That was a mistake

I had spent enough time around traitors to pick up on the dissonance between their words and actions.

Their sideways glances to confirm the actions of those around them before mimicking each one with varying levels of skilfulness. The way they slipped so easily into hush mode, whispering to others like it was second nature and talking behind people's backs as if they had every right to get away with it. The way they lied without blinking or breathing any differently, both with and without a solid reason.

I hadn't want to believe that Tatsuya's brother would wish for my death but it had been clear that someone had been passing notes to the enemy.

That same someone knew how to copy my writing style and knew how to manipulate the rest of my friends too well for an outsider. They had tried to sabotage me on our journey to Uchi's and again on our way back. They had been the last one to go looking for Toshi and same person who had reassured me about her safety.

Someone who saw me as a threat but I wasn't sure why exactly.

Washi's eyes lowered for a moment, reminding me of Alec when I caught him cheating on me with Tina, as if he needed time to react authentically to my accusation. As if he still thought he could deny it, even with the evidence right in front of him.

“What's she talking about Washi?” asked Yua, her tone light but firm.

“Why did you all come here today?” I asked them. “You couldn't have seen me leave and followed me here. Did you all happen to get another letter from me again?”

Kohaku nodded, as did Yor, and they both looked like they were either about to sit down on the grass and give up, or take their frustration out on whatever was closest to them. Tatsuya's skin was pale as he turned to his brother.

“Did you write those letters?” he asked quietly.

“I wouldn't have had to if you learnt how to control your heart,” said Washi, sighing heavily as if inconvenienced by his own disloyalty. “Father was going to get rid of you instead, you know, and leave the family name to me.”

“What are you talking about?” Tatsuya shook his head and stepped back.

“Father would never have let you stay with Shizu. Not with our honour at stake,” he replied. “But I saw no reason why you had to be the one to get thrown away. I would have been such a waste.”

“Ouch,” I said.

“So you though you'd throw Shizu away instead?” demanded Tatsuya, reaching for his sword as if he didn't realise he was doing so. “Because I care for her? You thought she deserved to die because of that?”

“It was the only way to fix this – wait!” Washi raised both his voice and his hands as his brother unsheathed his sword and swung it high above him head. “You don't understand why I chose –”

“I don't need to understand,” growled Tatsuya, spinning round and slashing through Toshi's bindings with a single accurate swing. He barged into Eiken like a football player and sank his blade into the ground to steady himself, calling out to her. “Toshi!”

Time passed in explosive flashes as too many things happened at once.

Toshi ran towards me as several Inquisitors tried to head her off and protect Eiken from Tatsuya, who pulled his sword free of the soil and attacked him. Kohaku moved to help him but Ras was faster, blocking her way with a wall of mud. Eiken pointed his palm at Toshi, who had already reached me, and shot a spear of solid bone at her back.

Washi dropped Yua and ran towards us, either to push Toshi out of the way or shove me into the Jaw. Yor seemed to have anticipated his reaction and managed to catch Yua before she hit the ground, holding onto her tightly for a moment and breathing hard. Toshi screamed as the spear pierced her back and I nearly caught the wrong end of it myself as I caught her.

“No!” roared Washi, grabbing the other end.

“Don't pull it out!” I warned him but he had already yanked the bone weapon free.

Toshi cried out and wrapped her arms around me, trembling as she tried to handle the pain.

“You idiot!” I snapped, shoving him back.

Placing my hands on both the exit and entry wounds, I tried to concentrate despite the sounds of a small battle breaking out before me.

“I'm sorry,” whimpered Toshi.

“Shh, you haven't done anything wrong,” I said quietly, screwing my eyes shut.

“I'm sorry I couldn't save you,” she sobbed, and there was too much blood running between my fingers.

Had Eiken managed to hit an artery despite the distance? Or was Toshi just easier prey because of her size?

“Save her!” yelled Washi, his eyes wild, face blotchy with unleashed fervour. “You have to save her.”

“I'm trying to,” I said between gritted teeth.

Ras screamed in terror as Kohaku pinned him to the ground with metal spikes through his clothes and I remembered the empty tea cup on the floor of beneath Aoto's table. The one I had thought was mine. She joined Tatsuya, who was outnumbered ten to one and obviously using all of his training to stay alive.

“Sorry I couldn't look after Tatsu.” Toshi's voice lost its strength and I pulled her closer to me, hiding my face in her hair.

“You did,” I told her, my chest heaving against hers as she struggled against my grip. “Thank you so much.”

I stroked the back of her head as she whimpered and went still.

“What are you doing?” growled Washi as I placed Toshi on the ground and placed her hands over the open wound in his stomach. “Why is she –?”

“Well done, Washi,” I said, staggering to my feet. “You've managed to kill someone again.”

Yor and Yua were nowhere to be seen. A hand closed around the collar of my kimono and it occurred to me that Washi looked nothing like his brother.

“You haven't died yet,” he said, pulling me over to the Spiritless Tree and slamming me against it. “Maybe it's because you deserve worse.”

“Maybe you should try talking to people before you throw them into canyons,” I replied, straining against him.

“That's a strange thing for you to say.” His arms had grown much stronger over the years and he used his height to his advantage, even though he wasn't that tall. “You deserve a fate worse than death and I've studied a lot to make sure you get just that.”

The Spiritless Tree pulsed against my back and a portal opened several meters below the edge of the ravine, directly behind it. Almost as if it had been activated by my touch.

“I heard you had a rough time in that world last time,” he said, shoving me towards it. “I wonder what it's going to be like for you this time.”

There was no knowing how or when he had learned about the existence of the portal, nor how to use it. But it was there all the same, sending a chill through me even as I tried to regain my balance. I wasn't close enough to join the battle. I wasn't strong enough to get past Washi. I didn't know enough to escape without endangering those I cared about even more and the memories of my last fall slowed my movements.

The portal yawned below me and its breath stank worse than I remembered.

The back of my kimono billowed outwards as my heel reached the edge of the canyon behind me. Several meters ahead, Tatsuya had somehow managed to hold our enemies back but his shoulders sagged lower with every swing of his sword.

Kohaku yelled and slammed her fist into the ground, piercing several of her combatants with iron spikes at the same time, but it was clearly getting harder for her to take them all down without killing them. Washi was the closest to me, his eyes wide as he watched the fight, and I couldn't look at the body lying a few steps away from him any more than he could.

We had run out of all options except one.

As if I had spoken my decision aloud, Tatsuya shoved his latest opponent away from him and looked at me. I smiled at him and he shook his head, slowly at first and then more frantic. His lips moved to howl a silent yet somehow resounding no that reached me like a fist to the mouth, his blue eyes desperately holding onto mine. A couple of soft pink cherry blossom petals clung to his shoulders and hair, and I understood their reluctance to part with him.

I turned away from his pain and placed a palm against the tree that somehow managed to come back to life after being dead for so many years, its bark bright brown instead of the usual ashy grey. The ground in the portal was too far for me to pick out many details but the colours were still dull and soul-crushing. There was no knowing what would happen once I leapt down and passed into the world where my body had already died once.

But it was the only way.

Several voices called my name and I stepped off the edge before any of them could truly reach me. The drop was short lived but my heart didn't stop thumping. A second portal opened up above the first and I passed through it, landing in a heap behind Washi who had leaned forward to watch me drop back to earth.

“Huh?” He turned to face me, utterly bewildered. “How did you –?”

“Not me,” I said, getting back up and pointing at Aoto as he stepped out from behind the Spiritless Tree. “That part's all his.”

“You – how did you get here?” Washi stepped back but the taller man grabbed him by the throat.

“Did you think Shizu was the only one with multiple powers?” he said. “That was a mistake. Reflect upon it while you fall.”

He pushed Tatsuya's brother into the Jaw and Washi wailed as he discovered exactly how horrifying an experience that was. A quick glance revealed that Toshi was gone too.

“Are they okay?” I asked.

“You should go,” he said, pushing me towards the portal at my back that now showed the interior of his room. “Yor and Yua are fine but that quick fix might not hold for long and I'm sure she'd rather not live with cauterisation scars.”

“What about you?”

“I have to stay here and make sure nothing else interferes with my investments ever again,” he said, adjusting his glasses to conceal a small smile.

“Good news.” I stepped backwards through the portal, speaking even as the sounds of the fight faded away. “I think I made some pretty great choices too.”

Aoto sighed and I burst out laughing.

It seemed like it had been a long time since I had been able to do so but that probably wasn't true.

Was it?

 The End ... for now