Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Reincarnated ❯ Chapter 1

Disclaimer: ::sigh:: Try as I might, RK still doesn't belong to me.

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REINCARNATED

1968, Chicago, Ill.

The phone rang in the office and the junior instructor raced to answer it. The whole school was waiting for the news a phone call would bring.

"Hello?" The instructor listened and nodded a lot, his face turning red with excitement. "I'll tell him. Thank you!" He hurriedly hung up and walked briskly onto the floor. The master was with the senior students, his back to the other instructors, demonstrating a move that stretched his blue gi to the limits. The female students that seemed to make up most of the school sighed dreamily and carefully copied his move.

The junior instructor came to stand beside the master and bowed. "Master, that was the hospital; you're wife is in labour."

The master paused, then lowered his katana and bowed to his class. They bowed back and managed to stay where they were for about as long as it took the master to leave the dojo; then it was panda modem. The students crowded around the junior instructor.

"What did the doctor say?"

"How long before the baby comes?"

"I hope it's a boy," one girl sighed, hugging her wooden sword. Everyone looked at her.

"Why?"

"Well, then there's a good chance he'd look like the master." All the girls giggled at the prospect and the few boys turned away in disgust, rolling their eyes. The junior instructor clapped his hands and called them back together.

*~*

The woman sighed tiredly and cuddled the tiny baby to her breast, smiling up at her husband. He reached down and brushed her damp hair off her face.

"Oh, anata, he's perfect."

The master smiled slightly, startling the nurse, who was already jumpy and put out by his size. "Like his mother."

She smiled again. "Would you like to hold him? He won't break."

A wealth of emotions flashed across his face, then he nodded once and took the child, carefully balancing his head in one hand and his tiny body in the other. He pulled the baby to his chest and studied him closely. The child's head was covered by a tuft of bright red hair. His pale, nearly invisible eyelashes were also red. He had no eyebrows to speak of and the whole of his hand was the size of the pad of his father's thumb!

The master was suddenly a bit nervous, but at the same time determined.

*I can do this. Nothing's ever going to happen to you, son.* He looked down at his wife.

"Hiko, what should we call him?"

"We shall call him . . . Kenshin."

*~*

1986, Los Angeles, CA

"Daddy, where we goin'?" The four year old boy kicked his legs, hitting the back of his father's seat. His father gave the boy a cold look in the rear view mirror, that was seen and ignored.

The man sighed. "We're going to see Mommy."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Cause why?"

He felt his teeth clench. *He's four.* "She's in the hospital," he explained with exaggerated patience.

"Why?"

"Aoshi, do you remember at all that Mommy had another child inside of her? It made her very large and you couldn't sit in her lap?"

The boy tilted his head, considering. "No," he said, smiling slightly. He was enjoying this. It was the longest he'd had his father to himself in weeks.

His father was losing all pretence at patience. He took a deep breath, muttering:

"Remember, he's four." Louder, he asked: "Aoshi, let's play a game, okay?"

"Okay!"

"First, I want you to close your eyes."

The child quickly complied. "Okay, Daddy, there closed!"

"Great! Now, keep them closed until Daddy says to open them, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." As he hoped, Aoshi quickly fell asleep. He sighed with relief. *Thank God!*, knowing the boy wouldn't fall for that much longer.

They arrived at the hospital and Aoshi refused to wake up and was carried inside. The sudden change from the June heat to the cool air conditioning woke him and he soon found himself locomoting under his own power. They arrived on the maternity ward. They nurse rushed out from behind her desk when they walked past.

"Oh, Major, your wife is asking for you." She looked down and saw Aoshi. "I'm sorry, you'll have to wait out here; I have some crayons if you want them."

Aoshi looked up at his father, his blue eyes wide and damp with unshed tears.

"But Daddy! I want to see MOMMY!"

The major looked at the nurse, and she was shocked to see his odd amber coloured eyes rim red. "Wrap him in Saran Wrap and brown paper if you must, but I want him in this room in five minutes."

"But, Major---" he went into her room and shut the door.

Tokiwo was propped up in the bed, feeding the baby. He approached and kissed his wife. She smiled against his lips and raised her hand to twine her fingers into his short hair. He pulled back and studied the baby.

"How is she?"

Tokiwo smiled down at her. "She's eating." The baby smacked greedily and Saito managed to smile a little.

"I brought Aoshi with me and he's very anxious to see you." The door opened and the small person in question, wearing a surgical mask and paper shoes was escorted into the room. The nurse started to scowl to Saito, but he shot her a chilling glare and she hurried away.

"Hajime, anata, please stop trying to intimidate the staff; please? For me?"

"Of course."

Aoshi was leaning on his mother's arm and Saito took the opportunity to study the baby while Tokiwo talked to their son.

She was smaller than Aoshi had been, but unlike her brother, her eyes were open and her hands were unclenched. She had no hair, but he supposed it would grow in soon.

*She's so little. Look at her fingernails, I have ball points with tips bigger than that. She looks so . . . fragile.*

"What's his name?" Aoshi was asking.

"Her," his parents corrected in unison. "Her name, segare, is going to be Kaoru."

*~*