Chp.6

An eight year old Kenshin practiced his sword techniques in the yard while Hiko chopped wood. Winter would be coming soon and not only did that mean snow, but it meant harder training, cold nights, more food stocked up, and-of course-firewood. The leaves had already fallen off the trees, and the grass had turned to a pale yellow-green and felt like straw. Kenshin now had a light blue shirt with long sleeves and gloves like Hiko's.

"I'm gonna go to Kyoto and get food, Hiko," Tara said walking out in her red kimono covered in pink and purple flowers. A purple bow was tied at her middle.

"Can I come?" Kenshin asked, eagerly wanting to stop training for a while. He'd never been there before in the daylight. She looked over at him.

"Sure, kiddo, let's go!" She took his hand after he put his sword in his belt and went down the road.

~~~~~~~~~

"Good morning, Miss Kao. Is that the boy you've told me about?" A woman selling scarfs asked.

"Yes, ma'am, this is Kenshin," Tara pushed him forward a little.

"Now, he's a very handsome young boy. He looks about the age of Kyonae down the road. Maybe they could be friends," The lady said.

"Ya' know? Kenshin here needs some friends," Tara looked at him. He looked up at her confused. She winked and took his hand. "Come on, I want you to go somewhere while I shop."

~~~~~~~~

"Hello there!" Tara waved to a woman in a light purple kimono and a bun in her hair. She looked up at Tara and smiled.

"Hello, Tara! Nice seeing you!" She yelled.

"Hey! I gotta kid here to play with your daughter! Remember that Kenshin I told you about? This is him!" Tara laughed and pushed him forward.

"Goodness, how handsome. He looks very intellectual. And take a look at that red hair," The woman ran her fingers through his hair. "He's so skinny though."

"She's a doctor," Tara whispered to Kenshin.

"Goodness, mind if I give him a free check up?"

"If it's free then---no," Tara smiled and gave the peace sign.

~~~~~~~~~

Miss Tasuki, the doctor, walked in front of Kenshin who now sat on a table. "Take off your shirt, honey," Miss Tasuki said. Tara had left to shop. Kenshin did as told.

"Goodness me. You are a skinny one. Not saying that you don't have muscle though. You must work very hard."

"Yes ma'am. Master works me very hard, he does. I train every day from sun up to sun down, that I do. I've been doing that since I was five. I'm eight now," Kenshin said.

"Okay," She began the normal precedure, checking his heart, reflexes, and the like. "You seem healthy enough. If you want, you can go play with my little girl, Kyonae. She's outside."

"Alright," Kenshin hopped off the table, pulled his shirt on, put his sword in his belt and left.

~~~~~~~

Kenshin froze in his tracks. There was a girl his age sitting watching ants wander in a line. She wore an orange kimono with a yellow bow and had long, dark, wavy hair. Her eyes were brown and watched intently as if the ants would mess up.

"Um-hello?" Kenshin asked quietly as he neared the end of the hill. The little girl looked up at him. Kenshin felt his heart speed up as his cheeks flushed.

"Hello, have I met you?"

"N-no, I am K-K-Kenshin…Kenshin Himura," Kenshin said.

"Kenshin? Neat," Kyonae said smiling. "I'm Kyonae."

"I know, your mom told me, she did," Kenshin said sitting next to her. "So what are you doing?"

"Watching the ants," She said.

"Why?"

"I don't have anyone to play with," She said.

"I'll play with you."

"Okay, let's play tag!" She touched his shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" She then ran off. Kenshin got up and chased after her. She sqeualed in delight as he began to catch up with her and bounded ahead. Kenshin stared for a moment then tried his luck at going faster. They played for awhile, going back and forth in tag, then sat down on the hill to rest.

"So, Kenshin, are you a samurai?"

"I'm a stupid apprentice," Kenshin said. She giggled. "Well, that's what Master calls me."

"So, why don't you live with your parents?"

"My parents died of cholera when I was really young, and the slaves I lived with later were-" The memory flashed in his mind, "taken from me."

"Did they die?" She whispered.

The memory flashed again, the redness of the blood showing out of everything. He closed his eyes to make it go away, but it just became clearer. He opened his eyes, and it was gone. "Th-they were."

"Oh, my daddy was killed by mean men too. They told him that they was brigin' out a revo-revo-"

"Revolution?" Kenshin guessed.

"Yeah, that's it. They said that they wanted ta bring out a new era, whatever that is."

The words Tomokawa Sako said to him back then entered his ears again. He sat there in silence thinking. "Was it a manslayer that killed her dad?" He thought. "Is that what Tomokawa wanted me to become? Are they bad like the people who killed my second family?"

"Hello, Kenshin, anyone home?" Kyonae knocked on his head.

"H-hey stop that!" Kenshin laughed. She started laughing too. "Say, how do you know this?"

"My mommy talked to him on his death bed, and he told her that stuff. She told me when I got old enough ta understand. She said that one day they'd corrupt kids like me one day with their ideas. She told me to never listen to what a stranger says. She says this revo-re-vo-luu-tion thing is bad and stupid."

"Well, I don't know," Kenshin said. "They might have something there. I mean, theis world isn't perfect, that it's not, and many people are being killed because of who they are, like my slave family. In this new era thing, maybe everyone would be equal."

"You sure do talk like a grown-up for a little kid like me," Kyonae said.

"Well, I've already been through a lot, and Master uses a lot of big words when he talks. I always need to know what he says, so I need to know what those words are, that I do."

"Anyways, the revolution, mommy says, is just another reason to kill people without getting arrested for it. She says that bloodshed should stop. It's not fair. It's nothin' more than an endless, bloody battle."

"Well, not everyone is going to agree with the other's way. So there will be battle. I like death only as much as you do, but I've seen it, and it had to of been for a reason." The wind began to blow lightly. Clouds moved through the sky.

"Why do you think the man who killed my father licked his sword?"

"It sounds like you were there, it does. Were you really there?"

Kyonae was silent. "Yes," She then said quietly. That's how I heard the man. Not from mommy."

"Oh…" Kenshin fell silent as well. "Well, I guess the man likes the taste of blood?"

"Eeew, blood tastes icky," Kyonae stuck out her tounge.

"Oh, I don't know…" Kenshin said. He then realized something. He liked the taste of his blood. His mind then asked him What does other people's blood taste like? He shook his head and said, "Uh, y-you're right. C'mon, let's play Hide and Seek. I get to hide!"

"No fair, I wanted to hide," Kyonae pouted as Kenshin ran off. She closed her eyes and began to count to one hundred.