Standard disclaimers apply

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karou was having a hard time coping with her feelings. She was still so uncertain about what she wanted to happen. When Enishi said that he wouldn't let her even attempt to return Kenshin to his true age, she had felt a stab of relief. She had been happy. Shouldn't she have felt distress at his words?

"Come on, Sano!" Yahiko shouted encouragingly to the tall ex-gangster. He had a firm grip on Karou's arms and was watching the fight with a rapt expression mixed evenly with worry.

Sano hadn't wasted any time in attacking the white haired man. The fact that Enishi was unarmed only even the playing field in his mind because he didn't have any weapons other then his fists either.

Karou's sapphire blue eyes swept up from the ground. She had been gazing at it absently while trying to sort out her feelings. The fight had just begun.

"Futae no kiwami!" Sano shouted out the name of his most destructive technique as he charged foreword, the ends of his red headband trailing behind him and his shirt blowing back.

Enishi twisted out of the way with ease, or so it seemed. He didn't move fast enough. He barely cleared Sano's punch's range. The devastating shot grazed his left cheek, drawing blood and starting to discolor the skin.

Everyone seemed surprised that it had connected. Sano didn't let waste a second though. If he was going to win the fight, he realized that he was going to have to press any advantage he got. And having Enishi take a Futae no Kiwami to the face was definitely an advantage.

In less then the space of a minute he had sent a powerful kick straight at Enishi's head.

Enishi caught the kick and swept Sano's supporting foot out from under him. As the brown haired fighter toppled to the ground he continued his attack by going to a strike to the head.

Sano's stamina hadn't been affected by the attack at all. The only thing that had happened was he lost his footing. He still had his breath and wits about him. He bunched his legs together and kicked up just as Enishi came into range.

Enishi staggered backwards, blood trailing from his mouth. He turned his head slightly to the side, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the dirt road they were fighting on.

Karou stared at him. Something was wrong. If he could go toe to toe with Kenshin at the height of his strength and power, then he should have been more then a match for Sano. The fight should have ended already.

Sano had been training, but as far as Karou knew, he hadn't gotten that much better yet. He was still the same as he had always been, with slight improvements in technique only.

As for Enishi, she didn't know what he had been doing since his fight with Kenshin and escape from the police. In fact, all that she knew was that he had been in Hokkaido when the Shinto priest had turned Kenshin into a baby.

Her eyes widened. That would mean that he was still recovering from his long trek to Tokyo. When he had arrived he had even collapsed from exhaustion. He wasn't in any condition to fight. His body was still trying to send him the signal for sleep. Just because he was ignoring it didn't mean that he wasn't feeling it. He had to fight, but his body wasn't ready.

Meanwhile, during the fight, Sano had landed a series of powerful punches along Enishi's chest. The white haired man didn't seem to want to continue the fight. He didn't look capable of winning.

Then he straightened up, wiping blood from his mouth. He raised his hand and motioned for Sano to attack again.

Sano was only happy to comply. He shot foreword and smashed his fist into Enishi's face. This time Enishi hadn't even bothered to attempt to dodge. He smashed his own fist straight into Sano's throat even as the ex-gangsters punch connected with his face.

Sano sprang back, coughing blood and trying to get air through his suddenly bruised throat. "Cheep shot," he rasped.

"I don't give a damm how you want me to fight," Enishi said. His voice sounded tired and he kept glancing at Karou.

"Leave her out of this!" Sano raged. He raised his fist and charged. "Futae no Kiwami!" he shouted, pouring all of his anger into the punch. Even as he approached his target, he knew that this was his most powerful attack ever.

From the sidelines, Yahiko's grip on Karou's arms faded. "He's actually doing it. He's winning against Yukishiro!" Yahiko exclaimed in amazement. "Just wait until I tell Kenshin."

"Amazing," Megumi commented. She was watching Sano fight with awe carefully concealed on his face. "And I won't even have to bandage him up that much," she added.

Karou was watching Sano charge in with victory written on his face. Enishi, she noticed, also had victory written on his face.

No matter who won, she was going to be bandaging one of them up. She didn't want either of them to win, but she didn't want either to lose. She had to do something to stop them, but nothing but fuzzy static was frizzing through his overloaded mind.

In her arms, Kenshin cooed happily, clearing her thoughts. If Kenshin were in a fight with a friend or at least guest, he wouldn't attack if she placed herself between him and his opponent.

Although she wasn't a hundred percent certain that it was a good idea to do during a fight with Sano, she launched herself foreword. Her sandals slipping in the loosed gravel as she threw one arm to the side.

"Stop!" she shouted. She had herself facing Enishi, and watched his eyes widen more then she thought was possible.

Before she had even come to a complete stop herself, Enishi had pushed Karou's shoulder, spinning her behind him.

Sano's Futae no Kiwami hit him in the middle of the back. He dropped to his knees, grunting in pain. "Are you okay?" he asked her, his teeth clenched to keep from crying out in pain.

Karou stared accusingly at Sano, who had a look of shock combined with disbelief. "Why didn't you stop!" she exclaimed.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Sano shot back. "You don't just leap into the middle of a fight like that. . . . . .What if I had hit you?" He didn't sound accusing, just shocked.

Karou ignored him and knelt down beside Enishi, who had dropped to his knees. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Sano, you almost hit Karou!" Yahiko exclaimed behind her.

"I . . . . . I couldn't stop. I was too close to her. . . . ." Sano sank to his knees, shock still plastered across his face. "If Yukishiro hadn't . . . . . " he started to say, but his words trailed off. They all knew just how strong his punch was against rocks; it would have been devastating against Karou's back.

Karou's eyes flickered up to him. Enishi hadn't answered her question. His eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily, but still conscious. "It's okay, Sano. Just help me get Enishi back to the dojo, okay?"

"So he's really a guest," Sano managed to say with a weak smile. He stood up and help Enishi stand.

Karou got up on her own and wrapped one arm around Enishi's waist to help support him. "Come on, Yahiko," she called over her shoulder as they headed towards the dojo.

Yahiko glanced at Megumi, who still looked more then a little shocked at the battles outcome. "You coming?" he asked.

The doctor nodded. "Hai, but first I'm going to get my medical kit from the clinic. I. . . . I'll have to treat Yukishiro. . . . ." she sounded reluctant, but determined at the same time.

She turned away from Yahiko and started walking back to the clinic, her raised sandals crunching in the gravel. If Enishi was really a guest, then did that mean Kenshin was really the small baby that Karou was holding so protectively?

It was hard to imagine. She couldn't come up with one rationale idea how the strong red haired swordsman could be turned into a child. It didn't make sense, but faced with Karou's belief and the friendly, or at least what she was assuming to be friendly, presence of Yukishiro, she was trying to comprehend the facts.

If it were true, she didn't know what she would do. There was nothing she had learned in all her years of medicine that came close to suggesting age regression was even possible. It shouldn't be possible, and yet. . . . maybe. . . . just maybe it was.

Yahiko tugged at her sleeve. "I decided to tag along with you," he said, not looking at her.

They walked in silence for a number of seconds before Yahiko spoke. "Who's that baby?" he asked. "The one that Karou was holding. Do you think that it's hers and Enishi's?"

Megumi almost stopped walking. What he was saying was close to what she had initially thought. She turned her thoughts over in her mind for several moments before she answered. "I thought that it was Karou's and Kenshin's baby at first, but Karou claims that it is Kenshin."

She waited for Yahiko's reaction to her words.

He was slow in answering, but when he did, there was confidence in his voice. "It can't be Kenshin. If it were, don't you think Yukishiro would be attacking him?"

Megumi almost laughed. "Don't you mean, "Kenshin's older then that and there's no way that anyone can be turned back into a baby'" she challenged. Yahiko had brought up a point that she hadn't even thought about yet.

Yahiko glanced over at her. "Yeah, but I figure that is understood. I mean, you're a doctor, right? So you tell me if it's possible? I. . . . I don't think it is."

"It's not." Megumi's voice held a certain note, but as the words left her mouth, she doubted them. "Not that I know of anyway," she amended both for her benefit and Yahiko's.

By that time they had reached the clinic. Opening the door and walking inside, she turned to Yahiko. "After we take care of Yukishiro, we can talk to Karou about it. Then we'll know for sure."

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Author's notes;

Wow! That sure took me a long time to write. I just don't have as much time available lately. I'm hoping to finish all of my fics before it becomes to much to have them all going. \_/ Of course, I'll just start new ones then, so the point is slightly moot.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate your comments.

Thanks for reading,

Kissa-chan