The Cost of Protection: Chapter Four -- A Rurouni Kenshin Story
The Cost of Protection
Chapter Title: Drinks Among Men
Anime: Rurouni Kenshin
Rating: PG13(So far, for Sano's naughty mouth.)
Summary: An old woman offers an unbelievable gift to Kenshin; perfect health and immunity to injury. But such a gift comes at high cost, how much can Sanosuke afford to pay?
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship
Pairings: None
Characters: Sanosuke, Kenshin, Megumi, Kaoru, Yahiko
Status: Incomplete
Chapter One || Chapter Two || Chapter Three
The Cost of Protection
A Rurouni Kenshin Story
Chapter Four: Drinks Among Men
Sitting on the dojo porch, Sanosuke attempted to follow the wooden sword play between teacher and student as Kaoru instructed Yahiko in the yard before him. The sun was up and bright in the early afternoon sky and the birds were chattering in the local trees. All the same, Sanosuke found himself repeatedly nodding off as he leaned against the porch support.
He was tired. A low rumble sounded from his stomach and Sanosuke patted his bandaged-wrapped belly in commiseration. He was hungry too. Both things were really quite funny. He'd slept nearly twelve hours straight the night before, he had no right to be tired now. He'd eaten three helpings of rice not a half hour before at lunch, he had no right to be hungry.
Kenshin hadn't eaten a thing. And if Yahiko's continued awe and bragging were right, then the red-haired man hadn't much slept in the past two weeks. Sanosuke could feel it. It was now a month gone since Shizuka's visit, and as far as Sanosuke knew, no one but he and Megumi knew that anything bad might have come from this gift.
He knew that Kenshin knew something was up with him though. What had been slid by a week before as blooming relationship between himself and the lady doctor had since been shot down. Loudly and by both of them. Sano could see where the confusion had come from though. He sure spent a lot of time at the clinic and with Megumi since he told her about what was going on. She was really worried about him. He really couldn't see why. He was tired, hungry and a bit bruised and banged up, but it wasn't like he was in mortal danger.
Even though Yahiko and Kaoru had picked up on the joke, Kenshin wasn't accusing them of being a couple any longer. When Sanosuke stopped by of the last couple of days, Kenshin had asked each time if he was feeling well. Sano wondered if he looked that crappy or if Kenshin was that sharp. After a long moment of thought, he decided Kenshin was just that aware. Right now that sucked. And so, for the past two days, Sanosuke and done his very best to avoid getting caught in a private conversation with Kenshin.
It was weird avoiding his best friend like that, and for the first time he felt a twinge of guilt about covering up what Kenshin's 'gift' really was. How could Sano possibly tell the rurouni that he would feel so much better if Kenshin would only start sleeping and eating again. It wasn't affecting Kenshin, why should it for any plausible reason worry Sanosuke? Maybe he could plead his worry for Kenshin's future health. Or maybe he could just avoid any deep and meaningful conversations until Kenshin gave up his curiosity about Sano's relative health.
Yeah, that sounded like workable plan.
Dark eyes slid shut once more and the sound of the birds and the clash of wooden swords lulled the young man back down into sleep. It felt as though only a few moments had passed when he was roused by a gentle hand on his shoulder. A glance a the position of the sun had him guessing that about two hours had passed. Only the sounds of nature echoed through the yard, and the foot traffic from outside the dojo gates. Training must have finished up then.
Turning his head, Sano found himself looking into the decidedly concerned face of Himura Kenshin. “Hey. Guess I caught up on my shut-eye there.”
Kenshin nodded, slipping his hand from Sano's shoulder and seating himself beside the younger man on the porch. “It would seem that your afternoon naps have become a daily routine lately, Sano.”
Which was true enough. But what could Sanosuke do? He was tired enough lately that whenever he sat still too long he fell asleep. It was becoming a running joke with his gambling buddies who all assumed he must have a woman on the side keeping him up late at nights. “Yeah. I guess I should gamble less and sleep more, huh?”
Kenshin ignored Sano's smile. The unfortunate part about being good friends with Kenshin and being able to read through his masks was that Kenshin could also see through Sano's fake smiles. “Please, Sano. No more of this. This one desires only to know the truth.”
For a moment, Sanosuke froze, face straight and peeking at Kenshin from the corners of his eyes. He wondered if Kenshin had figured him out. He wondered how much trouble he was in. “About what?”
“Your health, Sano.”
Sanosuke's eyes focused fully on the empty yard before them. “What do you wanna know?”
Kenshin's hand landed lightly on his arm, urging the younger man to look him in the eyes. After a moment, Sanosuke obliged him. “About why you and Megumi-dono insist on speaking in circles about things that both of you would normally be direct about. This one asks why you are so tired and both of you deflect with gambling habits. This one asks why you have been suffering so many small bruises and cuts and you both defer to a sudden bout of clumsiness. You are not a clumsy man and you do not gamble every night. Sano, are you ill?”
“No! No, Kenshin, I'm all right. I mean, yeah, I've been pretty tired, I'm not denying that. And yeah I've gotten kinda clumsy lately, but who isn't when they're tired?”
“Then why is Megumi-dono so concerned for your health?”
Unable to break eye contact with the red-haired man, Sano puffed out a small breath and told as near the truth as he could. “She doesn't like that I'm so tired lately. Its bothering her. But she's found nothing else wrong with me. So, she's taken to feeding me instead.”
Kenshin sighed and nodded. “Your appetite is at least quite healthy, that it is. Are you certain you feel well otherwise?”
Sanosuke grinned. “Yeah, healthy as a horse, Kenshin.”
And in that Sanosuke was telling the entire truth. It reflected in his eyes and in his posture and Kenshin smiled in return at him. “This one is pleased to hear that. Come inside then Sano. Megumi-dono and Kaoru-dono have begun working on dinner. I thought perhaps we could share a drink.”
“Oh,” Sano drawled his face brightening at the prospect, “Jou-chan let you into the sake supply, did she? I'm all in for that!”
Kenshin laughed. “This one thought perhaps you would be.”
Which was how Sanosuke found himself on his feet and happily trailing Kenshin into the main house. Yahiko looked up from where he was sprawled on the floor attending to his wooden sword. “Man, your roused the sleeping beast out there, huh? I guess Megumi was keeping him up too late again last night!”
“Che,” Sano responded with an off-handed wave, “You'd be amazed how long that lady doctor can lecture at a guy.”
Yahiko batted his eyes in an exaggerated way and made a few crude gestures with his hands, “Oh, lecturing, I'm sure that's exactly whats going on with you two!”
Sanosuke grunted and leaned down to pop the boy hard on the head. “Watch yourself kid! And who the hell is teaching you this stuff anyway? I thought I was the only one around here corrupting you.”
Yahiko snorted even as he rubbed his crown. “C'mon Sanosuke, I was corrupted before I ever met you. Supper isn't done yet, by the way.”
Kenshin interrupted then, a small amused smile on his lips. “This one invited Sano in for a drink.”
The boy smiled brightly, leaping up from the floor and tucking his wooden sword at his back. “Oh, a drink, that sounds great!”
This time Sanosuke snorted. “Let me go find the ink brushes first, I'd like 'em handy to draw on you after you pass out from your first cup of sake.”
“Hey, I can hold my liquor like a man. And this is a drink among men right? So c'mon, lets have one!”
Sano and Kenshin cast each other a quick grin as Yahiko lead them to the sitting room. Kenshin disappeared long enough to find a couple of jugs of sake and three cups before joining the other two. The rurouni filled the three cups and raised his own for a toast of sorts. “To friends and,” Kenshin sent a brief glance at Yahiko even as a smile touched his lips, “to drinks among men.”
Yahiko missed the subtle bout of sarcasm from Kenshin and with a whoop of approval, downed his cup, refilled, and repeated. Sanosuke and Kenshin each drank their own at a slower pace and watched as Yahiko's face turned a bright red. With a couple of sputtering coughs, Yahiko groaned and leaped to his feet. Sanosuke started laughing as the boy bolted out into the yard and to the privy. He was likely puking back up those two cups of sake.
Kaoru stepped into the room then, no doubt curious about Yahiko darting across the yard and Sanosuke laughing away. “What did you two do to Yahiko? Wait did you let him drink again? You remember what happened last time!”
Kenshin held up a quelling hand. “Mah mah, Kaoru-dono. Yahiko was insistent on joining us, that he was.”
Sanosuke subdued himself enough to chuckle, “And I don't think he's going to pass out this time. He's too busy chucking it up.”
Kaoru harrumphed and placed her hands on her hips. “Honestly, I expect this kind of instigation from you, Sanosuke! I'm amazed that you went along with it though Kenshin.”
Megumi leaned through the kitchen door at this point, a spatula in one hand and her hair bound back from her face. “Oh leave them be, Kaoru-chan. Yahiko will survive it, your vegetables on the counter may not, however, unless you get back in here and finish dicing them!”
Sanosuke chuckled at this as well even as Kaoru grumbled and disappeared back into the kitchen. Kenshin and Sanosuke shared a couple of slow cups of sake over light conversation. Yahiko eventually rejoined them, all though he refused any more sake despite Sanosuke's continued encouragement. With in the hour, the women had finished dinner and joined the rest in eating the evening meal.
“You two have great timing,” Sanosuke enthused around a mouthful of curry, “I was starving. And this is pretty good, Kitsune must have done the seasoning.”
The young man barely dodged in time to avoid a low flying chopstick form Kaoru. “You lousy freeloading bum! Picking on my cooking while eating my food. And 'starving', I swear all you do right now is eat and sleep, your always 'starving!' Do you even do anything around here to earn that? Kenshin does the laundry and helps with the cooking and cleaning and he's not even eating anything right now. You should think about that before you open your big mouth!”
Sanosuke stared at the younger woman for a dumbstruck moment. She usually indulged him his insolence, this time the response was heartfelt. Strangely, it was Megumi who came to his defense. “I don't care whether Ken-san thinks he needs to eat or not, I say he would be better off doing so. As he is refusing right now, what harm is there in letting the rooster eat his fill? And while that may have been an insult of sorts, that was a fairly mild insult for this idiot. What is bothering you about that?”
Kaoru frowned, lips thinning. “I find it annoying. Sanosuke has always done his best to be a useless freeloader around here, but this sleeping all the time and sudden spike in eating habits to go along with being a lazy bum is going too far. You can only expect so much of friendly hospitality. He doesn't do anything around here!”
Megumi slammed her tea cup on the floor, rattling the bowls there. “He is doing more for this household than you think right now!”
Sanosuke swallowed his mouthful of sake hard, wide eyed and looking suddenly in a horrified way at Megumi. “Uh, no no, Kitsune, she's right, I'm a useless bum, that's all.”
Megumi turned and glared hard at him. Sanosuke read the challenge, she was ready to spill all right there about the truth of Kenshin's gift in order to defend him. Sanosuke stared her right back down. He was willing to take the hit to his pride and reputation, for what ever that was, in order to continue to cover the nature of Kenshin's gift. Finally, Megumi relented she sat back and finished her cup of tea before grumbling, “You're an idiot, rooster.”
Sanosuke offered her a crooked smile. “I know.”
Kenshin watched this exchange with questioning eyes, but it was Kaoru who threw up her hands in exasperation. “I just don't understand the lover's quarrels between you two right now. But, fine, I'll let the lazy bum off the hook today. I'm thinking Yahiko is right and that it is Megumi-san who is keeping Sanosuke up all night and tired all day anyway!”
Sanosuke and Megumi both groaned loudly and in sync, which sent Yahiko and Kaoru into fits of laughter. Kenshin smiled slightly but still watched Sano with a certain air of suspicion. They continued with their meal in relative peace, though Kenshin ate nothing. He and Sano shared a few more cups of sake between them. Sanosuke noted with interest that, strangely, after just four cups of sake he was feeling ever so slightly tipsy. It usually took more for him to feel it. All the same, he shrugged the sensation off and helped himself to seconds on dinner.
After the meal, Megumi and Kaoru cleared the dishes and enlisted Yahiko to help with washing them. Kenshin shifted to sit opposite of Sanosuke and grabbed both of the jugs of sake. With steady hands, he uncorked the untouched jug and poured enough into the first jug to equal the two out. One he handed to Sano, the other he kept for himself. “This one thought perhaps we could enjoy a small competition?”
Sanosuke grinned widely, settling himself into a comfortable cross legged position and getting a firm grip on the jug. “Your on, Kenshin.”
Both men tipped the jugs up and began chugging the contents with vigor. Near half way through the jug, Sanosuke pulled it from his mouth for a quick breather. Swiping a hand across his lips, the younger man hand to put the hand down to steady himself. Starring cross eyed at his half empty jug, Sanosuke realized with a start that he was drunk. Not just tipsy, but defiantly drunk. With only this much sake?
Sanosuke looked back up at Kenshin, who was at this rate going to beat him in their drinking contest. With a spike of pride, Sanosuke tipped his jug back up, determined to at least try to keep up with Kenshin. Adam's apple bobbing, Kenshin emptied his own sake with a sigh, dropping the jug beside him and grinning in victory as Sanosuke finished his own just behind. “Your loosing your touch, Sano.”
Sanosuke grunted in agreement, noting that Kenshin didn't so much as have a drunken blush on his cheeks. As for himself, Sano could feel the blush rising and burning through his own cheeks. The sake was hitting him right now and hard. And didn't seem to have affected Kenshin at all. “I guess I'm off my game tonight.”
Sanosuke grimaced slightly, did he just slur that a little bit? Kenshin's raised eyebrows at him suggested he may have. Head canted slightly, Kenshin asked, “Sano, are you drunk? On one jug?”
Staring back at Kenshin with the sort of morbid interest only the inebriated could conjure, Sanosuke replied stupidly. “Yeah, I think maybe I am.”
The women and Yahiko returned to the sitting room then and as they seated themselves they watched the two men. Kaoru shook her head. “You two drank my sake up. Or maybe, it looks like Sano drank most of it!”
Kenshin smiled. “Yes, we did, however, we drank equal portions. Sano lost the contest tonight.”
“And now I'm drunk,” Sanosuke agreed.
Megumi shook her head. “Kenshin, you drank a bottle of sake and you don't even look slightly flushed. Do you feel at all tipsy?”
Kenshin thought for a moment, his face slid into a neutral expression. “No, this one is feeling nothing of the alcohol. My apologies, Sano, this was perhaps not a fair contest. The supposed gift this one possess seems to neutralize even drunkenness.”
Sanosuke blinked at him, his inebriated mind slowly pulling the puzzle together. That damned gift again. Kenshin couldn't even get properly drunk as it was. And Sanosuke... Well that explained why he was feeling so very drunk so quickly, he was feeling the effects of two jugs of sake drunk at once. And wow was it a rush!
“Nah, man, s'okay. The drinkin 's the fun part.”
Yahiko snorted, watching Sano. “And the way your swaying where you sit Sanosuke, I'd say it was some pretty good sake that Kenshin is missing the effects of.”
Kaoru laughed. “Your the one who threw it up right away, Yahiko, I'd think you'd know!”
“Shut up, ugly!”
“Hey!”
Megumi stood then, having not been seated long. Coming to Sanosuke's side she interrupted the argument by grasping the younger man's shoulder. “Time to get you home then, I'll walk you so you don't wind up face first in a river on the way there.”
Sanosuke brushed off her hand and made a valiant attempt at standing up right on his own. “I can walk m'self you know. I'ma big boy.”
He was nearly upright when he swayed abruptly to the left, Megumi caught his elbow even as Kenshin himself rose to help Sano out. “Yes,” Megumi replied sarcastically, “I can see that you'll do a wonderful job on your own.”
Sanosuke wasn't totally beyond sarcasm and he grinned ruefully at the lady doctor even as he waved off Kenshin's help. “I'd be fine if th' ground would hold still. I guess I might use the company tho'?”
Megumi snorted. “Then company I will provide.”
Kenshin stood to the side, obviously eager to lend a hand. “This one will join you, if you would like it.”
Sanosuke wondered if that might be a good idea, as his sense of balance seemed to be going further astray as the alcohol was hitting his blood stream. Megumi obviously thought other wise. He wondered how well she would do carrying his dead-weight through Tokyo. “No thank you, Ken-san. I'll take care of him.”
Turning to Kaoru, Megumi continued, “Thank you for sharing dinner with me tonight, Kaoru-chan.”
Kaoru was on her feet as well by now, along with Yahiko. The girl dipped a brief bow back to Megumi. “No, Megumi-san, thank you for helping to make dinner. Good luck getting this big lug home.”
Kenshin stepped up, a hand on Sanosuke's other arm as he swayed again. “You are sure, Megumi-dono? It would be no trouble at all for this one to help.”
Megumi smiled back at him. “Positive, Ken-san. I trust this big idiot to keep his feet long enough to get back to his apartment.”
Despite that, Kenshin did wind up helping as far as to get Sanosuke's shoes on his feet, which Sano felt was a good thing. He nearly fell on his face off the porch getting them on. With farewells at hand, he and Megumi set off with him doing his best to stay up right and and walk and Megumi steering him. Kenshin had closed the dojo gate behind them and they had walked a good block before Megumi said a word to Sanosuke.
“You really are an idiot, you know.”
Sanosuke blinked hazily at her in the dark. He was dizzy and getting tired again and his concentration had been all on his walking. “Yeah, I know.”
Megumi continued in a brisk, agitated tone. “What did you think would happen, honestly? Of course Ken-san can't get drunk. Of course you would get doubly so. Why would you think a drinking contest is a good idea?”
“Kenshin wanted to, I wen' with it.”
The lady doctor growled under her breath. “Your damn lucky I didn't let him take you home. As though he doesn't suspect something is funny. How do you explain a sudden bout of drunkenness from one jug of sake to him? And not just any drunkenness, but completely, stumbling, slurring drunk.”
Sanosuke shrugged, which caused him to stumble and drag them both three feet off course. “Didn't much think about it, I guess.”
“Do you think at all? I wonder, you want to keep this a secret but sometimes you advertise it so blatantly that... oh, lets go to the side of the road if your going to do that!”
Megumi must have seen the sickness in his face as she pulled him staggering to the side of the road just in time for him to drop to his knees and puke in the bushes there. After heaving for a few moments, Sanosuke groaned and sat back. “I feel like shit.”
Megumi nodded. “I imagine you do. Get up, we're not there yet.”
Megumi dragged and pulled him back into an upright position. Sanosuke willed his belly to settle and the world to stop heaving even as he allowed the lady doctor to continue to lead him. “This isn't the way to my house,” he noted belatedly.
Megumi snorted. “You really are very drunk. No, we are going to the clinic where I am going to set you up with a futon for the night.”
“Why?”
The lady doctor eyed him side ways. “I'm sure you've heard of men killing themselves from drinking too much alcohol at once. I'd rather not see it happen to you. I don't know if you have or have not, but I'd prefer at least that you don't choke on your own vomit in your sleep tonight.”
Sanosuke digested that for a long moment before grinning sloppily at Megumi. “Oh. You really do care about me.”
Megumi laughed. “I care enough that I'd rather not see you dead, anyway!”
The decision turned out to be a good one, as Sanosuke passed out shortly after reaching the clinic. He woke enough to throw up several times through the night and into the next day before settling into a steady sleep the following after noon. Never before had he been so sick from drink, and both he and Megumi hoped that it would never happen again.
To be Continued.
This story can also be found on FF.net: here.
Chapter Title: Drinks Among Men
Anime: Rurouni Kenshin
Rating: PG13(So far, for Sano's naughty mouth.)
Summary: An old woman offers an unbelievable gift to Kenshin; perfect health and immunity to injury. But such a gift comes at high cost, how much can Sanosuke afford to pay?
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship
Pairings: None
Characters: Sanosuke, Kenshin, Megumi, Kaoru, Yahiko
Status: Incomplete
Chapter One || Chapter Two || Chapter Three
The Cost of Protection
A Rurouni Kenshin Story
Chapter Four: Drinks Among Men
Sitting on the dojo porch, Sanosuke attempted to follow the wooden sword play between teacher and student as Kaoru instructed Yahiko in the yard before him. The sun was up and bright in the early afternoon sky and the birds were chattering in the local trees. All the same, Sanosuke found himself repeatedly nodding off as he leaned against the porch support.
He was tired. A low rumble sounded from his stomach and Sanosuke patted his bandaged-wrapped belly in commiseration. He was hungry too. Both things were really quite funny. He'd slept nearly twelve hours straight the night before, he had no right to be tired now. He'd eaten three helpings of rice not a half hour before at lunch, he had no right to be hungry.
Kenshin hadn't eaten a thing. And if Yahiko's continued awe and bragging were right, then the red-haired man hadn't much slept in the past two weeks. Sanosuke could feel it. It was now a month gone since Shizuka's visit, and as far as Sanosuke knew, no one but he and Megumi knew that anything bad might have come from this gift.
He knew that Kenshin knew something was up with him though. What had been slid by a week before as blooming relationship between himself and the lady doctor had since been shot down. Loudly and by both of them. Sano could see where the confusion had come from though. He sure spent a lot of time at the clinic and with Megumi since he told her about what was going on. She was really worried about him. He really couldn't see why. He was tired, hungry and a bit bruised and banged up, but it wasn't like he was in mortal danger.
Even though Yahiko and Kaoru had picked up on the joke, Kenshin wasn't accusing them of being a couple any longer. When Sanosuke stopped by of the last couple of days, Kenshin had asked each time if he was feeling well. Sano wondered if he looked that crappy or if Kenshin was that sharp. After a long moment of thought, he decided Kenshin was just that aware. Right now that sucked. And so, for the past two days, Sanosuke and done his very best to avoid getting caught in a private conversation with Kenshin.
It was weird avoiding his best friend like that, and for the first time he felt a twinge of guilt about covering up what Kenshin's 'gift' really was. How could Sano possibly tell the rurouni that he would feel so much better if Kenshin would only start sleeping and eating again. It wasn't affecting Kenshin, why should it for any plausible reason worry Sanosuke? Maybe he could plead his worry for Kenshin's future health. Or maybe he could just avoid any deep and meaningful conversations until Kenshin gave up his curiosity about Sano's relative health.
Yeah, that sounded like workable plan.
Dark eyes slid shut once more and the sound of the birds and the clash of wooden swords lulled the young man back down into sleep. It felt as though only a few moments had passed when he was roused by a gentle hand on his shoulder. A glance a the position of the sun had him guessing that about two hours had passed. Only the sounds of nature echoed through the yard, and the foot traffic from outside the dojo gates. Training must have finished up then.
Turning his head, Sano found himself looking into the decidedly concerned face of Himura Kenshin. “Hey. Guess I caught up on my shut-eye there.”
Kenshin nodded, slipping his hand from Sano's shoulder and seating himself beside the younger man on the porch. “It would seem that your afternoon naps have become a daily routine lately, Sano.”
Which was true enough. But what could Sanosuke do? He was tired enough lately that whenever he sat still too long he fell asleep. It was becoming a running joke with his gambling buddies who all assumed he must have a woman on the side keeping him up late at nights. “Yeah. I guess I should gamble less and sleep more, huh?”
Kenshin ignored Sano's smile. The unfortunate part about being good friends with Kenshin and being able to read through his masks was that Kenshin could also see through Sano's fake smiles. “Please, Sano. No more of this. This one desires only to know the truth.”
For a moment, Sanosuke froze, face straight and peeking at Kenshin from the corners of his eyes. He wondered if Kenshin had figured him out. He wondered how much trouble he was in. “About what?”
“Your health, Sano.”
Sanosuke's eyes focused fully on the empty yard before them. “What do you wanna know?”
Kenshin's hand landed lightly on his arm, urging the younger man to look him in the eyes. After a moment, Sanosuke obliged him. “About why you and Megumi-dono insist on speaking in circles about things that both of you would normally be direct about. This one asks why you are so tired and both of you deflect with gambling habits. This one asks why you have been suffering so many small bruises and cuts and you both defer to a sudden bout of clumsiness. You are not a clumsy man and you do not gamble every night. Sano, are you ill?”
“No! No, Kenshin, I'm all right. I mean, yeah, I've been pretty tired, I'm not denying that. And yeah I've gotten kinda clumsy lately, but who isn't when they're tired?”
“Then why is Megumi-dono so concerned for your health?”
Unable to break eye contact with the red-haired man, Sano puffed out a small breath and told as near the truth as he could. “She doesn't like that I'm so tired lately. Its bothering her. But she's found nothing else wrong with me. So, she's taken to feeding me instead.”
Kenshin sighed and nodded. “Your appetite is at least quite healthy, that it is. Are you certain you feel well otherwise?”
Sanosuke grinned. “Yeah, healthy as a horse, Kenshin.”
And in that Sanosuke was telling the entire truth. It reflected in his eyes and in his posture and Kenshin smiled in return at him. “This one is pleased to hear that. Come inside then Sano. Megumi-dono and Kaoru-dono have begun working on dinner. I thought perhaps we could share a drink.”
“Oh,” Sano drawled his face brightening at the prospect, “Jou-chan let you into the sake supply, did she? I'm all in for that!”
Kenshin laughed. “This one thought perhaps you would be.”
Which was how Sanosuke found himself on his feet and happily trailing Kenshin into the main house. Yahiko looked up from where he was sprawled on the floor attending to his wooden sword. “Man, your roused the sleeping beast out there, huh? I guess Megumi was keeping him up too late again last night!”
“Che,” Sano responded with an off-handed wave, “You'd be amazed how long that lady doctor can lecture at a guy.”
Yahiko batted his eyes in an exaggerated way and made a few crude gestures with his hands, “Oh, lecturing, I'm sure that's exactly whats going on with you two!”
Sanosuke grunted and leaned down to pop the boy hard on the head. “Watch yourself kid! And who the hell is teaching you this stuff anyway? I thought I was the only one around here corrupting you.”
Yahiko snorted even as he rubbed his crown. “C'mon Sanosuke, I was corrupted before I ever met you. Supper isn't done yet, by the way.”
Kenshin interrupted then, a small amused smile on his lips. “This one invited Sano in for a drink.”
The boy smiled brightly, leaping up from the floor and tucking his wooden sword at his back. “Oh, a drink, that sounds great!”
This time Sanosuke snorted. “Let me go find the ink brushes first, I'd like 'em handy to draw on you after you pass out from your first cup of sake.”
“Hey, I can hold my liquor like a man. And this is a drink among men right? So c'mon, lets have one!”
Sano and Kenshin cast each other a quick grin as Yahiko lead them to the sitting room. Kenshin disappeared long enough to find a couple of jugs of sake and three cups before joining the other two. The rurouni filled the three cups and raised his own for a toast of sorts. “To friends and,” Kenshin sent a brief glance at Yahiko even as a smile touched his lips, “to drinks among men.”
Yahiko missed the subtle bout of sarcasm from Kenshin and with a whoop of approval, downed his cup, refilled, and repeated. Sanosuke and Kenshin each drank their own at a slower pace and watched as Yahiko's face turned a bright red. With a couple of sputtering coughs, Yahiko groaned and leaped to his feet. Sanosuke started laughing as the boy bolted out into the yard and to the privy. He was likely puking back up those two cups of sake.
Kaoru stepped into the room then, no doubt curious about Yahiko darting across the yard and Sanosuke laughing away. “What did you two do to Yahiko? Wait did you let him drink again? You remember what happened last time!”
Kenshin held up a quelling hand. “Mah mah, Kaoru-dono. Yahiko was insistent on joining us, that he was.”
Sanosuke subdued himself enough to chuckle, “And I don't think he's going to pass out this time. He's too busy chucking it up.”
Kaoru harrumphed and placed her hands on her hips. “Honestly, I expect this kind of instigation from you, Sanosuke! I'm amazed that you went along with it though Kenshin.”
Megumi leaned through the kitchen door at this point, a spatula in one hand and her hair bound back from her face. “Oh leave them be, Kaoru-chan. Yahiko will survive it, your vegetables on the counter may not, however, unless you get back in here and finish dicing them!”
Sanosuke chuckled at this as well even as Kaoru grumbled and disappeared back into the kitchen. Kenshin and Sanosuke shared a couple of slow cups of sake over light conversation. Yahiko eventually rejoined them, all though he refused any more sake despite Sanosuke's continued encouragement. With in the hour, the women had finished dinner and joined the rest in eating the evening meal.
“You two have great timing,” Sanosuke enthused around a mouthful of curry, “I was starving. And this is pretty good, Kitsune must have done the seasoning.”
The young man barely dodged in time to avoid a low flying chopstick form Kaoru. “You lousy freeloading bum! Picking on my cooking while eating my food. And 'starving', I swear all you do right now is eat and sleep, your always 'starving!' Do you even do anything around here to earn that? Kenshin does the laundry and helps with the cooking and cleaning and he's not even eating anything right now. You should think about that before you open your big mouth!”
Sanosuke stared at the younger woman for a dumbstruck moment. She usually indulged him his insolence, this time the response was heartfelt. Strangely, it was Megumi who came to his defense. “I don't care whether Ken-san thinks he needs to eat or not, I say he would be better off doing so. As he is refusing right now, what harm is there in letting the rooster eat his fill? And while that may have been an insult of sorts, that was a fairly mild insult for this idiot. What is bothering you about that?”
Kaoru frowned, lips thinning. “I find it annoying. Sanosuke has always done his best to be a useless freeloader around here, but this sleeping all the time and sudden spike in eating habits to go along with being a lazy bum is going too far. You can only expect so much of friendly hospitality. He doesn't do anything around here!”
Megumi slammed her tea cup on the floor, rattling the bowls there. “He is doing more for this household than you think right now!”
Sanosuke swallowed his mouthful of sake hard, wide eyed and looking suddenly in a horrified way at Megumi. “Uh, no no, Kitsune, she's right, I'm a useless bum, that's all.”
Megumi turned and glared hard at him. Sanosuke read the challenge, she was ready to spill all right there about the truth of Kenshin's gift in order to defend him. Sanosuke stared her right back down. He was willing to take the hit to his pride and reputation, for what ever that was, in order to continue to cover the nature of Kenshin's gift. Finally, Megumi relented she sat back and finished her cup of tea before grumbling, “You're an idiot, rooster.”
Sanosuke offered her a crooked smile. “I know.”
Kenshin watched this exchange with questioning eyes, but it was Kaoru who threw up her hands in exasperation. “I just don't understand the lover's quarrels between you two right now. But, fine, I'll let the lazy bum off the hook today. I'm thinking Yahiko is right and that it is Megumi-san who is keeping Sanosuke up all night and tired all day anyway!”
Sanosuke and Megumi both groaned loudly and in sync, which sent Yahiko and Kaoru into fits of laughter. Kenshin smiled slightly but still watched Sano with a certain air of suspicion. They continued with their meal in relative peace, though Kenshin ate nothing. He and Sano shared a few more cups of sake between them. Sanosuke noted with interest that, strangely, after just four cups of sake he was feeling ever so slightly tipsy. It usually took more for him to feel it. All the same, he shrugged the sensation off and helped himself to seconds on dinner.
After the meal, Megumi and Kaoru cleared the dishes and enlisted Yahiko to help with washing them. Kenshin shifted to sit opposite of Sanosuke and grabbed both of the jugs of sake. With steady hands, he uncorked the untouched jug and poured enough into the first jug to equal the two out. One he handed to Sano, the other he kept for himself. “This one thought perhaps we could enjoy a small competition?”
Sanosuke grinned widely, settling himself into a comfortable cross legged position and getting a firm grip on the jug. “Your on, Kenshin.”
Both men tipped the jugs up and began chugging the contents with vigor. Near half way through the jug, Sanosuke pulled it from his mouth for a quick breather. Swiping a hand across his lips, the younger man hand to put the hand down to steady himself. Starring cross eyed at his half empty jug, Sanosuke realized with a start that he was drunk. Not just tipsy, but defiantly drunk. With only this much sake?
Sanosuke looked back up at Kenshin, who was at this rate going to beat him in their drinking contest. With a spike of pride, Sanosuke tipped his jug back up, determined to at least try to keep up with Kenshin. Adam's apple bobbing, Kenshin emptied his own sake with a sigh, dropping the jug beside him and grinning in victory as Sanosuke finished his own just behind. “Your loosing your touch, Sano.”
Sanosuke grunted in agreement, noting that Kenshin didn't so much as have a drunken blush on his cheeks. As for himself, Sano could feel the blush rising and burning through his own cheeks. The sake was hitting him right now and hard. And didn't seem to have affected Kenshin at all. “I guess I'm off my game tonight.”
Sanosuke grimaced slightly, did he just slur that a little bit? Kenshin's raised eyebrows at him suggested he may have. Head canted slightly, Kenshin asked, “Sano, are you drunk? On one jug?”
Staring back at Kenshin with the sort of morbid interest only the inebriated could conjure, Sanosuke replied stupidly. “Yeah, I think maybe I am.”
The women and Yahiko returned to the sitting room then and as they seated themselves they watched the two men. Kaoru shook her head. “You two drank my sake up. Or maybe, it looks like Sano drank most of it!”
Kenshin smiled. “Yes, we did, however, we drank equal portions. Sano lost the contest tonight.”
“And now I'm drunk,” Sanosuke agreed.
Megumi shook her head. “Kenshin, you drank a bottle of sake and you don't even look slightly flushed. Do you feel at all tipsy?”
Kenshin thought for a moment, his face slid into a neutral expression. “No, this one is feeling nothing of the alcohol. My apologies, Sano, this was perhaps not a fair contest. The supposed gift this one possess seems to neutralize even drunkenness.”
Sanosuke blinked at him, his inebriated mind slowly pulling the puzzle together. That damned gift again. Kenshin couldn't even get properly drunk as it was. And Sanosuke... Well that explained why he was feeling so very drunk so quickly, he was feeling the effects of two jugs of sake drunk at once. And wow was it a rush!
“Nah, man, s'okay. The drinkin 's the fun part.”
Yahiko snorted, watching Sano. “And the way your swaying where you sit Sanosuke, I'd say it was some pretty good sake that Kenshin is missing the effects of.”
Kaoru laughed. “Your the one who threw it up right away, Yahiko, I'd think you'd know!”
“Shut up, ugly!”
“Hey!”
Megumi stood then, having not been seated long. Coming to Sanosuke's side she interrupted the argument by grasping the younger man's shoulder. “Time to get you home then, I'll walk you so you don't wind up face first in a river on the way there.”
Sanosuke brushed off her hand and made a valiant attempt at standing up right on his own. “I can walk m'self you know. I'ma big boy.”
He was nearly upright when he swayed abruptly to the left, Megumi caught his elbow even as Kenshin himself rose to help Sano out. “Yes,” Megumi replied sarcastically, “I can see that you'll do a wonderful job on your own.”
Sanosuke wasn't totally beyond sarcasm and he grinned ruefully at the lady doctor even as he waved off Kenshin's help. “I'd be fine if th' ground would hold still. I guess I might use the company tho'?”
Megumi snorted. “Then company I will provide.”
Kenshin stood to the side, obviously eager to lend a hand. “This one will join you, if you would like it.”
Sanosuke wondered if that might be a good idea, as his sense of balance seemed to be going further astray as the alcohol was hitting his blood stream. Megumi obviously thought other wise. He wondered how well she would do carrying his dead-weight through Tokyo. “No thank you, Ken-san. I'll take care of him.”
Turning to Kaoru, Megumi continued, “Thank you for sharing dinner with me tonight, Kaoru-chan.”
Kaoru was on her feet as well by now, along with Yahiko. The girl dipped a brief bow back to Megumi. “No, Megumi-san, thank you for helping to make dinner. Good luck getting this big lug home.”
Kenshin stepped up, a hand on Sanosuke's other arm as he swayed again. “You are sure, Megumi-dono? It would be no trouble at all for this one to help.”
Megumi smiled back at him. “Positive, Ken-san. I trust this big idiot to keep his feet long enough to get back to his apartment.”
Despite that, Kenshin did wind up helping as far as to get Sanosuke's shoes on his feet, which Sano felt was a good thing. He nearly fell on his face off the porch getting them on. With farewells at hand, he and Megumi set off with him doing his best to stay up right and and walk and Megumi steering him. Kenshin had closed the dojo gate behind them and they had walked a good block before Megumi said a word to Sanosuke.
“You really are an idiot, you know.”
Sanosuke blinked hazily at her in the dark. He was dizzy and getting tired again and his concentration had been all on his walking. “Yeah, I know.”
Megumi continued in a brisk, agitated tone. “What did you think would happen, honestly? Of course Ken-san can't get drunk. Of course you would get doubly so. Why would you think a drinking contest is a good idea?”
“Kenshin wanted to, I wen' with it.”
The lady doctor growled under her breath. “Your damn lucky I didn't let him take you home. As though he doesn't suspect something is funny. How do you explain a sudden bout of drunkenness from one jug of sake to him? And not just any drunkenness, but completely, stumbling, slurring drunk.”
Sanosuke shrugged, which caused him to stumble and drag them both three feet off course. “Didn't much think about it, I guess.”
“Do you think at all? I wonder, you want to keep this a secret but sometimes you advertise it so blatantly that... oh, lets go to the side of the road if your going to do that!”
Megumi must have seen the sickness in his face as she pulled him staggering to the side of the road just in time for him to drop to his knees and puke in the bushes there. After heaving for a few moments, Sanosuke groaned and sat back. “I feel like shit.”
Megumi nodded. “I imagine you do. Get up, we're not there yet.”
Megumi dragged and pulled him back into an upright position. Sanosuke willed his belly to settle and the world to stop heaving even as he allowed the lady doctor to continue to lead him. “This isn't the way to my house,” he noted belatedly.
Megumi snorted. “You really are very drunk. No, we are going to the clinic where I am going to set you up with a futon for the night.”
“Why?”
The lady doctor eyed him side ways. “I'm sure you've heard of men killing themselves from drinking too much alcohol at once. I'd rather not see it happen to you. I don't know if you have or have not, but I'd prefer at least that you don't choke on your own vomit in your sleep tonight.”
Sanosuke digested that for a long moment before grinning sloppily at Megumi. “Oh. You really do care about me.”
Megumi laughed. “I care enough that I'd rather not see you dead, anyway!”
The decision turned out to be a good one, as Sanosuke passed out shortly after reaching the clinic. He woke enough to throw up several times through the night and into the next day before settling into a steady sleep the following after noon. Never before had he been so sick from drink, and both he and Megumi hoped that it would never happen again.
To be Continued.
This story can also be found on FF.net: here.