Standard disclaimers apply to each and every chapter of this story.

A/N: The last time I did Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction, I was very sad to say that well… it sucked. Ehehe. But now I’ve a new story and though I dare not say that it’s very good, I hope that I will definitely write better than last time. *cringes* Enjoy, and all reviews are very, very, very greatly appreciated!! But you already knew that… ^^*

On with the story!

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Room 52

By Andrina

Chapter 1

           She stepped out of the car and gazed worriedly at the tall white building, biting her lip self-consciously. The place intimidated her, to speak the truth, with its clean sharp corners and sterile surroundings. Fake. The thought jumped unbidden into her mind.She glanced down at her crisp pale blue nurse uniform, and almost as an afterthought, reached down hesitatingly to smooth away an imaginary wrinkle.

She liked the color of the uniform though. It was the palest shade of blue, making her eyes seem nearly ten times as azure. She scanned herself critically from head to toe in a small clear puddle of rainwater, before allowing a tiny smile of satisfaction to grace her smooth young face. “Okay,” she whispered, more to herself than to her sister. “Let’s go in.” Fixing a confident smile on her face, she strode boldly into the hospital.

Megumi smiled faintly to herself. Kaoru needed to learn how to walk nicely.

Minutes later, Megumi stepped into her office, pausing to give her sister a small smile. “Good luck,” she said quietly. Kaoru smiled back. “Thanks,” she murmured gratefully, stepping past Megumi and squeezing her hand quickly. “Bye.” Her voice seemed to falter for a split second before her eyes brightened and she walked off swiftly, her heels clacking away noisily. Suddenly, she made a sudden right turn; nearly slipping on smooth floor and a loud ‘oops!’ flew from her mouth before she could stop. Turning a deep shade of red, she clasped a hand onto her mouth, looking around guiltily if anyone had seen her. Finding no one in the corridors, she quickly straightened and disappeared into the Children’s Ward.

Megumi closed the clinic door and laughed knowingly to herself. Some things never change, do they?

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           A new nurse who recently completed her studies, Kaoru was posted to Room 23 of the Children’s Ward, to take care of the four kids inside: Ryoko Andrews, 9, Maria Wolfe, 14, Terence Zhang, 12, and Myoujin Yahiko, 11. They sounded harmless enough, she thought. Shouldn’t be much of a problem.

           Two hours later, Kaoru really wanted her bokken.

           Oh, the girls were good enough. Ryoko was a sweet shy child of mixed blood, with dark brown eyes and long black hair. She appeared to enjoy hiding under the blanket very much, curled up in a ball very much if she wasn’t being entertained. She was waiting for an operation to be done on a hole in her heart. Maria, the older girl, was more outspoken, but she wasn’t as bad as the boys. Kaoru raised a hand to massage her forehead. Terence. That kid was a terror. All he knew was to fake some pain somewhere and grin stupidly as she hurried over, trying to find out what was wrong.

           Ah, and then there was Yahiko.

           For someone who was paralyzed from waist down, it was amazing how much energy he had, always calling her ‘busu’, ‘hag’ or ‘old witch’. Her fist tightened. Why, if she had her bokken, and he wasn’t injured, she’d teach him a lesson or two about politeness, that little brat… “Oi! Hag!” There he was again. Stupid, good-for nothing little punk… she buried her face in her hands mentally. Why didn’t they send her to take care of some less irritating people? Why this brat?

It was going to be a long day.

*~*~*

“Oh, so that’s the new nurse? She looks a bit young, don’t you think?”

“Shhh… she’ll hear you. But she is young. Only twenty-two. Such a sweet thing. She’ll probably find another job soon…”

Kaoru stiffened. Sweet thing? Look, lady, I may be young, but I’m qualified! She raised her head dignifiedly, saying a soft “Good afternoon” to the two head nurses in charge of the children’s ward. They had laughed a little and nodded, and one of them even commented on how nice her hair ribbon was. She smiled coolly and continued down the hall and into room 23. Her shift would be ending soon, and she could then go home with Megumi. Kaoru yawned discreetly, covering her mouth. She should check on those kids now.

She slid the door open silently and looked in. Ryoko was fast asleep, curled up in a tight ball so that only the top of her head was showing. Maria was sound asleep too. Though it was only nine-thirty, she guessed they must be extra drained, since they were sick children. Hm. Children. She found it hard to think of Terence and Yahiko as children. Perhaps demons would be a better choice of words. In the yellow glow of the night-light, she saw Terence’s chest moving up and down as he took deep breaths. And Yahiko...  Kaoru frowned slightly. Something wasn’t right. He was curled up, his back facing her, but his back was rising up and down unsteadily, a sharp contrast to Terence’s deep breathing.

She stepped forward silently, shutting the door. Reaching his bed, she leant down slowly. “Brat?” she whispered softly, her voice nearly inaudible. “Hey, brat, you awake?” she saw him stiffen slightly, giving her an answer. But instead of turning to face her, he turned his face away even more.

“Go away…” he mumbled, his voice coming out tearful and desperate. Her eyes widened in surpriseas she bent over the young boy.

“Look at me. Yahiko, are you hurting somewhere?” she asked urgently. He shook his head fiercely, mouthing an angry “No!” She sighed. It was obvious that he wasn’t even going to look at her. Reaching out, she pried him onto his side, so that she could see his face.

Almost at once, her eyes widened at the tears on his cheeks. “What’s wrong?” she asked him kindly, again and again. But he clammed himself up tightly, refusing to tell her anything. It hurt… it hurt too much. She gave up after a while, knowing it would be useless to try and convince this stubborn mule of a boy. “Come here…” she murmured, drawing him into her arms almost automatically. He stiffened at once, but she wouldn’t let go, but held him the way she held her younger sister when they were young. She smiled faintly at the memory. This was how she used to comfort Misao when her sister was upset and started crying. He gave in after failing to break away and his hands came up to clutch her sleeves helplessly as he took deep shuddering breaths and buried his face in her shoulder.

She held the crying boy in her arms motherly. He had been such a little horror this afternoon, but now, he seemed no more than a helpless, scared little boy. Finally, he pulled away and wiped at his face. “I’m fine,” he said brusquely, trying to hide his flaming red face. Kaoru smiled.

“You can tell me when you’re ready to. Good night, Yahiko-chan,” she spoke calmly. Standing up, she gave his head a pat and left the room.

Despite his tears, Yahiko seethed.

She walked down the hall quickly. What had happened to Yahiko? He seemed like such a brat, yet he was so… so vulnerable just now. Kaoru sighed, a hand coming up to brush a stray lock of ebony hair away form her face. She had known the boy for less than 24 hours, yet she had felt such a strong urge to take care of him. To mother him and stop him from crying. She shook her head. Well, at least he had stopped crying for now.

She found herself at Megumi’s clinic and stood outside, waiting. Her sister would be out soon, since her shift had ended too. Raising her head, she saw a tall gangly man leaning against the wall outside the room, his head bowed. He was dressed casually in a black tee and jeans, with spiky brown hair. Like a rooster, she mused absent-mindedly, giggling to herself. Was he a patient then? But he didn’t make a move to go in, or to leave. Finally, her curiosity had the best of her, and she spoke to this stranger. “May I help you?”

He cracked open an eye and glanced at her with a friendly smile. “Nah. I’m waiting for the fox.” He jerked a finger towards the closed door. “You must be new here, aren’t you? Otherwise you’d know who I am.” She nodded stiffly, thinking privately how arrogant he sounded.

“Why are you waiting for Megumi?” she asked politely. He avoided her question, a grin forming on his face.

“The fox’s pretty, don’t you think?”

Kaoru allowed a small proud smile to grace her lips. “Yes, my sister is pretty.” She paused for a moment and mischief crept into her face as she looked at the towering man. “You like her, don’t you?”

He made a loud snort. “Maybe…” he shrugged evasively. Then he lifted his head, revealing startled eyes. “Sister?” he said incredulously. “Did you say that Megumi’s your sister?”

Kaoru laughed and held out her hand. “Kamiya Kaoru,” she said pleasantly. “Younger sister of Kamiya Megumi. And you are…?”

He took her hand and shook it heartily, smiling good-naturedly. “Sagara Sanosuke.” He looked at her. “Hm. Megumi’s the fox of the family; and you look like the raccoon,” he mused thoughtfully, looking at her hard.

“Hey!!”

He was rewarded with a loud smack as she reached up and hit him on the head. Hard. “Shut up, you stupid rooster-head,” Kaoru muttered, fuming. “I’m not a raccoon, you rooster brain…” Sano simply grinned cockily. “Whatever you say, Jouchan,” he said breezily, grinning at her. Ooh, the nerve of this guy. She was tired, and it had been a long day, and now she had to deal with insults fro this rooster guy who liked her sister? “I always knew Megumi had bad taste,” she muttered, smoothing her skirt down.

“I do not.”

She looked up and saw her sister standing at the door, looking as immaculate and neat as always. She was looking from Sano to Kaoru, with an oddly amused look on her face. “As you said, Kao, I do not go for rooster heads,” she said coolly, raising a manicured hand to gaze at her nails. “Let’s go, Kaoru.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked away abruptly, leaving the younger girl to stare after her. She knew Megumi could be harsh, but wasn’t this a little too blunt and cold? After all, as rude and cocky as this Sanosuke guy was, he hadn’t done anything to her. She hurried after her sister, leaving Sano to stand outside the now locked door, all alone.

“Megumi!” she panted as they entered the car park. Darn, it was kind of hard to run in high heels. “Megumi, why did you have to be so blunt?”

She never stopped walking. “Come, Kaoru. It wouldn’t matter to him anyway. He’s the kind of stubborn idiot who never gets hurt, no matter how much you reject or insult him.” She paused in her words, seemingly considering something. “Come to think of it, he’s getting irritating.” She laughed a tinkling laugh, toying with her hair coyly. “No one can resist the Kamiya beauty, that is, if you know how to use it,” she hinted, glancing at her sister. Kaoru fumed. “Are you implying something?” she accused. Megumi shook her head calmly, smiling demurely.

“Of course not, sister dear,” she replied serenely, her eyes twinkling as they approached the car. “Why would I do something like that to my dearest raccoon sister?”

“Megumi!!”

*~*~*

“Oh, does this look infected to you?”

“What happened, Anika? Who scratched you?”

“It was that guy in Room 52 again. He’s a madman, I tell you. It’s really a pity, don’t you think?”

“Oh, I know what you mean. I’ve never been one of the unfortunate ones to drug him though. I met him only once. He’s the red-haired one, with strange purple eyes and a scar on his cheek, isn’t he? He had been so polite. Ah, if I were twenty five years younger, he’d be mine!”

The other nurse snorted. “He does have red hair, quite long and nice too. But his eyes… did you know that they turn into this horrible golden every time we try to make him take his medicine or drug him? Isn’t that strange?”

“Aa… it is weird… such a pity that he is bent on dying of cancer. I hear that he has a tumor that cannot be operated on. Keeps on saying he wants to die. Madman, I tell you. Who wants to die?”

“I know what you mean. Look! Today Mandy and I had to take some blood samples from him, and he went crazy. He even scratched me! Oh dear, does this look infected?”

Kaoru flipped onto her side, a small frown creasing her smooth face. She couldn’t stop thinking about that little bit of gossip she had heard from two middle-aged nurses whom she passed by earlier that day. Who was this madman that they kept talking about? Why did he want to die so badly? It intrigued her, to speak the truth.

Ah, none of my business. I’ll meet him someday, I guess. I just wonder what’s wrong with Yahiko.

She breathed in deeply and pulled the covers up to her chin, burying her face in the fluffy pillow.

Somewhere at the back of her mind, a faceless man with flaming red hair, eyes that alternated between amethyst and golden and a prominent scar lurked.

Somewhere more front, an image of a tearful Yahiko stood out boldly, imprinted in her mind.

Kaoru fell asleep.

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