Sup' peeps. Another chapter for y'all cuz I love you guys oh so much…..okay, so it's a ploy to get more reviews…..I'm a friggin leech. I have to warn you that this may be the last post I do for a while cuz I kinda need to write more (and I'm going on a trip with my friends :P).

I was intending to mention this in my previous author's notes, but I sorta…well…forgot. Kenshin usually says 'this one' (in the manga) or 'sessha' in his normal speech, but I decided to change that because some things just sound better if he said 'I'. Example:

"I love you." Vs. "This one loves you."

Not that I'm going to use this sentence (way to cliché and overused), but you understand my point, yes? Okay, on with the chappy!-Jackie

"A walk! How lame!" Yahiko cried out.

Megumi and Sano slapped their hands to the child's mouth instantly.

The lady doctor hissed threateningly into Yahiko's ear, "If they find out we're here…"

"…I'll pound your chubby little face into the ground," Sano finished with equal hostility. Yahiko (slightly enraged by that "chubby" remark) grudgingly became quiet.

When the group was sure that Kenshin and Kaoru were well out of the gates and out of earshot, Sano stood up decisively. "I say we tail them!" he proposed, setting a fist into his other hand, his mind made up.

Megumi rose next to him. "This is definitely a chance that we can't miss."

Hearing the silence stretch between them, the couple snapped their heads downward at the mute Yahiko. "Well?" they insisted edgily.

The kid simply stared up at them with disinterest. "Do we really have to follow them? Isn't that a bit much?"

"Of course we need to follow! We need to find out what they're doing," Megumi said evidently.

"Yeah, what do you think we've been hiding and listening in for?" Sano interjected.

Yahiko muttered sardonically, "I think you two need to get a life."

Megumi held him down as Sano punched Yahiko severely.

(a/n: why does everyone feel the need to hit poor yahiko/tear/)

Crossing the threshold of the dojo's gate into the street, Kenshin paused and glanced back in surprise.

"Something wrong, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked a few steps ahead.

Kenshin turned back to the girl in front of him and resumed his pace. "No. Nothing at all," he replied, innocently ginning.

Kaoru sniffed in disbelief, but began to walk once more.

Those three are unbelievable, Kenshin thought to himself.

Kaoru broke the silence with her laid-back voice. "So, where were you planning on having us walk to?" she inquired loftily. She looked over her shoulder at him while she laced her hands behind her head in a laidback manner.

"Oro?" he said at the unexpected question. "I guess I didn't think about that when I asked," he admitted.

Kaoru rolled her eyes at him. She placed her hands on her hips and eyed him with slight irritation. "So, besides wandering aimlessly around the city, you don't have a plan?"

"Is it all right that I'm making it up as I go?" he said with a guilty smile.

She snorted. Suddenly an idea came to her. A very…Megumi-inspired…idea.

She steeped closer to him and purred playfully, "I don't know. That all depends on where you take me and what you do."

Sanosuke whistled softly. "Who knew the little Miss could be such a tease," he said. "Good thing we left the kid back at the dojo, I don't know if he'd have wanted to see this."

Megumi clenched her fists and grit her teeth. "That little…she's acting like it's a date, yet she refuses to admit that she may like him a bit," she spat harshly.

Kenshin, taken aback slightly by Kaoru's uncharacteristic reply, said awkwardly, "O-oro, I suppose we could go wherever you would like to go."

Kaoru sighed and reverted back to her normal self. "Relax, Kenshin. Can't you take a joke?" she reassured the swordsman. "I don't really care where we walk to."

I knew it, she told herself. He doesn't like me that way; Megumi's just being her weird self. Though her thoughts were meant to restore her confidence in the fact that she was right, she couldn't help but experience a bit of disappointment.

Disappointment at what? the girl found part of herself asking.

Just leave me alone, will you? I don't feel like answering confusing questions at the moment, she ordered the voice tiredly. Her internal selves didn't argue.

In an attempt to mask her inner conflicts, Kaoru put on one of her usual bright faces. "Why don't we go to the Akabeko? I bet Tae and Tsubame would be glad to see us," she said with false optimism, trying not to think of what the noise and smells would do to her already unpleasant headache. She was about to walk on ahead, when she felt Kenshin's hand rest on her shoulder, causing her to stop and look back slowly. She was suddenly aware that goose bumps were forming on the skin where his hand rested.

"Y-yes?" she spoke uncertainly, startled by how the presence of his hand seemed to affect her today.

"Please excuse me, but I do not think the Akabeko would be best at the moment," he stated.

The black-haired girl quirked an eyebrow. "Um, why?" she asked, thoroughly curious. She was surprised at his quick refusal.

"You do not seem like you want to go there is all," he replied airily. He proceeded to steer her away from the street that led to the restaurant.

Kaoru struggled to maintain her façade of brightness. "What makes you say that, Kenshin?" she said, her grin never faltering. "I think a meal at the Akabeko would hit the spot right now."

He gave her a knowing look as he remarked, "Even when you ate a large breakfast less than an hour ago? I believe your exact words then were, 'I'm so stuffed; I don't think I'll be able to eat for another week,' Strange that your appetite has changed so quickly…" he trailed off with inquisitiveness.

She inhaled sharply. Oh crap, she thought. She'd forgotten she'd said that.

The swordsman leaned in close to her ear. "If you wish to hide your anxieties from me, I would suggest you plan more carefully and do not use the same face each time," he whispered, a smile in his voice.

Kaoru flushed brightly. "That's not what I was doing!" she shouted indignantly.

"If that is what you would like to think, then I will not stop you," he responded calmly.

Kaoru swung her arm to her left, trying to sock the red-head in the face for his nauseatingly good-mannered way of teasing her. He merely ducked under her arm and trotted up the path, chuckling good-naturedly all the while.

"Why you…!" she cried out in frustration, watching him stroll ahead. She stared back at the road behind her, contemplating going to the Akabeko just to spite him.

The sickening happy voice that was Kenshin broke into her thoughts. "Ah yes. I met Miss Tae in the market yesterday. She wished for me to inform you that the Akabeko will be closed all this week due to a family matter. She is sorry, but she won't be able to visit you this weekend as she had intended," he notified her thoughtfully.

"What?" she cried in shock. "But she…" She noticed Kenshin was already walking away and whistling to himself.

Grinding her teeth in frustration, she clenched her fists to her sides and hurried up the road behind him.

Why that spacey know-it-all jerk, Kaoru thought furiously as she caught up to him.

Megumi giggled in silence while Sano grinned shrewdly. "Those two are really something, aren't they?" the fist-fighter remarked. For a moment, the woman next to him didn't respond; then Sano heard her heave a sigh of laced with wistfulness. Glancing down he saw a single tear form in the corner of Megumi's eye. "Hey, something wrong?" he asked, surprised at the sudden change of emotion.

The doctor blinked out of her daze, but kept her stare facing forward. "Sorry, I just….had a passing thought," she said reflectively. Her face softened in mournful silence.

"About?" Sano was astonished by this quieter, shadowed side of the cynical doctor.

Her eyes glazed over with unshed tears as she gazed into the horizon. "This may sound silly, but..." Though trails of water slid silently down the woman's face, her voice was steady as she said with finality, "This is probably the day…I finally give Kenshin up for good."

Sano looked down at her intently before speaking. "You really had a thing for him, didn't you?" he said with sudden understanding. "I guess you weren't just teasing all the time."

"I suppose…but it's time to...to stop living in dreams." Megumi turned to him, showing a weak smile. Her eyes released a last tear before she said, "I never was the one he wanted, was I?"

They stared at each other for a long moment until Megumi finally faced the street ahead of them again, rubbing her wrists over her watering eyes. "Let's go," she said, a genuine smile growing on her face. "We have to see how this ends!"

"Hey! Since we can't go to the Akabeko, just where are we going anyway?" she demanded, making no effort at all to hide her impatience at his secretiveness.

"Hm?" Kenshin scratched his head thoughtfully, looking from side to side. "Well first," he said as he sought the right direction. Finding what he was looking for, he walked down a dark path that led into a small wood. "We turn down here." He strolled away again, leaving her behind.

"Wait!" the girl shouted, jogging to catch him. "Why do you keep doing that? Walking away and forgetting me…it's really a pain."

Kenshin glanced back at her. "Perhaps if Kaoru-dono were to keep up…?" he suggested jokingly.

She glared. "You know that's not what I meant."

He voiced a quiet laugh. "Of course," he said. "I'm sorry to seem like I'm trying to lose you, but it's really necessary that we hurry. Even though it's noon, the light only lasts a short time in this part of the forest." He took a quick look at the woodland roof above. "The trees are so thick here, it'd be hard to see anything," he informed her.

Kaoru gave him a questioning look. "But what are we supposed to see here? I don't see anything but bushes, trees, more bushes, and--." She gasped as she rounded a corner with Kenshin.

In a clearing stood a majestically tall cherry tree.

Ok, well that's it for now, my adoring fans (ha!). You'll probably see the next chapter within two weeks or so, kay? How did you guys like my dramatic Megumi? I wrote that cuz it seems that a lot of people out there have the idea that Megumi's just a brainless whore out to get Kenshin to piss off Kaoru. In my opinion:

THAT'S A LOAD OF GRADE-A CRAP.

Megumi's just as profound a character as any other in ruroken. Sometimes, more so. She lost all her family when she was little. Because of that, she's been alone most of her life. When she thinks all is lost, she's saved by Kenshin and her hope is restored. He's the first person that made her feel like she wasn't alone, but she knows she'll never be able to have him. That's some deep stuff there, people! I just don't think it's fair that so many people downplay her character when it's clear that she was created to be so much more than that. I hope that my small tribute to Megumi will change some of your close-minded opinions of her. Ok, until next time!-Jackie