Sanosuke groaned as he walked towards the dojo, his muscles stiff and sore. No wonder Yahiko yelled so much when he was training with Kaoru, the girl was completely unforgiving. Half and hour training with an angry Kaoru was like falling down a cliff.
"At least she didn't hit anything really vital," he muttered to himself. When he looked at himself that morning, surveying the damage, there had been a liberal amount of bokken-sized purple marks across his torso, probably more across his back. "You're welcome to her, Kenshin."
It was nearly noon before he was able to drag himself off his futon and check on his friends. Months had gone by since the last time someone threatened Kenshin's life, and the lack of danger was beginning to grate on Sanosuke's nerves. If someone didn't try to kill the ex-assassin soon, he might actually begin to worry.
"Not as if he doesn't deserve a normal life," the ex-gangster thought as he kicked absently at a rock. Maybe word had spread that Kenshin was the one who took down Shishio, and everyone else who had a grudge against him was giving the small man a wide berth.
"Oi, Kenshin!" Sano called as he walked through the back gate, which despite everything that had happened was always unlocked during the day. It was after lunch, so unless Genzai had dropped his grandchildren off, Kenshin should be there. "You here?"
Sano walked around the side of the dojo and found his friend leaning idly against one of the pillars, facing away from the courtyard. Probably dreaming about Kaoru, Sano thought as he walked closer. "Kenshin, what's." he trailed off, coming to a halt a few feet away from his friend. Usually, the red-haired man was all smiles when he saw his friends. This time he didn't even acknowledge him. Kenshin didn't have the dreamy-eyed look of someone fantasizing about their beloved. His eyes were hard, concentrating.
Sano looked into the dojo, and saw why. The woman Gin was there, kneeling on the floor with her eyes closed, hands folded in her lap as if she were meditating. A Katana and a short sword were crossed in front of her, and two foot-long poles were on either side of her knees.
Without opening her eyes Gin reached out and grasped the two poles, lifting herself off her folded legs. In one smooth motion she was up, the poles moving in a blur as she defended against opponents that weren't there, falling back and dodging imaginary blows. She moved with assurance, even though her eyes were still closed. Never did she run into the walls, or trip over her daisho, which was still in the middle of the dojo floor. She danced over them, nimbly.
Suddenly, she jerked her arms down, and two crescent shaped blades came out of the poles. Sano leaned back against the railing. He'd never seen kama's with hidden blades before. As he watched more closely he began noticing that her movements, even though she was using a different weapon, were similar to the moves Kenshin used.
Eyes still closed, she began to change her style. No longer was she dodging away from assailants, now she seemed to be chasing them, slashing at them with the two shining blades. She ran up one of the walls and flipped behind her attacker, the kama's slicing a clean path through where the man's neck was no doubt supposed to be.
Sano turned his attention back to Kenshin. The other man just sat, arms folded, watching Gin with almost unblinking eyes. Anyone would have thought the rurouni relaxed, but after so many months of fighting along side his friend Sano knew better. Kenshin was waiting for something.
In the dojo Gin flipped backwards, her feet almost brushing the ceiling as she brought the kama's down on her opponents head in what looked to him like a ryu-tsui-sen.
In a flash Kenshin moved. Sano barely caught a flash of magenta as his friend threw something into the dojo. The moment Gin's feet touched the floor a small object when hurtling towards her. There was a solid clang as the stone was deflected into the room, and one of the kama's came whirling in Kenshin's direction.
Sano tried to speak, but before the words were out of his mouth Kenshin had caught the weapon by its blade, his eyes never having left Gin. Slowly, he got to his feet and flipped the weapon in his hand so he was holding the hilt.
Gin was standing now, watching the two men with the same unreadable expression. Beads of sweat were running from her temples, plastering her hair to her forehead, though she wasn't breathing very hard. After a moment Kenshin threw the weapon back, which the assassin caught deftly with one hand, before turning and walking away from the dojo. Sano looked to Gin, who only gave him the barest of glances before returning to her kata.
"Okay, what was that?" Sanosuke
"What was what, Sano?" Kenshin asked calmly as the walked through the courtyard towards the back of the compound.
"That." Sano gestured between Kenshin and the dojo. "The look, the throwing the rock. THAT."
Kenshin smiled. Definitely not a good sign. "I was checking her reflexes, that I was."
Sano looked incredulously at his friend, but knew he wouldn't get anything else out of him. The man was as tightlipped as a sea turtle when it came to something he didn't want to talk about.

"Ken-san, Ken-san!"
Kenshin smiled as Ayame and Suzume came barreling into the dojo, followed by Dr. Genzai, who was wearing his usual smile. The two girls ran full tilt into the rurouni, overbalancing him and almost sending all three toppling over onto the small sprouts he had been tending.
"Good afternoon, Kenshin," Genzai said, looking over the smaller man's shoulder. "What are you planting?"
Kenshin wiped his hands on the gray hakima he was wearing. "Kamatsuna, mitsuba, osaya endo, and wax melon." He looked around at the medium sized plot Kaoru allowed him next to the shed. He still remembered the look of shock on her face when he asked for a place to plant vegetables after returning from Kyoto. "We should have enough to preserve and last us through the first half of winter." Not to mention that the vegetables would save money on groceries.
"Anyone helping you?"
Kenshin scratched the back of his head. "Iie. Kaoru-dono is no good around vegetables, and Yahiko refuses." There were still scratch marks on the railing of the porch from the one time Kenshin had attempted to force the young man to help him. He adamantly refused, even though Kenshin tried to remind him that every samurai needed a softer skill to balance himself.
"Gran-pa, gran-pa!" the two girls latched onto their grandfather and began pulling him towards the dojo. "There's a lady who can pull money out of your head!" Ayame squeaked.
"She gave Ayame a coin!" Suzume added. "Pulled it right out her ear!"
Kenshin followed the trio to where Gin was sitting, dressed in a fresh hakima and gi. "Back for more?" she asked.
When the two girls nodded she pulled Suzume closer. "Let's see. I think I see something in there," she said with all seriousness, looking into the girl's ear. "Wait, I think I have it." With much pulling and huffing she finally produced a small silver coin.
"Me again! Me!" Ayame was jumping up and down.
Gin shook her head. "Sorry, you can only take one out every week. Each coin is a memory you've lost. If I take out one now, it would be a fresh memory."
The two girls looked down at their coins sadly. "Don't worry," Gin added. "They weren't good ones anyway. Be careful where you spend them."
"Hai!"
The two girls ran off again, chattering about their new-found wealth.
"You certainly have a way with them," Genzai said.
"Gin-san, this is Dr. Genzai. Dr. Genzai, this is Gin. She will be staying here for a few weeks." Kenshin said by way of introduction.
Genzai nodded. "Honored to meet you."
Gin nodded in return. "Likewise. I have heard many good things about your granddaughters."
The old doctor chuckled. "Nothing true, I hope." He looked around. "Where is Kaoru?"
"She went into the city with Yahiko and Sano to do some shopping," Kenshin answered. The bag of coins that Gin had given him that morning had been a godsend for Kaoru. The dojo's funds had been running dangerously low, though she attempted to hide it from them. Even with that, she had refused to take the money he offered until he simply dropped the bag at her feet and walked away. Afterwards she had practically kidnapped the two, citing that many of the things she needed to buy were primarily because of their presence in her house.
"Ahhhh," Genzai said thoughtfully. "I was hoping I could speak to her about something, but no matter. I can wait until she returns." He settled on the porch next to Gin. "In the meantime, you can tell me all about yourself, starting with any ailments you might have."
Kenshin smiled, but that smile faded when he did not see it echoed in Gin's face. Even when playing with Ayame and Suzume, the small smile that had flitted at her mouth never reached her eyes.

"So, who'd you bother this time?" Megumi asked as she spread some salve over the worst of Sano's wounds."
The younger man muttered something, and Megumi smiled. "What was that?" she asked, applying a little more pressure to the bruise than she needed to.
"Kaoru," Sanouske grumbled, fighting a sigh of relief when the woman's hands became gentle again. He'd just gotten back from 'shopping' with the dojo owner, where he'd been forced to carry the heaviest things she could find. "And don't ask what I did!" he added.
Megumi shook her head and reached for more salve. "Why were you practicing with Kaoru in the first place, or did the little tanuki just attack you."
More muttering followed this question before he finally answered. "It was the price of lunch. It was either that, or help make it."
Megumi laughed. "Like Ken-san would let you anywhere near his kitchen."
"Actually, he wasn't cooking."
The doctor paused in washing her hands. "Surely Yahiko wasn't-"
"No," Sano turned to face his friend. "You haven't heard yet, have you?"
"Heard what?"
Sano smiled. "Someone else is staying at the dojo now. A woman from Kenshin's past," he pretended to stare off into the distance. "She has skin like white jade, hair like silk."
"Really?" Megumi asked slowly as she came up behind the ex-gangster. "And what is she doing there?"
Sano smiled. He couldn't resist the urge to tease Megumi when the situation presented itself. "She's living there."
"And Kaoru's-"
"Given full permission," Sano cut in, flexing his muscles. The salve was already taking the worst of the soreness away. "Thanks Fox Lady," he called over his shoulder as he walked out of the clinic.
"And don't call me that!" Megumi yelled after him, slamming to shoji with more force than was necessary. She walked slowly back into the clinic. Another person from Kenshin's past was there, someone who wasn't trying to kill him.
Megumi rubbed her hands together and looked at the clock. Dr. Genzai should have been back from dropping his grandchildren off nearly an hour ago. She'd have to wait until he came back to go see who this new person was.

"So, how has the cough been?"
Kaoru smiled. "Getting better. Who would have thought I'd catch a chill in the middle of summer."
"And the cramping?"
The smile faltered. "Almost gone."
Kaoru began to fidget under the doctor's stare. In truth, the cramping in her abdomen was the same, sometimes better, sometimes worse. The cough as well. She was worried that once winter set in the cold would make it worse. If that happened there was no way to keep Kenshin from finding out that she was sick. It had been difficult to keep her condition from Kenshin, the man watched her like a mother hen. A week after returning from Kyoto she had developed a cough that refused to go away, though it did fade for a while before coming back. The cramping had begun then as well. Dr Genzai informed her that it was nothing, she'd simply caught a stomach ailment coupled with a summer cold. As the months passed and her condition didn't alter, they both had the sneaking suspicion that it was something more. "Have you been taking the herbs I prescribed?" he asked.
Kaoru nodded. "Twice a day, after I wake up and before I go to sleep."
"And your diet?"
"I've been eating more red meats," Kaoru winced at the thought. Beef was expensive, as was pork. Earlier that month the butcher had boasted that he'd received a fresh shipment of tiger meat. Though it was supposed to be good for ailments the price had been ridiculous. "And drinking more plain water, as you said."
"Any weight loss?"
Kaoru shook her head. "Not that I've noticed."
Finally Genzai smiled. "Good. Keep taking the herbs I prescribed." He patted her hand fondly. "Don't worry yourself, Kaoru. It's probably just a nasty cold."
Kaoru smiled and stood to see Dr. Genzai out, though it slipped the moment the shoji closed behind him. There was something wrong with her. She hadn't felt completely like herself in months. She sighed and counted out a few coins from the bag. There was an old woman in the poor quarter who was supposed to be able to identify any kind of illness. Though Genzai had warned her about taking the advice of those not trained in medicine, Kaoru thought it was time to get more traditional advice.

Kenshin waved to Ayame and Suzume as they danced around their grandfather, heading back to the clinic. His mind was working furiously, though. Dr. Genzai had looked so serious when he said he needed to speak to Kaoru, and they had gone inside, out of his hearing, to speak. He had been noticing small things about his friend as well. Her eating habits had changed, and she took to drinking a strange tea in the mornings and evenings. Her color was slightly off as well, and she coughed often. When he asked her about these things she insisted that she was fine, or that he was imagining things.
The rurouni's eyes narrowed as he walked back into the compound. Perhaps it was time he and Kaoru had a serious talk about what she was trying to keep from him.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU So much for reading my drivel. Special chocolate covered Kenshin thanks goes out to Nola and haku baikou for their great reviews. Apologies all around for the massive delay in updating.

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