Miikio, followed by a slew of priests, walked down from their fortress to deal with the women. I said a silent prayer my entourage wouldn’t get spooked and would remember the plan. We needed Amaterasu to come out in person. She would bring another retinue of priests, leaving the interior of the fortress relatively unguarded and ready to be taken by the Yakuza who were climbing up the side of the Mount while we created a distraction. They would release the men being held, and voilà, our army would double in size.
Miikio gave me the once-over to assess my condition. I pretended to struggle. Turning to the women, he smiled. “Amaterasu wants to thank you for bringing us the vampire. The streets will surely be safer now.” Miikio performed a head count of the group. “I do believe we can come to some arrangement as to the release of your men.” He beckoned the group to follow him back up to the fortress.
“We aren’t going anywhere with you,” said Watanabe-san. “You are not the leader of the Kami. We will negotiate with the Sun Goddess or no one.”
“Negotiate?” questioned Miikio. “But I’ve agreed to give you everything you asked for. What’s there to negotiate?”
Watanabe-san flicked her fingers at Miikio as if he were an annoying child. Run along, little boy, run along. “You’ll excuse us if we aren’t so willing to trust the first Kami we see. Your kind did just raid the city and kidnap hundreds. I think we deserve an explanation from the Sun Goddess, don’t you?”
Looking flummoxed, Miikio didn’t respond.
“Well, don’t you?” asked Watanabe-san. “We risked our lives capturing this…this…” She turned and pointed at me with an expression of utter disgust on her face. Watanabe-san was so convincing…there was a moment when I actually got worried before catching her wink. “This thing and not all of us survived. She tore my friend Aiko’s throat out. We are due an audience with the Kami leader.”
Gathering himself, Miikio nodded, then bowed. “As you wish.” He gestured to one of his men to go get Amaterasu.
I crossed my fingers behind my back. The plan was working, and I could see the happy future from my visions coming to fruition. Please work. Please work, I prayed, wanting to live a life with a lot more of the happiness I’d already experienced with Kenshin. More sidelong glances. More fleeting touches that made me tingle. More kisses. More. More. More. For the first time in forever, I wasn’t afraid to want it all.
Almost everyone in our group stood around looking uncomfortable while we waited for Amaterasu. I noted three of the mothers waving surreptitiously at their children in Miikio’s retinue and glanced at Miikio to see if he noticed. He appeared unaware, and the knowledge made me giddy. It was working. Our crazy plan was working. Hip, hip, hooray. I only let myself celebrate for a moment, however. Cockiness rarely won battles, and I didn’t want to doom us. To distract myself, I started working the loose ropes binding my hands. I needed them free when the Sun Goddess arrived.
Finally, Amaterasu swept in with a retinue of about forty priests fanning behind her, Akemi included. She didn’t appear any different than the first day I’d seen her, and I wondered just how successful Miikio’s healings had been. If I’d had to guess, I would have said she was still using a glamour. Hana…Amaterasu appeared far too young. Miikio could heal, not turn back time. She opened her arms to the group as if to give them one giant hug. “Thank you, fine ladies, for bringing me the vampire. What a present indeed. You were very brave to have captured her. I do hope no one was injured,” she said, smiling graciously at her subjects, the benevolent ruler instead of the vile, child-shooting dictator she actually was.
“We want our men,” said Watanabe-san, strolling nonchalantly over to hug her son. “I’ve missed you, my boy. Akemi turned crimson but hugged her back and whispered an I love you into her ear. Releasing her son, Watanabe-san turned to Amaterasu. “It is a high honor for my son to serve. I am a proud mother.” She gestured to her comrades. “But the kidnappings of the husbands and sons of these women is unacceptable.”
Amaterasu nodded. “And as my son told you, you will get them back. They are unharmed. If you’d provide us with the names of your missing family members, we would deliver them forthwith.”
“And we want an explanation. Why did the Kami sweep through Tokyo, wreak havoc, and take all the men and boys?” asked Watanabe-san, drawing her sword and placing it at my throat. “Lore says that to kill a vampire you take their head. I’d be interested in putting that to the test.”
Amaterasu laughed as though her future plans to have me turn hordes of men into vampires wasn’t now in jeopardy. I had to hand it to her. She didn’t fluster easily. “It was a miscommunication with my underlings for which I am very sorry. You know how hard it can be to lead. If you want something done right, you need to do it yourself. I asked my people to draft an army as tensions were rising with the Yakuza. I had no idea they would go to such extremes.” Amaterasu shook her head indicating she was annoyed and saddened by the events that had taken place. If the Oscars were still a thing, she would have been sure to win a best actress statue for her dramatic performance. My Hana, who had once oozed authenticity, was definitely gone. It made what I needed to do next all the easier. I was free of my bindings and ready. The women who weren’t directly in our entourage, were working their way from our flank to encircle the Kami. Soon the Kami and priests would be surrounded on all sides. We waited for the whistle indicating they were in place.
“And why do you want the bloodsucker?” asked another in my group, buying more time. I wondered how many more questions we could possibly throw at Amaterasu before she grew irritated or started to suspect something was amiss.
“That, my dear, is an interesting question,” said Amaterasu, walking forward with her arms low and her hands spread wide, as if we were unaware her hands were deadly weapons she could use to lay us all dead. The line of women in front of me parted as Amaterasu approached and stopped a foot away from where I stood with Watanabe-san’s sword to my neck. “You see, this vampire used to be my daughter.” Amaterasu reached out to fondle my red hair and giggled. “Adopted, obviously. It happened after the Rift. She was an orphan. I only wish to have my daughter back.” She turned from me to address the group at large. “I know she’s dangerous, but she’s still my daughter. I will keep her on the Mount and safely away from the city. You are mothers, so I’m sure you understand.”
Around me, the entourage turned sour like spoiled milk. It was nearly instantaneous. “You said you’d never lie to us,” someone seethed under their breath.
I couldn’t reply without giving away our collusion. I hadn’t lied. Maybe I’d omitted some information, but that wasn’t the same as a lie. Amaterasu was not my mother, nor had she ever been. Amaterasu was not Hana. I would not hesitate to end her and free my friends from her tyranny.
Watanabe-san eyeballed me, one brow popped up in a question. I shook my head almost imperceptibly trying to convey everything they needed to know—stick to the plan, I’m on your side, nothing’s changed, this isn’t a trap. Please believe me.
My stomach dipped as I saw the future I wanted in jeopardy. I needed to hold on. I couldn’t let this happen. Think, V, think.
The sword held at my neck pierced skin as Watanabe-san’s arm shook, her fear mounting. Women surrounding me in the innermost circle took a step back. The sword cut deeper as I began to speak, but I had no other option. I needed to explain myself. “She is not my mother.” I laughed, glaring at Amaterasu. I paused to spit, showing my disgust. “A young witch named Hana was my mother. Amaterasu lives inside her body now, but the mother I knew is gone, replaced by this corrupted Kami trying to sweet talk you into believing her lies.”
Behind Amaterasu and her own entourage, I picked up the faintest rustle of feet on fallen leaves. The second wave of our army was almost into position. I just needed to hold it all together for a few more moments until that whistle sounded.
“Do you want to know why Amaterasu really needs me back?” I asked the women while main
taining eye contact with Amaterasu. I wanted to goad her into revealing her true self to the women. Sure, Watanabe-san and the rest of the women knew the real reason why I was needed, but Amaterasu wasn’t aware of their knowledge and wouldn’t want it revealed. It would ruin her standing, and because of her use of glamours, I knew that image and power was everything to her now.
Amaterasu’s face turned stony as she raised her hands. Her long fingers caressed my throat without actually touching me, ready to squeeze. “She wants to make an…”
My voice cut out.
My army gaped at me as I struggled to breathe. With everything in me, I wanted to claw at the invisible grasps on my throat with my unbound hands, but that would give us away.
I choked.
I gasped.
Tiny, pitiful squeaks escaped.
And then came an ear-piercing blast…the whistle.
Watanabe-san hesitated for a second while studying me.
I lived a whole life in that one second. Past, present, and future. I saw my childhood in Georgia, our brief time in Tokyo before the Rift, Hana, Juro, my rebirth into a vampire, Juro’s death, Midori, Kol, the library, meeting Kenshin for the first time, our possible futures. I saw it all. I couldn’t change the past. The future was yet to come. But what future would it be?
My eyes pleaded with Watanabe-san. Please. Please. To infinity and beyond…please.
For another very long second, I thought I had lost her, but then she winked. “Kami only,” she screamed, pulling the gun from inside her coat. The rest of the group did likewise as I dropped the ropes behind me, ripped off the collar, and launched myself at Amaterasu.
Women flooded out of the woods with blood-curdling war cries.
Bullets flew.
Mothers called for their sons and daughters to join them in the fight.
Amaterasu was only a few feet away, but before I could reach her, she flung me back twenty feet. I landed with a thump that knocked the wind out of me.
The entire scene was chaos.
Kami fell.
Members of my army dropped as Kami used their magic.
It only took the fall of a few women for Tokyo’s sons and daughters to join their mothers in the brawl. There’s nothing quite like the bond between a mother and child.
Reunited, the women fell back into more protected positions behind rocks and trees where they could be partially protected from the Kami’s magic.
A bolt of lightning hit inches from where I struggled to my feet. Amaterasu was just as powerful as before, if not more so. A direct attack from me wasn’t going to work. Seeing my unplanned flight through the air and my not so graceful landing, Watanabe-san fired at Amaterasu from where she and Akemi stood behind a tree.
It was a great idea. Weakening Amaterasu would give me a fighting chance, but none of the bullets reached her. They fell to the ground only inches away. The other Kami, thankfully, didn’t appear capable of protecting themselves in this way. Many had already fallen.
In retaliation for Watanabe-san’s insolence, Amaterasu ripped the tree they were hiding behind from the ground by its roots. The massive tree must have been four feet wide and thirty feet tall. Everywhere around us the earth shook as she wrenched it free.
I didn’t see what happened next, but hoped Akemi and Watanabe-san scrambled away and found new cover. Using the distraction they provided to my advantage, I disappeared into the woods and raced around the edge of the battle, preparing for another attack on Amaterasu, this time from behind.
Screw honor. Amaterasu didn’t deserve it.
I wanted victory.
So focused on my intent, I was nearly at my new point of attack when a blur of speed caught my attention. Kenshin fell into stride beside me. “The men are released. They will be here in moments. Would you like a hand with Amaterasu?”
I wanted to say no. If I had been a character in a movie, I would have, selfishly thinking this was my battle alone. But this was no movie, and our chances for victory increased exponentially with Kenshin at my side. Like brains, two vampire fighters were better than one. “Yes,” I said, grinding to a halt and crouching low to assess the scene.
There was blood…everywhere, but I was different now and could ignore it. I grabbed Kenshin’s hand to steady him. “I am fine,” said Kenshin, knowing my concerns. “Several of father’s men offered me their blood before we breached the compound. I am sated. Stuffed as you might say.”
I squeezed Kenshin’s hand. He might not need me, but I needed him. He gave me strength.
We watched as Amaterasu wreaked her havoc, one by one removing the cover from areas where our army hid. She slung boulders as if they were pebbles. Snapped trees like she held a chainsaw. Still, our army unleashed a barrage of bullets.
“Ready?” I asked, muscles coiled.
“Ready,” replied Kenshin.
We launched in synchrony. Right foot, then left, pounding the ground.
One stride.
Two.
Five.
Almost there. Almost there.
Friendly fire struck me in the shoulder.
A magical push from one of the Kami caused Kenshin and I to collide and topple.
Saving us from disaster, our third army battalion arrived. The Yakuza and Tokyo’s newly freed men leapt into the fray without hesitation.
Distraction was our weapon. Kenshin and I were on our feet again. We were many, and we were mighty. Hear us roar.
And roar was what we did, Kenshin and I. Foregoing the last few steps to Amaterasu, we used our vampire strength to catapult towards our goal.
Too busy being the almighty Sun Goddess, Amaterasu never saw us coming. She held a tree in the air and was maneuvering it into position to do as much damage as possible. One of the strangest phenomenon about being a vampire was having great speed that came coupled with a slowing of surroundings. We could see as much, if not more, of the world than when we were traveling at a normal pace. It was because of this ability that I saw Miikio a split second before we landed atop his mother…ready to kill her. Miikio’s eyes were wide, his hands raised and ready to defend her. His complete focus was on her. There was no time to catch his eye or issue a plea.
For half a second, the fight was all in Miikio’s hands. If he saved his mother, our advantage was gone. We would not get another chance at a sneak attack. All of Amaterasu’s focus would be on us, and we would lay at her feet ready to be taken. Rather than become slaves to her, we would die.
I saw no past or future in those milliseconds. Only Miikio, the son of Hana and Juro. I was at his mercy. Having evolved into a fighter, I ached at the realization the contest was no longer in my hands.
I screamed in rage.
And then I landed.
No. We landed. Kenshin and I were in the air one second and atop Amaterasu the next.
Miikio stood not ten feet away, his hands crackling with lightning.
It was then, and only then, that his eyes found mine. He stood, paralyzed, as I snapped his mother’s neck.
The crackling in his hands turned from sparks to thick bolts of lightning arching like a rainbow from one hand to the other.
His face contorted with rage and sadness.
I grabbed Kenshin and yanked us out of the way of Miikio’s next strike, but it never came. Instead, Miikio slammed it into the ground at his feet. The boom echoed far and wide as Miikio fell to his knees, a blue haze of electricity crackling around him. “Stop!” His voice resembled a magical megaphone. Between the minor earthquake he’d just caused and his commanding voice, the battle ground to a halt, the Kami heeling to his command now that Amaterasu was dead. “Stop,” he repeated as if not seeing everyone had obeyed the first time. “Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. I said Stop—”
I crawled over to Miikio. Tiny sparks zapped me as I reached for his arm. “It’s okay.” I gestured to the battlefield where everyone…Kami, priests, and townsfolk alike…stood unmoving. “Everyone has stopped. Amaterasu is dead. Tokyo’s men
are free. It’s over, thanks to you.”
“Is it, really?” he asked, his head swiveling to take in the scene of carnage.
I knew what he meant. The battle was over, but what came next? Everything we knew about the order of life in District 12 had been destroyed. It was the day of the Rift all over again. The world we understood was gone and in its place stood something undiscovered.
Chapter 31
I was still battered and bruised when I woke with a yawn five days later, but I couldn’t have cared less. I’d slept in my own cozy bed with Midori and Kol nestled in their own rooms not far away. Instead of six o’clock at night, my normal waking time for more than a decade, it was six in the morning. Pushed out into the daylight in search of Midori, I’d grown accustomed to the sun’s radiant glow and found I quite enjoyed it. Tokyo was still in ruin with crumbling buildings, cracked streets, and a concerning radiation problem, but its people were not broken. Quite the opposite, they gleamed strong and vibrant. With the Kami out of power, we were all trying to find our new place in the order of things, including the remaining Kami, and I wanted to take that journey along with the community. The Kami had burned their fortress on the Mount and had come down into Tokyo proper and the surrounds seeking to integrate. Thanks to Miikio’s bold move during the battle, the hostility towards the Kami wasn’t as high as it might have been, but their journey to redemption wouldn’t be easy by any means.
The library wouldn’t open for another two hours, so I padded down the hallway in my pajamas and found Midori and Kol curled up on a sofa, reading books. “Wow, you’re up even earlier than yesterday. Who are you and what have you done with my friend?” said Midori, smiling.
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