Remember the Rain
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. If I did, there would be NO Megumi Takani, and Sayo would be living happily with Sanosuke with lots of little Sanos running around…
Clap for the friends!
Chia- for letting me borrow all of your d.n.angel stuff! DARK MOUSY IS MY BISHIE!
Illista- for inviting me over at the last minute to watch yu yu hakusho dvds…. whaaa Raizen died! (and Yusuke's ancestral mother is a little…. how shall we say….. slutty?)
Ducky- for inspiring me to come up with A.L.L (the Anti-love lives group). We have 4 members! count 'em! 4!
Xiao-chan – for hating megumi way before me.
L.H.G- Once again, I am not so sure if you should clap for her…. She told chia that she should get the 5th dvd of D.N.Angel before me……. Oh well, she's going to be overruled, so I guess it doesn't matter.
and now on with the fic!
---Remember the Rain---
Sanosuke Sagara was not a man who believed in fate.
Fate was a fairy tale; a sort of blackmail to get people to do dirty things with words like, "destiny" and "determined path". If people thought that there was no other way around something, they would eventually accept it. Only idiots fell for stupid stuff like "fate".
And Sanosuke Sagara was not one of them.
The way he saw it, if the Sekihoutai was "destined" to fall, then it would have fallen much more gracefully than it did. No, the Sekihoutai came to an end when money and power corrupted men into selfish pigs. And that, in his mind, was the true reason behind anything; mankind affected mankind. Living things affected living things. There was no outside "mystical force" behind it all.
But Sanosuke did however, believe in luck.
And right now, his was not good.
When he had woken up that morning, he noticed his bandages on his arm were "peeling off". So he started off in the direction of the clinic. Not five minutes had passed, when it started pouring down rain. And it wasn't even the scary kind; no thunder, no lightning, just plain old rain. And lots of it.
So now he was walking down the road to the clinic, soaked to the bone.
As the rain pounded down on his shoulders, he was reminded of a particular memory. He was still in the Sekihoutai, and the weather was just like this; pouring rain. He remembered being so at peace just standing in the rain. Thinking about things; nothing in particular.
And then there was that stupid girl.
He remembered seeing her as so dainty and delicate. She was quite pretty, but she was afraid to let the rain get her wet, and talked to Sano from under a pavilion. In her non-assertive voice, she had asked him why he was not afraid of the rain.
He had been confused as to why someone would fear the rain in the first place and responded with the best logic he had.
" You shouldn't fear the rain; it brings life. How could something that brings life be bad?"
He had been so annoyed with her protests that he dragged her into the rain himself, and soon they were outside playing and splashing in puddles.
They both caught dreadful colds afterwards, but he remembered her words of gratitude well;
"Sanosuke, isn't it? Thank you… for showing me the rain. I will never forget this."
Sano sighed. Unfortunately, while she may have remembered him, Sanosuke was horrible with names and had forgotten hers momentarily after he left the town with the rest of the army.
But that event was still engraved in his memory.
But that's all in the past, he chided himself. I'll probably never see that girl again…
Upon arriving at the dainty clinic, he let himself in and plopped down in the chair across from where Megumi normally sat to bandage his arm. It was routine; he'd arrive and say something cocky, and Megumi would give some form of a retort and bandage his hand in silence. Then Sano would leave, and go and get into some fight, only to need his hand bandaged again. Of course, the entire event was always fake.
Both she and Sano knew that his bandage didn't need to be changed every single day. It was all a cover up; a clever disguise for a reason to see each other.
Sano never really knew when his obsession with the lady doctor had hit its peak, but the truth was that it had. In the beginning, he had thought of her as only an opium dealer; someone who killed. But somewhere along the way he started to realize that she hated it. She hated herself. And while Sanosuke was perfectly happy wanting to hate her, he just couldn't bring himself to.
She was arrogant, curt, flirtatious, and seemed to have a knack for name calling. But he knew better than to judge her. Yes she was arrogant, but rightfully so; her skills with medicine were unrivaled. While her curtness was often annoying, what she said was never untruthful. She was flirtatious, but she was quite reserved when you tried to get close to her. And while she did call him names, he called her names as well, so he really couldn't argue.
He was shaken out of his thoughts by a very annoyed old man. " Do you have to come into the clinic so wet, Sanosuke? You'll get all of our supplies drenched."
Sano brushed it off. "Where's the fox?"
"She went out just a few minutes ago. She didn't say exactly where she was going."
The young man's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You mean she's out there in all of this mess?" He gestured outside, where the rain was falling as hard as ever with no signs of letting up.
Dr. Gensai nodded. "I suppose so. Well now, it seems she didn't even bring her umbrella." Holding out a blue umbrella, the old doctor smiled. "Why don't you take it to her?" He tossed it to Sano, and he gracefully caught it.
Sighing, Sano headed out the door, umbrella in hand. What is that stupid fox thinking? She's a doctor! She should know that being out in the rain like this will get her sick.
He quickened his pace a bit. Better yet, what is she doing walking around without someone to protect her? She's probably in some rough part of town, too!
He was jogging now. Stupid Fox! Stupid, stupid Fox!
As more and more thoughts of what could happen to the lady doctor filled his head, he was soon running though the streets of Tokyo, frantically looking for any signs of an attractive young woman by the name of Megumi Takani.
After fifteen minutes of searching with no results, he came to the street with the bridge; the only place SO obvious that he hadn't checked at all. Damn that stupid fox. If I don't find her soon, I'M going to get sick!
He was about to walk forward when he heard a strange sound.
It was a giggle.
No, it was full blown laughter. A heartfelt laugh that sent a tingle up and down his spine.
Curious to see who in their right mind would be outside when it was raining, he took a few steps forward and squinted through the rain drops, only to gasp at what he saw.
Megumi Takani was dancing.
Dancing like a little child in the rain, laughing and giggling as each drop tickled her nose. She spun around in a circle, arms flying off to the sides of her. She had obviously been there for a while, because she was just as drenched as Sano was. Her hair flowed down her back in soppy, wet clumps, and Sano could only look on in amazement.
While his first thought was to wonder if she was drunk, after looking more closely he reconsidered his evaluation.
She looked so….. free. She had to bear so many hardships, that Sano had never seen her break out of herself like this. She was always so dainty and refined. Proper; never really letting go.
Well from what Sano could tell, she was sure letting go now.
He almost didn't want to disturb her; she looked so happy. But he realized that if she stayed out any longer, she was going to get sick. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to walk over to her. "Hey, fox."
Megumi jumped. Her face quickly fell from childish glee to a mix between anger and embarrassment. "W-w-what are you doing here, tori-atama?"
Sano chuckled. "Looking for you. You forgot your umbrella at the clinic and I was going to give it to you. But…." He looked her up and down and smirked. "You look rather sexy wet, so I think I'll leave you alone."
He turned around and started to walk off, expecting to be hit for his snide remark.
But instead, he felt a gentle hand on his arm. "Wait! Don't go yet…." Megumi blushed a dark shade of red. "Stay here and enjoy it with me."
Sano blinked at her. " Stay…. here?"
She nodded. "This rain…. It brings back memories for me. When I was a child in Aizu."
"There was this boy… I remember he was just standing in the rain with a huge smile on his face…."
What! Sano cocked an eyebrow. This sounded oddly familiar. "Really?"
Megumi smiled. " I know, it's strange. I was so confused as to why, exactly, he had been out there… But when I asked him his reasons, he just dragged me out into the rain as well."
Now Sano was interested. There's no way….. No way that Megumi was….
"At first I was angry, but minutes later we were dancing and playing in the rain together… It's funny; I can't remember his name, but I'll always remember what his words. He told me, ' You shouldn't fear the rain; It brings life… How could something that brings life be bad?'"
He was positive now…
"Say, fox, do you remember how this guy looked?"
Megumi tilted her head to the side. " Well, he was quite handsome as I remember him… Brown hair and brown eyes… Oh, he always wore a red bandana."
Sano nodded happily. She thinks I'm haaaaaandsome! he sang in his head. Egging her on, he asked, "So what was he doing in Aizu?"
She blinked at him. "My, aren't you curious?"
He tried to cover his intentions up. "Well, I just think this guy sounds interesting, that's all."
Cocking an eyebrow at him, she continued. " Hmm…. That's a good question. I'm not entirely sure what he was doing in Aizu…. If I remember correctly he was part of a traveling group…"
Sano filled in the blanks. "Like an army?"
She nodded with enthusiasm. "Yes, yes! that was it…. But which one? The seki… Seki-somethings…"
Sanosuke took this opportunity to gently grab her hand and tilt her chin up so he could look her in the eyes. "The Sekihoutai?" He smiled genuinely when her eyes lit up in realization.
"You….. you were him?"
Sano nodded, embracing her tightly. "And you were her…"
His memories quickly filled in the blanks. The Sekihoutai was in Aizu for a meeting with a government official. Sano had gotten bored with the political talk and ended up outside in the rain…. Across the street from the famous Takani medical center.
He remembered asking her for her name…
"Say, what's your name anyways?"
She nodded gently. "Megumi…. Megumi Takani. And yours?"
"It's Sanosuke! I don't have a last name yet, but when this war is over it's gonna be Sagara!"
The young girl giggled. "Sanosuke Sagara…. I like that name…. How do you think Megumi goes with it?"
Sano cocked an eyebrow. " Megumi Sagara! You saying you want to get MARRIED!"
Megumi quickly shook her head and blushed. "No, no…. I was just… I just…"
He poked her forehead. "You like me, don't you?"
"No, I uh…. I just… I just uh…."
She stopped speaking when she felt a warm kiss placed on her cheek.
"That's fine. You're cute, so I don't mind!" He winked and started to run back to his captain. " See you later, Megumi Sagara!"
Megumi felt her cheeks heat up. If she had really said those things to him….
What did he think of her now?
Sano recognized her question, and immediately responded with a passionate kiss.
At first she resisted, but soon she found herself melting like butter in his arms… He was so warm; a nice contrast to the coldness of the rain. It had been almost a year since they had met for a second time, and she had been waiting…. waiting for so long for him to do just that.
Hesitantly, they broke apart and Sano rested his chin on her damp, raven colored hair. "So, Megumi Sagara… Do you remember the rain?"
Megumi pulled his head down to hers and rested her forehead on his. "Stupid… Of course I do!" She kissed him again, and the rain slowly came to a stop as the couple on the bridge basked in the warmth of the sun and each other.
No, Sanosuke Sagara was not a man who believed in fate, but……
He was really starting to wonder.
----End-----
A/N: well, that was very painful for me to write. I guess all you readers out there should know that I HATE Megumi Takani, and I LOVE Sanosuke Sagara. How they wound up together, I don't know… I honestly prefer Sayo waaaaaay more, but she's kinda dead. (if you didn't know that, then, uh… sorry.)
Also, I realized after writing this that "fate" and "luck" are pretty much the same thing…. But if it's the "God of Fate" and "Lady Luck", that's two different genders! So, for all of the purposes of this story, the two are different, ok?
Thanks for reading my stuff; I know it's poorly written…. But if you like poorly written stuff, please read my other Rurouni Kenshin fic, "Musical Misunderstandings". It's a Kenshin and Kaoru fic (a pair I actually approve of…) So read it please. And my Inuyasha fiction too, if you go for guys with dog ears.