-Vol 5: A New Life-

-An Idea-

From the beginning, Kenshin wasn’t a sappy kind of person who would say something upfront. He would rather prefer to show it with action. And ‘show’ he did. He wasn’t like those in dramas; taking a long time to even realize what their heart wanted. And, after they realize, it would have been too late. But then the plot armor prevails, and the girl suddenly returns, and they live happily ever after…nice…but who would give him a plot armor in this world?

Kenshin was very selfish. He never compromised on anything when it comes to his heart. In the past, his heart was always with his sister and still does, that’s why he dared to even go for a level 3 dungeon, despite a weakling. Even now, when Mrs. Yui questioned her about their relation, all it took was a night of pondering before he got the answer. And once it got the answer, he wouldn’t back away even if the whole world came between them.

This is the kind of confidence that came with strength and experience.

Mrs. Yui, although had many life experiences, was surprisingly naïve at matters when it comes to family and loved ones. She believed that ignorance was the best form of protection, and it was the reason why she did all that to keep Kenshin ignorant of things happening in her life. She had seen his life change this past month and didn’t want to do anything that would harm his recently changed lifestyle.

Actually, if it was Kenshin from the past month, he couldn’t have understood such subtlety. Until the end, he would have thought that Mrs. Yui was treating him coldly. But with increased strength, came increased intelligence. Realizing such a simple factor didn’t even consume much energy in his part.

When he got all this, he couldn’t help but laugh at the woman’s naivety. But also respected her for it. It warmed his heart that, she, an outsider cared so much for his wellbeing where his own blood relatives sneered. This woman, she deserved to be protected and respected.

Last night, he vowed to keep a close eye on this mother and daughter pair and never let them fall into traps of others. Before that, he first has to take care of this unsolved matter. It was like a tumor growing at a corner, constantly threatening his peaceful life. He must find the source of this tumor and erase them out of existence.

“Brother Shin! Let's go. Ah! Wait a minute, Brother Shin, can Axel go to school with me?” Ellie asked with shining and glittering eyes. Axel looked like he would be in the right age to enter a preliminary school so it wouldn’t be weird if he goes there. Kenshin gave a sidelong glance at the dress wearing boy who looked exactly like a girl with his hair in braids. A dull look flashed in his eyes, then he noticed he was standing on two legs and even walking slowly, though looking uncomfortable.

“WHAT? He walks?” Kenshin shouted in surprise, his eyes looked like it would fall off any moment.

“Ahem!” for some reason Ellie looked smug with his chest puffed out like that. Kenshin ignored her.

“Mrs. Yui, is it your work?”

“AHEM!!” this time her cough was louder, and her eyes were narrowed, her chest was still puffed.

“What?” Kenshin gave her a dull look.

“Idiot Shin! Nasty Shin! I hate you!! Hmph!!” she exploded like a firecracker and bared her cute fangs at him, at the same time she kicked the ground twice and ‘hmphed’ him. To the side, Axel also copied and mimicked her action and did the same, although he couldn’t speak like her.

“This!! What happened? What did I do…ah…is that so!” he suddenly realized where his mistake lied. Glomping her once more into a big hug, rubbed his cheeks with her again.

“Haha! You fell for it!! I was just joking. Don’t worry, I believed you just fine…good job in teaching him how to walk, you deserve a reward!!” from his past experience of babysitting this brat, he knew how to coax her well. No matter how much she was angry, if she were to be praised highly, she would instantly forget it. She liked being praised, though not an attention seeker.

Like he had expected and seen many times, her face instantly brightened, all her previous anger was forgotten.

“Eh! Reward! I want a big k*tk*t.” With glittering eyes and drooling mouth, she gave him an expectant look.

“Done!”

“Yeah! You are the best! I love you. CHU!” shouting in joy, she jumped into his arms and gave his cheeks a sloppy kiss. Before he could enjoy her kiss, another weight added to his arms and he felt another pair of lips touching his cheeks.

He paled instantly…but eventually sighed and accepted it.

Of course, the second pair of lips belongs to Axel, the ever copying kid. He mimicked Ellie’s action and jumped into his arms to give him a kiss. Though Kenshin doubted he knew what the meaning behind this action was.

“Okay! Okay! That’s it. You would be late for school, now let's go!” Kenshin patted her back to make her prepare immediately.

“Yes! But, what about Axel?” she still hadn't forgotten her priority.

“I will talk with your school authorities today and see if they allow him entry at this time of the year.”

“Okay. Talk with Koko madam! She would know what to do.”

“Koko! Who is that?”

“Uff! You wouldn’t know. She is the most popular teacher in our school. Not only she was beautiful, but also kind. She is so polite to everyone and would never get angry with children. Everyone in school loves her…I want to be like her when I grow up…sigh…” Cupping her tiny arms in front of her chest, she sighed and admired that Koko madam she talked about. Kenshin could only sigh at her enthusiasm, of course, every child had a role model when they are small. Thankfully her role model wasn’t an outrageous one like his when he was of her age, he wanted to become a ‘Terraman’ when he grows up and fights evil.

Sigh…those days…

He left Axel at home and left with Ellie to school. Though he promised Ellie to talk with Koko madam, today might be impossible as he had an important thing to do. So, he addressed it when they both were out of the house.

Handing her a medium sized k**k**, he said: “Ellie, today might be impossible to talk with your madam.”

“Huh! Why?”

“Well…I have to take care of those baddies who broke your shop last night so…”

“Ah! I see. Brother shin, teach them a tough lesson for making mom cry like that. They…they even pushed her down and wounded her head. I want them punished for this…” the little girl tightened her fist and said angrily.

“Mm! Don’t worry; leave everything to me. But, Ellie, do you recognize those people who came made your mom cry?” with a narrowed eyes Kenshin asked.

“No! But I know one of those uncles was a shop owner on the other side of our school. He also sells pastries like mom, but his’ didn’t taste as delicious.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I see…I see…” Kenshin said twice as the gears in his head started to turn furiously. A devious idea formed in his head.