“The rest of the hike to the ruins tomorrow looks quite arduous,” Akari said as she examined the map. “Very steep, but not as far as we walked today.”
Takeo reached out, and she handed him the paper. “So, what is the real reason you think Sera sent us out here?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Akari asked. She poked at the fire with a stick, sending sparks floating up to the roof of the cave.
“It’s just a hike, so far at least,” he said, handing the map back to her. “Nothing to encourage teambuilding.”
She took it back and folded it into her pocket. “Who knows,” she said. “Maybe we will find out tomorrow.”
They sat in an awkward silence for a moment, with Akari unsure what to ask to continue the conversation. Thankfully, Takeo finally spoke up.
“Your sister,” he said, not taking his eyes off the fire. “Why does she work with the fae?”
Akari shrugged. “She has always been drawn to them, their people, their culture. She made friends more easily with fae kids than human ones when we were little. She loves their music, their art, their language. The fae communities here have always been welcoming of her, so she has been more than happy to work with them and help them as much as she can.”
“She is a good woman,” he said, and Akari felt a little tug of annoyance. It irked her that he was praising her sister, which she then realized was stupid. Of course her sister was a good person who did good work. She had said so many times herself. She had defended Yoshimi’s relationship to the fae more times than she could count. So why was it upsetting her for Takeo to say it now? She had a feeling she knew why, but she didn’t want to give voice to it.
Takeo must have noticed Akari wasn’t responding because he asked, “What about you? Do you feel drawn to the fae culture?”
“I didn’t have a choice of what to do in my life,” she said. “So it doesn’t matter. I’m Sword Kissed. I have to battle demons and keep all people—human and fae—safe.”
“It is a noble calling,” Takeo said.
“I just wish it had been more of a choice,” Akari said. “I just feel like…my life is a job. It’s not something I hate, but I don’t love it either. Yoshimi, her life, her job, it is not easy. The humans…they don’t support her, and she often feels like an outcast. But she loves her job, her kids, her fae friends. Despite the difficulties, she is happy.”
“But you are not happy?” Takeo asked.
“I exist,” Akari said. “And that has to be enough for me.”
Takeo stood and moved to Akari’s side of the fire, sitting close to her. “That cannot be enough,” he said. “How can you fight if you don’t have something to fight for?”
“I fight to protect the people,” Akari said. “I fight for them.”
Takeo shook his head. “But if you died, would you be sad? Would you miss this world? The people?”
Akari dipped her head, staring into the fire, yet she felt cold. She felt her eyes well with tears.
“If I were dead, what would it matter?” she asked, trying to turn his questions into a joke. It would hurt too much if he was serious.
“You know that’s not what I mean,” he said.
“No,” she finally admitted.
Takeo nodded. “I see the hopelessness in your eyes,” he said. “I saw it the moment we met. If you don’t care if you live or die, are you really fighting at full strength?”
Akari paused for a moment. She had felt…listless for so long. Like she was only drifting through life. She was the best of the Sword Kissed fighters. She had never met a demon she could not defeat. And she had no one in her life who needed her. Yes, Yoshimi would miss her if she died, but she didn’t need her to survive like a child. Yoshimi would be fine.
“Maybe this is why Sera pushes me so hard,” Akari said. “She knows I am not the best fighter I could be.”
Takeo nodded. “But Sera doesn’t seem to see what you are missing. She knows you could be better, but not how to help you reach the next level in your fighting skills other than to push you. Which seems to only make you more resentful of your teacher and your life.”
“But you know?” Akari asked. “You know what I’m missing to make me a better fighter, even though I’ve only known you for like a day?”
“Maybe,” he said. “I think you are missing true purpose. Your reason for living. Fighting demons is a job, not the reason you wake up every day.”
“So what could my reason be?” Akari asked.
“Anything,” Takeo said excitedly. “If you could do anything, what would it be? Would you paint seascapes? Cook delicious foods? Find a way to bridge the Hollows?”
“I…I don’t know,” Akari said, feeling a little excitement build in her chest. “I’ve never given it much thought. Bridge the Hollows? That would be…incredible. Is anyone even working on that?”
“There are scientists and magic wielders in Ryu who have been working on finding a way to travel from one Hollow to the others for years, but they have not made much progress. They do have radios. Old decrepit things from before the Great Divide that somehow still work. They use them to contact people with radios in other Hollows.”
“That’s amazing,” Akari said. “Why does no one talk about this? I knew about the radios, but not that they were using them regularly to collect news and information. I’ve never read anything in the paper about news from other Hollows.”
Takeo shrugged. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. Until we can travel to another Hollow, who cares what is happening out there?”
“Is it true that the fae once lived in their own Hollow?” Akari asked. “Back when the world was One?”
“Well, I don’t know that it was true,” he said. “I’ve never been there, and I’ve never known a fae who has been there. We call it the fae realm, though, not Hollow. There are some who want to go back there as well. But it was shut off to us, just as the rest of the world was locked away, in the Great Divide.”
“That must be very sad for the fae,” she said. “To be locked away from their homeland.”
Takeo nodded. “I think it is why many fae don’t fight back against the segregation here. They don’t feel they truly belong here anyway.”
“What about you?” Akari asked. “Do you feel like you belong here?”
“Yes,” he said. “And no. You could say I’m of two minds about it.”
They both laughed, and Akari started to feel at ease with Takeo for the first time. She wanted to lay her head on his shoulder, entwine her fingers with his, but she couldn’t. They were partners. It wouldn’t be appropriate as workmates. She thought maybe the chuhai was having a bit of an effect on her as well.
“And what about your family?” she finally asked. “How did that even happen? Your parents? That must be a beautiful story.”
“It was…” he said, gazing into his drink. “It was.”
“That’s not fair,” she said. “You know all about my sister and my…lacking a reason to live and fight. Tell me more about you.”
He lifted his head, staring into her eyes. “Maybe someday,” he said with a small smile.
“Oh, come on!” she said a little more loudly than she intended. “You can’t…”
He placed his lips on hers, and she stopped talking. Her eyes were wide in surprise, but she noticed his were closed. He opened his mouth a bit, sucking her bottom lip into the warm wetness. She felt a quiver in her belly, and she let her eyes close, too. She felt the heat from the fire, the chuhai, his kiss all radiating through her. He reached up and stroked her cheek, and she placed her hand on his arm and kissed him back. His lips were soft, and she could feel the muscles in his biceps.
She still wanted to know more about him, his family, his history. Who was this strange man who walked between worlds?
She needed to know him, and yet, in that kiss, she knew enough.
Maybe Sera had been right to send them into the woods alone after all.
9
Sak
ura, sakura…
Akari stirred fitfully. She knew she was sleeping. She could feel the heaviness of her body and could see only black. But she could hear someone singing to her the song of her mother. But it was not her mother’s voice.
Blossoms on the trees
Blossoms in the sky
Are you a human
Or are you a fairy?
Sakura, sakura of mine…
Akari felt herself stand, but she still could not see anything, as if she was moving in a dream.
“Hello?” she called. No one responded. She tried to take a step forward, but her foot felt as if it were stuck in deep mud. She reached down and tried to pull her foot loose, but not only did it not budge, she was sinking deeper!
She struggled to lift her feet, but she felt wetness creeping up her clothes, drenching her and pulling her down.
“Help,” she exclaimed.
Sakura…sakura…she heard the voice reply, but still she could see nothing.
“Help me,” she cried as she sank up to her neck. “Takeo!”
Her eyes sprung open. She gasped. She had been sleeping. It was all just a terrible dream. Then she realized she was drenched. Oh my gods! she thought. Was I so scared I wet myself? She pushed herself up and saw the whole floor of the cave was completely wet. Takeo sat on his mat on the other side of their now-dead fire. He was wearing a straw hat in an attempt to protect himself, but it wasn’t doing him any good. Over him was a small cloud, and rain was falling from it, soaking him and spreading across the cave floor.
“What’s going on?” Akari asked as she jumped to her feet.
Takeo spit water from his mouth and tried to wipe his face, but the rain kept falling. “That’s what I would like to know,” he said. “I woke up to this. I thought at first there was a hole in the cave ceiling or something. But when I moved, the rain followed me. It didn’t take me long to figure out the rain was…stalking me. But I haven’t found the source yet.”
Akari did her best to move their things away from the water, but it was too late. Everything was wet. She went outside, and Takeo followed her. The sun was starting to rise, so she at least had some light to help her look to find the cause of Takeo’s rain cloud.
“Did you hear anything?” she asked. “Any movement or words being uttered?”
He shook his head, sending rain drops flying. “No, nothing,” he said. “I only woke up when I thought you had dropped a bucket of water on my head.”
She stood in a puddle of water, her shoes soaked through. Akari groaned. She was never going to get dry.
“Just go stand over there,” she said, waving him away. “I can’t focus with you dripping everywhere.”
Takeo rolled his eyes as he walked away.
“Who is there?” Akari called. She wasn’t sure anyone was, but there had to be a magical source to the cloud. Either someone was actively creating it, or they created it and then left. She hoped whoever made it was still around. She wouldn’t have any idea how to banish the rain cloud on her own.
“I am Sword Kissed Tanaka,” she said, holding up her empty hands. “I mean you no harm. Show yourself.”
Still nothing. She shrugged at Takeo. She noticed the water running off him wasn’t flowing down, toward the cave, but uphill toward the woods. The water was probably flowing to whoever was creating it. Akari walked back down the trail a bit, away from where the water was. She then looped around, hoping to come up behind whoever might be watching them and catch the person by surprise.
She had to move slowly and carefully since the woods were quite overgrown here, and everywhere she stepped there were fallen leaves and broken branches. She got as close to where she had seen the water flowing as possible, but she still couldn’t see anything through the trees. She drew her sword and took a deep breath. Then she leaped in the direction of where the person must be hiding.
“Ah-ha,” she shouted.
“Ahh!” a woman screamed. Akari felt a bucket of water fall on her, and not stop. Raising her head, she saw a cloud over her now, raining a torrent.
The woman who had screamed was holding an umbrella, but she also was dripping wet. She was small and thin with pale skin and black hair.
“I’m so sorry,” the woman said. She waved her hand, and the rain cloud dissipated.
It was apparent the woman was not a threat. Akari sheathed her sword and squeezed her hair out. “Who are you?”
“Forgive me,” she said. “My name is Ameonna. I am—”
“A rain sprite,” Takeo said. He approached from the other side, rain still falling on him.
Sprites were a sort of hill folk. Small creatures of myth and magic that were not considered demons. Some people thought they were a sort of fae, but more magic than human.
“Yes,” Ameonna said. “I was only trying to protect you, Tanaka-san.”
“Protect me?” Akari asked. “From what?”
“From him,” she said, glaring at Takeo.
“Why do I need protecting from him?” Akari asked, suddenly alarmed. Had he done something in the night? Something Akari wasn’t aware of? Her hand instinctively went to the hilt of her sword.
“I saw him…kissing you,” Ameonna said shyly. “I wasn’t sure if it was what you wanted.”
“Ah, yes,” Takeo said, spitting water as he spoke. “A water sprite and a guiding spirit for women. She leads the souls of women who have died by drowning to the afterlife.”
“And protecting living women when I can,” Ameonna said proudly. “But not many people come through here anymore.”
“It’s all right, Ameonna,” Akari said. “He’s not a threat. The kiss was welcome.”
Takeo smirked, and Akari felt her face go hot. “Well…I mean…you know…he doesn’t need to be punished for it anyway,” Akari clarified clumsily.
“As you wish, Tanaka-san,” Ameonna said. She waved her hand, and the rain cloud over Takeo faded away.
Takeo lifted his head and took off the straw hat. “Finally,” he said with a relieved sigh.
“Thank you, Ameonna,” Akari said with a bow. “I know you meant no harm.”
“Well, we few creatures of the hills, we must do what we can to protect the land and the people who live here,” Ameonna said.
“What do you mean?” Akari asked. “Where are the other hill creatures?”
Ameonna gripped her chest and shook her head. “Gone,” she said sadly. “The blackness, it took them away, one by one.”
“The blackness?” Takeo asked. “You mean like a shadow?”
“Not exactly,” Ameonna said. “This blackness is in the earth. We hill spirits, we are born from the earth, one and the same. The earth, it is poisoned. If the earth dies, we die.”
“What is causing this blackness?” Akari asked. “This poison?”
“Chiyoko,” Ameonna said. “She is sick.”
Akari nodded. Chiyoko Hollow was another name for the world in which they now lived, their little piece of it. It was just another way of saying the world was poisoned.
“What can you tell us about the mountain?” Akari asked, pulling out her now-drenched map, which she now realized was not an old parchment, but vellum, which was why the rain did not destroy it. “We are supposed to be looking for ruins and a cave with nightblooms.”
Ameonna reached for the map. “Let me see this,” she said, examining it closely. “Where did you get this? It is quite old. Fae crafted.”
“From my sensei,” Akari said. “She is the one who sent us here.”
“Without this map,” Ameonna said handing it back, “you never would have gotten this far. This mountain, it is protected by fae magic. Humans can’t see it without a key or other enchanted item to let them pierce the veil.”
At that, it was like a shadow had been lifted from Akari’s eyes and she was seeing the mountain clearly for the first time. No wonder she had never noticed its size or gone hiking here before. She literally couldn’t see what was right in front of her.
&nbs
p; “Did you know about this?” Akari asked Takeo accusingly. “Can you see the…veil or whatever magic is being used?”
Takeo shook his head. “I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for any. I can access fae magic, but only if I know it is there. Since I’m not full fae, it isn’t something that works all the time. I have to be deliberate in my use of it.”
“This must be why we didn’t know there were ruins or caves here,” Akari said. “It was shielded by fae magic for some reason. But why? What is so special about these ruins?”
“I guess we will find out when we see them,” Takeo said.
“Thank you for your help, Ameonna,” Akari said. “But we have a long journey ahead. We should get going.”
“Good luck to you, my friends,” Ameonna said as she waved them goodbye.
“At least the hill sprites aren’t turning evil the way the demons have,” Akari said. She headed back to their cave, packed up her wet gear, and hoisted her bag on her back.
“No,” Takeo said. “They are just dying.”
“It’s all connected,” Akari said. “The blackness, the shadows. The evil demons, the dying hill folk. I wonder if the other Hollows are facing similar problems.”
Takeo did his best to squeeze the excess water out of his clothes and bag as he packed. “It would make sense,” he said. “The world is not physically fragmented, only divided by preternatural spheres. If the core of the earth is sick, then every Hollow would be sick as well.”
“You said people were able to contact the other Hollows by radio,” Akari said while they started back up the trail. “Maybe we can ask them if they have had any success fighting the earth’s poison.”
“We can try when we get back,” Takeo said. He offered Akari his hand to help her climb over some large rocks blocking their path. “I only know of a radio tower back in Ryu, though.”
“Sera is an important woman,” Akari said. “She knows a lot of people. She can probably reach out to someone for information.”
“How well do you know Sera?” Takeo asked. “Does she have any fae blood?”
Sword Kissed Page 8