Orphan
by baru-chan


Summary: Mishima Eiji arrives at the Fujita household.


Stepping inside the gate of his house, Tsutomu couldn't help but feel that there was someone - or there would be someone - that would change his life forever.

It wasn't a nice feeling at all, and all he wanted to do was to turn around and go back outside where he could avoid the sensation until it went away. Unfortunately for him, though, his two younger brothers both entered behind him without Tsutomu's noticing. And it wouldn't do to perturb them if it really wasn't necessary.

Besides, Tsuyoshi would never let him live it down.

And so the eldest of the Fujita brothers walked towards their house as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Tsutomu-chan? Have you and your brothers gotten home unscathed?" The voice of Mother cut through the thoughts of the boy in question.

Tsutomu rolled his eyes. Why does she insist on calling me that? he asked himself before answering, "Yes, Mother!"

"Yes, Mother!" Tatsuo echoed cheerfully as he enthusiastically left his zori behind on the porch. Tsutomu saw Tsuyoshi roll his eyes from his peripheral vision and he supressed a grin himself. He and 'Yoshi followed their brother at a more sedate pace.

The three boys hurriedly washed up and quickly went into the dining room.

They found their mother placidly preparing a snack for them; she always has sweets ready to be eaten at any given time. Tsutomu couldn't remember exactly when Mother forgot to do this chore - was it around the time Tatsuo was born? - it seemed to be a long time ago to him.

"Itadakimasu!" Tsutomu, Tsuyoshi and Tatsuo chorused before eagerly digging in, Mother's calm way of drinking her tea bringing a semblance of peace to counter the constant bickering of the brothers.


"Good afternoon! Is Fujita Tokio there? Excuse me - I'm looking for Fujita Tokio!" a voice called out from outside the gate.

"Oh, my..." Mother murmured as she stood up. Tsutomu and Tsuyoshi shared a concerned glance; both of them had seen Mother look like this only a few times in their lives: when Father was injured. Badly. Tatsuo, thankfully, didn't notice his brothers' stricken expressions as he slowly chewed his food, looking after their mother with a thoughtful look.

(Thinking about the events later, Tsutomu rather thought that the look on his youngest brother's eyes seemed to be entirely out of place with his youthful face.)

The three brothers looked at each other for a moment before all of them stood up and followed their mother.

She was speaking in low tones with a man outside, holding a sheet of paper, her face lined with incredulity. The man nodded firmly, as if to say, "yes, ma'am, I am sure that I did not hit my head on the way here". Mother blinked very hard for a few moments before nodding in aquiescence.

Tsutomu looked at Tsuyoshi and Tatsuo, wondering if they noticed that their mother was acting strangely. Noticing that they too were wearing befuddled looks, he reached that conclusion that, yes, their mother who was standing at their gate was definitely not the usually calm woman that they knew and loved.

The man nodded back, bowed, murmured something to someone outside the brothers' line of vision, and left - alone, Tsutomu noticed. Mother then beckoned to whoever the man spoke to before leaving and walked towards her sons. A boy who looked out of place in the immaculate front yard with his weather-roughened face and slightly scruffy clothes followed her.

The other boys stared at him in stupefaction.


Mishima Eiji stared back at the three boys. Well, he thought, they must be the sons Fujita-san was talking about. He told me his first-born is the one with black hair. So the one on the farthest to my right should be the eldest - what was his name? Oh, yes, Tsutomu. The next brother is...Tsuyoshi? And the youngest is Tatsuo. Hmph. He looks scrawny.

Eiji stepped up slightly behind to the left of Fujita-san's wife. She seems nice enough, he decided.

"Boys," she said, "this is Mishima Eiji. Eiji-kun, these are my sons. Tsutomu is the eldest," - she gestured to the black-haired boy with amber eyes - "Tsuyoshi is the second-born," - Tsuyoshi actually waved at him! - "and Tatsuo is the youngest," she finished. Tatsuo smiled at him shyly. He smiled back hesitantly.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, staying here. At least there weren't any girls.


Tsutomu was now eyeing this "Mishima Eiji" curiously. Why was he here? Tsutomu glanced at Tsuyoshi and got a half-shrug in reply. Oh, well. They would soon find out.

"Boys," Mother said, "Eiji-kun would be staying with us from now on." As one, the Fujita brothers' jaws hung open, looking back and forth between their mother and the boy. "Eiji-kun's brother is one of Father's men, but unfortunately, he and their parents died. Since he doesn't have any living relatives left, your father decided to take him in." Tsutomu blinked in understanding, Tsuyoshi nodded in aquiescence and Tatsuo smiled sympathetically at Eiji. Mother raised an eyebrow. "Try not to bring the house down in shambles. Come, Eiji, I shall show you where you can wash up." She glided past her sons, Eiji walking somewhat awkwardly behind her, taking one last glance at the brothers.

"Wow," breathed Tatsuo, looking up at Tsutomu and Tsuyoshi, "does that mean he stays here forever?"

"I don't know, Tatsu-chan," Tsuyoshi murmured. Tsutomu merely stared after Mother and Eiji.


GLOSSARY

itadakimasu - thank you for the food
zori - sandals

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki. No profit was, is or will be garnered from this work of fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.