And the village. Save them from Shishio's men... This man's village was a short distance away from Numazujuku on the Toukai Way. With a population of ...o more than twenty, it was a small village in a mountain valley, half wooded, half farmland. Called Shingetsu, it was an ordinary place until two years ago. (A little later. The little boy, Eiji, is propped up against a tree; Misao and Kenshin lean over him.)Misao: Wake up. Hey, wake up!(The boy's eyes slide open.)Misao: He's awake.Eiji: Who. She cried herself to sleep over the night which followed. Embarrassed, ashamed, humiliated and scared, she vowed that it would never happen again, at least not that way. She enjoyed other lovers during her undergraduate years, she had a brief affair with an older professor. She graduated, Summa Cum Laude and was accepted at an Ivy League Law school in one of the first classes to admit women. At a few weeks past her twenty-first birthday she was a stunning young woman. She was brilliant. She. After all, a blow in that spot for a woman can be almost as excruciatingly painful as a blow to a man's testicles. Her face registered surprise, pain, and anger concurrently."Why ... why did you do that instead of just telling me? That really hurt," Melanie said a bit loudly, and with an effort to catch her breath. Obviously the man had kicked her hard enough to knock her breath out slightly and she was making a concerted effort to return to her normal breathing pattern. Kitagami simply bowed. " I don't think your mother would approve of such language." My mother isn't here and I heard you and Mom and Emily all use worse words than that last night." What'd you do, stand at the door and listen?" No comment." Okay then, how about this. Why are you here talking to me? Why not talk to your Mom or Emily?" What makes you think I didn't?" Because I know you're mother pretty well. If you had, she would be here right now. And I know my daughter. God knows what she would have done if you'd.