Kenshin watched Yahiko practice defensive moves. Kaoru pointed out weak spots with bruises from her shinai while keeping an eye on his footwork. He saw the power of Yahiko's thrust and grace in his footwork, yet Kenshin wondered how useful his bokken would really be if he were attacked. He was quick and agile enough to be a real asset to the Ishin Shishi, though.
The other student, Yutaro, came in quietly and began warm-up exercises. He looked to be the same age as Yahiko. Kenshin didn't recall ever facing a left-handed swordsman and idly wondered if it made much difference. Her Kamiya-Kasshin style seemed to target wrists and shoulders, how would that have fit into battle? He easily imagined hands and arms left in a gory puddles instead of whole bodies; he couldn't imagine living without his right arm. Seeing her attack both young men at once left no doubt that she's dangerous with a length of bamboo.
"Keep your back straight and watch your opponent's eye. Don't be surprised if he comes at you from the side."
He shut the gate behind him as he headed toward the river. Last night he had scouted the market section of town not finding a single inn, but then he had been in assassinations, not reconnaissance. It felt strange not leading a squad, this wasn't comparable to becoming accustomed to a different rank or position in the Ishin Shishi; men didn't wear swords, women were doctors and ran dojos, people gave friendly greetings to each other instead of avoiding eye contact. Tokyo seemed almost foreign to him when he also received friendly greetings from a policeman calling him Himura-san and a bearded old man who referred to him as Kenshin-san and asked about Kaoru-chan.
The Maekawa dojo came in sight and recalling Yahiko's comment he decided to peek inside to verify that she only taught young children. There were fifteen men training seriously with bokken and shinai so he watched unobtrusively until he overheard an old bearded man that was probably the dojo master.
"You should go home and rest today. Kamiya-san will be instructing here tomorrow so there will be a full house of beginning students for you to work with."
"Yes sensei, I want to ask her for a re-match. I may have found a way to counter her double shoulder strike." A strong young man bowed and left silently.
Kenshin sat on a log close to the riverbank not far from an old bridge to rest for a bit watching the rushes move with the current. While Yahiko was a little more respectful than Sano, they were comfortable enough with him to try including him in their conversations instead of falling silent when they saw him. Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way; there was no need to pay for a room at an inn until he decided where he wanted to go. Once Kenshin settled on a destination he'd be spending enough money at inns.
Kenshin guessed that it was almost noon and headed back to the dojo to prevent Kaoru from ruining the last of the rice making lunch; she knew the way of the sword, yet not the way of the kitchen. He walked through the gate to find Sanosuke and Yahiko glaring at each other while Kaoru reached up and smacked Sano's head lightly with her bokken. "What is wrong with you? Acting like you've never seen us sparring?"
Sano snapped at the younger boy. "You never attacked with Ryutsuisen! And both of you were facing her at once!"
"I've done that move like a hundred times!" Yahiko glared back.
"She's always fighting both of us" Yutaro folded his arms.
"His strike didn't land! I won't even bruise from this! After all this time you think I can't guard myself?"
"He attacked you with Hiten Mitsurugi style?" They seemed to finally notice that Kenshin was there.
"He only uses a copy of your move, but since we're practicing he doesn't go too high. It's not like I faced Saito's Gatotsu." She signaled to Yutaro and they each took a stance to continue sparring.
"Are you talking about the fight you mentioned yesterday? What happened?" The Battosai's grim baritone made them all wary.
"He attacked you two days ago to judge your strength; he's looking for a temporary ally." Sano tried to get Battosai's attention off Kaoru.
Battosai nodded slightly to acknowledge Sano's comment without taking his eyes off Kaoru.
"Saito isn't a threat. He won't come back here…and someday I will learn to keep my mouth shut."
"Not likely," Kenshin and Yahiko spoke in unison; one received a silencing glare from the other. "What do you know about facing his Gatotsu?"
"I wasn't a threat to him because I was unarmed." She indicated her bokken as she walked right up to stare directly into his angry golden eyes "He paused just long enough for you to come from behind me and attack."
She headed toward the dojo to put her bokken away since Battosai interrupted training and it was past time to fix lunch anyway.
"Not holding a bokken is unarmed?"
Neither Sano nor Yahiko wanted to explain Kaoru's habit of using bamboo shinai or wooden bokken against tempered steel, let alone her poor choice of opponents; Yakuza thugs, gangs of criminals, ex-Shinsengumi, etc.
"She stepped in the middle of my fight." Battosai went after her.
Kenshin slid the door closed behind him, the sound made her hesitate before turning around. She ignored his amber glare, but the set of his jaw kept her quiet. He exhaled sharply and crossed his arms over his chest effectively blocking the door. Kaoru mentally went back through their argument in the yard wondering why he was so mad at her.
"You interfered in my fight." He knew his tone scared her, but not nearly as much as he wanted it to.
"Of course. You were-"
"I don't want to hear it." His harsh baritone felt like a slap.
Kaoru put her fists on her hips still holding her bokken and glared at the hitokiri. What was his problem? He didn't say anything about her interference at the time and he hadn't been himself then either.
"You were between me and the Third Captain." He was amazed that she lived, between the Wolf of Mibu and Battosai she ought to be in pieces.
"I will not stand by and let some—"
"Have you done that before?" Kenshin took an ominous step closer when she hesitated to answer so he assumed that his fight with Saito wasn't the first time. "You will die."
"I don't have to be in-between you and an enemy to be killed." She got a firmer grip on the hilt of her bokken "It's not like you didn't know I was there."
Kenshin narrowed his eyes at her comment. No, she wouldn't know about Tomoe, he'd never tell anyone.
Yahiko stood just inside the doorway noticing Kaoru's wooden sword move to the position of Mugyo, down by her hand. She was waiting to attack. He nudged the young man leaning against the doorpost "Hey Sano, Ugly and Battosai are..."
"Yahiko-chan, do not call me ugly!"
"You two realize that Lord Okubo Toshimichi is coming back in five days."
"Don't call me –chan you old hag!"
"What did Okubo want and why is Saito looking for an ally?"
"We can talk about Lord Okubo and Shishio Mokoto at the Shuei-Ya." Sano shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled out the door as Kaoru and Yahiko beat on each other.
Kenshin pondered her stance during their argument and Sano's interruption as he followed the lanky man. "Has she ever struck me?"
"Um, well..." he rubbed the back of his neck as he paused "I really didn't think she'd be so merciless with you; we both assumed she'd just yell at you or something." Sano shoved his hand back into his pocket "Besides, Missy would've known you're not a slave trader if she thought about it for half a second."
A slave trader? Do they know about Shinta? Is that why she mentioned being between him and an enemy? No, he wouldn't tell her after only six months. "Why does my enemy want my help?"
"Shishio is planning to overthrow the government."
"Is he still in Kyoto?"
"Far as we know."
Sano settled himself on the old wood floor of his favorite gambling hall a little impatient for his turn at the dice. Kenshin crouched next to him with no interest in the game.
"Why did she think I'm a slave trader?" His voice was lowered not to reach the men drinking close by, especially since some of them greeted him by name when he followed Sano through the door.
"At the time it seemed like a better idea than the truth."
"Being a slaver is better than being Battosai?"
Sano stared at him for a long moment with his mouth open "No. The little Miss never cared that you were an assassin for the Ishin Shishi, she'll get in anybody's face if they bring up your past. But she beat you senseless thinking you won Megumi playing cards. Missy didn't let up until the lady doctor wrapped her arms around you and even then she tossed us all out on our ears."
"Tenchu or Aku Soku Zan?"
"More like pounding on evil for a while then yelling at it to straighten up." Sano rolled snake-eyes before turning back to Kenshin. "I've only seen her use the palm of her hand since then, but if she ever comes at you armed again dodge. No shame in staying out of Missy's range." Rolling a seven forced him to hand the dice to Hikojiro who wore a new western hat.
"She still uses bokken and shinai against you and Yahiko."
"Along with bowls, spoons and a tofu bucket once; that was an ingenious burn if I do say so myself." Sano's grin didn't last long. "But seriously man, when I said she'll get in anyone's face I meant anyone. You and Saito were in full on battle mode, one second she's standing by Yahiko against the wall and the next second she's glaring down Saito's blade blocking you until you nudged her aside."
"I refuse to let a woman die for me."
"Then it's a good thing Saito can tell the two of you apart."
Sano suggested they hit the Akabeko since they both missed lunch. The booths were built on a raised platform against the walls with a wide aisle down the center. They left their sandals in the aisle and stepped up to sit around a raised charcoal fire. Rice paper walls that went to the ceiling separated each booth making it feel like a small room.
The waitress was a shy little girl with short brown hair. She seemed timid around the other customers, yet her face lit up when she noticed Sano and Kenshin sitting in a booth.
"Those creeps giving you a hard time again?" Sano laced his fingers behind his head.
"No, I'm fine, thank you Sanosuke-san. Please excuse me while I get your usual order Kenshin-san." She smiled brightly at him before turning away.
Kenshin wondered what the girl planned to bring for them and looked over at Sano leaning back with his hands behind his head resting his left ankle on his right knee. Sano uncrossed his legs and rested his arms on the table as he leaned forward to nod toward the table next to the kitchen door.
Kenshin turned to see the young girl taking orders for a few rough looking men. She looked them in the eye and smiled politely even though one of them had obviously been drinking. He wondered at the change in her attitude then Yahiko came through the door with a tray glaring at them as he passed by. Kenshin turned back to Sano for an explanation, but he only sighed and rolled his eyes.
"You're not going to tease him are you? Do we have to wait another ten years for you to get a sense of humor?"
"Like Kenshin's ever made fun of anyone but you." Yahiko left two bowls of beef and steamed vegetables on the table.
"So what's up with little Tsubame?"
"Kaoru's been talking to her. She isn't so scared and jittery anymore, but Tsubame still avoids men when she thinks she's alone."
"The little Miss will have her wielding a shinai if you don't watch out."
Yahiko snorted in response without taking his eyes from the young waitress. "Let Kaoru know I'll be back for dinner tonight."
"Speak about your training master with respect." Living in peace was making this generation lose reverence for tradition and their elders.
Yahiko's face showed his devastation plainly as he shuffled away.
Sano frowned "That was a bit harsh since you're the only one he respects more than the little Miss."
How was Kenshin in the wrong? He didn't believe he was being lectured by a lazy copy of Harada. The only reason he approached the kid was because Sano was several years older than he was and if Kenshin didn't show respect for his elders then he couldn't demand the same from Yahiko.
"Why don't you refer to your training master as Kamiya-sensei?"
"She isn't a master yet and she never told me to use any title or honorific. I've overheard her referring to me as her apprentice, Yutaro's the one she calls a student."
Megumi showed up to check on Kenshin later that evening. "How are you feeling, Ken-san? Have you felt dizzy?"
"No."
"I really should give you a thorough examination."
Kenshin was amazed how easily Megumi made the words 'feeling' and 'examination' sound indecent. The tall graceful woman flipped her long jet black hair behind a shoulder as he turned away with no intention of participating in whatever 'examination' the doctor had in mind.
"I didn't think it was possible to make leather out of fish."
"Hey Ugly, what's white and shaped like a cube? Huh? Give up? I can't tell either."
Kenshin noticed the way Megumi wrinkled her nose at Kaoru's rice. He wasn't that thrilled with dinner either although for some reason this was where he'd chosen to take a break from being rurouni. As Sano pointed out yesterday, he didn't wake up on the roof because he was sneaking out in the middle of the night.
"That was my mushroom!"
"Like she knows which ones aren't poisonous, do you want to go to the clinic?"
"Ken-san is the one who should be at the clinic."
Kenshin set his chopsticks aside not liking the tone of that statement. Kaoru poured more tea for Yahiko then emptied the last of it into his own cup with a frown. Seeing Kaoru's ki blazing with rage he debated whether or not to intervene if she suddenly lunged across the table at their guest.
"While we were at the Akabeko Tsubame said I refer to you as –dono. Why do I use that suffix with you?"
She met his eyes when she replied "You refer to all women as –dono just like you refer to yourself as 'this one' instead of saying 'I' and 'me'. You also say 'de gozaru ka' and 'oro' a lot. I think it's a habit you picked up while you were wandering throughout the country helping anyone who needed your protection."
Megumi specifically told that stupid little girl not to tell him anything, yet it only took two days for him to trust her with his questions. Battosai apparently didn't care about her lack of cooking skills any more than Kenshin. She helped Kaoru clear the table and as soon as they were alone in the kitchen Megumi berated her for not listening to a doctor's advice. Kaoru quickly became defensive just like always, yet Megumi didn't stop there.
"And why aren't you against Ken-san going to Kyoto? Your only comment was to remind Lord Okubo that Ken-san wasn't hitokiri Battosai anymore. Do you want him to walk out on you?"
"This is his decision."
"So you don't care about his vow not to kill again?"
Sano leaned against the doorjamb "He isn't Kenshin right now."
"Kenshin is the same man who fought against Gohei, Jin-E and Saito. If only we could figure out who he confronted on the roof maybe there would be a way to get his memories back."
"That's why he has to stay here and as sullen as you were at dinner it seems like you're trying to drive him away."
"His leaving will have more to do with Shishio Mokoto than you Missy, but what will you do if he never remembers?"
"I don't know."
"Come on, I'll walk you home."
"You're becoming quite a gentleman; I knew Ken-san would eventually rub off on you."
"Nobody is rubbing off on anyone, let's go."
"Remember no man wants to be around a sweaty little girl all the time."
Kenshin half expected the sharp crack of wood on wood when the door closed behind Megumi, but not the sad frown as Kaoru picked up the spoon to wash it again.