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"I..." as much as Katsumi didn't want him to tend to her wound, to get so close, all increasing the chances of him finding out was a woman, Katsumi couldn't exactly refuse. How did one decline such kindness? She hardly even knew anyone was capable of caring like this, and she found she couldn't say no. Swallowing, the girl sighed, and finished, "alright. T... Thank you."

Her hands folded together and rested on her lap, and the merc glanced up at the other before her gaze fell back down to her hands, which clasped one another. Confusion was within her chocolate hues. "Your generosity... is too much. It is difficult for me... to comprehend."

He cared about that too? Her fighting others? She just didn't get it, this man, at all. Her brows furrowed and Katsumi nodded before moving on to an explanation, expression impassive and tone matter of fact, but slow, with a hint of uncertainty, confused and hesitant due to his inquiry, "It... It's all I've ever known. What I was trained for. To fight, kill. It sustains me. Gives me money. Puts food in my belly."

Kat's brows raised in curiosity and she slowly asked, "Do you not fight?"

Scared? Katsumi brows furrowed. Why on earth would she be scared? His white hair and light eyes were absolutely beautiful, and Katsumi found herself to be rather in awe at the sight. Her curiosity was piqued and she wanted to know so much about the man, but there was her mask to keep up. She couldn't keep complimenting him like that, right? Men didn't do that sort of thing.

Shit.

Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice, and Katsumi proceeded to shake her head, responding, "No, sir. I... well, I have never seen anything like it."

The way he said it made it sound like people were generally afraid of this man, and Katsumi found that to be most peculiar. A single brow raised and she inquired, "Why... Why would I be?"

He wasn't attacking her, and didn't seem particularly dangerous. She had no need to be afraid.

Except now she did. The man started heading towards her, inquiring about helping her, and Katsumi swallowed roughly. If he came too close, he might realize she wasn't a man, and her charade would shatter. After being forced to act like a man for so long, and then doing it on her own for safety purposes, the idea of someone knowing her actual sex terrified her.

Katsumi scooted back a bit, expression showing nervousness, and she winced, leg throbbing from the movement. The woman stammered, shaking her head with wide eyes, legs tightly pressed together, which didn't help her injury too much, "N-No, t-t-that's alright. I... I'm f-fine. I-I'm almost d-done. I can... I can d-do it on my own, t-thank you."

The sound of the coursing river made it so that Katsumi didn't hear the other figure, but when the voice rang out, she was startled a little, eliciting a small gasp. Eyes widening, she glanced over to where the person was and was stunned. His hair, why, it was of a pure white, and her eyes widened more, but out of fascination. She had never seen such a thing, and she almost forgot that she wasn't wearing her hakama.

But that didn't last long, and at realizing he was blushing and glancing away, and hearing him being uncertain about her gender, the merc's legs clamped together and she pulled down the kimono as much as she could, hoping to cover that lack of a bulge.

Coughing a couple of times, fingers brushed her dark hair behind her ear. Katsumi peered through her side-swept bangs and, voice a false tenor, Katsumi lied, a bit nervously, "... Sir. Ahem."

Brows furrowed a little at the man's question, but her gaze dropped to her thigh. She recalled her injury and released a sigh. It was bleeding again, and Kat would need to quickly finish stitching it up and applying pressure to the wound.

"Ah, yes," she remarked, avoiding his gaze. Slender fingers picked up the needle and she quickly went back to work. "Got careless with the criminal I'm tracking. I'll be fine."

Her gaze slid up and she looked over at him, and Kat softly said, "T... Thanks for asking."

She wasn't used to people showing concern. Her father never gave a damn if she were injured, and caused many, in fact. And others just cared if she could complete the job. So his concern simply confused her, and she blushed a little, biting down on her lip.

She kept working, but the colour of his hair kept creeping back into his mind. As rude as it seemed to her, she couldn't help but nervously blurt out rather awkwardly, her social skills far from graceful, "Your... Your hair... it... it reminds me of snow. It... It is very pretty."

Katsumi felt embarrassed and her gaze dropped immediately, and she hunched a bit, hiding behind her hair and engrossing herself with tending to her wound.

It wasn't often people ran into Katsumi when she was this deep in the forest, but today seemed to be one of those off chances. Before he said a word,, Katsumi heard him walking nearby, and her keen eyes caught sight of the man. He didn't appear to be a threat, although armed, and so she had continued with her work, making sure to keep tabs on him and any fishy business.

But he stopped and spoke up, asking the merc a question. He was straightforward, if not rude, but all she did was blink in response and look up. She was used to that kind of tone, that "all important" air, and Katsumi switched her gaze to him.

Could she shoot? Of course the woman could. Katsumi had been trained to fight since she was a small child, and focused on archery and her reflexes. If anything, she was a supreme archer, not that she would have admitted it. That would be far too pretentious, and that just wasn't how Katsumi was.

Exhaling slowly, Katsumi said softly in that false, masculine voice, "I have been trained in archery since I was a small child."

Her answer was far less direct than his question was, but, to her, it said everything that needed to be said. She didn't need to claim she was some amazing archer. The years of training should say enough. Katsumi looked back down and continued making her ammo. With a shrug, she continued, "This simply conserves money."

The woman's gaze moved over the man, and her brows raised, hands still at work, obviously skillful with how they did their chore with ease. He didn't seem like the type to ask out of curiosity, the air about him entirely serious. There was something in his eyes, almost dark. There was drive there, she could sense. The man didn't ask her such a question whimsically, and he appeared decently dressed. He wasn't simply some street rat, from what she could tell.

"Why do you ask? Are you looking for someone to hire?"

[[OoC: Same group she has been in before~ ^_^]]

After her shift keeping watch was over, the merc made her way through the camp. There seemed to be some sort of event going on, as there was a commotion and numerous men gathered about. Her interest was piqued and, after grabbing an apple, she made her way over to the group, munching on the food.

Apparently the leader of the camp wanted to keep improving the skills of his soldiers and to make sure they were at their best in order to protect his beloved daughter. Katsumi could respect that, and the petite person silently watched at the men entered the ring and duked it out on one another.

The girl wasn't much of a fighter herself, an archer through and through, so she wasn't too interested in getting involved. But it seemed the others wanted this new merc to prove herself, picking on her due to her size, because she made a pretty minuscule man. They poked and jested, and she ignored them, not caring in the least, but it drew the commander's attention, and she suddenly found herself in the ring, having to prove herself to keep her job.

What the hell?

Katsumi felt annoyed, because she was an archer and not some brute, but couldn't do anything besides go along with it, considering she wanted to get paid. Fortunately for her, the first man to enter the ring wasn't all that big. Of course, he was larger than her, but then again everybody was here. The sound to start went off and the man charged her. Katsumi was able to dodge him quickly, dancing around the other. He was unable to land any hits, and quickly tired himself out, and as soon as he started to drastically slow down, the girl took advantage and jumped forward. Lashing her leg out, she kicked his side and popped him right in the jaw. Hitting him again, his head snapped back and the first challenger fell onto the ground, and he didn't get up, groaning and spitting up a bloody tooth. Maybe her punch was stronger than she expected.

One down.

The second came in and the fight went pretty much the same. She dodged and narrowly missed a few, staying light on her feet and jumping around. This frustrated the other, and his impatience was what led him to his fall. After using all of his strength to try and get her down in one hit, she dodged and spun, going behind him and striking him down with a kick in the back, and a few in the side.

It was the third challenger that nearly did in the teen. He was quite large and muscled, and his intimidating stature caused the archer to gulp. She had seen this one fight before and knew he was good, definitely better than the other. That didn't bode well for her.

The fight began and he rushed her quickly, and she had to dance with him. Unlike with the others, he wouldn't let her keep her distance, and so she was forced to constantly dodge, narrowly missing his fists. Because she was constantly backing up and jumping away, eventually Kat tripped up and his fist collided into her side. One of her ribs surely cracked under the impact, and she hissed, stumbling away. He tried to strike her down, but she was able to get away, but just barely.

Breathing hurt and she clutched the wound, wincing and biting down on her bottom lip. The fighter smirked at her, giving her a smug grin, and her eyes narrowed. What a dick! He was enjoying this!

The man charged her again and Katsumi jumped back again, flipping over and palm resting on the ground, and pushing her back. With haste, she landed and was back on her feet again, and there were a few ooo's from her athleticism that Katsumi ignored. All she cared about right now was not getting severely injured from this asshole, who seemed intent on breaking her bones.

Unfortunately, the woman was slowed down due to that cracked rib, and he every so often was able to get punches in. Blood dribbled from her mouth and soon plenty of bruises would cover her body, one nice one right on the left cheek.

After making that strike across her face, he grabbed a hold of the petite woman and she struggled in his grip. With a smirk and a laugh, the brute pinned Katsumi against his chest and a pop resounded within the air, and she cried out. Pushing her forward, Katsumi fell onto the ground and clutched her dislocated shoulder.

He seemed convinced she was done and that he won the match, laughing with some of the men (although some still winced from sympathy for the merc.) Katsumi was on her knees, so she was not completely down, and her brows furrowed deeply. She saw the leader of the camp looking at her intently and she cursed under her breath.

She had to end this quickly if she wanted to end it at all and keep her job.

Inhaling deeply, breath shaky, her body trembled and Katsumi clenched her eyes shut. She had done this twice before from the beatings from her father, so Kat knew what to do, and that meant the archer knew the pain that was coming. Swallowing roughly, the merc readied herself and used her free hand to pop her shoulder back into place. She held back her cry, one, two tears slipping down her cheeks, and she growled in response.

Fuck this arrogant prick. His precariousness and cockiness was going to be what was his downfall.

Quickly standing up, right arm (fortunately not her dominant one) useless and hanging limply at her side, Katsumi rushed forward with incredible speed. There were a few gasps, and that seemed to catch the large man's attention, but it was too late. She used her weight and put all of her strength into her hit, drawing her dominant hand back and punching the man right in the face. Blood spurted from his nose and, growling lowly, Kat skidded to a stop and kicked the brute right in the nuts. He had been an ass to her, and so she was the same to him. He cried out and, as he started to fall, Katsumi spun around and kicked him again, but this time in the gut.

When he fell roughly onto his back, the woman purposefully fell onto his chest, knees slamming into his center of his chest. She fell off of him and scrambled up, huffing loudly, and stepped onto his throat. Anger and pain were clear within her shimmering dark eyes, and she pressed down, putting pressure on it.

"Fuck... you..." she muttered under her breath before letting up.

She won this match, and was now calling it quits. Spitting onto the ground, saliva mixed with spit, the woman made her way out of the ring. The crowd separated for her and the petite person struggled past them.

The commander complimented her, saying she did a good job and was tough, and gave her the night and the next day off. Oh, that was so nice of him, after he doubted her and made her, by far his best ranged fighter do hand-to-hand combat to apparently prove herself. Why was everyone such a fucking asshole?

She simply nodded and walked past him, muttering a thanks, even though she was greatly aggravated. Katsumi wasn't there to impress anybody. This was certainly not fun for her. She had been hired to protect this guy's daughter as a mercenary, specifically an archer. The girl's little ass, so to speak, was more than sore. She was so done.

Katsumi desperately needed to go to the hot springs, calm down, and tend to her injuries, and maybe relax a little. She freaking deserved it after this bullshit.

"Shit!"

Despite the pain, she leaned down and tried searching for the dagger, but it was gone. Now the woman was weaponless, losing her damn knife, and her whole body hurt like a bitch. Today was just ending up becoming a spectacular day.

Wading through the water, the woman tried searching for the knife, but couldn't see through the steam. So with her uninjured arm, Katsumi tried feeling for the blade carefully, brows furrowing deeply.

Oh hey, her hand came across something, but that definitely wasn't metal. In fact, what she felt seemed... fleshy. Katsumi's hand, which unbeknownst to her was gripping the man's foot, moved up, traveling up his ankle and shin.

"What... the hell?" she muttered to herself.

Unfortunately for her (but fortunately for me and my amusement), the merc was still moving forward and kinda collides face-first *hopefully just into his thigh, or wherever the hell she would reach from down there. >.>;

Anyway, so she glanced up and, even though she can't see his face or his whole body due to the steam, it was unmistakably a person she just ran into and was gripping. She was without a weapon and there was a man there, and... her eyes bulged. Katsumi wasn't donned as a man right now. In fact, she was just as naked as the day she was born, except sustaining far more injuries.

Her mouth gaped and she gasped sharply, pushing herself away as quickly as she could, if she was able. No, no, no, no, no! She couldn't let this guy see her. Fortunately there was plenty of steam and her torso was now in the water, as she quickly submerged herself so that only her head was out. Kat was really hoping he didn't see anything, like, most importantly to her in this moment, her breasts.

Those funbags would definitely give away her sex pretty quickly, now wouldn't they?

As she was lowering herself, Katsumi heard a splash. Eyes widened, the woman quickly swiveled towards that direction, gaze narrowing sharply. There was definitely a sound further in, but there was far too much steam to see clearly.

Katsumi inched towards the end, reaching for a small dagger, and she held it defensively in front of her. The woman kept listening intently, slowly working herself forward. Those dark hues searched and searched, but saw nothing. She was so focused that when a few birds flew out from the clearing, cawing loudly, the woman let out a high-pitched yelp.

Making a sharp turn in surprise, she could not keep her grip on the bottom of the hot springs, and Katsumi slipped. With a sharp gasp, the merc fell backwards and splashed into the water rather ungracefully, which was so uncharacteristic of the woman. She became completely submerged, overwhelmed with heat, and the woman hit her injured shoulder against a rock.

Upon making it back up the surface, Katsumi hissed, blade falling from her hand and disappearing into the water. She clutched the shoulder that a handful of hours ago had been dislocated and, of course, crouching down made her cracked rib feel absolutely spectacular.

The poor girl had tears in her eyes, the pain causing her to momentarily forget about the sound she had heard earlier, and she was cursing under her breath, trying not to cry out in pain from her throbbing shoulder.

[[Gonna play this after a fight I haven't quite finished writing yet. ^^;]]

Everything ached. Bruises covered her body and the shoulder that had been dislocated hurt like a bitch. After those fights, Katsumi was given the night off (and the following day off), and she planned on taking full advantage of it. The woman was going to give her body some rest, pampering even. Even the workaholic, busy body felt she deserved the treat.

The hot springs was a considerable ways away from the camp she was working at, and so she wasn't too concerned about anyone finding her here. Plus, they were all working. The cautious Katsumi felt she was safe. Of course, she wasn't really considering if anybody else would be at the hot springs.

Katsumi entered a clearing, glancing around a few times. Upon finding no one in the vicinity, the woman released a huff, and winced. One of her ribs had to be cracked. That fucking sucks. She would have to tend to it as well, and she sighed in exasperation. At least that warm water looked relieving, and the merc couldn't wait to get in.

Slipping off her clothing, soon enough the men's clothes fell from her body and were folded up, resting on a boulder. Removing the wrapping around her chest, once they were gone, for the first time that day it felt like she could really breathe, breasts exposed and no longer squeezed down.

Sliding off her hair tie, the teenager's dark locks cascaded down her back and rested upon her fair (although now it was covered with black, blue, and purple marks) flesh in waves. Most of her scars were covered by her hair, but the ones on her arms and lower back were exposed, the long, unsavory cuts risen up. Those times with the switch and the rod would never quite leave her, even if she herself blocked them out.

Walking over to the springs, Katsumi slowly stepped in, wincing as the water hit her bruises and injuries, flesh extra sensitive, but soon enough the water was at her waist. She was slowly making her way down, allowing time to pass so that one part of her body felt relaxed and good before moving herself further down.

Katsumi blinked. Not sure an honorific? But... that's just what people in their culture did. To not use any honorific at all... why, it was simply rude and showed the utmost disrespect, but Katsumi didn't say a word. If Takehiro didn't like her using a simple honorific and would prefer her to use his first name, she would, as much as it chagrined her to do so.

"Al...right."

As much as Katsumi would have preferred to check out the board, she would go along with what Takehiro said. Plus, she was the one who mentioned the talking part. He offered to pay for her room and she shook her head, replying, "You have already done too much, Takehiro. But... I really do appreciate the offer."

Katsumi would have given a small smile to show her appreciation, but she didn't know how, and so her expression remained impassive. There was no way she would let him not only give her money but also pay for a room for her to stay in. At the very least, she could cover herself for the night.

The merc stood up and bowed her head, bending down to pick up her weapon and slung it over her back. Brows hues searched the room and rested on the innkeeper. With a sigh, Katsumi headed her way towards the woman, hoping she could find a job and the two could head out in the morning.

--

After talking with the innkeeper, Katsumi found what seemed like a promising job. Apparently there was a bounty out for some guy by the name of Shimazu Ujiyasu. Katsumi had no idea what he did, but she didn't particularly care. If they got him, they would make a damn good sum of money. And if they brought him back alive, all the better.

After getting the news, Katsumi made her way to Takehiro and would inform him of the job offer. I'm sorry. I'm being lazy. >.>;