I got a lot of positive feedback on older!Kenshin, so this story is a sort of continuation/backstory to the drabble 'Orthoepy'. Concrit is, as always, love.
And thanks to my dedicated reviewers: Miztical-Dragon, SRAS9, donhisiewen, Crau-san, chiyoko, SeaSaltChocolate, Emi Violet, Rihannon, kokoronagomu, Althea M, LimeGrass, Syolen, and Scarred Sword Heart.
I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
Kith
-noun
Acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in the same general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group.
"Grampa?"
Kenshin glances up from his mending—the arthritis is more manageable today, so he figures he'd best get it done—and sees his favorite grandson standing nervously at the threshold, hands clasped behind his back and his head down so that his bangs cover his eyes. Kensei-chan is still very much in the doghouse over the ohagi incident, and has been treading very very carefully around his entire extended family. Kenshin's heart goes out to the sensitive little boy. He's been the odd one out and knows how devastating it can be.
"Come sit down," Kenshin invites. Kensei plops down at his side, immediately picking at a loose piece of straw in the weave of Kenshin's mending basket. The little boy looks so forlorn it is hard to reprimand him, so Kenshin resigns himself to repairing the basket later.
"Why the long face?" Kenshin invites confidences with a warm smile.
"Grampa?" Kensei says. "How come Uncle Sano doesn't like my daddy?"
Well Kenshin certainly hadn't expected that. "What did he say?"
"He said I've got my daddy's squinty eyes," Kensei begins picking at his toes now, eyes still hidden by his hair.
Kenshin puts a mental note on his to-do list: Borrow the sakabatou from Yahiko so he can beat the crap out of Sano later.
"He didn't get along with your daddy's daddy," Kenshin says. "They fought a lot when they were younger."
Boy, was that an understatement! Kenshin still remembers the day Saitou Tatsuo had come seeking Kenshin's daughter's hand, reluctant father in tow. Sanosuke had been incensed, and spent the entire visit alternating between threats against the father and threats against the son until Megumi whacked him upside the head. Kenshin had thought that after Kenji's tumultuous courtship with Chief Uramura's niece they would be done with senseless teenage romance. Iria-chan was, after all, such a level-headed and intelligent girl….
Who wanted to marry the youngest son of the Wolf of Mibu, a man some years her senior. The uproar had been audible halfway to Kyoto.
Kenshin looks at his grandson now, with his own build, slight and slim, and his red hair; but the boy has his father's eyes, black and exotic, and his mother's warmth of spirit, and his grandmothers' fiery temper (both of them!). Kensei, he thinks, is the sum of their family, the embodiment of all their hopes for the future.
"Grampa?" Kensei asks. "I know you told Mama that you don't do pranks anymore, but…"
"But what?" Kenshin prompts, a slow smile creeping onto his face.
"Can you help me play a prank on Uncle Sano?" Kensei spits out in a rush.
Kenshin weighs the chewing out he'll get from his wife and his daughter against the hope he can see in Kensei's eyes. In the end, there's really no question.
"Come on," Kenshin hauls himself creakily to his feet. "I know I've got a stash of wasabi somewhere."
Kensei's eyes light up in a pure devilry that is all his own.
