Chapter Three: The Wanderer
"Why are we doing this again?" Yahiko asked, dancing around a bit as he tried to kick a rock out of his rope sandal. The road they walked was paved, but worn at the edges where they frequently had to veer, along with the rest of the foot traffic, to avoid trundling carts and carriages that sped along the middle. The wearing resulted in a liberal spread of stones that worked themselves into footwear.
"Because Sano needs a keeper," Kaoru called back over her shoulder, and Kenji's knee where he perched on her shoulders.
"Sano-nii gets lost easily," Kenji said with a laugh, tapping his hands on the top of Kaoru's head.
"Yeah, and we can't trust you to keep your hands to yourself around Tsubame, so we couldn't leave you at home," Sano teased, bending down to pick up a blade of grass.
"You look like a cow," Yahiko muttered bad-temperedly as Sano munched on the blade
Sano shrugged easily. "Moo. Yahiko has a point, though. It's not like we can drag you and Kenji into teahouses to see if anyone's seen Kenshin, Jou-chan."
"Kenshin had better hope that's not where we find him, Sano," Kaoru pointed out.
"Kenshin himself? Nah, we probably won't," Sano said, thoughtfully chewing his grass. "But all the best gossip comes through teahouses. If the merchants and professional snitches don't know it, then most of the time the girls will."
Yahiko tried to look worldly, but was failing miserably. "I definitely think we should check that option out."
Kaoru shot him a dark look of disapproval. "Sano, you should not be taking Yahiko into such places!"
Sano shrugged. "Kid's got to grow up sometime, Kaoru. In fact, he already has."
"I like tea!" Kenji shouted, ruining the tension of the moment.
Kaoru pinned both of the men with a matronly glare, promising swift dismemberment and great unpleasantness. "No teahouses, Sano."
"Right, we'll probably ... run into Kenshin before that, ne? We know what route he's supposed to be taking to get home an all."
"Um ... guys?" Yahiko interrupted while coming to a halt in the middle of the path. The chatter and noise from the main road had decreased in the stretch of minutes they had been walking and the road itself had faded into more of a cobbled path. "I hate to ask, but ... where are we?"
"Great," Sano muttered. "Even when you guys come along, I get lost."
Yahiko looked around. "Okay, so we just turn around and go back the way we came. Maybe we'll run into someone who actually knows where they're going."
Kenji hummed happily, the only one seemingly unfazed by this turn of events. "Kaasan, when do we eat?"
"As soon as we've covered a bit more distance," Kaoru answered, frowning at their surroundings. "At least we told Misao to expect us, and left a note if Kenshin somehow makes it home. If we're really lost, someone will come looking for us eventually."
Yahiko shook his head. "Yeah, Weasel's going to love sending out a bunch of ninjas because we all got lost between Tokyo and Kyoto!"
"Tou-san'll find us first," Kenji said with all the confidence of a six-year-old. "I want down now, Kaasan."
"Okay." With a sigh of relief, she set the child down and stretched out her weary back muscles. "If we're going to have to backtrack, we might as well start now."
"Kamiya Kaoru?"
At the sound of her maiden name, Kaoru turned her head. "Himura Kaoru, if you please," she said automatically, searching for the source of the voice.
"Very silly of you to go wandering when attempting to find your hapless husband," the unknown voice drawled.
"Yes, well. I wasn't planning on doing any wandering. Sometimes things just happen that way ... Seta-san."
A slight figure separated from the tree-shadows, the shabby, faded blue of his gi and the patched greys of his hakama brightening slightly as he stepped into the light and approached them. The mended tears and worn patches spattering his clothing spoke of long wear on sturdy cloth. Yet still, Seta Soujiro smiled at them as pleasantly as the lilting cadence of his voice sounded. "My apologies, Kaoru-san. You do seem to be quite lost, though."
"We're fine," Sano grunted, eyeing the former lieutenant of the Juppongatana distrustfully. "This is a shortcut."
Soujiro's smile never wavered as he pointed out, "But, Sagara-san, you are going north."
"And?"
"Kyoto is south and west."
As Sanosuke turned brighter and brighter shades of red, Kaoru turned her attention to their new companion. "What do you intend to do about it?"
"I was hoping to point you in the right direction, perhaps even walk part of the way with you," Soujiro explained with a smile. "It does no one in Japan any good to have you all lost on the road."
Yahiko stepped forward, almost unconsciously placing himself between Soujiro and Kaoru. "How did you know where to find us? Have you heard from Kenshin?"
"Maa, maa, Myougin-san. I've been in the north, so I'm afraid not." Soujiro shook his head.
"Then how did you know Kenshin was missing?" Sano demanded. "Or that we ... aren't on the main path right now.
"I didn't!" the wanderer responded brightly. "Thank you for confirming my guess, though. As for knowing who you were ... that was also a guess. I was only sure who your child was, Kaoru-san and I was ... concerned when I saw that Himura-san himself was not with you."
"Kaa-san, Kaa-san!" The gentle tugging on her hand had Kaoru looking down. "Does this man know Tou-san?"
Kaoru shrugged a bit helplessly, uncertain of how to explain the situation.
"Forgive me, young Himura-san, for not introducing myself earlier. I am Seta Soujiro. I have known your father for years, although we were by no means close. A very wise man, your father."
Kenji studied the wanderer a moment, and then nodded. Anyone who shared his good opinion of his father was worth trusting, at least for the moment. "I am Himura Kenji. It is nice to meet you."
Leaves rustled further down the shaded path and Soujiro turned, beckoning the others to follow. "We should go," he said. "There is a better place for resting further along the road."
"Not so fast there, Seta-san," Sanosuke called, half-jogging to catch up with the fast-moving ronin. "What's so important that we have to move right away?"
"It is best to move now, and ask questions later. We must move quickly."
Kaoru felt her heart begin to pound and gripped Kenji's hand a little tighter and began to walk faster. "Kaoru-san, you must allow one of us to carry the child," Soujiro demanded.
Kenji watched the shabby man for a moment before silently going to Yahiko and holding his arms out to be carried. Yahiko adjusted the bokken he had strapped to his back and scooped Kenji up to perch on his shoulders. "Giving your mom a rest, huh, Kenji?" Yahiko asked, grinning up at his little brother and jogging to catch up with the other four.
"Kaa-san needs her hands free."
"Huh?" Just as Yahiko started to work that through, the rustling grew more pronounced. As the group cautiously halted, they could hear a group of people talking amongst themselves.
"Easy prey," one voice said, while another suggested, "let's split up. I wanna take the hot mama. She could punish me any day." Still another, "I've got the kid with the kid. Two for one."
"Great," Sano muttered. "We're about to be attacked by idiots."
A beatific smile blossomed across Soujiro's face as he stilled and faced the insulting rustles. "Yes, I believe we are."
"And he's gone all smiley on us," Sano muttered, flexing his hands and stepping up to take Kaoru's back. "Great."
"Smiley is bad?" Kaoru asked, pulling her bokken off her back and watching Soujiro flick his sword out of its saya with his left thumb. An inch of gleaming metal appeared and Soujiro tapped his foot once.
Sano chuckled once, a harsh sound. "Fortunately, not for us this time. Too bad this won't take longer. I could use a good workout."
Yahiko pulled his bokken out. "Kenji, I need you to climb on my back, okay? Put your arms around my neck and wrap your legs around my tummy. I need both my hands. Yell if you're about to fall off, okay?"
"Hai, Yahiko-nii. I will try to stay out of your way."
Yahiko laughed. "Thanks, Kenji-chan. With any kind of luck, you won't have to for long."
"Come on out, you cowards!" Sano shouted with bravado. "We're all ready for you!"
Silence stretched out for long moments as they waited. Even the suspicious rustling had stopped. "I think you scared them, Sano." Yahiko said, lowering his bokken, though Kenji remained clinging to his back like a koala.
Soujiro's smile did not fade, but he relaxed enough to resheath his sakabatou. "Then let us go. I, for one, am about ready for dinner."
At that moment, Sano's stomach growled and Kenji and Kaoru broke into giggles. "I think we can safely say that we all agree on that," Kaoru said, returning her bokken to its position on her back.
Kenji used one of his pudgy hands to tap Yahiko on the shoulder. "Yahiko-nii, I would very much like to get down now."
"Okay, Kenji-chan. Just a second."
"It's an emergency, Yahiko-nii."
"What?" Yahiko was genuinely confused.
"An emergency!" Kaoru, Sano and Soujiro shouted at once. "Yahiko, you'd best let him down or you'll get wet," Kaoru said, and began to laugh.
"What? Oh yeah. Yikes. Here you go, Kenji-chan," Yahiko said, quickly setting Kenji on the ground.
Kenji straightened his clothes where they had rumpled from being tossed up and down Yahiko's shoulders before hurrying for a large-trunked tree.
"Not out of sight, Kenji!" Kaoru called after him while Yahiko scurried to catch up.
"Kaa-san!" Kenji looked back over his shoulder, plainly horrified, and was met with an implacable glare. He looked at her pleadingly for a few seconds, while unsubtly shifting his weight from side to side, before his shoulders slumped and he renewed his dash for the tree.
"He did inherit the most... interesting traits from you and Himura Kenshin, Kaoru-san," Soujiro said, watching with bemusement as the young boy lost his battle with Yahiko for privacy.
"I like to think that he inherited the best of both of us, Seta-san," Kaoru answered discreetly.
"There is one trait in particular that is very like his father's. Your son is a very astute observer."
As Soujiro fixed his now life-filled eyes on her, Kaoru couldn't help the feeling that she was not on even ground with this ronin. "Yes," she agreed carefully.
"Good," Soujiro said, and then abruptly turned his head. "I have a feeling it will serve him, and you, very well."
Kenji chose that moment to return, still looking slightly sulky and red-cheeked about the ordeal, and pointedly took up a spot beside Soujiro. The wanderer blinked, his smile faltered and gave way to surprise as he looked from the child standing beside him to Kaoru who was rolling her eyes and motioning him to just continue walking.
"Kaoru-san ..." Soujiro said, even as he complied with her unspoken order and started down the narrow road again.
"Seta-san, good qualities were not the only thing Kenji-chan inherited."
"She means the kid's stubborn as a rock," Sano snickered. "Just keep going, Seta."
"We are, thankfully, almost there," Soujiro replied, and reached down to take Kenji's hand in his. They traveled as the sunlight lengthened and finally warmed into the golden tones of evening and finally reached their destination with a few scant hours of daylight left.
A small creek of fresh water ran through the trees with a low hill rising beside it in one area. Soujiro's actual destination was a dilapidated shack of a house that had been built into the side of the hill.
"Looks great, Seta-san," Kaoru said, honest appreciation in her voice and a hint of exhaustion on her face.
"I'm starved," Yahiko announced. "Can we eat first?"
Kaoru looked around the group and laughed. "Not only can we, we will. Everyone up for some food?"
The resounding "Hai!" that came from the group immediately made everyone burst into laughter, except for Soujiro, who contented himself with a half-smile. That was the way they ended their first day on the road to Kyoto: tired and laughing.
Kat's Note: We don't have much to say this chapter. But wanted to say thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far. Such beautiful reviews! And they do mean a lot to us. Motivation, for one thing! Anyway. Until next week!