Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
by Akai Kitsune
22: Calling
~*~
Kenji inherited his mother's voice. Immediately following
his birth, Kenshin knew this, as the newborn's first, shaky cries echoed
throughout the household. It remained constant throughout his early years,
whenever the boy called out for their attention.
"Kaasan, come look at this!"
"Tousan, watch me, ne?"
"Yahiko-niisan, play with me!"
His voice, high-pitched and full of the youth exuberance Kenshin found so
enduring, in both his wife and son, made a deep imprint on his heart, and
continually touched him, no matter what the boy said.
Perfect, yes. His perfect son.
Kaoru had different ideas, most especially when Kenji decided to misbehave.
The child had a strange fascination with dark, brownish mud puddles and sharp
objects, both of which made Kenshin wince at the very notion. He was also
terribly mischievous, possessing a streak of playful endurance he gained from
watching Yahiko at work. There was many a day that Kaoru found herself thinking
fierce - though brief - unmotherly thoughts, even if the majority of them were
focused on the teenaged sensei of her young, impressionable son, rather than the
mischief-maker himself.
Such as the day when she woke to an incredibly foul smell, and soon
discovered that Kenji had found a skunk loitering about the property, and had
not only managed to coat himself in the stench, but had thought it would be
amusing to smear it on one of her favourite kimonos. It had taken days to get
both of them smelling decently again.
Such as the day she entered the dojo for her morning practice and found her
bokken had been plastered with a sticky, days-old rice paste that had begun to
go moldy overnight. It had hardened to the point where it resembled some sort of
brown, fluffy glue, and she had worked Yahiko - even as the little brat laughed
and grinned for hours afterwards - to the ground in her frustration as Kenshin
struggled to scrape away the paste.
Such as the day she caught Kenji playing with the dojo cat and noticed that
half the animal's whiskers had somehow been cut off. The cat was irritable for
the rest of the week, and Kenji had both the scratches and the tears to prove
it.
Kaoru almost resented the fact that Kenji never seemed to pull such pranks on
his father, but Kenshin had - politely and carefully, as she watched him scrub
the floor clean of Kenji's latest food antics - pointed out to her that he was
unlikely to give Kenji the same reaction as she did, which was most likely what
the boy desired in the first place.
She wondered for a while what, exactly, that meant, but had been
forced to return to reality by way of Yahiko's startled, adolescent scream, and
Kenji's childish laughter.
"Kaasan!"
At four years old, Kenji's wails could have awakened the dead. For some
reason, this train of thought did not bother Kenshin nearly as much as Kaoru.
"It's not that bad," he smiled sleepily at her as she
grumbled her way out of bed. He had offered to go, but Kenji had always been
clingy with his mother, so his presence at midnight would not be as welcoming as
hers. "I haven't heard any complaints from the neighbours, yet."
"Because our neighbours are a couple of old folks who know
what its like to have toddlers," she replied testily, sending him a weary glare
as she left their room and headed down the hall to get her son settled again.
He flung himself at her knees the moment she slid open the shoji, sobbing and
sniffling into her yukata about shadows and fear and how alone he felt. Her
anger dissipated in a second - as it often did when he was with her - and she
knelt beside him, reaching out to draw him close to her. He welcomed her
comfort, his cries gradually falling to sniffles. She felt herself smile gently,
whispering soft murmurs of consolation against whatever had scared him out of
sleep. When he finally settled down, and she shifted to pull away and send him
back to bed, he clung to her, and she let out a quiet sigh, knowing that he
would not return to sleep that easily.
"Shh, shh, Ken-chan," she said faintly into his ear, "How
would you like to come stay with tousan and I?"
A quiet sob, and his fists tightening in her hair was her answer, and she
rose easily, carrying him back to their room. Kenshin must have felt them
coming, for when she slid open the shoji, he had carefully spread the blankets
evenly, to make room for all three of them. She smiled in silent thanks, and he
returned it easily, taking their young son from her as she settled within the
blankets. Kenji whimpered only slightly as she released him, and she was
grateful for that. It had been difficult enough to silence him without his
starting up again. As soon as she was content within the covers, they snuggled
closer, holding Kenji between them. The boy was quiet again, clinging tightly to
Kaoru's yukata, his face nestled against her shoulder.
Kenshin did not sleep much that night, and instead spent half the night
watching his wife and son doze beside him. They were so peaceful there, resting
in his arms. So quiet when they were asleep. Innocent to the world, oblivious to
the darkness and shadows that swarmed around them.
He curled closer to his family, his eyelids finally shutting out the known
obscurity of the room to greet the oblivion of sleep, and he rested his cheek
against the crown of his son's head, whispering softly into the hair that was
his, and hers, combined.
His. His perfect son, no matter what he did.
"I love you... I love you..."
~*~
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