Chapter 4: Sunrise, Sunset

By the time night fell, the group had settled into something resembling comfort in the dilapidated shack. A small brazier in the center of the room glowed, casting enough light to fumble by. The "floor" was just packed down earth, and a stack of worn tatami mats Soujiro had hauled out of a corner. Blankets appeared from the small bundles of supplies most of them had been carrying, and everyone quickly located a place to sleep. Soujiro had opted to sleep upright in a corner with his sakabatou resting against his shoulder, where, Kaoru couldn't help but notice, he could watch the door all night.

Kenji regarded Soujiro for a few moments before he climbed to his feet and awkwardly gathered his blanket into his arms and padded over to where the ronin sat. Without a word, the tiny boy set to tucking his blanket around Soujiro's shoulders. When the blanket was settled to Kenji's satisfaction he gave Soujiro a sleepy sort of smile before turning away and slipping in next to his mother. Kaoru unconsciously wrapped her arms around her son as he stole a third of the blanket and cuddled into her until all that was visible was a thatch of red hair.

Soujiro blinked. He'd not jumped, afraid he would startle the child with any unexpected contact. It had been a very long time since anyone had offered him a touch with any kind of affection in it, and for it to be the child of a man he had once tried very valiantly to kill... He shook his head and studied Kenji's carefully tucked in blanket for a moment. Deciding at once he would return the gift, he moved to get on his feet, until the sound of Kaoru's voice stopped him. "We're fine..."

"Kaoru-san, I..."

"Shhh. Don't talk so loud or you'll wake him, and then we'll have to settle him down again. I don't want to have to chase him off this roof, because I have a feeling it's about as sturdy as it looks."

Soujiro sighed and relaxed against the rough planks of the wall. "As you ask, Kaoru-san."

The quiet night was interrupted only by the occasional pop of smoldering wood for a long time, leaving everyone to their own musings or pre-sleep rituals until Kaoru hesitantly broke the silence. "Soujiro-san? The men in the forest ..." Everyone's attention turned to her, and she could just make out the subdued glitter of eyes and the shadows of movement where the firelight reflected. "How much trouble are they likely to be?"

"They sounded like regular bandits to me," Sano said, levering himself up on one elbow.

"Oh, they're not bandits," Soujiro shook his head. "Not cutpurses, anyway. They're slavers. And after the week I've had, I just hoped you were not kidnaping Himura-chan when I first saw you."

"Oi, you thought we were kidnaping Kenji?" Yahiko demanded, managing to sound indignant and keep his voice low at the same time.

"It seemed like a logical idea at the time. The traders would be very interested in a little boy like Kenji. He's unique, and small for his age. Given the right kind of..." Soujiro hesitated, "...marketing, the boy could fetch a very high price. With hair like that, I knew he could only be the child of Himura Kenshin."

Sano made a sound of agreement. "He's a pretty distinct little kid."

"I thank you for your honorable intentions," Kaoru said. "It's nice to know you would have done something if someone had taken Kenji."

Soujiro laughed, a mirthless sound. "I would be more concerned about the traders themselves. I have no doubt little Kenji has a large supply of protectors aside from his father, who would kill to retrieve him. If the peons are dead, I cannot get to the masters, and it is, as always, the masters who interest me." After a moment an almost cheerful smile stretched across the ronin's face, but never reached his eyes. "Besides, better what I do to them than what Himura-san or Aoshi-san would do to them."

Worry tinged Kaoru's eyes at the mention of her missing husband, and she pulled Kenji closer with one arm. Sano grunted and pulled himself to his feet. "I'll take first watch. Wouldn't want those bastards lurking around here sneaking up on us." Sano grunted and pulled himself to his feet. "I'll take first watch. Wouldn't want those bastards lurking around here sneaking up on us."

"Wake me in two hours and I will take the next watch," Soujiro called quietly. Sano nodded once and disappeared out the doorway, leaving the others to sleep.

As night slowly gave way to dawn, and Sano and Soujiro exchanged watches (once even Yahiko took a shift), Kaoru felt herself awakening with the first warm ray of daytime sun. Pushing through the fog of sleep, she first looked down to check on...

"Kenji?" There was no child next to her. Frantic, Kaoru sat up and looked around the shack. "Kenji?"

From where he slept by the window, Sano groaned a protest. "Too early, Kaoru. Tell him to go back to bed."

"I don't see him, Sano!" Kaoru couldn't keep the note of panic out of her voice.

"Good morning, Kaasan!" Kenji's cheerful voice rang out as he stepped in the shack, one hand firmly in Soujiro's.

At the astonished look on everyone's face, Soujiro shrugged. "It was an emergency."

Kenji abandoned Soujiro's hand to dash past the adrenaline-keyed Kaoru and treat Yahiko to a flying-tackle of a "good morning". Yahiko jolted awake with a strangled shout, mixed liberally with the chiming giggles of Kenji.

Soujiro watched the two wrestle across the floor out of the corner of his eye, Kenji shrieking with laughter when Yahiko gathered himself enough to attack back with a barrage of tickling with the small boy wiggling to try and escape. "Yahiko-nii!"

"I'm not stopping until you say 'uncle', I'm not!" Yahiko said, obviously used to this game. "Come on, Kenji-chan, admit defeat. All good warriors know when to take what you've learned and come back to fight another day, there's no shame in getting your butt kicked..."

Sano groaned and tried to cover his ears to block out the racket. "It's too early for that, you two!"

"Boys ..." Kaoru shook her head, stepping around the wrestling match to make her way over to the fire coals they had banked the night before and start coaxing them back into flame. It was one morning chore no one would protest to her doing, because it was the one chore that did not involve any way to accidentally poison anyone.

Yahiko immediately looked sheepish. "Sorry, Kaoru. I didn't mean to wake anyone up."

"It's fine," Sano muttered irritably. "Now I'm hungry. I'm awake and I'm hungry and it's morning... they should give me a medal for this."

"Why, Sano-nii?" Kenji asked as he rolled off of Yahiko to sit very seriously next to Sano.

"Because I haven't killed anyone yet, that's why," Sano mumbled and worked his way up to sitting.

Yahiko snorted and pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his shinai as he did. "Be back in a few minutes."

Soujiro silently knelt across the now-glowing fire from Kaoru and carefully ignored Kenji as the child's flame-bright head interposed itself curiously beside him. Sanosuke stretched out on his side, finding a stray beam of light that was making its way through the airy gaps in the ceiling.

By the time the scent of almost-done rice was filling the air, Yahiko swaggered in, with a pair of rabbits slung over his shoulder and a smug look on his face. He tossed one unceremoniously at Sano, nailing the taller man in the chest with it. "It'll go faster if you help me skin these, Sano."

"Where'd they come from?" Sano asked, dangling the thing from one hand and looking at it in confusion.

"I trapped them," Yahiko grinned. "Set the traps out before we turned in last night. It's not like there's an inn around here for us to get more food. So I figured we should probably stretch what we have."

"But how did you learn to trap anything?" Kaoru gaped at her student. "You're as much a city-brat as I am!"

"The yakuza didn't always remember to feed me," Yahiko shrugged, sobering slightly. "At least rabbits are bigger than rats."

"Yick," Kenji said, and stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Even Kaasan's cooking would taste better than that."

Sano paled and unconsciously clinched his fist. "It's a good thing that Kenshin's already kicked the crap out of those guys, because I definitely wouldn't mind tracking them down again – you know, for old times sake."

Yahiko shrugged. "Well, you know. At least I can get breakfast, right?"

Soujiro watched this all from the sidelines, bemused and astonished. "What doesn't kill us in our youth," he found himself saying, "only serves to make us stronger in our maturity."

"Well, in this case, I think all of us would prefer a bit less strength," Kaoru said quietly, folding up the last of their blankets and stowing them in with their other supplies. "I'm going to wash up. Come on, Kenji-chan. You too." She held out a hand for Kenji to take.

Soujiro watched them go and looked pointedly at the street fighter.

"They'll be okay," Sano told him. "We can hear 'em from here and Kaoru's a better fighter than she lets on. Kenji also has really sharp teeth."

"And he climbs," Yahiko added from where he was engaged in his moderately messy task.

Soujiro carefully studied Yahiko's face, and then Sano's. When he found no trace of worry or concern on either face, he cleared his throat and walked over the table, grabbed a knife and started to help. "Climbs, eh?"

Sano laughed. "I never figured you were one for it, Seta-san."

"What?" Soujiro turned from his task to glare at the street fighter.

"You like him. I didn't know you liked kids."

"Children do not usually like me, Sagara-san," Soujiro corrected with forced mildness. "I barely remember being one myself. Himura-chan is a ... unique child. He seems to like everyone."

"Kenji-chan likes most everyone," Yahiko agreed. "Just like he likes to climb most anything. He's a very agreeable child."

"Imagine that," Sano muttered under his breath, just as Soujiro said, "surprisingly enough."

Kenji suddenly darted back inside, pursued by a laughing Kaoru until the two ended up in a slightly-damp heap on the pile of tatami mats. Righting herself, and setting Kenji back on his feet, Kaoru turned to Yahiko, who was spitting the rabbit meat on long skewers of bamboo. "So where are we heading next, oh great leader?"

Kaoru shook her loose hair out of her eyes and corralled her son between her hakama-clad legs so she could brush his hair free of tangles and tie it back while she answered with a question of her own. "Soujiro-san, how far are we from Kyoto?"

"Less than a week," Soujiro answered, reaching out to turn one of the spits where it sizzled over the fire. "And only an hour's walk from the main path that most travelers take. Himura-san, however, is not likely to take that path."

Kaoru ran a careful hand over her work to check its neatness for a moment before she turned again to Soujiro. "Why do you think that, Soujiro-san?"

"They're too many travelers on the road to Kyoto and back. Himura-san would not like to take any chances. In my experience, he usually goes out of his way to avoid trouble."

"It's too bad trouble can't extend him the same courtesy," Sano muttered, tying the last of his knots on his travel pack. "Hey, let's get going. I'm tired of sitting around here. New places to see, new people to meet. Just like old times."

"Sano, you've only been back a short time and you're already reminiscing?" Kaoru teased.

"That means he's old," Yahiko shot out, tongue in cheek as he slung his pack on his back.

"At least I don't continually get beat up by a girl, Yahiko-chan," Sano shot back cheerfully, claiming a rabbit skewer and a few onigiri from the stack Soujiro had made.

"Are you two ladies going to fight the whole trip?" Soujiro inquired with an innocent smile.

Kenji broke into hysterical laughter, and Kaoru worked hard to school her face into an expression of mild disapproval, but the twitch at her lip gave her away. "Kenji-chan, don't laugh at them, it only encourages them."

"Hai, Kaasan."

"Okay, is everyone all set?" Kaoru asked brightly.

"Kaasan?"

"What?"

"I gotta go. It's an emergency."

Kat's Notes: Flying solo on today's author's notes! Chi wants me to apologize for us taking a week off from posting. Not really intended. She had band camp, and we got nothing done. She's promised it won't happen again. Those responsible have been sacked. As well as a few innocent bystanders who were ... bystanding. And innocent. But they were sacked anyway.

Right. Moving along. We need to thank Emerald Dragon for beta'ing for us, and Shinou for being our pre-reader and peanut gallery. Love you, girls!