It was a noisy, happy place at the dojo for the rest of the day.
Occasionally that buzz of activity was punctuated with crying from either
Kenji or Meg-chan, who apparently followed each other around constantly
until one or the other got annoyed enough.
Fortunately, there were enough adults around to separate, scold or console the little children as necessary.
When it came to squabbling children, Aoshi preferred neither of those approaches. All he had to do was give the two children a stern look and they would immediately quiet down and cooperate. He didn't necessarily wish for them to be quiet, but he had seen enough of the children to have observed that they were extremely prone to violence much like their female guardians.
Somehow that qualified him for the task of watching them while Kenshin and Megumi undertook the enormous task of preparing dinner for all the inhabitants, guests, and students at the dojo with Kaoru flitting about somewhat uselessly.
Sanosuke had evaded the responsibility by taking his family out for shopping and to retrieve several persons from the Akebeko. However, perhaps that was best. Sanosuke Sagara probably would have been useless. He had observed him earlier being chewed to pieces by Kenji Himura and having his leg strangled by the young Megumi Takani and simply laughing in exasperation. That is, until the elder Takani grew furious when she realized he'd need treatment.
As of this moment, the two children were playing in the dirt in front of the porch where he sat. He had several newspapers in his hand and appeared to be reading them, but his eyes were also sharp enough to make sure none of the dirt the two were poking sticks through ended up in their mouths or being used on one another.
The papers were mostly full of rather bland news on the latest comings and goings. The occasional crime would be reported, but for the most part it was news about the latest government meetings, travels to the outside world and things that were completely insignificant. Only one, apparently an underground paper, had anything of interest to note. There were references to a rash of arrests in small towns across the countryside. "The Group of Three," so called vigilantes of justice had been routing out yakuza and other bullies.
A sharp wail interrupted his reading. He looked over to see young Megumi holding two sticks in her hands, while Kenji held none.
He immediately set his papers down and kneeled in front of the children.
Kenji sobbed while trying to grab the stick which had obviously been taken away by the girl. Aoshi held out his hand towards Megumi, who uncannily handed him both sticks, instead of just the one.
But the return of his precious stick meant nothing to Kenji. Even with both sticks, he continued to sob.
"You better hug him," the little girl looked up at him.
He sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was coddle the young Himura especially when his tears were caused by the girl now giving him advice. However, no one else was around to do as she suggested, so he picked up the child. To his relief, the flow of tears slowed.
The little girl looked at him hopefully.
"Alright," he should have known that once he picked up Kenji, he automatically had to do the same for the other child. He bent down and allowed her to grab onto his other arm.
She shrieked with delight as he picked her up high off the ground and into his other arm. Kenji snuffled for a moment in surprise, and then recovering quickly, made a face at Megumi, who of course stuck out her tongue in retribution.
Sensing another outpouring of tears from Kenji, Aoshi adjusted his arms then, his slight gesture quieting them into behaving.
He stiffened when he heard a distinctive laugh behind him.
"You'd make a wonderful nursemaid, Aoshi-san." Megumi circled around him and gave him a grin. "Carrying around those two children like they were nothing."
"Auntie!" Meg-chan wriggled as soon as she saw her aunt. Aoshi, recognizing that he was no longer needed, handed her over.
"I have no intention of giving up my current job," he answered somewhat dryly. "As you can see, she much prefers you to me. As for Kenji," he looked at Kenji who was trying hard not to scrunch up his face, "I think he would much rather see his mother as well."
"She actually asked if I could bring him to her in the kitchen." Little Megumi yawned loudly then. "But let me put Meg-chan down first."
"I'll take him," he turned slightly. "So that you may do as you wish."
"No nap!" Meg-chan said somewhat crossly. "I want to ride horsie with Sano!"
"Sanosuke isn't here," Megumi said somewhat tiredly. "He'll be out until dinner. You can nap until then, and then ask him afterwards."
"HORSIE!" Meg-chan was inconsolable. "HORSIE FIRST!"
"I'm so sorry," Megumi was mortified at her niece's tantrum. "She's tired and cranky and . . ."
And she was acting like any normal three year old.
Aoshi gave Megumi and her niece a faint smile. "She'll have her horse ride in a minute," Kenji's squirming reminded him of the other little one who desparately wanted his mother. "After I take Kenji back."
He was rewarded with a look of relief from the older woman, and a toothy grin from the younger.
It suddenly occurred to him that he was getting rather soft as he got older. He just hoped Okina would never hear of this.
~~
Meg-chan's squirming stopped almost immediately after Aoshi disappeared around the side of the building. If she weren't only three years old, Megumi would have sworn that Meg-chan's had thrown that tantrum on purpose.
"Meg-chan," Megumi sighed as she took the little girl past the porch and into one of the little rooms that had her things in it. "I know you love to play, but please try to be more gentle."
"Gentle?" the child echoed as Megumi placed her on one of the mats. From the look on her face, it was suddenly obvious that the word was not something in her vocabulary.
"When you want something," Megumi spoke patiently as she closed the screen door, "You should make sure to ask like this . Softly. "
"Like this?" the little girl whispered.
"Yes, that's good." Megumi offered her a smile as she sat down next to her, one that the little child apparently could never resist.
"Okay." Meg-chan answered. Then a bit more loudly she added, "Can I play horsie with Aoshi-sama?"
Megumi marveled at the girl's persistence. "I think he's tired, Meg-chan. And he has to leave early in the morning."
"Leave?" The girl's lower lip started to tremble.
"He has to go home, Meg-chan," Megumi was a bit startled by the little girl's look of strong displeasure. "He has lots of things to do and people to care for."
"I don't want him to go," Meg-chan pouted. "I want him to stay here."
"Oh, Meg-chan," Megumi sighed. If the little girl was that unhappy about change, what would she say when she told Meg-chan that they were going to go up to her home in Aizu for a little while to settle things?
A slight rap on the screen door frame interrupted Meg-chan's pouting.
"Yes?" Megumi answered, grateful for the interruption.
"My apologies," Aoshi stood awkwardly outside the door. "I came to see if you needed my . . . assistance."
Meg-chan jumped up and before Megumi could catch a hold of her, ran over to the tall man's legs. "Horsie, horsie, horsie!"
"I'm so sorry," Megumi rarely felt like apologizing to anyone, but somehow the idea of subjecting Aoshi Shinomori to two little children seemed wrong in the first place. However, subjecting him to becoming a little girl's ride slave seemed even *more wrong.*
He shook his head and simply lifted the girl up. As he stepped off the porch outside, he put her firmly on his shoulders. "Tell me where to go, Meg-chan."
"Kitchen, kitchen!" she chanted. Aoshi Shinomori, former ninja and now pack horse, moved obediently in that direction.
Megumi followed worriedly as Meg-chan directed Aoshi from the kitchen, to the dojo, to the laundry bucket, to the bathroom, to the tree in front courtyard, to the tea room, and back to the kitchen before Meg-chan finally tired.
"Meg-chan," Megumi softly addressed the little girl, who was slumping slightly on Aoshi's shoulders. "I think it's time for the rider to rest."
"No-o-o," she protested weakly. "I don't want to let horsie go, or horsie will leave."
"Just for a little while, Meg-chan," Megumi held out her arms and exchanged a look with Aoshi. "Until dinner."
"No," Meg-chan protested again, but did not struggle as she was placed into her aunt's arms and then taken back and laid on a mat in their room. Within a minute, she was completely and soundly asleep.
"What did I get myself into?" Megumi said while kneeled next to her. Slowly, she allowed herself to rest her tired head on one arm.
Her head snapped up as Aoshi spoke up quietly from behind her. "It's not easy to raise a child." She had forgotten that he was standing outside the doorway.
"She's not a normal child either," Megumi sighed as she stood up. She looked back for a moment, and then walked out of the room, pulling the screen door shut behind her. "I am sorry for the way she behaved towards you. I know it's a burden -"
"It does not bother me," he shook his head and sat down casually on the porch. "It is not so odd after all. I am the first person she met of all your acquaintances."
"Yes," she paused , realizing that in the few discussions they did have about her niece, that she had never asked much about how he had found her then, only about how she was when he had last seen her. "You were the one who found her. Was there anything strange about the situation you found her in?"
"No." He reflected for a moment. He had already mentioned to her in past conversations some details, including who he had found her niece with and where. Everything had appeared as it should have. "She did not complain one word after we left her village."
Megumi stared out towards nothing in particular. After a moment she admitted, "I know I'm being rather irrational. There is a simple explanation for her behavior now. But I can't help but being afraid for her."
He inclined his head.
"She's formed so many new attachments lately, and I think it'll be hard for her to adjust again to people leaving. I can understand how she feels with her father gone. She feels abandoned, and afraid that people she knows will simply disappear."
"People come and go, but we learn that it does not mean they do not care. She will learn that in time, and with you there at her side, she will learn to trust in that adage."
"I know. But, it doesn't change how she is now. Just now, while you were gone Meg-chan was insistent that you not leave." She paused awkwardly. "I know this sounds rather strange, but could you stay a little longer? - - Another day or so?"
The sudden turn of his head towards her made her realize how forward her request was. She averted her gaze, her face inexplicably hot with embarrassment. Megumi Takani was not a woman used to sincerely asking anything of anyone, ever.
In the long silence that followed, she desperately wished she could have taken those words back.
"If it were in my power to, I would," he finally answered. "But the truth is that there are some very unsettling things being reported in our papers, some of which I fear may concern Misao and perhaps Okina. I must get home shortly."
"Of course," she covered her mouth. "I am being so selfish to ask you for more of your time, considering all that you've already done for the both of us."
"It is no trouble. I regret that I have to disappoint her. Perhaps you will instead bring her to pay the Aoiya a visit. Okina insisted upon it before I left. He also reminded me to tell you that you must come back to retrieve your kimono."
She inclined her head slightly as a sign of her formal acceptance of the invitation, "We would be honored to be guests at the Aoiya,"
She understood that it was his way of apologizing to her niece for leaving her like this. But she also appreciated that the gesture was even made in the first place. "I think Meg-chan will be pleased by the offer." Megumi gave a peculiar smile as she continued, "Although Okina may live to regret having invited two Megumi's into his household before we have come and gone."
He snorted then. "Okina has been asking for you to come back since the day after you left. He is beyond regretting anything when it comes to you apparently."
"He's forgotten my violent tendencies, I suppose." Megumi felt her mouth draw into a something that might have been construed as a smirk. "I shall have to reacquaint him with them."
Aoshi raised his eyebrow, "Perhaps some restraint would be in order. After all, you have a very impressionable young niece to mind now."
"A little fun won't harm her mind," Megumi felt her spirits rise slightly as she sensed a bit of a debate brewing, "Nor Okina's."
"Megumi-san," Aoshi's voice had a tinge of warning in it.
"You'll just have to keep an eye on Okina and I the whole time," Megumi added, a bit too gleefully.
Aoshi simply crossed his arms over his chest. She knew enough to know that Aoshi had been able to manage Okina's silliness while Misao was growing up, but by the expression on his face, she realized that the thought of her and Okina conspiring together in just about anything made him extremely nervous.
Somehow, that realization made Megumi smile.
= = = = = =
A/N: WOOOT! Unexpected update as the muse hit and I finished homework a bit early tonight! Goes to show, you ought to make sure to set your author alert up because I can't predict when the next chapter will be. Maybe Tuesday. Maybe Saturday. But sometime soon.
Speaking of romantic triangles, go read Cherie Dee's Realizations. Her Chapter 4 had me just rubbing my hands together in glee. Should give you an idea of how evil my mind is. What I have planned is not that kind of angst but something a little bit more scary. So enjoy these sweet little moments, my pretties! *cackle* And Sano fans, don't worry. I've got something planned for you not just in the next section, but in the sections to come. But you better make your presence known, because I can always recast Aoshi in that particular part. HEHEHEHEH.
.
Fortunately, there were enough adults around to separate, scold or console the little children as necessary.
When it came to squabbling children, Aoshi preferred neither of those approaches. All he had to do was give the two children a stern look and they would immediately quiet down and cooperate. He didn't necessarily wish for them to be quiet, but he had seen enough of the children to have observed that they were extremely prone to violence much like their female guardians.
Somehow that qualified him for the task of watching them while Kenshin and Megumi undertook the enormous task of preparing dinner for all the inhabitants, guests, and students at the dojo with Kaoru flitting about somewhat uselessly.
Sanosuke had evaded the responsibility by taking his family out for shopping and to retrieve several persons from the Akebeko. However, perhaps that was best. Sanosuke Sagara probably would have been useless. He had observed him earlier being chewed to pieces by Kenji Himura and having his leg strangled by the young Megumi Takani and simply laughing in exasperation. That is, until the elder Takani grew furious when she realized he'd need treatment.
As of this moment, the two children were playing in the dirt in front of the porch where he sat. He had several newspapers in his hand and appeared to be reading them, but his eyes were also sharp enough to make sure none of the dirt the two were poking sticks through ended up in their mouths or being used on one another.
The papers were mostly full of rather bland news on the latest comings and goings. The occasional crime would be reported, but for the most part it was news about the latest government meetings, travels to the outside world and things that were completely insignificant. Only one, apparently an underground paper, had anything of interest to note. There were references to a rash of arrests in small towns across the countryside. "The Group of Three," so called vigilantes of justice had been routing out yakuza and other bullies.
A sharp wail interrupted his reading. He looked over to see young Megumi holding two sticks in her hands, while Kenji held none.
He immediately set his papers down and kneeled in front of the children.
Kenji sobbed while trying to grab the stick which had obviously been taken away by the girl. Aoshi held out his hand towards Megumi, who uncannily handed him both sticks, instead of just the one.
But the return of his precious stick meant nothing to Kenji. Even with both sticks, he continued to sob.
"You better hug him," the little girl looked up at him.
He sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was coddle the young Himura especially when his tears were caused by the girl now giving him advice. However, no one else was around to do as she suggested, so he picked up the child. To his relief, the flow of tears slowed.
The little girl looked at him hopefully.
"Alright," he should have known that once he picked up Kenji, he automatically had to do the same for the other child. He bent down and allowed her to grab onto his other arm.
She shrieked with delight as he picked her up high off the ground and into his other arm. Kenji snuffled for a moment in surprise, and then recovering quickly, made a face at Megumi, who of course stuck out her tongue in retribution.
Sensing another outpouring of tears from Kenji, Aoshi adjusted his arms then, his slight gesture quieting them into behaving.
He stiffened when he heard a distinctive laugh behind him.
"You'd make a wonderful nursemaid, Aoshi-san." Megumi circled around him and gave him a grin. "Carrying around those two children like they were nothing."
"Auntie!" Meg-chan wriggled as soon as she saw her aunt. Aoshi, recognizing that he was no longer needed, handed her over.
"I have no intention of giving up my current job," he answered somewhat dryly. "As you can see, she much prefers you to me. As for Kenji," he looked at Kenji who was trying hard not to scrunch up his face, "I think he would much rather see his mother as well."
"She actually asked if I could bring him to her in the kitchen." Little Megumi yawned loudly then. "But let me put Meg-chan down first."
"I'll take him," he turned slightly. "So that you may do as you wish."
"No nap!" Meg-chan said somewhat crossly. "I want to ride horsie with Sano!"
"Sanosuke isn't here," Megumi said somewhat tiredly. "He'll be out until dinner. You can nap until then, and then ask him afterwards."
"HORSIE!" Meg-chan was inconsolable. "HORSIE FIRST!"
"I'm so sorry," Megumi was mortified at her niece's tantrum. "She's tired and cranky and . . ."
And she was acting like any normal three year old.
Aoshi gave Megumi and her niece a faint smile. "She'll have her horse ride in a minute," Kenji's squirming reminded him of the other little one who desparately wanted his mother. "After I take Kenji back."
He was rewarded with a look of relief from the older woman, and a toothy grin from the younger.
It suddenly occurred to him that he was getting rather soft as he got older. He just hoped Okina would never hear of this.
~~
Meg-chan's squirming stopped almost immediately after Aoshi disappeared around the side of the building. If she weren't only three years old, Megumi would have sworn that Meg-chan's had thrown that tantrum on purpose.
"Meg-chan," Megumi sighed as she took the little girl past the porch and into one of the little rooms that had her things in it. "I know you love to play, but please try to be more gentle."
"Gentle?" the child echoed as Megumi placed her on one of the mats. From the look on her face, it was suddenly obvious that the word was not something in her vocabulary.
"When you want something," Megumi spoke patiently as she closed the screen door, "You should make sure to ask like this . Softly. "
"Like this?" the little girl whispered.
"Yes, that's good." Megumi offered her a smile as she sat down next to her, one that the little child apparently could never resist.
"Okay." Meg-chan answered. Then a bit more loudly she added, "Can I play horsie with Aoshi-sama?"
Megumi marveled at the girl's persistence. "I think he's tired, Meg-chan. And he has to leave early in the morning."
"Leave?" The girl's lower lip started to tremble.
"He has to go home, Meg-chan," Megumi was a bit startled by the little girl's look of strong displeasure. "He has lots of things to do and people to care for."
"I don't want him to go," Meg-chan pouted. "I want him to stay here."
"Oh, Meg-chan," Megumi sighed. If the little girl was that unhappy about change, what would she say when she told Meg-chan that they were going to go up to her home in Aizu for a little while to settle things?
A slight rap on the screen door frame interrupted Meg-chan's pouting.
"Yes?" Megumi answered, grateful for the interruption.
"My apologies," Aoshi stood awkwardly outside the door. "I came to see if you needed my . . . assistance."
Meg-chan jumped up and before Megumi could catch a hold of her, ran over to the tall man's legs. "Horsie, horsie, horsie!"
"I'm so sorry," Megumi rarely felt like apologizing to anyone, but somehow the idea of subjecting Aoshi Shinomori to two little children seemed wrong in the first place. However, subjecting him to becoming a little girl's ride slave seemed even *more wrong.*
He shook his head and simply lifted the girl up. As he stepped off the porch outside, he put her firmly on his shoulders. "Tell me where to go, Meg-chan."
"Kitchen, kitchen!" she chanted. Aoshi Shinomori, former ninja and now pack horse, moved obediently in that direction.
Megumi followed worriedly as Meg-chan directed Aoshi from the kitchen, to the dojo, to the laundry bucket, to the bathroom, to the tree in front courtyard, to the tea room, and back to the kitchen before Meg-chan finally tired.
"Meg-chan," Megumi softly addressed the little girl, who was slumping slightly on Aoshi's shoulders. "I think it's time for the rider to rest."
"No-o-o," she protested weakly. "I don't want to let horsie go, or horsie will leave."
"Just for a little while, Meg-chan," Megumi held out her arms and exchanged a look with Aoshi. "Until dinner."
"No," Meg-chan protested again, but did not struggle as she was placed into her aunt's arms and then taken back and laid on a mat in their room. Within a minute, she was completely and soundly asleep.
"What did I get myself into?" Megumi said while kneeled next to her. Slowly, she allowed herself to rest her tired head on one arm.
Her head snapped up as Aoshi spoke up quietly from behind her. "It's not easy to raise a child." She had forgotten that he was standing outside the doorway.
"She's not a normal child either," Megumi sighed as she stood up. She looked back for a moment, and then walked out of the room, pulling the screen door shut behind her. "I am sorry for the way she behaved towards you. I know it's a burden -"
"It does not bother me," he shook his head and sat down casually on the porch. "It is not so odd after all. I am the first person she met of all your acquaintances."
"Yes," she paused , realizing that in the few discussions they did have about her niece, that she had never asked much about how he had found her then, only about how she was when he had last seen her. "You were the one who found her. Was there anything strange about the situation you found her in?"
"No." He reflected for a moment. He had already mentioned to her in past conversations some details, including who he had found her niece with and where. Everything had appeared as it should have. "She did not complain one word after we left her village."
Megumi stared out towards nothing in particular. After a moment she admitted, "I know I'm being rather irrational. There is a simple explanation for her behavior now. But I can't help but being afraid for her."
He inclined his head.
"She's formed so many new attachments lately, and I think it'll be hard for her to adjust again to people leaving. I can understand how she feels with her father gone. She feels abandoned, and afraid that people she knows will simply disappear."
"People come and go, but we learn that it does not mean they do not care. She will learn that in time, and with you there at her side, she will learn to trust in that adage."
"I know. But, it doesn't change how she is now. Just now, while you were gone Meg-chan was insistent that you not leave." She paused awkwardly. "I know this sounds rather strange, but could you stay a little longer? - - Another day or so?"
The sudden turn of his head towards her made her realize how forward her request was. She averted her gaze, her face inexplicably hot with embarrassment. Megumi Takani was not a woman used to sincerely asking anything of anyone, ever.
In the long silence that followed, she desperately wished she could have taken those words back.
"If it were in my power to, I would," he finally answered. "But the truth is that there are some very unsettling things being reported in our papers, some of which I fear may concern Misao and perhaps Okina. I must get home shortly."
"Of course," she covered her mouth. "I am being so selfish to ask you for more of your time, considering all that you've already done for the both of us."
"It is no trouble. I regret that I have to disappoint her. Perhaps you will instead bring her to pay the Aoiya a visit. Okina insisted upon it before I left. He also reminded me to tell you that you must come back to retrieve your kimono."
She inclined her head slightly as a sign of her formal acceptance of the invitation, "We would be honored to be guests at the Aoiya,"
She understood that it was his way of apologizing to her niece for leaving her like this. But she also appreciated that the gesture was even made in the first place. "I think Meg-chan will be pleased by the offer." Megumi gave a peculiar smile as she continued, "Although Okina may live to regret having invited two Megumi's into his household before we have come and gone."
He snorted then. "Okina has been asking for you to come back since the day after you left. He is beyond regretting anything when it comes to you apparently."
"He's forgotten my violent tendencies, I suppose." Megumi felt her mouth draw into a something that might have been construed as a smirk. "I shall have to reacquaint him with them."
Aoshi raised his eyebrow, "Perhaps some restraint would be in order. After all, you have a very impressionable young niece to mind now."
"A little fun won't harm her mind," Megumi felt her spirits rise slightly as she sensed a bit of a debate brewing, "Nor Okina's."
"Megumi-san," Aoshi's voice had a tinge of warning in it.
"You'll just have to keep an eye on Okina and I the whole time," Megumi added, a bit too gleefully.
Aoshi simply crossed his arms over his chest. She knew enough to know that Aoshi had been able to manage Okina's silliness while Misao was growing up, but by the expression on his face, she realized that the thought of her and Okina conspiring together in just about anything made him extremely nervous.
Somehow, that realization made Megumi smile.
= = = = = =
A/N: WOOOT! Unexpected update as the muse hit and I finished homework a bit early tonight! Goes to show, you ought to make sure to set your author alert up because I can't predict when the next chapter will be. Maybe Tuesday. Maybe Saturday. But sometime soon.
Speaking of romantic triangles, go read Cherie Dee's Realizations. Her Chapter 4 had me just rubbing my hands together in glee. Should give you an idea of how evil my mind is. What I have planned is not that kind of angst but something a little bit more scary. So enjoy these sweet little moments, my pretties! *cackle* And Sano fans, don't worry. I've got something planned for you not just in the next section, but in the sections to come. But you better make your presence known, because I can always recast Aoshi in that particular part. HEHEHEHEH.
.
