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The Wrong Turn

After Jin finished explaining the riddle everyone was red in the face. She was pointing and laughing, rolling on her back like a child until Sora screeched and started pecking at her head. Soujiro watched the girl in amazment.

"Jin-san, I think its past your bedtime." Toru frowned.

"Bed time?! I'm nocturnal I don't come out in the daytime usually, you know that!" Jin squawked.

That surprised Soujiro greatly and he almost ara'd. But it now made sense.

That's why she looked so tired.

"…Ha, I forgot" Toru smiled scratching the back of his head, then turned to Soujiro, "There's an extra room if you go down the hall, the third one on the left."

Soujiro got up and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you before I go to sleep…like help with the dishes or something?"

"Oh, what a sweet young man." Mika giggled, "Don't worry about it honey, Jin-san'll get board and help me with the dishes."

"Are you sure?" Soujiro asked.

"Hai. Go to sleep, you don't look like you've had a good one in a while."

Soujiro smiled brightly and said, "Domo arigato gozaimasu, for taking me in for the night."

He then bowed and walked down the hall to the room. It was set up for a visitor so Soujiro immediately lay down. The only problem was going to sleep. He had a decision to make. He was contemplating whether or not to ask Jin if he could…tag along with her for a little while. He was curious about the girl and her strange answers to questions that he couldn't answer himself.

A million other thoughts were floating through his mind as he stared up at the ceiling. 19 years old and still looked like a kid (considering a kid was supposed to be 16-17), most wouldn't suspect him to have such strange thoughts about his life, and ever since he'd walked off Mt. Hiei his somewhat empty mind was flooded with these views.

Every time I remember my past I can't see how I can redeemed myself. I wish I could forget, or at least be able to regain my empty state of mind. My wanderings lead me around in circles, into uninhabited marshes, cities with bad reputations, and never-ending forests. It took Himura-san the years, but throughout those ten years he had a goal. To protect the weak. I no longer carry a sword. My smile will not loosen from my face because I don't feel anything but content; I cannot remember the angering frustration I felt when I fought for the last time. The words that seem so wrong, they don't sound that bad anymore. I try to find answers but I only find more questions. According to Jin-san, everything that anyone believes in is mostly opinion. Does this mean that I need to make something up? I can't just op for something someone else believes? I used to think the world was cruel and in reality it still is but not in the same way. The weak, in some places will always be oppressed, Shishio-san was right in that respect, but…it's wrong. Himura-san is living a dream, but it's not the nightmare Shishio-san was planning. Maybe it all depends on what I want. But I don't know what I want. I'll ask Jin-san to help me tomorrow, I need to sleep now.

Soujiro shut his eyes and drifted off into dreams of nothingness.

"Hmm…to find out what you want in life…a tough one." Jin murmured as she walked through the forest, Sora perched on her shoulder.

Soujiro and Jin had left Toru's residence, after taking a bath and eating. He'd asked her if he could tag along with her on her travels, learning that she traveled through the forests. She'd turned her head to the side and asked why. He'd replied that he needed answers and thought she could help. She'd shrugged and smiled at him saying, "Suit yourself."

Soujiro had taken that as a yes. Now he posed his first question and she was thinking it over pensively. She'd slept a little last night and but her brain was still a little bit fogged up. The wheels were turning in her head and she then proclaimed, "Your looking at things a bit to broadly Seta-san. Riddle me this, a foolish man walked a long path and stopped in a town. He didn't have enough money so he stayed in an alley way for the night and was robbed of what little he did have. He continued down the long path not sure where he was now headed. He met another stranger but was too prideful to ask for directions so he stopped and starved for almost a week until coming upon a village that offered him a place to stay. The foolish man merely ate and left. He continued to walk, straying off the path thinking it would cut his time in half, and was attacked by bandits. He managed to get away but accidentally fell into a river that cast him over a waterfall. Still the man survived and continued his walk. After many days of traveling he found a place and ceased his journey. Another man walked a short path without difficulty. He met no disaster and settled down earlier having found a place. Which of the men is the wiser?"

"The second." Soujiro snorted.

Why go through all the trouble for the same result?

"That, my dear friend, is incorrect." Jin laughed and Sora screeched in agreement.

"Ara?" Soujiro asked, completely confused.

The second man had been smarter, he didn't get into trouble and lead a good life, settling down just as the other had but without the hazardous journey.

"The second man didn't learn anything along his journey. The first learned to, be more prepared, don't sleep in an alleyway, ask for directions, stay for a while when offered because you don't know when you will be offered such again, don't stray from the path, and to look where your going. The man took many wrong turns and learned what caused his troubles." Jin turned around and smiled.

Soujiro kept smiling and thought for a while then asked, "What relevance does that hold to the subject at hand?"

Jin tried to keep the grin off her face and asked, "Must I feed you the answer."

"Ara?" Soujiro turned his head to the side, beaming as always.

Jin spun around and walked up very close to him almost causing Soujiro to fall backwards but he didn't. Amusement shown through her eyes as she answered, "Your thinking about the end result Seta-san, not the means in which you need to get there."

"But why do they matter?" Soujiro turned his head to the side curiously.

"Because without the means you may get the same end result but you don't gain the answers to your questions."

"But that's like asking me to know what mistakes I have to make to get my answer." He sighed looking at the ground but the smile was still ever present on his face.

"Are you sure you already haven't made them?" Jin asked quietly.

That made Soujiro stop in his tracks his eyes narrowing slightly, "Have I?"

Jin turned around and spoke monotonously, "You're what 17 y-"

"19"

"Okay, your 19, and you're wandering around looking for an answer to a question that even the wisest sages don't know the answer to. The fact remains the same that to do something like that without completing a fourth of your life, which means that you must've done something wrong but can't figure out how to correct what it was."

"If I know my mistake than I'll know my answer?" Soujiro asked before continuing, "That doesn't make sense, I've made as many mistakes as everyone else, maybe more. How do I know what to choose?"

"Everyone has made a few major mistakes, start with the first." Jin replied nonchalantly.

My first mistake? What is my first mistake?

Soujiro had a sinking feeling that he knew what it was.

"How can I figure correct the flaw?"

"Usually it tends to be the opposite of what you were doing at the time that caused your mistake."

"But what if that doesn't make sense?"

"Then you need to use what you know to find out what went wrong."

"If I have no answer how can I decipher what is a mistake and what isn't?" Soujiro questioned.

"Riddle me this. Two princes were fighting over their inheritance. They questioned there elderly father, the king, about who would become the next king. He then declared that they would have a hundred mile horse race but this race was different. The horse that got there last would be the winner. Both the princes tried to go as slow as they could and wound up at an inn barely two miles out of town. They both sat down at the bar looking tired so the bartender asked what was wrong. They both told him of there dilemma and the bartender replied with two words that solved there problem. What were the words?"

Soujiro managed to calm down, smile still on his face, returning to content instead of frustrated.

How can two words turn the situation around? There are so many words to pick from, how can I narrow it down to two when I don't know my first question. This is ridiculous, she's screwing with my mind and I'm letting her. If Shishio-san saw me now he'd laugh…or smack me upside the head.

"You're not going to tell me the answer ne?" Soujiro asked pleasantly.

"Not a chance in heeeellllllll." She replied in a sing song voice.

He continued thinking, it was starting to make his head hurt. This made him try harder but couldn't find the answer. The mystery confused him greatly but he didn't let it disrupt his content mood. He remained congenial, noting that the girl was anything but a conversationalist, but that might have been a side effect of sleep deprivation. He turned to look at her. Her batty looking straw hat, her cloths were worse then his, her bare feet, the look on her face, the way she walked, everything about her screamed that life was one big joke to her. Her lime green eyes sparkled as she watched Sora fly from her shoulder.

Soujiro wondered what kind of life she'd lived. There were stories behind those lime green eyes and the ex-tenken felt his curiosity spark. How did she become a riddler? Why was she wandering around?

"Is there any particular reason you wander around?" Soujiro inquired.

"Lack of better things to do." She muttered.

"You mean you just up and left where you lived to travel pointlessly? I don't think a 15 y-"

"17"

"A 17 year old girl would do that for no reason."

Soujiro then noticed the giant grin on her face. She curled her lips in trying her hardest not to laugh but didn't really succeed. She began to laugh at him, her whole frame shaking, trying her hardest to stay on her feet but falling back into a tree trunk.

"Nani?" Soujiro questioned smiling.

"I've never lived anywhere!" She giggled.

"Ara?" Soujiro asked now thoroughly confused.

"Oh, forget it."

"No really, I don't understand, why would you laugh?" Soujiro still smiled as he asked.

"Do I look civilized enough to last a day with other people. I'd go insane." She smiled.

"Why?"

She stopped smiling and just shrugged her shoulders. The light in her eyes dimmed slightly and she had a somewhat far away look in her eyes. Soujiro now knew that something in this girl's past bothered her. He didn't press the subject but silently pondered her answers. He watched her and he felt in his stomach that someone was wrong. His mind tried to find what it was and then he realized it. They weren't traveling on a path yet the girl seemed to know exactly where they were going. It just wasn't right in his mind.

Who was she? She definitely wasn't just a childish riddler, she was something else. The way she walked was too smooth to be just an average person, but it wasn't the walk of a swordsman, which only served to confuse him further.

She stopped abruptly and yawned, "I'm tired, let's take a nap."

She then jumped into a tree and lay down on a branch, her arm hanging over her side, tilting her hat so that it covered her eyes from the sun, smiling in a content manner.

Soujiro: 0o;

"Anou…it's 11:00 in the morning. Don't you think it's a little early for a nap?"

"Seta-san, I really don't like traveling in the light hours. The warmth and light make me sleepy. Just give me an hour or somethin'."

Soujiro sighed and sat down, leaning against the tree trunk, deciding that resting for a while couldn't hurt.

Of course the ex-tenken hadn't intended on falling asleep and was now awakened by a certain grinning riddler. Her lime green eyes almost seemed to glow in the darkness of night. He looked around at the full leafy trees and watched the moonlight pass through them, casting small shadows about the place. He felt a small breeze blow by, filtering through the leaves causing them to dance, the shadows jumping about on the ground. He stood up and looked at her. He looked at the scars on her arms and saw that they were set in a pattern, some of them symmetrical. They were thin swirling lines more so decorating her than inflicted upon her.

They began walking in a pleasant silence before the former manslayer asked, "How did you gain your knowledge?"

She turned around with a surprised look on her face and then smiled sheepishly, "It's not knowledge really. It's a little difficult to explain."

Soujiro smiled at her as always, "You're always so cryptic when you answer me. It makes you very hard to understand."

She turned around and her eyes glittered with amusement as she spoke, "Maybe it's because I don't have all of the answers. Maybe it's because I'm not as smart as you think I am."

Now that surprised Soujiro, something very difficult to do, but to her it seemed so easy. He remained quiet before speaking softly, "You have more of an answer than I do."

"Iie. I don't." She giggled.

"How can you say that you don't? Isn't that what you're searching for?" Soujiro asked, smile still plastered to his face.

"To have an answer you have to have a question."

"Meaning…?"

"I lack a question."

"You don't have any questions about your life?"

"I don't really know. I never think about it." She shrugged.

"You seem a little…carefree." Soujiro deduced.

"Well, aren't you perceptive?" She drawled, sarcasm dripping off her words.

Soujiro didn't know what to think of that. There was another long silence as they passed through a clearing. He stared at her back and saw Sora perched on her shoulder contently. The bird was sleeping. He began to wonder how those two met.

"I forgot to ask, why are you traveling?" Jin asked.

Soujiro's smile became smaller, "To find my truth."

"How long have you been wandering?"

"Six months."

"Find any good leads?"

"Iie. I can't find anything."

Jin stretched, cracking her back before grunting out, "Thaaaat's not surprising."

"What do you mean?" Soujiro asked slightly offended.

"You Seta-kun, constantly make mountains out of molehills. You perceive to much and don't notice that the answer is right under your nose."

Soujiro stopped and thought that over. The wind blew by causing his dark chestnut brown hair to flitter in front of his face.

"Switch horses." He blurted out, then put his face in his hands and mumbled, "Kami-sama it was obvious."

"You got it!"

Soujiro turned his head back up, his usual smile gracing his lips, "You told me that riddle because you knew I wouldn't answer for a while. The whole point was to let me know that I'm over analyzing everything when the answer is in front of me."

"You are very smart ya know that?"

"I know my first mistake but I don't know how to correct it, do you know how I could find the correction?"

"Undo it."

Soujiro's shoulders sunk at that and he asked, "Ara?"

"I said undo it."

"What do you mean."

"The man in the story, next time he went traveling he didn't sleep in an alleyway."

"B-but what if it can't be undone?"

"Seta-kun, one step at a time, first go back to where you made your first major mistake. So now that we have a destination, where are we headed?"

Soujiro paled and he whispered, "Kanagata prefecture."

Hiiiii! Finals are over. AND I PLAN TO LAY AROUND LAZILY ALL DAY AND NOT WORRY ABOUT A DAMN THING!!! BWAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAHAAAHAA!!! THE FRIKKEN TEACHERS CAN'T GET MAD AT ME FOR SLEEPING DURING SCHOOL HOURS ANYMORE!!! THE CONSPIRICEY IS OVER FOR NOW, VERY MUCHLY SOOOOOOOO!!!! Eh hem, sumimasen. Review for me onegai shimasu. I'm sorry to all those who wanted me to review that I didn't sooner very muchly so. Domo to all those who reviewed! Last time