Chapter 12 | The Burning Temple I
Yayoi gestured to Keigo, who awkwardly straightened under the sudden scrutiny, and introduced him, "This is Murakami Keigo. He's been assigned to protect me." Turning to Keigo, she noticed that his eyes were perpetually glued to the tuffs of grass beneath their feet rather than looking at Ikki's face, though it made sense when she realized her brother's eyes were narrowed with keen dissatisfaction. "Keigo, this is my younger brother, Motou Ikki."
Ikki leaned forward to inspect him further and scoffed. "This skinny-armed boy is your bodyguard? Anyone could beat him to a pulp. You're not safe at all, sister! You should have someone like Uchiha Madara assigned to your defense, not some nobody like this! Look at him, his face is even red!"
"You're too close, Ikki-san," mumbled Keigo, his face turned away. It was indeed a deep shade of red.
"Ikki, please, he has protected me from danger more times that I can count. Mio trusts him."
"And if the Shugosha trusted an iguana you would want it assigned to your personal guard?" Ikki shot back. "Madara!"
Madara looked over his shoulder at him, expressionless.
"This shrimp is not going to protect anything!" shouted Ikki, grabbing Keigo by the shoulder firmly and shaking him in emphasis. "He's useless! Assign someone better!"
Glaring at Ikki, Madara turned away.
"That useless Uchiha! How dare he ignore a request from me?"
"Ikki!"
Yayoi interposed herself between Ikki and his trip down the hill to shout insults at Madara at a closer distance. "Keigo has protected me through a lot of hardships. I trust in him completely, too."
Ikki glowered at Keigo. "Well, I don't." He turned away swiftly. "I will protect you from here on out. Murakami Keigo will no longer be needed. Let's go, sister. Mahiro-sama and the Shugosha are so far ahead already, we have to catch up."
Yayoi offered Keigo an apologetic smile after Ikki led the way. "My brother has no filter, I'm-"
"It's okay," said Keigo, sheepish, "he's just being a good brother. He really cares about you."
She smiled at the idea. She supposed Ikki did care for her if he was that concerned over who protected her.
"Sister!" shouted Ikki, standing on a narrow dirt path up ahead. "Stop wasting your time with that shorty and come on!"
Yayoi cast a look over her shoulder at Madara as another boat full of shinobi rowed to shore. He made no indication of leaving the beach, so Yayoi turned to Keigo and said, "Let's go."
Keigo trailed behind her and Ikki slowly, surveying his surroundings with fascination. He brimmed with curiosity and she knew that he was dying to ask all the questions running through his head, but held back because of Ikki. Yayoi slowed several times to speak with the younger boy. She pointed in various directions and told him what he would find there based on her memories of the Sun Country. However distant they seemed, she recalled them with great clarity that warmed her heart.
Although, they filtered through her head, she knew that the situation in the Sun Country was not good. She had dozens of questions to ask Ikki herself and a hundred concerns to run past him. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't answer any of her questions in front of Keigo. He had earned a reputation of keeping to himself when he was younger because he found it difficult to trust anyone. He wasn't the most approachable person alive, but none of that was his fault.
Yayoi's earliest memories of her brother weren't good. He had been an inconsolable, crying child that had annoyed her. She had known him only by the sound of his screams, or rather his shrieking. They had lived in a castle with four floors separating them, each of them had a number of attendants, caretakers, and servants that had tended to them individually. She had never met her brother, though she had a feeling that at one point she had been introduced to him as an infant, when her father had taken her on his lap and had given her news of his birth.
"Today, Yayoi, you have become a sister," her father had said. As he had finished his sentence, a woman had entered with a cooing child and had presented it to her. "He is Ikki, your brother, and one day, he will be king, like me."
She had frowned, staring at his red, puffy face. She had known she hated him without the introduction. He had looked like trouble.
"This country's burdens are no longer yours to inherit, they are Ikki's," he had continued. "From now on, you are just a princess in this country. You are free to do as you wish so long as it does not bring shame to our clan."
Those words had marked a clear distinction between herself and her brother, indicating her father's new favor for him. It had been like night and day—the difference with which she and her brother had been treated. The attention that Ikki had received from then on—from her father, from the Mikami clan that had been tasked to raise him up to be as skilled a shinobi as their half-brother, Heita, and from the Sun Temple that had revered him for all he had yet to accomplish (but would)—had made her jealous.
Yayoi had realized that she had stopped existing in the eyes of her father because Ikki had been born. She had grown year to year with the darkness in her chest expanding into resentment. She had stopped existing for her father. She had felt like a stranger in her own home. Her father had walked past her in hallways without giving her the time of day. He had not spoken to her directly for so long she had forgotten what his voice sounded like.
She had heard that he spent most of his time with Ikki. Having trusted in the words of those in her direct surroundings that had made up all these excuses for him had blinded her from the truth she had learned the minute she had pushed through all the white-clad bodies surrounding the dais on the night of the Sunflower Festival.
The sweat had dripped from her brow, tiny beads rolling down the curve of her nose, as her eyes, a deep gold in shade beneath the shadows cast around her, had stared upon her father in wonder. The light flooding the stage had given him an unearthly glow—he had been a king, no longer her father. She had been captivated by the sight. She had wanted to stretch her arms out and reach him. Her heart had pounded like a hummingbird's inside her chest.
Underneath the bright lantern lights, she had watched her mother, Miwa, walk up the steps in a plain white robe with two Mikami shinobi guiding her towards the center of the platform. Her eyes had been downcast, her skin sickly pale, and her hair had covered a great part of her gaunt face. She had not been the mother that had comforted her every night she had nightmares or the mother that had told her so many stories at night because that mother had been the opposite of that woman on the dais, but she had unmistakably been her mother. Yayoi had recognized her from having seen her in captivity underground.
Although she had been warned not to stray far from the castle, curiosity had possessed her. She had run straight down the mountain and had found the hidden prison beneath the castle. There surrounded by the cold, dirt, the vile, and the thick stench of rotting flesh, she had caught sight of her, perched in the corner of her iron prison where the shadows had fallen heavily across her familiar features.
"Yayoi," she had called. Yayoi had fled the cavernous prison, her heart caught in her throat from the fright. She had learned to regret that later in life. Had she possessed the bravery to stand still, she could have listened to her mother one last time. She could have helped her. She could have run to her uncle and half-brother to plead for them to save her.
She hadn't. She had been too afraid to do anything.
Why hadn't she been brave?
I want to be brave.
Instead, she had fooled herself that she had not seen her mother there. It had been a light trick because that could not have been her mother.
From the crowd, Yayoi had recognized the screams of her brother emerging from her left and had seen the look that Miwa had cast over her shoulder, one full of worry and pain in the direction of her squalling child. As Miwa's eyes had swept the crowd briefly to return to the king, they had fallen on Yayoi's face and had widened.
"Yayoi." Her name had fallen silent from her mother's lips.
Her mother had been jerked aside by her father and forced onto her knees. Miwa had sought her out among the people and had stared at her helplessly.
Yayoi had been told by her attendants that her mother had gotten too sick after Ikki had been born. As a result, Yayoi had cursed the little demon child to hell because she had gone to her see her at her room so many times only to be denied each time. She had blamed her brother for making her sick.
Ikki had ruined everything. He had made her mother sick. He had taken her father's attention away from her.
And then she had wandered off into the underground. That had left an impression.
"Yayoi-hime! Yayoi-hime!"
A dark murmur had swept the gathering crowd and a gesture from her father had silenced them. His booming voice had reverberated throughout the castle's courtyard and his hand had fallen upon the back of her mother's head. "This woman has come before you to beg forgiveness!"
The crowd had expressed their distain loudly, booing and shouting obscenities at her mother. Yayoi had looked all around her, baffled by the scene. She had thought it absurd that her mother had to beg for forgiveness. She had done nothing wrong.
Tempted to run and announce that to the world, Yayoi had taken a step forward, but had been pulled back into the arms of her caretaker. She had not fought against the arms that had folded over her. She had stilled as her heart had when her father had burrowed his fingers into her mother's raven locks and had yanked her head back, her expression had been twisted in pain and her cheeks wet with tears. She gripped at his hand, attempting to release herself from his violent grip, but failed.
"We have been betrayed!" her father had said. "This woman has used people—people that loved and cherished her to give information to my selfish brother! She enchanted me, she charmed you all, she came to take the freedom that we have worked hard to take! Does she deserve your forgiveness or—"
"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" the crowd had chanted, drowning out the Ikki's desperate cries for attention.
The wind had swayed the hanging lanterns, the light moving everywhere, and she had waited with bated breath for someone to move.
The world had frozen as her father had raised his dagger. She had seen him stab it into her mother's neck to the cheer of the people before he had done it. She had heard the sound of his voice echoing in the back of her mind, speaking to his confidants, "She's become a hindrance. A new life awaits me, but I cannot have it with her breathing. She will ruin everything."
She had been present for his ambitions without realizing them.
Unfrozen, the scene had uncurled with the slowness of smoke rising from a fire. The dagger at her father's side had been drawn with flourish. The people had chanted for her mother's death. The caretaker that had held Yayoi off the ground had tightened her grip around her small body and had tried to cover her eyes, but she had failed because as soon as her hand started to obscure her vision, the blade had found its target deep in her mother's neck. The blood had spluttered from the wound and she had let out a gruesome sound, choking in pain.
The people had roared with excitement.
Darkness had covered her eyes. Her still heart had jolted, drumming faster.
She had not understood yet the pathways she had witnessed in the split second before her mother's death.
She had not realized entirely that her father's ambitions had no bounds, but she had been made aware of one thing that evening—she and Ikki no longer had a mother.
That fact alone had made her feel inclined to see him, the crying child she had envied. Alone, four floors above her, he had been surrounded by all his attendants and caretakers. She had joined him and waited for her father, who had been rumored never to leave his son's side. She had played with her dark-haired brother to his delight and to her surprise, he had not cried once in her company.
Her father had not arrived. When asked, the attendants had admitted that their father had only seen him once and that had been after he had presented him to her. They had made excuses for him. Saying that he had been too busy to tend to them, his duties as a king had required most of his time. They had to understand that.
Yayoi had found her father chasing a half-naked woman in his quarters that same day. She had taken that as the first indication that her father could not be trusted and that her brother had not been to blamed for his absence from her life. He had been gone for most of his life, but she had not learned that until she had grown older.
"Yayoi!"
Startled by Ikki's volume, Yayoi turned suddenly to him, realizing they were standing in the middle of the road. Keigo waited for them a few feet ahead under the shade of a barren tree atop a steep hill and scoured the surrounding area.
"Yes?"
"You're too slow," her brother said, annoyed. "Do you need to be carried?"
"No. I'm okay."
"Then walk faster."
"I can carry you, Yayo—"
Ikki glared daggers at Keigo, silencing him.
"We can keep going," said Yayoi, reaching out to give her brother's arm a reassuring squeeze.
Ikki turned swiftly, rearing on Keigo. "I told you to go straight!"
"But Mio-san told me not to leave Yayoi-san's side!"
"And if Mio-san asked you to jump off a cliff, you would do it?"
"If Mio-san believed that to be a good idea and offered an adequate explanation, I wou—"
"Shut up!"
Ikki stomped on ahead, gesturing Keigo further.
Yayoi sighed and followed the two up the remaining path. There was no helping Keigo. Ikki had a strong personality.
The Sun Country brought on so many memories that her head felt crammed because of them. All of them surfaced at once, overlapping as if they were at war with one another trying to take precedence.
Deep down, in some dark recess of her being, she never expected to return. A dreadful feeling always nagged at her that the Sun Country would become a place that she could not go back to and that had frightened her. Unable to fathom that, she put the thought from her mind, deciding it would be best not to think on it. If she ignored it existed, it would stop existing.
It worked.
It didn't work.
It worked.
It didn't work.
The cycle never ended.
And yet, she returned. She reunited with Ikki. Mio and a Mikazuki were getting along swimmingly. Madara and the rest of their company were welcomed into the island without issue.
Although, the island did resemble the Sun Country she recalled less and less. The green plains weren't as vibrant in color, they were dull, most of the grass she remembered from her memories of having run through the meadows was drying up as if it had not known water for weeks on end, cooking under the sweltering sun. Most areas were covered by a thick fog that obscured her eyes.
Crossing the gates into the castle atop the mountain made Yayoi's chest tighten. The grounds were filled with Mikazuki shinobi and Motou priests and priestess that stopped and stared at her as she passed. She couldn't bring herself to say anything to them and lowered her head, ashamed.
Ikki took her arm and wrapped it around his, guiding her into the castle's tower, informing her that everything had been rebuilt to look as it had prior to its destruction. Even the interior seemed authentic to her memory.
Keigo marveled at the sight, taken by the intricate structure of the building as he followed them up one staircase to the next.
"You act like you've never seen a castle," said Yayoi, eyeing the young samurai skeptically.
Ikki excused himself to speak to a shinobi patrolling the inside of the tower up ahead.
"No, I have seen plenty," said Keigo. "I used to live in one before my father decided to live a more modest life."
"For a modest man, I heard he has a great collection of weapons."
"We samurai like weapons, especially well-made weapons," said Keigo, gesturing one of the blades at his side, the green-hilted one. "Mine is an original Anchin."
"Anchin?" asked Yayoi.
"He made the Vision Sphere, well, he made the dagger that became the Vision Sphere," said Keigo. "He was Kiyohime's husband—the blacksmith."
Yayoi snatched his sword and looked at it. Although she knew little when it came to weapons, she could tell by looking at it, from handle to blade, it was impeccable. "That was so long ago. How? "
"It's a lot of work maintaining a sword like this. I try not to use it. Shinya-san's sword is a nice rival for it, though," he said, resting his hand atop the blue-hilted sword at its side. "Shinya-san was my father's favorite blacksmith. My brother loves his work, too."
"You have a brother?"
"I also have a sister," added Keigo.
"A sister? I always thought you were an only child."
"Father is very private about his life outside Iron Country affairs. The younger generation of samurai don't know I'm our leader's son," said Keigo. "It works in my favor, though. None of them give me grief."
Yayoi nodded. "But the older generations do?"
"Yes, but they don't give me special treatment for it, like one might expect."
"Don't you hate that?"
"No, I can be proud of my achievements because they don't."
She never thought about it that way. "So, how old are they? Your sister and brother?"
"My sister's seven and my brother is thirteen."
Yayoi stared at him long and hard.
"What?" asked Keigo.
"You don't look like the big brother type."
He laughed sheepishly. "I get that a lot."
"So, where are they? Your brother and sister? In the Iron Country?" Yayoi set her hands on her hips. "And where were you when Madara and Mio were married? Your father was there and you obviously know Mio."
"My sister is. She stayed with my mom. My brother is with my grandparents completing his training," said Keigo. "I seriously wanted to be in the Fire Country for the wedding, but my father left me in charge in the Iron Country. I apologized, though."
Ikki returned to join them. "They're upstairs."
They climbed two sets of stairs and Ikki ushered them into what used to be her father's mistress' favorite sitting room where Mahiro and Mio were seated across one another with a teapot placed in between them. It looked exactly as she recalled it from her memory of that mistress. Everything had been arranged so neatly from the decorations that hung from the walls to the fake flower arrangements in each corner.
Mahiro invited them to join them while they waited on Madara's arrival.
"I have already asked for several rooms to be made available," said Mahiro warmly.
Ikki sat to Mahiro's right, seeming like a loyal servant, and it bothered her to see her brother acting so subservient. It was unlike him. She tried not to pay it any mind as the pleasantries between Mio and Mahiro continued, quite naturally.
He smiled, he poured her tea, he asked about her travels and her wellbeing, and acted cordially. She mirrored his amiability, answered his questions in a concise manner that appeared to reveal everything but said nothing at all, and her behavior was the epitome of correctness. Despite their mutual affability, the tension in the room between them grew making for an uncomfortable atmosphere for everyone else.
It soured further after Madara and Eishirou joined them.
"Eishirou-san," greeted Mahiro, surprised. "What compelled you to leave your castle?"
"You can say that Mio made this sound like quite the tempting journey," said Eishirou, grinning suggestively.
"Of course," said Mahiro. "She is known to be quite charming."
Yayoi sensed Madara's annoyance.
"That is a gross exaggeration on Eishirou-sama's part," said Mio with a lovely smile. She cast a glance in the noble's direction. "He was simply very kind and quite willing to extend his help to us knowing that we came to aid."
Eishirou grinned. "You are too much, Uchiha-san."
"Ah, then you are more aware of our situation than you let on?" asked Mahiro.
"We understand that you have become the target of the Ishiki clan," said Madara.
Mahiro nodded solemnly. "Indeed, we have. Have you encountered any trouble with them?"
"That's an interesting observation to make," commented Madara.
"It was quite easy," he said. "The Ishiki clan targeted the Mikazuki clan because of our connection to Ayuka-sama and hers to the artifacts. After Rikuto-sama was captured, it was simple to assume that they wanted more information than the Sone remnants could offer."
"You're not incorrect," said Mio. "I was attacked by the Ishiki clan and their reasons have led us to this island. If there is anything that we can do to help the Mikazuki clan, we will. After all, the Mikazuki were once Kuronuma and you know as well as I do that the secrets of our clan need to be protected."
Mahiro nodded, folding his arms over his chest. "Then you should understand that it is dangerous for you and your Guardians to be here."
Yayoi stiffened when Mahiro's red eyes fell on her, a chill ran beneath her skin.
"Yes," said Mio calmly, reaching to place her hand atop Yayoi's knee as if she knew that she needed the reassurance without having to look over her shoulder at her. "We are aware and if we had felt the least bit threatened, we would not be here."
Mahiro laughed boisterously. "That sounds quite arrogant of you, Shugosha-sama!"
"We are Uchiha after all," said Madara. "We are not easily threatened."
A knock disrupted the remainder of their conversation. One of the servants came to inform Mahiro that several guestrooms had been prepared for them and after gesturing the woman out of the room, he stood.
"The barracks will be prepared to accommodate your shinobi," said Mahiro, "but for now, you should use this time to rest. You have all traveled far to get here."
"Thank you for your hospitality."
Everyone got on their feet and headed for the door.
"And Yayoi," called Mahiro.
Yayoi stopped, facing him. "Yes?"
"You will be in the tower in your old quarters."
She nodded. "Thank you."
Outside, three servants waited for them to guide them to their respective rooms. Yayoi would be headed upstairs with Ikki at her side; hesitant to see Keigo go despite feeling she would be safe in her brother's care as he said. Eishirou went with one of the servants without speaking a word to anyone, likely happy he was entitled to some freedom after being held prisoner, though he could not say he had been mistreated…at least not on the trip over.
"Come on, let's go," said Ikki.
The servant started up the staircase with Ikki and herself following close behind. Madara and Mio had not left the sitting room, their conversation, though growing muffled the more she ascended, reached her.
"I do appreciate the aid that you are extending to our cause, Rikuto-sama was right to say that you would come," said Mahiro. "Earlier, you mentioned you were attacked, too. Should you be here?"
"Yes, but it was nothing to concern yourself over," answered Mio. "As you can see, I remain for the most part unscathed. I am more interested in helping you rescue Rikuto."
"Thank you," said Mahiro. "I must admit, though, I am quite surprised to see you here, Uchiha Madara. You don't seem the type that would so willingly extend your help."
"You're right, I wouldn't, but if someone threatens my wife's life, I won't sit idle."
"Your wife? Oh, congratulations on your marriage."
He sounded so insincere.
Yayoi entered her old bedroom, shocked to see it was as she last recalled it. She couldn't imagine how that was possible after the tower's destruction. She searched the drawers lined against the wall and found beautiful clothes folded neatly inside. She entered an adjacent room to find the colorful cushions arranged in one corner with a round table in the center.
Ikki followed her in with a proud smile on his face. "How is it?"
"Everything is like I remember it."
"Good."
"Did you arrange it?"
"I helped."
Yayoi leaned into his arm with a smile on her face. "I love it." She lifted her eyes. "How did you remember where everything went?"
"Did you forget I have a good memory?"
She sighed. "We used to have so many sleepovers here."
"I used to look forward to them."
"Me too."
She stepped away from him to take a seat at the table, running her hands across the surface. The nostalgia of the room made her antsy. She watched her brother walk around the room, seeming quite absent as he looked around and touched the small trinkets.
Staring at him made her heart ache, the curiosity inside her ran rampant, but she struggled with her words. She had a thousand questions. She had so many memories. The two swam together in her head chaotically.
"Ikki?"
Were you hurt?
Ikki stopped walking. "Yes?"
"What happened to Mikazuki Rikuto?"
"When the Ishiki clan invaded the Sun Country, they targeted Rikuto-sama," said Ikki. "We fought against them as well as we could, but during our last battle, he was captured. The Ishiki clan went into hiding. We have several groups scouring the island and we've learned about encounters and traps and deaths, but we've not found Rikuto-sama yet."
Why are you so respectful to him? He helped keep you prisoner this whole time.
"That's a shame."
Ikki joined her. "So, are the Shugosha and Uchiha Madara here to help like they say they are? Most of the Mikazuki clan thinks you're all plotting something."
"We are here to help if help is needed," said Yayoi. After all, Mio did not want to condemn the Mikazuki clan if they weren't guilty.
"Mahiro-sama is right about it being too dangerous for you to be here."
"Yes, but I wanted to be here."
"I would have preferred it if you stayed behind. This isn't a good place to be."
Why do you seem sad?
She smiled. "I wanted to see you. After this nightmare is done, I want you to come to the Fire Country with me."
He looked her straight in the eyes. "No."
"What?"
"No," Ikki repeated firmly. "I'm not leaving this place."
"But Ikki, you—"
Ikki slammed his fisted hand to the table, startling her, and he got on his feet. "I'm not leaving the Sun Country. You'll have to kill me and drag me out dead if you want me to go with you. Excuse me."
"Wait, Ikki!"
Yayoi attempted to follow him, but he left swiftly, his high ponytail swaying with each of his strides. Discouraged by how the conversation ended, she sank back into her seat aching. She should have proposed it differently.
What did I say wrong?
Later that evening, Yayoi left her bedroom to join everyone for dinner after Mahiro extended an invitation. She sat in silence mostly and picked at her food. The exhaustion was finally catching up to her. Once she had a warm bath, she went straight to bed. In her dreams, she remembered all the nights she and Ikki spent hiding inside a tent made up of sheets and cushions as children. The further she dwelled in memory, the more she recalled something quite distant—a temple burning and a shadowed figure standing before it.
As the flames ate away at its structure, wood snapping and crackling from the exposure to the unbearable heat, Yayoi woke with a start. Although, the cool air blew across her skin, she could have sworn she felt the heat of those flames, warming her. She stared down at her arms, pale and without blemish.
A woman knocked at her door a few moments later asking if she wanted to take her breakfast in her bedroom, but she went downstairs to join the others, feeling incredibly strange.
She felt lightheaded and dizzy. Her legs were heavy.
Ikki waited for her at the bottom floor, greeting her with a smile. As he did, she wondered why he didn't want to leave the Sun Country. She thought that he'd be happy about wanting to go with her. A long time ago, she promised that they would always be together, but she had broken that vow when Ayuka had come into her life. She had not known becoming a priestess would take her from the castle.
Yayoi had to spend two years in the temple, never leaving the structure until she had been accepted into the fold and passed the initiation. After that time had been done, Ayuka had introduced her to Kikumi. The newest priests and priestesses had to be paired off and trained by a more experienced person of the temple. Yayoi should have learnt kinjutsu with Kikumi, but she had no talent for it, so she had been trained in medical ninjutsu instead. Around the same time she had been told that she had no gift for medical ninjutsu, her brother had been deemed useless. He had no gift for any of the arts the Motou and Mikami shinobi tried to instill in him and he had suffered humiliation at the hands of their father day after day.
She had run from the ensnarement of the Sun Temple for the first time to see Ikki, learning he had not become the perfect prince that their father had wanted—he had no skill to rival Heita, he had not possessed the potential expected of him. They had been failures, forever damned to stand in the shadow of their perfect half-brother.
When Heita had died, Yayoi had wanted to lord it over her father, but she had known that he would have found a way to turn that on her. At least he had died a hero, he would have said, and what have you done?
"You look pale," Ikki observed. "Did you get enough sleep? Have you been eating well?"
Maybe that was the reason for that morning's lethargy. "I'm feeling a little lightheaded, but—"
"Then you should be in bed! I'll go ask someone to take your food upstairs!"
Ikki started guiding her back up the stairs when Mio stepped out of one of the rooms with Eishirou following close behind.
"Morning, Yayoi," she greeted, then tilted her head to the side. "You look a bit pale. Did you get enough sleep?"
Yayoi frowned at the sight of Eishirou. She didn't like him near her because he was causing problems.
"If she's pale then it's your fault," accused Ikki. "How have you been treating Yayoi?"
"Ask Madara," said Mio.
Ikki bristled. "What was that?"
Yayoi grabbed his arm to stop him from doing anything stupid. "I'm just a bit lightheaded."
"It's probably exhaustion," said Mio. "You're not used to making long journeys."
"If you know that why are you forcing her to make them?" demanded Ikki.
"Ikki, this was my decision—"
"She's the one that says that she's going to do everything in her power to protect her Guardians, but how can she do that? She's not someone so great that people cower at the sound of her name! She's completely unreliable and reckless! She's singlehandedly doomed the Mikazuki clan and even killed Mikazuki Gouki—"
"I won't apologize for killing Mikazuki Gouki," said Mio, surprisingly gracious. "I won't apologize for dooming the Mikazuki clan and whether I can or cannot protect my Guardians is my problem, not yours."
"This island used to be safer with Ayuka! Then you came around and ruined everything!" he continued heatedly. "I don't care what anyone says, you're a curse and you're going to get everyone killed."
Yayoi released her brother's arm, staring at him—at the stranger before her eyes.
"Ikki!" Mahiro had emerged from a hallway, Madara at his side. Ikki tensed at the sound of his name. "That's enough, apologize."
"I don't need to apologize!" spat Ikki, bumping hard into Mio as he passed.
Eishirou grimaced. "How dramatic."
"Good morning, Ikki—" There was a loud thud in the hallway followed by the sound of Keigo's sharp protest. "Why did you have to hit me? I just said good morning!"
"I'm so sorry," said Yayoi, reaching Mio.
"He can be quite testy," said Mahiro. "I apologize for his behavior, Shugosha-sama. He's had a little more trouble…adjusting. He is young."
Yayoi snapped. "What did you do to my brother?"
That wasn't her brother. That was a stranger wearing his face.
Mio wrapped her arm around her waist and pulled her back just as Yayoi was about to lurch forward to reach him.
Mahiro remained still and expressionless.
"What lies have you been feeding him? Gouki was a monster! Ayuka didn't care how many people she needed to sacrifice to make her goals happen! She would have killed everyone on this island if it meant getting ahead! Why doesn't he know that? Why doesn't he know that when you are the ones that have kept him prisoner?"
"Is that not your fault for leaving him behind?" asked Mahiro.
And Yayoi lost it.
"You don't know anything! I did everything I could!"
Mio surprised her by picking her up and removing her from the room before she had a chance to throw herself at him with the intent of hurting him. They walked past Keigo, who held a hand cupped over his mouth where a little blood was spilling, until they were outside.
She set her back on her feet.
"Did you hear what he said?" Yayoi cried, feeling her eyes sting with tears. Her lightheadedness worsened. "He thinks I didn't try! He's assuming I abandoned him here! I couldn't save him! I couldn't keep him from falling into their hands and now this is the consequence! What was I supposed to do? What could I have done?"
"Nothing," said Mio. "You couldn't do nothing and nobody can criticize you for it, but you gain nothing overreacting the way you have."
"How am I supposed to act?"
"You have to think carefully about how you behave in this country," said Mio ominously. "People will take advantages of your weaknesses if you expose them, so don't give them the chance to do so. You have to be strong."
"How? How can I? How can you just stand there and take those insults? They hate you for killing Gouki! That man in a monster! The things he did to you!"
"A long time ago, you believed that allowing Gouki and Ayuka to do as they wanted from me was the best decision," said Mio calmly. Yayoi felt a sting of pain. That was true. "The Mikazuki clan and Ikki have been under the same influence that you once were. It will take time for them to see the truth in the actions of their leaders."
"But Mio, they—"
"It isn't the first time I've been told that I'm cursed and this won't be the last time someone accuses me of ruining their lives," said Mio, "and it's painful to hear such things, but I don't have the luxury of overreacting to everything that is said to me. We cannot put ourselves at risk here."
"I can't do that. I can't."
And how could she with all the guilt?
xl: Look it's an update!
Thank you everyone for reading the previous chapter, to those that reviewed, to those that have added this story to their favorite/alert list! I appreciate the support!
Now, I have a project to finish up. So, I'll be wrapping up quickly.
Thank you for reading. Until next time~
