Author-chan's notes: I'm tired, I hate homework, and I discovered making a kusudama (a type of ornamental origami paper ball) is hard! @_@ Oro! You have to be very careful when making them, 'cause if you aren't the pieces that you have assembled can fall apart on you. (I realized why they call it a kusudama, because it makes you screech "Kuso!" when you're making it! Heheheh. Bad joke.) *sighs* Yare, yare. I'm getting the hang of it, slowly but surely, and it's starting to look very nice. Okay, moving on…
Much thanks to JML who pointed out to this lowly fanfic writer that I had been spelling Shinigami's name incorrectly. Silly me. Apparently there is an "I" in between the "Shin" and the "gami". This mistake shall be corrected from this chapter onwards.
Also, further thanks to JML and Maria Cline for giving me more info on Saito. *blushes* You see, although this unworthy one is a huge fan of Kenshin-san, I also have great respect for a certain Wolf of Mibu. Face it, the instant Saito said "Aku Soku Zan" I was practically sold! Sure he isn't the cutest anime character on the block, but his personality, his attitude, and his idea of justice is what ranks him up among my top ten favorites (that plus he was actually a real historical person). He's like the yin to Kenshin's yang, the dark side of the Rurouni Kenshin series, if you will (along with Battousai of course). Anyway, getting back on track, you may end up seeing Saito later on in this fic, but not for a long time, if at all. I want to make sure he's good and dead first…*pauses to think* How morbid of me. I sound like I'm tenderizing meat or something. *gets hungry look* Heheheh, roast Saito with a side of mash potatoes…*blinks* Oh, my gosh, I am psycho!!! I need to be locked away in a padded room! As far away from Shishio as possible though. He frightens me…
Anyway, enough with my senseless babbling. On with the fic!
Key:
"talking"
'thoughts that can only be heard by thinker, a.k.a. private thoughts'
/thoughts that can be heard by thinker and spirits, a.k.a. telepathy/
*** indicates scene/time change
Like Father Like Son
(Chapter Five: To Live Again)
Back with Kenshin
It had been only a couple of hours since Kenshin had been reborn and the poor ex-rurouni was confused. Here he was stuck in the body of a newborn baby, or to be more precise, the body of Kenji's newborn son. The poor former wanderer felt like turning into an oroing heap. He was his own grandson! How confusing is that! And to make matters worse, Kenshin had no idea how to control his new body. Despite the commands he gave his infant body, it just didn't seem to listen. After a while, the little redhead gave up in trying to make himself move to his will. He sighed (mentally, of course, since his new form didn't seem to know how to sigh like he wanted to), and decided to lay back and take a little nap. Being a child again seemed to have given him a baby's need for sleep.
"KONNICHI WA, KENSHIN-SAN!!!" a very loud voice yelled near him. Kenshin's violet eyes snapped open wide, and he heard himself give off a little shriek. Leaning over him was a pair of familiar green and gold eyes and wide grin.
/Shinigami-dono?!/ Kenshin thought in shock, staring at the god of death. Shinigami was now much bigger than Kenshin remembered him, probably because he himself was much smaller than before. Also, Kenshin noticed that Shinigami's outfit had changed a bit. His hakama were gray this time, and his forest green gi had a gray collar and no golden embroidery. (AN: I drew a picture of Shinigami in this outfit. He actually looks pretty good.) The child-like kami grinned down at the ghost turned baby.
"Hai!" Shinigami answered, as if he was able to hear Kenshin's thoughts, "I'm glad to see everything is going as planned, Kenshin-san."
/Oro?/ Kenshin thought, /What do you mean by that, de gozaru ka? And do you think it is wise to be talking to sessha like this? Kenji, Sano, Yahiko, Sasuke, and Megumi-dono are somewhere in the dojo and Chizuru-dono is right here sleeping. They might hear you, de gozaru./
"Don't worry about that Kenshin-san," the kami said, waving the redhead's worries aside, "Nobody will see or hear me, unless I want them to. Plus, just in case that body of yours decides to wail, I've got this room shielded, so no one in the dojo will hear."
/What about Chizuru-dono?/ Kenshin asked, quickly picking up that he could communicate to the green-eyed being through thought, /She's right here./ And indeed, Chizuru was lying right next to Kenshin, fast asleep.
"Don't worry about that," Shinigami assured him, "Chizuru-san is in a deep sleep. She won't wake up anytime soon."
/Sessha hopes you are right,/ Kenshin mentally sighed.
"Don't worry, anata, Shin-chan knows what he's talking about," a new voice announced. Kaoru's ghostly form appeared right behind Shinigami to smile at her husband.
/Kaoru-koishii,/ Kenshin murmured, /Sessha was worried about you, de gozaru yo./
"Same here, anata," Kaoru said, kneeling down, so that she was closer to him, "How are you feeling?"
/Confused,/ the rurouni admitted, /What happened, de gozaru ka?/
"Maybe I should be the one to clarify about that," Shinigami began, blushing a bit, "Are you familiar with the concept of reincarnation, Kenshin-san?"
/Aa,/ Kenshin answered.
"Good," Shinigami said with a grin, "Well you see what happened to you was that you were reincarnated. It's as simple as that, Kenshin-san."
/Anou, Shinigami-dono,/ Kenshin began, his tiny body fidgeting a bit, /There has to be more than that to it, de gozaru. Isn't it that when one is reincarnated, one's memories of his or her past life erased? And doesn't it take a couple of decades if not centuries for a person to be reborn? All of sessha's memories are intact, and I have only been dead for two years, de gozaru./
"Good point, Kenshin-san," Shinigami admitted, "You're a special case. See, what happened is that your normal cycle of reincarnation was broken, making you what we call a 'forced reincarnation'. You were reincarnated before you were supposed to, causing you to retain all your old memories."
/Oh,/ Kenshin thought, blinking, /Is there anything else to this, Shinigami-dono? And why sessha was reincarnated as Kenji's son?/
"I was just getting to that," Shinigami grumbled, slightly irritated at being interrupted, "You wanted to fix what happened between you and your son, right Kenshin-san? Well, as a ghost, you had limited options in achieving you goal. You would have to either possess someone to talk to him or Kenji-san would have to be some sort of spirit medium. Kenji- san is no spirit medium, and I know you wouldn't want to intrude into someone's mind, Kenshin-san."
"What is a spirit medium?" Kaoru asked, interrupting the kami.
"A spirit medium is a living human being who can see ghosts," Shinigami explained, "The strongest mediums can see demons and gods without much trouble or training."
"Wait a second!" Kaoru exclaimed, "Yesterday, Sasuke was able to see us, until you chanted that spell, Shin-chan."
"Hai," Shinigami nodded, "Sasuke is a spirit medium, and a strong one. Actually, he's too strong. Normal spirit mediums have their powers kick in when they become teenagers, and even then they have to be trained to use them. I just adjusted his powers a little bit. Sasuke won't be seeing ghosts until he's older and trained. If I didn't, any random spirit or demon could posses Sasuke and take advantage of his powers and body. Spirit medians are quite fascinating. Many of them can do all sorts of things besides just see ghosts. They can expel ghosts and send them to the Afterlife, speed up the growth of plants, use healing spells, see the future, and –"
/Anou, Shinigami-dono?/ Kenshin thought, interrupting the miniature kami, /Not to be rude, but you are getting off topic, de gozaru./
"Oh, sorry," Shinigami said, blushing, "Yes, um, anyway, since possession and spirit mediums won't work in your case, Kenshin-san, we had you reincarnated. However, there is a catch to your rebirth. Several catches actually."
/What kind of catches?/ Kenshin asked. Shinigami placed a hand behind his head and grinned apologetically.
"Look, Kenshin-san," Shinigami began hurriedly, a faint blush touching his cheeks, "I don't normally do this sort of thing, bringing people back from the dead and all. In fact, I didn't read the instructions all the way through until after I put you into your new body, so actually I didn't find out about all the drawbacks until later, and, uh, yeah…Don't be mad at me!"
"Just answer Shinta's question," Kaoru snapped impatiently.
"Ah, yes, the catches," Shinigami began, looking nervous, "One is obviously that you're going to have to grow up all over again. You're going to have to age naturally and all that."
/Sessha can live with that,/ Kenshin thought, not worried too much.
"Catch number two," Shinigami continued, "You're, um –how do I put this –dead, sort of."
"What do you mean, 'sort of'?" Kaoru asked, "I thought you said Shinta was reincarnated. That would make him alive, right?"
"Yes, and no," Shinigami said with a sigh, "Through the process of reincarnation, Kenshin-san was given a living body, but since his rebirth was forced, his soul is technically still dead. If someone were to read his ki energy right now, they would either find out he doesn't have one, or it feels strange. No one in the house, not Chizuru, Sasuke, Yahiko, or Sanosuke, can sense ki, and I'm positive that Hiko-san never got far enough into Kenji-san's training to teach him how to sense ki. So you shouldn't worry about your family getting freaked out by your odd ki energy, Kenshin-san."
"Will not having a ki signature affect Shinta in any way?" Kaoru asked.
"Not really," Shinigami answered, "Kenshin-san will be able to function normally, and he'll still be able to sense ki and use his other ki techniques as usual, but if he was to run into anyone who could sense ki, that person might start asking some uncomfortable questions. They might even try to fight Kenshin-san. It's not every day that you run into a red-haired baby zombie after all."
/Oro!/ Kenshin thought out indignantly, /Sessha is not a zombie!/
"Technically, you sort of are, Kenshin-san," Shinigami coughed, "You're a special type of zombie. Most zombies have a dead soul and a dead body, but you have a dead soul and a living body. Lucky you. Since you're in this half-dead state, you're able to see ghosts as if you were still a ghost. If you were fully alive you wouldn't be able to see Kaoru-san or me because you aren't a trained spirit medium. Actually, you're better off than a spirit medium, Kenshin-san. There are certain spells that can cause a spirit medium's powers to go out of control, but those spells won't work on you. And being a half-zombie type thing, you won't die easily. Only holy or demonic weapons or certain kinds of spells will kill you, besides a natural death from old age. However, that doesn't mean you can't get hurt. If someone was to stab you through the heart right now, you won't die, but you'll be in a hell of a lot of pain. But I don't think you have to worry about that. I doubt you'll get in that sort of situation anytime soon."
"A thought just struck me, Shin-chan," Kaoru murmured, "How on earth did you do this? I mean, how did you put Shinta into our grandson's body? And what happened to the soul of the original baby?"
"There was no original baby," Shinigami explained, "It's actually a fascinating process. I had to loop around Kenshin-san's life force in a particular manner –I won't go into great detail into how I did it, because it's way too complicated –but the end result was that Kenshin-san is actually living in a near replica of his old body. The only difference between his body now and the one he had before is the fact that this one is harder to destroy and of course the fact that it's younger and untrained. So in reality, Kenshin-san isn't his own grandfather or Kenji-san's son, but rather his own clone. He is himself in every aspect. I just did a neat little trick that caused it so that Kenshin-san's new body would end up growing inside Chizuru-san. One could argue that Kenshin-san is Kenji-san's son spiritually, but that's also a complicated subject to discuss. And besides, I still needed part of Kenji-san to create Kenshin-san's new body. I can't just start from scratch, you know! And since Kenshin-san's original body was already cremated, I just used the part of Kenji-san that was Kenshin-san. So you can argue that Kenshin-san is Kenji-san's son."
"So let me get this strait," Kaoru began slowly, "Chizuru-chan and Kenji are not Shinta's parents."
"They are and they are not," Shinigami said mysteriously, "It's all how you look at it."
/Oro!/ Kenshin mentally squeaked, his eyes already having swirls in them, /This is all very confusing, de gozaru! Let's just leave it that sessha was reincarnated as my own grandson and leave it at that!/
"If that's what you want, Kenshin-san," Shinigami shrugged.
"Are there any more catches?" Kaoru asked, "The way you were acting earlier, I thought there would be worse things in store for my anata. We can deal with this sort of stuff." Shinigami paled at her words and began to shake. Here comes the bad news…
"There is another catch," Shinigami stated, taking a deep breath to calm himself, "You can't let anyone know who you are exactly."
/Oro?/ Kenshin blinked, confused. Kaoru sent Shinigami a bewildered look.
"It's all very simple!" Shinigami said in a rush, his voice starting to take on a hysterical note to it, "Kenshin-san can't let anyone know who he is, and he can't give any hints to his identity! If Kenshin-san even tried hinting to others who he is, a spell would automatically stop him. That means no saying 'de gozaru' or 'sessha' or 'dono' or even 'oro'! Not to mention you won't be able to use any of the special techniques of Hiten Mitsurugi in front of anyone who would recognize it! They're way too obvious, and you might as well wear a sign saying, 'Hi! I am Himura Kenshin, back from the dead'! Don't worry Kenshin-san, all your thoughts and actions will be your own. It's just that certain phrases and actions are unavailable to you."
"NANI?!" Kaoru growled, steam practically coming out from her ears, "How is my anata going to fix things with our son, if he can't tell Kenji who he is?!"
"Well," Shinigami said, backing away from the angry ghost, "if a person was to correctly identify Kenshin-san, then the spell on Kenshin-san would be lifted, and he'll be able to talk to that person normally. But only with that person. If someone else were to come into hearing distance, the spell will instantly come back into effect."
"THAT HARDLY HELPS!!!!" Kaoru snarled, looming over the pint-sized kami.
"Gomen!!!" Shinigami cried out, cringing at Kaoru's anger, "Kenji-san is a smart boy, maybe he'll figure it out!"
"IN WHAT?!" Kaoru snarled, "TWENTY, THIRTY YEARS?! MAYBE EVEN NEVER!!!"
/Maa maa, Kaoru-dono!/ Kenshin thought hastily to his wife, /Please, calm down!/ Kenshin felt his body begin to fidget again, and he started to feel uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.
"Get my anata out of that body this instant!" Kaoru yelled, ignoring Kenshin for the moment, "We'll try something else!"
"I can't!" Shinigami yelped, "There's no counter-spell! The only way to get Kenshin-san out of that body is to kill him! And because of his half dead state, it will very hard to do so!"
/Anou…/ Kenshin thought to the others, trying to get their attention. He didn't like this feeling, this familiar felling…
"I can't believe this is happening!" Kaoru wailed, crying a bit, "My husband is stuck in the body of a baby, I'm a ghost, and my son has no idea what's going on and never will be able to! What are we going to do?!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!!" Shinigami apologized over and over.
/Kaoru-koishii?!/ Kenshin thought urgently at his wife, /Sessha is…There is something…/ Suddenly, the poor rurouni couldn't hold it anymore. He opened his mouth against his will and began to bawl.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" a thin baby shriek echoed through the room.
"Anata?!" Kaoru cried out, surprised at her husband's reaction.
"Oh dear," Shinigami murmured as Kenshin cried against his will, "It seems Kenshin-san's body wants something."
/Oro!/ Kenshin squeaked mentally, as his body continued to wail, /How does sessha stop this thing, de gozaru ka?!/
"Anou, you can't stop it," Shinigami explained, "You won't have much control over your new body until you learn how to walk and talk properly. Which means you have about a year or two until you're able to control yourself fully. That's another one of the catches."
"Nani?!" Kaoru yelped, "Why didn't you tell us that sooner?!"
"Heheh, it slipped my mind?" Shinigami laughed nervously, while he sweat dropped like there was no tomorrow. Kaoru simply glared at him and Kenshin continued to howl.
"Uh…" a voice next to Kenshin moaned. Both Shinigami and Kaoru whipped their heads around to stare at Chizuru. The young woman fluttered open her blue eyes, smiled weakly, and looked in their direction.
"Hello," Chizuru murmured, her voice still a bit sleepy, "Who are you?"
***
Meanwhile with Yahiko, Sano, and Sasuke
"Jeez, kid, you sure are a little troublemaker, just like your tou-san," Yahiko grumbled as he picked up Sasuke. Yahiko and Sano had walked into the main dojo to find Sasuke sitting in a pile of bokkens. Yahiko knew that the wooden swords were supposed to be on the walls or on the racks that were lined up in the room. However, it seemed that Sasuke decided to play with them. In the end the all the training equipment in the room was on the floor in a big mess. Yahiko sighed, and looked the child over.
"Sasuke," Yahiko began in a serious tone, "If you don't behave, you won't get to see the new baby." Sasuke frowned a bit. He really wanted to see the baby…
"Oi, Yahiko-chan," Sano growled, walking over, "Don't tell the kid that. Don't worry, Sasuke-chan, you'll be able to see your otouto-chan in a bit. We just have to wait until your tou-san gives the thumbs up." Sasuke grinned at the taller man, instantly cheering up. Yahiko muttered something about roosters and kids under his breath.
The spiky-haired swordsman continued to grumble as he handed Sasuke over to Sano. The ex-gangster grinned at the child, and placed Sasuke up on his shoulders. Almost instantly, Sasuke grabbed fistfuls of Sano's trademark hair.
"Sano, Sano!" Sasuke chirped. Sanosuke simply grinned and tolerated the child. Yahiko looked the scene over with a critical eye.
"Oi, tori-atama," Yahiko began, "Why is it that when I was a kid you would always get mad at me for biting on your head, but when Sasuke pulls on your hair, you don't do a thing?"
"I guess I mellowed out with age," Sano replied with a shrug. Sasuke giggled at the movement.
"Really?" Yahiko asked, blinking at his friend.
"Really," Sanosuke confirmed. Yahiko looked thoughtful for a moment, then, without warning, reached up and tugged at a spiky lock of Sano's rooster hair –hard.
"ITAI!!!" Sano yelped, glaring down at the swordsman while a vein popped out from his forehead, "What was that for, Yahiko-chan?!"
"Just making sure that you really didn't mellow out," Yahiko replied, "It seems that you're the same old rooster-head, as usual."
"What does that mean?!" Sano growled, glaring at Yahiko. Sasuke simply looked on at the scene unfolding in front of him.
"It means you haven't changed," Yahiko answered, looking at Sano like he was an idiot, "So answer the question truthfully. Why did you get irritated with me, but not with Sasuke?"
"'Cause Sasuke is more civilized that a certain spiky-haired punk," Sano growled.
"That's true," Yahiko nodded, "Sasuke is a hundred times more civilized than you."
"NANI?!" Sano yelled, he eye twitching dangerously. Meanwhile Sasuke gave Sano's hair a gentle little tug.
"Ride!" the toddler demanded. Yahiko stifled a laugh as he watched Sano comply with the child's wishes without complaint or hesitation. Sasuke had a talent for wrapping everyone around his little finger. Laughing to himself, the swordsman sat back and watched the rooster become a horse.
'Kenshin, Kaoru, if you could see this now…' Yahiko thought wistfully. Behind him, a shadowy figure with red hair, watched the same scene, and thought the same thing.
"Excuse me?" the shadow coughed, to get the trio's attention. All three, Sanosuke, Sasuke, and Yahiko turned to face Kenji, as the red-haired swordsman materialized out from the shadows.
"Kuso!" Sano swore, placing a hand over his chest, "You almost gave me a heart-attack sneaking up on us like that, Kenji!"
"Kuso, kuso!" Sasuke giggled, repeating his Uncle Sano. Kenji raised an eyebrow, and Yahiko buried his face in his hands.
"I swear, Kenji, I had nothing to do with teaching him how to curse," Yahiko groaned.
"Shi'atta, Shi'atta!" Sasuke squeaked, still smiling.
"Did my son just say 'Shimatta'?" Kenji asked, his eyebrow rising even higher.
"Now I know I didn't teach him that!" Sano yelped, looking at Yahiko, Yahiko looked away.
"Shut up, tori-atama," Yahiko growled, "I was chopping vegetables and nearly took off my finger. What would you say?"
"Kuso," Sano replied calmly. Kenji rubbed his temples.
"You two are a bad influence," Kenji sighed, reaching up, and taking his son off Sano's shoulders, "We're going to visit Chizuru-chan and the baby. You two are staying here. I don't want you troublemakers corrupting my other son as well with your language."
"NANI?!" Yahiko and Sano yelped in protest at the younger man.
"Baka, baka," Sasuke grinned, looking at his "uncles".
"You know, I've been wondering who taught him that," Yahiko mused thoughtfully. Kenji had already turned away and was halfway out the room with Sasuke in his arms when he heard Yahiko.
"None of your business, baka," the red-haired young man grumbled.
***
Back with Kenshin, Kaoru, Shinigami, and Chizuru
"KUSO!!!" Shinigami cursed loudly as Chizuru woke up.
"Shin-chan!" Kaoru gasped in mock horror, "There's a baby in the room! Don't use that sort of language."
"Shimatta!" Shinigami swore, ignoring Kaoru as he continued to stare at Chizuru.
/Oro!/ Kenshin thought/squeaked as his body cried. In the meantime, Chizuru sat up, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and continued to smile at the stranger in her room.
"Hello, little one," Chizuru cooed as she picked up the tiny wailing Kenshin, "Who are you? Are you hungry?" She didn't even spare a glance at Kaoru and Shinigami as she gathered her baby in her arms. Shinigami and Kaoru looked at her in disbelief.
"S-she was only talking to Kenshin-san this whole time?!" Shinigami gaped, his eyes just about ready to pop out of their sockets and become pretty green and gold marbles.
"So she can't see us?" Kaoru asked, making sure.
"Appears so, Kaoru-san," Shinigami answered, a note of relief in his voice.
/Anou, Kaoru-koishii?/ Kenshin thought to his wife, as Chizuru cradled him, /What is Chizuru-dono doing, de gozaru ka? Shouldn't she put sessha down before changing out of her yukata?/ Kaoru looked the situation over and nearly laughed out loud. If her guess was right, her poor rurouni husband was going to turn into a blushing oroing heap very soon…
"She's not changing, anata," Kaoru explained, a hint of laughter coloring her voice, "She's going to feed you."
/Oro?/ Kenshin thought in confusion, /With what, Kaoru-dono?/ Kaoru snickered. Was it really that long since Kenji was a baby?
"Oh my!" Shinigami blinked, "Kenji-san is a very lucky man! Look at the size of Chizuru-san's breasts!"
/Oro?!/ Kenshin mentally squeaked again, his crying letting up for the briefest of seconds for him to catch sight of his daughter-in-law with half of her yukata hanging off her shoulder, exposing a good part of her torso. If he had any control over his body he would have blushed until his face was as red as his hair. Kaoru laughed at his reaction.
"She's going to breast-feed you, anata," Kaoru said through her giggles, "Remember? I did the exact same thing with Kenji."
/Chizuru-dono is going to stick that in sessha's mouth, de gozaru yo!/ Kenshin thought with a mental yelp.
"Anata, how else are you going to eat?" Kaoru asked, "It's not like you can pick up a pair of chopsticks anymore."
/Oro,/ Kenshin mentally sighed, as Chizuru began to feed him, /This is embarrassing, de gozaru yo!/
"We all understand you would rather have your face pressed up against Kaoru-san's breasts, Kenshin-san, but please make the best out of it. I'm sure once you're back in the Spirit World, Kaoru-san will let you press your face up against her breasts all you want and then some!" Shinigami said cheerfully.
"NANI?!" a very red Kaoru yelled as she whapped the tiny kami over the head. Yep, all her previous anger towards the tiny kami was coming back with a vengeance.
/Oro,/ Kenshin mentally sighed again as his mouth sucked away on Chizuru's milk.
"So, how does it taste, Kenshin-san?" Shinigami asked, wisely bounding away from Kaoru's fists this time.
/Sessha feels that your question is a very improper, Shinigami-dono,/ Kenshin thought back to the green-eyed being stiffly.
"So?" Shinigami asked, blinking innocently.
"I'm curious as well, anata," Kaoru said, her anger towards Shinigami temporarily forgotten for the moment, "What does breast-milk taste like?"
/Kaoru-koishii!/ Kenshin yelped in his mind. Kaoru chuckled.
"You're so cute when you're surprised," Kaoru mused, "You're cute as a baby, you're cute as an adult. Mou, anata! You're always so cute!"
/Kaoru-koishii,/ Kenshin began, his mind-voice becoming slightly husky, /Sessha believes you are cuter though./ Kaoru, who had full control over herself unlike Kenshin, found that her ghostly face had begun to flush a deep red. Sighing and kneeling down close to Chizuru, Kaoru began stroking Kenshin's downy baby hair. She, being a ghost and unable to affect the living world, did not dislodge a single strand of the flame colored fuzz, but Kenshin was still able to sense her gentle cool presence touching his scalp.
"How do you do that Shinta?" Kaoru asked in a whisper, "How do you make me blush like a maiden even after all these years? How can you make me feel so loved?"
/The same way you do it to me,/ Kenshin answered, dropping his usual polite speech for the moment, /I love you, with all my heart, koishii./
"I love you too, anata," Kaoru murmured, bending her head down to kiss his head with her translucent lips, "I'll be here with you, at your side, until this is finished. Let me share part of your burden, Shinta."
/Kaoru-dono…/ Kenshin began, his words sounding slightly slurred. Meanwhile, Chizuru pulled him away from her breast, placed him over her shoulder, and patted his back until he burped. Kaoru was about to tell him something else, but she discovered that her husband had fallen asleep on their daughter-in-law's shoulder. Kaoru caressed her husband's cheek one last time, before standing up.
"Take care of him, Chizuru-chan," Kaoru whispered to her son's wife kindly before she glided through the door. If the ghost had stayed in the room a few seconds more, she would have noticed the shocked expression on Chizuru's face as the living woman stared at the spot that the ghost had occupied just moments before.
***
Back with Kaoru
The ghost of the former kendo instructor sighed as she left the room containing her husband and daughter-in-law and entered into the corridors of her home. Without realizing it, tears were streaking down her face like perfect crystals. Life and death was unfair, especially to her husband. And although he would not cry for himself, his wife would cry for him.
"Oh Shinta," Kaoru whispered, closing her eyes, "How are you going make amends with Kenji now? It already seemed hard enough when you were just a man stuck in a baby's body, but now? What now, anata? You can't tell him who you are, what sort of sacrifice you made for him…Why is fate so cruel to you?! You sacrificed everything for others: your youth, your life, your soul, even your sanity! Why can't fate give you a chance?" Kaoru slid down against the wall until she was huddled up, burying her tear-stained face into the kimono fabric that covered her knees. It was then that a hand touched her shoulder gently.
"Kaoru-san?" a familiar apologetic voice murmured.
"Go away," Kaoru choked out to Shinigami. The young-looking god of death continued to shake her shoulder.
"Kaoru-san," Shinigami called again, "Please, get up. We need to talk."
"We have nothing to talk about," Kaoru replied in a deadpan voice. Shinigami winced at her tone. Although he did not know the blue-eyed woman as long as he had known others, he still cared for her. For those nine months that they had waited for Kenshin's rebirth they had gotten to know each other and even became…friends. And friendship, especially for this tiny kami, was an extremely valuable thing, more cherished than gold.
Shinigami knew how much Kaoru was hurting, and could easily guess at Kenshin's feelings. Despite the fact the Kenshin was very apt at hiding his feelings, Shinigami knew that the former assassin hated the current situation even more than Kaoru did. After all, the god of death had known the former hitokiri for an incredibly long time. Shinigami sighed sadly. The couple's anger towards the current events was nothing compared to Shinigami's anger. He was angry with himself for causing so much pain to these people: the woman who had become his friend and the man he owed so much to…
"Kaoru-san," Shinigami tried again, "Please, listen! I have a plan to make this all work out, but you have to get up and listen!"
"Why should I?" Kaoru hissed, turning her tear-filled eyes to the kami.
"For Kenshin-san," the god of death answered.
"Your last plan landed Shinta in an worse position," Kaoru accused, "Don't you understand what he wants? He wants to make things right with our son! He wants to get to know Kenji, and have Kenji get to know him, as father and son! He wants Kenji to know he didn't forget about him, that he still loves his son, that he always has loved his son."
"Kaoru-san," Shinigami sighed softly, "Has it ever occurred to you that Kenshin-san can still do these things?"
"Nani?" Kaoru whispered, her eyes starting to take on a glimmer of hope.
"Just because Kenshin-san can no longer tell anyone who he is, it doesn't mean he's changed on the inside," Shinigami began, "He and Kenji can still get to know and love and understand each other. Whether or not his name is 'Himura Kenshin' Kenshin-san is still Kenshin-san. You should know that, Kaoru-san. Kenshin-san has gone through several different names over his existence. Even you and I call the same man two different names. He can still correct his past with Kenji-san even without telling his son who he is. His heart, his mind is his, and he can still show that to Kenji-san."
"I-I never thought of it that way," Kaoru murmured, "So does that mean this 'forced reincarnation' plan can still work?"
"Of course!" Shinigami said with a small smile, "Trust in Kenshin-san."
"I always trust in my anata," Kaoru replied, a small smile also touching her lips.
"Come on then!" Shinigami cried, grabbing Kaoru's hand and pulling her up to a standing position, "Let's go!"
"Where are we going?" Kaoru asked, as Shinigami dragged her away.
"Where do you think, Kaoru-san?" Shinigami asked, looking over his shoulder at her, "Back to where I was when you and Kenshin-san decided to ignore me and have a romantic moment with each other."
"We didn't give you that much time to do anything," Kaoru pointed out.
"Yes, you did," Shinigami grinned, "Anyway, we're going to go look up some loopholes for Kenshin-san. I mean, it's such a shame that he's unable to use his favorite catch phrases. Let's see if we can find a way for him to be able to use some of them, especially the 'oro'. And let's see if we can find a way to allow him to use Hiten Mitsurugi too. It'll be a shame if Kenshin-san is deprived of his sword techniques especially now that since he's in a new body that happens to be very hard to break. Now there isn't that whole downside of the Mitsurugi techniques breaking down his body as he gets older. Isn't that great? We can probably research all this stuff in the Spirit World's library!"
Kaoru decided not to talk as Shinigami rambled on, dragging her about with an ease that almost frightened her. In some distant corner of her mind, Kaoru realized how strong the pint-sized kami was, or perhaps it was just that she was much too light. Someone his size should not have been able to drag about a full-grown woman as if she was a feather. Kaoru marveled again at the fact that Shinigami, just like Kenshin, was much more than he appeared to be.
Author-chan's notes: And here is the end of chapter 5. Everything is going well, despite the fact that I revised and fixed many things in this chapter until I was somewhat satisfied. Hopefully, this chapter gives the answers to most of the questions that were asked by the reviews. However, if there are still some unanswered questions, the reason why is that those questions will be answered in upcoming chapters, namely the next one. This chapter was mostly explanation and some nice KK fluff, not much action yet, but that's okay. You can expect some action in later chapters though…(Oro! Spoiler! ^_^)
AGAIN! BIG THANKS TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!!!! ^_^
If anyone is complaining on how much I limited Kenshin's abilities, don't worry! All those spells on Ken-chan are bound to have some loop holes. (Remember, Kaoru and Shinigami are going to look for those loop holes. Face it, I just can't deprive Kenshin of the 'oro'! I use it myself all the time in everyday conversation. That tiny word is so addictive! Once you start, you can't stop!) Besides, spells can be broken, and Kenshin is smart. He can work around the spells limiting his speech patterns and fighting abilities. I just didn't want Kenji to figure everything out too soon. It would spoil the story! Besides, what's the fun of having Kenshin tell Kenji who he is when he's a child and is in a body too weak to do anything? Let's let Kenshin-chan grow a bit, ne?
And about my reference to Kenji not knowing how to sense ki, let me explain. In the OAV Hiko mentioned that Hiten Mitsurugi would die with him. That means, that although Kenji trained with Hiko, he never got to learn any of the special techniques of Hiten Mitsurugi. From what I saw in the OAV (both during Kenji's training and his fight with Yahiko), I bet that Kenji only learned a basic battoujutsu move and god-like speed from Hiko, nothing more (I'm pretty sure he didn't use any special Hiten Mitsurugi techniques against Yahiko during their fight). However, Kenji is still a master of Kamiya Kasshin and has probably invented some moves of his own or improvised on ones he has seen (kind of like how Yahiko did his own version of Ryu Tsui Sen after watching Kenshin for so long). Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu, combined with god-like speed, is very formidable, so even though Kenji doesn't know Hiten Mitsurugi, he's still a very powerful swordsman.
R+R Please!!!