't." He took another drink, "I promised I'd never hurt her again."

"Well you're doing a good job at keeping that promise," Saganno said sarcastically.

"What?"

"Don't you get it. You're hurting her now. She needs to be with you. You're like air to her. Everyday she's away from you, her insides slowly deteriorate. She needs you." At that moment, Saganno spotted Laplatina leaning against the wall. Kiriko was right, he thought. "Well… the least you can do is take back her sword."

Shio looked at the sword. The glow in its blade never faded. The sword gave him peace of mind. For some reason he thought as long as the blade glows Kiriko was all right. "Why don't you take it back to-"

"No! I won't." Saganno answered him before he could finish his question. "You're the one who needs to take it back to her."

Shio stared at his jug of sake and thought about it for a moment. "I……..I can't… Look I really appreciate what you're doing for me-"

"Are you kidding! I'm not doing this for you!" Saganno yelled losing his temper all of a sudden. Shio looked at him. His face expressionless. Saganno continued, "I'm doing this for Kiriko. If it was up to me you would be dead."

Shio narrowed his eyes, "Why are you doing this?"

Saganno sighed and got up. "I don't know why I even bothered. You're obviously not going to go back to her. I'm outta here." He walked towards the door.

"And it's obvious that you are in love with her."

Saganno stopped in the doorway. Shio got up then walked over to him and stood a foot behind him. "I knew I was right………You are in love with her. So tell me Saganno, why are you doing this? Why would you do this now that you have the opportunity to make a move?……. Now…let's forget about the fact that you've known her your whole life and never had the courage to make a move…Yes let's forget about that fact… I want to talk about the present. Now that I'm out of the picture you have a good chance to be with her. So explain to me why you would come here in the first place?"

Saganno stood in the doorway with his fist clenching. He said nothing.

So Shio continued the badgering, "Or maybe…….maybe you're not here for her at all. Maybe you're here for yourself…. Saganno the BIG hero. … Yeah I think that's it… You selflessly put your feelings aside to go find your love's lost love but when you return and tell her that he doesn't want to come back, she runs into your arms for comfort and then you tell her that you can be a better man then he ever was. She looks at you with a new light in her eyes. Forgets about Shio and marries you? Is that your little plan? To be the hero! To be the better man! To appear selfless in her eyes knowing that you're doing it all for your DAMN SELF!"

(POW!)

Saganno had spun around fast giving Shio an upper cut right in the mouth. Sending him sailing across the room. Shio hit the far wall with an "Ooomph!"

"FUCK YOU, SHIO!" Saganno walked over to where he landed with his teeth baring and his fist clenched so tight that his nails were making his palms bleed. "I AM NOT YOU!"

If it had been any other circumstances, the shocked expression on Shio's face would have been comical but the tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Saganno calmed himself slightly. "I'm not the one hiding out in the mountains! I'm not the one sitting here getting pissy drunk! I'm not the one hating myself over an accident that I was forgiven for two years ago! I'm not the one who's depressed over a girl who told me she LOVES me! I'm not the one who's to SCARED to love her back completely! You haven't even told her that you love her! And you have the AUDACITY to tell me that I'M selfish!"

He pointed hard into Shio's face. "FUCK!…. YOU!… I WOULD DIE FOR KIRIKO WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT! I came up here BECAUSE I love her! I never made any moves for her affections because I know how she feels about YOU! And I would never take advantage of her venerability like you probably would! NEVER!"

Saganno swallowed hard desperately trying control his anger. "Don't you get it, you asshole! Kiriko could have any guy she wants. And I'm not just talking about me. She could have ANY one and you know it……. Yet…."

He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. "….yet, she chose you………She chose you to hold her heart in your hands……Out of all the guys that could treat her like the princess she is…she chose the pathetic, arrogant, lonely, selfish, unworthy BASTARD that doesn't even know of the honor that he has received."