"Why put yourself at risk to prove a point?"
"Do you think I can't do it?" She threw the accusation at him like she would a ball of fire.
Makato looked away from her and it was all the confirmation she needed. That was the real reason they'd sent Makato along. None of them thought she was capable. Well she would show them all.
"I don't need you. Go back to Akira and Tsuki and tell them that." The flames on her body continued to spread outward, no longer confined to her body, but burning along the ground, catching onto bushes and the branches of trees above her. A shower of sparks rained down from above onto her.
Makato looked from her to the burning forest around her, eyes wide and terrified. Something about the priest looking at her like a monster, made something snap inside of her. If anyone should understand where she was coming from it should be him. Weren't they both in the same predicament? He had a piece of Kazue's soul too. But unlike her, he seemed to have complete control over his powers.
"You're not going to prove any points this way," Makato said.
"Just watch me." She flung her arm and a trail of sparks followed.
Makato stumbled in his haste to move out of her way. Suzume stomped past him, anger fueling her movements, and she was no longer certain this was about proving herself or just wreaking as much destruction as possible. Whatever it was, it felt good. She felt powerful.
Stewing on her anger, and walking without destination through the forest for a few more minutes, she felt what she was looking for. A prickle at the back of her neck, a warning of yokai nearby. The unleashed fire had gotten the attention of something living in the forest. All that remained was to stop and let it come to her for a fight. Suzume drew her staff from her holster. The weight of the wood in her hand felt good, it reinforced her decision.
The prickling sensation grew stronger and from behind her Makato said, "Something is coming."
She ignored him, her eyes trained on the direction from which the powerful creature was coming. She felt it too, like a mouthwatering scent, it drew her to it. The power was crying out to her fire which only wanted to consume. She clutched her staff tighter, preparing for a fight. Whatever it was, its footsteps shook the ground, and the forest life was fleeing in the wake of the monster who was quickly approaching.
Then the trees burst apart, a hail of wooden splinters rained down on her as it roared. Suzume threw her arm up to shield herself from the dangerous debris before looking up to see her opponent. A giant chicken swiveled its head from one side to the other, peering down at her with black beady eyes.
Suzume wilted and dropped her staff to her side, the fire dying down as her anger was replaced by incredulity.
"A giant chicken? That's what came to fight me?"
She looked back at Makato to share a look that said, 'can you believe this.'
"Suzume, get away from that thing," Makato hissed behind her.
"What? The chicken? What could it possibly do?"
The chicken was at least three times her height, its head just above the treetops. It moved its head back and forth as it examined her, and the large red cockerel on its neck wobbled as it looked at her. Suzume picked her staff up. It wasn't the most terrifying yokai she'd ever seen, but it would have to do.
The chicken made a few more stomping steps toward Suzume.
"Come at me, you main dish," she said as she swung her staff, the flames dancing in front of her, swirling together.
The chicken opened its giant beak and instead of a cluck it roared. The sound shook the ground beneath Suzume's feet and leaves fell from the trees overhead. Out of its beak shot a ball of fire straight at Suzume. She screamed and leaped out of the path of the chicken's fire.
Makato had taken cover behind a nearby tree and was rapid-fire shooting arrows at the giant chicken. It stomped after her shooting fire from its beak like something from a nightmare. In fact, Suzume pinched herself just to make sure this wasn't some sort of insane dream. The pain she felt from the pinch was not reassuring and she and Makato were forced to run through the forest away from the chicken. It was too large to get through the trees without tearing them down, which gave them a few seconds head start to escape.
"Why a giant chicken of all things!" Suzume moaned between panting breaths as they weaved their way through the trees.
"It's a basan. They're attracted to fire. Normally they live deep in the forest and are almost never seen by humans. But they devour fire and burnt things. It must have smelled all the burnt wood and came looking for a meal."
"And it saw me lit up like a brazier and I looked like a rare delicacy." Suzume shook her head. Of all the rotten luck, she drew out a fire-breathing chicken.
"Most likely," Makato said and despite the danger he had a smile ghosting along the edges of his lips.
Suzume rolled her eyes. "How do I kill it? Will fire even work against it?"
"That I don't know..." he trailed off, his tone sounded less than convinced. "I've never seen one before... I've only read about them." He said it almost like a question, as if he could not remember when he had read it or how.
There was no time to question it. The whole reason she had come out here was to fight this thing. What was she running for? She wanted to prove that she was strong enough to protect herself, then that was what she was going to do. Even if she wasn't sure how to defeat it, she'd just have to wing it.
Suzume stopped and turned around to face the basan. She grabbed her staff and gave herself a quick pep-talk. You can do this. You've fought scarier things than a chicken.
It was coming up fast, roaring fire. Its cockerel swayed as it bobbed its head back and forth, black beady eyes searching for Suzume. With long hooked toes it pushed aside trees, smashing them beneath its feet and taking away the last obstacle between Suzume and it. She concentrated her energy into creating a ball of fire, but the flames would not cooperate, and instead burned out of control all over her body.
She could smell the basan's sulfuric breath as it came within inches of impaling her with its large beak. At the last moment she leaped backward. She wasn't making any progress, but she should just run and save herself. Behind her Makato shouted her name, but she was too stubborn to give up now. She had the power to stop it if she could just get the fire to cooperate. Makato called to her again, and this time she looked over her shoulder.
He was waving his arms, telling her to run. She started to form a reply when the beak once more came down beside her, almost grazing her shoulder. Suzume slapped her hands against the side of the basan's head in a futile attempt to deter it. But it only roared again, bellowing fire. Suzume looked up and was eye to eye with the massive beak, moments before it was going to shoot fire at her. She threw her hands up, prepared to guard against it, but at the last minute a body was between her and the chicken, grabbing onto its beak and keeping it from unleashing its fiery breath.
Kaito wrestled with the basan and over his shoulder he shouted. "Run, you idiot."
She should have been grateful he'd come to her rescue again. But that was the exact opposite of what she wanted. This was supposed to be her moment.
Instead of running, Suzume used that moment to refocus her energy. And with new resolve, the fire was more willing to bend to her command. It burned brighter and coalesced in her hands forming a perfect sphere of flame.
"Move out of my way, I'm going to destroy this thing," Suzume shouted back at Kaito.
Kaito looked over his shoulder, saw the burning balls, and opened his mouth to say something when the basan took advantage of his momentary distraction and knocked him aside, sending the dragon careening through the air.
It opened its mouth in another powerful, fiery roar. Suzume saw her chance and threw the ball of fire which collided with the basan's fire in fiery sparks that rained down upon her and it. She threw up her arm to shield her face from any stray sparks. At first it seemed it would only be a single explosion, and then Suzume's fire consumed the basan's and traveled back
the way its fire had come and into its throat. The basan made a sound more like a squawk than a roar as it swallowed Suzume's flame.
A lump formed in its throat as it swallowed and then it opened its mouth, fire spewing from its gullet. It swung its neck back and forth wildly as it ran in circles before falling to the ground, thrashing about, flapping its wings, and kicking its legs. Fire burst from its mouth and along its body, catching its feathers and feet alight. The basan was being consumed by fire from within, and it gave a pained scream so loud Suzume had to cover her ears to block out the sound.
The sound was cut off as the fire overtook its body, and all that remained was a burning corpse which smelled faintly of cooked chicken. Suzume looked horrified at the dead basan. She thought she would be proud but she was mostly disgusted. At least she had done what she had set out to do. Putting on a triumphant face, she turned to Kaito to brag about her triumph. This ought to show him how powerful she was. But he was still lying where the chicken had flung him, his limbs at odd angles like a broken toy.
A strange sensation overcame her, her chest felt suddenly tight and she could not make her limbs obey her. Rin arrived just then, she looked to Makato, then Suzume, before her eyes went to rest on the motionless Kaito on the ground. The kitsune rushed over to him, knelt on the ground before tearing open his haori and looking down at his body.
"His wounds have opened up again," she said to Makato who had crouched on the other side of him.
This wasn't what was supposed to happen. She had thought showing Kaito's weakness would make her feel better but she just felt hollow.
"What were you thinking?" Rin turned toward Suzume, but she had no words to explain. She had put Kaito's life in danger for no reason at all. All the gloating triumph was sucked out of her in an instant.
"Why did he even come out here if he was only going to get hurt," she said.
A part of her was hoping he would leap up and tease her for worrying but he hadn't opened his eyes yet.
"You know why he did it," Rin said, her words like a slap across Suzume's face.
Suzume did know: it was all for Kazue.
22
Palpable fear had settled on Suzume's shoulders. It made her restless. She couldn't stop pacing and she couldn't focus. She couldn't explain this feeling. For as long as she could remember, Suzume had only ever worried about herself. In a place like the White Palace, you had to look out for yourself because no one was going to watch your back for you. Without meaning to, she had been relying on Kaito to do that for her. And despite actively trying not to, she had started to worry about him too.
Rin and Makato were tending to his wounds, and yet she kept drifting over there hoping to catch a glimpse of him, and find out how he was doing without actually going up and asking if he was ok. If he finds out I'm worried about him, I'll never hear the end of it.
A couple more almost casual strolls past and all Suzume could see was the back of Makato's head and Rin standing over him and Kaito. Was that a bloody rag? Had he bled to death trying to save her from a giant chicken? Suzume craned her neck to try and see better but to no avail.
Suzume looked around in a way she hoped looked casual. Tsuki and Noaki were sparring nearby. They seemed unconcerned by Kaito's condition. Maybe she was overreacting. This was Kaito after all. He was never seriously hurt for long. Get it together, he's probably fine. This is probably some elaborate prank and once I buy into it he'll ridicule me for worrying.
As she was pacing, Suzume did not see Tsuki was coming toward her until she was colliding with his chest.
"Watch where you're going," Suzume snapped at him on impulse.
"I could say the same to you," Tsuki said with a sly grin in the direction of where Kaito was resting.
"Is it time for practice?" Suzume said perhaps a little too eagerly, but she needed the distraction.
Tsuki only shook his head. "We're going on patrol." He gestured toward Noaki who had been silently standing behind him. "Now's your chance to check on Kaito since Rin and Makato went looking for medicinal herbs. It will just be the two of you." Tsuki waggled his eyebrows at her.
"The dragon will be fine on his own," Suzume said. "I'll come with you on patrol maybe you can teach me while we go."
"As much as I like seeing you as an eager student, we need someone to watch over the dragon. In his current condition, he cannot defend himself." He winked.
"The dragon can protect himself." Suzume pointed a finger at Kaito. The reality of the situation refused to sink in.
"You need your rest. You used a lot of your spiritual energy yesterday," Akira said taking control of the body she shared with her brother, "I don't know who is more stubborn, you or the dragon." She sighed.
"Clearly it's him." Suzume gestured toward where Kaito was laying. He had not risen from his bedroll all afternoon.
Akira shook her head. "We'll be back before dark. Don't have too much fun."
She sauntered over to Noaki while Suzume sputtered a series of ineffective defenses. They ignored her excuses and then all that remained behind was Suzume and Kaito. He had to be pretending because as much as she had fantasized about proving she was strong to him, she had not considered the dragon getting hurt. The conflicting emotions left her paralyzed in place.
Rin seemed to think he was badly hurt. Maybe it's serious this time. He hasn't made a scene or anything like he normally would. She shook her head and went to sit on her sleeping roll. She was feeling tired, and a nap might refresh her and give her a clear head. Who knew what new horrors awaited them tomorrow? It would be better to get some rest.
She turned her back to the still form of Kaito sleeping across the camp from her. She'd never really seen him sleep before, or had him be so quiet for so long. It felt surreal. He was supposed to be infallible. The mighty dragon, brought down by a chicken. Pah. Serves him right for all the humiliation he's put me through. She peeked over her shoulder. His back remained to her unmoving. He didn't even yell at me for running off looking for a fight. She shook her head. Now I'm wanting to fight him. What is wrong with me? She laid down and forced her eyes shut, but all she could think about was Kaito and why he wasn't acting like himself. The thought kept nagging at her to the point where she couldn't stand the wondering anymore.
Leaping up, she marched over to where he was laying down. He laid on his side, his back to her. His side rose and fell with each breath, so apparently, he was sleeping. That's enough. I saw he was breathing, I don't need to be here anymore. What if he wakes up? But instead of following her own advice, she lowered herself down beside his bedroll, careful not to make a sound, and looked down at his sleeping face. Some of his color had returned. He had looked so pale right after the basan's attack. But there were still dark circles under his eyes that had never been there before.
"Thank you," Kaito said without opening his eyes.
Suzume froze, not sure if this was the precursor to some heavy teasing or if he was talking in his sleep. Whatever it was, it wasn't sincere. Kaito never thanked her for anything.
After a few seconds of waiting for the punchline, she said quietly, “For what...?
"Don't do that." He sighed heavily and opened dark eyes that pinned her in place so she couldn't look away from him. "It's hard enough for me to admit when I'm weak."
The hairs on the back of her neck were rising up on end. He must have been seriously wounded for him to talk like this. Is he dying? That feeling of someone grabbing a hold of her heart and squeezing returned.
"It's not like I thought you were invincible. I mean you were sealed by a mere mortal." She cringed at her attempt at teasing. Why had she brought up Kazue now of all times? I should just go now before I say something else stupid.
He closed his eyes. "I suppose I deserve that."
Suzume blinked in disbelief at him. "Are you dying?"
He chuckled softly. "No. Just feeling my own mortality is all."
"Are you seriously hurt? What's wrong with you?" she asked
her eyes scanning his body. Bandages were wrapped around his bare torso. Normally she would have been embarrassed to look at his bare skin but she was more concerned with his physical health than his physique.
"I'll recover in time."
"Why are you acting like this?" she asked, trying to cover up the panic that had briefly set in.
He wouldn't look at her and instead looked up at the sky overhead. "I'm supposed to protect you. I never should have put you in danger." The last sentence was so low she wasn't sure he meant to say it out loud.
"What was that?" she leaned in close pretending to try and hear him better. Desperately trying to insert some levity into their exchange. The somber mood added a new dimension to their relationship and she wasn't sure she liked it.
He turned his head and their lips were inches from one another. Her heart leaped into her chest. Being this close to Kaito made all the sparks dance along her flesh. As she looked into his eyes Suzume could see something drawing her in.
Love makes you weak. She yanked her head back before she did something stupid.
"Just get better so I don't have to worry about protecting you anymore. It's exhausting," she said with a wave of her hand.
She tried to get up, deciding it was time to put some distance between them before she did something truly stupid. But before she could, his hand darted out and grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her closer to him.
Suzume stared down at him. Her pulse was hammering against his palm. He had to know being close to him made her heart race.
"Don't go, not yet."
This was a Kaito she had never seen before and she didn't exactly hate it. Which scared her almost as much as the idea that he might be dying. Both of which were complex feelings that she wasn't ready to analyze just yet. This might all be a prank after all. But when he looked this vulnerable it was hard to think that was the case. Seeing him like this, it brought out a nurturing part of her she thought herself lacking. Maybe I should have Makato reverse the spell.
The Sea Stone Page 16