Fan Fiction ❯ No Rest For the Wicked ❯ Purity and Irony ( Chapter 2 )

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"Kizoku?" Saikoubi said about three hours after they left Firefly Forest. "You can still turn back. We aren't that far from the town."

"Why would I want to turn back?" He asked. She sighed.

"I want you to turn back." She said. "On the off chance that the Wolf Pack can not run the town properly it falls to you." She admitted. "I left the town to you. And the Wolf Pack… Well mostly the Wolf Pack but there is a chance that you could get the town… Perhaps… Maybe…" It faded into Saikoubi giggling sheepishly.

"I don't care if you left me the opportunity to become a samurai. I'm not deserting you. Besides how are you going to you know…" He trailed off, blushing slightly. There was an awkward moment of silence.

"I haven't really thought about what will happen." She said quietly. "I mean I'm not married. No one will marry me. Besides I want to marry for love and the one I love did this to me. Not to mention he would never leave town, just for me. I don't really know. I guess something will just appear out of thin air."

"You know that won't happen." He replied.

"I know you're right, but what can I do?" She chuckled sadly. "Crawl into the deepest, darkest, dens of despair within my soul? All I have left is my hope. Kagayaki took everything else. Please just let me have this Kizoku?" That's when she realized she was holding his hands. "Oh Kizoku… I'm sorry."

She let go quickly and then walked away. She was blushing redder than ripe cherries in the summer.

"Wait!" Kizoku cried and grabbed her wrist.

Instinct took over. Saikoubi slapped him. He let go instantly. Saikoubi was never one to cry but at that moment tears began forming in her eyes. She looked away again, only this time more out of anger then embarrassment. Kizoku looked at her shocked. Sure all the girls in the town were trained to fight. Martial arts, sword arts, and other such skills. But Saikoubi never really hit anyone. Sure when she got angry she would scratch or kick in the shins and her and Akane played this stupid game they called bloody shins where they would take turns kicking each other in the shins but… But… But…

"I'm sorry." She muttered and started walking again. "But don't do that. Kagayaki did that right before he… Just don't do that."

Kizoku noticed that now more than ever that she spoke haltingly. She couldn't finish a sentence. She cut them short. She was trying desperately to hide something. He hesitated a moment before following her. It puzzled him. Never. Never. Never. Saikoubi never hid anything. Especially not from him.

"So where are we going?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Umm I think the best place for us to go would be Kyoto. We could uhh start new lives there I guess and umm no one would know us." She stuttered. "I really didn't think that far ahead."

"Do you ever?" Kizoku mocked. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Then she smiled.

"Umm I guess I don't." She laughed. Then she added innocently, "but then again, Kizoku, do you ever think about anything other Junsui?" She giggled girlishly and winked. He blushed. "Just as I thought."

"What like you ever think about anything other than…" He faded again, then went back to yelling. "Like you ever think about anything!" She just laughed.

"For your information, not that you deserve to know, I do think about other things than Kagayaki Akihara." She said haughtily "I think about the well being of my town and my friends."

After that they walked on in silence until they reached the next town. But the entire time Kizoku couldn't help but think about the conversation. All this time he had dreamed of Junsui but now as he looked as Saikoubi a new dream began to form. She had long stopped being the girl he knew in his childhood days. She was still completely the same but something else was there too. Something else. He pushed the thought out of his mind when Saikoubi waved a hand in his face. He stopped suddenly. Then he saw it. He had almost walked right into a river. She chuckled quietly. They went back to walking.

Saikoubi walked along in a daze after that. Spring. She had always hated spring. It was so cursedly sunny and happy. It was ironic. People always said that she was the embodiment of spring. She was ferocious until you got to know her then she was gentle, not exactly but close to it. People often said that there was next to nothing that could get her spirits down. But Saikoubi said this once and only once. She turned to Akina and said 'irony makes purity ever sweeter.'

~*~

"Shizuka!" Akina called. "Shizuka!" Shizuka appeared.

"What?" She asked, rather impatiently.

"Shizuka you were the closest to Saikoubi right?" Akina asked. Shizuka shook her head.

"No. That was Kizoku." She replied sadly.

"Well out of the Wolf Pack I mean." Akina said.

"Oh. Then yes. I guess. But uh Kagura understood her better." Shizuka shrugged.

"What are you saying about me?" Kagura asked walking in.

"Kagura, Saikoubi once told me 'irony makes purity ever sweeter' what does it mean?" Akina asked. Kagura did what Saikoubi would have done, she patted Akina on the head.

"Only Saikoubi could tell you what that means." She said. "She was always cryptic like that."

"Yeah. Except when she was angry." Shizuka remembered.

Akane, Anzu, and Yukie walked in.

"Why don't we go looking for her?" Akane asked.

"Because she doesn't want to be found." Yukie said. "She said to me 'Sometimes some things are better left secret. Other times a secret can hurt more than the bitter truth and it is best to reveal one's true intentions in the moment of truth or risk hurting more than just themselves.' This time Saikoubi-san means that the truth is too much to handle and the only one that will be hurt if she reveals it is us."

"Why was she always doing that?" Kagura spat.

"Doing what?" Akina asked.

"Worrying about everyone else." Anzu said.

"She only cared about herself." Junsui said walking in.

"What the fuck do you want?" Kagura asked.

"I'm a customer, treat me nicely." Junsui barked. "I have a letter for you from Lord Kagayaki."

"Yeah?" Shizuka asked. "Well take it back to its sender. I don't respond to messengers or bitches."

"Is that really how you want to treat the new Lady of the town? I can have you imprisoned!" Junsui yelled. Kagura walked over to her and smirked.

"You can't imprison the Council of Keepers." Kagura said. "Sorry to say but you and Kagayaki have no more power over this town than you did yesterday when Saikoubi left. So guards, take them away."

"What guards?" Junsui asked suddenly confused.

"These guards." Kagura said and punched her. Junsui fell to the ground. Yukie kicked her lightly.

"I think you knocked her out." Yukie laughed.

"Like she didn't deserve it?" Shizuka asked dully. They all laughed.

"She had it coming to her." Akane said.

"We can't just leave her like this!" Akina screeched. "She'll scare away all the customers!"

"No. Akina I'm pretty sure that that voice will scare away all the customers." Kagura teased.

~*~

She yawned. A town came into view. She yawned, again.

"Would you like to stop?" Kizoku asked. She shook her head.

"We're only a mile or two from the town. I think that I can make it." She mumbled sleepily.

"We should've taken two horses." Kizoku replied. She smiled.

"That would have been too obvious. It wouldn't have been wise." She yawned. "Now lets go."

They walked on in silence. After the first mile Saikoubi stopped, the world was starting to spin. She leaned against Kizoku and shut her eyes. Kizoku pressed his hand to her forehead. He gulped. She felt warm. He picked her up. She was extremely light. He wondered if that was all right. Then he ran. He was the fastest runner, only because he was taller than Saikoubi. Right now he wondered something else, running never made him short of breath. Why did he feel as though he couldn't breathe now? As he reached the town no other thoughts mattered to him than getting her help. The sun was beginning to set. He looked around. A small elderly woman came up to him. He was gasping for breath.

"Child," she said, "are you alright?" He nodded.

"I… I'm fine." He stuttered. "My… My wife here though she passed out. I think she has a fever. She… She's umm…" He faltered and she got the picture.

"I understand." She replied. "Please follow me." She smiled back at him and then turned around.

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