Arrgh that last chapter was too grim for words. Have to throw in some insanity! Thanks for all the reviews! Glad you're enjoying the story *_* ! You're right - no reviews, story updates would have been like once a year... I tried to rush this chapter as I know I won't be able to do anything this weekend... also... next week looks highly unpromising ... but I'll try and keep updating!!! On a happy note, I have the whole story planned out already, so its only a matter of putting it into intelligible english. hmmmmm.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own RK! I'm borrowing it! Nyeh!
*Chapter 5*
"Baka yarou!!!" Sano waved his fist ineffectually at the retreating backs of several boys. "Brats," he grumbled, shaking the snow out from under his Aku shirt. See them try something like this in warmer weather..! He had no idea why, but when winter rolled around, kids that ordinarily ran away at the sight of him felt they could humiliate him with impunity. Thinking about it, a couple of those kids looked familiar... hadn't he seen them running errands for Dr Genzai's clinic...?
Hmmm. Oh well, time to get moving, Sano blew on his freezing hands before continuing his slouch to the Kamiya dojo. He was actually feeling rather pleased with himself this morning, having exercised his brain in a most unfamiliar way and calculated the correct day to head back to the dojo for a bowl of Kenshin's oden. Happily he reviewed his little math problem in his head. Travelling to the village - One day. Planning for capture - Half a day. Capture - Two hours. Standing about and lecturing the captee on why he needs to change his life - Two hours. Tying up administrative stuff with the police - 1 hour. That about brings us to the the end of Day 2. Kenshin will probably start for home straight away, unless he can mooch a free room from the grateful villagers. So, arrival in Tokyo - midday Day 3, or night of Day 3. Add an extra day for luck - and the off-chance that jo-chan decides to cook a welcome home meal - Day for oden = Day 5...!
Sano kicked open the dojo gates triumphantly. Oh boy, he was right on the money. From the practice hall he could hear the strains of Kaoru giving out her final instructions for the day - and there was a steady stream of smoke pouring out from the direction of the kitchen. Thoughts of hot oden or steaming miso brought tears of joy to his eyes.
"Oy Kenshin!!" He kicked the kitchen door open cheerfully, ready to pounce on the first edible thing he saw. Ack!!! He backed up into the furthest corner of the kitchen, hands shielding his face "Kitsune-onna....!!!!" Why? Why? Why?!!!!!!!!
"You're looking a little wet, Sano. Been swimming lately?" Megumi observed surprisingly sweetly.
"Huh? Umm... no, these brats in the street were ..." Waitaminute. I have seen them before... at Dr Genzai's clinic...!!! Were those fox ears peeking up through her hair????!!!! "ME.GU.MI...!!!"
*****
"Free dinners" were not in Megumi's vocabulary so Sano had been summarily dispatched to cut more wood. He was plowing through the pile at good pace, spewing unmentionables under his breath, when Kaoru walked by on her way to her bath.
"You baka," she was clapping her hands in evil delight, "You know better than to try and pick at food when Megumi's cooking!! Serves you right. Heh - at least I'll have plenty of wood for a nice warm bath..."
He picked up a handful of snow and threw it forcefully at her (she dodged). "Shut up!!! How was I to know it was Megumi cooking today? I thought it would be Kenshin...!" Oops. Sano caught himself too late. True, he thought it highly unlikely that Kaoru would be able to follow the thread of his sophisticated Kenshin-Come-Home countdown - but then again, when it came to Kenshin... Kaoru was just about capable of anything. (Incidentally, just like when it comes to food, Sano is just about capable of anything ^_^)
"Baaaaka", Kaoru retrieved her things from the porch step and made her way to the bath, "Well obviously he's not back yet."
Phew. Sano heaved a sigh of relief when he saw her disappear into the bath house. Kaoru still didn't think Kenshin's return home was overdue. Then again, maybe he had been a little optimistic in his calculations... whatever! He returned to splitting logs. As long as jo-chan isn't getting worked up....
*****
Dinner more than made up for his exertions - Megumi was a way better cook than Kenshin - but Sano wasn't about to pay her any compliments. Instead, he focused on getting as much food into his system as possible without getting sick, and fighting off an equally intense Yahiko. They faced off over the last bit of rice.
"Oh be quiet," Megumi coolly scooped the last portion out and divided it between herself and Kaoru.
There was a brief silence as the two boys eyed her with incredulity.
"Ne," Kaoru asked suddenly, chopsticks to her mouth, "don't you think its funny that Kenshin's been gone so long?". Sano felt his heart swell with dread.
"I was just thinking," she continued innocently, tapping the chopsticks against her lips thoughtfully,"The village isn't so far away - slightly more than a days walk, but Kenshin could do it in a day. That's two days for travelling back and forth... and taking out the guy - with all the police officers helping him - it really shouldn't take more than a day...that's three days." She set her bowl down and looked around at each of them earnestly, "But its already been five days..."
"Wow, busu, did you figure that out all by yourself?" Yahiko made big bambi eyes at her, "Sensei, your soooo clever...teach me! teach me!". He was silenced by a blow from the rice cover to the back of his head.
Sano had taken advantage of the brief interlude to do some quick thinking (and to recover from his consternation that someone else had managed to replicate his sophisticated thought process). "Um, well, jo-chan, maybe they ran into some complications... it's an ex-hitokiri they're up against after all...I mean, the guy could be really smart..."
Kaoru perked up. "You're right," she said, picking up her bowl happily, "Just so long as he's not hurt..."
Yahiko (who had revived) promptly began making gagging sounds. "Oooh, Kenshin, let me bind up your wounds for you..." he cooed before bursting into maniacal laughter. The usual chaos ensued.
*****
"Why do I have to wash up?" Sano grumbled as he hunkered over the bucket of dirty dishes, arms plunged elbow-deep in the sudsy water. Yahiko was drying up whilst the two ladies quietly sipped green tea on the raised platform in the kitchen. "Chikusho," he swore as he lost another plate - slippery suckers.
Mmm, Megumi was enjoying the new brew of tea that Tae had given her, whilst savouring the view of Sano decked out in Kaoru's frilly apron. It hadn't been as difficult to get that on as you would think, she reflected lazily. All it had taken was to suggest that his aku shirt might be discoloured from unknown chemical reactions with the dishwashing soap. She rolled her eyes inwardly. As if his aku shirt was in pristine condition - it was constantly stained with all kinds of unmentionables. Could anyone be more stupid???
"Because. " Kaoru sang out her response to Sano's question as she poured out more tea for Megumi. She went back to sipping her own whilst toasting her toes over the kitchen hearth.
They were all surprised by a call from the dojo gates. Yahiko was sent to explore and returned momentarily with Chief Uramura in tow.
"Konbanwa," he said, bowing slightly, before blinking through his glasses at everyone in the room, "I was hoping to find Himura here - have I missed him? Really, I felt we had to apologise for the waste of his time in that affair over Ishikawa Eisu... "
Kaoru drew in her breath, "Is that resolved?"
Chief Uramura looked at her in some surprise, "Certainly - we tied the affair up three days ago - hasn't Himura informed you? He departed for Tokyo the evening after we concluded the case..."
A stunned silence filled the room at his announcement.
"He hasn't come back." Kaoru felt herself choking over every word.
*****
Sano could run far and hard and he was doing that now. Anything to keep jo-chan from flying of the handle. There would be an explanation for Kenshin's delay - there always was - and the fact was, he always came home. Always. But no matter how many times they had gone through the same thing in the past, these incidents seemed to bring all of Kaoru's hidden insecurities to the surface. She would be dazed, withdrawn. Sometimes it got as bad as when he had left for Kyoto.
Fortunately there had been no snow since the day after Kenshin had left - Sano was hopeful he would find tracks of some kind. Especially since few people travelled to and from the village in the middle of winter. And knowing Kenshin, he would have veered off the beaten track and made his way through the woods. A tougher walk, but it would have cut the distance considerably.
"Yoshi," he dropped to his hands and knees when he came across a familial print in the snow. Very likely Kenshin's. He was off on the trail, following it easily enough, leaving the usual track, heading into the woods, until he got to a small clearing.... and then they simply vanished without a trace.
He sank to his knees in confusion. Could Kenshin have jumped up a tree? For what reason? No one had been following him - his were the only tracks. For sword practice?? "Stupid freak hiten mitsurugi school," Sano muttered under his breath, looking up to see if there were any likely low lying branches. Nope. Only the dark blue night sky. The nearest tree was unreachable even with Kenshin's freakish jumping power.
What am I going to tell jo-chan? Sano rubbed the back of his head in frustration.
*****
Notes: I like Sano ^_^ - sorry if he's OOC. I see him as a big kid. Is it just my spell check or what? Here's what mine has suggested for me:
Kenshin - Kinship / Sano - Sago / Megumi - Legume / Kaoru - Cairo / Yahiko - Yahoo. And my personal favourite: Battousai - Bathhouse.
