“I don’t know about this…” Yahiko sighed. He and Tsubame stood at the gate of the house. A soft breeze passed through and for a moment, they both silently gazed into each other’s face. The stare continued on for seconds that felt like an eternity. After the leaves stopped shifting at their feet, Yahiko suddenly grinned. “But since I don't have any ideas, guess we have no choice but go with your plan!”
“Honto? Oh! I’m so glad you trust me, Yahiko-kun!” Tsubame cried, going to throw her arms around his neck and hug him. Yahiko immediately turned red and then broke away from her. “Eeh?”
”Y-Yamero!” he stammered, backing away and pointing over her shoulder. Slowly Tsubame turned to see the laughing fox behind them, watching the whole thing. “W-What the hell is so funny?!”
”Ohohohoho!” Megumi chimed, her lip curling into a sly smile, “You two are so kawaii! Although isn’t it a bit early for lovebirds? Spring isn’t for a couple of months.”
”S-Shuddap!!” Yahiko snapped, waving his fists, but Tsubame latched onto his arms, trying to restrain him. “Shuddap! Shuddap, you wretched fox woman!!”
”J-Jotto! Please don’t get so angry!” Tsubame stammered, as his actions were only making Megumi laugh more, ‘Mou! Everything is helpless!’ She paused to look around. “Are? Where did Sanosuke-san go? He was just there a moment ago.”
The other two stopped what they were doing and looked around, making that realization as well. “Kono yarou… he’s gone.” Yahiko said, then grabbed Megumi by the arm and pointed out the gate. “Oi, go find your husband since you’ve got lots of time on your hands, you Broad!”
”NANI?! What did you call me?!” Megumi argued, grabbing him by the collar, “Besides, kono Tori Atama is not my responsibility!” A long pause followed. The two just stared at her. Megumi finally released him, pouting as she crossed her arms. “Oh… right… fine! I’ll go look for him!”
Yahiko and Tsubame watched after her. “It’s hard to believe that Sanosuke-san and Megumi-san are married.” Tsubame uttered, folding her hands together as another breeze came through them. “They still act like when they were dating.”
”Honto na!” Yahiko sighed, dropping his head and turning around, “Some people around here just never change!” He kicked away a stone and grumbled as he walked away, “I need a snack…”
Tsubame quietly gazed after him as he went into the house. ‘Yahiko-kun… I hope you never change…’
* * *
Kenshin gazed up at the sky. Not once had the sun stopped shining. ‘What nice weather… even if it is winter…’ He stared down into his reflection in the water. Somehow he thought he still looked like the same person years ago, the sharp violet eyes and crossed shaped scar. ‘I feel different…’ he pouted at the man in front of him, ‘Am I really different?’
“Kuuu!!” Kenji chimed, grabbing hold of his finger. Kenshin stopped and stared at this little gesture. Kaoru cheerfully stood beside him, bouncing the baby up and down. “Prrppppprr!!” he giggled, now playfully waving his hands, brushing against Kenshin’s hand.
”Not ‘Prrrrppprr’!” Kaoru pouted, “Say ‘Papa’… you know, ‘Papa’…” Sighing as the strange noises continued, she handed him over to her husband, “Daijoubu da yo. I’m know coming from the Kamiya blood, you are a born genius. I shouldn’t worry so much.”
”K-Koishii…” Kenshin made a face as he patted the baby’s warm bottom. “He went again… time for diaper change de gozaru.”
Miki came running over excitedly, “OH!! Let me! I want to try!! I promise I won’t mess up! Onegaishimasu!!” Kenshin and Kaoru just stared at her. They had never seen anyone so happy about changing diapers. Without a word, they handed him to her. “Arigatou yo! I’ll be sure to do my best!”
She then went to carry him back to the apartment where the spare diapers were. The couple turned to Takeru who still sat at the pier with his fish line. “Don’t mind me. Just go and do what you like. I won’t be moving anywhere.”
Kenshin then turned towards Kaoru, seeing what she wanted to do. “Aa! I know!!” she said, leading him off by the arm. Running down the pier, she stopped at a little boat. “Kore!” she said, going to climb inside.
”Is it all right? I mean… doesn’t it belong to someone else?” he stammered, looking side-to-side, fearful that the owner would pop up any second. “Oro…”
Kaoru just held out her hand. “We’re not going anywhere. We’re just going to borrow it.” she explained, “Don’t worry. It’ll be fun! Come on, Kenshin!”
”H-Hai de gozaru!” he stammered, as she pulled him over. Kaoru then stretched and went to lie down on the boat. His eyes widened, his heart going dokidoki. “W-What are you… doing??”
She pointed up at the sky. “What a nice day. Blue sky and the many clouds; it’s so peaceful just staring at it all. A good feeling ne?”
”Aa,” he uttered, going to lie down next her, folding an arm behind his head, “I remember a time in the past I didn’t even bother to take a look around me, to appreciate such precious things. I thought beauty was…” His voice trailed away as he closed his eyes for a moment. The warmth of the sun touched his eyelids and all he could see was red.
“Was what… nani, Kenshin?” Kaoru called him back to the present. His eyes flickered open to see her concerned face, “I’m sure your standard of beauty must be low… how else in the world did you end up with me?”
“Baka.” he sighed, knocking her on the head, “Don’t put yourself down like that.”
”Datte, you do it all the time! And if you continue to do so, then what will happen to me… loving a man who thinks himself worthless, that makes me even more worthless. So, it is like what they say: ‘Two worthless people belong together’, sou desu ne?”
Kenshin’s face softened. “Kaoru…” he uttered, sitting up to stare down into her eyes. He knew there was some hurt in her joking words, that only he could recognize. “You’re not worthless and you know it.”
”And you should know it too.” she replied, lifting a hand to his cheek, stroking the scarred skin, “I wouldn’t have loved you if you weren’t worthy. I’m not so stupid as people think… I actually have standards and some sort of plan with my life.”
“Of course you do.” he said, going back down to her, this time wrapping his arm around her, “I’m glad you picked me then… I’m glad you want to be with me and include me in your life… I just…”
”What is it, Kenshin?” she asked, gazing up at him, “Whatever is bothering you, don’t keep it to yourself… it’ll only make it worse. Please tell me… Onegai…”
He leaned over and pressed a kiss on her forehead then moved to her ear. “I’m not as optimistic as you… I feel like I’m adding dark clouds to our relationship.”
“Chigao yo!” she quickly protested, “Whenever I have doubts you always reassure me. When I falter, you catch me or break my fall… I’m only hopeful because of you, Kenshin.” She then put on a bright smile, “And even if there are dark clouds, surely we’ll overcome it. Some of these storms have come from me, remember??”
“Aa, you always seem to cause some trouble…” he chuckled into her hair.
The smile faded and an angry look shot at him. ”MOU!! What’s that supposed to mean?!”
He just smiled innocently and gazed up into the sky. “What a peaceful feeling de gozaru…”
* * *
At the Akebeko, the early dinner crowd had arrived. Tae had been chatting with a customer when she saw someone in the center aisle in a brown western suit. He was bowing on the ground towards another booth of guests. ‘Sore wa… Sano-han?!?’ she gasped, instantly excusing herself to see what was up. “A-Ano… Sano-han… what are you doing…??!”
“Tae, help me out here and bow with me!” Sanosuke replied, taking her arm and pulling her to the ground. She too bowed; though not know the reason why. Sanosuke then turned towards the yakuza and continued his pleads, “Please give me back the dojo! It doesn’t belong to me… so I had no right to give it to you in first place! Onegai suru!!”
One goon chuckled, pouring his sake on Sanosuke’s head. “Baka yarou… like we care if it wasn’t yours. You gave us the deed, so it belongs to us now. And the boss has lots of good plans with it, so there’s no way that we can give it back for just nothing…”
Sanosuke lifted his soaked head, that didn’t have his red headband tonight. “Tae, give them some money!”
”NANI!?” Tae exclaimed, walloping him on the head, “What do you think I am??! You owe me enough money and by the sounds of it, you owe them money! And what’s this about Kaoru-chan’s dojo…?!?!”
“Hehehehe, Sano-san, looks like you’re in no position to demand anything from us!” the goons all laughed, going back to their dinner.
Sanosuke sadly bowed all the way on the ground once more. “Please! You have to! If I don’t get the dojo back… she will hate me… I can’t… I can’t live with that!!”
“Oi! Sanosuke!!” Yahiko stood at the entrance with Megumi and Tsubame, staring at him as well as everyone else in the restaurant. “What the hell are you doing, lowering yourself to that bastards like that??” he snapped, yanking him up by the shirt, “Give yourself some pride!! You’re not dirt under their toes.”
”Besides, we’ve got another plan on how to get the dojo back.” Tsubame whispered, then turning to Tae, “Konbawa Tae-san!”
”Aren’t you working today???” Tae asked, squinting her eyes. Tsubame panicked and rushed back to get into uniform. Shrugging Tae turned to the others. “What the heck is going on anyways??!”
Megumi walked up to the yakuza, climbing onto one of their laps. “Ara, so you handsome guys are gangsters. How very cool… “ she purred, putting on the foxy charm, “How about coming to my house… to play with me??”
“Hell ya! Where’s your house!?!?”
Yahiko slanted his eyes. ‘This isn’t part of the plan, but hey it works.’
Meanwhile, Tae was lost as ever. “I-Isn’t Megumi-han married to Sano-han now??!”
* * *
Meanwhile, Kenshin and Kaoru were enjoying a nice nap inside the boat. They had lost track of time and the sun had already set. Kenshin first realized this, when he felt someone was watching them. Sure enough when he opened his eyes, a crowd of people was gazing down at them. “ORO?!?”
“What da hell you doing in my boat??!” snapped one guy, “You two kids making out in there??!”
“Chigao de gozaru!! Sessha-tachi…!” he stammered, but Kaoru woke up. He nervously turned to her for help. “Koishi, these people are very upset de gozaru. Could you explain to them what we were doing here…?!?”
Kaoru just yawned. “Mou… I like it here better than that damn bed…” Totally ignoring the people, she curled up and went back to sleep.
“Oi! Get the hell out of my boat! We’ve got to go catch some fish!!” the people obviously were getting angrier. Suddenly, one of them pushed to the front and pointed his fishing pole at Kaoru. “Are??! Isn’t she… she that girl who beat Taichou a couple years ago??!” The lantern was pushed in the way. “Aa! Sou da!! That’s her!!”
Kenshin widened his eyes. ‘Masaka… these are the ex-members of the Reisen-gumi…!!’
“Go get the Taichou! Hayaku!!” they yelled, some of them running off. Kenshin desperately tried to wake Kaoru, but she wouldn’t budge. Soon, the others had returned with Takeru. “Isn’t that the girl??!”
Takeru shrugged. “She’s a friend of my wife’s. They’re staying at my place.”
”But why?!” his comrades exclaimed, “After what she’s done to our town… all these cops here and all of us forced to fish to make a living… why, Taichou, do you support this lady??!”
Then one burly man stepped forward. “That’s because Yamagashi was defeated by this helpless woman… he isn’t qualified to be our Taichou.”
Kaoru suddenly lifted her head. “Helpless… NANI?!?!” With slanted eyes, she got up and faced the man who had said this, while Kenshin panicked in the background, “What part of me is HELPLESS?!?”
“Hmp, women aren’t supposed to be using the art of kenjutsu. Even so, a man is always better at it.” the guy chuckled, his hand running through his fair, spiky hair. He and his peers then burst into laughter, while Takeru and Kenshin exchanged glances. It was only a matter of time before…
”IRESAI!!” Kaoru exclaimed, grabbing hold of Kenshin’s sakabatou and going berserk on the crowd of fishermen. Screams filled the air as the guys went flying, some of them falling off the pier. Standing in the moonlight, with her hair flying in the wind, and the sword at her side, some thought she was the Hitokiri Battousai. Screaming still, they all started to run away. “MOU! I’m not done with you yet!!!”
“Aaa! Keep away you Demon!! Leave us alone!!!” they yelled, running for cover. Fortunately, Kenshin tackled Kaoru down to stop her from advancing. Soon, whistles were heard in the background. “The police!! Hayaku!! This way!!”
”We better get out of here.” Takeru said, grabbing hold of the two and pulling them along, “The police in this town are very strict. We aren’t even supposed to be on the street at this hour. If they see a big crowd, they might think we’re conspirers.”
“Sou ka…” Kenshin uttered, as he dragged his wife with them, ‘The deal we made three years ago… not everyone is happy about it… although Takeru has moved on from it, the other members of the Reisengumi still might hold a grudge…’
* * *
“NANI!?” Sanosuke gasped, while Megumi wiped up his face with a clean washtowel. They were home and she had just explained to him Tsubame’s great plan. “Are you sure about this??!” he gasped as she went to get him a change of clothes since his suit was ruined.
“Of course.” she replied, handing him a clean shirt, “It sure beats your plan of groveling at their feet and pleading for mercy. Hmp, and I thought you were a man once…”
He pulled the shirt away from her, a little peeved. “Cheh! At least I was making an effort to get Kaoru’s dojo back…!”
”Oh, so it’s ‘KAORU’ now??” Megumi asked, running a hand through her hair. Sanosuke stopped, his eyes widening and face blushing. “Sanosuke… what’s going on??”
”Aa… it’s nothing… really…” he stammered, rubbing his head, “Tonikaku, when are they getting here? And when is Tsubame-chan getting here?? How else are we going to entertain them?”
Yahiko poked his head in the room. “That’s why Megumi is here, hehehe!”
“Oi oi oi!” Sanosuke snapped, waving his fists, “She’s my wife! She can’t be acting like some hostess to these ruffians! I won’t allow it!!” Yahiko and Megumi exchanged looks. Sanosuke turne SD and ran around the room screaming, “Sou na… I won’t allow iiiit!”
“OHOHOHO!” Megumi said, capturing her husband in an armhold, “There’s nothing to worry about… I only have eyes for you, Anata. We’re only doing this to get Kaoru-chan’s dojo back anyways…”
Sanosuke’s face slowly softened as he relaxed in her hold. ‘Why do I…feel like…?’ he asked himself, as they pulled him into the next room, ‘For Kaoru…?’
* * *
“A fight??” Miki asked, when the three arrived back at the apartment. She handed the sleeping Kenji over to his mother and then paced the room, “I can’t believe I missed it! Was it exciting??! Oh, I wish next time you’d invite me when you feel like beating up some guys!”
Kenshin was treating his sakabatou, which had been through hell in ‘Hitokiri’ Kaoru’s hands. “My poor Sakabatou!” he sighed, wiping up the dull side and then going to cradle the once-again shiny blade, “Snif snif…”
”Mou…” Kaoru grumbled, moving to the window, “They’re outside, making a ruckus. I should go out there and make them all go home…”
”YAMETTE!!” everyone in the room cried, grabbing hold of her arms, “DAME YO!”
Kaoru dropped her head and sighed, “Demo, they’re still very hostile since the last time I saw them all. And that one guy was pretty harsh on you, Takeru-san.”
”Nani?!” Miki exclaimed, rolling up her sleeves, “Who was talking bad about my husband?! I’m gonna…!!”
”Maa maa, calm down!” Takeru replied, putting his hand on her shoulder, “I don’t care. Shinnosuke and those guys can say what they want about me, but I only care what the person I love most thinks of me.”
”Takeru…” Miki uttered, staring at him. Slowly she nodded and smiled. “Yoshi, I’ll try to stay calmer, after all these are our neighbors. It won’t do to make a scene, ne?”
Suddenly there was some knocking at the door. “That’s probably them.” Takeru noted, going to the door, “Let me handle this.”
But when he opened the door, there wasn’t a crowd a men, but a single woman. Miki, Kaoru and Kenshin peered around Takeru to look at her. She wore a purple kimono and looked stunningly beautiful. But Kenshin was in shock and nearly fell over at the sight of her. ‘Ma… Masaka…!’
“Anata wa…” the woman said, moving around Takeru and going straight to Kaoru. She then slapped her really hard across the face, waking the baby in the process. “YURESANAI!”
”Haaah?!” Kaoru gasped, rubbing her sore, reddened cheek, “Who the hell do you think you are?!?” But Kenshin quickly went to restrain her, “Nani ka?! Let me go!! This broad is gonna get it!!” she exclaimed, breaking free and lifting up her fist, “Hah? Kenshin…?!” She watched in shocked as her husband moved himself in front of the woman to shield her.
“ORO!! DON’T HIT HER, KAORU!!!”