Apprentice

Chapter Five

Trust

"What's that stuff?" inquired Kenji. He yawned widely in the early morning light and rubbed his eyes. Days apparently started early on Hiko's mountain. His father was hauling water from the river to start breakfast.

"It's clay, chibi-baka, what did you think it was, moshi?" said Hiko absently. He poked a long finger into the lump and sniffed it, then tasted it briefly.

"Ew!" said Kenji. "Why'd you do that, Shishou?"

"To test the quality, chibi-baka, or do you think this is my usual breakfast?" Hiko retorted.

Kenji reached out finger to poke, but his hand was halted by Hiko's much larger one. "Who gave you permission to poke my clay?" he said severely.

Kenji pulled back his hand as though he'd been burned and Hiko snickered wickedly. "Learn to keep your hands to yourself, boy, it's one of life's foremost lessons."

"I thought I was going to learn Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu," grumbled Kenji.

Hiko scowled at the boy and stood up to loom over him, wiping off his dusty hands. "Learning to wield a sword is much more than swinging a weapon around, chibi-baka, it's about michi," he said, his eyes briefly boring into the boy's then looking past his shoulder.

"Michi?" inquired Kenji, unconsciously scowling back at Hiko.

"A way of living, boy, the path of bushido," Hiko replied testily, "Hasn't my baka deshi taught you anything worthwhile in the past nine years?"

Hiko looked down at the still scowling Kenji, and suddenly grinned.

"I don't know about you, boy, but I hate discussing philosophy on an empty stomach. Let's see what your father has done about breakfast."

After breakfast was eaten and the dishes gathered to be washed, Hiko excused himself to his pottery shed. If an abrupt announcement can be termed excusing oneself.

"Don't bother me until lunch," he said, getting up, leaving Kenshin and Kenji to their own devices.

"Come on, Kenji-chan, help me wash these things up and then we can go swimming. It's going to be hot today. If we go swimming, you won't have to help me heat water for baths tonight."

"Swimming?" echoed Kenji. "In the river?"

"I can't think of anywhere else we would be swimming, aisoku," said Kenshin, grinning at his son as he proceeded with the chore in front of them.

"But, it's ... big, tochan," muttered Kenji uncertainly.

"Don't tell me you're afraid?" mocked Kenshin, looking down at his son.

"N-no, I'm not afraid of anything!" Kenji scowled from under his bushy bangs, arms folded across his chest.

"There's a spot where the water is calm, Kenji-chan, if I remember rightly," said Kenshin, "so there's nothing to worry about."

"I'm not afraid!" Kenji insisted.

"Of course not, Kenji-chan, you've always been a very brave boy," consoled his father.

"I'm just not a very good swimmer, tochan," he said quietly. "Ka-san doesn't like me playing in the river, you know, she worries."

Kenji scuffed his bare foot along the floor as he said this, eyes down.

"I know your mother worries too much about you, Kenji-chan," sighed Kenshin. He reached out and patted the boy's shoulder. "So does your to- chan," Kenshin finished to himself.

"Maybe after this summer, she'll see how good you are at taking care of yourself, ne?"

Kenji looked up hopefully. "You think so, tochan? I don't like it when Ka- san worries; she gets mad, and when she's mad, she's scary."

Kenshin chuckled. "Yes, she is, very scary. Don't tell, but it's one of the things I like most about your mother."

"Really?" Kenji looked puzzled and shrugged. Adults sometimes said things that made no sense, he supposed he'd better get used to it. Kenji himself preferred hiding when his Ka-san lost her temper.

He and Toshiro had many good hiding places handy for just those sorts of occasions. Thinking of his almost constant shadow, Toshiro, Kenji's face fell. He was drying the dishes as his father handed them one by one to him.

"What's wrong now, Kenji-chan?" inquired Kenshin, noting the sudden change of expression.

"Nothing, I was just thinking that Toshiro must miss me very badly by now. I've been gone a long time."

"I'm sure Toshiro is very busy taking care of his Ka-san right now, and soon, he'll be a big brother. That will keep him very busy while you're gone."

"Why don't I have a little brother, to-chan?" inquired Kenji suddenly.

"Oro! I, ah, I, guess Ka-san and I forgot to, um, get you one," stuttered Kenshin. "I didn't really know you wanted a brother, Kenji-chan, that I did not!" Kenshin ducked his head and reached for the last of the dirty dishes.

"Maa, that's okay, to-chan," Kenji smiled up at him. "If I had a little brother, then Toshiro would be jealous of him. When Toshiro bothers me too much, I can make him go home. If I had a brother, I couldn't make him go home, could I?"

"Uh, no, Kenji-chan, you'd just have to be bothered," chuckled Kenshin.

"Then I'd rather have a friend than a brother," reasoned Kenji.

"There really isn't much difference, Kenji-chan, if the friend is a really good friend," his father said to him.

"Like Uncle Sano is your friend?" inquired Kenji.

"Yes, like Uncle Sano is my friend."

"Does Uncle Sano bother you sometimes, to-chan?"

Kenshin laughed out loud. "Um, yes, sometimes, Kenji-chan. But I can send him home."

Kenji absorbed that briefly and then asked, "Will you show me how to swim really well, to-chan?"

"Yes, Kenji-chan, I'll do that, that I will."

"You have to relax and not fight the water, Kenji-chan," said Kenshin to his son, holding him lightly around the middle above the surface of the water.

Kenshin had predicted correctly, the day was proving to be very hot. The chill water of the river was somewhat warmer in this calm, shallow spot, and it felt good in the hot sunshine.

"But, To-chan, if I relax, I'll drown!" protested Kenji, trying to clutch his father's arms more tightly.

"No, Kenji, the secret of how to swim is to relax and let the water hold you up, like this."

Kenshin leaned back into the water, holding Kenji against him and they floated for a few seconds. Kenshin stood up. The water was only chest deep for him, but it came up to Kenji's chin.

"See, you have to let the water hold you up," Kenshin explained again, holding Kenji higher above the water so he wouldn't panic.

"How does the water hold you up, To-chan?" Kenji asked.

"To be honest, I don't know, Kenji-chan, but I do know that if you let it, it will. Trust me," he said, looking into Kenji's eyes.

"Okay, I trust you, To-chan."

Kenji let his muscles go limp and lay back into the water's cool embrace. Kenshin held a hand lightly under the middle of his son's back just in case, but he quickly realized it was unnecessary. Kenji was floating on his own.

"Stand up, now, Kenji-chan!" his father told him sweeping him up into a spontaneous embrace.

"I did it, To-chan, I was floating!"

"Yes, you were, Kenji-chan, you did it all by yourself."

"Can we get out now, To-chan?" Kenji asked. "I'm c-c-cold!"