MY LITTLE PRINCESS
A/N: Hello everyone!!! Well, I'm glad I've had a free time to make this next chapter. The last few days were really tiring and frustrating. I had to reconstruct my two websites. My site for Chester Bennington is already on its Version 2.0 and the other one for RK has been transformed to an RK Fanfiction Awards Site. So, what are you waiting for? Please visit the link at: ok? There are eleven (11) contested categories to vote and nominate for. Just go check the site out for more info. Please help sessha spread the news, ne?
TO THE REVIEWERS: At the bottom as usual.
Chapter 8. The First Day Without Ken-nii
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Kaoru opened her weary blue eyes slowly. Her curled hands met her azure orbs. Her sight was blurred because they were sore from last night...She had been crying...And then she remembered, Kenshin wasn't there. He was far...So far...Today, is the first day without Ken-nii... She bitterly uttered to herself. Her lips quivered...She felt like she didn't want to believe in this...
Getting up quickly, she ran outside to go to Kenshin's room. Maybe, maybe, it was just all a dream and she just had a long sleep...Yes, that's all...Heck! Kenshin could be in his room, right?
She opened the shouji door with a forced smile. A lonesome scene met her eyes. There was his bed covered with a white cloth. She remembered that the both of them used to sleep in there with his Ken-nii hushing her to sleep telling her that he was always there for her. But, where is he now? Kaoru gulped. She entered the room with slow steps. There was Kenshin's study table on a corner. She remembered how Kenshin would help her in her assignments. She walked nearer to it. Kaoru let her hand slide on the polished counter top. It was empty. This is where Kenshin placed a lot of their pictures together. They were gone. He had taken it with him. Kaoru breathed out.
She turned her gaze on the window. There was no sunshine. There were clouds...gloomy and disdainful. She wondered if it's going to be a lonely summer. Another sigh went out from her insides. She planned to spend the summer with her Ken-nii. To go out and have picnic...To go the the beach and swim...To spend happy and carefree moments up in the tree house...
But, he left...Her plans were now useless. She was all alone.
She heard a tap on the shouji door. Ken-nii! She quickly looked, back much to her expectations, it wasn't him. It' was Hiko.
"I thought you'd be here." Hiko said gruffly.
Kaoru kept silent. Hiko sighed inwardly. He knew this was going to be hard. Damn that nephew of his! This was one of the reasons why he contradicted Kenshin's plan in the beginning. Oh well! There's no time for arguments now.
Hiko came in. "Would you like to take your breakfast now?"
Kaoru simply smiled and nodded. She got out of the chair slowly and started to walk when Hiko bent down to face her.
He sighed. "I know you miss Kenshin and I know he has been taking care of you as long as you can remember. But..." Hiko paused and placed his large palm over Kaoru's shoulder. "w-will you please let Uncle Hiko to take care of you? I can't promise anything, but, I will do try every best in me to make sure that you'll always be happy. I promised your father that I'll take care of you...and especially, I promised to Kenshin that I will."
"Oh, Uncle Hiko!" Kaoru cried and threw herself onto the broad chest of Hiko sobbing.
At first, Hiko hesitated. But, he couldn't take it so he let his other hand caress her hair. How he pitied the girl. She was the only daughter oh his late friend. Growing up from a vague memory of her mother. Growing up with no other relative but Dr. Genzai. Growing up under the eyes and care of a brother that wasn't really her kin. An Uncle, him, that wasn't also her kin.
"Now, now, child, stop crying. Uncle Hiko is here...If your father sees you like this, he'll kill me!" Hiko tried to humor her.
After a few minutes, Kaoru's sobs subsided and her eyes and cheeks were flushed again. She remembered promising herself not to cry, but, there! She just cried again! How she hated that when it happens!
Hiko noticed it and looked at her. "Would you want some breakfast now?"
"Hai." and she smiled. For the first time that day, Kaoru spoke.
That made Hiko smirk a little. He felt like he's going to have a great time taking care of this girl. Few seconds later, the two left the room starting out a new life.
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Kaoru was up in the tree house reading some books. She decided to make herself busy to keep her mind off things for a bit.
Then, she heard Hiko's deep voice calling her name.
She looked out of the window and she saw his tall stature coming.
"Anou, Uncle Hiko, I'm up here!" she called popping her head out of the window.
"I've been looking for you little child." he returned while continuing to walk near the tree. He stopped at the stair's edge.
Kaoru readily came out of the door but still didn't come down.
"Why Uncle Hiko?" she asked.
"Can you come down for a moment? I have something to show you." Hiko said his olive green eyes sparkling.
"Oh, okay." Kaoru went down with Hiko helping her while she neared the bottom.
Hiko led her to the living room with her eyes covered with a handkerchief. Kaoru was really excited and intrigued. Hiko said it was a "little gift". Thoughts ran through her mind while her eyes were covered. A puppy? A cat? Some cakes and pastries? She always knew that his Uncle Hiko was always fond of showering them with gifts.
"Okay, you can take your blindfold off now." Hiko said from behind her.
As Kaoru untied the blindfold and fell down to her neck, her eyes slowly opened. When she could see clearly, she saw a box on top of the table covered with wrapping paper.
She looked back at Hiko who gestured her to open it.
She went near it and knelt down to open it. As she carefully removed the wrapper exposing the content, she found out it was an apple laptop computer. A blue one. She quickly looked at Hiko.
"Uncle, this is too much!" she exclaimed half smiling.
"Don't you like the color? We can have it replaced if you want." Hiko answered back looking worried.
"No, Uncle, I like it. Very much. I-I can't thank you enough!" she ran to him and hugged him.
"Well, I thought you might need it to send e-mail to Kenshin. Well, I mean, you can use my computer, but, I usually use it, so, I thought to buy you one so you can use it anytime." Hiko said stammering.
That made Kaoru smile. "Uncle, thank you so much..."
Hiko smiled to himself. God! Was he beginning to enjoy parenting?
As the two began to operate the computer, the phone rang. Hiko took it and answered.
"Hello? Oh it's you baka-deshi! Why didn't you call a little earlier?"
Baka deshi... Kaoru thought. That could only mean one thing! It was her Ken-nii!
"Yes, she's here. Would you want to talk to her?" Kaoru heard Hiko say. And moments later, the phone was in her hands.
"H-hello?" Kaoru spoke excitedly, her mouth carving out a smile.
"How are you my princess?! Ken-nii misses you already!"
"Mou Ken-nii! You don't know how I miss you too!" Kaoru answered back.
"How are you doing there? I hope you and Uncle are alright."
"We are, don't worry Ken-nii. Ano, Uncle Hiko got me a laptop! Now I can send you an e-mail...Uncle Hiko said he's going to teach me how!" Kaoru said happily.
"Oh, that's great princess. I'll be waiting for your e-mail then."
"Hai!" Kaoru giggled. Kenshin smiled at what he heard. How he missed the way Kaoru laughed!
"You take care there Ken-nii, ne, ne?" Kaoru said emotionally. She felt like she wanted to cry again. But, no, she won't!
"Hai, hai. Don't worry about me. You little princess, must enjoy your summer. While me, I'm going to take my English language lessons."
"Well, I do hope to enjoy the summer with you. But, how can I?" Kaoru asked her lips twitched.
Kenshin sighed on the line. Then he thought of something. "Tell you what, why don't you invite Misao, Okita and Soujiro to spend the summer in the dojo? You can ask Uncle to give you kids some crash lessons on kendo or something. The house has a lot of guestrooms so I'm sure Uncle will probably say yes."
"That's a good idea! Ken-nii! Thank you!" Kaoru returned joyously.
"Okay, okay. Promise Ken-nii you'll be good there, okay?"
"Okay. Take care Ken-nii! Kiwotsukete!" Kaoru cheered.
"Saa. Can you please pass the phone to Uncle?"
"Hai." At that Kaoru returned the phone to Hiko.
The Uncle and nephew had some minutes of talk and then Hiko finally said his goodbyes.
Upon placing the phone on the counter, he eyed Kaoru.
"Would you want to call your friends now? I'll have one of Dr. Genzai's maids sent here to prepare their rooms.
Kaoru's eyes widened in surprise. "Ano, Uncle, I think I have to call them first."
"Alright. Tell me if they can come so I'll have the rooms ready."
"Yes Uncle, than you very much." Kaoru retorted and Hiko walked further into the house.
At that, Kaoru quickly picked up the phone and started to dial Misao's number.
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After an hour, three cars consecutively arrived and left the dojo leaving a child with a couple of bags in their hands. Misao came in first followed by Soujiro and then Okita who was carrying aside from his bag of clothes, a bag full of chocolates, pastries and crisps.
"Duh! Okita-kun, aren't you going to have toothache with those chocolates?" Misao eyed him.
The 8-year old boy was a "fan" of chocolates, but he didn't seem to get any stouter. He still looked much of that "skinny" boy the three knew.
"Well, it's better that getting starved." he returned smiling.
Misao let her brows up. Soujiro was busy taking out something from his bag.
"Ne, what's that Sou-chan?" Misao asked curiously.
Soujiro looked at her and smiled. He returned his gaze to his bag and brought out a small steel cage with a hamster on it placing it near Misao's face.
Then, Misao remembered! This was the one that bit her when they were in Grade 1 when she tried to feed it.
"Iyaaaaa!!! Get that away from me!" Misao screamed and let her hands slap the gap between her face and the cage, hitting nothing but air.
"But, aki wants to be friends with you Misao-chan." Soujiro returned as he neared the cage to Misao. She started to run frantically while Soujiro was on her back offering aki to her.
Kaoru came out running from the hallway.
"Gomen ne, minna, I had to tell Kamatari-san to arrange your rooms." It was Okita who acknowledged her arrival. Misao quickly went to hide at Kaoru's back panting.
"Are you alright Misao-chan?" Kaoru asked concerned.
Misao panted eyeing Soujiro who had disappointment in his eyes. "Ne, Sou-chan, what's wrong?" Kaoru questioned.
"Well, aki just wanted to be friends with Misao-chan." he said.
"Oh, a hamster! Kawaii!" Kaoru exclaimed.
"Be careful Kaoru-chan! That's only skin...err...fur-deep! That little devil bit my pinkie finger a long time ago!" Misao said her eyes bulging out.
"Awww, I think he's cute. Well, anyway, let's go inside. I'm going to show you your rooms."
The three nodded and started to go inside removing their shoes outside and stepped inside the polished hallway. Misao stayed close to Kaoru making sure the hamster was from her.
"Is Himura-san here?" Okita asked munching on his newly opened chocolate.
"So, is he gonna teach us to sword fight?" Soujiro followed.
"Ano, he went to America yesterday." Kaoru said grimly breaking the news to them.
"AMERICA???" the three said in one accord.
"So, who's gonna look after us? Gosh, that's quite far..." Misao commented.
"Well, Uncle Hiko will be looking after us and he said he'll be happy to teach us some kendo lessons for the whole month." Kaoru grinned at the end of her statement.
"What are you smiling for Kao-chan?" Soujiro asked.
"Oh, nothing, I just remembered something." Inside, Kaoru felt somewhat thrilled. At last! She was going to share her "endeavor" in kendo under Hiko with not one, not two, but three people! She giggled inwardly.
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When dinner came, all of them were called by Kamatari to go to the kitchen.
The four got out of their rooms. When they arrived, Hiko was already there waiting for them. He gestured them to take their sit.
Okita's eyes glowed. On the table were some sashimi, bowls of ramen, yakisoba, oden, rice balls, breaded shrimps, sushi and wasabe.
After taking their seats and as Hiko told them to get their food, the four chimed. "Itadakimasu!"
As expected, Okita "made the most" out of the dinner. All of them were sighing with satisfaction and said their thanks.
Hiko smiled at the sight of them. "So, when would you wan to start your kendo lessons?"
The children looked at him.
Kaoru spoke out. "How about tomorrow?"
"Yeah, that would be a great start, Kao-chan!" Misao commented.
Kaoru looked at the two boys.
"No prob here." Okita said.
"Same here." Soujiro added.
"Tomorrow then. Okay, so, you may now take your shower and have a good night sleep." Hiko said calmly.
The three got out their seats and bowed at Hiko. Kaoru told them she'll catch up with them. She went near to Hiko.
"Doumo arigatou Uncle Hiko!" Kaoru said smiling.
Hiko's eyes softened at the sight. He ruffled her hair reminding Kaoru of how Kenshin used to do it. Hiko just smiled and nodded. Kaoru smiled wider and hugged him all of a sudden. Seconds later, she released him and Hiko told her that her friends might be looking for her, so she went out of the dining room bowing before she did so.
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The four were sitting at the corridor in their sleeping pajamas staring up at the night sky.
"You know, Kaoru-chan, I'm so happy you invited us here." Misao giggled.
"Yup! My mom was very happy cuz she and my dad had no problem bout leaving me. They went to Hokkaido for some vacation of their own." Okita said while gulping a piece of his egg pie.
"Well, as long as aki is happy, I'm happy too!" Soujiro followed rubbing the head of his hamster.
Misao sweat dropped. "Didn't I tell you to get that thing away from me?!"
Soujiro shot her a look. "Do you think this little and innocent hamster can gulp you alive?"
"Maybe...If it wants to!" Misao said pursing her lips.
Kaoru gave out a watery laugh. She remembered the nights when she and Kenshin used to sit in that very spot and talk about almost anything. Laughing at the every joke one might crack out.
"Ne, Kaoru-chan, can I sleep in your room? My room kinda feels "spooky". Well, it's just too big, that's all." Misao said hesitantly.
"Oh, okay, if you say so." Kaoru said nodding absently.
"Ano, Kao-chan, may I also just sleep with Okita?" Soujiro asked still rubbing the head of his pet.
"Sure, why not. You guys can do anything you want. And if you need anything, just tell me or Kamatari nee-san, ne?" Kaoru answered them.
The three nodded back.
"Well, I think we have to sleep now. We all need to prepare for tomorrow." Kaoru winked.
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The next day, the four woke up early with eagerness in their eyes. Well, for Kaoru, there was a different kind of "eagerness". After breakfast, they were each given a training gi, hakama and a bamboo sword.
Hiko told them to go in first and wait for him at the dojo. He instructed Kaoru to give them some warm up.
After a few minutes, they heard footsteps coming in. They rose from their indian sit and bowed to Hiko who was now in a gi and hakama, shinai in hand.
He gestured them to sit and then he started to speak. "Today, I will introduce to you the basics in kendo. You should master these for you'll need them as we go on with our next lessons. Outside this dojo, I am Hikosei Juuro. Inside, I am Sensei Hikosei Juuro. You will be taught accordingly and without flaw, so you must follow and obey everything I say. Is that understood?"
"Hai, sensei!" voices returned back.
"Okay, let's begin..."
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After almost three hours, the sound of mixed voices voicing out counts, subsided. The dojo's door creaked opened...And out came four panting, sweating, and sore children...Well, all of them somewhat tired...except for one...Kaoru. She was rather tired but unusually cheerful.
"Aww, it couldn't be that bad...Think of it! We only got 29 days more of practice!"
The three looked at her and gave her a sardonic look.
"Ha.Ha. Very. Funny." Misao blurted out.
"Harareta..." (? is it haraeta? tell me ne?) Okita simply said drooling.
"Now I know how a horse feels like..." Soujiro said with the equal frustration.
Kaoru just giggled and looked up at the blue sky now with the sun shining.
I guess it's going to be a nice summer after all Ken-nii! She exclaimed imagining Kenshin smiling back at her.
Tsuzuko
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So, how about that guys? How'd you like it? Ei, please drop by my site and nominate for your fave RK fics, okay? Thanks!
Well, that's it! time to wrap things up! Till next time!
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