Edit/November 22nd –Revamped/edited.

AN: Wow! Thanks for all your reviews! I'm glad all of you like this! (nods vigorously) Here is the next piece; we get into the characters of Chibi Misao and Chibi Soujiro. ...Or we're trying to at least.

Disclaimer: We don't ownsss them...right, Precioussss?


To Make a Difference

Chapter 2: Injuries and Comfort


She stepped down to the water's edge, dipping her hands in the cool liquid. She paused to gaze at her reflection. She frowned yet again. Something wasn't quite right. Sure, it was her but she expected to see an older version of herself.

Not the six year old girl staring back at her in the crystal clear water.


The cold water burned against Misao's feverish skin. She could clearly see the dried blood caked to her hair line and wondered what had happened the night before. The more she thought about it, the less she could truly remember.

'There was a boy…

Pretty blue eyes…

A bag of rice…

And angry men…'

Misao shook her little head, her braid bobbing back and forth and the pounding behind her temple worsening. She wondered where she was and why she was alone. 'Where are Jiya and Aoshi-sama?'

She frowned. Her memories were all jumbled and she couldn't distinguish what was real and what was not. She felt weak and her stomach was growling angrily. When had she last eaten something? Cupping her hands, she filled them with water from the stream and drank, noting how she trembled. She must have been dehydrated, maybe even in shock. Of course, she knew little of first aid but her throbbing head and shaky movements were enough to let her know something was wrong.


Soujiro fell back, a cloud of dust rising around him as he landed heavily on the ground. He wiped the small trail of blood from his busted lip and smiled. The father scowled.

"Stop smiling, gaki! You think this is funny?"

The brothers behind him hid their smirks.

"You ruined three bags of rice! Where do you think money comes from? I have to make it!"

Of course, it wouldn't have mattered if Soujiro denied he ripped up the three bags of rice. Even more so, if he pointed out they had been cut open by swords. He would probably have been hanged if he even dared to say that the brothers had ruined the rice bags by slicing them open with their swords, showing off their talents. So Soujiro just continued to smile.

The father gritted his teeth. "Wipe that damned smile off your face, kid, before I cut it off!" He ended his command with a swift kick to Soujiro's stomach. The boy cried out, doubling over and clutching his gut. The family retreated inside for lunch as Soujiro lay on the ground, curled in a ball. It hurt so bad that tears streamed down his young but soiled face.

Slowly and painfully, he got up and crept towards the woods surrounding the house. He just wanted to be away from them.

He stumbled down the small path worn from where he had trotted down to the stream and back over time. He felt a small prick in his side and reached in his gi. He pulled out the kunai Misao had left behind the day before. He knew it was some kind of weapon, but his knowledge on weaponry was very limited. 'It looks like a dart...'

He grasped it tightly, remembering the angelic girl from the night before. 'I wonder if I scared her away…' As he pondered on this the smile that he had grown accustomed to wearing slowly dropped from his face, leaving a thoughtful expression.

He stepped down onto the big stone slab that descended into the shallow stream and was startled to see a little girl crouched across the water.

She looked up with wide green eyes. Soujiro tilted his head, staring at her. She was maybe a couple of years younger than him and had an uncanny resemblance to the girl from the night before. To add to the perplexity, she was wearing the same coat the angelic woman had been clad in. Soujiro's curiosity turned to shock as he got a glimpse of the dried blood on the side of her head.

Misao saw the change in his expression but failed to acknowledge it. 'He looks so familiar… like a faint memory. A dream?'

She blinked and realized the boy had stood up and stepped towards her. Afraid she might run away, he paused, wondering if he should proceed. Misao, always the socialite, forced a smile even though it made her head hurt all the more. "Hi!"

Soujiro blinked, surprised that she wasn't scared or that she hadn't started yelling at him like his family. He forced a smile, a shy one and replied, "Hello."

Misao stepped into the water and made her way over to him, holding onto the coat ends in an attempt to keep them from getting wet.

Soujiro eyed the coat. "Where did you get that coat?"

Misao frowned, trying to pull out a memory. "I… I don't know. I don't remember much."

"Oh." Soujiro fidgeted and winced as pain sprouted from his stomach once again. "Itai…" He collapsed to his knees, holding his stomach.

Misao's brow furrowed as she realized he wasn't okay. Immediately, she began an onslaught of questions. "Are you hurt? What happened? And your lip is swollen…" She gasped. "Did someone beat you up? 'Cause if they did I'll go beat them up!"

Soujiro couldn't help but giggle at the image that came to his mind. This little girl beating up on his family… "I'll be OK… I always am. Haha, this is normal for me."

Misao frowned. "Getting beat up shouldn't be normal."

Soujiro sighed, staring down at their feet. "I guess I can't do things right. If I mess up something, they hit me. If they mess up something, they blame it on me and I get hit. I don't know why. Is there something wrong with me?" He looked up at Misao with pained, wide eyes; a cracked smile still clinging to his lips.

Misao placed a finger to her chin as if she were deep in thought. "Well, you have two eyes… and a nose… a mouth and two ears. You got all your limbs and you got hair. So I don't see anything wrong with you."

Soujiro nodded, seeming to like that answer. "I guess they just don't like me because I'm not really part of the family. It's what they say."

"Well, that's no reason for someone to not like you. I've only known you for a few minutes but I like you," Misao replied easily.

Soujiro's eyes widened as he looked back up. "You do?"

"Yup!"

Soujiro's smile widened. "I like you, too. You're really nice! But… your head."

Misao sat down across from Soujiro on the rock, gingerly reaching up to touch the wound. "Yeah, it hurts real badly."

"And you're shaking."

"Uh-huh."

"What happened?"

Misao closed her eyes tightly, trying to remember again. "I can't… remember. I think I fell..." She opened her eyes to see Soujiro leaning over, one arm at his stomach, the other pushing Misao's matted hair out of the way. "It's kinda bad… I can clean it up for you."

"You can?"

Soujiro nodded, continuing to examine the gash behind her ear. "I've learned the basics of taking care of myself since I get hit a lot."

Misao eyes became downcast. "That's sad."

Soujiro blinked. "Huh? What's sad?"

"The fact you're hurt so much that you know how to treat a wound. I mean, you can't be much older than me!"

Soujiro realized where the younger was coming from and smiled, closing his eyes. "Well, I think it's lucky for you, haha."

Misao forced a small smile and nodded in agreement. "Maybe… I guess so. Hey! What's your name?"

Soujiro hesitated, remembering after he told the girl from last night his name, she ran away.

"C'mon, I'll tell you mine!"

"…Okay. My name's Soujiro. Seta Soujiro."

Misao beamed, "Makimachi Misao at your service!"

Soujiro blinked, confused. "What service?"

Both paused then laughed. Soujiro's laugh was cut short by his pains and Misao stopped when he clenched his stomach. Misao noticed he was grasping something tightly in his hand. She pointed. "What do you have in your hand?"

Soujiro looked down at the tobikunai grasped in his hand. "I don't know; it's some sort of weapon. I found it yesterday." He opened his palm, revealing the sharp object.

"Oh, it's a kunai!" Misao chirped, obviously delighted in knowing what it was.

"A kunai?"

"Yeah! You throw it! Like this!" Misao took the weapon out of his hand and threw it at a tree a few feet away. It embedded itself into the trunk with a solid 'thunk' as Soujiro gaped. "Wow! You're good!"

Misao frowned. "Not really… I was aiming for the tree beside it."

"Oh, haha." Soujiro rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It's probably because your head hurts. Uhm…how do you know about weapons?"

Misao's answer was automatic and immediate. "Aoshi-sama."

"Who?"

Misao blinked. "Huh? Oh…I don't know. The name is familiar but I can't put a face to it."

Soujiro saw something wet glisten out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Misao's wound had opened back up. "Areh…I should go get some bandages. Stay here. If my family catches you they might hurt you."

Misao nodded, wrapping herself up in the overcoat. "Be careful, Sou-chan."

Soujiro's face reddened slightly. Only his mother had ever called him Sou-chan. "I will be, if they hit me, all I gotta do is smile and then they'll leave me alone." He turned and ran back up the path, one hand still wrapped around his waist, in an effort to hold the pain back, or so it would seem.

Soujiro sneaked up to the entrance, glancing inside. He could see the men of the family, chatting and drinking sake. He assumed the women were in the kitchen, cleaning. This left him a rather hidden path to the pantry, his goal. Doing all the labor work for the family had left Soujiro strong and fast, especially for a child of his age. He darted down the hallway, quietly and quickly. No one even noticed.


The little girl Soujiro had left behind was still sitting where he'd left her, contemplating on the great mystery that was herself. Misao glanced at the kunai embedded in the tree. "I know how to use kunai…I am wearing weird clothes…who am I? Why can't I remember?"

She turned her head to see Soujiro jogging back down the trail. "I'm back…!"

Misao watched him collapse beside her, breathing heavily and clutching his stomach. "Are you going to be okay, Sou-chan?"

Soujiro smiled. It felt good for someone to be concerned about him. "Haha, I think so. It will be better in the morning."

Soujiro made Misao turn her head so he could have full access to the cut. He filled a bowl with water and dipped the rag in, pressing it to the side of her head. Misao didn't like the silence so she racked her childish mind for something to talk about. "How old are you Sou-chan?"

Soujiro thought for a moment. "Eight."

"Cool! I'm six!"

"I can tell."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" The little girl cried out indignantly.

Soujiro grinned. "Nothing, Misao-san."

He saw Misao imitate a gag. "Don't call me -san. It sounds like I'm an old person."

She heard Soujiro giggle as she felt him wrap some gauze around her head. "There. Hopefully it won't get infected."

Later, Soujiro told Misao to stay by the stream and he would come back after night fall. Sure enough, as the stars began to come out, little Soujiro came back. "It's getting cold tonight...you can stay with me in the barn."

Misao frowned. "You sleep in the barn?"

Soujiro nodded sheepishly. Misao stood up, wobbled a bit as Soujiro ran over to steady her. "Dizzy?"

"Yeah…" Misao grabbed Soujiro's hand, who in returned smiled and led her up the path, careful to not let Misao trip or fall. He led her inside the barn and behind the hay bales, where a rag of a blanket was laid out.

"This is where you sleep?" Misao asked, appalled that a family would make a little boy sleep out in the barn. Especially one so sweet.

Soujiro nodded, still smiling. Misao sat down on the blanket and Soujiro sat beside her. "Well, tonight you won't get lonely or cold 'cause you're with me!"

Soujiro grinned and nodded once again. Misao then crawled up and snuggled beside him, casting the large coat across both of them. Soujiro, nervous, but at the same time excited that he had a friend, allowed himself to curl up beside Misao, resting his head on hers. "You know what, Misao-chan? You're my very first friend."

Misao looked up at him as best she could. "Really? Well…I'll be your very first best friend, too!"

Soujiro sighed happily. "Okay. Good night, Misao-chan."

"Good night, Sou-chan."

End Chapter 2


Translations:

Aoshi-sama: Lord Aoshi

Gaki: Brat

Gi: Shirt worn with hakama

Kunai: Misao's dart-like weapons

Itai: ouch

Areh: Derived from 'ara', a feminine exclamation, Soujiro uses this term a lot in the anime. (And I would assume the manga, too, but seeing as how I don't read Japanese…) It's kind of like Kenshin's 'oro' exclamation, and is used in surprise or as a 'huh?' thingie… yeah.


AN: This was kinda hard to write cuz I'm not too keen on getting into the minds of 6-8 year olds. Oh well, hopefully it'll do. Sorry for the shortness but we gots a lot of dialogue don't we? And yes, this fic has taken a strange turn of events! Woo wee! Many thanks to Kyouhi for her wonderful ideas!