Princess of the Cherry Blossoms

{Four days later}

[Jakotsu]

"Oh, how marvelous! We can finally celebrate again! Everywhere are stalls and shops!" The black-haired stated delighted and stretched himself luxuriously. When had been the last time the whole troop chilled or drank together? Or had been to a festival? And that in a small town with a castle – or rather a big estate – nearby, representing a big part of the town. But it was still a pretty simple city with few taverns and so on. Not as big as Kyoto though where one could easily get lost.

„Yeah, looks like they would celebrate the hanami very extensively." Renkotsu agreed. Jakotsu looked at him for a short moment. He seemed to notice Jakotsus own hilarity and smiled slightly. Next to him stood his sister. 'What an odd pairing...' He thought briefly baffled. Otherwise, they stayed away from each other. But that was not his problem, either. He stopped and turned to his remaining comrades. "I've got an idea! Why don't we look around in groups and we'l meet later in the castle?"

"Yeah. That way we can look around without interruption!" Jakotsu smiled, looking around one more time over the lovely stores. When they had no assignment or were in a town they usually paid for their expenses – of course, only if the town was not involved in another mission. No one else had raised their voices, so either they did not care or they waited for him to end his speech. The young cross-dresser faced his friends, especially Bankotsu who didn't look overly excited. "Aniki?"

"Well, all right. But not too long. We aren't here for a shopping or killing spree. We meet at sunset in the castle. Not later." The young leader deferred and sighed quietly. Then he turned around and followed Mukotsu and Suikotsu who already disappeared. Jakotsu looked after his best friend irritated. What has got into him? Actually, he had assumed Bankotsu would accompany him. 'Well, there's nothing to be done about that...' He thought eventually, turning questioningly to the remaining people.

„Hehe, I guess I'll go to the castle now. Indeed, I don't want to squash any pipsqueaks at this ridiculous festival." Kyokotsu grumbled amused and looked at Ginkotsu, then Renkotsu quizzical. His mechanical friend answered with an approving "Gesh.". But both of them had never been into normal festivities. 'Drags...' However, his train of thoughts was disturbed by the fire brother whose undefinable glance still lingered on the copper-haired.

"I'll go with them." Jakotsu heard from Renkotsu, flitting to a store with female stuff which caught his eye before. They had a broad range of shells with many makeup colors, various jewelry and clothing. He took a shell with a darker red color, then put it down again. This color had been too red for his complexion. 'Okay, what then?' He deliberated, acknowledging Akira's presence with a short nod. "You can't leave this two alone after all."

"How did it go with Bankotsu? Well?" He asked incidentally, considering now two different makeup colors – bright red and a softer tone. 'Mhm... which one will be it?' He tilted his head to one side, facing his sister who looked uncomfortable around the store. "Which one is better?"

"Sorta..." Akira answered, looking pretty irritated with her tan eyes. The cross-dresser hold the two shells almost under her nose, longing for an answer. Then, she pointed at another shell with a light red color. He couldn't ask Renkotsu who looked around somewhere behind them. He had no clue about that kind of things. Actually, the same hold true for Akira as well but she was at least a girl. At the moment he hoped that the taste for fashion and colors was running in the blood. "What about that one?"

"Mhm, that's pretty, too, but you're not helping." The cross-dresser complained and took the shell she showed him as well, considering now the three colors. What a pain... The copper-haired chuckled silently and tried not to let show how much she was amused by him. After calming down she shrugged her slender shoulders.

"I don't know why you need those... You're good-looking enough so you don't have to paint your face. It's just a waste of money." She sighed weary. In the young man rose the demand to defend himself. Actually, he had hoped she would understand him better but now she almost sounded like the rest of his friends. Could he resent her for that? For a moment he was even diverted from the makeup. "By the way, Renkotsu is just watching. It's kinda creepy."

"Let him. He's thinking too much..." Jakotsu just responded and looked over his shoulder. Indeed, the fire brother stood next to a food stand with a few rice balls in one hand, keeping the two literally in view. He waved towards him and turned to the store again. "You don't know what some color can do for your face even if it is pretty."

"Sorry to bother you..." There was the sarcastic intonation again. But this time the apology sounded severe – by her standards.

"It's alright, I can show you. After all, you grew up just like a boy so it isn't your fault. I bet even that Tokun-person raised you like that." He just answered. His displeasure vanished immediately and faced more serious matters: The light red would appeal really good, but the darker red would show better in battles.

"Tôtôsai." Akira corrected him, wandering towards the hair ornaments and kimonos. The young woman looked mightily curious as if she had never seen something like that before. Jakotsu smiled a bit at the sight.

"Of course you haven't. You never came back visiting or something. So have you decided between your lipstick colors?" Her sudden question sounded as if she wanted to tease him because she brought him back to his first problem.

„Nein...", seufzte Jakotsu leise, was seine Schwester mit einem Lachanfall quittierte. 'Tsss, und sowas schimpft sich Familie.', murrte er im Stillen und beschloss, die junge Frau für die restliche Tour zu ignorieren.

"No..." Jakotsu sighed quietly, causing his sister to get the giggles. 'Tsss, and someone like that calls herself family.' He murmured in silence and decided to ignore her for the rest of the shopping tour.

[Akira's memory]

"Ban?" Her voice sounded quizzically because she was not sure whether he was even listening. The black-haired darted an asking but also bugged glance at her to get her to continue. The copper-haired bet he was stressed out because she still called him "Ban" - but his response was always too funny to stop it. But this time the matter was too important. And that he effectively invited her to continue made it even worse. She took a deep breath. "I... uhm..."

"Tell me what you want." The young leader replied amazingly calm, still facing her. But even that troubled her more. Nervously, she clenched her fist.

"I want to visit an old friend before we continue our journey." Akira said as fast as she could. She knew Bankotsu would never agree just like that. After all, he had to fulfill an assignment – her – and she was able to relate to that. But at the moment her sword was more important than a stupid, uninteresting wedding. "He's a weaponsmith and I want him to look after my katana before I use it in battle again... accidently... So it would..."

"Yeah, why not?" Bankotsu interrupted her oral fluency and rolled his eyes. After that, her edginess settled down at once. Akira surveyed him astonished and did not quite understand why he agreed that quickly or did not demand. He looked at her with his pervasive, mischievously sparkling eyes and raised his brows. "What?"

"Nothing." The copper-haired responded hastily and looked down quickly after she noticed she had gazed at him for too long. But that was his fault when he behaved so unpredictable. Everything she heard after that was his silent laughter while he continued his conversation with Mukotsu.

[Akira]

"Kindly stay here, Nii-chan." Akira rebuked the cross-dresser, still collaring him. Just a few seconds ago the cross-dresser had seen something and had tried to run off on his own although it was almost sunset. She guessed the three had only half an hour left to get to the castle without getting scolded. Furthermore, the young woman already had enough trouble with the stubborn leader of the group. So she could gladly pass on another dispute with Bankotsu.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
[Bankotsu's memory]

Some time after his talk with Akira regarding her acquaintance he started to wonder why the boy acted so bizarrely. Well, his stubborn companion always acted pretty weird but he was never so... edgy. Earlier he was too involved in his conversation and did not want an interruption. But now...

"Hey, Akira, where did your friend live again?" He asked just in case. The copper-haired who walk in front of him flinched clearly visible and looked over his shoulder back to him with a look on inquiry on his face.

"You couldn't care less earlier today." Akira mumbled pert and turned back. Now what was his problem? Bankotsu grabbed the boy rudely at his shoulder, causing him to stop. Then, he waited till his comrades who looked very curious passed them. The copper-haired stared at him aghast.

"Just answer the question."

"Well... not in the next town. He lives near that mountain." He pointed at a clearly visible mountain which was in the completely wrong direction. The black-haired suspected that the Akira had known that. And somehow that fact made him real pissed.

"You can forget about that right now." The plait-boy uttered as calm as possible. He started to walk again in order to follow his comrades. "We won't go out of our way."

"But you agreed before!" The copper-haired called out to him. Amazingly enough, the youngster caught up to him and managed it somehow to keep up with him. The younger one almost run next to him while he was still walking at a – for him – normal pace. That was almost amusing.

"I didn't know all details back then." Bankotsu just responded and to him the topic was through. But Akira did not seem to give up yet.

"It was your mistake not to ask any further." The boy said with a neutral voice and fastened up. 'He's really bold to contradict me when others would shut up. Maybe he doesn't love life...' Bankotsu thought while he tried to soothe the boiling fire within him. The insolence of the kid discomforted his ego more than he would have thought.

"And it was your fault to underestimate me." The younger of them suddenly stopped in front of him. He held his hand so that he could stop the black-haired with his bare hands if necessary. It was a defensive gesture.

"When was that? Furthermore, such a detour would give you more money." Obviously, Akira displayed his last clincher: the money. Despite his anger the young leader thought about it for a sec. The wage for a week would be pretty high by his standards. That was why it would be logical to agree to the proposal. But most of himself was reluctant to do a favor to the copper-haired. For a while he struggled with himself till he yielded finally.

"Alright... but only because of the money, you little nagger." The black-haired growled quietly and glared at his opposite irately who immediately felt offended. 'Serves him right!' He thought while Akira took a defensive stance. "Not to do you a favor."

"Then the problem is solved!" The copper-haired snorted and scowled at him with dark eyes. The leader did not mind that. He was used to this kind of look.

"Great!" He said, unwilling to leave the final word to the boy. The plait-boy knew it was childish and immature but somehow he could not resist when it came down to this specific person.

"Great!" His companion responded offended and turned away.

[Renkotsu]

"Yeah, I don't really fancy hearing Bankotsu's complaints either, Jakotsu. And if you wouldn't have wasted time in that women store you could do something else now, too." Renkotsu said and gave Akira and Jakotsu a severe look. How could one spend an whole afternoon in a store with clothes, makeup and jewelry? He would never understand some people, especially Jakotsu and his family. 'Seriously, a store for women!' He thought a bit bugged as he heard a quiet snort from Akira who let his brother go gently and lowered his slim hand. "But you've found something after all."

"That's true! At first I couldn't decide but I guess the light and the bright red are great." The black-haired explained happily and let the two shells disappear in his kimono, keeping talking. 'Jeez, even something so trivial sounds exciting when he talks about it...' Renkotsu noticed and looked at his striking profile puzzled. The young man surprised them again and again. Even after years. "But there were so many pretty things..."

"You'd almost think you've never been at such a festival before." The copper-haired smiled, again pretty amused. Sometimes he wished he could be so simple himself. It seemed to be so easy and seemed to give pleasure to enjoy simple things in life without always thinking about stuff.

"Usually, we don't have many occasions to attend such festivities." Renkotsu explained to their charge who looked very surprised because of his words. For the first time he noticed how much he differed from his brother and the other mercenaries. The boy probably had had a rather normal childhood despite the destruction of his home village. In contrast to the rest of their group. Every one of them had been influenced by their past strongly, in some way or other – he quickly chased his murky thoughts away. The fire brother did not want to think about something painful right now.

"Seriously?"

"We always have assignments or we're traveling, Acchan." Jakotsu added to his explanation, shrugging. Then, he looked at his brother almost longing, before he turned to the nearing castle with a smile. "I guess I've been on eight festivals in the past few years. All in all."

"Nine, Aniki." Renkotsu corrected. Anyway, he had been with him always and had watched how Jakotsu literally freaked out because it was a rare event. The others enjoyed themselves, spent money and got drunk. So it did not vary from their normal celebration habits. The young man rolled his eyes but so his two companions could not see it. Akira listened to them with big, surprised eyes.

"Huh? Oh, you're right. If you count this one!" The cross-dresser smiled kindly at Renkotsu, clapping his hands once. The bold one folded his arms in front of his armored chest without answering his comrade. He rather observed them. It was more informative than talking sometimes. "I'll go get some food."

That was why the fire brother noticed how Akira's eyes narrowed slightly as if he had seen something in the entrance of the castle. He followed his gaze but there was nothing. At least he could not see a thing. His look traveled back to Jakotsu who had already paid and trotted the few steps towards them.

"Is everything alright?" The black-haired who held a few sweets in his hand broke the awkward silence which had lingered between the boy and himself. The fire brother condescended to nod slightly while Akira startled noticeably. But he still looked absent.

"Y-yeah." He mumbled and bowed quickly to them. "If you excuse me now."

Their temporary accompany disappeared into a specific direction as if he was familiar with this town – although Renkotsu was sure the boy had never been here before. Jakotsu and he looked at each other clueless. Then, the cross-dresser rushed after him, sighing. Obviously, he had been left with the thankless task to tell their bad-tempered leader this news... or not. His thoughts reverted to the mystery which was on his mind for days. The boy and his sword. The weapon itself was a mystery, too – how could a human wield a demonic blade? Moreover, he had a hunch a few days ago and it did not disappear. He could not let go of this idea: Was he... maybe a She? After all, the copper-haired was blessed with a graceful body which was rather unusual for a man and for which most women envied him certainly... Furthermore, that would explain his partly comely moves. However, Jakotsu behaved clearly more feminine than Akira. As long as he thought about it there always remained a residual doubt. 'Maybe I should just confront him.' The fire brother decided as he entered the castle.

[Bankotsu]

Impatiently, his leg moved up and down. The sun had already set and the night embraced now the town but his two companions were not back yet. That made him uneasy. Jakotsu was always very reliable but since they traveled with Akira this feature had suffered a little. Renkotsu returned some time ago without the siblings and he had not known where the two went. Probably this was Akira's fault, too. First, concealing something and now this... 'That does it!' The young leader decided fretful and stood up. 'They'll get a pretty bad talk!'

[Akira]

The beautiful woman who she was following stopped and stretched her hand slightly. Akira stopped jerkily, too. Something supranatural clinged to the woman she was watching. That was the reason why the copper-haired followed her in the first place. The woman wore expensive clothes – as far as she knew it was clothing for a hime – but her shoes were missing. After a few seconds a small demon headed towards the hime.

"You're not human, are you?" Akira asked her opponent who seemed exceedingly calm. Her chocolate brown eyes still seemed kind while her open black hair stirred in the wind that surrounded her. Her fox-like, cream companion flew around her like a soul collector, though it wasn't one. The small ghost or demon appeared like a furred snake with a fox-head and fox-paws. Its red eyes viewed her, its delicate eyes twitched a few times attentively. The fox demon did not seem evil, its aura was not vicious either.

"Of course I am. What do you think?" Jakotsu who followed her apparently interrupted her observing, looking oddly baffled. Both women and the demon turned to him, even though he did not notice the gaze of the hime and the kitsune. Or whatever race this yokai was from. Apparently, the cross-dresser couldn't see the two.

"Well, not anymore. I'm the cherry blossoms here as I wished so many years before." The princess answered, smiling gently. The fox spirit slided through the air, swanning around them. It did not seem like a threat. Furthermore, the young woman had to admit it looked kind of... stunning. She reached out and touched its sleek fur, not avoiding the contact. Her black-haired companion looked even more irritated, now that she was holding out her hand without any reason, so the copper-haired lowered it quickly again. "Who are you? Furthermore, may I asked how you are able...?"

"I'm a... priestess, Hime-sama. What is keeping you here?" Akira asked softly instead of answering. It wasn't because she wanted to be rude – 'Like Bankotsu...' flashed through her mind – but because she did not know the answer herself. And somehow she just knew that the princess was already dead. Without finding peace. The cross-dresser walked in front of her, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Right now, he seemed very concerned about her. She smiled reassuring at him and just wanted to answer as the ghost brought something behind them into focus, looking dismayed. Jakotsu took a deep breath startled when he saw his best friend behind her and he looked even more bad-tempered than before. Also Akira felt pretty bad now when she spotted him.

"Shinnosuke..." The hime whispered, her eyes filled with tears. This was the only sound for a short while.

[Bankotsu]

"You two are really outrageous. Why the heck you are wandering through this damn castle ALTHOUGH we wanted to meet at sunset?!" He fulminated upset and faced his two friends almost down. Jakotsu scratched his head awkwardly and gave the copper-haired sneaking – and if he was not mistaken, worried – looks every now and then. But Akira looked frequently over her shoulder, keeping an eye on something. Distrustfully, he looked in the same direction but he could not see anything. He could not even feel another presence. "And why aren't you looking me in the eye, kiddo? Too embarrassed?!"

"Anikiy, you know, I didn't want to..." Jakotsu started reluctantly but Bankotsu interrupted him surly and stopped him with a quick wave of his hand.

"You are not the problem here. He is." The young leader grumbled while he tried not to reprove his best friend too much. However, the cross-dresser tilted his head and waited. He did not seem miffed about Bankotsu's anger. Maybe he did not take it seriously. "Jakotsu..."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. But don't be too strict because..." The cross-dresser answered, gave Akira another worried look and made no move to retreat.

"Jakotsu!"