Heart Of The Battousai

Chapter 7 - Master!

Over the next few days everyone got used to Tamaiya being around and things started to get back to normal, Yahiko had even started to lighten up on her, although he did get his behind kicked more than once by the young girl when he decided to challenge her. One day Kenshin was doing the laundry (big surprise) and he felt someone come up behind him and look over his shoulder, "You almost done, Kenshin?"

"Almost, Miss Kaoru, so where's my little demon?"

"She's off practicing with Yahiko."

"He doesn't give up, does he?"

"No, he is persistent, I'm surprised that Tamaiya hasn't tried to just kill him and get it over with."

"Me too, she has quite a bit of patience, that she does."

"Just like her father."

Kenshin smiled and stood up, drying his hands as he turned around to face Kaoru, "Well, now that I'm finished with the laundry what do you want to do, Miss Kaoru?"

"I don't know, we can go watch Yahiko get his butt kicked again."

Kaoru turned to leave but Kenshin caught her wrist and pulled her back, "That's not quite what I had in mind, Miss Kaoru."

"Well what did you have in mind, then, Kenshin?"

Kenshin smiled mischievously and placed his fingers under her chin, lifting her face up to meet his gaze, "This is what I had in mind."

Without warning he leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers, getting a happy sigh from her before she wrapped her arms around his neck. Kenshin put his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest as he slanted his mouth over hers to deepen the kiss, enjoying the soft moan he elicited from her as he did so. But their intimate moment was cut short when they heard a timid voice behind them, "Daddy?"

Kenshin cracked one of his eyes open and gasped, quickly pulling away from Kaoru when he saw Tamaiya watching them, "Tamaiya... hey there, um... is anything wrong?"

Tamaiya crossed her arms over her chest and huffed at him playfully, "You lied to me, Daddy, that you did."

"How so?"

"You told me that I was the only girl in your life, that you did."

Kenshin and Kaoru both chuckled as she hit him in the arm. He smiled softly and moved some hair out of her face, "You are the only girl in my life, Tamaiya, but Miss Kaoru's not a girl, that she isn't, she's a woman."

Tamaiya looked from one to the other, her dark blue eyes sparkling with mischief, "Were you kissing Miss Kaoru?"

Kenshin and Kaoru both turned red, getting a smile out of Tamaiya, "You were! Does that mean that you're in love with Miss Kaoru?"

Kaoru looked over to Kenshin and he chuckled sheepishly, "Yes, I love Miss Kaoru but not in that way, Tamaiya."

"Then why were you kissing her? You told me that you should never kiss someone unless you love them, that you did."

Kaoru giggled, watching with amusement as Kenshin's face glowed even brighter with embarrassment as he leaned down to pat his daughter on the head, "Yes I did, but the rules are different for grown ups, that they are."

"But... you do like her, don't you?"

"Yes I do, very much, I wouldn't be kissing her if I didn't like her, that I wouldn't."

"Does that mean that you're going to marry her one day and make her my mom?" she asked innocently, yet hopefully.

Kenshin, if it were possible, turned an even deeper shade of red and he turned her around and started pushing her towards the porch, "Ok... why don't you go and talk to Sano now, or spar with Yahiko for awhile, my little one?"

Tamaiya smiled up at him, "You're running me off, aren't you?"

"Yes." he answered simply

"Ok, ok, I get the hint, that I do, but by the way, Miss Kaoru, he's a troublemaker and he hogs that blanket too, that he does."

"Tamaiya..." Kenshin started to warn but before he could finish she took off like a bolt of lightening. He turned to Kaoru and scratched the back of his head nervously, "I'm sorry, she just speaks her mind, that she does."

"It's alright, so you love me but you're not in love with me, right, Kenshin?" she asked teasingly, enjoying the pink that was returning to his normally pale cheeks.

"Um... I'm going to go help Yahiko now, that I am, bye!"

Kaoru couldn't help but laugh as she watched him run off, he was just too cute when he was embarrassed. She followed him down the hall and was tackled by a hyper Sanosuke as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "So Missy, how was the smooch?"

"Tamaiya told you?"

"Yep, so... come on... details..."

Kaoru smiled, "I liked it."

Kaoru heard a groan and looked over at Kenshin, he was looking down at his feet, his long bangs partially covering his red face as Sanosuke started to tease him about the situation. But before Kaoru could join in there was a knock on the door and she went and answered it, smiling at the visitor before they both headed back to where the others were, "Oh, Kenshin."

"Yes Miss Kaoru?"

"You have a guest."

"Please tell me it's not Saito."

"Oh no, it's better than Saito."

"Who is it?"

Kenshin felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to meet a pair of dark eyes, letting out a cry of surprise when he saw who it was, getting a laugh out of his visitor, "Nice to see you again too, stupid."

"Master! What are you doing here?"

"Can't I just come and visit my stupid apprentice and tell embarrassing stories about him as a kid?"

"I'd prefer that you didn't, Master."

Hiko laughed, "Same as ever, I was in town visiting an old colleague of mine and I just decided at the last minute to drop by and see what I could do to ruin your day."

"Thank you so much, Hiko."

They all laughed and heard a loud scream from around back, then Yahiko came flying around the corner and ducked down behind Kaoru for protection, "Save me, Kaoru!"

"What did you do, Yahiko?"

At that moment Tamaiya came running around the corner but Kenshin caught her before she could reach her target, "Hold on there, Tamaiya, what's wrong?"

"Yahiko dumped a bucket of water on me, that he did!"

Kenshin chuckled when he realized that the little girl in his arms was soaking wet, "That's no reason to kill him, that it isn't."

"I think it is... oh, who's your friend, Daddy?"

"This is my master, Seijiro Hiko."

"Nice to meet you, Sir Hiko, that it is."

Hiko smiled and reached his hand out to shake hers, "Same here, and you are?"

"Tamaiya Himura, sir."

"Himura huh? Are you related to Kenshin here?"

"Yes sir, he's my father, that he is."

"Your father?"

Hiko gave Kenshin 'the look' and he flushed slightly although he kept his face impassive, "Don't start, Master."

"Fine, I'll get it out of you later on, so, Tamaiya, how old are you?"

"Eleven, sir."

"My you're quite the young lady, it's a pity that your father didn't pick up your manners."

"That's your fault, Master, you raised me and I, unfortunately, took up several of your bad habits, except being an egotistical old man, that is."

"Hey!"

They started insulting one another's heritage and the others laughed, "It's not everyday that you see Kenshin get angry like that." Yahiko laughed

"I know, it's so fun to watch him and Hiko go at it."

"Right you are, Sanosuke, hey Kenshin."

"Yes Miss Kaoru?"

"I'll cook dinner, you stay here and keep your guest company."

"Do I have to, can't I just kick him out? OW!" Kenshin yelped in pain when Hiko punched him in the head, not noticing the laughter coming from everyone else as they continued to argue.

At dinner they convinced Kenshin to go and get something from town then Sanosuke poked Hiko in the arm, "Tell us some dirt on Kenshin."

"Like what?"

"Anything, something good though."

"Let's see... there were so many occasions that he made a fool of himself. One of my favorite memories though is when I had a self-defense seminar with some of my friends in town. They all brought their daughters to learn how to beat off drunks and what not but I didn't bother to tell Kenshin that they were going to be there and he had hung his clothes out to dry the night before so he had nothing to wear except his birthday suit and a loincloth. Any ways, I let him sleep in that day and he came out of his room, all tired and disheveled from sleep and the girls got a free view."

"What did Kenshin do?" Yahiko asked

"Well, he had just put his pants on and was looking for his gi then the girls started giggling and he finally realized that he wasn't alone and he let out a scream that put all of the girls to shame. He ran behind me and covered his chest with my cape and turned as red as his hair."

"Did he ever forgive you for that?"

"No, he still gets pissed when I bring it up."

At that moment Kenshin walked in and sat down, noticing the strange looks he was getting from everyone as they snickered, "What's so funny?"

"Hey Kenshin... did you ever find your gi?" Sanosuke asked between laughs.

"My gi... MASTER! HOW COULD YOU TELL THEM ABOUT THAT!"

"Because, I thought it was hilarious."

"That wasn't my fault, you could've told me that there were others there, particularly girls!"

"But they liked you, especially Ryoki."

"Don't remind me."

"Who's Ryoki?" Yahiko asked

"Never mind, Yahiko..."

Later that night Tamaiya sat on the porch outside her door and looked up at the stars, finding the one her father had pointed out to her two years before. She had wished on that star every night that he would come and get her but he never came, she eventually started to think that he'd forgotten about her, "Tamaiya?"

"Oh, hey Daddy, did I wake you?"

"No, I don't sleep when others are still up and about, that I don't, what're you doing, little one?"

"Looking at the stars."

Kenshin looked up and smiled, "There's our star."

"Yeah, I know, I used to wish on it all the time, that I did."

"Oh, what did you wish for?"

Tamaiya paused for a long moment before she answered softly, "I wished for you to come back, that I did. Daddy... why didn't you come and get me, did you forget about me?"

Kenshin's heart fell at the pain in her little voice, he had never meant to hurt her but it was far too late for that, "No, I'd never forget about you, that I wouldn't. It took me a long time to find this place, what happened is a year ago I was walking down the main road here in Tokyo and this hyper, mean little kendo instructor attacked me..."

"Miss Kaoru?"

"Yes, she let me stay after... some embarrassing moments, but then all of these people from my past kept showing up and trying to kill me, then I had to go back to Kyoto to fight Shishio and it was just too dangerous for you to be near me at the time, that it was. But the day you came I was getting ready to leave to come and get you, that I was, but I would never forget you for any reason."

"So you... stayed away to protect me?"

"Yes, I know you must hate me for not coming to get you but... I'd rather you be mad at me than let me risk your safety because of my past and..."

Kenshin stopped when Tamaiya leaned over and laid her cheek against his chest, "I don't hate you, that I don't, but... I heard about you fighting in the papers and stuff and some of the kids told me that you were dead and so... I ran away to come and see if it was true or not, that I did."

"Well, I'm still here, that I am, and listen, I know that I can't make up for the time that we were apart but I can pick up where I left off, this is a whole new life for us both, Tamaiya, and I don't intend to let anyone take that away from us, that I most certainly don't, nor do I intend to let hurt anyone get hurt."

"Not even Miss Kaoru?"

"No one, not Yahiko, Sano, Miss Kaoru and especially not you, no matter what I will always protect you and I will never leave you again, I swear it."

Tamaiya smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek as he bent down to kiss hers, but their timing was off and they accidentally brushed their lips together, getting her to make gagging sounds and wipe her mouth, "Yuck!"

Kenshin chuckled and hugged her, "I'm sorry, Tamaiya, I didn't mean to do that, that I didn't."

"That's icky! I don't see why people want to kiss, that I don't!"

Kenshin smiled and kissed her forehead as he thought to himself, "You'll never find out as long as I'm around."

Tamaiya let out a yawn and he smiled at her, "Sleepy?"

"Yeah, will you tuck me in?"

"Sure, come on."

Kenshin picked her up and carried her to her room, tucking her in before resting his forehead on hers, "And just for reference, I'd better by the only man you ever kiss, on the cheek or otherwise, got it?"

"Got it."

"Good, and if I catch you, you're dead."

"What if the boy kisses me?"

"Then I'll kill him."

Tamaiya giggled, she knew he was playing, yet something deep within his eyes seemed to say, 'just try it.' Kenshin got up to leave but stopped at the last minute and went back to her, "Oh yes, by the way, you're getting up early tomorrow, that you are."

"Why?"

"Because, I don't want my master to see us practicing, that I don't, he'll kill me if he finds out that I'm teaching you Hiten Mitsurugi, that he will."

Tamaiya's face lit up, "You're going to practice with me tomorrow?"

"That I am, who knows, I may even spar with you."

"Yey!"

Tamaiya hugged him and he couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, "I'll wake up early and don't worry, I'll NEVER kiss a guy, or let him kiss me, that I won't."

"Good, sweet dreams, my little star."

Kenshin kissed her scar and left the room, not noticing the smile Tamaiya had on her face, clutching something to her that was hidden in her blanket as she drifted off to sleep.