Even though the road that curved around the bottom of Mt. Leikaku was busy with travelers and merchants coming into town for the weekend's Suzaku Festival in Souun, the sun was hot enough that all Kai could think about was finding shade. The sun was almost directly overhead so she wasn't having much luck, and every time she'd managed to find a cool place another traveler came through loaded with goods. Her green eyes darted to her waterskin and she sighed when she remembered that it was almost empty.
It had been a little over a year since Kai had struggled her way up the side of the mountain in the hopes of joining the Mt. Leikaku bandits, braving the same burning sky and precarious rocks that she knew she'd have to deal with on her way back up to the fortress when someone switched off with her. Judging from the position of the sun, however, it wasn't going to be anytime soon. The bushes nearby rustled and Kai looked over at them almost lazily, thinking of how much trouble it would be to draw her sword in this weather. When a man that was at least twice her size, if not more, came out of them she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Please tell me you've come to relieve me," she said to him and he shook his head.
"Sorry, brat." Nami slung a full waterskin at her and she caught it. "Just comin' by to check on you on the way to the restaurant."
"Remember when we sat by this road together, Nami? Just you and me…" She squinted into the sun. "…the occasional breeze." Nami laughed and shook his head. "You don't remember?"
"Of course I remember. How could I forget bein' stuck listenin' to you chatter on for hours on end?" He shielded his eyes from the sun. "Only thing that could make it worse was full sun at noon." Nami looked back at Kai. "Maybe you could talk to the birds. Unless they're hidin' out from the sun too."
"Come on, check on the restaurant and then come back to sit with me for a little while. We could switch off for a little while so I could stop baking out here."
"No thanks," Nami said. "I don't have any interest in gettin' a sunburn today. Maybe the next merchant you pick off will have an umbrella you can swipe. Then you can sit out here and look really girly." Kai growled at him and slung the empty waterskin at his head. She'd gotten stronger since she came to the mountain, and it would have easily hit him if he hadn't been fast enough to snatch it out of the air. "Nice try, brat."
"Go check on the restaurant," she said, hands on her hips. Nami walked back down the path laughing and she resisted the urge to throw a rock at him. "Girly," she snorted as she stormed over to a boulder that sat by the road and hoisted herself onto it. "I'll show him girly."
Ever since Kai had revealed to the rest of the bandits that she was in fact a woman and not the undersized boy she'd told them she was, it had been a source of great amusement to the other bandits to tease her about being feminine or weak when it couldn't be further from the truth. Since she'd arrived, she'd trained her hardest to get strong. Though she was small, she never shrank from even the hardest tasks whether she was capable of doing them or not.
"Girly," she grumbled again as she stared at the road. The sun was hot on her dark hair but she refused to continue her attempts to find shade, as if trying to prove to Nami that she wasn't a delicate flower. He had been her first real friend on the mountain, and as such he took pleasure in teasing her whenever possible. As much as it annoyed her, Kai couldn't help thinking of him as a big brother.
A creak on the road just around the bend alerted her to the fact that a traveler was coming. She'd come so far from the days when Nami had to accompany her that she was often put on the road alone to intercept travelers now. At first Genrou had objected, telling her she was much too important to risk herself that way, but Kai had gotten used to doing whatever she wanted and she told him flat out that she was perfectly capable of doing it on her own. Whether he believed her or just didn't feel like arguing with her was uncertain. Kai slid off the boulder and wandered to the road after taking a long, grudging drink from the waterskin.
The cart was moving slowly, which to Kai's ears said that it was loaded with whatever the merchant was planning to sell at the Festival and she started trying to calculate a decent toll for going through the mountains. If he was a regular guy passing through, it would be easy enough but if she sensed anything off about him she'd whistle for backup. She stepped into the road as the horse came around the bend and she smiled.
"Hey there," she said as the man came around the corner. He was dressed nicely but not flashily, a wise choice for a man traveling on his own and she knew at once he was just a merchant passing through. Five percent would be fair. "Coming to Souun for the Festival?"
"Yes," the man said, stopping the cart and climbing down. "You must be one of the Mt. Leikaku bandits I've heard so much about." He reached into the cart beneath a heavy tarp and rummaged around. "I prepared some money for you, please let me know if it's not enough."
"Oh," Kai said, trying not to show her surprise as she approached the man. He held out a bag of money to her and she took it and weighed it in her hand. It was an unusual occurrence but not unheard of. If people were passing through the mountain they almost certainly knew they were going to pay a toll. Money was always better than goods they'd have to try and sell later, so she didn't have a problem accepting it. "This is plenty. Mind if I look over your goods though? Just in case?"
"No, no, please go ahead." He stepped away from the cart and Kai went toward it after tucking the money into her sash. "It's…unusual for a woman to be a bandit, isn't it?"
"I'm one in a million," she said, looking under the tarp. It looked like a run of the mill collection of textiles and she nodded. "Looks good." When she turned back to the man, he was much closer to her and looking very closely at her face. "Hey," she said, frowning. "Step back."
"Shika?" The sound of her real name was like thunder and she froze. Kai looked at the man, trying to determine whether or not she would have to run for the fortress. When she looked into his eyes, though, her heart nearly stopped. They were green, exactly the same shade as hers.
"Oniichan?"
"Shika, it is you!" Without warning, he put his arms around Kai and hugged her tightly enough to take her breath away. Her first thought was to squirm away but instead she put her arms around her brother and hugged him back. "I thought you died with Mother, or that the soldiers took you when the village was raided! I never thought I'd see you again."
"Me either," she said with a smile, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "I was sure you and Father were both killed in the war. We were told you were in one of the battles with Kutou soldiers." She smiled and leaned her head against him. "I'm so happy to see you, Oniichan."
"You've grown up so beautifully," he said, holding her out at arm's length so he could look at her. "You're not my crying baby sister anymore, that's for sure."
"Hah," Kai said with a smirk. "You can say that again."
"But what in Suzaku's name are you wearing?" He shook his head. "Now that I think about it, what are you doing on this mountain? You're not a prisoner, are you?" This made Kai laugh and she shook her head. Her hair had gotten longer but she kept it pulled back into a ponytail. She suspected if she took it down she'd look more like her brother's image of a good sister.
"Hardly." She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled, a long sharp note that carried up the mountain. "Some of the other guys should be here in a minute. I'll walk you up the road to the fortress and you can stay there for the night. Unless you'd rather I walk you down to Souun and get you set up. It's up to you. I'd rather you came up, though."
"Why?"
"There's someone I'd like you to meet," Kai said with a smile as she saw someone jogging up the path. Her whistle had been non-urgent so it only brought another couple of guys, who joined her by the wagon. "Hey guys."
"Something wrong, Kai?"
"Kai?" Her brother looked at her curiously but she didn't answer him.
"Everything's fine," she said. "This guy's my brother Shuhei. I'd like to give him a personal escort if you two don't mind watching the road while I do." She looked at her brother. "Up or down?"
"If it's safe," he said carefully, "I'd rather go up. I want to be with my little sister as long as possible."
"It's settled then," she said with a smile. "I'll walk him up the side of the mountain. And expect something special when you get home tonight. This is going to be a celebration." Kai looked at her brother and her smile grew wider. "Come on, follow me." Nodding, Shuhei got back up on the wagon and snapped his horse's reins.
"You should be riding up here with me," he said as Kai motioned for him to follow her. She laughed and shook her head.
"No thanks. I've gone up and down this path so often on foot that it would be weird to do it on the back of a wagon. Besides, I need to guide the horse around a couple of tight areas." Kai started up the mountain, waving back at the other bandits as she did. "So where have you been?"
"After the war ended, I went back to our village and found that it had been burned to the ground. So many people were dead. Mother was gone, no one had seen you since the army left, so I made my way to the capital and started working for a textile merchant. Father had taught me a few things so I made myself useful right away and before I knew it I'd struck out on my own in Isaya. Business hasn't been great so I brought some things with me thinking I could test the waters in Souun and see if I could set up there." He smiled at Kai. "What about you, Shika? What have you been doing? Have you been here all this time?"
"No," she said, taking the horse's reins. "I wandered around Konan for a while. Couldn't cross into any other countries without papers right after the war so I just started my career as a thief. Got pretty good at it too, until I came across the madam of a teahouse who took me in."
"You were…a courtesan?"
"No, no," Kai said, shaking her head. "I just did their housekeeping and served them food until I found something better." She pulled the horse around to a narrower area. "There's a net over in the wide area, I don't want your horse to trip it."
"Thank you." Shuhei sighed. "This is all so much to take in. Something better. You call being a mountain bandit something better. My poor little Shika, if I'd only known you were alive I could have taken better care of you."
"I'm doing fine," she said with a smile. "My friends are all here and we have a good thing going. You said it yourself, you heard all about us. We're not your usual kind of bandits." She pointed to the fortress on top of the hill. "Won't be too much longer now."
They were mostly quiet on the way up the mountain until they reached the front gate where two men were standing guard. Kai waved at them and they lowered their weapons. One came over to her and they shook hands, then clapped each other on the back.
"What'd this guy do?"
"He's a friend," Kai said, looking over her shoulder at Shuhei. She motioned for him to get off the wagon. "Take his horse around to the stables if you would, and put the wagon somewhere safe. I'm going to take him into the fortress."
"You got it, Kai." One of the bandits took the reins while Shuhei climbed down and followed his sister through the slowly opening gate.
"Thanks, guys." She turned around and walked backwards as she spoke. "Genrou inside?"
"Yeah, he should be in your room. That's where I saw him last."
"Good. See you guys at dinner." Looking back at Shuhei with a smile, she nodded toward the fortress. "I hope you like good liquor because we've been saving some for a special occasion. I was also saving some special ingredients for a dinner before the Suzaku Festival but I think this is much more important. Genrou'll agree with me, I'm sure." She led him up the steps and Nami came over to her. "I thought you were at the restaurant."
"I was but I came back up here afterward. Who's this?" Nami looked Shuhei up and down, then narrowed his one eye at him. "Huh. A family member? I thought you were an orphan."
"This is my brother, Shuhei." Kai motioned to Nami with a grin. "Oniichan, this is my good friend Nami. Though I guess I could call him a sort of big brother. He spent a lot of time looking after me when I first came up here."
"She's the annoying little brother I never had," Nami said with an equally large grin. He extended a hand to Shuhei, who took it uncertainly and shook it. "Good to meet you. I guess she's takin' you to meet Genrou?"
"I suppose so?" Shuhei looked at Kai, who nodded towards the leader's room. "Pleased to meet you," he said to Nami. "Thank you for taking care of Shika."
"Come on," Kai said. "We'll see you at dinner, Aniki." They went down the hall and Kai looked at her brother. Her grin had become a much softer smile. "This guy is really important to me, so I hope you like him. I've told him about you, and that I thought you were dead. I know he'll be just as happy to see you as I am."
"Of course I'll like him," Shuhei said. "He took you in and saved you from becoming a courtesan, and he's kept you safe all this time."
"I hope so." She knocked lightly on the door, then opened it without waiting for an invitation and motioned for Shuhei to follow her.
Genrou was sitting at the low table in the room he shared with Kai, looking seriously at a map. His flame-colored hair was unruly as always, completely at odds with how focused he was on the map. He looked up when she came in and grinned, then stood up and went over to her.
"Hey, I thought ya were still down on the road."
"I switched off with Oran and Jiro. There was someone I wanted to bring up here." She looked over her shoulder, only to discover that Shuhei wasn't with her. "Hey, Oniichan, come on in. What are you still doing outside?"
"Oniichan?" Genrou looked at the door and Shuhei came in uncertainly, looking around at the comparative lavishness of the leader's room. "This guy's your brother?"
"Yes," Kai said, grabbing her brother's arm and pulling him over to Genrou. "This is my brother Shuhei. He's been alive all this time."
"Nice to meetcha," Genrou said, shaking Shuhei's hand vigorously. "I'm Genrou, the leader around here. Make yourself at home, we'll take care of ya. In fact, we'll have a big dinner to celebrate ya bein' alive."
"I was just thinking that," Kai said with a grin, and Genrou laughed and put an arm around her neck. "I know I've been hanging around you too long when we start thinking the same thing."
"Yeah, I don't know why ya put up with me." He pulled her closer and smiled at her, then looked over at her brother. "We got an empty room ya can stay in as long as ya want. This place's kinda outta the way but we get pretty much anything we want." He grinned down at Kai again. "Guess it's a good thing ya argued with me about puttin' ya on the road today."
"It was all part of my master plan," Kai said. She put her arm around his waist. "What do you say, Oniichan? Do you want to stay here during the Festival? We can take you down the mountain whenever you want to go."
"Thank you for the kind offer," Shuhei said, somewhat nervously, "but I have to set up my things in town if I'm going to sell anything."
"Ya gotta at least stay for dinner tonight," Genrou said. "We'll take ya down to Souun in the morning and make sure ya get set up in a good spot." He winked at Shuhei. "We can probably pull a coupl'a strings to make it happen."
"Thank you," Shuhei said. "I do appreciate it." He gave Genrou a tentative smile and the bandit leader went to the door and looked out.
"Hey, Kouji," he shouted. A young man with a scar on his face and blue-black hair came around the corner. "This' Kai's big brother. Find a nice place for him to stay for the night and get Yuta started on somethin' special for dinner. We're havin' a party."
"Oh, great!" Kouji's face lit up. "Between this and the Suzaku Festival we're gonna be livin' like kings up here." He nodded toward the door. "C'mon, we'll get you someplace to sleep. What's your name again?" Kouji led Shuhei out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Kai and Genrou alone in his room.
"Thanks for letting him stay here," Kai said with a smile. "I just can't believe he's alive. After all these years, finding him here is unbelievable. I don't even know what to say to him." Genrou went over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Just tell him how ya feel. Tell him ya missed him and that ya love him. My sisters were a nightmare but I love 'em." He looked off to the side. "Mostly."
"You're probably right." Kai put her arms around his neck. "I'm going to take him down to Souun tomorrow so he can get set up. Mind if I take one of the horses?"
"Ya think ya can mount up without slidin' off the back?" Genrou grinned and put his arms around her waist. Kai scowled at him and he leaned down to kiss her. "I'll go down with ya, see if I can talk the festival organizers into givin' him a good spot."
"Thanks," Kai said. "I only glanced at his textiles but they look like they're great quality. Oh," she said, her eyes widening. She took the money bag Shuhei had given her out of her sash. "I forgot. He gave me this bag of money as a toll before he realized who I was and I haven't given it back to him."
"I'm sure Kouji's puttin' him in Ichi's old room if ya wanna go give it back." He shrugged. "I wouldn't feel right keepin' your brother's money."
"I knew I loved you for a reason." She kissed him quickly and headed for the door. "See you at dinner." Genrou sat back down and looked at the map while she went out into the hallway.
Ichi's old room was near the one she had shared with Nami when she first came to Mt. Leikaku, so she made her way down the familiar hall and stopped in front of Ichi's door. It was closed so she knocked on it lightly.
"Y-yes?"
"Oniichan, it's me," she said. "Can I come in?"
"Shika? Of course, please do!" The relief was evident in his voice and Kai pushed open the door to find him sitting on the bed, looking uncertain. "Thank Suzaku you came. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. That gentleman – Kouji, your friend called him – said to make myself at home but I wasn't sure."
"Oh, feel free to wander around," Kai said with a shrug. "It's not as exciting as you'd think up here but we have a nice bathhouse if you want to take a bath. There's a hot spring in the mountain that feeds into it." She handed him the money bag. "Here, take this back. You don't have to pay a toll, you're family. Besides, Genrou said he wouldn't feel right keeping it."
"That's kind of him," Shuhei said, taking the bag. "But I'd much rather you kept it. Think of it as all the gifts I wasn't able to buy you growing up." Kai smiled.
"You really don't have to," she said. "I've got everything I need here. But if it makes you feel better I'll take it. I'm sure I can find some use for it with the Suzaku Festival coming up." She took the money and sat on the bed beside her brother. "Thanks, Oniichan."
"So this Genrou," Shuhei said carefully, "he's your lover?"
"There's a bit more to it than that," she said with a smile, a little surprised to find that she was blushing. "But yes, he is."
"How did you meet?" Kai couldn't help laughing at this, hard enough to make tears appear at the corners of her eyes. "Did I say something funny?"
"Come with me," Kai said, standing up and grabbing her brother's wrist. "Let's find some of the good liquor and I'll tell you all about it." Shuhei looked uncertain but she grinned at him. "It involves cross-dressing and a lot of wasted arrows." Her brother looked alarmed at this but when Kai tugged him out the door she didn't care. Her brother was alive and nothing was going to separate them again.
