Bring Me to Life
Prices to Pay
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Chapter Thirteen:
Prices to Pay
Not bothering to hesitate in taking her
own advice, “Tashira” began to run, and no one had really noticed the
bare feet beneath the kimono.
them, though, since that last statement had caught them off guard.
claimed to have always been a girl, then why had Toge said otherwise?
first place?
“Hey look!
Turning to look in Bontenmaru’s
direction, she tripped over her feet and a loud crack resounded in their ears
as she fell. Toge turned to go back, but
she stopped him by relocating her ankle with a sharp tug, getting back up, and
continuing her run toward the surrounding woods, her foot slightly askew.
Suddenly, something silvery flashed
over her head, landing where she would have been had she continued to run.
comment hadn’t affected her, then this certainly did.
were flung at them, or at least, so Yuya thought.
“There’s only one other person that can
use this sword effectively. Care to
try?”
She was shaking.
prospect of touching Tenro.
grab it.
“It was my dying wish, wasn’t it?
actually soft enough to acquiesce to a woman’s request?
conscience?”
“As if he has one…”
“Or should I just grab this, be
thankful, and use it?” She asked, left
hand closing around Tenro’s hilt.
Toge looked confused, “Why aren’t you
forgetting everything? You always
forget…”
“And what do you know about my
forgetting? Hm?
you know?”
“Every time he’s mentioned,” Toge said, jerking a thumb in Kyo’s
direction, “you forget everything from before Sekigahara.”
look at him.”
“I mentioned his name yesterday and you
passed out!” He argued.
She waved it aside, “It startled me and
I had a slight memory lapse; but not related to my issue.
“I heard some stuff back at camp before
I met back up with you. By the way,
who’s Ho…”
There was a clang of metal and Toge
looked up to see his teacher standing straight up with the sword in her right
hand and held behind her, protecting her back from an oddly-dressed man who had
tried a horizontal hit, resulting in a clean-cut bodily separation.
“We’ll continue this later, Toge,” she
said before turning her attention to the would-be assassin, “not very good, are
you? Could have at
least surprised me. If I’m gonna
hate the Mibu, give me more than enough reason to do
so.”
Yuya blinked.
difficult for her to match the faces of the male Shinda and the female
Suzaku. Looking closer, all the
qualities were still there, but the face… something about the face was
wrong. Maybe she was seeing things, or
maybe she was just plain wrong, but she didn’t think this ‘Suzaku’ woman was
the same as the Shinda she’d met.
Even the fighting style was
different. Shinda — from what Yuya had
seen, even if it had been only once — liked to use his body as a weapon in
itself. Punches, kicks, and Yuya
Suzaku. For one, she’d grabbed
right hand, which struck Yuya as just plain odd to begin with.
enemy, she’d immediately reached for Tenro.
Suzaku could use it, Suzaku’s movements were jerky, uncertain, and she seemed
afraid to inflict pain, despite her earlier words.
Her diagnostics must have been plainly
written on her face, for Akira stepped forward, still holding his chin, “That’s
not her.”
“Then who is it?”
some village girl.
four unique talents: she can wield Tenro, despite its
length and her… lack of, well, height…”
“I heard that!”
another Mibu assassin joined in the fray.
“…another talent is the way she can
move her body in combat where the only weapon she has is herself.
so here,” he continued as though she hadn’t said anything, “third, her ability
to get along with Kyo is remarkable. She
is probably the only one he can’t every truly defeat.
all.”
nodded, trying to piece this together in a way she could understand it, “And
the fourth talent?
dealing with poor village girls, I assume?”
He smiled, “Her true strength — loathe
as she may be to admit it — lies in her wards, or written spells.
them, summon fire, or even use others as puppets, as she’s doing now.
the knowledge is hers, but this girl isn’t used to moving in this manner, so
her flexibility is limited.”
“Where’s the
“I can see Kyo-dono
this way. I can look at him and still
remember what happened before Sekigahara.”
fallen Mibu assassins, tossing Tenro
at Kyo’s feet.
“And you don’t wanna
get caught just yet, do you?”
She smiled, moving a piece of re-dyed black
hair behind her ears, “That, too.
“Using Ho-kun against me was
cheating. You’ll pay for that later.”
He grimaced, “Had to stop you somehow.”
dislocate an ankle that isn’t mine.”
She grumbled, checking to make sure it hadn’t gotten out of place again.
“Shoulda just
used your own body, then,” he said as she glared at him, “just saying.”
You will pay.”
He shrugged, “We’ll see.”
She smirked, “Indeed we will.
mine. I want him in one piece.”
Before Bontenmaru could say anything
more on that subject, the girl collapsed, an
burning quickly. Toge had disappeared;
presumably back into the woods where the real Suzaku may have been.
“Bon, grab her.
Bontenmaru quirked an eyebrow, “You saw
the ofuda;
it’s not her.”
“When has she ever used just one?
Bristling, Bontenmaru challenged, “
“Hate to tell you,” Sasuke began, hands
shoved deeply into his pockets, “but she’s crawlin’
away.”
Turning around quickly, he saw that
Sasuke was right. She’d gone a few feet
already and, had he continued to argue with Akira, she would surely have made
it back to the woods.
Making his way toward her, he had to
smile at her failed plan, through which only Kyo could have seen.
claimed to be possessing said girl. This
way they’d have left her body and she would have been free to do whatever.
But a question remained in
Suzaku herself had said — or at least
heavily implied — that Kyo was the reason she forgot everything before
as the reason for the memory loss, which meant that something fishy was going
on. Suzaku never lied intentionally, so
perhaps the information she’d been given was a lie.
her memory loss had lied to her in hopes of keeping her away from
avoided Kyo, then she had to avoid the Four Emperors, and thus ultimately keeping
her away from…
Suzaku would kill.
to start making limbs fly.
Starting with her own.