Fracture

In the middle of the night, when the creeping sound of crickets lingering about in the cracks of wood and brushes of grass subjugated the quiet night to their playfulness, three knocks stole the air from the never-ending chirps. They felt forceful, oppressive, and frantic to those who lay asleep. A startling abruptness. Still injured, Shin and Kyou Kai instinctively grabbed their swords and readied to unsheathe them at a moments' notice. Shin took the left side, and Kyou Kai the right side, as they approached the door with absolute caution. The whisper of a familiar voice, however, ended their wariness.

"Shin! Kyou Kai!" The voice called out in whispers. It was So Sui.

Shin slid the door open and peaked out. So Sui was standing in front of three horses, two with other riders on them–Seki of the Hi Shin's Blue Stone Tribe alongside a younger member of the unit.; and to So Sui's left was Ryou Taiga.

"Lord Shin! I'm glad you're alright!" So Sui created a fist with one of his hands and pushed it into the palm of his other. "Is Lord Kyou Kai with you?"

His question prompted Kyou Kai to make herself seen in the doorway behind Shin. There was a brief hesitation in So Sui's eyes as he adjusted his usual vision of the vice-commander to fit what he was currently seeing, which was more or less simply a more effeminate-looking girl than what anyone was used to seeing. Though, as different as her clothing made her look, her eyes and stature were undoubtedly belonging to the second lieutenant of the Hi Shin.

"How's the force?" Shin asked.

"I don't know if anyone was able to follow us or not, so we must be hasty. Please, my lords, we must leave, I don't wish to involve these people," Shin moved away from the door to gather his things, as did Kyou Kai, while So Sui continued his explanation, "And I don't know how the force is. At the moment, we've been running around skirmishing with the attackers as a unit of 500. Before we were separated, I saw Karyou Ten with En and Gaku Rai; there was something about heading to the nearby castle, and I don't know anything besides that," Kyou Kai was tying her hair up once more and took the time to redress herself in the other room as quickly as she could, while Shin merely took the time to attach whatever armor he had, "we haven't had many losses, and our battles have been relatively small encounters; but it stands that they've successfully diverted us away from being able to regroup. Part of the issue is that whoever is leading these units are purposefully using ambush tactics that require minimal input from their forces, allow them to hide away from us, but also continue to observe us."

"That sounds like…" Kyou Kai didn't finish her sentence, though they all understood what kind of 'tactician' might come up with such non-standard tactics.

"You're right. We've seen a few of them lingering among the soldiers. It's impossible to say who hired them, or what exactly they're after; but if routing us and trying to minimize their own casualties has anything to say about it, then my guess is that they're after the leaders of the Hi Shin and nothing more– that's to say you're at the very top of that target list, Shin."

"I feel a bit honored. To think that the same people who tried to go after the king would try their hand at myself, must be a testament of all my hard work in gettin' my name out there."

Kyou Kai raised her voice, "And what if they're actually after me? I told you about the Shiyuu, didn't I? Maybe they found Yuu Ren's body and are coming to kill me. If that's the case, then what's happening to the Hi Shin would be my fault."

"That's always a possibility too. As is the possibility that you're both targets or, as I already mentioned, the leadership of this unit is the target."

"And who would be targeting us in our own country."

"Who else but your own countrymen?"

Shin had an idea of what So Sui was implying, "Someone from the court?"

"If the Hi Shin suddenly disappeared for several days, Kanyou would hear about it and investigate it. As we're under the command of General Teng's forces as a reserve unit at the moment, he would also become suspicious, wouldn't he? So, why haven't we seen anyone show up?"

Shin was quiet. Kyou Kai spoke up again, "You think someone is waging an information war to get rid of us?"

"Organized within our own borders and able to hide seemingly any trace of what's going on here, and not to mention this fact above all others: Shin, haven't you been referred to as the 'friend of the king'? The friend of a king, an independent army capable of crushing foes both inside and outside of the State of Qin, and led by a leader incorruptible by wealth and faulted by his truthfulness to his own ideals."

Kyou Kai erupted from the doorway to the other room dawning her usual attire, "Looks like your popularity has backfired on you," she tried to lighten the mood noticing the weight of Shin's eyes, though he was caught more off-guard by the fact that those comical words had come out of her mouth of all people. "How did you find us?"

"We came across a merchant who mentioned the two of you were here," Shin gave a half-smile, "so we decided to send a small party to come and look for you while the others stirred some trouble."

So Sui moved out of the way as Kyou Kai exited the house with Shin following. The general of the Hi Shin looked at the horses and felt around his stomach and tried stretching in various ways. He was sure he could ride a horse, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle the jumpiness of the steed on a rigorous path.

"Take care of yourselves. I hope you didn't make too much of a mess for me to clean," Ryou Taiga joked.

"Just some leftovers and bandages, I think. Sorry for makin' ya' clean it up after–"

"I'm not your servant, neither you mine; so, while you do what you can do, I'll do what I can do."

Shin put his hand out and the two shook. "You've got a nice place here."

"I appreciate the kind words."

They marched onwards. Away from the village. Away from the people. Away from the kindness of a momentary simple life. But that was fine. Lit by the heavenly moon, they had no issues with seeing in front of them and finding a path that they knew would lead them towards the meeting spot with the rest of So Sui's group– a small, fortifiable hill just a few hours away. Shin sat with Seki, while Kyou Kai sat with So Sui, and the other member of what had basically become a five-man wu group rode on his own, who was a relative rookie who had been with them for a couple of months.

Trudging through the forest, the man with the ears who could hear all, Seki, leading the vanguard of their three horses, suddenly called for them to halt. In front of them, not very far away, but somewhere in front of them, out in a clearing beyond the trees, there was a group of people. Who they were he could not tell, however. It was not very far away from their supposed meeting sight, so it may have been some sort of a frontier post in front of the hill where the Qin and unknown forces were potentially at a stalemate with each other, which was within the parameters of their predictions.

"Do we try going around? I don't think we should risk Shin and Kyou Kai here– especially if they have those assassins around. There's no telling what might happen," Seki voiced his concern.

"Sneaking around might be difficult. If there's a post here, who knows if there are posts all around? Besides, with this moonlight, there's not much we'd be able to sneak away with through these areas while on horses, and Shin," So Sui looked at the tired looking Shin on Seki's horse, "isn't in the condition to walk very far, much less creep through grass and bushes; but, we might not have a choice but to find a long way."

Kyou Kai unmounted herself from So Sui's horse, "I can fight."

So Sui unmounted as well but tried to grab her shoulder to stop her from walking into the clearing, "Do you really think that's a good idea, Lord Kyou Kai? You're not in the best condition either."

"I'm better than I was yesterday and the day before. That's enough."

"That's the spiri–"

"No, Shin," Kyou Kai turned her head towards him, and her words stopped him from unmounting from Seki's horse, "Just this once, let me protect you from your arrogance."

So Sui finally grabbed a hold of her shoulder, "Don't you hear yourself? Aren't you being just as brash as he is."

"What's wrong with that?"

"You're holding this as a personal grudge, aren't you?"

Silence.

"You are. Because they're from your clan, you think it's your responsibility?"

"Because they're from my clan, I know how strong they are," she pointed her sword to Shin, "and they will kill you in your state." No matter how strongly he overcame his enemies in the past, and how strong he was to continue to overcome his enemies in the present, Shin was still learning moderation and knowing when to stay out of the ring. "Even as I am, I will win. I will fight them and I will win. I defeated the Shiyuu," she seemed somewhat out of breath, as though she was pouring every ounce of her soul into her words without raising her voice too much, "you sit there and you wait. Your chance will come."

Kyou Kai never had the words to have an outburst as such. She made small remarks, she teased him, she yelled at him and called him names; but here, she had words to bury themselves as roots deep in Shin's heart. He opened his mouth to respond, but he wasn't sure how to. He didn't know what words were correct to respond to her with. But he understood her, he thought. Though he understood, and though he did not feel left out, his eyes still stared at the ground in a dejected manner. Then he held out his fist. He trusted her. That was enough for now. He just had to trust her.

"So Sui, stay with Shin. Seki, me, and–"

"–Sou Jin–"

"–Sou Jin will sneak over to them. Protect him if anything happens."

So Sui crossed his arms, "That's been my job the whole time." He let go.

Seki led as the trio of himself, Kyou Kai, and Sou Jin in that order. They kept themselves low to the ground as they moved forward to the encampment. As they steadily came closer to what seemed to be a small encampment of soldiers, Seki and Sou Jin confirmed that they belonged to the group that were hounding the Hi Shin and bore no flags or symbols of allegiance. The group seemed to be alone and unaware of the three approaching them. Four sat around the fire–two with swords, one with an axe, and another with a spear–while two others stood beside one of two tents and spoke to each other. They, too, wielded spears. Though the Qin group could not see any others there was no telling if there were more housed inside of the tents. Kyou Kai went ahead first and signaled for Seki and Sou Jin to take the two spearmen. She quietly unsheathed Rokyu Sui.

She came up to the fire as hidden as she could be, but the guards opposite of her attack noticed the slight glinting of her sword in the light of the fire. As he stood up and began to unsheathe his sword, his mouth opening as if he was going to yell about the oncoming attack, the frightful speed and power that Kyou Kai possessed proved to outmatch even his reactions. Within mere seconds, the two who sat closest to Kyou Kai were struck down with the force of an impartial lightning. The third, who was to her right with his left side facing her, quickly moved to unsheathe his own sword from his hip, but he too was no match for the furious speed that dismissed him from the battle. And the final soldier, the initial soldier who had seen her, was felled without even being able to make a sound.

Seki and Sou Jin had taken care of the two spearmen in the meantime. No one came out of the tent, and there wasn't even a sound besides the crisping wood and embers from the fire. Sou Jin and Seki stood their guard and entered one of the tents but found nothing of interest inside. Kyou Kai took to the other tent and slowly draped the cover to the side with her sword to peer inside. It was dark and unlit inside, but she could tell that there was no one occupying the space. In that case, then, the six soldiers that had greeted were the sole members of the attachment that was positioned out in this clearing.

"Lord Kyou Kai!"

She exited.

"Isn't this..?"

It was. The marked headband of one who belonged to the decrepit clan of fools that she once did.

Her eyes widened, "If none of these soldiers were– then–" Her stumbling words were cut off when she saw Seki's head turn towards where they had come from, as if he had suddenly been alerted of something that neither she nor So Sui could hear. Their legs propelled forward, far faster than their thoughts could form coherent words, and they ran as fast as they could towards their left-behind comrades.

...

Shin felt the horrible bloodlust of someone nearby, no more than a few steps away from himself and So Sui. He chose to beat down his instinctive reaction to unsheathe his sword and stand on guard and instead wait as the feeling of death loomed closer and closer to them. So Sui, who was to Shin's left-hand side, didn't notice the threat initially; but seeing Shin's heightened awareness, he too went on guard.

Shin "How long's it been since you joined us?"

So Sui "About two years, right?"

Shin "Ya' think I'd keep track of that?"

So Sui "Aren't you supposed to?"

Shin "Two years, three years, one year– don't change nothin' about your role."

So Sui "You didn't have that opinion when Lord Ten first joined."

Shin "That was different."

So Sui inquired more with Shin as he noticed bits of movement in the brush from his peripheral vision, "New lieutenant, you let me help; but a new strategist, and it wasn't until your back was against the wall that you finally let her."

"She was a girl–"

"As is Lord Kyou Kai."

Shin continued, "who happened to be somewhat of a child friend. Can ya' blame me for not wanting to risk the chance?"

"But she had the guarantee of a school of thought from Kanyou. She studied for it. Lord Kyou Kai proved herself to you long before you had the chance to make an opinion of her; but how were you expecting to let Lord Ten prove herself? That just sounds like you were trying to protect her."

Shin prepared every muscle in his body for the eventual explosion of power that he expected would course through his body while trying to not make his caution obvious, "I was. But I guess chaining her away from what she thinks she can do is… hypocritical."

"A little bit."

He wouldn't allow So Sui to protect him regardless of his injuries. Two hiding in the grass in front of the clearing made their presences known and themselves lunged at Shin. With absolutely no time to spare, Shin extended his arm over So Sui and placed his hand on top of his chest and then sent him backwards with a push as Shin's right leg exerted force on the ground behind him. In the meantime, his right arm rose above his shoulders and grabbed his sword. The general had crossed swords with one of the assassins and avoided a strike from the other using the curvature of his wrist guard to deflect it. Although they had crossed swords, Shin pushed hard into the enemy with his one-armed hand, and his strength physically pushed them with their feet planted into the ground; and then, as he pushed more, he suddenly changed the angle his sword was pushing with and moved his body closer to them. Expecting him to continue moving forward, they backed up slightly and spun around in order to get a hit on his side, but by then he had changed his target to the other assailant on his left and followed through with his changed angle to push against them. Although the first assassin he had locked blades with had found nothing to strike from their position, they moved forward again to push while his side was open, and his attention was being kept by their ally. To both of their surprise, however, his instincts dictated to himself that he retreat a few steps back and block the side which he had no vision of.

The three of them halted and kept their guard up around each other. The left-side enemy took a look at So Sui, who had gotten up and was ready to join the fight, and moved to attack him; however, Shin's quick responses proved to be far more receptive of their fighting style and speed than either of them had anticipated. His constant duels with Kyou Kai which had rendered him able to fight against similar-thinking opponents despite having never won a duel with his vice general, he thought. His heart erupted into flames as his situation became clear to him.

"With how much of a monster Kyou Kai is, I honestly expected more; but you don't have anywhere near her beautiful flame," he aggravated them.

They spent no time engaging with Shin in conversation, and soon: three shiny swords, and three figures, appeared as silhouettes before the eerily dark sky– the moon hanging opposite of them, and the stars twinkling as though the heavens was watching their duel unfold. Their bated breaths subsided, and a blanket of calmness presided over the area as they held off in a stand-still. The two assassins began their dance, the dance of the Shiyuu Clan, to end the fight with the general as quickly as possible. As they danced, he moved to attack; but one moved further to the left, and the other further to the right: now he'd have to pick one or the other to focus on, to try and eliminate quickly, and then turn to the other who would already be in that trance-like, monstrous state he had witness so many times before. He was not afraid. So Sui, who was momentarily forgotten by the assassins, attempted to pincer one from their rear; but their attention to their environment and speed meant that he stood no chance of sneaking up on them.

When the Kyou Kai group was first alerted of the sound of fighting, they began a full sprint back towards where they had left the two younger men of the group. Despite this, the distance between them would still take full minutes for the more heavily armored Sou Jin and larger-built Seki, and at least half of their time for the nimbler Kyou Kai, to fully traverse the distance back.

Arriving at the scene, she noticed that the three horses were perfectly fine, and So Sui had been wounded across the front of his left leg, but he wasn't worried about it and instead called for Kyou Kai to go after Shin in the woods. Kyou Kai's footsteps caught his attention, and he turned around towards her, then slowly walked to her with a limp. It was clear that the wound he sustained was bothersome enough that it limited his mobility, though it seemed that the issue was mostly in regard to pain as it did not bleed heavily. As she stopped to quickly take care of the wound on his leg, he stopped her. Quickly moving through, she noticed that So Sui's sword had been stuck into one of the assassins who now lay dead on the ground.

If not for the fact that there was a bit of lingering trauma from the fact that she had almost lost him just mere days ago, she may have had more faith in his abilities to defend himself against assassins like her. Even in their sparring, though he never won, he had been improving time and time again. The fear of losing what was important to her began to torment her mind as she stopped and listened; ran, stop, and listened; ran, stopped, and listened; turned around, ran, stopped, and listened– every single moment was a fight against the existential dread that churned her stomach into a molten sludge of liquid slopping around to create an even more mixed and uncomforting splintering of pains that would then shoot throughout every nerve in her body in a constant agonizing reminder that he wasn't here. It went against the cool-headed Kyou Kai who once fought on the battlefield with nothing to lose but the opportunity for revenge. It went against the Kyou Kai who put every ounce of her thinking in the middle of a battle into being as logical and level-headed with her actions as possible. Aimlessly running every which way in an attempt to find some sort of lead towards Shin seemed like a hopeless endeavor, but as she started to calm herself down little by little, her impulsive actions settled, and her wandering mind found itself at a point where it could rest for just long enough to get herself together. Soon enough the markings of sword slashes on trees and blood caught her attention. Hidden away by the darkness of the night, being barely illuminated by what little of the moonlight could peer through the leaves of the trees, she found herself following the trail with heightened caution yet quick steps.

Leaning up against a tree, breathing heavily, but alive, was Shin. The body of another assassin lay lifeless a few steps in front of him, and he was full of cuts that went around the circumferences of his arms, even a few on his face and what seemed to be his chest, but he was without a doubt alive and kicking as hard as he could. Most of Kyou Kai's worries in the moment dissipated, and she let out a heavy sigh, but no doubt had he exhausted himself. He overexerted himself without any doubt in the world. If there was one thing that could be pointed at and be called a "fact", then it was this. He stood there just shaking and breathing.

"They were," he spoke between breaths, "stronger than I was expecting," he rubbed sweat off of his forehead with his free arm, "but nothing compared to you." He gave one last heavy breath, then pushed himself off of the tree and sheathed his sword. His walk had a pronounced limp at first, but he stumbled forward as he lost his balance and strength. Kyou Kai caught him before his body flew forward enough to hit the ground, and he was able to catch himself with his other leg as she acted as a balance for him. "Even after all that work ya did for me, I–"

"You're alive, the rest of it doesn't matter," she turned around and had him place his arm around her shoulder so they could walk back to the others, "but you idiot, why did you come into the forest? What if they weren't the only ones? What about So Sui?"

"He got the one, didn't he? I just kept gettin' pushed back and struggled to keep up for a little bit."

"You're too reckless on your own." He didn't get it.

Slowly walking. Underneath the sky of trees. Growing out and reaching. Higher above, into the heavens, than man. Spreading outwards, the leaves that sprouted and bloomed from their bases; and the twinkling little dots that sprinkled the night sky. Then she looked up. In the middle of what seemed like nowhere, across the horizon boundary of tree and sky, she was caught by those tiny, hypnotic colors. Her eyes caught those hypnotic colors. They ensnared them and held onto them.

He took glances from the corner of his eye. He tried to keep himself conscious. She was mad, he knew that. But he saw the sparkling in her eyes. If he could just see it, just for a little while longer, then he could keep himself awake for just a little while longer.

Splinter

Watching from atop their own hillside, without so much as lighting a single fire of their own, the five outlier Hi Shin soldiers saw the fires on the hill begin to burn all throughout. It was there that the Hi Shin under So Sui's command had taken a defensive position; and below them, the fires of what was assumed to be the enemy were also lit. They had been at a standstill for about a day, but nothing besides small skirmishes and arrow fire seemed to have happened in the time that they had been separated. It was unknown whether the Hi Shin had a numerical advantage, or if the enemy assassins were among the units perched at the bottom of the hill; but the Hi Shin had no worry with their stable defensive positions on the high ground.

Shin didn't see any easy openings with just the five of them. Sure, the units on the hilltop would come down to help; but finding a spot to get into that kind of a position seemed difficult. "How do you expect us to get in?"

"We don't," So Sui threw Shin's idea out of mind instantly.

"Then?"

"Just after dawn, they're going to launch an attack and try to break out. I have my best aides in charge of things up there, so I'm certain that they'll be able to work to the best of their ability."

Kyou Kai eyed him, "Not the most confident plan."

"The only other plan we could think of was using a smoke signal; but if there are any of those quick-footed princesses down there, they might get here long before anyone else can. And I wasn't supposed to have been here, but saving this one," he lightly hit Sou Jin's arm, "ended up getting us all confused."

"My bad."

"We're just waiting for that, then?" Shin asked.

"Not much else we can do," So Sui confirmed.

"If I could just move a little bit better–"

"Don't do 'what if' scenarios, Shin, you'll just nag yourself into feeling bad."

As the wings of dawn began their flapping, breaking through the night sky and erupting into the brilliance of colors, Seki turned his head to his right, "Something big is approaching."

The group looked in the same direction and waited to see if they could find what would be producing such a rumbling that even they now started to feel it. Eventually, with the rays of the sun peaking over the horizon and illuminating the tops of the trees with their might, they noticed the dust cloud that was approaching the hill. In a disorganized but quick fashion, those on the ground below started to move out and away from the hilltop; however, this was not before they themselves began to be chased by the cavalry coming down the hill. Though they lost a number in the ensuing chaos, the group of five simply waited for the discord of the situation hidden beneath the leaves of trees to stabilize. Far and away, long gone now, the enemy had left; and what was initially just a rumbling finally came into the clearing just before the hillside on its southern side. Hanging high above, they bore the flags of the Hi Shin. With the knowledge that the main group had somehow found its way to So Sui's unit, and was finally converging the entire Hi Shin back together again, the five on their little hill above descended. It was all over so soon it was as though it had never happened in the first place.

As Shin and Kyou Kai were heading up the hill they had just been watching to meet with Karyou Ten, who they were told was leading the army in Shin's absence with En and the other aides, the former Shiyuu Clan member noticed that Shin was almost trudging. It was not a tired gate that was overcoming his abilities in the past few days from exhaustion and the pain of his injuries, as it had a different slowness. In the years since she first met him, Kyou Kai watched as Shin developed himself. Little by little, he changed. He didn't do what he did for childish idealisms anymore, nor did he necessarily do it simply for the sake of others. The mountains of bodies they climbed were not to be ignored, nor to be allowed to weigh too heavy on the mind– their acknowledgement wasn't always enough, but the weight of their value would crush any person who thought too long and too hard about them. Thus was the sin of war, and the curse of a military leader who exempted themself from being a simple warmonger.

When they reached the peak of their summit, Karyou Ten was already waiting for them. She, too, noticed the uneven gait in Shin's walk, but she told herself not to comment on it for now. His eyes drifted up and met hers.

"I'm glad to see you're alright," she said.

"I was more worried about you. How is ol' Ten doin' without me protectin' her?"

"Don't shift this away from you, Shin. Who knows what kind of trouble you were getting yourself into," she looked at Kyou Kai, "or whatever else."

Kyou Kai looked away from her timidly. Karyou Ten laughed, "What's that about?"

Kyou Kai continued to look away from Karyou Ten's soft, yet oppressive gaze. "Nothing…" Kyou Kai muttered.

"I'm gonna go rest, if ya' need me. By the way, how did you–"

Shin was interrupted by Karyou Ten answering his unfinished question, "I figured a way of anticipating what those guys coming after us were thinking, and from there deduced where you might've been. I had no idea the two of you were cut off, though, so this happened to be a lucky chance."

"I see," he said, turning his head and leaving.

They watched him leave, and though a few aides were nearby, Karyou Ten suggested that the two of them move to her tent to speak privately.

Sitting down next to each other, Kyou Kai explained what had happened over the past few days, filling her in on only the most important details and skipping over their little bit of leisure time, Karyou Ten took a few mental notes. "It looks like we came to similar conclusions–about the assassins and the Prime Minister. In that case, there's probably nothing we can do but win in these circumstances. I received a letter from General Tou while we were figuring out what to do: a certain someone said that it would all be covered up if it failed, but that the Prime Minister's time was teetering on the edge of collapse. All we're going to end up doing is leaning it a bit more over that edge, supposedly."

"How can you trust a source like that?" Kyou Kai asked.

"I didn't get it at first, but the seal on the letter was broken. I thought about it over and over, and then tried different ways of reading it. Eventually, it came to me that it was an encoded message. Someone in the capital other than Ei Sei's camp is on our side. Isn't that a little bit heartwarming?"

"I'm not sure if I'd call that 'heartwarming'. Besides, winning is easier said than done when you're seated in a room of people looking up to a man on a golden throne."

Karyou Ten sighed, "He's not a bad guy."

"You and Shin both put your souls into fighting for his dream, I know. But the rest of them–what else is there to say?"

"And Shin?"

"What about him?"

"What's the matter with him?"

Kyou Kai laid on her back, "I don't know. One minute, he looks like that; and another minute, he's putting his life on the line without a care in the world for himself."

"It's not that he doesn't care for himself, he's just arrogant."

"That's the same thing."

Karyou Ten laid down too, "Is it?"

"He's our gender. That kind of arrogance is no more than stupidity."

"Yet you can't help wanting to help him."

"So what?"

"And thinking about him."

"So do you."

Karyou Ten stretched her arms out, "Deflecting is pointless."

"Then am I just supposed to sit here and praise him for his stupid actions?"

"Do you remember the boy you first met?"

Kyou Kai thought for a few seconds, "He's not the same."

"He's not. He's changed. He's still changing. Just… be there, by his side."

Kyou Kai turned her head to Karyou Ten, "You too."

"Obviously, but you… he sees you differently."

"He cares for you a lot."

Karyou Ten rebutted, "He's just treating me like a kid. He's pushing back less, but he thinks I'm weak. You heard what he said."

"He just wants to protect you. Doesn't mean he sees you any less."

Karyou Ten faced Kyou Kai, "Still… I lived with him for a few years, went to tactician school, learned to command the Hi Shin, and then he still has the nerve to be that overprotective?"

"He couldn't do any of this without you," Kyou Kai stated. "It's not an obligation or out of necessity to his cause. He just cares. Even broken down he'll stand up for you or me, or So Sui–anyone. But you're important to him as a person, I've seen him talk about you."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the little sister."

She sounded disappointed. "Are you happy with that thought?"

"As long as–"

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You want to be by his side, not stand behind him, don't you?"

Karyou Ten didn't speak. She thought.

"You didn't come here, and stay here, as one of the soldiers Shin charmed, did you?"

"Neither did you."

"What was that about deflecting?" Kyou Kai teased.

Karyou Ten giggled lightly. "We're calling him a fool, but we're the biggest fools."

Kyou Kai laid her arm out to the intersection between her and Karyou Ten, and the latter responded by placing her hand on top of Kyou Kai's open palm as they both looked up to the ceiling of the tent. It was quiet, and peaceful; but for the sound of soldiers on the outside joking around, trying to get some grub in, or checking their gear. However heavy their footsteps were, the light sound of nature around them provided a soft glow of peace. They both had the words about him deep in their hearts, but neither knew the correct way to say them. Likewise, neither clearly understood the camaraderie that they were longing to share, or the friendship and bond that they desired to have; yet nonetheless, they lay open palmed in a light embrace.

…

Somewhere on a recently cut-down tree, Shin was sitting alone. He had already gone and replaced his armor and worn-out shirt; but otherwise, he sat contemplatively and tired.

"Yo, Shin."

The man in question looked to see who was calling him. It was En, his foremost and oldest lieutenant since the days of the Hi Shin as a 100-Man unit, "So, you're alive."

"If it wasn't for Miss Ten's quick thinking in reorganizing the unit up here, I might not be, heheh~" En gave a sarcastic laugh, "I might just owe that girl as much as Bi Hei owes Kyou Kai."

"There ain't a chance that's true.

"Maybe. Anyway, how are you feeling, Lord Shin?"

Shin didn't answer right away. En felt the hesitation. "Tired."

"Tired?"

"Yeah. Tired."

"You slept like a log after Sai, but I don't think you ever said you were tired."

Shin rolled his eyes, "I was exhausted then. I'm tired now."

"Did anyone ever teach you that those words mean more or less the same thing?"

"I know, but they feel different, don't they?"

"I suppose… but even so, I don't understand you any better."

Shin pouted, "My body's all beat up, but I feel fine. It's my head that feels tired; like I been thinkin' too long."

"Then have you?"

"Why else would I be sayin' that?"

En put his thumb and index finger up to his chin and stroked it a little bit, as though he was a certain wise philosopher from the old State of Lu. "Then what have you been thinking about?"

"Things."

"That's still not very helpful."

"..."

"I'm aware that you're not interested in talking about whatever you might be feeling. However, consider this, Lord Shin: it's not unwise to relinquish those feelings onto others every once in a while. My wife would tell you–your masculinity doesn't come from how well you can bottle in your emotions."

Shin gave him a weird look.

"Just let your words out, somewhere. Anyway," their lack of conversation stirred an awkwardness in En's stomach, "I'm going to… go…"

"Yeah, see ya'."

En scurried away.

"Talk about it, huh? What exactly am I s'posed to say?" Shin mumbled to himself.

When Shin returned to the unit, he found out that Kyou Kai was resting in a temporary tent Karyou Ten was initially using for her and her aides to use for discussing logistics and their succeeding movements; but as Kyou Kai fell asleep, she herself broke into a slight fever. Although not an ordeal that required extreme attention given how she seemed to be handling it, they decided it would be best if they discussed in another tent and left her to rest for as long as she could until the time came to march to the castle that Karyou Ten had recently been camping at.

Shin sat beside her on his knees in silence during that time. He simply watched over here, and it's not as though he was necessarily needed by the strategist or others at the moment; after all, he too was technically wounded and shouldn't have even been out and about in the first place (though, he did not have much choice mere hours ago).

The best he could do was watch over her and root for her in his mind. He didn't need to root for her, he knew she'd be back on her feet in a day or so; but it was the least he could do, he thought. She spent all of those days taking care of him, and herself, and worrying about being attacked with just the two of them out there; and then she had to take on the physically exhausting role of moving the both of them with her own injuries. She saved him out on those fields countless times. But he wasn't sure what he had done for her.

Karyou Ten entered and sat beside Shin. They didn't look at each other. They just stared down at Kyou Kai.

"Hey, Shin. Are you okay?"

"En asked that too. There somethin' on my face sayin' I'm not?"

"Well, yeah: your face."

Blink. "Really?"

"You're easy to read."

Stare. "Maybe since I've known ya' for so long."

"No, just generally you're easy to read."

Disappointment. "So?"

"We're leaving soon, so we should get her on a cart soon."

…

…

"Right."

…

"How are you?"

"Worn out. Managing those guys on my own is tough. Plus, they can be annoyingly overprotective. I thought you were strict with me, but those guys–"

"–care. Right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm glad."

…

"D'ya think Hyou is smilin', right now? Is he happy with me? Did I live up to his expectations?" He finally opened up a little bit, mostly due to En's nudging.

She didn't know Hyou besides the stories Shin would tell her of him, so she also didn't necessarily think it was right for her to comment on the topic. Maybe she shouldn't either way. "I think Hyou would be happy enough knowing you had people around you who supported you."

"He had bigger dreams than that for both of us."

"He gave his life for his dream. He passed it onto you. You molded that dream into something else, in part. You've come this far not only in his memory, but on your grounds. Hyou might be up there all proud, but I'm prouder of you than he could ever be," her face brightened in color, though he was not looking at her, so she felt no need to hide it.

"This isn't a game, ya'know. Both you and," he leaned forward and gently placed his hand on Kyou Kai's head, "her are more deserving of praise than anyone I know. Against all odds."

"We've come this far because of you."

Shin's hand gently felt the texture of her hair, "You'd come this far and go even further with or without me."

"There'd be no reason to. I believe in Sei's dream, but I'm not on the battlefield for that reason. Kyou Kai isn't here just to fight in wars, either. We're both chasing things, just like you. And just like you, there's not much to chase individually."

Shin moved himself back into his sitting position. "Then what are you fighting for?"

"Ha. Ha," what an interesting 'laugh', "What makes you think I'm so eager to say?"

"Brat."

"Slant-eyes."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Ri Boku's assistant," she puckered her lips anticipating some sort of counteroffensive.

"Figures."

There was none. She stood up. "We're more than just allies, Shin. Lean on us."

"Isn't that all I do?"

"We can't make you walk, but there's no shame in helping you walk."

He took a final look at Kyou Kai, and then finally looked directly into Karyou Ten's eyes.

They dazzled a brilliant blue, just like Kyou Kai's green pearls did. Their fires roared. He understood that much. He didn't get it, but he understood.