One Bright Day in the Middle of the Night

Chapter 26: The Devil You Know....

I sat down on one of the cushions that were brought in and found a tray as well. How much stuff did he think I need down here? It would have been easier to just move me upstairs. I placed the rice balls Yuki had brought on the tray and grabbed one, chewing it absently as I looked over all the stuff. Oh, hey. I glanced down at the rice ball I was eating.

A sweet and sour mixture danced on my tongue, mixing with the rice wonderfully. Pickled plums? I hadn't had them before but these were pretty damn tasty. I've always liked pickles and I've always loved the sour tastes of lemon and vinegar. The combination of sweet fruit and rice vinegar in the rice ball was surprisingly good. It wasn't long before I had eaten all of it and started to decorate my cell.

That actually took longer than I thought it would. I would swear that Kenshin thought of everything, from a chamber pot and privacy screen, to clothing. And not just any clothing. Beautiful kimono in colors a redhead like me would actually look good in even. He even thought of accessories and cosmetics. There was even a bookcase, complete with books, a small desk and drawing paper and chalk.

The entire cell was now more opulent than the bedroom I had in Azuchi. How weird is that? I have no idea what Kenshin is thinking. One second he throws me in the dungeon, and the next he decorates it like it's a bedroom. Am I a prisoner or what? Well obviously a prisoner as seen by the simple fact I'm in the damn dungeon... I just couldn't wrap my head around the whole thing.

Yuki and Sasuke both came to visit me as often as they could, but I was slowly going stir crazy. After the first day or so spending most of the time sleeping, I was fully recovered from my ordeal of the whole capture situation. By the end of the fourth day, I was about ready to yank my hair out with boredom.

I'd actually gotten a sewing kit from Sasuke, and started to modify some of the kimono I had been given. I was a little surprised that I was allowed to have a pair of scissors, but odds were Sasuke never asked for permission. It's not like I was going to actually use them to threaten anyone with.

One dark blue kimono in particular quickly became the base for a pair of pants, and a pretty light blue kimono got a severe adjustment so I'd be able to move in the damn thing. I'd even started doing calisthenics just to try to keep some sort of fitness, but I missed sparring. If this kept up, I was going to not just want to spar with Kenshin. Right about now I wanted to beat some sense into him.

Five days had gone by with not a single sign of Kenshin. He really wasn't going to see me at all was he? Sasuke and Yuki both came to visit that morning, and I couldn't help myself. We sat chatting for a bit as I ate the egg and rice they had brought me for breakfast. I sipped my tea as I looked at the young men on the other side of the bars.

"Hey, guys? I know this is probably a stupid question, but do you have any idea how long Kenshin is going to keep avoiding me?" I hated not being able to cover the sadness in my voice. Damn. I sounded pathetic.

"He still hasn't come down to see you?" Yukimura was more surprised than I expected.

"Nope. Not once."

Sasuke's glasses caught a gleam of lantern light as he pushed them back up his nose, thinking about the question.

"About now, I would think that he's probably afraid at what you'll say to him. I think he's embarrassed about how he handled things to start with."

"Be that as it may, but I can't say I actually hold it against him. Keeping up the pretense of this crap is worse as far as I'm concerned." I set my tea down on the tray. "And if I don't get a shinai or something so I can at least do sword katas, I'm going to go nuts."

"You're already nuts." Sasuke's dry humor made me smirk.

"Thanks alot. More nuts then."

"I'll try to think about what can be done." Sasuke stood up, the time having passed and it was time for them to head back to work, although for the life of me I wasn't sure what they actually did other than cater to Kenshin and Shingen. "I can't promise a shinai though. At this point, if you see Kenshin you'd probably break it over his thick skull." I had to agree with Sasuke on that.