Kenshin steeled himself as he walked up the path to his old master's house. His hand was starting to get sweaty in Kaoru's, and he was really hoping she didn't notice it. It wasn't that he didn't like Hiko, not at all. The man was the only father he had ever known. It was just that when he came back here; to this small cottage in the woods, he acted different.

He was instantly fourteen all over again.

Kaoru squeezed his hand as the sound of an axe slicing through wood hit their ears. The roof of the cabin came into sight, and as they crossed the hill, it rose like the sun in the east. Hiko lifted another log onto the stump and raised the axe over his head, slicing through without even splintering it.

Kenshin squared his shoulders. He loved Hiko, to an extent. He really did. The man really was a father to him. It was simply that, like any other father, Hiko had a habit of –

"What the hell do you want, you idiot student?"

…Embarrassing him.

"Deep breath and count to ten." Kaoru muttered under her breath.

Kenshin took a breath and sighed, a smile forming on his face. "Shishou! Kaoru-dono and I were headed to the Aoiya for a few days, so we thought we would stop by, that we did."

Hiko stood up, towering over the two, and Kaoru was nearly swallowed by his shadow. The man really was a brick.

"Just a friendly visit, then?" He raised a brow. "You don't need me to save anyone from misunderstood giants?"

Kenshin laughed lightly, brushing his fingers along his temple to catch some sweat that dripped down.

"No, Shishou, actually Kaoru-dono and I have some good news that we wanted to share."

"You're getting married."

Kaoru laughed awkwardly, "Erm…no, Hiko-san, we're already married. We have been for a few months now."

Hiko swung the axe, embedding it in the stump before he walked over to the bucket of water, shoving his hands in and dampening his face.

"I know," He grunted behind his palms, "that was my pointedly passive aggressive way of saying you didn't invite me."

Kenshin's hands clenched at his sides. This is exactly what he knew would happen. Hiko wasn't actually angry or hurt at them; he simply wanted to get a rise out of Kenshin. He could tell by the man's posture. If he was genuinely hurt, he would've already knocked Kenshin out. He always does this. He always runs his mouth just to frustrate him. This is one of the reasons why he left in the first place. God, if he could just be civil for five minutes, it would make things so much easier.

"It's working." Kaoru muttered to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Count to ten."

Her husband sighed and shook his head, letting his smile fall into place.

"It was a small thing, Shishou, it was not even a ceremony and many friends were not present. Big shows are not this one's style, and Kaoru-dono understands that."

"Yes," Kaoru cleared her throat, stepping forward. "Actually, what we've come to say is that we're going to have a baby."

Hiko paused and turned halfway. His eyes went to Kaoru's belly, and she set her hand over the growing bump. He looked at Kenshin, and then back at Kaoru, and then back at the bump. Suddenly, he burst into laughter, an easy smile forming on his face that made lines appear next to his eyes. He walked over to Kenshin, and for a moment, just a moment, Kenshin started to think that he might hug him. Finally, an embrace from his master that didn't end with him sore on the dirt from getting the crap kicked out of him.

A large hand clapped Kenshin roughly on the shoulder, forcing the smaller man to double over.

"Well it's about time!" Hiko laughed. "I was beginning to think that all those talks I had with you amounted to nothing and you didn't know where to put it!"

Kenshin scowled, his face hot as he glared. "I know where to – "

"Fourteen." Kaoru sing-songed to him softly. He sighed, clenching his hands.

"Shishou, will you please, for once, be pleasant and not…foul…about this news?"

Hiko glared at him. "I have every reason to be foul to you, you idiot." He put his hand around Kaoru's back, taking her hand and beginning to guide her into the house. "You make your pregnant wife walk up this terrible way. What a wonderful father you'll make; already straining your child."

"She wanted to walk!" It was already said before Kenshin realized his voice cracked in the exclamation.

Kaoru put her hand against Hiko's, smiling kindly. "It's very thoughtful for you to be concerned about my health and the health of my child, I did insist upon walking here. Exercise is good for me and the baby."

Her fingers curled around his little finger, pulling back slightly, though the smile remained in her eyes. Every word she spoke had her pulling his finger back harder and harder against his hand.

"It would be fruitful for you to be pleasant about this news, and not use the information to try to rile my husband. If I see you attempting to make clever puns that will have him questioning his capabilities as a parent when he already has self-esteem issues, I will be very unhappy, and believe me Hiko-san, you do not wish to see me unhappy, now do you?"

Hiko smiled back at her pleasantly, though his hand was turning red and his teeth bit down on the inside of his cheek. He nodded at her, huffing out a laugh as she let go of his hand.

"Of course, Kaoru-san, for you, I will be quite pleasant. Please, come inside and I can start you some tea."

"Well that would be quite lovely, Hiko-san, as it happens we brought some food with us to share."

Kaoru walked inside, humming to herself as the two men watched her go. Kenshin slowly walked up next to his master, trying very hard to clamp down the fourteen year old side of himself that wanted to kiss Kaoru silly for that little display. He had never seen anyone tame Hiko Seijuro, and it made him giddy to see.

"You married a frightening woman, idiot."

Kenshin laughed softly, careful not to let his pleasure show. "She has her moments, but she is a gentle soul."

"She clearly has you castrated, and carries the bit around in her handbag."

The smile remained on Kenshin's face. "Your hand looks awfully red, Shishou, I do hope my Kaoru-dono did not injure you too greatly."

Hiko grunted, and glanced at the axe in the stump. "Finish getting the firewood and bring it inside."

"Yes, Shishou."

Honestly, Hiko was happy that Kenshin got such a stubborn wife. It was what his idiot student needed. He couldn't have a soft woman, not when he was trying to find a soft life himself. He needed someone that could remind him that some things in life, even a dull life, need fire.

Kaoru smiled at him as he came through the door, and she heard Kenshin chopping more wood outside. Hiko set the kettle on the burner, and smiled at her. He always had liked this girl, and he didn't give his good graces to just anyone. Kamiya Kaoru had something about her that made people like her though. Even people that didn't give their admiration easily.

"Are you Himura Kaoru now?" He asked, watching Kenshin out the window.

Kaoru smiled, laughing softly. "No. He's Kamiya Kenshin."

Hiko leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest as he glanced at her. She was a pretty girl too, though Kenshin did have a habit of picking pretty girls. He smiled at Kaoru, watching her blue eyes grin back at him with no hidden pain or devastating hardships. This was good. Kenshin needed this.

"I'm glad he took your name."

"You are?" Kaoru blinked. "Didn't you give him the name Himura?"

He shook his head, scratching his jaw. "The Ishin Shishi gave him the name Himura. I simply gave him Kenshin. Himura Battousai; the hitokiri. I always rather resented them for it. The fact that he has a new last name to put that past to rest is good."

Kaoru shook her head, laughing soft. "He said the same thing."

She watched him for a few moments, her eyes falling over his frame. Kenshin and this man looked nothing alike, and yet she could see her husband in the way that he stood. They crossed their arms the same way, and when they were thinking their gaze went to the right. She laughed softly as she looked around the room.

"This explains it."

Hiko tilted his head. "Explains what?"

"Well," She stood, walking to the counter. "Kenshin has complete control over our kitchen at home. I'm not a very good cook, and he is. So he arranges the kitchen however he wants."

Kaoru reached up, pulling a tea cup with a sakura design off the shelf. She smiled at it, letting her fingertips travel over the painted blossoms.

"He puts the tea cups on the shelf to the right of the counter. The cooking ware goes under the counter and the plates and bowls in the cupboard to the left."

As she explained, she went around Hiko's very small kitchen area, gesturing to the places he held cupboards and plates and pots and pans. It was the exact layout of their cooking area at the dojo. She leaned next to him on the counter, her arms loosely crossing over her chest.

"You may not realize it, and he certainly doesn't, but he has more of you in him than you'd think. We arrange things in our homes in way that comfort us. Before Kenshin and I shared a room, my bedroom was the same layout that my mother's was. Kenshin has the kitchen set up just as yours is."

Hiko laughed softly, and he glanced at Kenshin before looking back at her. He pat her shoulder lightly, moving to the kettle that sat over the fire pit.

"Bring that cup here, would you?"

Kaoru smiled and grabbed the sakura cup off the counter where she left it, and handed it to Hiko as she sat across from him.

"It makes me happy, though I hope you never tell him that," He poured the tea into her cup. "The fact that he finds some of this place a comfort means that I didn't screw him up a lot."

She shook her head. "He thinks of you as a father."

"I wasn't a very good one, then. Letting him wander off to ruin his life at fourteen."

Kaoru frowned, staring into her tea. "He needed it, I think."

"Do you?"

"Kenshin, to my understanding, had a very…naïve view of the world." She caught his eye, and smiled kindly, blushing slightly. "I don't pretend that I'm a wise woman, but I am older now. Kenshin would never have learned things about life that he did if he didn't make the mistakes that he did. He was foolish, but who isn't at fourteen? Mistakes are how we grow, we learn from them to become the people we are today. Some mistakes are huge, and Kenshin had some rather large ones, but if he didn't make them…he wouldn't be my Kenshin now."

Hiko watched her speak, and the corners of his mouth lifted up, causing a dimple to appear on his right cheek. She believed herself to be unwise, but she didn't understand the wisdom in her faith and innocence.

"So you believe that mistakes are good?"

"I believe that someone who never makes an error in their life is a very boring person, and I hope never to meet them."

"Yes well, not all people can be as perfect as me."

Kaoru laughed, and Hiko felt the room get a bit warmer. He understood why his idiot student had picked this girl.

"I am glad to have you as a sort of daughter, Kaoru-san."

Her mouth dropped, and she blinked at him in surprise as Kenshin came through the door, firewood gathered in his arms. He saw Kaoru's shocked face, and Hiko's smug grin, and he blinked a few times.

"Did this one interrupt something?"

"I was just telling your wife the story of how you got ill when you were twelve, and spent all week out back crouching in the woods, and you used poison ivy on your ass to wipe yourself."

"SHISHOU HONESTLY WHAT THE HELL DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE ALL THESE STORIES YOU TELL?!"