Uh… yeah. Wow. An update. Um. You see, there's this thing, called year 12, and it's a bitch. I was originally planning to write more during the holidays (the last ones, not the ones starting next week), but… I had other stuff I needed to do, then my last media project and field trip took forever to organise, I had to wrestle with the stupid non-existing music program the school's meant to have, I actually had to pay attention during maths, and we missed out on so many jap lessons I practically had to teach myself. Which I did by watching anime, PoT, Naruto and Bleach. Oh the goodness.

Exams are on RIGHT NOW, so I shouldn't even be on this site, but this chapter (not that you could call it that, it's the shortest so far I think) has been sitting around doing nothing, so.. yeah. I'm not that happy with it, so I might edited it later… the name doesn't even really suit it… gargh..

Nemurenai Yoru – Sleepless Night

As the moon shone its pale light through the window, Kenko looked warily over to the other side of the room at the figure of the young man Tomo, appearing to already be in deep slumber. Facing the wall as he did the night before, his back was to her as the futon covering him rose slightly with each breath. Next to him lay his lone katana, the ebony scabbard gleaming palely in the moonlight.

Holding her own weapon to her chest, she asked herself over and over why she had allowed Okami to talk herself into sharing her room with the stranger. Right now she'd be willing to sleep in the worker girls' room and be subjected to their teasing and gossip of the town – anything would be better than the heavy silence that kept her on edge. Fiddling with the strapping of her sword's grip, her thoughts went back over what had happened during the day.

After leaving her room, she slowly made her way towards the kitchen, when a sudden noise startled her. It was a high-pitched cry, most certainly coming from Miyuki or Aya, followed by a loud thud. Quickening her steps, a strange scene faced her as she entered the kitchen doorway. The young man Tomo was half sprawled on the floor, with Aya almost on top of him, with a large bag of rice now broken next to them. Miyuki had a look of horror on her face, but her eyes told a different story. It seemed that Okami's hope that he would distract them from the Choushuu men was already working.

"Kyaa! Gomen nasai, Tomo-kun," Aya exclaimed, taking her time to move off the man, "That was extremely clumsy of me! I can't believe I didn't see you…" Lowering her head, her voice started to shake slightly as she went on about being such an incompetent person.

"Ne, Aya-san," Tomo's voice was smooth as silk as he stood up and offered a hand to the girl, his expression unreadable, "It was no fault of yours. I also wasn't looking were I was going. Let's just call it even, ok?"

The upset look on her face vanished as soon as she grasped Tomo's hand and allowed him to help her up. "Hai, wakarimashita!" A very large smile was on her face as she allowed the motion to pull herself closer to the man, and her eyes flashed suggestively as she added with a voice as silken as Tomo had used, "But… now the rice has spilt everywhere. Mou, what are we going to do, Tomo-kun? If Okami-baabaa finds out…"

"She'll make you clean the whole thing up!" The older woman snapped as she stepped up behind Kenko. All three girls jumped as Okami stepped into the kitchen, her face dark. "Just what did you think you were doing, Aya? You didn't have a sack of rice limiting your vision – there's no excuse for your tactlessness. And Miyuki!" She suddenly turned on the other worker girl, who had been hiding her amusement on seeing Aya being scolded, "How could you just let her do such a thing! Don't think I don't know what you girls are up to…"

"Okami-san," Tomo's quiet voice cut in before she could keep going, "It really was just an accident, and I'm just as much to blame – I shouldn't have taken such a large bag. Please allow me to help them clean up."

Eyeing him for a long moment, Okami gave a low sigh. "Fine. Do as you wish. But Aya – you're coming with me, young lady. You're going to be cleaning up something much worse than rice grains…"

Moving to the side warily, Kenko watched as the landlady stormed away, and Aya step grudgingly towards the door. When her eyes met the younger girl's, however, a strange look appeared in them. Just as she passed Kenko, she whispered, "Ne, where did you find him? To think that you would have the luck to catch a guy like him…"

The worker girl giggled lightly as she left, and Kenko stared after her as if she had grown two heads. What the hell did she just say? Or rather, what the hell did it mean? Blinking in confusion, she turned back to watch the young man and Miyuki in the tedious process of picking up the rice grains, already engaged in conversation. Miyuki was almost as bad as Aya, her voice slightly higher than normal, and she was giggling more – if that was even possible. As her gaze rested on Tomo, he turned his head and caught her eyes with his own.

It all happened so quickly. For a moment she felt trapped, as if something was pinning her to the floor where she stood. The air in the room seemed to grow heavy, and senses picked up on a strange ki floating around. She found it difficult to breathe, the strange feeling making her unsettled. If she didn't know better, it almost felt as if she was having a battle of will with an enemy. Only when he blinked did the spell break, yet she still didn't move.

"Himura-chan," Miyuki's voice cut through the kitchen, "What's wrong? You look really out of it." Blinking, she moved her gaze to the worker girl, then back to the young man. After holding her gaze for a small moment, he looked back to the task at hand. But the uncomfortable feeling still lingered in Kenko. Frowning, she growled low in her throat as she turned on her heel and stormed out, heading for the front door. That man was unsettling – she would have to talk to Okami again about getting rid of him.

After stalking the streets of Kyoto all day, Kenko finally returned in time for the group dinner. She sat herself in the furthest corner, not wanting another verbal dig from Iizuka, and ignored any attempts of a conversation with the worker girls. Deciding to enjoy at least some part of the day, she went outside and sat on the roof tiles of the inn, watching the last rays of the dying sun fade away, and the first stars of the Ame no Gawa appear. When the night's air finally became too cool to ignore, she withdrew herself from past memories as she made her way to the ground and entered the inn.

There were still a few men in the common room, involved in some sort of gambling, and another sitting further away, reading. Silently, Kenko made her way up the stairs, slowly walking towards her door. She was looking forward to an early night, as most of the last week she had been given assignments.

Reaching the shoji to her room, she was about to lay her hand on the handle when her senses perked up. Someone was in her room. Slowly, she slid the door open, only to find the young man Tomo, sitting in the far-left corner and reading. At the noise of the door sliding open, he had looked up. When his eyes fell on her, she could have sworn that his ever-present facade had shifted slightly – to what, she didn't know.

"Oh… Himura-san," he said after a moment, lowering the book into his lap, "Did Okami-san talk to you?

"About what?" Kenko asked warily, wondering why the hell he was in her room.

"Ah… well, as Katsura-san returned today, there seems to be no rooms available for me…" As Tomo watched the reaction on the young woman's face unfold, a possible spectator make have seen the ever-present facade on his face shift again.

Without another word, Kenko slid the shoji shut again, and walked away. Swift, silent steps took her quickly down the stairs, past several men who quickly moved out of her way, and brought her to the kitchen's entrance. As she suspected, Okami was there cleaning up the last of the dinner's plates with the workers girls.

"Ah, Himura-chan," Okami said with a somewhat forced smile upon her face. The worker girls however weren't so good at hiding their surprise from Kenko's dark expression. "What brings you down here?"

"Okami-san, I would like to talk with you for a moment, if you wouldn't mind," Was the firm reply as she stepped back into the corridor.

Sighing, the older woman stood up slowly, muttering a curse about her old knees, and made her way towards her. Once the door was closed, Okami sighed again and said, "I'm guessing this has something to do with Tomo-kun?"

"Get rid of him. Now." Kenko got straight to the point. "He shouldn't be here. He's an outsider, and he knows who I am. It's enough that we let him go with his life – we do not need to offer him our shelter and food."

"No." Okami's curt response managed to shake the young woman out of her equally firm mindset. "He is now under my employment, and you have no right to tell me what to do with my staff. It's true that he came here through abnormal circumstances, but he has made a pact with not only myself, but also Katsura-san. If such a deal is good enough for him, I should think it's good enough for you."

It took Kenko a few moments to collect herself after that rare display of authority towards herself from the innkeeper. "Uh… that may be the case. But he's an employee, so why is he in my room?"

"I told you last night that there are no rooms available because of Katsura-san's return. You allowed him to be in your room last night, so I don't see how this is any different."

"But, he was… well, unconscious. Being wide-awake and reading a book is a lot different. And since he is an employee, shouldn't he be sleeping in the servants' quarters?" Kenko challenged, crossing her arms.

"I didn't think that you would be that cruel, Himura-chan. You would really leave an innocent, young man alone in a room with two girls like that?" Kenko conceded to herself that in all honesty, she wouldn't even wish that upon Iizuka. Not that the girls were interested in them, as far as she knew. "If you're that iffy about him being conscious, just wait until he falls asleep. Now, if you don't mind, Himura-chan," Okami added quickly before the girl could get a word in, "I need to return to my chores. I trust you'll work things out."

Watching the now-infuriating old hag step back into the kitchen, rolling the shoji shut behind her, Kenko sighed audibly, running her fingers through her hair. It seemed that she needed to return to the roof.

After watching the moon and the Ame no Gawa for another few hours as she used to when she was younger, she once again made her way back to her room. As she reached the top of the stairs, she proceeded much slower, making sure not to make any noise. Reaching the shoji, she slid it open noiselessly, and stepped inside. Sure enough, the young man had made himself right at home, lying out on the futon he had used the night before. Pulling her scabbard out of her belt, she moved towards the silent body, to make sure he was asleep. Just as she reached his side, he moved, his face now facing upwards.

Kenko froze as images from her dreams flashed through her mind, and her hand tightened on her weapon. Would it really be that easy to…? Glaring down at him, her breathing became shallow. All she would have to do is be silent enough…

Biting down on her lip, she forced such thoughts out her mind. There was no way she would ever attack an unarmed man, let alone one who was asleep. And there was the slight problem that he was technically an employee of the establishment. Sighing at the randomness of that last thought, she turned on her heel and made her way to her usual resting spot. Sitting down, she rubbed at her temple while carefully leaning against the wall, and then proceeded to burn a hole into the sleeping man's back with her glare.

Taking one last glimpse at the man, she finally allowed herself to relax. He had not moved for the last hour, so chances were he wasn't going to for at least another. Letting her shoulders sag, her eyelids slowly slid down, letting her mind wander into the darkness.

Half an hour later, the young man stirred. In reality, he was a light sleeper – or rather, it took him a long time to fall asleep. Because of this, he was vaguely aware when Kenko had returned to the room, but had paid no attention to it. But when she had walked right up to where he lay, he couldn't help but feel a bit exposed. He had rolled slightly, hoping to fool her so that he could go back to trying to fall asleep. He had heard her tense, then eventually move away and sit down.

He had almost found solace in sleep, when a noise alerted him. Holding his breath, he listened carefully, and sure enough the sound was there. Turning over slowly, he looked to where the young girl slept, hunched over and holding her sword to her chest as though her life depended on it. His eyes widened slightly as he realised that the noises came from her. Her voice was hitching in her throat, as if she was whimpering, and looking closely, he could see her face contort slightly with each sob.

It seemed that even a demon could have nightmares.

Notes:
short chapter… yeah, I realise that it's really pathetic considering how long it's taken me to get this out. S'not my fault year 12 is so shitty. A few months ago I put my choices for uni in, but since one of them is a new course I have no idea what the TER score has to be, which means I have to get as good as I can get… gargh. Also, I've been scratching my eyes out waiting for the new naruto eps and chapters… (can I just say, in the time-jump Sakura kicks ass. Shannaro!.) and then… well, yeah.

Translations:
Gomen nasai – sorry, forgive me
Wakarimashita – I understand
Baa-baa – old woman (not very nice way of saying it)
Ame no Gawa – the Milky Way