The Breaking Point

Caeldori mumbled quietly into the soot-covered floor of the temple as she awoke. For some reason, she had a throbbing headache. After getting to her feet and clutching her head, she stumbled out through the open door and into the dimly-lit main chamber where Kamui and Hisame were.

"How did it go?" Kamui asked while he gave her a tender smile. He expected her to succeed, but still felt a wave of relief wash over him when she emerged from the dimly-lit room.

"It was… strange…" Caeldori spoke, then felt as though her legs became pudding. She fell to the ground with her eyes shut, and Kamui and Hisame rushed to her side as the voice in the temple boomed.

"Do not be alarmed. Traveling across time and space has that effect on people. She will rejoin you shortly."

Kamui sat on his knees and leaned over her, then watched as her eyes fluttered open. Her throbbing headache was gone, and as such she found herself feeling rejuvenated. "Congratulations, champions. You have surpassed my trials, and as such, I will bestow a gift upon each of you." The voice boomed as a bright light filled the entire room.

The trio watched as three lockets appeared, and slowly descended until one landed in each person's hands. "These pendants hold my favor in them. Should you need a wish, simply toss them skyward and speak your desire."

"Question." Kamui's hand shot up like a beacon. "Can we use these to affect a certain god whose name starts with an A?" He lowered his hand and strung the amulet around his neck.

"Ah, I see I forgot to lay down the ground rules," Kamui swore that he heard the Temple God let out a sigh. "My intervention cannot cause a being's downfall. I can give you the tools to strike them down, but in the end, it will fall to you in defeating them."

"Well, this had been a wonderful waste of time." Kamui thought as he let out a long sigh, then began to walk down the stairs to the outside. Of course, the one wild-goose chase that sounded promising ended with highly-restricted wishes. Caeldori eagerly followed behind Kamui, and Hisame motioned to join them before something stopped him.

"Hisame, please wait." The Temple God spoke. Hisame looked behind him into the empty room of the temple. "I know you are greatly saddened by the end of your trial."

Hisame didn't even bother responded; at this point, the voice was just attempting to apologize for ruining Hisame's perfect heaven. "I can also tell that you are displeased with my interruption of your trial."

"I hope you feel good about what you did." Hisame crossed his arms and glared at the stone wall of the temple.

A long, uneventful silence passed. Hisame began walking to the exit.

"From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry." The Temple God spoke as Hisame got to the bottom of the staircase. He stopped, turned around, and looked at the top of the staircase.

"It's… It's fine. You were just doing what had to be done." Hisame's voice shook, slightly, then he left the temple.

"Well, that was a fun little experience," Kamui spoke as he stood in a circle with his two friends. Hisame fought the urge to tell him that the last twenty years he had lived in there were anything but 'little'. "But we should get back to the castle."

Caeldori nodded, along with Hisame. After the group locked hands and Kamui muttered the incantation, they found themselves enveloped in a blinding flash of blue, then in the training yard of the castle.

"Thank you for the adventure," Hisame spoke as he scurried off toward the main castle. He desperately needed some time to reflect on what just happened. Kamui waved to him as he departed.

"So," Kamui used his other hand to delicately hold Caeldori's. "What do you want to do?" He had an incredibly romantic look on his face.

Caeldori felt as though her cheeks had caught fire as she felt the warmth of his fingers. Finally, the moment twelve years in the making had occurred, and Kamui and Caeldori were now a couple.

But before Caeldori could slink off with Kamui to do romantic activities, she felt the desire to pay her mother a visit, given the new information about her that was brought to light.

"Meet me at the hot spring in five minutes." She spoke before releasing his hand from her grip and sprinting off toward the castle.

Kamui assumed he should get to the hot spring before Caeldori, and as he walked to the spring, he remembered his training with Hinata that he scheduled. He scanned the commotion of the central courtyard of the castle until he saw Hisame's mother and father.

"Hey, Hinata! Over here!" Kamui waved to the couple as they passed by and watched as their heads turned to face him.

"What do you need, Kamui?" Hana asked in Hinata's steed as she raised her eyebrow; Hinata's hand was tightly grasping her own.

"Well, your husband said he wanted to train in order to get stronger, so I picked out a location near Fort Jinya where we could all spar," Kamui spoke with a smile on his face. For how often Hisame complained about his parents, they were still nice people.

"Is there a reason we couldn't we just train in the front yard?" Hana asked as Hinata's eyes beamed. Hinata's eyes lit up like a lantern when he realized what was going on.

"Oh, this is about Lord Takumi, huh?" He placed his hand on his chin while he thought. "Yeah, Takumi can't see our training, because I'm trying to beat him."

"Beat him in what?" Hana had an inquisitive look on her face.

"Friendly retainer-to-lord sparring matches. So what time will we depart?" Hinata asked.

"How about… when the sun sets and the moon rises." Kamui tossed out the idea, considering that he had no other plans at that time.

"See you then." Hana and Hinata spoke in a synchronous manner at the same time. "Jinks!" They both smiled and pointed at each other.

Selena sat on a chair inside her room and was glaring at a mound of dust in the corner next to the wooden door. It had been an hour now, and that darned dust still wasn't clean. It's not like she couldn't get up and clean it herself like Subaki asked her to, it's just that she had no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't screw it up.

Subaki entered the door and glanced at the pile of dust. He was sure that Selena was pulling a prank on him, and that it was a fake.

"Hey, Selena..." Subaki paused and smiled as he knelt down next to her. "I thought I asked you to get rid of that dust."

"You did." Selena had a rather cold look in her eyes. Subaki started to realize this wasn't an elaborate joke. "The only problem is that I would definitely get dust everywhere, and you would have to clean up after me." She folded her arms and stared at the ground. She knew that she was destined to be a perpetual mistake; such was her fate as the daughter of 'Little Lady Perfectionist'.

"That's not true." Subaki held her hands and was mildly shocked by how cold they felt. He always felt bad whenever Selena got like this; the most notable example was on the eve of their wedding when Selena spent three hours fearing that every detail wasn't perfect.

"We both know it is." Selena flared her nostrils and looked at the window to her left. "We both know how much of a screw-up I am." She swore that she could see the images of her childhood antagonists in the clouds.

"Little Lady Severa, who can't do anything. Her mother, Cordelia, had the worst offspring." The clouds mocked her with their asinine rhymes as they swirled around the blue sky. Selena's head dipped even lower to the ground as she brought her knees to her chest.

"Selena, please don't hurt yourself like this." Subaki gave her a desperate look as he wrapped his arms around her; the sheer compassion in his tone was overwhelming. "In my opinion, I always strive to reach the bar that you set."

"R-Really?" Selena brought her head up to look at Subaki with her glistening eyes. Surely, her husband didn't mean tha-.

"Truly," Subaki whispered in her ear. The soothing feeling of his hands seemed to drive the clouds away from her thoughts. "Like that time you had mess hall duty and you cleaned all the tables spotless."

"Really? There were all sorts of grime and dirt on those things." Selena smiled as she nuzzled her head into Subaki's neck. Subaki let out a mild chuckle.

"It's nice to see you this uplifted." Subaki affectionately kissed his wife on the cheek.

"Well, I wouldn't be, if not for my caring husband." Selena pressed her lips to Subaki's and clutched his back. She always loved whenever Subaki held her like this with his big, strong arms that cradled her.

"Am I interrupting something?" The distinct voice of their daughter spoke, which caused both Selena and Subaki's eyes to awkwardly glance at her. She was standing in the doorway to their room and had a mildly disgusted look on her face.

"How long were you watching us?" Subaki and Selena asked at the same time.

"After father said 'truly'." Caeldori answered back and continued to stand in the doorway.

"Caeldori… Could you do your father and me a favor and, uh, go somewhere else?" Selena's voice sounded very polite as she held onto Subaki's figure.

Caeldori realized the events that were about to ensue and bolted out of the room. "Well, that got her out. Now, what do you want to do?" Selena's gaze turned back to her husband.

"If we're being honest." Subaki heard his stomach growl. "I could really use a snack."

"There's some cake in the mess hall; wanna go steal it for ourselves?" Selena now had a devilish grin from ear to ear.

"Oh, thank gods, I thought you'd never ask." Subaki had always wanted to eat that scrumptious-looking cake, but he needed an accomplice in case someone caught him.

Selena got to her feet and grabbed Subaki by the hand. They both exited their room and began their plan to 'liberate' the cake from the mess hall.

Kamui rested his aching back further into the steamy waters of the hot spring. He felt his remaining stress from that battle with that massive spider practically melt away while he entered a trance.

"Kamui, are you in here?" A voice resounded through the entry hallway of the building. Caeldori entered the spring and looked around until her eyes settled their gaze on Kamui. A towel was wrapped around her chest. "There you are." She smiled while she walked to the side of the pool that he resided in.

Even though before two weeks ago, Kamui was absolutely against being romantic with Caeldori, he couldn't deny that there was something so… attractive… about her. She was so attractive, that Kamui started to wonder why he rejected her.

"I think I might melt…" Kamui mumbled as he shut his eyes. He felt the ripple of water being displaced, and shortly after, a pair of soft hands wrapped themselves around his bare chest.

"Oh, gods," Caeldori's tone slowed itself and became incredibly lax. "You're right. This water is sublime." She placed her head on Kamui's shoulder and felt the warmth from his body. Kamui clasped his fingers around her smooth hand as his other hand moved to her legs. He lifted her knees upward and placed them over his legs before moving his hand around her back.

"I don't know what the heck I was thinking when I turned you down," Kamui mumbled before placing his lips upon Caeldori's. Caeldori was absolutely ecstatic that Kamui was now her lover.

Hisame let out a deep, prolonged sigh as he sat on the bench underneath a sakura tree. He was still emotionally coping with his trial.

As if by some naming coincidence, Princess Sakura walked toward him; her hair was illuminated by the setting sun behind her.

"Um, hi, Hisame. Are you doing alright?" She asked while his brow furrowed.

"Go away." His tone could practically kill someone with its harshness.

"I-I'm sorry! I was just wondering how your day was!" Sakura hurriedly stood up and scurried away. Hisame sighed, rolled his eyes, and got up as well.

"Sakura, I'm sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind." He called out in a significantly more docile tone. The princess stopped her fleeing and looked behind; she had a frightened look on her flushed face.

"Do tell." She cautiously walked back to the bench and seated herself. Hisame sat down as well and hunched his back.

"When Kamui, Caeldori, and I went to that temple, we each partook in a trial. Mine involved rescuing Caeldori." Hisame began to recollect. He neglected to mention that he had killed a mental representation of one of Sakura's retainers.

"That sounds like quite the adventure. So why exactly are you so distraught?" Sakura was very curious as to why her godson looked so upset.

"Because the trial didn't end after I rescued Caeldori; it ended after we spent twenty years together as a family." Hisame stared out across the empty training yard. Sakura felt as though the sadness in his voice was palpable.

"Oh," Sakura interjected.

"We raised a child, and we were expecting another before I had to depart." Hisame looked down to the ground. "Her name was Shigeki, and she was the light of my life." Even the mere mention of her name caused Hisame's entire body to hurt.

"Oh…" Sakura spoke again, but this time with a softer voice.

"I even sang to her before I left." Memories flashed through Hisame's eyes, and a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Oh… g-gods..." Sakura felt her hands tremble as her voice quavered. She stared out across a field of flowers that Hana planted and remembered why she came. "That sounds incredibly heart-wrenching." The fact that Hisame had to go through something like that was incredibly saddening to her.

"It was." Hisame sniffled his nose, then looked toward the sky. He just wanted to be back in his wife's comforting arms.

"But, I came here bearing good news. While you were gone, I arranged a meeting between you and your parents, so you can all sit together and discuss your issues." Sakura smiled at him; he didn't even bother to meet her gaze.

"I told you: don't meddle in my family problems." He stood up and began to stomp toward the castle.

"Hisame, wait! Just hear me out on this." Sakura grabbed him by the arm and refused to let go. Hisame rolled his eyes and turned around. "They said they would meet me here tonight."

"Why should I fix our issue? You can't change childhood neglect." Hisame glared at her.

"Because, we can darn well try and repair your broken relationship, okay?" Sakura gave him a pleading look as a warm breeze drifted by. "Just wait with me here until they show up." She looked up and stared directly into Hisame's soul. "Please?"

A sigh escaped his lips, again.

"Fine."

"Okay. When the sun sets and the moon rises, they'll meet us here." Sakura sat down on the bench as she continued to hold Hisame's hand; he jerked his arm while grunting and threw Sakura's hand off his.

Even though he was exceptionally mad, Sakura did have a point. If Hisame and his parents had a heart-to-heart, then maybe they could work towards fixing what was broken.

This was the chance for Hisame to have an actual family, and he was overjoyed by that.

After a couple hours of waiting, the sun had finally set, and the stars were alight. Hinata and Hana had not shown up yet.

"They should be here any minute now..." Sakura continued to smile as she sipped more of the tea that Leo had brewed for her. Hisame leaned against the bench and couldn't wait for his parents to show up.

The moon had risen a good distance now, and the commotion of the training yard had disappeared into the castle. Hisame's parents did not show up.

"Maybe… they, uh… Maybe they got held up by bandits?" Sakura spoke; Hisame had noticed that her smile and optimism had completely vanished.

"At least it's not raining." Hisame hunched over on the bench. Immediately after he spoke, thunder rolled in the distance and he felt a drop of water fall onto his nose. Even though he looked rather upset, he still hoped that Sakura was right.

An hour passed. The moon was now directly in the center of the night sky. Sakura had been shivering from the cascade of cold rain until Hisame grabbed a blanket from the infirmary and gave it to her. He didn't mind the cold; it reminded him of home.

Hana and Hinata had not shown up.

"Hisame… I…" Sakura shivered as she ran her fingers through her wet hair. "I don't know what to say…"

Hisame stared down at the ground, and Sakura could see his eyes glisten with tears.

"I just wanted… A family…" His breathing became sporadic and 'funny' for a moment. Sakura stared down at the wet dirt as well.

"I'm sorry." Sakura wrapped her arms around her godchild. Her voice was muffled through the fabric of his cloak, but the heartfelt gesture was still there.

"I-It's okay, Sakura." Hisame looked over to the bundled princess. "You did everything, you could. I'm sorry that I wasted your time with my petty troubles." His cautiously optimistic thoughts were gone. In their wake was nothing but rage. "I should've seen this coming…"

A bright flash of blue caught his attention.

"Man, that was fun!" The distinctive tone and pitch of Hinata's voice shook through the yard like an earthquake. Out of the flash came Hinata and Hana, followed by Kamui.

Sakura gazed on in fear as Hisame's face twisted into a vehement glare.

"Hey, Hisame!" Kamui called out. He met Hisame's look and his expression became puzzled as to why Hisame looked so upset.

Hana and Hinata stared across the yard at their son, and something began to stir in their thoughts.

"Oh, gods…" Hana's eyes widened as she remembered what she had told Sakura earlier in the afternoon. She knew, deep down, that she had screwed up.

In the blink of an eye, Hisame got to his feet and sprinted toward the castle. He couldn't even bear to look at the lying cheats that he called 'parents'.

"Hisame, wait!" Hinata called before he started to chase after him. Before he could get any closer, he felt a hand latch onto his. He looked to his back and saw that Sakura had grabbed hold of his arm.

"Just let him be!" She was on the verge of screaming at him while her blanket flew off of her from the wind. Hinata stopped his struggling and paused; he gave Sakura the look she had never seen in her entire life.

It was the look of a defeated parent.

Hisame continued to sprint through the rain until he was a good distance away from his parents. His footsteps slowed to a walk as he stomped toward a bed of red flowers. He continued along his way, then looked back at the flowers.

Red.

"Those are Caeldori's favorite flowers…" Hisame knelt down before the garden, then grabbed a bundle of the floral decorations.

No matter how disappointed he was, he still clung to the hope that he could salvage something out of this horrible night.

Something that would give him a family, and reunite him with Caeldori and Shigeki.

Sophie leaned back in her bed as Caeldori continued to ramble on about her day.

"And then, after I dipped my feet into the spring, he held me in his arms…" Her face was practically beaming with delight.

"Uh-huh. Sounds great, Caelly." Sophie didn't even bother to look up from her book. After listening to Caeldori ramble on about her day, Sophie was just glad that she could fall asleep soon.

A knock resounded through their room.

"Coming!" Caeldori spoke in a perky tone. "Hello?" She opened the door to reveal Hisame, who she swore had a glare on his face before he noticed her.

"O-Oh… Hello, C-Caeldori." Hisame's voice squeaked while his internal thoughts devolved into a cacophony of screams. It should be second-nature to talk to her, given that they spent twenty years together, but still he felt flustered. "I b-brought you some flowers." He gripped the stems of the bouquet of red flowers that he had picked.

"Oh, why thank you." Caeldori smiled as she took the flowers and placed them in a bowl atop her nightstand. "Was there anything else you needed?" She asked while walking back to the doorway.

"Actually, I was wondering… If you wanted… to… go…" Hisame's voice grew weaker with every passing second. "Forget it." He spoke as he turned around and began to walk down the hallway of the castle.

"Hey, wait up!" Caeldori hurriedly exited her room and placed a hand on his shoulder. Hisame jerked his head upright. "Come on, what do you want to say?" Maybe Hisame wanted to go train or something.

Caeldori detected the fear in his gaze as they locked eyes.

"Would you like to go out with me?" Time seemed to slow to a crawl after Hisame spoke those eight words; the same eight that he had always dreamed about.

Caeldori's expression shifted from happiness to sadness in the blink of an eye. She had to tell him, but she almost stopped herself completely.

Here was a man who she would be with, if not for her relationship with Kamui. Hisame was a very nice man, it's just that Caeldori was already with Kamui.

"Oh... Hisame… I'm sorry, but Kamui and I got together this morning." Caeldori's tone sounded like she genuinely cared about his feelings.

The name 'Kamui' struck Hisame in the gut like he had just been trampled by a faceless. He remembered back to that morning when Kamui and Caeldori had seemed so awkward when he delivered breakfast to them.

It was at this point that the already-broken fragments of Hisame's heart had now been ground into red dust by Kamui's foot.

"Oh…" He sighed. "Thank you for being honest with me."

Before he could depart, Caeldori wrapped her arms around his chest and pressed her head into his shoulder. She was genuinely sad to see him this dejected.

"I'm sorry." That was the third time today he heard that phrase.

Hisame stopped his movements and jerked upright. He had to force himself not to cry. "You'll find someone, I promise." Memories of those twenty years began to flash through his eyes as he felt the comforting warmth of Caeldori's hands.

Hisame shook her arms off of him and began to walk away in a hurried fashion. Sophie poked her head out of the doorway.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"Hisame asked me out," Caeldori spoke as she watched the man walk down the hallway.

"But I thought you and Kamui were a coup-" Before Sophie could finish her thought, Caeldori interrupted her.

"Exactly." Her voice sounded like one who had just broken a man's spirit. Somewhere, deep down, she suspected that much was true.

Once Hisame had left the castle, he sat against the stone walls of the building and brought his knees to his face.

"Kamui played me like a puppet." He mumbled with a shaky tone. In his mind, it was obvious who to blame. "Kamui knew all along that Caeldori loved him, and he knew that I loved her." Tears began to streak his eyes as rain cascaded the top of his head.

He slowly closed his tired, weary eyes.

A person materialized in front of Hisame as he opened his eyes. He shifted his gaze up to see Kamui, who was leaning over him with a smile.

"Hisame, come on. Everyone's waiting for you. Everyone's waiting to pelt you with stones. Everyone's waiting to yell at you. Everyone's going to make your life utter hell." Kamui's smile had changed completely into a menacing glare.

"W-Who's 'everyone' …?" Hisame's jaw quivered from the cold. Kamui's words teased him and pierced his fragile mind like arrows.

"Everyone that you love," Kamui stated in a dry, monotone voice. Suddenly, a group of figures wearing a black cloak burst from the ground and swarmed around Hisame. One of them stepped out from the rest and pulled his hood back to reveal a red ponytail.

"Look who it is," Subaki spoke before jerking his foot into Hisame's stomach. Hisame let out a whimper as he felt a sharp jolt of pain from his stomach. "The pathetic nothing whose name is Hisame."

"S-Stop it!" Hisame pleaded as Subaki continued to mercilessly assault him.

"You're gonna die here," Subaki spoke again and smashed his fist into Hisame's face. "Alone, unloved, unknown." His fists relentlessly tore into Hisame's body.

"S-S-S-Stop it! Please!" Hisame's entire body felt numb from the barrage of punches and kicks. The blows stopped, and Hisame opened his eyes to reveal another cloaked figure standing before him in Subaki's place. "C-Caeldori?"

"Hisame, are you alright?" Her voice was incredibly tender as she knelt beside him. "You must be so cold… Here, let me warm you up." She departed, for a moment, and returned with a blue blanket. "There you go. Nice and snug as a rug with a tug and a shrug and a-" Her eerie smile stared directly at him; he felt extremely unnerved.

Caeldori had wrapped the blanket around Hisame and was now pressing it against his mouth. "-jug with a pug who's a thug and a bug and-" She was inching her head ever so closer to his own.

"Caeldori!" Hisame's voice was muffled through the blanket as she pressed it against his head. "Stop it! You're choking me!" His nose felt as though it were being crushed. Her eyes widened, and her irises had grown until her eyes were nothing but black.

"Oh, I forgot!" Caeldori pulled the blanket off his head. Hisame gasped for breath as sweet, life-giving air filled his lungs. "I brought someone with me!" She pulled a small, familiar child from behind her back and placed it before Hisame.

"Daddy, why are you crying?" Shigeki asked with an adorable smile on her face.

"S-Shigeki…" Hisame's voice sank when he heard her familiar giggle.

"Is it because you know you'll never see me again?" She stated before pulling a miniature music box out from behind her; Hisame recognized it as his childhood toy.

Shigeki began to pull the winch on the box until it stopped moving. She watched with glee as the music box began to play. Hisame expected the familiar, soothing notes of his lullaby to calm him down, but instead, something else entirely began to play.

The sound of Hisame crying echoed out of the box.

Shigeki placed the toy on the ground and laughed with glee as she ran around it. She laughed and kept laughing. She found her father's suffering so funny, that she couldn't stop.

Hisame's hands trembled, which only became worse when he heard the sound of Kamui and Caeldori laughing mixed in with his sobbing. He began to wail in pain as the noises overwhelmed his thoughts.

He flailed and kicked his arms, but the blanket was now placed back over his body. It restrained his movements and made breathing into a nightmare. He looked to his right and saw Hinata and Hana staring at him from across the training yard.

They nodded their heads and sighed before walking away.

"Help me!" Hisame cried; the cold rain poured onto his face. "Please… h-help me…" He croaked out the last few words and watched in terror as his parents continued to walk away. They didn't even bother to look at their pathetic son. "Why is this happening to me?!" He screamed.

The cold air seemed to surround him now and choked any remaining air out of his lungs. Before he shut his eyes, he heard a single, familiar voice.

"Nobody loves you," Kamui growled.

Hisame jerked his head upright as he leaned against the castle. He frantically checked his body, and let out a sigh of relief when he found no restrictive blanket covering him.

"That was a… dream…"

He felt something break deep within him. He was sure it wasn't his heart because the trial did a fine enough job of demolishing that.

Hisame's spirit had been shattered. He wasn't sure if it was Kamui promising to pelt him with rocks, Caeldori attempting to choke him, or his parents neglecting him when he needed it most. Regardless, he felt a familiar emotion course through him: raw, unbridled rage.

He felt rage towards Caeldori for waiting until he was most vulnerable to reject him.

He felt rage at his parents for neglecting him for eighteen years.

And most importantly, he felt a never-ending amount of rage towards Kamui for ruining his future.

Hisame paused as he wiped his cheek with his baggy sleeve. He needed a way to make Kamui pay. He needed a way to make Kamui suffer for what he's done.

He needed to kill Kamui because then he could be with Caeldori. The only problem was that Hisame and Kamui were evenly matched in terms of combat, and there was nothing he could do to even the edge.

Or was there? Hisame began to recollect on his training and remembered one crucial fact. "Spears beat swords."

In the blink of an eye, Hisame grabbed his necklace and threw it towards the night sky. He watched as it disappeared into a blinding flash of light.

"What do you desire?" The familiar voice of the Temple God boomed.

"A Master Seal." Hisame gritted his teeth; his voice was full of anger.

"As you wish." The voice stated as a golden ball floated down from the light. He focused on the intricate design of the sphere, including the smaller red ball in the middle.

Hisame tossed the sphere skyward and watched as lightning crackled out of it. He continued to gaze on as he was enveloped by the bright flash of light, and he felt raw, extreme power course through his veins.

Finally, Hisame was a Master of Arms, and he had only one thought.

"Kamui will pay for ruining my life."

...