Tears and Rain
Chapter 5 -- Blood on the tongue: the choices we make
By Gabi
The chill of the sound still running through him, Soujiro rolled onto his feet in a smooth motion, shaking the warm feeling of comfort and relaxation that had settled over him off in a second. He hopped to the wall of the barn soundlessly and scanned the shadows for the intruder.
There were two of them silhouetted against the dark far wall. The men weren't farmers, angry at finding vagrants in their barn, Soujiro could tell that at a glance. They two men looked too sure of themselves, and they didn't bother to give him a warning before both coming into strike the warm hollow in the straw where he'd just been.
He moved in a flash, circling around behind them, his feet barely touching the ground. In a moment, he heard them curse and call out to one another when they discovered that he was not where he was supposed to be. The men did not seem to be that talented, and Soujiro hoped that he would be able to disarm them and would not be forced to kill them, not over the sleeping form of Kuri, not so soon after the boy inside him was free.
Unfortunately, the commotion the two men made was enough to rouse Kuri, who sat up drowsily, trying to shake the sleep from her head and puzzle out what was going on. Her movement startled the attacker closest to her, and her turned to strike, katana naked in the moonlight. She froze, terrified, like a rabbit before an oncoming train.
He moved without thinking, and put himself in between the two of them, drawing his own katana lightning quick to counter the other in a bracing clash of steel on steel. The sound seemed to break the spell that held Kuri motionless, but the movements she made now were panicky random. He realized that if he wanted to get her out of danger, he'd have to tell her to run, because she wouldn't think of it on her own.
His voice was low and soft, but there was an edge to the softness that was only noticeable to the trained ear, "Kuri, run away as fast as you can. Don't stop and don't come back here. I'll meet you later, I promise."
His adversary recovered himself and attacked again, bringing his sword around for another strike. Soujiro guarded from his left hip in an attempt to protect the retreat of the rabbit girl who scrambled to her feet and towards the door. She stopped one time in the door of the old, dilapidated barn to look back at him, but he threw another command at her, sharper than before. Sharp enough this time for the attackers to notice it.
"Go!"
It was as if his words shattered any sense of hesitation that she had left. She bolted out the door like a terrified rabbit. Seeing her run, Soujiro felt better. At least he wouldn't have to worry about her getting hurt in the fight. Now he could concentrate on taking their two assailants out.
And then one of them bolted out the door into the darkness. It took a full ten seconds for him to realize that the other man hadn't run away, he'd run after. The other assassin was going after Kuri. It was in the instant that he realized this that his decision was made. It wasn't even really a decision, just a conscious shift in goals. He slid his katana back into its sheath and paused, engraving the other assassin's position in his mind.
The assassin looked startled at his stance, and tried to scrabble out of the way, to hide behind anything.
Soujiro smiled, faintly, absently, a reflex more than anything, "He's been warned about my techniques. He came to this barn expecting to find me," he thought, tensing his calves in preparation for his strike.
He moved in a split second, throwing up the loose straw in the bar with the force of his footfalls. The assassin looked wildly about himself, but confused by the flurry of straw and knowing that death was only seconds away from him, he only flailed blindly forward.
Soujiro hopped sideways to avoid the sword and then stuck the assassin cleanly through the neck with a Shukuchi five steps short. The man grunted softly and coughed up some blood before collapsing in a heap.
Soujiro left him where he fell, and instead ventured out into the night where he knew a wolf hunted his rabbit.
*
Kuri ran as fast as she could and the running drove all other thoughts from her head. Her heart beat like a runaway steam engine and her breath came fast and ragged. She had to keep running. She could hear the man behind her, gaining on her. If he caught her, then he'd do something terrible to her. She didn't know what, didn't want to know what, but she knew it was true, and she didn't want be caught. So she ran, stumbling over the uneven, unfamiliar ground in the darkness. All the time she could hear the man behind her, getting closer, going to catch her. She put on an extra desperate burst of speed, trying to get away, trying to get anywhere that wasn't in front of the bad man. The bad man who was going to catch her and kill her and no she couldn't think about that. She had to run. She ran, and ran, and all the sudden she stumbled and couldn't catch herself. She tumbled head over heels, fingers splaying in the grass, clawing for purchase, but she couldn't hold one, but she didn't stop, she scrabbled forward on her hands and knees, struggling to get back on her feet, to keep running, even though her lungs burned and her heart felt like it would burst.
Then strong arms suddenly seized her from behind.
She cried out, a wordless sound of fear and panic, and struggled against the arms, fighting as hard as she could against the steady grip. The grip held firm, as and she fought her way into emotional exhaustion, she suddenly became aware of a soft and familiar voice which was attempting to calm her.
She tried to turn and found his grip loosened so she could do so. Still scared, even though she was now safe, she began to cry, shaking, and hiccuping, coughing as the tears can and choked her as she took shelter against his chest. Terrified, unsure, yet still relieved, sobs racked her as she clung to him. He brought his free hand up to her hair to comfort and reassure her, but something warm and wet dripped onto her arm.
Confused and still muddled, it took her a moment to focus on the fresh bloodstain on his sleeve. She shot him an uncomprehending look.
"Not mine," he assured her soothingly, and as an afterthought he added, "I shouldn't have been so sloppy. It scared you."
Suddenly the full weight of his nonchalant words struck her and her eyes widened as if he'd suddenly become unfamiliar and threatening. She looked away back over her shoulder and started struggling against his grip.
"Get away," she cried softly, so pitifully that he almost let her loose, "Killer," she cried, struggling, unthinking.
The word hit him hard on his raw underbelly and his grip tightened even as his defenses collapsed. The hitokiri had just killed again, and now the boy was paying for it. Finally, he spoke, and his voice trembled slightly as he did.
"I had to do it Kuri. If I hadn't, they would have killed us both."
Her voice was small and tiny, "Have you done it before?"
He let his breath out and closed his eyes, "Hai."
She squeezed her eyes tight and brought a hand to her face, covering her eyes, as if to blind herself to what had happened.
"Soujiro-kun," she started out shaking, "No, Soujirou-san," she corrected herself awkwardly, "Now I don't even know what to call you." She broke down into a shuddering sob again.
His voice was gentle and he absently began to stroke her hair, "Soujiro-kun. Call me Soujiro-kun."
"But, but . . ." she struggled against herself, trying to regain her self-control.
"I like it," he murmured, and it was as if the discussion were closed. She leaned against him again, seeking stability, comfort, anything, and after a while, the tears and hiccups stopped, and she slowly began to relax.
"Kuri-san?" his voice was tentative, although it had regained much of the warm and benign calm. She didn't bother to look to see if he were smiling or not.
"Hai?"
"Are you still coming with me?"
Her laugh was nervous, "I told you, if you ever try to leave me I'll hunt you until the day I die."
His laugh was soft, "Hai, I had almost forgotten."
There was silence for a while, and then she asked quietly, "Soujiro-kun, what did the -- those men, what did they want? Why did they try -- to hurt us?"
He could only shake his head and answer truthfully, "I don't know."
"Whatever the reason, I'm glad it's over an that you're okay."
"Hai," he smiled pleasantly, but even as he did, he felt that it was not, and somehow he knew that they would find the answer to her question somewhere in Kyoto.