DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, the characters or their likeness. I know, we all cry about that.

As ever, thank you Anreg! Not only for your edits, but your constant feedback (and inspiration).

More notes at the end, yay for author's notes! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Saitou stared at the child currently sitting on his couch, swinging his legs and looking about Saitou's apartment. "No," he said firmly and definitely.

"Don't be so stubborn," Katsu snapped, she knew this wasn't going to be easy but that didn't make her anymore patient. "Where else can I take him?"

Saitou gave his sister a flat look, "There's our parents and our idiot brother."

Katsu whacked her youngest brother on the arm, "You're the closest to his school. AND you know mom can't keep up with him with her bad knee." Then with a roll of the eyes she said, "She'll make sure you don't kill him and 'our idiot' brother, as you so put it, doesn't have the time. Plus, his wife would probably freak out again if I took Eiji over there. She still hasn't forgiven him for drawing on her wall."

Saitou mentally smirked remembering the incident. His sister-in-law was very particular about her house and "freak out" was putting it mildly. Eiji had only been two at the time and the wall had seemed like a good substitute for paper, Katsu had never been invited over again.

But instead of smirking, Saitou snarled, "I don't have time to babysit."

"Look Hajime," Katsu crossed her arms and in her no-nonsense-big-sister voice said, "he's a good kid and for some reason he likes you. He won't be much trouble to you."

Saitou looked at the boy out of the corner of his eye only to catch him wiping his nose on his sleeve, Saitou frowned. "He's gross."

"Look at it as training. One day you'll have kids." Then with a teasing smirk and a twinkle in her eye she said, "Women love men who are good with kids." Then with an even more mischievous smirk she elaborated, "Women find single fathers sexy."

Saitou's frown only deepened. Kids weren't a priority for Saitou, much to his mother's displeasure. And despite the hundred different things he could say to his sister he knew how damn stubborn she could be.

So grinding his teeth he said, "Only for a month."

Katsu's smirk widened, happy to have gotten her way, "Perfect!" It was a smirk that set Saitou's nerves on edge, and he wondered how his brother-in-law did it. It probably helped that the man was a spineless idiot.

Saitou watched in dismay as his sister went out into the hallway, grabbed Eiji's backpack and suitcase. 'How much stuff did one small kid need?' He wondered.

Katsu began prattling off easy-to-follow instructions, because all kids had those, right? "Don't feed him sweets and don't let him watch too much TV."

"Make sure he eats well." Katsu turned to her son, "You'll make sure your Uncle Hajime eats his veggies won't you baby?"

Eiji looked at his uncle, who looked fairly amused, and then at his mother, "Yep!"

"That's my boy! Take care of him and don't let him feed you soba."

Eiji and Saitou frowned and in unison asked, "What's wrong with Soba?"

Katsu smacked her brother once more, "Children need variety in their diet. It wouldn't hurt you to eat better either."

Saitou narrowed his eyes in warning, who was she to dictate his diet? Deciding that she had outstayed her welcome he ground out, "Will you leave already."

"Hajime. You're an ass," was his sister's snooty reply but seeing that it was indeed time to go, she went to her son and pulled him into a hug. "Be good baby.'

Saitou decided he didn't need to witness their farewell and made his way to the entrance, grabbing Katsu's coat as he went.

A month with the kid, how bad could it be?

Kids really should come with instructions, Saitou decided as he felt the young boy staring at him. It was late at night and Eiji had tip toed into Saitou's bedroom and was currently standing by his bed, silently willing his uncle to wake up. Saitou wondered how long he would have to feign sleep before Eiji either spoke or went back to bed.

Two minutes later, impatience got the best of Eiji. He began quietly, ". . . Uncle?"

When that didn't work, he poked his Uncle's nose. "Uncle?"

". . . What?" Saitou wasn't sure if he wanted to sigh in exasperation or to laugh at his nephew's antics.

"I can't sleep."

Saitou finally cracked an eye open. "Go back to bed and close your eyes."

Eiji pouted and blew air out his nose in annoyance, "I tried that!"

"Hpmh." Saitou rolled onto his back and threw an arm over his eyes. "You laid down and closed your eyes?"

". . . " Eiji hesitated, not wanting to lie and unwilling to tell the truth. "Can I sleep with you?"

Saitou felt the bed shift with his charge's weight and frowned. "You have your own bed."

". . . Just for tonight?" Eiji climbed over his uncle and made himself comfortable. "Please?"

Saitou heard the quiet tremor in the boy's voice and knew he was missing his mother. Saitou couldn't bring himself to kick him out. So with a grunt he said, "Just for tonight." Then while he turned his back to the boy he said, "Don't wet the bed."

The next morning found Saitou frowning as he stripped the bed; the boy had indeed wet the bed. And it was no small accident, Saitou had woken up to something warm and wet. In his half asleep state he wasn't sure what it was, having forgotten about his house guest. It wasn't until he heard Eiji shifting around and tying not to cry that he realized what happened.

Saitou looked over at his sniffling nephew. The boy saw his uncle look over at him and looked away in embarrassment, Saitou had even warned him not to wet the bed. That thought alone threatened to send Eiji crying in full force. Just as fat tear drops were about to fall he felt a large hand land heavily on top of his head.

"There's nothing to cry about," Saitou said in his usual gruff way but it seemed to have the desired effect. Then with patience he didn't feel he added, "Sheets and clothes can be washed."

"But . . ."

Eiji was interrupted; Saitou patted his head, "Help me with these sheets, and then we'll get cleaned up." Saitou would much rather have gone straight for a shower, but he was worried about the mattress and wanted to tackle that before anything really settled in. That being said, being wet was more than the neat and clean Saitou could stand.

Eiji hesitated as he watched the older man, "Uncle . . . did you ever wet the bed?"

Saitou looked at his nephew's pleading eyes and sighed. "No." At Eiji's crestfallen face, he thought better of his response, then with a wicked grin, "But Okita did. Until he was 12."

Eji laughed and proudly said, "That won't be me."

"Of course. Now -"

But before Saitou could demand help, the doorbell rang and Eiji went running to the door. "I'll get it!"

"Oy!" It was too late, the boy had already run off.

Eiji stopped just before he opened the door, remembering what his mother always said, "Who's there?"

"What do you mean who? . . .Wait, who is this?" asked the voice on the other side of the door.

Eiji opened the door, and looked up at a very pretty lady, who was expecting a much taller person, she blinked before her searching eyes found their way down to Eiji's level.

"Good Morning . . . ?" She said, wondering if she had the right door.

All of Eiji's manners went out the window as he stared at the lady and she stared at him, obviously curious and bewildered.

"Boy! You can't just open the door to strangers like that." An annoyed Saitou came into view, opening the door wider only to see Takagi Tokio staring down at Eiji.

Tokio shook her head and looked up at Saitou, "For a moment there, I thought you shrunk!"

Saitou glared, it was much too early for her bad jokes, "Eiji stop gaping and go turn on the water."

Eiji closed his mouth and pouted. "I wasn't gaping."

"Hm, and those aren't flies in your mouth."

Eiji's eyes widened in horror, "Nu-uh! You're mean!"

"Go." Saitou said firmly but not unkindly.

Eiji did indeed step back into the apartment but as he made his way in he shouted, "I don't wanna bath!"

Tokio laughed, and it was at that point that Saitou remembered he had an audience. Children really had a way of throwing you out of sorts. He turned back towards the woman and glared, "What do you want?"

Tokio's eyes twinkled with amusement, momentarily forgetting all her questions, as she held out her coffee mug. "I ran out of coffee, help a neighbor out?"

"You ran out of coffee two weeks ago."

"I know," Tokio bit her lip. "I haven't had time to go shopping. I am very busy and important, you know."

Saitou raised an eyebrow, "And I am not?"

"Coffee?" With a cheeky grin she held out her mug. When he didn't move to take the mug she sighed and said, "I'll owe you one."

Saitou took the mug from Tokio and left the door open as he went for the instant coffee, shouting to his nephew as he went.

Tokio watched and wondered. Who was the child? When did Saitou have kid? Who was the mother? It was while she was watching the man that she noticed a wet stain along his leg that explained a smell from earlier.

Saitou returned with a mug full of instant coffee. "That should last you two days."

"Thank you," her sweet smile turned sly as she whispered, "Saitou did you wet the bed?"

Saitou froze for a moment before he glared and shut the door in her face, not even bothering to answer. He could hear her laughing on the other side of the door. He stripped down to his boxer briefs as he walked further into his apartment, preparing to battle it out with his nephew. He made a mental note to look up rubber sheets, or whatever it was you put on a bed for kids that wet the bed, and to charge Tokio for coffee the next time she showed up.

He sighed, what a morning. He couldn't quite understand how his sister managed it, and to think she wanted more children.

A week went by and Eiji was still alive and Saitou still sane. The week went by as smoothly as it could for a man unused to having children around. If pressed, Saitou would admit that the kid wasn't so bad, only if pressed and maybe not even then.

Eiji for his part liked his uncle, and even though he missed his mom, his uncle was fun. He liked his uncle so much that he started to wonder why he didn't have a wife. So it was that one morning as Eiji was 'shaving' that he decided to ask.

"Uncle?"

"Hm?" Saitou glanced down at the boy, covered in shaving cream and haphazardly running a bladeless razor, Saitou had removed the blade, over his face, and smirked. He tapped his straight razor against the sink to rid it of excess shaving cream.

Eiji with as much concentration as a four-year-old could have, added more shaving cream to his face. "Why are you sing-" He frowned as he tried to remember the word, and instead opted for, "not married?"

Saitou hissed as he nicked himself. Great, now even the boy was questioning him about his love life. "What?" He growled out.

"Momma says it's because you're insuffable – "

"Insufferable." Saitou corrected, and Eiji beamed up at him. It almost made him feel like less of an idiot, but if the boy was going to insult him he should at least do it properly.

"Yea, that. Grandma says it's because you smoke too much, and Grandpa said it was because you haven't met the right person yet."

If Saitou wasn't so secure in himself and his ego firmly established, Eiji would have taken a good chunk out of it. He didn't know what was worse the fact that Eiji had asked around about Saitou's personal life or the answers he received.

"I think you're the most coolest."

Saitou chuckled; kids always seemed to redeem themselves. "How about just the coolest?"

Eiji thought about it for a second, and watched as Saitou patted his face dry, "Nah. It's not enough."

Saitou smirked and threw a wet towel at Eiji, before cleaning the boy up.

After a beat, Eiji asked, "Uncle, what does insufferable mean?"

'Your mother,' Saitou thought it was best to keep such thoughts to himself. Instead he said, "Someone you can't stand."

"Ohhh," Eiji said in wonder. Then remembering his original question he said, with all the conviction of someone who only wanted the best, "You should get married."

The corner of Saitou's mouth twitched, but instead of responding he said, "Go get ready for school, brat."

Eiji unexpectedly threw his arms around his uncle in an awkward hug, "I'll find you someone!"

"Ah." Saitou awkwardly patted the boy's head. 'Kids were something else,' he thought.

Now the problem was, where was he going to find his uncle a wife? Eiji had ruled out his teacher, she was far too old. Plus, she hated soba, he made sure to ask. All of his mom's friends seemed to annoy his uncle. So they were out.

Outside of school and home, Eiji wasn't quite sure where one found a wife. He was firmly convinced that she had to be really, really cool because his uncle was really, really cool. And that's how these things worked, right?

It was while he and Saitou were making their way home that he ran into Saitou's future wife.

Tokio's apartment was several doors down from Saitou's, and Eiji had seen her several times since his first morning with Saitou, always dressed in a suit and always in hurry and always needing coffee. He still didn't know her name and whenever he asked, Saitou simply ignored the boy.

Tokio walked out of her apartment just as Saitou and Eiji rounded the corner. She let the box that she was carrying fall next to several other boxes by her door. It made the ominous sound of breaking glass.

"Takagi, am I going to have to arrest you for littering?" despite the dangerous tone of voice, Saitou was grinning.

"Hmph!" Tokio gave the pile of boxes a kick. "It's not even my junk."

Saitou's smirk was wolfish, "Littering and cluttering the hallway . . . "

"Yes, yes. I know, it's a fire hazard but that man is not coming into my house." Tokio turned to face Saitou and was once more surprised to see a pint-sized human walking beside the man. It just made the man look that much taller and Tokio hated him for it.

Ever the curious boy, Eiji pointed at the boxes and asked, "Are you moving?"

"No," Tokio breathed and let it out through her nose as she said, "but someone is." She sighed; her anger and frustration were inappropriate in front of the child.

Saitou saw the effort she took to calm herself down and something like worry came into his eyes. He glanced down at the boy, only to see him attentively watching Tokio. He couldn't ask Tokio what was wrong with boy around. Instead he offered his services, "I'll throw them out later today."

Tokio gave him a grateful smile, "No, that's okay. He'll be by to pick them up later." Then looked at Eiji and introduced herself properly. She still didn't know who the boy was but chances were Eiji was Saitou's nephew or something like that.

Eiji likewise introduced himself. It seemed too easy, here was a woman that got along with his uncle and she lived on the same floor. With the bluntness that only a child could possess Eiji asked, "Are you married? How old are you? Do you like insaffable people?"

Tokio stared and then laughed, "What?"

Saitou for his part raised an eyebrow at his nephew's line of questioning. He had an idea at what the boy was getting at but it seemed to amuse Tokio and he saw no reason to stop him just now, especially since it served the purpose of distracting Tokio.

Eiji sighed, exasperated, and asked his question again, "Are you married?"

"No," Tokio sat on top of one of the boxes so that she was eye level with the boy. She winked, "And, a lady never tells her age. What else did you ask me? Oh! Did you mean insufferable?"

Eiji nodded, "I can't say it like you. Do you?"

Tokio glanced up at Saitou, who simply raised an eyebrow at her, "Depends on the person, I suppose." Then with a warm smile she said, "Aren't you the little detective?"

Eiji thought about it, his uncle was a detective and he was super cool. Did women like detectives? He wondered, but didn't mom say that women liked single fathers? Eiji looked at the pretty woman then at his uncle, and it was obvious to the four-year-old what he had to do. After all, his uncle needed all the help he could get. So he tugged onto Saitou's pant leg with one small fist while saying, "Daddy? Maybe we should invite her over for dinner?"

Saitou's attention snapped down to the brat in horror.

If Tokio hadn't been so shocked, she would actually have laughed at the look on the man's face. The slightly widened eyes and open mouth were as close to shock as Saitou got. Instead she stood and looked down at the boy and then again at the man, all the while trying to blink away the confusion.

". . . your son?"

Saitou glared at Tokio, "You've known me for five years and you think I have a kid?" His tone was more of a growl than he intended but the shock of being called daddy and Tokio's lack of faith were too much for the stoic man.

Tokio returned Saitou's glare with a flat look, "You are a man and accidents do happen." Then with her hands on her hips she shrugged one shoulder, "Maybe you just found out about him."

"He's not my son." Saitou's tone left no room for discussion but that didn't stop Tokio from glaring at the man. However her glare soon gave way to a roll of the eyes as she squatted to Eji's level.

"Eiji, is he your daddy?" Tokio asked the four-year-old.

Eiji gave a sharp nod and once more tugged on Saitou's pant leg.

Saitou massaged the bridge of his nose as he said, "Traitor." Maybe he had been wrong to allow the boy to speak.

Tokio threw him a dirty look before crossing her arms, "Please tell me you just found out about him and that you didn't abandon your own child."

Saitou dropped his arm and gave Tokio a deadly look. "You should know better."

"All I know is that I really thought better of you." Tokio couldn't quite hide the disappointment in her voice. "I deal with deadbeat dads all day. I didn't expect to be living next to one!"

Eiji blinked. This was not going well. The pretty lady did not seem happy. Deciding something needed to be done, his uncle really was useless when it came to women, Eiji said, "Don't be mad."

Tokio smiled sweetly, "I am not mad. I am just . . . something. I don't know what." Try as she might though she couldn't quite hide the anger in her voice.

"He's a really good dad." Eiji said quietly but earnestly. "Single dads are sexy." He said with more confidence.

It was at that point, hearing his own sister's words echoed back, that Saitou saw exactly what the kid was trying to do. Damn brat was definitely his sister's kid. So finally obliging the child he reached down and picked Eiji up.

Eiji immediately threw his arms around his uncle's neck. Tokio watched the whole interaction, and it just confused her more. Saitou, however, saw that it was time to retreat. He needed to speak to the boy and he didn't want to do it front of Tokio.

"Boy, say good bye," he ground out, but he didn't wait for Eiji to say his farewells or for Tokio to say anything.

Tokio blinked as she watched the pair walk away. It was rare for Saitou to just leave her like that.

Eiji waved over Saitou's shoulder, and shouted out, "Do you like soba?"

All Tokio could do was nod.

To be continued.

Originally this story was going to be a Tokio and Eiji story. Tokio finds herself the main caretaker of her young nephew, and needing a male role model relies on Saitou. Obviously it didn't turn out that way.

The beginning of this story was actually written out in December. That gives you an idea on how long it takes me to write anything. To be fair, I didn't want to start anything until I had updated Lady Justice. This piece was a little indulgent of me and a side trip as I tried to figured out what to do with my other stories.

The scene where Eiji is trying to wake Saitou up, without waking him up, was taken from my own childhood. I used to do that to my mom all the time and she always told me the same thing, "close your eyes." As a kid I thought it was the most infuriating thing ever. Haha. I think it works here.

Thank you for reading! I am out. Literally, I need to go to bed now.