Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
by Akai Kitsune
27: Kawa
~*~
Kaoru could remember standing on the bank of a river, as a
young child, fishing with her father. She was laughing, splashing through the
reeds and the mud with her kimono drawn up above her knees, her hair tied high
to try to avoid making a mess of it - although it failed miserably. Koshijirou
watched her, a broad smile on his face, in one of the rare moments he went
without his stern facade.
Her mother had been dead for three months.
It had not been their first excursion to the river, but it would certainly
not be their last. It eased the pain in her heart, knowing that love and
enjoyment still existed in the world, that not all was lost, broken and dead.
She knew, also, that her father was able to relax at the river, its waters a
soothing balm to his suffering soul. She was a child, but she had always been
fairly observant.
They never did catch much on the long afternoons of spring and summer, even
when the fish were plentiful and hungry, but neither seemed to care very much.
It was a welcome vacation from everyday life and the continuous knowledge that
their family had once been bigger, that if sickness had not won another battle
in the war it constantly waged against mankind, a family of three, not two,
could have been laughing and teasing each other in the cool waters.
As she grew older, Kaoru liked to walk along the river by
herself, standing on the dirt path and gazing out across the span of flowing
water, her arms curled around her body to protect against the wind-chill. The
river always seemed a little lonely, moving continually without respite, without
mercy. It flowed whether the days were cold or hot, stormy or calm. She loved
its consistency, yet at the same time, pitied its endless journey.
Sometimes she would give in to her initial, yet often childish temptation and
pull her kimono up, tying it tightly or simply tucking it back in the hopes that
it would not fall, and jog down to the bank again, wading into the flowing
current and feeling the ripples tickle her bare legs. She would close her eyes
and turn her face to the sky, the sun bright on her skin, and let heat and
chills war for control over her body, meeting in the center of her heart and
causing a delighted shiver to run up and down her spine. Her kimono, half-tied
and tugged by the insistent currents, fell from its restraints and into the
water, seeping through the material straight up to her knees.
Later, she would trudge home, dripping and sheepish, unable to avoid her
father's gaze when she entered the gate and he was there, waiting for her,
sometimes practicing alone or preparing to teach a class. He would turn to her,
stare at her for a moment, and shake his head - just so - in a manner
that would always send a blush of embarrassment to her cheeks, and set his
students into friendly, half-hidden laughter. He never berated her for it,
though, and mere moments after, she would be changed and joining the lesson
without a word between them, leading the class with the skill she was known well
for.
Kenji was just learning to crawl when Kenshin suggested
they have an afternoon picnic by the riverside, inviting Yahiko, Tsubame, and
Tae along if they wished. Tae politely declined, of course, claiming that the
Akabeko would be busy that afternoon, but she was gracious enough to allow
Tsubame and Yahiko a few hours off for the outing.
"Kenji would love it," he had assured her with a broad
smile, keeping his eyes on the toddler as he scrambled on his hands and knees
through the dirt of the yard, Yahiko on his heels coaxing him forward. "I think
we just need a nice, relaxing day to ourselves, away from the dojo or any sort
of chores. Does that sound good to you?"
Part of her wanted to object to his proposition, a million paranoid, motherly
horror stories coming to mind.
"What if he trips and falls on a rock?"
"What if he falls in the water?"
"What if the current is too strong and he's carried off somewhere
where we'll never find him again?"
"What if he drowns?"
These fears and many others were already half out of her mouth, when she
suddenly realized why, perhaps, her father never took her to the river before
her mother's death. It was a terrible thought, and it made her reconsider.
'Anything that could happen to Kenji will most certainly be
prevented, either by Kenshin - who is always watching him, no matter what he is
doing - Yahiko - who watches when he can, almost certainly as fierce and
protective as Kenshin as times - or myself, who would likely have a heart attack
if he stubbed his toe...'
'Silly fears, that is what these thoughts are. Kenshin is right;
Kenji will love it, won't he...'
He did, of course, although he was reaching the age at which he smiled at
everything; smiled simply for the sake of smiling. He giggled babyishly as
Yahiko held a wriggling frog in front of him, staring disfavourably at its
captors; he cheered with her as Kenshin pulled an exceptionally large fish from
the rushing water; he laughed when Tsubame's shy comment of praise sent a
blushing Yahiko and his own fish into the river. He fell asleep in her arms
after they had eaten their prepared lunch, before he had even tasted the treats
Tsubame had brought with her from Tae. He continued sleeping even when she
passed him to her husband, and he carried the child home, as the softening
bubbles of the water echoed Kenji's quiet snores, drawing him deeper into peace
slumbers.
~*~
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