Disclaimer: … You don't wanna know what will happen to Kenshin if I were the creator…

Author's Notes: Interlude to this story is from a song by Staind. And I have to let you all in on a little image that has been bugging me since Sunday (thanks to you, Irene!!! ). Hiko, showing off and singing: 'I'm too sexy for my body, I'm too sexy for my shirt, I'm too sexy for my body, too sexy for you!!!' and then, according to Irene, he does 'a sexyiful pose and the women surround him'. That's been bugging me because IT'S HILAIROUS!!! O.O…And then Battousai started complaining about it not working for him and HE did a sexyiful pose… Ahh… the fun you can have over Yahoo Messenger…

Building the Hitokiri

Chapter 2- Meeting Hiko

'And I hide all the pain,

That I've gained with my wisdom'

A makeshift bed of browning leaves and greenstick branches lay next to a dying fire. Only a few of it's embers held the orange glow that originally engulfed the charred logs that now lay in the fire's wake, the wind blowing their ashes around hypnotically. Rain drizzled like ice from the smoky blue and black sky, stinging the ground as it sliced through the air.

Huddled underneath a roof of broadleaf branches and peeling bark was a darkened silhouette, shivering profusely from the extreme chill of the night air. He pulled his knees close to his chest, breathing onto his chilled and uncovered knees in an attempt to warm the flesh that was exposed to the ailments. Small, puffy red and violet eyes stared blankly at the fading orange of his fire. His hands were turning a purplish blue, and his cheeks were stained with the salt that was left over from his tears. Yet his chest still heaved, his heart still ached, and his body refused to succumb to sleep. In his mind he did not deserve such a thing as sleep, where all his pains could disappear and his sisters and mother could still be alive, where his father wasn't the beast he knew he was, and where he had never been forced to flee his family.

Shinta cursed the world around him in complete anger. Sakura had protected Akane and him, but yet he was the only one left. He should have died before either of them, or his mother, had. It had been his misfortune and now he had to carry with him the guilt of not trying hard enough to protect the only people he had in his life. He had let down the only people he had ever loved, the only people who needed his protection.

His frail body was nearly soakedto theboneas the rain had begun to slowly become more vicious. The drops painfully hit his already numb skin, but the young boy did not lift his red head from its resting place upon his knees. In his mind he deserved to die, deserved to sit there and rot in the tears of heaven, the tears of the angels over the loss of three innocent people that night. Shinta was not only overcome with sorrow, though, and his body heated up slightly with the feeling of loathsomeness and fury that had roused in his tiny heart.

Wanting to bury the emotions, Shinta had returned earlier that night to give the three young women their final resting places. Upon returning, though, he saw that his father had lit the home on fire, destroying every bit of evidence that there had been a murder caused by his hand. Anger and hatred had overcome Shinta's being, and clasping his small hands together, he forever left the home that had destroyed his life, leaving his father with one last word.

"Bastard." He had said before turning and running back into the woods he had been hiding in.

And that was how he had stumbled upon where he was now, watching the last ember of his fire hiss and then die.

Die, like everything else that was supposed to be solid in his life.

The tears he had been shedding had long since subsided. He had cried until there was nothing left in him to cry. That was when the rain had started. Part of him felt like the heavens were taking pity upon his poor soul, but he would never allow anyone to feel pity for him. He did not deserve it.

Finally allowing himself some peace in the chilling rain that bruised his skin, he closed his eyes, surrounding himself with the black he knew his sisters and mother would forever be gazing upon.

Morning dawned with no sun, only dark, billowing clouds threatening to storm upon the young boy yet again. Shinta had awoken long before the sun had begun to rise, and again he was traveling farther away from his home, farther away from the pain that still continued to numb his body, mind, and soul. That night had been a long night, and as he traveled he made up his mind.

He would get revenge for his sisters and his mother. His father would pay for the death he caused that night, for the betrayal he had ensued. Shinta would make sure of that, and he would be sure his hand brought about the revenge, and that it would be just as painful to his fatheras the pain was for him now.

Shinta traveled warily, not listening to the aching limbs that cried out for him to stop, at least momentarily. He needed a rest, he knew it. He wasn't used to this kind of strict, non-stop traveling. He hadn't eaten since the meager meal he had the day before, and he didn't plan on stopping to eat any time soon. So he trudged farther on, sinking deeper and deeper into a raging pool of regret and guilt. His head began to hang lower and he continued on his trek, his hair covering him like the blood that had covered his family only a night ago.

Again the anger boiled and he fisted his small, weak hands together as a way of outlet for his pain and loathsomeness. Shinta had never known what it was like to hate someone the way he hated his father now. The emotion was overwhelming and blinding; one that was buried deep and would never be uprooted. He would always hate his father for what he had done with no remorse. Killing those he was supposed to be protecting and loving was a crime not worthy of forgiveness.

And yet, why had Kami spared him? It couldn't have possibly been because he ran; Shinta had been trying to convincehimself of thatas he stopped to look at the sky.

The black of the clouds merged in a swirling pattern with the navy blue of the forewarning sky, tinged with red from the bloody sun that was trying vainly to peak thought the dark of the clouds. The dark that had buried itself inside of Shinta and would soon be growing resembled that sky. It was a crock pot of swirlled emotions, blending together and making his decision.

He would kill his father.

Sounds of merriment and bustling people caused Shinta to lift his head suddenly. From the lush forest that hid him, he could see a town, the people all happy as they traveled about in families looking for things in the market.

Family.

Shinta fisted his hands together. He was jealous of them all. How come his family had to be so… different from everyone elses? Why couldn't his family had been the same-- happy and loving like the ones before him? His eyes caught a small girl, clad in the usual kimono of a purple hue, as she pulled roughly on her father's hand. Her father seemed to be in state of utter sadness, and her determined took intrigued Shinta. He wondered why her father was so upset. He was with his daughter, wasn't he?

"Papa, come on!" she pleaded, her black hair flipping over her shoulder as she spun around to face him. "We need flowers. For momma."

He shook his head. "Don't you understand, your momma is dead."

The little girl's face fell, her blue eyes resembling teardrops. "But we can at least put them at momma's grave… a gift for her."

Immediately Shinta felt guilty for his jealousy. Not everyone was happy. The little girl had no mother, simply her father. And her father was so upset; it didn't appear to him like he really cared what happened around him. His world was gone with the death of his wife. The little girl, though, even as she held a vivacious attitude, was inwardly fighting her own demons of her mother's death. She tried to be happy, Shinta could tell, just for her father.

He shook his head. There was no reason to mingle here. With on last glance at the young girl he walked on, to where he didn't know. He only knew that he couldn't stay here any longer, where the bushes were slicing away mercilessly at his weakened legs and the sights only made him feel worse than already did. Shielding his eyes again he continued on, pressing farther away from his old life.

Weakness drew upon Shinta quickly as his tender feet and tired knees vainly sent impulses of pain to his mind. The cramps in his legs did not affect him though, and he continued marching on as if he couldn't feel a thing around him. His mind was blank and it didn't register inhis headthat he was walking. Everything was blurring in his minds eye and he wanted it to stay that way. That way he didn't have to feel anything or comprehend his surroundings and he could just go on blindly.

That was all before he tripped, smashing his head roughly onto a nearby rock. He was knocked out cold, blood rushing from his skull where the rock had sliced through like a knife. His body rolled off to the side lifelessly, lying limply like a rag doll. His eyes were shut as the blood rolled over his eyelids and down his cheeks, along his neck and ear line, to the ground where it collected in a small puddle.

Shinta opened his eyes, and immediately drew his hand to his hairline. There were bandages wrapped around his skull in a careful yet messy manner, buthe hadn'tbeengiven medicine to alleviate the pain from the headache. Bandages were something Shinta had never used before, unless Sakura brought some from Sae's house. He sat up and groaned from the pain, balancing himself on one hand as he looked around from the thin futon that he was laying on.

"You're the boy that everyone is looking for." Came a gruff voice from the corner of the dwelling.

Fixating his eyes toward a fire, he saw a man's silhouette in the brightly burning flames. He was big and burly, Shinta could tell, and his eyes were closed in concentration and meditation. Or, Shinta guessed, a hangover from the sake he had drank, which was evident from the empty sake bottle that lay rolling around next to him. Shinta sat further up on the futon, surprised to see his gi had been changed and a new hakama lay next to the futon for him.

"Sir… why did you do this?"

He opened his eyes. "I was hoping to turn you in to the police for killing the three women back in that little village. The witness, who is claiming to be your father, turned you in for the murders and burning down the home."

Shinta's violet eyes flew into slits after he successfully changed in the clean, dry hakama. "It wasn't me."

The man chuckled. "That was obvious. How could someone who is clumsy enough to trip over his own feet and give himself a concussion on a small stone be able to kill three women and wound a fully grown man?" he stood and walked over to him, his cape swirling around his feet before he pushed Shinta lightly. "Especially one so puny, with such a lack of muscle. I would say you've done no work at all. But I suppose there is always the possibly that you could have killed them..."

"I could not!" Shinta exclaimed with fury, catching himself before he fell from the shove the man had given him. "My father was not a good man! He's the one who killed my mother and sisters! I tried to protect them! I wounded him, yes, but his back was turned to me because he was trying to attack my mother and…"

"Then how did you escape?" he questioned as he reached for a new bottle of sake on the shelf. "If they all died, how did you escape?

Shinta immediately felt ashamed. "I… I ran." He responded, hanging his head. "I didn't know what else to do. They were all dead by the time he decided to go to me."

"You hold a great anger toward him."

"Wouldn't you?" he snapped back, his small hands fisted and arms shaking from the pressure. "Wouldn't you be angry at someone who hit you? Someone who murdered your sisters and your mother and blamed it on you? Wouldn't you want revenge on them, too?"

The man turned and smirked in a cocky manner, holding a sake bottle deftly in his grip. "You speak strongly and passionately for being only six."

"I'm ten!" Shinta shouted.

"Your anger is not toward me, it is toward your father." He stated.

Shinta scowled. He wasn't too sure that he liked this man, but he knew that he wasn't giving him a chance. So he let his fists loosen until he settled next to the fire and stared at it's dancing vivacity, reminded of the life that was stolen not to long ago. He pulled his knees up to his chest, wanting to cry but refusing to give himself the pleasure of such a luxury.

"Are you going to turn me in anyway?" Shinta questioned the man, not truly trusting his motives.

He looked up from his bottle of sake and stared across the fire at Shinta. "No, you couldn't hurt a fly. But I will help you."

Shinta stood. "How?"

"Say hello to your new sensei. I'm going to teach you the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu of kenjutsu." He smirked. "The training with be hard on you, and you're going to have to be strong."

"Is this a strong style of fighting?" Shinta asked, suddenly very interested.

"You cannot have a corrupt heart to take on this style, otherwise the technique and the special movements will be useless." The man explained. "And it is strong. It takes god-like speed to the battou-jutsu stance."

Shinta lowered his head. "Okay. I want to be strong."

"Don't let your anger blind you. I'm not training you to go kill your father for revenge. I'm training you to help you overcome this pain and you seem to have a fire in you that have been harboring. I want to see what this fire is." The man told him.

Shinta lifted his head. "Do you have any other students?"

"No. This technique is to have only one heir. I am the 13th master."

"What is your name?" Shinta asked him

"My name?" the man laughed, chugging some of his sake. "My name is Hiko, but you will call me Master. And you will be mybaka deshi."

Author's Notes: Okay, yeah, this was WAY shorter than the last chapter but I didn't want to just drag it on and make it boring. It got to where I wanted and I'm happy with that. But since I've NEVER written a story with Hiko in it I have no clue how in character I made him. I'm not too keen on his charcter (especially since I've only seen the episode(s) where Kenshin went to learn the Amakekru Ryu no Hirameki from him. And the episode where Hiko told Kaoru not to worry about Kenshin because he'd be fine) so you'll have to help me out here, okay?

And I would like to thank my four reviewers--- Human Chew Toy, Black Twilight, Little Devil 9, and Roaring Flames. Thanks a bunch for reading and enjoying. Hope you like the chapter. And sorry I didn't us your idea Roaring Flames, I already had my chapter started!!!

Well, later! Luv and hugs!!

Crystal Renee