Rurouni Kenshin - post-manga, Megumi/Sano
Aug. 30th, 2010 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lirillithThis was first posted in March 2005, but was apparently written earlier.
Title: As Time Goes By
Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin
Characters: Megumi, Sano, the rest of the Kenshin-gumi along with an invented K&K daughter.
Length: 100 words each.
Time Flies
****
Kenji's shooting up like a weed, and Hikari proudly holds out her hand, thumb tucked under, when I ask her age. Kaoru's voice falls into familiar cadences as she argues about something with Yahiko, but she doesn't throw things anymore. The dispute ends in laughter.
"Is it good to be back?" Kenshin asks, and I turn to face him. He can still pass for a teenager when he smiles, but the stiffness of his gait says otherwise.
"It is," I say, smiling in reply. "It's hard to believe it's been so long since my last visit. Time flies, doesn't it?"
****
Reunion
****
"Oi! Jo-chan!" The familiarity of the voice freezes me with disbelief.
"Sanosuke!" Kaoru's exasperated tones haven't changed either. They're bickering - she hadn't expected him, he changed his plans, isn't she glad to see him? Where's Kenshin? I step out into the courtyard.
"Hey," he says, suddenly quiet. "Vixen. You're back?"
"Just for a visit." He's scruffier than ever.
"Family waiting back home?" Once, he'd have asked if I was still an old maid.
"Just my patients," I say. Once, I'd have hit him for bringing up the topic.
"Huh. Ruined you for other men, didn't I?"
I'm not blushing. "Idiot."
****
Changes
****
After everyone's in bed, I find I can't sleep, so I pull on a jacket and go out to the garden to think. I'm almost dozing, head on my knees, when his footsteps rouse me.
"Still up?"
"Mm. Caught up with your friends?"
"Yeah. Tomo's married now, though. Bailed early."
"Strange, isn't it? Everything's the same as before, but so different..."
"You noticed too, huh?" He smiles. "So that's why you were so quiet at dinner."
"I had less to tell than you did."
"But I haven't heard any of it."
I hadn't thought he'd be interested. "Tomorrow," I say.
****
Couple
****
I have some people to visit, too. He comes with me the next morning so we can catch up. He refuses to shave - "I worked hard on this," he says, and I say "that scruff?" - so I'm accompanied around town by someone who looks even more like a criminal and ruffian than he used to.
We get some looks, but only one person asks - the daughter of the old doctor. I tell her he's my husband, just to see the look on her face. Then I tell him. He mutters. "What was that, dear?" I ask, and then I laugh.
****
Missed Me?
****
He misses every chance I give him. So the next night, as we sit on the porch, I very deliberately let my head fall against his shoulder, and wait until he puts a tentative arm around me. I do nothing to dislodge it, and eventually it relaxes.
"Missed me, huh?" he says, as if he's actually cocky and assured, as if I couldn't tell.
"Yes, all I have is a busy medical practice. Nothing but my life's work. I'm desolate."
"Thought so." He sounds satisfied, though I know he heard the sarcasm.
"Idiot." I'm smiling as he finally kisses me.
****
Plans
****
"So what's Aizu like?"
"Why? Are you going there?"
"What, you don't want me around?"
"I didn't say that. But I thought you were traveling. How'd you put it? 'Where the wind takes you'?"
He's looking away. "I could visit."
He's young. A bearded, temperamental street punk. Our lives don't exactly fit together, even if we were trying to have a future, and I'm far too busy to be lonely anyway. But I still say "Maybe you should."
"Scare off all your patients."
I roll my eyes. "Yes, you're terrifying." I do wonder what they'll make of him.
"Just wait."
****
And just for good measure, the too-long-for-a-drabble first draft.
****
Kenji's shooting up like a weed, and Ayame proudly holds out her hand, thumb tucked under, when I ask her how old she is. Kaoru's voice falls into familiar cadences and her eyes flash as she argues about something or other with Yahiko, but she doesn't throw things anymore, and they both laugh at something he says.
"Is it good to be back?" Kenshin asks from behind me, and I turn back to face him. If it weren't for the gray in his hair, the stiffness in his gait, he could still almost pass for a teenager when he smiles. It's heartbreaking to look at Kenji and see what he could have been if the world were a kinder place.
"It is," I say, smiling in reply. "It's hard to believe it's been so long since my last visit. Time flies, doesn't it?"
Title: As Time Goes By
Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin
Characters: Megumi, Sano, the rest of the Kenshin-gumi along with an invented K&K daughter.
Length: 100 words each.
Time Flies
****
Kenji's shooting up like a weed, and Hikari proudly holds out her hand, thumb tucked under, when I ask her age. Kaoru's voice falls into familiar cadences as she argues about something with Yahiko, but she doesn't throw things anymore. The dispute ends in laughter.
"Is it good to be back?" Kenshin asks, and I turn to face him. He can still pass for a teenager when he smiles, but the stiffness of his gait says otherwise.
"It is," I say, smiling in reply. "It's hard to believe it's been so long since my last visit. Time flies, doesn't it?"
****
Reunion
****
"Oi! Jo-chan!" The familiarity of the voice freezes me with disbelief.
"Sanosuke!" Kaoru's exasperated tones haven't changed either. They're bickering - she hadn't expected him, he changed his plans, isn't she glad to see him? Where's Kenshin? I step out into the courtyard.
"Hey," he says, suddenly quiet. "Vixen. You're back?"
"Just for a visit." He's scruffier than ever.
"Family waiting back home?" Once, he'd have asked if I was still an old maid.
"Just my patients," I say. Once, I'd have hit him for bringing up the topic.
"Huh. Ruined you for other men, didn't I?"
I'm not blushing. "Idiot."
****
Changes
****
After everyone's in bed, I find I can't sleep, so I pull on a jacket and go out to the garden to think. I'm almost dozing, head on my knees, when his footsteps rouse me.
"Still up?"
"Mm. Caught up with your friends?"
"Yeah. Tomo's married now, though. Bailed early."
"Strange, isn't it? Everything's the same as before, but so different..."
"You noticed too, huh?" He smiles. "So that's why you were so quiet at dinner."
"I had less to tell than you did."
"But I haven't heard any of it."
I hadn't thought he'd be interested. "Tomorrow," I say.
****
Couple
****
I have some people to visit, too. He comes with me the next morning so we can catch up. He refuses to shave - "I worked hard on this," he says, and I say "that scruff?" - so I'm accompanied around town by someone who looks even more like a criminal and ruffian than he used to.
We get some looks, but only one person asks - the daughter of the old doctor. I tell her he's my husband, just to see the look on her face. Then I tell him. He mutters. "What was that, dear?" I ask, and then I laugh.
****
Missed Me?
****
He misses every chance I give him. So the next night, as we sit on the porch, I very deliberately let my head fall against his shoulder, and wait until he puts a tentative arm around me. I do nothing to dislodge it, and eventually it relaxes.
"Missed me, huh?" he says, as if he's actually cocky and assured, as if I couldn't tell.
"Yes, all I have is a busy medical practice. Nothing but my life's work. I'm desolate."
"Thought so." He sounds satisfied, though I know he heard the sarcasm.
"Idiot." I'm smiling as he finally kisses me.
****
Plans
****
"So what's Aizu like?"
"Why? Are you going there?"
"What, you don't want me around?"
"I didn't say that. But I thought you were traveling. How'd you put it? 'Where the wind takes you'?"
He's looking away. "I could visit."
He's young. A bearded, temperamental street punk. Our lives don't exactly fit together, even if we were trying to have a future, and I'm far too busy to be lonely anyway. But I still say "Maybe you should."
"Scare off all your patients."
I roll my eyes. "Yes, you're terrifying." I do wonder what they'll make of him.
"Just wait."
****
And just for good measure, the too-long-for-a-drabble first draft.
****
Kenji's shooting up like a weed, and Ayame proudly holds out her hand, thumb tucked under, when I ask her how old she is. Kaoru's voice falls into familiar cadences and her eyes flash as she argues about something or other with Yahiko, but she doesn't throw things anymore, and they both laugh at something he says.
"Is it good to be back?" Kenshin asks from behind me, and I turn back to face him. If it weren't for the gray in his hair, the stiffness in his gait, he could still almost pass for a teenager when he smiles. It's heartbreaking to look at Kenji and see what he could have been if the world were a kinder place.
"It is," I say, smiling in reply. "It's hard to believe it's been so long since my last visit. Time flies, doesn't it?"
