"You again!"
"Oro?" Kenshin looked up from the floor at the small gray-haired man. He hadn't noticed him come in. Hideki either. Must have been spacing out again.
"Never mind," the man was saying, "I'll explain later." He set down his large black bag on the floor and started to crouch down in front of Kenshin. "Let's have a look at those injuries."
"No, no! I'm fine! Take care of Shinichiro, he's badly hurt, that he is!" Kenshin waved the man away defensively.
Eri had glanced up, worried, about to say something, but now she looked relieved. "Watanabe-sensei," she said, as she moved aside a little to make room for him in front of her husband. The doctor hurried over.
Akane stuck her head out from the kitchen. "Water's boiling," she said.
"Good, bring it out here," Eri said quickly. "And start another kettle, would you?"
Kenshin watched as Watanabe peeled back the cloth Eri had been pressing across Shinichiro's sword slash. Kenshin was worried about him. By the time he and Akane had made it into the house, Eri had gotten Shinichiro lying down already and was applying pressure to his cut, although it seemed to have stopped bleeding for the most part already. He guessed there was not much else she could do until she'd boiled some water. That had been only a few minutes ago. Shinichiro looked alert enough now -- his eyes were open and clear -- but he was obviously in pain.
Akane ducked back into the kitchen momentarily and emerged with a steaming kettle. She set it down on a pot-holder on the low wooden table.
Hideki touched her shoulder. "I'll take care of the next one," he said in an undertone, heading toward the kitchen. Akane nodded briefly in reply.
"This is a sword cut," Watanabe was saying in a low calm voice. "What happened?"
Shinichiro froze, his eyes fixed on Watanabe. To Kenshin, he looked incredibly guilty. "We-- ah--"
"Bandits!" Kenshin interjected. All eyes turned to him. He looked back at them earnestly, his own eyes wide. "We ran into some bandits on the road, that we did. East of town." Watanabe seemed to be buying it, but Eri and Akane looked skeptical. Shinichiro was staring at him, perplexed; suddenly his eyebrows shot up as he realized what Kenshin was doing. Well, it's true, Kenshin thought. He noticed Shinichiro had untied his hair from his topknot. Good, that would have been tough to explain. Or maybe Eri had done it.
"Bandits, my gosh." Watanabe had gotten back to work, pouring hot water at the low table. "Haven't heard about many of those since the revolution." He started to swab at Shinichiro's cut with a piece of gauze, then stopped suddenly, and turned to Eri, his bright black eyes round as buttons. "I wonder if they were after the trade cart!"
"Probably!" Kenshin cut in, before Eri could say anything.
Shinichiro was frowning, looking between Watanabe and Kenshin. "Himura..." he started to say.
"Do you think they attacked it?" Watanabe looked amazed, excited as a schoolboy. He gasped suddenly and turned to Akane, alarmed. "Akane, isn't it your Aki-kun's cousin or uncle or something that drives that cart?"
"I think--" Kenshin interrupted, "I think they were too busy with us. I heard the cart go by at some point, that I did." He was really getting into this. Eri was looking at him surreptitiously, an odd expression on her face. She looked away when he met her eyes.
"Wow," Watanabe breathed. He fished a fresh piece of gauze out of the bowl of hot water and got back to work, dabbing efficiently at Shinichiro's chest. "Heh. Good thing Shinichiro was there. Our own samurai." Shinichiro's frown deepened. Watanabe smiled warmly down at his patient, admiration on his face. Shinichiro's swords were on the floor next to him.
"Yes," said Kenshin. "He saved my life." Shinichiro shot him an incredulous look under Watanabe's arm. Well, it's also true, Kenshin thought. He was trying not to smile, and failing. He felt giddy, elated. Everything is perfect, he thought. His cuts didn't even hurt that much anymore.
"Kenshin?" Akane said, and nudged his shoulder. Kenshin was still sitting on the floor where she had left him earlier. He'd curled forward to rest his forehead on one propped-up knee, his hair brushing the floor on either side. He lifted his head at her touch and glanced around.
"That was fast," he said.
Eri was helping Shinichiro out into the short hallway that led off the main room, holding onto his arm and talking to him in a low voice, their heads close together.
Akane watched as Watanabe set down another bowl of fresh boiled water on the floor and knelt down, organizing his equipment on the tatami.
"Okay," he said to Kenshin, "your turn." He helped Kenshin out of his gi and started to untie his bandages. Akane looked away uncomfortably. She'd tried not to watch while Watanabe stitched up Shinichiro, but she was feeling queasy anyway. Eri had been much stronger about it, actively helping. Akane was glad about that; she'd been worrying about Eri since they'd come over late last night.
Kenshin jerked back suddenly. "Wait--" he said, "Shinichiro-- Will Shinichiro be all right?" He looked belatedly towards the doorway. Eri and Shinichiro had already disappeared inside.
"Yes, yes, don't worry," Watanabe replied soothingly. "I fixed him up already. He wasn't hurt too bad and the bleeding's stopped. He should heal up fine and be back on his feet in a week or so."
Kenshin nodded vaguely and relaxed a little, looking aside. Watanabe got the bandage untied and unwrapped it quickly, dropping the whole blood-soaked mess into another bowl.
Akane turned away again. Maybe she should do some tidying, yes, that would be helpful. She took a deep breath and gathered up the bowls Watanabe had been using for Shinichiro, then headed into the kitchen. Hideki was watching the kettle, obviously trying to stay out of the way. They exchanged a small smile as she turned back to the living room.
Watanabe sucked air between his teeth, probing at Kenshin's side.
"There's nothing broken," Kenshin said, his voice suddenly gone high and wavery. He'd squeezed his eyes closed and was looking a little pale.
"Okay. I was just checking." Watanabe glanced up at her. "Hey, Akane?"
"Yeah? Do you need help?" She hurried over.
Watanabe leaned aside to speak to her confidentially. "Can you let him lean on you? He's in shock and he's probably going to pass out any minute now; I don't want him to hurt himself any more when he does."
Akane's eyes widened. "Okay," she squeaked. She could handle this, she kept telling herself. If Eri could handle it, she could too. She slid in next to Kenshin and laid a hand awkwardly on his back.
"You don't have to do this, Akane-dono, I'm all right, that I am," he mumbled, but he leaned against her anyway.
Akane didn't watch, trying hard to think about other things. But she could feel the tension in Kenshin's shoulder leaning against her, feel his small movements as he tried not to flinch.
After what seemed like a very long time, Watanabe straightened up. "Okay! That's done," he said.
Kenshin stirred and sat up, blinking and breathing carefully.
"Are you doing all right?"
Kenshin nodded slightly, his eyes on the tatami in front of him.
"Okay then, I'll just wrap the bandages."
Akane lifted Kenshin's unruly hair while Watanabe wrapped gauze around his ribs.
"All right, let me take a look at that leg now." Watanabe eyed Kenshin critically. "Do you want to lie down for this?"
Kenshin looked up. He'd gotten his breath back and looked a little less shaky. "No... this is all right," he said. "Please, go ahead." He started to fumble with the ties of his hakama. "But it's a little cold, that it is, and..." He trailed off, glancing meaningfully up at Akane.
"Oh!" she said, blushing a little, but glad to see him alert enough to think of modesty. Better not tell him she'd changed his yukata when he was ill. "I'll ask Eri for a blanket."
Watanabe had cleaned, stitched and bandaged the cut in Kenshin's leg and sponged off his collection of scrapes and scratches. He sat back and stretched his shoulders, his joints cracking.
"What a morning," he commented.
Kenshin was sitting huddled in the blanket, his head down and his eyes closed. But he'd hung in there through it all. Watanabe was impressed.
Akane had been hovering in the kitchen doorway, watching as he'd finished up. Now she came hesitantly back into the room.
"How is he? Will he be all right?" she asked softly, glancing down at Kenshin.
Kenshin lifted his head and blinked up at her blearily. "I'm all right..." he mumbled indistinctly. "...just a little tired, is all..." He was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
Watanabe tipped him over and lowered him onto his back, pulling the blanket over him properly. "There," he said. "Get some sleep." He didn't think Kenshin heard him. He smiled and got to his feet, brushing off his hands.
"Well?" Akane prompted him.
"He's exhausted, and he's lost a lot of blood," Watanabe answered her. "But he should be all right if those cuts don't get infected." He paused and glanced down at Kenshin, sound asleep on the floor. "Honestly though, I'm amazed Shinichiro didn't have to carry him back unconscious, with those injuries."
"Um," Akane said. "Actually. He brought Shinichiro back. On a horse."
Watanabe just looked at her. "You're kidding," he said.
She shook her head slowly.
Watanabe looked down, a bemused smile on his face. "Ah, the boundless energy of youth."
Kenshin slept for twenty-four hours straight. Akane hung around, watching him and worrying, compulsively checking him for signs of fever every hour. Every now and then she would wander around the house, doing a little tidying or washing a few dishes.
Watanabe-sensei had left to replenish his supply of bandages and check in on another patient. Akane had sent Hideki back soon after, asking him to stop in at the restaurant on his way and let Eiko and Aki know she wouldn't be there for lunch. She'd felt a pang of guilt for leaving the two kids in charge without her so much lately. Well, it was good training for them.
She'd cooked lunch for Eri at mid-day, then dinner once evening had come. Shinichiro had been awake by then, after dozing for several hours during the middle of the day, but he hadn't gotten up. Probably for the best. Eri took some broiled fish and rice in to him and brought him some books to read to pass the time.
Eri was another worry. She'd been acting strange ever since the previous night. Akane figured it was probably the stress, but still, she'd shown it in an odd way. When Akane and Hideki had come by the house late last night in their search for Kenshin, Eri had already bathed and changed her clothes, putting on a sober and elegant forest-green kimono and doing her hair up carefully. She'd spent the whole night awake, too, sitting quietly in front of the household shrine. An odd way to worry about one's husband. But Akane couldn't say that she wouldn't have done the same.
But now, now that Shinichiro was home, Eri still seemed distant. She hadn't wanted to chat at all, and the words she did exchange with Akane were cold and tense. To make matters worse, a customer had shown up at the door just after lunch, wanting to pick up a few garments. Eri had made the woman wait on the porch while she wrapped up the clothes, though she'd apologized profusely. The problem was Kenshin, asleep on the floor near the edge of the room. They'd been afraid to try to move him. So eventually they'd rigged up a partition from a kimono rack and a freestanding shoji screen so he could have a little privacy. The second customer Eri had let in, though only briefly.
After Shinichiro had woken up later in the afternoon, Eri had spent close to an hour in the bedroom with him with the door closed. They'd been talking in low voices, too quiet for Akane to catch what they said from the living room, but Eri hadn't seemed any happier afterward.
Watanabe-sensei had come back that evening to check on his patients and change their bandages. Kenshin had slept right through it. Shinichiro kept asking after him, which seemed to annoy Eri even more. She said less and less as the evening wore on. Well, she'd been up all the previous night, Akane rationalized; she had a right to be cranky.
Akane spent the night there, in the second bedroom. She'd offered to stay, to help out with anything Shinichiro or Kenshin might need, and Eri hadn't turned her down. Kenshin woke up briefly the next morning, long enough to drink some tea and tell them he was just fine before falling asleep again.
