It was full dark by the time they returned from tea, but there were still many people out in the lamp light, training furiously, fighting each other with a spirit that Kenshin found engaging.
"Do these men ever sleep?" Kenshin asked rhetorically.
"Sleep is a weakness." A shadow fell over the short red head. He looked up and found himself staring into a pair of deep black eyes. He was tall, well muscled with the frown Kenshin noticed on a lot of samurai. Stern, practical, and somewhat laughable. He could believe that a person could be so stern all the time. Even Hiko occasionally laughed, if only to call Kenshin a moron. The man held an unsheathed sword in his hand, his shiny black hair was pulled into a respectable knot on the top of his head.
"Sensei." Tsukasa bowed politely. Kenshin also bowed, but left off the form of address. This man may be a teacher, but Kenshin only recognized Hiko as his master.
"Some might say that rest rejuvenates and allows for both better action and reaction. When the body is fully rested, so then can the mind be." Kenshin commented, as he might to Hiko when puzzled over something. Hiko never answered a direct question with anything Kenshin might want to hear, so it became habit for him to comment instead.
He did not expect the sudden stillness of the yard. Everyone had heard him, and no one could believe that this slip of a teenage boy had challenged their sensei.
"You contradict me?" He asked, gently.
"I only point out a flaw in logic." Kenshin nodded, unwilling to back down when the man was clearly testing him.
"Why don't we take out some shinai?" Kenshin supposed the man was trying to go easy on him. It was not the way to keep up diplomatic relations, but Kenshin refused to be treated like a child.
"I'm afraid I'm not very good with bamboo, but if you wish a match then allow me the use of my own weapon." His hand rested on the hilt of his katana.
"I don't wish you harm." He smiled.
"Don't worry, you can't."
"Kenshin." Tsukasa warned, his hand on Kenshin's shoulder, "Master Ugashi is a samurai attached to the highest office of the shogunate."
"Then let him test my courage." Kenshin shrugged off Tsukasa's hand and walked into the practice field.
"I will teach you the error of your pride boy." Ugashi sneered as he stood at the opposite end. The others moved to the side to watch. Tsukasa waited with tense shoulders.