Kinumi

     “Takaeyama. Takaeyama. Damn it!” In frustration, Chieko poked the Corduran in the shoulder. There was no reaction.

     “Chieko,” Blue said gently. “He can’t hear you.”

     “But… but-“ Chi sputtered. “I thought he got better.”

     “He’s not going to get better. Sometimes that’s just going to be the way he is.”

     Chieko looked from Takaeyama to Blue, then back and forth again. She had a funny look on her face, as though a myriad of emotions were fighting to show themselves. Her hands were balled at her sides as she stared hard at Blue.

     “This is so stupid!” She finally wailed. “This is supposed to be the Legend. No where does it say ‘And the Champions will be insane… or evil, or bitter, or- or maimed.” She continued to stare at Blue, as though daring him to contradict her, or protest his inclusion as “maimed”. He said nothing. “And why are we even doing this? Look at this place! What kind of world is this? All these dumb boundaries, people can’t even care about each other if they’re not from the same Clan. Why should I fight to save a stupid country where I can’t even love the man I want to love?”

     “So that’s what this is all about.” Kazuki’s voice boomed behind them. “Chieko, c’mere. Let’s take a walk.”

     She obediently followed behind them as they weaved their way through the rest of the Champions, who were packing up and preparing to break camp. The morning air was already humid, insects buzzing all around. When the two reached a copse of green-leafed trees, they stopped. Chieko turned to face Kazuki.

     “I just don’t understand why things have to be so hard,” she said despondently.

     “Sometimes life is hard, Little Chi. Bad stuff happens to people we love. It ain’t fair alotta times, but that’s just what happens.”

     “I’m not even allowed to love- to love…”

     “Kieran?”

     Chi didn’t reply, but her head fell to look only at her feet. Her sneakers were filthy, worn through in spots from all the hiking. They’d been new when she’d started on their adventure, and now they were battered and worn out. Like my heart, she thought sadly.

     “Who says you’re not allowed to love him?” Kazu queried. “Way I see it, love goes on in yer heart. Only master of that is you.”

     “You know what I mean, Kazu. We could never be together. I’m GelbFaust and he isn’t. That simple.” Chi felt the anger and frustration swelling within her once again. “It’s not fair. We’re both people, aren’t we? I hate this! I hate that the Clans are always picked apart and sorted and can’t even get to know each other! When this is over, I won’t even be able to talk to you anymore. It’s so stupid.”

     “What do ya think we’re doin’ this for, Chi? It is kinda stupid how the Clans are all split up… but in the Legend, it says we’ll unite the Clans. If things are bad, we’re the guys who have the power to change it, ya know?”

     “I guess.” Chieko kicked at the dirt with her sneaker. She hadn’t really been counting on herself as the person who would solver her dilemma. She just knew she wanted things to be different from the way they were. She didn’t want to lose her friends. She wanted to be able to love Kieran- and more importantly, she wanted him to be able to love her back.

     “Kazu… I didn’t know this was going to be so- so sad.”

     “My dad used to say that life’s only as sad as ya make it. I think he heard it from a Night’s Herald or sommat. Sounds like sommat Blue would say.”

     “Yeah, it does.” Chi allowed herself to smile. “Sorry, I guess I’m just having a hard time with everything.”

     “You’re allowed. Happens to everybody.”

     “You really think we’re going to be able to change things?”

     “Way I see it, we kinda did already.”

     Chieko wasn’t sure what Kazuki meant, but she smiled anyway.

     “Freeze!”

     The Champions once again found themselves surrounded by HeadHunters. They stopped where they were, some hands twitching near weapons. For just a moment, Harata pictured what they must look like from the point of view of the Angemal- he, himself, standing in cold annoyance, hand near his sword. Mina, who stood straight, looked ready to draw blood. Ayame’s face was defiant. Kazuki looked ridiculous, laden with packs and carrying Takaeyama like a child. Chieko looked both frightened and horrified. Blue looked as he always did, calmly observing the HeadHunters. Kat cringed at Harata’s side. Yukiiae appeared almost confused, yet infinitely disappointed. Keisuke’s cold, dark eyes were narrowed, his body tense.

     The HeadHunters came out of the trees quickly, guns trained on the Champions. Harata noted that some of them were moving in a half-hearted fashion. Many of them avoided looking at Keisuke, who stared each of them down in a condescending fashion. The Commander bore a look of disgust on his pale face. He spat on the ground, and suddenly all of the other Angemal turned to watch him. He did not draw his weapons, but laughed at them in his chilling way.

     “So, the bureaucrats up in the north still have you Hunting us? I’m sure by now you’ve heard tales of what became of your predecessors. I hope you’ve made your peace.”

     “Stand down, General Kurokawa,” the Angemal in command said, his voice bordering on reverent, rather than dictatorial. “You know what will come of you if you don’t.”

     “Heh. I’ll be forced to kill a bunch of you. What a shame that will be.” Keisuke spoke in sarcastic tones. “I’ll stand down only if I’m ordered to by the man to whom I’m Honor Bound, not by any request of yours, Ishii.”

     “General, I’ll only ask you once more.”

     Keisuke laughed again, but said nothing.

     “Seize them,” ordered Ishii.

     Some of the HeadHunters moved in, but more than half hesitated. Suddenly, a few threw down their weapons.

     “I’m not going to fight against the Commander,” proclaimed a young HeadHunter. Some of his comrades nodded in agreement.

     “This isn’t right,” said another.

     “General Kurokawa is right. Let the Empirians fight for themselves,” yet another Angemal said defiantly.

     “You ought to do as you’re ordered,” Keisuke chided. “Let us all keep our Honor intact.”

     Damn it, Keisuke! Harata thought furiously. They were just about ready to walk.

     “Are you going to surrender?” asked Ishii.

     “What say you, Harata?” queried Keisuke. “Shall we go quietly, or shall there be a slaughter?”

     Harata knew that the Champions could not simply surrender. They’d come so far… they were within days of leaving Diasminion. However, surrounded as they were, there would certainly be casualties. His mind fought frantically for a solution.

     “If the HeadHunters would seek to choose country over Clan… over the fate of the world, I supposed they’ll have to face us.” He spoke calmly and evenly, taking his lead from Keisuke. “Though I pity those that go up against your swords.”

     “General,” spoke Ishii, almost pleadingly. “I know your position is sanctioned by the Clan… but we have orders…”

     “It is a dilemma,” Keisuke answered coldly.

     Ishii stood for a moment, thought flickering across his face. Finally, he spoke.

     “Men,” he turned to face each of the HeadHunters. “Those of you who would choose to heed the Council may lay down your arms. You will face no penalty.”

     One by one, all of the HeadHunters lay their weapons on the ground.

     “I am bound by my duty, and must therefore stand alone, it seems,” Ishii stated, holstering his pistol and drawing his sword. “Prepare to face me, General.”

     “It’s a shame I have to kill you,” Keisuke stated, drawing his blades. “You’re a good man, Ishii.”

     The two Angemal saluted each other and fell to battle. Ishii was probably about twenty years Keisuke’s senior, and therefore far more experienced. However, Keisuke’s skill was already legendary. The swords clashed and whined, glinting in the sun. The people in the clearing stood silently and watched. Try as he might, Ishii could not manage to draw blood, though his own soon leaked from numerous shallow cuts. He fought valiantly, even long after he’d realized that he would not be the victor. When Dusk slid smoothly through his stomach, trailing pieces of his bowels through his back, Ishii did not cry out. His jaw set in determination, he collapsed away from the sword and onto the ground. He remained there on his knees, watching Keisuke with a steely, pain-filled gaze. For only a second, a flicker of pity could be seen in Keisuke’s eyes. In one fluid motion, Dawn and Dusk fell from either side, severing Ishii’s head, ending his pain. Keisuke turned to the remaining HeadHunters.

     “You will return to Headquarters with whatever tale you choose to tell. However,” his gaze lingered on each face, “let it be known that this man died with Honor.”

     In the hush that followed, Keisuke knelt beside the body of Ishii. He murmured words that the Champions were unfamiliar with, but were echoed by the gathered Angemal. In silence, the HeadHunters gathered up the fallen Ishii and bore him away. After they’d disappeared into the trees, the Champions let out a collective sigh.

     Chieko wove through the beach house, thinking she’d like to take advantage of the relative quiet to take a long bath and collect her thoughts. As she walked into the den, she was distracted by raucous laughter. Mina, Keisuke, and Ayame were seated on the couch. Keisuke had one arm around Mina, who seemed uncharacteristically comfortable with the arrangement. Ayame was draped across Keisuke’s lap. The three of them were speaking rapidly and loudly, their conversation punctuated by laughter.

     “Are you guys drunk?” Chieko asked frantically, recognizing bottles from her father’s liquor cabinet.

     “Yup!” Keisuke answered triumphantly while Ayame giggled. “Come and join us, Little Chi.”

     “Um… you know we have to get on the boat tomorrow?”

     “So?”

     “It’s not so fun to be on a boat with a hangover.”

     “You sound like the voice of experience.”

     Chieko blushed and looked away, but before she could answer, Takaeyama strode into the room. He’d come to himself earlier that day, completely disoriented. Now, he looked purposefully at Chieko and asked,

     “Where’s Blue?”

     “He went down to the beach. He said he wanted to see if he could still swim.”

     “By himself?”

     “I guess.”

     Takaeyama turned his head toward the window, though there was no view of the beach in the darkness.

     “He shouldn’t be doing that alone,” the Corduran seemed to say more to himself than anyone else. He turned to leave the room.

     “Takaeyama, go out the front,” warned Chi. “Harata and Kat are out back and, uh… I think you’d better go out front.”

     He nodded and hurriedly left the room.

     Chi sighed.

     “Blue’s been kinda funny, hasn’t he? He keeps going off by himself.”

     “Cut the guy a break,” said Keisuke. “He just lost a limb.”

     “This coming from the guy who calls him Stump?”

     “I’m the devil’s advocate.”

     “I don’t suppose that any of you have considered,” Mina said suddenly, “that maybe he just doesn’t like being around people all the time?”

     Everyone turned their eyes to Mina. Blue? Not like people?

     “I mean, he did live a life just like mine before all this happened,” Mina continued. “Maybe he just wants to be left alone.”

     “Do you want to be left alone?” asked Keisuke, tugging on her earlobe playfully.

     “Sometimes.”

     “I don’t know why you say his life was like yours, Mina. They seem kinda different to me,” Chieko observed.

     “Not at all different. We’re both estranged from our parents, and neither of us have any close friends. That doesn’t bother us. We lived alone, content just to do our jobs- he had more contact with the public than I did, but not that much. Hell, at least I know where my family is, even if I don’t talk to them. Getting thrown in with all of you is hard to adjust to.”

     “I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Chieko admitted.

     “I didn’t think you had.”

     They were all quiet for a moment, until Chieko said,

     “Well, I’m going to take a bath. Guys, please don’t drink to much… Trust me, you’ll be really sick tomorrow.”

     “Quit worrying.” Keisuke grinned.

     Chi couldn’t help but picture the next day with foreboding.

     In the dark garden, under a canopy of leaves and stars, Harata and Kat sat together on a bench. The sounds of laughter drifted occasionally from the house, either from the kitchen where Yukiiae and Kazuki sat playing a board game, or from the den where Keisuke entertained Mina and Ayame with tales of his campaigns. Insects were calling in the bushes, and the sound of waves hissing to shore could be heard in the distance. They two had fallen silent, listening to the night all around them. Their bodies just barely touched, and though they both made an effort to appear relaxed, there was a tension to their postures.

     “Harata…” Kat broke the silence hesitantly. “Did you know I have a boyfriend back in Mianuus?”

     “No… You never mentioned him.”

     “His name is Tana. We were… There was some talk about us getting married.” Kat resolutely avoided looking at Harata, focusing instead on a moonlit patch of flowers.

     “So, you’re going to marry him when you go back to Mianuus?” The Clanless kept his voice carefully even.

     “I… I don’t know. I thought I would, but… but so much has changed.”

     He didn’t answer. He was looking at her intently, but she didn’t return his gaze. She didn’t say anything more.

     “What’s changed, Kat?” Harata eventually asked.

     “Me. I’ve changed.” She sighed heavily. “I can’t even understand the way I used to look at things. I can’t really see eye-to-eye with my Clan anymore. I feel like I’m not going to belong with them anymore, even if I can return. It’s possible that Tana might understand and accept me- he was always kind of a radical- but… but…” She looked down at her hands in her lap. “I think… my heart’s changing, too.”

     Though Kat wanted desperately to relieve herself of the burden of guilt and confusion within her, she found she couldn’t form the words. In recent days, when she tried to conjure visions of Tana in her mind, they appeared fuzzy, without detail, pieces missing from the whole. She could no longer muster any attraction for him, unlike the desire that was growing for the man who sat beside her. The paradox of him mystified her- enigmatic yet open, a skilled warrior with a gentle heart, virile but shy. Everything about him made her wish to know more, and to lay claim to that heart which many others would someday wish to call their own.

     “Why did you kiss me?” She asked suddenly.

     “I didn’t know what else to do…” Harata looked away from her quickly. “I couldn’t think of another way to express… um, my, uh… feelings.”

     “Do you… ah… What do you feel?”

     “You’re so beautiful.” He took her hand and looked at her again. “You just so… so graceful and… and noble. I promised to protect you. Even if you never want anything… more from me, I’ll guard you with my life. I want nothing more than to see you safe and happy, even if it’s from afar.”

     He felt his words did little to explain the workings of his heart. He couldn’t quite put into speech the way his understanding of her had grown- that he knew all those weeks ago that there lay a frightened and bewildered soul beneath the cold façade. He could not express his pride at seeing the changes that had come over her. He couldn’t tell her that he felt his only future worth lay in his ability to protect the people that he loved the most. After the Task was completed, he couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do but that.

     Wrapped in the darkness, under the rustling leaves and twinkling stars, Harata and Kat silently fell into each other’s arms.

     As Takaeyama left the beach house and went on to scramble over the path through the dunes, his own pressing troubles were driven from his mind. He’d forgotten even why he’d been seeking Blue out in the house, intent only on reaching the beach. In the darkness, the path was not easy, and he found himself wondering what would possess Blue to hobble his way through the sand and grasses, alone in the dark. And to go into the water…

     The soft sound of splashing greeted his ears as Takaeyama reached the place where the path through the dunes sloped down to the shore. The light of two full moons glinted silvery over the water and the form of Blue, who glided over and through the waves, apparently in no distress. Stars dusted the vast, black sky, broken in places by the moons, some no more than tiny crescents hanging in the air. Upon the sand lay a pile of abandoned clothing, and the dark form of the wooden limb the Night’s Herald now relied upon when bound to land.

     His mind empty of thought, Takaeyama stared out over the beach, enthralled by the beauty of the panorama spread out before him. After a time, Blue rode a final wave toward the shore. He managed to stand, but stumbled, pulled by the undertow. He rolled, tried again. With the same calm, seemingly empty, determination he used in all things, he continued his attempts until he finally remained standing.

     Shining silver rivulets of water cascaded from his body as Blue stood motionless, seafoam dancing around his ankle. In that moment, Takaeyama felt a pain tighten around his heart quite unlike the other aches he’d been feeling in latter days. For an instant, he was trapped only in the astounding longing the beauty before him instilled within. A rush of remembered emotion came back to him, touching softly the places that had been stirred by the sound of Kieran’s sonatas, by the sight of red leaves drifting to the forest floor in autumn, by the feeling of Keita’s skin beneath his hands. In that moment, he could feel nothing but wonder at the hidden loveliness of the waking world.

     As though Reason had come awake and snapped His fingers within Takaeyama’s mind, the spell was broken. The Corduran suddenly felt absurd, and acutely aware of the stark nakedness of the man on the beach. Guilt and shame ravaged him as he imagined how appalled Blue would be to know that he’d been there, hidden and watching. He turned away quickly, ashamed of himself, but still knowing that he’d carry the picture of the sight he’d seen within the most secret place inside his heart. As Takaeyama hurried back to the beach house, Blue made his graceless struggle back to the place where he’d left the towel that he’d borrowed from Chieko, alone in the night once more.