Don't Play With Fire
-+Chapter Five+-
"She's not kidding about that one, Sagara. In fact… she's not kidding about anything at all."
The voice sounded so familiar to the young man, so familiar that those words made his head snap towards the direction of the said voice. And upon seeing the owner, he could not help but gasp, his eyes wide in disbelief. After all, the man had been dead for quite sometime now. "Shishio Makoto!" he exclaimed, utter surprise evident in the tone of his voice. He opened his mouth to say more, but found that no words would leave him.
The other smirked. "Why do you look so surprised? Didn't you except to see me here?" he blurted out casually, then he tilted his head to the side slightly to address the woman who was clinging to his arm. "I believe you remember Yumi? She has been talking about you ever since your arrival here---"
"--- talking about your barbaric nature and irrational philosophies," Yumi Komagata spat, eyeing the Devil's captive disapprovingly. "However, considering your savage personality, especially the way you treat women such as myself, I'm actually not surprised to find a dirty froth like you here."
Sanosuke glared. "You watch your filthy mouth---"
"You watch your filthy mouth, Sanosuke Sagara!" she cut him off, returning his glare with an equally powerful one. The glaring contest went on for a few moments until she snorted, turned around and walked away. As soon as she did so, Shishio nodded curtly, and left as well.
The young man could not help but smile at his victory against Shishio's smooth-talking whore… but that smile soon disappeared as he remembered that he had more pressing matters to attend to. Such as getting out of this place, he thought, grimacing.
The sun was high in the sky, embracing the land with its rays that gave off much light and heat. Despite of the situation that caused them much discomfort, two figures continue to trudge across the quiet countryside, determined to get to their destination. Wherever that destination was.
Shouzo squinted his eyes, attempting to clear his vision. It had been days ever since they started their journey, and to his surprise, Sayo showed no sign of weariness or fatigue during those days. He had suggested to her many times during their long land trip that they stop and take a rest, worried that the intense heat might worsen the young woman's condition, but she waved all the proposals away. Either she was plainly determined, or she was no longer ill.
And since the latter seemed impossible, Shouzo forced himself to believe on the former.
"Lady Magdalia, please," he began, taking bigger steps to catch up with her. "You need to rest and recover your strength; we've journeyed far enough for today. Please, m'lady."
"No, Shouzo. I'm sorry, but we must go on. We're nearly there… nearly there…" Sayo insisted, locking her gaze on the crowd of houses and other establishments that were visible even from their distance. She walked on, ignoring the blazing heat, ignoring the beads of sweat that was enveloping her, ignoring Shouzo's offers to rest.
"But m'lady, you need to rest. You're ill---"
"I'm not ill!" she suddenly snapped, whirling around to look at her companion with a glare. And as quickly as her irritation surfaced, it faded away, and as it did so, she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh… Shouzo… I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to…"
He smiled warmly at her as if nothing happened. "It's all right, Lady Magdalia. I understand," he told her, then he took her hand gently. "But I promised your brother that I would protect and take care of you, and I intend to keep that promise. Please, for your benefit, let us stop for a while and take a rest."
Sayo hesitated for a moment, then she sighed, knowing that she was at the losing end of the argument. "All right. Let's go to that tavern over there and have a good meal," she gave in, looking at her friend at nodding in agreement. Her expression shifted shortly after, and as the young man lead her towards the nearby establishment, she called out softly, "Um… Shouzo?"
"Yes, m'lady?" he asked, cocking his head to the side slightly to look directly into her beautiful emerald eyes.
"Thank you."
