To The Rescue
Disclaimer: You know the drill... I am but a humble writer. Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Watsuki-sama, manga/anime extraordinaire.
Author's Notes: Whoa, the 2nd chapter. Basically, this chapter is more in-depth character development.
" " - conversation
[italicized] - thoughts
:: :: - action
**
Kaoru was panicking. Kenshin wasn't panicking. Why isn't Kenshin panicking?! Ahhhh! This can't be good. The plane is going to crash!!! She looked out her window and noticed a speck of land smack in the middle of the ocean. It was getting bigger and bigger and she couldn't take her eyes off of it. She felt Kenshin's hands fasten her in. She had no time to thank him because the world before her went black.
**
Chapter 2: So You're Saying We're Stranded?
"Che. Well, that wasn't as smooth as I wanted it to be." Hiko said silently cursing himself. He had to admit, his small jet was quite the fighter, but in very rough conditions, it still had its kinks. He managed to spot the small island just in time to avoid a nosedive into the ocean. Thankfully his trained eye saved his passengers, the crew, and himself. The captain let out the breath he had been holding in. He quickly got out of his seat, somewhat disoriented, and made his way to the passengers. Apparently, the crash wasn't enough to really injure anyone, but it had enough force to throw passengers out of their seats. It was fairly silent, but a few muffled moans could be heard, one of which came from a man lying on the ground in front of him. Hiko, concerned for the man's well being, gave the passenger a couple of soft kicks on the head.
Ouch! What is that banging? Sano slowly opened his eyes and tried to adjust to the light. A realization soon hit him. There was a strange man hovered over him. "Ahhhh… who are you?" Sanosuke jerked forward. Sano's abrupt movement caused him to fall back to the ground and wince in pain.
Hiko rolled his eyes. "I'm your captain and pilot, Seijuro Hiko."
"Way to land," Sano drawled with a sarcastic undertone. "I could have been killed!"
"Exactly, if it weren't for my amazing piloting skills, you could have been killed." What a total ahou. "Can you get up?" Sanosuke got up gradually and steadied himself. He gave Hiko a nod of affirmation. "Good. Help me with the other passengers," Hiko called over his shoulder as he made his way toward a young couple.
The other passengers! I totally forgot! Megumi… Sano scanned the plane. He landed a good distance from his seat. As soon as he spotted her, he ran to her aid. Her eyes were opened, but she wasn't saying anything, she just wasn't animated. She could hardly move as a result of the shock. Sanosuke placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a good shake.
When she didn't respond to him, he sincerely began to worry. In truth, Sanosuke didn't know Megumi all that long. They had separately won tickets from their local Tokyo radio station, RK101, for a week's trip to New York City. The day they met was the day they had to claim their prize from the retrieval offices, only three weeks before the trip. Their "relationship" was certainly an interesting one. They were obviously attracted to each other, er, scratch that. Sano was obviously attracted to Megumi for the first week. Megumi was callous and bigheaded at times, which discouraged Sano from expressing the way he felt about her. Secretly however, Sanosuke intrigued her. Physically he was absolutely gorgeous. There was no trying to deny that. Personality wise, he was almost charming. Well, charming in a definitely cocky way.
^3 weeks prior^
Damn, if this traffic doesn't start moving, I'm going to lose my ticket. Megumi got off the parkway and tried to take the side roads. It proved to be a smart move on Megumi's part because she made it to the RK101 office with exactly 3 minutes to spare. She parked her car and ran toward the elevator. Yards before she reached it, the doors began to close. She shouted to the young man inside the elevator, "Hold the," ::shut:: "door." Just my luck. She opted for the stairs and scampered up until she got the 6th floor. Panting and wheezing, Megumi rammed the door open and threw herself on the nearest chair in the lobby.
Sanosuke was waiting for the secretary to call him into the office. He sat himself down and picked up the GQ lying on the coffee table. He began reading about some weird middle-aged actor's lack of libido, when suddenly, ::BOOM:: … ::THUMP::. Uhhhh, that was interesting. He snuck a peak at the woman who had caused such a scene. Great Kami-sama! She is such a babe!
Megumi was still trying to catch her breath. Well if that wasn't the workout of the century, I don't know what is. At least I can guarantee that half of those carbs I ate for breakfast were put to good use. Her idle ramblings were cut short when she noticed a man approaching her.
"Why hello there, foxy lady."
Foxy lady? What the fuck? "I suppose you think that's a compliment, don't you?" The man began to open his mouth to reply but was interrupted. "Oh, don't answer that! Hey, wait a minute. I recognize you. You're that imbecile from the elevator. You know, it's common courtesy to hold the elevator when someone's trying to catch it. I've never met such a impolite human being before in my entire life," Megumi finished in a huff.
"Whoa there fox. Calm yourself." Not letting himself be defeated by such an accusation, Sano introduced himself. "Sagara Sanosuke," he said as he offered his hand. "And you are?"
Grudgingly taking his proffered hand, Megumi replied, "Takani Megumi."
"Well, Megitsune, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'll ignore the fact that you called me an imbecile and an impolite human being only because it looks like you've had a rough day."
"Yeah, no thanks to you!" Megumi's verbal assault was just about to begin, but was suspended by a woman clearing her throat.
"Eh-hem. Sagara-san," the woman gave Megumi a look over and said, "and I'm guessing you are Takani-san, Yoshiyo-san will see you now." The two got up and made their way to the door marked 'RK101 Retrievals'. Sano held the door for Megumi and walked in after her.
"Ah. Here are my winners now." Not losing any time, Mr. Yoshiyo presented Megumi and Sanosuke with their tickets. "Here are your tickets. You leave in exactly 3 weeks. Your flight is at 6 a.m. You both understand that you will be staying together for the 7 days and 6 nights in New York? Everything is all taken care of. Well, I'm sorry to push you out of here like this, but I'm in an awful hurry." Yoshiyo-san practically ran out the door. "Close my office door when you leave. Thanks a lot!"
For three weeks, Megumi and Sano would meet off and on to get to know one another. They became friends right away, well, sort of. Their friendship consisted mainly of constant fighting.
This was certainly going to be an charming four weeks, Megumi could just feel it.
^^
"Oi! OI! Megumi, Megumi, wake up!" Megumi jumped from her stupor. Did he just call me Megumi? Seeing that she had come out of her daze, Sanosuke chided, "Never do that to me again, do you hear me? You scared me half to death." Their eyes met and Megumi could see deep concern in those russet orbs that could only belong to Sano. She gave him a smile and he surprised her when he started to blush. Yup, he's charming all right.
**
Hiko went over to the young couple after dealing with the rooster look-alike. The younger man had his arms around the girl, using his body as a shield and it was apparent that he was pretty bruised up. The two sat motionless, but were conscious. Hiko was relieved. He started speaking to the man. "Excuse me sir, oi, can you hear me?" Aoshi nodded. "Are you ok?"
Aoshi looked up toward Hiko and tried moving. "Yes, yes, I am captain." Aoshi's body ached. "Most definitely bruised, but I think I'll be ok."
Satisfied with the passenger's condition, Hiko asked Aoshi to check on the girl he was holding. "I'll be back after I make sure everyone is alright." With that, Hiko walked away.
Aoshi looked down at his valued bundle. She looked like a deer in the headlights. "Misao. Misao, look at me." Aoshi waited for his words to sink in. Misao glanced up at Aoshi, whose arms were still wrapped around her petite form. At the realization, color rushed to Misao's cheeks. Soon after, Misao's body began to shake and Aoshi could see tears forming in her eyes.
"I was scared. I was so scared…"
"I know, Misao. I would never let any harm befall you."
Of course you wouldn't. Misao thought to herself. You're too busy trying to protect me all the time. Mou, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm nineteen, dammit! "Thanks a lot, Aoshi," Misao muttered.
Aoshi was very confused. What just happened? I can tell she wants me to act 'sweet', but why does she push me away every time I try? Did I say something wrong? Well, if that's the way she feels, I can only respect that and back off. "Well, Misao, we had better get moving. There are other passengers who need our aid."
Aoshi got up before Misao could say anything. An equally confused Misao, rose to her feet and walked over to two kids.
**
Kaoru's eyes fluttered open. She looked around and remembered the crash. Kenshin was next to her, staring at the seat in front of him. She waved her hand a few times in front of Kenshin's face. He jumped slightly.
Kenshin hugged Kaoru. "Oh thank kami, you're ok. Kaoru-dono, sessha doesn't know what he would do if something had happened to his best friend."
"I can't believe we're alive!" Kaoru smiled at Kenshin. "Thanks so much for strapping me in. I would have been a dead woman for sure," Kaoru added jokingly. Kenshin's eyes flashed amber.
"Kaoru-dono, you shouldn't joke about such things."
"I'm sorry, Kenshin. I didn't mean it. I was just trying to lighten the mood. I-I'm sorry," Kaoru said dejectedly. Her head hung in shame. Kaoru hated when Kenshin's eyes did that weird changing color thing. It made her uncomfortable and most of all scared. He always became so angry when that happened. The one time she decided to yell back, he nearly bit her head off. She never tried it again.
"Hey. You shouldn't be apologizing. It was my fault. I just overreacted." Kenshin lifted Kaoru's chin and she looked up into his eyes. Kirei, always.
"It's ok, Kenshin. It's all in the past." Kaoru smiled reassuringly and Kenshin smiled back.
"Yo, busu! We're all getting off the plane. I suggest you move that ugly face before it harms the plane further." Yahiko said with a grin.
"WHAT?!" Kaoru stormed up to Yahiko and bopped him on the head. "If you weren't a child, I would… I would… argh!!!" Yahiko snickered in response. Hey, wait a second. "Hey! Don't call me 'kid'!"
"Ha! So I've found your weakness, have I?" An evil glint appeared in Kaoru's eyes and she started cackling.
Kenshin sweat dropped, grabbed Kaoru's arm, and headed for the exit.
**
All the passengers of the small jet gathered at the coast. All of them demanded to know where they were, when the plane would start up again, etc.
"Eh-hem. If you would all quiet down." Hiko waited… and waited… and waited… "WILL ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP?!" Everyone turned to Hiko in silence. "Thank you." Hiko looked around and explained their unfortunate situation, "It appears we've landed on an unknown island. It didn't show up on my radar, so I'm sure no one will be able to determine where we are. We're going to have to make smoke signals and hope for the best. Until someone finds us, we're stuck here."
"So you're trying to tell me that we're stranded on a deserted island?!" Tae demanded. I knew I should have worked for Akabeko Airlines.
To Be Continued…
**
Ok, as far as the characters are concerned, all normal pairings apply. I know it seems like I've been focusing a lot on Sanosuke and Megumi in this chapter. Don't worry, I'm planning on dividing this story so that each couple K/K, S/M, and A/M get equal amounts of story time. Ok, A/M is a tad bit OOC in this chapter. But come on people, Aoshi thought it was a life or death situation!!! It won't happen again. I mentioned Yahiko and Tsubame in the previous chapter. They are together, but their is not really all that important to the story and personally, I cannot write about them.
I suppose now would be a good time I do ages, huh? Kenshin: 26 – Kaoru: 21 – Sanosuke: 22 – Megumi: 24 – Aoshi: 25 – Misao: 19 – Yahiko: 14 – Tsubame: 14 – Hiko: 43 – Tae: 30
Reviewers: Thanks Jacki (I'm glad you think so ^_^), Robyn (I do believe that you have just bestowed on me the nicest compliment. =D Yay!), and Jonathan (Hehe, after your review, I decided I would update, so I pulled an all-nighter to do so) for the support. =D You make me feel so loved.
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Arigatou for reading! Till next time, ja ne!
-yume_no_naka