Poor Hiko is about to discover the truth of the old adage, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."

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Clean and refreshed, Hiko tied back his hair, put on his shirt, and settled the cape of the Hiten Mitsurugi Master on his shoulders, its weight a familiar and comfortable reminder of all that he was, and was not. He'd gotten little sleep the night before, his mind filled with plans, but he felt alert and alive, ready for the day. He wasn't yet 24, and already he had an apprentice.

He'd spent hours last night ransacking his memory for everything his own Master had done for him when he first apprenticed, then adjusting it all for Kenshin, who was so much smaller than he had been at that age. He'd formed plans, rejected them, formed new ones, and worked out as many problems in advance as possible. The one thing he didn't ponder was the inevitable end of this apprenticeship, if it were successful. That was many years away, it might never occur, and he had plenty to deal with right now.

The first thing would be to get Kenshin a decent meal, if he were even awake yet, which was doubtful. He'd been so tired last night that Hiko had to carry him the last two miles. If he were still sleeping, Hiko would let him continue. The boy had definitely earned it. But once he was awake and fed, they would have to go into Kyoto and get him some decent clothes and a bed. He couldn't train in the clothes the slavers had provided, and he needed a good bed to get proper rest, something which, along with proper nutrition, was vital for the training. Also, he should have a room of his own, where he could store and take care of his things without being underfoot all the time. The little storage area in the east corner could be cleaned out for that purpose. Which was yet another task. Actual training would have to begin tomorrow, it seemed.

Thinking about the onerous task of going into Kyoto for the second time this week made him think of Hikaru. He was aware that part of his satisfaction in having an apprentice was that he'd have something to keep his mind fully occupied, so he wouldn't be thinking of her so much from now on. When he'd made that rash promise to Kimiyama never to touch her, he hadn't realized how difficult it would be. Only a man of iron will such as himself could have kept such a promise. But he was already feeling the strain, after only a year, so Kenshin would be a welcome and worthy diversion. However, at all costs he had to keep Kenshin away from Hikaru until the boy's training had properly begun. A few days, at least, long enough to make him look a little less pathetic and to establish him in a routine.

He let himself in the back door quietly, and what he saw brought him to a halt with a silent but savage curse. Hikaru was already there. She was sitting on the floor, with Kenshin in her arms and her eyes closed as if against pain. She opened them and looked at him over Kenshin's red head, her expression a raw combination of sorrow and bliss. He'd never seen that expression on her face before, but he knew exactly what it meant. She'd already taken the boy into her over-generous heart. He could see trouble ahead for both of them, years of it. Nothing he could say or do was ever going to convince her that Kenshin was a young man, not a young boy. He would have to try, but he knew he was doomed to fail. What in the name of all the demons in Hell was the woman doing up and about? She was never here this early. She should still be in bed at this hour.

"Kenshin," he said quietly.

Kenshin unwound himself from Hikaru's neck and turned to look up at him. Hiko gave a mental sigh. If the boy had turned those big violet eyes on Hikaru, with that wistful, grateful smile touched with the fear still in them, it was no wonder she'd sat right there in the doorway. Impatiently, he snapped, "Hikaru, get up from the step. Kenshin, there are towels over there, and a well in the back, through that door. Go clean yourself up. All of yourself. You're filthy."

Somehow the boy knew it wasn't he who'd irritated Hiko, and he glanced anxiously at Hikaru, who, of course, hadn't moved. "Go on, Kenshin," she said serenely. "Get clean, you'll feel better."

"Yes, thank you, Hikaru-san." To Hiko, he promised, "I'll get very clean, Master," and then he trotted out as fast as his short legs would take him, snagging a towel as he passed.

Hikaru rose gracefully to her feet. Normally he would have handed her up, but his oath forbade even that. "Master?" she repeated curiously as she smoothed her kimono.

"I'm taking Kenshin as an apprentice."

Her eyes lit with pleasure. "You're going to adopt him?"

"No, Hikaru. Listen to me without jumping to conclusions. I'm taking him as an apprentice. Just as I was to my Master. He's going to learn the Hiten Mitsurugi style."

The smile faded, became a frown. "That little boy?"

"He's eight years old, the same age as when I started."

"He can't be!"

"That's what he told me, and I believe he doesn't lie."

"No, of course he doesn't," she said, quickly and fiercely enough for him to recognize Kenshin had won her over completely. He was cursed. Nothing good ever happened to him without something bad accompanying it. Hikaru said, "But surely that child doesn't want to learn to use the sword. Why would he? Oh... to avenge his family?"

"No. They weren't his family, and revenge is nowhere in his mind." He rubbed his nose, feeling the usual tension when he had to talk to Hikaru about something she didn't want to hear.

She cocked her head at him, then said, "You need some sake, and breakfast. Then you can tell me all about it."

He gave in. She was right, as usual. But he dreaded the coming meal. He knew Hikaru like he knew himself, and he could see what was coming.

Sure enough, although she got him his sake at once, she delayed breakfast until Kenshin came back, looking scrubbed and shining and, despite the shadow still in his eyes, happy. Hikaru settled him with a full bowl and chopsticks, fussing over him and stroking his hair while he beamed up at her. Then she sat opposite Hiko, and completed a nice family picture by joining their meal. Kicking her pretty little butt back down the mountain was out of the question on Kenshin's first day, when impressions meant so much, so Hiko gritted his teeth and let her have her way. She was going to pay for it without any intervention from him.

And so she did. At first, she just made cheerful small talk with Kenshin, asking him if he liked the food, what foods he liked best, and other such nonsense. Kenshin replied as best he could between mouthfuls, until Hiko finally, with great restraint, told her to just let the boy eat. Naturally, Kenshin sabotaged that by politely and truthfully saying it was all right, he liked talking to Hikaru-san. Eventually, being well trained in steering a conversation the way she wanted it, she found a way to gently bring up his dead traveling companions. "Seijuro tells me they weren't your family, however."

"No, they were slavers," Kenshin told her, innocently unaware of the effect the words would have on her. "Kasumi-san, Akane-san and Sakura-san were slaves, too."

Hiko watched Hikaru's face go pale, and his irritation evaporated. He had to resist reaching over to take her hand, to give her comfort. She loathed those who dealt in child slavery, and the very thought of it always horrified her, even in the abstract, never mind when represented by this child.

"Slavers?" she repeated, choking on the word. He was worried she would say they'd deserved their fate, which would not be a good thing for Kenshin to hear from her. But she was apparently driven speechless after that single word.

After a moment, Kenshin stopped shoveling food in his mouth long enough to realize a leaden silence had fallen. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Hiko said. "You told the truth. You should always do so."

Hikaru got herself collected again. "I'm sorry, dear. I was just surprised. I didn't know."

Kenshin said, "They weren't unkind. I'm sorry they're dead." When her expression didn't lighten, the anxious look came back to his eyes. "I did say something wrong. I'm sorry."

She at once altered her features and smiled at him with bright affection, using, Hiko knew, every bit of her geisha skills to do so. "Not at all. I think you're a good, brave boy."

He smiled up at her, then went back to his meal. The connection between the two of them was so palpable to Hiko, he could almost touch it. He was going to have a difficult time severing it enough to make the boy's apprenticeship go smoothly. But he had to try. Hikaru's influence could be harmful, maybe even fatal, to him.

At least, if he proves to be completely unteachable with the sword, I have a place to send him, he thought wryly as Hikaru forced herself back to normality and began sweetly fussing over Kenshin again. He had to admire her. No one, and certainly not Kenshin, would ever suspect the turmoil she was concealing. He idly wondered how she would dish it out to him when Kenshin was safely out of hearing.

He wasn't in suspense for long. Hikaru naturally invited herself along for the shopping in Kyoto, and as they walked down the mountain, Hiko adjusting his stride to match Hikaru's dawdling one, Kenshin ran on ahead, full of youthful energy. Keeping one eye on him, Hikaru said to Hiko, "You didn't tell me it was slavers that you killed."

"That's because it wasn't. You're not using your wits. If I had, would I have killed the other slaves as well? Bandits killed the slave traders. I just eliminated the bandits."

"I'm sorry, you're right. I'm thinking about other things," she agreed, turning her attention to him. "Why do you want to make a Hiten Mitsurugi Master out of such a little boy?"

"I'm not sure you'll understand, even if I tell you. You value certain things about Kenshin, worthy things, but not the same as what I value. Let me give you an example, and perhaps that will show you. I'll tell you how I found him."

"Did you have to search long?"

"A very long time. I gave up, actually. I assumed he'd committed suicide, and I went back to bury him and the others. That's where I found him." He told her about the rows of mounds, the crosses, and the three large stones, and about what Kenshin had said to him there. She listened to him wide-eyed, sometimes glancing at where Kenshin was exploring ahead of them, unable to believe such a small child was capable of so monumental a deed. But, as he expected, she missed the main point. She marveled over Kenshin's strength and tenacity, and she didn't neglect to scold him yet again for leaving the boy there alone, but she didn't truly hear what Kenshin had said. She listened to and even praised the words, but she was blind to their significance. Therefore, naturally, she asked again why he wanted the boy for the Hiten Mitsurugi. "And don't give me that disgusted look," she added tartly.

He resisted smiling. This was a serious matter, as serious as any in his life, and he wasn't going to let her turn it to levity. "Your understanding of the Hiten Mitsurugi is shallow. That isn't your fault, but my own, and I am going to try to correct it. It's not merely a way of swinging a sword. At its ultimate, it creates a man who can use godlike speed, skill, coordination, and strength until he is invincible. When a Hiten Mitsurugi Master wields his sword for a cause, that cause will inevitably win."

"Really."

"It's always been so, for more than 300 years. This is not a boast, it is a fact. That puts a tremendous responsibility on the Master, to always use his power according to the principles of the Hiten Mitsurugi, and never in blind obedience to commands given by another. Every fight must be judged necessary, or unnecessary, by the Master's belief in the Hiten Mitsurugi principles, and by no other standard of judgement. It is a power too great to allow it to be abused."

She was regarding him seriously now. "I understand better what you told me about the cape, how it reminds you to restrain your power."

"That is simply a physical reminder. An experienced Master wears it because he is accustomed to the burden, as he is accustomed to the burden of choice. I'm not going to give you the principles as they are handed down. That would take too long. But in short, they are meant to assure that a Master always uses his strength to protect those in trouble or pain, and that he values life, all life. Including his own."

"You value life by killing?"

"I kill those who believe the lives of others are inconsequential."

"I think I begin to see. Kenshin valued even the lives of those bandits."

He was pleased. "Yes. Teaching the sword, the physical aspect of the style, that is simple. It takes time and much work, but it is direct and uncomplicated. Teaching the principles can be difficult, maybe even impossible. Yet if the principles aren't learned, if they aren't taken into the heart and accepted fully, then the apprentice..." He stopped. No, he was not going to tell her that. "The apprentice fails and can never become a Master."

She hadn't missed that hesitation. "What happens to a failed apprentice?"

"He's cast out. He can no longer claim the style and he can never use it." That wasn't entirely a lie.

"He can't just go out and use what he knows so far?"

"The style is such that the soul and the body are one. If they aren't, the Hiten Mitsurugi style can't be used and no fight can be won."

"Oh," she said, her brow creasing thoughtfully.

"So, do you begin to see yet? Do you see what Kenshin is? He's a boy whose heart is pure. Despite tragedy and abuse, he has remained pure. Do you have any idea how rare that is? He has nothing that he must set aside in order to learn. He isn't like I was. The instinct of the Hiten Mitsurugi Master must be to protect. Mine was to survive, and the principles had to be pounded into me, all my previous beliefs chipped away like stone until nothing was left but what my Master placed there. I don't have to do that with Kenshin. His spirit is like a strong, clean flame. As his physical body learns, there will be nothing in his heart to hold him back, nothing against which he must struggle. If I nurture that spirit, I can teach him anything. He'll surpass me."

"You sound happy that he might beat you," she smiled.

"I will be, because I will be the Master who taught him to do so." And when that time comes, Hikaru, I hope you'll forgive me.