Chapter 8: Rewards and Consequences
After Yuki's encounter with Towa that day by the river he and Rain left the town where they had been lying low for a few days pretty quickly. He had told Rain the moment that he spotted Towa alone in the woods that they shouldn't try anything, but Rain was convinced that Yuki was trying to spare someone that he had mistakenly grown attached to, so Rain decided that they would try and abduct Towa in the meantime in place of Moroha who they had failed to capture the night before and just like Yuki had told him that was a big mistake. Yuki even had to save Rain in the end by posing as an old man and putting his life on the line.
Afterwards when the both of them were able to walk away from their conflict with Towa with their lives, Rain then told him that they really didn't need the descendants of the dog demons anymore for their plan to work. His enemies would come to him just fine without the lives of their children being put at risk so they should just proceed with a few adjustments to their existing plan.
Yuki was glad that Rain had a change of heart. Moroha and her friends were the only people who had ever accepted him for who he was even if his true identity had been a lie. He had presented himself as human to them, his own truth of being half demons and that very weakness of becoming a human for two midnights had always been the thing that he hated the most about himself but Moroha and her friends accepted him back then and treated him with respect and after having some more time to think about how everything went down he decided that that mattered to him. Moroha and her friend's weren't responsible for the sins of their parents and Yuki didn't want to hurt them.
Towa's appearance that day also confirmed to him that. Moroha really hadn't planned to disappear the night at the well and even her friends were worried about her. Flashes of the time that he had spent with Moroha and her family haunted his thoughts almost everyday as of recently. They were a real family and they loved her in ways that he would never know in his life. If he had been the one responsible for taking her away from the people that she loved then maybe he did deserve to die at the hands of his enemies. He thought over and over as two weeks passed and he prepared more and more for when he would inevitably be face to face with his enemies until one day, Rain told him about what Moroha and her friends had been up to.
"Onigumo." Rain said his name one day after they had made a deal with yet another demon who was skilled in necromancy and all things dead.
"Tokotsu and Jakotsumaru are dead." Rain said seriously as they made their way back to what they were calling home for now. Why Rain had chosen now to tell him the news of his allies passing was beyond him but his demeanor didn't change as he took in the news.
"I see." He answered curtly. Rain had taught him to not hold attachments to his allies, even long term ones. They were all just pawns to be used until they could no longer benefit one another and when that usefulness ran out Yuki would be expected to kill them before they got the chance to betray him.
"It would seem that they could not muster the strength needed to remain an ally of mine." Was all that Yuki said as he looked ahead.
"Indeed." Rain looked at him critically. "Do you want to know who slayed them? They even made a grand declaration to personally go after all of your allies until they eventually reach you and take your life themselves?" Rain said seriously and Onigumo's face hardened he knew what he would have to do to whoever was trying to undermine what he was trying to build in the name of his father. It wasn't uncommon and he would be ruthless just like he had always been. Exactly how Rain taught him to be.
"Who dares to openly declare me as an enemy?" He asked scarily calm and Rain looked satisfied.
"The descendants of the dog demons. The children that you deceived they're out for revenge and have vowed to slay you themselves." Rain said and Yuki's heart stopped beating.
Had she truly never come back? His demeanor changed for barely a second but it was enough for Rain to notice and look at him with disappointment.
"Go on, ask what's on your mind. Since the slightest mention of them now changes what you know has to be done after making the threats that they have."
"How many of them are there? Were there only two who threatened me?" Yuki asked, now hiding his emotions once again.
"No, there are four of them. The one in red is leading the charge on your life and has openly declared you her enemy right as she cut off Tokotsu's head."
"She slayed Tokotsu?" Yuki gasped. Rain took his gasp as surprise but what he was feeling was complete and utter relief that she had returned to her loved ones safely.
"Yes, she has a vendetta against you now." Rain said his tone, getting extra serious as he stated the next part of his sentence. "Onigumo, that girl has got to die at your hands. Do I make myself clear? If you allow her to live after making such an offense everyone will call you weak and your allies will turn against you. You will not be the heir that your father wished you to be if you do not kill her."
"I understand Uncle you worry for nothing. The next time that I see her will indeed be the last." Yuki said seriously and Rain looked satisfied with his answer.
Rain knew that Yuki's loyalties would always lie with him. The only person he could trust in this world. He couldn't have raised him better.
XXXX
"What do you mean I slept through the celebration!" Moroha exclaimed. The last memory that she had was of touching the rainbow pearl and now she was back at the village lord's villa being filled in on what she missed while she was out and listening to Towa brag about the grand feast. No, the whole celebration that she had blissfully slept through. Apparently once they returned to the village before dawn they were all hailed as heroes and the village lord even wanted them to join his army, he was so impressed by them defeating both Tokotsu and his son before the end of the night and having such minimal injuries.
The group declined joining his army of course but he did get Hisui and Setsuna to agree to train his men on some different demon slaying tactics while they were staying there.
"You touched that Perl and it amped your demon abilities to 100 but you couldn't really handle it for more than a minute so you slept all day yesterday." Towa said. "I tried waking you up." She added nonchalantly.
"You should have forced me to wake up. I was so excited to eat and on top of that there was a party too." Moroha whined, "I can't believe you three would do this to me. Are you even sure that's exactly what happened with the pearl? You weren't even there." Moroha huffed and Myoga jumped onto her shoulder.
"Lady, Moroha, it's true. I saw it with my own eyes. You changed in an instant and defeated Tokotsu before passing out. I don't think that you should keep that pearl, only being able to utilize its abilities for one minute could leave you in a bad situation." Myoga warned.
"Hmm..." She pondered before waving him off. "Killing your enemies within a minute is pretty impressive. If I can beat whoever I'm fighting in one minute then the rest doesn't matter too much. You're worried for nothing grandpa Myoga, maybe you should go check on everyone back home."
"I'll be off in that direction soon, by the time I get there your parents should be back as well and I'm sure that they'd love to hear about what you've been up to in their absence." Myoga said.
"Go ahead, it's not like it's a secret." Towa said while Moroha bit her lip it wasn't a secret but she had hoped that all of this would be over within time before her parents would return. She was definitely going to be grounded for life once they found out that she left while they were away but if she decided to start her dream of becoming an adventurer early and prolonged her travels she would never have to face the consequences of her actions if she stayed gone long enough. Maybe Towa would stick with her too, for a while after they find Yuki. She smiled.
"Yes, you can tell them." Moroha said as she came to a good conclusion on what she should do about this. "I'll write them a letter explaining everything once we're finished and I'll just continue out here as an adventurer once we find Yuki." She smiled. She couldn't get punished if she didn't go home. Maybe they would forget if she waited long enough. She thought and Myoga only sighed.
"You girls are the definition of trouble. Do you know how dangerous it is going after Onigumo?" Myoga asked.
"Do you know how dangerous it is to make yourself our enemy?" Towa countered. "If Yuki really has decided that he wants us dead then he's got another thing coming." Towa said.
"Yuki doesn't want us dead, This has to be his Uncle. Rain, this mysterious family member of his must be his uncle that he told me about. Yuki would do anything to make him happy so he wouldn't tell his Uncle how he really feels. I just don't think that his heart is in this to the same extent that Rain's is anymore." Moroha said.
"We'll figure it out, I liked Yuki and I don't want him to be our enemy either, but if it turns out that he's just as much of a monster as his father was you need to realize that we'll have to take him down even if you don't want to." Towa said and Moroha sighed.
"I know."
XXXX
Hisui and Setsuna were taking a stroll through the village, since they started traveling, they rarely had much alone time together anymore and the frequency of their stolen kisses and secret moments became less and less as it was harder to find privacy amongst their group as of recent so today the two of them got up early and snuck out of the village lords villa to go to a little restaurant and eat breakfast. They had gotten paid one and a half gold ingots worth of coins for bringing back Tokotsu's head so the group wouldn't have to worry about money now for a while. The meal was nice but the privacy that came with alone time was even better as they now left the restaurant.
"I wonder if Moroha is awake yet. We really shouldn't let her use the rainbow pearl if it's going to put her out like this." Setsuna said as they walked hand and hand through the village.
"Myoga did say that the side effects shouldn't be too harmful to her as long as she got her rest. I wouldn't worry too much." Hisui said.
"I'm sure she'll be disappointed to learn that she slept through the entire celebration, especially the part where the general's chin hit the floor at the sight of Tokotsu's head." Setsuna said with a small smile and Hisui chuckled.
"Towa will certainly enjoy bragging about everything and telling her everything that she missed." Hisui squeezed her hand.
"I missed having you to myself." He whispered.
"That bar maid from earlier had ought to hear you talk like this, maybe then she would've stopped eyeing you so much back there." Setsuna said casually as if this were just a normal topic of conversation, making him pause.
"Setsuna, did that make you jealous?" Hisui asked. He recalled back when they first started seeing each other how she would get upset whenever certain village girls back home flirted with him but she would never voice her feelings or even tell him that something upset her. Eventually they talked about how it made her feel when some girls would interact with him in ways that seemed innocent to Hisui but was more intentional than he thought especially after he had ended his engagement to princess Aya.
Once the two of them finally talked about everything they agreed that he would be more cautious in his interactions with other girls who had feelings for him romantically and she would be better about communicating her feelings with him especially when she was upset.
"I was not jealous, but it did annoy me that I caught her staring at you so many times when you're so obviously with me." She said and Hisui smiled a light blush creeping on his cheeks. He loved hearing her say things like that. He was completely hers and she was his.
"Maybe I should write your name real big on my forehead so that everyone knows we're together now." He teased which made her laugh.
"That would be unnecessary." She said.
"Nothing that makes you happy is ever unnecessary, my love." He smiled.
"Towa was right, I really do have you completely under my thumb." She teased and he smirked.
"Hey don't pretend that the feeling isn't mutual." He countered.
"Would you like me to write your name across my face as well my love?" She quickly teased him again before discreetly kissing his cheek without anyone else in town around them seeing as they walked.
"Stop kissing me in public, you troublemaker. You're supposed to be the calm one in our group." He tried his best to sound serious in his remarks but she saw right through him only giving him a coy smile in response.
"You're right if I keep kissing you then you'll lose all of your senses won't you?" She laughed.
Setsuna's whole life her mother had praised her for being so strong and understanding especially when being compared to her sister who couldn't hide what she was feeling even for an instant. Setsuna never lashed out like Towa did nor was she as expressive as her sister when she was feeling strong emotions even when they were younger, but in all actuality Setsuna just wasn't as verbal when she was upset and tried to figure out her feelings alone because that's what she thought her parents wanted her to do. So naturally this alfooness translated into her romantic life with Hisui and she didn't know how to handle it at first. Once Hisui realized how Setsuna was he made it clear to her that she didn't need to hide how she felt around him ever and that he always wanted to know when she was upset about anything no matter how small it was. It was okay to talk to him about the things that bother her because Hisui didn't want Setsuna to be anything other than herself when they were together which always made her feel so incredibly at peace with him.
"You know what you're doing." Hisui said. "I would never have you put my name on your face anyway. Your father would kill me before I could even introduce myself." Hisui said and Setsuna smiled.
"Mother wants you to meet him once we return, but you don't have to if you don't want to. I'm sure that my affairs are of no concern to him. Mother just likes you." Setsuna said and this made Hisui smile.
"Of course I want to meet you father even if you don't think that it's necessary, you love him so I want to make a good impression." Hisui said.
"I never thought that I would be so excited about being official with you like this. Our private moments and our times alone together have always been enough for me but family introductions even though we've known each other for so long already. Those just give me new kinds of butterflies."she said honestly and his heart started beating faster.
"Let's go on a walk in the woods." Hisui said and she laughed lightly at his eagerness to get out of public view.
"Oh my, are you implying that you might want to do something ungentlemanly in the woods?" She teased softly.
"If we go back to the villa. Towa and Moroha will definitely interrupt us and I need every moment alone with you that I can steal before we have to leave. I don't think that you'd enjoy us being interrupted either." He said, the last part of his sentence making her heart pound faster as they both walked faster to get to the forest and a thought crossed her mind that she hadn't had time to ask about back since everything that happened with Moroha and Yuki.
"How did Kin'u take the news that we're together after she caught us that day?" Setsuna asked and she felt his hand go stiff for a split second before he quickly answered.
"She's happy for us." He lied. "Gyokuto and Kohaku know about our relationship as well but it's fine they know that we're planning on getting married and they're supportive. Once we go home, I'll tell my parents and we can discuss our engagement more." He said with his signature smile that alway got her and she squeezed his hand in return. She loved him and she loved that smile even when she could tell that he was lying.
Setsuna usually never pressed him if he didn't want to talk about something. This didn't happen often and he typically never lied to her. Hisui knew that she was there and that she could be safe for his worries just like he was for her and he deserved to have privacy until he felt ready to talk to her but this time felt different because she felt that the reason why he was lying concerned her and how his family felt about their relationship.
She hid how she felt well like she always had all she did was squeeze his hand as he finished his lie and let him lead her to the forest where they hid behind a tree and he kissed her until she lost her breath and lost herself in how good it felt to press her lips to his and express just how much she cared about him as he pulled at her hair and she held him closer kissing him with just as much passion but unable to fully enjoy this moment with him. She tried to push her feelings down but she just couldn't. She just had to know because as they were kissing the question just kept burning and burning in the back of her mind.
Why did he lie? Why did he lie?
She pulled away, breaking the kiss by placing her hands on his chest and gently pushing him away. She looked up at him seriously. "Hisui." She breathed and he immediately knew that something was wrong, his expression changing to that of concern almost immediately and he moved his hands from her hair to around her waist as he held her while giving her his full attention.
"What's wrong, did you not want me to kiss you?" He asked, his voice laced with just as much concern as his expression held as he looked into her eyes.
"No, I did, I just… I need to know why you lied to me." She asked nervously and she felt his body stiffen around her.
"Why did you lie to me when I asked about Kin'u?" She said and now he was nervous too and it was evident as he bit his lip in response and he could barely hold her gaze anymore.
"You can tell me the truth." She added. "Can't we get through anything as long as we're honest with each other?" She pleaded and he took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that would upset you." He said as he thought about how to best tell her what happened.
"You don't lie to me often so when you do it bothers me especially when I think that it might have something to do with me." She said honestly and he sighed.
"Setsuna, I'm sorry I shouldn't have lied, it's just… I didn't want you to think and worry about this when we've already crossed this bridge together. Others will come around eventually so what they think doesn't matter as long as we have each other and we know where we stand." He said as he moved his hands to her shoulders in an effort to reassure her and she sighed.
"Kin'u doesn't like me does she?" She asked calm just like she always was.
"No, she loves you. My family loves you and the girls. Kin'u just doesn't want us to have to go through the hardships of being a human and half demon in love with each other. She thinks that it will be too hard for us to handle and my uncle understands where she's coming from after being involved in the world of demons when he was younger and watching some of what your aunt and uncle and even your mother and father have gone through. Gyokuto doesn't care though and she even scolded the two of them for saying such things and I know that my parents would never think like Kin'u and my uncle. Even if they did, I love you. I chose you so please, please don't worry about what two of my family members who have never been in love a day in their lives have to say about us." He said seriously and she could tell that he met every word. Setsuna sighed in response before resting her forehead on his chest. He was right they had crossed this bridge before but the obstacles had never been family members that only wanted what was best for him and she already had long standing fears that what if what's best for him wasn't her after all.
"I do not want to be a divisive piece in your relationships with your family members." She said and Hisui quickly grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him.
"You are not!" He exclaimed immediately. "Not ever, how they feel is completely up to them and I will not let it cost me the person that I love. Tell me right now if your father told you that he didn't want us to be together, would you listen to him? Would you want me to think that I was a divisive piece in your relationships with your family members?" He asked.
"No." she stated plainly.
"Then don't think that way of yourself just because the person who doesn't understand is my sister. She'll come around eventually like I told you she loves you, she always has. She just doesn't want us to have to deal with what others might think." He reassured and her violet eyes peered into his as she thought before she spoke again.
"Hisui I love you, you know that I do and you know that I think about what it means for you to be with someone like me. Someone half demon who's years won't be as linear as yours if you ever have second thoughts. I want you to know that I wouldn't blame you for that." She stated honestly and he responded immediately.
"Hey like I said we've already crossed this bridge together. That doesn't matter to me so it shouldn't matter to you. I love you and you love me so that's all there is to it. When you say stuff like that it makes me feel like you're trying to convince me to leave you. Like you don't believe me when I tell you that you're who I want."
"I always believe what you say. I just can't help but feel terrified that one day you'll wake up and think that the people who don't understand us were right. That you'll realize that you deserve someone that can grow old with you and then choose to leave me. That is why I always let you know that you have that option. That I understand because I love you so I want you to have what you deserve even if it might not be me." She said her violet eyes looked haunted as she spoke and his heart broke at hearing her put her deepest fears into words and this was making him mad at Kin'u and Kohaku all over again because their feelings caused Setsuna's insecurities about the two of them to surface and he never wanted her to doubt him or his feelings now or in their future. He cupped her face in his hands.
"What about what you deserve? Do you honestly think that you deserve to not be with me because it won't always be easy? I deserve you and you deserve me because that's what makes us both happy. We don't need anything other reasons than that. I wish that I could show you every emotion that you've ever made me feel that would prove to you that my feelings for you will never change but I can't. All I can do is love you with everything that I have every day for the rest of my life and I will happily do that and calm your fears and your worries anytime that you might voice them to me if you let me." He took both of her hands in his now as he continued to speak and she squeezed his hands in return. "I understand that this bothers you and that the voices in the back of your mind won't quite overnight but can't we work on them together? As you said we can get through anything as long as we're honest with each other. Can't we?" He said the last part before kissing her hands and she felt tears threatening to fall out of the corners of her eyes.
What was happening to her, she thought acknowledging these insecurities and trying to stay understanding and calm were really shaking her at the moment. She couldn't remember ever crying in front of anyone in her life but now the tears were threatening to come out at any moment and she couldn't stop them. Something had to be wrong with her. She couldn't let Hisui see her like this. What would he think and how would he react? She froze at having lost almost all of her control and his voice cut through those negative thoughts that were over taking her as he looked at her softly he wasn't judging her not at all.
"You don't have to be so strong all the time, it's okay to cry if you want and you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I know you and I know your heart. We can just stand here for as long as you want until you're ready to speak or ready to go back. I'll be here with you the whole time. He said and she pulled him in tightly hugging him as tears silently fell from her eyes. Hisui was more than just her partner, he was more than just her lover, he was her home and she was beginning to understand that she was his too.
After Moroha had woken up and talked with Myoga and Towa, she and Towa decided to take a trip to the village lord's bath house which was heavenly to both of the girls after having to sleep in the forest for so long. They spent about an hour in the bath before going to buy some roasted meat from the village market.
XXXX
"I wouldn't expect Setsuna and Hisui to be back until later on tonight. Setsu left very early this morning so I'm assuming that she's off to no good with Hisui." Towa said.
"Now that I think about it they have always been sneaking off together for as long as I can remember. I think that the two of us are just dense when it comes to romance."
"Hmm. Maybe but how were we supposed to know that something had changed when the four of us have always been this way. The two of them dating didn't change anything in our group and they were always close. Now they just sneak off to trade kisses when they think we're sleeping." Towa said, making Moroha laugh.
"I guess you're right. As long as I still have you to scheme with I don't think I much mind the two of them ditching us here and there."
"Agreed, Setsu is nicer after she comes back with him too. She doesn't nag me as much when he gets her to daydream." Towa said.
"Does she ever spill the beans about what they're talking about for so long when they're alone like that?" Moroha asked.
"No, I never really thought to ask." Towa said.
"We should get her to spill when she comes back tonight. I wonder if her stone face will get all red and flustered talking about Hisui like that." Moroha laughed.
"Me too, she was getting red just talking to mom about him after being caught before we left. As her family members she's got to tell us so that we know what to avoid. A lover just wouldn't be necessary for a great warrior like me." Towa said.
"And a lover would only get in the way of the life of an adventurer. She's got to help us out." Moroha added.
The two girls spent the rest of the day exploring the village together and then being treated to yet another feast at the village lord's home where they met back up with Setsuna and Hisui who had been gone all day. After the meal the four of them went to the girls room together and went over everything that they knew about Yuki.
"According to Jakotsumaru Yuki is residing north and Rain was his most trusted ally, Rain is also most likely the uncle that Yuki told Moroha was his only family member. Rain also was the one to give Tokotsu and Jakotsumaru, Yuki's order to kill the four of us." Setsuna said everything that they had learned plain as day.
"I don't believe it." Was all that Moroha had said.
"You don't believe it but what proof do we have to say otherwise?" Setsuna asked.
"Yuki wouldn't have asked them to kill me. He didn't want me dead the night that we fought and he didn't even want to kill Towa when they met in the woods so why would he all of a sudden want us all dead now? I think that Rain guy has a hold on him and may have a vendetta against our family as well so he wants us dead, not Yuki." Moroha said.
"That would make sense." Hisui added. "You were the closest to Yuki during his time with us so maybe Rain thinks that you know something that you shouldn't know about him so he wants you dead the most for some reason."
Moroha shook her head. "He didn't tell me anything important. Just stuff about himself that I asked about or found interesting."
"Maybe you know something that you're not recalling right now." Setsuna said.
"I don't know you two are making me second guess things. I don't think that I know anything life threatening about him. We were friends and I want to talk him out of what he's doing, that's all." Moroha said.
"We became friends with him but didn't you hear what Grandpa Myoga said about him more than halfing a whole village's population. What if he really is just as bad as his father? What if he doesn't think of us as friends and enjoys being cruel. What will we do then?" Towa asked seriously.
"Destroying lives in that way is unforgivable, but if no one has ever taught him right from wrong and his uncle is telling him that he has to do this and that. I can understand how he might feel trapped into having to be cruel and having to imitate his father. During my whole time with him it sounded like his uncle had an unhealthy obsession with making him just like naraku in almost every way. So though his actions may be unforgivable if he truly wants to change and break free once he knows that there are other options I don't think that we should hold everything in his past against him especially because he wasn't always in control. Of course I'm saying all this as an if, because if I am wrong about him, believe me when I say that I'll be the first to suggest that we stop him if we have to." Moroha said and the group looked at her surprised and serious as she made a surprisingly mature decision.
The group then looked over a map of the area that showed all of the neighboring villages and properties. One location in particular was located 4 days north from them and was said to be an abandoned castle. The teens suspected that if Yuki was lying low and if what Jakotsumaru said about him residing north was true Yuki was most likely there in those abandoned ruins of the Kindo estate. They discussed this for a while longer before deciding to leave the village lord's house in three days time when they would all be well rested and ready to go.
Hisui then went back to his room and Moroha and Towa were both ready to get Setsuna to tell them everything that had ever happened during her romance with Hisui.
"Sooo, Setsuna you and Hisui sure were gone for a long time today." Towa said.
"We went on a walk." Was all that she said.
"An all day walk around this village? Come on Setsu you can't you talk to us?" Moroha asked.
"Yeah come on what's romance, like anyway?" Towa asked and Setsuna's face got red.
"Where's this coming from, why do you two all of a sudden care?" She asked.
"You just never talk about it. I can tell how much you like Hisui and how much he likes you but you never tell us anything. We just were curious, that's all. Like when did it all start?" Towa asked.
"Yeah Towa brought up a good point earlier that the four of us have always been the same so we just didn't notice when the two of you got closer because to us you were alway like that. We just want to know what we missed because to us you are so obvious now that it makes us feel dumb." Moroha added and Setsuna paused for a long time as she thought about what to say.
They didn't really talk about this kind of stuff normally but it's not like it was a secret. The stares of both her sister and her cousin got more intense as she thought about what to say and she could feel her face heating up as she caved under the pressure.
"Fine, I guess I'll tell you." She said trying to keep her calm composure and both Towa and Moroha smiled.
"I guess I have always liked Hisui but I didn't really realize until he got engaged to princess Aya. He asked me about how I saw him the night before they got engaged but I didn't understand what he was asking me until later but once I understood, I probably denied it about 10 times because I had already mistakenly rejected him and he was engaged. I only decided to tell him because of some advice that Aunt Kagome gave me. I didn't even tell her it was me that we were talking about, I just asked her what she would do if she were the one in the situation and she said that she would do anything to be with the person that she loved and if someone truly loves you that they wouldn't be happy with anyone else except for you. So it's better to speak when you have the chance so that the both of you don't make mistakes that can't easily be undone."
"You told my mom that you like Hisui!?" Moroha asked, surprised.
"No, I told her that the situation was from a book that I was reading. I didn't say that the advice was for me." Setsuna clarified. "She's really good at giving advice for this kind of stuff." Setsuna added.
"There's no way that she didn't know, I can't believe that she never told me." Moroha complained.
"Who cares you know now?" Setsuna shrugged.
"So you're really in love with Hisui, like for real, how do you even know the kind of thing?" Towa asked.
"One day I just thought about it and when I looked at him it all clicked from how we talked to each other to how he treats me, he understands me in a way that no one else does. He has always been meant for me." Setsuna said, matter of factly as if the answer was obvious.
"So is there a way to notice before it starts happening? So one might, I don't know, be able to control and prevent themselves from falling victim to such uncontrollable feelings?" Moroha asked.
"Oh so this is what this is about." Setsuna said. "You two wanted to know what it's like because you're afraid of losing control." She smirked. "Though luck knowing when to stop if either of you actually do start to fall in love because once you realize what's happening it's already too late at that point you're already too far gone and there's no going back."
Towa smiled. "Or so you think, I promise you the moment that I can no longer control my emotions I'll be ready to cut all ties no matter who it is."
Setsuna laughed. "You're funny if you think it will be that easy sis, I can't wait to see how miserably you fail at that one."
"Well I plan on living a life that never stops or stands still. Nothing can catch me, not even love if I never stop, so I should be safe. I never want to fall victim to feelings that will make me want to turn my world upside down." Moroha said.
"If you two know all the answers already, why did you even ask?" Setsuna stated.
"Just curious." Both Towa and Moroha said at the same time and Setsuna smiled.
"Being with Hisui brings me peace in a way that I never knew I needed. I love the two of you and I hope that one day you two can experience something like we have that will change how you feel. You don't need to worry about anything once you find the person that makes it safe for you to be defenseless." Setsuna said sincerely.
"You say that because you're with Hisui and you've known him for all of your life, not everyone can be supportive in that way. Had I accepted Shinji's proposal I'd be miserable right now." Moroha said.
"That's just how you know that he wasn't meant for you. I'm sure you'll know when the time comes it will just click. Your parents didn't grow up knowing each other and look at how happy they are and my mother loves my father more than she loves being alive. You don't have to know someone your whole life in order to connect with them." Setsuna added.
"This conversation is taking a turn that I didn't want to talk about. I thought that you would just tell us about your secret meetings and sickenly sweet promises that lovers make to each other. Not curse us with the hope that you want us to fall victim to the same feelings one day." Towa said and her sister smiled.
"If the day ever comes that you meet who you think is meant for you Towa, you better apologize to me for saying that I cursed you."
"On that day you better apologize to me to gain my forgiveness if your words actually come true." Her sister countered.
"Come on enough about how me and Towa will or won't feel. Why don't you spill about the secret meetings. I hope you haven't been doing anything too scandalous." Moroha teased and flashes of all the times that Setsuna had spent alone with Hisui came to her mind. All the sweet nothings, all the promises, all the times that his lips touched hers and they had fallen asleep under the stars and her face heated up.
"All we do is talk while watching the stars and then fall asleep. It's nothing too special." She lied. "I'm going to sleep." She said now laying down in her bed while both Towa and Moroha protested but she had told them everything that they needed to know she was sure that one day they would both find someone who would bring them peace in the ways that they never knew that they needed as well and once that happened they would understand why even the thought of her times alone with Hisui made her heart beat faster.
The next day the teens thanked the village lord for his hospitality and told him of their plans to leave within the next three days.
"What so soon!? I thought that you all were going to be staying for an entire week. We could even extend the terms of our deal if you would like."
"No need for that. We didn't really plan on staying the whole week anyway, we've got to keep moving if we want to catch who we're looking for." Hisui said.
"You four have just done so much for our village. I've already said it before but I would really love it if even one of you would reconsider joining my army and of course if you choose to do so I'd pay you very handsomely." The village lord said.
"I'm sorry but we still have to decline, we already belong to a slayers guild east of here so joining any other group is prohibited but I can leave our location here with you in case you ever need aid against demons again. Send the guild a raven or a letter and my Uncle will definitely send you help."
"As you wish I just hope that your training will be enough for my men to be better." The village lord said.
"They'll have way more of a fighting chance this time should they ever come across any more demons but for jobs against stronger demons like Tokotsu. I recommend contacting our slayers guild right away. That way we can handle it with fewer casualties." Hisui said and the village lord thanked him once again before he and Setsuna went off to train his soldiers for the second time during their stay.
The first time that they had gone to train the village lords men, Towa had declined to go with them as she wasn't a big fan of the general that had underestimated them when they first met so she had no intention of helping him and today Moroha had decided not to join in on the training session as well. Stating that if she needed a work out she would just spar with Towa not beat up soldiers that probably couldn't even hold their own against her younger brothers. So it was just Hisui and Setsuna training the soldiers again.
There were about 150 men and they were all eager to learn from Hisui who had gained their respect during their first session, even the general now listened to what he had to say when he talked about how best to handle different types of demons and how to position themselves to their best advantage. Setsuna simply just let him do most of the talking and corrected the men if needed once they put what they learned to the test in sparring and practice scenarios.
"You need to not look so stiff, if you go out like that you'll be picked off first." Setsuna corrected one of the soldiers who was not catching on as quickly as the others.
"And you." She said to another soldier."If your stance isn't solid you'll be killed on the spot against any real enemy."
The second man looked at her with contempt and she stared at him waiting for his response as he clearly looked offended. Her indifference in the face of his attitude seeming to get under his skin.
"What do you know anyway, aren't you just master Hisui's girl? I haven't seen you doing any combat demonstrations, just walking around like you own the place and talking down to us."
"I see, you don't respect what I'm saying because you haven't seen me fight?" She asked matter of factly.
That would make sense. She hadn't really demonstrated any of her skills since Hisui was doing such a good job of demonstrating on his own.
"No I don't respect what you're saying because you're a woman who acts as if she knows the ways of battle. All you've done is look around and make observations. There's no way that you've actually fought in battle before." The man accused and she looked at him coldly now, making him sweat a little in response to her icy expression.
"Hey you shouldn't speak to her like that if master Hisui hears you he might —."
"You two." Setsuna said. "Don't worry about Hisui right now, we're going to do a demonstration for everyone."
"What are you?"
"I'm going to make this fair." She said cutting him off again, her eyes scanning the crowd for other men that she had noticed reacted negatively to her corrections and she picked out five more of the men before calling them over to her.
"That's seven, Do you think that's fair, or should I pick more?" She asked the man who had dared to question her to begin with.
"Fair for what?" He questioned.
"Our combat demonstration?" She stated. "Would you prefer to practice this with arms or unarmed? I'll let you choose since you're all novice at this." She said.
These men were lucky that she wasn't her sister because Towa would no doubt make this a lot worse than she was going to.
"What kind of combat demonstration are you talking about?" Another one of the men that she had pulled asked.
"This guy." She gestured to the man who had stated that she knew nothing of battle. "Thinks that I know nothing about battling demons so I'd like the seven of you to show me everything that you've learned from our training sessions and come at me with everything that you have."
"Are you crazy!?" The man that she called out exclaimed. "You could get seriously hurt and then Master Hisui will get angry at all of us for hurting his girl."
"Yeah I don't want to anger a hero of our village." Another one of the men said. How selective of these men to forget that she was also one of those said heroes.
"Let's make this a better deal for you then. I'll give you an ingots worth of gold coins if the seven of you can beat me in a fight, but if I win you all have to call me master for the rest of your lives." Setsuna said confidently. She didn't really want anything in return for winning being addressed as a superior after putting them in their place would be more than enough for her.
"An ingots worth of coins!" The men repeated.
"Do we have a deal then?" She asked, she couldn't wait to put them in their place.
"Deal. We promise not to hurt you too much for that money." The one who had stated this said and Setsuna smiled.
"I need everyone's attention!" Setsuna called and everyone stopped what they were doing. "The eight of us are going to show you a demonstration."
Hisui was at her side a moment later excited that she was finally deciding to take more of an active role in these training sessions.
"And I thought that you wanted me to do all of the teaching. Do you need my help for this?" He asked oblivious to the fact that these guys had just pissed Setsuna off.
"No, I'm just going to spar against the 7 of them to help them with some problems that I saw in their techniques today." She smiled.
"Are you sure that you want to do this demonstration with the seven of them? 3 of them are of our best men." The general said. The men were all at least twice her size and everyone save for Hisui was concerned about her demonstration.
"If you say they're the best, we had better use our weapons then." She started unbothered by the general's words.
Hisui looked at her concerned, in response to what she had just said and Whispered. "Hey you're going to go easy on them right? They are just beginners." He said trying his best to save the men from being embarrassed to the max in front of everyone but she had no room for mercy today.
"Don't worry, I won't kill them." was all that she said and Hisui looked at her seven unaware victims with pity as everyone stepped out of their way and got in a suitable position to spectate Setsuna's training demonstration.
"Are you sure that you're not going to stop this?" The general asked Hisui. "The one with the silver hair is a demon so maybe she could have handled this but this girl looks more delicate in comparison." He finished and Hisui chuckled in response, now smirking like a thief.
"Trust me, you don't need to worry about her. I think that your men might have said something that made her mad, but she told me that she wouldn't kill them. So don't worry once the fight starts." Hisui said and the General looked at him as if he was delusional.
"Everyone pay close attention because I'm only going to show you this once." Setsuna said when she was ready "Each of these men have demonstrated faults with their techniques and stances. This is what will happen to you if you don't shape up and continue to ignore what Hisui and I teach and correct you on." She said and the 7 men across from her looked ready to kill her after hearing what she said but she only looked at them with indifference in response to their rage.
"Come on now, It's time to start, let's see if the seven of you can win against one girl." She taunted cooly.
They all came charging at her fast in uniform and in rhythm with each other but none of them had corrected any of the work that she had told them to do and it was all too easy for her to see the same mistakes again. She sighed as this was going to be too easy.
The fist man swung his blade at her and she dodged it easily before elbowing him in the back of his neck and rendering him unconscious while she swiftly side stepped two others who were trying to attack her and kicked a third man in the chest sending him flying far as she did a backflip and repositioned herself and the man that she kicked never got up.
"Five left." She said to the group of men that were now looking at her wide eyed as if they had all just realized how badly they had screwed up by agreeing to do this demonstration with her.
They couldn't back out now. If they did they all would be looked at as cowards not even being able to beat one girl that was half their size and she was being so arrogant too. In the way that she moved from the way that she spoke and how she looked at them. There was no way that any of them would live stepping away down.
The general looked shocked on the sidelines as well, while Hisui continued to smirk in admiration. He wondered what those guys had done to get Setsuna to call them out like this.
"You didn't say that she could fight like that." The general told Hisui. His voice laced in annoyance at the sight of some of his best men being embarrassed.
"I told you that I wasn't worried. Would you have preferred it if she fought against 10 soldiers instead?" He asked and the general only clenched his teeth as Setsuna easily took down the next man to run at her. Cutting his blade in half and then kicking the side of his head making him fall to the ground.
Next two men tried attacking her together and she countered one's blade with her own before dodging the second's attack which caused him to attack his partner before she knocked the both of them off their feet and effortlessly dodging attacks from both her third and fourth attackers. Allowing for the other two men to reset and try again.
She jumped over her current opponent and then took out the man that was running for her behind him before finishing off the last three guys in one strike over powering them completely and she hadn't even broken a sweat.
"And that's all, not bad for a woman who knows nothing of the battlefield. I suggest taking my words seriously especially if your skill level looks like that. It might just save you, your head in a real fight." She said as she calmly walked away from her demonstration and Hisui took control of the training session once again. After that Setsuna didn't have much trouble when it came to getting the soldiers to listen to her corrections and the teens spent the rest of their time at the village lords villa regaining their strength and stocking up on the supplies that they needed before setting off north, where they suspected Yuki to be.
The teens left feeling a lot better than they did the day that they had arrived as there was minimal bickering this time around and they were ready to regain their search for Yuki. The weather had even been clear over the past two days though it was chillier the second night that they were traveling.
The group had sat around the campfire for over 3 hours during their second night of traveling again, making up ghost stories and trying to scare each other and laughing hysterically once any of them jumped the smallest bit.
The four of them just knew each other too well so it was easy to guess what kind of stories would make each of them jump. Towa told stories of the spirits of giant bug demons, while Hisui told stories of haunted weapons that took the soul of each of its wilders and his story succeeded in scaring both Towa and Moroha. Moroha's stories always had a lot of bravado in attempts to dispel curses that no spiritual power would work on and Setsuna told her stories in such a calm and chilling way that it made everyone shiver.
Once it was time for bed Moroha and Towa snuggled next to Kilala who remained big to help them keep warm because of how cold it was while Hisui and Setsuna snuggled close together like they had been doing for the whole of their travels outside. Each of them fell asleep pretty quickly except for Moroha who kept hearing things in the forest.
It had to be her imagination, it just had to be she was a little on edge after their scary stories and she didn't really want to go alone but she knew that she'd never hear the end of it if she asked Towa to go with her to check out unsettling noises.
Moroha bit her lip as she looked up at the dark night sky and pondered what to do. Everyone was really asleep except for her and she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep until she knew for sure that what she was hearing really was just the noise of animals in the woods. She got up hesitantly and took her sword from its shief as she walked deeper into the woods that were lit only by moonlight.
She walked until she spotted what had been making the noise. It had just been a squirrel that had gotten tangled up in a bush of thorns and was now stuck. She put her sword away and untangled the squirrel from the bush and it ran up the tree behind it.
She sighed, happy at having investigated this on her own. She knew that it was nothing serious. She turned to go back to where her friends had set up camp and there he was. Right over her shoulder and they were now face to face. She was just inches apart from the person who stated it all. His red eyes looked at her cold and her brows drew down as she searched for the right words to say before his voice cut the silence.
"You never could mind your business could you?" He asked and she replied immediately. Her expression changed to a more fierce and serious one as she spoke.
"I don't think that I can when it involves my friends."
A.N:
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I did change a few things from how I had originally written this chapter so the update took me a little longer. I'm still not really completely happy with chapter 8 but chapter 9 is better. Next update next weekend. Thank you for reading.