Yoake Mae no Yami ni
by Mirune Keishiko
glossary:
gomen nasai = sorry
ohayou = good mornin'!
gi = the loose floppy shirt worn for kendo, among other things, usually by guys
bokken = wooden sword used for kendo; heavier and more solid than a shinai
maa = calm down...
wakizashi = the short sword traditionally wielded by samurai, shorter than a katana (but shorter than Aoshi's kodachi, fyi ^.^)
Seven: Fuuko
The day dawned bright and cloudless and chill. After a breakfast from which Sanosuke was conspicuously absent, Megumi sought to ask him about the letters. She found him snoring blissfully on the porch near the gate, oblivious to the curious students sidestepping his luxuriously spread-eagled figure on the way to class.
Not having the heart to wake him from his well-deserved rest, Megumi returned to her room. The package Outa had brought contained herbs and roots she had sent for from a colleague in another part of the world, and she was eager to begin studying them.
She trusted that Sano on waking up would make enough noise to alert her, and so she worked contentedly in her room for a while. It was only some hours later, absorbed in a treatise on the foreign plants' properties, that she looked up and realized it was nearly noon, with still no sign of Sanosuke's typically rowdy presence.
"Sanosuke-san said he would eat at the Akabeko," said Tsubame cheerfully when Megumi found her in the kitchen supervising lunch preparations. "He said he still had some things to take care of in town. Gomen nasai, was there something you wanted to tell him before he left?"
When will he be back this time? Megumi tried to suppress the question as soon as it popped into her head, but it was already troubling her. She forced her mouth into a nonchalant smile to meet Tsubame's questioning eyes.
"I was just wondering if we'd have to bother fixing a meal for that bottomless pit too." She shrugged, briskly tying back her sleeves. "The growing boys go through the stock like worms, but with his appetite he's worth about five of them, ne, Tsubame-chan?" And with a coy smile at the younger woman, she noted with satisfaction that the perplexed look in the wide black eyes had quickly faded into their accustomed expression—half flustered, half maternal. As Tsubame turned away to exclaim over the fish, which the newest servant of the house was in danger of overcooking, Megumi silently congratulated herself on having successfully steered the younger woman's attention away from her and Sanosuke.
He was absent from the dojo all day and did not appear for dinner as Megumi half expected. When another day passed and then another without any sign of him, she realized with a pang that he had left nothing behind in the dojo when he had departed so suddenly.
Maybe he's run away again and just hasn't told me. She was grinding herbs in the kitchen when the idea suddenly escaped the tight grip she had on her thoughts, arrested her smooth, rhythmic movements. She shook her head vigorously. Us, she corrected herself, forcing herself to continue, though she bore down on the pestle perhaps more forcefully than usual. Hasn't told us.
Megumi didn't dare ask around for him; not only would rumors undoubtedly spread, if he found out he would never let her live it down. But she was gladder than she would admit even to herself that she had her work to keep her occupied in his prolonged, unexplained absence.
Kaoru showed no signs of either improvement or deterioration as she slumbered peacefully through day and night. Megumi devoted herself to her research, content enough that Kaoru's condition was stable. Kenji had resumed his vigil as soon as the sake had left his system and would alert her to any emergencies.
Early on the fourth morning, she was poring over chemistry texts and comparing them with her own fifteen-year-old notes when she heard in the distance the growing thunder of a horse's hoofs. She paid it no attention until a very familiar voice rose in command over shrill whinnying.
She had just thrown back the shoji when a sleek brown horse cleared the back fence in one enormous leap, making Megumi stumble backward in awe. The horse was immediately reined into a clattering halt in the yard—stirring up the neat piles of fallen leaves the students had labored all morning to rake—and though the animal still reared and tossed its head proudly, Sanosuke dismounted with easy grace and a broad grin. Megumi noticed that several parcels and small chests had somehow survived the hurdle and now dangled haphazardly from the saddle in a knotty tangle of rope.
"Show-off," the doctor sniffed as Sanosuke led the horse toward her. "I was just starting to enjoy the peace and quiet, when you just had to interrupt my work with your juvenile acrobatics."
"Ohayou to you too, Megitsune," he said blithely. "Is there still breakfast? A good ride always makes me hungry."
"Judging from your constant hunger, toriatama, riding is not a factor in your appetite." But Megumi was smiling as she approached, eyeing in fascination the tall, handsome beast whose dark fur gleamed in the sunlight. "Does this ride of yours have a name?"
"Fuuko. He's fast and likes makin' a lot o' noise, like me. Only he's got a better sense o' direction, I think."
Megumi reached out tentatively, and when the horse lowered its head toward her with no more than a soft, snuffling snort, she stroked its long, fine nose in delight. "He's also much sweeter. Definitely."
"He bites when I tell him to."
Megumi arched an eyebrow at him. "I dare you."
Sanosuke merely chuckled, and after another moment of contentedly stroking the horse's mane and rubbing the fur of its slender neck Megumi realized he was simply standing there and watching her. Feeling a most undignified blush creeping up onto her cheeks, she abruptly turned her back on him.
"I suppose Tsubame-chan still has some okonomiyaki left over. Have you fed that horse yet?" Tone brisk and businesslike, she led the way to the kitchen, thinking that Yahiko would later have his hands full with horse tracks all over the painstakingly groomed yard.
"Yeah, they saw to him on the ship that brought him over." Sano chuckled. "I didn't know the fox was so good with horses."
Megumi surreptitiously rubbed her hot cheeks with the cool strands of her hair. "I didn't know you were either."
"He was just given to me. By this... person I protected for a while." Megumi noted the moment's hesitation without comment. "That was about three years ago. Since then he's been with me through a lot. Ne, Fuuko?" Sanosuke's gruffly affectionate tones were met with a long, rippling neigh. "Not sure what I'll do with him as long as I'm in town though. He'll get bored in the Akabeko stables after two hours."
"Attention-deficit, I see, just like his master," observed Megumi smoothly. Before Sanosuke, glowering, could open his mouth to retort, she added, "I'll watch him while you eat something. I can't do any tricks, but I do know a thing or two about horses myself."
"Whatchamean, you can't do any tricks, kitsune? I'm sure you could show me plenty sometime." Sanosuke brushed past with a wicked grin. "When we're in private," he added in a whisper, then dodged swiftly out of her way as she made a wild swing at his head with her fist. He was still smirking when he sauntered into the kitchen and out of sight. Megumi was left fuming in the yard, with the horse restlessly pawing at the ground some way behind her.
Some minutes later Sanosuke emerged from the kitchen, having secured a promise of fresh breakfast from the tittering servant girls. He found Megumi sitting on the porch, her texts in her lap unheeded as she fed him some vegetables from her hands.
"Doctorin' him with some herbs or somethin'?" Sanosuke fondly rubbed the horse's sleek flank and set about untying the various objects from the saddle.
Megumi shook her head. "I was actually thinking if you could lend him to me for a while."
"Hey, if you're goin' on any adventures, you better take me along." Sano laid a confused heap of bundles, bags, and small trunks on the porch beside Megumi.
"Before Yahiko comes along and finds out you've wrecked his yard?" She smiled sweetly. "I don't know... A rematch between the two of you after all these years might be quite productive. I'm tired of studying only paper models."
Sanosuke sweatdropped. "Eeto..."
"I need to go out to the country soon." Her tone was serious again. "It's the best time of year to gather my plants. It looks like it'll be an early winter, and I must beat the first snow." Megumi frowned. "I wasn't sure if I should go since Kaoru is still sick. On foot it would take too long. But if you'll let me borrow your horse, I could be back before the day is out. How about it?"
She groaned inwardly at the wide grin Sano suddenly gave her. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.
"He ain't used to someone else ridin' him. I better ride with you, kitsune."
Visions of Sanosuke riding behind her in the saddle, his arms around her holding the reins, flashed through her head. Megumi wasn't sure if she were more excited or mortified. "In that case, never mind, toriatama," she said archly, shuffling her papers and trying to find the place where she had left off. "I do believe I'll walk."
"Chance of a lifetime, kitsune." His voice was low and hushed, his eyes glinting as he stooped to whisper practically in her ear. "You, me, and a really hot, really sweaty—"
"Sa—no—su—ke!!" thundered a voice from within the dojo, and Megumi and Sano sprang apart in surprise, the doctor not without some relief. Sanosuke had just moved to stand protectively by his horse when the nearest door was thrust aside and a livid Yahiko came stalking out, still dressed in his teaching gi, his bokken at the ready.
"That horse is ruining the dojo grounds!!" he ground out from between his teeth. "Do you know how much it costs to have the grass kept decent?! We'll have to reseed everything!!"
"Maa, Yahiko, you're startin' to talk like Jou-chan now," laughed Sanosuke. "And it's only patches."
"Patches!" Idly, Sano admired the obvious skill with which Yahiko swung his bokken this way and that. "You tore up the turf over there, he's been eating it up over here, and wouldja look at those marks over there? I oughta..." And Yahiko advanced with an evil look in his eyes, the expertly wielded bokken now perfectly lining up for a blow to a shaggy head. The students peeping at them through the open doorway began to chatter excitedly among themselves at the prospect of a match.
The horse became restless at the oncoming threat despite its master's soothing grasp on its bridle. "Well, we know where we're not wanted," said Sanosuke with apparent hurt. As Yahiko blew out a thoroughly exasperated puff of air, Sano leapt easily into the saddle, Fuuko rearing triumphantly beneath him. The horse gave Sanosuke a height advantage; as Yahiko tried in vain to attack Sano without hurting the animal he rode, Sano, laughing, deftly spurred Fuuko into a canter around the yard, with an even more enraged Yahiko chasing him about, trying to get into range. Megumi stood up and clung to a post for dear life as she laughed and laughed until tears ran down her cheeks.
"Sano! You stupid roosterhead! Stop this! You idiot, you're making things worse!"
Yahiko's speed was not quite godlike, but he was certainly holding his own against the horse, which was indeed ruining the grass further as it galloped in a wide circle around the dojo with a whooping Sano at the reins. Then Sanosuke came to a skillful moment's halt in front of Megumi with his hand held out.
"How's about those herbs, kitsune?"
After a split second, she answered his broad grin with her own mischievous one. "Let's go," she said simply. Texts clutched firmly in one hand, she hoisted herself into the saddle with the other, and just before Yahiko could take advantage of the pause to take excellent aim with his weapon, they were off.
Megumi was carefully tucking the pages into her sleeve when Sano growled into her ear. "Hang on tight."
The back fence he had hurdled on entry loomed before them. Megumi, anchoring herself as best she could while riding sidesaddle, had a fevered glimpse into her room as they passed. Her notes and papers were still spread on her desk, waiting for her to resume her reading.
Then there was a breathless moment of nothing but wind in her face, and the landing was far less bone jarring than she'd expected it to be. Fuuko wound skillfully through the entangled bamboo without checking his speed. Clutching at her flying hair, Megumi glanced back to see Yahiko standing at the fence, fists on his waist and eyes glaring wakizashi.
"It better be another fifteen years before you even think of coming back, ya stupid roosterhead!"
~ tsuzuku ~
Rather long A/N. I'll number things so it's a bit organized:
1) I know I read the phrase "eyes glaring wakizashi" somewhere before... I don't remember now exactly who used it, but whoever you are, credit due to you. ^.^
2) And "Fuuko" just popped into my head when I was flailing about for a name for the blasted horse. I hate naming things. The name means "child of the wind," but I do wonder if it's supposed to be only for girls. Japanese-savvy readers, please be so kind as to alert me to any blunders. ^.^;
3) Mou! When I began writing this story in December (it was one of those ideas you know you've got to start writing out now or they'll disappear in a moment), I'd lent my second part of the second OVA to someone whom I now cannot remember for the life of me, and no one I asked recalled borrowing it from me, so as of now it is officially lost. Only tonight (January) did I finally buy another copy, so now all the details I forgot that were on the second part, which I neatly overlooked in the previous chapters, are haunting me:
a) Megumi is called from Aizu the moment Kaoru falls ill while waiting for Kenshin to come back. So according to the OAV world (which as we all know is not really canon in the first place ;p), Megumi has to have known at least from that point onward just how sick Kenshin and Kaoru really were.
b) This unworthy one (who does not live anywhere in Japan, that she doesn't) sort of forgot that Tokyo, too, is a harbor city. Hence Megumi's (mistaken) comment in Chapter 3 that Kenshin walked all the way from Yokohama... which would indeed be a superhuman feat even for Kenshin, as ill as he was by then. (Oh, but Kenshin's suffering was so pitiful that every step seemed to me a dozen miles... ;_;)
Also, in the OAV the dojo doesn't look anywhere near as new-and-improved or even as busy as I've made it out to be in earlier chapters. Butbutbut... it should be! ;_; At any rate—it would be kind of a letdown if I went back and revised everything just to conform with the OAV—let that be my (ab)use of artistic license, kay? ^.^
4) Warm 'n' fuzzy gratitude to all who read and reviewed this and the earlier chapters! popo katx, eriesalia, aislinn, Liz, and all the rest... Thank you very much for your kind appreciation and reassurances that I haven't disappointed, well, not that much. ^.^ I haven't written this sort of lengthy story in a loooong time, so I'm glad as ever to deliver where I can.
5) This is the first of one or two light-ish chapters I hope to put in, just to ease the mood a bit. Hope it works. Megumi seems to be verging on the OOC-ly irresponsible here, but we shall soon see if I can take that risk and pull it off without a hitch. ^.^; This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but that's because the next one could be a bit longer.
6) Speaking of chapters, this story seems to be spawning 'em with unforeseen fervor. I reckon they'll run to fifteen or sixteen. Maybe. Let's hope.
7) Incidentally, the past few weeks I've been rereading Louisa May Alcott's kiddie classics in a fit of nostalgia, and I think her style is seeping into my own... I'll try to control it since it would be a pretty radical change in the flow of things, that I will.
Once again, domo arigatou and please keep reading! ^.^
