Chp.4

Kenshin lay in bed one night thinking about his spot. He wasn't sure whether he should tell Hiko and Tara or not. Also, he was going over his complete seven months of training in his head, trying to fix flaws mentally and remember everything said. Therefore, as Hiko slept away silently in his bed, and Tara on a mat in the floor, the young Kenshin lay wide awake thinking. Despite what he had gone through that day, he didn't seem tired. His my wandered around from his training to random thoughts.

"That's it…" He whispered and got up. He pulled off his night clothes and put on his teal shirt and white pants. He struggled to tie his belt by the dim light of the moon and pulled his hair up on top of his head. He grabbed his sword and slid it into his belt, and decided that wouldn't work. He instead tied it around his shoulder and pushed the door open.

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Kenshin walked down the path still thinking. "Hey, I'm almost six years old!" He smiled at the thought. He stopped at the fork in the road. He always went down the right one to go to the training spot, but the other path he had never traveled before. He turned down the left path and began walking.

He saw the shadows of buildings up ahead. He had never seen them before. He advanced toward them until he was on a street. Everything was so big. It made him feel meek and tiny. He slowly walked down the dark, abandoned street, looking at everything. He decided this was a good mental training, to find his way around the city and back home with no problem. Also, it wasn't like he was doing anything WRONG, right?

"This place sure looks big. I wonder where I am?" Kenshin asked himself out loud as he turned a corner.

"Say there, little boy?" A voice came from a door that opened, pouring light over Kenshin. Kenshin squinted his eyes, them being adjusted to the dark and looked at the body in the doorway.

"Yes sir?"

"I noticed you have a sword. You good with it?" The man asked.

"I would like to believe I'm getting there, sir, that I would," Kenshin said. "Why?"

"Come inside out of the cold for a moment," The man summoned him in with his hand. Kenshin, knowing to never disobey, walked in.

~~~~~~~~~

The room was cozy with a fire in its fireplace, a long table with papers scattered on it, brightened by an oil lamp, and six chairs at the table. There was a painting over hanging the fireplace of a woman in a kimono.

"Gosh," Kenshin was quite impressed, especially considering how poor his previous environments had been.

"Tell me, do you think what the world is like right now is right?" Kenshin now noticed the man wore a very nice man's kimono and had a thin face with high cheek bones. His eyes and hair were brown and a beard wrapped his chin.

"Um…Some people killed the lady who helped me because she was a slave…" Kenshin whispered. "If the world's anything like that, then I don't like it."

"Yes, you see, we're trying to bring out a new age with a new government, but…" The man rubbed his chin.

"But…b-but what?"

"But to make it happen, we're going to need some men destroyed. Therefore we need…manslayers," The man smirked at the word manslayers, as if it were a good thing.

"Manslayers?" Kenshin didn't know what a manslayer was.

"Yes, and kid, you may be young, but by the time we need you, you'll be old enough to use that sword properly,"The man said.

"You want me to be a manslayer for you?" Kenshin asked looking up at him in wonder.

"Yes of course, uh-"

"Kenshin."

"Kenshin what?"

"Uh---" Kenshin realized he didn't have a last name. He thought for a moment, piecing letters in his head. "Kenshin----Him-Himura. Kenshin Himura."

"Himura huh? Nice. Good ring to it. So, do you want to be a manslayer?"

"I don't know sir, I only just started training with my sword seven months ago, that I have. I still don't think I'm capable of fighting. I'm only five years old, that I am," Kenshin said.

"well here," The man wrote something down and handed him the paper. "Come back when you think your ready. Even if it's years from now."

"Um-okay," Kenshin said reading the paper. "Tomokawa Sako" then followed with an address. "Hey, uh-what city is this?"

"Why-it's Kyoto, my boy."

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Kenshin walked back down the path. He was almost home. He could see the top of the house over the hill. He was finally starting to feel the weight of the day's training and was ready to go to bed. He walked down the hill and stopped right there…

"M-master…" Kenshin whispered fearfully, remembering the 'never run off' rule he'd already broken four months ago.

"Where the hell did you go off to?" Hiko said with a confusing tone that didn't tell if he felt worried, angry, or just fine.

"I uh-"

"You KNOW you're not supposed to run off. Why can't you follow my rules when I tell you to? That's all I ask is to follow rules and learn what I teach. How many times are you going to do this!? Why can't you just do as I say?! I-"

"What's a manslayer?!" Kenshin yelled out, tired of being lectured and still confused. Hiko went quiet.

"Get inside," Hkio's voice was scary.

"But-"

"Get in there!!!"

"Yes sir!" Kenshin cried and ran inside, right into Tara's arms. She picked him up and rocked on her heels, shushing him from his crying. She eyed Seijiro dangerously. He seemed to sink a little.

"I just wanted to know…" Kenshin moaned into Tara's shirt.

"Seijiro…." She said angrilly under her breath. "I'm angry with you. Don't speak to me… "

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Dude….that was fun to write… ^-^; Boy, I feel like writing more…but I gotta feed my dogs now. Hope you enjoyed the chappie! BYE BYE!!!! ^-^