"How do you do it, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked in frustration, transferring Kenji to her other shoulder as he continued to cry. "I have to rock him for an hour before he goes to sleep. For you, it's fifteen minutes!"
Was Kenshin blushing? "I...this one can show you..." He reached out and took the baby from her arms. "It's...it's nothing much." Kenji took a breath, realized he was still being asked to sleep, and broke out in fresh wails.
"It has to be something," Kaoru retorted as she followed him out into the dojo yard, but she was intrigued. "Because Kenji sleeps for you the way he never does for me." Intrigued, but also worried. That Kenshin would call himself "this one" - something he had rarely done since Jinchuu - told her he was thinking of Battousai and the Bakumatsu. But why would something like putting Kenji to sleep remind Kenshin of his past?
One-handed, Kenshin rooted through the pile of clean laundry until he came up with the carrying harness she and Kenshin had rigged. Still one-handed, he began to slip it around himself.
"Here," Kaoru said quickly. She took Kenji from Kenshin's arms, waited until her husband had adjusted the carry-all around his back, then carefully tucked their son into the pouch. The back was rather higher than on the traditional ones, ensuring that Kenji's fragile head and neck would be supported. Kenshin smiled gratefully at her.
"Thank you," he said. "It is much easier with help, that it is."
'That it is,' Kaoru worried. Another thing Kenshin rarely said these days. Her husband stepped back and took a deep, steadying breath. Then he closed his eyes and began to move.
Kaoru's breath caught in her throat. It was a kata. Not Kamiya Kasshin Ryu - she knew all of those intimately. Hiten...Hiten Mitsurgi Ryu? At first Kenshin moved stiffly, but as the minutes passed and the crying began to subside, muscle memory took hold. Kaoru watched as he turned, dodged, and stabbed in slow motion with an invisible blade. Moves she recognized, but hadn't seen in years. That she honestly hadn't known his body would still allow. Eyes still closed, Kenshin's mouth tightened in concentration. Then, to her amazement, he leapt, arms raised. He mouthed the familiar words: "Ryu Tsui Sen!"
There is no way, Kaoru thought, that Kenji can stay asleep like that.
But Kenshin landed with stunning lightness, absorbing the impact with a grunt. A few more moves, and the kata was complete. Kenshin stood there for a moment, panting, then slowly opened his eyes. The basket on his back was utterly silent. He smiled hesitantly at her.
"A kata?" Kaoru hissed under her breath. His smile faltered slightly. "That's..." Idiotic! Putting Kenji to sleep is not worth hurting yourself... Crazy! What if you bounced his head around? Then she sighed and admitted, "A great idea. Why didn't I think of that?"
Kenshin's shoulders slumped in relief - though not, she noticed, hard enough to jostle the baby on his back. "This o...I only thought of it because Shishou did it once when I was sick," he whispered back. "He said he wasn't going to skip sword practice just to nurse me. And he moved so smoothly..."
Kaoru muffled a laugh at the thought of Kenshin's master with a little boy strapped to his back. "Come on," she mouthed. "Let's take him to his room."
The baby stirred a little as Kenshin laid him carefully in the crib, and his parents waited with bated breath until he stilled. Then they both tiptoed out of the room. At least Kaoru tiptoed. Kenshin did that ex-assassin "move with utter silence while making it look ridiculously easy" thing. As soon as the shoji slid closed though, his head drooped and he let out a tired sigh.
Kaoru eyed him with concern as they walked back down the hallway. "Did that hurt you? The kata?"
He tried to shrug, caught her glare, and admitted, "It's not as easy anymore." He hesitated, then added softly. "But I like the thought that Hiten Mitsurgi Ryu could...have another purpose. That I could turn it to something other than death."
He looked so old, his gaze clouded with memory.
"And you didn't tell me because you didn't know if I'd approve of you practicing?"
He didn't quite meet her eyes.
Kaoru smacked him in the head.
"Ow!" he yelped, turning towards her in surprise.
"That's for worrying about me, you idiot!" she said. "I trust you, Kenshin. You don't have to worry I'll get mad at you for practicing a sword style from your past or for trying to sleep better at night!"
He looked down again and said nothing.
"I know that sometimes you still think you need to make up for what you did as Battousai, to prove that you're not a monster." She lifted her chin. "But Kenshin..." Kaoru cupped his scarred left cheek with her hand. "You never need to prove anything to me."
His head jerked up, and he looked at her with something like wonder. No matter how many times she said it, part of him was still startled to realize that Kaoru could love him and honestly not care about his past.
Well then, I'll just keep saying it until he believes me.
Kaoru cleared her throat and brought a threatening finger up to point at his nose. "Just so you know, though. If you hurt yourself by trying to do too much, I'll take a hint from Megumi and put you on a leash!"
"Hai, Kaoru," he said meekly. But the horrible sick-with-worry look that had hurt Kaoru to see had finally faded from his eyes. "Whatever would I do without you?" he whispered as he kissed her.
A rhetorical question, Kaoru decided in the few moments of clarity before her brain shut down. Not meant to be answered... Finally, they broke apart.
"You know," Kaoru said, trying to make her voice sound casual. "Kenji will probably sleep for another hour or two."
"Yes," Kenshin agreed in the same tone. "I'll have time to get another tub of laundry done."
Kaoru growled and reached up to hit him again. He caught her hand midswing, then leaned down to press a kiss on the inside of her wrist. The look in his eyes made her shiver.
"Kenshin," she said, trying for her best 'Master-of-the-Kamiya-Kasshin-Dojo' voice. "Laundry can wait."
His soft smile became a grin. "Hai."
Kenji slept for the rest of the afternoon.