"Hey, Jo-chan… What's the matter with you?" Sano asked, leaning against the wooden supports of the dojo. He'd been bothering her for a few hours for dinner, but she seemed preoccupied with Kenshin and that letter from Misao.
"Nothing," Kaoru answered grimly.
"Aw, I see it in your face. Why are you angry with Kenshin?"
"I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"No… I'm… not…" she answered, gritting her teeth.
"Whatever." Sanosuke shrugged.
"A girl was looking for him in Kyoto!" she shouted at the gangster. Sano nearly fell over.
"A girl? Looking for Kenshin? …Ooh, that sneaky devil!" Sano said, grinning. Kaoru's eye started to twitch as she gave Sanosuke a look of death. She began to advance on the grinning man slowly, raising her bokken. Sano scrambled to his feet and started backing away from Kaoru.
"Kaoru… Now, settle down, I was just joking!" Sano winced, waiting for Kaoru to hit him. Behind Kaoru, Sanosuke saw Kenshin, he was soaking wet, as if he had fallen in the river, and he was carrying another person who looked unconscious. "Kenshin!" Kaoru turned around quickly and dropped her bokken.
"Kenshin…" She ran toward the two figures, calling to Yahiko, who was cleaning the dojo. "Yahiko! Go get Megumi!" Yahiko came out of the dojo and saw Kenshin. He dropped the broom and ran next door to get Megumi.
"Kenshin, what happened?" Kaoru asked as she reached him. The boy that Kenshin was carrying looked a little beat up, and Kenshin looked a little tired himself.
"Nothing serious, Kaoru-dono," he answered.
"Here, Kenshin. I'll take him," Sano said, taking the boy from Kenshin and carried him into the dojo. Kenshin took a deep breath and slid to the ground, breathing heavily.
"Kenshin…"
"Kaoru-dono… I need some paper, it's very important that I get a letter to Kyoto…"
"…Hai…" Kaoru stood up and hurried into the building. Kenshin sat on the ground for a few more seconds before standing up again. He followed slowly behind Kaoru. Megumi came into the dojo behind him with Yahiko.
"Ken-san? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Megumi-dono, but there's a young man who needs your attention," he answered. Megumi nodded and went into the bedroom that Sano had carried the boy into. She sat down next to the unconscious boy and checked his temperature.
"He's exhausted. Yahiko, please bring me some water." She opened the boy's jacket a bit and found some blood. "Sano, I need bandages." Sano and Yahiko nodded and left the room. Megumi pulled the jacket open further, to get a better look at the wound and found his torso was wrapped tightly, much like Sano's. That was going to be a problem. She needed to cut through the wrapping first. Megumi opened her small case and pulled out a knife. She was about to start cutting the wrapping when Sano entered with more bandages.
"Thank you, Sanosuke," Megumi said quickly as she cut carefully through the wrapping.
Kaoru watched as Kenshin wrote his letter. He looked very tired, he was still wet, and she wasn't quite sure why.
"Kenshin?"
"…Yes, Kaoru-dono?"
"Are you alright?"
"…Yes, Kaoru-dono. I'm just a bit tired."
"You need to change out of those wet clothes… What happened to the boy?"
"…He challenged me." Kaoru said nothing. He challenged Kenshin? Why? She opened her mouth to ask, but Yahiko ran into the room.
"Kenshin! Kaoru! The boy! He's… he's…"
"What? Is he alright?" Kenshin asked, standing up.
"…He's not a boy!" Yahiko finished. Kenshin and Kaoru blinked and glance at one another.
"What!?"
***
"Keiko-mai, you must tell her!" Hyouden insisted. Keikoku sighed softly and looked out the window.
"I know Hyou-niisan, but how? What do I say? That I've been lying to her all these years about her father?" Keikoku argued.
"I don't care! You can't keep lying to her! She asks about her father and you tell her that he's off with the merchant's ships, protecting cargo. That he's so busy that he doesn't have any time to visit her, and then you make me write fake letters from him! Anything is better than that! Tell her the truth! Tell her he's dead, tell her anything, but you need to stop this!"
"It would kill her if I told her the truth."
"Then tell her he's dead. Ieyasu-gikei is probably dead anyway. You know his arrogant streak, how he loved picking fights. Tell her he's dead." Behind them the door opened and a young girl walked in, carrying her bokken.
"Hello okaasan, hello Hyou-oji," she said cheerfully. Her smiled faded quickly as her mother's gaze reached her. "Okaasan? What's the matter?" she asked, sitting down across from her mother. Keikoku glanced at her brother and then looked into the trusting eyes of her daughter. She knew that if she told Meishuu the truth about her father, it would kill her.
"…Meishuu-chan…"
"Okaasan… I'm not a kid anymore, I'm almost fourteen!" Keikoku smiled slightly.
"Gomen, Meishuu-san. I have something important to tell you about your father…"
"What, okaasan?"
"…He's… He's…" Keikoku began. She looked helplessly at Hyouden.
"He's dead," Hyouden finished solemnly. "His ship had landed… and… he…"
"He went to visit a friend," Keikoku continued. "And this friend… worked for the government…"
"And your father, offered to escort him to his home… because it is dangerous to be alone on the streets of Kyoto…"
"Yes, but your father and his friend were attacked…"
"By…" Hyouden blinked, quickly trying to come up with a name. "…The Hitokiri Battousai!" he finished, sighing. Meishuu remained sitting, staring at the floor silently. The Hitokiri Battousai… Hitokiri… Battousai…
***
"Battousai!" Myoushi sat up gasping for air. Megumi held her shoulders tightly.
"Lie back down, you'll hurt yourself!"
"No! Himura Battousai! Where is he!?" Megumi set her jaw and pushed Myoushi back down onto the mat.
"I am the doctor and you are the patient. I told you to lie back down! Ken-san is outside with everyone else, waiting to hear news about you."
"Nani?"
"He brought you here, you know." Myoushi turned her head away from Megumi.
"He should have let me die." Megumi chuckled.
"Ken-san never knew when to leave anything alone. He is too kind for his own good sometimes… Now that you're awake, why don't you tell me your name?"
"…Hashimoto Myoushi."
"That's a boy's name, what's your real name?"
"But I am-" Myoushi blushed at Megumi's raised eyebrow as the doctor motioned toward her bandaged torso.
"Well?"
"…Meishuu." Megumi smiled.
"Hello, Hashimoto Meishuu. I am Takani Megumi."
***
A/N: This chapter is a bit longer than the other one. The third chapter has Hiko-sama in it, I promise, and it'll be done soon. I also want to mention that this story is supposed to take place shortly after the Shishio Makoto story arc, so there might be a few spoilers in here.
-Rhyein
bokken- wooden practice swords.
Okaasan- mother
-oji- honourable title for Uncle.
-gikei- title for brother-in-law
-mai- title for little sister
-niisan- title for older brother
Gomen- sorry