Disclaimer: see chapter 1

XXXX time/scene/point of view change


Chapter 3: His Second Day

As usual, Kenshin awoke with the sun and headed down to the kitchen, where he began to bring firewood in for breakfast. After finishing that chore, Kenshin began to draw water from the well and bring it into the kitchen. By the time he was done with this, Okami had awaken and after a quick 'good morning,' handed him vegetables to chop for the soup. Not long after he began to chop them, the two serving girls Natsumi and Aymui arrived in the kitchen to work. Things started out okay, but after a while, the girls began to shamelessly flirt with the handsome youth again causing him to blush as Okami chuckled at his expense.

"Hey Himura-san," said Natsumi seductively beside him. "You want to escort me to town today?" she asked as she and Ayumi began to giggle again.

"Uhh…I'm sorry Natsumi-san, but I have…some things to do today," he finished lamely though with an innocent smile on his face.

"Oh really?" said Ayumi, "What kind of things? According to what I've heard, you haven't been given any assignments yet."

"Well, you see…"

"Himura-chan," called Okami deciding to help the flustered boy.

"Hai Okami-san," said Kenshin as he left the girls with an obvious look of relief on his face.

"The other girls should be coming in any minute now. Why don't you go and relax for a while," she asked.

"Okay," said Kenshin with a thankful look on his face.

"Thanks for the help Himura-chan," said Okami as Kenshin was about to turn to leave.

"Oh Okami," said Kenshin as he was about to exit the kitchen. "Do you know where I can practice my katas? I haven't been able to practice in a while."

"Well, most of the men practice in the courtyard in the afternoons," she said.

"Oh okay, thanks Okami-san," he said as he left, hurriedly heading towards the courtyard.

Standing in the middle of the wide open space of the courtyard, Kenshin closed his eyes and took deep calming breaths to focus himself. He hadn't done his katas in probably over a week and he yearned for the peace and tranquility that came with the movements. He loved practicing his kenjutsu and felt that it was about time for some practice lest he become rusty.

Kenshin slowly drew his sword from its saya and began to go through the first level of his katas in the Hiten Mitsurugi style, slowly getting faster and faster until only glimpses and blurs of red could be seen by the untrained eye. As he progressed through his graceful yet deadly dance, Kenshin became dimly aware of several men from the inn watching him on the porch, but not wanting to lose the feeling of peace and contentment that came with his katas; Kenshin ignored them and continued on to the second level of the Hiten style.

By now, Kenshin's movements were so fast that even the experienced swordsmen watching had a hard time of following them. The youth would be on one side of the yard performing a slash, and end up on the complete opposite side in the blink of an eye. He would be finishing up a vertical strike on one second, and all of sudden he would disappear and reappear in the sky with his sword above his head the next. The only person that was able to almost completely follow his movements was the young boy with black/brown hair tied in a high ponytail and wearing a shirt underneath his dark green gi.

Hara watched in amazement as the innocent and seemingly delicate red head performed his katas with so much precision that he was beginning to fear what Katsura had in store for him. 'He's good,' thought Hara. '…as well as fast, by the looks of it, probably faster than me.'

Hara watched in fascination and awe while the logical side of him screamed that the kind-hearted innocent boy that had become his friend would be making a mistake in joining this cause. 'You have to stop him! Get him away from here!' his mind screamed at him. 'He'll go mad with what they're going to make him do!'

Hara struggled with his inner-self, but as he decided that he would talk to Himura and nothing else, he realized that Kenshin was done.

Kenshin gracefully and forcefully performed a final battoujutsu before slowing his movements and going into the cooling down routine that always brought about a feeling of longing and disappointment into his heart. He hated to lose the exhilaration that he felt while practicing Kenjutsu and whenever he entered this stage of his katas, a slight feeling of sadness would disrupt his peace and contentment. But nonetheless, Kenshin sheathed his sword as he finished and quickly pushed his sword into the ties of his hakama-pants. Kenshin breathed deeply and swiped the back of his hand against his sweaty forehead. Upon looking up, Kenshin was surprised at the amazed gazes of more than half of the men housed at the inn. He knew that there were some people watching, but he must have gotten so focused on his katas that he didn't even notice as more and more men came to watch.

Kenshin stood dumbfounded as the men stared at him until Hara suddenly appeared beside him with a huge grin on his face.

"So that's the amazing skill that Katsura had spoken so much about," he said slapping his hand onto Kenshin's shoulder.

Kenshin blushed at the compliment and quickly walked passed the staring men and headed for his room with Hara following.

Upon arriving to his room, Kenshin grabbed a towel from his bag and toweled off the sweat from his neck and face deciding to take a bath later on.

"I should really get some more clothes," commented Kenshin as he put his towel back.

Hara grinned at him. "I could lend you some if you want."

"No, it's alright," said Kenshin. "Come on, breakfast should be ready soon."

The two boys made their way down the stairs and into the dining room. As they walked to the corner that they had eaten at the day before, Kenshin noticed that a hush had befallen the dining room and the men were no longer only staring at Hara, but at him as well. A whisper broke out and Kenshin heard snippets of their whispers. They were talking about him! He looked over at Hara who had his head held high and an impassive look on his face. The two took their places and after several minutes, most of the men took their attention off of the two incredibly strong youths.

As breakfast was being served, Hara turned to Kenshin with a serious look on his face.

"Oro?" said Kenshin immediately noticing the change in mood.

"Himura, why are you joining the Ishin? I mean I know you have ideals, no sane 14 year old boy would willingly want to fight in a war unless he had some strong reasons, but are you sure you're ready for this? Have you ever even killed before?" asked Hara with a grave look on his face.

Kenshin looked down at his hands in thought for a while. Then, with a determined look on his face, he looked up and met Hara's dark eyes.

"While it's true that I have never killed a man before," started Kenshin slowly, "I have made a promise to Katsura-san that if my bloodied hands could bring about a new ear where the common people could live their lives in peace and without fear, and being treated fairly with equal rights, then I would gladly take upon the role that is given to me."

"Killing someone isn't easy," murmured Hara. "I was told that killing is the hardest thing for a man to do, and I've come to realize that they're right. Once you're in, there is no backing out. I just don't want you to regret this."

Kenshin watched Hara as he spoke, noticing as his eyes seemed to glaze over and an overwhelming amount of grief and guilt filled them. Kenshin felt touched that this boy, whom he just met the day before, could be so concerned about him and his well-being. He knew that this war wasn't going to be easy. He's known it since the beginning, but he couldn't back out now. He made a promise, and while he wasn't of samurai blood, his pride and honor as a swordsman wouldn't allow him to back out of his promise.

"I appreciate your concern Hara-san, but if there is anything that my Shishou has taught me, it's that a promise is not made to be broken. And like what I told him, I can't just sit back and watch as people are suffering right in front of my eyes."

Hara smiled genuinely at Kenshin, feeling completely satisfied with the answer. 'In some ways, this boy is younger than me, not to mention still innocent,' thought Hara. 'He's a gentle and caring boy, and killing is going to destroy him, but if I have anything to say about it, I'll make sure he gets through this.'

The two finished their meal quickly before setting off to finish off their safe house visits. By the time noon had come, the boys had finished and after a quick lunch, Hara allowed Kenshin to explore the Imperial district. As they walked passed the expensive and more elaborate looking gates to the huge mansions, Kenshin felt a flare of strong ki walking down the street. Before he knew what was happening, Hara had pulled him aside and into an alleyway with his hand over Kenshin's mouth, stifling the yelp threatening to escape out of surprise. A group of samurai with condescending looks passed by the alley and continued walking as people bowed down on the sides. Hara sighed and released Kenshin.

"I wasn't in the mood to bow down to those jerks," said Hara jerking his thumb back at their retreating backs.

Kenshin nodded and they resumed their exploration until the sun began to set.

"It's getting dark," said Hara looking at the sky. "If you're not too tired, I was thinking of showing you around Kyoto at night. Though I have to warn you, Kyoto is extremely dangerous at night."

"Alright, I have to get used to the danger and darkness anyway right?" said Kenshin.

Hara nodded and after getting a quick dinner the two walked down an alleyway and watched as the streets began to empty of people. By the time the sun had completely set, the streets were desolate except for the occasional person rushing home fearfully wishing he was already safe at home.

"Stay in the shadows," whispered Hara as he began to lead Kenshin around Kyoto. As he led, he glanced back and was surprised to find that Kenshin wasn't there, though his ki was. He squinted into the darkness and that's when he noticed the confused eyes of Kenshin as he stepped out from an alleyway.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

A small grim smile made its way across Hara's face. 'He's good,' he thought slightly unnerved by the way that the boy was taking to moving as a shadow.

"Nothing," he said and began to head towards the Gion district where he knew the boy would visit on many occasions due to his assignments.

Kenshin stayed in the shadows as best he could and followed Hara through the night. On several occasions, they even hopped up onto the roofs and began to run across them. Throughout all of this, they didn't make a sound except for the occasional whisper between the boys and a faint rustle of their clothes. Kenshin had no trouble keeping up with Hara and he paid close attention to the streets that they were passing, committing the mazelike streets to memory.

Before long, the two boys began to notice more men that were on the streets, most drunk. Hara stopped on the roof of a crowded building spilling lights onto the street.

"Where are we?" asked Kenshin from his place on the roof.

"We are in the Gion district. This is one of the most popular places that the men …visit. They normally visit here to have a good time, either by gambling, or drinking, or …other things," said Hara pointing to a group of men.

"I suggest you remember where this place is," he whispered and hopped down into the alleyway beside the building. Kenshin followed and landed lightly on his feet.

"These alleyways are also very important for escapes. If I'm right about your job, you will be visiting this area a lot," said Hara as he began to lead Kenshin through all of the alleys and side streets.

By the time they returned to the inn, it was practically midnight. The two stumbled up into their room and threw themselves onto their futons without even bothering to change. In a matter of minutes, Kenshin was fast asleep in the comfort of his futon dreaming pleasant dreams.


AN: heres the next chapter. I know I promised to update in a week, but I got really busy and found myself having no time to really update anythihng. I was thinking of making some changes to this chapter, but decided agianst it. I'm still working on the 4th chapter and will get it out as soon as i can. I can't garantee that it will be out within two weeks, but i will try.

Please Review! It will motivate me to work faster!