Facing the Storm

by Wilson, Yumoyori

  Do you think I can reach her? My Lion was knowledgeable enough. He would know whether the thought I was conspiring in my mind would get us killed or be successful. He could read anyone's body language and see past the walls and barriers one created to protect themselves.

  He helped me see Crimson for the beautiful soul she was, and I needed his guidance to bring her back to us. With a nod, my Lion sat down in place, which made Crimson arch an eyebrow at us.

  "You think I'm joking?" she snarled.

  We didn't move, knowing very well she wasn't joking. I decided this was the best moment to initiate the plan and, without a second thought, I switched back to my human form.

  The shock that formed on Crimson's face was expected, and I rose up from my kneeling position, not caring that I was fully naked. I knew this wasn't one of those occasions where I could get away with distracting Crimson with my looks for fun. Standing there bare showed my vulnerability.

  I knew what her powers could do. Aware of their once smooth, soft texture and how they were now sharp as blades. A whirlwind of those black petals would cut me so quickly and effortlessly, I would die before I'd even realized it.

  Then Crismon could walk away like nothing happened. No one would be able to track her if she left the scene within a minute. The silent killer of those "harmless" cherry blossoms would end me, and Crimson would be free.

  Even with such knowledge, I won't back away.

  "I don't think you're joking, Crimson." The area was silent; the chaotic spin of the petals and high winds didn't contribute any noise. It was like being in a silent room, and it was just Crimson and me, face to face.

  "I'll kill you." She repeated, the emphasis in her words made me worried, yet I still didn't back down.

  "You won't," I whispered.

  She looked angered by my words as she grimaced. "Why does everyone say that? Like I'm some weakling!"

  "You're not weak Crimson," I noted, lifting my hands up to gesture around us. "This doesn't show you're weak. Contradicts it, actually."

  "Yet, you think I won't kill you."

  "You love me, Crimson." I acknowledged. She didn't reply, her eyes still locked onto mine as I lowered my arms. "You wouldn't intentionally hurt me. However, the world has hurt you. Shifters and humans have hurt you throughout your life, and you may feel like this world is filled with nothing but pain and hate."

  I sighed, looking up at the only glimpse I had of the blue sky above. "But there's good, Crimson. There are people who do love you wholeheartedly. Who'd put their lives on the line to make sure you lived."

  Lowering my head, I continued, making sure my eyes never left hers.

  "I won't stand here and say no one else will hurt you. I can't make such a promise when I myself am unsure who to trust outside of our circle. But the men who are waiting outside of these petal walls care deeply for you. Just as I do. I can confidently vow they would never betray you. When we love, it's absolute, and I know you won't betray us like Storm did because you know exactly how it feels. Just as we do."

  We both stood in place and I wondered if my words even touched the surface. My heart ached for our Crimson. I just wanted her to see the truth in my words. To know that we understood and would never do the same to her.

  She took a few steps forward and petals from all angles shot towards me, stopping right at my flesh. I could feel their sharpness, the pointy tips ready to finish me if I did anything to set their commander off. They were doing their duty to protect Crimson, and at the moment, I was the enemy.

  Crimson finally reached me, and I remained completely still. Not like I have much of a choice. Those dark pink eyes continued to emit a level of fury, but they began to fill with tears and my expression softened.

  "I love you, Crimson. No matter what you decide, to kill me or give us a chance to prove ourselves once more, I want you...no, NEED you to know that the short time you've been in our lives has been the most adventurous, fun, and loving times that I've experienced. I bet the others feel the same. Arigato, Crimson Jiyuna."

  I could feel the single teardrop leave my right eye and I accepted my fate, closing my eyes as I waited for Crimson to make her decision. At least she knows. At least I can die without any regret.

  "How..."

  I opened my eyes to gaze into those familiar turquoise eyes while tears rolled down her flushed cheeks. The petals that poked my flesh began to transition back to their baby pink appearance, their once sharp edges now harmless as they began to fall to the ground.

  "How can you be hurt by other people and still trust society?"

  "I don't trust society, Crimson. I go with my gut and trust those who earned it. That doesn't shield me from betrayal or heartache, but I know that no matter what society tries to throw at me, my friends out there waiting for us would support me. They would lift me up, and I can trust them with my life. That also applies to you. Whoever is foolish enough to choose the side that you're not on will be the one to lose at the end of the day. I can't vouch on Hakua's behalf because I don't know her like you did. Regardless, if she was a fake friend like Storm was a fake lover to us, she's left this world and failed in her attempt to ruin you. You're here and this is your chance to move forward and live."

  She lowered her gaze to the floor, a few tears falling from her tear stained cheeks as she trembled. "Your words...have truth in them. I can tell that...yet I'm not sure, Malachi. I'm not fucking sure...I can deal with this anymore. I'm tired..."

  I had to gulp down the lump in my throat, my Lion feeling Crimson's pain. I took a deep breath and decided to go with my last resort.

  "Crimson."

  She lifted her head slowly and her eyes grew wide as she realized what I was about to do; I held a sword in my right hand while my left hand grasped the tied part of my ponytail.

  I was ready to do the deed, but my arms couldn't move any further, even when I tugged on the resistance that stopped me.

  With a quick look, I noticed the pink vines that were wrapped around my wrists, and I turned to see Crimson's hands that were spread out and had a slight glow. A smile formed on my lips.

  "You got better at that skill," I praised, and she gave me a conflicted look.

  "If you dare cut your hair, I'll divorce you," she snarled. My smile widened, and she let me go, the vines dematerializing just like the gold sword I'd summoned.

  I let my arms fall to the side and I took a step forward to be merely inches away from Crimson. My arms wrapped around her and I held her tightly.

  "I never knew we were married, but I like the idea, Hottie," I whispered into her ear. She hugged me back and I held her while she cried.

  I wished we could have prevented this, but how would we have known Hakua was working for N.R.O. In fact, how would we know who was undercover in the palace? If there were so many spies in the palace, no one was safe there, especially the emperor.

  We have to get rid of N.R.O fast. This mission could determine whether our country goes to war with itself if we didn't figure out who was friend or foe.

  The sudden shift in weight pulled me out of my thoughts and I had to tighten my hold around Crimson's waist to hold her up. "Crimson?!"

  I lowered her to the ground and noticed she was unconscious and burning up. Oh, fuck! Not now.

  "Hottie? You need to stop the petal tornado going on here so Haru can help you." I gently shook Crimson, who moaned weakly.

  "But so sleepy," she whispered.

  "I know, Crim. Just a quick moment and I'll let you sleep." I scooped her into my arms and lifted her up. She mumbled something incoherent, but the petals that were now pink again began to slow in the spiral motion.

  I sighed in relief when I started to see the others, catching a glimpse of the Emperor and Hotaka Jiyuna.

  "Thank the ancestors!" The relief in the exclaimed statement was apparent on Mr. Jiyuna’s face. Haru moved before anyone else, coming up to us as the last set of petals fell to the ground.

  "She's burning up again," I
announced. Haru nodded and instructed me to kneel down and lower her to the ground so he could get to work. It would take him a bit longer to work when we didn't have the option of putting Crimson in an ice-cold bath like last time.

  "Grrrrrr."

  Haru froze, and I looked over to my left and saw the large eight feet tall Kitsune with bright amber eyes and a full set of nine tails glowing behind him. Double fuck...

  "Who triggered Aki to go nine tails on us?” I asked no one in particular, my lion a bit annoyed. We weren't irritated with Aki necessarily, but his Kitsune was a protective asshole and a stubborn one at that. He'd burn us to a crisp even though we were his best friends if we ticked him off.

  "He arrived that way. There was a huge attack at the marketplace an hour ago. We were doing damage control when we were informed there was an explosion at the palace, and you can guess what happened," Yoshi explained.

  "We only got here first because Aki was ripping apart a group of guards that were in disguise," Itsuki added.

  I sighed, having come to the palace on my own when I heard Crimson had gone alone. My gaze returned to Aki. "Akihiro. Crimson's burning up like last time. I need Haru to work on her and Quil to keep her cool."

  "Grrrrrrr!" He snarled, gritting his teeth, and my Lion pushed to the surface.

  "Stop being a stubborn fucking ass and let's help Crimson. You can have her to yourself later."

  Aki glared at us, but he stopped growling. He moved slightly closer, taking a peek at Crimson who was starting to breathe more rapidly and looked a tad paler than before.

  He let out a huff, which gave off a poof of fire, before he sat down to wait patiently, his tails wrapping around him. "Arigato." My Lion pulled back and I glanced at Haru, who got to work.

  Quil swiftly moved to kneel on Haru's left side, placed a hand on Crimson's forehead, and closed his eyes. I could feel the coolness that resonated from his hand and Crimson sighed in relief, looking like she'd fall into deep sleep in seconds.

  "We need to leave. If there were that many imposter guards on the property, the palace needs to be evacuated and searched," Itsuki declared.

  The Emperor nodded. "The evacuation is happening as we speak. You all take Crimson somewhere safe."

  "What are we doing about Mr. Bipolar?" Quil asked, pointing at James whose worried eyes were on Crimson.

  He blinked and looked around us before he frowned. "What about me? I'm going home," James grumbled.

  Aki huffed before a low growl escaped him, which made us all look at him.

  "What does that mean?" James asked.

  "He said if you're going to stalk us, just come along," Mr. Jiyuna replied.

  "How did you translate that by a growl?! And I wasn't going to stalk...not necessarily...I'm busy!" James argued.

  Quil groaned. "Can we just leave his ass?"

  "Sadly, no," I announced. "He saved Crimson again, remember?"

  "Maybe it was a fluke." Quil shrugged and James rolled his eyes.

  "I didn't travel here to fuck up. Now, aren't you all supposed to be taking Crimson somewhere safe? You guys are slow."

  "I still don't like him," Haru noted.

  "Me neither." I sighed.

  "Don't need you guys to like me. I'm leaving," James huffed. Aki got up, which made us all freeze; our eyes locked on him as he strolled over to James who bit his lip.

  Aki reached where James stood and literally picked him up by his shirt. "OI! Let me down! Hey?! Dammit, you big ass Kitsune."

  Aki ignored him and began to walk away. "Ugh! At least put me on your back?! Compromise dammit!"

  We all exchanged looks and sighed. "Guess Aki wanted him to come along."

  "I suggest you listen to what James has to say," the Emperor noted. We turned our attention to him and Yoshi frowned.

  "Why is that, Father? He works for N.R.O as well. He's the one who killed Storm...well even though it was well deserved, but he wanted to kill Crimson. He's a criminal."

  Haru moved back and gave me a nodding gesture which meant he was done. I scooped Crimson up and the three of us rose, looking at the Emperor with questioning expressions as he glanced at Jiyuna; both of them wore serious looks.

  "Not quite," Mr. Jiyuna replied.

  "Not quite?" Yoshi repeated. "Either he's a criminal or not. Which is it?"

  The Emperor sighed and glanced at all of us before he replied.

  "James is a double agent. We hired him."

  Well, shit...

  ~ITSUKI~

  My eyes lingered on Crimson's sleeping figure as I leaned against the wall next to the window. Haru was performing another checkup, working around Urufu, Mizuko, and Chiryoshi who were crowded around Crim while she slept.

  It had been a long afternoon of clean up, and we were finally settling down to deal with the problem at hand. Or should I say discovery?

  "She's much better now. I don't think she'll be unconscious for as long as last time. I think her familiars are helping her out," Haru explained.

  Uru lifted her head, letting out a yawn before she replied. "Woof!"

  Malachi, Yoshi, and Crim's father grinned; the three of them stood opposite from me near the door. Yoshi and Aki were on my right side, Yoshi seeming a bit peeved while Aki wore a guarded expression. They did smile slightly at Urufu's desire to be a part of the conversation, but it wasn't long before their expressions returned to what they were before.

  I didn't blame them for being pissed. My eyes scanned over to James who stood next to Emperor Yomatoshima, or Yomato as he liked to be called. They were standing against the wall that faced the opposite of the head of Crim's bed.

  The tension was high in the room, and the reason was the fact we were yet again left in the dark. Yomato had revealed that James—the ex-boyfriend who not only treated Crim like shit when they were dating but also kidnapped her and sent her off with his goons to dump her there to die—was a double agent, and now he was acting like the hero.

  I wasn't going to ignore the good he had done. Crimson didn't know, but the only reason we'd found Aki and the others so quickly was because small glowing red lights began to guide us up. Aki had said he felt James' presence, but it was gone by the time we'd arrived. He'd then been in the forest following us before he'd confronted Crimson and given her the third crystal. He'd told us the exact coordinates of where Crim was taken by Erica, and he'd done us a favor by killing her with the bonus of binding her to the earth so she wouldn't pass on and be able to reach where Storm was.

  We found out he saved Crimson yet again, pretending to kidnap her to draw Hakua out and lower the casualty rate that would have happened if the bomb had gone off where she and Crim were originally supposed to meet up. With that revealed, the ultimate truth that James Hamilton was actually a double agent for Homatomashi came out, and now we were going to get the answers to our questions while Crimson recovered.

  Regardless of the dual knowledge of James' good and bad deeds, I still didn't understand how we were just finding out about this.

  "So, are we worthy enough to know about this or are we just being told because you have no choice?" I asked.

  Quil walked out from the washroom, having finished washing his face to help cool is temper. He strode over to stand on my right side, but the majority of the others were shocked by the coldness in my voice.

  I didn't get upset often, but I was just as tired as Crimson was with the lies and deceit. To be honest, it felt like we were all fed up with the constant up and down that had been going on for what felt like almost 4 months. It all started with Storm's death, and I was getting burnt out from the rollercoaster ride.

  Yomato sighed. "I get you're all upset. The last few months have indeed been chaotic and I apologize greatly for that. This was supposed to be a smooth plan that was initiated years ago. It wasn't supposed to escalate to this degree."

  "Can we get a run down as to what James' role is?" Malachi asked.

  Yomato looked at James who shrugged and took a step forward. "My
initial role was to be a spy for Homatomashi and find out more about White-Eyes. I obviously can't reveal details of who White-eyes is, but he has connections and is able to see who has potential on the training grounds. I was secretly scouted by him."

  "Nani? White-eyes can get reports of children who are excelling?" Yoshi snapped.

  "It was due to a loophole at the time. It's been dealt with long ago, but if there are people like Erica or even Storm who were undercover, I can't guarantee there aren't other spies from N.R.O." Yomato gave Yoshi a sympathetic look. He knew Yoshi was mad for not being informed about all of this, but I figured the Emperor had his reasons.

  "Anyway, I was one of the children White-Eyes was intrigued with and was sought out. To help get intel on N.R.O, I ended up accepting the offer after informing the emperor. Obviously, my acceptance meant I had to prove myself over and over again until I eventually became White-Eyes’ right-hand man, or puppet if you will. If he wanted something, I'd have to bring it to him. The only thing I couldn't do was bring him Crimson."

  "Bring Crimson. He knew about Crimson?" I asked.

  "White- Eyes was in a business agreement with Arashi. The deal was to keep the truth of her power in exchange for financial assistance. With how greedy Konashi Arashi was, he wouldn't let such a situation slide out of his grasp. He didn't love Crimson because she wasn't his child. He couldn't kill her because it would have been noticed, so it was perfect to wait for years to pass by. There was a time where he considered killing her, but that idea went south when I started dating her."

  "Did you date my daughter because you wanted to or was there an underlying reason for it?"

  We all glanced at Jiyuna who appeared displeased by what he was hearing. James glanced at Crimson for a long moment before he replied.

  "I was intrigued by Crimson and why White-Eyes was obsessed with eliminating her. I won't deny the fact that I came into her life...I guess to protect her in some way. When I officially introduced myself to Crimson when she was nineteen, it was to make sure White-Eyes didn't kill her. She'd become more and more independent over the years, and White-Eyes was getting anxious that she'd unlock her powers and reveal the truth of her birthright. You all are aware that Nine Tail Kitsunes are rare, correct?" James questioned, his eyes landing on Aki whose arms were crossed over his chest.