Fly Away

Chapter 18: We were going crazy in there!

- A week later -

Rin was bubbling with hyper energy. Matsumoto-sensei had visited and said that she wasn't confined to bed anymore! Of course, Toshi had made it very clear, she wasn't allowed off the estate, even if every single member of the roshigumi was with her. She wasn't strong enough for that anyway. A very annoying thing that she'd noticed was that everyone was treating her like a porcelain doll. Sano wouldn't joke as much, Shin didn't trust himself within five feet of her, Heisuke wouldn't even go through the doorway, Toshi was getting more paranoid by the second, but Souji was by far the worst. He would check in on her multiple times a day and made sure she was eating properly and sleeping enough. Had she not known better, she would have thought he was fussing.

Sannan and Saito were the only people acting normally; Sannan brought her books to read and they would discuss philosophy and theology for hours on end. They would talk about life after death mostly. Saito would come sit in her room in companionable silence, as was his way. They would sometimes share a few quiet words, speaking mostly of swords. While this wasn't Rin's favored topic, she was curious and she always watched in amusement as Saito's eyes lit up, the usually quiet man becoming quite chatty when she asked questions.

Dragging off her blanket, she got up, careful not to stumble. Her legs felt like pins and needles, a stiff feeling took over her entire body. Stretching everything she could without ripping open her cut, she walked slowly towards the door.

Toshi, Sannan, Shin, Saito and Souji were all in the yard, Shin and Saito washing blood off their clothes. Sannan and Toshi stood side by side, grim expressions on their faces and Souji sat in a corner, his usual condescending smirk plastered on his face.

"The kept saying 'Go get the police!' 'Who ordered you to do this?'"

"And that's how you lost them?"

"Yeah." Drawing her attention away from the report, she focused onto Saito. His blade was pristine, no doubt he'd washed and oiled it the moment he'd gotten back to HQ, but his clothes were still soaking in blood. She stifled a groan, delicately stomped over, snatched the cloth from his grip and started scrubbing it vigorously with only her left arm. She could feel the confused look both Saito and Souji were giving her.

"If you let it dry, it's never coming out." Souji said:

"Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"No, Matsumoto-sensei said I was free to get out of that horrendous room."

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" He persisted, ignoring what she'd said.

"Souji, you can't force me to stay in there another second." The muscles in her left arm were starting to burn, not as strong as the ones in her right one had been.

"I could ... you aren't in any shape to fight back."

"I would find a way to stab you multiple times in the process. Now, Saito, stop staring and do your own laundry, I'm still disabled." Saito quickly took over and uttered a rare question:

"Rin, how do you know how to wash out blood?"

"It's something of a monthly occurrence."

"Ah."