A/N: Here it is! The last chapter of my OkixKai fic! I hope you guys all enjoyed this as much as I did! I kind of skipped through the game parts because we all know what happens, please forgive me for that. Anyway, lots and lots of fluff in this chapter, but hey, OkixKai needs more fluff in my opinion, and don't say I didn't warn you! Heheheh *smug*
As always, enjoy and review.
The onslaught of demons was endless. Day after day, Oki slaughtered countless numbers of demons, but they kept coming in hordes. The blizzards only increased in intensity, and the cold became another endless battle.
As he had hoped, Oki was alone. No one came down from the village to help him, but that was only expected as Samickle was furious. He had mostly been worried about Kai, but thankfully she stayed away. Part of him hoped she hated him now, because then he wouldn't feel so indebted to her. Even so, something felt empty inside him. He found it ironic that he should feel this way after gaining the precious solitude he had once yearned for in the past.
A new feeling was nagging in his stomach as the days passed by and the demons fell in the snow and Kutone did not shine. Was he doing the right thing? If he was, why wouldn't Kutone shine for him…? He forced those dangerous thoughts out of his head, steeling his heart against doubt. No, he told himself sternly, Kutone just needs more blood, that's all. Surely, when it has tasted its fill of demons, it will shine and the village will be saved.
He didn't know how long it had been, but one day Kai ran towards him breathlessly, her brown eyes filled with anxiety.
"Oki, please listen!" she cried before he could speak. "Lika has gone missing! You haven't seen her, have you?"
She must have reserved her last hopes for him, he thought. Her eyes looked up at him pleadingly, as if praying he would say that he had seen her, that in fact she was sleeping peacefully by the fire in his hut right now, trying to get out of the cold. He ripped his gaze away.
"I haven't seen her."
Kai's shoulders slumped as her worst fears were confirmed. "Oh," she murmured. Her voice quivered. "Lika…I-It's horrible, Oki…She's just a child, to be burdened with powers such as those…and then taken away…I-It's awful! It's not fair!"
"Taken? What powers?" Oki asked. He hadn't heard any news from the village since he stole Kutone.
"It's because her spiritual powers have grown so great recently," Kai said, tears dripping from under her mask. "Tuskle said that she has even surpassed Kemu in spiritual power. And with Kemu still ill, Lika is the only one capable of the Volcanic Incantation!" She became more distraught. "It's because of that, demons have been targeting her. I-I couldn't do anything to protect her, and she disappeared this morning!"
Oki felt bad for her, and he knew he should help look for Lika, but now was not the time. Not when he was so close. "I can't help you, Kai," he said. "I have to sacrifice more demons to Kutone. Kutone is our only hope for saving the village. The wall of ice shall shatter and open the way to the heavens—"
"When Kutone, the guardian sword glows silver," Kai finished. She took a deep breath sadly. "Yes, Oki. I know."
Something in the way she said it made the emptiness in his heart ache deeper. Of course he wanted to find Lika, but he had a duty to save the village first. Didn't she understand that?
Of course she doesn't have to understand, he told himself angrily. He didn't need her to. He just had to fulfill his duty and get rid of his debt.
"I'll walk you back to the village then. I told you it's not safe out here," he said gruffly.
They walked in silence back up to the village entrance. Oki was about to head back when Kai said tentatively, "Oki?"
He gazed at her expectantly.
"I just wanted to tell you that I believe in you, Oki," she said. "I know in the end, you'll do what's right. Because you always do." She smiled at him, and his heart ached. Why did she do that to him? She saw things in him that he couldn't even see himself. He had never done anything right before, not even now, when it mattered the most. There was only one solution for this. He needed to make Kutone shine. When he did that, the village would be rid of the demons, and at last he would become a man worthy enough to deserve Kai's words. But until then, he would hone his fighting skills and continue to sacrifice demons to his fickle sword.
[xx]
Oki followed silently after Kai and the white wolf goddess through Yoshpet. They were headed toward the Spirit Gate, which was where Lika had last been seen. This was a perfect opportunity, he thought. The Spirit Gate was said to bring misfortune, and misfortune usually meant demons. He would sacrifice the demons of misfortune to Kutone, and at last it would shine for him.
"Hey hey hey, Oki, whaddya think you're doin'?" cried Issun when the navy warrior walked into the light of the Spirit Gate.
Fate sure did have a strange way of dealing with people. Oki never expected to see the little Issun-bug here again, especially not as the companion of the sun goddess.
"I have to, for Kutone," he replied. "For the sake of the village. I'm sure you know I can handle things by myself, Issun."
"Sheesh, you've always been like that, Oki," Issun said, but his voice grew faint as Oki ran headfirst through the Gate and out of earshot.
The air was warm on his face and smelled pleasantly of flowers and grass. Above him, a beautifully full moon shone in the black night sky. As Amaterasu and Issun followed behind him, he heard a terrifying roar in the distance.
"What's that?" Issun said, paling. "Ammy, isn't that Orochi? But didn't we already defeat him before?"
"Orochi? As in the eight-headed snake that terrorized Nippon?" Oki said. He couldn't have asked for anything better. Surely Kutone would shine as soon as he defeated Nippon's most terrifying beast. He raced off to the field where the great demon resided, followed shortly by Amaterasu and some fool wearing a woman's burial shroud.
"Lika!" Issun shouted. Oki looked and indeed, Lika was lying, unconscious, at the top of a small garden underneath a great golden bell. Suddenly, the earth shook and Orochi himself swirled out of the earth, hissing and smiling with hundreds of sharp teeth in all eight of his mouths.
"Better than anything I could hope for," Oki murmured as the legendary snake leered into his face. Lika could wait—after all, Kutone had to come first. Oki growled and lunged the silver blade at the beasts head, only to be knocked away by a barrier. "What?" he said, incredulous. "What is this—?" The snake hissed and flung him away as if he were nothing more than a pest.
He watched, still not believing what had just happened, as Amaterasu and the man wearing white, whom he had come to realize was the legendary hero Nagi, easily sliced the demon's heads apart where Kutone had failed. "What have I been doing all this time then?" Oki wondered, his heart burning with shame and disgrace. "I've gone through all this…and yet Kutone still doesn't shine! It doesn't even cut!"
Bitter and stinging with failure, he slunk out of the cave and ran back through the Spirit Gate into his own time. How much time had he wasted on Kutone? How much would it take to get it to shine? He couldn't depend on Kutone anymore, he thought, cursing himself for not doing this before. He would go straight to the source and fight the demons head on. If that wasn't worthy of a hero, then nothing was.
"Oki, stop!" cried Tuskle, but he ignored her and barged through the gates of Wawku Shrine. Ice and wind blew forcefully out of the gates, only adding to the intensity of the blizzard. But it would all be over soon. He made his way to the top of the shrine and leapt furiously at the golden owl, who was alone. He slashed the demon's face furiously, shouting with anger at both the demon and the sword, which still stubbornly refused to glow.
Unable to see, the owl flew in the air erratically and crashed through a wall on the other peak, where its silver twin was busy fighting Amaterasu. The golden demon shook him off, and he rolled back on to his feet, crouched and poised to thrust himself at the demon again.
The ground shook as the twin demons flew into the air.
Oki growled. "You won't escape this time!" he snarled. "This time for sure, Kutone will blaze silver!"
He leapt at the demons in his wolf form, prepared to sling Kutone down upon them…
"OKI! NO!" cried Issun, but it was too late. With a final CLICK, the demons unleashed their terrifying magic, and all time stopped.
"Curse you…" Oki managed to say, even though he could barely breathe. The demons lifted their sticks, ready to some down upon him at any moment. He wished he could close his eyes. He wished he could have at least taken them down with him. Bitterness swelled in his stomach as the staff came lunging down.
BAM! Something crashed into him, pushing him out of the way. He found he could move and breathe again. The impact changed him back into a human, and he turned just in time to see the twin demons flying off to safety and brilliantly white wolf, his savior, skid down the side of the mountain as Amaterasu caught her in her jaws.
"Now's the time to finish them off," he said to himself. "I—" He glanced at the two wolves, and at the branch that was falling on top of them. I know in the end, you'll do what's right, said Kai's voice in his mind, and at last he knew what she meant. This was the right thing to do, and the right time to do it. He couldn't live knowing he had stood by while two wolves and a Poncle fell to their deaths. He raced to the tree and slashed it with Kutone, allowing Amaterasu time to pull the other white wolf to safety.
"Are you alright?" he asked them.
The blinding white wolf licked his hand gratefully, and Issun said, "Oki! Your sword!"
"Hm?" Oki glanced down at Kutone, which was shimmering brightly. His eyes opened wide with surprise. "Kutone…" he murmured. "It's glowing silver. But why? Is this because…" He looked over at the demons flying in the distance, and then at the two white wolves who were looking at him gratefully. "Of course. I understand it now. Kutone, guardian sword of Kamui, could not awaken while the heart of its wielder was clouded with selfish desire. How could I be such a fool? To say I wanted to protect people…I only wanted it to ease my guilt." He took a deep breath of the air on top of the mountain, and never felt so clear-minded. "I'm ready to fight those demons now, Amaterasu. I'll no longer fight alone. O spirits of the air, earth, and sea, as well as the sacred sword Kutone…grant me the power to save the land that I love!" Kutone blazed brighter, as if in response to his request. "Let us go, Amaterasu," Oki said, the confidence and power surging back into his spirit. "Those cursed demons are on the other side of Ezofuji." The wolf goddess howled in response, and together they set off to destroy the twin demons once and for all.
[xx]
Oki and Amaterasu came down from the mountain victorious, but Oki didn't feel it. He had been such a fool and caused unnecessary trouble for the village. He didn't expect to be forgiven at all, so while Amaterasu was praised and got the center of attention, Oki hung in the back, hoping he could replace the sacred sword in its pedestal and leave as quickly and discreetly as possible. He thought that after all this was over and Kutone was shining, the empty feeling in his chest would go away. However, the aching only increased with every step he took down from the shrine, as if someone inside his chest was ripping the empty hole wider and wider.
His eyes unexpectedly met Samickle's, and he turned his face away with shame. He had not acted as a warrior should, he knew that now. He also couldn't face Tuskle, for he had hot-headedly broken through the gates of the shrine and almost froze the village to death. He knew if he looked at her, she would pierce his heart apart with her condescending black gaze.
Lika stood in the center of Kutone's shrine, praying the Volcanic Incantation. Suddenly the twin peaks of Ezofuji burst into flame, and Oki was a little glad for that, since it meant he had at least done something right. He thought about how he had ignored Lika's safety and had instead attacked Orochi, and the aching stabbed deeper. Kai stood nearby, but he didn't want to think about her at all. Thinking about her made his heart hurt worse than anything, and among everyone, she was the last person he thought he could face at this moment.
"Oki." Samickle stood in front of him, and unreadable expression in his yellow eyes. Behind him stood Tuskle, who watched on gravely. Oki looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused—" he began, but Samickle cut him off with a huff.
"You fool. Before you apologize, at least show some respect and look at your Chief," he said. Oki looked up and was surprised to see Samickle's outstretched hand.
"Eh?" he said.
"You must really be an idiot, Oki," Samickle reprimanded. "The Chief is forgiving you. Do you accept or not?"
Oki blinked and felt the emptiness fill up a little. Samickle was forgiving him? Did that mean he was still accepted into the village? Until now, Oki hadn't realized how much he missed everyone. Since when did he have a change of heart?
Oki accepted Samickle's handshake, and he caught a glimpse of a twinkle in the lilac Chief's eyes. "It's good to have you back, Oki," he said warmly.
Oki nodded, feeling happier than he had felt in a long time. He took Kutone in his hands. "You've fulfilled your duty, Kutone," he said, and reverently returned the blade back to its pedestal, bowing as he stepped back. The sacred sword still blazed, and suddenly it shot out at the lake in a bright beam of light. The thick ice cracked, and the Ark of Yamato lying in the middle suddenly rose out of the icy depths.
"The wall of ice shall shatter and open the way to the heavens when Kutone, the guardian sword, glows silver," Oki said. "So that's what the prophecy meant." But that was another adventure for another being, and he bade farewell to Amaterasu as she boarded the Ark.
The Oina headed back home after giving Amaterasu their thanks and good luck, and Samickle pulled Oki aside. "There are many things I want to talk to you about, Oki," he said seriously, and Oki somehow had a bad feeling about it. Samickle laughed. "Oki, I'm not going to go back on my promise. You've been a fool and an idiot, but in the end you did what was right, and that's all that matters now."
They arrived at Samickle's hut and he welcomed Oki inside. "You know, you said the same thing as her," Oki said softly.
Samickle blinked. "As who?"
"Kai."
"Ah," said Samickle wisely, as if he understood everything. "You know, Oki, it was actually Kai I wanted to talk about."
Oki sighed. "I thought so." It was always Kai, after all.
"You love her, don't you?" Oki startled. Was Samickle still going on about that, he wondered a little irritably. Although he had to admit, perhaps he was right. The aching in his chest still hadn't gone away completely, and when he tried thinking about her it only ached more. Samickle went on. "She had the most faith in you out of anyone, you know. The least you can do is thank her for it. You didn't say a word to her when you came back."
Oki looked away. "I didn't say a word to a lot of people, Samickle," he replied.
"Oki," Samickle said sternly. "You are going to talk to her, aren't you?"
Oki shifted uncomfortably. He had been thinking about this ever since he came down from the mountain after helping Amaterasu defeat the twin demons. He could only come up with one solution that would relieve him of his guilt.
"But I don't deserve her, much less talk to her."
Samickle whipped around and slapped Oki in the face, and the stunned warrior looked up at him shock. The Chief growled deep within his throat, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. "You fool! That's not your decision to make!" Samickle's eyes flashed dangerously. "Do you know how much pain you have caused her? Do you know how much faith she had in you, even after you trampled her so many times?"
Yes, Oki thought miserably. Yes, I know.
"I will only cause her more pain. It'd be better if she forgot me."
"You selfish brat!" Samickle hissed, slapping him across the face again. "What are you, a warrior? You're running away like a coward! Get up, you fool! Face her honestly and ask her if she thinks you don't deserve her, then you can come crawling on your stomach back to me! Now get out of my house!"
Samickle kicked Oki into the snow and slammed the door behind him. Oki didn't dare go back inside, even though he dreaded the thought of facing Kai alone. She always managed to turn his stomach inside out so that he was never sure what to say. He had charged face first through the Spirit Gate without knowing what he'd find and faced the evil twin demons at the top of Ezofuji without so much as flinching, yet the prospect of telling a girl he had known for years that he loved her absolutely terrified him. He wasn't even sure she felt the same way. What if it was all a horrible mistake, and she was only nice to him because that's how she was to everyone? If that was really how it was, Oki would disembowel Samickle for forcing him into this and then bury himself in the snow in some remote place in Yoshpet where they would never find his remains. Oh gods, he was a coward.
It took every ounce of his courage to move himself from the Chief's hut to Kai's, which was only a short distance away but felt miles long. He knocked on the door, his heart pounding uncomfortably in his chest until the door opened and it almost stopped completely. He would have run away right then and there, but with a great amount of effort he remained in place and managed to say, "I want to talk to you."
"Okay," said Kai, sounding puzzled yet pleased. "Please make yourself comfortable. If you wait a moment I'll get some tea."
Oki was disappointed to see that Lika wasn't there. He had hoped she would be, so then he would have some excuse to postpone this confession. He shuffled his feet and stood awkwardly by the door, mentally preparing for what he was about to say.
"Kai!" he said sharply. She looked up, alarmed by the tone of his voice. He opened his mouth, temporarily forgetting what he wanted to say. Being in Kai's house had a way of doing that to him, he thought ruefully.
"Do you want to sit down, Oki?" Kai asked, tilting her head with concern.
"No, I just…just wanted to say thanks. Samickle told me to." Gah, what was that, he cursed himself silently. Couldn't he at least sound more thankful than that? He took a deep breath. By this point, his heart was flopping around in his chest like a useless fish on the shore.
"I mean, I've wanted to thank you too, for-for everything. And I wanted to say sorry. For…a lot of things. Like looking for Lika. And being selfish. I'm not the kind person you say I am, and you've always believed in me no matter what I did, and I felt bad for it, and well, you're just too nice," he finished lamely. Kai looked at him strangely. Was all this really so weird of him to say?
But she didn't say what he expected. She looked up at him with her clear brown eyes and said, "Oki, I wasn't being nice. When I said all those things, they were the truth. You saved Amaterasu at Wawku with your compassion, and in the end you saved us all with your courage. You had it in you from the start, so please, there's no need to thank me for anything. Ah! There's my kettle!"
She hummed happily to herself as she stoked the coals, and Oki decided to say something. Not because Samickle told him to, or because he wanted her to feel the same way, but simply because it was the truth.
"Kai, I love you."
Clang. Kai had dropped the kettle and stared, frozen, into the fireplace. Oki wished he could see what kind of expression she had on her face so he could get rid of this anxious, sick feeling in his stomach that crept in as soon as the words escaped his mouth. "Kai?" he asked softly, daring a step forward. Kai gasped and hurriedly turned her face away. "Don't look!"
Oki felt like his heart had been impaled with an icicle. Did he do something wrong? Was this her way of rejecting him? He moved closer, peering around her to look at her face.
"No!" she squeaked. "I-I—my face—"
Slowly, Oki lifted her mask. She squeaked and brought up her hands to hide her face, but he caught a glimpse of bright red cheeks between her fingers.
"O-Oki," she stammered from behind her hands. "D-Did you just say you…l-love me?"
Oki's heart nearly stopped for the second time that day. "Yes," he managed hoarsely. Before he knew what was happening, Kai lifted her hands away from her face and lifted his mask to reveal his own furious crimson blush. He didn't even have time to admire how her eyes looked in her face before she brought her face over to his and kissed him softly on the mouth. His heart transformed from a fish to a rabbit and did a couple back flips in the air. She took herself away and murmured, "I love you too."
Oki blinked rapidly, wondering if this was a dream. Kai looked up at him with the same brown eyes he had seen countless times before, but this was different because they were set in a smooth, delicate face. His eyes took in her high cheekbones and slender jaw line, and when he looked down at her lips he blushed, thinking of their kiss. He was sure he had a dumb expression on his face, but he was too busy admiring Kai to notice, or care.
Kai leaned forward and kissed him again. Then she suddenly smiled, and her features looked even more beautiful. "Oki, you're smiling!"
"I am?" he said, bringing a hand up to his face.
Just then Lika came through the door, and her eyes went wide. "Kai, why aren't you and Oki wearing masks? I thought only family members and mates don't wear masks!"
Kai ducked her head, blushing. "Well, Oki and I are going to be mates," she said, then abruptly looked at Oki, stammering. "T-That is, if you also agree, Oki…"
"Of course," he replied. How could she not think that, after he already told her he loved her?
Lika clapped her hands and giggled gleefully. She opened the door and shouted outside, "Everyone, they finally did it!"
"What the—" Oki swore and threw his mask back on, with Kai quickly following suit. Outside Kai's hut, the entire village had gathered, and when Oki and Kai appeared at the doorway behind Lika, they all cheered. Kai nearly fainted with embarrassment. Samickle stood at the front with his arms folded over his chest, grinning like a madman. "Damn you, Samickle," Oki muttered, his face blushing furiously. He decided to kill the lilac Chief later.
"We just stopped by to tell you about the feast tonight in celebration of defeating the demons," Samickle said, still grinning wildly. "Although this is a pleasant surprise, too."
Don't give me that "just stopped by," nonsense, you brought the whole village, Oki thought, but somehow found himself grinning too. Maybe it was because Kai looked so happy, or because smiling was contagious, and seeing all the villagers out there smiling made him smile too. But whatever the reason, he had never felt like this before. Like his heart was so full it was going to burst.
They all gathered in Kemu's hut, and this time Oki sat next to the Chief in the place of honor, with Kai at his side. And Lika told her story of how she was kidnapped and how she came to be in Orochi's lair, and Oki ate some of Kai's delicious dumplings. And throughout the whole time, Oki thought to himself: Perhaps I could get used to this.
A/N: Yay! The end! I had a beautiful picture I wanted to share with all you OkixKai fans that served as inspiration for this fic (besides all your splendid reviews, of course, because I live off those) but it's not letting me post the URL. T^T Oh well. If you want to see it go to photobucket and search under Okami Oki and Kai and you'll probably find it since there aren't many OkixKai artworks, unfortunately. T^T
Anyway, let me know what you thought of my first completed multi-chapter work. Thanks so much for reading (and reviewing, of course)!