Disclaimer: I do not own PMK. Don't sue me, please.
Considering I've just escaped the wrath of the fangirls...here's an update before they catch up to me. Believe me, I haven't killed Okita-sama yet!
Chapter 5: Blood
"Souji! Wake up!" Hijitaka shook his friend's shoulders. Okita's eyes were open but unseeing in his pale face. A trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his colorless lips. Dead. Okita Souji was lying dead in his arms...
"No! Souji!" Hijitaka awoke to find a concerned Saitou Hajime bending over him. They were staying in a dingy roadside inn. "Nightmare?" Hijitaka nodded weakly. He was still shaking. It was too real.
"Che, I should be the one with the nightmares," Hajime grinned nervously. "Tokio-san may be an ogress..."
"Watch it, Hajime-kun. She's a cousin of Souji's."
"So you're saying there may be a family resemblance? How very reassuring..." The two men settled back onto their futons. Hjijitaka remained awake the rest of the night. The nightmare was too real, way too real.
Tetsu was tired. He never thought chess could be so tiring. Yamanami had asked him to play a round when he came with the tea. They had chatted well into the night. Tetsu even asked if Saya could help Hotaru-san. He thought of Saya's gentle smile and delicate hands. If only things were so simple. Yamanami-san loves Akesato-san, yet she is still stuck in Shimabara. Life can be so damned unfair!
Tetsu had forgotten about Okita's earlier rudeness. He tiptoed quietly past the sleeping men, stepping over Tatsu-nii. Moonlight spilled over the tatami. He opened the closet. The sheets were stained with a darkish substance. "Buhi!" Saizou butted Tetsu in the stomach.
"Saizou." Tetsu caught the pig before it fell. "You're hurt." Tetsu whispered to avoid waking the others. Saizou had an ugly gash across his back. Otherwise, he was unhurt. The generous layer of fat had protected his internal organs from the spear. Tetsu carried the pig towards Okita's room.
"Poor Saizou, Okita-san will take care of you...Saizou!" Tetsu yelped as the pig bit him and fled. Stupid idiot! It isn't him in there! The pig had picked up the faint scent of blood coming from within the room. The little pig decided it will be all up to him to find his master.
"Saizou! Come back!" Tetsu chased the pig towards the gate. A cloud passed over the moon...Tetsu gasped as the moon came out, turned and ran to raise the alarm. The two sentries posted at the gate were lying dead in their own blood.
Saizou ran. He didn't have a clue where his master is. He just knew in his little piggy heart that his master needed him. Whatever dangers awaited him in the big, bad world, little Saizou will face them fearlessly.
The white-haired boy watched the figure on the futon with little interest. Kitsu-dono had fished him out of the river more dead than alive. During his short stay with her, the boy had learnt not to question, least the answer is not that he'd prefer. Ex-shinobi-turned-surgeon...whatever she was; she commanded his grudging respect. The fox, Kitsune played outside the rules. The stranger's eyes fluttered open. The boy put down the katana he had been cleaning.
"Kitsu-dono! He's awake."
The stranger groaned weakly and tried to sit up. A room in a rough shack. A wood fire burnt low in the heath. The smoke filled the room and threatened to choke him. He coughed.
A tall woman wearing a working smock entered. Her hair was dark as a raven's wing. Well into her forties, she walked with her back straight and her head held high. The stranger knew immediately that she was the one in charge. She bent over him, feeling his ribs and checking his wounds.
"More fluid than air in your lungs, I see, not from your little swim, too." Kitsune shook her head. "Not long for this sorry world, are we? At least give a name so we'll have something to put on your tombstone."
The patient opened his mouth. What was his name? "I don't remember..." He answered helplessly. The woman and the boy stared at each other without speaking for several moments, then at the invalid.
"Guess we've gotta find that out," the woman spoke with a thin smile. "Drink this up first. It'd help your cough. Got the prescription from a demon long time ago...An old family recipe, so he claimed." The liquid she urged on him was bitter, yet strangely familiar. He drank it without hesitation.
Author's notes:
None. Too busy running from an angry mob.