Story: Redesign

Pairing(s): None

Word Count: 1141

Rating: T

Summary: This is the follow-up to The Bartering of Uchiha Mio. Last part.

Author's Comment: Shin is like a rare, legendary pokemon and he is such a gem for it.

Enjoy delving into Taiga's intentions. If you fully grasp what he means by the end of this short scene, you might change your mind about him. He might not be as creepy as he's made out to be. He is just misunderstood.

Originally posted on February 23, 2014.

The Gamekeepers

The man sat among the spidery limbs of a tree toying with the strangely shaped dagger that hung from the slanted belt around his waist when Taiga arrived from the Sun Country. He was a breath away from the straight path leading to the merchant town where Jouji awaited him. The Kuronuma, Shin, lowered his pale, rose eyes to acknowledge his presence with a hint of a smile.

"Welcome back, Oh Nameless One," greeted Shin, waving gaily. "I do hope the witch received you kindly. The poor girl is senile. She tends to forget her manners."

Taiga halted before him as a courtesy. Men like Kuronuma Shin were not easily ignored, not in any lifetime. He was wary of the man. He understood he was capable of much despite his airy disposition and his seemingly problem-free world. He did not trust Shin as far as he could throw him, but the feeling between the two was mutual and from it, he recognized they had some level of respect for one another—at least a modicum, but it was better to have it than have nothing.

"I was offered tea," said Taiga, hands sliding into his pants' pockets.

"I hope you refused it. Those girls of hers brew terrible tea."

"Are you that interested in our conversation?" asked Taiga, grinning.

Shin sheathed his dagger and leaned forward, both hands clamped over the base of the branch where he sat. "No, not so much," he answered. "I only came to see that you made it back with all your limbs attached. The situation in the Sun Country is terrible. I would loathe to see you get caught in it—all personal feelings aside, of course."

Taiga shrugged, indifferent to the concern and the memory of his discussions with Ayuka of the Fate Sphere. "I am intact," he stated. "Now, how does one get rid of you?"

The Kuronuma laughed heartily, hopping down from his seat. He stretched his arms high over his head, yawning. The man was of an astounding height and long white hair as customary with all Kuronuma descendants. "Excellent question," he said, smiling. "Unfortunately, there is no method to the craft. I simply decide when to go."

"Have you decided?"

Shin stepped forward, towering over him with the same gracious smile on his lips. "Have you decided?" he asked. "You have been given two propositions concerning my granddaughter and the grand scheme of things. You have taken your first step into a war that has been raging in silence for years. A decision must be made. Will you fight for preservation or destruction? Whom will you fight for? What will you fight for? How will you fight for it? You have hundreds of questions to answer, half made up of decisions you must make quickly. The time is nigh, Nameless One."

"Should you entrust this responsibility to me?" asked Taiga in amusement, though the Kuronuma's words lingered in his mind. "Ayuka has offered me fair compensation for my loyalty. What have you done?"

"I am letting you live, is that not enough compensation?" hummed Shin, as if he had said anything other than state that he owed him his life.

"She is giving me Mio."

"Mio is not hers to give," the Kuronuma said, his pale eyes dancing with malice.

"That won't matter once I guide her into the Sun Country, she was being offered to the king as bride, whether or not I had interfered," Taiga remarked, feeling his anger rekindle. "What will you do when that happens? Where will you be? You are as involved in this mess of a war as that woman, and yet, you both stand outside as your chosen champions' battle over trash!"

"I am not long for this world," Shin admitted, surprising him with the revelation. "I have another year or two, three if I am fortunate, but like you said, my days are numbered and my champion is a child."

"That is splendid," said Taiga, stepping back as he waved his arms exasperatedly. "You are about to die, too? Are you determined to leave behind this chaos?"

"I thought I already made a mention to all that—yes, yes to all of your inquiries. I intend to do them both."

"What is to stop me from accepting Ayuka's proposition?" demanded Taiga, furious with Shin's nonchalance. "You would be dead, I would owe you nothing, and Mio would be mine."

Shin sighed, averting his eyes as he brought his fingers to scratch underneath his chin. "I understand naught what you expect to gain from staking your claim on Mio," he said, sounding perplexed and bored all the same. "She will never accept you out of her own volition—it will always be for necessity or to keep you from ruining Sako's life—and she will not love you. There will always be another and another and another. No matter how many you kill, there will always be another love in her life. She is not Ayuka's to give."

"And you will let every other man use her?"

"Mio is not a fool. When she enters the war and when I am dead, she will let no man or woman use her. She is capable, more than you and half the world give her credit for, and she will survive." Shin tucked his hands into his sleeves and started to wander off. "Mio is the Shugosha. She will handle her future."

"Until then, you hope to control her life?"

The Kuronuma merely smiled.

"Why don't you and Ayuka kill each other off and end it? Let Mio be."

"There are rules to the game, Nameless One," Shin replied, turning around, though he continued walking away. He raised his voice to make sure he could hear him. "Rules Ayuka and I are bound by, rules implemented after an accident I may or may not have been responsible for, and these rules cannot be broken."

Taiga watched him go with resentment towards Mio's situation. She was the only one that knew nothing of the battles being fought for her and the Kuronuma's relics. It left him to wonder how she might react when she came to understand what it all meant. He could picture her panicking—crying and quitting. Her grandfather expected too much from her and Ayuka read too much into her readings. Mio was strong in her own right—capable in her skill set—but, the Kuronuma artifacts, Shin and Ayuka's chaotic inheritance, her fate as Shugosha, and the death that surrounded her would be enough to drive her crazy.

He did not expect her to survive it and he planned to do everything in his power to interfere with both Shin and Ayuka's plans by accepting Ayuka's offer. He would have Mio once Enki was dead and whatever came after that would come.