I haven't gotten chapter 5 written yet, as I had hoped, but I feel that you have waited long enough for this. There is a bit more history in here, as well as some names that you may need to recognize later (along with a few ages and personal tidbits that are of negligable importance right now, but that will come into play later). If things go as planned, a lot more of Kenshin's past will come back to haunt him, including a few revelations about Hiko, Emiko,Kazeko, Muziko, andToshi. I actually am working off ofa plan with this story, which is rare for me. Bear with me, though: when I know what I'm doing, I try to take my time and do it right. As always, reviews are appreciated, along with criticism, questions, and speculation on my plot.

Please, enjoy!

Update: April 22, 2013 - It has literally been years since I said "I'll update soon," and if any of my original readers are still following this, I sincerely apologize. This is the last chapter to be edited before I start posting new things. The number of "Okaa-san"s I changed to "Mother" is insane. When did I ever think mixing Japanese and English like that was a good thing? As you can see from my original 'authors note,' I had a plan. Had, operative word. I'm gonna by flying by the seat of my pants from now on. I hope you enjoy the ride!

There was silence. Tense, nervous silence. Kenshin sat on the porch, his mother on one side, Kaoru on his other Yahiko was inconspicuously practicing his kata in the yard today. The younger boy kept stealing glances at the others. Finally, Emiko spoke.

"Please, Shinta, tell me—"

"Don't…" Kenshin interrupted, taking both of the women beside him by surprise. "Mother, Shinta died… a long time ago. It is just Kenshin, now," he said sadly.

"Shinta! How can you say that?" Emiko gasped, laying her more delicate hand over Kenshin's larger, more calloused one. Kenshin seemed to be resisting the urge to pull away as if burned. "Or rather," Kaoru thought, "As if afraid of burning her."

"It's true, mother," Kenshin insisted. "I am not Shinta. I am not…" he paused. He shook his head. "I am just Kenshin, a simple rurouni."

"But Shinta, how can you throw away the name I gave you?" Emiko half-demanded. "It's not done!"

"Hiko Seijuro gave me my name," Kenshin said gently, turning to his mother. He touched her cheek softly, as if afraid of breaking her. "He gave me my name, and taught me to fight."

"Fight?" Emiko burst out. "The very idea is ridiculous! My Shinta, my precious child, you never fought! You were always the peacemaker; you never liked playing samurai with the other boys. You couldn't possibly—I don't see how…" Emiko finished tearfully, holding her son's hand tightly and peering up at him imploringly. "Tell me that you quit, tell me that you never finished your training and went on to kill! My Shinta couldn't…!"

Kenshin dropped his gaze to the ground. He released his mother's hand and stood up. His bangs covered his eyes, casting his expression into ambiguous shadow. Emiko stared as he turned to go inside. "Dinner shouldn't wait," he said softly. "This will be too long of a conversation to hold so soon before. Sess—I will get started."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "He hasn't had to correct himself that way in weeks!"

Emiko only stared at his retreating back. She then turned imploringly to Kaoru.

"Miss Kaoru, please, please tell me what happened!" she begged. "It tears me up to see my Shinta like this!"

"Himura-san," Kaoru sighed, also looking at the ground, "It's not my story to tell. Kenshin," she emphasized the name subtly, "has only told me of his past a few weeks ago. I will tell you, though, that if you continue calling him Shinta, it will only make him feel guiltier," Kaoru said, standing as well.

"Guilty!" Emiko cried, alarmed. "Guilty over what!"

"It's not my place to tell," Kaoru insisted. She ignored Emiko's further protests as she approached Yahiko, intent on adjusting his stance and getting into another pointless argument in attempt to dismiss Kenshin's slipup and Emiko's fear-stricken face from her memory.

In the kitchen, Kenshin calmly diced some vegetables. At least, on the outside. Inside, he was cursing himself, cursing Saito Hajime for not warning him, cursing Hiko Seijuro for teaching him, and above all, cursing himself for not being able to stop the slavers from taking him and his mother, when he knew his mother was alive.

He had always known his mother had been alive when she was taken, but he had assumed she would have died under the rough treatment of the Death Cart handlers, or that even if she was found to be alive, she would have been defiled and killed before she would be given the chance to get better…

And as for Kenshin, himself, he cursed himself for being so weak as to allow such harm to come the children of the village, his companions throughout the terrible year he had spent in Mizuko's care…

"Wow, that is a lot of kids," Toshi said disgustedly. "Mizuko, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, we have to feed all these brats enough to keep them alive, and we have to train them to be half-assed workers, plus most of them are still crying!"

"Of course I'm sure, you idiot. The kids are in high demand, get them to work as runners or something, they're quick and don't tire so easily. The older ones can work in the fields or as servants. The real tiny ones will have to be raised up a bit, but it'll be worth it to give them a perfectly broken-in slave, takes the bother out of it."

"But that also takes out half the fun," Kazeko said, smirking as he joined the ring around the campfire.

"Which is why you're her and not in some mansion somewhere," Mizuko pointed out. The three men laughed, ignoring the children who were a ways outside the firelight, locked up in the cage-like cart they had been roughly thrown into.

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Shinta whispered as he tore a strip of his hakama to tie around a wound on her arm. The girl named Sakura nodded. Her older brother, Jakotsu, nodded as well.

"Damn them!" Jakotsu hissed. Shinta looked at him sharply, staring down the nine-year-old fiercely.

"Don't talk like that in front of your sister," he reprimanded the older boy. Jakotsu laughed bitterly.

"They took Iruka-sama, what do you expect me to say?" Jakotsu said. Next to him, two other boys, Katsuya and Touya, agreed with the more outspoken of the two. Kenshin could understand, however; Iruka-sensei had been well-respected in the village, he was the only kenjutsu instructor in the area.

"Try to keep it down, at least," Shinta said softly, "the girls don't need to be hearing it," he indicated the five girls who were now huddled around Sakura.

Kenshin tried to peer through the darkness at the other cart, where seven more of the village children would be, but he could neither see nor hear anything.

At length, he settled down and curled up next to Yumi, like the two younger boys, Yoshi and Yasuo were doing. Finally, he fell into the last decent sleep he would get for a very long time…