A Split in The River of Time

Part 17: Running on fumes

(Very sorry readers for the recent absence, I know I said I'd update more frequently and I really do plan to, but getting back into the groove of writing is hard. Again, I apologize if the writing isn't in tip top shape, but for some reason I'm deciding to be productive at 4:00 am :P)

Shinobu tried to pull the large man to his feet, struggling all the way as he seemed to intentionally make things more difficult than needed. Her lack of sleep certainly didn't help either.
"Fine!" She dropped him back into the mud, turning around in a huff. Upon looking up at the sky, she realized she had actually managed to tune out the rain during the fight.
"You got my haori all dirty." Giyuu said, leaning up. The man used his only clean sleeve to wipe away the blood on his head, feeling it slowly trickle back down his forehead he decided that he'd just put his hair in the way. He pushed himself up to his feet and began walking over to the woman. His expression stayed the exact same the whole time he was walking, leaving her wondering what he was thinking.

Why's he just looking at me with that weird face?

"Tomioka? Are you going to say something?" She raised an eyebrow as he continued approaching. Giyuu merely stepped up to the short woman and stared down at her, before he wrapped his arm around her.
"Why are you hugging me?" the woman said, confused by the sudden display.

Giyuu Tomioka is hugging me. Why is he hugging me? And why now of all times? Her thoughts drifted as she was lifted off the ground by the man.
"Hey! What are you-" The man then released his grip and she fell straight down into the mud. The woman quickly jumped to her feet, attempting to brush off the mud and dirt now seeping into her uniform and haori.
"You jerk! Are you serious?!" Giyuu stifled a chuckle, a smirk crawling across his face as he watched her carefully.

"I cannot believe you would do something so childish." She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, waiting for a response or answer of some kind.

If looks could kill I'd be so dead. The man thought briefly about antagonizing the girl more, but decided that he wanted to keep his other limbs attached so instead he turned around and looked back to the main road.
"Let's go, Kocho." Was all he said before he started to walk away from her. Despite the terrifying amount of murderous intent that he felt burning behind him, he kept walking in silence. This intense murderous intent slowly faded as small footsteps echoed behind him. As the two reached the main road, Kocho was still attempting to remove any mud she could from her precious clothing but Giyuu seemingly couldn't care less.

"Do you really want to walk home in the rain? I mean it's just asking to catch a cold, which will only make that headache worse." Giyuu paused in his steps with Shinobu walking face first into his back.

"What is your problem?" She said while gently rubbing her nose.

"I never told you I had a headache?" He said, turning to her. He had specifically brushed his hair over the wound before she saw to avoid her being worried, so when had she seen?

"I just guessed because of your head. I saw the blood leaking down from your hair." He nodded and then started walking again.
"It's still raining!" Kocho took a couple fast steps to regain her place behind him. Just as the girl went to open her mouth again, the rain began to slow down to an eventual stop. Silence ensued for a moment while both walked, Shinobu had now moved to his side to look in front of them.

"It's not raining anymore," Giyuu said. He quickly stopped and leaned his head back as Kocho threw a weak punch in his direction. She glared at him before turning and running down the pathway in front of them. Tomioka darted after her, barely able to keep up until she slowed down some. After running side by side in complete silence for about fifteen minutes, Shinobu was looking for things to distract herself with along the wooded area to her sides. How much she could see into the woods was inhibited because of the surrounding night sky, however she noted that the moonlight lit up the pathway wonderfully. Mid-yawn, Shinobu began to speak to the man.
"Hey, Tomioka-san." The woman said, keeping her eyes fixed on the moon. The crescent shape and light blue colored light seemed to draw her attention, demanding she stay fixated on the celestial body. 

"..." She was only met with usual silence, which she was displeased by. She looked in his direction and frowned, but her act was for naught. Giyuu wasn't even looking at her, so she dropped the pout.
"Tomiokaaaa-sannn~" Shinobu dragged her words, reaching her arm out to poke him in the shoulder. She yawned again, Giyuu taking note of the frequency. 

She hadn't slept recently, had she? I'm pretty sure she's been awake since last night. Since its almost morning, I'm guessing that's probably around 24 hours. 

"..." Silence followed, and Kocho looked back to his face, determined to figure out what he was so focused on. Giyuu was now looking directly at her, their eyes meeting as she looked up.
"..." He still said nothing, seemingly zoned out as he stared at two beautiful purple eyes that stared back.
"Uh- I-It's impolite to stare at people, Tomioka-san." Shinobu said, looking away from him rather quickly.  

"You wanted to ask a question, right?" He said, also looking away to stare forwards.
"I was just going to ask how you felt about the night sky. I think it looks amazing." She looked up at the sky once more, smiling slightly as she admired it.
"I think it looks great." Shinobu raised an eye at the lackluster reaction from the man.

"Just great?" She looked in his direction again and found his eyes were once again fixated on her own.

"Oh-" His eyes widened and he quickly blinked and looked upwards, away from her and the mild embarrassment that followed.

"Yes. yes I think it looks just fine."  Shinobu looked at the man curiously, thinking carefully before she asked her next question.

Why was he staring at me? Is there something on my face? I shouldn't expect him to be nice about it, but at least he could say something instead of just staring like a creep. Shinobu took in a deep breath and returned her sight to the path in front of them. She would need some kind of distraction if she wanted to make it the whole way home, and obviously talking to Tomioka was more confusing than it was entertaining. After another 5 minutes of just the tapping of their feet on the dirt below them and the sounds of woodland night-creatures, she had forgotten most of the awkward interaction since at this point, they have known each other long enough to expect the weirdness from each other. 

Giyuu does act very weird with me. Maybe he just acts like this around everybody? But he doesn't argue with the others like he does with me. I haven't heard anybody say he goes out of his way to annoy them, either.
"Hey, Tomioka-san!" The girl suddenly said aloud. The man jumped slightly before relaxing and looking at her.

"Yes, Kocho?" He replied soon after.
"Are you-" The woman yawned a third time, stumbling a couple of steps as her eyes felt heavy.
"..."

"Kocho?" Tomioka asked, confused. She hadn't finished her question, and he wondered if it was even worth asking about.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm awake." She said, leaning her head back up. 

"Do you want to rest here? I believe I have a blanket in my bag or maybe an extra uniform-" He began to slow down when Kocho slapped him on his shoulder.
"I'll be fine. We should be at the butterfly estate soon anyways." Despite the fact they were still around a two hour run from the mansion, she decided lying to herself was the best course. If she fell asleep, there was no telling what could happen.
"Alright..." Giyuu eventually stopped looking in her direction to focus on dodging the branches in front of them. As Shinobu ran, each step becoming more and more taxing than the last, she figured she'd make it to the estate. When her eyes closed completely and she ran face-first into a low hanging tree branch that knocked her onto the ground, she decided sleeping may in fact be a viable choice. A faint voice called her name in the distance, but she just rolled onto her side and shut her eyes tighter. Soon she was overtaken by the exhaustion she had been effortlessly fighting.

(Any comments are welcome, advice, criticisms or just general story talk are appreciated. :D)