the first of many road trips

[shishou_xiii]

Date: June 12, 2043
Time: Morning
Place: A village in Hunan province, a few hours drive from Xiangtan
Characters: Hiko, Kenshin


This person, this 'Shintaro' was supposed to have shown up nearly an hour ago. He was late. Hiko glanced down at his watch irritably, then shifted his weight against the wall to get more comfortable. At least he was in what passed for shade. This fact didn't stop the bead of sweat that trickled down his neck, disappearing into the collar of his shirt. It was hot already, and the haze on the horizon, filtering out the sun and only intensifying the humidity, promised even more heat before the day was done. There were times when Hiko sorely missed his home in the mountains, where the air was clean and it never got this thick and uncomfortable.

If only the pub was open this early. Apparently, the people in this village didn't believe in drinking before noon. So he made do, leaning against the wall of the pub, which so happened to be on the shady side of the narrow, dusty street. How convenient. An old lady stumped past, a basket full of herbs strapped to her back. She gave him a curious glance. Hiko narrowed his eyes in a glare, and the woman averted her gaze and picked up her pace. Why this village of nosey folk had been chosen was a mystery to Hiko. It was out of the way, yes, but as the morning dragged on, more people were going to be out and about.

The car he'd been issued was parked around the corner, fueled and ready to go. He still couldn't figure out why he was needed to babysit an assassin. As far as he knew, they were supposed to be quite capable of caring for themselves. Traveling alone, working alone, dying alone, if things went wrong. So why an escort? Xiangtan wasn't hard to find. It was well connected with roads and even some of the remaining railways. It wasn't a tiny berg like this little pit of hell in which he was waiting.

Hiko shifted his weight again, but realized with a grimace that that had been a mistake. Moving away from the nail poking him in the back, he repositioned himself against the wall to a less dangerous spot and crossed his arms over his chest. He squinted up at the hazy sky and wondered if it would rain. The pollution was thick even this far outside the city, and sometimes it was hard to tell the dirt in the air from the clouds. Rain would be nice, he decided. If nothing else, it would be a change.

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[katananokokoro]

They were almost there. Shintaro sat in the backseat, staring at the window, fingering the hilt of the dagger they had given him. Daggers were better for assassins. Daggers couldn't be traced like bullets. Shintaro supposed he really was an assassin now. He unsheathed it and the person driving jumped. She was new and didn't know...well she knew enough, he guessed, because she kept looking at him in the rear-view mirror.

"You're not my target," he told her in Mandarin. "If you're good." And it was true. As long as Takani liked her, she would be okay. As long as he was useful. He didn't like that word. It tasted like sandpaper in his mouth. The car bumped a little on a different kind of road and in the hum of the tires he could hear the screaming again. Why was killing people so easy? (right in the throat and Guang had burbled, his eyes wide, the crazy finally leaving him)

Shintaro felt a little sick and sheathed the dagger again. The driver pulled to a stop by a dusty road and looked at him til he figured he was supposed to get out. The heat rolled onto his face, sucking the breath out of him in wet waves. He carried the sheathed dagger clenched in his fist. He was supposed to hide it. Takani had said to hide it. But Takani wasn't here and he'd broken promises before. Maybe he'd stop giving Lien-Hua the new stuff that made her skin peel off, or maybe he'd pretend they'd never had the conversation.

His head hurt and he realized his teeth were clenched. He kept them that way. There was a man standing outside a low, dirty looking building. A stern, impatient, angry looking man that made Shintaro irritated just by looking at him for some reason. It didn't matter. The man would feel what it was like to look upon an assassin. Shintaro glared up at him, gathering all the anger, and heat into a tight little ball in his chest and then pushing it out. The wind kicked up and the leaves rasped around him, swirling in the hot air.

[shishou_xiii]

The assassin was exceptionally small. Hiko briefly entertained the notion that it was distance making the figure so tiny, but a few meters weren't going to make that kind of difference. He stared hard, assessing the slight build, the lack of height. For a moment, he desperately hoped he was wrong, that this was just some kid from the village on an errand.

That glare. That ki. Hiko blinked in surprise as he felt a wave of anger that certainly wasn't his own wash over him. Not his own, but familiar all the same. This kid was strong. He watched, both horrified and fascinated as leaves swirled around the little boy. So strong. What a goddamned waste.

A child. The government had sent him a child to escort to an assassination. Petty irritation over a lost hour was burned away in an instant by utter, complete rage. It was one thing to invite grown men into an experiment. He was capable of making an informed decision. A child? One so young couldn't hope to understand the implications of entering into such a program. He hadn't even understood the implications, not really. Not with the lack of information. He was fairly certain no one had known how it would turn out. He hoped not, at least. That hope, that he and his comrades hadn't been lured in like lambs to slaughter by a group who knew exactly what would happen kept him sane.

That hope died as he stared at the angry little boy approaching him. The scientists might have been ignorant of the consequences when he signed up for the program, but they knew now. Everyone involved knew. To use children… It was an atrocity Hiko could barely comprehend.

His voice rougher than he'd intended, Hiko called across the short distance, "Oi, you Shintaro?"

He watched a moment longer as the leaves swirled, pointedly ignoring the sheathed dagger in the kid's hand. The idiot didn't even have the sense to hide it. On what planet was using children a good idea? This one was all impulse and no common sense. "Quit showing off. We're late." Hiko closed the distance between them, intending to lead him to the car parked around the corner.

[katananokokoro]

The man was angry, too. Shintaro could feel it. It was rough and heavy, but it meant nothing. Everyone was angry or afraid. Everyone but Takani. He was the one that made people like this. He was the one who had all the strings in his hands when he pulled people's hearts jumped. And right now the string was pulling so hard it was all Shintaro could feel. Couldn't help but remember the frightened faces he'd left, the voices, Guang, so angry he couldn't even make sense, wanting to tear at anything, voice gone from screaming, just because Takani wanted to experiment.

It made him want to kill something.

"Quit showing off. We're late," the man said, cutting through the white hot feeling and bringing heat to Shintaro's face. He took a little step back as the man came closer. There wasn't a katana at his side but that didn't seem to matter. He wanted to say he wasn't showing off, but maybe he had been if only to this man.

This man... It was...like...

"I'll leave him in your care," said the woman and Shintaro startled, dropping the dagger in surprise. He had forgotten she was there. He was surprised to even see her alive. But...why did he think she would not be? His anger couldn't really cut people. The man was right here now and the dagger was on the ground. Shintaro picked it up with both hands, feeling like a small awkward bird about to fall out of the nest. He swallowed thickly and looked up (and up and up!) at the man whose head brushed the underside of the thick hazy clouds and then looked down, his heart pulling in a different direction.

"Sorry," he murmured. Because this man hadn't even done anything to him. Because this wasn't who he should be.An assassin has no right to look at their betters with such defiant eyes, wasn't that what Takani had always told him? Though he would always glare at Takani, this man was just on a string like all of them, caught like they were in a spider's nest, and didn't deserve to be glared at.

[shishou_xiii]

Hiko stepped closer, eyes narrowing as the boy took a step back, colored at his comment. Such anger, such strength, sent out to perform a job that no one should have to do, and this little boy…was still a little boy. The child was tiny, all scrawny limbs and messy red hair. If he wanted, Hiko could snap him like a twig. A very cynical part of him suggested that might be the kindest thing to do, and for a moment, Hiko wanted to listen.

As quickly as it came, he dismissed the notion. No. This boy… This boy needed protection. For as long as Hiko could provide it. He had…always…needed protection. Hadn't he?

His anger simmered just below the surface, colored even darker by confusion. As the woman spoke, as the child startled and dropped his weapon, Hiko turned his glare on her, unreasonably angry that she had taken part in this. Just like he was taking part in this. He blinked, and groped for some kind of calm. They were both guilty, and this woman didn't deserve his anger. Smoothing his features into blankness, he nodded to the woman. "Be safe." With that, he dismissed her and turned his attention back to the boy as he fumbled with the dagger.

"Sorry."

Hiko shook his head, uncertain if the child was apologizing for dropping the dagger or throwing a temper tantrum. It didn't matter, either way. "You should put that away," he said, gesturing toward the weapon clutched in two very small hands. "You won't be needing it for a while." Anger surged again as Hiko reminded himself that the kid would need it eventually. He took a deep breath, searching for calm once again, and instead found a sense of resignation. It would have to do.

"Come on, kid. We need to get going." Hiko began to walk, expecting Shintaro to follow, and led them down an alley to a dusty, unremarkable car. He unlocked the doors and looked at the boy expectantly as he opened his own door to get in.

[katananokokoro]

The man was still angry. Shintaro could feel it, just under the surface of the skin-- like a bad hit that ran jagged through the veins until you wanted to tear them out. Though he told the driver to be careful, she didn't look as if she even heard him before she drove off, skittering gravel over his shoes. He regretted being hard on her.

Shintaro clutched the dagger even tighter as the man told him to put it away. He wouldn't need it now. He wanted to keep it out. He wanted to look at it and for everyone to see it. But it might scare them if he did and there were enough people scared. Maybe they already were scared because no one was outside but Shintaro saw pale faces watching from high up windows. He put the dagger away carefully in his book bag and then hurried to catch up with the man, having to almost run since the man's legs were so long he could probably walk to Japan in a few hours.

He slowed again as they got to the car, twisting the straps between his hands. It was a dusty car. It would take him to his next job. And this man...he had dark eyes too, but there was always something behind them...this man would be taking him. They should be going the other way. He wanted to yell at the man to take him away. Or maybe run away. Run as far as he could.

But the other kids would suffer. Takani might not kill them cuz he still wanted them but that didn't mean they wouldn't wish they were dead. (Which is good cuz you don't dig graves any more) Shintaro squinched up his nose at the thought. They were starting to come more and more now. He shook his head and went toward the car before the man dragged him in. He should sit in the back. He always sat in the back. That's what kids did but--

Shintaro straightened his shoulders, swung his book bag off and sat in the front, right next to the man. He felt small sitting here, even smaller than usual and tugged on his seat belt before hugging the bag to his chest so he could feel the dagger and the little white box underneath the fabric.

"How long will it take to get there?" Shintaro asked, wanting to be brave but his voice was very quiet.

[shishou_xiii]

The kid didn't want to be here any more than he did. The urge to run was strong. Fight or flight, and flight was winning out. Hiko didn't blame him. He also knew, just as the kid did, that there was no way out. Too much was at stake, but Hiko was beginning to doubt whether staying to protect was even worth it. Perhaps it would be better for them all to die. He closed his eyes briefly, centering himself, trying to ignore the wrongness of a child stashing his weapon in a book bag.

Hiko opened the door and slid into the driver's seat as the boy waffled on the other side of the car. The passenger door opened, and then there was a little boy settled in the seat next to him. Hiko looked down at him, his mouth twitching with amusement. Bold enough to sit up front. Well, that was fine with Hiko.

He put the car into gear and pulled out of the alley and onto the bumpy road as Shintaro's quiet question broke the silence. Hiko glanced down, took in the small boy in the overly-large seat, bag gathered close to his chest like some kind of stuffed toy. He quickly brought his eyes back to the road, but the image of Shintaro in that seat was already burned into his memory. What the hell was he doing, taking a child to an execution?

"Couple hours, give or take." It really depended on whether they ran into construction or not. Speed wasn't strictly enforced, and with the way Hiko drove, they could get this over with fairly quickly. Hopefully. Give or take.

He could sense the boy's unease, and felt the need to add more…something. Reassurance? He opened his mouth, but quickly closed it, at a loss for what to say. The village wasn't much more than a wide spot in the road, and as the buildings shrank in the rear-view mirror, Hiko concentrated on what was to come.

[katananokokoro]

"Oh good." That meant he could relax for a little while at least. It was good to relax sometimes. Shintaro shook the angry ropes off, twisting his head down through his shoulders and out through his toes. There was time for that later. Then he dug into his bag and bought out a baggie of banana chips that he'd stolen from Takani's desk drawer. There was nothing in the world better than banana chips but he set the bag in the cup holder between them so the man could have some, too.

He kicked his feet as he munched, thumping them against the underside of the dashboard. And he hummed a song he'd heard a long time ago. Something from TV. He hadn't seen TV in a long time. He hadn't seen anything fun in a long time. He wondered what it would be like to watch a movie again and be hands deep in buttery popcorn. That kind of life was for kids though.

It was like that song that he saw. He forgot most of the words, but the first ones always stuck with him.

I'm overcome with tears and don't know what to do...

Oh wait...he knew the next ones... what was it....

"I wish I could erase the pain for you," he murmured. But you couldn't do that by slitting someone's throat. Ahh, but he was supposed to be relaxing. He pressed his forehead to the window. Smushed his face against the glass. It was cool because of the airconditioner so it was strange to think the outside was hot.

"Hey look, look, Shishou an Ox!" he said as they passed by a low rice feild and one lone lady behind a bony old ox. "Do you think Ox are nice? Do you think that's fun? It looks like fun. I want to stand in a rice field like that. I think the water would feel great today."

[shishou_xiii]

He smelled it before registering what the boy had. Bananas. The baggie rustled softly, and then just quiet crunching. No… Hiko glanced down to see the open baggie in the cup holder. Ah. Banana chips, then. Where had the boy gotten something like that? He didn't think the children were allowed such treats, but what did he know? His unit wasn't confined in the same way the children were.

Rice paddies slipping past the window, the road unwinding in front of them, the steady thumping under the dashboard that was beginning to grate on Hiko's nerves. The humming, however, was what kept Hiko from reaching out and stopping the steadily thumping feet. He recognized that tune. Some television show; he couldn't remember what. Just that the theme had a tendency to worm its way into one's brain, as the kid was currently demonstrating. Hiko resigned himself to the certainty that he, too, would have the song running through his head in the future. Lovely.

The tune changed, and he found himself listening, a little fascinated. The words that slipped out of the kid's mouth, though, had him nearly recoiling. Whatever that song was, it was entirely too appropriate for all of them, but especially the children. It didn't set well with Hiko to hear it directed near him, even if it wasn't even actually directed at him. It felt wrong, comforting words coming from a child. Children were the ones to be comforted. But in their present reality, what difference did it make anyway?

Hiko resolved to ignore the boy next to him with his nostalgic songs and banana chips, but then he was smushing his face up against the glass, and he knew there was going to be a pint-sized face smudge on his window. Last thing he needed was a reminder of this particular assignment. He opened his mouth to kindly suggest the kid remove his face from the window but was beaten to the punch by an ox.

"Day like today, the water would be hot as bathwater, that old lady isn't stooping for her health, and oxen stink." Wait.

"Oi. Shishou?"

Where the hell had the kid found a name like that? He wasn't a teacher, just the transport and guard, he supposed. Ferry the kid to go kill a certain person, collect him when the deed was done. There was nothing even remotely nurturing or educational about their assignment.

On the other hand, the name touched something in Hiko that he wasn't about to explore under such circumstances. He looked down at the boy, dwarfed by the seat, by Hiko's own bulk, and was struck by a sense of protection, familiarity, and all of it was tainted by the wrongness of their situation. Neither one of them should be here, but another time, another place. It didn't make any sense. However, for longer than Hiko cared to contemplate, a lot of things didn't make any sense.

[katananokokoro]

Oh yeah. That was right. That poor lady was probably really suffering too on a hot day like today. And if Ox poo smelled as bad as dog poo or...or someone that had sat too long cuz they were too sad to get up... Shintaro blinked and sat back in the seat, trying not to think the sad thoughts. He was relaxing so no sad thoughts were allowed. He liked the man's voice though, and even better when he said

"Oi. Shishou?" in a stern way as if that title made him grumpy. Shintaro nodded, kicking his feet again. Bop bop bop against the underside of the dashboard.

"You look like a Shishou. You're all big and tough." He raised his hands like he was mimicking a big guy but maybe he looked more like a bear.

"You would say, Shintaro go train under that waterfall." He tried to make his voice all deep and scratchy, pointing at the imaginary, and probably really cold, waterfall in the distance.

"Or maybe, Shintaro get that darn bucket already! I had a dream about that once." He took a bite out of the chip. "There was this grumpy old man and he keeped wanting me to get the bucket but I was mad at him so didn't." He grinned at the man, expecting him to find it just as funny as Shintaro did. He'd laughed himself out of his sleep and then woke up and remembered where he was... but...but no sad thoughts. Just fun thoughts.