Disclaimer: RK characters belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki. Hime was created by two friends and I.

For some reason, I could see both Yahiko and Sano as uncles to Kenji so that's what I made their relationships in this fic. Hope that works. Also, I made Megumi return from that one place she left to go to (forget the name) at the end of the manga so she could have some "screen time" in this XD I found it proper to do so.


Himura Kenji was scared. No, scared was an understatement. The boy was downright terrified. The six-year old was just outside, having his Uncle Yahiko teach him some sword techniques when, out of no where, his mother began screaming and crying as if she had been stabbed or badly hurt. His father then began panicking himself, running left and right and shouting at Yahiko to go get Genzai and Megumi. After twenty minutes of yelling, running around, and the occasional demonic growl from Kaoru, both of Kenji's parents had vanished back into their bedroom with the arrival of the doctors.

Now Kenji sat on the porch of his home with his Uncle Sano and Yahiko at his side as they discussed various matters that the boy could not yet understand. Not that it mattered. At this moment, Kenji's only focus was his poor mother in whom he was deeply worried about. He just couldn't figure out what had happened. She had been perfectly fine all day, and than just started screaming in more agony then Kenji had ever heard her do before. Yes, Kenshin's son did find it a little odd that his mother's physique had become larger over the last few months and he also didn't understand the random check-ups she continuously went to under Dr. Genzai's orders. Could those things have been connected to what had just happened?

Terrible, horrifying thoughts began to plague the child's mind as he ran through different scenarios in his head. Was Kaoru sick? Did she have a disease that was shortening her life by the minute? Or had she been badly injured somehow when Kenji wasn't looking? Did she break a bone or pull something important? Or worst...could his mother be dying?

Tears welled up at the thought, Kenji immediately believing that must be the case. It'd make sense. The screaming, his father panicking, Dr. Genzai and Megumi showing up with a bunch of medical supplies, and even the fact that the boy was forbidden by his uncles to go inside his own home. Yes, that had to be it. Kaoru was dying.

"Huh?" Yahiko looked over to his master's child who had suddenly buried his face into drawn-up knees and began crying, "Kenji? What's..."

Sagara Sanosuke immediately gave a look at the younger man, telling Yahiko to leave comforting Kenji up to him. The bird-head patted the mini Kenshin's shoulder ever so lightly and smiled,

"Hey kid, don't cry. Everything will be just fine." He promised.

Kenji continued to cry, eventually causing the fit to turn into sobbing. Sano and Yahiko both tried over and over to get the boy to calm down but remained unsuccessful. A few minutes later, a glass-shattering scream echoed from the dojo. Kenji instantly knew who it was.

"Mommy!" He shouted, trying to run into the house but had his person grabbed by Sanosuke before he could even reach the door.

As Kenji began struggling in his arms, Sano started to feel a little anxious as well. He hadn't been around the last time Kaoru had given birth and with the hell he had witnessed on moment of his arrival, which was just before the little miss had been taken into the bedroom for delivery, Sano had to wonder if everything would work out in the end.

"Mommy, Mommy!" The Himura son cried again, kicking his feet in attempt to get away, "Let me go~"

Sano shook his head, watching as Yahiko patted the little one's head in comfort, "Sorry, Mini-Ken. We can't let you."

"Yeah, your dad specifically told us to keep you out here until everything was over." The successor to the Kamiya style tried to explain.

"B-But I have to go! Mommy needs me!"

The two swordsmen couldn't help but smile at the tender heart this child possessed. Even so, they couldn't comply to the six-year old's wishes.

Tears flowed down Kenji's red cheeks as he continued to kick and scream, his tantrum getting worst with each second. By the time ten minutes had passed, both of the boy's babysitters had splitting headaches and dying eardrums.

"Dang, enough already..." Came the groan from the exhausted Yahiko as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was surprised that Kenji hadn't cried himself out yet.

Kenji screamed to let him go in like before, his shouting beginning to get to the point that was like his mother's.

"No means no, kid. Now sit down." Sano forced Kenji down into sitting position.

Kenshin's son sniffled and coughed, his crying starting to bite back at him. Soon, Kenji's breathing had become fast and hard as it often did when children threw fits and cried so hard that their little hearts couldn't keep up with them.

Kenji scampered to his feet and wobbled towards the door again, this time at a slower pace.

"M-Mommy..."

Yahiko and Sano stared at him, their own hearts threatening to break.

Seeing as it was up to him to look after Kenji when his parents weren't there, Yahiko picked Kenji up and hugged him tightly,

"Kenji, I promise your mom will be fine. She may not look like it with that ugly face of hers..."

Sano sweat-dropped at the age-old insult.

"But she's strong. And your dad is..."

"Daddy isn't enough- Let me go now!" Suddenly, the child in Yahiko's arms began slapping him as well as yanking on his hair.

Sano tried to get the boy to stop from hurting the younger man, "Kenji, Megumi is in there too, y'know and..."

"Mommy's dying! I got to help her...!" Came the voiced misinterpretation of the situation at hand.

Yahiko and Sanosuke's eyes widened at the distressed kid, "Dying?"

Another loud scream could be heard inside the dojo, causing Kenji's heart to jump in his chest, "Mommy, noo!"

"Good freakin' lord." The bird-heard sighed and looked to the boy with watery eyes, "Kenji, your mom isn't-"

Yet another scream like the last followed and all was silent at last. Kenji's sobbing also subsided for a moment. Then the samurai child pressed his head into Yahiko's shirt, his whole body shaking violently.

Both uncles swallowed and exchanged looks. Could Kenji's fear had come true? Could Kaoru have...?

But the worries were soon erased when small cries could be heard come from the dojo. Both men grinned but Kenji still feared the worst.

The door finally slid open, revealing a bright-eyed Kenshin before them.

"Well? Everything okay?" Sano voiced everyone's question.

The red-haired swordsman smiled warmly and nodded. He then gestured at Yahiko, asking for Kenji.

Yahiko relinquished the crier to his father. The child responded to his new holder by resting his head against Kenshin's kimono, small tears still dropping from his blue eyes. Alarmed by this, Kenshin patted his son's small back,

"Oro? Is something the matter, Kenji?"

"Mommy...Mommy..."

The confused ex-hitokiri flashed a questionable look at his friends.

"He's been really worried about Kaoru this whole time. Totally broke the kid's heart when he couldn't do anything to help out." Sano half-smirked, giving a shrug.

The father's expression softened and he nodded his head again. He turned and entered the dojo with Kenji. As the two walked down the hall to the bedroom, Kenshin smiled lovingly at his son,

"Mommy is just fine, that she is, Kenji."

Disbelief reflected from Kenji's eyes as he rose his head to stare at his dad. He then tried to argue his view of things, "But Mommy was screaming and c-crying..."

Kenshin hugged him gently at approaching their destination. Sliding open the door, Kenji's eyes widened.

Megumi, who was busy cleaning things up, waved happily at sight of Kenshin and his son. Walking over, the older woman gave Kenji's little cheek a pinch, "Hello there, Chibi-Ken." She had been using that nickname since the boy had been born.

"M-Mo..."

Knowing what the young one was concerned about, Megumi pointed a finger to the very person Kenji had become so frantic over.

Himura Kaoru laid in the futon, her body propped up by several pillows. The woman's dark hair hung off her shoulders, and sweat seemed to cover her face and neck. A smile, though it was one of exhaustion, was stuck on the wife's face as she watched her favorite men take a seat beside her.

"Mom..." Kenji's blue eyes shined like diamonds as he took in her presence before him. More tears poured from his eyes but this time, the emotion behind them different. He screamed again and clung to her in an instant.

Kaoru chuckled and rubbed her adoring son's back, "I'm sorry if I worried you, Kenji-kun." She lifted his face with a hand to place a small kiss on her child's forehead.

Kenji began wiping his face with a sleeve as he tried to snuggle close to his mother; but at hearing a strange sound come from beside him, jumped away in confusion.

Kenshin and Kaoru laughed at their first-born and held out a tiny bundle to him. Kaoru, pulling back the blanket, introduced a small baby with black hair like her own, but eyes and face similar to Kenshin's, "Meet your little sister, Kenji-kun."

Kenji stared down at the small infant that was deemed as his new sibling. The baby watched Kenji with widened eyes, Kenji holding the same curiosity at the being in his reach. He'd never seen such a small person before. This was the reason by all the scary things earlier?

"Her name is Hime," Kenshin began, holding out a finger for his newborn daughter to catch in her little hand, "You have a new little playmate, Kenji, that you do."

The baby known as Himura Hime let out more coos and gurgles as she looked from her parents to her older brother. Kaoru cuddled both children close when she noticed her son had calmed down and began trying to interact with Hime, though shyly.

"See, sweetie? There was nothing to worry about."

Kenshin nodded with his wife when he saw their second-born touch one of Kenji's cheeks playfully.

A smile slowly formed on the future successor of the Kamiya style's face as he was handed his little sister. Though he was still fairly small himself, Kenji was able to balance the infant in his arms almost perfectly and without any assistance from either parents or Megumi. Hime continued to coo as she looked up at him, her gaze of interest never turning away from her older brother. Kenshin and Kaoru's son still didn't totally understand everything that had happened with his mother and the doctors but that was past him now. Himura Kenji had a new friend and he loved it.


Author's comments: I apologize if the ending was a little rushed. I couldn't think of a proper way to end it so I just kind of slapped down what popped into my head at the end. Also, pardon the overuse of cuteness and the feels. Sometimes my inner fangirl gets a little carried away when I write fics xD Hime will probably make an appearance in future RK fics I write, as well as the sequel to my other fic "From Master Swordsman to Babysitter" because people wanted to read more of Hiko Seijuro babysitting his idiot apprentice's kids. That fic, however, won't appear for a while. But I hope this fic wasn't too bad. It was just a little something I threw together in a matter of two days. May not be my best work but thank you all for reading.