Always Then, Always Forever

Prologue: What shadows follow in the night

So tired…

Megumi leaned back against the wall, stretching her arms out in hopes of relieving the tension in them. In the dim candle-light, she could just barely make out the numbers on the small clock –a gift from one of her patients, she recalled absently- sitting on her desk. 12.50 am.

She stood up then, clearing away all her supplies and packing it neatly into drawers and cupboards. Usually her assistant, Ayame, did the cleaning up but the poor girl had been working overtime for the past week or so. As such, Megumi had declared her fatigued and sent her home early despite her feeble protests.

Her full lips stretched into a wry smile; of course, Ayame’s absence and the lack of useful assistants meant that she had to deal with the excess work. Add that to the usual onset of illness that heralded the coming of winter…

Ah well. Once Genzai-sama recovers from his back-pain, I can always ask him for some time off. And if he refuses, well. I’m sure I can find ways to convince him…

Laughing softly to herself, she exited the clinic, heaving a sigh of relief as she turned the key in the lock and giving the door a last tug to make sure it was really shut. Smiling to herself, she headed down the street.

It’s so peaceful.

Despite her earlier musings, she couldn’t help but admit that she loved this. The sense of accomplishment one got when completing a given task. Relief that another hard day at work was over, satisfaction that several patients had recovered from various ailments due to her treatment. Whether it was an infected wound, a broken bone, the flu or just a simple headache, once the patients were fully healed the gratitude and respect they gave her made every single effort worthwhile.

Every single effort… which included working at eight sharp in the morning, and going home in the wee hours of the night. Such as now.

She felt herself relax as the cool night breeze teased though her long hair, the silky strands flowing behind her. There was a sharpness in the air, signaling winter was just around the corner. Around and above her leaves rustled, the gold of autumn muted by the silver of moonlight. And just to the side, unseen but heard, was the soft bubbling of the stream.

Gods, but this is wonderful.

She appreciated this time more than any other. All too often, she found herself easily irritated in the midst of work; the bustling of the street traffic, the hollering of roadside hawkers eager to sell their goods, the laughter and chatter of blended conversations, all these often threw her off her train of thought. Not the best thing to happen if you were attending, say, in surgery.

Suddenly, as though to insult her, a faint sound broke through the silence. Annoyed at the distraction, Megumi strained her ears to locate the source. It came from around the corner, soft shifting sounds, such as those made by a person trying to mask their presence. It was followed by a faint metallic ‘tsing’. That person had drawn a sword.

A frown crossed her attractive features. No doubt he had caught a glimpse of her beforehand. But was it any of her fault? Even in the inky darkness of the night, with only small street lanterns set few and far apart to show the way, she showed up easily. Whether it was her trademark lilac kimono or the paleness of her skin, the dark held little cover for her.

She had an inkling of what this hidden person wanted, but damned if she was going to let him. How typical. They just had to ruin the only time of the day I get to myself.

Despite the fact that she was a woman, alone to fend for herself against what might even possibly be a murderer, she felt no alarm for herself. Rather, she found herself more aggravated rather than fearful. Rummaging through her sleeve, she found her usual stash of bandages and antiseptic wipes. With those in hand she strode purposely towards the corner.

As if on cue, there was a faint groan and a thud, followed by a faint bubbling sound.

A man lay prone at her feet, wide eyes still fixed in a mixture of mild surprise and fear. Her annoyed expression didn’t change one bit; it was as though she was expecting it. Kneeling down to find a pulse, she couldn’t help but grimace as she couldn’t detect one. A glance over his body revealed the reason; a clean cut though his chest.

There were footsteps behind her.

She turned around, scowling prettily, “Did you really have to…”, but the words died as she saw an unfamiliar man run towards her.

“Fucking bitch!”, he screamed, features contorted with rage, “I’m gonna fucking kill you!”.

Her dark eyes flickered between him and the deceased. There was a faint resemblance. ‘Brothers?’, she hazarded. “Look”, she tried to reason with him as she took a step back, “I didn’t…”.

“Shut the fuck up and di-“.

She clamped a hand over her mouth in horror as he cut off in mid-sentence, watching as he numbly stared at the sword blade protruding from his chest before collapsing to the ground in a motionless heap.

“I wish you’d stop doing that”, she muttered, the doctor in her shocked and appalled at the unnecessary loss of life.

A faint breeze; suddenly there was a presence right next to her. She didn’t glance its way, nor gave any outward acknowledgement of it. “Knocking them unconscious would have been sufficient”.

She sensed the shrug preceding the words, “They’re established robbers and rapists”. The voice was rich and deep, yet had the tilt of youth. There was a moment’s pause for those facts to sink in. “Besides, you’re too exhausted to treat them if I merely wounded them”. These last words were said without emotion.

“Who are you to judge?”, she retorted angrily. She had already started walking away from the site, but couldn’t help but take a look back. Two still heaps, made featureless in the shadows, a dark pool already starting to form around both of them. An unnecessary stab of guilt hit her, even though she knew she was not the one at fault.

There was no answer for her question. A quick look around revealed that the person had vanished. ‘Or’, she thought irately, ‘Just out of sight’. Taking deep and even breaths, she knew reluctantly that she could not stay mad at him forever. It was an old argument, and when all was said and done, he was just looking out for her.

As he did every night.

As he had always done.