Catharsis

coalesce
.:chapter three:.

Megumi awoke with a start from the sudden and intense pounding that thundered from her front door. Her medical instincts took over at once. Hastily tying a robe around herself, she hurried to the door as a sickening sense of foreboding created a dense knot in her gut.

"Just a minute!" she yelled as she fumbled with the lock. Stealing herself for the worst, she yanked the door open.

She expected to see blood, pain and panic. She expected to see someone in need of immediate, life-saving medical attention. She was prepared to deal with all that. What she didn't expect to see was a spiky-haired idiot standing on her doorstep.

Megumi's shock quickly gave way to anger as she took in the sight of him. He was injured, again. Blood-stained and bandaged, he towered over her with an arrogant smirk lifting his features.

'How dare he,' she thought as she studied the poorly tied gauze wrapped around his hand. 'After going missing for days he comes back like this? And to think I actually worried about him!'

If he detected her unspoken anger he didn't show it.

"Hello," he said before giving her teasing wink as though everything was perfectly fine and normal.

The doctor lifted a delicate brow as she looked at him but did not return his greeting. His smirk slowly began to straighten the longer she remained still and silent. Megumi wondered what his excuse would be for leaving right after the funeral, for getting into another fight after she told him not to, for getting injured again when he knew he could do permanent damage to himself.

Still standing in the doorway, she folded her arms over her chest as she tilted her head at him, waiting. She wasn't going to offer to help him. At least not yet. Not until he squirmed a bit more. Expression carefully neutral, she met his gaze and let the silent contest of wills continue. She knew in the end that she would help him. She would usher him inside, clean his wounds, stitch any gashes and bandage his injuries. On top of that, she would likely offer him a warm meal and a place to sleep for the night. Worse, she knew he knew it, too. But until that moment, she would make him stand outside like a fool until he asked for her help. Perhaps she would even make him say 'please.'

As if reading her mind, he held up his injured hand and gave her a half-hearted smile. It wasn't the best smile she had seen from him, but she still found it a bit sexy in spite of her anger. Even so, at that moment she wanted to smack him upside the head for it.

"I've done it again," he said and Megumi visibly stiffened. "Could you give it a look?"

Megumi clicked her tongue at him in disapproval. "Where have you been?" she asked.

He dropped his injured hand to his side and said, "Around. I needed to... to go... for awhile. Clear my head."

The doctor felt sympathy stab her heart. She could understand that, but it didn't excuse his current state. He knew better.

"But you've been fighting again," she said.

He shrugged. "Unavoidable."

She sighed as she let her eyes freely roam his face, neck, shoulders and arms. He really was in bad shape, and he looked just as exhausted as she felt. Bruises of various sickly colors marred his skin and two fresh ones were just beginning to darken his jaw.

"He looks a lot worse," he said. "Actually, all four of them look pretty fucked up. But they deserved it." When she didn't immediately reply, he added, "So are you going to patch me up or what? It's fucking cold out here."

Megumi's eyes snapped up to glare at him. "How many times have I told you that I don't have any medicine for idiots?" she hissed.

Before he could respond she grabbed the street-fighter by his injured hand and squeezed. Eyes wide, he gasped in pain but didn't resist when she pulled him inside.

• • •

Boredom punctuated her world, defining her boundaries and setting a pattern. One minute after another ticked by and all Kaoru could find to do was watch the ocean waves as the tide ebbed and flowed. The monotony was oppressive.

'When will get you here, Kenshin?'

With a groan, she stood and turned away from the window. There had to be something to do. Something — anything — besides watching the ocean for hours on end. Sitting around and waiting for something to happen was almost as stressful as being afraid that something WOULD happen.

It was frustrating to not be able to do anything. Escape was impossible. Enishi was far too strong and aware of her movements to make such an option viable. There were books to read, but they were all written in Chinese. She still flipped through them, if only to look at the pictures, but one could only page through the same set of books so many times before the process became cumbersome.

The only thing she really looked forward to was cooking. It got her out of her room and kept her hands busy. Plus it gave her a chance to interact with Enishi, though her attempt to befriend him was turning into a huge failure. Every time she tried to talk to him it ended the same way. He would either send her away outright or say something rude to make her go away. Her relationship with him was friendly only because it was convenient to behave that way. Cooking for him only reinforced that behavior, it didn't actually bridge the gap between them. Even though she didn't fear for her life, she was still intimidated by the man. It was pure stubbornness, and perhaps a healthy dose of loneliness, that caused her to seek him out at mealtime every day.

But Kaoru didn't know how much more she could take.

Discouragement was quickly taking root in her heart. She felt powerless to effect her situation and that was starting to eat away at her morale. She decided while cleaning up after breakfast that she needed to be bold and a bit more creative about how she attempted to talk to Enishi. She needed to have an actual, real conversation with him. One that didn't revolve around Kenshin or Jinchuu or her imprisonment. If there was any hope at all to getting through to the man, she needed to find a way to relate to him somehow. Unfortunately, everything she knew about Enishi was directly related to Kenshin. The idea of talking to him about such a volatile subject would not end well. At best, he would go into a ranting fit. At worst, he would confine her to her room.

Kaoru pushed her bangs out of her eyes and sighed. What she needed was to find something totally benign and neutral, but figuring out what that could be was almost laughable. Enishi was a painfully private and guarded person. The house the two of them shared was well furnished, but it lacked personality. Everything had a practical purpose and if she pushed too hard to get him to talk to her she was certain that he would immediately shut her out and send her away.

Still, the thought of discovering some kind of common ground with the man inspired her into action. Immediately after giving Enishi his lunch, Kaoru went to work. Room by room she went, eyes and hands carefully examining every corner and shelf. She flipped through books, rummaged through cabinets and sifted through drawers. She knew she was being a snoop and behaving so rudely did cause her to feel more than a little guilty, but failing in her goal simply wasn't an option. She made certain to return everything exactly as she found it, which slowed her search process considerably, but the last thing she wanted to do was make her sin of invading his privacy glaringly obvious. Enishi would probably figure out that she had been through his things, she just hoped her care in covering her tracks would diminish his annoyance with her ― if not wipe it out all together.

After all, it wasn't like she was going to search through his room. That location was clearly off-limits. And Kaoru was certain that anything of real significant value would be kept there. Going through the desk in his Study or the shelves near the entryway was no where near as bad as rummaging through his bedroom. She was a prisoner, yes, but he had granted her the freedom to roam the house so long as she didn't pester him. Surely he expected her to look around.

Her actions somewhat justified and guilt pushed to the side, Kaoru pressed on. Halfway through her search, the kendo instructor had to admit that her idea may not pan out. The only items she found that she might be able to talk to Enishi about were the books he kept, but since they were written in Chinese she had no idea what to say about them.

'Hey, Enishi,' she thought, imagining the interaction in her mind. 'Have you seen the illustrations in these books? Interesting, huh? This book has drawings of weapons in it. This one has drawings of the ocean and a fishing boat. And this one has a couple of pictures of women in various stages of undress... Not sure I want to know what that one is about, but the book with the fishing boat in it looks interesting. It's too bad that I can't read Chinese! Could you... uh... read this to me?'

She snorted. 'Yeah, right.'

Dusting herself off, Kaoru surveyed the room she had just finished searching. It looked just as neat and clean as when she first entered. Satisfied, she made her way down the hall. With only two rooms to go, Kaoru fought hard against frustration and discouragement. If Enishi simply didn't have anything of personal value in the house she would just have to figure something else out. As she began her search of the next room, something very plain and seemingly out-of-place caught her eye. Pushed back against a wall on a shelf near the far window was an inconspicuous, flat piece of wood. She recognized it at once.

It was a shogi board. And an old one at that. Kaoru turned the board over in her hands, inspecting it. Small scratches marred the surface in a few places and the edges were dull from age. The board, despite it's few scars, was well cared for and had witnessed many games. Perhaps even a few games played by Enishi himself. Biting her lip, Kaoru tried to imagine him playing shogi. For some reason, the notion felt very alien to her and she frowned.

'It's probably not even his,' she thought dejectedly. 'It probably belonged to one of his men...'

She moved to return the shogi board to where she found it when another thought made her pause. 'Enishi is so paranoid... so guarded... I doubt that there is anything in this house that he is not completely aware of. This board has to be his.'

A triumphant grin caused blue eyes to sparkle happily. Yes. This was it. This was the benign item that would help her to bridge the gap between them and give Kaoru an opportunity to truly befriend the brother of Tomoe.

• • •

"Is he still there?" he asked.

Megumi turned Sano's hand over, eying it critically. "He hasn't moved."

He grunted, but said nothing.

"Saitou and Aoshi were here yesterday," Megumi said as she carefully cleaned the wound. His fingers twitched from the sting.

"Gee, I'm sorry I missed them," he remarked dryly.

The doctor glanced up at her patient, "They're planning to go after Enishi. Without Kenshin."

Sanosuke remained quiet, expression tight.

"She's still alive," Megumi continued. She felt a tremor move through his arm, "Aoshi suspected a ruse so we exhumed her grave. Enishi has Kaoru."

Sano's eyes widened and his voice caught, "B-but we buried..." he swallowed hard and tried again. "That... that was a puppet?"

The doctor gave a brief nod as she began to wrap his hand, "It was a puppet designed to look human. It fooled everyone," she sighed, her voice growing quiet with self-reproach. "Even me."

If he noticed her repentance, he didn't show it. "She's alive," he breathed. "She's alive."

"As far as we know."

Sano sucked in a deep breath, considering. "Then Kenshin doesn't know yet. Otherwise―"

"No," Megumi interrupted. "Tsubame told him."

"What?!" He pulled his hand from her grasp and shot to his feet, "When?"

"Yesterday."

His brown eyes went wide as his mouth opened and closed silently. Megumi watched his expression change from hopeful to irate as he processed the information. Finally finding his voice, he demanded, "He found out yesterday? And he's still there?"

Megumi sighed, "I need to tie that bandage, Rooster-head."

"I'm going to kill him!" Sano yelled, too angry to hear.

"Sit!" she ordered as she grabbed his wrist and yanked. "I'm not done here."

Sano grumbled under his breath as Megumi quickly tied his bandages in place. The instant she was finished, he was on his feet and pacing.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" he mumbled, more to himself than to her.

Folding her arms over her chest, the doctor sat back in her chair as she watched Sano move from one side of the room to the other. Fists twitching at his sides, it was obvious that he wanted to punch something. Megumi couldn't blame him. Truth be told, she was a little angry at Kenshin, too, but she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. He was punishing himself specifically because of what happened to Kaoru, but now he was so far gone that reality had little meaning to him.

"Is he trying to kill himself?" Sano asked rhetorically.

"Yes."

"Why?" he demanded. "I get that he thought she was dead and was mourning for her, but Enishi is a fucking psychopath that needs to die."

"Kenshin would never kill him and you know it."

"Fine," Sano snorted. "Then arrested or whatever. Either way, he shouldn't be sitting on his ass doing nothing. Especially now that we know Jo-chan is alive."

Megumi allowed him a few more moments of pacing before reminding him of the reality of Kenshin's current state. "He's catatonic, Sano," she said, voice calm and matter-of-fact. "I doubt there is much he is aware of right now. And even if he were to come to his senses right now, today, his body is in no shape to be able to defeat someone like Enishi."

Sano grunted a muttered under his breath.

"He's sick, Sano. In body and in spirit."

He stopped his pacing and peered at her, his expression a confusing mix of rage, hurt and frustration. He reminded her of the way Yahiko looked when he was first brought to the clinic after his fight. Though Yahiko had been far more heartbreaking to see. He opened his mouth as though he was going to ask her a question, then thought better of it and snapped his jaw shut. Turning on his heel, he marched toward the front door.

Megumi scrambled to her feet to catch up to him. "Where do you think you're going?" she demanded as she grabbed his bicep. "Sano!"

"Where the hell do you think?" he snapped. "You said it yourself. He's sick, so I'm going over there and drag his scrawny, girlie ass back here!"

"That's not exactly what I meant."

"What exactly did you mean?"

"He's broken right now, Sano," she said. "I can tend to his physical wounds ― make sure he eats properly and gets enough fluids ― but I can't heal wounds of the heart. That kind of healing is something he has to want first."

His jaw tight with anger, he said, "This is such bullshit."

She sighed, "Let me worry about Ken-san right now, okay? I still have more to tell you so why don't you sit down and let me finish."

"I'd rather go kick Kenshin's ass right now."

"I think what I have to say might change you mind," she said.

"Doubt it."

"Sit," she pointed toward a chair, "and listen."

Moving in the direction she indicated he grumbled an annoyed, "Fine." He sat in a huff of indignation, then folded his arms over his chest, "Hurry up."

"As I was trying to tell you earlier," she said as she sat across from him. "Yahiko was in a fight yesterday with Hyougo Kujiranami."

Sano blinked, his mouth falling open as he remembered Kujiranami from the fight at the Kamiya dojo days before. The man was huge. And deadly.

"H-how's Yahiko?" he asked, worry suddenly overtaking his anger. He leaned forward to peer down the hallway that led to the rooms that she used for patients that needed to stay overnight for medical care. "Is he here?"

"Yes he here and he's fine," she said. "At least, he will be. He's got two black eyes, a split lip, a pair of bruised ribs and wounded pride. Nothing too serious."

The street fighter let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. That damn punk kid was lucky to be alive. "Where's that Kujiranami guy now?" he asked, a promise of violence in his eyes.

"Looking for an excuse to destroy your hand already?" she asked.

"My hand is fine," Sano squeezed it into a fist for emphasis. "You fixed it, right?"

The doctor glared as the street fighter looked on.

"Well, you're out of luck. Kujiranami's on his way to be buried," she said. "Saitou killed him."

"Lucky for him."

Megumi shot Sano a dark look while the street fighter looked on impassively.

"Yahiko was fighting with Kujiranami alone," the doctor continued as she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Tsubame was with him at the time and saw the beginning of the confrontation. She ran to get Ken-san when she realized that Kujiranami intended to fight Yahiko. She told me that she begged him to help, but Ken-san didn't move. He just sat there. Tsubame was scared for Yahiko so she told Ken-san that Kaoru was still alive. She thought that would bring him back to his senses, but he acted like he didn't even hear her. He's just... too far gone now."

Sano clenched his jaw angrily. "So which is it?" he asked. "Does he know she's alive but not care, or is he so wrapped up in the past that he's forgotten about the present?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "I just... don't know. I have to wonder if he heard her at all. Kenshin is just... empty inside. I can't believe he wouldn't care. We know he cares."

"Even so," Sano said. "It's still bullshit. He should at least want to go after Enishi to hold him accountable for his crimes. Kaoru is counting on him and he's resigned himself to being dead. Fuck him!"

Megumi clenched her jaw but said nothing. What could she say? She was just as disappointed in Kenshin's actions as everyone else, but she knew her disappointment was nothing when compared to Yahiko and Kaoru. Those two loved Kenshin. Really loved him. And while Megumi certainly loved Kenshin in her own way, she was not as close to him as those two.

"When are they leaving?" he asked.

"As soon as they can requisition a ship," she said. "Three days. Maybe four."

A mercenary grin was his only reply.