The 'prodigal son' had finally come home. To Katsushiro's relief, Kanbei did not inflict corporeal punishment upon him. The elder samurai simply sent him to his room, or rather, the room that the boy shared with Kikuchiyo.

"You will face the wall and meditate in silence upon your mistakes until Gorobei, Shichiroji and Heihachi have returned," the dark ronin's tone was calm but cold. Katsushiro had no choice but to comply. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, he realized that this 'easy' punishment was worse than an immediate beating. The sense of apprehension was killing him. Would there be further rebuke in store for him upon the return of the other three samurai? What deferred discipline would Kanbei Sensei have up his sleeve?

The samurai boy felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles while he strained his ears in an attempt to eavesdrop on the cell phone conversation Kanbei was now having in the living room. Presumably, the old ronin was contacting the other 3 samurai. But the boy could discern no intelligible syllables through the wall.

Finally, as the boy's legs were turning numb from kneeling for a seemingly interminable time, Katsushiro heard the apartment door open. He could faintly hear Kanbei's greeting through the wall and the responses of the other 3 samurai. The boy fought the temptation to get up from his kneeling position. But Heihachi, Gorobei and Shichiroji did not come to his room to scold him, neither did Kanbei drop by to release him from his confinement.

It wasn't long before he heard sounds in the kitchen. Were the adults cooking dinner? Would he be allowed to eat? Katsushiro was not meditating anymore. He could only think about food. He hadn't had anything to eat since morning.

Finally, after about an hour or so, he heard Shichiroji's voice behind him. "Kanbei-sama says you can get up now."

Willing his numb legs to move, the child struggled to his feet and turned to face the samurai standing at the door of his room.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused," Katsushiro mumbled.

The blond wore no expression. All Shichiroji said in response was, "Gorobei, Heihachi and I spent the entire day pasting lost child posters in Iyashi No Sato and the lower 6 levels of Kougakyo. But now that you've been found, it is your civic duty to remove all those posters from street corners and lamp posts by the end of tomorrow. There are 574 of them. See that you miss none."

Katsushiro's jaw dropped.

Shichiroji turned to leave, then he paused and added a little more kindly, "Dinner is ready. Kanbei-sama says you can join us. You can start your work early tomorrow morning."

--

Shichiroji, Gorobei, Kanbei and Katsushiro sat silently around the dining table in the samurai's shared apartment. Heihachi, the cook for the evening, was serving them dinner. Katsushiro felt most uncomfortable. He imagined that everyone was looking at him reproachfully.

"So… where's Kiku?" The boy finally broke the awkward silence.

"Still working at The House of the Dragonflies," Heihachi replied as he ladled a full scoop of rice into the child's bowl, "But he should be back tomorrow, I think."

"Kid, once you've removed all the posters, you will be SO grounded," Gorobei put a firm hand on Katsushiro's shoulder. The big man wanted to say what needed to be said and get it over with. The boy hung his head.

"Come now," Shichiroji spoke soothingly, "Let's just enjoy the nice reunion meal that Heihachi has prepared for us before it grows cold, all right?"

"But I just want to be like you guys!" Katsushiro finally said what he'd been wanting to say all along, "You guys fight mecha, rescue villages, drink sake and go clubbing. I don't understand why you would bring me along to fight Nobuseri and help villages, but you won't take me drinking or clubbing."

"Clubbing," responded Shichiroji, "is a highly overrated experience."

"You only say that because you've already gone clubbing many times." Katsushiro pouted.

"You will be able to do all these things when you turn 18." Gorobei said, "Can't you wait another three years?"

"I don't want to wait," The boy whined. "I don't want to be a kid anymore."

"You should just enjoy your childhood while you still have it," Kanbei said sagely. "Don't keep wishing you are a grownup. Someday, when you grow old, you will wish that you are young again. Trust me. I know."

"You really feel the age now that you're chasing some hot young blonde, right?" Shichiroji kept a straight face as he looked right at Kanbei.

"Haha. Very funny, Shichiroji," The white-clad ronin stared back at his friend with a very un-amused expression. Shichiroji was the only one of the samurai who had known Kanbei long enough and well enough to make such jokes and get away with it.

"Speaking of that samurai," Gorobei interrupted, "What are you going to do about him?"

"Oh?" Kanbei answered nonchalantly. "Which samurai?"

"Come on," said the dark silver-haired man, "You know who I'm talking about. At least he knows where you live now. There is hope."

"Didn't you see what happened at the House of the Dragonflies? The 'lady' in red wanted to kill me!" The dark-haired ronin replied.

"Ah, the onnagata was angry with you. That means he likes you." Gorobei grinned.

"Is that how things work?!!!" Shichiroji exclaimed incredulously. "'She' wants to kill him, so it means 'she' likes him?"

"In this case, yes!" Gorobei answered confidently, "It's a sure sign that the scarlet samurai is smitten with our leader."

Just then, there was a sharp knock at the door. Kanbei went over to the door and opened it. The blond female impersonator was standing there.

"See what I told you?" Gorobei gave a triumphant smile to Shichiroji.

"Can I help you?" Shimada asked Kyuuzou while his eyes roamed all over the younger samurai's slender frame.

"I'm not here on official business," the crimson-clad transvestite crossed his arms defensively as if to prevent the dark samurai from undressing him with his eyes.

"Oh?" said Kanbei.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally the older man broke the strained silence. "If it is about that orange, we have a dozen oranges in the refrigerator. You're welcome to take your pick or have them all …"

"I don't want an orange." The onnagata was curt. "I want a duel."

"Sure, I'll be happy to have a date with you. You name the time and place." Kanbei answered obligingly.

"I said 'duel', NOT 'date'!" Kyuuzou bristled.

"Anything you wish!" The handsome dark man said suavely, "Where and when should we meet?"

"Whenever and wherever." The graceful queen replied. He turned to leave. Kanbei stared at the scarlet figure, puzzled.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Shimada ventured. "My friend here has cooked an excellent meal."

"This guy really doesn't get it, does he?" Kyuuzou thought. The red drag queen answered Kanbei coldly, "No."

"Can I have your number?" asked Shimada Kanbei.

"What for?" Kyuuzou turned to give Shimada a small smile, "We'll be seeing each other again anyway."

Then he walked away without another glance at the tall dark man drooling behind him.

Within the apartment, Gorobei laughed riotously as he glomped Shichiroji's shoulder, "Whoa… he's playing hard to get! Poor Kanbei is left hanging again."