Disclaimer: I'm tired. I'm sorry. I don't give a hoot. But that doesn't change anything. I still don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
A.N; I am so sorry. As excuses go, I forgot the very last step in uploading this chapter, and thought it posted for several weeks. Then I realized I hadn't, so here it is, the fourth chapter. Again, I am very sorry. I welcome flames for this folly.
~ Blessing of the Cursed ~~ a rurouni kenshin fanfic ~
~Scroll Four~A brisk series of raps rang hollowly through the temple. Sanosuke's head jerked up, his bleary eyes still glazed from sleep. Several moments passed before it occurred to Sanosuke he had just awoken from a deep sleep he had not realized he had fallen into. The fire had died out to but a slender curl of smoke, drifting up through the roof. There was now a puddle of water directly underneath the hole, the fallen snow having melted.
Knock-knock-knock!
"Uh?!" Sanosuke grunted stupidly as he leapt to his feet with surprising speed.
"Who would come to a nowhere place like this?" Sanosuke asked with a yawn, scratching his sleep-tousled brown spikes as he approached the bolted doors slowly, with almost leisurely ease. "Oh yeah…me…"
Knock-knock-knock!!!!!!!
"I'm coming, coming! Don't hafta pound down the door," the grumpy samurai growled as he threw aside the long beam and jerked open the doors.
"People these - -da…." Sanosuke's angry mutterings stopped short, his mouth hanging open at the woman that stood in front of him.
"I have the prerogative to do so, baka Tori-atama! Just as I do to throw you out of here, considering this is my residence," the woman said with a disdainful sniff. She flipped her curtain of silky black hair over her shoulder and pushed past the dumbfounded Sanosuke into the temple doorway.
"I see you've made a mess of this place as well…hmph! Men!" she continued as she placed her hands akimbo upon her slender hips. The shock of her unexpected entrance as well as the sting of her rapidly fired insults finally registered fully with Sanosuke.
"H-hey! It was like this before I came here! And you obviously weren't here—" Megumi ignored Sanosuke, proceeding on further inside. He trailed off, baffled at this strange sharp woman. The only other female who would look so defiantly into a man's eyes was his comrade, Kamiya Kaoru. But then again, Jou-chan was no regular demure little slip of girl. Ah, fond memories of when she would kick the ass of any idiot that got too close. A slight frown slipped upon Sanosuke's brow as he wondered how Jou-chan and the stoic General Shinomori have fared. Though he did not care much for the General, the little Missy was like a sister to him.
"Rooster-head! If you want to continue leeching off me, quit standing there like the dumb idiot you are and start cleaning up this mess you've made. After that, you can start pulling your own weight for once by polishing that statue of Buddha!" the woman snapped, her hands akimbo upon her slender hips. She had stopped right before the other hallway that lead to the kitchen, her back facing the samurai; every fiber of her being projecting that she didn't find Sanosuke even worthy to face when talking to. Sanosuke perused her as she walked down the hall, unable to shake off the strange sense of dejá vu as the woman snapped at him.
Then it hit him.
"Oy, Kitsune!" The woman froze, bristling at the name. Sanosuke grinned in triumph, completely unaware at how close his name hit home.
'I got her now! She probably can't stand being compared to a sly and sneaky fox...'
"You don't hafta be so damned hostile!" She turned around, narrowed eyes accented by high spots of red upon her creamy cheeks. To Sanosuke, she looked absolutely beautiful. Dangerously so.
Fiery promises of death danced with her cinnamon eyes.
"Why shouldn't I?" she hissed. "I come home to find my home a complete mess and some lump of a stone strutting around like he owns the place. You should be grateful for the fact that I'm even allowing you to remain here."
"Stones don't strut." Sanosuke's brown eyes narrowed as he snapped back.
"I don't know...with you apparently, anything can happen." With that, the insufferable woman whirled and continued her way down the hall, disappearing into the room with a flick of her thick silky hair. Sanosuke blinked after her. She was good. After all, not many people he knew could turn such a positive phrase into a sharp lethal insult.
"And I don't even know what family could spawn such a spirit Kitsune like her..." Sanosuke grumbled. Spirit kitsune, alright.
No regular vixen could possibly be compared to her. At that moment, he didn't know if that woman, or the much feared Shadow Foxes of five years ago was worse.
~*~
Megumi choked down a frightened gasp as she rounded a corner into one of the rooms. She clenched her fists and calmed the erratic beating of her heart. She sighed softly when Megumi thought she could open her eyes without tears in them. She had nearly forgotten to breath when that insolent boy called after her, hitting so close to her true form's name.
"No matter," Megumi firmly told herself. "He doesn't know, and there is nothing that can prove to anyone that I am a Spirit Kitsune. Just make the best of it, for whatever reason there is…" She peeked out of her temporary hideout and glanced the lanky soldier slowly and steadily picking up the major offenses of his mess. Maybe these Aizu soldiers could do something right after all…
Megumi shook her head and turned to the basket within her arms. Enough about that arrogant fool. She scanned the room, and after deeming it suitable for her intended actions, kneeled to open the basket. Glimpsing the contents, the first genuine smile to grace her full lips shone through. She whispered a quick thanks to Kenshin and set to her own work of unpacking the medical equipment used by many human doctors along with the numerous types of medicinal herbs she was so familiar with.
The small shelf that hugged the corner of the room was perfect, having just enough room to hold all the herbs. Megumi tenderly picked up the last jar and placed it so it was hidden by the larger ceramic jars. If she looked carefully, she could still see the proud little fox emblem drawn upon the surface.
With a small sigh, the dark haired fox turned from her nostalgia and looked upon the state of the rest of the room. No kidding when one would say it was in a sorry state. Megumi simply loosened her shoulders and exited her claimed room in search of a broom.
"Oy! Kitsune! This clean enough for ye?" His cheerful tenor voice echoed in a way that was almost painfully loud among the lonely timbers to Megumi's sensitive ears. She winced and whirled upon the loud rude samurai with a graceful yet vicious billow of cloth and hair.
"Do you want to bring down this entire mountain of snow upon us?!" she hissed. The lanky soldier's eyes narrowed, all light of friendly intent now absent.
"What is it with you?" he growled. "I was just trying to be nice. Sorry."
"Nice?" Megumi snapped back almost instinctively. "Nice is word used to describe gentlemen. As in an adjective that means respectable, favorable, good, grateful …etc. You can try all you want, buddy, but that's all you'll ever by doing; trying!" They glared at each other across the room. To the samurai's surprise, Megumi suddenly tore her suddenly overly bright eyes from his and turned to hurry down the hallway. Her light footsteps quickly faded.
~*~
Sanosuke scratched his head.
"Eh?" he wondered with a perplexed look upon his face. He just couldn't get women. And he thought Jou-chan was complicated with her mood swings and the time of the month and all. Women and their moods. Sanosuke lazily turned in a circle back to his own business. Why should he care about that horrid woman? Sanosuke stopped short and clenched his fist after a long period of silence and stillness.
This isolation thing was making him too damned soft.
The tall samurai turned back around and headed towards the direction that the foxy lady had disappeared to. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his too-short pants and glanced into the rooms he passed along the hall out of the corner of his eyes.
He found her in the kitchen, back to the door. She gripped an old broom within her hands, staring at something that Sanosuke couldn't see. He stood there, frowning at the dejected way that the woman stood, leaning heavily upon the slender broom with shoulders slumped, as if the weight of the world were upon them. Unsure of what to say, Sanosuke simply stood there. He knew that the strange woman had long sensed his presence. Finally, she slowly turned her dark a head the slightest fraction, so one smooth cheek was bared to his view.
"What?" she whispered harshly, her voice hoarse as if tears had fallen. Sanosuke shrugged, then realized the woman's beautiful dark amber orbs were not focused upon him. He uncomfortably shifted his weight from one foot to the other, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets.
"You okay?"
The gentle rise and fall of her shoulders stilled abruptly. Sanosuke's eyes narrowed as a particular thought rose within his mind. These barbs that she so viciously throws at him, it's as if…
Sanosuke crossed the small remaining distance and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. He felt her stiffen even more, if that was even possible. But she lowered her head the slightest fraction and remained, doing nothing to violently push him away as he had expected A small silence passed, neither of the two moving an extra inch. The more lecherous part of Sanosuke's soldierly rough mind marveled at how fragile and slender her shoulder felt.
THWAHWAHAKO!
Ouch. Sanosuke found himself marveling at the intricate working of wood. He could still hear the echoes of wood upon flesh, or was it just his ringing ears?
"Don't. Touch. Me." Sanosuke focused his dizzy eyes, and allowed a long lopsided grin to curve his mouth. She was mumbling something strange. He couldn't figure what she was trying to express, but he didn't care at all. All he could think of were her bright cinnamon eyes, how they shone so angrily, hardly hidden by the long thick lashes that lined them. None of the whores in any brothel could possibly compare to this vision, despite the pounds of make-up they where and the provocative outfits they attire themselves with. This modest angel, much like a mournful swan, outshone all those twittery crows…pretty…
Sanosuke squeezed his left eye close, as sudden flashes of pain rang out from the left side of his face. A familiar tickling sensation ran along his temple, and red started to color his vision. That face over his, so beautiful, twisted strangely and then slowly faded to darkness.
~*~
"Samurai?" Megumi looked uncertainly at the limp body upon the ground behind her. These human muscles, they are so large compared to those of her vixen body. She had only meant to stun him with a light knock to the head, but the broomstick snapped, many of the wooden splinters embedding themselves into the side of his head.
She dropped to her knees, lying her dark head upon his breast. One of those splinters, they…they could have pierced the soft area known as the temple among humans. If only even a half inch deep into the temple, it could kill. As much as Megumi hated this worthless stupid being, her Healer's heart beat erratically, fearing the worst. As a Healer, it was the ultimate sin within her clan to take the life of another with paws/hands created to give life. She waited for a long while, but his chest neither gave rise or rest.
"Samurai?!" she cried out, shaking his arm. She tugged frantically at his shirt sleeve. Her panicked handling caused the loose ties at his waist to thread apart, shifting the cloth to expose a bandaged torso. Megumi's small temper tantrum upon the soldier ceased abruptly, as she stared at the red-stained cloth with horror. Reacting instinctively, she removed the rest of the Aizu samurai's too-small shirt, her eyes widening at the wounds, old and new, that decorated his body. What kind of monstrosities is Aizu experiencing?
One of his bandaged hands caught her eye, and shakily took his larger hand within her slender own. This was the one she had so hatefully buried her kitsune fangs in. Anger at herself welled up within her chest. How could she be so childish? It seems as if everything she did against this man, it seemed to come so by itself. She just couldn't say anything even remotely nice to him.
Megumi gently set his hand back by the samurai's side. No pulse was present either. She studied his face, surprised at how young the man looked, hardly 20 years at all. Megumi stubbornly averted her gaze, biting her lip.
Plip.
Megumi looked down in surprise at the small droplet of wetness that rested upon the back of her hand. Tears? She reached up, feeling the strange salty wetness at the corners of her eyes. Kenshin had warned her about the quirks of a human female's body. Of the monthly flows, the mood swings, and tears. Tears came easily, as these weak things cried often, using them to many purposes. But why was she crying? And these droplets would not stop coming out. She angrily wiped them away.
"Crying won't solve anything," she told herself defiantly. Megumi turned back to the samurai. He wasn't dead yet. Somehow, she just knew, deep down within her soul. Perhaps…she could…she was still at full power…he wouldn't know….she could just say he was out for a long time…well…Megumi took a deep breath. And then she slowly closed her eyes. She was going to make up for the injuries she committed with hands made for healing.
A.N. Very short chappie. A small look into Megumi's character. She's a bit childish and out of character, however (you can and will tell in all my stories, present and future) I go for the kind of plot where the character grows into their full Rurouni Kenshin character through the experiences in my fic. Review! Any ideas and topics for sweet Megumi and Sanosuke moments, please do tell! I have a little trouble with this kind of sweet waffy fluff, either it's violence, extreme silliness, or angst with me. Sigh. Constructive reviews also welcome.
P.S. Sanosuke's supposed to seem a little deranged in his little mental soliloquy after Megumi hit him. He just bwonked on the head!