Light of the Dragon's Eye

Chapter Eleven

THIRD PERSON POV

Back in Hinode palace, the four clan generals have gathered, called by the famous general Suzuki Akihiro. They all sit and wonder about what could possibly be so important as to call a clan meeting. Sitting around a table are the leader of the Hyō Clan, Yan Ryo, Fujimoto Osamu of the Taka Clan, Kita Tadashi, leader of the Ōkami Clan, and leader of the Fukurō Clan, Yamamoto Tetsuya. (A/N I have written their names in the Japanese form, last names first. In English, the places of the two names would be switched, like Yan Ryo would be Ryo Yan. I will be referring to them as their first names. These are all men. NO I'M NOT SEXIST JUST KEEP READING THE STORY!!)

General Akihiro walks in, followed by Commander Maya. Everyone looks up at him expectantly. Maya sighs. "Although we had planned to keep this quiet for a while, present circumstances have forced us to let this matter come to light. King Masaki passed away a few days ago because of the illness that had been plaguing him for over a year." The leaders gasp in shock. "WHAT?!? You call us out here and tell us that the king is DEAD?!?!?" Ryo yells in anger. Tadashi looks around in confusion. "What of the princes? Why is Kaito not leading this meeting? Where is Lady Akira?" Akihiro raises his hand to signal silence.

"The night of the king's death, Lady Akira kidnapped my daughter and left the palace. The two princes went to look for her and entrusted the leadership to me in their absence."

All of the generals look at one another. They had met Lady Akira. Her strength had surpassed theirs when she was merely thirteen, and she wasn't a bad person. They have their doubts about her kidnapping Lady Kasumi. They also don't believe that both the princes would go looking for her at the same time. They were smart, they knew the risks if both of them went. But the leaders aren't stupid. They know when to speak their thoughts, and now wasn't one of those times. Akihiro is a formidable opponent, and no leader wished to bring his wrath on their clan.

"I guess...until the princes return...I have no problem with General Akihiro leading the country," Osamu says after a moment of silence. The other generals nod in agreement, but a hidden understanding passes between them - for now, they would accept Akihiro's rule, but they would investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the missing princes and girls.

AKIRA'S POV

We enter the house where the elder lives. I haven't seen him for a little, but I'm sure he's just as energetic as he was when I first met him.

"Ah, Kira! Good to see you again, child!" Elder Shiro is smiling happily when he spots me.

Now, understand when I say "Elder" I don't mean a hunched over little man with a cane. I mean a tall, aged man with greying hair, battle scars, and a strong body. He can still fight from when he was in the war, and can be scary when he's mad.

I kneel respectfully. "Elder Shiro, I see you're in good health." He nods smiling, and his attention turns to the other three. Abi dutifully introduces them. "Elder, this is Kira's childhood friend Mariko, and the two brothers Hideaki and Mikoto. Hideaki is...Kira's lover." Elder Shiro's jaw drops in shock while Kai smiles cheekily. Shiro quickly composes himself. "I must admit, I'm rather disappointed. I was hoping to persuade you to marry Yamato, my grandson, the next time you visited."

At that, it's my turn to be surprised. I had met Yamato the last time I was here, and he was nice enough, but I can't see myself marrying him. Heck, I can't see myself get married at all. But, the thing about Yamato is... he was pretty chubby. He was short and cowardly, and he's two years older than me. I know I shouldn't judge people, but...that kid was just not strong enough for my standards. Or for anyone's standards, for that matter.

We're interrupted by a young man entering the room, and at the sight of him, Kasumi's face turns bright red. I hate to admit it, but I could feel myself turning red too. He was tall, with black hair and dark eyes and oh God it's happening I'M TURNING INTO A GIRLY GIRL BY THE SECOND HERE AHHHHH!!!!

"Oh, Yamato, you've come to join us!"

Wait, did he just say that THAT'S THE SAME MINIATURE BOWLING BALL I SAW ALL THAT TIME AGO?!?!?!?

Yamato glances at me for a minute and smiles. I think Kasumi just melted into a romantic puddle over there. "Good to see you again Kira!" he says fondly. I simply nod. "Y-Yamato! You've...changed." He laughs. "Yeah, I've been training a bit. So? How've you been?" I answer smiling now, a bit at ease with the familiar tone he's using. "I've been pretty good. I got a well-paying job and-"

I'm cut off by Kai's sharp tone. "And she got engaged. To me." I sweat drop and glance at Kai, who has an irritated expression on his face. Yamato raises his eyebrows. "Really?" he looks at Elder Shiro. "Looks like your plan fell through, jii-chan." (Old man)

Shiro fumes. "I've told you before to call me Grandpa, ya little twerp!"

I hide my amused grin. Looks like this visit is going to be fun.

1. Kasumi was absolutely captivated by Yamato the entire rest of the conversation. When she was introduced to him, he said, "It's nice to meet you, Mari-chan." She needed to be carried away because she had been having a cuteness overload and almost fainted.

2. When Kai got irritated at Yamato, he even tried to put his arm around Akira's waist. This resulted in a bright red pinch mark on his hand and an earful of obscenities communicated through eye contact.

3. While the others were talking, Ren the fox wandered outside for a bit and played in the grass. Suddenly, he heard a familiar screech and looked up to see that a hawk had landed on the roof of the house and was staring at him intently. It was Eclipse, who had spotted Ren and this time was determined to catch him. Ren immediately dashed inside and curled up on Akira's shoulder, quivering in fear. Eclipse looked through the doorway and saw her master sitting there, and decided to wait for her outside, forgetting about Ren. For now.