Tale of a setting sun

Chapter 23 - Raising the Curtain

For what felt like the hundredth time that day, a distant explosion rocked the ground. The walls of the building shook, and dust from the ceiling trickled down around them. There was a dull clamor in the distance that could have been the sounds of screaming, but she tried not to think of it.

Princess Awano of the Land of Waves did not understand what was happening to them. Just that morning, she had finally been allowed to see her old nursemaid, and she had been dressed in fine silk robes that felt unbearably soft after months of wearing nothing but rough smocks.

The small man in black glasses had been there. He'd appeared in her doorway with the two bodyguards who never left his side. And then he'd promised her that if she or her little brother ever stopped smiling on that day's procession, he would rip off all of their fingernails.

Awano believed him: The last time the small man had made them a promise, her mother had disappeared.

And she'd tried her best. Every time Hakyū looked like he was about to cry, she'd squeezed his hand and stretched her own smile even wider.

But even though she'd never stopped smiling, their guards had all been killed in front of them, heads and bodies falling unnaturally away from each other.

Amidst explosions and shouting, they'd been dragged from their chairs and carried away. Now, they were hiding in an empty building by the waterside. Hakyū shook in her arms, and Awano drew him in closer to her thudding chest, but she dared not scream.

After all, the two who had kidnapped and brought them here were right in front of them.

The one with a scar on his face silently paced back and forth, gripping what looked like a knife in each hand. In sharp contrast, the other, with bright red hair—the one who had taken Awano—was pressed up against the wall by the door, stock still.

They had been hiding in the masses of children that had swarmed her sedan chair, but they must have been working for the man in black glasses. And now, they were just waiting for the signal to kill.

Awano looked down at her brother, and smiled at him. Maybe she just hadn't been smiling enough. Maybe if she kept smiling, she thought, the small man in black glasses would change his mind.

Suddenly, the boy who had been pacing stopped, and at the same time, Awano thought her heart would burst.

"Someone's coming."

As far as Naruto was aware, everything had gone pretty much according to plan—except for the final and most important part: That everyone re-group at the safe house Kaine had managed to procure. Well, he and Rai were there with the prince and princess, but the absence of the others who should have been back by now was painfully apparent.

If the plan hadn't stressed the importance of sticking to their individual parts, Naruto would have already left by now in search of his remaining teammates. As it was, he had to force himself still, and lacking the means of any meaningful communication, the most he could do was to keep his senses sharp for the slightest sound of approach.

Thankfully, he wasn't kept waiting for too long. The first to arrive was Kaine. She came alone, shivering from either cold or adrenaline.

As soon as the door opened, the merchant woman froze and stared at Naruto. She looked lost, as though she hadn't been the one to outline the entire plan in the first place, before a look of relief filled her face. Stepping into the building, however, some of the relief began to visibly fade.

"Where is everyone else?"

Naruto cleared his throat. "You're the first one to make it back." And hopefully, he added to himself, she wouldn't be the last.