I guess I could let Reimi fly.”
Takumi and Natsuki, partners through her bond with his kami, walked off. David just caught Natsuki say, “You better not go off and leave me with just your clothes,” before they were out of view.
As David began to follow, Yukiko motioned to him and Rie. After ensuring there was no one around to hear, his host-mother bent close.
“Make sure you keep your senses open,” she said, unusually stern. “I’m sure that last week was not a lone event.”
“Don’t worry. Kou’s on it.”
“Come on, let’s go” Rie said, pulling him after Takumi and Natsuki.
An hour later, David sat with the other three young samurai high above the Matsumoto Shrine. The walk up the snowy mountain had been quiet. David had matched Rie’s pace, but he could not help but think on Yukiko’s words.
‘If there is another attack…’ As they reached the top, their silent conversation ended. Instead of Takumi and Natsuki as they expected, there was only a small open area surrounded by pine trees at the top of a cliff. The area was quiet, though they could hear some of the conversations floating up from below. David tensed.
“Relax,” Rie said. “They’re probably just making out over in the woods.”
In response, Natsuki dropped out of a nearby tree, causing David to whirl and summon his Seikaku, the powerful dual-nature sword that he could summon at will.
‘If only Jessica could learn to be that quiet,’ David thought with a wistful sigh. Even dropping from a tree, the girl who was normally so loud at school had been eerily silent. His sister had struck up a fast friendship with Natsuki after her visit. Every other day he had to translate another note between them or send messages over Skype. ‘At least I get to hear what she’s up to again.’
“Reimi’s around here somewhere,” Natsuki said. “And we were not making out.” To emphasize her point, she punched David hard in the arm. Though he could have dodged, he let her connect, and then followed up with a backhand to her forehead. It might had turned into an impromptu sparring match, but then Reimi distracted them with an aerial somersault that nearly ended with her smashed into a tree.
Below the cliff, the warm lights of Nakano Town glowed just past the Estate’s trees and the main road to Himeji. Takumi reappeared and helped them unpack the few supplies they had brought up the mountain. David smiled at the awkward distance he tried to keep from Natsuki.
A bit later, Rie stirred beside him on a log, and David again wondered why they had not become partners. Kou had no answers for him. Whether it was because they had just broken their bond with Natsuki, or for some other reason, he was just as free as he had been for those first few days he could talk to Kou. Their glimpse into just how strong and important the connection between Jitsugen Samurai and partner could be tainted their enjoyment of that freedom. Murmuring something too quiet for him to hear, Rie sat a little closer.
‘Females.’ Kou thought the word almost like a curse. David chuckled. ‘They are difficult to hunt. Why are we sitting up here freezing? We could be hunting or lying in a tree.’
Rie shivered beside them. Although prepared, David saw that the others were just as cold as he was.
“How long are we going to be up here?” David asked.
“A few more hours,” Takumi said. He stared out over the cliff into darkness, while Natsuki stole occasional glances toward her partner.
“Kou and I will be right back. We’re going to get some firewood.” David stood, and loped off into the trees. Once they were out of sight, David transformed, sighing as Kou’s tiger fur insulated them from the cold. Light over the deep snow, Kou was able to round up enough wood for a fire much faster than David was, despite his lack of opposable thumbs. Kou’s animal senses, so much more potent than David’s, also ensured no stray beasts would ambush them again. In just a few minutes, Kou had a stack of wood next to their friends.
‘I could use a bit of your fur right about now,’ David thought as he braced himself for the change back to human form.
‘Why not? We used to get mixed up. Maybe we can put some fur on you.’
‘Some things best not left to chance. What if we make a mistake and I end up orange haired forever?’
‘It would be an improvement.’
David growled at his other half and willed himself into his human form, pink skin and all.
“Good thing I was a boy scout,” he muttered a few minutes later as he moved the last twig into place.
After a few tries, David coaxed a feeble flame with a few matches from Natsuki’s bag. Afraid the faltering sparks might die; he leaned in to blow on the flame. A sudden gasp made him turn just as something small and dark rushed past him.
The fire erupted into an inferno that heated the entire area. Surprised, David rolled away from the flames as the girls scooted back from the waves of heat. Takumi was gone.
Looking into the flames David saw that Reimi was no longer a small gray bird. Instead, an iridescent whisper of fire resolved into twinkling eyes and beak. Fluttering in and around the flames, Kou suspected she was feeling as he felt stalking through the forest. Reimi was free and at home. Laughing, David sat again with Rie, and together the three students watched the phoenix play in the flames. Sometimes she seemed nothing more than another flicker of heat, while at other times she was a shooting star of red feathers and flame. The flames began to wither after consuming nearly every bit of the wood Kou had gathered.
“I’ll go get some more,” David said, getting up.
Rie pulled him back down. “No, don’t. You’ll miss it.”
With a last few sputters, the flames died as melted snow erased the last embers. A small gray head poked its way out of the mush. Shaking herself off, Reimi hopped out of the sludge and over to Natsuki.
“That was fun. We should do that more often,” she squeaked.
“If I had known all you need is a bit of fire to enjoy yourself so much I would have slept in front of the kotatsu burner instead of having to try to follow you up trees!” Natsuki said laughing.
With a look at David, Reimi fluttered out of view. David followed after with Takumi’s clothes. They made it back just in time to watch the first sunrise of the New Year peak over the hills above Himeji.
“You know,” whispered Rie as the sun’s rays hit them, “it’s the year of the Tiger.”
BACK TO SCHOOL
Choices… I had spent my whole life avoiding them. It was always easier to follow, to do what others wanted me to do. Yet it was always there, the nagging feeling that something was wrong, that I could be more than I was…
Although it was a holiday, David did not expect to escape their usual morning training. Most of the time, David and Kou looked forward to the mental and physical challenges of their practices. Still, they were pleasantly surprised when they returned from the mountaintop
