Thank you all for your patience! I am glad to announce that Chapter 13 is completed and ready to read. And that Chapter 14 is on the way. Please enjoy this one for now and don't forget to leave a review!

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Chapter 13

The noisy clamor of villagers going about their daily routines suddenly halted when a stranger entered their territory. The wary eyes of every person stared intently at the lone figure as he approached.

Leonardo quickly titled his straw hat lower; feeling grateful now that he had found and picked it up on the road earlier. He wasn't used to or comfortable with this much attention. But he put up with it. He had more important things to worry about.

While keeping a steady pace, Leo went over his list again. Find the girl apprentice, get some questions answered, buy food and supplies, look for Karai, and then head for the forest.

Actually, scratch that. In order to find the girl, it'd probably be safer to buy supplies first while looking for her discreetly. Less suspicious than a stranger asking around for a child.

At the sound of foot-steps drawing close, Leo barely noticed in time to avoid bumping into a passing villager. He quickly mumbled an apology, but the man simply stared at him with narrowing eyes. Leo kept walking. And the eyes of the man bore into the back of his head as he did.

'It's gonna be another sleepless night.' Leo thought dryly.

Whether it was because they figured he was one of the hated mountain people or a demon in disguise, he knew the villagers were gonna have it out for him. And he knew that a fear-driven mob would not hesitate to kill him just as brutally as any demon would. Leo only hoped that they would never find out about Kaki's death while he was still here. Because he would be the obvious suspect.

And he would be guilty as charged. He HAD killed her, hadn't he? Only not with his sword or hands, but with his incompetence.

The negative voice seemed to lament all the louder as he tried to push it away. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Buy food and supplies. Find the girl. Buy food and supplies. Find the girl.

While he recited this litany in his head, he didn't notice that his temperature had begun to rise or that his pulse had accelerated significantly. Though his condition grew worse as time passed, Leo was either oblivious or ignored it.

He crunched on a recently bought fruit as he carried his other goods through the village, looking for an inn to stay the night. When he had been out shopping, he listened in on conversations and studied the young girls. There weren't many and the few that he saw were nothing beyond average. Nothing stood out to him to make him believe they were shrine maiden material.

But either way, he was tired from the search and tired of the cold treatment he had been receiving from the villagers. He almost wished he was back in the forest with the demons instead. At least they were just animals, not people who stared and whispered behind your back. Not people who would come up with excuses to hate and hurt you. Not people who would betray you at the slightest drop of button.

Suddenly the negative voice was overpowering and Leo's head swam. He stopped in his tracks and tried to gain control of himself. Once the world stopped spinning, he let out a shaky breath. He could no longer ignore his condition now. He desperately needed a place to rest.

A small voice from below him broke through Leo's dazed state.

"Traveler, you don't seem well. Why don't you come with me? My Oba-sama will give you a room if that's what you seek."

Leo looked down to see a small girl offering her hand to him. She had long black hair that looked like it had never been cut and pale skin. She looked no younger than 11 or 10.

But what stood out to him the most were her white, dead eyes. This girl...was blind. And yet, she had perceived his sickness. How?

The girl outstretched her hand further and smiled knowingly, "As you can tell, I cannot see. But I can still guide you to my Oba-sama's inn."

Leo stared at her for a few moments more and then hesitantly took her small hand into his larger one. He was doubtful at first, but she had a firm grip and led him as easily as any person who could see.

Before long, they were in front of what Leo assumed to be her grandmother's inn. Once they came in front of the fusama, the girl reached out and felt for the handle to pull. Leo then remembered her blindness and opened it for her. She looked up at him and thanked him warmly. Leo welcomed her without hesitation, but couldn't shake how uneasy it made him that she had looked at him straight in the eye.

As they took off their sandals, Leo had to fight the light-headiness that threatened his stability.

The girl watched him carefully.

A second later, an elderly woman appeared and greeted him. I see my child has brought me another customer! Lucky, too, since a room has just become available."

"The price good?" Leo questioned first. The old woman now took the time to look him over. Her shrewd gaze lingered on his katanas. After a few minuets of uncomfortable silence, she replied evenly, "I believe it'll be a price to your reckoning."

Feeling relieved, he took his things and followed her up-stairs. However; as soon he reached the top of the stairs, he lost his strength and collapsed. The old woman gasped and knelt down to assist him. "What's wrong, young sir? Are you ill?" she questioned in a stern, rather then worried, voice.

Leo reassured her and tried to get up, but still felt overcome with pain and fatigue. 'What is wrong with me?' he thought in confusion. Then the blind girl appeared beside him and helped her grandmother take him to his room.

He was laid on a futon and heard the girl's quiet voice as she spoke with her grandmother. When the old woman left for what was needed, the girl knelt beside him and ran a wet cloth soothingly over his forehead. As he slowly slipped into unconsciousness, he felt her sightless eyes watching him.

And knew somehow that she was the one. The apprentice shrine maiden Kaki had spoke of.

The girl he had been looking for.

TBC

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[Japanese Notes: Oba-sama- respected grandmother or aunt, Fusuma- sliding door or shoji]