D/C: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

Hello! I'm back! I'm glad you liked the last chapter; I thought, for sure, that some people would've wanted to kill me because of what I did to Sano…so it was a relief when everybody approved of the way the story was going. Thank you for making me pass a hundred reviews in just five chapters! I'm so happy!

Chapter 6:

Megumi felt the wind being knocked out of her chest. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? …Sano's words replayed themselves in her mind over and over again. How could he have forgotten her? Or was he maybe playing some cruel joke on her? She simply didn't want to believe that Sano might have amnesia. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sano interrupted her suddenly, his expression brightened.

'Miss Takani!' he exclaimed happily. 'It's Miss Takani, isn't it? I couldn't recognize you at first, I'm sorry! But my vision was so blurry!'

Megumi's chest flooded with relief, and she threw her arms around his neck. She sobbed into his shoulder, totally oblivious to Sano's reddening face. 'Oh, thank goodness! I thought you'd forgotten everything!' she choked.

'Er…' was all Sanosuke managed to say.

Megumi giggled softly and pulled away from him. 'I'm sorry,' she murmured. 'You must still be in shock…I shouldn't have started babbling like that…but why did you call me Miss Takani? I thought I told you to drop the formalities?'

Sano stared at her in shock. 'But…but I can't call you by your first name! That would be rude!' he cried out. 'And dad told me not to ever show disrespect or rudeness to elders! And besides, I'm only just barely nine years old!'

-

'Is that possible? Can it really happen? Can he actually be thinking that he's back a kid?'

Megumi felt hysterical. She couldn't quite believe that Sano had the mind of a nine-years-old now! It was too absurd! At first she had thought that Sano was playing a mean trick on her, but after talking to him some more, it became pretty obvious that Sano was anything but kidding. She looked into the ICU through the window at Sano, and he looked apprehensively back at her. He was looking pretty hysterical and bewildered himself.

Dr. Morgan felt that it was difficult for him to handle a situation which involved the hysteria of one of his best doctors. 'I'm afraid it is possible, Megumi,' he told her. 'There are known cases in which the patient suffers from temporary or permanent loss of memory in which he or she believes to have returned to a certain age.'

'It could be permanent?' she demanded.

'Yes, I'm sorry, Meg, but it could be permanent,' he replied. 'And there's no way to determine that…we'll just have to wait and see.'

Megumi shook her head. 'No,' she whispered, her eyes wide and fearful. 'It can't be permanent! Sano will remember everything! He can't remain a nine-year-old forever! Do something, Dr. Morgan! Make him remember! We can't just leave him like this!'

'But, Megumi, dear, I can't do anything to your friend,' Dr. Morgan said, shrugging apologetically. 'Amnesia isn't something you can get rid off by medicine or surgery…I'm afraid there's nothing anyone can do but wait and pray for him memory to return…even you, Megumi; you should pray for him, too.'

Megumi's eyes filled with tears and she sank down on a nearby chair. She buried her face in her hands as she cried. Dr. Morgan didn't understand…he didn't understand how important Sano was to her. Even if she went and explained the situation to him, she doubted he would even understand it then. The Sanosuke sitting in that room wasn't the one she loved so much, even though he looked the same. She adored the nine-year-old Sanosuke, but it was totally different with twenty one-year-old.

'Megumi-sensei!'

Megumi looked up. She hastily wiped away her tears when she saw that it was Kenshin and Kaoru who were hurrying down the corridor towards her. Feeling rather shaky, she got up to her feet to meet them.

'We got a call from the hospital and we came here as fast as we could!' Kaoru said breathlessly. 'What happened?'

Megumi had forgotten that she was going to have to deal with Sano's friends and family later, and now that she was put in that situation, she felt at loss to as what to say. Luckily, Dr. Morgan was there to aid her. He stepped up next to her and put his arm around her. Megumi felt tears spring to her eyes at this warm gesture, but she fought them back.

'Your friend, Mr. Sagara, was involved in a serious car accident,' he said quietly. Megumi watched their faces become pale. 'Not to worry though, any permanent physical damage had been successfully avoided.'

Kaoru sighed in relief. 'Oh, thank goodness,' she whispered.

Kenshin, however, didn't look so relieved. 'There's more to this, right, sensei?' he said gravely.

'Yes, I'm afraid you're right,' Dr. Morgan said. 'While there was no physical damage, Mr. Sagara, unfortunately, developed a case of amnesia in which he had returned to the age of nine years old.'

'W-what?' Kaoru stuttered.

'In other words, ma'am, Mr. Sagara now believes himself to be nine years old,' he told her. Kaoru looked at Megumi for confirmation, and Megumi slowly nodded. Kaoru let out a loud sob and buried her face in Kenshin's chest. Kenshin, looking quite shocked himself, didn't even put his arm around his fiancé. 'Er…are you relatives of the patient?'

Kenshin and Kaoru both shook their heads. Megumi spoke up then. 'Where's…where's his father?' she asked.

'His father died nearly four years ago,' Kenshin said hoarsely.

'Dad didn't die!'

They all whirled around. Sanosuke was standing in the door leading into the ICU. He was glaring angrily at Kenshin.

'Sanosuke!' Megumi cried in alarm, hurrying towards him. 'What are you doing out of your bed? I told you to stay there until I came back, didn't I?'

'I'm sorry,' Sano murmured. 'But you took so long, and I felt uncomfortable in that room sitting with all these other sleeping people…I didn't want to make some noise which would wake them up.'

'Oh, Sanosuke…' she said. She patted his broad arm. '…it's alright.'

'Miss Takani,' Sano said, turning to face her. 'Why is that man saying that my dad died? He doesn't even know my dad! I never even saw him before in my life!'

Megumi heard Kaoru utter a sharp gasp. She glanced back at them and saw that Kenshin was looking absolutely blank now. She winced, before turning back to Sano. 'You mean…you don't remember him?' she asked quietly.

Sano though for a moment. 'No…' he said. 'Should I?'

Megumi hesitated, and then shook her head and smiled. 'No, you shouldn't,' she assured him. 'Let's get you back into bed now, shall we? You shouldn't be wandering around like that after what happened to you.'

She took him by the hand and led him back into the ICU. She led him over to his bed and he climbed on top of it. Megumi then covered him up with his bed sheet and tucked him in.

'Miss Takani?' Sano said softly. 'Can I ask you a question?'

'Of course you can, Sanosuke…anything,' she replied, sitting down on the chair next to his bed. 'What is it you want to ask me?'

Sano fell silent for a moment. 'Miss Takani, what's happening to me?' he finally asked. 'Why is my body so big? I feel that I've lost something…but I can't tell what it is, and it really bugs me…could you, please, tell me what's wrong?'

Megumi had seen this coming. She took in a deep breath and smiled gently at Sano. 'Okay, I'm gonna tell you the truth, alright?' she said…after all, there was no other way to explain this to Sano. 'But you have to promise me not to panic.'

Sano nodded. Megumi felt so calm and collected now. After her moment of hysteria out there in the corridor, she came to realize that panicking wouldn't do her…or Sano…any good. Dr. Morgan was right; if she were to help Sano, she had to be strong…for both of them.

'Okay, Sanosuke…when you got involved in that accident, you got a pretty hard bump on your head, and you were knocked out,' she told him. 'But it turns out that the bump did more damage than just knocking you out…it made you get amnesia…do you know what that is?'

Sano nodded again. 'But, Miss Takani! I can't have amnesia! I can remember stuff! I can remember you, can't I? So how can I possibly have amnesia?'

Megumi sighed. 'The thing is…Sano, you are not nine years old…you are, in fact, twenty one years old, and the bump made your mind go back to the time when you were still nine,' she explained, hoping that this would make sense to him. Sano just stared blankly at her. 'Oh, Sano, I know it must be hard for you to believe me, but think about it…how else is it possible that you have this body and not the body of a nine-year-old?'

Sano didn't say anything; Megumi could tell that he was thinking about what she had just told him. She saw him gripping his sheets tightly and she reached out and put her hand on his. She smiled at him. Sano then looked at her with tearful eyes.

'I'm scared,' he choked. 'I'm really scared, Miss Takani.'

'Oh, Sanosuke,' she said softly. She got up and put her arms around him and Sano buried his face in her shoulder and started to cry. 'Don't be scared…I'm right here, I haven't gone anywhere…and I'm going to be always here to help you…I promise I won't leave you until you remember everything.'

-

'He's sleeping now.'

Megumi gently closed the door to the ICU and turned to face Kenshin and Kaoru. Kaoru's eyes were blood-shot and red-rimmed, and she was holding on to Kenshin, who in contrast to Kaoru, looked extremely pale.

'So what happens now?' Kaoru said anxiously. 'Does Sano get his memory back?'

'I really can't give you a medical answer to that,' Megumi told her. 'But if you want my opinion…I'd say he is going to get it back…because when I look at Sano, I want to believe that this is just a temporary case and it will soon go away…I want to believe that he isn't really lost forever.'

'Megumi-sensei,' Kenshin said. This was the first time he had spoken ever since he found out that Sano had lost his memory. 'Why is it that Sano can remember you? I mean, I understand why he isn't able to remember me, since I only met him in my first year in high school…but why you?'

'I don't suppose you know about this, but…I babysat for Sano when he was only barely nine years old,' she told them. 'And since Sano has gone back to when he was nine, so…'

'You were his babysitter?' Kaoru said incredulously.

'No, not his babysitter…I mean, I only did it once…but I guess, Sano and I really bonded that night,' she said, smiling at the memory.

'But this is perfect!' Kaoru exclaimed. Megumi stared blankly at her. 'We were talking with Dr. Morgan while you were in there with Sano, and he was telling us that he couldn't possibly keep Sano in the ICU till he gets his memory back, and that he'll have to be sent home, and since Sano's father is dead, he suggested that we hire him a babysitter or something…and since you were his babysitter when he was a kid and Sano actually remembers you…you'd be the perfect one for the job!'

'Wait, hold on a second…' Megumi cried. 'You want me to stay with Sano at his place?'

'Yes! Don't you see? That's the ideal solution!' Kaoru exclaimed. 'We'll tell Sano that his dad is away on a business trip and that he hired you to take care of him while he was away…and this way, you'll be able to take care of Sano since he can't possibly take care of himself on his own and you'll be able to help him remember!'

'But…but…' Megumi stuttered. The thought of living with Sano was just too over-whelming. She knew it was the nine-year-old Sano they were talking about, but that didn't hide the fact that he still had the body of the older Sano!

'Please say yes, Megumi-sensei,' Kenshin pleaded. 'I would've taken up the job myself…but I just can't bear to have Sano not remember me when we've been best mates for six years…it hurts so much.'

'And besides, the doctor said that being around Sano would make him feel like he was forced to remember, and that would do him more good than bad,' Kaoru chipped in.

Megumi could see Kaoru's point, and she could see how much it was hurting Kenshin already, and she understood why they wanted her to take the job.

Dammit, this is going to be so difficult…

-

'Sano, it's alright…you don't have to carry my bag for me…'

But Sano just took the suitcase out of her hands and carried up the steps to the front porch. 'It's no big deal, Miss Takani; the bag is not even that heavy!' he said laughing. He looked totally beside himself with happiness. When Megumi had told him that she was coming to stay with him, he had started yelling in delight, waking up half the people in the room, before Megumi finally told him to be quiet.

Megumi followed him up the steps as she dug the key Kaoru and Kenshin had given her out of her purse. She found it and unlocked the door. Sano rushed inside with the suitcase and she went in after him, closing the door behind her. She took a look around and felt a wave of mingled foreboding and excitement wash over her. Never before in her life had Megumi lived in a house so big. She had always wondered what it would be like to own such a house, but had never even come close to experiencing that luxury.

'Miss Takani, come! I'll lead you to your room!' Sano called to her, waving from the end of the corridor.

Megumi nodded and walked towards him. This is going to be one in-te-res-ting visit…

-

A/N: Ah! I'm done! How was it? Pretty interesting, wasn't it? I am pretty sure that none of you expected such a turn in events! Oh, I'm so proud of myself! (laugh) Well, anyway, if you did like this chapter then…well, let's say reviews will be pretty much appreciated!

- S. N. B.