Kenshin's Day Off

"Oro?"

It's the one question you're never sure how to answer. It always tends to catch you off guard as he blinks at you with those odd violet eyes. No matter how many times he says it, it means the same thing. But only he knows what that is. After about the seventh time he says that, you just want to choke him to death! But then he blinks at you so innocently that you're lured into a false sense of security. And then he says it again.

"Oro?"

"Don't you dare 'Oro' me, Kenshin! You know perfectly well what I mean," Kaoru threatened him with her bokken. As usual. "You should let me do the laundry once in a while, alright?"

He blinked at her like she had just said the strangest thing ever, "But Kaoru-dono, I enjoy doing the laundry very much, that I do. You don't need to trouble yourself with it." Showing off one of his silly Rurouni smiles, Kenshin continued to scrub a kimono. Bubbles floated all around him, once again creating that false sense of security.

Kaoru glared at him, but trotted off in defeat. What kind of man spends his time doing laundry? She wandered restlessly through the dojo. It seems a little spooky to me. . . Her thoughts were interrupted by humming coming from outside. Or it could be described more like singing. And it was coming from a familiar femininely male voice.

Yes, Kenshin was singing as he scrubbed that kimono. Birds whistled around him, bubbles continued to float in the air and. . . was that a butterfly landing on his nose? Kaoru growled in frustration. You've got to be kidding me. . . A doe was gracefully snuggling up to Kenshin, earning a small pat on the nose. Kenshin just continued to smile that odd smile that never seemed to go away. . .

"Hey Missy, did you know that you're staring?"

Kaoru blinked, "What?" She turned to see Sanosuke intently looking at her with a fish bone in his mouth. She frowned, "I don't know what you're talking about, Sano. . ."

Sanosuke simply chewed on his fish bone, eyeing Kenshin. "That guy is in desperate need of a life," he grimaced at the sight of Kenshin giggling as he popped a bubble. "All he does is work, work and work. Wash the laundry, cook dinner, buy tofu, repair the roof, clean the dojo. . ." Sanosuke glanced at Kaoru. "I can keep going you know."

"Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious, Sano," Kaoru snapped. She turned back to Kenshin, "He does seem to be doing all the work. I've always tried to help him but he always insists upon doing it himself. . ."

"Yeah. . ." Sanosuke leaned against the wooden post. "You know, he's always exhausted by the time he goes to bed. I mean, sometimes even I want to help him! He just looks so helpless."

"Yeah. . ." Kaoru repeated. They both stared at Kenshin, who was happily popping bubbles floating around him. A light bulb suddenly sprang into Kaoru's mind. "He should have a vacation! Like a. .a day off!" Kaoru and Sanosuke grinned at each other. "I could do the laundry and cook dinner!" she said, excitedly.

Sanosuke laughed, "Yeah and I could. . ." he paused, then shook his head. ". . .do nothing!"

Kaoru could barely contain her excitement and paid no attention to Sanosuke. "It's the least we can do for our Kenshin! It's about time he just sit back and relax for once! Some good old R and R would do Kenshin a world of good! It'll be tomorrow!" She rambled off, "Let's see, I could make some miso soup or maybe tofu. . . Chicken Teriyaki is definitely not this era. . ."

Yahiko appeared between them, blue under his eyes, his hair in a mess, his words slurred with drowsiness and a bokken in his hand, "5000 swings are accomplished, sir. . ."

He didn't get an answer for Kaoru had already sprung into action, preparing for Kenshin's day off. Sanosuke smirked at Yahiko, "Look at those muscles. The Missy must've worked you hard." He gently punched Yahiko in the shoulder. There was no reaction. Sanosuke frowned, "Uh, Yahiko?" He waved his hand in front of the boy's eyes but they continued to stare forward. A small snore rumbled from him.

Sanosuke rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving the sleeping, yet still standing-up Yahiko behind.

"Kaoru-dono!" came a call. Kaoru spun around to see Kenshin smiling at her, "I've hung the laundry up to dry. Would you happen to know if we are out of anything so that I may go and buy more?" He noticed that she was holding something behind her back and that her eyes were tugging in a different direction. "Oro, Kaoru-dono, what are you doing?"

Kaoru giggled flakily, "Oh, Kenshin, don't trouble yourself with such simple matters. . ." She quickly picked something up from the floor to hide behind her back, "Let me take care of that!"

Kenshin's face turned down slight into what might be called a pout, "But Kaoru-dono, this unworthy one really doesn't mind going to the market, that I don't." He sidestepped a bit to try and see what was behind Kaoru's back, but she simply turned so he couldn't. "Oro. . . Kaoru-dono. . . Might I ask what you are hiding?"

Kaoru smiled and clamped her teeth tightly, nearly hissing, "Oh it's nothing that concerns you, Kenshin. . ." She slowly backed away from him, "Oh, what was that Sano? Oh, I'll be right on it. . ." Kaoru slipped out of the room in a flash, nearly revealing the cleaning supplies she was hiding behind her back.

Kenshin blinked, "Oro?" Deciding to let the matter slip, he turned to walk back outside only to notice Yahiko standing in front of the shoji. "Yahiko, what are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be practicing like Kaoru-dono told you to?" Kenshin poked him on the shoulder and jumped back in surprise when Yahiko fell flat on the floor.

"So, I've heard that Sir Ken is having a day off tomorrow? Ohohoho," Megumi didn't even try to conceal her fox ears. "I wonder what he'll be doing all day if he's not working for such a sweaty little girl like you."

Kaoru's eye twitched, "I have no idea where you heard that."

"Well, it's only the latest gossip!" Megumi purred. "That dirty little dojo of yours is constantly being watched in case something new happens. Didn't you know?" She grinned, "They were saying that the other night you were drinking way too much sake and when Sir Ken came into the room-"

"That is quite enough!" Kaoru snapped. "How can you be certain that everything you hear is the truth?" Trying to get that out of the conversation and being pressured by Megumi's fox ears, Kaoru sighed, "Kenshin is just going to relax tomorrow and not do any work."

"Uh hmmm," Megumi kept her maroon eyes on Kaoru in a knowing way. "Maybe a lovely lady like me should pay him a visit? I'm sure he'd be more than willing to relax. . ." She leaned close to Kaoru's ear as she whispered, "in my arms!" Such a comment was rewarded with much screaming and scratching that Megumi's office was literally torn to bits.

Sanosuke walked up to the scene where Megumi and Kaoru were screaming and scratching each other. He smirked, "Whoa, its World War Five. You know, catfights are really dangerous, I should probably get outa here." He took a few steps back, but grinned as he continued to watch the fight. He played with the fish bone in his mouth and nearly choked on it when Kaoru sent Megumi hurdling towards him. Sanosuke jumped out of the way and was about to consider helping Megumi up when she leaped with a growl towards Kaoru.

Dr. Genzai walked up to Sanosuke and sighed. "What are those two fighting about now?"

"What they always fight about," Sanosuke jeered. "That sissy red-headed girly-man who does the laundry everyday and wears a stick on his waist calling it a reverse blade sword." He shrugged, "I just don't know what they see in him. . ."

It was as if Dr. Genzai did not hear the last part of what Sanosuke said, "Oh yes! Himura-san, I heard he's taking the day off tomorrow!"

"Oh, thank you for coming tonight!" Tae smiled proudly. "You are the Akebeko's best customers. . . excluding Sanosuke who never pays his bill." With that said, she trotted off to meet new customers, leaving the Kenshin-gumi behind to eat their dinner.

Yahiko began wolfing down his rice the second Tae left, muttering in between gulps, "So. . . hungry. . . didn't eat. . .all. . . day. . ."

Slowly and carefully, Kenshin started to politely eat his rice. "Kaoru-dono, are you sure you're going to be all right?" he asked for the hundredth time. He frowned, "Those bruises sure look very painful, that they do. It must have been a very large rock you tripped over. . ."

"Oh yes, Kenshin," Sanosuke couldn't constrain himself. "A very large rock named-"

"Ohohoho," Kaoru laughed, impersonating Megumi. "It's really not that big of a deal. Don't worry yourself about me, Kenshin!" She sipped her cup of sake. Sanosuke and Kenshin cautiously watched her, waiting for the warning signs that Kaoru had drank enough. They didn't need another episode like the night before. . .

"So, Kenshin," Sanosuke stated. "Did you do a lot today?"

Kenshin smiled, "No, not really, Sano. I just washed the laundry and went to the market to buy tofu." He frowned, "Although we didn't get to eat it because you suggested that we come to the Akebeko tonight." Kenshin's curiosity enhanced when Sanosuke and Kaoru started to laugh uneasily. "What is the occasion tonight, by the way?" he asked.

"Oh, no occasion really," Kaoru explained. "We just wanted to get out for once. You shouldn't have to cook dinner every night you know. . ."

Kenshin's frown brightened into a cute (in Kaoru's opinion) Rurouni smile, "I enjoy cooking very much, that I do! Kaoru-dono, you don't need to spend money buying dinner when I could just cook it, that I could."

Kaoru smiled, "Who said this was on my money?"

"Oro. . ."

"Kenshin, you really ought to stop saying that," Sanosuke bickered. "Be a man! 'Oro' isn't manly, Kenshin. You've got to be manly!" He was rewarded with another Oro. "That is really, really starting to get on my nerves. . ." Sanosuke growled.

"Oh, shut up, Sano," Yahiko muttered with a full mouth. "No matter what you do, he's always going to say it."

Kenshin blinked repeatedly as heat and tension filled the table of the Kenshin-gumi. "Now, now, everybody. Let's not bicker and argue," he smiled. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion!" He trailed off, "Although I'm still not sure what that occasion is. . ." Silence soon followed. Yahiko chewed loudly. Kaoru coughed a bit. Sanosuke started to crush the fish bone he had in his mouth. . .Kenshin sighed.

"Ohohoho. . . What a happy group we've got here!" Megumi stood in front of the table, bruises and scratches all over her face and arms. But there was still an evil smirk on her lips. "Good evening Sir Ken! You seem stressed, may I invite you over to my table? Maybe we could talk. . . share drinks. . ."

Kaoru was already growling, "Kenshin refuses your invitation, Miss Megumi." Kenshin uttered a small, "Oro?" but Kaoru continued, "And he's not stressed at all. He's very relaxed." She gave Megumi a threatening raccoon glare. Megumi took the hint and sauntered off.

"What was that about?" Sanosuke asked, trying not to laugh.

"Girl fights," Yahiko explained. "It's best not to get involved."

Kaoru huffed, Yahiko kept eating, Sanosuke snickered and Kenshin sighed, "Oro."

The next morning showed promising signs of an extremely hot summer day. The birds whistled their good mornings, the sun was quickly high in the sky, and everybody was smiling and cheerful. The perfect day to sit back and relax. Kaoru and Sanosuke grinned as they tiptoed over to Kenshin's room. They knew he woke up early in the morning, so they had to wake up even earlier. Sanosuke had a tray in his hands with a somewhat burnt breakfast on it.

They giggled excitedly, but muffled themselves as they approached Kenshin's bedroom shoji door. "Okay," Kaoru whispered loudly. "I'm going to open the shoji. You crawl in first, and then I will. Wake up Kenshin slowly!"

"Right!" Sanosuke nearly shouted. Kaoru slapped him several times, putting her finger to her lips. "Oh," Sanosuke whispered. "Sorry!" He watched as Kaoru slid the shoji open very slowly. "Come on, we haven't got all day!" Sanosuke whispered harshly. Kaoru opened it a bit faster. Sanosuke tiptoed through and heard Kaoru follow him.

They sneaked over to the still miraculously sleeping Kenshin (after all the noise they had made!). Sanosuke and Kaoru giggled. Slowly, Sanosuke put the tray on the floor. He reached over to Kenshin's shoulder and slightly shook it. There was no response. He shook a little harder. By this time, Yahiko had also crept into the room and he and Kaoru were both peering over Sanosuke's shoulder.

"Is he dead?" Yahiko asked.

Sanosuke growled, "C'mon Kenshin! Wake up!" He shook Kenshin's shoulder violently.

With a start, Kenshin's eyes snapped open. He nearly reached over for his sword when he realized there were three pairs of eyes staring intently at him. "Oro!" he cried. "What are you all doing in my bedroom!"

"It's your day off, Kenshin!" Yahiko chirped.

"My what!"

"It's your day off, Kenshin!" Yahiko repeated.

Kaoru smiled, "We all thought that you do way too much work around here and you ought to have a vacation! Today, you are only allowed to relax and take it easy!" She made a scary face, "That means no cooking, no cleaning, no buts, no nothing!"

Kenshin gulped, "Yes ma'am!"

"I made you breakfast, Kenshin!" Kaoru smiled innocently. She presented him the burnt pancake with sunny side up eggs for eyes and a piece of bacon as a smiling mouth. "It's something I learned from my Western Cooking class! I think it's called a Pankeki. Enjoy!" Sanosuke, Kaoru and Yahiko all stared at him, waiting for him to eat the pancake. When he made no movement to do so, Kaoru started crying, "But you don't have to eat it if you don't want to. I mean, I'm sure it's probably horrible tasting but. . ."

Kenshin quickly covered himself, "Oh, Kaoru-dono! It looks delicious, that it does. But you really didn't have to do this for me, I mean. . . It looks like you worked very hard on it. . ." -one of the eyes was starting to droop- ". . .I'm very grateful, but I really don't need a day off."

"YES YOU DO!" the three shouted.

Kenshin gulped again, "Oro. . . well. . . if you insist." He turned meek, "But I can't even wash the laundry?" From the expressions on their faces, Kenshin doubted he'd ever touch a soap bar ever again. "Alright then. . ." he picked up the silver . . . fork was it called? and stabbed one of the eggs with it. He slowly lifted it towards his mouth. Dreading the worst, Kenshin popped it into his mouth and slowly began to chew.

In a flash, his face was completely green. But he managed to smile and say, "It's delicious." It's disgusting. . .

Kaoru giggled with glee, "Oh Kenshin, I'm so glad you like it!"

Sanosuke muttered, "Just one bite of that and I would be dead. . ."

"Me too. . ." Yahiko grumbled.

Kenshin smiled at them as he continued to slowly eat breakfast.

After breakfast was over, Yahiko went off to do his normal 5000 swings a day, Sanosuke said he was going to wash the laundry and Kaoru walked to the market. Kenshin had asked if he could join her but Kaoru had simply said, "No." So, Kenshin was forced to sit by himself in the living room. He twiddled his thumbs. He hummed a song.

But his eye couldn't get off a certain area of the floor in front of him.

There was a speck. . .

. . .of dust.

Kenshin peeked around. Sanosuke was out in the yard, supposedly washing the laundry and Yahiko was in the dojo area doing his 5000 swings. Neither of them could see him. It's just one speck of dust. . . Kenshin told himself. It doesn't really need to be cleaned. But the more he thought about it, the more Kenshin really wanted to clean that speck of dust.

Kenshin wearily looked around, and, seeing no one, he slowly reached out to the speck of dust. Slowly. . . slowly. . .

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Sanosuke shouted from the yard.

Kenshin sighed and pulled back his hand. He decided to stay away from the speck of dust so he stood up and walked around it. Trudging outside, Kenshin spotted Sanosuke sitting on the ground in front of the wash bin. He was furiously trying to scrub a certain kimono. Kenshin's eyebrows rose. A certain kimono that was Kaoru's favorite kimono. She had spilled sake on it the night before. . . .

Sanosuke growled, "Stupid. . . stain. . . won't. . . come out!" As he said that, he gave one last, heaving push on the kimono with the scrubber.

Kenshin cringed as a loud RIP! sound filled the air. Kaoru-dono's favorite kimono. . . he groaned. She loved that kimono, and Sano just ripped it! Kenshin sighed, "This has gone way too far. . ." He marched up to Sanosuke, "Sano, please allow me to sew that kimono and then properly wash it."

Sanosuke glared up at Kenshin with the sun in his eyes, sweat rolling down his temple. "Of course not, Kenshin! It's your day off! I've got everything under control. . ."

Just then, Kaoru came rushing into the yard, "Sanosuke? Do you remember which shop sells the best tofu?"

Kenshin brightened, "I know exactly where that is, Kaoru-dono! I could go there right now and buy some for you!"

"Don't be absurd Kenshin!" Kaoru snapped. "It's your day off!"

Kenshin sighed and dragged himself into the dojo. Is this how vacation is supposed to feel? He wondered. It's so. . . boring. Suddenly, he heard Yahiko's counting, "1456! 1457! 1458!" Kenshin smiled and nearly jogged over to where Yahiko's was doing his 5000 swings. He watched Yahiko's positioning and technique, and found a rather startling fault.

"Yahiko, the way you're standing. . . it's. . . well, it's probably why you've been so sore recently. You should stand more like-"

"Don't help me Kenshin!" Yahiko scolded. "It's your day off!" he paused. "Hey wait. . . what number was I on?" He thought about it, and then groaned, "Awww man! Now I have to start all over again!"

Kenshin's shoulders sagged as he slowly walked to the front porch. There's nothing to do. . . he told himself. They won't let me do anything. . . He sat down on the porch and began to daydream about valleys of flowers and candy when-

Kenshin nearly jumped out of his socks when he heard a tiny, "Meow?" He looked down to see a small white kitten. He smiled sadly and patted the kitten on his little head. Kenshin noticed how dirty the kitten looked. His paws were covered in mud and his fur had dirt in it. "I should get you washed up, that I should!" Kenshin told the kitten.

He peered around, cautiously. Nobody was around. Sanosuke had given up on washing the laundry and had left the washing bin abandoned. Kenshin smiled mischievously and tiptoed to the washing bin with the little kitten hiding in his gi. Turning his back to the dojo, Kenshin pulled the kitten out of his hiding spot and began to gently rub soap on him.

At first, the kitten did not like the soap, but when bubbles started to float around, he was purring with delight. And so was Kenshin, I love washing and cleaning! As soon as the kitten was sparkling clean, a small rumbling noise erupted from him. Kenshin smiled, "You must be hungry!"

Kenshin put the little kitten back in his gi to hide and started to tiptoe to the front gate when suddenly, "Oi, Kenshin. Where're you going?"

Kenshin slowly turned to a curious Sanosuke, "This unworthy one is in need of a walk to stretch out my old bones, that I am. I think I'm going to take a walk to the river and back." He saw Sanosuke's expression of wanting to go, "I need to go alone because there are some important matters I need to discuss with. . ." He turned red, ". . . myself."

Sanosuke's mouth made a large O, "I get it. Just don't get in a fight, get kidnapped or threatened in any way for once in a while, eh?" He began to walk away, "That's the last thing we need. You getting into another stupid fight and then becoming the stupid hero and I always get left behind. It's so stupid. . . . . ."

Kenshin waited until Sanosuke was out of sight until he could breath again. Quickly, he dashed out the front gate and down the road. The kitten said, "Meow." Kenshin came to a Y in the road. One led to the river, and the other led to the market. He calmly walked down the road to the market. Soon, there were enough people around him for Kenshin to go unnoticed.

He came up to the Fish Shop and bought a small amount, just enough for a kitten. Kenshin smiled, feeling refreshed. I love shopping at the market. . . Carrying his bundle of fish, Kenshin hopped over to the riverbank, and there he sat down. The kitten crawled out of his gi and gobbled up the fish. Kenshin stroked the kitten and listened to him purr.

He looked up at the sky. Not even a wisp of a cloud. He thought with a smile. The kitten kept purring.

Suddenly, "Noyu! Noyu, where are you? Noyu!"

Kenshin turned to see a little girl searching frantically for someone called Noyu. Kenshin stood up and walked over to her, the kitten following him. "What does this person look like, who you are looking for?" he asked.

The little girl had tears in her eyes. She looked up at Kenshin's smiling face and sniffled. "H-he's a little white kitty cat with long whiskers a-and his name is N-Noyu. . ." she glanced down at the kitten at Kenshin's foot and gasped, "NOYU!" She quickly grabbed the little kitten and hugged him dearly to her chest. "Oh, thank you, thank you! You found my Noyu!"

Kenshin was surprised, but he smiled, "So this little guy is yours, is he? Be sure not to let him out of your sight again. Take care." Kenshin smiled at the girl and patted the kitten one more time before he walked away; smiling all the way back to the dojo.

When he arrived, he found Sanosuke and Kaoru both stretched out on the porch, exhausted. Kaoru sighed, "Oh Kenshin. I'm sorry. But without you, things just aren't the same. I can't cook, I can't clean, I can't shop and I can't wash! I can't do anything! I'm sorry I ruined your day off. . ." She sighed again and sat up.

Sanosuke grinned, "So it looks like you're not going to have another day off in a long. . . long time. Without you taking care of us, I guess we're just a bunch of babies."

"Oh I'm so sorry, Kenshin!" Kaoru wailed.

Kenshin shook his head and smiled, "No, Kaoru-dono. That would be just perfect!"

Owari!

Author's Notes: This is just something I cooked up for fun. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review, minna-sama! Thank you!