The Well

It took a lot for Yuki to digest what Saki told him. He sat down working through it in his mind. The power that Yumi possessed was never something in question. They all knew she possessed significant strength in her granted powers. In moments, they could seem vastly more powerful than normal, but he never imagined her becoming even Saki’s equal so quickly. He figured it would be possible in time and training, but this went beyond his expectations.

He leaned his head back against the wall as it sank in for him. “I knew she’d get more powerful, she had the drive, but this is far faster than even I could imagine. I feel like I’m reading a battle manga.”

“You’re living one,” Saki commented, “You made it one.”

“I guess I did. I sort of still expected some dose of reality.”

“You’re going to have to get used to the reality you have now. I’m still testing her, but I think we have to accept the reality that Yumi’s potential is significantly greater than we imagined and possibly exceeds any one of us. She’s been picking up what I’m teaching quickly despite her insecurities chaining her to the ground. It’s a little unsettling, but it feels like she’s always known how to do it, but forgot and through sparring she’s remembering.”

“Are you thinking that’s part of what my power did to alter her body?”

“But that sort of thing would be in her mind, not her body.”

Yuki nodded in agreement with her. “While I still don’t understand what I did back at school, so that means I might have also messed with people’s minds, nothing that we’ve seen thus far from the others points to any sort of altering of their mind. If that was the case, I think there would have been more instinctual and a better understanding of the powers people were granted, rather than the need for self discovery and exploration.”

“I’m not saying it makes any sense. And I don’t really think you did anything to our minds. But the uncanny talents she’s starting to display now don’t have an explanation.” She wanted to understand it better. Saki didn’t know how far Yumi would take things or if she would even be able to control her power if reached her peak.

“I wonder how the demon will take to this news.”

“He’ll probably be ecstatic.”

“You’re probably right.”

Saki stood up stretching more as though a massive weight disappeared from her shoulders. She stared over at Yuki once more with a serious look. “Go talk to her before she gets to sleep.”

“Right.”

Chapter 435 – The Well

Yuki walked down the hall from where he left Saki. It was all still a lot for him to process. Her development seemed too fast. The world here seemed to be fostering it for her. As Saki said, he would just have to come to accept it. He wasn’t angry about it, just had trouble seeing it happening at such an accelerated rate.

He knocked on the door to the girls’ room. Nerine remained up still, so it should only be Yumi in the room. “Yumi, it’s Yuki.”

“Yuki? Is something wrong?”

“Did you have some time to talk?”

“Y-yes?” The uncertainty in her voice didn’t dampen any less through the door. He knew it was sudden for her, but Saki was right about it. Yuki slid the door aside feeling that slight unwelcome greeting one gets for intruding into a room they aren’t normally meant to enter. He could calm his nerves as much as he wanted knowing that it was simply a bare room only meant to give them a place to sleep, but that only worked so well. “Yuki?”

‘I need to calm her unease first. She doesn’t really know what I’m doing here and it is not exactly planned. This only happened because of the outcome from their sparring.’ He had no doubt that Saki talked to her as well, but that wasn’t going to be enough to ease Yumi. “I just wanted to talk to you. You were looking pretty rough when you came back tonight.”

Yumi shifted under her sheets of her futon having hoped no one noticed. ‘I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he noticed. I wasn’t doing a very good job hiding it either…’ Seeing Saki in the state that she was still burned in her eyes. Trying to sleep did nothing but recall it for her. She wasn’t certain if it would ever go away. Saki was her friend and she nearly killed her.

Yuki took a seat next to Yumi on the floor. “It’s fine Yumi.”

“What?” She looked into his eyes seeing what he was trying to do for her. But she shook her head at him. There was nothing fine about it and she knew it. “No! You’re wrong! I went too far. I shouldn’t have—“

“Yumi,” he interrupted her thought quickly, seeing the self-destructive chain that she had already created. It ran through her head with ease, as a completely natural thing. Nothing he could do would stop its flow. But he could at least help to steer it. “You only made a mistake. These things happen when you’re training.”

“No! Not killing your friend, those things don’t just happen!”

He reached out to place a hand on her arm through the blanket. The feeling she had going through her right now was a familiar one. “Yumi, you make mistakes, that’s part of being human. But also being human is learning from them and being able to make them again. Facing it rather than closing yourself off so you can’t hurt anyone again.”

“But I could have…”

“You didn’t though, Yumi. You can’t focus on the what ifs and might have beens. Look to what you want to be for the future.”

“The future?”

“That’s right, the future. Imagine how you want to see yourself.” She stared at him confused by his words. A dart of his eyes to the side flipped through different approaches. He realized that he was being too abstract with his intent. “What sort of person do you want to be in the future? Someone that hurts your friends?”

“No! Of course not! I want to protect them!”

“There you are. That’s your answer.”

“Huh?” She tilted her head at Yuki as he made it all seem so simple. Yumi didn’t get how he could be so binary about it.

“You change your mistake from a fear to a goal. If your goal is to protect your friends, then you need to be strong. Strong enough to control your power and to protect them.”

“But I might—“

“That’s doubt in your heart, Yumi. Don’t listen to it. If you allow it to grow it will weaken you and you’ll lose control to fear. You’ll freeze your time, unable to see anything but the past and become trapped by it. You won’t be able to move on. You’ll become defined by it rather than defining yourself.”

Hearing his words softened her heart a little. The tension that built up started to release and the shaking slowly began to subside away. Small thorns still rested in her side, irritating her. “How do I do that? Whenever I think about it I can’t help the feeling.”

“It’s not something that will go away in an instant. It takes work, which is why you look to your goal. You have to define what you want to become and look to that goal. When you feel that doubt creeping up on you think about how you would feel if you failed to reach your goal.”

“My goal? Protecting my friends?” Her mind quickly imagined not being strong enough to save them. Visions of demons killing them and unknown foes beyond. What she could have done to help them if she had just been stronger. “NO!” she shouted as the whole room quaked for a moment.

Yuki nearly fell on his back. ‘I didn’t expect such a strong reaction out of her. Saki’s right about her.’ He braced his hand to the floor so that Yumi didn’t pick up everything. Once the shaking disappeared, he wiped away the sweat, not really having wanted to be at the ground zero of someone triggering a power release. All the fantasy didn’t justify the reality he faced, he wasn’t built for such an experience. “Use that as your resolve. Power itself is not bad, it’s only bad when you wield it that way. So don’t fear it. You need it to protect those that are dear to you.”

Yumi slowly nodded to him, starting to come around to his side. “Focus on the goal?”

“Yes. You’ll do fine.” He moved his hand to where he felt her hand was under the blanket giving her a comforting hold. “Trust and believe in yourself. The power you have is for you to wield how you wish, if it is not doing what you want, understand it. You’ll find the right path.” An at ease smile came over her face. She had managed to come through to the other side. Yuki sighed internally with relief.

He stood up to allow her time to sleep and focus on herself.

“Yuki!”

Pausing, he looked over his shoulder to her. “Yes?”

“I…thank you.”

“I believe in you. You just believe in yourself.”

“I will.”

‘That’s some good resolve I see…’ He slid the door closed behind him, finding Saki down the hall waiting on his exit. Raising his eyebrow a little at her presence, he walked over to her and leaned up against her wall. “It’s done.”

“Coming from you it’ll mean more.”

“Yeah I know,” he said, getting the extra meaning that she layered into her words. His words rang heavy with his understanding. It didn’t have to be said, not yet at least. “Don’t blame me though.”

“For what?”

“If you’re right, which I think you are, you just had me tell her to push forward to gain even greater power. You’re the one sparring with her.”

Saki crossed her arms showing off a façade of strength to cover over the uncertainty that he poked into her. “I’ll be able to handle it. She might be stronger than me, but I still got tricks. It just means I don’t have to be as soft on her.”

“Just come back in one piece.”

“I will. You should focus on the internal issues.”

A grimace came over his face when she mentioned that. “You heard about that huh?”

“You can’t let them win. We can’t defeat the demons only to be faced with a new threat the moment we let our guard down.” She only heard a few scattered details from the servants talking in the halls, not aware that her enhanced hearing was picking them up. Rumors of secret meetings being held by the Demon Hunters spread quickly from a troubled Lord who cared a little too much for the safety of his people.

Yuki nodded, troubled by the course of events. None of them had picked up on their plans yet and he grew troubled by it more and more. “I’ll keep an eye on them. I’ll take care of any sort of plans they are putting in place.”