A/N: Megumi and Sano get into mischief, Megumi gets drunk. =P

Part 7: Twister

Megumi adjusted the bow on the gift-wrapped package sitting on her front seat before glancing outside her car window towards the single-story house. Then she frowned, wondering if the tank top and short sleepwear was an appropriate birthday gift. Linda, an undergraduate student at the university, had also been attending hula lessons at her aunt's for a good six years.

She climbed out of her car to make her way across the street.

She didn't go out to parties very often. Not even growing up. She had spent too much time studying. She supposed that it all paid off…when she was an established practitioner, she'd have plenty of time to enjoy herself.

There were a few casual friends she had made at her aunt's school – people she spent time with off and on over the past few years – Linda being one of them. Linda was vivacious and outgoing…and had been a fan of dancing for a long time.

Megumi's new platform sandals hadn't been broken in yet. And she wasn't quite used to walking in them yet. She had gone up the sidewalk in front of the house too fast for her body to catch up and as the present went flying, she cursed herself for wearing new shoes before slamming into a solid form. And Megumi held on tight.

()

"What the hell-?!" The air was knocked out of Sanosuke's lungs as some crazy woman ran into him.

"Help," she squeaked.

He staggered backwards thanks to her momentum and instinctively brought his hands up to catch her. Sort of a bad idea since his hands had closed around fairly low on her curved hips. If she wouldn't quit moving, he might end up holding her backside – and while so far everything felt nice, he wasn't exactly the type to get his kicks in this particular way.

"Hey, hold still," he ordered.

He tried to adjust his footing, but she squealed and tried to regain her balance. In her lousy attempt at doing so, the back of his leg was hit with a very hard…shoe…? and he fell over from the sidewalk on to the grass.

When air returned to his lungs, he realized that he was lying on the grass, surrounded by long black hair, her knee shoved up against his armpit…and his face pressed against the neckline of her sundress.

Well. Some people could complain about their situations in life, but he didn't mind his at the moment. It could have been worse.

"I can't breathe. Could you please get up?" a strangled female's voice reached his ears.

Wait. He knew that voice. What was she doing here?

"Fox-lady?"

Suddenly all the tension drained from him. He instantly remembered what it had been like to hold her when he had kissed her. She had been hesitant at first, but eventually, her limbs had gone soft and accepting. Just like now. He shifted slightly.

Her body went rigid. "You have two seconds to get off me before I start screaming." Her tone was enough to freeze an ocean.

"Hey, you ran into me, all right?" he pointed out as he tried to free himself from the net she must have called hair.

"I'm sorry, but you're heavy and you keep poking me," Megumi argued, shifting and bracing her palms against his chest.

He cursed himself. "Will you quit moving?" Sanosuke demanded, swatting aside her hair. "Telling a guy to quit poking you while you're moving beneath him is not going to make him stop."

"Oh, you are so-"

"If you wanna argue, I have no problem arguing with me on top of you. Your call."

She began to move her hair aside. He finally pushed himself off, only earning a yelp from her.

"Ouch! What the hell are you doing?" Megumi exclaimed.

Before he could point out that she didn't seem the type to shout out like that, he noticed her rubbing a small spot over the inside of her thigh close to her knee.

"Your zipper tab scraped me," she announced.

"Sorry."

He picked up her stray gift, purse and moved to a squatting position, studying her, and wondered if she had any idea of the picture she gave off. Her long black hair hung down her back with just a few tangled wisps. Her lavender sundress was made of some cotton cloth that hung by two thin straps – one of those straps was off the shoulder at the moment. Long, shapely legs were stretched out on the grass, with one arched foot placed into a high sandal. Her dress had ridden so high on her thighs if she moved the wrong way, he'd see the color of her underwear. Definitely enough to make a man drool. Not that he was the drooling type.

Sanosuke rose to his feet, offering her a hand. "You might want to fix your clothes…" Then he added, "As much as I enjoy the view…"

Something flared in her eyes as she tugged her dress down. "You would…" Then giving his hand a withering glance she moved to get to her feet. She let out a cry and shifted her weight to one foot.

"What's wrong?" He was at her side in a heartbeat.

She let out a hiss, her hand grasping his shoulder. "Nothing."

"Come on, fox-lady, I don't buy it."

"Nothing's wrong."

"Stop being stubborn."

Megumi set her jaw. "I…might have twisted my ankle a bit."

"A bit?" Sanosuke bent slightly, scooping her into his arms.

"Sanosuke-"

"Just get your other shoe," he stated, stooping slightly.

Megumi reached for her fallen shoe with her left hand before Sanosuke rose to his full height.

"I can walk by myself," Megumi declared.

"Yeah, right," Sanosuke answered. "Haven't you heard that Navy men enjoy helping people in trouble? Bad ankle definitely counts as trouble."

()

Of all the embarrassing things. She had been startled when she had fallen on to the grass with some stranger. But when she realized he wasn't some stranger, she had felt a little thrill dance up her spine. And fighting that, she had snapped at him.

Cursing to herself, Megumi tried to stare at something interesting other than his jaw. And mouth. The rich color of his tan, the tendon connecting his jaw to his collarbone…

Megumi! She really needed to go out more. Obviously. If just looking at the man this close did funny things. He wasn't so bad from afar. But up close? No wonder she had reacted the way she did when he had kissed her. Aside from his obvious skill in the art of kissing…the man was dangerous to be around. Caused a woman to forget everything. A sigh formed in her chest.

"Hey."

A slight shake from Sanosuke jostled her out of her thoughts.

"I said how did you know about this party?" Sanosuke asked as he made his way to the front door.

"What?" Megumi blinked.

He gave her a funny look after ringing the doorbell. "Are you all right?"

"What?" She must have sounded like an idiot.

"Earth to Megumi," Sanosuke called out.

Slowly, her eyes lifted to meet his. He shook his head, grinning.

"You're killing me here, fox-lady," he declared. Then before she could say anything, he leaned towards her and lightly kissed her lips. Her breath caught and he immediately pulled away. "Anyway…It's weird we run into each other here. You know these people?"

How could he kiss her like that and be able to talk? Her pulse rate must have tripled in the last five seconds and her brain turned into mush.

Then the front door opened.

"Hey! Auntie Yuki's niece found Sanosuke!" Carmen, Linda's roommate in the spacious house, called out. The buxom brunette stepped aside to let them in, grinning at Megumi. "Lucky gal…"

Megumi shot Sanosuke a look. "Do you mind putting me down?"

"Oh, hey, Megumi," Linda spoke up from the hallway, a small group of ten other women standing behind her.

"Hi," Megumi responded with as much dignity as she could.

"Where's your first aid kit?" Sanosuke asked. "Megumi sprained her ankle and I need to wrap it."

"You can wrap anything around me anytime," one of the girls murmured, causing some girls to giggle.

If Sanosuke heard the comment, he sure didn't show it.

"I'm fine," Megumi insisted.

"Are you sure?" Linda asked, concern in her eyes. "With you working…and dancing…it's probably good to rest your foot…" Then she grinned. "Your aunt will probably have a fit if she found out you're not resting it."

"I will," Megumi responded, pointing at Sanosuke. "As soon as he lets me go."

"First aid kit's under the sink," Carmen said. "Follow me. There should be an ace bandage in there…"

She guided them to one of the bathrooms, and Sanosuke set Megumi on the fluffy cloth-covered toilet seat. He reached under the sink and pulled out the kit.

"I can wrap my ankle just fine, thanks," Megumi stated, attempting to snatch the kit, but he moved it out of reach.

"Will you quit it?" Then at the sight of Carmen's amused expression, Sanosuke excused himself and closed the door in the woman's face.

Megumi's mouth dropped open. "Sanosuke, that was rude!"

"Fine!" Carmen called through the door. "You've got fifteen minutes, Sagara! Have fun."

Megumi gasped. "Wait a minute…!"

Sanosuke chuckled softly. "She always had an overactive imagination…"

Megumi eyed him critically. "You know Linda and Carmen?"

"Yup." He opened the first aid kit on the sink counter away from Megumi's reach.

"How?"

"I went to high school with them," Sanosuke informed, poking through the kit's contents. Then he added, "And because I know you wanna ask…no, I didn't sleep with either of them. They were dating a couple buddies I hung out with…and I don't go after girls dating the guys I hang out with."

"Are they still dating them?"

Sanosuke shook his head. "No. They ended their relationships before graduation…" He pulled out the ace bandage and squatted down in front of her. "All right, fox-lady. Which one?"

Megumi slightly lifted her right foot. He propped it in his lap and began to wrap it with the bandage.

"I don't know how you women can walk in those things…" Sanosuke murmured. "But you look good in them."

"It's probably why women wear them…" Megumi responded.

His touch was gentle and methodical, experience clearly obvious in his manner.

"You're very good at that…" she commented.

He looked up and grinned. "Kids at the foundation. Always got into accidents."

She tilted her head slightly. "When did you start giving back to the foundation?"

Sanosuke paused, staring at her shin. "Probably as soon as I got stationed here."

Silence. Until…

"Why?" she asked quietly. At his look, she continued, "There aren't many people who would do something like that…"

He looked away. "…I know what it's like not to have a family."

Megumi's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. I…I-"

"You don't have to say anything," he cut in.

But she did, anyway. "Sorry…"

()

"Here…" Carmen pressed a cold glass of pina colada into Megumi's hand much later. "You look like you need something cool to drink. And after being with someone like that in a close space for a while…can't blame you."

Megumi accepted the drink. She was in the living room with the females of the party, and the husbands and boyfriends of the females were in the den watching sports. "Nothing happened."

"With Sanosuke Sagara? Yeah, right," Carmen giggled.

Megumi took a sip. "Honestly." The taste of pineapple and coconut was refreshing. She quickly drank the rest of it.

"I remember back in high school…" Carmen blinked at her empty cup. "You're done already?"

"It was good."

The other woman laughed. "Here, let me get you another…" She returned a few minutes later with another glass. "Here. Go slowly."

Megumi took a sip.

"So anyway…back in high school…we used to take bets on how many girls would ask Sano to the dances," Carmen stated. "Of course he'd go stag…but it was fun seeing how creative the girls would get…"

Megumi pursed her lips. "Was Sanosuke always so…always…like that in high school?"

Carmen grinned. "Oh yeah. He didn't really start that way until end of freshman year…"

()

He hadn't checked in on Megumi for a while. He hoped that she was okay. He'd spent a good time talking with the men…some he recognized as high school classmates who he got along with, in spite of never being in the same circles.

Sanosuke entered the house and into the dining room to find six people – three females and three males at the table, playing poker. A good five others stood along the wall watching and laughing. In the center of the table was a variety of items – wristwatches, socks, shoes, necklaces, rings, and other miscellaneous things.

"Let's see those cards, Takani," one of the men said teasingly.

Megumi, on one side of the table, finished off her drink before displaying her hand. A losing one, Sanosuke noted.

Wait a minute…Sanosuke instantly began to panic.

"Oh yeah," one of the men, who was down to his jeans, exclaimed triumphantly, exchanging hi-fives with another guy. "We get to see if the lovely Dr. Megumi is color coordinated."

His partner in crime grinned, holding up a short satin half-slip and strapless lavender bra by the back hook.

Oh shit, Sanosuke groaned inwardly.

Megumi crooned, "I promise not to disappoint…"

"Hey, how much has she had to drink?" Sanosuke spoke up.

"I'm not sure. But she sure likes pina coladas," one of the females, in a white chemise spoke up.

"Take it off, girl!!!" the first guy crowed.

Dammit. He never expected Dr. Megumi Takani, precious daughter of a successful Navy family and niece of business savvy aunts to go around playing strip poker. The alcohol must have been pretty strong.

"I don't think so." Sanosuke caught Megumi's hands before they reached under the hem of her dress.

And he was immediately greeted by boos.

"Hey, I was playing," Megumi argued. "At least I get to keep one item on. I lost, so now I'm supposed to-"

"No," he said firmly. "It's time to go now."

"But-"

"We're going," Sanosuke insisted. "You can either get your stuff, follow me, or I'll carry you out of here."

Megumi flicked her fingers…unsteadily…at him. "You wouldn't even."

She asked for it. Sanosuke easily bent her over his shoulder, making sure that the hem of her dress stayed fairly low down the back of her legs.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, hitting his kidney, causing him to wince. "How dare you…You brute! Put me down!"

Miraculously, Carmen came up with a plastic bag and placed Megumi's bra, sandals, and jewelry inside. "Here…she can leave her car here and pick it up anytime, it'll be okay parked here."

"Where's your purse?" Sanosuke directed the question to the wriggling form he held with one arm.

"I don't know!" Megumi shot out.

"Here," Carmen held the item out. "Sorry, Sano. I guess she didn't…didn't know her own limit."

He sighed. "She doesn't get out much, I guess."

"That's not true," Megumi declared hotly. "I've gone out. Would you put me down?!"

And Sanosuke headed towards his car, with several men shooting him evil looks, and a couple other spectators were looking on with amusement.

"Your shoulder is hurting me," Megumi announced.

Just as he was about to reply, she continued to talk.

"You have a nice butt. Do you work out?"

He laughed. "Thanks, fox-lady. And yeah, I do. Every day."

"Is that cuz of all the daily running?" she asked curiously. "I bet your front is as nice." Then she reached down and slapped one side of his rear end.

Man, she was gone. Who knew that uptight Princess Megumi had a wild side?

()

Eight hours later, Megumi woke up in a very strange position.

When it came to bedtime, she was a creature of habit. She slept in the middle of her bed with two fluffy pillows and a blanket around her. This particular morning…she woke up lying face down across the foot of her bed, with no fluffy pillows or comfy blanket…wearing the exact same dress she wore yesterday. But no bra.

She rubbed her eyes, squinting slightly. At least she was in her room. For some strange reason, she remembered pina coladas. But she did remember her tumble into the grass and her ankle. She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.

"You're awake."

She looked up to see Sanosuke standing in the doorway, hands shoved in his jean pockets, his white undershirt wrinkled in every single direction. His brown hair was mussed, sticking up in a couple different directions.

"What happened?" Megumi whispered, moving to a sitting position.

He chuckled. "You drank a lot of pina coladas."

"That would explain why I can remember that…" she muttered.

"Do you need some aspirin?"

"No…"

"Juice? Water?" he prompted.

"I'm fine." Megumi massaged her temple before looking in his direction. "Where'd you stay last night?"

"On the couch," Sanosuke answered. "You didn't seem like yourself, so when we got here…I stayed to make sure you were all right."

"Oh. Thank you."

"Mind if I use your bathroom?"

"No…go ahead."

He closed the bathroom door behind him while she climbed out of bed and hobbled into the kitchen. Now that she thought about it…she was thirsty. What exactly happened before?

The couch had a wrinkled white sheet and small pillow, indicating Sanosuke's obvious presence last night.

Megumi helped herself to a glass of water before setting the glass in the sink. She turned to go back to her room, nearly stumbling into him.

"Whoa, easy…"

"Sorry," she murmured, grasping his forearm for balance.

"No problem."

"What…happened last night? It seems so…"

"Blank?" At her nod, he continued, "You drank…you played strip poker and were down to your dress and panties."

She blinked. A couple times. "What?"

"You had already lost your jewelry, shoes, and bra."

Instinctively, she drew her arm protectively over her chest. "That…explains it…"

"But before you lost your only underwear, I stopped you."

Megumi's lips parted in surprise. "W…Why?"

He gave her a smile. Megumi was starting to realize that she had a label for the different smiles he had. She swallowed when he playfully tweaked her chin.

"I figured that you weren't ready to give your underwear over to some strange guys. For future reference, fox-lady…as pretty as you are…it's probably best not to encourage a guy's imagination."

"You obviously have no problem. Even when I'm in full business clothes," she retorted.

Amusement glittered in his brown eyes. "That's because you're you." He bent slightly, brushing a kiss over her temple.

A fluttering sensation suddenly emerged in her belly at the brief contact. He'd kissed her last night, too. She definitely remembered that. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to stop him from doing those light touches. She wasn't sure she wanted to stop him, either. Megumi swallowed again. "I…Last night…besides the poker game…did I do anything else? Strange?"

Sanosuke had moved over to the couch to shake out his folded short-sleeved collared shirt. He paused. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Strange."

He laughed. "Well, you did spank me. And proposition me a couple times once we got here."

Megumi looked away, covering her eyes with her hand. "Oh my goodness…"

"But no decent man takes a woman's offer when she's drunk," Sanosuke reasoned.

Her doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Sanosuke offered. When he looked through the peephole, he glanced at her, wincing slightly.

"Who is it?" Megumi asked softly.

"Jo-chan."

Megumi's eyes rounded. "I was supposed to have brunch with her today before I went to the library to do some research."

He blew out a breath and opened the door, quickly moving aside as Kaoru bustled in.

"Hi!" she greeted. Then she stopped short at the sight of Megumi across the room. She jerked her head around to see Sanosuke closing the door, his hand around the doorknob. Her face fell. "Oh no…" She glanced at Megumi. "I'm…interrupting something, aren't I?"

"No," Megumi assured.

"Nothing's going on," Sanosuke responded.

Kaoru sighed. "I couldn't blame Megumi for this, but Sanosuke-"

"I just said nothing's going on," Sanosuke insisted.

Kaoru jabbed her index finger out as he shrugged into his shirt. "You have any idea how this looks with you saying that? I told you to leave her alone. She doesn't need some womanizing-"

At the slight irritation in Sanosuke's eyes, Megumi interjected. "Kaoru, it's all right. Last night-"

"I don't want to hear it."

"Last night," Megumi continued, narrowing her eyes. "We had gone to a mutual friend's to a party. Separately. I drank too much so he drove me home and stayed on the couch to make sure I was all right."

Kaoru gaped. "You drank? And Sanosuke Sagara spent the night at a woman's place and didn't sleep next to her?"

He swore softly. "Why the hell do you always make it sound like I'm some insensitive ass who only cares about getting laid?"

Kaoru and Megumi were slightly taken aback at his tone.

"Carmen said you can pick up your car anytime," Sanosuke stated matter-of-factly, pocketing his wallet and keys. "I'll see you later."

Then he was gone.

Megumi sighed. "I guess we should get my car…"