Kenshin slowly opened his eyes when the fresh smell of bacon hit his senses. Opening his eyes, Kenshin greeted a sight of warmth and comfort. There were several flowers that surrounded him, blocking his vision minimally. Turning towards the scent, Kenshin noticed that the house was very small, and was surrounded by the outside trees. Moving his legs forward, Kenshin began to walk, and wince at the same time because of the strange feeling he couldn't shake from his head.

While entering the next room, his eyes met with another mans. Wrinkles surrounded the man's face, and dark shadows underneath his eyes proved that he hadn't slept in a while. His body was old and shriveled, but his arms were lined with muscles. The man was holding a piece of bacon while staring at the intruder, then turned away shoving the food in his mouth.

"So you're finally up." The man stated not as a question with a certain hardness to his voice. "I would guess that since you haven't eaten in the last day or so, that you may be hungry, eh?" the man chuckled, and pointed to a chair that was now reserved for Kenshin.

"Thank you kind sir, may I ask you name?" Kenshin said sitting on the edge of his chair glancing around the decorated room.

"You may ask, but I shall not answer. I have no name, and I never intend to either. Now that is settled, Kenshin." the man said with the coldness returning to his voice.

"You obviously know my name, so there is no need for introduction here either" Kenshin slowly smiled and took a bite out of the bacon that was placed before him.

"Your friend is still sleeping I presume?" the man said glancing back at the room that Kenshin had just exited from.

"Friend? You mean Kaoru is here?" Kenshin said keeping his voice to a level that was threatening.

"Yes, I found the both of you laying in the middle of the road the other day. Absently, I decided to bring you here in order for your protection, you were obviously hurt and helpless. I should have just minded my own business and left you there, but that would be heartless. Don't you think boy?" the old man suddenly had hostility to his voice, a total change in character from what Kenshin had observed.

"I'll thank you for that, that I will. For saving my dearest Kaoru and myself, I can never repay the debt. In answer to your question...I can't answer that. I am just a wandered trying to protect others, the question of heartless is the furthest from my mind." Kenshin slowly finished chewing his food, then gave the old man a glare. "Where exactly are we?

"About five miles from where you're used to being. I hate to ask you this, but what exactly happened?" the man said with such clarity, that Kenshin couldn't refuse to answer the question.

"A few men decided to get drunk, and they came to miss Kaoru's school and wanted inside the gate. I wouldn't allow them, but they got physical and tried to kidnap miss Kaoru. As a protector, I was sworn to fight for her, that I was. So I fought, and then lost concentration after the battle and obviously one of the men was still conscious, and he hit me over the head." Kenshin said lowering his head as he thought of his failure.

"You seem like a man not to get distracted, what exactly distracted you," the man said trying to pry even deeper into Kenshin's story.

"Have there been reports of a missing child?" Kenshin said changing the subject, not feeling like talking about his distraction.

"Actually yes, there was a small girl the other day that was reported missing. Went on a trip with her family, apparently she went to explore the woods, and never came back. Damn shame, she was the prettiest little thing I'd ever seen. I'd seen her around her before, she always seemed curious, but yet the intelligence in her eyes was scary. You wouldn't believe her eyes," the man said trailing off looking at his half emptied glass of tea with guilt. "Why did you want to know?"

"I've been having the strangest feeling, that's all," Kenshin said lying under his breath. From in the other noise, there were noises of the rising Kaoru, moans of pain as she realized how sore she was.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru called out and when seeing Kenshin, she suddenly was at ease. "Where are we?" she asked looking around and glancing at the old man several times.

"It's a long story," Kenshin said pulling a chair out for Kaoru to sit on, and then nodding to the old man to begin the tale once again