Chapter 3:

It wasn't until a week after they had started traveling together that Gakupo realized exactly what kind of a mess he had gotten himself into. He'd consistently questioned throughout Rin's so-called "training sessions'—Gakupo referred to them as the "torture feasts"—why she needed him at all when she could clearly take care of herself. They'd finally made it towards the more densely-populated areas of Japan when Gakupo began to have the sneaking suspicion that they were being followed.

However, when he went to express his concerns to the blonde girl walking next to him, she was already on it as she pressed a finger to her lips, requesting silence and moving just a little faster. She reached to disentangle her rucksack from her spear, dropping it into Gakupo's hand as she readied her weapon. He followed her as she steered off the main road, instead wandering into the woods.

His heart pounded in his chest. Who was following them? Did Rin know, or was she being cautious? Would Rin be able to take them on if they were, in fact, dangerous? Was Gakupo going to be able to be any help at all?

Unspoken questions came to an abrupt halt as an arrow whistled through the air and settled into a tree trunk a few feet away from them. He heard Rin swear under her breath as she turned to face their attackers, and soon a group of four men emerged from behind the foliage. Rin tugged on his sleeve so that his back was against hers, wearily watching at the strangers surrounded them.

Rin spoke first. "What do you want?" Wind rustled the leaves around them, nighttime chill settling in. Gakupo glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She seemed to be contemplating her next move carefully, which he was thankful for. He really didn't want to end up dead. "We don't have any money."

The guy directly in front of Rin, the thickest of the group, sneered. "That's alright, little girl," he said. "The Market takes organs, too."

While the panic quickly settled into Gakupo, Rin jumped immediately (and literally) into action. The man who spoke drew his sword, which Rin quickly batted out of his hands using the shaft of her spear. While he was busy scrambling for his weapon, Rin hopped into the air to avoid another thug rushing at her from behind. He stumbled, and Rin took that as an opening to slam her feet back into the dirt, via the easy route through his skull while he was in the middle of face-planting into the ground. Though the purple-haired man blanched at the blatantly cruel gore before him, Rin had no such luxuries to consider her actions, as the original man had taken up his sword once more and the two others were quickly closing in.

She used to same technique she'd used to take down Gakupo, jamming her weapon into the ground and hefting her body up into the air and around her, thick, wooden geta slamming into necks and jaws, and though Gakupo knew he should be relieved Rin was holding her own so well, he couldn't help but flinch every time he heard a snap, unsure if it would be a lose branch or somebody's spine.

Another guy was efficiently knocked out, one was bleeding from his nose, and the last switched his broad-sword from his right hand to his left. Gakupo figured Rin had injured his arm, and would be using that handicap to her advantage. With only two left, the small girl allowed herself a short breather as she settled back to her feet, twirling her weapon like a baton. Dully, Gakupo noticed that, though her spear looked rather sharp and could easily kill someone, she'd been refraining from actually using it. Besides for defense, she hadn't used it much against him, either.

The man who wasn't currently bleeding hefted his sword and swung it in an arc. The movement was slow and sloppy, however, and Rin rammed the dull end of her spear into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and brought one of her knees up to collide with his face when he fell over. Unconscious. One more.

Bloody-nose guy, surprisingly, caught Rin off guard. He had a bow strapped to his back, leading Gakupo to believe he had been the one who originally fired at them. Close range, however, he couldn't use it and, and when Rin turned to face him bare-handed to finally end this, he pulled a dagger on her.

It was a futile effort, because Rin was faster than him, but he still managed to shove the blade two inches deep within her shoulder before Rin punched him with all her might into his temple, the forest finally growing silent.

The want-to-be samurai watched in horror as the blonde merely winced, yanking the steel out of her skin and dropping it next to the man who had stabbed her. "Assholes, trying to jump a kid when you can't even take a punch," she murmured under her breath. Gakupo was unsure whether to be amazed or terrified, so he settled for a little of both as he stepped over prone bodies to make his way over to his traveling companion.

He'd been totally useless, helpless to do anything but watch, just as he feared. At least, he managed, it came out better than he had thought. Though, Rin's orange kimono was quickly staining red where the fabric was sliced. He should probably help her treat it. Big blue eyes wandered over to meet him, and he could feel the back of his neck heat up. He couldn't help but feel embarrassedabout being a total wimp. "Are you okay?" he finally asked.

"He stabbed me, do I look okay?" She didn't, her face was pale and she was, of course, still bleeding, but her tone was belittling enough so that Gakupo didn't worry too much, but he figured they should patch her up as soon as possible.

He could hear the rushing of a waterfall nearby. Well, since they didn't have enough for an inn tonight, that would have to be camp, since Rin probably wasn't feeling up to much more walking today. "Let's treat your wound," he said, waving her to where he thought the sound was coming from. She was strangely silent and obedient as they searched, even though her shoulder had to be killing her. "I am a little impressed with you," he decided to admit, and he was. Had he been alone, those men probably would have gotten all of his organs. Had they meant the Black Market? How sketchy. Gakupo certainly didn't want to spend anymore time around here than they absolutely needed to.

And yet, as horrible as the men had been, Rin had obliterated them. He can remember a proverb he once heard, vaguely, something about the only thing able to destroy a monster was a bigger monster. He can't help but wonder how, even if it made him feel better about himself. At least he wasn't the only one who couldn't take Rin.

"You should be a lot impressed with me," she grated. "I just took out four guys twice my size while you held my bag and watched," she pointed out, sending him a seething look. "I know our training's slow going, but I figured you would have helped out a little bit more. I didn't ask you to come along for emotional comfort."

Gakupo wanted to bristle at that, but she was right. Though he very much questioned her teaching methods (training consisted of Rin attacking him whenever she thought he wasn't paying attention, and timing how fast it took for her to bring him down. Over the week he'd progressed two and a half minutes), she was helping him, and so he should also be helping her. However, no matter how long he trained, with Rin or otherwise, could he really ever do what she just did? Did he want to?

He knew why he wanted to become a samurai. Financial comfort. Social status. Throw your own life away so that your family may have a better one. That was true sacrifice, and that was the honor he both respected and chased after. But what good could he do dead? Had he ever fought Rin in a serious sense, she could probably murder him without getting so much as winded. He had started this journey under the assumption that it was an inconvenience for him, and yet the more time he spent with the girl, the more he doubted his motives and goals.

So he stayed silent on their walk, letting the moonlight and the sound of water guide them.

–

Rin shed her obi with little shame, though she only dropped her kimono to her waist. She considered ripping fabric from her dress (that, or her blanket), and was surprised when she heard it tearing somewhere behind her. Gakupo stooped by the edge of the lake, dipping cloth from his own clothes and wetting it before wringing it out and turning to face her. Pink still dusted his cheeks due to her state of undress, though she still wore her bindings. She resisted the urge (barely) to roll her eyes as he came towards her, saying, "Here, I'll help you treat it."

Grabbing her lightly by her wrist, he began prodding at her wound, wiping away the blood that had dried and catching new droplets. Rin embraced the momentary silence, the cool water doing wonders for her throbbing shoulder. She couldn't remember the last time someone had tended to her injuries, had forgotten how tired it made her. Sure, she'd take on a couple of thugs any day. Try to get her to see a doctor? She'd most likely high-tail it before any strangers could touch her.

Because she could take care of herself, goddammit—

"You, ah, have a lot of scars," Gakupo mentioned, probably to distract her as he dug deeper, thoroughly removing dirt and grime, though she winced. "Do you... get jumped a lot?" She gave him a flat look, and he at least had the decency to look a little sheepish. "I-It's just hard for me to imagine... Where I'm from, girls like you would never fight, let alone enough for this many scars..."

He sounded like he was pitying her. In reality, however, Rin pitied him. For all his curiosity, Gakupo was not a hard person to read, after spending time with him. Most likely, he'd grown up in a small village—where most of the men left to serve Lords, leaving mostly women and children behind. That was why he sucked so much; no one had ever been around to help him. His father was most likely out of the picture, she assumed, because Gakupo otherwise wouldn't have left home. His mother was probably still alive, because of course if a young man wanted to become a samurai, he'd have to have someone depending on him at home.

His mother? Siblings? Wife? Child?

She shook her head, expelling the thoughts. It wasn't her business, and it didn't matter. "I'm proud of my scars," she said instead, which was entirely true. She referred to them like marks of honor, there was no shame in surviving a vicious battle, no dishonor in being human: vulnerable. Perhaps, once upon a time, they had bothered her, but she had long since gotten over it. Gakupo should as well, she thought.

"I feel like this is my fault," he murmured, voice unlike she'd ever heard it as he threw the red-stained cloth to the side, hands reaching to rip more from his robe. "If I could have taken on one of them, at least, this probably wouldn't have happened."

"Probably," Rin agreed, because it did kind of piss her off that he didn't do anything. What was she expecting, though? Sure, he's made progress in his lessons, but he didn't exactly have a talent for swordplay. He was clumsy, consistently tripping over his own feet. She'd assumed that she could, somehow, utilize brute strength, but even that seemed troubling for him. He'd admitted at the end of one of their sessions that he didn't feel like he was improving, and though Rin had told him he had, this only proved it. "Well, if you just sit around next time," she began, "I'll knock you out, too, when I'm done. That way, you'll have to fight someone when you wake up," she promised.

He looked horrified, not doubting in her at all, which made her a little giddy. It took a while for most to start taking her seriously (those goons in the woods are a good example), but she seemed to have some sort of power over Gakupo to scare the ever-living shit out of him whenever she pleased.

She wonders if that's why she brought him along.

–

A/n: this chapter's a little bit longer than the others, but I doubt you guys will care.

IN CASE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE I don't write fight scenes a lot, but I really want to get better so any and all feedback will be appreciated c:

Ch. 2 Review Responses:

Ashe Corinthos: I'm glad you're enjoying it! When I first started, I thought I might give Gak a little bit of skills with the sword, and then I was like, nah, Rin's got this.

Pineapplepie: Ahhh, thank you!

Honeycloud of RiverClan: Well... who else would her brother be? All will be revealed! Thank you!

TheUltimateShipper27: Thanks! Yes, yes, all will be answered in due time.

R&R!