Chapter 12: Two of a Kind

Sen had been hoping to see some emotion from Miyani, but not this kind. She was angry and confused, nothing that Sen had ever wanted for her or anyone.

She'd been in Gai Zhu collecting food and supplies. A wealthy former student of Hayao's lived in town, and kept the island stocked with donations. Miyani was responsible for collecting them, which was why she had unfortunately crossed paths with Sen. She was furious to see him here, in blatant defiance of Hayao's orders.

Sen had taken them both to the beach, so they could at least have this discussion in peace. As he stepped onto the soil, he stomped his foot down, telling Gun to stay underground. The last thing he needed now was a badgermole making the situation even more confusing for Miyani. She was already hurt enough. She put her basket of supplies down on the beach, staring out at the island. She refused to speak to Sen for a moment.

"Why would you do this," She said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Miyani. I had to-"

"You had to stay on the island. Like Hayao told you to! Like you told me you were going to! Why would you lie to me? Why?"

Miyani's face was flushed, and the blood flow turned the faint scars all across her body red. She clawed at the bandages on her arms in frustration.

"I don't understand," She continued. "You were doing so well, everything was fine, it was all perfect."

"I was only making progress because of my visits here," Sen argued. "If I hadn't come to see my friends, I'd still be stuck in rut, nothing would have changed!"

Somehow that only seemed to make Miyani's mood worse. Her hands tightened around her bandages, digging her fingernails into her skin.

"Is that it? I've done nothing for you?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Sen quickly backtracked. "I mean, you've been very helpful, really, really, really helpful, but I couldn't have done it with just you. I needed help from my friends too. But I did need you too! I wouldn't have gotten where I am without you, but I wouldn't have gotten here without them either!"

That seemed to help a little, but Miyani was still very upset. It would take a lot more explaining before she was satisfied. She had relaxed a little though, hopefully enough that they could talk more reasonably from here on out. Miyani sat down on a boulder and rubbed her eyes. The bandages around her forehead were starting to aggravate her. Sen sat down next to her.

"I'm really sorry I lied to you," He explained. "When this started, I was really confused, and I just wanted to see my friends…I wasn't thinking."

"I would've understood if you told me," Miyani said. She was obviously calmer, but still upset. "Why did you keep lying to me?"

"Because then we would have had to have this talk," Sen admitted.

There was a moment of silence, as they both wallowed in their emotions. Sen could feel a pervasive cold, from Miyani and from himself. The only real heat came from Gun, who was still tunneled just below the surface, worrying about his master. Sen tapped his heel, driving the badgermole deeper underground. Gun reluctantly obeyed.

"You need to stay on the island from now on," Miyani said. "I know you think this is the right way, but it isn't. It may have helped you a few times, but in the long run all it'll bring you is more pain and confusion."

"I can't do that now," Sen objected. "Ada's hurt. I need to be here for her."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," Miyani shouted. "This is what happens when you try to get involved! It just causes you more problems, more guilt!"

"Me being here or not wouldn't have kept Ada from getting hurt! It would've been exactly the same, except I wouldn't know about. I can't just sit on the island and pretend bad things aren't happening because I can't see them! The world doesn't work that way."

Miyani looked away. Maybe that had hit too close to home for her.

"I'm sorry."

There was another moment of quiet. Sen felt pretty useless right now. He had two extra senses and he still couldn't tell exactly what was happening. How much did he have to learn before he could figure things out? He might as well have been blind, deaf, and mute for all the good his talents were doing him. Hopefully he could figure out how to explain himself to Miyani in a way that didn't just make things worse. He just needed some time, and maybe a little help.

"Miyani, I know this is important to you," He began. "But I really need to see Ada. I'm worried about her."

Miyani sighed deeply and stood up.

"I'll come with you."

Maybe she was concerned about Ada as well, or maybe she just didn't trust Sen to be alone. Either way, Sen's only concern right now was making sure Ada was okay, and getting to Suda. Hopefully Suda could help him deal with Miyani. Miyani led the way to the hospital. Sen asked around about Ada and was eventually led to the outpatient room. Miyani stayed a ways behind while Sen approached a very relieved Suda.

Ada's arm was wrapped in bandages and hung in a sling, but the fact that she was already on her way out of the hospital was a good sign. They'd be keeping her much longer if it was a serious injury. She and Suda were talking about something.

"I just don't think it's very professional of you," Ada said sluggishly.

"Last I checked, I didn't sign a contract," Suda said. "There's no code of conduct. I can see Nura if I want to."

"Seeing her isn't the problem, it's-"

At this point, Suda finally saw Sen approaching.

"Sen! Glad you finally found us," Suda said. He looked like he'd been sweating nervously for quite some time, and was quite glad to change the subject. "Ada's fine."

"Yup," Ada said. She sounded a little woozy. "Just a few painkillers and bandages kind of cut, they said. Few minutes with a healer, a couple pills, and I am just fine."

It sounded like she'd had more than a few painkillers, actually. Her voice was wobbling a bit as she spoke. As long as she was alright, everything else was secondary.

"So, did they say anything about the long term? Is this going to affect how you fight?"

"I'll be out of the fight for a few weeks," Ada said. She wobbled slightly in her seat. "But I am guaranteed to be back in action in no less than five weeks."

"They actually didn't give an exact number," Suda said. He gave Ada an awkward glance. "But she's going to be fine, yeah. It's all good. Everything's fine."

Miyani chose this moment to step forward. Suda gave her a shocked stare. It had been years since he'd met someone taller than him. That, and he hadn't expected to see her here at all.

"She's fine, Sen. Let's go."

Ada's slightly fuzzy mind recalled Miyani's description and realized that the very tall woman in front of her matched that description perfectly. She was not entirely together in the head, but she knew that Miyani being here meant trouble. She decided to keep her mouth shut, lest her painkiller-addled mind make her say anything stupid.

"You must be Miyani," Suda said. "Nice to meet you."

Miyani gave Suda a harsh glare. He wasn't used to being looked down on, and despite the fact that she was skinny and pale, the intimidation was surprisingly effective. Suda took a step back. Miyani put a scarred hand on Sen's shoulder.

"Sen and I were just leaving," She said.

"I never said that," Sen said. He was hoping that Suda could talk to Miyani, say something to get him out of this situation. Suda had proven very wise in the past. "I should help her get home, at least."

"You're making excuses," Miyani said accusingly. "You've been bending the rules enough. We're going back to the island, and this time you're staying. No more breaking Hayao's rules."

Suda looked back and forth between Sen and Miyani in a panic. He didn't want Sen to be gone. He knew that Sen needed to be here, for his own sake and for Ada's. Also because Suda's birthday was coming up. He had to do something, anything, to keep Miyani from taking Sen away.

"What if Hayao's rules were made to be broken?"

Ada let out a low groan. That had been the exact kind of stupid thing that she'd been hoping to avoid saying. Miyani glared angrily at Suda.

"That's what they are," Suda said. "Hayao only told Sen to stay on the island so he'd eventually leave. Hayao wanted him to break it. He told us so himself."

Miyani's angry glare morphed into an expression of confusion and concern. Her eyebrows twitched slightly. Sen was making pretty much the same face. Ada was shaking her head lazily. Suda was beginning to think he'd said the wrong thing.

"Is that true," Sen asked. He already had a feeling that it was, but he wanted to be sure.

"Yes," Ada groaned. "Hayao said it was important to learn to defy people."

She was glaring angrily at a guilty looking Suda. Sen shook his head.

"I came to him sick and mourning, and he takes me away from my friends to teach me some stupid lesson! Who does he think he is?"

Sen grit his teeth and looked at his friends.

"You went along with this? You helped him keep us apart, when I needed you?"

"Sen, it was a good idea, you have to-"

Suda stopped talking as Sen whipped around and looked at Miyani. She had a far-away look in her eyes, but she snapped back to attention when Sen started to speak to her.

"And you! Did you know about this?"

"Sen, I swear I didn't-"

"So he was manipulating you too," Sen said. "You of all people he should have trusted, but you're just another toy to him!"

Miyani suddenly clutched at her forehead. Sen could feel the energy in that area knot and twist around itself as Miyani grew more confused. She stormed off suddenly, and Sen followed her out of instinct. Suda stayed with Ada, feeling rather guilty.

"I screwed up, didn't I," he said.

"Happens to the best of us," Ada assured him. She couldn't resent him for one mistake, not after all the mistakes she'd made.

Sen followed Miyani outside of the hospital and down the streets, until she came to a halt far away from any people or buildings. Sen wondered why she had run all this way. After taking a few deep breaths, Miyani calmed down and stopped grabbing at her head. She seemed slightly calmed by the fact that Sen had followed her all this way.

"Are you alright?"

"I get- I get migraines, sometimes, from stress," Miyani choked out. Her throat was hurting her. "I try to avoid those kind of situations. Confrontation. That kind of thing."

Sen walked up next to her and stood by her side. They were on the outskirts of Gai Zhu now, looking out at barren hills. It was never really quiet around the lively city, but it was fairly calm here.

"Let's just forget this ever happened. We can start over," Miyani suggested. Sen could see red marks in the skin of her face, where she'd dug her own fingernails into her skin. Sen didn't like the way she seemed to take her frustration out on her own body.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. You were wrong to lie to me, but I was wrong to get so mad at you. If it's what Hayao wanted, it was for the best. We're even."

"Is it that simple," Sen asked. "I mean, just because Hayao said so, its okay? You seemed upset earlier. I know I'm not happy about this."

"You shouldn't be upset. Hayao is wiser than both of us."

Miyani was very blatantly trying to justify Hayao's actions. Sen could tell from the way she'd initially reacted that she was not okay with being manipulated. Hayao was her master; she should have been able to trust him. Instead he had treated her like a pawn in a game. Now she was lying so she could convince herself that Hayao hadn't really been mistreating her.

"That doesn't mean he can't be wrong," Sen objected. "He manipulated us, all of us! I don't care how wise he is, that doesn't give him the right to treat us all like pawns."

"It's not like that."

"Yes it is! Why are you even on his side, Miyani? He hasn't talked to you in years. Why do you care so much about someone who isn't even there for you?"

"He knows what's best for all of us," Miyani said. "I know you don't like being manipulated, Sen, but it's better to let Hayao guide you."

"Because it's easier," Sen said angrily. He had finally figured out something very important about Miyani. "Because if you let Hayao make every single decision for you, you never have to be responsible for your own life. You can just hide away on that island and ignore all life's problems."

The way she'd been talking all night had finally revealed her core problem. Miyani was terrified of being decisive. She would allow Hayao to rule her life, for better or worse, because it meant she didn't have to be face reality. She could hide from confusion, from sadness, from regret, because she never once made a choice. She couldn't make any mistakes because she never acted, she couldn't fail because she never tried.

"You're a coward, Miyani."

The words tasted like acid on his tongue. He had insulted people before, jokingly, in his conversations with Hanjo or Suda, but he had never looked someone in the eye, called them a coward, and meant it. He had never spoken with the intent of hurting someone. But something in his heart said Miyani deserved it. The scar on his wrist burned like a fire.

Miyani's eyes darted aimlessly from side to side, in a frenzy of confusion and anger. Reacting more than thinking, Miyani raised her arm. Sen was expecting her to grab at her arms again, so he didn't react to what was coming in time.

Miyani's blow had very little but impotent anger behind it, so it barely hurt at all, but the fact that she had struck Sen at all was shock enough. Her clenched fist caught Sen's jaw and barely managed to push his head to the side. Sen shook off the blow and stared at Miyani. She stared back for a moment. Sen didn't know what to say, and clearly neither did she.

Suddenly, Miyani turned on her heels and ran back towards the beach. Sen watched her go, but didn't bother following. He was done following her. She would just run back to Hayao, like she always did. With that thought in mind, Sen turned around and headed back to Ada and Suda.