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Autumn Scene

by: MrFoshizzlePro

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Nobuhiro Watsuki, however, does :)

It was a cold autumn day at the Kamiya dojo. The sky was dotted by dull gray clouds and colorful leaves sprayed from the treetops and onto the ground. It was rather unusually quiet. Kenshin Himura was hardly getting use to such stillness since the Kenshin-gumi went their seperate ways.

A little auburn-haired duplicate of himself came running around the corner of the dojo. The child was making a chorus of noises as he flapped his arms in the mimicking motion of a bird. Kenji bursted into fits of endless giggles. Kenshin chuckled and watched with a light heart as his five-year old played in the yard.

Kaoru came around behind her husband with a warm smile plastered on her lips. She thought, Kenji is growing up so fast. She laid her hand on Kenshin's shoulder, sighing a breathy sigh.

Kenshin jumped slightly under her touch and turned. The moment his violets locked with her beautiful blues, he knew it was only his wife and tried relaxing himself back to normal. He murmured, "Kenji is rather enjoying himself, that he is." He closed his eyes to capture the moment in his mind and smiled happily. He's growing up quite fast, too, he added to himself in his thoughts.

Upon hearing his name mentioned, Kenji stopped and whirled around to face his parents. He cocked his head to the side and blinked his large blue eyes. Kenshin and Kaoru returned their attention back to their son only to notice, to their confusion, Kenji staring back at them. Both parents sweatdropped.

"Is something the matter, Kenji?" asked Kenshin.

The boy zapped out of his state-like trance and hastily shook his head. "Uh-uh!" Kenji responded. He grinned sheepishly. "I thought I heard you and Mommy say my name...so, that's why I looked over. I'm okay." With that, the child went back to his loud romping as if nothing had happened.

Kenshin glanced back to Kaoru, who, judging by her facial expression, shared the same perplexity as he felt. Finally, Kaoru spoke. She said:

"Why not go and play with Kenji for a bit while I cook lunch? It'll give the two of you some time to bond."

He smiled at the idea and kissed her cheek softly, replying, "Why not? I'll give it a go, koishii. You go off and prepare lunch, and I'll spend a little quality time with Kenji."

Kenshin realized it was easier said than done.

With each time he tried scooping up the five-year old in his arms, Kenji would swerve off in the opposite direction, causing Kenshin to face-plant into the ground. This repeated several times before he at last attained hold on the rambuncious child's kimono sleeve.

Now, if I can just grab hold of him...!

"Oro!" The exclaimation escaped from his throat as his vision was blurred by an array of colors. He had flown into a pile of leaves and the boy had escaped his grasp once again. Rising up, Kenshin brushed crumpled leaves off himself and picked stray foliage from his clothes. "It seems as though Kenji is better at this game than sessha is, it does," he muttered.

Nearby, Kenji had stopped running and now was giggling. Kenshin saw his opportunity and took advantage of the moment immediatly. A sly grin formed on his face. He was absolutely certain of his soon-to-be-triumph. With exquisite stealth and god-like speed, he vanished in a fraction of a second and reappeared behind Kenji. Kenji was unaware of his Daddy's disappearance, which gave Daddy the greatest advantage.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from inside the dojo.

"Kenshin, Kenji! It's time for lunch!"

Kenji's eyes twinkled like stars. "Yay!" he squealed and hurried away. Kenshin had forgotten catching Kenji for a mere heartbeat before he remembered and leaped toward the empty space on the ground. It was already too late to catch himself as his face connected with dirt and he realized his son was gone. Kenji was -as of now- inside the dojo, but Mommy walked outside to see what was taking Daddy so long to come in.

At the sight of him, Kaoru covered her mouth with a hand to avoid laughing aloud. Kenshin ripped himself from the ground, spitting out grit and rock. His face was covered with bits of dirt and his once shiny red hair was now dotted with pieces of scattered dry leaves and wadded up clumps of dirt. The bulge of his eyes and the baffled look shown on his face was becoming too much for her to handle, and at last, she pulled her hand from her mouth and began howling with laughter.

Kenshin threw his head in her direction swiftly, sending a spray of soil flying from his hair. He blinked and murmured a squeaky, "Oro?" Then, he took in one sweep of his wife's amusement and laughed, too. What a mess he must have looked! he thought.

And so, the day came to a rather silly end. Upon heading to his and Kaoru's room, Kenshin sneakily popped into his son's room, knelt down by his sleeping form, moved his ginger bangs from his forehead and kissed Kenji's forehead softly with a brush of his lips.

"I caught you," he whispered, and with a chuckle, exited out of the child's room, slidding the shoji to a quiet shut.

Owari