WARNING: Rated R, for just about everything! See the first warning. Again, this is another chapter that the warning is for, so if you haven't read it yet, go read it baka! Also, due to the concerns by one Emz, I shall warn people with these pre-existing conditions not to read this fic: Pregnant ladies, old people with a history of heart disease, closed- mindedness, children that are not tall enough to reach the line (everyone blinks: what line?) and people with other severe pre-existing fanfiction conditions. (I know, I waste too much of my time in line for rides at theme parks.)
Author's note: Okay, this is another one of those chapters that I'm terribly nervous about (you'd think I'd have some self-confidence by now after all your support, jeez) so please don't flame! Constructive criticism is always welcome, flames are not. I've already explained myself in regards to all of this before in previous chapters, so I won't waste your time here by repeating myself. I'll waste it on a big long lengthy Response to Reviewers instead. (This is the point at which I invite non- interested people to skip ahead to the pretty line).
Response to Reviewers!:
Clarus: Awwww..... thank you so much for sending me an E-Mail when you couldn't review using FF.net! I'm happy is you liked my fics (well, gosh really, who wouldn't be happy is someone liked their fics. Not too many people write fics out there for people to hate on purpose) I hope to be writing lots more too, though eventually I'm going to have to break the Hiko/Kenshin genre mold I've worked myself into with only two Kenshin fics.... still, thanks a bil for your review, and I hope you keep reading!
Chiruken: Omg! You guessed it! Hiko is faking it!... Nah, just kidding. Must be the darn cold. (Laughs). Interesting idea, though. I thought turnabout was fair play with the Hiko and Kenshin reversing roles here, and maybe could be some incentive for leaving later..? I don't know. I just wanted to put it in, and far be it from my willpower to not put in something I wanted to. Thanks very much for you review!
Emz: Hmm, heart-attack stuff does attract reviewers, but I don't want to KILL them (they are, after all, my reviewers. Where would a fic be without them?) and when I say it like that it kinda does sound like I'm singing my own praises, something which I like to avoid here and there. Thanks for the review. Emz strikes again!
MsJadey: Yes, I was sitting there staring athe ceiling one day and I thought 'How can I make Hiko act incredibly out of character and get away with it?' Alas, this fic was born. Heh heh heh.. you're right, I'd never thought of it that way, as a fanfic writer you can do almost anything so long as you can justify it. Kind of like a university thesis, I guess. Well of course Kenshin's closed mouth and matrydom has been a theme! This fic would have been two chapter long if it hadn't been! Thanks very much for not speculating on the coming chapters, though if any one of you really did guess the ending (look at Chiruken's review!) I would never let on anyway. I am impressed by some of your abilities to predict things, though, that shows a talented reader in itself. (Which makes watching movies no fun because you can always see the ending a mile away.) Anyhow, thanks for you review, it's always a thrill to hear from you.
Well, that's everyone. Thanks for the reviews, people. Be sure to read the warning before you read this chapter - I don't want to be upsetting people at this stage of the game.
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Routine
Chapter 8 - Reminescent Day
By Sinnatious
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When Hiko awoke the next morning, he found himself confronted by a rare and somewhat unbeatable foe: a throbbing headache.
Barely suppressing a groan as he rolled over, Hiko blinked the sleep away from his eyelids. Startled by the brightness, he sat up quicker than was probably healthy and swayed for a moment until his vision straightened itself out. Was this a hangover? He NEVER got hangovers. It felt more like a couple of dozen bumps on the head.
"This must be how that baka deshi feels after training every day," Hiko muttered to himself, noting with displeasure that the sun had already well and truly risen and was making fast tracks across the sky. This was unheard of! Hiko Seijuuro the 13th, sleeping in this late? His pupil's laziness must have been contagious.
Grumbling at himself, he swung his white mantle over his shoulders and slid his katana into its rightful place at his side. Forcing the dull ache in his head to the back of his consciousness until it went away, he made his way to wake up his delinquent student. As late as it was and the baka still hadn't woken up before him. Feeling a brief throb in his skull, he admitted to himself that perhaps they'd have to forgo any serious sword training that day; even if Kenshin wasn't quite up to par when he was training it didn't matter as much as it would if Hiko had a headache. If he couldn't concentrate properly, either one of them could wind up getting seriously wounded, which would be a far greater nuisance than just giving training a miss for day. Besides, he'd been putting off getting supplies and it couldn't hurt to get some more sake from the village, and this would be a good opportunity. Kenshin could do some ki training exercises while he was gone.
Decision made, he went to wake Kenshin up again. "Baka Deshi! It's already late, you've slept long enough!"
He noted with relief that the red-head awoke quickly; he headed into the kitchen to prepare something to eat with the remains of their supplies. He made a mental note not to forget rice and vegetables when he went out as well.
"Good morning," Kenshin mumbled sleepily as he wandered into the kitchen, still tying his hair up into the customary topknot.
"Don't bother," Hiko said, seeing this, not bothering to reply. "We're giving training a miss today. You can do some meditation while I go into town to get some rice and sake."
Hiko frowned to himself when he noticed the suddenly sour look flit across his pupil's face, replaced an instant later with the usual tired smile. What was THAT for? Maybe when he returned he'd have to do some meditation of his own. His pupil's unpredictable attitude was beginning to seem more like a serious problem than an annoyance. He couldn't begin to fathom what it meant. Not to mention there was still that unresolved matter of his recent apparent forgetfulness....
Breakfast ended, and the swordmaster left Kenshin by the river with few instructions other than to meditate. Kenshin was grateful - he would have taken another nap if he thought he could wake up in time, but it wasn't worth the risk, and besides, meditation could be just as restful.
Settling himself on a rock, the young swordsman took several deep breaths, focusing his thoughts on everything around him. He closed his eyes for a while and went through the usual process of meditation. After a while, though, he was forced to shift, a brief spasm of pain breaking his concentration. Another good thing about doing ki exercises instead of regular training: his muscles were still sore from carrying Hiko back up the mountain the evening before.
After being interrupted a second time in the same manner, Kenshin gave up - he'd done all the exercises Hiko had instructed him to do, and unlike sword training he doubted even someone as apparently omnipresent as Hiko Seijuuro could tell the difference of how much meditation he'd partaken in. Instead, he just took the rare moment of peace to enjoy the sound of running water and the quiet twitter of birds perched nearby in a tree. If Hiko was getting more than just sake, he'd probably take his time.
Kenshin sat there, lost once again in his own thoughts as he found himself increasingly doing lately. Still unknowing of his Master's recent suspicions, he found his Shishou was now beginning to become a mystery to him. Of course, to the young apprentice Hiko Seijuuro had always been something of an enigma, but he'd never really questioned it before. If it was a love/hate relationship, he had somehow reached both extremes. One night in his drunken state his esteemed Shishou would work himself into an irrational anger and beat him until he was black and blue all over, then the next he would make love to him in an intimacy that the young boy had never yet experienced. Perhaps the latter he would even enjoy, if he knew it was truly his Shishou in his right mind....
His calm demeanour betraying none of his thoughts as he blankly stared at the water running over the rocks in the stream, Kenshin recalled the first time his Master had suddenly decided to... well, it wasn't quite seduce the young boy, but it wasn't quite rape either. Sure enough, the first time it happened, he'd been against it all the way, but after it had caused him such pleasure, such emotion..... did his own body betray him, or was it telling him something normal social inhibitions stopped him from recognising himself?
Closing his eyes, Kenshin found himself not unwillingly recalling the first time it had occurred.
<<< Kenshin had gone to bed after being ordered there once again by his Shishou before the older man got too drunk. Even though Hiko had already once dragged him from his bed two nights ago in anger and hit him, for reasons still unknown, he had not yet been wise to the excessive repetition of his master's now-unsavoury habit.
The young teenage red-head wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been asleep, dozing, before he was awoken by a tickling by his ear. Sensing a nearby ki, he had been startled awake, leaping away and reaching for his katana before he recognised it. Still breathing hard and trying to calm down from the adrenaline rush that naturally follows when one is awoken in such a manner, Kenshin appraised his Shishou, crouching in front of him without his large white mantle, an odd expression on his face that Kenshin had never seen the swordmaster wear before.
"Kenshin," Hiko had whispered. The young swordsman had almost started in surprise, hearing his master use his name instead of usual derogatory 'baka deshi'.
"What is it, Shishou?" he had stuttered nervously, wondering frantically if he had done something wrong and was going to be punished by sleeping outside or worse. Yet, he somehow knew it was neither when his master leaned in closer, uncomfortably close for the usually so-distant man, and he smelt the distinct odour of sake on his breath.
"You're getting to be a man now Kenshin," he had breathed, moving in closer still, an odd expression on his face. The young red-head pressed himself further against the wall, disturbed by the expression on his master's face, but child-like trust still not shattered despite his beating only two nights ago.
"Shi-Shishou?" he stuttered, clueless as to what would be an appropriate reaction in this situation.
Hiko removed his blanket, and almost gently grabbed the startled teen's arm, half-pulling him out of his futon. "There's something I want to show you."
Obedient, if confused, Kenshin stumbled after his master, who to his surprise led him to his own sleeping area. He was amazed to even be brought here; usually Hiko made it rather clear that this area was sacred and was not to be entered unless it was an absolute emergency.
Then, what occurred after that, Kenshin had never in his wildest and most obscure dreams ever even imagined.
Hiko had grabbed him by the shoulders, and kissed him.
It lasted at least a minute, the young apprentice too shocked to move or even blink, pupils dwindling to obscurity at this completely un-Hiko act. To imagine Hiko kissing ANYONE, much less his baka deshi, his MALE baka deshi at that....
Brain suddenly functioning again, albeit somewhat slowly, Kenshin gasped out, "Shishou!" upon their breaking apart. "What are you thinking?"
Hiko had grinned, at last Kenshin able to label the expression as seductive, though his experience in this area was even more paltry than Hiko's in child-rearing. "Hiten Mitsuryugi Ryu is a passionate technique, my Kenshin. I am going to show you the greatest time of your life."
"Shishou, what- mmmph!" Kenshin was cut off as his master leaned in and kissed him again. This time, he struggled, knowing unconsciously that this was wrong.... but still felt so right. The taste of sake was sweet on his master's lips, making Kenshin so dizzy he almost didn't notice that he was half-toppling, half being pushed back, onto Hiko's futon, until he was in quite the compromising position.
Kenshin protested mightily, writhing about in an effort to get free of the larger, stronger man, but Hiko had seemingly been swept away, raging hormones driving him to ignore his pupil's pleas as he slid the boy's sleeping hakama off his shoulders. Perhaps that, more than anything else, was what frightened Kenshin so. Such lack of self-control stood completely against everything that was Hiko Seijuuro.
He had struggled fervently then. Suddenly, though, Hiko's face had twisted to an expression of anger that the young student had only seen once before. For the second time in his life, he'd hit Kenshin. Kenshin took the blows until he was forced to comply. Once he ceased struggling, though the tears still fell from his eyes and he begged his master to stop, to come to his senses, Hiko wasn't so rough. Yet how could he know the difference? It was all wrong to him. Everything was just wrong. It had to be a nightmare.
It had to have been at least an hour later, face wet with tears, that he had at last been freed from his master's warm embrace as the older man fell asleep. His mind was now in conflict as he stumbled back to his own futon, grabbing at his clothes along the way. Lingering pain mingled with irrational satisfaction; even Kenshin couldn't deny, in his half-crazed state of mind, that Hiko was good at just about everything he did. Perhaps, under a different circumstance, he would have felt differently about the encounter, but his entire universe had been thrown upside down in the past evening, everything he thought he understood about himself and his master ground to dust.
Crawling back into his imaginary sacturary, Kenshin had curled up into a ball in the centre of his futon, mental state too confused to fall asleep but in the end, sheer exhaustion prevailing.
The next day, Hiko had acted as always, though did seem to be in a slightly better mood than usual. When Kenshin attempted to ask about it, Hiko had seemed confused at what exactly his baka deshi was referring to. With his Shishou none the wiser as to his actions, Kenshin proceeded that day as with any other. The night before Hiko had proclaimed his love for him, the next day he called him an idiot and forced him to train until exhaustion.>>>
Kenshin snapped out of the memory, almost finding himself smiling ruefully. His Shishou was certainly underhanded in such matters.... he wondered how often Hiko had tricked some other unsuspecting woman or young boy in a similar manner. He had never thought his master to be that way inclined; in fact, he was fairly certain his master had verbally said so once or twice, but did his master's drunken actions betray his true nature in the same way Kenshin's body did to himself?
How long could he let it continue, though? Even as practiced as he had become at lying, Hiko would not remain accepting forever. But the thought of actually confronting his Shishou, when the man apparently had no clue about what he had done and was doing, struck absolute fear into his heart. He couldn't begin to imagine how the swordmaster might react initially, but he knew one thing was certain; everything would change.
How much would be different? Would his Shishou treat him any differently? Would he even be allowed to remain on the mountain, training with Hiko? It was very easy to entertain the possibility that Hiko might think that one who succumbed to such things so easily and did nothing about it wasn't worthy to be the next successor of the Hiten Mitsuryugi Ryu. And Hiko and his sword-training was all he had. He simply HAD nothing else!
Even the small things, the day-to-day things, would change.
Kenshin suddenly realised that he was shaking. Taking a deep breath, he stilled himself, and unclenched his hands. He was supposed to be calmly meditating, not reflecting on this issue.
Sensing a flicker of a ki nearby, Kenshin was mildly surprised to sense from this distance that his Shishou was approaching. Apparently the meditation exercises WERE helping him with his awareness. He unseated himself from his rock, and stoically kept his expression neutral. It would do no good to have his Shishou sense any of the conflict in his ki.
After several moments, Hiko Seijuuro walked into view, white mantle billowing majestically in the breeze. He was mildy surprised to find the young teen standing expectantly waiting for him, but practiced enough not to show it. He was pleased, though; if his baka deshi could sense HIM approaching at that distance, he had improved indeed. A commoner wouldn't have been able to set foot on the mountain without either of them knowing it now.
"I see you're ready. Well, come on then, the chores won't do themselves."
"Yes, Shishou," Kenshin replied, following the footsteps of the older man. His muscles cramped briefly when he started walking again, but quickly eased. Looking at the sun high in the sky, he wondered briefly what challenges would face him that night.
To preserve, though, he would endure.
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(Holds up a sign). It's 'Be Nice to Fanfiction Authors' week! Please don't flame.