Of Wine and Water by: P.P.V.V.
Disclaimer: The Standard Disclaim applies...
AN: Here's the next chapter. Fast-forward a little in my already-too-vague timeline.
Enjoy.
Chapter 20
- Minor Setbacks –
They measured his arms.
They measured his height.
They measured his wrists and hands.
They even measured his waist.
"Too skinny," the old lady, Suzuki, clucked in disapproval, and Kenshin blushed when her hired hand, a girl about his age, giggled. He was suddenly very self-conscious about the three teeth that he was missing in the bottom row of his mouth. "Does your Master not feed you?"
Hiko harrumphed behind him, the sound a cross between a snort and a laugh. "Please. Do you know how much this kid eats? I don't know where he puts it all, I tell you. You'd think that with all the sustenance, he would actually grow."
Again, the hired hand giggled and Kenshin shifted uncomfortably in his spot, glaring for all he was worth at his mentor. With the continuous (not to mention strenuous) work outs, it was no wonder he didn't put on pounds. It wasn't his fault he was always hungry!
"Oh, but he has grown," Suzuki tutted. "And don't you let him tell you otherwise, Kenshin. We'll have to let the hems to your clothing down, now."
At the news, the redhead lifted his chin a bit defiantly and it caused the Master to let out another unmannerly sound along with an eye-roll.
She tugged his shirt back over his wiry frame, and ruffled his hair in a motherly fashion. "All right. All finished. Off you go outside, now. And a word, if I may, Hiko-san."
Curiously, Kenshin shot a glance at his mentor before hopping down off the small stool he'd been asked to climb for the arrangements.
"Hiromi-chan, make yourself useful and stop gaping, please," Suzuki ordered her hired hand, who was standing by and gazing at Kenshin with an odd spark of curiosity. Her face reddened and she ducked her chin toward her chest. She hurriedly grabbed the stool and sidled her way out, casting one more look at Kenshin before exiting the room.
Hiko made a shooing motion with his hand. "And you too, Apprentice. Wait outside for me and for heavens' sake, stay out of trouble."
Kenshin managed to find his voice at last and murmured a diligent, "Yes, Master," before retreating to the outdoors where there were no women around to tease him. For the fortieth time, his tongue ran over his bottom teeth, poking into the holes where the teeth had rested and mentally sighed. It would take weeks for the new ones to grow in so he resigned himself to keeping his mouth closed lest he be made fun of by the other children.
Outside, the heat was unbearable, but at least it was not as stuffy as it had been inside Suzuki's shop. She was one of the local dressmakers and the one Kenshin favored most for her kind touch and sweet snacks. She never failed to tell him how handsome he'd become nor did she fail to snap wise remarks about his Master, which pleased the boy to no end. Hiko took everything into stride, though, and their banter was comfortable, almost expected.
He tugged at his shirt uncomfortably, wishing his Master would hurry – he really wanted a drink. Maybe even something to eat. He was starving.
Kenshin tried to ignore his stomach's constant gurgling, and caught sight of other children that came up the road, playing and shouting and shoving. They drew near, their noise level lowering slightly as they considered him. One of them asked him if he wanted to play, too. Shyly, he turned them down – when the Master said to wait, Kenshin was not to wander away under any circumstance. Having already tried that tactic before and getting whipped good for it, he did not want to try his luck again. And so they left him behind, standing in the heat, to watch after them.
A few ladies passed him by as well, but he paid them no mind. He was not up to making polite small talk so he took to staring at the ground, kicking a small pebble around between his feet.
He was not prepared for a set of hands to grab his chin, yanking his head first to the left and then to the right. The pebble skipped a few paces away, rolling to a stop, forgotten. "Would you take a look at that?" A man with a thick, scruffy beard and dark, flat eyes was leaning over him. "It's a little boy!"
Fear found Kenshin tongue-tied and wide-eyed. A part of his mind was alerting him that he should say something; do something to defend himself, but he stood frozen as if he were tethered to the ground and had no way of escape.
"Could'a fooled me!" In his shock, Kenshin had failed to see the accompanying stranger. From the whips that hung at their sides, he knew exactly what they were.
Slave Traders.
He suddenly couldn't breathe properly.
"But what a pretty boy he makes," the first man sounded like he'd struck gold. He looked around before asking, "Where are your parents, kid?"
Terrified, Kenshin could only stare, mouth dry as dust and head light as a feather. He wanted to cry out, to get away, but he was as pinned as he'd ever been under Ushio's oily body...
He knew their types very well. If he didn't answer soon, they'd pick him up and haul him away. Children went missing every day because of kidnappings like that and their parents never knew what happened to them.
If he could just move. If he could just speak…
But he was frozen into place, traumatized with fear.
"Is there something you want from the boy?"
Hiko's voice seemed to crack the very air, however calm it sounded. When it rang out, it must be confessed that Kenshin's knees went weak with relief.
"Just looking for potential...workers," the first man said, cautiously, his eyes taking in the sword at Hiko's waist.
"Is that so?"
"Couldn't help but notice him. His hair's very unique. He'd fetch a pretty penny in the markets."
Hiko peered at Kenshin for a moment before turning to the men. "I suppose he would." As he spoke, he bent to put down his precious bottle of Sake. His long hair hid his expression.
The two men exchanged glances. "How about it, then? Are you interested in selling him?"
Sounding genuinely surprised, Hiko repeated, "Sell him?"
Now the strangers looked perplexed. "Oh, sorry. Is this your kid, then? We thought…"
"Heavens, no. Any child of mine would not be so scrawny. I picked him off the streets."
The two Slave Traders grinned. "I didn't think so." The latter was bold enough to offer, "If you'd like, we can take him off your hands."
Eyes as wide as saucers, Kenshin glanced at his Master.
Hiko was in no way obligated to keep him. In fact, he could get rid of him at any time – and now would be the most opportune moment. He was probably thinking of all his shortcomings and failures and weighing the possibility that maybe Kenshin was not exactly the material he'd been looking for in an apprentice. The boy wanted to scream, to cry, to beg him not to send him away, but he was only able to stare pathetically as his fate was decided.
Again.
"The boy is mine," Hiko said at last, sounding both irritated and insulted. "He is not for sale."
Again, both Traders exchanged glances and the first one raised his hands in front of him as though to show he meant no harm. "All right, we got it. The boy's yours." He shot Kenshin a leering grin. "Have fun with him while you can."
Hiko's brow visibly twitched and Kenshin felt a blush sweep through him all the way to the tips of his toes.
These men thought he was Hiko's...!
"I suggest, gentlemen, that you take your leave of this Town at once." Hiko's voice had gained an edge and his right hand settled casually onto his sword. "I'm afraid merchandise in these parts are not available. Do we understand each other?" They paled at the unspoken threat and at the look in Hiko's eyes.
They fled as though hell's demons were at their heels.
The Master watched after them, muttering beneath his breath.
If Kenshin wasn't as petrified as he was, he would have burst out laughing.
Instead, he collapsed to his knees, too shaken to remain standing. He gasped breaths, his shock getting the better of him. Then, he was crying, panting, sniffling and wheezing, working himself into a bundle of nerves and tears.
"Kenshin."
The voice seemed to echo around him.
"Kenshin, calm down."
He tried. He tried ordering his body into obedience but it continued to shake like a leaf. Sounds spilled from his mouth, forming incoherent words.
A few townspeople stopped in their tracks and craned their heads to the scene, no doubt wondering what had happened. At a look from Hiko, however, they moved along.
"They're gone. All right? They're gone." The Master bent down so that he could offer a hand to his student. There was a trace of panic under his calm tone; of anger and helplessness. Had Kenshin been able to read the Master's mind, he would have known Hiko was thinking No, no, dear gods, no...not when he's come this far. Don't let him slide back into that dark shell again! Instead, he heard Hiko say, "Come now, stop crying and get up. "
Gripping his hand tightly in desperation, Kenshin choked, "They...I...they wanted...I couldn't...you could have sold - "
"-No, I could not have and so I did not," Hiko interrupted before he could even finish the thought. He straightened to his full height, bringing Kenshin fully to his feet and huffed, "You think it's easy finding an apprentice? Stop crying, Kenshin. Come on now, you'll be all right."
Embarrassed, Kenshin clung to his Master's hand to steady himself, hating the way his knees seemed to knock together.
Hiko turned a blind eye to that, allowing his apprentice to gather his composure. He shuddered to think about what would have happened had he come too late. "You sure have a way of getting yourself into trouble," he grumbled, sweeping his cloak to the side. If he could feel the way Kenshin's hands were still trembling, he did not point it out. Instead, he rummaged for a handkerchief to give to the boy. "A man's sword should not be touched by anyone else without their permission. As you are the embodiment of the Heart of Sword, no one should be able to touch you without yours. Do you understand?"
Kenshin accepted the cloth and mopped his face with it. He could not help replaying that horrific scene in his head and kicked himself mentally for his weaknesses. How could he have frozen like that? It was as though all his training was forgotten in a blinding flash. "I'm…so pathetic…so disappointed that I was so afraid…" he sniffed, bitterly. "Why couldn't I do anything?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin when Hiko copied the Slave Traders' actions by gripping his chin in his fingers and forcing him to look at him. "These things take time," Hiko told him, in his gruff-yet-gentle manner. "No one can fault you for your reaction."
Eyes filling with more tears, Kenshin whispered, "Will it ever get better?"
"It will," said Hiko, firmly.
"How do you know?"
For a moment, Hiko seemed to hesitate, a flicker of doubt passing over his handsome features. As quickly as it came though, it was gone and his mouth turned upward slightly in reassurance. He waited for Kenshin's full attention to be placed on him before answering. "Because it got better for me."
Mouth falling open in astonishment, Kenshin began to ask him what he meant, but Hiko quickly tugged him forward, flourishing his cloak in a way that told him he would not elaborate any further.
"Hurry up, now, Kenshin, or else we'll be late for your sword fitting and I'm sure you wouldn't want that."
Wait...
What?
"...Sword? Master, I'm getting my own sword?" Kenshin's excited shriek rang through the streets, his earlier mood evaporating in the light of the news. Hiko breathed a sigh of relief for once at how easy it was to distract him. He decided to take full advantage of that, loving the way his boy's peculiar eyes lit up with a new kindled flame.
He tried to sound nonchalant. "Yes, yes. Some measurements were taken earlier, remember? But first, something to eat – the entire village can hear your stomach growling."
Choosing to rise to the bait rather than dwell on his earlier curiosity, Kenshin cried, "They can not!"
Hiko led the way, his apprentice having to skip to catch up. "Can so."
"Can not!"
"Can so!"
"Can not!"
Kenshin's ringing laughter turned heads again but this time, Hiko didn't seem to mind.
It was a setback. A very minor one. But it hadn't lasted long.
It never would.
Word Count: 2,173
Moving forward...
AN: Before anyone asks, no, I'm not going to elaborate on what Hiko brought up. I may expand on it in another work all together, but not in Of Wine and Water. For now, I'll let your imaginations fill in the blanks.
Secondly, don't chew me out for taking major liberties here with Hiko's (loosely) mentioned past. Again, I'm not going to delve any more into that (in this story, anyway). The swordsmaster is a large mystery to the majority of us. Because it is fanfiction I'm really wading into the unknown with the hopes that I'm not butchering Watsuki's creation.
If any of you are wondering why Hiko didn't just do away with the Slave Traders, then it's because I believe he doesn't go around lopping people's heads off whenever he gets mad or doesn't agree with something. To me, he is a person who respects life and doesn't wield his sword over every offense. It would be a bad example to his student. A clear warning is usually all that is needed from a firm Master to make anyone obey.
Lastly, I made Hiko kill two birds with one stone (so to speak) in getting Kenshin's measurements from the seamstress and having them ready for the sword maker. Sadly, my martial art does not include sword training, so I have to thank Warlord Darnell here for giving me some pointers when it came to sword-fitting. Again, I was purposely vague because I am in no way an expert in it. Here's to hoping that sometime in the future I can also pick up that martial art, too!
Another long rant. Sorry. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. A lot went on in it and I'd love feedback.
Thanks for reading,
-P.P.V.V.
Edited: August 25, 2016
