My Heart Won't Skip a Beat
Ch2
"Rise n' Shine, get up! I told you I was going to be here at dawn," Cried a voice. Shinta snapped up and stared at Mr. Seijiro. Shinta rubbed his eyes and buried his head under the pillows.
"Why do we have to get up so early? Can't we do this later?" With Hiko's strength, he easily pulled the pillow off his head, whipped the blanket off him, and said, "Later? You want to do this later?" Shinta turned on his back; his gi was completely out of his hakama and was hanging from his forearms. His small torso went up and down rapidly, every time he breathed in, his ribs poked out so much that it seemed like they were going to rip through his skin. Shinta gave a nod and looked at the clock, "It is 4:00 in the morning Mr. Hiko! Can we please do this later?"
"Alright," he said, crossing his arms and was waiting.
"Thankyou," said Shinta, he grabbed the covers and pulled them over his shoulders. After about thirty seconds, the covers just came off again. Shinta shot up and looked at Hiko. He raised an eyebrow and said, "What? Isn't it officially later since you asked for more time? Now get out of bed and fix yourself, I am not the type to teach sloppy students."
Hiko turned around and walked out of the room. Shinta watched him and cried, "Wait!" He scurried out of his futon and tucked his gi in as fast as he could. He did not know where his socks were, he forgot where he threw them, and they were his only pair! He looked on his futon, searched his dresser, and even looked out the window. As he was looking, he saw Hiko walking out of the gates.
"Mr. Hiko! Wait!" he ran out of the room, bears foot, ran through the maze of halls, and finding the staircase. One of his tiny hands grabbed the railing and slid down the wood as he ran down the stairs as fast as he could. He felt the soft carpeting between his toes, leaving his footsteps imprinted in it. He found the door, but the only problem was that he did not know how to open it. He was used to the sliding doors, and these doors were completely different; they had metal knobs in the far right of it. Shinta put his hand around it and slowly turned it. Lucky for him, it opened.
"Wait!" He yelled running out of the yard of the mansion and caught up with his new master. His grabbed his cape, trying to stop him, and then put his arm around his stomach breathing in deeply.
"Stop panting, it wasn't that long of a run!" He grabbed Shinta by the collar and pulled him so he would stand strait.
"But Mr. Hiko! Why didn't you-"
"Don't call me Mr. Hiko!" He snapped in a-matter-of-fact tone of voice. He crossed his arms and turned, walking deeper into the road, "You will call me master until the day I die, got that? And you will like it. Since we are on the subject of liking, get used to waking up at dawn everyday. If you ever complain to me like that again, I won't be as nice as I was today." He stopped walking and turned around, "Well, don't just stand there like an imbecile, MOVE!"
Shinta eyes widened, everything was happening so fast! But he wasn't going to complain. He ran to his new master as fast as he could. He walked very fast, and Shinta was almost starting to jog. He still trailed behind Hiko, with a grudge on his face. Shinta, himself, was starting to get very irritated. What was this guy thinking? Why was he bossing him around like this? He felt like kicking him, nice and hard in the shin. Then, he smacked his hand over his forehead; what was he thinking? He never wanted to kick somebody before. Well, except for some kid who kept calling Shinta a weakling, but he never wanted to kick an adult before!
He picked up his speed a little and walked besides Hiko.
"Where are we going?" Hiko didn't look down at him, he only slapped his forehead and said, "To my place, which is a couple of miles down." Shinta looked up at him and only blinked. Wasn't this guy going to explain anything to him? An explanation would be nice, since he was clueless. Shinta glared at him, and then tugged on his cape.
"Mr- Master, um, could you answer some questions, please?" This time, instead of slapping his forehead, he actually stared down at him, with an eyebrow raised.
"What kind of questions?"
Shinta breathed in and said, "Why are you teaching me swordsmanship?" Hiko scratched the top of his forehead.
"Yukishiro didn't tell you anything I expect," he slapped his forehead again, except with a different expression; as if this was going to be a long story, "What do you see in this country?" Shinta stared at him blankly and took a moment to think of his answer.
"Well, I see people, and animals and, well, a lot of different things I guess," he shrugged his shoulders and kicked a rock in front of him. He did not understand where any of this was leading.
"And Shinta- Shinta. Shinta, I hate that name," he said side tracked, "Anyway, who do you think takes care of these things?"
He shrugged his shoulders again, "Buddha?" His master gave an annoyed look and said, "No, not Buddha, there is no such thing as Buddha. Try the government."
"O. Yeah, that's what my dad said before he died, he said there is no Buddha too, and he said that the only thing you can believe in is the bibl- " Shinta was cut off by his master, who was completely trying to change the subject.
"I don't really care, your father is dead, and his opinion doesn't really matter anymore now does it?" He stared at Shinta with cold eyes. Shinta looked down embarrassed, almost as if he was about to cry. Hiko faced his face forward, but looking down at Shinta with one eye and said, "Anyway, it would be nice if such a thing as Buddha existed to take care of everything, but that is not the way it works. Government, kid, is weak. There are many different colonies trying to take over Japan right now, and so the government needs a killing machine to wipe out all the foreigners trying to take over. And do you know what the killing machine is?"
"A gun? Are we going to make a gun- O, no wait, then why would you be teaching me swordsmanship?" Shinta looked up at the sky and began to ponder. Hiko took a deep breath in anger, and hit Shinta in the head.
"OW! What was that for?"
"Are you that much of an imbecile of a kid? It is you! My job is to teach you the swordsmanship style Hiten Mitsurugi! You are to learn it, master it, and love it!" Hiko had gotten so close to Shinta's face that spit droplets were all over his face. Shinta wiped it off his face. To kill people? The only thing he has ever killed was sakedas, but nobody likes sakedas!
"Are you saying I have to kill people? I don't want to kill people!" Shinta's eyes became wide with innocence; maybe he would let Shinta off the hook. Since he was just a kid. Hiko's icy stare began to soften and sighed. He straitened up and began to walk again. Shinta was just standing there, not knowing whether he wanted to follow his master or not. He could run right now, but he knew Hiko would chase him down. Hiko stopped in the rode again; his head turned, looking at Shinta.
"I hate to tell you kid, but you don't have much of a choice. I would like to give you it, but you don't have it. You will kill and make a bloody mess. However, to assure you, you won't start killing until you are around thirteen, so you still have a few more years to look forward to. Well, just don't stand there! Hop to it!" Shinta scurried by Hiko's side again, walking parallel to him.
"Why don't you just kill the people?" He said with his arms crossed. Hiko rolled his eyes and sighed, "I have my reasons kids, I am an adult, I am sick of answering your questions, and I am going to stop right now! O look! Home sweet home!" The rode began to trail into a thick forest.
"You live in the woods?" Shinta said, walking ahead of Hiko and staring into the forest. "Wow, no wonder you seem so anti-social," he began to enter the forest. He used to go into forests all the time before his parents passed away. He would pick fruit for his mother, he remembered eating outside with her and talking with her about life and personal problems. His mother always had the answer. H gave a personal smile to himself, thinking about the days with his parents. However, his reminiscing had been interrupted by a smack in the face, given kindly by Hiko. Shinta rubbed his head continuously.
"Why did you hit me?" he said with his arm raised, ready to strike Hiko back after the periodic times of a beating. Hiko, not even thinking of him as a threat, walked passed Shinta mumbling, "Anti- social, how the hell does a kid like that know what anti-social means? Errr. I'll show him anti- social." He began to just wander off in the road; Shinta thought that Hiko didn't even notice him. He began to turn around and find his way back to the Big House.
"I don't think so!" Hiko snapped, "Stop being lazy, when I walk, you walk. Do not stop until I tell you to!" Shinta, very aggrivated, balled his fists, stomped over to Hiko, stuck his tongue out at him, and ran. However, running didn't get him too far; Hiko grabbed him by his collar, found the nearest branch and let him hang there.
"Get me down from here!" Shinta cried. He began to kick, scream and give Hiko very nasty stares.
"Unless you apologize to me, you are going to be up there for a while," He crossed his arms and gave Shinta the same nasty look Shinta was giving.
"No way! I'll apologize when you stop hitting me!"
Shinta, however, didn't get the response that he wanted. Hiko raised an eyebrow and began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Shinta screamed, "Okay! I am sorry! I really am! Please don't leave me up here!" Hiko stopped and stared back at Shinta. The look that Hiko was giving him was probably the softest look he has given him since the first time they met yesterday. Shinta's kicking and screaming immediately stopped.
He turned around fully and said, "You know, I really don't need some kid disrespecting me like this. I don't have to teach you. I have other options available to me, and I would probably be much happier then I am now. However, there would be consequences for you that wouldn't be too good. If you refuse to follow my directions, and refuse to learn the art of swordsmanship, then Mr. Yukishiro won't find you very helpful. You will be killed, like all the other 'useless' slaves out there."
Shinta stared at him wide eyed, and looked down. Tears concealed behind his eyes. He knew that if he shed them, it wouldn't matter to Hiko. It was always natural to cry when he was scared, he knew that there would always be arms to hold him and give him comfort, but not this time.
Hiko threw his sword right at Shinta. His eyes bulged and tears bled from his face. 'No!' it screamed in his mind, 'I am not useless! I can plant and farm! I can clean! Don't kill me!'. Shinta flew his arms over his head, protecting whatever he could. He felt the fear of death swallowing his lungs, and making his heart beat an abnormal pace. O! He could just feel that sword sink though his flesh- but- the only thing he felt was the dirt, and his back hurting from the fall. In the distance he heard the clash of sword and rock meet, and raised his head to look at Hiko.
He crossed his arms and stared coldly down at him, "Did you actually think I was going to kill you? I may be an old man but my accuracy is still sharp. Now hurry up and don't lack behind! But, from knowing the examples you have been setting for me this morning, you probably will anyway, so, while you're lacking, go get my sword!" Hiko turned sharply and began to walk deeper into the forrest. Knowing that Shinta was not too far behind.
A/N: Sorry that the first chapter was so CHOPPY! ACK! I always seem to do that! Probably because I want it updated and done with. But this chapter was pretty interesting. Thanks for the reviews everybody! Much appreciated! ^_^!! O and can I ask a favor from the people who read this, please, as I continue this story, like say the 7th chapter, and you are just started reading this story, don't review every chapter individually, I find that annoying. Just read the whole thing, then review. Moreover, don't make up those little skit reviews, like:
(Completely made up, don't know whether this is an actual person or not)
Omen: That was good stuff
Hiko: It sucked
Omen: (Bashes him over head)
Kenshin: O_o
And so on and so forth. That is my biggest pet peeve, just to let you know, I don't read them, I find them irritating, and most of them are too long!! ^0^!!!!!!!!!! I am just telling you this lovely information because I enjoy reading reviews, but I do not enjoy reading reviews from the same author on different chapters! Or those skit things! Irritating! So please, for my sake, make them short, get to the point, criticize and blah blah blah. ~*Lot's o' smiles*~ ^_^ CTC
Ch2
"Rise n' Shine, get up! I told you I was going to be here at dawn," Cried a voice. Shinta snapped up and stared at Mr. Seijiro. Shinta rubbed his eyes and buried his head under the pillows.
"Why do we have to get up so early? Can't we do this later?" With Hiko's strength, he easily pulled the pillow off his head, whipped the blanket off him, and said, "Later? You want to do this later?" Shinta turned on his back; his gi was completely out of his hakama and was hanging from his forearms. His small torso went up and down rapidly, every time he breathed in, his ribs poked out so much that it seemed like they were going to rip through his skin. Shinta gave a nod and looked at the clock, "It is 4:00 in the morning Mr. Hiko! Can we please do this later?"
"Alright," he said, crossing his arms and was waiting.
"Thankyou," said Shinta, he grabbed the covers and pulled them over his shoulders. After about thirty seconds, the covers just came off again. Shinta shot up and looked at Hiko. He raised an eyebrow and said, "What? Isn't it officially later since you asked for more time? Now get out of bed and fix yourself, I am not the type to teach sloppy students."
Hiko turned around and walked out of the room. Shinta watched him and cried, "Wait!" He scurried out of his futon and tucked his gi in as fast as he could. He did not know where his socks were, he forgot where he threw them, and they were his only pair! He looked on his futon, searched his dresser, and even looked out the window. As he was looking, he saw Hiko walking out of the gates.
"Mr. Hiko! Wait!" he ran out of the room, bears foot, ran through the maze of halls, and finding the staircase. One of his tiny hands grabbed the railing and slid down the wood as he ran down the stairs as fast as he could. He felt the soft carpeting between his toes, leaving his footsteps imprinted in it. He found the door, but the only problem was that he did not know how to open it. He was used to the sliding doors, and these doors were completely different; they had metal knobs in the far right of it. Shinta put his hand around it and slowly turned it. Lucky for him, it opened.
"Wait!" He yelled running out of the yard of the mansion and caught up with his new master. His grabbed his cape, trying to stop him, and then put his arm around his stomach breathing in deeply.
"Stop panting, it wasn't that long of a run!" He grabbed Shinta by the collar and pulled him so he would stand strait.
"But Mr. Hiko! Why didn't you-"
"Don't call me Mr. Hiko!" He snapped in a-matter-of-fact tone of voice. He crossed his arms and turned, walking deeper into the road, "You will call me master until the day I die, got that? And you will like it. Since we are on the subject of liking, get used to waking up at dawn everyday. If you ever complain to me like that again, I won't be as nice as I was today." He stopped walking and turned around, "Well, don't just stand there like an imbecile, MOVE!"
Shinta eyes widened, everything was happening so fast! But he wasn't going to complain. He ran to his new master as fast as he could. He walked very fast, and Shinta was almost starting to jog. He still trailed behind Hiko, with a grudge on his face. Shinta, himself, was starting to get very irritated. What was this guy thinking? Why was he bossing him around like this? He felt like kicking him, nice and hard in the shin. Then, he smacked his hand over his forehead; what was he thinking? He never wanted to kick somebody before. Well, except for some kid who kept calling Shinta a weakling, but he never wanted to kick an adult before!
He picked up his speed a little and walked besides Hiko.
"Where are we going?" Hiko didn't look down at him, he only slapped his forehead and said, "To my place, which is a couple of miles down." Shinta looked up at him and only blinked. Wasn't this guy going to explain anything to him? An explanation would be nice, since he was clueless. Shinta glared at him, and then tugged on his cape.
"Mr- Master, um, could you answer some questions, please?" This time, instead of slapping his forehead, he actually stared down at him, with an eyebrow raised.
"What kind of questions?"
Shinta breathed in and said, "Why are you teaching me swordsmanship?" Hiko scratched the top of his forehead.
"Yukishiro didn't tell you anything I expect," he slapped his forehead again, except with a different expression; as if this was going to be a long story, "What do you see in this country?" Shinta stared at him blankly and took a moment to think of his answer.
"Well, I see people, and animals and, well, a lot of different things I guess," he shrugged his shoulders and kicked a rock in front of him. He did not understand where any of this was leading.
"And Shinta- Shinta. Shinta, I hate that name," he said side tracked, "Anyway, who do you think takes care of these things?"
He shrugged his shoulders again, "Buddha?" His master gave an annoyed look and said, "No, not Buddha, there is no such thing as Buddha. Try the government."
"O. Yeah, that's what my dad said before he died, he said there is no Buddha too, and he said that the only thing you can believe in is the bibl- " Shinta was cut off by his master, who was completely trying to change the subject.
"I don't really care, your father is dead, and his opinion doesn't really matter anymore now does it?" He stared at Shinta with cold eyes. Shinta looked down embarrassed, almost as if he was about to cry. Hiko faced his face forward, but looking down at Shinta with one eye and said, "Anyway, it would be nice if such a thing as Buddha existed to take care of everything, but that is not the way it works. Government, kid, is weak. There are many different colonies trying to take over Japan right now, and so the government needs a killing machine to wipe out all the foreigners trying to take over. And do you know what the killing machine is?"
"A gun? Are we going to make a gun- O, no wait, then why would you be teaching me swordsmanship?" Shinta looked up at the sky and began to ponder. Hiko took a deep breath in anger, and hit Shinta in the head.
"OW! What was that for?"
"Are you that much of an imbecile of a kid? It is you! My job is to teach you the swordsmanship style Hiten Mitsurugi! You are to learn it, master it, and love it!" Hiko had gotten so close to Shinta's face that spit droplets were all over his face. Shinta wiped it off his face. To kill people? The only thing he has ever killed was sakedas, but nobody likes sakedas!
"Are you saying I have to kill people? I don't want to kill people!" Shinta's eyes became wide with innocence; maybe he would let Shinta off the hook. Since he was just a kid. Hiko's icy stare began to soften and sighed. He straitened up and began to walk again. Shinta was just standing there, not knowing whether he wanted to follow his master or not. He could run right now, but he knew Hiko would chase him down. Hiko stopped in the rode again; his head turned, looking at Shinta.
"I hate to tell you kid, but you don't have much of a choice. I would like to give you it, but you don't have it. You will kill and make a bloody mess. However, to assure you, you won't start killing until you are around thirteen, so you still have a few more years to look forward to. Well, just don't stand there! Hop to it!" Shinta scurried by Hiko's side again, walking parallel to him.
"Why don't you just kill the people?" He said with his arms crossed. Hiko rolled his eyes and sighed, "I have my reasons kids, I am an adult, I am sick of answering your questions, and I am going to stop right now! O look! Home sweet home!" The rode began to trail into a thick forest.
"You live in the woods?" Shinta said, walking ahead of Hiko and staring into the forest. "Wow, no wonder you seem so anti-social," he began to enter the forest. He used to go into forests all the time before his parents passed away. He would pick fruit for his mother, he remembered eating outside with her and talking with her about life and personal problems. His mother always had the answer. H gave a personal smile to himself, thinking about the days with his parents. However, his reminiscing had been interrupted by a smack in the face, given kindly by Hiko. Shinta rubbed his head continuously.
"Why did you hit me?" he said with his arm raised, ready to strike Hiko back after the periodic times of a beating. Hiko, not even thinking of him as a threat, walked passed Shinta mumbling, "Anti- social, how the hell does a kid like that know what anti-social means? Errr. I'll show him anti- social." He began to just wander off in the road; Shinta thought that Hiko didn't even notice him. He began to turn around and find his way back to the Big House.
"I don't think so!" Hiko snapped, "Stop being lazy, when I walk, you walk. Do not stop until I tell you to!" Shinta, very aggrivated, balled his fists, stomped over to Hiko, stuck his tongue out at him, and ran. However, running didn't get him too far; Hiko grabbed him by his collar, found the nearest branch and let him hang there.
"Get me down from here!" Shinta cried. He began to kick, scream and give Hiko very nasty stares.
"Unless you apologize to me, you are going to be up there for a while," He crossed his arms and gave Shinta the same nasty look Shinta was giving.
"No way! I'll apologize when you stop hitting me!"
Shinta, however, didn't get the response that he wanted. Hiko raised an eyebrow and began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Shinta screamed, "Okay! I am sorry! I really am! Please don't leave me up here!" Hiko stopped and stared back at Shinta. The look that Hiko was giving him was probably the softest look he has given him since the first time they met yesterday. Shinta's kicking and screaming immediately stopped.
He turned around fully and said, "You know, I really don't need some kid disrespecting me like this. I don't have to teach you. I have other options available to me, and I would probably be much happier then I am now. However, there would be consequences for you that wouldn't be too good. If you refuse to follow my directions, and refuse to learn the art of swordsmanship, then Mr. Yukishiro won't find you very helpful. You will be killed, like all the other 'useless' slaves out there."
Shinta stared at him wide eyed, and looked down. Tears concealed behind his eyes. He knew that if he shed them, it wouldn't matter to Hiko. It was always natural to cry when he was scared, he knew that there would always be arms to hold him and give him comfort, but not this time.
Hiko threw his sword right at Shinta. His eyes bulged and tears bled from his face. 'No!' it screamed in his mind, 'I am not useless! I can plant and farm! I can clean! Don't kill me!'. Shinta flew his arms over his head, protecting whatever he could. He felt the fear of death swallowing his lungs, and making his heart beat an abnormal pace. O! He could just feel that sword sink though his flesh- but- the only thing he felt was the dirt, and his back hurting from the fall. In the distance he heard the clash of sword and rock meet, and raised his head to look at Hiko.
He crossed his arms and stared coldly down at him, "Did you actually think I was going to kill you? I may be an old man but my accuracy is still sharp. Now hurry up and don't lack behind! But, from knowing the examples you have been setting for me this morning, you probably will anyway, so, while you're lacking, go get my sword!" Hiko turned sharply and began to walk deeper into the forrest. Knowing that Shinta was not too far behind.
A/N: Sorry that the first chapter was so CHOPPY! ACK! I always seem to do that! Probably because I want it updated and done with. But this chapter was pretty interesting. Thanks for the reviews everybody! Much appreciated! ^_^!! O and can I ask a favor from the people who read this, please, as I continue this story, like say the 7th chapter, and you are just started reading this story, don't review every chapter individually, I find that annoying. Just read the whole thing, then review. Moreover, don't make up those little skit reviews, like:
(Completely made up, don't know whether this is an actual person or not)
Omen: That was good stuff
Hiko: It sucked
Omen: (Bashes him over head)
Kenshin: O_o
And so on and so forth. That is my biggest pet peeve, just to let you know, I don't read them, I find them irritating, and most of them are too long!! ^0^!!!!!!!!!! I am just telling you this lovely information because I enjoy reading reviews, but I do not enjoy reading reviews from the same author on different chapters! Or those skit things! Irritating! So please, for my sake, make them short, get to the point, criticize and blah blah blah. ~*Lot's o' smiles*~ ^_^ CTC