CHAPTER TEN – READING AND RUNNING: A Day with Sanosuke

"I still can't believe you brought all that stuff with you."

"Of course I brought it. Did you honestly expect me to let you off the hook so easily?" Megumi flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Now again: what's this one?" She picked up her brush and wrote the next character on a small piece of paper.

Sanosuke scratched his head as he leaned forward in front of her. "Uh, let's see here . . . a broken gate with a curved bottom, two funny fishhook marks up top, a box . . . no wait, there's another line up top crossing box . . ."

"Hurry up, Rooster. It isn't that hard."

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" he glared at her. "So, curved bottom, crossed top, sharp hooks . . ." he could not help but note the similarities in that sentence to the woman sitting across from him. Her kimono tightened around her curved base as she sat, her arms folded over her chest in an impatient manner, and her eyes were glaring daggers. "Is it 'zun,' 'valuable?'?"

She sniffed haughtily. "Well, I suppose you're not as stupid as you look. It also means precious."

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes.

"Well, let's try them together now," she lifted the brush to start again before Sano interrupted.

"Come on, Fox," he plucked the writing implement from her hand. "We've been at this all morning, and I keep getting most of them right. Don't you think it's time for a break?"

She gave him a withering stare. "You keep getting most of them. We're not stopping today until you can get ten in a row without messing up."

"But-"

"No buts," she grabbed the brush back. "Now, what's this character?"

"Aww, dammit," he folded his legs closer to him and starting rolling back and forth in a childish manner. "I knew I should've looked at those charts a little longer . . ."

"Wrong answer," Megumi stated matter-of-factly. "Try again."

"Um, the one with squiggles on the flat top . . . that one's . . . geez, what a surprise. 'Yan,' right? 'Strict?'"

"Yes. Now this one."

"Oh, good morning to you two," a voice came from the opening shoji beside the couple. Kenshin poked his red head out, a cheerful smile on his face. Apparently, all his brooding the day before was nothing a pensive night of sulking could not fix. "What are you doing out here?"

"Going through the depths of hell."

"Teaching this blockhead how to read."

Kenshin's smile never wavered. "Well, that's nice, that it is. Breakfast may be a bit slow coming this morning, since no one remembered to do the dishes last night."

"I'm very sorry, Sir Ken," Megumi apologized. "I suppose I was a little preoccupied after supper. I'll remember to help out more today." She gave a pointed look to Sanosuke, prompting him to follow suit.

He blinked. "What?"

"Well, aren't you going to apologize too?"

"Why should I?" Sanosuke asked. "I didn't even eat dinner last night. You can't expect me to clean up some mess I didn't make."

Megumi rolled her eyes. "It's called common courtesy, Rooster."

Sanosuke tilted his head to the side. "Since when does a lady like you do anything common?"

The lady doctor took a deep, calming breath, determined not to lose control today and get into another stream of arguments. "Whatever. Thank you for informing us, Sir Ken," she turned to show her gratitude to the wanderer, but he had already bustled off to fix up the meal. Picking up where she had left off, Megumi swivelled her head back to the lanky fighter before her. "All right then. No more interruptions. Name this charac-"

"Megumi?"

The vixen-turned-teacher refused to acknowledge the sound of Kaoru's voice coming from inside her room and pointed rather harshly to the fresh symbol on the paper. "I said no more interruptions. Rooster, what's this one?"

The door opened behind her and a brightly kimono-ed form stepped out. "Megumi? Have you seen . . . oh . . ."

"Name this character."

"Oh, hey, Missy," Sano made it a point to ignore Megumi and brush off his reading lesson by taking every distraction he could.

Kaoru seemed to jump out of her obi when she heard Sanosuke's voice. The expression on her face held something that was a mix of disgust, shame, and overall embarrassment accompanied by a bright red blush.

"If you're looking for Kenshin, he's up fixing us food," Sanosuke stated helpfully, noticing her blush and thinking it was for the small red-headed swordsman. "That's what you wanted to know, right?"

Her eyes still wide and face still tinged pink, Kaoru made her way woodenly to the other door, murmuring something that could have been a "thank you, Sanosuke," or maybe a "boys are dirty." It was hard to determine. The shoji closed behind her.

"Huh. I wonder what's gotten into her . . ."

"It really doesn't concern us," Megumi struggled to get his attention on the lesson again. "Now, could you please name thi-?"

"Hey Sanosuke, Megumi!" Yahiko called out as he came out of the house to the porch. "Kenshin says to tell you guys that breakfast is just about ready!"

"All right!" Sano punched his fist in excitement. "Wow, that was quick! Escape from the lesson and food!"

Megumi narrowed her eyes. "Yes, celebrate while you can, Rooster-head. You won't escape as easily as you may think."

Sanosuke paused halfway to the door. He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You know, Fox, you can sound really evil when you put your mind to it."

She stood up and brushed past him. "This coming from the man who wears the symbol for evil on his back every day," her hand stopped in the middle of opening the door. "Speaking of which, when was the last time you washed those clothes of yours? Or even taken a bath for that matter?"

"When was the last time it rained?"

"Yahiko, you shouldn't eat so fast, that you shouldn't," Kenshin began methodically patting the gagging boy on the back.

The junior samurai was finally able to breathe after a few more slaps. "But I have to if I want any food! Sanosuke keeps eating it all!"

"First come, first served," Sanosuke replied around a full mouth, which received a chastising glower from Megumi. He swallowed quickly and grinned at her.

Kenshin sweatdropped. "Oh boy. Sano and Yahiko sure are healthy eaters!"

"More like vulgar," Megumi nibbled on her tofu primly. "Honestly, I've never witnessed anything more embarrassing than their eating habits. Don't you agree, Kaoru?"

Kaoru, who had not said anything throughout the meal, felt her face redden. "Um, no . . ."

The doctor looked at her curiously. "Do you have a fever, Kaoru? You look a little flushed. Is something wrong?" Megumi's infamous fox-ears sprang up and she suddenly looked very sly. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Oh, uh," Kaoru's eyes darted around the table, lingering a little on Sanosuke and Yahiko. "No! No, nothing at all. Nope. Ehehehe . . ." she put her hand behind her head and laughed sheepishly.

"Auntie Kaoru looks all pinkie," Ayame pointed the swordswoman's blush out after she finished off another dumpling.

"Pinkie, pinkie!" Suzume laughed as rice dribbled down her face. "Like her pretty, pretty kimono!"

Kaoru simply wore the greatest look of mortification she could while still attempting to look as though nothing was wrong.

Yahiko quirked his brow at her behaviour. "Hey, Ugly," he polished off the last of his breakfast. "You sure you're all right? You look like a bigger raccoon than normal . . ."

"I'm f-fine," she waved her hand to dismiss it, albeit unconvincingly. She started to change the subject. "Oh look! Ayame, Suzume, and I have all finished our breakfast. I'll just go and wash these dishes . . ."

The older little girl looked confused. "But Auntie Kaoru, I'm not done ye-"

But she had already whisked the bowls and trays away.

"Wah! I'm still hungry!" Suzume cried. Ayame just looked dejected.

"Here you are," Kenshin handed them the rest of his rice. "You can have mine."

The girls barely had time to thank him before they started on their next course.

"So," Kenshin smiled to the group left around the table, though the two little ones were otherwise occupied, "what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Well," Yahiko began, "I think I'm gonna train a little with Kaoru if she stops acting all weirded out."

Kenshin nodded. "That's nice, that it is. She would probably like it if you did. How about you, Sano?"

"I was thinking I could go out and-"

"He's going to finish his reading lesson," Megumi cut off the former gangster.

"Hey, come on!" Sanosuke glared. "Haven't I done enough? I got through almost the entire list of characters!"

"Individually. You still have to learn the combinations."

"Why you little-"

"Now, now," Kenshin tried to placate the two. "I'm sure Sano can finish his lesson and still have time to do something else . . . that way both of you are happy."

Sanosuke huffed. "Not with this slave driver of a teacher."

"Oh please," Megumi rolled her eyes. "I have to be a little hard on you if I want to get anywhere; you have the attention span of a gnat."

"But Miss Megumi," Kenshin said, "don't you have any other plans besides instructing Sano? Surely you don't intend to spend the entire day with him."

"Of course not," the doctor quickly beat down that particular assumption. "I plan to go out later and gather some medicinal herbs."

"Pretty! Pick the pretty flowers!" Suzume cheered the notion upon finishing her meal.

Ayame set down her chopsticks gracefully in an attempt to appear more like her adult companions (two of them at least). "Auntie Megumi, can we go too? Can we?"

She placed a long, delicate finger on her chin. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm . . ."

"Perhaps you can take Sano with you," Kenshin said helpfully. "It wouldn't be right to make you ladies carry all the pickings back without help, that it wouldn't."

"Kenshin, what the hell are you thinking?" Sanosuke decided to step in. "I'm not gonna go out of my way to help her. Besides, I'm not just some dumb beast you can get to do all the heavy lifting all the time."

"Yes you are," Megumi pointed out.

Sanosuke growled.

"Anyway," Kenshin cut them off before another bout could begin, "I'll just clean up the rest of this," he started to collect the remaining dishes. Stacking them in a teetering pile within his arms, he threw one last wanderer's smile behind him.

"Man," Yahiko crossed his arms sulkily. "Now that Kenshin's gone to wash the dishes, it'll take forever to get my training lesson started."

"How is that?" Megumi wondered.

The boy looked at her askance. "Since Ugly's in there too, she's not gonna let him out until she embarrasses herself again."

The doctor had to laugh at the truth in the statement. Whenever the two of them had time alone, it always appeared Kaoru thought it the perfect opportunity to attempt to state her feelings to the wanderer-and simultaneously blow it. "Well, I suppose you're right, but that doesn't mean you can't practise on your own. Besides, don't you prefer it without Kaoru yelling at you?"

Yahiko perked up. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. She'll be so shocked when she sees me it'll knock her flat on her ass. Great idea, Megumi."

She smirked. "Just make sure you tell us to come see it when she hits the ground."

Sanosuke rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't be so hard on the little Missy. She could whoop either of your asses if she wanted to."

"Yeah, Auntie Kaoru's real strong!" Ayame smiled.

"Bam, bam! Auntie Kaoru goes bonky-bonky!" Suzume pumped her fist vigorously, mimicking the action of bashing a shinai upon someone's head.

Megumi looked down her nose in Sanosuke's direction. "Oh, I don't think she would do that; she'd just be proving which of us is the better woman for Sir Ken. How could he want a woman who tries to win her battles with such violence?"

"How could he want a woman who tries to win her battles by being sneaky and keeping secrets all the time?"

Dark brown eyes glared back at the former gangster.

"Well, I'll leave you two lo-" Yahiko stopped himself short of saying the word "lovebirds" in reference to the present company, unpleasant memories of getting smashed in the face at a certain party at the dojo not too long ago coming to mind, "-guys alone. I've got to go start up on my training."

"Bye Uncle Yahiko!" Ayame and Suzume waved to him enthusiastically as he went out the door to practise behind the house in the yard.

"Well, now," Megumi stated brusquely, "since we've got a table between us already, let's continue with your lesson." She whipped out the charts and papers and brushes and inkwells.

"You brought all of those things with you here? Where did you get those?" He looked at her incredulously, while still trying to ponder out, "Where were you keeping them?"

The vixen completely disregarded the question and pressed on. "Now on combinations. Write me the symbol for 'wei' here. We're going to try the compound for 'authority.'"

"Now wait a minute," Sano argued. "Last time we were just on me telling you what the symbols are. What's with making me write them myself?"

"You're going to have to learn how anyway, and besides," she flipped her hair back, "you should have had them all memorized by now."

"Like hell I should!" the fighter slapped his hand on the table. "And anyway, I already told you. I'll learn how to read, but writing isn't on my list of priorities."

"And I've already told you," her brows furrowed in frustration, "that it's basically the same thing and you can't really learn one without the other. What's more, you never know when you'll have to write to someone someday."

"That'll be the day," Sano leaned back and folded his arms petulantly. "When would I ever have to do that?"

"How should I know?" Megumi looked cross. "Maybe if you leave town, or if you want to write a letter to someone far away, or if you," her frown lifted into a vicious grin, "if you want someone to come and bail you out of prison . . ."

"Tch. Like you ever would," Sanosuke waved that statement aside with his hand. "And like I'd ever actually let them catch me. Besides. They could just deal with my hiragana anyway."

"Auntie Megumi, Uncle Sano," Ayame pouted, "you two are boring. Can we go pick flowers now?"

"Yeah, let's go pick them!" Suzume tugged on the long sleeve of the lady doctor impatiently.

The Takani woman batted the child's hand away from her gently. "In a little bit. The sooner Sanosuke finishes his lesson, the sooner we can go and-Rooster?"

"C'mon, girls," Sano called from halfway out the door. Ayame and Suzume readily came running out past him, skipping and prancing in the clearing outside the house happily. The lanky man stayed in the doorway, pushing it open a little further and smiling cheekily to the still stationary doctor, who was looking mildly surprised and exasperated. "Well, aren't you coming? It'll be kind of hard to know which plant's we're supposed to get without you there."

She rolled her eyes. "It appears I've been outvoted, doesn't it?"

"Yup."

Megumi sighed as she rose smoothly, gliding past him with a flick of her hair as she exited.

"Let's go, let's go!" Suzume ran up to the lady doctor, tugging on her smock as she coerced her to leave. Sanosuke laughed and placed a hand on her pigtailed head to get her off, but was halted when he felt another impatient little girl latch onto him with the same command.

"All right, all right," Megumi managed to calm them down. "If you let go of us, we can leave now."

The two adults were instantly released.

"Where are we going to pick the flowers, Auntie Megumi?" Suzume tried her hardest to look patient.

"The same place we did when we were last here," she brushed off a wrinkle all the tugging had caused on her apron. "Up the road a little bit and past the river . . ."

Ayame's eyes lit up in a tell-tale sign that she was about to try and be helpful. "Oh, I remember! I know where it is! I have a real good memory, Auntie Megumi! Let's go!" She started running down the path, her little sister following close behind.

Startled, Megumi called out, "W-wait! You shouldn't be running off alone! You might get lost!" She reached out to them helplessly, but the two girls were already around the bend.

"What are you waiting for?" Sanosuke asked, already starting to take off after them. "Why aren't you running to get them too?"

She glowered at him. "Are you insane? I can't run!"

"Sure you can. Anyone can run."

"I'd like to see you try to run in a kimono and wooden sandals."

He looked at her incredulously. "When was the last time you even tried to?"

"This is ridiculous. You're wasting time. If you're so set on running, why don't you go and catch up to Ayame and Suzume?"

"They probably stopped when they found out that we weren't following them. I'm sure they're fine." As if to prove the fighter right, Megumi's ears perked at the sound of little high-pitched voices calling back for them to hurry, accompanied by the sight of two brightly coloured figures waving impatiently at the bend in the road. "You never answered my question," Sanosuke pressed, looking at her askance.

"What?"

"When was the last time you ran?"

Megumi blinked. "The last time . . ."

"Auntie Megumi, Uncle Sano, hurry up! Hurry up!" Ayame and Suzume called.

"Don't tell me you're tongue-tied over such a simple question," Sano quirked a brow at her.

"I'm not," she snapped defensively. "I . . . I suppose it was when I first met . . . Sir Ken and . . . and you in that gambling hall, when I was trying to escape from those men . . ."

"No, no," Sanosuke brushed her answer aside with a wave of his hand. "I don't mean like that. Not running away from something . . . running . . . you know, to something. Running 'cause you want to get somewhere or get something."

Megumi huffed at him. "What on earth does that have to do with anything?"

"Come on, Uncle Sano! Hurry up, Auntie Megumi!"

"Whatever, Fox," he called behind him as he started stepping forward. "If you wanna just sit around here, I'm sure me and the girls'll be just fine getting that herb stuff on our own." He stopped and turned his head slightly to give her a taunting look. "Besides, you'd never be able to keep up anyway."

The doctor tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "Like I care."

She had only just begun a defiantly slow walk when Sanosuke broke out into sprint, his long legs leaping several feet with just a single step. She crossed her arms as the 'aku' adorning his back fluttered behind him. Megumi could ignore the bit of dust he stirred up into her hair; she could ignore him sweeping both of the little girls up into his arms as he ran by; she could even ignore how he had left her behind without looking back; however, she could not ignore the fact that he had chosen the wrong path and was quickly racing in the wrong direction.

"Idiot."

Man, this is boring.

Yahiko took one last swing with his shinai and then slung it over his shoulder. Crossing his arms and plopping to the ground, his face puckered into a frown. I know I'm supposed to be practising on my own right now, but it's just so damn boring! It's really hard to improve on your own. Hell, I don't even have those little wooden boards I have back in Tokyo. Plus, after a fight like that with Sanosuke, I want another real challenge. Dammit, I'd even like it if Ugly herself was here yelling at me!

"Oh, Kenshin, I didn't see you there!"

"Would you like some help with the dishes, Miss Kaoru?"

Hmm? Yahiko turned his head back toward the house from where he was sitting out back. The slatted windows of the kitchen danced with shifting shadows as the sun poured in.

"Um . . . that-that would be . . . nice."

A devilish smile spread across the boy's face. Standing himself up, he crept as carefully and stealthily as he could, keeping his breathing slow and soft as his steps were light and measured. Arriving close up to the kitchen window, he crouched low beneath it, just barely coming up high enough so he could see inside.

Kaoru's not gonna be out for a while . . . I can scare her sandals off with my practising later. For now I can just watch her make a complete ass of herself . . .

Megumi was getting rather irritated with the whole situation. Normally she would not have minded had Sanosuke simply gotten himself lost in the woods. But to take Ayame and Suzume with him . . . that was just careless. However, she supposed, it was to be expected. It was, after all, Sanosuke. She parted another piece of brush from her way as she trekked through the forest. Though, perhaps she was more irritated at her inability to find the ruffian and the girls than she was at the situation.

A branch caught on her kimono.

She grumbled. "Perhaps not."

"Uncle Sano! Uncle Sano! This way! This way!"

"Are you sure? I could've sworn we were supposed to be going the other way . . ."

"Uncle Sano, look how high I can climb!"

"Hey, get down from there! You'll hurt yourself!"

Megumi peeked through a bush and, taking in the scene, could barely contain herself from laughing. There stood the dreaded street fighter, Zanza, just barely failing to scale a tree, trying to retrieve little Suzume while Ayame tugged on his pant leg to get him to go in the opposite direction. His arm outstretched toward the smaller girl with the other wrapped securely around the trunk of the tree, he could do nothing to prevent his pants from slipping slightly due to Ayame's pulling.

"Kid, could you stop that?" Sanosuke ground out rather irritably as he snatched Suzume from the high limb. He jumped to the ground with his charge just in time to see tears beginning to form on the edges of Ayame's wide, brown eyes. "Aw, come on now, don't start-"

"Waaah!" Ayame began weeping, crying to the world how her Uncle Sano did not like her anymore.

"Shit . . ." Sano muttered to himself. "Look, I didn't mean to snap at you, I just . . . fuck it," he said when he saw his apology would have no effect on the child. "Okay, if I show you a trick will you stop crying?"

The tears instantly abated and, though her eyes were still moist and ready to leak at any second, Ayame nodded earnestly. Suzume's eye's brightened as well.

Sanosuke sighed. "All right then," he said as he squatted down before the two girls, picking up a pebble. Ayame and Suzume leaned in expectantly, eyes glued to his hands and wondering what they would do next.

"Okay, you see this rock?" Sano asked. The girls nodded. He held the stone in his right hand as he said, "Well, I'm gonna make it disappear."

"Really?"

"Yup," he answered their question. "Now I just take the pebble in here, turn it like this, twist my hand like so, flip it over and-oof!"

"Haha, Uncle Sano do fun falling-down trick!" Suzume squealed. Sanosuke, who had been concentrating so much on his parlour trick that he lost his focus on his footing, rubbed his butt gingerly (where he had unfortunately fallen on the pebble he was using). Ayame tried to help him up.

"Well, that was quite an amazing trick," Megumi could not help but comment on Sanosuke's antics. "Not only did you manage to make a complete fool of yourself, but you made it entertaining as well."

"M-Megumi?" His turned around quickly, dislodging Ayame's hands and causing him to fall over again. "Shit . . ."

"Get up, you idiot," Megumi rolled her eyes with a smile and reached down, lifting him to a sitting position. "We've lost enough time because of your larking about."

"Uncle Sano got us lost," Ayame stated excitedly, as though it had been done all on purpose just so they could have fun.

"I see that," the doctor folded her arms. "And it's about time we actually reach our destination. At this rate we only have a few hours before we have to start heading back to the house."

"Oh no!" Ayame exclaimed.

"No, no! Pick flowers now!" Suzume added and pulled her sister with her into a run.

"W-wait! You don't know where you're going!" Sanosuke and Megumi shouted together. They looked at each other, blinked, looked like they were about to say something, then thought against it.

Sanosuke finally stood up. "Well, looks like we're running again."

"I'm not going to r-"

"See ya, Fox!" And off he went in pursuit of the little ones.

Megumi groaned. "One of these days I'm going to nail his feet to the ground. Repeatedly."

There was calm in the kitchen as Kenshin just finished up drying the dishes. As he set the last one down, he saw Kaoru from the corner of his eye, sweeping the kitchen floor steadily. He wondered briefly if that was some kind of stress-relief technique she used. Manual labour went a long way in relaxing ones nerves, Kenshin was one to attest.

"Miss Kaoru?"

She started at the sound of his voice, nearly dropping the broom. "What is it, Kenshin?" she was able recover.

"Would you like to talk?" the wanderer smiled knowingly. "You seem a little distracted, that you do."

"Distracted?" she laughed. "What makes you think tha-ack!"

There was a crash as she tripped over the bottom of the broom and landed face first at Kenshin's feet.

It took a little while for Kenshin to help Kaoru back up from her fall. "Let's start over," he said. "Miss Kaoru, you haven't been quite yourself this morning, that you haven't."

She tried ineffectually to straighten up her hair and brush herself off. "Well I . . . erm . . ." she began to blush.

"If you don't wish to talk about it with me, that's fine," Kenshin smiled his charming wanderer's smile and bent to pick up the broom.

"Well, uh, what about you? You acted very strangely yesterday," Kaoru tried to avoid the topic. "Was it something someone said?"

Kenshin smiled again. "Yes and no. It was unintentional, so I don't think there was any harm done by it anyway."

"Let me guess, Sanosuke decided to shoot off his mouth again," Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't that," the swordsman shook his head. "It's just that when he explained to Yahiko that he had used a katana, it reminded me that I wasn't the only one who had his share of battles. I'd never even realised, never thought about . . . the fact that maybe others . . ."

"Maybe others could empathize?" Kaoru said softly.

"Exactly," he closed his eyes with another small smile.

Kaoru looked confused. "Why would that make you sad though, Kenshin? You didn't seem too comforted last night."

He fidgeted with his loose shirt. "Just because we share some level of understanding doesn't mean that we'll go out and talk about it. Memories like that aren't ones to really be shared aloud, that they aren't. And the fact that someone else had to suffer as well . . . and to know how it feels-it's just a little much."

"Oh," Kaoru responded eloquently. "Well that's all right though, because you and Sanosuke are really strong guys. And what happened in the past is the past; you don't have to be judged by what you've done, but what you're doing now."

Kenshin's eyes shot up. How can she miss the point entirely and still understand it so completely? His mind raced, taking in her beatific smile and her simplistic solution in a whirl of subtle emotions. He pretended to not notice her watching him putting the broom away as he answered, "That's true," with a new gleam in his eyes.

"So, Miss Kaoru, I think it's your turn to explain . . ." he tucked his hands into his sleeves, his smile never ceasing.

Kaoru looked a little hesitant.

". . . That it is," Kenshin had no idea how commanding and compelling his gentle voice could be to the young girl. Or maybe he did and simply decided to make the most of it.

"Well, last night . . . after dinner," her flush flared up again, "I couldn't sleep, really," she cut off her dialogue quickly. "That's all."

"Ah," Kenshin said knowingly. "It's all right if you don't want to talk to me about it. I still have some laundry to do out in the back and . . ." He turned and started for the exit.

"No, no-I mean, you don't have to leave. I'll tell you, Kenshin. I like talking to you," Kaoru stammered out.

Kenshin stopped and turned back around. He didn't ask her to continue, but his eyes prompted lightly.

"Erm . . ." the embarrassed lump in her throat made it a difficult for her to speak. "Well . . . I couldn't sleep last night because . . . well, I . . . I'm so shy!" she grabbed her face with another bright blush.

". . ." there really was not any response Kenshin could give for that. Deciding that she did not look as though she would explain any further, he deemed it the best time to get that laundry done. Stepping lightly, he was stopped by a tug on his sleeve.

"Kenshin, I . . ." Kaoru looked like she wanted to say something and like she wanted to nail her mouth shut at the same time.

"It's all right, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin turned around, realizing only too late how close that put him into her proximity. He could see the indecision flittering in her eyes, her big bright indigo eyes. He swallowed. "Some secrets are best left kept."

Her grip tightened around his sleeve as her hand began to shake a little. There was a rush of heartbeats as Kaoru struggled to speak.

"I . . . I couldn't sleep because I heard," her apprehension slowly dissipated as she stood near Kenshin. ". . . outside my room," she clutched her hand to the front of her kimono, inadvertently drawing the wanderer's gaze there for a second, "in the middle of the night . . . Yahiko and Sanosuke were talking abo—Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!"

There was a crash as Yahiko tackled her from behind with a "shut up, you ugly troll!" and Kaoru landed face first into Kenshin's chest.

It took a little while for Kenshin to help Kaoru back up from her dead faint after that.

"Auntie Megumi, look here!" Suzume rushed to a clump of bright flowers. "Aren't they pretty?"

The lady doctor, having immeasurably calmed, stepped lightly up the small knoll to catch up with the girl. She bent down to get a closer look at the flowers, their little star-shaped buds springing bright pink from a dark patch of grass. "Yes, they are pretty, but those aren't anything we need for medicine-but over here," Megumi continued, seeing the girl's crestfallen expression and pointing to another group of plants, "we can pick some of these flowers . . ."

Suzume brightened up and dragged Megumi to the selected patch.

"Hey . . . hey, Megumi!" Sanosuke called out as he was lead in a similar manner by the other girl, the difference being the fact that his arms were laden with flowers and leaves and flora of all sorts, so he was dragged by a leg of his white pants. When they reached the top of the hummock where Suzume and the doctor stood, the fighter let out a tired, "What are we supposed to do with these?"

"Carry them back home when we're done, of course," Megumi brushed it off and knelt down to begin her work.

"I mean right now. How are we supposed to carry them around, anyway?" he shifted his arms a little uncomfortably.

"What, are you telling me a few flowers are too much for the big, strong fighter Sanosuke? You seem to be doing just fine on your own," she finished her sentence with a definite snip of her clippers against the stem of a particularly healthy looking flower.

Sanosuke had an expression that looked as though he were about to yell or sneeze-or perhaps both. "I can't carry these around like this all day!"

"Then why don't you just put them down?" the vixen gave an exhausted sigh.

Sanosuke blinked. "Oh," he said, and the plants fell with a 'whump.' A slight rose tinged his cheeks and he scratched his head, mumbling "hadn't thought of that . . ."

Ayame suddenly perked up. "Hey, Uncle Sano, I have an idea!"

"Oh yeah, what is it, kid?" he squatted down at eye-level with her.

"Gimme your jacket!"

"What? Oh . . . um, okay . . ." he reluctantly agreed, as the article of clothing was already in the process of being taken when he assented. "What are you thinking there?"

Ayame simply smiled and held the jacket up, the 'aku' facing her as she took the sleeves and tied the ends in a little knot. Then she put it over her head in the fashion of an apron, but held the far corners up to create a large pouch. "Now I can carry the flowers for you, Uncle Sano!"

Sanosuke quirked his head. "Well, would you look at that? You know, Fox, I think this girl's cleverer than me or you are."

"It's 'than I am or you are,'" Megumi corrected absently. "Ayame, that's an excellent idea. You follow Sanosuke around with that and tell him which herbs to pick. You know which ones right?"

"Yeah," Ayame smiled enthusiastically. "You wanted lots of that alal . . . um . . . ala . . . aloe! You wanted lots of that aloe stuff, right?"

"Yes. And if you don't remember, I think the Rooster here remembers what it looks like from the last time I showed him."

"I don't know . . ." Sanosuke got a particularly devious glint to his eye, "my memory's a little fuzzy." He stepped up behind Megumi and leaned forward. "Why don't you just whisper in my ear what it looked like . . .?"

Megumi frowned with his head so close to her and his eyes so obviously looking down her front. "Insufferable cad," she rolled her eyes and slapped his face away, hard.

"Hey, it was only fair," the fighter rubbed his cheek a little; he had not expected that to actually hurt. "You got a pretty good look at me while this little monkey," he pointed to Suzume, "was climbing the tree and the other one was pulling down my pants."

Megumi looked shamefully taken aback. "What proof have you that I was there when that was going on?" she tried to act innocent, but it did not suit her well.

"Oh please," Sanosuke said, "like you'd ever miss the chance to see me get embarrassed."

She chose not to respond to that as she picked up her utensils and clipped yet another plant. "Just stop whining and go pick the flowers, Rooster-head."

"Yeah, yeah," Sanosuke grumbled under his breath, "damn bossy Fox." He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned back some distance down the hillock, Ayame rushing up as quickly as possible without losing any of the pickings from her makeshift basket.

"Which ones do we pick next, Uncle Sano?" the little girl cheerily grinned behind her dark bangs and braids.

Sanosuke scratched his head. "Well, this stuff in here's the aloe she wants," his arm widely gestured to a patch of plants beside them, many different types of flora nestled within it. "We can probably just follow it back up the hill as we go along, since it seems to grow in that direction."

"Okay!" Ayame held her pouch out further, expectant.

Well this is a piece-of-shit job, he knelt down and started rustling about for the elusive plants. Stuck with the Fox and the two monkeys all day, getting my jacket all dirty with stupid, smelly medicinal herbs, embarrassing myself by getting lost . . . and not knowing what to do . . . and getting hit in the face . . . and-dammit, this job sucks.

He stuck a stalk of grass in his mouth to help calm his nerves after putting another bundle of flowers into his jacket draped about the little Ayame. He saw Suzume approaching with more.

"Pretty, pretty!" the pig-tailed girl released her arm's contents into the rapidly filling white cloth.

Sano could see the colours slowly staining the interior of his favourite article of clothing. "Uh, hey," he called over to Megumi, who was approaching their side of the hill. "Why don't you let this little one put the stuff that you pick in your clothes?"

"Nonsense," Megumi pulled her hair back and tied it with a strip of fabric. "We only need one; we're not going to be gathering that much."

"Of course it just has to be mine that we use . . ." he muttered, backing away as she knelt down in his spot to continue the work. He rolled his eyes. "And you have to take my spot, and make me move, and . . ." his muttering continued.

"Stop your whining and go over there," Megumi directed, pointing a little farther uphill. "You're wasting time."

"Tch," Sanosuke huffed, but did as she said. "Sometimes you can be so bossy, Fox-it's pretty unattractive."

She passed another flower to Suzume, who walked over put it in Ayame's pouch. "As if a man who gnaws on the remains of dead fish all the time has the right to say what's attractive and what isn't," she replied coolly.

Ayame shifted her collection of flowers to make it easier to hold as Sano loaded in some more. The stalk of grass switched from one side of his mouth to the other. "Hey, just because I have some weird habits doesn't mean I don't know attractive when I see it. And I know for a fact that women who act all haughty and snotty don't get many guys calling for them in the middle of the night."

"Are you insinuating that I'd lower myself to the position of prostitute?" she glared scathingly.

He ignored the daggers in his direction and pulled out some more plants. "You take everything as an attack, don't you?"

"I do not."

"You answered that pretty fast," Sanosuke smirked, knowing where he had the upper hand. "You're on the defence again. Don't you ever just have a normal conversation without making it a fight?"

"This coming from the notorious fighter himself," her eyes were flashing hotly. "You have no room to speak; you go around picking fights all the time."

He ignored her replies with a wry smile. "I bet debate and conversation are the same thing for you."

"My 'debate' is much more intelligent than any conversation you'll ever hope to have."

"If you consider talking in circles more intelligent, then suit yourself," Sanosuke shrugged it off and went back to work.

Ayame and Suzume blinked, confused at the two supposedly adult figures on either side of them.

Let her chew on that for a while, the ex-fighter for hire thought smugly, yanking a plant out from the ground a little too forcefully, pulling roots around with it. He simply shrugged and looked over in Ayame's direction.

"Oh, uh, you have another one of the thingies, Uncle Sano?" she asked, bustling up for him to place the plant into the pouch. Suzume took it as her cue to go and help her Auntie Megumi.

There was a silence between everyone present, though not tense-and not all that calm either.

Why hasn't she said anything back? Sanosuke wondered, puzzled. She never gives up on an argument so easily. Another plant was picked for the collection.

Did I . . . he paused, plant hanging in midair before being placed into the flower-laden garment, did I beat her?

His eyes glanced up to look across the way, giving him a good view of Suzume's head before she moved aside to give the doctor more room for her work. Megumi's face looked slightly distracted, slightly deep in thought. After she handed a few more flowers to Suzume and the girl left to deliver them to her sister, the lady doctor brushed aside the stray hairs that escaped the tail in a somewhat irritated manner.

Hah, so I struck a nerve, eh? Sanosuke could not hide the satisfactory smirk. Well serves her right for thinking I'm stupid.

"Well, I think that's about all we'll need from here," Megumi stood up a bit suddenly. "I'll go see if little Suzume and I can go and find a basket or something back at the house to carry what we collected today."

Sanosuke blinked. "Why don't we just carry them back in the way they are?"

"You expect me to allow the stench in your clothes to contaminate those plants any further?" she scoffed. "You really are stupid."

"Hey, nobody calls me-"

"Rooster-head, if we try to carry them back in your jacket, we'll probably lose most of them."

"You don't know that."

"Sure I do. Just look who's holding them."

Ayame smiled innocently at them when they stared, apparently not having heard, or having comprehended what had been said of her.

Sanosuke tried to imagine the arduous journey back with Ayame happily prancing down the hills, flowers strewn behind her. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm always right."

"What? No you're not!" he frowned. "You're just trying to get back at me for losing that last argument!"

"Get back at you? Ohoho, you have a lot to learn, Sanosuke," her hand delicately covered her mouth as she laughed.

"What?" he was fast growing ill-tempered. "What are you talking about? I don't have to learn anything, especially from you!" he resisted the urge to stick out his tongue, which, he thought, was an accomplishment.

"Of course you do," Megumi smiled deviously. "We never did finish that reading lesson."

"Aw, come on! I'm almost done with that shit anyway!" he crossed his arms. Man, this is a turn from the way things were going with the other fight . . . he lamented.

"You're almost done with the basics. You've still all the three-character compounds to learn." The look in her eyes was positively evil.

"Oh," Sanosuke gulped.

He could almost feel his good luck fleeing the scene.

The crows scattered off their perches in the trees, their hoarse caws echoing in the empty clearing from which they departed. They passed over the head of a tall man, but he did not lift his eyes to watch them flee. His eyes closed and his stance straight and rigid, but deceptively calm, he bowed his head. Four stones standing before him repaid his respective gesture with silence. All of them were bare.

The wind blew the dark strands of hair before his face, and the man's eyes snapped up-a startlingly cold blue. His countenance not changing from his drawn frown, he let out a near imperceptible sigh of annoyance.

"State your business," his voice was flat.

A modest laugh came from the trees behind him. "Oh, so you knew I was there, eh? Hehe . . ." a new figure stepped out into the clearing, his embarrassed look seemingly gone unnoticed by the man in front of him. Messy brown hair sprouted atop his head, too long to stand up and too short drape past his nose. "I should've known not to try and fool the great Shinomori."

"Then please cease this game and tell the rest of our party to stop hiding."

"Heh," the other man laughed again, his hand going behind his head. "Guess the jig is up. You heard him, guys," he looked behind him into the shrubbery as he smiled. Two more men brought themselves into the sparse light of the clearing. "I told them we shouldn't try to sneak up on you, sir, but they just wouldn't listen. They really don't listen to me that often, you know. It's like I just-"

"Chugo," the largest of new group spoke, "get to the point."

Chugo pouted and crossed his arms, turning his head but resisting the urge to stick out his tongue. "Aww, you guys never even let me talk for just five min-"

"That's enough," another said. "We've kept Mister Shinomori waiting; it would be impolite to delay any further."

The one called Chugo straightened up immediately. "Yes, Sir. Anyway, Mr. Shinomori, we were wondering if the Oniwaban Group would be interested in-"

"No."

"Huh?" Chugo blinked. "But you didn't even let me finish . . ."

"I said no. The Oniwaban Group will no longer take any assignments from outside sources."

"Now wait a minute," the large one frowned, rumbling in his deep voice. "You can't just refuse us before we even tell you what the job is! And weren't you taking orders from Takeda before? How can you be saying that you don't take jobs when you've just had an employer so recently?"

"Leave."

"Excuse me?" the larger man, taken aback, was beginning to look menacing. His right hand twitched, as though he wanted to reach for a sword and his black eyes narrowed behind dark strands of long hair. His nose, which looked as though it had been broken on more than one occasion, crinkled in anger. "What did you just say?"

"Iwashiro," Chugo managed to warn, command, and look anxious at the same time.

"Shut up, Chugo. This guy thinks he can just order us around like-like we're beneath him or something! He can't get away with that! You hear that, Mr. Stick-up-his-ass? Don't be thinking you can just tell us what to do when we're the ones who're re-"

"Mr. Iwashiro, do yourself a favour and shut up," the last man of the group spoke again, the immediate attention the other two gave him a clear sign of his leadership. Iwashiro looked disgruntled, but did as he was told. The leader stepped further out, his hands clasped behind his back in a thoughtful way.

"Mr. Shinomori, forgive my underlings-they know not to whom they speak. It's quite understandable why, due to recent events, you refuse to take any more assignments from others; however, I would advise you keep yourself open for this one in particular. In your last job, you had been working supposedly 'under' a man named Kanryuu Takeda, am I right?"

Aoshi Shinomori remained stonily silent.

The leader continued, seemingly unperturbed by this lack of reaction. "This Takeda was involved in a number of shady dealings . . . namely the drug and weapons industries. At the time when Takeda's operation was shut down, you lost four of your best men."

A leaf fell and brushed across one of the stone monuments.

"They died riddled with the bullets of that new Western invention . . . a Gatling gun, was it?" the man pressed. "A pity really . . . I'd heard they had been such excellent fighters. Well, in any case, I can assure you that our organization would take no such actions against you during any of our proceedings. You have my word as a man-and as a leader-that you've nothing to fear."

"Fear, as well as your word, means nothing to me." If anything, Shinomori's tone had become even steelier and still he refused to turn to acknowledge the visitors' presence.

"Hey now, Mister Shinomori," Chugo chided lightly, "don't you think you're being a bit rash with our leader? You haven't even heard what the job is yet! We swear it's for a good cause. We're gonna save all of Japan!"

"Give it a rest, Chugo. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass if he joins up or not. Whatever comes our way we can handle . . . and it just leaves more for us in the end anyway," Iwashiro drawled, crossing his arms in an irritated manner.

"Mr. Shinomori, I advise you listen to what we have to offer you. Our mission is to-"

"You've wasted enough of my time," Aoshi said, beginning to walk away. "There is nothing more to discuss."

"But . . . but . . ." Chugo looked helplessly from Iwashiro to his leader and back again. "But we're going to save Japan! Don't you want to save Japan?"

"There is nothing wrong with this nation that is more important than the mission I must already accomplish," was the curt reply from Shinomori's retreating back.

"Well don't you want to-I don't know, carry on the honour of the Oniwaban Group by protecting your nation?" Chugo was getting desperate.

"Chugo, let him go. We've no chance of convincing him now," the leader turned on his heel, followed soon by Iwashiro.

Chugo looked indecisive for a moment between leaving and trying to reel Aoshi Shinomori back into the scheme. "Isn't there someone out there that you want to protect? There's gotta be someone you care about so you'd fight for them!"

Aoshi stopped for a moment, though he did not turn around. "That is none of your concern . . . and you should keep your sympathetic talk of protecting lives for someone who cares."

"But . . ."

"Come on, Chugo," Iwashiro came back and grabbed the smaller man by the back of his shirt, dragging him away. "It's a lost cause."

Somewhere near Kyoto, a little ninja girl sneezed.