Megumi

How can I ask for anything? How can I pretend that I am innocent? If he knew who I truly was, he would not be treating me so… Gently. So kindly. Megumi thought this as she watched Sanosuke shoveling fried eggs into his mouth, occasionally exclaiming 'holy shit this is so good'. He swallowed everything that was in his mouth and Megumi thought amusedly that he must have supernatural powers to be able to fit that much food in his stomach and mouth.

Sanosuke looked at her with a little concern in his warm brown eyes. "You good, Fox-lady?" he asked. "You haven't touched your food at all."

Megumi blinked, and quickly shook her head. "Oh! I'm very well." She smiled thinly. "I was lost in thought." She ate a little. He stood up and Megumi blinked at him as he put a gentle hand on her forehead. "W-what do you think you're doing?!" she exclaimed, hoping that her cheeks were not flaming up.

He stepped backwards. "You don't seem to have a temperature." He said, sitting back down. "That's good."

She glared at him, trying to cover her flustered state. This boy is flustering me?! "I'm a doctor, Rooster-head. If I had a temperature I'd be able to tell." She began to eat quickly, not looking at him.

"Well at least you're eating now." he said softly and Megumi looked up at his beaming grin. This Rooster-head…

Sanosuke resumed his eating – then he spotted something behind her and his eyes widened. Megumi watched with disgusted fascination as Sanosuke tilted his entire plate of eggs into his mouth. "Go'a go!" he said through the eggs and jumped out of his chair.

Megumi watched curiously as her companion almost flew across the dining car to crush a slim red-haired man in a bear hug. By the looks of things they were old friends – the easy informality with which Sanosuke seemed to treat everyone was mirrored (however differently) by the smaller man. That little red-head is rather cute, thought Megumi. Wonder if the Rooster-head can introduce me. She blinked. Whoops. Never mind. He's married and has two kids. Isn't that girl with the ponytail a bit too young for him?

She watched their interactions, until Sanosuke turned to her and waved. "Fox-lady! Come over here, I'll introduce you!" Reluctantly, she stood up and walked over. Sanosuke grinned and indicated her with his hand. "This here is Miss Takani Megumi, the foxy lady whom I've got the honor of travelling with."

Megumi covered her mouth as she laughed, then glared at Sanosuke. "That's not how you introduce people, dummy." She hissed.

The slim red-headed 'cutie' smiled. "This one's name is Himura Kenshin." Megumi shook his hand. "It is very nice to meet you, indeed it is."

"I'm Kaoru and this is Kenji." Smiled the younger woman with the ponytail. "Kenji, say 'nice to meet you'."

The small child that looked almost exactly like Kenshin looked at Megumi. He grinned. "I'm Kenji!" he said. "Nice to mee'cha!"

The spiky-haired kid that looked nothing like Kenshin or Kaoru stuck his hand out. "Hey. I'm Yahiko." He said. As she shook his hand, he leaned closer to her. "How the hell did he get you to travel with him?" he whispered loudly. "Did he pay you? Wait no, he's broke as hell."

"Hey!"

Megumi laughed once more. "Oh, I'm not travelling with him, he's travelling with me." She smirked.

The Himura family were a pleasant and amusing group of people – and Megumi felt as if she could forget her troubles with them for a few moments. Their lighthearted happiness was contagious. Megumi noticed after a while that Kenshin had stepped aside for a moment with Sanosuke – and she saw that the two had taken up serious countenances as the red-head continued speaking quietly.

After a while, the family went on to eat – and Sanosuke and Megumi were left standing at the entrance to the dining car. Sanosuke had been silently thinking, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth in a frown. Megumi looked at him, but didn't venture an inquiry. She waited nearby, until another passenger disrupted the Rooster-head's train of thought by bumping shoulders with him, in what Megumi knew to be a fairly antagonistic way. Picking a fight with him? She almost snorted. This guy is going to… What is the expression? 'Get his ass handed to him'. Also… What's with that hair?

Sanosuke looked up and met the eyes of the man who had bumped into him. "You're not gonna apologize?" he asked mildly. "You bumped into me, y'know."

The man curled his lip and raised an eyebrow, his right eye closed in a derisive squint. "Well ya shouldn't'a stood in my way, yo." His hair was long and blond, but somehow, defying the laws of gravity – stood straight up in the air.

"'Got a problem?"

"You got a problem, Chicken-hair?"

"Only if you do, Broom-head. I've got a problem if you don't apologize."

"Well I ain't gonna apologize, Chicken."

Megumi almost rolled her eyes at Sanosuke's smirk. "Let's take this outside, Broom-head." He said. "You crying and bleeding and apologizing to me is not gonna be a fit sight for this here Fox-lady." His smirk widened. "I'm gonna… 'Sweep' the floor with you."

The man kicked the door open. "So let's go an' stop the chattin'. Or are you chicken?"

They are making the most terrible puns, thought Megumi. This would be ridiculous but for their 'manly' determination to beat the crap out of each other. She watched as the two squared off in the hallway. The first punch was thrown by the 'Broom-head'. Sanosuke quickly dodged and threw one of his own, hitting the other man in the stomach.

'Broom-head' stumbled back with an 'oof', winded. But he quickly recovered and sent a fist into Sanosuke's mouth when he wasn't expecting it. Sanosuke grinned, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. He feinted to the right but hit 'Broom-head' in the jaw with his left, sending the man careening backwards into the wall.

Just as the blond man recovered and Sanosuke readied himself to throw another brutal punch – a man walked in. He was tall, somewhere in his early middle age – and had an expression of one not willing to deal with anything annoying – and he seemed to find everything annoying. A cigarette dangled from the corner of his mouth – and thin strands of hair fell in front of his narrow amber eyes. "Tch." He shook his head. "What a pain. How about you two idiots don't fight right in front of the door."

The 'Broom-head' glared at him and Sanosuke strolled up to him, impudently yawing and folding his arms behind his head. "Hey, old guy, how about you don't butt in, okay? What are you doing here anyway, huh, Saitou?" he drawled.

Megumi watched the next few seconds that unfolded with shock. The older man had raised an eyebrow and smirked. If Megumi had blinked, she would've missed it. She would've missed seeing the lightning-quick punch that the man had landed, square into Sanosuke's middle, sending him flying backwards. When he hit the wall he slid down until he half lay in the floor, not moving.

She gasped, and the narrow-eyed man looked at her with a smirk. "Don't worry. He's unconscious but alive." He said, letting out a stream of smoke from his lips. "I pull my punches when dealing with kids." The blond man with his hair like a broom took this opportunity to scamper away.

The man walked by Megumi. Just as he was about to open the door to the dining car he turned to her. "This is rather strange, though. You being here. What are you planning, Miss Takani?" he asked quietly. "Or should I say… Mrs. Takeda."

Megumi's eyes widened and she stumbled back, pulling a pistol from her handbag and pointing it at him with shaky hands. "D-do you work for him?" she asked, her voice shaking.

He caught the barrel and forced it to point up at the ceiling, strong against her weak hands. "No. I do not work for Takeda Kanryuu." he shook his head. "Put that thing away, kid. You're not going to shoot me." He said. "As far as I know, we're not enemies."

Her hold on the gun did not loosen, but her knees shook. She was desperate. "W-who are you, then?"

"I'm Saitou. Right now I'm a cop." He said, sighing. "You're way too high-strung, kid. I'll tell you something. Be careful. There's a lot more going on here than your little marriage drama. Watch out for names like 'Shinomori', 'Heishin' and 'Shishio'." Saitou let go of the pistol's barrel and Megumi slowly lowered it, breathing hard. He looked at her, about to say something else, but seemed to think better of it.

Megumi watched numbly as Saitou nodded to her and walked out, going into the dining car with the same cool countenance he had the entire time. When the door swung closed, she put her revolver back into her purse with shaking hands. How did he know? How much did he know? Who is he? This Saitou is a dangerous bastard… She sank down to her knees, shaking and trying to stop doing so, looking to the unconscious Sanosuke for comfort she knew she was not going to get.