Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Steps Of Courage ❯ Vagrant at Rest ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply. Always.

---------

Chapter 2

When Megumi saw Kenshin hobbling toward her with a petite girl in his arms, her doctoring skills kicked into overdrive.

The walk from town to the Ogura Clinic was a long one, and by the time they had actually reached Megumi, the girl had lost consciousness, from either exhaustion or hunger, or a mixture of the two.

"Set her here Ken-san," the elegant healer directed gently. Kenshin gingerly set the girl down on the futon and backed away a little to let Megumi work.

"She doesn't look like she's harmed as much as the dry blood seems to dictate. Most of these cuts and bruises are weeks old, but they've never been treated. It's a wonder none of her wounds got infected. But she's suffering badly from malnutrition and cold. She desperately needs food, rest, and a nice warm bath," explained Megumi, opening a salve jar and applying it to the apparent wounds.

The young doctor had beautiful inky hair that fell loosely to her waist. Her dark, almost expressionless eyes stared at Kenshin intently, probing softly beneath his solid, flawless exterior.

She decided against withholding more worrisome information, so she took a deep breath and spoke again. "Look at these lacerations on her wrists," she turned the over the girl's arms to reveal pale, almost translucent skin that bore deep bruises. It looked as though the girl had been tied up, and the ropes had imprinted harshly on her skin.

Kenshin frowned. It looked like the work of clans such as the Nagaoka demanding 'samurai debts.'

"Further more—" Megumi began, but was cut off as Kaoru, Yahiko and Sano rushed down the hall and burst into the room.

"Oh good," Kaoru said, her blue eyes falling upon the emaciated figure behind Kenshin and Megumi. "You did save her."

"'Ey, that's our Kenshin," the tall, ex-street fighter announced, pounding his friend on the back.

"So what happened after we left?" Yahiko questioned.

Before Kenshin could answer, Kaoru clocked the young samurai on the head. "You can hear all the gory details later, Yahiko-chan," she reprimanded. "Now, the important thing is, how is she doing?"

Megumi cleared her throat. "She has a hairline fracture on her shin bone, and one of her ribs is cracked."

Kaoru winced sympathetically.

"She'll be fine if she avoids strenuous activities for a while," Megumi informed lightly. "I'm going to go eat lunch…thank you for bringing over the onigiri and hot pot," she said to Kaoru, and got up.

"Does anyone know where she lives?" spoke Kaoru, motioning toward the softly breathing patient.

"I'm pretty certain it's nowhere in this town," Kenshin replied slowly.

"Hey!" Kaoru was struck with yet another brilliant idea. "I know! She can stay at the dojo. I mean, if she wants to. That way, she can get properly treated and everything. Most likely she has somewhere else to be, but she isn't going anywhere in this condition."

"If you wish then, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said simply. "But one thing: don't try and make her into a student quite yet…"

"I wasn't going to!" Kaoru snapped angrily.

"Oro…"

"So, who were those guys anyway?" Yahiko questioned.

"Huh?" Kenshin looked away from the frail girl and to his young friend. "Oh…"

"Were they sick-minded men? Or did she not pay her bill and someone was chasing her out of town? Or maybe she was captured and was running away from someone? Or maybe it was one big planned scheme where they would send a girl to find the Battosai and then one of those psycho swords-man would come to the dojo and fight you because they wanted revenge but then you'd beat them and they'd be all…"

"Yahiko! That isn't funny," Kaoru clouted her student again.

"This one believes it was a clan enforcing the 'samurai debt.'" Kenshin replied quietly, turning his gaze back onto the girl.

"Oh…just like Tsubame then," Yahiko responded, thinking of his brown-haired friend.

"Poor girl…" Kaoru sympathized. "She needs to learn how to defend herself!"

"Kaoru-dono I thought I…"

"After she gets better, anyway," Kaoru added quickly.

Megumi returned a quarter of an hour later. "The cerate has done its work. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to set her bones and wrap her wounds."

When the others didn't move, she gestured out the door with her hands and shooed them out.

"You guys saved Megumi lunch, but not me?" Sano accused, once they were outside of the room.

"Megumi has been working all day and deserves some easy lunch," Kaoru responded. "You, on the other hand, probably just got out of bed. And as it is, you owe me approximately eight hundred meals. Gimme." She held her hand out and Sano scowled quite menacingly, despite her size in comparison to Sano's.

"Yeah, but don't you think that one Akabeko meal equals about seven of your meals?" Sano retorted.

"Oooh…" Kaoru snarled, her features scrunching up in anger. "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Quality, not quantity Jou-chan," Sano replied laughingly, dancing away from Kaoru's swings.

In the mayhem, Kaoru managed to clock Kenshin on the side of the head with her elbow.

"Oh I'm so sorry Kenshin!" she apologized in a rush. "I mean to get that freeloading jerk!"

"Oro…"

"Ken-san, minna," Megumi addressed them, stepping out of the room. "What are you all stil doing here?"

"Um…" Kaoru stopped mid-whack. "Actually we were going to invite her to stay with us…"

"Oh, good, good," Megumi replied absently, brushing a long lock of dark hair over her shoulder. She paused suddenly. "Wait—what?"

"Um…To stay with us?" Kaoru muttered meekly.

"But you don't know anything about her!" Megumi protested. "You don't even know her name! She could be a shady prostitute for all you know!"

"I didn't know anything about Kenshin when I first let him stay," Kaoru retorted indignantly. "Besides, I highly doubt her being a prostitute," She scoffed as an afterthought.

"Oh all right, it's your dojo after all," Megumi sighed. "She should be waking up any time now."

Sure enough, two seconds later the frail young woman shuffled over to them.

Kenshin smiled. "Hello."

She responded hesitantly. "Hey…" she paused here, for thought. "Kenshin-san."

"Please there's—"

"How d'you—"

Kaoru and Kenshin started in unison. Kaoru giggled and concisely held out a hand to Kenshin.

"There's no need for an honorific, miss."

To his surprise, the girl, so solemn and reclusive before, giggled. "And why's that? We've only just met, Kenshin-san."

Kenshin pointed to himself. "This one is not worthy of 'san.'"

"Kenshin-kun, then?" she piped teasingly.

"Please, just call me Kenshin."

"Hai…Kenshin," she confirmed finally, though the name was highlighted in a tantalizing tone. "If that's the case, I'm Kokorei Naruku."

"Kokorei…" Kenshin dwelled briefly, thinking how odd a last name it was. "Are you feeling all right now Naruku-dono?"

"Naruku-dono?" She scrunched up her nose. "What kind of honorific is that? What, are we living in the early Tokugawa era? That's so old fashioned! You know, has anyone told you to lighten up?"

Kenshin bowed his head and shifted his weight. "Demo…It's the suffix I add to anyone who is pure of heart."

"Oh, so are we judging now?" Naruku laughed. She was teasing him again, and she couldn't even tell if he noticed! "What makes you so sure I'm 'pure of heart?'"

Kenshin looked as though he had had enough of this already. Never had someone made fun of him so mercilessly. With Kaoru, it was just the daily getting whacked on the head.

The girl waved a hand, obviously done with having her fun. "Alright, alright, if you insist to refer to me as such, I can't force you not to. And you say you call everyone that? Well now, I wouldn't be asking for special treatment, no I would not," she said this with a twinkle in her lurid green eyes. "So then, who are these lovely people surrounding you Kenshin? And who was it that was kind enough to treat my wounds free of charge?"

The girl could talk a mile a minute and took no trouble in doing so. Soon she had gained free-stay at the dojo and had managed to thank everyone profusely for whatever little thing he or she did (even Sano, who, according to Naruku, had 'cheered her up.') Somehow Kenshin could not see Naruku, so bright and full of conversation, as the misanthropically silent and almost virulent girl he had met just prior. Perhaps she had been rude earlier due to the profuse amount of blood loss and broken bones, as Kenshin was sure he would have been. Wounds tended to get on the bad side of individuals.

Or maybe she was usually cheery and was only thrown off by them earlier. Now that she knew they meant well, she could chat away. An even better guess was that she hadn't spoken much because she simply didn't have the strength. Reflecting, Kenshin decided that was probably it. She had, in fact, passed out very quickly while walking back to the clinic.

"Well anyway, we should be getting back to the dojo," Kaoru said breezily, knocking Kenshin clear out of his own thoughts.

"Dojo, Kaoru-san?" Naruku questioned lightly. "You teach sword arts?"

"Of course!" Kaoru chirped in reply as they all started moving out. "I may be a girl, but I am at least on national championship level! I can beat any dojo around here for miles! Of course, being around Sano and Kenshin all the time makes me look weak," she made a face. "But I'm not." She shrugged. "You'll never see me getting pushed around by some mugger! In fact, you'd probably be more likely to see me taking his money."

Naruku laughed and kicked a stray rock with her good leg as she hobbled along the path outside. "What if it were a she?" she teased.

"A female bandit?" Kaoru repeated, nonplussed.

"Well, sure!" Naruku laughed. "You know, you remind me of a friend I used to have."

"Really?" Kaoru inquired. She wasn't sure to take this as a compliment or what.

"Yup!" Naruku nodded. "She was tough, just like you, and could boast her way up a mountain!"

"Ohhh…" Kaoru growled, her temper once again getting the best of her. She clenched her hand into a tight fist.

"Woah, there Jou-chan," Sano caught the impending disaster. "Don't hit the crippled people now."

"Hey! I am not crippled!" Naruku childishly stuck her tongue out at him. At once she and Kaoru raised their fists and sent him flying.

"Itai!" Sano cried out at Yahiko's feet.

"Serves you right for getting involved in two hot-headed girls' fight," Yahiko muttered back at him, holding out a hand.

"Yeah, I'm wondering about that," Sano pondered once he was on his feet again. "Why do we always meet the ill-tempered girls? Why can't we for once rescue a mild, domestic and proper Japanese woman."

Yahiko shrugged. "Probably because mild, domestic women don't get mixed up with thugs and crazy mass-murderers. They stay out of trouble. And besides, what right-thinking woman would want to spend time with you?"

"'Ey!" Sano snapped, offended. "I was only wondering."

Up ahead and just around the bend was the dojo. They could just barely see its little wood-thatched roof, which had been improved only last winter by Kenshin.

"Here we are!" Kaoru announced grandly, throwing open the crooked wooden gate. "The dojo!"

Naruku stared open-mouthed.

"So? You think you're gonna like it?" Kaoru pestered excitedly.

"It's…so…" Naruku began slowly. "Cute!"

Again, Kaoru was not sure whether to be complimented, but Naruku soon amended this. "Of course I'll like it! Now, if it isn't too rude to ask, may I take a bath?"

She certainly needed one. Underneath her ragged, frayed clothing was dirt-streaked skin and caked blood. The clothes themselves were in no good shape either, and it looked as though the young woman had made them herself. For a shirt she wore a threadbare butter yellow gi that had the sleeves chopped off and looked ten sizes to big for a girl her size. Beneath the gi, tattered black fabric could be seen peeking out. Dark green pants, caked with dirt, reached just below her knees were held on by a green and white hakama belt. The last thing that Kaoru noted was that Naruku was lacking socks and simply wore her sandals on bare feet.

"Sure…" Kaoru answered staring down at her less than presentable appearance. "I could get you a clean kimono, too."

Naruku discreetly made a face, but said nothing.

Kaoru, however, caught the expression, which led her to add, "I have an old set of hakama. I grew out of it very quickly, so it isn't very worn…it would probably fit you." She looked Naruku's slightly stunted form. "How old did you say you were?"

"I didn't," she answered simply, and Kaoru didn't press.

"Kenshin, go run a bath for her, okay?" Kaoru ordered him, figuring if Naruku didn't want to reveal her age, she wouldn't.

"Hai, Kaoru-dono." He swept away.

"So, how long will you be willing to put me up?" Naruku questioned. "I don't have much money…though I have a very dear friend who handles my finances who would be happy to pay…"

Kaoru waved her off. "Don't worry about it, I'll let you stay free of charge, at least until you're fully recovered. If you want to stay after that…we'll work something out."

Naruku looked edgy at the strange twinkle in Kaoru's eyes. Yahiko stood on his toes to whisper in her ear. "She means: if you want to stay after that, I'll work you like a damn dog."

Naruku giggled, not sure to take that as a joke or not.

"Hey! Yahiko-chan, I heard that! Don't curse, you don't want to grow up with a foul mouth!" She whacked her student on the head to which he retaliated.

Naruku felt a bead of sweat slide down her head as Kaoru and Yahiko scuffled fruitlessly. In a second it was all over, forgotten, save for a few nasty bumps on the head.

"So, I'll show you to your room and you can get situated. Then go take a bath and hang out for a little until dinner is ready. Kenshin's cooking, so I'll be happy to redress your wounds."

"Sounds good," Naruku replied. She was so exhausted that she could hardly wait for night so she could sleep.

Ten minutes later, Naruku sat in the relaxing pool of steaming water. Already the water had become murky from the dirt and dried blood that Naruku had worn for so long. She raised an arm out of the depths and watched the water roll off, leaving it clean. She smiled. Maybe Tokyo is the right place to be. Maybe I can truly start a new life in this city. Whatever the case, she was happy she had found the Kamiya dojo.

---------