Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
by Akai Kitsune
04: Sneezing
~*~
Someone is talking about you.
'Wonderful,' Kaoru thought with a tight frown,
rubbing the skin beneath her nose in irritation. 'As if today
hasn't been hard enough as it is...'
She hadn't been sick for a long time. As a child, there had
been plenty of illnesses passing through Tokyo; some she had
managed to avoid, and others she had experienced herself. But in
her time alone, she had somehow kept herself reasonably healthy.
'Well, I'm not about to get sick now,' she scowled with no
small amount of vehemence. 'Not when I'm just beginning to
work again.'
She turned back to her first student, who was happily making
faces at her and mocking her supposed "illness", and
she had no doubts who it was exactly that was talking about her.
For once Kaoru ignored Yahiko's foolishness and glanced
outside to see her husband, carelessly washing the laundry yet
again. He himself had always been relectant to speak of his own
past sicknesses - or any aspect of his childhood, for that matter
- but she could relate that back to his family; she had managed
to choke out of him once, long ago, his parents' fate, and his
life before he began training with his master. It had been brief
and sad, but in the end, he had smiled at her and said it didn't
matter, even if it really did. So, failing to get anything else
from him - and not wanting to make him feel unhappy - she no
longer asked about his past. Yahiko himself had warned her about
that; no matter what was in the past, there will always be some
regrets.
Yahiko had been sick, for the first time since he had come to
live with them, just a few years back. She wrinkled her nose in
distaste at the memory. He had been absolutely intolerable,
loudly calling out demands and whining constantly about his
pitiful, delicate condition, and how he couldn't possibly do any
chores that day. He had worn Kenshin ragged, moving back and
forth between his own chores and treating the poor,
self-proclaimed invalid. By the end of the day, when she had
returned from training at the dojo across town, Kenshin had
looked worse off than Yahiko, and both had earned a swift
reprimand - Kenshin for allowing himself to be taken advantage of
so easily, and Yahiko for being so selfish. The next day, Yahiko
had felt better, of course. Kenshin had slept in, and it was so
unusual that Kaoru didn't bother to wake him. Instead, she had
punished Yahiko's inconsiderate actions from the previous day by
making breakfast herself. By the time the morning lessons were
done, she had found Kenshin in the front yard, doing laundry yet
again, and neither of them had spoken of how he had overslept,
although he seemed both guilty and grateful.
The first time Kenji was sick, Kaoru had been in a panic. She
had been prepared to send a letter to Megumi in Aizu without
hesitation, although the child's fever was mild, but Kenshin -
always the more conventional one and certainly not someone who
easily panicked - gently eased her fears and told her that
Genzai-sensei would certainly be enough to heal their son. Sure
enough, after a few days, the fever was dismissed and Kenji had
gone back to his usual - although much louder and having the
knowledge of how much attention being sick will get you - self.
And, of course, Kaoru felt embarrassed and sheepish at her
unreasonable, momentary fears. Kenshin had just smiled and
shrugged it off. He was probably more amused than anything else.
~*~
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