Chapter Thirteen
"It's no good."
Shishi gripped tightly to the edge of the window frame, turning as she cast her companion a frustrated look. "There's not enough space for anyone to get out of there, and the window is firmly shut anyway. No matter what I do – not even with the knife – I can't budge the catch."
Bachisu glanced up at the single small window the dank chamber boasted, and slowly he nodded his head.
"I'm surprised you can even reach a perch like that. It must be a good six feet from the ground." He murmured. "I would almost imagine you were one of my circus brethren, leaping around like that."
"Well, my mother was a circus acrobat, once." Deftly Shishi jumped down, landing neatly on her feet as she brushed the dust and cobwebs from her fingers. "She never taught me to do it, exactly – but you learn a few things, growing up in the mountains. My brother and I climbed trees a lot when we were children, and scaled the mountain paths and stuff…I guess I just got to be pretty agile because of that."
She pursed her lips as her mind flitted once more to the absent Jin, and Bachisu reached out a hand to touch hers.
"I'm sorry for your brother's loss." He said softly. "I recall a young boy with you the first time we met. This was him?"
"Yes." Shishi sank back against the stone wall, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "And dammit, for his sake I'm not giving up so easily. He died because of this quest – he believed in it that much he gave his life for it. So I'm damn well getting us out of here somehow – it's not going to end as easily as this."
"There is the lion's spirit again." Bachisu smiled. "No wonder you land on your feet, Shishi. You're truly a cat after all."
"A cat, huh?" Shishi glanced at her hands, looking self-conscious. "Maybe. Unfortunately, though, it looks like the door's the only way to get out of here. And that means we have to wait for them to come to get us…and take them by surprise."
"It's dangerous." Bachisu cautioned, hauling himself to his feet as he gauged the distance between the door and the wall. "Both men are well-trained with all their weaponry, and they won't flinch at hurting a young girl."
"And I don't have my sword." Shishi muttered. "Shit. This isn't good. It'd be hard enough even taking them by surprise…but…"
She paused, turning to glance at her companion.
"You don't have any of Urumiya's power?"
"My last vestiges of power are in my music." Bachisu said with a shrug. "That's all I have. My music has the power to still others – calm them, or suppress their power. But I have never been able to use it effectively to do anything but entertain."
"Suppress their power." Shishi murmured. "But your instrument is outside too, isn't it?"
"Yes." Bachisu agreed. "With your sword."
"So that's no good." Shishi grimaced, rubbing her temples. "Shit, shit, shit. I guess the only thing we can do is wait and see if my friends show up. Which means…"
She faltered, then her eyes widened.
"Hiki." She whispered.
"Hiki?" Bachisu looked startled, and Shishi nodded.
"Yes." She agreed. "Hiki…she and I…she's…I don't even know how to explain. But when Hiki went home, it was me who brought her back. Chichiri said we were connected…so maybe…she can hear me. If I really concentrate as hard as I damn well can – maybe she…maybe she'll bring Aoi and Myoume an' help us get outta this place!"
"I don't understand what you mean, but if there's anything I can do to help…" Bachisu began, and Shishi shook her head.
"I don't want you to get any more beat up than you are." She said frankly. "But it's all right. One of the people travelling with me is Toroki – one of Byakko's Seishi. And another is a trained soldier of Kutou's Imperial Army. I figure that they'll be able to take those two braindeads, if need be. At least…I hope so."
"A soldier…of Kutou's…" Shock flickered in Bachisu's eyes, and Shishi grimaced, nodding.
"I guess we'll call him a defector, for now." She said wryly. "It's the easiest explanation…he's not that kind of soldier. At least…I don't think he is."
She frowned.
"He doesn't seem like it." She added, somewhat confusingly. "I mean, I think he'll help. Even if it's me and not Hiki in trouble…shit, he damn well better had do, anyway. Else I'll be having words with him too."
She closed her eyes, focusing all of her thoughts on her other-world friend.
"I'm not sure if this will work, because I ain't a Seishi." She murmured. "But dammit, I'll try."
"And your friend the Seishi will pick that up?"
"Dunno." Shishi admitted. "But Hiki – Hiki might."
"Hiki…is not a Seishi?"
"No." Shishi shook her head. "She's…she's Suzaku's Shinzahou, actually."
"Suzaku's…" Bachisu's eyes widened, then he smiled. "Then you truly are on a divine mission, my child, aren't you?"
"Damn right we are." Shishi agreed. "And I'm not letting some jerks get in the way of that. I don't care if they take my sword or my money – I can live without either, if I have to. But I'm not goin' to be killed here. I've got too much shit still to do, whether they like it or not. For Jin's sake…I have to get to Hokkan. An' even more, to Yukigase, now."
She patted the pocket of her clothing with a shrug.
"Now you've told me where to find Doryoku's relic." She murmured softly. Bachisu nodded.
"Yes." He agreed. "I'm happy I've entrusted her to you, Shishi-san. I think…I think she'll take to you. Doryoku's a gentle spirit – she always has been. I'm sure she'll recognise the scent of my blood and understand what it means. I always told her that one day I would come back to get her – or if I could not, I'd send someone I trusted in my place. In light of that…I'm sure she'll help you."
"She won't think I just ran you through and stole the blood?" Shishi looked doubtful, and Bachisu shook his head.
"She can tell the difference between blood shed willingly and blood shed by force." He replied. "She'll understand my message…even if I am of no use to you, I'm certain that she will be."
Before Shishi could reply, there was a loud clatter as the door was thrust open, revealing the first of the two circus proprietors. A dim slither of light framed his burly figure, giving him an even more sinister look, and Shishi bit her lip, instinctively moving between him and the fragile Meihi.
"It's time we had some answers." The man's eyes narrowed, and Shishi caught sight of a flash of metal as he drew his blade from its scabbard, tapping it gently against his leg as his gaze flitted from the bandit to the musician. "I always knew you were trouble, old man. This is the last time I'm going to put up with your odd behaviour. No matter how much money your playing brings in - I won't stand for it any more."
He narrowed his eyes, jabbing his sword in Shishi's direction.
"Andyour accomplice, too." He murmured. "The daughter of the fire-bandit, huh? It couldn't be better. I'll slit her throat first, and then yours. How does that sound to you?"
"Shishi, get back!" Bachisu exclaimed, anxiety in his amethyst eyes as the circus proprietor swung his sword menacingly in the bandit's direction. Shishi stared at him, unable to react in time, but for all his weakness Bachisu's wits were not a bit dulled and he reached out a desperate bony hand to pull her back against the wall just in time to avoid the silver blade cutting her skin. The slave owner cursed, advancing on them, and Shishi scrambled back to her feet.
"You're a bully." She exclaimed. "And I'm not going to let a nothing like you kill me. You're not even one part a man - and your sword would be ashamed of you, if it knew how...you can't even hold it like a proper fighter and you think you're going to kill one of Reikaku-zan's bandits? I'm going to throw fire one day, like my father does. I'm not just some little girl you can scrub out of existence!"
"We'll see about that." The man sent her a dark, cold look, his eyes like flint as he regarded her. "I might consider sending you back to the South in a box, as a special gift for that bandit chief...he shouldn't have messed with things he doesn't understand, and I'm going to repay that debt right here and now!"
He lunged once more for Shishi, but the girl was on her mettle now and she darted deftly out of the way, her gaze flitting anxiously to her older Meihi companion as she did so.
"Bachisu-san, the door!" She exclaimed, and the musician's eyes widened as he registered her meaning. He struggled slowly to his feet, then hesitated, turning to look at her.
"Don't stop!" Shishi shouted. "Get out! I'm all right - I can dodge this slowpoke forever. It's you that needs to go!"
Bachisu's amethyst eyes flickered for a moment. Then a strange look entered his gaze and slowly he shook his head. Instead of leaving, he clasped his hands together, closing his eyes as if composing himself. Then, very slowly, he opened his mouth.
What happened next seemed to pass in a haze for Shishi, as a feeble, yet distinct silverish light began to glitter erratically around the older man's body. His thick argent hair seemed to flare out around his face in some imaginary breeze, as the dark curl of Genbu's mark shone once more on his brow. But it was not the strange appearance of her new ally that started Shishi so much, but the sound that emitted from his mouth. It was neither a song nor a scream, but an eerie cry, long and unwavering, that seemed to pierce right through the chamber and up into the sky above. The chamber shuddered slightly, and the circus owner who, a minute earlier had been preparing a fresh assault on Shishi stumbled to his knees, the blade falling from his hands as he struggled to retain his balance. Shishi's bronze eyes widened in disbelief as Bachisu's odd melody seemed to double in force and volume, and for a brief instant, the silver haze stabilised into a true celestial aura.
"Bachisu-san." She murmured, and the Seishi opened his eyes, meeting her gaze for a moment. A faint smile touched his lips, shadowed in his violet eyes. Then, in one brief, decisive moment, he spread his hands and the circus owner let out a groan, crumpling unconscious on the floor before them.
"Shit." Shishi breathed, then, "Bachisu-san! Are you all right!" As the Seishi's aura flickered and died, the mark disappearing from his brow as he collapsed to the ground. Shishi hurried to support him, registering his gasping, laboured breathing with growing concern.
"Dammit, what did you do?" She demanded. "What the hell wasthat?"
"Tell your father...his debt is repaid." Bachisu murmured. "Go, Shishi, while you...while you can."
"But...what about you? You're more powerful than I thought you were - surely you can...?"
"It was my last gambit." Bachisu shook his head, and Shishi registered the shadow that touched his pale features. "I told you. I'm not...going to leave here. You...to Doryoku...for my sake. Please. Go. Find your friends. I...for this world...go."
With that his eyes fluttered shut, and Shishi bit her lip, swallowing the tears that longed to fall as she carefully laid him down on the chamber floor.
"First Jin. Now you." She whispered, as she brushed her fingers gently against his throat, feeling the slow stilling of his lifebeat as his soul released its grip on his tired, worn body. "For my sake you risked everything - gave everything. So I'll do what you say...I'll find Doryoku. Not just for Kounan's sake, but for yours as well, Bachisu-san."
She hesitated, then pushed her hands together as if in prayer.
"I don't care which God it is listening." She added quietly. "But so long as one of you is - take care of him, huh? And Jin - if...if you're there too, make sure that...that this guy gets a fair hearing...all right? For my sake...I don't want him to suffer any more."
"Consider it done, imouto-chan."
The words seemed to echo out of nothingness and Shishi gasped, swinging around as if expecting to see her fellow bandit standing watching her, his usual, laid back grin on his rogueish features. But there was noone in the chamber except her, and she sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Stress and imagination." She muttered. "I don't have time for this. I have to get out of here."
"You're not going anywhere, musume." A voice from the doorway startled her and she wheeled back towards the chamber's one escape route, seeing that the collapsed circus-owner was beginning to stir, his fingers closing already around his worn blade as he struggled to his feet. "The old man is spoken for. Now it's just you and me. And one of us doesn't have a weapon."
He smiled, a cold, cruel smile that chilled Shishi right to the bone.
"Well, well." He murmured. "I wonder which of us will be left standing this time."
----------
"What the hell is that sound?!"
Outside the circus camp, Aoiketsu had stopped dead, his eyes widening in surprise as the distinctive, high-pitched wail pierced through the surrounding area. Myoume grimaced, clapping her hands over her ears as she sought to block it out.
"Whatever it is, don't listen to it." She instructed. "You either, Hikari. It's a spell...don't let it affect you."
"A spell?" Hikari looked startled. "But I...I feel fine, Myoume. What kind of a spell?"
"It sounds like someone got run through in a particularly painful place." Aoiketsu murmured. "But I feel fine, too. Myoume, I don't think that, even if it's a spell, it's aimed at us."
Myoume hesitantly removed her hands from her ears, frowning as she gazed across towards the dishevelled buildings that flanked the area.
"Maybe not." She admitted, as the sound faltered and died. "But my senses are scrambled by it nonetheless. That's strong magic, you two. Stellar magic. Be careful...we don't know what we're up against."
"Shishi!" Hikari exclaimed, her eyes opening wide as she grabbed Aoiketsu by the arm. "Aoi, I felt her! I felt her here...and...and...you'll think me crazy, but...I felt like...she wasn't on her own!"
"Myoume, did you feel anything?" Aoiketsu asked. Myoume hesitated, then she bit her lip.
"Let's go check it out." She said softly, and Aoiketsu frowned.
"That was evasive." He observed. "Did you or didn't you?"
Myoume faltered, then slowly, she nodded her head.
"Yes." She admitted unwillingly. "Come on. I don't think we've time to waste."
"What's up, Myoume? Another vision coming true?" Hikari asked anxiously as they hurried across the circus complex towards the crumbling old buildings. Myoume shook her head.
"No." She replied. "I've been picking up that strange music from before, but when I focus on it I only see snow and Kounan's border mountains. No, it's not that. I just..."
She sighed, shaking her head as if to clear it.
"Maybe it was that sound." She admitted. "But I thought I felt...the sensation of a soul crossing from this plane to another one. A powerful soul - a soul with connections to the Gods."
"Shishi!" Aoiketsu's eyes widened, and Hikari's expression became one of horror.
"No." She whispered. "It's not Shishi. They can't...they haven't..."
"What did you feel, Hikari? When you said she wasn't alone...what did you mean?" Myoume asked softly, and Hikari bit her lip.
"It felt...like...Jin was here." She murmured reluctantly. "But...that's crazy, right? I mean, even when he was alive, I could never sense Jin's chi, and now…"
"Jin's dead." Aoiketsu said frankly, and Hikari eyed him in surprise.
"Aoi-kun?"
"Yes, Jin is dead." Myoume sighed. "But the dead often come to get their loved ones when it's their time to cross over...or have you never heard that superstition, Aoi?"
"I guess noone I'm close to has ever died." Aoiketsu admitted. "So I...haven't really thought about it."
"You think Jin...came for Shishi?" Hikari took a hesitant couple of steps towards the building, then stopped. "No. No, it's not that. Myoume, I'm sure of it. Shishi's alive. I know she is. I can...I can feel her. Somehow...I can sense that she's here. Whatever that sound was, it must've foxed our senses - there's no way Jin could be anywhere, after all. But I'm sure about Shishi...and she might need our help."
"Well, we should check it out." Aoiketsu said softly, glancing down at Shishi's blade which he still held in his hands. "I guess this is as good a weapon as any...not as nice a one as your shinken, Hikari, but it'll do."
"What are you going to do?" Hikari asked anxiously, and Aoiketsu gestured with his left hand towards the far side of the square towards where the other of the two circus owners was advancing on them, a dark look on his scarred features and a sturdy sword clutched in his meaty grip. Where there had moments earlier been a gaggle of folorn, drab looking circus performers there was now nobody except the approaching antagonist, and the air around them suddenly seemed to have become very still.
"That guy seems to want to talk to us." Aoiketsu broke the silence. "And I have a feeling that his language of choice isn't vernacular Chinese."
"We don't have time for you to play the hero. Not if Shishi is in trouble." Myoume shook her head. "My senses are all over the place thanks to that sound - whatever it was - and I can't sense Shishi at all. But if Hikari can, I'll believe in her. We need to get inside as quickly as possible."
"Tell that to him." Aoiketsu said grimly, and Myoume frowned. She reached up to slip back her black glove, glancing at her hand for a moment, then brushing her fingers together as a glitter of white light shimmered around them.
"Myoume?" Hikari asked uncertainly, and Myoume sighed, shaking her head.
"I hate doing this." She murmured. "But we don't have time to mess around."
She thrust her hand forward, the white glitter of energy flaring across the square and engulfing the advancing circus owner in its taunting, irridescent glow. He let out a yell, sinking to his knees as he clutched at his head, and Myoume bit her lip, closing her eyes as she sent a second flare in his direction.
"Byakko forgive me." She muttered. "But if you must curse me with this power...I have no choice but to use it."
"What the hell are you doing to him?" Aoiketsu demanded, and Myoume shook her head.
"You fight physically. I fight mentally." She said softly, sending a third and final flare in the man's direction, and the unfortunate swordsman let out an agonised shriek, clawing at his head as if trying to fight off some unseen enemy. "It's ugly and distasteful. But that's part of being Toroki."
She lowered her hands, shaking her head as if to clear it, and then slipping her glove back over her exposed index finger.
"Let's go. He won't trouble us again." She added. "We need to find Shishi."
"Shit." As they hurried towards the building, Aoiketsu cast a disbelieving glance back at the crumpled form who was still huddled and sobbing in terror on the ground. "Miramu was right. You do have the power to turn someone insane."
"Yes. I do." Myoume agreed softly, a troubled look in her indigo eyes. "And had I used strength from someone else, I could have turned his brain permanently. Since I only used my own strength, however, the effects are temporary - the delusions I instilled in him will wear off, but not for a few hours."
She sighed.
"Even enemies don't deserve to be tortured in that way." She admitted. "But Shishi's life may be in danger. And she's more important to me and to this world than a circus man with a sword."
"It's creepy." Hikari shivered. "Myoume...please don't do that again."
"I hope I won't have to." Myoume glanced at her hands. "But for the sake of this world, Hikari - I'll do whatever I have to do. You know that. Even if it means driving someone to the brink of insanity."
"That doesn't sound much like a hero's claim." Aoiketsu said acidly, and Myoume shook her head.
"I'm not a hero." She responded. "I'm Byakko's tool. That's all. I'm no better or more morally sound than anyone else, even if I do have Toroki's power running through me. Or have you forgotten that Miramu and I are siblings?"
"You're not like Miramu." Hikari said firmly. "But even so, please...I'd rather you didn't use that spell again. Not on anyone. It's not nice."
"I'll try not to have to." Myoume said carefully. "That's the best I can offer. I don't want to use it again - but if I have to, then I have to. I guess time will tell."
"And we made it inside." Aoiketsu glanced around him. "Where now? Hikari, can you still feel Shishi's life force?"
"Yes." Hikari nodded. "It's strange, because before this I never could. But it's like that...that sound really...well...opened my ears or something. I can sense her really clearly...she's off that way. And she's alive...but I think...she seems afraid. So..."
"So we should hurry." Aoiketsu said grimly, his grip tightening on the sword. "Right. We can worry about Myoume's morals later - this is more important."
-----------
"Well?"
Back in the make-shift prison cell, oblivious to the fate of his companion, the burly circus owner had cornered Shishi against the wall of the chamber, passing his blade from hand to hand casually as he gazed down at her. Cold amusement glittered in his dark eyes, and despite herself Shishi felt a flicker of fear dart up inside of her.
"If I had my sword..." She told herself inwardly. "Dammit...I should have grabbed his up when I had a chance. Bachisu-san...I should have listened to you, shouldn't I? I should have...I should..."
"Nothing to say for yourself, musume?" The man's eyes narrowed, and he let out a low chuckle. "No last words for me to convey to your father, when I send him his daughter's corpse?"
Shishi glowered up at him, clenching and unclenching her fists as she debated whether or not she had enough space to lunge for the blade. It would be a risk, she knew that, but as she considered her options she realised darkly that most of her other choices would end up in guaranteed death.
"At least this gives me a faint chance." She muttered, tensing herself as she poised her body, ready to pounce. "My reflexes are quick...probably quicker than his, thanks to my growing up on the mountain. I'm going to try it."
Her brows knitted together in concentration as she let out a yell, launching herself bodily at her foe and taking him momentarily off guard. As her hand groped feverishly for the hilt of the weapon, however, his superior strength overpowered her and she found herself flung back against the floor of the chamber, the sharp tip of the blade pushed up against her throat.
"Nice try, but I wasn't born yesterday." Her opponant said coolly. "I've made a living out of breaking people's wills, bandit girl. You won't get past me so easily as that."
He eyed her for a moment.
"You move quickly." He reflected. "If it wasn't for the fact I want my revenge on your father, I might even coopt you into my circus act. After all, I'm down a player now...thanks to that useless old fool."
He jerked his head in the direction of Bachisu's cooling corpse, and fresh anger welled up in Shishi's heart.
"You bastard." She spat out. "He was a person too, you know - don't you get that?"
"A person?" The circus owner snorted. "He was a Meihi. Don't be foolish."
He raised his blade, running his finger gently against the flat edge as he gazed down at her.
"Do Suzaku's children also have red blood, I wonder?" He mused aloud. "I suppose we'll find out...won't we?"
With a sharp, forceful thrust, he drove his blade down towards her, and Shishi screwed her eyes shut, fear paralysing her momentarily as she anticipated the weapon's clean cut through her flesh. Instead of sharp, driving pain, however, she felt a sudden haze of warmth flare up around her, and her assailant let out an exclamation. Shishi's eyes shot open, disbelief flaring in their depths as she registered the scene before her.
Where a moment ago the man had been poised over her body, he was now a pace or two away from her, his eyes wide with surprise, and Shishi found herself no less stunned than her opponant as she realised the reason for his hesitation.
Between them, glistening in soft red light was a figure, translucent and hazy but still discernable in the darkness of the dank chamber. As her eyes opened wide with incredulity, the apparition turned, meeting her gaze for a moment, and Shishi froze, unable to speak as the being's lips twitched into a familiar, reassuring smile.
For a second, Shishi's heart stilled in her chest. Then, at last, she found her words, as tears sprang into her bronze eyes.
"J...J...Jin?" She whispered, and the apparition's smile widened.
"Help is on its way." The voice was soft and unsubstantial, yet unmistakeable, and Shishi reached out a tentative hand to touch the figure, finding her fingers passed right through his. However, as she brushed against the light, she felt a definite sense of warmth and affection, and her heart skipped another beat.
"Jin...oniichan." She breathed. "I don't...you...I...why..."
"What the hell are you?" The swordsman had recovered his composure, glaring at the spectre warily. "Get out of my way...whatever spell this is, I'm not scared of you!"
The being turned his gaze back to the circus owner, and Shishi saw the same look of resolution enter his dark eyes as she had seen the night he had fought Miramu in the Sairou temple.
"You can't hurt her." He said softly. "She's Suzaku's. That means noone can kill her. And so long as I'm here...noone will."
"I told you, get out of my way." The man swore, sweeping his blade threateningly in the apparition's direction. "I have a score to settle with the bandit of the south, and dammit, I'm going to take it while I have the chance!"
"Shishi? Shishi, where are you?" The sound of Hikari's voice from outside the chamber startled the young bandit back to herself, and the swordsman hesitated for a moment, turning his attention away from his prey. As he did so, the spectre reached out his hand to touch Shishi's cheek.
"Help is here." He murmured. "Stay safe, imouto-chan."
"Wait a damn minute...Jin,wait!" Shishi exclaimed, reaching out a hand to try and grab his arm, but her fingers passed right through once more as his form dispersed into a shower of red and gold light. Tears glittered on Shishi's cheeks, but she gathered her wits, aware that this time she really was not alone.
"Hiki!" She shrieked. "Hiki, stop dawdling - I could use a hand here!"
"Shishi?" The door swung back to reveal the young schoolgirl, and relief flooded Shishi's heart as she registered both Myoume and Aoiketsu in the hallway beyond.
"You should have taken your chance to kill me when you had it." She said frankly, as her opponant's eyes widened at the sudden intrusion. "Now you've a bigger fight on your hands...don't you?"
"Are you all right?" Hikari hurried to her friend's side, and as the swordsman sought to follow her, Aoiketsu was between them, clanging the metal of Shishi's blade against the enemy's as he shook his head.
"You don't fight someone with one of those unless they're armed." He said reproachfully. "If it's a fight you want, I'll play with you."
"Hey, that's my damn sword, Aoi!" Shishi exclaimed, and Aoiketsu shrugged.
"Mine's in Kutou." He said unrepentantly. "Or wherever it is Miramu's taken it. So yours will have to do."
"What about the old guy?" Hikari looked anxious. "Shishi, who...what...?"
"He's dead." Shishi shook her head, blinking back her tears. "Dammit, Hiki, what took you so long to find me?"
"Just be glad we did." Hikari hugged her tightly. "We were worried when you disappeared like that."
"Myoume, take them out of here, will you?" Aoiketsu steadied his blade, parring the enemy's shot as he pushed him once more away from the girls. "Shishi looks shaken up and Hikari doesn't know what to do with that damn sword of hers. I can hold him - but I don't need distractions and you ain't using that spell of yours again."
"I couldn't if I wanted to. I used my strength already." Myoume shook her head.
"We're not just going to run off and leave him here." Hikari's eyes widened. "Not...I won't...it's like Jin, and I won't let..."
"I'm not going to get killed." Aoiketsu said smartly, his eyes narrowing in resolution and Shishi's expression became one of surprise as she saw a glitter of killer instinct in their seiran depths. "I'm not Jin. I'm a soldier, not a bandit. However brave Jin was or wasn't, Hikari - I'm stronger than he was. And this guy isn't Miramu. I'll be fine...just go with Myoume, all right?"
"He's right. Come on." Myoume grabbed Hikari by the wrist, slipping her other hand into Shishi's as she hauled the girls to their feet. "We'll wait outside...come on!"
"You're not getting away so easily!" The circus owner lunged at Shishi as the prophet tried to guide them out of the door, and Aoiketsu cursed, swinging his weapon hard against the other man's as he forcibly pushed him back.
"Don't even think it." He said quietly. "I don't want to kill you. But if you carry on like that, I will."
"You're just a boy...a boy in fancy clothing." The circus owner spat out. "Like you can kill me with a blunt sword like that, too...did noone ever teach you to take care of your weapon?"
"A sword's only as good as the person wielding it." Aoiketsu said coldly, as the circus owner's blade swung down once more towards him. "Myoume, dammit, get them out of here!"
"Hey!" As Shishi found herself forcibly pulled from the chamber, she cast Myoume an indignant look. "That hurt!"
"You had an opportunity to come by yourself." Myoume said lightly, as she guided her two companions out onto the main street, pausing beneath one of the shady northern pine trees that shadowed the pathway from the sun. "He's right - you're distracting him. I don't think he wants you to watch him fight."
"I don't know why." Shishi frowned. "I guess now I have to believe...that Aoi is a soldier. I mean...like that...I guess I've seen it for real now."
"Yeah." Hikari agreed. "But is he right? I mean, is he stronger than Jin?"
Shishi opened her mouth to dispute this, then she sighed, shrugging her shoulders.
"I guess...maybe he is." She admitted reluctantly. "But...but Jin isn't weak, Hiki. He never was, and he isn't now."
"Shishi, we've discussed this." Myoume said with a sigh. "Jin's gone. We can't change that."
"Maybe he's gone." Shishi glanced up at the sky, a pensive look on her face. "But maybe he hasn't. I don't know. Perhaps it was imagination - perhaps it was because of that sound that Bachisu-san made...I don't know. But whatever it was...I felt like he was there with me."
"I thought I sensed him too." Hikari said quietly, an uncharacteristically thoughtful look in her eyes. "Do you really…think he was there?"
"I want to believe he was." Shishi agreed. "But who knows, huh? When Bachisu-san started that weird screeching it shook right through me – God knows what it might've made me see. But before you came...I swear I thought I saw him. That he...came back to defend me. Just for a moment. Else that jerk would have sliced me for sure."
She sighed, resting her chin in her hands.
"Even if it was a hallucination, it was a nice feeling." She added softly. "To think he might be watching over me, even now."
"Who is this Bachisu-san, Shishi?" Myoume asked curiously, and Shishi sighed, her expression sad.
"The old Meihi." She responded. "He...he was one of Genbu's people, Myoume. That sound - was his power. He used the last of it to try and give me a chance to escape. Kashira saved his life seven years ago, and he wanted to repay the favour. I guess...he did."
Her fingers strayed to her belt.
"He told me how to find Genbu's relic." She added. "And that he'd entrusted the secret to me. That he thought Genbu's mage would...would understand and come forth for us, if I took something to her. He thinks she can tell us how to find Genbu's Shinzahou...and I believe him."
"One of Genbu's people?" Hikari looked startled. "But..."
"Urumiya." Shishi agreed. "Or one half of him. Myoume, did you know Urumiya was split into two?"
"Yes." Myoume admitted. "At least in the original legend - the spirit was split between twins. Urumiya's power was very strong - I suppose that's why."
"Bachisu-san has a brother, too. The other half - the one who knows about Genbu's Shinzahou." Shishi nodded her head. "That's who we need to find. Ba...Bakaru. That was the guy's name."
"A Meihi as one of Genbu's, huh?" Myoume looked thoughtful. Then she offered Shishi a smile.
"Maybe now I understand the significance of the music." She mused. "It was him, wasn't it? This circus - that Meihi. It was him."
"It was." Shishi agreed gravely. "He used the last of his strength for my sake, so I won't let him down."
"Aoi!"
At that moment the soldier emerged from the cracked old building, blade in hand, and as he did so, Hikari was on her feet, casting him an anxious look. "Are you...all right?"
"Yeah. I'm all right." Aoiketsu nodded, tossing the weapon down onto the ground. "Don't look like that, Hikari...if Shishi'd sharpen her damn blade then it'd have been quicker."
"There's blood on this!" Shishi retrieved her sword, glaring at him accusingly. "Did noone ever tell you that it's bad manners to mess up someone's property and then return it to them dirty?"
"I...I guess not." Aoiketsu swallowed hard, and Hikari let out an exclamation, grabbing him by the arms as she realised he was about to fall headlong.
"Aoi...?" She whispered. "What happened in there? Are you hurt?"
"No...I'm not." Aoiketsu sank to the ground, rubbing his temples as his anxious companion flitted around him. "I'm sorry. I'm just such a wretched excuse for a warrior sometimes. Shishi, don't wave that in my face, please. I don't want to throw up...not in front of you guys and especially not in front of Hikari."
"Did you kill him?" Myoume asked quietly, and Aoiketsu hesitated for a moment. Then he nodded.
"I had no choice." He admitted. "He was coming after you again. I had to bring him down. I did it in one blow, in the end - but I was trying to avoid it. I knew if I had to kill him, there'd be blood - and if I didn't manage it the first time, I'd have been pretty useless to defend myself against him."
He closed his eyes briefly.
"I'm sorry I gored your sword, Shishi." He added softly. "But...I can't clean it. Not unless you want me to pass out."
"Shit, you really are a weirdo." Shishi squatted in front of him, setting her weapon out of his line of sight. "You fight like the devil your father was, but at the first sight of red stuff..."
She shook her head.
"Still, that guy deserved what he got." She added pragmatically. "After the shit he did to Bachisu-san and the other circus performers, he deserved to be killed a dozen times over. It's no big deal that he's dead. Not if it was that way."
She pursed her lips, then,
"If its safe to go back in, then I want...to bury Bachisu-san." She added. "Because he...I just think it's right. Please. If you don't mind."
"I think so too." Slowly Hikari got to her feet. "Besides, we were going to find somewhere to stay. It's late afternoon, as it is...and Aoi, you're a funny colour. We oughtn't try to do anything crazy right away."
"Shishi and I can bury the old Seishi." Myoume said quietly. "Hikari-chan, will you stay with Aoi until he feels better? I think he'd rather have your company, anyway."
"Yes. Of course." Hikari looked startled, but she nodded, and Shishi grimaced.
"I guess there's no helping you two." She said resignedly. "Even though he's killed a guy, Hikari, you're still fussing over him like a mother hen."
"It's hard not to, when he looks like that." Came Hikari's rejoinder. "Besides..."
She sighed.
"I don't like people being killed." She admitted. "But in a way it's better...than what Myoume did to the other one. And...and if he was attacking...I guess...Aoi didn't have a choice."
Aoiketsu shot her a grateful look, and Hikari nodded.
"I guess maybe I'm seeing bits and pieces of the real Aoi now." She reflected.
"Well, I can live with the real Aoi." Shishi said decidedly. "Since he's got a backbone, I guess it's okay by me that he's riding with us. And I'll even forgive him for blooding my sword and not cleaning it up...so long as he remembers who he's fighting to protect."
"I've never been so confused about that in my life." Aoiketsu admitted. "But at least...for now I know that protecting Hikari is the right thing to do. And that means I'm with you - at least, as far as that goes. So long as, in the end, we can help Kutou too - I guess I...I've made the right choice."
--------
So that was the way of it.
Hyoushin stood against the sheer rock of the mountain face, his clever violet eyes absorbing his surroundings with a mixture of relief and frustration. Before him, the path that he and his men had ridden so easily a few weeks before was clouded in a haze of snow, a whirling blizzard of the kind that Hyoushin knew could conceal a person's existence for days on end.
To push through the dervish of flakes would be the nearest thing to suicide, and Hyoushin frowned, knowing that – at least for today – his reunion with his past was out of the question. His climb had already been hindered by the worsening weather, and had been forced to tether his horse and continue on foot, and though he knew that the visibility on the lower slopes was not this bad, his instinct told him that the snow would probably have engulfed the whole of the mountain by nightfall.
He turned, slowly making his way back down the uneven rocky slope towards the sheltered rocky enclave where his white mare had been carefully tied up. After all, although his own body was fairly impervious to the harsh cold, and despite the fact she had been bred of strong military riding stock, he knew that his beast would probably not survive long if the freezing wind dropped any closer to her hiding place.
If he had believed in the power of Seiryuu, or even the power of Genbu, then he would probably have offered up a prayer of thanks. But, he reflected ruefully, he was a Meihi. And a sudden twist of nature's forces were no more divine to him than he was himself, standing alone on the cold bleak mountains that flanked Hokkan's capital.
"I have wasted this day in attempting to climb through this weather, and it gets worse the higher I go." He murmured, as he navigated a particularly difficult section of the snowy path. "It troubles me to so delay my Emperor's errand…but like as not, my trip this way is futile anyway. If it were not for the fact this mountain once housed Genbu's treasure, I would not even attempt to return to it. But to do that, I must pass through the Meihi settlement. And though to them, I'm sure, such a blizzard is nothing – I have not their winter weather experience. The last thing I want is to be stranded on this slope – I don't know if it would be more or less trouble to have to spend the night alone in some cave than it would be to be rescued by the people I truly do not want to face."
At that moment he reached the end of the path, turning back to gaze up towards the peak. Dark clouds shrouded it as the snow continued to fall, and he reflected that even though in other parts of the four Kingdoms Spring and even Summer had begun to break forth, in Hokkan's harsh winterish climate the first buds of the next season had frozen on the branches of some of the mountain trees. Even for Hokkan, Hyoushin knew that this was exceptional weather, and he frowned, half-wondering if there was something more to this cold, long winter season than simply bad luck.
"In Sairou, it was almost summertime. In the South, from Kayu's report, it was already that season, also." He murmured. "At home in Kutou, Spring is making way for Summer even as we travel. Yet Spring has not come to the far north yet. Touran is still cold, if not so covered in snow…I wonder if this is truly the bleak weather my people originally fled from to set up home in the East."
He frowned, a flicker of memory flaring against his senses.
"But why are we called snow-people, Mama?" His own childish voice echoed in his ears as he felt fragments of memory lock themselves together into one solid image. "We don't live in the snow – so why does the Elder always say "Ba-Me-Ihi"? We're just Meihi, aren't we? I don't understand…why does he do that?"
"Because we live in Kutou now, musuko-kun." His mother had told him gently, her soft violet eyes meeting his curious ones. "But once we came down from the Hokkan peaks. We are truly people of the snows, Lilaihi. Have I never told you, then, how our tribe came to be formed?"
The six year old Lilaihi had shaken his head, eyes wide as he gazed on his mother expectantly, and the woman had laughed, touching him gently on the cheek.
"The stories say that a traveller was once lost in the northern mountains, imprisoned by a blizzard and unable to find his way back to Touran." She murmured. "Such is the word the Hokkan-jin use for their main city. This traveller sought to cross the mountains, but in the snow, all the peaks looked the same. Finally he sheltered in a cave, cold, tired and hungry and certain that he would die. And as he sat there, awaiting his fate, he saw a vision."
"A vision?"
"A lady dressed all in white, with skin the colour of the snow and hair the colour of spun silver." The mother had nodded her head. "She called herself Bali – the snow maiden – and she was a spirit of the mountains. The man begged her to help him, and she agreed – but she told him that she would only save his life if he would remain there with her, since her existence was a secret that noone outside the mountains could know. The man protested, but Bali was firm – she would save his life but only if he would stay in the mountains."
"So what did he do, Mama?" Lilaihi had asked softly, and his companion had smiled.
"Of course, he stayed." She had said gently. "Because he knew that whatever hardships you face and whatever things you might be forced to give up, of all things you have your life is the most precious possession. And when he told her that, she kept her promise and preserved his life. He stayed in the mountains, becoming immune to the cold as he grew to understand the beauty of the snowlands. Little by little he forgot about his other life, and in time he and Bali became close. And so the first of our tribe was born, in the cold Hokkan snow – to the traveller who knew that all he needed was his life, and the spirit who was no longer all alone in the mountain snow."
"Is…it a true story?" Lilaihi had asked slowly. "Really truly is that how it happened, Mama?"
His mother had laughed, patting him on the head.
"Only the mountains know for sure." She had told him affectionately. "But even though we crossed the border in search of more fertile farming lands, Lilaihi, we are still the people of the snow. We are still the descendents of Bali, my boy…that's why when our Kutou-jin neighbours may have black hair and dark eyes, we retain the silver hair and amethyst eyes of our mountain spirit ancestry. And we still live by the values of that traveller – that no matter how hard life is, so long as we have life – that's what matters most."
Hyoushin closed his eyes, forcing the memory away.
Absently he wondered whether or not there were snow-maidens in the mountains today, and then he smiled ruefully, shaking his head.
"A Meihi fairy story." He murmured. "And I am not lost, in any case. I know my path back to Touran."
As he made his careful descent back towards the glittering, reassuring lights of Hokkan's principle city, he found himself ruminating once more on the story he had been so curious to learn as a child.
"I have always striven to live." He mused. "No matter what, I have never sought death. Even after my family were killed, even when I became a slave…I still continued to live. Maybe I shut out memories, or feelings that I no longer knew what to do with. But perhaps this is the reason I survived after all. Because a Meihi always seeks life over anything else. That no matter how hard that life is…it is too precious for any of us to waste."
He sighed, glancing at the faint scars that mottled his right hand.
"Life is as it is, and we must face it regardless." He decided. "Whether as a tribesman, a slave or an officer of my Emperor. And tomorrow, without fail, I must face my Meihi ancestry and visit that mountain village. If it hurts, so be it. If it distresses me, then it does. But my life was saved for a reason – for Kintsusei-sama's purpose, I was spared the Kaiga family's massacre. I have this life to do his bidding, and I will not run away from it again. Tomorrow, when the snow clears – I will go. And for Kintsusei-sama's sake, I will not leave the mountain until I know everything the Meihi folk have to tell me!"
---------
"So what exactly did that old Meihi tell you, Shishi?"
As the group of travellers settled themselves in a secluded corner of their chosen inn, Myoume cast the youngest member of the party a quizzical look, her indigo eyes bright with curiosity as she rested her chin in her hands. It was some hours later and, having just finished eating, the quartet had begun making plans for the next day's travel. It had been during a heated discussion between Aoiketsu and Shishi as to the best way to reach Yukigase that the prophet had interjected her question, and the bandit frowned, tilting her head on one side as she considered.
"You mean about Doryoku, I presume?" She asked, and Myoume nodded her head.
"And how to get to her." She agreed. "Since you're giving Aoi such a hard time over what route we're taking, you must have a pretty specific idea as to where this relic is hidden."
"Yes and no." Shishi admitted. "I mean, Bachisu-san did tell me where he'd buried her. And from what Aoi and Chichiri and everyone were saying before we left…I think it must be the same cave as the one Chichiri said Nuriko fought a demon in, before the Shichi Seishi gathered in Eiyou to protect Miaka-sama."
"In the Yukigase region of Kounan. Right?" Aoiketsu pulled out the rolled up map, spreading it out on the now clear table. "Look, Shishi. This is where we are now…more or less. Okay? This is the Shouryuu and this is where it forks away from us. This is Yukigase."
He prodded the neatly scribed Kanji with the tip of his index finger. "And that's the mountain range that leads to Touran. I don't see how what your Meihi friend told you makes any difference to our journey. We still need to go to Yukigase."
"It seems a waste of time to stop in Yukigase when we've a definite lead to take us to the Shinzahou." Shishi responded. "If this mage will help us, we should be finding her. Right?"
"Aoi has to meet his friend in Yukigase, though." Hikari remembered. "Otherwise the East will become suspicious and it could be a problem. We don't want Miramu dispatched our way again – do we?"
"Hikari's right." Myoume nodded. "My senses are back to normal, now, but that shriek of Urumiya's sent them all out of whack for a while. If Miramu had struck while I'd been like that, I wouldn't have been able to sense him. Just in case there's anything else – or for that matter, if the other half of Urumiya's stellar self has a similar ability – it's better we don't arouse any suspicions in Kutou about Aoiketsu's situation."
"Besides, we don't know exactly where this cave is." Aoiketsu added. "Bachisu-san has passed away. Nuriko-san is dead, too – right? I think…when my comrades and I were in Hokkan before, I'm pretty sure we saw his grave, up on the top of Koku-zan. But this Tamatama person knows where that cave is. He could probably take us there more quickly than we could find it on our own…so we wouldn't lose any time. And if you wanted, I could meet Maichu and you could go to find Doryoku."
He looked rueful.
"What I don't know I can't be forced to lie about, after all. I already don't know what I'm to say to him when I see him."
"No, that would be a waste of time, too." Shishi shook her head. "You won't know where to find us, and we won't want to backtrack to reconvene with you. You'll just have to fit in meeting your buddy when you can, Aoi – because this is more important right now. With Bachisu-san dead, Doryoku's in a vulnerable situation anyway. I promised him I'd find her…I want to do that for him, as well as for us. He was a good person – and those people hurt him so much."
"We'll find her, don't worry." Myoume rested a hand on the bandit's arm. "Between us, I'm sure we'll manage to do as Urumiya wanted."
"He's not Urumiya." Shishi shook her head. "He has Urumiya's power, but he wasn't Urumiya. He was his own person, too. He told me it had been years since anyone actually cared what his name was. So to me he's Bachisu-san…not a Seishi but someone who played really pretty music. A real person. Like Jin was. Someone else who I'm indebted to…in one way or another."
"He really sacrificed himself to protect you, didn't he?" Hikari murmured, and Shishi nodded.
"I think he knew he wasn't going to survive much longer, anyway." She responded. "But to summon the last of his strength like that, to force Urumiya's powers to activate…he was so weak, he must have known it would kill him. But he did it to help me out."
"I wonder what kind of mage Doryoku is." Aoiketsu reflected. "I hope she's nothing like Seiryuu's mage spirit, Suiko."
"Suiko is troublesome?" Myoume questioned, and Aoiketsu snorted.
"She acts like a spoiled child in a petulant temper." He agreed. "She's silly and sulky and she complains about everything she's asked to do. Plus, she's always annoying the Commander by saying stupid things to him and calling him a Northerner. She's a pain."
"Well, she was raised by your blood." Myoume reflected. "You're not a Seishi, so no wonder she's defective."
"You make her sound like a broken computer." Hikari observed, and Myoume looked startled.
"A broken what?" She asked, and Hikari shook her head.
"Something we have in my world. Nothing major." She said, a rueful smile touching her lips. "Just…the way you said she was defective – like she wasn't a person at all."
"She isn't. She's a spell – a mage spirit that takes human form." Myoume shook her head. "She's not actually a person. She's guided by the will of those who control her – the blood of the one who raised her and the wishes of the ones who control her power."
"I think Suiko would slap anyone who suggested she couldn't think for herself." Aoiketsu muttered darkly. "If Doryoku's like that, I'm gonna be riding to Hokkan alone."
"Bachisu-san didn't seem to see her that way." Shishi looked pensive. "He spoke of her as if...as if she was gentle. He said she wasn't a fighting kind of spirit - that that wasn't her power. I don't know...but he hid her in the cave because he was afraid she wasn't safe with him all the time. I think he knew he was weakening, and he didn't want her falling into enemy hands. So when the circus sheltered in those caves on one trip south, he took his chance to hide her relic somewhere in that labrynth. He says he sealed it with his blood, and only his blood will open it again. Which is why he gave me this."
She pulled out the blooded cloth, and Aoiketsu grimaced, holding out his hand as if to ward her away.
"Don't! I just ate...do you want to see my dinner again quite so soon?" He demanded.
"Oh, you wuss." Shishi sighed, but obediently replaced the cloth among the folds of her clothing. "Honestly. Your appetite returned quick enough before - are you sure you weren't just faking it to get a hug from Hiki?"
"Shishi!" Hikari flushed red at this, discomfitted, and Shishi laughed.
"I wish I was faking it." Aoiketsu said darkly. "Believe me."
"I wonder if that's important." Myoume reflected absently, and Shishi shot her a startled look.
"Huh?" She demanded. "If what's important? Myoume, are you spacing again?"
"No." Myoume shook her head, looking sheepish. "I'm fine. Really. And everything you've said about the cave and the snow fits with the random images I've had flooding my thoughts since we left the Eastern Village. Which makes me think that Doryoku must be where Bachisu-san hid her - that noone's moved her relic since he was there."
She folded her arms, casting Aoiketsu a smile.
"I was just wondering whether there was a purpose to your squeamishness. That's all."
"Someone's sick sense of humour." Aoiketsu sighed. "Or wait, no - that was my mother...calling me Aoiketsu in the first place."
"I don't suppose she thought of it that way." Hikari shook her head. "Blue blood probably just meant to her that you had Nakago's blood - right?"
"Yeah, I think so." Aoiketsu rubbed his temples. "But it's come to have other connitations."
"Well, that's the thing I'm wondering about." Myoume admitted. "Aoi, when you had Shishi's blade earlier - you had a very particular look in your eye. It was definitely killer instinct...that you'd gone into battle mode and you were ready to fight. Weren't you?"
"Damn right." Aoiketsu agreed. "Although...that's the first time I've ever killed anyone in a fight. Normally I...it doesn't get to that point."
"If that's so, you seem remarkably okay with it." Shishi eyed him curiously. "Blood aside - you don't seem to care all that much that you stiffed a guy out on the end of my sword."
"What a way to put it." Myoume looked amused. "But Aoi's a soldier...right? The man was an enemy - an aggressor. Why should he feel guilt?"
"But Myoume - you felt guilty when you put the spell on the other man." Hikari remembered. "Aoi...don't you feel anything about it at all?"
"I..." Aoiketsu hesitated. Then he sighed, shaking his head.
"Not really." He admitted. "He wanted to hurt you, Hikari. And Shishi. And I...I wanted to protect you, I suppose. I mean, Shishi's good at fighting, but she wasn't armed. And you...Myoume said it. I'm drawn to protect you. It's just how it is. So...he...it happened that way. And I don't feel guilty because...it was just what I had to do."
"That's nothing to be ashamed of." Myoume shook her head. "But what I'm getting at is that your father was an incredibly powerful, incredibly violent man when he chose. He had great strength and he used it - often to the detriment of others. Whether his actions can or can't be excused, he did kill many, many people. He applied that killer instinct of his and wiped out anyone in his path, no matter how small or insignificant. In short, I think, Seiryuu's magic drove deeper within him whatever rage and evil he already had there in his heart. He was a dangerous person. And you are his son. In your veins, your blood carries elements of that same Seiryuu spirit."
"I'm not a ruthless killer, you know." Aoiketsu reacted to this, anger in his seiran eyes. "I'm not going to kill at random, or mass slaughter a whole encampment of people just to take out one enemy! I was taught only to kill when killing was absolutely necessary!"
"Perhaps." Myoume agreed. "But even so, that spirit within you is strong. It rose in your eyes today, and I'm sure it has done before. It's why you're the fighter you are - why you're able to surpass your companions in the Imperial Guard. But...you also have a weakness. A fail-safe, if you like. You don't like the sight of blood."
"Meaning...Seiryuu made me this way on purpose?" Shock glittered in Aoiketsu's eyes. "He made me hate the sight of blood so I couldn't lose control of my wits in a fight and kill people the way my father maybe did?"
"It's an interesting thought." Myoume agreed. "Possibly. I really believe nothing happens by chance. It seems to make sense to me."
"I don't think Aoi could do what Nakago did." Hikari said quietly. "I mean...he doesn't seem...like he could."
"Aoi is not a cruel person." Myoume shook her head. "He's kind by nature, and that shines through even his military training. His squeamishness may well be a fail-safe, but you're right, Hikari. I don't think he has the capacity to act in the same way Nakago did. After all, they've had very different childhoods. Even so, Aoi-kun, if this is Seiryuu's will, so be it. You need to accept it and find a way to deal with it, instead of just bemoaning it. We all have weaknesses of some sort, after all - if you really want to protect Hikari, and save Kutou, you'll have to find a way around it."
Aoiketsu frowned, glancing at the table.
"Today I felt like part of your team. Like it was where I should be." He admitted softly. "I was worried about Shishi. Angry. And I wanted to protect Hikari. But...I'm Kutou's soldier. And I don't want to betray my Emperor. Because...even if what I'm doing, staying with you - even if that is to protect Kutou, in the end, if it's against the Emperor's will it's still...treason."
"The call of the divine overrides the call of any King." Myoume said gravely. "Be it Kutou's, Kounan's - even Sairou's or Hokkan's. In the end, this is in your Emperor's best interests, too. If we succeed...he will come to understand."
"I wish I knew that for sure." Aoiketsu admitted. "But it's done now. I mean, the die have been cast. This is where I am and I've made up my mind. I shed blood today in Kounan's name. I've really crossed the line."
He held out his hands to Hikari, eying her solemnly as she cast him a startled look.
"Suzaku no Shinzahou, I will do whatever I can to defend you and your cause." He said gravely. "For Kutou's sake, but also for your sake, too. Because...no matter what the cost is..."
Gently he took her fingers in his, squeezing them gently, and Hikari did not pull away, too startled to react.
"I...want to be here." He murmured. "With...with you."