Okay, so here's chapter 4 of my story so far! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: All I own is my character, Kaitie.
Oh! If you would like to see what Kaitie looks like, I made a design for her. She's going to get a whole new outfit in this chapter, so if the way I explain it doesn't make much sense or anything just go to my profile and there will be a link to the picture.
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"Well…. This is kind of awkward right now…," Kaitie thought as she walked along beside Musashi. The two had been walking in silence for quite awhile and it was starting to make Kaitie a little uncomfortable.
Kaitie shifted her eyes to the side, hardly even turning her head at all, and looked at Musashi. When she realized that she was almost staring at him, she quickly turned her eyes away and continued to look in front of herself.
After a few seconds she took a quick side glance from the corner of her eye to see if he had noticed at all. Lucky to her, it didn't seem like it. He just kept staring out ahead, paying attention to where he was walking. But then suddenly, it was him who broke that long awkward silence.
"We should be coming up to a village pretty soon," he said, still looking out at the road ahead of him. Kaitie noticed this when she looked at him.
"Does he feel just as uncomfortable as I've been feeling during the long silence?" she wondered "Or… is it me… was he telling the truth when he said it wouldn't be a problem with me coming along? I… I hope I'm not really a bother to him…."
Kaitie nodded her head in response to what Musashi said. "Okay," was all she could think of to say. She then turned her head away and looked towards the ground.
Musashi was actually deep in thought the whole time. "I wonder how it happened. I mean, it's not everyday you meet someone from the future. How did it happen. I bet she's wondering the same thing…," Musashi then held that thought for a moment when he thought the word 'she'.
He sighed mentally. "I never thought I'd get a traveling partner either… especially a girl… this should be one interesting journey ahead of me…"
He then thought maybe if he could find someone who would take her in, maybe he should do that. "I'm not sure if that would work very well though. Who else would believe either of us when we say where she's from? But.. I'm not sure if I want to get her involved in any of this fighting…"
He tried to think of another solution, but none came to him. "I guess I have no choice then," he thought "Maybe I can teach her how to fight so she can learn to protect herself. She will need it."
Now Musashi finally turned his head away from what was in front of him and looked over at Kaitie.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
Kaitie looked up. "Nothing," she answered.
"Then why were you looking at the ground?"
"Well… I… I guess I…,"
"You're one of those shy ones aren't you? That's probably why you've been so quiet all this time, right?"
Kaitie turned red a little bit again. "DANG IT! STOP BLUSHING!" she mentally scolded herself.
"Y-yeah… I guess so….," Kaitie responded while turning her head away a little.
Musashi looked at her for a moment before looking ahead again.
"Well, there it is," he said, spotting the village that was coming closer with each step they took. Kaitie began to get a little nervous. What would the people living in that village think of her, looking the way she did? But she also had a tiny bit of excitement as well. Since she loved Japanese culture, she was excited that she was actually in Japan now and even just seeing an ordinary village seemed cool to her.
But the closer they got, the more nervous she got. It was starting to take away most of that excitement she had been feeling a moment ago.
Finally they were in the village. Kaitie couldn't help but look at all of her surroundings. But when she noticed that people were giving her odd looks, she even saw some people whispering to each other, she turned and looked to the ground.
"I knew this would happen….,"
Musashi looked over at Kaitie and knew immediately why her head was down again. He saw that other people were staring.
"Don't pay attention to them." he said.
Kaitie just looked up at him and nodded. Musashi then thought for a moment.
"Hey. I have an idea," he said "You should get some new clothes so people don't stare and stuff. I guess I could… get some for you maybe…" Musashi seemed a little embarrassed at what he just said. Kaitie stopped.
"Oh! N-no.. that's okay.. Y-you don't have to!" Kaitie said "I said I didn't want to be a bother to you."
"And I said don't worry about it," Musashi replied while stopping as well "Do you want people giving you strange looks like they are right now all the time?"
Kaitie was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry….," she said finally "I…. I guess you're right…"
Now Musashi felt a little guilty after talking to her like that. "No. I should be sorry for talking to you like that," he said with a sigh.
"It's fine..," Kaitie said.
"Well, we should get going then I guess," Musashi said as he started to walk again. Kaitie followed him.
The two kept walking until they found a small clothing shop. When they entered Kaitie couldn't help but look around at all the kimonos she saw in the store.
"May I help you?" a woman who worked in the store asked as she walked up towards Musashi.
"Uh… yeah," Musashi replied looking behind himself to see Kaitie looking around the store at almost everything that was there. He walked over to her, put his hand on her shoulder, and gently pushed her over to the woman.
"She needs some new clothes," he said. Kaitie looked at his hand that was on her shoulder and could feel her heart pound a tiny bit.
The woman looked at Kaitie's clothing with a little bit of one of those same odd looks that the other people had been giving her, but said nothing. Then she gave a small smile.
"Come right this way," she said to Kaitie and lead her away.
"I'll be waiting out here," Musashi said as he walked out. He then sat on a bench that was placed right outside the store.
Inside, the woman had Kaitie trying on quite a few outfits. Finally, they found one that worked out.
She had a sleeveless light blue kimono with a red kimono under that, that had long, loose sleeves. The light blue kimono split in the front and went down to around her ankles. The red kimono under it was a shorter one. It went to around the middle of her upper legs. She had dark blue shorts that almost went down to the top her knees, but not quite. She had loose, white leggings that were knee length and tabi socks and sandals. Her hair was tied up in a bun with chopsticks placed in neatly to the side. The obi was a brighter red and it had an obi-jime tied around it. The woman had to teach Kaitie how to tie the obi properly.
Kaitie looked at herself in a mirror. When she saw her reflection, she stared at it for awhile. "Wow…," was all that she could think of.
While Kaitie looked in the mirror, the woman went off to get Musashi. Just as he was coming in, he saw Kaitie coming out from the room she had been dressing in.
His eyes widened a bit at her new look. He quickly tried shaking that off when he realized what he was doing. "So… how much?" he asked the woman. When she said the price, Musashi paid it and then the two were on their way again.
"Thank you….," Kaitie said as they walked "If you want me to repay you…"
Musashi held up a hand. "Don't worry, it wasn't too much at least," he said "But if you do want to repay me, go ahead."
All Kaitie did was nod her head.
"Besides now you look good," Musashi continued. Then, realizing what he just said, it was his turn to start turning red in the face.
"I-I didn't mean it that way! I just meant, like… you know! That now you…. you look more like what people here are used to seeing!"
Kaitie blushed a bit as well. "Don't worry," she said with a tiny smile "I understand what you meant."
Musashi sighed. "That's good…," he said with a look of relief on his face.
The two walked in silence for awhile again. But then suddenly, Kaitie turned to Musashi.
"So, what happened with your fight with Kojiro?" she asked. Musashi looked at her. He was a little surprised that she asked because she had been so quiet before.
"You mean that guy who tried to hurt you? Well, it didn't take me way too long to finally beat him," Musashi started…
-- Flashback--
Musashi was in a deadlock with Kojiro, their blades held up against each others trying to push the others back. Musashi looked over at the girl he found on the battlefield.
"Run! Now!" Get away and find somewhere to hide! I'll find you when I'm finished with him! Now go!" he said to her.
The girl nodded her head and ran.
Musashi looked back at his opponent. He had such an eerie smile on his face.
"Finally. I may have found someone to match my skill," Kojiro said.
"You…," Musashi said with a glare "You have no idea who you're dealing with."
"Oh. I don't? Well, then I would just love to find out."
Musashi then got out of the deadlock. Kojiro swung at him with his blade, but Musashi dodged. Musashi swung one sword at Kojiro, only to have him raise his own sword to deflect it. The two continued their fight for a long time, the clanging of their blades hitting each others filled the air. Finally after awhile, Kojiro was finally forced to retreat.
"Heh… that's all I needed to know…," Kojiro said before walking away.
Musashi watched as he retreated.
"For some reason, I feel like this won't be the last time I see him…," he thought "He might come back to try and fight me again."
Suddenly Musashi remembered something.
"Oh! That girl! I need to go find her and make sure she's alright!" he said before running off.
--End Flashback--
"… So that's what happened," Musashi finished "Sorry if I took so long. It took me awhile to find you."
Kaitie shook her head. "No. Don't be sorry. It's fine," she replied.
All of a sudden, Kaitie felt like she was getting very weary and tired. She could feel parts of her body aching, mainly her legs and back. She decided to try and ignore the feeling. She didn't want to bother Musashi about being tired.
The two kept walking through the village. Suddenly Kaitie felt like she could hardly take it anymore. After running away from the battle and having to fight their way out, walking for such a long distance, and suddenly being transported to a new place with no clue how she got there was taking a lot of energy from her. She wasn't used to it. Suddenly, she started to feel a little dizzy.
"M-Musashi-san…..," Kaitie muttered while placing her hand on her forehead. She could feel some sweat starting to form and her face feeling a bit warm.
Musashi looked over at her and he could see that she didn't look to good, but before he could even ask if she was okay, suddenly she stumbled forward. Musashi acted quickly and caught her before she feel to the ground.
"Are you okay?" he asked while "What's wrong?"
"I'm just… a bit worn out… that's all," Kaitie replied while trying to keep her balance.
"We need to find you a place to rest," Musashi said "I was going to look for a place to stay for the night anyway. Can you make it until then?"
Kaitie just nodded and Musashi helped her stand up straight. It didn't take long before they found a local inn to stay at.
"Now you get in there and rest up," Musashi said to Kaitie when they were at the front door of her room.
Kaitie nodded and turned to open the door. Musashi began to turn around to walk away, but then Kaitie stopped him suddenly.
"Musashi-san…?" she said. He turned back around to face her.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you… very much for all that you've done for me…," Kaitie then did a small bow "I hope one day… that maybe I can repay you for your kindness…"
Musashi stood there a moment looking at her, trying to think of how to respond. Then suddenly, he gave her a small smile.
"Yeah… you're welcome," he answered "Well… 'Night then."
"Good night," Kaitie replied, giving a tiny shy smile back to him. Musashi nodded and then walked off.
Kaitie closed the room to her door, plopped herself down on the futon, and let out a big sigh. There was a mix of different emotions that were in that sigh. One of relief, finally getting to rest after a long time of running and walking. One of confusion. How and why did she get transported here? One of surprise. Being able to actually meet Musashi Miyamoto! One of curiosity. What will happen now that she was here?
Kaitie decided to think later and try and get some rest now. Kaitie took out the chopsticks in her hair and untied her bun, letting her long light brown hair flow around her shoulders. She then got into a sleeping kimono and finally went underneath the blankets on the futon. It didn't take her long to fall into a deep sleep.
Musashi, on the other hand, stayed awake for some time. Right when he got into his room and shut the door, he got changed into his sleeping robe. But he did not go right to bed.
He walked out another door in the back of the room that lead outside. There was a garden outside the rooms. Musashi stood out there for awhile, feeling the cool breeze run against him. He looked up at the moon, which was full tonight.
He sighed as he ran his fingers through his short, dark brown hair that was not tied up right now like it always was.
"I guess I'm not going to be traveling alone like I thought I would," he thought "Maybe it won't be… so bad… I guess…I don't know…"
Musashi sighed again. He just wasn't sure of how to feel about this situation right now.
After a moment longer of being outside, he decided to turn in for the night. He turned around back into the room and closed the door behind him. He laid back on the futon and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Then his eyes started to slowly close until they shut completely. Soon, the young swordsman was also in a deep slumber…
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Well, there's chapter 4! Thanks again for reading and I hope you are liking it! Please give me some reviews because I would love to hear your opinions!