I don't own anything from Danball Senki/W/WARS
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Shortly after leaving Jin and Hana, Muraku ran into another group of Bandit.
"There he is!" The leader yelled and they surrounded him. They eyed him warily as they wondered if he would fight them off or escape.
Muraku smirked and held up his hands. "Don't worry, I'm not going to run. But I want to see Queen Kinako right now!"
"Should we get her?" One Bandit asked the leader.
"He doesn't want to run, so I say that we bring her here and if he escapes again, we won't bear the burden." The leader whispered back to him. "Go and get her and Seredy-sama now."
"Yes sir!"
Muraku watched in amusement as the Bandits that were surrounding him nervously huddled around him to prevent him from escaping. He can only imagine how much effect the queen can have on her men. Soon enough, the Bandit returned with Queen Kinako and Seredy rushing behind him. The Bandit surrounding him quickly made way for them.
Queen Kinako smirked and extended her hand. "Muraku, I'm glad that you have seen sense. Come back with me and I will consider forgetting about the fact that you refused to come with me in the first place."
"I am willing to come with you. But like I said before, you have to leave Jin and his friends alone and untouched." Muraku said firmly.
Queen Kinako's face hardened and she raised her hand, slapping him. "I told you before, I will not let go of the one and only chance I have at revenge."
Muraku clenched his teeth as he rubbed the sport Queen Kinako had hit and rested his other hand on the hilt of his sword. In one swift moment, he pulled it out and held the blade by his neck. Queen Kinako's eyes became wide and started to move forward, but Muraku only responded by stepping back and pressed the sword deeper.
"Don't come any closer!" He yelled at her.
"Muraku, you don't have to do this." Queen Kinako pleaded.
"I have to if I don't want to be under people like you." Muraku hissed. "You want to love me as your son. But how can I believe that when all you did was put me under more pain than before?"
Queen Kinako pursed her lips and stretched out her hand. "What do you want me to do?"
"Like I said, let Jin and his friends go. I want to take down Yoshimitsu Kaidou as much as you do, but I'm not going to sacrifice anymore lives for that." Muraku said firmly.
Queen Kinako's eyes softened but her fist tightened. "Why are you so insistant that I let Jin Kaidou go?"
"Because, no matter what happens, he is my brother. And if something were to ever happen to him, I will rather die than to live with you!"
Queen Kinako scowled and slowly turned to Seredy. "Call of the search."
Seredy blinked in surprise as did the rest of Bandit but none of them dared to contradict or question her so he bowed. "As you wish."
Queen Kinako turned back to her son and extended her hand again. "I called off the search. They can leave the area now. Put down the sword."
Muraku eyed her suspiciously but lowered his sword and replaced it. "Fine. But remember, if I hear anything about Jin or Hana or Yuno getting hurt, now or in the future, I will not hesitate to pull the same stunt."
"I can assure you that I will not touch them. Unlike Yoshimitsu Kaidou, I have more honor than you think." Queen Kinako said softly and went over, engulfing him in a hug. "You have no idea how much I waited for this day to be reunited with you."
Muraku hesitantly returned the hug. Inwardly, he was conflicted on accepting her as his mother given how he still remember his parents, if they were even really his parents, and how cruel she was momentarily towards him.
She pulled away and smiled. "Your sister will be thrilled to know that she has a brother. I bet that she'll be glad that Nana will have a father figure in her life even if it is her uncle. By the way, are you married yet or seeing somebody?"
Muraku stiffened at that and shook his head. Queen Kinako smirked and nodded her head. "Good. That means that I don't have to worry about a lot of things."
She refused to elaborate and pulled at his arm instead. "Come on. We're going home."
"I hope Muraku will be alright." Yuno said worriedly to herself as she trekked along with the group. So far, there has been no sign of Muraku or Jin and Hana for the past hour and she was getting worried.
"Don't worry. He's gotten in to more trouble before. He can get out of it easily." Reika mumbled as she stumbled along with Arata's support.
"How long have you known him?" Ban asked her curiously.
"A year. And it was long enough for me to know that he can get into a lot of trouble and almost every time that happens, he needs my help to get him out somehow." Reika offered a weak smile.
"By the way, how did you managed to control those plants to get us away from the fight?" Arata asked her.
Reika chuckled weakly at that. "Well, every living being has a response to a certain kind of stimulous which can control them as well. For nature, it is music. Certain melodies can stimulate nature into doing certain things like how I used the plants to get you guys away just now."
"With you on our side, I don't see how we can't defeat Yoshitmitsu Kaidou." Arata grinned.
Reika halted in her tracks at that and pushed Arata away. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not going to be anyone's tool. Once we are out of here, I'm gone. There is no way I am going to partake in this silly feud."
"It's not a silly feud!" Kazu snapped.
"Then tell that to the people who are tired of your fights with the Kaidou Empire. You don't see how much it is troubling them because they feel that they have to pick a side and yet, they want to remain neutral." Reika snorted. "I agree that Yoshimitsu Kaidou is very cruel, but that does not mean that I want to be dragged into this. I would rather live hidden from him than to be used as a tool for either side."
"Let it go, Arata." Ban said quietly before Arata could protest. "She has made a choice just like many others did. There's no use forcing her to join us."
"I know how that feels, being caught in the middle, I mean." Yuno spoke up. "My father tries to remain as neutral as possible despite the alliance but there are times we are forced to pick Yoshimitsu's side. Not everyone has the courage to stand up to him like you guys. They may want to but are too afraid of what he will do to them."
"That and they don't want their peaceful lives to be ruined." Reika mumbled as she nearly stumbled into a tree. Arata sighed and pulled her away before steading her.
"By the way, I don't think we have thanked you for saving us back there." Ban spoke up.
"Thank Muraku for that. He was the one who asked me to get you guys away. Otherwise I might have been too distracted to do so." Reika mumbled back.
Every chuckled nervously but stopped when an arrow flew past them and hit the tree in front of them. Everyone jumped and started to pull out their weapons when Ban yelled for them to stop.
"There's a note attached to the arrow." Yuno pointed out. Despite everyone's protest, she went over to the arrow and pulled out the note, reading it with a frown once she recognized the handwriting.
"Yuno, what does it say?" Arata asked her.
"It's Jin's handwriting." Yuno sighed sadly as she folded the note up. "He said that he doesn't want to return to the Kaidou palace for the time being. And he wants me to not go back there or Odela either until he can figure out how to face Lord Yoshitmitsu."
"But why?" Ban frowned. "What happened after we left back with the queen?"
"A lot of things." Yuno sighed again. "But to cut the story short, we found out that the queen is actually Muraku's mother, but don't ask about it. I don't have any idea about it either. Also, she hit some hard truths about Yoshimitsu Kaidou's plans for Jin, which broke him down. I can understand that's why he does not want to go back now."
"That must be a big shock." Ban shook his head in disbelieve, starting to understand Queen Renneton's words about Mia. "But if that's so, there's no point in searching for them since he will want to lay low and would probably bring Hana along. As for Muraku, I have to take Reika's word for it that he'll be safe. Men, we're going back now!"
"Roger!"
"Then what about Queen Yuno?" Kazu asked him.
"She can come with us, if that's fine with her, that is."
"I guess I have no other choice." Yuno sighed.
'Are you sure that it is ok to let Yuno go with them?' Hana signed to Jin as they made their way out of the forest after delivering the note to Yuno with their unconventional method.
"It'll be fine. I would rather her with them than with us now." Jin said nonchalantly. "More importantly, do you have any idea of where we should go if we want to lay low without the Empire finding us for the time being?"
Hana bit her lip as a place came to her mind but she pushed it away because that place did not contain the best memories she had. Nevertheless, she signed to Jin, 'I may know a few places where the Empire won't check, but it may not be the best places though.'
"I don't care. I'll take anywhere right now." Jin said stiffly.
Hana tilted her head as she tried to think up of the closest place to them and does not hold any significance to her. Finally, a place came to her mind and she gestured at one direction. 'I think there is an abandoned farmland close to the borders here. There is a spring that goes past there and an abundance of wild animals. We can stay there for the time being.'
"Alright, lead the way." Jin breathe out. They began walking in the direction Hana pointed and along the way, Jin smiled at Hana. "I didn't think you would still be a good shooter after all these years."
Hana blushed at that but shrugged it off. 'It's a natural reaction for my body after years of hunting.'
"I guess we can leave the hunting to you then." Jin said casually.
Hana rolled her eyes and lightly punched his shoulder. 'Fine, but you'll have to gather the firewood, get fresh water every day and clean up the place.'
"Whatever you say." Jin rolled his eyes back.