Part VI

     Sanosuke was fed up.  He'd begun to stay in, never going anywhere except for rare trips to his apartment and the inevitable occasional recruitment by Megumi to see if she'd found the cure.  From the beginning, they'd all thought it was only fair, and even Ryouga took his turn.  Sometimes Megumi would test it on herself, with Ayamechan and Suzumechan standing by to change her back.  Apparently, the two little girls thought it great fun when "Big sister Megumi" changed back and forth into a fox.  He only wished they didn't laugh at him too.
     It was one thing to turn into a fox, or a raccoon, or even a babe like Kenshin.  The only thing chickens were good for, as far as Sano was concerned, was food.  He was not very eager to eat of himself, however; in fact ever since the change he'd refused to eat anything with chicken, and often even eggs too.  It was just so weak!  A chicken!  "I hate chickening out!"
     "Don't worry, Sano.  I'm about to give up for the day.  You've been such a good little guinea chi -- I mean, guinea pig."  Sanosuke stifled a growl.  Barely.  "Just one more test, I promise."  She thrust a vial at him.  "Drink up."
     He glowered but did as he was told, knowing already that putting up a fight would only make matters worse.  Still, he wasn't prepared a moment later for the cold water.  "Hey!"
     He paused.  "Hey, I'm not ch-awk!"  Now he was definitely not thrilled.
     Megumi stared.  "There was a delay.  Sano, there was a delay between  the time you got wet and the time you actually changed.  I'm finaly getting somewhere!"
     The chicken merely glared at her as she began writing furious notes  "Oh, sorry."  Absently she emptied the hot kettle over him as she wrote.  Sano kept glaring as he dressed hurriedly.
     "You've been a help, actually, I admit I'm surprised."  Megumi looked back over her shoulder to grin at him; he was just glad he'd already been getting dressed.  Not, of course, that he could honestly say that he'd mind her seeing him, but there were still proprieties to be observed and standards to be met.  She may have been a doctor, but she was still a woman, and so far there was nothing mutual, nothing definite.  Not that he didn't harbor hopes; one could never tell which way the winds of love blew.  He ducked his head so she wouldn't see him blush.
     Megumi pretended not to notice, instead straightening up the various paraphernalia she'd been using.  "If you'll give me a moment, I'll stop by the dojo with you and tell the others."
     "Who said I was going to the dojo?"  Sano looked indignant but the effect was spoiled as his stomach growled.
     "There's your answer!"  Megumi chortled as the tall young man winced.  Life was just so unfair.
     He waited for her outside of the clinic, berating himself for being so transparent, cursing the gods or whoever was in control for the ultimate ironic turns his life had been taking so often of late.  Trying to ease his mind, he pondered what other people they knew might have become had they fallen into the Jusenkyou springs.  The inevitable image of Chou with all his swords becoming a broom caused him to snicker just as Megumi came outside.
     "Something you want to share, or is this a private joke?"  The foxy lady doctor eyed the ex-gangster thoughtfully.
     Sanosuke looked at her, caught indecisive for a moment.  She would probably appreciate the image, having met the man, but did he actually want to share anything with her?  She treated him so roughly.  He had to admit it wasn't her fault; she probably had no idea how he felt about her, but nonetheless, it was awkward.
     He shrugged.  "I was just thinking about Chou at Jusenkyou."
     "Chou wasn't at Jusenkyou."
     "But imagine if he was!"  Sanosuke laughed again and this time Megumi joined him, a moment of camaraderie that embarrassed them both.  It was Megumi's turn to look away first, blushing slightly.
     Sano strode out ahead of her, leading the way to the dojo, his mind on the possibility of getting rid of the curse forever.  Megumi's mind wandered towards the same destination by a different path; while Sano just wanted it to happen, Megumi had made it her job to make it happen.  It would not be an easy task, but with the progress she had made today, she was beginning to grow hopeful.
     Was it possible to delay the change further?  If it could be delayed long enough, was it possible to have the victim cancel the effects in advance with hot water?  Would the transformation to human form be as delayed as the transformation from?  It hadn't been, just now, but there might be more of a delay as the initial change took longer.  And was the delay effect on the right path to a cure, or was it a means to alleviate the symptoms?  She had asked Ryouga about it, once during his turn at the clinic, and he had mentioned that it was possible to reverse the curse if one used water from the spring equivalent to the nature of their own human forms.  The problem was finding the appropriate springs.  She wondered, too, if there was an age limit -- if, say, Kenshin took a dip in the Spring of Drowned Young Man, would he then change ages between 16 and 29?  Or would it merely reverse the effects of Nyannichuan?
     Megumi was so intensely lost in thought as she walked that she wandered off center.  By the side of the road was a hole just large enough for a foot somewhat bigger than hers to get caught in and even broken, if one fell wrong.  And Megumi's luck was just such that she stepped in the hole.
     Sano turned at her slight scream and saw her go down.  He caught her before she fell to the ground but even without medical training, he could see that she was hurt badly enough that she would not be able to walk.
     "I think it might be broken," she said as she looked up at him.  Her arms went around his neck as he supported her.  "Genzaisensei's not at the clinic.  You'll have to carry me to the dojo for now; it's closer than the clinic and I can't walk on it."  She looked paler than usual, and she was leaning too heavily on him to be kidding.  She wasn't teasing him, and he realized that this might be his chance to get into her good graces.  Especially if the ankle was broken, she could not be expected to get around by herself.  It would not be misconstrued if he were to help her, especially since she was working on the cure.  The sooner she found it, the happier he would be.
     He nodded and picked her up gently, though she cried out again as the injured leg moved.  She closed her eyes and he held her carefully, walking as fast as he dared without jarring her back to Kaoru's, where hopefully Kenshin would be able to help her.
     As soon as he dojo came into sight, he called out to those he could see outside.  "Oiy, Kenshin!"
     "Sano?"  Kenshin looked toward his friend, balancing Suzume carefully on his shoulders.  "Sano!  What happened?"  He set the little girl down and opened the gate as the taller man reached it.
     "She fell, hurt her ankle.  I think she fainted."
     "I did not faint.  You're the chicken."  Megumi opened her eyes, but it was obvious she was fighting the pain with all her strength.  He'd been careful, but careful wasn't enough to keep her ankle still.
     "Megumidono, can you stand on it?"
 She shook her head.  "I'm afraid I've broken it.  If I were paying better attention to where I was going instead of the cure..."  She brightened.  "Oh!  Kensan!"
     "Oro?"
     "I'm getting close!"
     "Oro?"  More panicky now, and more confused.
     "To the cure.  When I was running the last test today on Sano, there was a delay in the shift.  It wasn't much but I may be able to work it so that we can counteract the transformation before it actually happens!  I'll have a lot more to do, but I've finally begun getting somewhere!"
 Kenshin smiled happily as Kaoru came out of the dojo.  "That's wonderful!"
     "What is?"
     "Oiy, jouchan.  The doc here's actually making progress towards curing us."
     "That is wonderful!  But what happened?"
     "She fell on the way back."  Sano looked as nonchalant as he could.
     "Is it broken?"
     "It might be.  I wasn't looking where I was going, and stepped into a hole near the side of the road.  Do you know how soon Genzaisensei is due back?"
     Kenshin shook his head.  "Not for a while yet."
     Megumi nodded.  "That's true.  He usually does take most of the day when he's making house calls."  She sighed.  "I'll need your help."
     "What do you want me to do, Megumisan?"  Kaoru laid her bokken aside.
     "Where's Yahiko?"
     "He's actually inside, practicing.  He's gotten more serious about it, you know.  He's into this competition with Ryouga apparently.  It's kind of cute, like when Yutaro was studying here."
     Megumi nodded.  "I'll need to make a cast, but I don't have anything for it with me.  All the materials are back at the clinic.  Plaster of Paris isn't the sort of thing you want to be carrying around all the time."  Megumi smiled ruefully.  "I'll need strong but light bandages too, and warm water -- not too hot, but not cool either.  Although I think I'd rather wait for Genzaisensei."
     "Are you implying I can't do this myself?"  Kaoru bristled at the implication.
     "I'm implying that I'd like to be examined by a colleague before I diagnose myself," Megumi answered calmly.  "Now, Sano, I admit this is not all that uncomfortable, but would you please put me down?"
     "Oh yeah."  Sanosuke looked a little disgruntled.  "Where?"
     "Near the porch, so I can lean on the pillar and elevate my leg.  If you wouldn't mind, Kaoruchan, would you get me a few large rocks?  About the size of a sweet potato, just for a small barricade."
     "Umm, sure, but what do you need a barricade for?"
     "So no one trips over my leg by accident."
     Kaoru nodded.  "That makes sense."  She smiled as she looked around the yard for suitable rocks.
     Sano set Megumi down carefully where she had indicated.  Her left ankle was swollen painfully and already beginning to bruise.  From the way she winced as she moved it slightly, it was obvious she was in far more pain than she was letting on.
     "Would it help if you were a fox?  Maybe it would hurt less or something."
     Megumi was glad for the distraction.  "No, Kaoru.  It would actually be more harmful to change now.  If it is in fact broken, the shifting of the bones during the change would do more damage, not to mention hurt more.  It's a good thought, but not very practical.  It would make getting around much easier on four legs, though much harder to work on the cure."
     "That settles that then, no changing for you."  Sano looked alarmed at the possibility that he would have much longer to wait for his cure.
     "I think we should allow Megumisan a few days to rest before she starts working on the cure again.  After all, when one of you gets hurt in a fight, you don't rush out right away looking for another one.  Megumisan, please stay here at the dojo for a few days while your leg starts to get better.  After all, you've been doing so much that the least we can do is help you out when you need it.  Right everyone?"
     "Hai.  Kaorudono's right.  You should take it easy for a few days."  Kenshin smiled and that signed it for Megumi.
     "I suppose I can't argue with you."  She smiled back.
     Sano stepped inside the dojo to examine the source of the yells.  Yahiko and Ryouga were so absorbed in their training battle that they hadn't even noticed the minor commotion outside.  Sano leaned against the wall to watch.
     Both students were getting to be pretty good, he noticed.  It seemed now that Yahiko had some competition, he had a will to fight for his place as number one.  Competition was a powerful driving force, the ex-gangster knew.  It had kept him going for years before he met the Kenshingumi.  He'd had to compete against time, the government, and himself, not to mention the various fights he'd been in.  And that was not to mention the competition he felt with Kenshin for the love of a beautiful, intelligent woman...
     But now was not the time to dream of her.  "Oiy oiy, don't you two have something better to do than kill each other all the time?"
     "Not really."  Yahiko and Ryouga paused, short of breath.  "This glory hog ain't gonna get the better of me no matter what!"
     "Who're you callin' a glory hog?"  Ryouga didn't strike at Yahiko again.  It was pretty obvious that he understood the way of things around this dojo.  Friendship and affection ran deep, underneath a rough surface of coarse teasing and rivalry.  It was too complicated to understand the nuances of the relationships at the Kamiya dojo without experiencing them directly.
     "See any other pigs around here?"
     "Just a brat!"
     "Why don't you two shut up and come outside?  Maybe actually do something useful and help the onnasensei."
     "Since when did you ever care about being useful?"  Yahiko shot the tall young man a shocked look even as he started outside.
     "What happened to Megumisensei?"  Ryouga's look had more concern.  He hadn't quite figured out the friendly rivalry between the men and the women yet.
     Sano shrugged.  "She's outside.  Why don't you go ask her yourself?"
     Ryouga and Yahiko headed outside after Sano.  One look informed them of the situation.
     "Ow.  That's gotta hurt."  Yahiko looked in fascination at her swollen ankle.
     "Who did this to you!  You must be avenged!"  Ryouga had that obsessive look in his eyes.  "When I find the cretin that hurt you I shall --"
     "Fill in the hole?"
     Ryouga blinked, caught off guard.  "Huh?" he said intelligently.
     Megumi smiled at him.  "I fell.  I stepped in a hole in the road and I fell.  It was my own fault."
     "It was a deep hole.  Though you should have been looking where you were going."  Sano slouched defiantly at the other end of the porch from Megumi's perch.
     "Why, are you actually defending me?  Come now, I'm the one that fell!  Did you hit your thick chickenhead recently?  Let me take a look."  Megumi beckoned at Sanosuke with a very vulpine grin on her face.  The young man looked pained even though it was the woman who was injured.
     "You don't have to tease me for bein' on your side."  It was a lame response, and he knew it.  "I'm going for a walk."
     Megumi looked at Kenshin and Kaoru, while Ryouga and Yahiko shared a glance.  Sano had been going for a lot of walks lately, and was taking Megumi's teasing harder and harder.  It was clear something would have to be done about this, and soon.  It wasn't just the Jusenkyou curse.  Sano's feelings were becoming more and more clear, and it was equally obvious that she didn't really return those feelings in depth.  It was beginning to become not only worrisome but irritating.  After all, the guy wasn't stupid.  He had to know she didn't reciprocate his love for her, but it seemed he couldn't control it any more than she could control her feelings for Kenshin.  It was how he handled it that worried his friends.  Sano had been more depressed and angry in the past several weeks than he had been in years.  Kenshin, most of all, felt the need to do something to ease his friend's mind and distract him from the confusing situation, yet by the same token, Sano saw him as a rival.  It could only make things worse if he said or did the wrong thing.
     "I'll go after him."  Kenshin headed for the door.
     "No.  Let me.  Please."  Ryouga stepped forward.  "I know what he's going through."  He cast a questioning glance at Megumi who nodded and he ran off after the taller man.
     Once, during a recent session, Ryouga had told her the entire story of his own situation back in his own time, in the future.  How he'd met Saotome Ranma, how the rivalry born long before he'd ever met Tendou Akane had come to be.  What had happened after he'd met Akane, and the very awkward situation with Ranma and all his fiancees.  Especially Akane.
     "Ryouga's been the good friend too."
     Kaoru blinked.  "Don't you mean A good friend?"
     Megumi shook her head and summarized the situation, ending with a sigh.  "So he knows what it's like to love someone who's really in love with someone else, who happens to be a good friend no matter what the circumstances.  And if not for the curse of Jusenkyou, he would never be anywhere remotely near this kind of mess.  I feel like it's my fault."
     "You can't think that way, Megumisan!  You can't just give up.  I know you'll find the cure.  You've got to."
     Megumi nodded.
     "Megumidono..."
     "Hai?"
     "Do you remember what we talked about once, not long after we met?"
     Megumi smiled ruefully at Kenshin.  "We talked about a lot."
     "We talked about giving up."
     Megumi nodded.  "You're the one who showed me that I've got skills people need.  You protect people from each other, then I help patch things up once you're done."
     Kenshin smiled.  "Hai.  I've never really thought about it that way."
     "I have."  But Megumi smiled again, not so negatively, and she knew things would work themselves out.  They had a way of doing that.
     Yahiko shrugged at Kaoru.  "Does this mean we can eat real cooking for a change?"
     Kaoru glared back and dove for her student, who didn't duck quickly enough.  In moments they were pulling hair, faces, anything they could reach, and screaming insults back and forth.  Megumi looked back at Kenshin.
     "The more things change, the more they stay the same...  But some things are better off not changing."
     Kenshin held up the heated kettle and smiled his agreement.