Authors' Note: AHHH! HOW LONG SINCE I UPDATED! Mibu-chan is profusely sorry for the delay! Too long a delay! Without further ado, chapter TWO!
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Aku
Chapter Two: Disaster in Disguise
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"Help me."
Help her? With what? And how? So many questions raced through Sanosuke's head as the woman held on to him, her eyes large and pleading. The fact that they now had an audience watching their every move was not helping, either.
"Hey, Nobu, help me out here will you?" he asked, turning toward his friend. The fat man responded to his plea like a bull would to a couple of houseflies hitching a ride on its back.
Nobu was standing there, his eyes wide in recognition. "That's Tatsu's wife, Miyo," he whispered. "But how did she manage to get out…"
The woman who was Tatsu's wife clung tighter still, muttering, "They're after me… they're after me…" Beads of sweat began to form on her deathly white forehead and roll down.
She's hallucinating! Sanosuke realized. Placing a hand on her head, he found noted that her temperature was high. Too high for comfort. Don't die on me…"Could someone move and at least do something here?" he shouted to the crowd. They did nothing more than gossip amongst themselves and point at the poor, ill-looking woman.
"Perhaps I can be of some assistance?" The speaker was a woman, tall and willow-skinned. She donned a rose-pink kimono and carried a rose-wood medicinal box in her hands.
"Please do," the former Zanza muttered, casting an angry look at the crowd who was still standing and staring. Did they ever amount to anything else? He handed Miyo over to the new-comer, who examined her closely.
"Miss Takani, we must be going." Said a man who came up to her. Three others followed behind, their questionable looking attire adding to their mysterious presence.
The lady called Miss Takani shook her head. "I have to tend to her first." Taking a look at the crowd, she ordered the lot to move. "Give the poor woman some space, she needs air to breathe and it isn't going to be possible if you keep crowding around here. You there, get warm water and some towels!" Meekly, the crowd obeyed, moving back and muttering. Nobu, the one whom she had ordered to be her temporary "assistant", rushed into a nearby shop to get the items she had asked.
Sanosuke observed the woman as she tended to her patient. She moved with a professional air and behaved as though they were in a quaint, sterilized clinic instead of in a crowded, dirty alley. He wondered for a moment how she could actually get on with her work when four strange-looking men were behind her, their cold gaze boring into her back.
"How is she?" He asked her. The woman continued looking down at Miyo, her gaze un-moving. "Aren't you going to give her something for her, well… whatever it is."
Takani looked up at him, her almond-shaped eyes meeting his hard gaze for a fleeting second, then dropped them down again. "She appears to be suffering from a fever, which may have caused her hallucinations. Get her home as quickly as possible and try to calm her. She seems rather disturbed. Make sure she lies down for at least five days, and call a doctor over to take a look at her."
"What about medication?" Sanosuke asked. Takani hesitated, as if contemplating whether or not to do something. Finally, as if coming to a decision, she opened her medicinal box and took out a small triangular-shaped package. Handing it to him, she murmured. "Give her this and let her sleep. It'll help ease her ailment." Without waiting for him to reply, she stood up and left.
The former Zanza stood up and watched her go. Who was this mysterious person? And what was she doing with four of those wierdos tailing her like zombies? "Matte!" he called out.
The woman turned back and looked and him. A moment of silence passed before she replied. "Megumi. My name is Takani Megumi." So saying, she left.
Nobu joined Sanosuke. "Who was she?" he asked, curious. Clearly he had never seen such an attractive lady before.
Sanosuke shrugged. "I dunno… must be one of those medical students that traveled from god-knows-where to study the secrets of medicine." Judging by how expensive her kimono fabric looked, and the "clique" that was with her, she must be one of those doctor-wannabes who came from rich families with western-styled villas and too much cash they did not know what to do with it.
"Come on, we better get Miyo home. Tatsu's gotta be worried sick about her disappearance."
…
Two weeks had passed since Sanosuke had made an acquaintance with the mysterious lady doctor. By the end of the first week, however, he hardly thought about her, as he had other issues to worry about.
In other words, he still had not found enough money to pay his rent for the month.
And if he did not pay up by the time the landlord came round to collect the rent, he would most likely throw him out, something that seemed to please that stuck-up, money-minded capitalist.
"How's Miyo?" Sanosuke asked Nobu as they paced the streets of the marketplace in uptown Tokyo. Her husband had been relieved when they had brought her home that day.
Nobu shook his head, a troubled expression on his face. "Still not too good. Her condition stabled for a day after she took those funny-looking tablets in that package, then her fever took a dive and decided to turn her into a half-baked...what?" He stopped when he noticed his companion staring at him.
"You have a weird way of thinking, Nobu," Sanosuke shook his head. No words were exchanged while they continued pacing aimlessly, occasionally apologizing as they bumped into a couple of housewives going about their chores.
After some time, Nobu spoke up. "You still are struggling with paying the rent?" Sanosuke let out a terse sigh. "What does it look like?" he asked. "That dump of a landlord will be having a good reason to polish that boot of his. Specially reserved for my arse on that special occasion. I anticipate that with utmost joy."
Observing the crowds of people and the minority group lying slumped against the walls of shops (in other words the minority group were unemployed, homeless beggars), he remarked, "The pavements look clean enough…"
"You can put up at my place if you want," Nobu offered. "Thanks but no thanks." Fighting the urge to shudder at the mention of his friend's residence, he tried not to recall the times when he had dropped by Nobu's house and saw the mess inside there. God knows what lay beneath those layers of… never mind.
"Besides, there's no way you can stay there without anyone checking you out. Those Meiji people will have their dogs sniff you out." The fat man added.
Sanosuke spat in disgust. "I forgot about those. Damn those bastards, they're never going to let me rest in peace right? That bunch of…"
"Pigs." Nobu interrupted. Seeing the confused look on the youngster's face, he nodded towards a street vendor selling steamed pork buns. "Want one?" he asked.
"Whatever." Sanosuke shrugged. "I'm not paying."
…
Niwa District was a transition between the well-to-do and the downright poor; Decent-looking apartments had been built, with surrounding borders to bar others from breaking in. Rows of badly-built huts slumped against the gates. Everywhere, young, thin children ran around, chasing after one another while playing tag.
Niwa District, that half-slump, half-housing area, was now Sanosuke's former home. Having failed to pay his rent on time for the tenth consecutive time since he moved in, his landlord had chosen to kick him out.
"I never said I liked I staying near you anyway!" The former Zanza yelled as he went out, not caring that the other tenants were watching his outburst.
Che. The pavements never seemed more welcoming to him than that moment. He was about to choose a spot and lie down for the night when he noticed a light coming out from one of the houses.
Isn't that Tatsu's house? Curious, he abandoned his temporary rest area and walked toward his friend's house. As he approached, he noticed a small crowd gathered there.
"No good, no good…" Tatsu held his head in his large hands, shaking to and fro. "How could this…"
"Tatsu, what's wrong?" Sanosuke asked in concern. "Nobu?"
Nobu shook his head sadly.
What the hell is going on?
"Miyo's died. She passed away an hour ago." Were his words.
"What? I don't get it… I thought she would be better…" Sanosuke was confused.
"It was poison! Poison!" Tatsu suddenly spoke up. "Miyo's dead! She's never coming back! Never!" Before anyone had a chance to react, he got up and ran out of the house.
"Tatsu, wait!"
Tatsu ignored him. He ran and ran until…
Until he couldn't run anymore.
His path was blocked by a railing…
Which was built there to prevent anyone from falling…
Into the canal below.
Sanosuke saw Tatsu standing at the railing, looking out at the canal. Within seconds, he realized what he was going to do.
"Tatsu, no!"
He didn't hear him. Or reply. Because he couldn't.
Tatsu climbed the railing and jumped into the canal. The dirty water splashed as he jumped in, rippled, then ceased to move as he sunk into the deep darkness.
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Author's Note: Once again, I'm very very very very very very VERY SORRY that I have not updated in, like, months! I'm really very sorry! I'll try to update as often as I can once I get all my work done. Hopefully, I might be able to update my other fics soon. Stay tuned for the next chapter! What's to happen next? Find out in Chapter Three! (sorry really high now 'cuz I finally updated. -.-)
Until the Next Update!
-grin5-
mC
