Disclaimer: RK isn't mine.

AN: An idea I have in the middle of the night… I am putting both The Intersection and Tutoring on hiatus, because some of the stuff that I have written was a little unsatisfactory (to me). Sorry about that. I've been reading Kenshin manga again, because I heard that they are remaking the anime (and live action… which I'm actually not too excited about) and I am waiting eagerly for that :P I hope you enjoyed this story, and don't forget to review!

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Duties

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The doujo were still bright and filled with a lot of people. They were drinking, eating, dancing and laughing around even though it was already late at night. Tsubame, the woman of the day, was sitting with a big smile on her face, while people kept on coming and pouring her some sake, over and over again. Megumi was back to her old habit of flirting with her Ken-san, aggravating a very pregnant, and very hormonal Kaoru. Chief Uramura and his family were there, chatting happily with Genzai-sensei, Tae and Sae. Misao, Sano, Kenji, Yutaro and Okina danced around in the middle of the room with the rest of Oniwabanshu cheering for them, while Aoshi was sitting quietly, watching the idiotic bunch jumping around.

No one seemed to realize that the man of the hour had left the party.

Yahiko sat quietly, far away from the festivities, on a dark corner of the house engawa. He was staring into spaces in his dark with a troubled expression painted all over the place. He was so absorbed by his thoughts that he couldn't even feel Sano's ki until he actually sat beside him. Sano brought a small cup and a bottle of sake. He poured one cup, handed it to Yahiko, and then took a big gulp of sake directly from the bottle. Yahiko forced a faint smile as he drank the sake.

"I know that you guys are supposed to be in bed now, doing the nasty, but you'll get there soon. Cheer up." Sano said. Yahiko sighed.

"That's not even the problem." He murmured while looking up at the full moon.

"Then?"

"You know… If my parents were still alive, they would probably explain to me how to… uh…" Yahiko's face became red. Sano snorted.

"You mean, how to consummate your wedding? You're joking right?" He asked incredulously. "Everyone knows how to have sex. Do you think a daddy doggy would have a talk to his puppy about mating with a female dog?"

Yahiko's face became really dark. "I DO know how to consummate, Sano!" He exclaimed, before sighing weakly. "I just don't know how to treat her as a wife."

"What? Well, you kiss her, fondle her, or tie her up for all I care, whatever gets you both off, and then do the deed! How is it so hard to comprehend?" Sano asked.

Yahiko looked at him with an annoyed face and pulled Sano's hair childishly. "You are ANNOYING! Geez…" He said, and Sano slapped his head.

"Okay, serious time now. Tell me everything about your anxiety." He said with a brotherly tone.

"I talked to Genzai-sensei two months ago, I think it was the night before you came home. I actually asked him about wedding night and stuff… He's old right, so I figured that he was supposed to know about these things. There's one sentence in particular that bothered me."

"What?"

"He said, 'it's a woman's duty to please her husband'. I really don't know how to react to that. Tsubame is not a woman I marry only to please me…" He mumbled. He then looked at Sano. "You must be wondering why I didn't ask Kenshin about this." He said. Sano looked at him and then shrugged.

"Yeah, sure. So why didn't you?" He asked, even though he wasn't exactly half-interested.

Well…"

Flashback

The twelve years old Yahiko grumbled as he returned to the house. He better moved out soon so that Kaoru would stop bossing him around. Just today, she asked him to go and buy two sacks of rice by himself! Yutaro was always nowhere to be found in these kinds of situation, and reappeared during happier times, like dinner time or bed time. He sighed as he dragged the heavy sacks through the doujo gate. He then stopped moving when he heard a muffled scream.

"Dame!" It was Kaoru's voice. "Kenshin, Dame…"

Yahiko frowned and left the rice on the ground, and decided to look around. The voice came from their room. Yahiko walked towards their room and found that the shoji wasn't closed properly. Curious, he took a peek inside.

Kaoru was pushed against the wall, she looked as if she was about to faint. Her obi was on the floor, and her kimono was wide open but Yahiko couldn't see anything. Kenshin was in the way. Kaoru held onto his yukata sleeves with reddened face and she was panting hard.

"Kenshin… no… If you continue, I'll— hmmmppphh!" Kenshin grabbed her hair and forced his tongue into her mouth. His hand disappeared in the lower part of her kimono, doing something, even though Yahiko didn't know what. He then lowered her face and started licking and sucking Kaoru's neck and shoulder. Kaoru gasped and clutched Kenshin's arms, digging her nails into his flesh, creating series of red marks, while Kenshin continued to violate her. He was so preoccupied; he didn't even realize that someone was watching them.

"Onegai… Kenshin…" Kaoru pleaded, her eyes half closed and tears fell down on one cheek. Kenshin didn't stop, instead he took out his hand from between their pressed bodies and forced his finger inside Kaoru's mouth. Kaoru closed her eyes and grabbed his wrist, letting Kenshin's finger traveled freely inside her mouth.

Yahiko stepped back in shock, couldn't believe that Kenshin would do that to Kaoru. Kenshin was always so gentle, he respected women, especially Kaoru, and he would never do anything to hurt her. So… Why now…

Yahiko stood silently, not knowing what to do. He could barge in, but for some reason, there was an aura that frightened him, made him unable to do anything. Maybe it was Kenshin, or maybe it was just the odd situation. Moreover, they were husband and wife, and he was an outsider in that relationship.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Kaoru's loud moan, followed by Kenshin's growl. He peeked inside again, to see Kenshin slammed her body onto the wall, and Kaoru was clutching onto Kenshin's hair, grabbing them a handful. Kenshin was holding both Kaoru's legs wide open and he started smashing himself against her. Kaoru tilted her head and squirmed and screamed her lungs out as she grabbed Kenshin's hair.

Yahiko stared in horror as Kenshin slowly let her go and she crumbled to the floor weakly, as if she was dead. Kaoru was now lying flat on the floor, panting hard with her messy kimono barely covered her, and Yahiko thought that it was over, until Kenshin kneeled in front of her, grabbed her thighs, and dragged her closer towards him mercilessly, like she was some kind of a lifeless doll. For some reason, Kenshin suddenly froze, his grip weakened, and he turned his attention towards the small gap of the shouji. Yahiko choked as a pair of cold, dark amethyst eyes greeted his own.

He closed the small gap of the shouji and ran out of the house.

End of flashback

"That must be quite a sight." Sano commented with a mischivous grin. "Didn't know that Kenshin could do that."

"Please don't tell anyone about this. I'm not judging or anything, it's just that I don't want to do anything that would hurt Tsubame, but I don't know how far should I restrain myself not to hurt her. She's like a flower, delicate and fragile." He said, looking inside the doujo, at his wife, who was smiling shyly to everyone who approached her. Sano snorted.

"Fraglie? Give me a break. Women are not fragile!" He said.

"Well if you're talking about Kaoru then no, that busu's far away from a fragile flower." Yahiko said mockingly with a scoff. But then he looked at the ground with a guilty face. "But still, even someone like her couldn't do anything when Kenshin overpowered her. She could only scream hopelessly and I was too scared to help." He mumbled while hiding his head between his sleeves.

"You're saying that Jou-chan married a wrong guy." Sano concluded and Yahiko looked at him.

"That's not what I mean! It's just that… Well, maybe Kenshin is the 'old, conventional type' when it comes to marriage. The type that would ensure that their wives are doing everything that pleases him. Maybe he's actually agreeing to Doctor Genzai's words. I think people are taking this 'wife duty' thing too far…" He admitted. Sano sighed.

"Look. Do you think that's the face of a man who would force his wife into anything? And does that look like a face of a woman who would let anything happened to her without her consent?" Asked Sano while looking far at the doujo. Yahiko turned his head and saw Kenshin and Kaoru with bulging stomach. They smiled and talked to each other sweetly while Kenshin was holding her hand, helping her to go passed the engawa. Kaoru looked tired and sat on the engawa far away from them, and Kenshin went back into the doujo. After awhile, he came out with a dish of fruit and some tea. Kaoru ate them while Kenshin caressed her big stomach lovingly while talking to her.

"You know, everyday, Tsubame works for at least twelve hours in Akabeko. She's able to carry three to five trays in one go. She does all that with a happy smile, and after her work is done, she still has some energy to meet up with you almost every night. Now tell me, which part of her is fragile?" Sano asked, and Yahiko snorted.

"She also had been harassed many times by people, and didn't know how to fight them." He added. "Moreover, it's not just about sex, you know… I know that I got scared that day because of the way Kenshin did things to Kaoru. But what scares me is more than that. I honestly knew so little about their more private life after that day, not only because I moved out shortly after that, but also because I was too scared."

"Did you see anything that indicates Jou-chan's unhappiness?" Sano asked.

Yahiko looked at the couple again. Kaoru closed her eyes blissfully while leaning against Kenshin, who was whispering something to her. Never once he saw her unhappy in her married life. If any, she was more full of life than before, and Kenshin actually smiled more than before. They had gone through a lot, both separately and together, and their marriage was actually healing both of them. Slowly but sure.

"Well... They're happy alright." The younger guy finally said. Sano sighed.

"I know it's not just about sex. Moreover, that's your job to fend off those annoying guys from her. But what you're doing here, you're actually underestimating her." Sano said. "Women are not a porcelain vase that breaks so easily. Yes, we have to love them, and yes we have to show our affection towards them, but we don't treat them like a piece of thin glass that might break with the lightest touch. Respect them for their strength, just like how they respect us for ours."

Yahiko looked at Sano in awe. "I can't believe you just said those." He said.

Sano looked at him smugly. "I have a lot of wisdom. I'm very wisdomous." He said with a proud grin, while Yahiko made a face at the last word. He then patted Yahiko's shoulder. "Anyways, if you're still clueless, let me tell you. What Doctor Genzai said about women have to please their husband, that's what a man said. What you forget is that, women also have a rule they want their husbands to fulfil. As a husband, you have a duty too, obviously. And it's more than earning money for the family."

"And what's that?" Yahiko asked. Sano shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm not married yet. Why don't you ask Jou-chan?" He said while getting up. "By the way, there's a pleasure on discovering that screams, tears and writhing sounds don't always lead to bad things. Also, dame doesn't always mean 'dame', Yahiko-chan." Sano teased with a big smirk, and Yahiko blushed.

"Stop saying weird stuff!" He screamed, and Sano laughed while walking back into the doujo.

As soon as Sano disappeared into the noisy doujo, Yahiko looked at Kenshin and Kaoru who were gazing at the moon together. He sighed and walked towards Kaoru and Kenshin.

"Ne, Kaoru." He called, and Kaoru looked at him.

"Yes, Yahiko?"

"What is a wife's duty?" He asked.

"To please her husband." Kaoru said confidently while patting Kenshin's hand, which rested on her stomach.

"And what's a husband's duty?" He asked again. Kaoru and Kenshin looked at each other and smiled.

"Yahiko…" Kaoru called sweetly. Maybe the sweetest she had ever been. "A husband's duty is to love, protect and cherish his wife and the kids she bore him above everything else, even himself." She said with a big, motherly smile. Kenshin nodded.

"Aa." He agreed, his hands moved from Kaoru stomach to touch her cheek. He looked at her with love in his eyes.

Yahiko inhaled, as if he had just learned how to breathe. "Geez… Why don't the Doctor just told me so?" He grumbled.

"I suppose because every man knows that?" Kaoru said it as if Yahiko was a dumb monkey. Yahiko snorted.

"I'm only nineteen!" He defended himself.

"Kenshin was fifteen when he got married the first time!" Kaoru retorted.

"Shut up, busu!"

Kaoru chuckled. She stood up and then rustled Yahiko's hair. For the first time, Yahiko didn't get mad or struggle away even though he was being treated like a child. He just stood there with a reddened face.

"It's late. Let me call Tsubame and help her prepare, okay, Yahiko-chan." She said, giving a tone on 'chan'. She walked towards the doujo while mumbling something about this talk should have happened before the ceremony this morning. Kenshin looked at him with a smile.

"Sit down, Yahiko."

Yahiko sat down. Kenshin smiled. "I have to apologize to you. I apologize about seven years ago, and I apologize that I didn't explain to you sooner." He said. Yahiko blushed.

"Did Sano tell you anything?" He asked, confused. When did Sano talk to him? Kenshin chuckled.

"I don't need Sano to tell me anything. After that day, you wouldn't look at me in the eye for a week, and then you moved out. Of course, after a week, you were normal again, but I can't help but think that this might affect you in some ways." Kenshin said. Yahiko turned red.

"Yeah it did. Any kid would be traumatized, Kenshin." He grumbled, and Kenshin laughed.

"Honestly, that day was just a sudden impulse. Looking back, it was like I was possessed or something. I was too caught up in the moment that I didn't even sense you anymore. I'm not like that all the time, though."He admitted. Yahiko looked at him incredulously. Kenshin, who was very sensitive about people's presence, didn't even realize that he was there, peeking so closely at them?

"Kaoru was hurting that time…" Yahiko said. Kenshin sighed.

"I don't really remember that. At that time, the more she refused the more I felt…" Kenshin stopped talking and covered his mouth. He looked at Yahiko, and then sighed. "You know what, I said too much. This is something private about my wife that I shouldn't talk about. You'll learn about that in time… No rush. Moreover, there's a pleasure in finding it out on your own." He said with a smile.

Yahiko sighed. "I can't believe that you and Sano actually said the same thing. I imagine that you and Sano would be very different about this. I can understand Sano saying this, but you…"

Kenshin chuckled. "Why would Sano and I be different? Sano is a guy, and so am I. All guys have these traits inside them… And apparently, women do too, although they're not as straight forward as us guys." He said with a humorous twinkle in his eyes.

Yahiko blushed. "I… I guess so…" He mumbled quietly.

Kenshin patted his shoulder. "But I ensure you this; I wouldn't hurt your Master. You don't have to worry about her."

Yahiko blushed. "I know that. I'm not worried." He mumbled. Kenshin chuckled and stood up.

"Alright then. Go wash your face before going to bed. You look very tired." He said, patting his back before leaving him alone and went into the kitchen.

OOOOO

Yahiko entered Kenshin's old room and saw Tsubame, in her sleeping yukata, waiting for him beside the candle, which for some reason, was bigger and longer than usual. They both blushed. Yahiko looked away and started changing, when she felt Tsubame's hands on his haori.

"Let me help you." She said softly. Yahiko's movement became stiff as he let her helped him change. Soon he was also in his sleeping yukata, sitting in front of his wife.

They sat on the tatami floor formally in seiza, despite the fact that the futons had been laid out by Kaoru, and looked at each other awkwardly. Yahiko coughed and cleared his throat like he was about to give a speech, and Tsubame blushed uncontrollably.

"Ah… Ano…" Tsubame bowed her body. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Yahiko-kun…" She said, touching her head on the ground. Yahiko blushed and looked around hoping that either Sanosuke or Kenshin would pop out somewhere and told him what to do.

"Eh… Same here…" He finally said, bowing his head in the same manner as Tsubame. After counting to three, he got up to see Tsubame, her forehead was still on the ground. He frowned. How long did they actually have to bow? Was there a minimum length of time or something? "…O…Oi…" He called, and then he heard a small hiccup.

"Yahiko-kun, I'm too dizzy to lift my head back up…" She said, still in the previous position. Yahiko looked at her, a little relieved, and the chuckled.

"What's wrong?" He asked, holding back his grin. He helped her to get up and then cuddled her in his arms and let her head rested on his shoulder. Tsubame covered her mouth with her hands and then hiccupped again.

"The guests kept on offering me sake, and I couldn't refuse… " She said, embarrassed. This time, Yahiko couldn't hold his laughter any longer.

"Geez! This must be Yutaro's doing!" He said between his laughter. Tsubame looked at him, and started giggling as well. Their laughter became louder when she accidentally let a weird hiccup out between her giggles.

"I guess I will have what you boys always called 'a hangover' tomorrow?" She asked with a small grin.

Yahiko chuckled. "Congrats on finally having your first hangover… tomorrow." He said, before naturally kissed her forehead. Tsubame blushed, but then smiled humorously. A smile that Yahiko never knew existed.

"I guess this would be something funny that I could tell my children later on." She said sweetly. Yahiko smiled at the beautiful sight of his wife in his arms, and then leaned down, surrendering to the urge to kiss her.

"Ah... Dame..." She muttered, and Yahiko blinked. She was blushing furiously. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little embarrassed..." She said before closing her eyes, inviting him to kiss her. Yahiko blushed, scratched his head, but then grinned awkwardly to himself. So that's what Sano and kenshin were talking about.

Maybe he didn't really need to worry that much, after all.