Apprentice
Chapter 24
The more things change...
(AN: Just to be clear, some time has past. The last chapter a year had passed and it's the following summer. Kenji would then be nine, almost ten. In this chapter, he's eleven. Someone said my story is about nothing much, and I think it's probably true. I just hate the OAV, frankly, it sucks pond scum and isn't really in character. I think even the author regretted it. Kenshin leaving his family only to come back and die with his wife? His son growing up hating him? I know tragedy can be appealing, but I never could see Kenshin doing that. This how I wanted the story of Kenshin and Kenji to end.)
(AN2: I know there's a lot of little kid mush in my fic, but I worked in a preschool, an elementary school, and as a nanny, so I've been around a lot of little kids. Sue me, I'm kind of silly about kids. Me and Ken-san.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kenji was standing at the edge of the clearing, his stance with his right foot forward to execute a series of motions of the Hiten Mitsurugi ryu-tsui- sen.
This involved jumping up high enough to attack your opponent from above, slamming him down.
Shishou Hiko had had Kenji practicing jumping up into the lower branches of trees all summer, each week getting successively higher.
At first, Kenji felt his legs might never be the same again, but he gradually found he was able to jump higher and higher.
He was now able to execute the ryu-tsui-sen to Hiko's satisfaction.
Although getting Hiko to admit anyone could do anything right (aside from himself, of course) presented it's own challenges.
"Hiten-mitsurugi-ryu-tsui-sen!" Kenji screamed, startling birds in a nearby elm tree.
His "opponent" was not human, naturally, but a small tree stump at the edge of the clearing.
Almost faster than the eye could perceive, Kenji flew into the air, and brought his sword out, up and into the stump. It quivered a second, then split down the middle.
Kenji stood panting for a second, then sheathed the katana. It was new, alonger one to accommodate his growing height. At eleven, he came up to his father's shoulder.
Hiko looked at the boy, standing there with his eyes still narrowed in concentration, swirls of pale gold amidst the opalescent blue violet of his eyes.
"Stand down," Hiko said to him.
Kenji shook his head and looked over at his master, and suddenly grinned.
"How was that, Shishou?" he asked, a tad arrogantly, thought Hiko.
"Not half as good as you seem to think it was," replied Hiko, sarcastically.
"Shishou!" Kenji protested.
"Don't be such a smart ass if you don't like being insulted."
"Understood," said Kenji, resignedly, kicking half-heartedly at the stump.
"Now, I'm going to be busy doing my work, so I don't want any interruptions. " Hiko rose from the rock he'd been sitting on.
"Yes, Shishou," Kenji said. "Can I go swimming?"
"After you finish your chores, boy, what do you think this is? A resort?"
"No, Shishou," replied Kenji sullenly. He kicked the trees stump again, hard.
It splintered into several pieces.
"Well, that's one way to get the firewood," joked Hiko.
Kenji sighed.
"Quit moaning, baka, your parents will be here to rescue you in a week," Hiko told him with an evil chuckle.
"They're bringing my baby sister," said Kenji. He loved his little sister, Ainoko, who was always toddling around after him, begging to be played with and picked up. Who could resist? She was a tiny replica of her mother, but with Kenshin's bright hair, lighter than his own dark crimson red, large dark blue-green eyes. He hadn't seen her in 3 whole months. He missed Toshiro, too. Even Souzou and Shinya, those little brats who kept tagging along after him and Toshiro on their adventures. He was homesick. Aunt Misao was busy with her new baby, Yoshii, too. He hadn't seen her all summer, either.
Uncle Aoshi, Yuki-chan and Aunt Omasu had come to see him, though. He sighed.
Yuki wasn't too happy about having a little brother. Kenji couldn't understand why. He felt nothing but protective towards his little sister. Maybe little brothers were different. He shrugged.
He was daydreaming as he went about his work. Sweat rolled down his face, cutting firewood was hard work. His shaggy bangs were soaked and he brushed them back out of his face with the back of his hand, leaning on the axe handle. His long ponytail was felt heavy and tickled his bare back.
It was hot, and he wanted to go swimming. He stripped off his gi. Ah, better.
Back to work. He was almost done. Then he had to fill the water barrels, then do laundry. Then...
Kenji uttered a word that he'd heard is Uncle Sano say and threw the axe into the woodpile, it's sharp edge biting deeply into a log.
He was going swimming. If Hiko wanted to kill him, at least he'd die cool.
He ran towards the river. That nice calm spot where his dad had taught him to swim a few years ago.
He stripped to his loincloth and quickly jumped in.
He groaned with relief. Great. He floated quietly on his back, his eyes closed in bliss.
He hit something large, warm and solid. "NANI!" he cried, floundering to gain his feet.
Evil chuckle. "SHISHOU!" yelled Kenji.
"No, it's a shark, baka!" roared Hiko, laughing like a madman.
Kenji yelled again, trying to get away, but Hiko held him firmly by his long ponytail.
And dunked him.
"I thought you wanted to go swimming, baka!" Hiko said when he pulled Kenji up after a few seconds. Kenji gasped. Hiko dunked him again.
"What, don't you like my swimming lesson?" said Hiko when he pulled Kenji back up again by his hair.
Kenji gasped again. "Let go of me!" he begged, gasping. "I'm sorry, Shishou, I'll finish my chores!" he spluttered.
"That's more like it," said Hiko.
"How...?" Kenji asked, coughing a little. He actually hadn't been underwater for more than a few seconds, but it felt longer.
"I knew as soon as you asked me about swimming you'd end up here, boy," Hiko sneered. "Never forget, I'm always one step ahead of you."
He let go his grasp on Kenji's ponytail.
"Come on, boy, we're both cooled off now. I've had enough of swimming, how about you?" He chuckled evilly again, wringing the water out of his long black hair.
Kenji suddenly grinned and nodded. "Well, I'm not hot anymore," he said.
"Wipe that silly grin off your face, baka," warned Hiko. "Next time you disobey me, I'll chase your dumb ass all the way down to Kyoto."
"Yes, Shishou," said Kenji soberly.
"Go get my clothes, boy, and be quick about it."
"Yes, Shishou."
Kenji decided not to risk throwing Hiko's clothes in the river. He thought about it, though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenshin and Kaoru were once again making the journey to Kyoto.
Ainoko sat quietly on her father's lap, playing with a doll.
Kaoru dozed next to them.
"Baby," she said, holding it out to him.
"Ainoko's baby," he said, smiling gently and giving it back to her.
She smiled, and hugged the doll.
Soon she was asleep, curled up against her father's chest.
"Hurry up, boy, I want to be there by noon," yelled Hiko.
Kenji lengthened his stride to keep up with the tall man.
"We're here, Kaoru," said Kenshin, wearily. He handed Ainoko to her mother and helped them down from the carriage.
Misao waved from the doorway of the Aoiya as Aoshi went to help Kenshin with the luggage. She held a small boy on her hip.
"Look, Yoshii, Ainoko-chan has come to play with you," she whispered in his ear.
He smiled up broadly at his mother with her eyes.
"I can't teach the boy any more."
"But, Shishou, he's not yet twelve!" protested Kenshin.
"He's too young to be taught the succession techniques and he's mastered everything else." Hiko said gravely. "Are you going to argue with me, Kenshin? You must know by now how useless that will prove to be."
"No, Shishou," Kenshin said quietly. He rose and ran his hand through his chin length hair.
"How can he have mastered the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu at such a young age?" wondered Kenshin aloud.
"You were only two years older when you had done so," Hiko reminded him. He sighed. "And Kenji is frankly, larger and stronger than you were at the same age. He will surpass you, Kenshin."
"Does he know this?" asked Kenshin.
"Not for certain, but he's a very intelligent boy. He is arrogant enough to think he's the best, but has never truly fought a real opponent. Without that, he may never guess the extent of his true genius as a swordsman. In these times, that may not mean as much as it once did."
Hiko sighed loudly and drank deeply from his cup of sake.
"You and I live the life of a samurai when such things are obsolete, Kenshin. But, perhaps there is room in this new era for something of that life. Let us hope there is always a place for honor, loyalty and courage."
Kenshin looked at his master. For a moment, with his silver sidelocks, and the lines around his mouth deeply etched into his bronzed skin, Hiko looked....old? The moment passed. He raised his head and grinned at Kenshin.
"Are you going to let me go on and on like rambling old fool, or will you have a drink with me, Kenshin?"
"Yes, Shishou," said Kenshin. He poured out two cups and handed one to his master.
"After all this time, you still call me master," mused Hiko.
"I have not really been your master for many years now, you know that, don't you?" Hiko grinned at him.
"I can not imagine you being anything but 'master', Hiko-san," Kenshin said to him.
"Not even my real name, you realize," said Hiko. He'd had a lot of sake, Kenshin thought.
"And, Kenshin was not my name either, until you gave it to me," said Kenshin quietly.
"Shinta is no name for a swordsman," said Hiko. He looked at Kenshin.
"But I think finally you are Shinta after all," he said.
"Perhaps," said Kenshin. "I have been many things. But, isn't it the nature of all things to return to their original state?"
"When did you get so smart, baka?" asked Hiko, grinning at him.
"When you became my master," said Kenshin.
For once, Hiko said nothing and Kenshin had the last word.
K
Chapter 24
The more things change...
(AN: Just to be clear, some time has past. The last chapter a year had passed and it's the following summer. Kenji would then be nine, almost ten. In this chapter, he's eleven. Someone said my story is about nothing much, and I think it's probably true. I just hate the OAV, frankly, it sucks pond scum and isn't really in character. I think even the author regretted it. Kenshin leaving his family only to come back and die with his wife? His son growing up hating him? I know tragedy can be appealing, but I never could see Kenshin doing that. This how I wanted the story of Kenshin and Kenji to end.)
(AN2: I know there's a lot of little kid mush in my fic, but I worked in a preschool, an elementary school, and as a nanny, so I've been around a lot of little kids. Sue me, I'm kind of silly about kids. Me and Ken-san.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kenji was standing at the edge of the clearing, his stance with his right foot forward to execute a series of motions of the Hiten Mitsurugi ryu-tsui- sen.
This involved jumping up high enough to attack your opponent from above, slamming him down.
Shishou Hiko had had Kenji practicing jumping up into the lower branches of trees all summer, each week getting successively higher.
At first, Kenji felt his legs might never be the same again, but he gradually found he was able to jump higher and higher.
He was now able to execute the ryu-tsui-sen to Hiko's satisfaction.
Although getting Hiko to admit anyone could do anything right (aside from himself, of course) presented it's own challenges.
"Hiten-mitsurugi-ryu-tsui-sen!" Kenji screamed, startling birds in a nearby elm tree.
His "opponent" was not human, naturally, but a small tree stump at the edge of the clearing.
Almost faster than the eye could perceive, Kenji flew into the air, and brought his sword out, up and into the stump. It quivered a second, then split down the middle.
Kenji stood panting for a second, then sheathed the katana. It was new, alonger one to accommodate his growing height. At eleven, he came up to his father's shoulder.
Hiko looked at the boy, standing there with his eyes still narrowed in concentration, swirls of pale gold amidst the opalescent blue violet of his eyes.
"Stand down," Hiko said to him.
Kenji shook his head and looked over at his master, and suddenly grinned.
"How was that, Shishou?" he asked, a tad arrogantly, thought Hiko.
"Not half as good as you seem to think it was," replied Hiko, sarcastically.
"Shishou!" Kenji protested.
"Don't be such a smart ass if you don't like being insulted."
"Understood," said Kenji, resignedly, kicking half-heartedly at the stump.
"Now, I'm going to be busy doing my work, so I don't want any interruptions. " Hiko rose from the rock he'd been sitting on.
"Yes, Shishou," Kenji said. "Can I go swimming?"
"After you finish your chores, boy, what do you think this is? A resort?"
"No, Shishou," replied Kenji sullenly. He kicked the trees stump again, hard.
It splintered into several pieces.
"Well, that's one way to get the firewood," joked Hiko.
Kenji sighed.
"Quit moaning, baka, your parents will be here to rescue you in a week," Hiko told him with an evil chuckle.
"They're bringing my baby sister," said Kenji. He loved his little sister, Ainoko, who was always toddling around after him, begging to be played with and picked up. Who could resist? She was a tiny replica of her mother, but with Kenshin's bright hair, lighter than his own dark crimson red, large dark blue-green eyes. He hadn't seen her in 3 whole months. He missed Toshiro, too. Even Souzou and Shinya, those little brats who kept tagging along after him and Toshiro on their adventures. He was homesick. Aunt Misao was busy with her new baby, Yoshii, too. He hadn't seen her all summer, either.
Uncle Aoshi, Yuki-chan and Aunt Omasu had come to see him, though. He sighed.
Yuki wasn't too happy about having a little brother. Kenji couldn't understand why. He felt nothing but protective towards his little sister. Maybe little brothers were different. He shrugged.
He was daydreaming as he went about his work. Sweat rolled down his face, cutting firewood was hard work. His shaggy bangs were soaked and he brushed them back out of his face with the back of his hand, leaning on the axe handle. His long ponytail was felt heavy and tickled his bare back.
It was hot, and he wanted to go swimming. He stripped off his gi. Ah, better.
Back to work. He was almost done. Then he had to fill the water barrels, then do laundry. Then...
Kenji uttered a word that he'd heard is Uncle Sano say and threw the axe into the woodpile, it's sharp edge biting deeply into a log.
He was going swimming. If Hiko wanted to kill him, at least he'd die cool.
He ran towards the river. That nice calm spot where his dad had taught him to swim a few years ago.
He stripped to his loincloth and quickly jumped in.
He groaned with relief. Great. He floated quietly on his back, his eyes closed in bliss.
He hit something large, warm and solid. "NANI!" he cried, floundering to gain his feet.
Evil chuckle. "SHISHOU!" yelled Kenji.
"No, it's a shark, baka!" roared Hiko, laughing like a madman.
Kenji yelled again, trying to get away, but Hiko held him firmly by his long ponytail.
And dunked him.
"I thought you wanted to go swimming, baka!" Hiko said when he pulled Kenji up after a few seconds. Kenji gasped. Hiko dunked him again.
"What, don't you like my swimming lesson?" said Hiko when he pulled Kenji back up again by his hair.
Kenji gasped again. "Let go of me!" he begged, gasping. "I'm sorry, Shishou, I'll finish my chores!" he spluttered.
"That's more like it," said Hiko.
"How...?" Kenji asked, coughing a little. He actually hadn't been underwater for more than a few seconds, but it felt longer.
"I knew as soon as you asked me about swimming you'd end up here, boy," Hiko sneered. "Never forget, I'm always one step ahead of you."
He let go his grasp on Kenji's ponytail.
"Come on, boy, we're both cooled off now. I've had enough of swimming, how about you?" He chuckled evilly again, wringing the water out of his long black hair.
Kenji suddenly grinned and nodded. "Well, I'm not hot anymore," he said.
"Wipe that silly grin off your face, baka," warned Hiko. "Next time you disobey me, I'll chase your dumb ass all the way down to Kyoto."
"Yes, Shishou," said Kenji soberly.
"Go get my clothes, boy, and be quick about it."
"Yes, Shishou."
Kenji decided not to risk throwing Hiko's clothes in the river. He thought about it, though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenshin and Kaoru were once again making the journey to Kyoto.
Ainoko sat quietly on her father's lap, playing with a doll.
Kaoru dozed next to them.
"Baby," she said, holding it out to him.
"Ainoko's baby," he said, smiling gently and giving it back to her.
She smiled, and hugged the doll.
Soon she was asleep, curled up against her father's chest.
"Hurry up, boy, I want to be there by noon," yelled Hiko.
Kenji lengthened his stride to keep up with the tall man.
"We're here, Kaoru," said Kenshin, wearily. He handed Ainoko to her mother and helped them down from the carriage.
Misao waved from the doorway of the Aoiya as Aoshi went to help Kenshin with the luggage. She held a small boy on her hip.
"Look, Yoshii, Ainoko-chan has come to play with you," she whispered in his ear.
He smiled up broadly at his mother with her eyes.
"I can't teach the boy any more."
"But, Shishou, he's not yet twelve!" protested Kenshin.
"He's too young to be taught the succession techniques and he's mastered everything else." Hiko said gravely. "Are you going to argue with me, Kenshin? You must know by now how useless that will prove to be."
"No, Shishou," Kenshin said quietly. He rose and ran his hand through his chin length hair.
"How can he have mastered the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu at such a young age?" wondered Kenshin aloud.
"You were only two years older when you had done so," Hiko reminded him. He sighed. "And Kenji is frankly, larger and stronger than you were at the same age. He will surpass you, Kenshin."
"Does he know this?" asked Kenshin.
"Not for certain, but he's a very intelligent boy. He is arrogant enough to think he's the best, but has never truly fought a real opponent. Without that, he may never guess the extent of his true genius as a swordsman. In these times, that may not mean as much as it once did."
Hiko sighed loudly and drank deeply from his cup of sake.
"You and I live the life of a samurai when such things are obsolete, Kenshin. But, perhaps there is room in this new era for something of that life. Let us hope there is always a place for honor, loyalty and courage."
Kenshin looked at his master. For a moment, with his silver sidelocks, and the lines around his mouth deeply etched into his bronzed skin, Hiko looked....old? The moment passed. He raised his head and grinned at Kenshin.
"Are you going to let me go on and on like rambling old fool, or will you have a drink with me, Kenshin?"
"Yes, Shishou," said Kenshin. He poured out two cups and handed one to his master.
"After all this time, you still call me master," mused Hiko.
"I have not really been your master for many years now, you know that, don't you?" Hiko grinned at him.
"I can not imagine you being anything but 'master', Hiko-san," Kenshin said to him.
"Not even my real name, you realize," said Hiko. He'd had a lot of sake, Kenshin thought.
"And, Kenshin was not my name either, until you gave it to me," said Kenshin quietly.
"Shinta is no name for a swordsman," said Hiko. He looked at Kenshin.
"But I think finally you are Shinta after all," he said.
"Perhaps," said Kenshin. "I have been many things. But, isn't it the nature of all things to return to their original state?"
"When did you get so smart, baka?" asked Hiko, grinning at him.
"When you became my master," said Kenshin.
For once, Hiko said nothing and Kenshin had the last word.
K
