Unspoken Reasons

Takeru walked briskly into the mansion and into his room. He did not utter a word, and a silencing aura seemed to emanate from him. It seemed to haunt the sitting room even after he had disappeared into his room like he used to after heated arguments with the rest of his team, which was a very common occurrence while he was posing as the 18th Head to protect Kaoru during the war.

Everyone was stunned. He had entrusted his life to them, and they did the same to him, before their final confrontation with Chimatsuri Doukoku over a year ago. And even during the times when he lost the small confidence he had in his bonds with the other Shinkengers, he had never been this cold towards anyone. What shocked everyone was that Mako seemed to be the cause of his sudden coldness. Mako - she could always read him and stop him whenever he acted rashly, and all of them knew that Mako was an important reason for why Takeru was still alive as a red-blooded man, free from the clutches of falling into Gedou, more than they cared to admit.

Mako's eyes looked bloodshot. She seemed to be confused, distraught, but somewhere in those dark pupils, there existed something else. She fought back her tears, and rushed into her room at the far end of the mansion, behind Kotoha's. Chiaki took one look at her and couldn't lie to himself that things were alright. Something was wrong - and from both ends. Once Mako had left, he dashed to Takeru's door and bashed his fists against it.

"Takeru come OUT! WE WANT AN ANSWER! NOW!" he yelled. Kotoha ran off to comfort Mako. Genta and Ryuunosuke restrained him.

"Take-chan wouldn't answer now. He's shut himself in before and sometimes, he'll only come out if I called him when we were kids. I'd even sneak in and try to drop some handmade sushi that I would specially prepare for him without my father's knowledge if I could. But that was merely when the training got tough. This is... more serious in a lot of ways. Even I wouldn't interfere," Genta explained patiently, and his serious tone told Chiaki that there was a lot more to this than he could understand.

"Both Tono and Mako need time. We shouldn't rush them for answers," added Ryuunosuke.

"They're the oldest in the team, and the most mature too. We'll just have to trust that they will do what's best for themselves and this team, just like they've always been doing. If you respect their efforts in wanting the best for us all, then you should leave them alone and give them the precious time they need," and so saying, Genta perfectly summed up everything that Chiaki needed to learn from the episode.

Jii moved forward and squeezed Chiaki's shoulder, and the three men retired, leaving the young ShinkenGreen in the sitting room to mull over what had happened.

Meanwhile inside the room to which only the Shiba Heads had access, Takeru eased himself onto his mattress, pulled out his ShodouPhone and shut his eyes, before drawing the Kanji for silence, and a sound barrier formed around the room, leaving him oblivious to anything that happened outside.

He shut his eyes once more, and allowed the memory of the previous battle flood his mind, and that particular instance in which Mako pushed him aside before charging at the Ayakashi enveloped him. What he had seen in those crucial seconds disturbed him. It rocked him to the core. He found himself falling into a vortex of uncertainty and fear, but what Mako had taught him in the past returned to him. He was not alone and at this point of time, he desperately needed help. And when it was readily available, he did not need to be afraid to ask for it.

Takeru drew every last bit of positive energy he had left just to pick himself up and get on his feet. When he was physically drained by training, the Rekka Daizantou would be sufficient to support him. But now, he found himself uprooted, without the essential pillar of strength that he had always relied on: Mako. It hurt him to realise that what was once his greatest strength, was now his fatal weakness.

Jii stood at the door from the empty sitting room. Chiaki was gone. The elderly man did not knock, but shut his eyes and thought,

"Tono, without you and Mako the team is dissolving. Please, come back and lead us now. The Ayakashi still remains..."

Almost as if to answer his prayers, Takeru opened the door and said,

"Jii, I need to talk to you," before leading him to an inner room.

He pulled out his ShodouPhone again, but Jii stopped him and said,

"Tono, whatever we speak of here will remain our secret. You need not worry."

Takeru began explaining his plight to the man who raised him. Outside, Chiaki drew the Spy Kanji that was used on the Gap Sensor to hear what Takeru and Jii were discussing alone. But the overbearing presence of Takeru's fire Mojikara made almost everything inaudible to Chiaki, whose mastery of his own Tree Mojikara was inadequate. Straining himself to very near his limits which were much lower than Takeru's, Chiaki could only hear the phrases,

"I'm scared, Jii", and "It would be the greatest loss I - no, we can suffer. I can't afford that. Not now, not ever."

Chiaki was about to collapse. But he caught himself on time and ran to Mako's room and banged the door.

"Come in, Chiaki," came Mako's voice as she could sense his Mojikara. Kotoha slid the door aside and Chiaki entered.

"Neesan, I don't know what's going on between you and Takeru, and I won't interfere with that. But we all can tell that something is seriously wrong, from both ends. For the sake of this team, you two need to sort it out. I think you should talk to him. He might not answer us, but even if he's angry with you, it's only possible that he'll talk to either you and Jii-chan. You should talk to him." he said, before leaving, and he beckoned Kotoha to follow him.

When the two younger Shinkengers left her room, Mako took a few minutes to internalize whatever Chiaki told her before running off to find Chiaki. But still everyone understood. Something was wrong on Mako's part too, but what exactly was it about?