Lost and Found story by QueenYokozuna + DISCLAIMER: Characters are from the manga/anime series "Rurouni Kenshin" created by Watsuki Nobuhiro. + Note: Sorry, but I just had to get this out of my head. Sanosuke ambled out of the small, dingy gambling house. He swung his gaze up lazily toward the sky, rusted red now by the sinking sun. "Sano!" He whirled in the direction of the familiar voice. "Heya, Kenshin," he grinned at his advancing friend, only to raise his brows next instant seeing as Kenshin had something unfamiliar tucked in the crook of his arm. "What's that?" "A puppy, de gozaru," the smiling redhead replied, patting the little white puppy he held. "Baka, don't ya think I can see it's a puppy?" Sano frowned. "That yours?" "Oh, no, this is Ayame-chan's and Suzume-chan's, de gozaru," clarified Kenshin. "A patient of Gensai-sensei's had given it to them as a gift." "Really? So what's it doin' with ya?" "Well, it had slipped out the dojo while the girls napped, and I had to look for it all around." Kenshin let a hand mop across his shiny brow. "This little one's quite slippery, de gozaru." The younger man simpered. "Poor Ken-nii." "I'm glad I found you though, Sano. Could you take the puppy home for me, please?" "What, now?" "Hai. I still have to buy some things for supper and I can't make the girls wait for another half-hour, de gozaru." "Sure, no problemo," Sano flashed him an obliging smile. Promptly he scooped the puppy out of Kenshin's arm and snuggled its whimpering little form into his own. "What's its name anyway?" "Shiro-chan. Oh thank you, Sano! I could kiss you!" "Whoa, n-not in public. See ya later, 'kay?" And with that the two friends parted, Kenshin heading for the market place and Sano the Kamiya dojo. Walking carefreely along, "Now, little guy," Sano grinned down at his young canine tote, "don't go straying like that again, 'kay?" As though in response, Shiro-chan licked his hand and gave a little whimper. "Aw, now ain't ya just cute," Sano rubbed his knuckles fondly over the puppy's head. "Ain't he now." Instantly Sano snapped his head up, to see Saitou standing right in his path smoking a cigarette and smirking at him. "What's it to ya, temee." Sano cast a baleful glare as he stalked past the tall police officer, who only exhaled thick smoke into his face and smirked at him even more. Miraculously enough the coughing boy found himself able to keep his fists from flying, but just as he decided to turn about and let fly a cuss phrase at the older man, 'Huh?' Sano blinked. 'Where'd he go?...' Not nearly fascinated, at any rate, Sano simply shrugged and carried on his course to the dojo, when after only a few paces spotted two of his drinking buddies marching into a small bar. "Oi Sano-san!" one of them waved. "Where ya going, why doncha join us for a drink first?" Never one to turn down a friend's offer, Sano promptly drew near, simpering broadly at the tasty prospect of free sake. In his arm, Shiro-chan whimpered. + "Thanks for the treat, pals!" Sano patted his friends heartily on the back. "Anytime," they chorused, before patting him in turn with their goodbyes and splitting into the dusky alley around the bend. With a contented grin across his face Sano then turned to head down the street, when a cutting, momentous thought suddenly stopped him dead in his tracks. "Shit!" he gasped, looking himself and his proximate surroundings over. "Shiro-chan!" His heartbeat tearing, Sano rushed back into the bar and began to turn the place upside down. "Where the fuck is he?!" he grumbled, hoisting benches and tables. "If you're looking for that li'l pooch you came in with," the bartender finally spoke up, "you ain't gonna find him in here." "Why?" Sano demanded. "I saw him sneak out. While you and your mates swigged." "What?!" Sano felt a rush of alarm attack every chip of his spine. ...This little one's quite slippery, de gozaru. Of course. Why did he have to put the damned puppy down and let it out of his damned sight, anyway? Damn! He never should have come here to booze in the damned first place. 'What am I gonna tell Kenshin...and the girls...!' Eaten up by the thought he'd break their hearts, off Sano went, cussing himself as with what little aid of moonlight he ransacked the town over for that sneaky little pup. Along alleyways and side streets he frantically searched, peeking through slits and crawling into holes in desperate hope of finding the lost pet. Under one of the empty fruit stands he bent over and ducked his spiky head. "Here, puppy puppy puppy," he called out, but was merely met with the squeaks of rats. Frustrated, he then began to move back, only to bump into something behind him. He took another step back, and bumped into it again. And it was then that he felt it. His backside was bumping into something...hard. ...kind of bulging and hard. Quickly he straightened up and spun in his heels. Right before him, stood... "Looking for something?" Saitou smirked, holding up something in his left gloved hand that instantly wiped the scowl off Sano's face. "Shiro-chan!" the boy cried in relief, and was about to reach out and grab at the little white puppy when Saitou pulled it away and declared, "Not so fast, ahou." "Hey gimme that goddam puppy, teme!" Sano yelled, "He's mine!" "If you want him," Saitou smirked, "then come and claim him." "The fuck?!?" With not a word more Saitou casually turned and walked away. Clenching his itching fingers, Sano could only look daggers at Saitou's stiff, proud back. And follow. + In Saitou's office, the little white puppy barked non-stop in one corner, struggling to shake itself out of its leash. "Noisy little mutt," muttered Saitou, heaving himself at last off the naked, sweaty boy he'd pinned sprawled on his desk. Smoothing his black t-shirt, he reached for his cigarettes by the window, lit a stick, and then began to drag on it as he leaned against the wall and tucked his sated package back neatly inside his unzipped trousers. With some effort Sano then tried to sit up, rubbing the track of love bites along the side of his neck. "Teme!" he growled viciously at the man ogling at him, "I could fucking send you to jail for this!" "What," Saitou smirked, "for doing my job? Ahou ga." Just then, the noisy puppy ceased its furious barking, momentarily drawing the attention of the two men. Wagging its tail, the puppy then raised one of its short, hind legs, and began to relieve itself by the table close by. "You and your stupid little mutt," Saitou scowled, crushing his unfinished cigarette on the window sill. "Hey it's not my fault he pissed on your furniture!" Sano glowered back, trying to wipe his abs clean of the sticky wetness. Swiftly, Saitou stepped up to the desk. "It is, ahou," he squeezed Sano's right thigh. "If you hadn't resisted the first few minutes you'd have walked out my office by now and that mutt wouldn't have had to piss in here and dirty my office." "The fuck?!?" "You're going to have to pay for that." A squeeze on his other thigh was the only warning Sano got before he found himself pinned back to the desk again and the lecherous, bastard cop all over him once more. In the corner, the little white puppy...howled? + "Sano!" Almost dazedly, Sano made his way forward to Kenshin. From behind the redhead Ayame and Suzume came hurrying along, and jumped up and down in supreme delight as they saw the little white puppy in Sano's grasp. "Shiro-chan!" the girls squealed. Sighing in utmost relief, Sano gladly handed the puppy over to them. "What happened to you?" Kenshin's voice was thick with concern. "You were supposed to be here a couple of hours ago, de gozaru." "Uh, yeah," Sano tugged at a sleeve of his askew jacket. "Sorry, Kenshin. I had to look for, I mean, uh, take care of...stuff." "Are you alright? You look...drained, de gozaru." Suddenly, a cry: "Oh!" Alarmed, Kenshin at once turned to the two girls. "What's the matter, Ayame-chan?" "Ken-nii," Ayame looked up at him with worried eyes, "this puppy, he's not our Shiro-chan." "Wh-what do you mean that's not Shiro-chan?" Sano demanded. "Look at'is ear!" said Suzume, nearly in tears. "It's got a black spot in the back!" Sano frowned. "So?" "Shiro-chan doesn't have a black spot in the back of'is ear! This isn't our Shiro-chan! Waaahhh!" "Just hold on, girls, are you sure?" Kenshin asked. "Yes!" the two little girls sobbed in unison. "Oro? What happened to Shiro-chan, then, Sano -- Sano? Sano??" Before Kenshin could see it coming, Sano grabbed the redhead by the kimono, raised his shaking fist in the air and screamed, "That filthy lying dick!!!" "Oro...?" + Walking home nonchalantly down that quiet street, Saitou adjusted his cap in place on his head. "Maa," the Wolf stroked the whimpering little white puppy tucked in his arm, "I'll make sure the ahou comes to claim you, too, ne?" And he licked his lips, a sly grin barely traceable on them. END e-mail. guestbook. back. |