Chapter Three: Of Women and Taxes
*Kaoru looked up, eyes wide with relief when Yahiko came running back into the dojo, followed closely by Sano and Megumi.
"You're back!"
"I hear we have a problem with Sir Ken?" Megumi drawled sweetly. Kaoru's eyes darkened, and the smile that had lingered upon his lips vanished.
"We should have called Doctor Genzai." She muttered.
"But you didn't, so let me take a look." Sano smirked at Megumi's forwardness and ability to take Kaoru's mood in stride, but then became serious.
"Just do your job Fox."
"Megumi, Kenshin told me he felt dizzy, hot, and that he ached. Then he collapsed. I think he has a fever too."
"Sounds like a flu." The doctor mussed as she bent down over Kenshin's body. "Sanosuke, can you carry Kenshin into his room? It'll be easier to treat him if he's in bed. Maybe you can change him into a yukata? He'd be more comfortable."
"Sure." With ease Sano bent down and picked up the limp form of the redheaded warrior. The procession of people followed him as he walked down the hall of the dojo to Kenshin's room.
"We women will wait out here until Sanosuke is done changing Sir Ken." Megumi stopped herself and Kaoru before they could go in.
"Well, I'm no woman, and I'm going in to make sure Kenshin doesn't die." Yahiko glared and stomped in after Sano, shutting the door behind him.
"He won't die!" Megumi called after him to no avail. "Well, boys will be boys, isn't that right Miss Kaoru?"
"I suppose." Kaoru took her eyes off of Kenshin's door long enough to eye the fox.
"Oh Kaoru, don't be such a skeptic. Sir Ken is a remarkable man; he'll be better in no time. It's the common flu, everyone is susceptible at one time or another."
"I'm not worried." Kaoru's eyes narrowed as her focus shifted completely to Megumi.
"Oh, I see. You're simply disappointed I wouldn't let you go in to see Sir Ken undressed." Kaoru's faced flushed deep rouge, and her temper flared.
"Now listen here you, you, dirty woman! I may not be the most elegant woman, or the most beautiful woman, or even the smartest woman, but I would never consider something so, so, perverted!" Megumi almost looked shocked.
"Kaoru, I was simply joking!" Kaoru blinked and took a few deep breaths.
"Oh. Well, even so…"
"Besides. You aren't really any sort of woman. You're more a little girl really." Megumi snickered. Just as Kaoru raised her hand to slap her, Sano slid the door open.
"He's dressed. You two can stop your fighting now."
"Fighting? Us? Sano, you don't give us enough credit. Miss Kaoru here and I can get along just fine."
"Unless Kenshin is involved." Sano growled. Kaoru looked sharply at him, but made no comment to his harsh tone. Then she stepped in front of Megumi and gave him a large smile.
"Sano, honestly! We weren't fighting." And with that the Assistant Master of the Kamiya Kashinn Ryu style waltzed through the door and took a seat on the floor beside Kenshin's futon.
"No need to be jealous, love." Megumi whispered and giggled as she walked in after Kaoru. Sano stood in the door for a moment, struck with momentary lapse in memory, then quickly raced to sit beside Megumi as she poked and prodded Kenshin.
"Well? Do you know what he has?" Yahiko asked impatiently.
"Just a flu, like I thought. I'll give you some medicine for when he wakes up, but other than that all he needs is rest and lots of fluids and he'll be just fine. The way you three are worrying you'd think he were dying of some new killer plague." Megumi laughed evilly as both Sanosuke and Yahiko sunk into the floor, hoping their blushing cheeks would go unnoticed. But Kaoru remained still, her sight trained on Kenshin's prone form as he lay in a sweaty and uneasy sleep.
"Well, since I'm done here, Miss Kaoru, here is the medicine, you can boil those leaves into tea if you'd like, make sure he drinks it all though, and call me in a few days if he doesn't improve. Sano, would you mind walking me into town? I'd like some help in my clinic, if you're not too busy."
"Sure fox." Sano smirked, very good-naturedly.
"Yahiko, go with them." Kaoru ordered. Sano's smirk and Megumi's smile dropped.
"What?" All three of them yelped.
"Shh! You'll wake him!" Kaoru glared darkly at them. "I need something for dinner tonight, unless you'd rather go hungry?"
"No, I'll go!" Yahiko jumped up.
"Tofu it is then." Kaoru nodded. Yahiko stood and the three of them left the room as quietly as possible, none wanting to incur the wrath of an angry Kaoru.
After they left, Kaoru continued to sit and stare at Kenshin. It was as if she were in a trance, and her worry kept her captive. Every second she feared Kenshin would stop breathing, or his pulse would stop, or that he would simply never wake from his dreams. It was a sweet agony watching her rurouni as he breathed in deeply, his chest rising and falling ever so slightly, his thin lips drawn into a tight frown, his soft face suddenly hardened with the angles that meant nightmares had entered his mind… never had she worried so over such a small detail.
"Miss Kaoru…" His lips formed the words, the sounds barely traveling to her ears.
"Shh Kenshin, I'm here." She tried to comfort him, to reach him. But he was trapped within the shadows of his mind, in the deep crevices which no light could reach. He did not hear her reassuring words. Kaoru lightly placed her hand upon his forehead and pressed down, feeling the fever radiate heat from his skin.
"Miss Kaoru…" He called again. She looked at him, slightly surprised. Why did he worry about her? She knew he cared… he would never have put up with her for so long if he didn't, let alone save her time and time again from dangerous situations she placed herself in, still…He never expressed his feelings towards her.
Kaoru reached over for the bowl Megumi had left beside the futon. It was filled with cool water. But she had no cloth. Reaching up, she gingerly untied her favorite hair ribbon and dipped it into the water. Running it across Kenshin's forehead, she hoped it would calm his fever and fear that she had been abducted or hurt. Poor Kenshin. Well, she would take care of him regardless.
When Yahiko called softly to her from across the dojo, Kaoru looked at the still sleeping man longingly.
"Don't worry Kenshin. I won't be gone long, I promise. And I'll bring you back something to eat too." Rising, she took one last look at him before she stepped out of his room and shut the door behind her. "Yahiko?"
"Hey raccoon! Kenshin up yet?" Kaoru glared, but after sitting inside all day with a sick Kenshin she felt tired herself, and had no energy left to pound any manners into the brat.
"No, he's still sleeping. But I think his fever's gone down a little."
"That's good. So what's for dinner?"
"Is that all you can think about at a time like this? You lazy boy!" Kaoru yelled in a sudden burst of vigor.
"I can't help the fact that my stomach's aching because I'm so hungry." Yahiko whined. "Besides. Kenshin would understand, and I'm sure he's hungry too. Plus, we have to put up with your cooking! I mean, you should be thankful we're eating it!" Yahiko never saw the bokken as it swung around and smacked him hard on the head.
"Man, you're an evil ugly raccoon tonight!" Yahiko yelled.
"That's it! Out! Go find Sano and learn to freeload from him, because there'll be no more free handouts from me tonight! If you're so hungry, go get food from him and stop whining about my cooking!" Kaoru yelled.
"Kaoru…"
"Out!" She yelled, her cheeks turning a brilliant red. Yahiko had heard enough to know he had better get out, or else, so he turned tail and ran. Kaoru smiled at herself for her great job. She had finally done what she had wanted to do for a while now, put Yahiko in his place! As much as she enjoyed their constant fighting, now was not a time when she could deal with it. She had too much to worry over right now, what with Kenshin being ill, and the dojo…
As she began to fry the tofu that Yahiko had left behind, Kaoru engrossed herself in the work, trying hard to ignore the problems that were plaguing her thoughts. But as each moment passed, they lingered longer and more prominently than ever before. As she boiled the water for tea, salty tears began to slowly leak from the corners of her eyes.
Why her? It wasn't fair. Why had her father chosen to give her the dojo? Why not another of his trusted students? Why not a man? Surely the government would have listened to a man if he had asked for more time to raise money for taxes on the land. Surely the government would have understood if a man had told them a shrine was sacred, and that it was a place that should not be taxed.
But no one listened to her, the Assistant Master, simply because she was a woman. What had her father been thinking? Even in the Meiji Era, women had no more sway in what men did or in the government than before. Nothing had changed for them.
And now she was paying the price. Or rather, not able to pay the price. Even with all of her outside lessons, even with the odd jobs she completed outside the dojo, it was still not enough to pay the new taxes that were being demanded upon the Kamiya Dojo. And to top it all off, Kenshin, the one man whom she drew real strength and courage from, whether he knew it or not, was sick.
Sighing tiredly, Kaoru looked over the dojo. It stood, as it had for so many years, as a symbol of light and peace in the dark and troubled times that had fallen upon the world. But so many failed to see it. Never had she felt more alone than she did at that very moment. But when the fire beside her crackled, she jumped.
No! She would not go down this easily! She would remain strong, as her family had done for generations, as her father had done, as Kenshin continued to, and fight till the end and beyond. She still had a week to make enough money to pay for the taxes. She would think of something…
Maybe she could send Yahiko away with Sano and Megumi for the rest of the week, no, maybe she could send Kenshin and Yahiko away with Sano and Megumi for a week, and while they were gone work like she never before had and earn the money. She knew it would be too hard to convince any of them to let her work if they were around, but this was her debt, and she could not accept their help this time. Maybe she could work part time at the Akabeko, and perhaps do a few odd jobs for others around town. If she did that, and stinted herself from eating for a week, she might have just barely enough to cover the payments due. Yes, it was a brilliant idea.
"Miss Kaoru?" She gasped and looked up. Through the smoke of the fire she could see Kenshin was standing on the porch in his yukata, leaning heavily against the railing for support.
"Kenshin! You're not supposed to be out here, you are supposed to be inside resting! You're sick!"
"But Miss Kaoru, you will need help with dinner and chores, that you will." He sneezed, and she heard him strangle back a groan.
"Not true! I lived here in the dojo alone long before you came here Kenshin; I'm perfectly capable of taking care of things on my own. Now I want you to go back inside and lay back down! Megumi gave me some medicine, and I've just boiled it into a tea for you."
"Miss Kaoru, I would prefer not laying back down, you will need my help." Kaoru stood angrily, not taking notice that Kenshin's once soft and bleary royal purple eyes had become light lilac and glared harshly beyond her.
"Kenshin! I said inside! You're sick! I won't let you make it worse!"
"So your man is sick is he?" A deep, feral laugh boomed in her ear. Kaoru gasped and jumped back, almost falling into the fire. Behind her stood seven soldiers, all with swords belted at their hips and mean gleams in their dark eyes. *
~~~Oh, cliffy! This is a check in point… everyone ready to review? PLEASE DO! Much love, Vixen~~~