I'm traveling right now so updates might be less frequent. I promise it will go back to normal in April. Thanks for the comments. Hope you enjoy.
The Calm
Misao was recovered, at least Aoshi deemed her ready to go on missions again. But she wasn't allowed to go by herself. Kenshin was surprised on how well she was doing, after everything she had gone through. But Kaoru had been right, she didn't remember most of it. There were times when her smile fell, but Aoshi was always there for her.
Life continued. They did what they always did. Protecting people and doing what they could to help. The only change was they started working with Saito through Kaoru. Saito kept her informed of things going on that the police deemed not worth their time. She then conveyed what she had learned to them, so they could do what they could.
Through this partnership they were able to expand. No longer were they only focused on only one part of the city. As their reach grew, so did their support. Only the police and those in the upper class still saw them as criminals. Everyone else started to see them as the good guys. They were the ones willing to fight the system, willing to help those everyone had turned their backs on. Slowly people started to unite behind them. People started to listen. It was slow, painstakingly slow, but they could feel things starting to shift.
He had started spending more time with Kaoru. He said it was because someone needed to keep in contact with her to get information, and he knew her the best. But everyone knew it was because he enjoyed being with her. He also didn't want to leave her alone to deal with Ayame and Suzume.
When the girls had first asked to play with him, he had known it was a bad idea, but he couldn't resist. Now it was his responsibility to help Kaoru manage them. The last thing any of them needed was for the girls to start talking about him.
"Say hello to the little missy for me," Sano called out as he left, the laugh evident in his voice. He wanted to retort about a certain doctor Sano had been hanging out with more, but he didn't. Sano always won and Kenshin always walk away with a red face.
He made his way slowly across town and to her apartment window. If there was a plant in the window, just visible through the window shade, it meant she was busy and he would have to wait. Once he saw there was no plant, he let himself in. No one was there, which he had expected. She normally had lessons around this time. He busied himself tidying up what he could.
It was easy to tell when she was coming back. He knew her ki and she was almost always arguing with Yahiko. They walked in, not startled that he was there.
"Hay," Yahiko said in greeting before heading to the bathroom.
"No Ayame and Suzume today?" he asked.
"No, they are out with Dr. Gensai. I think they finally understand that they shouldn't talk about you. We turned it into a game. Now we only need to worry about them talking to someone they trust, which mostly consists of people who already know."
"I am glad, that I am," he said bringing over some tea. "How is Yahiko doing?"
"Don't tell him, but he is doing well. Better than I expected. He learns fast and is stubborn as a mule. He has also taken to walking around with his shinai…all the time, even when he goes to work. It took two days of arguing before he finally agreed to walk around the city with it wrapped up. It probably helped that Tsubame was on my side."
He laughed, "One remembers doing something similar. It is a good way to get used to the weapon."
"I agree," Kaoru said smiling. "But he does get quite a few confused looks."
They fell into companionable silence. Neither of them finding a need to speak. Over the past weeks they had talked a lot. By now they knew that if the other wanted to talk, they would. Otherwise, neither of them found a need for small talk.
She had told him about her birth parents and how they hadn't cared about her existence and how they had taken their anger out on her. Not physical but verbally. But mostly she talked about Koshijiro and how he had shown her love and taught her swordsmanship and how to stand up for herself. From the way she talked, it was easy to tell how much she cared for Koshijiro and how much she missed him. So much of who she was today was because of what he had taught her. Kenshin wished he could have met him.
He told her about the three women who had taken him in after his parents died. They didn't have much, but they did what they could to support him. Then he had met Master Hiko, who took custody of him. He started learning swordsmanship. Everything was going well until the three woman who had been taking care of him were killed. His anger had driven him to leave Master Hiko to work for the elites. He didn't like talking about that time, but he answered her questions if she had any. She usually respected his silence.
After that time, he returned to Master Hiko, hoping to find who he was again. It had taken a while to regain his masters trust. It was during that time that Master Hiko gave him his new name. Saying he needed a clean break from who he was. Master Hiko scoffed at his resolution to not kill, but continued training him none the less, saying training a new disciple was too troublesome.
Eventually Yahiko came out of the bathroom. He took one look at them sitting on the couch, smirked, and disappeared into his room. Kaoru muttered something under her breath about payback. He was glad he wasn't in Yahiko's shoes.
The day past calmly. He enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of her home. So different than where he lived. He helped her when she let him and watched when she didn't. It was amazing how easily she made remedies from memory.
"What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" She asked Eichi, bringing over some tea. Yahiko was in the kitchen, alert but willing to let her handle her friend.
"I wanted to apologize for my actions earlier. I would have come earlier but then the Battousai became more active and I got busy."
"Apology accepted," she said. So far, the air was civil.
"How is everything going here?" He asked cautiously. It seemed he was also trying to avoid conflict.
"Same as always." She wasn't sure what to ask in return. His life revolved around catching Kenshin and that was a bad topic.
"No one giving you trouble?"
"Nothing I can't handle." The room fell into an awkward silence which was finally broken by Ayame and Suzume running in. Kaoru was on her feet in an instant. This was not good.
"Is Uncle Ken here?" Ayame asked before Kaoru could say anything.
"Uncle Ken?" Eichi asked.
"He's our friend," Ayame supplied.
"Our friend," Suzume said.
"I don't think he is coming today but I can play with you. We can go to the dojo," Yahiko said. She blessed his quick thinking. It almost worked, except for Ayame mentioning Uncle Ken's magical red hair before Yahiko could distract her with playing. The change in Eichi was immediate, even the girls noticed.
She placed a hand on Yahiko's shoulder as she passed him to put herself between the girls and Eichi, "Saito," she whispered. His shoulder stiffened in acknowledgement. He then quickly ushered the girls outside.
"Red hair?" Eichi hissed.
"You know the rules," she said trying to calm the situation.
"Damn the rules. You already broke them. You let a criminal interact with those children. Though maybe you don't see it as breaking the rules. After all, one a pick pocket and the other two are the children of…"
She knocked him to the ground, "Don't you dare talk about their parents that way."
"You protect the children of criminals and you took in a thief. I should have known you would betray me."
Her temper flared, "Don't you dare talk to me about betrayal. I came to you when they burned the dojo. I asked you to help me find justice. You turned me away, taking their money instead. I owe you nothing."
He pushed her off and stood back up, "He's a murder."
"No, he's not. He was an assassin. At least he regrets what he did. I can't say the same for you."
He was livid, "How dare you. I follow the law. I don't kill people."
"You follow a law that lets people die. You turn your back on those that truly need you. People die because of your actions. It's the same thing. Things need to change. The Battousai sees this."
His eyes widened, "It's you. You're the reason the Battousai is gaining support." She didn't say anything. "I'll make sure you regret helping him."
"You have no proof," she said. He just glared at her. After a moment he pushed past her and out the door.
She would need to warn Kenshin. Eichi would be watching her house carefully. As long as he didn't get any proof, she was safe. She only hoped Yahiko had had enough time to contact Saito. If Eichi hadn't figured out Saito's role, he would soon.
Sighing, she sat down. This mess was her fault. She should have been stricter with the girls. Should have told Kenshin to stop showing up so they would stop looking for him. But instead she had let her emotions decide and now everything was a mess.
Grabbing her computer, she used the method Kenshin had shown her to contact him. He had taught it to her in case of emergencies, like this one.