Quick note, this is the clean chapter, there are some news at the end, thanks for your attention.


"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, holding his hand.

"…No… right now…. I'm not even sure what I should do, or even if there is any reason to do this, I just…. Want to know…."

"…. Well…. I won't stop you, but you know, I'm here for anything you need."

"That´s the problem… I… really like you staying by my side, but it's not fair for you, I can't drag you down with me….."

"I really don't mind. I want to be here."

"…And that´s the reason why I need to do this," he could feel how her grip tighten.

"You don't need to rush this, you´re still recovering for what happened, this is just torture."

"….Let's do this already" Kamui sighed, with his free hand rubbing his forehead and looking at the gray, formless door in front of him. He closed his eyes "…tell her that I'm ready…."

"…." Oboro bit her lip, her voice was broken but clear. "….You may come in….."

"…" He could hear the sound of the door opening and closing. It wasn't disgusting and disturbing like the others who weren't Oboro made it sound. The footstep that followed were clear, it might be the case, but even if he wanted to believe deep in his heart that it would be alright, the sole thought, that he was damaged beyond repair and only Oboro was in that grey world, made his heart ache in sorrow.

"Th-that's enough…. Just… wait… please," Oboro placed her forehead beside his head. "….you can….wait for him?"

He heard how someone sighed with a pained breath, it was for real? He wanted to know already if It was possible, but, at the same time, he dreaded that it was just a delusion. Yukimura already tricked them before, and he didn't want to find out that it was just another delusion, this time, from his mind.

"Kamui?" Oboro held his hand tighter, he just fixed his posture and bit the lower part of her inner lip.

"Sorry… it's just….." he sighed "I'm… scared…." He inhaled and exhaled slowly, opening his eyes and seeing how his vision was as he expected, only "colors" where he knew Oboro was, was already too late? Or it was part of his punishment for not trusting them? He wanted to stop, but wasting more time like that was something he couldn't afford. It would be pointless if he didn't know the answer. It was already bad that he started to doubt his own ideas.

"Coward."

Her voice resonated in his head, it had a lingering feeling in his soul, such bad taste in his mouth after hearing that whisper behind his ears, it wasn't Oboro, but rather, an annoying remnant of his own weakness.

"…." He slowly resumed his task. His eyes were fixed on the ground, but after forcing his head to look up, some involuntary tears started to fall from his face, with every second he could fell how his body trembled, he was short in breath as her body appeared, with her hands covering her mouth, expecting his answer. He felt like a cretin, he never wanted to see how she make that kind of face, full of expectation and horror, his lips moved without he realizing it, something that make him feel like his soul was soothed by the simple fact of recognizing her existence. "…Mother….Reina…."

She started to cry as well, her cheek flushed and her body finally giving up the tension, even if she was in bad shape, he recognized her violet eyes, her deep blue hair. "K-Kamui…. KAMUI!" just when he thought it couldn't be real, she embraced him, with her arms wrapping tightly his body, the feeling of her body, that intoxicating and refreshing scent that shroud him, as her colors surrounded him, just like Oboro, Reina touch and voice seemed like an oasis in the middle of a gray, devoid of life world.

"I-I SORRY! PLEASE! FORGIVE ME!" He pressed his face against her shoulder, trembling and crying louder "I-I HURT YOU SO BAD, I-I DIDN'T MEAN TO…. I'M SORRY!" He yelled as his lungs burned with a broken voice, just saying those words made him feel like he was exhausted, it took all of his energy to breath, feeling how her hands gently grabbed his head, he was forced to see her face.

"My boy… this, this is nothing! I'm sorry I couldn't protect you… I'm sorry….." Reina pressed her forehead against his "I failed…. I'm sorry….."

"No…, it was me…. It was all me again, if I wasn't here… th-"

"DON'T EVER SAY THAT!" Reina wrapped her arms against him again. "DON'T EVER THINK THAT IF YOU´RE WERENT HERE, IT WOULD BE BETTER, DON'T YOU DARE!" Her arms were warm and gentle, it was like if she was afraid to let him go, that he would disappear if she didn't hold him like that "EVER SINCE I SAW YOU CRY LIKE THAT NIGHT….I HAD THIS LONELINESS IN MY CHEST, DON'T GO, PLEASE… DON'T GO AGAIN LIKE THAT!"

"…M-Mother…." Kamui continued to cry on her shoulder as both of them fell to their knees, at this point, it didn't matter, no shame, no honor, no any kind of etiquette from both of them would stop them to show their emotions to each other.

As it continued, Oboro restrained her tears. She couldn't think in another thing like this being a scene of a lost kid returning to his mother arms.


Chapter 33: Adversity and Remorse.


"…..gods…. how… shameful…." Reina sighed "to think… I would cry like a toddler again…..gosh….."

It lasted too long, at a point that Oboro wasn't sure if it would be healthy for any of them to continue like that, but putting aside that, it was good, too good to see that.

Just like she thought, Reina wasn't "off-color" for Kamui, right now, both of them were on the bed as they were exhausted for such ordeal. Kamui was resting his head on Reina lap, looking at his face as her hand slowly and tenderly moved some of his bangs off his face to see if he was alright, he still trembled in his slumber, but aside of that, he looked fine, Reina looked at Oboro, even if she had red eyes from crying so much, she didn't care what the other would think, she would handle those idiotic whispers later, now, she wanted to enjoy her time with him.

"Regretting it?"

"Not a bit," Reina immediately replied. "I was… afraid, to lose him a second time, but I'm glad to see that I'm still a part of his world."

"Let's make that a habit," Oboro smiled. "You… Lady Sakura, Lady Hinoka, and a lot of others beside me, I want to return that to Kamui, so now, we must look a solution for this mess."

"Agreed" she sighed. "Then, you have to go? Are you sure?"

"Believe me, I don't want to, but I need to report this to the others, if you´re like this, then we need to know only we are 'in his world', there are too many things we need to discuss."

"Very well, in the end, this means more alone time with me, so I can't complain."

"Heh…. Enjoy it…. M-mother…." She said it shyly, leaving the room before Reina could react to her comment "….geez…. since when I ….." Oboro shook her head and walked away of the door, thinking in the whole situation.

"…" She walked for a few minutes, just a quick glance to the door aside of the room, she knew Ryoma was there, but what she needed was to conceal the information, and certainly, he wasn't an option, so she walked away.

She stopped until she was inside a private-small room, her legs trembled as it finally sunk in, she fell to the ground with her forehead against the floor, crying.

"Thank you, Lady Mikoto, thank you…." She muttered. "Thank you…. For letting him…. See Reina…. Thank you," she muttered on the ground for a couple of minutes, until she heard how someone called at the door.

"A-Are you alright?" a gentle voice asked from outside, cleaning her tears, Oboro stood up and opened the door, coughing, cleaning her throat.

"Lady Sakura, Orochi, Hana… come in," she welcomed the small group, and before she could react, Sakura hugged her.

"Kaze told me what happened, I'm so happy to hear good news," she said, with some tears as well.

"Lady Sakura…." Hana grunted. "I'm still not comfortable with this, he…. Attacked you…."

"We talked about this, after we solve this mess, we can talk all what you want about his 'crimes', but until then, we´re going to focus."

"So, can I see it?" Orochi asked when they were seated around the table, Oboro just stretched her arm to her.

"So, it´s true?" Hana asked.

"It seems so," Orochi replied with a smirk. "Your…. Your arm, your injuries…. No, not only that, it seems that your skin and muscles… my goodness…." Releasing her arm and taking the notes from her pouch, she bit her index finger reading the papers. "This is definitely something to do with your new skills…."

"So, you´re making it official?" Sakura asked.

"Of course, I'm not sure about Lord Kamui's new skills, but there´s something with Oboro's new skill." Showing the papers, there were two papers with the names "Kamui" and "Oboro", pointing at the strange glyphs, she continued. "They share these parts on the skills, I'm not completely sure about the grammar, but seeing this, I'm convinced that they´re linked."

"And if you´re wrong?" Hana inquired.

"If this afternoon, after checking on Reina she gets the same skill as Oboro, then we will know for sure."

"That looks like a lucky guess than formal evidence to me."

"Both of them are in the same language Lady Mikoto used to write in her diaries, and seeing that her injures are healed like that in a couple of days after they got these skills, more than a lucky guess, is somewhat obvious to me."

"….. Well…. I don't like it," Oboro said, looking at her hand. "I'm… grateful that Kamui shared such a gentle skill… but still…. The price for this…"

"I know, it's too high, and too uncertain about side effects," Orochi injected. "I'm… I'm sorry I have to use you and Reina for this… and for looking…. Happy about this."

That was a rather stiff response from her, was she making that scary face again? "No, its not your fault… I'm sorry if I had that face a moment ago."

"Gosh, no, you´re wrong Oboro," Sakura said, placing her hands on top of hers. "Y-You´re wrong… actually… your 'scary face' w-would be… fine right now…. Instead of that expression…."

"Which was…?"

"Pain… and…. Sorrow rather than anger or hate," Orochi continued. "So, any news? Aside from that?"

"The pegasi knights reports that almost every one of the steeds are beyond the city walls. Pegasi are scattered around the Palace, but in range, fortunately, most of them are still loyal to their rider, we can retrieve any of it, but there are problems with some citizens." Hana began speaking, with numerous reports on the desk.

"Sadly, that´s not the worse of it…." Sakura continued, reading a new paper Hana handed "there are about 20 diviners that are held in the underground cells, half of them say´s that they were doing the right thing, the rest claims that Yukimura never told them that it was Kamui who they were fighting to, that some Nohrian beast managed to slip our defense in our most vulnerable moment of the season."

"That´s the official report," Orochi continued "But, what´s going it to be?"

"What´d you mean?" Inquired Oboro

"If we tell all the citizens that it was Kamui's doing, then it could be… troublesome….."

"You think it could that bad?" Sakura asked.

"When King Garon betrayed King Shumeragi, it was pure chaos at the borders," Orochi continued. "Some of the villages at the border were questioning what happened, even if there was bad blood between us, they couldn't believe that King Garon could kill King Shumeragi like that, after all, they were friends a long time ago, you don't remember Lady Sakura, but in the following years, there were riots around the border, some were supporting Nohr, since it look too farfetched that the king was gone, others were demanding justice for our Lord. We avoided a civil war thanks to Lady Mikoto"

"So, it might be a bad idea to point to Yukimura?" Hana asked.

"It´s not a matter to say it or not, is a matter about the evidence, we can't prove that it was Yukimura's doing."

"You must be kidding, Lady Sakura was attacked by him, and he confessed his crimes, there are two witnesses!"

"Irrelevant," Orochi waved her hand. "We could say that it was a confession, but since he is appointed as General by the time being, he´s the highest position right now, almost as if he was part of the royal family."

"You must be kidding!"

"Before all this, Lady Mikoto trusted everything to him and Lord Ryoma, so he can say that he was using his position to defend Hoshido, even if he had to be 'rude' with someone of the royal family, aside of Ryoma, he can perform these activities, so no, unless we have solid evidence of this, it can backfire on us."

"Why? It´s not like we have done anything!"

"Haven't we?" Orochi sighed. "I'm not precisely clean, neither is Saizo, Kaze, Takumi, Hinata, Oboro, Reina, Kagero or Azama. We all knew what Yukimura's plan was, at least part of it, and knowing that Hinoka attacked him, he could use this as a shield, that there were some nasty schemes around to overthrow Lord Ryoma, in the worst-case scenario, Kamui could be accused for trying to kill someone from the royal line."

"It's not that bad" Sakura interrupted. "In the end… I think we learned a lot from him."

"Such as?" Asked Oboro.

"I have… a hunch….."

"A hunch? Could you….. explain?"

"W-Well, I-I can't prove it… but, I feel that Yukimura is drawing a blank here."

"How so?"

"Th-Think about it, right now he´s not been around, he´s relaying too much in discrete and decoy tactics, not only that, but he didn't trust in anyone, reason why he´s using the replicas, for what we saw, it took a lot of time to do this."

"Even if we can't be certain about it, I'm with Lady Sakura," Orochi said crossing her arms and huffing. "Although he´s a tactician, he´s been acting like a brute, I'm sure he wasn't expecting that ordeal at the garden, and that scene at the stairs…. It tastes like a desperate attempt."

"…Do you think that´s a desperate attempt?" Oboro said, glaring at Orochi.

"Absolutely, even if he managed to slip out of sight for a moment, he was surrounded, he couldn't provoke Lord Kamui again, and above all, trying to…. Kill lord Kamui like that….. it was too risky for him to try it."

"…. That´s not what I meant…."

"….I know, I'm sorry for saying this… but objectively speaking, that attempt is nothing like what he did before."

"Let´s just move on. We´re no going anywhere speculating about what he might do, we need to stop him from hurting anyone, so, any ideas?" Orochi asked.

"If I may…." Kagero appeared beside Sakura.

"What is it?"

"…I…. have a suggestion…..but…" She hesitated.

"Please, speak freely, Kagero," Sakura said, making the ninja bite her lip.

"….In words of Lord Shumeragi… 'I prefer a grateful ally to a resentful enemy.' "

"….Meaning?" Oboro inquired.

"We could… ask for assistance…. from the Nohrians downstairs"

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?!" Hana screamed.

"…..Kagero?" Sakura placed her hand on her shoulder.

"….I'm not saying that we should tell them all what happened but if they have… "

"You´re wrong" Oboro interrupted. "That… Lady Akemi? She already knows about Kamui´s condition."

"Wh-What? But, it´s the first time she´s in the castle! Sh-" Sakura was nervous and having a panic attack, but Oboro waved her hand.

"No…. from what I heard from Lady Hinoka…. She… she was the fox that helped us that night."

"Wh-What?! But… how is that possible?"

"I don't know, and we´re not sure, but Lady Hinoka said…. That she had a feeling, that she knew her, that they've met before."

"… So what´d you want to do?"

"….We need to talk to her, and find out what she knows," she crossed her arms. "I'm not comfortable, but if she already knows, then we need to make sure where her loyalty lies, and if there´s not a single bit of intention from her to reveal what she knows…. Then maybe we can count on her."

"But, what´s the logic to add her to our party?" Hana inquired.

"If it was that fox…. If she was that kitsune, then she already helped us before…." Oboro continued, tapping her fingers, thinking about that kitsune girl, she was too friendly for her. "….If…. if it wasn't for her….. then….. that night….. it could have been different….." she sighed. "We could find Yukimura thanks to that omamori, if she can repeat that again, she might be able to track down him down, if we know his whereabouts, we can stop him."

"And you´re ok taking that risk? She might be bluffing, or tricking us."

"…..Yes."

"Oboro?" Sakura wondered, while the girl sighed.

"I'm…. Not comfortable with showing Kamui´s state…. But… it would be stupid to reject this help, if she could help us, if she can…. Help Kamui, then I´ll gladly accept her assistance," she huffed. "And believe me, we will know if she´s faking it."

"It´s surprising, that you actually want their help," Sakura commented.

"I have seen too much sadness and hatred, if this soothes at least a little bit of Kamui suffering, then I'm in no position to reject this."

"…..Very well… I´ll talk with Ryoma and let know the guards that Lady Akemi will have access to the upper levels."

"I´ll go downstairs and bring her with Lady Hinoka as soon as possible."

"Don't you want to be with big brother?"

"You…. You have no idea how much I want to return to his side, "Oboro blushed slightly for a moment. "But…. For now, I'm needed in this place, and besides, he´s with someone we can count on," with a curl on her lips, she sighed pleased to remember how Reina and Kamui were on the room.


A lone figure walked slowly through the leftovers of the room, singed, charred, gone.

The once beautiful walls, the furniture, the fragrance of her presence was gone a long time ago, but now, no one could tell that that place was a loving, calm and peaceful haven.

Hearing the crack under her feet, she trembled with each step, she couldn't believe what her eyes were witnessing

"But, Lady Mikoto…. I don't understand, wh-why me of all people?"

She fell to the ground, the rumors were true, her body was trembling under the pressure of the place.

Disgusted, disturbed, guilt, too much guilt.

"That´s …. A secret!" Mikoto voice resonated in her head, clapping her hands and with her sweet smile. "But… there´s something about you…. That I adore~"

Bell started to cry as she saw how the room was destroyed, how the place Yukimura said he would protect at all cost was now gone, she fell her heart falling apart.

"I know…. that you can do a lot of good around here, and I'm sure you will be someone close to my son when he´s back, I just know it~"

"No…..NO,NO,NO,NO,NO!" Bell screamed, as she couldn't held her horror, that disgusting feeling of betrayal "I….I… I hurt l-lord Kamui? Wh-what…..WHAT I HAVE DONE?!"

"What?" she looked back, as Kaze approached, kneeling at her side. "What´d you mean?"

"I…. I….." she couldn't see him at the eye "I…. I have betrayed Lady Mikoto's trust…"

Sorry for the delay guys, i know it´s been a while, but here it is, the raw version, i´ll let you know when the next chapter is done (with luck, in some days)


Pheeew, sorry guys, this is the clean version by my beta reader, i just wanted to make it no matter what this month.

Just a few things.

Im so sorry for the delay, you know with all the stuff happening, i was in a situation that i couldnt get connected or near my computer, less to continue this story, i hope i can fix that this next month since i´ll have a lot of free time.

Yes, i have been thinking over and over again about this story and the others, worry not, i´ll continue "forced light" and "fated dragon", im thinking in the next chapters (to be honest, they are ready, but i have this tendency to think too much about what i write, and since english is not my native language, it takes a little more time to be satisfied with the result)

Maybe in the next day´s there could be a double update, but that is a wish rather than a promise, since im now stuck with "Stellaries" and im plotting more in that that in Fire emblem.

ANYWAY! I just wanted to say hi, to tell you im ok, that the stories will continue and that the next month will be better than the first half of this year, let me know what´d you think, until next time, take care!

SHIDESU! OUT!