AN: Woo hoo! I got a chapter out on my birthday!! YAY! I'm 20 today! And here's chapter 7 of Shishou. I was reading a whole bunch of kenshin fanfics lately and couldn't resist working on this one… Well… this one and a few other newer ones. ^^;; Heh… This one should be finished in a few more chapters though, so that's good. ^_^

-Rhyein

The sun was fading quickly as everyone gathered into the dining room. It was the biggest room, other than the dojo itself, so Kaoru thought it would be best for everyone to stay in there after dinner. Sanosuke, Yahiko, Meishuu, Kaoru, and Kenshin made themselves comfortable as they waited for Keikoku to begin her story. After a few minutes, she nodded to Kenshin. She was ready to begin.

"Ieyasu came to live in our family when I was four years old; he was eight. His father and my father had been very good friends years before," Keikoku began, looking mostly at Meishuu.

"I know that he had two older brothers, that died when he was younger, from cholera I believe… And when he was six, his parents were killed by bandits. Ieyasu was alone, with no where to go, so he was picked up quickly by slave traders."

Kenshin stiffened a bit, his own memories of slave traders were still very vivid. Keikoku noticed this, but continued on.

"He was sold to a family that lived, not far from us. There, he would clean, cook, and work the farm daily. Ieyasu was beaten regularly, and not treated well, as a whole. My father had seen him around a lot, but had never asked his name. He watched Ieyasu for two years, seeing how he was treated and how Ieyasu dealt with it. I think he impressed my father with his strong will and pride, even though he was only a young boy… When Ieyasu was eight years old, my father finally met him in the street and asked his name. He found out that Ieyasu was a slave and who his parents had been. When my father found out that he was the youngest son of his friend, Hashimoto Akito, he immediately went to the family that owned Ieyasu and bought his freedom.

My father had been trying to find a successor for Hiten Misurugi Ryu at the time Ieyasu came to live with us. All of his other students had quit, the training had been too rough for most of them. My father decided to try and train Ieyasu along with his other student, Akira. Time went by and Ieyasu and I took a liking to each other. Father tried to discourage it of course, because he didn't want me to deal with the pain of losing a father and a husband to the succession technique. Of course, we didn't know why he was discouraging it, so we would meet in secret. My brother would cover for Ieyasu if father went looking for him while he and I were together. It went on like that for a few years. When Ieyasu was seventeen, I was thirteen, Ieyasu went to my father to get permission to marry me when I was old enough. My father, of course, refused. Ieyasu, being the stubborn man that he is, ignored my father, and we secretly eloped."

"How romantic!" Kaoru interjected. She blushed as all eyes went to her. Kenshin smiled slightly and looked back at Keikoku who chuckled.

"Yes, it was very romantic at the time… My brother was the only person who knew of our marriage. We were married for a year when my father decided it was time to pass on the succession technique to Ieyasu. This came as a surprise to all of us. We were sure that Akira would be the one to inherit the succession technique. He wasn't as talented as Ieyasu, but he was less arrogant, and it seemed to everyone that my father preferred him to Ieyasu…"

Kenshin's eyes had grown very wide as Keikoku spoke. If Ieyasu was the successor of Hiten Misurugi Ryu, then that meant that Meishuu was… Kenshin shook his head and turned his attention back to the small lady in front of him.

"Well, Hyouden-niisan and I came outside to watch the passing of the technique. Akira was with us. We knew that we probably wouldn't see anything, since they were usually too fast for our eyes to begin with… but we thought we'd watch anyway. Well my father taught him the first part of the technique… and then the second part of the technique… the Ama Kakeru Ryu No Hirameki. This of course killed my father, much to all of our surprise. I was angry at Ieyasu, and I told him to leave, and that I hated him… He killed my father, he didn't know it would happen, but he still did it and I've hated him ever since. He left. I found out shortly after that I was pregnant, so in order to keep up appearances, Hyouden-niisan announced that I had married Ieyasu and that he had left to seek his fortune in Kyoto, and would be returning for me later… The neighbours believed that, and so did you…" Keikoku concluded, not looking Meishuu in the eyes. Kenshin could see that Meishuu had hundreds of questions for her mother, but was waiting till they were alone to ask them. Kenshin stood and motioned for the others to as well.

"Arigato, Keikoku-dono. I think that you and your daughter might like to talk alone for a while, though," he said, bowing very low. The others bowed as well, though not as low as Kenshin did, and exited.

"Why did you bow so low, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked him as soon as they left the room. Kenshin smiled at her slightly, she didn't know much about Hiko-sama, he reminded himself.

"I did it out of respect for Shishou…" he replied, looking at the gate; he could feel a very familiar ki behind it. Kaoru was about to ask him to elaborate when the gate opened and Misao came prancing through.

"Himura-san!!" she called running toward them. "Here! This letter is for you!" she said, seemingly happy to get rid of the piece of paper. Kenshin held it for a second, he'd been waiting for days for a letter. He opened it slowly and began to read.

Himura-san-

Hi! I just sent this letter along to get Misao to go to Tokyo. I'm so smart!

-Okina

Kenshin's mouth dropped open a few centimetres and he glared at the piece of paper. He'd been expecting a letter from Shishou, not from Okina, and he definitely didn't see why Misao had to come to Tokyo.

"…-ally boring! I mean, you think that the 13th Master of Hiten Misurugi Ryu would be more interesting to travel with!" Misao was saying as Kenshin turned his attention from the note.

"What?" Kenshin said.

"I said-"

"No, what about Shishou?"

"Oh, Hiko-sama? He's over there…" Misao said, waving her hand indecisively toward the gate and went back to talking to Kaoru. Kenshin looked toward the wall and saw Hiko leaning against it, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Shishou!"

***

"…You've been lying to me? All these years? Himura Battousai didn't kill my father!? Why did you do this!? Why have you been lying to me!? My own mother! All these years… He doesn't know I exist… He's not dead…" Meishuu exclaimed as soon as the others had left the room. She closed her eyes. Her head was a whirlwind of thoughts.

"I never said he wasn't dead…" her mother said finally. There was a long silence as Meishuu took this comment in.

"What?"

"As I told you before, your grandfather died teaching the succession technique to your father. If Himura Battousai is the 14th inheritor of the Hiten Misurugi School, then he had to have killed the 13th master, your father, H-"

"Hashimoto Ieyasu," a voice behind them finished. Meishuu spun around quickly to see a man in the doorway. He was tall, a bit taller than herself, with broad shoulders and long, unruly, black hair. He was wearing a long, heavy mantle that was white with red trim. She slowly stood up so that she was almost eye to eye with him and set her jaw. How dare he interrupt them! Who was this man that thought he could just walk in here and do as he pleases?

"…Ieyasu-sama…" came Keikoku's quiet voice.

"…I haven't been called that in a very long time," the man replied. Meishuu's eyes widened.

"Ieyasu… sam-a?" she repeated quietly. The man's gaze moved from Keikoku to Meishuu. She caught her breath as his eyes met hers. They were her eyes; the same shape and dark brown colour, but older, and more dangerous. They stared at each other wordlessly for a minute and then Ieyasu's attention returned to Keikoku, who had stood up.

"It's been a long time, Ieyasu-sama," Keikoku finally said.

"…Yes, it has," he replied softly.

"I thought you were dead."

"I noticed."

"Where have you been?"

"…After I left Osaka, I wandered for a while. Then I found Kenshin and we stayed a little way outside of Kyoto."

"Kyoto? You've been there the whole time?"

"…Mostly."

"How is it that you're still alive?"

"What do you mean? Why haven't I gotten myself killed yet?" he snapped. Keikoku jumped slightly in surprise. The Ieyasu she knew was not so cynical, he had changed much over the years.

"No… I meant the succession technique. Have you passed it on?"

"Yes, I have."

"How…?"

"Did I survive?"

"…Hai."

"That baka student of mine has a Sakaba-tou, it was painful when he hit me, but not fatal."

"Oh," Keikoku replied, and the room fell silent again as her eyes wandered over Hiko's chest, where the wound would have been. She noticed a dark mark where she could see his skin, but wasn't sure it if it was just a shadow or not.

"…Look at you two!" Meishuu said, breaking the silence. Hiko and Keikoku blinked and focused their attention on her. "You haven't seen or talked to each other in over twenty-five years and that's all you have to say!? Hyou-oji used to tell me stories about you two together. How in love you were, so in love that you defied my grandfather so that you could be together! Either he was lying to me or you're both full of shit," she spat, glaring at them.

"Meishuu!" Keikoku exclaimed, horrified by her daughter's outburst. Hiko looked Meishuu over again with a smirk slowly spreading over his face.

"What are you smiling at?" Hiko leaned against the doorway and crossed his arms.

"…Nothing."

"No, I want to know. I don't like being laughed at," Meishuu growled at him. Hiko started to chuckle. "What the hell is so funny!?"

"…You just… remind me of someone…" he replied.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Who?" He looked up at her. Meishuu was surprised to see that his eyes looked softer, less dangerous… almost kind.

"…Me."

"Yes, she's very much like you… So much like you sometimes that it's frightening," Keikoku remarked, taking a few steps toward him.

"I am?" Meishuu asked, her face lighting up a bit.

"Unfortunately… Yes," Keikoku said, glaring at Hiko, as if it were his fault. Hiko's smirk faded a bit and his eyes narrowed. He knew that Keikoku was holding back a lot of what she wanted to say because Meishuu was there. Hiko turned to the younger woman.

"Meishuu, correct?" he began. She nodded, happy that he knew her name at least. "Could you excuse your mother and I?" Meishuu opened her mouth to argue, but saw a glint in Hiko's eyes that told her that he wasn't in the mood to argue with her. She conceded and left the room quietly, walking onto the deck.