The Best of Intentions: Chapter 15
Sanosuke Sagara was at one of those forks in the road. However, in his case, he couldn't think of a single direction to choose that wouldn't have a ticked off former assassin of the government waiting for him with his sword drawn.
"Kenshin," Sano looked down guiltily at the letters held within his "red" hands. "I didn't expect you to be back so soon."
Kenshin walked towards the taller man slowly and with steady, measured steps. Each foot closer caused the heart rate of the former fighter for hire's blood to pump just a bit faster. "Why are you reading my letters?" He asked softly, his eyes had turned to sharp steel.
Sano's dark eyes grew darker at the question. His best friend was the one standing in front of him. He may face a black eye in the future, but as he had spent most of his life as a gangster, a good brawl was always more welcome than taking a cowardly retreat. "I believe the real question is why they are here, under your mattress. Why haven't you given them to Jou-chan?"
The diatribe about respecting a person's privacy fell flat at the accusation. It was a question Kenshin had often asked himself. He felt unworthy, that was obvious. He knew that Sano wouldn't accept such an answer. Or he would at least earn himself a knot on the back of his head that he would do nothing to avoid. "I don't have an answer for that," was the honest answer.
"Here's your answer. You're a chicken." Sano told him resolutely as he set the letters on the mattress and stood to his full, imposing height. He towered over his shorter friend. "Jou-chan deserves to know how you really feel."
Kenshin moved past Sano towards the piled letters and knocked them onto the floor in one angry swipe. He turned vivid violet eyes with golden flares straight at Sano. "Really? Well maybe I would have told her if I wasn't just given a death sentence by the good doctor here."
Sano's jaw dropped at the statement. "What are you talking about?" He asked carefully.
Kenshin fisted his hands at his side and took a calming breath. He wasn't acting in his jovial Rurouni manner ever since the news from the physician and then seeing Kaoru with Aoshi really unbalanced him. He forced himself to calm down and his eyes returned to normal as he met his best friend's concerned gaze. "He says I have syphilis."
Sano scratched his head. "Are you sure?"
He blinked twice. "Of course I'm sure!"
"Did you get a second opinion? Run any follow-up tests to make sure there wasn't a mistake? They have those false positives all the time." He was thinking through all the steps Megumi went through whenever she was making a diagnosis. One never simply told someone they had a disease unless it was a definitive thing.
"No." Kenshin answered, a feeling of dim hope creeping up his veins with the goal of his heart. "I didn't think of it. I just figured…."he trailed off. Could it be possible that the doctor made a mistake?
"This place isn't the most organized. Maybe he mixed up the test results with someone else. Don't you think Megumi would have noticed if you had something like syphilis?" Sano grinned lazily at his friend, good humor returned because he had the utmost faith in his fox-lady.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion," Kenshin agreed guardedly. He was already regretting sending Kaoru off with Aoshi. If it were to turn out that he was indeed misdiagnosed then he may very well have sent his lady love as some sort of gift into the hands of a rival with a large bow on top.
"Great, I'm glad we have that all straightened up." Sano moved past Kenshin towards the doorway. "I think I'll go and check up on the two newest recruits to the program here."
Kenshin smiled benignly. "You just don't wish to anger me anymore that you don't."
Carelessly, Sano shrugged but didn't answer as he left the room and shut the door quietly behind him. He could only hope that his line of reasoning was correct. The idea of his friend dying such a gruesome death was not something he could handle. He was having to make enough adjustments with the idea of his Jou-chan with the icicle ninja.
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"I really don't see what this has to do with finding my family," Megumi commented under her breath as she sat beside her brooding companion. They were in a crowded tea-house and all Hiko had done since setting foot inside was drink sake.
Hiko ignored her as he smiled at the serving lady who gave him some more complimentary sake. It would seem a charming smile on his part was all it required for the female population to grant him all sorts of gifts. He glanced towards his bossy companion from the corner of his eye when he was sure she wasn't looking. His charm worked with most women anyway.
"We're wasting time. I haven't seen them in years and yet you sit around getting drunk." Megumi tugged at Hiko's sleeve when she didn't believe he was listening. "Are you even listening to me?"
She sighed in frustration when it became obvious that the older man was not going to put forth any effort to answer her demands. Megumi ran her hand over the top of her head to smooth her bangs out of her eyes. "Drunken old fool," she muttered sweetly through her teeth while seeming to be smiling serenely at the man flirting across from her.
Hiko's hand tightened marginally on the jug of sake he held while his left eye twitched. He made no movements observant to the casual onlooker, or even a trained one at that.
The front door to the teahouse burst open as a stressed out young man came rushing inside. "Is there a doctor?" He pleaded; his light brown hair was tossed wildly from the wind outside while his skin was flushed. "Please, my wife is going into labor! I need help!"
Megumi stood and was promptly at his side, before Hiko could warn her to keep a low profile and not attract any attention. It was obvious she didn't realize the sort of society they were in at the moment was not kind to professional women.
"Take me to your wife, I can help you." Megumi answered. She purposely didn't confess to being a doctor, having a feeling that this particular village thought ill of educated women. They would most likely assume she was a mid-wife and nothing more.
The young man took a hold of Megumi's wrist and dragged her after him in a mad-rush to reach his wife. "We have to hurry! She's going to explode!"
"It's not quite that messy," Megumi assured him dryly as she cast an annoyed look over her shoulder at Hiko. It would figure that he wouldn't offer any aid. Her opinion of the man remained rather low on the totem pole.
A frail looking old man sat slowly beside Hiko. He gestured towards Megumi with his tea cup in his hand. "You allow your woman to run away with strange men?"
"No," Hiko answered as he drained his mug. He set it carefully down on the table and stood calmly. "I do not." He answered as he began to follow the path of the expectant father and the good doctor at a sedate pace. There really was no need to hurry their journey along.
It was his honor-bound duty to deliver the young doctor to her family. Only she didn't realize that there was no need to rush to reach her kin. They would not be going anywhere. Ever.
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Aoshi looked down at the woman beside him. He honestly could not remember having his heart feel lighter than it did at this moment in time. Even as a boy, when he was given the position as head of his ninja clan it couldn't compare to the pure joy he felt presently.
As if sensing his gaze, Kaoru squeezed his hand with hers and looked up and met his watchful icy gaze. "Something on your mind?" She asked sweetly as she took a deep breath. They were walking through a beautiful garden maze in Romania. She would have to be certain to find some chocolate treats for Yutaro and Yahiko for telling her about the garden.
"For once, my mind is a total blank," Aoshi answered with a teasing look in his eye. Like Kaoru, he was grateful to the two teenagers for suggesting the two of them enjoy an afternoon alone. It had been nearly a week since the kiss at the fountain. It seemed as if the two boys went out of their way to make sure they weren't alone once after that fateful event.
"Glad to hear that, besides you think too much," Kaoru informed him as she pressed her body against his arm playfully earning a scowl from the normally expressionless features of her companion.
"You can only tempt a man so far Kaoru," Aoshi told her as he lifted her hand high within his own and twirled her so that her body lay enfolded within his arms. He dipped his head down and kissed her on her bare neck. "Did I ever tell you how cute you are with your hair up in one of those high pony-tails?" He murmured as he made his own path against the skin of her throat.
Kaoru shivered, the feeling of warmth in her belly spreading to her knees and making her collapse against the solid strength of the man behind her.
"Of course, I do prefer it down," he continued to nuzzle against her throat while moving one arm to press his palm against the flat surface of her abdomen. His other hand reached to release the tie in her hair. He moved his lips from her throat and buried his face in her rich, silky locks.
"Aoshi, we're in public," Kaoru whispered, before words failed her altogether. It seemed that after one's belly and knees turned to jelly, the brain often turned into mush as well.
"We're in a strange country too, I don't see what that should matter." He stood straight and turned her around to face him. He dipped his head to rest his brow against hers. "I don't want to think about details. This feels right," he told her before tapping lips with hers in a tease. "So little in my life feels right, let me enjoy it."
Tears filled Kaoru's eyes, forcing her to shut them to keep from crying. It was pointless, because Aoshi kissed her closed eyes gently, causing the tears to fall regardless of her efforts. "I can't believe you're the same person from the beginning of the summer," she whispered as she opened her eyes to search his.
Aoshi kissed her softly again. "I'm the same person; you were just the first person to look beyond the image."
Kaoru gave him a wobbly smile through her tears. "You're the first to see me as an adult," she confessed. "Everyone else tends to think I'm immature."
"We can all be immature at times." He released her from his embrace and took her hand within his once more to enjoy the garden with her walking by his side. He reached out with his free hand to touch the pedals of a large orange blossom. "And remember to never compare me to everyone else again."
Kaoru placed her hand on his broad shoulder to give her the leverage she needed to reach his earlobe and give it a nimble bite. "How can I compare anyone to you? Everyone pales in comparison," she praised adoringly.
Aoshi bent to rest his cheek against the crown of her dark head as they both examined the orange blossoms. "I'll allow you to make those sorts of comparisons."
Kaoru continued to enjoy the walk through the maze of flowers with the tall, handsome man she was growing to love at her side. Never would she have considered that Aoshi could be the one to fill the void in her heart.
Guilt continued to nag at her conscious. How could she move on so quickly from Kenshin? Things were moving too fast between herself and Aoshi. She really would need to slow them down because she couldn't possibly fall in love so quickly after so recently being hopelessly in love with Kenshin for the better part of two years.
Perhaps that was the key to it all. She was hopelessly in love with Kenshin. A future with Aoshi was one full of hope. He was traveling across Asia and Europe with her. Kenshin was always leaving her on his quest to atone for the sins of his past. Aoshi had a checkered past as well, but he was willing to include Kaoru in even the darkest areas of his conscious.
Perhaps it was that willingness to not exclude her even from the events that most shamed him that made Aoshi different. He led her down the garden path to a beautiful arrangement that caused her to lose her breath. As she glanced up at him she could see his face reflecting the pleasure he felt for the sight as well.
Of course, his dashing good looks and the sweetness he rarely allowed others to see were attractive qualities as well.
"What sort of thoughts are running through that head of yours?" Aoshi asked, amused by the playful light in Kaoru's bright eyes. His answer was only the sound of her sweet laughter.
A/N: Thanks CharmedReality for the belated editing. ) I'll try to wait for you next time!