"Come back here, you little pest!" yelled Kaoru as she chased her saucy pupil around the dojo. "Yahiko! I'm warning you!"
"Try to catch me, tanuki girl!" Yahiko paused to give his persuer 'rasberries' before taking off again.
Kenshin laughed at the mayhem going on. It was a typical day at the Kamiya Dojo, with Kenshin cleaning, Kaoru and Yahiko chasing one another about, Sanosuke and Megumi arguing, and a race to every meal. It was just the sort of atmosphere the former Battosai had come to know and love.
"AYE! Megumi-san!" cried Sanosuke as the woman doctor bandaged up another one of his wounds. The bad-man of the group had gotten himself into yet another fist-fight, and it was up to Megumi to patch him up afterwards. Megumi sometimes wondered if it would be better just to let him heal on his own, considering that the longer it took for him to recover, the longer it would be before he got into another fight. In the end, though, she always wound up taking care of the baka.
A knock at the gate caught Kenshin and Kaoru's attention. The young woman abandoned her pursuit of Yahiko to answer it. Outside was a young woman who was a little younger than Kaoru herself. She smiled warmly and bowed.
"Is this the Kamiya Dojo?" she asked.
"Yes, it is." Kaoru reciprocated. "Can I help you?"
"I was wondering how much the lessons cost," the woman replied. "and if there is room and board. I'm afraid I don't live around here."
"That's all right." Kaoru smiled. "Lessons are ten yen apiece, and room and board is fifteen. If you can't pay in money, you can pay in other ways."
"Thank you." the girl smiled. "I'd be more than happy to help out around the dojo."
"Come on." Kaoru gestured for the girl to follow her. "I'll show you around. Oh, and you can have Yahiko's room during your stay."
"MY ROOM!?" Yahiko fumed. "Where am I going to sleep?"
"In Sanosuke's room, where else?" Kaoru grinned.
"But he snores!" the boy complained. "I'll never be able to get any sleep!"
"You could always sleep outside, if you'd like!" teased Kaoru.
The argument would have escalated into chaos if Kenshin had not stepped in at that moment.
"You can stay in my room, Yahiko." the former rurouni said. "Get your things and I'll help you."
"Arigatou, Kenshin!" Yahiko hugged the poor swordsman so tight that an 'ORO' was squeezed out.
The newcomer just laughed at the scene. She followed Kaoru into the dojo while everyone else continued with their daily activities.
"By the way," said Kaoru. "What is your name?"
"Kitsui." she answered. "Kitsui Namida."
"That's an unusual name." Kaoru blinked. "Where does your family live?"
"A-A town some distance from here." Kitsui stuttered.
As the two girls made their way into the dojo, something caught Kenshin's eye, and he freed himself from Yahiko's overly-thankful grasp to make sure he wasn't seeing things. There was something suspicious about Kitsui's shadow and the way she walked that just made him uneasy.
"What's wrong, Kenshin?" Yahiko asked.
Kenshin turned back to the boy, recalling what had been going on. Had he stared off again?
"It's nothing." Kenshin answered. "Go on. Go finish washing the porch and I'll make some rice cakes once I finish with the laundry."
Once Yahiko had gone, Kenshin's gaze returned to the doorway of the dojo. If his intuition was correct, he would have to watch this new girl very, very carefully.
Late that night, when the rest of the household was asleep, Kenshin carefully tapped on the shogi to Kaoru's room. She answered it groggily.
"Eh?" she yawned. "What is it, Kenshin?"
"Shh," he whispered. "I need to talk to you about something in private. May I come in, Kaoru-dono?"
Kaour rubbed her eyes sleepily, but allowed Kenshin to come in. They sat down side by side on the futon.
"What's the problem, Kenshin?" she asked. "It better be important to be waking me up at this hour."
"I wouldn't wake you up for something foolish now, would I?" he said, setting the sakabatou aside. "Tell me, have you noticed anything… unusual about Kitsui-chan?"
"Unusual?" Kaoru tried to think despite her drowsiness. "Well, not really. I've never heard a name like her's before, and she didn't tell me exactly where she's from. Does that count?"
"Anything else?" he pressed.
"No, not at all." she yawned again. "Why do you ask?"
"When she was talking to you at the door, she was shorter than you, that she was." he explained. "But I noticed as she was walking with you that both of you were the same height."
"Eh?"
"Her shadow didn't seem quite right either."
"Kenshin, what are you saying?"
"I don't think Kitsui-chan is everything that she appears to be, that she doesn't. You and her seem to be getting along just fine, but sessha would like you to be cautious around her, especially when the two of you are alone."
Kaoru gave him a light, sleepy tap to the side of the head. She hated it when he used sessha for himself and wished he would stop using the damned word.
"Kenshin, you're being silly! I should lock you in the storehouse for this!"
"Kaoru-dono, I'm serious. Please be careful until we figure out just who she really is."
"Fine, fine," Kaoru yawned again. "I promise I'll be careful, Kenshin. You're rarely wrong when it comes to things like this, so I'll keep an eye out. Can I go back to sleep now?"
"Of course." Kenshin picked up the sakabatou and left the room. "Oyasumi, Kaoru-dono."
"Oyasumi…" Kaoru mumbled as she crawled back into bed and fell asleep.
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This is chapter 1. Where would you like to go next?
