Chapter 11

Kenshin woke up early, feeling more alive than he had for the past week. He took a deep breath and stood up carefully. A little wobbly, but not too bad. His legs felt weak and his balance was wonky; he'd spent too much time lying down. Not to worry; it would get better as he moved around some more.

He stripped off the yukata and put on his own clothes. So nice of Akane-dono to have washed them for him. He untied his hair and shook it out, then finger-combed it quickly and tied it back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Then he folded the futon and quilt and stacked them neatly next to the wall, laying the yukata and his scarf on top.

He slid open the door and listened. No sound of movement down below. It was early; Akane-dono must still be asleep. He padded out in his socks and walked slowly down the stairs, one hand on the wall to compensate for his lack of balance. He was feeling more steady already, but didn't want to risk a fall.

The kitchen was clean, dishes washed and put away. Kenshin crossed back in front of the stairs and stuck his head through the half-curtained doorway to the dining room. Everything was tidy here, too, the tables scrubbed, the cushions all stacked in one corner, the floor swept clean. Kenshin stood still for a minute, gazing blankly into the dining room, at a loss for what to do. Then he shrugged, smiled, and went back to the kitchen.

He found his sandals next to the back door, slipped them on, and went out onto the porch. It was raining again, gently, the drops falling through the bare branches of the trees and making a soft hissing sound on the ground and the blue tile roof of the building opposite. Kenshin looked around until he spotted the wood pile off to the right near the end of the garden.

o-o-o

Akane woke to rain falling past her window. She stretched and sat up, then padded out into the hallway toward the stairs, pausing to peek in at Kenshin in the back room. The futon was folded tidily against the wall. She gasped. Kenshin was gone.

No, wait. He'd left his scarf, folded on top of the futon, and his sword was still in her bedroom. He must still be here, and feeling better. Akane blew out a relieved breath and hurried down the stairs.

The stove was lit, the kettle on top steaming gently. The back door had been left open a couple of inches, letting in a breath of cold moist air. Kenshin had taken his sandals, too. Akane slipped on her own shoes and slid the door open.

Kenshin was sitting on the porch to the left of the door, his back against the wall, gazing out at the rain with a blissful smile on his face. He had a cup of tea balanced on one knee, his hands wrapped around it. He looked up at Akane when she stepped out. His eyes were clear and bright, blue-gray in the pearl-colored morning light filtering down through the clouds.

"The rain is beautiful, isn't it, Akane-dono?" His voice was light, pitched high, with a smile in it.

"Kenshin!" This was not the sort of thing Akane had expected from him. When she'd met him that first evening when he'd come looking for work, and then the next day when Hideki had brought him in to rest and warm up in her kitchen, Akane had assumed he would be like any youngster from around the village, future farmers and fishermen with the usual trivial concerns of youth. Like Aki, for example, with too little life experience yet to truly differentiate his personality. Her maternal instinct had kicked in hard when he'd fallen ill, reinforcing the impression. She'd started to think of him as someone who needed protecting. Then, later that night, when Shinichiro had told her what Kenshin had done during the Bakumatsu.... She still hadn't squared it with her earlier impression. She'd found it impossible to think of Kenshin as a legendary swordsman, or as a ruthless killer either, when he was lying helpless with a bad fever. Thinking about it once he'd started to recover, she'd figured he'd probably be something like Shinichiro, he being the only person she knew who had actually fought in the revolution -- polite but distant, and more than a little grim. But this...! Shinichiro would not have said something like this.

He'd been looking at her curiously, but now his smile was slipping. "Akane-dono, is something wrong?" he asked uncertainly, starting forward to get up.

"No, no! Not at all." She waved her hands. "I was just... surprised you like the rain." She looked out at the grayness. "We get a lot of it during the winter. Most people are sick of it by now, is all." She looked back down at him, at a loss. There was an uncomfortable silence. Then both spoke at once.

"Kenshin-"

"Akane-dono-"

"No, please, go ahead," she said.

Kenshin nodded, stood up, looked down at his feet for a moment, and then back up to meet her eyes. His expression was serious. "Akane-dono, thank you for taking care of me when I was sick. I want to stay and work to repay your kindness, that I do, if you will let me. But you probably don't want me to stay around, now that you know who I am. And I think I've caused a terrible disturbance in the lives of your friends the Yukawas." He looked to the side, his expression a bit miserable.

"Oh!" Akane paused. He was certainly direct, laying it all out on the table from the start. It must have been weighing on his mind. And he was offering her an opening to send him away, with no hint of disgrace. But she'd been thinking about it too.

"Stay, at least for a while," she said. "You can help out in the kitchen." She thought he looked a little relieved. "About the Yukawas..." she continued. "I haven't actually seen Eri since that night, or Shinichiro either. It's worrying me. I went by their place three days ago and again yesterday, but they weren't around. Usually Eri has her shop open during the day, but she'd left a note saying she was out." Akane paused, tapping her square chin thoughtfully. Then she grinned at Kenshin. "You can help me solve this mystery!" she said, and thumped an open hand down on his shoulder.

"Oro!" Kenshin staggered under the blow.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Are you all right?" Akane caught him by both shoulders and steadied him, suddenly alarmed. His shoulders felt bony. He was far too skinny.

Kenshin was shaking her off. "It's all right, I'm fine, that I am." He smiled reassuringly.

Akane frowned. That smile made him look young and terribly vulnerable. "Come in and have some breakfast." She led Kenshin back into the kitchen, and closed the door on the cool wet draft. "There, that's better." She bustled around, drawing some water for rice and setting it to boil on the stove.

"Eiko and Aki usually come in around ten," she continued. "I'll go out before then, up to the Yukawas' place, and see if Eri's in. You should stay here; I don't want them to see you again until I know how they're dealing with it." She mixed up some miso with hot water from the kettle, adding sliced green onions, and passed a bowl to Kenshin. "Hideki should see Eri today, too; she's sending some stuff out on the cart tomorrow morning. I'll make sure he knows I'm looking for her, in case I miss her again." The water on the stove had started to boil. She poured in some rice, put on the lid, and moved it off the direct heat to simmer.

She met Kenshin's eyes. "We'll sort this out," she said, her voice determined. "You'll see."

He nodded back, with a small hopeful smile.

o-o-o

Eiko usually liked to hum while she worked, but this time she was quiet. She had a lot to think about. Aki had come to pick her up from home at the usual time, walking with her side-by-side under the umbrella. The rain had been letting up; by the time they arrived at the restaurant Aki had already shaken out the umbrella and folded it. Kenshin had been sitting on the porch next to the back door, watching the clouds. He'd gotten up when they arrived, greeting them with a happy 'ohayou gozaimas'!', and let them in to the kitchen. Akane had still been out; Kenshin explained that she'd gone to see Yukawa Eri and do some shopping.

Eiko finished slivering the green onions and scraped them into a bowl. She stole a glance at Kenshin, working at the other counter beside Akane, painstakingly peeling a stack of burdock roots. She and Aki had gotten to work preparing things for lunch as usual. Kenshin had begged them to let him help, so they'd put him to work dicing vegetables. He wasn't very fast at it. But he was so polite, calling her Eiko-dono. No one had ever called her that before. It had made her feel all melty inside.

Akane had returned shortly after with the shopping. She'd seemed unhappy, telling them cryptically that Eri had been out. Something had happened with Eri in the past few days, but Eiko wasn't sure what it was. Well, Akane would sort it out, she'd thought. Akane could deal with anything. Kenshin had seemed concerned, but he hadn't said anything.

The big rice pot had come to a boil on the stove. Eiko poured in the rice and slid it off the direct heat, putting on the lid to let it simmer. Akane leaned past her with another pot of water to start it heating for the miso. Customers would be arriving soon.

Eiko tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced over at Kenshin again. He was slowly and tediously cutting the burdock into matchsticks. She was not sure what to think about Kenshin any more. She had expected him to be dashing and exotic (the red hair! the sword!) but instead he seemed awkward and shy, even more so than Aki was. And he was so short! Shorter than she was, even, by a couple of inches. She hadn't realized it until this morning. Until now, she hadn't actually seen him standing up properly. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

At that moment the kitchen door banged open and Eiko looked up, startled. A woman was standing there, disheveled and out of breath, her long black hair pulled back hurriedly into a sloppy braid and her gray eyes wide. Eiko realized with a shock that it was Yukawa Eri, Akane's friend, usually so calm and stylish -- something really was wrong.

"Eri!" Akane rushed forward from the stove and caught her friend by the shoulders. "Are you all right? I've been looking for you for ages--"

Eri stared past her straight at Kenshin, who startled and froze, a bowl of slivered burdock in his hands.

"I need to talk to Himura-san," she said.