The killers had apparently gone to ground and whereever Ranma and Misao had left the children, they'd covered their tracks well. And Sanosuke was finding himself again doing a great deal of thinking.
Aoshi's death, not that Sanosuke had ever known the man too well, had been shocking enough. Not many years later, having Ranma and Misao follow the ninja was almost as severe a shock to Sanosuke as when he'd witnessed the betrayal of his mentor as a child.
He badly wanted to be able to catch one of the girls and give them what they had coming to them. But it wasn't happening, and the longer he spent out here, the greater the chance that something else would happen back home while he was gone.
He growled bitterly and tossed a pebble into the fire.
He had to go back.
****
Megumi sighed and lifted her tea to her lips. It was a little closer to normal with Kenshin back at the Kamiya dojo. But Yahiko and Sanosuke were still out. And it still seemed odd that she would never again hear or see Misao or Ranma.
She'd been kept busy, of course, she was doing most of the work at the hospital now, including training an apprentice. But the quiet was still beginning to gnaw on her.
In her pensive state she didn't notice the visitor until he'd sat down by her side. She looked toward him, slightly surprised, and then frowned.
"You've been drinking," she said in her characteristic disapproving voice. "I suppose it is to be expected that you couldn't keep yourself dry while you were out."
"Not yet," Sanosuke said setting the bottle of saki down on the floor in front of them. "But maybe after we talk."
"And what are we going to talk about?" Megumi asked, sighing. "Words from you have a tendency to be alcohol soaked wastes of time."
"Yeah," Sanosuke said, not rising to the barb for once.
"Are you feeling ill," Megumi asked, a touch of concern in her voice as he failed to respond with his own jibes. "You are not up to your
"Well," Sanosuke said, pouring out a couple of cups of saki. "Like you said. I don't feel like wasting any more time."
He handed her the saki cup and she glanced back to him with an upraised eyebrow as she held it.
"I suppose not," Megumi said. "And I suppose you'll want to see a priest."
"Or something like that," Sanosuke agreed.
"Then I suppose that I'll be joining you for a drink tonight," Megumi said.
"Kanpai."
"Kanpai."
They each took a sedate drink of their saki and moved closer together, Sanosuke's arm warpping in comforting hold around Megumi as she leaned against him.
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(Posted Fri, 25 Jul 2003 19:40)
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