Disclaimer: I do not own RK or any of the characters. I own nothing.

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Chapter Four: Yahiko's decision

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Water was rushing all around her, the noise was deafening, and she was desperately trying to keep her head out of the river…but she just couldn't. Nothing she seemed to do worked, she was being tossed around easily, coughing, panicking, and felt a sharp pain collide into her skull…

Kaoru awoke in a cold sweat, gasping, looking wildly around her. Daylight was pouring in from the window, illuminating her room. She wasn't drowning…

Nevertheless, she shivered. Last night…she had been dreaming about last night. Yes, that dream had actually happened. She was lucky to be alive.

Quickly, Kaoru began to get dressed. She wondered if Kenshin was all right… How had she ended up falling anyways? Then she remembered…the sudden thunder and lightning had startled her, and she had stepped, instinctively, to the rails, and had fallen through one rail that had been missing….

She felt like an idiot.

As soon as she could, Kaoru finished dressing, rushing out of her room. She was headed to the kitchen (because she assumed Kenshin had to be there, fixing breakfast at this time of day), but before she could, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the spare bedroom door ajar.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru stepped inside the room curiously, wondering what on earth Kenshin was doing in the spare bedroom. But she did not find Kenshin in there—instead she saw a laid out futon in the middle of the floor, and on it was a sleeping boy.

She blinked in surprise. A boy?

So it was. It was a child between the ages of eight and twelve, not older or younger, with lightly tanned skin and black, spiky hair, as scrawny as an alley cat. He was asleep, and looked as though he had been having a fight with the blankets and lost, half wrapped up and tangled in them, snoring loudly.

For a split second, Kaoru recognized the boy—remembered seeing him somewhere, but then the memory was gone in a flash, and she was stumped. This boy looked familiar, she was certain of it, but where had she seen him before?

"Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin whispered softly behind her. "What are you doing?"

Kaoru turned around. "Well—I…"

Kenshin shushed her. "Outside," he said in a quiet whisper, "Let's talk outside." He motioned to the sleeping kid.

Taking one curious look at the boy in the futon, Kaoru followed Kenshin out to the hall.

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When Yahiko awoke, he felt strangely warm and comfortable. He could see light shining through his closed eyes, very dimly, and didn't hear the usual noises he heard when he awoke, like the sounds of the gurgling river, and the wind… everything seemed very…quiet.

He stirred gradually, noticing the absence of the tough-feeling weeds and grass he usually slept on, and the fact that what he was sleeping on seemed to be too comfortable…

Was he sleeping on a bed?

He sat up in surprise, glancing wildly around a comforting-looking room. What the hell…?

It took him awhile to remember last night's events. How could he have forgotten?

Yawning, Yahiko wondered if he ought to get back to sleep. He wasn't particularly tired, but he felt comfortable, and didn't want to get up just yet. His eyes almost shut again, but he decided to get up. It was time to leave…he felt grateful to have had such a good night's rest, but he had to get going. This wasn't his house, and he didn't want to stay and take advantage of the kindness that had been shown to him last night.

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It didn't take long for Kenshin to explain to Kaoru about what had occurred last night after she almost drowned. Kaoru was, of course, surprised that the skinny boy in the futon had been the one who had saved her.

While they were talking, Yahiko opened the door, and stepped out into the hall, bleary eyed.

"Good morning, Yahiko-kun," Kenshin said, greeting him brightly.

Yahiko stopped, suddenly noticing them. "Uh…Good morning," he replied awkwardly.

"You hungry?" Kenshin asked.

Yahiko rubbed his eyes sleepily and nodded, following Kenshin and Kaoru to the kitchen, where Kenshin had breakfast already made.

Perhaps it was his hunger (which never seemed satisfied) or the aroma of the appetizing food, but as soon as Yahiko saw breakfast on the table, he gobbled up his food as though it was the very last meal he'd ever see. Every mouthful of food tasted like heaven, and several times he began to choke (despite the fact Kaoru had warned him to slow down.)

After everyone had eaten their fill, Kenshin decided he'd wash the dishes, persuading Kaoru and Yahiko that they were too tired to do that chore, and finished in no time, sitting down at the silent table again. Kaoru and Yahiko didn't know what to talk about, so there was an awkward silence between the two, and even when Kenshin sat down with them.

It was Yahiko who broke the silence first.

"Thank you," he said politely, "I got to be going…I'll see ya guys later." He stood up, feeling relieved that they were letting him go and not bringing up anything about last night, but at the instant, Kenshin spoke.

"You don't have to leave just now," he said soothingly. "Sit down."

Yahiko hesitated, but then Kaoru spoke.

"Kenshin—he has to leave! His parents are probably worried sick about him," she exclaimed. "He's been here all night!"

At the word, "parents" Yahiko flinched involuntarily. He wasn't sure why. His mother had died when he was seven—but even when he thought about either of his parents, he felt like it was still a raw wound in his heart, something painful that he didn't examine too closely.

Kaoru had not seen him wince, but Kenshin's sharp eyes had.

"That's what I want to talk to you about Yahiko-kun," said Kenshin explained gently, "You don't have any parents, do you?"

Yahiko and Kaoru looked up at Kenshin in unison, startled.

"How'd you know?" Yahiko asked, surprised.

"Well, I saw your expression on your face when Kaoru mentioned your parents," Kenshin continued to explain, "But there were other reasons…Yesterday, it was very late at night when Kaoru-dono fell into the river. Most people are at home by that time, especially children your age. What could a child your age be doing at a river at that time of night? The only reason we were late was because we needed to buy many groceries, and we had gone to get some late in the afternoon. We lost track of time…"

"It wasn't that late," Yahiko argued, crossing his arms in front of his chest defensively.

"It was still late anyways," Kenshin pointed out.

"Who cares?" Yahiko was annoyed. "What's the problem anyways?"

"Nothing," said Kenshin in a reasonably calm tone. "But, Yahiko-kun, it is very dangerous for someone your age to be out that late at night… your parents, I'm sure wouldn't have wanted you out after nightfall. Don't you have somewhere to go to after it gets dark?"

"That's none of your business! And leave my parents out of this!" Yahiko snapped. He was furious—he hated when people acted like they care…and, come on, why would these people care, anyways? They didn't even know him.

"He's just worried about you!" Kaoru snapped back, "It's not like he's trying to attack you, or something!"

"Well, it's not like its any of his business," Yahiko repeated, "I feel like I'm being interrogated by the police! Why should you care anyways?"

"Why shouldn't we?" Kenshin asked reasonably.

"Because its—damn! I've already explained this part!" Yahiko almost tore out his hair in exasperation, as Kaoru looked on, extremely shocked at his dirty mouth. Realizing that it would be best to leave, Yahiko got up, and was about to storm away, when Kenshin stood up and stopped him.

"You're not at a police station, Yahiko-kun," Kenshin once again was speaking in that infuriating, reasonable tone of his, "We're just…"

"Concerned," Kaoru added helpfully.

"Well, don't be. I can take care of myself. I don't need any help, charity, whatever the hell, from you guys."

"Yahiko, you saved my life…and I feel I owe it to you to do you a favor," Kaoru tried to reason with him, "We…want to help you, if you don't have anywhere else to go."

There was silence for several seconds. Yahiko looked skeptical, and also like he was about to explode. Again.

"You could live here, if you wanted to, you know," Kaoru continued, "I need an apprentice for my sword style, the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. You could live here, and I could teach you. How would you like that?"

Yahiko shook his head. "No…I'd like to," he admitted reluctantly, "but…"

"It's entirely up to you," Kaoru said gently, "We can't force you to do anything you wouldn't want to do. The dojo doors will always be open, if you want to come back."

"I'll think about it," Yahiko replied, and left.

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He wandered throughout the Tokyo streets that day, that entire afternoon, thinking about it. Though actually, he was more astonished than angry at the fact that someone had invited him to live somewhere.

But he also felt apprehension, not to mention a few other feelings that were mixed all inside. He felt a little bit like an idiot for not immediately accepting those people's generous offer. After all, most street kids would have given up a major body limb to get that sort of a chance…

But then again, he didn't want to, fearful that those two would be prying to much into his life, and asking questions he didn't want to answer. After all, if they found out about his life as a pickpocket, he was sure they would take the offer back. It didn't occur to Yahiko that they might be sympathetic to his problems, because nobody had ever treated him with any sympathy before.

There was also the fact that he had to depend on someone other than himself to live. He didn't trust anyone, and how was he certain these people didn't want something out of him?

Near sunset, he was still thinking about it, as he leaned against the back of a building. After much deliberation, he finally decided.

He wanted to get out of the dead-end life he was in…anything was better than what he was living through now. He'd just have to swallow his pride, however painful that was to him, and go live at the dojo. There, he'd be learning swordsmanship (something he was always fascinated by and wanted to learn), and would have a chance at life as a normal kid. Not a kid who was fighting it out to live in the streets to pay off a debt that was probably paid off by now. How long had he been paying for that debt? Surely it was paid by now. Those Yakuza morons were probably just using him…

Besides, if he just happened to disappear, its not like they would bother looking for him or anything. They would just wonder where he was, or think he was dead…after all, that happened to a lot of the street children who weren't particularly street smart.

But though he thought of all the reasons why he should go live at that dojo, reasoning it all out in his mind, he was still uneasy about the Yakuza. He wasn't their best thief… but still…if they found out he was alive, would they really just let it go?

I'm being paranoid, he thought with annoyance, and left to go and talk to Kenshin and Kaoru at the Kamiya Dojo about his decision, where he was instantly welcomed.

A/N: I don't know if its just me, but I think Yahiko sounds a little OCC in this chapter…if you think he does, I'm sorry. I don't think he would ever just assume he was being taken advantage of…he'd probably confront the Yakuza boss about it, or still keep paying anyways or something…I dunno. Of course, the fic doesn't end here…. Thanks to Zoleth for the review!