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Chewing idly on the skeletal remains of his breakfast, Sano leaned back against a sturdy support post and tried to put his finger on exactly what was . . . off . . . about the residents of Kamiya dojo that morning. Kenshin was doing the dishes; nothing unusual about that. Yahiko was practicing in the yard; another fairly typical morning activity. Kaoru was calmly sipping tea as she watched her only pupil's progress, and although she hadn't changed into her own practice clothes to work with him, that wasn't odd enough to disturb Sano's sense of well-being. Something wasn't right, but he'd be damned if he could figure it out. Things were peaceful and calm. Wait. Since when did Yahiko take to morning practice without insulting jou-chan? And Kenshin . . . he never complained about chores, but was he whistling over his work? Sano shook his head, and shifted the fishbone in his mouth from one cheek to the other. Things've been too busy around here, he thought, if a peaceful morning causes me to worry! Kaoru chose that moment to stand up, stretching luxuriously. "Kenshin!" she called, pausing to leave her cup on the table beside Sano. "I'm going into town to do some shopping. I'll be back this afternoon." "Alright." Kenshin half-turned from the stack of dishes he was drying to smile over his shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on things here, Kaoru." Yahiko was too far away to have heard, and Kaoru didn't seem to have noticed, so Sano was left alone to gape open-mouthed at his best friend. "Sano," the rurouni noted in a serious tone, as if he hadn't just broken one of his own cardinal rules with respect to Kaoru, "your fishbone is hanging off your lip. If you're finished with it, throw it away." Taking a deep breath and snapping his jaw shut, Sano nearly choked as the fishbone was sucked abruptly back into his mouth. Coughing, he eyed Kenshin's back and tried to decide if he'd only imagined that his friend had been so familiar with their hostess. Not that he'd been overly familiar -- considering the circumstances -- just that he'd been unusually familiar for Kenshin. Putting the last bowl away and draping the dishtowel over a hook to dry, Kenshin turned to the ex-gangster still lounging idly against the wall. "I'm going to start the laundry. Why don't you tidy the yard? Kaoru would like it if you helped with some of the cho--" His sentence was left hanging as Sano broke in with a yelp, "You did it again!" Returning his friend's stare with innocent violet eyes, Kenshin asked with genuine curiosity, "Did what?" "Said jou-chan's name!" the instant the words were out, he realized how stupid they sounded. "I mean, you said her name by itself." The rurouni still looked puzzled. "I mean, you didn't call her Kaoru-dono." "Of course I didn't. Why would I?" Kenshin's tone was frankly confused. "Why would yo-" Sano began incredulously, then stopped himself to exclaim, "you didn't say sessha!" "Sano," the rurouni asked patiently, wondering why the younger man was suddenly making a fuss about his choice of words, "do you know anyone who uses 'sessha' anymore?" "Yes! You!" "Why would I call myself unworthy?!" Kenshin was beginning to feel a little annoyed. Maybe even insulted. "I might be a vagabond, but that doesn't mean--" "I don't know!" Sano retorted, confusion turning to exasperation. "You just always have. Except when you get really angry and turn feral on us. Something to do with guilt over the hitokiri . . ." Alarmed when the annoyance in his friend's gaze flickered into concern for his sanity, Sano stopped rambling with an effort, and simply stated emphatically, "You have. Until today. I just want to know why you've stopped." Kenshin eyed him for a long moment, then sighed. Turning away, he stepped off the porch and into his sandals. "Never mind, Sano. If the thought of chores gets you this upset, just forget I said anything." "Kenshin!" Pausing at the corner of the house, the rurouni surveyed him with worried eyes. "Why don't you go into town? Stop and see Megumi-san. I think maybe you took a blow to the head in that brawl you were telling us about last night." With that final suggestion, Kenshin disappeared around the building. Shaking his head -- and resisting the urge to clutch at his spiky hair in confusion -- Sano turned to stare blankly at Yahiko, still practicing his sword strokes in the yard. The steady swish of the shinai was strangely soothing, helping him to calm down. Still, feeling eager for some normalcy after his odd conversation with Kenshin, he decided a dose of Yahiko's small-fry anger was exactly what was needed. "Lookin' good, Yahiko-chan!" he called, using the one phrase guaranteed to rile the boy. "Thanks." Sano blinked. "What did you say?" "I said: thanks." The ex-gangster sat and absorbed that for a minute. "Don't you hate it when I call you 'chan'?" "Nah. I know you're just tryin' to get a rise out of me." "You do?" "Uh-huh." Trying to decide if everyone he knew was crazy, or if he was just having an odd dream, Sano pinched himself. Hard. Gritting his teeth at the way his arm smarted, he squinted around at the dojo yard and found that nothing had changed. "Kuso!" Assured that he was awake, and now faced with a choice between his own mental stability and that of his friends, he decided maybe a trip to see Megumi was in order. On the bright side, if she was acting as atypically as everyone else, maybe she'd be nice to him for a change. Author's notes and random babbling:
May 21, 2003 |