glossary:

chik(u)shou = Shoot!  Darn! i.e. all-purpose swear word  ^.^;

okyaku = guest, visitor

kiai = the shout a warrior makes with every strike, which must contain the whole spirit of his attack

itachi = weasel

ogenki = among other meanings, in very good spirits ^.^

hanten = jacket

o-machi kudasai = "please wait," very polite form.

Yoake Mae no Yami ni

by Mirune Keishiko

Eleven:  Surprises

"Oei, Megitsune, who's the kid with the rice bowl on his head?"

"Rice bowl on his..."

 "He's been watchin' me all morning with this creepy look in his eyes, like he's tryin' to make up his mind whether to worship me or kill me.  It's been drivin' me crazy."

 "Toriatama, who on earth are you talking about?"

 "Don't look, but he's sweepin' the yard right now."

Rebelliously, Megumi looked, and saw Akira hard at work in the courtyard, bent over his broom with an expression of intense concentration.  Suddenly Megumi laughed—with his straight black hair gracelessly chopped off around his ears, Akira did look as though he wore an inverted rice bowl on his head.

 "That's Akira, one of the boarders.  Don't tell me you haven't noticed him before now."

Sanosuke grinned as he leaned against the wall, on a momentary respite from chopping wood for winter fuel.  "Oh, I've noticed him.  Kinda hard not to when he makes googly eyes at you every chance he gets."

Megumi chuckled.  "What can I say?  The boy has taste."

 "I'd say he has."  And Sano smirked at her with a light in his eyes that made Megumi turn away, back to the herbs she was preparing to steep in wine, with a hasty "Back to work, toriatama, no one's allowed to be lazy here."

He let it go with a laugh and walked back outside.  Wresting his axe free of the stump and placing two stout logs before him, he straightened up just in time to see a small, slight, blue-clad figure on top of the dojo walls.

 "Chik'shou!" burst from Sano's mouth as he ran forward, thinking to catch the little girl if she fell.  But he was astonished to see the girl leap from the wall to the roof of the walk to the gate, and from there bound lightly down onto the scrubby yard.  In his surprise he forgot to stop and—wham!—slammed right into the wall.

As he lay on the ground trying to collect his wits, hearing in dim waves the tittering of the students in the training hall, a girl's freckled face popped into his sight, blue eyes huge with concern.

 "Are you okay, okyaku-san?"

 "Aa," groaned Sano, dragging himself into a sitting position before he lost any more face in front of the child.  Gingerly he touched his nose, and sighed with relief to see no blood on his fingers.  "You worried me.  And who are you callin' 'visitor,' ne?  You're the one stealin' over the wall instead of usin' the gate like everybody else."  He stood up, dusting himself off, and crouched before her with a grin that softened his words.

The girl glared at him defiantly.  "Takako-chan is not a visitor or a thief!"

 "Shinomori Takako!  Have you gone and left your parents at the station again?"

Sanosuke staggered backward in stark astonishment as Megumi hurried forward with a glad laugh.  As she caught up the child, who embraced her with ecstatic giggles, Sano stared in consternation at the wide ocean-blue eyes, the long shiny hair whipping about in a very familiar braid, the scandalously short blue outfit that only now began to make sense in his head.  Shino...mori...?

 "I knew she'd be here!  Eh?  Who's that guy?  What was he doing with—"

That was the last Sanosuke vaguely heard coming from the dojo gate before a shrill kiai rent the air and he saw, zooming toward him, the sole of a rough brown boot.

Cursing, he seized the ankle that came with it and twisted, but instead of tumbling painfully to the ground, the boot's owner flipped gracefully over to land with a light thud and a merry laugh.

 "Sanosuke!  I knew it was you!  Who would've thought!"

And Misao seized his hand with an enthusiasm that would have crushed the limbs of a lesser man.  As it was, Sano grinned and clapped Misao on the shoulder, noting in a single, sweeping glance the bright red flower-print kimono, somewhat rumpled but still daintily secured, and the married woman's hair bun that had sprouted several stray wisps after her exercise in agility.

 "Can I still call you itachi-chan, or will someone slice me in two?"

 "I don't slice, I only skewer, so you must mean my husband."  Misao dragged a theatrically groaning Sanosuke over to where Aoshi stood, carrying a small boy on his arm, eyeing them with dry amusement as he talked with Megumi.

Brown eyes met blue that were no longer quite as icy as Sano remembered them to be.  "Shinomori."

 "Sagara."  Aoshi grasped his hand firmly, his eyes smiling if not his mouth.  "We lost track of you in Mexico.  It is good to see you have returned safely."

 "I think I'm more in danger here than out there," said Sano wryly, "of having a heart attack from shock."  He arched his eyebrow pointedly at the child in Aoshi's arms.

At the color that flared faintly across the older man's cheeks, Sano exploded into fifteen years' worth of laughter, stumbling backward helplessly with the force as Aoshi's flustered expression became one of peeved resignation.

 "This is Hideki-chan, and he's four years old."  Megumi's calm tone was edged with humor as she let go of a wriggling Takako.  Misao clapped her hands and laughed as well, seeming far younger than her thirty-one years.

 "Hai!  Hai!  You must wait till you hear everything you've missed, and only then can you consider dropping dead.  Looks like Takako-chan has run off with the Myoujin children again."  And mournfully staring after her hyperactive daughter, who was met with gleeful shouts by Yahiko's sons and daughter, Misao switched subjects in a heartbeat.

"All right, as usual, Misao-chan?" asked Megumi, smiling.

 "As usual, Megumi-sensei."  Suddenly serious, Misao moved to stand next to Aoshi.  "How is Kaoru-san?"

 "She's eager to see both of you again.  Come in, I'll take you to her."

As Megumi led the little family into the dojo, Sanosuke was left standing in the yard for several moments, shaking his head in wonder.  Then, with a final grin and a chuckle, he turned back to finish his work.

Misao and Aoshi stayed in Kaoru's room until well into the afternoon.  Tsubame served them their lunch inside, tactfully keeping Takako out of the way by inviting her and Akiko to help with the afternoon tea once the boys' sparring games lost their charm.  Sanosuke, passing Kaoru's room on his way out to check on Fuuko, heard Misao's lively voice through the shoji and shook his head with a smile.

 "Nice to see the itachi-musume is still ogenki after all these years," he told Megumi in an undertone, as they all lingered in the dining hall after dinner that evening.

 "She's much like Kaoru-chan that way."  Megumi smiled fondly at Misao, who was regaling everyone present with irreverent stories of the Aoiya's various customers.

 "That she finally melted the icicle makes her a formidable woman."  Glancing over at Aoshi, who was quietly instructing his son in the dignified art of sipping tea, Sano shook his head, still in awe over the tale of how the two Oniwabanshuu Okashira had ended up happily married with children.

Megumi chuckled.  "That it does.  Do you see how he smiles for Takako-chan now?  Misao-chan always said she would unlock his smile, though it took her a little longer than even she'd expected."

Tsubame would not hear of the Shinomoris staying anywhere other than the dojo, and so another couple was bedded down in one of the rooms for the winter.  With the place already full of young and old alike, creaking and shuffling, talking and laughing behind every door, the moon was already high in the sky before the dojo finally settled with a modicum of peace.

Megumi, however, remained restlessly wandering the grounds, instinctively shying from the populated buildings as she sought a quiet place to think.  She was just rounding the corner of the kitchen when she spotted a slight figure seated on the well cover, long legs drawn up, her head in her arms, weeping softly.

She was just about to go to Misao when a tall shadow slipped from the larger shadow of the dojo to arrive ahead of her.  With surprising gentleness, Aoshi gathered his wife into his arms as she cried bitterly into his gi.

 "I'm sorry, I'm being selfish," Misao said brokenly, her voice muffled against her husband's chest.  "I'm crying not for her, but for me.  For everyone that's to be left behind."

As Aoshi's head bent tenderly over Misao's, his fingers soothingly stroking the long shimmering river of her hair, Megumi abruptly turned away, feeling as though she had intruded on something too sacred for her presence.

She nearly bit her tongue in fright when a disheveled head, teeth flashing brightly in a grin, popped upside-down into view from the edge of the roof.

 "Lookin' for an escape?"

"I haven't been up on the roof in the longest time."  Megumi gazed out happily at the twinkling lights of Tokyo from her perch.

His hands behind his head, Sano stretched out his long legs comfortably.  "The dojo's gettin' a bit crowded, ne, kitsune?"

 "Yahiko and the others enjoy it, but I'm afraid I'm more used to quieter surroundings."

 "You must miss Aizu."

 "Something like that."  Megumi, smiling up at the unclouded stars, gathered her hanten more closely about her as a cold breeze wafted slowly by.  "I remember that one time we all gathered up here to watch the Tanabata fireworks.  With Suzume-chan, Ayame-chan, and all the rest."

 "Aa.  And Jou-chan spied on Yahiko and Tsubame till Kenshin hauled her away."  Sano chuckled.

 "Strange, isn't it, how we remember things so long past?  Things were so different then."

 "See, you're already talkin' like a grandma."

Megumi laughed.  "Yare yare.  An old maid, more like, with the emphasis on 'old.'"  In an instant she realized her slip and cringed inwardly, as Sano's eyes darted toward her, dark in the moonlight yet bright at the same time.

 "You read 'em."  It wasn't a question.

Drat him and his ability to read ki.  He hadn't had that yet when he was still with them.  Megumi looked away and made no response.

 "Don't bother tryin' to soften the blow.  That's not like you, kitsune.  I'd rather have it in one shot then let it go forever."  Sano spoke tersely, his relaxed pose suddenly taut.

Megumi gritted her teeth, wishing this moment had never come, that she had never accepted his offer of a seat on the roof under such a romantically spangled night sky, that she had gone to bed with everyone else like a sensible spinster and not roamed the dojo trying to quiet her thoughts of a roosterheaded wanderer.

 "If you won't talk yet, then I will, if you'll let me."  Sanosuke sat up, restlessly running his hand through his newly cropped hair.  For a moment he paused, staring fiercely at nothing, trying to gather his thoughts and his courage, which he seemed to have forgotten at ground level.

 "You don't have to be sorry for something ya don't feel.  It was stupid, I knew it was—known it for years; I'm nowhere near good enough for ya and it's no use even if I spent another fifteen years tryin' to be.  And that's why I kept those other letters from you.  Never really meant for you to see 'em.  I only told Jou-chan, and you know how kind she can't help bein', she almost got me hopin' again.  But I'm sorry to stir up your peaceful life here with my idiotic hopes, and I'm sorry I didn't see how stupid it was to come back and even think of tryin' one last time, 'til it was too late.  I've been selfish for so long I kinda forgot how not to be again.  So I owe you an apology, and you don't owe me anything at all; and I can understand how you'd prefer I went away again once all this is settled, so I will if you just tell me, even if I wish I could stay."

Whether the last part was near inaudible because he ran out of breath or because it especially cost him his courage, Megumi couldn't tell.  As he had spoken, each word tripping on the heels of the one before, she had studiously avoided looking at him, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks with every moment.  She almost forgot the cold, until an involuntary shiver rippled through her slender frame.

Before she could speak, thick, heavy warmth settled around her in the form of a rich fur cloak.  She glanced up in surprise to see Sano carefully laying the cloak on her shoulders, himself averting his gaze.  As she drew the cloak tightly around her with a nod of wordless thanks, he sat down again, about three feet apart from her.  He stared out at the sparkling city, frowning slightly as though displeased, and Megumi wondered if it was with himself or with her.

 "Sanosuke..."

His sudden smile was humorless.  "That must be the first time you've ever called me by my real name."

 "You should've seen Kaoru-chan when Ken-san first called her without the –dono."

His chuckle encouraged Megumi, who inched closer and tried not to be obvious about it.  But as Sano turned to stab her with a dark-eyed glance, she felt herself shrink before him.

 "Don't break your neck, kitsune.  If you'd rather I went, just say the word.  I won't argue with you this time."

Huddling into the welcome warmth of the fur, Megumi sat still and silent for so long that Sano finally, without another word, rose to his feet.  Leaving a quiet "You can keep the cloak" in his wake, he was preparing to leap down from the roof when a cold, pale hand brushed his own.

 "O-machi kudasai," whispered Megumi.  Reluctantly she raised her gaze to meet his.  Pride, hurt, sorrow shadowed his eyes, but not enough—there was an inner light to them that soon Megumi could not bear to see.  "We should talk."  She glanced away.

 "We've been talkin' and talkin' since I got back here."  But Sano moved to sit down again, moodily fidgeting with the ends of his jacket.

Megumi stared absently into space, groping now for the decision she had absorbed herself in her duties all day to avoid.  Fragments of Sanosuke's letter swam in and out of her consciousness, and she found herself clutching desperately at each, seeking an anchor in the midst of her confusion.

Just like that, a kind of dream you've been living on for years and years...

I lived on it for so long—that vision of you smiling and all...

Maybe even takin' my hand.

 "Guess it's too soon to think of it, ne?  Barely been two weeks since I got back, and suddenly I'm dumping all this on ya."  That was as close to an apology as Sano could muster, and Megumi nodded silent acceptance.  "If you need time—"

At that, Megumi smiled.  Sanosuke, taking it as a signal to stop blathering, found in the pale skin, flushed cheeks, and long black hair, near buried in the rich brown fur, a more satisfying sight than any he had seen in all his travels.

 "Gomen.  I was just thinking that time is one thing you and I seem to have had in abundance."  Glad for the momentary diversion, Megumi chuckled.

Sanosuke relaxed somewhat.  At least she wasn't biting his head off yet.  "It took me that long to settle some things with myself.  For one, whether I could face the possibility of comin' home to a Megumi who wasn't a Takani anymore."  Smiling to himself, he lay back down on the roof, watching as lights went out one by one in the city before them.

 "Did it take you four years?"

Sano grinned.  "More or less."

 "Explain about Keitaro-san, please."  Megumi realized she had taken on her businesslike doctor's tones.

Sano glanced at her, then away, playing with his pipe as he slowly answered.  "Like I said, I was in New York then, and I heard from a friend of mine that there was this big international convention goin' on for doctors.  He knew I was from Japan, so he said he'd heard that there were some Japanese in the convention too.  'Course I went, curious, you know, as to what you'd look like after so long.  Then I saw you come out on that guy's arm, and I... well, I left."

Megumi let a few moments pass before she said, "Do you know I had to pretend to be his wife in order to attend that convention?"  She met Sano's dumbfounded look with a short laugh.  "There was a paper I wrote back then, and that was why I was invited to that convention.  Well, to be honest, the fools were unfamiliar with Japanese names and they thought I was a man.  There wasn't a single other woman in that convention.  Imagine the looks on their faces when they realized I was the researcher they were so eager to get on stage to speak.  Keitaro-san tried to rescue my honor by pretending I was his assistant.  And his wife."  Megumi's cheeks were burning again, but less this time with pleasure and more with remembered anger.

Sano was regarding her with unusual respect.  "Was that the only reason you were hangin' on to him like that?"

Megumi pressed her chilled palms to her face to try to counter its heat.  "Iie," she admitted quietly, turning slightly away.  "At that time... there was something else going on between us.  Or at least, so I thought."  Her tone grew bitter with the last words.

 "Sumanai."  Sanosuke clenched his fist in his jacket, wondering how it would feel to crunch a cheekbone as he hadn't done in some time.

 "Don't.  He doesn't matter anymore."  Megumi shook her head, willing away her thoughts of Keitaro.  They were replaced with thoughts of another man, far nearer, with somewhat discomfiting speed.

 "Will you let me try to make up for what he did?"

And Sanosuke's voice was so low, quiet, and even, Megumi felt the whirling in her head subside for the first time all that busy day.  She glanced up at him in confusion; she had not felt or seen him move from his seat, but suddenly he was sitting right next to her, burning his way through all her defenses to her soul with those intense eyes of his.  Seemingly transfixed by his steady gaze, she faltered her response even as the remnants of her customary pragmatism railed against her sudden weakness from somewhere deep inside.

 "You will leave."

Sano recoiled as though he had been struck.  Seeing change flash across in his face, his brown eyes widen for an instant, Megumi drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling guilt, pride, and anger war within her.  Although she knew not all of it was warranted, she had not dared to entertain such feelings in so long—and it relieved her as well as frightened her to feel them surging through her veins, warming her chest with her heart's pounding, weighting with long-neglected emotion the thoughts that spun in dizzying arcs around her mind.  The weight was coarse and unsatisfying, but Megumi welcomed it after the vague, half-formed ideas that slipped infuriatingly through her fingers whenever she tried to sort and pack them neatly into place.

 "You will leave because you love your liberty too much.  Because you get bored so quickly.  Because you always want something more, something new, something else.  You can't even hold down a job.  You will leave because everyone leaves.  That's just the way things are."

Megumi had risen to her feet as she spoke, every statement hurting her as much as she could see that it hurt him.  She spat out each word as though it were poisoned, and she needed to expel it from her body before it killed her.  But as she paused one moment to catch her breath and wipe away the tears blurring her vision, she saw that it was Sanosuke who looked as pale as Kaoru had in the predawn gray.

 "Sumanai yo," she whispered, and left.

~ tsuzuku ~

Long rambling A/N.  Oro! Oro!  Things appear to have gathered to an altogether unexpected head (yes, even and especially to me).  These two never let me know where they're going; they just leave me in the lurch to pick up after them, that they do.  Sigh.

By the way, Misao's boot is, of course, the Angry Demon Bird Kick ^.^  And just as a silly bit of trivia, the scene of her and Aoshi at the well was dredged up by my subconscious from my long-term memory... There's a scene in the Revenge arc, when Misao and Aoshi arrive at last at the dojo after Kaoru's been "buried," when Misao sits on the well, hugging her knees and crying.  Aoshi, lingering awake inside the dojo, hears her. ...But he doesn't go to her.  Wahh!!! @.@

Two nonsensical wonderings:  How will she get down from that silly roof in her kimono and a big heavy fur coat?  (Oh dear, let's just assume there's an obliging balcony somewhere nearby, or maybe a hatch leading down into the training hall, or something equally convenient.  Somehow it doesn't become Megumi to be clambering down the sides of buildings.)  And how come Sano is always the one left behind?  ^.^

Tee hee, this chapter does seem to have, as they say, "written itself."  Far faster than I'd expected it to.  For those who are wondering how the two Okashira did get around to two kids and a dog (left behind in Kyoto?), I'll weasel out of that (awful pun intended) and refer you to any one of the many Aoshi-and-Misao-get-together-at-last fics lying around.  Plenty enough to cater to any taste, I think, and to do without any contribution of my own.

Well, time to get to work on some school stuff this time. @.@  Thanks again as always for reading...  Thanks also to everyone who reviewed, Aislinn6, Liz, and eriesalia.  Feedback is an ff-writer's lifeblood, ne?  Ne??  (wink wink)