Chapter 12
Munching on his breakfast, Ichigo noticed Tadashi as he came sprinting towards the kitchens. Akihiko's reiatsu drew his attention away from both Tadashi and his breakfast. Akihiko's reiatsu had skyrocketed, and was filled with shock, confusion, a short moment of rage, then finally subdued itself to despair and powerlessness. Something had happened.
The kitchen door snapping open brought him back from his musings. There at the entrance was Tadashi, panting out of breath, and a giggling Kameko in his arms. She seemed to have spotted him and was reaching out and babbling towards him.
His breakfast forgotten, he made his way over to the kitchen door. The chefs were excitedly murmuring to each other. It doesn't happen everyday when someone comes running into the kitchen. Especially an attendant.
Tadashi stiffened as he neared the both of them. He slowed his pace until he was standing a few feet away from the male and the giggling child. Tadashi's reiatsu surrounding him moved into a bowing position.
"Ichigo-sama, I apologize for how I had acted yesterday. I was out of line and should not have done so. I deeply regret hurting you in anyway. I should have remembered that you have been through terrible things. I really am sorry."
Murmurings in the kitchen grew even louder at the apology. It has never happened that and attendant would have to apologize for something they had done. Sora would soon be here to quell the excitement. He always seemed to know about it. It was like he had eyes in the back of his head.
He slowly moved closer to Tadashi and placed a hand on the attendants shoulder. There was no need for Tadashi to bow at all. He had done nothing wrong as far as he was concerned. The worry that fluctuated in Tadashi's reiatsu convinced him that he needed to reassure him.
"It is alright Tadashi. I forgive you even though there was nothing that you did wrong. I appreciate that you act how would normally would. It's better then people acting out in pity."
Tadashi stood, and he assumed, gave him a smile. There was no way of actually telling. He could sense the shapes of people and what they were doing, but all he could 'see' were flames or mist that represented their reiatsu. Each one had a distinct feel and color to them that made them unique. Tadashi's was an aquamarine in color and the form of glowing embers. Kameko's was the same fluctuating of lavender purple as the Hogyoku.
"Thank you Ichigo-sama." He dipped his head in acknowledgement to Tadashi's thanks. He held his hands out for Tadashi to deposit the wriggling child. Kameko had become more and more irritable when Tadashi didn't hand her over to him right away. Taking the child from Tadashi, he noticed that her clothes have been changed. The texture of her new clothes were rougher than her sleepwear. These must be some of her outdoor clothes. Where they going outside today? Akihiko didn't say anything about that.
The panicking flicker of four reiatsus running towards the backdoor to the kitchen drew his attention. He turned to face the door in the back and noticed who they were. It was Hikaru and the girls. Something was wrong. And he said as much. Mostly to himself, but it was loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the kitchen. Small talk immediately ceased, and he could feel all of their gazes and attention turned towards him.
The entrance of Sora from a service door to the dining room did not catch anyone's immediate attention. He feel the frown that had settled on Sora's face as he turned towards him.
"What is going on here?" Sora demanded, only to receive no answer as the door to the back door was wrenched open. Panting and the huffing of heavy breathing filled the air. The children stood there for a few moments. With a cry of his name, they dashed through the kitchen to him.
All of them were grabbing and pulling on his yukata, trying desperately to call attention to themselves. Hikaru, Akemi and Katsumi were babbling between breaths of air that they managed to catch. He hardly understood what they wanted to say.
Placing a hand on Hikaru's head, he tried quieting them.
"Slow down, okay? Hikaru, why don't you tell me what's going on?" Hikaru took a deep breath to calm down, and released his grip on Ichigo's yukata. The girls became silent and clung to him, leaning on his legs for support. Once Hikaru caught his breath and calmed down, he told him what happened.
"Ichigo-san, we all had the day off, so we decided that we would go visit with Yuko. And…and they were gone."
"Who's gone?" Hikaru's breathing became more rapid. Kneeling down to Hikaru's eye level, he tried to make eye contact. "Easy Hikaru, just breathe. I can't help unless you tell me." Hikaru gave an understanding nod, and continued.
"Michio-san, Sachiko-san, Yuko and her little brother Rentaro are gone. Their house was burned down. The fences were destroyed and the animals were killed. We looked around and in the woods, but we couldn't find them. I'm scared, Ichigo-san. Why did this happen to them?" Hikaru cried out and broke down, launching himself into Ichigo's arms. The girls followed not a second later. All of them were crying, and clinging to him. He wrapped his free arm around them, and pulled them closer to himself to comfort them.
"Don't worry Hikaru, I'll find out what happened. I need you to stay here incase Yuko and the others arrive okay?" Still sobbing into his shoulder, Hikaru gave a nod. He looked up to Sora and Tadashi, whom had moved closer to listen in.
"Tadashi, you and I are going to go see for ourselves what happened, and we will ask around if anyone had seen anything." Ichigo turned to Sora. "Sora I need you to take care of Hikaru and the girls. I also need you to take Kameko." He stood up. The four children continued to cling to his yukata. They had stopped crying, but he could hear a small sniffle now and then.
Sora moved up to him, and he handed Kameko over to Sora. This time Kameko didn't fuss. She was eerily quiet, like she knew what was going on. He looked back at the four children.
"Hikaru, Katsumi, Akemi, Shizuka. You need to let go now. I am going to see what's going on, and see if I can find them. Sora is going to look after you." Hikaru had understood, and he pulled away, but the girls refused to let go of him. "Come on girls, you know that you need to let go."
"You can't go!" Katsumi yelled out, and then continued in a whisper. "We don't want you to disappear either. You're so much fun to talk to, and you play with us when you can. No one else does that. You treat us more than orphans or street rats. Please, you can't leave us alone." He gave her a soft smile. Ichigo understood her concerns.
"I'll be okay Katsumi, you don't need to worry. Besides I'll have Tadashi with me. He'll be watching my back." The girls reluctantly let go of him, and moved to stand with Sora. Tadashi shunpoed to the front of the house and back. He handed Ichigo his pair of sandals, then slipped his own on. He checked to make sure Zangetsu was firmly strapped to his side.
"Alright Tadashi, let's go." He grabbed the handle to the kitchen's back door, and looked back at the children and Sora. "I'll be back. I promise."
Him and Tadashi headed straight towards Michio's home. Tadashi had to take the lead because he couldn't sense Michio's or any of his families reiatsu.
Ichigo are you sure that you need to go? Akihiko could send guards to check it out.
I need to. I made a promise.
Of course. We will support whatever you wish, but know that if you are in danger we will take control. That is what you promised us. He mentally smiled at that.
Yeah. Thanks Zangetsu.
The sun had rose higher up in the sky. It was about midday from the feel of sunlight on his back and shoulders. Tadashi froze in place on the walk way. The smell of ash, soot and blood lingered in the air. Only the rustle of leaves, buzzing flies and the sound of splintering wood could be heard. No animals could be heard rustling or birds singing. The animals avoided it now. The feeling of death and danger had settled in the clearing.
"Kami-sama…" Tadashi whispered. His voice filled with shock. He stopped beside Tadashi and looked at him.
"What is it, Tadashi?" Ichigo looked between Tadashi and where the house should be. How he wished he could see what Tadashi did.
"What Hikaru had said is true. The animals were slaughtered and the house was burned to the ground. I can't sense any people around. There's not even a trace of reiatsu. It's been scrubbed clean. Someone didn't want people to know that they were here. Ichigo-sama someone targeted Michio and his family." There was a rustle in the bushes to the left of them. He couldn't sense their reiatsu.
Tadashi heard the noise also and moved him in front of him.
"Ichigo-sama please get back, and flee if something happens to me." He scowled at Tadashi. What he was implying was absolutely ridiculous. He was saying he was going to lay down his life for him.
"Tadashi, what you may think is noble is really stupid. I will not leave you here if something happens." He sensed Tadashi's reiatsu reel in surprise. The rustling came again.
"Show yourself." Tadashi demanded. He had to trust Tadashi to be his eyes in this moment. He could not sense this person's reiatsu at all. The noise became louder, and whatever it was dashed from out of the bushes. The vibrations of running feet approached them. Tadashi gave a sound of alarm, and something impacted his midsection, knocking him off his feet. Skinny arms wrapped around him. He moved his hands, which meet rough fabric and long hair. The frame of the person he was holding was that of a small child.
The child was shivering and felt to be crying. But no sound came out. Was this Shizuka?
No it couldn't be because he could feel Shizuka's reiatsu from here, and she was still at the house. So this wasn't Shizuka. His answer came in the form of Tadashi. He had moved closer to Ichigo, and was kneeling beside him. His reiatsu tightly coiled and ready to spring into action if necessary.
"Yuko-chan…?" The child stopped quaking, and looked at Tadashi. He felt movement. She probably nodded. Tadashi's reiatsu returned to a more relaxed state. It really was Yuko.
"Yuko can you tell me what happened?" There was a tense moment of silence, then Yuko attached herself to him crying again. There were no sounds. He couldn't even hear her sniffle. Was she like Shizuka now? He looked to Tadashi.
"Did she try and talk?" Tadashi understood why he asked. Because he was blind there was no way for him to tell if she tried talking or not.
"Yes she did, Ichigo-sama. She tried but no sound came out." He thanked Tadashi. He held Yuko close to him as he stood up. Yuko wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist. He cooed softly at her.
"Yuko, I'm going to take you back to the Shiba estate. Is that okay with you?" Yuko nodded her head which rested at the crook of his neck. Ichigo shifted her a bit so he could support her more with his hip, and turned in the direction of the Shiba estate. Tadashi lead the way as he continued talking to the now mute child. "Okay Yuko, you'll be safe there. No one will let you get hurt. There will be plenty of food for you to eat, and a nice place to sleep. I'll Akihiko-san if your room could be placed next to mine. Would you like that?" Another nod. "Don't worry Yuko, we will find out what happened. I promise. We'll find your mom, dad and Rentaro." Yuko gave another weak nod, and slumped even further on his shoulder. He breathing evened out, indicating that she had fallen asleep.
"Tadashi, I want you to go back with the guards as soon as we get back and see if there are any clues. Try and follow Yuko's trail in the woods if you can. I'll get Akihiko-san's permission for you."
"Yes, Ichigo-sama."
When they arrived, the whole estate was in an uproar. Akihiko had found out from Sora, and was barking orders to the guards. Akihiko's light red reiatsu snapped and crackled like an angry forest fire. The Hikaru and the girls were standing on the front porch. They gave a cry and launched themselves towards him and Yuko. He held her tighter to himself as four other bodies slammed into his legs. Their cries had alerted the others. Chiyo, Akihiko, Sora and Ran, who carried Kameko, watched from the porch as he slowly made his way towards them. The children didn't help with practically gluing themselves to his legs, and pulling on his yukata.
"Ichigo why did you go on your own!?" Akihiko demanded loudly. He could only imagine Akihiko's face sporting the same frown he always wore when he was angry.
"I took Tadashi with me."
Tadashi behind him stumbled at the mention of being brought into the conversation. Akihiko then rounded on Tadashi at the mention of his name.
"And you should know better than to let Ichigo do something that dangerous on his own. You should have alerted me first."
"It's not his fault. I was going to go either way. Tadashi knew that and came along anyways. So it should be me that you blame Akihiko-san." Akihiko gave an angry shout, threw his arms up in the air and turned in a circle. He stopped, and stood there with his head bowed.
"I should have known. Now you can tell me everything inside."
A shout out to:
Y-T3cH: We apologize if it's too slow for your liking. If you don't mind elaborating with us, why, when, or has this story begun to get boring for you? Thank you for always letting us know what you think.
DNA2337: Michio is the man that had taken Ichigo into his home the afternoon before the festival started that evening. He will play a larger role later on in the story, so it's best not to forget about him so soon.
amazinglion29: We hope that your heart did not leap out of your chest from how fast it was beating. What Ichigo knows so far is less than what Akihiko will know. The next chapter is the most awaited chapter. The Noble Clan gathering. Truths will come to light. Danger and blood will fill the air. And a past that will rear it's ugly head. We hope that entices you for the next chapter. Let us know what you think about this one. Sorry that it's a little shorter.
innocent97: Your very welcome innocent97. Glad to hear that you look forward for more. We hope to see you next week.
Loli-Hype Ichi: We are very glad that you like our story.
Ongaku: Amazinglion29 had a very similar reaction about Michio. Don't jump to any conclusions just yet. The next chapter will shed some light at the clan gathering. We hope you enjoy this next chapter.
We would like to thank all of those who have supported us so far. Thank you very much. Let us know what you think. We will update next Wednesday, so expect a very exciting chapter.
- The Crew.
