Another Baka - smiles Thanks for reviewing!
Erica Madarine - Awesome, thanks. I am very glad that I can describe him so well. And... please keep reading. Reviews give me impetus to continue and also some really good pointers too!
MSM-chan -OH WOW! Thanks for those compliments Chan... I really appreciate it. And I'm going to try my best to update ASAP on all my chapters. I have the story done in my notebooks, but it's just a matter of sitting down and typing them out. Heh heh.
Genki Ninjagirl - You most definately will Miss. heh heh.
Whisper of the Wind - I'm... thinking you don't like Yasue very much... and I believe sleeping under the snow is possible. Come wintertime I'll try it out. : )
Rose Mary - Ack, I knew it, but I got impatient. Sorry if it bothered you, but I couldn't change it since I was done so I kinda integrated that little bit into her personality. grin
Chibi-Flamer- Yeah, trying to dear, but it's not quite so easy for the easily distracted to get things done sweatdrop
Chibi-Assassin - Aha, I think anyone sleeping in the cold would get... cold... and what exactly is it that YOU would have Sou do? Hee hee
- Thanks for the love!
EK - Ah, so glad to help with your story. I've been waiting forever for some kind of update, I kept getting getbacker updates and got confused. And, heh heh, bad reviews don't really bother me especially if they're from someone by the name of Flamer. I'd expect it!
Flamer - Well, uh... there is a site I got my info from perhaps you've heard of it. It's Absolute Anime. It said his eyes were blue so I said his eyes were blue and I remember them being like a dark purple color when he got mad in the anime. And... Sojiro is not overtly built, so ... I'm calling him scrawny for the time being. Kenshin is scrawny too. I'm not doing it to insult the Tenken, just forming my own opinions. And... um... Yasue... yeah she is... and Sojiro is... uh... fictional my dear, sorry if that bursts your bubble. Sorry for being late!
Chapter Seven – With Heat From Another
I think I better return that sword to Mr.Shishio. I know I'm weak but I prefer things the way they are…
"Sojiro! Please stop!"
Sojiro sat up in his bed and yawned loudly, rubbing his eyes with his fists. Every morning, or at least the last one, Yasue had been up and in his room. He flipped the covers off of his body and yawned again, adjusting his yukata so it was securely closed and tight around his waist. He would just go and check on her quickly to make sure she was okay before he got dressed.
He opened the shoji and peered out at the winter wonderland that greeted him. It must have snowed all night for the snow to be this deep. He felt that if he stepped in it, he would suddenly be buried by whiteness. Of course though, the snow was nowhere near high enough to be over his head. But if it continued snowing the way it was, in just a couple more days, it would be.
He turned to go to Yasue's room and stopped again, his small eyes slowly widening in horror. He collapsed next to the motionless Yasue and picked her up, carrying her frozen body back into his room. Small beads of sweat began to sprout on his forehead and he ran about the room in a panic, first placing Yasue in his bed and then trying to find as many blankets as he could to layer on top of her. The extent of his medical knowledge was you used a clothe to capture a running nose, he knew nothing else. He fell down next to her, grabbing one of her stiff delicate hands in his.
Her breaths were short and raspy through her bluing lips. He thought it strange that she wasn't shivering and that only lead to a new pinnacle of fear. For a moment, he was almost sure she was dead, but then her eyes opened, her sharp green eyes deadened, and she sat up, pulling herself to him. The hard thumps from her hands echoed in Sojiro's ears as she pulled herself to him, her legs unused in her effort. He pushed himself back to the wall, the sight of her ghostlike figure shifting towards him bringing about a strange sense of fear.
"Sojiro… I'm cold," she whispered, her hands darting into his yukata and finding the warmth of his body. Sojiro resisted the urge to throw them off and instead sucked air through his teeth and bore it. The skin on her fingers began to burn, but she couldn't take them away from the heat. She began to cry, pushing herself up against him. He leaned foreword and grabbed the blankets from the bed, pulling Yasue up onto his lap and throwing the blanket over her, tucking it in and making the seal tight around her body. "You're so w-warm," she stuttered, her teeth finally clattering together. "Sojiro… it's s-starting to hu-hurt." He lifted her head and hugged her with his body, offering his warmth to her and closing his eyes as her body began to shake harder against him. Her forehead was blazing, but he'd have to get the doctor later. After a while, her shaking stopped and she back asleep against him.
The small body in his arms was like a delicate strand of glass now. Why he felt that he had to be so careful with her was beyond his understanding. All he knew is he felt some strange bubble forming in his stomach like when he had raced to her shop and seen it in chaos. Trying his best to keep from jostling her too much, Sojiro stood and brought her back to his bed, placing her in it and covering her forehead in a cold clothe figuring it was the best thing to do to get her fever under control. He was about to get up when Yoshi burst through the shoji, calling Sojiro loudly. In a heartbeat, Sojiro had clapped a hand over Yoshi's mouth and put a finger to his lips.
"Yoshi I need you to do me two favors. One, please keep your voice under control, Miss Yasue is sleeping. Two, if you would please get the doctor for me, I'll tell you about it when you return," he said. Yoshi pulled angrily on Sojiro's hand to protest, but Sojiro placed his other hand firmly over his mouth. "Get the doctor please Yoshi. Your news will have to wait until later," he said. Yoshi threw Sojiro's sword on the ground, his temper flaring, and stomped out of the room. Sojiro stared at the exposed blade for a moment, watching the light reflect off of the metal. "Thanks…" he whispered distractedly, returning to sit by Yasue's side as she slowly recovered.
Slowly her eyes opened and she looked up at him, trying to sit up, but he pushed her back down gently and smiled. "You are sick Miss Yasue. Yoshi went to go get a doctor and should be back soon so, until then, I would like you to get some rest," he said, his hands still on her shoulders. Figuring she couldn't protest, she kept quiet, but grabbed his hands so he couldn't leave her. "Are you feeling any better?" he asked. She nodded, but in reality, her head was throbbing and her body felt like it had been stabbed a million times with heated needles.
"Why was Yoshi here?" Yasue asked quietly.
"He stopped by. He had something to tell me." Sojiro was quick and to the point, giving the air that any further questions on the matter would be cleverly dodged or ignored. The hint was taken and Yasue dropped the subject for now. He took one of his hands from hers, pulling his yukata closed. "I should get changed," he said quietly. Yasue nodded, letting him go and switch to his usual gi and hakama. Once that small task was accomplished he went back to her side and sat down with a small smile on his lips. "Can I ask you a question?" he asked after a moment's silence, not resisting when Yasue took his hand again and held it close to her face. Absently, she nodded and moved his fisted hand under her chin. "Why were you sleeping outside my door this morning?" With a small frown, she propped herself up onto her elbow and looked at him intently.
"Honestly… I went to make sure that you were still there after left my room and then I guess I fell asleep outside your door," she mumbled. She had fallen asleep on the job. It wasn't quite that she had gone to check on him. Her intention had been to make sure he didn't leave in the night as she was sure he was going to. "I was afraid you had left. I thought that what you did last night was your way of saying goodbye to me," she whispered, lowering herself back down. Before Sojiro had a chance to respond, Yoshi had rushed into the room, dragging a rather dazed medic behind him.
"All right, come on Sojiro. I got stuff to tell you," Yoshi said.
"Miss Yasue, I'll be right outside," Sojiro said lightly, wiping away a tear that had formed at her eye and smiling passively before leaving the room behind Yoshi and bowing to the doctor on his way out.
"Sojiro, bad news. The Gundashi have an outside source of info and know where Mi-Yasue lives. They've also got info on you."
"Really? Like what?" Sojiro asked, looking genuinely interested though his voiced expressed otherwise. He seemed more interested in going back into that room and Yoshi frowned at that thought.
"Your affiliation with the Juppongatana and your fight with the Battousai. Or at least as much as they could get since you're the only one who knows details 'cept the Battousai himself. Alls they know is you lost your fight, kid, and you had some complications afterwards. Don't ask me how they found all this out. We did a thorough background check and we barely found your name in any record. This is really all over my head. Anyway, Yasue and you are in a lot more trouble now than you were before. I urge you to go take cover at the captains hideout," Yoshi said, fidgeting slightly.
"All that would do, Yoshi, is aggravate them and prolong a fated battle. Anyway Yoshi, Miss Yasue is quite sick at and I don't think moving would be in the best for her health." Sojiro smiled. Why was he doing this? This was putting her at risk and that was exactly what he pledged not to do, so why was he so certain she should stay here? He had a hunch her health wasn't the only reason he was so persistent on her staying put. There was something else, deep down in his stomach he felt something. Was it… pride? No, he had none, he deserved none, but what was it?
"You know what I think? I think you want to fight them," Yoshi claimed angrily, his expression somewhat amazed that Sojiro wasn't going to leave. The doctor walked out, halting any reply that Sojiro would have said.
"She's got a high fever and a developing cold. I believe the fever will die down soon enough if she stays indoors and covered up. There is also a small irritation at the back of her throat. Make sure she gets enough rest and fluids in her body and keep her comfortable. No extra stress like working until she's completely better. I don't want her taking any risks with her health. If she's lucky, the whole mess will pass in about a week. I'm surprised she didn't suffer any permanent damage from staying out in temperatures like this for that amount of time. Perhaps she was just in a good place by the house. Anyway, give her this before she goes to sleep. It will help with any discomfort at her throat and give her a good nights rest." The doctor handed him a small vile of yellow liquid and nodded to him, departing with Yoshi close behind, one last glance sent back from the swordsman to Sojiro.
Sojiro sighed and walked back into his room where Yasue lay, sitting down next to her and crossing his legs. Thankfully she had fallen back asleep, but in her sleep she fidgeted and murmured, clenching and unclenching her hands. For a moment he just watched her, trying to convince himself that it wasn't his fault she was outside his door. For some reason the thought that it could be made him uneasy and his stomach would shrink uncomfortably. Sighing, he moved to the head of the bed and pulled her up into him, dragging the blanket along with her as he backed himself up against the wall. The excitement first thing in the morning had put him back into a fog. He pulled the blanket around her and held her in his arms, bowing his head down to hers and going to sleep.
Mr.Shishio had been callous to Yumi, yes, but when she was in trouble, like the time Usui had used her as bait, Shishio had changed. When he finally got her back he had held her close to his body and laughed at Usui, but Sojiro could sense something different in the way he did it. It was almost like he wanted to protect her, but that wasn't like Shishio at all. Was it?
Eventually, Sojiro fell asleep again, dreaming of memories. Mr.Himura had spoken of protecting the weak, Shishio had spoken of killing them. While Shishio's truth no longer appealed to him, he couldn't deny that it suited him better than Himura's. Sojiro now had to find his own truth between the two, but how? How could he live a normal life when, three months earlier, he had lived anything but a normal one? For a reason he couldn't quite explain, he knew that Yasue was his key to getting their, to that enlightenment of realization. Sojiro woke up, the clenching in his stomach jarring him from his dreams.
He was alone in the room, the blanket draped over his body and tucked behind his shoulders. Where had Yasue disappeared? Sojiro stood up and began looking around the room, figuring she was still inside somewhere. The shoji opened and Yasue walked in, carrying a small tray of food in her hands lightly. "Miss Yasue?" Sojiro mumbled. Startled, she turned and looked at him, jumping when their eyes connected, the contents of her tray rattling loudly.
"I didn't know you had woken up. When I left you were still asleep." She smiled, clearing her throat nervously. Sojiro walked up to her and grabbed the tray, kneeling and placing it on the ground.
"Miss Yasue, the doctor's orders were that you stay inside away from the cold and not overwork yourself," Sojiro said, his smile betraying the nature of his words. Yasue found herself frowning at his comments.
"I only made a little bit of food and that's hardly any work at all," she protested, sitting down when Sojiro pulled on her. "I'm fine." Her throat began to tickle again and she cleared it, glancing at Sojiro. "You can't make me stay indoors forever ya know," she said defiantly, crossing her arms.
"Not forever, just until you're feeling better."
"I am feeling better."
"That's not what I meant."
"But it's what you said," she pointed out.
"Then allow me to reiterate. You can't go outside until the doctor says you are feeling better."
"But he did say I was doing much better."
"Then until I say you are feeling better."
"But that'll be forever and a day," she cried, falling onto her hands.
"At least you'll be healthy," he laughed. She slumped and began eating, her chopsticks held tightly in her long fingers. Sojiro followed her lead, chuckling whenever Yasue shot him a dirty look. He tried to ignore how comfortable he felt around her now, like they had grown up together, like he knew everything about her. Knowing someone for three months on friendly occasions did not constitute and actually being anything more than congenial acquaintances, even if she had kissed him.
When they had finished, Yasue placed her chopsticks down and looked at Sojiro. When he saw her gaze his smile slowly fell from his face, but it wasn't replaced by anything, just a blank expression. "Are you okay?" he asked quickly, moving the tray and leaning foreword towards her.
"Yes… I just have a question." She kept her voice quiet, not wanting to sound too foreword at the moment. Sojiro smiled and leaned back, realizing that she wasn't ailing. "How long are you planning on staying?" Sojiro just shrugged. He had never given it much thought.
"Whenever I'm no longer needed I suppose. I can't leave you when you need my help," he said, lowering his head to look at his hands. Her expression was getting annoying, the way her eyebrows knit together and she bit her lip and kept smoothing out her yukata.
"Then I have another question to ask you…" Her voice dropped to a whisper and she crept foreword until their knees touched together. Sojiro, for once, didn't try and move back. Instead, he stared at the connection uncomfortably and clenched his hands on his hakama. "You said you couldn't love me, but I know you do-"
"Correction, I said I couldn't touch you," he said, beginning to shuffle back slowly.
"But you do touch me. You touch me and then pull away. Besides, even if you won't touch me, you can't stop me from touching you," she said quietly, a hand stroking his gi as she leaned foreword into him. Sojiro tried getting away, but fell back onto his hands and Yasue took the opportunity to block him down with her own body, her arms on either side of him pushed in tight to his shoulders. A small noise escaped his mouth and he looked up at her, a fearful expression on his face.
The small blush on his cheeks made hers flare up as well, the small butterflies in her stomach in a frenzy. If he wasn't going to do it, then she was. It was about time that the walls were broken and she was sick of him just sitting there and smiling. Easing herself down slowly, not wanting to startle him with a quick descent, she let her lips connect softly with Sojiro's and trailing her hands on his small gray shirt inside his gi.
"I don't think this is good for your health," Sojiro muttered, being cut off as Yasue silenced him with her fingers and kissed him again. His resolve was crumbling and instead he was becoming self conscience of his inexperience. The only thing he could think to do was mimic Yasue as she gradually applied pressure. As soon as he felt Yasue's tongue beginning to enter his mouth, he jumped and turned his head, gasping for air. Smiling, Yasue guided his reluctant face back to the front and settling her head on his chest, her hands still in his gi.
"You don't have a lot of experience do you?" She laughed. Sojiro didn't answer, just stared at the ceiling. "I'm sorry if I startled you." Sojiro swallowed hard and began to fidget, eventually wrapping his arms around her. "Does this mean you've changed your mind?" Sojiro sighed.
"I don't know. I feel horrible doing this to you, but you don't make it easy for me to stick to my goals." Sojiro looked up at her as she lifted herself up and smiled down at him, letting her kiss him quickly. "I don't think this is right," he said, pulling a bit of her black hair over her shoulder and running it through his fingers.
"Why? Why do you think that?" Yasue asked, though she wasn't really listening to him. Yes, he finally did it! He finally at least admitted that he couldn't keep his vow, which hopefully meant that later on he'd be more open about touching her. He also took the liberty of correcting her before. So he could actually love her, there was a chance. Well, hopefully since he was holding her so nicely.
"I just don't think it is."
"Sojiro, you're my age right?"
"Depends on how old you are."
"Seventeen."
"Then no, I'm eighteen," he said, letting his hands fall from her back as she flung her hair over her shoulder and sighed. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I think we're both old enough to do this and make our own decisions. That means that since I have no problem with this, you shouldn't be worried about staining me or whatever it is you call it," she said matter-of-factly. Sojiro propped himself up on his elbows and smiled.
"Just because you don't have a problem with something doesn't mean it's all right for someone else to do it. I have no problem with swordplay, but that doesn't mean you should try doing it."
"Sojiro!" Yasue scolded, bringing her face close to his. "Swords are much different than people you know." Clearing her throat of irritation, she moved off of him and sat on the floor, her arms crossed. Suddenly her throat began to tingle like there were ants crawling around inside it and she bowed her head and coughed into her hands, forcing herself to stop as it began to hurt. Sojiro, frowned and moved closer to her, touching her arm with his hand hesitantly. "It's all right. It's just a little cold, nothing to worry yourself about." But little colds could grow…
"Miss Yasue, this reminds me. What you said before, about me leaving, why would you be afraid?" he asked, studying her face. The expression changed from content to that expression that always seemed to be around her when she was with him. The brows knit and she began chewing on her soft pink lips, averting her gaze from his and rubbing her hands. "Why were you afraid?" he asked again, grabbing her hands to stop their movements. Their quick jerks made him uneasy for some reason. She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering.
How do you tell him? Last night I was almost sure he would kill me with his sword, but then two seconds later I was holding him. In all honesty, how am I supposed to trust you? I'd like to say I feel nothing but happiness from you breaking your vow but… I don't. It means you could break the one that you just made to me about staying. I was afraid last night you would loose yourself again and leave… or worse. Would you ever kill yourself? Would you ever do something like that?
Yasue felt her stomach sinking. "Miss Yasue?" Sojiro asked quietly. She had been staring at him for a while now with the tears just streaming down her face. "Are you all right?"
If he had someone…
Sojiro wiped her cheeks dry with his gi sleeve.
To shed her tears of caring for him…
Then he pushed her head into his chest and smiled
He would have had a completely different life.
