Kenshin shook Tsubame's limp body and swore loudly. He sighed, and said, "The doctor is at the dojo. Tell her to go to the shrine and look at Yahiko. It sounds like he has a terribly high fever."
Miss Kaoru stared at him dreamily. She loved it when Kenshin took charge of a situation so calmly like that, he always knew what to do. His level head had allowed him to help the country in many battles. She watched as he slung Tsubame over his back, looking at her with the smallest bit of envy.
Kenshin turned around and faced Miss Kaoru, startled that his wishes had not been carried out. "Hurry." was all he said before he raced off into the night.
Kenshin, with Tsubame on his back, traveled quickly to the dojo. Of course, the unconscious body of Tsubame would not know this. She also would not know that no drop of rain fell on either her or Kenshin. Also, their rapid pace was faster than any man could travel with an unconscious body on their back, even one with god-like speed. As they raced forward, Kenshin wondered about the strange phenomenagoing on.
By the time Tsubame and Kenshin reached the dojo, Tsubame had gained semi-consciousness. Once inside the walls of the enormous dojo, Tsubame jumped off Kenshin's back and ran towards her and Yahiko's bedroom. Kenshin went to find Miss Megumi, the village doctor, so she could pack her things and leave as soon as Miss Kaoru arrived. At the bedrooms, Tsubame grabbed two bed mats and three heavy blankets. She put the bedding by her door and then dashed off to the kitchen for some food.
Onigiri with a salmon umeboshi and hoisan sauce were sitting on the kotatsu, which Tsubame gobbled up quickly. She then went back to her room to retrieve the bedding. After that she ran through the open gate and on towards the shrine.
Kenshin, the legendary war hero, had always been complimented on his god like speed. Yet now, he was struggling to keep up with a child! Worse yet was the fact that Tsubame had never show any interest in running or speed, except when it came to the speed of her sword swing. As soon as Tsubame had gotten off his back, the rain had once again drenched him, but she was still dry. Kenshin wasn't sure what was going on, but he would find out.
When they got to the shrine, Tsubame unfolded Yahiko's bed and put him onto it. She covered him with a blanket and prayed to the sun goddess. Though time had passed quickly before, it seemed like eons had passed before Miss Kaoru and Miss Megumi had arrived. Miss Megumi had needed to return home to gather supplies before venturing towards the shrine.
After Miss Megumi had finished her routine check-up on Yahiko, she concluded with false bravado, "He has a high fever, higher than I've ever seen. The most I believe we can do at the moment is sweat the fever out."
Then everyone started hustling around the confines of the shrine. Everyone was doing something: rebuilding a fire, collecting rain water in a pot, and tearing strips of cloth to put in the boiling water and then on Yahiko. All Tsubame could do was kneel by Yahiko and brush her fingertips across his cheek.
Tsubame prayed as she looked at Yahiko's face, streaked with sweat. She asked the sun goddess to shine on the world. She asked for the sun to burn through the thick clouds with a torrid heat. She wanted Yahiko to get better and the sun goddess would hear her plea. Unknowingly, Tsubame cried herself to sleep.
