Chapter 11:

Unexpected Guests

To celebrate Soujiro's return to health, Yuri insisted on cooking a special dinner. The boys were especially pleased that their mother served wagashi afterwards. Eating the dessert, Soujiro feigned mild sadness when Naoto announced that Sakuragi-sensei would soon be moving to Osaka. The new school teacher had already been by the house earlier, to pay his respects to Takani-sensei. Soujiro had noticed, however, that the clean, young schoolmaster seemed more interested in Megumi than either Haru or Naoto. The glances he kept stealing of Megumi made Soujiro recall a time when Kamatari had taken him out in the city. The scythe-wielder had been in full drag, and quite a few men had given him the same sorts of shy looks that the new school master had given Megumi.

- - -

As soon as his benefactors deemed him healthy enough to walk, they put him back to work at full steam. Still, Sou limped if he wasn't careful, and then Megumi reprimanded him for it. "If you let yourself limp now," she warned, pestle in hand, "you'll do it for the rest of your life."

Bearing the threat in mind, Sou glanced over his shoulder to make sure his teacher wasn't watching, and took the old water from the clinic to the edge of the property to dump it out. The day was clear, so he knew he could easily be spotted as he hobbled away. Really, he didn't want to have a limp, but walking correctly took too much time.

"As long as she has some food ready. I'm hungry!"

"Don't be so rude. We're coming to see Megumi, not to eat her food."

Hearing his teacher's name, Soujiro looked up. In the street just in front of the fence, a boy and a woman were arguing. And –

Soujiro dropped the bucket into the forming puddle. There was Himura Kenshin.

Sou wasn't sure what to do. Run? Greet him? He was obviously here to see Megumi, but why hadn't he sent any warning? He didn't think that Kenshin would be angry at him, but what about the other two? They were most probably the ones who defeated the Kamatari and Henya at the Aoiya. As he stood there, dumbly watching the small group walk closer to the path leading to the clinic, Soujiro wondered if Kenshin would be angry to find him living with Megumi-sensei. He might think that Sou came to do her some harm. Or, perhaps Megumi had written to him because she no longer wanted him here.

Before his paranoia could progress, the woman turned to look at him. "Oh, hello," she chirped. The other two stopped and looked at him as well. Himura's eyes shot open, and Sou wondered if he imagined a twitch of Himura's right hand.

"Do you live here?" the woman went on. "We're looking for Takani Megumi. This is the Takani residence, isn't it?"

Soujiro pulled his eyes away from Kenshin and answered the woman. Kamiya Kaoru, he knew. He smiled. "Yes, I can take you to her." Sou picked up the wet bucket and met them on the path. Himura hadn't said anything, so Soujiro decided to pretend they didn't know each other - at least, for a while.

"Are you Megumi's nephew?" The woman asked. She was quite pleasant, he thought, despite the fact that she was strong enough to disgrace Kamatari.

"No, no, I'm her apprentice," he replied, equally cheerfully, keeping his eyes on the path ahead of him.

"Oh. Megumi didn't tell us she had an apprentice." From the direction of her voice, Soujiro knew she had turned to Himura when she spoke, so he didn't need to answer.

"No," it was Himura speaking now, "that she did not."

"What's the matter, Kenshin? Lighten up! It'll be great to see Megumi again." Then Sou heard her speak to him again; "So, how long have you been her apprentice?"

"Oh, several months now." He wished he had some kind of skill in sensing the emotions of others, like Himura did. But he still could hardly recognize his own. Still, fearing that Himura was getting angry with him, he tried to declare his innocence. "I just came here one day when I was sick, and she asked me to stay. I didn't even know her name, but when she found out I didn't have a place to sleep, she let me stay with her family. And after a while, she made me her apprentice."

"Megumi's like that," Kamiya declared. "She seems a little icy at first, but she's really a kind person."

Soujiro didn't reply, because they'd reached the house. "You're friends of hers?" he said, forcing himself to turn around, but looking only at the woman. "You can come right inside then." He opened the door and let woman inside, followed by the boy. Himura paused in the doorway and looked at him. Soujiro found himself smiling in fear, even though he tried to tell himself that Himura wouldn't hurt him - that he hadn't tried to harm him before. But the rurouni only stopped for a moment and followed the others inside. Kamiya was already screaming, "Megumi!"

Soujiro thought about closing the door and running for his life, but he went inside too. It would be idiotic for a half-cripple to run from the Battousai. He found a place for his shoes and lingered by the wall as Megumi, clearly shocked, received her visitors.

"Kaoru, Yahiko, Ken-san – what are you all doing here?"

The commotion ceased and Kamiya said, "Didn't you know we were coming? We sent you a letter months ago. You're cousin wrote back and told us to come ..."

"He ...? I never knew about it." Megumi still looked partially stupefied. "I'm so surprised to see you all... Ken-san ... this is a wonderful surprise."

"We're sorry to intrude upon you, Megumi-dono, that we are. If you aren't ready to receive us, we can easily find someplace to stay tonight."

"Oh, Ken-san, don't be silly. Of course we have room for you."

"You're apprentice was very kind to us when we arrived," Himura said, looking back to Soujiro. At first, Megumi smiled as though she was going to say something, but when she followed Himura's eyes and saw Soujiro, she nearly gasped.

She'd made the connection, Sou realized.

Again, the young apprentice found himself smiling, and a short laugh even left his mouth. "Yes, I was outside, Megumi-sensei, when I saw your friends." He swallowed, trying not to look as guilty as he felt.

Megumi had lost a little of the color in her face, but she shook off her stunned expression and intervened as deftly as Yumi might have. "Yes, Soujiro's been with us for some time now," she said, walking over to him and resting her hands on his shoulders. "You would never believe how quickly he's learned the art of surgery."

To Soujiro's great relief, Himura smiled. "You must be very proud then, Megumi-dono."

"Yeah, yeah, really proud," the boy spoke up. "What's a guy have to do to get something to eat around here?"

"Yahiko!" The woman pounded her fist on top of the boy's head. While they fought, Kenshin smiled gently at Soujiro and then at Megumi. "The three of us should talk sometime, that we should."

"Yes," Megumi agreed, equally calm.

"I'll go get something for us to eat, then," Soujiro shrugged off Megumi's hands and dashed for the pantry.

- - -

While they'd been eating, Naoto and Yuri returned, and admitted to keeping the visit a secret to surprise Megumi. Afterwards, Yuri had cleaned up the food, and Kaoru offered to help. Kenshin volunteered Yahiko to clean the dishes. That left Naoto with Kenshin, Megumi, and Soujiro, until Megumi suggested someone should go see the father, as he'd been nearly forgotten in the excitement. When Naoto left, Kenshin's face became more serious and he looked at Soujiro.

"I'm quite surprised to see you here, Soujiro, but I gather Megumi-dono knows who you are."

Sou felt his cheeks color with a little bit of shame. "Yes; I didn't try to deceive anyone. I just never recognized Megumi-sensei. We realized who we were by accident."

Kenshin turned to Megumi. "I'm likewise surprised to see that you've taken this young man as your apprentice."

Not wanting Kenshin to continue, Sou interjected, "Megumi-sensei is a very good teacher, Himura-san." Then, after a short pause, he said, "I hope you don't think I mean anything bad by being here. It really was an accident that we met, and I was going to leave. I mean, I was going to wander for ten years like you did, but ... I just haven't left yet." Soujiro looked down at his hands.

"This one did not set out to wander for ten years, Soujiro. But it was after ten years that I finally found a place to stay. You should consider that as well, if truth is what you're looking for."

Finally, Soujiro looked up, and saw Himura smiling.

I have only one more chapter, plus an epilogue, before the story is finally complete. Thank you so much for your reviews.