Chapter 3
At Izu
The boarders of the Kamiya dojo headed down somewhat of a path. Since the group had more people than the last time, Sano had twice as much luggage to carry.
"Why am I always stuck with luggage?"
"Poor Sano," said Aki as Suzume played with her kasa. "Sweetie, if you push that any further, I won't be able to see." Suzume giggled as she took Aki's kasa from her head. "Eh, it looked better on you anyway. What do you think, Sano?"
Sano looked at Suzume, the kasa covering half of her face. He lifted the straw hat until he could see Suzume. "Fits like a glove," he said with a grin.
A few minutes later, Yahiko decided to break the silence.
"Heh, heh," he chuckled.
"What's so funny?" asked Sano.
" We have two tasteless people!" he said, slapping Sano and Aki on the back with a wide grin.
"No," said Aki. "We have one tactless person. If you have to have an outburst again, do it quietly.Suzume's asleep."
"How much further, Kaoru-San?" asked Suzuka.
"I'd say we have thirty minutes until we get to the bridge," answered Kaoru.
"Good," said Yahiko, walking up. "My feet are beginning to hurt."
Ayame yawned on Suzuka's shoulders.
"It's okay, baby, we're almost there," said Suzuka with a smile
Ayame blinked and nuzzled up to Suzuka's hair and promptly fell asleep.
"I wish we had an instant-communication device or something of the like," said Megumi.
"They have something like that in America," said Kaoru.
"Unfortunately," said Aoshi. "We don't live in the extreme occident."
"Or Yokohama, that we do not," said Kenshin, shaking his head.
"I've heard the Americans are working on a device to make a man fly," said Kaoru, with a dreamy look.
"Hah," said Aki. "If man were meant to fly, he'd have wings."
"Yeah," said Sano. "And if man has a way to have his portrait made in an instant, he must be selling his soul."
Aki nodded in agreement.
"You're the only ones that think any technologies are soul-sucking demons," said Megumi. "What does that tell you?"
"It tells me we're the only ones with sense," Aki responded.
Half an hour later, the traveling group came to the bridge. Everyone passed the bridge without a problem.until Kaoru came to the foot of the bridge in front of Kenshin, as usual.
"Come on, Kaoru-San!" called Aki from the other side of the structure.
"Yeah!" added Suzuka. "Ayame and Suzume didn't have any problems with it!"
"Just don't look down!" shouted Ayame.
"Yeah!" said Suzume. "Don't look down!"
"I hate heights." murmured Kaoru.
"It's okay, Kaoru-San," Kenshin said encouragingly.
"Just hold on to the sides and don't look down, Kaoru-San!" added Aki. "That's what Yahiko did!"
"I did not!" retorted Yahiko.
"I'll try." said Kaoru, finally. She took a deep breath, looked up, gripped the sides of the bridge, held her breath, stepped onto the bridge and.promptly passed out into Kenshin's arms. Who.promptly fell over, his eyes swirls. "Oro..!."
"Okay," said Aki. "Who's going over there to get our navigators?"
After a while of arguing, the group finally got Kenshin and Kaoru over to the other side of the bridge. Kaoru led the group the rest of the way to Dr. Gensai's sister's house. Aki and Suzuka set their loads down. "I'm glad to see.all.of you could make it," said the doctor's sister with a confused look. "There are twice as many of you as there were the last time I saw you. Alright, the old woman needs introductions, who are the rest of you?" she asked with a grin.
"Aoshi Shinomori," he said with a slight bow.
"Misao Makimachi," she said with her usual confident air.
"I'm Suzuka Takahashi, Kenshin's cousin," she said with a smile.
"Akiyama Sagara, ma'am," Aki said with a bow. "Just call me Aki."
"Nice to meet you all. You look really worn out, how about some dinner, then a dip in the hot springs?" asked Gensai.
"Yes, thank you, I need that more than you know," said Aki, rubbing her temples. "Bad headache that still won't go away.
"After you get to work of course," she added with an even wider grin. "You two," she said to Kenshin and Sano, throwing them a shovel each. "Scrape all the snow off my roof, and there's a hole in it somewhere, fix that too. You four," she said to Megumi, Suzuka, Misao, and Aki, throwing them an apron each. "Get to work on dinner for the winter solstice. You," she said to Aoshi, throwing him an axe. "Get to work on chopping firewood. And you two," she finally said to Yahiko and Kaoru, tossing them a pile of clothes. "Do the laundry."
Ten minutes later, Kaoru and Yahiko were arguing about how to do the laundry.
"Yahiko, I told you to sort the lights from the darks!"
"What's the point?! I'm not really used to doing laundry anyway!"
"Don't put the soap in that way!! You're supposed to spread it! Not put it in one spot!!"
"What does it matter?! It's just soap!"
"What are you doing to that shirt?! Trying to shred it?!" Kaoru hollered, taking the slightly battered shirt away from Yahiko.
On the roof, Kenshin and Sanosuke were busy throwing snow off the roof while half looking for the hole Gensai was talking about.
"I don't see any hole here.or anywhere else on the roof at all," said Sano.
"I think we should be careful anyway, Sano, that we should. The roof is covered in snow, it could be anywhere, that it could."
Sano, noticing one side on the roof was clear, went on the other side of the roof.
"Sano, I think we should feel around for the hole, instead of guessing where it might be." There was no answer. "Sano?" The small samurai looked around to where he saw his friend crawl to. "Sano." There was an open hole in the snow. "Sano, daijovu ka?"
In the kitchen, Suzuka, Megumi, Aki, and Misao were trying to make a fairly large dinner without killing each other." Fox girl, I said I was going to cut the carrots, you take care of the octopus!" said Misao, waving some of her knives, starting on the carrots.
"Well, excuse me, I thought I would help with the carrots since I was done with the takoyaki," said Megumi, moving on to something else.
"What do we need for the bread now, Suzuka-San?" asked Aki, from another counter of the kitchen.
"Hm," said the small ninja-samurai. "Flour, I'm almost finished with the eggs."
"Alright, I'll get the flour, then," said Aki, walking over to the bags set in the middle of the room. Suddenly, snow, roof tile, wood, and.someone fell through the ceiling, right on the flour, making the white substance explode throughout the room. She coughed up some flour out of her mouth, which she was covered with from head to foot. Not mention the half-melted snow. Which wasn't so half-melted now. "Or.vice versa."
Sano, covered in flour and snow, slowly got up and yelled into the ceiling, "Kenshin.I found the hole!" Sano was answered with an unintelligible response, shortly after with hammering of nails to boards.
"Yes, and you also found the flour," said Aki, blowing some off her face. "There goes that bread Suzuka and I were making.oh well." Aki brushed herself off.
Aoshi opened the door, and looked in. He raised eyebrow at Sano in the flour. The floor was still covered the tiles, splinters, snow, and flour, Aki had done a somewhat crude job of brushing herself off, and everyone else had their backs covered in flour. He couldn't help himself, with the way this day was going, it was a nice turn of events. He started out with just a snicker, then burst out into hysterical laughter.
"What's so funny that could make Aoshi laugh?" asked Yahiko, walking in, who immediately started laughing.
Kaoru walked in and started to snicker, then right out laughed, covering her face with her hand. Suzuka was laughing so hard after seeing Aki, she had her head on the counter. Megumi was giggling through her hand. Misao was laughing so hard, she had to hold herself. Aki chuckled, shaking her head at Sano covered in snow, flour, roof tiles, and splinters who was chuckling to himself as well.
"THAT SOUND BETTER BE THE SOUND OF HARD WORK, NOT WHAT I THINK IT IS!!" shouted Gensai's voice. She walked in with a smile. "I was just joking about that earlier, I already have dinner made in the cabinets, all I need the roof fixed up. Now," she said to Aki and Sano. "Let's get you two into some robes and into the hot springs before you catch pneumonia," she added, leading them outside.
Everyone laughed even harder at the odd expressions on their faces as the old woman pushed them outside, Ayame and Suzume trailing after them.
"I think that's our cue," said Suzuka through bouts of laughter, going after them, followed by Megumi, Kaoru, Misao, Megumi, and Yahiko. Aoshi was in such a good mood, he decided to get a broom and sweep the mess out of the room. Kenshin, finally finished with his job walked in.
"What was all the laughing about, Aoshi?" he asked.
"Kenshin, my friend, you walked in on the wrong moment."
Kenshin just shrugged and grabbed another broom and started to help Aoshi with the flour.and.was that.a roof tile?
"Kanpai!" shouted the group of friends, raising their glasses to one another's health, the end of winter, and the coming of spring.
"This stuff is really good," said Sano after taking a bite.
"It better be, you owe me five bags of flour, klutz," said Gensai, taking a sip of her green tea with a scowl.
"Don't expect it any time soon," said Aki, her still wet hair hanging over her shoulder resting on a towel. "He still owes me.how many yen from when we were ten? I lost count before we ever turned ten."
Sano scratched the back of his head, pretending not to hear.
"He wastes all his 'money' on gambling," said Yahiko.
"Not surprised," said Aki, taking a sip of her own green tea. "You always were a littlepunk, weren't you, baka?"
"If I remember correctly, you were a little demon yourself, battle axe."
"Who the heck are we trying to kid? Who wouldn't be a punk growing up around elderbrothers like the Sekihottai?"
"Yahiko Miyoji, of course," said Yahiko.
Aki and Sano gave each other strange looks and erupted into hysterical laughter.
"Does he always speak in third person?" asked Suzuka of Kenshin.
"Sometimes," he answered.
"Only when he's full of himself," added Kaoru.
"Hey," whispered Megumi in Suzuka's ear. "Aren't afraid to sit so close to Kaoru-San? I am. If she keeps eating those octopus balls, she might sprout tentacles."
Suzuka tried extremely hard not to laugh at .but she couldn't help herself.
"What is it?" asked Kaoru after just swallowing some takoyaki.
That didn't help, it only made Suzuka and Megumi laugh harder.
"And I expect those five bags of flour paid for or returned before you leave!" said Gensai to Sano.
"If I know Sano, he's more broke than a beggar," said Aki
"You're not helping." he muttered.
"Maybe he could work it off for you, Gensai-San."
"Hm," said the old woman. "Deal," she concluded, shaking Aki's hand.
"Gee, I feel included," said Sano sarcastically.
"If you didn't fall on the flour, you wouldn't have this problem!" said Aki and Gensai.
"It wasn't my fault I didn't know where the stupid hole was!!"
"You should have felt around first," scolded Aki. "If you'd have at least done that I wouldn't have this bloody cold, now would I? Now I have to drink green tea until I get better. Which isn't so bad, but if I didn't like it, you'd be in a lot more trouble than you are now," she added, pulling her towel closer.
"Yeah, but it did get us a dip in the hot springs.sort of." said Misao.
"And it did give us a good laugh," added Aki.
"Yeah, I did need to bleach the back of my kimono." said Megumi with a chuckle.
"Yeah, my hair needed a few highlights, too," added Suzuka with another chuckle.
"And it half-fried some of the takoyaki."
"I think it was enough to make three loaves of bread."
"It gave Aki another new hair color."
"It whitewashed the kitchen."
"Can we stop talking about that?!" asked Sano.
"We can keep talking about that while you clean up after us to start paying for those bags of flour," suggested Gensai.
"Yeah, Sano, you seem to be done," said Aki, noticing his empty plate.
"I was about to get more."
"A man that doesn't work, doesn't eat," said Gensai.
"Wait a minute," said Aki. "Sorry, Gensai-San, but I think I have to be a bit defensive. He is after all, a patient. Baka, let me see your leg."
Sano gave her an odd look.
"I think I saw you limping earlier," she muttered under her breath, glancing to Gensai without her seeing.
Aki examined his leg while Gensai looked over her shoulder. "How does it look?"
"I think when he fell some of the stuff got into the wound," Aki reported. "The flour didn't help either."
"Can't you tell she's just faking, take a look for yourself, Gensai-Sama," said Megumi.
"Actually," said Gensai, looking at his leg. "There is some dried flour.you must have gotten the splinters out already. You must really be a doctor. You know, I've been having the oddest headaches that keep coming back."
Megumi gave them odd looks as Aki suggested an herb and Gensai nodded in agreement. "Let me see that wound!" she demanded, walking over.
"What is this?!" asked Sano. "Look-at-Sano's-Leg Day and someone just didn't tell me or something?!"
"Oh, shut up and just let me see it!"
Aki shook her head and went back to her seat as did Gensai.
"Darn it, they're right."
"So you see Gensai-San, and Megumi-San, he should be out of work for a while." Aki covered her mouth to cough, muttering something about allergy season.
Megumi went back to her seat as Gensai sat in thought.
"I guess you're off the hook then," she said to Sano.
"Now that that's over with, I'm going to make some more tea," said Aki, wiping her hair with her towel, heading towards the kitchen. She came back with more tea in her hand. "Nice job cleaning up Aoshi-San and Kenshin- San," she said happily.
"Would you quit it with the 'San' thing?!" demanded Megumi.
"I don't know, would you quit it with the 'Sama' thing?"
"I can't help it if I show respect for those I should show respect for."
"Isn't that what the expression 'San' is used for?"
"Isn't that what the expression 'Sama' is used for as well?"
Aki rolled her eyes as Megumi crossed her arms in a huff.
"Okay," said Gensai. "How about we find something useful to argue about?"
"Yeah," said Misao. "Like who's gonna pass me the saké."
"Sure," said Aki, passing the bottle while rubbing her temples. "I'm going to bed. O yasumi," she mumbled, walking down the hall (taking her tea with her) with a few coughs.
"Poor Aki," said Kaoru.
"What a strange character to put on one's back," said Gensai, apparently just noticing the sign one Aki's back as she retreated into the hall. "I noticed it on your back too, --what did she call you?-baka."
"I've been telling them it's really tasteless," said Yahiko. "But they don't listen to me."
"Hey, she's got a better excuse than I do," said Sano. "That coat and sword were her only heirlooms from her father."
"Sort of like your samurai spirit, Yahiko. You inherited that from your father, right?" said Kenshin.
"You're right," said Yahiko. "But that still doesn't give Sanosuke an excuse."
"Captain Sagara was.like a father to everyone in the Sekihottai," said Sano. "So, technically, I have an excuse."
"Curse Spring and all its pollen," said Aki, waling through the dining room, putting her empty tea cup in the kitchen sink to be cleaned later. "And curse Winter and all its half-melted snow." she paused to sneeze. "Curse all allergies," she finished, going back to the room.
"I think Auntie Aki needs a tickle fest," said Ayame.
"Yeah, a tickle fest!" repeated Suzume, getting up with her sister.
"No, no, no, no," said Kaoru, plopping the small girls in her lap. "She needs some sleep."
"She'll be better by tomorrow, though," said Sano. "She recovers from colds as fast as I recover from injuries."
"Why are you still limping then, Sanosuke?" asked Kaoru.
"I never said anything about recovering from infection, missy." Sano yawned. "Yeah, I'd better get to bed too. That herb she gave me is part sedative apparently," he said limping down the hall.
"Oh, Sanosuke," said Kaoru.
"Yes?"
"That's not our room," said Kenshin.
"Oh, so it isn't," he said , scratching his head as he walked across the hall to the right room.
"Either he's really desperate or half asleep," said Aoshi.
"Probably both," said Suzuka
"Could be."
"I think if they didn't grow up together, he would have more than just an infection in a stitched up leg."
"Most definitely."
"Don't think I don't hear what you're saying!" hollered Sano's voice from the hall.
"Baka!" said Aki's. "Shut up!!"
"Took the words right out of my mouth," said Misao.
Ayame and her sister suddenly yawned.
"I think you two should get to sleep, too," said Kaoru.
"Hey!" said Ayame. "We could help Auntie Aki get to sleep!"
"Yeah!" said Suzume. "We could help her get to sleep!" The two scampered off into the hall.
Everyone looked up to the sound of a knock at the door. "I'll get that," said Gensai, walking towards the front room. "Yutaro-San," she said. "Shouldn't you be at home with your arm the way it is?" she asked.
Yahiko raised an eyebrow at the name.
"I'm here to pay a visit to one of your guests," said the boy's voice. "I've heard your brother's friends from Tokyo came today. I have some.unfinished business with one of them."
"I don't know, Yutaro-San, I think you should rest," said Gensai. "You, yourself, arrived only a few days ago from your uncle's house in Germany."
Yahiko's other eyebrow went up to his hairline with the other as Yutaro stalked over to the kitchen door and slammed it open.
"Keep it down!" Aki's voice shouted from her room.
Yutaro gave a startled look at the new voice.and the new additions seated at the table. Then figured it didn't matter anyway. He shook his head and daggers at Yahiko.
"Tomorrow. Noon. My house. I challenge you to a rematch from the last time we went against each other," he proclaimed. He spun on his heel and walked out of the house.
"He just keeps getting weirder and weirder," said Yahiko as the front door slammed shut.
"Does everyone just not want me to sleep today or something?" asked Aki walking out of the hall.
"Aki, you're looking a lot better than.a few minutes ago," said Kaoru. "You really do recover from colds rather quickly."
"I'm gonna need a second tomorrow," Yahiko pondered.
"What?" asked Aki. "A second what? Why?"
"Thanks for volunteering, Aki," said Suzuka, walking away.
"Yeah, I don't really think I'd want to do that," said Aoshi. "Really helpful of you to volunteerto do that."
Everyone else thanked her for "volunteering" until all that was left seated at the table were she, Misao, Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko.
"Might I ask what I supposedly volunteered for?" asked Aki.
"I'm in a duel," said Yahiko, putting on an important look.
"Tomorrow at Yutaro's house," added Kaoru.
Aki gave a confused stare.
"Don't worry," said Kenshin. "Everyone's going whether they like it or not, that they are."
"I'm a second for a ten year-old?" she asked.
"Yeah!" said Yahiko. "You use a sword! you could take my place if anything happens to me so I can keep my honor!"
"I don't use the Kamiya Kashiin style, though."
"I could teach you!" said Kaoru. "I'd have a student closer to my own age!"
"No thank you, I have my own style."
"But, Aki, you volunteered!"
"No I didn't, I asked what he needed a second for. I'll referee, but I'm not playing second to someone who might not even get hurt. Especially not for one half my age."
"Okay, who is this kid?" asked Misao.
"I'd like to know that too," added Aki.
"His name's Yutaro," said Kaoru. "His father owned this mansion on the coast, but he died. So Yutaro was left to tend to the mansion alone with his father's servants. When we first came here, he and Yahiko had a.dispute, for lack of a better word. Anyway, Yutaro's hand-picked sensei, (a crazed manslayer planning on making a new kingdom) injured him, rendering his right arm completely useless."
Kenshin picked up from there. "So, his servants decided it was best that he go to Germany to live with his uncle for a time. Yahiko eventually convinced Yutaro that he could use his left arm instead of his disabled right arm. And now he's back."
"We have to be there at noon tomorrow!" said Yahiko, more spirited than usual. "You think you'll be ready by then?!"
"For the last time, I'm not going to be your second!"
At Izu
The boarders of the Kamiya dojo headed down somewhat of a path. Since the group had more people than the last time, Sano had twice as much luggage to carry.
"Why am I always stuck with luggage?"
"Poor Sano," said Aki as Suzume played with her kasa. "Sweetie, if you push that any further, I won't be able to see." Suzume giggled as she took Aki's kasa from her head. "Eh, it looked better on you anyway. What do you think, Sano?"
Sano looked at Suzume, the kasa covering half of her face. He lifted the straw hat until he could see Suzume. "Fits like a glove," he said with a grin.
A few minutes later, Yahiko decided to break the silence.
"Heh, heh," he chuckled.
"What's so funny?" asked Sano.
" We have two tasteless people!" he said, slapping Sano and Aki on the back with a wide grin.
"No," said Aki. "We have one tactless person. If you have to have an outburst again, do it quietly.Suzume's asleep."
"How much further, Kaoru-San?" asked Suzuka.
"I'd say we have thirty minutes until we get to the bridge," answered Kaoru.
"Good," said Yahiko, walking up. "My feet are beginning to hurt."
Ayame yawned on Suzuka's shoulders.
"It's okay, baby, we're almost there," said Suzuka with a smile
Ayame blinked and nuzzled up to Suzuka's hair and promptly fell asleep.
"I wish we had an instant-communication device or something of the like," said Megumi.
"They have something like that in America," said Kaoru.
"Unfortunately," said Aoshi. "We don't live in the extreme occident."
"Or Yokohama, that we do not," said Kenshin, shaking his head.
"I've heard the Americans are working on a device to make a man fly," said Kaoru, with a dreamy look.
"Hah," said Aki. "If man were meant to fly, he'd have wings."
"Yeah," said Sano. "And if man has a way to have his portrait made in an instant, he must be selling his soul."
Aki nodded in agreement.
"You're the only ones that think any technologies are soul-sucking demons," said Megumi. "What does that tell you?"
"It tells me we're the only ones with sense," Aki responded.
Half an hour later, the traveling group came to the bridge. Everyone passed the bridge without a problem.until Kaoru came to the foot of the bridge in front of Kenshin, as usual.
"Come on, Kaoru-San!" called Aki from the other side of the structure.
"Yeah!" added Suzuka. "Ayame and Suzume didn't have any problems with it!"
"Just don't look down!" shouted Ayame.
"Yeah!" said Suzume. "Don't look down!"
"I hate heights." murmured Kaoru.
"It's okay, Kaoru-San," Kenshin said encouragingly.
"Just hold on to the sides and don't look down, Kaoru-San!" added Aki. "That's what Yahiko did!"
"I did not!" retorted Yahiko.
"I'll try." said Kaoru, finally. She took a deep breath, looked up, gripped the sides of the bridge, held her breath, stepped onto the bridge and.promptly passed out into Kenshin's arms. Who.promptly fell over, his eyes swirls. "Oro..!."
"Okay," said Aki. "Who's going over there to get our navigators?"
After a while of arguing, the group finally got Kenshin and Kaoru over to the other side of the bridge. Kaoru led the group the rest of the way to Dr. Gensai's sister's house. Aki and Suzuka set their loads down. "I'm glad to see.all.of you could make it," said the doctor's sister with a confused look. "There are twice as many of you as there were the last time I saw you. Alright, the old woman needs introductions, who are the rest of you?" she asked with a grin.
"Aoshi Shinomori," he said with a slight bow.
"Misao Makimachi," she said with her usual confident air.
"I'm Suzuka Takahashi, Kenshin's cousin," she said with a smile.
"Akiyama Sagara, ma'am," Aki said with a bow. "Just call me Aki."
"Nice to meet you all. You look really worn out, how about some dinner, then a dip in the hot springs?" asked Gensai.
"Yes, thank you, I need that more than you know," said Aki, rubbing her temples. "Bad headache that still won't go away.
"After you get to work of course," she added with an even wider grin. "You two," she said to Kenshin and Sano, throwing them a shovel each. "Scrape all the snow off my roof, and there's a hole in it somewhere, fix that too. You four," she said to Megumi, Suzuka, Misao, and Aki, throwing them an apron each. "Get to work on dinner for the winter solstice. You," she said to Aoshi, throwing him an axe. "Get to work on chopping firewood. And you two," she finally said to Yahiko and Kaoru, tossing them a pile of clothes. "Do the laundry."
Ten minutes later, Kaoru and Yahiko were arguing about how to do the laundry.
"Yahiko, I told you to sort the lights from the darks!"
"What's the point?! I'm not really used to doing laundry anyway!"
"Don't put the soap in that way!! You're supposed to spread it! Not put it in one spot!!"
"What does it matter?! It's just soap!"
"What are you doing to that shirt?! Trying to shred it?!" Kaoru hollered, taking the slightly battered shirt away from Yahiko.
On the roof, Kenshin and Sanosuke were busy throwing snow off the roof while half looking for the hole Gensai was talking about.
"I don't see any hole here.or anywhere else on the roof at all," said Sano.
"I think we should be careful anyway, Sano, that we should. The roof is covered in snow, it could be anywhere, that it could."
Sano, noticing one side on the roof was clear, went on the other side of the roof.
"Sano, I think we should feel around for the hole, instead of guessing where it might be." There was no answer. "Sano?" The small samurai looked around to where he saw his friend crawl to. "Sano." There was an open hole in the snow. "Sano, daijovu ka?"
In the kitchen, Suzuka, Megumi, Aki, and Misao were trying to make a fairly large dinner without killing each other." Fox girl, I said I was going to cut the carrots, you take care of the octopus!" said Misao, waving some of her knives, starting on the carrots.
"Well, excuse me, I thought I would help with the carrots since I was done with the takoyaki," said Megumi, moving on to something else.
"What do we need for the bread now, Suzuka-San?" asked Aki, from another counter of the kitchen.
"Hm," said the small ninja-samurai. "Flour, I'm almost finished with the eggs."
"Alright, I'll get the flour, then," said Aki, walking over to the bags set in the middle of the room. Suddenly, snow, roof tile, wood, and.someone fell through the ceiling, right on the flour, making the white substance explode throughout the room. She coughed up some flour out of her mouth, which she was covered with from head to foot. Not mention the half-melted snow. Which wasn't so half-melted now. "Or.vice versa."
Sano, covered in flour and snow, slowly got up and yelled into the ceiling, "Kenshin.I found the hole!" Sano was answered with an unintelligible response, shortly after with hammering of nails to boards.
"Yes, and you also found the flour," said Aki, blowing some off her face. "There goes that bread Suzuka and I were making.oh well." Aki brushed herself off.
Aoshi opened the door, and looked in. He raised eyebrow at Sano in the flour. The floor was still covered the tiles, splinters, snow, and flour, Aki had done a somewhat crude job of brushing herself off, and everyone else had their backs covered in flour. He couldn't help himself, with the way this day was going, it was a nice turn of events. He started out with just a snicker, then burst out into hysterical laughter.
"What's so funny that could make Aoshi laugh?" asked Yahiko, walking in, who immediately started laughing.
Kaoru walked in and started to snicker, then right out laughed, covering her face with her hand. Suzuka was laughing so hard after seeing Aki, she had her head on the counter. Megumi was giggling through her hand. Misao was laughing so hard, she had to hold herself. Aki chuckled, shaking her head at Sano covered in snow, flour, roof tiles, and splinters who was chuckling to himself as well.
"THAT SOUND BETTER BE THE SOUND OF HARD WORK, NOT WHAT I THINK IT IS!!" shouted Gensai's voice. She walked in with a smile. "I was just joking about that earlier, I already have dinner made in the cabinets, all I need the roof fixed up. Now," she said to Aki and Sano. "Let's get you two into some robes and into the hot springs before you catch pneumonia," she added, leading them outside.
Everyone laughed even harder at the odd expressions on their faces as the old woman pushed them outside, Ayame and Suzume trailing after them.
"I think that's our cue," said Suzuka through bouts of laughter, going after them, followed by Megumi, Kaoru, Misao, Megumi, and Yahiko. Aoshi was in such a good mood, he decided to get a broom and sweep the mess out of the room. Kenshin, finally finished with his job walked in.
"What was all the laughing about, Aoshi?" he asked.
"Kenshin, my friend, you walked in on the wrong moment."
Kenshin just shrugged and grabbed another broom and started to help Aoshi with the flour.and.was that.a roof tile?
"Kanpai!" shouted the group of friends, raising their glasses to one another's health, the end of winter, and the coming of spring.
"This stuff is really good," said Sano after taking a bite.
"It better be, you owe me five bags of flour, klutz," said Gensai, taking a sip of her green tea with a scowl.
"Don't expect it any time soon," said Aki, her still wet hair hanging over her shoulder resting on a towel. "He still owes me.how many yen from when we were ten? I lost count before we ever turned ten."
Sano scratched the back of his head, pretending not to hear.
"He wastes all his 'money' on gambling," said Yahiko.
"Not surprised," said Aki, taking a sip of her own green tea. "You always were a littlepunk, weren't you, baka?"
"If I remember correctly, you were a little demon yourself, battle axe."
"Who the heck are we trying to kid? Who wouldn't be a punk growing up around elderbrothers like the Sekihottai?"
"Yahiko Miyoji, of course," said Yahiko.
Aki and Sano gave each other strange looks and erupted into hysterical laughter.
"Does he always speak in third person?" asked Suzuka of Kenshin.
"Sometimes," he answered.
"Only when he's full of himself," added Kaoru.
"Hey," whispered Megumi in Suzuka's ear. "Aren't afraid to sit so close to Kaoru-San? I am. If she keeps eating those octopus balls, she might sprout tentacles."
Suzuka tried extremely hard not to laugh at .but she couldn't help herself.
"What is it?" asked Kaoru after just swallowing some takoyaki.
That didn't help, it only made Suzuka and Megumi laugh harder.
"And I expect those five bags of flour paid for or returned before you leave!" said Gensai to Sano.
"If I know Sano, he's more broke than a beggar," said Aki
"You're not helping." he muttered.
"Maybe he could work it off for you, Gensai-San."
"Hm," said the old woman. "Deal," she concluded, shaking Aki's hand.
"Gee, I feel included," said Sano sarcastically.
"If you didn't fall on the flour, you wouldn't have this problem!" said Aki and Gensai.
"It wasn't my fault I didn't know where the stupid hole was!!"
"You should have felt around first," scolded Aki. "If you'd have at least done that I wouldn't have this bloody cold, now would I? Now I have to drink green tea until I get better. Which isn't so bad, but if I didn't like it, you'd be in a lot more trouble than you are now," she added, pulling her towel closer.
"Yeah, but it did get us a dip in the hot springs.sort of." said Misao.
"And it did give us a good laugh," added Aki.
"Yeah, I did need to bleach the back of my kimono." said Megumi with a chuckle.
"Yeah, my hair needed a few highlights, too," added Suzuka with another chuckle.
"And it half-fried some of the takoyaki."
"I think it was enough to make three loaves of bread."
"It gave Aki another new hair color."
"It whitewashed the kitchen."
"Can we stop talking about that?!" asked Sano.
"We can keep talking about that while you clean up after us to start paying for those bags of flour," suggested Gensai.
"Yeah, Sano, you seem to be done," said Aki, noticing his empty plate.
"I was about to get more."
"A man that doesn't work, doesn't eat," said Gensai.
"Wait a minute," said Aki. "Sorry, Gensai-San, but I think I have to be a bit defensive. He is after all, a patient. Baka, let me see your leg."
Sano gave her an odd look.
"I think I saw you limping earlier," she muttered under her breath, glancing to Gensai without her seeing.
Aki examined his leg while Gensai looked over her shoulder. "How does it look?"
"I think when he fell some of the stuff got into the wound," Aki reported. "The flour didn't help either."
"Can't you tell she's just faking, take a look for yourself, Gensai-Sama," said Megumi.
"Actually," said Gensai, looking at his leg. "There is some dried flour.you must have gotten the splinters out already. You must really be a doctor. You know, I've been having the oddest headaches that keep coming back."
Megumi gave them odd looks as Aki suggested an herb and Gensai nodded in agreement. "Let me see that wound!" she demanded, walking over.
"What is this?!" asked Sano. "Look-at-Sano's-Leg Day and someone just didn't tell me or something?!"
"Oh, shut up and just let me see it!"
Aki shook her head and went back to her seat as did Gensai.
"Darn it, they're right."
"So you see Gensai-San, and Megumi-San, he should be out of work for a while." Aki covered her mouth to cough, muttering something about allergy season.
Megumi went back to her seat as Gensai sat in thought.
"I guess you're off the hook then," she said to Sano.
"Now that that's over with, I'm going to make some more tea," said Aki, wiping her hair with her towel, heading towards the kitchen. She came back with more tea in her hand. "Nice job cleaning up Aoshi-San and Kenshin- San," she said happily.
"Would you quit it with the 'San' thing?!" demanded Megumi.
"I don't know, would you quit it with the 'Sama' thing?"
"I can't help it if I show respect for those I should show respect for."
"Isn't that what the expression 'San' is used for?"
"Isn't that what the expression 'Sama' is used for as well?"
Aki rolled her eyes as Megumi crossed her arms in a huff.
"Okay," said Gensai. "How about we find something useful to argue about?"
"Yeah," said Misao. "Like who's gonna pass me the saké."
"Sure," said Aki, passing the bottle while rubbing her temples. "I'm going to bed. O yasumi," she mumbled, walking down the hall (taking her tea with her) with a few coughs.
"Poor Aki," said Kaoru.
"What a strange character to put on one's back," said Gensai, apparently just noticing the sign one Aki's back as she retreated into the hall. "I noticed it on your back too, --what did she call you?-baka."
"I've been telling them it's really tasteless," said Yahiko. "But they don't listen to me."
"Hey, she's got a better excuse than I do," said Sano. "That coat and sword were her only heirlooms from her father."
"Sort of like your samurai spirit, Yahiko. You inherited that from your father, right?" said Kenshin.
"You're right," said Yahiko. "But that still doesn't give Sanosuke an excuse."
"Captain Sagara was.like a father to everyone in the Sekihottai," said Sano. "So, technically, I have an excuse."
"Curse Spring and all its pollen," said Aki, waling through the dining room, putting her empty tea cup in the kitchen sink to be cleaned later. "And curse Winter and all its half-melted snow." she paused to sneeze. "Curse all allergies," she finished, going back to the room.
"I think Auntie Aki needs a tickle fest," said Ayame.
"Yeah, a tickle fest!" repeated Suzume, getting up with her sister.
"No, no, no, no," said Kaoru, plopping the small girls in her lap. "She needs some sleep."
"She'll be better by tomorrow, though," said Sano. "She recovers from colds as fast as I recover from injuries."
"Why are you still limping then, Sanosuke?" asked Kaoru.
"I never said anything about recovering from infection, missy." Sano yawned. "Yeah, I'd better get to bed too. That herb she gave me is part sedative apparently," he said limping down the hall.
"Oh, Sanosuke," said Kaoru.
"Yes?"
"That's not our room," said Kenshin.
"Oh, so it isn't," he said , scratching his head as he walked across the hall to the right room.
"Either he's really desperate or half asleep," said Aoshi.
"Probably both," said Suzuka
"Could be."
"I think if they didn't grow up together, he would have more than just an infection in a stitched up leg."
"Most definitely."
"Don't think I don't hear what you're saying!" hollered Sano's voice from the hall.
"Baka!" said Aki's. "Shut up!!"
"Took the words right out of my mouth," said Misao.
Ayame and her sister suddenly yawned.
"I think you two should get to sleep, too," said Kaoru.
"Hey!" said Ayame. "We could help Auntie Aki get to sleep!"
"Yeah!" said Suzume. "We could help her get to sleep!" The two scampered off into the hall.
Everyone looked up to the sound of a knock at the door. "I'll get that," said Gensai, walking towards the front room. "Yutaro-San," she said. "Shouldn't you be at home with your arm the way it is?" she asked.
Yahiko raised an eyebrow at the name.
"I'm here to pay a visit to one of your guests," said the boy's voice. "I've heard your brother's friends from Tokyo came today. I have some.unfinished business with one of them."
"I don't know, Yutaro-San, I think you should rest," said Gensai. "You, yourself, arrived only a few days ago from your uncle's house in Germany."
Yahiko's other eyebrow went up to his hairline with the other as Yutaro stalked over to the kitchen door and slammed it open.
"Keep it down!" Aki's voice shouted from her room.
Yutaro gave a startled look at the new voice.and the new additions seated at the table. Then figured it didn't matter anyway. He shook his head and daggers at Yahiko.
"Tomorrow. Noon. My house. I challenge you to a rematch from the last time we went against each other," he proclaimed. He spun on his heel and walked out of the house.
"He just keeps getting weirder and weirder," said Yahiko as the front door slammed shut.
"Does everyone just not want me to sleep today or something?" asked Aki walking out of the hall.
"Aki, you're looking a lot better than.a few minutes ago," said Kaoru. "You really do recover from colds rather quickly."
"I'm gonna need a second tomorrow," Yahiko pondered.
"What?" asked Aki. "A second what? Why?"
"Thanks for volunteering, Aki," said Suzuka, walking away.
"Yeah, I don't really think I'd want to do that," said Aoshi. "Really helpful of you to volunteerto do that."
Everyone else thanked her for "volunteering" until all that was left seated at the table were she, Misao, Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko.
"Might I ask what I supposedly volunteered for?" asked Aki.
"I'm in a duel," said Yahiko, putting on an important look.
"Tomorrow at Yutaro's house," added Kaoru.
Aki gave a confused stare.
"Don't worry," said Kenshin. "Everyone's going whether they like it or not, that they are."
"I'm a second for a ten year-old?" she asked.
"Yeah!" said Yahiko. "You use a sword! you could take my place if anything happens to me so I can keep my honor!"
"I don't use the Kamiya Kashiin style, though."
"I could teach you!" said Kaoru. "I'd have a student closer to my own age!"
"No thank you, I have my own style."
"But, Aki, you volunteered!"
"No I didn't, I asked what he needed a second for. I'll referee, but I'm not playing second to someone who might not even get hurt. Especially not for one half my age."
"Okay, who is this kid?" asked Misao.
"I'd like to know that too," added Aki.
"His name's Yutaro," said Kaoru. "His father owned this mansion on the coast, but he died. So Yutaro was left to tend to the mansion alone with his father's servants. When we first came here, he and Yahiko had a.dispute, for lack of a better word. Anyway, Yutaro's hand-picked sensei, (a crazed manslayer planning on making a new kingdom) injured him, rendering his right arm completely useless."
Kenshin picked up from there. "So, his servants decided it was best that he go to Germany to live with his uncle for a time. Yahiko eventually convinced Yutaro that he could use his left arm instead of his disabled right arm. And now he's back."
"We have to be there at noon tomorrow!" said Yahiko, more spirited than usual. "You think you'll be ready by then?!"
"For the last time, I'm not going to be your second!"