Now watch Hikaru do her best to undermine Hiko's discipline... grin

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

One of the many things that Hikaru believed Kenshin needed, and Seijuro refused to provide him, was physical affection, and she didn't plan to wait long to begin. As soon as they'd gone far enough down the path that she was sure Seijuro wouldn't see them, she held out a hand to Kenshin. Always a quietly willing conspirator, he gave her his hand and let her keep it. She thought that would be enough, but as soon as her fingers wound through his small ones, she knew better. Before they got to where her servant patiently waited, she stopped and knelt, ostensibly to make some minor adjustment to his clothing. He was so small for his age that, even on one knee, she didn't have to look up at him. She straightened the wrinkled fabric, their eyes met, and he read the intention in hers and broke into a wide smile. She opened her arms and he came right into them, hugging her around the neck while she held him tightly against her.

She never wanted to let him go. He felt so tiny and fragile, she was filled with a desperate need to protect him. Yet she could feel the muscle on him and knew he was strong, as Seijuro claimed. That didn't matter. To her, the delicate matrix of bone and flesh that was Kenshin Himura was like a rare flower, to be carefully held and treasured, and she wrapped him up in her arms and cradled him there, breathing in the child-smell of him, rejoicing in her first chance to hold him close since the day they'd met, more than a year ago. He tightened his arms around her neck very carefully, as if he didn't remember clearly how a hug was supposed to go, but when she sighed happily and rubbed her cheek on his bright hair, he suddenly relaxed against her, tucked his face into her shoulder and leaned all his weight into her.

She hadn't been this happy more than once or twice in her entire life. Her whole being was filled with it, so full that she had to swallow tears of joy. This was the closest she would ever come to holding a child of her own, and it was enough. For the next two days, he was her child. Seijuro could call him an apprentice until the stars and moon fell from the sky, but although she normally bowed to his will, she would never agree with him about Kenshin. To her, in her heart, he wasn't a Hiten Mitsurugi apprentice. He was the son that she and Seijuro would never have.

They stayed that way for a long time, and it was Hikaru who finally broke it. "Well, we'd better get going," she said, and held him away from her. "Look at your hair. It's a mess. Let me see if I can do something with it." He batted her hands away in a typically boyish gesture, and she laughed, gave up, kissed him, and rose. "Won't Bunto be surprised to see me come back so soon? And with a guest, too."

"Bunto's with you? That's great. Last time I saw him he was telling me a story, and he didn't get to finish it. I want to hear the ending!" He put his hand back in hers and skipped beside her. However, as soon as he saw Bunto rising off the bench, he let go of Hikaru and went running to the ex-soldier, yelling, "Bunto! Guess what! I get to come to Kyoto with you!"

Bunto's usually impassive face cracked a bit at that. "You do, young Kenshin? Are you running away from your Master?"

Kenshin gave this the laugh it deserved. "No. He gave me a holiday! And Hikaru-san said I could spend it with her."

Meeting Bunto's astonished expression with a broad smile, Hikaru quickly explained the situation. After hearing her out, he said respectfully, "Madame Kimiyama, I believe that you can talk anyone into anything."

"Maybe I can, but that's not the case here," she assured him. "This was Seijuro's own idea."

"Unusually considerate of him."

"Maybe he thought I deserved a treat, too. What do you think, Kenshin?"

Kenshin gave this a moment's serious thought, then shook his head. "He seemed grouchy about it, not like the time he gave you the earrings."

"Well, it doesn't matter. Are you tired from your training this morning?"

"No!"

"Then why don't we go into the city and buy you some new clothes?"

"But I don't need any. I have clothes."

"You have something to cover your nakedness. That's not quite the same thing."

"Hikaru-san, are you going to make me vain?"

He was serious, so she bit her lip and replied seriously. "I don't think I could do that, even if I wanted to."

"Master says that vanity is the fool's version of pride."

"Kenshin, darling," she said, squatting down to his level again, "you and I are going to get along a lot better if you don't use those two words again during your holiday."

"What two words?"

"Master says."

"But…"

"I know your Master very well, and I know what he says and thinks. What I want to know now is what Kenshin thinks. So, forget about Master for now. Does Kenshin think he wants to go see the city of Kyoto, and maybe, maybe, buy some new clothes, if they aren't too fine? Hmm?"

He grinned.

~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~

The city intimidated Kenshin for a long time, and he spent the afternoon holding her hand, pressed close to her side. Still, although intimidated, he was unafraid and fascinated, and craned his head in all directions around her body, trying not to miss anything. He'd been in big towns before, he told her, trying to sound sophisticated and instead sounding adorable, but not any city as large and busy and crowded as Kyoto. "How do you sleep here?" he wanted to know.

"Our home is on the outskirts of the city, where it is much more quiet. This is the market center of the city. There is no place more busy, not even the palace."

"Will we see the palace?"

"From a distance. Not close. Some bad men are in that area."

His hand tightened on her fingers and he said, "Then we won't go there. It would be dangerous for you, and Master would never forgive me if I let you get hurt."

"Then I'll stay close by your side."

"And Bunto will watch our backs," he said, and, satisfied with this arrangement, he turned his attention back to the shops and the people.

Seijuro was right about one thing, he wasn't accustomed to sweets and they made him queasy. Some mint tea settled his stomach again, and they headed home with Kenshin in a merry mood, wearing his new clothes. He conceded graciously that the clothes were more comfortable and felt better than his old ones, and she said she was glad he liked them, straight-faced. He had no idea of the cost of what she had purchased for him, only that she insisted he dress in blue because it suited his coloring. The girls in the shop had made a big fuss over him, embarrassing and pleasing him both, and while that was going on, she'd quietly made sure that price would not be mentioned in Kenshin's hearing. Seijuro, however, was going to want to kill her, and she smiled at the thought.

Besides his bundle, which was a little larger now, Kenshin also carried a present for Toshiro, a book he and Hikaru had picked out together. Much of his shyness had worn off, and, still holding her hand, he babbled happily about what they'd seen and bombarded her with questions about what her home was like. She realized as he spoke that he expected to sleep with the servants, and her sheer astonishment told her how much she'd come to consider him family. She didn't tell him that, because if he innocently repeated it to Seijuro, Seijuro would never allow her to keep him again. Instead she told him he was a guest and would have his own room. Privately, she had another idea in mind, but she had to clear it with Toshiro first.

Before that, even, she had to break the news to Toshiro that they had a young guest. She'd hoped to leave Kenshin in the shop with Bunto and catch Toshiro alone in the house, but her luck didn't break that way. He was on the front step of the shop, bowing a customer out.

Hikaru had always found that men gave her what she wanted if she behaved as if she expected them to, so she tossed out all her ideas for breaking the news to him gently, straightened her posture, gave him her most joyful smile, and said, "Toshiro, look, we have a visitor!"

Toshiro's brows shot up. Then his eyes started to twinkle. "This must be Kenshin, about whom I've heard so much. Welcome!"

Kenshin dropped his bundle and bowed deeply, holding out the wrapped book. "Thank you for allowing me into your home, Kimiyama-san, and I apologize for any trouble and inconvenience I might cause you. Please accept this gift." Then, straightening as Toshiro returned his bow, he added in a sudden flash of candor, "Except that Hikaru-san paid for the gift. But I picked it out."

"Did you?" Interested, Toshiro opened the wrapping. "Ah, this is perfect. I've been wanting to read this! Thank you."

Hikaru said, "Bunto, why don't you introduce Kenshin to the workers and show him the kilns? Kenshin? Would you be interested in seeing how we make a living?"

Kenshin eagerly agreed and followed Bunto into the shop, eyes huge. Hikaru turned to her husband. "I hope you don't mind."

"Why would I? I can see it makes you happy. Besides, he seems to be a good boy. His manners are excellent. Your doing?"

"So are your manners, husband! But no, that is Seijuro's doing. He's not so vain that he thinks Kenshin will be a hermit like himself, so part of Kenshin's training is to get along in society."

"You'll pardon me if I say that shocks me. How long will the boy be staying?"

"Only two nights. Toshiro – the reason Seijuro didn't just leave him alone up there is that Kenshin's been having terrible nightmares. I was wondering…"

"If he could sleep with us?" he finished for her, his eyes twinkling again. He loved it when he could read her mind. "Of course he can, if he wants to. So tell me, what role am I to assume? Do I stay back and be an avuncular presence, or do I help you care for him?"

"You do what you wish to do, Toshiro."

He shook his head, smiling. "My dear, I know how much this means to you. I don't want to interfere."

"If you do what you feel is right, then that will be perfect. I know it, because I know you."

"Very well. What will you do now?" he asked, bending to pick up Kenshin's forgotten bundle. "Show him the gardens?"

"Let me take that and get it put away. I bought him some new clothes, Toshiro. You wouldn't believe what Seijuro thinks is adequate." Toshiro laughed, and she said, "Yes, if I can pry him away from the artists, I'll share the gardens with him now."

When she came back to the shop, she discovered Kenshin had picked up an astonishing amount of knowledge about pottery, almost all of which he told her about in detail as she led him toward the courtyard. However, on seeing the gardens, he stopped talking in the middle of a sentence and just gaped.

His awe lasted about thirty seconds. After that, he was full of questions and comments again, wanting to run about and see everything at once. The one thing that fascinated him most were the flowers which folded themselves up to sleep as the sun set. But Hikaru's favorite moment came at one of the fish ponds, when she sat on the stone ledge and trailed one hand in the water, showing Kenshin how the koi would come and kiss her fingers. He was already wide-eyed from the size and brilliant color of the fish, and this made him look at them as if they might climb out of the pond and chase him, so Hikaru explained that she often fed them by hand, and that their affection was really just a way of checking for food. Kenshin put his own fingers in, laughing as they checked him for food, too. Then he startled her by opening his hands and grabbing the largest koi right out of the water into his arms.

The fish flailed, liberally splashing her and everything else around them with water, beating Kenshin's face with its head. Kenshin held it close to his chest, obviously pleased with himself. "This would make a good dinner!" he said, looking at her obliquely to see if she understood he was teasing her.

She laughed aloud. The other thing she wanted most to provide for Kenshin, after physical affection, was a chance for him to be like a normal child and play. It seemed all he needed was the opportunity. "He's a king of fish, Kenshin. We can't eat a king. You'd better put him back. Although now you've humiliated him in front of all his subjects."

Kenshin dropped the fish back into the pond, splashing both of them yet again. "No I haven't. He'll tell them he was snatched up by a demon, but that he was so strong, he got away all on his own."

"A terrible red-haired demon who wanted to eat him!"

"Right! I… Oh. Hikaru-san, I got you all wet." The light fled from his eyes in a split second, to be replaced by contrition. But behind the contrition was the fear that Hikaru so hated to see.

"You got both of us all wet, you demon," she said, keeping the laughter in her voice. "But we'll be dry by the time I show you the rest of the garden."

The fear disappeared, but he was subdued as they walked, until finally, unable to bear it any more, she knelt, hugged him impulsively, and said, "A little water won't melt me, love!"

"You aren't mad?"

"No, of course not! It was worth it to see the expression on that king's boggly-eyed face when he found himself in the air."

Kenshin grinned and hugged her back, but he also apologized again and held her hand for some time afterward, leaving her wondering, behind her smiles, just what it was he feared. This was not Seijuro's doing, she knew. In the first place, Seijuro would never terrorize a child, and anyway, nobody observing them would believe Kenshin was afraid of his Master. Hikaru didn't know if it was the memory of the horrendous circumstances Seijuro had found him in, or something from his years as a slave, but she would have given anything to chase that fear away forever. That was beyond her ability, but she would keep it at bay while he was with her, if she possibly could.

Dinner was as much fun as the rest of the day had been. Kenshin's table manners were excellent, but he'd never seen such a variety of food before (as he confided to her later), so he would choose something to eat and then stare, wide-eyed, at the rest of the dishes, trying to decide what to sample next, while forgetting to chew what he already had in his mouth. Toshiro put himself out to make Kenshin feel at home, and like a sensible person, he spoke to Kenshin as one man to another, not as a man to a child. Or, toward the end of the meal, as one child to another, when a chance remark made the two realize they both knew the same boyhood song. Kenshin burst out with it, and Toshiro jumped right in, adding his deep rumble to Kenshin's high, clear voice. Hikaru smilingly served tea and cookies for dessert while the two of them recalled song after song, sometimes with hilarious results when they got the lyrics wrong. Watching Kenshin's small, serious face as he earnestly corrected Toshiro's memory, Hikaru allowed herself a short-lived fantasy that they were a simple family, father and mother and son, and she enjoyed it even as she knew it was ridiculous. She would never wish Seijuro out of existence, not even for Kenshin. But for now, pretending did no harm, and it made her happy.

Toshiro finally called a halt. "Neither of us sings very well," he said to Kenshin, with an apologetic glance at Hikaru. It was true, neither could carry a tune and their singing was literally painful to her trained ear, but she stoutly denied it anyway. Toshiro said to Kenshin, "But my wife sings beautifully and plays the shamisen. Maybe, since we have a guest, she'll sing and play for us tonight."

"No!" Hikaru laughingly protested. "You make it rude for him to refuse, Toshiro, and that isn't fair. The shamisen isn't for everyone's taste." And generally, children didn't care for it. "Besides, Kenshin's had a long day and should be going to bed soon."

Kenshin's eyes lifted to hers, and she was instantly reminded of the nightmares. How could she have forgotten them? "I'd like to hear you play, Hikaru-san," he said politely. "Master says... I mean, Master told me you play very well."

"She plays wonderfully," Toshiro said, rising and giving her a significant look over Kenshin's head. He, too, had been reminded of the nightmares.

So she took out her shamisen, and tuned it, and played for them. Most children got restless after a short time of that music, but Kenshin only seemed to become more and more peaceful rather than bored. He slid across the floor a few inches at a time until at last he was right next to her, watching her fingers on the instrument as if fascinated by the delicate movements. But his eyelids were heavy, and Hikaru changed to simpler, quieter ballads, continuing to play even when she felt him leaning against her arm. When she was sure he was asleep, she set the instrument aside and let his head slide down until it was pillowed in her lap. With one hand on his shoulder, an unconsciously protective gesture, she stared down at him, thinking how amazing it was that so much vitality and character could be contained in so small a body and behind such delicate features. The way he'd practically crawled into her lap and now lay sleeping there, in an abandoned posture, one arm flung wide and the other curled under him, implied a trust that touched her heart.

She looked up and saw Toshiro watching her, smiling. "You make a good mother," he told her.

"I wish he was mine," she said impulsively. Unlike with Seijuro, she rarely expressed her deepest emotions to Toshiro, but she was feeling too much to keep it all inside.

Toshiro's quiet smile told her he understood more than she'd realized. "I know that. Is there any chance Hiko would let him go?"

Her breath caught, and her hand, which had been stroking Kenshin's hair unaware, stilled suddenly. "What are you saying? That he should change trades?"

"You know that's not what I mean. You want a child, love, and there is room in our lives for one. I like this one very much. There is something special about him, something I see when I look in his eyes that I've never seen in a child before. I'm not good with words, I can't describe it."

"He has a special grace."

"Yes, that is a good way to put it. So I ask you again, is there any chance Hiko would let him go to us?"

She thought about the question for a long time, lowering her eyes, abashed as she often was when faced with Toshiro's generosity of spirit. Her imagination was racing into vistas of happiness. But she was a practical woman, and finally she put the dreams back where they belonged and admitted the truth. "No, I don't think so. I can ask him, but it will probably only make him angry, and he might never let me have Kenshin like this again."

"That would be cruel even for him. Is he so afraid of your influence over the child?"

"Afraid? It's hard to imagine Seijuro afraid of anything. But it worries him." She sighed. "I don't understand the reasons for teaching a child to use a sword. Perhaps you do." Toshiro's two older brothers were a daimyo and a samurai, and Toshiro himself had trained with them until he rebelled and became an artist.

"I do. I wish I could explain it to you, but there is too much of it that must be felt with the heart and spirit, and no number of words can teach that to someone like you."

"You sound like Seijuro."

"Our discussion has crossed into his world, love, and I am slightly more at home there than you, by experience if not by nature. Also, I am a craftsman with apprentices. I know how he must feel, with such skills to pass on, finding a promising apprentice. It would be hard for him to let the boy go."

She nodded. "As I understand it, the most important duty of a Hiten Mitsurugi Master is to pass on the lessons of the style to a successor. Not just the sword techniques, but also the philosophy. Seijuro has been looking for an apprentice almost since the day he became a Master. He says Kenshin is extraordinary, that he has great promise." Her eyes were on Kenshin, unable to reconcile the sweetness of his disposition with the incredible aggression and dedication that Seijuro demanded. She didn't think she would ever comprehend it. But there was something else she knew, which she did comprehend. "Besides, Seijuro loves Kenshin. Maybe not as I do, and as you might. He's not really capable of loving in that way. He wasn't raised with it. There's nothing in his background to show him how. But he loves Kenshin in the only way he can. If we were to take Kenshin from him, he would have no one."

"But if he loves the boy, wouldn't he want what's best for him?"

"He is far too selfish for that. Besides, although he won't say it in these terms, he believes that it was fate that brought Kenshin to him, and that it is Kenshin's destiny to learn the Hiten Mitsurugi style. And perhaps he is right." She looked up and met her husband's eyes. He looked concerned, and she smiled encouragement. "But I will ask him, if for no other reason than that you made the offer, and I love you for it."

They talked on other subjects after that, about the shop and his own apprentices and how their day had gone, which was their normal routine. Through it all, Kenshin slept without stirring, a warm weight in her lap, quietly breathing under her hands. He didn't wake when they decided to go to bed and Toshiro lifted him and carried him to their bedroom, so Hikaru decided to let him sleep in his clothes rather than wake him enough to change. When laid down, he promptly rolled over onto his stomach, buried his face in the pillow, and sprawled out all over the bed. Hikaru giggled, then let her maid prepare her for bed in silence, so they didn't disturb him. The way he was sleeping, she suspected a parade could go through the room without waking him, yet when she got in beside him, he half-woke, just enough to murmur her name, turn on his side, abandon his pillow, and snuggle himself into the hollow of her shoulder. Then he was soundly, limply asleep again. She rested her cheek on his head and smiled at Toshiro as he joined them. Toshiro laid an arm over both of them. Cocooned by the two adults, Kenshin slept through the night without a single disturbing dream.