A/N – Drabble. Companion fic to Sueb262's "Watcher". Battousai remembers a more innocent time, when stalking was only a game... Some trademark Hiko sentimentality.
Disclaimer – I don't own Ruroken. I'm just borrowing the characters and situations.
Perception
Battousai lay in wait, crouching in shadow, watching, listening – there. Soft footsteps, harsh breathing, rapid heartbeats: Matsumoto Shinichiro, a Kyoto merchant with government contracts. He had a wife, and two sons –
Did it matter? He was prey.
Hands caressing his swords, he sank back into shadowed stillness, invisibility – no presence, no ki, only perfect emptiness.
Just another hunt.
A supreme predator, his perceptions were tuned to fever pitch; his prey, innocent and untested, stood no chance. He had learned his craft trailing after another unparalleled predator –
Not like this, though.
It was never meant to be like this.
Oh, shishou…
Dawn broke on a cold, spring morning, and Kenshin, looking about cautiously, slunk quietly into the forest. Through the morning mist, moving quietly, discreetly, he flitted from shadow to shadow, keeping his shishou's white, magnificently cloaked form in sight.
Every morning as Kenshin, overworked, built character through drudgery, Shishou practiced his kata in the forest. Every morning, Kenshin, delinquent, followed him, hoping to see the full power of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu; sometimes, if he was stealthy enough, he succeeded.
Creeping to the outskirts of the clearing, he crouched behind a bush, waiting for the deadly, awe-inspiring spectacle to begin.
'Baka deshi', Hiko Seijuuro thought, exasperated, 'you cannot hide your hair behind that bush…'
However, today Kenshin had been almost adequate; only a momentary flash of red had given him away to Hiko's eagle eye. Of course, it was all due to his superior teachings…
He waited, fiddling with his sword until the furtive rustling and shifting ceased, before striding out into the middle of the clearing. The birds and insects – undisturbed; the boy was silent, even if he couldn't stay still – sang on, unaware of what would soon be unleashed.
Watch, baka deshi. Learn.
Understand.
Hiko discarded his cloak.