I'm sorry if this chapter took a while coming, and if it's bad, it's because I found…

A NEW FANDOM WITH NARUTO! Heh heh… I'm ploughing my way through the manga as fast as possible, and I'm enjoying every bit of it:D But don't worry, I won't drop this story.

Anyway…thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter! It was the most reviews I got for one chapter (so maybe all of you do like Oukami) and I was so very happy! Thank you everyone!

Happy reading!

Rin shivered, and she thought dryly, So this is what's beyond the train line. Great.

The nights were steadily getting colder as they moved further north. And she envied Haku for being able to turn into a dragon, for at night, he would curl up into a ball with the tip of his tail brushing his nose. Rin didn't dare try curl up too close to him, as he still wasn't pleased with the fact that she came along. Not that he hates me or anything. I think…

Haku had gotten her new clothes since she left the bathhouse. Now dressed in simple brown clothes similar to the kind worn at Aburaya, it attracted far less attention than the pink of the workers' uniforms. Since Aburaya was such a popular place to bathe, most spirits would recognise her as being a worker there. And that wouldn't help them out of sticky situations.

She looked across to Haku, sitting with his back to a tree and staring off into the distance. He did that so often – maybe it was because he found her annoying. But she wasn't going to push her luck to find out what was really on his mind.

"So, how far is it to Kagemori?" she asked after a while.

"Not far," Haku replied.

"Will we get there tomorrow?"

"Maybe."

He looked away, and Rin knew that it would be pointless to try and talk to him again. Grumbling a little under her breath, she made ready to go to sleep, glad that tomorrow their journey would be over.

The town of Kagemori was a dingy sort of place. The paved, main road had gutters on each side where people went to relieve themselves every so often. And the dirt roads off the main road didn't help much to brighten the town. Rin was glad it wasn't raining.

The two wended their way through a stinky marketplace, where lots of the sellers were trying their best to sell all their goods before closing time. Rin kept looking from side to side, not wishing to miss anything going on. No matter how smelly this place was, it was a fascinating experience for her – nothing like the neat restaurants along the road that led up to the bathhouse.

"There's an inn," Kohaku pointed out. He started walking towards it, not waiting to see if she followed or not. A few moments later, Rin tore her eyes away from the busy scene and ran after Kohaku.

Pushing open the door, her eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light. The tables and benches were neatly arranged, and the floor was clean. It was a contrast to the dirty exterior of the town.

She reached Kohaku, who was talking with the innkeeper. He was a strange looking spirit with a narrow face and orange skin.

"Tsukioukami?" he asked sourly. "He ain't never come here. The place's too good for him. Try the Sakanameya."

"The Sakanameya?" asked Rin incredulously. "Where's that?"

"It's so damned famous, you should know where it is!" the innkeeper said arrogantly.

Kohaku said, "So where is it?"

He gave them a distasteful look before saying, "Get lost."

"Obnoxious," Rin muttered before turning to follow Kohaku.

Some time later they found the inn. The inside smelt like a thousand bad things mixed together – Rin didn't want to know what all the smells were – the floor was hard-packed earth with old bits of straw on top, and as far as Rin could tell, the tables had never been cleaned. She glanced at Kohaku – he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he didn't seem to mind anything…except for her, perhaps.

She stood silently by him as he asked the barmaid about Tsukioukami. She was a lot more agreeable than the other innkeeper.

She giggled. "Oh, you mean Oukami-san? Sure I know where he is! He's right there." She pointed at one of the far tables, where four people were seated round the table playing cards.

"See the smallest one there? With the purple hair? That's him. Great card player. Always wins, and when he loses, it's because he wants to. The other three are newcomers – I've never seen them before."

Kohaku nodded and said, "My thanks."

He turned around but the barmaid grabbed hold of him by the elbow. "It wouldn't do any good to interrupt him now. Then you'd get one hell of an angry demon right at you!"

Kohaku considered for a moment, then sat down at one of the benches and Rin followed suit. They watched Oukami playing for a while. To Kohaku, he seemed to be playing with ease, with an annoying, ever-persistent grin on his face.

"So," said the barmaid after a while, "what's your name?"

He hesitated before replying, "Haku."

She smiled sweetly, batting her eyelashes a little, "My name's Mai. You've come a long way?"

Kohaku wondered why a lot of the women he met always tried to seduce him in one way or another. He thought back to the time when he had met the rose spirit while looking for Chihiro.

Rin answered flatly, "Yes." She hated the spirit-girl's nosing around.

Undeterred by Rin's tone, she asked, "Are you going to ask Oukami-san to help you for something?"

Kohaku nodded.

"Well, here's my advice to you. If you're thinking about using gold to sweeten the deal, don't."

"Why?" asked Rin defiantly.

"Because he ain't interested in money! Rumour has it that he's got more than enough."

"Thanks again," Kohaku said, tossing her a small piece of gold as payment for information.

Mai squealed with happiness as she caught it. Then another barmaid came out from the side door and said tiredly, "What's the fuss, Mai?"

"He gave me this!" she held up the gold under her friend's nose.

"Great," Rin said to Kohaku. "Now they love you." Then she firmly turned her back to the two squealing barmaids.

"You cheat!"

One of the spirits at Oukami's table stood up angrily. "You cheated!" he spat. "I know you did!"

With a smack of his hand, he overturned the table. Oukami nimbly leapt out of the way, but the other two ended up sprawled on the ground.

By now the whole common room had turned to look at the commotion. Behind Rin, she heard the two barmaids gasp in horror.

He shouted down at Oukami, "I'm going to have to call you out, boy!"

Rin asked Kohaku quietly, "What does he mean?"

"Oukami's going to have to duel with him."

"Using what?"

"Swords only," he yelled at Oukami, drawing his own.

Oukami kept grinning. "All right then." Somebody handed him a katana.

Behind them, the innkeeper yelled, "Hey! No fighting!" He waved his club threateningly but seemed unwilling to use it.

The crowd completely ignored him as they watched Oukami do a couple of figure eights to get the feel of the katana. Rin thought it looked rather odd for a boy to be wielding such a long sword, and she wondered if he really knew what he was doing.

Finally Oukami looked up and said, "I'm ready. Do you swear to first blood?"

The other spirit nodded, and then he charged straight in, his sword jabbing towards Oukami's throat.

One of the spectators at the side yelled, "Go Washi!"

But instead of backing away, Oukami just ducked under and lashed out at his exposed side. But the blow simply glanced off his heavy clothes, so Oukami rolled away and came up behind him. Several spirits began to cheer.

Kohaku looked at Rin and said, "This isn't a duel. It's a fight to death."

Seeing that the boy was more capable than she thought he would be, Rin replied airily, "Well, we don't have much to worry about."

"But – " Kohaku protested.

"We'll just wait out the fight."

Washi scowled at Oukami, his hand drifting to where he had touched him. "All right. I'm not playing anymore."

Oukami didn't bother answering as Washi executed a combination of high and low strikes, using more strength than should have been necessary. He studied the pattern until he knew where Washi was going to strike, and then he darted forward and extended his katana. Suddenly he felt cold wind rushing overhead and he knew Washi was attempting to lop his head off. Oukami dropped into a crouch just in time, feeling the caress of the sword brush the tips of his messy hair before spinning away again, ready.

"You're pathetic," he remarked lightly. "Why don't we just forget this?"

His only reply was a jab towards his chest which he parried easily, and the fight continued.

Several minutes later, Washi was already dripping sweat while Oukami was still ruthlessly toying with him.

"Give up?" asked Oukami tauntingly.

Washi knew he was trying to provoke him, but all the same, his rage grew at how indifferent the boy seemed about the duel. He renewed his attack but Oukami skipped out of the way.

"All right, I get the point. I'll stop playing with you." His purple eyes glinted devilishly, and suddenly the katana was a silver blur in his hand, thrusting and slashing towards Washi. He fell back, stunned by the ferocity of the attack. He clumsily parried but his sword met no resistance. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his forearm, and he looked down. Blood was oozing from a slight nick just below his elbow. He looked back up at Oukami, who was leaning on his katana casually, watching him.

"What the hell is he!" Rin whispered in the stunned silence that followed.

Oukami saw the death-glare Washi fixed him, and he calmly reminded, "First blood. I win the money."

All rational thoughts fled out of his mind at the humiliation of being defeated by a boy less than half his age. "I don't care!" he screamed, his bottled-up anger free at last. "You cheated!" With that, he lifted his katana high overhead and struck down hard.

Steel crashed into steel as Oukami blocked overhead, the impact sending a jolt up his arm as his blade shuddered. Around them the crowd murmured at the breach of protocol.

"You're a fool," Oukami said quietly, mere inches away from Washi's furious red face. "You swore first blood, and then you break your oath." He stepped back and said, "Now I have to kill you."

"I'll kill you first!"

His katana swept low and Oukami leaped over it. Then Washi swung heavily right and left with brute strength while the crowd shouted as they frantically tried to get out of the path of the two combatants.

Rin and Kohaku leapt up onto the table, and from there they had a clear view of the fight. Oukami had a grim expression on his face as he blocked the heavy blows one by one. They could see he wasn't tiring, but he wasn't fighting back either.

Rin shouted over the commotion, "Haku, what's he doing?"

"Biding his time."

"Why?"

Kohaku paused for a moment before he answered, "I don't know."

Oukami watched, waiting for the moment for Washi to overbalance, and then the fight would be his. Suddenly deciding to finish it, he let the point of his katana drop, as if he were tired. Washi roared as he saw his opening. He lunged forward hungrily, and that was what Oukami was waiting for.

Instead of parrying or retreating, he dropped to his knee and extended his sword, straight at his body. As he expected, Washi impaled himself, not being able to move in time.

Oukami locked his eyes upon his opponent's, but there was no pity in them. Then he gave the sword a hard wrench, and Washi fell to the ground, dead.

Everyone was frozen in place as Oukami wordlessly handed the katana back to its owner. Then he said, "Isn't someone going to clean up that mess?"

And with that, he walked away.

I realise there's not much focus on Haku and Rin, but there'll be more in the next chapter.

By the way, I don't know much about Japanese swordfighting stuff, so the fight might be a bit like one of those European ones… Feel free to tell me what you think of that duel!

REVIEW!

Reposted 17/01/06 for…reasons.