Chapter 2

At supper Amaiya also met Sanosake. He was a big man, much bigger than Kenshin and most of the men she knew. His jacket is what fascinated her the most about him. 'Evil…' she kept reading to herself. It was curious, to say the least. Once everything was set to eat, Amaiya had no more time to think about this man, because Kaoru had begun asking her questions.

"Where are you from?"

"Up north, quite a ways, I'm afraid." She didn't look at Kaoru in the eye, but had begun to eat at some of the rice.

"Than why are you so far from home?" Kaoru's question was innocent enough, or at least not unreasonable.

"I travel now. I don't keep permanent residence anywhere." Best to be brief for Amaiya. There was no point in letting them in on everything.

"Do your parents know you're here?"

"I would imagine so…" she looked to the ceiling. "They passed away about eleven years ago or so."

"During the revolution," Sanosake piped. Not piped so much as bellowed in his deep voice.

"Right about then, yes." She looked back down at the others, everyone now watching her, and, most important to them, her lack of tears.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"How much do you want?" Amaiya was quick to respond, but made it seem as though what she said should fit in the conversation just there.

"Excuse me?"

"The payment for me to live here – how much do you want?" It seemed as though everyone at the table understood she wanted to change the subject.

"I don't think you have to pay anything." Was it pity for being an orphan? Or because Kaoru thought Amaiya would have to work outside the dojo for money?

"That is very gracious of you."

"It's the least I can do. Why do you want to learn sword play?"

"It runs in the family." Everyone fell quiet again. Amaiya began eating, since she knew they wouldn't pose many more questions. She wanted to ask some of them questions of her own. "Where are you all from? Not here, I'd imagine."

Each answered with their own reply and they were surprised that she had been to most of the places they spoke of in their short anecdotes. She enjoyed the conversation with them. There was no pressure, no demands. It was soft and friendly. She enjoyed watching Yahiko tease Kaoru, not in a mean way, but because it was funny. She liked hearing some of Sanosake's stories, the first being about a recent session of gambling and how one man had tried to cheat the dice, and it was altogether a good evening.

When dinner was finished, Kaoru told her they'd begin training tomorrow.

Amaiya bowed again "Thank you, sensei."

"You know you don't have to bow like that," Kaoru added.

"Whatever you say, sensei." Amaiya stood up. Kaoru smiled. She never had a student as respectful as her. Kenshin began to clean up the dishes around them, so Amaiya helped him to collect and wash them.

"Mr. Himura, I was wondering, are you indentured to Kaoru-sensei? I notice that you're not a student here."

"I'm here because Miss Kaoru asked me to stay, that she did. I am a wanderer, but she's offered me this place as a home."

"I see." amaiya picked up another dish from the water pale. "How long did you wander?"

"Since the revolution." Kenshin's body language didn't tell her to stop asking questions. He seemed calm, relaxed. As though he'd accepted what had happened, instead of blocking memories as Amaiya did.

"Did you fight in the revolution?"

"That I did, miss Amaiya, that I did." He nodded. There was no smile, as she had seen on his face all afternoon, but his voice was still soft.

"What was it like? I've never gotten to ask anyone, and I was very young right at its end."

"It was awful. There was a lot bloodshed, a lot of unnecessary murder. Many of the people who fought in the revolution still haven't even found who they were before it. It was a bad time, that it was. Did you never ask your parents or grandparents?"

"Like I said, they died before I could have the chance. My parents did fight in the beginning of the revolution, but moved to the north of Kyoto to have a family." Family was still a sore wound, so again, she refocused the attention to him. "Mr. Kenshin, if you survived you must be really strong. Would you sometime show me your fighting style?"

"I have no intention to pass mine on to future generations. If you are lucky, you will never have to see it." The softness in his voice was gone. He wasn't angry, really. There was no unspoken threat, but it was very stern.

"Of course. I'm sorry for asking." She went quiet and went to another dish. She wondered where his mind was wondering, what memories or thoughts would be behind his kind, but opaque eyes.

"Yahiko, you brat!" From behind them can a loud screaming noise and Yahiko and Kaoru came running through the yard.

"Come on, Kaoru, can't you keep up? Ugly and slow!"

"Say that to my face, little Yahiko!" They ran all the way into the next building.

When they were gone, Amaiya and Kenshin just looked at each other, both dumbfounded and both at a loss for words. Amaiya then started to laugh hard, as if she never had before. Kenshin joined her, though not to the same degree, and they laughed while they finished the dishes.