Title: Temporary Relief
              Author/pseudonym: Pluto
              Email address: lizcheng@umich.edu
              Rating: NC-17
              Fandom and Pairings: Kenshin X Sanosuke
              Status: Done
              Author's website: http://www.umich.edu/~lizcheng
              Warnings: Lemon
	      Comments: Honorable Mention, Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic Reader's
Choice Award, 1999 Category YAOI


Temporary Relief


     ---------------------------Kenshin X Sano----------------------

Sagara Sanosuke kept pace with the little samurai in front of him,
even though every muscle and bone in his body seemed to be aching,
threatening to give up on him. "Sano," the red-head shouted in his
direction, without turning his head. "Are you sure you're alright?" 

How did Kenshin do it? Sanosuke thought to himself, his chest
seeming to get tighter by the minute. He felt the sweat drip into his
eyes in spite of his headband. Shit. It must be drenched by now.
"Ah... Yeah Kenshin, you just take care of yourself." He thought that
if their elusive prey didn't stop fleeing soon, his legs would give way
from beneath him. He wouldn't allow that though. He couldn't.
Sanosuke couldn't bear to become just a burden on his friend, whom
he admired so utterly and completely. He would keep running even if
the bottoms of his shoes wore off and his knees threatened to stop
working. 

How long had he admired the strange, peace-loving redhead? The
first time he remembered feeling really close to Kenshin.. well that
had to be that time that Kenshin had confronted him trying to help
Katsu... He still remembered collapsing, the blackness seeping in on
his consciousness, as Kenshin caught him, whispering apology. He
had felt... loved... at that moment. From then on, every time Kenshin
had turned, and invited him to come to fight with him, simply by
speaking his name. "Sano." It was like they had some unspoken
agreement to support and protect each other. Sanosuke wanted
Kenshin to be pleased with him. He knew Kenshin cared for him,
about him, but he didn't want Kenshin to worry about him, to have to
protect him. He was strong, and getting stronger. Some day, he
wanted to be like Saitoh and stand equal to Kenshin, have Kenshin
respect him. Thinking of that, dreaming of that made this endless
running a little more bearable. 

Suddenly, Kenshin skidded to a stop, his hand coming to rest on the
base of his scabbard, thumb ready to slip the sword free. His other
arm flew out to stop Sanosuke, who hadn't seen their quarry come to
a stop in front of him. He heard Sanosuke give a little gasp, and then
fall into heavy, labored breathing. Damn. He had to learn how to be
more silent. He never would have survived being a Hitokiri in the
Edo period... Kenshin watched Sanosuke give him that look, and
silently cursed. Outwardly, he smiled at Sano, giving the boy the
reassurance he was looking for. *Good job...* Sanosuke threw him
that easy-going grin, mopping sweat from his brow. The red
headband he always wore was absolutely soaked with sweat, and
Kenshin was pretty impressed that the boy could still stand. At least
he had will-power, and with will-power, you could do nearly
anything... Kenshin recalled multiple times that Sanosuke had
survived wounds that would have killed a normal person. A couple of
those, the red-headed samurai had given Sanosuke himself. 

Their target exited their carriage, still unawares that they had been
followed. Kenshin watched them from his vantage point within the
bushes. Silently, he waited, the soft noise of Sanosuke's breathing in
his ear. The bandits unloaded a struggling, noisy package. Kaoru. 

Kenshin felt Sanosuke shift, pressing in nearer him. Sano's face was
closer than necessary; it was distracting, which could be deadly. He
nudged Sanosuke back. The young fighter was too eager, both to
please Kenshin, and to fight. "There she is!" Sanosuke breathed,
startling the little rurounin. One of the bandits cast a wary glance in
their direction, but luckily, his eyes passed unseeing through them.
Kenshin sighed under his breath, trying to be patient, to repress the
anger he might have once felt as Hitokiri Battousai. There was a day
he would have run through such a bother with his sword, rather than
dragging him along and allowing him to help. Oh well, such was the
price of ..."friends"... wasn't it? 

He watched the bandits throw Kaoru to the ground without much
care, and felt a fountain of anger streak through him, burning away
his forced calm. He lunged to his feet, and heard Sanosuke copy his
action. 

"Jo-chan!!!" Sanosuke cried as he flew across the clearing, his
powerful punches taking out the unskilled bandits. He'd show
Kenshin that it was worth it to bring him along! 

"SANO!" Kenshin cried out his name, frustrated that Sano had
moved before he'd had wanted him to. Kaoru could be hurt, injured!
The idiot... sometimes Saitoh was right about the impulsive ex-
gangster... He launched himself after the boy, finishing off the rest of
the bandits with his sakaba sword. And where was their head? He
was the one he was truly afraid would hurt Kaoru. His eyes scanned
the clearing, but Kaoru and the man were nowhere to be found. Shit! 

Sanosuke stumbled over to him, fatigue showing. He looked over at
Kenshin, corners of his mouth pulled back in a grimace. "I guess
they got away," he rumbled, his equivalent of an apology. Kenshin's
face was serious, unhappy; the closest to real anger at Sanosuke that
he'd seen since their first fight, when Kenshin had punched him
across the face. 

"Kaoru-dono," he heard Kenshin whisper. As much as Sano was
eager to help his friend, the words sent a pain through him. It was his
fault Kaoru was out of their grasp again. Baka! He was such an idiot,
after all that, wasn't he?! And he had just wanted... 

He felt his knees give, no longer willing to follow his spirit. Kenshin
looked down at him with great concern. "Sanosuke, you stay here
and wait for me. I'll track Kaoru-dono and bring her back." Sano
shook his head. No. He would follow, no matter how tired he was... 

"Sano." Kenshin spoke his name firmly, authoratively. "I'm doing
this for your own good.." --and for Kaoru-dono's, he thought, but
didn't finish. It hung in the air, as if he had said it. Sanosuke felt
that
heavy weight settle on his chest, infuriating and undeniable. He was a
burden again. He looked up at Kenshin, eyes begging. 

"Kenshin, you're not gonna leave me behind." 

"Please, Sanosuke. You're exhausted. You need rest." Polite as
always, but the rejection of his help stabbed Sanosuke through the
heart. Desperation drove him to speak words he would never
otherwise have uttered. 

"Kenshin, don't.. don't leave me... I... care for you...!" 

Kenshin spun on him, deep blue eyes clearly unhappy. He had
suspected, of course, but to hear it... Perhaps Sanosuke meant... "I
am worried about you because I care about you, Sanosuke. So
please, stay. Let's not waste any more time that could be spent
finding Kaoru." 

"I mean, I love you Kenshin!" 

The words hung in the stillness between them. Sanosuke watched
Kenshin's face go completely unreadable. He was calculating how
long he might have, that Kaoru might stay safe. The bandit's
headquarters were a day from here, safely, although Kenshin knew
he could cut that time in half by himself, and beat the leader there.
Could he spare the time...? He was so worried about her... He had
always known Sanosuke felt a little too close to him, but to love him?
Kenshin was stunned by the knowlege. He did care about Sano, as
he'd said, but not like that. He didn't want to see the boy hurt. Come
to think of it, he'd been blind to it, but Sano had been pining away for
him for a long time, hadn't he? Subtle hints dropped since that time
with Sanosuke's friend from the Sekihoutai... 

After what seemed like an eternity Kenshin raised his head, his face
smiling. Sanosuke wondered if he was doing like Soujirou, smiling
when he really wasn't happy. He was about to ask when Kenshin
planted a long, deep kiss on his lips. Sano froze, partially from
shock, partially from sheer pleasure. Did this mean...? 

"Sano." Kenshin's voice was like the whisper of his sword when
drawn from a well-kept sheath. "I'm so glad you told me." 

A streak of blush raised itself on the boy's face. Kenshin's fingers
slipped under Sanosuke's open jacket, caressing the hard
musculature of his chest. He watched the boy's face go redder,
watched his eyes cloud with pleasure. As the Hitokiri, indulgences
like this had been few and far between; but Kenshin had savored
them as the few times he had been able to make another happy, rather
than destroy their life. He was a gentle lover, and he could read what
his partner desired with the same accurateness as he could read the
next move of his opponent on the battlefield. One hand found a
nipple, toyed with it; the other pressed Sanosuke down, onto his
knees. He felt Sanosuke reach for his pants and was lightly
surprised. He hadn't been sure if Sano would take well to this course
of action. Perhaps what he felt was lust rather than a deeper emotion?
Kenshin didn't think it was so; nonetheless, he let Sano's achingly
tired hands undo the ties on his pants, savoring the cool night air on
his legs. 

He glanced down- a mistake. As he watched Sanosuke, he felt his
heart wrench as he caught the warm brown eyes, gazing up at him
with that endless adoration. Then, another surprise; Sanosuke
wrapped his warm, wet lips around Kenshin's unexcited member,
coaxing it to life with a skilled tongue. Absently Kenshin wondered
who he had been practicing with. He smiled down appreciatively at
Sano who quickened his pace, tightened his lips. The red-headed
samurai stroked the soft, wild hair as he let his head fall back in a
rare moment of pleasure. God, it had been so long, hadn't it? He
rocked his hips gently, giving the boy a pace to keep, savoring the
waves of bliss that flowed from his groin to the entirety of his body.
He wanted to let Sanosuke finish, to get swept up in the sensation,
but he couldn't afford to let himself get exhausted like that. 

Carefully, and a bit unwillingly, he pushed Sano's head away from
him, shivering a little as the cold air bit at his wet body. Sanosuke
looked at him, eyes imploring. "Kenshin?" he asked, his tone
cautious, afraid he had offended the ever-courteous samurai. The
other shook his head, hands slipping Sanosuke's jacket off, then
grasping the boy's own hands and setting one to work around his
length. He shuddered at the feel of the rough, calloused fingers
caressing his most delicate flesh; it was a harsher, stranger pleasure
than the porcelain-smooth girl's-hands he was used to. Sanosuke's
clever thumb stroked the head of his manhood so that a fire shot
from his groin to his cheeks, burning his entire body on its way,
making a sound of pleasure escape his lips. He hadn't meant for it to
happen, but he felt himself giving in to the heat rapidly overtaking his
reasoning mind. The younger boy did look so beautiful in this light,
the moonlight shading his skin to pale cream, darkening his
eyelashes to long black feathers against his soft cheeks... 

Gods, but he did care about Sanosuke! But it was something that
could never be, something secondary to his love for Kaoru. He
brushed his lips across those slightly dampened ones and felt his
heart torn and a wildfire spread through his groin. He was taken with
a need for Sanosuke and it was shameful, but something that could
not be denied. Kenshin gently guided the wild-haired boy to his
hands and knees, working his pants down, then casting them away;
he took a moment to savor the perfect shape of the boy's buttocks,
pale and firm in the light of the moon. He trailed kisses over them,
between them. His tongue found that waiting ring of muscle that
would bring him heaven, and flickered there, tasting at first
reluctantly, then hungrily. Sanosuke moaned, trembling at this exotic
sensation, making Kenshin even more excited. Unable to contain
himself any longer, Kenshin buried himself in that tight pucker,
straight to the hilt. A soft cry of pain slowed him, Sanosuke had
fallen to rest on his forearms, startled by the initial burning. The
feeling of that tight body embracing his shaft, contracting around it...
Kenshin gasped, forcing himself to slow down, to wait for Sano to
adjust. The boy's cries became of ecstacy rather than agony as the
initial pain diminished, Kenshin easing his cock in and out, reaching
around Sanosuke's body to give him pleasure as well. 

As if he knew exactly how, Kenshin struck a spot in Sanosuke that
sent rockets of electricity through his body and brain; the boy
gasped, nearly falling from the thrilling feeling that over took him.
Again and again Kenshin hammered the head of his cock against that
spot, his tight abdomen slamming into Sanosuke's buttocks. Sano
sobbed his pleasure into the grass, hands curling, clutching handfuls,
utterly in the control of the red-headed samurai. The very thought
drove the younger boy nearly to the point of orgasm; that combined
with the friction of Kenshin's hand loosely sheathing him caused him
to lose it, unable to hold back any longer. He let out a strangled cry,
more like a growl than anything else, gutteral and surprised; then his
length spasmed once, twice, as it shed snowy strands across the
fingers of the redhead. Sensuously, the rurounin brought his fingers
up to Sanosuke's lips, so that he could taste himself. Sanosuke teased
his fingers, stroking the skin, savoring the bitter-salt taste, enveloping
the slender, delicate things with his wet mouth. He heard Kenshin
gasp, shuddering, then with a last thrust and a hungry wail, Kenshin
spilled his seed into Sanosuke, the hot warmth filling him. 

Kenshin moaned as the waves of orgasm rocked him again and
again. He curled against Sanosuke, the coolness of the grass a stark
contrast to the hot dampness of his body. He could feel Sanosuke
raining soft kisses all over his face, the sensation making him float in
a world of pleasure, warm and happy. 

A mental alarm clock sounded in his head, jolting him from that
blissful paradise. He reluctantly opened his eyes, to see beautiful
brown ones filled with love and compassion drinking in the sight of
his face. A sorrow filled him, and surprising to himself, tears nearly
forced themself upon him. He stood, unable to shake the caress of
Sano's eyes, legs still trembling from the lingering afterglow. 

"Oh, yeah, we still have to save Jo-chan," Sanosuke whispered up at
him, weakly. Kenshin could see the sleep pulling him down, the
exhaustion beckoning his friend to blackness. Love filled him,
tightened his chest, made him regret. 

"It's okay, I'm going by myself." It was a statement, not to be
challenged, made as Kenshin dressed himself. He braced himself for
the sound of Sanosuke's voice again, so he would be able to deny the
temptation of just staying here, savoring that feeling of being loved,
of never being alone again. "You just rest here." 

A hand, tired but still strong, gripped the fabric of his pantleg and
held him there. "Kenshin... if you are going to leave me behind... at
least say it back." 

"It". Kenshin tried to find the words, the feelings within his long
sealed heart. He knew what Sanosuke wanted, but in the end, he
thought he had to save that for one person. There was no way a love
between him and the boy could flourish. Finally, he broke the long
silence, his voice coming out clearer, colder than he had thought he
could manage. "I'm sorry, Sanosuke." 

"Kenshin!" He heard the pain in the other's voice, the need, the love.
It would be so easy to just accept. Sanosuke trembled, watching
Kenshin, a coldness coming over him as he realized the truth. "You
just did this to tire me out, so you could leave me here, so I wouldn't
be... wouldn't be a bother anymore!" 

Kenshin's head dropped, his long red bangs hiding his eyes, and the
tears that stood gleaming in them like stolen diamonds. "Yes," he
forced himself to say. It was as if he could hear Sano's heart break,
as the boy's held-in breath was gasped out in a sob. "Sanosuke," he
whispered, in an added attempt to comfort, "I do care about you.
Deeply. But... you and I both know it would never work. Better that
things stay as they were, as they are." 

The voice that answered him was steady, but shaking, a weak attempt
to cover the grief trembling beneath Sano's forced strength. "Yeah...
Kenshin... you're right..." 

Sanosuke spent a long time then, fighting his breathing, controlling it,
fighting back the terrible pain inside. He found his voice again after
several attempts. "Don't forget to come back for me..." 

But there was no answer, Kenshin had already gone, and Sanosuke
lay there, alone with the cold grass and the memory of the rurounin
on his lips. 

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                http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lizcheng/

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