Author's Notes: Happy birthday to me...Happy birthday to me! Hehe, yes, it is my birthday, and as a little gift, I thought I would update. Yay. Special thanks to everybody who reviewed, they were very much appreciated. Please keep reading, and please keep telling me how I'm doing!
And my age? Haha, that's for me to know and you to guess. (If you so wish to take a stab at it, I promise I won't be offended or anything).
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is an awesome anime that I don't own. Ah...well...
chap. 5 - drunk
Dulled sunlight streamed through the heavy tent's canvas, and shadows pinpricked every here and there, creating an eerie effect. Birds twittered in some faraway branches, and the usual hustle and bustle continued on.
Megumi's eyes slowly creaked opened, sleep falling from her eyelids. She squinted, but did not attempt to sit upright, for even when she was lying down, she knew, a throbbing headache was slowly trembling at the back of her head. She wanted to fall back into whatever land she had come from...it was so much nicer there. She had a numb, tingling feeling still present in her mind, and she stiffly tried to move her body, but stopped immediately as the feeling of a hammer coming down on her head struck.
Where am I...? she thought weakly, trying to sort through her thoughts. Her eyelids were still half-shut, and she saw the blurred color of cream. She felt like she should know where she was...and it seemed strangely familiar...
Pain erupted again, and she ceased to think.
Footsteps shuffled outside the tent...(Wait, I'm in a tent... The thought suddenly entered Megumi's mind), and the flap made a horrifyingly loud noise as it whooshed open, then closed. Megumi vaguely wondered why things were so much louder, the noise crisp and painstakingly vibrating.
"Ohayo Fox, it's about time you woke up," grumbled in a loud, deep voice.
"Owwww..." she muttered, and grabbed the sides of her head in a frail attempt to stop the world from spinning...
The voice laughed, but stopped as soon as it began, "Come on, you gotta at least try to sit up. Hopefully you still ain't drunk."
His hands began to draw towards here, probably to help her up, but she recoiled, and said sharply, "No, don't touch me." The hands withdrew, and she breathed a sad sigh of relief.
"Sit up, Megumi," the voice commanded, this time not as soothing; lethal.
"..." Megumi didn't say anything as she sighed again, and this time propped herself up on her arms, her back arched, half on the futon, half not. Wait...who's futon am I in? And why am I here...Who is this?
The thoughts that should have been, in the first place, reasonable to ask, were now popping into her mind, and she began to frantically attempt to take in her surroundings -- but immediately flinched as a boom exploded in her ears. The world still twirled, and the ground wasn't straight... She saw two heads instead of one...and her fingers refused to respond...her eyes wouldn't focus...
"Megumi! Fox, it's me, Sano! Stop panicking, would ya! I'm not gonna hurt you!" the voice said.
"Sano...?" the name left her lips...it sounded familiar.
Sanosuke rolled his eyes, "Jeez, Fox, you must've been drinking more than I originally give you credit for. Your eyes are so unfocused you can't even rely on your sight to tell ya where I'm sitting...or rather, standing."
Megumi's eyes finally pin-pointed the person in the room...or tent... Sure enough, Sanosuke stood, his brown, spiky hair contrasting against the cream walls of cloth, and his white-and-red-and-black uniform standing out amongst the cream. After a few seconds of struggling and fighting against the pain in her head, she was able to sit upright...or at least, relatively upright. A foul taste fought its way up her throat, and she gagged, trying her absolute best not to allow the taste to flood into her mouth.
Sano approached, this time with what seemed to be a glass in his hands, "Here..." he started, and stepped back in surprise as Megumi jumped slightly, "Hey, I ain't gonna hurt you...This drink'll help with the headache...and it should get rid of any alcohol that's still left in your body..." He shoved the glass in her fingers, and held her hands as he guided the glass to her mouth. He tipped the glass, and liquid poured into Megumi's mouth.
She coughed, and some of the concoction trickled down her chin -- the stuff was horrible.
"Drink it all," Sano urged sternly, and tipped the glass even higher as the remainder of the drink was forced down Megumi's throat. She swallowed the drink as well as whatever was fighting its way up her throat. Coughing some more, she retched as she, again, fought from throwing up what she had just swallowed.
Her head felt suddenly clearer, and although her memory was still hazy, she felt better.
"Thanks..." she mumbled, and slouched, "What...uh...happened?"
Sano looked surprised, "I thought you could tell me. You came sauntering into our camp drunk as hell, and slept in my tent...my futon, actually, and slept until now -- and presently, by the way, it's around afternoon. Dinner's comin' up soon."
Megumi's face was blank, Sano's sentence having made no sense, "What...?"
"How much did you drink!"
"Um...I can't remember...Nothing...uh...serious happened, right? I mean...I slept in your futon...but that's it?" Megumi's face suddenly blushed a deep red, and she turned her head away in embarrassment.
Sano gave her a look before snorting, "You must still be drunk." With that, he walked out of the tent.
Megumi stared stupidly at the tent flap, wondering what had just happened. The last occurring events were suddenly falling together, rushing at her in one tremendous wave.
She had gotten drunk...that part was right. (Why was her mind suddenly so clear?).
Somehow...she found her way to Sano's camp again...she didn't know how.
And...
Her train of logic stopped there. Perhaps she wasn't in the right state of mind...(Well, of course, you can't be in a right state of mind when you're drunk...). What was she doing here? Sano had said he never wanted to see her again, much less sleep in his futon...But she supposed he had no choice, as she showed up uninvited and unexpected...And now here she was.
Megumi had no idea what she was thinking, and wanted to flop back under the covers, and plummet into the dark sleep that would welcome her with open arms. But now that she was awake, that couldn't be done, and besides, she needed to thank Sano and get out of there as quickly as possible. She had a strange feeling that she was intruding in territory where she was not wanted. She should already be grateful for all the hospitality he was giving her.
She gathered herself, and nervously patted down her hair, taming the tangles and smoothing her blue kimono to its best. She stood up, and although she walked with wobbly legs and an unsteady head, she stepped out of the tent.
Immediately she regretted this act, as a sudden silence swept across the camp. Every soldier and ninja stared at Megumi's emerging figure. The flap closed noisily behind her, and she attempted a weak smile as she scanned the area for Sano.
She couldn't find him.
Despairingly, she walked through the camp, and unintentionally knocked into a man. She flinched at the touch, and stared up at him. He smiled down at her, but she could not figure out if the smile was meant to be welcoming or imply other things. Or maybe her mind was simply playing tricks on her.
"Um..." she stuttered, finally thinking that she would need some help, "Uh, do you happen to know where Sanosuke is?"
The man's eyebrows quirked, curious, "Ay, you would be wanting to see the Captain, now, is that so, missy?"
"Erm, yeah...would you please help me find him?"
"Sure thing, m'lady." He smiled again, and began to travel through the rows of tents that were aligned in an orderly fashion. Megumi prayed he wasn't tricking her in any way.
Her prayers were answered, and sure enough, Sano's back came into view, and the man grinned broadly as he brandished his arms, motioning her to go first. She mumbled a small "thanks" and stepped forward hesitantly.
"Erm...Sano?"
Sano whipped around and as he realized it was Megumi, he rolled his eyes, "You should be sleeping some more, you know that?"
"No...it's alright...I just found you to say that I'm real thankful you did everything that you did...and um...I'll be leaving now..." Megumi said weakly, "I mean...I know you didn't ever want to see me again..so uh...--"
"Forget about it," Sano said abruptly, "Just go back to my tent and sleep some more. That's the least you can do for me. Sleep. I'll go back to my tent to check on you later."
Megumi was taken aback by his response, and her face must have been blank, for Sano sighed in exasperation, "On second thought, I think I'd better lead you back to my tent."
Hours later, Megumi still sat in Sano's tent, munching on some fire-cooked fish that Sano had brought her. The fighter sat across from her, and she found it unnerving that he was staring at her while she ate. His gaze seemed hard and cold, while thoughtful and considerate at the same time. How this could be, Megumi knew not, and she did not comment on how uncomfortable she felt.
The charred edges of the fish's meat greeted her tongue as she savored the taste of actual, fresh food. She sighed thoughtfully, and finished the fish, licking the remnants from her lips.
Megumi did not know how to break the accustomed silence. "So...uh..."
"Feeling better?" Sano asked, holding out his hand to receive the leftovers that Megumi held. She nodded slowly, handing over the fragile fish bones.
Sano got up, and went outside, presumably to throw out the fish bones. When he returned, a thick fish bone was placed strategically between his teeth.
She did not know why, but the sight of Sano's old habit of chewing fish bones threw Megumi off, and she hurriedly regained her composure as she stared at nothing in particular, not sure what to say.
"You know why the Opium War's goin' on, right?" Sano's voice suddenly penetrated the crackling fires and buzz of silence. His question surprised her, and she thought carefully before replying in a low, hesitant voice,
"Well...opium had begun to be grown in India...and the East India Company began to ship opium into this very city, Canton...for Chinese goods...silver mostly...but...by 1836, it became illegal to traffic opium..." Megumi paused, and saw no change of expression in Sano's face, so she continued,
"Lin Tse-hsu fought to become Imperial Commissioner here at Canton, so he could stop opium trading altogether from Britain...but--"
"Do you know why the Opium War's going on right now?" Sano interrupted, the fish bone quivering between his teeth as he repeated his question, this time with more force that made Megumi stop speaking.
When Megumi did not respond, Sano answered, "It's because of China's foreign relations. Britain's got a problem with allowing the Chinese to handle their criminals in China. Of course, China refuses to give in. Only a year ago, Britain's begun to send warships...Opium's only an excuse to start a war that's not needed."
Megumi did not know how to answer Sano's sudden outburst.
"China's gettin' her butt kicked out there...their artillery and weapons are way out of date..."
"Sano..." Megumi started, not exactly sure where this was going, "What...why...?"
"It could've all been avoided..." Sano said quietly, "Tse-hsu asked for the impossible though...cut off all trade with Britain and expel all the British?"
Megumi stared at Sano's now-hunched form, his head buried in his hands. She wondered what he had been through, what he had experienced, during the ten years after he left Tokyo. Where had his life taken him, and what path did he take? What choices did he make? She was so surprised to find, that although she had known him so well in Tokyo, and although she still cared for him, she now knew nothing about him.