Kenshin opened his eyes slowly not sensing anyone in the hallway. A tray with two bowls and a towel was on the stool by the door waiting to be returned to the kitchen. No one was in the hallway as he slowly shuffled his way downstairs. He heard music and singing coming from the dining room as he paused to stare at the calendar hanging on the wall; August 6th, over two months since he left Tokyo.
He turned to see Kaoru standing there with an empty serving tray. Her wide-eyed surprise quickly became a delighted grin just like in Sae's backyard.
"Are you hungry?"
"A little rice will do. The party in the dining room is loud."
"Okina is doing a victory dance on one of the tables because they've finished rebuilding the Aoi-Ya." Kaoru grabbed two sea-weed wrapped onigiri from another tray on the counter "Do you want to join everyone in the dining room or sit on the back porch?"
"The porch might be a little quieter." Kenshin took one of the rice balls "Or at least a little more private."
Kaoru grabbed a tea kettle and two cups as she passed the stove then followed him to the back steps sitting a comfortable distance away with the kettle between them. "I'm glad we're doing this again."
"Doing what?" He took the cup of tea she offered.
"Sitting on the porch steps sipping tea and watching the sunset while we talk about our day and maybe make plans for tomorrow."
He glanced up at the sun to see that it was barely after noon "Right."
"I admit I did most of the talking, but it was nice anyway."
Kenshin looked at her with a blank expression not knowing how to respond to that statement. She seemed content to look at Sae's herb garden rather than continue her conversation so he took a sip and leaned against the railing post enjoying the muted music from the dining room.
"Tomorrow I'm buying train tickets for us because I want to make sure Yutaro hasn't been slacking off since we've been gone." Kaoru spoke quietly "I also have something else to add to father's book." She took another sip of tea waiting for him to say something.
"I wouldn't have ever come back to Kyoto if Shishio Makoto hadn't picked Mt Hiei for his hideout. I'm ready to leave now."
She turned her head, yet didn't meet his eyes "Do you really want to go back to Tokyo with us? I won't force you to stay again."
"How did you force me?"
"I tried making you feel like you owed it to me to stay and help out around the dojo. You were still intent on going so I demanded to know your name to stall you at least." Kaoru starred at the cup in her hands knowing by his chi that he was as angry as she'd expected him to be. He kept saying 'this one is currently imposing upon the Kamiya dojo' so she knew he really didn't want to stay.
Kenshin put his empty cup next to the kettle wondering why she seemed to stop halfway through her answer, not that it really mattered. Whatever leverage she used to make him move in was probably as flimsy as the hair ribbon she shoved at him demanding he return it after facing Kurogasa.
The Oniwabanshu moved back to the Aoi-Ya, yet now Kenshin had to share a room with Sano and Yahiko; which might have been better if they didn't snore quite so loudly. He closed the door behind him and went downstairs to find a small bucket and ladle then took a few flowers growing against the fence. The sky was overcast, yet not enough to deter him. He expected Tomoe's engraved stone to have suffered at least a year of neglect and take some effort to clean, however there were no weeds and little dust, yet he poured water over her marker anyway before setting the blossoms in front of it.
A few drops landed in the dirt drawing his attention to a light drizzle which he ignored for a few more minutes running his fingers over the last name. There was a family tomb close by enclosed on two sides to provide some shelter and as Kenshin approached he noticed a book in the corner he planned to lean against while waiting for the weather to clear. It was Tomoe's diary. He left her behind.
The day after she died he noticed it next to her comb and perfume, opened to the page where she wrote about Akira's death. Kenshin wasn't thinking beyond his grief then, although looking back now he wondered why she was thinking about her previous fiancé when she already had a husband who wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He began reading hoping for answers to all the questions he had about his wife.
The rain stopped by the time Kenshin returned the book to its corner leaving Himura Tomoe behind with her childhood sweetheart. She gave herself away to get Kenshin killed then felt like she betrayed Akira by falling in love with his murderer. He stretched before heading back to the Shirobeko regretting that he hadn't known how she felt before her brother Enishi came to visit. But it was far too late to do anything except let her go.
"Has anyone seen Kenshin?" Kaoru came into the kitchen with his untouched lunch tray.
"I saw him outside early this morning when I went to the bathhouse. He had the little bucket and was picking a few flowers so I thought he wanted to visit his fallen comrades." Sae looked up from the sauce she was stirring.
"We're leaving after breakfast tomorrow so you're probably right." Kaoru set the tray on the counter and entered the dining room to begin her lunch shift.
Two hours later Megumi stopped Sano and Yahiko as they came in the front door. "Where have you been? Isn't Ken-san with you?"
"We went up to Mt Hiei to see what was left of the temple. Kenshin was already gone by the time we woke up so we haven't seen him. The little Miss probably knows where he is."
Kaoru put the last bowl on the rack to dry then wiped off her hands "Sae, where's the cemetery?"
"Do you really think he's still there?" Sae paused while slicing ginger root.
"Either that or he's been arrested for violating the Sword Banning Act." She untied her apron.
"He's barely healed! If he's running around jumping from rooftops to avoid the police when you find him then I'll sedate him until next Tuesday" Megumi fumed.
An hour and a half later Kaoru came back ignoring Sae's greeting as she hurried up the stairs and ran into Yahiko.
"What's the rush, Ugly?"
"Yahiko, is Kenshin's travel pack in your room?"
"Why do you need his pack?" The boy opened the bedroom door to reveal two futons spread across the floor that still looked like two guys had just crawled out of them. The third futon was rolled up against the far wall with a neatly folded blanket and fluffed pillow on top. There was no woven bamboo case or bedroll.
Sano leaned his left shoulder against the door frame "Maybe he didn't want to take the train back."
Kaoru stood in the middle of the room "Yesterday while we were having tea on the back steps I told him I was buying the tickets today. I said he didn't have to come with us if he didn't really want to, I wasn't going to try to force him." She gripped her kimono "Do you think I made him feel unwelcome?"
Yahiko rolled his eyes "Battosai ate your cooking with a straight face. You've got nothing to worry about."
"But he hasn't come back yet and it's getting late."
Kenshin followed the river downstream staying far enough away from the road to catch roving bands of thieves before they attacked someone, yet hopefully close enough to protect anyone caught by them if they were hiding on the other side. Sojiro's statement that he had needed Kenshin bothered him more now than during their fight. It reminded him that people might still be suffering, not from the burden of the government, but from village heads and family members. It isn't possible to visit every town and village, but maybe he could protect women and children from thieves and slavers.
He took the road north toward the mountains around the southern tip of Biwa Lake to make sure that area was safe then he'd move on to Mt Ryozen. It was calming to walk through the countryside alone enjoying the peaceful sounds of nature as it got later and there were fewer people traveling. Toward sunset he found a good spot for a campfire near a copse of trees and set about the task of finding wood. Tomorrow he'd hunt for rabbit, tonight he was satisfied with the two onigiri tied in a cloth taken from Sae's kitchen hours ago. Kenshin wrapped the old blanket around his back and leaned against the trunk of a cypress watching the flames flickering in the dark.
Knowing that he was more than welcome in the Kamiya dojo didn't mean he belonged there. Kaoru, Sano and Yahiko shared his conviction about protecting the weak; however there was no blood on their hands. Their purpose was to defeat and conquer while his was to kill – not quick and clean like he used to do as a hitokiri, either. She wouldn't have been so quick to invite him back if she knew the damage gunpowder burns did to the shallow cuts on Shishio's exposed flesh. Why didn't Sano tell her?
Sano scanned the crowded train platform searching for a glimpse of red. Megumi moved next to him "Ken-san is coming back with us, isn't he?" "No," Kaoru looked up from her clasped hands "I made him too angry. He isn't here."
"When was he ever upset about anything you said or did?" Megumi picked up her medicine box to board the train.
Kaoru was surprised by that response. What happened to the woman who enjoyed making her seem childish in front of Kenshin? Why didn't she make some comment about him not wanting a sweaty little girl or her inability to cook as she usually did?
"He was definitely mad" Sano rubbed his chin under a new fishbone "but that's got nothing to do with him not being here." He followed Megumi up the three steps giving the conductor his ticket.
"You pissed off Battosai?" Yahiko jeered from the bottom step "Only a fat ugly girl like you is that stupid."
"I'll show you stupid Yahiko-chan!" Kaoru forgot about making one last trip around the station to search for Kenshin as she chased that little brat down the center aisle.
The train went up through the mountains near Otsu and around the eastern side of Biwa Lake then headed toward Ise Bay where it ran along the eastern coast to Yokohama. Kaoru tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery flying by since Sano and Yahiko seemed confident that Kenshin wasn't gone for good. Still, it would have been nice to share this with him and see his shy smile again.
Kenshin woke feeling stiff and sore as a reminder that he was almost thirty and used to sleeping on a futon, not sitting against a tree. After covering the embers of his fire he followed the road into the mountains. He passed an old man with a basket of herbs and a few other travelers, but no thieves. As the sun grew hotter there were more people riding horses than walking so Kenshin decided to travel through the woods to catch any bandits that might be setting up an ambush. A pebble lodged in his sandal and he thought of Ayame and Suzume when he paused to get it out; they would have had fun looking for flowers and butterflies around here.
Later in the afternoon Kenshin wandered away from the road in search of a shallow creek he remembered in the area. By the time he heard trickling water he was getting hungry and considered hunting for his dinner as he knelt for a drink. It was a good spot for fish however his pole was in Tokyo leaving him with only the string from his top. Kenshin didn't want to take it apart again because last time he used the string for fishing it was difficult to put the old toy back together.
Perhaps he should have taken Yahiko with him a couple of times when he took his fishing pole to the river. The boy had a good head on his shoulders, yet he was beginning an awkward age and had an obstinate nature. Kaoru was a good mixture of training master and older sister which might be enough to keep him from making regrettable mistakes, but maybe it would have been easier for her if Kenshin did more than share meals with him.
A flash caught his attention as Kenshin went around a shrub on the hillside. An odd gleam of light through the saplings made him change direction because someone might be signaling for help. As he came closer he saw that the sun was reflecting off of steel bars running parallel as far as they eye could see both ways so he picked a direction and started walking.
"Sano, how do you know Kenshin was angry? Did he tell you why he wasn't taking the train with us?" Kaoru wasn't concerned about Kenshin discussing his plans with his best friend; she was very worried about the reason why he didn't tell her.
He moved the fish bone to the other side of his mouth giving him a moment to think about that before he replied "He told me why he was angry a few days before he left Tokyo and it was obvious why he was mad after I disabled the Rengoku, but I can't imagine Kenshin or Battosai so much as raising his voice at you."
"Oh no, he set his cup next to the kettle as calmly as ever. I felt his chi grow into a rage as we talked even though he gave no outward indication that he didn't want me there." Kaoru dropped her eyes to the side "I left with the kettle after our first cup."
"I don't know whether it was better for you to leave right away or sit there for an hour drinking the whole pot like you used to" Sano turned his gaze from the sad girl by the window to the tall graceful woman sitting across from him "I can tell you that he's like most men who don't like the person they care about to be in a dangerous situation."
Megumi contemplated the man sprawled across more than his half of the bench seat remembering the night he and Ken-san rescued her from Kanryu. Was that the reason Sano was the one to grab the short blade out of her hand while Ken-san stayed by the door not moving a muscle to stop her?
"Who was in a dangerous situation yesterday afternoon?" Kaoru was sure everyone they knew was safe and didn't understand why Sano rolled his eyes at her.
"My brother told me that quite a few men developed more irate personalities after the worst battles especially if they were young. It's said that Battosai began killing at fourteen or fifteen and perhaps he was feeling this same general anger because of memories that surfaced from being in Kyoto."
"Kenshin said he was ready to leave so maybe getting out of Kyoto quickly was more important to him than I thought." Kaoru stared out the window hoping that it didn't take him a decade to get from Kyoto to Tokyo this time.
The train station was more crowded than Kenshin expected. He walked around the steam engine amazed by the size then walked down the length of passenger cars on the opposite side from the platform to get a closer view of a train without wasting money on a ticket. He stopped and took two steps back to the gap between two cars getting a second look at a couple of passengers waiting to board.
A tall man with three metal spikes curving around each shoulder and the cloaked figure next to him seemed oddly familiar and it took several minutes before Kenshin realized the cloaked man was one of the enemies he faced the night Tomoe died. Those two were the ones that he found on the roof last May.
The caboose was designed with a small fenced porch at the back which made it very easy for Kenshin to climb up the three metal steps then balance on the short fence to hoist himself onto the roof. He stayed low to keep from being seen as he watched the two reach the head of the line and board the train then settled into a comfortable position to wait out their journey. When the pair got off at the station in Yokohama around dusk, Kenshin quietly climbed down from the caboose and started running.