〄Hᴀʟғ-Bʟᴏᴏᴅs' Lᴇɢᴀᴄʏ〄 [Ch. 4 Up!]

[scmarshtacky]

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[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 47 – Battle Between Demons

“Are you really sure that you want to do this?” Kaito called to Baldwin who was standing several meters away drawing his sword.

“A true fight will be good for ‘ya boy. How long has it been since you really fought?”

Kaito didn’t answer the question, but drew his own blade with a sigh. It had been nearly a century since he’d fought against the old man, but he knew Baldwin’s wit and strength hadn’t diminished over the years. With a deep breath, he tried to mentally prepare himself for whatever was going to come at him.

“You girls best watch closely,” Baldwin said with a coy smile. “If ‘ya ain’t paying close attention y’all will miss it.” Then he reached into his pocket and drew out a silver coin which he tossed to Ayako. “Throw that up in the air,” he instructed.

“Alright,” she said with a nod. The two opponents readied themselves, and Ayako flipped the coin.

It seemed to hang in the air for an endless moment. Kaito tensed his muscles, and as the instant the coin hit the ground, he shot off like a bullet released from a rifle. Baldwin did the same, and their blades connected with a loud clash.

Baldwin pulled back as soon as they had collided, and swung his cutlass in a wide arc. Kaito blocked the hit. In the instant the swords hit together, Baldwin let go of the hilt with his left hand and sent a punch toward Kaito’s stomach.

Kaito shifted his sword around so that Baldwin’s fist connected with the hilt of his sword. But Baldwin didn’t stop there. His hand flashed with lightning which shot up Kaito’s sword. Kaito withdrew a couple of steps giving himself just enough room to swing his sword through the air.

His black sword sparked with thousands of miniature lightning bolts, and as he swung it horizontally though the air, the bolts of lightning shot out toward Baldwin. However, Baldwin met the strikes with a blast of lightning from his left hand.

As the two strikes exploded together in the air with a deafening clap of thunder, Baldwin launched himself at Kaito once more. Baldwin reached his opponent before the flash of light had dimmed, and the two engaged in strikes and parries once again, moving so quickly that the girls could only hear the sounds of the swords connecting.

Kaito dodged, struck, blocked, and dodged again, but every movement he made was matched with equal strength and quickness. Electricity illuminated his blade as he struck it with Baldwin, but it made little difference.

The two blades met together again with the screeching sound of metal on metal. The two opponents leapt away from each other simultaneously. As Baldwin hit the ground, the brilliant blue light that marked his transformation, erupted from seemingly nowhere.

Kaito had just enough time to mentally regroup before a large black wolf leapt through the air with a speed twice as fast as before. Kaito held up his sword to block, and the wolf attacked with his dagger-sharp teeth bared.

The two ended up on the ground, with Kaito held down on the ground with one of the wolf’s large paws. His sword was held firmly between the teeth of the wolf. Kaito released the hilt of his sword and aimed a strong kick at Baldwin’s underside. Simultaneously, he shot a few bolts of lightning from his hands which connected to the wolf’s chest. Then Kaito took hold of his sword again and sent bolts of electricity surging though that. He opened his mouth just wide enough for Kaito to free his sword and slash at Baldwin’s muzzle.

Baldwin pulled back before the hit connected, and in a moment, with another flash of light, he had switched back again to his human form. Without a sparing a second, he was coming for Kaito again.

The longer the battle drew out, the faster they moved, and the more energy the two began to release until the electricity was consistently surging up and down their bodies. Whenever their strikes connected, bolts of lightning would shoot off in all directions and a small explosion would resound as the two opposing electromagnetic waves crashed together.

“This is amazing,” Ayako managed to breathe as the fight dragged on. “It’s like watching gods dual each other.”

“We best be mindful not to get in the blast,” Kana reminded her friend although even she couldn’t tear her eyes away which was saying something considering none of the girls could see the movements very clearly.

Ayako had the easiest time following the fighting, and she would report what she saw to the other two as she saw it.

At last the two came to a standstill. Kaito was truly winded now. He was covered in sweat, and fighting to regain his lost breath, but his eyes never wavered from Baldwin.

After a moment of a stare down, Baldwin straightened up and sheathed his cutlass. “You still won’t release your full power,” he said with a small, disappointed shake of his head.

Kaito also straightened and sheathed his blade. “Unfortunately, I don’t ever plan to.”

Baldwin stretched his arms upward. “Ah, I needed that. Although it would’ve been even more fun if you had been in a perfect condition.”

Kaito moved his right arm unconsciously to cover his left side where a garnet red was slowly spreading across his shirt.

Baldwin narrowed his eyes. “Been using that healing power of yours hadn’t ‘ya?”

Kaito smirked. “And why would you think that?”

“Please boy, I’ve been around ‘ya long enough to know what it does to your body.”

Kaito clenched his fist, and adverted his gaze from Baldwin’s scrutinizing eyes. “It isn’t any of your concern.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Baldwin agreed. “Although it will be if ‘ya get yourself killed in a battle because of your soft-heartedness. Baldwin turned around and headed back toward the main entrance to the castle. “I know ‘ya don’t want to, but ‘ya might want to consider letting that maid of yours know.” Baldwin didn’t turn back around as he waved his hand slightly in a final farewell before disappearing around the walls of the castle.

“That was so epic!!” Ayako shouted as she ran over. “It makes me want to go back to training right now. Come on, come on!”

“Whether you’re aware of it or not, you’re body has had enough for one day,” Kaito said. “Now, I want you to collect your weapons, and clean them off before they end up in even worse shape than they already are. Agatha can help you.”

Kaito turned to head back into the castle while Ayako and Mika collected their weapons and help Kana round up the couple of arrows that were still stuck in trees or on the ground.

“Did he just vanish?!” Ayako demanded when she turned around and noticed Kaito was absent. “That stupid –”

“Just let it go Ayako,” Kana said laying a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “He’s probably a bit tired after the fight with Baldwin.”

“Did you manage to hear what they were talking about before Baldwin left?” Ayako questioned as they headed toward the basement in an attempt to locate Agatha. “Kaito seemed kind of bothered, but I couldn’t hear what the old man said.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing direly important,” Kana replied.

It turned out that the girls didn’t have to search very long before they found the older maid. As soon as they climbed down the stairs into the underground hallway, they met her going the other way.

Ayako briefly explained that they had been learning to use the weapons that they had picked out, and were told by Kaito to clean them. Agatha led them back in the direction of the kitchen and equipped them all with a soft cloth and an oily substance.

"Wipe the blade off first with the clean cloth," she instructed. "Then get a small amount of the clove oil on the cloth, and rub a thin layer onto the metal, then wipe that off as best you can with another cloth." She gave a brief demonstration of what to do and then left the girls.

Ayako was finished first. Because there was a relatively small amount of metal on her spear, just the tip and the rounded end, she didn't have much to clean. So, she began to help Kana with the task of cleaning the multitude of arrow tips.

Mika finished with her daggers while Ayako and Kana were still only halfway through with oiling the arrows. She was about to help out as well when a younger maid approached her with a small bucket filled with water.

"The Lord Kaito want. Take it?" she managed to ask.

Mika struggled to understand the girl for a moment trying to sort through the thick accent and the few mixed up Japanese words. "You want me to take this bucket of water to Kaito's room?" she clarified.

The maid nodded enthusiastically and shoved the water into Mika's arms before running off.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in a minute," Mika said to her two friends.

"Okay. We'll meet you in the room after we finish."

Mika nodded and headed in the direction of the stairs praying that she had been led around enough to find her way back to the room. Although, going through the castle alone made her second guess herself, and after a moment, she had convinced herself that she was lost. Miraculously, she happened upon the library and remembered the way from there. Her arms had turned slightly numb from her trek through the hallways, but somehow or another she managed to make it to the room.

Mika shuffled the bucket around in her arms to open the door before walking into the bedroom. "Kaito-" Mika stopped short as she caught sight of him.

He had taken off his shirt, so that she could more clearly see the wounds on his body. The dark red stain of blood covered his lower left side, and a bloodied rag was in his hands. His eyes widened on her and he turned to the side although it was pointless now. Mika had already seen the damage.

The bucket of water slipped from her hands, but thankfully, landed flat on the bottom so that it didn't spill over. "Did Baldwin –”

"No," Kaito replied swiftly. "It wasn't his fault. It was no one's fault."

“It was the other day," Mika said slowly as the realization dawned on her. "The wounded girl in the town."

Kaito didn't deny her assumption, and moved over to the dropped water bucket to wring out the cloth that he had. The water turned a faint pink.

"It's really not as bad as it looks," he said, breaking through the silence. "I just got a little over excited and moved a little more than I had intended."

"We went to the town days ago! Why hasn't it healed yet?" Mika's voice rose as her distress grew.

"Mika calm down," he said soothingly. "The girl's injuries were rather severe, and it took a lot of energy to transfer it. That's the only reason it hasn't healed." When Kaito saw that his words had the desired effect of calming Mika down, he went back to what he was doing, trying to clean the blood off of himself before it could stain up anymore of his shirts. Now that he was back in Akukai, he would have to preserve the few comfortable, human clothes that he had left.

“You’ll never stop the bleeding that way,” Mika observed. “You’re being too rough.” She held out her hand for the cloth, and with a sigh, Kaito gave it to her and sat down on the floor.

Mika gently wiped off the new blood that was oozing from the wound and then wrung out the cloth before pressing it firmly over his injury to stop the bleeding. She felt his muscles tighten under her hand, but he gave no other sign of pain.

“You seem to have gotten better at this,” Kaito said casually to break the silence.

“I’ve been reading a lot of medical books,” Mika answered softly. “I thought it might come in handy at some point in the future.”

“Well I would hope that you wouldn’t have to put the words into practice, but I suppose it’s a bit late to say such things.”

“I would be happy if I didn’t need them,” she said with a nod, “but I would much rather know it and not need it than to need it and not know.”

“Fair enough.”

Mika slowly removed the cloth from his side when saw that the blood on it hadn’t increased in the past minute or so. The area had already clotted well in such a short amount of time.

“I’ll get the bandages from my backpack,” she said as she wrung out the cloth one final time.

“I don’t need –”

“If nothing else, it will keep your shirts from getting quite so soiled.” She turned around with a small smile, and Kaito couldn’t argue.

“Very well then. Do it quickly.”

Mika raced over to her backpack, and searched around for several moments before pulling out the gauze and wraps that she had been looking for. It took her as much time to wrap the area around the wound as it had for her to find the material.

“Another thing you’ve been reading up on?” Kaito asked with a small smirk.

“As a matter of fact, it is.”

As she was winding wraps around his body, she couldn’t help but notice how much leaner he had gotten in just the few days he had been here. Not that he hadn’t been before, but his muscles stood out even more through his skin, and whatever little bit of fat that he had had before was completely gone.

“What’s wrong?” Kaito asked.

Mika hadn’t realized that her hands had stopped moving as she thought about it. “Nothing,” she said quickly and went back to work hoping to hide the blush that was trying to force its way onto her cheeks. Mika tied up the final end, and sat back slightly to admire her work. If nothing else, she thought that it was much neater than the other time she had tried it on his arm.

“Where are the other two?” Kaito asked as he pulled on a clean shirt.

“Cleaning Kana’s arrows,” Mika answered.

“The arrows? I didn’t mean for her to have to clean all of them,” he said partially to himself. “Those are designed to be disposable. I only meant the spear and daggers.”

“I think it might be best if you don’t tell Ayako that. She’ll be furious.”

“I don’t even want to think about it,” Kaito said with a shake of his head. Then he turned his attention back to the bucket of red water. “Dump that out in the bathtub would you? No need for the others to see it and start asking questions.”

Mika nodded and picked it up to haul to the bathroom while Kaito stored away his soiled shirt and made a note to himself to rinse it off with clean water later.

The other two returned to the room just as Mika was coming out of the bathroom. “Did you finish?”

“Yeah,” Ayako said with a long sigh. “It took forever!” Ayako leaned her spear against the wall before collapsing on the couch.

Kana put down her bow, arrows, and the two daggers that she had carried up for Mika next to the spear. Then she pulled out her books again and started making notes on a piece of parchment that Kaito said she could borrow from the desk. Kaito laid out on the bed, and would occasionally answer a question that Kana would ask about the text.

As Mika lay down on her mat on the floor, she pondered when it was that she began to consider this place a home. The more she thought about it, the more she began to believe it to be true. Her uncle’s house was just that, a house that she resided in, and it seemed to her that she hadn’t had a real home since her grandmother had died, but now, with her friends surrounding and supporting her, she realized that she finally had a place to call ‘home’. With these thoughts in mind, she let herself drift off into a dreamless sleep.


A/N~ Hopefully my action wasn't written too terribly in this chapter. I can see all the scenes so clearly in my mind when I write it, but when I go back and read it over, it's never as clear as it was originally. I guess I need to practice that.

<==Chapter 46

Chapter 48==>

[melody.]

*claps enthusiastically*

[Muse.]

-reads, smiles and giggles-

Nanananana~ Awesome. ;D

Such a nice bit of reading after having the flu this week. ;P

Continue, please and thank you? c:

I love how Mika has been changing over the course of this story. ^^ Subtle, yet noticeable at the same time.

[scmarshtacky]

I'm glad you both are enjoying it. Sorry you had the flu, I hope you're getting over it nicely.
That chapter must have been really good since you put a happy face after almost every sentence. XD

[|~quitting~|]

That taste of battle was beautiful....me want more :D

[Muse.]

I so abuse faces. OTL

But yes! It was really good. ^^

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 48 – Scouting Mission

In the next few days, the girls began to develop a more routine schedule. Kaito would wake up early and go to whatever meeting was being held that day, and when he got back, he would train with the girls. They would do that for a couple of hours, or as long as their bodies could hold up, and then break for lunch. After lunch, Ayako dictated that it was ‘exploring time’ and she would lead the group through the castle and around the grounds searching for new and exciting places. Usually, by the time they got back, it was close to dusk, and the group would eat supper before winding down for the night with card games, or reading in the case of Kana and Mika.

In just the few days that they had done this, the girls were becoming better with their fighting, Kana and Ayako more so than Mika, although she was also progressing slowly. They became more familiar with the layout of the castle and could get back to the bedroom from almost anywhere, and also knew the immediate surroundings decently well.

And so it continued until the fifth day.

“I can’t train with you today,” Kaito announced as he entered the bedroom after the early morning council meeting.

“What?!” Ayako demanded. She already had her spear in hand and was ready to be on her way. “Why not?!”

Kaito took a deep breath before speaking slowly. “Because tonight the scouting missions are beginning and I am in one. Therefore –”

“What?!” Ayako shouted even louder than before. “I want –”

“No,” Kaito interrupted swiftly.

“You didn’t even hear what I have to say!”

“I don’t need to. I know you were about to demand to come, and the answer is ‘no’.”

Ayako opened her mouth to respond when Kana cut her off. “Before we start bickering amongst ourselves, I think that we should at least get the full story.”

“There’s not much to it,” Kaito replied. “Scouting is done before we ever do anything. Just to look around and try to assess the enemy forces. The legions are divided into groups of around ten and they are sent off in different directions, and instructed to determine the force of the enemy in a certain region.”

“Where are you being sent to?” Kana questioned.

“The southwestern region on the border between our land and the land of the Fire Clan.”

Kana pulled out one of her books, and flipped to one of the pages she had folded down.

“A map?” Ayako asked. “You really spent that much time studying the geography of this place?”

“I thought it was interesting,” Kana said shortly. Then she pointed to a spot on the map. “About here then?”

“Around about,” Kaito said with a shrug. “We’ll move depending on where we find something that may be of use.”

“I still want to go!” Ayako said breaking into the conversation. “You aren’t actually going to fight anyone right? So it shouldn’t be an issue.”

“I will not take you into a war zone,” Kaito replied more aggressively. “It’s not place for a petty human.”

“Regardless of what you say, I’ll sneak out anyway. I may or may not end up in the right spot, but I am not going to sit here twiddling my thumbs with nothing else to do! Isn’t this what we’ve been practicing for?”

“You’ve been practicing for self-defense,” Kaito emphasized. “Not offence.”

“But you’re not even fighting anyone!!” Ayako shouted exasperated.

The two got louder and louder as they went back and forth, neither backing down. Kana snapped the book shut with such a loud finality, that they both turned and looked at her as if they had forgotten she was there.

“I won’t say that we should be there by any means, however, I do know that trying to keep Ayako in this castle will not work regardless of what you or I say. There are really only two feasible options; shackle her up in whatever prison you have, or allow her to accompany you. I feel that she would do that in any case.”

“I’ve been improving too!” Ayako said. “Me and Kana make a really good team, even you admitted to it.”

“A real battle is different than fighting me in practice.”

“But we’re not fighting. You already said this is just to observe.”

“It is supposed to be, but you never know what could happen.”

“Well, how about this? If Kana and I, working together can get you on the ground, then you let us come, and if not, you can chain me to a wall or whatever.”

“That’s ridiculous! I’m not going to –”

“So you’ll admit defeat without even trying?” Ayako challenged. “After all, we are just humans, what could we possibly do to you?”

“Fine! Alright!” Kaito threw his hands up in exasperation.

Ayako clenched her fist and pulled it down in triumphant manner. “We’ll meet you down there. Kana and I have to talk about something first.”

Kaito rolled his eyes and exited through the glass doors before disappearing over the side of the balcony.

“Do you have them ready Kana?” Ayako whispered urgently once she was sure that Kaito was out of earshot.

Kana headed over to her backpack and withdrew a small wooden box. Ayako leaned over her as she opened it and withdrew five small spheres. They were wrapped in a thin layer of leather, and were tied at one end. “This is all that I have, but it’s a good time to test it.”

Ayako nodded. “Let me have one of them. In case I need it.”

Kana handed one of the small pouches over. “Let us hope that it works.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Remember Ayako, you have to make him draw on his electricity for the second one to work,” Kana whispered to her.

“I know Kana.” Ayako responded. “Don’t worry. I got this.”

“Good luck you two,” Mika said casting a smile in her friends’ direction. The two nodded and Ayako headed for the arena while Kana climbed up into a low tree to hide until it was time for her to start firing.

“Ready?” Ayako demanded leveling the tip of her spear at Kaito’s chest.

“Let’s just get this over with,” he said as he drew his katana.

Mika’s eyes flashed between the two and she gripped the small silver coin that Kaito had given her. Then she threw it up into the air. As soon as it hit the ground, Kaito and Ayako moved off simultaneously.

Ayako started with more simple strikes and parries, but as she went along, she sped up and put more force behind the blows. Not that it mattered very much to Kaito, he still blocked with the same ease.

As Ayako struck downward with the shaft of her spear, Kaito countered it by thrusting upward with his sword, the two connected, and the power of Kaito’s attack overpowered Ayako’s. She stumbled backward slightly overwhelmed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kaito moving for her, but there was no way she was going to let it end that easily. Ayako tucked her knees underneath her, and dropped into a backwards summersault to avoid the hit that Kaito was aiming at her. As she stopped herself a split second later, she grabbed a handful of dirt and thrust it into his face.

Kaito reeled backward, startled by the rather unorthodox attack, and tried to blink the grains of dust from his eyes. Ayako heard an arrow whizz by her, and then saw Kaito swat it out of the air with his sword. Now was her chance.

She drew the pouch from her pocket, and threw it at Kaito. As she expected, he sliced it right in half as it neared him. He soon realized, however, that this was a rather grave mistake. A light green gas exploded from the little sphere with such a rank odor that he nearly choked on it. His eyes filled with water, which he impatiently tried to blink away. What the hell is this?

Ayako didn’t give him much time to dwell on the question though, she was already launching herself at him with an increased vigor. Duck, strike, block, dodge, block, strike. She executed the moves without even thinking about it, letting her instincts take over.

She had to occupy his sword, only then would he ever consider actually using his powers if Kana shot at him. Ayako could feel her friend waiting for the moment, but it was much easier said than done. At last, as Kaito was jabbing in her direction, she reached out with her spear, and pushed his sword to the side as much as she could and held it there in a block.

She could sense that Kana knew it was the right moment, and she fired the arrow with one of the small leather pouches tied right under the arrow head.

Kaito heard rather than saw the release of Kana’s arrow. He didn’t have much option as he needed at least one of his hands to hold the sword that was keeping Ayako’s spear away from him. He couldn’t risk dodging the attack either. With the way she was blocking, he would have to drop his sword to move. With little choice left to him, Kaito relinquished the hilt with his right hand and a bolt of lightning shot out to blast the arrow out of the sky.

As soon as he had done it, he caught the triumphant gleam in Ayako’s eyes in his peripheral vision. Ayako then relinquished her hold at the same time the arrow exploded in fire and smoke. Kaito leapt into the air to avoid the force of the blast.

Just before he touched the ground, Ayako tackled him head on. Kaito held up his sword in a block, but with nothing to grip in the middle of the air, they both flew backward into the sand.

Ayako’s spear pressed against his sword keeping it from her body, although she couldn’t really put the point of her spear against his throat.

“You’re... on the ground,” she panted.

Kaito smirked, and thrust his legs upward. In a blur of movement, Ayako was flipped over. When she could focus again, Kaito was on top of her, and that stupid tip of the sword was held loosely at her throat. Her spear was pressed to the ground under his foot rendering it useless.

“Kuso!” she shouted in frustration. “You were on the ground though! I had you on the ground! That was our deal!!”

“Stop shouting so loudly!” he snapped back at her. “You’ve already completely ruined my nose with that toxic gas, and my eyes are still watering. I can’t have my eardrums burst too.”

“Then get off of me!”

Kaito did so. He sheathed his sword and walked a few steps away rubbing his temple with his forefinger. He was going to have a headache for the next week.

Ayako brushed herself off and then glared at Kaito’s back. “So?”

“I think if you were to stay here, you would cut down every single person that came within reach of your spear,” he said without turning around. “However before anything happens, I’ll have to discuss it with the others.”

“That’s not fair! I won. You can’t say now that maybe I can or maybe I can’t!”

“It’s all I can do.” With that, he strode off, leaving a fuming Ayako still covered in sand in the same spot that she had been thrown down.

“Let it go Ayako,” Kana said walking up to her.

With a bit of reluctance, Ayako mumbled an agreement. “I’m going to go into the woods for a while,” she announced after a moment of silence.

“Very well,” Kana said.

“Are you sure she’s going to be alright?” Mika asked Kana as she watched Ayako retreat into the shadows of the forest.

“I think she needs a while to cool off,” Kana responded. “Kaito was right. If she’s left here, she’s going to be trying to fight everyone that she sees.”

“What about you?” When Kana turned to look at Mika, slightly surprised, she elaborated. “Do you mind staying at the castle?”

“I do if my best friend is fighting,” she said with a smile. “Other than that, no, I do not mind that much; although I do believe that even I would become a bit bored.”

Mika nodded, and the two of them headed back into the castle. Kana announced that she wanted to visit the library, so Mika went back to the bedroom alone. Kaito wasn’t there either, so Mika took the time to relax on the couch and mull over everything that had happened.

If Kaito convinced whatever teammates he had that they could be useful, she could find herself on a battlefield in the next couple of days. I didn’t quite seem real. The castle was so peaceful that she found it hard to imagine that any other place in this land wasn’t.

The door creaked open, and Mika sat up expecting to find Kana, but instead Kaito had returned. “Did you talk with who you needed to?” she asked.

“I did,” he said slowly without looking up.

“And?” Mika prompted when it didn’t seem like he was going to respond.

“They agreed,” he replied shortly.

“So we’re really going then...” Mika mused. She stood to collect her things to pack.

“Mika,” the tone of Kaito’s voice caught her attention, “this deal was created between Ayako, Kana, and myself. You aren’t coming.”

Mika turned around slowly. “What?”

“Both Kana and Ayako can fight fairly decently. Although you are starting to understand a little more about how to use you daggers, you still haven’t actually fought. I can’t be responsible for you, and I can’t waste my time protecting you in the middle of a fight.”

Although his words were soft, they cut right through her like blades of ice. She involuntarily shivered and backed up against the wall trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to overflow. “I see... I’m useless...” She bit her lip her lip and dropped her head.

“Mika, you’re not useless,” Kaito said gently as he walked over to her, “but you were not born to fight, and I don’t think that you should. Your specialties lie elsewhere.” When she still didn’t look up at him, he continued a bit more softly. “You’re aware that I’m,” he paused and took a breath before saying, “a taboo child. You know how careful I have to be to keep my power in check. Mika, if I couldn’t protect you, and you were hurt in the middle of a fight, I don’t think I would have the conscious of restraint. I could very well let loose all of the power that I restrain and destroy everything within a kilometer. Regardless of who was friend or foe, they would all be caught in the blast, and I would likely end up destroying myself along with them.”

“But Kana and Ayako will still be there,” she said slowly. “They could just as easily be injured.”

“Of course I don’t want either of them to be hurt, but I don’t think my reaction would be as strong if they were.”

“Why?”

Kaito opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as the door crept open. He pulled back from Mika and turned to face Kana who had another armful of books with her. “Where did Ayako run off to?” he asked.

“She needed to take a breather,” Kana said as she laid down her new reading material. “She was rather frustrated. Is there an answer on the matter yet?”

“You can come under the conditions that you stay out of the way.”

“Alright,” Kana agreed readily. “I’ll begin preparing everything.” Kana caught Mika’s eye who hadn’t moved since she had come in. “Are you...?”

Mika shook her head quickly not trusting her voice to be solid enough to respond. Although she understood logically what Kaito had said, she still wasn’t satisfied with the answer, but she could do nothing to change it.

Ayako returned some time later, much calmer than she had been before. Of course, as soon as she heard the response, she jumped up and down excitedly, pretending to jab her spear at invisible enemies.

“You do realize that you have to follow my orders don’t you? All of them.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever you say,” she said responded automatically without really listening to him. “What time are we leaving at?”

“Roughly two hours before dusk,” Kaito said simply. “You might want to get some sort of sleep before then. We’ll likely be moving most of the night.”

Ayako wrapped her arms around the shoulders of her friends and danced them around the room. “We’re going to have so much fun! It’s going to be like a camping trip.”

“Ayako, this is not for your personal enjoyment!” Kaito snapped at her. “We’re in a war!”

“I know that,” she responded, “but even you can’t be gloomy all of the time.” She didn’t turn to hear his response. Instead, she ran about the room gathering up all of her personal belongings. “What else do I need?” she asked Kana who was also collecting her things to put in her backpack for the journey.

“What do you have?”

As Ayako recited her list to Kana, she caught sight of Mika, who was quietly sitting on her bed. She stopped mid-sentence to ask her, “Why aren’t you getting ready?”

“I’m not going,” Mika said slowly trying for a small, believable smile.

“But why not?”

She swallowed and tried to hold her voice steady as she spoke. “I’m still horrible at fighting. Actually, I haven’t fought at all. Only you and Kana have. I-I would only slow you down.”

“No you wouldn’t! You’re –”

“Ayako,” Kaito cut her off, “leave it be.”

“How can you say that?!” she snapped back at him. “She’s our friend! We can’t just –”

“The deal we made was sufficient only for yourself and Kana. Mika was not part of it. If you want your ‘friend’ to keep her head on top of her shoulders, let the matter go.”

Ayako huffed, and muttered incoherently under her breath, but she didn’t argue further, mostly because she couldn’t come up with any good argument. The last thing that she wanted was to see Mika get hurt. If it meant that her friend had to stay in a safe place, she couldn’t really disagree.

Ayako and Kana took Kaito’s advice and tried to take a nap. Kaito spent most of the day out of the room although Mika didn’t know why or where he was. She tried to be as upbeat as she could about the situation, but she found it increasingly difficult.

She tried to pass the time by looking at the books Kana had checked out, but all she could do was flip through the pages of strange characters. In the end, she ended up laying out on the couch lost in her thoughts.

Kana, not surprisingly, was the first to awake. She’d only been asleep for about an hour, but she insisted that she couldn’t take very long naps. Ayako, on the other hand, was a completely different matter. She slept soundly for hours. Kana was forced to wake up her friend as the sun began to lower in the sky.

“Are you ready?” Kaito asked an hour or so before the sun was about to set. He had a duffle bag in hand, the only materials he would be taking on the journey. It only held a couple of sets of clothes, a bed roll and sheet, and a few snacks.

Kaito was dressed somewhat casually, or as casually as he could be without using the clothes he obtained in Japan. His white shirt was made of cotton rather than silks, and was rather loose except around his wrists and collar.

“I’m ready when you are!” Ayako threw down the handful of playing cards she was holding and jumped up to go grab her backpack and spear.

Kana picked up the cards and shoved them in her backpack before grabbing up her weapons as well.

Mika followed her friends out of the front entrance and to one of the side courtyards. A group of about three people were already there with a couple of carry bags in hand. Mika immediately recognized Castir from the party, but the other two men were unfamiliar to her.

“So these are the humans, eh?” asked the bigger of the two men. He was already quite tall, but his bulky build accompanied with his sheer muscle mass made him seem like a giant to the girls. His face was kind though, and his skin was weathered by years out in the sun. His hair was a dark brown and had streaks of steel gray running through it. That and the wrinkles on his face were the only indications of his older age.

“They are,” Kaito confirmed with a short nod. “This is Ayako and Kana,” he said indicating both of them in turn. “You two already know Castir. The other two are Grinwald and Dacus.”

Ayako’s eyes moved to the man Kaito introduced as Dacus. He was the smallest of the men, and was the most fidgety. It was as though his hands just had to have something to do. His face reminded her of a rat: his two front teeth were slightly longer, his nose seemed too prominent on his face, and his cheek and jaw bones were very angular. His mousey brown hair was messy atop his head, and fell into his face so it covered his eyes almost completely.

“Nice to meet you,” Ayako said with a dip of her head.

“Sorry I’m late!” A call came from the distance.

Ayako turned to see a man hurtling toward them. When he stopped, he bent over panting for breath.

“Maverick,” Kaito greeted with a slight smile. “What in the world have you been doing?”

The man was covered in dust, and had a couple of leaves and twigs stuck to his hair and clothes. He smoothed out his hair and grabbed a ribbon out of his pocket to tie it up with. “My little sister’s cobra went up into a tree and wouldn’t come down. She wouldn’t let me leave until I got it down for her.”

Ayako paled. “Y-your sister as a pet cobra?! Do they live here?” Ayako scanned the ground as though she expected to find herself standing on a snake.

“Calm down Ayako,” Kaito muttered. “It’s imported.”

“That’s good then,” Ayako sighed. “So is this the whole group?”

Kaito nodded and glanced around at the lot of them meeting each of their eyes in turn. “This is just a scouting mission,” he reminded them. “We are not to engage the enemy for any reason other than for self-defense. You will follow my order first and foremost. General Maverick will be the second in command.” He waited for them each to nod. “Then let us depart.” Kaito turned and headed toward the castle gates. Maverick moved off right behind him, and the rest fell in behind him.

“Good luck,” Mika said smiling at her friends.

Ayako nodded and returned the smile. “Yeah, you have fun here too. If you practice, I’m sure you’ll get to come with us next time.”

With a final wave, Kana and Ayako turned to jog off after the group. Mika stood there long after the group had disappeared and the sun had set. The cold wind finally brought her out of her thoughts, and she headed into the castle brainstorming what to do to pass the couple of days until her friends returned.

**This is a refrence map of Akukai which you may want to refer to in this and the coming chapters. Just in case you do want to look at it, I will be posting it with the majority of chapters from now on.


A/N~ I'm slowly working my way up to the actual war, I promise. I hope that I have enough action in this and the following chapters to keep it pretty interesting. ^^
On another, more random note, I'm finally out of school for the summer. Which means a lot more writing time. It also means that my days are going to get mixed up in my head, so you all may have to remind me when it's Friday.

<==Chapter 47

Chapter 49==>

[Muse.]

-sob- I still have another week and a half until Summer.

The fighting between Kaito, Kana and Ayako this chapter was very creative. ^^ Loved it.

;D Lots of exciting things happened this chapter~

Reminders on Fridays? Can do. Just you wait. Every Friday I will remind you, regardless of if you remember or not. xD

[scmarshtacky]

It's a lot of fun writing fights between Ayako and Kaito, so I'm glad you enjoy them as well. ^^ And that's perfectly fine. XD I definitely don't want to forget what day it is.