Don't Say it With Flowers!
By Starhopper
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.
Time for dinner! Please tell me that you're just starving for some juicy gossip with a side of delicious romance?
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- Say it With a Celebration Part 5: Celebrate the Eternal Pledge of Devotion
The topic of startling the Rurouni and the Kasshin Master from rolling around in the grass was dropped when Sanosuke placed the heaping platters of onigiri and steaming bowls of soup in front of the drooling guests.
"Oi Sanosuke, what happened to your face?"
Casting an almost imperceptible glare in the direction of the doctor, the street fighter in question turned to face the smart-mouth samurai. His swollen left eye twitched in irritation.
"Get in a fight?"
"Dame," he spat, cocking an eyebrow. "Your other guess?"
"With a futon?" Yahiko motioned towards Megumi with his bowl and waited with a sparkle in his eye for the fun to start.
At that implication, Sano wordlessly rose, walked around the table to pick up the kid's now-empty bowl with a mumble of "Let me refill that for you," and was about to exit the room when Yahiko coughed.
"And that's, 'Let me refill that for you, MASTER'." The kid reminded him with a grin.
Mumbling something purposefully incoherent, the tall figure continued on his way out of the room.
Kaoru's eyes followed his exit, then switched back to the doctor who was struggling to keep up her front. "Eh, Megumi-san," she started, prodding the woman's shoulder with her chopsticks. "He still doesn't know we know?"
Through her delirious giggles, Megumi managed, "Nope."
"And as his," Kenshin fumbled for the words as a hand went to sheepishly rub the back of his neck. "Uh . . . significant other, shouldn't you have already told him de gozaru yo?"
Megumi pouted. "But Ken-san, he's just too easy to play," her gleaming eyes shifted to look at her boyfriend's Master. " . . . Thanks to Yahiko for getting the game started."
Yahiko took his bow and tapped on the table with the edges of his chopsticks. "Well two months is a long time to keep something like this a secret,"
Megumi tucked the glowing smile of achievement firmly in her cheek. There really was no need to tell the boy that their affair had been hidden away under the blankets for twice that long before her Rooster had stupidly let it slip. "Yes, it is." As an aside, she sniggered, "Obviously it's harder for other people to remain so subtle."
Misao, if possible, blushed even darker than the cherry light her entire body was bathed in. For a quarter of a second, Aoshi smirked. But he had replaced his ease with a rocky countenance that refused to sway towards one emotion or another.
Recovering from her own bout of embarrassment, Kaoru nudged Megumi in the ribs. "We all had to," she faltered as Kenshin's smile sent fluffy butterflies flying in her stomach. "Restrain ourselves from," her words dissolved into a nervous giggle and accompanying blush.
Everyone nodded, with the exception of the youngest members of the anniversary entourage. Yahiko had Tsubame entranced with another tale from their adventures in Kyoto. Aoshi closed his eyes and listened to the boy use the story-telling as a vehicle to flirt with the girl, his own mind drifting to how he could've changed the current of his own emotions before they had overpowered his senses. Would he had done better by telling her his sins instead of quietly repenting them? Could he have avoided this afternoon's little incident? He had tried to ignore his inherent attraction to her for so long, then it had just -
"Boiled over,"
The ninja's head, along with everyone else's snapped up to catch the former gangster holding a cooking pot scorched through the center and looking very frustrated . . . to say the very least for a man like him, proud as he was.
Slapping a chuckling Megumi hard on the shoulder, Kaoru looked at the man. "Nani, Sanosuke-san?"
"Kuso, I'm no cook!" he pleaded with his friends, holding the cooking implement towards them. "That was the last of the Miso soup too,"
"Well at least there's rice,"
"And we still have what's left on our plates, de gozaru yo."
"Yeah, just guard it from Sanosuke though,"
"YAHIKO!"
"Oh, ho ho ho ho ho!"
Sano's ears heard nothing of the verbal sword-clashing of the sensei and student, nor of the unabashed musings of the ninja, who was now thinking things over aloud.
"That's right it just all boiled over,"
"Did you say something Anata?"
"Iie, just realizing what I would have done, what I had driven myself to do ever since I knew that I-"
Nope, all he heard was the laughter of the doctor, mocking him once again. In play it was all well and good, but given their situation, (his in particular with the blackmail) this was just degrading. Especially when he still bore the brunt of her power in their relationship along his jaw. The bruise pounded even harder as he watched her fall to the floor.
And that's what truly killed him.
"Tsamaneya," he spat violently before striding over to her and yanking her up to her feet. "Do ya honestly think this is funny?" he stared deep into her eyes, letting her know he was serious with both tone and the conscious effort he made to seem imposing by leaning over her. "It's your fault that I'm in this mess,"
From somewhere outside of his seething rage, Sano heard Yahiko snidely remark, "I think you should sit down, slave, and let these folks finish their dinners,"
Misao said it before he could turn away from the now trembling fox he held in the palm of his hand. "Pipe down brat!"
But the fear dissipated with a second wind, "ME? Who did who a favor when she accepted your sorry excuse of an anniversary present?"
"Oh, don't you dare dig back there for comebacks, Kitsune," he growled, brown eyes growing wide in outrage that bordered on hurt.
"Come on everyone," Kenshin and Aoshi were already helping the girls with clearing the table as the argument became that much more heated. "Let's leave these two alone with their differences,"
"You have no idea what I did for you,"
"No I don't," she sniffed, moving herself closer to balance the lean of power. "Because as soon as you cockily said that your broken fist was my present, my mind was clouded with how much I love that damn hand of yours and the body that goes along with it! And the next thing I knew you had kissed me,"
"You kissed me," he reminded her with a firm shake on her captive arm. "And you understood then what I'm still fighting for now,"
"And that would be?"
"That I have to at least look like I have some say in our life together, if not actually have the real thing!"
"You want respect?"
"No, I want cooperation," his mouth was a firm line of determination.
"I didn't even think you knew what that word meant," her own was curled in a playful snarl.
"I love you,"
Now she was taken aback. She lurched forward and crushed her lips to his, then lurched back to her original place in the argument. "Now cooperate with that!"
Instead of shoving her against the wall and kissing her back with at least that much intensity she had just thrown at him, Sano threw down her arm and held up his fist. The same one she had attended to those many months ago in Kyoto.
She instinctively cowered and would have sunk to the floor if not for her knowledge that he would never hurt her like he had. Sanosuke may have been a brash young man at times, (well, all the time) but he knew her limitations and the past that sculpted them so.
Sanosuke recognized her defensive position and the look of rage eased into a complacent frown. He shook his head as she righted herself. "Megumi, I fought for your reputation, just like I've always done," his voice dropped off as he looked down at the ground sheepishly and a hand came to rub the back of his neck. But his eyes were clear and focused when he looked back up into her own. "It was for you that I slammed this fist into a bakayarou's face for calling you a whore who ran a brothel-clinic,"
"You - you did that?" she found herself reaching for his right hand, and once she had it pulled it close to her chest. "For me?"
"Kuso Megumi, who else would I do it for?" she expected him to smile as he lovingly said this, but he wore a countenance of outrage instead of affection. After a moment, he pulled his palm away from her grasp and stared hard at the ground. "It's the only thing I have to offer you!"
Outside the kitchen the girls were gathered round the slightly open shoji, jostling for a better position to witness the unexpected turn of events. Yahiko joined them, somewhat reluctantly though with one foot set to send him springing in the opposite direction of the door. Even Kenshin and Aoshi, who had been smartly avoiding watching the argument and possibly getting involved, turned their heads and drew closer to their girlfriends for a peek at what might happen.
"Sanosuke," Megumi's breath caught when she saw his knuckles turn white as hot iron and the inner-fire spread into those boyish brown eyes as he looked at her. The muscles in his arm tightened and released in a downward lash at the defenseless air. Megumi was sure that anyone who had been under that punch would have been sent crashing through the ceiling of Hell on impact.
Stopping herself from trying to console his obvious frustration, the doctor settled on clasping both of her hands in front of herself, head hanging between her shoulders. "Gomen ne,"
"Iie," he breathed, letting the word wash over him with a tranquilizing sigh, "I'm sorry," The placidity was edged out with frustration once more as he let another punch fly to his invisible foe. "I - I'm relieved that I can rely on someone else. That just proves that I'm not by myself anymore." He nodded to himself as if this justified his fruitless but passionate punches.
"I'm not either," Megumi murmured as she internalized what he had just said. Hell, the whole room resonated with what he had just said while her heart pounded to every echo of every word. A feeling started to creep over her very slowly, starting with a tingle at the back of her neck, spreading down to cloak her shoulders and flow like warm butter along her arms to coat her fingertips. It swerved about her hips and fleshed out around her stomach that, surprisingly, fluttered while the sensation continued to wind its way down the backs of her thighs, trail over her legs, and zoom over her entire aura to make her aware of the syllables he was forming on his lips right at that moment.
"And yet, I'm also," he struggled with the words and Megumi rose her head to watch him claim the right ones. "Also frustrated at myself for letting it happen when I know I can give nothing in return,"
The woman's head snapped up at that last admission, her mouth open to chastise him to the greatest measure. But she closed it as his eyes flicked down to hers in warning to let him finish.
"I'm a gambler, a guy with not the cleanest of records, dirt-poor,"
"Sanosuke, you're not poor. Sure you evade paying up the money in medical bills that you owe the clinic,"
The eyebrow that had begun to twitch as she interrupted blew up into more than just irritation and a loud outburst of, "Kuso Fox! I'm trying to propose to you and you won't even shut up!"
A delighted squeal from the girls watching from the crack in the doorway was silenced with a hand on Kaoru's mouth and an arm around the waist from Kenshin while Aoshi simply placed a finger to Misao's lips. Tsubame's shade was turning pink along with her fearless friend who was going for a record-setting, full-body blush. Despite their positions, all men plus boy were looking on intently as the scene continued to unfold before them.
"Just this once, will you let me have the last word?"
"And what would that one be Tori-atama?" his girlfriend practically purred as she covered her mouth with her loosely fisted right hand and dangled her left in front of him expectantly.
"There's more than just one," Sano grinned as he dug a hand into his pocket, fishing around for something. "I love you Kitsune, always have, and always will. This fist and this heart belong to you," proffering the seemingly simple gold band between his forefinger and thumb, he continued, "if you want them. Marry me if you do."
Stomach having just returned from hitting the floor and bouncing back up into her middle, Megumi was frozen in her emotional motion sickness. Her mind was bombarded by images of their past together, while her ears rung with the myriad of words they had exchanged. They began with a certain bite and snap from her vixen jaws, insulting him. However, they finally eased into playful yips and jibes, at last ending with a blush in the recent memories of their months as lovers.
She had been silent for so long that Sano started to get a little nervous and leaned forward to peer into her eyes, those same eyes that were shadowed by furrowed, uncertain brows. "Megumi?"
"Well, I," she paused, deftly slipping her left ring finger through the band as she wound her arms about his neck. "The truth is," Confusion didn't describe the look plastered on the man's face as his beloved accepted his proposal with a nuzzle against an ear with her nose and a whispered, "I do."
"YATTA!" was the last thing everyone heard before the doctor was literally up in the fighter's embrace, legs swinging gleefully over his forearms as Sano twirled around, kissing her lips and hugging her tight. It drew everyone tighter to their loved ones, even the youngest couple who weren't yet so bold to shoot the other a tender look without blushing and looking away. Each girl wore her own private smile, whether it was tucked so carefully under rounded cheeks, worn bravely with shining eyes to make it sparkle, or spread with a laugh as her boyfriend rested his chin on her shoulder.
But none could compare to the elated grin Megumi wore. She felt as if she were flying. Closing her eyes once more, she drew her arms out to the sides and taking a soul-filling breath was lifted higher and higher. Glancing down, she found herself amidst the clouds . . . only she was alone.
That was when her eyes snapped open, and she threw her arms around his neck with a yelp. Her yip was soon followed by a crash through the doorway, drawing both Sano's and her own gaze to the pile of eavesdroppers and onlookers rolling on the floor, shouting insults and empty threats at the other couples.
"Well there goes the fun of keeping it a secret," Megumi mumbled to her partner in crime, whose arms were still holding her tight.
"Looks that way, Megitsune," he agreed as he bent down slightly, letting her gracefully land on the floor and stepping in front of him, took up the stance she most often used when dealing with her (now) betrothed; hands at her hips, a fake disapproving frown on her face.
"Ahem,"
The quarreling continued despite her cough for attention.
Raising his arms, Sano attempted to catch their attention, "Oi, minna,"
Again, no response as Kaoru and Misao covered their mouths and rolled with suppressed laughter as Yahiko tried to go up against Kenshin and Aoshi for collectively bumping into Tsubame and knocking her down. Sounds of "I've taken on ninjas before, just look at your girlfriend!" as well as "It was never my intention to knock down such a beautiful young lady," which was then countered with a jealous, "HEY! You have yours right there!" accompanied by a jut of the young samurai's finger in the direction of a less than ladylike Misao.
It was entirely too entertaining.
Megumi threw up her hands, admiring the ring that adorned her finger as she did so with a barely perceptible giggle. "First they're too engrossed in our lives . . . now they're back into their own!"
Sano heard the laugh and guessed correctly that she was still in a state of disbelief. Shaking his head, he stepped up beside her and whispered, "Hey, I got an idea,"
"What?"
Nodding to the rapidly cooling dishes of food for their celebration banquet, Sano waited for the thoughts separate from those of marriage and sakura blossoms to catch up to his usually sharp fox. She caught on quickly, and winking at him, turned towards the bickering and giggling bunch.
"Well, I guess me and my fiancé can just eat ALL the food,"
"Yeah, F-O-O-D." He turned her back to the feast for the eyes and the stomach, calling "FOOD for you and me Kit-" over his shoulder.
"Ah, no you don't!"
Just as planned, Misao righted herself and was determined not to let that damn Rooster get all the chow. She stormed over to the table and plopped down into her seat, shoving the couple aside to make room in the process.
Kaoru was right behind her, towing Kenshin by the collar of his gi to their traditional positions at the table.
She was followed shortly by Yahiko who was blazing at the fact that, "The Tanuki and the Itachi would eat before HIM? Never!" while Tsubame was escorted in on the arm by a very tall and very handsome ex-Okashira. Bowing in respect to Yahiko's wishes as he came to where the boy sat fuming, Aoshi patted the girl's hand and sat her down, then came around to the other side of the table, kneeling beside Misao with a smile.
Megumi shot Sanosuke a grin that spelled it out. Mission accomplished.
"And now we even have something to celebrate," she purred, catching his chin under her pointer and torturously running it along his bruised jaw as she turned to seat herself.
Coughing to catch everyone's attention, Kenshin rose his cup into the air and covered Kaoru's left hand with his right.
"Here's to anniversaries,"
"To the love that calms the soul," Aoshi added, smiling down at Misao.
Several pairs of eyes drifted to Yahiko who remained strangely silent until he acquiesced and lifted his cup high, mumbling, "Yeah, what he said,"
Sano beamed, while an arm snaked about Megumi's shoulders. He lifted his sake high, took a breath and said, "To a new life with the women we love,"
Megumi melted into his side with those words but froze up just as quickly when the steady chastising clapping of gloved hands filled the thoughtful silence of the room. Casting her eyes about the table, the doctor noticed that she wasn't the only one to crinkle her nose in distaste as cigarette smoke began to permeate the air like oil spreading sickly over the surface of fresh water.
"Bravo, bravo,"
She didn't need to look behind them. The horror flushing Kaoru's face, the anger boiling deep within Misao, not to mention the stiffness of Sano's arched back told Megumi all she needed to know.
The wolf's low whistle brought on a new wave of the nicotine tide, choking the air and forcing Tsubame to cough sweetly.
That brought Yahiko into the realm of the living and furious, joining the already tense crowd of couples. His fist clenched and released with warning at his side.
"Nice speech," Saitou continued, blowing thin streams of smoke through his nostrils. "Especially you hatchling," he snorted arrogantly. "ahou."
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Well? Did ya like?
! Thanks so much for all the reviews I've received. 68?! Cool! (To sound like the collegiate student that I am.) I'm glad ya like it! I LOVE it. I get to work with all the characters! *jumps up and down* It's just too fun to pass up!
YES, Saitou is here, as so many of you wanted. Truth be told, I knew I would bring him in eventually, but I decided to stick him in earlier than planned. And what about that proposal? Tell me in a REVIEW if ya don't mind. ^_^
By Starhopper
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.
Time for dinner! Please tell me that you're just starving for some juicy gossip with a side of delicious romance?
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- Say it With a Celebration Part 5: Celebrate the Eternal Pledge of Devotion
The topic of startling the Rurouni and the Kasshin Master from rolling around in the grass was dropped when Sanosuke placed the heaping platters of onigiri and steaming bowls of soup in front of the drooling guests.
"Oi Sanosuke, what happened to your face?"
Casting an almost imperceptible glare in the direction of the doctor, the street fighter in question turned to face the smart-mouth samurai. His swollen left eye twitched in irritation.
"Get in a fight?"
"Dame," he spat, cocking an eyebrow. "Your other guess?"
"With a futon?" Yahiko motioned towards Megumi with his bowl and waited with a sparkle in his eye for the fun to start.
At that implication, Sano wordlessly rose, walked around the table to pick up the kid's now-empty bowl with a mumble of "Let me refill that for you," and was about to exit the room when Yahiko coughed.
"And that's, 'Let me refill that for you, MASTER'." The kid reminded him with a grin.
Mumbling something purposefully incoherent, the tall figure continued on his way out of the room.
Kaoru's eyes followed his exit, then switched back to the doctor who was struggling to keep up her front. "Eh, Megumi-san," she started, prodding the woman's shoulder with her chopsticks. "He still doesn't know we know?"
Through her delirious giggles, Megumi managed, "Nope."
"And as his," Kenshin fumbled for the words as a hand went to sheepishly rub the back of his neck. "Uh . . . significant other, shouldn't you have already told him de gozaru yo?"
Megumi pouted. "But Ken-san, he's just too easy to play," her gleaming eyes shifted to look at her boyfriend's Master. " . . . Thanks to Yahiko for getting the game started."
Yahiko took his bow and tapped on the table with the edges of his chopsticks. "Well two months is a long time to keep something like this a secret,"
Megumi tucked the glowing smile of achievement firmly in her cheek. There really was no need to tell the boy that their affair had been hidden away under the blankets for twice that long before her Rooster had stupidly let it slip. "Yes, it is." As an aside, she sniggered, "Obviously it's harder for other people to remain so subtle."
Misao, if possible, blushed even darker than the cherry light her entire body was bathed in. For a quarter of a second, Aoshi smirked. But he had replaced his ease with a rocky countenance that refused to sway towards one emotion or another.
Recovering from her own bout of embarrassment, Kaoru nudged Megumi in the ribs. "We all had to," she faltered as Kenshin's smile sent fluffy butterflies flying in her stomach. "Restrain ourselves from," her words dissolved into a nervous giggle and accompanying blush.
Everyone nodded, with the exception of the youngest members of the anniversary entourage. Yahiko had Tsubame entranced with another tale from their adventures in Kyoto. Aoshi closed his eyes and listened to the boy use the story-telling as a vehicle to flirt with the girl, his own mind drifting to how he could've changed the current of his own emotions before they had overpowered his senses. Would he had done better by telling her his sins instead of quietly repenting them? Could he have avoided this afternoon's little incident? He had tried to ignore his inherent attraction to her for so long, then it had just -
"Boiled over,"
The ninja's head, along with everyone else's snapped up to catch the former gangster holding a cooking pot scorched through the center and looking very frustrated . . . to say the very least for a man like him, proud as he was.
Slapping a chuckling Megumi hard on the shoulder, Kaoru looked at the man. "Nani, Sanosuke-san?"
"Kuso, I'm no cook!" he pleaded with his friends, holding the cooking implement towards them. "That was the last of the Miso soup too,"
"Well at least there's rice,"
"And we still have what's left on our plates, de gozaru yo."
"Yeah, just guard it from Sanosuke though,"
"YAHIKO!"
"Oh, ho ho ho ho ho!"
Sano's ears heard nothing of the verbal sword-clashing of the sensei and student, nor of the unabashed musings of the ninja, who was now thinking things over aloud.
"That's right it just all boiled over,"
"Did you say something Anata?"
"Iie, just realizing what I would have done, what I had driven myself to do ever since I knew that I-"
Nope, all he heard was the laughter of the doctor, mocking him once again. In play it was all well and good, but given their situation, (his in particular with the blackmail) this was just degrading. Especially when he still bore the brunt of her power in their relationship along his jaw. The bruise pounded even harder as he watched her fall to the floor.
And that's what truly killed him.
"Tsamaneya," he spat violently before striding over to her and yanking her up to her feet. "Do ya honestly think this is funny?" he stared deep into her eyes, letting her know he was serious with both tone and the conscious effort he made to seem imposing by leaning over her. "It's your fault that I'm in this mess,"
From somewhere outside of his seething rage, Sano heard Yahiko snidely remark, "I think you should sit down, slave, and let these folks finish their dinners,"
Misao said it before he could turn away from the now trembling fox he held in the palm of his hand. "Pipe down brat!"
But the fear dissipated with a second wind, "ME? Who did who a favor when she accepted your sorry excuse of an anniversary present?"
"Oh, don't you dare dig back there for comebacks, Kitsune," he growled, brown eyes growing wide in outrage that bordered on hurt.
"Come on everyone," Kenshin and Aoshi were already helping the girls with clearing the table as the argument became that much more heated. "Let's leave these two alone with their differences,"
"You have no idea what I did for you,"
"No I don't," she sniffed, moving herself closer to balance the lean of power. "Because as soon as you cockily said that your broken fist was my present, my mind was clouded with how much I love that damn hand of yours and the body that goes along with it! And the next thing I knew you had kissed me,"
"You kissed me," he reminded her with a firm shake on her captive arm. "And you understood then what I'm still fighting for now,"
"And that would be?"
"That I have to at least look like I have some say in our life together, if not actually have the real thing!"
"You want respect?"
"No, I want cooperation," his mouth was a firm line of determination.
"I didn't even think you knew what that word meant," her own was curled in a playful snarl.
"I love you,"
Now she was taken aback. She lurched forward and crushed her lips to his, then lurched back to her original place in the argument. "Now cooperate with that!"
Instead of shoving her against the wall and kissing her back with at least that much intensity she had just thrown at him, Sano threw down her arm and held up his fist. The same one she had attended to those many months ago in Kyoto.
She instinctively cowered and would have sunk to the floor if not for her knowledge that he would never hurt her like he had. Sanosuke may have been a brash young man at times, (well, all the time) but he knew her limitations and the past that sculpted them so.
Sanosuke recognized her defensive position and the look of rage eased into a complacent frown. He shook his head as she righted herself. "Megumi, I fought for your reputation, just like I've always done," his voice dropped off as he looked down at the ground sheepishly and a hand came to rub the back of his neck. But his eyes were clear and focused when he looked back up into her own. "It was for you that I slammed this fist into a bakayarou's face for calling you a whore who ran a brothel-clinic,"
"You - you did that?" she found herself reaching for his right hand, and once she had it pulled it close to her chest. "For me?"
"Kuso Megumi, who else would I do it for?" she expected him to smile as he lovingly said this, but he wore a countenance of outrage instead of affection. After a moment, he pulled his palm away from her grasp and stared hard at the ground. "It's the only thing I have to offer you!"
Outside the kitchen the girls were gathered round the slightly open shoji, jostling for a better position to witness the unexpected turn of events. Yahiko joined them, somewhat reluctantly though with one foot set to send him springing in the opposite direction of the door. Even Kenshin and Aoshi, who had been smartly avoiding watching the argument and possibly getting involved, turned their heads and drew closer to their girlfriends for a peek at what might happen.
"Sanosuke," Megumi's breath caught when she saw his knuckles turn white as hot iron and the inner-fire spread into those boyish brown eyes as he looked at her. The muscles in his arm tightened and released in a downward lash at the defenseless air. Megumi was sure that anyone who had been under that punch would have been sent crashing through the ceiling of Hell on impact.
Stopping herself from trying to console his obvious frustration, the doctor settled on clasping both of her hands in front of herself, head hanging between her shoulders. "Gomen ne,"
"Iie," he breathed, letting the word wash over him with a tranquilizing sigh, "I'm sorry," The placidity was edged out with frustration once more as he let another punch fly to his invisible foe. "I - I'm relieved that I can rely on someone else. That just proves that I'm not by myself anymore." He nodded to himself as if this justified his fruitless but passionate punches.
"I'm not either," Megumi murmured as she internalized what he had just said. Hell, the whole room resonated with what he had just said while her heart pounded to every echo of every word. A feeling started to creep over her very slowly, starting with a tingle at the back of her neck, spreading down to cloak her shoulders and flow like warm butter along her arms to coat her fingertips. It swerved about her hips and fleshed out around her stomach that, surprisingly, fluttered while the sensation continued to wind its way down the backs of her thighs, trail over her legs, and zoom over her entire aura to make her aware of the syllables he was forming on his lips right at that moment.
"And yet, I'm also," he struggled with the words and Megumi rose her head to watch him claim the right ones. "Also frustrated at myself for letting it happen when I know I can give nothing in return,"
The woman's head snapped up at that last admission, her mouth open to chastise him to the greatest measure. But she closed it as his eyes flicked down to hers in warning to let him finish.
"I'm a gambler, a guy with not the cleanest of records, dirt-poor,"
"Sanosuke, you're not poor. Sure you evade paying up the money in medical bills that you owe the clinic,"
The eyebrow that had begun to twitch as she interrupted blew up into more than just irritation and a loud outburst of, "Kuso Fox! I'm trying to propose to you and you won't even shut up!"
A delighted squeal from the girls watching from the crack in the doorway was silenced with a hand on Kaoru's mouth and an arm around the waist from Kenshin while Aoshi simply placed a finger to Misao's lips. Tsubame's shade was turning pink along with her fearless friend who was going for a record-setting, full-body blush. Despite their positions, all men plus boy were looking on intently as the scene continued to unfold before them.
"Just this once, will you let me have the last word?"
"And what would that one be Tori-atama?" his girlfriend practically purred as she covered her mouth with her loosely fisted right hand and dangled her left in front of him expectantly.
"There's more than just one," Sano grinned as he dug a hand into his pocket, fishing around for something. "I love you Kitsune, always have, and always will. This fist and this heart belong to you," proffering the seemingly simple gold band between his forefinger and thumb, he continued, "if you want them. Marry me if you do."
Stomach having just returned from hitting the floor and bouncing back up into her middle, Megumi was frozen in her emotional motion sickness. Her mind was bombarded by images of their past together, while her ears rung with the myriad of words they had exchanged. They began with a certain bite and snap from her vixen jaws, insulting him. However, they finally eased into playful yips and jibes, at last ending with a blush in the recent memories of their months as lovers.
She had been silent for so long that Sano started to get a little nervous and leaned forward to peer into her eyes, those same eyes that were shadowed by furrowed, uncertain brows. "Megumi?"
"Well, I," she paused, deftly slipping her left ring finger through the band as she wound her arms about his neck. "The truth is," Confusion didn't describe the look plastered on the man's face as his beloved accepted his proposal with a nuzzle against an ear with her nose and a whispered, "I do."
"YATTA!" was the last thing everyone heard before the doctor was literally up in the fighter's embrace, legs swinging gleefully over his forearms as Sano twirled around, kissing her lips and hugging her tight. It drew everyone tighter to their loved ones, even the youngest couple who weren't yet so bold to shoot the other a tender look without blushing and looking away. Each girl wore her own private smile, whether it was tucked so carefully under rounded cheeks, worn bravely with shining eyes to make it sparkle, or spread with a laugh as her boyfriend rested his chin on her shoulder.
But none could compare to the elated grin Megumi wore. She felt as if she were flying. Closing her eyes once more, she drew her arms out to the sides and taking a soul-filling breath was lifted higher and higher. Glancing down, she found herself amidst the clouds . . . only she was alone.
That was when her eyes snapped open, and she threw her arms around his neck with a yelp. Her yip was soon followed by a crash through the doorway, drawing both Sano's and her own gaze to the pile of eavesdroppers and onlookers rolling on the floor, shouting insults and empty threats at the other couples.
"Well there goes the fun of keeping it a secret," Megumi mumbled to her partner in crime, whose arms were still holding her tight.
"Looks that way, Megitsune," he agreed as he bent down slightly, letting her gracefully land on the floor and stepping in front of him, took up the stance she most often used when dealing with her (now) betrothed; hands at her hips, a fake disapproving frown on her face.
"Ahem,"
The quarreling continued despite her cough for attention.
Raising his arms, Sano attempted to catch their attention, "Oi, minna,"
Again, no response as Kaoru and Misao covered their mouths and rolled with suppressed laughter as Yahiko tried to go up against Kenshin and Aoshi for collectively bumping into Tsubame and knocking her down. Sounds of "I've taken on ninjas before, just look at your girlfriend!" as well as "It was never my intention to knock down such a beautiful young lady," which was then countered with a jealous, "HEY! You have yours right there!" accompanied by a jut of the young samurai's finger in the direction of a less than ladylike Misao.
It was entirely too entertaining.
Megumi threw up her hands, admiring the ring that adorned her finger as she did so with a barely perceptible giggle. "First they're too engrossed in our lives . . . now they're back into their own!"
Sano heard the laugh and guessed correctly that she was still in a state of disbelief. Shaking his head, he stepped up beside her and whispered, "Hey, I got an idea,"
"What?"
Nodding to the rapidly cooling dishes of food for their celebration banquet, Sano waited for the thoughts separate from those of marriage and sakura blossoms to catch up to his usually sharp fox. She caught on quickly, and winking at him, turned towards the bickering and giggling bunch.
"Well, I guess me and my fiancé can just eat ALL the food,"
"Yeah, F-O-O-D." He turned her back to the feast for the eyes and the stomach, calling "FOOD for you and me Kit-" over his shoulder.
"Ah, no you don't!"
Just as planned, Misao righted herself and was determined not to let that damn Rooster get all the chow. She stormed over to the table and plopped down into her seat, shoving the couple aside to make room in the process.
Kaoru was right behind her, towing Kenshin by the collar of his gi to their traditional positions at the table.
She was followed shortly by Yahiko who was blazing at the fact that, "The Tanuki and the Itachi would eat before HIM? Never!" while Tsubame was escorted in on the arm by a very tall and very handsome ex-Okashira. Bowing in respect to Yahiko's wishes as he came to where the boy sat fuming, Aoshi patted the girl's hand and sat her down, then came around to the other side of the table, kneeling beside Misao with a smile.
Megumi shot Sanosuke a grin that spelled it out. Mission accomplished.
"And now we even have something to celebrate," she purred, catching his chin under her pointer and torturously running it along his bruised jaw as she turned to seat herself.
Coughing to catch everyone's attention, Kenshin rose his cup into the air and covered Kaoru's left hand with his right.
"Here's to anniversaries,"
"To the love that calms the soul," Aoshi added, smiling down at Misao.
Several pairs of eyes drifted to Yahiko who remained strangely silent until he acquiesced and lifted his cup high, mumbling, "Yeah, what he said,"
Sano beamed, while an arm snaked about Megumi's shoulders. He lifted his sake high, took a breath and said, "To a new life with the women we love,"
Megumi melted into his side with those words but froze up just as quickly when the steady chastising clapping of gloved hands filled the thoughtful silence of the room. Casting her eyes about the table, the doctor noticed that she wasn't the only one to crinkle her nose in distaste as cigarette smoke began to permeate the air like oil spreading sickly over the surface of fresh water.
"Bravo, bravo,"
She didn't need to look behind them. The horror flushing Kaoru's face, the anger boiling deep within Misao, not to mention the stiffness of Sano's arched back told Megumi all she needed to know.
The wolf's low whistle brought on a new wave of the nicotine tide, choking the air and forcing Tsubame to cough sweetly.
That brought Yahiko into the realm of the living and furious, joining the already tense crowd of couples. His fist clenched and released with warning at his side.
"Nice speech," Saitou continued, blowing thin streams of smoke through his nostrils. "Especially you hatchling," he snorted arrogantly. "ahou."
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Well? Did ya like?
! Thanks so much for all the reviews I've received. 68?! Cool! (To sound like the collegiate student that I am.) I'm glad ya like it! I LOVE it. I get to work with all the characters! *jumps up and down* It's just too fun to pass up!
YES, Saitou is here, as so many of you wanted. Truth be told, I knew I would bring him in eventually, but I decided to stick him in earlier than planned. And what about that proposal? Tell me in a REVIEW if ya don't mind. ^_^