AN HOUR WENT BY and, although emergency services arrived and dealt with the fire, Ite still held onto Yukan tightly, waiting for him to regain consciousness. She brushed her hand through his blonde hair, some strands clamped together from the blood that spilled during the assault.

“Why?” Ite sobbed. “Why didn’t I step in sooner? I could have stopped him from getting hurt if I didn’t stop myself. Why must fate deal me such a cruel hand?”

“Fate will deal whatever hand it pleases,” a voice from behind Ite announced. She jumped to her feet, once again entering a defensive position, but when she turned around to face this mysterious figure, she realized that they were about the same height as her. They wore a cloak that covered most of their body and she could not see his face in the darkness of the night.

“I personally think that fate cheats people out of what they deserve,” the cloaked figure continued before turning to Yukan. “Your friend looks hurt. Here, let me-”

“I’m warning you now,” Ite began, stopping the figure from touching Yukan’s broken body, “if you’re here to cause him any more harm then I will snap you in half.”

“My apologies,” the strange entity said. “I didn’t mean to agitate you. I just wanted to help him. He looks really badly banged up and I can heal him. Reading the room, I’d guess that this was his house that burned down and he doesn’t have anywhere to turn to, really.”

It was as this figure continued to speak that Ite realized that they were a teenage boy, perhaps the same age as her.

“I…” Ite began to confess. “I don’t know how to help him anymore.”

“Look,” he started, “it’s a gamble, I’ll admit. In chess, the queen will do anything to protect the king, even if that means sacrificing herself to the opponent. Right now, I’m just a pawn. A very helpful pawn that can keep the king safe. I know that we just met and you have no reason to trust me, but your friend needs help, you both need a place to stay, and I can provide for you both, and so I will.”

Ite was still not certain as to whether this boy in a cloak was trustworthy.

“I still think it would be better to take him to a hospital,” Ite insisted.

“If you try to take him to a hospital,” Kadaina answered almost instantly, “he might not make it. The nearest hospital is in Engan. It’ll take you several hours to get there even by ambulance. Meanwhile, I can take you to a place where you can get similar care, if not better care, but only ten minutes away from here by horse.”

Ite stopped for a moment, hearing the bleak ultimatum presented to her. If going to this man’s house was the determinant of whether Yukan would live or die, and if what he said was true, then the only viable outcome where Yukan survives would be going with this man. Her suspicions had to be ignored, but she could try to gain a bit more evidence against them.

“...If I get even one feeling that you’re going to do something-”

“Which won’t happen,” the boy interjected, “I swear.”

“If I do get that feeling,” Ite continued, “I can leave anytime, right?”

“Of course,” the figure scoffed slightly, “I’m not holding you hostage. Believe it or not, some people in this world do mean well.” Ite paused for a second before nodding.

“Okay then,” she said, accepting the boy’s offer. “Help me lift him up and we’ll head over.”

“Sure,” the figure said as he moved toward Yukan’s legs as Ite positioned herself at his head. “I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Ite…Ite Daitan.”

The hooded figure took his hood off to reveal himself to be, just as Ite had expected, a teenage boy. He had long brown hair, about elbow-length, and blue eyes, his skin slightly tanned. “Nice to meet you, Ite. My name is Meiji. Kadaina Meiji, that is. I suppose we should get Yukan back to my house.”

The two of them loaded the last Kenshi’s unconscious body onto a horse and began their journey toward Kadaina’s house.

❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎❒︎

Since Kadaina lived in Shirotaun as well, the journey was not very far. Once they arrived, Ite tried to open the door, only to find that it was locked. She knocked a few times on the door before Kadaina gestured for the two of them to switch places. Once Ite relocated herself where Kadaina was standing and Kadaina had placed himself where Ite once stood, Kadaina opened the door with relative ease. The two of them rushed Yukan into the house. A woman with grey hair was in the living room, drinking her tea, when she saw a brutally mangled body hauled into the dining room, which was joined to the living room with no walls interrupting them. The woman hurriedly set her teacup down and rushed over to the body.

“Oh dear,” she began. “What on Earth happened here, Kadaina?”

“This man’s been injured and his house has been burned down,” Kadaina replied. “I was passing by and decided to offer our hospitality to them.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said as she placed her hand on Yukan’s cheek. “Well, I suppose it’s time for Oba Meiji to work her magic. Move him to the couch.”

“Yes, auntie.”

As Ite listened to Oba speak, she realized something about her. Although she had a full head of grey hair and seemed to be in her sixties, her voice was clean and unworn. In truth, she was only in her thirties. While the three of them were relocating Yukan, the devious sources of Oba’s grey hair peeked through the door frame into the dining room. These two children were both rather young, perhaps at most twelve years old, and appeared to be twins, one a boy and one a girl.

“What’s going on?” the boy asked his twin sister. “Who are these people, Shisuta?”

“How would I know, Ani?!” Shisuta whisper-yelled in an annoyed tone. “I was sleeping like you were two minute ago!” Shisuta turned her attention to the beaten-up Yukan as he lay unconscious on the couch.

“That dude looks pretty banged up,” she remarked. “He looks like a potato.”

“What does that even mean?” Ani said, confused by this analogy. “You know what? Nevermind.” Ani turned his attention to Ite. “Who’s the girl? Did Kadaina actually get a girlfriend?”

“I doubt it,” Shisuta replied. “He’s more of a potato than the other dude.” Although they cared for their cousin deeply, they couldn’t help but make fun of his apparent misfortune in the world of romance.

“Shisuta! Ani!” Oba yelled, seeing her two children. “Quit standing around and get me the focuses!”

“Yes, Auntie,” both of them whined before leaving to get the arcane focuses.

“Poor thing,” lamented Oba. “I’ll have him healed up in no time. Ma’am, would you be willing to get a wet cloth for his forehead from the kitchen?”

“Alright,” Ite said as she went into the kitchen to find a washcloth. As she turned the water up to a warm temperature, checking it with her elbow as she waited for it to heat up, she saw the two twins heading into the living room with a variety of gemstones. Once Ite had wrung out the cloth, she went into the living room, seeing a faint green light as it sprang up from the gemstones and surrounded Yukan’s body. Ite stood completely still, unsure of what she was witnessing. Once the light dissipated, she saw that Yukan’s wounds had been healed up entirely.

“Soooo,” Shisuta began, “where’d you meet her, Kadaina? Is she single? Does she have any dogs?”

“I like her,” Ani added. “She seems really nice. I think you should date her.”

Kadaina ignored his cousins to the best of his ability as Yukan suddenly sprung up for ten seconds. He was in a cold sweat, panting as he looked around the room. Ten seconds after waking up, he collapsed once more on the couch, fatigued. Having witnessed all of this, Ite walked once more toward Yukan.

“What was that about?” Ite asked Oba.

“We’re mages,” she answered. “Kadaina’s still more or less in training, but I’ve gotten pretty close to mastering it.”

Ite could not think of how to respond to this. She stood beside Oba, wet cloth in hand, trying to parse through all of this.

“May I have the wet rag?” Oba said.

Ite, without saying a word or changing her expression, handed Oba the rag. Kadaina’s aunt then got up and laid the rag upon Yukan’s head.

“Does that mean he’s going to be alright?” Ite finally asked.

“He will be just fine, dear,” Kadaina responded. “He just needs some rest for the time being.”

Ite sighed, finally knowing that Yukan would survive this night.

“Thank God,” she heaved as she sat down in a chair on the side of the room opposite of Oba. “Thank you so much. I-I don’t know what I would do if he had-”

“Don’t stress it, Ite,” Kadaina said as he walked over to her, placing a hand on the side of her chair. “He’s safe now.”

It was at this moment that Ite looked over and saw the twins. Ani had taken out a small notepad and begun writing something down, while Shisuta was putting her notepad away.

“I’m sorry,” Ite remarked toward the two of them. “I didn’t see you two until now. I’m Ite. It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for helping Yukan.”

“No problem,” Shisuta replied humbly. “It was Auntie who helped him out. Say, would you happen to date potatoes?”

“What do you mean?” Ite asked, confused by what was being asked of her.

“Well, you see,” Shisuta began, a devious grin growing on her face, “if you were to date potatoes, could you pretty please date my brother? You’re his only hope!”

“Shisuta!” Kadaina yelled out almost instinctively. “I’m sorry, Ite. She’s just playing around with you.”

“See, Shisuta?” Ani chimed in. “I told you Kadaina will never get a girl.”

“I’m not looking for a relationship! Shouldn’t you two be in bed?!”

“Kadaina is right,” Oba added. “Now stop bugging this young lady and head back into your rooms.”

The twins groaned slightly as they went back toward their rooms. Kadaina, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief as he slumped into a chair to the right of Oba and on the opposite side of the room of Ite.

“Are those two usually such a handful?” Ite asked, even though she felt she already knew the answer. Anybody who actually saw Oba would come to the same conclusion as she did.

“They’re good kids,” Oba insisted, “just a bit nosy. They’re turning out just fine, all things considered.”

“Thank God you got rid of them for now,” Kadaina chimed in, still in that position in his chair.

“You should be going to bed soon too,” replied Oba. “I’ll help our guests get ready for the night.”

“Certainly,” Kadaina answered in compliance. “See you two in the morning.”

Kadaina, being older than his cousins, knew how to listen to his elders much better, even though he was an adolescent, as defiant as some may be. He went to his room, ready to suffer another onslaught of mockery from Ani and Shisuta. Oba turned once more to Ite.

“He must mean quite a lot to you,” she began.

“Of course,” Ite responded. “He’s a really big part of my life and where I want to be in it and I don’t know where I’d be without him. I know it sounds so sappy, cliche even, but it is how I feel. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be dating him.”

“That explains quite a lot,” Oba remarked, only now learning that they were in a relationship. “Love is a very powerful thing, I’m sure you know. It makes people do irrational things.”

“Irrational?” Ite asked. “In what way?”

“It’s nothing on you in particular,” she continued. “It’s getting quite late now, Ite. There’s a spare room upstairs and some clothes in the closet to help yourself with. I’ll tend to Yukan until he wakes up for you.”

“I can watch him-”

“You’re over-exhausted, dear. You’ve had a normal day’s worth of action and then some. You need to rest so you have the energy to keep up with tomorrow.”

“He’s my responsibility,” Ite protested.

“No, you are your responsibility,” Oba argued. “If you neglect yourself, you won’t be doing any good for yourself or Yukan. Now, do you want to go to bed and pick this debate up in the morning or do you want to stay up all night and argue?” Ite stopped for a moment, contemplated her choices, and realized that it was a losing battle.

“...Okay,” Ite sighed in surrender. “You win. See you in the morning.”

“Sure thing, Ite,” Oba replied. “Just remember that neither of you are going to get through what you’re working through alone. Lean on each other, even if it’s only just a little.”

Ite went up the stairs and to the guest bedroom. Yukan stayed asleep on the couch while Oba began to rest in a chair beside him. For the rest of the night, all was quiet in the Meiji household.