Chapter 48 | The Death of Kings XIII
Mio caught her grandfather's body as it fell and sank to the ground on her knees with him. She grabbed at the back of his clothes, words escaping her, while staring up at Gouki with her eyes wide open. The feeling that bloomed in the pit of her chest and swept her body like a wintry chill was crippling. She heard the sound of blood splattering on the ground between them, rushing from him in large quantities that burned through the broken wood and cracked floor.
"Mio," Shin whispered, his voice forced and shaky. His hands clumsily clutched at her clothes as if he was trying to hold on, to her, to life—she did not know what. She felt warm droplets fall on her shoulder and knew they were tears. He coughed, blood splattering against her shoulder. "I—I'm sorry I…can't st-stay."
She let out a strange sound as she held onto him, the rush of emotion struck her harshly. She whispered repeatedly, "No, no, no, no, no, no." She covered the gaping wound on his back with her hands as if that would be enough to stop the bleeding, to stop the life from leaving him. "No, no, no, no, no, no."
She was supposed to save him too. He was supposed to stay with her until he finished teaching her all the things he had not already. He was supposed to be around to help defeat Nishiki and Ayuka. They were going to go help Madara. She needed his support. She needed him to be around in the future. If her mother and father could not be there or her cousins and her great-grandfather, she believed her grandfather could. He would outlive them all. His and her enemies combined. She imagined he would be around when she had her family and that he would help her train her son, the one Ayuka was after. Together they could do something. They would not have to let Ayuka win. That's what she had been thinking throughout their battle. They could accomplish anything together, as a family.
Alone, she felt defeated.
She felt that if her grandfather remained, she could find her strength. She would not run around in circles. She would have him and he would guide her, but that might have been a childish thought or another unconscious act of cowardice.
Perhaps it was selfish.
Was it selfish? To want your family to stay with you forever? She wondered, clinging and suffering.
"I—I sh-sh-should 'ave b-been kind—er to you," Shin continued, the warm droplets falling from his eyes sank into her clothes, each tear was like a heavy stone. "I—I sh-sh-should 'ave s-sa-sa-sav…ed y-you…then. Pro-protec-ed y-ou. Kep-t y-ou sa-safe."
She wished she had found her voice in time to tell him that he did all of those things as best as he could and that she understood all the times he neglected to do them. She wanted to assure him that he had done so much more for her and that that had been enough. She wanted to say that he would be okay, but she could not when his murderer was looming behind her.
She could say nothing.
Gouki came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her neck and pulling her back. She clung to her grandfather's body, feeling him grasp weakly at her. He had been holding onto her. The entire time. It was not life he had been grasping. It was her.
Gouki dragged her to her feet and continued to do so for several feet of her thrashing and shouting. The emotional pain overshadowed her physical ailments. Her entire body had gone numb. She had her impediments. One of her ankles had been stabbed through and carrying her own weight brought waves of relentless pain, she was bleeding everywhere, and her exhaustion had doubled. She barely had the strength to struggle.
"Let me go!" she cried, sobbing. "Stop! Let me go!"
She was turned around viciously, forced to look upon the face of Mikazuki Gouki. Blood crept from his mouth, bruises and scratches on his hardened expression.
He shook her by the arms and silenced her with his booming voice. "Have you not had enough?" he snapped, bloody spittle splattering across her face. "Accept your fate!"
She managed to break free of his grasp and tried running back to her grandfather as best as her damaged ankle would allow her. She could do nothing to save his life. She was no Shugosha. She was unable to make him a guardian. However, she could try to save him. She might be able to help him. Find a medical specialist, have them save him.
Gouki caught her wrist pulling her back against his bloodied chest. She felt his arm wrap around her and she continued her struggle. She was sobbing and shouting incoherently as he started to half carry and half drag her out of the premises.
Mio elbowed him in the stomach and, as if in reflex, he dropped his hold on her. She fell to her knees. Her grandfather's dagger was in arm's reach and she reached for it as Gouki loomed over her, his shadow darkening the space around her. She took it in her hand and turned rapidly.
She swung at him with a closed fist, he caught her hand and the distraction was enough. She stabbed the dagger into his neck. His free hand shot up to her neck reflexively, clamping down.
He knocked her to the ground, bearing down on her with his weight. She gasped for breath only when she did, his grip tightened around her neck. He pulled out the dagger from his neck, blood poured from it. She managed to hit his jugular, stabbing it in deep.
He clamped a hand over the wound in his neck and opened his mouth. Crimson flowed from it. "Th-This makes no difference," he said hoarsely, loosening his grip on her neck. His hand made its way down her chest, between her breasts, and stopped over her lower abdomen, leaving behind a trail of blood. In a broken, pain-filled voice, he continued, "It is not over. My child could be here. Inside you. I would have killed him too."
Mio's tears rolled down her face, her voice came out a shaky whisper. "W-Why?"
He slumped forward atop her unable to keep himself up. His body twitched, the blood pooled underneath her.
He stopped moving after a moment. He bled out quickly.
She pulled herself out from under him and hobbled towards her grandfather.
Gently, with a heavy heart, she pushed him on his back, holding his head in her hands. There was no movement in his body and the usual heat of it had been replaced by a frigid cold. She wanted him to stay an eternity at her side. She said it before that she was not ready, but what could she do? She leaned forward, kissing the side of his head, her tears blurring her vision.
"Thank you for everything," she whispered painfully. "I love you, grandfather."
Mio wiped her tears. She tore pieces from her garment and used them to dress her ankle wound, tightening it to lessen the pain. She took all of her grandfather's weapons and concealed them in her clothes.
"Mio!"
She turned abruptly, surprised to see a group of Ito shinobi running towards her. At the forefront was Ito Saori, properly dressed for battle and wearing a number of small wounds like a badge of honor. Saori's eyes fell on Shin and immediately went to Mio, her expression saddening. In Saori, Mio finally saw what Madara and Izuna had.
Saori approached Mio. "I am terribly sorry about your grandfather."
Mio nodded, staring at the shinobi standing behind her. She reached for the earring with the tiny black sphere dangling from it and tore it. In it, the Life Sphere was sealed. "Where is your sister? And Izuna? What about Takuto and Yayoi? And Taiga?"
"Izuna went to Madara and my sister is with Taiga engaging Ayuka. Yayoi never left Madara's side. Takuto should be with Uzumaki Nako."
"Where were you going?" she asked, focusing her attention on the battle. She would have time to mourn after the fighting was done. She would return to bury his body where it could never be found.
Her grandfather told her that he had weakened Nishiki enough for Madara to hold him back, together with his brother, they could overcome him, but he had alluded that Tobirama had been captured. She needed to ensure the spheres were distributed. If she carried more than one, she would be the ideal target. The artifacts needed to be protected, but so did her guardians. She decided to go straight for Tobirama.
"The Senju and Uzumaki clan are here," Saori began in elucidation. "Uzumaki Mito returned to them, but Senju Tobirama did not. I'm looking to find him. Takuto asked me to go on ahead."
"I'll go with you," said Mio, then extended her hand to the Ito sister. "Take this with you. I don't have the power to make you a proper guardian, but Madara and Izuna suggested I did. I believe you are capable enough to take care of the Life Sphere."
Saori took it, pinching it between forefinger and thumb. She stared at the black gem in wonder. "This is beautiful, Mio, thank you," she said. "I will guard it with my life."
Mio started to walk—hopping her way was the more accurate description of her actions—when Saori called out to her. "Perhaps we should have a medical-nin have a look at your wounds before proceeding."
There was a medical specialist among the Ito shinobi that guarded Saori and he spoke against moving in the condition of her leg, explaining that there was need for further medical treatment to repair the damage Gouki left. She refused because she knew Tobirama was in danger and that she might have a chance to save him before Nishiki got his way.
"I will take you," Saori told her medic. She turned to Mio. "You can find him, can't you?"
"I'm no longer a Shugosha," Mio admitted, "but I can probably pinpoint an area."
Since the Time Sphere united the spheres, making it easier for the Shugosha to sense where all guardians were no matter the distance in between, she believed she might be able to find Tobirama through Madara's sphere. She would not find the exact building where he was being held—because he was being held—but she would have an area. She could explore an area. She could find someone lost in an area.
"We will go together. You tell me where to go." Saori crouched down in front of her, arms back to pull her onto her back. "Come on, Mio, climb on."
Mio put her hands on Saori's shoulders, finding it strange to be in his situation with Saori. The older girl seemed more suited to be surrounded by opulence and beautiful things, like the Uzumaki that was taken prisoner, not in the wreckage of war with blood and death wherever one turned.
"Saori-sama, I will do it," one Ito shinobi said.
Saori waved him off. "I can do it." She called forth three of the shinobi with her and gave each of them orders. "Please go on ahead to Taiga-san, Madara-kun, and Takuto-kun and inform them I found Mio. If anyone asks, tell them we went to find Tobirama-kun together."
The three shinobi went in different directions to deliver Saori's orders, leaving her with a smaller group that would accompany them as they searched for Tobirama. Mio wrapped her arms around her and felt the older girl's hands under her legs as she hoisted her up.
"Which way?" asked Saori.
Mio concentrated on the connection between her Black Sphere and the Time Sphere. She focused completely on Madara, feeding more chakra into her artifact to reach him and had his own echo back. She had a clear reading of the others with Madara's pulse. He had so much chakra something like this was simple. She could only imagine how much more she could do if she had his chakra. She did not expect an exact location, but that is what he gave her.
She pointed forward to a distant building beyond the ruins. The castle tower.
"That way."
Saori started running towards the dark tower with her shinobi guard following close behind. Mio looked over her shoulder, casting one final glance at her grandfather's body.
"I hope you were not harmed, Mio," Saori began. "Before. In the time you were prisoner."
"No, I was not harmed," Mio answered, though not in the sense Saori was implying. She did not want to ask the following question, but she could not stop herself. "Has Madara recovered fully? Should he be fighting?" Against Nishiki no less. She had dozens of questions concerning him alone. She could tell nothing from him being nearby. "Should I—?"
"Takuto looked into the antidote you sent back to confirm it was a functioning remedy," Saori elucidated. "He found a cure for Shi—"
Mio lowered her eyes. She understood she meant to say Shinya. "He did?"
"Ah, yes," she said awkwardly. "He did with the antidote. He made his own."
She smiled weakly. She knew that if anyone could it would have been Takuto.
"Madara-kun is in perfect health," Saori continued. "You need not worry about him, Takuto-kun would never let him leave the house without knowing for a fact that he was healthy. He was cured and he is strong. With Izuna-kun at his side, the two will surely defeat Nishiki."
Mio nodded. She trusted her word.
There were a number of Mikazuki shinobi surrounding the castle tower's perimeter that attacked them on sight. The Ito guard that accompanied them attacked with kunai attached with fine string using it to ensnare their enemy like a spider's web, trapping them so that if they moved a muscle the string would dig into their flesh.
Mio fought a member of the Ito clan before. They were lithe and silent as assassins, meticulous in their traps, weaving the different strings unique to their techniques for every purpose imaginable. Their style was a deadly art form.
The Ito shinobi cleared a path for Saori and Mio. If anyone neared them, Mio shot them down with the kunai and shuriken Saori carried with her.
Before reaching the tower doors, one Motou priestess appeared in her violet robes and begun the hand seals of a familiar and devastating Kuronuma technique.
"Put me down!" Mio ordered.
Saori went down on her knee, allowing her to stand up. Mio gently pushed her back, made the necessary hand seals and erected a wall of stone as a spiral of black water shot up towards them. The wall smashed on impact, the heat radiating from the attack reached them, though they were still a meter apart. It came surging towards them, giving them little time to react, but Mio managed to activate her Black Sphere, reach Saori and pull her under as she activated a defensive jutsu that protected them from the priestess' attack.
Mio flinched as it hit a new wall, feeling a deep ache in her chest from the recoil and bit down on her lip. The black blood oozing from her wounds was drawn to create the curved black wall that shielded them.
"Mio!" cried Saori, her eyes searching all her wounds for the presence of another.
"I'm fine," Mio told her, reaching for the dagger on her belt. The slight weight she put on her hurt sent a sharp pain rushing up the rest of her body. She could only handle that much, any more would completely damage her ankle with little chance of recovery. "I can defeat the priestess, but you have to go on ahead and storm the tower. I will catch up."
"I can't leave you here, you're hurt."
"The Motou priestess and priests use Kuronuma techniques that only I can counteract. I can do this much!" If the Motou priestess was there to measure strengths, she would not win against her.
Mio did not give Saori the time to make an argument out of her decision, though she doubted she would. The older girl was mild-mannered.
Saori slipped out from under her and jumped onto the nearest roof, rushing forward. The priestess drew a scroll from inside her robes and unsealed several weapons from within, directing them at Saori, who caught sight of them and deflected them with her own kunai and shuriken. One kunai stabbed the priestess in the leg, and in the sunlight, Mio was able to see the string attached to it and wrapped around Saori's gloved hand.
Saori gave the string a hard yank and knocked the priestess down on her backside. "Please come quickly, Mio!" called Saori, ripping the string with the sharp end of a knife she carried.
Mio took care of the priestess quickly. She attempted to use the spiral technique, but Mio countered by using her Blood Swamp technique. The technique dragged down two Mikazuki shinobi that jumped in to help the priestess, which had been a stroke of luck. She did not have the strength to survive a fight against the two of them. She barely had any left to continue moving around so freely, but the timing was not right. She needed to move forward.
One of Saori's shinobi found her hobbling towards the tower and offered to carry her. Several tower floors were littered with defeated shinobi and dangerous webs of string. The shinobi carrying her rushed up the remaining flights of stairs to ensure Saori's safety and when they reached the topmost floor, they found Saori dressing the wounds on Tobirama.
Mio was set on her feet beside Saori and she dropped down to her knees, silently assisting her as she attempted to staunch the bleeding. Underneath him lay a pool of blood that had soaked into his clothes. She called out to him, hoping to see his expression twist into one of disapproval at the sound of her voice, but he was unresponsive. His heart, when she pressed her ear against his chest, was a silent, worrying murmur.
Saori asked for her medic, but the shinobi standing behind them said, "Our specialist died in the early battle. It was unavoidable."
"We have to take him to someone that can heal him," Mio said frantically. "We cannot have him weaken any further. If he weakens any further, Nishiki will invite himself to active the Universe Sphere."
She touched his face and a fever boiled beneath his flesh, but he was unmoving and his breathing was shallow. His condition was worsening as the minutes ticked on and neither one of them could do a thing about it because they did not have the least bit of knowledge in anything concerning medical ninjutsu. She would have used her blood to cauterize the wound on his torso, but the black water running through her system was not suitable for such a task and neither could she mold it so it became the type necessary for it. The Kuronuma's medical specialist carried a specially made formula within the structure of the black water, medicinal herbs that helped speed healing processes or minor antidotes to neutralize common poisons.
"Find the closest medical-nin and bring them here immediately," Saori ordered.
The Ito shinobi left them hurriedly.
"We should wake him," Saori suggested. "If he continues to sleep, he will weaken faster."
Mio agreed and started her attempts to do so, calling out to him endlessly. He did not react for a while and suddenly, as if he were only sleeping and not on the verge of death, he opened his eyes. Slowly, blinking and focusing on her face.
He saw her, she knew he did, and his lips parted. He formed incoherent words in a strings of whispers, but none she was able to decipher. Despite that, she held her ear by his lips and listened. She distinguished few words in between, noting he struggled to form a complete sentence with her name thrown in without the usual disdain.
"Sp-Sphere," she heard.
Mio drew back. "The sphere? Yours?"
He nodded slowly.
"Nishiki has…it…"
He glared at her accusingly.
"I did not have the opportunity to hide it," she snapped, hurting herself in the process. As she bent over with an arm wrapped around her stomach, she made a realization and snapped forward once more, staring down at him. "Nishiki has the sphere!" She reached forward, unconsciously placing her hand on his cold wrist. She felt him move beneath her light clasp. "Do you hold more power or does Nishiki?"
His fingers grazed hers.
"You?" she assumed.
Struggling, he parted dry lips and let out a pained breath. "Y-Yes."
"You are certain?"
With a slight nod, he gave her the affirmation she needed.
The Ito shinobi burst into the room with a Kuronuma in tow. She recognized the younger girl as one studying under one of the medical specialists on the mountain. She had not been with the other Kuronuma in the Waterfall Country, leading her to believe that Murakami Keishuu and the Kuronuma under his command were also in the Earth Country. She never thought she would see the samurai mobilized, but she might today.
Mio rose to her feet only to feel her leg bend and her face twist into one of pain.
The Kuronuma girl rushed to her side, holding her up with gentle hands, and called out to her with a stricken voice, one that showed her the hardship she had endured—expressing all that she had been absent for when My. Hyōga had been attacked. Under different circumstances, Mio would have taken the time of ask her for forgiveness for leaving Mt. Hyōga without the Climate Sphere to protect the clan. She regretted leaving, believing that she would be able to take the Fate Sphere from Ayuka. If she had never gone, Musashi, Okimi, and Enya would have been alive. Everyone that died on that day would still be present, and together they could have done more than a quarter of what their clan used to be could.
"You must hurry," Saori urged, still holding the bloody bandages against the wound on Tobirama's chest.
Mio held her arm out, stopping the Kuronuma medic as she took a step forward, reaching for her supply bag. "Wait."
Everyone stared up at her in shock.
"I hate to take this type of risk without proper confirmation, but if we allow Nishiki to activate the Universe Sphere—"
"He has the Universe Sphere?" the Kuronuma girl gasped.
Mio nodded. "At this moment, Tobirama has more control over the Universe Sphere than Nishiki, but as long as he's wounded and weakening so is his hold of the artifact. However, if he dies now—"
"No!" came Saori's surprising protests. Everyone swiveled around to face her. "Too many people have already died! No more!"
"If he were to die with more claim to the sphere than Nishiki, the sphere would reject Nishiki and trade his life for Tobirama's," Mio finished. "He would be revived."
She had no complete understanding of the notion when her grandfather had caught up to her minutes after having left the Uchiha's territory to start her journey. She had an idea where she had wanted to go, someplace with a large market to ask for a glassblower, but she had to plan the minor details. She had to travel unnoticed. She had plenty on her mind.
Shin had called out to her. There had been no preamble. He had simply said, "When two guardians share a sphere, the one with a stronger hold over the artifact is the successor, the one losing power is the predecessor. It is supposed to be a clean break, but a predecessor can challenge their successor to reclaim their sphere. However, Kiyohime implemented laws if such an occasion arose. The first law was that it was forbidden for a predecessor to challenge their successor unless the sphere is rightfully their own. The second was that if whoever held the most power were killed, the sphere would automatically trade the survivor's life for the one who perished."
Mio had given him a hard, confused look. "What?"
"I wanted to tell you something interesting before leaving," Shin had replied with a grin.
"Should you not be stopping me?"
"Oh no, I believe in you. Go save your future! "
Mio had turned a beet red and had completely forgotten his story as she had become engrossed in overanalyzing her proclamation that Madara was her future. She had had an embarrassing first hour, overthinking her words and wishing she had simply described the relationship as a mutual attraction because that sounded normal. Going on and calling a man her future had various implications she had never considered. She had spoken the words because she had wanted to explore what came after with Madara.
In those thoughts, she forgot her grandfather had even been with her. She remembered them earlier at the sight of Tobirama. The memory flooded back in.
She sank back to her knees beside him and grabbed his hand, staring firmly at his wan face. "Can you trust me?"
Weakly, he inclined his head. He had no choice either. She imagined he had his reasons to want to stay alive.
The tower shook violently, knocking the Ito shinobi on his backside and Saori to the floor. Mio leaned forward to cover Tobirama's body when a wooden beam broke from the ceiling and came falling on them. The Kuronuma girl attempted to intercept it, but when she moved, she was thrown to the ground by the aftershock.
Powerful winds were howling. Several cut through many areas in the building endangering their lives. The tower let out a screeching sound as it started to tip forward, having broken apart somewhere. Everyone slid down the slanted floor and hit the wall. The combined weight of everyone broke the top half of the tower.
"Shugosha-sama!"
The last thing Mio remembered doing was grabbing hold of Tobirama's body and attempting to position herself in a way she could cushion his body. She remembered a hand grabbing hold of her arm, pulling back, and saw Saori seconds before a small golden idol hit her across the head.
Remnants of the top of the tower pinned her to the wreckage that cushioned her from the fall when she regained consciousness. There was something strange about the air, something electric that sent a shiver down her spine. A horrible pain shot through her arm, alerting her to the fact that the fall had broken her arm. She let out a pained sound as she tried to lift herself from the rubble, sensing a pulse that left her staggered.
Mio searched her surroundings and noticed movement underneath the rubble. She spotted Saori's gray clothing nearby and part of the Ito shinobi's face near her, eyes snapping open. She found Tobirama buried a few feet from her and tried to remove the debris that had fallen on top of him when she heard a familiar voice shouting orders.
Madara.
She would see Madara again. Good. She did not want to die without seeing him again. She was starting to acknowledge that her wounds were more severe than she thought. If they weren't treated, she would die.
"There!" Madara shouted. "I see Mio!"
"She is going to kill you for breaking your sphere!" Yayoi told him. "You should let me handle her! I can let her down gently."
"Shut up and focus!"
Mio wanted to curl up and cry at the sound of that, but the powerful winds she had experienced could only be explained by acknowledging they were techniques conjured through the Nature Sphere. She hoped Yayoi was lying about the sphere breaking because that was impossible, though if it were true—and judging by the tenor in Madara's voice, it was—there could be unforeseeable consequences nobody was equipped to face. She prayed it wasn't. All the spheres were important.
"I see Saori!" Izuna called back. "There!"
"Forget Saori! We need to get as far from here as possible!" yelled Yayoi.
"Go ahead and warn as many people as possible!" Madara ordered.
"Of what? He activated the sphere! We don't know what that does exactly!"
The sphere activated? That explained the electricity in the air she supposed. Everything was changing.
"Just go!"
"STOP!" Mio coughed violently after yelling, hacking up blood. It was no use warning anyone. If it already happened, it would do what it does and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. That spoiled her plan to use Tobirama's death to kill Nishiki.
She heard everyone come to a rushing stop atop the wreckage. She tried to raise her body enough to turn onto her back, but she had no strength and fell back against the lumpy, broken surface beneath her.
Madara cursed beside her and her heart sped. She bit down on her dried lips to stop herself from crying out as he carefully tugged her and laid her on her back, one of his hands cradling her neck. She blinked up at him, a ray of sunlight blinding her for a quick instant. She smiled at the sight of him. Few cuts and bruises and a little blood on him, nothing in need of immediate worry afflicted him and that relieved her.
"You look terrible," he told her.
"I don't care," she replied weakly. She turned slightly and saw Yayoi making a disgusted face down at her, giving her the impression that she looked terrible. "Yayoi, please find the Kuronuma medic. Tobirama is buried under here too, he's badly hurt—"
"You're badly hurt!" Madara reminded her.
She ignored him, continuing. "Help her heal him. You cannot let him die."
Yayoi nodded and disappeared from her sight.
She would give Nishiki the benefit of the doubt. The objective had been gaining control of the Time Sphere. She wanted to believe that he would not make the artifacts disappear, but he would have complete control over the other spheres. Tobirama could be pivotal in defeating Nishiki in the new world if they remained linked through the Universe Sphere. She needed him to survive.
Madara ripped the Time Sphere from his neck and held it before her. "Take it. It won't let you die."
"What about you?" she asked weakly.
"I have the Nature Sphere," he answered.
"…That you broke."
His expression said it all. He broke it and he felt no shame over doing so.
Mio reached for it, numb fingers touching the cool surface. She did not have the power to take it back, but it comforted her to feel it. The sunlight caught in the glass and it shone beautifully, the mist spun restlessly. She watched it spin until the mist turned a violent red.
"It is time," she said and closed her eyes. It was time.
"Mio," Madara called strangely.
"Thank you for saving me," she told him. She was elated. "Thank you for finding me."
"Mio."
She heard him shout for Yayoi. He held her tightly in his arms and his soft voice reached her, deep and rich. His breath brushing against her skin. She enjoyed the sound of his voice and thought that she wanted to hear it, low, at her ear. Only his.
She was too tired to stay awake and succumbed to the darkness.
The new world came in like a shadow. It crept in slowly and before anyone was aware, it had already settled.
xl: PEOPLE ARE DYING LEFT AND RIGHT!
I'm having a "hide your favorites" moment. So, please, go hide them. Hide them from me.
Who am I kidding? Everyone that has died has been planned from the start. I think only one person that was supposed to die didn't when she was supposed to. Maybe there's still hope for all your remaining favorites?
Universe Sphere world next chapter (out on the 27th). I figured I shouldn't leave you hangin', so this is why I posted earlier than I normally would, not because I finished the 50th chapter like I was supposed to. I haven't. It's been giving me lip, but I probably will tonight. I will not rest until I finish writing these chapters! DX
Thank you a Wiccan, wanderfab, Sieben Nightwing, Loteva, and Kettobase for reviewing!
Thank you everyone else for reading!
New preview is up at my LJ.
Also, I dreaded writing the last chapter and this one because of Shin. Any thoughts? I think I might write up something in LJ for anyone curious about mine.