Author-chan's notes: *Author-chan is nowhere to be seen. Instead, the director of the fic appears on the scene.*
Director- Hello everyone. Due to a, er, "great tragedy", Author-chan is currently wailing away like a screeching banshee, and will be unable to do the Author Notes. However the story will go on as planed, so don't worry.
Author-chan's voice- *crying hysterically* They cut my hair! How could they cut my hair?! Now it's all -even and short!!! And now I don't have Inuyasha's hairstyle anymore! It's so sad! *wails again*
Director- *sweat dropping like there is no tomorrow* Ahem. Don't mind that. Enjoy the chapter!
Like Father Like Son
(Chapter Four: To Be Born)
Nine months later…
"KENJI!!!!" Chizuru screamed. The redhead next to her winced as his wife crushed his hand with her steel-like grip. It had been nine months since the anniversary of Kenshin's death -nine months since Chizuru told Kenji that she was pregnant, and now the baby was due. Chizuru was in labor and she was obviously in much pain.
"Are you alright, koishii?" Kenji asked Chizuru, mentally wincing at his stupid question. Chizuru glared up at her husband.
"Does it look like I'm fine?!" the woman snarled. Kenji sweat dropped.
"Don't worry, Chizuru-san," Megumi said soothingly, "It will only be a couple of hours now before the baby comes."
"Hours?!" Chizuru wailed. Kenji felt like crying himself. If Chizuru squeezed his hand any harder, it might just shatter. Kenji looked at Megumi. The female doctor had appeared to help Chizuru through the birthing, and for that Kenji was grateful. However, one would think that Megumi would be able to do a little bit more…
"Where are the others?" Kenji asked Megumi, trying to distract himself from the pain in his hand.
"Knowing Yahiko and that rooster-head of a husband of mine, they're in the kitchen trying to find something to eat. Sasuke should be with them," Megumi answered calmly. Kenji sighed.
"I guess this means I'm going to have to go shopping for food," Kenji predicted.
"Don't you even think about leaving me, Himura Kenji, because if you do, I will hunt you down!" Chizuru snarled. Kenji laughed nervously.
"I wasn't, koishii," Kenji assured her. Chizuru glared at her husband.
"Good," she growled. Kenji sweat dropped.
'Why can't this birth be as easy as Sasuke's was?' Kenji and Chizuru thought at the same time.
***
In the kitchen with Sasuke, Sanosuke, and Yahiko
"Kuso, where is the fish?" Sano growled. Yahiko sighed and shrugged.
"Kuso! Kuso!" Sasuke laughed, repeating Sano. Yahiko sweat dropped.
"Anou, Sasuke-chan, please don't say that," Yahiko pleaded with the child, "Your tou-san won't be happy if he found out we were teaching you curse words."
"The kid can say what he wants, Yahiko-chan," Sano growled at the swordsman.
"Don't call me 'chan'!" Yahiko yelled, "I'm not a child anymore, tori-atama!"
"You sure act like it," Sano teased. Yahiko growled at the former fighter-for-hire and whapped Sano over the head with his bokken.
"ITAI!" Sano yelped, "When will you ever learn to respect your elders?"
"When my elders start acting like elders," Yahiko shot back.
"Yahiko-chan!"
"Tori-atama!"
"Gaki-chan!"
"Ahou!"
"Damn, you're starting to sound like Saito!" Sano gritted out.
"Look who's talking!" Yahiko growled with a glare.
Sasuke looked back and forth between the two adults with wide blue eyes. Smiling, he pointed at both at them and said, "Baka! Baka!"
"Nani?!" the two men yelped. Sasuke giggled again, stood up, and teetered out of the kitchen, his steps slightly unsteady since the child had only started walking a few weeks ago. Sano and Yahiko looked at each other in shock.
"Tell me we didn't just get called idiots by a one-year-old," Sano asked. Yahiko didn't say anything. He was completely dumbstruck. Sano groaned.
***
In the dojo with Sasuke
Sasuke wandered about the dojo, poking his nose into everything, as any child would. Finally satisfying his lust for exploration, the toddler plopped down on the ground for a little rest. The child knew that Kaa-san and Tou-san were doing something very important with Aunt Megumi that had to do with the baby. Sasuke couldn't wait to see the baby. Tousan had promised if he was good and patient he would be able to see the baby. So far, Sasuke had done just that. Sasuke continued to wander the dojo, until he was in one of the larger training halls. To his surprise he was not alone. Sasuke blinked at the woman and young boy he found in there.
"Nani?" Sasuke questioned innocently, blinking at the two intruders. The two people turned to him, surprise written on their features.
"Sasuke?" the woman gasped, her blue eyes wide.
"Kaasan?" Sasuke blinked. No, it wasn't Kaa-san. This woman looked a lot like Kaa-san with her pretty face, black hair, and blue eyes. But this woman's hair was much longer than Kaa-san's hair. Also, although she did not look very old, this woman still looked a little bit older than Kaa-san. But what was really odd was that this woman made him feel like he was near Tou-san for some strange reason.
"Shin-chan, why can Sasuke see us?" the woman whispered to the young boy next to her. The boy looked to be seven or eight, with a long brown braid, and wide eyes that were an odd mix of green and gold.
"I have no idea," the boy replied, his own green and gold eyes wide, "He really shouldn't be able unless…"
"Unless what?" the woman asked.
"Don't worry about it, Kaoru-san," the boy said calmly, as he walked over to Sasuke, "I just need to fix a few things with his eyes." As soon as the brown-haired boy was right in front of Sasuke, he bent down a little bit to be eye-level to Sasuke.
"Nani?" Sasuke asked innocently. The brown-haired boy smiled at the toddler.
"Don't worry, Sasuke-san," the brown-haired boy said, soothingly, "This won't hurt a bit. But we can't have you seeing what you shouldn't know about." And with that, the brown-haired boy placed a hand on Sasuke's head and uttered a brief chant. There was a bright flash of light, which caused Sasuke to close his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, Sasuke discovered that both the woman and the boy were gone from his sight. But what he did not know was that they had never left the room.
***
Back with Kenshin: place unknown
Kenshin felt himself starting to wake. It felt as if he had been sleeping for a lifetime. As he slowly opened his eyes, he discovered he still had no idea where he was. The place that he was at was darker than night, like he remembered, but for some reason, the area felt smaller and more cramped than before. A tiny stab of panic entered his heart. It felt like he was trapped in a tiny box; there was barely any room to move. Before his panic could escalate further, the former rurouni tried taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. But something was wrong. He couldn't breathe. Pure, blinding panic filled the redhead. He forgot that he was already dead, he forgot that he was one of the greatest swordsmen that ever lived, and the instinct for survival took control. He had to live! He had to protect his family: the Kenshingumi, Kaoru, Kenji… Kenshin just knew he had to get out. It felt as if he was performing the ougi of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu again, even though it had been over ten years since he was able to perform any of the special techniques of his sword style.
'Nothing is stronger than the will to live,' the words of Kenshin's shishou had told him when he mastered the ougi echoed through his mind. In less than a heartbeat Kenshin found himself free from the darkened space, and in a bright spacious room. And, for the first time since he had died, breathing again. Then he heard the crying.
***
Meanwhile with Kenji, Chizuru, and Megumi
"Push, Chizuru-san!" Megumi cried, "Just a little bit more!"
"Dear kami-sama!" Chizuru screamed as she pushed. Giving birth was horrible! Next to her, Kenji gently squeezed her hand to reassure her. Chizuru fell back down, breathing heavily.
"Just one more push, Chizuru-san," Megumi told the laboring woman, "It will be over soon."
"It better," Chizuru hissed as she tried pushing again. Chizuru gave off one last cry of pain and then the ordeal was finally over.
The thin cries of Kenji and Chizuru's second child echoed throughout the room. Chizuru smiled tiredly at her husband who smiled back, love radiating from his blue eyes. Megumi gently washed the child, wrapped it up in a blanket, and then handed the tiny bundle to his mother. The baby was still wailing a bit as Chizuru took her newborn child.
"Congratulations," Megumi said, with a smile, "It's a boy."
"A boy," Chizuru murmured tiredly, as she suddenly fainted from exhaustion. Kenji smiled proudly down at his wife, then plucked the still crying child from her arms. Gently, Kenji rubbed the baby's back until he calmed down and stopped crying. Kenji smiled to himself. He was quite proud of his ability to take care of children, although he knew both Yahiko and Sanosuke would laugh themselves silly if they ever found out about this womanly trait. The baby, now calm, looked up at Kenji. The young red-haired swordsman felt himself go pale and tried not to gasp as he looked into a pair of eyes of an unnerving and familiar shade.
***
Meanwhile with Kenshin
Kenshin heard the cries of a newborn baby. His first thought was where was that cry was coming from. His second thought was where in the world was he now! The room where he was now was full of light, a stark contrast to the darkened space he was in earlier. The unexpected light was making his eyes hurt, so he had quickly closed them. But he could still feel what was going around him using his ki sensing abilities. He was able to sense the ki of a man and two women, one of the women obviously being the mother. But for some strange reason, he couldn't sense the ki signature of the baby. Also the energies of the people in the room were familiar to him, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out who they were. The bright lights and the baby's thin wailing were distracting him, rendering him unable to think strait.
In a few moments, Kenshin felt water being poured over him, very cold water to be exact. Kenshin heard the baby's cries become slightly louder as the water splashed over him, as if in protest of the cold liquid. Then he felt a blanket wrap around him and the sensation of being carried. It was at that moment that realization hit him like a brick. The reason why he couldn't sense the baby's ki energy was be cause he was the baby. Confusion entered the ex-hitokiri's mind. How had this happened? And why was he crying? And how can he stop crying? To his horror, Kenshin discovered he had no idea how to stop crying.
Meanwhile, Kenshin dimly felt himself get placed into the arms of his new mother. She and the other woman (probably the midwife) exchanged a few words, but Kenshin's own cries in his ears made their brief conversation sound garbled. Then, after the two women talked, Kenshin felt himself get picked up by the man in the room. The man gently rubbed Kenshin's back. In his mind, Kenshin gave off a small sigh of relief as he felt his baby body finally comply with his wishes and stopped crying. And he had that man to thank for that. The former rurouni looked up at the man, and nearly fainted in shock as he recognized the pale face with the wide blue eyes and long red hair.
"Is there something wrong, Kenji-san?" a familiar voice to Kenshin's right asked the man holding him. Kenji simply handed the baby to the woman, and Kenshin found himself staring into the face of an old friend, Megumi.
"K-Ken-san?" Megumi gasped, as she looked at the baby in her arms, "Kenji-san, this baby looks like your father!"
"Hai," Kenji murmured, his blue eyes dark with broken memories. Kenshin felt a stab of guilt pierce through him, and for once, it wasn't caused by his past as Battousai.
Author-chan's notes: And so ends chapter four. *sane side takes over* What was I thinking?! I turned Kenshin into a baby! Kenji's baby to be exact! Kuso, Kenshin is his own grandfather! What have I done?! *psycho side takes over* Heheh, this is going to be fun, yes indeed. *grins evilly* Congratulations to everyone who guessed correctly to what I did to Kenshin. *evil grin turns even more psychotic* And yes everyone, I am that insane. Muhahahahahahaha!!! *People in white lab coats appear, stuff A-chan into a straightjacket, and wheel her away*
By the way, much thanks to Maeve Riannon who clarified to A-chan that Saito died in his seventies. *whistles* Darn, he lived a long life…
Please R+R!!!!