Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Chronicle of a Wedding ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Hello! Here's the second chapter, sorry for the delay... Thank you to all of you who took the time to read this fanfic.

Thank you very much to Maria Tolentino-Goldstein for beta-reading my fanfiction.

"..." dialogue

'...' thoughts

<<...>> telephone conversation

888 separating scenes

ooooooo flashbacks

Glossary (I know they're well known, but...):

-Megitsune: it's Sanosuke's nickname for Megumi. It's a mixture of Megumi and Kitsune, an spirit which took the appearance of a human being, usually of a woman, to trick humans. This spirit used to be a fox in its true form).

-Tori Atama: Rooster Head, it's Sano's nickname. Several characters call him that.

Before I forget... I'm not going to use Japanese suffixes or other expressions used in the series/manga (sessha, de gozaru, Ken-san...), I'm not used to them as I've never watched/read the original ones.

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro, I just borrow his characters to free all my crazy ideas.

CHRONICLE OF A WEDDING

Chapter 2

Sanosuke woke up with a start as the phone on the bedside table started to ring. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore it, eventually it would stop. But when it did not, he groaned and groped for it until he found the receiver at the twelfth tone.

"Yeah...?" he mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow.

<<Sano? Are you still sleeping?>>

"Oh, it's you, Kenshin." He opened an eye and looked at the alarm clock. "Did Jou-chan kick you out of the bed or something? It's only seven fifteen in the morning... You only have to apologize for whatever you did wrong last night and she'll be more than happy to-"

<<My private life is none of your business. You told me to call you early today. If you don't remember, you're getting married today.>>

All trace of drowsiness disappeared with his friend's statement. It was true that the night before, after his bachelor party he had asked Kenshin to do whatever he needed to drag him off the sheets. The last thing he wanted was to be late for his own wedding. Megumi would be mad at him forever.

"Thanks, Kenshin. Look, I didn't want to-"

<<It's okay, Sano. Now start getting ready or you won't make it on time. See you later.>>

"Bye."

He hung up and with some effort got up, sitting on the bed. Sanosuke was very grateful for having a close friend like Kenshin, though sometimes the redhead's timing was the worst thing in the world, as was on that day. He only had needed ten more minutes of sleep and his subconscious would have finished showing him a very detailed version of his wedding night. Too bad that Kenshin had called when things were getting steamy. He grinned wickedly as some scenes replayed in his mind quite vividly, but when he felt a soft pressure in his lower belly and the tingles of excitement running through his body, he shook his head and stood up, walking to the bathroom. It was no use to let his imagination free when he still had a long day ahead until he could have the real Megumi in his arms. His perverted side tried to argue his decision but his reason won at the end. He would be in great trouble if he was not ready when his family arrived to fetch him.

'It would make a great excuse,' he thought ironically.

888

His muscles rippled when the cold water touched his skin. Like any other man in the world, he had had a fair amount of fantasies with the woman he loved. However, they had been just that. Even though they had been going out for almost two years, he still could not tell why he had not given in to his impulses and made Megumi his. He had not had qualms about it with the girls who came before her, some being just one-night stands and others more serious. Maybe it had been the idea of his fiancée's father and brothers going after him, demanding explanations of why their little girl had not slept at home, or just the fact that she was special and he did not want to treat her like any other woman. Kenshin had told him once, short after he started his relationship with her that she was not one to take lightly. If he made a false move, there would be no second chance.

He turned on the tap for the hot water and relaxed. Not in a thousand years would he have thought that he would end up marrying that obnoxious girl who had answered with a smart reply to every single sentence he had spoken in their first meeting, only to end up forgotten by her seconds later when she had noticed Kenshin beside him. A small smile drew in his lips. If Megumi were there, she would have argued that he was being as scatterbrained as always, that that had not been the first time they had seen each other. She would have been right, since he was not good at remembering dates and things - he had forgotten their anniversary and had called her three days after her birthday - but that day at the seafront was deeply engraved on his mind. She had made a great impact on him, being the only female who had not shied away when their gazes had met. He even could tell she wore a white summer dress printed with purple flowers, white sandals and her long hair tied up in a braid. However, what was far more important for him was the moment their weird relation had started, their first conversation.

ooooooo

He never liked hospitals. Their smell, their whiteness, the way the people who worked there talked to their patients, their voices dripping with sweetness and kindness while their eyes betrayed their exhaustion and boredom from being there dealing with sick people. That was why, when Kaoru, who had arrived earlier than Kenshin for the dinner they were having at his house, had suggested she should take him to casualty so they could treat his hand properly, he had locked himself in the bathroom. He had been stupid enough to punch the mirror, which now reflected his face like a mosaic, bathed in blood, and he was not going to be an idiot once again by going to that nasty place.

Only three people in the world knew the reason why he hated hospitals, and one of them was being greeted at the door by Kaoru. A few seconds later that same person knocked, and he, who was sitting on the floor with his arms on his knees and the forehead resting on them, cringed.

"Go away, I'm not going there, Kenshin, and you're not going to make me."

"I just want to see that injury, Sano. Maybe we can treat it here, at home."

Kaoru opened her mouth to protest but her boyfriend put a finger on his lips asking for her silence. After a few seconds, they heard the click of the bolt and the red-haired man entered the bathroom, closing the door after him.

The anxious girl stood in the corridor, confused at what she had witnessed. She strained, trying to listen to the conversation in an attempt to understand the situation, but she only heard their muffled voices. After a long fifteen minutes, they went out and she felt relieved when Kenshin asked her to drive them to the hospital.

The trip was done in a tense silence, so thick it could be cut with a knife. Occasionally, Kaoru side-glanced at Sanosuke, who was in the passenger seat. He had his head on his hand looking out the window with an absent expression, then she would gaze at Kenshin through the mirror and receive a knowing look asking for her patience, as everything would be explained all in good time. Frustrated, she furrowed her brows and unconsciously stepped on the gas pedal harder. She hated being left out of her friends' problems, not being able to help in any way.

They arrived at the hospital and entered through the casualty door, Sanosuke dragging his feet behind them. The waiting room was almost empty and soon he was led to what the nurse had called the suture room, sitting there for less than a minute before hearing the door being opened.

"Good evening, Mr. Sagara, I'm doctor Takani."

He lifted his head from his hands to find maroon eyes watching him with a mixture of recognition and annoyance, and grinned. There, in the place he had expected the least, and weeks later after their encounter, he had met her again.

Megumi left the file on a piece of furniture and sat on the stool in front of him, putting on a pair of plastic gloves.

"Let me see your hand," she told him with a professional tone.

He extended it and she took it carefully, observing the cuts on his knuckles under the powerful light she had turned on.

"Gods, Tori Atama, what did you do to it?"

"Punched a mirror... Wait, what did you just call me?"

She smiled lightly leaving his hand on the auxiliary table and standing up to retrieve a suture kit.

"It's the first thing that comes to one's mind when seeing you and it does suit you, don't you agree?"

"Hey, it's not my fault my hair is all on end. It's been this way since I was born!"

She took a seat again and put the instruments from the kit on a tray.

"Really? And here I thought you were too lazy to comb it in the morning... You look like that type of guy, you know, carefree, cocky, lazy," she repeated the adjective to emphasize her opinion of him.

Sanosuke forgot his retort and gulped when he saw the display, and turned his head to the side, wanting to be anywhere but in that room. Megumi saw this and smiled, amused.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me you're afraid of a small needle..." He mumbled something she could not understand. "Sorry? I didn't hear you."

"I said I don't like hospitals!"

"And why is that?" she asked, curiosity taking the best of her.

"It's not your business. Now finish quickly so I can get out of here once and for all."

She was going to make a remark about how childish he was, but no words came out of her mouth. Something in his eyes had told her it was not a phobia he had not gotten over, but a fear deeply rooted inside him, and her idea of making him suffer for his behaviour the day they met - just a little as she was a doctor above all - was replaced by a guilty nagging at the back of her head and the wish to soothe his fears, as her father had taught her.

'Megumi, we not only have to treat physical wounds, but also take care of our patient's spirit. When they come to us, they're afraid, and we must do everything in our hands to keep the peace of their souls. It's the only way to ease both, the suffering of the body and the mind.'

Sometimes, the girl thought he did not need to become so philosophical to explain something, but she had to admit that he was always right. She was his doctor now and she had to forget the reasons why he irked her.

She took some gauze soaked in antiseptic and cleaned the skin of blood with feather touches, seeing his jaw tighten when she dabbed at the damaged area. Then, she brought a magnifying glass over his hand and watched through it for a moment.

"There are some pieces of glass in the cuts," she informed him, trying to sound friendly. "I have to take them out..."

He did not say anything so she took the tweezers and started to work. Some fragments were so small that it was easy to lose them from sight with each movement and sometimes she had to carefully separate the ligaments to reach them. After some minutes, she finished and took the needle and thread. Without a word she started to stitch the biggest wound with precise movements.

Sanosuke, who had tried to keep his composure up to that moment, side-glanced at her, taking in her serious expression, her focused eyes and her diligent fingers. He knew she was trying to make him feel comfortable and for once, a doctor looked sincere to him and he was grateful for it. Her pale skin glowed under the light framed by the black, silky curtain of her hair and her small, red lips were slightly parted in the middle. Without the defiant look and the I-know-it-all smile, she did not seem so annoying, she even was... beautiful. He furrowed, hearing his thoughts. Every time his brain said that adjective referring to a girl, his instincts kicked into action to charm her. However, in no way was he going to flirt with that... that Fox. He grinned inwardly upon coming up with a perfect name for her that would teach her to call him Tori Atama.

Her hands caught his attention again as she reached for the scissors to cut the thread. For a moment she considered if any of the other injuries needed to be closed, but she put everything down and took some bandages. She rolled them up and down while holding his hand with one of hers. A voice at the back of his head protested against the sticky, rough touch of the plastic glove on his skin, but he ignored it. She was finishing and that was all that mattered.

"It's done," she broke the silence putting a bit of plaster closing the dressing and both of them stood up. "Try not to pick things up with it, or to flex it too much. I'll give you a prescription for some antibiotics to prevent an infection." She took the jotter from her pocket and wrote something before tearing out the note and handing it to him. "Come back in a week to have the stitches removed, or before if something goes wrong."

"Are you going to treat me?"

Her eyes glinted and a smile slowly spread across her mouth while she turned off the lamp. The truce had ended.

"Why, do you want me to do it?"

Sanosuke looked her up and down and she caught his action when she turned.

"Maybe, if there isn't any pretty lady doctor around," he replied repeating his examination, this time of her front.

"Stop ogling me. Don't you have any shame? I'm your doctor," she reproached, frowning.

He put his sound hand in one of his pockets and clicked his tongue.

"What do you mean stop ogling you, Megitsune? You don't have anything to ogle!" he laughed lightly and turned towards the door.

'With that coat on, you mean,' remarked a little voice in his brain.

"What was that?" she said narrowing her eyes.

"It's a nice petname, don't you think?" he flashed her a smile mimicking her when she had called him Tori Atama.

They kept on bickering all the way to the waiting room, attracting more than one look from the people who passed them by. When they arrived, Kenshin and Kaoru got up from their seats and approached them. When Sanosuke tilted his head to them and saw the girl's sympathetic glance, he knew that he had told her everything.

'That makes four people... I hope nobody else will know...'

"Thank you for everything, doctor." He heard the polite redhead tell the woman beside him.

"It was nothing. Excuse me but..." There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "Are you Himura Kenshin?"

The question brought back his attention to the conversation and saw the puzzled looks in his friends before he nodded. A lovely, wide smile drew in Megumi's lips."

"Don't you remember me? I'm Takani Megumi, we were in the same class at high school."

His eyes shone in recognition and he grinned.

"Of course. I was thinking you were familiar but... I'm sorry, I'm pretty bad at recalling faces..."

"Don't worry, Kenshin, I know that..."

Sanosuke watched the suspicion appear in Kaoru's face when she heard the familiarity that woman used with her boyfriend.

"Excuse me, doctor Takani," a nurse appeared at the door interrupting their conversation. "Doctor Genzai needs your assistance."

"I'm going." She turned to the group. "Duty is calling... Please, Kenshin, write down your number, we can arrange to meet someday soon. Some of the group still keep in touch, like Yumi, Kamatari and Soujiro. They'll be very happy to see you again." She handed him a piece of paper she had been scribbling on and took his. "Here, have mine. I'll call you in a couple of days. Bye!"

And she disappeared in a blur of white and black. Still smiling, Kenshin put the note in his shirt pocket, unaware of the vein popping on Kaoru's head. The taller man sighed, knowing the trip back home would be really long.

ooooooo

Sanosuke got up from the bed, buttoned his black trousers and returned to the bathroom. That night his two friends had had the worst fight in the history of Japan. Well, the argument had consisted of Kaoru ranting about how absurd he was with the female doctor and Kenshin trying to convince her that Megumi was just an old classmate. They made up when the girl pushed him so hard that her boyfriend hit the wall, and with the impact a picture fell on his head. She had hurried to his side wailing that she had killed him and, soon after, they were in each other arms under the bored look of Sanosuke, who had witnessed the whole episode while sipping his beer.

He sighed, annoyed as he combed his hair which, seconds later, was standing up again, and at the third time he stopped trying. He bent forward slightly and looked at his reflection in the mirror before smiling. He knew he was ready for marriage despite some of his friends thoughts that it was too soon for him to tie the knot. He loved Megumi deeply and that was reason enough to do it. Then, he went back to the bedroom and put on a light blue shirt, eyeing warily the necktie that lay on the bed in front of him. He was about to take it when the entry phone buzzed and he cursed under his breath while he went to attend to it. His family had arrived.

TO BE CONTINUED...