Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own RK.
Chapter Nine: Trouble
Megumi was walking to the Akabeko since her name wasn't on the Honda Civic and she really didn't want to break any laws, so she was walking to the restaurant. She was having headaches recently and it was really annoying.
She was lucky that Saitoh had yet to return, or else she probably wouldn't have been able to leave for her late night shift. Her world was hard enough as it was.
Staring at a monitor, taking calls, and writing e-mails was taking its toll on her, and because of her other job, that would mean that she wouldn't be able to sleep as much as before. It wasn't like she could even sleep peacefully for an hour without getting a phone call for Saitoh.
Since she had to be on duty the whole time, the people who wanted to give her boss a message were to call her cell phone. It was getting to her.
Then her medical books that her grandfather sent over for her was making her head spin. She wanted to be a doctor, and by god she was going to be one. Maybe Misao was right; studying for one occupation was enough. But it was her dream since they were small and she wasn't going to give up just because most of the odds were against her.
The thought of helping others was what was keeping her standing and working.
It seemed like her feet were taking her to the Akabeko, and that her senses were leaving her.
The lights of Tokyo were blinding her eyes as she walked on; the noises were drowning her, as her steps became unpredictable as she swayed to the side.
Megumi shook her head trying desperately to clear her vision.
I knew I should have drunk more coffee. Thought Megumi as she walked on.
Her purse was falling to the side as she pulled it back up, but soon found that her strength was also leaving her.
She couldn't seem to walk any more; she leaned on a building wall. Her eyesight was leaving her and she felt her world go dark as the car noises and screaming faded from her. Finally leaving her in peace.
Before going out, she saw a tall figure approach her and said something but she couldn't understand and then she clasped.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Misao was taking calls upon calls as her stomach began to grumble.
Cursing that she didn't get enough time to eat, she got up and placed all the calls on hold as she asked a co-worker to get her dinner.
"What do you want?" Asked Tsubame.
"A salad and a bottle of water," said Misao with a weak smile.
"You don't look well. Maybe you should ask for the rest of the day off. If you don't get enough rest you'll clasp," said Tsubame as she took Misao's money for the order.
"I'll be fine," said Misao with a cheerful smile.
"All right. Just take it easy," said Tsubame before going down to the restaurant.
Misao rubbed her eyelids as she cleared her vision. Placing on her black specs from college, she went back to the blinding computer screen to e-mail the messages and calls to Aoshi.
"Don't you get tired of that?" Asked Shura as she walked over and sat on the edge of her desk.
"You are?" Asked Misao as she looked over her monitor.
"Shura. I'm the rooster head's new secretary," said Shura as she took an apple from a fruit basket and began to munch down on it.
"Well you won't be keeping that job if you don't get to work," said Misao annoyed, she really didn't want to get bothered right now.
"That rooster head doesn't get that many calls. Really, who would want to talk to such an over grown child?" Asked Shura as she bit down on the apple and sucked on its juice.
"You'll get fired if you talk about your boss like that. Now will you please leave me alone?" Asked Misao as she began to go back to her letter.
"We're the only ones here; the rest are at dinner. So why aren't you at dinner?" Asked Shura.
"I, unlike you, want to get my work done" snapped Misao; she was trying her best not to lash out at her new co-worker.
"It's not like your boss is coming back soon. I heard that Aoshi and the others aren't coming over for a few more weeks because of that new product thing. So that means that you can lack off for a while," said Shura as she threw the core of the apple away.
"That's why I must take the calls. They're about the project," said Misao ignoring Shura.
"Well you're the one that's hurting yourself" said Shura as she jumped off the table and walked back to her own.
Misao sighed as she got back to work.
Then her cell rang.
"Yes?" Answered Misao.
A male voice was heard at the other end as her face paled.
"At the hospital!? I'll be there in a second," said Misao as she hung up and got her coat.
"What's up?" asked Shura as she stopped tossing her pencil back and forth.
"Can you get my calls? I have an emergency," said Misao as she grabbed her keys.
"If you do something for me," said Shura.
"Sure, just make notes I can read," said Misao as she went into the elevator.
Shrugging Shura walked over to Misao's table. She grinned as she saw a picture on her desk.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaoru and Kenshin walked into the Kirei Blossom Studio and found out that no one was on the main floor where Kamatari usually worked.
Even the photo area seemed like it hadn't been in use the whole day. The rakes that was usually filled with the latest clothing and changing area was completely empty.
"I told him that we'd be here," said Kenshin as he took out his cell phone and dialed in the man's number.
"Maybe he forgot. He does have a lot to do you know. It's not like Kamatari only works for the M.R.S.'s magazine," said Kaoru as she walked over to the cameras and checked out the wiring and how it was set up.
"He's also in charge of the modeling runway walk for us. You know as well as everyone else that M.R.S. sponsors a lot of groups," said Kenshin as he waited for Kamatari to pick up.
"So he could be doing that," said Kaoru as she walked back over to him.
"Why isn't he picking up?" asked Kenshin angrily as he hung up after the tenth ring.
"Let's just get back to M.R.S. and eat there," said Kaoru.
"All right," said Kenshin as he pocketed his cell phone.
They were about to leave when the large twin oak doors swung open and Kamatari walked in with a whole camera crew and the press as well.
"Well this is my working area, and..." began Kamatari but gasped as he came eye to eye with a very angry boss and lawyer.
"That's the Kamiya model," cried a reporter.
Suddenly flashes were seen making the two new comers blind.
The press rushed over to them cramming them together and asking questions until Kamatari made his way through and told them all to stop out of the top of his lungs.
"Miss Kamiya and Mr. Himura are not here to be blinded by flashes and squashed with questions," said Kamatari angrily.
"So you're not married. Are you and Mr. Himura going out?" asked a reporter shoving the microphone to her face.
Kaoru flushed nervously and just wanted to melt into the floor.
"She's my lawyer and personal assistant," answered Kenshin as he saw her predicament.
"A lawyer? Where did you go to school?" asked another reporter.
Suddenly she was being drowned by questions and she felt like she was going to burn from all the heat that was going to her cheeks.
"That is enough!" yelled Kamatari angrily as everyone else fell silent.
"You came here for a tour, not an interview," said Kamatari trying to act normal again.
Everyone fell silent and back away from the two.
"Now will you all leave while I talk to my friends?" asked Kamatari.
The press and reporters all scurried out with whispers that filled the photo shoot area.
Once they were gone Kamatari faced his two best clients and bowed to them out of respect and as an apology.
"I guess you didn't remember our little dinner arrangement?" asked Kenshin calmly.
"I am sorry Mr. Himura but I was so busy getting ready for those people that I kind of spaced out on that. Please forgive me," said Kamatari with another bow.
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," said Kenshin as he eyed Kaoru who was still a bit dazed about what just happened.
"Sorry Miss Kamiya," said Kamatari bowing to her.
"It's all right. Can we just go to dinner? I'm famished," said Kaoru with a smile.
Kamatari's face lit up as he ranted on about where to eat as they walked out to their limo.
Kenshin just shook his head as Kaoru giggled at how Kamatari was suggesting places to eat.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Takasugi was walking back to the office after a drink with Sanosuke, who had decided to go back home to sleep.
He was bored and had nothing to do. His thoughts kept going back to his last girlfriend, she was so sweet and loving. He was such a fool to let her go.
She had short black hair, beautiful emerald eyes, a pretty laugh, and the scent of a perfect perfume that she always wore. The woman had taken his heart the moment that they met on that flight back to Japan from England after a business trip.
If he hadn't suspected her then she would still be with him, they would probably be married by now if he had been trustworthy and hadn't suspected things.
As he cursed himself for loosing such great person when he saw a figure with long black hair stumble around ahead of him.
"Why should I care? Probably just some drunk," said Takasugi as he walked passed the figure and headed back to the building.
He turned around when he heard a thud and realized that the girl was Saitoh's secretary, and that kitsune Sanosuke was always talking about.
"Are you all right?" asked Takasugi as he knelt down to her level on the ground.
He began to panic when she clasped.
Looking around for a policeman, he lifted her up into his arms and had to find a place to set her down so he could call an ambulance.
Finding a bench he placed her down and took out his cell phone.
He waited impatiently for the ambulance as he helped Megumi sit up.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but can you give me the number of your cousin? She might want to know that you've clasped," said Takasugi oddly, he never tried to talk to an unconscious person before.
Megumi was out cold and didn't respond.
Suddenly he heard the sirens and waved the ambulance over.
As they placed Megumi on the stretch her purse fell out and Takasugi took it.
"Sir, are you with her?" asked the nurse.
"...Yeah," said Takasugi as he hopped into the back of the ambulance.
They were rushed to the hospital and Takasugi looked through her purse hoping to find the phone number of that certain weasel girl.
He almost smiled when he saw that Megumi had placed Misao under W for weasel girl.
"We're here. May we ask what you are to the young lady?" asked the burse as they rushed into the ER.
"I'm... her... boyfriend," said Takasugi quickly, he knew that you had to be something to the person otherwise you couldn't go in with the patient.
The nurse nodded and they went into a spare room as the doctors began to check up on Megumi.
Takasugi stood to the side and waited until he knew what was wrong with her before going into the waiting room and calling Misao.
"Yes?" came the person on the other line.
"Your cousin has fainted and is now in the hospital in the ER. You might want to come and check up on her," said Takasugi.
Once Misao answered and hung up, he walked back into the ER to Megumi.
He smiled when he looked at her, she looked like his old girlfriend as she slept. Even with all of the plugs and needles in her, she looked like the angel that he lost.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yahiko raced down the streets trying to catch the bus stop to get home. He was younger so he was allowed to go home before dinner. His sister and older brother would be furious if he was late and didn't get his homework done.
He worked after school to around 7:30, but on the weekends he was allowed to work from 8:00 to 8:00 in the afternoon. But he still didn't do his homework from school that day before when he rushed to the office. He was too busy getting things for the boss and doing errands.
If his family didn't need the money then he could be a normal 16-year-old.
His brother 28-year-old Shougo Amakusa Myojin worked for another company, but he didn't play a big part so his income wasn't enough. Then 24-year-old Sayo Magdaria Myojin, his sister, had a part time job as a counter worker for one of the many M.R.S. buildings.
He was lucky to have worked for the very boss of M.R.S. Corporations. Being paid $1000 every week that was without the tax and everything was pretty good. (A/N: I'm using U.S. dollars, I'm not good with yen.)
At 16 with $4000 a month was pretty good, that was only about $1000 less than how much that his brother made. He was glad to be able to help out the family.
His parents had died when he was seven and he had relied on his siblings too much, so he wanted to help them out.
It was fate that he met Kenshin in the streets after he showed that he could beat up a group of three grown men with just a wooden stick. Kendo had come in handy.
He was hired right then and there as a errand boy and assistant to all of the people in Kenshin's court. Fate had played its part for him and he was thankful for it.
It only made his belief in God stronger, he use to think that what his older brother and sister believed in was a joke, but after praying, being baptized, and getting this job, he knew that there had to be a God out there some where.
"I'm home," said Yahiko as he entered the fairly sized home.
He dropped off his book bag and headed to the kitchen to help his sister with dinner.
Magdaria was what his sister loved to be called, she always smiled no matter the circumstances to make sure that her family would stay strong like their mother did.
"Need any help sis?" asked Yahiko as he watched as she finished making the rice.
"No, you better do your homework Yahiko," said Magdaria smiling.
"Where's Shougo?" asked Yahiko as he looked around, his brother would usually be reading something at the kitchen table as Magdaria made dinner.
"He had to work late, so you can do your homework now. You know that education is very important," said Magdaria as she began to chop at the vegetables.
"How are you doing? Did they find a match yet?" asked Yahiko in a whisper.
Magdaria fell silent and only shook her head sadly.
"I'll go do my homework now," said Yahiko as he walked out of the kitchen and got the material needed for his homework.
Another reason that they needed the money was for Magdaria's visits to the hospital. She had leukemia and the money for a bone marrow transplant cost a lot. They saved up as much as they could for one, but now they needed to wait for a donor.
Though it was expected to take a while since Magdaria's blood type was AB positive and that was very rare and cost more than the others do. It was very shocking that none of them had that type since they were related, but it seemed that fate wasn't so kind.
He felt tears well up into his eyes, the thought of loosing another family member ate at him, but he refused to let them fall. He would not cry, that meant that he was weak and he had to be strong for his sister.
There was a sudden thump from the kitchen, he rushed over and found Magdaria laying on the floor her breath uneven.
He ran for the phone and called the police.
Hang in there sis. Thought Yahiko as he finished and held her to him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaoru yawned as Kamatari made a decision at a five star restaurant. He had been making up his mind for the past 30 minutes. The man was pickier than a woman was.
She nearly fell asleep when Kamatari finally spoke up and ordered.
"Finally," said Kaoru as she sat up and gave her order.
Kenshin kept in a chuckle as he ordered.
"Well I see that you like the business outfit I made for you," said Kamatari as he looked at the design that he made for her.
"Yes, it's very comfortable," said Kaoru with smile.
"You must come back some day, so I can try a few things on you. Well you're going to have to for the shoot that should be done in a few weeks. So what do your other friends look like; I want to have a very lovely crew," said Kamatari as he sipped his drink through a straw.
"One's shorter than I am, the other is taller. You can use my size and just bring it down one for Misao and add a size for Megumi," said Kaoru.
"Well that's good. So what type of clothing should you wear?" asked Kamatari as he looked at her trying to see her in the clothing that would make her look fabulous.
Kaoru looked at Kenshin asking for help with pleading eyes.
"You should dress her in a golden dress, make it show, yet not," said Kenshin as he swirled the wine in his glass before sipping.
"Yes, that could work. Your hair... well I'll let Tae handle that. Tsked. Tsked. You need to wear better office suits now that people will be after you. We're going to have to make you look better all the time. Then again you're always look wonderful," said Kamatari.
Kaoru blushed as she looked at her wineglass.
"How about a swimsuit? It is July after all," said Kamatari.
"Can we not talk about business while we're out?" asked Kaoru.
"I thought you liked business talk," said Kenshin grinning.
Kaoru glared at him as he looked innocently at her.
"Well have you heard that Tomoe and Akira are going to marry soon?" asked Kamatari.
Kenshin snorted in disgust as he drank his wine. He didn't want to know anything about that wench that accused him of sleeping with her, the nerve of some people.
"Well if he dies she gets all of his money. I think that his company is doing okay," said Kaoru as she thanked the waiter that brought over their orders.
"You mean all of his shares of the company goes to her? I thought that at least some of the men of his court would get it. That is if he gets an heir. Though since she's pregnant with some other man's child, though it could be his, it'll take a while," said Kamatari sounding professional like.
"Well it depends on what he does. The boss of a company can either give it all to an heir or their wife or husband. Then if they have neither, they can give it to relatives or split it among his loyal court. So it depends on the boss," said Kaoru as she went into lawyer mode again.
"What are you going to do Kenshin darling?" asked Kamatari as he eyed his friend and boss.
"Got no relatives but Hiko. Though I plan to give my share of the business to my heir like Hiko did," said Kenshin calmly.
"What if you don't get one in time?" asked Kamatari, but it was in a whisper. He really didn't want to think like that.
"Then I'll share it among the people near me," said Kenshin with a shrug.
"Well let's hope that you find a great heir, or have someone produce you one," said Kaoru.
"Well at least you don't have one yet, otherwise all of that money would go to Tomoe too if she wasn't lying. Though I know you would never do that with her after that incident. Nice day we're having aren't we?" asked Kamatari as he ate, he had gotten a deadly glare from his boss.
Kaoru kept quiet as they all began to eat in an odd silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Misao raced up to the nurse at the counter and nearly collided with a cart. Bowing in apology she came up to the nurse panting.
"Where is Megumi Takani? I'm her cousin," said Misao trying to catch her breath.
"Let me see," said the burse as she punched in a few keys on her computer.
Misao nodded and waited. I hope she's all right.
"She's in room 626 down the hall with her boyfriend," said the nurse.
Misao blinked at her. Boyfriend?
Realizing she was wasting time, she bowed to the nurse and rushed off.
She walked into the room silently and saw that Megumi was on the bed and someone was on a chair in the corner of the room.
"Hello?" asked Misao as she looked at the stranger.
She gasped when she saw Takasugi walk over to her.
"You... Megumi..." Misao was for a loss of words.
"I made it up, that boyfriend thing was to get me in here. I found her as she clasped on her way out of the building," said Takasugi as he scratched the back of his head.
Misao let out a sigh, then averted her attention to Megumi who was on the respirator.
"She has leukemia. They said that they had a donor of her blood type; AB positive. We can do the transplant but we need a relative to do it," answered Takasugi to the unasked question.
"We don't have that type of money though," said Misao, she was close to tears. She wanted to help her cousin, but they just didn't have the money for it.
"Well you help someone to the end. I'll pay for it, you can pay me back later," said Takasugi; he hated to see women cry.
"Thank you so much," said Misao as she held Megumi's hand.
Someone else was suddenly rushed into the same room; it was Magdaria.
"What are you doing here?" asked Yahiko as he walked in with his sister.
"We're here to get Megumi's bone marrow transplant," said Misao.
"So am I for my sister. She's been waiting for years. They finally have her blood type, AB positive," said Yahiko with a smile.
Misao and Takasugi looked at each other and then at him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Well that's about it for this week. I hope you guys liked it.