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The dark young man lounged in one of the many chairs that decorated the room. "Stupid Ninja..." He sighed, "Why did I even send that idiot out to kill her? Never send a half-wild beast to do a sorceror's job..." He looked towards the girl that came to him from the shadows of his doorway. "Mikara... please... be a good girl and kill that idiot of a Ninja."
"Aw... why should I have to clean up after your little pet?" She made a pouting face as she raised a finger to her chin mockingly.
He glowered at her. "Why have you been arguing with me lately...? It's simple... I told you to! I need to get rid of my cousin's nurse as soon as I can... otherwise my cousin will never die..." He turned his face towards the ceiling, glowering at it now instead. "Just do it... I'm still worn from casting that spell..."
She scoffed a bit, flicking her hair back with a toss of her head. "He's only been a week, why do you assume he's already failed? Why send him in the first place, instead of me, anyhow?" She said, leaning over, her hands on either arm of the chair he sat in.
He groaned moodily. "Women are not Samurai material, Mikara. He was the only one that was even close to a Samurai in this house. Besides... Ninjas are suppose to be the most skilled killers in the world. Am I wrong to have high expectations...?" He raised an eyebrow.
"But I'm a ninja too... you said I was your favorite!" She sniffled mockingly.
"Mikara..." he smiled. "Of course you are my favorite, but still..." He grimaced. "Now is not the time for this, Mikara..." he finished, turning his head away from her. "Just go and kill that idiot and my cousin's nurse." He made an attempt at getting up, but he fell back down into the chair. He groaned at his legs' refusal to move. "Kill the boy if you can, too..."
Mikara's eyes narrowed slightly. She lowered herself enough to whisper into his ear, "What is the good of a spell, if it kills you as fast as it kills your cousin, Ai?" She kissed him on the cheek quickly before heading out.
He just shook his head as he glowered at the ground like a reprimanded child.
Mi Shen had climbed to the highest point at the palace to contemplate what the princess had spoken about. "I thought I recognized him... but I don't know..." He looked down the roof to see a girl sitting at the edge. "Huh?" He crept towards the girl and grasped her by the arms incase he caused her to fall. "What are you doing here?"
The girl looked up at him and gave him a smile. "I could be asking you the same thing, Kenshin-san."
He looked at her as she stood, and realized she wasn't a young as she seemed. In fact, she looked to be about the same age as he was. Her dark brown hair came to about her waist; her eyes were a cool emerald. She chuckled as she balanced herself on the pads of her feet and walked around Mi Shen.
"I see you are very concerned with something. Could it be that you like someone?" She giggled at him as he blushed. "nah... couldn't be." She grabbed his hand. "Hmmm... Hime has been paying a lot of attention to you... not to mention the scene in the gardens!" She sighed dreamily. "I wish someone would pay so much attention to me!" She danced around a few feet before giving his shoulder a pat. "Don't be afraid for me!"
Mi Shen let out a brief, “Eh?” before the young woman jumped off the edge.
He made a motion to grab her, but missed. His mouth hung wide as he watched the woman land on the ground... unharmed! He blinked as he could see her wave at him before running off. "What... what is she...?" He ran from the roof to find her again.
Mi sighed, her robes as loose as the dress of the times would allow to be considered "decent". She leaned against the railing, her head on her arms as she looked out at the scenery below. She lifted her head a few times, hearing rumbling over her head, but shook it off as some servants doing cleaning work of some kind. "Now they're telling me I've had amnesia since childhood... it's like this dream is making excuses for itself..." She shook her head of that thought, and lifted it again as she heard a rumbling above her once more. She stood on her toes in confusion, trying to look up over the railing's edge to see what was happening on the roof above.
She fell back as someone jumped from the roof in a blur of green and brown. She blinked a bit as she heard a voice yelling from the roof. She got back up quickly, watching the figure run off into the garden, not even following the paths. Mi Shen jumped down from the roof after jumping down to the lower levels. He landed on the ground in front of Mi.
He gasped. "Hime!" He looked around quickly. "Gomenesai, but where did that girl go?"
“Gomen? What are you apologizing for?" She tilted her head, her arms hanging over the railing limply, partially out of boredom, her head against the railing. "She went that way..." She pointed in a vague direction into the gardens.
"Arigato Mi-san..." He bowed low before he ran off.
... She tilted her head again in confusion, and went back to leaning against the railing. "Something's fishy..."
"Wait! Please wait!" Mi Shen finally caught up with the girl as she stopped, still grinning. "What are... you?"
"Just a girl in the service of our lord." She smiled. "I've been watching you, Ken-chan." She stepped closer to him as she spoke. "And I like you." She smiled at him as he took a step back, the girl leaning closer to him.
"Wha...what?"
Mi shifted her kimono, tugging on the heavy fabric to go back beneath the obi that was improperly wrapped around her waist as she hiked it up to go over the railing. "I'm certain they wouldn't let me out the front gate... last I tried to even see the gardens the guards escorted me back to my room..." She muttered to herself as she carefully dropped herself down to hanging from the bottom of the floorboards on the outside edge of the balcony. "I can make a one story drop... even without my powers..." She said as she let her grip go.
"Second blood-heh-describes you well... the second samurai in your family..." She draped herself over him. "I know everything about you. You're only 16, and you've shed more blood then most samurai could ever dre-eee-am..." She smirked as shock spread across his face. "Oh! Don't worry. Secrets are safe with me---e...." She gave him a kiss, which he was too shocked to even fight.
She hissed, breathing heavily to try and not cry out as she felt her ankle twist painfully from her poor landing. "That was ... higher than I expected..." She brought herself to her feet, waiting a moment as a numbness finally settled hazily over the pain.
Mi leaned against one of the massive cherry trees which sporadically filled the more rugged parts of the garden. She was about to give up finding either of them as she began to hear voices from further ahead. She stumbled forward, shocked at what she saw.
He pushed the girl away as he finally came to his senses. "What were you doing?!" He caught sight of Mi from the corner of his eyes and started. "Hime!" He felt a pain in his chest as he saw her expression. "Hime. This isn't what it seems."
"Oh! Kenshin-chan!" The girl pouted at him as Mi Shen ignored the girl and her informal manner.
Mi looked away, feeling her cheeks burn as she watched. She turned around, putting a hand to the same tree she had leaned against as she walked back, attempting as best she could not to make a scene of her foot.
"Hime!" He hurriedly walked towards her, pushing the girl away from him several times as she tried to pull him back with her.
"Yes, Kenshin?" She turned back around, as she finally accepted that she couldn't walk away from the scene quietly.
He stopped in his tracks with nothing to say. "I... I... I'm sorry about my behavior, Hime-sama..." He thought that was the stupidest thing he'd ever said.
"Hime-san, Ken-chan is not a good boy, he's a horrible man... best you leave him be." The girl chirped at Mi.
Mi Shen released a growl at the girl and bowed low to Mi. "Gomen..."
She looked at the other girl carefully as she tried to put her weight more towards her left foot. She finally just shook her head slowly. "You shouldn't apologize so much... it's unbecoming of a Samurai..." She began to take a step back onto her right foot, to test it.
"Gomen..." He walked up to her. "I should at least escort you back, Hime... if you wish..." He mumbled quietly.
She pulled her arm back hurriedly, "No... it was my fault for following you... itai-!" She grimaced as she fell back, unable to hold up her weight on her right foot.
He caught her before she hit the ground. "Hime... you hurt yourself..." He picked her up at her protest. "Hime..." He looked at her with sad eyes as he walked her back towards her room.
She blushed, finally submitting and leaning against him, a bit too willingly.
... "What about that girl?" She asked as the silence began to thicken.
"I don't know her... I met her on the roof when I went to think..." He shook his head. "She said she knows everything about me..." He muttered under his breath. "And she does..."
"... not even I know everything about you..." She smiled, and squeaked as she remembered that she was to stop talking "her insanities", as the court had told her, out loud. She shook her head again, "I mean... you can't be so bad as she says... the Mi Shen I know..." She stopped again, realizing that anything she said was not about him, but about HER Mi Shen.
"I can tell you... but... you would have to swear not to tell anyone else... especially your father... but... never mind..." He shook his head as he jumped up to her balconey with twice the ease she'd fallen with. "Forget I said anything... please..."
"... How can I? ... I would never tell him..."
She looked around a mment before putting her head back against his chest, "If only the halls were longer..." She chuckled to herself.
He blushed. "Hime... I'm not too proud of my past... a princess would be horrified by the atrocities I have committed..." He opened her door and sat her in a chair.
"I'm not-" She cut herself off forcefully. "I wouldn't be..."
"One must do what one must to survive in such tumultuous times ..." She spoke quietly. "The past is irreversible... no matter how many times the grave is reopened..."
He sighed. "I've killed people... a lot of people..." He held a hand to his head. "And to a lesser extent, I'm not even near the normal age of a Samurai... I'm no more then 16 and a summer..."
"Then I'm certainly not a true princess. I'm not yet 17 either..." She smiled. "Besides... you came here to better your life... and you did not kill those people because you chose... but because of duty..."
She leaned forward to touch his hand reassuringly, "Besides... Confusious said that all lives were dreams from which you awake to a new dream... so... as long as you continue on head-first, you're doing the right thing..."
"I would hope so... but still... I have bloodied my hands so much in my short life..." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hime... my duty is to protect you... I guess the least I can do is bandage that foot of yours..." He produced a small roll of wrappings from his kimono and proceeded to wrap her foot, his eyes showing his depression. She couldn't help giggling a bit, half from being tickled, and half from the irony of it. "You must have everything you need up your sleep, Ken-chan!" She laughed. "Hey! No fair tickling an injured person!"
He chuckled. "I'm sorry, Hime. I thought I'd lighten the mood just a little." He smiled at her.
She smiled back, instinctually. It's almost like it's not a dream at all... And the smile faded to just a bit of a grin.
Mi grimaced just a little as he gave the final yank to tighten the bandage. She looked up from his face in relief, and felt the color drain from her cheeks as she saw the person who was standing in her doorway. "Mi Shen..." She whispered softly.
"Yes, Hime?" He looked up at her and followed her eye's direction to turn to the Shogun.
"Kenshin-Shen..." She Shogun said with a bit of an edge to his voice. "We MUST speak..."
"H...hai..." He nearly stumbled as he stood and followed his lord out of the room.
Mi grabbed the trailing edge of his sleeve quickly as he stood, "Te amo*, Mi Shen... always remember..."
The Shogun glared towards them both impatiently. "I would prefer speed, Swordsmaster..."
"Hai." He walked away from Mi and to the Shogun, his head lowered.
She shogun closed the door as they were both out into the hallway. "Walk with me, boy..."
"Hai.."
"You are but 16... are you not?"
He gasped slightly as the shogun spoke his age. "Yes, my lord..."
"And you do realize it is not your first priority to protect my daughter?"
"Yes, my lord..."
"It is your duty to be protecting these GROUNDS, and training our GUARDS to protect my family..."
"I'm sorry sir... I was just assisting the princess after she hurt her ankle in the gardens..." He lowered his head more. "I will resume training the guards, by your leave..."
"That is another question altogether..." He stopped to look down at Mi Shen. "How is it that the princess injured herself? ... She is no to even leave the palace... she is still recovering from amnesia..."
"As I have heard, my lord... and... that is my fault... she followed me into the gardens... She must have jumped from her balcony to follow me... punish me if you feel it is necessary..."
"Do not tempt me, boy... there is no minimum age for a man to show his greatest respects for his country.** You should be more... mindful of your duties, in the future... this is not a social house, young swordsmaster..."
"Yes, sir..." he sighed. "By your leave, I would like to resume the guards' training..."
"... You have my leave. But first, you should visit your second in command... he is in the infirmary still. Check that he will actually ACCEPT this command..." He started walking again, pushing his spectacles back to his eyes.
"Yes, sir..." He bowed and walked past Mi's room, resisting the urge to tell her goodbye, but in the end continuing on to the infirmary.
Mi tucked her knees up beneath her chin as she watched Mi Shen's shilouette pause before her room, and walk on again.
"This isn't a dream... it's a nightmare..." She murmured to herself.
*Te Amo is Spanish for “I love you”. Mi often told Mi Shen this in reality.
**showing respect in ancient Japan was often an inferred way of saying "sepukku". ”Sepukku” is ritual suicide
