Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Fates ❯ Sick as a Dog...er, Wolf ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1: Sick as a Dog…er, Wolf

*********

Disclaimer: To own Saitou and Sano…purr. But alas, it is not to be. So you can't sue me!

Warning: Cussing, angst, all kinds of different stuff.

*********

Saitou Hajime was…disturbed. The problem was that he had less than no idea why. He was a man of action, so normally when he had dilemma he would address it and get it over with. This time was very obviously different. He had had this nagging feeling in the back of his brain for almost a month and a half now, ever since he returned from Kyoto…probably before then, but he had been in too much pain to notice. He shivered at the memory, that was one moment in time he really didn't want to remember.

For the first few days, he chalked it up to having to go back to the same boring routine life he had been living since the end of the Revolution. At least when Shishio was alive there was some excitement, but now… Now there was this feeling that he was missing something deep and profound, or something big was about to happen that would alter the course of the rest of his life.

Maybe Tokio was finally going to go through with the divorce she had been threatening to. She did say she was starting to fall in love with a business man from Europe and wished to go there with him one day. Of course Saitou didn't protest, it wasn't like he was in love with her or some nonsense like that. That was the beauty of their marriage; a business arrangement that could be terminated at any given time. Did the possibility of a divorce really bother the former Wolf of Mibu? Highly unlikely…in fact, it would be one of the last things that would bother him. In all truth, it would probably thrill him to no end.

SO, WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH HIM?

That seemed to be the question that he sent out into the dark void every night as sleep seemed to evade him. It was a sort of ache deep within, a black hole in the frozen regions of his heart. It was something so powerful that he didn't have a name for it. He felt…helpless, lost. That thought caused him to snort disdainfully. Since when did Hajime Saitou feel helpless?

Now.

He jerked on his blanket as he turned on his futon. This was starting to become ridiculous. He needed sleep in the worst way. He had to work tomorrow and he hadn't been able to sleep for at least two weeks. Dark shadows had begun to form underneath the once sparkling golden eyes. Now those eyes had become tarnished and bloodshot, fatigue apparent to anyone who was brave enough to meet that somber stare.

His already pale skin had taken on an ashen appearance from his lack of appetite. The weight-loss was starting to become obvious. No one could have ever accused Hajime Saitou of being a large man, but now his police uniform just hung on him as if he was a paper doll. His thin, angular face had taken on a skeletal appearance, so much so that even his co-workers were even beginning to become worried. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Saitou was on a course of self-destruction, but unable to do anything about it.

What was missing?

********

Sigara Sanosuke whistled merrily as he walked down the street. It was a nice, sunny day with a moderate temperature, the perfect day to annoy Jo-chan and Kenshin. Heck, he would probably even make a visit to Fox Lady. He was in the highest of spirits, but had no clue as to why. All he knew is that today was going to be a great day…something significant was going to happen and his luck would change.

How did he know, you ask?

Hell, he didn't know. It was just this feeling that he got deep in the pit of his stomach. It was almost like fate was screaming: 'Sigara, today is your lucky day!' And who was he to deny fate? He closed his eyes to let the wonderful feeling of whatever it was to sink in. Obviously, not paying attention to where he was going, Sano walked right into something…or rather someone. The last person he ever thought he would see again…

"Don't you ever watch where you are going, ahou?" That voice, that face…

"Saitou! You're alive?" Sano just stood there, gaping in shock.

"You're getting very perceptive at your old age." The officer said disdainfully as he dusted off his uniform.

"Man, you look like shit." The younger man had never seen the former Shensin Gumi captain look so…dead. The man was a walking corpse.

"That was very respectively and eloquently put. Did your roaches teach you that?" Well, at least Saitou still had his award-winning personality.

"Same charming dickhead I see. Some things never change." Sano's words fell on deaf ears as Saitou suddenly felt very hot. The older man took off his uniform hat and began fanning himself with it. Sano noticed the gesture and looked quizzically at the man. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" Never before had the young man thought that he would be worried about the Wolf of Mibu, but with the way the man was acting, who couldn't be worried?

"Don't you think it is rather hot out here?" The look on Sano's face answered the question. "You are more of a moron than I thought. It is sweltering out here."

"I think you have lost your ever-loving mind. It's pretty comfortable, the wind is blowing, the sun is shinning...you get the picture." The former fighter for hire watched in some sort of awe-stricken horror as Saitou broke out into a sweat and his formerly pale face flushed an angry shade of red.

"Ahou, you are the one who has lost it. It's so hot." With that, Saitou shifted his weight to leave, only to stumble a couple of steps and fall face first to the ground, out cold.

"Saitou!" Sano dropped down and nudged the older man, hoping that this was some sick joke. "Damn," he muttered when there was no response. He rolled the man over and felt of his forehead, only to jerk his hand back. The man was absolutely burning up with fever. He picked up the damp, lifeless body and moved as fast as he could to Megumi's. Surely the Fox Lady knew what was wrong with the arrogant bastard.

*********

"Well?" Megumi looked up at the man across from her, worry written plainly on his face. She knew that Sano didn't count on much in life other than Kenshin's willingness to help people, Karou allowing him to freeload, and Saitou's unfailing ability to do…whatever it is he feels the need to do. So, Megumi assumed that seeing such a strong, stubborn man weakened to this point was a little disconcerting.

"Well for starters, he suffers greatly from exhaustion. When was the last time he had a decent night's rest?"

"How the hell should I know? Shit, I thought he was dead until an hour ago." Shock was evident in the young man's tone.

"Moving on, he is dehydrated, extremely malnourished, and severely underweight. All in all, he is starving to death, if the lack of sleep doesn't drive him crazy first. All this has taken a toll on his immune system and now he had contracted a nasty virus. It's going to take awhile for him to recover." The lady doctor sighed. How could anyone let themselves get into this kind of position? The man was simply too strong-willed to just let himself die like that.

"Thanks Megumi," Sano whispered softly.

"Oh don't thank me yet. You, sir, are going have to keep an eye on him." The young man's head jerked up quickly and he stared at the woman across from him in shock.

"You have to be kidding me. That is just crazy…me taking care of Saitou. Why in the name of Heaven and Hell would I do such a thing?" Megumi just looked at Sano like he was acting like a small child.

"Because, you idiot, he is knocking on death's door, and it is a condition of his doing. If you expect him to get better, you have to watch over him and make sure he is eating well, sleeping at least eight hours a night, and taking his medicine. His state is more fragile that it seems. He is going to need constant observation for the next week or so." Megumi stood to collect some herbal medicine.

"A week! What am I supposed to do with him for a week?"

"Try taking him back to his house, that would be the logical thing." Megumi threw leather pouch at Sano. "This is his medicine. Mix a spoonful in with a cup a tea twice a day. You can count that high can't you?"

"I don't even know where he lives!" Sano shouted, ignoring the blow to his ego.

"The simple thing to do is ask another police officer. I'm sure one of them is bound to know where the police captain resides. Have a good week Sano and come get me if anything unforeseeable happens." Realizing his was dismissed, the young man stuffed the pouch into his trouser pocket and picked up the less than light load of Saitou Hajime, praying that no one he knew would see him carrying the Shensin Gumi Captain like he cared about the man. Because he didn't…no really, he didn't.

********

After asking several police officers where Saitou lived, he finally found a young messenger boy that happened to know the man's place of residence. Sano was thankful that the house was in a remote part of town, especially since he was now digging in the man's trouser pocket for the door key. Why did everything about Saitou have to be so complicated? Didn't the man ever do anything simple and overt?

"Ah ha!" Sano cried out in triumph as he found the key. He adjusted the weight of his next-to-lifeless burden and unlocked the door. If he ever really tried to picture the inside of Saitou's house, he would have never envisioned the scene in front of him. It was so…tidy, elegant. He had never seen furniture quite like the type neatly placed around the room, and gods the books…everywhere. He walked down the hallway, trying to find the bedroom, and, when he did, he was struck speechless. The room was more spacious than he would have thought and in the middle of the room, instead of a futon, there was a large, European bed that just looked too comfortable. He walked over and laid the man down softly before straightening and stretching the kinks out of his back. Saitou was much heavier than he looked, even if he was losing too much weight.

"Nani?" The word was a weak whisper. Sano looked over at the policeman, surprised by how vulnerable and tired he looked. "Ahou? What are you doing in my house? Better yet, how did I get here?" Sano sat down on the edge of the bed and began to remove Saitou's shoes.

"You passed out on me in the middle of the street. I'm sure you didn't want me to leave you laying there. You're not exactly a popular guy, you know." After removing both shoes and socks, Sano carefully sat the shoes down in the floor, afraid that he would mess something up, and put the socks on a chair. "I took you to Megumi and she said that you were suffering from exhaustion, starvation, and had a virus of some sort. What's gotten into you? I would have never thought that you wouldn't take care of yourself you stupid head. Are you trying to kill yourself or something?"

"Would it matter to you if I did?" Saitou removed his gloves in an absent manner as he stared at the ceiling.

"Damn it Saitou! You are stubborn as hell! I took you to a doctor and carried you all the way back here. Doesn't that say something to you. We may not get along, but I don't wish you dead. And you call me a moron." Sano jerked the pristine white gloves from Saitou's hands and threw them on the same chair that housed the socks.

"If I wanted to kill myself I know half a dozen ways much more pleasant than starving myself." Saitou closed his tired eyes, somehow comforted by the presence of the former fighter for hire. "What the hell are you doing?" Saitou practically screeched as Sano began to unbutton his uniform jacket.

"You're clothes are wet with sweat. We have to get them off before you catch a chill and I have to put up with you longer than what I have to." After getting the jacket unbuttoned, the young man attempted to sit Saitou up and remove it, but the older man grabbed his hands to prevent such a gesture. "Damn it, don't be so difficult. Just take the flippin' shirt off."

"I'm sure you really don't want me to do that, ahou." Was Sano hearing things, or did the legendary Wolf of Mibu sound apprehensive?

"Shit! If you don't take off those damned clothes, I'll rip them off. This is for your own good, stubborn ass." At the younger man's threat, Saitou removed his jacket. When he started to pull his undershirt over his head, he heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh gods Saitou, is that what happened when you went back in?" Saitou hastily jerked the white shirt off to finish revealing the painful-looking scars that peppered his right side and part of his back. Though there were not many marks, there was enough to prove that the man had endured a tremendous amount of pain.

"Yes, do you have a problem with it?" The man's jaw was clenched tightly as he spoke, clearly mortified that anyone had to see evidence of weakness.

"Problem? It looks like to me that you are the one with the problem. It takes one hell of man to do what you did. I couldn't have done it. I'm just sorry that you had to suffer because of it. I couldn't imagine how much pain you must have been in." Sano absently reached out a hand and traced one of the scars.

"No, you couldn't imagine." Saitou jerked away from the sympathetic touch. The last thing he wanted was pity. "Get out." The man's voice was strained and stern.

"No." Sano replied in an equally stern voice.

"What did you say? You didn't just say no? Surely not even you are that stupid." Saitou turned his cold (unfortunately bloodshot) gaze to the younger man and glared.

"I'm not leaving, temee. You might as well get used to it." Saitou growled before he launched himself at the annoying younger man.

"You little bastard." Not realizing just how weak he was, Saitou found himself falling toward the floor instead of knocking the annoying kid into next week. He closed his eyes, awaiting the fall, knowing that he wouldn't have time to catch himself. He felt two strong arms close around him before he hit the hard wooden floor.

"You old stubborn jackass. Damn, I'm going to have to watch you like a hawk." Sano placed the less than happy man back on the bed, removed his sword, and started unbuckling his belt.

"Oh hell no, you are not even going there." Saitou grabbed the boy's hands to prevent his action.

"Oh please, it's nothing I ain't seen before." Sano shrugged the man's hands off his and finishing unbuckling the belt before unfastening the snap and lowering the zipper.

"Ahou, I'm warning you…" Saitou tried to pry those hands off his pants to no avail.

"Uh…" Saitou dropped his head back on his pillow when he heard the kid's embarrassed murmur. Of all the times not to… "You're not wearing anything underneath." Sano could feel his face heating. He knew he must be as red as his bandana at this point.

"Yet again, your brilliance astounds me." Saitou rubbed his hand over his face in an aggravated manner.

"Well, do you have a yukata somewhere or at least a long shirt." If the kid blushed anymore, Saitou was sure his head would explode. He didn't really see the big deal now that the fact he wasn't wearing undergarments was out in the open so to speak.

"Top drawer of the chest." Sano walked over to what he assumed was the chest and pulled out a pair of short pant-things. He gazed at the material quizzically, trying to figure out just what the hell it was.

"Is this what you're talkin' about?" The older man didn't even bother to look, he just nodded and motioned the kid over.

"Can we please get this over with so you can leave?"

"I told you I'm not leaving," Sano stated as he grabbed hold of the waistband of Saitou's pants and yanked them down the man's legs.

"I feel so used. You were just trying to get into my pants. You ruffians are all the same," the older man said sarcastically, and Sano couldn't help but chuckle at the un-Saitou like behavior.

"Man, you should get sick more often, you are much more pleasant." At least that's what the kid thought until Saitou bonked him on the head with a fist. "Then again, maybe not," he grumbled as he rubbed his head.

********

Sano had finally gotten the man into the "boxer shorts," and made a light dinner, which Saitou barely even touched. The young man sighed in weariness as he straightened from tending to the hearth. He had no idea what time it might be, but it had to be late. He scratched his head as he looked over the book cases in wonderment. Had Saitou actually read all those books? Some of them were written in strange symbols not found in Japanese. He ran a long, slender finger over the spine of one leather-bound volume written in the strange language, seemingly drawn to that particular volume.

The sound of harsh coughing brought Sano out of his reverie and back into the present time and place. The coughing continued in such a way that Sano doubted that the older man had even had the chance to catch his breath. The young man rushed down the hallway to the bedroom to see Saitou on his side, clutching the blanket to his chest, and coughing so hard that his face was a bright shade of red.

"Hey man, you okay?" Sano asked softly as he approached the bed.

"Ahou, it's so cold in here. Did you remember to light the fire?" Saitou pulled the blanket around himself tighter and curled up into the fetal position, shivering. Sano felt of the man's head and noticed that his fever had returned, and worse than it was originally. He knew that he should go fetch Megumi, but he really didn't want to leave the man alone in such a condition.

"Your fever is back. Stay covered up and don't try to go anywhere." Sano tried to remember anything that could possibly help the man. He knew he had to try to find a way to break Saitou's fever or his condition would only get worse. He could only remember one thing to do, and he wasn't for sure if it really worked considering he had only seen it done once. He could remember once Katsu had gotten sick and Captain Sigara had stripped the boy down along with himself and used his body heat to break the fever. He seriously doubted that Saitou would even consider such a thing, but he had no other alternative. Sano swiftly began taking off his clothes and wrappings, not taking time to think that he was stripping in front of a man who was just a little more than an enemy to him.

"What the hell…." Saitou broke off into another coughing fit, puzzling over why Sano was now standing buck naked in the middle of his bedroom.

"Okay old man, I really don't want to do this, but if I don't you will be in serious trouble." Sano crawled under the blanket and laid behind the former Shensin Gumi captain before wrapping his arms around the hot, sweating body.

"Get off, what the hell do you think you are doing?" Saitou tried to escape the boy's strong grip, but in his weakened state, his struggles were futile. "Are you not listening? Get the hell off me!"

"Listen here, grandpa, you are going to lay here and like it." All Sano received in reply was a vicious sounding growl. They laid there for several moments, not speaking, not moving. The situation was awkward to say the least. Laying naked in bed with Saitou was the last thing he wanted to be doing tonight, but damn if fate don't getcha every time. And here he thought today was going to be a good day.

Saitou's breathing had evened out and his body seemed to relax deeper into the bedding. Sano bit back a sigh of relief. For someone so sick, the old cricket head sure put up a good fight. The younger man had closed his eyes to try to sleep himself when he felt Saitou stir in his arms. His eyes clenched shut tighter, waiting for a blow that he was sure the older man was just waiting to give him. Instead, Mibu's Wolf turned in the young, tan arms and almost snuggled?! into Sano's toned chest. The boy's eyes widened in shock as he looked down at the sleeping man.

"Ahou, you're so warm," came the sleepy mumble that Sano was almost positive Saitou would not remember in the morning. When the older man returned the embrace, Sano felt his heart begin to pound. What in the hell was wrong with the man? He wasn't supposed to act like that…all vulnerable and…and…HUMAN. Saitou was practically indestructible…right? That's when Sano determined this whole fiasco was just a sake-induced dream and he would wake up tomorrow in his little apartment with a massive hangover. But the boy really didn't like that idea either. That would mean that Saitou would still be dead, and, for some unknown reason, he didn't want that.

*********

By the third day, Saitou was decidedly worse than he was before. He had lost coherence, and all Sano was able to get out of the man was painful groans. When the man wasn't fitfully sleeping, he was coughing and hacking like no tomorrow. He knew that he should probably go for a doctor, but what if something were to happen while he was gone?

All his worrying continually brought him back to one question: Why did Saitou do this to himself? Sano may not know much about the policeman, but he did know that Saitou was all about self-preservation. Why else would he keep anyone from getting in, from seeing the man behind Fujita Gorou, the real Saitou Hajime? Hell did anyone even try to call the man by his first name? Did he ever let anyone in? He said he was married, but where was his wife? Did she even get a peek as to who the captain of the third squad of the Shensin Gumi really was? Or was it simply that no one cared?

Sano mentally made a list in his mind of all those people that wanted the man dead compared to the ones that wanted him alive. The horribly sad thing was that he couldn't think of one person that would not be bothered if the man were to die on that bed today…okay, well maybe one, but he wasn't counting himself. When everyone thought Saitou died on that mountain in Kyoto, no one really seemed to mind, himself included, at first. But as the realness of it set in, Sano mourned the other man deeply. There were no insults, no one to keep his ego in check, no piercing golden eyes. As masochistic as it sounded, Sano had begun to miss all those things about Saitou…or just Saitou period. Mibu's Wolf was the only person that didn't treat him like a fragile child that would break at any moment. Maybe that was Saitou's way of making friends in some sick, twisted way.

The former fighter-for-hire looked over at the pale form on the bed. The man's hair was an absolute mess, the sheets were caught in a death grip, and his skin was moist with perspiration. Sano couldn't help but pray to the gods that Saitou would pull through this okay…he needed for the man to be okay.

********

Birds chirping merrily caused tired eyes to open. It was a bright sunny morning, as it should be in the early spring, with the Sakura blooms glistening beautifully with dew in the morning sunlight.

It was enough to make Saitou Hajime want to puke.

The man groaned as little Battousais danced on his brain in an attempt to make his eyeballs want to pop out of his head from the pain. Of course, being more stubborn than that infuriating little redhead, Saitou ignored the pain and sat up in bed. An action that almost made good on the promise of puking. He looked around the room, gently, to take in his surroundings. The room was messier than he would have liked it to be, but it wasn't in too bad of shape. Just a teacup, a handkerchief, and an open book lay on his nightstand. Upon further inspection of the surrounding area, he saw the trademark white shirt bearing the kanji for "evil" sitting on the chair in front of the window. That could only mean one thing:

Sanosuke was still there.

The sound of something crashing in the floor and a string of curses proved the older man's theory correctly. It was the soft, muffled voice of a woman that caught him by surprise. Was that ahou using his house as some sort of…of…"bachelor pad?" Saitou growled deep down in his throat and grabbed his sword sitting beside the bed. This was it, he was going to finally kill that rooster head.

When he stood, Saitou felt a wave of dizziness threaten to take him down, and he had to use his sword to steady himself. So now he faced the dilemma of how to kill the idiot and stay on his feet. He snorted as he made his way down the hall and figured that he would find a solution when he got there.

********

"Shit, damn it that was hot!" Sano stuck his burned finger in his mouth as he poured the water in a teacup.

"Are you sure you can handle this without hurting yourself or burning the house down?" Megumi crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow as she watched Sano bustle around the small kitchen like a housewife wearing what she was sure was Saitou's yukata.

"I'm fine. Thanks for coming all the way out here, Fox. I was beginning to wonder if he was going to make it." Sano placed the tea and a bowl of broth on a tray, getting ready to take it to Saitou.

"It was a good thing that you used body heat to break his fever. The virus was worse than I had originally thought. Having a fever that high for an extended period time can do some serious damage. I'm surprised that you thought of something like that, but I guess even you have your moments of intelligence." Megumi was smiling at Sano's dirty look until his eyes went wide with shock.

"Ahou, what the hell is going on here, and why are you wearing my clothes?" Saitou propped himself against the wall and had his sword poking into Sano's back.

"I see the happy patient is up and about, so I'll go and let you two love birds bond or whatever it is that you guys do when you are alone." With that, Megumi leaves, leaving a stuttering Sano and a deeply perturbed Saitou.

"You have odd friends ahou." Saitou sheathed his sword and panted at the exertion that it took to drag himself into the room.

"Maybe so." Sano murmured absently. "Hey, what are you doing out of bed temee? Just because you have been sleeping for the past week doesn't mean that you can wonder around."

"A fucking week! You better be shitting me ahou." Saitou slid down the wall until he sat on the floor. It just wasn't normal to feel this bad for this long…was it?

"No, I'm serious man. You are in bad shape." Sano abandoned the tray and approached the sick warrior like he would a wild animal…he was after all the Wolf of Mibu was he not.

"Ahou, I feel like shit," the older man admitted tiredly.

"Yeah, I know. Now let's get you back to bed." Sano throws one of Saitou's arms over his shoulders and helps the almost dead weight of the older man back into the bedroom.

"I'm not helpless you know," Saitou growled as he lowered himself gently on the bed.

"I am fully aware of that temee, but, you know, sometimes it's just easier to let someone else help every now and then. Surely you can do that can't you. All you have to do is trust me." Saitou snorted disdainfully at the thought.

"Trust? What's that?" the man asked bitterly.

"Damn, aren't we a cynic? You know Saitou, I'm going to prove to you that it is okay to trust some people." Sano covered the older man with a heavy blanket.

"It's been so long since I have been able to trust." Saitou's voice trailed off as he drifted off to sleep. His dreams were not pleasant ones.

**********

Obe kaybe, the first chapter of another fic. I hope you like. Please, please let me know what you think.

Laters,

sirencirce