Chapter 37 - Mended Line
The band of clansmen on the way to Sekiraun stopped to rest a while after the sun went down, making camp with tents and fires. What few Hakaza members were able to volunteer their services mingled freely with the Taki. The Hozuki and his boy slept apart from them, Kiine noticed. She wasn't surprised.
Kiine herself stayed well away from them, to get her rest. She wouldn't be able to do much of anything if she was sleep-deprived. She fell asleep turning her plan over in her mind, sitting up against a tree, her knife in her hand. She'd find a way to pull Shingetsu aside when they reached Sekiraun, use him to help get an idea of where Kou was, and just… make it up from there...
(This seemed so much easier to do with Yuki's involvement factored in. But she'd be able to do it alone, she knew she'd be able to.)
It was just a matter of taking things one step at a time. Getting Shingetsu alone, she'd figure that out… when she got there… too…
What she didn't count on was Shingetsu finding her, first. "Hey, Kii-neesan, what are you doin', sleepin' all the way over here?"
It was a very lucky thing that Shingetsu could turn himself into water, because otherwise he'd have ended up with a very nasty scratch across his arms, or rather worse. "What are you doing, you scared me, yeah?" Kiine replied, gasping. She put her knife away into her belt.
"Well I just sensed your chakra an' I was wondering why you were sleepin' over here when it's so much warmer by the fires," he replied, with hushed sincerity. He held his hands together beneath his baggy white cloak. "It din' look too comfortable over here neither."
"I'm fine, yeah. It's okay, little guy," Kiine said. "I'm, uh." She'd make it up as she went along. "I'm here to help!"
"Then why aren't you over there with ev'ryone else?"
"…that's 'cos I'm part of a surprise attack. If someone were, uh, following us and they saw me with them then it wouldn't be much of a surprise, yeah," Kiine replied.
"Ooh." Shingetsu leaned in very close to her. His eyes, an unsettling shade of purple—kinda creepy, in Kiine's opinion, but she wasn't one to judge—were wide open. "That's super secret, innit."
"You know it," Kiine replied. She was smiling. "So you can't tell anyone that I'm here, got it?"
Shingetsu nodded eagerly. "I promise! I won't tell anyone, not even Daddy."
"Awesome, kiddo." Kiine reached up and ruffled Shingetsu's pale hair, and he giggled in response.
"So, uh, Kii-neesan?"
"Yeah?"
"Is Yu-niisan a part-a the plan too?"
Kiine looked sideways, pursing her lips. Yuki… "Well, he was supposed to be, but-"
"'Cos I won't tell nobody 'bout him, neither. I mean, if that's why he's hidin' all the way over there…"
"…wait, what?"
"Well, I can sense him hidin' all the way over there." Shingetsu pointed somewhere in the darkness, but with purpose. "He's part of the surprise attack, too?"
"…Shingetsu-kun, can you take me to where he is? I gotta talk to him about something," Kiine said.
"Ohh, sure, Kii-neesan! Anything for you." Even in the darkness, Shingetsu's smile was very warm. "It's kinda hard to see at night, innit."
"Yeah, it is," Kiine replied. Her eyes narrowed. The little boy held out his hand for her and she took it, and he brought her to a small clump of bushes several yards away. "Hey, Yuki. You can come out, now; we found you."
Even in the darkness, Kiine could clearly see the regret on Yuki's face. "I'm sorry, Master, I couldn't help myself," he said. He had his sword with him, tied to his belt. The white sheath almost seemed to glow in what little moonlight was present.
"Yuki, it's fine," Kiine said. She almost had to shake her head—she should have seen it coming. "You don't have to apologize; and for heaven's sake, please don't start crying on me again, it's embarrassing…"
Yuki sniffed. "Of course, Master."
"You gotta keep yourself together for me, yeah? We got business to get done." Kiine's voice was suddenly brighter; bolstered, maybe, by a strange sort of confidence. She was smiling.
Yuki rubbed his eyes and, to her relief, smiled—a little smile—back at her. "Of course, sir. So what's the plan?"
"Well, Shingetsu-kun here's a part of it, for starters," Kiine said.
Shingetsu gasped. "I'm a part of the plan? The secret plan?"
"Yeah, kiddo. We need you to help us find Kou."
"Ohhh, I knew that already," Shingetsu replied. He nodded. "Tensho-san talked to me 'bout lettin' him know where Kou-san's bein' kept when we get there an' stuff. I mean, he's kinda really far away right now an' I dunno where he is, but I can let you guys know too once I do know. That's part of the plan too, right?"
Kiine was surprised that she wasn't exploding from the strength of her smile. "Shingetsu-kun, that would be awesome. If you can just… sneak on over to us once you get the chance tomorrow, that'd be great."
Shingetsu smiled in reply, though his face fell a little after a moment of thought. "Well I can try, but Daddy might not let me get very far from him. I mean, he's sleepin' now, but… Can't you come to me? That'd be a lot easier…"
"No, Shingetsu-kun. We gotta stay secret, remember?" Kiine said. "We won't be very far away, we'll just be… hidden."
"Well… okay, I'll try," Shingetsu said, with a nod. "I'll be able to find you guys easy, cos your chakra's a lot like mine!"
"Sure, whatever works!" Kiine said, nodding back at him, smiling. "I believe in you, little guy."
"Thanks, Kii-neesan!" He yawned. "I'm gonna go, now, f'that's okay, I'm kinda really sleepy…"
"Sure, just remember…"
"I won't tell nobody," Shingetsu replied, and he zipped his mouth shut with his fingers. "Good luck, Kii-neesan, Yu-niisan!" He left them alone with a cheerful wave of the hand.
"…Yuki, you're not just gonna stay quiet forever, are you?" Kiine asked, once the boy was gone.
"N-no, sir, I was just listening…" he said. He clasped his hands together a little tighter. He still wasn't looking at her.
Kiine sighed. "C'mere. I think we ought-a have a talk."
The shame and pain on Yuki's face increased. "Well, of course, you ought to let me in on the rest of the plan, I suppose..."
Kiine put her arm around his back, tightly. "Well, yeah, we'll talk about that. But… I wanna see what's up with you first, okay? C'mere, let's siddown."
Yuki didn't say anything, nor did he resist as Kiine led him to a tree near the bushes, and sat them both down.
"…so… I know we weren't… in the best of moods when we saw each other last," Kiine began, after breathing deeply. "And I'm sorry for losing my temper at you, okay? I shouldn't've been so mean. I was just kinda panicked."
Yuki began shaking his head. "No, no, no, no, I was the one that lost it, I'm sorry, sir, I'm so sorry…" His head sank nearer to his knees, but Kiine's hand on his back kept it from melting into them.
"No more apologizing, Yuki," Kiine said. "Okay? Whatever you did, I forgive you. It can't be all your fault, anyways…"
Yuki didn't respond to this. He swallowed, with difficulty, trying his hardest not to cry.
"I mean… okay, I admit, I'm still a little confused about what happened," Kiine continued, when he didn't. "I mean… what, you saw a ninja on the night Kou was kidnapped, yeah? And you let him go?" Yuki nodded, once, slightly. "Well, it was just one guy, yeah? I checked with the guards, and they said they saw a buncha guys. Couldn't've been just that one who did it."
"…please stop trying to make me feel better, sir… You don't need to..." Yuki said.
"Well I'm not exactly gonna let you keep blaming yourself for this forever, yeah?" Kiine said. "It's not all your fault! That's it! That's where we're gonna leave it, yeah?"
Yuki nodded, again, but he didn't say anything.
(Kiine heard a sob, and it made her stomach sink.)
(She didn't ask him if he was crying, this time.)
(And instead, breathed in, and out, and took her hand off of his back.)
"…you know, I don't blame you for letting that one guy go, though," she said, quietly.
"Why would you not blame me…?" She could barely hear Yuki's voice.
"…well, it's more that… I don't blame you for being jealous, Yuki."
He actually laughed, there, a sputtering cough of a thing. "Why would I be… jealous?"
"Well… ever since Kou came by we've been together, like… all the time, yeah? It used to be just you an' me; plus this whole… marriage thing… They're taking away the time I used to have with you." She took another breath, a deep one. "Almost feels like Kou's replacing you, yeah?"
"I don't think that's the case, sir…" Yuki replied. Kiine saw him wipe one of his eyes with his palm.
"…even if that isn't the case, Yuki, I know you're upset. And… and it's okay to be upset, yeah?" she said. "If I were in your shoes I'd be mad as hell too. And… confused and just… Yuki, just don't blame yourself, okay? It's okay."
She put her hand on his back again as he sunk into his knees, again. "I was just trying to help…"
"I know you were, Yuki. And it was stupid, what you did, but-"
"I just don't want them to take you away…"
She paused, there. "…take me away? What do you-"
"That's why I did it. If you… if you got married to Kou they'd take you to the Hakaza compound and I'd never see you again and…"
Kiine hugged him, there, an awkward hug that strained her back and arms. His clothes felt cold. "Yuki…"
"I couldn't allow that, I didn't want to see you hurt or…" He gasped, a sob. "I'm sorry, Master, I'm really sorry…"
"It's okay. You don't… have to worry about that, okay? Yuki, you go where I go; you know that, right?" Kiine said. She took the arm that wasn't around his back and reached for a nearby hand, and she held it very tightly. "You're my right hand man! And my best friend, besides, yeah? Closer than a brother. Even if they had to drag me, kickin' an screamin' to the Hakaza compound, you'd sure as hell be comin' with me."
This didn't seem to comfort Yuki much. He didn't hold her hand back, his cold little fingers limp in her grasp.
"…and I just wanna let you know, Yuki. Kou's great, he's nice, but he is absolutely nothing compared to you. You're special to me, man. I mean, how long have we known each other?"
She could feel his hand tighten within hers. "I don't know, since before I can remember."
"Yeah, see? Exactly that. And how long have I known Kou? Maybe a couple-a days?"
He didn't say anything, but it was a comfortable silence. His grip tightened.
"We're stuck with each other, Yuki. Whether you like it or not. We're part of a pair. And nobody's ever gonna replace you in my eyes. No matter what Kou and his stupid dad try to do, yeah?"
It was too dark for her to see if he was smiling or not, but she had a feeling that he was.
"…so y'feelin' better?" Kiine asked. "Convinced I don't hate you?" she added, with a smirk.
"Master, don't say things like that." He rubbed his eyes. He sniffed. "I still think that you don't deserve this at all..."
"Yeah, I know, I know. None of us do," Kiine said, softly. "Neither Kou nor I deserve this… stupid marriage whatever, but he didn't deserve to be kidnapped, either. That's even worse, yeah."
"Yeah…"
"But, hey. At least the kidnapping we can do something about, yeah?" she said. She managed to brighten her tone as she took her hands off of him, smiling. "Which might help us with our other problem."
"Or it might not…"
Her minor smile fell. "Well, yeah, that's always… a possibility… But let's not think about that right now, okay?" She punched Yuki, softly, on the shoulder. "Don't be such a pessimist, it's bad for morale, yeah."
"Sorry…" He rubbed his arm and—ah! That was definitely a smile. "Though, uh… whose morale are we concerned about, sir?"
"Yours and mine. Duh. So, hey, now that we got this talk thing out of the way, didn't you say you wanted to hear about my plan?" Kiine said. She adjusted herself so that she was squatting directly in front of him, now, her hands on her knees like a monkey. "Since you're totally a part of it, again."
…ah, that was definitely a laugh. A small, small laugh, but a laugh. "Absolutely. What's your plan, sir…?"
Kiine only had a rough idea about what to do, but she told him anyways.
(Mainly, she was making it up as she went along. For his sake.)
(Yuki had a slight feeling that this was what she was doing, but it didn't bother him in the slightest.)
(He trusted her.)
"Well, I'm gonna go get some sleep," she concluded, standing up. "You stay where you are, it'll be better in case one of us gets caught. I won't rat you out if you won't."
Yuki's response was hesitant. Kiine's guts squirmed.
(And they'd almost forgotten about what had happened back in Konoha, too…)
"You have my word, sir," Yuki said, eventually, looking up at her. There was reluctance in his expression. "Though, uh…"
"'Though, uh,' what?" Kiine said.
"…I think we'd have to worry more about Shingetsu-kun giving us away than anything, sir."
(And she had almost forgotten about that little guy, too, given the emotional turmoil of the evening. Then again, that was what Yuki was for. He thought for when she forgot.)
"…well, hey. If he ruins it, we both go down together. We're a pair, yeah? Like I said." She gave him a wink, a smile in the darkness. "We won't get caught, anyways."
The reluctance melted into a little smile. "Of course not. Goodnight, sir."
"Goodnight, Yuki. Get some rest. We'll be feeling better in the morning."
She stepped away.
"Of course, sir."
Kiine left him, quietly, returning to her post, and sitting down to get her sleep.
She rested easily, filled with jitters, but relief, and confidence.
She had Yuki. This would make things so much easier.
(And Yuki had Kiine.)
Together, separately, they waited for the morning.
(And when it came, Yuki felt just that much more at ease.)