Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic

Fanfic By: Chiruken

Misao entered the bathhouse just as the heavy clouds decided that it was time to dump their load. Ducking inside with a wide grin, cradling the sake jugs against her chest protectively, she shook her dark hair out of her twinkling green eyes and used her foot to close the door. Holding the jugs up triumphantly she laughed brightly. "Success!"

Megumi’s lips curved upwards as she gestured towards the large steaming bath where Kaoru relaxed with a contented smile on her face, blue eyes closed and dark hair curling damply against her temples. Misao blinked and paused, her smile slipping for a moment before she brightened again and gestured for the lady doctor to come near. "I’ve been followed." She whispered and nodded towards the back window open a crack. "Aoshi-sama and Kenshin…I think they saw me take the sake."

Megumi frowned for a moment before turning to stare at the window. When she turned back to Misao, the younger woman blinked and resisted the urge to rub her eyes when, through the steam, she thought she saw fox ears sprout up through the other woman’s dark hair. "Then let’s give them a good show, hmmm?" Raising her hand to her mouth, the doctor laughed in such a way that Misao felt instantly very anxious for the eavesdropping men outside the bathhouse.

"Uh…" Misao glanced nervously towards the window before clearing her throat. "Just what did you have in mind, Megumi?"

Leaning closer, Megumi placed her hand on the younger woman’s shoulder in reassuring gesture. "Just follow my lead."

Misao looked dubious but nodded all the same. "All right…" She looked towards Kaoru then back up at Megumi. "Should we tell Kaoru?"

The doctor grinned and shook her head, placing a finger against her lips. "We can’t…she’s too close to the window and they’d hear."

"Uh huh…" Misao shrugged and handed over the jugs of sake and cups. "Here…take this. I forgot to ask…did you want it warmed?"

"It’s a little late for that now, don’t you think?" Megumi crossed to the large tub and set the jugs down on the ledge surrounding it. "Kaoru…" The younger woman looked up with a contented smile. "Would you like some sake?"

"I really shouldn’t…" Kaoru hedged with a sheepish grin. "But I will anyway."

Misao quickly stripped off her ninja uniform and rinsed before stepping into the steaming furo. Slowly lowering herself into the hot water she closed her eyes with a blissful sigh. "Ah…this feels so good…" The water sloshed as Megumi slipped into the tub and Misao opened one eye. "Don’t splash, Megumi." She spoke a little louder than absolutely necessary, a mischievous grin curving her lips upwards.

Catching her look, Megumi smiled slyly as well. "Kaoru, do you think you could move over a little? I can barely sit comfortably with you hogging the whole furo."

"What are you talking about? You have plenty of room." Catching the cunning expression in the other woman’s eyes, Kaoru raised her eyebrow questioningly, looking from Megumi to Misao and back again, seeing the same look reflected in the ninja girl’s eyes. "Uh…did I miss something?" She whispered softly. Misao grinned and after Megumi gave her an encouraging nod, began to pantomime the situation. Kaoru scowled as she watched the younger girl make odd faces. It took several moments before she recognized Kenshin’s habitual silly rurouni smile and then Aoshi’s stony expression. Blue eyes widening in sudden understanding, she followed Misao’s pointing finger and stared at the partially open window above her head. "Oh…" She whispered and scrunched down further into the water, a blush working up her throat into her face. "I see." Swallowing with some difficulty, she leaned forward and lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "Can I leave now…Please?"

Megumi laughed and shook her head. "Here, Kaoru, have some sake."

"Yeah…relax and enjoy yourself." Misao chimed in, reaching for her own cup and sipping the potent alcohol with a slight grimace. "So, Megumi…" Misao smiled at the doctor, green eyes curious. "How long have you and Aoshi-sama been…you know…together."

Megumi nearly spit her sake out and glared at the smug expression on Misao’s face. "Long enough. You and Ken-san?"

Kaoru could have sworn she heard the sound of someone choking outside the window. She looked up with a frown as Misao giggled nervously. "Megumi? I don’t think…"

Misao grinned and leaned forward, gesturing for Kaoru to be quiet. "Not nearly long enough." She injected a wistful note into her voice and sighed dramatically.

Kaoru’s eyes widened. "What?!" She took a hasty sip of sake. "Are you saying that you and Kenshin…" She trailed off and stared at her friend in shock. "No way! You mean he actually made a move? I don’t believe it!"

"Details, girl! We want details!" Megumi leaned forward as well, grabbing the sake jug and pouring another round. She covered her mouth quickly to hold in a bout of giggles at the unmistakable sound of a hastily cut off familiar and indignant ‘oro’ just outside the bathhouse.

Kaoru’s eyes moved to the window again, then back to her two companions a slow smile curving her lips as understanding dawned. "Yes, Misao…details. Don’t leave us hanging!" A wicked gleam entered her blue eyes that would’ve made the hapless rurouni very nervous had he seen it.

"Well…" Misao hedged, a blush flooding her cheeks. "At the back of the garden, by the wall…you know, where the path curves sharply through the bushes?" She waited until her companions nodded. "Well…he kissed me in the bushes."

Megumi waved her hand in dismissal. "Is that all? Please, weasel, I thought it was going to be something good."

"Hey! Who are you calling a weasel?!" Misao growled under her breath. "And it was good! The best, in fact. It was a toe-curling, butterfly inducing, electrifying, bone-melting kiss! So there!" She stuck her tongue out at the older woman for good measure.

"That good, huh?" Megumi laughed at the sound of another warbled ‘oro’ and gestured to the young ninja’s cup. "Drink up…we still have another jug to go."

Kaoru frowned into her half empty cup then looked up at Megumi. "What about you?"

Misao grinned. "Yeah, Megumi, what about you and Aoshi-sama?"

The doctor laughed and shook her head at the younger women and lifted her cup in a salute. "Well…let’s just say it’s everything Misao described and then some! Delicious is a good description. I can tell you that he’s far from being icy and stoic when we’re alone." That comment brought the distinctive sound of something thumping against the side of the building. The all three turned and stared at the window for a moment.

Kaoru raised her cup to take another long sip and frowned when she discovered it was empty. Quickly recovering she held out the cup to Megumi for a refill. "I find that remarkable…" She grinned, pleased with herself that she could say such a big word without stuttering, and then giggled when she realized that she was congratulating herself on her speech patterns. She lifted the cup and drained it, holding it out to Megumi again.

Megumi raised an eyebrow and smirked, silently filling Kaoru’s empty cup with more of the potent rice wine. "What about you and tori atama, Kaoru?"

"What about us?" She blinked blearily and leaned back against the wall, fanning herself as she sipped her sake. "Oh! That. Well, I can definitely tell you that his phemon…er…phomen…um…" She frowned as she stumbled over her words and blew her bangs off her forehead in annoyance. "His amazing stamina isn’t just for fighting!" She finally finished in a rush. Her declaration was met with stunned silence filled with the sound of rain falling on the roof and what sounded like a whispered argument, the words too soft to be understood. Misao leaned towards the window, listening intently, before shrugging. She glanced back towards Megumi and gave her a thumbs up signal. The lady doctor nodded her understanding and leaned over to reach for the other jug of sake. "How about you, Megumi? Have you and Aoshi done anysing…er…I mean…andy thing…um…you know what I mean." Kaoru wave her hand airily.

"Oh do I ever!" Megumi laughed and poured another round. It hadn’t really been her intention to get Kaoru this drunk, but now that it had happened, she was going to enjoy the chaos that would ensue. Besides, she could claim drunken stupidity if Aoshi lectured her about spilling the details about their relationship later. "There’s something to be said about a man who spends most of his time meditating…Oh, the control that can be achieved!"

"I feel so left out! All Kenshin has done is kiss me." Misao pouted and held her cup out for a refill. "I mean, really! He didn’t even try anything else." Suddenly she scowled. "It’s because I’m not as well built as you or Kaoru, isn’t it? Oh why do I have to have the body of a little kid?! I’m so unlucky!"

Above the sound of thunder crashing overhead from just under the window came a very loud and distinctive indignant exclamation of denial abruptly cut off. "Didn’t you do what I told you to, Misao?" Megumi sighed and shook her head. "I told you how to fix that."

"Well I feel stupid, okay? I mean, really! It just doesn’t seem natural to do something like that."

"True…true…" Kaoru giggled as she looked at her younger friend. "Tha’s why you get Kenshin to do it for you!"

Misao’s eyes widened as a hot flush of embarrassment crept up her neck into her already pink face. "I couldn’t possibly!" Then her expression turned thoughtful. "Do you think that would work, Megumi? Do you think I’d develop a more…mature…figure if Kenshin massaged them?"

Megumi almost choked on her laughter. She’d give almost anything to see the faces of the two men eavesdropping outside the bathhouse after that comment. "Er…well…you’d develop something all right!"

"You’re gonna have ta corner ‘im an’ be direct, M’sao." Kaoru hiccuped and giggled, holding out her empty cup hopefully. "Trus’ me…I’ve lived wi’ ‘im for ‘ow long? I know Kenshin…’e’s ‘bout as dense as they come y’know…’specially when it comes to figurin’ out ‘ow a girl feels."

Misao covered her mouth to hold in her laughter at the loud thud directly under the open window followed by some dramatic cursing. "So…what do I do?" She hoped she sounded properly awed and hopeful.

"More sake." Kaoru hiccuped again held her cup closer to Megumi for refilling.

"You do realize that you’re going to have a hangover to beat all hangovers in the morning, tanuki?"

"So wha’? I’m havin’ fun. Don’ be a shpoil shport, M’gumi."

"Kaoru…are you all right?" Misao watched in fascination as the other young woman started to slip down into the water. "Uh…Kaoru?" She looked over at Megumi questioningly.

Megumi sighed and shook her head. "That last one did it, I suppose. She’s out like a light. Help me get her out of the furo, Misao. We don’t need her drowning on us, now do we?"

"No, definitely not. You take her feet, I’ll take her arms." Misao lifted her friend from the furo, grunting with effort. "Whoa! When did she get so heavy? She doesn’t look like much, buy boy is she ever solid!"

"Don’t let her hear you say that. You know how touchy she is about her weight. Remember what happened when Ken-san commented on her gaining weight?"

Misao winced in sympathy. "Do I ever. I almost expected the imprint of her knuckles to be permanently planted on his face. I’m surprised he didn’t lose any teeth. Do you think we should dress her?"

Megumi gaze a long suffering sigh and slowly nodded. "Yes…I don’t want to have to hear her complain about being sick later. Is there a dry yukata around here?"

Misao reached into a cupboard and pulled out three clean yukata’s. "Here. We always keep extra in the bathhouse, just in case."

Megumi leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Misao, you do realize that Ken-san is standing outside listening to everything we say in here, don’t you?" When the younger woman just looked at her with a small enigmatic smile, Megumi felt her eyebrows shoot towards her hairline. "You are playing with fire, girl…be careful you don’t get burned. Ken-san isn’t a little boy to be played with…he’s a grown man."

"I’m aware of that Megumi." Misao smiled and gently propped Kaoru in a corner with a towel wrapped around her head, holding her wet locks out of the way.

"Just be sure you know what you’re setting yourself up for, Misao." Megumi placed her hand on the younger girl’s shoulder and squeezed gently. "I don’t want to see you get hurt."

Misao frowned and shook her head. "What are you talking about, Megumi? Kenshin would never hurt me. You’re worrying over nothing."

"I hope you’re right." Megumi murmured under her breath as she gazed at her younger friend fondly. "Misao…" She began hesitantly.

"Hmm?" Misao glanced over her shoulder as she stepped back into the furo.

"Are you upset about Aoshi and I?"

Misao frowned thoughtfully, biting her lower lip as she examined her feelings. Finally she shook her head slowly. "No…no, I don’t think so. I mean, how could I be? If you and Aoshi-sama weren’t together, I never would’ve realized how I feel about Kenshin, right?"

"Are you certain, Misao?" Megumi dried herself off.

"Absolutely. If Aoshi-sama wouldn’t have rejected me I never would’ve almost killed Kenshin and then I never would’ve know how he feels…" Her voice trailed off at the horrified expression on the doctor’s face. "What? What’s that look for?"

"You tried to kill Ken-san?!"

"Not on purpose! It was an accident. I was practicing with a target when he distracted me. Geez, what do you take me for? A homicidal maniac?"

"Well…you do like to throw your knives a lot…" Megumi smiled at the indignant huff Misao let out. "I’m just teasing you, weasel! Relax. I’m going inside before I turn into a prune. Don’t take too long." She glanced down at Kaoru and sighed. "I’m going to try to get our tanuki inside." She knelt beside Kaoru and gently shook her shoulder. "Kaoru." There was no response. "Hey, Kaoru!" She shook her a little harder. "Wake up! It’s time to go inside." Karou grumbled and opened one eye blearily. "That’s right…come on." Megumi heaved the smaller woman up and draped her arm around her shoulders. "Let’s go. Good night, Misao."

"’Night, Megumi." Misao closed her eyes and leaned back in the furo, letting the hot water soothe the tension from her muscles. The warmth and the sound of the rain lulled her senses, allowing her to relax and drift in a hazy half dream state. She didn’t hear the sound of the door opening slowly, nor the soft footsteps followed by the door closing silently.

**To Be Continued…**