Story: Kintsugi
Pairing(s): Implied Madara|Mio
Word Count: 2310
Rating: T
Author's Comment: I initially wrote "The Kuronuma Tree" in Takuto's POV. Due to a last minute decision to cut the previous chapter, I ended up changing it to Mio's POV for consistency's sake. However, I loved Takuto and Yayoi's conversation that I felt it would be a loss to just discard what I had written. So, I'm releasing it as a oneshot.
Originally posted on January 9, 2015.
The Exception to the Rule
Yayoi nudged him awake that morning, ordering him to get dressed as she kicked off the fur covers to do the same. As she hurried around his yurt searching for her clean robes and a warm jacket, Kuronuma Takuto sat up, rubbing his drowsy face somewhat aware that the sun had not yet risen. His thought process was a tad slower, but he noted how strange it was for Yayoi to be up so early. He usually woke first and normally dragged her out of bed by cooking something fragrant and delicious to get her day started.
"Why are you sitting there for?" asked Yayoi, receiving a skeptical look in response. "The Kuronuma Tree! I heard something from the house and I think Mio and Madara are planting the tree."
"You can hear that far away?" he questioned, yawning into his hand.
Yayoi froze, hesitated, and said, quite suspiciously, "Yes."
Takuto pushed his body to stand, heavy limbed and somnolent, and went to wash his face in a basin of cool water to promote a bit of wakefulness. It provided a little clarity on what previously sounded like a long murmur, translating it into words. He stood stiffly before the washbowl watching the water he held pooled in his cupped hands drip onto the rippling surface.
Planting a Kuronuma Tree—a black-barked tree with sharp limbs that was known for growing while blossoms under harsh, wintry conditions—was a longstanding tradition in marriages on Mt. Hyōga that was said to have begun with Kiyohime's marriage to the blacksmith. It was symbolic to plant it the following day, as any other day would mark misfortune on the newly wedded couple. Regardless of the stories attached to the symbol, none of the Kuronuma expected Mio and Madara to wake before dawn to plant a tree. They were far from superstitious and after what happened to Saori, he knew Mio was in a fragile state.
"Takuto?"
He snapped out of his thoughts, turning to Yayoi, who held out a pale haori for him to wear. "We should go."
Takuto understood her meaning. She wanted to make sure everything was well with Mio and Madara, knowing Mio had been feverish and re-experiencing the imbalance in black water she occasionally did. If anything happened to her, she wanted to be there.
He took the haori and slid it on over his sleeping robes.
They stepped out together. Takuto froze, looking around to find his yurt several yards away from the encampment and much closer to Sachiyo's house. He looked at Yayoi, who shrugged.
"What?"
"You moved my yurt, Yayoi!" he cried.
"For a good cause!"
"I have to be watching Saori!"
"It's okay, I moved her, too."
Takuto took a few steps back and saw another yurt beside his own. "How did you even do this?"
"With my hands!" she answered, wiggling her fingers. "How else would I do it?"
Takuto was stunned the entire time he took a detour to make sure Saori was doing well. She was being watched by a medic that informed him her condition was stable. He was on the clock with six other medics, each taking a few hours to observe her and ensure his treatments worked and that she was recovering.
Takuto met with Yayoi after she reached an area far enough from the lakeside where Mio and Madara could go about their business without being disturbed by their presence and where they had a clear view of the two.
He watched the scene, chest tight. Mio dug through snow and dirt having relinquished the spade that she had brought out to aid in the process. She did it with a jarring determination that made Yayoi reached to take his hand and squeeze as their Shugosha cut and tore at her fingernails, using them as if they were unbreakable shovels. Madara consistently tried to stop her, going as far as raising his voice, stunning the entire world around them into silence.
"Stop this!" he snapped, jerking her attention to him as he held her bloody hands by the wrists. "Stop it."
Yayoi took a step forward. "We have to bandage her up."
Takuto tightened his hold on her hand, stopping her from moving further. When the priestess turned in search of an explanation, he merely shook his head. Mio only needed to be with Madara. He understood her a little better and was able to see the pain coursing through her like the blood in her veins. He could provide support for her without difficulty.
Madara uttered a few more words as Mio visibly sobbed. She brought her hands to cover her face, letting out a pained cry that reached them. It struck him like a shard of ice and spread through him, leaving him numb. As he watched her break down, crumple into herself in search of the solace tears could provide her if only she were capable of emptying herself of them. If they had been able to carrying the pain out of her body, it would have been better, but they couldn't. She carried all the aches and pains inside her, learning to live with them the same way she learned to live with the death of her first Guardian. The pain she described was one he could never imagined—splintered bones, being torn apart, never truly able to be the person you had been before.
Saori had been so near death and Mio had been overcome with the pain, the same she felt when Taiga died.
Madara stood, picking the spade up from the ground and began to dig the hole.
"Isn't there something we could do?" asked Yayoi quietly, tightening her grip. "To make it hurt less."
"We can support her," he answered. "It is about the only thing we can do."
"I fear…" Yayoi paused, her eyes glued on Mio's hunched form. "I fear that is what we'll do to her. I fear she will have to mourn all of our deaths."
Takuto inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. He hoped that would not happen. He could not bear it if she lost anyone else and he knew each one of her guardians were important to her. "That leaves us no choice, then," he said, turning away from Mio and Madara to meet Yayoi's expectant gaze. "We'll have to survive through to the end as she will."
The end meant the destruction of the artifacts, a feat they were far from accomplishing even though Mio had already made a move towards seeing it done. There was no way she could break the artifacts without killing herself, though he had a sneaking suspicion that she had already tried that route and had been bearing with the consequences by herself.
"We can do that, can't we?" asked Takuto, finding Yayoi too silent with worry.
"We can try," she said at last.
Madara dug a deep enough hole and dropped the shovel, heaving the Kuronuma Tree into the ground. The processes earned him scratches on his hands and arms and a few splintered fingers that looked to bother him as he pushed the dirt back into place. He patted the ground around the trunk to ensure it was secure before he took a seat beside her.
Mio leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Her body shook with emotion.
"We will have our families," Takuto continued. "We will be here to see them surrounded by children, not to mention watch Mio dissolve into tears when she gives birth to Shinra."
The comment brought a hint of a smile to her lips. "She started praying to the Goddess of Fertility and Childbirth a week before the wedding," Yayoi said, referring to the Motou clan's gods. "She's been asking for daughters. I don't even have the heart to tell her I have only seen sons in her future. She definitely chose the wrong man to procreate with."
Takuto brought her hand up and set his other atop hers. "I think it is best we take this knowledge with us to the grave."
"You should have been there when Madara ordered for Sachiyo to be taken away."
"Why?"
"Sachiyo told him that she'd be extremely disappointed in both of them if he hadn't put a child in Mio by the time she returned."
"That woman is certainly determined to become a great-grandmother," Takuto sighed. "I mean remember that day she locked them in the storage room."
"I was surprised they humored her before they broke the door."
"Yeah." He cast one final glance in their direction. "I think we should leave them be. Madara can take care of Mio."
Yayoi reluctantly followed his lead. "We should have at least offered to help with those scratches."
"There was no need for us to intrude. They need their privacy."
"That's rich coming from you."
"Well hello, kettle calling the pot black."
Yayoi harrumphed.
"Do you want breakfast or would you prefer sleeping for another hour?" Takuto suggested.
"Sleep," she said with a pout. "We slept nothing."
Everyone was expected to be quite exhausted after last night. Shortly after the attack and the capture of several enemy shinobi, Madara ordered the entire surrounding forest to be searched for signs of any others. He dispatched scouts to gather information and had been up for quite a while aiding in the torture of the captured shinobi.
The possibility of danger had been so great, Mio woke in the middle of the night, fighting past exhaustion and fever, to feed more chakra into the Climate Sphere to create a powerful snowstorm around the Uchiha's territory. Believing this would be the first of several forthcoming attacks, Takuto and Mio bid farewell to Yuuka and Noe, entrusting them to Murakami Keishuu and the Elder Taiki who took several of their clansmen towards the Iron Country where they were guaranteed protection. Many civilians from the village and a few Uchiha shinobi went also. This included Sako and her family, though Minako vehemently protested, wanting to stay behind. It had taken Mio having a short conversation with her to convince her to go quietly.
They secured the safety of as many people as they could and were left to wait until their enemies made their second move. Everyone was on high alert. There were guards posted everywhere, taking shifts. Takuto mobilized his shinobi because the attack had been at them, harming one of their Guardians, and the Kuronuma had taken care of setting traps around the perimeter of the territory.
Takuto pulled Yayoi back inside his yurt. Everything that needed to be handled had been.
"I am worried for Izuna," Yayoi admitted.
"Why?" asked Takuto, settling into his side of the bed as he covered himself with his thinnest sheets. He reserved the heavier blankets for Yayoi, though she had a tendency of worming her way under him. "He seems healthy. Besides, the Tea Country isn't that far. He'll be back in no time."
"That's not what I meant," she complaint, turning on her stomach while hugging one of the plush pillows under her. "Madara married Mio."
"And he made it happen," Takuto reminded.
"Yes, but I'm not blind," Yayoi replied. "He is in love with Mio and I am worried it will become a problem later."
"Do you actually think he would have his brother killed so he could marry Mio? Because that was a ridiculous rumor someone started."
"No! Not like that!" Yayoi frowned. "What are we going to do when he decides he wants to seduce Mio? And you know that if Izuna wants to seduce you, you will be seduced!"
"What? Has he seduced you?"
"No!"
"Then why are you this concerned over nothing?"
"Nothing? Will it simply be nothing when he seduces Mio? Huh?"
"If he's seducing anyone it's the kimono maker's apprentice."
Yayoi grabbed him by the collar. "What is this you are spewing from your blasphemous mouth?"
Takuto remembered seeing Izuna engaging the kimono maker's apprentice during the reception. "He spent half the night keeping her company," he said. "Of course, you were too busy scoping out all the good old men to notice anyone else."
"Good old men?" she sputtered.
"Don't act so insulted." Takuto tossed the heavier blankets on top of her. "And stop worrying about Izuna. He's happy for them now that they're married."
"Do you know the apprentice's name?"
"Huh? Why?"
"Well, do you?"
"Terashima Itoko, why?"
Yayoi smiled.
He had a bad feeling about having given her this information as she would no doubt abuse it, but she seemed so pleased with herself that he could forgive his mistake.
"You know, there is a rumor going around that you have a lover," Yayoi said as he started to drift to sleep.
"Hmm? Me? A lover?" Takuto chuckled. "Is it you?"
"Pfft! That's ridiculous! You are too young!"
He cracked open an eye, annoyed. "I am older than you."
"Only a year older."
"That is still a year difference."
Yayoi blinked. "What? Do you want to be the exception?"
"We can talk this over some other time," Takuto said, preferring to leave the conversation until they were not dealing with their current troubles.
She stared at him suspiciously. "Shame on you, Takuto," she said, "letting another woman sleep in your bed even though you already have someone."
"It's rude to put words in someone's mouth."
"Hmmm."
Although she chose to abstain from bombarding him, he knew this would not be the last he heard of that rumor. It did surprise him to see that it had followed him all the way to the Fire Country when he thought he had nipped it while still in the Iron Country.
However, they slept nothing more than a few minutes when Kaori came beckoning and he woke to start his day with Yayoi going to be by Saori's side.
