Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rurouni Kenshin cast otherwise I'd be rolling in cash right now!
Summary: Yahiko is a little kid growing up to pay his dead mother's debt. Something is found out and Kenshin must come to the boy's rescue, but will Yahiko even be alive when Kenshin arrives? My first fic!
The Secret Kept from Yahiko
Prologue
A small boy shivered under his thin blankets. It was just so cold outside. He carefully got up out of his cold bed and padded over to his mother's futon. "Mommy are you awake?" the spiky black haired child whispered.
Yes, Yahiko, I'm awake." His mother coughed. "Is there something you need?"
"I'm cold. Can I stay with you tonight? And are you okay?" the four year old looked hopefully at his mother at the prospect of getting warmer and for a truthful answer.
"Sure sweetie, climb on in," his mother answered as she picked up the edge of the blanket and Yahiko snuggled in next to her. "Good night Yahiko."
"Good night Mommy, don't let the bed bugs bite." The child giggled and was soon fast asleep before realizing that his mother had never answered his question referring to her health.
The next day Yahiko's mother went off to work again in a factory that made uniforms for the soldiers of Japan. Before she left she left Yahiko with strict instructions to stay in the house. He could have a rice ball foe lunch.
During his mother's absence, Yahiko amused himself with chasing a spider around the one room house, trying to move just as it did which proved hard after Yahiko learned that a spider had a lot more legs than he did. But after awhile that got boring and the little boy sat down and thought about his mother.
He was quite worried about her, and since he was only four almost five, that wasn't quite the thing such a young child should be wondering about. But it was. His mother was constantly coughing and she seemed to be so tired after work everyday.
After his mother returned home later in the evening she told him she wasn't feeling well and was going to lie down for awhile. Yahiko ate some the fresh tofu that she had brought home with her and then went to sleep.
Early the next morning as his mother was getting ready to go back to work she collapsed in the middle of the floor and wouldn't wake up when Yahiko shook her. Feeling panicked, the bronze skinned boy ran out of their flat and started yelling for help. He didn't realize that he had attarcted a person until he had run into him. Looking up, his vision was met with a very tall man with really tall hair that was sort of pointy at the top. The man asked what had happened and Yahiko explained as best and calmly as he could that his mommy had fallen down and wouldn't wake up. The man said he could help. Then he looked Yahiko up and down. "Hey Kid, how old are you and what's your name?"
"I'm four years old, five in 4 days."the boy held up four fingers. My name is Myojin Yahiko, what's yours?"
"Very nice to meet you Yahiko. You may call me Gasuke."
Author's Notes:
Some of you are probably wondering why I rewrote this prolouge. The reason is,the spacing was messed up and the writing quality was not very good. I will definitely be redoing chapter one and most like chapter three, or at least the spacing. Chapter two seems to be okay, maybe spacing work. If you could all leave a review here to tell me what you think, it would be great!