I must look as if I have lost use of all sense as I rush through the halls.  Night fell an hour ago, but the only thought in my head is to reach Rika with hopes that it is not too late.

Halting at the door to the lady's room, I note a light shining within.  "Lady Fujioka, may I have a moment of your time?"

I barely wait a moment after she calls for me to enter.   The only thing that makes me pause is closing the door before I blurt out, "Jun's gone, and I fear that it is to do something foolish."

The exclamation startles the lady, causing her hand to remain suspended above the page upon she had been writing.  Slowly, she manages to set aside the ink-splattered sheet and turns to me, eyes wide with an emotion I could not quite read.

"What do you mean, Lord Igarashi?" She asks, voice gentle.  "Did Jun storm out on you, or did she disappear without a word?"

A growl escapes before I can stop it, and her look of fright leeches all emotion out of me excepting that of weariness.  I sink to the floor, resisting the temptation to bury my face in my outstretched hands.  "I have not seen Jun since this morning when she went to see you.  She is simply gone, and a note I just found seems she went off somewhere with Hikaru.  We are all in danger if she tells him the truth like I believe she has planned."

Rika's face blanches, but like she has been taught, she merely stands and runs her hands over her kimono, the action serving to instill calm in her.  "Well, I will go look at the usual tryst corners for the two of them while you search his rooms.  Meet me in the gardens if you find nothing.  But, Ryuu, her motives may not be what you believe them to be.  It is not unusual for those in love to frequently vanish from those closest to them."

The words sting as they hit their mark, though I know she had no intentions of hurting me.  Before Hikaru had sauntered into the picture, I had thought that Jun would have accepted my proposal to be wed at some point.  Now, that opportunity has seemed to have passed, slipping through my fingers easier than dirt; her thoughts and heart consumed by one only seeking to bring us all down.

I manage to get to my feet again to wander the halls in search of her once more.  Even picturing Hikaru's cocky grin and the scar crossing his face that I had given him makes my body fill with an emotion I am becoming more and more familiar with the longer that we remain in the company of the Fujioka clan.

When I reach the rooms that the shinobi is occupying, I do not bother with giving him a warning.  I open the door and walk in, scanning the sparse area.

That is enough to tell me the two are not currently occupying the space; however, I cannot help but linger, hoping beyond all thoughts that I might find something to help locate them or even break the trust she has in Hikaru.

Very little is actually in his rooms.  No papers, no personal items, nothing but clothing.  If I did not know better, I would believe these rooms to be like any other unoccupied rooms in the Fujioka's fortress.

That idea being fruitless, I make my way towards the gardens, pride of the late lady Fujioka.  Many a person has wandered into them, only to lose their way.

Rika is nowhere to be found, and with foreboding dwelling in my mind, I do not wait for her.  Heedless of the darkness, I direct my feet towards the wisteria.

It is the part of the gardens furthest away from the entrance and the most secluded.  The closer I get to the flowering trees, the darker the shadows get, and the more I notice signs of a scuffle marked in the path.

Straining to see more, I try to look deeper into the shadowy figures of the wisteria, but my feet trip over something before I can move closer.

Beneath my feet lies a body.  I can smell the sickly sweet scent of blood, can almost taste the metallic edge in my mouth.  Irrational fear fills me, and I drop to my knees next to the still figure, nearly beyond the thought that it could not be Jun.

I am just barely able to make out the features of the person lying there: Hikaru, his face frozen into a permanent mask of shock.  What appears to be one of Jun's daggers is buried to the hilt in his throat.

Panic claws its way through my body as I yank the knife from his body, and I curse the fact that I neglected to bring a light with me when I came out.  All I can tell about the knife is that the hilt is splattered with barely-dried blood.

Did Jun do this to him, or did something else happen?  The thought of finding my friend maimed, dead, or worse makes the bile rise in the back of my throat.  I had been a fool of the highest degree for neglecting to locate her sooner, and any harm that had come to her would be my burden, my shame, to bear.

"Jun," I call out into the darkness, seeking any kind of response from the gardens.  "Jun, are you out here?"

Footsteps sound behind me, and I whirl, bloody knife clenched in my fist.  Rika is standing there, a lantern in her hand and a horrified look upon her face.

It takes a moment to realize that she is not staring at the dagger but at the sight of Hikaru crumpled on the ground.  In the light, I can see that his eyes are wide in terror, and a thin trickle of blood is making its way down his throat to join its comrades in the folds of his clothing.

Carefully, I take the lantern from Rika's numb fingers and crouch next to the shinobi once more.  I lift a heavy hand and look at the nails, noting blood trapped beneath them.  A line of deep scratches run down his arm, the blood there already congealed.

"Lord Igarashi," the lady breathes behind me, and I look up to find that her face has paled noticeably.  She looks ready to drop to the ground herself, and it takes a moment to remind me that she has likely never seen anything like this before.

"Come with me," I say, standing and giving her the lantern back.  "I will take care of Hikaru later, but first we must find Jun."

Rika's knuckles are white about the handle of the lantern; I fear for a moment that she is going to be unable to move.  However, she takes a deep breath to regain the composure that has been instilled in her and manages a wobbly smile.

Another breath and she lifts her chin, stepping deliberately over Hikaru's body to where the wisteria trees truly begin.  "I never much liked him anyway.  Ryuu, do you...do you think that blood is all his, though?"

Unable to lie to her, I merely say, "I hope so, Rika.  However, until we find Jun, we shall not know."

The young lady Fujioka reaches out her free hand, and after a moment, I take it, feeling how cold her skin is.  She clings to my fingers, and gently, I use that hold to move us forward.

We walk by the wisteria trees so many times before a piece of fabric catches Rika's eye under one not far from Hikaru's empty form.  When I take a closer look, I see a pair of feet sticking out from the flowers, one shoe barely clinging to a foot.

Releasing the lady's hand, I drop to my knees next to the still body.  She steps closer with the light as I gently part the flowers to reveal Jun's horribly still body.

Her kimono is caked with blood, almost as much as Hikaru's, and a ring of darkening fingermarks ring her throat.  Rika barely muffles a shocked scream before whispering, "Is she still alive?"

I lift her body from the ground, cradling her gently in my arms.  Disregarding the fact that half-dried blood was coating my own clothing, I look towards Rika and manage to say through dry lips, "I certainly hope so."

Lady Fujioka looks whiter than mist, but she readjusts her grip on the lantern once more before falling into step with me.  "I will arrange a bath for Jun after you have taken her back to your rooms.  And you, Lord Igarashi, must find someplace to put the...Hikaru, lest someone stumbles upon him in the morning."

Her tone is harsh, a fact that I account to the events of this evening.  I only mildly reply, "It's nearly morning as it is, Lady Fujioka.  I fear none of us will find much rest this night."

I feel her trembling hand curl around my upper arm, but I merely keep striding towards the fortress, rather than commenting upon it.  Now, I can just barely feel Jun's shallow breaths against my chest, confirming that she lives.

I am not sure which causes people to move out our way in the halls: the overly pale Rika, looking like she is just hardly standing, or me with my bloodied burden.  The former only lets go of my arm to open the door of our rooms.

Even though my own body shakes with worry, I take a moment to look towards Rika.  "Thank you, Rika.  I fear what might have happened had you not come with me."

Her smile is more transparent than a pool of still water, the edges of her mouth quaking with the effort to maintain the expression.  "I will be back after I find someone to bring the bathwater.  Though, I believe I must thank you, Ryuu, for not allowing me to fall to pieces out there."

With those words, the lady turns and walks back down the hall, her shoulders trembling and her steps unsteady.  I watch her for a moment before closing the door with my foot and laying Jun down on the floor.

Gently, I start to remove her bloody clothing, my mind barely recognizing that I was stripping her.  The most prevalent concern on my mind is whether or not Jun was injured beyond the obvious marks on her throat. 

When I reach her bindings and find them clear of blood, I drape her ruined kimono back over her body just before the first round of bathwater arrives.

Rika returns once the tub is full, clearly more composed even with a line of dried blood streaking across her cheek.  She watches silently as I begin to remove the rest of Jun's clothes before asking, "Do you want me to finish undressing her?"

Respect for the woman grows in my chest, but I shake my head even as I free the bindings from Jun and lift her from the nest of ruined clothes.  Carefully, concern about hurting her racing through me, I lower her into the hot water, watching her eyes flicker slightly as her body touches the water.

"Ryuu," she whispers in a hoarse voice that hardly exists at all.  I wince at the sound, taking the hand that she offers me.  I study the small scars covering its surface to stop the peculiar prickling at the back of my eyes from manifesting.

"Hikaru?" She breathes, this word even harder to hear than the last.  I know that she is asking if he is dead or not; however, I do not answer immediately, raising her hand to my lips instead.

Jun watches me through slitted eyes, a gleam of fear just noticeable.  At long last, I say, "He's dead.  I found his body with your dagger buried in his throat."

With those words, her eyes close all the way, and I see her mouth lift in relief.  I wonder what exactly had happened in the final moments of his life that had caused his death and Jun's reaction.  Rika lays a hand on my shoulder, startling me slightly as I had forgotten her presence.

"I will wash her, Ryuu," she mutters.  "I found someone to take care of Hikaru's body tonight.  You go get some rest."

"Thank you, Rika, for everything," I say, bowing politely towards her, before staggering to the other room.  Exhaustion pulls at my every limb as I strip out of my bloody clothing and collapse onto the futon.

I awake what seems minutes later to the soft pattering of footsteps entering the room.  Blinking my eyes, I can make out Jun's figure hovering near the entrance, wet hair loose about her chin.

A kimono is wrapped about her body, her hands clenched in it.  I sit up a bit and reach out to her.  With a slight sob, she releases her hold on her clothing and all but throws herself into my arms.

"Jun," I whisper, my mouth pressed against the curve of her ear as I half-marvel at the fact that she is both alive and in my arms.  "I thought you were dead.  I have spent nearly all my life by your side, and I cannot imagine the rest of my life without you."

She turns her head to meet my eyes, bruises still dark against the skin of her neck.  Her mouth opens as if she wants to say something, but nothing emerges.  Tears blur the sheen of her eyes as she tries to force the words past her damaged throat.

Unable to watch it anymore, I tuck her head beneath my chin and hold Jun even closer.  "You do not have to tell me now.  There is always another day."

Jun shakes her head slightly, moving again to stare into my eyes.  She places a hand on either side of my face and mouths something I cannot make out.  Her expression falls when I give her no response, and she leans forward to press her lips to mine.

The action leaves me stunned for a moment; when I give no response, I feel Jun start to pull away.  Carefully, I use my hold on her to push her close and move my lips across hers lightly.

A broken sigh escapes her, and I deepen the kiss, starting to realize what she had been trying to say.  And without words, I answer her back.