Unexpected Revenge

By Sarun

CHAPTER FIVE:

Broken Reflections

When her eyes opened once more, the sky had gone from dark blue to lavender. It was near dawn.

Raising her hand to her face in an attempt to clear the hair away from her eyes, she found her bangs matted and stuck to her forehead in dried blood.

Misao tried to sit up, but fell back as stabs of pain, like ice into skin, pierced her ribs and arms.

Once the pain had subsided slightly, Misao managed to slowly heave herself onto her elbows. Looking down, she saw her clothes were splattered a dark red.

Falling back onto the ground, the events of the night before flew through her mind. The fight atop the cliffs…Yone stabbing her in the side…falling into the river…"You were right, Misao. I should have done this a long time ago, before I made a fool out of myself…"

A wave of fear and grief struck at her, but in an oddly detached way, as if someone near her felt them.

Bracing against the pain in her side, she rolled onto her stomach. She began to drag herself, slowly, painstakingly, towards the cliffside, where she grabbed onto a large rock and hoisted herself up to glance at the foot of the falls.

A shield of mist blocked the view. Exhausted by the brief effort, she collapsed, her head resting against the rock.

At the thought of returning home, her whole body shuddered. Nothing could be worse, facing Jiya, Omasu, Ochika, Kuro, Shiro...and Aoshi.

Yesterday everything had been normal. Not a worry on her mind besides buying tofu and wondering whether Aoshi cared for her. It all seemed so stupid now…

She raised her head slowly, looking back over the cliffside.

What would it be like?

To step off the earth, fall through the air and then disappear into the shield of mist…free as the wind itself. And time would surely feel different; the few moments would probably feel like hours.

So strong was the temptation she began to lean out over edge with her eyes closed, feeling the cool spray of water upon her injured face.

"No!"

A pair of hands grabbed her from behind, yanking her away from the cliffside. Moments later she felt herself being held against a strong body.

"Misao…" She froze at the sound of the voice. "A-Aoshi?"

Aoshi gripped her shoulders, turning her around to face him. They stared at each other for what seemed an eternity; his eyes seemed to glow with undefined fury.

She abruptly looked away from him. How dare she face him after she had refused to reveal the truth, not only to him but to everyone else…and breaking her first promise to him?

Aoshi looked her over in stunned silence. Misao was nearly covered in blood, with battle wounds all over her. She had been leaning dangerously over the cliff, as if she had been about to…

A moment of rage overcoming him, Aoshi slapped her across the face.

The sudden impact stunned her. Tears, not related to the pain of her injuries, began to form.

Aoshi froze, realizing what he had done. "Misao…I'm sorry…I didn't mean…" He pulled her against him in a tight embrace.

The shaken tone of his voice made Misao snap to her senses.

She pulled back enough to stare into his face. No feelings were betrayed through his eyes or through any facial expression; it was clear, however, in his forced breathing and shaking hands.

Frightened by his unusual display of emotion, she wrapped her uninjured arm around his neck, trying to comfort him. "It's okay…I'm all right…"

Aoshi said nothing. He leaned down and put both her arms around his neck and caught her behind the knees, hoisting her onto his back.

"We're going back" he muttered "You're badly hurt"

Allowing herself to be carried without complaint, she rested her head against his shoulder. "Are you okay now?" she murmured. "Did the antidote work?"

"I'm fine. Don't talk anymore." Aoshi ordered her. Here she was, beaten and bleeding, and yet she worried over him first.

She continued: "Aoshi…Yone…the river…" He had a grim understanding about what she was trying to tell him, but he shushed her again. That would come later, not now.

Resigned, Misao bit her lip and settled her arms around his neck to hold on.

Aoshi could feel warm blood soaking through his shirt. Her movements had gotten the wound in her side to start bleeding again. She was losing blood – fast.

He set off at a run, through the still-dark woods to cut time. He felt Misao's hold around his neck become and more lax. Looking back at her once, he saw in the dim morning light that her eyes were becoming glazed and threatening to close.

Whether two or ten minutes had passed, Misao couldn't tell. She felt herself losing more and more strength. Sound and sight seemed to blend. She kept passing out, catching only glimpses of what happened around her.

The streets of Kyoto…Is that girl alright?...scared faces…the doorway…Aoshi!...Jiya's voice…Is she alive?...Omasu's scream…What happened to the other girl?…Call the doctor, quickly!...Hurried footsteps…Hold on Misao…Misao, answer us…

Opening her eyes, Misao could only see blurs. Blinking several times, the room slowly came into focus.

She made to sit up, but a hand softly pushed her back down. A familiar voice issued from the shadowy blurs. "The doctor said you should stay in bed."

"How long has it been, Aoshi?" Misao murmured, wrapping her hand around his.

He squeezed her hand. "Three days."

Misao let out a sleepy nod, and then drifted back into a half-sleep.

Looking down at her, Aoshi let out a long breath. Her injuries were healing well, though she was still very weak. It had been lucky they had gotten back when they did, she had been close to dying from blood loss.

She had only woken up yesterday, and since then had been constantly drifting in and out of consciousness.

Misao's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. She was awake again, staring up at him. In a hushed tone, she asked: "Is everyone upset at me?"

"No" Aoshi answered quietly "Everyone has been too worried."

He hesitated slightly before asking: "Why did you keep this a secret?"

Misao turned to look at Aoshi. His voice was gentle, not accusatory, yet Misao felt guilt at his words.

Words failed her. She pulled up the covers, deliberately hiding her face.

"Please – leave me alone for now." she whispered

Aoshi inclined his head gravely, but did not argue. He got up slowly and walked to the door, sliding it shut behind him.

Misao lay still and listened to the sound of his steps fade away in their familiar, reluctant pace.

Once she was sure no one was nearby, she pushed off the bedcovers and sat up gingerly, careful not to disturb the wound on her side.

Bracing one hand on the wall, she slowly pulled herself to her feet. Her other hand flew directly to her head, bracing against the dizzy pounding in her temples. The doctor had mentioned something about it being related to blood loss.

Leaning halfway against the wall, she managed to stagger over to the chest of drawers on the side of the room. Pulling open the top drawer, she carefully removed the false wooden bottom. Reaching inside, she pulled out a small, round mirror.

She kept it hidden, due to the fact that it was painted a light shade of pink with carved wooden flowers around the edges. Not exactly expected for a shinobi like her to have, she opted to keep it out of sight, as to not risk uncomfortable commentary from the rest of the household.

Kneeling to the floor, she braced herself. When she had awoken the other day, she had noticed that the two mirrors that normally hung from the walls had been removed. She knew better than to ask why.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at her reflection.

Peeling away the white bandage on her forehead, she saw a scar from where the blade of Yone's sword has scraped it. Moving her fingers over it lightly, she could tell it was nowhere as deep as Himura's and would heal as a very faint line. With a sick feeling, she recalled the wide gash drawn across Yone's face.

Moving the mirror here and there, she saw that the cut under her jaw had been stitched up. Her hair, which hung down unbraided, had been carefully washed and brushed.

Her eyes had dark circles beneath them, and her face was many shades too pale. Large purplish bruises colored her left cheek and forehead.

Her reflection-

She looked down at the rest of her body. Her hands were bandaged, attempting to cover the cuts upon them. Her legs were heavily bruised as well, most likely from the cliff fall.

Misao sat quite still for a moment, then cursed and threw the mirror across the room, where it hit the wall and shattered into pieces.

Not caring if someone heard the crash or not, she rose to her feet and stumbled over to her bed; collapsing involuntarily into a half-sleep.

-Author's Note: I'm really sorry about the delay. I just started college and things have been insane. I was originally intending to have this chapter as part of the end chapter, but I sensed it was getting too long and needed to simplify things. Hey, it's my first fic!

Hope it's good.

-Sarun