D/C: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, although I keep telling the producers that I would've gladly settled for Sanosuke!

Hiya, people! No, I wasn't dead, no, I didn't have what they call a "mind blockage", no, my best friend didn't hold me hostage until I handed her my entire anime collection…let's just say I had exams…is that good enough an excuse?

But really, guys, thanks for the reviews! I can't believe my story got so much attention! 19 reviews! WOW!

Ehm, anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2: Reunion of the Babysitter and the Babysittee

Wow. He's cute. Megumi tried to take back those words as soon as she thought of them. Shame on you, Megumi, the boy must be at least six or five years younger than you, and look how you're thinking of him. But no matter how she tried, she couldn't deny the fact that Sanosuke was a real eye-candy.

'May I sit downnext to you?' he asked.

'Um…yeah, sure,' she agreed, moving a bit so as to make a space for him.

He plopped down next to her, and turned sideways in his seat to face her. 'You seriously have no idea how happy I am to see you, Miss Takani,' he said, grinning.

'Really?' she asked.

'Yeah,' he assured her. 'And how come you never came to baby-sit for me again? I asked for you several times, but you never came.'

Boy, this is awkward. 'It was really nothing personal, I swear,' she told him. 'I just never needed to baby-sit again, that's all.'

'How come?' he asked, curiously.

'Ah, well, you see, I got a scholarship, and the whole point of me working was for me to earn money for the university…but with the scholarship, who needs to work?' she explained. 'Are you getting my point here, Sanosuke?'

He nodded slowly. 'Y'know, somehow I'm relieved,' he told her. 'Because I thought that the reason you never came back was because you hated me.'

'Don't be silly, I would've never hated you!' she said, quickly and without thinking. 'I adored you!'

Sanosuke stared at her, and that's when she realized, with horror, what she had said.

'You adored me?' he repeated.

Megumi flushed. 'Um…I mean…' she stuttered. 'What I meant to say is…'

Sanosuke laughed. 'Relax,' he told her. 'I understand what you mean, Miss Takani…but seriously, you adored me?'

A bit of color returned to Megumi's face. 'Well, don't you have a picture of yourself when you were little? You were so cute!' she told him.

'Were?' he repeated.

Megumi paused for a moment. 'Don't go trying to interpret every single word I say!' she said angrily.

Sano held his hands up in a surrender gesture. 'Okay, okay, I apologize, Miss Takani,' he said, laughing.

'And stop calling me Miss Takani, we're all grown-ups now, you can drop the formalities,' she told him. She let out an exaggerated sigh. 'I guess I'll just have to settle for Megumi now.'

'Yes, ma'am!' he said, and she laughed. He smiled appreciatively at her. 'So, what have you been up to, Miss Takani? Did you become a pediatrician like you were planning to?'

'Yeah, I…' she started, and paused. 'How did you know I was intending to be a pediatrician?'

He frowned at her. 'What do you mean, how did I know?' he said. 'You told me, remember?'

'Wha…? Oh!' she cried. 'Don't tell me you remember that from the time I baby-sat for you!'

Sano's cheeks became slightly tinged with pink. 'Well, yeah,' he murmured. 'Is that strange?'

She smiled warmly at him. 'No, it isn't strange, it's just really sweet,' she replied. She went on quickly to save him the awkwardness of the situation. 'Anyway, yeah…I did become a pediatrician…actually, I'll become an official pediatrician in just a few hours!'

'How come?' he asked, not quite getting the picture.

'I'm heading for my graduation right now!' she said happily.

'Wow, really? That's just so cool!' he exclaimed. 'Do you mind if I come along? I would really like to see you graduating.'

'Um…sure,' she agreed. 'But, Sanosuke, weren't you heading somewhere else?'

'Oh, yeah, I was going to meet a friend of mine outside the city,' he admitted.

'Well, you should go on with this meeting of yours,' she told him. 'I don't want to be standing in the way of your plans.'

'Don't talk nonsense, you're not standing in the way of my plans,' he assured her. 'I can go see Kenshin any time I want, but it's not everyday that I get to see you graduating.'

'Well, if you say so…' she murmured.

'I'll just call Kenshin and tell him not to wait for me,' he said. He took out his cell phone and punched in a number. 'Hello, mate, listen, I won't be coming today, so don't wait for me…no, it's not that…no, Kenshin! It's not that! I just met with an old friend on the train…yes, train…stop laughing, dammit! Just don't wait for me, okay? And apologize to Kaoru for me.'

Megumi watched him for a moment as he hung up. 'What's wrong with riding trains?' she asked suddenly.

'What?' he said, puzzled.

'On the phone, your friend was laughing 'cause you're riding a train,' she said. 'So what's wrong with riding trains?'

'Um…well, I've never had to ride in a train before, I have three cars…so if one gets screwed, I can use the other two,' he murmured. 'But I can't drive now, so I use the train.'

'You can't drive?' she asked curiously. 'Why not?'

'Well, my driving license is on hold until further notice,' he said, sounding embarrassed. 'I caused an accident…and I was drunk at that time, so my license was taken away.'

'You drink?' she said reproachfully.

'Um…don't you?' he asked.

'No…drinking's bad for your health,' she said firmly.

'Oh, come on, Megumi, a little drink wouldn't harm any one,' he chided her.

'You wouldn't believe the cases of death caused by alcohol I've come across during my training,' she said in a flat tone.

'Yeah, but that only happens with people who drink too much, I don't…' he said.

'We're here,' she interrupted him, as the train screeched to a halt before the station. She reached down her bench for her bag.

'Oh, I'll take that,' he told her, reaching down for the bag himself.

'No, it's okay, the bag's not that heavy, I can carry it on my own,' she replied.

'No, but I insist,' he said. He gently pried her fingers away from the straps of the bag. 'What kind of gentleman would I be if I allow the lady in my company carry in her own luggage?'

Megumi laughed at his words. 'Alright, Mr. Gentleman,' she said. 'Let's go now.'

She headed towards the exit, with Sano trudging behind her. They both headed to the station's exit.

'Megumi, if you don't mind me asking, where are your parents? Don't they want to see their daughter graduating?' Sano asked suddenly.

Megumi kept on walking without glancing back at him. 'My parents died two years ago,' she told him, in an emotionless tone.

'They died in a car crash,' she continued in the same tone. 'Dad had been drinking, and he drove the car straight into a wall.'

Sano didn't say anything. So that's why…?

'I was there, I saw them die…and I couldn't do a thing about it,' she said. 'I didn't even stop my dad from drinking.

Sano could tell from her tone that she was broken. So that's why she was acting so coldly when I told her I drink…

Megumi stopped and looked around at him, a forced smile on her face. 'Come on, we have to go catch a cab,' she told him.

Sano nodded silently.

-

'Megumi Takani!'

Megumi, grinning from ear to ear, got up from her chair and headed towards the staircase leading up to the wooden stage. Her legs shook as she took the steps, but she kept on going.

Finally, after all these years…

Megumi walked straight towards the Professor who had taught her so much all these past years. He beamed at her.

'Well done, Megumi,' he said quietly. 'Congratulations.'

He handed her the certificate she had worked so hard to earn, and she took it with trembling fingers. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she managed to whisper a soft thank you.

She turned around to face all the people in the auditorium, and she raised her certificate before them. The crowds all cheered and clapped. She was simply overjoyed. And then she spotted him, sitting between the crowds, cheering his head off. Sanosuke.

If Megumi could've managed a broader smile, she would've smiled.

-

'Congratulations, Meg,'

'Yeah, congratulations. You've finally achieved your goal after so much hard work.'

'You go, girl!'

Megumi smiled. 'Thank you, guys, really,' she said to her fellow students.

'Megumi,' someone spoke up from behind her.

She looked around. Sano was standing there, his hands buried deep in his pockets. He looked shyly at her, and then he smiled.

'Congratulations,' he said softly.

She smiled back at him. 'Thank you,' she replied.

A friend of hers nudged her side. 'Ooh, Megumi, who's that?' the girl whispered. 'Your boyfriend?'

'Rika, shush,' Megumi hissed, her face blushing a delicate shade of pink. 'He's just a friend I met on my way here.'

'Yeah, right,' Rika drawled.

'Rika, I'm serious!' Megumi said angrily.

'Okay, okay,' Rika said, grinning. 'I'll leave you so you can talk freely with that total hunk of yours…but I'll be asking for the details later.'

Megumi glowered after her friend, but turned her attention away from her when Sano started addressing her again. 'You can't begin to imagine how proud I am of you,' he told her.

'I think I can,' she said, smiling. 'I saw you cheering when my name was announced.'

'Oh, yeah, that,' he said, blushing slightly. 'I can get really excited sometimes.'

'I gathered,' she said, giggling.

'Well…so what do we do now?' he asked her.

We? 'Um…what do you mean?' she asked, puzzled.

'Come on! I mean, we've got to celebrate, right?' he cried. 'You've just graduated! A celebration is definitely in order!'

'But…' she started to protest.

'No buts!' he interrupted her. 'Today I'm taking you to the best restaurant in the area, and we are going to celebrate!'

'Um…Sano, you really don't have to do this,' she told him, feeling awkward. 'It's okay.'

'But I want to do this, Megumi,' he insisted. 'Look at you! You hardly look happy about this! And I want you to be happy! Being a pediatrician is not simple!'

'But I am happy, Sano,' she assured him.

'Well, you've got a funny way of showing it, then,' he said, grinning. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. 'You're coming with me and there's nothing you can do about it!'

-

Megumi's hands fumbled nervously with the edge of the table cloth as she looked around the fancy restaurant Sanosuke had dragged her into. The place was incredible. Megumi didn't remember being in such a fancy place. She felt totally out of place in her simple skirt and blue sweater.

Sano grinned at her from across the table. 'It's pretty cool in here, isn't it?' he asked her.

'Yeah, it is,' she admitted. 'But don't you think it's also too expensive?'

'Shucks, what's a little money compared to your happiness?' he said, and Megumi smiled nervously at him. 'Just relax.'

A waiter approached their table. He handed them both a menu. 'Would you like to have a drink before we serve your dinner?' he asked.

Megumi looked down at her menu. All she was able to see was alcoholic drinks and nothing else. Her fingers tightened around the menu and she looked up at Sano, who was still studying his menu. She watched him closely. Was he going to order anything?

Finally, Sano closed the menu and handed it back to the waiter. 'No, thank you, I don't want to drink anything,' he told him. He looked around at her. 'Megumi, do you want something?'

Megumi smiled at him. 'No, I don't,' she said softly.

-

A/N: Ah, now wasn't that sweet? I think I did a pretty good job here, didn't I? Even if the chapter was shorter than the last one. Well, anyway, if you did like the chapter, then please review…and if you didn't like it…just review anyway. I'll be waiting!

Oh, and wait for my next chappie!

-Zen.