Guy's Night Out

Chapter 17

(AN: Can't sleep anyway, so I decided to write another chapter. Typing and drinking green tea (my favorite, too, Aoshi-sama,) as I'm watching a goofy Trigun episode, "Love And Peace". Vash cheers me up. Hands me a donut (mm, old fashioned glazed! How did you know, Vash-chan!) And give me that sweet smiley face and huggers. Scares off the ugly weird bad guys with his big ass gun arm. All better now. Vash looks a bit like my younger brother, only prettier, so I can't get romantic ideas about him that'd be weird. Unless you're Angelina Jolie, whom I'm definitely not. Wolfwood is fair fantasy game, however. Okay, enough of that, Gina, back to the salt mines.).

Aoshi departed as silently as he'd come, leaving the two men wondering if they'd merely imagined his sitting and drinking tea with them. Sano counted teacups just to reassure himself the former okashira had truly been there.

"You're staying here, of course," asked Kenshin, unnecessarily.

"Might as well," yawned Sanosuke.

"The proper reply is, 'Origato, Kenshin-kun,'" admonished the older man.

"So, you're my okaasan all of a sudden," said Sanosuke, grinning.

"Kami knows you could use one," said Kenshin, picking up the tea things to take to the kitchen.

"I was wrong, you're more like my obaasan, who as I remember was a very cranky, scary old woman," Sanosuke rose and stretched. (obaasan- grandmother)

"You know where the extra futon and bedding is, just don't wake Yahiko, please."

"Yes, obaasan," Sano joked.

"If I were your obaasan, you'd have better manners."

"If you were my obaasan, you'd be dead and I wouldn't have to endure this nagging."

"Oyasumi nasai, Sano."

"Oyasumi nasai, Kenshin. See, I can be nice."

"There's no more cake."

"Damn. All that effort fer nuthin."

Next morning at the Kamiya Dojo found Kenshin up bright and early doing chores. Sano was still lying in bed, no surprise, in spite of Yahiko's somewhat rigorous efforts to wake him.

"Get up, you lazy bum," yelled Yahiko in Sano's closest ear.

"Hey, I was planning on using that ear later, Yahiko-CHAN!" yelled Sano back.

"CHAN?!!"

And the fight began.

Round One: Yahiko attempts to kick Sanosuke in the face, but Sanosuke grabs the flying foot and jerks the boy off his feet. CRASH! Yahiko counters with jumping back onto his feet, fists raised, but by then, Sanosuke has gained his own feet. Reaching out with longer arms, he grabs Yahiko by the front of his gi and a faint ripping sound is heard as Yahiko goes flying outside of the still open door of his room.

Round Two: Sano, dressed only in pants, (^-^) follows Yahiko out of the room to inflict more pain and suffering, but is surprised by a Yahiko-sized blur jumping him from his right. The blur lands on his shoulders, grabs two large handfuls of hair, and starts biting and pulling.

"Itaii, Itaii, get it off, get it off!" Sano yells, dancing around, attempting to loosen the fiend that has hold of his precious shaggy locks.

The onset of round three was interrupted by the arrival of the mistress of the Kamiya Dojo, Kaoru. She's in her finest and scariest aspect, wooden bokken in one hand, the other on her hip.

"What the nine HELLS is going on here!" she storms, shaking the bokken at them.

"This damn brat is balding me," yelled Sano. "Get him off!"

"Yahiko, let go of Sano's hair immediately!" Kaoru yelled.

"He insulted me!" Yahiko yelled back.

"I called him 'chan', that is NOT an insult," Sano countered, still trying to dislodge the boy.

"I am not a little kid anymore!" yelled Yahiko, "I'm descended from an honorable line of Tokyo samurai!"

"What sword style is this, Tokyo samurai?" sneered Sano.

"Brat!"

"Ahou!"

"If you two don't end this, I will!" threatened Kaoru, growling out the words.

Kenshin could hear everything, naturally, but decided that his lovely Kaoru and her bokken had the situation well in hand, so he decided to keep preparing breakfast and not come to her immediate aid.

"I'm off, I'm off," he heard Yahiko relent, after an slight thumping sound which meant that Kaoru has been forced to use stronger measures.

"Just for that, you both will be cleaning this dojo thoroughly top to bottom! No arguments!" she called over her shoulder as she walked off. "Now, wash and come eat."

"You are so dead," Sano mock-threatened Yahiko as they prepared for breakfast. Sano by donning the rest of his clothing, and washing up alongside Yahiko.

They sat down for yet another dysfunctional family meal, with Sano and Yahiko starting to feel the small scrapes and bruises from their little fight.

Just as they were finishing, there was a voice at the front door. Kaoru rose and sliding it open, she came face to face with a very white and shaky Gensai-sensai, the old doctor that Megumi worked with at the Oguni Clinic.

"Kaoru-chan," he gasped. He'd obviously been running. "What's wrong!" Kaoru asked in alarm. By now, Kenshin, Sano and Yahiko had come hurrying over.

"It's Megumi-san!" he cried. "I waited an hour for her this morning at the clinic, and she didn't come. When I arrived at her house to see if she was okay, I found this."

He waved a piece of paper in his shaking hand. Kenshin took it from his grasp.

As he read, his face grew blank, then hardened until it became a mask of steely rage.

"What does it say?" asked Sano in a dangerous voice. He was clenching his fists and had a ferocious scowl on his face, already fearing the worst.

"It says 'Meet me at dock number 7 if you wish the lovely lady sensai returned unharmed. I'm expecting you, Zanza, and you also, Battousai. Don't disappoint me. Kageboushi.'" Kenshin read to them in an outraged tone.

Kaoru paled and sank to her knees. "Oh, no!" she gasped, looking horrified.

"Megumi!" Dr. Gensai went to comfort her as she buried her face in her hands.

Without another word, the two men and Yahiko gathered their weapons, and prepared to leave.