Chapter 2 – The wait
It is a wise father that knows his own child - William Shakespeare
She couldn't sleep that night. Try as she might, all Hitomi could do was toss and turn until the light of the two suns streamed through a crack in the curtains. Full council would be held today, and if they didn't make the right choice, their fate would be sealed.
Hitomi turned her head as her door creaked open silently. "Hitomi ?" Kenta whispered as he entered the room. "Are you awake?"
"Have been most of the night" she replied, her voice hushed mirroring his tone.
There was a strained silence between the two of them for a few seconds before Kenta spoke again. "I spoke to father, if things go wrong, you need to leave." She turned her eyes towards his stoic face. "What?" she hissed.
"You need to go." he repeated "they can't know, they can't find out the Furemuai trait is still active in the blood line. I... I don't know what they'll do. I don't know what will happen to you..." He looked up at her.
"Kenta..." She started, but he raised his hand, silencing her.
"Hitomi . You're my baby sister, its my job to protect you, and that's exactly what I'll do. I've made contact with some of the sister clans, just in case."
She couldn't get a word out, couldn't retort before Kenta stood, and left the room.
She stared at the door as she sat up, bringing her knees up to her chest she hugged her arms around them, her fingers twisting around each other nervously. She never understood why She was always treated differently... when did the change arise that her father suddenly decided I needed special treatment...? Her trail of though took a new path as a memory from her childhood clouded her mind...
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She shivered as she sat on the cold, surgical steel table. The man in the white coat in front of her shining a light into one eye, then the other. "Her sight is normal" he declared softly, turning his head slightly to look at her father stood in the corner. He picked up a small device and scanned her head with it, the blue light falling over her young features.
"No swelling on the brain or eyes either..." he said puzzled.
The doctor stood back for a moment, giving her a perplexed look. "I can't see any reason for her to be hallucinating, there's nothing physical causing it." He stepped away from her and moved over to his book shelf, pulling down a few thick tomes and flicking through them.
"Remind me again what she is seeing?" he questioned, throwing a glance at her father. "Light." he replied, "she thinks she can see weird light in people. It comes and it goes."
The doctor raised a brow as rested on a page of one of the books. He twisted his mouth to the side in thought as he read.
"Let me take a blood test. There's one more thing I'd like to rule out."
Her father nodded once, and the physician made his way towards the child, needle and syringe in hand. He took a sample of her blood as gently as he could, holding a small piece of cotton wool to the tiny cut to stop it bleeding. He took her other hand and pressed her thumb against the cotton ball, instructing the young girl to hold it in place.
He moved slowly over to an old looking computer in the far corner of the room. Placing the sample into the machine. After he adjusted the settings he returned to my side, removing the cotton wool from her arm and applying a small plaster with a warm smile. He turned his head as the machine bleeped, and walked towards his monitor.
She saw his eyes narrow as he threw her a glance. He chucked his tongue on the roof of his mouth as he turned to look at the girls father.
"Tell me," he questioned, "just how long has the Furemuai trait been inactive for in your clan?"
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She chewed the side of her lip, that was the day when everything changed. That is when her father, and brother had begun to treat her differently to everyone else. She was pulled out of combat classes, it took months of begging and pleading with her father before she was allowed to have one to one classes with her Uncle, who was of course informed of the test results.
Strict instruction was agreed between us that no one, was to ever find out that the Furemuai trait was active again. Her father didn't want anyone to know of her gift. She knew she would never understand why, they are part of the Furemuai clan for goodness sake! Surely, surely, they should be proud that the trait that makes them, them is alive within their blood. But no, all it did was segregate Hitomi from her peers. Pfft, it isn't a gift, its a curse.
She exhaled, calming Hershel and threw the covers off her body, padding towards her dressing room ahead. She flicked through a few dressed dresses, most of which she had always refused to wear before she finally came to rest on my chosen article of clothing. She pulled the black bodysuit off the hander and walked back into the bedroom, chucking it on the bed absent-mindedly she strode into the large marble bathroom joining to the room.
Once I was showered and clean she padded back into the room and pulled the black sleeveless body suit on, zipping up the front. She pulled on a pair of heavy duty black boots on over the top of her shins. Glancing in the mirror Hitomi noticed her hair was still soaked. Shifting her Ki out of her body she allowed it to heat up around her. The sudden change in temperature causing steam to rise from her hair as it fluffed up slightly. Once she was satisfied it was dry enough she left the room, spreading her Ki out of her body once again she let a small layer of it go further... there he is... she mused as she sensed Kenta a few floors down. She retracted her Ki back into her body and headed down the stairs to find him.
It didn't take long to find him, he was stood awkwardly outside the council chamber. He jumped as she approached, with her Ki completely masked, he hadn't sensed her coming. "They've been in there for hours..." He muttered as she drew level with him.
Her silver eyes glanced at the large, gold patterned door in concern. The decision made today would dictate their future, that much she was certain. Her eyes darted back and she stared over Kenta's shoulder. Her lips pressed into a thin line. He narrowed his own eyes and glanced behind him, seeing nothing he looked back at Hitomi , just in time to see the red ring form around her iris. She stared off into the wall, before she blinked slowly, her eyes back to normal when her eyes re-opened.
"We need to move it," She hissed, "Cold is on the move."
Kenta frowned, looking behind him once more, Hitomi knew he couldn't sense them yet, but nevertheless he nodded. "Lets sneak up to the viewing gallery," Hitomi whispered as she began springing in that direction, her pace hasty. Kenta sighed and followed not far behind his younger sister.
The council hall was massive. By far one of the grandest rooms in the building, everything was decorated in red and gold. The huge room swept up the entire height of the building, panels of red glass in the ceiling cast a reddish glow down into the room. Set back into the walls were small viewing balcony's, accessed from the upper corridors. These were typically for when open council was held, for lower members of the clan to observe the decision of the council first hand. These were strictly off limits at the moment, but Hitomi knew her Ki was naturally masked to a level that would not be detected. As long as Kenta could keep his low, they wouldn't be detected. While in close proximity she could mask it to some degree, but he'd need to put at least a little effort in himself.
As they walked Hitomi allowed her Ki to creep out of her body, as she placed her hand on Kenta's shoulder, allowing her energy to seep into him and intermingle within his own Ki network. Hitomi drew a long breath out and gently pushed his Ki down to match her own. As long as they were within a foot or so of each other, she would be able to keep his Ki matched to her own, thus he would remain undetected.
She smirked dryly to herself. Before, she had to maintain constant contact with someone to mask their Ki, but now, after a lot of work, she was able to have a tiny bit of freedom.
It didn't take long for the two of them to reach one of the lower viewing balconies. They both ducked down and crawled towards the edge of the balcony. It wasn't railing, but a low wall, which meant they couldn't be seen. On the downside it made seeing a little more tricky.
Hitomi took a slow breath, closing her eyes I allowed her mind to clear, making sure to keep her hold on Kenta's Ki level so as not to reveal him. After a few seconds she slowly opened her eyes, the red ring around her iris back, she could see the occupants of the chamber far more easily. Her eyes darted quickly around them all before she allowed her eyes to return to their normal silver.
"They all there?" Kenta whispered, watching Hitomi intently.
"Almost, Uncle isn't there," she hissed back under her breath.
This wasn't unusual. Despite being their fathers brother, Masaru would often skip out on council meetings. Hitomi was genuinely surprised he chose to skip this one though... her thoughts however were cut short when she felt his presence sprint into the room.
Ah, he's just late... again. Hitomi thought to herself.
2 hours later...
Hitomi rubbed her temples as she leant back against the wall of the balcony, Kenta by her side. This had gone on for ages. Seriously, how much discussion can be had on one subject? No progress had been made it seemed, just arguments back and forth, for and against. Her head was beginning to hurt from keeping Kenta's Ki hidden for so long, and from the glances he kept throwing her, he knew.
"We need to go," he whispered to her "your going to start wavering soon, if we get caught we'll be in deep shit".
She knew he was right. It was such a shame their kind couldn't hide their Ki from each other. Otherwise he'd just be able to mask himself.
"I want to listen," Hitomi whispered back, "I'll take you back out, then come back, they won't ever sense me."
Kenta wrinkled his nose and pulled a face. He clearly wasn't keen on the idea.
"I'll tell you what happens" She affirmed him. They both crawled from the balcony back into the corridor. Hitomi knew better than to release the hold she had over the Ki in Kenta's body so close, so they walked through the corridors to get some distance between them and the council hall.
Once she was satisfied they were a reasonable distance away she slowly let go of Kenta's Ki.
Once her own Ki returned into her body, she pressed her fingers to her forehead, her thumb and little finger each resting on her temples as her palm touched her nose. She felt hot. At the same time a cold sweat ran over her and she tried to take a step forward, shaking, Hitomi misplaced her footing, stumbling to regain balance.
"Hitomi !" A voice bubbled behind her, muffled as if underwater.
Hitomi tried to take another step, but her legs gave out under her. She didn't fall far before she felt someone catch her. She blinked away the nauseous feeling, but the haze was settling over her eyes. A black fog descended, obscuring her vision of anything.
She'd over done it again. She'd held onto Kenta's Ki longer than her body could take... bugger...
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Hitomi groaned as her blurred vision focused in on the red and gold above her. She blinked a couple of times before she recognised it as the canopy above her bed. She gripped her head as I sat up slowly. She was in my room, laying on top of the blanket of her four poster bed, Kenta by her side.
"You pushed yourself too far" Kenta berated her, frowning. Hitomi signed as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, but didn't go any further.
"Look on the bright side" she mumbled.
"That's the longest I've ever done that for"
Hitomi smirked at the frown Kenta pulled. He was worried. He was always worried. He just couldn't get his head round the logic that, every time she pushed herself, she improved. Sure, she passed out every now and then, which was pretty rubbish to be fair, but it was a means to an end. It meant progress.
Kenta helped Hitomi up off the bed, helping her support her weight for the first few moments. "Council has finished" he advised her as we walked towards the door. "They be announcing the decision soon".
Hitomi gave a nervous sideways glance toward Kenta as they made our way towards the stairs to find out the result.
Hitomi paused at the top of the winding stairs, shaking her head to clear the last of the nausea. Kenta rested his hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly. "You sure your okay?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.
"I'm fine," she affirmed, "lets just get this over with."