When I finally forced myself out of the bath, I felt a lot better. I picked up the robe and wrapped it around myself, then reached over to retrieve my clothes. I rustled my damp hair and I walked back into my room for the night. I had to admit it would be strange sleeping somewhere other than home. I hummed as I entered the small room and stopped abruptly when I spotted Kyuzo leaning up against the wall. It was the one time I had seen him without his weapons strapped to his back when he wasn't sleeping. His red outer garment was missing as well. I went over and placed my worn clothes with my other things.

A light rap sounded at the door and Kyuzo slid it open. It was the owner.

"Dinner is ready," she informed us and then disappeared from view. Had I really been in the bath that long?

We sat down with a hot meal before us and I felt my stomach rumble its thanks. As the meal progressed the owner and her husband seemed curious about the travelers they had taken in.

"So how long have the two of you been married?" the elderly man asked. I nearly choked on my drink.

"Oh…" I began, coughing.

"Two years," Kyuzo stated. I looked at him in shock and he gave me a look that clearly said, 'Go with it.'

"Oh my," the woman said. "You two are pretty much newlyweds! My husband and I have been married for almost forty years."

I blushed and stared at my nearly empty plate. There went my idea for asking for another futon. After dinner I excused myself and went into our room. Kyuzo wasn't far behind me. Once the door was closed I couldn't help it.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked in a whisper.

"It's better if you don't ask questions right now."

"I deserve to know because I am clearly not your wife. How…How could you even say that?" Kyuzo said nothing, just stared at me. I was angry and had to force myself to calm down. "Just how many lies are you going to tell?" I inquired in my normal tone.

Still he did not respond.

"Okay. I get it, I won't ask anything else. I guess I understand that we have to keep quiet about where we're going and who we are, but why did you have to say we were married, why not just brother and sister?"

"When lying it's better to just let people think what they already believe."

"Just what kind of samurai are you?"

He lifted in shoulders slightly in a gesture I assumed to be a shrug. I sighed and leaned against the wall in front of where he stood.

"So we're married…I can't even spend a whole day without getting mad at you so far. Is that how a real married couple acts? No, I don't think so," I said continuing my rant.

He moved so quickly I barely had time to prepare for what happened next. He reached out and gently grabbed my upper arms, pressing me against the wall before leaning over and kissing me briefly. When he pulled away I couldn't breathe or move for that matter. When my brain was finally functioning again he had already gotten to the back door.

"You can have the futon," he said before going outside.

I guess that was how a real married couple acted. I staggered over to the mattress and flopped onto it, not really able to think of anything other than what had just happened. After a few moments of feeling dumbfounded I shook my head as if to get the memory out of my mind. While I couldn't understand completely why he had done that, I decided not to let it interfere with how we acted around one another. I slept fitfully that night.

The next day Kyuzo and I bid farewell to the owners and set out towards Kogakyo. My eyes were heavy due to not sleeping much, but Kyuzo seemed well-rested. I didn't ask where he had ended up sleeping or anything else that rattled my brain. I hummed as we walked, each step bringing us closer to the large district that lie ahead.

After a good six hours of walking I had to take a break, so we stopped near a river bank. We had refilled our water containers back at the rest house and I drank deeply from the one I had marked as mine. I sat on the ground and groaned as the blood rushed out of my feet and up into my legs.

"How much longer?" I whined.

"Two hours."

That was the most we had spoken to each other all day.

"That's all?" I asked light-heartedly. I took another drink and looked over at where he was sitting. "You promised to teach me how to use weapons, but when are you going to do that?"

"In Kogakyo."

I refilled our containers in the river and we were soon traveling again.