A/N: Waaa! It's finally an update! You mean to say I found ACTUAL free time during school? Yes, I did! XD So, I hope that this chapter is liked! That and.. the results of our poll at the end of chapter nine are in:
...74 percent of the reviewers guessed Sanosuke
...5 percent of the reviewers guessed Soujirou
...5 percent of the reviewers guessed Saitou
...11 percent of the reviewers guessed Enishi
...5 percent of the reviewers guessed Yahiko
It's clear where the favorite stands now, ne? All right, with some of your explanations, you mentioned that you based your guesses on the Seisouhen (or the final OVA). Just to make this clear to you guys, I'm not basing this story at all on the Seisouhen. XD So therefore, there will be no unnecessary drama, pain, suffering, and just plain angst regarding Kenshin and his past. Ah and to answer a question, no, Kenshin doesn't have that weird disease...(I think it was leprosy..) in this story! Wai! He lives! So! This is just my random version of what happens post-Kenshin/Kaoru getting married and all that. :whew: Wow, that was a lot of information. So on with the story!


Kaoru stood behind a screen, discarding of her yukata in which she slept in the night before. She was almost positively certain that Kenshin was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. He must have been aware of the fact that last night had taken its toll on his wife, seeing how they had to get used to their rather…intimate lifestyle all over again. It'd been quite some time since the last time they had expressed feelings for one another, and their prolonged interlude was too long for both of their tastes. Hardly what either of them wanted.

Sliding into her deep, navy hakama and colorless gi, Kaoru gently adjusted her topknot and hummed a sweet tune to herself, happily looking about the room. She allowed her eyes to trail down to her futon. Its disarray state was somewhat comforting in a way. Surely Kaoru had known that she and Kenshin would exchange feelings for each other at that moment the night before. She'd known it and wished for so long that it could indeed become reality once more. And so she willed it so, Kenshin denying her nothing.

Kaoru knew it was going to be different now that he was going to be home now and always. She knew it would be a struggle between Kenji and Kenshin. It wasn't going to be easy. The mere thought of that brought Kaoru's worries to a certain level of unease. She involuntarily brought her forefinger to her lip and thought for a few moments whether or not things would and possibly could go back to normal.

Though things had only begun to change. Hardships were inevitable, as Kaoru had known that Hikojirou was going to look for her if she hadn't complied with his terms. She'd of course want to stay with Kenshin for the rest of her life, as she believed that whenever he was near, nothing could possibly go wrong. But then again, Hikojirou brought up the argument of whether or not Kenshin would be able to fend him off, what with not practicing swordsmanship for a considerable amount of time. Kaoru's heart raced. She knew not of what to tell her husband. She knew she desperately needed help. But where she could seek it was the problem.

"…Which is why I have to rely on my strength from here on out," she thought to herself, bringing her index finger instinctively up to her bottom lip for the second time.


Kenshin's eyes almost dared to bug out once he and Kaoru were alone in the training hall together. More or less, he had been shocked by the frightening, determined look on her face. It was an appearance of Kaoru's that he hadn't seen in years. "You…uh, are really serious about training?" Kenshin babbled incoherently, averting his eyes every so often. Kaoru gave him the look. "K-Kaoru, please calm yourself," he reminded nervously, his hand finding a comfortable spot behind his head as he sheepishly glanced at his wife.

"I'm all right," she replied firmly, making her way toward the main wall. She placed her hand around a bokken that hung on two supporting nails on said wall. "Now Kenshin…"

"Eh, what is it, Kaoru?"

"…You will train me… won't you? You won't go easy on me…?" Kaoru's flaring blue eyes only had brought a smile to Kenshin's lips. "Hey… why are you smiling?"

The redhead shrugged. "Nothing… just thinking of old memories."

"Is that so…?" Kaoru asked softly. "W-what memories?"

He had thought it pointless to train at that moment in time, as he was well aware of the fact that his mind had left him. It'd gone astray to bittersweet nostalgia. "…The same thing happened just now. Well… not quite the same thing, but something very similar to this," Kenshin mused in a calm tone of voice. "It was when we were going to be married. I would say… about a week before… and you had been worried that you would grow soft after we married and tried to consummate a child. So you asked me one night…to train you." He paused and motioned for his wife to come sit next to him as he told the story of long ago. She did so willingly.

"Go on," she coaxed.

"And I was worried…because I didn't want to hurt you. Though, you were quite persistent. And of course I couldn't blame you. You were getting nervous about the marriage, as was I. And you wanted to do things that you wouldn't be able to do later on in your life because you believed that you would be a preoccupied wife and mother in the future." He twiddled his thumbs hesitantly. "And well, you gave me that same look. That one," Kenshin gestured, tapping Kaoru's nose lightly with his forefinger, "and I trained you like you asked."

Kaoru smiled. "Then surely you won't mind doing it again!" He grinned.

"Well," he replied softly, "I hope I don't get distracted like last time…if you get what I mean." Kaoru's face had been tinted red moments after.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," she retorted teasingly as she proceeded to hold her bokken out in front of her.


"I can't say I thought of the situation like that," Yahiko laughed as he swigged his tea as quickly as he could. "Well…I guess…I've thought about it. But I don't want to rush into anything," he promptly added before returning to running a wet rag across a low-rise tabletop.

"I've seen you though. You're really compassionate about all of this and I was just wondering when the right time would be," Tae pondered, resting her chin against her open palm. "You know…I think she's been getting very anxious too. Though there's nothing to be worrying about and that everything will run smoothly. That's what I think."

"Thank you, Tae-san," Yahiko replied softly. "I think the time will come soon enough."

"Well that's good to hear. All right, Yahiko. Thanks for helping clean up, you can go." Yahiko bowed out of gratitude before rolling down the sleeves of the dark blue gi he wore. He'd always gone to work at the Akabeko from sunup to about noontime. Surely he hadn't minded the chore, as he had always been fond of Tsubame who worked there herself. On the contrary, he liked helping at the Akabeko, specifically because of that reason that he was able to talk with her for long periods of time.

"Oh, you're leaving already?" came a voice he knew all too well.

"I'm sorry Tsubame," Yahiko replied, turning on his heels to face her. "But I feel that I should be helping Kaoru more…now that Kenshin has come back."

"He has?" Her large eyes widened in complete shock, "s-since when?"

"Well, I haven't exactly seen him myself. Tae-san told me she saw him yesterday and that this was the first place he stopped in. She said that he was looking for Kaoru. I wonder what brought that about… I would have thought that she would have been at home, hoping and praying for his return but I guess not…" Yahiko instinctly began chewing on his lower lip. "For some reason, I don't think that everything's all right. I don't usually like being the pessimist, but I think that I should leave to go and check up on them."

"Let me go with you, Yahiko-kun," she pleaded softly.

"No, I don't want you to get in trouble with Tae-san. But when you're done, I'll come and get you. I promise." Yahiko took a weak hold of her hand and stepped toward her with his left foot to give her a small kiss on the cheek. He meant it not to lack affection, though in one's eyes, the kiss had been brief and unloving. However, Tsubame knew of the way he felt for her and openly accepted whatever sort of expressions he had to offer.

She waved goodbye, as politely as a woman was able to. And she stood smiling as she watched him leave from her sight into the bustling crowds of Tokyo.

"You love him?" Tae asked as she walked over to stand beside Tsubame as she watched him go, the gleam in her eyes still apparent.

"Y-yes…"


Yahiko slung his arms languidly over his head for a moment as he walked. He could admit freely that working at the Akabeko wasn't exactly the easiest chore. Tae found herself fortunate enough that a man had been helping them for quite a while, so she was used to putting him to work. "My shoulders are so tense from work…I definitely have to go to the doujo for a little while. To relax, and to see Kenshin after all this time," he mused. "…and that reminds me…How is Kenji dealing with all of this…? Maybe I should talk to him abou--"

The youth's train of thought had immediately been lost once he felt himself lose balance. Something had roughly brushed up against his right side and assumed that he'd bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry--"

"Hey what was that for, damn punk?" roared a drunken sounding voice.

"Excuse me?" Yahiko angrily eyed the man and was about to show him what for when he suddenly froze. Could it be? Could it really be? It was the same bandana, the same white outfit, the same everything right down to the bad symbol on his back. "Sano?" Yahiko almost dared to screech but…well, he was a man and restrained himself from shrieking like a schoolgirl whenever it was necessary to do so. "Sagara Sanosuke right?"

"Who the hell are you?" Sanosuke eyed the boy quizzically, squinting his eyes as best he could.

Yahiko gave him a blank stare.

Hello? Fellow freeloader standing right before you? You know…the one that went on all of those adventures with you fifteen years ago? …Ring any bells?

"Holy SHIT! Yahiko?" Sanosuke's eyes widened to a degree in which even he could not comprehend. "Whoa! You look so different! You actually look normal!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Huh," the ex-gangster snorted, "and it seems like you haven't changed either. Still like to pick fights, eh?"

"You're the one picking fights!"

"Okay whatever, who cares!" Sanosuke decided that it would be in their best interest to completely brush the situation off. How…mature of him? "The point is that I haven't seen you in years and this is pretty kick ass if I do say so myself… That and I'm not going off and leaving Tokyo again. 'Cause the way I see it, I didn't really like ditching you guys to go train. Truth is, I'd rather play dice and get drunk than go train."

"Typical…"

"So it's time for me to mooch off Jou-chan again!" The fact that he was quite proud of his freeloading tendencies worried Yahiko a bit too much.

"You're actually not the only one who isn't wandering off again. Kenshin's here to stay now."

"You serious? Whoa, who knocked sense into him anyway? I thought he was never gonna move on…"

"It seems as though it's a good thing that he's not leaving Kaoru anymore. You know how she's waited for him day after day, praying for his safe return." Sanosuke nodded thoughtfully. "Well, it's hurt her, and it's basically pissed Kenji off up to the point where he hates Kenshin. And it's not this ordinary hate. It goes way beyond that apparently," he muttered. "I just hope that things can go back to the way they were."

"Kenji's a replica of Kenshin, isn't he?"

Yahiko laughed. "Well, not personality-wise but he looks quite similar to him, yeah."

"Hoo boy, I gotta see this for myself," Sanosuke murmured, realizing that he hadn't seen much of Kenji at all during the last fifteen years.


"Achoo!" said redhead sneezed loudly as he hunched over to try and contain his outburst. Chizuru eyed him and cocked an eyebrow. "Ah, sorry about that Chizuru-san," Kenji sniffled quietly and brought the back of his palm up to his nose for a few moments. "Could have sworn that sneezing means someone's talking about you…" he thought suspiciously as he glanced at nothing in particular. "A-anyway… would you like me to walk you home now? You spent the night here in the doujo and I'm sure your parents would like to see you."

"Don't worry, Kenji," Kaoru called out firmly from the training hall. Both Kenji and Chizuru heard the noise of her bokken drop and a cry of defeat shortly followed suit.She hadobviously had enough for one day. There was only so much the youthful looking kenjutsu instructor could take against someone with a high caliber such as Kenshin."Kenshin and I are done training, so I'll walk Chizuru home now. I'm going out in a few minutes too."

"Are you sure, mother?" Kenji asked, raising an eyebrow. Kaoru herself looked as though she were ready to collapse at any given moment. Beads of sweat still trickled down her temples and her gi looked positively disgusting. Thus, the life of a swordsman, she thought. "You look…eh, tired?"

"I'm fine. I'm just going to go out…and…collect things for tonight's dinner." Kaoru held herself back and refrained from speaking anymore than she should have. She knew today was the day to meet with Hikojirou once more. She had hoped that she would stand more of a chance against him now that Kenshin had contributed somewhat to her basics and her intermediate fighting techniques. And she knew it would not end. No, it would never end. Not until she beat him in a match. Only then would Kenji no longer be threatened and in danger. "Come on now, Chizuru," Kaoru said politely, a small smile tugged on her lips.

Chizuru waved goodbye to Kenji as well as Kenshin and obediently followed Kaoru out of the doujo gates, leaving only Kenshin and Kenji in the room. The teen himself hadn't liked such an idea but said nothing of it and remained silent for a few moments. Secretly, he had wished he could have gone with them or just wanted to be somewhere else. But he knew that wasn't the reality.

"It's been a long time," Kenshin said solemnly.

Kenji nodded. And he almost regretted suddenly saying what he did at that time."Why don't you tell me of your past firsthand…? I've heard portions from others…and I must say, I'm mildly interested." His blue eyes bore holes into his father, wondering if he really would get straight answers from him or not. Surely the journal was going into more personal detail than he should ever have to know. However, it was time for him to question his father personally. Especially when there was time to do so.

Kenshin glared at his son for a few moments before silently approving. "…Okay, follow me, then."


A/N: So I hope you liked this chapter, it means a lot that I still have readers! I'll try to write the next chapter as fast as I can, school permitting of course. Please review! Your words of wisdom are greatly appreciated