Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and some company that doesn't belong to me.

Dedicated to dearest Beriath: Happy Belated Birthday! Sorry about the brevity of this chapter, but I just want to publish something for your birthday!
To dear readers: A million apologies about the long-overdue update!!! Yeah this chapter is weird... not really what I had originally intended...

Chapter 9: Talk about Excellent Control


"I beg of you Shishou--- teach me the final technique!" Kenshin pleaded, clutching a corner of the Hiten Mitsurugi inheritor's white mantle in desperation.

"Absolutely not. You were the one who left ten years ago." Replied Hiko, turning away. "A sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu is the art of murder. Whatever pretty words you use, that is its true nature. Your own foolish ideals, or today's harsh realities--whatever you're trying to protect, it's complete selfishness… perhaps it was a mistake to teach you the Hiten Mitsurugi at all---"

At this point someone kicked open the door dramatically.

"Battousai-san!" Harada Reizo burst in, pointing a shaking finger at a somewhat unsettled Hiko. "In the name of Kageaki Yoshi, give this man his what-for this instant!"

Kenshin started to sweat. "Wait a minute, Shishou, let me explain---"

"You're with him?" Said Hiko, eyeing the two dangerously. It was bad enough knowing that Kenshin worked for the government. Finding him allied with Harada wasn't going to cause a sudden change for the better. "My baka deshi does seem to be popular… perhaps a bit too popular… on second thoughts, maybe I should teach you the 'final' technique after all. Take this…AMAKAKERU RYUU NO HIRAMEKI!"

Kenshin screamed.

*End of dream*

***

"Battousai-san!" Yelled Harada, slapping the face of the unconscious ex-hitokiri, who suddenly leapt up with a haunted expression.

"What happened? You went out cold all of a sudden…"

Kenshin was immediately reminded of the dreadful task set out for him as reality rushed back in a whoosh. "Mr. Harada," He said firmly. "About the thing you asked sessha to do---"

"Yes?"

"Sessha can't do it, sorry."

"What are you talking about?" Snapped Harada.

"Sessha doesn't want to beat up people, that he doesn't." Said the rurouni sensibly. Or to have the same to happen to sessha for that matter, he secretly added. "Besides, we must give Sh--- Niitsu Kakunoshin the benefit of the doubt, mustn't we?"

"Benefit of the doubt?" Echoed Harada. "Trust me, Battousai-san, no one could have stolen it apart from that scum! You have my word for it."

"Still, innocent until proven guilty…" Reasoned Kenshin.

"Well, suppose--- by the remotest chance--- that he really doesn't have it, we've got nothing to lose if we beat him up, right?" Said Harada matter-of-factly.

Words failed Kenshin. This was apparently a clash of logic systems--- by the look of it, he'd sooner persuade Sano to stop freeloading. "Sessha is not going." He said flatly, giving up.

Harada took a step back. "You disappoint me, Mr. Battousai," he said coldly. "You came all the way here from Tokyo and now for Kageaki's sake you can't even manage a pleasant little stroll up the mountain---"

"Sessha deeply regrets that, that he does…"

"Fine! Have it your own way then." Said Harada, striding purposefully out of the door. "I suppose I'll just get a few of those good-for-nothing policemen to accompany me…" He grumbled to himself.

For Kenshin, the meaning of this took a second to sink in. For 300 years the successors of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu had pretty much left the government alone (and vice versa). Kenshin wasn't sure what his master thought of policemen, but Hiko would not be happy if the arm of the law turned up outside his door, asking questions like why, for example, he hadn't paid taxes for the last 14 years…

Forget Shishio Makoto--- if there's one person who the Meiji Government couldn't afford to piss off, it's Hiko Seijuro13th.

"Kuso." Kenshin said sadly, as he raced out after Harada to save Meiji from impending doom, yet again. "Mr. Harada!" He yelled. "Don't call the policemen! I'm coming with you!"

***
Kenshin had hoped that the rugged mountain trail would deter Harada from making it to the hut. Unfortunately, Harada knew the terrain like the back of his own hand. Or, being Harada, like the back of Kageaki's masterpiece.

"This way, Comrade Battousai!" Shouted Harada, pushing a prickly plant aside with his cane, apparently in high spirits.

'Comrade' Battousai winced. "How… how did you come to know the way here?" He asked in awe.

"Oh, been here a couple times." Said Harada with a dismissive wave. "For my guild's official meetings, mostly."

"What guild?" Said Kenshin in amazement. Judging from the amount of traffic, anyone looking forward to living a life of solitude would probably be better off at the grand central station.

"The Anti- Kakunoshin guild." Said Harada enthusiastically. There was a soft 'ow' as the redhead tripped over a small twig. "Let me see… I can make you an honorary member if you like. I'm the guild head, after all."

"Um… what does the guild do?" Stammered Kenshin, trying to take his mind off the 'honorary member'.

Harada scowled, as if the topic had stirred some unpleasant memory. "We make monthly trips up this mountain to persuade that scourge of our profession, Niitsu Kakunoshin, to stop polluting the market with the abominations he call 'art'. Of course the supply is partly due to demand, too, but you can't blame unenlightened consumerism." He suddenly furrowed his brow in thought. "Odd though we never managed to find him at his hut." He admitted.

"Perhaps it's not worth the effort, then." Kenshin wisely suggested. He wondered why he was never so lucky when visiting his master.

"Well, the guild hasn't been meeting since last year. We lost too many members, you see."

"You don't mean they're---"

"Rheumatism got the better of them, I'm afraid." Said Harada. "A curse on this damp mountain! I have high hopes that we'll get him this time, though. He can't camp out forever, can he… why don't you scout ahead, Comrade Battousai?"

***

Hiko Seijuro was trekking up to the hut with his daily sake quota when the otherwise tranquil night was punctuated by a disturbingly familiar high-pitched whine. "Shishou!!!" Wailed a red-haired dot as it raced up the mountain with god-speed. "I've got terrible news!"

"Well, did you accidentally kill Harada Reizo?" Said the swordmaster hopefully, as the redhead skidded to a stop before him, panting heavily.

"Um… no. I was trying to steal the you-know-what when Haradanearlybrokemyneck and I told him I liked Kageaki and everything went downhill from there," Said Kenshin, somewhat nervously (on reflection, though, everything had pretty much been going downhill since he left his beloved laundry at Tokyo). "In short, the you-know-what got stolen and he suspects it's you and now he has forced me to come with him tobeatyouup." He mumbled the last few words in a hurry.

After staring at his shamefaced student for some time, Hiko sighed. "You never do anything right, baka deshi." He muttered. "Anyway it's nice to hear that the Final Masterpiece of Kageaki is gone for good… I was starting to worry that you'd take another ten years to get back..."

Kenshin ignored the sarcasm. "Anyway Shishou, unless Harada miraculously trips over the Final Masterpiece of Kageaki on his way here, he's arriving soon… I think you really should go and hide until he's gone, like what you've done numerous times in the past---" He stopped dead. Hiko's dark eyes, normally expressionless, were now blazing with a cold fire. Kenshin suddenly remembered it's a BAD idea to tell a Master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu to 'go and hide', as it was.

"Um…" He gulped. "I was saying, you should stay out of the way…"

"What do you mean, 'like what you've done numerous times in the past'?" Scowled Hiko. "I just happened to be conveniently absent when Harada arrived with his cronies."

"Yes, of course---"

"Which I wasn't aware of before you mentioned it, of course, on account of me not being there." Finished the swordmaster smoothly.

"So, what are you going to do?" Said Kenshin wretchedly. "He's tearing his way up here!"

The statement was confirmed by a howl of rage from not far below, which resembled that of the Hound of Baskervilles, newly unleashed. "That's the scoundrel, Comrade Battousai!" Shrieked Harada, his eyes bloodshot. " 'ave at him where the sun doesn't shine!"

"This is the end," Moaned Kenshin. "Perhaps we should tell him the truth…"

Hiko's scowl deepened until it almost became a grimace. He'd be damned if Harada found out that 'Comrade Battousai' was a student of his, and worse, one that didn't even steal pots efficiently. "I say we play our part." He said with a smirk.

"What part?"

Hiko rolled his eyes and lunged at Kenshin with a Ryu Sou Sen that narrowly missed his successor's ponytail.

"Arghh please be careful Shishou!" Screamed Kenshin, drawing his sakabatou as well. It seemed to him that his nightmare's coming true, after all.

"Yare Yare… trust your master's excellent control…"

***

Ch. 10: Talk about Excellent Control 2