Disclaimer: Do I own Rurouni Kenshin? Why, I can answer that in both English and Spanish. NO.

I live! I realize I have not posted anything since before I went to Japan. And then once I came back from Japan there was school, so it all makes some sort of weird, convulted sense, right?

Well, in any case, here is the next chapter of this fic! Long awaited, I know. No more long awaited than the season premiere of Lost, though!

Ignore that. Please note that this chapter has not been beta-ed by anyone other than myself. My usual beta-reader, Liem, is busy looking over the first chapter of a new fic of mine (well, I'm sure she's doing other stuff besides that...) so I present this chapter to you self-edited.

Anyway, enjoy!


Chapter Five

A Lesson in Honor

"Kaoru! Kaoru! Kaoru wake up!"

Using just about all the strength his eleven-year-old body could muster, Yahiko shook the napping shihondai to consciousness.

Without so much as opening one eye, Kaoru slapped him and turned away from the annoyance.

Yahiko was sent sprawling at the force of her slap, but got up steadfastly and growled at the sight of Kaoru—her eyes closed and her breathing soft. Asleep.

Yahiko offered no sympathy as he launched himself down onto his sensei in a sort of half head butt.

The effect was just as Yahiko predicted—Kaoru squawked indignantly at the rude awakening and sat up immediately, ready to bust whoever's head had caused cranial damage to hers.

"Jeez Yahiko, you little twerp, what the hell was that for?" she exclaimed brusquely, rubbing her head and glaring at the younger boy peevishly.

"Well you sleep like a rock and I had to get you up somehow," Yahiko replied defensively, rubbing the tender spot on his own head.

Kaoru sighed and fell back against her futon, her eyes drifting closed. "It's too early. Come back in an hour, Yahiko, and maybe we'll spar," she told him sleepily.

Yahiko looked at her as if she'd just told him to jump around naked. "What, now you're crazy and ugly? It's the middle of the afternoon you old hag!"

Kaoru sat bolt upright. "What? Are you kidding me? It's after noon already? I'm supposed to be at the Maekawa dojo right now!"

She scrambled to her feet, somehow avoided getting tangled in the sheets, and dashed to the other side of the room to look out the window. Presumably, this was to make sure Yahiko wasn't just playing a cruel trick on her.

As soon as she saw the bright light filtering through the window, Kaoru collapsed onto the tatami floor.

"Why didn't anyone wake me?" she demanded shrilly. "Where's Kenshin? If I ever get my hands on that stupid, dopey…mrpph…baka…" Kaoru cut herself off with a low growl and made several violent gestures that made clear her current mood.

"It'd your own fault, ugly," Yahiko countered. "And besides, Kenshin's been out since early this morning. I didn't even see him at breakfast."

Kaoru ceased her strangling pantomime and looked over at Yahiko, her expression mild and concerned. "You didn't? Where could he have gone?"

Yahiko rolled his eyes and clocked Kaoru across the head.

She whipped around to him with a snarl. "You little jerk!"

Scowling, Yahiko reminded her, "Isn't there somewhere you need to be?"

Again, Kaoru jumped to her feet. "You're right! Argh—I hope Maekawa-sensei isn't angry with me! This is the first time I've forgotten something as important as that-"

As Kaoru babbled to herself and got ready for a day out, Yahiko quietly let himself out of her room, rubbing his cheek where Kaoru had smacked him earlier.

He glanced back at the closed shoji and his expression softened at Kaoru's shrill tones.

"Geez Kaoru…you're really going to kill yourself this way," he mumbled to no one as he started down the hall.

In a few moments he was overtaken by a sprinting Kaoru—dressed in her tattered old hakama—and sighed as she flew past.

Ever since Hirakatu had come to the dojo a week ago, Kaoru, scared silly at the thought of loosing her home, had been running ragged trying to find ways to produce more income.

She'd sold many of her family's things—her mother's beautiful hair combs that she had once wished Kaoru to wear, her grandfather's lovely ink landscapes….

It was unfortunate, but Kaoru had been left with very little when her parents had died. She had only her sword style and the house she lived in—now she was in danger of loosing both.

In the past eight days, she'd attempted to find many jobs—from waitressing to working in a print shop, Kaoru had beseeched half the storeowners in west Tokyo. Not one of them had accepted her. Her status as a single woman living with two unrelated men was much despised by the 'respectable' men and women of Tokyo.

Which was really a shame, because in Yahiko's very unbiased opinion, Kaoru was among the best candidates for any job—barring a job as a cook, of course.

So, refusing to accept failure, Kaoru had busied herself with extra outings to the Maekawa dojo. She had acquired a small class there that Maekawa-sensei paid her a moderate amount of money to teach.

It wasn't enough.

If the situation didn't get better, Yahiko feared that Kaoru would do something really drastic—like renting herself out nightly to lecherous men.

That prospect wasn't even worth thinking about.

It was just so hard feeling so useless…Yahiko had freeloaded at the dojo for months and not felt a drop of guilt. But now…

Even Sano was showing up less and less. It was almost as if, with this precarious situation, everyone had become aware of just how much they took advantage of Kaoru and the dojo.

Yahiko was tired of it. He was ready to do something, to keep Kaoru from killing herself with work, to save the Kamiya Kasshin style, to keep his home.

Even if that meant going against everything Kaoru and Kenshin had taught him, he would do it.


Gurgling with excitement Kenshin could not comprehend, the noisy river rippled on by, each drop of water leaving Kenshin further and further behind.

Like she had.

As fish and frogs splashed on by, Kenshin recalled a time that he too had been so easily swept up, like the flow of a river.

Leaving for Kyoto those months ago had caused time to flow again…but now it had stopped, stagnant and lethargic like a hot, humid summer's day.

And for the first time, Kenshin found himself a victim of waiting. As a child and a young adult, Kenshin had always found himself moving, place to place, person to person. Then, when the war ended, wandering had come to him as naturally as breathing. Home was a foreign concept, but when he'd found the dojo he'd begun to feel like he had finally found it. A place where he belonged—a home.

He wondered if Naruku had ever truly felt at home with them—and whether her departure had been an act of weakness, or one of desperation.

Finding a home, and protecting that home could be one of the most terrifying experiences for people like them. People who'd never really known home in the first place.

Somehow, since Naruku's departure, Kenshin had begun to loose that feeling of home he'd grown so accustomed to. Her absence was only a part of it, though—the constant stress and anxiety, the looming threat that they might loose the dojo, all of it made Kenshin feel as if everything was slipping away…the family he'd had at the dojo.

No matter how strong their ties were to each other, something would drive them apart in the end.

Kenshin closed his eyes against a gentle breeze. The cool air felt wonderful against his skin, and for a moment it all seemed more bearable, easier to manage.

But the breeze ceased, the air stilled, and Kenshin could only wait for another passing of cool air.


Kaoru surveyed her work with a keen eye, sweeping the surface of the floor for any dust, dirt and anything the slightest bit out of place. The room was clean and bare—the tatami freshly re-covered, the rice paper doors crisp and white sliding side to side without so much as a splinter—as if they were water instead of paper.

It looked brand new. Untouched.

Like it had never belonged to a lively, expressive young woman.

Then again, it didn't, not any more. When Naruku had left the dojo, she had left everything—and yet nothing.

Looking at the clean, white room, Kaoru could not see so much as a whisper of a hint that Naruku had lived there. Her imprint had vanished like a picture in the sand, disappearing as the tide rose.

Kaoru's shoulders slumped, and her scrutinizing gaze turned into a dark glower. Naruku was really gone, and Kaoru had just erased anything that had been left of her.

Behind her, she could hear the smoothness of the door opening. She turned to see Kenshin.

He gazed into the room—a hard, steady look, and then turned to Kaoru plaintively.

"What do you plan to do with it?" he asked quietly.

The sound of his voice almost broke Kaoru's heart. Her glower deepened and she whirled around and said flatly, "I'm going to rent it out. It's one way to generate more money."

It sounded cold, harsh even, but thinking about it rationally…there was no reason not to.

A new boarder would be good. A new boarder, who for once didn't freeload, would help them.

Dreamingly listlessly about that far-off, perhaps nonexistent, day when Naruku would return—that would not help them.

Kenshin touched the delicate wall of the room and said very simply what Kaoru had been thinking all along.

"She's gone."

Kaoru turned away and swallowed thickly. Though Kenshin could not see, she nodded.


Never. Never again, that's what he had told himself.

And yet—staring down the dusty street as though it were the worst of his enemies—Yahiko knew what he had to do.

With the eyes of a hawk, Yahiko carefully picked out a target while pretending to immerse himself in a yatai selling delicious smelling anko breads.

The man he'd picked out was tall and lean, walking like he owned the world. On his arm was a pretty girl, much shorter, smiling and laughing and tossing her glossy hair.

Eyes down, Yahiko strode toward them, employing one of the many skills he'd perfected as a young boy—the ability to become invisible in a crowd.

It seemed his skill had not waned in the past year, for the haughty man and his young date took no notice of Yahiko as he passed by.

Luck was on his side, for as soon as Yahiko came alongside the man, an old drunk stumbled into the young girl on his other side.

"Oh dear!" the lean man exclaimed, holding his date firmly by her shoulders and giving the old drunk a disgusted look.

"'m sorry ma'am," the drunk slurred, grinning at the girl in an entirely unapologetic way.

She gave him a look of affronted incredulity.

"Well!" the man cried as the drunk left them. "I'll be! Are you quite all right, dear?"

The girl turned, blushing up at her date warmly. "I'm fine. You might want to check your pockets, though. That man could have taken something."

"You're quite right," the tall man nodded and instantly began searching for his wallet. A look of alarm crossed his sallow face when he found nothing.

Up ahead, Yahiko began to panic. However, if there was one thing he had learned as a pickpocket, it was never to let on any hint of uneasiness, no matter how close he was to being caught. So he continued to walk on ahead, matching his former pace, not a step quicker.

"There! That boy!" yelled the old woman who'd been selling the anko breads.

The arrogant man and his beautiful girl snapped to where the old woman was pointing—and it happened to be right at Yahiko. She'd seen the whole thing.

Yahiko's luck had turned sour, and the only choice left for him was to run. Following his instincts, Yahiko began to sprint away as fast as his legs could take him.

He knew there was no way the rich man, the old lady nor the girl could catch him, so he concentrated only on moving his legs faster and faster, putting more ground between him and them.

To Yahiko's complete misfortune, a wheelbarrow overturned in the road just as Yahiko was passing—the result was Yahiko crashing to the floor, followed quickly by dozens of sweet potatoes.

As the world righted itself, Yahiko gazed up at the sky, counting the seconds before the man he'd stolen from would come into view.

Today was simply not his day.


"Yahiko is where?" Kaoru exclaimed, slamming the flats of her palms down on the table.

"I told you already," Sano grunted irritably. "He's at the police station."

"This one does not understand," Kenshin muttered feebly. "Why would Yahiko do such a thing? He vowed he would never again go back to that life."

Sano tossed a used toothpick out the door, much to Kaoru's chagrin. "I don't know what got into him. Maybe he just figured he wasn't doing enough to contribute. You guys haven't exactly been booming with cash lately…"

"That's a bit funny coming from you Sanosuke!" Kaoru retorted bitterly.

Sano held up his hands in a calming gesture. "Hey, I'm just saying what's true, all right? I was thinking maybe Yahiko felt he needed to give something to the dojo after freeloading for so long," Sano explained rationally.

Kenshin frowned sullenly, but he slowly nodded. "As much as this one dislikes it, that does make sense."

"I see you don't have that sudden need to contribute, Sano," Kaoru accused.

"Yeah. Aren't we all lucky?" Sano responded, grinning.

Kaoru sighed and sat back. "I…I don't know what to do…" she confessed, her voice suddenly weak and cracking. "I just don't know what to do anymore."

Her forlorn expression filled Kenshin with a sense of sadness. "This cannot go on any longer, that it cannot," he said at last. "We'll go down the to police station and get Yahiko. Then we'll figure out what to do from there."

He glanced at Kaoru and waited until she met his eyes before nodding firmly, his eyes more focused and determined than they'd been in weeks.

"I promise we can work this out."


Retrieving Yahiko from the police department turned out to be a much less harrowing task than Kaoru had predicted. In fact, when she arrived there, it turned out no one had even bothered to lock Yahiko up—it had been decided that he could too easily slip out of the bars to bother wasting a cell on him. In all likelihood, this decision brought more shame to Yahiko than if he'd actually been locked up like a prisoner.

"Ow…ow!" Yahiko complained, wincing horribly as Kaoru tugged on his ear. She was furious beyond belief, and it was only thanks to her former affection for the young Kamiya Kasshin student that she didn't murder him on the spot.

"What were you thinking, huh Yahiko?" she demanded, tugging still harder on the poor boy's ear.

"Ow Kaoru, get off me!" he complained, struggling against her grip, which only made the searing pain increase.

"You're lucky they didn't throw you in jail, you worm!" Kaoru screeched, which actually ended up making her own head hurt (though it nowhere near matched the intensity of Yahiko's pain.) "Honestly, what could have gotten into you? Stealing? I thought that was something you'd left behind, Yahiko…" Kaoru's voice had grown softer, and it was clear now that she was speaking to Yahiko, not just ranting obliviously to herself.

She released his reddened ear from her grasp and looked him in the eye with sincerity.

Yahiko refused to meet her gaze for several moments, his eyes filled with shame. Finally, he croaked out, "I'm sorry, Kaoru…there was no other way."

Kaoru sighed and placed a hand on her young student's shoulder, marveling for a moment about how much he'd grown. He was barely shorter than her now, and it would only be so much time before he matched even Sano in height.

"What do you mean…no other way?" she asked him quietly.

He then glanced up at her, catching her eyes in a moment of intensity. "I can't just sit by and watch you struggle, Kaoru! The dojo is my home too—it's all of our homes, and I won't let us lose it. I won't—"

Kaoru swung him around, gripping both of his shoulders. "I can't just sit by and watch you become a thief again. I can't let you, not for anything. Do you understand that?"

Yahiko's gaze dropped again, and his whole body tensed up, trying to dam up the sobs that threatened to burst from him. "It's just not fair," he yelled. "They can't do this to us, Kaoru! It's not—"

"Fair?" she supplied. "I know. They shouldn't be able to do this, but they can. They're not going to be honorable about this, or sympathetic. But that doesn't mean we have to play the same game. We are either going to earn the money honorably, or forfeit the dojo. We are not going to steal and cheat and gamble in order to pay the rent."

She let her hands drop from his shoulders.

He nodded slowly, but he knew she was right. "I get it now."

Kaoru closed her eyes. "Good. Don't worry, okay Yahiko? We'll figure this out. You, me, Kenshin…we'll all be fine."

Yahiko looked up again. "And Naruku," he said.

Kaoru hesitated a moment, looking past Naruku. Finally, she breathed in and said. "Yes. You, me, Kenshin…and Naruku. We'll all be fine. You'll see."


End Notes: I would be so appreciative of ANY little (or large) mistake you point out. I am really, really bad at self-editing because I often manage to overlook random typos that I make. The kind where I write 'of' instead of 'for' or completely leave out a word. I do it when I'm handwriting too, actually, so maybe there's just something wrong with my brain.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter on some level and I'm hoping to get the next one out soon, so look out for that.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a review!