Hi everybody! I got some pretty objective criticism from that most honorable reviewer JML, and he has my thanks. ^_^ He took some of the guesswork out of my head and put it in writing. Arigatou gozaimasu! Everybody else has my thanks, too, of course!
Overdue disclaimer: RK ain't mine, capiche? I promise that this fic isn't a plagiarism of someone else's story on the same subject. I hope you keep reading. Of all the fics I've written so far, this one takes some time to finish each chapter, several days!
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The next few days were not so bad, Kenshin realized. By the dojo's standards, life was normal. Nothing had changed. Kaoru bantered with Yahiko, and Yahiko retaliated in numerous ways. Kaoru helped with the laundry, and Kenshin helped with the cooking. Kaoru went to the neighboring schools and taught kendo, then went home to teach a few students at her own dojo. Kenshin was usually employed as a sparring partner.
So far, the only obvious indication of new life was that, Kaoru had regular bouts of morning sickness now. No day would begin without her throwing up before breakfast. It was a good day when she did not throw up at lunchtime as well.
The doctor explained that her body was still getting used to the baby growing in her, that she had to be patient, and that she had to drink a lot of water to make up for lost fluids. She was warned not to lessen her food intake, as this would harm the baby, but to steer clear of foods that made her throw up faster. She was reminded to keep herself healthy, and to stay away from pills. Finally, the doctor begged for her to be careful with her kendo classes.
Kaoru had followed all of these suggestions religiously. Of course she wanted to keep the baby! However, she also had to work. Many of the teachers understood, and they arranged sessions, such that more difficult techniques were not demonstrated by Kaoru personally. Also, she was so relieved to have a nutritionist for a husband. Kenshin made sure that his wife was well-fed with good food—as far as their budget allowed.
Over the last few months, Kaoru had allowed Yahiko to learn a few things from Kenshin, some more advanced sword skills that could be practiced with a wooden sword. Kaoru had taught Yahiko everything she knew, up to the school's succession technique. She decided it would be quite safe for him to learn some techniques outside of kendo, for future use. It would keep Yahiko occupied, and give Kenshin some needed, but less strenuous, exercise.
Kenshin had promised Megumi, after all, that he would begin to take it easy. However, it was difficult to be left at home doing second to nothing for such a long time. His body, weakened as it was, still ached for the rigors of activity.
Thus, Kenshin's official job at the police department began.
It was simple enough, as the chief had said. He asked what the police force wanted him to teach the men. He worked out a training plan for the next 10 months, what would be taught when and in what order would it be taught. He designated assistants for each session. This counted as his first week on the job. The week after that, he would begin his actual training sessions.
But that was where the simplicity ended.
Himura Kenshin, master orator and philosopher in battle, was at a loss in public speaking.
"Daijobu, Himura!" Chief Uramura assured him. "Just look at them the way you addressed troops a few years ago!"
"Allow me to clarify, Uramura-dono," Kenshin nervously replied. "I did not address troops as a hitokiri. I killed them."
"But I have heard rumors about your speeches during your fights! I have even heard a few of them myself!"
"Sir, I only needed to look at one person's eyes during those times. Having to look into 50 pairs of eyes, all boring into your own—that, Sir, makes me nervous! Now I realize that some people, such as Yamagata-dono, actually like many people listening to them, but I am not one such person."
"You do not have to do this, Himura, if you do not want to………." Uramura offered.
"Unfortunately, Uramura-dono, I HAVE to."
Kenshin related his predicament to Tae and Tsubame, over lunch at the nearby Akabeko. He told them that he needed practice in speaking to crowds, so he could lecture properly next week.
"Crowds, you say?" Tae confirmed. Then a bright idea popped up in her head. "Listen, Ken-kun. Maybe you'd like to help with a little something for the Akabeko. It could give you some practice, and you could help bring in some customers. I'll treat you and Kaoru to my best dinner spread if you do a good job!"
Kenshin was a bit hesitant about Tae's idea of getting more customers, but he was desperate, and he needed to get rid of stage fright very quickly if he wanted a high-paying job to stay with him. He took her offer.
Soon he found himself standing on a wooden box in front of the restaurant, holding a tray full of sushi.
"Now, repeat after me," Tae instructed. " 'Free samples of our newest sushi! Get your free samples!' "
Kenshin parroted, "Free samples of our newest sushi get your free samples, free samples of our newest sushi get your free samples………."
"Oh, come on, Ken-kun! A little more feeling! A little slower, and a little louder!" Tae prodded.
Kenshin took a deep breath and tried again. "FREE-----SAMPLES-----OF-----OUR-----NEWEST-------SUSHI!!!!"
Tae shook her head profusely. "That doesn't have feeling in it still! By the way, what do you plan to do if a customer comes along?"
"ORO?! Well, I'd let them have a taste of your sushi, of course!"
"That's all?"
"Why, is there more I should do, Tae-dono?"
Tae gave it up. Tsubame took a cue. "Listen, Kenshin. Do you remember what I do when I take your orders?"
"You go into this tirade about your special for the day, how it tastes, how it is made—and, in our case, how much it costs….."
"Precisely, Kenshin. Now how are going to keep the interest of your potential customers, if you don't tell them about your product?"
"Please run that by me again, Tsubame-dono….."
Tsubame held her forehead on one hand and sighed. "You are absolutely hopeless as a salesman, Kenshin!"
"And why is my husband hopeless, Tsubame-chan?" Kaoru retorted from behind her, fresh from teaching, a bokken ready to swing at the pretty waitress' head if one more terrible word came out of her. Then she saw her redhaired husband, bedecked in the Akabeko's white waitress cap and blue apron, still standing on the wooden box, holding a lacquer tray full of unclaimed sushi –and she had to agree with Tsubame.
Kenshin himself was wondering how he managed to be a medicine peddler fifteen years ago, as part of a disguise. He was analyzing it quietly in his brain while his wife was belly-laughing at his expense. He remembered. It was Tomoe who actually talked the sales talk, not him. He gave out the medicine, explained the uses, gossiped with the locals, and smiled at the children. Sullen and stoic as she was, his first wife did know more than he about business, and people knew it.
Talking to people one at a time was easy; it was even enjoyable! But he would rather not talk to several people all at once if he could help it. His eyes always made their way to the leader of a group, and it was only the leader that he faced and threatened. He found that he only addressed attacking hordes one person at a time, directing his piercing golden eyes at only one person per second, until he had all of them down on the ground, pleading for mercy.
"You guys should have KNOWN it would be a bad idea!" Kaoru chuckled, and patted Tsubame's right shoulder rather hard as she did so. "You know better than I do how Ken--------AAAAA!" Kaoru suddenly bowled over and held her stomach. "Nearest sink, and HURRY!" she demanded and rushed into the Akabeko's kitchen. Kenshin thrust the tray into Tae's hands and charged after her.
Soon enough loud coughing and regurgitating were heard. The kitchen was regrettably very close to the dining area of the restaurant, and many customers lost their appetites from the hacking noises there. Tsubame tried to explain that Kaoru was pregnant, and that she did not throw up because of their food. She was not having much luck.
"No more, please, no more……..Ohhhhhhh!" More of Kaoru's lunch came up and out. She was clutching her stomach tightly. Behind her Kenshin was rubbing her back slowly, to help her calm down and stop throwing up. He quietly handed her a glass of warm water after another long spill, and wiped her face with a cool towel that Tae passed to him.
"Gomen nasai, Tae-san, Tsubame-chan," Kaoru apologized between breaths. "I guess practice today was tougher than I expected…….." Kaoru weakly made her way to the dining table nearest the kitchen, supported by her husband. As they sat down, she leaned her head on him, closed her eyes and relaxed.
"You can't keep doing this for long, Kaoru-dono…….." Kenshin admonished.
Suddenly Kaoru sprang up and faced him eye-to-eye. "And make you do THAT?! Stand out there in the middle of town and make a fool out of yourself? No, Kenshin! I'll keep working as long as I can than have you do THAT again!"
"At any rate, Kaoru-dono, that was only practice for a training position at the precinct……….."
Kaoru dropped into Kenshin's lap. "Oh, that job as chief trainer you told me about. Teaching self-defense and all that. Anata, listen to me. Your days and weeks of training Yahiko would have been enough practice for you. Just think of it as your training sessions with Yahiko, but with 30 people listening in……."
"THAT is exactly what I am afraid of, Kaoru-dono………"
"Then just think of it as one of your training sessions with Yahiko, period," Kaoru recommended with a smile. "I am telling you, anata, you don't have to go through this."
Kenshin stroked his wife's tousled black hair and smoothened out a few tangles in the ponytail. "Let us not kid ourselves, Kaoru-dono. I cannot stay forever in your debt. You cannot work for the two of us forever. I have to pull my share of the load, especially now that I am your husband. Now will you please allow me to take care of you, to work for you –to BE a husband to you?"
A tear rolled down one of Tae's eyes. Tsubame was sniffing as well.
"Of course," Kaoru responded, beaming at her husband, "you baka! Come on, let's go to the market and buy food for dinner……"
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"gomen nasai" is a casual Japanese apology. "baka"—stupid ^_^
I AM pretty sure that Kenshin doesn't drop the "Kaoru-dono" after marriage. If you've seen SeisouHen, Kenji is already 13 years old and Kenshin still calls his wife "Kaoru-dono"! He only drops it when they get really intimate or he has something very serious to say. It's not because of lack of affection for Kaoru, definitely. Force of habit, I guess. ^-^
And, Kenshin does address everybody by –dono, male or female. The only people he has not addressed by –dono are Sanosuke, Yahiko, Saitou, and Enishi (I think). I have a vague recollection of hearing "Shishio-dono" in subtitled RK, weird as that might sound. I don't think –dono translates to "miss", because I remember seeing Ran, an Akira Kurusawa film, and the court jester there called his master as "Dono", and so did most of the other people. I suppose it's just an honorific title. Other people can explain this better.
This is one of those "wrote itself" chapters. ^_^
My thanks again to all the reviewers. You make a person's day! I'll be replying to them by the next installment. Ja ne! ^_^x