Patchwork Family Chapter Three– "Suspicious Minds"

Author: sayochama

Rating: PG13 (for Sano's potty mouth)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, including Rurouni Kenshin.

Thoughts are in italics. Mild Revenge Spoliers!

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Mornings were always Kenshin's favorite time of the day. The wee hours of the morning before the sun rose until Kaoru and Yahiko began to stir in search of breakfast were his own, a peaceful time in an otherwise busy dojo. Not that he minded the noise or the busy comings and goings of his odd, cobbled together family. On the contrary, those were the things he loved best about living in the dojo. Well, those and a certain kind-hearted, blue-eyed kenjutsu instructor.

As he started breakfast, he allowed his thoughts to return to the previous night. For once, the work that Sano had found actually turned out to be legal. Unfortunately, it had also required him to be away from the dojo, and Kaoru, for most of the day, something that he had not done ever since they had returned from that last fight with Enishi. He hated to leave her by herself, an almost irrational terror taking over when he even contemplated the idea. The last time they had been separated something horrible had happened, which he vowed she would never know about, and he had spent the first few months during his recovery attached to her side like a shadow.

But he had finally felt ready and left for a little while yesterday. Even though he had received a sizable amount for his services, he did not think it was worth the price of Kaoru's pain. I should have been there. Which brought him to the other subject that was bothering him. Seta Soujirou. Kaoru had sworn that the story Soujirou had told was true, and Kaoru never lied to him. She might bend the truth occasionally about unimportant things, but when it came to important things she was always absolutely truthful.

He hadn't lied the night before either when he told Soujirou that he could never repay him for protecting Kaoru. After escorting her back to her room, Kaoru had said something about "reaching out" to Soujirou.

"He doesn't know what a real family is like. You started him on his path, and he's a different person now. It's okay to reach out to him. It's okay to help him find some answers now." That was his Kaoru, always willing to reach out and touch other people with her light. In this case, he totally agreed with her. I had help finding my answers along the way. It was a chance to pass on some of his so-called wisdom onto someone who could really understand what it was like to walk the road alone. It was a small deed that would do little to lessen his debt, but would give him some peace of mind.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to offer Soujirou the same thing I offered you two years ago…" A chance for a fresh start. A chance to really interact with the people he built and protected Meiji for. A chance to find peace within myself. Kenshin sincerely hoped Soujirou would accept. Not only would it make Kaoru happy, but it could be part of his atonement as well.

"Himura-san…?"

"Aa, Soujirou, good morning." Kenshin made sure his "Rurouni smile" was firmly in place before he faced the intruder in his domain. Another early riser, huh?

Soujirou's pleasant expression didn't falter, though he did blink –twice-- in surprise to see the famous Hitokiri Battousai dressed in an apron and bent over a pot of miso soup. "Good morning. Do you need any help?"

Kenshin surveyed the small, immaculate kitchen. The rice was happily bubbling in the pot, and his miso soup was coming along nicely. He had cleaned the fish he was planning on grilling before he started the soup, so the only thing that was left was to chop some pickled vegetables. He pulled out the jars that held his latest pickling efforts, daikon and cucumber, and set them down on some open counter space. With a friendly smile he beckoned Soujirou inside. "Why don't you start slicing these up? I'll get some bowls down for you." I'm willing to hand you a knife and stand three feet away without worrying about what you'll do with it.

He came inside, his smile betraying faint bewilderment. Are you surprised at how easily I am willing to trust you? Kenshin could feel him stealing glances up at him as he efficiently chopped the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. They worked in silence for several minutes, Soujirou not quite believing all the trust that had been shown him and Kenshin content to leave him alone with his thoughts for a little while.

"Kaoru-dono is pretty bewildering, isn't she?" Soujirou paused in mid-slice, knife still in the air, to look up at Kenshin's unexpected comment. He returned to his careful slicing for a few moments before responding.

"Is it a habit of hers to just drag people home? Doesn't she know that isn't safe?"

Kenshin laughed. He couldn't help it. Poor Soujirou's tone was downright confused. "I'm grateful for that habit, actually. That's how I ended up here in the first place. Besides, Kaoru-dono has excellent taste in people." Well, except for that time she let Saitou into the dojo. Even that had worked out eventually, though.

"Takani-sensei said the same thing yesterday." Kenshin raised an eyebrow. It was rare for the lady doctor to praise Kaoru in such a manner. Probably because she's also grateful for that habit of hers…

"Did she now?"

"Yeah." The miso was starting to boil, a sign that it was time to take it off the heat. He would grill the fish just as everyone sat down, so it would still be warm.

"I might leave this morning." Kenshin stopped thinking about his plans for breakfast. She would never forgive me if I let him walk away hearing her… our… offer.

"At least eat breakfast with us. It's the least we can do for you."

"Really, I don't need to be repaid. Giving me a place to stay last night was more than enough…"

"Kaoru-dono would be saddened if you left without saying goodbye." He allowed a glint of hardness enter his eyes. If nothing else, realize that I live for her happiness. If you upset her, things won't go well for you.

"Oh." He looked embarrassed. "Well, then, I suppose I will impose upon your kindness for breakfast…"

"Good. Breakfast is almost ready, why don't you go see if Tsubame-dono and Kaoru-dono are up?" Kenshin relaxed again.

"Alright." Soujirou quickly finished his task and wiped his hands on the towel Kenshin gave him. Kaoru, it's up to you to convince him if you want him to stay.

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Breakfast was proceeding smoothly. Kaoru smiled as she bit into one of Kenshin's famous usagi-onigiri. He's always taking care of me. Kenshin had noticed the difficulty she had with the chopsticks as she tried to pick up food and simultaneously hold her arm in a position that wasn't acutely painful. He had solved the problem by making onigiri with bits of fish and pickles in them, making it easier for her to eat.

Tsubame was sitting across from Kaoru, with Kenshin on the right and Soujirou on the left. She noticed that Tsubame was sneaking looks at Soujirou when she thought he wasn't looking. He probably knows, but he's just too polite to embarrass her. Her estimation of Soujirou went up several notches. She hid her smile in her teacup. I don't want to embarrass her either. They talked about meaningless subjects, the weather, how good Kenshin's cooking was, her injuries, before the sounding of running feet came from the front of the house. That must be Yahiko and Sanosuke.

"KENSHIN!! I just heard from Shinji that Kao—" the shoji to the dining room was thrown open with a loud crack and Yahiko burst through, followed closely by Sanosuke. They abruptly stopped as they took in the very domestic scene before them. Kaoru did look like she had been on the losing side of a fight, her posture not quite normal, but everyone else was calmly eating breakfast. "Oh, you're fine, busu. The way Shinji made it sound…"

"What the hell is he doing here?!" An accusatory finger in Soujirou's direction accompanied the outraged bellow. "I thought that the smiling bastard was doing the wandering thing! If you hurt Jou-chan then--"

"Sanosuke! Calm down, already! Soujirou was the one who saved me!"

"EH?!"

"Yesterday, Soujirou was the one who saved me and Tsubame-chan from those ruffians."

"You're kidding, right? Why would—"

"Shinji said something about a weird smiling swordsman…"

"Now, now, Sano, Yahiko, come in and have some breakfast…"

"Do you know who that is, Jou-chan?"

"Seta Soujirou of course."

"You mean THAT'S the Tenken?! I thought he'd be bigger…"

"Yahiko-kun, that's rude!"

"Maybe I should take my leave—"

"NO!" Everyone completely stopped at the unexpected outburst from both girls. Tsubame, realizing what she had just done, immediately reached for the tray Kenshin had brought breakfast in on and attempted to hide. Luckily it had been empty when she reached for it, so no dishes were broken. Kaoru, on the other hand, looked like she was working herself up into an "avenging angel" fury, the likes of which had never been seen before.

"No, please wait until I've made my offer to you." Energy radiated from Kaoru lending her an intensity that only Kenshin had seen before. She flashed a look at Sanosuke and Yahiko. "I'm glad you're both here. This is important so sit down and keep your mouths shut." They sat.

"Offer…?"

Kaoru faced Soujirou next. "You said last night that you hadn't had much experience with what a real family is like, correct?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Do you want to know what it feels like to be part of one?" He thought about it for a little while before nodding slowly. "Are you willing to put your trust in others?" Another slow nod. "Are you willing to let others depend on you?" This nod was accompanied by a confident smile. "Are you willing to let the past go?" The confidence leached out of his smile as he retreated behind his smiling, expressionless face.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe I should rephrase that. Are you willing to accept your past as important to who you are, yet also start anew from the present?"

"I'm still not sure I understand…"

"In other words, I'm telling you that no matter how dirty and violent and horrible your past was, that was what made you "you." I accept the past as a part of Seta Soujirou, but to me it is unimportant. The part of Seta Soujirou that I care about started life yesterday when a mysterious swordsman saved me." He was staring at her, a suspicious brightness in his eyes. "What I'm trying to offer you is a family and a home, for as long as you care to join us. I'm not interested in your past. All I want is for you to have an opportunity to learn a little more about the people of this Meiji era that Kenshin fought so hard for."

Sanosuke banged his fist against the table. "Jou-chan, are you crazy? This guy kil—"

"That's enough, Sanosuke. Didn't you hear me? I. Don't. Care."

"But—"

"You should listen to yourself! People change. If I had used that same logic on Kenshin, none of us would be sitting at this table today. But I didn't, because I knew that he was a good man. Just like now." Sanosuke looked like he had swallowed a particularly nasty bite of Kaoru's cooking after the rebuke, but grudgingly settled down next to Kenshin. With Sanosuke taken care of for the time being, Kaoru returned her attention to Soujirou. "Kenshin and I talked about it last night and he agrees with me, ne Kenshin?"

"Yes."

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Soujirou looked back and forth at all of the people seated around the table. Kaoru was smiling and giving off a glow of unconditional acceptance. Tsubame had lowered her tray enough to show him a shy, encouraging smile. Next to her, the young swordsman Yahiko sat with his arms crossed over his chest and his shinai sticking up from its place behind his back. His expression was a mix of things he couldn't quite decipher. He remembered the tall, spiky-haired man from the day he had fought Himura-san in Kyoto. Sanosuke still looked like he was involved in something distasteful, though he wasn't outwardly protesting anymore. Lastly, Kenshin sat between him and Sanosuke, a serene smile on his face.

Himura-san isn't trying to influence my decision, but if I agree to stay I can learn a lot from him. And I like talking to Kaoru-san, for some reason. It feels safe here. Maybe if I let them…

"Well?"

If I let them reach out to me…"Sanosuke-san is right when he says I've done many terrible things. But… if you say my past doesn't matter… then…" If they want to reach out to me… He looked up into Kaoru's face. He couldn't imagine anyone who looked, or was, more welcoming or loving than her. No wonder she's so important to Himura-san, or to these other men of hers… "Then… I would be pleased to impose upon you for as long as I am able."

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"Yatta!" In her happiness, Kaoru impulsively reached out and hugged Soujirou. His pole-axed expression was enough to send Tsubame into a fit of giggles behind the tray, Yahiko into whole-hearted guffaws, and even Kenshin chuckled trying in vain to disguise them as coughs.

"Um…Kaoru-san… maybe.. uh…"

"Oops, sorry Sou-chan. I didn't mean to startle you like that…" Kaoru let him go and bowed her head in apology.

"Jou-chan, I don't know what's up with you sometimes. You're treating him like some sorta goddamn tame kappa or somethin'" Sanosuke muttered around a fishbone.

"Kappa?" Soujirou echoed confusedly.

"Kappa? Sanosuke, that's brilliant!" Kaoru clapped her hands together in excitement. "Did you hear that, Sou-chan? You're a kappa!" Soujirou didn't look happy about that at all.

"But kappa are evil, Kaoru-san…"

"Not all kappa are evil, Sou-chan. Haven't you ever heard the story about the good river kappa?"

"Good river kappa…?"

"Yeah." Kaoru sipped some tea and then cleared her throat before she began. "Once upon a time there was a man named Kenji who lived in a big house next to a river. The river was deepest next to his house, being over six meters deep, and looked dark and unfathomable. One evening, Kenji came home and asked his servants to hitch his horse up to a shady tree next to the river. He went inside to take care of some things, and when he went outside again a kappa was trying to drag his horse into the river with the help of his trusted servant Aomori, who had been bewitched. "

"You're making this up, aren't you busu?" Kaoru smacked him. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!"

"Now, Kenji was a very clever man, so even though he was angry he formulated a plan. He fetched a strong rope from the shed and snuck up behind the pair. Kenji caught hold of the Kappa and drug him away river before he tied him up. During the struggle, some water had splashed out of the kappa's head, which released Aomori from his bewitchment. Together, Aomori and Kenji hung the kappa upside down from a pine tree.

"Kenji scolded the kappa about his bad behavior. He threatened to have Aomori kill the kappa as a warning to others. The kappa grew frantic and struggled. More water splashed out of his head, while the rope binding him became tighter and tighter. Finally he begged Kenji's forgiveness over and over again.

"Kenji was actually very kind-hearted and fair. He felt pity for the kappa, and asked him to make a promise saying, 'If you swear with all of your heart, then I will forgive you, but you must first confess your sins and make restitutions.'

"The kappa was surprised that he was offered the chance, and made his promise whole-heartedly. 'I confess to you that I've done many wrongs. I regret my past actions very much. I promise you that even if the river were to flow in a different direction, I won't pull people or animals from the village into the water. I will never do anything wrong again. For sparing my life today, I will make all of my fellow kappa uphold this promise forever.'

"After the kappa had made his promise, Kenji and Aomori cut him down from the pine tree. They made him turn around three times and repeat his promise, which he did obediently with a smile, and then they let him go.

"So, the kappa became the guardian of the river. After that there were no more incidents in the village concerning kappa. Everyone lived happily ever after."

"That still sounds like something you made up just now, busu."

"How rude! My mother used to tell me that story, Yahiko-chan!"

"Don't call me –CHAN!"

"I still don't understand why you want to call me a kappa…"

"Oh yeah!" Kaoru paused in mid-swing and abruptly let go of the front of Yahiko's gi. "I forgot to explain that, didn't I?" She laughed. "Everyone in the Kenshin-gumi has a nickname. You've heard Rooster head's and Yahiko-chan's already…"

"Shut up, busu!"

"Yeah, Jou-chan…"

"Megumi-san is 'Fox lady,' they call me 'Raccoon girl,' Misao-chan is 'Weasel girl'…"

"Misao-chan?"

"Makimachi Misao, leader of the Oniwabanshu…?"

"Oh, her. She does sort of resemble a weasel…" Somewhere Misao sneezed.

"Aoshi is 'Iceman', and Master Hiko is 'Superman.'"

"Why does shishou have a nickname?"

"Don't Himura-san and Tsubame-san have nicknames?"

"Nope."

"I always wondered why not, Kaoru-dono…"

"The entire point about having the nicknames is so that we can argue with each other. You're much too polite, and we have enough trouble getting Tsubame-chan to talk to us that tagging her with an embarrassing nickname would just be mean. Which reminds me… does being called 'kappa' really bother you?"

"Sort of…" He's retreating behind that damn smiling mask of his…

"You don't look like it, though. Not all kappa are bad, remember? Like I said, the point about calling each other names is so we can yell and let out our emotions. It's also a family thing too, you know. I only let them call me 'raccoon girl' or 'busu' or 'Jou-chan' because that's the way it should be between siblings. If it were anyone else, I'd hurt them. Badly. It's just like teasing. There are certain subjects that are taboo, but the rest is fair game." By now she had piqued everyone's interest and had their undivided attention. I'm not going to forget how important you both are to me, Yahiko, Sanosuke. Just because I want to include Soujirou doesn't mean I'm going to force either one of you out.

"What subjects?" Soujirou sounded genuinely interested.

"Well… basically anything that happened before I met them, anything about the Revolution, what Sano's real relationship with Katsu is…" Kaoru listed the points on her fingers as she went.

"F*** you, Jou-chan." Sanosuke mumbled around his fish bone, glaring daggers at the cheerful girl.

Kaoru giggled before continuing. "Tsubame-chan, and Saitou."

"You tease Himura-san?"

"Sure."

"About what, if I may ask?"

Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sano began to grin evilly. "His laundry obsession…"

"It's fun!"

"His pink gi."

"It's magenta!"

"Happy the Sakabatou."

"I never named my sword that!" The normally unflappable Kenshin was beginning to look just a tiny bit irate.

"But we don't tease him that often because it's really not any fun."

"Yeah, he won't chase us like busu will."

"Or try to gnaw my hair off like the brat."

"So there is really no point to it, because he just doesn't react like he's supposed to. He doesn't even tease us back. He just kind of agrees most of the time." Kaoru was getting increasingly annoyed. Stupid Kenshin!

"Which is boring!"

"You'll be much more fun, won't you Sou-chan?"

Soujirou grinned. "I'll do my best not to bore you… Yahiko-chan."

Yahiko saw red. "DON'T CALL ME –CHAN!!!!" He had jumped onto the table in the middle of his famous line, intending to clobber Soujirou with his shinai. Unfortunately, Soujirou was no longer sitting at the table. He blinked, and then felt a tap on his shoulder. Yahiko whirled just in time to see Soujirou take off through the door that led onto the porch and out into the courtyard. With an incoherent shout of wounded pride, he took off in hot pursuit waving his shinai as threateningly as he could.

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Soujirou grinned and waved merrily to Kaoru as he sped by the door to the dining room a second time. He had chosen a pace that would keep him just ahead of the younger boy. It wasn't nearly as fast as he was truly capable of, but this was for recreation and not training. Yahiko was keeping up, surprisingly, and was even able to shout insults and threats occasionally. None of them made any sense, though they were liberally spiced with "stupid kappa" and curses that most eleven year olds hadn't even heard yet.

This is fun. He realized. Maybe… I will find some answers here…

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Author's Notes:

Many people are asking what the pairings are in this fic. (You mean, it isn't obvious? O.o) Sano will reveal everything in the next two chapters, so please be patient. Usagi means rabbit; onigiri means rice ball. "Busu" means Ugly; Yahiko uses it often to refer to Kaoru "Yatta" is an exclamation of happiness like "Yay!" Kappa are creatures from Japanese mythology. They are not entirely malevolent, and if they make a promise to a human being they will honor it forever. Kappa basically look like Gollum from Lord of the Rings… only they are normally portrayed with a tortoise shell on their backs. They are fond of cucumbers, smile a lot, live in bodies of water, and are often polite to a fault. Their distinguishing feature is the little indentation on the tops of their heads that holds water. If water spills from their head, then the kappa's powers are weakened. (Source: Japanese Mythology by Julie Piggot, and http:// www. Onmarkproductions . com/ html/ kappa.shtml [copy, paste, take out spaces]) **The legend Kaoru tells is modified from the story of Genta found on the internet page.**