A Road Less Traveled
by Tin Mandigma


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This is a Rurouni Kenshin-inspired fanfic written
entirely for entertainment purposes only. Standard
disclaimers apply.

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6: And Then We Fall


Megumi stared dubiously at her tea. The green
liquid sloshed carelessly in its delicate porcelain
container, its unusual murkiness contrasting
starkly with the clarity of the china. Megumi
sighed and put it down quietly.

"Finish your tea, Fox," Sano muttered.

Megumi glanced at him across the table. He wasn't
looking at her at all. Instead, he was gazing through
the open doors leading to the front courtyard, his
chin propped up by one large hand even as he chewed
reflectively on his favorite fishbone. She sighed again
when she saw that his own bowl of tea still remained 
untouched in front of him. "I will when you finish
yours," she said pointedly.

Yahiko, who had been silently sitting beside Megumi
up until this point, shifted restlessly. "I don't
want my tea, either."

Sano grunted. "Well, you made it,"  he said
gruffly. "You drink it."

Yahiko scowled but he didn't answer. Silence
descended once again, growing heavier with each
passing second. Megumi fiddled with her bowl
carelessly, her brow knitted into a frown as
she mentally considered the rhythm of the 
gently rolling liquid. She tipped the bowl ever
so slowly to the right, watching as the watery
substance came together in a tight stream to fall
together as a single graceful cascade...

"Do you think Kaoru's gonna be all right?" Yahiko asked
abruptly.

Megumi's hand jerked and the bowl fell on the
table with a startled rattle, splattering tea all
over the smooth wooden surface.

"Of course she is!" Sano snapped. "She just fainted,
that's all."

"That's all?" Megumi echoed dully. 

Sano glared at her. "Yes."

"But she--" Yahiko began.

Sano cut him off, "She only needs some rest, Yahiko.
She'll feel better when she wakes up."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Megumi asked softly.

Sano only crunched on his fishbone harder, his jaw
tightening at the action. 

Yahiko spoke, "Maybe we should all have a talk with
Kozue-san..."

The fishbone broke with an audible crack. "She's not
coming here," Sano said harshly.

Yahiko stared at him. "Why are you so mad at her,
Sano?" he asked in bewilderment. "She's not a bad
person..."

"I'm not mad at her," Sano muttered.

"Do you blame her for what's happening to Kaoru?"
Yahiko asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Hell, no!" Sano retorted as he sat up abruptly,
placing his hands on the table, palms down. "And nothing's
wrong with Kaoru, OK?"

"That's not true," Megumi snapped. "Something's wrong with 
Kaoru. In fact, something's wrong with this entire house!"

"You mean ghosts?" Yahiko interjected.

Sano made a sound of exasperation. "Why the hell does
everything have to go back to ghosts?"

"Because ghosts are a plausible explanation--"

Sano cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Please,
Megumi..."

Megumi didn't miss a beat, "--in fact, I'll say
they're the *only* plausible explanation for everything
that's been going on and I don't see why you keep denying 
the possibility that--"

"Look, I'm not denying *anything* here," Sano said
bitingly. "It's just that I think you're complicating
the issue too much!"

"Right," Megumi retorted. "How would you simplify it
then?"

"By not drawing any conclusions until we've gathered
the facts!" Sano burst out. "You of all people should know
that!"

Megumi slumped in her seat, feeling weary all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry. But," she looked down at her hands, "I'm not even
sure whether what we call 'facts' exist anymore, Sano.
At least not in this place."

"I get the feeling like I'm trapped in some weird contest,
you know?" Yahiko commented softly. "So many questions
popping out of the blue at the same time and you don't
know which one of them you should answer first. Or whether
you should even answer at all."

Megumi glanced at him, her dark eyes softening, "Then
the best thing we could do is to look for a connection
between those questions, ne, Yahiko? And then maybe we
could start finding some answers..."

"Or maybe we should just leave this place," Sano muttered.

Megumi stared at him. "What?!" 

Sano raised his hands in protest. "Wait a second. Hear
me out." He paused until Megumi has subsided again in her
seat before continuing, "Listen. You asked for a connection,
right, Fox? Well, we have one. This house." 

Megumi sighed, "Sano..."

"The weird stuff only started happening when we 
came here, right? Ichiro-san said that it's usually pretty
quiet around this place. No history of scary events. No deep
dark family secrets." He stopped speaking abruptly, as
if struck by a sudden thought.

"Sano?" Yahiko asked in concern.

Sano gave a smile which to Megumi seemed a bit forced. 
She found herself unconsciously leaning forward in her
seat tensely as she waited for what he would say next.

"My point is that once we do away with the source of
the problem, the problem itself disappears," Sano said.

"So you're saying that as soon as we leave this house," 
Megumi said uncertainly, "we could just think of everything 
that's happened like--some bad dream that never was?"

Sano sighed. "Yeah."

"But what if whatever's haunting us now follows us back
to Tokyo?" Yahiko asked, troubled.

"We aren't sure of that," Sano retorted.

"Precisely," Megumi said wearily. "We aren't sure of *anything* 
for that matter. Besides Yahiko has a point. What if your 'source' 
isn't really the house at all? What if it's something so much
deeper, something which transcends space and time? If so, it's
quite capable of following us wherever we go. Or wherever
*Kaoru* goes." She ran a hand through her hair shakily. "And
that scares me," she whispered.

"But don't you think leaving the house is the safer option?
I mean, what do we hope to accomplish by staying?" Sano asked
roughly.

"We could find out what the hell is really going on," 
another voice said.

Megumi looked up sharply. Kenshin was standing in the
doorway with a pale and tired-looking Kaoru leaning on
his arm.

"Kaoru!" Yahiko burst out at the same time that Sano
yelled, "Kenshin, what the hell are you doing?!"

Kaoru smiled reassuringly, if a little wanly, at
them. "I'm okay, minna," she murmured. "I didn't want
to stay in my room anymore so I asked Kenshin if
we could go down."

"But Kaoru--" Yahiko protested.

Kaoru shot him a mock-stern glare. "Down, boy.
I'm fine." She shook her head slightly as he began
sputtering. "And I'm not in the mood for arguing,
Yahiko, okay?" she told him gravely. 

"You'd better listen to her, Yahiko," Kenshin said
wryly. "And, trust me, I'm speaking from 
past experience."

Yahiko settled back on his seat, still frowning,
muttering something about old hags not knowing what's
good for them.

Megumi watched anxiously as Kenshin led Kaoru 
to the table. She heaved an inward sigh of relief
when Kaoru winked at her and then grinned widely, eyes
glinting a vivid blue. Megumi relaxed somewhat. Kaoru
was--Kaoru again. For now. She hastened to stand up,
smiling faintly when the others looked at her in puzzlement.
"I'm going to get some more tea in the kitchen," she murmured.

"There's no need, Megumi-dono," Kenshin said softly.

Megumi shook her head. "You haven't had your supper. It'll
just take a minute..." She didn't wait for his reply as
she walked rapidly out of the room, her hands shaking
slightly. She walked into the dimly lit kitchen with a
sort of nervous relief, suddenly glad for the respite 
from the mounting tension in the other room. For now.

For now.

For now.

Megumi yanked the tea kettle (*) away from the oven jerkily 
and placed it on the table with a loud thud. She then grabbed 
two bowls from the cupboard and slammed them carelessly beside the
waiting pot. Luckily, the porcelain didn't crack, but
Megumi was beyond caring. She rested her hands against
the wall, breathing heavily, her eyes damp. 

'Since when,' she asked herself painfully, 'did your
life begin and end with a damn 'for now,' Megumi? Since
when did *their* lives have to be marked by those
two stupid words?'

Kaoru was safe. For now.

Kenshin was with them. For now.

Yahiko was a child. For now.

Sano liked her. For now.

She was not crazy. For now.

There were no ghosts... and damn if she knew anything about
*that*.

Was it too much to ask for a little certainty?

'Hell, yes, Megumi, or why else are you here?'

She wondered then why she even bothered asking
herself the obvious. Megumi sighed as she let her
arms fall wearily to her sides. She shuffled back to
the table and sighed again when she saw that her--tussle
with the tea pot earlier resulted in a considerable
number of green puddles on the cracked wooden surface.
She grabbed a rag and wiped the mess gingerly. When
she had finished, she stared at the blotched dripping
cloth in her hands. Wincing, she deposited it
carefully on the sink.

Well, she thought philosophically, like Yahiko said,
it was just one weird contest.


"I don't know, Kenshin," Sano was saying as Megumi
walked into the room, laden with five steaming
bowls of tea on a tray.

Yahiko groaned when he saw her. "Aw, Megumi," he
burst out. "I'm not thirsty!"

"Well, now you are," she said mildly as she handed
a bowl to him.

Yahiko took it from her with a scowl and then pushed
it at Sano who then shoved it at Kenshin. Megumi
rolled her eyes when Kenshin absently handed Kaoru
the bowl. She saw Kaoru fiddle with it distractedly
before shooing it ever so slowly towards Megumi's
direction.

Megumi shook her head. "Oh no, you don't," she said 
threateningly. Kaoru stared at her blankly and she sighed.
"Think of all the tea-starved people in the world,"
she muttered. She grabbed the bowl from Kaoru and downed
it in two scalding gulps.

Ouch.

Megumi peered over the rim of the bowl to meet the others'
wary stares. "What?" she asked challengingly.

Sano sighed. "What the hell is happening to us?" he
asked softly. He ignored Megumi's glare as he deftly
took the empty bowl from her limp hands. "Gimme
that," he muttered.

Kenshin rubbed a tired hand over his brow. "Look,
why don't we settle this already?"

"I say we leave," Sano retorted. "The sooner the
better."

"The better for what?" Kenshin said.

"For our collective state of mental health, damn it!"
Sano snapped.

"That was pretty deep," Yahiko muttered.

"I don't think leaving is gonna solve any of our problems,
Sano," Kenshin said slowly. 

Sano looked at him with narrowed eyes. "This is no time
to quibble, Kenshin."

"You don't know what's at stake here!" Kenshin retorted,
his own gaze intense. 

"What? Kaoru's soul?" Sano asked sarcastically. As soon
as the words left his mouth, he groaned. "I'm sorry.
I didn't mean..." the words trailed off as Sano buried
his head in his hands.

Silence hung for a minute in the table before Megumi spoke. 
"Sano, I don't think you really understand why Ken-san thinks 
in--in that way," she said. "I want to explain but
I just can't find the right words..."

Kenshin studied her, sudden understanding dawning on his
face. "So you did feel something," he breathed, his
gaze intent on hers. "You knew. I didn't just imagine it..."

Megumi nodded somberly. "That night...when Kozue-san was
here..." 

"The--otherness. The feeling of another--entity, another
soul which was not Kaoru's," Kenshin finished softly.

Kaoru stared at him, her blue eyes unreadable. "Kenshin..."

Megumi sighed and looked down at her hands. "I'm
sorry I didn't talk to you sooner, Ken-san."

Sano swore. "Now, Megumi..."

"No," Megumi said the word with cold precision. She
ignored his outstretched hand. "Sano, are all three of us
crazy, then? Ken-san, Kaoru and I?"

"Not crazy," Sano snapped. "Just emotionally distressed
and, most probably, physically strained." His gaze
lingered for a moment on her slightly swollen face.
"Let's face it. You have no hard evidence to support
your hypothesis..."

"Sano, we've been through this already," Megumi protested.

"True. But are you telling me that we should base our
judgment on mere hunches?" Sano demanded. "I can't accept that."

"Sano," Kenshin interjected, "I get your point. But I don't
think we should dismiss those 'hunches' outright, especially
since both Megumi-dono and I happen to share the same view."
He clasped his hands in front of him, his face serious. "Right
now, both of us are more emotionally involved with Kaoru than
you are, more sensitive to her..."

Megumi glanced at Kaoru but the girl was listening quietly
to Kenshin, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"And both of us felt the same thing and at the same time," Kenshin
continued. He turned to Megumi in silent question.

"That night," Megumi sighed. "You saw it too."

"Not 'saw'," Kenshin's eyes darkened at the memory. "'Felt.'
And, frankly, it nearly made me sick."

"Kozue-san felt it, too," Megumi said reflectively. "You
should have seen her face that night. She was terrified."

"Well, she was delirious in the coach on the way to 
Aki-san's house," Sano grunted. He ran a hand through his
hair frustratedly. "Look, Kenshin, I don't like the situation
any better than you do but..."

"Why don't we give it a try?" Yahiko asked softly. Everyone
turned to look at him in surprise.

"What?" Sano asked.

Yahiko glanced at him. "I mean if you don't think something's
really wrong, then there could be no harm in staying here for
a couple of days more, right?" he said pointedly. "And if
what both Kenshin and Megumi say turns out to be true, then we 
could at least have a shot at doing something about it. You know,
keep our options open." He shifted uncomfortably. "Besides, I get 
the feeling that we've only seen the beginning of this."

Kenshin regarded him silently for a while before he relaxed
in his seat, a small smile escaping his lips. "Good idea, 
Yahiko." He turned to Sano. "Well?" he questioned.

"No way," Sano muttered.

"Give us two days and if the situation hasn't changed by then,
we leave," Kenshin said calmly.

"This is crazy!"

"But you have no choice," Kaoru said quietly. "Because when
it comes down to it, *I'm* the one who has to decide."
She gazed at them, her blue eyes clear with determination.
"And I say we stay."

Sano groaned. "Jo-chan..."

"She's right, Sano," Megumi said firmly. "We have to stay."

Sano's eyes met hers for a long moment. Kenshin purposely
kept silent with the tact of an expert strategist, his
face inscrutable. He did not so much as bat an eye when Sano
finally sighed in mingled resignation and defeat. 

"All right," Sano muttered. "You have two days and then we're 
out of here."

Megumi smiled at him in relief. He scowled at her for a 
moment before his face relaxed into a faint answering 
smile. "I'm gonna start the count now," he said mildly.

Kenshin said, as if he had just been commissioned by
the emperor himself, "Tea, anyone?"


"I can't believe you guys don't eat miso soup," Sano
grouched the next morning.

Megumi eyed the lump-like substances which floated
on her bowl with faint repulsion. "Not when you cook
it anyway," she muttered. She sniffed it experimentally.
"Are you sure this is edible?"

Sano glared at her. "That's not funny, Fox."

The burst of laughter was a little too loud. Even in
the bright sunny dining room, looking so cheerful now
in the light of morning, they were barely able
to pretend. Silence fell once again like a damp heavy veil. 

Yahiko threw his chopsticks on the table restlessly.
"I've got an idea," he said. "Why don't we go to the front
room? We could just eat breakfast there. At least there's
some scenery to distract us from Sano's worse-than-Kaoru
cooking."

"Excuse me?" Kaoru said indignantly. 

Kenshin sighed. "No, let's stay here," he muttered. "I don't
really--like that room."

Sano raised an eyebrow. "Ah," he said. "So you think that
room is the--source of all the," he coughed, "trouble?"

Kenshin glanced at him sharply but Sano was looking at
him with wide-eyed innocence. "I don't know," Kenshin
admitted. "But that's where that--that thing happened the
other night..."

"And part of the room is abnormally cold," Megumi added.
She turned to Sano, her eyes narrowing. "And don't you
deny it. You felt it, didn't you? Yesterday afternoon..."

Sano raised his hands in mock-surrender. "Hey, I promised
to cooperate, didn't I?" When Megumi just gazed at him
in frank disbelief, he grunted in annoyance. "Hell. OK,"
he said grudgingly, "I did feel a little cold when I went
there yesterday."

"A little cold?" Megumi exclaimed. "Sano, I thought you
were going to faint...you were so pale!"

Kenshin regarded Sano narrowly. "Why didn't you tell us
before?"

Sano shrugged. "I didn't see the point. Besides, it was nothing.
I haven't been feeling in top condition since the night we
got caught in the rain. Probably just a lingering chill."
Megumi snorted at that. He ignored at her as he turned to
Kenshin. "Why?"

"Nothing," Kenshin murmured. "I just had this idea..." his
voice trailed off as he stared blankly into space.

"What?"

"Forget it," Kenshin muttered. "It was just a weird flight
of fancy..."

"Don't worry about it," Sano said mildly. "All of us have 
that these days."

Megumi glared at him. "Sano..."

Yahiko decided to cut in. "Uh, what's the plan for today?
Got any ideas? Kenshin?"

"I think we should look into the 'war,'" Kenshin answered.
Megumi wondered briefly at the slightly reflective gleam
in his eyes, as if he was pursuing another train of thought
even as he spoke.

"War?" Sano asked blankly and then his face cleared. He
turned to Megumi who shot him a warning glance which he
ignored. "Oh yeah. You told me about that yesterday.
Something Jo-chan said the night you were alone..."

Kenshin cut him off with a quick, "Yeah. That's it."
He shared a worried look with Megumi. They had met late
last night with Sano when both Yahiko and Kaoru were already
in their rooms and Megumi had told him what really
happened to her face. He had been disturbed but not,
Megumi noted, really surprised, almost as if he had been
expecting that particular turn of events. Kenshin had
then told them that he would speak with Kaoru before he
went to bed and though Sano had been against to 'disturbing'
Kaoru just then, Megumi had felt relieved, knowing that
it was time that Kaoru shed some light on the entire
matter. 

Kaoru frowned. "Kenshin?"

"It's nothing, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said with a reassuring
smile. "We talked about it last night, remember?"

Kaoru sighed and stirred her soup gently with her 
chopsticks.

"Well, Jo-chan?" Sano asked interestedly.

"Kenshin told me that something happened the night
Kozue-san and Aki-san were here," Kaoru said, still
frowning slightly. "I don't remember that. Nor the
time I walked in my sleep, the night Megumi hurt
herself."

Megumi saw Kenshin glance at her and she nodded
imperceptibly. So Kenshin didn't tell Kaoru 
everything. Maybe it was just as well. 

"But last night was different," Kaoru said.

"You were aware of what's happening?" Sano questioned.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, I was. I'm not sure I could 
describe it well, though..."

"If it upsets you, Kaoru-dono..." Kenshin began
gently but Kaoru smiled at him with such trust that
Megumi's heart contracted.

"It's OK," Kaoru said after a moment. "I'll try."
She took a deep breath. "You know the feeling that
something's bad gonna happen, sort of like an awful
premonition? You want to avoid it, to run away somehow,
because you know it's sad and painful, like somebody
dying, but you just can't escape it no matter how hard
you try because it's inevitable. You're scared but the
thing you're afraid of would happen anyhow."

Megumi felt her mouth go dry. She knew that Kaoru was 
not out to terrify, only to state facts, but the contrast
between the girl's matter-of-fact tone and the content
of what she was saying was almost--horrifying. 

"It felt like that," Kaoru said. "But the funny thing
was, there was no reason for it. I wasn't afraid of
something. I was afraid of *nothing* And that's even
worse, right? The fear of nothing."

Megumi glanced at the others. Kenshin's and Yahiko's faces
were troubled but Sano's was calm, inscrutable.

Kaoru's voice dropped into a reflective murmur. "And then it
came. It filled me up, fully, like water pouring into a
pitcher. I could hear Kenshin talking but I couldn't
speak. I couldn't move. I could hear somebody, something
else, responding, but I couldn't do anything about it."

"And then?" Kenshin asked quietly.

"And then it went away," Kaoru finished simply. "And I
fainted, I guess. It's just so hard..." she sighed. 
"Have you ever worn clothes which were too tight? That's
what it felt like. Something in me just didn't--fit."

Megumi drew in a sharp breath. Somehow that was the worst
description of all.

"That was weird," Yahiko muttered. No one answered
him for a moment. And then,

"Wait--" Megumi said abruptly. She took another shaky
breath. "I had a--dream..."

Kenshin leaned forward, interested. "What was it,
Megumi-dono?"

She told them about it slowly, haltingly, and she knew
with an inward sense of helplessness as she studied the
others' curious faces as they listened to her that she just 
couldn't recapture the entirety of her dream, her nightmare.
Somehow, it was lost, its essence slowly dissolving
even as she recounted it. "The shadow came and I woke up," she 
finished lamely. 

She saw Kenshin and Sano exchange a brief glance and she
slumped on her seat wearily.

"That's it?" Yahiko asked.

Megumi shrugged but Kaoru suddenly turned to her, face
alight. "The voice!" Kaoru said excitedly. "Megumi, don't
you remember?"

Megumi blinked, surprised. Of course! She had forgotten
all about that particular incident. "Yes," she returned
eagerly. "*That* was strange."

"Oro?" Kenshin said in confusion. "What are you--"

"We couldn't have *both* imagined it, right?" Kaoru 
said. "I didn't want to talk about it first... It was
just so weird and I didn't want to spook everyone. But 
let's face it, who would be wandering the streets at dawn?"

"While calling for something, or someone, for that matter,"
Megumi finished for her. 

"Maybe you could be so kind as to enlighten us about what the
heck is going on?!" Sano growled in exasperation.

Between the two of them, Kaoru and Megumi somehow managed
to form a coherent story for their bemused if skeptical audience.

"Misa?" Kenshin asked slowly when they had both finished. "That
doesn't sound like a pet's name."

Megumi frowned. "Actually, it isn't. I'm pretty sure of that
now. Besides why would a guy be chasing his pet around at
that hour?"

"And through a yard like ours which is completely enclosed," 
Kenshin agreed. 

Megumi turned to Sano then and cringed when she saw his face. 
He looked so sorry for her. 

"It seems that we should start with the house," Kenshin said.
"Ichiro-san said that nothing of this sort happened before 
we came here..." He suddenly tensed.

Kaoru laid a worried hand on his arm. "What is it?"

Kenshin shook his head uncertainly. "Nothing," he said
softly.

"Another flight of fancy, Kenshin?" Sano asked. 

Kenshin smiled faintly. "You could say that," he murmured.
He straightened and looked around the table. "Megumi-dono,
do you think you and Kaoru-dono could take a look at
the family's papers? Ichiro said the papers are in storage
somewhere in the house, right?"

Megumi nodded slowly. "I suppose I could ask him."

"What do we look for?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin brushed his bangs away from his face hurriedly.
"Deeds, letters, memoirs...anything which could tell us
about the history of this place and about the Shizukus."

"And what do *we* do?" Sano said, raising an eyebrow.

"You and Yahiko should go to the town and ask if you
could take a look at the municipal records, if there
are any," Kenshin answered. "And you could talk to some
old timers, too. Ask them if they remember of any 'war'
which occurred in this place, or any other extraordinary
event for that matter. Local gossip could yield more insights
than any official report, after all."

"You bet," Sano muttered. "And you?"

"I'll head over to Aki-dono's house and have a talk with
Kozue-dono," Kenshin said casually. "I think she's staying
there for a few days."

Sano choked. "Why her?"

"If we're dealing with the supernatural here, we definitely
need all the information we could get. Folklore, myths,
religious beliefs," Kenshin responded seriously. "Aki-dono
told me that Kozue-dono has studied such things extensively.
We need her input."

"Yeah but why can't *I* interview her?" Sano drawled. 

"I don't think I can deal with *another* ghost in my hands,
Sano," Kenshin said wryly. "Either yours *or* hers."

"Or both," Yahiko said.

Kenshin grinned at him. "Or both." He ignored Sano's scowl
and turned to the women. "We'll meet you here for supper
and we could compare what we've got, all right?"

Kaoru and Megumi nodded. "OK," Kaoru said. "We'll see
you tonight." 

They all rose from the table, Yahiko grumbling about his
lack of breakfast.

"My miso soup..." Sano began but Yahiko waved him away.

"When I want to die, I'll let you know," he muttered as he strode 
out of the room. 

Sano shook his head. "That kid..." He turned to Megumi. "Hey,
Fox--" he stopped when he saw the abstracted look on her face.
Sano followed her gaze and breathed a sigh when he saw what
captured her attention.

Kenshin stood off to one side, an arm around Kaoru who was
whispering something to him, a worried look on her face. Sano
watched as Kenshin smiled and shook his head, before brushing
a hand down Kaoru's cheek. Sano heard Megumi sigh beside
him and he looked down at her, his eyes soft.

"You're still not over him, huh?" he whispered.

Megumi started at his words and she looked up at him,
her own gaze glinting enigmatically. "Whatever gave you
that idea?" she whispered back.

Sano flushed slightly but he didn't move away. "You looked
so sad. And envious."

She withdrew her eyes from his. "I was," she said simply,
"but not because of Ken-san."


End of Part 6


NOTES:

*Gomen it I used 'tea kettle' ^^;; I didn't know how to
refer to that utensil in any other way.