SAKURA

As night fell over the glade where Inari had left them, Sakura pushed herself just a little bit closer to Himari. Himari, Sakura, and the strange person that had introduced themselves as Misao all warmed themselves against the fire, a cool breeze pleasantly rustling against her fuzzy ears.

It had been a long time since Sakura could just take a humanoid form, and ever since she had been allowed to maintain it outside of the Black Forest. As she tended to prefer living on the outskirts where she could pay attention to the people and their odd lives, Inari had previously set a ban on her taking any form but that of a fox unless she was deep into the woods.

“So,” Himari broke into her thoughts as she spoke curiously. “Are you going to have fox ears and a tail when we leave the Forest?”

“Probably,” Sakura giggled in response. “I do not have two tails yet, after all!”

The Samurai next to her raised an eyebrow, but it was the new person who spoke instead. “Are you perchance Wind Aspected? Being able to disguise your more foxish features with Aura may be helpful when we travel through cities.”

Sakura shook her head vehemently. “Ah, no. Kami do not attune to aspects like humans do.” Her explanation made the matter seem obvious to her, but when her two companions stared at her like she had two heads, she continued. “Right, of course. See, Kami have a much higher reservoir of Aura, but we cannot use it in the same way that Humans can. And before you ask, no, I do not know why,” she squinted at Misao’s raised hand. Once he lowered it, she continued. “But, while I cannot utilize it internally in my body, like when an Air Aspected human hides themselves from view, I can attune it to the Elemental spirits around us.”

“Which can include people, though at greater risk than just connecting to an earth spirit in the ground,” Himari added to the point. Sakura gave her an admiring gleam. She was picking this up quickly.

“Exactly. So, when I connected to your Aura, I was able to encourage the Elemental Water inside you to induce healing and reject the poison.” Sakura smiled cheerfully. “It is dangerous, though. It is a vulnerable thing, to be connected that way.”

Misao tilted their head in curiosity. “Are humans truly so capable of hurting Kami through connection?”

“Oh, very much so yes,” Sakura clapped her hands. “I have heard that Kami have been ripped apart by the experience.” She let out a small chuckle. “But I had faith in Himari-chan. And that’s why I was willing to take the risk.”

Himari’s brow furrowed, and she looked at Sakura quizzically. “Why? We had only known each other for a few days. Why would you trust me so quickly?”

Sakura shrugged her shoulders dramatically and leaned to rest against her Bound companion. “Do I need a reason? You were dying. And neither Maiko-san or myself wanted you to die.” Her eyes caught Himari’s, and the fox let out a small giggle as she turned away red faced. “So I did what was necessary to keep you alive. And trusted that we both would come out on the other side.”

Himari let out a big sigh, but didn’t argue the point further. “I see. Well, regardless, we should begin planning for where to go next. Yamura is close, but it isn’t like to provide much outside of the potential of weapons.”

“And Nagata is entirely out of the question,” Misao added. Sakura let out a big yawn, leaning into Himari as the two planned. “Unless we want to get the entire Imperial Army on our heads.”

Himari set her head in her hands and sighed. “Is there a place where we can go? If the Imperial Army is against us, that isn’t going to encourage potential allies.”

Misao let out his odd little laugh, shaking his head at Himari’s pessimism. “I often forget, Tenth, how little you truly know outside of Kyūsoku Toshi. The Imperial Army is a single army, but it is hardly united. Think, if she had absolute control of the army, why did she attack utilizing stealth and deception to break into the castle? I think she knew that a large portion of the Army was still loyal to the Ichiya and wanted to kill the line quickly.”

“Which means that it’s not unlikely that Horobei-sama is already dead,” Himari sighed. “What do we do if that is the case?”

“Let’s have some optimism, please,” Misao chastised. “I know that things seem bleak right now, but there’s nothing gained from assuming the worst.”

“What about east?” Sakura interjected suddenly. The two looked at her with confusion for a moment, but she continued without concern. “There are soldiers that live in a small village to the East of the Forest. There are not a lot of them, but they always seem so miserable when I go to watch them.”

Misao tapped their chin in consideration. “East… east… Oh!” Their eyes lit up in excitement. “Shippai Mura! Oh, Sakura-san, I could kiss you!”

“Please do not,” Sakura scooted closer into Himari, glaring at him warily.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Himari let out a small giggle as Sakura pushed into her side. “They don’t mean literally, Sakura-chan. You just gave them an idea, that’s all.” Himari set her hand on Sakura’s head, and Sakura blushed deeply.

“Anyway,” Misao let out a small laugh before they continued. “Shippai Mura is a place where soldiers who have made great mistakes are sent. A bit of an on the nose, really.” They smirked at Himari. “It’s a career death sentence for most who show up there. I suspect

“So,” Himari said, “We are to rely on people who likely are oath breakers or cowards?” She certainly didn’t sound convinced.

“I wouldn’t say that,” they laughed. “The usurper’s standards are known to be rather exacting. I’ve no doubt that there are at least a few there who are good soldiers who simply ran afoul of her. So, we use that to our advantage. The soldiers there won’t be noticed or missed for a while if we can get them on our side. And that at least provides us a start. Plus, they’re more likely to know about others who will object to the Usurper’s attempted reign.”

Sakura, still leaning into Himari, raised her hand. “Um. Why do you keep calling her the Usurper? Does she not have a name?”

Misao shook their head. “Ah, I should have expected that you wouldn’t be terribly versed in politics. She does have a name, Sakura-san. But naming her adds legitimacy to her reign. So even in places like this, we don’t name her unless we absolutely have to. She is a Usurper, and that takes precedence over any name she might have.”

Sakura stared at them much like they stared at her earlier, but eventually just nodded. She didn’t get it. The woman had a name after all, and this seemed disrespectful. Maybe it was a human thing, but she had always thought that humans respected their opponents.

“In any case,” Himari said. “We at least have a place to start. We should get some sleep. If Inari-kami has been kind enough to allow us use of the glade for the evening, it would be rude to spend the whole night talking when we have the start of a plan.”

Misao and Himari moved to go lay down for sleep. Sakura, however, could not sleep. She transformed into a fox and spent the better part of ten minutes running around the glade, trying to tire herself out. After a groan of frustration, she trotted over to Himari and turned back, touching her shoulder gently. “Himari-chan,” she whispered. “Are you still awake?”

Himari stirred, turning to look at her. She looked a bit tired, but not like sleep had quite taken her yet. “Sakura-chan? Is something wrong? Are we in danger?”

Sakura’s head shook vehemently. “No, no, nothing like that. I just… we did not get much of a chance to actually talk before you and Misao-san got to talking. So I was hoping you might have just a little bit of time to talk to me?” Her face reddened. She hadn’t realized it before, but the request had her embarrassed.

“Yeah, of course. Just,” Himari motioned her closer. “If I sit up, I might never get to sleep. So come down here?”

Sakura nodded and moved to lay down next to the bed roll that Himari had laid out for herself. The grass was comfortable, the softest in all the forest. It was a shame that Himari had opted for a silly bedroll instead. “Well, I, it’s just. This is the first time we had the chance to actually talk to each other,” she explained, her face hot. “And, well. I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and get to know you. Or let you know me, I suppose.”

Himari blinked in surprise. “Oh, well. Ok,” Her head tilted. “What do you want to know?”

Sakura let out a heavy sigh. “You’re not good at this at all, are you?” Her cheeks puffed out, and she gave Himari an annoyed poke on the cheek.

“Good at what? Oh, did you want me to ask you a question?” She paused, face considering. Before Sakura could attempt to correct her, she snapped her fingers. “Ah! What is your favorite food?”

Sakura reared back and headbutt Himari, enough to bump her backwards without severely hurting her. “Ow!” Himari let out a gasp. “What was that for?”

“Stupid idiot…” Sakura muttered heavily. “You really are so dense. I want to get to know you. Do you understand?”

“Of course I understand,” Himari said, rubbing her head and wincing a bit. “That means we talk to each other and grow closer as friends, right?”

Sakura squinted. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

“Doing what?” Himari’s face became exasperated.

“You idiot,” Sakura said with a heavy sigh. “Fine. I will spell it out for you. I would like to get to know you. Romantically.”

Himari’s face twisted in confusion. Then realization hit her like a club. “Oh. OH. Why didn’t you just say that?”

“I thought I did,” Sakura growled. “I might have thought it was obvious when I was willing to have my whole soul tethered to you in order to allow me to stay near you. But apparently that is the sort of thing that just good friends do if you are a dummy Samurai from some big important family.”

Himari’s face reddened, and Sakura’s cheeks followed suit quickly after. “Ah, Himari-chan. I am sorry. I do not mean to demean you, I promise. I should have communicated more clearly from the start, and if you are not interested, that is also ok, and-” her rambling was quickly silenced by a deep, passionate kiss from Himari. Sakura’s eyes widened briefly, before she relaxed and allowed herself to just enjoy the moment.

When Himari finally released her, she smiled the dumbest smile that Sakura had ever seen. “Sorry. I thought I would answer you in the most uncertain terms I could.” Sakura only nodded mutely, and Himari continued. “I am interested. I can’t promise that this can… go anywhere too deep. I don’t know if I’m going to live through this. But I promise that I will do damn sure everything I can to make sure you do. And in the meantime, I hope we can enjoy the time we have.”

Sakura nodded eagerly. “Yes, exactly! I do not know what this will be, but I do know that I enjoy time with you. So let us make the most of that, yeah?”

Himari nodded in return, her hand cupping Sakura’s face. Sakura leaned into it, the heat in her face lowering down to her chest and beyond. Himari’s voice was soft, keeping their words between them. “Of course. And in the meantime, can I kiss you again?”

With permission requested this time, Sakura nodded. As the two kissed, she let all fear disappear for the night. She may not have known what the future held for the two, but standing alongside Himari she thought that she could face anything. Even an Usurper.