July 12

We've finally arrived today at our new home. It's a small one-roomed hut on the outskirts of a mountain village. We spent most of today cleaning it out and moving in our few possessions.

Going through the village was a strange experience for me. I've traveled through them before, but never lived in one. I've spent my entire life in cities. And as we walked through, I suddenly felt a twinge of panic. Where are we? How can we live here?

"This place is so small," I whispered.

"It'll be ok," Kenshin reassured me. "Small villages like this are a good place to hide."

I couldn't help but notice the suspicious looks we were getting from the villagers.

"They don't seem to like us," I said.

"They just need some time to get used to us," he said. "Don't worry, it was like this where I was born. If we're nice to them, then they'll be nice to us."

This nugget of information startled me out of my nervousness. I had always assumed that Kenshin was born into a samurai family like Akira and I. But if he was raised in a village like this one, then how did he become a samurai?

"Was your father a merchant?" I asked.

"No, my parents were farmers," he said. "We lived a long way from here, though."

"What happened to them?" I asked.

I regretted my words in the long silence that followed them. Finally:

"They died. When I was ten." Kenshin said.

We didn't speak for the rest of our walk.

An hour later, we finally arrived at the house. The house has been shut up for years, and it's dirty and a little moldy in here. Thankfully, there's already some furniture and cookingware here, although it all needs to be washed.

Kenshin found a note hidden in the bureau from the Choshuu. It was planted here when the house was set up, with a cover story.

"They want me to be a pharmacist," Kenshin said when he was done reading the note.

"Do you know how?" I asked.

"No," he said. He looked nervous. "But they included some recipes for making medicine and a list of herbs."

"Is that enough?"

"I hope so."

After taking inventory of what was and wasn't in the house, we walked back down to the village to buy some food and supplies. While we were there, we began to talk to the villagers.

"Where are you from?" "Why are you here?" "What do you do?" "Who are you?"

We told them the cover story that we planned on our journey, with the added information that we found in the house. We were escaping Kyoto. Our home was destroyed in the recent battle. Kenshin's uncle was a traveling merchant, and saw the empty house and told us about it. If no one was staying there, could we live there?

Kenshin was right- the villagers warmed up to us as we told them our false story of woe. They sympathized, the men grumbling and the women clucking their tongues. They asked us for news about the city and the fighting, and we answered as best as we could.

They were ecstatic when they found out that Kenshin's a "pharmacist."

"Excellent!" a man shouted. "Our doctor died last year, and we've had to go down the mountain to another village when we need help! Now we don't have to!"

"I'm not a doctor though…" Kenshin said. He looked nervous again, and scratched the back of his head. "In fact, I'm only just starting…"

"Oh you'll be fine!" a woman laughed, patting his back.

I didn't say much during our time in the village. I didn't know what to say, and besides, they seemed mostly interested in Kenshin. They seem like nice people though. Perhaps living here won't be so bad.

July 17

I've been too busy cleaning to write. But it's all done now, so I can finally have some time to relax.

Kenshin's been starting to collect herbs and make medicine. He's been so afraid of making mistakes, but so far he's doing a good job. The day before yesterday, he had to make a cure for a stomachache, and the woman who bought it said that the medicine worked.

And it turns out that Kenshin is also quite good at housework. He's able to keep up with me while I clean, and actually knows how to wash clothes! I've never known a man who could do those things!

"I used to do a lot of cleaning when I lived with my master," he said. He was washing some clothes while I swept.

"How come?" I asked. "Did he require all his students to clean his dojo?"

"I wasn't trained in a dojo," he explained. "I'm his only student. Or I was, anyway." He brooded for a moment. "We got into a fight, and I left. He probably wouldn't take me back if I returned."

"What did you fight about?" I asked.

"Joining the Inshin Shishi," Kenshin answered. "I wanted to, and he didn't." He paused. "I thought I'd be helping people if I joined. I thought it would end their suffering."

"Do you still think that?" I asked. He didn't answer.