Pure Heart

Part 2

Down by the river

Hiko sat at a small fire he made in a little clearing in front of his hut, waiting for Kenshin. After the boy had realized everything he thought to be a bad dream was real, Hiko could easily see the terror he felt in his eyes. He had told Kenshin to take some time and relax, to come back to his senses. He would wait for him to come out.

Shinta was resting on the soft futon and tried to clear his thoughts. He had not been sold. What he had taken for a dream was real. Just a minute ago, he had become aware of the many small wounds on his hands and the dirt underneath his fingernails. The longer he stayed awake, the more he could remember. Remember the screams. The blood. Everywhere, covering the ground. The sword, sliding through Sakura's throat.
"You must live, Shinta, live for me..."

Desperately, Shinta turned from side to side on his futon. There were too many thoughts haunting him. Just too many of them and most of them bad. There was one thing he could not remember: How did he get here? This, of course, led to another question: where was he, after all? He tried to remember the man in the white coat, who told him he was a swordsman.

Shinta did not know if this would be good or bad. The men raiding his caravan the night before were swordsmen as well. Shinta thought hard about this. That man, Seijuro Hiko, that was his name, he tried to help. So that made him one of the good guys. Also, he had given sake to Sakura, Akane and Kasumi. That, Shinta thought, had been very nice.

It did not take long until the hut's small door was opened and Shinta, half blinded from the sunlight, took a step outside. Curious, he approached Hiko, who sat at the small fireplace. The man did not turn around, so the boy decided to get close.

"Sumimasen – Sir", Shinta began "I feel a lot better now..."

"Shisho." the man interrupted him.

"Nani?"

"You may call me Shisho."

"Hai, Shisho."

"Very well. Are you hungry?" Hiko nodded at the soup cooking over the fire and mentioned for Shinta to sit down.

Hiko curiously watched the boy sitting next to him on a piece of wood, eating his second bowl of soup. Given that his clothes were still drying, he did not wear anything else but his underwear. The bruises covering his entire body seemed all the more impressive in the sunlight than they had been last night.
"Once you have finished eating, you can wash and dress."

Shinta did as he was told. Afterwards, Hiko gave him two empty buckets and mentioned a small path leading through the woods.

"You simply have to follow the path and walk towards the waterfall." He explained.

Shinta set out, an empty bucket in each hand. The warm afternoon sun sent its warm, cozy light through the leaves above and everything looked a calm green. Birds sang in the trees and everywhere was the busy sounds of insects. After a while, Shinta could hear the waterfall and, given the sound it made, it was pretty big. The path ended on a broad stone ledge, next to which the waterfall thundered into the ground. There, the water filled a waterbed to finally form a small river flowing away through the forest.

Shinta tried to decide whether to take the path downhill or uphill to fill the buckets. While the path downhill seemed easier and less steep, he would have to carry the full buckets uphill again. So he decided to fill them topside, then he would only have to carry them downhill to reach the path again. Shinta set out and soon arrived at the upper plateau. Directly beneath him, the river crashed into the deep. Shinta stood there for a moment, gazing down before watching the valley beneath him. The sight was breathtaking. Above the trees he could see the far sky stretching out to the horizon. All around there was forest and one would have to climb the mountains peak to see the plains, Shinta thought.

As he approached the riverside, Shinta realized that it had not been the best idea to get the water from above. He walked for a little while, but the water was still so fast he had trouble holding onto the first bucket as he held it into the clear water. When he had finally filled the bucket, he sat back and took a moment's rest in the grass. He realized his hands were bleeding. There were still wounds from the earth he had dug to create graves for the lifeless bodies all around. He closed his eyes and tried not to remember. He disregarded it, just like he had done before in the small hut. That wasn't so hard. He simply watched everything around him, trying to remember everything and thus the other thoughts went away. He tried hard to concentrate. The thundering waterfall, the sounds from the forest, the singing birds. Soon, he took the second bucket and immersed it. The stream was so swift, he was pulled onto his belly and, scared, he let go.

"Oh, no!"

Quickly, he stood up and ran by the riverside, hoping to catch the bucket. It still floated at the side, but soon hit a rock and was pushed to the middle of the river, floating towards the waterfall. There was a rock less than a meter from the edge of the river. Shinta jumped on it and tried to reach for the bucket. Just a little more... suddenly, he slipped and fell into the icy water. Desperately, Shinta tried to keep his head above the water, but the stream was too strong. He got drawn underwater, smashed against some rock and even before he could grasp it, got drawn under again. "Hel-" Shinta tried to scream, but he swallowed water instead. He began to panic. He couldn't swim, how was he supposed to keep to the surface in this wild ride? Somehow he got his head above the water, but he couldn't even breathe before being drawn under again. He was going to drown. But he must not drown. Not now! Not after all that had happened. Other people had given their lives so he could live. He couldn't simply die. Shinta again tried desperately to reach the surface, but he just didn't succeed. Finally, he had to succumb to the pressure in his lungs and opened his mouth. Water immediately filled it and poured into him. Shinta beat around like mad. He wanted to go up, up to the sunlight dancing on the surface. His head got more and more heavy and his body lost the last bit of strength he possessed. He sank deeper and deeper and the small circle of sunlight above him got smaller and smaller. He wouldn't make it. He wasn't strong enough.
"Okaasan, Otousan, soon I'll be with you..."

End Part 2

Translator's note: Well, what was it like? This chapter was very hard for me, even if you wouldn't guess from the contents. Well, see you next chapter! – Angel, Ayumi's Boyfriend

Ayumi: Poor Angel! I couldn't translate a bit this time, he had to do it all alone. Even this text...oro °--° Well, thank you so much for your reviews! I was so happy! It's difficult to get reviews here in Germany. And there aren't many Hiko/Kenshin –fans either .

About the story: I have to warn you!!! Everything will develop slowly –very slowly!!!! Well, it's because I don't like stories where Shinta suddenly turns into a happy child or a great warrior within one week of training or something like this.

About this chapter: poor Shinta has no luck at all, has he? The next chapter will be a bit short, but I don't know if I can update next weekend because I'm busy with my exams at the university. Well, that's all for now. Thank you so much for reading this! Please tell me your opinion!

Arigatou!
Ayumi – X