Heart Of The Battousai

Chapter 2 - Tamaiya

Just for a quick reference, Kenshin's about 18 in this one, so don't expect too much from him as he tries to take care of the baby... he's kind of clueless. Any ways, read on and enjoy, or try to :).

Battousai snuck into the inn as quietly as he could, being careful not to awaken anyone, especially his leaders. He entered through the back door of the kitchen and set the baby down on the counter, "Ok, I'll see if we have anything that you can eat."

Battousai searched through the cabinets, trying to find anything that the infant could eat but then he realized something, "What do babies eat?"

He bent down to look in the cabinet under the wash-bin and groaned when he didn't find anything, "We should have something in here..."

"Mr. Himura?"

Startled, he shot up, hitting his head hard on the cabinet as he did so, "OW! Dang that hurt!"

He turned around and smiled sheepishly at his visitor, "Hey Okami, why are you up so late?"

"You know me, Mr. Himura, I don't sleep until all of the men have returned for the evening. You're very late tonight, is anything wrong?"

"Um... no, I got in earlier I just... got hungry is all and I didn't want to wake you up."

Okami smiled, catching the slight change in his voice, it always took on a high pitch when he lied so she knew immediately that he was up to something, "Don't lie to me, I know you too well, Mr. Himura. You've come down for a snack before and you usually get a carrot or something and go back to bed and they're not usually under the wash-bin."

Battousai smiled and rubbed the sore spot on his head, "You caught me again, Okami."

"Yes I did, now why don't you tell me what's really going on?"

"Alright... but you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially Katsura."

"I promise."

Battousai shut the door and leaned down close to her ear, "I was on my way home and I heard someone scream and went to check it out. When I got there everyone was dead except this woman and she told me to check the bushes and I found something."

"What did you find?"

"It's over there on the counter."

Okami went over and looked at the small bundle sleeping on the counter, a slight gasp escaping her when she realized what it was, "A baby? Who's is it?"

"I don't know, I found her in the bush and I believe the parents were killed. I went all over Kyoto but no one has ever seen the child before and there isn't an orphanage until you get to Aizu."

"I see... what do you intend to do then?"

"Find someone to take care of her, I guess. Do you know anyone that can take her?"

"No, I'm afraid you're going to have to take care of her, at least until we are able to find a decent home for her."

"What! But... Okami, I can't take care of a baby, I'm a manslayer! What am I supposed to do, take her out with me on missions and hide her in a tree and hope that I remember where I put her!"

Okami smiled, it was rare to see Battousai upset, let alone frantic, especially when it came to matters like this, "No, I'll look after her while you're out, however, you are going to take care of her once you return. I won't tell Katsura but I suggest you find her a home soon or he'll find out on his own and you know how he is when it comes to his top manslayer keeping secrets from him."

Battousai smiled, knowing full well how Katsura felt about his soldiers keeping secrets from him, "Yeah, I know."

The baby suddenly started crying and he hurried over and picked her up, patting her back to try and comfort her, "Shush now, if Katsura catches us we'll be in big trouble."

Okami watched with amusement as the normally fierce manslayer attempted to comfort the small child in his arms. He was trying so hard but the infant just didn't want to cooperate with him. She went over to one of the cabinets and get some milk out and put it into the bottle before handing it to a near panicking Battousai, "Here you are, Mr. Himura."

"What's that?"

"Try feeding her, it might comfort the little thing."

Battousai took the bottle and held the child in the crook of his left arm while trying to hand the bottle to her, "Come on, it eat, it's not going to bite you."

"You have to hold it for her, Mr. Himura, she's too little to hold it by herself just yet."

Battousai held the bottle at a downward angle and the baby continued to fuss, unable to get the milk. Okami shook her head and gently pushed his hand up to where it was supposed to be, "Hold it like this, Mr. Himura."

The baby started drinking the milk and Battousai let out a sigh of relief when she stopped crying, "Thanks, Okami, I don't think I could do this without you."

"You'll get used to this sort of thing, you've never been around children so I don't really expect you to know that much about how to take care of one. But just remember, it's up to you to take care of her and look after her."

"I know, I know."

Battousai looked down at the baby and she started cooing at him while she drank, getting him to smile, "She's making some strange noises."

"She's just cooing, she'll do that a lot, especially after she gets used to you."

The baby finished the bottle and Battousai set it aside, "There, happy now?"

She started to fuss a little and Battousai groaned, "Now what's wrong with you?"

"You have to burp her, Mr. Himura."

"Do I have to?"

"If you want her to stop crying, yes."

Battousai sighed and rested the baby on his shoulder before he started to lightly pat her back. After a minute she let out a burp and he smiled, "There, are you better now?"

He heard her coo and smiled at Okami, "Thanks, yet again, I'm going to go up to my room and try to..."

He paused when he felt something wet and sticky running down his neck, he pulled the baby away to look at her and saw some milk on her chin before he looked to his shoulder. He let out a long groan and made an unusual, disgusted face, "YUCK! She threw up on me!"

Okami laughed softly and patted his dry shoulder, "Good night, Mr. Himura, enjoy being a parent."

"Wait! Okami, don't leave me!"

Okami ignored his cry for help and left the kitchen. He looked at the baby and scowled at her, "You're an annoying little brat, do you know that?"

The baby smiled and cooed loudly, getting a sigh from him before he went over to the wash-bin and started to clean them both up.

Over the next week or so Battousai learned all the tricks of the trade and was soon taking care of the child without too much help from Okami. He had quite a time keeping the infant away from his leaders, especially Katsura, he had started to suspect that Battousai was hiding something but he was unable to find out what it was. One night Battousai had gone on an errand for Katsura and went into one of the bars, deciding to rest for a moment before heading home. He sat at the bar and whistled at the waitress as she walked by, "Hey, are you going to ignore your favorite customer?"

She turned around and smiled brightly at him, "Oh, hello there, Mr. Himura, it's been awhile, what brings you to this part of town?"

"Errands, hey listen, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Battousai held up the bottle and smiled, "Can you get me some milk?"

The waitress smiled, "Aren't you a little old for those?"

"I'm a little old for a lot of things."

"Am I one of them?" she asked playfully

Battousai smiled, "Yes, I'm definitely too old for you, kid, just get me some milk, ok?"

"Alright then, you old grump, I'll be back."

The waitress walked off just as an elderly woman came in through the back and smiled at Battousai, "Oh hello Kenshin, what brings you here?"

"I came to see if you'd go out with me."

The old woman smiled as she sat in front of him, "I'm old enough to be your grandmother."

Battousai chuckled as she pushed his bangs away from his face, she always did that when she saw him, "What's been going on lately, Kyoko?"

"Not much I'm afraid, things have been pretty quiet around here lately."

"Yeah, until Mr. Himura here showed up." the waitress giggled as she returned with the bottle.

Battousai smiled and took it from her, "Thanks Mya."

"Why did you want milk any ways?"

Both women let out a gasp when Battousai's gi started to wiggle. He chuckled and pulled out a fussing infant, resting her in the crook of his arm before giving her the bottle, "Oh my... when did you become a father, Mr. Himura?" Mya asked shocked.

"She's not really mine, I found her a couple of weeks ago, her parents were killed."

"I see... so are you trying to find someone to take her?" Kyoko asked

"Actually... I was thinking about keeping her and raising her myself... I've kinda grown attached to her."

Mya smiled, "I never thought I'd see the day that Battousai grew a heart."

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny Mya, you see if I save your butt the next time you get mugged."

They all chuckled briefly before Kyoko asked, "So, what're you going to name her?"

Battousai looked down at the infant in his arms and thought for a long moment, then out of nowhere a name came to him and he smiled, "I'll call her... Tamaiya."

"Tamaiya? That's a pretty name, well I have to get back to work, good luck, Mr. Himura." Mya said as she went across the room to help a customer.

Kyoko patted him on the shoulder and headed off towards the back, "Good luchk, don't be a stranger, Kenshin."

"I won't."

Battousai smiled down at the tiny child in his arms and lightly kissed her forehead as she cooed loudly at him, "That's what I'll call you, from now on... you're my little Tamaiya."