The Samurai That I Loved

第12章

The dawn came too quickly in Eliza's opinion. Shojiro was unceremoniously waking her up once more with a sudden opening of the tent flap and a set of broken english words that came out as,

"ERLIZA-CHAN, UP!"

"Agh!" She shrieked, bolting upright in fright. Glaring vehemently at him, she shouted back, "Wakarimashita, damn you!"

(I understand, damn you!)

Shojiro halted before reclosing the tent flap, staring at her in shock. His eyebrows were raised in astonishment that she had actually picked up on something. What other Japanese words had she remembered?

The revelation of it was intriguing, but he dropped the matter as he ordered her in English,

"Come."

Muttering foul statements about him and how she wished she had never taught him any of those words, Eliza clambered to her feet and exited the tent. To her surprise, she was greeted by the sight of a large brown horse with a black mane and tail standing outside next to Shojiro. He was holding the reins and patting the horse's neck.

"Where...where on earth did the horse come from?" She asked him. Pointing towards the horse, she repeated the English name for the animal. He simply looked at her expressionless before saying in Japanese,

"You pea-brained girl, are you asking me about the horse? It's from the thieves. I tied them up back on the road last night after you went back to sleep and took one of their horses back for ourselves. It's better than walking, especially for you who can't seem to move anywhere faster than a turtle stuck in the mud."

"What are you saying to me? You're speaking too fast, I can't understand!" Eliza snapped back. Shojiro groaned before saying in English,

"Bad men, Eliza-chan."

Her eyes widened in knowing as she silently formed her mouth into an, "Oh".

Effortlessly mounting the horse, Shojiro extended his hand down to her as he said,

"Come. We go."

"My goodness, you're picking up quickly. Soon you'll be speaking better English than me, Shojiro-san!" She happily complimented him as she grasped his hand and stuck her foot inside the stirrup to swing atop the saddle in front of him.

Wrapping his arm around her waist while holding the reigns, he rolled his eyes at her idiotic antics. He ushered the horse into a trot through the woods until they reached the main path again.

With a quick kick to the horse's shins, Shojiro pushed them into a fast gallop. Eliza squeaked in surprise as her hood fell over her shoulders and her flaming hair blew in the wind, brushing over Shojiro occasionally.

Sensing her tension to their speed, his arm tightened subtly around her just a small bit more, discreetly reassuring her. He didn't understand why he felt the need to do such a thing, but as of late...he wasn't quite understanding himself at all anymore.

The prescence of Eliza-chan had disrupted everything. His life had always carried a systematic flow in the order of things, yet with Eliza none of those principles or ettiquite seemed to make much of a difference. Not only that, but her very personality, the way she conducted herself left him utterly confused and disgruntled in how to treat her.

She is your prisoner. She is a trespasser. She is a foreigner.

He reminded himself with annoyance. Although one thing was eminently clear...when after all was said and done, he doubted he would ever forget her.

Once they began to enter deep mountainous terrain, Shojiro left the path to follow the river up northwest until he found a flat, open area where the horse could stop and drink.