Andromeda

“Old habits?” Saki said thinly not believing the reason behind Seiji’s action. She never trusted him before when he spent time with Yuki. She was certain that he was part of the negative influences on Yuki that pushed him further during the more violent days for him. If Seiji remained nearby Yuki she was afraid that Yuki would start changing. “What do you want?”

Yuki remained hanging on to Seiji, though his cheerful expression dropped a little from seeing Saki scowling eyes at the two of them. Seiji seemed to hold his calm demeanor in front of Saki not fearing her like the others normally would when her ‘Yuki Protection Meter’ was running (hovering around a shaky three). “I told you before I’m hoping to catch up on old times with Yuki. I’m not planning on stealing him away from all of his friends.”

It was clear to everyone watching that Saki was not convinced of anything that he had said. The only one that was still a little oblivious to the situation was Yuki, but it was quickly catching up for him as well with the emotions wearing off. “Don’t you trust Seiji, Saki? We’ve know him since middle school.” Yuki stepped away from Seiji going over to Saki to get her to change her mind. He grabbed on to her hands looking up at her hoping to melt the doubt away. “Besides, he’s a Shinto Priest. How can you not trust that?”

“Shinto Priest?!” they all said in equal shock thinking that he was some school bully or something less than holy.

“Yuki! I thought I told you keep that to yourself. You’ll ruin my image!” Seiji said stepping in alarmed by Yuki’s loose lips. He started to sweat as he turned to see the shocked expressions on Yuki’s friends.

Chapter 25 – Not so Divine

“Are you really?” Ayumi said becoming a little excited by the thought as the others were slowly letting it all process still.

Saki stepped in between Seiji and Ayumi looking over at her. “Yes, he is, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Aw… Come on, Saki.” Yuki tried one last time to get Saki to see his side including sorrowful eyes to add to the pressure, but it did not work. She grabbed Yuki by the arm and dragged him along the sidewalk to get him away from everyone, but Yuki pulled back. “Saki!”

“Come Yuki. You don’t need to stay any longer.” Saki continued to pull on Yuki taking him further away, but it was becoming more difficult now that Yuki was struggling. She had to get him away from Seiji before anything happened. ‘I can’t risk it. I won’t let you turn him back.’ Saki narrowed her face in determination taking over the fight that Yuki was putting up. “He’s been gone for more than a year. That’s not a friend for you.”

“No, Saki!” Yuki snapped his hand free coming to a stop sliding back a step from Saki a little in shock of the way that she was acting. He had not known her to be like this ever. ‘Why is she acting so strangely?’ At first he understood why, since he knew that she was never fond of Seiji even during middle school when Seiji and him were very close. However, this was beyond what she had done before. “What’s the matter with you, Saki? Seiji’s a friend.”

Saki eyes widened almost immediately at the rejection, even though she should not have been surprised it was difficult for her not to react. “But Yuki! He’s… How can…” She tried to grab from Yuki once more, but he stepped back before she had a chance to even get close to him. “Yuki?”

“I’m staying.”

The others that were near Seiji could see the drama that was starting to build up and changed their eyes towards Saki. They could see that Saki was beginning to lose it before she ran away around the corner of the block. All of them politely bowed to Seiji before going after Saki at a loss to what was happening anymore between Yuki and her. Hiroshi tried to bring Yuki, but he was determined to stay behind with Seiji.

Seiji stepped forward with a long face stopping at Yuki’s side looking down at him. He could tell that it was troubling Yuki the way that Saki was acting. “Hey, don’t worry about it Yuki. Saki’s never liked me very much. Don’t let it get to you.” He placed his hand on Yuki’s shoulder for reassurance.

“But still… She shouldn’t have said that to you.”

“I’ve heard much worse. It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry, Seiji.”

“Hey, don’t apologize to me. That’s not like the Yuki I know.”

“The Yuki you know is gone…” Yuki stepped forward from Seiji’s reach keeping his back to him. He was certainly happy to see Seiji again, but Seiji was a part of his past that he buried away. It made Yuki a little apprehensive knowing that someone from his past was with him. However, he could not turn his back on a friend either.

“I know…” Seiji walked around to the side of Yuki staring forward with him. “Well as much as I like the gloomy air this should be pleasant time. Where you want to go?” Yuki looked over at Seiji a little surprised to be hearing those words from him.

Hiroshi and Ayumi, followed distantly by Tatsuya and Kazuhiro, were chasing after Saki, who was being difficult to catch due to her natural talents. “I thought… sprinters… were only supposed… to be… good at short… distances…” He was a little surprised that the frail Ayumi was keeping up with him, but Hiroshi was hardly an athlete.

“Do you… know… what’s wrong… with Saki?” Ayumi asked between breaths trying desperately to keep up with Hiroshi. She knew only what had happened between Saki and Yuki and barely knew anyone still. It was her hope that Hiroshi might be more clued in to the reason for Saki running away.

“No… idea…” Hiroshi kept his eyes on Saki waiting for the moment that she would stop, even though it seemed like it they would cross the entire city before that was going to happen. His wish came sooner than he expected when Saki bumped into someone at the corner of the sidewalk and fell down. They were still far behind, but it gave them the time to close the gap between them. He was afraid that she would start running again before they reached her, but she seemed unable or unwilling to stand up anymore. When Hiroshi finally was standing next to her, he was bent over nearly collapsing to the cement panting heavily for air to get back into his lungs. Ayumi came up besides Saki dropping to her knees almost immediately like her muscles were already well beyond their endurance. “…Yuki…” Saki said softly barely able to be heard by either of them.

Once he had recovered enough to speak without pausing Hiroshi leaned in to Saki trying to get a better look at her. He was surprised to see such emotions painted so deeply into her face for someone that was always so tough. “Saki, what’s going on? Why did you run away?”

Saki remained quiet with her head held down while Ayumi move to help Hiroshi. “Saki? You can talk to us. If you don’t want to say it to Yuki.” It did not seem like much was getting through to her, but Yuki’s name widened her eyes once more like it was a trigger within her. Saki stood up and tried to start running, but Hiroshi was able to grab a hold of her arm and then get in front of her to keep her from leaving. “Saki…” Ayumi became a little distant seeing the way that Saki was reacting to her.

Hiroshi felt the weight of Saki on him, though it was less like she was trying to knock him down and closer to needing the support to stay on her feet. He pulled Saki back by the shoulders and arms away from him to look at her. The empty almost soulless eyes made Hiroshi question more closely what was going on. It only continued to make him confused by what was spinning around in Saki’s mind. ‘Did Yuki’s words hurt her that seriously?’ Hiroshi looked over to Ayumi for some help, but saw that she was becoming affected by the mood pouring out from Saki. “Why don’t we go over there and take a break,” said Hiroshi pointing at the restaurant that they were across the street from due to all of their running. “Everyone could use some rest.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Tatsuya said finally making it to them followed up by Kazuhiro. Under Hiroshi order’s they helped get Ayumi moving again and took Saki inside sitting down at two wide booths that could seat all five of them. The waitress took their order before any of them started to speak (helps though when everyone is on edge and completely lacking any idea of what to say). Once they had ordered Hiroshi seemed to have found his backbone again and looked over at Saki who was sharing a booth with Ayumi.

“So Saki, you going to let us in on who Seiji is and why he’s got you so upset?” Tatsuya and Kazuhiro both looked over at Hiroshi’s brave move and left uncertain about how Saki would end up reacting to Hiroshi. They knew Saki to be more violent and willing to throw her fists than talk about personal things, but today was much different for her.

Saki remained quiet still for some time. It was not until their drinks and food arrived that Saki even looked up from the staring at the table. ‘What’s the matter with you, Saki? Seiji’s a friend.’ Yuki’s voice echoed in her mind stunning her again as it had before. She gripped her hands together tightly as they rested against her skirt. ‘I’m staying.’ The events from before were repeatedly playing through her mind. “…Yuki…”

“Saki?” Hiroshi said coming to an abrupt pause as he tried to reach over the table, but Ayumi got to her first.

Ayumi slapped her hand over Saki’s face hard (relatively speaking) shocking everyone at the table thinking that she had been out of it the entire time. “Get a hold of yourself, Saki! This isn’t like you to be depressed like this! Snap out of it!”

“Ayumi… I-I…” Saki said holding her hand against her red stinging cheek while staring at Ayumi a little shocked, but finally back in reality. All of the thoughts on Yuki had been shattered and she finally realized that she was in a restaurant as she looked around.

Ayumi glared back at Saki making sure that Saki was really awake this time. The change in demeanor from Ayumi had the boys at a loss for words thinking that the shy and weak little girl would not have had the courage to do something to Saki. “Yuki’s allowed to do what he wants, Saki. You can’t be protecting him his entire life.”

Saki turned away staring at the window thinking that she saw Yuki for a moment. “I know… I know, but that Seiji…”

“He seems a little strange, but he is a Shinto Priest right?” Hiroshi said stepping into the conversation now that Saki was finally awake. He had plenty of questions for her and hoped that she would be in the mood to answer them.

She turned back to look at them and nodded to confirm Hiroshi’s question. “Yes, he is, but that’s not the problem.”

“Then what is it, Saki?” said Ayumi working with Hiroshi to pull at Saki until she would speak willingly.

“What is it between you and Seiji and Yuki? What happened in middle school?”

“Middle school? That was more just a time. Seiji didn’t even attend our school.” Saki began to think on the memories from those times to remember what had happened.

Hiroshi became curious already knowing some of the pieces of Yuki past first hand from Yuki, but it still left a lot of blanks in his past. There was still so much that he did not know about someone that he considered a close friend. “How did they meet if they didn’t go to the same school?”

Saki tried to think back, but there were unfortunately things that she did not know about Yuki. “I don’t know how they met. I just know that one day Seiji began showing up out front of our school when Yuki and I would be leaving. You already know about what Yuki was like back then, right?” She looked at Hiroshi and Ayumi knowing that after what had happened with the last assassin that some of Yuki’s darker secrets of his past were reveal to them. There was a fair amount of explaining that had been done to keep Hiroshi off of them.

Hiroshi gave her a nod as did Ayumi, but Tatsuya and Kazuhiro looked complete lost. They had not been involved and it seemed that Hiroshi was not one to go around spreading secrets about Yuki that were best not remembered. “Well it’s easy enough to say that Yuki was different back then. They were very similar back then. I remember always thinking that when I saw them together. They seemed to be at peace when they were hanging out.”

“So you’re saying that Seiji like to fight?”

Saki nodded to him as her mind flashed through images. “Seiji seemed to be looking for a fight and for a while Yuki and Seiji always beat each other up. But it never seemed to matter who won or lost. They just wanted to take a swing. Not exactly the qualities that make for a priest-in-training.”

“I see…” Hiroshi said as though he was pondering something to himself. “I think I’m starting to understand.” His friends seemed to be lost still and trying to take in what Saki was saying. Hiroshi could read the feelings on Saki face to know what she had to be thinking. “So they always fought during middle school?”

“No. Something happened during the last semester of the first year that changed things for them. They stopped fighting each other, but I would see them fighting others together.”

‘So there are things that even Saki doesn’t seem to know. Yuki…you’ve got quite the sorted past.’ Hiroshi looked over at Ayumi for a moment to see how she was taking the story. Ayumi had a concerned expression, but otherwise seemed to be dealing a lot better than his friends. He was a little embarrassed for them, but turned back to Saki. “For two that seemed to get along so well together, what changed a year ago?” The moment that he asked the question there was a suddenly retreated look in Saki that made him confused. ‘What happened that Saki is reacting so?’

Saki turned away and Ayumi was quick to react as well as though she remembered something. The girls both acted guilty knowing the significance of that time for Yuki. Hiroshi pressed them both for an answer, but only got resistance from them. “That was when…” Saki softly said making eye contact with Hiroshi once more. “Yuki changed from how he used to be to how he is now. Ever since Yuki’s acted like how he is now. Seiji slowly stopped showing up until he stopped completely. It’s been a year now since and I don’t know what he is thinking.”

Yuki and Seiji finished their long walk arriving in front of a long series of steps that stood before a large torii that acted as the gateway into the Shinto shrine that lay above on the top of the hill. It was a long walk, but it brought back memories to Yuki from the times that he would race Seiji to the top. When they reached the top Yuki stood in place staring around at the shrine grounds to see if anything had changed. It had been a year, but it still looked the same as he always remembered.

Seiji’s family, the Tsuji family, was a long line of priest and priestess that kept the shrine in their family for generations. The Tsuji Shrine was of great pride to them drawing back connections to the emperors of the past before their decline. They were now more groundskeepers at times than Shinto Priests, even though they focused on their training just as much. For their family keeping the line going and maintaining the shrine was all a part of their duties and one that Seiji would eventually inherit.

“Yuki!?!” a young boy’s voice said from a distant unseen corner of the grounds. The shout was followed up by an old voice scolding the other. Then out of the side of a small detached structure from the main shrine a young boy popped out running towards Yuki. “It is you!”

“Shoji?” Yuki questioned for a moment almost not recognizing him for how much he had been growing. Shoji leapt up into the air before coming into a collision path with Yuki knocking him down to the stone tiles nearly sending him down the stairs. “You’ve…gotten bigger…”

“Hey Yuki, it’s been so long since you visited. Did you bring him, brother?” Shoji said looking up from Yuki, who he was sitting on at this point, towards Seiji. “Is this what you meant the other day about ‘Finding what you had lost?’”

Seiji twitched his eyebrow and then turned away not wanting to answer the childish question. “I just bumped into him and we found our way back here.”

Shoji looked a little disappointed, but quickly got over the lack of an answer. He stared back down at Yuki with wide-eyed excitement. “Hey, you got any new moves you can show me? Seiji won’t teach me anymore.”

Yuki eyes went wide for a moment with realization and then lowered. He stared within at the dark shadowed figure that lurked at him with glowing red eyes waiting for the moment. “Afraid, I don’t. Sorry.”

“Aw, but you’ve got to have-”

“Shoji, let Yuki go,” Seiji said as he went down to pick up Shoji. Shoji pulled away starting to pout in front of Seiji making him a little frustrated. “If you do, I’ll…show you something.”

“Really?!” Shoji said standing up immediately tilting his hand back to look up at Seiji. Seiji reluctantly nodded back to him as he ran off back around the wall he had appeared from. Seiji looked down at Yuki offering him a hand up.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Yuki knew just as well as anyone that Seiji would not have appeared randomly after a year just on a whim. There was something deeper that was bothering Seiji that he needed to get to the bottom of.

To be continued…