Disclaimer: I don't own naked Sano or naked Karou or naked Misao or naked Megumi or naked Aoshi or naked Saitou or naked Kenshin or naked Soujiro or naked Yumi or naked anyone else. Well, except naked Me.









Confessions of a Dangerous Hairstyle:

A Ruroni Kenshin Fan Fiction

by

C M Forde









She was light in his arms; it was all he could think about. She weighed almost nothing, so small. And warm, God she was warm. Her lips touched his again and he lifted her up, feeling her whole body tighten around him. Muscles he was more used to being kicked with, hit with, suddenly embracing him totally. Her tongue shot into his mouth and he stepped forward, picking her up off the ground, pinning her shoulders to the wall as her legs wrapped around him. He wasn't thinking about where they were, who might see them, he wanted her right then, he wasn't going to wait. She gasped something he didn't hear as he went to kiss her neck, and her whole body quivered against him. "Megumi…"

She stopped, something had changed and in his alcohol laden mind he couldn't understand what. Fog clouded his thoughts and he pulled his head away from her, looking at her face, Misao. His girlfriend. She looked angry for a moment, stricken with a pain that couldn't be described, and then she shook her head, "No, it's nothing. Take me to bed Sano."

It was something, but he couldn't tell what, his head was reeling with too much sake. But she rested her head on his chest, kissed his shoulder through his shirt, and he shifted her in his arms, cradling her like a child. She was so tiny, so fragile. He wanted so bad to protect her, to keep her from harm. Despite his stumbling steps and awkward gait he got her into his bedroom, laid her down on the bedroll, kissed her again.

She was smiling at him, inviting lips and young features. "I love you Sano." He nodded, began to undress her as they progressed into each other's arms. She was so beautiful, so small. "I want you to be mine forever." He didn't say anything, just dropped his lips to her stomach, ran fingers along her ribs, she shivered and squirmed beneath him. "Stay with me Sano. Never leave." He rose up above her, undressed himself and poised over the top of her. Raven black hair, ice blue eyes, she was everything anyone could want, everything he had ever wanted. "Sano, please…" But he stayed there, above her, just looking down and admiring as something foreign swam through the murk of his thoughts.

"Sano I love you, I want you forever." He stopped, pulled away and got to his feet, stumbling back a few steps to lean against the wall. Something was wrong, this wasn't right. "Sano? Sano what's wrong?" He couldn't answer her, he couldn't answer himself. A hand rose to his brow, pushed his hair back, stayed there. It reminded him of something, a headband maybe, staying there like that. He felt her hand on his shoulder, so small, tiny. "Talk to me…" In that moment he knew he had to get away, moving as quickly as he could towards the door, flinging it open and running out through the halls, out into the courtyard.

Misao didn't follow. And he collapsed to his knees, fingers digging into the dirt as he looked down at his own hands. They were so big, so rough and callused, not like hers. Dirt caked under his fingernails and he looked up at the night sky, all but the brightest stars drowned out by the lights of the city. But the moon was bright and half full, staring down at him in pity or gratitude.

In that moment he heard footsteps behind him, slow and steady, then stumbling once. It was Misao, coming to see what was so wrong with him, coming to see why he had left her, why he had forsaken her. "Saaaannoooooo?" It wasn't Misao. He turned his head, watched the woman approaching him stumble into the dirt, climb back to her knees with a giggle. Karou. She made her way to him, neither of them caring that at the moment they were both nude, and she slipped down beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Hey there Sanowanobanofanomano… How are ya?"

He smiled, "I'm okay…" He thought that maybe he wasn't, but the fog of the sake was still fumbling his mind, making things nothing more than a dreamlike haze he'd forget in the morning. "How are you doin'?"

She gave a shrug, the kind of thing that Karou didn't give, when she was uncertain she mocked bravery, she pretended to know what was right, or she forged on ahead without thinking. She never shrugged. "I'm A okay super duper." She gave a thumbs up sign and snuggled into his neck, "You're a gooood guy Sano."

He shrugged, which jostled her head, but she didn't seem to notice, "I dunno. Ya think sho?" His words were slurred and he couldn't think clearly, it didn't bother him though. He felt like if he were thinking clearly none of this would make the slightest bit of sense.

She nodded, "Uh huh. I may call you stupid sometimes, but you're a nice guy." She looked down then, reached a finger out and poked him, he looked down with her and watched himself be poked. "Your ding a ling is hangin' out."

"Yup."

She looked down herself, "Mine is too."

He frowned, "You don' have a ding a ling. You're a girl." He punctuated the sentence with a poke at her breast, which she watched with drunken interest.

"No no no, you know what I mean. My thingy is out."

"What thingy?"

"My thingy!"

He looked down and nodded, "You're right, your thingy is hangin' out."

She nodded solemnly, "Yours is bigger."

"That's cush I'm a guy. Yours goes inside."

"Yup." And with that she stood to her feet and waddled to the side a little ways, looking around the courtyard and then turning back to Sano in a movement that almost tipped her over, "Bye bye Sano's ding a ling!"

Sano waved at her and she wandered off somewhere, leaving him alone again. The dirt underneath him was cold, and it clung to his sweaty skin uncomfortably, so he stood up and looked around. There was a tree over across the courtyard, and he decided to go wandering towards it. When he got there he slumped against the trunk and sank to his butt to stare up at the branches. There were so many leaves up there, all of them beautiful green, veiny, healthy. The purity of nature.

"You're naked." Sano heard the voice and turned around to look at the tree. A talking tree that sounded an awful lot like Aoshi. He poked it a few times and got no response from it. Obviously it only knew how to say one thing and didn't like repeating itself. Then, it spoke again, "You have an eye for Megumi."

Sano frowned at the tree, then sighed, "She's pretty."

"She's spoken for."

He nodded and leaned back against the talk tree, staring up at its leafy branches again, wondering if maybe the leaves were like its mouth or something. "Yeah, I know. But…" He shook his head and sank down, "I don' know. She'sh a real clashy lady." He wiped a hand across his brow and was again reminded of a headband. "I don' think she likesh me though." He fumbled about his chest for a pack of cigarettes, didn't find any. Skin didn't have pockets. "C'n I bum a shmoke tree?"

"I don't smoke."

Sano nodded, "Good idea, it'sh bad for you." The tree moved slightly, he heard a rustling behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see Aoshi getting up from behind the tree. The tall, quiet man looked down at Sano, emotionless. Sano pointed at the tree, "You know Aoshi, this tree shounds a lot like you."

The man nodded, "I would suspect it does. Go to bed, I'm sure someone's waiting for you there."

Sano looked back towards the building they were sleeping in, "Megumi?"

"That's up to her." Aoshi didn't have any kind of emotion in his voice as he walked away, dressed the same as he had been during dinner.

Sano watched him go, disappearing behind a building, then after a few moments he stood up and started stumbling towards the building. Would Misao still be in his room? If so then he'd have to go sleep in hers. He didn't want to see her right then, and couldn't explain why. It was just an instinct in his gut that he couldn't get by. "Rooster Head." The words gave him pause and he slowly turned. Megumi was standing in a shaft of moonlight that seemed to have been made especially for her, a shining beauty in her kimono. Sano didn't say anything, he just stood there, looking at her as she walked towards him, then felt her hand on his face. "You're not wearing any clothes."

"That'sh wha the tree told me."

She grinned and leaned forward, putting her forehead to his, lips curling in a smile, "Wanna know a secret Rooster Head?" He shrugged and couldn't help looking down the front of her kimono, eyes sinking deep into her cleavage. He licked his lips somewhat nervously and then looked into her eyes, nodding his head and causing hers to do the same. "I think sometimes you're kinda cute." He felt like replying, but didn't know what to say, caught a slap to the face that sent him reeling to the ground accompanied by her laughter. He rolled over to look up and she sat down on him, straddling his chest, "You're cute sometimes Rooster Head. She leaned down and bit his nose, causing him to yelp out in pain at the sudden assault. Then she lay atop him for what seemed like an eternity, just her head on his chest, like she was listening to his heartbeat.

He thought maybe she had fallen asleep, so he poked her forehead and she snapped at his finger with a smile that made him pull it back quickly. Then she got up and bit his nipple once, again making him yelp in pain, and finally stood up. "Stupid." She kicked him once in the ribs with a smile and walked away into the night, leaving him slightly confused. He was glad he was drunk though, or he definitely would've been trying to figure it out. As it was, he just got up, dusted himself off, and stepped into Misao's room. She was there, passed out face first on the floor, drool collecting around her face. Then he looked up and saw Karou standing precariously on a large bowling trophy, stapling something to the ceiling with a stapler she could have gotten from anywhere but here.

"Hi Karou."

"Heeeeeya Sano!"

He nodded to her and then fell down onto his bedroll and was asleep instantly.









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Author's Note: So the great mystery of The Cherry Blossom Night is finally revealed. This puts more shadows on the relationships of our heros, but does it have any pertinence to the Juppon-Gatana plot at all? Most likely not in the least! But stay tuned next time for the next thrilling chapter: The Wolf of Mibu Strikes!