Voices carried to him through a layer of fog. His eyes too heavy
to open, he sought instead to fit faces to the voices from memory.
"Oi, Fox Lady, what's wrong with him?" That deep rumble belonged
to a dark haired street fighter.
"Megumi?" This one to a young boy... maybe 10 years old... with
spiky hair.
"Quiet. Everyone be quiet so I can examine Ken-san." Sly
and flirtatious, though filled with concern, this voice belonged to a tall
woman with dark hair and sad eyes. "Kaoru-chan," her voice came again,
"I need some soft cloths and some cool water."
"Hai." This voice was quiet, subdued, and so sad. It didn't
match the laughing, raven-haired girl in his memory at all. As with
the others, he couldn't fit a name to the memory, but this time the lack
was unbearable. He knew her name... it was etched on his heart. He
struggled, fighting the first stirrings of panic, somehow appalled at his
inability to remember such a simple fact.
"Sanosuke," the other woman said, "Help me get his clothes off.
The compresses need to be against his skin."
"Aa." The street fighter again, agreeing with the sly voiced woman.
A moment later he was wracked with chills as his blankets were abruptly
removed. He curled into a ball reflexively, attempting to preserve
as much heat as he could. Strong, icy hands caught his shoulders
and he cried out at the pain they unintentionally inflicted. He heard
the slight hiss as the other man sucked in air in surprise. "Kuso...
Kenshin..."
"Sanosuke." The sly voiced woman again. There was a pause,
as if she was waiting for some sort of acknowledgment. Her voice
was sympathetic when it came again. "He'll be all right, once we
get the fever down. Trust me."
Kenshin felt a surge of unreasoning resentment as the hands returned,
and he fought as this "Sanosuke" sought to remove his kimono. Pain
forgotten in the adrenaline surge, he shoved the other man away, his eyes
finally coming open as he growled a warning.
Sano lost his balance and fell, surprised at Kenshin's sudden strength.
From his prone position he looked up to find Kenshin standing, eyes glinting
crazily.
"Don't... don't touch me." Kenshin fought to get his breathing
under control, his head throbbing in reaction to the sudden exertion.
As quickly as it had come, the anger was gone, leaving him weak and trembling
as he swayed unsteadily on his feet. The room twisted dizzily around
him and he closed his eyes, seeking to center himself.
Sanosuke watched as Kenshin gradually brought himself under control,
climbing to his feet only when the rurouni appeared stable enough to allow
it. Sensing Sano's movement, Kenshin's eyes sprang open, his nerves
once again on edge.
Kaoru slowed as she approached Kenshin's room, puzzled by the strange
silence. She entered to find Kenshin on his feet and breathing heavily,
right hand clenching and unclenching slowly as he warned Sano, Yahiko and
Megumi away with his glare.
"Megumi-san... what..." she began, stopping when Kenshin's gaze shifted
to her.
I know her. Kenshin thought in relief. The others,
though at first familiar, had slipped from his memory's grasp even as he
struggled to pull the vague images closer. People who one moment seemed
to be friends became strangers with his next breath. But this girl...
her image threaded through his memory like sunlight, bright and unwavering.
"Kenshin?" She asked hesitantly.
He closed his eyes and drew in a long, slow breath. When he opened
them again, the crazed gleam had disappeared, replaced with soft, violet
confusion. "I..." He swallowed, and tried again. "I don't
know them," he said, gesturing carefully at the other three occupants of
the room. Her eyes widened in shock. "But you... I recognize
you." He took another deep breath. "Please... what's wrong
with me?"
"Me... Megumi-san?" Her voice thin and frightened, his anchor
turned to the other woman for guidance.
"It's all right, Kaoru-chan," Megumi responded, moving to take the items
she'd requested from Kaoru's grasp. "He trusts you," she whispered
as she gently pried Kaoru's fingers away from the bowl of tepid water.
"Talk to him. Explain what's going on, and that we're trying to help."
"Ha… Hai." Kaoru responded, watching Kenshin over Megumi's shoulder.
His eyes had narrowed when Megumi approached, and he continued to eye her
suspiciously as she talked to Kaoru. Does Megumi-san realize?
How dangerous he is now? How-- She cut herself off abruptly.
Kenshin was still Kenshin. Releasing the bowl to Megumi's care,
she brushed past the doctor and slowly walked towards him.
"Kenshin." His eyes, still trained on Megumi when Kaoru spoke,
slowly shifted their focus to her, softening as they did so. "Kenshin...
Megumi-san is a doctor." His eyes widened slightly at that, further
indicating how much he'd forgotten. "She's come to help you, but
you have to trust her." He opened his mouth, clearly intending to
reject her request, and Kaoru gently covered his lips to stop him. His
skin was frighteningly hot beneath her light touch. "Please. Please.
Trust me if you won't trust her, but you have to let her help you."
She hadn't realized she was so near to tears until she felt them spill
down her cheeks as she begged him to listen to her. "Yahiko, Sanosuke,
Megumi... they're all here to help you, but they can't if you won't let
them. Onegai..."
She's crying. Because of me, she's crying. He was
so tired, so confused. His entire body seemed to ache as he fought
to suppress the slight shudders that swept through it. What she was
asking wasn't so very difficult. He trusted her... and she trusted the
others. "All right," he finally whispered in agreement, reaching
out to gently brush her tears away. "For you." She smiled shakily
in response, closing her eyes briefly in relief.
"Ken-san." Reluctantly he raised his eyes to the doctor's face.
"Arigato." She smiled at him, too, and he nodded once in acknowledgment,
somehow relieved that the decision had been made. As the slight movement
sent pain pounding through his head again, the doctor took charge, ordering
the young man -- Sanosuke -- to help him back to his futon.
"Be careful," he heard the girl warn Sanosuke, her voice protective.
"Jou-chan," Sano scolded in return, his eyes telling her he understood
but didn't need the reminder.
"Kaoru-chan." Kaoru turned to Megumi as Sanosuke took charge of
Kenshin. "I need you to take these..." as she gave Kaoru a packet
filled with dried chrysanthemum flowers, "and brew a pot of tea."
Kaoru opened her mouth to object. "It doesn't matter whether you
can cook or not. You can boil water, and this isn't going to taste
terribly good anyway. Go."
Kenshin felt himself gently lifted and settled on something soft.
As he relaxed into its comforting embrace, a cool hand brushed across his
brow, then touched briefly at his neck. "His temperature hasn't changed,"
he heard the doctor say. "Sanosuke, please remove his shirt -- gently
this time." There was a non-committal grunt, and then someone began
fussing with his clothing. Too tired to rouse himself to protest,
he lay quietly until something icy was pressed against his forehead, followed
by another against his throat. His eyes snapped open as his shivering
instantly increased.
"Easy! Easy..." The doctor put a hand on his shoulder to prevent
him from moving. "I know," she said soothingly, as if he were a child
who needing consoling, "but we must get your fever down. Trust me,
remember? Just relax." Reluctantly he did so, reacting only
slightly when additional compresses were placed under each arm.
Gradually the ice at his throat and brow seemed to melt, the cloth absorbing
heat from his body, cooling him in the process. Just as his shivering
began to abate, Megumi ordered the compresses replaced, jolting his body
back into discomfort. The process was repeated a countless number
of times, before finally the doctor was satisfied.
"Kaoru-chan, we're ready for that tea now," he heard her say, and then
his head was lifted and a cup of something bitter and tepid raised to his
lips. Obediently he drank the stuff down, grateful that the doctor's
next words encouraged him to do nothing more than sleep. She covered
him with a light blanket before leaving the room, ushering the others out
with her.
"Ken-san's fever has dropped below the danger level... for now.
The tea should help keep it from rising, but we'll need to take turns watching
him." Megumi's voice was solemn as she explained the situation to
Kaoru, Sano and Yahiko. "If his fever begins to rise, or doesn't
start to drop on it's own soon, the compresses will need to be reapplied.
The shock to his system has already been extensive, or I'd push to continue
the treatment now. Unfortunately, I don't think his body could take
it, exhausted as it is."
Megumi surveyed the three worried faces before her as they nodded in
understanding. Her next instructions were going to be more difficult.
"Ken-san only agreed to let me treat him because of his trust in Kaoru-chan,
the only one amongst us whom he recognized. The next time he wakes,
he may not recognize anyone, nor be as docile. Keep that in mind.
Remember to talk to him in a soft, calm voice; don't touch him unless he
seems willing to allow it... and agree with him if he recognizes
you as a friend, even if he is mistaken in that recognition."
For their own safety, as well as Kenshin's, they needed to keep him
calm. Megumi remembered the amber glint in his eyes as he'd shaken
off Sanosuke's grip... those had been the eyes of the hitokiri, not their
rurouni. And the hitokiri had been born in suspicion, had learned
to kill his enemies without regret or second thought. No, they couldn't
afford to misjudge the situation again. She blinked, coming back
to the present to find the other three still watching her, waiting for
more bad news. Sanosuke and Yahiko were both pale, she noted, each
still recovering from his own bout with illness.
"Sanosuke! Yahiko! Both of you, back to bed right now!"
That
was rather abrupt, she thought, softening her voice before she continued.
"Kaoru-chan and I will keep an eye on Ken-san for now. We'll
call you if we need you."
"Da... dare?" His voice was dry and paper-thin. His head
swam as he tried and failed to make out the figure kneeling beside him
in the dark room.
"Shhh..." Her voice was calm, gentle. "Here, drink this."
She slipped an arm under his head to lift him, bracing him as he drank
first hesitantly, then deeply.
"Who are you?" he asked again, as she withdrew the cup and eased him
back down to his pillow.
"My name is Megumi. Kaoru-chan sent for me. Do you remember
Kaoru?" He would wake up right after Kaoru-chan left to check
on Sano and Yahiko, Megumi thought.
"Kaoru..." he repeated, already starting to slip away into sleep again.
"Hai. You remember Kaoru. The pretty girl with blue eyes,
who wears her hair tied back with a ribbon."
"No..." he sleepily disagreed, not because he didn't remember, but because
the girl he saw in his mind's eye was beautiful, not merely pretty.
Her eyes sparkled merrily as she said his name... Kenshin.
A moment later her eyes changed from laughing blue to bottomless black,
her hair tumbling from its ribbon to feather about her face. This
new woman addressed him, too, but the name she called was not Kenshin.
Confused, he protested a second time, raising his voice slightly.
"Shhh..." Megumi soothed again, uncertain what had upset him.
She brushed the hair away from his face, noting as she did so that his
temperature was beginning to rise. They would have to start applying
the cold compresses again. Better to wait until he's asleep,
she thought. The sleeping draught in the water should take affect
soon. "Sleep, Ken-san." She whispered to him. "Sleep,
and dream about your little Kaoru-dono."
Kenshin struggled once more to open his eyes before sleep rose up to
engulf him, his mind still protesting the memory of a woman with bottomless
eyes who called him anata.
Author's Notes:
A stable form of salicylic acid, one of the base components
to aspirin, wasn't discovered until 1860. It seems unlikely that
it would have found widespread use in Japan by 1878, which is why Megumi
isn't handing out little white pills.
Dried chrysanthemum blossoms were used (and are still used)
by both the Japanese and Chinese as a fever reducer.
Temperatures in excess of 101 degrees are generally considered
to be dangerous, and temperatures of 103 or higher are known to cause mental
confusion, which can manifest itself in a variety of ways. Amazingly
enough, if treated, there aren't any lasting affects. Temperatures
in excess of 106 degrees apparently can, however, cause serious damage.
Index of Japanese words/terms:
Hai - Yes
Dare - Who
Oi - Hey
Kuso - All-purpose curse word; "damn"
Onegai - Please
Arigato - Thank you
Anata - You; Dear/Darling (when used by a woman to address
her husband)
On to Chapter 3: Battousai Awakes
