Hakuouki: Dragon Circles in Quiet Summer

Chapter 33

~~3rd POV~~

"She isn't talking again." Sano sighs. He had attempted to talk to her but she kept a curtain of white hair between them. Everyone was gathered as they let Mei try to talk to her.

"What are we gonna do? We can't do anything if he gets his control over her." Heisuke says.

"Yeah, she doesn't trust us." Shinpachi says.

"Actually..." Yamazaki says thinking. "She did tell me something. I didn't think much about it and only thought she was just telling me what was on her mind but... The way she worded it was strange."

"Well?" Hijikata asks.

"The two things that we know that controls her so far is cherry blossoms and salt. But she compared me to salt. She says salt was discipline and if you love someone enough you have to discipline them. I didn't think much about it but she also said when they took control over her that it would be because they have disciplined her as such... Has she spoken to anyone else?"

"Yes." Saitou says and they all look to him. "She was asking me about all the times I had waken her from the cherry blossom tree. She said that she saw the cherry blossoms as the meaning of beauty. About how they covered the cold branches, were swayed easily by the wind, and could easily die and be crushed. Her example was after the quiet summer ended and I had told her the petals would fall."

Yamazaki thinks. "I think she's telling us the meaning of the things that control her. I think she's trying to tell us what the last part of her control is without completely saying it."

"She talked to me. I'm so stupid, she was so obvious too." Fuyu growls.

"What did she say?"

"I put on a fire to warm her and she started to talk about it. She compared it to burning love. She said, "Love is beautiful, like cherry blossoms. But when you love someone, sometimes you have to teach them right from wrong, discipline." It was first a burning love, then a need to discipline, and then soothe the burns of discipline with the beauty of what was left."

"I was eavesdropping. She said she wouldn't talk to me because of what could happen in two days. I thought that was weirdly specific." Souji grins. They were all confused to how he was able to handle this and still grin and joke around. Fuyu, however, saw past the grin to see his true worn and stretched self, on edge.

"So she does trust us. Just not directly. She has given us everything we need to know." Sannan concluded, satisfied he figured it out.

"Yes, in two days she'll be burned. Then salt will be rubbed into the wound. And it would be soothed with the petals." Saitou says softly and they all think.

"If you think about it, first there were the petals then the next day nothing. Then today was salt. Tomorrow will be nothing and then the next day there will be a burn. It's gone in reverse and the. It will go in a cycle. She said it was the cycle that broke everyone. Now it's been reversed." Yamazaki sighs.

"And he's vary fast. He must have gotten the speed after probably consuming her blood for so long. And she's in no condition to fight." Fuyu shakes his head at his sisters condition. There was nothing he could do.

"Yes she is." Souji says making them startle. "More prepared than all of us since she knows what to expect. It's a battle of minds. First to crack loses." Everyone shudders. It wasn't vary comforting, seeing how she's been basically mute for the past few days.

"Why don't you help her? Or talk to her? I think she needs someone." Kondou says sadly, knowing he had done his part years before.

"She doesn't want me to. She likes to do things on her own-" Souji begins until they all startle at Fuyu's outburst.

"I don't care how well you know her or how far you got her figured out! I don't care if she can pull through on her own because she has you! I can't help her now like I couldn't help her before. She's never had anyone there for her. Even if it is pointless, you need to make sure she knows that you're still there! She's shutting you out because she thinks you understand her the most but truth is, she can't even understand herself with all the twists and tricks they've screwed into her head. Treat her like a person and not an invincible shield for once. She's protected you, now you gotta pay her back. She deserves to know she's not just a shield for everyone's use. That she's not a thing or someones property. That she's an actual person no matter how strong she is. Even all her sick and twisted ways, that's what she deserves!"

"That was a backhanded gesture." Everyone startles at the voice and turns around to the source of the dead words. Sakura was sitting back against the wall with her head leaning back, looking up at the ceiling. No one knew she was there. How long was she there? But she showed no sign of time as she continued looking up with her arms on top of her knees.

"Sakura! How long-"

"Yes I'm sick and twisted. My mind makes no sense to me or anyone. But I don't need anyone to help me because I don't need it. I don't need you to burden yourselves or beg others to help me because it's as you say that I have always been alone. But also because this is what I do. It's my job to the end. This is my penance for all the things I've done. Do not interfere, do not think I am fragile. I am broken, yes, but even when a vase is broken, you can still use a shard to kill better than the whole vase..." Everyone is speechless. "Don't talk about me when I have the potential to hear you. It's rude." She says softly, but no emotion was carried in her voice. Everything from the look in her eyes to her movement and voice was cut off.

"Will you confirm the last part of your control will be a burn?" Sannan asks and everyone glares at him.

"Yes, a branding. It can be anywhere. Mei is sleeping in your room. Kazama and Kyo have said that getting me drunk was out of pity for me. Takeo had just seemingly used that to his advantage." She seemed so gone, only staring off, meeting no ones eyes or giving any reassurance to what could but wouldn't happen. They were losing her.

"And you believe that!?" Heisuke asks and I nod calmly.

"I have one request for whoever is closest to me when it happens. There is no way to escape it but... Put me out of my misery once he gets his control over me. I can't remember how Kaede did it, no matter how hard I try since she did it from behind."

"Are you saying that because there is no way to prevent this, we have to kill you once it happens?" Kondou asks.

"Exactly."