April 10
The police station
Sano and Yahiko stood before Chief Uramura's desk, having both received urgent letters summoning them to the present location yesterday.
"This mission is of the utmost importance. There has been a huge crime wave up in Aomori. The police there have been unable to stop it, so the Kanto police are going in to help them. We urgently request your help," explained Uramura, continually pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose with his index finger.
"Not a problem," said Yahiko, gripping the Sakabatou.
"Long as we're fed," added Sano, promptly receiving an elbow in the gut from Yahiko.
"Of course. Thank you both," said Uramura with a bow.
Sano and Yahiko returned the bow and exited the police station.
"I can't b'lieve we gotta leave our knocked up wives b'hind like this," glowered Sano as he and Yahiko walked back into town.
"I know. I hope the government learns to wipe its own damn ass one of these days," agreed Yahiko.
"Now, we gotta tell our wives we'll be gone," glowered Sano.
"I don't know about you, but I'm getting mine chocolates," said Yahiko.
"Won't work. Vixen dun like choc'lit," said Sano.
"Flowers?" tried Yahiko.
"She says they just mess the clinic up and some a the patients are 'lerjic to 'em, wutev'r that means," answered Sano.
"Heh! You're in a bind. I gotta get those chocolates. Fortunately a new import shop just opened on the outskirts of town. No more long trips to Yokohama," said Yahiko.
"Lucky bastard," grinned Sano, raising his arm in a gesture of farewell.
Sano walked back to the clinic with a heavy heart. Why did something like this always have to happen when something important was going on in his life?
'Why am I even helpin' the Meiji government? When did I get so damn soft?' he thought testily as he slid the clinic gate open.
"Vixen! I'm home!" he called out as he kicked his shoes carelessly off in the genkan and stepped up onto the floor.
"Hi, Sano. What did the chief want?" Megumi asked straight up.
"They want me 'n Yahiko to go put some shit down in Aomori," explained Sano with a sigh.
"And you said yes," said Megumi.
Sano nodded.
"I know it's real shitty timin', but it's money fer the baby," he pointed out.
"I know," sighed Megumi. "When do you leave?"
"T'night at 8," answered Sano.
Megumi pulled Sanosuke into a hug. Sano wrapped his arms around Megumi and held her close to him, drinking in the scent of her hair. Oh, how he hated the thought of being away from her, especially now. With a baby on the way, they were going to need to make all the money they could and couldn't afford to turn down any work that came their way.
"Dun worry, Vixen. Me 'n Yahiko'll kick their ass and I'll be back faster 'n Kenshin's battoujutsu," Sano murmured into Megumi's hair.
Megumi pulled back and locked Sano with a solemn gaze that made his heart thunder in his chest.
"Alright. But you have to promise me you'll be careful, Sanosuke. Remember, you have people depending on you now," she said softly, guiding Sano's right hand to her swollen belly.
"I know. I will," said Sano, gently caressing the burgeoning curve of her stomach.
'People dependin' on me. Never thought I could settle down like Kenshin did,' he thought as his hands continued their exploration of his wife's bulge.
All too soon, that time rolled around.
Sano looked out the window and saw Yahiko waiting for him outside.
"Yahiko's here. Gotta go. Gonna miss ya, Vixen," said Sano sadly.
"You and Yahiko be careful," Megumi admonished, shoving a bento into Sano's hands. "I expect both of you to come home in one piece."
"Always am," said Sano, as he slung the bento over his shoulder.
The Rooster pulled the Vixen to him and kissed her deeply on the lips, then departed for the outside, where Yahiko was waiting for him. Megumi watched them walk off with a sigh.
"How'd Tsubame take it?" asked Sano.
"She was OK with it. I made sure she'll be taken care of while I'm gone," answered Yahiko.
"Same," agreed Sanosuke.
The two men lapsed into silence until they reached Shinbashi to board the train for Aomori.
April 11
Oguni Clinic
The smell of cooking miso piqued the sleeping Vixen's olfactory sense.
'Smells good,' she thought as she rolled onto her back. 'Whoever's making that is a wonderful cook...'
Cinnamon eyes snapped open.
'What? I'm the wonderful cook around here! So who the hell's in my kitchen?' Megumi wondered as she struggled to her feet.
The Vixen hastily threw on a haori, grabbed her heavy wooden medicine box and walked quickly to the kitchen to accost the interloper.
"Good morning, Megumi-dono. How are you on this fine day?" greeted the interloper from his place at the stove, where he was stirring the miso as it simmered.
"Pregnant and hungry," answered the agape Megumi, setting down the heavy box. "What brings you here, Ken-san? Is everything alright with you and your family?"
"We're all fine. Thank you for asking. Sano asked this one to stay with you at the clinic until he returns," answered Kenshin truthfully, as he added a few seasonings to the soup.
"And this is alright with Kaoru?" asked Megumi.
"It is," smiled Kenshin.
"Thank you, Ken-san," said Megumi with a smile of relief.
'With his knowledge of herbs and medicine, Ken-san will definitely be very handy to have around,' Megumi thought as she approached the low table, looking for a way to sink gracefully onto her cushion.
"Let this one help you," offered Kenshin, leaving the stove.
"OK," assented Megumi.
Kenshin took Megumi's hand in his right one while his left hand went to the small of her back and he gently lowered her onto the cushion. Once Megumi was seated, her new assistant went back to making breakfast for both of them. Slowly, the smell of the miso grew more and more intense until Megumi could hardly stand it. Kenshin took the soup off the stove, poured it into two bowls, carried it to the table and set it down before sitting on his cushion.
"Thanks for the food," the two said before lifting their chopsticks.
As she ate, Megumi thought of Sanosuke and Yahiko, blithely running off to different regions of Japan whenever they were asked by the Meiji government to help with some row or uprising that still seemed to plague the newly forming nation-state. Both men were still very young, energetic and cocky, sure that their strength would always be enough to put down any situation, no matter how big and fell any enemy, no matter how strong.
Megumi's gaze fell on the small swordsman who sat with her, blissfully eating his soup. Once upon a time, Ken-san had been like them, young, bright-eyed and bursting with potential and idealism, certain that the slash of his sword and the felling of the Bakufu would be enough to send Japan into a new era of peace, freedom and equality for all people. Certainly, the Bakufu had been defeated and a new era established. However, both she, a survivor of the siege of Wakamatsu Castle and Ken-san, a former Ishin hitokiri, knew that the new era still held much of the same pain and suffering as the old era, albeit better hidden.
Sano and Yahiko now both had the responsibility of upholding the legacy Kenshin had begun, keeping the new era as safe and free from harm and corruption as possible. And this was why, she, a daughter of Aizu and Kenshin, once called the Demon of the Ishin Shishi, now sat together at a table in Tokyo, as he looked after her until one of the inheritors of his legacy could return from yet another mission away.
At age 36, Ken-san's body no longer permitted him to effectively wield the powerful Hiten Mitsurugi, with which he had felled the Tokugawa and ended an era. Although he looked no different outwardly from what he had once been, Megumi knew better than anyone the toll the many battles he had been through had taken on his tiny body. Every year, she looked him over to make certain his condition wasn't worsening. Thankfully, it hadn't been and in fact, giving up the harsh battles had allowed overtired muscles and joints to heal themselves to a certain extent, freeing the rurouni from the pain and stiffness he had been starting to experience after his battles with Shishio and Yukishiro. Now, as long as Kenshin was careful and didn't overextend himself, he was generally in fine health and spirits.
And yet, for all that, Kenshin was a swordsman to the core. The Takanis of Aizu had served many samurai and Megumi knew firsthand the pride they felt at being strong warriors and disgrace when they lost their ability to fight. Some of them couldn't live with it and would commit seppuku rather than give up the warrior's life. She wondered if Kenshin ever felt a desire to join Sanosuke and Yahiko on their excursions. Did the fire of the warrior still burn in his heart and long to blaze up occasionally?
"Ken-san?" she asked presently.
"Hm?"
Kenshin raised his eyes from his bowl to look at Megumi.
"Do you miss it, even a little, going off on missions and fighting?" the lady doctor ventured.
Kenshin stopped eating and averted his gaze to his soup for a while. Megumi began to be afraid that perhaps she had upset him with this question. She opened her mouth to retract it.
"This one would be lying if he denied that a small part of him misses it. One was trained in the life of the warrior from a young age and it will always be a part of who one is," he answered at length quietly. "However, this one is realistic about the state of health now. The warrior's life will never be completely at an end, but it is confined squarely to one's adopted hometown and the protection of its denizens. The greater battles now fall onto the shoulders of those younger and more able-bodied than this one. This one has faith in them, one-hundred percent."
Kenshin looked up and smiled at Megumi, not a rurouni smile, but a genuine, happy one, which brought a smile to her lips as well.
"I have faith too. Sanosuke and Yahiko will return unharmed and brimming with stories to regale our children with when they're old enough to hear them," she said.
"That they will," agreed Kenshin, returning to his miso.