Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews! I appreciate all the support! I'm sorry about not answering anyone's questions about what's going on but I like to keep everything a mystery ;) I promise, everything will be revealed soon (well, actually I don't know about that. I'm still not sure how long I want this story to be...). So keep reading!
Still don't own Rurouni Kenshin :(
The day passed slowly as the patients continued to come in. Luckily for Megumi, it seemed that most of them had a simple cold that was sweeping through the city. It was easily fixed.
Finally, it was time for her afternoon break. Although Megumi loved her job, she also loved being able to take a break from the constant stream of sickly people. She shut the door and locked it with a sigh. She turned and headed into her office to handle the paperwork she hadn't done that morning.
She entered her office only to find Tamotsu already there looking at her papers.
"What do you think you're doing?" Megumi nearly shrieked, shocked at his behavior.
Tamotsu looked up calmly. "Why don't you charge money for your services?"
She marched toward him, a scowl on her face. "Don't change the subject! What do you think you're doing looking at my papers?"
She got within two feet of him and snatched the papers out of his hands. She glared at him. "What makes you think it's alright to look at other people's bills? Were you raised by bears?" she yelled.
He looked down at her gave a sad smile. "Actually I was an orphan."
Her anger dissolved. She looked down at the ground, hands clasped in front of her. Guilt and embarrassment rose within her. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me."
Tamotsu chuckled and she looked up. The light was back in his eyes as he gave her a very gentle and playful shove. "Don't worry about it, Takani-sensai. That was a long, long time ago."
She looked down again. "It doesn't make it alright."
All of a sudden a strong hand gently gripped her chin and raised her head. "It's no big deal, Takani-sensai," he said, a kind smile gracing his features. "Don't get all worried."
Heat rose in Megumi's body and she almost started shaking. She could feel the power of this man just in his gentle but strong hands. She was forced to take into account again that this man obviously was once a fighter. Not only that but she was forced to acknowledge her physical awareness of him. He was a beautifully sculpted man and there was no way it was possible for her to ignore him. She felt a combination of relief and annoyance when he took his hand away.
"But anyway, why don't you charge money for your services? It seems like all these money problems could be settled simply by having a set charge for the patients."
Megumi looked away from him and moved to straighten all her papers. She organized them into different piles as she said, "I used to work for a man named Doctor Genzai. He was a kind, compassionate, and generous man," she smiled as she remembered him. "He didn't have a fee either. He is one of the people who have had the most influence on my professional and personal life."
She hadn't thought of Doctor Genzai in awhile. She thought about his loving smile he had for everyone whether they be family, coworker, or patient. Everyone got along with him and no one left his clinic unhappy with him. She considered him an adopted grandfather and she an adopted granddaughter to him. He had constantly called her his Megumi-chan. She couldn't help but be happy at her memories of time spent with the aged doctor.
"You miss him?" Tamotsu asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She looked at him. "Yes I do. He was a very dear man to me." She looked down at her desk and placed her papers in their specified piles. "But it doesn't matter right now. I need to finish this paperwork. After that we'll head to the market."
Tamotsu looked at her with an odd expression. "Whatever you say, Takani-sensai." He turned and headed toward the door.
"Oh, and Tamotsu," called Megumi. He turned and looked at her, eyebrows raised in question. "I've made a new rule: you are not to mess with my paperwork."
Tamotsu grinned and gave a ridiculous bow. "Yes, Takani-sensai. Forgive my obtuseness. It seems that I have lingered in the vast wilderness of the world for far too long. I've forgotten how to conduct myself in front of a stunning and illustrious woman such as yourself." He raised his head, still bowing, and winked at her.
Megumi longed to laugh but instead rolled her eyes and flicked a dismissive hand at him. She turned and lowered herself to her knees to begin doing her paperwork. She heard him chuckle as he left the room.
She did her best to be annoyed with him. She really did. Instead, she couldn't help but think about how he'd called her stunning.
Half an hour later, Megumi and Tamotsu were on their way to the market. Megumi rolled through a mental checklist as she adjusted her purse on her shoulder. With all the things she needed she thought she'd be done well within the time allotted to her by her clinic schedule.
She looked up at the sky and gave a slight smile. It was a beautiful, fall day. It wasn't too hot or too cold and there was a nice crisp breeze that made one want to get out and do something. It was the kind of weather that made people want to stay outside for as long as possible.
Megumi slowed her pace and meandered her way through the market. Tamotsu matched her speed.
They'd been silent for the entire walk and Megumi had been too lost in her thoughts to notice. Now that she had, it seemed slightly awkward. She tried to think of something to fill the silence.
"It has occurred to me that I don't know much about you, Tamotsu-san," she said, professional expression and voice firmly in place.
He linked his hands and placed them behind his head. He also lengthened his stride a bit to compensate for the lost momentum of his swinging arms. "There ain't too much to know, Takani-sensai," he said, voice neutral.
"Just because there isn't much," she said, automatically correcting his grammar "doesn't mean there's nothing."
He pursed his lips together, thinking about it. "I guess you're right."
She raised an eyebrow and flipped her hair. Of course I am.
She moved to avoid an elderly couple coming their way when he said, "Well, I've lived in Japan most of my life. Then the last few years I've travelled a bit."
She nearly rolled her eyes at his vagueness. "You lived in Japan and you've travelled? I could have told you that within the first ten seconds of knowing you."
He did his huge laugh. "You've got me pinned, Takani-sensai." He turned his smiling face toward her. "What else do you 'know' about me?"
Megumi sensed a change in the air. Their conversation had become more serious and she could tell this wasn't just a simple question. Something told her that her answer would define their relationship for a very long time.
As the seriousness of the moment dawned on her, she looked into his face. His mouth was in the form of a smile, but the corners were too still, too frozen. It was a forced expression. His face was entirely unmoving. The only part that remained open and easy to read was his eyes. They were warm today, a melted-chocolate kind of color.
Behind that surface of softness, however, she saw a wall.
This wall was concealed his secrets. She could tell he was a private person and that those things weren't going to be touched by anyone. She could tell already that this conversation was coming dangerously close to that thought-barrier.
As she attempted to organize her thoughts, she felt a shove from behind and her purse was ripped off her shoulder. She gasped as she fell into Tamotsu's surprised grip. Her face landed smack in the middle of Tamotsu's chest just as his hands encircled her upper arms, stopping her from hitting him harder. She could hear footsteps running away and anger began to surge through her.
She'd been robbed. Again.
Before her temper had even been able to rise to its peak, Tamotsu had steadied her and sprinted after the man.
The anger left Megumi as her mouth fell open at the man who was now working for her.
He was a large man and she had simply assumed that because the thief wasn't within arm's reach, Tamotsu wouldn't catch him. She had never been more wrong.
Tamotsu was fast. Very fast. His stride covered about five or six of her normal steps and he ran with the grace of a seasoned athlete. His arms pumped at a steady rhythm as his feet hit the ground with hardly a thud. The breeze combined with his speed caused his hair to whip out of his face and trail behind him. He dodged the people in the crowd like a man half his size and in only a few moments he caught the thief.
She watched as he caught the back of the man's collar and pulled it down so that his feet flew out from under him. He hit the ground and she could tell from here that he got the wind knocked out of him. Tamotsu snatched the purse back from him and punched him one time in the face. The man was obviously dazed as Tamotsu picked him up and made his way back to Megumi.
The crowd, who had seen the whole thing, backed up as he moved past and did their best not to make eye-contact with him.
He strutted the last few feet to Megumi and held up the thief to her. She took a careful look at him.
He was young, probably twenty-one or twenty-two. He had short, black hair and was a couple inches shorter than her. From the already swollen skin around his eye, she deduced he would have one beauty of a black eye in the morning. She didn't recognize him so the residue of her anger faded from her completely. He was simply a thief.
She took a step forward and tapped him on the shoulder. His half-lidded eyes opened fractionally.
"I hope you learned your lesson," she said, coldly. "Don't rob me again or there will be serious consequences. It won't be easy for you idiots to rob me anymore," she started to turn and said, "You're going to get a black eye from that hit. Put some ice on it and it should be fine."
With that she turned completed her turn and walked toward the other side of the market. Tamotsu caught up to her a second later, thief not in tow. She looked up at him and was surprised at his expression.
His face was lit up. He seemed to be glowing and a grin seemed to be permanently set on his face. His eyes were on fire and he radiated barely controlled energy.
The resemblance between him and Sanosuke took her breath away.
He didn't seem to be affected by his semblance to the man of her past and took a deep breath easily. He ran his hand through his hair. "Well that was fun," he said gleefully.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at their similar responses to a fight.
"It's not fun to fight, Tamotsu-san," she said sternly.
He did his full-body laugh. "You remind me of a monk I met in China. He used to say almost the exact same thing."
They continued down the main road of the market making easy conversation, their almost-serious exchange lay in the recesses of their mind. No matter how Megumi wanted to, though, she couldn't get the question or his facial expression out of his mind.
How could she forget about it when she knew the question being asked was not 'what else do you know about me.'
The real question was 'can you handle knowing me.'
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! I love reviews so hit that little button at the bottom! (I even accept flames so have at it!)