done! Man I tell ya, writing with a possible ear infection is not easy! But worth it so write more stuff for my baby girl ;_;

Significantly less blood and gore and this one, as well as next to no swearing (yes even though it still involves Baiken. Crazy I know)

Eri gazed mournfully at the pile of clothes at her feet, dressed in
pajamas and the memory of the previous night still fresh in her mind.

From the moment she had revealed her true nature to Baiken and Anji, the
samurai had been…quiet. Right after she told her she was a Gear, Baiken had
stared at her for a long second, as if she wanted to make sure she heard right.

Before she or Anji could say anything, Baiken rose to her feet, stating
that they couldn’t stay where they were any longer. Eri shuddered as she
remembered the corpse, slumped on the wall and bleeding not two feet away.

(Chisaki was slumped like that, bleeding in the street. She could still
scarcely believe it, sometimes, that a nightmare could be felled like that. She
still woke up at night, thinking he would appear over the edge of her bed, the
blood from the hole in his head staining the sheets.)

They snuck into the inn room they rented, grabbed what they could carry,
and left. Eri felt a bit bad about the inn staff since they hadn’t paid, but
keeping up with Anji and Baiken meant not having time to voice such concerns as
they hurried to the next village over under cover of darkness, for fear of more
assassins attacking them.

It also meant that there wasn’t any time to fix the large tear in her
kimono. Starting at the top of her right shoulder and running down the length
of the arm. And even if they had the time, the blood stains dotting the edges
ruined the precious, overly expensive silk.

She begged for that kimono, the pink flowers near the hem, and the blue crescent
moon on the back. It was so beautiful. It was the first thing she had ever
asked for since her rescue that wasn’t food, the first thing she had ever asked
for period.

And now it was a pile of cloth at her feet, a waste of money. And Baiken
still wouldn’t speak with her.

The wound on her shoulder sent a quick prick of pain through her arm,
Eri reaching up to rub it to try and alleviate the pain, with minimal success.

“Eri!” Anji called out suddenly, softly knocking twice on the
wooden screen dividing the small inn room between her and the other two, “May
I enter?” She looked up at the silhouette he cast on the screen to see he
was holding a small parcel and shaking it slightly, “I have a present for
you!”

“Um…” She mumbled, a
bit surprised and glancing between the screen and her kimono nervously before
she cleared her throat, “I-it’s okay! Come in!” Anji quietly moved
the screen, coming into view with a quiet smile and a brown parcel in his hands
as he calmly entered Eri’s side of the room.

She briefly caught sight of Baiken on the other side, back facing the
screen and completely still. She was not asleep. She did not look in Eri’s
direction.

Her shoulders slumped minutely, a pit digging into her gut.

A pat on her head brought her attention back to Anji, whose smile had
turned a bit sad, “Don’t mind her too much Eri, she just has…a lot on her
mind.”

Eri bit her lip and looked away, “She…hates me…”

“Nonsense,” Anji snapped gently, “of course she doesn’t
hate you Eri, she promised as much remember?”

She snapped her gaze to him, eye damp, “Then why won’t she look at
me?” She rubbed her eyes miserably, looking away again, “She hates me
because I’m a Gear…”

Anji was quiet for a second, before narrowing his eyes slightly,
“Eri…how much do you know about Gears?”

Eri sniffed for a moment, “Only what Chisaki told me…” She
didn’t see Anji clutching at the fabric of his pants at the mention of the
name, “A long time ago, Gears…killed a lot of people, and then the Holy
Order fought and killed all the Gears…they’re monsters…”

Anji’s eyebrows pinched, “Eri…”

“I’m a monster…” Eri wrapped her hands around her legs and
rested her head on her knees, “No wonder Baiken hates me…”

“Now you listen to me.” Anji stated, putting a hand on the top
of Eri’s head, “You are not a monster just because you’re a
Gear.” She lifted her head to look at him with tear filled eyes, “A
monster is someone who hurts people for no good reason, and for as far as I’ve
known you, you have never hurt anyone period.”

“But…” Eri hiccupped, “But, Chisaki said-”

“With respect to the dead, Chisaki apparently left a lot of details
out of what happened…” Anji scratched his chin for a moment,
“Though to be fair, generally speaking he told you the truth.” Anji
sat down next to Eri, folding his arms as he looked at her, “A long time
ago, Gears attacked the world, and hurt a lot of people in the process.”
He looked at the screen from the corner of his eye, pausing as if waiting for the
person on the other side to speak up, before looking back to Eri, “…Baiken
included.”

Eri’s eyes widened, turning her head quickly to look at the screen door,
as if expecting the samurai to open it at any moment. She then turned back to
Anji, one of her hands touching her face, “Is that how she lost-?”

“Yes.”

A light shuffling sound came from the other side of the screen, and then
nothing.

Eri was quiet for a moment, eyes still wider, “And her-?”

“Yes.” Anji nodded solemnly, a faraway look in his eye, “When
she was very young, Gears attacked her home, destroying it completely.” He
sighed, “She was one of the only survivors.”

A frown deepened on Eri’s face, “No wonder she won’t-”

“She spent a long time after that being…very angry,” He
interrupted, looking away, “Angry at everyone, and at everything.” A
sad smile rose on his face, “And she hurt a lot of people while she was at
it. Very badly too.”

Eri’s eyes grew wetter again, though for an altogether different reason.

“Eventually, Baiken grew past it…though not completely.” He
glanced at Eri’s bandages peeking out of the sleeve of her pajamas, “Some
wounds never really heal.”

Eri bit her lower lip, but said nothing.

“You being a Gear complicates things, no question…but Baiken isn’t
that single minded, not anymore.” He grinned and ruffled her hair,
laughing lightly, “give her some time, she has a lot on her mind to sort
out…but have faith, she’ll get there.”

Eri was quiet for a moment, before rubbing her eyes dry and nodding resolutely,
blushing mildly as Anji kept ruffling her hair.

“And another thing,” He said, mock seriousness lacing his tone
as he leaned down to stage whisper into her ear, “about this whole ‘Gears
are monsters’ business,” He grinned, mischievously, “I actually know
a few Gears that might change your mind about that.”

Eri’s eyes turned into dinner plates, disbelief etched on every feature,
“Really!?”

“Really.” He clapped his hands suddenly, grinning even wider,
“But! That’s for later! For now…” With a flourish he drew his
fans, did a few fanciful twirls accompanied by a faint swirl of blue ki, the
display capturing Eri’s attention completely. Putting one palm forward placing
the ceiling, he hid it by opening one fan and then, pausing briefly for effect,
he closed the fan to reveal the parcel he came in with, “Your present!”

Eri, caught up in Anji’s theatrics, was bouncing slightly in her seat,
the previous heavy thoughts drifting away slightly as she looked at her present
with shining eyes, carefully taking it from Anji’s outstretched palm.

She sat the parcel down on the floor between her and the pile of her
ruined dress, slowly opening the brown wrapping paper. She reached her hand
inside, and when she grabbed it and pulled it out a light red cloth followed.

It was a kimono, colored the same ruby hue of her eyes. Butterflies of a
blue shade swarmed the length of the sleeves and up to the pink blossoms on the
shoulders. A few more butterflies littered the hem with a lighter shade of
blue.

Eri’s eyes shined brighter and brighter with each inch of the kimono
that she pulled out of the wrapping paper.

“It’s a bit much I know.” Anji said humbly, a gentle smile on
his features, “But seeing you so bummed after last night made me want to
cheer you up!” He tapped his head with one of his fans with a goofy grin,
“And when I saw it in the store it reminded me of cute little you! So I
had to get it!”

Eri’s sniffed. Then sniffed again. Anji’s grin quickly fell into panic

“Eri?” He fretted around her, unsure of what to do with his
hands as she kept sniffling, “Are you okay? Do you not like it? I can give
it back just let me-”

“I love it.”

Anji stopped when Eri looked up, mouth wobbly and thin lines of tears trailing
down her cheeks, sighing with relief, “You’re welcome.”

Eri sniffed for a few more moments, Anji sitting across from her with a
calm smile and resting his head in his palm as he chuckled. Eri gave out a
mildly louder sob trying to calm down, and right on cue the screen slid open,
revealing Baiken in loose fitting pajamas, her hair flowing free around her
shoulders.

Her one eye giving out a rather mean and tired look to the other two
occupants of the room, who quickly quieted down in her presence, their faces
heating a bit from embarrassment.

“Do you two know what time it is?”

Anji and Eri exchanged a quick look, and Anji looked back at the samurai
with a nervous smile, “Late?”

“Very late, Anji.”

He visibly shrank and cowered at her calm glare, smiling wilting as he swallowed
the lump in his throat.

Baiken glanced at Eri specifically, her gaze softening noticeably when
she caught the wetness on her cheeks…and then went right back to unamused when
she saw the kimono in her grasp.

“Anji…”

“Yes dear?”

“Where did that kimono come from?”

Another audible gulp, “Well, I bought it, of course.”

She looked back at him, a curious look in her eye, “Oh? Did you
now?” She took a few steps closer to him, Anji sweating more and more with
every inch she overtook, “And with whose money did you buy it,
exactly?”

A moment of silence, “Mine, obviously.”

“And what exactly made it your money?”

“…the fact that I’m going to skip lunch for the next week?”

Anji and Baiken locked eyes for a few moments, Eri looking back and
forth between them in confusion. Eventually, Baiken sighed and rubbed her
forehead tiredly, “Fair enough.” She thrust her thumb behind her to
their shared futon, “Bed. Now.”

Anji got up with minimal ceremony and a quick bow, “Yes,
ma’am.” He left the room in two strides, leaving Baiken with Eri, who was
still clutching her new dress.

A few moments of awkward silence sank between the two, Baiken looking
away and clearing her throat.

“…how’s your shoulder?”

Eri rubbed her arm where newer bandages covered the wound from yesterday,
“It’s better…” Eri looked up at Baiken, the woman still looking away,
before lowering her gaze to her feet, “…I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“…don’t worry about it kid.”

Eri worried the cloth of her kimono between her fingers for a moment,
before getting to her feet and walking towards the futon with the folded gift
under her arm, her eyes trained on the floor the whole time. As she lifted up
the covers to lay down, she heard a frustrated sigh and a soft thump, looking
back to see Baiken resting her forehead on the side of the screen door.

“Bai-Miss Baiken-?”

“I’m not a good person, Eri.” She said, solemnly, her forehead
still pressed to the door, “never was, and chances are I never will
be.” She took a deep breath, and raised her head to look at the young girl
directly, eyes steady and serious, “But, when I make a promise? I always
keep it.”

Eri bit her lower lip, her eyes pricking at the edges.

“Do you understand?”

The girl nodded once, not trusting her voice.

“Good.” Baiken rubbed her forehead, watching Eri as she used
her sleeve to dry her eyes, catching sight of the red fabric again,
“Eri?” The girl looked up with a ruddy face, “…could you show me
the dress?”

Eri blinked a few times, before she blushed hard enough to glow and got
to her feet, grabbing the sleeves of her dress and spreading it over her form
above her sleepwear.

Baiken was quiet for a moment, eye roaming the designs on the cloth and
the vibrant red color, a soft smile gracing her usually hardened face, “Looks
good on ya kid, wear it tomorrow when we head out.”

The girl nodded rapidly, face still glowing red “Yes, thank you!
Miss Baiken!”

“Just Baiken is fine kid, I already told.” The samurai
rolled her eye, but the soft smile still rested on her face as she turned to
her side of the room, her hand grabbing the screen door in order to close it.

But before that she stopped, and looked back at Eri as she folded her
kimono and put aside before she crawled under the covers.

“…Good night, Eri.”

The screen door quietly slide closed, shutting with a feather soft thump
of wood and paper. The little girl bundled herself up in her blanket, and sunk
into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The wound on her shoulder, though still pulsing with quick moments of
pain, didn’t bother her at all.

(They left early in the morning. She had just barely enough time to get
dressed in her new clothes, taking Anji’s hand and grabbing Baiken’s pant leg
as they walked down the street.

She threw away her old kimono without a thought, determined to take
better care of this one.

Her shoulder stopped throbbing as she did, and soon she forgot about
it.)