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"You," he said to the young foot soldier who’d been singing "Step forward"

The ashigaru on either side stepped back as one, still er was a boy Possibly younger than Kenshin’s seventeen years

Beads of perspiration collected beneath the young singer’s hachimaki Kenshin watched the thin band of hemp around the boy’s forehead start to slide, the Hattori crest in its center darkening

Before stepping forward, the boy straightened his hachimaki Stood tall

Kenshin briefly adretted what he was about to do The ih his , soldier?" Kenshin’s voice sliced through the silence A sheaf of ice cleaving froize,in error,truth But still not an answer" Kenshin urged his steed closer "Do not h now "I sang because I was happy"

Kenshin’s horse stepped ih for the horse’s nostrils to flare at the boy’s scent As though Kane had sleaaze

"Happy?" Kenshin’s voice dropped "You were happy to have failed in your htest of hesitations

Frustration warmed across Kenshin’s skin "Your purpose on this earth is what, soldier?"

"To serve the honorable Hattori clan" He said the words loudly, in rote fashion

Kenshin leaned forward in his saddle, an unsettling twinge slicing through his sto, he kicked the boy in the face The crunch of broken bones echoed in time to the boy’s startled yelp He hit the ht blood dripped from his nose and mouth

As Kenshin watched the boy try to s his pain--to accept his punishret rose in his throat

An unfamiliar uncertainty

He sed it quickly Then lifted his gaze to the rest of his convoy

"There is no cause to be happy here" Kenshin let his voice carry across the ranks of ashigaru and mounted samurai "No cause to celebrate We have failed in our mission But know this: that failure will not stand You will each have a night’s rest On the morroe shall depart once more" Kane sta further into hihter, no celebration--until we are successful"

Kenshin spurred Kane back toward the head of the convoy But he did not pause there Instead he kicked his steed into a full gallop Shifted hirant thereeted at thefrom war

He did not deserve it

The path he chose led to the back entrance of his family’s compound An entrance unfrequented by those in the nobility

Before hihtly pressed into an arch Stacked stones enclosed the peried with such precision as to render mortar unnecessary

The rear courtyard housed many of the Hattori clan’s most important servants and vassals It also served as residence for a few of the scholars and artisans Kenshin’s father hosted, many for years at a time All with the desire to further his reputation as a lauded dai influence