Koharu awoke to find herself laying face down in the dirt. She barely had to twist her arms around to know that they had been tied behind her. She grunted softly in an effort to pull the ropes loose, but it didn't take much resisting to know she wouldn't be able to escape them. She hopelessly dropped her head back against the ground, her fists balling from resentment.

He didn't come back for me. He never cared. I sacrificed my freedom for someone who would let me die.

She had never left Gifu for this very reason until she met Soujiro. She knew the risks when she left and had somehow believed it was going to be worth it. What hurt the most was that he had let her fall, no, he had caused her to fall, and then turned his back too easily to her. He didn't even care to return no matter how hard she screamed his name out. She had been let down, once more.

"You awake, wench?" She heard Hisato's voice from behind. She knew it was him from his deep voice and how he naturally slurred his words together from drinking too much.

She didn't respond. Instantly, she was yanked back by her two braids and screamed out until she was forced on her knees. "You better answer me, broad, when I speak to you," he yelled. Koharu still didn't speak up and showed little emotion, despite the pain he was causing her. "What? No tears this time?"

Usually, she would be crying, but she was too emotionally distraught and angry over Soujiro having abandoned her so easily. It hurt too much how easily she was pushed aside and she was angry in herself because what it had cost her.

Koharu screamed when Hisato yanked her back by her braids, once more, and dragged her across the ground. If no one was paying attention now, Koharu's mistreatment became the center of attention. Hisato's band of thieves consisted mainly of young boys ranging from her age to near Soujiro's. She was the only girl. Hisato's hideout was located before a cave where she knew they stored and hid their stolen goods. The mouth of the cave was somewhat concealed by the growing branches of a nearby tree and some bushes, but they had nearly lost all their leaves due to the season. Other than that, their hideout looked like much of the rest of the forest and was miles off the main road.

"Tell me, Koharu, when did you last eat? Has it only gotten better for you since you left, or worse?"

"I'd still rather starve than work for you again!" She yelled, as tears of anger ran down her cheeks. "These idiots are stupid for taking orders from the likes of you!"

Some of the boys nearby stepped back at her boldness to talk in such a way towards their boss. Others snickered at her knowing what was coming because of her insult to Hisato.

Hisato immediately picked her up by the front of her gi and backhanded slapped her back against the ground. "I'm going to teach you some respect, one way or another!" He forced her on her stomach and used the knife at his side to cut her rope off. He turned her back over, pulling her up by the front of her while still holding his knife up at her face. " They would have nothing without me. These boys owe me their very lives, as do you!" He picked her up and tossed her through the air. "They choose to stay here, but you, you belong to me."

The air was knocked from her lungs when her back struck against the ground. As quickly as she could manage, she backed away on her feet and palms before twisting around and leaping to her feet. She was simply going to make a run for when a boy cut her off. "What's wrong, busu? Can't fight your own battle-" he was cut short when she twisted her first and threw it straight into the boy's nose. It was a strong, confident punch, but it merely angered the boy. He responded by returning the punch to her right eye and knocked her back against the ground back near Hisato.

Hisato chuckled as he stepped forward and bore his heavy foot back on Koharu's chest. "You see, Koharu, these boys respect me. You're the only one with the problem. You'll soon come to appreciate my generosity. Akio!" He suddenly called to one of the youngest of the boys.

"Yes, sir?" The boy stepped forward with a slight bow.

"Fetch me my bottle of saki with my staff. I always prefer to drink when I have to discipline. "

"Right away, sir," the boy known as Akio said before hurrying into the cave. He returned promptly with the bottle of saki and a rather ornate looking wooden staff that had a head of a bear snarling carved at the top. Hisato first snatched the bottle of saki from Akio and bit the top up before spitting it aside and taking a swig. He lowered the bottle after taking his first swallow and spat out a satisfying sigh. He then took the staff in hand as he took another swig from the bottle and in the midst of all drinking, slammed the end of his staff over her left fingers and crushed them into the ground. Koharu's body twisted and tried arching her back as she wailed at the top of her lungs in response to her bones being crushed in her hand. In the midst of her screaming, Hisato lowered the bottle calmly before taking yet, another swig of the alcohol. Just as he was preparing to strike the staff into her other hand, he saw movement coming towards them just outside the boundaries of their hideout. "Ah, it looks like Itsuki and Kaito are back from paying your friend a visit."

But as the two boys neared, Hisato saw they weren't alone. Soujiro still held the boy's arm he dislocated from his shoulder and held a knife up to his neck as they were escorted within the boundaries of their hideout.

Itsuki rushed forward and bowed before Hisato. "Forgive me, Hisato. He left me no choice but to bring him here. He just wants the girl."

Soujiro's eyes fell upon Koharu lying flat under the man's large foot. He had heard her scream just now, but didn't know what had caused her to scream out in such a way. She was still crying and twisting in pain as she cradled her arm, but he could not tell yet, what had been done exactly.

"You two fools couldn't handle him alone?" Hisato yelled out in his drunkenness. He had yet to see Soujiro's sword because he was holding Kaito hostage in front of him. Hisato was judging him already to be a wimp of a child, despite the fact that Soujiro was holding a knife to Kaito's throat. "And you lead him here? To my hideout?"

"Forgive me!" Itsuki fell over his knees on the ground with his arms stretched out to Hisato. "He was going to kill me and my brother if I didn't."

"You deserve to die if this boy can defeat you both," Hisato growled.

"No! He's mad!" Kaito hollered out pathetically. As if to prove his point, Soujiro released the boy with a shove and kicked into his backside so Kaito fell forward next to his brother. Soujiro then drew his katana forth sensing that the others were about to attempt an attack in an effort to prove Hisato's words about him were true. Keeping the sword drawn would serve to make sure the others kept their distance from him.

Hisato was at first becoming incensed that two of his own fell too easily to what looked to be a child in his eyes. His expression then changed to one of astonishment when Soujiro seemed to pull his sword out of thin air and all the more so as he examined Soujiro more closely. He no longer saw a child, but a young man who knew how to fight. Someone he thought he could have. By the looks of his tattered clothes covered in dirt and seeing the blood that stained his clothes, Hisato knew he must have little to nothing. He belonged nowhere. He already was seeing Soujiro as belonging to him now. Hisato removed his foot off of Koharu and started to approach Soujiro.

Soujiro was frankly becoming disturbed by how the man was staring him down.

"I see the fire in your eyes, boy. Such fire that only burns in the eyes of a...samurai?" When Soujiro didnt deny it, Hisato chuckled. "It must be my lucky day."

"Why is that?" Soujiro finally spoke up for the first time. His eyes shifted to Koharu when she shifted to her side in an attempt to gaze more clearly at him. She had reacted little to his presence until he spoke. She had recognized his voice, but now she had to see it to believe it. She finally managed to roll on her stomach and prop herself up on her strong arm.

Soujiro could hardly believe she was managing a smile despite the pain she was clearly in. Her tears were quickly replaced with tears of joy. She could finally look up to see her savior with his sword drawn and ready to fight for her. "Soujiro," she cried out softly. "You came back. You actually came back." Even if she had to crawl to him, she made an earnest effort to be back near his side. She was stopped short when one of the older boys stepped forward and thrust his foot down to keep her pinned where she lay. She whined softly and still tried to crawl towards him to no avail. "Let me go!" She cried out over her shoulder.

Hisato looked from her back to Soujiro. "I can see now why this girl admires you. Tell me, what interest is she to you?"

Soujiro hesitated to speak. He didn't have a specific reason. Not one he could put into words for them to understand. He lowered his sword slightly and decided to go with the story he had given to the police. At least a similar one. "Look, you happened to pick up my sister. We were separated and I just came to...reclaim...her," he hesitated the last two words confusingly when Koharu started shaking her head frantically.

Hisato suddenly let out a drunken laugh. "Koharu's brother died months ago. Nice try, boy. She's here to repay the damage and loss her brother cost me. If you wish to stay near her, for whatever that reason is, you'll have to stay and work for me. Of course, it's not like you have any choice. You've seen our faces and where we reside. The only other option is to kill you."

Soujiro raised his blade back on guard. I'm starting to understand why she is dressed as she is. "I'm not here to join your little band of thieves. I'm just here for Koharu. I've barely known her for twenty-four hours and I even know she's going to be nothing but trouble to you. Just let me take her off your hands and I'll be on my way."

"I don't think you're hearing me clearly, " Hisato spat. He pointed his staff towards Soujiro as he spoke. "Listen to me, kid."

Soujiro was irked at being called a kid. No one was going to win him over by referring to him as a child.

"You're looking no better off than this girl. In fact, you look worse for the wear. That looks serious," he pointed the staff towards where the blood stained Soujiro's clothes at his side. "We have the means to give you new clothes and medicine. You just have to agree to work for me. Your can consider this whelp," he looked over his shoulder at Koharu, "as a bonus if you'd like." The man laughed mockingly when Soujiro' s eyes narrowed in contempt as he had spoke. He was making it sound like Soujiro was after Koharu to have as some personal slave. It was part of the reason he tried claiming her as his sister. It was hard for most to understand why he was here for her. "What choice do you have, boy? You've clearly got no where else to go."

"Let me be clear with you. I'm not working and lowering myself to dirt like you. I'm taking Koharu and leaving."

Koharu's eyes focused on movement happening behind Soujiro when she saw light glance off metal as it was passed from a boy to Itsuki's hand. He was getting ready to get his revenge for what he had done to him and his brother.

"Soujiro! Behind you!" Koharu screamed.

Soujiro was already aware of what was going on behind him. He had kept himself aware of Itsuki's actions as he crawled back with his brother behind the others and watched him slither back near him as he confronted Hisato.

Just as Koharu screamed the warning, Itsuki was about to wrap his arm around Soujiro's neck and slit his throat. Before he could even lay a hand on him, Soujiro turned slightly, raising his elbow and thrust it into Itsuki's face. The blow knocked Itsuki back as Soujiro brought his sword down and grazed it down the front of his legs and threw a front kick to his stomach. Itsuki was thrown on his back away from Soujiro, barely aware he had grazed his legs with his sword because of how quickly it all happened. A plan B was set in motion when the boy, who had given Itsuki the knife, stepped forward and thrust his own knife forward through the air to strike Soujiro.

Soujiro whirled around and swung his sword in one fluid circular motion causing the blood on his sword to be propelled to the ground as the knife bounced off his own blade.

"How did he do that?" One of the younger boys questioned out loud. They all were amazed.

"Baka! You'll pay-" Itsuki started reaching for his fallen knife until Soujiro thrust his foot back in his chest to pin him against the ground and lowered his katana towards the boy's throat.

"If you wish to keep your legs intact, you'll stay out of my way from now on."

With that, he lifted his foot off Itsuki and turned his attention back to Hisato. All that Soujiro had done was make Hisato want him on his side all the more. Soujiro was clearly tired, maybe even sick but was hardly breaking a sweat. Hisato was determined to force his stay by any means.

Koharu had felt the weight of the boy's foot on her back lessen as he had watched in awe of Soujiro's swordmanship. Despite the pain it caused her, she rolled herself to the side causing the boy's foot to slide off with ease. She stumbled to her feet narrowly missing the boy's attempt at clutching her braids to yank her back. Koharu thought she was in the clear when she rushed passed Hisato and only Soujiro was in her view. She had barely made it halfway in between them before Hisato decided to hurl the bottle of saki at her. The bottle shattered when it struck her skull and she collapsed instantly onto the ground. Blood leaked off the side of her skull into one of her braids and she remained motionless on the ground.

Since being broken by Kenshin, Soujiro has been more lax about revealing his emotions. He was now clearly revealing strong emotion over what had just happened. The moment that bottle shattered against Koharu's head, something within him snapped. His eyes widened at the sight and his lips parted in such a way like he had been the one to receive the blow. The shock in his eyes quickly were turning into ones of wrath as he slowly shifted his eyes back to Hisato. Some of the boys standing nearby started backing away as if sensing the darkening aura around him.

"As I said, if you want the girl at all, " he spoke as he approached her limp form, "you'll have to stay and work for me." Seeing Soujiro's expression darken at his attack on Koharu, Hisato thought he finally had a hold over him. He took it as a sign of weakness. "In fact, if you don't, I'll kill her right here, right now." He said as he rested the end of his staff against the temple of her head.

Soujiro's hands quivered ever so slightly as he held his sword. Part of him had regretted striking the policeman down in cold blood in Kyoto only after acting on his emotions. He was trying to control them now, but Hisato was attacking him in a way he was not realizing. Soujiro could only see the father from his adoptive family standing before him and that was of no benefit to Hisato.

"Are you just going to stand there, boy? My patience is wearing thin."

Koharu moaned softly as she shifted her head to look around her. She then turned her eyes upwards only to see her attempt to escape had been futile. She whimpered out loud when Hisato put pressure against the staff into the temple of her head. She closed her eyes as she cried out. "Soujiro!"

It had once been him. Soujiro 's whole family had tried to kill him after finding out he was sheltering a criminal like Shishio. No matter how Soujiro had cried out for help, it never came. He had saved himself at great cost. But it was clear Koharu was too weak to save herself.

"My patience is at its end, boy! Decide now!" Hisato yelled as he raised his staff threateningly over her head. When Soujiro only continued to stare just the same, Hisato snarled in anger. "Like you said, she's not worth the trouble!" Koharu screamed as he brought the staff down for the death blow.

The blow never came. Her eyes were still tightly shut when she heard the sound of pieces of wood striking the ground beside her, and two soft thuds upon the ground. She turned her head upwards to see Soujiro beside her, his sword covered in fresh blood. On each side of her was the staff sliced in half and at her feet were Hisato's severed hands. Before Hisato could take in what had happened, Soujiro stepped forward with a strong kick and tossed Hisato back to get him away from Koharu and himself.

Hisato fell to the ground and finally raised his handless arms over his face. "Aah! What have you done to me?" He wailed as he shook his arms out in front of him. He continued to scream at the shock of losing two limbs. "You bastard!"

Soujiro thrust his sword out to the side in one fluid strike to rid it of the fresh blood before sheathing it. "That was me holding back. I'm not saying you'll live. But I don't think you deserve to. And you hardly deserve a quick death."

He still look plenty threatening and the last person any of them wanted to be near after what he did. Except for a certain someone. He suddenly stumbled to the side when Koharu had leapt to her feet and threw herself into his side to embrace him. "Koharu," he tried to keep to his serious tone. She was shaking and still in shock over her near death experience as she cried into the fabric of his clothes. She held him with no intention of letting him go any time soon.

"You're here. You came back," her voice was muddled because she buried her face so tightly to his side.

"Koharu!" He said in a sharper tone of voice, his arm raised awkwardly above her. Her grip didn't lessen. He no longer had the power to scare her away after what he had done for her. He went to go push her away until he felt the sticky substance against the side of her head as well as shards of glass still caught in her hair. He didn't exactly want to, but knew he had to quickly check to see if permanent damage has been done and if she needed immediate help. He tried ignoring the others stares and knelt down to her height to see the damage the bottle had done.

"You did hear me, " she kept repeating in disbelief. "You heard me and came back."

"Hai, Koharu," He said when he was down at her height. "I heard you. It's hard not to." He slowly tugged at a chunk of glass impaled in her hair. When she reacted little to the touch, he carefully pulled it out as well as a clump of her dark hair that had been severed from the shard. When he saw traces of blood on the shard of glass and hair, he knew he had to examine her head more closely. "Hold still." He pulled a few smaller shards out and then carefully parted her hair to the side to examine where it penetrated. He used his sleeves to quickly absorbed some blood and breathed in relief when he saw he couldn't actually see her skull. It didn't look like she would even need any stitching. Her thick hair being pulled taut by her braids had taken the brunt of the bottle shattering. "All right, I think you'll be..." he stopped when he saw her clearly blushing from his touch as she tugged on her other braid. She was almost smiling.

She shifted her eyes up at his and then quickly looked away embarrassingly from his stern gaze. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"...fine." He finished.

Just as he thought he could relax over her well being, his eyes fell upon her hand she had been keeping partially concealed with her good sleeve. He gently, but firmly pulled her arm out making her grunt out in pain, nonetheless.

"Um, it's...fine," she attempted to convince for both their sakes, but Soujiro knew better. Her fingers had been smashed and were jutting out in all different and unnatural directions off her hand. He finally knew what made her scream in such a way just before he showed up. Another wave of anger was starting to over take him but he kept it at bay as he stood from Koharu. His eyes fell upon the boy known as Akio. "You!" The anger was clearly still seething out by how he spoke. "Your boss mentioned you keep fresh clothes and medicine. Where is it?"

"Uh-"

Hisato had finally gotten over his knees without the aid of hands and his anger blazed over the nerve of Soujiro's request. "You better give him noth-"

Soujiro had it and clutched his palm around Hisato's mouth and craned his head upwards so they were looking eye to eye now. Soujiro found his knife by his side and Hisato could suddenly feel the cold blade touching his throat. "Not another word from you. My patience is wearing thin." He mocked. With that, he passed the knife to Koharu and threw Hisato back against the ground. Soujiro looked back at Akio. "I'm waiting." The boy nodded more eagerly and started to lead Soujiro away.

Koharu started to follow, but paused once to look down at Hisato. "I told you that you better pray you never meet Soujiro."

Hisato snarled and attempted to lunge at her. His actions were cut short when Soujiro thrust his foot back into his skull as he had walked by. Hisato finally blacked out cold upon the ground. Koharu stepped away sheepishly when she found Soujiro staring again with those disapproving eyes. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "But it was true."

Soujiro rolled his eyes before facing Akio once more. "Your boss probably won't be waking up again with the amount of blood he's losing. I doubt you'll have to worry about him later."

"All right, I'll show you our supplies. " Akio seemed much more willing now.

Soujiro followed him only passing one other boy closer to his age as he was led into the cave. "You're really fast," the boy finally got to exclaim.

"Hai. I get that a lot," Soujiro smiled as he passed him.

Soujiro was impressed, or rather in disbelief the amount of stuff these amateurs had managed to steal. They had managed to fill both sides of the walls when entering the cave. "You've guys had a busy summer," Soujiro noted out loud.

"Hai," the boy said nervously. "Hisato demanded we bring in a certain amount of goods each week or we would be punished."

"Why stay with him?" Soujiro couldn't help but question.

"We had no where else to go."

That didn't stop Koharu. She had the nerve to do what none of these others boys could do. He looked over his shoulder to check on her. She had stayed close to his side up to this point before wondering over to the opposite wall to explore the stolen goods.

"I think this crate has some clothes," Akio pointed it out along the wall.

Soujiro opened the crate and began going through its contents when both he and Akio heard a crash. They both looked over their shoulder only to find a stack of crates tipped over and a guilty looking Koharu. "I'm sorry."

"Leave it alone, Koharu. We're only taking what we need." Having spent the last few minutes with her was already giving him dreadful idea of what traveling with her was going to be like.

If Koharu could have, she would have clasped her hands together hopefully at Soujiro's words. She took a step forward and risked the question. "We? Am I...going with you?"

Soujiro gave a small nod to her. "Hai. For now."

Koharu didn't know what he meant by the words 'for now,' but all that she really heard was that she got to stay with him. Even with her broken hand, she was grinning from ear to ear and long after Soujiro had turned his back to her to continue gathering supplies.

Soujiro found a large pouch to use as he gathered fresh clothes for them and other supplies they would need on the journey. He decided in the end to take some money even though his goal was to avoid any towns and villages. It felt foolish not to take some while he had the chance. It would simply be for emergencies. The last thing Soujiro decided to take was another hat if for whatever reason they had to through a village or town, he could better conceal himself.

He stood and faced Koharu who had sat down and patiently waited on him. "Ready?"

"Hai." She stood promptly, probably more eager to leave than him. She still cradled her arm with the broken hand and kept her sleeve over the deformed shaped fingers so she didn't have to look at them. Soujiro knew he would have to be the one to set it and was only putting it off now until he knew they gathered the supplies that included mending the hand and until they got far enough from here.

There was good reason for that as Soujiro saw most of the boys blocking their way out the cave. Itsuki was in the front, probably having entered to mend the wounds Soujiro gave him. Koharu stayed close behind him as they faced their final obstacle. He had earned some of their respect, but that didn't mean he could trust them. Their only role model, after all, had been Hisato.

"Is that it?" Itsuki questioned him. "You come for that whelp," he eyed Koharu, "at the cost of attacking my brother and me, killing our boss and taking what's rightfully ours?" He eyed the bag Soujiro now carried with their supplies.

"You can't deny that I didn't try going about this more peacefully," Soujiro said. "I assure you that I only took what I needed. You still have a surplus of supplies."

"And what exactly are we supposed to do now that you killed our boss?"

"Get out of the way!" Koharu yelled. "You know you can't beat Sou-"

"You lead them," Soujiro interrupted as he covered her mouth. "You seem capable."

"I thought we were amateurs."

Soujiro looked over his shoulder at the surplus of goods they had managed to steal and looked back at Itsuki. "Clearly, you're doing something right. Surely, you don't need someone like Hisato to tell you what to do. It sounds like you guys did all the work anyway."

"I lead instead of Hisato?"

"Somebody has to," Soujiro said, as he started to urge himself forward with Koharu through the small crowd of bandits. As he hoped, his words to Itsuki gave the young man a sense of purpose. If anything, Soujiro had earned their respect even more so, but Soujiro was just trying to leave without causing anymore contentions. Thankfully, he wasn't stopped again. As he exited the cave with Koharu, he could overhear Itsuki going on about becoming a great leader. In a way, Soujiro pitied the man in that he thought he was going to be something special leading a band of young thieves.

He then realized that he shouldn't be one to judge them like that. He wasn't far off from where they were. He was a fugitive on the run. These thieves were going to be living like nobles compared to him. The thought of it saddened him. He had said he would not lower himself to dirt like Hisato, but how different was he really from him? Would it still be like this ten years down the road? So far, his journey was only adding to his confusion.

AN: As I said, this isn't a love story but what twelve year old girl wouldn't be crushing on a guy like Soujiro at that point? XD He knows better of course haha