Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Mountain Stories... ❯ Up The Hill And Down The Mountain... ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

"Wake up , baka deshi!" Hiko rumbled, whacking the bedroll soundly with his sheathed sword.

Indigo eyes fluttered open, and stared at the wooden sheath, halted mere inches form his face. "...h... hai, shishou!"

~+~

"And now, stupid apprentice, we are going to go for a walk !!" Hiko declared, navigating his bulk out of the too-small door. He continued, pausing only to toss his hair dramatically, and point at the sky, "It may seem far too difficult to an apprentice as stupid as you, but today, I shall teach you a very important lesson!! And perhaps, some day, you will be as amazingly disciplined, and astoundingly powerful as me, do you understand?!"

"...Hai, shishou!" Kenshin cried, running to keep up with his quick strides.

~+~

"What are we going to learn today, shishou?!"

"Today, I will teach you the most precious of all secrets of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style!!!"

Kenshin's face fell. Hiko said *that* every day.

"And what is the most precious secret, Master?"

"Hurry with me to the top of the waterfall, idiot, and I shall teach you." With that, Hiko began to run.

Smiling slightly, Kenshin followed, up the hill.

~+~

Once they reached the top, Hiko lay in the grass, staring up at the clouds. A more stupid apprentice might have thought he was catching his breath. However, Kenshin knew far better than to accuse his shishou of *that*.

Instead, he dropped down to his knees, barely winded, to wait.

Hiko opened one eye, and somehow managed to glare at him. "Now, idiot apprentice, tell me, what we have just done?"

"Run up the hill, shishou?"

"And?"

"Ah..."

"Stupid apprentice!!!" Hiko roared, leaping up. "Come, idiot, and I will teach you the most precious of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu secrets!!!"

"...But... Shishou... That's what you always say..."

"I... Ah... Er... ... Silence !!! Now! I will teach you..." Hiko leapt up dramatically into the air, and swung his katana around several times for effect, voice booming,...

"Hiten Mitsurugi Style.... Yaku Ni Tatsu No Jiko !!! "

"..." Kenshin stressdropped. "...'the usefulness of self'?"

" Yaku Ni Tatsu No Jiko !!! " Hiko insisted, repeating the entire performance.

"...hai, shishou." Kenshin mumbled.

"Come here."

Kenshin complied, coming to stand next to Hiko on the edge of the cliff.

Below them, the waterfall poured out of the cliff face, tumbling some 100 feet down, to the quiet river. Further down, Kenshin could see Hiko's small wooden house, as well as the stone kiln.

"Look around you," Hiko said quietly, his deep voice ringing clearly over the mountain, in the crisp spring air, "Do you see the completion? The pattern? The beauty?" Kenshin was surprised to see he looked serious for a change, "Only a few times in his lifetime can a man step back, and truly see his world unfold before him. The beauty is all too often overlooked. Man misses the peace, as he tumbles through life, as if he were nothing but a trout in a stream. You must learn to see the river, not just the water. See the mountain... Not just the path."

Kenshin breathed in a quiet sound of child-like awe. "Hai, shishou. ...Is this the Usefulness of Self...?"

"No." Hiko said, smirking.

That was all the warning Kenshin got, before Hiko lifted him up by his collar.

"This is."

And he calmly threw him off of the cliff.

~+~

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!" Kenshin screamed, as he fell towards the river, far --- too far!! --- below...

"Stop your screaming, fool!!!" He heard Hiko bellow, "Use your training!! See the river, not the water!! Swim, boy, swim!!!"

Kenshin considered his words, determination dawning on his face. See the river, not the water... My training... Swim... Swim... --- Wait a second! ... I do not know *how* to swim!!
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

~+~

* S P L A S H *

~+~

Hiko winced. "Stupid, stupid apprentice..."

Calmly, he jumped from the cliff.

~+~

Kenshin spluttered as Hiko fished him out of the river, holding him once more by the collar of his yukata.

"Idiot. Moron. Fool. Baka Baka Baka Baka Baka Deshi," Hiko snipped, hitting him on the back, while he choked up enough water to drown Hiko's thrice-damned trout.

"...g... go... gomen na.. sai... shishou..."

"Now, do you see?" Hiko asked, more gently. "You say we 'ran up the hill' . But how did you come back down?"

"I fell down the mountain." Kenshin muttered, embarrassed.

Hiko smirked, letting Kenshin know he'd said the right thing. "So, when you understood it, it was easy, but when you were in unfamiliar territory, it became nearly impossible?"

"Hai, shishou." Kenshin muttered, face still a brighter red than his hair.

"Hai. And that , my astoundingly stupid apprentice, is the Usefulness of Self. It is realizing when you are out of your league. It is admitting when you do not understand. ... ...Not that that ever applies to me, of course, because I understand everything, and am never out of my depth."

"...hai, shishou."

Hiko grinned, and suddenly wrapped an arm around Kenshin's waist. Then, he picked up the long white cloak, from where it had folded itself into a neat pile on the bank, during his leap to save Kenshin from drowning. He carried him stuffed under one arm, and turned, following the path of what Kenshin now knew to be a mountain.

"Shishou, where are we going?!" Kenshin wailed.

"Back to the top, of course. I still mean to teach you to swim today."

"Ara..." Kenshin moaned.

Hiko clipped him swiftly on the side of the head. "You're a boy, baka deshi. Start talking like one."

"Oro......"

"Heh. That's more like it."

Owari

Just a short, silly ideal I had one night, after discussing this scenario with my boyfriend ^-^;