Disclaimer: Ahem…
I happen to be very broke,
Which means I have no money.
Kenshin is not mine to own,
So please forgive this story…Erm, you can see why I prefer to write stories instead of poetry….
-a rurouni kenshin fanfic-
"This is good, Megitsune!" Sanosuke exclaimed as he shoved more fish into his mouth. The elegant woman who sat across from him wrinkled her nose in disgust at the bits of food that sprayed from his mouth. The other ignored the slight expression and snatched a few more pieces into his bowl of rice.
"Rooster-head," Megumi finally declared, "If you would be so kind as to chew with your mouth closed, like I've been telling you to the last two weeks, I would greatly appreciate it." She furthered her point by placing a small piece of fish into her own mouth and chewing properly.
"If not?" the spiky-haired samurai challenged with a raised eyebrow. She could hardly hit him with another broomstick. The fox was hiding something, and she most likely knew it would only bring up questions as to her unnatural healing abilities if she had to heal him again.
Megumi faltered slightly, unknowingly thinking along the same lines as the annoying Tori-atama in front of her. However, she quickly composed herself and raised her nose in haughty disdain.
"I'll poison your rice."
Sanosuke coughed and stared incredulously at her. Megumi simply looked at him, her expression now as neutral as that of someone who was just commenting on the weather.
"I have an extensive knowledge of herbs and their uses. They can, along with the usual medical uses, be employed for natural laxatives, vomit-inducers, and of course 'putting a person out of his misery'. Doctors can be very merciful."
Or completely merciless, was the unspoken yet implied addition. Sanosuke shivered, and closed his mouth as he chewed.
--
Megumi lowered her head guiltily, hiding behind her curtain of hair. She hadn't meant to sound so serious and forbidding. Instead, her poor attempt at humor was taken as a true threat. And he did complement her cooking…
"Thanks," she muttered abruptly, not looking at the young man sitting across from her. His head shot up, brown eyes wide with confusion.
"Huh? What did I do?"
Megumi automatically lifted one eyebrow, before crossing her arms and replying.
"Think hard, Rooster. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, unless you have the memory of a goldfish—"
"Oh that! It is good! We'll have to get more fish the next time we go to town, and maybe even beef!" Megumi sighed mentally as she tuned Sanosuke's words out, only listening to the surprisingly pleasant hum of his tenor voice. Again, he got the wrong idea. And she had to fix that.
"And after lunch, you're washing the dishes and polishing the statue of Buddha. I want to be able to see my reflection on that statue when you're done." With that said, Megumi put a final piece of fish into her mouth and stood up with her empty bowls. Sanosuke stared after her as she glided to the kitchen and set the bowls by a small tub of melted snow.
"Women," he growled finally. He gathered the remaining bowls and set to work on his chores reluctantly.
A polite knock resounded through the room. Sanosuke, sweaty from his taxing ministrations on the golden Buddha turned to open the door. Megumi was in her room with her herbs, making the new brews and mixtures for a future trip down the mountain the town.
Two women were revealed, both appearing to be in their early thirties. Their cheeks were flushed from the exertions of climbing a steep mountain path, but they held themselves with an unaffected regal grace. The taller of the two stepped forward primly, her geta clacking lightly on the wooden floor, and bowed.
"Good evening, young Shiro-san. We are here to visit and pay our respects to the lady Takani-san. I am Kuromori Chikyu." Kuromori-san had her dark hair done in a simple bun, but it was smooth and shone like polished obsidian. Her almond eyes were set in an eternal smile despite that her mouth was but a polite red line. The merry twinkle in her light grey eyes paired well with the deep crimson kimono she wore.
The other woman was just as exotic, though her beauty came from the masked emerald eyes and pale curve of her creamy cheeks. Her deep green kimono reminded Sanosuke of the evergreens that grew in the barren mountain space.
"And my name is Ichimatsu Midoriko."
"Oh," Sanosuke replied dumbly, settling into the role of the simple and honest son. "Good evening Kuromori-san. Good evening Ichimatsu-san." He bowed awkwardly and then shuffled out of the way for the two ladies to enter. Ichimatsu-san glided in after her companion, her swaying steps reminded the samurai even more of a tall pine tree in the breeze. The green kimono didn't help to divert such an image from the bystander's mind.
"Please make yerselves comfortable. I'll get Kaa-chan," Sanosuke told them after closing the door. He left them in the main room and plodded heavily to Megumi's closed door.
"Kaa-chan, we have guests," he called loudly with a slow knock. Quick shufflings were heard as Megumi got the message. Moments later, the door slid open to reveal an elderly medicine woman, her veiled hat upon her head. She greeted the two ladies with delighted greetings. After a few moments of exchanging pleasantries, Megumi turned back to Sanosuke.
"Shiro-chan, would you please go make some tea and tidy up for our dear guests from town?" Sanosuke nodded, a goofy smile upon his face and then turned down to the kitchen. If he wasn't mistaken, Megumi was telling him to hide all evidence of his connections to the Aizu army. Just in case.
Their voices carried well along the empty hallway. Sanosuke listened carefully as he set a pot of water on a small fire to boil, and then tossed some tea leaves into the brew. The three women talked of inane things; the best home remedies for a cold, how to deal with angry teenagers…etc.
Sanosuke soon tuned them out and returned to setting out an old tea set he found on a tray with the tea. After sneaking a few bites of leftover fish and rice, he strolled out with the tray and set it between the women.
"Thank you, Shiro-chan," Megumi told him. 'Shiro' nodded happily and left for his room.
"And Shiro-chan? You might want to wipe away that rice on your chin!" Megumi called after him. The other two women cracked smiles and hid them behind their teacups. Sanosuke just grumbled as he shut his door and methodically piled his armor into the chest where he had found his current clothes with as little noise as possible. Women existed to torture him.
On cue, the chattering women outside burst into soft laughter. Shaking his head, Sanosuke headed out of his hallway back to the other hallway, where the kitchen was. While crossing over through the main room, the three ladies took no notice of his passing. Megumi's back was turned to that hallway.
Sanosuke ignored them and turned into the hallway to lead to food. He passed Megumi's room, then paused and looked inside. Her door had been left partially open. No one would notice that he slipped in and looked at what Megitsune does most of the day in her room. None of the women out in the main room noticed when Sanosuke slipped in with a second's impulsive decision.
At first glance, her room was perfectly normal. The futon was perfectly folded, the tatami mat perfectly swept, and the room in general was perfectly neat and tidy. But that was just the first glance. Sanosuke turned his attention away from the rest of the room when he caught sight of the basket that Megumi always carried with her when she went outside. It was surprisingly new, despite that it should have been used for at least three months. As he bent closer, Sanosuke found three long strands of white hair, unusually soft and pure when he lifted the lid slightly. He ignored his first idea of where these hairs came from and turned to study the tall shelf full of little jars that the basket had rested by.
Each jar was different. As curious as he was, Sanosuke only noticed one jar. He had almost missed it with his first couple scans of the fox's inventory. Had he not been blankly staring at that area for several minutes as he considered his conscience in accordance to prying so, the sharp samurai would have missed it completely.
Sanosuke stepped closer to the shelf and pushed away the other obstructing jars to reveal a small plain jar with a small picture painted on the side. And then he stopped breathing.
The shoji door slid fully open.
Megumi waved her farewells to Kuromori-san and Ichimatsu-san as they exited and closed the door after them. Kuromori-san had been a perky woman, eyes bright and merry, whilst Ichimatsu-san kept her cool composure despite 'Shiro's' antics and funny situations Megumi made up at Sanosuke's expense. They hadn't stayed long, but Megumi felt as if they were already friends for years. When was the last time she had been able to talk so openly with another female? The two women had accepted her easily, telling her anecdotes of life down in the town. Megumi allowed herself to almost grin widely in glee as she turned from the door. She looked forward to their next promised visit.
Megumi happily returned where they had seated themselves, clearing all the leftover trash back onto the tray. Before she rose to her feet, the dark-haired fox-girl removed her veiled hat. Now if only they could stop thinking her as a decrepit old medicine woman, things would be perfect.
But Megumi knew she could never do that. For one thing, the townspeople would become suspicious that one so youthful as herself could have such an extensive knowledge of herbal medicine. Besides, a young woman and a young man ununited by marriage living together would be scandalous. She knew that Sanosuke wouldn't be staying too long at all. He was a soldier, and though he had never mentioned it, Megumi suspected that he had fled from a battle impossible to fight. With a home so close to the border, his sudden appearance and future disappearance would very likely bring about more suspicion without a proper and viable explanation. Somehow, just his safety alone was enough reason to keep her disguise, though Megumi couldn't figure out why for the life of her.
Stupid Healer instincts…she finally grumbled to herself.
Megumi gathered both hat and tray into her slender arms and trotted softly to the kitchen hallway. Upon passing her room, she decided to rid herself of that abominable hat first. Megumi slid open the door all the way with the hat and tray balanced on the other hand.
Her surprised cinnamon eyes met wide brown ones.
The tray went crashing onto the ground, the tea splattering everywhere. But it went unnoticed.
He knew.
She could see it in his wide eyes, that he at least had a very good idea what was going one. He probably hated her now, for lying to him, for being something that everyone feared for their strange powers, for "bad luck" her kind would bring. A strange pain exploded in her chest, compressing her tender heart in an unbearably tortuous way.
"You…" she gritted out over the pain. Sanosuke backed away from her fearfully. Megumi could scream; he was afraid of her, too. She clenched her fist to keep her hands from visibly trembling. He saw this small action, and wouldn't meet her eyes. A small corner of her clouded mind told Megumi she should be angry too, for she never gave him any reason to truly be suspicious of her that would cause him to fear for his own life. Yet, Sanosuke had betrayed her trust, and here he was, nosing around in her private room.
Megumi let the irrational rage wash over her, temporarily pushing her pain and betrayal to far dusty corners of her mind.
"YOU JERK!!" she screamed as she descended upon the shocked young man and slapped him with all her strength. The uncomfortable feeling in her chest didn't abate, still so suffocating and constricting. Deeming this not enough, she fisted the other hand and punched him hard in the jaw.
The tray she held dropped to the ground with a deafening crash, pottery and tea splattering everywhere.
Wide cinnamon eyes drilled into his brown ones.
She stared at him in disbelief for a few moments before narrowing her eyes menacingly. Sanosuke thought a flash of pain danced through her eyes, but he wasn't sure, as the anger that rolled from her slender body in waves was much more distracting. Her fists clenched. The samurai didn't dare to meet her eyes.
"…You…" she gritted out from between her teeth. She was very upset. Very, very upset. Sanosuke backed away fearfully. Damn him and his curiosity.
"YOU JERK!!!" she finally screamed. Her hand followed the verbal lashing immediately with a much more painful one.
Sanosuke winced as her hand met his cheek with a loud crack. He forced his fighter's instinct to not retaliate; he deserved that one. She hadn't pried in his business, nor do anything of the sort that intended him harm. Her other hand came at his jaw with a dull crack usually produced when one's jaw was wrenched in an unnatural direction. He also deserved that one.
Sanosuke sat down on her futon with a heavy sigh as his hands closed around Megumi's wrists before she could hit him again, as much as he probably deserved them all. She struggled with great fervor, lashing out with angry kicks that stung wherever they landed. Each hit seemed to burrow further into his chest with the storming expression on her flushed oval face, only making her otherwise pathetic attempts more painful than the dullest sword.
"Megumi," he said softly, careful to force his low voice to nothing more than a monotone. "Please stop." She ceased her attacks at such intimate usage of her first name, but continued to tremble with ire, face hidden behind her thick curtain of hair. The young woman seemed so upset, almost too upset for all this to be just because some strange young man was caught snooping around in her room. Sanosuke opened his mouth to continue and apologize, but somehow, he couldn't.
Damned pride…
"You…left the door open…" he finally said, wincing at how lame he sounded.
Great going, Sagara the Great! She's really assuaged now, cuz it's her fault! What a way to make yourself sound so smart and cool in her eyes!
Sanosuke just shook his head. Since when did anyone's opinion matter than his own?
His tight grip on Megumi's wrists slackened. Sanosuke stared at Megumi's lowered face.
-End Scroll Seven-
Author's Corner:
I'm very happy. Two nice juicy Sano/Meg moments AND a little plot development (well sorta….). Some things will be explained next chapter (Megumi's little OOC tantrum attack for example). A dull sword would probably hurt more than a sharp one if enough strength was put behind it.
By the way:
Kuromori – dark forest
Chikyu - earth
Ichimatsu – one pine
Midori – green (I dunno what the ko is for, it just sounded nice)
You'll recognize the names Kuromori Chikyu and Midori if you read my other story. Please do check it out.
Special thanks to JML, mushi-azn, Eevee, eriesalia, Drisowen, DrowAngel, LivingImpaired, and AnimeFreakPerson for reviewing chapter 6. Heartfelt thanks to all who have ever reviewed. Reviews make me feel fuzzy...(on the inside, I mean!)