Gripping the pendant around her neck tightly, Nintai looks at her friend. The first person to break through her walls, and one of the few who didn't use her friendship as some sort of status. Thinking about how she had watched over the girl since the first time Sayori had gotten through to her, Nintai smiled softly. Jinnai, Rin and Sei saw this and immediately nodded to each other.
"We all can't leave," Sei says. "But all of us staying is likely to just cause more problems than solutions. One of us, at least, needs to stay."
The three teens start walking off, each patting Nintai on the shoulder and wishing her luck. What just happened? Then she realized what they'd done; they showed her a way to keep everything in check. She really does find the wiser ones.
"Hold on a second! Nintai can't stay! She needs to go back too!"
Rin looks to Nintai and the pendant around her neck. "Someone needs to make sure Sayori gets home safe and sound. Besides, it's not like she could just leave our little princess behind to fend for herself!"
Jinnai calls out to Rin as he floats I midair. "Hurry up, sis! This is awesome!"
"Coming! Bye Nintai, Sayori! Be careful and watch out for each other, kay?"
The two nod with smiles on their faces.
"So not right," the voice chimes.
Nintai sighs happily. Her friends would be safe back home. And she would be able to keep Sayori safe by staying with her. Not once has she considered her own safety throughout this ordeal, and it seems she's not about to start, either.
"Ane, are you sure this is okay?"
Nintai looks to Sayori and nods. "It's the only way I'll be able to keep you safe myself. I don't trust these guys quite yet. Muneshige is definitely a bodyguard, and he's completely loyal. But these five?" She looks at the bodyguards sent by an old man named Yahei. "I just can't trust them yet, especially that blonde."
Sayori smiles when she sees her friend glaring at the man who moments ago had been slaughtering men happily. She has to admit that Nintai was right about him. Or at least, about the first impression he gave. Trusting a guy who would slice a guy in half with a smile on his face isn't exactly her idea of being smart.
"Hello!? Anyone noticing the disappearing green!? Nintai, you need to go!"
"You be quiet. I'm staying with my imōto, no more discussion. Sayori, get back to where you were before they all froze. Let's get moving."
As Sayori steps into place, the men start moving again.
"-dle this ourselves! …Hey, where'd the other three go?"
"Other three," Nintai says, staring at him blankly.
Yo starts jumping from one line to
another. Nintai tries to keep up with him, but gives up and turns to Jin. "Is there a way to get him to stop? Um… Jin?"
The red head is staring at the spaces where the three missing teens had been standing moments before, or through his perspective, just now. Nintai looks to the other men as well, each one is watching the spots where the teenagers had been expectantly. What, do they think this is a magic trick? Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Nintai holds her anger, then looks back through the men. They're still staring and Yo has finally stopped trying to talk.
"Oh, enough of this! Pay attention, you dum dums!" Everyone jumps at the sound of her agitated voice. "If you're not even going to listen to me, then at least start walking! I'd like to get her highness home so I can get on with my life, thank you!"
With that, she grabbed Sayori's hand and starts walking along the track once more. Muneshige is the first to react and immediately hurries to catch up to them. The other five snap out of their shock soon afterward and follow after the girls as well.
"Lord Harumoto." Kasumimaru stands behind the castle lord's chair.
"What is it? Is she dead, yet?"
Kasumimaru flinches at the agitation in his master's voice. Not only had he failed the first time to kill the princess, but he had failed yet again. The trap had anticipated the original bodyguard, and Kasumimaru's gut instinct on the girls he'd seen before was supposed to give him another advantage as well.
But he hadn't anticipated the girl with the lotus colored hair to be able to fight like that. Her speed was greater than his, along with her reflexes, and if anything, she had been holding back. She had to be, what with the blank stare and lack of exhaustion that he had experienced.
"I regret to inform you that she is not. A group of warriors intercepted and defended them." He waits quietly, expecting a tirade of rage and annoyance.
"I have one thing to ask you."
Kasumimaru starts. A tirade and angry rage, he expected, but a simple question? "What is it, my lord?"
"Where did the bruise come from?"
Kasumimaru checks himself over, and sure enough there is a bruise on his arm. "This is…"
Harumoto looks over his shoulder. "I suggest you figure it out. And do something about that girl! Don't come back until you do."
Harumoto turns back to his desk and continues his work. Kasumimaru bows gracefully before disappearing into thin air yet again.
Nintai and Sayori are a bit behind. The boys they're traveling with are used to moving constantly, so they're doing fine. However, due to the distance, Nintai doesn't have to keep reminding herself to say 'princess' every time she talks to Sayori.
"So, once this girl's life is no longer in danger, we get to go home?" Sayori seems a bit hopeful, but depressed at the same time.
"I know how you feel, imōto. The likely that we leave here any time soon is really low. But still, I'm here with you, and I'm not letting either of us be trapped in this place."
The boys stop and turn to wait for them, but only the blonde one doesn't seem concerned; more annoyed than anything. With things the way they are, the girls will be unable to keep going. That idea in mind, a few of the boys ahead start talking.
"Why don't we just carry them? Nintai seems to be okay, but I'm sure she's just putting on a brave face," says Yo. "After all, a girl is a girl."
"I doubt that," Ittosai mutters.
Jin steps in next. "What was that, Ittosai?"
The two glare daggers at each other, as usual. The group had been walking for only a few hours and already the two of them were at each other's throats. Not only that, but this has already happened several times as the group walked along the trail.
"Stop it, you two," Bo scolds. "We need to keep moving. And besides, the princess seemed pretty independent when we met her, right?"
Mon-Mon, a spiky, silver haired man with the build of a body builder, pipes up happily. "I'll carry them!" He hadn't even heard what Bo had been saying.
"Go for it, Mon-Mon!" Yo cheers him on.
"Hey! You can't just take both girls for yourself," Jin says bitterly.
The group continues to squabble about the girls' ability to keep walking. Once the two catch up to them, Yo elbows Mon-Mon and nods in their direction. The idea was to have Mon-Mon carry one girl, who Muneshige had said who would be Nintai. Muneshige would then carry the princess himself.
"Are you two alright," came the start line from the large man's mouth.
Nintai looks up at him. "I'm fine." Then to Sayori. "How about you, princess?"
Sayori, breathing unevenly, isn't paying as much attention to the question as she is to catching her breath. Nintai chuckles a little, then taps her shoulder to get her attention. When the girl looks up from the ground, her breath settling, she finally answers.
"I'm alright. Why?"
Mon-Mon looks at Yo, who makes a shooing motion in a sign to keep going. "Are you sure? You seemed a bit far back, and I figured you were running out of energy."
Seeing him having trouble, Muneshige steps up next to him. "If you need any help, you can ask. You two aren't used to this, and if you want us to, we can carry you."
Nintai bites her lip. The last time she'd ever been carried had been by her father at a carnival days before he'd been fired and come home drunk. Being reminded of him doesn't seem like a good idea to her, nor an appealing one, at the moment. I need to focus on getting home first. Then I can worry about him and these memories. Nintai finds herself shaking her head.
"No thanks, I'm good." Muneshige had been expecting that answer from the bright haired girl. "But I think the princess is having trouble with the track. Mon-Mon, why don't you carry her? It'll be easier for everyone."
Sayori freezes, staring at Nintai in disbelief. Muneshige starts to say something, but Muneshige cuts him off. "Alright then! Well, princess?" He gets down in front of her, offering his back.
"Go ahead. You're out of energy anyways," Nintai says as she gently pushes Sayori forward.
The girl, red-faced and nervous, wraps her arms around the man's neck and settle into a piggyback. Muneshige, paled from shock and a tormented heart, watches as Mon-Mon starts walking again, smiling happily. The group returns to their trek, when Mon-Mon suddenly tells Sayori to hold on tight and bursts into a sprint up the trail.
Wide-eyed at his change in pace, everyone immediately starts running to keep up with him. Among the trees they pass, Nintai hears a faint sound of leaves rustling, but lacking wind to cause it. They're still there, huh? I guess the ninja are just too stubborn. She looks forward at Sayori, holding onto Mon-Mon tightly as he speeds up the path, and vows to herself yet again that she will protect her friend from those after her life.
However, first things first. She had to catch Mon-Mon and trip him. What she does catches everyone around her off guard; she pushes forward with her feet, as if she was jumping, and gains a burst of speed. Doing this multiple times, and by instinct no less, she catches up with Mon-Mon in less than a minute, then passes him another moment later.
Once past him, she speeds ahead to the turn in the track and waits for him with a glare. The man, feeling her icy fury, slows down to stop in front of her, his face pale. Sayori climbs off his back and stands next to Nintai, hand over her racing heart.
"Never suggest that again. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, he was running so fast." Sayori continues to try calming her heart rate as the other catch up as well.
Muneshige then leads them down a less obvious trail leading further into the forests. Before entering the darkened space, where the sun could never be seen, Nintai looks at the angles of the sun, hoping to tell the time somehow. Her stomach said dinner would be soon, so she assumed that the sun would be in the west, getting close to setting.
With her eyes on the sun's position, she memorized the angle of her head and memorized it to mean 'dinner time.' This is the third time she's done so today, one for every meal of the day. It may sound a lot like gluttony, but the girl has her stomach trained to eat at specific times every day. No snacks, just meals. Therefore, her clock is set using her hunger. A rather smart way to tell time, all things considered.
On her way up the track to catch the others, she continually reminds herself to keep an eye out for food. Anything she could pick or pluck from the ground. Her only issue was that the twins knew all about the different edible plants; they often used food to cause teachers stomach trouble so no one had to actually work.
And Sei was the one who could cook practically anything into something delicious. Being reminded of her friends traps her in her thoughts for a few minutes before she snaps out of her reverie and turns to hurry up the track, still keeping her eyes peeled for anything edible.
In the trees above her head, Kasumimaru watches her with interest. Although the girl seemed to be one hell of a fighter, her movements now seemed a bit clumsy. What's worse, they seem completely natural. Of course, some people can only be coordinated during battle, so it didn't bother him too much. What did was that she passed several sets of fruits that she could've easily eaten.
Judging by the sun, he knew it would be close to dinner, and the bodyguards and girls would have to eat eventually. And the way she'd watched the sun, he knew that she was checking the time of day. Combining the fighting skill, agility, and the many other talents she'd been showing over the course of the day, she could only be a ninja. So, why is she not recognizing the safe foods?
It's one of the first things a ninja learns; poisoning with food is the most common assassination skill. Knowing what covers up which taste of poison is important, so knowing what you can and can't eat comes with the practice as well, without the teachers even discussing it.
"What is she doing?"
Nintai, feeling like she's being watched, keeps walking, making mental notes of the local vegetation species and where along the track she can find edible ones. The view of the others backs disappeared every so often as the track twists and turns. Muneshige, up front continues to walk with purpose and conviction. The bodyguards follow without question, and Sayori looks back every once in a while to check that Nintai is still behind them.
"Hey, miss. What's wrong?" Yo, with an adorable smile on his face, examines Sayori's face carefully.
"Oh, nothing," she responds, knowing that her cheeks, or rather, the princess's, were turning red.
"Really? You seem sort of preoccupied. Are you still think about that piggyback ride from Mon-Mon," he teases.
Sayori immediately shakes her head, laughing. "No. I've gotten over the shaking, so I'm fine about that now."
"About that, huh? So there is something bugging you," Jin chimes in just ahead. He's been worrying, and some insight into her worries would be useful, or so he hopes.
"Wow! Jin used his brain," Yo mocks.
The two immediately start a back and forth squabble about Jin's intelligence. The sight makes Sayori smile. A little further ahead, Bo calls back to her.
"Good to see you smiling, princess."
Nintai, hearing all of this, realizes that it wasn't necessary for her to stay behind with Sayori to protect her. These men would do it gladly, with the exception of the blonde, who has stayed quite ever since his last fight with Jin just before Mon-Mon had started sprinting. She notices him looking around in the trees as well. He's noticed the ninja now, too.
As creepy as he is, Nintai has to admit that he's good at what he does. The blonde looks back at her, and she nods her head then looks at the trees. He's probably hoping I'm the first attacked. And, unfortunately, I have to agree that that would be best. Breathing deeply, Nintai scans the trees once more, hoping to see some sort of sign that she was the main target.
Unfortunately, no such sign came, and the group continues to climb the track they're on. Nintai, tired of waiting for the enemy to make a move, attempts to catch up to the others, hoping to talk to either Ittosai or Muneshige. First person she talks to once caught up, Muneshige.
"Where are we headed?"
Everyone pays close attention to the conversation as Muneshige explains about a hot spring in the mountains. It was once prized for an ability to heal battle wounds. Plus, he thought the girls would like a small break and a chance to get all the accumulated dirt off their skin. Wow. How thoughtful. He really is loyal to this princess, isn't he?
Sayori, a few feet behind her, thinks happily of a bath. Then an idea occurred to her, not to mention to the rest of the group. Would they have to bathe together? Or were there separate springs? She was turning red as she thought about it. And the one person who should not be thinking about this just so happens to ask.
"Muneshige," Mon-Mon starts. "Are these baths co-ed?"
Jin turns red. "Co-ed!?" And immediately he is lost in his own world, oblivious to the direction of the conversation.
Muneshige turns to the man. "Mon-Mon! You're a monk! Why do you even think about that!?"
"Well, we do have two young ladies with us. Wouldn't it be dangerous for them to bathe without someone to guard them?" Nintai has to admit that Mon-Mon's point was partially valid.
"Mon-Mon. You've forgotten something," Nintai states blandly. "I'm no weakling, and this princess is not going to be in any form of danger when I am around."
All the boys stop and stare at her back as she continues up the slope. Their silence is full of questions, loud and clear. But she has no intention of answering any of them. Sayori, the only one not shocked by her statement, continues up the track as well, feeling a sense of pride and compassion for her friend.
Still watching the girls, Bo says what's on everyone's mind. "She isn't just some girl who happened to stumble on this mission." All the men nod in agreement.
"Both of the girls are hiding something," Yo points out.
"Hatsuhime isn't hiding anything. If she was, I'd notice," Muneshige growls at him.
Holding up his hands, Yo amends his statement. "That's true, but she does at least seem a little off from the when we met her at the festival. Right, Jin? Bo?"
Bo has the faculties to actually nod. Jin is still off in his own little world. After looking back up the track, the boys see the girls way ahead, waiting for them. They all start and rush up the trail to catch up to them; except Ittosai, who walks as he keeps his eyes in the tree. The ninja there notice his staring and immediately retreat once more to avoid being exposed.
A battle at this point in time would be more advantageous to the group defending the princess. Especially with the extra girl whose skills are already being watched by more than just the living.