Chapter 4

I woke up with a pounding headache and a sense of déjà vu. I sat up slowly, keeping pressure on the spot on my head where the pounding was the worst. I scanned my surroundings carefully, and saw Okita sitting near my bed. I grabbed my katana out of reflex, not actually intending on using it against him.

"Is that how you usually wake up?" he asked with slight amusement in his voice. I glared at him, not in the mood to deal with his sarcasm.

"What are you doing here? Surly there must be something more interesting to do than watch me sleep," I snapped back. He just chuckled.

"Not really. You talk in your sleep." I froze where I was, my hand gripping onto my katana until my knuckles turned white. What could I have possibly said? I tried to think back to the dream I was having, but it was fuzzy and hard to remember.

"What did I say?" I asked cautiously. It was no use getting upset over something that could possibly be trivial.

"Oh, you were crying and carrying on saying, "Daddy no! Don't! I didn't mean to!" You sounded like a child. It was cute and pathetic at the same time," he replied smugly. My eyes darkened as I remembered what it was I dreamt about. "There was also something about you yelling, "Hey! That's mine!" What? Did someone take your favorite doll?" I knew his intentions were purely playful and he had no idea what he was talking about, but my hand reacted faster than my mind. With a loud crack, my palm connected with his cheek. My palm stung a bit from the impact, but at the moment I was in no state of mind to notice pain.

"My father would beat me not only with his fists, but with his blade when I was out of line or did not do my training to his specifications. He was a great swordsman and proved it every time he sparred with me before I was ready. A man from an army came to me while I was walking in the streets and grabbed my sword from me. He was the first man I killed. Not that any of this is any of your business, but I would appreciate if you would not make fun of a situation that you don't understand," I snarled. He just looked at me with calm eyes that almost made me uneasy.

"Wow, I never expected to be apologizing to you, but I'm sorry," he said now looking uncomfortable. I felt a strange sense of satisfaction and yet there was a burning dissatisfaction with myself. I promised myself anyone who didn't need to know about my father wouldn't. It was truly curious why I told this man whom I barely knew.

"It's fine," I said standing. "I don't need your sympathy. Forget I mentioned it." I walked out without another word, stepping into the dim light of the sunset. I had been asleep that long? I heard laughing from my left, but I disregarded it. I wasn't a big fan of the conventional methods of having fun. I began to walk and stopped suddenly when the Chizuru girl walked out of a room. We just stared in silence, my expression probably not pleasant.

"Are you alright?" she asked timidly. "I had heard you collapsed."

"I'm fine," I replied coolly. "I'm not going to apologize for attacking you. In my opinion you were at fault. To be in a group of fighters and not being able to fight is insulting to those around you." I smiled, remembering the words of the men. "You know, everyone here wishes me to stay away from you. I will heed their advice, but it would probably be better for you to learn a few things about self-defense. I would gladly teach you, but I wouldn't teach in ways they would prefer."

"You would teach me?" she asked, seeming intrigued.

"Yes, but my training would be hard and probably painful until you learned. Unfortunately for you the men would not allow me to teach you in such a manor," I replied.

"I understand," she said getting onto her knees, "but I would like you to teach me anyway."

"Excellent. We will begin at dawn tomorrow." I turned and walked away from her without allowing her to speak. It might be good to get my mind off of my frustration of being a prisoner here. When I walked into my room again Okita was gone. I sat on my bedding, placing my katana on my lap, and closing my eyes, falling into a state of meditation. Yes, tomorrow morning was sure to be interesting.