"Megumi!" Kaoru called.

Soujiro and a man she didn't recognize were laying Megumi in a makeshift stretcher, she saw. Kaoru walked to them, one arm taking support on Shinta's shoulders. The ugly slash on her maid's belly had been hastily bandaged, but the cloth was already soaked with blood. Megumi looked peaceful, her eyes closed, but Kaoru couldn't see any movement in her body. Kaoru dared not hope.

"Megumi," she said, laying a hand on her maid's arm. It was warm under her touch, she noted with relief.

Megumi opened feebly her eyes. "My lady…," she said.

Kaoru threw herself on her maid's neck, hugging her tight. "You are alive," she cried. "Oh Megumi, thank the gods. You are alive." She felt tears come to her eyes, when she thought there wasn't any drop of tear left in her body anymore.

"I am… just glad… you are fine," Megumi murmured. "My… life doesn't… matter,"

"What are you saying!" Kaoru whispered fiercely between two sobs. "You can't die, do you hear me? You can't die. Why did you have to throw yourself on the man? That was stupid, irresponsible, dumb—"

"It is my… duty to… protect you," Megumi said. "I will die… happily if I can… save you."

"You idiot!" Kaoru said. "Don't do that again. Never again. I won't have you die on me, do you hear?" She hugged Megumi tighter.

"Lady," said a voice she didn't recognize. It must have been the tall man. Kaoru glanced up. There was a sense of familiarity about him somehow, as if she'd already seen him before, but she couldn't put her finger on it. He looked feral, not someone she would trust at first sight. "Lady," the man said again, "your friend's not out of danger yet. You'll choke the life out of her, if you continue to squeeze her like that."

"Oh." Kaoru let go of her maid with some reluctance.

"What happened?" Shinta asked. He had been silent up until now.

"No idea, samurai-san," Soujiro said. "Megumi-san was already wounded when we found her." He still harbored his usual smile, but it was faint.

"She… she tried to stop an assassin," Kaoru explained, shaking her head. "I was fighting against them, and then Megumi…." She found she couldn't continue anymore.

"Oh, so that explains the dead body in the room," Soujiro said. "You did quite well against so many men, my lady. In any case, Saitou-san tried to bandage her wound, but it looks quite serious. We thought it would be better if we carried her to Kyoto. There's an excellent doctor there, I'm sure he'll take good care of Megumi-san."

"Yes, good idea," Shinta said. "Go ahead. We will be following."

"But it's going to worsen her wound!" Kaoru protested. "What if—"

"Don't worry about it, lady," said the man Soujiro had named Saitou. "We'll handle her with care. But we'll have to make haste if we want to save her. It's not like there's any other choice. Her state will worsen if we simply leave her here."

Kaoru made to protest again, then stopped herself. He had a point. Still she couldn't prevent herself from thinking about the risks.

A hand landed on her shoulder. She looked back. "If Saitou says so, then he must be right," Shinta said. She nodded.

"We'll be going then," Soujiro said. They lifted the stretcher. "We'll be as quick as we can."

Kaoru heard Saitou mumble something. She thought she heard him say "…making me go through all this trouble…," but it was too indistinct to be sure. She watched them set off into the night, then disappear from her sight. Silently, she sent a prayer for Megumi.

"We should be going as well, my lady," Shinta said behind her. She turned to him. He smiled. "But let us tend to your wounds first." With a swift motion, he swooped her in his arms, before she could react.

She stared at him. "What are you doing, sir Shinta?"

He glanced down at her. "You are limping, my lady. Easier if I carried you, don't you think?"

She sighed, even smiled a little. She would suffer this small indignity. He'd saved her life, after all. She could indulge him anything at this moment, she thought, if he but asked.

Kaoru was comfortable, straddled on Shinta's back, her arms hanging around his slender neck, her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. His skin was warm against hers despite the chilly temperature, and his ponytail flowed freely behind him, tickling her cheek, teasing her back. Her own ponytail was gone, her ribbon having fallen probably during the fight.

Around them the night's shadows were deep, and she couldn't distinguish much of the road they were upon. On the other hand, Shinta could, or so it seemed.

Fall and rise, fall and rise. The even cradling of his steps, the steady heaving of her chest. The motion was making her lids heavy. Her wounds had been bandaged, their burning dimmed, and the throbbing in her left ankle was now a dull afterthought. The earlier excitement had settled down in her mind, leaving her strangely languid, on the verge of sinking into sleep. The only thing that kept her awake was her gnawing worry for Megumi.

"She is going to live, isn't she, Shinta?" she said quietly.

He only shrugged, a movement that heaved her head. "I can't give you any guarantee," he said. How could he be so cold at a time like this? "Only the gods can know for certain. We've done everything we can for her. Let us just hope that Soujiro and Saitou will make it in time."

Kaoru sighed, so close to him that she could feel the warmth of her own breath. She'd been so relieved to see Megumi still alive. But her maid had lost much blood. A rough motion startled her. Shinta had tripped on something, apparently. "Hey, pay attention to the road," she scolded heartily.

"I'm doing what I can," Shinta said. "It's pretty dark out there, in case you didn't notice."

"Really." She was inexplicably comfortable. His musky scent was doing strange things to her; she thought his proximity made her heart weak, sent tingles running on her skin; she yearned for it. He was so close, and she felt an irrational urge to kiss his cheek. She fought against it, hard. She needed a distraction.

"You were putting up fine with the darkness up to now," she said. "I don't think it's giving you too much trouble."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Hmm." She hummed a moment against him. She felt like teasing him. "Well, I think you are too busy feeling my legs to pay attention to the—"

He missed a step, before regaining his balance. A strand of his hair flew on her nose. His hair smelled of olives, she decided. He cleared his throat. "Well, excuse me for 'feeling' your legs. It's not my fault if you sprained your ankle. It is not like I particularly enjoy carrying you on my back."

She pouted, even if he couldn't see her. "You don't enjoy it? Are you sure of this?" She breathed into his ears, made her voice as husky as she could. "Are you… really… sure?" She was enjoying this.

"My lady…." His voice was hoarse. She smiled, glad that he couldn't see it. A victory for her.

"A jest, sir Shinta," she reassured him. "I am… really grateful for what you did, and still do now. You have my eternal gratitude." She swore to herself that once she could go back to her normal life, she would assure herself that Shinta wouldn't be lacking in anything. Maybe she could get her father to offer him wealth, and a piece of land. Yes, that would do nicely.

"I only did my duty as a samurai," Shinta said.

"You have done more than that. Much more. You have no duty towards me. Yet without you the Himuras would have killed me."

"The Himuras?" he asked, his tone even. There was a slight hesitation in his steps, before he resumed his walk.

Kaoru blinked, before realizing that he might not know the Himura clan's symbol. "You must have noticed the nine-headed dragon insignia the assassins all had on their backs? It's the sign that they are the lord of Ise's men."

"I see," he murmured. He seemed to ponder for a moment. "Now I am curious. Is there any reason the lord to would wish your death? You seemed to be accumulating powerful lords' grudges."

Kaoru remained silent. Oh, she was tempted to tell the truth. She was tired, tired to have to lie, especially to someone who just saved her from Death's jaws. Her instincts told her that she could trust Shinta. She wanted to trust him. She liked him already. No, more than that, if she were to be honest with herself. She was developing a deep affection for him. Startling, given the short time they'd known each other.

Despite her tiredness, she was still lucid enough to recognize that part of it came from the boundless gratitude she felt, but it didn't really matter. Her emotions were what they were, and that was that. Maybe, in another circumstances, she would have been content to wed him, she thought. For once she cursed her bloodline. Noble women were denied the possibility of love matches. She had always known it, and never been bitter about it. She understood well the necessity of house politics. The price to pay for a privileged life.

But at this instant, how she wished she could be no more than a simple artisan's daughter, free of weighty chains, free to follow her heart. Maybe she would have tried to seduce Shinta then, despite his apparent coldness and his insolence. Not that she loved him. Of course not. But she had to admit he was attractive, and life with him would be pleasant. If only.

Then again, Kaoru the artisan's daughter wouldn't have met him either. She sighed.

"Something preoccupies you, my lady?" Shinta asked.

"Megumi," she lied. Well, not really a lie. She waspreoccupied by Megumi's well-being, very much so. "I'm worried about her." She closed her eyes, savored the night breeze on her face. "It's all my fault she went through this," she muttered. "I shouldn't have made her leave Izushi in the first place."

Shinta turned his head towards hers. Was there a smile on his face? "I thought you had to flee Izushi because of its lord's appetite for lady Megumi?" he said. "How would you be responsible?"

She didn't answer. She was being entirely careless, and couldn't have cared less. She looked at his cheek again. So close. She just had to lean her head forwards slightly. She felt foolish, and drowsy, and lightheaded. She wanted to let go of the deceit and of the decorum. She wanted to be free for once, to follow her heart. An owl hooted overhead, somewhere in the sky.

She tilted her head, and kissed Shinta's cheek. Ever so slightly.

He startled. "My lady—"

"Shh," she murmured in his ears. "Don't say anything."

He turned his head away. Was he hiding his face from her? She couldn't know. It was very dark, in any case. "My lady, you are still under great shock," he said.

"Probably. So?"

"So… you are not in your normal state."

"I'm well aware of that," she said. She kissed him again, this time where his lower jaw stopped, protruding slightly just below his ear. She could get used to this. "I just wanted to do it," she murmured. "Blame it on my shock, if it suits you, my dear guardian spirit."

"My lady—"

"Do you deny it? How else would you have found me when I was in need?"

Shinta was some time before answering. He was her guardian spirit. She'd thought they would have definitely parted way in Kyoto, never to see each other again. Two strangers, thrown together by the hazards of a journey, for a little while. Yet he was here, with her, at this very moment.

"I… asked Saitou to keep an eye on you, my lady," he said at last. "I was… worried about you."

"Worried?" she asked. "Why so? Did you somehow feel I was in danger?" Foolish, but wasn't it such a romantic idea?

Shinta's steps faltered for a moment, briefly. "Soujiro told me certain things," he said, "that led me to fear for your well-being in Kyoto, my lady."

Oh. So no unearthly link pulling two beings together. No Fate reuniting them. What was with her? Silly of her to even contemplate those things. She almost giggled. Then she wondered what was stopping her.

She giggled.

"Did I say something amusing, my lady?" Shinta didn't sound particularly vexed. If anything, she would be tempted to say that he was in a good mood. He was being really kind with her, much more than usual.

"No," she said. She gave his shoulder a familiar pat. "A thought just occurred to me. Women's things. You wouldn't understand, sir Shinta. Say, can I just call you Shinta? Sir Shinta sounds so formal."

She heard a small sound coming from Shinta. A chuckle. Definitely a chuckle. She laughed.

"If you wish, my lady," he said.

"And you could me Kaoru."

"My lady—"

"Kaoru. It's Kaoru," she whispered in his ear. "Here, try to say it."

"My—Kaoru."

"See, that wasn't so painful, was it? " She laughed again. "So, Shinta," she drawled, savoring his name on her tongue, "is this Saitou a friend of yours? He looks quite fearsome, I must say."

"Not really a friend," he said. "Just… an acquaintance of mine."

"Oh? You seem to trust him very much, for a simple acquaintance." A thought occurred to her. Now she remembered where she'd seen him. "Come to think of it, I remember bumping into him the day I arrived in Kyoto. Not a coincidence then, isn't it?"

"No. He and I may not be on the most friendly terms, but… I know that he is reliable. You can trust him to do all he can to save the lady Megumi, my lady… Kaoru."

"I see." She sobered somewhat at the mention of her maid. She couldn't deny the anxiety in her. It was with her, insidious, no matter how hard she tried to push it aside. She knew she would never forgive herself if Megumi died. She shouldn't have brought Megumi into her problems, Kaoru thought. She shouldn't have dragged her in Kyoto.

"By the way," Kaoru said, "what did Soujiro tell you?"

"My lady?"

"You said he told you something that made you fear for me. What did he say?"

"Oh." Shinta paused, as if searching for words. "Let us not talk about that for now," he said finally. "There will be time for this later, when you have rested enough."

She didn't insist, didn't feel the strength to do so. He said he would tell her later. That was good enough for now. The moon was almost clear of clouds in the sky, the last strands slowly drifting away. It shone bright, casting its silver light all around them, on the road ahead, on the forest in the valley below. She shone bright. Kaoru liked to think of the moon as a woman. Didn't she watch over all women, wherever they were? Maybe it was she who guided Shinta to her, Kaoru thought.

"Say, Shinta," she whispered, "Megumi is going to be fine, isn't she?"

Fall, then rise. Fall, and rise. She didn't really expect an answer from him.

"She'll be fine," he said.

She felt her chest swell. She laid her lips against his neck, brushing them against his smooth skin. Kissed him for the third time, her mouth lingering this once. He didn't react, didn't jolt. In the distance, Kyoto loomed larger, its lights flickering through the night. Kaoru closed her eyes. The chill air couldn't quell the warmth in her heart.