Apprentice

Chapter Nine

Training the Lion Cub

"That's not enough wood."

"Hai, Shishou."

"And this time, make sure it's dry wood, too much smoke otherwise, I thought even you would know that."

"Hai, Shishou."

"Then, we begin after lunch," Hiko said, looking down at Kenji, hands on hips.

"Begin, Shishou?" asked Kenji, absently flicking wood chips off his gi.

"Training, baka deshi, or have you forgotten why you're here already!" growled Hiko, rolling his eyes at Kenji in disgust.

"Battoujutsu training?" asked Kenji, beginning to look interested, "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu?"

"No, baka, I'm going to train you as a geisha," replied Hiko with heavy sarcasm. "I thought with that pretty hair of yours, you'd make a lovely entertainer."

Kenji scowled up at him, "Why do you always make jokes, Shishou?"

"Your stupidity demands ridicule, that's why," retorted the big man, scowling back at the boy.

"Some boys at home made fun of my hair, so Toshiro and I beat them up," said Kenji. "Uncle Sano says I can hit really hard." This said with a unmistakable pride.

"Impressive, you're now qualified to be a street thug," mocked Hiko. "Will you hire yourself out to beat up children who stick out their tongues at you and little old ladies who've not paid back the grocer?"

"N-no, Shishou, I only meant..." stuttered Kenji.

"Only meant what?"

"I only meant that Uncle Sano says I'll be as strong as he is someday, maybe," said Kenji, beginning to flush with a mixture of embarrassment and irritation.

"I seem to remember that Sagara's head seems to be the weakest part of him, so don't take anything that ahou says very seriously, boy."

"Uncle Sano told me that you'd probably say something mean about him," said Kenji sullenly.

"Then my estimation of his intelligence just went up a tiny bit," replied Hiko.

(Back at the Kenshin-gumi dojo in Tokyo, Sano sneezed so violently, the fishbone flew out of his mouth, and he wiped his watering eyes on the sleeve of his gi. "Someone just said something evil about me," he muttered as he helped himself to another bowl of green tea and rice.)

"Yahiko-otoutosan said the same thing; he said you always say mean things about everyone," said Kenji, rising to the bait.

"People just can't stand to hear the truth about their inadequacies," sighed Hiko, "it's the bane of my existence to have been born one of the few honest men in this deceitful world."

"Nani?" asked Kenji, squinting up at Hiko. "Is 'inadequacies' another word for 'stupid'?"

"Aa," replied Hiko with a sly wink. "I knew you were a smart kid."

"It's time for lunch, chibi-baka," said Hiko, "finish up that wood pile, go wash and we'll eat."

"Are you a good cook, Hiko-san," asked Kenji, turning briefly from his work.

"My genius reveals itself in everything I do, boy, cooking included," said Hiko forthrightly, "who do you think taught your baka otosan how to cook?"

"My mother isn't a good cook," sighed Kenji, "but it's okay, to-chan says, because she has other talents."

"I'll bet she does, boy," Hiko grinned slyly down at Kenji, "I'll bet she does."

"Most girls don't like fighting, buy my ka-san is one of the best sword wielders in Tokyo," bragged Kenji.

"Leave it to your baka to-chan to find the only female samurai in Japan," said Hiko, shrugging his shoulders. "No wonder you have double the fighting spirit of any one I have ever seen before, Kenji-chan. Except, of course, myself," he added.

"Really?" asked Kenji, wiping his hands on his hakama, and turning to face Hiko.

"Did I say that out loud? I must be getting old," murmured Hiko to himself walking towards the cabin door. "No, impossible," he answered his own question as he went inside.

Kenji poured some clean water in a large bowl and washed his hands and face, wondering why grown ups talked to themselves so much. His to-chan was always doing that when he did the laundry and now Hiko-san was doing it too.

Grown ups were strange, sometimes. He exhaled, the cool water soothing his hot face. He'd done a lot of chores this morning, twice as much as he did at home. But, he promised himself he would never complain, after all, he was the son of Himura Kenshin, the greatest swordsman in Japan. Except maybe for Shishou Hiko, he automatically amended.

He went inside and sat down on the tatami matting where lunch was already set on the small table. "Itakaidaimatsu," he said politely to Hiko, who was proceeding with gusto.

"I don't like a lot of chatter at meals, boy," replied Hiko, "so that's enough polite small talk. I'm used to eating quietly."

"Hai," said Kenji, muffled, stuffing his mouth. He was very hungry, he soon realized and the food was very good.

"Slow down, baka, you'll make yourself ill," said Hiko, wondering where the boy was putting it all so quickly. Then he remembered that Kenshin was much the same as a child. Small growing creatures must need to eat a lot, like birds, he thought to himself.

"It's good," said Kenji, around a huge mouthful.

"Of course," replied Hiko. "Now, slow down before you choke. It's no compliment to my artistry to die because of it," he joked.

Kenji complied, although he was still hungry.

"Sumanu naisai" he said, "I can't remember being this hungry ever before."

"Your parents must not make you work too hard, then," said Hiko frowning. He was nearly finished, but continued watching Kenji attack his lunch.

"It's hard work that makes a person hungry, Kenji-chan. I can see you've been indulged as an only son."

"I work hard enough!" protested Kenji. "I help father do the laundry, and help carry and heat the water for the bathhouse. Besides my training in the Kamiya Kasshin. And I have to sweep the leaves in the fall, rake the dojo yard and wipe the floors and..."

"Feh, housework," scoffed Hiko. "Necessary, no doubt, but it will not make a warrior out of you, boy. And the Kamiya Kasshin will not make use of your full potential as a swordsman."

"Ka-san said that you'd say something mean about the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu," sulked Kenji, setting down his chopsticks and pushing aside his food bowl. Suddenly, he was more angry than hungry.

"Are the people in your house constantly putting words in my mouth and discussing me behind my back?" growled Hiko, annoyed.

Kenji thought a moment, grinned and said, "Hai, Shishou."

"Hmph," snorted Hiko. "I can only imagine what terrible things my baka deshi says about me behind my back," he muttered.

"Otosan says good things about you, Shishou, most of the time. It's my mother and Aunt Misao that say the worst things. Oh, and Yahiko and Uncle Sano, sometimes, too."

"What do they say about me?" asked Hiko, curious in spite of himself.

"Otosan says that you are a great swordsman, perhaps the greatest ever."

Hiko grunted to himself, indignant, "Perhaps?"

"Otosan also says you're very hard to please, but that you know a lot about everything."

"True," replied Hiko, shrugging his shoulders indifferently.

"Ka-san and Aunt Misao say that you're very handsome, but I guess they like old guys," Kenji added as an afterthought. "They say that you should be married and not living in the woods like an old bear."

Hiko coughed, frowning and clearing his throat. "What else?" he probed some more.

"Yahiko-otoutosan says that you're the most conceited man in Japan," said Kenji. "Is that bad, Shishou?" he said, watching Hiko's reaction.

"No," Hiko replied shortly. "What else?"

"Uncle Sano called you a word I'm not allowed to say, once," said Kenji, grinning.

"That's okay, I called him the same word a time or two, I imagine," Hiko said dryly.

"Anything else?"

"Aunt Megumi hit Uncle Sano on the head with her shoe really hard for saying that word in front of me," said Kenji helpfully.

"Did it help?" asked Hiko, grinning back at Kenji.

"No, he still says it all the time," replied Kenji, snickering.