One Walk Can Change Lives Forever 1/5

[Chibi Reli]

One Walk Can Change Lives Forever

1 - Kenshin?s Coming Home, So Why Aren?t You Excited Karou?



?Kenshin?s coming home today. It?s felt like forever. Aren?t you excited Karou?? Yahiko cheers as practices his swings outside. Karou sits on the porch nearby, watching him, her eyes far off.



?Yeah.? She nods and starts to fidget with her hands as if she was nervous.

***

?It?s only been two weeks, but it has seemed like so much longer that it has. I wonder how the others will feel. None of them really wanted me to leave in the first place, especially Karou-dono. I hope she likes the present I have for her,? Kenshin wonders as he looks at the small package in his hand. He looks ahead and sees the dojo coming up. He puts the package away and walks towards his home.

***

?Any minute now,? Yahiko says, waiting on the porch in the direction of the entrance. Sano sits down beside him, chewing on a piece of long grass. Yahiko soon sees a familiar red-haired man approach and grins. ?Kenshin,? the boy shouts as he runs towards his idle. Sano lazily gets up and follows.



?Hey there Kenshin,? he says waving casually.



?Yahiko, Sano. It?s nice to see you again,? Kenshin states, bowing his head towards his two comrades.



?How was your journey? What was it for?? Yahiko asks as the three men approach the dojo itself.



?I rather not say where I was, but I?ll say it was a nicer journey coming back. Where is Karou-dono though??



?Not really sure. The last time I saw her she was taking some laundry out to the back,? Yahiko answers.



?It is kinda strange that Jou-chan isn?t here. I thought she would be the most excited to see you back since?? Sano starts off before being interrupted.



?Karou-dono,? Kenshin says as he sees Karou appear with a basket of laundry through the doors. She stops in her place and slowly turns her head to see the red-haired man. But instead of her eyes showing their happiness, they widen in fear as she drops the laundry basket and gasps, still with fear. ?Do you need any help Karou-dono?? he asks as he starts to walk towards her.



?Stop!? she shouts as the man stops in his tracks, the others looking at her oddly. She shakes her head slightly and takes a deep breath. ?Stop. I can get it myself.? She bends down quickly to grab the laundry and scurries away.



?She is acting strange today that she is,? Kenshin states, a bit confused.



?She?s been acting very strange lately. Even stranger than usual,? Sano replies as he takes a seat on the porch.



?Do you know what happened??



?Nope. Karou was alone one day since Sano was somewhere and I was helping Tsubame. When we came back, she seemed really shaky. That was about it.? HE shrugs his shoulders and sighs.



?There has to be someway to figure out what happened that day that could have gotten Karou-dono so upset,? he says, concern written all over his face.



?Hey. I think I got something. One of my gambling buddies likes to keep old newspapers. I can see if he has any from that day.?



?Looks like you do have a brain after all,? Yahiko says, snickering afterwards and Kenshin smiling slightly.



?Shut up brat!? Sano shouts as he hits Yahiko in the head. In retaliation, Yahiko lunges for his head and starts chewing it.



?Sano, do you think you can leave now?? Kenshin asks as he watches Sano do nothing about the boy on his head.



?Sure do. I?ll see you guys later tonight.? HE throws Yahiko off his head, hurling him into a nearby beam and leaves, hands in pockets.

***

?Ken-san! Ken-san! Are you here?? Megumi asks outloud as she enters the dojo grounds.



?Megumi? What are you doing here?? yahiko asks as he comes out and greets the older woman.



?I?m here to see if Ken-san has returned from his journey yet.?



?It?s nice to see you Megumi-dono,? Kenshin says as he comes out next.



?Ah Ken-san. You?re back. How was your trip?? She runs to give him and hug to greet him home.



?I don?t really wish to talk about it Megumi-dono.? He carefully pulls her away and breaks the hold, leaving a stunned Megumi.



?Oh. I don?t see tanuki-chan around here. Where is she?? she asks, looking back and forth.



?She?s in the dojo somewhere that she is.?



?She?s been acting really weird lately too, especially today after Kenshin came back.?



?Do you think you can talk to Karou-dono? I would be most thankful,? Kenshin asks as he bows his head.



?For you Ken-san, I?ll do it. Now just point me to her,? Megumi says as she walks into the dojo.



***



?Thanks for letting me look through your papers Tai,? Sano says as he follows his friend towards the door leading to the room.



?It?s no problem. The reason I keep so many of them is so others can look through them.? He opens the door to show a whole room stacked with newspapers and other news related articles.



?These are all yours?? Sano asks as he follows the roof high stacks.



?Yeah. Happy searching.? Tai turns around and starts heading out the door.



?Wait. All I need is one certain paper.?



?I just keep them Sano. I don?t organize them.? He finally leaves, closing the door behind him.



?The things I do for these people.?

***



?Karou? Are you in here?? Megumi asks as she opens the door to Karou?s room, seeing the girl kneeling drinking tea. She looks towards the entrance and watches as the older woman walks in.



?Megumi-san? What are you doing here?? She puts her cup down and stands up to greet her visitor.



?Just call me Megumi. And I?ve come here to see if you would want to come to the hot springs with me. A patient of mine said I could come by any time I wanted and invited who I wanted. So are you up to it Karou??



?Why is she acting so nice?? Karou asks herself as she stares at Megumi.



?Karou?? Megumi asks, a bewildered expression crossing her face.



?I don?t know.? Karou crosses her arms and shakes her head no.



?I?m not going to take no for an answer. Let?s go.? She grabs her hand and yanks her out of her room.

***



?Don?t worry about Karou so much Kenshin. Megumi will take care of it. And anyways, Karou is probably just going through some weird stage of hers,? Yahiko says as he practices his swings while Kenshin sweeps the dojo.



?I hope you?re right Yahiko. Why don?t we go get dinner ready for when they all come back??

***



?Isn?t this nice Karou? All this warm water is just taking all my worries and stress away,? Megumi comments as she and Karou sit on opposite sides of the hot springs. As she scrubs her back, Megumi watches Karou sink lower and lower into the water so her lips are right above the water.



?Yeah,? she whispers.



?So are you happy that Ken-san is back?? Silence. ?Karou? What?s going on with you? Everyone is worried and you don?t seem to care,? Megumi says as she walks over and looks Karou straight in the face.



?Nothing?s wrong.?



?Something has to be. Did Yahiko or Sano do something?? She shakes her head no. ?Did you run into someone or maybe you had some kinda bad dream?? She shakes her head again. ?Does it have to do anything with Ken-san?? Karou only sinks her head down further into the water. Megumi lifts her so her head is out of the water and puts her hand on her chin. ?So it does have to do something with him. What exactly happened? I mean, out of all of us you were probably the most unlikely to be afraid of Ken-san no matter what.?



?I can?t tell you and I don?t want to talk about it,? she whispers, trying to look away.



?But Karou, everyone is worried about you.? Megumi turns Karou?s head so she looks straight at her.



?I said I don?t want to talk about it!? Karou shouts as she shakes her head out of Megumi?s hand, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

***

?Man do those guys owe me. I wasted my valuable time looking for a stupid newspaper but maybe we?ll be able to find what?s bothering Jou-chan,? Sano says holding his newspaper and walking in town.



?Sano? What are you doing here?? He suddenly stops and sees Megumi and Karou in back of him.



?Kitsune. Jou-chan. I was visiting a friend to get something.?



?Money no doubt,? Megumi says heading ahead, Sano catching up with her and Karou staying behind.



?Hey. I don?t always visit my friends for money.?



?You?re right. Sometimes it?s for food.?



?Hey!?



?So are you heading back for the dojo??



?Yeah. And I guess you two are,? Sano says looking back to check on Karou. ?What were you two doing here anyways??



?WE went to take a bath in the hot springs so I could try to talk to Karou to see what?s wrong with her,? she whispers so Karou won?t hear.



?Well I went to go get a newspaper to see what happened on the day that she started to act weird. We hope we can find something.?



?It had to have been something big to affect her like this.?

***

?The only big thing that I can see is that Kotoh-san has gone missing, but they don?t say where,? Yahiko says as the four sit around the table looking at the newspaper and eating dinner.



?He was probably just going on vacation and doesn?t want anyone to know where he was going,? Megumi comments.



?So all we get from this is nothing. Did Jou-chan tell you anything at the hot springs??



?She wouldn?t tell me anything. In fact, she got freaked out when I asked her.?



?I wish we could just figure out what?s wrong. I think I?m actually starting to miss busu,? Yahiko sighs.



?Kenshin, where are you going?? Sano asks as Kenshin stands from his spot and starts to walk towards the kitchen.



?Karou-dono hasn?t eaten her dinner yet. I?m going to go give hers.? They all watch as he leaves.



?This might not be a good idea. But then again, this might show us if she really is afraid of Ken-san,? Megumi wonders.



***



?I can?t believe Kenshin came back. I would have thought he would stay away from everyone. At least that way, I wouldn?t have to worry about him. But this is Kenshin. He never wants to hurt anyone,? Karou whispers to herself as she stares out her window.



?Karou-dono? Are you in there?? the familiar voice states. Karou stiffens on her knees, thinking about her next move.



?What should I do? If I say nothing, he might get suspicious.?



?Karou-dono?? the voice asks.



?K?K?Kenshin. Come in,? she wavers, her back still away from the door. Kenshin slowly opens it and closes it behind him with a tray of dinner in his hands.



?I brought you dinner Karou-dono. It may be a bit cold though.?



?IT?s alright. You can just leave it there.? He kneels and places the tray by the door. He stares at her back and starts to get himself up.



?Karou-dono, are you okay?? he asks, concerned.



?Yeah, I?m fine,? she says, turning her self around and giving him a shaky smile.



?Are you sure? Everyone is worried about you.? He approaches her closer, but Karou just moves away slowly. ?Karou-dono?? He subconsciously puts his hand on his sword and Karou jumps slightly, starting to shake in fear. ?Why is she shaking so?? He looks to where Karou?s eyes are focused to see him looking at his sword. ?Enjoy your dinner Karou-dono,? he states as he quietly leaves her room. He slowly walks his way towards the kitchen only to find the rest of the group waiting for him.



?Hey Kenshin, how is Karou doing?? Yahiko asks impatiently.



?I think I may know what is affecting Karou-dono,? he sighs, his gaze falling towards the floor.





So what do you all think? This is my first RK fic, so I hope you all like it.

-Chibi Reli

[Elyn Yuy]

Pretty good!

I like how you keep the proper japanese names in their...Once I remebered what it meant.


Elyn Yuy