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My Life: Chapter 13 - Engaging Conversations

by Fitz

I went home the following Saturday after my shift ended. That meant I had another whole week before I went back to school, and my temp job ended that Saturday. An entire week. I was going to hurt someone before it was over. At least Enishi was gone.

“Don’t you have a job to go to?” Uncle Hiko’s voice actually made some things in the house rattle when he bellowed at me like that. Never was I fooled into believing that could only happen in television. When I was little, I used to think that if he got loud enough, he could break the windows like in the cartoons. Of course, that was impossible.

“No!” I shouted back. I was wracking my brain for something to do that day. “Saturday was my last day!”

I was considering going to the library that afternoon when the phone rang. I picked it up off the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and are you doing anything today?”

I grinned.

“Other than sitting here staring at the wall all day,” I replied. “How was Pennsylvania, Sano?”

“Her folks acted like I was the scum of the earth, but other than that it was great,” he laughed. “Megumi and I are going to a movie. You want to come?”

“What’re you going to see?”

“Um... Hold on, let me check,” he said quickly. “Megumi!”

They muttered back and forth, too soft for me to hear, but I waited patiently. I honestly didn’t care what we went to see. As long as it got me out of the house.

“Catch Me If You Can,” Sano said abruptly.

“When?”

“Seven o’clock showing.”

Eh?! That late? Okay... that left the rest of the day still empty. Damn.

“How about earlier?” Sano asked. Oh, thank god.

“An earlier showing?”

“No, what are you doing earlier?” he chuckled.

“Nothing.”

“Then get yourself dolled up. You’re going out with Megumi and me,” he ordered. “Try to look like a man. We’re bringing along another girl.”

He what?!

“Sano! I don’t want you setting me up--”

“She’s great,” he insisted, not listening to my complaints. “Nice, funny, brown hair and blue eyes, and a great body--Ow!”

Megumi came on the line then.

“Don’t listen to him, Kenshin,” she suggested. “She’s a wonderful young woman. I think you’ll like her.”

“Megumi!” I was whining, but who wouldn’t? They were setting me up on a blind date! “I really wish you wouldn’t--”

“Hey! Give that back, you pushy broad! OW!” Sano was laughing, and there was some scuffling over the phone. I scowled.

“Sano, you know I don’t like this idea.” If he even heard me...

“Live a little, Kenshin!” Yes, he heard me. “We’re meeting her at the restaurant at four. She’s a little older than you--one of Megumi’s friends--and taller... but you’ll like her. But I’ve got some news first, which I want to tell you before we meet the girl, so we’re on our way over now. That okay?”

“Sanosuke Sagara! Don’t think that by--” The rest was a mess of laughter. Those two. I would never understand them.

“We’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Sano informed me, then hung up the phone.

I looked at the phone in my hand, then shook my head and hung it up. They were like a newly married couple sometimes. Fighting like crazy one minute and happily groping each other the next. They were almost as confusing as Kaoru and Misao.

^_^

We sat in the food court at the Maplewood mall, talking about our vacations thus far. I told them about Christmas at Kaoru’s house, and Sano and Megumi told me about their time at her parents’ house. It seemed rather dull, actually, compared to my time. That was not necessarily a bad thing.

“And my parents don’t hate him,” Megumi explained, picking at her fried rice and vegetables. Sano made some choking sounds and stuck his finger against his temple, pretending to shoot himself. I smirked, and Megumi smacked his arm. “They don’t! They think he’s... unique.”

“Is that what we’re calling it these days?” Sano laughed. I had to chuckle as well.

“And Sanosuke took me to this nice restaurant in the city,” Megumi smiled, about as lovey dovey as a girl could look. I glanced at Sano, and he grinned, as happy as can be. I sighed and picked up my pop. Those two... I always felt so out of place with them when they were like that. Don’t get me wrong! I was happy for Sano, that he was dating a girl he liked, but did they have to act like that around me?

“And in front of all the other guests...” Megumi held out her left hand. I looked at it curiously, straw still in my mouth, no doubt looking like an idiot. Oh well. “He asked me to marry him.”

I choked on my pop. Quickly setting it down, I grabbed a napkin to hold over my mouth while I coughed. I stared at Sano and Megumi in shock. Marriage?! One of my friends was getting married? That was not possible. I was too young for that.

No, Sano was almost twenty-two. And Megumi was twenty. Sometimes I forgot that they were both a bit older than I.

“Come on, Kenshin,” Sano patted my back, just making me cough harder. I pushed his hand away. “Megumi’s not that bad a choice.”

“Sanosuke!”

“S-stop!” I managed to gasp out, still coughing every few seconds. “Y-you’re getting... you’re getting married? When?”

“Not until I graduate,” Sano explained with a grin. “Then, I’ll go to work, and Megumi’ll finish her degree.”

“Summer of next year,” Megumi clarified.

“You’ve got to be my best man, Kenshin,” Sano informed me. Me? A groomsman?

“What about Katsu?” I asked weakly, drinking more of my pop to soothe my sore throat--which had been caused by my pop. “Won’t he feel like he’s been snubbed?”

“I already talked to him,” Sano shook his head and smirked. “He’s going to be the photographer for the wedding.”

“For a small fee, of course,” Megumi added.

“But it’s cheaper than hiring someone else,” Sano concluded. “I’m gonna get Yahiko to be the ring-bearer. And Megumi’s got a couple little cousins who’ll be the flower girls.”

They went on. And on... and on. It seemed that they had already spent a great deal of time planning this already. When I asked about that, Megumi just said that her mother had always envisioned the dream wedding for her only daughter. From what I gathered, there were far more people on Megumi’s side of the family, and most of them lived on the coast. In addition, her family was far from poor--as most of it consisted of doctors, lawyers, and a few politicians (used car salesmen). Megumi decided she liked Minnesota, for whatever reason, and wanted to be married in the northernmost state of the US. That made it nice for the rest of us peons, who could not afford to fly out to Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Boston, or whatever costal place where her family was concentrated.

After listening to twenty minutes of explanations, bouncing back and forth between Sano and Megumi, I stopped them. It was an information overload, and I was on vacation.

Then, of course, Megumi wanted to check out the dress situation. There was a David’s Bridal in the mall--which, come to think of it, was probably why they chose to go to that out-of-the-way mall in the first place--so we went there. I dropped into a chair in the corner while Megumi moved from mannequin to mannequin, admiring the wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. She pointed at one such dress.

“This color is gorgeous!”

It was a pale pink. Almost skin tone. All of the bridesmaids would look like the walking dead in that color, but I didn’t say so. Sano was either color blind or smart enough not to point this out as well. He just grinned and agreed with her.

After awhile, Sano sat in the chair next to mine and offered a goofy-looking smile.

“So? What do you think?” he asked.

“I think it’s great, Sano,” I returned his smile. “I’m happy for you. And Megumi.”

“You don’t think we’re rushing this, then?” he seemed worried, and I shook my head.

“You’ve known each other for over a year,” I said with a shrug. “Two and a half years by the time you make your vows. Just, um... one thing.”

“Hn?”

“Do I have to give a toast?”

He just laughed at the question and clapped a hand against my shoulder. I had been serious. But he did not answer me that day. Instead, he stood and nodded toward Megumi.

“I should go retrieve her before she goes too crazy.”

“Maybe... one bit of advice on all this dress shopping.” I was shaky on this subject. After all, I was not really the expert on dresses, but I had gone along when my sister started shopping for her own wedding and bridesmaids gowns. I recalled a few details. “You should ask Katsu first, but Megumi might want to consider consulting her photographer before picking out all the dresses.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know,” I lifted my eyebrows at him. “All of us... artsy types know this. The wedding will last for a day. But the pictures...”

“Oooohhhhhh,” he nodded in understanding, then sighed at my reference. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“If I look gay, I might as well act it once in awhile, don’t you think?” I grinned.

He groaned and pointed a warning finger at me.

“One night, when you’re sleeping,” he threatened. “I’m going to come in and chop all that hair off.”

“As long as you do a good job of it,” I shot back. “I don’t want some hack hair cut.”

“Funny, Kenshin,” he rolled his eyes, walking back to Megumi. “You’re hilarious.”

I shrugged and leaned back again. We still had another hour before we were supposed to meet that girl. Sano got Megumi out of the bridal shop, but he could not keep her out of the department stores. Women and clothes shopping. I never understood it. Sano and I had a brief reprieve when we ducked into an electronics shop for about ten minutes. But when Megumi discovered where we had gone, she came and pulled us out again. Literally.

^_^

We met the girl at a place called Houlihan’s. It was an unremarkable place, but for those prices. A quick glance through the menu informed me that I could not afford much more than a bowl of soup.

“She’s a little late,” Megumi glanced at her watch. “Or we’re a little early...”

Sano leaned across the table and winked at me.

“Great body,” he whispered.

“Sanosuke!” Megumi smacked him over the head. “There’s more to a woman than looks.”

He looked back at her in bold challenge. I had a bad feeling about that.

“I was talking about Kenshin!”

“Sano!”

“Sanosuke!”

He flinched under the both of us yelling at him. I sighed and leaned on the table lightly, absently stirring my ice water with a straw.

“Not that I’m not happy for you guys and all,” I mumbled. “But just because you two are getting married doesn’t mean that I want to start looking for prospective wives. Why’d you set this up?”

“You’re always such a loner, Kenshin,” Megumi said with a little smile. “That’s not healthy.”

“Blind dates are not healthy.”

“That was a pathetic comeback, Kenshin,” Sano snickered.

“I’m sorry!” I glared at him. “I still don’t like it.”

“Lighten up, Kenshin,” Sano said. “It’s just a date. If you don’t like her, then you don’t have to call her.”

I frowned at him unhappily. Megumi smiled then and lifted her hand.

“Over here, honey!”

Megumi stood to meet the girl. The woman squealed and rushed forward to hug Megumi, so all I saw of her at first was some shoulder-length brown hair and her black leather jacket and blue jeans. She was thin--and taller than I was. Other than that--

“Ohhhhh, this is so exciting!” she laughed. “It’s not fair! I’m older than you, Megumi!”

Older than Megumi, hm? Great. The women pulled apart, and I finally got a glimpse of her face.

I knew her. Sometimes the world was too small. Why did this always happen to me?

I wanted to hide, but there was not a lot to hide behind in a restaurant booth. So all I did was sink down in my seat, lean forward on my elbows on the table, and hide my eyes with my hands.

“I thought you were bringing a guy along,” the woman observed.

“This is him,” Megumi replied.

“Oh! Whoopsie! I’m so sorry!” The bench cushion whooshed softly as she sat on it. She had not changed one bit. Still a cheerful ditz. “Hi! My name is--”

“Jordan,” I cut her off. I didn’t want to look at her, so I didn’t move. “I know.”

“You know her?” Sano asked, startled. His hands loomed into my vision then. He grabbed my arms and pulled them down, despite my irritated growl. I glared at him, then yanked my hands away and sat back with a huff. I looked at the girl next to me.

Jordan’s blue eyes were wide with surprise. She smiled, but anyone could tell it was forced.

“You grew your hair out, Kenny,” she murmured.

She had been my sister’s best friend. In fact, she was going to be Tomoe’s maid of honor, back when they were both going on twenty-one. Which, by the way, placed Jordan at almost twenty-five--five years older than me. Wasn’t there a law about that? Nah. I would have had to be under eighteen.

“Hey,” Sano laughed nervously as the silence dragged on. “This is a coincidence. How do you guys know each other?”

This was going to be a very long day. It was not that I disliked Jordan. She was nice enough. But circumstances being what they were... well, it was uncomfortable. I was not happy to see her. It brought back some not very happy memories that I was content to ignore.

“I knew Kenny’s sister,” Jordan explained.

“You have a sister?” Megumi asked blankly.

“Had,” I said icily, glaring at the table.

“...Oh.”

“We were friends,” Jordan continued. “Until she died... how long ago--”

“Four years,” I stated. I was being a jerk, but I didn’t care. Maybe they would just make me leave, and I could get away from this.

After a brief silence, she continued.

“I tried to keep contact for awhile,” she said slowly. “But Kenny was never around.”

Well, I was busy. School, drugs, psychiatrists. I could hardly be expected to take time out of my schedule to talk with a girl who called me Kenny and treated me like her best friend’s baby brother--‘baby’ being the key word there.

“You look good, Kenny,” Jordan said. She did not sound very sure of herself.

“Thanks,” I grumbled. “You look good, too. Great.” Probably. I wasn’t looking at her. She sounded happy enough.

There was another long, uncomfortable silence. This was just great. Of course I would be set up on a blind date with the girl I could only associate with Tomoe’s death. Why would it be any other way?

I saw something shift out of the corner of my eye, and I lifted my head enough to see that Sano had moved his hand to hold Megumi’s. He was comforting her. Because I was being an ass and upsetting the afternoon when it was supposed to be a happy day.

I sighed.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized quietly. “You, um... caught me by surprise. You were talking about the wedding...”

Again, one of those awkward silences... then:

“Kenshin, if you’re uncomfortable with this,” Megumi started.

“No,” I interrupted quickly, glancing at Jordan, then back to the table. I still had a hard time looking at her. “No. It’s fine. If--if Jordan doesn’t mind me being here... then I would--” God, but this was hard to say. This had to be the biggest lie I had spoken in the past two years. “I’d like to stay. Let’s just order something... and... what are we doing after this?”

“We were going to do some more dress shopping,” Megumi replied.

My flinch was visible on that one, I was sure. I suddenly couldn’t speak, so I just nodded in acknowledgment. Of course, only Jordan knew why I didn’t like the idea, but she was the only person in the group that I could not address.

“You know...” Jordan spoke up then. “We’ve got plenty of time to look for dresses. Let’s do something that everyone will like.”

“I’d really like to stop in a bar somewhere,” Sano grunted.

Ouch. He was mad. I didn’t blame him. I was a breath away from begging them to take me home. This afternoon was turning into something awful.

“How about bowling?” Jordan suggested abruptly.

I blinked. Bowling?

“Bowling?” Sano echoed my skeptical thoughts.

“Everybody likes to bowl,” Jordan said brightly. “Megumi?”

“Oh! Uh... sure!” Megumi laughed, sounding very uneasy. “That sounds... um...”

“Good,” I offered to save us all from a bad situation. Misao, with her theater major, would have been proud of me. I lifted my head finally and smiled as sincerely as I could manage. “Let’s do that. And then we can go to the movie...” And I looked at Jordan. Right at her, forcing myself not to glance away immediately. “Right?”

She smiled, looking more grateful than I’d ever seen anyone look. I was fixing this. Yay to me.

We looked at Sano and Megumi, who seemed skeptical about the whole thing. But they finally agreed that it was a good idea. Our waiter came back, looking uncomfortable after having been sent away twice, apparently. I didn’t order anything, my appetite long since destroyed. More Sprite--the drink for the churning stomach.

^_^

The day went smoothly after that. I still avoided Jordan like the plague, and my bowling score was pathetic, but we put on a pretty good show. The movie was interesting enough, but it was long. We said good-bye to Jordan in the parking lot outside the movie theater, and it was over. I followed Megumi and Sano to the car where, as I should have predicted, we had a final confrontation over the subject.

“Kenshin, I’m really sorry about all this,” Megumi said as the car warmed up.

“Don’t worry about it, Megumi,” I tried to wave it off. “You couldn’t have known.” Except if she had been willing to tell that girl my name, or vice versa. Because, quite honestly, how many Kenshin’s were there in Minnesota? Or Jordan’s for that matter? Neither name was very common.

“I really feel awful,” she insisted. “She told me about the accident, and what happened that you--”

“Megumi,” I interrupted. “I’ll get over it. It’s your wedding, and you do what you want. Just... no more blind dates, okay?”

“Agreed,” she reached back over the headrest, fingers waggling in my face. I stared at her hand for a minute, then figured out what she was doing and clasped her hand lightly. “It’s a deal, then.”

“I’ll be nice to Jordan, and you leave me alone when it comes to dating,” I confirmed.

She squeezed my fingers, then pulled her hand back and put the car into gear.

“Let’s go,” she said. “I’d like to get home before midnight.”

I smiled and leaned back, relieved that the day was over. Sano looked over his shoulder at me.

“It’s really too bad, though,” he said sadly.

“What?” I frowned at him.

“She does have a great body.”

“Sanosuke!”

“Ow!”

I had to laugh. Trust Sano to come up with something to lighten any situation.

^_^