Under The Circumstances

An r.k. fanfic

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

 

"Friends"

 

"Should I question knowledge,

Can I have all of your answers?

I hope I'm able to find love today

Can I ask you to light my way?"

 

Collective Soul

 

 

 

***********************************************

 

"What happened?" Megumi asked as she probed Misao's arm for breaks. The ninja girl sighed and gently swung one leg back and forth from the raised bed. "Search me," she said shrugging her good shoulder, "One minute I'm getting the tofu, the next, a bunch of guys are wringing my arms off." She remembered the strong scent of alcohol on their breaths and shuddered, "I think they were drinking." she admitted.

 

Megumi made a disgusted noise, she knew all too well the depraved things that alcohol could make some men do. It was that type of thing that caused her to... well, never mind. She looked at Misao's face, it was clear that the girl was shaken, her heart was still beating a little erratically when she came into the clinic. She sighed and reached for a roll of bandages. "Nothing's broken," she announced, "but the muscles in your shoulder are sprained, I'm going to bandage you up just in case, but no heavy lifting or kempo practice for the next few days." After bandaging Misao's arm she replaced the makeshift sling with a fresh one. "It was a good thing you thought of putting the arm in a sling right away," she commended as she retied Misao's obi, "You saved yourself from making a bad situation worse."

 

Misao blushed as she eased off of the bed. It had been Soujiro's idea to bandage the arm before coming to the clinic. It was strange that a man who seemed to have no feelings at all could be so…thoughtful. "Actually, it was his idea," she admitted nodding towards Soujiro, who was standing in the waiting room. Oblivious to his past identity, Megumi beamed at him in a way that Misao knew would lead to a foxy comment.

 

"Ohohoho!"  she laughed kitsune ears popping up, "maybe I should get lost in an alley sometime…"

 

"Megumi!"

 

Soujiro shifted a little and looked down at his tabi… blushing? Misao blinked in surprise.

"Well in any case young man, domo arrigatou for looking after our Misao-chan here," Megumi said placing a hand on his shoulder, "If anything happened to her now, we'd have a hard time explaining it to her family in Kyoto."

 

"It was nothing." Soujiro said modestly.

 

"Arrigatou Megumi-sensei." Misao said as she turned to leave. Her eyes widened a little in surprise as Soujiro gallantly stepped aside to let her leave first and then bowed to Megumi before he followed her.

 

"Kawaii…" Megumi thought to herself.

 

*******************************************************

 

Kenshin was hanging out the laundry in the yard when he heard footsteps coming down the road, two sets of footsteps, he reasoned. Kaoru came down the steps and looked out at the gate. "Misao's been gone a long while now," she said worriedly, "She should have been back by now."

 

Kenshin peered in the direction of the footsteps, "I think that's her coming down the road right now." he said reassuringly, but who's with her? he wondered as he hung up the last piece of clothing.

He looked up in time to see Misao round the corner, her arm was in a sling. Kaoru caught sight of it too and gave a voice to Kenshin's alarm.

 

"MISAO!!"

 

Misao smiled tiredly and waved her good arm, "I'm okay," she insisted, "…thanks to him." she said nodding toward another figure who appeared alongside her at the gate.

 

Kenshin's eyes widened briefly, Kaoru sensed his alarm and glanced in his direction. His shoulders were relaxed, his jaw wasn't set in the way she'd expected, he just looked…surprised.

 

The young man at the gate bowed respectfully towards the pair. "Good evening, Himura-san."

 

"Hello Soujiro," the older man said quietly.

 

*********************************************************

 

Kaoru shook her head as she poured hot water into the teapot. "I don't believe it." she murmured, half to herself.

 

"Believe what?" Misao asked as she set the tea things on a tray.

 

"Soujiro-san," Kaoru explained in the same non-believing tone, "He was Shishio's right hand man? He seems so…polite, sweet even."

 

Misao rolled her eyes, "Not all bad-guys are crude." she said dryly. The truth was she'd wondered the same thing herself several times that evening, he wasn't as cold as she remembered, not as…intense. Perhaps wandering around Japan had changed him somehow, perhaps, it had made him forget…

 

"What is it that is so special about you?"

 

Kaoru lightly tapped her hand against the base of Misao's head, tumbling her back into the present. "You know what I mean, silly." She peeked at the two men sitting in the next room and noted Soujiro's delicate features,  "He's just so…kawaii…"

 

**********************************************

 

As Kaoru set the tray on the table before them, Soujiro felt something tug at his chest. Himura had all the things he'd always wanted for himself, a loving family, a home. He could only hope to be half as happy someday. He took the cup that Kaoru offered him. "Arrigatou." he said warmly, hoping that his smile was just as warm as his voice. Himura's wife smiled back, her gorgeous blue eyes dancing with light. After she had served them she rose to her feet and lightly padded back into the kitchen. Kenshin's affectionate gaze followed her until she disappeared from sight. Soujiro let his gaze drop into his tea, "Himura-san certainly is fortunate," he thought to himself as he studied his reflection in the emerald surface.

 

He sighed and looked up at Kenshin, "I admire you Himura-san," he admitted, "You seem to have everything a man should want." Kenshin smiled a little at that. He was glad that Soujiro recognized the things that really mattered, even after living under Shishio's self destructive philosophies for so long. "I was lucky." the elder said simply. "Lucky enough to have found what I always needed, and lucky to have friends who'd force me to accept them."

 

Soujiro smiled into his tea once more, "A very lucky man indeed," he thought. He felt his chest tug again, "If only…"

 

"Speaking of accepting things…" Kenshin continued, " I insist that you stay with us for a little while Soujiro-san, at least, for the night." Soujiro looked up, his mouth half opened in protest. Kenshin waved away the objection with his hand. "I won't take no for an answer," he insisted, "It's the least we can do to thank you for helping Misao out." Soujiro clamped his mouth shut, he hadn't expected such kindness, "Domo Arrigatou." he said gratefully, "That's very kind of you."

 

Kenshin's eyes softened, he remembered how lonely it was to be a rurouni sometimes. As if on cue, Misao appeared in the doorway. Kenshin rose to his feet, "Misao-dono will get you settled in while I get dinner ready," he announced. He paused at the door and looked back at the younger man.

 

"I really am glad too see that you are well Soujiro." he said quietly before turning to leave.

 

**********************************

"Reach, Reach out to me

Can't you see I need you to save me?

Yeah, Reach, Reach out to me

Can't you see I need you to hold me?"

Collective Soul

 

**********************************

 

Dinner was some thing of an event that night. More than usual, that is.

 

Yahiko and Sanosuke came home together after Sano made an unsuccessful pass at Tae for a free meal. Yahiko caught up with him after visiting with Tsubame, he was still glowing over her reaction to his impromptu gift of a wildflower bouquet.

 

"Oh, Yahiko-kun!" she'd squealed, throwing her arms around him and planting the most affirmative of kisses on his cheek.

 

Yahiko unwittingly smiled and brushed his fingers over the spot. Unfortunately Sano noticed and he grinned down at the boy as he winked wickedly.

 

"You seem to be getting all the girls these days Yahiko-chan." he teased, his smile widening.

 

Yahiko's expression instantly went from love-struck to dumbstruck. He glared up at the tall man malevolently for a moment then broke out into an evil grin himself as an equally evil thought crossed his mind.

 

"Don't worry rooster head," he said in a contrastingly innocent voice, " I won't steal Megumi-sensei away from you," his eyes narrowed a bit as the grin widened.

 

"But then again, it's not like you had a snowball's chance in hell anyways."

 

"WHY YOU LITTLE…"

 

Yahiko ran up the steps leading into the dojo before Sanosuke could throttle him. He kicked off his sandals neatly and stuck his tongue out at him before ducking inside.

 

"Tadaima!" Yahiko shouted before continuing to put as much distance between himself and Sano as possible. Kaoru's eyes narrowed as Sanosuke tackled the brat and they both went tumbling over the floor. She sighed as she crossed the distance between them and reached into the tangle of limbs to produce two…ears?

 

"Ow! Jou-chaaan!!!!!!" Sanosuke protested as Kaoru's sharp nails dug into the sensitive flesh. On Kaoru's left, Yahiko was having a similar reaction.

 

"Now listen you two," she commanded, shaking both ears vehemently, "I know that asking you two to behave yourselves is like squeezing water out of a rock," she pinched a little harder as if to prove her point. "So." she continued, "I'll just threaten you. Don't embarrass me in front of my guests or else." she gave them one final shake before she let go, leaving the two disgruntled youths to lick their wounds.

 

Yahiko rubbed his injured ear as Kaoru's words began to sink in, guests?

 

Just then the Misao came in, her arm was in a sling. Sano's mouth opened in question. "It's okay," Misao interjected, "I ran into some trouble, and, well you are so not going to believe this…"

 

Misao stepped aside revealing a fresh-faced young man wearing a light blue gi. His bright black eyes twinkled in recognition under the fall of his smooth hair. Sanosuke's eyes widened in shock, he didn't know what to say except…

 

"Chickuso."

 

********************************************************************

Like I said, dinner was something of an event that evening.

 

Sano wasn't all that comfortable of the idea of Soujiro staying under the same roof as his adopted family and it showed on his face clearly throughout the meal. He was careful not to look directly at Soujiro though, Jou-chan was sitting right next to him with a look on her face that clearly meant business. Yahiko on the other hand stared quite pointedly at their young guest, in disbelief.

 

"This is the Tenken?" he thought to himself, "He's even shorter than Kenshin…"

 

Kenshin, Soujiro and Misao were the only ones who seemed totally at ease during the whole meal. Kenshin took the opportunity to question her more thoroughly about her arm.

 

Misao related the entire incident in detail, except of course, the part about the makeshift sling. "Some things just aren't worth the sharing," she thought to herself.

 

Sanosuke  had been listening intently to the whole account, "Drunks huh?" he said cracking his knuckles, "sounds like they need a lesson in moderation.."

 

Yahiko choked a little on his food, "Like you know anything about moderation…"

 

"Shut up Yahiko-chan," Sano growled, smacking the younger boy upside the head, "at least I can handle my liquor, unlike some people…"

 

Yahiko gave Sano a death-glare, it was a well known fact that the boy passed out after two cups of sake. He promptly jumped up at Sano's throat.

 

"DON'T CALL ME CHAAAAAAANNNN!!!!!!!!"

 

So much for civilized behavior, Kaoru thought as she buried her face in her hands. Kenshin watched amusedly as she shifted her fingers to peek at the two battling boys, then her fiancé. Misao was amazingly calm, she was used to that sort of behavior. If Jiya hit the right nerve with her, she could even be responsible for it. She propped her chin up with her good arm and smiled benignly as she watched the two boys duke it out.

 

Something told Soujiro that he should be disturbed at their behavior, but another part of him actually felt relieved. This scene reminded him of the hair pulling matches between Kamatari and Yumi when the Juppongatana was still together.

 

It felt like home.

 

*********************************

 

 

 

 

           

  next             main