Sanosuke

Sanosuke had noticed Megumi's quietness last night after dinner and in the morning and he had attributed it to the story he had told over dinner. He couldn't understand what could have driven her to ask that question and the way she had been affected by his story… He couldn't get the image of her perfectly blank, beautiful face with a single tear dropping from her eye. This lady is so weird, he had thought. But I guess, so am I, he corrected himself, feeling a strange twinge deep in his chest.

After he had wolfed his breakfast down, Sanosuke encountered a surprising coincidence. Namely, Himura Kenshin. Sano was busy shoveling eggs (sunny side up) and bacon into his mouth, he saw his old friend walk into the dining car. Megumi gave him a look when he had tilted his entire plate of food into his mouth there and then and had jumped over a table, giving a crushing hug to a slim red-haired man whose look of utter confusion was so pronounced it was comical.

Sanosuke swallowed the huge mouthful of food he still had in his mouth and took a step back, clapping Kenshin on the back. "Yo! Kenshin!"

"O-ororo?" managed Kenshin. "Sano? What are you doing here?"

"Aw, it's a pretty long story!" Sanosuke laughed. "But I'm getting a ride to New York to see Captain Sagara, who's apparently alive." He said with a grin. He gestured over his shoulder at a very confused Megumi, still sitting at the table. "That foxy lady is helping me out."

Kenshin eyed Sanosuke. "How did you manage to do that?"

"My manly charms, of course." He scoffed.

Laughing, Kenshin raised both eyebrows. "This one highly doubts that, indeed I do."

Kaoru with Yahiko and Kenji entered the dining car as well. Yahiko was the first to notice Sanosuke. "Yo! Dumbass!" he yelled.

Sanosuke looked up and his face split into an even wider grin. "Shortass!"

Yahiko punched Sanosuke in the shoulder and Sanosuke rubbed his fist into Yahiko's head, laughing. Sanosuke grinned at Kaoru. "Hey, Missy." He said. Then he caught sight of Kenji and smiled. "Hey big guy! Ain't seen you for a few weeks and you're already this tall!" he shook his head in playful disbelief.

"Yep!" Kenji nodded, a satisfied look on his face. "I'm gonna grow bigger than you." He said. "Then I'll be the biggest in the whole wide world."

Sanosuke laughed, taking into account the petite height of both of Kenji's parents. "Sure, kid." He said. "Go for it! I'd sure like to see that." He looked at Kenshin and Kaoru. "So what're you guys doing on this here train?"

Yahiko gave Sanosuke a friendly kick. "Goin' to New York like everybody else here, dumbass."

"Dumbass!" Kenji parroted, and Kaoru shot a glare at Yahiko.

Kenshin smiled. "We are going on a little family trip, indeed we are. We'll drop in for a visit at Shishou's…" Kenshin sighed.

Kaoru finished for him. "If he's even in the country." She rolled her eyes. "Last we heard, he was in Hong Kong." She paused. "Or was it Rome? I'm pretty sure it wasn't Russia. The guy travels so much…"

At that moment, Sanosuke almost slapped himself in the face. "Aw jeez." He said. "Fox-lady!" he yelled. "Come over here – I'll introduce you!"