Don't Say it With Flowers!
By Starhopper
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.
Young love, first love, its romantic donch ya know! And with a sweet little girl like Tsubame and of course Yahiko-CHAN, how can I go wrong?
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- Say it With a Promise!
Rolling his eyes, Yahiko straightened his arms in front of him and let out a cub growl in the direction of his Sensei.
"Yahiko!"
"Nani, Busu?" he asked, visibly perturbed as he glared at her out of the corner of his eye. "I corrected my mistake."
Completing her circle of inspection, Kaoru kneeled down behind him. "I see that," she tapped the backs of his legs into the proper position with the end of her bokuto. Satisfied, she took a step back, "There, feel how your weight shifted?"
"Hai." He replied, thoroughly disinterested. Tsubame was waiting for him by the river to watch him practice. He couldn't really explain it, but it had been extremely important for him to see her today. And at the very moment he'd slipped his sandals on, ready to make a break for the gate, Kaoru had caught him by the collar and dragged him, kicking and screaming as could be expected, to the training hall in order to practice under her watchful gaze.
That had been three hours ago. And with every minute, those tanuki eyes of hers were slanting and narrowing into the eyes of a predator, who only wanted to chase him senseless before swooping low and making the kill.
"Now swing!"
Ruefully obeying, the young samurai was amazed at the amount of force he drove from the air in front of him. His eyes grew wide as he felt the pressure push past him, the grin of victory slowly edging itself under his cheeks. But the accomplishment faded as the wooden floor of the practice hall rushed up to eagerly greet him in the face.
Sprawled and twitching on the floor, Yahiko groaned. And now would be Kaoru's most favorite part of the lesson. If it weren't bad enough that she kept him from seeing the cute little waitress, now she would revel in her self-proclaimed prowess. Standing over him, he could see the maniacal fire dancing in her eyes, the lips pulled back to bare shining, gloating teeth.
"Why didn't you correct yourself that time?" she almost laughed, stooping down to his level.
In an answer, her student rolled onto his back and hand-sprung himself back into fighting stance, twisting in midair to fall flat on his feet, facing his opponent, the shinai still held in his right hand with a very assured grasp. His eyes scorched Kaoru with their chestnut fire as he held the end of the wooden sword at her throat.
"Mou, it was your own fault, don't blame me. "
Yahiko clenched his teeth. "Demo, you are the Sensei."
"Precisely," Kaoru slammed a fist into her open palm, a small tanuki smile curling her lips. "Don't forget that."
Seeing her inner-personality taking over, her student was struck with inspiration. If he wanted to get out of here, and fast, he'd have to lure the raccoon away with a bit of meat . . . meat like the red-headed rurouni who would surely, by now, be sitting beside the wash tub in the yard, and needed help with hanging up the laundry.
Careful to keep the devious smile hidden, Yahiko lowered the end of the shinai to rest on the ground, elbow propped against the top so as to lean on the weapon in such a disrespectful way that a master of any swordsmanship would have to notice. And the Kamiya Kasshin master was of no exception.
"Yahiko! Stop that this instant, you should know better!"
"Oi, Busu," his eyes flitted up to the ceiling in feigned indifference, "how am I supposed to learn anything from a Tanuki-girl like you?"
As Kaoru pulled her sleeve back to wallop him good, Yahiko was off and running out the door, laughing like a maniac as he went. Thudding down the walkway, he rounded the corner to come to the yard where, as sure as the sun rises each day, Himura Kenshin sat by the wash tub, humming a little tune as he scrubbed one of Kaoru's kimonos.
Leaping off of the porch, he touched down and ran straight for his target. Poor Kenshin, he really hated to do this to him, but it was the only way. It had been weeks since he'd seen Tsubame last. And on that apricot evening outside the Akabeko, he had promised her she could watch him train, to see how strong he had gotten since returning from his fight in Kyoto. Springing to his toes once more, Yahiko took to the air, flipping over Kenshin just as the ex-manslayer was plowed into the ground by the Sensei who couldn't stop her pursuit in time.
So pleased with himself, Yahiko landed and continued his run to freedom, the dojo's entrance clearly in sight. Just a few more strides and he'd be on the streets of Tokyo, far away from his egotistical teacher and her painful lessons. Taking one moment to rub the end of his nose at the recent memory, Yahiko let his eyes focus on his nose as well, and not at the once open gate where someone now stood.
In that fraction of an instant, Yahiko had rammed into Sagara Sanosuke head on, with no chance of slamming on the figurative brakes to avoid the collision. He felt himself being peeled off of the ground and shaken out by the collar. Oh, always by the collar. How he HATED being little.
Meanwhile the ex-gangster had him hanging from it, raised off the ground so they could see eye to extremely pissed eye.
"And where were you goin', Yahiko-chan?" Sano grated over his fishbone, making a conscious effort to accentuate the 'chan'.
He had already been struggling to keep his cool, but now Yahiko was furious. First Kaoru, then his lesson, now Sanosuke and his demeaning suffix. CHAN? He let his seething anger boil and froth over the edges as he blindly swung a fist out at the ex-gangster. "Just let me go will ya?" he growled.
Sanosuke smirked at the failed attempt to hit him and countered with a shake of his right hand, sending Yahiko into another rage as he was swung back and forth like a pendulum. "Nah," Sano's attention was snatched away by something quickly approaching them, and the smirk was replaced with a grin possessed by the devil himself. "Look's to me like you're gonna need someone to hold you out of reach of Jou-chan."
Despite the furious shaking of the samurai's spiky head, Sano turned him to face the raccoon, charging at full fury with the rurouni barely holding her back. It seemed to Yahiko that despite how strong his idol was in battle, he somehow lost all physical strength when it came to holding back Kaoru's wrath. Especially when it was aimed for her student's throat.
"I'll kill him. You hear that Yahiko!"
"Kaoru-dono, I don't think it would be the greatest idea in the world to kill him just yet de gozaru."
Yahiko turned his head to look at Sano, glittering his eyes to plead, beg, pray, anything to somehow appeal to the man's sense of heart. He had five seconds to live, and all he wanted to do was see Tsubame. Maybe he would try that tact first.
Five. Kenshin was restraining Kaoru by the sheer might of his spindly arms pinning her to his chest.
"I made a promise to Tsubame!"
Sano raised his eyebrows. "To do what exactly?"
Yahiko ground his teeth together, shaking with protective fury. "Leave Tsubame out of your hentai daydreams, ahou!"
Sano waved him off with a flutter of his eyes. "Oh you kids, so naive."
Four. She'd wriggled free of his embrace and now was plodding onward, the rurouni's hands wound about her ankles in the vain hope of weighing her down. However, the violent intenisty of her eyes told him she still intended to kill and maim with or without her human anchor.
Then he remembered. He had been slapped awfully hard for making fun of Sanosuke and Megumi-san at that party so many months ago. Maybe just a little too hard . . . like there had been something to hide. And it was true that as of late, Sano disappeared off the face of the earth around dinner-time. He hadn't gone out to eat with anyone from the dojo in about two months.
Yahiko wasn't stupid. He could read the signs, and once he had passed by the clinic to see what looked to be a white gi fluttering through the window. Of course that could have been Dr. Genzai's but the coincidence seemed uncanny at the time.
Three. Kaoru was biding him time by turning around to berrate Kenshin for stopping her.
"Oi Sano, I've been wondering, " the boy let his eyes scan the sky, then drift down over in the direction of the clinic, somewhere down the street and to the left. The man gulped a little, eyes widening, but true to his tough-guy façade, Sano didn't let a line of worry trace his features. Yahiko continued. "Why haven't you been bumming food off us lately? And it seems every time I walk by the clinic," he nodded to the black lines of Sano's 'aku' gi. "I see that shirt of yours hanging on the door." Elbowing Sano in the ribs, Yahiko winked. "And isn't it getting a little late for you to be out? I bet Megumi's getting lonely."
There, apprehension crossed the taller man's eyes and narrowed his eyebrows before Sano set him on the ground. "You don't really know, do you?"
Yahiko didn't waste one more second to answer him. As soon as his feet made contact with the substantial surety of mother earth, he darted off in the direction of the gate. That was when he grinned and called, "I didn't . . . but I do now!"
His personal victory was made that much sweeter as he skipped through the entrance, and upon hopping in the center of the street, raised a hand to cup his ear. Two seconds to spare! He took a breath, which was quickly followed by a sprint down the street, Sanosuke's colorful catchphrases and Kaoru's screams of how immature he was still ringing delightfully in his ears.
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Once he had slid down the riverbank to his usual training tree, Yahiko skidded to a halt, bending over his knees to catch his breath. Boy, that had been fun. And educational to boot! Not that the thought of Sano and Dr. Megumi wasn't nauseating.
Because it was.
However the abundance of blackmail opportunities outweighed the gross implications. Ideas of said blackmail were already crisscrossing his mind. When the group had the taste for hot beef pots, his would be paid for, courtesy of Sagara Sanosuke, who would do anything to keep his dirty little secret under wraps. And what about lessons? Surely he could talk Sano into aruging with the tanuki just long enough for Yahiko to escape her clutches. Oh yes, this would be something to torture the Rooster-head with for quite some time.
"Is that you, Yahiko-chan?"
Sealing his eyes shut, the aforementioned boy squeezed his fist into a white-knuckled ball. Just let it go, let it go. Its Tsubame remember? She doesn't mean it malicisiously or anything. Letting his eyes open, he saw her step out from behind the lone tree, her face shadowed by the dying light, but her eyes sparkled through the darkness.
"Konbanwa Tsubame-chan," he greeted her sheepishly, a hand going to rub the back of his neck. "Sumanesai, but Kaoru stopped me and,"
"Daijoubou Yahiko-chan," she set down the tray of rice balls she'd been carrying and shyly walked over to him. Peering at him through concerned eyes, she smiled. "I can see you've been sweating. It must have been a good practice." Despite how her eyes glittered in sincerity, he couldn't help but detect a small hint of forlorn sadness. He had practiced, but she hadn't seen him.
Hand still massaging the back of his neck, he found his shinai with his fingers and pulled it loose of its strappings. Well, if she hadn't been able to see him practice when he normally did, she would see it now. "Oh, it would have been better had you been there to watch it." He threw the wooden sword into the air, and was delighted to catch it while in stance. Relieved that this act of showing-off hadn't backfired, he bowed low to cover a thankful sigh. "A promise is a promise afterall," he grinned, galantly raising his head.
"Iie, you don't have to." Tsubame waved her hands in front of her, as if fending off his offer. But the smile she wore begged him to continue.
"But I do," Yahiko carefully caught one of those hands. He dropped it just as Tsubame's fingers thoughtfully folded around his palm and both flushed furiously at how bold he had been. "I mean, I, I promised you that you could watch, and I'm a man of my word."
"Alright," she giggled, cradling her hand close to her chest, "if you want to."
He nodded and without another word, leapt into the air, bringing his right leg around to knock one of the wood slats off to the right, then brought his shinai down on it as it swung back into place, all the while maintaining a great warrior's yell. He grinned as he landed, spinning about on knee, foot, and ground like he had seen Kenshin do so many times. The move had been executed perfectly to avoid an embarassing counterattack by his 'opponent', one that would've sent him nose first into the gound.
Facing Tsubame, he could see her smile broaden as she clapped her hands. "You've improved greatly Yahiko-chan." Her harmonious little girl giggle reminded him of that first day they had met when he had collided with the wood slat and his strings on his sandal had snapped with the force. "You're really becoming a man,"
Heat flushed his cheeks and he laughed to cover his embarassment. "Arigatou Tsubame-chan,"
"Honto, you truly are strong,"
Now he knew his whole body was red, from spiky hairline down to his toes. He just thanked Kami-sama that he had decided to wear the tabi socks even with Kaoru fighting him barefoot. Nope, ole Ugly wasn't about to trick him into embarassing himself in the future. And he sure as hell wouldn't do it now.
To prove the little girl right, he took a breath and started taking the steps to the Kamiya Kasshin move he'd been taught that morning. From a charge, he brought the shinai into one of the slats at an angle, then flipped it back over to ram on the top. He then took a few purposeful steps backward to set the weight on his legs right and charged again, this time dodging the first piece of wood and turning on his heel to come back at it in full force. Only this time, as he brought the end of the shinai down, he countered the weight that had shifted to the foot he stepped out on by leaning to the left slightly. The air pressure hit him from an angle instead of head on, which kept him from falling. Standing back up, he looked at the slat that was now hanging several feet in the air, its rope wound around the branch multiple times.
He'd done it. And she had seen it, which made the whole execution even better.
The silence between her gushing and his thinkng about his socks and executing the move had stretched so long that Yahiko forgot it she had even asked a question that he needed to respond to. But Tsubame piped up as she stooped to retrieve the tray laden with food, "And in order to feed that strength you need food." She settled herself on the incline in the bank and patted the slanted gound next to her. "Come, you must be starving with two practices today."
She clapped as he slid the sword into place on his back and bowed to signal the end of the practice session.
"Really, Tsubame," Yahiko hoped she would notice how he left off the 'chan' as he took a rice ball from off the plate, "I'm very sorry for being late."
"You couldn't help it," Tsubame took a bite of rice and chewed it slowly. "But I'm happy you kept your promise."
Inside, Yahiko groaned. "But three hours,"
"I've been waiting longer than that to celebrate how long I've known you, Yahiko-chan." The little girl swallowed, "It's been eight months since we met." She turned her brown eyes up to his.
"I'm hap-happy we did," Yahiko smiled as he settled next to her, then quickly took a large bite that left his cheeks speckled with rice.
"I don't think I've ever had a friend for so long," she continued, shifting on her knee to face him. "Arigatou," smiling, she rose a fingertip and sponged off a few of the grains around his mouth and giggled. "For everything."
Damn the physical tendency of the body to blush! Yahiko was convinced that his skin was burning cherry bright under her touch. Not only was she sweet and quiet when talking with him, she was also caring. None one else ever cared about how messy his face was when he ate. Well, that wasn't necessarlarly true. Kenshin would sigh and shake his head, Kaoru would wap him upside his own head, and Sanosuke would try to out do him. Only she would be affectionate while drawing his attention to clean up.
Why did she do this to him every, single time? Yahiko shook his head, hoping that the redness on his face would somehow fly off to blend with the sunset. However, her admission was able to echo through his ears and awaken his other senses aside from the embarassment.
"I'm your first friend?" he asked, increduality dripping off of every word. He still couldn't look directly at her, fearing that the blush would spread again.
She fidgeted under his quesiton. "Well, I was with those Yakuza for so long, and they never treated me well,"
The scene played out through the young samurai's head in slides. First the sound of slap, second Tsubame falling to the ground, third himself falling to the ground, fourth he was knocking out some of the underlings in the alley, and finally fifth, the sound of little Tsubame cheering him on. And then the closing sight of the yakuza running away. Yahiko felt his grip tighten on his riceball with the memory. He had sworn to make them hurt if they dared to ever show their faces around the Akabeko again. Fortunately, they hadn't.
He didn't notice that the contents of the riceball had exploded between his fingers when he had rounded his fist. "Aa, I remember."
"Before I met you, I didn't know what a friend was." She pulled the grain- covered palm into her lap and started to brush it clean.
Yahiko could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise as her fingertips touched his while little lightning bolts shot down his spine as she made a circle in the center of his palm with her thumb. She stopped as she grazed the callouses growing just below his fingers, then softly massaged them, as if testing their very existence to make sure they were real.
Meanwhile Yahiko was melting into a pool of butter, draining himself along the hillside. Why did she do this to him, he wondered again. How could Tsubame strip him of his brashest layers until only this blushing, evaporating young boy remained?
"You're getting tougher," she sighed, wistfully holding his now clean hand between both of hers.
"Uh," he wasn't quite sure as to how he should handle the situation. Surely blanking out and imagining himself as a snowman melting in the spring sun wasn't going to help. And the way she kept acting reminded him of how Kaoru had acted around Kenshin before he left for Kyoto. Could that be it?
"I'm not goin anywhere or nothin," he assured her somewhat sheepishly.
Abruptly, Tsubame let his hand fly free and turned her head to face away from him. "I know, but I was really worried about you when you left, and now that you're getting stronger, you might leave again,"
"Ah, don't worry." Yahiko stretched his arms back to support himself, using it as a reason to lean closer to her. "I'd never leave without telling you," Unlike his idol, who had left without saying a word to anyone but ole Ugly.
Her shoulders started to shake, "Even to work on your training?"
The boy reached around and touched her right hand before drawing his own back to where she had last seen it. As he had expected, she turned her head to catch him in the act of getting her attention. "I promise to let you watch me train whenever you want." He grinned and cocked his head to the side, appealing to his innocent boy-charm. "And if that means I have to travel, you'll just have to come along with me,"
"Truly?" she sniffed hopefully, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. That was when he realized she had been crying.
"I promised you didn't I?" forcing all the defensive tones to the surface, Yahiko sat up and stared her in the face. "I said I was a man of my word, after all,"
"Hai, hai!" she clapped, the last of the tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's a promise then, Yahiko-chan."
"And no Tanuki or Chicken-heads are gonna stop me from keeping it," Yahiko resolved, slamming a fist into his open palm.
"Nani?"
"Oh, nothing Tsubame," he jumped to his feet and held out his hand for her, "It's getting late, hope you don't mind if I walk ya home."
She giggled, grabbing the tray with one hand and accepting his invitation with the other. As they started their walk back to the Akabeko, she gripped his hand harder to slow him down.
"Yahiko-chan?"
"Yes, Tsubame?"
"I'm-um, happy you're my friend," giving his hand another squeeze, she fell into his step with a secret smile. "That's all,"
"I'm happy too," and he was. It felt nice to have her so close to him as they walked down the silent streets.
He thought back to his promise as he let her go to help close up the restaurant, calling out a friendly, "Good Night!" as he started to work his way back to the dojo. If he ever was to travel, a thought highly unlikely because as soon as he got home, he wouldn't be able to walk to his room, much less wander through the country, he would take Tsubame with him. She always gave him the courage he needed to attack a new opponent with all the power he had.
"I believe in you, Yahiko-chan!"
His step slowed as he turned to look back at the Akabeko one more time. A sword that protects . . . was created to protect Tsubame. If he could weild a real sword one day, then it would be used in protecting people like her.
Patting the shinai strapped to his back, Yahiko smiled and turned on his heel. For now, his wooden sword would work just fine. But he needed to train and practice first, and she would always be there to watch his progress.
A promise was a promise afterall.
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A/N: That was so much fun. This took 2 days people, 2 days! My shortest time in writing a fic yet! (With the exception of the songfics.) Oh I love writing this kind of story, I'm such a sucka for thweet thtuff. :3 Oh, hope you didn't mind more action, but considering how young they are, I had to be careful about how romantic their little meeting could get. So I settled for cheesy handholding . . . eh, I'm happy with it. Also, I'm a bit drained from writing such a deep story like 'Tears of Buddha', so I wanted to do something other than get lost in Aoshi's psyche . . . which is fun in itself, don't get me wrong, but it's a little hard to handle writing every. single. day.
Well, now comes the time for all good readers to review and tell me what you thought of it. Of course, now that you've seen I've done my duty as a good author and updated this series with a Ken and Kao story, you just might want to go ahead and read that one and then review. Either way, I'd be happy. ^_^
By Starhopper
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my sketchbooks and DVDs. Everything else belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and many other respected businessmen who make RK available to the masses.
Young love, first love, its romantic donch ya know! And with a sweet little girl like Tsubame and of course Yahiko-CHAN, how can I go wrong?
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- Say it With a Promise!
Rolling his eyes, Yahiko straightened his arms in front of him and let out a cub growl in the direction of his Sensei.
"Yahiko!"
"Nani, Busu?" he asked, visibly perturbed as he glared at her out of the corner of his eye. "I corrected my mistake."
Completing her circle of inspection, Kaoru kneeled down behind him. "I see that," she tapped the backs of his legs into the proper position with the end of her bokuto. Satisfied, she took a step back, "There, feel how your weight shifted?"
"Hai." He replied, thoroughly disinterested. Tsubame was waiting for him by the river to watch him practice. He couldn't really explain it, but it had been extremely important for him to see her today. And at the very moment he'd slipped his sandals on, ready to make a break for the gate, Kaoru had caught him by the collar and dragged him, kicking and screaming as could be expected, to the training hall in order to practice under her watchful gaze.
That had been three hours ago. And with every minute, those tanuki eyes of hers were slanting and narrowing into the eyes of a predator, who only wanted to chase him senseless before swooping low and making the kill.
"Now swing!"
Ruefully obeying, the young samurai was amazed at the amount of force he drove from the air in front of him. His eyes grew wide as he felt the pressure push past him, the grin of victory slowly edging itself under his cheeks. But the accomplishment faded as the wooden floor of the practice hall rushed up to eagerly greet him in the face.
Sprawled and twitching on the floor, Yahiko groaned. And now would be Kaoru's most favorite part of the lesson. If it weren't bad enough that she kept him from seeing the cute little waitress, now she would revel in her self-proclaimed prowess. Standing over him, he could see the maniacal fire dancing in her eyes, the lips pulled back to bare shining, gloating teeth.
"Why didn't you correct yourself that time?" she almost laughed, stooping down to his level.
In an answer, her student rolled onto his back and hand-sprung himself back into fighting stance, twisting in midair to fall flat on his feet, facing his opponent, the shinai still held in his right hand with a very assured grasp. His eyes scorched Kaoru with their chestnut fire as he held the end of the wooden sword at her throat.
"Mou, it was your own fault, don't blame me. "
Yahiko clenched his teeth. "Demo, you are the Sensei."
"Precisely," Kaoru slammed a fist into her open palm, a small tanuki smile curling her lips. "Don't forget that."
Seeing her inner-personality taking over, her student was struck with inspiration. If he wanted to get out of here, and fast, he'd have to lure the raccoon away with a bit of meat . . . meat like the red-headed rurouni who would surely, by now, be sitting beside the wash tub in the yard, and needed help with hanging up the laundry.
Careful to keep the devious smile hidden, Yahiko lowered the end of the shinai to rest on the ground, elbow propped against the top so as to lean on the weapon in such a disrespectful way that a master of any swordsmanship would have to notice. And the Kamiya Kasshin master was of no exception.
"Yahiko! Stop that this instant, you should know better!"
"Oi, Busu," his eyes flitted up to the ceiling in feigned indifference, "how am I supposed to learn anything from a Tanuki-girl like you?"
As Kaoru pulled her sleeve back to wallop him good, Yahiko was off and running out the door, laughing like a maniac as he went. Thudding down the walkway, he rounded the corner to come to the yard where, as sure as the sun rises each day, Himura Kenshin sat by the wash tub, humming a little tune as he scrubbed one of Kaoru's kimonos.
Leaping off of the porch, he touched down and ran straight for his target. Poor Kenshin, he really hated to do this to him, but it was the only way. It had been weeks since he'd seen Tsubame last. And on that apricot evening outside the Akabeko, he had promised her she could watch him train, to see how strong he had gotten since returning from his fight in Kyoto. Springing to his toes once more, Yahiko took to the air, flipping over Kenshin just as the ex-manslayer was plowed into the ground by the Sensei who couldn't stop her pursuit in time.
So pleased with himself, Yahiko landed and continued his run to freedom, the dojo's entrance clearly in sight. Just a few more strides and he'd be on the streets of Tokyo, far away from his egotistical teacher and her painful lessons. Taking one moment to rub the end of his nose at the recent memory, Yahiko let his eyes focus on his nose as well, and not at the once open gate where someone now stood.
In that fraction of an instant, Yahiko had rammed into Sagara Sanosuke head on, with no chance of slamming on the figurative brakes to avoid the collision. He felt himself being peeled off of the ground and shaken out by the collar. Oh, always by the collar. How he HATED being little.
Meanwhile the ex-gangster had him hanging from it, raised off the ground so they could see eye to extremely pissed eye.
"And where were you goin', Yahiko-chan?" Sano grated over his fishbone, making a conscious effort to accentuate the 'chan'.
He had already been struggling to keep his cool, but now Yahiko was furious. First Kaoru, then his lesson, now Sanosuke and his demeaning suffix. CHAN? He let his seething anger boil and froth over the edges as he blindly swung a fist out at the ex-gangster. "Just let me go will ya?" he growled.
Sanosuke smirked at the failed attempt to hit him and countered with a shake of his right hand, sending Yahiko into another rage as he was swung back and forth like a pendulum. "Nah," Sano's attention was snatched away by something quickly approaching them, and the smirk was replaced with a grin possessed by the devil himself. "Look's to me like you're gonna need someone to hold you out of reach of Jou-chan."
Despite the furious shaking of the samurai's spiky head, Sano turned him to face the raccoon, charging at full fury with the rurouni barely holding her back. It seemed to Yahiko that despite how strong his idol was in battle, he somehow lost all physical strength when it came to holding back Kaoru's wrath. Especially when it was aimed for her student's throat.
"I'll kill him. You hear that Yahiko!"
"Kaoru-dono, I don't think it would be the greatest idea in the world to kill him just yet de gozaru."
Yahiko turned his head to look at Sano, glittering his eyes to plead, beg, pray, anything to somehow appeal to the man's sense of heart. He had five seconds to live, and all he wanted to do was see Tsubame. Maybe he would try that tact first.
Five. Kenshin was restraining Kaoru by the sheer might of his spindly arms pinning her to his chest.
"I made a promise to Tsubame!"
Sano raised his eyebrows. "To do what exactly?"
Yahiko ground his teeth together, shaking with protective fury. "Leave Tsubame out of your hentai daydreams, ahou!"
Sano waved him off with a flutter of his eyes. "Oh you kids, so naive."
Four. She'd wriggled free of his embrace and now was plodding onward, the rurouni's hands wound about her ankles in the vain hope of weighing her down. However, the violent intenisty of her eyes told him she still intended to kill and maim with or without her human anchor.
Then he remembered. He had been slapped awfully hard for making fun of Sanosuke and Megumi-san at that party so many months ago. Maybe just a little too hard . . . like there had been something to hide. And it was true that as of late, Sano disappeared off the face of the earth around dinner-time. He hadn't gone out to eat with anyone from the dojo in about two months.
Yahiko wasn't stupid. He could read the signs, and once he had passed by the clinic to see what looked to be a white gi fluttering through the window. Of course that could have been Dr. Genzai's but the coincidence seemed uncanny at the time.
Three. Kaoru was biding him time by turning around to berrate Kenshin for stopping her.
"Oi Sano, I've been wondering, " the boy let his eyes scan the sky, then drift down over in the direction of the clinic, somewhere down the street and to the left. The man gulped a little, eyes widening, but true to his tough-guy façade, Sano didn't let a line of worry trace his features. Yahiko continued. "Why haven't you been bumming food off us lately? And it seems every time I walk by the clinic," he nodded to the black lines of Sano's 'aku' gi. "I see that shirt of yours hanging on the door." Elbowing Sano in the ribs, Yahiko winked. "And isn't it getting a little late for you to be out? I bet Megumi's getting lonely."
There, apprehension crossed the taller man's eyes and narrowed his eyebrows before Sano set him on the ground. "You don't really know, do you?"
Yahiko didn't waste one more second to answer him. As soon as his feet made contact with the substantial surety of mother earth, he darted off in the direction of the gate. That was when he grinned and called, "I didn't . . . but I do now!"
His personal victory was made that much sweeter as he skipped through the entrance, and upon hopping in the center of the street, raised a hand to cup his ear. Two seconds to spare! He took a breath, which was quickly followed by a sprint down the street, Sanosuke's colorful catchphrases and Kaoru's screams of how immature he was still ringing delightfully in his ears.
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Once he had slid down the riverbank to his usual training tree, Yahiko skidded to a halt, bending over his knees to catch his breath. Boy, that had been fun. And educational to boot! Not that the thought of Sano and Dr. Megumi wasn't nauseating.
Because it was.
However the abundance of blackmail opportunities outweighed the gross implications. Ideas of said blackmail were already crisscrossing his mind. When the group had the taste for hot beef pots, his would be paid for, courtesy of Sagara Sanosuke, who would do anything to keep his dirty little secret under wraps. And what about lessons? Surely he could talk Sano into aruging with the tanuki just long enough for Yahiko to escape her clutches. Oh yes, this would be something to torture the Rooster-head with for quite some time.
"Is that you, Yahiko-chan?"
Sealing his eyes shut, the aforementioned boy squeezed his fist into a white-knuckled ball. Just let it go, let it go. Its Tsubame remember? She doesn't mean it malicisiously or anything. Letting his eyes open, he saw her step out from behind the lone tree, her face shadowed by the dying light, but her eyes sparkled through the darkness.
"Konbanwa Tsubame-chan," he greeted her sheepishly, a hand going to rub the back of his neck. "Sumanesai, but Kaoru stopped me and,"
"Daijoubou Yahiko-chan," she set down the tray of rice balls she'd been carrying and shyly walked over to him. Peering at him through concerned eyes, she smiled. "I can see you've been sweating. It must have been a good practice." Despite how her eyes glittered in sincerity, he couldn't help but detect a small hint of forlorn sadness. He had practiced, but she hadn't seen him.
Hand still massaging the back of his neck, he found his shinai with his fingers and pulled it loose of its strappings. Well, if she hadn't been able to see him practice when he normally did, she would see it now. "Oh, it would have been better had you been there to watch it." He threw the wooden sword into the air, and was delighted to catch it while in stance. Relieved that this act of showing-off hadn't backfired, he bowed low to cover a thankful sigh. "A promise is a promise afterall," he grinned, galantly raising his head.
"Iie, you don't have to." Tsubame waved her hands in front of her, as if fending off his offer. But the smile she wore begged him to continue.
"But I do," Yahiko carefully caught one of those hands. He dropped it just as Tsubame's fingers thoughtfully folded around his palm and both flushed furiously at how bold he had been. "I mean, I, I promised you that you could watch, and I'm a man of my word."
"Alright," she giggled, cradling her hand close to her chest, "if you want to."
He nodded and without another word, leapt into the air, bringing his right leg around to knock one of the wood slats off to the right, then brought his shinai down on it as it swung back into place, all the while maintaining a great warrior's yell. He grinned as he landed, spinning about on knee, foot, and ground like he had seen Kenshin do so many times. The move had been executed perfectly to avoid an embarassing counterattack by his 'opponent', one that would've sent him nose first into the gound.
Facing Tsubame, he could see her smile broaden as she clapped her hands. "You've improved greatly Yahiko-chan." Her harmonious little girl giggle reminded him of that first day they had met when he had collided with the wood slat and his strings on his sandal had snapped with the force. "You're really becoming a man,"
Heat flushed his cheeks and he laughed to cover his embarassment. "Arigatou Tsubame-chan,"
"Honto, you truly are strong,"
Now he knew his whole body was red, from spiky hairline down to his toes. He just thanked Kami-sama that he had decided to wear the tabi socks even with Kaoru fighting him barefoot. Nope, ole Ugly wasn't about to trick him into embarassing himself in the future. And he sure as hell wouldn't do it now.
To prove the little girl right, he took a breath and started taking the steps to the Kamiya Kasshin move he'd been taught that morning. From a charge, he brought the shinai into one of the slats at an angle, then flipped it back over to ram on the top. He then took a few purposeful steps backward to set the weight on his legs right and charged again, this time dodging the first piece of wood and turning on his heel to come back at it in full force. Only this time, as he brought the end of the shinai down, he countered the weight that had shifted to the foot he stepped out on by leaning to the left slightly. The air pressure hit him from an angle instead of head on, which kept him from falling. Standing back up, he looked at the slat that was now hanging several feet in the air, its rope wound around the branch multiple times.
He'd done it. And she had seen it, which made the whole execution even better.
The silence between her gushing and his thinkng about his socks and executing the move had stretched so long that Yahiko forgot it she had even asked a question that he needed to respond to. But Tsubame piped up as she stooped to retrieve the tray laden with food, "And in order to feed that strength you need food." She settled herself on the incline in the bank and patted the slanted gound next to her. "Come, you must be starving with two practices today."
She clapped as he slid the sword into place on his back and bowed to signal the end of the practice session.
"Really, Tsubame," Yahiko hoped she would notice how he left off the 'chan' as he took a rice ball from off the plate, "I'm very sorry for being late."
"You couldn't help it," Tsubame took a bite of rice and chewed it slowly. "But I'm happy you kept your promise."
Inside, Yahiko groaned. "But three hours,"
"I've been waiting longer than that to celebrate how long I've known you, Yahiko-chan." The little girl swallowed, "It's been eight months since we met." She turned her brown eyes up to his.
"I'm hap-happy we did," Yahiko smiled as he settled next to her, then quickly took a large bite that left his cheeks speckled with rice.
"I don't think I've ever had a friend for so long," she continued, shifting on her knee to face him. "Arigatou," smiling, she rose a fingertip and sponged off a few of the grains around his mouth and giggled. "For everything."
Damn the physical tendency of the body to blush! Yahiko was convinced that his skin was burning cherry bright under her touch. Not only was she sweet and quiet when talking with him, she was also caring. None one else ever cared about how messy his face was when he ate. Well, that wasn't necessarlarly true. Kenshin would sigh and shake his head, Kaoru would wap him upside his own head, and Sanosuke would try to out do him. Only she would be affectionate while drawing his attention to clean up.
Why did she do this to him every, single time? Yahiko shook his head, hoping that the redness on his face would somehow fly off to blend with the sunset. However, her admission was able to echo through his ears and awaken his other senses aside from the embarassment.
"I'm your first friend?" he asked, increduality dripping off of every word. He still couldn't look directly at her, fearing that the blush would spread again.
She fidgeted under his quesiton. "Well, I was with those Yakuza for so long, and they never treated me well,"
The scene played out through the young samurai's head in slides. First the sound of slap, second Tsubame falling to the ground, third himself falling to the ground, fourth he was knocking out some of the underlings in the alley, and finally fifth, the sound of little Tsubame cheering him on. And then the closing sight of the yakuza running away. Yahiko felt his grip tighten on his riceball with the memory. He had sworn to make them hurt if they dared to ever show their faces around the Akabeko again. Fortunately, they hadn't.
He didn't notice that the contents of the riceball had exploded between his fingers when he had rounded his fist. "Aa, I remember."
"Before I met you, I didn't know what a friend was." She pulled the grain- covered palm into her lap and started to brush it clean.
Yahiko could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise as her fingertips touched his while little lightning bolts shot down his spine as she made a circle in the center of his palm with her thumb. She stopped as she grazed the callouses growing just below his fingers, then softly massaged them, as if testing their very existence to make sure they were real.
Meanwhile Yahiko was melting into a pool of butter, draining himself along the hillside. Why did she do this to him, he wondered again. How could Tsubame strip him of his brashest layers until only this blushing, evaporating young boy remained?
"You're getting tougher," she sighed, wistfully holding his now clean hand between both of hers.
"Uh," he wasn't quite sure as to how he should handle the situation. Surely blanking out and imagining himself as a snowman melting in the spring sun wasn't going to help. And the way she kept acting reminded him of how Kaoru had acted around Kenshin before he left for Kyoto. Could that be it?
"I'm not goin anywhere or nothin," he assured her somewhat sheepishly.
Abruptly, Tsubame let his hand fly free and turned her head to face away from him. "I know, but I was really worried about you when you left, and now that you're getting stronger, you might leave again,"
"Ah, don't worry." Yahiko stretched his arms back to support himself, using it as a reason to lean closer to her. "I'd never leave without telling you," Unlike his idol, who had left without saying a word to anyone but ole Ugly.
Her shoulders started to shake, "Even to work on your training?"
The boy reached around and touched her right hand before drawing his own back to where she had last seen it. As he had expected, she turned her head to catch him in the act of getting her attention. "I promise to let you watch me train whenever you want." He grinned and cocked his head to the side, appealing to his innocent boy-charm. "And if that means I have to travel, you'll just have to come along with me,"
"Truly?" she sniffed hopefully, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. That was when he realized she had been crying.
"I promised you didn't I?" forcing all the defensive tones to the surface, Yahiko sat up and stared her in the face. "I said I was a man of my word, after all,"
"Hai, hai!" she clapped, the last of the tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's a promise then, Yahiko-chan."
"And no Tanuki or Chicken-heads are gonna stop me from keeping it," Yahiko resolved, slamming a fist into his open palm.
"Nani?"
"Oh, nothing Tsubame," he jumped to his feet and held out his hand for her, "It's getting late, hope you don't mind if I walk ya home."
She giggled, grabbing the tray with one hand and accepting his invitation with the other. As they started their walk back to the Akabeko, she gripped his hand harder to slow him down.
"Yahiko-chan?"
"Yes, Tsubame?"
"I'm-um, happy you're my friend," giving his hand another squeeze, she fell into his step with a secret smile. "That's all,"
"I'm happy too," and he was. It felt nice to have her so close to him as they walked down the silent streets.
He thought back to his promise as he let her go to help close up the restaurant, calling out a friendly, "Good Night!" as he started to work his way back to the dojo. If he ever was to travel, a thought highly unlikely because as soon as he got home, he wouldn't be able to walk to his room, much less wander through the country, he would take Tsubame with him. She always gave him the courage he needed to attack a new opponent with all the power he had.
"I believe in you, Yahiko-chan!"
His step slowed as he turned to look back at the Akabeko one more time. A sword that protects . . . was created to protect Tsubame. If he could weild a real sword one day, then it would be used in protecting people like her.
Patting the shinai strapped to his back, Yahiko smiled and turned on his heel. For now, his wooden sword would work just fine. But he needed to train and practice first, and she would always be there to watch his progress.
A promise was a promise afterall.
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A/N: That was so much fun. This took 2 days people, 2 days! My shortest time in writing a fic yet! (With the exception of the songfics.) Oh I love writing this kind of story, I'm such a sucka for thweet thtuff. :3 Oh, hope you didn't mind more action, but considering how young they are, I had to be careful about how romantic their little meeting could get. So I settled for cheesy handholding . . . eh, I'm happy with it. Also, I'm a bit drained from writing such a deep story like 'Tears of Buddha', so I wanted to do something other than get lost in Aoshi's psyche . . . which is fun in itself, don't get me wrong, but it's a little hard to handle writing every. single. day.
Well, now comes the time for all good readers to review and tell me what you thought of it. Of course, now that you've seen I've done my duty as a good author and updated this series with a Ken and Kao story, you just might want to go ahead and read that one and then review. Either way, I'd be happy. ^_^