Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
by Akai Kitsune
31: Neko
~*~
Kaoru could not remember when there had not been a cat
around the dojo. It had changed over the years, as she grew older and the
animals lived and died for various reasons, but there had always been one small,
shy cat that loitered around the property whenever it pleased itself, stealing
food and making a general nuisance to her parents. She recalled the days between
visits, when she would search and crane her ear for a soft, hungry cry to summon
her from whatever she was doing and steal scraps from the kitchen to feed it
with. It was a secret game, a single amusement that, as far as she knew, her
parents never found out about.
As the years went by, she lost interest in the cat, and by the time she was
living on her own, she too saw the cat as a bother. She couldn't understand how
her parents had tolerated such a fickle guest, a freeloader who came and went as
it pleased.
It wasn't until Kenshin came to live at the dojo that the cat actually became
a permanent resident. She - the most recent cat, only a kitten really, had been
identified as a she, eventually - liked to watch Kenshin cook, her wild green
eyes sparkling with multiple hidden agendas as he carved the fish and boiled the
vegetables, her claws kneading the wooden counter she lay on before he nudged
her off to avoid getting fur in the miso. Occasionally, when Kaoru called him or
some other part of the meal distracted his attention, she would snatch a morsel
right beneath his fingertips. Kaoru had to congratulate her; the creature was
the only one who walked as softly as the rurouni himself.
When Kenji was almost three years old, he named the cat,
as the family treated themselves to fresh-cooked maple buns that Kaoru had
purchased from the market that very day. The cat had sauntered in, her nose
leading her forward, eyes so focused it seemed as if she lived for that moment
alone. Kenji had waved to her, grinning through his little teeth and sticky
cheeks, then took another bite of the bun as she trotted over to sit beside him.
Immediately he placed his sugar-coated fingers into her soft fur, and giggled as
she licked his chin.
"She has a scratchy tongue," he scrambled away, offering
his fingers to her instead. She happily licked them clean, before concentrating
on the remnants of the bun he had left on her coat. "Neko likes them, doesn't
she? We should call her that, ne?"
"Maple Bun?" Kenshin repeated, raising his eyebrow with a
small smile.
Kenji made a face, then shrugged. "Momiji. Is that okay, neko?" The cat
responded simply by stroking her long, rough tongue against his cheek again. "Kya!
Tickles!"
Kaoru placed a hand on Kenshin's arm, giving him a quick glance, then turned
to her son. "Kenji, don't play with the cat while we're eating, all right?"
Kenji's sulk was echoed by the cat's sullen expression, as Kenshin gently
prodded her out the door, the shoji closing behind her. Kaoru smiled
apologetically at Kenji, ruffling his hair, and began to clear the dishes away,
leaving Kenshin to entertain the boy. At the shoji, Momiji gave a soft, begging
wail, then disappeared into the shadows to hunt for more suitable treats.
She often wandered off, much like her predecessors, but no matter how long
she was gone, she always came back. At her return, as Kenji laughed and picked
her up in his small, chubby arms, only to shriek and cry as her claws dug
unforgivingly into his skin, Kaoru was reminded that it was, in fact, more
Kenshin's cat than anyone else's.
No less than a year later, the cat was struck by a Western
carriage as it raced by the dojo fence. She must have been killed instantly,
Kenshin had reassured her later on, although how he might have known this, Kaoru
didn't want to even guess. She could only remember how he entered the dojo that
day - coming home after a long job from the police chief, all the way from
Kyushu - carrying her broken, bloody body against his chest, tight and enclosed
to hide her from sight. He waited at the gate, gazing imploringly at her, his
eyes dark and questioning. She gently ushered Kenji inside, since he had not
noticed his father's return, and approached him, concerned and saddened. He
relaxed, and she realized that he had waited only to protect Kenji from seeing
the dead creature.
"I didn't know," she murmured softly, placing one hand on
his arm, carefully averting her eyes from the corpse he carried. "Was she just
outside? Did you see it?"
"Yes," he answered, not meeting her eyes, although to
which question she wasn't sure. Perhaps both.
"She left on the same day you did," Kaoru continued after
a moment. "I was getting worried... but..."
"I'm going to get changed and get her cleaned," he
interrupted gently. "Kenji has a right to know. But... not like this," he added
calmly, taking note of the bloody, matted fur. Kaoru was reminded of the time
when her fur had been so clean, so silken, so refined. The cat would have gone
out of her mind to see it so dirty, had she been alive to care.
Kenshin carried the animal into the bathhouse, promising to scrub it clean
later on, but she hadn't really cared, either way. She watched him disappear
into the building, observing his swift, confident stride, unchanging, almost
uncaring, if it was not for the wet darkness against his crimson gi, and the way
his head hung down against the wind.
She felt a shiver move up her spine, her hands shaking in the chill of the
early spring morning, tears streaming down her cheeks for a cat she didn't even
like. Kenshin's cat, who was his and no one else's, no matter how they wished to
have her, had wandered out of their lives for the last time. She had returned in
the form of an empty black body, bones broken and flesh torn, against her own
will, gone, gone.
And there was no calling her back.
~*~
|