Maturing Reunion

Saki paused in her pin, confused by him knowing her true name. The reality became obvious, but before she could react to it there was someone else that grabbed her.

“Really, must you attack everyone that comes by Lord Nagahama?” questioned a woman from behind her. The hold was less about restraining and more about getting her up to her feet. Once the woman broke up the fight she started to push them back towards the mansion.

While they started on their way, she bowed back to the puzzled audience they gathered. “Our apologies. The young Lord is energetic as you know.” The commoners began to return to their own lives accepting the woman’s words. Something of a familiar scene everyone seemed to understand what happened and that they came to expect it.

Chapter 529 – Maturing Reunion

Once they were all inside the grounds of the Nagahama mansion, Saki turned to look at the two of them quickly, seeing their faces and bodies overlaid on top of these temporary ones. “Seiji and Nerine, right?”

Seiji immediately went in for a hug on Saki to greet her, but she put up her hand to protest. Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t enough to stop fifteen years of separation. He went through her defense with ease and squeezed tightly with the same sort of enthusiasm that she came to know. “I’m so happy to finally see you again! It’s been too long!”

“Can’t breathe…let go, you idiot!”

Her voice didn’t do much to slow him down or weaken his grip on her. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he was trying to kill her. It wasn’t until Nerine stepped in that the grip started to loosen. “I think that’s greeting enough, don’t you?”

“Hmm? What?”

“Anymore and she’s probably going to knock you out once you let go.”

He released her quickly, remembering his strength as well as who Saki was. “Sorry, I just got so excited to see you again!”

“Yes…” Saki coughed and worked on getting the feeling back to her body after that experience. He had gotten more of a beast with his strength than she remembered. “I had forgotten what you’re like.”

Nerine looked back towards the city. “Let’s go inside and talk in more private company.”

“Is there somewhere safe from prying ears?”

The Atlantean, now Japanese, woman escorted them inside and through the halls. Eventually, they came to a stop before a room. It was a basic looking room with little more than the essentials for living. But it had what it needed, privacy for a long discussion.

“Your room, I assume?” asked Saki looking over at Nerine.

“Yes.”

“Figured as much.”

“Please sit down. There’s much to discuss I believe.”

“Right…” She found the table and cushions, picking up a place to sit quickly. They joined her with Seiji opposed to her and Nerine on his right at the table.

All of the adrenaline from Seiji’s sparring match with her finally started to burn off. Soreness in her body and dull pain crept through her limbs. He had managed to keep up with his talents in this world. It was quite impressive the lengths that he went to reach what he did. ‘I really can’t beat him right now, at least in a straight up… That’s more than a little troubling…’

She always felt that even with both of their physical strengths and martial talents, she would be able to keep him in check when needed. The man had the tendency to do dumb things and act too quickly. Only being physically superior to him or at worse, able to take him down did she feel comfortable with his outbursts. Now she had nearly nothing to stop him from doing anything that could jeopardize their mission.

Rubbing her head a little, she didn’t know what to do about him. He always was a headache, even back when he was just a wild kid wanting a fight with Yuki. “I had hoped time would have matured you…”

“I didn’t know you to be so naïve.”

“I see someone’s loosened up a little.” Another sigh came from her lips. “Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in myself for not picking up sooner that it was Seiji I was dealing with. There was something so familiar it was itching at the back of my head.”

“But I did first.”

There seemed to be a bit of a pride in his voice when he spoke. She just hoped that it did not inflate his head any. “So it would seem. First or second in the end is pointless. I need to know what’s going on here.”

“Wait, first what about Yuki and Yumi? We haven’t found either of them yet. Have you been able to locate them?”

“I’m taking it that you know where Yori is then?”

“Yeah, he’s here with us. We all met when we were kids and were still pretty new to this world.”

“He’s one of the advisors to the Lord of this land, Komagata.”

Saki found some relief to know that all of their friends were still alive and safe. It wasn’t something that she could tell them, but she had been so focused on their own lives that she hadn’t really thought much about them after the first couple of years. Being children, she didn’t feel like they could be faulted for not searching for them. It would have been impossible to find them.

Though now as adults, there were fewer excuses. It was easy to say that circumstances prevented her from going out looking, but that wouldn’t be truthful. If she had really wanted to find them, she could have found a way. Yuki would have helped her, probably even forced her into it. But the reality was they had forgotten about them, abandoned them to their own lives and goals.

Until today, she hadn’t thought about them in some time. It was easy to ignore not seeing them. Knowing that the immediate present for her had a great importance for survival. That looking for them would risk abandoning everything she built to keep going.

But that didn’t change things. It was all easy and simple excuses. Seeing them now made guilt swell up inside her. And seeing how Seiji just didn’t care about any of that only made the feeling worse. She knew enough about him that it wasn’t going to be something that he would hold as a grudge. If she explained everything that happened he would understand and accept things. That was just the sort of man he was.

It made him a good friend. She knew that too. It was no wonder that Yuki trusted him and probably part of the trouble she had with him. Not the whole problem, there were too many for her to think about. But that was a thing between the two of them, one which was mostly one sided considering Seiji’s attitude with her.

Saki pushed the thoughts and feelings away for now. “And how is he doing these days now that he’s had fifteen years alone to process?”

“He has his good days and bad days. More good than bad lately, but it’s never been resolved. Yumi really needs to have a proper conversation with him and not keep pushing it off.”

“Well he hasn’t made it easy for her.”

“True, he’s been acting like an idiot and needs to grow up. He might be her older brother, but that doesn’t give him the right to dictate her life.”

Another sigh slipped from her lips. “So we’re still going to have our work cut out for us. Eventually they’re going to meet in this world. How do you think he’ll hold up to seeing her? At this point, she’s completely independent from him and actively rejects him, at least the last time.”

Seiji looked over to Nerine for some feedback. The Yumi and Yori situation was a complicated one that they hadn’t intentionally put off for fifteen years. So it made it very difficult to gauge what might happen. “Honestly, I don’t think we can really guess at this point. He’s certainly grown up and is a functioning adult, but whether he’s repressed all of that or moved on from it is anyone’s guess at this point.”

He leaned forward on the table looking straight at Saki. “If I’m being perfectly honest between us. I’d prefer that they didn’t meet until all of this is over. Yumi’s still going through her ordeal with her personalities right now. I don’t really think she’s ready right now to have the right sort of chat with Yori that she needs. I fear they’re just going to keep arguing with each other.”

Crossing her arms, she found it difficult to disagree with Seiji’s assessment. It was sort of what she expected, though she hoped time healed some of the wounds. Her guess was that it would tear back open the moment that he saw his sister once more. Things really do need resolution, they couldn’t keep fighting or ignoring each other.

It seemed like a bad idea to try to fix things or force them. They tried and it only made the situation worse. “I feared as much. You might be right. Maybe it’s for the best that they’re in two different cities. And who knows if Yumi has any control over this world in a subconscious way, she might have done it without her knowing.”

“I had considered that possibly since we hadn’t been able to find anyone else. There’s something intentional about this world, but I guess the same could be said for all of them. Nothing has been done without purpose.”

“True. All we can really do is keep moving forward and make sure Yumi has the support she needs to make it through this final trial.”

“You know I’ve been thinking about that, Saki. I don’t have any reason to doubt her about it, but I just get this sort of weird feeling that this isn’t going to be over with this world.”

“You as well then?”

“So I’m not the only one. Have you said anything to Yumi about it?”

“No, she’s latched onto the idea this is the end. I don’t really want to stir up doubt or fear in her mind over a gut feeling I have. And we could very well be wrong anyway.”

“Yeah, best not worry her over an unknown.”

Saki rested her hands on the table ready to change the topic. Seiji picked up on her change in body language and became more alert. “I know you’ve got more questions. So let’s get each other up to speed. I’ll cut to the chase. I’m not here because I was looking for you.”

“I guessed as much. You looked to be snooping around and sizing things up.”

“I’m on a recon mission. A war is coming soon and I’m supposed to be gathering intel for my Lord.”