Subject: [KFFDisc] Shattered Rainbows Part 1&2
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 09:07:07 PST
From: "Miss Hideki" <deena_arashi@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: kenshinfanfics@egroups.com
To: kenshinfanfics@egroups.com

Hi Everyone, this is me deena again. Thanks for the comments on Misao's
wish. Who was it that described Aoshi as a "pompas bag of wind"? An apt
description, to be sure. Hee hee. At Tin-chan's request *arigato* I am
posting my Megumi-Sano fic. Since the first part is rather short, here
are the first two parts. Please let me know what you think and if you
think the characters of out of character. *when i wrote this I hadn't
seen any of Kenshin*  Well, here it is and enjoy. Oh, and there is a bit
of swearing but it *is* Sano. What else should we expect? *sigh* Sano my
love....
                  ja ne deena *_*x

**********************************************************************
All characters belong to people more important than me and I'm just
using them to bent to my demented will. MUFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA!!!!!!!!!
**********************************************************************

Shattered Rainbows

Part One
Sharper than Broken Glass

    With trembling hands Megumi gently wiped the tears away from the
little boy’s face. “It’s all right,” she soothed softly. “As soon as I
bandage your arm, you’ll be as good as new. You won’t hurt anymore, I
promise.”
    “But it hurts so much,” he whimpered, his lower lip quivering.
    “I know it does. And that’s why I have some sweets for you,” she
whispered to him, trying to ignore the pounding in her head.
    The boy instantly stopped crying. Gathering the bandages, she began
to treat his injuries. After she had finished bandaging his arm, he left
with his grateful mother, happily sucking on the sugary sweets she had
given him.
    Only when she knew for certain that the child and his mother had
left the building, did she allow herself the luxury of sitting down.
These past few days had given her new worries. Lately she had been
plagued with random bouts of dizziness and severe headaches. Even her
throat had closed up on her. She had been reduced to speaking in
whispers as the pain was too much for her to bear, both in her head and
her throat.
    “What is wrong with me?” she wondered, her voice dry and hoarse. She
simply didn’t understand this. She had always been healthy. What was
wrong? Had she been cursed?
    “You fool,” she muttered, rubbing her temples. She closed her eyes
feeling so tired, so weak. There was too much pain. Maybe only a few
minutes of rest...
    “You’re a doctor. You can’t afford to sleep. People need you,” she
chided, her throat aching unbearably. And yet…the walls seemed to melt
together. Her eyes watered. There was a strange yet familiar coppery
taste in her mouth. Was her throat bleeding again?
    “YO FOX LADY!!!!!!”
    Sanouke’s voice surrounded the tiny room, crashing into her
throbbing head. She winced as she stood up. The room tilted and swayed.
Gasping, she swallowed convulsively as she grabbed hold of a nearby
chair. The room was still moving. She shook her head as if to clear it
and brushed her hair out of her face. There was no way she was going to
show any weakness, especially in front of Sano. The last thing she
needed was for him to poke more fun at her.
    He stalked into the examination room, making the small room even
smaller  with his formidable height. He stopped when he saw her.   “What
the hell happened to you, Fox lady? You look like shit.”
    She straightened proudly and blinked at the moving room. “You need
not concern yourself with me,” she whispered coldly. “I am perfectly
fine.”
    “Why the hell are you whispering?” he asked.
    She glared at him but remained silent. Blood was rising in her mouth
again.
    He laughed. “That’s what you get for yelling all the time, Foxy.
Next time you’ll know to keep your goddamn mouth shut!”
    Bleeding throat be damned. “What do you want?” she demanded and
immediately began to cough. The stinging in her throat was exquisite.
    “Fuck you sound shitty,” he observed. “You better not talk anymore
Fox or you just may end up kicking the bucket.”
    She couldn’t respond. Her hair fell, covering her face. She was
grateful since her eyes had begun to water again. Her head was hurting
so much. What was happening to her? Why was this happening?
    “Fox lady?”
    His voice was soft and very un-Sano like. No, she refused to let him
know. She looked up and brushed her hair from her face. He had a
concerned look on his face. A look she had never seen before. A look
that she didn’t want to see again.
    “Why...are...you...here?” she asked slowly, resisting the urge to
press her hands to her burning forehead.
    His brown eyes locked with hers. “Aoshi and Weasel girl are here at
the dojo. We’re having a special dinner tonight and Jo-chan wants you to
come. Kenshin’s cooking,” he added. “Maybe a little miso soup will help
clear up that...whatever the hell that is in your throat.”
    Dinner? The thought of eating made her stomach turn. No, she wanted
to rest. She didn’t want to go anywhere. She wanted to be alone. She
wanted...to die.
    Grasping the back of the chair so tightly that her knuckles turned
white, she shook her head. “No, I can’t go,” she whispered, looking away
from his warm gaze. “I...I have much to do tonight.”
    “You can do it later,” he told her. “Kenshin and Jo-chan want to see
you. Even Weasel girl has been asking for you. It’s getting late. Let’s
go. You can rest at the dojo if you want to.”
    She shook her head unable to believe that such a simple movement
would cause waves of pain to bloom anew in her head. “I...patients are
going to...stop by later,” she lied. “Give my regards to...everyone.”
    There was a silence. Just leave me alone, her mind screamed at him.
Go away from me! I can take care of myself! Please...her eyes burned.
Breathing was suddenly difficult. Gasping for air, she begged him
silently. Please, please, please...
    “If you got work to do then I won’t keep you,” he said very quietly.
“I’ll tell the others that you’re busy.” And saying that, he turned and
left.
    Megumi sank to the floor. Tears spilled from her eyes and slashed
across her cheeks. Everything was hurting. She pressed her hands to her
temple and choked on the blood that filled her mouth. Squeezing her eyes
shut, she fought against the waves of black sharp agony.
    “I’m going crazy,” she muttered and then stared through a sheen of
tears as the room whirled together.
    Her reprieve against the pain was given when she fainted.

Part Two
For He without Hope

    Sano stalked into the rapidly darkening night. Jo-chan and Kenshin
were not going to be happy that Megumi had declined their offer. It was
unlike her not to come to the dojo for dinner, especially if Aoshi and
Misao were visiting. He began to wonder if she was upset because Kenshin
and Kaoru were now a couple. And for some inexplicable reason that he
didn’t want to analyze, that bothered him.
    "Why should you care if she’s moping around for him?” an inner voice
quietly demanded.
    “I don’t care,” he muttered. “But she can’t have him. Kenshin
belongs to Jo-chan . He never wanted her. He never appreciated her.”
    “Not like you appreciate her?” that quiet voice sneered.
    He ignored the voice and continued. He didn’t care about Fox. Why
should he? What she did was no concern to him. He remembered her words
very clearly.
    “You need not concern yourself with me.” She didn’t want his help.
She didn’t need him. And why should she? She was a doctor. A high class
lady. An independent woman who was making it on her own. He, on the
other hand was nothing more then a common street thug. A coarse
ex-street fighter who didn’t even have enough money to buy food. A
gangster who gambled and continously lost. Deep within he knew that he
wasn’t even good enough to be in the same room as her, let alone
actually speak to her. Maybe if things were different…
    “Fuck it,” he thought to himself, angrily. “Things ain’t different.
What the hell do I care. She can do whatever she wants to. I don’ give a
rat’s ass.”
    Despite the fact that he wanted to think about anything except her,
his mind kept returning to the scene in her examination room. She had
looked and sounded like crap. For the first time since he had left her,
he wondered if she was alright. Her face had been unusually pale and she
had seemed tired. Perhaps he should go back to check on her.
    “You need not concern yourself with me.” Her cold words swirled in
his mind. He had gotten her message loud and clear. She didn’t want him
or his help. That much hadn’t changed. And it never would.
    He continued his way through the fading afternoon, towards the dojo
and towards his friends.

                   *************************************

    “Where’s Megumi-san?” Kaoru asked when he entered a little while
later.
    He shrugged and nonchalantly began to chew on a fishbone. “She had
to take care of some patients. She said to give her regards to
everyone.”
    “She’s going to stay there all night? That’s odd. She never stays
after sunset.”
    Sano began to walk away. “Yeah well you can talk to her. I don’t
know a goddamn thing about it.”
    “Oy, Sano?” Kaoru called after him.
    He turned. “Yeah?”
    Kaoru chewed anxiously on her lower lip. “Did Megumi-san seem...
um...did she seem to you...uh...”
    “Seem what to me?” he asked sharply.
    She frowned and shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure. But I went to visit
her yesterday and she seemed so tired and…haggard. She barely talked
either. Was she alright?”
    “She didn’t say a single word when I called her Fox,” he mused
aloud. “And she barely raised her voice above a whisper. She did look
bloody awful though.”
    “I wonder what’s wrong with her?”
    Yahiko walked into the room. He looked at Kaoru who was deep in
thought, a perplexed expression painted upon her face. “Oy Sano! What’s
got ugly all worked up? She hasn’t looked this confused since the time
she pulled that brown gloppy rice soup out the oven. Hey Ugly! Don’t
think too hard. You might bust your head open!”
    Kaoru looked at Yahiko with murder in her eyes. “WHO ARE YOU CALLING
UGLY, YAHIKO-CHAN!!!!!!!!!” she screeched.
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING CHAN!!!!!!!!!” he howled back.
    Kenshin hurried onto the scene in time to see Kaoru chase Yahiko
around the room waving her stick. He sweatdropped. “Oro, Kaoru-dono? You
shouldn’t-”
    She turned on him. “YOU’RE STILL CALLING ME DONO!!!!!!!!! HOW MANY
TIME DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU????!!!! IT”S KAORU!!!!!!!!!”
    “Oro...gomen nasai,” Kenshin quickly said.
    “STOP YELLING UGLY RACCOON GIRL!!!!!!!!!” Yahiko yelled and began to
run like hell.
    Kaoru ran after him. “JUST YOU WAIT YAHIKO-CHAN!!!!!!!!! I’m GOING
TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!”
    Kenshin looked over at Sano who was still chewing on his fishbone
and glaring at the wall across the room. He frowned. Sano not join in in
bothering Kaoru? This was news to him. Something must be up.
    “Sano? Dijobu?” he asked.
    Sano looked over at Kenshin, surprised. “Kenshin. When did get
here?”
    “Oro...are you okay?” he wondered, concerned.
    He shrugged, distractedly. “Shit yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “You seem a bit...preoccupied.”
    “It’s nothing,” he replied, staring off into the distance. He was
worried about Fox, especially after what Jo-chan had said to him. He
wanted to go and see if she was alright. But he couldn’t forget her
words. They had become an endless litany in his mind.
    “Soka...oro! Where’s Megumi-san? I thought you went to bring her
here.”
    “I did. She’s busy,” he replied tossing his fishbone away. He turned
and left.
    “Oro?” Kenshin murmured and hurried after his friend. “Sano,” he
cried.
    Sano didn’t stop. “What do you want Kenshin?”
    “ ‘You have to tell her.’ That’s what you told me once. Remember?
You said that if I didn’t tell Kaoru-dono that I loved her it would eat
me alive. Well, I think it’s time the adviser take his own advice,”
Kenshin suggested gently.
    He stopped. “I don’t have a goddamn clue what the fuck you’re
talking about,” he snapped, chagrinned.
    “I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. Go talk to
Megumi-dono. All you have to do is-”
    “Shut the hell up,” he bit out. “This is completely different than
you and Jo-chan. She loved you and you knew it. There was no doubt about
it. It was a safe deal Kenshin. But what the hell do I know about
Megumi? She despises me. It was you she wanted. Not me. I’m not about to
go and offer myself to someone who doesn’t want me.”
    “To someone so perfect and beautiful. To someone who deserves
better,” that quiet voice told him. “Forget her. Women like her are too
good for assholes like you.”
    “Megumi-dono doesn’t love me,” Kenshin stated cautiously. “We all
know that. She was just flirting harmlessly. And she doesn’t despise
you. Rather the opposite, I’d say. I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”
    “Oh yes that’s right. I forgot about the gazes of lust and the big
hearts that appear in her eyes every time she sees me,” he replied with
disgusted sarcasm. “She always throws herself at me, that brazen hussy.
Yeah right. How the fuck did I forget about that?”
    “Oro...” Kenshin said, baffled. He had never seen his friend like
this before. “Stop with the sarcasm. You know what I mean. She isn’t as
indifferent towards you as you think. It won’t hurt you to talk to her
or just to see her. Maybe you could stop by her practice and see how
she’s doing. She wouldn’t mind your company-”
    “You need not concern yourself with me.” Sano couldn’t get that
phrase out of his mind. No, it was better this way. Kenshin didn’t
understand. He had only interfered because it was so obvious that he and
Jo-chan wanted each other but neither wanted to make the first move.
They needed to be pushed. But he and Fox were different. She didn’t love
him. That much was blatantly obvious. Any fool could see it...even a
rough street fighter like himself.
    “Perhaps the two of you could go to the Akebako and then...” Kenshin
trailed off when he realized that Sano had left.
    “I never knew that ol’ Chicken head could be so stubborn,” Misao
said, coming over to stand next to him.
    He looked at her. “How much did you hear?”
    “The whole thing,” she admitted, guiltily. “I was on my way to make
some tea for Aoshi-sama when I heard you call after Sano. Gomen nasai.”
    “It’s alright. It’s just that-”
    He was interrupted by a loud crash following by Kaoru’s boisterous
bellowing.
    “PERPARE TO DIE YAHIKO-CHAN!!!!!!!!!”
    “Oro,” he sighed. “I’d better go calm Kaoru-dono down. Otherwise
there won’t anything  of Yahiko left.”
    Misao nodded in agreement. “We’ll talk about Chicken head later,
alright?”
    He nodded and hurried off towards the disaster outside. Misao
watched him go and then continued to the kitchen, deep in thought.

                *************************************

    Misao gently blew her tea and then took a tiny sip. Despite her
calm, cool façade, one that certainly rivaled Aoshi’s, her mind was
working busily. She simply had to do something. She didn’t like this
new, angry Sano. She wanted the old one back. Now that Kenshin and Kaoru
were together, it was Sano’s turn. He deserved to be happy. And she was
the one who was going to make it happen.
    “I know what he feels for Megumi-san. But does she feel the same
way?” she wondered silently. “I’ve just gotta find out.”
    She set her tea cup down determinedly and looked across at Aoshi. “I
have to go now, Aoshi-sama. I’ll be back in a bit.”
    He simply raised an eyebrow in silent question.
    She suppressed a sigh. She didn’t want to tell Aoshi-sama about her
plans. He would only complicate things. But then again he probably
wouldn’t let her go until she gave him some reason. “I want to go visit
Megumi-san. I haven’t seen her in ages and I need to speak with her.”
    “Are you ill?”
    “Huh? No, it’s just that...um...I need to...well...you know.” She
gave him a big eyed innocent look.
    “Misao.”
    She silently groaned at his harsh, cold voice. “Hai, Aoshi-sama?”
    “This dinner has been prepared in our honor. You may visit her after
we eat.”
    “But I have to…” she stopped when he gave her THAT look. She sighed,
frustrated.  “It’s important, damnit,” she muttered.
    “You can play matchmaker later, Misao.”
    She gasped and stared at him wide eyed. “How did you know?”
    A shadow of a smile traced his hard lips. “I know you Misao.”
    “Well I know you too, Aoshi-sama,” she retorted impertinently. She
jumped to her feet and stuck her tongue out at him. “And I still like
you. Sort of.”
    Aoshi watched as she ran out of the room. He smiled a genuine smile.
“I like you too, Makimachi Misao.”

______________________________________________________

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