Pure Heart
Part 4: Kyoto
The words slowly crept in with his uneasy sleep, chasing the pictures away.
"Kenshin!"
Shinta turned around sleepy, not yet ready to let go of sleep.
"Kenshin!"
The deep, now much louder voice made him reconsider.
Shinta sat up. Two days had been far too little time to get used to a new name and lose an old one that he had had for all of his young life.
Hiko was standing over him, gently waking him from his uneasy dreams. Sometime in the night, fatigue had caught up with him and he had fallen asleep, no matter his dreams. Although Shinta didn't remember the long night, it seemed to him as if he had just slept for a moment.
The first light of day, shining in through the windows, proved him wrong.
"You've been sleeping long. Get up and get dressed." Were Hiko's short words before he himself stood up, turning to a shelf on the wall. He chose two pots of clay and carefully wrapped them in cloth. It had been long since he had to sell some of his work, but this would change. Those two should give a good price, allowing him to buy the things necessary for the boy.
Shinta rubbed his eyes, slowly getting up from bed. He dropped the much too large haori Hiko had given him to sleep in and clumsily walked outside.
Hiko watched him, frowning. Kenshin's body was fragile and mutilated in a way that still made him shiver. Just thinking about the burden Kenshin was already bearing, showed the great potential and spirit the boy possessed. Hiko grinned. He was sure he had selected the right baka deshi, he thought with a smile.
The ice-cold water washed away all that was left of Shinta's morning lethargy. The drops, first rolling over his face, then falling back into the bucket, shone in the morning light. Shinta watched the drops dissipate on the water that mirrored his face.
A drop.
His face was blurry.
Another drop.
His face had vanished.
The small drop had caused wide circles.
Red.
Red drops.
Red water.
Red blood.
Frightened, Shinta stood up. As he watched the bucket again, all he could see was clear water. And a small boy watching him with big eyes.
For a short while he stared at this mirror image, but nothing happened.
Chilling from a cold gust of wind, Shinta finally ran back to the hut.
Hiko was waiting outside the hut, cherishing the forest's quiet awakening. Birds sang their morning songs, time and again something moved behind the bushes.
"Shishou..."
Kenshin came out, his face sad.
"What's on your mind?" Hiko asked the boy. He seemed to be uneasy about something.
"I cannot find my shoes..."
"Of course not, you lost them in the river yesterday, baka!"
Kenshin seemed to remember and looked all the more sad for it.
"Now I remember. I am very sorry Shishou. Next time I will pay more attention."
"It's too late for excuses now." Hiko stood up, took the cloth pack standing next to him and went for the small path.
Uneasy, Shinta stood in front of the small hut.
"Are you coming, Kenshin? It's quite a while to Kyoto and I don't want to have to wait for you."
Shinta nearly jumped and made haste to keep up with Hiko's pace. The grass beneath his naked feet was wet with morning dew.
Shinta thought the man was less friendly than he had been yesterday.
"Are you mad with me, Shishou?" he asked quietly.
Hiko sighed.
"No, baka." he simply said without turning round. That was enough for Shinta.
It was a long way through the woods and, from the corner of his eye, Hiko could see Kenshin's mind working hard. Thinking, the boy went after him, neither looking left nor right. His gaze went straight ahead, but still didn't seem to notice the ground in front of him. Surely, the last day's events were plaguing him.
Hiko had chosen the path with care. Under no circumstances did he want Kenshin to pass along the cemetery the boy had dug with his own hands.
Shinta was trying hard to sort out all the thoughts and pictures flashing through his mind. The faces staring at him in death pain he pushed to the back of his mind, while he tried to think about what would happen to him now. He had realized that he had to stay alive. He had to stay alive for the people that had given their lives for his. But Shinta was not sure whether he wanted this at all. He was alone, but he had been alone since his parents died. Nonetheless, one could always get to know new people. Sakura, Akane, and Kasumi, for example, he had met only shortly, but now they were...
"Have you ever been to Kyoto?" His thoughts were interrupted.
"Kyoto...?"
"Yes, baka. You heard about Kyoto, did you?"
"Of course!"
"What do you know about the place?"
For the rest of their journey, Hiko left Kenshin very little time to ponder his fate. He got Kenshin talking about the city they were going to visit and told him that much more about it. As they left the forest, following another small path leading to the main road, Hiko knew no further diversion would be necessary.
The closer they came to Kyoto, the bigger and more interested Kenshin's eyes became. Even from afar the city was impressive, build in the valley between three mountains. One could see a multitude of temples and shrines.
Finally, they reached a dusty road filled with other people, all walking towards Kyoto. All kinds of people, pilgrims, monks and even samurai went the other way, walking away from the city. Some of them were even on horses.
Just in front of the city there was a checkpoint where they had to wait. It took a while, so Shinta had all the time to watch the merchants with their wagons, the poorly looking ronin and the simple looking begging monks.
The official Hiko was talking to, a young samurai who could not hide the fact that being three heads shorter than Hiko made him uneasy. He did not really seem to believe that Hiko wanted to sell pottery in town, but then again he did not want any trouble. So, after asking a few questions, he let them pass.
The people were staring at them. Shinta didn't realize, since he was much to occupied with all the new things in this giant city. The beautiful temples, the many people walking around and the shops and wares the merchants sold.
Hiko did realize it, but this wasn't a new sensation for him. His body alone was remarkable and the great coat was just as impressive.
Nonetheless, the people seemed to stare more than on other occasions. They tried to hide it, of course, looking quickly out of the corner of their eyes or waiting until he had passed. He could feel their gazes on his back.
After all, the two of them made for a pretty interesting picture. He, big and tall, as few Japanese were, in his flashy coat and Kenshin, his exact opposite. Small, timid but still something special. He had never seen such a colour of hair and his eyes were so much stronger than even a few samurai's eyes were.
Kenshin was walking bare-footed a few paces behind him, looking around.
He had been to a city before, but it had not been nearly as big as Kyoto, he had told Hiko.
Shinta was simply overwhelmed.
After Hiko bought Kenshin a new pair of sandals, they went to a small inn located in a quiet street. Once they sat down, a serving girl came to them immediately.
"Good day. What may I serve you?" she asked in a friendly manner.
Hiko ordered Sake for himself and tea for Kenshin. The girl served them at once.
"What do you want to eat, Kenshin?"
Shinta looked at him in surprise. He had never eaten at an inn, he had not even been to one before.
"What do they have?" he shyly asked.
Hiko pointed at some wooden signs where the different foodstuffs were noted.
"You can choose."
Shinta took a moment to think.
"I choose the first sign."
Hiko looked at him, surprised.
"Baka, that's tea!"
"Oh..." Shinta looked down, his face turning red. "I did not know that..."
"Baka, you chose it, after all!"
Just as he said those words, Hiko knew what was wrong.
"Kenshin, you can't read the signs, can you?"
Shinta nodded.
"But – why didn't you say so?"
"Shishou told me to choose on of the signs." Shinta defended himself.
"Such nonsense!" Hiko sighed. "You really are a baka deshi..."
Once the misunderstanding had been cleared, Hiko read all the plates to Kenshin and the boy
then ordered Miso Soup for himself.
"Get the boy some okonomiyaki, as well." Hiko told the girl.
"But..."
"No discussions. You are much too thin, you have to learn to eat right. Regard this as part of your training."
Shinta had eaten so much, he was feeling like bursting any moment. The soup had been more than enough to satisfy him. Then the girl had brought the okonomiyaki. He had never eaten something like this. It tasted wonderfully, but after eating half of it he was just so full. But since Shishou had told him to eat it all, he forced another two bites down before finally resigning.
"Shishou..." Shinta began quietly "I ... I just can't eat any more."
Shinta looked down in shame. He thought himself to be incredibly impolite. He had never eaten something that good and now he didn't even eat it all. But just a few more bites and he would throw up.
Hiko watched him carefully, but finally nodded. Kenshin was not yet used to such quantities of food. The small body was no more than skin and bones, something that Hiko would have to change.
"Very well, but don't tell me you're hungry later on, will you?"
"For sure not!" Shinta answered, relieved.
He was not feeling good. Inside his stomach everything was mumbling, even now as lunch was some time past. He was glad when Hiko told him to wait outside a small store. Shinta sat down on the dusty ground with his back against some wall while Hiko went inside.
He tried to distract himself from his stomach by watching the passengers on the road. It was the broadest road he had ever seen. Everything in Kyoto seemed to be bigger than he could ever have imagined.
The people were nearly running past him. Proud samurai, simple merchants, mothers with their children, women in colourful Kimonos with white powdered faces, monks, beggars and all kinds of ronin. Shinta thought that there were many men bearing swords around here. Nearly every third man passing by bore the two swords showing him as samurai.
The pause did him well and soon Shinta had forgotten about his stomach in this maelstrom of colours, scents, voices and temple bells.
Suddenly he heard a merchant's call praising his wares and, once he had realised what the man had said, Shinta shivered down to the bones.
Hiko had known the shop's owner for some years and; even if he only came by from time to time, he still got a fair price for his goods here. Once they had finished business, Hiko asked the man to tell him about the capitol's current situation before he went on his way.
As he stepped out onto the road, Kenshin was gone.
End part 4
Oh well, Angel again did all the work for me.. my English is too bad...
Well, I hope you like it!!! Thank you so much for all your reviews!!! I never expect to get so many! In Germany I'm happy when two or three people say their opinion- there are so few people who write reviews –
Once more, thank you all:
Melissa, Lady Himura Shishi, Ruroken28 , darksaphire, Maeve Riannon, Lucrecia LeVrai (oi, I remember you!!! You can speak very good german! You already gave me reviews for my RK- fanfiction "Sommernächte" and "Nachtschreck" in the german section! Thank you very much!!!), kagome-chan1234567890, Justice Stryfe, xZig-zagx, Sailor-Earth13, T. Marauder, ssjjvash and Shaolin 10! I hope I didn't forget anyone!
See you next chapter!
Ayumi X
