An Old Tale

By: Esuna

Chapter Nine: Feelings Unveiled

Two full weeks went by after the incident on the Yokohama Streets. Anastasia fell into a deep coma and had not awoken since or even stirred once in her warm bed. This brought tremendous alarm to the others as they feared the girl would never open her eyes again. However though, on one particular night, the girl's eyes suddenly flickered open and she twisted to her side just as she heaved out some more blood. Everyone feared for the worst. Perhaps, the blood tonics were not effective enough.

That night, Kurando had remained by the girl's side as she tossed and turned in her bed. When her condition worsened, he sat the girl up on her bed and eased the blood tonic down her throat. Not long after she downed the medication, she had hurled all the contents out along with some of the blood. The mess, of course, went all over the surface of Kurando's new outfit with a sickening, rotten stench. He did not let that bother him though. Once again, he eased another dose of blood tonic down the girl's throat one more time. She experienced another coughing fit, as if ready to hurl the contents out again. However, Kurando took the initiative to stroke her trembling back until her internal system had submitted to the effects of the blood tonic. At last, the medication had helped relieve some of the pain.

After that terrible night, Anastasia's condition appeared to be improving slightly. If not for Kurando that evening, she would have spewed out a lot more blood than usual. Who knew what would become of her if not for the young man at her bedside? As the days rolled by, the girl had stopped spewing blood, her breathing had calmed to normal, and the colour in her once pale cheeks were returning in a soft rosy hue. Still, the girl lacked physical strength. The medical healer, Tuta, had strictly ordered them not to let her out of bed as of yet. He explained that she could only leave the bed when she has regained all of her energy back. He called this type of energy "qi" and if this energy left the body completely, it would mean death. Kurando remembered hearing something like that from the conversation Kawashima had with Tuta on the day Anastasia had fell unconscious.

When Kurando confronted his Master regarding the root of the girl's condition, the elder had explained that it was a very complicated matter. It was difficult to explain, really. Baffled by Kawashima's unusual words, he braced himself for whatever the unfortunate news may be and persuaded his Master to break the girl's condition to him anyways. At first, the old man had hesitated but eventually, he explained that the girl had a strange sickness – one that Tuta called "heart sickness". It was not a physical illness; more of a psychological one that led to the condition she had experienced. Another logical reason could be stress or perhaps even a depression of some sort. Tuta stated that the girl required two things: firstly, the blood tonics to correct the irregular flow of blood in her body and secondly, friendship and love from the people around her.

Things were beginning to make sense now. Kurando was beginning to understand as well. In truth, he had already sensed the girl's feelings for him when they were traveling together with Yuri and the others in pursuit of Kato Masaji. At first, he spurned them. He merely treated her like a little sister – the kind of relationship he shared with someone like Yoshiko. And upon bringing Yuri and the others to Inugami Village for the first time, a new inexplicable feeling developed when he saw Sayori again. That time, Kurando was almost convinced that Anastasia was nothing more than a little sister to him. His interest clearly fell on the beautiful Sayori. His first impression of her was how much she had grown to become a lovely young lady after all those years they had been apart.

Then came the fall of the Asuka Stone Platform. As his comrades vanished one by one to a place they wished to be in, Kurando remembered feeling a sudden urge to protect this Russian princess. He felt himself pull the girl into his arms just as his feet left the platform. In turn, the girl held onto him tight as she too began to feel her feet touch nothing but the air. He remembered shutting his eyes tight as they warped away from the platform. By the time they felt their feet touch the ground, they opened their eyes slowly. The first thing he saw was the girl, who still had her arms around his waist, glaring softly up at him with a gentle smile on her pretty pink lips. He released her slowly and realized they had arrived in a slightly forested area with a large pond full of beautiful swans bathing in it. He found it strange that they were brought to such a place. Even today, he still did not understand why he and the girl were brought there in the first place. Was it really a place he wished to be in? With the girl? And why with her?

After that particular day, they had literally spent an entire year traveling together. He had to admit their year of traveling together was indeed pleasant, whereas he enjoyed every moment of it. They grew very close after that. However, he wasn't sure whether those growing feelings for her were out of friendship or perhaps, out of love…? Then what about Sayori? What were those strange, unexplainable feelings too? He didn't know. What was more frustrating, by the time they had traveled back to Inugami Village, he felt all those feelings he had for Sayori return when she had greeted them by the entrance. It washed over him like a heavy tidal wave. Even after a year, he still found her so beautiful. Their eyes locked with a burning intensity. Who knew how long they stood facing one another gazing into each other's eyes like that? Did Anastasia catch him staring at Sayori with eyes that yearned for her? It now struck him that during that time, she had probably did. Why didn't he take the time to consider how she felt that day?

What was worse, if he felt those growing, undeniable feelings for Sayori again, then why on earth did he lead Anastasia on during their year together? If he had feelings for Sayori in the beginning, he shouldn't have led Anastasia to believe he had feelings for her as well. This made the girl fall for him even deeper. If only he had not revealed similar feelings to her, then she wouldn't have gone beyond just a simple girl crush to something more…love. He admitted to his great mistake now. However, he still couldn't explain the strange, growing feeling he felt with the princess as they traveled for a year together. It was the type of feeling he felt for Sayori as well. Then perhaps, that feeling for Anastasia was more than a brotherly-sisterly one and perhaps, even more than friendship too. But with feelings for Sayori and with feelings for Anastasia, what to do? He didn't know!

Selfish. Why did he have to be so damn selfish? A man shouldn't hold onto two women in his life. It was just unfair to both of them. Why couldn't he decide which woman mattered to him most? If only he had sorted out his emotions and decided what he wanted and what he wanted to do out of this predicament! Then perhaps, he didn't have to torture Anastasia in this way. She had suffered both physically and emotionally all because of him! His indecisiveness in life sure led to frustrating situations like this one! But now, his mother's words flowed back to his perturbed mind once more, "You must decide what you want and what you want to do in life. What your future holds depend on the decisions you make now." After Anastasia's disappearance from Inugami Village, he finally realized what kind of a person Sayori truly was. She was a very jealous young woman and also one that attempted to deceive him – firstly, about his mother's disappearance and secondly, about the letter from his Master. He was completely disappointed with her.

For a while, he had been repeating his mother's words in his mind again and again. 'What do I want? What do I want to do?' After seeing through Sayori's true character and most especially after seeing the image of the helpless Anastasia back in the waterfall cavern, the answers to those questions slowly revealed itself in his mind. 'I want Anastasia by my side.' and 'I want to protect Anastasia.' Kurando had found the answers. It was what he wanted. Deep down in his heart, that was what he truly felt. 'I understand now. I will weave my own fate, Mother,' he thought, hoping that Saki would hear him back in Inugami Village.

Kurando awoke naturally, with no disturbance from anything whatsoever. The birds outside were just beginning to chirp melodically. He rubbed his tired red eyes gently before squinting them to the rays of sunlight that were piercing through the room's window. He glanced down at the bed at the sleeping Anastasia and was…bewildered! There was no one on the bed! Anastasia was gone! No, not again! This couldn't happen! Where could she have gone? Kurando literally jumped out of the wooden chair he had been sleeping on, causing it to fall backwards onto the tatami. He rolled his eyes over to the clock by the bedside: it was only six in the morning! Where did the girl go this early in the morning?

Blanca had scuttled into the bedroom immediately – probably due to the small racket the young man had caused upon tumbling the chair over on the floor. Fortunately, Kurando had not woken any other people like his Master and Yoshiko in the other bedrooms from down the hall. The handsome white wolf heaved a pitiful whimper. He stood gazing up at the young man with obvious concern.

Kurando knelt down immediately so that he could look at the wolf straight in the eyes. "Blanca," he half whispered, "Anastasia has gone missing. You must help me find her, please…"

Instantly, Blanca whirled around and scuttled out of the bedroom whereas the young man leapt to his feet and darted after the wolf. He tried to be as noiseless as possible even upon shutting the slide screen door behind him. Out on the Yokohama Streets, Kurando ran after his companion with one hand on the sheath of his blade while the other swung forward and back by his side. Blanca suddenly slowed down and finally came to a halt and Kurando had no choice but to stop as well. The wolf sniffed the ground several times before lifting his white head up into the air to start sniffing as well. A short while later, Blanca made another dash forward in order to get out of the Yokohama Streets. Needless to say, Kurando had trailed after him without a word.

They passed by several different settlements until they reached the new Mikasa harbor. Just as they entered the harbor, a deep, loud horn sounded, which was a last minute call for any late arrivers to get onto the vessel. Blanca finally came to a halt and sat down, panting. He looked up at the young man. Kurando swung his head in almost every direction, searching frantically for Anastasia. There were a lot of people at the harbor even though it was so early in the morning. Nevertheless, he began to squeeze through the crowd of people. The girl couldn't have possibly gone on board yet, could she? He pressed further into the crowd, hoping to reach the plank where the vessel was loading some last minute passengers. Blanca followed closely behind him.

"Please! Take me with you!" an all-so-familiar voice could be heard somewhere beside the huge crowds in the loud, congested harbor.

Kurando swung his head to his immediate right and finally, he had found the beautiful Russian princess, Anastasia. She was dressed in a powdery pink kimono that reached slightly above her bare knees with long, reddish-brown hair tied up in a high pony-tail. The girl looked exactly the way she did from the image he had seen back in the waterfall cavern. She was standing by a shaded corner, begging the old sorcerer, Master Zhuzhen to take her on board.

"I cannot do that, my dear," he apologized sincerely, "You are in no condition to travel."

Anastasia shook her head gently, her pony-tail swishing left and right. "Master Zhuzhen, please! I can assure you that I am well now…"

The Chinese sorcerer merely shook his head at that. "You may be able to deceive others but you cannot deceive me. I may be old but I am no fool. I know you have not recovered from your illness completely. Why must you continue insisting for the past hour with false claims of being 'well'? Do you not know that honesty is an individual's best virtue?"

Apparently, this meaningful statement had silenced Anastasia completely. She hung her head in obvious defeat.

Zhuzhen placed both hands on her shoulders. "You must stay here and get well," he said softly. "When you are feeling better, you are always welcome to join me – that is, if you are still up to the job. You will always be my little apprentice no matter what."

The rather touching comment had sent the girl looking up at the sorcerer again. It left her feeling warm and fuzzy deep inside especially when he took out a sheet of paper that stated the addresses in Europe that were to be exorcised by him. He placed it in her tiny hands.

The horn sounded one more time and Zhuzhen literally jumped in his spot. "Aiiiii yaaa! I must go now!" he bellowed from all the noise. "Take care now, Mayu!" He gave the girl one final squeeze of the shoulders before picking up his dark blue sac on the ground.

Anastasia nodded sadly. "You too, Master Zhuzhen." She clenched onto the paper tight with both hands and gave him an assuring nod once more.

Zhuzhen nodded in return and made a hurried dash for the crowded plank. Eventually, he finally disappeared inside the vessel.

Anastasia watched on until the last speck of the crowd disappeared inside the vessel and the plank detached itself from the harbor. The horn sounded one last time that stated its departure for good. The girl felt her eyes well up with hot, stingy tears as the vessel finally took off from the harbor. She was going to miss Zhuzhen even if it meant she had gotten to know him for only one day, actually, not even. Still, she felt this special bond with him – the type she felt with someone like Edgar.

The cool, ocean breeze blew gently against her face as she gazed sadly at the vessel Zhuzhen had boarded on. She never did realize that a deeply-concerned young man had been watching her all this time. It was only until she turned away from the ocean view that she realized Kurando was standing a short distance away from her, gazing intently at her startled face. A part of her still feared him. The girl turned completely away from the young man, ready to flee from him once more but Kurando had already stepped over to grab her by the wrist. Still, she had her back to him with her head cast to the side. She was beginning to tremble nervously again. His presence always gave her that kind of strange feeling.

"Don't go," was all Kurando could say.

Anastasia said nothing. However, she did not resist from his touch.

He decided it was about time he explained his situation to her. But he refused to begin with that repetitive phrase, 'Anastasia, I...', for fear of upsetting her again. This time, he chose to go straight to the point. "It has been you all along, not her. I was foolish," he said. The emphasis on her had clearly meant Sayori.

'Please... Do not lie to me, Kurando,' she thought sadly, 'I have seen the way you looked at Sayori. The way you held her there in your arms. The way you even kissed her on those pretty red lips…'

"There is nothing between us now. You must believe me," he continued.

'I…I just…can't…'

"Anastasia, please... Speak to me."

Instead of speaking, the girl felt the tears flowing down her cheeks. She tried to suppress her sobs to no avail. It came out as a wretched sound and she could do nothing but slide to the ground on her bare, white knees and shielding her tear-stained face with her free hand. She believed he was only saying those things to her out of pity. She was sick and he probably felt bad for it. He was just trying to compensate for all that pain she had gone through.

Kurando still kept his grip on her other wrist. He refused to let go even as she tried to suppress her sobs. Finally, he stepped in front of the weeping girl and knelt down as well. Slowly, he plucked her other hand away from her tear-stained face and held her hands comfortingly in his. He held them close to his chest as he studied her miserable face for a second.

"Forgive me," he said slowly. "I never meant to hurt you."

A long, uncomfortable silence followed thereafter.

"I-I need you," he admitted at length. The words were not coming out right but it was indeed something he meant to the girl with absolute sincerity deep down in his heart.

Anastasia felt herself stiffen at the sudden remark. She could hardly absorb those words in her head. Did Kurando just declare his 'feelings' to her and to her alone? Was he telling…the truth? She didn't know.

"Will you look at me?" he pleaded softly.

The girl had finally calmed herself down. However, she couldn't bring herself to look up at him. She still felt confused and most especially uncertain about this situation.

Kurando pulled back a little in order to get a better look at the girl. He tightened his grip on her cold, trembling hands. "Anastasia?"

Still, she did not reply.

'I see she still needs some time to think. I can't make her believe my words right away…'

Kurando pulled the girl up to her trembling feet. She kept her eyes cast down on the ground. For a short second, the young swordsman stood gazing down at her before he did something he never expected himself would do. Anastasia stiffened as she noticed him reach down for her hand again. This time, however, Kurando had entwined his fingers with hers. He had a firm, warm grip compared to her loose, cold ones. She never thought a swordsman like him would do something like that. He had always been a very shy young man to begin with. After all, he was a descendant of the supposedly unromantic Inugami clan. Nevertheless, Anastasia did not pull away. Perhaps, their relationship would mend from here. It was a good start!

The sun was just climbing higher in the sky as the princess and the samurai walked hand-in-hand out of the Mikasa harbor and back towards the Yokohama Streets.

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Next Chapter: Fusion Monster Jutendouji

Final chapter. Whoo-hoo…

I'll try to get the last chapter done sooner despite school, work, and feeling like crap. Thanks to those who have R&R. Very inspirational. Ja ne!