Disclaimer: Me no own RK.
Chapter Eleven: Old Friends or Foes?
"I'm so sorry," said Yahiko as he rushed over to the 28-year-old that was at the doors.
The man's face was covered in rice and pieces of half-eaten sesame chicken. He wiped the food off his face with a hand and flung it back at Yahiko who ducked just in time.
"How's it going Shougo?" Asked Kenshin as he stood up to meet an old friend from college, but he was still laughing as he watched Yahiko's older brother take out rice that had gotten into his hair line.
"I just came home from work and saw the note that Yahiko wrote about Magdaria. I rushed over here as quickly as I could, but I didn't expect to see you, find out that my little sister has a boyfriend I never heard about, or that I would get hit in the face with food," said Shougo as he looked at Yahiko sternly.
"Well this might cheer you up; your little sister had her transplant. She's going to make it through, you just have to wait for her to wake up and feel better so you can go home and become a family again," said Kenshin happily for a friend.
"Are you her..." began Shougo.
"No. Sano used that, as an excuse so that he could come in this late is all," said Kenshin with a smile toward Sano; he knew how protective Shougo could be of his family.
Sano smiled warily at Shougo who gave him a deadly look.
"I don't see why you won't work for me, I mean we're old friends and you work hard. The other workers won't pummel you, and I'll give you... $8,000 every two weeks as a start. We could use another dedicated worker as you," said Kenshin with a pat on his old pal's back.
"That's... a..." Yahiko tried to do the math in his head.
"$192,000" said Kaoru.
"Oh yeah," said Yahiko.
"I make $425,000 a year, and Missy here makes $400,000 and makes a whole lot of bonuses too. It's not all that fair you know? I've been here for four years, since I got out of college, and Missy here's only been working for... let's see only a few months? At this rate, she'll make as much as Shishio at $500,000 a year" said Sano.
"That's because she does more work than you would ever do in four years in just a day," said Kenshin.
"You know me, I barely graduated," said Sanosuke.
"That still doesn't give you the right to slag off. I think that you should give Shougo his job and kick Sano to the bottom floor as a clerk," said Kaoru as she jabbed her thumb in Sano's direction.
"Hey!" Protested Sano.
Kenshin seemed to consider that.
"That's not right," said Sano.
"So will you take it, or I could give you $225,000 a year if you wanted?" Asked Kenshin, he really wanted Shougo to work for him. He was one of the brightest students and college and he knew that Shougo wasn't going to slack off like some people he knew.
Yahiko was nodding, Sano didn't care, and Kaoru only smiled politely.
Shougo looked at his little sister. She deserved a better life, and with the money he could provide that for her. Then he won't feel pathetic that his little brother makes almost as much as him every month, so he looked at Kenshin with a small smile and nodded.
"Great," said Kenshin as he patted his friend on the back with a smile and shook his hand.
"The problem now is what category to put him in," said Sano.
"I still say that you should just give him the rooster's job; the rooster doesn't do anything descent and hasn't turned any papers in for a week," said Kaoru.
"That is really messed up Missy. All the times that I've been nice to you," said Sano.
"Yeah, when there was food involved with it," shot back Kaoru.
Sano blew up his cheeks and huffed as he fell into a seat and into silence as Kaoru smiled triumphantly.
"Can you sort out files, place them in the right cabinets, do company errands as one of my court, and make sure that due dates are posted on the bulletin in the lounge?" Asked Kenshin.
Shougo nodded.
"But you will have to do more than that" said Kenshin with a grin.
"I think I can handle it," said Shougo with a smile.
"Well I must say that our court is looking brighter already," said Kaoru with a smile.
"What's that suppose to mean? I think it was already bright before we hired Shougo," said Sano.
"It was the efforts of some people that made our company go down a bit," snapped back Kaoru.
"I was not slacking," yelled back Sano standing up as Kaoru did the same.
"Be quiet the both of you. My sister is sleeping," hissed Yahiko.
The two glared at each other before sitting back down and looking in another direction angrily.
"Let me warn you now, you're going to be working on the same floor as these two," said Kenshin.
Shougo only sighed and went to sit next to his sister.
"It's almost ten; Misao should be here soon. Shougo, are you going to stay here for a bit longer? Do you think you can look after Megumi for me? I need to get back to M.R.S. to get my laptop and finish a document that I'm working on," said Kaoru as she grabbed her purse and coat.
The man nodded as Kaoru and Kenshin left the room.
"So whom are you going to the Sakura Ball with Shougo?" Asked Sano.
"I don't really plan to go," said Shougo as he looked at his sister.
"Why don't you go with my secretary, Shura? She'll need a date and you need an escort," suggested Sano with a grin.
"I don't think that my brother would like a person like her. She freaks me out sometimes," said Yahiko as he remembered her scowl and how nasty she got when he accidentally spilt something onto the magazine she was reading when he bumped into her desk with a stack of binders in his hands.
"It's only an escort. Plus you don't have to dance with her, she'll probably go off with some other guy anyways. It's just nice to be seen in public that you're going to the Sakura ball with someone," said Sanosuke reassuringly.
Shougo only shrugged, he never really cared about any of that stuff to begin with, and he had always cared for his little sister and Yahiko. Since he was the head of the house, he held the most responsibility in the house and was suppose to place a roof over their heads, supply food, and make sure they have nice clothes to wear as well. With all of that, he never really did have time for a girlfriend or anything close to it.
"I'll have her go with you then. That way we all can go with a beautiful lady" said Sano.
"Who are you going with?" Asked Yahiko.
"Well your sister of course," said Sano with a grin.
He immediately regretted his grin for two pairs of angry eyes was glaring at him.
"That is if she wanted to," added Sano hastily.
"She won't because you're a..." began Yahiko.
"Yahiko! Magdaria can choose who she wishes to go with. I think that her going to the Sakura Ball will be a great way to celebrate her being better and getting over her disease and no more life threatening things to worry about. She's going to want to have a bit of fun when she can finally feel safe and secure again," said Shougo as he looked at his baby sister and pushed back a lock of stray hair from her face.
Sano grinned as Yahiko glared at the older man with the deepest loathing.
~*~*~*~*~
"Do you hate Sano that much? I mean, so he doesn't really work but..." began Kenshin once they were seated in the limo and were driving out of the hospital garage back to the M.R.S. building.
"I don't hate him. I only said all that so the rooster head would get his act together. He thinks that every thing is fun and games and he needs to know the truth that nothing comes easy and that you have to work for every thing. I don't think that he could make it in the real world. If you weren't his friend than he might just be a gambling addict and be living on the streets somewhere begging for spare change. I just hope that he gets that before it's too late," said Kaoru.
Kenshin nodded, it made perfect sense. Even he did more work than Sano. Then again he was the boss. But Kaoru was only a personal secretary and lawyer yet she did more work than most of the people hired have done in all their time working here. It still shocked him as to why Kanryu let her go.
Letting his curiosity get to him, he asked her.
"Why did you quit your last job?" Asked Kenshin curiously.
Kaoru was a bit taken back at the sudden question, it seemed to have popped up out of no where.
"Well Takeda Kanryu was a jerk. I didn't want to do al the work, so I quit," said Kaoru.
Kenshin looked at her questioningly; there was something that she wasn't telling.
"Truth be told, he was trying to hit on me. The guy was just some sick drunken addict that tried to grope me. I had enough and just quit on the spot, took my things and left. If he wasn't a drunken punk, gambling freak, and so ugly, then I would have been fine with that one time and move on, but he tried to many times," answered Kaoru.
"So if a cute boss tried to hit on you then you'd be fine?" asked Kenshin.
It was Kaoru's turn to look at him questioningly.
"If I liked him maybe, I guess. Why do you ask?" asked Kaoru.
"Nothing, just wanted to know," said Kenshin with a grin as he took out a wineglass and poured Pepsi into it.
Kaoru was sure that she had missed something here but the thought flew out of her mind when he handed her the glass.
"It'll keep you awake. I don't have coffee, but I'm sure that pop works just as fine," said Kenshin.
She looked at it and then him before taking the glass.
Kenshin poured himself another glass and jugged it down.
Kaoru watched as his Adam's apple moved up and down as well. She blushed as she noticed that she was staring and downed her own glass as well.
~*~*~*~*~
Tomoe smiled when she hung up on her cell phone.
She was in a white night gown that went to the floor, and she was in a white hotel room that had a single large bed that was occupied by Takeda Kanryu as he eyed her deliciously.
"Shura says that she's going to be able to talk to that Kamiya girl at lunch soon. Our plan will work this time," said Tomoe as she sat on the bed's edge.
"Good. What has your 'fiance' said about you disappearing at night?" asked Kanryu as he pulled her to him.
"I just tell him that I need time to think about the baby," said Tomoe as she played with the collar of his shirt.
"The fool won't suspect a thing when we take all of his money," said Kanryu with a grin.
"You're so brilliant love," said Tomoe as she kissed him.
Kanryu grinned and dragged her below him.
~*~*~*~*~
Misao looked at her watch as she drove down to the hospital again. It was 10:00 and she was hoping that the nurse would allow her to still see Megumi and spend a night there to look after her too. She rushed through a yellow light and was glad that there were no police out there tonight.
When she found a parking spot in the hospital she parked in and got out as she locked her car doors.
She rushed over to the hospital entrance and ran to a closing elevator just in time too.
As she fixed herself, she didn't notice the person that was in the elevator with her.
"You sure are fast Misao," said a familiar voice.
Misao finally looked up and saw Takasugi standing beside her with a grin on his face.
"I came down here to get the others a drink," said Takasugi before she could ask. He showed her the Cola, Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Water, and Sprite bottles in his hands.
She nodded and the two fell in silence as she waited for the fourth floor. The two stepped out when the doors opened.
When they were in the room they were surprised at the two new people that took Kaoru and Kenshin's place.
"Hey! Finally, something to drink," said Yahiko as he rushed over to Takasugi and took the Coca-Cola bottle from him and began to gulf it all down.
"What are you two doing here?" asked Takasugi as he placed the other four bottles down on the table.
"For Magdaria," said Sano with a grin.
Takasugi understood and nodded at the two but returned Sano's grin.
"Misao Takani?" asked Shougo as he got a good look at her.
Misao turned to the familiar voice and gasped.
"You two know each other?" asked Sano as he watched them stare intently at each other for a moment.
"Yeah. He was my ex-boyfriend," said Misao.
Yahiko spit his drink out at Sano again; Sano knew the kid was bad from the beginning. He probably did it on purpose.
~*~*~*~*~
A/N: That was it, I know it's short but I didn't have enough time to write a long one.