The people have spoken. Thanks for reassuring me, guys! Wow, 17 reviews for the first chappie! NOW I'm really pressured to do good. ^_^ Diablo, thanks for the info about "kimi" and "anata". Crystal, Diablo is right. Both in manga and Seisouhen, Kenshin doesn't drop the "Kaoru-dono" after marriage. When Kenshin does drop the "-dono", something VERY significant has occurred, not just that.
Let's go!
Anata ---- Japanese affectionate term for a spouse
(reformatted)
………………………………………………
Kenshin stared at Kaoru like she was a being from another planet. It was full of awe, wonder, surprise ---- and fear.
It was not fear of Kaoru, or even fear of a child. Rather, it was fear of himself.
Being the fast-thinking rurouni, a hundred thoughts flashed through his mind in a second. He was good with children, it was true. However, the children he knew were already running around, jumping up and down around him, asking him to play ball or fly their kites. Furthermore, never for once was he supposed to be the father figure for any of these kids. He did not have a direct hand in raising Yahiko, and any wise pointers he knew, he knew only from a swordsman's standpoint. Being the youngest of a large brood, he did not have a chance to take care of a baby. Hiko was not much of a teacher, since life with him taught Kenshin house chores, but not housekeeping. Even if he was to consider life with Tomoe, they did not get that far.
In short, poor Kenshin did not know a blessed thing about a woman having a baby. And it scared him. His hands lost their grip on the fortunately wooden rice bowl.
Kaoru waved a hand in front of Kenshin's eyes. They stared blankly straight through it. She said matter-of-factly, "Anata, you will have to help me clean up the mess on the floor!"
"Mess……on…….the………floor?" Kenshin had not taken his eyes off his wife. This is a fine mess you got yourself into, baka deishi! He could hear his master in his ear.
Kaoru shook him at the shoulders. "Anata, get a hold of yourself! You should be happy, baka! This is not the first time someone in the world is having a baby!"
"That might be true, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin replied, still looking straight ahead of him. "Still, it is OUR first time, and I do not know what to do, de gozaru!!"
"There are plenty of people we could ask about it, Kenshin. Don't worry. Everything will be alright."
Kenshin was not reassured.
The police had intelligence reports against Jin-e, Raijuuta, Shishio, Enishi. There were responsible and knowledgeable people he asked about case details. Anyone could give solid answers to serious questions. But with this --- only marriage was a tougher question. Every single person had his own opinions on the subject. Everyone had his best answers, based on his own experiences.
Even worse, his friends were all singles, or just recently married. Unless he considered………..was he that desperate?
Yes.
Once again, he went to the police.
Chief Uramura met him at the gate of the precinct, the morning after that life-altering announcement. He almost bumped into the poor rurouni. "Ah, it's a good thing that I met you!" he greeted him cheerfully. "Would you be interested in helping the force--- with pay?"
Pay? Was Kenshin hearing right? He would be paid by the government?
Never mind the idealistic implications of this choice! What did that matter now? He had to be practical! Kenshin understood, even now, even this early. He had to find work. He had to earn money, for both of them. Soon, Kaoru would be in no condition to teach kendo. The only current source of income will soon be gone, and he had to do something about it.
"What would you have me do, Uramura-dono?" he gratefully asked.
"Simple enough for you, my friend," the chief replied. "The chief trainer resigned last week. We need someone to take his place. Basically, we are asking you to help teach our men self-defense, tactical maneuvers, and some sword skills…….."
"But swords are no longer standard issue, Chief……….."
"Well, some of them still have it, and some want to learn for emergency purposes. And I would have them learn from a master." Chief Uramura smiled in the end. To Kenshin's unspoken question, he answered, "Do not worry. I won't tell them. It's enough for them to know that you are an excellent swordsman, and you have proven yourself to them many times all around the city."
Well, it was a good offer, but Kenshin had to ask, "Um, Uramura-dono, how much would I paid, de gozaru ka?"
"The salary?" Uramura was surprised. His little friend was not often concerned about money, but now he was. "Roughly the same as Inspector Fujita's, which would keep your pretty wife happy for two months. She is probably the reason why you are asking me, am I right?"
Kenshin was found, and he nodded. Then he took the plunge. "I would like to ask…………what happened to you when your wife got pregnant?"
Suddenly the chief's countenance fell. He put a hand on Kenshin's shoulder and lowered his head in extreme sorrow. "Oh, Himura, don't remind me about those days! There is a reason why I only have one child, my daughter now. I don't want to go back there again! These women, they are different creatures when they are heavy with child! They cannot be reasoned with! They shout at you, and ask for things you cannot give them! Oh, Himura! Oh!"
Kenshin's eyes grew ever wider with each sentence. It was THAT awful?!
He began to step backward, farther away from this bearer of ill tidings. "T-t-thank you for the offer, um, Uramura-dono. Please tell the department that I accept. I will start work next week, to give them time to adjust. Anou, thank you for the, um, advise, as well, I guess………."
He made a hasty and apologetic goodbye, then made his way inside the building. There was one other man he had to ask about this predicament. He was certain he would be truthful, and that he would not mince his words. It was best that way.
"Enter!" came the curt order at Fujita Goro's office. Kenshin silently entered the portals of Saitou's lair.
"Now, what is it that you want? You have been pestering me too much recently!" Saitou furiously demanded behind tall stacks of reports.
"Sumimasen de gozaimashita. But I need your help…….." Kenshin weakly begged.
"About the raccoon, yes?" he looked at him with a little mischief in his eyes. "She is pregnant, with your child."
Kenshin was astounded. "H-h-how did YOU know? I have not told anyone yet, and neither has Kaoru-dono………."
"Your face in battle does not betray your calculations. But your face during peacetime, and especially concerning that raccoon, can be easily read." Saitou had not looked up from his reports.
Kenshin sighed and oro-ed quietly to himself. "Since you know my purpose, I would like to ask for any help you could offer about the matter. You are one of the few people I know here who has a wife….."
"Oh, so you expect me to have children? You expect children from Saitou Hajime?" he sarcastically retorted.
"Well, YES!"
Saitou suddenly snapped up and faced the redhead.
"How badly do you want to know? About your next nine months?"
Kenshin suddenly became very anxious. "W-why do you ask, de gozaru ka?"
"Because I could tell you every grisly detail you want. From experiences with my wife, experiences from relatives, and experiences from the wives of officers, police or Shinsengumi. Now, how badly do you want to know?"
His tone was menacing, foreboding, threatening. Normally the former Hitokiri Battousai did not allow himself to be scared off by the Wolf of Mibu. But for some weird reason, the Hitokiri quaked in his socks.
He put on his most clownish rurouni face and waved his hands in front of him. "Sessha thinks he has changed his mind, de gozaru. Thank you for your time, Fujita-dono. I will be seeing you by next week, when I start working here………"
"Good luck with that woman!" Saitou called out from his desk, as Kenshin exited the office.
As he arrived at the dojo that hot summer afternoon, all the calculations he had left in his mind vanished, out of panic from what the two policemen said. Kaoru was about to turn into a mad woman before his eyes! Soon she would be a force to be reckoned with! And all because of that wonderful night…………..what was he thinking?!
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Yahiko saunter past him into the dojo gates. He suddenly remembered. "Yahiko, you did not go home last night! Where have you been?"
"I told you yesterday afternoon, Kenshin! Don't tell me you forgot!" Yahiko replied with a yawn.
Kenshin apologized to the boy and asked to be reminded.
"Aaaach! You were clueless enough two years ago. It's worse after you got married to that hag!" Yahiko snarled.
Just then Kaoru came by from sweeping through the house and spied the two. She came at a run and hugged her wayward little prodigy. "I was worried about you! Why didn't you tell me where you were spending the night?"
"I TOLD YOU, Kaoru! Tae needed more hands to clean up the Akabeko last night, and she let me sleep at the restaurant. I swear I told you yesterday, but you were so out there that you probably didn't hear me! Maaaaa, you've been living too long with your clueless husband!"
Kaoru was at his throat in half a second. "You take that back and apologize to Kenshin!"
"Alright! Alright! I'm sorry!" Kaoru dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. "Just what got into you guys, that you stopped acting like my parents for a night? You actually forgot about me!"
"Orooo. You tell him, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin instructed. Clueless? What does Yahiko mean by "clueless"? was the thought currently bothering him.
"Lemme guess," Yahiko snapped. "The hag is pregnant at last, and her husband doesn't know how to take it! Aaach, I'd like to see the kid inherit Dad's red hair and Mom's big attitude!"
Kaoru was back at his throat. "You're pushing it, Yahiko-CHAN!"
Kenshin refereed. "Let us all calm down, please. Kaoru-dono, for the sake of your health, and Yahiko, for the sake of your life. Could both of you please follow me to the kitchen, so we can have dinner?"
It was as if the final bell was rung on this wrestling match. Except that the fight was a tie.
Dinner was silent, as the cool evening breeze passed by the little kitchen. Aside from small requests to pass the teapot or the soy sauce bottle, all three were lost in their own thoughts.
It had dawned already on Kaoru that this was a wonderful thing, to have Kenshin's child inside of her. But other thoughts were also worrying her. Why did Kenshin react that way? Isn't he happy? Maybe we shouldn't have done it. Maybe we should have adopted instead. Yahiko, maybe------naaaah. Maybe we should not have gotten married……..no! no! no! I'm SURE I did the right thing! So why am I so worried, like this……….?
Yahiko……..well, Yahiko was thinking, Not bad, for Kaoru! The fish isn't burnt, the rice is not undercooked, the tea actually tastes like tea. Kenshin taught her a thing or two last week……………
NOT good. NOT good at all, Kenshin mused. I suppose that this thing is harder on Kaoru-dono than it is for me, but why were they warning me so much, asking never to go back to it? Why did Uramura-dono look so frightened? Why did Saitou glare at me so? What can I do about this situation? Well, maybe it is not as bad as they all say…………Let us wait and see.
By the end of that silent meal, Kenshin had settled the worries in his mind----at least for now. He quietly wrapped an arm around his wife's waist, and laid his other hand on her still-slender stomach.
"Sessha promised to be with you forever, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer. In here, Kaoru-dono holds the fruit of that promise. Sessha promises to protect it as well as he can. Sessha has no idea what he is getting into, but he is willing to learn. Hopefully, Kaoru-dono will make it easier for sessha to do so. Sessha has no doubts, though, that is will be a memorable adventure, whatever the outcome."
Kaoru simply nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder.
……………………………………
For those who don't know: "sessha"---Kenshin's "I", VERY polite. "de gozaru" is Kenshin's version of "desu" (is).
I do not consistently use "sessha" and "de gozaru", firstly because I want to emphasize the times when Kenshin is abnormally respectful for some reason, and secondly because it would be harder to write—and read—if I did that. So let's say that when I use the English "I", I probably mean "watashi", common polite "I". Not that it matters much, ne? ^_^
"-dono", however, I will maintain all throughout, because Kenshin always uses it.
Thanks again for the support. Sorry, but I work best in the dialogue style. It's Chiki who does well with the descriptions. ^_^ I hope you like this installment. Expect one new chapter every week, more or less. Please come back for more!