A/N: Hi! Just finished reading the manga and I kinda wanted to make a oneshot of one of the characters that quite intrigued me :3

You won't see his name on the character list I had put for this fic since he isn't on the character list... -insert sweatdrop here- Buuut, at least it wouldn't be such a spoiler to my story. xD

Anyway, if you had read the manga, you would probably recognize him on my very obvious description about him that would appear later on.

This is my first time writing a fic about another character on the RK fandom other than Soujiro so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please R&R! :D

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters of Rurouni Kenshin. They are owned by Watsuki Nobuhiro, not me. :)

This takes place on the 14th year of the Meiji Era and at the Kamiya Dojo

He had a hard time looking for this place but, at last, he's here. The Kamiya Dojo.

Finally...

Quite tired, he panted lightly and sighed.

"What a long trip from home." He said inaudibly, fixing himself. He knocked at the front gate of the dojo. "Hello?"

No reply.

"HELLO?" He said, louder this time.

Still, no reply.

He looked around to see if anyone might see him, but there's no one so...

I shouldn't be doing this... He hesitated at first but still he opened the gate, carefully, in case it might creak. But it did anyway.

"I'm so sorry. Please-!" Looking around, he realized that he forgot that there was nobody home. "Oh."

The Kamiya Dojo, he thought, looked like any other dojo except it seemed like there was nobody around here for quite some time.

There's really nobody home... Maybe I should stay here while I wait for the master of this dojo...? No, he'd think I was trespassing... But, I am trespassing... Better get out of here before anyone sees me-

"Hiyah! Hiyah! Hiyaaaah!"

Eyes wide, he looked around. Nobody here.

"Ha! Hiyah! Hiyaaaaah!"

Walking around, he gets closer to the sound and the louder it gets...

"I will defffffeat youuu... plant!"

Plant?

Now, he was at the backyard. He saw a small red-haired boy, hitting an innocent plant with a shinai.

"Take dat! And... dat!"

Seeing that the plant was getting bald because of its attacker, he said "Don't hurt the poor thing."

The readhead faced him, pointed his shinai at him and said, "I will defffffeat youuu!"

Then the little redhead charged at him.

"Hiyaaaah!"

He, now being charged at, moved to his side, dodging the redhead's attack.

As his attack failed, the redhead fell to the ground.

" *sniff sniff* "

"Oh no... Please, don't cr-"

Too late.

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Kneeling beside the fallen attacker, he was trying his best to shush the crying boy.

"Sshh sshh. Please, keep quiet. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What's going on here, Kenji?" An undertone voice said.

Looking up, he saw a black-haired young man carrying a shinai and a sakabatou at his waist belt.

"What happened to him?" The young man asked, a more worried tone he had than an angry one.

"I'm so sorry! I knocked at the front gate, but no one answered then I came in then I realized I was trespassing then-"

"I'm not asking about you, I'm asking about him!"

"Oh... He charged at me but I dodged him then he fell then he started crying then you came-"

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"That's enough! Jeez, you're only making it worse." The young man helped the crying boy named Kenji to stand up. But Kenji still didn't stop crying.

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"I'm so sorry!" The boy said again, bowing this time.

"Yeah, yeah. But all those apologies won't help in making this kid stop crying."

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"I'm so-"

The boy didn't know what to do. Instead, he did what anyone would do the least at a situation like this... He ran.

"Hey!" The young man called out to the runaway. "Where are you going? Hey-!"

The boy ran away from the crying boy and the young man, to the other side of the gate.

The young man's eyes caught a glimpse of the back of the retreating figure.

惡 (Evil)

"Evil...? Why does he have a sign like that on his back? Is he-?"

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Nevermind. I'll deal with him later. Now I need to make Kenji stop crying. Kaoru will kill me if she sees-"

"What happened?!" A woman's voice shouted.

Turning around, the young man saw the mentioned woman, beside her was another redhead carrying a bucket of tofu, and behind them was the boy who caused all this.

The young man slumped his body and sighed. How can he explain all this?

{a few seconds ago}

He ran away. From the crying boy and the young man, to the other side of the gate.

Outside of the dojo, he stopped and faced the gate, thinking of going back.

I need to go back... But I've caused so much trouble and-

"Hello there."

To his left, he saw a smiling face of a woman and a tired man carrying a bucket of tofu beside her.

"Hello." He said in reply.

"Are you looking for someone?" Her big blue eyes met his brown ones.

"Uh... Y-Yes. I was... I am... looking for the master of this dojo."

The woman's face lit up in delight. "That would be me. But I'm just an assistant master. My late father was the master of this dojo."

"Oh. Well, I-"

"How about we come inside?" The man standing by suggested.

"Oh, yes. Come on." She widely opened the front gate and gestured the boy to come in.

He waved his hands in the air, saying, "Oh... I'd better not-"

"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

A look of surprise, worry, and anger came across the woman's face.

"Excuse me." she said. She didn't wait for a reply from the boy and ran to the backyard.

"Oh no."

"Come on." Said the man, smiling. The man started walking towards the backyard, still carrying the bucket of tofu.

The boy just nodded and followed the man.

{now}

"Yahiko, what happened?!"

"Kaoru! I... He... Well..." Yahiko didn't know what to say. He can blame the boy but Kaoru would think he was just making an excuse.

But the boy can't take it any longer...

"I-I did it."

"You did what?" Kaoru almost shouted. Almost. She can't shout at her guest and maybe, just maybe, her new student. She might lose this one too.

"I'm the one who made this boy cry..." The boy started.

Kaoru took in a deep breath then sighed it all out. "Just tell me, what happened?"

He composed his thoughts and said in one breath, "I entered the dojo to see if anyone's around but there was really no one here then I heard some shouts at the back so I went to check it out and found this boy," He pointed at Kenji, "hitting a plant then I said to not hurt the poor thing then he suddenly charged at me then I dodged him then he fell to the ground then he started crying then he came," He pointed at Yahiko, "then he started shouting and the boy was crying so loud and... and..."

"And?"

"I ran," The boy calmed down. "Then I met you and that man."

Then suddenly, something hit him. Not physically, but in his thoughts.

The red-haired man and the red-haired boy- who seemingly stopped crying when the woman named Kaoru and the man arrived- looked alike. Very much alike.

"Is he your son?" Looking at both Kaoru and the man.

"Oh. Yes, he is." Kaoru's tone calmed down too.

"Oh... I'm very sorry." He bowed again.

"It's okay." She smiled. She picked up Kenji and carried him in her arms. "At least, he didn't get really hurt."

A peaceful and calm scene was now taking place as they all seemed to smile when Kenji hugged Kaoru.

"Excuse me, but do you know what that sign at your back means?" the man suddenly asked.

That, now, caught the attention of Kaoru and Yahiko.

"Kenshin..." Yahiko barely said.

The boy was used to this question so his answer sounds like it has been rehearsed.

"Yes, I do." The boy said firmly. "It's the sign a strong man, that I look up to, wears at his back. It's the real reason why he fights to the very end..."

His bangs, now, covered his eyes. Then a smile formed out of his lips.

"Ah, I see. Are you, perhaps, the son of Sagara Sanosuke?" Kenshin implied.

He looked up, now with a determined look.

"No, sir... I am his brother,"

"Oro?"

"...Higashidani Outa."

This was a day they- everyone present at the Kamiya Dojo- would never forget.

A/N: Well, I know that Outa seems out of character here since he didn't talk much in the manga.. but hey, people change as they grow older. ;D I hope you enjoyed it! :D

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