Blade Song

Chapter 15- Mask

By the next evening, we were out of the Deadwoods with everyone alive and safe. The demons assured us that the most dangerous part of our journey was over. Everyone seemed relieved to hear that. I just wanted to scream.

We made camp in the lush meadow that lay just beyond the Deadwoods. The grass was so vibrantly green you might have thought it was trying to make up for the lack of life in the woods behind us.

I stuck around long enough to help make camp, but didn't hang around for food. I couldn't have Hitomi coming over and striking up a conversation with me. My head just wasn't in the right place for that. I needed to be alone.

I finally settled on a spot so far away I couldn't even see the camp anymore, and sat down next to one of the only trees in the meadow. I brought one of my chakrams to my face and studied the dwindling orange daylight reflected on the sharp edge.

How many lives had I claimed with my darlings? I'd lost count long ago. It would mean nothing to me to take a few more, but was that really my decision? To kill them all? What was I even basing that on anymore, the fact that they were demons? I'd been so sure before, so sure that the demons were all my enemies. Six years of deluding myself had made me bitter, but what was I feeling now?

When I became Akihiro, I knew Yasuki and Goro were my friends, but it turns out I didn't really know anything at all. I wanted to believe that there was a place out there where we could be free, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Kiyoshi was hiding something. There was a guilty sadness hidden behind those kind eyes of his and it made me nervous.

There was no room for error this time. If I made a mistake again, it would not only cost me everything, but I'd be dooming every other human and half-breed here. I could not have that sort of guilt following me to the afterlife. That burden would rot my soul even faster than whatever hell I bound to spend eternity in.

"You're not hungry?" the fox's voice came from behind me.

"Not particularly." I put the blade down. "Just needed to think for a while."

He sat down next to me with a sigh and rested an arm on his knee. "It's certainly a pleasant place for that. What are you thinking about?"

I smirked. "You."

"Me?"

I'm not Fuyuko. I have no idea how to use womanly charms to my advantage, but all I needed was a second. If I could keep his total attention for just a moment, I could win.

"Mmm." I nodded and scooted closer to him, so close I could feel the warmth of his arm. "How's the shoulder?"

He smiled and worked it in a circle. "Very good. It's barely even a mark now. I'm sure by tomorrow it won't be there at all."

I chuckled. "Demons sure do heal fast."

"A decided perk."

"One of many." I reached up with my left hand and held his earing between my fingers. "I bet your ear would heal almost instantly if you took this thing out."

"Not sure." His golden eyes met mine. "I've never tried."

I pressed my side into his and traced the fluffy outline of his ear with my fingers. The second I felt his body relax and start to lean into mine I brought my blade up to rest against his throat.

He didn't look away, not even for an instant. His eyes never looked surprised, frightened, or even angry. They merely took on a sad gentle look. "That was a very cruel trick indeed."

My breathing picked up and my heart started racing. I gripped my arm to steady the shaking blade in my hand. "I need assurances."

"Assurances?" His voice was low and calm, despite the fact mine was trembling.