I do not own Rurouni Kenshin
Oyasuminasai
"Daddy! Daddy!"
Even with his reflexes, Kenshin barely managed to turn around in time to catch his small son as the boy hurtled towards him with rather frightening speed and an unearthly amount of screaming.
"Goodness, Kenji! What's going on?"
He received no answer from the little four-year-old who was now busy quivering and whimpering from within his embrace, clinging onto his gi like there was no tomorrow. Kenshin felt worry stir in the pit of his stomach as he scooped the boy up and went in search of his wife, seeking an explanation.
He didn't have far to look. Himura Kaoru skidded around the corner, and Kenshin automatically stretched out an arm to catch her before she could become the second thing to crash into him in as many minutes.
"Ahh! Kenshin! Where's – Kenji-chan! Silly boy, don't ever run off like that again! You scared five years off my life –"
In between calming his son down and fending off a nervous mother hen, it took Kenshin nearly ten minutes before he managed to get the full story out.
"Oh, Kaoru," he sighed in half-exasperation, half-bemusement, "what a silly thing to do."
Kenji had finally managed to stop crying, tears reduced to the occasional sniffle. Kenshin took him down the hallway to his little room, and calmly explained that Uncle Yahiko had most definitely been teasing him when he told about the Ghost Woman of Tokyo whose favorite treat was little red-headed boys, that it was in all likelihood a retaliation for his favorite gi being ruined by a certain little redhead experimenting with scissors, that the teen had simply been kidding about the stain on Kenji's bedroom door being the spirit of the said Ghost Woman lying in wait, that the noise outside was just the wind and not the voices of spirits talking, that his mother had meant absolutely no harm when she so helpfully decided to tell him a scary bedtime story, and that no, certainly nothing was going to slip past the cracks in the window and eat him tonight.
"I didn't know he would react like that!" Kaoru muttered in her own defense, having followed them to the room, torn between guilt and defiance. "I loved scary stories as a kid! How was I to know he would actually believe me?"
Kenshin simply shook his head and wondered if he would be getting any sleep tonight, since Kenji didn't seem to be willing to let him go anytime soon, still half-unconvinced that there was no dead woman floating around looking for a midnight snack.
Glancing at Kenji's bedroom door, he had to admit, though, that the stain did indeed look like it might have been the silhouette of a (somewhat deformed) woman.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
The small child flung himself into his father's strong, protective arms, sobbing his eyes out as his heart thudded wildly in his ears. He barely heard his father's surprised questions, only faintly noticed as his mother ran in after him, and didn't care about the blurred conversation taking place above his head.
"What a silly thing to tell the child!"
"It wasn't meant to be scary! How was I to know the ideas Takuya-kun had planted in his head?"
From beyond his own sobs and whimpers of "Daddy, Daddy, I'm scared!" he thought he heard someone else enter into the room, no doubt drawn in by the loud commotion.
"What's going on here?"
"Takuya! You come over here right now and explain to Shinta-chan that there is no such thing as a Ghoul Woman who hunts for little boys!"
"Ahhh? Don't tell me he actually fell for that!"
"Oh, 'Kuya, I told you you shouldn't tease him like that!"
"Shut up, Haru-nii! It wasn't even scary!"
It was quite a while before his parents and older brothers managed to calm him down. And he still refused to sleep in his own futon that night, insisting that every creak was the Ghoul's step, and every breeze her voice.
"Oh, Shinta-chan. Don't be afraid. Come. Daddy will sleep with you tonight."
Kenshin smiled softly. That's right, he mused quietly to himself, I used to afraid of ghosts too, didn't I? And I could only sleep holding Father's hand.
It seemed Kenji did take after him in more than looks and talent.
"Kenji-chan," he whispered, kneeling down with the boy still secure in his arms and running a hand through his son's thick red locks. "You know, that stain is only a little fairy, guarding your door."
"A fairy?"
"Yes. You are not afraid of fairies, are you?"
Kenji considered this for a moment, before timidly shaking his head 'no.' Kenshin set the boy on the floor before straightening up once more. Kenji reached up with his little fingers to grasp his hand.
"What about the voices?"
"Only the wind, nothing to worry about either."
He started out the door, leading the child towards his and Kaoru's bedroom. "Kaoru," he said, pausing to look at his wife. "Are you headed to bed?"
"After a bath," she replied, looking at father and son with soft eyes. "I will join you later. Goodnight, Kenji-chan."
"Goodnight, Momma."
She left, and as they walked into the bedroom, the wind outside picked up a little. Kenji pressed himself closer to his father's side.
"Kenji-chan, don't be afraid. Tonight, let's sleep together."
That night, Kenji drifted off into slumber with his tiny hand safely wrapped in his father's strong, protective fingers.
"Goodnight, Daddy."
"Goodnight, son."
Whoa. I actually wrote an RK story without Hiko in it. The world must be at an end - watch out for fire falling from the sky.
But before that, please leave a review! Any and all comments welcome. Thanks for reading!