Kenshin

Why was Shishou's hair always in his face? It had to be on purpose. Kenshin could think of no other reason. Even on opposite sides of the bed (not that the bed was ever very big), he ended up being tickled awake. (Which was better than being dumped out of bed awake or cold foot in the shin awake...and his master had to be aiming for that one, too because he'd always had smaller legs. (and smaller everything (it wasn't fair)

Except...it wasn't Shishou. Kenshin started to remember this as he swam to consciousness from the deep soft pool of dark. It was...a woman. Who...? Light pressed red against his eye lids and he opened them to strands of black hair, a nest of blankets, a rice cooker, boxes. His heart kicked. Was it-

No... No it was Megumi. Megumi. Kenshin carefully straightened, rubbing his neck and looking at her, peacefully asleep. Still a little thin but looking better. (He remembered the skin pulling back from her bones) Except for the hole in her shirt, he wouldn't have any clue she'd been shot. (Shattered. Her blood a crimson river on the wall) But she was alright now, she was. Though what she was, was an entirely different matter altogether. He checked her pulse lightly to make sure and found it going strong and steady.

He stood to get some movement back into his legs and tucked the blanket around her shoulders. What to do now was the bigger question. She couldn't come with him. It was too dangerous. Even if she couldn't die... (and obviously you can't protect her) there were worse things than death.

Well she would be safe enough here until she got her money or whatever it was she intended to do. He couldn't sense anyone around and it was unlikely the police would even look for him here. Or want to go to this neighborhood either. (Unless they were METAL crazed)

Still, it would be bad to leave while she was still asleep and she looked hungry, she did, so Kenshin set about making some dinner. Onigiri was simple enough but he had plenty of rice and at least it was filling.

Megumi

The sun was several minutes away from setting when Megumi stirred from beneath body warmed blankets. Waking up warm for the second time in a day was something truly to rejoice over. She sat up and looked around, fixing her gaze on Kenshin's back.

"Hi," she murmured as she rolled her shoulders, trying to work out stiff (new) muscles. She was very new to this business of waking up with someone and wasn't entirely sure if small talk was a prerequisite.

Kenshin was making rice balls. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her of the sound it had made when she hesitantly crossed the threshold of the storage unit. (Was that only last night?) She wondered as she watched his hands (they were pretty hands, too pretty almost for a man to possess) shape and squeeze rice into perfect little round masses. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Shifting in the makeshift bed, Megumi set the blanket aside, grimacing when she realized some of the blood on her skin (or hair) had come off, leaving flakes of dried copper on the bedding. She would have to wash the blanket before she slept in it again.

"How are you feeling?" she hazarded as she pulled her t-shirt into a position where the hole didn't expose more than a pale expanse of her sternum, tucked her hair behind her ears and stood up, not wanting to sit like a lump on a log (or a twitterbrained bird in a nest) while her friend prepared food. This food was also important; the carbohydrates would replenish lost body reserves of fuel, further facilitating final healing.

"Um, is there something that I can help with?" she padded over to where he was crouching and leaned over a little, watching him shape rice balls with a surprising degree of efficiency.

Kenshin

Kenshin heard Megumi's breathing change and knew she was awake, glad there wasn't a sharp intake of breath or anything bubbling in the lungs.

"Hi," she said, in a sort of soft, awkward way that reminded him of...of...of what exactly? Something pleasant and warm (and a small hand on the pillow). He pressed the strange mental images away and sat back for a moment to count the rice balls that he had. Five. Better make it eight, though he wasn't sure how much Megumi would eat, it was better to make too much than to make too little.

"This one is just fine, he is, thanks to you," Kenshin said lightly. "I am almost done here, but if you like you can get the water. There are a few bottles getting chilled on the window." He started to make another rice ball, giving it a nice filling of tuna before patting the heated rice around it.

"I've also hung your clothes, I have," he said. "And they are mostly dry by now, I should think."

Megumi

Meg nodded and walked over the window to get the water.

The sun was setting, quickly sliding down behind the jagged silhouette of the city. Mesmerized at the sight of the day dying, she put one hand hesitantly on the glass, the heat of her fingers creating ghostly rims of mist on the cold surface.

Slowly, the sun fell further past the artificial horizon, changing in hue from a blinding white-yellow, to a cooler orange, and then to a shade of red that was breathtaking, beautiful, superimposing a memory of fading light itself on the back of her optical nerves.

She leaned forward a little as if her force of will was enough to keep the night at bay, tracking the descent, her eyes widening in wonder as the life bringing light, now little more than a waning disc of red, glowing warmth, slid inexorably down, flared corona like for an instant, and then was gone, leaving the sky barren.

"It's gone," she whispered, more to herself than anyone. She'd never stopped to watch the sun set (or rise for that matter) a realization that made her wonder at the life she'd led, at the priorities she'd once held so dear.

"And the temperatures are dropping," she commented, pulling her fingers away from the frosty glass. "I will be, I think, glad when spring comes."

She lingered at the pane for a second more, then turned from it, carrying the bottles of chilled water to where Kenshin was sitting. She knelt beside him and, still feeling that she'd not been very useful in the preparation, promised herself that she'd clean up after they'd eaten this meal.

"Thank you for...washing my clothes, for the food," she motioned at the food and then perhaps at the room that they were sitting so snugly in, "for everything. I appreciate your kindness, Ken-san, more than I can say."

Kenshin

"It will be spring soon enough, it will," Kenshin said warmly, finishing the last one and wiping his hands on a cloth before moving to set the plate between them.
"There are some with tuna" He pointed to the ones on the right. "And some without. This one wasn't sure which Megumi-dono preferred. And there's really no need to thank me. It was my pleasure, indeed it was."

He picked up the cold water and took a good drink before taking a rice ball between his hands. Ah, simple pleasures. For just a moment, it was perfect, with the deepening night just outside the window.

"Megumi-dono should try to get to Ueno Park, she should, in April. The cherry blossoms are beautiful even in New Meiji." Even though they were dying when they fell, it had always reminded him of a life well lived, the beautiful end to a beautiful life that would be renewed the next April and the next, so long as the trees stood.

Megumi

"I would like that, seeing the sakura," Megumi daringly look a rice ball with tuna fish. "I think I went to Ueno Park once..."

She concentrated on the memory, wondering if it was real or imagined. She had memories of walking beneath trees laden with softly fragrant blossoms, the sun and sky dappling amid the snow white petals. (I went with my friends. On a picnic. The trees were still young, but so beautiful...)

She bit delicately into the warm ball, inhaling as the deliciously hot rice came in contact with her tongue. (Someone was missing, that day we ate and laughed beneath the growing branches) She chewed thoughtfully (but he came back...after a long journey). She recalled walking with this person, the one who returned beneath the same trees not once, but many times.

She smiled faintly and took another bite.

"Would you ever want to go and see the blossoms with me, Ken-san?" Hesitantly she looked over at him, clutching at her half-eaten rice ball like her life depended on it. "Is that something...something that friends would do?"

Kenshin

"This one would love to see them with you, Megumi-dono," Kenshin said softly, watching her eat. It had been a while since someone had eaten something he had made and it felt good to watch her seem to enjoy it.

"I see a lot of friends there when I go, so I'm sure it's usual. But I would go with you even if it were not." Because that kind of thing should be enjoyed with others. He remembered it faintly. Always faintly. Always warmly. Like a child with tiny hands reaching for whatever blossom he could grasp. Laughing. An old friend returning. He finished his onigiri and picked up another.

"We should go every year, we should. Make it a tradition." A promise. This one will live to see it and so will you.

Megumi

Impossibly happy, Megumi nodded brightly, awakening for the first time to the possibilities that came with having a friend.

"Traditions are good," she agreed, reaching for another ball (this time without the tuna). "They give you something wonderful to look forward to." She paused, her fingers hovering, her expression becoming soft and thoughtful.

"Are we supposed to shake on it? This tradition we have made?" She held her hand out, mirroring her actions from the night before when she offered to heal him in exchange for food and a place where she wasn't in danger of freezing over and over again. "I want to do this right, you know."

She tilted her head and looked carefully at her friend, hoping that he could see, or sense, how terribly important this was to her. "I want to do right by you, as well, Ken-san."

Kenshin

"Ah, there's really no need to be so formal." It was strange to see her like this, though he couldn't remember why. Why was this so strange to her? So new? Had she truly had no friends before this? (What a sad life. What a sadder choice of friends)

"But can make a promise this way," he said, reaching out to hook her pinky in his and hold it tight. "These promises are even more binding, they are. And serious." He looked into her eyes. Wanting her to hold on. Wanting her to work to thrive even though everything in the world was against her. Wanting her most of all to know she was not completely alone. If nothing else, she was never that.

Megumi

Eyes fixed on his, Megumi nodded seriously, as she shifted her pinky finger til it was tight against Kenshin's. His finger was calloused, strong. Hers was pale and looked as if a stiff breeze could break it.

"I promise you, that I'll find you in the spring. In Ueno Park. When the Sakura are blooming."

She paused, then added quietly. "No matter what. I'll be there. You have my word."

Kenshin

"I promise the same. We will meet then and always, Megumi-dono." He held her pinky a moment longer, before smiling. It was getting late, it was, and however unfortunate, there were things to do. He let his finger slip from hers and stood, moving to a row of boxes to pick up a journal he had found among the ashes. It had some spidery writing in it that he couldn't read, but most of the pages were blank.

"In the meantime." He handed the journal to her. "I have my number in here, and email address, so you can contact me anytime, that you can. And look." He moved the blankets aside to show her the trap door which lead to the steps and down into the heart of the building.

"You can get down this way, you can. You have to take the elevator. It goes down without a key but not up, I'm afraid. But you should have plenty of food here for a while at least, until you recover. And when you do leave, only go when the sun is well up. This is a dangerous neighborhood, it is, and your life is not the only thing at risk here."

Megumi

(He's…leaving)

Still kneeling, the rice balls and water forgotten, Megumi took the journal from Kenshin, her thin face unreadable. She looked up at him. Her chest heaved. He was falling into shadow as waning light outside was overtaken by impending darkness. She managed a nod, and drew the journal to her chest as she numbly watched him show her where a trap door waited to take her from this place, outside again.

(He's leaving)

She'd known this would happen, just not this way. "This is your home. I should be the one going away." She tried to point out, but it was hard to talk suddenly. "This wasn't part of the deal."

(He's leaving)

Her chest heaved again, as if her barely healed heart was trying to claw its way out of her body. Eyes welling up, Megumi looked down, suddenly, hiding her face in a fall of matted hair, not wanting him to see what she was feeling. Panic. Fear. The sun was slipping down. She was going to be alone again.

A sob worked its way up her throat. She covered her mouth with one shaky hand and refused to let it out. (Not alone. Not anymore) She had a friend, where before she had no one. There was a tradition to look forward to, a promise to keep. It was a start. She looked down at her pinky. She swallowed back her tears, or at least tried to and was almost successful.

Megumi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and forced herself to stand up. "I'll keep you posted, then, on how things…." Her bottom lip trembled. She bit down on it. "...things end up. I don't have an email address yet, but that can and will be remedied." This was hard. Dear God, it was so hard.

Megumi took a step towards where he was standing. "Thank you. For being my friend, For everything," her voice cracked. She forced herself to smile and nod, as if her warm, safe world of one day was not falling apart. "I'll see you then? Come Springtime?"

Kenshin

She was upset, of course she was. (Like that other time) But he couldn't stay here. He would only attract unwanted attention and she would only be hurt again. He couldn't allow that. He wished he could make her understand why this had to be. He opened his mouth to explain and then closed it, wondering if she would come to the realization on her own. Her strained breathing seemed to fill the room. (All you can do is break her heart)

Maybe she did understand then, or at least, was letting him go. No matter how much it had to hurt. But she wasn't alone and she wouldn't be. He knew she wouldn't. Somehow out there, she would find herself. (Or at least that's what you tell yourself, isn't it? Trying to justify everything, aren't you? Coward.)

Maybe he was, but he would not lure her enemies to her. He would not see her die again. He would not see her taken. He would not see her suffer. Not if he could somehow prevent it. Kenshin pulled on his hoody and smiled at her, as gently as he could.

"Aa, Springtime at the latest, but you can always call me, that you can. There will be other times to meet. This is not the last." He fixed his messenger bag across his shoulder, taking a brief glance to see if everything was in there, and then strapped Kitetsu to his back.

It didn't feel right, somehow, just walking out. (Too much like that other time. Like...that other time...) Kenshin took two quick steps forward and hugged her tightly.

"It will be all right," he murmured. "That it will."

And he let her go and turned, out the door and a hit in his arm let him run, let his feet fly. He hit the edge of the roof and jumped, between street and stars, bounding off the edge of one roof before scrambling up the side of another, as fast as he could, aware of Megumi getting further and further away.

Keep safe, Megumi-dono he thought, and jumped again, falling in a graceful arc until he hit the lower roof at a run.