WHAT SHIGEKO SAID
2. Duet
I covered my mouth with one hand, gripped the garrote with the other. With raindrops dripping off my nose I waited, crouched atop of the guard house, a viper waiting to pounce. My vision obscured by the lack of light and the downpour I allowed my hearing to guide me. I felt the footsteps come ever closer, faster now, almost a frantic nature about them. Still soft and light but yet... dense. Footsteps that seemed to take no heed in the nature of who might hear them. Doubt crept into my mind; my Kikuta armour cracking ever so slightly. I held it in place- never again would I underestimate an agent of the Kikuta clan. They were close now, not a hundred feet from me. I would have to be quick. My body tensed. I coiled the garrote. Time became obsolete and I leaped.
I softly mopped the dirt off her brow. She looked up at me with eyes that were sure she were gazing on the manifestation of evil itself. My guilt at assaulting a small child smothered my burning anger at how the Kikuta brainwashed these poor children, giving them no chance at ever making a decision for themselves. She knew who I was, she believed I was nothing more than a heartless murderer, and I'd just constricted a garrote around her throat, the red mark of which a blotch on her soft caramel skin. Her body shaking from the cold rain and terror she spoke to me.
"Are you going to kill me?" she stuttered.
I listened. The rain continued to pound mercilessly on the roof. My instincts warned against speaking, but my need to assure this horrified child took over, and I was fairly sure soft spoken words would not be heard over the rain.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I assured.
"You have hurt me," she cried, "you hurt my throat!"
I could no longer look at her. "I thought you were coming to hurt me. I thought you were someone else," I choked.
"Papa said you would come," she began, "he said you would find us. You're here to kill everyone!"
"I am not," was all I could manage.
"Yes you are! You're Otori Takeo" she accused, "that's why you have all of them!"
She indicated Jato, and my selection of knifes on the table. "You're going to kill everyone with those!"
I turned towards the window and listened, her words still ringing through my head. I heard no change; no commotion.
"What's your name?" I asked, approaching the bed.
She swallowed a lump in her throat as I crouched. "Amaya," she answered.
"Amaya. I give you an oath that I will not kill you and I am sorry that I hurt you. I'm not the person they say I am."
"You are! You're a monster! You kill people. You've brought those to kill more people. You're going to kill my family!, " she moaned, tears beginning to well in her eyes.
"They aren't for your family," I mumbled, knowing full well I could be lying. I grabbed a piece of linen from the side and handed it to her. "Here," I said, "for your eyes."
She took it... and spat on it. As she did I noticed her palms, and saw they were missing the identifying mark of the Kikuta. There were Muto and Kondo here. This concerned me. Those two clans were supposed to be united under Kenji.
"You should dry your eyes," I claimed, offering another piece of linen.
"I'm not taking anything of yours! You put poison in things!"
"I have not put any poison on this, I just want you to stop crying, I promise."
She was working herself into a frenzy. Her desperation fuelled by lies, her fear was giving way to need. Her need to survive. "You're lying!" she shouted as she jumped on me and started to hit me.
I grabbed a hold of her hands, "Ayama, please," I began but before I could finish she bit into my finger. I wrenched it out and pinned her arms down to her sides. She fought against me with all her might, beginning to scream as I prevented her from moving.
"Ayama, stop." She didn't. She was mortally afraid, and I knew there was no way I was going to convince her, not after I'd attacked her. I felt regret at knowing what must be done, but I dare not allow this struggle to alert anyone of my whereabouts. I grabbed a hold of her head and held her gaze to mine. I let the Kikuta flow through my gaze, and I watched as her sodden red eyes went wide with shock and fear, saw in that infinite moment of time her pupils rapidly dilate and her eyelids close. Her body went limp in mine as I held her head against my shoulder.
"Forgive me," I spoke in rhetoric. I lay her down on the bed and placed a blanket over her body. It was only now that I had a moment to think that I questioned what a small girl was doing coming out here in the rain. A thought struck me, and I had a brief look at the guard I had killed when I entered. I was right.
I closed the door behind me and stepped into the mud. As dangerous as I knew it was to be roaming, I couldn't allow the chance that the incident in the guard house had alerted anyone. Within seconds my clothes were drenched. Saturated clothes were a problem; I knew I would have to find some sanctuary from the rain. I focused my hearing intently. I could hear distant movement and I knew something was changing. Rain pelting against my face, I walked out into the night