Dreamer Awakened

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"No!" Kaede cried vehemently. Her usually serene expression was nowhere to be found. Instead, she stood, her green eyes bright with resentment and her body stiff as she stared at Susano-oh’s calm demeanor and saw instead the mocking grey eyes and perpetual smirk of Murakumo. "No!" she cried again. Her hands balled into fists and her jaw tightened as she turned away from her husband to stare off into the surrounding darkness, the hated image of the King of Aragami still etched clearly into her mind. "This is what you had planned all along, isn’t it?" she accused in bitter accents, her anger unappeased even when she felt Susano-oh lay a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Would she ever understand the way her husband thought? She asked herself in aggravation. She had absolute faith in him, and she knew that he had only the best intentions. But the same couldn’t’ be said for Murakumo and she couldn’t believe what her husband had asked her to do. As her frustration mounted, she felt Susano-oh’s hand tighten on her shoulder as if he knew what she was thinking. He remained silent, but she could feel him pushing her to accept his will.

"I can’t believe that you would ask this of me," she murmured, her bitterness now tempered with anguish. "I can’t believe that you didn’t tell me from the beginning that this is what you had planned to do."

Susano-oh slowly spun her around, but Kaede refused to look at him. He put his fingers beneath her chin and raised her face until she was staring into his dark eyes. As always, there was kindness in his gaze, and it irked her further that he remained so tolerant and patient. It somehow made it seem that he cared little for the way she felt – which she knew wasn’t true. But sometimes, she just wished for things to be normal – sometimes, she thought wistfully; she wished she were still human. Realizing such feelings were disloyal and unworthy of the Princess Kushinada, Kaede stifled them and forgot them altogether when Susano-oh finally began to speak to her.

"Yes," he admitted, "this is what I had planned from the start," and when he saw the flash of hurt in her eyes asked softly, "would it have been any different if I had told you then instead of now?" and when she didn’t answer, he concluded, "I didn’t think so."

"How can you expect me to calmly accept him? - He is the child of Orochi!" she cried in defiant reaction to his judgment, "He carries Orochi’s souls, and he allowed Orochi to possess him so that he might destroy you! He would have destroyed me as well!" Kaede railed getting angrier when the expression on his face still didn’t change, "My lord, how can you be willing to trust him when all he wishes is for an end to the human race!"

"But Kusanagi is also the child of Orochi," Susano-oh pointed out, sidestepping her question for the moment, "and he too carries the souls of the Great Dragon. He also sought to destroy us in the beginning. And yet you are willing to trust him, are you not?" he challenged and Kaede dropped her gaze away, her face turning pink.

"That’s different," she mumbled defensively, "I have known Kusanagi all of my life. In my heart I know that he would never do anything to hurt me – but Murakumo is different."

"They are brothers, Kaede - born from opposite sides of the same blade, but brothers nonetheless. If you accept one, then you must accept the other," he softly chided.

"But, my lord, he will never change!" she persisted, her green eyes imploring him to relent in his decision.

"No, my sweet Kaede," Susano-oh soothed, his thumb coming up to brush against her lips in a silencing motion. "Murakumo was born from Orochi first, and his ties were much stronger than Kusanagi’s. But now that the Orochi is dead, those ties have been severed. You must understand that he is fighting for the survival of his kingdom, only wishing to see if flourish. And he is letting Orochi’s ageless hate guide him towards his goals. But you will see," Susano-oh assured her, "when he begins to understand, he will be as loyal as before. - You forget that we were the ones that betrayed him."

"I have forgotten nothing," Kaede assured him, the quiet thread of bitterness still running through her voice as she remembered Hikaru. "You may have faith in him, but I never will," she owed.

There was a moment of silence into which his next words fell.

"Are you then refusing to do as I have requested?" he asked her, staring, unblinking down into her face.

His face was calm as ever and Kaede longed to tell him yes; that she refused to do it. She wanted an end to Murakumo’s part in this plot, not an extended role. Nothing good could come of it, she was sure. He was cold, prideful and ruthless and she feared for her sister, her father – and for Hikaru’s child knowing that it was in his power to use the child to destroy them all should he choose to do so. How she wanted to tell Susano-oh that she wouldn’t do it. The words trembled in her heart and on the tip of her tongue, but looking into her husband’s patient and loving eyes, she couldn’t. Instead, she heaved a sigh and her head dropped forward, her dark bangs falling forward against eyes that were closed in defeat.

"I cannot deny you," she breathed in sad acquiescence, her eyes remaining closed, "and I will do as you have asked. But I fear that Murakumo cannot be changed. He was cast in the mold of his father and he will only betray you further. And I am just –" she murmured desperately, trying to express her concern for him and the rest of her family, but stopping abruptly when she felt his lips brush against hers. Her stomach tightened in response to the softness of the caress, and her breath sputtered to a stop.

"The Aragami are a natural part of this world just as much as the humans. Not all are as Orochi and they have waited patiently for their deliverance, wanting only to stop the suffering of their earth with Murakumo as their leader. I cannot forsake him or his race, Kaede, and I cannot believe that you would ask me to do so. They deserve my protection just as the humans do," he whispered into her thoughts as he deepened the embrace, and Kaede was enveloped in his warmth, his spirit mingling with hers, touching her and offering her reassurance. Then he broke the kiss, but didn’t let go of her and whispered aloud, "Have faith in me, little one. I will not fail to protect those that you are worried about."

Kaede felt a surge of emotion rush through her at his words, spoken in his beautifully melodic voice that he seldom used – and only when he wished to express a deep emotion or make a solemn promise. She adored his voice, adored everything about him and Kaede pressed deeper into his embrace and whispered, "You have never failed me. You never will. It is I who have failed you, doubting when I should not." His hand came up and touched the back of her head, running softly down the silken midnight strands.

"You have not failed me little one," he responded in his lyrical voice, "your love has brought us full circle and given us the opportunity to bring the children of the earth together."

"I love you, my lord," she whispered against his chest and felt him squeeze her tighter before he responded with his own whisper.

"And I love you, Kaede of my heart."

Kaede appeared, swiftly, silently in the dimly lit room, looking down at the somnolent figure of the man she distrusted so much, and her hostility manifested in a banked fire within her green eyes. How she wished that she could end it here. Take swift and divine justice for Hikaru and end any plans that Susano-oh might have for this accursed being. But she couldn’t. Her love for her husband forbid such an action and by her very nature, such an action was reprehensible. But still, it was no less than what he deserved.

Pushing her thoughts aside, she closed her eyes, and tried to free herself from her anger, knowing that such emotions wounded no one but her. Bowing her head, she took a deep breath and thought only of Susano-oh and slowly the turbulent feelings fell away leaving only peace and a sense of purpose. Her eyes were once again clear and serene when she opened them, and when she again looked down, she was able to keep her negative feelings from intruding; concentrating instead on what she had been sent here to do.

Slowly, she raised her hand and positioned it over Murakumo’s chest, finding his weakness and using her strength to repair what damaged remained there. Then, after a slight hesitation, she moved her hand upwards until it was over his face. Still not touching him, she struggled to finish what she had to do. Holding out her index finger, she gently placed it in the middle of his forehead and closed her eyes, seeking to enter his thoughts. As she became more aware of his mind, she faded from the room and slipped into the shadows where she waited for him, her control over her emotions beginning to slip.

Murakumo felt a rush of warmth within his chest. His mitama. Something was happening to his mitama. The sensation faded and then he heard someone calling to him; a familiar, hated voice, pulling him into a darkness beyond slumber. Murakumo followed the sound until he saw her standing before him in long flowing robes of white, her face devoid of all expression, save for her eyes. Their verdant depths seethed with restlessness as she stared at him.

Kaede, the Kushinada.

She was as he remembered her, graceful of form and beautiful of face and Murakumo’s countenance stiffened as he gazed at her, his anger and hatred towards her pulsing through him in waves. "Why have you called to me, Kaede, the Betrayer?" he demanded, and then looking around at the surrounding darkness. "Where is this place?"

Kaede ignored his words, instead choosing to turn on her heel and disappear into the darkness. After a moment or two her voice echoed back to him.

"You know the path that lies behind you. Return and learn nothing. But follow me and I will lead you to a greater knowledge – if you’re strong enough to accept it." Her voice told him, and then growing fainter, "The choice is yours to make, Murakumo."

Murakumo turned and looked behind him. Seeing a rectangle of light, he approached it and looked down. Below, his body remained in quiet slumber, his mind freed from its physical restraints. Return and learn nothing, she had told him. But what could she possibly show him that he needed to know? The cynical side of him asked.

A greater knowledge; perhaps the eternal knowledge of a god. that rebellious voice supplied. Murakumo’s grey eyes reluctantly swung back over his shoulder but were unable to penetrate through the unending darkness and he once more faced the window of light. It wasn’t a hard choice to make really, he thought, his lips quirking derisively as he turned and took a step forward into the unknown.

A greater knowledge, eh? he thought, the smirk becoming more defined. Perhaps this knowledge would help him to reclaim his kingdom, though he somehow doubted it. He didn’t trust the Princess Kushinada any more now than he had three years ago when he had learned that his race had been nothing more than a tool for her and Susano-oh.

So what was his reason for being here? that rebellious voice asked him. Curiosity: that was the reason, he assured himself.

It certainly wasn’t because he believed that he would learn any mind shattering revelation. Just what exactly was the Princess Kushinada up to? - She knew about his son, so perhaps, it had something to do with him - or perhaps this was simply some ruse on her part to try to do away with him, betray him once again like she had before? Reflecting deeply upon the past, Murakumo walked for some minutes without encountering anyone or anything, and it took him a few extra moments more than it normally would have for him to realize that the engulfing blackness wasn’t quite as black as before, his attention abruptly snapping back to the present when he felt a change in the atmosphere that was reciprocated in his blue souls as they began to glow.

Murakumo came to a slow halt as he heard an ominous rumble of thunder, and he looked around. He was standing on an unending ocean, his feet resting on its choppy, grey surface but remaining dry. The air was heavy and humid and seemed to resonate around him, filled with boundless energy, his souls pulsating with it, and above him, storm clouds were forming, scudding across the sky in a rapid procession of movement. A world of water; clouds and ocean, the silence of this strange world broken only by the rumble of thunder and the sound of the wind as it gusted past his ears, blowing his raven locks off of his shoulders and away from his high, pale cheekbones, sending it flying outwards behind him in long waves.

Murakumo’s grey eyes narrowed and he scanned the horizons, searching for the white robed figure of Kaede. She was nowhere to be found and he was left alone on this infinite ocean of grey. Where had she gone? And where was he? Was this a trap of some sort?

"- The Sword of Billowing Clouds… " a deep male voice greeted him, resonating within his thoughts, "Welcome to the world of your namesake, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi."

Murakumo’s eyes widened in surprise by the internal sound and feel of it, and he scrutinized the horizon once more looking for the unknown man who spoke to him. "You look to the future seeking the answer, but turn and address your past, for that is where you will find me"

Murakumo spun around and his surprised eyes were joined by his mouth, which dropped open in incredulity upon spying the robed figure of Lord Susano-oh standing a few feet behind him with Kaede standing quietly by his side.

"What is the meaning of this?" Murakumo demanded harshly, looking not at Susano-oh but Kaede.

She said nothing, only returned his gaze steadily, until Susano-oh addressed her.

"Leave us, my Kaede," he told her softly.

Kaede’s green eyes were torn from Murakumo then, her lips parted in surprise as she stared up at her husband’s handsome profile. ‘But –" she began to protest.

Susano-oh looked down at her then, his dark eyes calm and serene and he gave her a reassuring smile. "I will come for you. But for now, I would speak with Murakumo alone."

"You mean there is something that you wish to keep hidden from me," she communicated silently, her green eyes full of hurt when he did not answer but looked away from her, focusing again on Murakumo.

"I am sorry, but it is for the best," he told her after a moment before she abruptly turned her shoulder away from him, her feeling of rejections expressed in the bow of her head and the tight clench of her fists.

Feeling deeply disturbed, she walked away, stepping back into the darkness from which Murakumo had traveled, and Susano-oh waited for her disappearance before he again addressed the dark-headed Lord of Aragami.

Murakumo said nothing as Kaede made her exit. His countenance, dark and sullen, he waited for Suasno-oh to make the first move. The minute that Kaede had disappeared, the air vibrated with a low thrumming sound and Susano-oh’s body emitted long rays of light, the humming sound swirling around him, spiraling as the intensity of the light grew, ending abruptly at its apex. After it was gone, Susano-oh had changed, the mitama, normally centered in the middle of his forehead, now held in the palm of his hand. He started towards Murakumo with purposeful strides, a grim look on his face, while Murakumo dubiously watched him advance.

He stopped in front of Murakumo and with his empty hand he reached up and ripped aside his robes, baring his chest. With surprising speed, his hand shot out and gripped Murakumo’s in a strong grip, the blade in the Aragami’s hand becoming unsheathed against his will.

In shock Murakumo tried to pull back, confusion standing out starkly in his grey eyes. But the Storm God’s grip was too strong and he was forced to watch as Susano-oh slowly extended Murakumo’s arm until the tip of his blade was pressed so tightly against the god’s chest that a bead of green blood ran free, tracing a jagged path down his chest and torso, disappearing beneath the white folds of his open robe.

"What the hell are you doing?" Murakumo asked in a strained voice, struggling in futility to pull his arm free from the god’s vice-like grip.

"If it is vengeance you seek, you are now in a position to take it," Susano-oh told him, his lips set grimly as he spoke the words aloud, and he gave a merciless tug against Murakumo’s arm. Unable to hold his arm back against the strain, Murakumo watched, aghast as more of the god’s blood ran free. "The blood you see is no illusion," Susano-oh told him as more streams of blood joined the first, a trace of pain in his normally tranquil eyes as the tip of the blade scraped a gouge of flesh from his chest. "I have set aside my immortality," he informed the still struggling Murakumo, holding the mitama up in front of the Aragami lord’s eyes before continuing, "to offer you the opportunity to finish what you started in Tokyo three years ago."

Susano-oh gave another violent tug, and despite Murakumo’s efforts to the contrary, more blood was sent rushing free. Baring his teeth in a feral grimace, Murakumo reached out with his other hand and braced it against the Storm God’s shoulder, using it as leverage to try and pull himself free.

"What kind of game are you playing at?" Murakumo grunted, his arm shaking with the effort to try and push away. He was unsuccessful and Susanoh effortlessly held his arm in place.

"It isn’t a game, merely an opportunity - Why do you struggle against it?" Susano-oh challenged softly, "Isn’t this what you wanted? Isn’t this why you allowed Orochi the use of your body? So that the Great Dragon might slay the god who had forsaken your people?"

Murakumo said nothing, his face tensed and his jaw clenched with the effort to keep his blade from further penetrating Susano-oh’s chest. Then suddenly Susano-oh let go and Murakumo staggered backwards before regaining his balance. Susano-oh watched him, his chest heaving from physical strain and emotion, his eyes wild with confusion and resentment, a strand of raven hair falling across his face and obscuring one of his eyes.

Bent slightly at the waist, Murakumo took a few moments to regulate his breathing and then, standing straight, slowly stepped towards the waiting god. His blade was still drawn but aimed at the ground and his eyes swept searchingly across Susano-oh’s face, looking for answers to questions that he didn’t even know how to express. After a moment, he managed to suppress his confusion and let his cold mask slide into place once more. Then, of his own volition he raised his blade and pointed it at Susano-oh’s chest.

"Why have you brought me here!" he demanded. Susano-oh said nothing and Murakumo ground out, "Tell me, damn you!"

"Always on your terms, eh Murakumo?" Susano-oh murmured, looking at the blade tipped against his chest. "So much like your brother."

"What the hell are you talking about? I have no brother!" Murakumo growled, his eyes flickering briefly away from the Storm God as he felt the world around him slide away, blurring and becoming brighter until they were standing in a high, green field of grass that bent and swayed upon the eddies of air drifting around them.

"What the hell is this?" Murakumo snapped, the confusion back in his eyes, unaware that he had let his blade drop away from Susano-oh’s chest so that it was once again uselessly hanging down by his side.

"The other side of your nature – and that of your brother, the Grasscutter, Kusanagi," Susano-oh informed him calmly.

"The hell you say!" Murakumo snarled, "Kusanagi is no brother of mine!"

"But he is," Susano-oh disagreed, "Born of the same blade and of the same father, Orochi."

"There is no way such an imperfect soul could claim ties with me - He is a pathetic human, and I am – Aragami!" Murakumo argued, and realizing that his blade had fallen, yanked it back up into position against Susano-oh’s chest. "This is just more of your trickery and lies!" he accused.

"Then end it now," Susano-oh replied and again grabbed the blade, applying pressure.

Again Murakumo was forced to pull back, but still unable to break free, the muscles in his forearm again trembling from strain. Susano-oh might have shed his immortality for the moment, but his strength was still incredible.

"Let go of me, damn you!" Murakumo’s mouth twisted in bitterness.

"Isn’t this what you want?" the god repeated the question calmly, with not even the slightest hint of a taunt in his voice. "I’m giving you the opportunity, Murakumo. Take it now, or forever lose it."

Murakumo didn’t say anything, his fiery grey eyes locked with the intense dark ones of Susano-oh and he continued to fight against the pressure that was being applied to his arm. He could feel his strength beginning to wan and knew that he would not be able to hold back much longer. With a growl of frustration, he pulled even harder but to no avail.

"Let go, damn you! Let go NOW!" He hissed.

Susano-oh continued staring into his eyes for a split second longer and then said softly, "Acknowledge what you are giving up and I will let go."

"I acknowledge nothing!" Murakumo cried in frustration and watched as the tip of his blade again sent a shower of blood down Susano-oh’s chest.

"I cannot release you until you surrender your vengeance against me. If you cannot surrender it, then exercise it and be done with it!" Susano-oh commanded.

"Why?" Murakumo hissed again, "why are you doing this?"

"Surrender, Murakumo or finish it now," Susano-oh told him relentlessly.

Murakumo struggled a few minutes more, a trickle of sweat running down his temple and across his jaw. "All right!" he shouted the words in reluctant acquiescence, "I surrender my vengeance against you! Now let go!"

Immediately Susano-oh turned him loose and watched Murakumo’s body sag in defeat, his eyes closed and his head falling forward so that his hair hung in his eyes. Still saying nothing, Susano-oh held up the hand still clutching his mitama. He turned it palm up, uncurling his fingers and watched as it rose in the air and begin to glow brightly. The same loud vibrating noise as before began to thrum around them and Murakumo opened his eyes at the sound, seeing briefly the brightly glowing mitama before the glare became too bright and he was forced to close his eyes until the humming stopped.

The mitama had once attained its rightful place upon Susano-oh’s forehead, Murakumo noted, seething with humiliation because he had been unable to summon the courage to seek the retaliation that he had dreamed of for so long and still reeling from the fact that Susano-oh had openly offered him the chance.

"Just as noble as I would expect the King of Aragami to be – unwilling to end the life of their guardian deity, despite your feelings of betrayal," Susano-oh murmured, once again forgoing the use of spoken language to speak into Murakumo’s mind.

Murakumo gritted his teeth in frustration and looked away, remaining silent, but it seemed that Susano-oh hadn’t really expected a reply for he continued speaking.

"Always the loyal servant, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi - first to Orochi, your father, and then your god, whom you felt betrayed you – but most of all to your race. They have always come first, have they not?"

Susano-oh slowly approached Murakumo, who kept his eyes averted and his face stiff with hostility, feeling the steady gaze of the Storm God burning a hole through him.

"They still come first, even before your son – a child who is half human and half Aragami. Will you slay your son to regain your kingdom, Murakumo?" Susano-oh inquired ever so softly and watched him try to hide the flinch that he felt at Susano-oh’s words.

Still he said nothing, but his eyes whipped up at the god’s next words. "The kingdom you envision will never be."

"You will not stop me!" Murakumo vowed, his eyes burning with fury.

"No," Susano-oh agreed, "I will not stop you. No one will have to stop you when you come to understand the truth."

"And what truth is that?" Murakumo sneered, "the truth of a traitorous god? One who sacrificed the Kingdom of the Roots for a world of Humans?"

"The only sacrifice that need have been made was on the part of the Kushinada, Momiji. She was the only sacrifice that I intended, and even then, it was not a choice I willingly made," Susano-oh chided softly, "Do not blame me for Orochi’s grievous errors in judgment. You have let his hatred for me and the human race blind you to any truth other than what he chose to show you."

"And I suppose you expect me to believe that yours is the ultimate truth," Murakumo lashed out spitefully.

"No," Susano-oh remarked, "I do not. I expect you to open your eyes and find the truth for yourself. Already you have begun to doubt what you know. I see it in your heart."

"What do you mean?" Murakumo demanded.

"The girl, Midori – the human. She has shown you a facet of the human race that you did not even believe existed – and yet you deny what you see, what you feel, bitterly hanging on to the ‘truth’ that Orochi taught you – that all humans are destructive, corrupt creatures - denying steadfastly what you have experienced first hand, the sacrifice and kindness of another on your behalf – asking for nothing, expecting nothing in return. This is what you refuse to reconcile as a human trait in your heart. Your kingdom will fall if you persist in your foolish pride, Murakumo. As it is, the kingdom you have dreamt of for so long – the kingdom that Orochi made you believe in - will never come to pass. It was ever nothing more than a fanciful Kingdom of Dreams."

"I don’t believe you!" Murakumo railed, raising his fist in anger.

"Believe it not, and your race will perish," Susano-oh warned, his dark eyes boring into Murakumo’s furious grey ones. "Let go of the past and look to your son, Murakumo. He is the hope for the continuation of all Aragami. If you put aside your hatred and come to accept this then you will see that the road for the future is the union between humans and the natural world of the Aragami. Then and only then will you be able to save your kingdom."

"What the hell do you mean?" Murakumo hissed.

"You know exactly what I mean," Susano-oh responded quietly, "the emotions you feel for Midori have already shown you the way, despite your efforts to eschew them. Deny it now, but it will become ever clearer as you face your new enemy. For they threaten not only the humans, but your race as well. They are strong, Murakumo; a race of demons known as the Tengugaki and they are after your son as a means of escaping from the Underworld to feed on the energy of human souls and the souls of the Aragami."

"Why would they want my son?" Murakumo asked, startled and feeling suddenly apprehensive.

"For the very same reason that you sought to conceive him in the first place; invincibility. The Tengugaki use the empty souls of the Aragami that their Lord has devoured to come to the surface. Their only vulnerability right now is the Kushinada. If their lord should rise to the Overworld, the humans would surely offer her as a sacrifice to stop them, and the Tengugaki would once again be trapped within their world of shadows. But if their Lord devoured the souls of a hybrid who is part human, part Aragami – your son – then they would become invulnerable; and even if she were to be sacrificed, the blood of the Kushinada could not stop them."

Susano-oh stopped speaking and a silence fell between them. Susano-oh watched Murakumo’s guarded expression and knew that the Aragami lord was reeling in confusion, uncertain of what to believe any more.

"I have asked the Kushinada to guard your son which means that your brother guards him as well. They do not understand the significance of his birth, yet, thinking that he is only to be kept safe from the Tengugaki. But in time, I believe they will begin to see the truth in him that I now revealing to you – the unification of human and Aragami kingdoms. Already they are moving closer together and their coupling will yield the birth of even more Aragami souls into this world giving rise to the birth of a new kingdom… - The kingdom that you dreamed about – a world of nothing but Aragami - will never be, Murakumo, but your kingdom can still flourish if you choose to unite with the humans. Your new kingdom already exists in the form or your child and will continue to unfold with the children of your brother and the children of your son.

"Aragami souls and the soul of a human mingling together in harmony – this is the kingdom that you should strive for, one soul no greater than the other - For this is ultimately the only way for the Aragami and the humans to survive. For one race without the other will cause both to ultimately perish."

"And… what if…" Murakumo began hesitantly, "what if I choose to believe you. What guarantee do I have that you are not just lying to me, once again planning to sacrifice the Aragami to try and save the humans?"

"You feel I betrayed you," Susano-oh said, "and your feelings are, in truth, correct. But despite my betrayal I have never forsaken you." Murakumo expression was a mixture of skepticism and perplexity and so Susano-oh added, "Kusanagi’s resurrection came as an effort to ensure that your kingdom would flourish should your plan fail – " there was a flash of surprise on Murakumo’s face at Susano-oh’s words and he acknowledged, "yes, Murakumo. I knew of Hikaru. - I knew of your plan from the very beginning."

"If you knew… ? Then, why did you not stop me?" Murakumo wondered aloud, bemused.

"Because, even though it was meant it as an act of defiance against your god, I knew it to be a means of ensuring the continuation of your species. – I have never forsaken you," Susano-oh reiterated firmly and for the first time, Murakumo began to wonder if he was telling the truth.

About everything.

"Trust not just my words, Murakumo, but what you begin to perceive as real truth. You will come to know what is right if you focus not just on the past, but on the future as well," Susano-oh urged him, "Do not let hatred bind you to a misplaced loyalty. Think of what you are learning and what you are feeling at present; take it to heart and reflect upon it. - And then, when you know it to be right, to be just, act upon the truths that you have uncovered. These are the actions of a true king – the actions of the King of Aragami."

Murakumo opened his eyes with a start, the unpleasant and pungent aroma of sulfur filling his nostrils. Confused and disoriented, the image of Susano-oh seared into his mind, he had trouble focusing on the room around him.

"Susano-oh?" he mumbled and heard the startled sound of a feminine voice.

His eyes finally cleared and he focused on the slight form that had jumped backwards in surprise. It was Midori. Had Susano-oh been just a dream then?

"Oh," she exclaimed somewhat shakily, her face pale, "you’re awake," she mumbled, apparently feeling the need to state the obvious.

Murakumo sat up, looking from her to the window. It was still dark outside and she looked weary to the bone.

"What are you doing here?" he wanted to know.

Midori bit her lip, her fingers tightening around the cotton gauze in her hand and feeling like a coward. She had been too wound up to sleep earlier, and so she had spent the last few hours hemming the trousers that she had purchased from him. And then, just as she was getting ready to finally lie down and go to sleep, a feeling of dread had settled in over her when she realized that she had forgotten to apply the solution she had made to Murakumo’s mitama earlier in the day.

Not wanting to wait until morning, she had decided she should rectify her oversight immediately, hoping to be able to get it over with while he was sleeping so she wouldn’t have to face his austere expression and his cold grey eyes. She should have known better. The smell of the stuff was enough to peel the paint from the walls, so there was little likelihood of him sleeping through having it applied. And besides that, she hadn’t figured out how to get her hand down his shirt without waking him up anyway. So much for the coward’s way out.

"You haven’t had the solution applied to your mitama today, and I was worried that…" she trailed off and started backing up as he climbed to his feet and started towards her.

Murakumo watched as a look of apprehension flitted across her face, but he didn’t slow his stride, continuing until he was standing close enough to reach out and take her arm, pulling her to a standstill. He felt the tension of her body beneath his fingers; her face remained level with his chin as she shied away from looking him in the face.

"It is late," he remarked softly, noting with a frown the dark smudges beneath her eyes. "Could it not have waited until the morning?"

"Well, yes, I suppose so," Midori mumbled lamely, "but I was… that is… I thought it would be better… I thought that perhaps it would be easier with you asleep," she blurted out, her cheeks reddening in misery.

"Are you trying to hide from me, Midori?" he asked her in a soft voice and when she didn’t reply, he grabbed her chin and forced it upwards, looking into her soft velvet brown eyes.

"H-hide?" she stammered, a look of confusion on her face. "Wh- what do you mean?"

Murakumo stared at her a long moment, seeking the answers, trying to put aside his hatred and looking for the truth. It was easier to find than he had thought it would be.

He let her go and slowly stepped back, a look of shock on his face. "Never mind," he murmured and then added in a bemused sort of voice, "It can wait until morning. Go to bed, Midori."

Midori stood a moment longer, hesitating in uncertainty having never seen such a strange look on his face. Then, she turned and quietly left the room, and Murakumo watched her go, trying to absorb what he had learned.

This human cared.

For him.

Her enemy.

The revelation was shattering.