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Young Again: Chapter 3 - Check Up

by Fitz

They made an unlikely group, one eleven-year-old boy and three young children. Yes, three. Sanosuke had shown up on their doorstep, a little shorter than Yahiko. He had not been happy about it either. His clothing had consisted of his white jacket, tied in much the manner Kenshin had used to wear his gi. With his big, brown eyes and spiky brown hair, he was awkward and cute.

Once Kaoru and Sanosuke had been calmed, they set about to dressing properly. As Kaoru still had all her kimonos and practice clothing from when she had been a young girl, she provided the apparel. Kenshin and Sanosuke were both a bit wary of the girl’s clothes, even if they were her practice gis and hakamas. But, as Yahiko pointed out, they had little choice in the matter. So Kenshin and Sanosuke changed into matching white gis and blue hakamas--the standard practice uniform of the students of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. Kaoru wore one of her old kimonos.

While Kaoru fit perfectly into her clothing, as well as Sanosuke, Kenshin was another matter. To the group’s--minus Kenshin, of course--great amusement, he was smaller than any of them. Kaoru had admitted that her father had not allowed her to start training until she was eight, at which point she was taller than Kenshin was at this point. So her clothing was still to large for him. The hakama brushed the tops of his feet, nearly hiding them, while the sleeves of the gi covered all but his fingertips.

“You’re a tiny little thing!” Kaoru giggled, enjoying being taller than Kenshin for once.

“I know I’m short,” Kenshin grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest grumpily. “You don’t have to rub it in my face.”

“And standing next to Hiko-san!” she continued. “You must have looked absolutely scrawny!”

“I’m still scrawny when up next to Shishou,” he sighed. “Well, now, and yesterday.”

Kaoru giggled while Sanosuke grinned. Yahiko, of course, was thoroughly enjoying himself. He stepped in the midst of the group, dropping Kenshin’s sakabatou into the small boy’s hands, and hiding his snicker when Kenshin staggered.

“Come on, you three,” he called over his shoulder, heading down the road. “You wanted some help, and the only person I can think of who might know what to do is the doctor.”

“Oro! Yahiko!”

“Hey!”

“Wait up, brat!”

Yahiko just grinned and continued at his pace. Kaoru, Kenshin, and Sanosuke all had to jog to keep up with him. Of the three, Kenshin looked particularly comical with the sword that was too big for him cradled in both of his arms. His smile broadening, Yahiko led the way to the clinic.

^_^

“Astounding!” Megumi murmured, staring openly at the three small children sitting on a western-style cot before her. “Kaoru-chan? Ken-san? Sanosuke?”

All three nodded sullenly. Megumi looked back and forth between each of them, her smile slowly growing.

“Incredible!” she whispered.

“Megumi-san!” Kaoru whined, her voice fitting perfectly with the size of her body. “What’s wrong with us?!”

Sanosuke nodded in emphasis to the little girl’s tearful question. Megumi shook her head.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I want to do a physical examination of each of you, and maybe that will help us pick out some possibilities. But medically speaking, this is not possible. People do not just regress overnight.”

“Overnight nothing!” Sanosuke growled. “People don’t turn into little kids period!”

“Let’s get this started,” Megumi went on, ignoring the boy Sanosuke’s growling complaint. “Kaoru-chan, I’d like to start with you.”

“Okay.”

Megumi led Kaoru off into another room. It was a strange sight. Kaoru had always been shorter than Megumi, but now the top of her head just reached the woman’s waist.

Kenshin and Sanosuke watched her leave, then looked at each other.

“I don’t want her examining me,” Sanosuke declared.

Kenshin smiled, making his youthful face look even more childish.

“Damn, Kenshin!” Sanosuke laughed. “You could pass for five.”

“And that sounds very funny coming out of your mouth, Sano,” Kenshin shook his head. “I’m tempted to rebuke you for using such harsh language.”

“Little boys don’t use big words like ‘rebuke’ and ‘harsh language,’” Sanosuke snickered. His voice was much higher than usual, as opposed to the rolling tenor it usually was.

“I don’t think she’ll find anything with an examination,” Kenshin agreed finally.

“Why not?” Sanosuke asked, rather desperately. “She has to! I mean, she has to know how to fix it, right?”

“Ummm... right,” Kenshin sighed.

All the while, his wide, violet eyes were focused on Yahiko, who was across the room, keeping Ayame and Suzume occupied. His eyes narrowed slightly.

“Still...” he let his voice trail off, his eyes narrowing to slits that looked strange on his baby face.

I wish you all would be younger.

Yahiko laughed with the two young girls, his laughter a bit tense, as if he was just trying to be nice to them. That was likely the case. Kenshin looked down into his lap, at the sword resting there.

...all would be younger.

He ran his fingers over the sakabatou’s saya, not even able to reach the hilt unless he moved the sword. And to move the sword would be to put himself off balance. To put himself off balance would send the sword crashing to the floor. That was unacceptable.

I wish...

His hands were too small to hold the sword properly. Not only that, but his muscles were not developed enough to wield anything with that kind of weight. He would be better off with a shinai. And he could not imagine spending the next few years of his life using a shinai--assuming they aged naturally again.

...be younger.

Kenshin did not want to age again. Twenty years was a lot of time to make up. Puberty was not something he looked forward to repeating. Admittedly, he would not be living with Hiko again when it happened, which would save him from a lot of unnecessary embarrassment. But Sanosuke and Kaoru, no doubt, would be another source of torture. Strange how they were the same age again.

...younger.

I don’t want to be eight again! he protested silently. I don’t want to be trapped in this child’s body!

And he wondered if this was exactly what Yahiko had meant the previous night.

^_^

“I just can’t find anything wrong with any of you,” Megumi said wearily. Much to Sanosuke’s dismay, she physically lifted him from his spot on the bed and pushed him over far enough for her to sit down between him and Kenshin. Kaoru sat on the other side of Kenshin.

“You’re all perfectly healthy as far as the average child of eight goes,” she declared. “Ken-san is a little small for his age, Sanosuke a little taller than average, but in general... you’re all completely fit.”

“What should we do, Megumi-san?” Kaoru asked fearfully.

“We can’t walk around the streets like this,” Kenshin added.

“I recommend...” Megumi tapped her chin thoughtfully. She smiled. “I recommend that you just enjoy being children again until we figure this out. And Ken-chan-”

“Now just a minute-” Kenshin scowled at the endearment.

“-hand over the sakabatou,” Megumi concluded, talking right over his irritated protest.

“My sakabatou?” Kenshin hugged the sword closer to his chest. “Why?”

“You can’t walk around Tokyo with a sword that’s too big for you to carry,” Megumi pointed out. She easily wrestled the sakabatou free of Kenshin’s tiny hands. “You’ll get caught, and then you’ll never get it back. I’ll bring it back to the dojo tonight when I get off.”

Kenshin watched as she set the sheathed sword on a high, empty shelf over her head. He sighed. He would never reach that--at least, not without breaking half of what was on those shelves below it.

“And get someone to take you to a tailor,” Megumi smirked. “You look like a beggar child in those oversized rags.”

“Oro!”

“Rags!” Kaoru seethed. “Megumi, I’ll have you know those are mine!”

“Yes, and you wore them almost to the point that they’re falling apart,” Megumi retorted. “Kaoru-chan, don’t be so sensitive.”

“Who will pay?” Sanosuke wondered.

“I’ll give some money to Yahiko,” Megumi explained. “He’s the only one anyone will take money from. Now get out of here, you three imps. I have other patients to take care of.”

“Imps?!” Kaoru was outraged. Moving with casual indifference, Kenshin reached up and caught her ponytail before she could go running after the lady doctor. Kaoru almost pulled him off the bed.

“Ack!” the little girl’s head was jerked back painfully. “Kenshin!”

“She’s right, Kaoru-dono,” Kenshin released her hair. “There’s nothing else we can do. Until we find out exactly what’s behind this, we’re stuck.”

“I agree with Kenshin,” Sanosuke piped up. “Let’s just enjoy this while we can. Let’s go get that brat, Yahiko. As much as I hate to admit it, we need him.”

“Sano,” Kenshin smiled. “Yahiko is a responsible boy.”

“Whatever,” Kaoru interrupted, stalking over to where Yahiko was still playing with Ayame and Suzume. “Yahiko!”

Glancing at each other, Kenshin and Sanosuke just shrugged and followed her. They were quickly drawn into a game with Ayame and Suzume--the older of which, they discovered was only slightly shorter than Kenshin. It was a great source of amusement for the others and a source of embarrassment for Kenshin. Ayame and Suzume, who did not know that these three new playmates were indeed their Kenshin, Kaoru, and Sanosuke, had no idea why Kenshin being almost the same height as Ayame was so funny.