Chapter 15: A Promise to Save Someone Someday

Hello everyone, Author-san here,

Today is the day where I will end the volume of this fanfic.

The chapter is quite long, so please enjoy reading the chapter

Anyway, onto the chapter

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[Tsukuyomi POV]

It was a peaceful atmosphere in the morning,

I was having tea with Takemikazuchi in the living quarter

But then one of the children suddenly rushed in to tell something urgent.

They said that they saw Miko came at the entrance all injured and messed up

Me and Takemikazuchi rushed outside to check on her.

When we saw her, she was crying while clinging at Mikoto.

Her appearance is all messed up, her clothes were torn and dirty, her body is covered with bruises and blood and her hair was disheveled.

When we asked what happened to her, Mikoto said that She and Haruhime were attacked by bandits and Haruhime was taken. Then when we ask for more details, Miko said that both of them were sold by their fathers to a pellum. The pellum was manipulative and plans to defile them. However, when they were taken away, they were attacked by a monster and they ran towards the dense forest to hide, only to be met with bandits in there. They split up, telling Haruhime to go ahead while she holds them off. Unfortunately, in the end, a long-armed bandit captured Harihime and she was almost got taken by him but she survived.

Hearing the story made me pity and sorry for her and Haruhime while feeling furious at Hakuro-san and Sanjouno-san for letting their daughters to be taken. I looked at Takemikazuchi, his face red due to rage and frustration. He then runs to the entrance and took off to somewhere, probably to the Yae residence and Sanjouno residence.

When I was about to invite Miko to get inside the Shrine, we saw her went to sleep due to her exhaustion and stress. I carried her old room and ordered the kids to get her a new set of clothes and some medical supplies. The kids all dispersed and followed my orders immediately.

After patching her up and dress her with new clothes, she woke up a few minutes later.

"Morning, Miko. Are you feeling, okay?"

" What happened? where am I?"

"Ah, you fell asleep after you cried a lot. We carried you inside the Shrine and treated your wounds"

"I see.... *sniff* I'm sorry, Tsukuyomi-sama. I failed... *sniff* I couldn't save Haruhime because I am too weak" Miko said while face crumpled in tears and clutching her bed sheets.

"It's okay, Miko. All of people had failed once in their life. No one was created equal and perfect. One must go through at least one mistake in life to qualify a living being. Also, you are not weak, Miko. You have great potential in your skills and abilities. You demonstrated good performance in swordsmanship in the past two years. You just have to train harder in order to overcome your obstacle. As for failing to save Haruhime, it wasn't your fault that you couldn't save her. You two were just met an unfortunate fate to be in that kind of situation." I tried to reassure her from her sorrow.

However, Miko didn't recovered from that and still have solemn expression. I was about to leave the room so she can contemplate with her problems, Takemikazuchi entered the room.

"Miko, I brought you visitors to talk to" he says while pointing behind him. When we both take a look behind him, we both were not happy on what he brought inside.

"Why did you bring those two here?" I frustratedly asked Takemikazuchi.

"They want to have a word with Miko about 'certain' matters"

Takemikazuchi stepped aside and he let them in. The two people in question are Yae Hakuro and Sanjouno Haruno.

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[Miko's POV]

"Why the heck are you two here? GET OUT!" I spat out in disgust and anger when I saw my father and Haruno went inside the room.

They didn't say anything and stayed. Then suddenly both of them prostrated on the floor in all fours.

"Please Miko-san, I apologize for my arrogance, transgressions and animosity towards you. I'm truly sorry ashamed for my actions that led to Haruhime being captured" Haruhime's father apologized profusely while prostrating.

"Miko please forgive me, I am a failure in being your father. I'm sorry for being weak and cowardly. I honestly didn't want to give you to be taken by the Pellum. I couldn't discern his true nature and goals at first, but when I did, I was too late. I wish you could give me another chance to set things right"

I was speechless and baffled on their audacity to apologize now that everything has fallen apart.

"...no, I refuse"

"!!"

"Do you think a simple apology and prostration will solve all of your problems? Do you think apologizing will bring Haruhime back? do you think it is going to soothe the burning hate and frustration that you two idiots have caused? NO! YOU DO NOT! You two just came here to apologize because you were being petty, you only cared about prioritizing your NAMES AND STATUS over your own DAUGHTERS, your KIN, your FLESH AND BLOOD, your own FUCKING FAMILY!" *slams*

I slammed the floor with my fist, denting the floorboard in the process.

"".....""

".... sorry, my bad" I apologized for my sudden outburst

*Ahem* "Do you see now Hakuro-san, Sanjouno-san, your previous actions had broken Miko's trust on you two. So, an apology is not enough to satisfy this side's hatred"

The two fathers were disheartened and ashamed.

"... unless"

"?"

"It is depending on his input about this situation? Is that right, Amaterasu-sama"

"?!"

The two turned around and the door slides open. Amaterasu-sama along with his two personals suddenly appeared on the other side of the door.

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[Third POV]

The whole room went silent when the Sun god entered the room

The two men before him were stunned and went stiff upon seeing him.

Miko showed a bit of amusement on what she is seeing.

"Amaterasu-sama?! What are you going here?"

"How long will you two idiots going to stay there, move aside"

"But I.."

"I said MOVE, mortals"

The two men stood up and went to the corner of the room and Amaterasu steps forward. Then he sat in Sieza in front of Miko. His personals also did the same.

"It is nice to meet you, Yae Miko-san. My name is Amaterasu, the god of the sun, the celestial leader of the Royal Court faction" The god introduced himself to the pink haired renard in front of him.

"It is also nice in meeting you in person, Amaterasu-sama. I am Yae miko, the daughter of.... Yae Hakuro. I used to work as a shrine maiden of this Shrine, but I was taken by my father to train and study swordsmanship" The pink haired renard with nine tails bowed as she introduced herself

"I see. Now that the introduction is done, let us move on to the main topic." All of the people nodded to Amaterasu

"First of all.." The god then suddenly prostrate himself suddenly "I must apologies that you have to suffer such an unfortunate predicament without my presence. I simply didn't notice that there was a commotion happening in the back of the castle. So please accept my apology for my tardiness to respond" Everyone in the room was surprised by the sun god's sudden apology.

"Before accepting the apology, I have something to ask you, Amaterasu-sama"

"Sure, go on"

"When the incident of the eaten food offering, I would to ask you on why you didn't come to check the situation in the first place? Ah, and also, I must apologize for the eaten food offering. I will take full responsibility on the matter, even though I didn't do it"

"HAHAHA, don't worry about the food offering. I know that you aren't lying about what you said. As for the question for not being at the scene, well, it is kind of embarrassing to say but, you see... I was asleep that time"

"Eh?!"

"You see, while I was waiting for the event to start, I decided to take a long nap. I slept through out of the event and when I finally woke up, the guards reported me about the incident. When I ask them what's the situation, they reported me about the missing food offering and the suspect in question. However, when I tried to intervene, I was too late and you were already taken away" Amaterasu explained himself "So, once again, I want to apologized to you, Miko-san"

The god prostrated again and he heard a small giggle from Miko. Amaterasu blushed a little on how cute her laugh was.

"Of course, Amaterasu-sama. I accept your apology" Amaterasu sighed in relief on Miko's acceptance "However" She then looks at the two men on the corner. They were startled when she looks at them, then they averted the eyes to avoid looking at her.

"Those two, I don't accept their apology"

"I see. As compensation for what those two did to you, I am giving you free will to do whatever you want with them as punishments" The two men became frightened by Amaterasu's decision to let Miko do whatever she wants to them.

"Very well... I want them to step down from being executive members of the Royal Court" The heart of the two men sunk when they heard what she said. However, when Miko saw their reaction, she smirks smugly.

"Unless, if Haruhime was found and saved safely, then I will allow them go back to their original position" Miko set a condition to the two men.

"VERY WELL THEN! I, Sanjouno Haruno, will do his best to find Haruhime if it is the last thing I do" Haruno proclaimed loudly. Miko nodded and allowed him to do as he wishes on searching for Haruhime.

"Also, if I may, I want someone to be executed for the reason of manipulating people, betrayal and as well as attempt of sexual assault... I want the pellum named Amogu dead, for ruining my life and for Haruhime being kidnaped" Miko declared with a stern and cold voice

"Very well, I will allow it"

"Miko, if I may ask, where did you last saw Amogu?" Hakuro ask Miko for the pellum's previous location.

"On the road by the cliff side, we last saw him running away to the direction away from the dense forest"

"I see. Amaterasu-sama, May I ask permission for me to personally participate on the execution?"

"Permission granted. I will allow you to kill the pellum named Amogu" Amaterasu willingly permits Hakuro

"Thank you very much! I will not let you down, Amaterasu-sama"

"Hmph, don't say that to me, say it to her" Amaterasu said as he pointed at Miko

"I see. Then Miko, will you forgive me if I finish the task?"

"Only IF you kill him, then yes, I will forgive you.... Father"

"Very well. If you all excuse me, I have rat to slaughter"

Everyone laughed at Hakuro's last line.

"Then what about you Miko, what is your next course of action?"

"If Haruhime was found in the Far East, then I will stay in the continent to train harder and join your forces. And if, Haruhime was taken out of the Far East, then I will join on searching for her on the other continent"

"I see, I will respect your decision. Alright then, now that settle, I will going take my leave" Amaterasu said as he stands up and walks to the door of the room. The personals also stand up and opened the door for Amaterasu, leaving the other people in the room behind.

"I too, will take my leave" Haruno said as he also exited the room. However, before he is about to step outside...

"Wait" He stops walking and turns around to look at Miko who is calling him to stop

"For now, I will hold an immense grudge towards you. Until then, I will not forgive you for what you have done until we find Haruhime and save her"

"I see. I will take note on that" Haruno says as he walks out of the room.

The three-remaining people sighed and they were left in the room to discuss their own plan of action.

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[Hakuro's POV]

I was given a task to execute Amogu, the pellum who deceived us and took my daughter away from me. Remembering him made my blood boil.

According to Miko, he must be around the cliff side of road. I search and scoured the area to find the target. And there, in a certain clearing between the cliff and the sea, I saw a suspicious looking base. Within that base, I saw Amogu talking to a bunch of men.

I stealthily approached the base. I silently ambushed all of the guards of the base without anyone noticing and then carefully approach the tent on where the Pellum was. I took a cautiously peek at the entrance of the tent, then I saw Amogu discussing something with the remaining thugs in the room. I tried to listen to their discussion.

"If you don't find anyone who wants to buy the blond renard, then head straight to Orario. There are many rich people who might want to buy her" I listened to their plan on what they will do to Haruhime-san.

After listening to the discussion, I waited for the thugs to leave the tent. When I did, three thugs came out. I stealthily approach the thugs and backstab one of them. Then I swiftly slashed the second one before he could turn around. The third one notices me and was about to scream help, so I slit his throat so he can't scream.

After dealing with the thugs, I moved towards the tent. When I entered to the entrance and he notices me entering, he panicked and throwed a knife at my direction. I parried the knife he knew and was about to slash him, but then saw Miko in front of me.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Miko?"

"I kind of missed you, so please hug me" she said as she approaches me with open arms. She then hugs me and after that.

"You know dad, you should have stayed in the house"

She then pulls out a knife out of nowhere and was about to backstab me

She then brought down the knife, but before the knife was about to stab me, I stab Miko, or should I say the Pellum in disguised, on the abdomen. The disguise slowly wore off, revealing the true appearance of Amogu. He loses his grip on his knife and he fell on his back.

"Do you honestly think I will fall for that?"

"Hehehe, what do you look at that, you stabbed your own daughter, hehehehe" The pellum laughs in his defeat as he clutches to the stab wound on his abdomen.

"I told you that if I find out your true motive and hurt my daughter, I will not stop until I finish your life"

A few hours ago, I remembered back when I was in the residence contemplating on my mistake. Takemikazuchi-san came in to my room and punched me in the face. He told me everything what happened to Miko and what the Pellum done to her. I finally realized that I was been decieved and I gave Miko to a perverted person.

I grimace in frustration when I remembered all of that and I raised my katana in the air, preparing to end the pellum's life. The pellum saw me raised the sword and tried to back away. I stepped on his chest and he shivered in fear and pain.

"W-wait Hakuro-san. I am sorry that I decieved you and took your daughter from you. I kind of regret that, okay. hehehe. But hey, she is still alive. So, things are alright, right? So, let's settle thing bygones be bygones. What do you say? You forgive me, right. hehehe...?"

"Heh... no" I swing down my sword and decapitated his head. I shake off the blood off from the katana before sheathing it back. I exited the tent and look at the sky.

"I did it, Sakura. I have restored my honor towards Miko and to you" I muttered to myself

Then secured the area and find any more information. I returned to the tent of the dead pellum and found a map on the table. The map has a marking that pointed to several location on places outside the map. One of which is encircled with a red marker, Orario.

It seems that Pellum is planning on selling our daughters to other location as slaves. I took the map and returned to the shrine. I reported to Miko and the others about Amogu's plan and showed them the map. They nodded in understanding and decided to depart in the next morning. Miko also forgives me, which is all that matters to me.

I returned to the residence all exhausted, but I decided to do one last thing. I went to the building to the left and scoured to all the antic stuffs in the residence. I then finally found the thing I am searching for. I then gathered all of Miko's stuff and decided to bring them to the shrine.

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[Miko's POV]

On the next morning, I woke up and got of the bed.

I remembered that we were planning to depart from the Far East and head towards Orario. Asked them why that place, and they said that most people come to Orario to trade many goods in a very high price. So, the possibility of Haruhime being there is very high. I nodded in understanding and asked what is the course of action we will take. They said that Takemikazuchi-sama will lead the group and decided to bring Yamato-san, Kashima-san, Hatachi-san and me along with a few other children as well. Tsukuyomi-sama decided to stay behind and guard the Shrine.

We all packed up and prepared for departure. Father also came and brought all of my stuff. This includes my clothes, novels and other belongings. He then removed something from his back and gave it to me. the thing gave me are two long objects wrapped in cloth.

"Father, what are these?"

"Hehe, unwrap them to find out"

I did what he said and unwrap the cloths. I was surprised on what was revealed inside the wrappings.

The objects that father gave me are two katanas with sheaths. I pulled both weapon from its sheaths to take a look at their blade. First one has with purple blade and has lightning motif and guard. The other one has a fiery red blade and white handle with Sakura motif.

"Thefirst katana you have is called the Musou no Hitotachi and the other one is called Florid Sakura. These two katanas are your mother's most valuable possession. They were forged by the Raiden clan as gifts to your mother. Use them wisely in your journey"

"I will, father" I sheathe the blades back to their sheath and put them aside with my packed belongings. Then I walk towards my father and hugged him. He hugs me back and we stayed like that for several minutes. Then we separated from the hug and we look each other in the eye.

"Father, I promise you that I will save Haruhime-san. I definitely swear it" I took an oath in front of my father.

"Umu, then, make me proud and journey forth towards into the great unknown!" My father proudly roars

"Understood!"

After that, Me and the group transport our stuffs to the port on where we will use a boat to sail across the sea to get to the other side. As we are boarding our stuffs to the boat, Amaterasu-sama and her personals visited us. I approach him to say hello.

"Good morning, Amaterasu-sama. It is nice to see you here" I greeted Amaterasu-sama with a smile

"Umu, good morning as well, Miko-san"

"What brings you here today?" I asked him what is he doing here

"I know that you will depart from the Far East, so I decided to request a blacksmith to forge you a weapon" Amaterasu-sama then flicks his finger and one of the personals comes forth with a long thin object wrapped in cloth. I received the gift and unwrapped it.

The weapon that he gave me is a purple nagato with purple blade on the end. The nagato has the same lightning motif as the Musou no Hitotachi.

"Amaterasu-sama, can I ask something? Is the blacksmith belonging to the Raiden clan?"

"Ah, yes, it is. The blacksmith I requested to is a woman named Raiden I"

<A/N: Get it? Raiden Mei, Raiden Ei, Raiden I XD>

"I see, then what is the name of the weapon?"

"Ah, it is called the Kusanagi no Inabikari or the Engulfing Lightning. Please use it well"

"Understood, Amaterasu-sama. We will be leaving then"

"Very well. May the spoils of war be with you"

He then turns around to walk at the opposite direction. The two personals bowed at me and followed him.

Then wrapped the Nagito with cloth. Then someone else approaches me and it is Father. He came here to say his goodbye to me.

"Hey there, Miko. you are leaving?"

"Yeah, we are just finishing boarding the belongings"

"I see, then this is goodbye then?"

"Yeah, this is goodbye"

Then we again hugged each other, but not before Takemikazuchi-sama approaches us.

"Miko-san, we are done putting our stuffs in the boat. We are leaving now"

Me and father seperated from the hug and we look each other.

"Goodbye, Father"

"Ah, you too as well"

We nodded at each and I boarded the boat. The boat starts moving away from the port and I waved my father goodbye. He waved back at me and he leaves the port.

I then moved to the front deck of the boat to see the horizon. Yamato-san and the other are there too. We all stared at the world that is ahead of us. I took a deep breath and...

"HARUHIME-SAN!" The group look at me suddenly shouting

"I PROMISE YOU. I WILL SAVE YOU SOMEDAY. JUST YOU WAIT FOR ME!!!"

I shouted my hearts out to the distance as the boat sails to the unknown sea.

Fox's Prologue volume- FIN

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Next chapter:

Bonus Chapter: The Two Who Lurks in the Shadows