They had finished a lot of the village repairments, and the sun was quickly going down. The couple kept their word and led them to a smaller inn, one that wasn't as ruined as everything else. They got two rooms, one for Musuyo and Kyoko, the other for Reina, Fiera and Yakunan. While Yakunan left to wash up, Reina told Fiera about her and Kyoko. They giggled together until Yakunan entered the room. Reina covered herself with the blankets, which she found extremely irritating. The walls were bland, the beds small and worn. There were no windows, and the carpeting was old and ragged. Reina assured herself that mice lived inside the walls and bugs inside the matresses. But she didn't speak her thoughts, worried that she'd disturb the other girls' sleep with her assumptions. Even so, she relaxed and let her head hit the firm pillow. Her eyes soon closed, and she fell into a deep sleep.
She was running through a forest, tripping over objects that were sprawled on the ground. Her breath came out as fast huffs, and the sky was dark above her. She spotted Kyoko laying on a rock face, a blood pool forming beside him. She saw the faint rise and fall of his chest, and rushed to his side.
"Kyoko? Are you okay?"
Kyoko didn't answer, but he pointed to a hill just in front of them. They saw Musuyo standing on the peak, laughing evilly, with two figures by his sides that could not be identified. Kyoko's hand fell and, with one last glance at Reina, closed his eyes for the last time.
"Kyoko…? No, don't leave me!" she cried.
But he did not move. Death had taken him, and Reina let out an ear splitting scream.
"NO!"
She woke up, sweat beads trickling on her forehead. Breathing hard, she lay her head back on the pillow.
Just a dream…a simple nightmare…
She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, and removed the itchy covers. The sound of the bathroom door shutting woke Fiera and Yakunan. Fiera yawned and got out of the bed. Yakunan stayed under the covers until Reina stepped out of the bathroom. When they were finally all ready, they went and rapped on the guys' door.
"What took you so long? We've been waiting." Kyoko said, opening the door.
They gave a sigh and walked down the hall and down the stairs. Kyoko glared at Musuyo, who had a smile on his face. Musuyo noticed Kyoko's jealous looks, and he relished it. Reina payed no attention to them, happily giggling with Fiera and Yakunan. Sunlight enfolded them as they ran out the front doors and into the fresh air. The stench of the smoke had, for the most part, faded. They looked around for the couple that had helped them the day earlier. Soon spotting them, they walked over, the couple greeting them with bright faces. The woman handed them breakfast and motioned them to sit. After moments of small talk, Reina chirped,
"We'll have to leave today..."
The couple's smiles turned to concerned frowns.
"And why is this? There is still a lot of work to do."
Reina lowered her gaze. "Are we obliged? I mean, we did say we were just passing by. And we did help tremedously. Isn't that enough to get you started? We kinda have to move along with our journey."
The others looked hopefully at the couple. After glances at each other, they gave hesitant nods, "Yes, I guess you are right. We shouldn't keep you. Good luck with your travels then."
Reina nodded gratefully and put her scraps in the small container that they had with them. Motioning everyone to get up, she gave a curt bow and led everyone down the dirt path that went out of the village. Kyoko pushed Musuyo aside and ran up beside Reina. She acknowleged him with a hug, keeping her arm around his waist. Musuyo growled under his breath, narrowing his eyes. He just glared at them, making sure Kyoko didn't notice. Reina still pondered about what Fiera had wanted to tell her so long ago. She thought she had forgotten, and shrugged. No need to worry about it.
Conveniently finding a stream, they stopped to rest on the sun-baked rocks and drink the cold water. The sun was hot in the sky, but Reina noticed that clouds were forming and were starting to pass in the way of the sun. Through the silence, Yakunan glanced at them all and started to speak.
"How long do you expect us to go on? Frankly, I think it's high time we found a place to stay for a while."
Reina shrugged, a little angered at the suggestion. "We're planning on celebrating in the Japanese Lantern Festival..."
Kyoko snapped his fingers. "That's what it was called! How could have I forgotten?..."
Reina cleared her throat and nodded. "Yes, the Japanese Lantern Festival. And after that, I'm not really sure what to do. We're not really expecting anything after that."
They all nodded in unison. Yakunan scoffed and folded her arms. Musuyo shrugged at her and stood up to brush himself off. Reina did the same and they left the resting spot. The clouds were darkening, angry and seemed to be full with water just waiting to pour down upon them. Reina accelerated into a speed walk, which the others adapted to and sped up with. Kyoko was the one to feel the first raindrop to fall. Reina felt the second, and after that it started to soak them all, and they ran blindly, trying to find cover. They were doused before they found an abandoned old barn. Scuffling inside, they huddled together trying to get the least bit dry. Kyoko put his hyori over Reina's shoulders. She gave a single shudder before falling into a light sleep. Resting her head onto his shoulders, Kyoko dozed off as well. Fiera found it hard to sleep, and so stayed awake with Yakunan and Musuyo. They listened to the drops of water patter and ricoche off outside objects.
"How long are we gonna have to stay here? It's so much more boring than usual." Yakunan grumbled.
Fiera stared at her feet. "As long as the rain keeps falling, we're stuck here."
Musuyo nodded curtly. Yakunan grimaced and hugged her knees tightly. Dark shadows cast on the walls and danced across the wooden planks. Fiera watched as the water droplets collected on the window and broke apart, sliding down and making streaks. Their breath came in whisps, the barn slowly growing colder as the rain progressed. The time was passing slowly, and by late afternoon, the rain had finally faded to a light trickling. Reina was still sleeping on Kyoko's shoulder, his face filled with a tender smile. Stroking her hair, he gently rocked her awake. Yawning, they all stood up and headed into the dampening atmosphere outside.
The clouds had broken up enough to let some of the sun shine down and dry the remnants of the water off. Reina shrugged off Kyoko's hyori and stretched her tired limbs. The grass, wet with rain droplets, made damp marks on their pants and shoes. Musuyo, who was still loathing Kyoko for all the attention he was getting, followed them closely, with Yakunan at his side. Fiera, who was still aware of Musuyo and Yakunan's evil scheme, was jitterish to tell Reina. Keeping a keen eye on them, she shuffled her feet along, stopping once and a while to brush off dirt from the back of her pants or fluff up her hair. After a while of walking in silence, they began to hear the sound of whistling. They all stopped to listen to the catchy tune, trying to pinpoint the direction it was coming from. Suddenly, a russling came from a nearby bush. They all stared intently at the shaking leaves, waiting for some animal to pop out at them. The russling became more abrupt, and they all took a step back fromt the bush. But to their puzzled surprise, a little boy jumped out from the green leaves. He looked about ten or so, with short brown hair and pale face features. He carried a bow and arrows on his back, his shirt a purplish color, which was unmatching to his greyish pants. He stared up at them with glimmering eyes, nodding a hello. Reina gave a short wave and smiled.
"Hey there, where are you from?"
The boy shrugged. "There's a small village behind this path. That's where I came from. But you can't be too careful there. It's a bit of a wreck right now and I the people are a little cranky."
Reina glanced at the ground thoughfully. "Do you mind taking us there? We're just travellers who pass by town after town. We won't be staying long."
The boy cocked his head. "I don't think I can do that, there's no place for you to stay inside the village. But if you want I can lead you to the camps on the opposite side. There you can stay on the lofts in the small huts. It's quite homely really."
"That sounds great...do you mind if I get your name?"
"I'm Laine. I know it's not the kind of name that you'd hear everyday, but I'm not really all Japanese...but what about all your names?"
They began to walk as they introduced themselves to the hospitable Laine.
"My sister stays in one of the huts in the camp. I have to stay in the village and help the adults with the work. If you see a girl in a blue night gown with long black hair with a pink bow, tell her that you're Laine's friends. She'll warm up to you easily."
Yakunan snuffled and grumbled at the thought of looking after a little girl. Walking on the dirt path that swiveled around the plain looking huts, they saw small children and female peasants walking around doing small chores, like walking around with baskets on their heads. Laine opened one of the doors to a bigger looking hut. Inside there were three cots on each side, with a wall on the far side separating the two opposite sides. There were two bathrooms, which looked more like porter potties. The floor was concrete with a small rug in the middle to sit and eat meals. It looked better on the inside than it did on the outside, which consisted of dark wood for the walls and pale grass for the roof of the hut. Reina flopped down on the cot, sighing as she slapped her face into the covers.
"What do you usually do around here? I'm getting kinda hungry if you ask me."
Laine gave a light chuckle. "You can ask some of the maidens by the orchard to get some fruit for you. If they ask, Laine sent you". He winked and left them to tend to themselves.
Shrugging, Kyoko followed and headed over to the trees on the bank of a running stream, with Reina, Musuyo and Fiera at his heels. Yakunan grunted and stayed at the hut, curling up on her cot and trying to fall asleep. After about 5 minutes, she smirked and, with an evil smile, got up and ran to catch up to Kyoko.
"Hey Kyoko!"
He turned his head to see her running down the slope towards him. Reina also noticed and cocked her head in puzzlement.
"Can I borrow you for a second? I...uh...need help reaching something..."
Kyoko shrugged at Reina and followed her farther into the trees. Musuyo caught Yakunan's grin and cheerfully fell into step beside Reina.
"Where are you taking me?" Kyoko asked confused. She didn't answer, but pulled harder on his hand, going deeper and deeper into the underbrush. Beginning to feel anxious, he ripped his arm from her grasp.
"What do you want? This makes no sense."
Yakunan's smile turned into a flat line across her face. "I want to be apart from them. You seem like someone I could possibly get to know better than the rest of them. They're all too cautious..."
She stepped forward and touched his arm. "Don't you agree?"
As she stepped closer, he stepped back. Trying to keep a distance from her, he clumsily tripped over a tree stump, falling backwards and falling on the grass. Yakunan stared at him for a moment until deciding to sit on his stomach. He grunted lightly by the sudden weight.
"Well? Wouldn't you like to know me better? That Musuyo doesn't appeal to me at all. Seeing as he's more into Reina, I don't see it as a problem, do you...?"
Kyoko's face began to burn. Clenching his fist, he tried to suppress his anger.
"Anyway, I'm much more interested in what you think of me. Is it true that I have better features than Fiera? Or even Reina? I want to know you're opinion. I'm sure you won't lie to me, and I certainly won't tell them..."
Just hearing Yakunan ramble on about herself and talk badly of Reina made Kyoko outraged. He pushed her off his stomach, standing up and roughly brushing himself off.
"Sorry if i made you dirty. So back to your opinion. What is it? My eyes, hair, fair skin? What is it that attracts you to me?"
He had it. "You will never match up to Reina! And it's annoying when you gab about yourself like that! It's a huge turnoff, and to talk about the others in such a rude manner doesn't make it any better! And..."
At this outburst, Yakunan felt the need to calm him down. As such, she leaned in, hugging his face in her hands, and gently touched her lips to his. Kyoko's eye's flew open in shock. After the realization sunk in, he shook free of her arms and stared at her in awe.
"Are you better now? You were a bit mad before..."
Kyoko sighed angrily. "What made you do that?!" Shaking his head, he ran out of the space that became larger and larger as he broke away. Coming to the start of the dirt path, he kept running until he caught sight of the group, which had joined a small huddle of maidens with baskets of fruit.
"Hey where's Yakunan?" Reina called to him, unaware of recent events.
"Uhhhh..." Kyoko stood breathless. "She..is...just...well...I was reaching some fruit for her that she really wanted...she'll be back any minute."
Reina gave him a suspicious look, but half-heartedly believed him. Giving a sigh of relief, he came and met the maidens that had supplied them with the fruit.
"And this is Kyoko," Fiera chimed. "He is another friend of ours."
Kyoko took the three maiden's hand and lightly kissed each of them, as did Musuyo. They smiled and handed him an apple from their baskets, all the while stating their names.
"I am maiden Akane."
"I am maiden Manami."
"And I am maiden Saika."
They bowed their heads, and lifted the baskets atop their heads. Standing up they motioned them back to the huts. Reina looked behind her and saw the sun setting slowly into the horizon. Slowly striding over the small hill, they opened their hut and all crumbled onto the cots.
"Let's call it a day."
Fiera stared at the door. "What about Yakunan? She's not back yet..."
Kyoko glanced at the floor with a worried look. "She said don't wait up. She'll be here, really."
Fiera grimaced. "Whatever you say." She crawled under the covers and fell asleep almost immediately. Soon everyone else did the same, except for Reina, who hugged her knees and sat atop the bedspread, a blank expression on her face that was directed to Kyoko, unaware of her watching him sleep.
As night crept deeper, Yakunan was waiting longer. Soon, a pair of yellow eyes shon from between two trees, and out stepped Shukun.
"How far have you gotten? I've been waiting too long, and one of them has to go."
Yakunan shifted nervously. "Well, I haven't gotten much from Kyoko. He seems displeased with me...and it looks as though someone knows about our plan..."
"What!? You can't be suggesting they know about the set-up?"
Yakunan nodded her head slowly in dismay. Shukun answered with a low growling. But she suddenly stopped, and chuckled loudly.
"What is so amusing, Shukun?"
"Ah you shall see soon," she said, giving a wry smile. "Go on to the hut and play along."
Yakunan gave a short nod and hurried to the huts, Shukun watching her disappear over the hill.
Reina, who had fell into a restless sleep earlier on, woke with a start as she heard a loud grumbling, and shaking of the earth, that woke the others soon after. They saw Yakunan bolt upright on her bed almost instantly, and Musuyo gave a silent sigh of relief. Tearing off the covers, Kyoko grabbed Reina's hand and dragged her out the door. They saw light on the outskirts of the village, and ran down the road until they reached the open feilds. There they stood in shock as a monster roared above them. Taking a hold of her staff, Reina charged towards the towering beast.
"Wait, don't go alone!"
But Reina didn't bother to stop. Almost at the demon's feet, it looked so much bigger than it did from afar. The others eventually caught up, weapons in hand, all except Yakunan, who cowerd at the side as to not get injured. Kyoko slashed at the demon's skin, but left hardly a scratch. Reina continuously threw spells at it, but it only made the monster roar in anger. It swung at Reina with such a force, it knocked her to the ground, giving her bruises and a cut across her cheek. After sad attempts from Kyoko and Fiera, Musuyo stepped in and, with only a few blows to the head, it fell in agony, desinigrating into the ground. Panting, Kyoko crawled to Reina's limp body lying in the middle of the grass.
"Reina, are you okay?"
She mumbled a few words that he couldn't make out, but was happy she was awake.
"My cheek burns," she grumbled, after moments of silence. "And I'm sore..."
Kyoko sighed. "I know. I'll take care of it."
He propped her up on his knee, and inspected the small gash on her left cheek. Tearing off a piece of his hyori, he dabbed the trickling blood.
"Thanks," she said, grabbing his hand. "For that I mean."
Kyoko gave a small laugh. "Anytime."
Reina looked over his shoulder, seeing that the others were sitting in a circle, not paying attention. At this, she looked back at Kyoko and pulled him down towards her. After a moment of silence, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, breathing in her sweet smell that wafted from her hair. After parting, Reina smiled and motioned Kyoko to help her up. The others watched them striding briskly away, and quickly, after realizing they were leaving, ran to catch up.
"But what about Laine? They don't know we're leaving! They'll be so disappointed!" Yakunan rasped, exasperated. "Let's turn back to at least say goodbye!"
Reina glanced back behind her shoulder. "He'll know we were busy. Besides, I told him we weren't staying long...not long at all..."
Yakunan gave an annoyed sigh, and dragged herself to follow them ever so reluctantly. Given the time of day, they were all quite sluggish in their movement, and yawning every so often. They eventually saw the sun rise slowly from the sky and above the horizon.
"We should camp this one out tonight. Villages become so boring." Kyoko thought aloud.
Reina and Fiera nodded simultaneously. "Sounds fun."
Musuyo and Yakunan just rolled their eyes, shaking their heads in disappointment. After that, they walked in silence, Reina and Kyoko hand in hand...
