Chapter 11: A Matter of You Versus Me

Nakago had not seemed overly surprised by her return, and she was thankful that he had refrained from saying anything. In fact, he acted as if the whole incident had never happened; the only evidence that it had not been a dream being the bruises on her wrists.

They had been swept quite a distance down-river, but by sheer dumb luck, it had brought them closer to Sairo. Nakago admitted, to himself, that they had made better time as a result of the Suzaku no Miko's near-fatal stunt than if they had continued over land. Of course, he was not going to tell her that.

They did not talk to each other over the course of the day, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. Miaka was edgy being alone in Nakago's company. She could not forget the time when he had almost raped her. In addition to that, what had occurred when she had awakened that morning was still fresh in her mind. She devoted herself to trying to figure out the blonde shogun's motives for remaining with her. It was not everyday that the person who had been trying to kill you for the last few months suddenly decided to save your life…Still, his presence was better than being alone…Even if he did make her nervous.

She did not question his decision to stop for the night. They had entered a dense, dark forest where shadows loomed all round them and the eyes of night creatures reflected back at them from just outside the tiny circle of light made by their campfire. She sat as close to the fire as she could, knees drawn up to her chin and arms wrapped around her legs. The warmth from the orange flames was comforting, but it did little to ease the pain in her heart. She stared at the reflection cast by the flickering flames in the still, dark waters of the pond beside them.

Suddenly, all went still. And silent. The constant background noise made by the nocturnal creatures in the forest had ceased abruptly. Even the crickets and the frogs in the pond had fallen silent. She looked up and saw that from his position on the other side of the fire, Nakago had stiffened. His right hand gripped the hilt of his sword as his eyes narrowed.

"Get behind me." It was an order, to be obeyed instantly. She did as he asked, sensing that this was not the time to argue with him.

No sooner had she complied when she thought she saw shadowy shapes moving just beyond the field of her vision. Somewhere close by, an eerie howl erupted, confirming her worst fears. Slowly, the ghostly shapes solidified into large, menacing creatures with long dagger-like fangs which glinted in the firelight.


"MIAKA!!" Tamahome screamed desperately as he struggled against Nuriko. The violet haired seishi had his arms locked around Tamahome, preventing him from moving or leaving.

"We can't do anything, Tamahome! And we need you here!" Nuriko yelled.

Hotohori, Mitsukake and Chiriko stood around them, helplessly watching as their comrade fought to return to his love's side. It was impossible however…they were all no more than spirits and could not do anything to aid Miaka. They were in Taiitsukun's palace, sending their chi to her to help her keep the stability of this world…and just barely succeeding. They needed Tamahome to focus his chi to help keep Tenkou at bay.

Without warning, everyone spun around, sensing an outside presence. Before them stood a tall, pale woman with long red hair reaching almost to her feet. The Suzaku seishi all unconsciously tensed, even though like them, she was no more than a spirit.

"Soi…" Tamahome managed to whisper.

Hotohori moved into a defensive stance. So this was Seiryuu shichi seishi, Soi…the woman who had tried to fry Miaka with her lightning. "What do you want?" the emperor's spirit demanded.

Soi looked at all of them balefully before fixing her sad eyes on Tamahome. "You need not worry about the Suzaku no Miko, Tamahome…" she said so softly that the other seishi had to strain to hear her, "Nakago-sama will not break his promise."

With that, she vanished, before any of the Suzaku seishi could say a word.


All at once, two wolves leapt at them, claws and fangs extended…only to be sent flying back into the rest of the pack as Nakago's sword swung is a shining arc, slashing across their chests. The injured wolves whimpered in pain, blood matting their fur.

Unfortunately, immediately after the first two wolves attacked, the leader of the pack launched its own attack. It flew at Nakago before he had a chance to strike it down and sunk its razor sharp teeth into his right arm…the one holding the sword. That made it impossible to use his weapon against the animal.

Damn…first two were only a distraction. And it's intelligent enough to attack my sword arm…The irony of the situation was not lost on Nakago. The tactics used by the lead wolf were so similar to the ones he himself had used against his enemies in the past that it was almost amusing. However, the pain in his arm convinced him that there were more urgent matters to attend to than thinking about poetic justice.

One part of his mind noted with clinical detachment that the lead wolf was undoubtedly the largest in the pack. It was a magnificent silver-grey specimen, almost as big as Ashitare and infinitely better looking. Another part was busy formulating a strategy to detach the animal from his arm and extract himself and the Suzaku no Miko from the increasingly ugly situation…

…And the last part demanded to know what in hell he thought he was doing facing a pack of wolves without his powers.

Nakago is…protecting me? Miaka watched wide-eyed as Nakago put himself between her and the wolves. There were about nine of the snarling, growling creatures. Their amber eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, following the movements of their prey.

Why would he…?

Before she could complete the thought, a wolf had latched onto his arm. His involuntary grunt of pain, forced out from between clenched teeth spurred her into action. Without even thinking, she grabbed a burning stick from the fire behind her and thrust it into the animal's side.

She was rewarded with the smell of singed fur and burning flesh as the wolf yelped and promptly let go, allowing Nakago to stab his sword into its throat.

It crumpled to the ground with a strangled gurgle, its windpipe severed. Seeing that their leader had been killed, the rest of the pack slowly backed away. Miaka brandished the burning wood at them as the last of the wolves slunk off into the shadows.

Only then did she let out the breath she did not even know she'd been holding. Her eyes went to the recently dispatched wolf lying in a bloody heap on the ground before she turned to look at Nakago.

His sleeve was stained a deep red and blood dripped off his fingertips to splatter onto the ground.

"You're injured!" she blurted, starting forward to inspect the wound.

"It's nothing," he looked down at his arm and was vaguely surprised at the amount of blood already puddled on the ground.

She stared at him in amazement, then her eyes narrowed in irritation at his unnaturally calm tone. "Nothing? Nothing my foot! You're spilling enough blood to open a blood donation centre!" She noticed the odd look he gave her and sighed explosively, "Look, there's gonna be more blood on the ground than inside you in a while!"

She glared at him, "Now sit down and let me try to clean that before it gets infected!"

"I'm fine," came the succinct reply with no hint of any emotion whatsoever.

"No! You are NOT fine!!" She grabbed his wrist and a bolt of white hot pain lanced up his arm, causing him to let out an involuntary hiss of pain.

He glared at her, his gaze deadly enough to stun a charging bull elephant at a hundred paces. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Suzaku no Miko?"

Miaka met his gaze steadily, refusing to be intimidated, "At least let me stop the bleeding…please," she said quietly. Her fingers were slick with his blood.

Nakago stared at her for a long moment, weighing his options. He was already feeling light-headed and tired…the effect of his continued bloodloss. He really needed to stop the bleeding, and what she asked wasn't so very difficult, was it?

"All right," he said finally.

She nodded and moved away to find something to clean the wound with while he settled himself against a tree before he keeled over. It wouldn't do to faint in front of the Suzaku no Miko. He allowed his eyelids to slide shut. Just for a while…

His eyes sprung open, every muscle in his body tensed, when he heard a slight rustle beside him. Must have drifted off…he realised as he noticed the Suzaku no Miko crouched next to him, with something light and silky in her hands. It was white and had delicate lace trimmed edges. He recognised it from the time he'd taken off her wet clothes when they had been back at the hut.

She gripped the lacy garment and began ripping it into strips. Once done, she picked up the other half of the destroyed slip and walked over to the pond, wetting the cloth thoroughly before returning to his side.

"May I borrow your dagger?" She indicated the sheathed dagger in his boot. It seemed more a command than a question, and he decided not to ask how she knew that he kept a weapon hidden there.

Wordlessly, he pulled out the thin blade and handed it to her. You are really getting soft, Nakago, to be taking orders from the Suzaku no Miko, sneered his mental voice. He watched stoically as she began cutting away his bloodied sleeve, exposing the full extent of the injury. Only years of battlefield experience and the refusal to show any type of weakness in front of the Suzaku no Miko prevented him from wincing at the deep, jagged gash surrounded by teeth marks.

He heard her suck in a breath at that sight of the wound, then saw her set her jaw in steely determination. Slowly, she picked up the wet cloth and gently ran it over the gash, carefully squeezing water over it and mopping up the blood.

Miaka worked in silence until she was satisfied that the wound seemed reasonably clean. She hoped that the wolf did not have rabies…she shuddered at the thought, wishing that she had something more to disinfect the wound with. At the moment, she had to make do with water. She noticed that as soon as she cleaned away the dried blood caking the gash, fresh blood would well up to the surface. The cloth in her hands was already almost entirely stained a deep red.

Got to stop the bleeding…Nakago looked paler than usual, even for a gaijin.

Who'd have thought, that I would ever be worried for Nakago? She pushed the thought aside and concentrated on trying to staunch the bloodflow. She could feel his ice blue eyes watching her, but he made no move to either help or hinder her.

Picking out a short strip of clean cloth, she tied a tourniquet on his arm, just above the elbow. Then folding another piece of cloth into a square, she pressed it firmly down on the wound. "Here, hold this for me," she said, breaking the silence.

Nakago showed no outward signs of discomfort at her actions, except for the tightening of a muscle in his jaw. He did as she asked without comment, holding the square of fabric in place as she begun winding the remainder of the long strips around his arm.

"There…all done," she pronounced finally, tying a firm knot. She sat back on her heels, looking up at him, a concern he never thought he would ever see reflected in her eyes. "It's not too tight, is it?" She asked tentatively, suddenly unsure of herself.

"It's all right," his voice was as impassive as ever. When it seemed as though he wasn't going to say anything more, she stood up and started to walk back to her place on the opposite side of the fire. What did you expect from him, Miaka? A word of thanks?

"Why?" the abrupt question stopped her on her tracks.

"Huh?" she replied blankly.

"Why did you insist on doing this?" He was regarding her with an expression that could almost pass for curiosity…almost. It was hard to tell, actually, since his expression hardly ever changed except when he smirked.

"Well, if we didn't stop the bleeding and if the wound got infected, we'd have to chop off your arm and" Miaka babbled nervously.

"That's not what I meant, Suzaku no Miko, and you know it," he cut her off impatiently. "Why do you even care what happens to me?"

"I could ask the same of you!" she shot back.

They were at a stalemate, neither party willing to budge an inch. She glared at him, and he coolly stared back.

This went on for several long minutes, until Nakago made a tactical decision and decided to concede. If he didn't, they'd still be locked in a battle of wills come daybreak. "I made a promise to protect you," he stated somewhat reluctantly.

"Nani?" she breathed, her face going pale. The words swam through her head. Promise? To…Tamahome?

Nakago leaned back against the tree, "I owe Tamahome a debt for saving my life," his eyes pinned her with a cold, hard look, "And you, Suzaku no Miko, of all people, should know by now that I always keep my promises."

Tears had clouded her eyes, threatening to overflow. Tamahome…Renewed grief flooded her being with a vengeance and almost overwhelmed her. Up till now, she had managed to suppress it by simply not thinking about it.

The sound of his voice was like a dash of cold water. Miaka scrubbed a sleeve across her eyes, "What?"

"You haven't answered my question."

"I…" her hands curled into fists, fingernails digging painfully into her palms. "I…don't want anyone else to die because of me…" she trailed off, losing herself in her own thoughts.

"Even if it's me?" Her eyes snapped back up to meet his. His stoic expression had not altered, but she detected a faint hint of amusement in his tone.

She shot him a poisonous look, and turned her back on him. She thought she heard him chuckle and no doubt there would be that insufferable smirk on his face. It was strange, the way her anger at Nakago overrode her grief over Tamahome. It stopped her from dwelling on his death, and in a strange, twisted way, she was grateful to the blonde man. Not that she would ever admit it to him…she could not even admit it to herself.


Nakago observed the sleeping girl opposite him. It amazed him, that she actually trusted him enough to be able to sleep in his presence. He pondered over her earlier actions, when she had bandaged his arm. It had all seemed rather surreal…and he, Nakago, had been surprised. A great feat, since hardly anything ever surprised him. After all he had done to her…after almost killing her, she had still treated him like she would have treated one of her own seishi. Was she really that forgiving?

Once he had seen her forgive Tamahome in Kutou, even after he had broken her arm and nearly killed the Suzaku seishi Tasuki. He had thought her naïve and foolish then…a little girl blinded by the childish concept of love. Yet he could not help but wonder what would have happened if she had been Seiryuu no Miko instead of Yui…

He ended the dangerous train of thought before it could progress any further. No use wondering about what might have been. Tilting his head up, he studied the stars through a gap in the foliage overhead and mentally estimated how long it would take them to get to Sairo. Once there, they would have a difficult task of recovering the Shinzahos. He knew roughly where they were buried…excavating them from the rubble was another matter altogether.

His jaw tightened as he wondered for the Nth time why he had ever allowed himself to get involved in this whole mess.


Notes:

When Nakago says that "...I always keep my promises" he is referring to the promise he made to Yui about not killing Miaka.