Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
by Akai Kitsune
48: Katai
~*~
Kenshin
was the greatest swordsman in Japan. He had spent most of his life dealing
with the toughest, coldest brutes imaginable, turning aside the sharp blade of
death every time.
Yet how, how, Kaoru
thought with despair, did he find it so impossible to discipline his own son?
It made her feel terrible at
times, how she was the one to scold him, to take away his toys when he
misbehaved, to let him know when he overstepped his boundaries. She who faced
his pout, his objections, his tears.
Yes, she felt like a
downright ogre.
It was when he was around the
age of two - the oni years, an old friend of her mother had once told
her - that he mimicked Yahiko's nickname for her and sent her into a fury,
Kenji into tears. Kenshin calmed her down, reminding her that he was too young
to understand what it really meant, and at the same time old enough to want
her known reaction. The thought, however, of her son - her son -
muttering "busu" under his breath like the bratty, egotistical student of hers
was still infuriating.
"Don't be
too hard on him," Kenshin whispered, rubbing her shoulder, dueling against her
tense posture. She willed herself to relax under his ministrations, knowing
that if it was Yahiko before her, she would have struck him already.
She wondered, briefly, how
Tomoe would have dealt with Kenshin's temperamental child.
She also recalled that she
had been doing that a lot lately.
'He's your son
too,' she reminded herself.
Finally she relented, giving
a still-bawling Kenji over to his father's care and going out for a trip to
the marketplace, desperately needing a respite from her somewhat troublesome
family.
"Don't be so hard."
'Am I too hard on
him?'
'Isn't punishment
part of being a parent,' she wondered, 'Just as reward is? Shouldn't we
be teaching him how not to act, even as we show him proper etiquette?'
'With Yahiko as a
brother, and Sano as an uncle,' she thought sullenly, 'What sort of
manners will he have?'
She wished Kenshin spent more
time teaching the boy things. He was still young, of course, but things taught
early were often retained much easier than what was taught later in life. She
knew, for she found Tae's lessons - cooking, formal ceremony, anything
- were exceedingly difficult to remember.
But Kenshin liked to teach by
example, and Kenji might learn, if he ever paid attention when it was
important. His sense of priorities were a bit different from hers.
'Maybe I am a
little harsh sometimes,' she thought guiltily, and, on impulse, purchased
some sweets from a little shop in town.
When she returned home,
sharing her treats with Kenji - who had, through Kenshin's careful words and
gentle encouragements, relaxed and allowed himself to be distracted from her
earlier fit - she earned his delighted hug and profuse thanks, mingled with a
muffled apology and a promise to never, ever call her "busu" again because it
was a bad word and Yahiko-niichan was bad for calling her that. She was
kaasan, pretty, wonderful kaasan, and did she forgive him?
She did, and the grateful,
tender smile she received from her husband made it all worth it.
~*~
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