Kenshin packed a few clothes he found and then left with the guard. They got there in around an hour. To Kenshin's surprise, it was atop a mountain. The guard walked up to the small cabin and knocked.
"Who is it?" a deep voice growled from inside. Kenshin was scared of his voice and looked down at his feet as the door opened.
"I bring you a letter from Kamiya-sama." The guard said as he handed the letter to him. The man quickly scanned the paper and grunted.
After a moment of thinking, he muttered, "Another student…Fine. I will take him as my student. But Kamiya better repay me well for this." The guard left, leaving Kenshin there at the doorstep.
"You're going to be my student eh…well, introductions first. I am Hiko Seijurou, 13th master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. That is the swords technique you will be learning." He explained. Kenshin took all of that in and memorized the sword technique name.
"Um…my name is Himura Kenshin…I'm 7 years old…" Kenshin stated softly. He took Kenshin into the cabin and started giving him many lectures. For the first two months, Kenshin sat there getting lectures and learning how to cook food. Oh yea, and memorizing the path to the sake shop in town. His shishou really loved drinking.
Kenshin gathered water from the stream nearby to make some miso soup for breakfast. He walked back to the cabin carrying two buckets of water, one being for freshening up, the other for the soup. Kenshin worked and also made rice. The finishing result was amazing. The rice and soup were done perfectly and Kenshin had even cooked a fish that he'd caught earlier that day. Then, he ran into town to get three bottles of sake. When he came back, his shishou was still sleeping. Kenshin got everything ready and woke up his master.
"Eh…fine, breakfast." He growled as he sat up and started eating. His expression changed as he took a bite. "Did you buy this?" he questioned suspiciously. Kenshin shook his head. "Well, whaddya know, you can cook pretty well baka deshi!" he laughed. "Ha…and even sake. Good job today." He complimented. They finished their meal and stood up.
"I think you're ready for this." Hiko handed him a smooth, wooden bokken. "You'll start learning techniques from now on. One by one, until you master them all." Kenshin looked at his bokken and bowed.
"Arigatou." He thanked. Hiko left to freshen up and in 5 minutes, they were both ready to train.
"Okay. The first technique you will be learning is Ryu tsui sen. But first, we need to build up your speed to godspeed and we have to make your jump much higher."
'Hoo boy, this could take a while…' Kenshin thought to himself secretly.
All this training went on for the rest of the time Kenshin had to train. Finally, Kenshin was ready to return to the castle.
"Arigatou, shishou." He bowed as he left with his katana and wakizashi in his hakama. He used his godspeed to get to the castle in a few minutes time.
The guards patrolling outside were suspicious of this samurai. "Who're you?" they questioned as they glared at him.
"I need to meet with the king. If I am an assassin, you may slay me, but what would an assassin do, walking up right to the front gate?" he said grinning. The guards looked at each other and they agreed to let him in, with 5 guards showing him the way.
"A guest who needs to meet with the king." He mumbled to the red oak door guard, who opened the door to let them through.
"Who's this…ah! Kenshin!" he exclaimed. He noticed the red hair immediately and had been waiting impatiently for his return. He waved the guards off back to their posts and Kenshin kneeled on one knee.
"Hello, Kamiya-sama." Kenshin said.
The king arose from his throne and picked Kenshin up to make him stand. "I've been waiting for your return. Are you an elite fighter now?" he asked eagerly.
"Test me. And I shall show you what I have learned from shishou." He replied, glaring at some of the guards who were giving him a stink-eye.
"All right then. Get ready for a fighting test against my best knights. However, the condition is this. You will only use bokkens. I don't want any of you to die in combat, especially against each other." Kenshin bowed.
"Show him to his chambers, the one connected to my daughter's room." He ordered a guard who immediately led him to a big room.
They bumped into Kaoru who was walking towards the throne room. She looked at him and thought, 'Wow, he's cute!' The guard apologized and kept going down the hallway until they reached a door. Kenshin stepped in and saw a huge bed and other furnishings. He changed into a sleeping yukata and lay down on the bed. He fell asleep a few minutes later, tired from the morning training he'd done with his master.
The sun wasn't even up when Kenshin woke up. It was still dawn but he got up and took a quick bath. He wore a red gi and a white hakama and red tabi as he walked towards the kitchens. They were cooking some extravagant feast. Kenshin took the ingredients he needed for his own private small breakfast instead of eating with the king. He took some rice and made some miso soup quickly and easily. He ate it quickly and went back to his room.
'What to do…' he thought. There was still around 2 hours left until the others in the castle woke up. He decided to go out and train with his sword and in the martial arts. As soon as he was out of the castle, he did 500 laps around the castle's perimeter using only godspeed. When he was done, he panted and gasped from weariness. He took a quick drink of water and unsheathed his sword.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu…Ryu Tsui Sen!" he yelled as he jumped high into the air and slammed down on a big rock with great force. The rock stayed normal for a second and then, it split into two. Kenshin readied himself for another attack.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu! So Ryu Sen!" he shouted as he was able to make multiple blows quickly to the rock. The rock shattered into hundreds of pieces, leaving Kenshin to look for more rocks to practice on. The training went on, Kenshin training all his techniques that he knew. His voice echoed through the forest as he shouted all his attacks before carrying them out. He continued until he practiced all his moves through at least 30 times each. He decided it was time to return to the castle and walked back slowly. When he got back, he went straight to his room without saying anything to anyone.
'Hmm…' he thought as he was taking another quick bath. "Oh well." He muttered to the silence. He dried himself off and wore a fresh new black gi that he found and a gray hakama. He walked out past a guard who was glaring at him. Kenshin gave him a VERY scary glare which freaked the soldier out. He ran away leaving Kenshin to grin and laugh inside. He reported to the throne room where the king and his daughter were eating their breakfast.
"Ah, Kenshin! It's breakfast time! You should join us! My personal chef is a great cook." He said. Kenshin shook his head and remarked that he'd already eaten breakfast.
"Oh?" he asked questioningly. "Where did you get the breakfast from? Sanji usually doesn't get up before 7:00 in the morning."
"I cooked my own breakfast. During my training, I was in charge of the meals and the cooking. So I trained myself to cook various dishes. I do well with miso soup and rice for breakfast. I don't really like dishes that are very fancy." He explained.
"And where were you this whole time from when you woke up?" Kamiya-sama asked curiously.
Kenshin had seen this question coming. "I was training by myself in the woods on rocks." He answered.
"Speaking of your training, after breakfast, we'll give you the test. You may go to your room to prepare by wearing some armor. You might be getting hurt. I'll send a guard when we are prepared." Kamiya-sama said. Kenshin shook his head and said that he'd rather wait in the gardens. The king agreed as Kenshin bowed and left the room.
"Oh? You're rather quiet Kaoru. Have you grown a soft spot for Kenshin?" he teased. Kaoru blushed furiously.
"N-no!" she stammered. The king laughed joyfully as Kaoru hmphed and she excused herself from the table, leaving her father to finish his meal alone. He chuckled before rising from the table. The maids and servants around him started cleaning up after him and he walked to the dojo they had in the castle's training center for guards and soldiers to spar with bokkens. He told all of his knights to come and even his greatest top knights. He sent a guard to alert Kenshin to come and just as soon as the guard left, Kenshin was there without breaking a sweat before the guard came back.