Concessions

DISCLAIMER: This is a fanfic. I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or its characters.

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The Wharves

The autumn evening was fading into night, draping the inky sky like a blanket studded with stars. A full moon peeked from behind dark clouds while a gentle breeze began to blow, cooling the earth and making the leaves whisper as they swayed with the dancing wind.

David stepped down from the coach and looked around him curiously. He was in a seedy part of the harbor, near the city\'s poorer districts where abandoned warehouses were plentiful. It was a place familiar to him and no wonder; he\'d been here before.

\"Maki-san?\" The driver asked, casting a nervous glance at his employer.

David glanced at him distractedly. Then, noticing the anxiety in the older man, he gave him a reassuring smile that belied the apprehension he also felt. \"Wait here, Foku-san. This will only be short.\"

The note that he received at lunch earlier was brief but its meaning was explicit. Meeting at the wharf. Important matters to discuss. There was no sign anywhere in the note to indicate who sent it but the mention of the wharf was enough clue.

Yazaki Gi.

David had met him only a few times before, back when the grip of opium was tight on him. He wondered now what he wanted from him and he could not help but feel afraid.

Yazaki Gi was one of the shady characters who helped run a fairly huge conglomerate with ties in the goverment and the black market. The fact that he was backed by a Hong Kong underground network made him even more untouchable so that even the yakuza were hesitant to interfere with his business. Several government officials were at his beck and call and in return, he supplied them with weapons and armaments required to strengthen Japan\'s military. It was said that he owned a string of geisha and gambling houses frequented by several of Tokyo\'s powerful and the elite.

He also ran an opium business.

Turning around, David made his way towards the ancient warehouse where he quickly descended through a squarish hole in the floor, leading to an underground basement. The cold, dank tunnel was steeped in moisture and the only light provided him was a single torch mounted on one side of the wall, casting eerie shadows as he moved forward.

Sitting quietly at the engawa, Megumi listened vainly to the sounds of the night come alive, wanting to regain some sort of balance to the ruckus of emotions that assailed her ever since what happened that afternoon...

\'There\'s something between us...\'

Even now, his words mocked her. She could not understand what kind of game he was playing. To say those things to her and then to mock her afterwards. Why did he choose to torment her like this? And why was she so affected?

Perhaps there was some truth to his words after all.

He was like a disease. He preyed on her on her moments of weakness, seeking for a chip in the wall that she erected around herself. And when the wall of reserve began to give way, he used her best weapon against her, her wit which she carefully honed in order to protect herself. He was her sparring match. And sometimes, he beat her to it.

He pounced on her unawares. She did not know exactly when it started but he managed to carve a niche for himself in her so that when he left, she felt that a part of her was hollowed out. It was a different kind of feeling. It was different from what she felt for the gentle rurouni, whom she loved even knowing that he could not return her feelings. So she blamed it on loneliness, knowing that apart from the Kenshin-gumi, she was truly alone.

But then he came back, throwing her world upside down. And then, he hurt her. The mere sight of him hurt her. Sometimes, it was a dull kind of pain, like a weight that threatened to make her heart cave in. Other times, the pain swam to the surface and it became too much so that she was forced to retaliate, seeking to inflict the same amount of pain.

And so they hurt each other. But there were moments, moments like this, when she wondered what it would be like if they stopped fighting, if she stopped insulting him and he stopped mocking her. Would things ever change? The prospect scared her more than she cared to admit.

And his words rose, unbidden...

\'Megitsune, you\'ll have to kiss better than that if you want to keep your David-san.\'

Mou!

In her arms, she felt Kenji fidget, distracting her from her troubling thoughts and her sudden annoyance. She touched her chin to the top of his head to reassure him, breathing in his scent, the clean baby smell of him making her smile gently.

\"Men are strange creatures, ne, Kenji-chan?\" She cooed softly into his ear.

The child looked at her with serious blue-violet eyes as though assessing the truth of her statement before tossing his head fiercely, sending his red mop of hair flying wildly. Two tiny hands reached up to pinch her cheeks, painfully at that, causing her eyes to tear up a bit. Then satisfied, Kenji gave her another serious look before he sat back down on her lap.

Megumi chuckled even as she felt her eyes burn as the image he presented reminded her too much of another red-haired man whose face he shared. She sighed. Loving you was safe at least. Resting her chin again on his head, she released a soft breath into the still night air.

When he came home that evening, he found out that the Shinomoris had left, rather unexpectedly. All that Misao told Tsubame was that Okina wanted them back at the Aoi-ya. She did not seem pleased when she relayed the information and so Tsubame supposed that the couple had a little misunderstanding that needed to be resolved. She did not try to stop them and their abrupt departure contributed to the sudden quiet that came over the dojo.

Yahiko sensed that something was wrong though and it went deeper than the Shinomoris\' leaving. Megumi\'s behavior was unlike her. If he remembered correctly, she was not the type to wallow in depression and spend the day moping around the house. That was Kaoru\'s job. So something must have happened to cause this sudden change.

\"What happened here anyway?\"

Tsubame merely shook her head at him, indicating that it was not their place to ask.

The look in her soft brown eyes, even though she did not say anything, made Yahiko feel properly chastised. Tsubame had that effect on him. But then he glanced once more at the seated form of Megumi at the engawa, holding a strangely placid Kenji in her lap.

The boy was behaving himself tonight, perhaps sensing that the hand that cradled him was troubled. He watched as she lowered her head to rest it against the mop of red hair and closed her eyes. Kenji did not move to protest and for a long moment, the two of them sat silently together, undisturbed.

Looking at them, the young man felt something heavy drag at him, remembering a poignant scene of another black-haired woman holding the red-haired child in her arms as she stared in the distance. Her dark blue eyes were clouded and he wondered briefly if Megumi\'s were too. Was she waiting for someone, too?

But before he could surmise further on that intriguing concept, he felt warm hands encircle his own. He looked up to find the gentle face of his wife, smiling softly.

\"It will be all right, Yahiko-chan,\" she told him, using that old nickname which he used to detest but which had now become a term of endearment between them.

Yahiko sighed, feeling some of the weight lift. Tsubame always knew just what to say to placate him. One word from her, one whisper, one touch of her hand. That was all it took. Still, he felt concern wash over him when he looked at Megumi.

\"It\'s just that I\'ve never seen her so... \" Here, he paused, as though unsure \"...forlorn,\" he finished.

Then, his mind clicked and his face became an expression of annoyance.

Baka toriatama! I\'m going to kill that idiot!

Unaware of what he was thinking, Tsubame only followed his gaze to the engawa, quietly perusing the onna-sensei\'s turned back. She noticed the squared shoulders of the older woman, giving her a determined look even though her head was bowed in a manner that spoke of humility and sadness.

She returned her attention to her husband and said to him softly, \"Whatever is troubling her, Megumi-sensei is one of strong will.\"