Chapter Eighty-Five
A soft sigh exhaled from Tomoe's mouth as she leaned into the closing door of what used to be Kaoru's host lab. Akira had flown her to the roof of Megumi's laboratory, and then reluctantly left her to return to his clan. Coal black lashes swept closed, and her heart tripped over itself. Both of them had been reluctant for him to leave, and his sweet kiss goodbye had tempted her to go with him. Letting him go had been just as hard as she thought it would be, but she no longer accepted the demise she imagined Sōjirō had planned for her. She would see her Akira again, and live up to the high regard he held her in.
Steadied and ready to face her path head on, Tomoe left her suitcase at the door before walking straight towards the cooler Megumi kept in the first room. Inside of that cooler were many vials, but Tomoe was interested in only one. A very specific one that she planned to take with her. The door to the small refrigerator came open with a soft release of suction, and she carefully clasped the top of the bottle of insulin to withdraw it from the divided shelving.
"Not that one."
Tomoe jumped involuntarily, and jerked her chin towards the inner door of the lab. Leaning against the trim, Megumi stood with crossed arms and five twitchy tails.
"Megumi-sensei. I can explain."
Huffing in exasperation, Megumi pushed away from the door and marched closer.
"Not that one." Repeating herself while emphasizing each word, Megumi snatched the bottle from Tomoe's hand and stuffed it back into the cooler. Tapping a nail along the line of vials, she picked up a different bottle closer to the inside of the door and offered it to Tomoe instead. "That curse will require something a bit stronger than what I used on Ken-san."
"Megumi-sensei…" Accepting the bottle slowly, Tomoe stared intently at the fox in front of her. "How long have you known?"
"Give me some credit, dear." Running one claw against Tomoe's cheek, Megumi smiled just enough to show off her pointed canine. "I've known since the beginning. After all," Lifting her voice dryly, she settled onto one of the stools nearby. "I've had plenty of time to study the curse on that ogre we still got downstairs. I could recognize it in my sleep by now. I was hoping you might play along a little longer, but in light of the current situation, I understand if you want to be free of it."
"Not yet." Tomoe's firm response pulled a sly grin onto Megumi's face.
"Good." A ball of fox fire was conjured in the vixen's palm. It morphed into a tiny fox reminiscent of the chibi drawings Kaoru had done, and jumped from her hand to Tomoe's shoulder. "Say nothing else, and take this with you."
"I can't. It's not safe." Protesting immediately, Tomoe feared that if Sōjirō detected any power but her own, he might follow through with his threats to harm Kaoru earlier than planned.
"Which is why I'm sending it with you." Snapping back, Megumi tsked and stood abruptly from the stool. Taken slightly aback, Tomoe clicked her teeth together and fought a smile. "Let it hide in your left eye. That way I can keep an eye on what you're doing."
The unspoken truth hung between them, that it would also allow Megumi to make sure she was safe.
"Yes, Megumi-sensei." Bowing her head graciously to accept her explanation, the coal demon covered her mouth briefly with the back of her hand. She was a fool to ever think that she was alone. Not when she had such caring people around her. Releasing enough of her power to fully activate her coal ability of absorption, her entire body turned black as a result. Tilting her head towards her shoulder helpfully, she waited patiently as the tiny fox fire climbed into her left eye. Briefly, her black eye socket flashed with the institution of a foreign power, and then settled. Even inside of her, Tomoe could not feel the fire anymore. It would be nearly impossible for anyone else to know it was there.
"Make me proud, now."
Echoing Megumi's sly smile, Tomoe walked to the door and gathered her luggage.
"Yes, Megumi-sensei."
After she was gone, Megumi sighed and stretched.
"Well. I can't just let the children do all the work."
X
"You're tense, boy! Loosen up!"
Growling briefly in frustration, Kenshin forced his muscles to relax. Already his shoulders and neck were sore from being tense, and his knuckles ached from where he had gripped the Kagu-tsuchi too tightly. Unfortunately, he found that trying to weaken his suppression of the Kagu-tsuchi's power automatically caused an opposite effect on his body. Most likely because it felt unnatural, and his mind screamed that it was dangerous. There was a reason the Kagu-tsuchi was forced to reside within a vessel, and that reason was a damn good one. It was absurd to purposefully try to ignore it.
Steadying his breathing, Kenshin focused again on the very tip of the blade while at the same time trying to keep his hold on the hilt light. Internally, he attempted to slacken the pressure of his power off of the presence of the Kagu-tsuchi that was inside of his core. The manifestation of the sword was only a piece of the Kagu-tsuchi's power, after all. Its main body slumbered deep inside of its vessel.
Somewhere far off on the mountain, a distant rumble vibrated the ground beneath his feet. The still air of winter echoed the sound long after the trembling quieted. Dropping the sword to his side, Kenshin glanced over at Hiko curiously.
"How many trees are they cutting down?"
Since late morning, the mountain air had broadcast distant booms while the ground had shaken under them. After the first time, Hiko had explained to a worried Kenshin about the task he had given to the komainu to cut down a tree for firewood. The second time, Hiko had assumed that they had determined one tree wasn't going to be enough. By the third time, the water dragon had quietly decided to investigate what was going on. He had promptly discovered that the human girl's aura was with the komainu, and that they weren't cutting wood. Hiko had thought it best to keep that knowledge from Kenshin for now so that he could focus on his own task.
"They must have found some dead trees that needed cleared out. Pay it no mind."
Skeptical, Kenshin lifted the sword again and held it with both hands. An unnatural thing on its own as he was used to holding the hilt with one hand instead of two. Controlling his breath, ignoring the cold, Kenshin fought to maintain patience as he worked out how he was supposed to accomplish something never done before.
Except, that wasn't actually true. Arai Shakku's journal had explained how one of the first vessels had worked with the Kagu-tsuchi to rid the world of other beings who wished to destroy it. Closing his eyes, a light frown deepened the lines around his mouth and forehead. According to the journal, the vessel had earned the cooperation of the Kagu-tsuchi in order to do so.
But how? The only time I spoke with the Kagu-tsuchi was in a dream. I can't control what I dream about or when I dream it.
Glancing off to his right self-consciously, Kenshin gauged the distance between himself and Hiko, who was well back inside the tree-line. The clearing they had chosen was large, in order to avoid any accidents, but they had been there long enough that Kenshin had melted nearly all of the snow in the area.
"Kagu-tsuchi-sama." Casting his voice low, he turned his attention back on the Kagu-tsuchi and spoke as respectfully as he could. "I need your help. There's someone I need to protect. Someone very important to me. To do that, I need to borrow some of your strength. A little is fine. Just… please help me protect Miss Kaoru."
As the words faded in the still grove, an intense feeling of peace relaxed his body. Far down deep inside of his core, a surge of power coursed through his chest, down his arms, and into the tips of his fingers. It was the power of pure flames. Fire so untainted and raw that his body felt cleansed by it. Washed up in the wonderous energy, his mind went blank, and he saw only what he needed to do. Lifting the Kagu-tsuchi slowly over his head with both hands, he stepped forward and brought it back down in a clean, strong arch. At the halfway point of the swing, untainted white flames burst from the tip of the sword and clove straight through the mountain, like a hot knife slicing through butter.
Standing frozen in place, Kenshin stared through the four-foot wide, mile deep gap now carved into the mountain and swallowed. Loose rocks rattled down the new canyon all the way from the top of the mountain, and light now touched where light had never been seen before. Out the other side, he could see the distant horizon.
"… Maybe a little less." Violet eyes strained to one side without turning his head, and he saw Hiko marching angrily at him. "Definitely less."
X
The white-hot wall of flames cutting through the mountain faded slowly from existence as Kaoru and the komainu stopped what they were doing to watch. Currently tucked against Kaoru's chest from their latest game of tag, Ayame's still pointing finger lowered.
"Wow! Ken-nii's flames are so much stronger than the last time he was here."
Chewing her lip, Kaoru tilted her head pensively.
"Are you sure those were his? Kenshin's flames are usually violet-colored."
"Yeah, but who's else would they be? Ken-nii's the last fire demon in the world."
"True…"
"Sis! Master needs us!"
Kaoru turned to find Suzume running towards them through the trees. Despite her words that suggested their game was over, Kaoru switched Ayame quickly to one arm, pivoted her body to the side, and deflected Ayame's punch into the ground. The hit rumbled the entire mountain and echoed like cracking thunder through the air. Grinning cheekily, Suzume giggled.
"You're better at hand-to-hand combat than Nii-san. You never let your guard down."
The compliment perked Kaoru up, and she beamed while sitting Ayame down on her feet.
"Thanks!"
"It took him months to catch me, too. But you got me the first day!" The elder komainu joined in, but her input pursed Kaoru's lips on a mock frown.
"I hope that doesn't mean you're taking it easy on me."
"Not at all! Ken-nii took so long because he actually chased after me." The absurdity of the suggestion made Ayame laugh, but Kaoru was more impressed that Kenshin was fast enough to keep up with the self-proclaimed Ayame the Swift.
"Did you say Hiko-sama needs you?"
They nodded as one, and Kaoru wondered quietly how they knew.
"I'll go on ahead to see if it's urgent."
Ayame disappeared into the trees in the direction the white flames had appeared. Curious, and a bit excited to see Kenshin, Kaoru tagged along with Suzume at a slower pace. The evergreen trees blocked most of their view as they drew closer, and it wasn't until they broke the clearing line were they able to witness the destruction Kenshin had inflicted upon the mountain. Beside her, Suzume let go of her hand to hurry ahead and join her sister with Hiko, where both were assessing the damage. Left to walk in a slow daze as she stared in shock, Kaoru stopped after only a few steps and tilted her head back, and back, and back to peer the remaining distance up the mountain. The clean cut was surreal, especially when standing at its point of origin.
"Holy shit!"
The exclamation was slightly accentuated in the still air, and everyone automatically turned to look at her. It was, however, the expression on her face that caused Hiko to finally chuckle. A bit embarrassed, Kenshin cleared his throat and quick-jogged back to her.
"Did you do that?!" She pointed incredulously, and he placed a hand on her elbow to push her arm back down.
"Uh…" He glanced over his shoulder, and then closed his eyes to smile forcibly. "Unintentionally."
"Whoa. That's nuts."
There was such a look of wonder on her face, and no fear whatsoever. In fact, deep sapphire irises sparkled even as her eyebrows stayed lifted. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he was again amazed and touched by the knowledge that she had never feared him or his power. Not once. Most everyone, for almost all of his life, had feared him simply because of what he was, but not her. She had so many reasons to fear him. So many reasons that were valid. Instead, she looked at him with awe and even love. Glancing again at the other three to make sure they were occupied and looking elsewhere, Kenshin tilted her chin towards him to steel a kiss.
He had meant for it to be a quick, chaste kiss, but somehow not being able to kiss her for a day had left him feeling deprived. It was impossible for a fire demon to dehydrate, as they did not require water for survival, but he wondered if this was what it felt like when other races mentioned dying of thirst. Her slightly moist lips were warm and responsive against him, and a soft little moan alerted him to her own enjoyment over the contact. It was hard, but he had to force himself away in order to avoid the temptation of deepening the connection to still new, but now familiar, avenues of heat. Dark lashes were still closed when he pulled back, but fluttered open sensually to gaze up at him through the thick curtain of their half-moon shape. Caressing a hand down her jawline, he smiled a little wickedly in the face of her flushed features.
"Be careful with that expression, Miss Kaoru."
Self-conscious, she licked her lips, looked down, and elbowed him gently.
"You're one to talk."
Still grinning impishly, he gathered her hand in his, pressed a light kiss to her knuckles, and then led her over to the others.
"Have you been with the komainu all morning?" His voice betrayed that he was now in a good mood.
Distracted still by his touch, Kaoru pressed her lips together and nodded instead of answering verbally.
"We've been playing tag."
"You have?" Intrigued, Kenshin wondered what an actual game of tag looked like with the komainu, and not the hellish training version of tag they had used on him. Chuckling, he tweaked her nose. "Have you won any?"
Now near enough for their conversation to be overheard, Suzume turned and piped up happily.
"Kaoru-san won the last three games!"
Looking away from the new divide in his mountain, Hiko frowned pensively.
"Did she? How much of your strength did you use?"
"All of it, of course." Suzume giggled and hugged Ayame when the older sister nodded in solemn agreement.
"Kaoru-san told us not to take it easy on her, so we didn't." The girls looked pleased with themselves, and Hiko appeared impressed. Kenshin, however, absorbed the knowledge in shock.
"W-what?" Twisting Kaoru to face him, his hands checked her over almost frantically. "Are you hurt? That shaking all morning, was that from you guys playing tag?! You could have been killed!"
"Stop." Squirming and trying to not laugh as he unintentionally tickled her, Kaoru fended off his hands and backed her lower body away in an attempt to escape. "I'm fine."
"We wouldn't have killed her!"
The komainu pouted at him angrily, but Kenshin's attention continued to rove over Kaoru in search of any obvious injuries. Left with just her face cupped between his fingers, Kenshin looked adorably concerned. Cracking a rather prideful smile as she decided to brag, Kaoru grasped his wrists in her hands and straightened.
"Relax, Kenshin. Nishi-nii's punches are about as hard as Suzume's, so I'm used to deflecting them."
"How did you catch Ayame?" Cutting into the conversation, Hiko was more interested in hearing how she had accomplished something a human had never done before. "The idiot's barely fast enough to keep up with her."
"Oh, there's no way I could beat her in a foot race." Kaoru waved a hand in the air to dismiss the mere suggestion. "But I've been training with Kenshin, and I've learned how to read his movements and intercept him."
"Hmm." Holding out an arm, Hiko beckoned her to his side. "Unfortunately, the komainu will be busy now mending the mountain to prevent any rockslides." Dark eyes glared sideways at Kenshin while Kaoru hesitantly stepped closer to the water dragon.
"Whoa, you can do that?" The girls grinned and nodded happily. "How long will that take?"
"A week, perhaps. There's a storm coming as well, so that will delay their work." Hiko's deep voice was gruff, but gentler when he spoke to her. "The boy will also be busy training to learn some better control."
"I see." The drop in her stomach knew before he said anything else that he was kindly trying to explain she would be left alone.
I like the thought of the freedom, but I guess I don't actually like the thought of being left out.
"That being said, you should come train with me."
"Wait a minute…" Kenshin protested almost immediately, but Kaoru's eyes had brightened considerably, and she spoke over him without a moment of hesitation.
"Yes! Please!"
"Awwwww! You're taking Kaoru away now, too?! That's not fair, Master!"
"Silence." Their whining quieted, but the two lion-dogs crossed their arms and pouted at his stern frown. "Once you're done here, you will join us." This perked them up instantly.
"Yay!"
"Hey!" Ignoring Kenshin's continued attempts to interject, Hiko wrapped an arm around Kaoru's shoulders and turned her to walk out of the clearing.
"You'll need a sword first. A wooden one, if I'm not mistaken."
"That's right." She looked happy that he had guessed correctly. "You wouldn't happen to have one I could borrow, do you?"
"Hmm. You should really have one of your own." Rubbing his chin as he thought it over, Hiko corrected their course to the right. "I know the perfect tree to carve one from. I'll make one for you that's strong enough to block sharpened steel."
"Really? That sounds great! But won't it be really heavy?"
"No heavier than a regular wooden sword. Perhaps even lighter."
"Wait. Kaoru." Trailing after them, Kenshin looked flustered by everyone's disregard, and his objections were growing weaker as a result. Accepting defeat, Kenshin sighed in resignation as Kaoru chatted excitedly with Hiko about how honored she was to be training with a dragon. Huffing fire at a frost covered branch, Kenshin looked away so he wouldn't have to watch her smile at another man besides him.
She never said she was honored to train with me.
X
Violent humming buzzed the air as Misao's wings beat to keep her aloft over the mangled and dead bodies of the entire Insect Clan. Looking very much like a large vehicular crash, the gigantic body of the centipede leader had been cracked like a crab leg and lay broken on its side. At the centipede's head, stood Aoshi, with his one white horn and sparking, ice blue eyes. Two swords were bare and bloodied in his hands. Scattered about the remainder of the now dead clan, was the Oniwabanshū. They were comprised of those loyal to her grandfather, as well as kijin members of the Ogre Clan that answered to Aoshi.
Alighting on Aoshi's shoulder, Misao sat and counter-balanced her weight by intercrossing her fingers around one bare upraised knee.
"How long do you think it'll take the Emperor to find out this was us and not the fire demon?"
"It doesn't matter." Aoshi's flat voice answered even as he took count of his fighters. "They were largely beaten before we even arrived."
"It's weird the fire demon didn't just wipe them out. Why let them live when he knows what they're after?"
Aoshi didn't answer, but turned to his left instead in anticipation of another.
"The barrier is keeping us from going up the mountain." Okina appeared next to them, and his report was grim. "We'll have to wait for the fire demon to come back down."
Aoshi nodded, and then lifted his voice for the others.
"Clean up the bodies. We need to buy some time."
The Oniwabanshū saluted, sheathed their weapons, and set to work.
Watching them drag bodies away with a level of disinterest, Misao sighed softly. At least her baby sister was safe. The call from the Daitengu had been a welcome relief after the disaster that had happened during their escape from the palace. Making a face, Misao sighed again. Looks like she owed that little brat brother of hers a debt for getting their sister away from their father. The news that Yahiko had also escaped was good, though. It would be a nice bargaining chip when they were finally able to talk to Himura. Getting him on their side was necessary for the revolution that would soon occur.
The abrupt and torrential roar of fire jerked every living eye towards the mountain, and Misao jumped into the air as a vertical wall of white flames appeared on their side of the peak. It cut upwards into the thick rock formation, and even from their position at the base of the mountain, they could feel the heat warm their faces. When it had faded, an empty space cut the mountain almost clean in two.
Excitement swelled inside of Misao's chest and she grasped Aoshi's finger when he held out a hand for her to land on.
"We have to get that fire demon on our side."
"Hmm." A soft, non-verbal agreement was her only response, and she pursed her lips at her now ex-bodyguard. As they were no longer in the palace, with no intention of ever returning, Aoshi had been freed of his position. Ever since their exodus from the Sky Palace, though, he had grown even more silent than before.
"Come on, Aoshi-sama. Lighten up. Once I kill that father of mine, you'll be free to take over. Aren't you excited at all?"
Okina's dark eyes shot a sharp look at her and then up at Aoshi. Placing her carefully inside the collar of his jacket, Aoshi zipped it up a little tighter.
"You'll catch a cold, My Lady. You should stay where it is warm."
Muffled by the weight of the jacket, and fighting to free herself so that she could breathe, Misao popped her head back out into the open and harumphed.
"It's not even that cold. You worry too much." Her cheeks were stained red, however, and she dropped her chin on the hard metal of his zipper to fight a smile over his concern.
Troubled blue eyes of hard ice held Okina's gaze for a moment before lifting again to study the now missing portion of the mountain. Misao's desire for revenge had made her strong, and her strength was part of the reason why Aoshi had fallen in love with her. It was also the main reason why he knew they could not be together.
Killing a dragon meant killing a sacred being, and that came with harsh consequences. Aoshi had known, since he was young, what his ambitions would require, and he had prepared himself for those consequences since the moment he had decided to pursue his ambitions. To kill a dragon meant death. Not by society. Not by his peers. Death by natural law. Misao knew this. He knew she knew it. Others of his clan had even suggested he let her take that consequence onto herself, since she was so willing. It would leave him alive to help bring back stability in the aftermath of their revolution.
Aoshi would rather die ten thousand times over than allow his pixie princess to suffer the agonizing death caused by killing a dragon. Even, or especially, when that dragon was her father. No one else would be allowed to kill the Sky Dragon. No one but him would take on that suffering. He had already decided, and he would not be swayed.
Nodding his head briefly at Okina, he turned back on the dead centipede, readied his weapons, and chopped it into more manageable pieces for disposal.
X
Love Song #2
Kaoru: Woman You Got – Maddie & Tae