Chapter Seven

"Is he waking up?"

"Hey guys, I think he is waking up."

"Oi, sensei?"

Himura gave a small groan and opened his eyes to a sea of faces. "What hit me?" he croaked.

Kuroi shrugged. "Dunno. We found you here on the bench. Did that guy get you drunk again?"

"Shishou...!" Himura's eyes went wide and he sat up sharply. The manslayer looked around frantically. "Where is he?! Where'd he go?!"

Tarou shook his head confusedly. "Who?"

"Shishou! Shishou, the guy with the white cloak and a sake infatuation! He was here, he was--"

"Maa, Himura, are you okay?"

Himura sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "No. No, I'm not. Things are going nuts around here...Shishou..."

"What, the big guy with the red collar?"

"What's wrong? Is he still hurt?"

"No he...he's...Oi." Himura smacked himself on the side of the head and looked up at his men with a pained expression. "He got hitched."

"Oh, your teacher got married? Good for him."

"Yeah,tell him congrat... What's wrong, Himura?"

The boy was shaking his head. "You don't know Hiko Seijuro. That man wouldn't get married if a woman had him on the wrong end of three pairs of katana. Next I'll hear he's given up sake."

The soldiers chuckled as their sensei got up and brushed the dirt off of his gi. "Well, if we see him again we know what to ask him," one man crowed. "Ha ha hah!"

Himura gave a lopsided smile. "I wouldn't if I were you. Not if you value your vital organs. Well, uh... how long was I out? What time is it?" The boy craned his neck to see past the overhang.

"About ten."

Himura blinked. "At night?"

"Ah heck, no. In the morning of course. Time for that demonstration of yours, then it's off to the festival tomorrow morning." Ahh yes. He'd forgotten that little subject.

Shimatta. They remembered pretty well.

"Well, before I do the demonstration, I want Shishou here to demonstrate the Ougi. But I don't know if he'll consent... At least you'll get to see him beat me up again," he said dryly. "Everyone to the training area. Let's get this over with and move on." Before anything else happens...

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The gathering was about forty to fifty men. There almost wasn't enough room; most of the staff at the estate had wanted to witness the event as well.

The throng was seething and tittering with anticipation at being able to actually see this swordsmanship performance, sitting crosslegged or up on their feet in front of the open training area. The Hiiten Mitsurugi was a legendary technique, and was never before seen by anyone living. Well, almost anyone.

Himura came from meditation with a pair of swords on his back and removed his sash and outer cloak. He was barefoot, and all he wore was his hakama and a thin blue gi. The manslayer's features were hardset and completely blank.

It was almost time, but but there was no sign of Hiko. The messenger he'd sent ahead was over two hours late coming back. Maybe Hiko killed him.
Himura sighed as he scanned the crowd. He'd thought as much. After all, maybe his master didn't want to let him see the technique because he'd aban--because he'd left.

Himura sighed; this was no time for regrets. Just focus on the techniques.

Meanwhile, Kuroi, Tarou, Kenta, Takashi, and all of the others from the eatery the day before were gathered to witness their master's Hiiten Mitsurugi demonstration. Most of them were either marvelling at the look of absolute, harsh concentration on his face or laughing at the change from his earlier embarrassment.

"Jaa, Kenta," one man chuckled. "Take a look at Kuroi. Have you ever seen him so intense? Hey, look, go pinch him, I don't think he can even hear me."

"Oi, Kuroi-chaaaan," Tarou said, waving his hand back and forth in front of the absorbed man. "Hello? Anyone Hooo-ooome?"

"Tarou," he said sharply. "Stop it and pay attention, do you have any idea how important this is? No one has ever witnessed this technique. Ever! It's like--like--"

"--like my butt is really starting to hurt from sitting so long? Come on, sensei, let's go!"

"Hai, hai. Let's begin!"

Kenshin looked out at the crowd from the sidelines one last time, trying to find his master, but with a sigh he guessed it was final.

He wasn't going to come.

The red-headed samurai gave a subdued nod to the commander to begin the presentation. He nodded back and looked out to the crowd, whistling for silence. "Alright, first I'd like to thank you all for attending this presentation, and I'd like to thank Hitokiri Battousai for--"

"NO."

The man froze and turned to see the manslayer's eyes gleaming from under his red bangs. "Wh-what is it, Himura-san?"

"Do not call me that." His eyes narrowed to slits of fiery yellow. "My name Is Himura Kenshin. Do not address me by that title."

"Y...yes-s, Himura-san," the commander croaked out. He cleared his throat to address the crowd once more. "J-jaa, minna-san, we would all like to thank Himura for agreeing to demonstrate his technique. However, this is not just a show. Hopefully this demonstration will teach all the soldiers in the audience a good thing or two about battle."

The commander stopped as if he'd remembered something. "Oh, and um, Himura-san, was your master going to come? Or..."

The manslayer shook his head, disappointed. "No. I sent a messenger, but--"

Cue bad timing. Or, depending on how you looked at it, really, really good timing.

"--'Taku, woman, will you stop nagging?! I don't need any more bandages! Now go away!"

"That's what you always say! 'I'm not hungry', 'I don't need this', 'I don't need that', and then you forget and end up starving yourself for days! It's a wonder you're not dead! Now cooperate and at least tie your cape properly! 'Taku, you'd think I'd married a two-year-old!"

A very prompt 'oro' was heard from the crowd.

Out came Hiko Seijuro, dressed in the usual blue outfit, but it appeared to have been pressed and cleaned. Over his broad shoulders was a sash of light blue, and he was carrying a wide array of swords and various weapons in a sack hanging across his back. His hair was once again tied back in a full ponytail, no pieces sticking out.

But next to him, only a head shorter than his prestidgious height, was a woman.

A very beautiful woman in fact.

She held his cloak draped gracefully over one arm with a pair of ninja swords across her back in an X. Her hair was long and green-black, but darker than Hiko's, flowing down her back with a few scant pieces framing her forehead. They stuck out from undereath a red headband which would later become very familiar.

Aside from being tall, leggy and very slender, her muscles were clearly visible under a tunic of black cotton, with a loincloth that covered her until the high-cut sides of her hips, stopping at the knees. Adorning the bottom of the loincloth was the kanji for blade, written in white. She was quite buxom with a very womanly figure and a low cut V across her chest, which made a few of the men stare at her quite openly, and covering her calves and forearms was black leather armor.

All in all it wasn't hard to see why Hiko had married her; she was extremely attractive.

However, as she stood facing her husband, covering her pale face was a glare fit for the devil hims-- erm, herself.

Until she saw Himura.

"Oh, Seijurou, is that him?" she gushed, a smile playing prettily across her soft, smooth features. "He's adorable!"

She seemed to go from demon to angel in no time flat.

Hiko grunted an affirmation, and the woman strode toward him with the fluidness of a stream of oil.

The way she looked at Himura made him go red.

"You must be anata's apprentice. Kawaii, na? So handsome!"

"Oro?" Weird. Why do I keep saying that? he thought stupidly.

"Maa, Kenshin, Seijurou-chan has told me so much about you," she purred.

"Wh-what? He has?" Himura looked over at his master, who was quite steadily looking at his feet. "What--what does he say?"

"Oh, lots of things. Hey, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were my new step-son," she grinned. "Actually, he told me that he almost missed--"

"Chikushou, woman, are you trying to ruin me?!" Hiko exploded, flushing redder than Kenshin had ever seen him.

"Yare yare," she snorted. "As I see it, Hiko-chan, he deserves to hear it after how you've treated him! Didn't anyone ever tell you how to take care of children?! Maa!" She pouted, which only made her even more beautiful.

"Yuriko-chan, that is hardly--"

Suddenly the tall woman clapped a hand over her mouth. "AAAA! Sou da! I haven't even introduced myself yet!" She rapped her knuckles none too lightly on her head. "'Taku, Yu-chan no baka! Jaa, Seijurou, hold this for me, would you?"

With that she threw the weighted cloak at him, forgetting her own strength apparently, because the weights made contact with his face and made him face-fault backwards.

Twice.

Whoop, no, wait, three times.

Hara-kiri is starting to sound sooooo good right now. "On-na--" he grated.

"Hajimemashite, ne? Watashi wa Hiko Yuriko des'. Yoroshiku." The woman let loose a smile that literally knocked over half the men in the room. She turned to Kenshin. "But please, call me Yu-chan."

"Er, hai--Yu-dono." The boy looked nervously over at Hiko. He doubted he'd be alive to make the mistake again if he called his master's wife "chan".

"Ha! 'Dono'? Never heard that one before. Normally it's 'kono ama' or 'bijin'. Jaa, whadda ya say we grab some sake and catch up on the years we missed, ne, Musuko?"

Oh boy. "Uhh--"

"Oh good, you agree," Yuriko said, delighted. "Saa, let's go get drunk!"

"Oroooo--"

Hiko watched with satisfaction as she pushed his baka-deshi out the door in a very similar manner to four days ago. "She's learning," he said with a nod.

If I'm lucky he won't remember why he invited me here...

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Short. Way, way... WAY too short.
Jaa, everyone, I'm counting on YOU. I need encouragement.

Please review if at all humanly possible, this took me so long to get out and make it good. Just tell me watcha think, and if you have any plot suggestions, please do say so.

Oh, yes, and I do know about Natsu-hime-sama. But, like the slip up in Forgive Me about Sanosuke, I just made up what I thought sounded good. I really only have the first four DVDs, and I saw the last four episodes where Shishio was defeated.

But aside from the manga volumes one thru eight that I have, most of my RK information is from you guys on fanfiction dot net.

Oh, and I did see the Ova and the Seishouhen Arc starting where Enishi and Kaoru are living together in the castle by the ocean. God, that was so DEPRESSING!!! I won't say why for those who haven't seen it, but MAN! WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO DO, KILL YA?!? (Sniff) I cried all four times I watched the ending. Geez louise, they rip your heart out, stomp on it, pour gasoline on it in a manner similar to Shishio, light it on fire and dance around it in a circle!
(Haah)(haah)

...They didn't tick me off or anything, can't you tell?
Jaa, see ya next chapter. And ohhh the ideas I'm getting for the sequel to Rended.

Here's the names I've picked - Rended 2, Rended 2 : Haiyashii's Travels, Rended 2 : Ishin's Travels, or just Haiyashii's Travels or Ishin's Travels.

Saa, I'm taking a poll, here! Tell me whatcha think!