A/N: well here we are gang, ch9. I'll do my very best to make up for last chapter's bad writing and shortness. As usual I credit Chichiri to Watase-san and I take ownership of Mirai. Nothing else to be said but here's ch9….

As my eyes crept open the next morning, I sensed something was terribly wrong. As I gently returned to the conscious world, a strange sense of urgency began to form in my mind. It became sharper and sharper until I was sure either we were being attacked or Mirai had been abducted by some horrible monster and was now fighting for her life.  I sat bolt upright and looked down at Mirai. She was still asleep, curled up into a tiny ball, her shoulders rising and falling with each soft breath she took. I let out a sigh of relief and reached out to brush the back of my hand over her face. As my hand passed over her skin I felt the heat coming from her and when I pulled my hand back it was shining with tiny droplets of sweat! I gasped in horror as I realized why my mind had been telling me something wasn't right. Quickly I turned the girl over to face me and gently shook her shoulders.

Please, don't be unconscious…please be okay… I pleaded, watching the child's face for any sign of life.

What seemed like hours passed by until, finally, Mirai's eyelids began to flutter open. I let out the breath I'd been holding as she looked up at me, green eyes clouded with fever and confusion.

"Why Houjun-san wake me up?" she asked softly.

"I'm sorry, but I had to." I explained, "I needed to make sure you were still conscious."

"M'okay." she told me with a small smile. Then she shivered and wrapped her arms tightly around her chest. "S'just so cold…"

"I know, angel. It's because you're sick." I said gently, taking the girl into my arms "You have a bad fever and it makes you feel like you're burning and freezing at the same time. We have to get you to a doctor as soon as we can."

Mirai nodded and slowly pulled out of my arms. "This way." she said simply, pointing straight ahead. She started forwards but stumbled and would have fallen had I not caught her.

"Slow down. You shouldn't be walking, you're too weak." I said worriedly. "Here, you tell me where to go and I'll carry you, alright?"

The small girl looked up at me and shook her head. "Iie, m'okay. Wanna walk." I opened my mouth to protest but Mirai shook her head. "M'a big girl. I c'n do it."

I looked down into those honest green eyes and nodded. "Okay, but if I see you falling or looking tired I'm going to pick you up. Deal?"

She nodded and we started off through the forest, going slower than I would have liked but making good progress nevertheless. Every so often, we would stop so that Mirai could rest and after about five hours she ended up asleep in my arms. I tried to keep going, but only ended up in a deeper part of the forest. Deciding the best thing to do would be to wait until Mirai woke up so she could tell me where to go, I went back the way I had come until I found another clearing like the one we had slept in the previous night. Sinking down under a willow with a heavy sigh, I passed a worried hand over Mirai's forehead. She was getting worse, her skin felt like fire beneath my hand and yet she continued to tremble with cold.

I hated myself for not being able to do anything to help her. I was so worried about her, it was like having a permanent weight pressing down on my chest, and yet I couldn't help but feel proud of the tiny girl.

She was strong for one so young. I remembered when I had first met her, how she had stood up to the two bandits even though she was hurt and frightened, yelling at them to let me be. I remembered how it felt holding her sobbing form in my arms after the bandits had gone… whispering words of peace into her soft chestnut hair and feeling like I never wanted to let go of this child, like I would die for her even though I barely knew her. I smiled a little as my mind took me back to how she had taken care of me after I'd patched her up. How gentle she was, the way her tiny hand moved so delicately around my badly wounded eye…

Tears formed as memories kept flooding forward in my mind; the not so distant day I had thrown all my anger and grief at her, driving her to turn from me in tears…how my heart had leapt with joy and relief as she flew back into my arms hours later…holding her in the middle of the night as she sobbed into my tunic…telling her it would all be okay, seeing her eyes filled with complete trust and faith as she looked up at me.

I watched myself on the silver screen of my mind, kneeling by the river in agony… heard Mirai scream as she fell in…remembered pulling her slight form out of the icy depths and then feeling a knife go through my heart when I thought she was gone forever…how I had choked out the horrible story of my life and how instead of the tears and horror I'd been expecting she simply reached out a hand and pulled me out of hell.    

I sat there with Mirai in my arms and sobbed, knowing that if I lost her now it would be the end for me. I knew that if she died so would I. I couldn't live with the pain of losing yet another loved one, knowing that it was my fault yet again that a life had been lost. I pulled the child close and whispered  "Please, don't leave me all alone again…please…" 

"I won't." a soft voice answered.

I jumped in surprise as I realized Mirai was awake. "I-I'm sorry…" I said shakily, trying to keep the misery out of my voice "I didn't mean to wake you…"

She shook her head. "Didn't. Was already 'wake." she told me.

"Did you hear all that?" I asked softly, shifting the girl so that she was sitting up in my arms.

The girl nodded. "S'okay, don't be sad." she said, reaching up and brushing a tear off my cheek. "Won't leave Houjun-san 'lone. Be okay, be better soon an' Houjun-san be happy 'gain..." She trailed off and looked up at me with sad green eyes. "Ne?" her voice got softer and I could see tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I don't like it when Houjun-san cries. S-so get b-better real fast an'… an' then no more tears, 'kay?" She was crying now, soft little droplets slipping down her cheeks and splashing on to my tunic, which she still wore.

My eye softened and I felt my heart clench with remorse. "Please don't cry…" I whispered  "I didn't mean to make you sad…" More tears found their way down my face and it seemed the more I tried to stop them the faster they came. "I'm sorry!" I sobbed brokenly, holding the girl close as she pressed her burning face to my chest "I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to stop…I'm trying but these tears- they won't stop! I'm sorry…"

Mirai shook her head, still holding onto me for all she was worth and said softly "D-don't be sorry, s'okay…"

"It's not okay!" I cried in despair "I'm hurting you! With every tear that falls from my eye, I'm causing you pain! I'm supposed to be telling you it's okay, that tomorrow will be brighter, but I can't…all I seem to be good for is causing you pain and making you cry…"

The girl pulled back from me and looked into my eye. "Don't say that." she sniffled, trying her best to keep her voice steady  "Houjun-san th' best person I ev'r met. Takes care of me an'…an' always tells me s'okay when m'crying. Always there with me an' even if s-sometimes gets mad or c-cries, still th' bravest person I-I know. S-so, don't say that…"  She bowed her head and threw her arms around me again, her sobs redoubling.

I held her as she cried, my own tears slowing as I rubbed her back soothingly.

"It's going to be alright." I told her, my voice quiet and less shaky then before. "We'll make it through, together."

She nodded and her sobs calmed until they were only occasional hiccups. "Stay with Houjun-san…" she said quietly, on the very edge of sleep again. "F'rever…'til th' end."

"That's right…" I said gently moving her tiny form so it was once more cradled in my arms, my voice barely above a whisper. "Until the bitter end…"

Mirai's eyes slid shut as she fell into sleep once more and I smiled a little, brushing away the last of my tears. 

"Thank you…" I murmured, looking down fondly at the sleeping girl in my arms "Thank you for showing me such faith and compassion…for teaching me to love again and for everything you mean to me…My angel, it's because of you that I've become who I am and I'll never forget that no matter what." I gently kissed the top of her head and because of the strong emotions that coursed through me that day and because of my sudden outburst of tears and grief, I closed my eyes too, giving in to blessed sleep.

A/N: well there's ch9 for you. Glossary's below,

Iie means no

Ne, means right. (As in he's right, not the direction right.) And probably other things too, but I don't know what they are.

I did the best that I could to make up for the total lack of talent in ch8, but I'm not sure I did. Anyways, thanks as usual to the people that bother to read this story and see you next chapter.

~Tenshi Kitsune~