To the promised planet

Chapter2: The castle

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By the time Kagura arrived at the meeting place, there was no sign of Soyo. Well, she arrived almost 2 hours late. At first, she was secretly afraid that Soyo would be angry because it's never easy for Soyo to escape from the castle each time.

Kagura decided to go to Edo Castle. At first, the guards reluctantly refused, but when Jiiya came and greeted her personally, confirming that the young Yato girl was the princess' 'dear friend', they immediately kept their sword.

When she met Soyo Kagura hurriedly apologized and took out two boxes of pickled seaweed from her pocket as an apology. Soyo actually wasn't angry at all but she couldn't control her natural sadism. Soyo asked for another box of pickled seaweed because she knew it was her friend's favorite and thought that Kagura might be hiding her portion in the pocket.

Kagura hesitated for a moment, but finally gave Soyo the last box of pickled seaweed. Seeing Yato's tormented expression, Soyo was satisfied. She offered to return all the pickled seaweed in exchange for Kagura's sleepover tonight. Kagura immediately agreed because it wasn't the first time she had slept at Soyo's house anyway.

After almost a week that night, Soyo decided to sneak outside the castle again.

She walked towards the Japanese garden inside the castle. As she neared the edge of the wall, she found a dark corner obscured by trees and large ornamental stones. Probably no one really knows. Here is her secret escape route from the castle. Even though the hole looks small, but her body is so thin that it can pass through easily.

After getting out of the hole, she decided to quickly run away from the castle area before anyone could see it. She ran with the biggest smile on her face. Today seemed to be a good day because normally, at this rate, she would've already got caught midway and dragged back. Of course, if she ran a little faster, she could escape. But if not caught, it would be best because in the end she had to hide from the police all day.

While smiling so happily that she couldn't look on the way, she bumped into something. It's solid, but it's not as hard as things. No…she wasn't that dumb (running into an electric pole, that kind of thing). When she felt someone's breath linger on her head, she knew right away that something she bumped into must have been a person.

Soyo took a step back and squeezed her small nose that had been squashed just now, then immediately bowed in apology. "S…Sorry, I didn't look at the way…" She drawled because when she looked up, she saw a smiling face.

The vermillion-haired man wearing a black Chinese clothes with a large purple umbrella. It immediately made Soyo remember.

"You then!"

"Do we know each other?" The vermillion-haired man tilted his head curiously.

"Eh… you don't remember me, do you?" Soyo pointed at herself as her eyes blinked. She was sure that the man in front of her was the same person she met at the restaurant.

He thought for a long time . Since coming to the world, He haven't bothered with anyone in particular. A woman from Yoshiwara? But it probably wasn't because she still looked too young.

He looked at her head to toe, straight black hair, cocoa eyes, a blue kimono.

"Ah!" He exclaimed as he put his fist on another hand,"You're that girl from last week."

"It's Soyo," she said.

He thought for a long time of what to do with her because he had no need to get to know the weak. But probably because of the scarce money in his pocket, He haven't eaten a nice meal for days. Or maybe it's because of that cocoa-colored eyes staring at him? It looked innocent and looked like the type that could easily be deceived.

"What are you running away from?" He glanced behind the girl, but found that no one was following, not even a dog.

"Erh…" She hesitated and he was still waiting for an answer. Soyo raised her hand beside her mouth and leaned forward slightly. She whispered, "I think telling you is fine, but please don't tell anyone alright? it's a secret."

The braid-haired man was slightly shuddered and then nodded.

"I ran away from home."

Run away from home? Is she a prisoner or what?

Her childish demeanor caused him to unintentionally smile at the corner of his lip. He usually doesn't like to talk about fussy things like this but…

"Where is your home then?"

"You're not the undercover cop, are you?" Soyo's suspicion made him even more confused.

"I am not"

Soyo breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to point at Edo Castle. "My house is that way."

He guessed right. She's certainly not an ordinary kid. She must have been from a royal family or a daughter of a high-ranked noble.

"You sure are rich. A noble huh?"

The question that was asked before was just for the politeness. Although he didn't really need to be polite, he didn't want to mess things up. He didn't wait for the other person to answer and quickly cut to the point. "Okay, where are you going to treat me a meal this time, princess?"

"Ah… didn't you said that next time we meet you will treat me?" Soyo has a good memory. She tends to remember small details, unlike him who doesn't remember unnecessary things. Seeing his puzzled face, she continued to explain. "That time you said 'If next time I come to Earth, I promise to treat you a meal.' "

"That means If I go somewhere else and come back here, I will treat you."

"Oh…that's what you mean?"

"Yes and I'm hungry right now." The braid-haired man took umbrella over his shoulder and walked over.

Soyo stared blankly at the back of the person walking to the other direction for a moment, until he turned around, she realized and followed him from a distance. She made a new friend and it it seems like he is a friend who eats a lot like the first one.

"You…" she thought to call him by name, but realized that she didn't even know his name. She's about to ask, but before she could open her mouth, he answered, "Kamui."

"Huh?"

"My name"

"Alright. I will remember that, Kamui-san."

Soyo followed him slowly until they arrived at the Japanese restaurant in the alley. She only paid for the food and, despite having only spoken a few words with Kamui, she at least learned that he was a space pirate visiting Earth on errands. She didn't ask for much detail because she didn't want to spoil her manners.

Kamui initially thought she would be more terrified by the word space pirate, but her eyes sparkled with interest like a child waiting to hear a new story.

Kamui shook his head then used his chopsticks to put food in his mouth without saying any more… Food is now the most important thing.


Tokugawa Soyo's boring daily life just keep repeating, wake up in the morning, dress up and read the textbook. Sometimes there are media interviews. A fun thing to do would be hanging out outside the castle, going out to meet new friends or just running around new places can make her happy.

Today, Soyo sneaked into the Japanese garden as usual. She was about to crouch to go through a small hole on the wall but…

"Are you going to go outside again, Soyo?" A soft voice came from behind.

"A...Aniue-sama," Soyo suddenly turned around with a pale face. "I'm not, Aniue-sama." She stood up and smiled, concealing her guilt.

Shigeshige sighed, "I wonder when you will be aware of being the Shogun's sister?" Even though he said that, his tone sounded more affectionate to his sister than criticized. He walked to the bridge over the pond in the garden. Soyo followed closely.

They both stopped walking in the middle of the bridge and looked at the surrounding scenery. It's a well-organized garden. The pond was clear and clean. There are colorful koi fish swimming around.

Soyo's eyebrows dropped sadly, "I'm always aware of that, but in the castle, it's so boring and-"

"Anyway, don't sneak out too often at this time . If you want to go out, let me know first so I can prepare an escort for you."

Normally, her brother would always indulge her except for this matter. Soyo doesn't like going outside the castle like that because it feels like she's being watched. It made her uncomfortable and unable to do anything. Moreover, it would scare people of Edo and not dare to interfere with her.

"Did something happened, Aniue-sama?"

Shigeshige paused for a moment and then turned around and patted his sister's head lightly. "No, I'm just worried about you."

Soyo grinned widely, "I'm worried about you too."

Shigeshige only smiled in response. They both watched the view in the garden quietly for a while then the older brother called his sister again, but this time his voice was so serious that Soyo had to turn to look at him.

"Soyo."

"Yes, Aniue-sama?"

"Just a little longer. Someday everyone in this country will be free. We will be able to stand by our comrades. No shogun, no princess. Everyone will be equally free under this sky."

"Aniue-sama…" She thought for a moment before replying with a faint smile. " I believe that dream will surely come true."


Soyo was writing a letter to Kagura. Sadly, she hadn't been out for days. After sealing the letter, she turned her gaze towards the garden. it looks very peaceful and silent to the point that it's boring.

"Why are you making that face?"

Soyo was shocked and immediately got up because of the sound of someone. She walked near the door and was startled because all of the sudden, there was someone hanging his head from the roof. He smiled and waved his hand.

"Yo!"

"K…Kamui-san?!"

Kamui dangled from the roof, jumped to the ground and walked towards the gaping Soyo.

"Why did you come here?! No...How did you get in?"

"Well, you said this was your house, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but-"

Kamui suddenly lay comfortably on the floor in her room. The reason why he came here was because he was hungry and had nothing to do. In fact, he should now go back and report about Yoshiwara to Harusame, but his spaceship was broken somewhere causing him to be stuck here and unable to go anywhere. Of course, Abuto is dealing with that, already call a technician to fix it, and in a few days he'll probably be gone from here. He wanted to make the most of the rest of his time wandering around the restaurants in Edo. But the main problem is that he doesn't have enough money. After walking for several hours to find a restaurant, he felt tired because the sun was brighter than usual. For the average person, today would not be a very hot day, but for the Yato Tribe, it's another matter. No matter how strong, sunlight is still Yato's greatest enemy.

"Kamui-san?" Soyo waved her hand pass the sleeping person. Kamui blinked his eyes. He was thinking, didn't realize that the owner of the house was sitting next to him.

"Are you alright? Your face looks pale."

Kamui stared at the brown eyes that were staring down at him in confusion, and Soyo was suddenly surprised, Kamui put his head on her lap. Of course, at first she wailed and would move away, but as soon as she saw the person on her lap sighing and closing his eyes, she paused.

Kamui took a nap… She sat tensed for a very long time and decided to ask, "So what are you doing here, Kamui-san? We actually only met a few times and you're acting like this. I'm not sure what to do." Soyo leaned down slightly, furrowing her brows in suspicion.

Kamui opened his eyes because he felt that something was touching his face, making him feel tickled. "What is this? A cockroach's mustache?" He swayed the strands of her long hair.

"Did you not listen to my question?" Soyo frowned.

And before he could say anything further, a shadow flashed from the door. "H…Hime-sama!!!"

"Jiiya!!" Soyo was startled and hurriedly pushed Kamui out of her lap making him rolled around and bumped into the wall.

"Who is this?! An intruder?! Intruder!!" Jiiya shouted loudly, calling for the guards.

Kamui get up, rubbed his head and smiled at Soyo angrily. "Alright, I'm wide awake now. Let's go."

"Eh? G...going where?"

"OUTSIDE. Didn't you want to go out?"

"I'd like to, but-"

Kamui walked over, grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. "Good, then you treat me." He dragged Soyo out of the room so quickly that she could barely follow his steps.

"Princess has been captured! What are you all doing? Hurry up and follow!" Mizo Jiiya shouted to the soldiers who were running from afar.

"W…Wait a minute, Kamui-san." Soyo pulled her hand back from his left arm. "I have a secret route." She grabbed Kamui's fingertips, leading him to the secret hole in the garden. Kamui was surprised a bit, but he just followed her obediently.

"Secret route?"

Soyo nodded. But when they walked to the back of the stone, they found that the wall was not the same as it's supposed to be .

"E…Eh! The hole is gone?! It's definitely Aniue-sama's doing. There must be a hole to get out of here." She made a worried face.

"A hole?"

"Yes, a HOLE."

"Umm…hole" Kamui suddenly kicked against the wall. Shocked, Soyo covered her face with a hand, but when she opened her eyes again, she saw Kamui pointing at (where there used to be) the wall with a smile on his face, "Like this?"

"That's not a hole, Kamui-san! The whole wall is gone, isn't it?!"

"Whole-Hole, same thing"

The soldiers who followed quickly surrounded the two.

Kamui didn't wait. He grabbed Soyo's waist and held her with one hand by his side then ran through the castle's wall. Of course, those soldiers couldn't keep up with him.

When they reached the junction, it was the right timing. He swerved and jumped onto the rooftop of the nearby house until the soldiers couldn't find him. In the end, they had to disperse and find him. Kamui decided to jump over houses and buildings a little further to the restaurant area, then he jumped down to the street.

Noticing that the person he's holding was trembling, he immediately dropped her to the ground.

She kept her head down and her shoulders were visibly trembling. Kamui thought that she would be frightened by being carried around in a high place. He crouched slightly to see her expression, but it appeared that she was giggling. "Did you see that Jiiya's face just now?" she laughed, "I've never seen him that surprised before."

Kamui had a slight smile on his face. It's good that this brat didn't cry so he didn't have to deal with it, because if she cried it would remind him of his annoying sister.

It was late afternoon, but the man was still walking down the street with an umbrella, followed by the girl.

This time, Kamui didn't choose a restaurant that much because he was starving. He swerved into a Japanese restaurant and ordered a lot because he knew the girl who came with him had enough money to pay for it.

Soyo was not reluctant to treat this Yato, thinking of it as a reward for dragging her out to play outside the castle, and also for making her laugh out loud.

Lots of food was served to the table. He immediately broke his chopsticks and shoved the rice into his mouth.

"So you really are the princess?" Kamui said as he moved the bowl of rice to Soyo.

She broke her chopsticks and took a small bite of food into her mouth. The food outside here is really delicious. Although the food in the castle is fine and looks beautiful, the food made by the hands of the Edo people gives a different taste.

"Have you just realized that?"

"So I did kidnap the princess? Sound like a big deal." Despite that, Kamui acted calmly and smiled as usual.

"Don't worry. I will tell them not to chop your head off, you're my friend though. I won't let them."

"Friends?" Seeing Soyo tilted her head innocently, he nearly laugh out loud "Don't you trust people too easily, princess?"

"How?"

"Meeting only once or twice is counted as friends? You know nothing about this real world."

"…But Kamui-san is not a bad person."

Kamui almost burst out laughing, but he managed to hold it back. "Listen, princess." He put down his chopsticks. "I am not as good as you think. Even now I'm robbing you and you still have no idea.."

"Rob? But you said you'd treat me back?"

"So what if I won't?"

Soyo grinned widely. "Then prepare to be beheaded."

Kamui laughed loudly. This woman was more fun than he thought. Is this what Hosen said; woman can moisten the soul? He probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to eat and chat like this often, but it wasn't bad.

He will reat her back or not, who knows? In the end, Soyo was dragged to 3 more restaurants until her purse was light. Soyo narrowed her eyes in disbelief as there were only a few coins left in the purse. Fortunately, Kamui was already full. If not, then she wouldn't have enough money to pay.

The both kept walking around without destination until Soyo stopped in front of the grocery store that she used to come with Kagura. When Kamui didn't hear the following footsteps, he turned around.

"What is that?"

"This?" Soyo held up the red box she'd just bought. "Pickled seaweed. Would you like to try some?"

Kamui frowned, "Nah, I'm full."

"Don't you want to try? This is Kagu-" She didn't even finish her sentence. Suddenly, Kamui rushed over, picked her up and jumped onto the roof of the grocery store then crouched down. When Soyo was about to protest in confusion. Kamui made a snort; she had to kept her mouth shut.

His one arm could wrap her whole body. It was so close that they could hear each other's heartbeats.

"Hey, why are you following me, you Sadist!"

Despite hearing from afar, Soyo knew right away that it was Kagura's voice. But why did Kamui have to hide from her?

"Hey, don't say as if I want to follow, you China."

"Then why did you follow me or did you fall in love with me aru?!"

"Why would I be interested in a female pig like you?"

"What did you call me aru?! You Shihuahua, Say it one more time! And I will surely send you to hell to eat red bean with rice forever!"

And after that, Kagura and Okita argued loudly for a long time. When they both ran away from the area, Soyo spoke again. "Kamui-san," she whispered, "I can't breathe."

"Ah, sorry." He immediately loosened Soyo from his arms.

Soyo wiped the sweat on her face and let out a sigh of relief. "Why do you have to avoid Okita-san and Kagura-chan?"

"You know that kid too?" Kamui frowned.

Soyo nodded, "She's my friend, why?"

Kamui palmed his face before turning back to her and put on a smile face.

"Kamui-san?"

"The sky is getting dark. I think it's time to go back"

Now it was getting dar, the sky began to turn blue and pink. By now, Jiiya and Aniue-sama must be very worried. Soyo nodded, "you're right."

Then Kamui lifted her up and carried her over his shoulder like a sack. He quickly jumped from roof to roof.

"Kamui-san! Really! I can walk back by myself. Let me down."

"This way is faster. Don't make things difficult." Soyo continued to yell, but he didn't even pay attention to her. And it's true, because in a moment, they reached the fence of Edo Castle. "Where is your room?"

"Over there," Soyo pointed up almost to the top of the castle. "Thank you for sending me. Now let me-"

"Got it."

"W…Wait, you don't think you're going to climb up the castle, are you-?" Soyo screamed out in shock. Kamui quickly jumped and climbed up the castle. She, being carried face down, could only stare at the grass on the ground become smaller and smaller.

Even though Kamui let her go on the roof, she was still trembling with her eyes closed. "What? Are you scared now? You didn't at first"

"I… It's high this time." Soyo trembly looked down. It was so high that the wind blew up to her face, causing her to automatically startled and grabbed the sleeve of the person beside her. If she fell, he would fell too. But as Soyo tried to shift backwards, Kamui shift to the edge of the roof and swayed his legs uncomfortably. "Don't look down, look up."

Soyo looked up just like him. Her eyes widened and sparkled, even though it was the scenery she saw every day. But she never notice that the night sky was this beautiful. The stars in the sky twinkled, "So beautiful…" Soyo said softly. Her eyes continued to stare at the sky, causing the fear she had once felt instantly disappear.

"If you go out into space, you can see them even more clearly," Kamui said as he put his hands on the nape of his neck and laid down.

"I envy of you, Kamui-san. You can go anywhere, or do anything…" Unlike her, who was trapped in a prison called a castle. If she was born a normal person, it would be good. She would be able to live with her brother freely and happily.

"Do you want to go once?"

Soyo turned to Kamui. He was still smiling all the time. She didn't know if he was telling the truth or joking. But even if he can actually took her away, she…

Soyo shook her head and turned around, smiling faintly at the sky. "For something, it might be better to watch from afar."

"You're comforting yourself, aren't you?" Kamui said as if he could read her mind.

And she didn't know since when Kamui started telling stories about stars and planets that he used to visit to her. Either the planet with Titans or even the planet with giant worms. He said that when the worm suddenly emerged from the ground, he kicked a man named Abuto to knock them unconscious.

She became the one who listened to him and had fun as if she went there for real. When she stopped laughing, she came to realize…was he trying to comfort her?

After a while, Kamui got up and walked towards the castle window. At first, he wasn't sure if it could open or not, because if it couldn't, he'd intend to break it. Soyo hurriedly stopped him. She slid the window and jumped back into the room immediately.

"Thank you, Kamui-san. I had a lot of fun today."

"Yea, thank you for the meal, princess." The braid-haired man waved as he smiled to the princess before disappeared into the night sky of Edo.

Soyo thought that if she couldn't remember that smiley face that day, it would be better because she didn't think it would be the face of the man who shot a bullet straight to her heart.

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