Pure
Heart
(Please notice that the writer isn't a native English
speaker. )
Chapter 1: Found
The black night was
approaching from the north and displaced the last rays from the
setting sun shining on the wooden crosses.
"We're leaving.
There's nothing left you can do for them." Hiko said to the
little boy who was still standing silent in front of three stones .
Then he turned to the woods. The boy, walking away, turned his eye to
the three stones for one last time, then followed the man who had
saved his life into the dark of the night. Slowly, a pale moon rose,
shining bright through the roof of leafs .
Shinta wasn't
sure about following the man. He knew nothing about what was going to
happen if he did. But did he have a choice? If he were to leave now,
the next bunch of slave traders would catch him for sure. This man
saved his life, so he couldn't be that bad, could he? Shinta was
too tired to think about that question further. Wherever they were
going, Shinta hoped that they would arrive soon. He could hardly keep
his eyes open. Seijuro Hiko felt the child's Ki lose its power. The
boy tried hard not to fall asleep while walking. Hiko stopped and
waited for the boy to catch up with him. "We shall rest. You can
relax a bit." Without answering, Shinta sat against a tree and fell
asleep immediately. Hiko carried him in his arms and once more set
out to reach the small mountainside hut. The child in his arms
smelled like mud and blood. But worse, was a smell Hiko knew all too
well. It was the stench of death covering the child. The smell of
dead flesh, the smell of the corpses rotting in the sun until this
little boy managed to bury them. Unlike himself, who usually waited
until the following night, the boy finished the gruesome task during
the hot daytime. He watched the child in his arms. Surely, Kenshin
had no strong body and his face was so soft he could easily pass for
a girl. But his hair was remarkable. It was very odd, shining red,
like fire. It wasn't difficult to imagine what those slave traders
had planned with such a boy. They would have taken a lot of money for
him in the pleasure quarters of Kyoto.
Unbelievable
that this small boy has had the strength to dig all those graves with
his bare hands...graves for them who had stolen his freedom and
graves for them who wanted to kill him...he must have a strong
will...he is the right one...he will be my successor.
Kenshin slept soundly as they reached the small hut. While lighting a candle, Hiko decided to wash the boy before laying him into his bed. His face and his hands were dirty and his clothes were covered in blood.. Hiko still had a bucket of water in the house, so he did not have to go down to the river. Using a towel, he washed the boy's face and hands. Being totally exhausted, the boy didn't even wake up as Hiko stripped Kenshin's clothes away. What he saw, didn't surprise him. His body was covered with bruises. Some seemed to be quite old, others were still healing. He quickly washed the small body, then laid him down on his futon.
Hiko
was used to waking up early in the morning, but this morning
something wasn't right. Something was different. The first thing he
recognized was that he wasn't on his futon as usual. The reason for
that wasn't far away. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw
was a small figure laying on his futon, red hair shining from
underneath the blanket. The incident from last night came back to his
memory immediately. As quietly as possible, he left the small hut,
taking the boy's clothes with him to wash them. Outside, he took a
deep breath of the a summer morning's fresh air. The grass was
still covered with silver dew and high above the moon still shone
from the sky, although the sun was already rising. Hiko started on
his way down to the river. He had to wash the boy's clothes and
probably they would already be dry when the boy would awake. Hiko
decided that Kenshin should relax today. In the afternoon or –if
the boy slept longer – tomorrow they could go to the city to buy
the boy a futon of his own.
Warm sun rays were stroking his
face as Shinta woke from his sleep. All around him, it was warm and
fuzzy. It hadn't been like this for a long time. Blinking
reluctantly, he realized that he didn't know where he was. Slowly,
he rose into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. He was in a
small hut and obviously had slept on a futon. Bright sunlight washed
through a small window. Except for him, nobody was here. But where
was "here" anyway? He wore nothing except his underwear and he
couldn't see his clothes anywhere. Uncertain what to do, Shinta
just remained sitting on the futon and thought about what could have
happened Had he been sold to slavery? Maybe the door was locked...
But there wasn't a handle on the simple door. From the outside, no
noises could be heard. There was only the wind whispering in the
trees and the melody of the birds. No voices, no footsteps. He seemed
to be alone, wherever he was. Desperately, Shinta tried to remember
something, but he just couldn't. Maybe he should run away, as long
as he was alone. Maybe this would be his only chance... Shinta rose –
but it was too late.
Outside the small hut Hiko was drinking
his sake. It was already late in the afternoon and Kenshin was still
sleeping. Thinking about waking the boy up, he recognized a
disturbance in Kenshin's Ki. He had finally woken up. Hiko took
another sip of sake. As Kenshin woke, his Ki got more and more
disturbed. The boy seemed to be totally confused. Hiko let him have
some more time to compose himself, then he decided to stop his
confusion.
Shinta turned to stone as the door was suddenly
opened. He sat with clear eyes on his futon, holding the blanket
tightly and stared at the man in the door. He knew him, but he
couldn't remember where they had met before. The man was
exceptionally big and wore a great white cape. Shinta turned his head
away. "Did - did you buy me?" he asked softly. Hiko sighed. The
child couldn't remember anything. He hoped it was just temporary,
while the child was shocked.
The white cape...suddenly Shinta
remembered. He knew him from his dream. Last night in his dream, this
man saved his life... Reality hit him like a sword through his heart.
"It wasn't a dream, was it?"
End Part 1
Authors
note : Greetings from Germany! I started to write this story one year
ago, but unfortunately there aren't that many RK-Fans here. So I
decided to translate my fics into english. But since I left school
two years ago, my english isn't the best so my boyfriend helped me
with it. Thank you. To say something about the story, I really love
Hiko and Kenshin that much! I read every fanfic about them and
collect every doujinshi I get. I hope I can write this fanfiction
till the point Kenshin is leaving to join the ishinshishi. Thank you
for reading!
Ayumi -
