Work of fanfiction.
Just wanted to clear up a few things here before I went any further. (This is mostly for you, Morningstar.) When I have been talking about sword schools (anything with –Ryu after it) the characters have been reading out of textbooks, which are rather dense reading, or reciting information they know. Also, all analyses of sword schools are based on footage from RK and the Bakamatsu OVA, along with my knowledge of sword fighting (with Internet resources for techniques). They are probably good descriptions of the schools, but you shouldn't consider them the last word.
Now, on with the story!
Blades and Love
"Pleased to meet you two. I am Hiko Seijurou, and this is my sister, Sakura Myojin. It's good to finally have some students."
"Please come in," said Sakura, "It's nice to finally have some company outside of this bokunenjin."
"Nanda!? Temee…forget it. Come on in. I understand you two are two of the original Evangelion combat pilots?"
"Well…yes," responded Shinji timidly. Not everyone was happy with what had happened because of NERV. And honestly, who was the fucker who thought up that ridiculous code name? Angel? Sure, let's piss off all the radical religious groups by killing off God's servants! Asshole. (Down in hell, Gendo Ikari sneezed.)
"Ah, so we were right. Your names sounded familiar. Any other combat experience?" asked Sakura.
"No," answered Rei, "But we have learned Kempo."
"Ah, that'll help a lot," said Hiko as they walked into the main dojo hall, "Oh, and call me Kenichi Myojin, if you prefer. I'm not particularly attached to my inherited name. Nor the cape."
"Now, I don't think your school uniforms are the best for practicing kenjutsu, so we have some clothes for you to wear here. In the next building over are bedrooms, so go there and change," said Sakura, handing them each a stack of cloth containing three hakama and gi each. She also gave Rei some wrappings
After Shinji and Rei had changed with minimal difficultly, they walked back to the Myojin siblings. The teachers were each holding a sheathed sword. "Time to pick which school you'll be learning. Take one of the swords."
Rei and Shinji walked forward, strangely gravitating towards Sakura and Kenichi respectively, even though they were standing in front of the opposite teachers. Sakura clapped. "Okay then," she said brightly, "Rei, we'll be going to the courtyard. You'll be going to the waterfall, right Hiko?"
"Right. Come on, Shinji." He walked out the door. Shinji had to walk quickly to catch up.
"Sensei, I don't understand. Waterfall?"
"Shishou."
"Huh?"
"Shishou is traditionally what the apprentice calls the teacher in this sword school."
"Okay. But, shishou, why the waterfall?"
"Because a waterfall is necessary for training in Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu."
"Hiten Mitsu…" With that, Shinji fainted.
"Baka deshi," said Kenichi with a snort.
"So Rei, you ready to learn kenjutsu?"
"I hope so. What school do you teach?"
"Me?" asked the bright, cheery, kenjutsu instructor, "I teach Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu. Want to know what your boyfriend is taking?"
"He is not my boyfriend."
"Oh, but you two would look so cute together, especially in these outfits! Oh well. Well, Shinji is going to learn Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu."
Rei's mouth gaped like a fish's. "That was the school from the Sengoku period on the sign," she realized when she composed herself.
"Right! Now the first part of your training is this: katsujin-ken."
"Sword that gives life?"
"Exactly. Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu was based on this principle."
"But a sword is a weapon, an implement of death."
"Yes. The final principle of nearly every sword school is 'kill some to save all'. But if one swings a sword that does not kill…"
"Katsujin-ken can be achieved," realized Rei.
"Exactly! So, what is the purpose of Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu?"
"To protect those who cannot protect themselves, while hoping that the defeat of the evil party will inspire them to change their ways?"
"Right! No one has ever figured it out so fast! Granted…I've only taught you, but…"
Rei looked on at the lively Sakura. She was the exact opposite of what Rei had been. It was certainly invigorating, if a bit annoying. "I think that it is a good principle to base a sword style on."
"That it is," said the other female, suddenly more serious. "Draw your sword. Don't worry, it's unedged, though it is tempered and made of folded steel. Now, most of Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu is built out of one stance. Musashi called it the middle attitude."
Rei drew her sword and held it two-handed, in front of her, with the base of the handle at about waist level, blade angled upwards, with the tempered side facing outwards. "Is this correct?"
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. In fact, it's perfect. You've never held a sword before?"
"Never."
"Huh. Well, give it a diagonal swing." Rei did so, the blade slicing through the air like it was on rails. "You never learned any form of kenjutsu?"
"No. Why?"
"Because your form is a close to perfect as I've ever seen. This'll just be a matter of building the right muscle groups, training your mind, and teaching you the succession technique." She smirked. "That means we get to do the fun stuff right away."
"Fun stuff?" asked Rei, halfway worriedly.
"Sparring."
Definitely time to worry.
"Now that you've woken up, and we've gotten here, let's start."
"Okay."
"We'll start at the beginning. The first principle of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu is 'The sword swung in my name shall be swung for the people of the world.' Historically, except for one student of this school, users of this school have been free blades, not tied to any side in a conflict. I think you know who the exception is."
"Hitokiri Battousai."
"Very true. Draw your sword."
Shinji complied, to expose a reverse-bladed sword. "A sakabatou?"
"Yes. You hold in your hands a sword very like the one carried by the most important member of the school, save Master Hiten Mitsurugi himself."
"Who was he?" asked Shinji, still bewildered by the sword.
"His name was Kenshin Himura. He was a short man, young-looking, with flaming red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. Can you tell me who else matches this description?"
"The Battousai," realized Shinji.
"Right."
"But shishou, the Battousai was a hitokiri. This sword would be useless to him. It'd be far too hard to kill with."
"Exactly."
"I don't understand."
"No reason for you to. You do know about the Shogunate plot to kill him about half a year after Kyoto burned?"
"Three ninja dead, along with the field chief who set it up."
"No. One more died. The spy that got close to him, his wife, and his love."
"How?"
"In the fight with the field chief, who was incidentally, a master of Kempo, it looked as if Kenshin would be killed. Tomoe, his wife, ran out in front of him, to stop the knife she thought would kill him. Kenshin had just made a two-handed overhand blow that hit the field chief, and more importantly, his wife. That's where he got the horizontal part of the cross scar. She cut it into him as a reminder of her love for him."
"And, the vertical part?"
"Given to him by her earlier fiancée, during an assassination. He fought through the revolution with his old sword, but as soon as his part was over, he took up this sword," Kenichi said, drawing his sakabatou, "taking a vow never to kill again to honor Tomoe. So the sword of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu changed from a sword of killing to the sword that only protects."
"That's good."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to kill anyone, but I want to help people."
"Well, then your mind is ready. Now Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu is the most powerful school of kenjutsu, because of three things that every student of the school learns: ma-ai, speed, and above all, flexibility."
"Ma-ai?"
"A good place to start. Ma-ai is the mastery of the space between you and your opponent. It is both the ultimate defense and the key to the invincible attack."
"Why?"
"Because if you are master of the space between yourself and your opponent, he or she can not approach to attack, without being attacked themselves, or being repelled by your defense."
"And if you are master of the space in between you and your opponent, you can approach without fear to attack."
"Correct. That is ma-ai in theory. But in a true fight, one cannot completely control that space. Rather you must gain dominance over it, and fill in the gaps in your incomplete ma-ai with speed."
"The second point."
"Right. Do you know why Jigen-Ryu was powerful, but against a truly skilled opponent, rather useless?"
"Because it is easy to predict?"
"No, a truly skilled swordsman would already see the moves of higher-level schools just as easily. The reason is because Jigen-Ryu focuses on strength. This let each blow be a devastating strike, but made them easy to avoid. Take a look at the hamon on your sword."
Shinji looked at the tempered metal, then thought about it for a second. "It's as sharp as a razor. So long as it draws, it will cut even if not much force is put into the blow."
"Very true. With a sakabatou, this is no longer so, but Master Mitsurugi realized this, and changed his focus to one on speed. Speed is far more important than strength. It made for a far more effective school. Now, I assume you know of the physics of an object hitting something, correct?"
Shinji thought of all the slaps he had suffered. "Oh yeah."
"So you know the force will be the same if the object is massive but moving slowly or if it has little mass but a great velocity?"
"Yes."
"Think of strength as mass and speed as velocity. Now, consider that speed lets one redirect their blade quickly and strike swiftly. You see the advantage of speed, correct?"
"Same power, even with a sakabatou, but more efficient for finesse."
"You learn quickly. The final element is flexibility. The school is built around the fact that there is no one stance for normal fighting, and no limits as to what you can do. Any type of attack is equally good, though most of the time students ignore stabs except when hitting a small target is absolutely necessary. Some techniques require a specific stance, but even so, a great deal of them forgo a set stance. Flexibility is also of the body, to achieve flexibility of the sword. Kenshin Himura could dislocate just about every joint in his body and then put them back again with no ill effects. Flexibility and speed are what 'pit one against many', as it is said."
"Is there anything else?"
"Two things. One, jumping. All students of Mitsurugi have an almost supernatural leap. Two, the ability to read an enemy's moves. This can only be partly taught. You must already have this ability, even in dormancy to truly master Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu. Ready to start?"
"Yes," said Shinji, strangely confident.
"Then we'll start with jumping. Take the gi off you top and stand under the waterfall."
Shinji complied, eager to learn more.
Well, yet another chapter done. Longer, and much heavier on the aspects of kenjutsu, especially HM-Ryu. I had no idea when I started this that it would be so successful. I think readers of this story should look at it like an anime series: mature entertainment in short bursts. I shall try to keep up my blistering pace, and will tell you if I take a break for the sake of my other stories. Now, a few notes:
1. Hiko is not the Hiko from the series.
2. Both the teachers are descendants of Yahiko's family and Kenji's family.
3. Kenshin's sakabatou is now a treasure of HM-Ryu, like the cape, Hiko's sword, and Hiko's name.
4. This is not a definite Rei/Shinji though it is likely.
5. If anyone knows any other katana schools from the series outside of KKR, HMR, Mugai-Ryu, Tennen Rishen-Ryu, Hokushin Itto-Ryu, Nikkaido Heiho-Ryu, or Jigen-Ryu, please tell me the name, the place in the series, and the character that uses it or a description of the school. I'm running out of schools to use. Thanks!
Ja na!