***If you've seen the second part of the second OVA, there's a girl that walks with Kenji (a scene shown after the credits).  Yay, someone who reviewed the fic graciously gave me the girl's first name.  Thank you so much!  Anyways, it's Chizuru and thank you to Jason Lee.  The last name is still made up.   

A Budding Romance

            My parents are gone now.  Just when I gained a better understanding of my father, he died.  I used to be angry at him for the pain he caused my mother, but when I found out how hard he fought to come back here, to see her one last time before he died, it changed my opinion of him.  He proved to me that he loved my mother, though my mother's faith in him never faltered.  Now I'm sitting with Yahiko eating dinner at the restaurant as usual.  He is very much like an older brother for me and always has been. 

"So are you going to stay here," Yahiko asked me.

            He thought I was going to run again, that I would go back to Hiko and train in the way my father had trained.  Why should I go back?  I heard Hiko-san tell Yahiko that he would not pass his full technique on and that it would die with him.  I learned everything else that there is to learn from him.  Besides Yahiko makes a good sparring partner.  My parents taught him well. 

"Hai, I'm staying."

"Good, because I would have to beat the living hell out of you if you left this place.  Someone needs to keep the school going."

"You know more about the Kamiya Kasshin style than I do.  I was trained like father."

"Yes, I know, but the dojo is yours now.  Kaoru would have wanted you to stay here and I'm sure Kenshin would rather you had roots.  He never had a place to call home until he came here.  I'm sure that he would want a more stable life for you."

"I told you I'm staying, but if you want the Kamiya Kasshin style to continue, you're the one who must take on students.  I would like you to stay here though, even when you marry Tsubame-san."

            Yahiko's cheek turned red with embarrassment. 

"Who said I would marry her anyway?"

"I may be younger than you, but I'm not a fool.  I think that's the only reason we eat here anyway." 

"Alright, I'll stay here too, but you'll assist me if I take students and you better shut up about Tsubame or I'll really hurt you."

"Hai, hai."

"You know, we bicker like real brothers."

"You are very much like a brother to me.  That can be good and bad."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

            I laughed at him.  It's so easy to piss him off.

"Thief!  Thief!  Someone stop her!"

            Yahiko and I were pulled out of a potential argument with cries from the shopkeeper across the street.  I got up to see what the commotion was only to be shoved aside by a girl I had never seen before.  She looked at me briefly, blushed, and then continued running through the restaurant.  Before I knew it she was gone.  I couldn't move.  I could only sit and think about that girl and how mesmerizing her beautiful brown eyes were.  I only caught a brief glimpse of her, but I saw enough to recognize her if I saw her again.  She was about my age with long black hair.  She had it kind of like my mother used to, in a high ponytail.  Her face was flawless and beautiful and her pale skin only added to her beauty.  She was dressed merely in a sandy colored, ratty looking gi.  Normally I wouldn't give her a second thought, but she somehow she managed to capture my attention making my pulse quicken.  As I sat and stared in the direction she went Yahiko came up behind me and patted me on the head.

"So is it love at first sight?"

"Nani?"

            How I wished I hadn't made fun of him about Tsubame.

"So you finally found yourself a girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?  She just bumped into me and ran off.  I don't think that's enough time to start up a relationship."

"Oh, so you say you want a relationship?"

"I didn't say that!"

            By this time I was getting irritated.  He's giving me payback I guess. 

"She seemed to be attracted to you as well."

"And just how would you know that."

"It was only briefly, but the way she looked at you gave it away.  I guess girls would find you interesting.  You have a rather exotic look you know.  There aren't many men around here with red hair and blue eyes.  You look a lot like your dad and girls seemed to like him well enough.  Of course Kaoru would ward off any other women and…"

"Would you shut up!"

"Calm down Kenji, I was just fooling around."

"I'm going now."

"Wait Kenji.  Why do you take everything so seriously?  You need to have a light heart every once and a while."

"It's just the way I am, I can't help that.  Why don't you just spend some time with Tsubame-san.  If you don't she's going to get the wrong idea.  She'll think you don't like her anymore."

"What?"

            Good, I struck a chord.  Yahiko quickly turned on his heal and went to find his girlfriend.  I rushed out the door after shedding his unwanted attention.  As I walked back to the dojo, images of that girl kept invading my thoughts.  What was it about her anyway?  We didn't even speak to each other.  It's not like I'm some sort of hormonal fool.  I've learned to control my emotions or so I thought.  Is this how my father felt when he fell in love with that woman, Tomoe.  I heard that story.  My mother told me that before that woman he was a hardened assassin.  Some how that woman was responsible for making him the man he was when my mother met him.  I guess she was his first love.  I thought it was ridiculous to speak about your first love to your second, but mother said he insisted on telling her everything about his past.  He didn't want to hide anything from her.  She told me that Tomoe had softened him, not to the point where he lost his skill as a warrior, but enough so that he could experience and express love and other such emotions more freely.  That is how the Kenshin she knew had emerged from the darkness of the Battousai.  Are these the type of feelings he had felt when he was with Tomoe and my mother?  I'm not sure I'm ready for such feelings.  After all, love makes a man do stupid things.  Yahiko is a perfect example.  While trying to impress Tsubame-san he always goes above and beyond what is necessary to define the word stupid.  I don't want to be like that.

            I came upon the dojo walking slower than usual.  All of my thinking somehow physically weighed me down.  Why the hell was I speculating about a girl that I didn't even know.  It was stupid.  So stupid, in fact, that tried to force myself to forget about the whole thing, however my brain refused to let go of the memory.  Stubborn organ.  I sat on the outer steps.  I had to do something quickly or I would fall into another spell of contemplation.  Just then I heard the rustling of fabric from behind me and I felt the point of a blade against my back.  Who did this person think they were dealing with anyway?  With unnatural speed I moved to the side and quickly subdued my attacker.  To my shock the attacker was the girl from the restaurant.  She struggled in my grasp, kicking and squirming. 

"Let me go!"

"You're the one who attacked me.  I'll let you go once I get that dagger from your hand."

            After struggling a bit longer I managed to wrestle the small blade out of her hand so I let her go.

"Give that back!"

"Iie."

"I need that.  It's the only way I can protect myself."

"What do you need protection from?  The shopkeeper that you stole from?"

"I don't have to answer to you."

"Considering that you were trespassing on my property and you attacked me, I believe you have plenty to answer for."

            Her anger was flaring.  She let out a snort and turned her back to me.  I sighed in frustration and turned to go inside.  I didn't need this aggravation.

"Wait," she yelled.

"What is it," I asked turning back to her.

"Onegai, I need a place to hide.  I'm sorry for trespassing, but I was frightened.  Can I stay here for a little while?"

"I'm not in the business of harboring thieves."

            I turned my back on her again and as soon as I did I heard a thud and then sobbing.  As I turned again I found the girl on her knees.  Her hands covered her face and tears were visible as they streamed down her face.  I walked over to her and knelt down to her level.

"He'll kill me," she said, her voice laced with fear.

"Why would he kill you.  If you just return what you took…"

"That's just it.  I didn't take anything."

            She had by this time removed her hands from her face.  Her once pale cheeks were pink and her eyes were puffy from crying.

"If you didn't take anything, why would he call you a thief?"

"My parents had a debt to pay to him so they made me work for him as a servant.  They were killed not long ago by thieves and so I thought I could leave.  I didn't have to worry about him hurting my parents."

            Tears threatened to spill from her eyes again as she continued with her story.

"When he found out I was going to leave he threatened to kill me.  He said that my parents' debt was passed on to me through their deaths, but I just couldn't stay there any longer.  Onegai!  Don't make me go back.  I'm so scared."

            She looked at me pleadingly.  Her eyes glistened with tears.  Beyond all rational thought I decided to let her stay having some sympathy for her.

"Fine, you can stay.  Come me with me and I'll show you your room."

            I extended a hand to her to help her up and she took it.  We walked in silence to the spare room.  I slid the door open and walked in and she followed me inside.

"There's a futon over there."

            She nodded and I made my way to the door.  Before I could leave she started to speak.

"Ano…Arigato.  I appreciate your kindness."

"It's fine."

"By the way, what is your name?"

"Kenji.  Himura Kenji.  And yours?"

"Toyoshima Chizuru."

"Well Toyoshima-san, there is some food in the kitchen, but not much.  Help yourself."

"Arigato."

            As I walked out of the room I couldn't help but wonder how I get myself into such situations and I knew that Yahiko wouldn't let me live this down.