Chapter 18: Hokaku; Capture
Clutching the thin material in his hand, Natsume was engulfed in surprise and anger but stared stubbornly at Tsubasa with a million thoughts raced through his mind.
"What is Tsubasa doing here? Why is he in this cave? What does he have to do with the lady Mikan seems to know? What is this irritation that I'm feeling especially after he laid his hand on Mikan? Not to mention, this sickening feeling I got when that sailor looked at the princess. Why is everything thrown in disarray?"
Tsubasa stared back into his crimson eyes with equal defiance. Nobody commanded him, especially not someone like Natsume.
"I won't repeat myself, senpai. What are you doing here?" The word tasted like acid in Natsume's mouth.
The older man just snorted, "why should I answer you of all people? You, who caused everything to fall apart."
Natsume brought his hand up to punch Tsubasa but a small hand held his back with all the force she could generate. Glaring to the person who dared to stop him, Natsume's brain registered a frightened Mikan who was using all her body weight to prevent him from delivering the strike.
"Please stop Hyuuga-san." Mikan's voice shook a little.
Throwing Tsubasa against the wall, he straightened whatever was left of his clothes. Mikan, still afraid that he might attack suddenly, kept a firm grip on his arm.
Natsume placed his left hand lightly on hers and when she looked at him, she knew that he would not attack anyone. Reassured, she slowly let go of his arm.
"Misaki, why are you here?" Mikan regarded the older lady who was beside the man Natsume called senpai.
Misaki looked at her mistress and bowed slightly, then, she began her explanation. "We were tasked by the priestess to find a certain person in this town. She had foreseen that this person would be an asset on your journey."
"Who is this person?" Mikan asked.
The dark-haired man spoke up, "it's the guy your companion here almost beat up."
Mikan's gaze once again landed on the man, "you are the 'Master of the Sea'?"
Touching the place where Natsume had gripped, the man bowed low. "A pleasure hime-san. I'm Tsubasa Ando, or just plain Tsubasa. That title was given to me by the townsfolk."
Just as he bowed, the light from the surrounding torches reflected off the three shiny beads in the man's hair. Immediately everything sort of answered itself.
"You are… I mean, is it right to assume you know Hyuuga-san since you referred to him as your kouhai?" Mikan broached the topic gently.
Tsubasa's eyes widened, then returning back to their original size, he spoke, "I see, you know about us then. Well, Misaki-chan here has informed me that you are a person I would take a liking to."
Natsume clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"Chan?" Mikan thought to herself.
"Oi chibi, stop being bashful and say hi to your best friend, will you?" Tsubasa called out to someone in the shadows.
"Chibi?" As soon as the word entered her head, something white flew past her face and lodged itself into the wall beside Tsubasa's head.
"It's Imai for the 100th time. Anyway, thank you for volunteering to be a test subject." Hotaru walked out from the shadows and blew the steam coming out from the mouth of her new gun.
Mikan was all ready to run into the arms of her best friend but Hotaru stretched out her hand and pointed the gun at her. Immediately, Natsume pushed her hand up and twisted her shooting hand behind her back.
"STOP!" Mikan screamed as Natsume contained Hotaru. "Let her go Hyuuga-san, she's my best friend."
"Does a best friend point their weapon at someone they hadn't seen in a long time?" Natsume replied cynically.
Mikan laughed dryly and scratched her face, "erm… it's because Hotaru doesn't like to be hugged. So she uses her guns as deterrence. She's never actually shot me." Mikan lied so as to get Natsume off Hotaru as soon as possible.
"Oi crimson eyed boy, get your hands off me or else I'll be using you as the next test subject for my new invention." Hotaru icily interrupted.
Looking around to gauge how true she was to her words, the other men in the cave nodded frantically. Letting her go, she rubbed her sore wrist and smirked.
"I see we have a new friend who's a on the cautious side. I like him better than Ruka. Speaking of which, where's that useless bodyguard of yours?" Hotaru commented while giving her best friend a soft hug.
Mikan tightened her grip around Hotaru and tears slowly streamed down her face. "I've missed you so much. I'm sorry for putting you through all this."
Hotaru rubbed Mikan's back in small circles. "Shh… it's ok. I've missed you too. Anyway, I'd rather be helping you than that scumbag in the palace any day."
Mikan giggled a little and held Hotaru's hands. It has been a while since she saw her best friend.
"So… where's blondie and seaweed?" Hotaru enquired again.
"Erm…" Mikan hesitated, since everyone seemed to be clingingly on to her every word.
Clearing his throat, Tsubasa spoke up, "so… anyone hungry?"
Heaving a sigh of relief, Mikan would rather speak to Hotaru and Misaki privately than have the whole cave listen in on their conversation. However beside her, she failed to notice Natsume fidgeting uncomfortably.
Natsume stared at the flames which was roasting today's catch- 2 rabbits and 10 fishes. Touching his exposed skin from his burnt shirt, he pushed the skin hoping to feel a burning sensation, but he could only feel his calloused finger.
Feeling slightly irritated, he ran his hand through his hair and glared at the dancing fire.
"Glare anymore and it'll be a giant fireball." Tsubasa mocked his junior.
Natsume grunted, "Go away. I don't want to deal with you right now."
"Too bad, I'm here to keep you company whether you like it or not." Tsubasa commented and threw him a dark shirt.
Plucking the material from his head, Natsume looked at the thing thrown at him and realized it was a piece of clothing. Nodding in thanks grudgingly, he slipped out of the burnt white article and pulled the black shirt over his head.
"Woah…" Tsubasa whistled while Natsume was halfway through pulling his head through his shirt, "you bulked up chibi."
Popping his head through the intended hole, Natsume shot Tsubasa another glare. "Is it your habit of calling everyone chibi? Need I remind you that I'm now your height."
"You weren't when you left, chibi."
Silence enveloped the two and in the distance, they could hear the girls laughing joyfully at a story Mikan was relating. The other men were either busy cooking the food or joining in the story.
"Why'd you kill that man Natsume?" Tsubasa spoke without looking at him. "It's a question that played over and over again in my head. Somehow after all these years, I just can't seem to find a reason as to why you'd stab him."
"Just like how your brain is wrecking for a reason, I'm telling you that there isn't one. I didn't do it." Natsume gravely said.
"Ruka saw you commit that act. Unless you're saying Ruka was in it all along to backstab you." Tsubasa looked disbelievingly at his junior.
Natsume stood up and faced Tsubasa, "You can believe whatever you want, but just look in my eyes as I tell you my answer."
Tsubasa stared at the pair of crimson eyes for the second time that night.
"My body may have done it, but I have no recollection of every deciding to slash that man down. As I've been telling everyone, my mind went blank and the next thing I knew, he was already bleeding on the ground."
Tsubasa just looked at him without saying anything.
"Look," Natsume took off his headband and the braid with the emerald green beads fell towards his face, "As much as you wanted to remain in that unit, so did I. I've never once gone without these three beads." Pushing his hair backwards, Natsume placed the headband back on his head and started to walk towards Mikan.
He had enough talking with Tsubasa. Deep down inside, despite him wanting to hear his comrade say that he was forgiven, he knew that it was a lost cause. Besides, he had more pressing issues to address.
Seeing his kouhai starting to walk away, Tsubasa instinctively grabbed his shoulder. Somehow seeing Natsume confess, something which was totally not part of his character, Tsubasa just had to believe him.
"I…" Tsubasa fumbled for the words he wanted to say.
"What? You forgive him? After he caused the unit you treasured so much to be disbanded? After he caused Izumi-sama that much hurt?" Tsubasa's conscience debated with him but there was a nagging sensation telling him that if he let Natsume go now, he would never again be able to forgive him.
Natsume searched the deep blue eyes of his senior.
"I… I won't forgive you." Tsubasa blurted out.
"I knew it. What was I expecting?" Natsume chided himself for being hopeful.
"But…" Natsume's breath hitched in his throat, "I believe you."
Natsume's eyes widened.
"I won't forgive you for causing us to disband. I won't forgive you for all the hurt you made Izumi-sama go through." Tsubasa released his grip on Natsume.
Rather taken aback, Natsume merely nodded in response and replied, "I don't expect you to."
Wanting to change the subject, Tsubasa asked Natsume, "so.. did you tell her you're from that unit yet?"
"It hasn't come up… but she knows… other things about me." Natsume's hand instinctively went to touch the emerald beads.
"Ohh… that's interesting. You, opening up to someone else." Tsubasa chuckled and watched the young man roll his eyes and walk back to the princess' side.
"Sheesh, just admit it. You're a softie." Waving his hand to fan away that ridiculous thought, Tsubasa watched his precious junior settle a distance away from the charming brown-haired princess.
Sumire watched the sunset while sitting on the log out above the hill. She and Ruka had been working hard the whole day; cleaning out the rooms, cooking lunch and dinner, chopping firewood, getting the bath ready for the guest. Seeing how hard they had been working, Io had given both her and Ruka a break. While Ruka decided to go to the town centre to gather more information, she promised him that she would be nearby the inn.
"Let's go Aoi." Sumire spoke to the raven-haired girl who was looking forlornly at the sun.
"So soon?" Aoi whined a little.
Sumire nodded while lifting up the bucket of feed which she was instructed to feed the horses in the stable with.
Slowly peeling herself off the log, Aoi followed behind Sumire while she went about completing her final task. Aoi was amused by the fact that the horses could sense her presence but could not see her. They were moving left and right as if able to see where she was going, but they were simply following her aura.
"Have you been good horse-san?" Aoi joked with the horse and patted it on the head.
Able to feel something, the horse pressed its head against Aoi's small hands. This made Aoi very happy and she giggled.
Sumire glanced sideways at the carefree girl and slowly fed all the horses. When she was done, she placed the bucket by the side and waited for Aoi to skip out before shutting the heavy door.
But her luck had decided to run out at that exact moment.
Sumire stood rooted in her position as the two soldiers whom she encountered in the forest looked her in the eye.
Koko and Yoichi, who were returning from their patrols, decided that they could no longer sleep on the hard ground so they put aside a few coins and took their horses to the furthest inn, thinking that it would be less occupied by their fellow soldiers. However, just their luck, they spotted the person they had been looking for the whole day.
"Crap crap!" Sumire's thoughts screamed at her as she whirled round and tried to run but she was instantaneously secured in the man's strong grip.
"Fancy seeing you here!" The older boy chirped.
Yoichi's gaze was suddenly shifted from Sumire to a presence behind him. Turning sharply, he immediately blocked the thick branch which was swung carelessly and threw his assailant onto the ground. Focusing his eyes, he saw a pair of deep red eyes looking fearfully back at him.
Koko was a little unnerved that Sumire-hime was in his grasp, but his thoughts were cut short when Yoichi knocked a floating branch out of mid-air and got on all four on the ground.
"Erm… Yoichi… what exactly are you doing on the ground?" Koko asked.
Yoichi's head snapped backwards while keeping a firm grip on the girl's wrists. "Can't you see her?!"
"Who?" Koko looked around and saw that the only female was Sumire-hime.
"HER!" Yoichi's head jerked towards the ground.
"He can't see me." Aoi whispered.
"Then why can I see you? What are you?" Yoichi asked the girl.
Looking closely, he saw that there was a faint red outline around the girl, "Wait… don't tell me you're an…"
"She's a what?" Koko asked out loud.
Sumire took this moment to try and escape as she felt Koko's grip loosen. Pulling away sharply, she thought she was successful, but Koko caught her by the arm again and locked her arms behind her back.
"Could you stop struggling for a moment? I'm in a crisis here." Koko chided the princess.
"What kind of stupid crisis could you be in?" Sumire spat back.
Koko stared at her with his mouth agape, "can't you see he's snapping from all that stress?! He's talking about a girl I can't see?!"
"What do you want?" Aoi asked Yoichi who was glaring at Koko for implying that he was a lunatic.
"We're looking for the princesses. Where is Mikan-hime?" Yoichi asked her.
"Why? Why are you interfering with them?" Aoi questioned.
"Enough with the questions!" Yoichi snapped. "Who was she to ask so many when I haven't even gotten an answer to mine!" "Are you an Alice stone?"
The raven-haired girl nodded fearfully. At this moment, Yoichi felt a surge in power coming from Sumire-hime and turned to look at her.
"Senpai!" Yoichi shouted and the earth beneath Koko gave way. The captain slid into the ditch, but he also brought Sumire along with him.
Shaking his head in disapproval, he forcefully pulled Aoi along to check on his senior. Koko was spitting out bits of soil which had entered his mouth.
"Hey, next time if you're going to do something funky, warn me in advance will you?" Koko irritably regarded Sumire who was sitting on top of him.
Sumire was disappointed. Despite having the wakizashi on her and feeling the power of the terra stone coursing through her body, she had some difficulty controlling its powers. Thinking that if she shook the ground beneath them a little, she could escape but who knew that the ground would give way to form a small ditch.
Pulling himself out of the ditch, Koko extended a hand to the pouting princess.
"What? Upset that you couldn't get away?" Koko mocked her.
Sumire threw a glare at him and ignored his helping hand. She grabbed the sides of the ditch and tried to pull herself up, but the earth just gave way. Falling back into the ditch with a thud, she stood up frustratingly. Koko once again offered his hand and this time, Sumire grudgingly took it.
"He's such a scrawny person, he'll be falling back into the ditch in no-" Sumire's trail of thoughts were halt abruptly as Koko pulled her out with ease and grabbed her round the waist to steady her.
"You ok?" He asked worriedly while looking closely at her face.
Sumire felt her face flush at the proximity between both their faces.
"Too close. TOO DAMN BLOODY CLOSE!" Sumire pushed his face upwards but his grip tightened around her small waist.
Aoi who was staring at the scene suddenly felt a pressure round her hand. Looking down, she noted Yoichi still holding on tightly to her. Figuring that she would only be a liability, she transformed back into an Alice stone and alerted her brother.
Yoichi felt a warmness from his hand and saw how the stone was glowing. Never having seen an Alice stone due to their rarity, he did not know that she was informing Natsume of their presence. However, one thing was for sure, he could not get the pair of crimson eyes out of his head and his hand could still remember the small wrists she had.
"Oi, why did she return back into a stone?" Yoichi asked Sumire.
"Don't know you know how Alice stones work?" Sumire regarded the younger boy with silverish white hair.
Seeing how he shook his head, Sumire rolled her eyes. "She's protecting herself, since you won't get any answers if she's in that form."
Feeling a little disappointed, Yoichi snapped out of it and passed Sumire the stone, since it was useless now.
"What are you doing here Sumire-hime? You'd just walked into a death trap." Yoichi questioned the princess.
"Oh I didn't know." Sumire replied sarcastically and retorted, "what is the army doing here then?"
"We've been instructed to look for you and bring you back to the commander." Yoichi replied her calmly.
"No… they can't. Not after how far we've gone." Sumire's thoughts started to spiral into the worst-case scenario.
Koko who was reading her thoughts chuckle out loud, "you're thinking too much. But orders are orders. We have to bring you to our superior. He didn't take too kindly to me letting you go the last time."
"Please, you don't know what Kuonji is truly up to do you? Who's going to protect these people once Mikan and I are back in the palace?" Sumire pleaded.
"Don't worry, I'm sure general Kuonji wants the both of you back so that you can return to the throne." Koko reassured her, even though he knew it was a lie.
"As puppets! What use would he have for the both of us?! He's bound to kill one of us." Sumire screamed.
Yoichi and Koko looked at her. They knew that there was some truth in her words, but those were just bad feelings. Kuonji was said to be a great general, that's why they joined the army in the first place.
Sumire calmed down and whispered sadly, "why did you join the army? Can't you see that your subordinates are causing so much havoc in this peaceful town by eating and sleeping for free? Can't you see that the damage done isn't by the royal family anymore but by the army?"
"Do you know that the longer it takes for us to bring you back, the more these people suffer? Everyday which we spend out in the field equates to more taxes being used to fund our expedition. So just return to the palace." Koko tried reasoning with her.
"Can't you see those are lies fed to you by Kuonji?!" Sumire struggled against Koko's grip.
Just then, a group of soldiers walked near the stables and talked in a loud voice.
"DAMNNN! The weather is so hot!"
"Luckily we're done for the day. Let's go have some fun!"
"There's been rumours that the girls around here are really something."
Noticing their superiors, the group stopped and saluted before turning their attention towards the girl in Koko's arms. Whistling, they walked up closer and joked with their superiors.
"Hey Captain Yume! Where'd you find that catch?" One of them commented while eyeing Sumire hungrily.
At this moment, Koko was glad that her back was facing them. Yoichi clicked his tongue, calling both his and Koko's horses towards him.
"How much for the night missy?" One of the others sniggered.
Thinking quickly, Koko leaned towards Sumire and kissed her.
Alarmed at first, her first thoughts were to struggle, however an overwhelming feeling of warmth built up in her stomach as Koko deepened the kiss. Parting her lips slightly, Koko took advantage of this and their tongues began entwining. Feeling her struggle a little, he brought his hand down towards her lower back and pulled her closer to him.
Koko couldn't stop, the feelings he felt when kissing her was something he had never felt before and it excited him. Likewise, Sumire couldn't break away despite her brain shouting all kinds of warnings at her. Waves and waves of pleasure shot through her body as Koko's tongue explored her mouth.
The soldiers who were walking towards them suddenly stopped in their tracks as they saw their commanding officer passionately making out with the girl. As soon as Koko heard the hooves of his horses, he stopped kissing Sumire and pressed a gold coin into her palm.
Looking past her at his subordinates, he grinned, "Sorry boys, she's all mine tonight. Go find your own."
The men let out groans of disappointment and made their way to the front of the inn. Once he saw them disappear, Yoichi cleared his throat and took their horses to the stables.
Koko looked down at the princess within his arms and saw how flushed her cheeks were. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, "don't cause a scene and leave this town. I know you're looking for something here, but it isn't worth you being captured."
"I can't." Sumire whispered.
"You have no choice. Get out of here. Get out of my sight." Koko released his grip on her and pushed her away before walking to the stables to join Yoichi.
Once he entered the stables, he was subjected to Yoichi's judging looks.
"What did you just do Captain Yume? Did you just let our target go for the second time?" Yoichi sarcastically remarked.
"I just did. So what? Sue me." Koko muttered frustratingly while brushing his horse.
Natsume waited for everyone to be asleep before getting up. Looking at the guards who were on patrol, they just nodded at him as he made his way over to the other end of the cave where the girls slept. Bending down beside Mikan, he tapped her lightly.
Luckily for him, Mikan just closed her eyes and was thinking about the day's events before feeling someone wake her. Opening her eyes, she saw Natsume crouching beside her awkwardly.
Natsume noted how her eyes were questioning him. He brought a finger to his lips and motioned for her to follow him.
Mikan crawled out from the covers and followed Natsume. Nodding to the men who were on night duty, she soon found herself sitting on the edge of the cave which was overlooking the ocean. Looking up at the almost full moon, she pushed the stray stands of hair behind her ear.
"What is it Hyuuga-san?" Mikan regarded the man who was staring up at the same sky as she was.
Natsume fidgeted, not knowing how to broach the topic.
"You're probably wondering about today…" Natsume began.
Mikan's thoughts instantaneously flashed back to the morning where she caught glimpses of him glaring at the sailor whom he was talking to. She felt it a bit odd that he should be so threatening despite wanting information. But she shrugged it off as him being good at interrogating. Then her thoughts flew to Tsubasa and she wondered why he was so irritated by him.
"Are you talking about how you and Tsubasa know each other?" Mikan interrupted.
"Yes… that and the other things."
Immediately, Mikan remembered Natsume walking out of the burning building without a single injury.
Natsume removed his headband and started fiddling with his braid. Noting that his hair had grew a bit longer, he made a mental note to cut his hair.
"Do you recognise this?" Natsume held out the emerald beads on his braid.
Mikan nodded, "I do, but it's been said to be a unit of legends, since there wasn't anyone who belonged to it."
"Yeah... since it was disbanded." Natsume scoffed.
"Otou-san talked about it once. He said it was a special unit, created to do the secret works of the royal family, and only the most talented could be in it." Mikan explained. Then looking at the beads still in Natsume's hand, "Could I…?" Mikan looked at the beads and back at Natsume
"Do you want to see them?" Natsume asked and Mikan nodded.
"I'll let you see mine." Mikan replied and slipped her golden bead off her braid, passing it to Natsume who exchanged one bead for hers.
Bringing it up to the moonlight, Mikan noted the small engravings around the bead. Seeing the sakura petal, Mikan immediately knew that the bead was authentic as it carried the emblem of their family's flower.
Returning it back to Natsume, she spoke, "so what is it you want to tell me?"
Natsume replaced the bead in his braid and returned the golden bead to her. "Which do you want to know first?"
"Tsubasa-san. I know you two belonged into the same unit but that's about it."
"Yes, we were in the same unit and the hostility is from an incident I caused."
"The one where you killed an innocent man?" Mikan questioned.
Natsume closed his eyes and let out a small sigh, "due to my supposed action, the unit was disbanded, and the members were also forcibly relocated to other units, or so I believed. I'm not sure where they all went, but we were a small and tight unit. However, my actions caused them to resent me as I exposed the presence of this secret unit. After I was exiled, I couldn't find any news about them. It seemed that your father was really hurt by what I did, and it pained him to have to destroy this unit."
Natsume looked at Mikan who was listening intently and continued.
"Tsubasa-senpai… he was well-known throughout the entire army for being a flirt. Often rivalling that of Tono. So pardon me if I was a little uneasy about him getting close to you. Some of the rumours weren't pleasant."
"But aren't you glad that you finally reunited with one of your comrades?" Mikan enquired.
Natsume nodded, "I am. He was hostile for reasons which I understand, and he wanted answers. So, I told him my side and though he believes me, he's not going to forgive me."
Mikan remained silent for a while, "well, at least it's a step towards reconciliation."
Natsume let out a breath of relief. That was one major matter down, now it was time to let her know the truth which only his unit knew.
"About… the fire incident, why weren't you hurt?" Mikan asked.
"You do know that even amongst Alice users, there are some Alices which are very rare?"
Mikan nodded, wondering where Natsume was going with his question.
"Even in the story, there were only 4 people granted with the Alice which were especially given."
"Yes…"
"Look Mikan-hime, try not to be alarmed but, I have one of the elemental Alices."
Mikan stared blankly at him.
"I have the Alice of fire, that's why I'm not harmed by it." Natsume looked Mikan in the eyes.
She just sat there staring at him. If what Natsume said was true, then their journey would be shortened considerably since they would only need to find 4 other stones.
"I have been hiding my Alice ever since I entered the army, but after your father put me in that unit, I had no choice but to use it on rare occasions. But despite that, only those in the unit know of my abilities."
"I understand. It isn't something you want everyone to know since technically, many believe that the Alice wielders of the four elements do not exist." Mikan continued.
"Exactly."
"If that's so… could you hand me your Alice now?" Mikan enquired.
However, Natsume shook his head. "when I said use, I meant like today, just walking into fire. I can't actually use my Alice."
"Why not?" Mikan wondered. Wasn't it natural for an Alice wielder to just know how to use their Alice the moment they were born?
"Because… it was an Alice I inherited after my father died. So I'm by definition, not a natural Alice wielder."
Mikan opened her mouth to question him before closing it again. If that were true, at least they knew who the vessel of the current Fuoco element was.
"Wait that means… not only are you the vessel of the shinigami, you're the vessel of an element?!" Mikan shouted.
"SHHH!" Natsume urged and looked around to see if anyone was listening.
Now Mikan understood truly why Natsume was so prickly initially. She wouldn't blame him if she knew of this earlier. Why didn't Kami's sword show her this memory of his? Wasn't it an important memory?
Just as she was about to ask him about it, Natsume's eyes widened.
"What is it Hyuuga-san?" Mikan noted how anxious he was.
"Your sister… she got caught by the soldiers in the army!"