Chosha's Notes:
Yay! Welcome back to RuroKen and the Philosopher's stone, chapter three! I'm really having fun with this and my two reviewers, you know who you are – Lily of the Shadows and Crazy Hyper Lady (cool names by the way) – are really encouraging me to carry on, so thank you, arigato! So, enough of my ramblings - Lets get on with it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, zilch, nowt, zip! They belong to Watsuki-sama and JK Rowling.
Last time on RuroKen and the Philosopher's stone:
Hiko finally receives his proof magic exists. Now time is passing and the impending letter is just about to arrive…
Chapter Three
Kenshin's discovery
Spring came and went, and, for Kenshin at least, time moved relatively quickly. Before he knew it, a whole year had passed. Kenshin had not changed very much in that time – he had grown a few inches taller perhaps. Also his ruby-red hair was longer now, his bangs scraping his eyes, which Kenshin found perfect when he didn't want to show what he was feeling through his eyes, or so he could look at something without seeming to. His body was still that of a child's, but it was also quite toned from learning the Hiten Mitsurugi ryu. He had grown faster too and Hiko had started to teach Kenshin how to sense the 'Ki', or 'life force' of people to predict movement as well. One thing that hadn't changed though was-
"Baka Deshi"
Kenshin sighed. Perhaps it would have been easier to just to rename him that instead of Kenshin when his master had found him. "Hai, Shishou?" he asked looking up from cleaning his new katana into the face of the gigantic man who had just walked out of his cottage.
Hiko smirked and said, "It's time to test you again"
"In Language?"
Hiko looked amused and chuckled darkly. "Well now, not a bad idea. We'll do that after a spar"
Kenshin winced. He could almost feel his side twinge at the prospect of another one-side match. "Must we…" he grumbled, but Hiko just watched him in amusement. Baka Shishou. Well, no getting out of it, he thought resignedly. If living with Hiko for the last four years had taught him anything, it was that Hiko never let him off after condemning him to a spar. It was by some miracle that out of all the one-sided fights they'd had so far, not one of them had killed Kenshin yet.
Kenshin reluctantly settled down his cleaning equipment and, very slowly, stood up from the log by the open fire and straightened his white training gi and pale blue hakama, hoping to lengthen the time when he wasn't going to feel bruised and battered. Finally, so Hiko wouldn't start sparing with him before he was ready (and lose whatever little advantage he might have if he was ready). He settled into Battojutsu stance, waiting for his master to make the first move.
For a while they waited, watching each other through narrowed eyes. If anyone had walked into the clearing just then, a strange sight would have met them. Firstly there was Hiko Seijuro - nearly 7-feet-tall, with long onyx-black hair, wearing an impressive and expensive mantle, as muscular as a human can be without sacrificing any speed, and obsidian eyes with a condescending look concealing a look of parental pride. Even more surprising was that he was facing Himura Kenshin - little more than 4-feet-tall or so, with longish ruby-red hair, wearing plain training gi and hakama, rather scrawny looking, and violet eyes with a humble yet determined gaze. Both stood in stances that made them look like ancient samurai going into battle.
Kenshin saw Hiko's eyes flash and, with a burst of inhuman speed, darted forward. Kenshin ducked his first stroke as he spun and drew out his sword with lightning speed from his sheath. If he had been facing anyone else, Kenshin would have taken his opponents legs off right then and there. However, Hiko was anything but ordinary. As Kenshin attacked, Hiko jumped into the air. Kenshin recognised the Ryutsuisen and dodged at the last moment. Hiko landed as lightly as a bird. Kenshin positioned himself and darted in once more, dodging as Hiko made a cut towards his neck, grazing the skin. Kenshin made to do an upstroke, but Hiko blocked it with bone-jarring strength, sending him scooting backwards. Kenshin was on the defensive again, ducking and dodging multiple attacks. Kenshin used the Doryusen, then jumped, hoping his less powerful attack would distract Hiko long enough. Kenshin brought his sword down, but Hiko's katana rose to meet it. With a shove, Kenshin sprawled across the ground and Hiko immediately had his sword by his neck.
Dammit, Kenshin berated himself. He got me again…
Meanwhile, Hiko was secretly impressed. In the years he had taught Kenshin – almost five years now – he had grown much stronger. Soon he would have to use his full strength with him at all times. As well as that, he was learning to combine attacks. However, he wasn't exactly going to tell him that…
"We've been training for three months already and you still are too incompetent at hiding your ki, my Baka Deshi,' Hiko sighed with mock disappointment, allowing Kenshin to sit up and rub his grazed neck.
"Shishou, are you saying I should be able to completely hide my ki from someone as experienced as you?" Kenshin asked.
"I'm saying that I should not be able to predict which direction you will be moving in so easily," Hiko countered. Fluently, he switched into English. 'Now, what about this Language test?'
'Um, y...yes, master?' asked Kenshin, momentarily stumbling over the transition from Japanese to English.
'I think the best test we will ever get should be arriving very soon'
"Huh?" replied a bemused Kenshin.
'Ah, there it is,' said Hiko, looking up at the sky. Kenshin looked up too but could not see anything. He squinted, a hand shading his eyes from the low sun. Wait, what is that? Kenshin mused as he spotted something in the sky he had overlooked: a dot that was getting larger by the second. Soon, he could see that it was in fact not a dot, but some kind of bird. How strange, Kenshin had never seen a bird quite like this one before. It seemed to have a very flat face, and one leg was longer than the other was.
"Nani...?"
Hiko lightly slapped Kenshin on the back of his head, making him stare at the floor. 'Use English, idiot apprentice,' he reprimanded to an abashed reply of 'Yes, Master.' 'It's the language you'll be using for the next year or so.'
'What! Why?' exclaimed Kenshin turning to stare at his teacher. His face however was unreadable to that particular answer.
'Hopefully, anyway - if you behave. And it would help if you didn't wet your bed again like last week,' answered Hiko with a smirk on his face, effectively distracting Kenshin from asking exactly why he would be using English for the next year.
'Master!' shouted Kenshin, whose red face was only partly caused by anger. Kenshin turned away from his master only to be greeted by a flutter of feathers in his face. Jumping back in surprise and just a tiny bit of fright, Kenshin finally realised that the strange bird was actually an owl. But he had never seen such an important looking owl as this one. Everything that Kenshin felt just then was summed up by the single word that stumbled of his mouth.
'ORO?'
' "Oro?" ' Hiko snorted with a raised eyebrow. 'Is that even a word?'
Ignoring his master's comment, Kenshin recovered slightly from his undignified jump of fright. 'Why are you here, Mr. Owl?' he asked the owl politely.
Hiko started slapping his forehead repeatedly at his apprentice's apparent denseness. 'Can't you see the big yellowish letter tied to his leg?' He asked exasperatedly. Taking a closer look, Kenshin saw that there was indeed a letter tied to the owl's outstretched leg beneath its mass of feathers that, somehow, he had missed. The owl hooted with an annoyance that was much too intelligent for Kenshin's mental image of an owl. What's a letter doing on an owl's leg? Kenshin asked himself while reaching down and untying the letter. He saw from the emerald green ink that the letter was clearly meant for him:
Mr. K. Himura
The Cot in the Corner
Shack-in-the-Mountains
Outskirts of Kyoto
Japan
"Oro?" Kenshin asked softly. From the way his name was written, it was clearly from someone in the western countries, not someone from Japan using English. But who would want to write to me? Who would even know that I'm alive after what happened 5 years ago? It was in that newspaper Hiko had brought from town the day after he found me – the Japanese government had listed everyone on that van as dead. That was only newspaper Shishou has ever brought home.
"But... Shishou," Kenshin said quietly in a semi-stunned voice, unconsciously switching to Japanese, while still staring at the letter. "I thought the government listed me as dead."
"The Japanese government perhaps." Hiko replied. "There was, however, another government that had... more accurate ways to gather information."
"But what 'other government', Shishou?"
"Just read it yourself, My Baka Deshi," Hiko answered. "It's how I found out."
"Oro?" Kenshin said confused. When Hiko did not elaborate, he decided he would just have to read the letter. Kenshin turned the envelope over and found a violet wax seal with a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large 'H'. With a strange feeling - as if his next action would change his whole life- Kenshin broke the seal with trembling fingers. Pulling out one of the three letters, he started to read.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
Of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc, Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Himura,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy HeadmistressA thousand questions burst in his head like fireworks, but faded almost instantly. Kenshin looked up at his master. "This is a cruel trick, Shishou," he said in a low voice.
"Eh?" was the very confused reply. Hiko glanced down at his apprentice. Kenshin looked up at him with downhearted eyes
"Though trying to get poor, neglected victim to think he will finally be rid of the arrogant, horrible slave driver and then ripping that hope away is a bit of a cliché, Ne?" Kenshin said in a disappointed tone.
"Once again, my Baka Deshi proves to the world how he earned his nickname," Hiko sighed, shaking his head. "This, Kenshin," Hiko said dramatically prodding the letter in his hands, "is no trick."
Silence
"You really expect me to believe that?" Kenshin whispered.
"Yes, I do."
"And you call me the Baka?" Kenshin remarked incredulously.
"Well I can't be expected to call myself an idiot," Hiko said irritably. "And as anyone would tell you, I am most definitely not an idiot," he added haughtily.
The boy sweat-dropped. So arrogant, Kenshin thought, shaking his head.
"And anyway," Hiko said. "How do you explain the disappearing pottery last year?"
"I bet you threw it away yourself, just to trick me," Kenshin yelled accusingly. "And since when has magic been real?" Kenshin added realising that he had, for a moment, actually believed that magic existed.
"That's just the point," Hiko explained. "Don't you think that if I was going to trick you, I would have conceived a much better and more plausible plan with my intellect?"
"Reverse psychology won't work on me," Kenshin pointed out darkly. "Don't think I've forgotten last year when you got me drunk."
Hiko smirked. "Well, if you had just told me why you were spending more and more time in buying my sake, I wouldn't have been forced to take such drastic measures as to waste my sake on you," Hiko replied to an outraged shout of "I was underage!" "And while we're on that subject, exactly when will I be meeting this girl - Miya, wasn't it?" Hiko added.
"Shishou!" Kenshin shouted, now totally oblivious to the letter he was still holding, his face flushing a colour that rivalled his hair. "We were just talking!"
Hiko grinned, thoroughly enjoying the way this conversation was going. "From the way you were talking (and after drinking only one bottle – you really need to learn how to handle your sake), I could guess that you would have wanted to do something other than talking to her," Hiko said smugly in a sing-song voice. "Something that starts with a 'K' and rhymes with 'pi..."
"Shishou!" Kenshin yelled again, now sounding thoroughly offended, bristling where he stood, fists clenched. "We are getting away from the subject!"
"Don't worry about it, Baka Deshi," Hiko said sympathetically, patting Kenshin on the head with a large hand. "Though I have never been in your plight, I understand that you are not alone in being a boy who has experienced their first love rejecting him."
"I would never, ever think about being so forward with a girl I barely even knew!" Kenshin desperately tried to convince Hiko. "Whatever I said back then must have completely been the sake talking."
"Whatever, we're off the subject now, Baka Deshi."
I just said that! Kenshin grumbled in his head.
'And from now on, you will be using English only with no exceptions.'
'Oops,' Kenshin bashfully remarked, just realising he had been using Japanese throughout the entire convocation.
'Good,' Hiko said. 'Now, you will have to send back your reply; the owl is getting impatient and seeing as he's the only one we have, we better send the reply back with him.'
'You still think you can trick me?' Kenshin bristled
Here we go again… 'No, because this is not a trick,' an annoyed Hiko said. 'If you need proof, send your reply back saying that you accept, and then come with me to get your supplies.'
'Oro? Supplies?' Kenshin asked. The concept of needing supplies had escaped Kenshin so far. 'Where are we going to get supplies?'
'Good, good, you're finally believing me,' Hiko smirked at Kenshin. 'And to answer your question, we will get them somewhere in London, where we will meet a guide because apparently, I cannot see where we will be going.' Hiko said the last part with a small scowl, as if the idea of him not being able to see something irritated him.
'Um…did you go to this school, Shishou?' Kenshin asked suspiciously, still sceptical on the idea that there was a school of magic or magic full stop.
'No. It seems I am something called a 'muggle' because I am unable to do magic tricks,' Hiko replied once again with a small scowl.
'Then how do you know all this?' Kenshin probed, looking for a weakness in his master's story.
'You never give up do you,' Hiko sighed. 'Well, I also received a letter, though it was quite a while ago – last year in fact. Right now, I'll keep the summary brief. In short, it said I had adopted a magical child and since all the magic schools in our vicinity require a child to begin being taught within a year of his or her birth, Albus Dumbledore would allow you to attend his school.'
'Albus-who...?'
'The headmaster of Hogwarts,' Hiko began to drum his fist lightly on the boy's head 'pay more attention to your letters.'
'Oh, yeah,' Kenshin said once he avoided his master's fist, embarrassed by his own ignorance. 'Wait, you said this school was somewhere in London?' Kenshin questioned, something beginning to dawn upon him.
'Actually, I don't know exactly where it is, but we get there from London, yes.'
'Then exactly how are we supposed to get there?' Kenshin asked.
'Well, if we start now, we could probably sprint there in less than four months,' Hiko said smirking with amusement as Kenshin's mouth dropped.
'W-wha...?' Kenshin spluttered. We're going there by foot
'Relax, idiot apprentice, I'm just joking,' Hiko said, laughing. Kenshin looked at him with a mixture of relieved at not going on foot and outraged at being tricked again. 'No, we're taking something called a "Portkey" in July, plenty of time to do some more training on your ki sensing, eh?'
'What do you mean by more... OW!' A pain in his shin interrupted Kenshin. Looking down, it seemed that the Hogwarts owl had finally lost his patience and started pecking Kenshin's leg. 'Ok, Ok, I'll reply right now!' Kenshin yelled trying to waft the tawny owl from his shin. 'Just please stop pecking me!'
Finding this an acceptable answer from the boy, the owl stopped so Kenshin could write the reply using a biro Hiko passed to him. Sighing, Kenshin bent down to tie the note, which said that he did accept, onto the owl's leg and said, 'Sorry Mr. Owl, it's just that this is such a big shock to me.' The owl gave Kenshin what looked like an understanding nod and then flew away into the sunset.
'Like I said, training begins tomorrow,' Hiko, who had been very amused while watching the scene, said. Turning away to go back inside the shack he added 'Get some sleep, it's getting late.'
Kenshin obediently replied, 'Yes, Master.' Following Hiko, Kenshin went inside the small hut. He was still full of questions that zipped through his head, making sleep impossible. But for now, he was convinced of three things: that there was magic in this world, that there was a school that taught people about magic, and that he was going to that school.
To be continued…
Chosha's notes:
Nothing much I can think to say on this. But I finally got Kenshin convinced he off to Hogwarts (stubborn baka…) Poor guy's gonna get his first taste of magic soon too. You can just see him oroing now! Anyway, I would love it if you guys could review and tell me what you think of it all, or if you've got any questions.
Next time on RuroKen and the philosopher's stone:
Kenshin is getting ready for when he's got to go to Hogwarts. But how on earth is he going to get to London on time! Find out next episode: The Portkey
Ja ne for now! See you next time!
Chosha Kurenai xXx