Part Vi

Hands were on me; gentle, strong fingers were massaging my body in delicious ways. Sensations washed over me I was sure I couldn't have imagined; the exotic satin of my nightgown was cool and smooth and altogether very exciting against my bare flesh. I was as naked beneath as I had been earlier, when I had run to the school to save Chiyo behind the young teacher. I looked up at him as he knelt over me, smiling, his bare chest taut with smooth corded muscle beneath his fair skin, his hair trailing as dark and nearly as long as mine loose over his back and surprisingly broad shoulders for such a narrow waist. A swimmer's body, an athlete and no slouch in combat, I guessed in the small part of my rational mind left to me. I had no recollection of his arrival, or even of how we ended up alone here, but I found no reason to complain. Apparently, he had many skills...

I began to respond in kind, reaching up to touch him. "No, darling, let me do it, let me do everything for you," he whispered, his voice husky as he held my wrists lightly and bent down to kiss me again. "I want to please you, I want to give you everything, I want you to know ecstasy like you've never imagined..."

His very words heightened my senses. I could feel my heart racing in my chest and I was finding it very hard to lie still next to him. I wanted him closer, I wanted his body against mine, and I felt the desire for more, and that frightened me a little. I felt so wanton and so wanting, far more than I could recall ever having felt before. I was completely in his control, but he did nothing but respond to my body's demands even before I was aware of them myself.

His lips left mine to trail slowly down my throat. I could no longer function rationally at all; it was as if I had become a completely different person, happy to obey my instincts and throw caution to the winds. The most frightening part was that I simply didn't care. Unlike before, I didn't care about waiting for marriage. This was it, I knew that there was no point in waiting anymore.

I looked up to watch him again. As he turned his head in the light, murmuring my name, I noticed something I hadn't before. A scar. Two of them, in fact, one crossing the other. The light glinted red on his hair. His suddenly short hair...

"Megumidono... Megumidono, wake up... Megumidono?"

My eyes opened.

It was, in fact, Kensan kneeling next to me. Shorn hair and all. I wanted to scream, for a moment, frustrated on so many levels. Later I might reflect how funny it was that waking up to Kensan's face was upsetting at the time, but for the moment...

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up and pulling the covers close about me. My face was hot; after the intensity of the dream I'd been having, they had nearly slipped off altogether, and my already immodest nightgown was rather more revealing than when I hadn't been tossing and turning... Kensan was too busy looking somewhere over the top of my head.

"You've been asleep so long. Genzaisensei showed us the note but it's well past noon. The girls will be back soon from school. Are you okay? You looked like you were having a bad dream."

"It was fine, until I woke up," I snapped. Then I sighed. "Gomen nasai, Kensan. You didn't deserve that. And it wasn't a bad dream, exactly, just an intense one." Shrugging, I changed the subject and gave him a brief rundown of most of the prior night's events. Though the day was not cool, I remained cocooned in my blanket.

"I'll let you get dressed. There's some tea if you'd like," he said, still not looking at me and backing towards the door.

Once he was gone, I rose and dressed quickly, pausing to glance in my mirror. I looked as tired as I felt. Brushing my hair out helped, and I soon lost myself in the calming rhythm. Still, I was aware now that it was getting no earlier. Soon the girls would be home from school and it was my day to take them shopping. Normally, I enjoyed the outing. Today, despite my extended nap, I was so tired as to want to put it off. I wasn't going to do that to them, however, and I gathered my strength up as I went out into the main room, still trying to put the dream out of my head and control my physical reactions.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," my partner chided me gently. "Fortunately it's been a fairly slow day, as things go. Still, I got your note, which is why I didn't wake you." He sent me a glance I knew to be a question.

"It was after midnight when someone knocked at the clinic door. I figured it had to be an emergency, since none of you ever knock there, and I was right..." I proceeded to tell him the story, leaving out the embarrassing moment at the end, but sparing him no detail of the treatment I'd arranged for young Chiyo. Kensan had gotten the abridged version; Genzaisensei and I shared a professional curiosity, and I wanted his feedback. Granted, he was limited by what I could tell him, but his knowledge was so much more extensive than my own, based on his greater number of years and experience. I was always willing to learn, as I reminded him frequently, from my elders.

We discussed the case some more, pondering alternative treatments that might be more effective. I pointed out the similarities to Yahiko's case, back in The Days, and Genzaisensei mentioned simple household products and plants that could evince the same or a similar reaction. At some point, Kaoru wandered in, Kenji asleep in her arms. I did my best not to notice as she made her way to Kensan's side.

It wasn't long before we were interrupted altogether by the excited sounds of the girls returning home - and apparently they had a guest.

The male laughter I heard was familiar, though I could swear I'd never heard it before. It was a tone as familiar to me as those of my friends of many years, though I'd met him only once, and the situation had inspired no laughter.

The girls' voices proceeded them into the yard, ringing with even more enthusiasm than usual. "Come on, Sensei! You have to tell Megumisan about Chiyo and how much better she is!"

"Yeah! Takeshi couldn't stop talking about how you helped her with Chiyo. Megumisan's the best there is!"

"Yeah! Except maybe Grandpa." This Suzume said, looking somewhat chastened, as she entered the yard. Both her hands were clamped around that of the young teacher I had met last night. The man was amazing. He managed to keep any reaction other than amusement at the girls' antics off his features, though I thought I detected a hint of color along the top of his ears. It was, Kami help me, cute.

Her sister, grasping his other hand firmly, almost dropped it at her sister's reminder. "Well, yeah, Grandpa's the best, but... I know! He's the best BOY doctor! Megumisan's the best GIRL doctor!"

We all shared a laugh at that, and finally the young man was able to free himself from the girls. "I can see where the girls get their warmth from. Your home is a welcoming one. It is my honor to teach them." He bowed, low and formally, to my mentor. "Ishioka Hiro. Hajimemashite."

"Hajimemashite." Introductions went around the room, rather informally since the young teacher had met most of us already.

"And of course you've already met Takani Megumi, although I suspect the formalities were neglected," my mentor teased.

"Under the circumstances, I think it's understandable," Kaoru chimed in. "How is your student doing?"

"She's healing well. She's still not feeling well, but the worst is over, and now she's mostly getting her strength back. Thanks to Takanisensei," he said, bowing to me, "Chiyochan's going to be fine, and we all appreciate her efforts more than words can express. In fact, that's one of the reasons I allowed the girls to talk me into coming here with them," he smiled down at the young sisters.

"We told Sensei that you don't like to take presents, 'cause you like to make people feel better."

"He still said he wanted to give you something."

"Actually, I did, but it's from Takeshichan." From his sleeve, he produced a carefully folded paper. The writing on it was hardly neater than my own, but had the careful deliberation of a child's determined hand. The note was short and sweet, and beautifully illustrated. Takeshi's note was one of gratitude, carefully written, but the simple bamboo and cranes with which he'd decorated the letter were amazing. I told his teacher so.

"He wanted to draw a thousand cranes; he said you were a wish come true to save his sister like that. He's wanted to be an artist, so far. I think he may be changing his mind."

"There's no reason he can't be an artist in addition to some other job," my mentor said.

"It's funny you should say so, Genzaisensei, because he seems to be fascinated with the medical profession above all else. He wants to be 'a miracle worker like that beautiful doctor.'"

"Ooh, seems you have an admirer," Kaoru teased me. I glared at her.

"Grandpa, I'm hungry." Suddenly I loved Suzume. She may have saved the silly country girl's life in that moment. I'd have wondered, but she looked at me and grinned. What a good child!

"Me too. Megumisan, is it okay if we don't go shopping today? I'm too hungry," Ayame echoed. "What's for dinner?"

"Maybe we could go to the Akabeko? We haven't been there in a while." Kensan looked hopeful. No one could blame him.

"Hai! And Yahiko's working tonight, maybe we can get him to wait on us!" Kaoru snickered, and Kenji made as if to wake up.

She shushed him softly, and he stayed asleep. "This is the first time he's slept all day, and I fully intend to make the most of it," she said softly.

"Then are you sure a restaurant is a good idea?" I suspected that the noisy atmosphere at our favorite restaurant would be a bit much for the tired child.

"If he wakes up, I'll take him outside, I guess."

I shrugged. "Well, I think it's decided then."

"Can sensei come?"

"Please?"

"Yes, may I? Please? I don't get to dine out often, and since I don't really know anyone yet outside of the parents of some of my students, it would be nice to visit with people who aren't insistent on knowing exactly what goes on in my class all the time..." Ishiokasan looked at least as hopeful as Suzume and Ayame next to him.

"I don't see why not." Kensan smiled and started for the door. "Let's go?"

"Sure, come on," his wife echoed, following. I hung back. I wasn't entirely sure I was hungry; more importantly, this smacked of the conspiracy they had to get me to Meet Someone New.

And in all honesty, as attracted as I was to Ishioka Hiro, I was not in the mood to be set up. If anything, the idea that my friends WANTED me to do something about it made the attraction all the more upsetting.

"Takanisensei, aren't you coming?" The man in question, with a child on each hand, stopped in the doorway with a concerned look.

"I should catch up on some work here. Tomorrow I've got several house calls to make," I said. It wasn't a lie, either.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Takanisen-"

"No! You're coming with us, Megumineesan!" I melted. What choice did I have?

"I think my mind has been changed for me," I said. "I'll be along in a moment."

"We can wait," Suzume said rather pointedly.

I sighed and retreated for a moment. I hadn't worn lip color in a while. Not since Kensan had married Kaoru, truth be told. I looked at it for a moment, debated as I ran a brush through my hair. I had already turned away when I found the brush in my hand. Shrugging at myself, I put it on... I had forgotten what that small bit of color did for my otherwise pale features.

No one said anything, but I could tell they noticed.

"Ikimashou," I said mildly as I entered the yard. If no one else was going to say anything, I certainly wasn't.

The walk to the Akabeko was full of chatter, mostly from the youngest members of the party. They had refused to let go of their teacher's hands and were still dragging him willingly down the street as they babbled happily. They really were getting too old for such things but they were so excited that I decided to let it go for now. Otherwise I'd probably be forced to confront the whole issue. That was something I was not ready to deal with; it was the two in question who'd first thought up their teacher as "a perfect boyfriend for Megumisan".

I was secretly proud of the little schemers. My only wish was that I had not been chosen as the object of their conspiracy...

"Youkoso, minna!" Tae's effusive greeting rang out as we entered her establishment. "Hey, aren't you the new sensei at the school?"

"Hai. Hajimemashite." Ishiokasensei introduced himself to Taesan, and she returned the favor with an appraising glance. Apparently she liked what she saw. Not that I could entirely blame her.

"Come, sit down, and you can tell me all about it. I haven't seen you in a while," she said. "Will you look at him!" This time, however, her eyes were on Kenji. "He's grown so much in just a few weeks..." She sounded as rueful as I felt.

Then again, Tae had never really expressed much of an interest in having a family. She claimed that running the Akabeko took up so much of her time and energy that it WAS her family. She had plenty of regular customers with whom she had good relationships. "Why stress myself more," she'd once said, "with people who want me to cook and clean for them, when I'm not getting paid for it?" None of us had yet found any argument with which to refute that. "Isn't that why I have customers like Sano?" If there had been any question of it before, that settled the discussion.