Exactly. If Kaoru and Kenshin had the same disease, then it couldn't have been genetic. If it *were* genetic, then Kenshin and Kenji would have gotten it and died - and Kaoru would have been the one walking by that spot at the end. If Kaoru and Kenshin both had it, it came from one of the following -Excalibur00 wrote:of course their son would have inheirted the gene for the deiease.
--living together (which would fit with TB, though Kenji would also be infected and could get sick in the future)
--from being intimate with each other (blood/fluid transfer - in which case Kenji *could* have it, but may not)
--being subjected to the same carrier (in which case it couldn't be leprosy or tuberculosis - leprosy is a blood/fluid borne disease, TB is spread over long periods of time and would have to be someone they both lived with who also had the disease - there's no such person in RK)
--casual contact (in which case everyone around them would also be dead - everyone Kenshin or Kaoru came near or touched, and most certainly Kenji would have died if his mother or father so much as brushed his hand at any time)
We know Kaoru got it, not Kenji. So that rules out casual contact and living together (which rules out TB). That only leaves intimacy or being subjected to the same carrier. So either it's blood/fluid borne disease or Kaoru was having close contact with whoever Kenshin picked it up from.
But it cannot be a genetic disease (unless by some fluke Kenshin and Kaoru's ancestors just happened to all die from the same thing and gave that curse to their children, who just so happened to get together one day and also die, also giving it to their children like some family hierloom). There are very very few genetic diseases you can give to your wife without having your mutual child die much sooner than she does. And so far, there's no reason to believe Kenji is sick with anything. I really doubt it's a genetic disease.
Besides, if you're talking about the disease Kenshin (Shinta's) parents died from, that was either an airborne pathogen, or germs in water and food - the sort of thing that kills within a week at the very most. I don't know exactly what his parents died from, but the 'plagues' were all very similar when it comes to the casualty rate and contamination. If Kenshin were going to die from that, he would have died when his parents did. You don't carry the black plague around for 30 some years and then suddenly fall susceptible to it. Either you're immune or you're not. If Kenshin survived it once, he's immune. He couldn't have died from it later. Regardless, it wouldn't have been genetic in that case. Just being in the same place around the same disease you're parents happened to catch.
