End of A Weary Day--Formating Revised 12/21

A/N: I had a little bit of fun with this chapter. But initically it is meant to start bringing things to a close. Look for a winding down of the characters... but enjoy it as well. God bless and Happy Valentines Day to all of you lovers out there. Remember to Kiss your Sweetheart and tell him or her how much they really mean to you. It\'s more than just sex you know... It\'s about Love. Kanzen Ne Tsuki

A/N: Sorry about the formating errors... I just can\'t seem to get rid of all of them. Damn micorsoft word and the internet... I wish they would learn how to get along with each other.


Glossary: Itoshi=Lovely, Koishii=Dear/Darling, Uwazouri=Outdoor Sandals, Asaiai=Beloved
Wife, Hinokagusuchi=God of Fire, Koi=Carp/Fish, Engowa=Veranda, Kuso=Shit, Sho-ji=Outside
Door,

Chapter Ten

A Long and Winding Path


The soft ‘slap-slap\' of Kenshin\'s uwazouri was practically the only sound that could be
heard as he wandered back toward the Kamiya Dojo in the darkening of the evening after spending the majority of the day in pursuit of Sano\'s ever-elusive green-eyed woman. However, he had discovered that Miss Kaziuo, as he had begun to call her, was occasionally seen playing the higher-class establishments on the upper east-side, and had recently been spotted once or twice with a blonde haired man gambling and drinking at the ‘Flying Dragon\'. Kenshin had been encouraged by the news, but knew he did not have the time to check out the information today because it was already growing late and he did not want Kaoru to get worried.

Ever since that day at ‘The Black Pearl\' the two of them had been especially touchy with
each other. It seemed that no matter the time of day or night, if one or the other of them felt even the slightest twinge of anxiety or insecurity, a long close embrace was needed. There were not always kisses or intimate touches involved, just the undeniable need to be reassured that everything was, indeed, all right between them.

Kenshin knew the cause and reason was that terrible kiss that Kaoru had witnessed between himself and the proprietress, but he did not know how to rectify this unwanted aftermath. For so long he had lived in a world wher had had never dared to hope or believe Kaoru could love him, and now that she did, he was seized by a fear so profound that he would lose her over this foolishness that he found himself rushing home to her every night no matter his other obligations. He had promised to help Sanosuke and Megumi find the green-eyed woman and discover the truth behind ‘her\' mystery and what had happened between her and Sano that night nearly a week ago, but his own personal problems were now becoming more important to him that his vow to help his friends. He could not allow himself to lose Kaoru, not at any cost. That he could not, so he put off looking further into the ‘Flying Dragon\' lead until another time and let his tired feet carry him home; home to his beloved Asiai... home to Kaoru.

\"Xander-koishii?\"

\"Yes?\" The lean blonde haired man looked up from his oak writing table at the lovely
brown haired woman approaching him and smiled. \"What do you need, Itoshi?\" He asked as he pulled her down onto his lap and tenderly kissed her lips. \"I can see you have something on your mind, what is it, Kazuio?\"

\"You said we could go back down to Ganko-san\'s and get the rest of my things soon, and... I was just wondering when we were going to go.\" Her eyes looked like huge chips of glittering green glass as she innocently searched his handsome face. \"I-I... it is just that...\" Her chin dropped and she started to nervously play with the buttons on the front of his shirt as she tried to find the words to say what she wanted. \"I would like to have some of my own things around me here... that is all.\"

\"I know you would, Itoshi.\" Two strong fingers gently lifted her chin so he could look into her wide apprehensive eyes. \"And I was plannon ton taking you in a couple of days, but if you would rather... we can go tomorrow.\"

\"Tomorrow?\" Her voice rose brightly as she gazed into his face looking for any sign of
teasing or mocking, but found only the same level of sincere truth that had been there from the moment she had met him. \"Do you mean it, Xander? Do you really mean it?\"

\"Of course I do, Kieri,\" Warm laughter rumbled out of his throat as he hugged her close and nibbled playfully at her neck making her giggled in girlish delight. \"Why would I tell you that if I didn\'t mean it?\"

\"I do not know.\" She hugged him tightly and started pressing little kisses of happiness and joy all over his face. \"I am just not used to people telling me the truth... you know?\"

\"Ahhhh, I see now.\" Suddenly he stood up with her cradled in his arms and started walking towards the stairs that led to the second floor of his home, where he had brought her after the first time they had been together. \"I think perhaps then, Itoshi, that you need to be educated on the fact that ‘I\' am not ‘one\' of those people you are used to dealing with.\"

\"Wh-what do you m-mean... educated? Xander?\" There was a definite note of worried
excitement in her voice as she tightened her arms around his neck and burrowed her nose into the space behind his ear.

\"There are certain things lacking in your knowledge of proper social etiquette, Koishii,\" He said huskily as he toped the stairs and walked through the door to his room. \"I am simply going to ‘instruct\' you on a few of the finer points that you will need to know in the future as our relationship progresses. It will make things easier for both of us.\" Then he unceremoniously dumped her onto the big bed. \"Take off your clothes, Itoshi.\" He ordered in a stern voice.

\"N-nani?\" Kazuio looked up at Xander in complete confusion as she suddenly began to wonder if he were playing with her or if he truly intended upon ‘doing\' something to her. A cold shiver of anxiety crossed the fairness of her flesh raising little goose-pimples as it went, and a little knot of fear started to congeal in the pit of her stomach.

\"I told you, take off your clothes... Now.\" He was slowly taking off his shirt and watching
her with the cool steady gaze of his pale blue eyes, and when she still did not move, he carefully approached the bed and leaned down. \"Take off your clothes, Kazuio... before I do it for you.\" There was no kindness in his face, nor was there any patience. Swiftly she complied, pulling off the pale blue kimono she was wearing, the under kimono, and the filmy under garments he had given her to wear. When she was naked, Kazuio timidly knelt in the middle of the large bed.

\"I am finished.\" She said quietly to Xander\'s back where he stood rummaging through a chest of drawers obviously looking for something.

\"Good,\" Was his short reply. \"Now, I want you to turn around and get on your hands and knees.\"

\"M-my hands an...\"

\"Now, please... I don\'t like asking twice.\" Kazuio swallowed hard and slowly rolled over to assume the position he had told her too which left her vulnerable derriere open, and pointing in his direction. She, in turn, was facing the opposite direction and could see nothing. \"Very good, Itoshi.\" She heard him say from somewhere behind her and then felt the mattress give beneath his weight as he joined her.

The warmth of his hand reached out and began to caress the smooth sphere of her exposed and unprotected ass, and Xander felt her trembling beneath his touch. He knew she was confused and slightly afraid, but that was what was going to make this little game all the more enjoyable and satisfying once she realized there was no real danger. A hungry smile curved his thin lips as he continued to caress her smooth skin, and then he suddenly lifted his hand and slapped her smartly on the ass leaving a bright red print.

\"Aaak!\" A short squeak of pain and surprise followed by a shudder of awareness issued
from the woman in front of him, and as he licked his lips in anticipation, Xander spanked her again in precisely the same place.

\"Eeeeek! Xan-der? Wh-What are y-you...\" Kazuio shuddered violently and felt a surge of wild desire rush though her vitals as the inner muscles of her sex began to contract with a hungry need she had not felt before, and just as suddenly, to her complete amazement, she felt the thick honey wetness of her own bodies desire as it slowly began to slide down the inside of her left thigh. \"OooOooo... Xxaannder...\" But his only answer was several more well placed slaps on her beautiful ass which finally included both glorious cheeks.

As he pulled up on the ‘education\' and ‘instruction\' of his now ‘apt\' pupil, Xander leaned
back to investigate his work and felt a purely male smile of satisfaction cross his lips. Kazuio was literally drenched in the juices of her own bodies burgeoning desires. Her sex was swollen and quivering with need, and he could hear her making deep mewling noises in her throat as she waved her musky scent suggestively and entreatingly before him. Her body was begging to be taken by his, and the thick, heavy shaft of his own desire was throbbing painfully as it swung awkwardly against his thighs. The smell of her scent and the look of her pulsating wetness were driving him insane. He had to have her soon or he would burst with the need that was coursing through his veins.

With a deep feral growl, Xander viciously shoved three fingers deeply into his lovers wet sex and then groaned heavily as he listened to the high-pitched cries of anguished need erupt from her as he applied a downward pressure, and then he felt the sudden gripping of her internal muscles as they clamped around him in hard pre-climatic spasm as her body searched for the release it craved.

\"Kuso!\" The curse was ripped from him as he leaned over her and began pumping his hand in and out of her wildly and gloried in the sounds he listened to coming from her as he did. \"That\'s right, cum for me, Saiai... cum for me...\" Then he was pulling his hand out and looking at it. It was covered with her thick, tangy sweet juices and the scent finally pushed him over the edge of his restraint. Moving in behind her, he grasp his swollen member and guided it into her wetness, grabbed her hips for leverage, and immediately began a wild bone-jarring rhythm that had Kazuio fisting her hands into the sheets and burrowing her face into the pillows to muffle the screams of primitive pleasure that rifled through her body.

It was a violent, wild coming together for them and Xander nearly forgot to pull out of her before he pumped his last and dropped his load in the middle of her back. Afterwards, both of them collapsed onto the bed breathing heavily and shaking with the magnitude of the orgasm they had just shared. Not even the volcano\'s of Hinokagusuchi had burned hotter than they had on this night, and as Xander gently wiped his cum off Kazuio\'s back, he tenderly laid a small black velvet bag in front of her eyes.

\"This is for you, Itoshi,\" The voice he used was tender and filled with emotions she dared not try to identify as her trembling hands carefully opened the small bag. \"And it is not payment for anything... I bought it for you as a gift because...\" He paused when he heard her sharp intake of breath as the emerald necklace slipped into her palm. \"Because I adore you.\"

\"Xander...\" Breathless and stunned beyond any other words, Kazuio rolled onto her back and looked up into the handsome face that was smiling at her with such tenderness. \"Why...\"

\"I told you, Itoshi.\" He slid an arm beneath her shoulders and lifted her up into his embrace once more. \"Because I adore you, my love... because I adore you.\" And he began to dust soft kisses across the lovely face until he found her trembling lips which he parted with the tip of his tongue and devoured in passionate affection.

**********

\"Kaoru?\" Kenshin looked questioningly inside the Dojo where he thought he would find his lover, but found the practice room dark and empty. A frown wrinkled his brow as he turned and wandered over to the kitchen to see if she were there, but found it empty as well. ‘I wonder where she could be?\' He thought a little anxiously to himself as he looked around the deserted yard. ‘It is far too early for her to be in bed...\' But, with a shrug, he jumped up onto the engowa and walked to the doorway of the room they shared. Sliding it open quietly, he looked inside, but it was also empty. A cold shiver of apprehension and puzzled bewilderment slid down his spine as he began to frantically search his mind for the memory of anything she may have said to him earlier that day before he had left that would have indicated she would not be home when he returned, but he could remember nothing. Kenshin began to worry in earnest.

He looked down by the koi pond, the laundry area, and even in the garden, but there was no sign of Kaoru. The Dojo was empty, and he had realized at that point as well, that he could not feel her Ki either. Kenshin began to panic.

Setting down on the steps, he lay his sakobatou by his side and tried to think. Had he done something wrong? Had he forgotten to do something? Was he supposed to have met her somewhere? \"Oh Kami... where are you, Koishii?\" Kenshin whispered in agony as he buried his face in his hands. \"Where are you? Have you gone from me?\"

A soft splashing sound off to his left caught Kenshin\'s attention, and lifting his head, he
cocked an ear and listened carefully until he heard it again. It was most definitely splashing, but what on earth could be... The bathhouse! Kaoru must be in the bathhouse taking a bath. A great sigh of tremendous relief escaped the frightened Rurouni\'s slender frame as he stood up and turned toward the small building just to the side of the kitchen and laundry area. He could just barely make out the faintest glow of pale light coming though the crack of the window cover indicating that someone was inside, and with half a smile forming on his face, he retrieved his sakobatou and walked toward the small building.

As he approached, he could just make out the very soft sounds of feminine humming coming from inside, so he was especially quiet as he opened the door and slipped through. Kenshin mentally caught his breath as he turned around and beheld the glory that was Kaoru. Carefully hiding himself in the shadows, he knelt down and let his eyes drink in the pure beauty of the woman he loved without her knowing he was even there. Now that they shared a room together, he rarely ever got a chance like this to just watch her without her being self conscious about his gaze, and he was not going to waste the gift of this precious opportunity.

~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sano was drunk again. He had not been drunk since that night he could not remember being drunk, but tonight he just had not seemed to be able to stop himself from downing one sake\' after another after another. It was just lucky for him he was at home and not at the bar.

Of course, there was no fun in getting drunk at home, or alone for that matter. For one thing, there was no one to play with. The Kitsune was long gone having gone home hours ago. He still could not believe that she was actually ‘helping\' him look for this green-eyed brawd he could not remember being with, but he was awfully glad she was. At least this way, she knew exactly where he was (with her), who he was with (with her), and what he was doing. That way, he did not get into any more trouble. He was sick of being in trouble with the Kitsune anyway. Damn sick of it.

It had been so long since he had gotten anything from her except scathing anger, that Sano had almost forgotten what it felt like to hold her and kiss her, but the day she had come looking for him had changed that... a little. At least she was letting him hold her again. That was something considering just how mad and upset Megumi had been over this whole fiasco, but then again, he supposed she had every right to be considering what Tae had told her. Megumi had finally broken down and told Sano everything the pretty restaurant owner had told her about seeing him with the green-eyed woman in the ‘Fisher\'s Sea\' that night, and Sano had gotten extremely angry over the whole story.

\"How in the hell could she be sure of what she saw if she only looked in for a second or
two?\" The anger in his voice and the thunderous scowl on his face had made Megumi back away from his several steps afraid he may actually explode or something.

\"I-I do not know, Sano, but that is what she said she saw.\"

\"Kuso! For all I know, the stupid brawd was so drunk she tripped over her own damn feet and ‘fell\' into my lap and I caught her so she wouldn\'t end up on the floor.\"

\"Oh...\" Megumi\'s face had flamed bright red as she considered the possibility of that simple explaination and the fact that it fit perfectly with the vision of both Sano and the green-eyed woman laughing and merrily fondling each other... If she had stumbled and falintointo his lab, there was no telling where hands and other things were going to land, and if they were both drunk, well then, of course there was going to be a lot of laughing and the like going on. After all, Sano was almost always a happy drunk. The words that Kenshin had spoken to her earlier that day started making more and more sense and Megumi began to feel more and more guilty about the way she had been treating Sanosuke, but she still did not know what to do with her feelings of jealously and uncertainty concerning the green-eyed woman. She still wanted to know what was going on, and what had happened for herself.

So, she had left Sano on his own again and went looking for Tae, and Sano had gotten
drunk. Now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock being his ever growing ache for the one thing she had never let him have and he knew she probably never would, and the hard place being the swelling erection that was beginning to give him some cause for discomfort. God, but he wanted her, and he wanted her bad. Just thinking about her was making him hard and that was saying a lot considering how drunk he was.

\"Damn you, Megumi,\" He muttered thickly as he shifted on his futon trying to accommodate the large erection suddenly taking up so much room in his pants. \"Why are you doing this to me? I know I can\'t have you... so why is this happening now?\" Sano groaned and tried to think of something else, but all he could see was Megumi\'s deep red lips, the soft swell of her breasts beneath her kimono, the gentle curve of her buttocks as they swayed to and fro when she walked, the delicate fine boned feet... \"Ahhhhhhhhh Kuso!\" He swore viciously and threw himself up off the futon and stormed across the room in sexually frustrated fury. He was no school boy, he knew what was hiding beneath the silk of her gown, he could smell the muskiness of her sometimes, and the thoughts of those soft sweet petals were slowly driving him insane.

Leaning the heated skin of his sweaty forehead against the coolness of the damp wall, Sano berated himself for his own physical and emotional weaknesses when it came to the beautiful fox. Why could he not be more like Kenshin when it came to women and self control? He would just about bet that the solemn red-haired samurai had never felt like this before.

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

It felt good letting the heat of the water soak into her tired stiff body relaxing her aching muscles, and Kaoru let herself hum a soft little tune as she ran the sponge up and down one leg and then the other. It had been a long time since she had allowed herself to luxuriate in a long hot bath. Kenshin was constantly trying to get her to let him heat one up for her so she could just lay in the water and relax, but she felt like it was such a waste of time when there were so many things to do around the Dojo these days.

The number of her students had begun to increase ever since Yahiko had started working some part time hours at the Akabeko because he was constantly telling people what a good sensei she was and how the Kamiya Kassin Ryuu was a way to fight without killing. Now it seemed she was getting busier by the day with more and more new students, and today had been particularly grueling as she led three separate classes through their kata\'s. Her shoulders and back had been aching so badly that she had finally given in to the impulse and heated herself up a hot steaming bath, and then settled into it to soothe her abused aching muscles.

She was so engrossed in the magnificent comfort of the steaming water that she did not notice the door when it opened, nor did she perceive the shadowy figure as it slipped though and turned to kneel on the floor in the dim corner. She did not even ‘feel\' tarm arm loving caress of the deep purple gaze as it slid longingly over her creamy flesh as she languidly sponged first one extremity, and then another. Lost in her own world, Kaoru absently hummed to herself and continued to pamper her sore body oblivious to the adoring eyes that watched her.

Kenshin watched his lover in pure pleasure as she languidly bathed herself and gloried in the vision of perfect beauty that she was. That he wanted her was no doubt as his manhood hardened and pressed against the thinness of his white hakama with a need to possess her, but Kenshin remained unmoving where he was and satisfied himself with simply watching her for the time being. She was an Angel. So perfect, so pure, so innocent. He watched for what seemed a grateful eternity until he suddenly realized she had fallen asleep.

Kaoru had fallen asleep in the tub with her head leaning back over the sculpted edge as it supported her fragile neck and kept her from sliding down into the still steaming water. With a stealth borne from long years of stalking the streets of Kyoto, Kenshin crept up to the side of the large bathtub and knelt beside it so he could look into her face and down at her body through the rippling water. A gentle smile curved his mouth as he gazed upon his most precious possession in the world, and he tenderly reached a hand out and tucked a stray strand of damp black hair behind her left ear. \"So beautiful...\" He whispered as he trailed his knuckles down the moist flesh of her cheek. \"So fair and untainted... my beautiful Kaoru, my beautiful Angel... how much I love you.\"

Softly his thumb traced the outline of her full, lower lip and his eyes became a dark midnight blue as they filled with hunger and desire for her. \"Saiai,\" He breathed in a husky strained voice as he leaned back and quickly removed his clothing before quietly stepping into the tub with her.

Gently he parted her knees beneath the water and then lifted them around his waist as he slid the strength of his legs beside and behind her. Then, bending his knees, Kenshin leaned forward and started to run the tip of his tongue along the edges of her moist motionless lips even as his hands slid along her shapely thighs until they were beneath her cupping her buttocks and lifting her up into his lap.

A little moan escaped her as the tingling sensations of desire began to pull her senses to the surface of awareness, and as her mouth opened that small bit, Kenshin gently slid the tip of his tongue inside and then pressed his lips softly against hers in a tender passionate kiss. \"Mmmmmm,\" Another moan rose achingly from her throat as awareness came to her in full, and Kaoru opened her mouth beneath Kenshin\'s gently probing lips letting the entire length of his tongue invade the moist hollow. A low satisfied groan of pleasure rose up from him as he pulled her body closer and settled her more intimately against the hard rigidness of his swollen desire pulling a long whimpering cry from her in response to that much wanted contact. Her arms rose and wrapped themselves tightly around his neck as she bore down against the throbbing erection between her moist thighs feeling it flex and push up against her in obvious eagerness to be inside.

\"Oh Kenshin,\" She breathed raggedly against his mouth then pulled back to look into his beloved face and smile. \"Where have you been?\" She asked quietly as she leaned forward and licked his smiling mouth. \"I missed you.\"

\"You did?\" A dark brown eyebrow raised in surprise as he gazed lovingly at her beautiful face. \"Hmmmmm, I did not see any sign of you missing me while I watched you bathing, Koishii. You seemed very content to be right here without me, that you did.\"

\"You were w-watching me?\" She squeaked as an embarrassed flush rose to stain her
already rosey cheeks. \"When? Where? For how long?\"

\"I was kneeling in the corner, Saiai.\" He chuckled and rubbed his nose against hers just before he burrowed his way into her neck. \"And I watched long enough to see you fall asleep, that I did... and I enjoyed it very much.\"

\"Kenshin... shame on you.\" Kaoru was trying to sound reproachful, but was having
difficulties as shivers of delight coursed though her body caused by Kenshin\'s lips and teeth as he kissed and nibbled along the hollow of her throat. \"You know it isn\'t very n-nice to sneak up on people... OoooOooo.... that f-feeels so good.\" Her hands were digging their way into his thick hair and pulling him in closer to her as his kisses led him around the front of her throat and onto the other side. \"B-but you still d-didn\'t tell me where you\'ve b-been.\"

\"Investigating, Saiai.\" Was his muffled reply as his hands squeezed her butt again bringing a coarse shudder to her slender frame. \"Looking for more leads on Sano\'s green-eyed girl.\"

\"Ooh... did you f-find out anyth-thing else?\"

\"Ummhumm...\" He moved one hand up her back and cupped the back of her head as he leaned her away from him so he could see her breasts. \"She has been seen in the upper east-side with a blonde man.\"

\"A-a b-blonde man...\" Kaoru stuttered as Kenshin closed his mouth over the taut nipple of her right breast and pulled it deeply into his mouth and began sucking on it.

\"Ummhumm...\"

\"Ohhh... is th-that a-all?\" She was arching her back and grinding her pelvis down against his hard shaft telling him she wanted him inside of her, but he ignored the invitation and continued to suckle her breast.

\"Hai,\" He replied as he switched to the opposite nipple, pulling it into the heated haven of his mouth and began nipping it with his sharp white teeth. \"That, and they have been seen at the ‘Flying Dragon\'.\"

\"The ‘Fly-ing Dr-ag-on\'?\" Kaoru was losing her rational capacity to speak and Kenshin
enjoyed an inner smile of pure egotistical male pride as he felt her turning to liquid in his arms.

\"Hai, it is a gambling house in the richer part of Tokyo\'s east-side, Saiai.\"

\"Oh... I... Ken... we should...\"

\"Saiai?\" He lifted her back up to him and licked her lips open.

\"Nani?\" She breathed back heavily as she looked into his dark passion filled eyes.

\"Hush.\" And he covered her trembling mouth with his and silenced any further conversation from the sexy chatterbox he held in his arms. Then just as deliberately, Kenshin lifted Kaoru up and guided his hardness into her hungry cavern. A raspy whimper followed by a violent shudder greeted his actions and he roughly gripped her butt grinding her down against him as he filled her with his complete length. \"Mmmmmm.\" He murmured against her mouth. \"I always did want to make love to you in the bathtub, Kaoru.\"

\"Y-you have?\"

\"That I have, Saiai, that I have.\" And he proceeded to show her just how much he had
thought about that particular activity and for how long.

It was the longest, if not the most pleasurable bath Kaoru had ever taken, and she made Kenshin promise they would do it again. He willingly obliged.

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

\"I need to know exactly what you saw, Tae. Exactly.\" Megumi\'s voice had taken on a note of such whining entreaty that the other woman was beginning to feel like she was being persecuted by some evil child instead of questioned by a close friend.

\"I told you already, Miss Megumi. I told you everything I saw.\"

\"I know you did, but I want you to think back and try to remember everything exactly the way it was, not the way your eyes told you it was.\"

\"Nani, Miss Megumi? I don\'t think I understand you. I know perfectly well what my eyes saw, and they saw that little tart setting on Mr. Sargara\'s lap with her hand right in his... well, it was right there.\" Tae blushed furiously as she recalled just exactly where the green-eyed woman\'s hand had been on Sano\'s anatomy. \"And he had his arm wrapped tight around her waist and they were laughing it up like they were have a great time. It was terrible.\"

\"I understand all of that, Tae, but just exactly how long were you standing at the doorway when you saw this?\"

\"How long? What do you mean, how long?\" The woman looked totally pered bed by
Megumi\'s question. \"What does it matter how long I was there, I saw what I saw.\"

\"Just tell me how long you were standing in that doorway, please. It is very important that I know. Were you there watching them for a long time, or did you just happen to glance in and see them for a second or two?\" Megumi was getting frustrated with the seeming denseness of this woman, and if she was not careful, she may just haul off and hit her or something if she did not start to cooperate.

\"Well, let me see.\" Tae\'s face took on a thoughtful look as she tried to remember what she had been doing that night she had been witness to Sano\'s fall from grace. \"I was on my way to see my sick cousin, Suke... she lives way down in that nasty part of town. I never have been able to figure out why on earth she would want to live down there with all of the crime and prostitutes and..\"

\"Tae!\"

\"Oh dear...\" She giggled nervously. \"I\'m sorry, but I do go on sometimes... lets see, where was I?\" The thoughtful look was back for a moment, and then she turned to look at Megumi again. \"I suppose it was only for a second or two that I looked inside because I really hate that part of town. I am always getting approached by nasty lookin\' men and I\'m scared to death someone is going to try and rob me or worse, so I always walk very fast and keep my head down. I don\'t quite remember what it was that made me look up that night... maybe it was all the noise, or...\" Her brow wrinkled as she tried to remember, and then suddenly her face lit up. \"It was a scream... that\'s it. I heard a scream and looked up to see what it was. That is when I looked in the door of that bar and saw that woman in Mr. Sagara\'s lap.\"

\"You heard a scream and it made you look into the bar?\"

\"Yes, Ma\'am.\"

\"Was it a frightened scream, Tae?\"

\"Oh no. It was more one of those surprised type of screams, you know.\" Megumi nodded, and Tae continued. \"There was a lot of noise and laughing too. I guess it was some kind of a party maybe. I don\'t really know.\"

\"But you did not stop to see what was going on? You just kept on walking?\"

\"Yes, Ma\'am.\"

\"You only caught a glance of that woman in Sano\'s lap? You didn\'t see them doing
anything? And you didn\'t see how she got there or whether or not she stayed or got up and left?\"

\"Ummmm, no.\" Tae was starting to look shame faced as the gist of Megumi\'s strange
questions began to make sense to her confused mind. \"I just assumed that they...\"

\"You assumed that they were there together, didn\'t you?\"

\"Yes. I did.\" Pale brown eyes dropped in shame as Tae realized the full folly of her hasty assumption and the consequences it had had on her two friends lives and their relationship. \"I am sorry, Miss Megumi... I really thought that he was there with her. I really and truly did.\"

\"I know you did, Tae, but now you are not so sure are you?\" Megumi\'s voice dropped to a low sad tone that told Tae how much all of this had really hurt her friend.

\"No, I\'m not sure any more. I guess that woman could have tripped or stumbled or
something and fell into Mr. Sagara\'s lap... that would explain the scream and all of the laughing... wouldn\'t it?\"

\"Yes, I believe it would.\" The rustle of her pale blue kimono indicated that Megumi had
stood up and Tae shamefully raised her eyes to look at the sad young woman.

\"I-I do not know what to say, Miss Megumi. I\'m so sorry.\"

\"I know you are, Tae. I know you are.\" And with that Megumi quietly walked out of the
Akabecko and went looking for Sano.



After leaving the Akabecko, it did not take Megumi long to reach Sano\'s rooms since they were just up the street a block or so and the walking felt good to her tense aching muscles. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have been so bl Sa Sano was a big jerk sometimes when he went out drinking all night, but he had never given her any reason to believe that he would cheat on her, so why had she been so easily convinced that he had? Megumi shook her head in self reproach as she rounded the path that led to Sano\'s rooms.

\"I hope he is here,\" She muttered under her breath as she shivered in the cold damp air. \"I guess if he\'s not I\'ll just have to set and wait for him to come home.\" Reaching the door, she sharply rapped on the support pole and waited.

\"Who the hell could that be at this hour?\" Sano growled as he pushed himself away from the wall and stumbled toward the door. \"This had better be good or I\'m busting some heads.\" Reaching out with his big hand, he angrily yank the sho-ji open prepared to snarl his best at the imbecile who had the gall to come knocking on his door in the middle of the night, but instead found himself staring wide eyed and open mouthed at the very subject of all his grief.

\"Megumi?\" It seemed he was almost suddenly totally sober. \"Wh-what the hell are you doing here?\" He croaked through a too dry throat as surprised terror gripped him, and then his rational senses kicked in as a wave of angry disapproval washed over him. \"What\'s the matter with you, Kitsune? It\'s freezing out there? Are you trying to sick or something?\" With an angry curse he reached out and pulled her through the door and into the semi warmth of his room. \"You ought to know better that to be out traipsing around on a night like this, you\'re a doctor for Kami\'s sake. You\'re supposed to be smarter than this. I\'m the dumb one... remember?\"

\"Shut-up, Sanosuke.\" That was all she had to say when he was done with his scathing
reprimand of her foolish actions as she walked farther into the room and sat down on a pile of pillows. \"I\'m not in the mood to listen to you bitch at me, Ok? I\'m really not.\" She sounded tired aorn orn out, and Sano was suddenly more concerned about her than he was angry as he moved to set down beside her.

\"What\'s wrong?\" He asked as he drew his knees up to his chest and draped his hands over them. \"Why are you so down? What happened?\" A sideways glance at her told him that she wanted to tell him something important, but she was going to take her own sweet time to do it. So, he sat and waited as patiently as he could.

\"I just came from Tae\'s.\" Her voice was low and cold and it brought a shiver to Sano\'s skin as she spoke. \"We... we were talking.\"

\"Ahem... talking?\" He began to feel very uneasy.

\"Yes. Talking.\" She was not going to make this easy and he did not know how to approach her, so he decided to keep with the short and simple.

\"Was it a good talk?\"

\"No, not really.\"

\"That is too bad. I thought you liked talking to Tae.\"

\"Usually I do, but I didn\'t tonight.\"

\"Oh.... ummm, why not? What happened that made it bad?\"

\"We were talking about you.\"

\"Oh.\" A huge ball of anxiety dropped into the pit of his stomach as he considered what he should say next. \"I see. Not such a great subject I take it.\"

\"Not really.\" The blizzard was on.

\"Why not?\" This was getting ridiculous. Sano felt like he was trying to pull teeth out of a crocodile trying to get information out of her.

\"The subject matter was rather... distastful.\"

\"I gathered that, Kitsune.\" He sighed heavily and stretched out his legs, and clasping his hands over his stomach, leaned all the way back against the wall. \"You must have been talking about ‘that night\'. Am I right?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"So, what about it?\" ‘I guess this is where I get buried for life.\' He thought to himself as he prepared for the onslaught of condemning words and accusations to come, but they did not. Instead, Megumi began to quietly cry.

\"I wanted to know exactly what she saw that night.\" She spoke in a broken voice riddled with sorrow and regret which caused Sano to set back up and stare at her pale profile. \"I kept asking her to try and remember exactly what she saw, and she kept saying she saw what she saw, and I was getting so angry with her. She was being so damn dense about the whole thing, you know, and I just couldn\'t seem to get her to understand what I was getting at.\"

\"What were you getting at, Kitsune?\" Sano reached out with one of his big hands and
tenderly wiped away some of the wetness from her face as he tried to understand what would make this stubborn, spoiled woman cry like this.

\"I wanted to know how long she had watched you and that woman together inside the bar. I wanted to know how much time she spent watching you hold her while she... fondled you and the two of you laughed and carried on, and I wanted to know how sure she was that you were there together.\"

\"I see...\" His voice trailed off and he gently put an arm around her trembling shoulders and tugged her over against his side. \"And what did she tell you?\"

\"It took her a little while to sort it all out in her mind, but once she did, she started
remembering all sorts of things.\"

\"Like what?\" Sano carefully laid his cheek against the top of Megumi\'s head and then
began to slowly rock her back and forth in a tender comforting rhythm as he gently caressed her shoulder with the hand that held her to him.

\"Things like hearing a scream and lots of laughter right before she looked in through the door, and the fact that she only glanced through the door but never stopped and watched what happened. She never stopped and watched what happened... she just kept right on walking... walking right past to go see her sick cousin who lives down there somewhere. She always walks fast with her head down because she is afraid someone will try to rob her or something... so when she heard the scream it made her jump and look for a second... that was when she saw you and that woman... just for a second... a second... now, she is not so sure what she saw is what she thinks she saw.\"

\"What does she think she saw now?\" Sano could not believe what he was hearing because it was starting to jog a faint memory far back inside of his foggy brain. A memory of a wildly dancing couple... a spilled drink... a flurry of yellow and pink... and...

\"She is thinking maybe the woman could have stumbled or tripped and fell into your lap and she just happened to catch the precise moment it happened because of the scream startling her the way it did. It all makes more sense that the other story she told... a strange woman accidentally falls into your lap... hands end up in odd places, everyone is so drunk that everything is funny so no one considers any harm done and the evening continues on uninterrupted. That\'s why you never had a guilty conscience, Sano. You didn\'t do anything. It was all an accident... just a funny, drunk accident.\"

\"Now that you mention it...\" He mumbled against her hair. \"I do sort of remember
something about a big party and lots of dancing going on around the dance floor... something about a spilled drink on somebody\'s silk shirt, lots of noise, and a big whirlwind of yellow and pink, but other than that... it\'s pretty much a bust.\"

\"You remember?\" She pulled away and looked into his bland features.

\"Not really... just flashes of stuff coming through as you were talking about it. Sort of
shaking the cherry tree I guess.\" A goofy smile crossed his face as he shrugged and reached out with his free hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. \"You never know what\'s gonna fall out when you do that.\"

\"Sano.\" Megumi could not help the giggle that bubbled over her lips or the little shiver of delight that passed through her when his fingers slid across her cheek. \"It sounds like a little bit more than just a few flashes to me...\" She let her hand reach up and cover his as she pressed her cheek into his palm and rubbed her soft skin against his calloused fleshed. \"It sounds like you are starting to remember what happened.\"

\"Maybe...\" His voice dropped to a husky drawl as he watched in rapt fascination while she continued to rub up against his hand. \"But then again, maybe it is just flashes from a brain that was way too drunk to remember any more than that... Megumi?\"

\"Hummm?\" Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be enjoying the feel of him against her soft cheek immensely.

\"Ummmm... Honey, are you going to keep doing that?\" There was a slight break in his
voice as he asked her that dangerous question.

\"Doing what, Koishii?\" She asked back as she opened her dark brown eyes and gazed
warmly at his confused face.

\"That.\" He motioned toward her caressing of her face with his hand as he swallowed hard in his throat. \"Are you going to keep doing THAT?\"

\"I don\'t know... do you want me to stop?\" She raised her face out of his palm and looked at him in confusion and wonder as she tried to understand the reason why he would ask her such a strange question.

\"No... I really don\'t want you to stop, but Kitsune... Honey... I don\'t know how much more restraint I have left where you\'re concerned, and if you keep that up, I might... well, I could... Ahh shit!\" He swore and looked away from her in embarrassment as he found he could not come right out and tell her he wanted to make love to her, and how difficult it was becoming not to.

\"Sano?\" Her hand gently touched his shoulder and he flinched in response. Quickly she pulled back unsure of what to make of his strange behaviors and actions. \"Did I do something wrong? Sano?\" The level of anxiety in her voice was rising and Sano knew he was going to have to tell her something before she started to jump to her own conclusions. If she did that, it would only lead to more confusion and heart ache for both of them because she did not understand what was going on at the moment.

\"No, Megumi... you didn\'t do anything wrong... It\'s just... it\'s just right now I\'m having a
real hard time doing the right thing, you know?\"

\"No, I don\'t know. I don\'t have any idea what you\'re talking about.\"

\"Kuso!\" He swore under his breath and turned around to face her again. She was so damn beautiful that it was a tremendous effort then not to reach out and take her in his arms and kiss her until she turned to putty in his arms. Sano gritted his teeth and clenched his fists trying to maintain his control, and then tried to explain things to his sweet innocent Kitsune.

\"I want you, Megumi.\" He bit out sharply and heard her quick intake of breath at his
bluntness. \"I know that is a real unromantic and ungentlemanly way to put it, but I\'ve been dancing around the bush with you for weeks now, and I am almost at the end of my rope... You are all I can think about anymore... I even dream about you at night. I wake up searching my bed for you, but you aren\'t there, and I feel like tearing the sheets to shreds because you\'re not.\" His dark brown eyes glittered fiercely as he gazed into her shocked pale face. \"What is wrong, Kitsune? Don\'t you think I feel things? Don\'t you think that just because you tell me to wait I don\'t feel frustrated because I still want you so much I burn? Well, I do... I burn and ache for you all the time now it seems. I want to make love to you... I want to kiss and taste every beautiful inch of you... but I hardly dare even touch you because I am so damned scared of losing you. So, you better get out of here, all right... get out of here before I can\'t stop myself anymore.\" In one vicious movement he threw himself to his feet and walked across the room where he stopped and jammed his hands into the pockets of his pants. \"Get out, Megumi... Get out while I can still let you go...\"

The silence in the room was deafening as it stretched out between the two of them, and suddenly Sano felt the presence of another human being standing directly behind him. Before he could turn around, Megumi slipped both of her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly pressing her cheek hard against the stiffness of his back. Sano could feel her trembling against him, and his heart began to ache with the need to hold her, to comfort her, to reassure her that everything was going to be all right but he never got the chance to speak or move. Her tearful pleading voice stopped him in his tracks and rooted him to the spot as he heard the pain filled words she spoke.

\"I-I don\'t want t-to leave, Sano... p-please don\'t make me leave.\"

\"You have too, Megumi... You can\'t trust me right now... Don\'t you understand that? I
can\'t trust myself.\"

\"I\'m t-tired of being a-alone without you... It h-hurts.\"

\"I know it does, Kitsune. I hurt too, but you can\'t stay tonight... you can\'t stay.\"

\"Sano...\"

\"NO! Now you have to go.\" His voice cracked with the emotion that was raging inside of
him as he battled with the need to comfort her and the knowledge that if he touched her he would make her his whether she was willing or not, and he could not let that happen. Not to his Megumi.

\"Look at me, Sano.\" She sobbed into his back. \"Look at my face and tell me to leave, and then I will go.\"

\"Oh God... Megumi, don\'t do this to me, Kitsune... please, don\'t do this. If I look at you or touch you I won\'t be able to let you go... don\'t you get it? I want you so much, I\'ll take you whether you give yourself to me or not... and I will not rape you... I will not. Now get the hell out of here while I can still let you go.\"

\"S-sano...\" Slowly her arms loosened their hold around his waist and she pulled away. A deep groan of anguish rose from him as she moved away, and Megumi could feel the tears of her own pain pouring down her face. ‘Why?\' She cried to herself. ‘Why am I so afraid of this? Why can\'t I do this? What is wrong with me?\' Shivering with a different kind of cold, she quietly opened the sho-ji and slipped out closing it behind her.

It had started to rain again, and Megumi stood beneath the cold drisle letting it soak into the thickness of her dark hair. Despair descended like a dark cloud to settle around her heart, and she realized that she had never felt so alone in all of her life. Behind her, on the other side of the door, was the man she loved with all her heart, and she had just walked away from his when all she had wanted to do was stay, but she knew if she stayed, she would end up in his bed. Was that so terrible a thought? Megumi shivered again, but not with the cold... a deep ache had started down low between her thighs, and even her innocent mind understood what that meant. She wanted Sano... she wanted him almost as much as he wanted her and had done so for a very long time she was just so afraid of the unknown. The pain... the open nakedness... the vulnerability... But was this terrible despair the trade off to walking away from the promise of intimacy that he represented?

Megumi turned around and walked back inside of Sano\'s room, closing the sho-ji behind her.


I hope you enjoyed... I enjoyed writing it... which is a new thing for this fiction. Please read and review. Give me a few thoughts on how it could all come togother and end up happy for everyone. I need to wrap it up because I have a great new idea for a rockin\' romp of a new story, but I can\'t start it until this one is finished.