Shade from the thin layer of roof was the only saving grace that he saw around him. The rest was plain horrifying. Small cuts and bruises covered his aching arms, which he had used to crawl his way through the ground. His feet were also extremely painful and his right leg was fractured slightly. Even his head was not spared; it was throbbing from a hard hit a while ago. The pain was so unbearable but he dared not to wish for anybody to see him. If someone did, he will be as good as dead.

At the corner of his eyes, he saw a shadow of a slim-built girl reflected on the ground before him. Someone's standing on the roof. His instincts told him to hide away, but the shadow stood steadily, as if watching his moments of pain. Raising his head a little, he caught a glimpse of her fresh, young face, and thought that she was another Aoiya resident. Her ninja suit made him feel wrong about the pity in her eyes. Was she going to kill him?

Soujiro's head dropped back to the ground but he continued to peek if she moved at all. For a few seconds, she remained in her stance, then she jumped her way down, causing a loud thud on his ears as her feet reached the ground.

It took a while before she finally spoke,"…. Soujiro Seta?", she asked quietly, her voice that of a young lady.

Am I going to tell her and give her a reason to kill me? It was a good thing she still asked but to him it was also a dilemma. Soujiro raised his head, full of effort, but dropped unconscious to the ground.

0-0-0-0-0-0-

What's a girl to do?

If Misao was only strong enough to pick him up, she would, seeing his bad condition. She looked at his full body up and down repeatedly, shaking her head. This is terrible. He needs help immediately.

How? If she and her friends had not decided to separate from each other that morning, they would have the slimmest chance to find Soujiro Seta alive. However, now that what they're looking for is right before her eyes, she did not expect that he would be this way. So far, the best way to help him is to bring him to her house. But how? What would the people do if they saw her helping a suspect? How would she carry him? Halfway through her thinking, she heard the sounds of hooves coming closer and closer. Just in time, a horse passed, carrying on its back a man and a cart of haystack.

Cleverly, she took off his blue clothing and wrapped it securely around his face, but careful enough not to suffocate him. Just a little more, Soujiro, I'm taking you home. "Hey! Please stop!", she hollered at the man behind a horse, making him look her way. "We need your help. Please give us a ride and take us back home."

The man stopped his horse, staring at the covered face of Soujiro Seta.

"Please."

"Hop on.", he finally said. He got off from the brown steed and helped her pick the victim from the ground.

They carefully placed Soujiro inside the cart of haystack. Misao hopped in and said, "Please go straight ahead. I'll tell you when to stop."

Soon the man reached Misao's home and helped her carry the victim again. She placed him on her own bed and gave the man all the pennies she had on her pocket. She took a few seconds to rest, and finally she stared at the lad, completely removing the blue clothing from his face. What now?

It will be evening soon. Kenshin and the others have not yet returned. She knows a little about medicine, but so far, she is used to cleansing the wounds by applying hot water. That's right! Quickly she went to the kitchen and fetched the hot water and got a basin with a clean towel. I hope this would help ease your pain.

Pouring the hot water to the basin, she dipped the towel carefully and prepared to touch his wounds with it. She gasped for air, wishing that she would do so successfully and without making him shout in pain, like what she does when she cleans her own wounds. Somehow a glimpse of hope came to her when Soujiro showed signs of consciousness.

"You're safe here.", Misao whispered. The boy tried hard to open his eyes to no avail. "Listen. I'm going to clean your wounds. This may hurt, but you need it."

With a quick move of her hand, she pressed the hot towel into one of his bruises. She heard nothing from him but a sudden, loud hiss pf pain.

"Try to stay still—"

She pressed harder. This time, he was able to open his eyes as the pain came about. He took in several gasps of air, then tried to speak.

"I—I didn't do it!"

Misao stopped. "I know."

Soujiro gasped for more air, clinging to Misao's wrist like a scared child. "They have framed you. Now try not to panic. You'll be safe here."

Hearing her words, Soujiro slowly let go of his tight, unsteady grip. He closed his eyes, as if trying to rest the turmoil and deceit within. "I don't know why…"

"Where am I?", his eyes flickered and opened, seeing her face completely. Who are you?

"You're in my house."

"And you…?"

"Let's just say that I'm a close friend of someone who helped you not so long ago."

Someone who helped me? Soujiro tried to uncover the past for some answers. Nobody helped me! Shishio?... it cant be possible. Could it be… Himura?

"Now,", she said, breaking his thoughts. "How did you get these terrible wounds?"

He raised a hand to his forehead and massaged it to ease the pain. "When someone had recognized me from the posters, the chased and mobbed me."

"… And you didn't protect yourself?", she asked in a strange tone.

No. I didn't. if I would, I could kill someone. Just like before. "I… just ran away and got lost."

"Misao!"

Both looked at the troubled faces by the door, all surprised by the stranger lying on the bed with the basin of water beside him.

"I found him."

0-0-0-0-0-0-

"It was a good thing we knew that you're just being framed." Kenshin spoke. Soujoro was still lying in bed, with Misao still cleansing his wounds. Kaoru sat beside her, treating his fracture with bandages. "Tell me, Soujiro,", Kenshin continued. "Why do you think this is happening?"

"We knew from the start that this is all a lie.", Yahiko added.

Soujiro grimaced at the pain of his broken leg, but tried hard to concentrate at the question. "Sure enough, the Meiji government didn't want me alive."

"Why? Because you're Shishio's right-hand man?", Sano asked.

"Maybe so.", he replied.

"That's crappy! They actually think that you will continue Shishio's legacy?", Misao protested.

Kenshin nodded. "Could be. But…"

"Maybe they wanted to clear the country of people like me."

"Yes, but they would have to frame a lot more people to do that.", Kaoru said thoughtfully.

Kenshin focused on the lad, thinking hard. "Do you know something Soujiro?"

"What do you mean?"

"Being an asset of a rebel group, you know things about the government that they didn't want you to release."

Soujiro sighed, asking himself why he didn't think of the question before. Now that Himura mentioned it…

"I admit I know too much."