D/C: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin…but, as I always say, Sanosuke would simply do…

Hello! I'm back! Thank you all for the amazing reviews! Anyway, I'm not finding time to update more often because school started and I'm being loaded with homework. But I'll try to update every chance I get, I promise. Anyway, on with the chapter! Enjoy!

CHAPTER 7:

The alarm bell rang shrilly, announcing seven thirty a.m.

Megumi reached out blindly and shut the alarm off. She opened her eyes slowly against her eyelids will; they seemed to want to remain shut for a longer time, but Megumi didn't want to sleep; she wanted to wake up, go downstairs, and find Sanosuke. She knew, or rather, she hoped he would be dead asleep on her living room couch, his mouth hanging open and his gentle snores filling the room. She had never seen him while he was asleep, but that's how she assumed he would look like when sleeping.

Last night had really unnerved her; Sano had been so quiet, so sad. When he said good-bye, she really felt that he was telling her good-bye for the last time; that he won't be coming back. That's why she wanted to wake up and go check if he was really there.

Pushing her bed sheets away, Megumi scrambled out of her bed. She pulled her robe around her and left the room. She went down the stairs, heart thudding loudly in her chest. She reached the landing.

'Sano?' she called out.

No reply. So maybe he was sleeping. Clinging on to that hope, Megumi made her way to the living room. She peered inside, expecting to see Sanosuke's mass of brown hair any second now. But she didn't. Nothing in the room related to Sano, even the whole dinner ware from last night had disappeared. Megumi was crest-fallen.

She walked away from the living room, and headed to the next likely room for Sano to be in; the kitchen. Maybe he was sitting there at the table, eating a bawl of cereal…or maybe a cheese burger. Do people have cheese burgers for breakfast? Or maybe he was just sitting there, nodding off his chair while he waited for her to wake up.

She smiled lightly at the mental image and stepped into the kitchen. Her smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Sano wasn't there. There weren't even any remains of left-over breakfast; the kitchen was completely empty.

Megumi felt a knot tighten in her chest. Where was he? She had grown to the site of him, even though she had just been with him for barely three days. The idea of not having him around was just wrong. It made her feel really panicky and insecure. When Sano had been with her, she always felt happy and safe, but now that he was gone…

Megumi didn't even want to think of the possibility that he might be gone. She was sure that he was around her somewhere. Maybe he was out in the yard, doing God-knows-what.

She hurried to the front door and pulled it open. She stepped out onto the front porch. She looked around. 'Sano!' she called again, although she couldn't see him anywhere.

Again no reply. Sano wasn't there. Sighing heavily, she started to walk back into the house. Then she noticed the newspaper and the envelopes sticking out of her mailbox. She scowled. What? Another bunch of hate mail?

She grabbed the letters and went back inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She went back to the kitchen and pulled herself up on a stool. She checked the first envelope. Her name and address were written on the front. She tore the envelope open and pulled out the sheet of paper inside. Her eyes scanned the miniscule handwriting.

'Dear Dr. Takani,

I must say I was really impressed by what you did in the restaurant; standing up for yourself and all. I was just going over today's paper and I found this article in the third or forth page, and they were ranting over how brave and strong you were in the restaurant when you confronted that man who was insulting you. I suppose you don't know, but that man is a reporter, and he was deeply impressed by you.

We were all led into believing that you really were the cause of Taito Yamachi's death, but you cleared all our doubts. You're right; it was his parents' fault. They shouldn't have taken him off the treatment early just because they thought he was fine. I mean, do they seriously think that they're the doctors around here?

I believe you were done a great amount of injustice, and I assure you that I'll always be on your side whatever anybody says.

Sayonara!

Yours truly,

Kana Achi.'

Megumi clutched the letter with trembling hands, unable to believe what she had just read. She quickly reached out for the paper and flipped over to the third page, and there it was.

"DOCTOR PROVES HERSELF INNOCENT!"

Megumi quickly went over the content of the article, which described in detail what had happened in the restaurant, and added a lot of stuff in her favor. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

All this happened to me because of Sanosuke. Because he had stood next to her and told her to stand up to people. He was one who had helped her. He supported her. She cared about nobody's support but his. And now, he wasn't there to support her anymore…that was obvious at the moment, unless she was very much mistaken.

She went over the next letters; they were all the same. All written in her favor and filled with compliments and words of encouragement.

'Oh, Sano,' she murmured. 'I wish you were here to see what I had achieved.'

'He won't be here anymore.'

Megumi jumped, and dropped the letter she was holding from her hands. She whirled around and stared at the man standing in her doorway.

He was dark-haired with sharp green eyes. He was tall and broad-shouldered and wore a crisp black suit. He looked extremely good-looking, maybe even more handsome than Sanosuke, but he didn't have Sano's warm smile and soulful eyes.

'Who…who are you?' she demanded, shaking slightly.

'My name is Shogo Amakusa, I'm your guardian angel,' he said in a flat tone.

Megumi suddenly felt angry. 'What do you mean, you're my angel?' she demanded. 'Sano's my angel! And what's this crap about not him being around anymore?'

'Sano was removed from your service and was appointed to somebody else,' he explained. 'I was asked to fill his position.'

'But I don't want you to be my angel! I want Sano back!' she exploded, her eyes welling with tears.

'I'm afraid that's out of order,' he told her.

'Why? Why is it out of order?' she demanded.

'Sano made a mistake, he's broken the rules, he's on probation now,' Shogo told her. 'And as punishment for him, he isn't allowed to make contact with you anymore.'

'Sano didn't make mistakes! He did his job extremely well! Sano really helped me with the ordeal I've been going through! He didn't break any rules!' she snapped.

'You don't even know what rules I'm talking about,' Shogo said in a flat tone.

'Ok, fine!' she said. 'I'll pretend to be interested and ask about those rules! What rule did Sano break? What mistake did he do?'

Shogo nodded. He looked unflinchingly at her. 'Sano fell in love with you,' he said quietly.

Megumi blinked. 'He fell in love with me?' she whispered, the simple knowledge making her feel all warm on the inside. Sano's in love with me! 'That's his mistake? He fell in love with me?'

'You don't understand, Sano isn't supposed to fall in love with you, let alone kiss you,' Shogo said. 'And Sano did both. Angels aren't supposed to fall in love with the people they protect; that's considered as breaking the rules.'

'And he was punished by…?' she said, and her voice trailed off.

'By not being allowed to make contact with you…ever,' Shogo replied.

'But that can't be happening!' Megumi cried. 'Sano will have to come back! He has to come and see me! I want to see him!'

'I'm afraid that's not possible,' Shogo said.

'No! There has to be a way! Sano can't simply stop seeing me!' she screamed.

'Well…there is one way,' Shogo said, sounding a bit hesitant.

'Really? What is it? Tell me! I'll do anything!' she cried.

'It's not you who has to do anything,' Shogo told her. 'It requires a sacrifice on Sano's side.'

'Sacrifice? What kind of sacrifice?' she asked, frowning.

'Sano will have to give up his wings in order to see you again,' Shogo said, quite expressionlessly.

'Give up his wings?' Megumi repeated. Even without knowing what it meant, it sounded quite horrible to her.

'By giving up his wings, Sano will no longer be an angel,' Shogo explained. 'And I don't think Sano will be about to do that; if there's one thing Sano loves in the world, it's being an angel…you can't simply take that away from him.'

Megumi was speechless. So Sano had to choose between her and being an angel. On normal conditions, a woman would be angry if a man didn't pick her over his job, but Sano wasn't a normal man, and this wasn't a normal condition. And she knew how much Sano loved being an angel; it was really obvious. She couldn't simply ask him to drop it for her.

Megumi felt bitter tears well in her eyes. This wasn't fair. The only man who'd ever really loved me and helped me was gone, and I'm sure he'd never come back. And what makes it more terrible is…I've come to love him, myself.

She looked up at Shogo, and saw that his cold expression had melted into that of pity and sympathy. Great! Her new angel pitied her now! But she felt that she ought to be pitied. Nobody would want to be in a situation such as hers.

Sano…

She was already missing him terribly. His easy laugh. His sarcastic comments. His encouraging pep talks. The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed. The way he smiled at her. The way he looked at her. The way he kept reading her mind. His happy, cheerful expression. She simply missed everything about him now.

And knowing that she'll never be able to see any of these things ever again, made her choke. The tears leaked out of her eyes, and she buried her face in her arms against the cool surface of the table.

Shogo just stood and watched her cry.

If Sano were here…he would've held her in his arms and murmured soothing words in her ear…but Sano wasn't here. He will never be here again.

-

A/N: Wasn't that sad? What do you think is going to happen now? Will Sano come back for Megumi? Or will he choose his job over her? I'm waiting for your reviews, so don't make me wait long! And wait for my next chappie!

-ZEN.