Part III -- Megumi's Decision

    It was rather late when the two women returned from their travels.  Sanosuke had managed to find a whole new set of gambling buddies and was out spending money he didn't have; Kaoru and Misao were off swapping stories about their respective men, Yahiko was practicing, and the others were all off doing whatever it was they did when nothing else was going on.  Kenshin had been dragged off by Aoshi for an afternoon of meditation.  Yahiko later told Megumi that Kenshin had muttered something about needing to catch up on his sleep anyway.
    Jiya was sitting on the porch, looking forlorn.  He brightened when he saw the two women coming, jumping up and grinning wildly.  "It's about time you two came home!  So, what did the two of you do today?"
    "Nothing exciting," Megumi tossed off breezily as she set down a moderately sized satchel of medical paraphernalia.  Needless to say, the old man didn't believe her.
    "Oh well, then, if you don't want to brighten an old man's day..."  He let his voice trail off and a trace of puppy like sadness tracked its way back onto his narrow features.
    "Truly, we shopped for medicine."  It wasn't easy for the two women to resist exchanging a knowing glance.  They had, in fact, stopped at the police station, under the simple pretense Megumi had set up.  Sano would be coming to town shortly and she wanted to know if his two "dear friends" would be available to surprise him.  Of course, she simply had to speak to them both first.  It wouldn't do to have a surprise like that fall flat.  The officer on duty, new at his job, had agreed.  Poor man.  She'd left a message with him to get in contact with her if either of her two quarries showed up.
    After that, however, Omasu had taken her to a small farm nearby where a friend of the Oniwa Banshu worked, and begun Megumi's training.  Because the Kenshingumi only intended to stay for a few days, not more than two weeks, there was not very much they could do, but as Megumi put it, better to start than never to make the attempt.  She'd proven an apt student, her medical experience granting her intimate awareness of a person's weak spots, and she'd been ready to begin basic techniques within minutes.  Her concentration was honed finely with her history over an operating table, and she knew how to breathe.  Omasu was greatly impressed, but there had been one bone of contention between them.
    "Megumisan, you cannot possibly intend to train in a kimono!"  The trainer had been scandalized.
    "I can't very well train in nothing, now, can I?  And it would be more than a little suspect if I were suddenly to begin wearing something else."  Megumi had been adamant and logical, and Omasu eventually gave in to her pupil -- to a point.
    "Very well, a compromise, then.  You borrow something of mine in which you can train.  We'll leave it here, and you can change for training."
    "That's fair," the doctor had conceded, though she had made it clear she did not like "the very idea of wearing anything so... scanty!"
    Omasu had found that amusing.  Personally, she preferred her fighting gear; kimono were so cumbersome.
    Not, of course, that they were going to tell any of the others their transaction.  It was a deal between the two of them, woman to woman; they would not tell.  Honor demanded no less.
    It wasn't easy to fool people; everyone knew something was up.  Omasu and Megumi would disappear together, often for hours at a time and sometimes more than once a day.  It troubled Sanosuke greatly, and he began to conjure images of torrid affairs, unendurable shopping trips, and worse.  He took to sitting outside and staring off in the direction they almost always took, waiting conspicuously for their return.
    Kenshin grew concerned for his friend, noticing just how preoccupied he'd been.  Coming across him for the third afternoon in a row, Kenshin paused and looked down at the distraught ex-gangster.
    "Sano?"
    "Eh?"
    "Daijoubu?"
    "Eh."
    "Oro?"
    Silence.
    "Sanosuke, do you want to talk about it?"  The redhead sat next to the tall brunet with a concerned look as he studied the other.
    "About what?"
    "About what's upsetting you."
    "I ain't upset."
    Kenshin sighed; sometimes talking to Sanosuke was almost as productive as talking to a wall.  No wonder Megumidono had lost patience with him.  "If you're not upset then why are you acting like it?"
    "I ain't upset."
    "I see," Kenshin sighed as he started to rise.
    "I just don't know what's with the onnasensei lately.  This vacationing visiting thing was all her idea and now she's never here!  Who does she think she is anyway, vanishing off all the time like that?"
    Kenshin sat back down.  "Why haven't you followed her?"
    Sanosuke looked at his friend at last.  "Are you nuts?  She'd kill me!"
    "That's never stopped you before," the rurouni said with a wry grin.
    "Yeah well, it's stopping me now.  Oiy, Kenshin?"  After a moment's thought, the teenager looked at his friend and grinned.
    "Oro?"
    "She wouldn't kill you for following her, Kenshin."
    "Oh no, Sanosuke, no way," the rurouni shook his head and scuttled back.
    "No way what," Misao stuck her head outside.
    "He won't follow Megumi and Omasu to find out what they're up to!"  Sano growled.
    "Well, I've been curious myself," Misao mused.  "Omasu's usually not so big on subterfuge..."
    Sano jumped on that.  "So you'll follow them, then?"
    "BAKA!"  Misao gifted the tall ex gangster with a beautiful right hook.  "What kind of untrusting idiot do you think I am!  Just because you're too stupid to trust your friends doesn't mean the rest of us are!"  She flounced back inside in a temper.
    "Maa, maa.  She has a point..."  The redhead cast a nervous glance at the other man.
    "Does this mean you'll go, Kenshin?"  Sano rubbed his cheek and looked pathetic.
    Kenshin sighed.
    However, the next day when Megumi and Omasu vanished off, Kenshin trailed after them.  He didn't go to great lengths to hide it, either.  He rather half hoped he'd be caught, in fact, in spite of the fact it would probably rather irritate his beautiful friend.  Kaoru or no, he wasn't entirely immune to her charms.  He was just more afraid of Kaoru's.
    Unfortunately for him, it seemed, he remained unnoticed.  However, he wasn't close enough to hear the conversation the two women were having...
    "Omasusan, I think we're being followed."
    "Hai, I know.  Wanna try out your skills?"
    "Not on Kensan!"  Megumi looked shocked.  Omasu giggled.
    "No, of course not.  But we can't let him get away with it, either.  Why don't we let him think he's succeeding, and then get him good?"
    Megumi's eyes widened gleefully.  "Hai, something he can take back to the tori-atama that will make that baka feel as foolish as he is!"  Megumi had no doubt at all as to who had put Kenshin up to trailing them.
    Omasu nodded, and by the time they'd arrived at the farmhouse, they'd come up with a plan.  Entering the main house with formal bows, they explained to the older woman who ran the farm.  She liked the idea and quickly laid out tea and cake.
    Megumi stepped back out onto the porch.  "Kensan," she called, "Why not come in and join us?"  She waited a moment.  "Don't be shy now, Kensan.  Or would you rather play hide and seek?  When I find you..."  Her voice trailed off into a wicked little laugh and the fox ears that popped up were clear evidence that his wiser goal involved emerging promptly.  Sighing and smiling nervously, he poked his head up from the bushes near the door behind which he'd been hiding and waved weakly.
    "Ohayou, Megumidono..."
    She beckoned him over.  "The tea is ready, if you'd care to join us," she smirked as she reentered.
    He sighed again.  There was nothing for it; he had to take his punishment like a man.
    Megumi and Omasu were sitting with the old woman, sipping delicately from fine teacups that hardly seemed to fit the rustic home.  Kenshin blinked, saying the first thing that came to mind.
    "Oro?"
    "Hirosuesan, this is Himura Kenshin.  Kensan, Hirosuesan is a friend of the Oniwa Banshu.  Omasu and I come out here to keep her company and help out around the house and sometimes the farm."
    "It's all right.  Please, join us," the older woman said with a smile.  Megumi rose gracefully and poured another cup of tea for the bewildered redhead.  He sat down with an expression of dismay.
    "Suman de gozaru," he mumbled.  "Sano was convinced you were up to something truly..."  He groped for a word.
    "Sinister?" Omasu supplied.
    "Perverted," Megumi affirmed.
    Kenshin merely nodded and looked abashed.
    "I remember when I was younger, my friends were always concerned about where I was going and what I was up to.  I made little Misaochan look quite calm when I was her age," Hirosue recounted.  "Unfortunately, I truly was often up to trouble back then -- or at least, so it must have seemed.  I was always climbing trees, poking my nose where it didn't belong.  Of course, that wasn't the safest era to be such a wild one," she mused.  "Even then there was considerable strife in the government.  I didn't pay much attention at the time, but it seemed there was always fighting somewhere, always bloodshed.  Now it's not so bad, now that the new government is settling in.  Nonetheless..."  Her watery eyes filled with memory as she sipped tea.
    Omasu and Megumi kept surreptitious eyes on Kenshin, who seemed resigned to his fate.  At the moment, he sincerely wanted to slap Sanosuke silly, which he reminded himself was redundant.  Sano was already a little beyond silly.  Then again, he had allowed himself to be coerced into following them...  There was more than met the eye, here, but he wasn't going to pry any further.  He was glad when the tea was finished.
    "Well, we'll be staying a little longer to help out, Himurasan," Omasu said.  "You're welcome to join us, if you like."
    "Thank you, but I promised Aoshidono I'd spend the day with him," Kenshin smiled pathetically as he all but ran for the door.  It had been quite a while since he'd been this embarrassed.  If he wasn't such a nice guy, he thought as he headed back to the Aoiya, he'd make Sanosuke regret this for days, if not weeks.  Maybe even months...  Coming up with plans for revenge always made it easier to deal with.  He never followed through, but it was nice to have the option.
    He didn't really believe that story.  If Omasu had been vanishing regularly before their visit, that might be one thing, but he was sure the three women were conspiring together.  He had nothing solid to go on, and so began trudging back to the restaurant with mingled chagrin and relief.
    He hadn't gone far when he heard the sounds of women fighting, coming back from the direction of the house and moving off towards the fields.  He froze momentarily and turned back at a dead run for the two figures.  Two women in Oniwa Banshu garb were going at it for all they were worth.  He could see Omasu's brown hair glinting in the sun, but there was no way that the braid could possibly belong to...
    "Megumidono???"  He slid to a stop, blinking through the clouds of dust.  When it had settled, she stood there, resplendent in her training outfit, with a look both sheepish and defiant.  It was quite impressive.  Unfortunately for Kenshin, he couldn't think of anything to say, and she looked like she was getting angry.  He tried his best...  "Oroooroooroo..."
    She glared at him a moment longer, exchanged a glance with Omasu, and nearly fell down laughing.  "Oh, Kensan!"  Dropping the staff, she embraced him briefly, before dancing away lithely.  "You have to promise you won't tell, and then I'll explain," she said.  She wore an expression he'd been accustomed to seeing on Ayamechan's or Suzumechan's features: determination, amusement, and a conspiratorial grin.  It was rather discombobulating.  He tried desperately to talk his way out of it for a moment before he realized she and Omasu really weren't going to start abusing him.
    "Ahh..  Hai.  I promise," he finally said.
    "I've been training Megumisan in some basic fighting techniques.  I'm frankly amazed at just how quickly she's picked up everything.  She swears she's never been trained to fight before," Omasu eyed her friend sideways, "but I'm not sure I believe her.  Tell me, Himurasan, has she?"
    "Not..  Not to my knowledge..."
    "In exchange, Megumisan's been teaching me some medicine and surgical knowledge.  In the business we're in, you can never be too prepared for anything."  Omasu smiled wryly.
    "I didn't want to tell anyone," Megumi said softly.  "I was just so tired of always relying completely on you to protect me.  I wanted to learn to defend myself.  It's one of the reasons I suggested this vacation."
    "I know another!" Omasu chimed.
    Megumi simply shot her a look full of venomous daggers.
    "Oro?"
    "Never mind, Kensan.  So are you going to watch, or are you going to report back to your commander?"  Megumi's tone indicated her current opinion of Sanosuke in general and his latest ploy.
    "Come, watch, Himurasan!  If nothing else, you can critique, or just get some high class entertainment.  If you're really well behaved, maybe we'll mud wrestle for you, too!"  Omasu grinned wickedly, dodging Megumi's swing and dancing off into the distance, the buxom doctor in hot pursuit.  Kenshin couldn't help grinning to himself as he followed.  This would be worth keeping from Sanosuke, with that incentive!  Not that he expected them to mud wrestle, and Kaoru would have three kinds of fit at the very least, but he did know fighting techniques, and it beat staring off into space for another day.
    Sano would hate him for this...