Special thanks to Andrew Glasco for his ideas on this chapter (to which I apologize for the slightly longer length than usual), especially regarding all that stuff Kenji spewed during the sparring session; some of it even confused me at times.

Chapter 28

When Sympathy Strikes

Day had settled over the forest once again since the rise of the sun, and in the present afternoon, the midnight-haired ninja was walking through the woodsy area with a casual, yet strong step, his amber eyes set in stone, intent on his path forward.  He was seeking out his captive, and had no doubt that he would soon be upon her, as he felt far more familiar with the setting than any other, especially with a clumsy girl that barely explored around, even despite the futile wandering during her leisure time.  Kenji knew that there were only a few places that the young Kenpo learner would feel comfortable enough to train in, and thus was completely confident in his ability to locate her, though he wondered half-heartedly about her awareness in regards to his vast knowledge.  His purpose for finding Uriko was his desire to make good on his promise from three nights ago, and school the clumsy feline in the art of combat… personally; that is, if she recovered enough by now – he had been patient and gave her the last forty-eight hours to recover from their most recent encounter.

"Huff… puff…"  Breathing hard but in a healthy, intended rhythm, the girl in question in question kept her fast-paced jog; she was currently working on building her endurance, and at the beginning, she could not complete a mile without having to stop a little beforehand and walking the rest of the distance.  Now that she had been training quite diligently since the initiation of the devilish deal, the amateur fighter could finish two without stopping, and occasionally even managed three with a good night's rest, although admittedly, she still usually felt tired afterwards.  No doubt it would take Uriko much longer to reach the level of her captor, since he had more practice and exercise of his skills, but nevertheless, she was proud of her achievements, and post her release, whenever that happened, she would continue improving on her fighting.  Despite whatever protests her older sister might voice, the sixteen-year-old was determined to ask her Kenpo teacher to resume his lessons, so she could become stronger, and in the future, hopefully never succumb to someone of Kenji's stature.

That assuring thought in mind, the fatigued youth decided to take a short break from training when she spotted an open clearing not too far up ahead, and came to a full stop upon arriving there, then proceeded to wipe the sweat off her forehead while trying to settle her breathing down a bit.  After the young brunette recovered and straightened her stance, she glanced around casually, just wanting something to preoccupy herself with, and as she caught sight of nature's inhabitants scurrying about, she felt very peaceful.  Never mind the bitter reminder that she was trapped while they could run free; in fact, the sight that should have been forlorn only fueled her drive toward success, and building her abilities up to the point where she could actually defeat her skilled opponent.  Uriko sighed serenely, making a mental note to return to this setting before the day's end, but the tranquility was shattered when only a moment later, a familiar voice greeted her ears, and certainly not a very welcome one at the present moment…

"Hmm, it seems that your perseverance is finally somewhat commendable at the very least…"

Her head immediately jerked in the direction of the words that she took to be mocking, as they had come from the arrogant jerk that loved to provoke her for his amusement… knowing this, her eyes searched the area, especially lingering around the trees in expectance of him being in an elevated position.  But even though she was suspicious of his actions, Uriko did grant him a reply, softly-spoken as she internally prepared herself for a sudden attack just to be safe; "Kenji… where the heck are you hiding this time…?"

The ninja released a low chuckle, finding her paranoid completely unnecessary, though nonetheless, he obliged to her implied request and left his inscrutable position, simply walking out from behind a thick tan trunk while eliciting silkily, "Hiding, you say?  Why, here I am, my dear kitten…"

When the auburn-haired girl spied her adversary strolling out casually into her view, she instinctively took a step back, submitting to her natural inner unease that surfaced every time he approached her; "Oh… gee, what a shock, you weren't playing games for once and jumping around the trees like a squirrel…"

"Hrmp, a squirrel I am not, that I will assure you," he snorted slightly, then stopped a considerable distance away upon noticing her discomfort, but he still eyed her form critically, in spite of her obvious resentment regarding that action, and folded his arms in response to her glare just then.  "How is your current condition, Uriko?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the question, and turned away so he could only see her side profile, answering in a disgusted tone of voice to indicate her dislike of the blatant way he was staring at her; "What's it to you?  Like you'd really care if there was something wrong with me…"

Though his expression appeared slightly exasperated at her sass, the young assassin patiently and simply questioned her once again, no pause to convey any care of what she had just said, "Have you fully recovered yet?"

The casual way he ignored her just annoyed Uriko even more; she hated his condescending attitude and how careless he acted toward her opinions, so she jerked her chin to the side in a haughty manner and retorted heatedly, "You have eyes!  Why don't you look for yourself?!  Hrmp!"

A small flame came to life in his eyes, but nevertheless, he managed to respond evenly, maintaining a tight rein over his growing irritation, his intent gaze never faltering from her form, "Yes, normally, I would take the initiation myself and use my own senses to figure out such a question… but I thought perhaps you would appreciate being allowed to give an answer for once, since you are the one who seems to be offended with the gesture of… 'staring.'  However, judging by your flamboyant behavior, I presume that you have attained your full health, so then… I do hope you will not be opposed to us initiating the second fight here and now, my dear cat."

She released a quiet groan under her breath at his wonderful timing; still, the Kenpo learner gripped a fist and raised it up to her chest protectively even as she eyed the ninja wearily, knowing perfectly well that their deal was in effect, and she had little other choice than to comply.  "If that's what you want, I can't say no, can I?"

"What I want matters little in this present instance, Uriko… I have offered you time to heal between each of our battles, so answer me, unless you wish to willingly dive into a situation that could overwhelm you due to whatever current ailments invisible to my eyes.  How well has your healing served you?"

"…Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better.  I've almost fully recovered… except for those ugly bruises you left on my arms that one night," the sixteen-year-old grudgingly admitted, flushing suddenly at the latter mention and glancing away to avoid his inquisitive gaze.

He easily detected her unease, but merely lowered his arms to their respective sides and spoke flatly to deny a single sliver of emotion toward the display of discomfort, "Very well.  Then you will be close to full strength for our promised sparring session."

"…Huh?"  Curiosity was evident in her eyes as the feline zoanthrope peered at her companion with a bit of a sideways tilt; she was admittedly surprised that he only wanted them to spar together rather than try to snag the one victory that would seal her fate…  "This… isn't our second match?"

"No," Kenji replied, shaking his head as he explained listlessly, sounding as though he was being objective, but she had her doubts, of course; "You have much progress to be made before our next match, so that is my only intention for the time being."

Her trust in him admittedly waned occasionally, but she decided to go along with his plans for the time being, until he did something that would make his credibility die completely, and with that, the brunette placed her hands on her hips while a wry grin graced her lips.  "Okay, if that's what you have planned… then what's today's lesson, Kenji-sensei?"

He smirked slightly at the somewhat mocking title, but made no comment on it and informed her, "It is simple: I will observe your movement and stance as you attack me, and counter if possible.  If your blows connect, then I will admit that you have nothing to learn in that particular technique.  However… if I am able to deliver a reprisal, that means you made a mistake, and I shall instruct you on how to correct it.  Practice is sufficient only to a certain extent, for learning through experience is undoubtedly one of the best methods out there, and this will allow you to do so while being taught to change your erroneous ways."

His temporary student blinked, a little dumbfounded, as she felt unsure of this new way of practicing her fighting skills, since her Kenpo master before had taught her very differently, and she was suddenly forced into adapting a thoroughly contrasting method.  "U-um, well… all right, I guess that works.  Huh, here goes nothing!"

With that exclamation, Uriko charged forward without warning and leapt into the air, quickly extending both legs to kick at her opponent, but the skilled fighter merely put on a purely defensive face and sidestepped to narrowly escape her attempt, then spoke immediately after his evasion, "Good, but your balance is still lacking."

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?"  She stammered uncertainly, though indeed, her landing had been rather clumsily, and to make matters worse, though unfortunately she was unaware of the danger at present, her back currently faced Kenji, and if they were fighting, he would have had an easy, open shot at her vulnerable spine. 

He tensed his posture a bit more, anticipating her next attack immediately even as a patient explanation came, "It means exactly what I said.  Both your take off and landing positions are sloppy; they cost you valuable time between your attacks and increase how long you take to recover before you initiate your next strike.  Even the force of behind your blows could suffer in a way perhaps unnoticeable to your carelessness, but should your opponent have considerable perception, he will take advantage of the smallest opening you leave."

"…Whatever," she muttered, and inwardly, Uriko admitted to feeling a bit confused as to why he was making such a big fuss over her running kick, since she really saw nothing wrong with it herself, but nevertheless, she crouched to prepare for the attack she had in mind.

With silent grace, she immediately swung her arms around as her body turned quickly, her leg gliding over in-sync with the motion as she aimed to kick Kenji in his ankle, but unfortunately for her, he had easily read the move from her early movements and simply leapt back to avoid it.  His amber eyes shone with mild annoyance as he shot her a cool glance; "No… do not spew forth such a disrespectful answer, amateur.  If you are to train with me, you will take my advice to heart… or shall I prove to you what a mar on your technique your lack of balance is?"

The younger fighter straightened herself up from the failed attack, but her knees remained bent for balance, unconsciously submitting to his commands even as she fired indignantly, gritting her teeth in aggravation when he smirked, "Listen here, Kenji.  You may be my teacher 'cause you're helping me out with this stuff, but you're not my master and you can't order me around like that, got it?  Let me make my own darn mistakes!"

He just gave a nonchalant shrug, so in determination to prove her abilities worthy of his attention, she dropped suddenly and rolled over to the ninja, stopping right in front of him while she stuck out an arm to hit his shins, trying to trip her adversary.  The attack landed, but ironically, in a show of his own keen balance and awareness, the perceptive ninja slid with the momentum and caught himself in a handstand, then rolled through with it, rising briefly into the air before thrashing his legs back down towards her.  She squealed in surprise and raised her hands over to shield her susceptible head, hiding her neck from his line of target by way of scrunching her shoulders as she dropped again to lay flat on the ground, hoping the impact would not be too damaging.  The sole of his black tabi shoes landed upon the center of her back, and Kenji pushed his weight slightly forward so that a moment later, he was literally standing atop her, his balance startlingly steady as he elicited smoothly, "This is how your balance must be utilized before you can… but of course, my suggestions probably cannot beat that of what your master says, I suppose."

That being said, his advice proven correct, he casually stepped off of her body, and once back on the ground again, Uriko just nodded and rose a bit shakily, unwilling to admit that she had been truly a bit frightened about the ninja dealing her real harm.  When she noticed their close distance, the eager girl grabbed his closest arm and yanked it toward her own form, while her other hand clenched into a fist and she smacked Kenji on both sides of his face before releasing him and retreating a couple of steps.  As she watched him raise a hand to ruefully rub the soreness in his jaw, the Kenpo learner only felt relief that her grab still worked and sent her opponent a small smile of satisfaction, obviously pleased that she caught him off-guard for a rare instance.  Meanwhile, the ninja was a bit stunned by the sudden attack and emitted a low growl of annoyance, having to actually consciously remind himself not to retaliate as he spoke aloud, "Not bad…  Your speed certainly can bring about many advantages in battle; I willingly grant you praise for that attribute."

She crowed internally, but on the outside, a determined look crossed her expression as she suddenly rushed at the older teenager, jumping into the air to kick at him frantically, her feet switching off to deal multiple quick strikes.  Kenji believed that he was prepared, meaning to prove his point on balance further by defending her attack; however, he only expected a single kick, and his surprise was complete when multiple intentions came.  He defended the first blow, but his guard was a little shaken, and the second one caused him to stagger and falter slightly, while finally, the third and fourth – thankfully, the last hits - landed squarely upon his chest, causing him to stumble back with a small groan.  The girl landed with her hands meeting the ground, and she used the surface to push off forcefully, managing to end up on her feet with a soft sigh of relief, but when she glanced at her sparring partner to see his condition, a mischievous sparkle lit up in her eyes.  "Oh, gee, did I hurt ya?  Sorry about that…" a cute giggle followed the apology.

He finally allowed emotions to be displayed with a slight frown, feeling a bit angered that he had made no point in personalizing this particular encounter before that moment, but she opted to take it to that level with her taunting remark.  "Hardly, my precious little kitten…  You honestly flatter yourself, for truth be told, your blows are too feeble to affect me.  I also suggest that you conceal your eagerness, for the movements you plan to make are very easy to read when anxiety is present on your expression."

She scrunched up her face in concentration as she struggled to recall her old training, wanting to make the best use her former combos, and was distracted by those thoughts when she bent her knees a bit and lunged at the ninja with her fist outstretched.  Of course, his perception detected her motion very quickly, and he merely lurched his head aside of the blow and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him as he turned, tossing her over his shoulder, making the girl fly with the motion of his throw.  She curled her body into a tight ball upon landing to prevent severe damage to her back, but the impact still knocked the wind out of her, and Kenji just stood silently and watched her as she shook her head to clear the daze away, taking a couple of minutes to recover.  Up on her feet once more, Uriko tried to make her expression as emotionless as possible, which was ironically impossible, since she usually wore her thoughts and feelings on her sleeve, and right now she displayed doubt and concern of her own abilities.

Even as apprehension was clearly evident in her dark twin orbs, in an effort to change the pace of their training, the brunette asked timidly, "U-um… when are you gonna teach me how to defend?  I really don't think you'll be this passive when we fight, Kenji…"

He eyed her carefully, a thoughtful expression on his face.  "Hmm… this is true.  Shall we switch roles, then?"

"Y-yeah, that's okay with me…" she murmured softly, and instantly raised both fists before her chest as another timid question came, "Since this isn't a real fight… y-you promised that you won't hurt me… right?"

Kenji merely nodded in silent confirmation, admittedly feeling rather smug at the uncertainty of her voice, but he did not allow it to show through, and so the younger fighter waved at him dismissively with her hand, impatience joining the nervousness in her eyes.  "Okay then, let's just get this over with…"

He shot her a cool glare at the none-too-polite words, and analyzed her movements rather critically before he dashed towards his opponent and as he neared her, twisted his body to the side and aimed for her head with a swift shuffle-kick.  Although she was unsure of his full attack, the female fighter had enough sense to move away as he neared her position, and still got hit by his flying foot however, but at least it landed on her shoulder instead of the original target that would bring surefire pain.  Her heart pounding from the close call, she quickly ducked down into a roll, somersaulting a good distance away from Kenji before she rose and took a defensive stance again, just to see him whirl around immediately, leaping after her with a furious airborne kick.  She screeched in surprise at his alarming recovery speed, and barely had time to purposely fall on her back, while her hands instinctively shooting out to grab his fleeting leg in hopes of causing a hard land on the ground, but the ninja ducked as he descended, and succeeding in scurrying away.

"Whew…" she breathed softly, visibly relieved at dodging his fierce blow as the girl eased her way around her adversary, stepping lightly so that many options were left to her disposal when his next attack came, and watched him as he stood slowly, fixating a perceptive eye on her.

"Decent… you really are improving."  He muttered grudging, but then started slowly stalking toward his opponent, meaning to unnerve her and throw off her defense, and his approach was a bit intimidating to Uriko, if the way she began to back up to match each one of his steps served as any indication.  A smirk creased his lips at her silent submission to his effective mind techniques, and then his pace increased, gradually working into a sprint as he darted at her with no sign of slowing down until they would finally meet on her side of the arena.  But just when it seemed he would run right into her, he vanished into thin air, and reappeared right behind her, instantly lurching a leg out to kick at the small of her back, and because he caught her with that blow, she fell forward, releasing a shrill cry of pain.  Thankfully, her hands had shot out, once again instinctively, to prevent her face from slamming into the ground, but her chest landed rather forcefully and winded her for a bit, to which the girl tried sucking in as much air as her tightened lungs allowed.

Standing over her, Kenji merely folded his arms loosely about his chest, glancing upon her more easily, and made no further move to attack, remembering that this was merely a sparring session as he chided, "You need to be mindful of all your surroundings, Uriko.  Attacks will not always come from the direction you anticipate."

"A-apparently not…" she grumbled a bit hoarsely as she slowly eased herself to a standing position and sent him a defiant glare with her eyes, "But really, you're the only one I know who has such a cheap tech like that smoke thing… it's too bad you can't use honest moves to win, Kenji."

He laughed freely, only finding amusement in her accusation; "Do not attack me with your childish, idealistic way of fighting.  My methods are effective, and if you lack the presence to counter, then that is your fault, not mine.  You should know by now that all is fair in a battle to the death, my naïve little kitten…"

She visibly bristled at his condescending address, but unsure of how to convince him to think otherwise about his conniving way of fighting, she instead attacked his latter statement, "S-stop calling me that!!  Either use my name, or don't talk to me at all!  Grrr… I won't let you disrespect me anymore…!"

His amber eyes glistened with a hint of mischief as his lips curled up into a smirk, rather enjoying this as a game rather than a serious conflict, and bid her onward with an inviting gesture of his index and middle fingers, simultaneously uttering provokingly, using her name as a bait laid out upon a string, "So, you want me to respect you?  All right then, come show me how you will earn it, Uriko…"

The irritated brunette shook her head, patience with him growing very thin as she succumbed to her pride and suddenly lunged at Kenji, her hands flying toward his chest as a distraction while one leg was poised to smash directly into his shin.  He snorted carelessly at what he believed to be her attack, feeling earnestly sickened at its sloppy execution, and so he simply barred his forearms to negate her momentum, also steadying his balance, but it came as a big surprise when the supposed strike was just a distraction, and her foot instead slammed onto his leg quite forcefully.  The ninja grit his teeth at the sudden jolt of pain, and forced himself to recover quickly as he leapt back a bit unsteadily with his uninjured leg, falling into a handspring that he used to flip around and place distance between the two fighters.  She allowed a small triumphant smile to grace her lips, unable to hide that she was pleased to land a hit on him, and as she raised both fists before her chest to signify an offensive pose, sassed tauntingly, "Hrmp, I told you I'm not weak…"

"One ineffective strike will not win a fight, my dear foolish girl… you really have much to learn."  Casting an intent gaze upon her once more, Kenji dashed at the younger youth and tossed a shuriken to either side of her, each embedding itself in a tree, successfully throwing her attention off when she whipped around to identify the whizzing noise.  Taking advantage of her costing distraction, he leapt up and lashed down at her head with a vicious axe kick, which caught her square on both cheeks and sent the girl sprawling back, stunned by the hard fall as her neck snapped dangerously, making her cry out in pain.  He, of course, landed gracefully, and slowly rose to the full height of his stance, casually folding his arms once more as he observed Uriko, taking note of the painstakingly slow way that she got up into a sitting position and reached a hand behind to rub her stiff muscles.  Tears stung her eyes as she pouted at the dark-haired assassin, a pout curling her lips from the sudden paralysis for the time being, and once he realized the seriousness of her condition, his posture relaxed and he walked over to her location.

"…I suppose that move was a bit much," he mumbled quietly, kneeling down near the injured youth, less than a foot away to keep a close eye on her.  "This will be all for today, then… for contact anyway, at the very least."

Annoyance was vividly clear on her expression, and Uriko removed the hand she had on the back of her neck, placing it on his chest to push him away as she stubbornly defied him in spite of the slight trembling of her lips, "H-hey, I'm not gonna be licked that easily!  Th-this is just a small bruise, that's all!  I-I'll be fine in a few minutes…!"

Both of his hands grasped onto her arm when she tried to force him back, knowing full well that she would fall over as well if he went, all the while assuring her with his words, speaking calmly and objectively, since he had nothing to gain from merely teaching her, "Courage and foolishness are two very different things, Uriko… it is truly unfortunate that you seem to confuse them.  Remember, this is only training, and that means the winner and loser do not matter, especially with the absence of an intention for victory.  Accept the severity of your disorientation, rest, and be prepared to redeem yourself during a later session."

"Smart-aleck…" she grumbled irritably as she tore her hands away from his grasp and rose unsteadily to her feet, springing up a little too fast, which quickly depleted her balance, and the dizzy girl whimpered, grabbing onto the first support she could find, which happened to be that of the ninja crouched nearby.  She unwillingly fell against him, her chest slung over his shoulder while her abdomen pressed against his face; a surprised grunt escaped his lips at this sudden development, and his stance faltered with the unexpected responsibility.  He rocked on his heels in a desperate attempt to remain stationary, but ultimately failed and fell backwards, his arms shooting behind him to prevent a hard landing, and unfortunately, as Uriko went along with the motion, she forcefully came into contact with her companion.  His knees had slammed into her stomach with his flailing descent, and this caused her to grimace openly in pain, discomfort clearly aligning her facial features as the weakened brunette laid still atop her captor, rasping out hoarsely, "U-ugh…!  Augh, darn it… I-I really didn't need this…!"

Upon realizing that his knees had slammed into her gut, he instantly reached up and grasped her shoulders, a twinge of regret shining in his light-shaded eyes as he expressed his concern of her condition, "Are you all right, Uriko?"

"N-no…" she confessed reluctantly with a slight shake of her head, a rare gleam of weakness briefly flickering over her face as she struggled to remove herself from the ninja, lifting her upper body into the air as she slowly slid off of him, grasping his thigh to use as support.

He actually helped her move away, acknowledging her current state of unease, but his hands remained upon her shoulders as his intense gaze stayed on her form; because he genuinely felt a bit worried about her, he had not yet realized this blatant show of weakness coming from him.

Just grateful to be sitting down again, she herself even failed to notice that Kenji had helped her, and mumbled with a pained expression on her face, "Oh, m-my neck really hurts…" she reached back once again to rub the tense muscle hesitantly, partially closing her eyes to save energy.

He frowned, regret plaguing his conscience rather plainly; he had hurt her without reason, and with the additional fact that his rather cynical edge was out of mind for the moment, he felt badly, and inquired of her softly, "Can you make it back to the cottage, or will that be troublesome to your condition?"

"Y-yeah, I'll be okay, but, um… just let me sit here and… and admire the view for a little bit," Uriko noised uncertainly, wincing even as she did something as simple as shifting her position to cross her legs Indian-style; the agonizing throbbing at the back of her head and stiffened, tense muscles made her feel very uncomfortable, but also caused the girl great agitation with her current weak state.

Kenji silently watched her squirm around for a few moments before he slowly crawled around behind her, and tentatively rested one of his hands upon the nape of her neck, firming his hold just slightly as he kneaded the skin softly beneath his strong fingers.

Naturally, the Kenpo student jolted in surprise at this comforting gesture, and lurched forward, immediately regretting that action as she cringed in discomfort, instead settling for turning her head back partway to glance at her companion out of the corner of her eye.  "O-oh, argh…  What… what're you doing…?"

"…I was merely trying to massage your neck and ease your ailments," he answered flatly, unable to conceal a hint of exasperation in his tone.  "Your muscles are stiff and causing you discomfort… is that not correct?"

She quirked a brow at the confusing behavior, but then slowly leaned back, her cheeks flushing a bit when she discovered that he was very closely behind, and the girl soon found herself resting against his chest, a good resting position; however, the lack of distance made her just a tad uncomfortable…  "W-well… that's obvious… but, what do you know about easing pain…?"  The implication was, of course, that he only knew how to cause pain, and very little else.

"Killing is not the sole task on my agenda, my precious little kitten…" his voice hissed those words indignantly even despite the endearment, though his fingers moved over her skin gently, squeezing just hard enough to ease her tension, his coordination considerably comforting due to his diligent training and self-sustenance.  "I can confidently assure you that I am not completely ignorant when it comes to the different sides of pain."

I guess as long as he doesn't hurt me… I-I can trust him… I hope.  Assured by him for the time being, her expression immediately softened from the soothing rub while her eyes came to a full close, a serene smile forming over her lips as the girl ducked her head down a bit to grant him easier access to her neck, emitting a small noise of content, "…Mmm…"

Encouraged, Kenji moved his thumbs down to caress along the newly exposed area of her flesh, continuing to run his hands along her smooth skin, physically feeling each knot that agonized her tension, and internally regretting the harm he had caused her… perhaps even admitting to harboring a sliver of shame.  He gave her his word that he would not harm her in their sparring session, which he did by the axe-kick, and although kneeing her had happened accidentally, the responsibility was on his part as usual, and so he aimed to correct the error by easing her pain.  Uriko sighed in relief when the numbness slowly began to fade, and the stiffened muscles in her neck had loosened considerably with the release he gave her; the only discomfort that remained was the ache present in her stomach where she had accidentally been struck by him earlier.  After a few minutes of his effective massage, the girl eased herself forward and tentatively escaped his hand as she whispered her gratitude quietly, her back still facing him while a pale shade of pink tinted her cheeks, "U-um… th-thank you… for helping me."

He allowed his hands to drop to their respective sides, and just stared blankly at the curve of her back, uttering a reply of equal volume to her own, "Think nothing of it…  I hope you are well now."

There was blatant confusion on her face as she pondered the enigmatic assassin that he baffled her so much… gradually rising to a standing position, the still-injured girl clutched her abdomen with one hand, while the other one grabbed at her braid, playing with it aimlessly. "…Um, I'm going back to the cabin now, okay?"

The midnight-haired teenager offered her a simple nod as reply, and feeling uncomfortable with the silence, Uriko started walking away, still clutching the area of discomfort as she occasionally had to suppress the urge to vomit; apparently she was more bruised than either had thought.  Kenji sensed her unease, but quickly dismissed the thought, inwardly deciding not to dwell on the unfortunately topic any further, realizing how much it distraught her; he followed his captive from a considerable distance, wanting to ensure the safety of her returning journey.  She heard shuffling noises behind her, and felt a little uncomfortable knowing he was still present, but said nothing, thinking he would not bother listening to her if she told him to go away, so she willingly lost herself in contemplation.  A small frown marred her brows when she considered her own weaknesses, but upon recalling her reason to fight, she allowed the forlorn tears to drift down her cheek, gliding over her smooth skin as she whispered quietly, "U-ugh, I… I don't wanna think like that-!  I… have a battle to win, and I can't take anymore stalling…  Oh sis, I wanna go home so badly…"