The Slow Return of Blue[Private]

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Kadiri stared between the two of them, her brows twisted with confusion as the words they were speaking washed over her like tidal waves sent to destroy the shaking foundations she stood on. Little of what was being said made sense to her. They were dead? They had to go and do some tasks? Lives depended on what had happened? Kadiri was no one, worth only what was written on that piece of paper, stolen property. Not worth a war or lives.

The claws of a paralyzing panic attack began to sink into her psyche as the room narrowed and her breath became loud in her own ears. It was impossible, her mind whispered, as more of the meaning of what was being said sunk in, she was asking too much. They couldn't just play new people! That wasn't how life worked! She hadn't been raised as a liar. Acting like someone you weren't was wrong and could get you into a lot of trouble and Lord Isamu hated deception. Didn't the witch-woman know that? Did she not care about her afterlife? That she was dooming them if they listened to her?

Kadiri was starting to understand that it was better not to argue with the blue witch woman, but surely the hero knew this was wrong? He had risked his life to save her, he could leap from building to building, he exuded confidence and kindness. Surely he wouldn't agree to all of this? Hidden behind him she couldn't see his face, but it must be angry with what the woman was telling him to do! He would tell her no.

Except he didn't. Ever good, he turned and presented the same horrible future as a game. He looked happy like he wanted to live a new life and do all the terrifying things! Like he didn't mind that the church would hate him. He was either very brave or very stupid. She wasn't sure which was worse.

But, too terrified and defeated to argue, Kadiri bowed her head and thought and said all there was to say. "Okay," she replied numbly in a small voice "Yuushi."

"Suzuki Yuushi and Suzuki Saki then." Yuii's loud voice startled her and interjected into what felt like a private moment. She was looking at her again like a cat watching prey, and Kadiri couldn't help but try and shift behind 'Yuushi' again. "Parents are deceased so as a minor, she is in your care. You might want to consider a background in the Lightning Military or something with hard labour. Your physique isn't exactly that of the common scholar. It would also explain your respectable savings." The witch-woman was finished whatever she had been writing all this time, and to Kadiri's surprise, it looked just like the one the priest had with her picture except without the familiar letters of her name or the notes of indentureship. Witchcraft she hadn't even considered.

"I suppose I will go and see what else I can discover about our new friends and the search parties before my train arrives. Remember, box 712, and don't be late for your ship tonight. I'll have Hana pack more clothing before then."The woman was still talking- she seemed to do a lot of that- but Kadiri didn't really care. Her focus was on the paper Yuushi was given and her supposed older brother as she tried to puzzle out the future. So when she heard a final, "Good luck." and looked up to discover they were just two because Yuii had somehow vanished again, she felt a moment of panic, then relief, then panic again.

"I d-don't like her," she blurted out, then realizing she'd said it instead of thinking, turned a bright shade of red. Then, to add to her embarrassment, she yawned.

 

[Akechi]

The bearded man glanced over at his newly assigned sister and her perplexing looks of confusion and dissent. He could tell by her expression that she wasn’t a fan of this new charade that they would have to play, and she didn’t understand why they were forced into playing, to begin with. It was understandable, but it didn’t make Hideyoshi’s job any easier. Explaining the happenings to Kadiri was one thing, but coaxing information out of her while maintaining her trust would require some very careful linguistics. It was a game within a game… one that he wasn’t keen on playing. A dagger of regret forced itself into Hide’s gut with each defeated glance and bated breath that the girl took. He had saved her from one bad situation and immediately forced her into another one, almost as if he had broken her chains to exchange them with a shiny new pair and a matching set of his own. Ol’ Blue may have thought that she was doing them a favor – it seemed like she thought that a lot – but this favor was one better not given.

“Yuushi. I like that,” Hide giggled, the uncertainty of his new station masked behind a weak smile and jovial undertone. Honestly, he didn’t know what else to do. Risking alarming the girl may have shaken the foundation of their trust, cost him a mission and ruined the new life that he wanted for Kadiri. However, following along with the mission could’ve done any one of the three anyway. This was a lose-lose situation for everyone, but Yuii and Kumogakure… However, finding that glimmer of light in this pitiful situation was the job of the hero. Where darkness seemed to reign supreme, Hide had to be the light that shined the way forward. At least, that was what Hide told himself…

That was what he needed to believe.

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Blue, I think you’ve said enough for today, don’tcha think?” Hide responded, clearly fed up with her overall tone, bossiness, and posturing. She basically had his balls in her purse. He knew it, she knew it, and Kadiri was beginning to understand it, so wasn’t that enough for her? The though neared the surface of his conscious, nearly slipping between his lips, before he refocused his attention on the girl. She was the real victim here. Hide needed to make sure that he never lost sight of that… no matter what happened.

“Take it. I’ll trust you with the papers, Saki-chan.” Hide motioned with the pieces of paper “Saki” seemed to be fixated on. He wasn’t sure that she’d understand what they were, but that’s pretty much what he wanted. Trust can be built on reliance and arming her with information, and with the confidence to seek information, was a good thing. By the time he lifted his head to face Yuii, she had already disappeared, only her voice hanging in the air as she left them with common pleasantries. “Pfft. Luck. Whatever,” the man said under his breath, flicking his wrist forward as if to say “fuck outta here.” Hopefully, his relationship with his newly crowned “boss” would improve, but for now, that was highly unlikely.

“Neither do I!” Yuushi laughed hysterically, pounding his chest and stomping on the ground as he displayed his joy for the first real laugh since the start of this whole ordeal. “That was a good one, Saki-chan!” Lightly poking the girl on her forehead, he rose to a standing position and leaned against the door as if he were on lookout for something.

“Saki. I think it’s important that we lay down some ground rules… like a deal or something. After all, knowing our boundaries are the keys to knowing each other. Or however that saying goes,” the man newly dubbed “Yuushi” commented, holding a finger in the air as if he were mimicking a wise philosopher. “I swear I’ll protect you. No matter what. The only thing I need in return is for you to speak your mind and always tell me the truth,” he would comment. Grinning, he would walk over to Saki, extending his hand to her as if they were going to shake on a deal.

“Got any requests you’d like to make of me? Remember, don’t hold your tongue. Tell the truth.”

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Kadiri flinched continued to blush as Hideyoshi burst into laughter over her blurted observation. His booming laugh and animated mannerisms were entrancing, like a spell to break the tension in the room. It made her want to say something more about the frightening blue woman to make him laugh again, but the noise of it raked across her fragile nerves right that moment, so Kadiri held her tongue. They were still on the zeroth hour of leaving the clutches of the Tenouzan priest and the Amazonian knight who followed him. She was unfamiliar with the concept of soundproofing, so the possibility that his Manish giggling up above felt real. They could, and would, be on top of them at any moment!

If nothing else, the nervous quiver of her lip was a reassuring sign that Kadiri did not want to be found by the church again even if she believed they would find her.

When Hideyoshi left the couch, Kadiri immediately felt the loss of the invisible protective ring that encircled her newly named Protector. They were alone now, there was no one to hide from, but the desire needled at her subconscious. She distinctly resembled a puppy that had been told to sit and stay as she fought the urge to stay at-heel as he made gallant promises.

"O-okay," she stammered in reply to the rules she already knew would be impossible to keep. She took his hand, but unless prompted, seemed to think she should just hold it.

Her lie was immediately put to the test though, as Hideyoshi asked for requests. She didn't even consider that he meant a boundry or rule- the very idea that those could be imposed on someone else for her benefit was a very alien concept. One could almost read her young mind as Kadiri seemed to contemplate a simpler answer. As seconds ticked by it was painfully obvious she wasn't very good at hiding what she was thinking either. With a twisted frown, she contemplated her toes and the scorched boots that encased them with their little holes on the outside toe. Then as she mulled those over, her hand absently tugged her tailed hair which must have felt wrong because it got the same frown.

"N-no, nothing," she said, then as if realising that wouldn't hold up, cautiously added, "I am hungry..." and tired her eyes seemed to add, though she wouldn't say so.

 

[Akechi]

“Sorry about that. Your candor just caught me by surprise,” Hideyoshi chimed in, slowly composing himself after his laughter caused the girl to flinch. He was aware that of how fragile she was mentally, but there wasn’t much that he could for her. All that he could do was ensure her that she was safe, show her that she could be comfortable around him, and then allow her to conquer her fear on her own. Forcing her to confront this fear head on could cause more harm than good, while ignoring it could cause that fear to fester until it became insurmountable. If fear was the prognosis than Hideyoshi’s remedy would be support and guidance. He would support her until she felt comfortable and guide her toward conquering the uncertainty that immobilized the young girl… at least that’s what he had hoped.

He watched her as she walked over to him and took his hand as she muttered acknowledgment of the new rules between the unlikely duo. “Well, typically, we would shake our hands like this,” Hide would comment, methodically flicking his wrist vertically to demonstrate how to shake hands. “It means that we both agree to uphold the promise that we made.” He wasn’t sure if she knew exactly what he meant or if she was just going through the motions to satisfy him, but her subtle acknowledgement would suffice for now.

The ironic thing was that she seemed to be more eager to please her new “brother” than request something of him. He had given her the chance to make a wish of him, but it seemed like she was confused by the very notion of making such a promise. Perhaps, she felt that a bond of promise was easily broken… or maybe it was something else. “She’s the complete opposite of Yuii. That lady’s requests had requests, and that was my first time meeting her. Well, I guess it’s a good thing… in a way.” Hideyoshi said to himself, kneeling next to the girl and taking a poke at one of the holes in her singed boots. “They didn’t think to get you some new shoes, huh? Well… ‘Hana’ is supposed to be packing you some new clothes. What do you say we go up there and pick out a couple of shoes?” Hide commented, grinning at the small girl as her stomach began to rumble, and a small request was involuntarily made out of necessity.

“And get you something to eat too,” Hide giggled, casually rising to his feet and making his way over to the door. “Ready to go?”

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The door at the top of those narrow steps they had descended not long before they found to be locked. though locked wasn't quite the right word but the only one that fit when the space they knew should swing open showed no discernible seam and had no handle or knob to pull. Hideyoshi would recall that the safehouses were designed for many purposes, but foremost they were protection from other shinobi and chakra sources. That meant the doors were created to withstand chakra attacks from both sides and well as avoid detection. The point where the door existed was probably stronger than any wall around them. Not only that, but once a safehouse door was closed it was as good as being locked in a prison cell because in a pinch that was exactly what they were used for.

None of this was known to Kadiri though. The breath caught audibly in the girl's throat as she peered past Hideyoshi from a step behind and realized their situation. They were trapped. Safe, but trapped. She could tell that much. A furtive glance backwards showed there were no windows in the small brick room and that vents so small a mouse would struggle to navigate through were their only source of air circulation. Suddenly it didn't feel so safe anymore. Suddenly she knew if a fire started they would die in a matter of minutes. That no one would even hear the screaming.

Kadiri shuddered and gave her hair a nervous tug.

As quickly as the panic began, Kadiri felt a wave of calm overtake it. It was natural for the door to be locked- it was magic. Yuushi just needed to say the magic words and it would open for them. It would be okay, Everything would be fine. With wide eyes, she turned to Hideyoshi and watched him expectantly. He would get them out. He HAD to know how.

But before Hide could make an attempt on the puzzling portal, there was the sudden sound of smashed glass and an angry scream from the other side. The voices were muffled but there was no mistaking the malicious, commanding tone of the Tenouzan knight, Sarimi from the wall beyond.

"Says - in there - back!!!" came the broken words before a resounding thump hit the wall in front of them. The wall absorbed the damage without a complaint and there was angry muttering from beyond from indiscernible voices.

"--craft!!" "back!!!" Sarimi called again, her voice then faded into mutters whose tone sounded like a prayer that ended with another monstrous thud against the wall.

The bricks did not move, but fine dust sprinkled them as the mortar shifted. Another bang and they could sweat the wall moved as one a millimetre forward. Every bit of what Hideyoshi knew about the safehouse screamed that that shouldn't have been possible. There were barriers in place that no normal human should have been able to move. A third thud and they were sure the bricks were moving.

"I told you they would find me," Kadiri sobbed quietly, frozen to the stairs in hopeless fear.

"Knock- whole build- down!!" shouted Hana's voice, clearer even than the knight had been as if she were leaning on the opposite side of the wall. "Load-bearing" and "mad woman" reached them as a muffled argument between the disguised shinobi spy and the other occupants beyond. The gruff voice of the old man who had been manning the counter could be heard, and they could almost make out the priest's low, commanding baritone.

Kadiri whimpered at that, a shudder going through her small body. A glaze of puppy-like adoration crossed her face and she began to fight towards the door that was not a door. "Open it. I have to go to him." she cried, "master, I'm here! I'm here!" Hopefully, she was inaudible over the shouting in the room beyond, but her voice was slowly getting louder and would alert them if Hideyoshi didn't do something soon.

 

[Akechi]

The man stopped at the improvised door and glared at it for a short while as he realized that it had been locked for some reason. “Well, that’s not ideal…” Yoshi said to himself, taking a quick glance over his shoulder to gauge his young friend’s reaction before making a move. It seemed like managing her anxiety and peculiarities was his new vocation in life as the official “guardian” of Kadiri. Every decision had to consider her level of anxiety and discomfort, or he’d risk sending the girl into a panicked frenzy… which seemed unavoidable at times. Being a hero seemed like a glamorous job, but it really wasn’t. Half of the time you were forced into impossible situations, and when the hero managed to conquer it, there was no reward on the other side and another impossible challenge waiting. Hideyoshi was used to it. He understood the way this world worked more than most, but he was unfamiliar with this type of challenge. Being a guardian was a bit different than being a hero, even though the requirement for being a good guardian is to be somewhat heroic. On his own, Hide was only responsible for himself, so his “Devil May Cry” attitude only put himself in danger. His role as a guardian meant that he had to prioritize Kadiri’s needs over all else. It was a foreign concept to him, and it seemed like he would be getting a crash course in exactly what that meant as this already long day dragged on.

And it was about to get worse…

As Kadiri’s nervous gaze focused on the bearded man, sudden sounds of shattering glass and muttered screams echoed throughout the small panic room as a skirmish seemed to break out on the other side of the wall. “Dammit, they found us pretty quickly. Someone got sloppy,” Hide would say to himself, fighting the urge to angrily punch the wall in front of him. The “safehouse” wasn’t as safe as Yuii had promised or as Hide would’ve liked, and now he was confronted with a challenge that he hadn’t planned on dealing with while under Kadiri’s gaze. These people required a direct approach, and that didn’t seem possible with Kadiri’s fragile mental state… not yet anyway. “It’s alright. Just give me a second to figure out what’s going o—” Big brother Yuushi wanted to comfort the young woman, but she screamed out to her former master before he had a chance to reassure her.

“Kadiri!” Hide said firmly, pressing his index finger against his lips to tell her to quiet down. He realized that her pleas were a product of the fear that her “master” had instilled in her, but that didn’t make her actions any less problematic. He hated to be forceful, but they may not have made it out if he wasn’t. Reaching out for her arm as she neared the door, Hide would gently turn the girl around and usher her back toward the middle of the room. “I need you to understand something important,” he spoke, his voice more serious sounding than before with a caring yet stern look on his face. Hide would kneel in front of her so that they were eye-level, pausing to give her time to collect herself before continuing. “You are free. Your only master is right here,” he would say, gently poking the young girl on her forehead with conjoined index and middle fingers.

“They’ll always chase you and maybe they find you, but remember the promise that I made to you. I will always protect you. No matter what,” Hideyoshi spoke, winking as his heroic prose came to an end. Hopefully, he had captured her attention enough to snap her out of her fearful “trance.” If was able to then maybe she would be able to answer the question, he was about to pose to her.

“And eventually, you’ll be able to protect yourself… but to do that, you have to be brave. Are you ready to be brave?” He would pause, somewhat dramatically, just for a moment as he attempted to allow his question to sink in.

“Even if the walls feel like they are closing in and you are trapped by enemies on all sides…

Even if you feel like there is no hope and no escape…

Even if you don’t feel very brave right now…

Are you ready to be brave? Because if you are then we can get out of this.”

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Every muscle in Kadiri's body was tensed until she was shaking like a tiny mouse under the claws of a hungry cat. Her eyes had the distinct glaze of fear and love tied together with a vacancy that showed as much thought as that same mouse. It was like something had been triggered in her mind, either through programming at a prior point or via an outside source. Like the priest's very voice could elicit control over her. The finger on her lip was not so effective, but being pulled from the door seemed to give her some shred of control back. The yelling had stopped but she kept throwing her head back to look at the hidden doorway with a look of longing that was in no way healthy.

Hideyoshi's gaze, level with her own, seemed to help as well. Her wide, golden eyes were caught up in his own but still vacant of anything resembling deep thought. His words and his poses fascinated her though, forcing her to divide her attention and think about something other than the terrible man in the building above. Kadiri's lower lip quivered violently as she fought the geas that was pressing her to run into her abuser's arms. Then, she sobbed once, the single gasp expelling all the air from her slender chest, as more slipped away. A panic attack seemed to be taking its place though.

"I'm scared!" she cried, knees buckling slightly as she fought to stay standing. Whatever had just happened looked to have drained the last of the teen's energy away and she seemed ready to faint. "I'm too scared to be brave" she cried again, sobbing and hiccuping into her hands.

Over the sounds of her crying, there was a loud shout from above, a single crash like shelves had been tipped, then the sound of dragging on the floors. Then, silence. Kadiri hiccuped and stared upwards, her little body shaking again like a flame in the wind. "Did they go?" she stammered.

 

[Akechi]

“Well, that didn’t work… not one bit,” Hide said to himself as he winked at the young girl who seemed to be frozen in fear. Whatever these fanatics did to Kadiri killed the girl’s sense of self-worth and violated her sense of safety in the world. Her emotions seemed to conflict with her wishes, struggling to maintain a sense of control in a situation where “control” was merely an illusion. It defied her will and intent, but her emotion led her to believe that she only had one option available to her – the option to submissively bend to the will of her previous master. Of course, the notion didn’t make sense to Hideyoshi, but he was beginning to understand her anxiety – her fear – a bit better. However, “understanding” didn’t make anything easier on Hideyoshi. The role of the hero was never easy, but Hide couldn’t help but wonder if there was some all-powerful entity testing his desire to play hero by placing him in these impossible situations.

“Well, staying and fighting these idiots is damn near impossible with Kadiri around. The chances of her getting caught in the crossfire are close to an inevitable certainty if I take a more direct approach,” the man would think, turning toward the door that kept them sealed inside. “I can’t run either. Kadiri’s too scared to move quick enough for us to escape and I’ll have to fight our way out… Kadiri wouldn’t survive that.”

Time was beginning run out as Hideyoshi’s contemplation was interrupted by Kadiri’s loud confession and subsequent observation. She was scared. She wanted to be brave, but she couldn’t. Immobilized by fear, she let out a sigh of relief as she asked if their pursuers had finally given up…

“Unfortunately, I think the opposite is true,” Hide would comment as he weaved through a couple of handseals. “If you want to survive then I need you to stay quiet.” Glancing at the door, Hide would envision his targets on the other side before slamming his hands on the ground as transformed the floor of the shop into a giant sinkhole – capable of swallowing its victims whole. His next trick would be “The Great Escape.” Placing a hand on the small girl’s shoulder, he transferred some of his chakra into her, causing the duo to sink into the ground.

If he were successful, Hide would carry the girl away from the small town for as far as he could…

However, he suspected that the elite of the bunch would catch up eventually.