RuroKen Week 2015
Day 7: Free Day (Yahiko's Moving Day)
Author: Kenkaya
Genre: Drama/Family
Type: Oneshot, post-series
Rating: General, PG
Pairings: none
Summary: Yahiko didn't realize how much he'd grown accustomed to living surrounded by family (albeit a rather unconventional one) until now.
Disclaimer: The characters and story of Rurouni Kenshin are copyright to Nobuhirou Watsuki, Sony, and other corporate someones who aren't me.
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For someone who possessed so few personal belongings, Sagara Sanosuke had managed to cultivate quite the mess in his rowhouse.
"Mou! Look at this pigsty!" Kaoru exclaimed as they slid the door open. Yahiko, having grown accustomed to the neat orderly Kamiya household over the past several months, agreed. Sano's futon and bedding lay strewn across the floor, crumpled. Easily half a dozen sake jugs littered the corners: some empty, others not. And the dust- Yahiko had to whistle. He didn't know dust bunnies could get that large.
"Well," Kaoru spun around to face Kenshin, whom she had commandeered to carry all their cleaning supplies. The retired swordsman already had his gi sleeves tied up and a rag holding back his long red hair. "Looks like we've got our work cut out for us."
The three immediately dove into the disarray Sano left behind. At first, Yahiko had been nervous when Kaoru insisted on helping him move; but now, watching her haul heavy tatami mats outside to air out, he was glad his adopted family came along. Tsubame showed up halfway through the afternoon, grabbing an unused dust rag and joining them in the chaos. Sunset had painted the sky a vibrant spectrum of purples and oranges by the time they finished. The room was spotless: futon folded nicely against the wall, a humble sword rack with two shinai and a bouken (the latter being a housewarming gift from his instructor) standing tall in the adjacent corner. A simple chest, filled with his own personal effects, had been placed next to the rack.
"Well, I think we've managed to turn this place into somewhere livable again," Kaoru huffed, wiping dirt-streaked hands on her brown hakama.
"Aa," Kenshin affirmed, turning towards Yahiko afterwards. "Are you excited, Yahiko?"
"Of course!" the boy laughed. "I finally get to sleep somewhere without the hag constantly in my hair!"
"H… hag?! Why I should…"
The young woman pinched his ear painfully before Kenshin stepped in to calm her down.
"Now, now, Kaoru-dono."
"Serves him right! The brat needs to learn manners. Isn't that right, Yahiko-CHAN!"
"Oi!" the boy protested loudly. He hated that nickname and she knew it! Behind them, Tsubame giggled at their antics.
"I missed this," she whispered.
Clearly, the poor girl hadn't meant to destroy the light-hearted atmosphere with her words, but neither Kaoru nor Yahiko found the energy to banter back afterwards. They departed soon afterwards, to let him "settle in," or so Kenshin claimed.
The boy lit a lantern as darkness fell. Somehow, he couldn't help feeling that the room looked odd with his trappings in it, not a trace of its former occupant to be found. Sano had left nothing of import behind when he fled. All around, Yahiko could hear his stranger neighbors through rice paper-thin walls, talking and laughing while he sat quietly, alone. He didn't realize how much he'd grown accustomed to living surrounded by family (albeit a rather unconventional one) until now.
A knock on his door disturbed the boy's depressing thoughts. He scrambled to open it, wondering who would visit him this late (perhaps Kenshin or Kaoru forgot something? No, the space was still rather spartan), and was met with one of the last people he expected.
"What are you doing here?" Yahiko blurt out rudely in his shock.
"I heard through the gossip chain that you were moving into Sano's old place," Tsukioka Katsuhito replied without regard to the boy's rudeness. Hardly surprising, considering the man was childhood friends with the Rooster Head himself.
"Yeah, he gave it to me," Yahiko leaned nervously against the doorframe. "Sano got into some trouble… I don't think he'll be coming back for a while."
"I know. He contacted me before… I helped him arrange the ship ride out," Katsu revealed. "I've developed some pretty good connections over the past year or so at my job."
"So, why are you here?"
"I have a gift," the painter turned journalist pulled a rolled scroll from his bulky red haori. "To celebrate your new residency."
"I… I thought you gave up painting," Yahiko gaped as the scroll was set carefully in his short arms.
"I did, excluding special occasions of course. Besides," Katsu winked. "This one was a special request from a dear friend. He asked me to make sure you felt welcomed here, and he was pretty insistent about it. Consider this my welcome."
"Th… thank you," the boy bowed in gratitude. Later, when he unfurled the scroll in private, Yahiko would hold back tears and wish he bowed lower. The composition was simple: two warriors back to back in a blank landscape. Sano held his fist in the air with a cocky grin while a more solemn Kenshin was posed mid-sword draw.
Yahiko hung the painting above his sword rack. Something clicked after he did so, and it took him several minutes to figure out what it was. Kaoru was present in the tidy arrangement of his room, but now Kenshin and Sano were here too, as they should be. They were his family after all.
And, finally, the rowhouse felt like home.
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A/N: Annnd… I finished the last prompt. Woot!
I wanted to do something a little more lighthearted for this one (especially since I've been churning out so much angst this past week), but I somehow ended up with teary heartwarming instead. Oh, well…
Also, I've been meaning to fit Katsu in one of my stories for a while now. I love his character and really wish Watsuki had utilized him more in the manga.
Last, but not least, RuroKen Week was run by a community on Tumblr, and something I participated in to practice prompt writing since I recently opened up my page to writing requests. If you like my writing and want to request something, you can find me on there as kenkaya-fanworks.