Chapter 3 Recap:
"What do we have here?" The look he gave me was condescending and full of contempt. "A woman-child who can't handle herself. How shameful to your family." I hung my head, the tears trailing down my cheeks. "What? Can't speak?" He kept speaking quiet insults that filled me.
"Shut up." I whispered.
"Oh, so you can speak."
Chapter 4
"Shut up."
"And why should I do that?" I opened my eyes and glared at him. A sarcastic smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. I suddenly wanted to wipe that damned smirk off his face.
"I hate you."
"What was that? I didn't quite catch that." He mocked. My eyes met his fiercely. Before I knew what I had done, I spat. He drew back, his eyes full of angry fire.
"I said: 'I hate you.'"
"Crushing," His voice was a harsh, cruel whisper. I was yanked from the arms of my detainers by the neck of my shirt.
Okita pov
She infuriated me. This . . . This woman-child who was too wrapped up in her own fear to see everyone that was worried for her. I really ought to just kill her and get it over with.
"I hate you." She said, her words were full of spite and anger, though they were only a harsh whisper.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch that." I mocked her, my anger simmering just below the surface. She whipped her eyes up to mine, glaring fiercely, and spit at me. I leaned back, anger lighting me up like a torch. She smirked up at me from her position.
"I said: 'I hate you.'"
"Crushing," I yanked her up harshly from Harada's arms by the collar of her shirt. There were murmurs of caution from around me. I shook her and she let out a choked cry.
"Asshole."
"Bitch." I dropped her. She still wanted a fight, but more than that, she wanted to get away from this place. So I would let her. "If you can beat me in a fight, you can leave." She looked up at me unbelieving. I let mirth fill my eyes and I put on a falsely friendly smile. She just stared at me.
"Souji! You cannot let her go like that!" Heisuke and Shinpachi were yelling at the unfairness while the rest just watched with unhappy looks on their faces.
"Challenge accepted!" She chirped unexpectedly. We all looked down at her surprised, though some of us hid it better than the others. "What? I will beat his ass then me and Sammy will be home free, right?" I smirked at her.
"If you lose, I get to kill you."
Wyne pov
"If you lose, I get to kill you." Well damn, there goes the idea of running like hell once the fight started and waiting him out. I grumbled about stupid people with stupid swords.
"Hey, Sano! Seems she doesn't like guys with swords, what about spears?" I nearly turned into a tomato.
"What the Cheeze its! Don't go around saying things like that!" I jumped up and aimed a punch for his head. He stopped my hand a few inches from his nose. Oh, how nice it would have been to break that pretty little nose of his.
"Not yet Wyne – chan, wait till the fight." He admonished. I really wanted to break his pretty little nose. He dropped my fist and I turned, walking right into Sano's chest. I also wished that the ground would swallow me up, and do it quick. Maybe I could crawl into the bag and disappear. He helped me up and as soon as I was on my feet, I was making a beeline for my room.
Once in the quiet of my room, I just sat, noticing the quiet snoring of Sammy had started up again. I reached idly into my bag and searched my iPod. The familiar weight filled my hand and I pushed the ear buds into my ears and turned up the song. It was Oath by Cher Lloyd.
Yo, my best friend, best friend 'til the very end
Cause best friends, best friends don't have to pretend
You need a hand, and I'm right there right beside you
You in the dark, I'll be the bright light to guide you
'Member the time, time, times sneaking out the house
All of the time, time, times that you had your doubts
And don't forget all the trouble we got into
We got something you can't undo, do
Laughing so damn hard
Crashed your dad's new car
All the scars we share
I promise, I swear
Wherever you go, just always remember
That you got a home for now and forever
And if you get low, just call me whenever
This is my oath to you
Wherever you go, just always remember
You're never alone, we're birds of a feather
And we'll never change, no matter the weather
This is my oath to you
I know I drive you crazy, hmm, sometimes
I know I call you lazy, and that's most times
But you complete me, and that's no lie
You are my tuxedo, and I'm your bow tie
We in the car, sing, sing, singing our song
Rocking the building, tear it down, like we king kong
And in my eyes, you can do, do no wrong
You got a best friend sing, sing along
Laughing so damn hard
Crashed your dad's new car
All the scars we share
I promise, I swear
Wherever you go, just always remember
That you got a home for now and forever
And if you get low, just call me whenever
This is my oath to you
Wherever you go, just always remember
You're never alone, we're birds of a feather
And we'll never change, no matter the weather
This is my oath to you
Oh ohh, I'll never let you go
Oh ohh, whoa, this is my oath to you
Oh ohh, just thought that you should know
Oh ohh, whoa, this is my oath to you
Yeah...
Wherever you go, just always remember
That you got a home for now and forever
And if you get low, just call me whenever
This is my oath to you
Wherever you go, just always remember
You're never alone, we're birds of a feather
And we'll never change, no matter the weather
This is my oath to you
Oh ohh
You should know, you should know, you should know, you should know, yeah
Oh ohh, whoa, this is my oath to you
Oh ohh
Wherever you go, just always remember
You're never alone, we're birds of a feather
And we'll never change, no matter the weather
Oh ohh, this is my oath to you
Sammy sat up and had stolen my other ear bud halfway through the song. By the end, we were up and dancing, yelling the song at the top our lungs in badly off key voices. I noticed a flash of red at the window. I nudged Sam and nodded toward the window. We grinned slyly at each other. I changed the song to Hot n' Cold by Katy Perry. We hooked up the iPod to the speaker I pulled from the bag and turned it up. We danced around crazily and sang loudly, yelling the worst parts. I heard some gasps and a few thumps from outside as we pretended to grind against each other. The song was over and I shoved the electronics back into the bag before they all came storming into the room. Me and Sammy looked up at them innocently, pretending not to notice the slight blood around Shinpachi's nose and the bump forming on the side of Heisuke's head.
"Are you guys ok?" Sammy asked, sounding concerned.
"Yea! What happened?" I stood up, mirroring Sam's voice. I grabbed a rag out of the bag and went to work wiping away the blood from his nose. He looked like he was about to pass out. Okita's eyes never strayed from me as I did so. They had taken on a predatory gleam, calculating. They almost made me shiver. I finished with that and sat back down with Sammy, pretending to listen while we were scolded for acting so indecently. Geez, if they think that's bad, they should go to a school dance. For real! They got 12 year olds doing worse than that. I nodded my head and apologized along with Sammy, our heads bowed in mock penance for our crime.
"Ahh, I have a question," I spoke, as they were turning to leave.
"What would that be?"
"When's the fight?" Sammy gave me an incredulous look.
"We been here less than a week and you're already picking a fight?! Didn't getting sent to boot camp help any?!"
"Well you see . . ."
"What is boot camp?" One of our audience members asked. Sammy stood up to explain. While she did that, I took in the appearance of the characters. Top choices were torn between Okita, Sano, and Heisuke. I will say, the older two do look pretty damn good though. I grinned to myself before I noticed everyone was giving me strange looks.
"What?"
"We asked you if you were ready for the fight."
"Oh, that? Yep, just waiting on lazy bones over there." I said grinning at Okita.
"Buuuurrrrrrrrnnnnnn!" Sammy cried.
"Need some ice for that?" I hollered.
They all looked at us confused. I looked over at Sam.
"That wasn't a very good burn. We should try harder."
"Yea, next time make it sting!" She agreed.
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"GO!" I froze, the fight was starting and all he was doing was watching me with that condescending smirk on his face. I watched him warily, before taking a step to my right, then my left, and then back, seeing his reaction to the movement. He seemed to be waiting on something. I tightened my grip on the sword in my hand, wishing it was the baseball bat I normally fought with. I shifted the way I held it, holding it like I did my normal weapon. I took a step forward and watched in morbid fascination as my opponent charged me. Well, here goes plan B. And with plan B I mean Plan Run Like Hell. And that I did, I took off through the wimpy crowd and past into the building, flying through the rooms and out to the maze that was the front gate. I bolted past the guards and nearly made it past the without being caught. A hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back from my dead run. I lashed out with the wooden sword but it didn't connect. I swung a second time. The sword managed to make contact and I was released. I hopped up and ran to the edge, where Sammy had been waiting on me with our things (the bag and a water gun she must have found in it). As I swung around into the street, we ran madly, making sure to take side roads and the less crowded roads. We ducked behind a building, laughing so hard and trying to muffle it but failing as soon as we looked at each other again.
I stood up and pretended to fight an imaginary foe, miming my inevitable loss with as many facial expressions as I could. We were both too busy laughing to notice the blue-headed boy named Ryunosuke walk up to us.
"Hey!" We both nearly fell over at the sudden noise.
"What do you want, Blue's Clues?" Sammy teased, even though he had no idea what she was talking about.
"You are the girls that ran from Okita!"
"The one and only," I said grinning up at him. I patted the ground beside me, not feeling threatened by the boy. I really liked him from the show. He hesitated before letting out a breath and sitting.
"You know, I would have run, too." His voice was quiet, almost as if he didn't want me to hear the words directed at me.
"Ahh, well, I've never even picked up a sword. I've only ever been in gang fights and school fights. You know, throw a punch, hit a guy with a baseball bat. That kind of thing." I looked down at my hands. Thinking about the good days, before the stepmonster. The good thing was that I rode a lot more now, at least I did when I was at home. The saddle did always calm me. I –
"What is a baseball bat?" I looked back up at him.
"It's about this long," I showed him with my arms. "And you hold it like this. And – wait a minute, I can just show you one!" I reached into the bag and pulled out a baseball bat, my favorite one that I even decorated. "Here! See? This is what I'm talking about." I handed it over to him, watching him run his hands along the time polished wood. Around the handle, I had tied a couple of ribbons and into the wood, I had etched quotes, Bible verses, and other things that I found of importance. As I watched him look it over, I noticed a few names carved into the side. I snatched it back from him.
"Give me that for a second!" He stuttered a reply, but I wasn't paying attention. There were eight names carved there: the names of the Shinsengumi. I stared as more words etched themselves into my bat.
"Lead, Trust, Listen, Learn, Follow, Heal, Kill, Remember Who You Are, Give Them All You've Got"
I didn't have time to ponder on the words though, because when I looked up to show them to Sammy, she was nowhere in sight. I stood up quick, the bag already over my shoulder and the bat gripped tightly in my right hand. In fact, no one was there It was too quiet and the blue haired boy had disappeared, too. It was dark out, or getting that way. The sun was setting bloodily over the rooftops and turning the little river that ran through here crimson. Before venturing out into the street alone, though, to go look for them, I needed a disguise. I reached back and pulled a cloak from the bag. A small piece of paper fell from the cloak.
"Leave your friend be. She was not meant to be here therefore she was taken back. However, you cannot leave just yet."
Well darn. I shoved the paper back in and decided to believe it. I was glad Sammy was ok too, but that didn't explain about the boy. For now though, I just strapped the cloak on over everything, not wanting to leave anything recognizable in the open. I tied my blond hair up into a high ponytail that hung down past my butt and tucked it into the cloak. Looking down at it, I noticed it looked a little like the Akatsuki one from Naruto. With everything in place, I walked out into the darkening street. It was lit up by red paper lanterns hanging from the shops that served food. I saw a large crowd going I and out of an area of town that I noticed earlier that day. The majority of them looked slightly shady, but I noticed a flash of long brown hair through the crowd, so that forced my feet into motion. Maybe I could make friends with them without them trying to kill me if I started from youngest to oldest. I kept my distance until I was sure he was alone. I slipped through the crowd, trying to get as close as I could.
"Heisuke," I stage whispered, not wanting to be loud, even though the crowd around us was way louder than I was being. He turned and looked over his shoulder, looking for who called him. I called his name slightly louder this time. He fully stopped and looked dead at me.
"You're the girl from back at base! We were sent to look for you!" He pushed towards me and I debated running again.
"Yea, about that, I have a little situation I need to talk to you about." I tried to make my voice a weak as I could without sounding cheesy. He was standing in front of me, but made no move to grab me.
"What's wrong?" He seemed skeptical.
"I have a very bad disease and my sister has gone missing. I overdid it today and now I don't have the strength to look for her. The traders are bound to be looking for us, but we can't do anything like this." I gave a rough cough, perfected by many years of faking illness to get out of various functions. I pretended to sway lightly and I let my eyelids droop slightly. "It took all I had to find you, so please help. She's the only one who loves me now – " I let my body fall forward onto his. Arms wrapped around me and I noticed that even he was taller than me by at least two inches. I closed my eyes and faked sleep, but fell into it anyway. Damn my ability to go to sleep anywhere.