Chapter 11 | The Sun Country


"Yayoi-san."

Motou Yayoi came to her senses, not realizing the distraction, and saw Keigo's exaggerated frown. "Is something wrong?"

"That's what I want to know," said Keigo softly. He sat at the edge of the bed opposite of hers, having taken the bottom bunker in one of the smaller rooms within the ship, though he would have happily slept on the floor if it had been asked of him. However, Mio wanted him in top form and well rested. "You are never this spacey."

"Spacey?" questioned Yayoi.

"Yes, you are acting a little off."

"Really? I don't feel off."

"You've been nervous since you got on the ship—is it that man you saw on the beach?" Keigo's eyebrows knitted. "You know the one that was staring right at your face. Even Mio said something about it."

There had been a strange encounter when Yayoi had been boarding the ship. Seijun had criticized her choice in clothes, saying they were unfit to wear to a potential battlefield, but Mio had asked him not to pay it too much attention when Yayoi had been about to shout at him for being ignorant on beautiful clothes. Although, he had had a point since Mio had extended her hand out to her on her way up the side of the ship because she had slipped on her skirts the first time. Seijun had obnoxiously laughed at her.

Mio had on the other half quietly helped her smooth out her silk robes. As the dark-haired Shugosha had risen to her feet with the Fate Scroll in her arms, her eyes had looked beyond her shoulder, prompting Yayoi to turn around.

Standing alone in the middle of the beach had been a dark-skinned man with shaggy hair dressed all in black except for the purple scarf that had been wrapped snug around his neck. Yayoi had swallowed hard at the sight of him, feeling her fingers stiffen in their reach for her artifact, because he had stared directly at her face. It had provoked a strange sensation in her of being in danger and of being seen for the weak, frightened woman that she felt like.

"Take the artifact and hand it to Mao," Mio had ordered.

Yayoi had been baffled by her, but had obeyed. She had given her artifact to Mao, who had been standing on the other side of the ship, and had taken a moment to sneak another glance at Mio. The Shugosha had sat back against the wooden railing and had stared out into the beach that when Yayoi had glimpsed over, she had found it absent of the man that had frightened her.

Mio had not said anything until after Madara had boarded the ship, though she had not said anything to him directly, she had been speaking to herself mostly. "Yayoi is the next target."

The words had alarmed Yayoi to the very core. Keigo had not left her side since.

Now that Keigo reminded her about the man on the beach, Yayoi started to think about it obsessively. She hated to think that she was singled out from nine other Guardians, but she should not have expected any less given what artifact she held. Anyone would want the Fate Sphere as soon as they learned its abilities. Who wouldn't want to know about all their possible futures? That sort of ability could help any power hungry individual rise from nothing to center stage. That would definitely jumpstart another Artifact War. She didn't think she was ready to face another, not in her current condition. She wouldn't be able to take as active a role as the other Guardians, which made her uncomfortable about the prospect of one.

"Yayoi-san? You're spacing out again."

Yayoi clapped her cheeks with both hands and let out an annoyed sound. Her actions made Keigo wary, but he kept that mostly to himself. She needed to keep it together. One man on the beach was nothing compared to what she was about to face in the Sun Country. That worried her the most. That huge abyss of unexpected events waiting to happen scared her.

There was a loud thud out in the hallway that sent both Yayoi and Keigo to their feet. The two looked at one another and uttered the same question at the same time, "What was that?"

Keigo shoved her forward. "You check."

"You're supposed to be taking care of me!" whispered Yayoi harshly.

"But it's dark out there." He stared at her with large, pleading eyes. "Come on, Yayoi-san, you just have to look."

"Fine."

Yayoi braced herself at the door, opening it quietly and peered outside into the shadowed hallway. Madara had Mio pinned against the wall in a hold that expressed everything except the intimacy one expected out of the two. It was aggressive. Even the air around them was tense. She hated that she had to be the one walking into that.

Madara glowered at her and a shudder ran down her spine. For the first time in years, she felt fear because of him.

Mio released herself from Madara's hold, but he turned back to her fiercely. "We are not done."

Madara stormed away.

Yayoi stepped out slowly as Keigo peered out from behind the door.

"Is everything okay?" asked Yayoi. "He didn't hurt you?'

"No, he didn't." Mio didn't look the least bit frazzled by what happened. She seemed to have simply brush it off. "Don't concern yourself over this."

"What happened?" Yayoi stopped in front of her, intercepting her path. "You two were the ones that said that we needed to be stronger than ever, but now you're mad at each other again."

Reassuringly, Mio placed her hands on her shoulders and locked stares with her. Behind her, Keigo slowly emerged from the room, pushing the door wide open so the candlelight spilled onto the hallway, deepening the shadows.

"Our personal feelings will not get in the way of this," said Mio, dark eyes trained on hers. "If I cannot fix it by the time we land, I can at least promise you this, I will never let my feelings get in the way of a fight."

Yayoi bit her lip and nodded. "But please stop fighting."

"I'm going after him," said Mio, releasing her. "Go back inside."

Yayoi watched her disappear up the moonlit stairs at the end of the hall. Not a second later, Eishirou descended the stairs with a grin plastered on his face.

He walked up to her with mischievous eyes. "Good evening, princess."

She bristled. "Shouldn't you be holed up in your snake nest already?"

"The night is spectacular at this hour," he said, "as such it should be spent with a beautiful woman watching the stars above us and the calming sea beneath us."

"There are other things you can do on spectacular nights," Keigo interrupted. "Not all of them have to involve beautiful women."

"Ah, it is understandable," said Eishirou critically, "you're too young to see the appeal of a quiet evening with gorgeous company."

Keigo snorted. "You do understand this is why nobody finds you very agreeable, Eishirou-san."

"Eishirou-sama," the lord corrected.

"For someone without a title or a castle, you sure want to keep shoving the pleasantries down our throats, don't you?"

"Your Shugosha promised to return my castle once our little excursion to the Sun Country was done," he said matter-of-factly.

"That is if you survive," said Yayoi, irritated.

"I doubt Mio would let me die," Eishirou said. His disgusting smile widened. "I still have plenty of use left for her. We have unfinished business."

"It's Shugosha-sama to you," said Keigo forcibly. "Don't act so familiar with Mio-san."

"And don't think Mio is even remotely interested in you," Yayoi stated. "She trained specifically to make fools out of disgusting old perverts like you. She loves Madara, so don't think you can tempt her with fancy clothes and expensive jewelry. She's not interested in those things."

"That's funny," he said, rubbing his chin, "because when I made her an offer, she seemed mildly interested."

"Let's go, Keigo, we've wasted enough breath on this pervert." Yayoi grabbed Keigo by the arm and pulled him back into their room, glaring at Eishirou's smiling face the entire time. She slammed the door and sighed impatiently. "How annoying can one man be?"

"I think you're paying too much attention to him," said Keigo. "Did he do something to you? Do you need your pride defended? I can challenge him to a swordfight."

"He didn't do anything to me, but he seems hell-bent on seducing Mio to get on Madara's nerves," she complained. "The worst part is that I think it's working given that scene we happened to walk into."

"I don't know how Mio-san does it. Madara-san is terrifying when he's angry." Keigo shuddered at the thought. "So, are you being really defensive about Madara-san or Mio-san?"

Yayoi grimaced. "Both."

Keigo returned to his seat on the bed and folded his arms over his chest. "I think they'll be okay. Mio-san said that she would talk to Madara-san and this isn't the first time that they've fought. I'm sure that they're both shouldering burdens of similar weight. I can't say much about Madara-san since we just met a few weeks ago, but I know about Mio-san."

Yayoi calmed herself enough to sit. She didn't like the tension either Madara or Mio gave off when they were fighting. "You were there when Mio created the new artifact, right? That must have been hard for her."

"I thought so, too, but she's been happier since she made it," said Keigo.

"Happier?"

Mio's default expression was a deadpan, but Yayoi had to admit that Mio had developed a lighter atmosphere about her. She had assumed it had to do with Madara, but they had been at war since they were married.

"Definitely being with everyone in the Fire Country cheered Mio-san up—not to say she wasn't happy in the Iron Country, she was, it's just I think there's something that she wanted from being there. I think she has it now. So, she's a lot happier." Keigo frowned. "If that makes sense."

Yayoi nodded. She thought it might.

"We should go to sleep," Yayoi suggested.

Keigo nodded.

Yayoi forced Keigo out of the room to change into something comfortable to sleep in. When she called him back in, she spotted Madara walking down the hall to enter his room. Mio followed behind him with a defiant air about her, though she did incline her head in their direction as she passed unlike Madara, who ignored them outright. Yayoi let Keigo go in to change as Madara and Mio's door slammed shut.

Everything would be fine.

At night, Yayoi dreamt of the Sun Country, of Ikki, of the priests and priestesses of the Sun Temple, of castle life, of her father, of Motou Ayuka. She woke up thinking of it the same and became anxious as a result. There were so many other things to feel nervous about, but her chest was tight and her stomach twisted into knots because of her memories of home.

Yayoi thought her heart would explode in her chest. It beat wildly like a trapped bird violently flying in its tiny cage searching for an escape. She spent three years away from the Sun Country. She escaped in a way that made her feel ashamed for having done so. The reason for her abandonment of the only home she knew never factored in her memories. She pictured escaping after Ayuka, the woman she viewed as a mother, tried to kill her and saw it as an act of cowardice. Her home had been but one thing she abandoned. She left behind her brother and the members of her clan, though divided they were by a war between her father and uncle. She did not try to convince them to follow her. She gave up on them from the start. She never believed any one of them would have followed her. She failed them.

It gutted her to think of them—all of them.

Her brother's memory especially wounded her.

Anxiety engulfed her—ate away at her slowly as the waves rocked the ship gently beneath her feet. She couldn't fathom the type of experiences Ikki endured when they were separated. Did he hate her now? They were together all their lives, relying only on each other, though they had been separated by their father. Yayoi had lived most of her life in the temple. Ikki had remained alone in a castle where his worth had constantly been challenged. She wished she had been there to defend him from those that hurt him, but she had not. That had been one of her biggest regrets growing up.

Yayoi lifted her eyes from the floor. Mio approached her and crouched down in front of her when the island was in sight, though distant, one could see its silhouette spread across the horizon—dark and shrouded with fog.

"How are you feeling?" asked Mio. "Nervous?"

"I lived most of my life in the Sun Country," said Yayoi, reminiscent. Nostalgia helped propagate her anxiety, let it uncurl slowly as noxious as poison. It made her heart thump faster and louder, so loud she feared Mio could hear its nervous drumming in their close proximity. It embarrassed her. She didn't want to burden her with all of the emotions swirling inside of her. There were so many, it was suffocating, but she reminded herself that Mio had enough to deal with. She didn't need more on her plate. "But none of that mattered. I left it."

Her mind took her back to that exact moment everything changed. Her life had revolved around Ayuka, her predecessor, but that idolism died when the woman that had practically raised her threatened to kill her. The way Ayuka's eyes had gone wild with dark fury had haunted Yayoi.

"Had you stayed, you would have been killed," said Mio, taking her hands into her warm clasp. "And because you are alive today, you have this opportunity to feel anxious, to feel scared, to see your home once more, and to see your brother. What matters is that you have so many opportunities now because you are alive, so do not be ashamed of that."

Yayoi's lips trembled. She clutched Mio's hands tightly, fighting back the tears in her eyes. Everything could go wrong. Everyone could hate her. Everyone could want her dead. Everything could be a trap.

Her brother could be dead.

There could be no Motou clan left. She could be alone, bearing the weight of her family name and the history attached to it.

"But what if they hate me?" asked Yayoi.

"A charming person like you? Never," said Mio with a sweet smile. "They'll fall in love with you all over again."

Yayoi let out a sound, a mix between a sob and a laugh. "They would be stupid not to," she added, sniffling. "After all, I'm incredibly beautiful."

Mio nodded. She took a seat beside her on the wooden bench and looked on ahead, beyond the rocking ship to the shadowed island up ahead.

Yayoi did not recognize the Sun Country from that distance. It looked and felt like a foreign new land they were would be exploring for the first time ever. Covered in a white shroud, it seemed abandoned and dangerous. It filled Yayoi with fear that the island had succumbed to the defects that had threatened to destroy it. The Sanbi had been lured and captured by the Motou clan under Ayuka's orders to revitalize the island using its chakra. That had allowed them to live in it.

Ayuka had protected the Motou clan and their home for so many years. She had been loved by those around her and respected by even her worst enemies.

"Mio?" called Yayoi softly. "Do you remember your mother?"

"Yes, I do."

"What was she like? Was she kind? Do you miss her?"

"My mother was brave," answered Mio, smiling still, "and I don't think I'll ever stop missing her. There are times I miss her more than others. Sometimes, I just want to feel the warmth of her, smell her perfume, or hear the sound of her voice. Every time I remember her, I miss her and wish she was with me."

Yayoi envied what Mio and her mother had. They had time. They had memories.

"What about your mother?" asked Mio. "I only heard little of her when I was in the Sun Country."

Mio heard the story that everyone else knew. Her father and her uncle were both in love with her mother and they fought over her to the point it split their clan and allies apart. "I was five when my mother died," said Yayoi. "An illness. Or at least, they said it was an illness. I don't remember a lot about her. I just remember the end—pieces of it, at least."

Dozens of lanterns flashed into her memory, each glowing in a sphere of light. She remembered running underneath the bright lights to reach her father, whose booming voice had drawn her attention.

"The end?"

"The day my mother was killed," said Yayoi. She tried to force her memory to remember, but she encountered one blank after the next in an endless loop. "The people celebrated it, as if it were something she deserved. I didn't understand—I don't understand now."

"Is this something you want to understand?" asked Mio.

"There's a lot I want to understand. I lived in an ignorant bubble, I realized, and only learned what Ayuka let me. After that, I was simply so blinded by my admiration of her that she could do no wrong." Yayoi's heart tightened. "I feel like I once knew everything about my family, my clan, and my country, except now I don't. Everything was a lie. Nothing was real. There are so many stories that I struggled with which one to believe, so now I don't believe any. I can't. None of them makes sense. Don't you ever feel like that?"

"Like nothing makes sense?"

Yayoi nodded. "You have been pretty calm since you came to stay with us. Like you know more than you're letting on and you do, I mean, there's an eleventh sphere now that you made. Not to mention you knew how to go about making it."

"My great-grandfather taught me how," said Mio. "He said learning the technique that Kiyohime used to make the spheres was something every Shugosha inherited. There simply never was a reason for the previous generations to use it. Don't give up on finding the truth."

Madara came into view and he signaled for Mio, who rose from her seat. She turned briefly to place her hand on Yayoi's shoulder and said, "Remember, you are the Guardian of the Fate Sphere."

Yayoi noticed a bit of tension in Madara's jaw as Mio approached him. She frowned, knowing they were fighting still, but at the very least, they were on speaking terms.

Madara and Mio spoke for several minutes before the two separated. Madara barked out orders to the other shinobi on deck. Mio returned to Yayoi's side to inform her that once they were closer, they would be moving below deck to hide themselves amongst the goods Eishirou's ship carried.

"You too?"

"I'm staying above in case Rikuto suspects something and tries to sink the ships."

"What are you going to do?" asked Yayoi, alarmed by the prospect.

"Protect everyone with Madara." Mio smiled. "We should be fine."

Despite being told that, Yayoi felt so anxious that she vomited on Keigo's lap downstairs with the cargo. Mao took her aside and helped her clean up with the help of other Kuronuma women. She wore clothes believed to be better suited for the mission, which meant trousers and a loose shirt. She never would have chosen to wear this under any circumstances, but seeing as she dirtied her own robes, she didn't have a say in the matter.

Keigo, who had disappeared to find something to change into, ran noisily down the stairs shouting, "Everyone hold onto something! A Mikazuki was spotted on the shore!"

"Hold onto what?" cried Yayoi. She searched her surroundings packed full with several others standing between huge crates.

"Each other!"

The ship rocked violent, the water outside hit it hard. Keigo rammed into the staircase's wooden railing, barely able to hold onto it. Yayoi hit her back hard against one of the crates while others followed suit, knocking into one another or the heavy obstructions. The sound of snapping wood, the scent of spices filling the air, the salt sea sloshing noisily against the ship as if it was trying to devour it, and the complaints amongst them reached Yayoi all at once with each jerk the vessel gave—the suddenness made her unexpectedly nauseous again.

"Yayoi-san!" called Keigo. "Are you okay, Yayoi-san?"

Yayoi bumped her elbow so hard it was throbbing. "I'm okay!"

"What about everyone else? Okay, everyone looks fine! I'm going to look outside!" Keigo snuck his way back up the stairs and kept himself standing by holding onto the railing as it was impossible to do when the ship continued rocking back and forth with mounting violence.

Mao and Arata made their way to her side, reaching out to help her get back on her feet. Yayoi steadied herself with their help and made the decision to head outside. She teetered towards the staircase with Mao and Arata following close behind, the young shadow apologizing to everyone that he bumped into.

Yayoi nearly ran into Keigo on the deck when he seemed to be returning downstairs.

"Yayoi-san!"

Yayoi walked past him towards Madara and Mio, who were standing up ahead. The ship's captain was on the floor on his hands and knees soaking wet and coughing out water. There were others slowly approaching him with the intent of helping him. She noticed Jouji was hanging onto the railing, seeming a tad green.

"Mio! Madara!" shouted Yayoi, drawing their attention, but as she made it to them, the white beach of the Sun Country spread out across the horizon. She stopped abruptly at the sight of two individuals standing on the shore, one was a tall rangy male with short brown hair and the other was a youthful male with a high ponytail. Her heart jumped to her throat. "Ikki!"

Mio took her by the wrist, stopping her from moving further. "Wait."

Yayoi jerked around to face her. "What happened?"

"Mikazuki Mahiro attacked the ship," Madara explained, "but he stopped his attack when he saw Mio."

"So, they're letting us in the Sun Country?" asked Yayoi.

"So it seems," said Madara.

Yayoi's anxiety intensified. "What does that mean?"

"It's Mikazuki Mahiro," said Mio. "That man wanted to kill me. This can turn bad pretty fast, so Madara will handle things."

Madara nodded.

"What about Eishirou?"

"What about him?" asked Madara and Mio simultaneously.

Yayoi decided to keep quiet. She knew the man was downstairs, she heard his yelling when the ship had been attacked from the other side.

The ship anchored a ways from the shore. Madara and Mio decided to take a small boat to the beach alone before bringing others, but Yayoi was not about to allow them to go alone.

"My brother is there!" Yayoi insisted, pointing in Ikki's direction. Nervous as she was, she didn't want to pass up the opportunity to see him when he was right in front of her. The prospect of rejection terrified her, but she needed to try. "You can't—"

"Come on," Mio interrupted, gesturing her forward. "Keigo comes with, of course."

Keigo scrambled to them.

"Jouji take care of things here," said Madara, climbing down the side of the ship to step into the boat.

Jouji nodded.

Mio held Yayoi's hand as she helped her find her way down the unstable ladder and onto the ship where Madara needed to hold her by the waist to make sure she didn't fall over. Keigo and Mio joined them shortly.

Mio took the oars and a position in the center of the boat. Yayoi anxiously sat squished between Madara and an overexcited Keigo. Mio rowed them to the shore where Mahiro met them.

Yayoi was surprised when the Mikazuki offered her a hand, helping her get on her feet. He took her by the waist and hoisted her out of the boat effortlessly, setting her feet safely on the sand. She thanked him, politely enough that he responded with a kind smile. She worried, however, when Mio was walking across the small boat to jump out that he would do something to her, but had she been paying attention to Madara from the start would have realized that he was prepared to attack him if he so much as attempted to harm Mio.

Mahiro did something unexpected when he bowed his head low, quite respectfully, before Mio. "Shugosha-sama."

Mio nodded in acknowledgment. "Mikazuki Mahiro, it has been some time."

"I apologize for attacking your ship," said Mahiro, straightening his back. His eyes were a deep red, much like one found with the Kuronuma, and his facial structure strong. "Had I known it was you, I would have prepared a proper welcome."

Mio looked at the surrounding area. "Where is Rikuto?"

Yayoi could hear the sound of warfare, faint in the distance, and felt the fog creeping in around them. She stole a glance at her brother, who had not budged from his position on the hill behind the beach, and met his golden stare. Her heart jumped. She wanted to go to him, but when she made a move to do so, Madara held out his arm to stop her, asking her to wait with a telling look. Keigo remained at her side faithfully, though his enthrallment kept his gray eyes searching for wonders he had conjured in his mind.

Mahiro lowered his eyes, his body language a bit slack. "He was captured."

"Captured?" questioned Mio.

"Yes," he said, then glimpsed off to the side, "but this is not a good place to speak. It would be best for you to accompany us to the castle."

"There are others in the ship," said Madara.

"They are welcomed to come. I will have someone here waiting for them," Mahiro told them.

Madara did not seem satisfied with that answer, but nodded. He went to stand closer to the shore to signal Jouji, who went away quickly to gather the others.

Mio followed Mahiro towards the hill where she offered Ikki a passing greeting. Ikki haughtily turned his face away. Yayoi struggled through the heavy sand and up the steep hill to reach them with Keigo practically skipping behind her. Truthfully, it felt strange being on land after behind on water for so long, but she forced her legs to move, one after the other, no matter how heavy they became until she was standing face to face in front of Ikki, huffing.

Ikki stared at her petulantly and she feared the worst as she called out to him, reaching to take him by the arms. He had grown several feet taller than her and looked more like a man than the younger brother she remembered. His features were softer and his build a bit lanky, but there was hard muscle in his arms.

"Ikki," she whispered, feeling her eyes betray her tears.

"Sister," he responded, his even tone broken with the final syllable.

He would not reject her. That was all she needed.

Yayoi took him into her arms and cried, feeling him wrap around her as he buried his face in her shoulder. The tears poured from her eyes as she held him so tightly she was waiting for him to complain about her grip, but he only hugged her harder. She felt the warmth of his tears soak into her shoulder and his body tremble in her arms. She never thought she would see him again. She had no hope for it. But here she was, with her brother held tightly in her embrace.

She pulled away, taking his face into her hands. His eyes were red with tears. "You're okay?"

He nodded, sniffling. "You?"

"I'm okay. I'm okay." She brought him back into her arms and kissed the side of his head. "We're okay now."


xl: One of my shorter chapters, but that was to be expected. It's pretty transitional, though, which wasn't the original plan, but I went with it. There's going to be so much going on in the chapters that follow, so hopefully, this is a good place to start.

I am thankful to these lovely human beings Misora Asuka, Guest (Thank you for the lovely review!), HushedFable, and blob80 for reviewing the previous chapter! I don't remember if I responded to reviews anymore, but I'm assuming I did for at least this story! I apologize if I haven't thanked you properly, I have been very empty headed lately~

Thank you for reading!