Chapter 102 - "After" Arc- 1

It took me so long to get the power I craved. The power I needed. To protect them. All of them. The list of people I want to defend is too long to write down, but I know who they are. I never forget. Even the ones I was too late to protect.

I still breathe. My heart still beats. Yet there are those I cared for who do neither. My fiance, Miko. My teacher, Lord Third Hokage. A friend of a friend, Konohamaru. And so many more. But my master and mistress are safe. They defeated the worst the world could offer and did their part to make the ‘Ten no Kishootsu’ prophecy come true.

But where, I wonder, does that leave me?

They’ve outgrown my protection.

We can never be equals.

So where do I go from here?

For now, I’ve gone to the Land of Iron with Isae, or Kuroko, as she prefers. Her sister, Shiroko, and Shiroko’s fiance, Kaname, have come, too. To what end, I don’t know.

I can’t honestly say I’m happy to see them right now. Not just because I want to be alone with Kuroko. But because I was Shiroko’s boyfriend. And Kaname had won her over. Or had I lost her?

I was in such a different, difficult place back then, I can scarcely remember. Coming off of my suicide attempt; waking up to see the first girl I admitted my love to with her new husband; the one I was in love with breaking up with me, and my ever-present master and mistress, whom fate brought together.

I’ve stitched myself together. I’ve sewn up the worst of my wounds, mental and physical. But I still ache.
For purpose.
For love.



Yuji looked at the girl on his arm, a smile on his face that belied the harsh thoughts in his mind. Kuroko, as she preferred to be known over her birth name, ‘Isae’, had snuggled up to Yuji against the cold.

It was winter, with snow covering everything as far as the eye could see. It wasn’t snowing now, but it was bitterly cold. The kind of cold that got under your clothes and chilled your skin to the point of it being wet when you took your clothes off. It was no wonder Kuroko was snuggling up to Yuji. Besides the fact that they were a couple, of course.

“Over the next hill, you’ll see it,” narrated Kaname. Yuji had to try hard no to frown at his voice. Kaname was Shiroko’s fiance. And Shiroko was Yuji’s ex. It still stung a bit at the way she’d broken up with him.

Except for the fact that you right and truly deserved it. Yuji reminded himself. What kind of boyfriend went off and tried to kill himself without at least saying goodbye to his girlfriend? Who, he had to admit, he was never sure he was completely in love with.

Shiroko was still a great girl and a great friend. So he could deal with this for her sake. And besides, she and Kuroko were family.

They climbed the hill in silence, as it was really too cold to talk, especially with the wind constantly blasting in their faces. Yuji stepped half in front of Kuroko to block the wind. She took advantage and jumped on his back.

“Piggy back ride. This way, we’ll both stay warm.”

Yuji didn’t object. Being that close to her was never an issue with him. He bent down obligingly, holdings his arms back. With a giggle, Kuroko climbed up and settled herself against Yuji.

Shiroko looked over at the pair, chuckling despite herself. “God, you two are so gonna fall! This is all ice and snow!”

Even as the words were leaving her mouth, Kaname scooper her up and carried her in front of him.
“Yuji, wanna race?”

“You’re on, Kaname!”

They took off, their girls giving a loud whoop and a big ‘giddy up!’ as the two boys took off through the snow. It was surprising to both girls that the boys had become friends. Yuji wasn’t an easy person to understand and Kaname was a bit standoffish until you got to know him. But all the same the two had bonded.

After five minutes, they were at the foot of two enormous estates. One was noticeably bigger than the other, though no less huge for the comparison.

“Go to the one of the left,” Shiroko called from Kaname’s arms. “My parents are waiting there.”
--
--

The Lord and Lady of this enormous estate matched how Yuji imagined them. They were both tall with light hair (so light it seemed unnatural; Yuji suspected they dyed it) and a graceful elegance about them. They both also exuded the power due to their station. For all his power, Yuji knew that these were not people to be trifled with.

Nearly my in-laws, too. Jeez.

Yuji was only half-listening as Shiroko made introductions. Yuji bowed at his name, offering a ‘please think well of me’, keeping his head down for as long as politeness required. It gave him a cover to analyze something. More an instinct that anything.

Kuroko warned me that my Ten no Kishootsu chakra wouldn’t work here. So it’s not that I’m feeling. It’s something else. Some sort of…emotion. I can’t pinpoint it.

Yuji frowned, keeping his face toward the ground. There was something off-putting about this situation. But what?

“Ah, Isae! It’s been so long since we’ve last seen you! Why, you’ve grown!”

Yuji perked up- something in that tone of voice bothered him. It fit the feeling of unease he’d had. He had initially been able to chalk it up to being nervous about meeting Kuroko’s parents. He’d never had to meet his girlfriend’s parents before. Turns out, it was as painfully worrisome as he’d imagined.

The voice- belonging to Hiro, Shiroko’s father- continued. This time, with a chastisement.
“You know, we were worried when you didn’t come to visit us. I believe we agreed that you’d return here once every two years. And, dear me, it’s been three since your last visit. That won’t do at all. I realize that your position doesn’t have much in the way of responsibility or dignity, but you should at least follow your own people’s laws!”

Michiko, Shiroko’s mother, chimed in at that moment say “Dear, you know she is…not a learned girl. Rather…slow, honestly. She may have simply lost track of time.”

“THAT ISN’T IT AND YOU KNOW IT, YOU DAMN-!”

Kuroko had begun to speak. Yuji expected some sort of reprisal, but what he saw shocked him. Jarred him to his very core.

SLAP!
“Know your place!”

Kuroko actually sunk to her knees after that slap, with Shiroko standing over her, a reddened palm extended. Yuji couldn’t believe it- Shiroko had just demeaned the girl she called ‘sister’, and slapped her hard enough to loosen her teeth. Even as Yuji watched, Shiroko kicked Kuroko- hard. Hard enough to make her cough up something.

He could stay silent no longer.

Shiroko’s leg was coming down again. Yuji ran forward and shoved her high on the chest, dropping her backward. He knelt protectively over Kuroko, glaring at the people gathered here. What kind of monsters were they?!

“This is our way, Mr. Itou. You would do well to respect it.”

Shiroko’s father. He was an imposing man with a harsh face. Yuji could see the harshness now. But Yuji didn’t care. He could be pretty damn imposing himself.

“You’d do well to respect her!” he shot back, picking her up as gently as he could. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but-”

“You see only what your eyes show you, Mr. Itou,” said Shiroko’s father. “We see further.”

“Yeah? Show me what she did to deserve this treatment!” Yuji shouted back, arm extended violently in a breach of etiquette that made him mentally chastise himself. “This is senseless, and I will not allow any further violence against her!” For good measure, Yuji glared at everyone pleasant, his most fierce battle expression etched on his face.

Silence. No one ever openly challenged Shiroko’s father like that. No one who had lived.

Then:

“Down, Lord Yuji!”

Yuji the ground obediently, making sure he covered Kuroko as he fell. He cradled her head to his chest. He could feel her pulling him closer in a move that might even have been an unconscious reaction at that point.

Smoke bombs were thrown into the room through the windows. Shiroko’s family and their guards stood up, but the smoke confused them. They shouted confused orders to each other.

But when the smoke cleared, Yuji and Kuroko were gone.

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