Ch. 5
"Please! Please don't kill my brother!" Line` cried.
"Shut up you little bitch!" The man screamed. Spit particles came out of his mouth and splattered on the floor. The man had two stitches: one on his forehead and the other on his right cheek. He had a long and twisted grin. His eyebrows met together to form a unibrow.
Kenshin glared at him and walked towards him. However, he felt somewhat weak. Inside, panic was overflowing. He had always knew what to do when someone was about to kill another, but this was completely different. He actually felt the fear that any parent would feel when they saw their child in this situation. Toshi was hanging by his neck, which was caught in the robbers arm. Toshi could only cling onto his arm so he would not choke.
Kenshin could feel his triceps begin to shake. Before he drew his sword, he looked at where he was aiming at, which would be the knife of course.
"O! I see the guy with the sword wants to mess! Why are you just standing there? Don'tcha want to save your kid?" The man started to laugh, and spit all over the floor again. Kenshin just glared, "Put him down." The man just laughed some more, "Put him down? "
The robber laugher again, "Do you actually think that I am going to listen to you just like that? Please! You and your scrawny body couldn't put a scratch on me even if you tried!" The robber looked at the store clerk, "Give me the money now! Or there will be child's blood all over the floor!" He just began to laugh more, he looked down to see that his right arm was not choking Toshi and his knife was shattered on the floor.
The robber looked behind him and saw Kenshin with a sword in one hand and Toshi in the other.
"Do you actually want to go any further?" Kenshin said, his back still turned to the robber, and his voice was on the verge of it sounding like ice, "You will not win either way, so I suggest that you turn yourself into the police, before I have to force you to."
The robber's eyes bulged. He put his hands out and started to shake them. He was hoping that Kenshin would not attack again.
"Uhh, yeah, I didn't mean to mess wit' yer son like that! Uh yeah!" The robber turned around to make his get away but ran into somebody who he definitely hoped not to.
"Where do you think your going?" Said a police officer with four bangs down his face and narrow, amber eyes that shined. "So? It is you again? Uggh, more third rank fighting scum I have to deal with," He said, picking up the robber by his shirt.
"Saitou?" Said Kenshin, holding Toshi even closer, "What are you doing in Kyoto?" Saitou gave Kenshin a smile, which only hid the hatred for him, "Well, Himura, as a police officer it is my duty. Overall, I was assigned to watch Kyoto. Well, anyway, I appreciate your help, but you should really stop being the hero and let the police have a turn. Good day." Saitou handcuffed the robber and dragged him out of the store. Kenshin only shook his head as he turned around to look at Sano, who was turning red in anger.
"WHAT AN ASS! LET THE POLICE HAVE A TURN WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! WHY DON'T THE SHOW UP ON TIME AND MAYBE THEY'LL GET A TURN!" Sano was just about to go walk out after Saitou, until Kenshin sheathed his sword and grabbed Sano's collar.
"Sano, please don't make a scene, those are words came out of a man who only looks at other lives as percentage." Kenshin let go of his collar as Sano loosened himself, and said, "Yeah, your right." Kenshin changed his view towards Toshi; he was looking behind himself, he seemed frozen in fear. Toshi's left hand was against Kenshin's chest for support.
"At least nobody died," Toshi had said, turning farther back to see the crying clerk, "I don't like it when people die, 'cause then they have no where else to go." Kenshin only stared at him. He was not sure whether to put him down or not, since it was like holding his baby boy again. Well, Toshi was his boy, but the only difference was that Kenshin was not his father, at least the father that he should have been. Line` ran up to Toshi, and pulled him out of Kenshin's arms, squeezed him as tight as she could, literally choking him, and cried, "O Toshi! I thought that you were going to die!"
Toshi was trying to push her away, choking out the words, "Thanks!" When Toshi had finally gotten out of her grip, he looked upon at Kenshin and hugged his leg. Kenshin just continued to look at him. Toshi released and walked towards his sister, she grabbed his hand and Toshi said his final words to Kenshin, "Your name is Kenshin Himura, right? I'll definitely remember that name!"
*~*~*
Kenshin sat on the porch of the Aowiya, staring off into nothing. Just thinking. He looked at the open area and imagined Toshi and him just playing out there, holding Toshi close to him and spinning around. Kenshin buried his face in his hands and thought. If he had kept Toshi, Kenshin was more then sure that he would be far happier then he is now.
He could have been a father to Toshi; he had always been wonderful with children. Toshi could have been just as happy as he is now. Kenshin just had a feeling that he would have been a great father to Toshi.
Moreover, if Kenshin never put Toshi up for adoption, chances were that Toshi would have been Kenshin's second sheath. Kenshin would have never joined the Tokugawa Regime, he would have never have added the numbers of people he killed. Moreover, the lives that he had already taken, he could have repented every single one of them if he stayed as an apothecary and made medicine for those who were about to die, or cure.
Kenshin would have never been known as the man he was now, the cross shape scar was not complete until me entered the Meiji war. He would have never of had the enemies that he had. Toshi could have saved Kenshin from everything.
What was Kenshin thinking?
Kenshin could not afford Toshi; it is not his job to take care of him. Toshi is happy too, Kenshin is also happy; this is just how the road was set for them. The Lord blessed Kenshin with Toshi because it was Kenshin's job to bring him to the world, and set him off on his own path.
But what about Tomoe? In the dream, Tomoe desperate to see her child, but then again, it was only a dream. But something like that? It had to have meant something.
Kenshin shook his head and sighed. Stupid, why is Kenshin moping over the path when it is set and done with? There is nothing that he can do about it, and there is nothing that he will do about it. Toshi is not his child.
~*~*~
"Hey Kenshin," said a familiar voice behind him. Kenshin turned around and dropped the gi that he was washing.
"O, hello Sano," Kenshin gave a small grin. He turned his back towards him and continued washing the gi. Sano's face began to turn red and tightened his fists, "KENSHIN! YOU ASS!" Kenshin sharply turned around and stared at Sano, "Wha-?" Before he could finish his phrase, Sano had already said, "You've been acting real strange ever since we got here! What is wrong with you? YOU ARE HIDING SOMETHING FROM ME I KNOW IT AND YOU BETTER TELL ME OR I'LL FIND OUT SOONER OT LATER!" Sano grabbed the collar of Kenshin's shirt and pulled him up.
"Sano! I have no idea of what you are talking about, that I don't!" Kenshin said, trying to hide his lie with a smile.
"Don't you lie to me Kenshin Himura! I am your friend, and friends tell friends each others secrets whether they like it or not!"
"Sano could you at least answer me this, what is it you want to know?" Sano looked dumbstruck; he did not know how to put his question in words.
"That's what I thought," Kenshin said, kneeling back down to do his work, "Now if you excuse me I have work that I must attend to." Sano crossed his arms over his chest and was about to walk out, then he realized that all the words that he wanted to make up into a question only made one word. or name..
"Toshi," Sano said, with a mischievous on his face, "I want to know why you and Toshi look so much a like. Answer me that Kenshin and I will leave, and don't try lying to me either because I know when you lie!" Kenshin just sat here, from what Sano saw from the back of him it looked as if kenshin was not even breathing. His back was strait and it seemed as if he were paralyzed. He loosened up and Sano noticed that he was washing the gi harder then before.
"I would rather keep that information to myself thankyou," he said in a very poignant votive. He was not angry or annoyed, but Sano could see that there was something else lurking in Kenshin's thoughts.
"Wait, you know Toshi?" Sano said scratching his head.
"I've known Toshi for a long time," Kenshin took the gi and hung it over the clothes line, "Just unfortunately, he doesn't know me, and I helped bring him onto this world also," Kenshin turned around and stared at Sano; his eyes were big and he turned red in shock.
"Wha-what! Kenshin! You are not serious, Toshi is yours? Why does he live with the Zekizuki's?" Kenshin turned around and started to wash a hakama, "First off, he is not mine, like you said, and he lives with the Zekizuki's, so he is not my property. He lives with them because I put him up for adoption. Why I put him up for adoption, is a memory I definitely do not want to think about."
Sano put his hand behind his head and said, "Who else knows about this?"
"Nobody but you, and I would appreciate it if it stayed that way. Do not tell anybody Sano. Especially Ms. Kaoru, please, she is going to want to get involved and I know she is going to be tempted to find Toshi and hint to him."
Sano gave a heavy sigh and said, "Alright, but you know the missy, she is going to find out sooner or later." Kenshin let out a sigh and said, "I have a feeling she will too, but, I want to tell her when I feel ready, do you understand Sano?" Sano gave a nod and said, "Yeah, I get it, who's the mom though?" Kenshin swallowed hard and felt as if cold needles pierced his heart. He closed his eyes and said, "Her name was Tomoe, Tomoe Yukishiro, she mothered my child. I met her a few months after the Tokugawa Regime, when I was still an assassin, and we fell in love. However, she had passed on two months after Toshi was born. I would rather not say how it happened, I told you most of my past, and I would rather keep that part to myself."
Sano closed his eyes and hung his head down, he brought it back up and gave nod, "I understand Kenshin, I didn't mean to bring up old memories pal." Kenshin turned away and placed his head over his scar, and stroked it gently. Though his scar was healing, he knew that it was a memory that was only sinking farther into him.
A/N: Yes, yes, I know that they met BEFORE the Tokugawa Regime, But if ya think about it, it makes more sense if it was after and Kenshin was like still an assassin and yeah. No, I wasn't trying to copy off of the story Two Bed and a Coffee Machine, but it makes more sense, and I don't really want to make up some story of him in the revolution; don't get me wrong, there is still going to be more to it. I just don't want to take the time to figure anything else out.
However even though it took place after the revolution, The whole story line is still the same as it was in the OAV. The way Tomoe dies is the same and yeah. All in all, the whole Tomoe/Kenshin met after the revolution thing was NOT origanally my idea. I mean, I wish I thought of it before, but it didn't work out that way. T_T! AND PLEASE! Don't flame me, give me some credit for admitting this! Moreover, I apologize to the author of Two Beds and A Coffee Machine for the small acknowledgement.
"Please! Please don't kill my brother!" Line` cried.
"Shut up you little bitch!" The man screamed. Spit particles came out of his mouth and splattered on the floor. The man had two stitches: one on his forehead and the other on his right cheek. He had a long and twisted grin. His eyebrows met together to form a unibrow.
Kenshin glared at him and walked towards him. However, he felt somewhat weak. Inside, panic was overflowing. He had always knew what to do when someone was about to kill another, but this was completely different. He actually felt the fear that any parent would feel when they saw their child in this situation. Toshi was hanging by his neck, which was caught in the robbers arm. Toshi could only cling onto his arm so he would not choke.
Kenshin could feel his triceps begin to shake. Before he drew his sword, he looked at where he was aiming at, which would be the knife of course.
"O! I see the guy with the sword wants to mess! Why are you just standing there? Don'tcha want to save your kid?" The man started to laugh, and spit all over the floor again. Kenshin just glared, "Put him down." The man just laughed some more, "Put him down? "
The robber laugher again, "Do you actually think that I am going to listen to you just like that? Please! You and your scrawny body couldn't put a scratch on me even if you tried!" The robber looked at the store clerk, "Give me the money now! Or there will be child's blood all over the floor!" He just began to laugh more, he looked down to see that his right arm was not choking Toshi and his knife was shattered on the floor.
The robber looked behind him and saw Kenshin with a sword in one hand and Toshi in the other.
"Do you actually want to go any further?" Kenshin said, his back still turned to the robber, and his voice was on the verge of it sounding like ice, "You will not win either way, so I suggest that you turn yourself into the police, before I have to force you to."
The robber's eyes bulged. He put his hands out and started to shake them. He was hoping that Kenshin would not attack again.
"Uhh, yeah, I didn't mean to mess wit' yer son like that! Uh yeah!" The robber turned around to make his get away but ran into somebody who he definitely hoped not to.
"Where do you think your going?" Said a police officer with four bangs down his face and narrow, amber eyes that shined. "So? It is you again? Uggh, more third rank fighting scum I have to deal with," He said, picking up the robber by his shirt.
"Saitou?" Said Kenshin, holding Toshi even closer, "What are you doing in Kyoto?" Saitou gave Kenshin a smile, which only hid the hatred for him, "Well, Himura, as a police officer it is my duty. Overall, I was assigned to watch Kyoto. Well, anyway, I appreciate your help, but you should really stop being the hero and let the police have a turn. Good day." Saitou handcuffed the robber and dragged him out of the store. Kenshin only shook his head as he turned around to look at Sano, who was turning red in anger.
"WHAT AN ASS! LET THE POLICE HAVE A TURN WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! WHY DON'T THE SHOW UP ON TIME AND MAYBE THEY'LL GET A TURN!" Sano was just about to go walk out after Saitou, until Kenshin sheathed his sword and grabbed Sano's collar.
"Sano, please don't make a scene, those are words came out of a man who only looks at other lives as percentage." Kenshin let go of his collar as Sano loosened himself, and said, "Yeah, your right." Kenshin changed his view towards Toshi; he was looking behind himself, he seemed frozen in fear. Toshi's left hand was against Kenshin's chest for support.
"At least nobody died," Toshi had said, turning farther back to see the crying clerk, "I don't like it when people die, 'cause then they have no where else to go." Kenshin only stared at him. He was not sure whether to put him down or not, since it was like holding his baby boy again. Well, Toshi was his boy, but the only difference was that Kenshin was not his father, at least the father that he should have been. Line` ran up to Toshi, and pulled him out of Kenshin's arms, squeezed him as tight as she could, literally choking him, and cried, "O Toshi! I thought that you were going to die!"
Toshi was trying to push her away, choking out the words, "Thanks!" When Toshi had finally gotten out of her grip, he looked upon at Kenshin and hugged his leg. Kenshin just continued to look at him. Toshi released and walked towards his sister, she grabbed his hand and Toshi said his final words to Kenshin, "Your name is Kenshin Himura, right? I'll definitely remember that name!"
*~*~*
Kenshin sat on the porch of the Aowiya, staring off into nothing. Just thinking. He looked at the open area and imagined Toshi and him just playing out there, holding Toshi close to him and spinning around. Kenshin buried his face in his hands and thought. If he had kept Toshi, Kenshin was more then sure that he would be far happier then he is now.
He could have been a father to Toshi; he had always been wonderful with children. Toshi could have been just as happy as he is now. Kenshin just had a feeling that he would have been a great father to Toshi.
Moreover, if Kenshin never put Toshi up for adoption, chances were that Toshi would have been Kenshin's second sheath. Kenshin would have never joined the Tokugawa Regime, he would have never have added the numbers of people he killed. Moreover, the lives that he had already taken, he could have repented every single one of them if he stayed as an apothecary and made medicine for those who were about to die, or cure.
Kenshin would have never been known as the man he was now, the cross shape scar was not complete until me entered the Meiji war. He would have never of had the enemies that he had. Toshi could have saved Kenshin from everything.
What was Kenshin thinking?
Kenshin could not afford Toshi; it is not his job to take care of him. Toshi is happy too, Kenshin is also happy; this is just how the road was set for them. The Lord blessed Kenshin with Toshi because it was Kenshin's job to bring him to the world, and set him off on his own path.
But what about Tomoe? In the dream, Tomoe desperate to see her child, but then again, it was only a dream. But something like that? It had to have meant something.
Kenshin shook his head and sighed. Stupid, why is Kenshin moping over the path when it is set and done with? There is nothing that he can do about it, and there is nothing that he will do about it. Toshi is not his child.
~*~*~
"Hey Kenshin," said a familiar voice behind him. Kenshin turned around and dropped the gi that he was washing.
"O, hello Sano," Kenshin gave a small grin. He turned his back towards him and continued washing the gi. Sano's face began to turn red and tightened his fists, "KENSHIN! YOU ASS!" Kenshin sharply turned around and stared at Sano, "Wha-?" Before he could finish his phrase, Sano had already said, "You've been acting real strange ever since we got here! What is wrong with you? YOU ARE HIDING SOMETHING FROM ME I KNOW IT AND YOU BETTER TELL ME OR I'LL FIND OUT SOONER OT LATER!" Sano grabbed the collar of Kenshin's shirt and pulled him up.
"Sano! I have no idea of what you are talking about, that I don't!" Kenshin said, trying to hide his lie with a smile.
"Don't you lie to me Kenshin Himura! I am your friend, and friends tell friends each others secrets whether they like it or not!"
"Sano could you at least answer me this, what is it you want to know?" Sano looked dumbstruck; he did not know how to put his question in words.
"That's what I thought," Kenshin said, kneeling back down to do his work, "Now if you excuse me I have work that I must attend to." Sano crossed his arms over his chest and was about to walk out, then he realized that all the words that he wanted to make up into a question only made one word. or name..
"Toshi," Sano said, with a mischievous on his face, "I want to know why you and Toshi look so much a like. Answer me that Kenshin and I will leave, and don't try lying to me either because I know when you lie!" Kenshin just sat here, from what Sano saw from the back of him it looked as if kenshin was not even breathing. His back was strait and it seemed as if he were paralyzed. He loosened up and Sano noticed that he was washing the gi harder then before.
"I would rather keep that information to myself thankyou," he said in a very poignant votive. He was not angry or annoyed, but Sano could see that there was something else lurking in Kenshin's thoughts.
"Wait, you know Toshi?" Sano said scratching his head.
"I've known Toshi for a long time," Kenshin took the gi and hung it over the clothes line, "Just unfortunately, he doesn't know me, and I helped bring him onto this world also," Kenshin turned around and stared at Sano; his eyes were big and he turned red in shock.
"Wha-what! Kenshin! You are not serious, Toshi is yours? Why does he live with the Zekizuki's?" Kenshin turned around and started to wash a hakama, "First off, he is not mine, like you said, and he lives with the Zekizuki's, so he is not my property. He lives with them because I put him up for adoption. Why I put him up for adoption, is a memory I definitely do not want to think about."
Sano put his hand behind his head and said, "Who else knows about this?"
"Nobody but you, and I would appreciate it if it stayed that way. Do not tell anybody Sano. Especially Ms. Kaoru, please, she is going to want to get involved and I know she is going to be tempted to find Toshi and hint to him."
Sano gave a heavy sigh and said, "Alright, but you know the missy, she is going to find out sooner or later." Kenshin let out a sigh and said, "I have a feeling she will too, but, I want to tell her when I feel ready, do you understand Sano?" Sano gave a nod and said, "Yeah, I get it, who's the mom though?" Kenshin swallowed hard and felt as if cold needles pierced his heart. He closed his eyes and said, "Her name was Tomoe, Tomoe Yukishiro, she mothered my child. I met her a few months after the Tokugawa Regime, when I was still an assassin, and we fell in love. However, she had passed on two months after Toshi was born. I would rather not say how it happened, I told you most of my past, and I would rather keep that part to myself."
Sano closed his eyes and hung his head down, he brought it back up and gave nod, "I understand Kenshin, I didn't mean to bring up old memories pal." Kenshin turned away and placed his head over his scar, and stroked it gently. Though his scar was healing, he knew that it was a memory that was only sinking farther into him.
A/N: Yes, yes, I know that they met BEFORE the Tokugawa Regime, But if ya think about it, it makes more sense if it was after and Kenshin was like still an assassin and yeah. No, I wasn't trying to copy off of the story Two Bed and a Coffee Machine, but it makes more sense, and I don't really want to make up some story of him in the revolution; don't get me wrong, there is still going to be more to it. I just don't want to take the time to figure anything else out.
However even though it took place after the revolution, The whole story line is still the same as it was in the OAV. The way Tomoe dies is the same and yeah. All in all, the whole Tomoe/Kenshin met after the revolution thing was NOT origanally my idea. I mean, I wish I thought of it before, but it didn't work out that way. T_T! AND PLEASE! Don't flame me, give me some credit for admitting this! Moreover, I apologize to the author of Two Beds and A Coffee Machine for the small acknowledgement.