Mountain of The Suns • Book 2

Chapter 25

I had been taken up to the 3rd level of the Dojo where Jun's childhood room was. They had fixed it since Yami had destroyed it though I could see where wooden planks had been broken and mended. I didn't feel very well so as soon as I got into the room I had fallen asleep in his bed as I had several times before.

The faint smell of him and the comfort of a familiar bed was enough to lull me into a deep sleep. Not to mentioned he had clothes in his drawers still so I had put on a lose pair of pants and an oversized shirt of his. I didn't care if it was still warm out I wanted to wrapped in his scent as much as possible.

Though I had gone missing for 5 days when it only felt like an evening, I was very tired. I had no idea what happened between sleeping on that woman's couch and waking up on the top of the temple stairs. I woke up unharmed so I guess it really didn't matter, but something was so off yet so comforting about that woman. I don't think she did anything to hurt me, but surely my memory wasn't that fragmented. I guess I had been in a weakened state so it was a reality, but it just didn't sit right with me.

She truly was so familiar but there was no name or face I could place to her that I had known before that night. I thought about the light that led me to her and how she had offered me her home because she said I was a friend of a friend. Maybe she saw me looking at Jun's mothers grave and let me come in because she knew her too. It bothered me to not have asked in hindsight but it was in the past now.

I rested for what felt like a full day itself since I gotten to the Temple. I felt slightly rejuvenated as I slowly woke up. I tossed around for a moment before I opened my eyes to the dark room. I could see a slight orange glow in the window and I had no idea if it was the sunset or sun rise. I was still in a sleepy haze so I couldn't even see straight yet.

I sat up and hunched over and rubbed my eyes. I let out a yawn and pushed back my sheets and to see the leg which was still quite sore. I pulled my pant leg up to see a white wrapping which still looked clean and the swelling had gone down tremendously. It was still very much in pain but pain was something I was unfortunately comfortable with by this point.

I swung my leg over the edge of the bed and pushed myself up onto my feet. I stood up with a grunt and hobbled over to the window very aware of my own limp and heavy walk. I saw the Wisteria tree which had grown quite a bit since I left. Typically trees grew slow and could hardly even look like they changed from year to year.

I saw the court yard was empty and I saw this as my one chance to stretch my legs before the other students would be out and about. Surely I didn't want to be seen just yet for fear I'd cause a mass panic. Everyone had known I had gone missing so showing up in their own home would surely sent everyone into a tizzy. I walked towards the stairs and slowly let myself down. I knew I would never hear the end of it if I hurt myself doing something so foolish. I hadn't even been wearing shoes, just my pajamas.

Thankfully I made it to the bottom of the stairs and out of the Dojo and was welcomed by the late summer air that blew through me and my clothes. It felt nice and it was hard to believe this place was as warm as it was given the harsh winters I remembered. It was pretty high up on a mountain but no where near as high as the Jizo Temple. It was said that Yabune had beautiful seasons all vastly different. Jizo had a nearly year round winter with only a few weeks of snowless scenery.

I walked up to the tree slowly because my body only let me move so fast. My hand placed along its base and I looked up at the leaves. They were once white, but now they were a bright sky blue. I saw it shifting in the wind and petals would fall every few seconds leaving a nice layer of leaves at its base. It wasn't a big tree but it was large enough to shade my head.

I felt a pair of eyes on me as I stood at the tree and I turned around knowing someone would be standing there. I half expected it to be a student realizing who I was, but when I turned around I was looking at someone entirely different.