Pure Heart

(Please notice that the writer isn't a native English speaker. )

Chapter 1: Found

The black night was approaching from the north and displaced the last rays from the setting sun shining on the wooden crosses.

"We're leaving. There's nothing left you can do for them." Hiko said to the little boy who was still standing silent in front of three stones . Then he turned to the woods. The boy, walking away, turned his eye to the three stones for one last time, then followed the man who had saved his life into the dark of the night. Slowly, a pale moon rose, shining bright through the roof of leafs .

Shinta wasn't sure about following the man. He knew nothing about what was going to happen if he did. But did he have a choice? If he were to leave now, the next bunch of slave traders would catch him for sure. This man saved his life, so he couldn't be that bad, could he? Shinta was too tired to think about that question further. Wherever they were going, Shinta hoped that they would arrive soon. He could hardly keep his eyes open. Seijuro Hiko felt the child's Ki lose its power. The boy tried hard not to fall asleep while walking. Hiko stopped and waited for the boy to catch up with him. "We shall rest. You can relax a bit." Without answering, Shinta sat against a tree and fell asleep immediately. Hiko carried him in his arms and once more set out to reach the small mountainside hut. The child in his arms smelled like mud and blood. But worse, was a smell Hiko knew all too well. It was the stench of death covering the child. The smell of dead flesh, the smell of the corpses rotting in the sun until this little boy managed to bury them. Unlike himself, who usually waited until the following night, the boy finished the gruesome task during the hot daytime. He watched the child in his arms. Surely, Kenshin had no strong body and his face was so soft he could easily pass for a girl. But his hair was remarkable. It was very odd, shining red, like fire. It wasn't difficult to imagine what those slave traders had planned with such a boy. They would have taken a lot of money for him in the pleasure quarters of Kyoto.

Unbelievable that this small boy has had the strength to dig all those graves with his bare hands...graves for them who had stolen his freedom and graves for them who wanted to kill him...he must have a strong will...he is the right one...he will be my successor.

Kenshin slept soundly as they reached the small hut. While lighting a candle, Hiko decided to wash the boy before laying him into his bed. His face and his hands were dirty and his clothes were covered in blood.. Hiko still had a bucket of water in the house, so he did not have to go down to the river. Using a towel, he washed the boy's face and hands. Being totally exhausted, the boy didn't even wake up as Hiko stripped Kenshin's clothes away. What he saw, didn't surprise him. His body was covered with bruises. Some seemed to be quite old, others were still healing. He quickly washed the small body, then laid him down on his futon.

Hiko was used to waking up early in the morning, but this morning something wasn't right. Something was different. The first thing he recognized was that he wasn't on his futon as usual. The reason for that wasn't far away. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a small figure laying on his futon, red hair shining from underneath the blanket. The incident from last night came back to his memory immediately. As quietly as possible, he left the small hut, taking the boy's clothes with him to wash them. Outside, he took a deep breath of the a summer morning's fresh air. The grass was still covered with silver dew and high above the moon still shone from the sky, although the sun was already rising. Hiko started on his way down to the river. He had to wash the boy's clothes and probably they would already be dry when the boy would awake. Hiko decided that Kenshin should relax today. In the afternoon or –if the boy slept longer – tomorrow they could go to the city to buy the boy a futon of his own.

Warm sun rays were stroking his face as Shinta woke from his sleep. All around him, it was warm and fuzzy. It hadn't been like this for a long time. Blinking reluctantly, he realized that he didn't know where he was. Slowly, he rose into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. He was in a small hut and obviously had slept on a futon. Bright sunlight washed through a small window. Except for him, nobody was here. But where was "here" anyway? He wore nothing except his underwear and he couldn't see his clothes anywhere. Uncertain what to do, Shinta just remained sitting on the futon and thought about what could have happened Had he been sold to slavery? Maybe the door was locked... But there wasn't a handle on the simple door. From the outside, no noises could be heard. There was only the wind whispering in the trees and the melody of the birds. No voices, no footsteps. He seemed to be alone, wherever he was. Desperately, Shinta tried to remember something, but he just couldn't. Maybe he should run away, as long as he was alone. Maybe this would be his only chance... Shinta rose – but it was too late.

Outside the small hut Hiko was drinking his sake. It was already late in the afternoon and Kenshin was still sleeping. Thinking about waking the boy up, he recognized a disturbance in Kenshin's Ki. He had finally woken up. Hiko took another sip of sake. As Kenshin woke, his Ki got more and more disturbed. The boy seemed to be totally confused. Hiko let him have some more time to compose himself, then he decided to stop his confusion.

Shinta turned to stone as the door was suddenly opened. He sat with clear eyes on his futon, holding the blanket tightly and stared at the man in the door. He knew him, but he couldn't remember where they had met before. The man was exceptionally big and wore a great white cape. Shinta turned his head away. "Did - did you buy me?" he asked softly. Hiko sighed. The child couldn't remember anything. He hoped it was just temporary, while the child was shocked.

The white cape...suddenly Shinta remembered. He knew him from his dream. Last night in his dream, this man saved his life... Reality hit him like a sword through his heart. "It wasn't a dream, was it?"

End Part 1

Authors note : Greetings from Germany! I started to write this story one year ago, but unfortunately there aren't that many RK-Fans here. So I decided to translate my fics into english. But since I left school two years ago, my english isn't the best so my boyfriend helped me with it. Thank you. To say something about the story, I really love Hiko and Kenshin that much! I read every fanfic about them and collect every doujinshi I get. I hope I can write this fanfiction till the point Kenshin is leaving to join the ishinshishi. Thank you for reading!

Ayumi -