[fic] By Fire - 2/2
Page 1 - Page 2
By Fire
The story continues:
+++Kazuya ran back into the woods and kept going for several minutes. The edge of the trees disappeared and still he kept going. Only when the overhead canopy thickened to filter out most of the late afternoon light did he stop to catch his breath. He sat down and leaned against a fallen log. Surely Jin would find him easily. He had gone back the same direction they had come from.
He was exhausted. Kazuya was unused to such strenuous activity. Yawning, he put his head on the log and fell asleep leaning against it. For once, his rest was peaceful.
His waking, however, was not as peaceful. He opened his eyes to find a man crouched over him holding a knife to his throat. Kazuya’s breath caught and an icy tightness spread through his chest.
Kazuya recognized the man. He was one of the group that accosted him on the road. He and Jin had been tracked!
“High Shamaness,” hissed the bandit. “I could hardly believe it when I overheard those idiot souhei talking to each other, hoping they could find you before people learned your true gender. I never would have guessed, especially what with you running around in your undergarments and covered in dirt.”
His friend, who Kazuya could now make out a short distance away, laughed.
“We’re taking you back to the shrine for the reward and we’re going to kill that sorcerer dog that took our friends from us!”
A great sense of protectiveness spread through Kazuya. “He has nothing to do with this mess. It’s my mess. Please, leave him out of this. If you have to punish someone for your friends, punish me. Not him.”
From the other man, the one watching out for Jin’s return, “Except we can’t punish you. You’re the High Shamaness.” Again the man laughed. “Shamaness indeed. Who would have thought…”
“I swear, you can punish me; I won’t fight. Please, just leave Jin out of this!”
Why did he even care so much? He’d just met the man that day. True, he’d saved him, earlier on the road. But there was something more. Kazuya felt drawn to Jin in a way he couldn’t explain. Something he’d never felt before. It left him with an overwhelming desire to help keep Jin safe and happy.
“Stop whining or I’ll knock you out, High Shamaness,” the man with the knife threatened.
Now crying, Kazuya continued to beg, “Please. PLEASE! I’ll go willingly. Let’s go now, before he gets back. Forget him. Please!”
Please…
+++
Whose voice was that talking to Kazuya?
Wait, what was that bit about the High Shamaness?
Jin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Kazuya was the High Shamaness? But the High Shamaness was a woman. Even though Kazuya had a very feminine aura to him…
Surely someone would have said something. There’s no way a secret that big could be kept from the whole of the world for twenty years, right?
Kazuya’s voice broke through Jin’s shock. “He has nothing to do with this mess. It’s my mess. Please, leave him out of this. If you have to punish someone for your friends, punish me. Not him.”
Punish someone “for your friends” as in the men from the road earlier? Damn; Jin had been so distracted chatting with Kazuya that he hadn’t noticed they were being followed. That wasn’t like him.
At the sight of the knife against Kazuya’s throat, Jin stopped dead in his tracks. He hadn’t been spotted yet and he’d planned to charge in with sword drawn… but he couldn’t risk it. Not now. He’d have to sneak around and catch the one with the knife off-guard first and only then take out his friend. Before they could spot him, Jin quickly slipped behind a tree.
Kazuya’s voice again. “Please. PLEASE! I’ll go willingly. Let’s go now, before he gets back. Forget him. Please!” It sounded like he was crying.
The sound of Kazuya’s crying as he begged the two men tore at Jin’s chest, making his heart race. He’d never had someone care so much about him, especially since his exile. Kazuya was scared of going back to the Shrine but he was willing to go to save Jin. It was… it was too much. Jin didn’t know why the two of them connected so deeply so quickly; maybe it was the will of the gods. But even though Jin didn’t know why Kazuya feared returning to the shrine, Jin absolutely wouldn’t let them take him back. He realized he’d rather die than allow anyone to drag Kazuya back to a place he was terrified to be.
Quietly, Jin moved through the trees, circling widely and hoping he wasn’t spotted. Though, given how overgrown the underbrush was at points, it was a small miracle that he made it all the way around without the sound of his movements drawing attention. With a deep breath, he darted as quickly and quietly out of his hiding spot as he could, coming up behind the knife-wielding man and snapping his neck.
Kazuya cried out in pain as the knife scored a shallow line down his neck and across the front of his shoulder. Jin flinched at the sound; he’d hoped to have a good enough grip on the body to keep the weight off the knife but apparently he was only partially successful.
But Kazuya’s cry caught the attention of the second man, who became furious upon seeing the body of his friend as Jin dropped the body to the ground. But when Jin’s eyes met that man’s, he saw the anger seep out of them only to be replaced by fear. Apparently, he didn’t like what he saw in Jin’s eyes.
So the man turned and fled.
Jin was angry enough to chase after the man, but Kazuya’s fingers closed around his wrist. “P-Please, let him go. Isn’t this enough d-death after all?” Kazuya’s voice and body was shaking because of the massive sobs wracking it.
With a small sigh, Jin gave in. He shoved the body of the man he’d killed to the side and took Kazuya in his arms, trying to calm him. “Shh…” he whispered, “We’re both okay. Everything’s okay.”
“I… I’ve n-never seen someone d-d-die before…” Kazuya cried. “It’s s-so… awful… A spark f-fading… Is this how you s-saved me before at the road?” But from that point it seemed like Kazuya wasn’t exactly talking to him anymore. “I… am sorry. This is all my fault. P-p-please, watch over them…” and so on and so on.
Wait, Kazuya wasn’t crying out of fear? He was crying for the people who’d attacked him, twice? Jin hadn’t really given them much thought; he had done what he had to. But now, listening to Kazuya heart breaking for them, Jin felt guilty. Was there really another way?
But after a while, Kazuya did finally stop crying. After everything the younger man had just said, Jin expected the look Kazuya gave him to be one of hate for having killed those people. But… there wasn’t even the smallest bit of it in those wide honest eyes.
Was that the immediate forgiveness of the divine?
Though Kazuya’s expression suddenly changed. His eyebrows furrowed and he tilted his head a bit to the side. “You heard them. What they said…”
Jin nodded. “Yes. I can’t tell you it makes sense, but… Why didn’t you tell me? Did you honestly believe I wouldn’t help you if I knew?”
“Would you have believed me? I was never supposed to be a boy. I’ve heard them say that so many times. When I was born and they saw I was a boy, they decided that if they raised me like a girl and dressed me like a girl and gave me a girl’s name, maybe that would be just as good. Shinju says that it is the will of the gods that I keep up the charade.”
Would he have believed him?
Probably not at first. But eventually, Jin was sure he would have. And it’s not like Kazuya - er, Kazuko, he supposed - had ever technically lied to him. But things still didn’t make sense. “I have so many questions.”
+++
“Please, Kazuko, I…” Jin continued, but Kazuya flinched at the sound of his name.
He couldn’t exactly explain it, but he didn’t want Jin calling him that. Jin knew him as Kazuya and he realized he liked the idea of Jin knowing him as something other than how the rest of the world saw him. “No. I don’t want that name anymore. I want to be Kazuya. Kazuko is the High Shamaness. I don’t want to be that anymore, not in the way that Shinju-onna wants.”
“Kazuya, then.”
“I…” and Kazuya looked down once more. “Please, don’t take me back to the shrine. I’ll tell you anything you want, no matter how scary or embarrassing or secret. Anything. I want… There’s never been… I mean, I’ve never said any of these things before…” He was sure he was bright pink. Why did he get like this around Jin? Was it because he was the first person he’d met outside of the shrine? But this didn’t feel like that. This felt… significant. And so right.
“Why are you running away? Your word is law; if something was making you unhappy, didn’t you have the power to change it?”
Kazuya sighed. “My word has never been my word. I sit very still and Shinju does all the talking. I’ve never had the power the world seems to think. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe, because I do. I still see the hands of the gods are in everything. I’ll always believe this. If what Shinju and the daisaishi are planning is meant to happen, it will even though I ran. It was obviously the will of the gods that I overheard them but the gods won’t do everything. We’re supposed to help ourselves. I have to believe that destiny is unchangeable and that, as long as I keep fighting onward, I’ll find my destiny. The gods will make it happen.” He looked back up, meeting Jin’s eyes once more.
+++
Jin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It flew in the face of his entire life. The face of everyone’s life. He could definitely feel the certainty in Kazuya’s voice whenever he spoke of the gods, but when the topic was something more wordly, particularly the bit about Shinju and the daisaishi, uncertainty and fear crept in.
But Jin believed Kazuya. He couldn’t imagine it was all lies. There was so much honesty in his eyes. Nobody could fake that level of innocence.
“You said you left because of what they want you to do. What do they expect of you?”
Kazuya eyes changed, panic flooding in, before he dropped his gaze and shut his eyes. “They’ve picked out a woman and they want me to force myself on her and get her pregnant. And when the baby is born, she’ll be presented as my divine offspring - me as mother and the gods for a father - and as soon as the baby is weaned off breast milk, they’re going to kill the woman to protect the secret. I heard Shinju and the daisaishi talking about it. I used to think those two really did serve the will of the gods and that I was merely waiting to find out how, but…”
“I… I can’t… I can’t do this. If I force myself on some helpless woman, how could I ever face my people? How could I face myself? And knowing she’s going to eventually be killed… I can’t be responsible for that! Please, don’t take me back! I’d rather fail my people by abandoning them than risk their souls by corrupting mine. If I sin so badly, how can I ever speak to the gods on behalf of the people?”
So much pain, dripping out of every word. Pain and fear. But also a deep love. To give up a life where all of his needs are met, one where he was literally worshiped, for the sake of one woman specifically and the rest of the people generally…
Jin put a hand under Kazuya’s chin and tilted his head up. “Kazuya, please, look at me.”
Kazuya’s eyes hesitantly opened. He looked so afraid and yet oddly fierce.
“I’m not going to take you back. I could never do that. I…” and before he realized what he was doing, Jin pressed his lips to Kazuya’s. The kiss was soft and tender and felt so right. But then Jin’s brain caught up with his heart and he pulled back suddenly.
By the gods, what did he think he was doing? He’d barely met Kazuya! And that aside, the man was the High Shamaness! Why did he feel so drawn to him, so soon?
But the strange thing was, Kazuya didn’t look shocked or disgusted. He looked more confused than anything else. With those honest, open eyes locked with Jin’s, Kazuya asked, “Why did you stop? It felt… right. Was… was I not doing it right?”
“No, no, you were… that’s not the problem… I shouldn’t have… I mean, it felt right, but how can…”
But Kazuya looked even more confused. “If it felt right, how was it wrong? It wouldn’t feel so right if the gods didn’t approve…”
A slight smile found its way onto Jin’s face. “So the gods approve of me, then?”
“If they didn’t, I’m sure they would have said so. I knew doing what Shinju and the daisaishi wanted was wrong the same way I feel that this is right. What does it say about me if I believe the gods can tell me what’s wrong but won’t tell me what’s right? What use would that be?”
Jin didn’t have a clever answer for that one. Kissing Kazuya had really felt right; he couldn’t deny that. So he leaned in and kissed him again.
“Wait!” and Kazuya pulled away.
“What’s wrong? I thought…” Jin started, but Kazuya interrupted him.
“We should probably deal with him first,” Kazuya said, waving a hand at the body. “We don’t have what it takes to do a proper funeral rite but can we at least lay him out properly and cover his body with leaves so he can return to the earth? I can offer a prayer for him.”
Jin agreed and helped Kazuya lay out the man’s body since Kazuya didn’t have the physical strength to do it by himself. They covered the man with leaves and then Kazuya performed the prayer from the traditional funeral ceremony, asking the gods to guide the man’s spirit to his place among the stars.
+++
Once Kazuya had finished performing the prayer, he turned his attention back to Jin. “So what now? Where do we go? I… I’d understand if you don’t want to spend your life on the run from the souhei… I could… I could just go on my own and no one would ever know you got involved.” What was the tightness in his chest that threatened to swallow those words before he could even get them all out? Self-conscious, he couldn’t meet Jin’s gaze; instead he just stared at his feet, dreading the response that would surely follow.
“I’m not abandoning you,” Jin said, pulling Kazuya back into his arms. “I don’t know if we were destined to meet or not, but whatever brought you to me and brought me to you, I can’t deny it. I can hunt so we’ll always have food. We… There has to be land beyond the borders. I don’t know how to cross the great waters but I’ll find us a way and until then, we’ll just stay on the move and avoid the souhei, ne?”
He… he wasn’t being rejected? Sliding his arms around Jin’s waist, “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what these things I’m feeling mean. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I’ve always been so lonely and… and…” Kazuya looked up at Jin, trying to convey with his expression what his words weren’t quite saying. Would his meaning reach Jin?
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. Come, I know it’s getting dark but I think perhaps it would be better to go a little bit further through the woods, along the same line as the road. I don’t want to make camp for the night so close to the, um, man I… killed…”
Kazuya had never experienced death before. When he ran from the shrine, he had been scared but also thrilled at all of the new things he was going to see and hear. Now he wasn’t so sure he wanted to see anything more. But like all things, it was in the hands of the gods and, for better or worse, he’d chosen his path.
So, lacing his fingers between Jin’s in a comfortable grip, Kazuya said, “Let’s go.”
And the two of them went.
After about half an hour or so, the light was almost completely gone from the sky and they had to stop. Jin set camp since Kazuya didn’t know how and then he handed him small pouch. It turned out to have dried fruits in it, so that Kazuya would have something to eat while Jin made something more substantial to each.
Kazuya was extremely thankful; he’d gotten so hungry. He just wasn’t used to so much strenuous activity. That, plus the stress of being attacked twice and of having a man killed right above him… he was thoroughly exhausted. Almost immediately after eating, he fell asleep in Jin’s arms.
It wasn’t long before the pleasant blackness of sleep left for the unwanted visions.
He saw Jin, only something was very wrong with him. His face was wracked with an expression of pain and surprise and then the front of his clothes were suddenly soaked in blood. It looked like he was screaming, shouting out a message or just shouting for the agony he was experiencing, but there was no sound. Nobody else of the faceless crowd noticed anything was wrong. Kazuya tried desperately to get someone, anyone to help, but his voice was silenced as well. He screamed and screamed and no sound came out. Or maybe he just couldn’t hear either of them over the roar in his ears.
And then suddenly something was pulling him backwards, with a strong enough grip that Kazuya couldn’t even turn to see who it was. Whoever had a hold on him, their hands were so cold…
But Kazuya managed to wrest himself free with great difficulty and ran to Jin. By this time, Jin had fallen to his knees. Kazuya knelt in from of him, throwing his arms around him. He pulled Jin close, praying for power to save him.
Suddenly, Jin stopped trying to scream and the roar immediately vanished. Jin whispered softly to him, “We’ll try again…”
But before Kazuya could ask what it meant, Jin burst into flames. Kazuya’s arms, chest, and face took the brunt of the sudden fire and he shrieked it pain but those freezing hand grabbed him and pulled him out of the fire. Even with the pain, he didn’t want to let go. He wanted to burn with him. It wasn’t in his stars, it seemed.
But then a voice, one that Kazuya recognized immediately. “No. You get your own fire, in time,” Shinju said. It had been her dragonfire that had consumed Jin. And something broke inside Kazuya and he was screaming Jin’s name and then he felt hands on his shoulders and tried to shove them off but he couldn’t. He was shaken by his shoulders and he could almost swear he heard his name… Kazuya, not Kazuko… Only, it was Jin’s voice! And he opened his eyes and Jin was there, looking scared.
“You… you were screaming! I couldn’t get you to wake up!” Jin cried out, pulling Kame into a fierce embrace. “I was so worried about you!”
+++
“I saw you burn! I saw it!” Kazuya was sobbing hysterically. “She wouldn’t let me burn with you! You were all alone and you left me all alone. Please, don’t burn up! Please !”
Confused, Jin said, “You just had a bad dream. It’s okay. It’ll be okay…”
“Not a dream. A vision! A vision! It’s different!” Kazuya was still sobbing against his chest. “She called the dragonfire…”
A vision? About him? And dragonfire?
Jin ran his hand comfortingly through Kazuya’s hair for a moment, whispering calming words in a soothing tone of voice. Kazuya was trembling in his arms still for a while even after the sobbing ended. But after a while, he looked up at Jin.
“Please, I want to feel you and what we have between us. I… make me forget the sight of you covered in blood and silently screaming and then burning. I want to forget… I want…” and it seemed like Kazuya was having trouble expressing himself again, but he finally continued with, “I won’t get to be with you for long, I think… I want… to be with you… as close as I can before we’re pulled apart!”
And this time, Kazuya initiated the kiss. But it wasn’t soft and tender like before. It was passionate and full of love and fear.
It probably was just a nightmare, right? But… Kazuya was the High Shamaness. Maybe it really was a vision…
Well, was it really so bad to live in the moment, then? To take each second as a gift? It seemed to be what Kazuya wanted. The way he was kissing him now…
Jin took over, pushing Kazuya’s lips apart to slip his tongue between them, deepening the kiss. Kazuya moaned into it and the sound of it coupled with the feel and taste of the kiss was so arousing. But eventually he had to pull back, if only to breathe.
Kazuya was looking at him with those ever-trusting eyes, but they had something else in them as well. They were dripping with desire. Jin was pretty sure his own eyes were as well. “Are… are you sure you want this? I mean, really want it. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want you to regret…”
But Kazuya interrupted him. “I do. I really want you. I want this. Maybe I wouldn’t have come to the idea so quickly if I hadn’t had the vision, but I do trust that I eventually would have. And I know it will be something beautiful and amazing, whether it happens now or later. Is now such a problem?”
“No. It’s not a problem.” Jin smiled. “I just had to ask, so I could be sure. I think I would never forgive myself if I…”
Jin found himself cut off once more by Kazuya’s lips. Only this one was a bit more teasing than the other two. Jin had no doubt that Kazuya had never kissed someone before, but he did seem to have a natural talent for it. Or, well, more that he was learning very quickly, because each kiss was better than the previous even though Jin was sure it couldn’t get any better.
So Jin’s hands found the knot holding closed Kazuya’s robe and untied it, slipping it off over his shoulders. Next came the knot on the front of the hadajuban, which he also pushed off of Kazuya’s shoulders, and then the one to the susoyoke which was tied on the right side. He carefully unwrapped it from Kazuya’s body.
The sight of Kazuya’s flawless naked form was overwhelming. “Do you have any idea how completely beautiful you are?” he said softly as Kazuya lay back on his clothes.
“I’ve been told, though not so sincerely. They said I was a beautiful woman…” Kazuya said as Jin started to remove his own clothing.
“Eh, what do they know…” Jin murmured, laying down on his side next to Kazuya.
Kazuya rolled on his side as well to face Jin. Hesitantly, he asked, “I… I can… touch you?”
With a small smile, Jin responded, “Well, that’s generally how this works.” Kazuya was blushing furiously and it had to be the most adorable thing he’d ever seen.
“No, I know that. I didn’t realize at the time why they were explaining about sex to me finally after so many years, not until I overheard Shinju and the daisaishi, but…” and Kazuya’s blush worsened. “I just meant… well, you wouldn’t mind?”
+++
Kazuya’s heart nearly stopped at the feel of Jin’s fingertip brushing across his chest. It sent a shiver through him and his eyes fluttered closed as a moan pushed its way out. Jin’s voice, “You see how that feels? If you touch me like that, I’ll feel like you do now.”
“It’s… not some special magic you know?” Kazuya asked, opening his eyes to study Jin’s face.
“No. When two people want to be together, then touches feel like that.” And to demonstrate, Jin did it again, pulling another moan from Kazuya. “That makes it special because you can give pleasure when you give yourself and you’ll know it. You’ll see it.”
So Kazuya reached out and experimentally ran his fingers across Jin’s chest, just like Jin had done to him. It made his fingers feel all tingly and he could hear Jin’s breath catch. Getting bolder, Kazuya let his hands wander over more and more of Jin’s body, noticing that some places got a bigger reaction than others.
But then Jin suddenly grabbed his hands.
“Did I do something wrong?” Kazuya asked but Jin shook his head.
“Not at all. I was… it felt very good and I just need a second. I’m not ready for this to be over yet; I’ve barely touched you,” Jin said with a small laugh and gently pushed Kazuya’s shoulder so he was lying on his back. Jin climbed on top of him but it seemed like he was careful not to put too much weight on him.
Kazuya had been about to say something but the feel of Jin’s lips on his throat pushed whatever it was far from mind. As those lips continued in a path downward, down his chest, he couldn’t help but writhe underneath Jin.
And the two of them took things slowly, exploring each other and expressing what they felt but couldn’t put into words. By the time Jin entered him, he was begging for some kind of release because the sensations had just gotten better, stronger, more maddening, like it was leading to some sort of breaking point and he probably would have known what it was if he could remember what his tutors told him about how sex works but he was so caught up in Jin that he couldn’t think back that far.
But he didn’t have to. Jin was inside him and suddenly hit this spot, over and over again and by this time, Kazuya was screaming out in pleasure and the sudden hit of his orgasm left his whole body shaking. His climax pushed Jin over the edge and they both lay there trying to catch their breath.
Eventually, Kazuya was able to ask Jin, “Does it always feel like that?”
“When you care about someone, it makes it better,” was all Jin said in response, yawning.
“Ah…” Kazuya mumbled sleepily. He turned in Jin’s arms and pretty much passed out.
And whatever dreams visited him after that were fine.
+++
Jin and Kazuya had been traveling for two days and it was now the morning of their third day. Kazuya was leaning against a tree, eating still while Jin packed away everything. Things had been wonderful since the first time they made love. Jin couldn’t recall ever being so happy.
But happiness wasn’t meant to last forever, no matter how much you hope.
Kazuya’s eyes went suddenly wide and he noticeably paled.
“What is it?” Jin asked, but a voice he didn’t know came from behind him.
“Is this him?” It was a rather severe voice, female… Jin spun around. Nothing could have prepared him for the site that greeted him.
The last man from the road, the one Kazuya had begged him not to follow, was standing there nodding. Next to him was an older woman and Jin somehow knew she had to be Shinju. And right behind the both of them stood about a dozen souhei.
“Kazuya, run! Run as fast as you can! I’ll find you again! I swear to the gods I will! JUST RUN!”
+++
Jin’s voice, shouting for him to run, promising to find him…
Kazuya was paralyzed by fear. He barely managed to make it to his feet. He saw Jin draw his sword. But there were too many! They were going to kill him!
“Jin, please! Run with me! They’ll kill you! JIN!” he cried out.
“DAMN IT, KAZUYA! I SAID TO RUN!”
And then several of the souhei were advancing while those that remained behind nocked arrows. Jin met the swordsmen, dodging and weaving, striking when he could. Kazuya watched as Jin managed to fell a few of them, but then the remaining souhei released their arrows, one after another.
Jin took the first one to the shoulder. He shrugged it off and brought down another one of the swordsmen. The second arrow caught him in the chest and he stopped midmotion, stumbling forward a step because of the attack he was in the middle of. Then a third arrow hit, slightly higher and to the right of the first.
Kazuya snapped out of his daze. He had to stop this. He had to… he had to make them stop. If he went willingly, maybe they wouldn’t kill Jin?
A fourth arrow and Jin fell to his knees. Kazuya ran around him, barely registering Shinju’s command to the souhei to stop their attack. There was so much blood soaking the front of Jin’s clothes… it was just like in his vision. Jin was trying to talk, trying to say something to him, but he couldn’t get any sound out. It had to be the arrows. Should he pull them out? What were you supposed to do?
Kazuya felt a hand grab him by the arm and jerk him away and to his feet. “No! NO! JIN! JIN!!” he screamed, fighting hard to get out of that tight grip and back to Jin’s side as he was pulled further and further away. His eyes… Jin’s eyes… watching him get dragged away… it was too much. But then even that was gone. One of the souhei swordsmen kicked Jin over and stabbed him a few times.
Something in Kazuya broke. He stopped fighting and retreated into himself as they took him back home to the shrine. The trip took days but he was only vaguely aware of the time passing. All he could see was the fear in Jin’s eyes those last second, fear for his sake.
And once they were back, Shinju sat him down and threatened to start killing his attendants off one after another if he didn’t do this thing she wanted. If he didn’t force himself on that woman.
So he did what they told him, hardly even aware of her crying and struggling against her bindings, because he was just dead inside. And after some time, the baby was born and it was a girl. Only instead of presenting the two of them together as mother and daughter, they decided to just kill him and claim she was his next incarnation.
They wanted to kill him and burn his body so his secret never got out.
And he let them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A/N: Okay, for those curious... this takes place before recorded history; however, it's a society that's kind of like atlantis in that it's much more complex and more advance than anything else contemporary to it. And, just like atlantis, it becomes lost to oblivion and everyone forgets about it. Almost everyone. IT's just, I didn't know how to work that into the story because it happens after Kazuya's death. So I'm just saying it here.
Anyway, I hope you guys aren't too upset over the ending. It's just... it's how it had to go.
By Fire
The story continues:
+++Kazuya ran back into the woods and kept going for several minutes. The edge of the trees disappeared and still he kept going. Only when the overhead canopy thickened to filter out most of the late afternoon light did he stop to catch his breath. He sat down and leaned against a fallen log. Surely Jin would find him easily. He had gone back the same direction they had come from.
He was exhausted. Kazuya was unused to such strenuous activity. Yawning, he put his head on the log and fell asleep leaning against it. For once, his rest was peaceful.
His waking, however, was not as peaceful. He opened his eyes to find a man crouched over him holding a knife to his throat. Kazuya’s breath caught and an icy tightness spread through his chest.
Kazuya recognized the man. He was one of the group that accosted him on the road. He and Jin had been tracked!
“High Shamaness,” hissed the bandit. “I could hardly believe it when I overheard those idiot souhei talking to each other, hoping they could find you before people learned your true gender. I never would have guessed, especially what with you running around in your undergarments and covered in dirt.”
His friend, who Kazuya could now make out a short distance away, laughed.
“We’re taking you back to the shrine for the reward and we’re going to kill that sorcerer dog that took our friends from us!”
A great sense of protectiveness spread through Kazuya. “He has nothing to do with this mess. It’s my mess. Please, leave him out of this. If you have to punish someone for your friends, punish me. Not him.”
From the other man, the one watching out for Jin’s return, “Except we can’t punish you. You’re the High Shamaness.” Again the man laughed. “Shamaness indeed. Who would have thought…”
“I swear, you can punish me; I won’t fight. Please, just leave Jin out of this!”
Why did he even care so much? He’d just met the man that day. True, he’d saved him, earlier on the road. But there was something more. Kazuya felt drawn to Jin in a way he couldn’t explain. Something he’d never felt before. It left him with an overwhelming desire to help keep Jin safe and happy.
“Stop whining or I’ll knock you out, High Shamaness,” the man with the knife threatened.
Now crying, Kazuya continued to beg, “Please. PLEASE! I’ll go willingly. Let’s go now, before he gets back. Forget him. Please!”
Please…
+++
Whose voice was that talking to Kazuya?
Wait, what was that bit about the High Shamaness?
Jin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Kazuya was the High Shamaness? But the High Shamaness was a woman. Even though Kazuya had a very feminine aura to him…
Surely someone would have said something. There’s no way a secret that big could be kept from the whole of the world for twenty years, right?
Kazuya’s voice broke through Jin’s shock. “He has nothing to do with this mess. It’s my mess. Please, leave him out of this. If you have to punish someone for your friends, punish me. Not him.”
Punish someone “for your friends” as in the men from the road earlier? Damn; Jin had been so distracted chatting with Kazuya that he hadn’t noticed they were being followed. That wasn’t like him.
At the sight of the knife against Kazuya’s throat, Jin stopped dead in his tracks. He hadn’t been spotted yet and he’d planned to charge in with sword drawn… but he couldn’t risk it. Not now. He’d have to sneak around and catch the one with the knife off-guard first and only then take out his friend. Before they could spot him, Jin quickly slipped behind a tree.
Kazuya’s voice again. “Please. PLEASE! I’ll go willingly. Let’s go now, before he gets back. Forget him. Please!” It sounded like he was crying.
The sound of Kazuya’s crying as he begged the two men tore at Jin’s chest, making his heart race. He’d never had someone care so much about him, especially since his exile. Kazuya was scared of going back to the Shrine but he was willing to go to save Jin. It was… it was too much. Jin didn’t know why the two of them connected so deeply so quickly; maybe it was the will of the gods. But even though Jin didn’t know why Kazuya feared returning to the shrine, Jin absolutely wouldn’t let them take him back. He realized he’d rather die than allow anyone to drag Kazuya back to a place he was terrified to be.
Quietly, Jin moved through the trees, circling widely and hoping he wasn’t spotted. Though, given how overgrown the underbrush was at points, it was a small miracle that he made it all the way around without the sound of his movements drawing attention. With a deep breath, he darted as quickly and quietly out of his hiding spot as he could, coming up behind the knife-wielding man and snapping his neck.
Kazuya cried out in pain as the knife scored a shallow line down his neck and across the front of his shoulder. Jin flinched at the sound; he’d hoped to have a good enough grip on the body to keep the weight off the knife but apparently he was only partially successful.
But Kazuya’s cry caught the attention of the second man, who became furious upon seeing the body of his friend as Jin dropped the body to the ground. But when Jin’s eyes met that man’s, he saw the anger seep out of them only to be replaced by fear. Apparently, he didn’t like what he saw in Jin’s eyes.
So the man turned and fled.
Jin was angry enough to chase after the man, but Kazuya’s fingers closed around his wrist. “P-Please, let him go. Isn’t this enough d-death after all?” Kazuya’s voice and body was shaking because of the massive sobs wracking it.
With a small sigh, Jin gave in. He shoved the body of the man he’d killed to the side and took Kazuya in his arms, trying to calm him. “Shh…” he whispered, “We’re both okay. Everything’s okay.”
“I… I’ve n-never seen someone d-d-die before…” Kazuya cried. “It’s s-so… awful… A spark f-fading… Is this how you s-saved me before at the road?” But from that point it seemed like Kazuya wasn’t exactly talking to him anymore. “I… am sorry. This is all my fault. P-p-please, watch over them…” and so on and so on.
Wait, Kazuya wasn’t crying out of fear? He was crying for the people who’d attacked him, twice? Jin hadn’t really given them much thought; he had done what he had to. But now, listening to Kazuya heart breaking for them, Jin felt guilty. Was there really another way?
But after a while, Kazuya did finally stop crying. After everything the younger man had just said, Jin expected the look Kazuya gave him to be one of hate for having killed those people. But… there wasn’t even the smallest bit of it in those wide honest eyes.
Was that the immediate forgiveness of the divine?
Though Kazuya’s expression suddenly changed. His eyebrows furrowed and he tilted his head a bit to the side. “You heard them. What they said…”
Jin nodded. “Yes. I can’t tell you it makes sense, but… Why didn’t you tell me? Did you honestly believe I wouldn’t help you if I knew?”
“Would you have believed me? I was never supposed to be a boy. I’ve heard them say that so many times. When I was born and they saw I was a boy, they decided that if they raised me like a girl and dressed me like a girl and gave me a girl’s name, maybe that would be just as good. Shinju says that it is the will of the gods that I keep up the charade.”
Would he have believed him?
Probably not at first. But eventually, Jin was sure he would have. And it’s not like Kazuya - er, Kazuko, he supposed - had ever technically lied to him. But things still didn’t make sense. “I have so many questions.”
+++
“Please, Kazuko, I…” Jin continued, but Kazuya flinched at the sound of his name.
He couldn’t exactly explain it, but he didn’t want Jin calling him that. Jin knew him as Kazuya and he realized he liked the idea of Jin knowing him as something other than how the rest of the world saw him. “No. I don’t want that name anymore. I want to be Kazuya. Kazuko is the High Shamaness. I don’t want to be that anymore, not in the way that Shinju-onna wants.”
“Kazuya, then.”
“I…” and Kazuya looked down once more. “Please, don’t take me back to the shrine. I’ll tell you anything you want, no matter how scary or embarrassing or secret. Anything. I want… There’s never been… I mean, I’ve never said any of these things before…” He was sure he was bright pink. Why did he get like this around Jin? Was it because he was the first person he’d met outside of the shrine? But this didn’t feel like that. This felt… significant. And so right.
“Why are you running away? Your word is law; if something was making you unhappy, didn’t you have the power to change it?”
Kazuya sighed. “My word has never been my word. I sit very still and Shinju does all the talking. I’ve never had the power the world seems to think. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe, because I do. I still see the hands of the gods are in everything. I’ll always believe this. If what Shinju and the daisaishi are planning is meant to happen, it will even though I ran. It was obviously the will of the gods that I overheard them but the gods won’t do everything. We’re supposed to help ourselves. I have to believe that destiny is unchangeable and that, as long as I keep fighting onward, I’ll find my destiny. The gods will make it happen.” He looked back up, meeting Jin’s eyes once more.
+++
Jin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It flew in the face of his entire life. The face of everyone’s life. He could definitely feel the certainty in Kazuya’s voice whenever he spoke of the gods, but when the topic was something more wordly, particularly the bit about Shinju and the daisaishi, uncertainty and fear crept in.
But Jin believed Kazuya. He couldn’t imagine it was all lies. There was so much honesty in his eyes. Nobody could fake that level of innocence.
“You said you left because of what they want you to do. What do they expect of you?”
Kazuya eyes changed, panic flooding in, before he dropped his gaze and shut his eyes. “They’ve picked out a woman and they want me to force myself on her and get her pregnant. And when the baby is born, she’ll be presented as my divine offspring - me as mother and the gods for a father - and as soon as the baby is weaned off breast milk, they’re going to kill the woman to protect the secret. I heard Shinju and the daisaishi talking about it. I used to think those two really did serve the will of the gods and that I was merely waiting to find out how, but…”
“I… I can’t… I can’t do this. If I force myself on some helpless woman, how could I ever face my people? How could I face myself? And knowing she’s going to eventually be killed… I can’t be responsible for that! Please, don’t take me back! I’d rather fail my people by abandoning them than risk their souls by corrupting mine. If I sin so badly, how can I ever speak to the gods on behalf of the people?”
So much pain, dripping out of every word. Pain and fear. But also a deep love. To give up a life where all of his needs are met, one where he was literally worshiped, for the sake of one woman specifically and the rest of the people generally…
Jin put a hand under Kazuya’s chin and tilted his head up. “Kazuya, please, look at me.”
Kazuya’s eyes hesitantly opened. He looked so afraid and yet oddly fierce.
“I’m not going to take you back. I could never do that. I…” and before he realized what he was doing, Jin pressed his lips to Kazuya’s. The kiss was soft and tender and felt so right. But then Jin’s brain caught up with his heart and he pulled back suddenly.
By the gods, what did he think he was doing? He’d barely met Kazuya! And that aside, the man was the High Shamaness! Why did he feel so drawn to him, so soon?
But the strange thing was, Kazuya didn’t look shocked or disgusted. He looked more confused than anything else. With those honest, open eyes locked with Jin’s, Kazuya asked, “Why did you stop? It felt… right. Was… was I not doing it right?”
“No, no, you were… that’s not the problem… I shouldn’t have… I mean, it felt right, but how can…”
But Kazuya looked even more confused. “If it felt right, how was it wrong? It wouldn’t feel so right if the gods didn’t approve…”
A slight smile found its way onto Jin’s face. “So the gods approve of me, then?”
“If they didn’t, I’m sure they would have said so. I knew doing what Shinju and the daisaishi wanted was wrong the same way I feel that this is right. What does it say about me if I believe the gods can tell me what’s wrong but won’t tell me what’s right? What use would that be?”
Jin didn’t have a clever answer for that one. Kissing Kazuya had really felt right; he couldn’t deny that. So he leaned in and kissed him again.
“Wait!” and Kazuya pulled away.
“What’s wrong? I thought…” Jin started, but Kazuya interrupted him.
“We should probably deal with him first,” Kazuya said, waving a hand at the body. “We don’t have what it takes to do a proper funeral rite but can we at least lay him out properly and cover his body with leaves so he can return to the earth? I can offer a prayer for him.”
Jin agreed and helped Kazuya lay out the man’s body since Kazuya didn’t have the physical strength to do it by himself. They covered the man with leaves and then Kazuya performed the prayer from the traditional funeral ceremony, asking the gods to guide the man’s spirit to his place among the stars.
+++
Once Kazuya had finished performing the prayer, he turned his attention back to Jin. “So what now? Where do we go? I… I’d understand if you don’t want to spend your life on the run from the souhei… I could… I could just go on my own and no one would ever know you got involved.” What was the tightness in his chest that threatened to swallow those words before he could even get them all out? Self-conscious, he couldn’t meet Jin’s gaze; instead he just stared at his feet, dreading the response that would surely follow.
“I’m not abandoning you,” Jin said, pulling Kazuya back into his arms. “I don’t know if we were destined to meet or not, but whatever brought you to me and brought me to you, I can’t deny it. I can hunt so we’ll always have food. We… There has to be land beyond the borders. I don’t know how to cross the great waters but I’ll find us a way and until then, we’ll just stay on the move and avoid the souhei, ne?”
He… he wasn’t being rejected? Sliding his arms around Jin’s waist, “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what these things I’m feeling mean. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I’ve always been so lonely and… and…” Kazuya looked up at Jin, trying to convey with his expression what his words weren’t quite saying. Would his meaning reach Jin?
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. Come, I know it’s getting dark but I think perhaps it would be better to go a little bit further through the woods, along the same line as the road. I don’t want to make camp for the night so close to the, um, man I… killed…”
Kazuya had never experienced death before. When he ran from the shrine, he had been scared but also thrilled at all of the new things he was going to see and hear. Now he wasn’t so sure he wanted to see anything more. But like all things, it was in the hands of the gods and, for better or worse, he’d chosen his path.
So, lacing his fingers between Jin’s in a comfortable grip, Kazuya said, “Let’s go.”
And the two of them went.
After about half an hour or so, the light was almost completely gone from the sky and they had to stop. Jin set camp since Kazuya didn’t know how and then he handed him small pouch. It turned out to have dried fruits in it, so that Kazuya would have something to eat while Jin made something more substantial to each.
Kazuya was extremely thankful; he’d gotten so hungry. He just wasn’t used to so much strenuous activity. That, plus the stress of being attacked twice and of having a man killed right above him… he was thoroughly exhausted. Almost immediately after eating, he fell asleep in Jin’s arms.
It wasn’t long before the pleasant blackness of sleep left for the unwanted visions.
He saw Jin, only something was very wrong with him. His face was wracked with an expression of pain and surprise and then the front of his clothes were suddenly soaked in blood. It looked like he was screaming, shouting out a message or just shouting for the agony he was experiencing, but there was no sound. Nobody else of the faceless crowd noticed anything was wrong. Kazuya tried desperately to get someone, anyone to help, but his voice was silenced as well. He screamed and screamed and no sound came out. Or maybe he just couldn’t hear either of them over the roar in his ears.
And then suddenly something was pulling him backwards, with a strong enough grip that Kazuya couldn’t even turn to see who it was. Whoever had a hold on him, their hands were so cold…
But Kazuya managed to wrest himself free with great difficulty and ran to Jin. By this time, Jin had fallen to his knees. Kazuya knelt in from of him, throwing his arms around him. He pulled Jin close, praying for power to save him.
Suddenly, Jin stopped trying to scream and the roar immediately vanished. Jin whispered softly to him, “We’ll try again…”
But before Kazuya could ask what it meant, Jin burst into flames. Kazuya’s arms, chest, and face took the brunt of the sudden fire and he shrieked it pain but those freezing hand grabbed him and pulled him out of the fire. Even with the pain, he didn’t want to let go. He wanted to burn with him. It wasn’t in his stars, it seemed.
But then a voice, one that Kazuya recognized immediately. “No. You get your own fire, in time,” Shinju said. It had been her dragonfire that had consumed Jin. And something broke inside Kazuya and he was screaming Jin’s name and then he felt hands on his shoulders and tried to shove them off but he couldn’t. He was shaken by his shoulders and he could almost swear he heard his name… Kazuya, not Kazuko… Only, it was Jin’s voice! And he opened his eyes and Jin was there, looking scared.
“You… you were screaming! I couldn’t get you to wake up!” Jin cried out, pulling Kame into a fierce embrace. “I was so worried about you!”
+++
“I saw you burn! I saw it!” Kazuya was sobbing hysterically. “She wouldn’t let me burn with you! You were all alone and you left me all alone. Please, don’t burn up! Please !”
Confused, Jin said, “You just had a bad dream. It’s okay. It’ll be okay…”
“Not a dream. A vision! A vision! It’s different!” Kazuya was still sobbing against his chest. “She called the dragonfire…”
A vision? About him? And dragonfire?
Jin ran his hand comfortingly through Kazuya’s hair for a moment, whispering calming words in a soothing tone of voice. Kazuya was trembling in his arms still for a while even after the sobbing ended. But after a while, he looked up at Jin.
“Please, I want to feel you and what we have between us. I… make me forget the sight of you covered in blood and silently screaming and then burning. I want to forget… I want…” and it seemed like Kazuya was having trouble expressing himself again, but he finally continued with, “I won’t get to be with you for long, I think… I want… to be with you… as close as I can before we’re pulled apart!”
And this time, Kazuya initiated the kiss. But it wasn’t soft and tender like before. It was passionate and full of love and fear.
It probably was just a nightmare, right? But… Kazuya was the High Shamaness. Maybe it really was a vision…
Well, was it really so bad to live in the moment, then? To take each second as a gift? It seemed to be what Kazuya wanted. The way he was kissing him now…
Jin took over, pushing Kazuya’s lips apart to slip his tongue between them, deepening the kiss. Kazuya moaned into it and the sound of it coupled with the feel and taste of the kiss was so arousing. But eventually he had to pull back, if only to breathe.
Kazuya was looking at him with those ever-trusting eyes, but they had something else in them as well. They were dripping with desire. Jin was pretty sure his own eyes were as well. “Are… are you sure you want this? I mean, really want it. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want you to regret…”
But Kazuya interrupted him. “I do. I really want you. I want this. Maybe I wouldn’t have come to the idea so quickly if I hadn’t had the vision, but I do trust that I eventually would have. And I know it will be something beautiful and amazing, whether it happens now or later. Is now such a problem?”
“No. It’s not a problem.” Jin smiled. “I just had to ask, so I could be sure. I think I would never forgive myself if I…”
Jin found himself cut off once more by Kazuya’s lips. Only this one was a bit more teasing than the other two. Jin had no doubt that Kazuya had never kissed someone before, but he did seem to have a natural talent for it. Or, well, more that he was learning very quickly, because each kiss was better than the previous even though Jin was sure it couldn’t get any better.
So Jin’s hands found the knot holding closed Kazuya’s robe and untied it, slipping it off over his shoulders. Next came the knot on the front of the hadajuban, which he also pushed off of Kazuya’s shoulders, and then the one to the susoyoke which was tied on the right side. He carefully unwrapped it from Kazuya’s body.
The sight of Kazuya’s flawless naked form was overwhelming. “Do you have any idea how completely beautiful you are?” he said softly as Kazuya lay back on his clothes.
“I’ve been told, though not so sincerely. They said I was a beautiful woman…” Kazuya said as Jin started to remove his own clothing.
“Eh, what do they know…” Jin murmured, laying down on his side next to Kazuya.
Kazuya rolled on his side as well to face Jin. Hesitantly, he asked, “I… I can… touch you?”
With a small smile, Jin responded, “Well, that’s generally how this works.” Kazuya was blushing furiously and it had to be the most adorable thing he’d ever seen.
“No, I know that. I didn’t realize at the time why they were explaining about sex to me finally after so many years, not until I overheard Shinju and the daisaishi, but…” and Kazuya’s blush worsened. “I just meant… well, you wouldn’t mind?”
+++
Kazuya’s heart nearly stopped at the feel of Jin’s fingertip brushing across his chest. It sent a shiver through him and his eyes fluttered closed as a moan pushed its way out. Jin’s voice, “You see how that feels? If you touch me like that, I’ll feel like you do now.”
“It’s… not some special magic you know?” Kazuya asked, opening his eyes to study Jin’s face.
“No. When two people want to be together, then touches feel like that.” And to demonstrate, Jin did it again, pulling another moan from Kazuya. “That makes it special because you can give pleasure when you give yourself and you’ll know it. You’ll see it.”
So Kazuya reached out and experimentally ran his fingers across Jin’s chest, just like Jin had done to him. It made his fingers feel all tingly and he could hear Jin’s breath catch. Getting bolder, Kazuya let his hands wander over more and more of Jin’s body, noticing that some places got a bigger reaction than others.
But then Jin suddenly grabbed his hands.
“Did I do something wrong?” Kazuya asked but Jin shook his head.
“Not at all. I was… it felt very good and I just need a second. I’m not ready for this to be over yet; I’ve barely touched you,” Jin said with a small laugh and gently pushed Kazuya’s shoulder so he was lying on his back. Jin climbed on top of him but it seemed like he was careful not to put too much weight on him.
Kazuya had been about to say something but the feel of Jin’s lips on his throat pushed whatever it was far from mind. As those lips continued in a path downward, down his chest, he couldn’t help but writhe underneath Jin.
And the two of them took things slowly, exploring each other and expressing what they felt but couldn’t put into words. By the time Jin entered him, he was begging for some kind of release because the sensations had just gotten better, stronger, more maddening, like it was leading to some sort of breaking point and he probably would have known what it was if he could remember what his tutors told him about how sex works but he was so caught up in Jin that he couldn’t think back that far.
But he didn’t have to. Jin was inside him and suddenly hit this spot, over and over again and by this time, Kazuya was screaming out in pleasure and the sudden hit of his orgasm left his whole body shaking. His climax pushed Jin over the edge and they both lay there trying to catch their breath.
Eventually, Kazuya was able to ask Jin, “Does it always feel like that?”
“When you care about someone, it makes it better,” was all Jin said in response, yawning.
“Ah…” Kazuya mumbled sleepily. He turned in Jin’s arms and pretty much passed out.
And whatever dreams visited him after that were fine.
+++
Jin and Kazuya had been traveling for two days and it was now the morning of their third day. Kazuya was leaning against a tree, eating still while Jin packed away everything. Things had been wonderful since the first time they made love. Jin couldn’t recall ever being so happy.
But happiness wasn’t meant to last forever, no matter how much you hope.
Kazuya’s eyes went suddenly wide and he noticeably paled.
“What is it?” Jin asked, but a voice he didn’t know came from behind him.
“Is this him?” It was a rather severe voice, female… Jin spun around. Nothing could have prepared him for the site that greeted him.
The last man from the road, the one Kazuya had begged him not to follow, was standing there nodding. Next to him was an older woman and Jin somehow knew she had to be Shinju. And right behind the both of them stood about a dozen souhei.
“Kazuya, run! Run as fast as you can! I’ll find you again! I swear to the gods I will! JUST RUN!”
+++
Jin’s voice, shouting for him to run, promising to find him…
Kazuya was paralyzed by fear. He barely managed to make it to his feet. He saw Jin draw his sword. But there were too many! They were going to kill him!
“Jin, please! Run with me! They’ll kill you! JIN!” he cried out.
“DAMN IT, KAZUYA! I SAID TO RUN!”
And then several of the souhei were advancing while those that remained behind nocked arrows. Jin met the swordsmen, dodging and weaving, striking when he could. Kazuya watched as Jin managed to fell a few of them, but then the remaining souhei released their arrows, one after another.
Jin took the first one to the shoulder. He shrugged it off and brought down another one of the swordsmen. The second arrow caught him in the chest and he stopped midmotion, stumbling forward a step because of the attack he was in the middle of. Then a third arrow hit, slightly higher and to the right of the first.
Kazuya snapped out of his daze. He had to stop this. He had to… he had to make them stop. If he went willingly, maybe they wouldn’t kill Jin?
A fourth arrow and Jin fell to his knees. Kazuya ran around him, barely registering Shinju’s command to the souhei to stop their attack. There was so much blood soaking the front of Jin’s clothes… it was just like in his vision. Jin was trying to talk, trying to say something to him, but he couldn’t get any sound out. It had to be the arrows. Should he pull them out? What were you supposed to do?
Kazuya felt a hand grab him by the arm and jerk him away and to his feet. “No! NO! JIN! JIN!!” he screamed, fighting hard to get out of that tight grip and back to Jin’s side as he was pulled further and further away. His eyes… Jin’s eyes… watching him get dragged away… it was too much. But then even that was gone. One of the souhei swordsmen kicked Jin over and stabbed him a few times.
Something in Kazuya broke. He stopped fighting and retreated into himself as they took him back home to the shrine. The trip took days but he was only vaguely aware of the time passing. All he could see was the fear in Jin’s eyes those last second, fear for his sake.
And once they were back, Shinju sat him down and threatened to start killing his attendants off one after another if he didn’t do this thing she wanted. If he didn’t force himself on that woman.
So he did what they told him, hardly even aware of her crying and struggling against her bindings, because he was just dead inside. And after some time, the baby was born and it was a girl. Only instead of presenting the two of them together as mother and daughter, they decided to just kill him and claim she was his next incarnation.
They wanted to kill him and burn his body so his secret never got out.
And he let them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A/N: Okay, for those curious... this takes place before recorded history; however, it's a society that's kind of like atlantis in that it's much more complex and more advance than anything else contemporary to it. And, just like atlantis, it becomes lost to oblivion and everyone forgets about it. Almost everyone. IT's just, I didn't know how to work that into the story because it happens after Kazuya's death. So I'm just saying it here.
Anyway, I hope you guys aren't too upset over the ending. It's just... it's how it had to go.