Apologies for the length of time since I last updated. My computer decided it was going to not like the new format on this website and, until today, would not let me update. Thanks for your cooperation.
Also, apologies for the lack of a disclaimer for the last few chapters. I only own Moriko. Well, suppose I own Ikano in this chapter... but I highly doubt he will ever be important.
Please read and review!
I will try to post another chapter (the last letter) today or tomorrow; no promises though.
July 30, 1895; Human Realm
Dearest Hiei,
Ack! Hmm… interesting word choice on my part, would you agree? But still—ack! I just received a telegram from my brother—why does he even know how to send a telegram? It is a human habit!—and he arrives tomorrow.
He says there had better not be anyone here, no matter what my plans had been. Everything is doubly secret and confidential. But he will never know if I write it to you. He is bringing his new partner home with him. He gets a new one every few months; this one will be dead before long, I have no doubts about that. My brother works with them long enough to gain their trust, then stabs them in the back—literally—and takes all the treasure they accumulated together for himself.
He did not offer a name, nor shall he. I, on the other hand, shall remain here. Keep me in your thoughts, for if I do or say one thing wrong I could be murdered on the spot. By my brother or his friend, who is to say?
I just cannot believe how much he seems to believe he is more important than I am. I hate it. I hate him. I hate this realm. I hate my life. I hate his friend, whom I have never even met. I love you.
Your distraught forest child,
Moriko
This time Yusuke read the letter. He knew it would take longer, but he would rather use up a little extra time than risk having Kurama break down and cry like that again.
"Why does he even know how to send a telegram? Why indeed, Kurama?"
"No reason."
Yusuke continued reading, pausing every so often to glance at his friend. Kurama's face remained impassive until the very end of the letter. Yusuke spoke her words, "I hate it. I hate him. I hate this realm. I hate my life. I hate his friend, whom I have never even met. I love you."
At this, Kurama laughed bitterly, saying, "That's the ultimate irony right there. Moriko saying she hated Ikano, and that she loved Hiei. I always knew she was fickle, but this is beyond how fickle Romeo was."
"Romeo? Who's that?"
"From Romeo and Juliet?" Kurama prompted. Then, when Yusuke's face remained blank, he said, "Never mind. All I meant was that she is completely in love with one guy one day, and in love with another the next."
"You mean…" Yusuke trailed off, lost in the implications of Kurama's statement, desperately hoping he had misinterpreted what Kurama had said, or misheard him, or something. Eventually, however, he finished his statement, "You mean she didn't die, but left Hiei for another guy?"
Kurama's voice was pained when he replied, "Not only that. But the guy she left him for was the demon thief brought home by her older brother, whom she hated."