Reminiscing The Past • Rurouni Kenshin

Chapter 13 | Sudden Events

Lunch was highly pleasing. Everyone had many refills of Kenshin's scrumptious cooking, everyone excluding Mei, that is. The brunette was absent-minded for most of the meal, but everyone paid no mind since they were busy enjoying their meal.

Mei didn't want anyone to notice, though. She was trying to figure out why the Rurouni was avoiding her, but she couldn't see any reason to it. 'Oh, well. Maybe I'm just overthinking it...maybe he was tired! But...he was talking normally with Sumiko...!'

The brunette decided to let it go, she shouldn't let something she now assumed was small, change her mood. There she stood, beside the sink, washing the dishes as Kenshin played with Ayame and Suzame outside.

"Honestly! Why would that ugly hag tell us to clean while she takes a bath?!" Yahiko snorted, "Well, Kaoru does do a lot of things, you know..." Mei spoke softly as she wiped her hands on her apron, "Yeah yeah. Well, cooking ain't one of them!"

Sanosuke and Sumiko laughed loudly while Mei snickered in the background. As everyone continued on with their daily chores, Kenshin and the girls were heading back inside the Dojo to get a drink of water.

Mei glanced at them for a second and smiled, "They must be tired, huh?" She spoke to no one in particular. "Probably." Sumiko replied as she wiped the porch of the Dojo with a white cloth.

"Oi! Sano, you should help around, you know." Mei teased as she stood in front of him and placed a hand on her hip, "Oh, please! If Sanosuke helps out, only god knows what would happen!" Sumiko exclaimed, earning a laughing fit from Yahiko.

"Hey!" Sanosuke exclaimed, clearly offended. Mei shook her head playfully as she decided to do some sweeping. The gang were almost finished with the chores, while Kaoru was still in the bath. "You guys think she's okay?" Mei asks worriedly.

As soon as Sumiko was about to answer, the sapphire-eyed girl herself had joined them outside, drying her damp hair with a towel. "Oh, you guys are done! Great!" She exclaimed with a grin.

"Ah, Kaoru! You're done." Mei smiled at her, "Yep! The water's so warm!" She sighed happily and took a seat next to Sanosuke. "Ya ugly HAG! Feelin' free to take your time while WE do all the cleaning, huh!?" Yahiko exclaimed.

Kaoru scoffed, "And who did that last week?"

"At least I already finished my chores!"

And of course, the two had gotten into an argument, AGAIN. "Now now... There's no need to fight, that there isn't..." Kenshin spoke softly once he came into sight.

"Just leave 'em, Kenshin. It's no use anyway..." Sanosuke said with a wave of his hand. "True though. I swear, these two hate on each other every two seconds!" Sumiko exclaimed.

"It's like they say; Hate is sometimes a sign of love." Mei said with a warm smile, "That was deep, missie." Sanosuke said and started clapping slowly, "That's true, that it is." Kenshin looked at her for a second, but then looked away.

Mei laughed at Sanosuke's clapping and gave him a playful punch on his shoulder. The four went off on a random topic and laughed occasionally, until they were cut off by a yelling voice.

"YAHIKO! SANOSUKE-SAN! KEN-SAN! MISS MEI!" They small feminine voice exclaimed, "Tsubame-chan?" Mei furrowed her brows in a confused yet worried manner, "Tsubame!?" Yahiko cut himself from his and Kaoru's argument once he heard her voice.

"I'm so glad...you're still...here..." She placed her palms on her knees as she caught her breath, "Oro? Tsubame-chan, what's the matter, that is?" Kenshin asked.

"Oh, it's terrible. A group of robbers are threatening a friend of mine," She frowned, "She's a well-known Unicyclist in Hokkaido, her and her mother travel all over Japan to perform acts in different circuses." The young girl explained, the frown remaining on her face.