WARNING!!!: In this section, I am going under the impression that Kenji learned the Kamiya Kasshin Style. Taught by Yahiko. And the Hiten Mitsurugi taught by Hiko, of course.
"Why is it that you always think that anyone who keeps and secret and bumps by your life is here to fight you?" Kenji asked amusedly. "Why I could be here to make Kaoru my wife and you wouldn't have anything to do with it."
'There. That did it. Kenji is dead,' Yahiko thought.
"But that's not why you are here! You're lying!" Kenshin gripped the handle of his sakabatou.
"Why would I be lying?"
"I have no farther words to say to you," Kenshin whispered as he drew his sword. "Draw your hidden katana that you have kept from everyone."
Going Back
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: All rights to Rurouni Kenshin goes to Watsuki.
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"Kenshin! That's enough!" Kaoru spread her arms and stood in front of Kenji.
"Kaoru-dono... he's dangerous..." Kenshin tried to persuade her.
"Why are you protecting him anyway?? I mean... he isn't Kenshin or any of your friends! You've known him for what... two days?!" Sanosuke demanded of her.
Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him and growled, "Don't ask me. I feel protective over him. Okay?" She blushed.
"I can quite take care of this..." Kenji said, and then added, just for his amusement, "Kaoru."
It felt kind of weird. Calling him mother by her first name... He was her mother. He could almost see his own stubbornness along with many other characteristics of himself in her. And a mother's love... she felt protective of him... Could she... feel it? Was it... a mother's thing?
Kenji sighed. "I don't have the katana with me... Kenshin… san. It's in my bedroom, but," he said as he threw Kenshin a bokken, "I wouldn't mind a spar."
"You have a katana!?" Kaoru asked him shocked. "I should have known. You have the ki of a samurai."
"Hai," Kenji grinned. "Almost similar to yours."
"Come to think of it... your ki... it's similar to more of Kaoru's then Kenshin's... but you look more like Kenshin... Ahh! Dammit! I'm confused..." Yahiko shouted.
"Stop swearing!" Kaoru smacked him on the head with her bokken.
Kenshin, who was smiling at their day-to-day routine... Now... something was missing and another was added. Megumi-san wasn't here and Kenji... even his name was similar to his own, dammit!
"Very well," Kenshin grinned an almost predatory grin.
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"Kenji... you deserved it... Honestly! Picking a fight with the legendary Hitokiri-" then Kaoru realized she was giving away his cover. She quickly covered her mouth but Kenji finished for her, "Battousai."
"I'm not going to ask you how you know these things... you seem to know things that you shouldn't know..."
"Kaa-, Kaoru... Could you call me Kenji-chan?" he asked quietly. He never had to ask his mother to call him 'chan.' But... he wanted her to. He wanted to feel loved... he wanted to feel like a kid again. Maybe... if he could be young again...! They could have a regular family!! 'No,' he shook his head. 'I won't let myself be miserable again!"
"Kenji... chan...?" Kaoru repeated softly. It seemed to roll off her tongue quiet easily. "All right, Kenji-chan... but I still say you shouldn't have been fighting with Kenshin!! Honestly!! But... I admit... you could have... and might have beaten Kenshin."
She tended to his wounds. It was very shocking to see that these had been done by her bokkens. In her dojo. But the splinters in his shoulders were proof enough.
"Are you scared?"
"Scared?" Kaoru asked with a yelp of surprise at his sudden question. "Why would I be scared?"
"Of my skills... I'm not... a regular swordsman. Not a normal person…" Kenji said uneasily.
Kaoru laughed. "Jeez, you're a regular samurai, Kenji-chan. Kenshin, Sano and Yahiko are some weird people. She let out a giggle. And me! I'm 18 and still not married."
Her face had a dark look. "I'm never going to get married."
Then she tended again to his wounds without a word. When he opened his mouth to speak again, she poked him at a particularly painful spot and he got the hint.
"I'll make sure you don't," Kenji muttered under his breath.
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"Honestly... all this damage with a bokken? What the hell were you people really doing??" Megumi asked with a sigh.
"We're honest, Megitsune!"
"Yes, Megumi-dono. We were just having a spar," Kenshin grinned at her.
She raised her eyebrows, "Where is the other Ken-san? Shouldn't I fix him up, too?"
Everyone tensed at her words. "How'd you know it was him?" Yahiko asked.
"Well, neither of you are hurt. If something happened at the dojo, Kaoru would have been here in less then a minute just for a 'regular checkup' and since there are no other logical possibilities, I imagined it would be Kenji. Ken-san and he has things going on with him." She smirked.
Sano let out a low whistle. "Sharp, ain't ya?"
"So, is Tanuki-chan watching him?"
Their silence only confirmed her theory.
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Kaoru leaned again the wall and let the wind caress her face. She shifted a bit and got more comfortable.
"Are you okay?" Kenji asked from her lap.
"Yup. Just thinking."
"Hmm... About?"
"About the extraordinary swordsmanship you currently possess."
Kenji let out a chuckle. "Well, I wasn't trained in the lessons of two Kenjutsu for nothing!"
"So you are a swordsman. An extremely good one at that. So... what styles?"
Kenji smiled, "You wouldn't believe me."
"Yes, I would."
"No, you wouldn't."
"Yes! I would! Now tell me!"
Kenji let out a soft chuckle at her flushed face. Her sparkling eyes made him think of Kaori. In no time, he remembered her melodious laugh and the way she would giggle at him. He remembered the way her eyes sparkled when she was particularly happy or sad.
"Kenji-chan!" His mother's voice brought him back to reality.
"Huh?"
Kaoru eyed him strangely. "You should get some rest. I'll wake you up in time for dinner."
She was supposed to... but the setting sun kissed her face warmly and the winds sang a lullaby that she couldn't resist. She fell asleep, leaning against the wall with Kenji's head on her lap. As she fell asleep she couldn't but think how familiar this all felt.
And that was how Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Yahiko found them.
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My babbles: Yes! I thought I'd give you peeps another chapter before I left for New York. This chapter is a bit shorter then the others but nonetheless please enjoy and leave me a review!