We rushed out, staying close together in solidarity against everyone’s stares. Kei held Maya’s hand, holding his head high and daring anyone to pester her over the details. Several older swordsmen cleared out a path for us among the crowd. Just as we got through the main door, Minister Banji entered the hall. His mic enhanced voice beginning to address the crowd was the last thing we heard from the inside before the door shut. The only noise now was from chirping birds and laughing children, a carefree world mocking our problems.

Ahio turned around and clasped my shoulders. ‘What do you mean the Minister is involved?’

I gulped. What was I going to tell them? It was an impromptu decision to even say what I did, but I didn’t know how else to stop Minister Banji from getting his hands on the knife. Now, I had to think my way out of another mess.

‘I don’t think we should discuss it here.’ Daisuke whispered, looking this way and that at the wide street we were on. No one was there of course. At this time of the day, people were either at work or school, and today, in the amphitheatre. ‘My house is really close and my family’s still in the hall. Let’s go there.’

I sighed, thankful for the extra minutes to think.

Ahio gave me a look as if he already knew I wasn’t planning on telling them everything. ‘Sure.’

Five minutes later, we reached Daisuke’s home. It was one of those neighbourhoods which seemed to copy one house onto every block. Every front yard had a well-trimmed hedge of the same height, and every house had sloping brown roofs and two white-walled floors. The little golden numbers hanging on the doors were the only difference between them.

Daisuke led us in, and we settled on some couches around a coffee table in the living room. It reminded me of my own home, with not a sofa cushion out of place, white furniture without a speck of dust on them and abstract paintings on just the right spots.

Ahio sat on a plush sofa across from me, crossing his arms. ‘Well?’

Everyone’s eyes were on me, from Daisuke’s wide grey ones, filled with curiosity and concern, to Tsubasa’s hazel, lined with worry behind his glasses. I took a deep breath, rehearsing in my head what I’d planned on the way.

Half-truths were still true, right?

‘Back when I went to Anzenkai, I saw the kidnapper.’ Everyone shifted in their seats and Daisuke gasped. My fingers curled around my red coat as I shifted my gaze to the floor. ‘Kei, Maya, do you remember when I ran off saying I had to go to the bathroom all of a sudden? Well, I actually ran after him. He went to Anzenkai’s HQ— to meet Minister Fuyu.’

I glanced up to see shocked faces, jaws gaping and skin pale. ‘I eavesdropped on them. They were talking about some sort of plan to kidnap children, saying Minister Banji was in on it too.’

I didn’t think I should tell them about the witch just yet. It might give someone cold feet, making them refuse to go looking for Kaede. In the manga, everyone in squad eleven had gone, and it might turn out later that they needed to do. Though I’d have to fill the shoes of the replacement swordsman, Gen.

‘Then they said that they thought I was a spy for Genkoushi and Kou Ta because…’ I paused, this was pushing it. ‘Because I’m an outsider who stopped the kidnapping. I got out of there as soon as I heard that, though I’m not sure if they didn’t notice.’

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Face twisting with fury, Ahio grabbed my neckerchief. ‘So you knew all this time?’ he shouted, spittle flying on my face. ‘You knew and didn’t tell us?’

I winced. What do I say? The thought of lying to them made my stomach churn. ‘I—Well, I—‘

‘Ahio, stop! How would him telling us have done anything? It’s not like he knew they were going to try and kidnap Kaede again,’ Daisuke snapped, glaring at Ahio till he reluctantly let go of me.

Except I did. I knew that they were going to kidnap her, and I knew what they were looking for. But opening up about the stones, the confusing conspiracies I’d learned about in the manga and about my two bodies? That was a can of worms I should keep closed. I rubbed my neck and stared at my other hand, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes.

‘So you didn’t know they were going to try and kidnap Kaede again?’ asked Ahio.

Nausea swirled in my throat and filled my mouth. I nodded.

‘All this seems like too much of a coincidence,’ said Daisuke, picking at his nails. ‘They think you’re a spy, but then send you on a mission to Anzenkai at the same time as their meeting with the kidnapper? No, this has to be a set-up. They must’ve wanted you to eavesdrop and then scare you from looking too deeply into this.’

I rolled his arguments over in my mind. They made sense, but why would the Ministers make so much effort just to scare me into not digging further? In fact, I’d been more obsessed after the incident.

Kei snorted. ‘Seriously? All that work for a mere third-grade swordsman?’

‘No, no it all checks out,’ Daisuke said, waving his hand dismissively. ‘Tahro and I started researching more about the kidnappings after I found out a witch may be involved—‘

Maya gasped. ‘A witch?’

‘Yes, but that’s not the point,’ Daisuke pouted, ignoring Maya’s bewildered expression. ‘It might’ve been harder to set something up to scare me, but Tahro, an outsider with no connections to anyone important? They probably expected him to drop the subject and make me stop too. This must be something big, especially if Genkoushi and Kou Ta really are involved. I think this was a warning for us to stay out of the way.’

The kid better be on his best behaviour. The last words I’d heard before I’d run away from Anzenkai’s HQ echoed in my mind. Daisuke might be right.

‘Okay, but Kaede is still kidnapped!’ Ahio pointed at me, light blue eyes narrowed. ‘I don’t care if you were too scared because the Ministers thought you were a spy, or that you didn’t know they were going to target her again. You’re a spineless coward for not even warning us in the least!’

I fixed my eyes on the floor, blinking fervently. He was right, even if I hadn’t warned them for completely different reasons.

‘What if you really are a spy?’ he shouted. ‘We can’t trust you now.’

That hurt right to the bone, his words sending sparks of pain shooting through me. ‘If I were a spy,’ I said in a low voice, ‘I wouldn’t have risked my life to save Kaede the first time.’

The room grew quiet. Quiet for the secrets I kept, that had festered into something nasty. Quiet for the faith that was shattering around us, both in our friendships and those in charge. And quiet for the girl who should’ve been in this room, disappointed at not having won the tournament but vowing to try again next year. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Kaede, I’m sorry.

‘Tahro...’ Maya broke the silence with a tentative voice. ‘What did you want the knife for?’

‘I— I got the idea from Ahio,’ I said, still gazing at the floor. ‘He said there’s a seer in Genkoushi. We can track down the kidnapper, and hopefully Kaede. with it.’ And bring us closer to the manga’s story. Nausea erupted in waves within me as I realized what I was doing. But was it really manipulation if they’d pick this choice anyway?

‘Well, then what are we waiting for?’ Ahio said, standing up. ‘Let’s go.’