-Ronin's pov-
After the day before, our night of searching certainly was awkward, especially with Leigh on my back. But I had a good idea of where I was heading, and Leigh didn't make any snide comments, probably because she was trying to concentrate on more important things (then again, what could be more important than me…oh yes, Toklata).
Or maybe Leigh's lack of speech was simply from her exhaustion; after all, she hadn't slept much over the course of our journey. Even the day before, she said she had been calling different babysitters to take care of Kam, most of which were cousins or something like that, who could stay at her home for days, and keep her small shop running. I guess I should have told her that we might be gone for a while before she had called the first babysitter, who had apparently thought she'd be back in the morning. Oops. Oh well, no use crying over spilled blood—unless, of course, it's your dead master's blood.
I stopped. It was no longer Toklata's blood that I smelled, but Jaden's. It was a dizzying sensation, but I was sure it was her scent.
"Ronin, is something wrong?" Leigh asked, with weary concern. I shook my head lightly, not to say that I was okay, but to clear my senses a bit.
"I don't know," I told her, honestly. "It could be my imagination…or Konosuke playing tricks." Again, I had failed to keep my mouth shut. I just wasn't used to having other people around to hear me mutter!
"Konosuke?" Leigh asked, just as I predicted she would. "Who's that? And what's this 'it' you're referring to?"
I sighed and decided to, as usual, tiptoe with my words—answer her questions; just not directly. "Konosuke is the girl's kidnapper, not a big fan of mine, obviously, and this 'it' is this strange scent I'm picking up."
"Not Toklata's scent?"
"No."
"But it is a strange scent, right?"
I dropped Leigh, not really wanting her on my back with that suspicious tone. She fell ungracefully into the dirt, on her backside, and glared up at me (because glaring is something Leigh is really good at) when I turned to face her.
"Are you implying something?" I snapped in a frigid tone of voice. If she was trying to say what I thought she was trying to say—
"Another woman, Ronin, a woman! Is that what you're smelling!"
"YES!" I screamed back, not really willing to talk about it. First of all, she still should have been questioning how I could smell anything! Second of all, what makes her so special? Like she's the only woman I've ever asked to come to bed with me! (Well, she is the only one I've asked so directly.)
"Do you love her!" Leigh demanded, in a rather frightening tone.
"I do! I….I did!"
--
-Leigh's pov-
I didn't really realize that Ronin didn't seem to be especially happy about my questioning—at least, not until it was too late. Suddenly, he looked terrified, and something about him seemed younger as he took a quick look at his empty sheath. His face got even paler than it already was, then he dropped to his knees and grabbed my hand.
"Oh gods," he hissed, to no one in particular. "When Master finds out I've lost her sword, she'll whip me—or worse! Charna's Guts! She'll throw me in a cage and drop me on those stakes fifty times! And if I'm not dead after that, she'll make me listen to Paris rant on about the 'good old days'!"
"E-excuse me?" I stammered, having not the slightest idea of what he was yammering on about—he seemed helplessly confused about something, like he didn't really know where he was or what he was doing. "Ronin! Ronin, listen to me!" I cried. I wanted so bad to help him out of his lost, clueless state.
So I slapped him.
"Get a hold of yourself!
"W-what!" he snapped suddenly. "You're the one who's sitting on the ground! Get on my back! Lets go!"
I gaped at him for a few seconds, before he lifted me up and slung me over his shoulder, sighing irritably. I kicked at him like a madman, but he took it in stride, only smiling a bit at my efforts. Finally, I blurted out the first thing that I thought might stop him. "Master will whip you—or worse—when she finds out you've lost her sword!"
Ronin dropped me (again). "What did you say?" he asked, his face drawn into something that looked like confused anger.
"It was…something you said. Just now, before you slung me over your shoulder. This woman—"
"Jaden," he informed me.
"You, ah, followed her? She was your—"
"Mentor," he cut in again. "And I keep thinking it's her blood I'm smelling—maybe it is. I don't know; I can barely tell up from down in this state. You haven't noticed if we've been going in circles, have you?"
I scowled, but was kind of relieved that he wasn't speaking of some former lover, but just his teacher. "Ronin, this all happened only a few minutes ago. Snap out of it; I don't want to be chasing our tails for the next few nights."
He sighed. "Alright. I guess I just had a traumatic flashback-type thing. If it happens again…" He trailed off, looking thoughtful, before nodding to himself and continuing. "If I do it again, just tell me that Jaden would find something much more cruel to do to me, and that I'd better hurry up with her sword. Got it, Leigh? No slapping, alright?"
I smiled and nodded. He actually stuck out his hand for me and politely lifted me off the ground. After that gesture, he grabbed my by the waist and again flipped me over his shoulder. I would bet a lot of money that he was grinning.
--
-Third Person pov, and you know the rest-
A sore stomach was all that Toklata woke up to that night. Konosuke was nowhere to be found (well, not in her room, hanging over her bed, at least). It was a welcome relief—but as a trade, her stomach region felt like she'd done sit-ups for four hours straight the day before. Then she remembered exactly what had happened, and double-checked to make sure that Konosuke wasn't lurking around anywhere around her.
Again, she was thankful to still be alive—but she found that she was once again terrified of the vampire hunter. She could have sworn that he had been nicer to her over the past few days.
Maybe, she pondered, it was to catch me off guard so he could do something really mean to me.
Toklata shivered involuntarily. Punching her in the gut could be considered something "really mean", by her standards. But still, he could have done worse, considering Ronin's sword had been only feet away from him…
She checked to make sure she still had all ten of her fingers (for the record, they were all there).
She took hold of her head, which was pounding. Her body certainly didn't like her on this particular morning. In fact, normally, at this point, she would be out of bed, at least attempting to do something, instead of lying with her covers drawn up around her.
Letting out a sigh, she wondered for the hundredth time when in the world Ronin would come and save her. After all, wasn't that his duty? She scrunched up her nose—she didn't really like the thought of being the helpless damsel in distress, but it was fairly unavoidable with Konosuke.
He was pretty careful to keep warning her of what would happen to Ronin if she chose to try and escape, not to mention the punishment she would receive if caught.
Still, would Konosuke be able to find Ronin if she ran away? Or catch up with her? Was it worth taking that chance, just so she wouldn't look like a defenseless moron?
No, she told herself, shaking her head to emphasize this. Better not risk it and get a bunch of people killed. That wouldn't be good at all.
Angrily, Toklata blew a stray lock of brownish hair out of her face as she realized the pain in her stomach wasn't only from Konosuke's punch, but also from a lack of eating anything. Hopefully she wouldn't be asked to cook again anytime soon.
Bracing herself, she sat up and rolled out of bed, forgetting that I was several feet above the floor. When she finally pulled herself up after that fall, she slowly cracked open the door and tiptoed down the hallway. Upon reaching the living room, she smiled.
There was Konosuke, fast asleep, with a book about home first-aid covering his head from the light from the ceiling light.
--
A/N- I know, two weeks later, and all I have is this dinky little chapter. I had my first softball game on Saturday, which lasted more than two hours (that we won by like forty points), after which I went to the bookstore and got the Lord of the Shadows and another long-awaited book. So I spent most of the rest of the weekend reading them. The week itself has been hell, it seems like I can never get my math homework done or I never get enough sleep. To top the crap week off, today was out second game. We had three extra innings, but in the end we lost. And I was pretty upset because I only played the first three innings. –Originally, I wanted this to be the chapter when Ronin finally got to Konosuke's house and some epic battle begins…but I just can't write right now. I really just put this up just to actually have something up, and feel like I accomplished something other than chewing my nails down on the bench today.