Megumi studied Sano from her vantage point across the table. Sano had arrived to have lunch with her in a hole in the wall eatery near the University that served delicious ramen which was perfect for the colder weather, but he didn't seem to be hearing anything she said. "You're distracted. What's going on?"

Sano started at her voice. He blinked and shook his head. "I'm sorry. You were saying?"

Megumi waved her hand. "It can wait. What's going on?" She pressed. She knew Sano well enough by now to know when he was trying to play something down.

"It's—It's not a big deal…" He said weakly. He certainly didn't sound like he even believed himself.

"Don't lie to me, Sagara. I can tell when something's weighing on your mind." She insisted stubbornly.

Sano sighed and leaned back on his chair. "Just things going on at the office." Megumi waited patiently for him to continue. "We're going over the books and an account isn't coming out right." That wasn't good. Megumi knew enough from her own family's business that accounts needed to be cleared and the books balanced down to the last Yen.

"And your accountants can't find the discrepancy?"

He shook his head. "They can't explain it."

"It just might be a clerical or logging error." She offered.

"That's what's so strange, it can't be traced. Usually if there's a clerical error, it can be tracked down once the problem's identified."

Megumi dared raise the unspoken question she knew Sano must be considering. "Do you think it's someone?"

Sano looked at her, his eyes grave. "That's what I'm afraid of."

~O~O~O~

Megumi had just rung the bell when the door suddenly opened and a hand shot out to tug her in. Sano pushed Megumi into a side hallway that branched off from the main one and lowered his voice. "I told them we were going to get something from the store."

"Lying to your parents now, Sagara?"

"Would you rather I told them I need half an hour to make out with my fiancée?"

"Half an hour, huh?

"Why, can't handle it?"

"I was thinking not enough time – so shut up already and kiss me."

In the few weeks they've been engaged, Megumi found that there was nothing quite like kissing Sano. He kissed carefully, passionately, gently, recklessly, and any other adjective she could think of. But no matter how he kissed her, she always felt liquid fire to her very bones and completely happy. As innocent as she was, Megumi knew what they were doing could easily to lead to much more but Sano always kept a rein on how far they went; a control that had Megumi's heart racing when she thought of it.

The wedding was set for April, after both their respective graduations in March. For the couple, it couldn't come soon enough.

~o~

"Hello, Kenshin." Megumi greeted after the redhead was admitted by the housekeeper. She was at the Sagaras for Sunday lunch even though Sano's parents had excused themselves and gone out instead (she suspected it was an excuse to give her and Sano time together). She and Sano had lost no time taking over the kitchen where she had proceeded to impress Sano with her far from mediocre cooking skills. "Sano's just finishing up in the kitchen. Please join us for lunch."

Megumi had met Sano's longtime friend some weeks prior. She had been intrigued by how the two men were obviously good friends despite their different personalities. If Sano was the quieter one next to Katsu, Sano was the veritable Katsu to Kenshin's Sano. Kenshin had a quiet calmness to him which she could see complemented Sano's energy when the taller man got passionate about something.

"I insist," Megumi pressed when Kenshin looked like he would demure.

"Alright." Kesnhin agreed with a smile. "Thank you."

"Sano, Kenshin's here." Megumi called out. A muffled yell issued from the kitchen. "Are you alright?" She asked as she hurried back into the kitchen to find Sano with his mouth clamped down on the side of his hand. She grabbed his hand and flushed it under the faucet with cold water. "Tsk, that's going to scab." Megumi said, observing the damaged skin. "Go keep Kenshin company. I'll get you some ointment." When Sano didn't move, she turned back to him. "What?"

Sano grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "I love it when ya give orders." Then he sauntered out, leaving her blushing.

Megumi fetched the ointment from Hanako and found Sano and Kenshin at the dining table with papers spread out between them.

Sano place a finger on one of the documents. "So far we can't determine if it goes deeper than this."

The redhead nodded. "Hai, but I'm still looking into it. It may just have been an isolated incident by Nakamura."

"I sure hope so." Sano said grimly. He held out a hand to her when he saw Megumi standing in the doorway. He pulled out a chair for her next to him and across from Kenshin. "Remember the unexplained account that wouldn't balance?" Megumi nodded. "I asked Kenshin's agency to look into it and appears that an employee had tampered with it."

Megumi pulled Sano's injured hand towards her and applied the ointment. "So your hunch was right."

"Unfortunately." He flexed his hand. "Thank you," Megumi nodded.

"What happens now?"

"She's disappeared. But so far it looks like it was just this one account. We'll file a case but without the culprit it will probably just go cold.

"Who was it?"

"Not any of the ladies on my floor," Sano assured her. Megumi had already met the office ladies on Sano's floor, staff that had been with the company since Sano was just a boy. She would have been more dismayed to hear if it was one of them. "Nakamura Haruka was hired about a year ago."

"She already had that level of clearance?" It would have been unusual for a relatively new employee to have the access to cook the books.

Sano shook his head. "No, she hacked into it."

"Oh, Sano."

"The amount falls within what insurance will cover so that's a mercy…" He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest, thoughtful.

"Can't the money be traced and confiscated?"

Sano shook his head. "We tried that but the account it was transferred to is bogus. It's as if the money disappeared into thin air."

Kenshin's phone rang and he excused himself to take the call.

Megumi plucked a black and white printout from the pile of documents on the table. The picture showed a women entering one of the offices while glancing over her shoulder. The timestamp of the screen capture showed 9:47 PM, hours after office work should have ceased at Sagara Industries. Megumi frowned. The woman looked familiar but she couldn't place her. Maybe she was just a person who looked familiar but not someone she had actually met… Megumi returned the photo to the table.

Sano straightened up. "Let's eat?" Megumi stood and together they fetched the food from the kitchen. The table was set when Kenshin returned. Megumi saw Kenshin nod when Sano looked at him, a question on his face. Instead of pressing him, Sano said, "Let's eat first, shall we?"

"Itadakimasu!"

The three ate quietly for the most part until Kenshin finally brought up the phone call he had received.

"That was Saitou. Nakamura has fled and they lost track of her in Tokyo."

"Associates?"

"None as far as they could determine but with the nature of how the money can't be traced, the case is being elevated to white collar."

Sanosuke looked grim.

~O~O~O~

Megumi was working in the lab on Tuesday when her phone vibrated with an incoming call.

"Hello?"

"Kitsune, can you meet me after you're done for the day?"

"Of course but weren't you coming for dinner anyway?"

"Sorry, can't explain right now but I'll pick you up at 4:00."

"Okay—"

"Megumi," Sano interrupted. "Stay within the University, don't leave campus until I come for you."

"Why?"

His voice was serious, urgent. "Please, just promise me." Megumi wanted to demand an explanation but her trust in him won.

"Okay, Sano."

"Good. I'll explain everything later." He assured her. The call ended abruptly. Megumi frowned and tamped down her irritation at being left in the dark for half the day.

~o~

Large raindrops pelted the library window where Megumi waited for Sano. Megumi shivered at the thought of the cold and wet weather. She peered out the window and recognized his car approaching. She braced herself for the dash down the library steps to the vehicle when scarcely a moment later, the man himself got out of the car, opening an umbrella as he stepped out, blocking Megumi's view but she had already seen enough – the man wasn't Sano. With his insistence that she stay on campus coupled with his tone of voice earlier, sudden fear and concern gripped Megumi. Her phone vibrating broke her out of her panic and a glance showed Sano's name on the screen.

"Sano?" She cried into the phone.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come get you myself. I sent Kenshin to pick you up. He should be there any minute now." Megumi could see Kenshin enter the library and glance around. She waved at him.

"Baka! Next time call me before I see it's someone else stepping out of your car!" She snapped before hanging up on her fiancé. She smiled at Kenshin. "I'm sorry you had to come out in this weather."

"Don't mention it, Megumi. Sano's been held up but we're meeting him." He led the way outside and opened up the golf umbrella. They walked quickly to the idling car and Megumi slipped in while managing to stay relatively dry. She rubbed her hands together and turned up the heater as Kenshin got into the driver's seat, the umbrella dripping harmlessly onto a towel on the floor.

"What's going on, Kenshin?"

"I'll let Sano explain it to you." Kenshin said diplomatically.

Kenshin drove them to the Sagara Industries building and parked in the underground garage which saved them from further assault from the rain. When they got to Sano's floor, Kenshin ushered her into Sano's office where Sano was pacing across the room with the phone to his ear.

"Well, find answers." He ground out before hanging up. Megumi had never seen him that forceful before.

"Sano?" Megumi approached, concern etched on her beautiful features. Kenshin left them and closed the door behind him.

Sano hugged her close and kissed her hair. "I'm sorry I worried you." Megumi shook her head. He was forgiven.

"What's going on?" She had been asking that a lot recently.

"The woman, Nakamura, was found in Tokyo." He held her gaze. "Dead."

Megumi paled. "Accident?"

"Apparent suicide but the police ruled it suspicious."

"But why are you so agitated? I mean, this is horrible, bu…" Megumi waved her hand, at a loss for words. "Why do I feel like you're suddenly so worried about me?"

"This is bigger than we first realized, Kitsune. I'm not taking any chances."

~o~

The sounds of the busy and efficient office had since died down, leaving Sano, Megumi, and Kenshin as the only occupants of the suite. Megumi left to make some tea in the kitchenette. When she came back to Sano's office, Sano was on the phone again. She set the tray down on the coffee table and sat on the couch. Kesnhin sat in an arm chair and thanked her for the tea.

"You make Sano very happy, Megumi." He said quietly. "He's loved you for a very long time, that he has." Megumi restrained herself from staring at the redhead. She had never heard him speak of personal, human interest type of matters with Sano, much less with her, so this was an intriguing turn of conversation.

She sipped delicately from her cup. "I'm very lucky to have him." She said just as quietly. "You knew him in high school, ne?"

Kenshin nodded. "He wasn't like this in high school."

"What was he like?" It was a constant wish of hers that she could have known him better growing up. But hindsight is indeed 20/20.

Kenshin shook his head with a smile and nodded toward Sano who had just finished his phone call. "That is not my story to tell. You will have to ask Sano himself."

Sano walked over and sat down beside Megumi. She poured him his tea and he sipped it gratefully. He threw an arm along the back of the couch, a picture of relaxation. "What are ya talking about?"

Megumi smiled. "Just, how wonderful you are." Kesnhin chuckled in agreement.

This would be the last update for a while, loves. May is going to be a busy time and I am going on a 10-day trip to the other side of the world!