Bring Me to Life

Chapter Eight:

Not Entirely Lifeless

“Yuya-han?”

Yuya looked up as Benitora sat down a little ways away from her, “Hm?”

“It’s about what you said earlier today,” he began, shifting a little, “about having your wallet stolen, camping outside, and all that. I don’t know how to make any of that better for you — Kyo-han’s really good at gettin’ your wallet — but if there’s anythin’ I can do for you, I want you to know that I will.”

She had to smile, “Thanks Benitora... but, uh, where do you think your hand is going, hm?”

“Aww, c’mon, Yuya-han...!” He exclaimed as he sailed over the walls of the boys’ home.

Rubbing her knuckles and sighing as she sat there overlooking the courtyard, Yuya wondered just what had happened with Akira and Shinda, if anything had happened at all. The wielder of ice had returned for a few minutes claiming that he hadn’t been able to locate the enigmatic Mini Kyo. Of course, he hadn’t called him Mini Kyo, but still. He’d left again after stealing a bread roll from Bontenmaru’s plate.

Shinda.

The very word meant “dead” or “lifeless”, traits that Yuya could see clearly within the young man who had assumed the name. Of course, Yuya knew that even he couldn’t be completely devoid of emotion, for he’d shown anger when Toge had irked him. Still, he presented a puzzle to the bounty huntress, for she never knew what he’d say or do next. Not that she really wanted to know, of course, but it sure would help the next time she made a bargain with him.

Stupid bargain...

Just as she was going to continue on that train of thought, laughter caught her attention. It was quiet, like someone was sharing a funny story that they didn’t want anyone else to know. Leaning forward to peer over the railing of the balcony, Yuya looked down into the courtyard and had to stop herself from exclaiming.

Toge carried someone on his shoulders, someone wearing black hakama, no sandals, no gi, and two strands of red hair that framed his face.

Surely the gods were toying with her...

The two of them were acting as though they hadn’t just fought to the death earlier that day. Toge was laughing about some comment he’d made and Shinda was smiling while riding on his shoulders. They looked like brothers, and Yuya had to wonder if maybe Shinda didn’t have some mental disorder that made him have two different personalities. Yes, that would explain a lot. A good side and a bad side, but be that true, wouldn’t either side have developed a name of its own according to theory? Maybe he was an exception to that rule...?

Glancing about for anyone watching, Yuya slipped from their balcony to get a better vantage point. She wanted to hear every word, not knowing why she even cared, but if something could make the lifeless one laugh, it must be highly cynical indeed, though she didn’t think Toge would make such a comment. Having found a good ledge from which to watch and listen, Yuya made herself comfortable.

“So then I told Tamanori-san the story of Koru, Renji and I. You remember that one, don’t you?”

Shinda’s eyes narrowed in thought, “Is that the one where you all dressed as women and tried selling perfume to bandits or is it the one where you tried to substitute candles with fireworks?”

“Neither,” Toge smirked as Shinda hopped down and walked beside his friend, “it’s the one where we glued everyone’s cups to the table at court.”

Yuya frowned. At court? What court was he talking about? Couldn’t be the current one...

Shinda laughed again, “At court? Who’d you blame it on?”

“I don’t know. We left before anything really happened. We hid in the surrounding trees, though. You shoulda seen their faces!” He laughed, and it was then Yuya saw the packs he carried, “Say, where were you during all that?”

“How old were you?”

“Koru and I were ten, and Renji was eleven. So you were eight.”

He thought for a moment, “What season was it?”

“Spring.”

“I was nine, then. You all were born in summer,” Shinda said thinking some more, as though the memory were hard to find, “in the spring of my ninth year, I was... dammit, where was I?”

“You don’t remember?”

“No I... I don’t remember anything before the Battle of Sekigahara. I used to know...”

“When was the last time you remembered anything before Sekigahara?”

Shinda looked up at Toge as the two of them stopped, the orange-eyed boy having a look on his face that was probably as close to mortified as Shinda could get, “Yesterday.”