A/N: Part Two, as promised!
A fine lady...
...and aggressive men. Part Two.
He'd never admit to anyone he was actually the one scared the most during that encounter, nor his relief when the event ended with the identification of the bodies and the interrogation of the guy he captured. The one who ran away wasn't caught, but the mole within Sa-chan's compound was revealed before they could count to ten: he had tried to kill the prisoner and then run away; neither action succeeded and he ended up in shackles. That made him breathe another sigh of relief.
After all, if he'd in any shape or form failed in protecting Tokio, he'd never be able to go back to the Roshigumi, or even his friends. He only had one job; fail that and he might as well condemn everyone. He vowed to never let Hijikata down, the man who accepted him so readily after what he did, who even had to argue with Kondou for his presence in the team. He'd be damned if he allowed some no names from Kobe, who only wanted a quick filling of their purses, to rip his aspirations to shreds.
No, he was more than that.
Thankfully, it was Nagakura's turn to keep an eye on Tokio that night and he had some time to relax his nerves. He had a nice long bath and Okita's ever-cheerful presence made it all the more bearable. Complaining about winning points with their charge, praising him for his skill nonetheless, claiming to surpass him on the journey home – because those bandits would be back, no doubt about it in the men's minds – helped put his mind at ease. It certainly kept him from thinking about said charge and her subtle reactions, too, seeing it was the last thing he wanted to remember. Pfff, fine ladies and their mannerisms; he recalled blaming those for making her look vulnerable once but now he could admit he might have been wrong. Maybe they made her deceptively strong. Or it was just her, with her secret smiles and loud laughs. After all, she was quite the irregular fine lady.
He went to sleep early that day though; let Nagakura tire. Besides, the next two days that followed would be entirely too straining.
.
As if to mock him, the entire third day was quiet—too quiet. Both women would smile and talk to each other, but they did it in a subdued manner, like they were planning something. Then there was the other worrisome fact: the women treated him different. Sa-chan was more respectful – and clingy – than ever, praising him left and right; Tokio had taken to bowing each and every single time she saw him, acting too formal even when no one else was around. Of course, she avoided staying alone with him for too long. He was irritated. Was she…scared of him? He wouldn't entirely blame her, considering the killings…no matter what though, both of these changes made him anxious; Tokio's maybe a little bitter, too.
His feelings were multiplied when, despite their little adventure at the hot springs, Nagakura informed them that Tokio sneaked out of her room and went to Sa-chan's, to make her feel better. That was when Sa-chan seemed to finally snap out of it and all but dragged their overall too proper Tokio-sama to wander around the compound in the middle of the night, going as far as to leave it! At least, she had the decency to look around for Nagakura and make sure he was following them before she did anything.
At least.
Just what was Sa-chan thinking though? He'd think her too timid to do something like that—she could barely talk! But now she was up and about, luring that stupid girl to useless adventures. There should be laws against airheaded fine ladies and the idiots who raised them, honestly. Oh ho ho, if they so much as tried to pull anything like that with him, they'd have another thing coming...!
"Where do you think you're going?"
Tokio jumped out of her skin, smacking her shoulder on the frame of the door she was smuggling herself out from; her bedroom, much like all the guest bedrooms of the house, had two exits—one from the hallway and one that lead to the porch and the beautiful garden. Perforated security at best, poor design at worst. Still, he knew those doors existed and he was certain she'd use the same method she used with Nagakura, so he was prepared.
In her panic of being caught red-handed, she tried to make a run for it. Much good that did her; he'd snatched the ribbon of her kimono in an instant and she had to stop in order not to embarrass herself.
"Midnight excursions with your friend, is it?"
"N-no…" Lies. "Let go of the ribbon please."
"Sure; once you promise you'll go back inside."
"…I promise." Looks full of meaning were exchanged. "Fine," she huffed "I really promise."
He cautiously let go; she cautiously took steps to go back into her room; he stared her down until the door was safely closed behind her. He decided to walk away then…and she waited until his shadow was gone from the paper walls, as silently as she could, reaching out to open the door again. Looking left and right, she walked out once she made sure the coast was clear. She smiled and started making her way around the compound—
A figure appeared out of thin air and grabbed her by the waist! Then unceremoniously threw her over his shoulder and for a short, horrible moment she feared someone came back to kidnap her and all colour was drained from her face, even as she thrashed about and flailed her limbs. Once she realised it was only Saitou, she exhaled and glared, still putting up some sort of fight.
"Will you put me down" voice barely above a whisper yet commanding "I told you I hate being manhandled?"
"Suck it up, hime-sama." She bristled all over at the name and finally, things felt a little like they were back to normal. "Should've kept your word, hime-sama."
"I did; I went back in as promised."
The pinch of humour in her voice made him smile; thankfully she couldn't see him and he forced his face in a neutral expression. "You know I meant for you to stay in there, don't play dumb."
She pouted. "But I want to see the city by night! Go to the-…well, not the hot springs, but some place!"
"The city is exactly the same by night, only darker and more dangerous. Wanna get kidnapped this time around, hime-sama?"
"Of course I don't w—!"
"Then you're staying here."
With the same nonchalance as before, he threw her on her bed – she'd bet he did it on purpose – as he went to the door she had exited from; he exited alone and looked at her solemn. "If you try anything like this again, I'll honestly tie you down. I'm no Nagakura to follow you around from a distance."
"Of course; Nagakura-san is a gentleman."
"He's also an idiot. Besides, we have a trip to make tomorrow and you may be able to sleep on the way back, but I can't, in case you've forgotten. Have to keep you safe, remember?" She pouted more. "Well, I warned you. Have a nice night's sleep, hime-sama."
She simply looked away; he took it as compliance so he closed the door and left.
Time to get out of the kimono, then, change into nightwear. There was no way he wouldn't go through with his threat and there was no way she would ever be fast enough to outrun him. Besides, he knew exactly where she was going—the room opposite hers. Listening to him left a somewhat bad taste in her mouth though, because he was always so quick to order…but not as bad as it would have, two days ago.
He did go above and beyond to keep her safe, even going as far as to stain his own hands in blood for her…she'd felt so guilty. She had no idea what he'd done before then, but she forced his hand to do something like that; he even fell into the hot spring from such a height…! Honestly, she was feeling guilty now, too which was why she didn't really protest him. It wasn't even her idea, it was Sa-chan's; she was the one who felt like playing hooky. In fact Tokio had warned her that Saitou was the one on watch tonight and there'd be no way he'd allow for anything like that, he was a no nonsense kind of guy, but she had protested.
Tokio mentally shrugged, already buried under her blanket, trying to sleep; at least her conscience was clear. But just as she felt she was about to drift off, a voice brought her back to reality.
"Tokio-chan…Tokio-chan…! Are you sleeping?"
She wasn't; but she was far too lazy to open her eyes; and when she heard Saitou's strict "who's there" she decided it was not worth it. If he could hear everything, then let her be found innocent at least once and pretend she was fast asleep. Still, she felt Sa-chan's sharp intake of breath and her scurrying away while she heard her door opening a tiny crack. No doubt Saitou looked inside to make sure she was still there.
Once the door closed again, she actually opened her eyes just to roll them dramatically; hello mister meticulous…! At least Matsudaira-sama would be happy. She unwittingly picked the most fitting person for the assignment, at least as far as her lord was concerned. She shook her head at the irony. For such a rude man, he surely did everything else properly.
But that's when she heard another door sliding open; it was very close to her, but it wasn't hers. What happened?
Saitou's surprised "Sakura-sama," answered her question. "Why are you up this time of the night? And why are you not in your room?" He couldn't fool her; he knew exactly why but seeing her emerging so shamelessly from a room not hers left even him in wonder, Tokio bet.
"I was tossing and turning and couldn't really sleep…fear has made my bosom its home ever since yesterday and I can't quite shake it off…"
"I see. If it makes you feel better, I am right here; I may be protecting Tokio-sama, but I'm keeping an eye on you, too. But for me to be more successful I need to know where you are, so please go back to your room-…what—?"
She heard the shoji door sliding some more and now Tokio was just as confused as Saitou. "I thought that maybe you'd be more comfortable if you stayed in a room and not out at the corridor."
"No, here is perfectly fine," he protested but she must have started dragging him because scraping was heard against the floors.
"But in there it will be much easier to keep an ear out for Tokio."
"I thought you said you were scared; your room isn't as easy to monitor from in here."
"Oh that?" she giggled. "I'll be joining you here, so I think I'll be the safest."
Tokio's eyes became as wide as saucers, staring at the wall that emitted the sounds incredulously. Did she just say…?
No. She couldn't have.
"Sakura-sama, I don't think this is—"
"Call me Sa-chan, Saitou-san."
"—proper at all. Please go back to your room."
"Oh come now, proper is boring!" Tokio's jaw slacked. "You saved us so courageously! Don't you want me to show you my gratitude?"
"But that's my duty...please. You're married."
Tokio put her hand over her mouth; Sa-chan was…was…propositioning herself! Shuffling was heard and she didn't want to know exactly what was going on because, oh dear Buddha! And Saitou actually sounded highly uncomfortable, she could hear the internal fight not to shove her off. Then another terrible thought crossed Tokio's mind: Sa-chan set up their "date" to have an excuse to be out and about; she had planned this!
"My husband is so boring," she said it like it was an actual reason for cheating on him "and he's always gone, anyway."
"That's not an excu—"
"What man leaves his bride after not even a month anyway? He's asking for it…!"
Why didn't she let the man finish a sentence!? And he was so obviously unwilling to be with her, why was Sa-chan so insistent? Tokio was horrified. And why did she always sound so seductive? Ugh, she had to do something about this, but what?
"I did; I'm married, too and I left my wife to go to Kyoto to become one of its protectors almost immediately after the wedding—"
"That doesn't sound boring though; it sounds attractive…!"
Think Tokio, think; a way to get him out of the situation and not embarrass the lady.
"Regardless, your husband and my wife still exist and—"
"What our spouses don't know, won't hurt them, yes?"
"Sakura-sama, please, consider my position—!"
"I'm trying to do just that actually; any position would be acceptable."
And that's when the right course of action finally dawned on her; convincingly horrified by her friend's latest comment, she lay flat on her back and screamed with all her strength!
Just as she'd predicted, all sounds stilled from the room next to hers and not even two seconds later, her own door was shoved open by a frantic Saitou; picture-perfect shock written on her face, her back sprang from bed the moment he walked in, Tokio clutched at the blanket, using it as a cover, and pointed at her balcony door.
"Someone was just there!"
She never missed how Sa-chan came in as panic-stricken as Tokio pretended to be and tried to put her kimono in order.
As Saitou was about to bypass Tokio, she grabbed his hand, using it to stand. "I didn't see them at all, but I felt them breathing down my neck, it was terrible! I was still sleeping but I just felt it…! So I woke up and screamed, hoping that would scare them off. I never saw a face though."
Many feelings fleeted across Saitou's face as he put a hand on his sword and with the other he was ready to lunge forward. "No!" As if to emphasise, she tightened her hold. "No, please don't go; I'm scared. Can…can we somehow call the others to come here and search instead of you? Can you stay here and—and watch over me?"
She relished Sa-chan's guilty averting of her eyes but she felt a little bad at how absolutely understanding Saitou appeared and all the things that were going through his mind…especially considering it was a lie. And he was so honest, too, eyes going rapidly from her to the window and then to where his comrades slept many times.
"I'll go inform them," Sa-chan said after a minute too long "you are so scared, Tokio-chan, I don't think if I offered to stay in Saitou-san's stead you'd calm down any. So I'll go. You…should relax now; I think whoever it was, left." Yeah, she though so because it was her! "But no matter what, Saitou-san will keep you safe."
He nodded. "Of course."
"Thank you so much, Sa-chan…!"
The tears in her eyes that made Sa-chan walk away guiltier still, were tears of suppressed laughter at how easily she fell for it; she'd have never guessed it before but she had quite the talent, apparently. But once her friend was out of the way, Saitou went into overdrive.
"Did you manage to see the assailant at all? How did he come so close? I saw nothing as I was coming in—"
She chuckled. "Saitou, Saitou, relax, come on, deep breaths. I'm fine." He stared shocked at the sudden change of emotions, accusation building up in his mind. "No suspicious individual came in or out. I lied," she explained as she lay back down in her bed.
"…why in earth would you do that?"
She became a little modest then. "I…I heard; I…wasn't sleeping. And voices travel very easily…"
He blanked; slowly redness spread over his face, but his expression remained flabbergasted. She sighed.
"If I had come over there and asked her to stop, I'd have wounded her pride and then she'd either lash out on you, claiming you were forcing yourself on her, or she'd make up some rumour about how she witnessed the opposite. She could simply do nothing, but I didn't want to risk it." She shrugged. "It was the best thing I could think of to make her stop and ruffle no feathers."
"You did this for me?"
At his apparent shock she even considered his feelings, she smiled kindly. "Why wouldn't I? You've done so much for me, too. But even if you hadn't, I would've done it anyway; you sounded genuinely upset." He looked down, thinking; she decided to tease him then, for all the times he had in the past. "And," she attracted his attention with the smirk in her voice "you did sound pretty cute when you mentioned your wife. What a good man; what a good husband, too."
"Ahem, thanks."
Hahaha, is this what it felt like for him, too, to tease her? No wonder he did it so often, it felt amazing. "I can only wish to have one just as loyal as you in the future."
"Yes, yes, I get it."
She chuckled. "Good; goodnight then," she wished as she brought the blanket over her shoulders and turned his back on him.
"Wait, you'll just sleep? Just like that? What should I do?"
"Sleep somewhere over there; it's a big room."
He hesitated at first, but then found a good enough corner to sit at. "I'll wait to tell the others what they should do and I'll be right back."
"Sounds good to me," she spoke through a yawn "now let me sleep. Goodnight, Haijme."
"…goodnight, Tokio."
For the next five minutes, he thought of nothing; once he explained to his friends what had happened – and after their laughs and teasing – he dismissed them, sending them off to patrol. Okita's "never hurts to make a few rounds" attitude summed up their sentiments exactly and even Saitou came and went in front of and around Tokio's room. But once that was over with, he had to go back in said room and spend the remainder of the night there…where his thoughts plagued him too long. As perplexed as ever, he watched the back of the woman with curiosity. She was being way too nice. After the way Yaso would treat him for no other reason than she could and she never wanted him as a husband, after the way her two friends, whom he only saw at their wedding, would act around everyone, he half-expected every single woman of such social standing to be an emotional sadist.
She wasn't.
He appreciated it, he found, both her and her timely intervention, too. She lied, but he could live with it; lying to help wasn't that big of a deal anyway—lying to benefit was and she had never done that. He smirked to the irony of it all. Promising he'd try to be as decent to her as she was to him, he finally inclined his head, drifting off easily now that his heart had settled.
.
"You do snore, hime-sama."
She looked at the ceiling disappointed in life. What a way to start a morning.
.
"Tokio-chan, I am so sad to see you leave!"
"I'm happy to hear you say that." She bowed deeply. "No matter the incidents, I, too am sad to leave. I had a great time."
The goodbyes didn't last too long but all four of them were shocked to see her reserving a wink for Saitou as the horses – and Nagakura Shinpachi – walked away, Tokio in his place on the saddle. They headed for the inn Tokio had changed in three days ago without missing a beat – or at least after they were done teasing Saitou –, to get her into the pink faded kimono that served as her disguise. She even let her hair out of their elaborate style, put them up in a simple pony tail.
Once she came out, Okita clapped excitedly. "Simple looks like these have their own charm; make you look cute, Tokio-chan."
She giggled. "Thank you, Okita-san." She turned to Shinpachi. "Am I to ride with you this time around? Or will you drop a lowly maid like me again?"
Used to her presence by now, he smiled graciously. "I once heard of a man who dropped Matsudaira-sama's protégé; it'd be too shameful to be like him, so I'll make sure you stay safe."
Finally! Nagakura Shinpachi made a joke.
There was a brief moment of silence and then everyone laughed at his attempt to lighten the mood, welcoming him in this odd little circle of four – even if Harada wasn't present, he was part of it –, now five. As the mirth died away, Nagakura helped her on the horse. "Good to hear; they say that woman is a nightmare, though," she commented as she settled on the seat. "Poor sod, whoever dropped her."
"Is that any way to talk about a lady, Tokio-chan? I'm so disappointed in you!"
"Yeah, hime-sama, don't be so mean. I met her, she's not like that at all; let's you get away with seeing her half-naked, too."
"Hajime!"
She moved to smack him but was too far away, already taking the rear of their party; subtly, Nagakura angled the horse in a way to get her closer and she finally smacked him right on the arm. He didn't complain, but did gave Shinpachi a look. "I've been betrayed…but women always break up friendships between men, what can one do?"
"And for a mere maid, too how simple-minded Nagakura-san," Okita jumped in and how he kept a straight face even he didn't know "imagine if the lady herself was here—you'd have ran both of us down."
Alright, maybe she had been pessimistic when she had first woken up; this was indeed a lovely morning, she thought as she shook from the suppressed laughter. It would be a good day.
.
.
Her predictions couldn't have gone worse, even if she had actively tried to ruin them.
Not an hour into their trip, the saddle on Nagakura's horse breaks! A strap snapped and he nearly toppled over. Thankfully, he didn't take Tokio with him and his friends were quick to catch him and the horse. Still, the problem of what to do remained; if they went back now, they could still make good time if they hurried; if they kept moving, they'd save themselves the extra time but with one person always walking they'd be late anyway. Riding without a saddle was also proposed but no man had a taste for it—dismissed as early as it was proposed.
After talking about it for five minutes, they decided going back was the fastest route.
But there were so many people being serviced everywhere, they were taking too long to find their replacement! Eventually they had to go back to Sa-chan's and ask for one; Tokio thanked her a thousand times for giving it, borrowing, as she assured countless times, but all Sa-chan would say was how she didn't care and how she had expected Saitou-san to come pick it up...but he had made the wise decision to stay back with the horses.
All in all, they were two hours and change behind schedule. Alright, they could work with that. The only thing any of them feared was not getting caught inside the forest with the bandits on the loose. It wasn't like they hadn't taken steps; Saitou was the one who proposed and later wrote a letter to Hijikata – urging him to show this to Matsudaira, too – accounting the events and voicing his concerns about those men. Hijikata hadn't written back but he didn't need to. Knowing him and his obsession with getting things right he himself would be the one proposing counter methods – such as patrols, searches and reinforcements – to the Aizu-han.
Of course, in the short span of three days, it would be a miracle to have captured them; they relied on the additional help more than anything.
But their bad luck wasn't spent; three hours after they had started, almost at the same place the saddle broke, a terrible wind picked up! None of them could hear or see much beyond what was in a three metres radius, so inescapably, they huddled together and ran faster than they had calculated. Like someone had cursed their trip back home, ten minutes later, they bore witness to one of the biggest trees in the forest breaking under the pressure of the wind; an impressive amount of dust, pollen and leaves rose as it hit the ground, getting in their eyes, causing sneezes and coughs.
Nagakura searched for the correct words to describe the situation. "This…this is ridiculous," he decided in the end and shook his head.
"This is the fury of a woman scorned," Okita commented, trying to lighten the mood.
He succeeded; Tokio giggled as she excused her friend "Sa-chan may be frivolous but she isn't vengeful…!"
"Besides, as far she's concerned, I never got around rejecting her."
"Be serious for a moment, all of you. What should we do?"
"It was a dangerous fall, no doubt, but we have horses Nagakura-san; we can go around the tree," Okita offered.
"I think going back is wiser." Everyone stared at the bespectacled man like he had just said the most ludicrous thing he could have. He didn't appreciate it. "If the wind continues like this, we might not see the next tree coming and get squashed like bugs."
"Agreed; the forest is dangerous for now."
"Saitou-san! Even you agree with him? Maybe you like Sakura-san after all."
"Idiot," he accused his friend "I said the forest is dangerous for now that the wind is so strong. But the road is dangerous, too so we can't choose that way, either."
Nagakura sighed. "Then what do we do?"
"I propose we find shelter; how long can winds like these last? They are out of season anyway. I bet they'll be brief."
"You're right," Tokio finally entered the conversation "I have read about sudden winds like these in the forests surrounding Kyoto, witness accounts of hunters; said they are fearsome but short-lived, around March to May usually. Best counter is to wait them out in some cave."
Saitou shrugged. "And there you have it: the great hime-sama spoke. We wait it out in a cave."
"Hajime!"
"What? I'm agreeing with you."
"But you're doing it…vexingly!"
"You're vexing yourself," he dismissively snapped, turning to the men "does anyone know where we can find a cave here?"
"I think we passed something that resembled a cave about five minutes ago," Nagakura opined.
"That looked too much like a bear's den! I don't wanna get eaten today…but it looks like we might find a cave up those hills," Okita jutted out his chin towards his right "if we're up for it."
Everyone looked at Tokio; she in turn gave them a look like she was protesting their lack of faith. "…we brave the trip then," Saitou decided "lead the way."
Okita smiled. "With pleasure; follow me Tokio-chan!"
.
.
I don't like this; we've lost too much time. Maybe Nagakura was right, we should have gone back.
They left around ten in the morning; the clock showed two pm when the winds picked up. It was now five and the wind had only just abated. They were four hours away from the Matsudaira compound at a normal pace but he still had a bad feeling.
"What are you thinking back there, Saitou-san?"
Being the leader of the party this time around, Okita couldn't keep an eye on everyone so he had to keep looking back and make sure they were alright, following his lead. And when he turned, he could almost see the gears in his friend's brain turn.
"Am I so obvious?"
"You give off a wave of uneasiness; you'll damage Tokio-chan's complexion if you keep this up, she's in your range."
"I concur; you look troubled."
"No one asked you, hime-sama."
"Hey, think of my skin! Didn't you hear Okita-san?" There was a pregnant pause; jokes were fine and all that but it was obvious something bothered him. Okita gave her a look meant to urge her to go on. "What's the matter?"
"…this feels wrong. We've wasted too much time and we're basically no closer to getting home than three hours ago."
"It was your suggestion—!"
"I know, Nagakura, I remember; but I can't help but feel maybe we should return after all."
"No!"
Both Okita and Tokio seemed pretty adamant in their refusal. "Matsudaira-sama will be worried sick; no word we send will reach him before us. We'll be causing more trouble than we'll be solving."
"Hijikata will both skewer and kill us, too; and then work us to the bone, making us wish we had actually died," Okita offered his own point of view.
"So hime and the fool want to keep moving." Both protested the nicknames, but he didn't lose time over it. "What does the strategist say?"
"…we keep moving, now that it's come to this."
"I see I'm outnumbered. As you wish. But Okita…keep a sharp eye."
"Already am~!"
"I know; keep a sharper one."
.
.
They ran through the forest in breakneck speed; branches kept hitting their faces, small insects dying upon impact with their bodies, waving away birds and stomping on fallen fruit; the air felt less and less accessible as their lungs constricted.
They were being hunted.
It only took two words – "heard that" – and one gesture – a nod of agreement – to spur them into action! They tightened their hold on the reins, jerking them, and kicked their horses; they took off and never looked back. After all, it couldn't have been a coincidence, none of it could; the saddle breaking? Sure; the tree falling? Maybe. But when the saddle broke, the tree fell, their path was stopped by a marsh that wasn't there before, spike-like wood appeared by some natural disaster or another on the road and animals attacked them for no reason – looking like they were agitated before meeting them – he knew it was a set up. Those bandits were smart, apparently and decided instead of facing them at the same place, near Kobe, they'd riddle their journey with traps and attack when they are at their weakest. They couldn't possibly know these three were the most equipped to handle emergencies so none of them would have been hurt…but they were tired.
After all, it was close to nine by now, and with so many delays, they were still one hour away from home, galloping to safety.
But release would not come; their pursuers weren't only many, but also positioned differently; ten people were on their tail but they could have outrun them…if it weren't for the other ambushing them. And they led them exactly where they wanted! The three horses came to a stop when they came upon a clearing, enemy horses five metres behind them and trees on the other side rigged with ropes and shards. Just as the two dismounted, eager to cut the traps down – horses stopped next to one another – thirteen people came out of the shadows!
That was it, they were trapped.
Nagakura jumped off the horse at the same time with Tokio and put her behind him, but stayed close to the horses in case an immediate escape was possible; being in the exact middle of this clearing didn't help much, but at least the fronts were now distinguishable. Of course, Saitou easily went to the back, trying to keep the ten people away. Seeing they dismounted immediately, too they weren't aiming to stomp them to the ground, but kill them. Kill them; they'd take Tokio.
But they couldn't allow that.
"If it isn't the scary boy and his merry band of idiots." Yutaro, the boss of the bandits, appeared in front of Okita but made the round trip to reach Saitou at the very back. "Told ya mah boys were plenty. Brought 'em tah meetcha, feel special. No one else was given that honour, at least not if they were less than six."
Saitou snorted. "You have…what, twenty three people, twenty four including you?" He snorted. "That's alright; give it five minutes, you'll be fourteen; give it ten and you'll be four."
"Ya may act tough boy, but there's still twenty four ovus. But you…ya're only two."
"We're three, you know; I still count." Okita snapped, a sinister smile on his lips.
A terrible smirk graced Yutaro's face. "Nah boy, ya're two; one of yous gotta keep an eye on the girl, yes? Otherwise ya'd just given 'er up."
But Saitou didn't bite. "I have faith in us; we can take you."
"An' how do ya purport tah beat us, boy?"
Despite her fear, Tokio cringed at the use of that word; they really didn't know what it meant.
"I killed eight men while protecting two women on my own, only two days ago; imagine what I can do with backup."
That was not what Yutaro was expecting to hear, so to make up for the brief moment of pause, he snarled in return! "We ain't soft city thugs, boy! Ya breathed yer last; get them!"
Everyone threw themselves in battle immediately! Okita had to fight thirteen, Saitou eleven and Nagakura protect the woman from the strugglers; everyone kept to their post admirably, hacking and slashing away…but there bandits weren't stupid. They knew how to take advantage of their overwhelming numbers while they fought fiercely! They never let up, attacking with as many people as they could without risking injuring one of their own; of course that meant that only five people were needed at the same time—the rest, save one or two were free to attack Nagakura…
But that was the hard part—both Saitou and Okita, the talk of their skill not downplayed at all, were also so fast, they broke through the line and attacked the others who tried to reach the woman by sheer speed and willpower! Okita was short, too so he could slip through their fingers easier; but for Saitou it was harder, size and well, fame included. No matter what, Yutaro was there to strike out at him, get in his way; even if he didn't absolutely succeed, he still managed to slow him down.
The third time he moved forward in that fashion to stop another wave of bandits from reaching Nagakura, he felt the first hit of the day landing; a blade had found its way on the flesh surrounding his ribs; he had felt the tip too soon and angled himself to avoid the lings! But blood was drawn and he could feel the sting of pain. It was first blood on their side. The bandits had many men slashed or stabbed but it was never as lethal as he'd want; one was always there to serve as a shield or a warning; just like cockroaches, they couldn't die.
Saitou looked behind him as often as he could, making sure Tokio was safe and Nagakura relatively uninjured; he caught a surprise attack on Okita with the edge of his eyes, where all thirteen moved at the same time—no human was capable of keeping that back and he knew more than six of them would escape him…Nagakura would be overwhelmed. He was a duellist to remember and fear, but in fights with more than three, he couldn't handle fight as well.
"Nagakura; switch!"
Even if he declared it, there was no stopping him; too fast for them to hold down – but not too fast not to injure once more at the exact same place, but from the other side – he jumped back and then turned around to reach Tokio in three steps; naturally, they followed, but only five managed to go through Nagakura who might not have been a prodigious runner, but he did train with a couple of them almost every day; he was driving back bandits before they could process it.
But five men from one side and seven from the other—twelve people are a lot and he had Tokio to consider. He prepared himself for a lot of pain but he could finally take out one or two of them: using that same stance he had during his first fight in order to aim better, he took flight! One man was stabbed in the neck while another was slashed by mere proximity to his katana as he pulled it out of the man's throat. Blood rained down as the first casualties of the battle fell to the ground; for a moment, all who watched froze, Yutaro included. Saitou used it to his advantage and found himself in front of Tokio and behind enemy lines in the blink of an eye.
He didn't wait for the others to get their bearings again and stabbed another one—right in the belly and then slashed as his sword exited the wound.
Enraged, everyone snapped out of it simultaneously and moved to attack him at the same time; shit. Tokio dived even lower than she was and covered her head while Saitou did his best to deflect all swords with his own at once. He managed to stop more than half, but four pierced his hands and his leg, burying more than their tips in his skin.
His cry of pain was mingled with anger, curdling the blood of allies and foes alike; Tokio looked up alarmed, only to see him literally push back a dozen of people, kicking out at the same time. Judging by the agonising scream, Saitou had just destroyed his knee cap; Buddha gifted him with strength that was certain.
So three dead, one out of commission and the boss was always hot on his trail; that took five out of the equation. Looking at his left, Okita was having trouble, but also successes; the six men had crowded him but now only four remained standing, even though they were fiercer than ever.
"Okita, remember that thing?"
He evaded a stab that headed for his face, receiving a simple scratch on the cheek; that gave way to another to slash him on the shoulder; Tokio squeaked and gave a tug on his hakamashita. He ignored both hindrances and simply stabbed out, numb to the pain by now.
"What thing?"
Okita kicked out, propelled himself in the air and literally stepped on people's faces and shoulders to come closer to Saitou.
"Training routine number four."
That sinister smirk came back on Okita's face as he stabbed at another; his men were now down to three; two. "Ah, yes; on three?"
"You know it."
Saitou literally grabbed the sword aimed at Tokio with his bare right hand redirected in the innards of one of the others; the man couldn't stop and gutted his comrade, as another bandit evaded another ally's thrust that ended up in Saitou's chest. She shouted as he kicked the man on the shins, dislodging the sword and stabbing it back in the assailant; with two swords now, he served as a better cover for the woman…and an absolutely deterrent to all eight, no seven, adversaries he had left; bloodied and beaten, he was going stronger and more determined than ever.
"One—three!"
Okita swooped in, kicking his foes towards the men fighting Saitou; he slashed open their throats as they lost their balance and he kept going until he found another enemy; Saitou pushed off the ground at the same time, keeping his sword outwards, ignoring piercing strength for maximum overall damaging power. He wasn't aiming to kill, but to maim or incapacitate; his speed was so great, he managed to disable at least another three men—four to go, boss included. The bastard endured, hiding behind his men or ducking at the last minute.
But now Okita and Saitou's pincer attack had him at a loss; four on their front and another five remaining as a whole—only nine people with three of them, it was nothing! Seeing their losses were too great, realising this wasn't worth the trouble too late, the boss signalled to his men to get the hell out of there, but now they were the ones in attack mode and boy were they scary.
"What, are you going already?"
Okita appeared next to one of the four, tapping his shoulder; he screamed out just by seeing him and he actually chuckled. The man never saw the killing blow. "But the party is just getting started."
"Rude guests; leave just when we can finally have some fun, too," Saitou continued, as his sword ran through another's head.
He pulled it back, the man following the path, falling onto the one behind him who was still trying to escape – thinking himself lucky for not being picked –. But then he was thrown on the ground and all he saw was the metallic tip of Saitou's katana as it headed straight between his eyes.
"Nagakura-san, what do you think?"
"I think if they forced us to have them, they should at least be gracious enough to stay when we ask them," he effortlessly played along, grabbing a sword from the ground and sticking it into one of the retreating men's back. "We did put up with them so patiently."
Judging by everyone's small or big, deep or shallow cuts, they were definitely deserving to talk about patience for all they went through. Still, they were left standing.
"And good guests help with the clean-up, too; so where the hell do you think you're going?"
All three kicked fallen swords and grabbed them as they flew up in the air; they grabbed them mid-motion and, like shuriken, they threw them at the bandits. They jolted and then fell to the ground with a thud. Looking at one another for just a second, they communicated their intentions perfectly; the two men on Nagakura's either side took flight with their leaps and found themselves in front of the bandits in a flash; all immediately turned about and headed straight for Nagakura, who was prepared; he killed three of them with one swing as Okita took care of the second to last.
The last one…he was Saitou's; Yutaro saw his future in the man's arrogant grin; he raised his sword as Yutaro stabbed out in panic, dodging with ease. When he finally had had enough, he kicked the sword out of his hand, and pushed him to the ground. Foot pressing down unforgivingly, the man chocked, begging for mercy.
But there was no mercy to be shown. "Pray you're reborn as something less despicable next time," he simply said, hand descending in that horrible, characteristic arc; Yutaro breathed his last on the lush green forest floor.
An unexpected shriek was heard and all three heads whipped around, the sinking realisation Tokio was left unsupervised hitting them at the same time. They watched in slow motion as the man whose knee cap was long gone by now had managed to play dead long enough to grab Tokio by the ankle, drop her to his level and thrust his sword at her. All three ran to her full throttle as she fended for herself; she fell backwards and avoided the slash; a well-aimed kick at the nose threw the man's head backwards; she jerked her kimono away from his grip and stood three metres away from him.
Okita's sword ran him through successfully; Saitou reached her first and grabbed her head to keep her steady as he assessed the damage: only one cut across the nose, otherwise unharmed. The urgency in his eyes died down as he looked her over, hands keeping her steady by the shoulders now, seeing she really was unharmed. Returning his eyes to hers, he forced her rapid heartbeat to calm down as his concern ebbed away.
Nagakura and Okita appeared behind him, looking over Tokio as much as they could themselves, path blocked by Saitou, who kept staring for another second; then he raised his head imperceptibly, giving her a final once-over; her heart beat even faster. And then…
"You'll live," he apathetically announced as his thumb wiped the excess blood off of her nose.
The two men exhaled in relief; Tokio felt blood rush to her head for an entirely different reason. "Oh I'll live? Who would have thought? Definitely not me; thank god you told me, I can breathe now."
"Tokio-chan!" Okita tackled her with an enveloping hug, momentarily forgetting all decorum. "You're fine!" He grabbed her hands then, squeezing, leaving no room for Nagakura to express his own relief with any means other than bowing. "Thank Buddha!"
"…why wouldn't I be? You took all the blows in my stead, even some you didn't need to." Her eyes immediately slid to the one worst offender, meaning Saitou, who was already heading to his horse. "You shouldn't have been so reckless!" She raised her voice to make sure he heard her. "Some of those you could have definitely avoided."
He reached a hand inside the satchel of his horse to fish out his personal blend of ointment; it was a miracle the horses didn't run off, if anyone asked him, but they didn't. They preferred babying hime-sama and hime-sama decided complaining to him about saving her life was time better spent. "Did you hear me, Hajime? Some look very serious, too!"
He rolled his eyes as he turned to face her, indignation evident on his face. "They look more serious than they are;" he stated matter-of-factly "now shut up and take this." He handed her a small circular container. "It's for the cut; apply and it'll heal faster."
"Wh—why are you giving me this? You need it much more than I do!"
"Idiot." He physically, actually, hit her on the top of her head as if earning a point in judo. "This is for cuts and bruises; ours are deeper than a simple scratch."
"You said they weren't—!"
"—as serious as they looked; they are cuts made by swords after all. But for sword wounds, they are superficial."
"Oh yes! We're fine Tokio-chan; could have been much, much worse."
"Indeed we could."
All three, bloodied, beaten men smiled in their own cheerful, honest, or arrogant way and she could have slapped the lot of them!
"Men; men!" As if that explained everything, she did as she was told, swiping some with her thumb and applying it on the wound. "Once we go back, you're all getting looked at immediately; you can report once your check-up is finished!" She raised her hand, blocking all the protests that begun forming on lips. "I said what I said; now let's go back, before anything else happens—maybe a hurricane decides to strike tonight." Tossing her now free hair back, she walked to the horses; abruptly, she turned to look at all of them, and equally unexpectedly, she bowed deeply. "That being said, thank you all; you kept me safe from so many men in a valiant and fierce way. That's more than admirable. I shall ascertain it reaches Matsudaira-sama in the most desirable fashion."
Then she stood up gracefully, finding three awkward men searching for the right words to say. They snapped out of it once she stood next to a horse with no intent of doing anything else other than get on it and gallop away.
Saitou snorted. "That's my horse, hime-sama; Nagakura's is the one next to it."
"I'm aware," was all she said. An eyebrow was raised. "Are you going to help me up here or not?"
"But you're breaking Nagakura's heart." He lied, seeing Nagakura was in no shape or form even mildly upset. "You're certainly breaking Okita's heart for not choosing him at all, at least."
"Indeed! Why am I not even a choice?"
"But you'll drop me after forty minutes flat, yes? We have more than an hour worth the trip left though."
Okita pouted; Nagakura laughed; Saitou sighed. "Why are you torturing me? I'm the one who slept the least yesterday night. Give me a break."
"You're also the one hurt the most and you're the last one; if you drop, no one will notice before it's too late. Now stop complaining."
There were many things he wanted to say at that moment; how dared she worry about him? He wasn't so weak to need a woman like her fretting for his well-being, making sure he stayed on the damn horse. He wasn't an invalid! His very reason for being this hurt was because he just saved her life from a nasty band of bandits, he demanded some recognition! Glaring, he took the appropriate steps and then pushed himself onto the horse; as he did though, he felt himself unsteady.
"See? You're already staggering." That was an answer to his intense scowl and he simply looked away. Alright, he might have lost a little more blood than he thought. Big deal…
But neither Tokio nor his comrades were willing to let it slide. "Fine, get on." Seeing he was the first one to get on his horse, he nodded to Nagakura to come help her. He blushed ten different shades as he lifted her off, to take Saitou's hands. How he never blushed or felt giddy at the prospect of being around her, Nagakura would never understand, married or not. That man simply had nerves of steel.
Once she settled in her seat, the other two men headed to their own steeds and took positions, with Nagakura leading the party, Saitou in the middle with Tokio and Okita bringing up the rear. Once the leader of the party started moving, so did the rest.
The road was bumpy but this once she felt it; on their way to Kobe she hadn't felt a thing; on the return, Nagakura's horse really shook and made her feel bothered; now it wasn't as bad as three hours ago but it was worse than the first time. Why? She looked up to see a fully conscious but obviously pained Saitou, grimacing as the horse came upon some particularly hard obstacle, still absorbing the most of the shock for her. But not completely, because now he was hurt. She looked away; if it hadn't been for her…she leaned into his chest, holding onto the edges of his hakama with two fingers, settling in her new position.
Once more, he felt her odd gesture and wondered; he never looked down but he knew she was there, clutching at his fabrics, but why? She wasn't scared now, was she? Of what? Then a ridiculous thought crossed his mind and he was quick to dismiss it; but then it came back because, well, what else was left? She was very ridiculous herself after all. He shook his head.
"Idiot." He spoke with the least amount of effort possible. "I'll be fine." He felt her shrink into herself. "This isn't your fault."
Bingo!
The moment the words left his lips, she flinched and ducked her head. He couldn't see her, but he felt each and every one of her movements, just like she could his. "Idiot," he repeated with more fervour "it wasn't just for you; it's for our futures, too."
She blushed, hiding her face in his chest. "I know…"
And yet, she kept holding on to his hitatare; he let her.
.
A/N: Part Two, end! Hope you liked it lovelies. And I'm really happy because next chapter I can play with time a little, too and manipulating history to fit your story is always fun!
Leave a review on your way out, mah pretties.