Author's Note: Dear lord, it's been awhile since I've updated! My apologies to anyone who's been waiting. As a side note, a reviewer brought up a question on whether I was using French or Spanish. This should all be French, unless I've seriously goofed up. My translations are as accurate as I can make them, seeing as French is kinda sorta my major. Also, HUGE thanks to one of my dorm buddies for going over this for me. You know who you are, you crazy English/Psych major, you!
Disclaimer Type Thing: I own nothing except for Marie (who is loosely based on my niece-ish cousin-type thing)
Chapter Two
Never let it be said that Myojin Yahiko gave up easily. The boy had been attempting to cook something edible for nearly an hour. He sent a small-but-meaningful glare at Kaoru, who was busy keeping the little gaijin--Marie, he reminded himself--occupied. This was all Kaoru's fault for not being able to cook like a proper girl.
It had all started when little Marie had looked at Yahiko and Kaoru and said, "J'ai faim! Je voudrais le dejeuner, s'il vous plait." The statement had been accompanied by a loud rumble from the girl's stomach.
"Yahiko, I think Marie-chan might be hungry."
Yahiko immediately said, "Kaoru, you can't feed her! You'll poison her!"
"Fine," Kaoru answered, deceptively calm, "You can cook lunch. I'll be looking around the storage room. I want to see if I can find something for Marie-chan to wear. That dress seems so impractical." So saying, she spun on her heel, and led Marie outside.
Now an hour later, Marie-chan was dressed in a tiny kimono that must have belonged to Kaoru when she was younger. Yahiko was hoping that his newest batch of rice wouldn't explode, and keeping an eye on the miso, which seemed to have taken on a life of its own. He hated to admit it, but he was completely out of his league. He secretly hoped that Kenshin would return to the dojo soon. Then he could shove off lunch-making duty on the helpful rurouni.
Of course, on a day like this, everything was working against him. And because it was his fault, he knew who would be cleaning up the kitchen today. And it wasn't going to be Kenshin. By the time he had a batch of rice that was neither too crunchy nor exploded, and something that vaguely resembled miso soup, little Marie-chan was practically in tears. She had spent at least twenty minutes tugging at the sleeve of Kaoru's kimono, saying "J'ai faim, Roo, j'ai faim!"
He had to admit it, though. He was very proud of himself. He would prove to Kaoru that looking after the little foreigner was not going to be a problem.
"Here you go Marie-chan, yummy rice and miso!" Yahiko said, placing dishes and a set of chopsticks in front of her.
The girl looked puzzled. She turned to the older boy and asked, "Qu'est-ce qui c'est?" while holding one chopstick in each hand. She then proceeded to poke at her rice, playing with her food like any normal little child.
"No, Marie-chan," Kaoru said, intervening before the girl flung the rice out of her bowl. "Hold your chopsticks like this," she helped the little girl hold the chopsticks properly.
"Mais, où est le couteau? Où est la fourchette?" the child asked, with a quizzical look on her face. "Je ne comprende pas."
Yahiko attempted to show Marie-chan how to use her chopsticks to eat her rice. After a few tries that resulted in rice all down Marie's borrowed kimono, Yahiko admitted defeat and fed the girl himself. She handled the miso marginally better. Apparently western spoons were similar, and she knew how to use them. However, the spoon was much to wide, and quite a bit of soup ended up on her face and down the kimono front. There were also quite a few splatters of soup all over Yahiko's gi. Yahiko looked sheepishly between Kaoru and Marie-chan, wondering how on earth they would manage meal-times if they were all like this.
"Okay, Marie-chan, let's get you cleaned up," Kaoru said. "Yahiko, clean up the kitchen, it's a total mess. Remind me not to let you cook any more."
"At least I can make rice!" Yahiko retorted at Kaoru's retreating back.
The mess in the kitchen was stupendous. Glutinous globs of rice were stuck everywhere, and Yahiko was fairly certain that some sea-weed had ended up on the ceiling. Despite all of this, he was still proud. He'd cooked something edible, which was more than Kaoru was ever able to do. It didn't mean that he wouldn't complain about it, though. Yahiko was in the process of chipping away at pieces of rice that had stuck to a bowl when Kenshin finally arrived back at the dojo, supporting a rather drunk Sano. After carefully depositing the wasted freeloader on the engawa, he followed the angry grumbling sounds into the kitchen. Seeing Yahiko frantically trying to clean a bowl as quickly as possible, he asked, "Did Kaoru-dono cook lunch today?"
"No," the young boy replied miserably. "I did." He glared up at the older man and added, "You don't need to look so surprised."
"Oro! Did you and Kaoru-dono have another fight? You really shouldn't call her 'busu,' you know."
"Sorta something like that. We've, um, got a guest. Oh! Right, you still have to meet her!" So saying, Yahiko got up and lead Kenshin back out into the yard.
"Oy! Busu!" Yahiko yelled, "Where're you and Marie-chan? Kenshin's back!"
Now Kenshin was very confused. Marie was most definitely not a Japanese name. He was even more confused, and not a little surprised to see Kaoru come around a corner leading a very small gaijin child along by the hand. What was more, the little girl appeared to be wearing a kimono. Most unusual.
"Kenshin, meet Marie-chan," Yahiko began proudly, "I found her. We don't know what happened to her parents, so the police are looking for them."
The little girl looked up at the rurouni, smiled brightly and said, "Bonjour, Monsieur Tête-a-feu!"
"Now would probably be a good time to mention that she doesn't understand Japanese," Yahiko added, wondering what on earth the little girl had said to Kenshin.
Kenshin, taking everything in stride, gave the child a polite bow and said, "Hello there, Marie-chan. It's very nice to meet you. I am Himura Kenshin."
Marie giggled, and responded with "Tu sais que où sont mes parents? Je voudrais aller chez moi."
This being one of the longest sentences Marie had ever uttered, Yahiko, Kaoru, and Kenshin looked at the grinning, hopeful child, and smiled back, wondering what in the world she'd just said.
French Translations:
J'ai faim! Je voudrais le dejeuner, s'il vous plait : I'm hungry! I would like lunch, please.
Qu'est-ce qui c'est?: What's this?
Mais, où est le couteau? Où est la fourchette?: Where is the knife? Where is the fork?
Je ne comprende pas: I do not understand.
Bonjour, Monsieur Tête-a-feu!: Hello, Mr. Flame Head!
Tu sais que où sont mes parents? Je voudrais aller chez moi: Do you know where my parents are? I would like to go home.
Smallish A/N: Next chapter, Sano's reaction. I've got some great insults I've learned lined up for this one! As always, constructive criticism is always appreciated.