“I never got a chance to say
thank you… for what you did for Yoshiki.”
“Don’t worry about it, Yume.” Seiken smiled softly at her.
“There, you’re all set. You should try and get some sleep.”
“Thanks…” she said, looking down at her stitches. With a sigh, she
added, “I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep.”
“I could give you something.”
“It’s alright. Just… I’m scared. And sad.”
“I know,” he replied quietly. Yume looked up at him and saw worry and
sorrow that mirrored her own etched on his face.
“Kaiya’s your friend, too.” She reached out and took Seiken’s
hand. “What you had to do must’ve been hard for you.”
“He’ll get better, Yume. Don’t worry.”
“Really? You’re not just lying to me to make me feel better, are you?
Yoshiki does that all the time.”
“I promise. Kaiya’s very strong. He’ll be okay.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.” Yume let go of Seiken’s hand. “But
he’s only human. He’s not one of those gods he hangs out with.”
“I know that, Yume. He’ll get better though. I promise. You can go
talk to him tomorrow.” Seiken pulled down the sheets on the bed and made her
lie down.
“Can you ask Yoshiki or Hironah to come in? I want to talk to them
before I go to bed.”
“I will, Yume… but I’d rather that you tried to get some sleep.”
“I will after that. Goodnight, Seiken, and thanks for… all your
help.”
“You’re welcome, Yume. Goodnight.”
“Go to bed, Hironah.”
“No. You’re always the one that stays up with them. I’ll watch
Kaiya. You got to bed.”
She didn’t remove her gaze from the Night’s Herald as she spoke. He
was unconscious, laid out on a bed in the suburban house they’d been taken to.
She wished that he would wake up and tell her one more time not to worry, that
everything would be fine.
“Hironah… You’ll only drive yourself crazy, staring at him like
that… but if you really want to stay up a while longer you can stay with
me.” Seiken’s voice was soft.
“I can’t sleep. I couldn’t live with myself if I went to sleep and
woke up and he… wasn’t there.” Tears filled her eyes and she glared at the
prone figure of her best friend. “Damn it, Kaiya. Why do you do this
stuff? Why are you always trying so hard to be the strongest and the bravest?
You couldn’t just pull the hell over?”
“He’ll make it, Hironah. It’ll be okay.”
She turned to look at the Decameron.
“You got a family, Seiken?”
He nodded.
“Are they as crazy as mine?”
“Not that I
can remember… I haven’t seen any of them in a long time.”
After some thought, Hironah said,
“Kaiya told me you’ve been a Wanderer for more than twelve years.”
“Yeah, I have.”
“You were never able to find another Outpost?”
“They’re shutting down, not starting up. Even the one outside Rien is
in danger. It’s safer for us not to be in a large group.”
“I really don’t understand why your Clan doesn’t just align itself
with someone and be done with it.”
“How could we? What then? If someone came to our door in need of help,
would we have to send him away because he was on the wrong side?”
“So, the Decameron will treat anyone, regardless of personal beliefs?
That seems silly.”
“It’s not silly. It’s… well, moral, I guess.”
“It seems stupid to me to heal your enemy just so he can go back to
attacking you.”
“By that logic, I shouldn’t have helped Yoshiki… or Kaiya for that
matter.”
Hironah glared at Seiken furiously.
“It’s true. It wasn’t the Ghost Clan that burned my Outpost to the
ground, Hironah.”
After a moment of silent contemplation, Hironah asked,
“Does Kaiya know that?”
“No. I never told him.”
“Why not?”
“I would only
cause him pain to tell him something like that. It wasn’t his fault.”
“You really care about him, don’t you?” Hironah peered at Seiken,
suddenly curious about the depth of the friendship that had been developing
between him and the Night’s Herald.
“Kaiya’s shown me more kindness than anyone I’ve ever met.”
“Yep, sounds like Kaiya, alright… loving and compassionate,”
Hironah said with abrupt bitterness. “I just wish he didn’t hate himself
so much.”
“You think he hates himself?”
“You don’t know Kaiya the way I do, Seiken. You think he does shit
like this for the hell of it? He’s been beating the piss out of himself since
we were kids. I’ll bet you all the money in the world he told you to look
after the rest of us instead of taking care of him, too.”
Seiken didn’t answer her, and Hironah peered at his downcast face.
“He did.”
“Yeah, he did.”
“That’s our Kaiya… suicide commando.”
“Yoshiki says-”
“I know what Yoshiki says. He thinks Kaiya’s so great
and so tough and wants to be just like him. He thinks Kaiya does it all
out of remarkable inner strength and unfailing loyalty.” Hironah laughed
bitterly. “He just does it out of stupidity. And he knows he’ll get himself
killed one of these days.”
“We both know that none of those are the reason, Hironah.” The
Decameron refused to look at her.
It was silent for a long time. Hironah, through tears of fury and sadness
finally said,
“I guess you two did get to know each other pretty well.”
Hironah was hunched over a mug of coffee, glaring at the morning sun with
malice. She’d barely slept, and even then nightmares kept jarring her awake.
Uneme came to sit beside her.
“How’s Kaiya?” he asked.
“Alive,” Hironah replied sullenly. Uneme gathered from her tone that
Kaiya was not a subject she wished to discuss. Sighing, he stretched.
“Need a hired gun?”
“Why? Did you get fired?”
“After last night?” He smirked. “I have little doubt of it.”
“But… that wasn’t your fault.”
“I should’ve gone on with Mirai when the rest of you stopped. I know
that. I endangered her.”
“Why didn’t you just go on?” Hironah asked, her curiosity piqued.
“I just… didn’t want to leave the rest of you behind.”
“Why not?”
“I like you guys.”
“You don’t even know us.”
“I like what I’ve seen of you then.” Uneme smiled.
“What’s not to like?”
“Oh, there’s plenty.”
“Same could be said of all of us.”
Hironah didn’t reply.
“You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever met,” Uneme said sincerely.
“And braver than a lot of men for that matter. I like all you guys. You fought
valiantly last night… but you’re not like a lot of other people, I guess. I
want to know more about… all of you.”
Hironah looked at Uneme with a smile.
“Sorry, but I can’t afford to pay you anything. I’ve only got
Seiken cause he lets me pay him peanuts.”
“Seiken’s amazing. Where’d you find him?”
“Takaeyama hired him to… Taka hired him.”
Uneme put his hand over Hironah’s and looked into her eyes, his own
yellow irises deep with sincerity.
“You’ve had a lot of trouble lately. I learned a lot about Kamitouki
after I met you at the beach. I’m sure your heart is heavy… and Kaiya
getting shot doesn’t help. I want to tell you that you’ll get through it,
that you’re strong and can face anything… but somehow those words seem
hollow, like they wouldn’t help. And I know better. Once you’ve lost
something or someone you loved, it’s gone, and knowing you can never get that
person or thing back will shadow you throughout your life. All I can say to you
is that everything changes. Once we’re happy, we try as hard as we can to
force everything to stay the same, but it can’t. We are all ephemeral.”
Hironah pulled away from him, glaring.
“What did you just say?”
“I said we’re all ephemeral.”
“Who told you that?” She still glared at him, apprehensively.
“A close friend of mine. A Night’s Herald. He… passed… a year or
so back. Shot in the heart by a member of Kries, part of the Ghost Clan.”
Uneme’s eyes moved away from Hironah’s and she could see the shadow of
memory in their pitted depths. He seemed to be gazing very far away. She moved
closer to him.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, Hironah. I just… I miss him a lot sometimes. I miss
everybody. I like being on my own, not having to worry about anyone, but… it
does get lonely sometimes.”
“Uneme…”
“Yeah?”
“If you want, you could probably stay at Kamitouki for a while… until
you found a new job. Or you could join Sirrah. I’m sure Yoshiki would be happy
to have you.”
“I’d
be happy to have who, now?” Yoshiki asked with a yawn as he walked into the
room.
“Uneme. For Sirrah.”
“Hell yeah, I would. Wanna join?” Yoshiki turned on Uneme with a
grin.
“I’m still mapping out my options,” the Angemal hedged.
“Well… Sirrah has an amazing life insurance plan. If you die, you
die, and if you don’t die, you get to stay alive.”
“Compelling,” Uneme laughed.
“The goons bring in the newspapers like I asked?” Yoshiki queried.
“Don’t call them goons. They’re Uneme’s coworkers,” Hironah
chided.
“It’s okay. They are goons.” Uneme was still laughing.
“And yes, they did. The papers are on the table in the kitchen.”
“Thanks a bunch.”
Yoshiki walked out.
“See? That’s why I like you guys. You make me laugh. You’re not all
stuck up and stuffy like Qu- other people.”
Hironah giggled.
“You were gonna say Quen.”
“Yes?” the man himself asked from the doorway.
“Morning, Quen,” Hironah called in a manner that suggested nothing
but innocence. “You sore from last night?”
“I feel fine.”
“Well, that’s some good news at least, amidst the bad. Uneme’s
telling me he’s lost his job.”
Quen walked across the room and seated himself in an armchair across from
the sofa where Uneme and Hironah sat side by side. He crossed his legs and
lounged.
“Do tell,” he said.
“Because of last night. Not taking Mirai ahead as he should’ve.”
“And would you, Hironah, keep in employ a person who you’d entrusted
with the safety of… say, Yume- who did the same thing?”
“Probably not,” she admitted.
“Then it’s only appropriate, wouldn’t you say?”
“But it would depend on the situation.”
“And was there any reason in the situation last night that
would’ve made it difficult or impossible for Uneme to do his duty?”
Sensing that she was losing the argument, Hironah fell silent, then
decided to change course entirely.
“You know, Quen, it’s been nothing but trouble for me since you set
foot on the grounds of Kamitouki.”
“You had trouble before that.”
“Not
the kind of trouble I’m talking about…” Hironah looked darkly at Quen. “That
kind of trouble seems to follow you.”
“Sorry?”
“Don’t
play stupid! Your own mother begs me to go to Mianuus for no reason, and
Remnant strikes? How about yesterday? What the hell was that?”
“I’m
sure mother would be grieved to know of your contempt for the small favor she
asked of you, just as she was grieved to hear that Kamitouki was struck in your
absence. As for last night… as with all the rest of the violence in your life,
you brought that on yourself.”
“What!?” Hironah spat.
“I helped you out of that situation at great personal peril, far
greater, Hironah, than you will ever comprehend. Not only was there danger to myself, but also to Mirai- my
mother’s work. I could’ve left you. I should’ve left you. And, in your silly emotional
state, you forget the fact that those men recognized Yoshiki and decided to follow. No doubt they
realized who you were as well. And Kaiya. He doesn’t exactly try to make
himself incongruous, does he? You brought that violence on yourselves. And one
of your number will pay the price.”
“If you mean Kaiya, Seiken says he’ll be fine,” Hironah said
triumphantly.
Quen observed her quietly for a moment, then said,
“A lot of mother’s deadlier weapons are still available on the black
market. Don’t think I can’t recognize them.”
Hironah was gripped by a sudden panic, forgetting her argument.
“Which of the men had her gun, Quen?” she asked desperately.
“I can’t say for sure. And there were more than one of them.”
“Quen…”
“I just know that I saw them.”
“The guy that shot Kaiya?”
“Dunno.” He looked at her with his customary lack of emotion. “All
of you but Yoshiki were wounded. One of you will be dead by nightfall.”
“Damn. Look at this shit.”
Yoshiki handed the newspaper to Uneme, who gazed down at the article.
He’d been reading about the riot at the Zeit. The article Uneme looked at
described how the gang members had ridden through the traffic, killing off
selected targets as they sat trapped in the gridlock.
Yoshiki put his head in his hands.
“If my parents were in there, they’re dead now.”
“It doesn’t mention them,” Uneme said hopefully, speeding through
the article. “It would.”
“What do you think I’m looking for?” Yoshiki sighed. “There’s
nothing.”
“Then they probably got away.”
“I wish I knew for sure…” Yoshiki glared down at the tabletop.
“At least I know Yume’s gonna be okay.”
Uneme was silent, still reading.
“You’re a mercenary, right? Have you ever done work for the Ghost
Clan?” Yoshiki asked suddenly.
“No. I considered doing a job for them a couple years back, but decided
against it.”
“How come?”
“I don’t know, really. Kind of just a gut feeling.”
“But you’re neutral in this whole… thing?” Yoshiki was staring at
Uneme with a calculating look.
“I suppose. For me it’s always been more about looking out for
myself. I’ve got reasons of my own to dislike both sides of the conflict.”
“But, after something like this,” Yoshiki gestured toward the
newspapers spread all over the table. “They were killing innocent people!
That’s what the Ghost Clan does. They use their own values as an excuse for
sending armed men out to slaughter the people they disagree with, even normal
families with little kids and all.”
“I didn’t say I liked the things the Ghost Clan does. In fact, I find
some of their tactics disturbing.”
Yoshiki fell silent, obviously deep in thought. Uneme went back to
perusing the newspaper. After several minutes of silence, Yoshiki nodded to
himself. Abruptly, he spoke again.
“Listen, Uneme, don’t tell this to Hironah, okay?”
“What?”
“I’m taking Sirrah to wipe out the Ghost Clan at its roots. We know
where they are. I’ve been sitting on it… It’s not going to be easy. But
after yesterday…” He shook his head.
“You know where they’re operating out of?” Uneme asked,
incredulous.
“Yeah, I do. I wasn’t going to act on it, but I’m pretty sure
I’ve changed my mind. This is never gonna stop, Uneme. It’ll never stop
until the Ghost Clan and the ones behind it are taken out.”
“You think Sirrah can do it?” Uneme looked skeptically at Yoshiki.
“Somebody’s gonna have to be the one to do it. Since nobody else
seems to want to do the honors, might as well be us.”
“It’ll probably end up as little more than a suicide
mission.”
Yoshiki snorted.
“Don’t matter. We won’t know until we try… and I want you to come
with us.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. We’re gonna need all the experience we can get our hands
on.”
“But you don’t want Hironah to know about it?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want her to know about it. I said I didn’t
want you to tell her. I need to do that
myself.”
Uneme was quiet for a while before he finally said,
“I’ll consider it.”
“You can think of it as another job. I’ll find some way to pay you if
I have to, though I doubt it’ll end up that way.”
“Why’s that?”
“I just have a funny feeling you’ll be having a change of heart.”
Yoshiki said the words lightly, but his gaze was intense.
“Oh?”
“Hironah’s my cousin, Uneme. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.” And I may
like you and all, but Kaiya would have to be dead before I’d pick you over
him.
“Is
Hironah still mad at me?” Kaiya asked.
“She’s
pretty pissed,” Yume admitted, avoiding his gaze. “You know how she gets
when you do stuff like last night.”
Kaiya
sighed.
“I
don’t know what she thinks I could’ve done otherwise.”
“Pull
over?”
“I
couldn’t have done that, Yume,” he said patiently. “I had Seiken riding
with me, and I had no idea what happened to the rest of you. I had to make sure
that we all got to the same spot together, in case one of you needed him even
more than I did. And if I’d stopped, we’d have been sitting ducks. Seiken
could’ve gotten killed. One of the rest of you could’ve gotten killed trying
to help us. I know I pushed myself, but I also know what I’m capable of and
what my limits are. And look, it all worked out. I’m fine.” He smiled at
her. His teeth were still stained where the blood had run through them. Yume
laughed at him.
“You
can’t even sit up!”
“Naw,
but I will. Probably tomorrow.”
Yume
shook her head. He could barely move.
“You
okay?” Kaiya asked with genuine concern. “Yoshiki told me you got hit.”
“I’m
okay,” Yume replied with a slight waver in her voice. “I had to get
stitches. It’s hurts a lot.” She felt mildly ashamed of herself, admitting
that to Kaiya. He’d been awake last night, lying on the pavement as Seiken
started carving him up. She hadn’t seen it herself, but she’d overheard
Hironah telling Yoshiki while she was supposed to be sleeping. He’d never
cried out.
“I’ll
bet it does,” Kaiya said warmly. “But you’re sure you’re okay? You look
kinda pale.”
“Yeah.
I couldn’t sleep last night. That’s probably why.”
“You
were very brave,” he said, gazing up at her with his mismatched eyes full of
sincerity. “Not many people would’ve been able to keep their heads as well
as you did. Yoshiki, Hironah and I are all very proud of you.”
“I
wasn’t very helpful,” Yume said dejectedly.
“Yume,
by keeping your cool and not panicking, even after you were hurt, you probably
spared a lot of people’s lives- Yoshiki’s especially, and mine.”
“Yours?”
“Sure.
If you’d been freaking out, I’d have had to send Seiken to take care of
you… and then finished bleeding to death.” He smiled softly at her, his gaze
gentle. “Yume, I know you think that the three of us look down on you in a
way, like we think you’re a wuss or something. It’s not like that. It’s
just that we all have training and we’re fighting all the time. You don’t
know the same stuff, and you have different interests. If any of us ever tried
to take one of your economics classes, you’d definitely have the upper hand.
Probably be ashamed to be related to us.” He laughed, a noise that rumbled in
his congested lungs. If it hurt, he didn’t show it.
“I’d
believe you, Kaiya, but you guys never even let me try to be like you.
You know, maybe I could’ve been a good fighter, too.”
“I
know you would’ve. We all know it. We didn’t need you to prove to us how
strong you are, the way we had to prove it to each other. We already knew.”
Kaiya’s eyes took on a cast of remembered pain. “You survived something that
most likely would’ve killed any of the rest of us, and you recovered. I loved
having Yoshiki around, but that was the saddest summer of my life.”
“I
didn’t know it bothered you that much,” Yume admitted, unable to meet
Kaiya’s eyes.
“It
was hell for all of us. You were always such a great kid, Yume. Nobody could
help but adore you. The thought that we might lose you was… it was awful.”
Yume’s
head fell. Her hands fiddled with the seam of the borrowed t-shirt she was
wearing. She was silent for a long time before she spoke again.
“I’m
really scared, Kaiya.”
“I
know.”
“I
want you to make me a promise,” she said, looking directly at the Night’s
Herald. “If something happened to mom and dad and Yoshiki finds out but
won’t tell me, I want you to promise me that you will.”
“I’ll
tell you.” Kaiya’s expression was honest. “I won’t try to keep anything
from you.”
“You
swear?”
“I
swear.”
Yume
looked down at Kaiya. He’d been a part of her life since the day she’d been
born. He’d always been there, solid, strong, and cool-headed. Even in those
times when he was “pulling stunts” as Yoshiki called it, he always seemed to
know exactly what he was doing, never lost control. He was pale now, and his
eyelids had the appearance of being too heavy. She could hear the occasional
rumble of his breath in his chest. He’ll be okay, she told herself,
grasping at the words that everyone else kept repeating because she realized
that the thought he might not be terrified her.
“You’re
tired,” she observed casually. “I’m gonna let you get some rest.”
“Okay.”
“Kaiya,
really… you’ll be alright?”
He
smiled again.
“Yeah.
Don’t worry about that anymore. Worry about yourself. I want Seiken to take a
look at you. You really look like shit.”
“Thanks
so much, Kaiya.”
“Seriously,
Yume. If he walks in here right after you leave, I’m gonna send him right back
out after you.”
“Alright,
I get it.” As she rose to leave, she turned back to look at Kaiya. “I love
you, you crazy boy.”
“I
love you, too, Yume.”
She
walked out of the room, a bit unsteady on her feet. Kaiya watched her go and
contemplated getting up to follow her. It was be embarrassing to have to crawl,
but he really wasn’t sure whether or not she was all right. After some
thought, he decided to trust Seiken to take care of her. He’d just wait a bit
and see what the Decameron had to say. He fought to stay awake, trying to focus
on something in the room through vision growing dim. Damn it, he thought
as he lost consciousness again.
Yume
wandered into the hallway and nearly ran straight into Seiken.
“I
don’t feel so good,” was all she said before falling headlong into his arms.
