So sorry for the delay in updating - I had really hoped to have this chapter up before now, but I struggled with it mightily. I'm still not completely happy but I think it's as good as it's going to be for now.

With holiday travel and the new semester starting up I haven't been able to reply to reviews as much as I'd like - please know that they mean the world to me and I greatly appreciate everyone who's taken the time to review so far!! :)

Chapter 3

o.O.o.O.o

For a full 10 seconds both simply stared at the other, unable to break through the surprise in order to form coherent sentences. Mifune recovered first, dragging his eyes away from the girl who still sat on the dusty ground, slender legs jutting out to the sides, her weight resting back on her hands. Even with dirt on her clothes and a stray twig in her disheveled hair, she still looked particularly appealing and it absolutely terrified him. With a quiet sigh, he slid his katana smoothly back into its sheath, shooting her a sideways glance,

"What are you doing here?"

The question startled Tsubaki out of her daze and she blinked at him, "I live two miles that way," she pointed roughly to the northwest. Finally able to take in her surroundings, she surveyed the improvised campsite and the small figure huddled behind the samurai. "But shouldn't I be the one asking what you're doing here?"

He cursed his obnoxiously fair skin, feeling his face color revealingly under her curious scrutiny; he'd actually been so preoccupied that he hadn't realized they'd traveled as far as they had. When they had stopped for camp the previous evening he'd been fairly certain they had at least 2 or 3 hours of walking left before they reached Death City.

"I haven't travelled this way often, I wasn't aware we were so close to the academy."

Though she sensed it wasn't exactly the whole truth, neither was there evidence of deception in his manner and she accepted the explanation without question. Realizing for the first time that she was still sprawled on the ground she shifted to stand. Before she could even get to her knees, he was in front of her, the tiny witch now resting on his shoulders, and he held a hand out to her.

Inwardly she sighed; he really was a gentleman at heart and she wondered, not for the first time the reasons for his dark allegiance. Accepting his proffered assistance, her small hand met his long fingers and she nearly pulled away at the electric current that seemed to pass between them. With a nod of thanks she slipped her hand from his, trying to mask her amusement as she watched his face flare a deep crimson, informing her that he also had felt something in their brief physical connection.

The words slipped out before he could stop them, "Aren't you old enough to be finished with school?"

With a quick nod of her head, she murmured softly, "Probably, yes, but I had a bit of a late start."

The tricky girl hadn't quite answered his question, though he could tell she was not being deliberately evasive. In response he merely nodded, "I see, I thought perhaps you were only waiting on your partner."

He literally watched as the change swept across her features. Initially her wide eyes spoke of some deep hurt but switched almost immediately to a deliberate fierceness that warned him not to probe too deeply into the subject.

Sapphire orbs suddenly glowed warmly as she considered the subject of his unexpected inquiry, "Did you come to teach?" she queried tentatively.

His heart clenched within his chest, not wanting to destroy her sudden enthusiasm and even more not wanting to acknowledge the way his pulse raced at the mere suggestion.

"I couldn't risk An's safety," the now mechanical mantra that he'd been attempting to convince himself with for the last hour sounded even more hollow when spoken aloud.

Brow furrowed in concern, she stepped towards him feeling her heart rate spike as she did so, "But it doesn't have to be that way – surely Shinigami-Sama can tell as well as I that your souls are not corrupted by evil. We – we could really use another good teacher…"

Those deep blue eyes nearly broke his resolve right then, but instead of succumbing to his instincts he merely turned back to the camp, swiftly grabbed his pack and An's bedroll and slung them over his shoulder.

As if he were a statue, he stood facing in the opposite direction, inwardly struggling with an agonizing decision he wasn't prepared to make. Turning his head back around, he didn't meet her eyes, but managed to mutter, "Just how old… are you?"

Startled by the abrupt question, her slender eyebrows shot up in confusion as she replied, "I'll be 18 next month."

His features were unreadable as he finished gathering their few supplies and, still carrying An, disappeared into the forest.

He didn't allow himself a backwards glance, knowing that he would give in if she were still standing there watching. No, he had his answers and now it was time to return home and absolutely not think of any plans to return in a month.

Definitely not.

Probably.

o.O.o.O.o.o

Tsubaki felt a surprising tingle of disappointment watching his back fade into the foliage but squelched it immediately. Though still bemused at both the sudden appearance and disappearance of the peculiar samurai, she was glad at least that his young ward – Angela, she thought she remembered – hadn't seemed frightened of her. To be honest, it had weighed on her mind somewhat, even though she understood that their multiple battles with the swordsman had been necessary, she certainly hadn't ever wanted to cause the child alarm.

Some might tell her that it didn't matter – what with the girl being a witch and all – but Tsubaki found that she didn't take that into consideration. Not for the first time she cursed the system that so casually slapped labels on people. Shouldn't it matter more what a person did than what they were born? Though everyone had a certain amount of preconceptions attached to them at birth, the way things were, it practically forced those born as witches into a life as an outcast at best and a criminal at worst.

It seemed that so far the samurai had protected his ward from the worst fate, but without viable alternatives Tsubaki wasn't sure how long it could continue. And a life of exile wasn't much of an existence, especially for a child. But without a practical solution, she merely sighed and set it off to the side of her mind, knowing it wouldn't be far from her thoughts.

Opting to take her time returning, she set off on a steady walk, mulling over their unusual discussion, scarcely conscious of her surroundings. Even after replaying the short conversation three times in her mind, she found no clues to suggest what business he could possibly have this close to Death City.

And now that it was entirely too late to do anything about it, she realized that the only information she'd gotten was that he hadn't thought they were as close to the city as they actually were. So the elusive samurai had a somewhat less than stellar sense of direction… intriguing to be sure, but not exactly enlightening.

Yet he, on the other hand, had somehow extracted an extremely peculiar set of facts about herself; mostly revolving around her age, she noted with confusion, unsure what purpose that information could possible serve.

He was a mystery through and through; one which Tsubaki was fighting desperately against a growing urge to delve in and solve. There was certain to be a reason for his unexpected appearance and although luck or fate had brought them together, his business – whether innocuous or not – was his own. Their chance encounter was nothing more than that – a coincidence – and although it did nothing to settle the recent uneasiness in her heart, it was absurd to read anything more into it.

But if she really believed that, why did her face still feel overheated and her fingertips a little bit tingly? For the first time in quite awhile she felt energized and even though there was no real reason she found she couldn't stop smiling.

She stopped suddenly as all the signals connected. Oh no oh no. There was absolutely no way. Not only was he a virtual stranger, but the bodyguard of a witch to boot? If there was ever a man who was off-limits it was him.

So why did those reasons suddenly seem extremely unimportant?

o.O.o.O.o