Reliving the Teens
Ch 4
Hello everyone! How have y'all been doing? Good I hope, me too. Well, more later... please read, enjoy and review!
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Yahiko, Sano and Megumi looked up as Kenshin came back into the kitchen.
Kenshin stopped halfway across the room and spoke, his head lowered so his bangs covered his eyes. "Kaoru said you wanted to see me Miss Takani."
Sano and Yahiko snickered, but stopped when Kenshin glared icily at them.
"Please call me Megumi Ken-san. Yes, I did want you, let's go this way." Megumi instructed, taking his arm and leading Kenshin out of the room.
"That was weird." Yahiko commented, spooning the last of the rice into his mouth.
"What do you expect from Megumi? She's always flirting with Kenshin or draping herself over him." Sano responded disgustedly.
"Mm-mph-mgg!" Yahiko answered, his mouth fully stuffed.
Sano leaned over and ruffled the younger boys hair. "Be careful Yahiko-chan, we wouldn't want you to choke, now would we?"
"Sure you would." Yahiko muttered. "Hey, don't call me chan!"
Sano shrugged. "Sorry. Do you think that Megumi will ever understand that Kenshin's in love with Kaoru and not her?"
Yahiko smirked, "Yeah right. Don't get your hopes up, rooster-head."
"WHY YOU LITTLE-!"
"In here will be fine, Ken-san." Megumi instructed, opening a door and following Kenshin inside. She shut the door before sitting down across from Kenshin, with her handy doctors' kit lying next to her.
"You should be resting more Ken-san, instead of moving around and making breakfast." Megumi said as she opened her kit.
"And why would that be Miss Megumi?" Kenshin asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Megumi looked at him confusedly. "Because you're obviously still suffering from the side effects of that smoke bomb from a few days ago." She frowned, puzzled, "Actually you shouldn't be feeling as well as you obviously do."
Kenshin smiled. "That's what Orishi always said." A brief expression of pain and grief passed over him before his face became emotionless again.
"Please roll up your sleeves Ken-san." She instructed, and then began treating his wounds. "Who is Orishi?"
Kenshin winced slightly at the cold temperature of the alcohol Megumi was using, and then answered, "One of the doctors at Headquarters."
"Headquarters?" Megumi echoed curiously, but Kenshin looked away and didn't answer. She continued treating his wounds, applying the alcohol and bandaging in silence until Megumi commented to herself, "You have many more scars then I remember Ken-san."
Kenshin, with his good hearing, heard her and explained, "From many recent run-ins with the Shinsengumi." He smirked. "You should see the other guys."
Megumi shook her head. "But those should have healed by now, after all these years." She glanced at his face, "and you should have your cross scar." She drew a ghost of it on her own right cheek.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have any cross shaped scars on my face, only this one." Kenshin pointed out, tracing the vertical cut on his cheek.
Megumi looked at him, studying his face. "What, but that's impossible!" She exclaimed, shocked. "There's no way a scar so deep could heal instantly overnight like that."
Kenshin stared at her wide-eyed and shook his head. "You must be mistaken Miss Megumi, this has always been just one scar. It has never had a counterpart, as you seem to believe."
With narrowed eyes Megumi told him to take off his shirt so she could see his back. Kenshin did so with a smirk and turned around.
"I don't understand," Megumi said slowly, "all your wounds that I've treated aren't there." She traced many lines on his back. "The ones from Raijuta, from Aoshi, and from Shishio… All gone…"
Kenshin shook his head and put his shirt back on. "I haven't even heard of any of those people."
Megumi stared. "But your battle with Shishio was only a few months ago."
"The Shinsengumi have been attacking nearly every week and often more regularly. I wouldn't have had time for another battle within that time." Kenshin countered.
"But Ken-san, the Shinsengumi had been disbanded for over ten years!" Megumi protested confusedly.
"That can't be possible Miss Megumi." Kenshin said, shaking his head. "Their last attack was only last night." When Megumi gasped, he held up a hand to stop her. "I remember Kaoru saying that Katsura-san died twelve years ago, when I met with him only a day ago. She also said that she had never heard of anyone named Orishi when I also saw her only two days ago." He met her gaze firmly. "Therefore something must have happened to me for this confusion to happen."
Megumi paused to consider Kenshin's words. Finally she said, "The war ended over ten years ago Ken-san, that's why the Shinsengumi are disbanded."
Kenshin stared at her in shock and drew his legs up to his chest and forlornly rested his head on his knees. "I don't understand any of this. Nothing makes sense anymore."
While putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, which made Kenshin flinch, then relax, Megumi asked quietly, "How old are you to think that the war is still going on Ken-san?"
He looked up at her and for the first time since she met him, she saw a childish confusion in his eyes. "Fourteen, I've been in the war for nearly a year now."
"Oh Ken-san." Megumi murmured and put her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him in a loose hug. And for the first time Megumi knew of, he let her hug him"I think we need to contact your Shishou." Megumi whispered.
"You know him?" Kenshin asked hopefully. "You know where he is?"
Megumi shook her head. "No, I haven't met him, but I've heard you talk about him. And I'm sure Kaoru knows where he is."
"I would like to see him again." Kenshin confided, smiling slightly.
"We'll find him then. Let's go talk with the others." Megumi reassured, then helped Kenshin stand and they walked back to the kitchen.
Kaoru, Yahiko and Sano stopped talking heatedly and welcomed Megumi and Kenshin as they walked up to them, the doctor gently leading Kenshin by the hand.
"Are you alright Kenshin?" Kaoru asked as she moved to his side and gripped his arm. "What did Megumi say?"
Kenshin looked over at her, his expression blank. "Why didn't you tell me the war's been over for ten years Kaoru?"
She took her hand away and looked guiltily at him. "I-"
"We've decided that we need to contact Hiko." Megumi interrupted, saving Kaoru from having to explain.
"You mean Kenshin's Shishou?"
"The giant maniac with a sword?"
"Mr. I'm-so-much-better-then-you, with the 'holier then thou' philosophy?"
"Do you know of any other Shishou?"
These last two descriptions made Kenshin snicker quietly. When everyone turned to stare at him surprised he blushed. "I'm sorry but that really is just like him."
"Okay," Sano commented, "but how do we get a letter to him?"
"We know where his 'cabin' is, but not the address." Kaoru put in, scowling at the description 'cabin.'
"By messenger bird." Kenshin said, having recovered.
Yahiko's face scrunched up in confusion. "You mean like the ones Ice Man and Weasel Girl use?"
"Sure…" Kenshin agreed, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
Kaoru nodded. "That might work."
"Wait, but how do will the bird know who Hiko is?" Yahiko asked reasonably.
Sano and Kaoru groaned. "Ah man." "Darn." They exclaimed annoyed.
"I have a picture of Shishou." Kenshin said, breaking the tense silence.
They all turned to stare at him. "Really Ken-san?" Megumi asked surprised.
"Yes." He answered. "I'll go get it." Kenshin said at their looks, then left the kitchen and went back to is room.
"That was easy." Sano commented. "Mm-hmm." Kaoru answered agreeably.
"How will this work exactly?" Megumi asked skeptically.
Kaoru opened her mouth to answer. "I'll show the bird a picture of Shishou, tie a letter to its leg and then it will fly to Shishou and give him the letter." Kenshin answered as he walked back into the room, carrying what looked like a photograph.
"It sounds a little risky to me. What if someone else intercepts the letter?" Megumi voiced her opinion.
"For now it's the only thing we can do." Kaoru told Megumi, handing Kenshin a piece of paper, ink and a brush.
"Do we really want Kenshin to write the note? I mean his penmanship is terrible." Sano asked worriedly.
Kenshin glared at the rooster from where he was posed over the paper with pen in hand. "My writing isn't that horrible."
"Yes it is." Sano argued and Kenshin rolled his eyes then continued writing.
"What are you saying?" Kaoru asked interestedly, looking over Kenshin's shoulder.
Kenshin stopped writing and looked back at her. "I'll let you read it when I'm done." He said emotionlessly.
Kaoru stared then stepped away. "Alright."
A few minutes later Kenshin finished writing, put the pen down and waved the paper gently so it would dry. "Done," he announced and handed it to Kaoru. She scanned it and nodded agreeably. "Looks good."
"Is this really necessary? I mean the guy's gonna be here in a few days anyways." Yahiko protested.
"Yes." Kenshin agreed as he tied the letter to the leg of the bird that Sano had caught. "But if he gets the letter he'll come even faster." He laughed. "Maybe Shishou will even run here."
"Right." Sano drawled sarcastically. Kenshin nodded. "Exactly." He walked to the door and threw the bird into the air, then watched as it flew away.
"Well, now we just have to wait." Megumi said, folding her arms. Everyone else nodded.
"All right then Yahiko, lets start practice. Go do a hundred swings." Kaoru instructed the boy who groaned.
"Come on, no way! A hundred?" He protested, being led away by the ear by Kaoru who was yelling at him.
"What about you two?" Kenshin asked, turning to Sano and Megumi who exchanged glances.
"I have to get back to work." The doctor explained, then picked up her kit and left. "Take care of yourself Ken-san."
"And you?" Kenshin asked Sano who grinned. "Not calling me 'rooster' anymore?"
Kenshin smiled and shook his head. "No, I figure you already have a name, why give you another?"
Sano rolled his eyes. "Thanks." He winked at the redhead and gave him the thumbs up. "Well, I'm going to go wander a bit, maybe grab a bite of food."
"A freeloader are you? Figures." Kenshin shook his head and watched as Sano left.
'Maybe I can get used to life like this. It certainly is more peaceful.' He looked around the room. 'I'm in an empty room talking to myself.' Kenshin shook his head. 'I must be going crazy. I suppose I could go watch Kaoru and Yahiko practice.'
Kaoru and Yahiko had already started when Kenshin walked in and sat down. Yahiko was protesting about how hard she worked him and Kaoru was calling him a wimp and saying that she didn't even work him hard at all.
"Yeah right buso, you probably work me harder then anyone else!" Yahiko protested, waving his shinai around.
"I do not!" Kaoru said then proceeded to hit him on the head with her shinai.
"Actually you have it fairly easily Yahiko." Kenshin intervened from where he was sitting. The other two turned to looked at him, they obviously hadn't heard him walk in.
"What do you mean Kenshin?" Kaoru asked curiously, lowering her shinai.
Kenshin smiled. "The first day Shishou drilled me on speed he balanced a bee hive on my head, covered me with honey and annoyed the bees so that I had to run to keep from being stung. I ran as fast and far as I could, but by the end of the day I was still covered with bee stings."
Yahiko stared at him, his mouth open, and Kaoru asked, "You're kidding right?"
"No." Kenshin shook his head. "That was how I learned to run so fast, to keep away from the bees. Shishou also sent other animals after me as well, like wolves, squirrels, birds and more bees for starters."
"He seriously did that to you?" Yahiko asked amazed.
"Yes." Kenshin smiled. "When he taught me ki-sensing I had to track him through the forest around our cabin. In a way, it was like hide-and-seek. But after a while I got lost and by the time Shishou thought to come and find me, it had been almost a week and I was in the next town."
"You should have filed for child abuse." Kaoru said, shaking her head.
"No, it wasn't like that; he taught me important things in life and swordsmanship. And he did care about me, in his own, odd way." Kenshin protested, sticking up for his master, for once.
"Mm-hmm." Kaoru said unbelievably. "Wow, even ugly here's better then that." Yahiko said, gazing at Kenshin with renewed admiration. "I can't believe you lived through that."
"I did, but it stung for a while. Go on, I interrupted your practice." Kenshin finally changed the topic, waving them on.
"That's okay Kenshin." Kaoru smiled at him. "Come on Yahiko, start your swings again."
The boy grumbled, but did as he was told. Then after a couple swings, he stopped and turned to point at Kenshin. "Hey wait, your not saying 'sessha' or 'this one' or 'that something' anymore. And you're even calling ugly here by her name."
"What do I usually call her?" Kenshin asked, eyebrows raised.
"Kaoru-dono or Miss Kaoru." Yahiko explained, causing Kenshin to roll his eyes.
"Do you know anyone who uses those proper titles, or says 'sessha' or 'this one'?" Kenshin asked doubtfully.
"Well you used to. But not anymore." Yahiko said, then looked at the floor doubtfully.
"Give him fifteen years or so and he will." Kaoru said, smiling at Kenshin.
"Thanks Kaoru."
She winked. "No problem."
"What do you mean 'give him fifteen years'? And before you asked ugly why she didn't tell you the war was over when you should have known it was since you were a part of it." Yahiko asked suspiciously, feeling like he was missing something.
"What do you know? The brat's actually using his brain." Kaoru observed, rubbing her forehead tiredly.
"Now, now Kaoru. Be nice." Kenshin lightly scolded her, and received a glare in return. "What?"
"You don't have him insulting you nearly every waking minute of the day, about everything you do or say." She vented, very frustrated.
"Not Yahiko no, but Shishou yes." At her 'yeah, right' look he continued. "It's true, any time I did something wrong or messed up, it was 'baka deshi' this or 'baka' that. I'm not sure that he even called me by my name once." Kenshin frowned uncertainly at the end.
"Sounds like a wonderful guy." Kaoru observed sarcastically, partially rolling her eyes.
Kenshin shrugged, feeling like the discussion had gone on longer then it should have done. Kaoru noticed, and, feeling the same way, told Yahiko to finish his practice swings.
But Yahiko shook his head. "Nah-uh. Not until someone tells me what's going on."
Kaoru sighed tiredly. "This is going nowhere. Kenshin, why don't you just tell him and get it over with?" Yahiko looked happy at this and eagerly turned to Kenshin.
"Tell him what Kaoru?" Kenshin asked innocently, staring at her. Kaoru glared at him, raising her shinai threateningly. Kenshin gulped and quickly gave in.
"So tell me already!" Yahiko demanded impatiently.
Kenshin sighed. "Fine, but this is the last time. Understand?" When they both nodded, he continued, looking over at Yahiko. "I don't know if you'll understand this, but I'm fourteen now."
Yahiko gaped at him wide-eyed. "No way, so you're the Battousai now?"
With that Kenshin closed himself off.
His eyes became guarded and cold, his face became emotionless and his mouth set in a grim line. He slowly stood up and turned towards the door. "Please excuse me." Kenshin said icily and walked out.
Kaoru angrily turned to Yahiko, raising her shinai. "You little idiot!" She yelled.
Yahiko glared at her. "You just called me an idiot, you never do that. Only to Sano."
"Why did you have to go and say that? Now he won't talk to us at all!" Kaoru ranted angrily, gesturing as if hitting him.
"You're being weird." Yahiko commented quietly.
"ARGH!" Kaoru exclaimed, waving her arms around.
Yahiko watched her interestedly. "That's it, you're officially crazy now."
Okay, everyone... CALM DOWN! (silence) Ah, thats better. I know that Yahiko would probably never say that, but bear with me. Also the stuff Kenshin said about when he was learning with Hiko was all, 100, made up by me.
Just FYI, I'm leaving for Japan in THREE DAYS (June 17) so there'll be no more updates between now and the 27th. Actually it might be a little longer, it depends on how productive I can write and type and how quickly my beta-reader (Yanikei) can edit them. So don't hold your breath. ;p
To my reviewers:
I'm not sure if I already responded to your reviews or not so bare with me if I have. From now on I'll reply to them right away and then just list the names. Thanks.
paws: I promise I will after I get back, Im sorry for the long wait. Don't worry, we'll get to Hiko, I promise.
nisse: Thank you, more coming soon!
Auburn: Im glad you thought so. yeah, he would never be like that, but hey, he's a fourteen year old guy with hormones. Watch out! Jk. Im soo glad you liked it!
Dragon: Thanks, Ill try to keep to your standards, more soon i promise.
Kristy: Thanks, I will.
PKIS: thanks for the suggestion, Im glad you liked it.
Yanikei: Of course it is. Im sure you do, very sure. (rolls eyes) Jk. Im glad you liked it and thanks.
Thats it for now. I hope you liked this chapter and don't forget to review! More charecters make their appearences soon. Youll just have to wait to find out who. Remember... keep checking back after the 27th. Sya!