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Concessions	By : lawless Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 3636 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
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- 18
CONCESSIONS
by lawless

"There is something in the pang of change, more than the heart can bear..." ~ Euripides

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

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CHAPTER 16: Remembering

By mid-afternoon, it began to rain - half-drizzle, half-frost. The streets were slowly coming back to life as people dashed about for shelter. But even so, the cold winds managed to seep through the think walls.
Inside the clinic, the mood was somber. Megum was kneeling in the middle of the floor and David was sitting right beside her. The former Shinsengumi captain on the other hand had politely stepped out moments ago, letting the gaijin explain everything in his own terms while he enjoyed a smoke in the engawa. His actions were not without other motives though. His amber eyes were narrowed as they scanned his surroundings.
"Megumi, please," David said gently, "say something."

Anything.
He watched the play of emotions on her delicate face. The shock which quickly gave in to disbelief, then panic and finally to bone-chilling coldness. She was removing herself from him and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Finally, she looked at him and gave him a smile that did not reach her eyes. He tried to reach for her hands but his gesture froze when he saw how she seemed to flinch.
"Are you okay?" He resolved to ask instead.
That empty smile again.
"I'm fine, David-san," she said in a hollow voice. "I just...I need to time to think this over."
David felt a little relieved after hearing this. He nodded in understanding and said, "Alright. Then, I'll leave you to it."
He rose to his feet but before he turned, he could not help but ask, "Are you sure you're okay?"
Megumi raised her eyes up at him, smiling wanly. "I will be."
So with a final nod, he turned and stepped out into the engawa, joining the tall figure of Saitou there, still smoking his cigarette and surveying the surroundings. His manner was as calm as ever.
As soon as he left her side, Megumi's mask cracked, revealing a dark cloud of fear and worry etched across her brow.
The two men outside were talking quietly, their speeches scattered by the wind. She could not make out what they were saying but judging from the watchful eyes of Saitou, she was certain they were discussing the possibility of an attack.
It did not escape Megumi what Saitou said before - that she was no longer safe in the city. Her only alternative was Aizu, but if what they said was true, then it was not much of a choice either.
She shuddered at the thought that all this time she might have been watched without her knowing it. She hated the feeling. This overwhelming fear. It was a horrible feeling - one that made her feel helpless.
It was happening all over again.
Hadn't she paid enough?

Her heart's blood was the price before.

What more could it want?
o0o
Aizu
Six months earlier...
Megumi tied the last knot on the splint with deft twist of her wrists. Then, with a gentle smile which she reserved only for her patients, she said to the thirteen-year-old boy before her, "There you go, Touya-san. You're lucky it was only a sprain."
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Takani-sensei," Touya's mother said gratefully, taking her boy's hand as both of them bowed low.
Megumi smiled at both of them and stood up as well to return the bow.
A moment later, Megumi watched Touya and his mother walk out of her office. It was a fairly busy day at the Sanada Hospital for her and the boy was the last patient she saw before she decided she was done for the day. She was tired. Bone-tired. With a click of her door, she went out the hospital grounds and took the short walk back home.
Her tiny house was located just a few miles away from the hospital but her walk was, for the most part, uneventful. There weren't many bad elements in Aizu unlike Tokyo and people usually left her alone here, perhaps out of respect for her profession, or her name, or her friendship with the influential Sanadas. Whatever the reason, she was thankful nonetheless. Living alone was hard enough but living alone while at the same time deflecting advances from the mensfolk was another thing.

So Megumi was able to indulge herself in short walks at night without feeling the need for an escort or hiring a coach even though she could well afford one. Because it seemed such a waste. Not the money, mind you. But it was regretful to waste such a lovely night on a mode of travel that never appealed to her taste anyway.

And as she mused and walked along, she took time to observe her surroundings. The sky was clear and bright with countless stars tonight. Yes, it was a beautiful night but when she finally arrived at her front door, she could not help but give a sigh of relief.

The beauty of the night might heal one's soul but it was not doing anything for her feet which were aching.
She was about to step in when a voice suddenly shot out from the darkness.
"May I have a word with you, Takani-san?"

Megumi gasped.

The voice was cold as steel.
She turned slowly just as Shinomori Aoshi stood up from his crouching position. He had been sitting on a rock near the side of her house and had apparently been waiting there for quite awhile. He was cloaked in shadows and if he had not spoken when he did, Megumi would have missed him completely.
"Shinomori-san! What...what are you doing here?" She asked, utterly taken by surprise.
Aoshi stopped when he was standing right in front of her. His eyes, with their characteristic unreadability, bore down into hers as he spoke, "Perhaps, we should step inside."

His matter-of-fact tone irritated and embarassed her at the same time as she realized her lapse in manners. Murmuring her apology, she quickly turned around and stepped in for him to follow.
She always kept a lamp near the door in case she came home late or had to make an emergency visit to a patient which often occured in the middle of the night. She reached for this lamp now and lit it, immediately flooding the whole room with its yellow glow. But instead of stepping right to the center of the room, she hesitated at the doorway, stealing furtive glances at her strange visitor.
Now, what?
She stood awkwardly there for a moment, holding the lamp in one hand and trying not to stare too much at Aoshi. It had been months since she last saw him. What was he doing here?

Her fox's curiosity was terribly peaked.
Aoshi, for his part, was also studying her but his face showed nothing of what he thought. After another awkward moment, he spoke finally in a serious tone, "You're wondering why I'm here."
Megumi's eyes widened.

Her first instinct after hearing the inane statement was to laugh but one never laughed in the face of a man such as Shinomori Aoshi. So she opted for the safer choice instead.
She nodded, biting her tongue to keep a smile from escaping the corners of her mouth.
Aoshi shifted as though he too was uncomfortable. "I have...received news that you might find important to know."

He was watching her from the corners of his eyes, gauging her reaction. But she hadn't pieced together the pieces of the puzzle yet so her expression remained one of mild curiosity.
"Five days ago, there was an escape attempt at the Tokyo jailhouse." And there it was - a light of understanding entering her eyes. Aoshi continued, "Five were killed instantly when the police responded."

For a full minute, all that could be heard in the room was the sharp intake of breath as Megumi gasped.

"Is he...is he...?"
She could not bring herself to mouth the words.
"He's dead, Takani-san," Aoshi supplied. "He was among those executed during the breakout. Takeda Kanryuu is dead."
o0o
He's dead. He's supposed to be dead...
Kami, why must this happen?
The voices from outside were becoming clearer as the wind began to subside. Megumi was now able to distinctly pick out David's American accent over Saitou's low, almost growling tones.
She squeezed her eyes shut to block it all out.
'I never meant to fall in love with you.'
His words. His own words when he told her that Takeda as Yazaki Gi blackmailed him into helping him get the Spider's Web formula from her.
He used her. He betrayed her.
But he was forced to do it! He did not have a choice! Megumi's mind screamed but no matter how loud the screaming, it could not erase the feeling of betrayal.
Megumi did not know whether she should laugh out loud or cry bitter tears. It was ironic. The whole thing was ironic. Her entire life was ironic. Because for all her painstaking efforts to protect herself from being hurt and used by men, she nevertheless allowed herself to go right back to where she started.
Used. Betrayed.
There were no two words she hated more.
Suddenly, an angry voice erupted from outside, startling Megumi from her thoughts,

"Where is she? Bastard, what have you done with her?"
...And another's,
"Sano, wait!"
Megumi's eyes shot open.
She turned her head to the direction of that voice, seeing only the deep brown eyes fired up with fury as he stood there with clenched fists in front of a nonchalant Saitou.
Almost automatically, Megumi rose to her feet, keeping her eyes on him and whispering, "Sano..."
He hadn't seen her yet.
o0o
Sano was standing on the ground while Saitou and David were on the engawa, at least two feet higher so he had to crane his neck upwards (much to his annoyance) just to see them eye-to-eye.
Saitou looked down at him, the disdain he felt obvious in his eyes.
"Ahou."
The single-worded insult used to drive Sano to insane bursts of temper but today, it failed to achieve that effect. However, Saitou's refusal to tell him what the hell was going on was really getting on his nerves so that he could not stop himself from coming up with his own brand of insults as well.
"Bastard, what have you done with her?"
Standing just beside him, Misao reached up a hand to try to restrain him, saying, "Sano, wait!"

At that moment, Sano wanted nothing more than to fight it out with Saitou. The ass spent his entire life looking for it. Why not give it to him now?

Finally. After years and years of waiting.
But a soft whisper arrested him, halted him right in his steps. The voice compelled him to look up and see her standing there at the doorway, face pale and silky hair blowing gently in the wind.

"Megumi," he mouthed soundlessly, lowering his fists as he watched her.

- oo - TO BE CONTINUED - oo -

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A/N Made a few revisions in the previous chapter (Surprise, Surprise). I changed the chapter title to 'A Name's Worth.' Also, edited The Color of Night (11) and Regrets (12) chapters.
- 16
- 17
- 18
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Concessions