Of Wine And Water By: P.P.V.V.

Disclaimer: The Standard Disclaim applies…


AN: Wow. Wow. WOW. What an overwhelming response. I am speechless and overly humbled by the amount of enthusiasm this story has received. I'm moved most by the thanks I've gotten writing it, and for that, I say to everyone: you're so very welcome! It's great to know that my efforts are being appreciated and the time spent writing isn't a complete waste. And I'd also like to say Thank You to those who have written me their thoughts through reviews and PMs, yet again. A million times, I thank you. I thank you till my face turns blue!

Two notes before we begin this time around (and lookie, it's a longer chapter than the last one!).

One: I had written this chapter in two perspectives and I settled on this version.

Two: I walked the fine line yet again when it comes to discipline. It's a controversial issue, but I don't like to stay within the confines of being "politically correct".

That said, I ask you to keep an open mind as you read this because whether you like it or not, parts of the world still use this method of discipline. This is my view.

Warning: Corporal Punishment ahead.


Chapter 22

- Picking Battles -

Hiko almost let go of whatever he was holding when he heard a sharp, shrill cry pierce the air. His senses told him that it was not Kenshin, but for some reason, he had a bad feeling about the sound.

Even Tanaka, the vendor, looked up. "What's going on?" he wondered, aloud.

Hiko didn't answer, making the exchange quickly and moving out, his white mantel billowing after him and his long strides.

It was the middle of the afternoon and the Town was more alive than usual. Because it was the season of Harvest, more people had come to make their trades and to peruse through the different merchandise for sale.

To the right of the vendor's stall, he saw a crowd of people huddled in a ring. They seemed to be watching a brawl, and children were screaming and chanting and running from all directions of the Town to see what was going on.

The swordsman took a quick glance around, trying to find his apprentice. His heart sank when he realized the boy was nowhere in sight. The bad feeling intensified and he somehow knew that he would find Kenshin in the middle of all the commotion.

Sure enough, his fears were confirmed when he pushed through the crowd to find his charge swinging his sheathed sword at another child. Takahashi Taro, if memory served him well - a neighbourhood bully though his parents were loath to admit it. Hiko's musings were cut short when the weapon connected and his keen hearing picked out the sound of bone cracking. It was immediately followed by a howl of pain.

As one, the crowd drew back with gasps.

"My arm!" the Takahashi boy shrieked. "You broke my arm!"

Before Kenshin could make another move, Hiko was between the two, gripping his apprentice's shoulder just in case the boy had it in his mind to attack again.

"What is going on here? Kenshin?"

Taro let out a string of swear words through his tears. "He broke my arm! He broke my arm!"

"I-I wasn't…I…" Kenshin stammered, under the heat of his Master's glare.

"He attacked me!" Taro shouted, pointing at Kenshin. "He went crazy!"

The ring of spectators moved forward again with some of the children's parents coming to collect their kids and pull them to a safe distance.

Someone rushed forward to help Taro off the ground.

"Is that true?" Hiko demanded of Kenshin. "Did you start the fight?"

The boy pursed his lips as though refusing to respond. But then he said, "Yes, sir. I did, sir."

Hiko felt his blood rush forward in anger. How he dearly wanted to bop his stupid pupil right then and there! Instead, he forced himself to breathe and was about to ask why when Taro's mother screeched, "Hiko-san! How dare you let your boy near mine! How dare you let him use that weapon of his!"

He'd almost forgotten that there was a crowd. With all eyes on him, he was more embarrassed than ever. He was so upset that he ground his teeth together. "It won't happen again, Takahashi-san. I'll make sure of it." And he would. The last thing he needed was a wayward apprentice who whipped his weapon out over every dispute. To Kenshin, he ordered, "Apologize."

Amethyst eyes snapping up to the mother of his adversary, Kenshin bit out, "No."

Both elders gawked at him for a moment before Hiko pushed his head forward and down. "What are you saying? Apologize this instant!"

"No! I won't apologize!" Kenshin told him, his voice sounding muffled because of his sudden, twisted position. He struggled against the hand on the back of his head. "He deserved it!"

Takahashi sniffed in disdain. "Didn't know you had a boy with such ill-manners," she said. All the other townsfolk began to talk amongst themselves and for the first time ever, Hiko was ashamed. "I will apologize on my stupid pupil's behalf then," he said, bowing low as if in compensation for Kenshin's defiance. "I will see to it that he is rightly punished and chastised."

Takahashi snarled, "You'd better. A child like that needs discipline! Discipline! This is what you get for living like animals in the mountain! You're animals! Both of you!"

The demeaning words were not what bothered the Master. It was the fact that indeed, his student had shown little regard to the rules he'd been given. Turning his full glare onto Kenshin, he said, "We are going home. Now."

The crowd parted as the mountain of a man dragged his apprentice away.

As they walked, Hiko scolded, "How dare you! How dare you behave in such a manner in public! Have you learned nothing?"

Kenshin did not respond, head bowed, clutching his sword to him in a death grip as he was pulled along. If Hiko was hurting him, he didn't complain.

It made the Master angrier. "You know the rules when it comes to your sword. I've told them to you a million times. Are you really a hot-headed idiot?"

Again, no response.

As they began their trek back home, Hiko did not let go. Several times, his student stumbled but the Master did not intend to let the boy out of his sight or out of his grasp.

He took the opportunity to let the child quiver in fear, saying no more on the subject, leading them onward with a stony silence that was more terrifying than had he taken his bamboo stick to him right then and there. With each step, Hiko tried to clear his mind, to push the anger down, to try and make sense of Kenshin's sudden rash behaviour.

It wasn't like his boy to fly into a fury. If anything, he was quiet, reserved and almost always polite. Something must have happened to set him off, especially enough to embolden him to start the fight and disregard Hiko's teachings all together.

Maybe that Takahashi boy had said something.

Hiko remembered Kenshin's flaring temper when it came to teasing.

Or it could be that his pride had gotten to his head to the point where he didn't think he needed to obey the rules. Boys would be boys – Hiko would confess to having done that when he'd been younger.

The thinking allowed the man to calm down slightly. If anything, Kenshin's obstinate attitude alone warranted punishment. He could not overlook that.

They reached the cabin all too soon, for Hiko was not completely convinced that Kenshin's episode today was due to an argument. If it was, the boy would have said something by now. He was leaning more toward the thought that Kenshin really had been wielding his power over someone else in arrogance. If that were the case, it had to be stopped and it had to be stopped now.

"People who have power tend to use it incorrectly and often. Just because you have it doesn't mean you're correct," Hiko said, stopping just within the doorway.

Kenshin paused behind him and lifted his trembling chin. "I wasn't wrong. I wasn't."

Ah, so it had been an argument.

Time for a switch in tactics.

"Tell me why you decided to assault Takahashi's boy today." Here, Kenshin's defiant glare slid away. Was it in shame? Or was it in guilt? When there was no answer, Hiko prompted, "Well, boy?"

"I…I can't tell you, sir."

Hiko had to fight to control his temper. "Your behaviour in the Town today was unacceptable," he said, sternly, noting the fact that Kenshin did not whine about any sort of verbal bullying. Usually, the child would grumble about being made fun of but today was different.

Kenshin met his eyes again, his defiant air back. "I don't care," he declared, "He deserved it."

"You will apologize to his family tomorrow," Hiko told him.

"No!" Kenshin cried.

"You will, you impudent pupil!" The Master's voice thundered in the small cabin, making the few birds perched on the roof of it take flight in fear. Terrified, Kenshin almost backpedaled out the door.

Almost.

"I won't!" he shouted back, small body trembling. "You can't make me!"

Hiko Seijuro was a man who was not so easily stunned. But the words uttered from the whelp's mouth bewildered him to no end. Where had the whimpering boy he'd first picked up, gone to? When had he acquired such boldness?

Something was wrong.

Breathing in and out, it was all Hiko could do not to reach out and cuff the boy right then and there. He wanted the boy to understand his punishment. In this, he was both Mentor and Master and he knew he was walking a fine line. "That is the second time today that you defied me. I told you before that you will mind your manners when it comes to your elders, Kenshin.

"You not only embarrassed yourself down there, but me. On top of everything, you openly disrespected me. It seems you've learned nothing. If that is the case, then I have no need of someone who will bring me such dishonour."

Kenshin's wide eyes filled with tears. "Please, Master…I'm sorry for arguing with you and for being rude. But…"

"You know the consequences of your actions and decisions if you wish to continue learning from me," Hiko told him, measuring the child's reaction carefully. "Even if you were right in attacking Takahashi's boy for whatever reason, you were wrong for your insolence. That is why you are going to be punished above all else." As he spoke, he reached for a long stick that he'd once used as a training tool in the boy's lessons. It was made of soft but sturdy bamboo, several feet long. Kenshin had already been punished with it twice in the past, and from the way the color drained from the boy's cheeks, he knew it was unpleasant, not to mention humiliating.

He waited for his student to say something in his defense; maybe plead or choose to apologize to those he had insulted. Instead, the boy ducked his head, meekly murmuring, "Yes, Master. I understand."

So Hiko turned Kenshin around to face the wall. He could hear the boy's breath catching in his throat. He braced himself for the pain, but was not able to stop his tears or cries as he was whipped across his backside. His small hands dug into the wood of the cabin for support. When it ended, Kenshin's legs were shaking so badly that he could not stand properly. He collapsed to his knees, covering his face, trying to wipe the tears away, only to have more take their place.

The Master was fairly certain the boy would have trouble sitting down for the next day or so.

So ashamed was he that he could not look Hiko in the eye. He bent forward so that his forehead nearly touched the floor.

Good.

Maybe he'd learned his lesson.

"You are of age now – almost a man," the Master scolded, thumping the butt of the stick on the ground. "Punishments like these should no longer be necessary. I'm very disappointed in you."

Kenshin hiccupped in embarrassment, his face turning as red as his hair.

But his Master wasn't done yet. "I gave you that sword with the expectation that you would wield it properly. Today, you have just proven to me that you don't respect it enough to deserve it. Perhaps I should take it away?"

His student finally succumbed to pleading, "No, Master! Please, don't!"

Hiko tried one more time. "You still won't tell me why you attacked him?"

"…No, sir. I won't."

"Stubborn fool. I hope your defiance was worth the pain you received."

"Yes, sir. It was. And I won't be rude in public ever again, I promise. But I won't apologize to the likes of Taro even if I am punished for the rest of my life. You can hit me all you want, but I won't! He deserved what he got for whatever he said."

The Master sighed, as he settled on another conclusion as to his pupil's strange behavior. "You're an idiot, Kenshin. While I admire your resolution, remember this: emotions are the folly of human kind. It's what makes a swordsman of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu so able to read their enemies. Make sure you don't fall into that trap. Don't you ever let me catch you striking someone in public ever again."

Kenshin watched from the corner of his eye as the man put the bamboo pole in its rightful place. He seemed to relax just a little bit when it was put away. "Yes, Master."

"And Kenshin?"

"Y-yes, Master?"

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me," Hiko said, knowingly.

The boy glanced up, surprise written all over his features at the way his Master had gotten to the right conclusion despite his closed mouth.

Ugh.

What a naïve child.

Hiko would have to teach the boy not to wear his emotions on his sleeve so flagrantly.

A sheepish smile made its way onto Kenshin's mouth, and he blinked back tears. "Yes, Master."


Word Count: 2,185

Moving Forward…


AN: I argued for a long time with several of my friends concerning this chapter. So much so, actually, that I was a little apprehensive to post it, seeing as how (as mentioned above) it's a very controversial topic. Personally, I don't think Hiko was out of line doing what he did. Nor do I think I've pulled him out of character any more than I have in previous chapters.

For those of you who were a little confused as to Kenshin's actions, he attacked the other boy because Taro said insulting things about Hiko. Naturally, the Apprentice thought it was in his right to "protect" the Master's image/reputation.

Again, boys will be boys. I'm sure Kenshin got into his brawls with the neighborhood bullies. I'm also sure that he didn't back down because I don't see him as the type. For someone as small as he is, he carries himself with confidence as Watsuki showed us again and again in the series/manga.

It's just another way of showing how much he's grown from his traumatic past.

Your thoughts on this chapter would be great. Please be gentle. And as always, be my inspiration!

Thanks for reading,

-P.P.V.V.

Edited: August 25, 2016