Author's Notes: Hullo again! Well, I have tried not to be gone for too long, so here I am. Okay, things are going to get turned up a notch, and the actual plot will begin to unfold! (Up to this point I've only been playing around with everyone's emotions! Haha...). It may seem like a filler chapter, but keep the details in mind!
The flashback in this chapter is a result of my writer's block and an attempt to get things moving for me...I hope it doesn't seem too random.
MANY, MANY thanks go out to Crewel, Zionne, Shysie, Lara, lucerito-del-alma, roosterboy, and fox-san for returning and reviewing.
To all my shadow readers (those whose existance I don't know about), thank you for reading this far.
And to everyone, if you find it best, please honor me with a review. I'd like to know how I've been doing thus far.
Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me.
chap. 9 - threats
"Yo, Captain!"
Sanosuke jerked awake, the white sheets of the futon falling from his chest and landing in pools of cloth in his lap as he sat up. It took him a moment to register where he was and...
"Captain! You in there?"
Sano froze. The sleeping figure beside him sighed tiredly while making a face, reaching out to find the lost warmth that had once lain beside her. The sight of her bare back and absence of clothes drove the memory of the night before into his mind, and he made a face, cursing absentmindedly,
"K'so..." His eyebrows quirked, struggling to answer the man that was standing right outside his tent, "U-uh, yeah, I'm in here."
The man's shadow shifted, "Sir, Giichi's finally woken up and given us some information. We thought you'd like to come out and speak with him."
Sanosuke swore under his breath again before responding, "Er, yeah! Great, um, I'll be out in a moment, so, uh, go on ahead, I'll be there in a second."
"Yessir."
Sanosuke waited until the man's shadow completely disappeared from the tent's canvas before frantically standing up and finding his discarded clothes. A long string of Japanese curses left his mouth in a whisper as he realized he only had his sleeping gi. He would somehow have to make up an excuse as to why he was wearing his sleeping clothes and not the uniform... His brain was completely overloaded as he decided that he "supposedly" had to pick up something in his tent that morning and had fallen asleep at his desk... Yeah, sure...that would work... Maybe if he was lucky, no one would notice. Sano snorted at this.
He reached for his gi, revealing that something had fallen beneath it. His eyes widened at the object, a wave of strong emotions flooding his mind. He moved to pick it up, then made a face, suddenly hearing approaching footsteps, and gathered himself to be prepared to leave. The footsteps passed, and he sighed, hurriedly picking the object off the ground and hastily stuffing it in the inner pockets of his gi.
He finally got himself dressed and stared back at Megumi's sleeping form, her eyelids still closed contentedly. His heart skipped a beat as he realized he now had to deal with what had happened the night before. And hopefully one of his men wouldn't walk into his tent and discover her there.
He shook his head dismally as he gathered himself, steadying his face to make it seem that nothing was wrong...that everything was perfect.
He made his way to the entrance of his tent, breathing one last deep breath before opening the flap as little as he could, so as his men would not have the opportunity to accidentally catch a glance what lay asleep inside. He tightly knotted the twine to the flaps and slowly made his way towards the medical tent where Giichi was being kept.
The sun glared at him when he exited into the fresh air, and he squinted in response, pulling his arms up to block the blinding rays. The morning air was fresh, and Sanosuke kept in mind his task as the dirtied cream tent came into view.
Either his men did not notice that he was still wearing his sleeping clothes, or they did not find it odd -- either way, Sano felt lucky for this. He shoved aside the flaps, and walked in, two other men standing besides the conscious Giichi.
He faked a yawn -- which would hopefully add to his supposed "just-got-out-of-bed" composure -- and shoved his hands in his pants' pockets, shifting to a relaxed position. His face grew serious as he faced the men in the room,
"Is he awake?"
"Yessir."
Sanosuke rolled his eyes; either Giichi was being highly overdramatic or he just liked the attention, "Giichi." His voice came short and to-the-point.
There was a pause before Giichi replied, his voice coming slow, "Sir...?"
Sano snorted, "Quit being so dramatic. Just tell us what happened."
Giichi sighed, apparently disappointed, before speaking, "Well Captain, I went out to scout that boat right off the docks of the Pearl River, just like you requested."
Captain Sagara nodded, motioning him to go on.
"And then, I don't know...I guess someone must've known I was coming or...I was caught, but that isn't very likely. Not to brag or anything, Sir, but I'm not one to be easily caught by a bunch of opium bastards..."
Sano let Giichi continue to mutter pointlessly before saying, "Giichi, get to the point."
"Sir. Well, as soon as I had reached the docks, I spotted a group of cops...Now, this wouldn't have been anything new, but they were muttering among themselves, and I heard one of them say, 'There, that's him; that's the guy we're supposed to be looking for.' Well, geez, they were pointing right at me, and there wasn't anyone standing next to me, so I figured they were obviously talking about me." Giichi sighed, "So then, I told myself not to panic -- that's the last thing a fighter's supposed to do -- so I calmly decided to split. No offense Captain, but that's probably what you would've done."
Sano nodded, "And how'd you get all those injuries?"
Giichi made a face, "I'm getting there. Anyways, I'm walking away at a decent pace -- not too slow, not too fast -- when suddenly the sonsuvbitches took out their guns and started shooting at me."
"Why?" Sano couldn't help but ask; the question left his mouth before he could control himself.
Giichi scowled, "How am I supposed to know, Sir? Like I said, somehow they must've been tipped off."
Sano sighed; he had many other questions, but he decided they would have to wait until after the rest of Giichi's story. He breathed deeply, "Go on."
Giichi made an exasperated face, "I didn't want to make a scene -- that would only draw attention to me. So, I ran."
"Oh, that must've been real discreet...surely no one must've noticed."
"Actually they did," Giichi remarked, clearly unaware of the sarcasm in Sano's voice, "it was either that or fight back, and I don't want my head on the line for killing government officials."
"Fair point," a man on Sano's right remarked. Either man on Sano's side had not spoken throughout the entire story, and Sano jumped slightly at their voices, remembering that they were present.
Composing himself, Sano rolled his eyes, "Go on; we don't have all day."
"Well either those cop-bastards have great aim or great luck. Turns out the wooden boards of the boardwalk beneath me were weak. It's embarrassing to stay, but the thing collapsed beneath me and it was either fall into the great pit of shadows and splintered boards or jump into the storm of bullets that clearly had the potential of hitting me. Unfortunately, just 'cause I have horrible luck, there were rocks underneath, and I didn't have time to land in a good position. So my leg hit the damn boulders first, and 'crack'..." Giichi sighed,
"I think I might've gone unconscious at that point. I don't really remember. But when I woke up next, I was laying there, with water spraying in my face. I guess the cops assumed I was either dead or had been drowned. Either way, I got up and hobbled back here." Giichi shrugged, "That's 'bout it."
Sanosuke exhaled the breath he was holding for quite awhile. He muttered something before speaking,
"Well, Giichi, you'll be happy to know that you'll live, 'cept your scouting days may be over, unless you work over the fact that your right leg is now shorter than your left. However, despite your injuries, I think the more pressing matter is as to why the cops are after you."
"Sir," the man to Sano's right spoke up.
Sanosuke turned, his head cocked to one side, "Yes, Meng?"
"If you don't mind me saying, Captain -- I don't think the cops are after Giichi."
"Then why did they go after him?" Sano countered.
"Well...maybe the government isn't after Giichi specifically...but maybe they're after what he stands for."
"Which is?"
"Sir, with all due respect... I think they're after us."
Sano draped his arm loosely around Megumi's shoulders, smiling broadly as they walked down the river's shore. Sweet curves rippled across the glistening water, revealing tiny pebbles piled beneath the surface. Wisps of clouds drifted across the vast canvas of the sky, and a breeze blew lightly in their faces.
Megumi made no move to shrug his arm off, and he was inwardly delighted at this. They continued along the river's edge, silent in a contented way.
She gently moved from his grasp and stood near the blue water, carefully tugging at her kimono to lift the cloth just below her knees. She smiled at him and stepped into the cool liquid, letting the water melt over her toes.
He smirked playfully and followed her in without hesitation. He stood next to her and gazed back at her, his look asking What now?
Her voice broke the euphonic silence, "It's nice to get away." She spoke softly and calmly, thoroughly enjoying the relaxing environment.
Sanosuke nodded, then broke into a small curve of a smile, "Yeah, it's nice that everyone isn't around to gape at us while I do this..." He closed his eyes and leaned into her, capturing her warm lips in his with whisper-soft breaths.
She kept her eyes closed as he pulled away, her eyelashes curving delicately upwards as she half-opened her gaze at him. "You kissed better a week ago," she remarked jokingly.
He scowled half-heartedly, "I'd only kiss better if you'd stop flirting with Kenshin."
She laughed, "It's only fun to watch Kaoru squirm...Why? Don't tell me you're jealous?" She teased without mercy.
He coughed loudly, "Of course not."
She stifled a laugh and pulled out of the water, splashing Sano in the slightest bit as she proceeded to walk down the path once more. He sighed in mock-annoyance and followed her.
"I remember my first glance of you," Sano commented, kicking up grass as he walked, "You ran for Kenshin first."
"Only because he looked stronger," Megumi joked in response.
Sanosuke rolled his eyes, "But I stopped you from killing yourself. That knife hurt, you know."
Megumi stopped walking and turned to Sano, her expression pulled into a serious face, "Producing opium for Kanryu hurt, too."
He stared at her in disbelief, "You just had to go and kill the mood!"
She half-smiled, "Sorry...but in all honesty, opium's something I never want to be involved with again." A breeze gusted, carrying an emerald leaf on its current, entangling it in the strands of Megumi's hair.
Sanosuke exhaled, pulling the leaf out of her hair by the stem, "That's the past now. I doubt our future will contain that drug." He let the leaf go, feeling the leathery texture caress the tips of his fingers as it fluttered on the soft breeze.
She smiled at his encouraging words, watching the leaf disappear before turning to face him, "Do you hate me for making opium for Kanryu?"
He kissed her swiftly on the lips in response before whispering, "I couldn't hate you for making opium."
In much, much later years, when the troubled times of China and the Opium War washed over them, they never realized the irony of their conversation.
Megumi inhaled peacefully, pulling the sheets closer to her body. Her eyelids fluttered, her body fighting with consciousness and sleep. Surrendering to the conscious world, her eyes opened at last, immediately squinting at the surprisingly bright light that managed to filter through the heavy canvas of the tent. She sleepily moved to pull her kimono closer to her when her hand grasped at thin air -- suddenly she remembered that she wasn't wearing a kimono. In fact, she wasn't wearing anything at all.
Why it took her mind this long to remember what had occurred last night, she knew not. But it came crashing back to her, and she lay there for a little longer, attempting to pull herself together and to absorb current events.
Why what had happened, happened, she didn't know... At that very moment, she was filled with confusion. Sanosuke was definitely someone who was not easily read. Megumi originally thought he didn't want to ever see her again...then he invited her back when she rudely appeared...continuously told her he didn't forgive her...and now... She shook her head, her mind spinning in many directions. Megumi sighed; she guessed that now he accepted her...based on what had happened last night, he had to have accepted her for what she had done...
She exhaled, thoroughly and utterly confused. But no matter what she was thinking, she decided, she would have to get dressed. The sheets of the futon fell from her bare body as she stood up, and moved to retrieve her kimono now laying a few feet from the futon.
She was just reaching for her discarded clothing when the flap of the tent moved. She let out a small and unintended squeak, and frantically attempted to think of what to do. She hastily attempted to stuff herself into the tight kimono, and was half-dressed when Sanosuke walked through the flaps, giving her a second glance before making his way over to his small desk.
She sighed, glad it was Sano and not one of his men. She finished dressing and sat on a nearby cushion, watching Sanosuke flip through papers on his desk. Apparently something had come up, and she decided it was best to leave him be.
At his desk, Sanosuke mouthed silent words to himself, not wanting, at that moment, to be in the same room as Megumi. But he was, and he pretended to have some urgent business to attend to at his desk, writing out unwritten and forgotten records that should have been recorded months ago. But yet even if there was no present, important business that sat before him at his desk, the same conversation kept playing through his mind, over and over again:
"Well...maybe the government isn't after Giichi specifically...but maybe they're after what he stands for."
"Which is?"
"Sir, with all due respect... I think they're after us."
"Why would the government be after us? We're helping them out. We're helping them fight the Opium War."
"I don't know why they would, Sir, but the tables are turned. Apparently now we're a threat."