1 Chapter 8: Welcome Back!

"Hey, wake up. We need to talk." There isn't a response for a while. "I'll invest in meat this month." Still nothing. "Real meat."

The strong presence wakes up. [Hmm? I thought you told me not to do so.] He jokes.

"Never mind that. Do you remember anything anything after that?"

[...I wonder...]

Anger wells up inside me, but being chained up, I can't do anything about it. Besides, there is no way in inflicting pain on him without hurting myself. "This is serious. We might be locked up indefinitely this time. That means all we'll see for the rest of our life will be that wall there."

[You mean for the rest of your life. I think you are forgetting that I'm only a soul that resides in your body. When you die, I'll just be transferred to another body. Which means your human problems are no concern of mine.]

"BUT! Didn't you say that for the longest time, I was the first human Human Vessel that you were able to possess? When will you ever be able to find someone like that ever again?"

He turns silent.

"You can at least enjoy the world while you're with me. So, please."

[After our conversation that, I did not see anything.]

~~~

[Honoka's POV]

I can't help but pace back and forth. 'After all these years of working for the Alliance, how can they turn their backs on him so quickly?' Somehow, I can't help but feel something fishy is going on with the higher-ups. The council knows Taiyou-nii-san is one of the most trusted people in all of the Alliance. He even has the potential to sit in one of their seats. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to remain fixated to one spot, he would have accepted that offer many years ago.

I hear Taitsuke mumbling my name. "Hm?"

He pauses for a bit before asking. "Were there any people in the shrine when it burnt down?"

I stop pacing. It has been two weeks since then and he's asking me this question. I've been so busy trying to clear his and Taiyou-nii-san's name that I forgot that he is surrounded by people who treat him more like the plagued person than a scared kid. "There were." I sit down on the hard ground. There isn't any furniture in this room. Only a young boy suspended from the ceiling. I try not to show my pity on my face. "With that day being the Dragon Festival, most of the family was luckily not home at the time... Except for General Miyamoto's children, a girl from your class and her little brother. Though she managed to stay safe... and he suffered quite a bit from the fire."

"...Youta... Did he.." There's a knock on the door. I'm being summoned.

I leave Taitsuke and follow the guard through the hall. We go up a to the first floor and pass the stair case leading to tower of Taiyou-nii-sans office. It's blocked off with a black seal. "Tch." I click my tongue. The guard looks back at it in pity. As a fellow Chibushi, I'm more than sure he has a large sense of respect for Taiyou-nii-san as well.

As we exit the building, we are suddenly stopped. "Ms. Honoka! Ms. Honoka!" It's one of the aides from the medical center. His face is a bit red from what I assume is from running up the mountain to get here. He's huffing heavily. "Ms. Yua... She's... SHE'S BACK!"

Before I know it, I'm running full speed to the gates of the C.O.D.E. District. I hear the guard calling me to comeback, but I'm already sprinting down the mountain. I reach the City Gates. I pass up merchants pulling their buggies of goods in the 1st district. I turn left to the hill leading down to the descending districts. I pass the 2nd district, the 3rd district, the 4th district, then turn right into the 5th district. My breath is embarrassingly shallow. As a Chibushi specializing in medicine, it's been some time since I've exercised. I zoom passed the neighborhood park I would sometimes walk through while Taitsuke is in school. Flower petals from the flowers sitting outside of the flower-shop I frequent at fall because of the gust behind me. I accidentally knock over a kid's ice cream cone. "I'm sorry!"

I'm finally outside my apartment. I rush up the cement stairs and pull out my key. 'It's unlocked!' I walk into the doorway feeling so happy that I'm fleeing lightheaded. Without even closing the door, I let out a wheezing "I'm home!"

The 2nd door to the left opens up. "Welcome back!"

~~~

[Rewind: Oct 31st, *676: 5th District: Northern Awajima, Koisan: Primary School Training Facilities: Chibushi Class]

The bell rings. Naoki-sensei continues to speak for a bit, then we salute as she heads out. I immediately stand up and walk through the door. While Principal Miyamoto was talking incessantly, I already packed my things. Before this, I really respected the man, but when he spouted that nonsense about how we are all living in a time of peace, I couldn't listen to him. I'm a good distance from the classroom before I hear the all too familiar voice of Mai Amatsuchi yelling my name. "MIKU!" I keep walking. 'What the heck is she doing?'

I feel a yank on the back of my collar. Her olive eyes are staring angrily at me. "Hey. Stop being so rude. 'Baa-chan has been pestering me to tell you to stop by the restaurant sometime." Passed her sandy hair I see Taitsuke Ryoko walking toward us. I shake her hand off trying to seem casual as I hurry to the staircase.

Kids from the lower classes beat me outside. They're all excitedly talking about their plans for the Dragon Festival. I pass up their short strides and I quickly make my way down the hill. Passing each district, I notice how each one being lively yet peaceful in their own way. 'It's a really nice day.' I remember when I first got here this city was so depressing. It was the day after my 7th birthday. When we got off the boat that day, all five of us were more than a little disoriented from the celebrating. I think I accidentally drank someone's drink believing it was juice, thus even I had my first raging hangover...

On that day, every store, restaurant, even the shrine was closed. Many of the adults were in a state of high alert, while others were all in a state of daze. With the upper districts being blocked off, we looked for an inn to stay at, but with every district, 5th district and higher, being unavailable, a lot of people, were displaced, causing a lack of available lodging. With all of us curious as to what happened, Captain Ken was the first to ask. Coincidentally, the one he chose was Mai's grandma. When she explained what happened, we couldn't believe it. Apparently, the night before was horrific. Starting from the Southern part of Awajima, a inextinguishable fire broke out, killing almost all of those who did not live on the Northern side of the mountain. Every able person, be it Chibushi or Heishi was up trying to put out the flames, but for some reason, nothing was working. Elite wind and water-element Chibushi even called upon a storm the size of this island. At the time, we all were in dismay because of the news. I was surprised we didn't notice it while we were on the boat. Those first few days were a grave reminder that there this will always someone trying to disturb the 'peace'.

I finally reach the edge of the 9th district, I turn the corner of an old rundown apartment sits and walk down the stairs to the ocean. Smells of the delicious comfort food from Mai's grandma's restaurant flock my nose as head to toward the dock for resident boats. The 10th ship down. I jump up to the deck and land on something uneven.

There's a loud grunt. "Oof."

Under my foot I see dark purple jumpsuit. 'Aw. I'm screwed.'

Still standing on her back, I let out a worried, "I'm back."

She throws me off and growls, "Welcome back.. brat."

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[CHARACTER BIO]

Honoka Fujisaki:

[Name Meaning] hono-harmony, ka-flower; fuji-two, saki- unblooming (flowers)

[Physical Traits] dark brown hair, dark brown eyes. clean pony tail when working, takes it down

when she's not. wears a lab coat all the time.

[Personality Traits] a bit hot-headed (was not originally, but something triggered her to be very

passionate), practical, diligent.

[Birthday]: September 13, *649, 27 y/o

[Blessing/Element] Wood; skilled in healing.

[Background] Came to Koisan from Shikakokka with Ambassador Taiyou. She's a talented healer,

and is always asked to help out at the medical center, but works mostly for Ambassador

Taiyou. Is also Taitsuke's 'caretaker.'

Miku Shimizu:

[Name Meaning] mi-beautiful, ku-long time; shi-cold, mizu-water

[Physical Traits] brown hair, blue eyes. Has a fringe covering his forehead. It gives him a bit of a mysterious look. Usually seen in a dark blue clothing with a wave patterns.

[Personality Traits] considered to have a brooding personality according to his male classmates but his moodiness makes him attractive to a lot of the girls. Although he is moody, he is just a all too serious kid that is doing his best.

[Birthday] June 21, *666, 10 y/o

[Blessing/Element] Water/Wood element; skilled in long sword and Water element.

[Background] --------