In Due Time

Hiko-sama had been momentarily stunned into silence. After clearing his throat and shaking his head, he finally managed to choke out, "Your shishou... is the thirteenth Hiko Seijuro?"

Kenshin nodded. "And you are the twelfth, aren't you Hiko-sama?"

The old man stood, looking a bit agitated. "You know that doesn't mean he's Miki," Hiko-sama said softly, refusing to answer the question. "I've already had one deshi. If something were to happen to Miki, I could have another."

"But you wouldn't would you?"

The swordsman's head jerked up in surprise, his eyes widening.

Kenshin's expression didn't change. A small smile on his lips. Something knowing in his gentle lavender eyes. "You care about Miki," Kenshin said softly. "Or else you wouldn't ask my help in protecting him. He is your true deshi."

The old man's eyes softened a fraction, and he turned to look down the path that Kenshin had been watching moments earlier. "Yes. He's a good boy." He paused, finally admitting, "And I am growing old. Miki will probably be my last."

The redhead nodded. "Then he is my shishou," he said simply. "I'm not surprised, really. Shishou was the one who gave me the name 'Himura Kenshin.'"

Hiko-sama didn't answer for a long time, thoughtfully drinking his sake. Finally when he spoke, his voice was distant. Distracted. "I wasn't sure if he'd be able to do it," he murmured. "Complete the succession technique, I mean." He looked tired suddenly. "Miki's been thorugh a lot of death..."

"Kenshin nodded, understanding. "So because of this, you weren't sure if he could kill you?"

The old man sent him a sharp look. "You know of the succession technique? How? You don't wear the mantle..."

"I finished my training." Kenshin winced again at the thought of wearing that huge, white monstrosity. "I just refused the title... and the cloak..."

The old man looked surprised. "I didn't realize..." He cleared his throat, trying to block the image of Miki swiftly dying by this hitokiri's hand. Turning his thoughts to better days that would hopefully lie ahead for his young deshi. "So... he'll be alright, then?" he asked carefully. "He'll turn out okay?"

Kenshin coughed a little, trying to decide how to answer that. How was an antisocial hermit "alright," anyway? "He's... different," the redhead said thoughtfully. "Crude. Kind of cold. Very vindictive..." Kenshin's brow furrowed. "But he's still a good person. A good shishou. As I said, he saved my life as a child. Then raised me himself. He was like a father to me." His smile was rueful. "A strict, harsh father... but concerned." Kenshin stopped, considering. For the first time in ages, thinking of his shishou's good points rather than obsessing over his bad ones. "He's the best swordsman I've ever known." Another pause. "And although he seems to like being an arrogant jerk, he's still a caring person."

Hiko-sama smiled, apparently comforted by Kenshin's description. Miki was not going to become like his father. Some of his traits, maybe. But he would retain his own caring center. That was enough. "Sounds like you two were close."

Kenshin winced. "I suppose we were in a way... but then he and I had a fight. A big one. We went our separate ways for over a decade. When I returned, I honestly wasn't sure he'd take me back."

"But he did..."

The redhead nodded. "Yes. As I said, he's harsh, but he's a good shishou."

Hiko-sama's expression was a little sad. "It must have been hard on you to complete the succession technique."

Kenshin blinked uncomprehendingly at Hiko-sama. "Oro?"

The old man bowed his head briefly, sitting back down beside the rurouni. He clarified himself. "To have killed him..." His voice was quiet and firm, but his expression betrayed his concern. This was something that had been weighing on his mind since their conversation had begun... the death of his deshi...

"I didn't kill him," the rurouni replied, suddenly understanding. Realizing that in a way, the conversation had come full circle. "My sakabatou... A pin loosened in the hilt. He survived." He smiled grimly. "He almost died, anyway, though. I was lucky..."

The older swordsman raised one silver eyebrow. "You are close, then. That doesn't happen often between deshi and shishou."

"Hiko-sama?"

The old man had an amused and somewhat relieved expression on his face. "You didn't say that Miki was lucky to have survived. You said that you were lucky. You may bristle when you speak of him, but your own words betray your heart."

The redhead's face bore the expression of someone who was just realizing something for the first time. "I did feel lucky. Grateful." His voice dropped. "I didn't want him to die. Especially not by my own blade."

Hiko-sama smiled at Kenshin's words. "It's good to know that Miki will wind up with such a good deshi."

"His baka deshi..."

Hiko-sama laughed, not missing Kenshin's dark, slightly hurt look. He ignored the brief, sharp glare that the redhead shot in his direction. "Don't take that to heart. We are all baka deshi at some point. It's just a name that has been passed down with the title of 'Hiko Seijuro.' Miki must have picked it up from me, and I got it from my shishou." He chuckled. "You'll probably wind up using it one day as well."

Kenshin winced a little, not wanting to have to tell the old man that Hiten Mitsurugi would die with Miki and himself. He looked toward the woods once again.

Hiko-sama didn't miss this. "Worried about him?" he asked.

Kenshin sighed. His shishou would hate the idea of Kenshin worrying about him. Would even more strongly oppose the notion of Kenshin of all people wanting to protect him. Even so, Kenshin couldn't help but worry about the proud, caring boy who had aided him. And therefore, also feeling concern for his reclusive shishou who was perhaps not quite as cold as he often seemed.

"I would like to follow him, Hiko-sama," Kenshin said softly. "There's probably nothing wrong, but I would feel better keeping an eye on him. Especially with this new information of yours. About the strange ki in the area last night..."

Hiko-sama tipped his sake cup in Kenshin's direction. "Then do as you will. I certainly won't stop you."

The rurouni stood and bowed briefly to him. "Thank you, Hiko-sama."

"No," the swordsman replied. "Thank you, Kenshin. It's nice to know that my deshi will become a good man."

Kenshin just smiled and took his leave, walking the path Miki had taken an hour earlier. The same path he had taken, would take in another time with his own shishou from a mound of graves to this very hut...

Hiko-sama watched him disappear into the shadows. "And it's a comfort to know that he's in good hands... That even after my death he will still have someone who cares about him. That he won't have to be alone..."

Author's Note: Thank you all for your wonderful responses! I was thrilled to see that no one seemed to dislike the last chapter as much as I did. I hope this chapter continues to please. And it's nice to know that for some reason you like this silly little filler story.

Thanks again!

Dewa mata!