After dinner, Megumi and Sanosuke walked together on the dirt road towards her house. It was a full moon out and also a bit chilly and cloudy. They still couldn’t believe that Kenshin had asked Kaoru to marry him. Moreover, she had refused. Sanosuke thought of his friend, his dejected head hanging.

“I don’t get it! What the hell is wrong with Jou-chan?!”

“I don’t blame her.” Megumi replied, “Kaoru-chan has her dojo and other priorities.”

”Other priorities??” he exclaimed, “More important than Kenshin?!”

She stopped and stared at his astonished face. “What? Times are changing. Being someone’s wife isn’t on the minds of all girls in Japan anymore. Even me, I don’t think I want to get married. I have my career as a doctor and all my patients…”

“Of course you’re going to get married!! Who’s gonna grace the world with the many copies of Sagara Sanosuke?!”

She patted his cheek gently. “Baka, saying stuff like won’t change my decision in any way. But even if we did eventually get married… there’s no way I’ll be ‘Sagara Megumi’. For the sake of my career, I’d keep my name.”

”Kuso!” Sanosuke growled, “What’s wrong with my name?! Sagara is a great name!”

“It’s not professional enough.” she muttered, walking on as he was still cursing to night sky, “Besides it doesn’t matter because I’m not going to get married.”

”Still…!” he grumbled, looking at the back of her head. At last, he sighed and gave up. Putting his relaxed fists into his pocket, he rushed after her. “Oi, oi! Matte!”

Nobody was up when they arrived at the house. Megumi was still staying with Dr. Genzai and his two grandchildren, the clinic just next door. Megumi opened the door quietly and started to go inside. Sanosuke took a step forward. “Hai? Is there something?” she asked.

“Aa… aren’t ya gonna invite me in?” he replied, squinting past her into the pitch dark house.

She crossed her arms. “Iie, I don’t think so. If Genzai-sensei found out that I was sneaking guys off the street into my room, the old guy would probably be upset.”

He chuckled, “The worst thing he could do is throw you out, and that doesn’t matter ‘cause we’re moving in together anyways. Come on… just for a little bit… it’s cold and lonely out here…” She just closed the door in his face. He started boiling with annoyance. “CH! Doesn’t the fact that I love you mean anything to you?! YA-ME---!”

The door finally opened. Megumi was shaking her head. “You are such an idiot. Come on in…”

It was so warm inside the house. Megumi and Sanosuke tiptoed down the hall, past Genzai and the girls’ rooms. At last, they made it to hers. Once inside, Megumi lit a lantern while Sanosuke got comfortable in an import chair she had gotten on one of her shopping trips. He then watched her set up the futon. “Need any help?”

“Iie.” she replied, getting up and slyly going towards him, “But I certainly need some help with my kimono.” A drop of drool dribbled down the side of his mouth as he leaped up on his feet and rushed to her. Megumi just laughed, “Ohohoho! That sure got you up, Tori Atama. I know your mind well.”

”Ch… cut the talk, Fox and get on with the action.” he said, eyeing the kimono over. It looked too complex for him. He didn’t know where to start. “Uh… I’m assuming that the obi is holding everything together… so if I… will it just fall off?”

“Baka, I have to do everything, don’t I?” she sighed, starting to untie the obi. Sanosuke couldn’t wait anymore, pulling her to him, breaking out with kisses and caresses. “So impatient…” she muttered, finally getting the obi off and leading him backwards to the futon.

“Finally,” Sanosuke whispered as Megumi pressed kisses all over his face, “I have you all to myself…”

But that was what he thought. As soon as they landed on the futon, there were lights and noises outside. Megumi sat up and looked towards the window. “Probably an emergency...”

Sanosuke shrugged. ”It’s just probably another one of those yakuza fights. Genzai can handle it himself. A broken arm or something. They’ll live dammit!”

“Sanosuke, not everyone is freakishly strong as you.” she noted, putting her kimono back on, “I’m going.”

“No, don’t! ” he cried, pulling her towards him, “Don’t go anywhere…” He ran his fingers through her hair, leaning his forehead against hers, “Just stay. Stay with me.”

“Sanosuke…” Megumi looked into his pleading eyes. Then sighed and dropped her head. “Being a doctor is the most important thing to me, and nothing in the world is going to change that. I can’t leave this alone… gomen Sanosuke.” She then turned and left him alone in the room.

“Shit.” he grumbled, punching the wall. He stopped momentarily to see Ayame and Suzume standing in the hallway, “Eh? You girls are up?”

”Hai, what are you doing here, Sano-chan?” Suzume asked.

He just laughed and wiped the lipstick off his face, then knelt down to them. “More importantly, what are you midgets doing up?”

Suzume pointed at her sister, “Ayame-chan can’t sleep. It’s scary outside. Will you read her a story?”

”A story! Story!” Ayame chimed, cheering up.

”What the hell.” Sanosuke sighed, “Want to hear one about ‘the rooster who couldn’t get any where with the fox’?” The girls happily nodded.

By the time Megumi had finished taking care of all the injured, she went to her room to see that Sanosuke was asleep, Ayame and Suzume glomped onto his arms. Smiling slightly in the moonlight, she knelt over and kissed him on the forehead then pulled the blanket over them.

* * *
The next day, Sanosuke was walking in town. It was raining pretty hard. Soaked, he stopped for a bit underneath a tent and watched the rain. He thought about what Megumi had said: ‘Being a doctor is the most important thing to me, and nothing in the world is going to change that.’ Closing his eyes, he grumbled, “Yakuso…”

He suddenly heard a familiar voice and lifted his head. “Yahiko! Hayaku!” Kaoru cried, she and Yahiko running past him, their arms full of groceries, “Everything’s getting soaked!”

”Then why the hell did you buy so much, Busu?!”

“You want to eat don’t you?!”

“Oi! Jou-chan, Yahiko!” Sanosuke said, catching up to them, “Need a hand?” Kaoru immediately handed him the bag of rice. He almost dropped it. “Kuso! This is heavy!”

“Arigatou!” she chimed, holding two bags of vegetables while Yahiko had a large bottle of soy sauce and two buckets of tofu on his shoulders. He went on ahead as Kaoru and Sanosuke straggled, “Yahiko’s still pretty shocked about yesterday… I’ve been wanting to talk to him about it, but he won’t let me.”

”Oh? So, he didn’t know about you two playing ‘honeymoon’ in your room eh?”

“We were not!!” Kaoru cried. She regained control of her voice and stared up at the sky, “Besides, Kenshin stayed in his own room last night…”

“So? He’s just giving you space. I mean you did tell him you didn’t want to marry him. He probably thinks he’s rushing you.”

“He’s not!” she blurted out, “It’s nothing like that!” Sanosuke blinked at her. She just turned away, uttering, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore…” The tone in her voice was enough warning, so he didn’t say anything else. They continued to walk towards the dojo in silence.

* * *
At the dojo, Kenshin was running back and forth, trying to collect all the laundry he had hung. It had just started down pouring and all the clothes he had washed were sopping wet. Carrying a handful inside, he slumped to floor and sighed. Then sneezed. He reached into his sleeve and took out the ring, “Kaoru…”

He remembered last night in her room, when he had proposed to her again, this time without anyone around and no outside pressure. Again she refused. “I can’t, Kenshin.” she uttered, burying her face into his shoulder, “Please ask me anything but that…”

He couldn’t say a word. All he could think about her rejection. It was the first time she had ever denied him anything. Then again, she barely asked him to do anything for her. Kenshin couldn’t bear the thought that he was making too many demands. Moreover, he felt afraid of the reason, the reason for this rejection. Part of him didn’t want to know, because it might be something that he had no control over. Or it would just bring her pain trying to explain it to him.

Without even thinking, Kenshin’s hold had tightened around her. Kaoru lifted her head, “K-Kenshin…” His grip only became stronger. “Kenshin, dame… dame! It hurts!!” Finally hearing her cries, he released her. She stumbled backwards, trembling in pain. All of her injuries had come to life as he had squeezed her too tightly.

Kenshin was astonished at how he had lost control. He was just imagining how if he were to let go, she would disappear. Instead, he had hurt her. He closed his eyes, clenching his fists, ‘Kaoru, all I ever do is hurt you… I can’t soothe your nightmares, I can’t protect you, I can’t even make you mine…’

Frustration, fear - he carried those thoughts with him onto the next day. He had secretly snuck a bottle of sake from the kitchen and was guzzling it down. Sanosuke had always told him that this was a good way to blow off steam if you couldn't find anyone to fight with. This large bottle of sake was given to them from those cops. They had stopped by this morning and Kaoru invited them for dinner later in the week. Kenshin couldn’t help but feel suspicious of them. He could have sworn he saw them snooping around outside the dojo. Still sopping wet, Kenshin had already finished the entire bottle.

“Ken-san!” Megumi came into view. She stood over him, shaking her umbrella. “Where is everyone else? And you’re soaked! Why don’t you go inside and…” She saw the empty bottle of sake in his hand and the offbeat look in his face. “Ken-san…?”

As a doctor and a friend, she couldn’t ignore his state of condition. Kenshin was never a heavy drinker, but she most certainly didn't want Kaoru to see him like this. She grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him down the hall, towards his room. All the while, he was mumbling, “Kaoru… naze… sessha is doing his best… please don’t… leave me… onegai…”

Megumi rolled her eyes. ‘Kaoru would never do such a thing! He definitely had too much sake!’ He was lying flat on the floor, mumbling still to the ceiling. Megumi knelt down and felt his forehead; “You’ll get sick if you don’t change into dry clothes.” He suddenly grabbed hold of her wrist. “Huh?”

Kenshin sat up, his ponytail coming loose and his hair falling down all over his shoulders. The look in his face had drastically changed. Megumi had never seen him like this before. Her eyes widen as his flashed yellow. ‘K-Ken-san??’ she thought, ‘What’s going on?’ Kenshin pulled her to him, examining the obvious fear in her face. Then, without warning, he covered her lips with his.

There was none of gentleness that Kaoru spoken about. It was utterly pure hunger. Megumi’s reaction was to push him away and slap him across the face. “What’s gotten into you, Ken-san?!” she exclaimed, “What about Kaoru-chan?!”

“Who the f--k cares about her.” he mumbled, yellow eyes staring at the floor.

‘What?’ Megumi couldn’t believe that those words had come out of him. The taste of sake filled her senses. “You… drunk…!” she grumbled, going to slap him again, but halted to see that the door was wide open.

“W-what the hell is going on here?!” Yahiko gasped, his face red with embarrassment.

Next to him, Sanosuke dropped the soaked bag of rice and lifted his fists. His darken brow shot towards his best friend, who remained still and aloof. “YAMERO! Just what the F--K are you doing?! TEME Ken --!!” Sanosuke stopped to look at the stunned girl standing in front of them. “Jou-chan…?”

Kaoru’s eyes were endless pools of blue. Her mouth was slightly open but she couldn’t produce any words. She looked directly at the redhead samurai and waited, waited for an explanation, for anything. He simply closed his eyes and ignored her. Slowly, the bags of groceries slipped through her fingers and fell on the floor, her turning away and running from the house.

“Jou-chan!” Sanosuke cried over his shoulder, then turned to the Battousai. “Well?! Aren’t you going to go after her?!” After a pause, Sanosuke slammed his fist through the wall, and then ran after her. “MATTE!” he yelled, catching up to her just outside the dojo. He grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her to look at him, “Hold on a moment…!”

Kaoru lifted her head, her face in utter pain. Sanosuke quickly removed his hand from her injury and stared into those blue eyes. He couldn’t tell if it were tears or raindrops running down her face. A moment passed as they stood soaking in the rain. Kaoru looked so lost, like she might just break apart.

“Jou-chan…” Sanosuke uttered, putting his hand this time gently onto her shoulder. But this time, she knocked his hand away and turned to leave. “JOU-CHAN!!” he yelled angrily, grabbing her wrist, “JUST LISTEN FOR A SECOND!”

“NO!” she exclaimed, “DON’T…! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!” With that, she broke away from him and darted down the street.

Sanosuke held his breath as he watched her disappear from view. All of a sudden, an umbrella appeared over him. He turned and saw Megumi. “Sanosuke… just let her go. That’s how she is. Let her get it out of her system.”

“Megumi,” he said gruffly, “It’s because… of you and Kenshin…”

“What?” her grip tightened on the handle, “Ken-san was the one who…!”

“But you let him.” Sanosuke stepped backwards away from the umbrella. He stared at her face, which minutes ago he had seen with Kenshin’s. “You always did say that being a doctor was the most important thing to you… but you also once said that ‘being a doctor shows your feelings for Kenshin’…”

“Sou ja nai desu!” Megumi exclaimed, “It’s not like that! Don’t say such things! Sanosuke, you’re the only one…!”

“Am I!?” he cried, “I… I don’t know about anything anymore!” He clenched his fists and turned away. “All I know is… I can’t forgive Kenshin! And if I don’t get out of here now, I swear I’ll…!!!” Biting back at the last of his angry words, he too took off into the rain.

Under the umbrella, Megumi closed her eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Sanosuke…”