AN: I made a horribly embarrassing mistake in this story and one I'm too embarrassed to say what it was ^-^' Once I realized it though, at five in the morning, I couldn't let myself sleep until I fixed it right away. I even considered wiping this story from existence and feared what other horrible mistakes I am sure I'm making. But seeing how friends and family say I overreact and worry too much, and the fact I have simply just enjoyed writing the story, I'm continuing on. If no body happened to see the grave error I made...thank goodness for that! If you did...curse you for not saying anything and laughing behind my back! (I know... I have issues)
About ten minutes had passed since she had brought him back in and attempt to bring his temperature back up. Throughout that time, Avaron would frequently touch her backhand to his face to see if his temperature had noticeably rose or she would check his pulse to make sure it wasn't getting any weaker. When he still showed no sign of consciousness, she pulled forth a certain handkerchief and had Koharu douse the tip with the sake she had brought. From there, she started cleaning the blood off his face and eventually the wound that had been inflicted across his chest.
She forced herself to overcome what would be awkward for both of them and see him through the eyes of a doctor in order to best care for him. She had eventually pulled a sleeve down his arm to better clean the wound that had been inflict across his chest. She found herself, despite trying to view him as some mere patient, trying to hide her reddened cheeks within his hair that grazed against her face while she held him close.
Why wouldn't you just stay in the hotel? she at first questioned. What if this is all my fault? Why didn't I just stay quiet? She closed her eyes in her regret. She then realized she couldn't just view him as a mere patient in need. It wasn't just the fact that a little crush might have something to do with it, but it was the fact she had already come to care very much for him. The moment she realized who he was, she let herself become attach knowing where his life began and how no one was able to save him from it. The fact that she had nearly abandoned him to suffer alone again tore at her heart. He was going to let himself die had she not found the courage to come see him. While he clearly did not want to die, he was about to let go and go the least painful way. His bloodloss had eventually caused him to fall asleep despite the chilling air and from there, the cold would have done the rest. He really would have fallen asleep without pain just to not ever wake up again. The thought scared her even now because that could still be his fate.
It might as well had been hours that had passed for Koharu. She had barely been able to stop pacing back and forth before anxiously looking at the two on the ground. She had grown nervous when Avaron pushed Soujiro's sleeve down his arm and ended up revealing some of the scars on his back he was secretive and ashamed of. Avaron had not yet noticed because of how close held him and her kimono sleeve was draped around his back and shoulders to keep him warm while she worked to clean his wounds.
He's certainly not going to be happy when he wakes up like this. Still, Sou promised to let her help if she wanted to.
She wished Avaron would move on to the next step. Instead, she grew more impatient when Avaron started to hum softly while she cleaned the last bit of blood off his skin. In her ignorance, she thought cleaning the blood off was not serving any real purpose and that Avaron was procrastinating. Koharu had thought color might be returning to his face, but her patience quickly wore thin. Every minute he remained unconscious made her more fearful he would not be waking up again.
"How much longer?" She finally asked.
Avaron bit her lower lip as she again checked his temperature and pulse. She seemed unsure even though he had gained some warmth and his pulse didn't feel any weaker.
"You've done that already." Koharu said impatiently.
"I'm no doctor, Koharu," Avaron felt she needed to remind her. "It's difficult to know when or what I should do. I don't want to make it worse. I... we need to find him a real doctor," she was uttering in defeat.
"No," Koharu said with a tone. Avaron frowned at her. Koharu finally stopped pacing and sat in front of the two.
"We agreed it should be done if there's nothing I can do."
"You haven't done anything! I know you can do it. You've already proven that to me."
Avaron gazed doubtfully at her.
"Look, you said his heart was still beating strong, but it's only going to get weaker. You have to help him now while it's strong. I know Soujiro. As long as you're helping him, he can handle it. Just do something."
Avaron's face softened. "You're placing a lot of faith in both of us, aren't you? You're right though. Something should be done now while his heart is beating strong. I would just prefer it if he was awake." She had hoped bringing his temperature up would do just that. Half of her wanted him to be awake so he could object her aid and be allowed to go find him real help.
She started to rest her head back against his when her eyes fell upon the chains shackled around his wrists. She lowered the bloody napkin from his torso to inspect his wrists up and see how the shackles were locked onto him. "They must truly feel he's dangerous to use such means of restraint," she noted out loud. She was reminded how true it must be if he still managed to escape in the condition he was in.
"He's not going to hurt you," Koharu felt she needed to assure her. Though how Avaron handled him proved to Koharu she no longer feared him like she might have just before she led her here.
"I know." She had been afraid at first when Koharu told her the Meiji was after him, but it was the way Koharu had defended him that moved her to at least come see him and see if there was anything she could do. What young girl like Koharu would go so far to defend and help someone who was supposed to be a treacherous person? The first time she saw Soujiro was him fighting for and protecting Koharu. He was trying to get her shelter where she could recover and he had given his sword up just for her. Avaron had then got to watch him smile and laugh with him and he had been so afraid of being a burden, he didn't even want her pouring him tea. She had not been ready to say goodbye to him but now she saw why Soujiro had wanted to keep the meetings between them short. He had tried since the beginning to keep her out of it.
He can't be as bad as the Meiji fears. Maybe it's some sort of mistake, she thought as she looked upon his face. She touched his face again to stroke his bangs aside. He was finally gaining some warmth and color. Her lips slowly curled when she briefly pictured the kind seven year old in her protective arms . She didn't regret now coming to see him. It was what she had desired really, she just wished it was under different circumstances. Even so, everything she had said earlier to Koharu about him facing justice for what he's done completely left her thoughts.
"You know you're smiling," Koharu had to tease.
Avaron said nothing and dropped the smile that had slowly been forming across her face. She cleared her throat as she went to brush a strand of her hair from her face. That was when she felt her hand brush against her hairpin. Her eyes suddenly widened at the idea she got and she at once pulled the hairpin out. Her braid fell against her back as she studied the hairpin a moment, particularly the two prongs that were inserted into her hair to hold her heavy braid. She then reached for one of Soujiro's wrist and attempted to pick the lock using the hairpin.
"You're a genius," Koharu praised. Seeing the chains off him would alone be a relief.
"Don't thank me yet. I'm not sure if it will wo-" Avaron was cut off when Soujiro jerked in her hold and the hand she held latched itself around her neck. She dropped the hairpin letting out a choked cry.
"Sou, stop it! It's just Avaron!" Koharu hollered remembering how quickly he had broke one of the swordsman's neck. He could have easily snapped her neck like a twig with his one hand.
"Avaron?" He whispered softly and immediately released her neck. He had last expected to ever see her again.
Avaron nodded in some effort to respond to him as she tried to recover from nearly being choked to death. Her face had already changed a different shade from being trapped so quickly in his tight grip.
"He didn't mean it. He was just caught off guard," Koharu apologized in case she grew afraid again. Still, it surprised Koharu how quickly and violently Soujiro lashed out even though she knew it was an accident.
Again, Avaron nodded as she rubbed her neck. "I guess I should be thankful you don't have a sword on you," she said when she found her voice again.
Soujiro sat away as he turned his shoulder to her. He thought his bloodloss might be making him delirious and he looked back at her in disbelief. He stared at her like she might be a mirage before he noticed he had been partially undressed. He immediately pulled his shirt back over his shoulder and glared back at her and distanced himself further from her. "What do you think you're-" He turned his attention down beside him when he heard something clatter against the ground and recognized her hairpin from before. He took it in hand and held it up before turning his gaze back at her in dismay.
"I'm sorry," Avaron whispered softly. "It was necessary in order to help you. We were starting to think you might not wake back up." Staring at him now, she could not believe she had thought such a thing. He had reacted so quickly the moment he regained his conscious. Even now, he seemed so full of life despite his weakened state. His strong heartbeat should have been proof of that. It all was proof that he did not want to die. He had just needed help.
"Sou!" Koharu cried out joyfully and launched herself at him from behind to wrap her arms around his neck. His eyes continued to widen in disbelief. He wasn't angry. He was particularly getting used to Koharu throwing herself at him and he couldn't bring himself to be directly angry at her being happy he was alive. He was already regretting his violent reaction towards Avaron. It wasn't just that he wasn't used to such care and affection, but hours before he had been taken advantage of and he regretted then he hadn't reacted more quickly to defend himself.
"Avaron brought you back. Thank goodness!" Her hold on him tightened. Soujiro slowly brought his hand up and rested it on one of her arms to make sure she was real. He had last remembered being unable to take the last step to fall to his death. Instead, he had backed away and collapsed against the guardrail angry he couldn't find the will to just end his miserable existence. Worse yet, he had closed his eyes knowing he had let Koharu down by sending her off like that. He had thought he might never see her again. Even if he had changed his mind, he would have been too weak to go after her and fight for her. He still wondered if he could be dreaming. Was she really here? Did she actually succeed in bringing Avaron back?
The fact that Koharu had said her name and that he was still holding the hairpin within his grasp proved he wasn't hallucinating. He lowered the hairpin from his view making sense of Koharu's last words. "Brought me back? Avaron, what did you do?"
"I only brought you in from the cold...and... " She loosely held the the handkerchief back in her grasp. "I did what I could to care for you until you woke up." She lowered the cloth when Soujiro's gaze narrowed at the sight. He recognized it from the hotel. She had used it to care for his hand she had accidentally burnt and had kept it with her all this time. It was all she thought she was going to have of her lost childhood friend.
Koharu tried not to be offended when Soujiro decided to tear her arms from around his neck and he pushed himself further away. For a moment, it had seemed he had welcomed her embrace.
Avaron saw that his bleeding had thankfully stopped, but it was no better to have to gaze upon the dry blood crusted over his clothes now.
He had now at this point cornered himself against a stack of large crates. "You can go now."
"What?"
"Sou! You promised to let her help you." Koharu at once argued.
"That was if you told the truth."
Koharu was becoming as confused as Avaron. " ... I... did. What makes you think I didn't?"
At hearing that, Soujiro looked over his shoulder at Avaron to confirm whether she knew the truth about him.
Avaron nodded to him. "Koharu told me that the Meiji is after you."
"And that doesn't bother you?"
"Letting you die bothers me. If you'll just let me-" she started to reach towards him until he blatantly turned away again. He was still acting like he did with her just that morning, and she couldn't understand why.
Koharu, however, saw the hint of fear in his eyes. He still seemed in a state of defeat...and afraid? She knew now he had been like this the whole time. The moment she saw him that day, something about him had seemed off and now she saw it more clearly. "Sou? What's going on? It isn't like you to act this way."
He closed his eyes with a subtle nod. "In all truth, Koharu. You weren't supposed to succeed in bringing Avaron here. I don't know how you managed to find her without being caught...but she can't stay here."
"Soujiro, it's all right," Avaron tried to reassure him. "I've come this far so I might as well as do what I can."
"Even if there's a chance I contracted a deadly disease?"
"What?" Avaron was at first confused, but it only took her another moment to realize what he was talking about. "Disease? The one spreading in Kofu?"
"Wait. What does it mean?" Koharu questioned seeing how alarmed Avaron suddenly became.
"If I have it, Koharu, my chances of living are slim and I'm putting you two at risk." He refused to meet their gaze.
Avaron finally understood why he had kept himself withdrawn from her. "Something happened to you when you left the hotel last night, did it?"
Soujiro ended up answering her question anyway when he remained silent. She even saw the hint of humiliation he carried by how he kept himself turned away from them, his shoulders hunched over as he clutched his sleeves.
"That's why you were leaving me behind," Koharu finally was putting it all together. Before Soujiro could confirm it, Koharu suddenly latched her fists at his shirt and pinned him to the large crates he had cornered himself against. The strength that could emerged from the small girl never ceased to amaze him. "Baka! You were planning to let yourself die at their hands!" If she hadn't watched him suffer enough, she might have slapped him. "You're still wanting to die, aren't you? You sent me away so you could die alone!" Her tears started to fall all over again.
"I'm sorry. I thought it was for the best-"
"Of course not! How could you?" She continued to yell and shake him in her tight hold.
"That's enough, Koharu! Let go!" He tried to push her off. "I'm sorry!"
For once, his apology meant nothing. He had probably done the one thing she couldn't forgive so easily. "You stupid, foolish, selfish boy!"
"Stop it!" Avaron interjected. Koharu was suddenly yanked back by her arm and turned around to be met with Avaron's stern gaze. "Look, I can tell you care very much about him, but there is never any reason to show such behavior and disrespect."
Koharu looked ready to lash back more violently than ever until she finally seemed to get a hold of her emotions. Instead, she pulled her arm from Avaron as her tears continued to fall and she turned her glare back upon Soujiro. He had been staring intently until she gazed back at him. Her gaze spoke more volume than her words had done so that he couldn't stand to look at them too much longer and turned his head away. He knew he had betrayed a level of her trust. "I was caught, Soujiro. They were going to take me away! I would have spent the rest of my life thinking I let you down. Why would you think that's better?" She started to approach him with her fist raised again until Avaron clutched her arm to stop her before she would lose her temper again. When Soujiro kept his sober gaze turned away, Koharu growled as she jerked out of Avaron's grasp and released her anger by kicking her foot against the crate Soujiro sat against before trudging passed him.
"Please just go, Avaron," he finally uttered after a moment of awkward silence. "I'm sorry you were troubled, but you know as well as I do you can't get involved."
Koharu had settled back against the floor with her back turned against the two. She raised her head over her shoulder to glare at him again and revealed the tears streaming down her face. He was not doing anything to better his situation by sending Avaron off.
Avaron only nodded.
He shifted uncomfortably when she knelt down beside him and held her hand out. "Can I have my hairpin back?"
He nodded and held his hand up with his palm opened towards her. She seized his wrist first before taking the hairpin and continued trying to pick the lock to free him. "What are you doing?" He had expected her to leave now that she knew what he had been exposed to.
"You've got two choices, Soujiro. But know this, if you refuse to let me help, I'll have no choice but to make someone else aware of your situation." She smiled compassionately when he narrowed his eyes. He clearly didn't want it to come down to that. "Leaving you alone is dangerous. I may not be considered a murderer if I leave you now, but I would be no more guilty than one if I turn my back on you now."
"Are you saying you'll stay?" Koharu asked as she worked to dry her tears again.
"If Soujiro let's me."
He at first kept his stubborn gaze turned away from both girls and had leaned the side of his head against the crate he rested against. His gaze remained low watching Avaron try to free him from his shackles. "What if you get sick because of me?" He finally questioned softly.
"I've been back and forth to Japan and England and been exposed to many illnesses and diseases, including tuberculosis and haven't been affected. I'm willing to push my luck." Just as she finished speaking, there was a click from the cuffs around Soujiro's wrists before their hold on him slacked. She took it upon herself to remove them for him and smiled when he pulled his wrists against him and rubbed at them in relief. He had thought he would be stuck with them the whole way to Tokyo.
He opened his eyes, his gaze more kind before he nodded to her. "All right. I guess I don't have much of a choice then. I won't lie. I would rather you stay Avaron. Please just be careful."
Koharu could have cried in relief.
"Don't worry about me." Avaron said. She held her hairpin up again and studied it for a moment again before holding it up towards Koharu. "Do me a favor and try to shatter this. Stomp on it if you have to."
Koharu looked mortified at being told to shatter something so beautiful. She almost thought it was a joke. Once she finally stood and took the hairpin, Avaron turned her attention back to Soujiro. "Next step is cleaning the other wound so I can extract the bullet." She stood from him with the bottle of sake to sit behind him. She found Koharu still holding onto the hairpin protectively. "Koharu!" She said impatiently.
"Why destroy it?" She had to ask.
"You see those prongs that are inserted into my hair? I need them broken off from the brooch. I'll be able to extract the bullet more carefully with them.
That's quite clever, Soujiro thought. It only strengthen his confidence in her abilities to help him.
"Well, if it's for Sou, then of course I'll do it," Koharu said before wandering off to perform the task given to her and stomp mercilessly upon the expansive hairpin.
Soujiro remained against his side and clutched at his sleeves before he noticed the bloody napkin Avaron had left on the ground before him. He discreetly pulled his shirt aside to see the state of the chest wound. The strike had only been meant to demean him and not be serious, but Avaron had done well to clean the blood and disinfect the wound. His only complaint was that he smelled like an alcoholic, but that couldn't be help. He turned his head slightly to gaze at Avaron. "Why did you keep it? You took that napkin from the hotel, didn't you?"
"Oh, um..." Avaron was suddenly mortified. "No...yes." She knew she couldn't fool him. She was even more embarrassed when he chuckled softly. "Is that strange?"
"A little." He admitted, but then smiled.
"Just because you don't want to remember doesn't mean I want to forget. I ended up forgetting you once already until you first smiled at me. Since then, I have had to dig though my memories to fully recall you and I've still been trying to remember even now. I don't think I could let myself forget you again, but I still wanted something to remember you by. Keeping that napkin would remind me not only to not forget our time together last night, but our time together as children. It was a good memory to me. It would also serve to remind me not to bring ...up... your past again. In case I ever did get to see you again."
"So you two do know each other?" Koharu questioned.
"Well-"
"Hai," Soujiro spoke up as he gazed back at Avaron. "At least for a brief time we did." He nodded to her. "Too late. I remembered some at least."
Avaron had to suppress a smile as her eyes lit with excitement, especially when he didn't seem to dread the memory. " You do?"
He lowered his gaze with a subtle nod. "I remember a voracious five year old."
Avaron broke into soft laughter which eventually caused a shy grin to emerge across his face. Koharu couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy watching the two laugh and smile at each other. There wasn't much she felt she could say or do when she was still angry at Soujiro for what he tried to do. Instead, she interrupted them by trudging up to them and lowered her palms in front of Avaron's face to show the broken pieces of the hairpin. "Here. I did the best I could. Can you please finish helping him or have you forgotten why you're here?"
"Koharu," Soujiro glared at her. She continued to surprise him with her insolence.
"Don't you dare, Sou," Koharu spat. "You don't have any right since what you've done is far worse."
For once, Soujiro didn't know how to reply. Koharu wasn't proud. It almost appeared it had hurt her to talk to him in such a way, but she still felt in the right. From there, she turned on her heel and returned to her previous spot and sat with her back to them.
Soujiro was left with a perplexed expression on his face before meeting Avaron's gaze again.
"She's right...in that I need to finish," she said with the bottle of sake in hand.
Soujiro nodded as his hand went to clutch at his sleeve again. He seemed to hesitate before he could will himself to shove the sleeve down. Koharu could only hope Avaron wouldn't make the same mistake she had and draw attention to it. Avaron's eyes clearly focused on the old wounds on his back as he pulled his arm from the sleeve. Koharu held her breath when Avaron reached her hand out and touched her fingertips to his right shoulderblade as her face showed a hint of wrath. Koharu remembered her saying she brought up something of Soujiro's past, which is what obviously led to him storming out of the hotel. Avaron had already made the mistake Koharu had, but Koharu was sure now that Avaron must know something. And by how she gazed wrathfully upon his scars made Koharu feel she knew how he had received them. Koharu felt her own blood boil seeing how angry the sight made Avaron. Someone had clearly hurt him before.
Avaron said nothing, however, and gently pulled his arm towards her to begin cleaning and mending the wound. The alcohol did well to wash the dry blood clean and she did the same to the prongs of the shattered hairpiece to best sterilize then before inserting the ends into his arm.
Time passed as Avaron did her best to clean out any infection before locating the bullet and being able to safely dislodge it then pull it through. As the wound started to bleed again, she used the sake one last time to wash the inside of the wound and drown out any blood having been affected with the lead left behind by the bullet. Since Soujiro's shirt was about unwearable and even unsanitary, she convinced him to tear and salvaged what he could of it to be used as a bandage to wrap around his arm.
"Once we get to Tokyo, I'm taking you to a real doctor. I'm not about to say you're all taken care of," she said as she finished tying a knot made from the shirt around his arm. She was somewhat proud of her care for him, but she certainly wasn't convince he was on the road to healing. She had not used the best tools to aid him and there was still risk of infection developing.
When he didn't reject to it like she expected, she looked passed his shoulder and realized he had fallen asleep while she had been carefully wrapping his arm. While she had done her best to get control of the bleeding once it started again, the loss was enough to make him drowsy again.
"Is he going to wake back up?" Koharu questioned anxiously.
For the last time, Avaron touched her hand against his face and was able to smile reassuringly to her. "He's just tired, Koharu. I think he deserves this rest. I'm sure he has more reason besides the blood loss to be this tired." She gently inserted his arm back through his sleeve before pulling it back over his shoulder so he'd stay warm.
"What if he does has that disease? Is there any cure for it?"
At once, Avaron's reassureing smile dissipated from her face and she gaze apprehensivly towards Soujiro. "No, but we can't think about that right now. The important thing now is for him to recover as much of his strength as possible. I may need your help convincing him to come with me to the clinic. If we have to, we can give him a different name so he can't be traced as easily. Whoever is after him knows he's wounded and weakened and knows he probably won't be able to leave Tokyo any time soon. He'll need to be hidden until he recovers."
Koharu became slightly more hopeful. "So you're still going to stay?" She had to ask again.
Avaron found her smile again and nodded. "I'm going to end up making my aunt worry but I'd rather worry her than anger her." She then held up the sleeves of her kimono tainted with Soujiro's blood. "I don't want to have to explain this to her. I'm going to get him the needed aid and then return home. Maybe I can sneak in and change before she sees me as I am now."
Koharu bowed her head as she folded her hands in front of her. "I don't know how to thank you. I'm sorry for what I said before. I'm just furious at him for what he tried to do." And maybe I was a little jealous, she admitted to herself. Still, Avaron had given up an expansive hairpin and stained her clothing for their sake and was even risking the wrath of her aunt, maybe even the government's if she wasn't careful. She was doing much for strangers she had just met. But apparently, the two weren't just simple strangers to each other.
"Honestly, Koharu, I'm not sure how I would have reacted if I were you. But, I do owe it to him to do this. I'm determined to see this through to the end now."
"What do you mean?"
She turned her gaze back towards Soujiro as he slept. "We failed and abandoned him to suffer once. I'm determined to not let that happen again. This is my chance to make it up to him."
"We?"
"My father and I."
When Avaron knew the train was nearing their destination, she carefully was able to stir Soujiro from his sleep. He didn't even remember falling asleep and could hardly believe they already arrived in Tokyo. He was even more surprised that Avaron had stuck around instead of returning back to be with her aunt. She explained why. After the two ended up bickering on what was to be their next course of action, Avaron, with the aid of Koharu, finally convinced him to let her take him to a doctor to make sure he was on the right path to recovering from his injuries.
When the train came to a complete stop, Avaron snuck out into the back platform of the train to make sure no one would see them sneaking off. Snow was lightly falling when she poked her head out the side of the train. People were busily exiting the train being guided by the workers and being happily reunited with their loved ones, all of them too busy to care about some stowaways.
She motioned to the two down the steps. "Quickly now," she urged the two.
Soujiro was clearly exhausted, but he was well enough to not let the past events affect his ability to walk with vigilance. While Soujiro was usually talented on his own in disappearing in plain sight, Avaron could tell they would have difficulty walking openly with his clothes stained heavily with blood.
As she started to follow after Koharu and Soujiro, she paused when she spotted her aunt in the distance. Honoka was shoving passed the other passengers exiting the train and frantically searching. I'm sorry Aunt Honoka. But I won't be long.
She hurried to catch up to Soujiro and Koharu who had hid themselves within the shadows of the train station outside.
"You don't have to do this. Your aunt is clearly worried about you. " He could see her aunt as well from where he was and saw her aunt frantically searching and questioning others about the whereabouts of her niece.
"My aunt will be okay. You, however you don't want to admit it, are the one that needs help. I'm done arguing about this with you. Come on."
Avaron found she wasn't going to be able to lead them very far without drawing a lot from the surrounding locals. Even trying to walk behind Soujiro was doing little good. This isn't going to work at all. She finally urged Soujiro behind a building.
"Ah! What's wrong?" He said as he roughly pulled aside.
"You're drawing too much attention with all the blood on your clothes. You've already scared off some children. Before you know it, you're going to have the police following after you anyway."
Soujiro leaned against the wall of the building as he crossed his arms. "What do you suggest then?" He thought this was all going to take more careful planning but Avaron was quick to respond.
"Wait here," Avaron said and started to turn away. She turned to face him again. "You'll wait, right?"
He smiled to assure her. "I'll wait, but where are you going?"
"I'll only be a few minutes," she promised before she turned on her heel and left the two within the safety of the shadows.
When she left, Soujiro knelt down on one knee while rubbing at his arms.
"Sou?" Koharu said in concern.
"I'm fine," he assured. "I'm just trying to conserve warmth and strength." He sighed and smiled as he turned his gaze to her. "So, are you still angry with me?"
"Yes." Koharu said with a tone.
Soujiro turned away trying to choose his next words carefully. He wondered how he was supposed to earn the trust he lost from her after what he did. There was an awkward silence before Koharu suddenly wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her hold became as if it might be the last time she get to embrace him. "I want to forgive you but you have to promise never to push others away like that ever again...especially when you need them most. You're not the only one that has to be strong, Sou. Avaron and I were able to be strong when you couldn't anymore."
"I do know that. You just have to understand my whole life has counted on me surviving on my own. I was taught if I couldn't, I didn't deserve to live. It's been difficult to break away from that belief. I suppose the biggest reason, also, is I'm afraid to take you down with me."
"It isn't true! None of it is!" Koharu raised her voice in frustration. She pulled away and knocked her first playfully into the side of his skull. "What do I have to do? Beat those words out of your head?"
He laughed softly as he caught her wrist before she could playfully strike him again. "I'm learning, Koharu. Thanks to you, I'm slowly learning," he smiled fondly as he made her lower her wrist.
Koharu stepped away shyly as she folded her hands behind her. "Actually, Sou, I have a confession of my own."
"Oh? And what could that be?"
She reached into her pocket and kept hidden at what she pulled forth. She seemed ashamed. "I felt horrible as soon as I realized it..."
"What is it? Did you steal something again?" he questioned suspiciously. She shook her head and opened her palms before him. He couldn't believe what was lying across them, only because he had completely forgotten about it. "Your jade necklace? I forgot you had it, but you did already tell me about it."
"I forgot about it too. We could have traded this stupid thing instead of having to trade your sword. Once I remembered, I almost thought about trying to see if that doctor would trade the sword back for this, but I was afraid he would just end up taking both anyway."
"I did get my sword back because of you," He reminded her. "Letting it go proved necessary in making our escape, however. There's nothing to regret."
"Maybe, but perhaps this will buy you another one." She said and took Soujiro's hand into her's. "I won't take no for an answer. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of that stupid broomhead and you'll need to be ready to face him again." She folded the necklace a few times and slid the beads down his wrist. She was feeling proud of her gift to him until she met his gaze and saw how disconcerted he was. "What is that look for? I'm giving you a way to obtain another sword."
He forced a chuckle. "You do realize you just put a woman's piece of jewelry on me, right?"
Koharu flushed in her cheeks before she clenched her fists. She refused to feel ashamed of her gift. "So you can buy a sword! It's not to wear all the time!"
"Koharu, I can't just walk down the street and buy a sword. They're banned. Finding another sword is going to be more difficult than that and I'm not sure if these beads would even cut it."
"They're a start!" She clenched his wrist with the beads in case he tried to give it back. "Ease my conscience and take them."
Before he could respond, someone cleared their throat. Koharu and Soujiro turned their heads upwards to see Avaron standing before them. "Am I interrupting something?"
Soujiro pulled his wrist from Koharu and stood hiding his wrist with the beads behind his back with a crooked grin. "Nope. Nothing at all. Why?"
Koharu was scowling.
Avaron chucked softly as she approached him. She had a wrap hanging over her arm and took it upon herself to wrap it around his shoulders. "This should keep you warm and cover the blood stains until we reach the clinic."
"Did you just buy this?" He asked.
"Consider it a gift, now come on." She grabbed his hand and led him back out in the open. She didn't even realize what she did until they were walking side by side. She bit her lower lip and slowly released his hand before folding her hands in front of her in a shyly manner. Koharu's scowl remained. The first time she met Soujiro, he had done everything he could to push her away. He didn't say anything when Avaron released his hand, but it was the fact that he had let her and allowed her to hold on until she decided to let go. Koharu didn't want to be jealous because she liked Avaron. She just didn't like how easily Soujiro was opening up to her. Koharu had to work much harder to see this side of him. She didn't realize how much of a pout she was in until she bumped into the back of Soujiro. "Sou..." She huffed.
He had become lost in thought gently tugging at the wrap Avaron had gifted him with.
"What is it?" Avaron asked when he stopped walking.
"I want to know why you're doing this."
"We've been over this, Soujiro. We need to make sure your wounds will heal-"
"That's not the only thing I mean. I mean, this." He tugged at the wrap again. "The fact you're willing to worry your aunt like that just for my sake. I know we knew each other at one point, but even if we had been close friends, and we weren't, it's been over ten years since we last saw each other. I'm still as much of a stranger as any of these people should be to you," he gestured his head at the surrounding locals passing by, "and a criminal at that."
Koharu wished he'd stop saying that. She knew it was an effort to deter Avaron from helping him, but Avaron didn't seemed bother by it like she had been at first.
"You still don't remember everything, do you?"
Soujiro was perplexed by the question, but admitted the truth. "No, I don't remember everything. But I've spent every waking moment trying to forget. I guess I've succeeded in some aspects, and ended up letting go of the better memories along with the bad."
Avaron shook her head. "No, Soujiro. I don't blame you for forgetting."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because we probably did worse to you than what your family could ever do."
"Family?" Koharu questioned. "Sou's family?" This was the first time it had ever been mentioned in front of her.
"Well, yes. Aren't you his sister though?" Avaron asked after Koharu had worded it in such a way.
"That can be explained later," Soujiro said. "What could you or your father have possibly done to rival the wrong my family did?"
Avaron hesitated as she clutched at the top of her sleeve. "I don't want to... bring up something painful again."
"It's all right," he assured. "I'm the one who brought it up. I want to know."
"We... gave you hope, but ended up turning our back on you." She turned away and kept walking as the two followed. "We were convinced it was for the best. The family my father and I stayed with said there was no way we could prove what those people were doing to you. Even if we could, it would have gone no where. Apparently your family held a high status and brought in the majority of the wealth to the village. It was too vital for the village to lose. The villagers altogether would have chosen to not believe it and look the other way."
"I've always known that," Soujiro remarked. "I was even a part of the act. It's why I chased you down that day, so their reputation could remain intact. For me to say something otherwise would have done me more harm than good."
"We learned that right away, so my father considered just taking you away with us. No matter how he could look at it though, it was still kidnapping," she turned to face the two. Koharu was listening wide eyed and her lips had slowly parted as she learned a history she had been denied of knowing at first. "As you might have notice, I bare little resemblance to my aunt. My father first came to Japan to study Japanese medicine and met my mother here," she raised her shy gaze to meet his. "My father was British, you see, so he wasn't always welcomed at first. To try and take you away, no matter how it could be justified, would not have looked well, especially if he attempted it."
Soujiro nodded in understanding. "His reputation is the one that would have been ruined. Authorities would have eventually caught up to him and you would be left without a father and I sent back to where I first started. Your father made the right decision."
"No!" Avaron raised her voice and made the two steps it took to stand directly before him. "I refuse to believe that was the best decision. Abandoning a child like that? I know he was also thinking of my safety but there had to have been a better way than just sending you back to live with those...those monsters... Soujiro, those scars on your back weren't there while you were with us. My father never mentioned such wounds. I can't help but feel you paid the price for what we did when trying to hide you from them."
Koharu's eyes bolted up at Soujiro. She was mortified. "Your family did that to you? Why?" She had not been treated well by her family, but she never imagined it could be that much worse than what she suffered alone. She had even said to Soujiro he could never understand what she went through. He had led her to believe he was raised almost no differently than a nobleman's son.
His gaze saddened as he softly clutched at his wrap around his arms. Koharu covered her mouth in regret until he shifted his gaze upon her. She was surprised to see how calm he still was and he even seemed to be smiling through his eyes at her. "I... they never considered me family. They had reason..." He started. He raised his head towards Avaron more concerned how she would react to his next words. He shook his head at her. "I'm no son of a merchant... my mother was a prostitute. I don't know why, but I was sent to live with my father's brother and his family. They took me in only to protect the family name."
Avaron had been afraid of revealing her heritage, but he thought it nothing compared to where he had come from. How could he possibly have judged her? How was she going to see him now?
He got an answer when she slowly raised her hands and grasped at his wrists. He resisted at first having not expect it.
"Avaron?" He asked when she had lowered her head and still held onto him. Her eyes had filled with tears and she had lowered her head so he wouldn't see the tears she was crying for him. Then she just didn't care what he thought when she slowly maneuvered her hands to pull him fully in her embrace. Even Koharu stepped away in shocked and afraid of how Soujiro would react. He reacted as he typically did when Koharu embraced him. He had stepped back raising his arms around her looking as surprised as Koharu. Still, it was a much kinder reaction than he had when first meeting Koharu.
Avaron wasn't just embracing him. She was embracing the seven year old she knew that had been let down. He had suffered as a result of others actions, including her actions and her father's. She wanted nothing more than a second chance now. To give him the second chance he deserved. "Are you... crying?" He asked.
Koharu was nearly appalled when Soujiro grasped at her arms and ended up resting his hands affectionately on her shoulders. It was all still very awkward to him, and even awkward to watch, but at least he tried. For most of his life, he had carried the burden of his past on his shoulders alone, swearing he would never reveal it. Now that he had revealed it and saw how Koharu and Avaron reacted to it, he felt much of that burden being lifted. No, he was sharing the burden. He got to take a bit off and give it to them. He got to see it wasn't all his fault how things turned out for him and that these two were angry and sad for the reasons he had been. Maybe it was why he hadn't exploded in his anger. He was letting others share in it without being ridiculed and blamed. It was a relief. It was like it had been when Koharu ended up proving the weak were not meant to die. It was another curse being lifted.
Avaron pulled away but still grasped at his arms. "I'm going to see this through to the end like my father and I should have long ago. So no, Soujiro, you're not just a stranger to me. If anything, it's a second chance for me to help out an old friend." Clearly that's how she saw him despite what he had said earlier. It still made him smile. "Now, come. We've delayed enough."
They crossed along a wooden bridge over a frozen creek before the clinic came into view. Koharu was still saddened and bitter from what she had finally discovered about Soujiro, but she found herself becoming even bitter after watching the two bond. It was the fact that he was opening up more quickly to Avaron than he had with her. It had barely been twenty-four hours since the two actually met. By around that span of time she had met Soujiro, he was threatening to kill her and then shoving her down the hill. Of course, that was after she stole from him, caused him to be run out of town and threw mud in his face. Avaron had made a nicer first impression.
Koharu turned away so she wasn't stuck staring at the back of the two as they walked side by side. She desired to get a better view of the frozen creek beneath the bridge before they exited off it. The moment she stepped out, however, she was thrown suddenly against the ground on her side and she felt someone toppled over her.
"Ow! Get off me!" Koharu yelled.
Avaron and Soujiro had saw the young boy starting to run pass them before he plowed into Koharu when she tried to step out from behind them. They turned to see him now scrambling to get off Koharu's back.
"Okay, okay, sheesh." The young preteen said. "You weren't there a second ago. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Koharu yelled and was about to tell him off until her eyes focused on the sword he carried on his back. It was a wooden sword, but a sword nonetheless. "Wait, where did you get that?"
"My sword?" He took it from his back and held it up proudly. "Why I train at Kamiya dojo. The sword that protects-" he was starting to brag until Koharu snatched the wooden sword from his grasp. "Hey!"
"Sou! That's it!" She yelled as she eagerly approached him with the sword and held it up. "We can find a sword at a dojo, right?"
Soujiro had to try and not laugh out loud that she just out right snatched the sword from the boy. He took it from her. "Even if you aren't stealing, you shouldn't just snatch things from people." He still couldn't help but chuckle softly. Here," he held it back towards the boy. "My sister apologizes."
"Sou, what about my idea? Even with a wooden sword I bet you're invincible."
The boy scoffed as he placed his wooden sword back on his back.
"What was that for?" Koharu yelled again at the boy for insulting Soujiro.
"Sorry." He scratched at the back of his head. "So you're looking for a sword?" He asked Soujiro.
"No, not right now at least."
Avaron cleared her throat. Soujiro acknowledged her with a nod and urged Koharu ahead of him first seeing she was looking for any excuse to lash out at the boy now. "Thank you, though." He offered a friendly wave before turning his back and making sure Koharu stayed ahead of him. "Koharu, it isn't wise to broadcast I'm searching for a sword," he said when they put distance between them and the boy.
"Oh...right ..." She chuckled embarrassingly. "It's just when I saw his sword I thought maybe you might-"
"I know, I know," He sighed, but exercised patience. "Just be more careful next time."
AN: Yay, Yahiko makes an appearance! Hopefully that was obvious XD