Play 19: In Hot Blood
Things were even worse than I expected.
As soon as I reached about five meters away from Ikeda Inn, I heard Kondou yelling over to Souji, and Nagakura calling out for Heisuke. I couldn't help the both of them at once—they were fighting at different sides of the inn.
I ran into the inn, and almost barfed out my stomach juices. The scent of spilled blood was all over the place, so strong that I could even taste it in my mouth. I coughed, trying to gulp as I stepped carefully over bodies of fallen men.
"Souji! Heisuke!" I pinched my nose as I screamed over the chaos. I glanced at my right, where Kondou and Souji were, and then my left, where Nagakura and Heisuke fought at. Finally, I turned to where Souji was supposedly to be fighting at and ran. I thought that it was right to choose him, since I had somehow made Sanan mad at him, and he hadn't rub the fact that I always caused trouble for him into my face. Although I knew I owed Souji, I couldn't help but to feel a little guilty for Heisuke as I hurried up the stairs.
A man appeared out of nowhere, falling down the stairs, screaming. His face and clothes were smeared in blood, and the look on his face made me whipped out my short sword. Suddenly Kondou came into view, his sword sliding into the ronin's heart.
When Kondou saw me, his eyes instantly shot up in pure shock. "You!? What are the rest of our men doing!?" He tried to keep calm but his worried eyes gave him away.
"I-I thought I have to help after all! Please!" I blurted out.
Kondou seemed skeptical, but nodded. "I'm sorry, but can you go see to Souji? He's upstairs with one of these damnable ronin." His eyes turned angry. "I doubt he'll lose, but he could still be hurt. His opponent looks to be a difficult one." He gestured towards the top floor upstairs, and I ran off after telling him to be careful.
The scene that greeted me there was really startling.
As I could see from the battle, Souji seemed to be losing the other man in terms of strength. The way the ronin brushed off his attacks were almost lazy, as if he was merely swatting some annoying fly away.
My palms began to sweat as I watched Souji's sword meeting the ronin's with a loud clang. Their swords reflected the moonlight shining through the open window menacingly, and I knew that it was a fight for life or death.
"This is the best you can manage?" The ronin smirked evilly, mocking Souji. Souji's emerald eyes narrowed. "Well, I think that's about enough of that. It's time I was off. Try and follow, and you won't get any mercy from me."
I knew that Souji wouldn't let him escape, but it was obvious that he was losing to this arrogant freak. There was something about this ronin that really pissed me off, even more than the other man in the room.
They were acting as if I wasn't in there, so I backed up against the wall, watching nervously. If Souji needed any help, I would step up to do so. For now, it seemed that he managed to block off the ronin's attacks, if not nearly.
"Sorry, pal, but I can't do that." Souji smirked, causing me to flinch. It was that same look I despised seeing so much. "You're our enemy, so you've gotta die." As fast as lightning, he launched himself at the smug ronin. Their swords slammed together as they glared at each other, smiling dangerously.
Even if Souji was more skilful, he couldn't beat the ronin regarding pure strength. He knew that, but still insisted in killing him. I gritted my teeth anxiously as Souji was pushed back several times, not once making the ronin stumble.
My whole body was dripping in sweat as I tried to wipe them away. A little sweat was from the hot summer temperature and humidity, while a great deal of it came from watching Souji and the ronin in nervousness. At last I decided that I couldn't just be a spectator, so I looked around for something that could cause that ronin to get distracted. I lunged at a cracked bowl on the floor, and threw that at the stranger with all my might.
It worked. The ronin swung his sword at it without thinking, breaking the bowl into thousands of pieces. Souji took the chance to slash at his opening, but the ronin still managed to clash swords with him at the last second. He stumbled backwards, glaring at the both of us.
I stuck out my tongue at him, as childish as it seemed, and froze when I heard Souji whispered quietly.
"Good job, Jun."
I felt my face turn red despite the situation we were in, and somehow couldn't get my voice to work. I just kept quiet, but Souji knew I had heard him.
"Pathetic!" The ronin spat, and they proceeded to continue the fight. Even with that distraction, Souji seemed to be moving much more than the blonde ronin, wasting more energy and effort. As the opponent's sword came down, he staggered, accidentally giving out an opening.
"Souji!" I was moving before I knew it as the ronin kicked him in the chest. I thought I heard the sickening sound of something breaking as Souji fell backwards, clutching the spot painfully. When I reached his side, he coughed, and I felt my entire body freeze. Blood.
"No! Are you alright!?" I tried to pull him up, wanting to drag him away from the insanely strong ronin, but I had no energy to do so, after seeing him like that. Something wet fell onto his clothing, and I realized that I was crying.
Souji was taking in painful breaths as he coughed, and I finally mastered the strength to put his arm around me, pulling him up. I glared at the ronin, daring him to come closer, and his eyes narrowed, his sword up for another fight.
"Do you mean to try and stop me as well? Fight me if you wish, I've no compunctions about killing a child." He pointed his sword in front of my face, and I gritted my teeth, glaring at him so fiercely I was sure there were electricity between us. He frowned, as if realizing something about me. "You..."
With a soft groan of pain, Souji pulled me behind him, making sure the ronin couldn't touch me. "You're fighting me, right? Leave the kid alone."
I grabbed his sleeve and pulled in vain. "No! Souji, you idiot, you can't fight anymore!" I was sobbing, for some odd reason. I couldn't stop my tears after seeing Souji in this state.
The ronin sneered. "What a fool. Just what do you intend to do?" His crimson eyes were laughing at us silently. "You're wounded, possibly fatally. You can scarcely stand."
"Shut up!" Souji burst out in anger. "I've still got some fight left, you bastard!" More blood seemed to appear on his lips as he spat at the man.
"No, no, Souji, stop it!" I shook my head desperately, tears running down my cheeks like a river. "You can't anymore..."
The ronin met my eyes for a moment and then slid his sword back into its scabbard. I stopped wailing, surprised that he actually stopped. He looked at us, his interest apparently lost.
"The moment their meeting was interrupted, my business here was at an end." His voice cool and calm, he jumped out of the open window and disappeared.
Souji cursed under his breath, glaring at the window as if blaming it for letting him get away. "Damnit. I still can fight..." He mumbled weakly.
"You idiot." I managed to choke out. "Why did you do that? You're already..." I shook my head. "I thought you've always wanted me dead or something. Why did you protect me then?"My vision was blurred with more tears, and I felt so useless—was the only thing I could do cry?
Souji turned to look at me, looking slightly annoyed. "Yeah...Why did I do that? I'll figure it out later...I need to kill...that..." He slurred, and then crumpled onto the ground.
"Souji!?" I grabbed him, and tried to move him to the door when I realized that Ikeda Inn was quiet. Perhaps everything had ended for tonight. I glanced at Souji's face worriedly. "He's going to be okay...right?" I glanced at the full moon outside, the terrible feeling not dissipating yet.