Light of the Dragon's Eye

Chapter Twenty-Five

Please read author's note at the end. Enjoy!

KASUMI'S POV

***a couple hours ago***

"How's that green-haired guy doing?" I ask Ichiro as he steps into the room. "Still out cold," he states, running a hand through his blond locks. "Not exactly sure what happened, but it seems like he saw something in an alleyway, fell to the ground in pain, and passed out. I have no idea what he saw, though."

"A hideous necklace made of turquoise? That would make me faint," I suggest, tapping my chin with my index finger, in mock thought. Ichiro snorts with laughter. "Yeah, that kind of fear is quite common, now that you mention it." He flops on the bed next to me and pulls the pillow over his head, sighing. "You know, just once I'd like to be able to travel to Kouka without so much drama."

I raise my eyebrows. "Why? What happened last time?"

"Well, it was five years ago. I was 11 and Kai was 13. Father wanted us to come along so that we could see another country and learn diplomacy through experience, you know? Establish healthy relationships. To make a long story short, this guy with black hair from the Wind Tribe challenged Kai to a duel, they both tied, they continued fighting until dusk, which ended up with several broken bones, none of them belonging to Kai or the black haired dude."

I open my mouth for a second, then shut it. "I'd ask, but something tells me I don't wanna know."

"Trust me, you don't." Ichiro rolls over and looks at me for a second, his blue eyes suddenly filled with concern. "And you? How are you dealing with all of this?" I blink, then let out a sigh and lie down next to him, facing the room wall. "I don't know. Part of me still can't believe what my dad did, but then, there's another part of me that feels like, somehow, I could always see small signs that he was up to something."

"Small signs? Like what?" Ichiro sits up, suddenly curious.

I take a deep breath, and speak slowly, unsteadily. "Well, in the days leading up the king's sickness, Dad seemed a bit...off. Like, he was concentrated on something, always looking over his shoulder. Every time he looked at the king, or you guys, he had a glimpse of sadness in his eyes, but it wasn't really as though he was worried. It was more like...like he was saying that he was sorry it had to be that w-way."

My voice cracks at the end, and I hug one of the pillows to my chest, tears threatening to overflow. "Maybe, if I had just told somebody, if I just confronted him about how weird he was acting, n-none of this would've..." I break off completely and bury my face in the pillow to hide the tears. Ichiro is silent for a moment, then he gently turns me to face him and pulls the pillow away from my face. He wipes the tears off my cheeks and speaks softly. "Kasumi, I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay? None of this is your fault. Nothing about this is on you."

"B-but if I had just realized..."

"It takes a lot to doubt someone you're close to, especially your family. No one saw this coming, not even Akira, and she notices everything." He stops, then reconsiders. "Actually, she mostly only notices if you steal her food."

I hiccup, then giggle slightly. "Yeah. Remember that one time where she threw Kai into the wall for stealing her cookie?" Ichiro snorts again. "Oh yeah! There was a prince-shaped hole in the wall for three days before it was patched up!"

We both laugh over that for a bit, before my voice fades out again, and two more realizations hit me. I lift my head up to look Ichiro in the eye, and ask shyly, "Can I rant?" He stops laughing, but smiles and nods, sitting up against the wall, facing me. "Whatever you need to say, go ahead."