Chapter 4
Realization
"You'll be just fine." Megumi stated. "Just keep quiet for a while." Kenshin smiled his rurouni smile. "Like I have any other choice." He thought. "With Karou watching out for me, I'll have to do whatever she says."
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have other things to do." Megumi rose and gathered her things and headed for the gate. Karou met her there. "Is he really going to be alright?" "I'm sure he'll be fine. He might have that ringing in his ears for a while, though." "Thank you for coming." Karou whispered. "Don't mention it." With that Megumi opened the gate and started to exit into the street when she abruptly crashed into Yahiko.
"Yahiko! Watch where you're going!" Karou scolded. "Looks like I got here in time." Yahiko gasped, almost out of breath from running the entire distance from the docks. "What's going on?" Kenshin asked as he came up behind Karou and Megumi. "Sano told me to catch Megumi before she left the dojo. He said to stay right here, he's bringing a patient to you." Yahiko panted. "What?" Megumi questioned. "What happened?" Kenshin asked.
"Well, to make a long story short, we saw this person coming out of the Akabeko that looked just like Kenshin, Sano approached her and asked 'what are you doing here?' She turned around and we confessed that we had mistaken her with someone else, when she asked who Sano said that she thought looked like he said that if she fought him he'd tell her. So they went down by the docks, and she was beating him, until she got caught in the tree. We thought it was funny until the branch snapped and she fell. She tried to get up, but she fell back down and blacked out. And Sano's carrying her here."
"Alright. Then we'd better be prepared for when they get here. Karou, prepare a futon. Yahiko, get some water. Kenshin." Megumi thought a moment, remembering the directions that she had just given him to not be to active "stand here and watch for them to come." She sighed.
"Miss Megumi!" Kenshin called from the gate, "I see them! They're coming!"
"Hey!" Sano mused to Kenshin as he passed through the gate. "You're head's still in one piece." "I'm fine Sano." Kenshin said under his breath. "Kaiya!" Megumi gasped as she ran up to Sano.
"Excuse me?" Sano stammered. "You know her?" Kenshin asked. "I bumped into her in the market, she was trying to ask me something but I was in too much of a hurry to listen because SOMEONE," emphasizing her words while she glared up at Sano, "someone had convinced me that there was a REAL medical emergency here at the dojo." "Heh, heh, heh." Sano chuckled a guilty chuckle.
Kaiya moaned, bringing them back to reality. "Get her into that room." Megumi ordered. Once Kaiya had been laid down on the futon, Megumi ushered the men out of the room and Karou came in to assist her, if needed.
"She has a concussion." Megumi stated as she began to carefully tend to Kaiya's head. When Megumi was done with her head Karou gently pressed a wet cloth on the girl's forehead. "Wow, she must have some fever, she's really hot." Karou whispered.
Megumi checked for other injuries and, remembering that Sano had told her that Kaiya had complained about her ankle before she blacked out, checked her ankles. Sure enough, as she felt Kaiya's left ankle she could feel a break in the bone and an audible groan came from the girl as she touched certain spots.
Megumi rose. "I'll be right back," she explained to Karou, "I just need to get some things."
It seemed like Megumi was taking forever. Karou felt uneasy sitting next to the girl. She looked down at Kaiya's face, her eyes slowing tracing the features. A tremble went up her up spine.
At that time, Megumi reentered. "Karou, are you alright?" Karou glanced up at Megumi's worried face. "Megumi," she replied, her face pale as a ghost's, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this way Kenshin lying right here." Megumi just stared on with a sign of puzzlement in her face. Not wanting to sound like a fool, Karou quickly added, "Look at her face she looks exactly like him! Minus the scar, of course." Megumi squatted down beside her. After a few moments, she came to the same conclusion. "That is strange." She remarked. "But, let's discuss that later, doctor Gensai should be here any moment."
"You called for the doctor?" "Yes." Megumi admitted. "I don't think I can set her ankle right so sent Yahiko to fetch him."
"They're sure taking a long time in there, that they are." Kenshin stated to break the silence that had fallen over the men waiting outside. "She must be hurt pretty bad for Megumi to send for Gensai." Yahiko said with his arms stretched behind his head. He looked over at Sano. He just sat there, staring at nothing. Kenshin traced the boy's stare to Sano, whose brow was furrowed in deep concentration.
Yahiko smiled. "You still thinking about the fight, huh Sano?" Sano clinched and unclenched his fist before his eyes. "I just don't get it." He finally said. "I threw all my best moves at her, but I wasn't even able to hit her. How can a girl her size be so." "So what?" Kenshin asked, leaning forward to hear what Sano was going to say next. But Sano didn't reply. He just sat there, still thinking. Replaying over and over the fight in his mind.
Yahiko broke the silence. He laughed as he spoke. "I'll bet that Sano is just stupefied at the fact that a girl is a better fighter than him." That brought Sano out of his concentration. "What'd you say? You little twerp! That girl may be better than me, but I'll guarantee that you aren't." He rose quickly, lunging at Yahiko. Yahiko's smile was quickly replaced by sheer horror as he ran away as fast as he could.
Kenshin sat watching the show going on around him. He smiled. "Maybe I should stop them." He thought, rubbing the back of his neck. At that moment Yahiko jumped up on the balcony and ran full speed past Kenshin, making the rurouni's hair swish in the boy's wake. He smiled. "Or maybe I should let them wear off their steam.
Then Kenshin's eyes widened as Sano came barreling full speed at him. Though Yahiko was agile and had been able to run around Kenshin, Sano had no such luck. He collided right into the rurouni, knocking Kenshin flat on his back. He glared up as Sano continued his chase. "Or maybe," he grumbled, jumping up from his position on the floor with a wicked smile on his face, "I should join them!"
He was just about to give chase when he felt a slight tug on his sleeve. He slowly shifted his gaze downward into the smiling faces of doctor Gensai's grandchildren. "Come play with us, Uncle Kenny!" Ayame pleaded. "Yes, come play." Suzume echoed. Kenshin quickly changed his former expression and smiled back.
He sighed as the children lead him off to play some game; he glanced back over his shoulder at the two still fighting. The chase had differed some now. Yahiko had drawn his shinai and he was now the one chasing Sano. He laughed inside. It was going to be a long day.
__
"Well," doctor Gensai sighed as he sipped from his cup of tea, "Young man, I would really like to know what happened to that girl to put her in such bad of shape." Sano froze. He was poised over a bowl of hot rice, his mouth bulged as he realized he had been eating but had not swallowed. He quickly tried to do so. "Easy there, Sano." Megumi whapped him hard on the back, "One of these day's you're going to choke."
"Whatever." He gulped, setting his now empty bowl down on the table.
"Well, if you're not going to answer my question, then maybe you can at least tell me who she is. You must have had some excuse to fight her." "I don't know." Sano mumbled. "Megumi says she met her before. What'd you say her name was?" Megumi cleared her throat, "I met her in the market. She said her name was Kaiya, but I didn't catch a last name."
"Would this help?" Yahiko asked as he drug in a small bag from the balcony. "What's that?" Karou questioned. "I think it's her bag. She set it down by one of the trees. I brought it here." "Let's see what's inside." Megumi, wide eyed, was already beside Yahiko, grabbing it away from him. "I don't think it's wise to go trough other peoples things, that I don't." Kenshin sipped some more tea. "Too late." Sano gestured toward the girls who were already tearing at the bag. As they commented over a pretty hair pin, Kenshin saw something that caught his eye.
He leaned forward and picked it up. It was an old photograph of a family. Though very blurred he could make out four figures. There was a little kid, holding on to his mother's kimono, looking at a little bundle that the mother was holding. There was a tall, slender figure, with his hands on his wife's shoulders. Both adult figures looked as though they were ill. Kenshin squinted real hard to make out what the mother was holding. His eye's widened. There, in the woman's arms was a baby girl, the exact same one that had been in his dreams. His eyes quickly moved to study the boy. Though black and white, he could tell that the boy, and the girl, had dark hair, though not as dark as the black hair of the parents. He looked at the thin, smiling boy. He gasped. He blinked several times. "That can't be!" His thoughts screaming through his head. "That's.that's me!"
Realization
"You'll be just fine." Megumi stated. "Just keep quiet for a while." Kenshin smiled his rurouni smile. "Like I have any other choice." He thought. "With Karou watching out for me, I'll have to do whatever she says."
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have other things to do." Megumi rose and gathered her things and headed for the gate. Karou met her there. "Is he really going to be alright?" "I'm sure he'll be fine. He might have that ringing in his ears for a while, though." "Thank you for coming." Karou whispered. "Don't mention it." With that Megumi opened the gate and started to exit into the street when she abruptly crashed into Yahiko.
"Yahiko! Watch where you're going!" Karou scolded. "Looks like I got here in time." Yahiko gasped, almost out of breath from running the entire distance from the docks. "What's going on?" Kenshin asked as he came up behind Karou and Megumi. "Sano told me to catch Megumi before she left the dojo. He said to stay right here, he's bringing a patient to you." Yahiko panted. "What?" Megumi questioned. "What happened?" Kenshin asked.
"Well, to make a long story short, we saw this person coming out of the Akabeko that looked just like Kenshin, Sano approached her and asked 'what are you doing here?' She turned around and we confessed that we had mistaken her with someone else, when she asked who Sano said that she thought looked like he said that if she fought him he'd tell her. So they went down by the docks, and she was beating him, until she got caught in the tree. We thought it was funny until the branch snapped and she fell. She tried to get up, but she fell back down and blacked out. And Sano's carrying her here."
"Alright. Then we'd better be prepared for when they get here. Karou, prepare a futon. Yahiko, get some water. Kenshin." Megumi thought a moment, remembering the directions that she had just given him to not be to active "stand here and watch for them to come." She sighed.
"Miss Megumi!" Kenshin called from the gate, "I see them! They're coming!"
"Hey!" Sano mused to Kenshin as he passed through the gate. "You're head's still in one piece." "I'm fine Sano." Kenshin said under his breath. "Kaiya!" Megumi gasped as she ran up to Sano.
"Excuse me?" Sano stammered. "You know her?" Kenshin asked. "I bumped into her in the market, she was trying to ask me something but I was in too much of a hurry to listen because SOMEONE," emphasizing her words while she glared up at Sano, "someone had convinced me that there was a REAL medical emergency here at the dojo." "Heh, heh, heh." Sano chuckled a guilty chuckle.
Kaiya moaned, bringing them back to reality. "Get her into that room." Megumi ordered. Once Kaiya had been laid down on the futon, Megumi ushered the men out of the room and Karou came in to assist her, if needed.
"She has a concussion." Megumi stated as she began to carefully tend to Kaiya's head. When Megumi was done with her head Karou gently pressed a wet cloth on the girl's forehead. "Wow, she must have some fever, she's really hot." Karou whispered.
Megumi checked for other injuries and, remembering that Sano had told her that Kaiya had complained about her ankle before she blacked out, checked her ankles. Sure enough, as she felt Kaiya's left ankle she could feel a break in the bone and an audible groan came from the girl as she touched certain spots.
Megumi rose. "I'll be right back," she explained to Karou, "I just need to get some things."
It seemed like Megumi was taking forever. Karou felt uneasy sitting next to the girl. She looked down at Kaiya's face, her eyes slowing tracing the features. A tremble went up her up spine.
At that time, Megumi reentered. "Karou, are you alright?" Karou glanced up at Megumi's worried face. "Megumi," she replied, her face pale as a ghost's, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this way Kenshin lying right here." Megumi just stared on with a sign of puzzlement in her face. Not wanting to sound like a fool, Karou quickly added, "Look at her face she looks exactly like him! Minus the scar, of course." Megumi squatted down beside her. After a few moments, she came to the same conclusion. "That is strange." She remarked. "But, let's discuss that later, doctor Gensai should be here any moment."
"You called for the doctor?" "Yes." Megumi admitted. "I don't think I can set her ankle right so sent Yahiko to fetch him."
"They're sure taking a long time in there, that they are." Kenshin stated to break the silence that had fallen over the men waiting outside. "She must be hurt pretty bad for Megumi to send for Gensai." Yahiko said with his arms stretched behind his head. He looked over at Sano. He just sat there, staring at nothing. Kenshin traced the boy's stare to Sano, whose brow was furrowed in deep concentration.
Yahiko smiled. "You still thinking about the fight, huh Sano?" Sano clinched and unclenched his fist before his eyes. "I just don't get it." He finally said. "I threw all my best moves at her, but I wasn't even able to hit her. How can a girl her size be so." "So what?" Kenshin asked, leaning forward to hear what Sano was going to say next. But Sano didn't reply. He just sat there, still thinking. Replaying over and over the fight in his mind.
Yahiko broke the silence. He laughed as he spoke. "I'll bet that Sano is just stupefied at the fact that a girl is a better fighter than him." That brought Sano out of his concentration. "What'd you say? You little twerp! That girl may be better than me, but I'll guarantee that you aren't." He rose quickly, lunging at Yahiko. Yahiko's smile was quickly replaced by sheer horror as he ran away as fast as he could.
Kenshin sat watching the show going on around him. He smiled. "Maybe I should stop them." He thought, rubbing the back of his neck. At that moment Yahiko jumped up on the balcony and ran full speed past Kenshin, making the rurouni's hair swish in the boy's wake. He smiled. "Or maybe I should let them wear off their steam.
Then Kenshin's eyes widened as Sano came barreling full speed at him. Though Yahiko was agile and had been able to run around Kenshin, Sano had no such luck. He collided right into the rurouni, knocking Kenshin flat on his back. He glared up as Sano continued his chase. "Or maybe," he grumbled, jumping up from his position on the floor with a wicked smile on his face, "I should join them!"
He was just about to give chase when he felt a slight tug on his sleeve. He slowly shifted his gaze downward into the smiling faces of doctor Gensai's grandchildren. "Come play with us, Uncle Kenny!" Ayame pleaded. "Yes, come play." Suzume echoed. Kenshin quickly changed his former expression and smiled back.
He sighed as the children lead him off to play some game; he glanced back over his shoulder at the two still fighting. The chase had differed some now. Yahiko had drawn his shinai and he was now the one chasing Sano. He laughed inside. It was going to be a long day.
__
"Well," doctor Gensai sighed as he sipped from his cup of tea, "Young man, I would really like to know what happened to that girl to put her in such bad of shape." Sano froze. He was poised over a bowl of hot rice, his mouth bulged as he realized he had been eating but had not swallowed. He quickly tried to do so. "Easy there, Sano." Megumi whapped him hard on the back, "One of these day's you're going to choke."
"Whatever." He gulped, setting his now empty bowl down on the table.
"Well, if you're not going to answer my question, then maybe you can at least tell me who she is. You must have had some excuse to fight her." "I don't know." Sano mumbled. "Megumi says she met her before. What'd you say her name was?" Megumi cleared her throat, "I met her in the market. She said her name was Kaiya, but I didn't catch a last name."
"Would this help?" Yahiko asked as he drug in a small bag from the balcony. "What's that?" Karou questioned. "I think it's her bag. She set it down by one of the trees. I brought it here." "Let's see what's inside." Megumi, wide eyed, was already beside Yahiko, grabbing it away from him. "I don't think it's wise to go trough other peoples things, that I don't." Kenshin sipped some more tea. "Too late." Sano gestured toward the girls who were already tearing at the bag. As they commented over a pretty hair pin, Kenshin saw something that caught his eye.
He leaned forward and picked it up. It was an old photograph of a family. Though very blurred he could make out four figures. There was a little kid, holding on to his mother's kimono, looking at a little bundle that the mother was holding. There was a tall, slender figure, with his hands on his wife's shoulders. Both adult figures looked as though they were ill. Kenshin squinted real hard to make out what the mother was holding. His eye's widened. There, in the woman's arms was a baby girl, the exact same one that had been in his dreams. His eyes quickly moved to study the boy. Though black and white, he could tell that the boy, and the girl, had dark hair, though not as dark as the black hair of the parents. He looked at the thin, smiling boy. He gasped. He blinked several times. "That can't be!" His thoughts screaming through his head. "That's.that's me!"
