The Kamiya Dojo is a busy, noisy and. . .well, it must be said, a chaotic place. Amidst all the 'loving' arguing, pushing and fighting, it's hard to get little things like laundry and cooking done, much less contemplate.

And a certain rurouni is always kept occupied.

However, tucked away in his room, in a drawer empty of everything else, there is a tanto in a worn sheath resting on a length of tattered blue cloth. The soft folds are slightly threadbare in places, and there are remnants of bloodstains in others.

But it is spotlessly clean.

Every now and then, in quieter moments, the rurouni will open the drawer, and look at these two items, the only things he has kept from a period in his life he'd really rather forget.

However, there are some things a man should never forget.

Forgotten
By Aishiteru

Dust from caked the hem of his grey hakama, and the black socks he wore beneath battered sandals. He moved through the crowd quietly, avoiding the laughing children, the gossiping woman, and the haggling shop keepers and prospective buyers. Long black tinted red bangs slid over his cheek, concealing the distinctive cross shaped scar on his cheek. In addition, a scarf was folded around his neck, and he slumped into it, further masking his face. His blue - almost violet in certain lights - colored eyes were carefully cast down.

"Himura-san?" a voice asked in quiet tones to his far left. A middle-aged, yet fit man fell into step next to him. He looked familiar. "Ano, Katagai isn't feeling well."

He nodded shortly. Katsura had told him that they would be using their dead comrades name as the recognition signal. "I'd better see him, then."

They set off down the road. That man. . .who was he? Kenshin dredged through his memories. A face at Headquarters, a quieter, stable voice during many a heated meeting. There. Kamiya Koshijiro. Master of Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu.

"It's good to see you again, Himura-san. Katsura-san said to tell you that you need to rest here for a while, and that that is an order."

"Sou ka."

"My dojo isn't very far from here. We shouldn't be bothered there."

"Tadaima!"

" Tousan!" A childish voice called. Seconds later, a dark haired blur flung itself into Koshijiro's arms.

"Maa, be careful with an old man, Kaoru-chan!" the man laughed, bouncing the girl on his hip.

"Koishii! Okaerinasai!" A woman entered, immaculately garbed in a white and blue patterned kimono. She stopped when she saw Kenshin standing next to her husband. "Ano. . .Welcome to the Kamiya Dojo, stranger. I am Kamiya Hanako. Are you here to learn from my husband?"

Kenshin shook his head slightly, while next to him Koshijiro made a slight choking sound.

"Ah. . .Kaoru-chan, why don't you show Himura-san around the dojo. I need to talk to kaasan, ne?"

"Hai, hai, tousan!" The small girl slipped from her father's grasp, landing nimbly on her feet. She tilted her small face up, until she was looking full into Kenshin's bemused face. "Hajimemashte, Himura-san. I'm Kaoru. What would you like to see?"

He shrugged, and she made a face, then grabbed his hand. "Ano. . .I know, we can see the fountain! And then we can feed the fish!" She pulled him further into the house, a steady stream of chatter following.

"Koshijiro? What's wrong?" Hanako looked at him in concern. Her face was beautiful, her eyes a very deep blue. Kaoru was her very image.

"Eto. . .Hana-chan, hear me out, please. Our guest. . .a~a. . ." He trailed off. How does one tell one's wife that the most feared assassin in Japan was staying at their house?

"Koshijiro?"

"Hana-chan. . .his name is Himura Kenshin. He's a very quiet young man, he shouldn't cause any trouble, ne. . ."

She relaxed, a smile blossoming across her features. "Koshijiro. Were you afraid I'd be angry you sprung a guest on us like this? With the amount of room a dojo has-"

"He's the Hitokiri Battousai." He blurted it out quickly, then braced himself.

Her words stopped dead, her mouth still hanging open.

"He won't cause any trouble, he's not an assassin anymore. . .'

"Koshijiro. . ."

"Mou, I promise, he won't, he's an honourable young man. . ."

"Koshijiro."

"I've known him for a long time, ne, and I've never seen him a fight for the sake of fighting. . ."

"KOSHIJIRO!"

"E. . .Eh?"

"Did you just. . .say. . .that that young man. . .who can't be more then sixteen. . .is the Hitokiri Battousai. . .and is staying at our home?"

". . . .Hai."

"AND YOU JUST SENT OUR JOU-CHAN OFF WITH HIM?"

"Ano. . .he won't hurt her. . ."

Too late. Hanako was already hurrying off as fast as her kimono would permit her. Well, actually faster. Koshijiro sighed, and hoped none of students were around to see the provocative sight of his wife's legs. Most of them were already secretly in love with her.

"And that one's Akai, 'cos he's the only red one, and that one's Tabetai, because he's always eating. . .How'd you get that scar?"

Kenshin blinked, having become accustomed to just listening to the girl's flow of talk. "Eto. . ." He was saved by the emergence of Kamiya-san's wife.

"Daijobu, Kaoru-chan? Hai, hai, well, it's time for your bath!" She seemed slightly out of breath, and Kenshin looked at her, brows drawing together slightly in puzzlement. After all, ladies never ran. Especially ladies garbed in kimono. Wisps of hair drifted around her face, and her kimono did seem slightly disheveled.

"Demo. . .kaasan!" Kaoru protested. "I just had one, I'm not dirty!"

"Not buts, Kaoru. Off we go. Ano, dinner should be in an hour, H-Himura-san. . ." She hurried off, shepherding a complaining little girl in front of her protectively.

Kenshin sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. Obviously, Kamiya-san had told her who he was.

Dinner was strained. The Kamiya Dojo currently had about ten students present, and they all dined with the Kamiya family. Koshijiro's pupils all talked loudly about the day, asking questions from their shishou, and boasting of what they had done during the day. ("Ne, a hundred pull ups? I did two hundred last week!")

Under all this, Kenshin quietly, methodically ate, not raising his eyes from his bowl. Whenever he did, Kamiya's wife had a tendency to drop things. The first time it was rice. The next time it was miso soup. On Koshijiro.

After that, Kenshin did not lift his gaze, nor attempt to thank her or speak. The conversation flowed around him; it always did. He felt more alone then ever.

Tomoe. . .I will make your death mean something. I will not give up. I cannot.

"Ne, Himura-san, shishou says you are very skilled. Perhaps you could give us some pointers? Or perhaps we could spar!"

He looked up, at the boy seated across from him. Although Kenshin knew he couldn't have been more then a year older then the boy, he suddenly felt ancient. There was such anticipation in Kamiya-san's pupil's eyes, such pleasure at the thought of learning. He averted his eyes from that misguided innocence.

"Iie. I do not think I will fight here."

He could almost feel Kamiya's wife sigh in relief. The student looked like he was going to protest, but she cut in quickly. "Takashi! Don't bother Himura-san. I'm sure he wishes to rest."

"Hai."

Dinner finished with no further conversation, but Kenshin was subject to many speculative looks. He absently rubbed his scar.

It ached.

Thwack.

Kenshin stared out of the window, at the harvest moon shining clear in the dark velvet blue of the night sky.

I had forgotten how beautiful the harvest moon is.

I saw red dragonflies this evening. I can't help but wonder what will happen to us. . .How long will we be able to stay here?

For a while. That's all I can say.

Thwack.

Again, that steady sound roused him through his memories. He rose to his feet, and padded over, bare footed, to the window, to see who was practicing at this unreasonable hour. Everyone should be asleep by now. Yet for the past half hour, he had been hearing the beats of someone training with a sword, a steady repetitive beat. Whoever it was, they were just out of his line of sight.

Without really thinking about it, Kenshin pulled on something more decent then just his sleeping robe, and left his moonlight flooded room. He doubted he would sleep much tonight anyway.

Why had Katsura sent him here? He disliked being at loose ends; leisure gave him too much time to think, and not enough to do. . .

Thwack.

He stopped, looking at the scene before him with incredulous eyes.

Wielding a bokken hopelessly too large for her was Kamiya-san's little daughter, Kaoru. Her small face was scrunched up in concentration, lower lip caught between her teeth. Nonetheless, her moves were surprisingly proficient for a child, and Kenshin recognized her father's patented style in her slow practice swings. She was swinging the wooden sword against a taut rope, thus producing those thwacks he had been hearing for the past thirty minutes.

She stopped for a moment, leaning on her weapon, and wiped her forehead against the long sleeve of her robe. Long heavy strands of hair escaped from the clumsy ponytail she had no doubt put up herself. She rested for perhaps a minute, then resumed her swings, though he noticed her arms were starting to shake.

Without thinking about any consequences, Kenshin called out. "You'd do better if you didn't lock your wrists like that."

The bokken went flying from from grip to land with a clatter on the floorboards.

Author's Note: Well, what do you think? I've only seen the OVA, so I'm kind of nervy of diving into a RuroKen fic. I've read up on the Internet, though. I wish they would air the episodes here though! They don't even have them at the video store! Ah well, I'm the proud owner of "Trust" and "Betrayal" , so I'll survive. This isn't A/U; somehow I'm trying to weave it into the storyline as best as I know it. Forgive me if I make mistakes with it, or with the Japanese culture. If you want to read truly great Kenshin fics, read "The Darkest Shadows, The Brightest Lights," by Naga, or "A Rurouni' s Guide to Idiocy" by Gochan. These two rather different fics are what have inspired me to write.

Japanese Words:
(If I've gotten some wrong, mail me.)

-chan = familiar, affectionate add on to name
daijobu = i'm okay / are you okay?
demo = but
iie = no
hai = yes
hajimemashte = how do you do/nice to meet you
kaasan = mother ( Beijin said that you call your parents haha/ chichi, but refer to them as okaasan / otousan. But I learnt that it was the other way around. Peculiar. For now, I'm sticking to it my way, because I've read lots of fics that do it that way, even though Beijin has something like a decade's worth of speaking japanese.)
koishii = beloved, darling
okaerinasai = welcome home (in reply to tadaima)
-san = mister/miss/mrs.
shishou = master
sou ka = i see
tadaima = I'm home ( always said)
tanto = dagger
tousan = father

Names:
Akai = red
Hanako = Little Flower (Because Kaoru's name means sweet smell, or fragrance, or something like that. I looked it up in the dictionary.)
Tabetai = to want to eat