Disclaimer: I didn't create them, didn't buy them, and weren't given them. So Rurouni Kenshin is still not mine.
Chapter Twelve
"Hey Girly Man! Hand me that piece of wood!"
"Um, I have a name de gozaru," the redhead replied, following instructions still the same. "It's Himura Kenshin."
Futashi rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just stay off the roof and do what I tell you to."
"Hai, hai."
The conversation between them hadn't changed much from that for the past hour. Futashi had naturally woken up during all the commotion that occurred upon Obaga's arrival. However, after having joined in the activities himself for a good 30 minutes, the boy's older sister had snapped at him with a reminder that the roof still needed repair. Immediately he went back to work (who could blame him with a warning like the one she gave him?), but left the "welcoming committee" to take care of their new guest.
Little progress was made alone. Heck, Himura had worsened the damage trying to fix it himself. But a boy of Futashi's weight and size simply couldn't handle the task without help, and since Nuhiro was busy being… "entertained," that left Himura up for carpenter duty again; even if it only was an assistant position.
The banishment of the roof stayed firm however, and Kenshin had to stay on the ladder leading up to the housetop, handing and steadying whatever he could for Futashi until the job would be done.
"I meant the other piece of wood! The long one on your left!"
"That's my right de gozaru. It's your left."
"Just hand it to me!"
"Hai, hai," the 19-year old obeyed, eyebrow twitching just a slight fraction as he kept his patience in check.
The job wasn't going to be done for a while.
Himura had to admit though that he was getting a little bored just handing things off and unable to do much else. Well… Watching Nuhiro and the little hellions had a high amusement factor, but Futashi kept berating him for not paying attention. This sometimes led to the boy tattling to his sister who then would really give him an earful. It was best to stick one's mind to the task at hand (not matter how dull it seemed).
"So how long have you and your sister lived here, Futashi-kun?" he asked, hoping to occupy the spare time and come to more friendly terms with the boy.
Nikko's little brother merely paused to raise an eyebrow at him suspiciously (that seemed to run in the family). "Why do you want to know?" he asked.
"Just curious de gozaru," the redhead replied, waving his hands in a disarming manner. Hey, it had worked on his sister, maybe it'd work on him too. "Did you live here all your life? Are you like these other children, being born and raised here?"
The boy paused, then gave him a stony glare. "Was that an indirect way of calling my mother a skank?"
"Oro?! N-no, of course not!"
"What about your kaasan?" Futashi egged on. "How do I know she didn't work in a brothel?"
Himura frowned at that. "Now listen here! My okaasan-"
"Was so fat, when she sat by Mt. Fuji people couldn't tell the difference between them!"
Futashi abruptly burst into a hysterical bout of laughter while Himura couldn't decide if he would use an "oro" or a 2x4 to answer to that. Before he could choose anything however, the boy was back with more.
"Your kaasan was so fat, her geta were tree trunks! They couldn't find a kimono her size! Her obi doubles as a red carpet! Whoo-ee, I'm on a roll!"
The 2x4 was sounding really good by now.
Himura bristled under the insults, appalled and infuriated at the rude gall of his kid. Offending people must've been a family trait, because he and his sister had that talent in spades! While he knew he could never really bring himself to beat some sense into the boy (although it was very, very tempting right now…), two could play at this game. Futashi was about to learn a similar lesson that Obaga did.
Nobody trash talks the Battousai's okaachan… er, okaasan.
Futashi grilled up for another one, enjoying the faces Himura was making. "Your kaasan's so fat-"
"Your kaasan's so fat, she has to take her baths in the sea! And then she's so ugly, the fish die at the sight of her. …De gozaru yo," he added for emphasis.
Futashi stared wide-eyed for a moment, shocked that he received retaliation, and that it was a double-whammy at that! …Maybe not the most original, but a double-whammy nonetheless. Himura for his part had his arms crossed defiantly, but he wasn't smirking in triumph. There was merely a look in his eyes that stated he was ready to meet whatever was thrown at him. In other words, it was a challenge. Futashi liked challenges.
"Your kaasan's so ugly she pickles plums just by looking at them."
"Your kaasan's so dumb she wraps the rice around the nori."
"You kaasan's so fat the boat had to load her as cargo when she vacationed to China!"
"Your kaasan was the boat to China!"
Needless to say it carried on like this for quite a while until eventually both ran out of ideas and eventually got caught in a childish return of one line.
"Your kaasan!"
"No, your kaasan!"
"No, your kaasan!!"
"Your kaasan de gozaru yo!!"
"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON UP THERE?!?!"
The "discussion" came to a dead halt and both males peered down the hole to find a very irate and pregnant Nikko glaring murder at the both of them.
"Well?" she asked through gritted teeth.
Crap, Himura thought. The kid's gonna rat on me and of course she's not gonna believe me, and I am so dead de gozaru yo…
"Nothin' oneesan. We're just talking."
I knew it! He took advantage of this and made me look bad and… and… And what did he just say?
"Just talking?" Nikko inquired, clearly disbelieving. "Talking about what?" She turned an expectant eye to Himura.
"Anou…" The redhead sweated nervously under that piercing glare. However, it seem to phase the young boy.
"Guy stuff, oneesan!" Futashi answered indignantly. "And we can't tell you about guy stuff! It's just between guys!"
"Of course," they heard her mutter before turning up at them again with a still angry look, although Himura was sure that it wasn't as menacing as it was a moment ago. "Well all of your 'guy talk' isn't getting the roof fixed! I want that thing done by tomorrow, ya hear? Yuiishi-sama will here soon, but I want you two to keep working until then! Got it?"
"Hai oneesan," Futashi said with a roll of his eyes.
"Hai Nikko-dono," Kenshin replied with more humility.
Casting them one last lingering glance, she sighed irritably and walked away muttering something incoherent, but unpleasant-sounding all the same, under her breath.
Himura turned back to Futashi, wanting to say something but unsure of how to say it. A moment ago they had been throwing the worst insults at each other but now… Well, right now Futashi wasn't even looking at him. The boy suddenly looked to be completely absorbed by his work, absently instructing the other to hand him more supplies. Himura couldn't quite understand what this meant, but the boy seemed to be contemplating something other than where to place the wood and nails.
Just as the Ishin Shishi had decided to let the kid alone to his thoughts, Futashi spoke.
"My sister and I came here last year," he said, not taking his eyes away from what his hands were doing. "We were both born in a good home to good parents." A pause in his hammering, then the boy straightened up, turned, and stared Himura straight in the face. "My mother was the wife of a samurai." There was no mention of rank. "She died before my sister and I came here."
Himura met his gaze steadily, and paused before contributing. "Mine was the wife of a farmer. She died when I was too young to remember much about her."
They held eye contact. "It must be sad not to remember much about your own okaasan."
"…Sometimes," he confessed.
Futashi nodded once and turned back to the repairs, briefly adding, "I bet she was nice."
Himura's answer was murmured, hence it lost to the competition of the noisy hammering.
"I think she was."
A small smile, the most genuine he'd given in a long time, graced his lips, silent and unseen.
…And then his mouth opened in a wide surprise when he was nearly yanked down the ladder. "Ororororoooo!!!" Looking down, he found Obaga clinging to his hakama in a desperate attempt to pull himself to higher ground away from the mob of children.
"Tasukete, Himura-dono!!" he wailed.
"Hey, watch it! You nearly pulled me off de gozaru!"
"Tsukete!"
"What happened to 'they're just kids?'"
"I never proclaimed being good with kids."
"Well let go! You're still pulling me down!"
"Grab him!" one of the children cried, and a moment later, four of them had a firm grip on the edge of Obaga's pants. "Pull!!"
"ORO!!!" both rurounis cried in unison as the ladder itself became pulled from its resting position against the house. And the more the kids tugged, the further they got from it until the ladder was nearly standing up on its own.
"Futashi-kun, I could use some assistance!" Himura shouted, trying to lean his weight in so he could move the ladder the other way. Futashi was quickly to his feet and using a piece of shingling for Himura to grab and pull himself in with. The swordsman grabbed the board and let out a sigh of relief. The boy had helped him once before and now was aiding him once again. It seemed like they had finally become friends!
…At least it seemed that way until Futashi gave the board one solid shove, tipping the scales of balance and sending the two men reeling the other way. …You know, the way that led them to crashing painfully into the ground.
"I think this will hurt de gozaru," Obaga informed his student as the earth rapidly came up to greet them.
"Thanks for the newsflash."
"Your welcome. …Do I know what a newsflash is?"
"Uh…"
(*CRASH*)
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"Itadakimasu!" the small band of children chorused happily before devouring their dinners. Himura accepted his in a similar manner, but not quite as much enthusiasm. The head mistress, Yuiishi Nanari, had not joined them that evening on the account that she was expected to host the events in the main hall that night. Asuka had come with the faithful delivery however, and she and Nikko were currently serving the others. Obaga Nuhiro meanwhile…
"Aren't you going to join us, Obaga-san?" Nikko asked, absently wiping clean one of the smaller children's mouths as she observed the old samurai heading towards the gate.
"Sumimasen, but I have some errands to run!" the elder announced, almost looking a little too anxious to leave the yard, nervously eyeing the kids out of the corner of his eye. "I should be back before dark! Ja ne!"
"But it's dark now," Nikko replied, but the man was already gone. She cast a glance at the sky, noting the approaching twilight. "At least it will be soon." She sighed. "What kind of chores could that man possibly have now? And why didn't he take care of them earlier?"
"He's actually been out 'doing chores' a lot lately," Asuka informed, sensing the opportunity to gossip. "As to what these chores are though, I'm not entirely sure."
"Doesn't Yuiishi-dono send him to do the chores in town?" Himura interrupted, quickly becoming drawn into the conversation about his companion. Even though Asuka had often kept aloof around him ever since the destruction of her favorite kimono, it seemed even a sour memory couldn't stop the brothel girl from spilling these beans.
"Some yes," she told him, "but not enough to account for all the times he's been out. Just this morning I caught him leaving and when I asked where he was going, he said he was going off to buy tofu."
"What's so strange about that?" Nikko inquired.
"He forgot the tofu bucket, and came back empty handed this afternoon."
There was just enough pause following that sentence to arouse an air of mystery.
"Maybe he came back earlier with it and you just missed him," Nikko reasoned, although she was obviously curious as well.
"What about forgetting the bucket?"
"Maybe he got a new one."
"Well then where did he go afterwards?"
"Maybe Yuiishi-sama sent him out for another chore!"
"Why wouldn't she just have them do it both at once?"
"Maybe she forgot!" the pregnant woman replied, annoyed by all the questions but even more worried by the fact that the answers seemed less and less likely. Heck, the thought of Nuhiro getting a new bucket himself was completely loony.
"That still doesn't explain why he's been out so much," Asuka pointed out, pouting at the fact that most of her dramatics had been shot down by Nikko's ever-cynical nature. Suddenly looking enlightened by an idea, she turned to the redhead. "What do you know, Himura? He's your uncle or teacher or something, isn't he? You came here with him. What's he been up to?"
"Oro?"
Asuka's countenance immediately darkened. "Don't try that 'oro' stunt on me now, rurouni. Cough it up or I'll reach down your throat and pull it out myself."
Himura gulped. He never knew women could be so frightening.
"I really don't know," he confessed with a sheepish grin. Then, as Asuka armed herself with a rice paddle, he hastily added, "I only don't know where he's been because I've been doing laundry the whole time! Well, either that or I've been here! I've only been in town with him twice! Once for shopping, another for sparring!" Er, well, this isn't counting the stuff before coming here…
"Are you sure?" Asuka asked warningly.
"Positive de gozaru!" It was his turn to look thoughtful. "Although I am curious to know where he's been too now. I didn't even realize he was sneaking out anywhere."
"This is if he's sneaking out at all," Nikko interjected. Asuka looked like she was about to argue when the woman added, "I'm not saying he isn't, but you can't keep jumping to conclusions about everybody over every little thing. You can keep an eye on him if it makes you feel better, Askua-chan, but don't just go off and suspect him of the worst without any evidence."
Look who's talking! Himura wanted to say, but didn't.
"And Himura, I think it's your duty as his pupil or whatever to find out what he's up to."
"We expect a full report tomorrow evening," the other young woman remarked. Nikko shot her a side-ways glance but said nothing in protest.
"How am I supposed to do that?" the 19-year old asked. Both girls shrugged.
"Don't know," one said.
"Don't care," the other ended.
The young swordsman frowned. "Glad to have your support."
End of chapter twelve.
Author's Notes:
Good news! After posting the previous chapter, I did a lot of brainstorming for this story and have plotted out a path! ...Of course, some of it has to be revised because by now we were supposed to know more about Nikko's past. But that "Mama joke" scene came out of no where and I didn't have the heart to erase it and start over. ^^; Blah, I can't tell a Mama Joke to save my life, but I tried to make up/revise some so that they would be "Japanese Mama Jokes" (a.k.a. "Your Kaasan Jokes). I hope I didn't offend anyone's ears by telling them so badly. Oh well. When else are you ever gonna hear Battousai go off on Mama Jokes? I couldn't resist.
I appreicate the support, ideas, and help that people offered me. I had already known where I was taking the story, it was just a problem of how to get there. I think I have most of it covered now though.
Unfortunately, while I have a destination and a path to get there, I still won't be pumping these chapters out like I have before. School and work are catching up with me real hard right now. But I will endure and persist! Just be patient with me, minna. ^^
Again, thanks for all of your help and support! Stay tuned! Oh, and before I forget! I have one word for reviewer Sakura MysticMoon.
Deal. ^_^