Aurora Whisperwind: Thank you once again for the reviews! Your feedback has really been valuable to me towards shaping this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.

Chapter 3: Verdict

The village was archetypal, a bunch of ramshackle huts standing together like old men, and some fields around. It must be prettier in summer, when the fields where green, but now it was just desolate and repelling. Scrawny children scrambled around screaming with runny noses, the women were doing their daily chores and gossiping, and the men were sitting and talking or working. Kenshin was not in a good mood. They were an hour away from the village when Amaya suddenly asked him where they were going. He looked at her, surprised "To your village" Her eyes widened in shock. 'Where did she think we were going?'

She had stopped there abruptly and refused to walk any further. Already she was pretty slow and this caused even more delay. Kenshin was first surprised, then bemused, then a little irritated. He had grabbed her and set off, paying no attention to her squirming and screaming. And now he was in this god-forsaken place where everyone kept staring at him, a fact that only irritated him further. Trying hard to swallow his feelings of anger, he put Amaya down, who was sulking silently now; and approached an old woman sitting alone.

"Excuse me, but does the girl belong to this village? Bandits killed her mother… I couldn't save her-" Kenshin was interrupted by the woman "The whore was killed? Well that's news! And by bandits?" she shouted loud enough for half the village to hear. Everyone immediately looked their way and started gossiping avidly. Kenshin interjected again, raising his voice; so as to be audible amid the vicious whispering, "Well what I came here for was to know if she has any relatives or anyone willing to take her in" A deathly silence prevailed for a minute or two as the villagers stared at him.

"WHAT?" screamed a burly looking man in the crowd "You expect us to keep this stripling, when she and her mother have been nothing but trouble? She was a witch, her mother, with an ill-gotten, dirty child! She was a whore! We were glad they left, and now you bring this girl back and expect us to care for her?" Kenshin narrowed his eyes, which made the man fidget for a second. "You people threw them out?" he asked, voice deathly cold. They looked at him nervously, as if sizing him up. Then, deciding that he couldn't fight against twenty of them, admitted "Damn right we did! They were bad luck! Because of them, we lost our crop and a few children died as well! And not just this village, rumour has it that they brought bad luck to all the villages they stayed in! So get out of here and take that little bundle of misery with you!"

Kenshin was more than a little angry. Sure they could all sleep with the 'whore' but treating her as a human being went against their 'ethics'. It was stupid really, and distressing to know that people could be so very cruel. He should have expected this though; it was nothing new- a young prostitute with a child, never really belonging anywhere. It was surprising that she hadn't abandoned the girl; she evidently had tried the best she could.

He couldn't convince the whole village. And even if he forced them to take her, they'd probably kill her. He would have to take care of this girl on his own. As he turned to leave, the old crone wheezed out reassurance "For your own good, drown her in a river or something, or else she'll give that awful disease of hers to you!" he had paused and then walked on.

It was early evening, but the sun would set in an hour or two. He decided to make most of the time and head away from the village. So they set off, the villagers still muttering dark comments under their breaths. Where they were headed, he didn't know; but it had better be far. Great. He was stuck raising this child, as no one wanted her.

A small voice interjected hesitantly- "Rurouni-san" He nodded, showing that he was listening, but did not look at her. "You don't have to take care of me, Rurouni-san. What the villagers said was true… Amaya does bring bad luck. Mamma told me" He stopped in his tracks. All the anger vanished in a flash. "Don't be silly" he forced himself to say, "You'll die on your own." Guilt swept through him. It was not her fault. He had no right to get angry.

"Amaya dies anyway, Rurouni-san" he looked at her. She had bent her head and was solemnly looking at the ground. "Amaya have Rougai. Amaya will die soon. Mamma told me so. Amaya is a danger to all around me. That's why everyone's mad when they saw us. Used to it, Rurouni-san, every village we stayed ; we would be out because of me" She lifted her head and looked into his eyes, her brown ones teary, her nose red, snot oozing out of it, and her lower lip trembling.

If she had been a pretty, becoming child, maybe people would have pitied her. But she was plain at best, and an illegitimate child with a dangerous disease. It was easy to see why she and her mother wandered. And for a minute or so, he was filled not with pity, but with admiration for her mother. For she had tried to live, to make the most of it, in the only way she knew. Kenshin paused and bent down.

"Listen" he said, placing his hands on her shoulders and regarded her sad eyes "There is nothing wrong with having Rougai. It does not mean that you will die, there are medicines now. You'll get better. And there is no such thing as bringing 'bad luck.' Its just superstition." She blinked at him, and exclaimed with a little disbelief in her voice "You're not bothered? You don't think it's bad?" He gave her a reassuring smile "No. Besides, I've caused a lot of suffering as well, so I can't think it's bad. Besides, we'll take you to a doctor and you'll be all better soon"

That evidently did not convince her. "Mamma took me to doctor too. It didn't get better" Kenshin thought for a second "But I'll take you to a magic doctor. He can cure anything, the magic doctor. Amaya is a good girl, so we'll go there, okay?" She watched him for a while, trying to ascertain how serious he was. Kenshin smiled wider and stroked her unmanageable hair gently. Slowly she smiled back and hugged him, smearing some dirt on his neck. A breeze blew; a bitter, chilly breeze normally, but he didn't care. He hugged her harder, feeling happier than he had for a long time.

Author's notes: 'Rougai' would be tuberculosis. TB was very prevalent during the time, and as is typical with TB, it can kill within days or months. But it was by no means incurable- with proper treatment and rest, there was every chance of getting well even back then. However, finding treatment was hard- especially in remote villages.