Half a House Chapter 5
TITLE: Half a House
WORD COUNT: 761
CHAPTER: 5/?
FANDOM: Rurouni Kenshin
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG-13 (K+)
SUMMARY: By will, Megumi is heir to her grandfather's fortune, on one condition: she must share the house with Sano for four months or everything goes to charity. But can two people who can't stand each other live under the same roof?
Chapter 5
Megumi was having a fitful sleep when someone loud and brash abruptly pulled the blanket from over her head and let the full blast of sunrise assault her senses.
“Rise and shine!”
“Go away, damn you,” Megumi muttered angrily as she tried to burrow deeper under the pillows.
“Oh no you don’t!” That same someone pulled the pillow from under her head and then proceeded to lift the futon with her on it, forcing her to roll off to the cold floor. “C’mon, lazybones! D’ya always wake up this late?”
“Not true,” she argued sleepily. “Just don’t like to be woken up.” Especially in such an ill-mannered way.
“That’s a useful tip.” His voice was grinning. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You’re too fucking cheerful,” she grumbled.
“Wake up!”
“I’m awake, dammit. Stop shouting in my ear.” Megumi took a moment before she sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
Sanosuke chuckled.
Megumi glared at him. He was grinning like an idiot. “Rule Number One, toriatama,” she said, completely awake now and feeling the first stirrings of irritation, “you don’t come to my room.”
His grin did not vanish. “Fine.” He shrugged. “I only came here anyway to tell ya it’s your turn with the cooking today.” At Megumi’s raised brow, he said with some satisfaction, “Rule Number Two, kitsune-onna, we take turns with the kitchen work.”
If that was how he wanted to play it, well! Megumi thought furiously as she began taking out her things from the boxes with the Takuhaibin stickers still on. Sanosuke had left the house earlier, after eating the quick breakfast that Megumi made and leaving his dirty dishes on the sink. He said that he was headed to the ricemill to get the season’s last harvest hulled and ready for storage. She resented the fact that he seemed to expect her to clean up after him. Megumi had three hours to marinate on thoughts of sweet revenge when the lunch hour struck and Sanosuke returned, smelling of sweat and sun.
“What’s for lunch,kitsune?” were the first words that were out of his mouth when he entered the doma. His eyes were immediately drawn to the dirty dishes still in the sink, just as he left them.
“I’ve already eaten,” said Megumi, casually sitting in a corner, book open in her lap.
Sanosuke sat down on the edge of the raised floor and began removing his boots.
“I forgot to tell you about Rule Number Three,” Megumi continued with a saccharine smile. “If one does the cooking, the other does the dishes.”
“Okay.”
That was…too easy. Megumi felt like a balloon deflating. His nonchalance was getting on her nerves. “You say that now, but you like to cheat,” she tried further.
His voice went cool, his tone very round. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
“Karuta. Mahjong. Hanafuda,” she enumerated with a relish, “Tests. Chores.” She emphasized the last one.
“You‘re just mad ‘coz ya never won a game against me,“ he said with a cocky grin.
“Because you cheated!” She countered furiously.
“Somebody sounds bitter.”
She glowered. Then just as suddenly as her anger descended, it went away. Now, she smiled sweetly. “Rule Number Four.”
“What, ya just spent the whole morning thinkin’ up of new rules to impose?”
She ignored him. “Rule Number Four,” she said again, “in addition to our rooms, we each have our own spaces in this house.”
“Why not just draw a line while you’re at it?” He mockingly suggested. “My half, your half.”
“You are an idiot, Sanosuke,” she said with infinite calm. Then before he could say anything, she launched into a speech, “The way this house is built, you can’t move around without passing through the other rooms. No. What I mean is that we respect each other‘s spaces. If I‘m in this room and I‘m busy, you turn around and go your own merry way, but you don‘t disturb me.”
“By all means,” he said. “You can use the washitsu or whatever room you prefer. But,” he held up a hand, “the rouka stays neutral.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
The terms of their engagement now laid out and agreed upon, the two of them made their separate ways. Megumi to take her textbooks and reviewers out of their boxes. Sanosuke to eat his lunch and go back to work in the farm. Both of them thought that if they just kept everything in neat little compartments like this, four months of living together may not be so hard after all.
Both of them were wrong.
~ TBC
WORD COUNT: 761
CHAPTER: 5/?
FANDOM: Rurouni Kenshin
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG-13 (K+)
SUMMARY: By will, Megumi is heir to her grandfather's fortune, on one condition: she must share the house with Sano for four months or everything goes to charity. But can two people who can't stand each other live under the same roof?
Chapter 5
Megumi was having a fitful sleep when someone loud and brash abruptly pulled the blanket from over her head and let the full blast of sunrise assault her senses.
“Rise and shine!”
“Go away, damn you,” Megumi muttered angrily as she tried to burrow deeper under the pillows.
“Oh no you don’t!” That same someone pulled the pillow from under her head and then proceeded to lift the futon with her on it, forcing her to roll off to the cold floor. “C’mon, lazybones! D’ya always wake up this late?”
“Not true,” she argued sleepily. “Just don’t like to be woken up.” Especially in such an ill-mannered way.
“That’s a useful tip.” His voice was grinning. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You’re too fucking cheerful,” she grumbled.
“Wake up!”
“I’m awake, dammit. Stop shouting in my ear.” Megumi took a moment before she sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
Sanosuke chuckled.
Megumi glared at him. He was grinning like an idiot. “Rule Number One, toriatama,” she said, completely awake now and feeling the first stirrings of irritation, “you don’t come to my room.”
His grin did not vanish. “Fine.” He shrugged. “I only came here anyway to tell ya it’s your turn with the cooking today.” At Megumi’s raised brow, he said with some satisfaction, “Rule Number Two, kitsune-onna, we take turns with the kitchen work.”
If that was how he wanted to play it, well! Megumi thought furiously as she began taking out her things from the boxes with the Takuhaibin stickers still on. Sanosuke had left the house earlier, after eating the quick breakfast that Megumi made and leaving his dirty dishes on the sink. He said that he was headed to the ricemill to get the season’s last harvest hulled and ready for storage. She resented the fact that he seemed to expect her to clean up after him. Megumi had three hours to marinate on thoughts of sweet revenge when the lunch hour struck and Sanosuke returned, smelling of sweat and sun.
“What’s for lunch,kitsune?” were the first words that were out of his mouth when he entered the doma. His eyes were immediately drawn to the dirty dishes still in the sink, just as he left them.
“I’ve already eaten,” said Megumi, casually sitting in a corner, book open in her lap.
Sanosuke sat down on the edge of the raised floor and began removing his boots.
“I forgot to tell you about Rule Number Three,” Megumi continued with a saccharine smile. “If one does the cooking, the other does the dishes.”
“Okay.”
That was…too easy. Megumi felt like a balloon deflating. His nonchalance was getting on her nerves. “You say that now, but you like to cheat,” she tried further.
His voice went cool, his tone very round. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
“Karuta. Mahjong. Hanafuda,” she enumerated with a relish, “Tests. Chores.” She emphasized the last one.
“You‘re just mad ‘coz ya never won a game against me,“ he said with a cocky grin.
“Because you cheated!” She countered furiously.
“Somebody sounds bitter.”
She glowered. Then just as suddenly as her anger descended, it went away. Now, she smiled sweetly. “Rule Number Four.”
“What, ya just spent the whole morning thinkin’ up of new rules to impose?”
She ignored him. “Rule Number Four,” she said again, “in addition to our rooms, we each have our own spaces in this house.”
“Why not just draw a line while you’re at it?” He mockingly suggested. “My half, your half.”
“You are an idiot, Sanosuke,” she said with infinite calm. Then before he could say anything, she launched into a speech, “The way this house is built, you can’t move around without passing through the other rooms. No. What I mean is that we respect each other‘s spaces. If I‘m in this room and I‘m busy, you turn around and go your own merry way, but you don‘t disturb me.”
“By all means,” he said. “You can use the washitsu or whatever room you prefer. But,” he held up a hand, “the rouka stays neutral.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
The terms of their engagement now laid out and agreed upon, the two of them made their separate ways. Megumi to take her textbooks and reviewers out of their boxes. Sanosuke to eat his lunch and go back to work in the farm. Both of them thought that if they just kept everything in neat little compartments like this, four months of living together may not be so hard after all.
Both of them were wrong.
~ TBC