| Remembrances of His Past, by Jennifer Alzate Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply. Sanosuke Sagara was sitting outside of the Kamiya Dojo. He absent-mindedly thumb wrestled against himself. Megumi walked up to him. �Hey rooster-head, why so dull?� �Oh, Fox. Hi. I don�t know, just bored I guess.� �Shouldn�t you be out gambling? Or drinking? Or eating?� �Not now.� Megumi sat down next to him. �What�s wrong with you rooster-head, you�re starting to sound like Aoshi Shinomori!� �Nothings wrong. I�m just thinking.� �Since when do you think about ANYTHING?� Silence. Sanosuke shrugged and continued his game of thumb wrestle. (I wonder who was winning?) �No, really rooster-head, what�s wrong?� �I was just paying remembrances to Sozou.� �Oh. You ok�Sano?� �Fine�I guess.� �Well�if you need me�which I�m sure you won�t�you know where I am.� With that, she walked off to the clinic. Sano begun to think out loud. �Who killed Sozou anyway? If he hadn�t thrown me down that river, I would�ve died. But who killed Sozou?! Why was it he that had to die? Why�if I ever get my hands on the creeps that killed him I�ll�� His thoughts were interrupted by a cold voice. �You�ll what?� Aoshi Shinomori, former leader of the Oniwabanshu, stood before Sano. Sano looked up into Aoshi�s eyes, but Aoshi stared him down. Sano was forced to blink. �I�ll kill �em that�s what.� Aoshi scoffed. �I�d like to see you try. I thought Megumi would�ve taught you some things by now. Apparently, even for her your skull is too thick.� For the first time, Sano did not move. He did not blink. He just stared out in to open space. �Little boy missing his father? I�m just surprised it didn�t happen sooner.� �You know, you�re really starting to sound like Shishio�� �Your point?� Silence. �Nothing in particular.� Cold silence. Surprisingly, Aoshi broke it. �Anyway, there�s nothing you can do about it now. Sozou is long dead. You should be honored that a man of his ranking gave up his life to save the life of a scum bag.� �What do you know about rankings? Anyone of the Sekihou Tai, including myself, would have readily gave up our lives to save the others!� Sano�s eyes were on fire. If he were Kenshin, surely his eyes would have been amber by now� �Sanosuke, you lose your temper too quickly. Compose yourself. I know you would have given up your life for the others of the Sekihou Tai. But it didn�t turn out that way did it? They gave up their lives for you. If you die trying to find out who killed them, their effort to save you would be in vain, don�t you think?� �Then I won�t die.� Looking for something to do, he couldn�t think of anything so just stuck his tongue out at Aoshi. �Still a little boy I see. Go figure. Can�t put aside the past now can we? Too bad Sanosuke. I would�ve hoped better from you.� �I don�t do what others tell me, I follow my heart.� �Ha! You know nothing of matters of the heart.� �And neither do you.� Silence. �I know what it feels like to be hurt. I know what its like to sacrifice. I declined the place in the government for the Oniwabanshu. I gave up a career and future for them. You should feel lucky anyone gave up their life for you.� �Ya, but why Sozou? He didn�t do anything wrong�� �Satan chose him as his next victim. There�s nothing you can do about it now. You can�t fight fate, or destiny.� Sano simply nodded. Aoshi had this strange way of getting to him. Or was it just Sano was too easy to get to? Whatever the reason, Sano chucked a pebble at the air. Aoshi�s words were still echoing endlessly. Aoshi stared at Sano. �I�ll leave you to your thoughts, that is, if someone like you could ever have any decent ones.� With that, he walked out, leaving a trail of dust behind him to fog Sano�s vision momentarily. His hands balled up into fists. He grabbed a stone and squeezed it so tightly it turned into dust in his hands. �I will find the murderers of the only man who ever gave a damn about me. Even if I die trying.� He walked out, the symbol �Aku� or evil, shining on his back more wickedly than ever before. The next morning, he walked over to the Kamiya Dojo and knocked on the door. A still yawning Kenshin opened the door. �Sano?� Yawn. �Hi Kenshin. Listen, I want you to tell everyone I�m leaving.� �Leaving? Leaving where?� �To find the man who killed Sozou.� �Sano, we�ve been over this. There�s no point in�� Sano grabbed Kenshin by the collar of his shirt and literally picked him up. �There is a point in everything. Whether you see it or not is your problem, not mine.� He let Kenshin go, dropping him from about a foot above the ground. �Sano this is ridiculous! There�s nothing you can do about Sozou but stay ALIVE. He wanted you to live on, and that�s why he died. He wanted to see you ALIVE. DO YOU HEAR ME SANO, ALIVE!!! ALIVE I SAY SANO, ALIVE!!! SANO! SANO?! DO YOU HEAR ME ROOSTER-HEAD ALIVE!!! A-L-I-V-E ALIVE!!! DO YOU WANT A DICTIONARY? ALIVE MEANING STILL ON THIS EARTH! AS IN HERE ON EARTH WHERE WE ARE ALL FREE AND SANO LISTEN TO ME SANO�SANO COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!� It was of no use. Sano had already blocked everything out of his ears and begun to walk off. Kenshin was fully awake now and ran up to block Sano, sakabatou to Sano�s throat. �YOU. WILL. NOT. GO. ALONE SANOSUKE SAGARA. I AM COMING IF IT�S THE LAST THING I DO!� �It will be.� With that, Kenshin received a completely unexpected blow to the stomach, courtesy of Sano. Sano walked off, only to be stopped by a large figure. �Going somewhere Sanosuke?� Aoshi (again!) stood blocking his way. �Move Shinomori.� �No. Make me.� Sano tried to push him out of the way, but Aoshi didn�t budge. �Aoshi, why are you blocking me?� �Because you�re so stupid that�s why. Look at me Sano. LOOK. AT. ME.� Sano angrily lifted his head. His brown eyes met the ice blue ones of Aoshi�s. �Steps in the decision making process. Is this WORTH it? Is this WORTH so much effort? SOZOU SAGARA IS DEAD. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, DEAD! WHAT IS THE POINT OF GOING AFTER THE MEN WHO KILLED HIM? You killed him anyway. If it hadn�t been for you, Sozou might just still be alive.� �OH SHUT UP SHINOMORI, WHAT DO YOU CARE!� Aoshi still did not move. �You may have managed to block Kenshin�s path, but I�m saying one thing. I�m coming.� �FINE. FINE FINE FINE FINE COME WITH ME! FINE!� Aoshi stepped aside and Sano walked off in a huff, muttering curses under his breath. Minutes later, Kenshin was slowly regaining consciousness. �Sessha�was punched by someone�oro?!� �Sanosuke punched you out in an effort to leave you behind and he went that-a-way.� Aoshi pointed to where Sano had gone. �Hai, thank you Aoshi.� Kenshin ran off to find his good, yet somewhat twisted in the mind, demented, friend. He finally found Sano practicing his Futae no Kiwami on some trees, violently slashing the trees as if they were the murderers of Sozou. Before Sano could do the attack again, Kenshin held him back. �Sano, come on, listen to REASON for once.� �I�m not listening to you anymore. Tag along with Shinomori and me for all I care, but you can�t hold me back anymore. I will taste the blood of those who killed the only guy who ever gave a damn about my life.� �I GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR LIFE SANO JESUS CHRIST!!! WHY WON�T YOU LISTEN? I�M SURE SHINOMORI GIVES A DAMN ABOUT YOUR LIFE�SOMEWHAT�NOT REALLY�.THAT�S NOT MY POINT! A lot of people care about you Sano! Just look at Megumi, she�s giving you all the signs a woman can give to show you how much she cares but you won�t open your eyes to see what she�s doing!� Kenshin knocked his knuckles against Sano�s head. �ANYONE IN THERE?! OR IS IT JUST DUST PILING UP?� Sano couldn�t help but chuckle slightly. Kenshin had the weirdest humor of anyone he had ever seen (aside from Aoshi�s dry humor, which Sano was not accustomed to just yet). �Go ahead, come along. So you give a damn about my life. But Sozou was one of the first to actually make an impact on my life�� His voice softened dramatically. �I looked up to Sozou, not only as a friend, or an idol, but as a father. He showed me how to survive. He taught me the rule of nature. As Shishio would put it�in this world, if you�re strong you live, and if you�re weak, you die. Back then when I was growing up, I had no one to protect me but Sozou. After Sozou was murdered, I found out just how cruel this god damn world could be.� Aoshi crept up behind Sano and Kenshin unnoticed. Sano continued. �He taught me everything I know.� �Which couldn�t have been much,� Aoshi added promptly. �Why don�t you ever just shut up and stay out of my conversations?� �Hey, c�mon its not like I get to butt in to conversations every day. Misao�s are as dull as�well, I don�t know. REALLY DULL. And its not like I get to see people with semi-interesting conversations every day. I just call �em as I see �em.� Sano crossed his arms over his chest and Kenshin rolled his eyes in exasperation. �Are you two ever going to get along?� They both responded simultaneously, �NO.� �Oi�I believe this is going to be a long journey, that I do.� They continued walking to nowhere in particular. Kenshin was in the middle, as to prevent Sano from at least trying to knock Aoshi�s head off. �Maybe we should go to the library?� Kenshin asked. �No, Sano will die there.� Aoshi retorted. �Will not! In fact, lets go!� Sano stuffed his hands in to his pockets. He in fact probably would die of boredom there. But he wasn�t going to let anyone else know that! They all walked in to the library, Sano leading the way. He then stopped. �Um guys�where do we go now?� Aoshi rolled his eyes in exasperation. �This way shell-for-a-brain.� Aoshi now led the way and Sano grunted heavily, and then sighed. Kenshin merely rolled his eyes and walked on. �Hm�Kenshin where do you think we should look? Under Sekihou Tai or Sozou�� Aoshi asked. �Sekihou Tai, for sure. Or maybe a Japanese history book? Aoshi, look for Sekihou Tai, Sano and I will each look for Japanese History books.� �Sounds like a plan. Come if you find anything. Or if rooster head is too much for you.� Sano sighed, looked to the roof as if begging for mercy from God, and followed Kenshin out. Aoshi flipped through the books looking for Sekihou Tai. �Hm�Sarah�.Sally�.Sanosuke?! What kind of freak would publish a book about ROOSTER-HEAD?!� He frantically flipped the pages of the book. �OH. A different Sano. Stupid me.� He shuddered. �Thinking someone would be stupid enough to write about Sano. Unless he wrote an autobiography? But heck, anything by rooster head would never get published. Unless Misao was the publisher? But then�how the heck would Misao become a publisher?! Unless Hiko hired her�� He shuddered more. �My imagination is wild.� Kenshin looked through various books as Sano watched him dumbfounded. �Sano�I thought you were going to help me!� �What am I supposed to do?� Kenshin grabbed a bunch of books on Japanese History, and shoved them in to Sano�s hands. �Look for anything on the Sekihou Tai!!!� Sano stared at the books. �So�this is a book?� �YES SANO, NOW READ!!!!� Sano flipped through the pages slowly. �GO TO THE INDEX OR TABLE OF CONTENTS.� �Whats that?� Kenshin rolled his eyes in exasperation. �I only wonder how Megumi-dono can put up with you.� Kenshin grabbed one of the books and flipped to the table of contents. �Look for Sekihou Tai.� Sano nodded and started looking. His eyes scanned the page intently. �Kenshin, it doesn�t have anything on them.� �Then grab another book.� �Yes sir!� Both Sano and Kenshin grabbed more books and flipped through until� �SANO, KENSHIN, COME QUICK!� It was Aoshi. The old librarian whacked him on the head lightly with her cane. �Quiet!� Aoshi nodded �Yes ma�am.� Kenshin and Sano rushed to Aoshi. �OK guys, I found a brief thing on Sozou.�Aoshi pointed to a page in the book. �Sozou Sagara was the leader of the Sekihou Tai, a fake army. They were all liars, claiming the government was to lower rice taxes. When the government found out of this spreading of rumors and lies, they killed the Sekihou Tai, including its leader, Sozou Sagara. There were 2 survivors. One is known as Sanosuke Sagara (no relation to Sozou). At the time he was a mere boy. Current age unknown.� �Hey look Sano, your name is in a book.� Kenshin replied cheerily. �Liars?! TRAITORS?! WHY I�LL GET THOSE MOTHER FU�� The old librarian whacked him on the head with her cane. �Watch your language young man!� �Yes ma�am.� When the lady turned away, Sano stuck his middle finger at the old lady. This time Kenshin whacked him on the head. �Sano honestly!� Aoshi smirked. �I really thought you were going to let yourself be bossed around by that old lady. Good work Sanosuke.� Sano grinned. �Didn�t I see YOU in the same position while me and Kenshin were looking through books? Didn�t you yes ma�am her too?� Aoshi blushed slightly. �Well�I�� �Didn�t you?� �Oh come on Sano, let it go. Leave the poor man alone.� �Hey I�m not the victim! I�m no weakling!� �Both of you COOL IT.� They both murmured a, �Yes sir.� All 3 continued to flip through books until Sano abruptly broke the silence. �This is useless, there�s nothing in here on that mother fuc�� The old lady whacked him yet again with her cane, this time harder. �WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE YOUNG MAN!� �Hey, your not the boss of me!� She turned to Aoshi. �You seem like a respectable man. Please show your friend some manners.� Aoshi stared dumbfounded at the old lady, while Sano stared dumbfounded at Aoshi. �You don�t understand ma�am�� Sano started. �I�ve heard enough from you for one day young man! Either you watch your grammar or my cane and your head will have some serious discussing to do!� With that she stormed off to the opposite side of the library. Aoshi broke into laughter. �Ya, YOUNG MAN, see I�m a respectable man and I have to teach you some manners!� Kenshin rolled his eyes and smiled. �Aoshi is right Sano�you should learn some manners from him.� �Ya, now even my best friend is turning on me!� He had a hint of anger in his voice, but it was easy to tell he was joking. Kenshin�s eyes turned a hint of amber. �Sanosuke Sagara. Trust nobody.� Then his eyes turned to the normal purple and all was well. Sanosuke looked at Kenshin as if he were a 3-headed lion. �Um�okkk? Anyway�I think we�re pretty much wasting our time here. I don�t think anyone knows who killed Sozou. But I will find out!� His arm shot out above his head as if reaching for the ceiling. �I will find him! Let us all reach for the stars! Come with me, reach for the stars!� Aoshi interrupted Sano abruptly. �Too bad the ceilings in the way rooster head.� �Cold heart.� �Rooster head.� �Hard headed.� �Unimaginative.� �Rooster head� �Baka Aoshi� �Rooster head� Kenshin interrupted their little quarrel. �YOUR BOTH ROOSTER HEADS AND HARD HEADED AND UNIMAGINATIVE!!!!� The old lady seemed to pop out of nowhere. �And while you�re at it, teach this young man�� She pointed to Kenshin, �How to keep his mouth shut.� Aoshi grinned. �Yes ma�am!� �Well�anyway,� Sano started. �Ya�anyway�� Kenshin continued. �There�s nothing here. Lets head out.� Aoshi finished. They all nodded and walked out of the library (much to the old lady�s relief!). �Well�what now?� Sano asked. �You�re the one that led us on this wild goose chase, you should know.� Aoshi retorted. �I led you?! You�re the ones that tagged along! I was going to go on my own, but noooo you guys didn�t believe I could defend myself and tagged along!� �You wanna take this outside?!� Aoshi practically yelled. �WE ARE OUTSIDE!!!� �BRING IT!� Kenshin calmly stood in the middle of the two just as they were about to lunge at each other, and put both hands on either side, holding them back. �Please gentlemen. Compose yourselves. Yes Sano we chose to accompany you, but because we wanted to make sure you were alright.� �Heck, I could care less if Sano makes it alive, I just wanna fight with someone.� Sano snorted in disgust and Aoshi wrinkled his nose. Kenshin rolled his eyes. �You two remind me of Kaoru-dono and Yahiko back home.� �I�m Yahiko!� Sano exclaimed. �Nuh-uh, you�re the raccoon girl!� �AM NOT!� �ARE TOO!� �AM NOT!� �ARE TOO!� Kenshin, his patience quickly running out, kicked them both. �NO ONE IS RACCOON�I MEAN KAORU!!! NO ONE IS YAHIKO! JUST CALM YOURSELVES OK!?!?! JESUS CHRIST CAN YOU TWO EVER GET ALONG?!� �Who could get along with anyone like Aoshi anyway? That is, besides the weasel girl. She practically worships you.� �And you should to. And she�s not a weasel girl!� �Oh so you like her?� �NO!� �Then call her a weasel girl.� �But she�s not!� �Say it. Misao Makimachi is a weasel girl.� �Misao Makimachi is not a weasel girl! You�re a rooster head!� �AM NOT!!!� Kenshin�s eyes glowed a dangerous amber. �If you two don�t shut up right now, I swear I�ll pull my sakabatou on you two.� They both nodded and hushed immediately. �Thank you.� Kenshin smiled. Aoshi and Sano mustered a weak, fake smile and picked up the pace. They soon found Megumi along the trail. �Hello Megumi-dono.� Kenshin greeted. �Hey fox.� �Hello Megumi.� �Oh Keeenshin�� she purred. �I�m glad I found you.� Aoshi squirmed and Sano twitched angrily. Kenshin tried to break away, but Megumi pulled him towards her. �Where are you going in such a rush? Surely not in to the arms of that raccoon girl?� Kenshin stood there, then looked back at Aoshi for help. Aoshi shrugged and put his hands up as if saying �No way!� and stepped back. Kenshin looked to Sano, who was still twitching. Sano nodded and stepped towards Megumi. �Hey Fox, lay off Kenshin will ya? He�s got a girl to come home to, and us guys are busy. Very busy.� Megumi snorted. �I�m sure you are, but it�ll only take a few minutes�� She turned to Kenshin again, but Sano stood in the middle of the two, causing Megumi to play with Sano�s hair instead of Kenshin�s. She immediately jolted and took her hands off Sano�s hair. �Rooster-head I swear.� Sano grinned, but the grin faded all too quickly. �Fox, we�re busy OK? We�re doing men stuff and we don�t need you tagging along too.� �Men stuff? As in?� �Looking for some people.� �Whom?� �People OK! Just people! Damn!� �Fine, people. But, for the fun of it, I think I�ll tag along. This is my day off from the clinic so I get all the time in the world to spend with cutie over there.� �I sure hope you mean Aoshi or me, �cause if its Kenshin�ain�t now way, ain�t no how.� �Who are you to fix my affairs?� �Affair?! You two don�t have an affair!� �You never know�� Sano looked frantically to Kenshin, who was shaking his head no violently. Aoshi twitched. �Yes, I think I will �tag along� as you put it. Carry on, I�ll make myself visible only to Kenshin.� �If only you could always be like that�� Kenshin, open-mouthed, mouthed an �Oro?!� Sano found the nearest tree and banged his head against it repeatedly. 3 times�4 times�10 times� Aoshi walked up to him and lifted his head from the tree. �Let it go Sanosuke. Let it go.� Sano continued to bang his head. �Let it go Sanosuke. Let it go.� He still banged his head. Aoshi had to pry Sano�s head off of the tree. �Oi Sano, I know you�ve got the hots for her, but geez let her breathe!� �The hots?! THE HOTS?! FOR FOX?!� Sano literally yelled, shuddered, and looked at Aoshi as if he were from a different planet. �Oh come on Sano, its pretty obvious.� Sano tensed dramatically. It was true. Sano did like Megumi�a lot� �No way. Dude, you�re lost.� �Suit yourself�lover boy.� A smirk played across Aoshi�s face as Sano grumbled angrily. �Lover boy? Aoshi, surely you don�t� mean SANO!,� Megumi asked. �No, I do Miss Megumi.� �Sanosuke? Rooster head? A�lover boy? For ME? If I�m supposed to feel flattered, I�m not!� �Well, you should be, considering you like him back.� Megumi blushed intensely and pointed to Sano. �That�that�moron!?!? Me?! With him?! HO HO HO I THINK YOU�RE WRONG AOSHI!� �I think I am quite right. Quite right indeed�lover girl.� Kenshin twitched. Sano twitched. They all twitched. Megumi sarcastically added. �Hey lets join the weasel girl. All worship Lord Aoshi.� �She�s not a weasel girl for the last time!� �Is too!,� Sano and Megumi yelled in unison. �Is not!� �Is too!� �Is not!� �Is too!� Aoshi looked to Kenshin desperately, but Kenshin backed away. �Is not!� �Is too!� �Oh so the legendary heart of ice is being melted by none other than the hyper wrath of weasel girl? Misao? Gee Aoshi, you learn something knew everyday don�t you?� �I DON�T� LOVE MISAO OK!!! SHE�S A FRIEND!!!� �Relationships have to start somewhere,� Sano added. Aoshi gave him a firm glare. �But of course�a friendship doesn�t mean anything�right fox?� Megumi however did not give in, even after she received menacing glares from Aoshi. �Aoshi, there�s no need to hide it. Now we all know your little secret. I�ll just be running off to tell Misao now�� �NO!!!� Aoshi yelled. He literally got on his knees, and held Megumi�s hands. �I know I�ve just lost whatever dignity I had left�but please don�t tell her! Please! I beg of you Sano, Kenshin, Megumi! Please!� In the background, Sano cracked up laughing. He clutched his stomach in pain from laughing so hard. In fact, tears were coming out of his eyes. Megumi smiled. �OK Aoshi. Get up off the floor now. Any longer and I think rooster head will die of laughter.� Sano stopped laughing and snuck behind Megumi, then wrapped his hands around her waist. �Gee fox, I didn�t think you would care.� Megumi jolted at his touch. His breath so close to hers. A tingling sensation ran down her spine. Kenshin coughed loudly and Sano released his grip from Megumi. Aoshi whispered to Kenshin, �to be continued.� Fanfiction Archive Main Page |