Ahhhhh….feels good to get the next part out and thank you so much for all the responses!!! This is the most I've ever had for anything (including an actual physical book…mou, lost a lot a cash on that one…) and in regard to such I would like to say that, during his training…at least near the beginning, Kenshin did indeed use sticks as opposed to a sword - check the first OVA, it's barely five seconds where you see it, but it's there right after the scene where Kenshin's scar starts bleeding and Iizuka mentions a superstition that a malicious sword wound won't heal till the user's desire is gone. No verbal reference is given, but I watched all four repeatedly in both Japanese and with English translations and could probably tell you how many daikon are planted in the third one when he's living near Ozu with Tomoe... I try an make sure to be specific and correct in all my works so as not to insult their rightful owners…by the way none of them belong to me…and Tomoe has nine planted the first time we see it and fourteen the second after the angle change…sorry about the long notes this time round, Japanese terms are at the end, only ones I haven't used before.

Part three…

"Ohayo de gozaru yo!" Kenshin blinked and rubbed his face, then sat up to look at Taki, who was near the door with a bundle in his arms.

"Ohayo…" Kenshin yawned. Taki's smile was too bright for morning. He tossed the bundle at the boy and turned to go.

"Breakfast is ready when you are, that it is. We shall begin your training once you have had something to eat, that we shall." He left to let Kenshin tug at the ties of the package and find out that the tie itself was an obi, the bundle a grey uwagi and hakama. He shrugged off the yukata and folded his futon then raced down the stairs for breakfast. If it was anything like the meal last night he knew he would over eat. He hadn't had anything that good in living memory.

He was disappointed to see two sets of miso and rice, but got over it quickly as Taki knelt across from him.

"Where's Shishou?" Taki clapped his hands together and bowed his head in prayer and thanks briefly.

"Itadakimasu. Hiko-san left early this morning, that he did." Kenshin gapped for a bit before mumbling a perfunctory itadakimasu and picking up his hashi and the bowl of miso. Taki slapped his hand gently.

"Lesson one, respect from where it is your food has come from." Kenshin blinked.

"Hai. Should I call you Shishou too?" Taki smiled.

"Iie. Sessha is no martial master. Taki-san will do."

"Hai Taki-san." Taki sipped some soup, then knocked Kenshin's hands again before he could move, surprising the boy at his speed.

"Lesson two, eat slowly and enjoy what you have been given. Admire the shape, texture, colour and how it was served. That way when there is very little to eat, you will be thankful for what you have and your belly will seem fuller for eating slowly, that it will."

"Hai."

"Now, stand up and start again, onegai de gozaru." Kenshin stood, then knelt back down and bowed his head.

"Itadakimasu."

"Good, now eat, de gozaru." Kenshin did, and enjoyed every last grain and drop. When he had finished Taki told him to pick up his dishes, then showed him how to stack them so they wouldn't fall over, and walked him to the kitchen.

"This is a wondrous place, that it is. Remember the tranquility and simple joy that may be found here, Kenshin-dono. Always de gozaru yo." Taki then proceeded to wash the dishes, with the stumbling help of one nine year old boy only now waking up completely.

"What will you be teaching me today, Taki-san?" The short man placed the last bowl on the shelf and motioned for Kenshin to follow him outside. He stopped before a small, scraggly flower growing crooked in the mud.

"This is your first lesson, de gozaru."

"A flower?"

"Hai. See it's strength, it's will to live despite the fact that it is too moist and dark for this particular type of flower to grow well, as well as too early in the season for it to be blooming properly that it is. Feel it's life energy. When you can do this, you will have learned your first lesson, that you will. Now, to help you, focus in on your self, find what makes up you, what energy flows through your body. Then, when you have a good sense of that, feel mine." Kenshin sweat dropped.

"How do I do this, Taki-san?" The older man smiled.

"First, find someplace comfortable to sit, then do so and close your eyes. Picture a thread of white energy starting from the ground coming up through your body and filling it as it travels upwards, to eventually come out the top of your head in a great burst. Do not keep the energy still, let it flow though and out of you. Breath with your lower stomach. Now, imagine in this white light colours start to come out."

"I see orange near where you said to breath."

"That is good, it means you are breathing properly. Now, let the other colours come out."

Three hours later Kenshin slumped over, exhausted. Sweat poured off his face and chest and his arms trembled.

"That is enough for now, that it is. We should walk off the build up of ki in you, that we should. Can you stand?"

"Hai, hai, I think so." Kenshin slowly got to his hands and knees, then wobbled to his feet. Taki smiled at him.

"Sessha is pleased with your abilities. From what Hiko-san lead sessha to believe this is most fortuitous, that it is." Kenshin blinked.

"Nani ka?"

"Good job, let's walk." They moved off at a slow pace and Taki pointed out many things that Kenshin would have missed, telling him about each flower and animal and stone, what medicines they could be used for, which tasted good, and asked what type of ki each had. By the time they got back to the waterfall Kenshin found that it was easiest not to think about what it looked like, but what it felt like to describe the ki, and that it was even better yet not to think at all.

Lunch was simple, rice, fruit and nuts, and the dishes were done in silence.

"This afternoon we will begin the laundry, that we will."

Kenshin groaned.

--

After placing the bamboo just so Kenshin laid out the final dish and looked to Taki for approval.

"Well done, Kenshin-dono. You have learned very quickly, that you have." Kenshin, having learned much, did not flush with pride at the praise, but nodded his thanks.

"It would not have been so if not for such an intelligent and astute teacher." Taki laughed.

"Sessha believes that you should watch the complements around your Shishou, that you should. His head may get so large that it would explode, that it might."

"TAKI!" Kenshin was shocked. He was sure Taki had never had an impolite thought in his head, and now this! Well, he did say it in a most mannerly fashion…. The expression on Kenshin's face only made the ascetic laugh harder.

"Taki-san, daijobu?" The older man wiped a tear from his eye and knelt next to the meal Kenshin had prepared.

"Hai, hai, arigato de gozaru. Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu." Well not as elaborate as the meal that had first been served, Kenshin had reason to be proud at his accomplishment. He had surprised himself at how much he enjoyed cooking, but even that was incomparable to the delight he found in doing the laundry. The way the bubbles rose as the stains and dirt came out and the smell of clean clothing right off the line could and sometimes did keep Kenshin entertained for hours. His ki training was going well also, although Taki had mentioned something about his eyes turning colour if he became very focused.

The meal went splendidly, and the two men went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"Sessha sent a message to Hiko-dono this morning, de gozaru. He will be coming to pick you up in three days so you can continue your training in the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, that you can." Kenshin scrubbed a bit harder at the bowl he was washing.

"Three days?"

"Hai de gozaru."

"I have learned everything?" Taki took the bowl from him and dried it.

"No, not by far. But you know as much as you will need to for now. You can come back next summer if you so wish, that you can. What Hiko-dono has to teach you is more for the destiny you were born to, that it is."

"Taki-san?"

"Hai de gozaru ka?"

"Arigato. For everything." Kenshin was puzzled by the smile he received.

"We still have three days, and the day that Hiko-dono arrives. You should plan to burn the food that day, so he doesn't make you cook all the time when you return."

"But I like cooking."

"Hiko-dono's wallet is pinched and you are unlikely to have much to work with, and will be sore from practising, that you will."

"Hai, hai…but does it have to be burned? Can I over spice it instead?"

Taki laughed.

Japanese terms -

Iie - formal no

Ohayo - morning, with gozaimasu or de gorazu it's a little more polite and therefore translated as good morning

Onegai - politely request = actually it would best be o negai - polite prayer/request

Nani - what

Nani ka - what?