Please tell me if you think this is boring. If you want to give me flames, I'll probably just ignore them. I write for myself, not for anyone else. Of course, if you like this story, feel free to tell me too.
Amethyst Heh, you made some very important observations! However, you have to read the story to find out. This is only Part 1 of Chapter Five – hang in there for Part 2. As for your question about why Michi's dad has to switch jobs – I did mention that he became a teacher because one of the teachers at the school had to go on maternity leave. Basically he's just a substitute. I figured that substitutes can't be teachers for the long-term, so he's going to help out at the library :) If you noticed, I did mention his role (non-permanent staff, I mean) in the fic.
Chichi-ue: Honorable Father
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Chapter Five – PART I
1583, Autumn
Kurei swatted a mosquito away from his ear as he pulled out the weeds that were practically draining the life out of his rice plants.
"Ne, ne, Onii-chan!" he heard Kaoru call him. "Look what I found!"
The boy bounded over with a large blue-green beetle.
Kurei raised his eyebrows, impressed. "You caught it yourself?"
It was at that moment the sky decided to plunge them into total darkness.
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"Mikagami-kun…?" Tokiya heard Michi call his name.
"He's coming round…" another voice said. He slowly identified it as Fuuko's.
"He should be fine now," Shiki spoke, her face pallid. "I've taken back the heat."
Michi scowled at her. "Care to let us know what's going on now?"
Shiki could only stare at Michi soulfully.
x
"I wasn't intending to tell so many people, because the fewer people know about it, the better it is," Shiki closed her eyes and titled her head skyward.
"My name is Shiki. Jounouchi is just a name I used in this century. I am the last surviving member of the Urin Clan, which was exterminated in the year 1560. I traveled through time to get here… To look for a sister that I had lost."
There was a dumbfounded silence. Everyone was taken aback by the revelation.
Shiki turned to Michi.
"You."
x
It was an intensely hot summer day in 1560, much hotter than usual. A fisherman wiped his brow, sighing up at the sun.
It was then the footsteps could be heard, pounding hard on the dirt track, as if the owners of those feet were being chased by a mad bull that had gotten out from one of the farms.
The ground vibrated with the anticipation of the stampede, and the fisherman looked bewilderedly over his shoulder as he saw three girls running past at top speed. Just moments later a band of tromping, rowdy villagers followed.
In a matter of seconds, they were gone, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.
The fisherman looked up at the sun and shook his head. "What a boring day," he uttered, swiping at a bead of sweat trickling down his brow.
The dust settled and everything seemed to return to normal.
X
"Help us!" cried a peculiar blue-eyed girl with streaks of gold in her hair to Chief Sawaki as she saw them coming towards her. His troop of huntsmen and guards were close behind and at his command, they slowed down to a stop.
"What seems to be the matter?" voiced Chief Sawaki to the girls, who seemed to be not a day past sixteen.
"They… They think we're demons!" sobbed the youngest, who also had blue eyes.
The girl with the fairest skin was quiet, as if she was in a state of shock. She, too, had blue eyes.
The villagers were closing in, and Chief Sawaki asked, "Why do they think you're demons?"
"Because we have abilities than most people do not possess," the silent one suddenly spoke.
"We can always kill them, but we think it's wrong," the girl with streaks of golden hair grimly informed Chief Sawaki.
The first villagers who arrived near enough to attack them threw stones and pitchforks at the girls, but the one who spoke last raised her hand and the stones and pitchforks simply bounced off some sort of invisible barrier she had created.
Suddenly, Chief Sawaki understood. "Bring them onto your horses and lead them home!" he commanded. Obeying, his men swept the young girls up and sped off, leaving the screaming villagers far behind.
X
"What is your name?" Chief Sawaki asked the youngest, in the privacy of his working chambers.
"It is Shiki, sire."
"What about you?" Chief Sawaki directed to the fair, taciturn one.
"Seiya, sire."
"And you?"
"My name is Michi, sire."
"How old are all of you?" Chief Sawaki leant forwards and tried to guess.
"I am 14," replied Michi, "Shiki is 11 and Seiya-oneesama is 16."
"And you say the villagers killed all your parents and relatives?"
"Yes, sire."
"Why did they not retaliate?"
"They did not want to hurt the innocent, the ignorant."
"How did you all escape?"
There was silence.
Chief Sawaki waited.
Seiya unexpectedly spoke up, "I overcame the village with darkness and pulled us out of danger."
At this, Shiki and Michi seemed to be embarrassed, as if using powers on the village was a definite taboo.
"Chichi-ue!" a young voice called from the outside the door, interrupting Chief Sawaki's thoughts. "I saved a puppy today!" hollered the person on the other side of the panel.
"Not now, Sakura," Chief Sawaki raised his volume to be heard. "I have some important things to do."
"I'll wait here," the child named Sakura cheerfully complied.
x
"I have heard of the Urin clan," Chief Sawaki nodded slowly. "They possess inborn powers that can be used for the good or bad of mankind, is it not?"
Shiki nodded. "But some of us are different from the rest."
Chief Sawaki gave Shiki a genial smile. How she reminded him of his own Sakura!
"How different?" he probed.
Shiki scrunched up her face in concentration. "Well, the people who have married non-Urin clan members have whose powers are fully defensive. For the pure Urin clan members, they normally have a variation of powers, either offensive, defensive or both."
Michi smiled at the youngest girl. "She is a pure Urin, sire," she placed a hand on Shiki's head and turned to Chief Sawaki. "As Urin, we have to learn about our clan at a young age."
Chief Sawaki rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And how are you related to Shiki?"
"Shiki is my maternal uncle's child, sire," Michi replied respectfully. "She is my cousin but addresses Seiya-oneesama and I as 'sister'."
"And you, Seiya?" Chief Sawaki directed towards the quiet individual.
"…I am Michi's half-sister. We have different mothers."
Chief Sawaki looked at the three girls. They were tired, dusty and most of all, homeless.
"What would all of you think about living here?" he finally asked.
x
Chief Sawaki readily accepted the girls into the family, letting them clean, cook and play with his daughter. He loved Shiki the most, because she was the most vibrant out of the three. Sakura, his eight-year-old daughter, adored Michi and her haiku-composing reveries, and would stay by her side hours on end, looking at the older girl chewing the tip of her writing brush.
But no one in the Sawaki household seemed to love Seiya, nor take notice of her.
x
Years passed. The Urin sisters became so stunningly beautiful with their blue eyes and golden-tinged hair that Michi had to suggest wearing a veil so that they would not attract so much attention.
Sakura, on the other hand, became a lovely young lady with an equally lovely heart. She had many suitors and all of them were naturally turned down. This worried her father and mother to no end.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
x
"Michi," Chief Sawaki slid the door shut and motioned for Michi to dispense with ceremony. She folded her legs under her and settled down on the floor before removing her veil. Madame Sawaki gave her a slight nod in acknowledgement to her presence.
"I want to enquire about Sakura's destiny," Chief Sawaki gravely seated himself on the floor.
Michi was contemplative. Having the gift of prophecy was a huge burden to bear, even if she had the prerogative to use it at will. The past six years had been hassle-free, since no one asked her to tell the future, even if everyone knew about her ability to. Why was she implored to use this power only now?
"So many people have come to ask for Sakura's hand," Madame Sawaki lamented, and Chief Sawaki agreed just as a father would.
Michi chuckled and nodded, finally understanding fully. She then concentrated hard and channeled a strain of energy to complete her task.
x
1583, Autumn
"What do you want…?" Kurei hissed.
"I just want you to join us," said the middle-aged woman through the darkness.
"And dabble in your ways?" spat Kurei.
"Please, Kurei, do not speak of us with such disdain", drawled the woman as she released a little bit of light into the room, the gold and grey of her hair apparent in the dark.
"The Kouga clan deserves even worse words than these," Kaoru scowled.
"Why, you little brat. This is no place for children to speak, or even exist, for that matter…" chortled the ninja.
Kurei drew himself to his full height.
"Get lost, Seiya," he whispered dangerously.
"Try me," she cackled, enveloping the room in canvas of black.
x
1566, Spring
What she saw petrified her.
I can't tell them this, she thought, her heart filling up with sorrow as she saw what would happen to Sakura.
Michi never lied, but she did withhold truths. She knew that she could not make anyone avoid their destiny, but she could spare others the pain of knowing about it.
"How is it?" Chief Sawaki enquired eagerly.
Michi mustered a brave smile. "She will be with Koheita-kun. Let her be with Koheita-kun, no matter what."
Both Chief Sawaki and Madame Sawaki exchanged quizzical looks. Michi reassured them, "Please, trust me."
x
It was one of those nights that Shiki lay in bed wondering what would be in store for them next. She knew that there was peace in the country, but somehow something stirred in her heart. She felt that something bad was going to happen.
She needed to find out.
x
"Michi-oneesama…" Sakura sat up in Michi's futon that night. "How old are you?"
Michi was rather taken aback at this question and she laid the clean laundry onto the tatami. "I have never told you?"
The younger girl shook her head rather vehemently.
"I am twenty this year," smiled Michi, folding the first piece of clothing she took up from the pile.
"Have you ever fallen in love?"
Michi blushed and replied, "No, never."
Sakura sighed and fell back on the pillow. Michi laughed and teased, "Has my little sakura petal drifted into someone's palm?"
Sakura snuggled deeper into the futon and hid her face from Michi.
The two enjoyed the comfortable silence as Michi continued folding the clothes, the slightest hint of an amused smile gracing her lips.
x
Shiki stopped suddenly.
"What happened next?" Michi hoarsely probed. Everyone else was silent, waiting for the next part of the story.
Shiki raised her head. A tear made its way down her cheek and she brushed it away.
x
1566, Spring
Wandering into Sakura's room and finding it empty, Shiki stretched herself and lay upon the wooden floor without lighting the lamp. In the dark she heard the crickets chirp, the cicadas sing and the toads ruffling the tall grass outside.
She was almost sliding into slumber when, through her half-closed eyes, she saw a figure clad in black peering into the chamber.