SpoKeN

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SpoKeN

by: Lalume
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Summary: Sanosuke Sagara was known as a loud obnoxious brawler... until he cast eyes upon a young woman that changed his life. A sudden mysterious change in his actions cause the others to worry about him. Who is this mystery girl and what has she done to Sano?!

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Prologue: Lucid

\"Oi Sano.. get up you lazy bum!\"

Sano had been planning to ignore the annoying voice once his name dropped from the shadow\'s lips. He knew it belonged to that firey woman Kaoru-chan which is why he refused to let his eyes fling open as he felt the soft contour of a pillow being put over his face. He could actually sleep with little oxygen and it seemed to anger the blue haired woman even more.

\"Tame Ayro!\" She yelled as she raised the pillow than flung it down upon hice. ce. Sano jerked slightly and grabbed the pillow as she swung it down for another hit. He stopped it inches from his face and opened one eye to scowl at her.

\"Is there a reason you\'re waking me up this early, Jou-chan?\"

\"Early?!\" She fumed,\"It\'s mid day Sano and Kenshin walked to the market alone because you would not wake for him!\"

Sano simply grunted and closed his eye, taking the pillow with him and placing it below his head for more comfort, \"Kenshin\'s a big boy he can carry a bucket of tofu by himself...\"

He yawned abruptly at the end of his sentence causing Kaoru\'s eyebrow to twitch slightly. Kaoru\'s anger rose and she balled her fist and swung - hitting Sano in the jaw and sending him half way across the room in pain. He immediately raised a hand to his now aching jaw and heavily stared at the young raven.

\"What the hell was that for?!\" He barked angrily.

\"Why don\'t you do more things around here?!\" She snapped narrowing her eyes,\"You think you can just freeload without giving anything back? Ha! Get your slacker butt in the there and clean the floors!\"

Sano blinked, than narrowed his eyes in return,\"Make me.\"

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

Sano sweatdropped as he stood outside the Dojo\'s closed gate.

She kicked me out... she actually kicked me out....

Sano\'s face fell. It looked like he had to find a new place to get dinner tonight. It was clear Kaoru was too angry to be talked into letting him come back or atleast for right now anyways. He turned slightly, placing his hands in his pockets, heading towards the closest bar he knew. His eyes cast forward as the bar came into view but soon fell to his right as he caught attention to a young woman along the road. She was on the ground, huddled in her coat, tears dropping from her delicate face and onto the ground.

Sano was known to usually stay out of other people\'s problems. Heck, he had enough of his own, but there was something about how defenseless she looked, how desperately saddened. He mentally argued with himself and soon found himself squng ong on the ground beside her as she sniffled occasionally. His mind raced, not sure how to handle the situation. He wasn\'t known for being sensitive and he knew he was risking it by opening his mouth to speak to her. His words would probably bring her more pain than she was already experiencing.

\"Uhh..\"

Great way in starting a conversation.. you moron...

\"Leave me alone.\"

Sano\'s eyebrow\'s raised at the delicate nature of her voice, \"Hey, you\'re crying aren\'t ya? You think I\'m just gonna walk away from a pretty girl in your condition?\"

The girl snorted,\"Pretty huh? Is that what you tell all the girls? You look around for poor defenseless girls to excelerate your ego upon, well sorry to disappoint you... go find another girl to fee upon.\"

Sano was taken back. She definitely had a mouth and for some reason he was finding himself more interested in this mysterious woman. He could only see the contours of her face considering way way she was sitting away from him but he could tell she held great beauty. When he didn\'t move she turned her head toward him, giving him a full shot of her delicate face. He was abash for a moment.

The woman blinked, \"What\'s wrong, did my tough words frighten you?\"

Sano was still abash, not only from her words but from the epitomy of beauty that sat curled before him. Sure, he\'d met a load of beautiful women before, he\'d even thought Megumi was a brand of unexplainable beauty but this woman... was unbelievably... breathless.

Sano soon snapped from his daze, \"A girl like you doesn\'t intimidate me.. if that\'s what ya tryin\' to do.. Actually...\"

Sano paused to grin to further emphasize his next statement.

\"..girls like you fuel my ego...\"

The girl raised her brows in annoyance,\"Leave me alone.. this does not concern you.\"

She turned her head away from him, letting out a soft \'hmph\' noise that made Sano\'s grin widen. She was young, younger than him by ateast a year or two. Sano abandoned his squatted position to stand above her. He looked down upon her form and let his smile fade.

\"Ya know,\" Sano started,\"I got a place that has a fire and food... I know you don\'t know me, but ya look like you need a place to stay.\"

The girl snorted once more,\"Please, why should I let you help me? I don\'t even know you.\"

Sano shrugged and thought a moment as he spoke,\"I know what its like to wander around. It\'s nice to have a place to stay sometimes... it can be rough.. and besides, it\'s obvious that you\'re cold..\"

The girl did not respond. Taking kindness from someone she didn\'t know could result in her landing in a variation of unpleasant situations, but the kindness in his voice was strange to hear. His tone had changed since his first words. Sure his first couple statements had reeked of arrogance but his last spoken words made her feel as though he was looking at her current condition more than the fact that she was a defenseless woman with a pretty face.

Sano sighed unpleasantly.

What was it gonna take to get this woman out of the cold? Women were always so stubborn. They always thought all men were perverted sexists that fueled on getting drunk and buying prostitutes. Sure it applied to him but still, even he didn\'t have the heart to walk away and just let a pretty girl waste away in this unhealthy weather. He turned slightly in irritation, knowing that he shouldn\'t have stopped in the first place and suddenly felt a tug on his kimono.

\"I\'m... sorry...\" He heard her speak softly, \"I know you are just trying to be kind.. but I was just being careful..\"

Sano turned to her as her right hand clinged to his shirt, \"Hey don\'t sweat it... I understand. You speak as though I never been in a situation like you\'ve been in before.\"

The girl slowly let go of the cloth and realized she had raised to her knees to get him before he left her there, \"Tell me, is your place far?\"

Sano shrugged,\"Not really, why do ya ask?\"

The girl slowly stood, a painful look flooding her features. Sano\'s eyebrow raised slightly and than his eyes cast down to her side where a dark red bloch stained her dress. He suddenly shot forward, placing an arm around her waist, looking at the wound through the torn cloth. The wound wasn\'t too serious but the flesh was not healed and blood not clotted which meant over exposure to harsh weather could worsen it. He used cloth from her dress to apply pressure to the wound, hoping it\'d stop the bleeding.

\"What the hell are ya doing?!\" Sano said as he examined the wound while applying pressure, \"Sitting in the cold like this! The wound is open and you could get it infected.... we need take care of this right away!\"

The young girl blinked, \"What for? all all die soon anyways...\"

Sano sighed and than began to raise her legs with hisleft arm.

\"What the - \"

The girl suddenly let out a squeal when she felt herself being lifted off the ground. Her eyes remained open in a strange curious expression as Sano started towards his home with her in his arms. He held her close to him, his body heat seg thg through into her clothes. She suddenly found herself leaning more into him, catching the scent of his rough male skin. Soon, her head lay against his shoulder and her left arm around his neck while her other was tucked in against his chest. Her breathe steadied slightly and she soon succumbed to the warmth of slumber.

Sano looked down at the girl as he strided towards his home.

She seemed to be very comfortable all snuggled against him. A grin crept onto his face but he fought the temptation. He was more concerned on how such a young beautiful woman attained such a nasty wound. It wasn\'t exactly deadly, but it was a wound none the less. Exactly what was she doing before he came across her and why was she just sitting in the road as though she didn\'t care that it was cold?

\"Mother...\"

Sano\'s eyes dropped down to her again as the whisper fell from those soft pink lips. He looked ahead again, approaching the door of his home and sliding the door aside to step in. Once the warmth hit his flesh he sighed in relief. He than slid it closed behind him, which he relized was really hard to accomplish with the woman amongst his arms, and headed into the middle of the room. He approached his futon to lay her sleeping form upon it than let his eyes finally examine her fully.

She had dark auburn hair that seemed to grace along the delicate features of her face. It was in a loose ponytail that let stray strands fall lazily across her cheeks. Her skin was a soft subtle pink, that looked so smooth and almost so refined that he could have sworn she was a princess from a fairy tale. Her lips were a soft supple pink that taunted him to lean over and kiss them. And her body...

God that body....

It was incredible. Her body was toned, curved in all the right places and held that sexy physique that made his insides awaken. He felt the deep ache start to form and he forced himself to look away. Just the way she looked before him, lying there sprawled out with one hand upon her chest, he wa her her there and than. He quickly stood and walked to the other side of the room, leaning against a wall as he breathed, trying to calm himself down. The sexual drive had been almost overpowering and luckily she was asleep or she\'d see how weak of a man he was.

Any affection from a woman drove his passion. Sano grunted at his foolishness. To think he should have outgrown that tendancy by now. He turned his head when he heard her start to come to. A slight moan escaped her lips and her other hand proceeded to clasp over her wound. Sano\'s eyebrows jumped up and he walked back to her lying form.

He leaned over her slightly, \"Hey, you should really let me look at that.\"

The girl didn\'t move but slowly opened her eyes to reveal them full in their ocean color depths. Sano\'s breath caught and he lost the ability to speak. She was gazing at him with such intensity, that he could have sworn she was lusting for him at that very moment.

\"How do I know you won\'t make my condition worse?\"

Sano once again snapped from his daze, \"Trust me.... I\'ve gotten beaten up many of times... you learn to treat wounds fairly quick.\"

\"I see...\" The girl slowly began to sit up but Sano stopped her.

\"What are you doing?!\" He said slightly irritated,\"Don\'t move... it steal hasn\'t stopped bleeding yet.\"

The girl did as she was told and gazed up at him again,\"I was going to take this off so you could look at my wound...\"

Sano watched her lightly tug at the top of her dress. His eyes immediately swam to her curved breasts and he fought himself to look away. He had no choice, he had to clean that wound, which meant she had to undo her top or otherwise he could not clean it properly.

Sano looked back at her, fighting a blush,\"Let me take it off..\"

The girl blinked but obliged, \"Alright..\"

Sano\'s hands touched her shoulders gently and he fought to keep them from shaking. He had never felt such nervousness before, especially in front of a woman but she was so breathtaking. He had never met a woman that had thrown his whole image off. Normally he\'d be as blunt and open as possible but he found himself being gentle, calm and further more affection with the lovely woman. His hands slid to pull the fabric away and he was left to gaze at her upper half, exposing the wound.

He glanced at her breasts than away quickly,\"......\"

The young woman suddenly let out a slight giggle,\" You act as though you have not seen a woman\'s body before.\"

Sano looked back at her, his eyes narrowed slightly,\"Well it feels inapropriate considering I don\'t even know your name.\"

\"Well,\" The young woman replied, suddenly raising her hands to cover her unbound breasts,\"My name is Auriana...Tseyni......nice to meet you... uhhh -\"

\"Sanosuke....\" He replied,\"Sanosuke Sagara.\"

She nodded slightly,\"That\'s an interesting name.\"

\"Thank you,\" He returned his attention to the wound,\"How \'bout you tell me how you got this sucker.\"

The woman suddenly overted her eyes,\"That is of no concern to you.\"

He leaned forward and gently placed his hands around it causing her to flince and wriggle slightly, \"Hold still... and it may not be my concern but you don\'t see a young woman with a wound like this nowadays..\"

Auriana shrugged,\"I\'m not an ordinary woman I suppose...\"

\"I could have figured,\" Sano replied and watched as she flinched more when he placed a wet cloth against the crimson flesh, \"This is gonna hurt.\"

\"Just get it over with,\" She replied,\"Nothing could get any wor - owwwww....\"

She suddenly jerked from him, letting her hands drop from her breasts to grab the hand that was placing a cloth that caused the wound to feel as though it were enflamed. Sano looked up at her startled and than let his eyes grace along the curvature of her breasts again. They were soft and le ale and about the right size for his hands..

Stop thinking like that man... just stop...

\"I said hold still,\" He replied.

\"How can I when u set it on fire,\" She said annoyed by the constant pain,\"I\'m already considering sawing my lower body off I don\'t need you to burn it off..\"

She suddenly realized where his eyes were wandering at and covered breasts quickly, \"You are a pervert... aren\'t you...?\"

\"What man isn\'t?\"

She narrowed her eyes. He was slipping back into that arrogant tone again, \"Why am I letting you help me?\"

\"Because you\'re hurt,\" He took the opportunity to cover the wound with cloth by tightening it over the torn flesh. She yelled outward slightly and clawed at his hands as he continued to tighten the cloth. When he finally stopped he looked at her sympathetically.

\"Still not willing to share how you exactly got that?\"

She frowned, \"You think after that torture I\'d actually tell you my life story?\"

Sano grinned,\"I could try other ways.\"

She quickly covered herself again, \"Get ... away...\"

\"Not one kiss?\" He said as though he were serious.

Her expression wasn\'t encouraging and Sano shook his head with a light hearted chuckle. This woman was just too easy. She was so paranoid of him but yet was so trusting at the same time but he had to admit, he didn\'t exactly hate looking at those soft tender breasts of hers.

\"Do you really think I\'m that big of a pervert?\"

\"How the hell should I know?!!!\" She barked in return, \"I just met you!\"

Sano shrugged andned ned forward suddenly, pressing a soft kiss upon her forehead. Auriana stayed still as he did so but remained silent once he was done. Sano blinked, confused to why he had just done it. He had only enforced her suspicion by placing that kiss upon her but for some reason he did car care... her beauty was just so outstanding that he felt if he didn\'t release his furstration some how, he would have really turned into what she assumed he was - a sex crazed pervert.

It was her that spoke first, \"Why do you stare at me like that?\"

Sano shrugged slightly,\"Doesn\'t hurt to look..\"

Her expression showed anoyance again.

\"I find you beautiful,\" Sano said finally,\"Something wrong with that?\"

\"Me?\" She said in a sarcastic tone, \"Yeah, I\'m beautiful alright. Just downright gorgeous.\"

Sano blinked. Was this woman for real? She actually didn\'t recognize her own good looks. He tilted his head in curiousity for a moment than leaned into her more to look her in the eyes.

\"You are beautiful you know...\" He said softly,\"I don\'t care if you see it or not.. you\'re about the most beautiful woman I\'ve seen..\"

Auriana looked at him disgusted,\"You\'re hitting on me.\"

Sano broke into a grin,\"Maybe I am, Maybe I\'m not.\"

He slowly rose from his position and proceeded to head into the living room.

\"Where are you going?\" Auriana called toward him as he approached a comfy chair.

\"I\'m going to sleep, I don\'t know about you, but I\'m tired...\"

Auriana mumbled,\"Moron...\"

Sano quickly fell into slumber, leaving Auriana to lay wide wake in his bedroom. She slowly rose, gently replacing her top on and stood to examine the room. She found his room to be quite plain. He had a couple books along a bookcase near the bed and than a couple papers sprawled with writing along his desk. The thing that interested her was a picture hung beside his bed on the wall. It seemed to be a picture of him as a young child, with a older man in front of him and a child his age beside him.

She pondered the picture than looked at Sano\'s sleeping form in the living room. He was curled up on a long chair, snoring slightly. Auriana couldn\'t help but to smile at his form. He had given so much to her already and he barely knew her. She atleast owed him something in return, but what?

She turned slightly to see the kithen and grinned... she knew how..