Crane Wings on Windows
Chapter Fifteen —Convictions Tested

This chapter has a bit more "fluff" in it (because I am sure you guys have been waiting for…well, anything). I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it. Also, it is coming to you sooner than expected. The next one may or may not take a while, it depends.

Oh, and I forgot to address an anonymous comment from fourteen.

Anonymous Reviews:

Guest (no name): Hello, you are correct! I fixed it yesterday throughout the story. If you catch I missed one then be sure to let me know and I'll switch it. c:

"Caught in the chaos of life,
Didn't know my own mind. Did you?
Did you feel me drifting away? If you did, you didn't say. Did you?
Locked in a world of your own. Beyond my control, somehow.
Couldn't hear what I'm trying to say. You wouldn't listen anyway.

Not now.

If I lose my way on this battle ground,
will you reach for me or would you be my enemy?"

"Enemy," by Melanie C

Chizuru sat poised and watched with her eyes as Kazama wrote a letter in reply to his father's letter. She had walked in on him writing and had surmised, seeing the open letter similar to hers by Kazama, that he was writing in reply to Hideo. Kazama never looked up when she entered nor did he even acknowledge she was present. It had only been a few minutes and she had gotten bored of looking around his study. She could see some of the items he had bought at the market they had gone to together. She smiled when she had seen them, remembering how he seemed to value the craftsmanship of humans though he seemed to despise their foolishness. Chizuru recognized that not all humans were wise but neither were their wise oni, either. She could not help but think of her own family and how they had been slaughtered by their own kinsmen.

She lowered her eyes from watching Kazama write, now only hearing the light touch of ink brush meeting paper. Hozin had left, seeing as he had not been asked to stay. Kazama was sitting at a low table, not at his actually western study desk; apparently he felt more comfortable writing at the normal Japanese height than the other way. Chizuru glanced back up to see him surrounded by soft pillows. She smiled secretly. His back was turned from her since his desk faced a side wall. Chizuru turned her head to look out the window that was on their right. The day was sunny and bright but it was deceptive as it was colder outside.

Chizuru was studying the way two birds danced around each other when the quiet noise of the ink brush stopped. She blinked and snuck a look at Kazama only to see him blowing softly on the paper. Once he seemed satisfied it was dry he folded it neatly and wrote something on the front. Chizuru caught a glimpse of the letter and discovered it was addressed to Hideo. As Kazama began to turn, Chizuru sat up straighter and tried to hide the curiosity she felt.

Kazama looked at her silently a moment before leaning against the writing table, his fist resting gently on his cheek.

"You have received the letter from my father, correct?"

Chizuru nodded.

"Hand it over."

He extended his hand and Chizuru took out the letter quietly and passed it to him. He opened it and read its contents slowly. Finally, he looked up at her and folded the letter back. Handing it back to her, he returned to his lounging position.

"I do not need to go into details regarding what my father desires, as he has left that vague. We will journey to my father's estate tomorrow morning and return the following evening. Do not, without my permission, mention what transpired today between my grandfather and you."

Chizuru showed her puzzlement and muttered softly, "But why?"

Kazama sighed quietly. "It is not for you to concern yourself with. Just listen to what I tell you and all will go well."

Looking down, Chizuru kept her next question to herself.

Kazama titled his head slightly in observation of Chizuru but looked outside the next moment, more interested in what the weather would be like for their journey tomorrow. With Chizuru coming he could not arrive as quickly as he would like. However, if they took horses again then they would get their soon enough. His father did not live that far away from Kazama but it would still be a long journey, even on horseback. Half the day, if not more, would be spent just getting there.

Kazama glanced back at Chizuru sitting quietly and patiently for his orders. He smirked a little.

"You behave much better as a guest than as a servant. I find that to be very strange given the nature of both."

Chizuru looked up in quiet shock. Was he trying to make light conversation with her? She frowned inwardly at the comment, however. It was not a very pleasant thing to discuss considering how she became a servant in his castle.

"I am content to do as I please and to be able to spend my days in freedom." Chizuru looked out the window just as Kazama had done but she turned to look back at him. "Wouldn't you act as I did if you were enslaved and then given your freedom? Couldn't you act yourself without worry that you may die the next day?"

Kazama said nothing for a while. He did not look angry or upset but merely looked through her, contemplating.

"I would not ever be in such a position to begin with. If I was captured and they sought to take information from me, I would commit seppuku." He looked at her as though it was that simple. "My position is high in comparison with yours within the oni hierarchy. If I, being as I am, was captured it would not be to enslave me—it would be to take the secrets I hold of our oni clans. Death for me would be freedom for all of my people. I would have upheld the honor of not only my family but the entire oni race." He paused a moment before looking back at her. Chizuru noticed he seemed to enjoy talking about the role of his people. She stored that information the back of her head for next time and listened closely as he opened his mouth to speak again.

"As in regards to being myself, I would not change who I was simply because I would be in a lower ranking position, if for some reason, that happened. Being in a lower position does not discredit the need for honor. To do otherwise is to bring shame unto myself and unto the Kazama clan. The world watches my movements, studies how I interact with humans and oni. I cannot, in any position, forget who I am."

He caught her eyes. "I expect no less from you as a full-blooded oni."

Chizuru broke his stare.

"Then why did you say those things to me while I was a servant? Why would you tell me I "behave" better now than before?"

Kazama pondered her for a moment before smirking slightly. Chizuru missed it since she was looking away from him.

"I was only teasing."

She looked at his with shock. "Wh-what?"

He smirked at her and waved a hand casually. "I was joking. You never seem to laugh at my jokes however. It is rather insulting. You take everything too seriously."

Chizuru gasped at him, blushing a little at his words. "That is because you say everything as though it is a serious matter! How am I supposed to know you are joking?" She raised her voice a little, feeling slighted.

Kazama's smirk grew and he chuckled at her, amused by her distress and the way she fumed. She closed her mouth instantly and blushed harder.

"Even now you are yelling at me for something meant in jest. Do you ever laugh?"

Chizuru thought that an odd question considering she had laughed in front of him before. Well, she thought she had.

"I do laugh. I just, don't know when Kazama is joking." She looked away. "It is often at my expense."

Kazama narrowed his eyes but this time it was in mirth, enjoying making her flustered.

"That is the best kind of humor—the witty kind."

She mumbled under her breath. "It seems rather mean to me…"

He smirked. "You take everything too personally. You wear your heart on your sleeve. If someone is not directly smiling at you to indicate they're joking, I doubt you'd understand. It isn't an insult, it is just how you are."

He looked at her and she blushed again, looking at her hands folded in her lap. He sighed again.

"You lack confidence. You are my guest. I am not a monster Chizuru. Well, no more than the next oni."

Though his voice was his usual tone, Chizuru felt reassured by that, for some reason. As though she needed that conformation from him to realize that he too believed it, that he was not seeking to let that caged beast become him. She smiled softly to herself but Kazama caught the gesture. He smirked once more before rising from his seat. Chizuru followed him with her eyes and watched as he rang a bell by the door.

After a few moments Chizuru felt the aura of Hozin. He knocked on the door and entered, bowing to his master.

"You requested my presence, milord."

"Take the letter confirming our acceptance of Hideo's request and give it to the messenger."

Hozin bowed again and grabbed the letter before leaving.

Kazama folded his arms in his sleeves and looked out the window, his back turned from Chizuru. She shifted to observe him without twisting her neck so sharply. Kazama looked over his shoulder at her and turned towards her. Something caught his eye about her appearance but he showed no difference in his expression.

"I will send servants to pack your bags. Hozin will wake you in the morning."

With that he looked back out at the window. Chizuru knew she was being dismissed and got up, bowed once, and then left.

When she was out the door Kazama glanced back to look at where she had originally been seconds ago. It took him until just now to realize she was wearing the hair pin he had given her. He smirked and closed his eyes. He was not sure why he was glad about that but he was all the same.

They had been travelling for the past few hours and Chizuru was getting hungry. She said nothing to Kazama but her stomach betrayed her. She blushed but didn't say anything, hoping Kazama hadn't heard. However, she chanced a glance at him and saw him smirking at her. She blushed harder and he looked back ahead.

Chizuru was glad he did not say anything about her stomach. It was embarrassing.

"We will be approaching a small village soon. You may find food there."

Chizuru mumbled a small "thank you" since she was still embarrassed. Kazama said nothing else to her, not even when they had entered the village he mentioned. When Kazama stopped them by a bridge he got off his horse and took Chizuru's horses reigns.

"There is a tempura stand over there." Kazama looked in a direction and Chizuru followed his eyes. Chizuru smiled and thanked him. She was about to walk away when he looked at her.

"Do you want any money or are you going to steal them?"

Chizuru blushed deeply and turned to look at him. She bowed before him but he kept his usual blank face on. He released his horses reign and reached into his kimono and pulled out his money purse.

"Here."

She looked up and took the money, bowing again. She was going to leave when she turned back again and hesitantly asked him, "Would you like some?"

Kazama shook his head.

"I will be on the other side allowing the horses time to drink. Come to the bench under that cherry tree when you are finished."

Chizuru saw where he was indicating and nodded. She watched him begin taking the horses across the bridge to where there was a small troth for the horses to drink. After she ordered her tempura and ate her fill she glanced across the river to see Kazama sitting on the bench staring at something Chizuru could not see from here. She looked in the direction he was looking but was not sure what caught his attention enough to gaze for so long. She smiled softly. He seemed to do that often though. From here he looked like a man waiting for his lover to return. Kazama always seemed so distant and aloof but there was something beautiful in watching him take such interest in the little things of life. The way he observed the world seemed to hold such philosophical weight. She knew people, especially her father, who did the same thing but never to the extent Kazama seemed to.

Getting up she thanked the tempura shop owner and walked away. The man bowed in return and went back to selling his food to hungry customers. She spotted a dango stall and glanced at Kazama. She bought two sticks of dango and finally made her way to Kazama. When she stood in front of Kazama she extended one to him.

"I got this for you. Um, it was with your money though. If you don't want it I can eat it."

Kazama blinked and turned to look at what she was extending to him. He didn't want to tell her he wasn't a fan of dango but he took it out of the shock someone had bought him something for no other reason than to enjoy it. Staring at it a moment he turned the stick in his hands. Chizuru sat next to him.

"I am sorry. You do not have to eat it." She grew flustered.

Kazama simply took a bite of it and said nothing to her. She closed her eyes and smiled brightly at him before eating her own. They sat there for a few minutes in companionable silence. Chizuru felt that her dango was a small peace offering for all that happened between them. She thought he was probably just being polite in accepting the food, but she was happy nonetheless he accepted what she had gotten for him. She smiled at his clear hesitancy on what to do with the idea of being offered food for no other reason to have it. It was in that moment that Chizuru felt she was sitting next to a young man and not a powerful oni. It was, comforting, and safe. She felt safe and protected with Kazama, yes, but there was some bridge she had crossed that made her feel, if only for a moment, like they were looking at the same sky. The moment was gone when he finished his dango. She inwardly sighed sadly. Remembering something she perked up.

"Oh, here is your money back."

She handed him his money back and he took it from her without question. One of the horses standing by them neighed and bobbed its head up and down, clearly growing bored standing around doing nothing. Kazama rose just as Chizuru finished her dango. He extended his hand and she looked at him in confusion before she realized he was wishing to take her stick from her. She handed it to him and he went over and disposed of them. When he returned he began untying the horses. Chizuru got up and started untying her own.

"Thank you for the dango."

It was quiet and though it seemed more out of politeness, Chizuru turned her head away from him to hide her blush.

"You're welcome Lord Kazama."

When they finally arrived at Hideo's estate it was mid-afternoon. Chizuru glanced around. Although Kazama's castle was a healthy mixture of western and eastern designs, mainly eastern in outside appearance and western inside, Hideo's estate was of eastern make on the outside. As they walked into the large courtyard Chizuru saw the various branching halls that had sliding doors present. The main castle itself had large wooden doors and a roof protecting the entranceway. The steps leading to the doors were partly covered by the roof. She looked around in amazement at Hideo's estate. She looked over at Kazama whose mood seemed entirely aloof and withdrawn. She stopped gaping in wonder and calmed herself.

A tall manservant approached from the left branching off under the roofed walkway and walked down the steps to greet Kazama and Chizuru.

He bowed low to them both. Chizuru looked nervous, she was used to Hozin doing this but seeing others was odd. She felt uncomfortable with the regard she was given. She was no special oni worthy of such high custom.

"Was your journey safe and comfortable Lord Kazama, Miss Chizuru?"

Kazama had since handed his horses reigns to one of the other servants who had come with the manservant. Chizuru thanked the servant who took her reigns quietly. He bowed to her and went with his companion to take the horses to their stable.

Folding his hands in his kimono sleeves, Kazama just stared at the servant until the servant's hand twitched slightly. Chizuru looked at Kazama. It was not very nice of him to stare down the man. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"Where is my father?"

The manservant prostrated himself further.

"I am assigned to take you to him. First, would you like to change and relax while you wait for my master?"

Kazama bit back a sigh at this overly formal gesture.

"Fine."

The servant began showing them where they would be staying inside the castle. The manservant bowed to Kazama when he approached a tall wooden door.

"This is milord Kazama's room. Miss Chizuru, come this way and I will show you to your chambers."

Kazama watched them go with his eyes before entering his room. Chizuru's room was not far from Kazama's. The servant bowed and before he left he said, "A bath will be prepared for you and the servants will bring your items from your horse to you. I will come and fetch you when Lord Hideo is ready to see you. Please be comfortable until then."

He bowed and backed out of the room.

Chizuru turned and look at her room, entering in curiosity. Like with Kazama, the inside of the castle was more western in design but Hideo seemed more inclined to more Japanese styles than western overall. The bed was on a dais as with her bed at Kazama's but the furniture was much less decorative and the motifs on the screens were of traditional Japanese themes. There were no chairs either but pillows and low tables. The vanity and such were at a kneeling level.

As she looked around, two female servants came in carrying water with them. They opened one of the screen doors and entered the room. Hearing them pouring the water Chizuru followed them to see them filling up the tub. When they were satisfied with the temperature they bowed to Chizuru.

"Miss Chizuru, do you require assistance?"

Chizuru shook her head. "No, but thank you."

They both nodded. "We shall be waiting outside the door to assist you in your dressing. Please call if you desire help in the bath."

Chizuru smiled at them, "Thank you very much."

After that encounter she washed herself and when she finished she was dried off by the servants. Chizuru felt this embarrassing but she did not want the servants to be hurt or scorned because they were not allowed to do their jobs. She tried not to feel too uncomfortable.

Finally, when she was ready to dress, one of the serving women extended a small box to Chizuru.

"Lord Hideo would like to present this as a gift to Miss Chizuru. Shall you wear this to meet the lord?"

Chizuru, curious, opened the box and sucked in breath at the quality of the kimono. It was a midnight purple hue and decorated on it were beautiful cherry blossoms falling delicately and, almost melancholic, across the kimono. The obi with it was an almost black but she could see it had a sheen similar to raven's feathers. He had even provided accessories which were in a small box next to what the woman had extended.

She smiled despite the situation of not knowing what Hideo would want from them.

"This is very beautiful. I will wear this, yes. Please tell Lord Hideo that I thank him for this dress."

They bowed and changed Chizuru into it. As she looked at herself in her make-up and hair she felt different. She of course did not feel as much herself given all of the make-up and how expensive the kimono was. Though Kazama had given her many kimonos as expensive as this one she rarely wore them, if at all. When the servants left her she lightly touched the cords and golden pins extending from her hair.

She looked at herself in the mirror in an uncomfortable fashion. Lifting one of her sleeves she turned it this way and that. She did not feel quite like a porcelain doll as she had when she first met Hideo but she still felt that she was a different woman. An unfamiliar scent caught her nose before there was a knock at the door. She glanced in the direction of the door and called softly.

"Enter."

The same manservant that had led them bowed before her.

"Miss Chizuru, Lord Hideo has requested your presence."

She rose and followed the servant out of her room. She saw Kazama standing off to the side looking with the look she saw often when he was keeping a healthy distance mentally and physically from people. His expression was hard and he did not look the least bit comfortable to be here, though he emitted the greatest feeling of pride and strength she had yet to feel. He was the royal, lordly Kazama. The look in his eyes made Chizuru hesitant. When Kazama finally glanced at her his gaze seemed to change slightly from complete aloofness to a more recognizable blank expression.

Chizuru noticed that Kazama was not wearing the same kimono either. His kimono started out white on the right side but faded into a warm black that must have had some red in it for it was not straight black. The left side of his kimono was the warm black color. The pattern on his sleeves was of a thin golden flower of some sort. His obi was even different. It had a beautiful richness and pattern that she had not seen before. He wore no chocker this time, though. She blushed when she realized she was staring. Kazama seemed to ignore this and began following the servant to wherever his father had summoned them.

Chizuru fell into step with Kazama. She felt this awkward distance and silence that wasn't there when they were travelling. When they finally reach two tall wooden doors the servant bowed to them and opened one of them.

"Lord Hideo, Lord Kazama and Miss Chizuru are here."

He kneeled and bowed low to Hideo. When he rose he stepped aside and allowed them both to enter. Kazama went in first and Chizuru followed. The servant closed the door when Chizuru entered. She glanced back behind her for a moment until a familiar voice caused her to face ahead of her.

"It has been a while, Chizuru."

Kazama narrowed his eyes, stepping aside to reveal Chizuru. Chizuru blinked and uncertainly bowed to Hideo who sat in a similar manner to how she had seen Kazama sit when he was bored or contemplating. Though he had no pipe.

"Yes, Lord Hideo."

Hideo glanced at Kazama and smirked deviously. Kazama had clearly picked up on the rudeness he had done by greeting Chizuru first. It was not honorable to their code but Hideo could care less about those things. If he had cared so much about them he wouldn't have done half of the things he had. However, he took a form of pity on his son and looked at Kazama, his smirk gone.

"You look well my son."

Kazama's mouth thinned but he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

Hideo laughed and smirked. "My, my you are trying so hard to be polite. I wonder why that is so. You never did so before."

"The Lord of our clan has summoned me. It is the title that I respect, not the man who holds it."

Chizuru looked quickly at Kazama then at Hideo. Hideo frowned slightly but then it twisted into a smirk that was clearly darkly amused.

"I do not wish to argue with you today about these things. Come and sit. Enjoy yourselves. My business with you both will come later. We must eat and hear music."

Hideo looked at Chizuru and motioned for her to sit on his left and Kazama on his right. She sat down beside him hesitantly and folded her arms in her lap. Hideo glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"You look very beautiful Chizuru."

She looked down in embarrassment, unsure how to take that compliment.

"T-thank you."

"Must you always make things awkward? Can't you tell she doesn't want to be flattered by an old, nasty man?"

Hideo laughed quietly, not offended in the least. "You truly are in rare form today my son. Tell me, does she ever get complimented by you, a young, bitter man?"

Kazama glanced at his father.

"What would be the point?"

Hideo shook his head. "You are terrible with women. This is why you have no wife and why women do not seek you in droves. You are wasting the looks I have passed down to you."

Chizuru lowered her head even farther hearing such biting words coming from Kazama.

Kazama frowned slightly, keeping his eyes fixed to the doors far in front of him. He didn't want to be here and it was clear to everyone.

"I am sure you have much better advice. Say, just capture women and force them to love you?"

Hideo's expression darkened. He gritted his teeth and his eyes began to change to a golden color. After a moment he composed himself and smirked instead. Kazama smirked at his father, knowing he had hit a sore spot.

"Did you not capture Chizuru as well? Was she not almost your wife? Is it not the same concept?"

Kazama narrowed his eyes. "You know as well as I that it was entirely your doing regarding her marriage to me. I also did not make any motions to say I wished for her to love me, unlike you to your wife. Chizuru would have had her purpose and to fulfill my duty as the true honorable oni and son, I did as was sealed. Do not speak of matters you are clearly ignorant of."

Hideo looked at Chizuru, who had been quiet and uncertain up to this point, "Do you hear how he talks of you? As though you are just a tool to reach a goal. You should be ashamed that he treats you as such."

Chizuru gulped and looked up at Hideo. She had expected a smirk or a devious smile but instead what greeted her was genuine concern. His voice betrayed the darker part of his goal to get at his son but when he looked at her he seemed to be truly giving her advice. She stared a moment longer until Hideo smiled a charming smile.

"But then again, you have chosen to stay with him. So maybe I have misjudged my son's capabilities to keep women."

Hideo never left Chizuru's gaze, his words dissonant from how he looked at her.

Kazama folded his arms.

"Don't be vulgar. There is no point for it."

Hideo looked away from Chizuru to Kazama. "Oh, really? Is it truly vulgarity? You are the one keeping her in your keep, maybe you should tell yourself not to be so vulgar."

Kazama looked at Hideo who leveled him with a stare just as mighty as the one Kazama gave to Hideo.

"Was it not you who told me she would most likely remain at my castle? Did you not say it was her freedom to choose? As a freewoman she has the option to do as she pleases. I extended my keep as an honorable extension of her remaining as a guest. Would you have forced me, instead, to throw her out?"

Hideo closed his eyes and sighed. He sounded tired.

"No." Kazama mistrusted his father's apparent admitting of defeat.

"No, but it would have been better had she left."

Chizuru looked over at Hideo. He looked at her.

"You still have time to escape this devil's net. Run from this place. Go to your home."

Chizuru looked down.

"I do not have a home anymore."

Hideo blinked in surprise and Kazama stared at her.

"What?"

She looked at Hideo.

"I…don't have a home any longer. A group of oni came and destroyed my home and killed my family in the process. I am the only one left of the Yukimura clan. All of my family, all of our servants, everyone was killed but me. I alone escaped the fires and the death thanks to my brother."

Hideo looked at her with slightly wide eyes.

"You…you are of the Yukimura clan? I had heard all of their family was destroyed. By oni no less. A despicable, horrible thing."

Kazama could not help but agree with his father for once. He widened his eyes slightly as well, his aloof expression broken by the news that before him sat a member of a clan long thought destroyed. It had been years since the reports had flooded to the Kazama clan. Kazama himself had thought the act despicable. The culprits were unsuccessful anarchists seeking to destroy and claim territories for themselves. Once a land was conquered by a certain oni clan then it was theirs to have unless given to another. It was a way to create harmony amongst their people. It was an unsaid rule that to fight over land, food, or women was to be left to the humans. When these oni had come and killed the Yukimura clan they had planned to take over other lands but Kazama and his other allied clans came and destroyed the rebels. When they arrived there were no survivors and no sign of any escaped victims. Yet here was one. Had he known…

Chizuru nodded slowly.

"Yes, I am the only one. I witnessed my father and mother being murdered. My brother grabbed me before they could kill me and showed me a secret passage to run away. When I asked him to come with me he shook his head saying he needed to defend who were left. I…I never saw him again."

Kazama's looked at Chizuru in a softened gaze though his expression still had an edge to it. "I found your brother dead. It was clear he had protected quite a few of the oni before the fire claimed them all. He was found sheltering some children."

Chizuru looked at him in shock, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "You…you were there?"

Kazama shook his head, seeing she was misunderstanding.

"I went to kill the rebels. When I arrived no one was alive. I did not know the Yukimura clan had a daughter."

Chizuru looked down and Hideo smirked.

"A secret then. They did well to hide you. I am sure many men would have come for your hand. It is rare for oni's to give birth to women. Most likely your father would have had a hard time dealing with all the suitors and possible kidnappings."

Chizuru frowned, biting her lip to hold in the tears that were threatening to fall.

"He told me not to go far when I went out to play. I never understood until I was older. My father was afraid someone would dishonor me should other oni learn of me. But it is not as though we are a high noble family. Why would it matter?"

Hideo shook his head but it was Kazama who answered.

"That doesn't matter. So long as you are of pure blood then you have worth as a perfect breeding companion. In this age it does not matter so much regarding the status of a woman so long as she is full-blooded and honorable. While it was unwise to hide you, your father did so in an attempt to keep your honor for as long as possible. There are many oni clans who have broken ties with the old ways, the old traditions. It was from these he hid you. Being of less noble birth you have less security to stay safe. Your family was small in comparison to many of the other oni clans whose greatness spreads wide, your lands smaller and less prominent, but no less proud and well earned. It is the duty of the higher noble oni clans to keep safe the smaller ones when hard times fall upon them. However, the rebels kept their secret well and we did not discover the plan until it was too late. True oni do not lower themselves to stealing women. If the other clans had known of you then we would have done all we could have to protect you when the time came."

Chizuru glanced at him. "So why…why do you keep female oni in your keep as servants?"

Kazama frowned in annoyance.

"Many female oni that are half-breeds have come to me seeking my hand. Most, if not all, hide under the guise of pure-blooded oni as though I cannot tell the difference. They are killed. The other oni who come who are of pure-blood stay in my keep until I decide whether I will take their hand. I may seek to bring greatness to my clan but I will not choose whatever female comes my way. I seek to be with the most worthy woman. If I do not decide to wed her then she may remain and serve in my keep to be protected from other, less honorable oni. You can disagree with how I run things but I have never killed a pure-blooded oni, female or male, on the grounds of displeasing me personally."

"But why does it matter?! Killing anyone because they disagree with you is wrong!"

Kazama stared Chizuru down but said nothing. Hideo remained silent for a long moment before speaking.

"Peace, peace Chizuru." She looked desperate and unsure. Her eyes pricked with tears and clear pain showing on her face. Hideo took pity on this girl.

"Our ways are not your ways. You know no malice. You have been sheltered all your life. Chizuru, death is what we know. The females that come under Kazama, though he is a fool, are taken care of well enough. You must understand that many of the females who come also come agreeing to be as they are now. Others…" he looked at Chizuru whose eyes were clearly growing angrier. "…such as yourself are forced but not in the way you imagine."

Chizuru gritted her teeth and felt her tears staring to fall. She turned away and covered her mouth, sobs breaking free from her clamped mouth. Kazama narrowed his eyes at her.

"I do not seek your understanding. If you cannot accept how I run my keep then you are free to leave it."

Hideo frowned at his son, knowing Kazama did not entirely mean that, but said nothing. Hideo realized he truly could not justify their actions. Hideo had taken his wife by force, married her by force. He could not talk of honor. His son, well his son had more honor than him, but it did not discredit some of the more questionable things he did. The slave hunters his son employed were assigned to mainly bring human servants. However, if they found a female oni they brought her too. Hideo never questioned his son's behavior, he had hated his guts. His father, Satoru, was not around to truly know what Kazama did. His son had honor but he was not perfect by any means. In many ways Kazama was the oni of the moon who had survived the longest in holding back his war that waged. Yet it was still there and even now it raged at Chizuru for questioning it. Hideo still thought that so long as the women were kept safe then it didn't matter but something began to bug him. Was not Hinata the same? At one point only pure oni's worked for a high noble clan. Some small oni families would ask to be in service to another, more powerful one. It was a binding contract that signified they would be respected and kept safe but was now under the other family and their will. It was sealed with the high noble's seal, a seal binding both their own family and the other one. However, Kazama had done away with that. Besides, his son did not grow up in the same home as other oni. He was not loved and he was not truly safe.

Kazama was one of the few oni he knew that had humans as servants. Kazama did not like them for what they were, finding them foolish, but what they could do. He had not been shown to form a pact with other oni clans. He had influence and power but Hideo had refused to give him the title of Clan Lord. Hideo kept that title for himself. It was often passed down when a male became of age or did something worthy to be Clan Lord. His father had given the title to Hideo only because he left in shame of his family. He let go of what became of his family's name. Hideo still did not plan on giving his son the title until he was good and ready to receive it, especially now that he had become slightly altered. He still had issues with his son but he did not wish to kill him any longer. The death of his wife was the death of many things.

Hideo finally recognized that Kazama was both straying from his own path and still walking down it. He was treading on uneven ground. The female oni who came to him and agreed to work as servants if he should choose not to marry them was, in its own way, the same pact kept between families. The oni clans would not have just abandoned their daughters. They would have had to agree and agree to take the risk. They trusted their daughters were in safe hands regardless. Lower families would rather see their daughters protected and in servitude than unmarried and in danger of being dishonored by other clans. Also, Chizuru did not seem to realize either that the number of female oni Kazama had were very, very few. He had roughly five and two of them were sent to live semi-normal lives as field workers. If they were allowed to marry it was between them and their families. The other three probably still helped around the castle as maids. Since even fewer families existed with daughters Kazama most likely had made a pact with the family themselves that if they found an oni worthy to take her hand that they would notify Kazama. Kazama was the leader of his lands, and was better regarded than Hideo was. He knew no one truly liked him and many simply feared Kazama, they didn't loath him.

But in this time of uncertainty it was a safe bet that most of those families that had handed over their daughters were keeping them where they knew they would not be violated. The oni females brought in by slave hunters were straggler females most likely from destroyed clans. Kazama never shared how many female oni he received from the slave hunters but from what Hideo had seen, it was even less than the female oni who arrived by choice, Chizuru being the only one he had seen raised to a status that allowed her to be in the presence of Kazama all the time. It may seem cruel, but in Hideo's eyes, this was better for them. To be slaves, no, but to be protected, yes.

Chizuru, though, Chizuru would not truly understand. Not right now anyways. And Kazama, who truly was terrible with women, did not do a good job of expressing what he knew Kazama was thinking—that he was protecting them, in his own way. The women the slave hunters brought were never from thriving families but were homeless and abandoned. It was not an act of charity, not really, to be made a servant, but it may have been better than the streets. Also, Hideo noticed that Kazama had ceased having the slave hunters. He kept tabs on his son and the slave hunters would come every few months. It had been quite a while since he had last seen them. Hideo could not help but smirk inwardly; Kazama was being affected by this woman without even truly registering that he was.

Though his thoughts spanned ages, it was only in a few moments that they passed through his mind. Glancing at Kazama he spoke with authority.

"You truly do not know how to talk to women."

Kazama glared at Hideo. "And you are that much better? Are you not like me! Have you not also talked to women like this? I have said nothing I regret—I have spoken only the truth. She does not understand. She will not. Let her leave and let me be rid of her ridiculous softness and misunderstanding of everything." Kazama's voice was low and dangerous. His anger was clearly apparent but instead of yelling he spoke without wavering. Kazama was looking at Chizuru. She was still sobbing if not harder now. Her back was turned from them both.

Hideo narrowed his eyes dangerously. "That doesn't mean I do not have standards! I have been an ass, yes. I have been a greater monster and terrible father. A worse son. But that does not mean I do not seek to find my own redemption! Cannot I too long for peace? Am I not worthy to find the sun as well? Am I to be doomed like my kin to remain in the cold, distant light? Is that your judgment? You are still young yet. You do not know truly what it is to be hated, to be feared, and to be loved. You know nothing of me. You are as ignorant of me as that girl is to why you even bother to keep the female oni in your keep! Leave her to grieve—she has the right to be angry at you for the way you have spoken to her. Just as you have the right to be angry at me."

Kazama looked at his father in shock, his mask dropping enough to show that he truly was surprised. Anger came afterwards but Kazama bit that down and looked away from Hideo.

Hideo sighed painfully. "This is a family worse than any other. Chizuru…" he looked at her.

"You may not understand…but to keep those women in his keep it is to protect them. You do not have to understand. You can disagree but that has been my son's true reasoning, regardless. The world of oni is not as clear as your form of justice. You perceive wrong in its truest sense. You can witness and understand things in ways we of the Moon never will. But you must also understand that our ways our dying. Our people…are failing. To protect those precious some have chosen to give to my son their daughters to say safe for my son has honor to protect that which should be protected. The slave hunters pick up abandoned women. It is not right, not truly, but in its own way finding abandoned and bereft female oni of pure-blood is to protect them. You seem to believe he has many women but he has only a few of pure-blooded status. I do not ask for you to understand what has happened in full. But I ask that you listen. I cannot dry your tears; they are more of a conviction to us. We are not good at being a source of comfort. We have grown cold, it is true. Our family does not know love as yours has. Your father's wisdom has saved you from a life of suffering. That is a blessing for us, to see that your clan has survived. Hate us, be angry with us, and despise us if you must, but realize that we are relieved to know you have survived the fires."

Chizuru continued to cry but she looked at Hideo then. She lowered her hand as the sobs had stopped but the tears did not. She looked past Hideo to Kazama.

"…Do you believe that?"

Kazama closed his eyes and sighed. He felt tired.

"Yes, I believe it. My father speaks the truth for once. I seek only to protect those who are truly worth protecting. That is all I will say on the matter."

Kazama looked at Chizuru then, his expression still aloof but there was honesty in his eyes; he had never lied to her, Chizuru knew this. Chizuru did not doubt that his mind had been to protect his race, to secure the safety of his people. Chizuru did not agree with the slave hunters. Just because you wanted to protect someone did not mean you just grabbed them off the street. But Chizuru thought she finally understood something too—that the war raging in both father and son was even more complicated than she realized. But maybe something else had happened too—both parties had come to a rough understanding of the other.

She realized something else too: Hideo was different than she had last seen him. His wife's death must have truly awakened something in him.

She looked at Kazama who still looked at her.

"I will stay. I want to understand."

Hideo closed his eyes. She should have run.

Chizuru was led away by a servant to her room. They had eaten in silence but no music was played.

Kazama had watched her go. Hideo looked at his son.

"Satoru came to your house today. Why?"

Kazama returned to his blank stare. "Why does it matter?"

"Because he has not stepped foot on Kazama soil for many years. His arrival is no accident. He has come because Chizuru is here. He met her, didn't he?"

Kazama bit back a witty retort.

"Your point?"

"My point is simple: Satoru would not have returned unless there was great significance. He knows that the waters are changing. Hinata is dead and for all your bitching I am not entirely the same, even I know that. You, you are not the same either though you won't admit to any of it. The question is, however, what he will do now that he is in the area."

"You have always been afraid he'd come and kill you for what you did. Maybe he should."

Hideo narrowed his eyes at his son. "I have accepted what may happen to me because of what I have done."

Kazama did not look at Hideo. "He will do nothing."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because he would have done what he wanted to do. If he had sought to kill you it would have been done. You hardly have the power to stop him. If he wanted me dead for killing mother he would have killed me when I admitted to doing it." He continued to look ahead. "It is Chizuru I believe he came to see. All of the changes originate with her. He would have wanted to see what shifted so suddenly."

"Months. It has taken him months to come."

"Does it matter? Grandfather has never been as you are who rushes into things."

Surprisingly, Hideo did not disagree. "Yes, you have always had Satoru's tactical patience."

Kazama glanced at Hideo out of the corner of his eye.

Hideo rubbed his eyes in annoyance. "Satoru does this to irk me. He may not do anything but that is enough."

Kazama got up and began walking away. "There is no point staying here."

Hideo watched Kazama begin to depart. "Do not be so heartless to Chizuru. She had sacrificed much to stay by your side. She once lost her freedom. Now she is choosing to stay by your side to understand what has forced you to protect your people in such a way. She was angry but I still do not read malice. She doesn't understand. Don't just get angry at her because she doesn't know—show her. You have always had the better patience so be patient."

"Is that advice I hear?" Kazama had stopped to listen.

Hozin waved his hand. "Take it as you will. Listen or don't listen. I am not forcing you either way."

Kazama was almost out the door when Hideo said one last thing.

"She is precious to our race. Keep her safe regardless."

Kazama had not stopped to wait for him to finish. Kazama already knew what he was going to say.

Chizuru was half-way draped over her bed. Her heart was sore. The memory of her family caused her great pain. She often thought they were in a better place. She did not want to wave her sleeve in the hopes they would return. No, the world was too bitter for them. They had died dog deaths. Even she recognized that. It was horrific. Then to find out her brother had died trying to protect some of the children of servants was enough to make her weep even harder.

None had survived.

All hope her brother had escaped were lost. The thought brought more tears to her eyes but she refused to shed them. She knew it was a far off hope but it lingered in her breast. The sun would come again and shine down on her. Yet the clouds grew thicker, fat with the weight of rain. Blackness descended and her green valley and pine forest was abandoned to ruin and sorrow. Such were her hopes descending into the depths.

That was not the worst of it though. No, a new sorrow had hit her.

Kazama.

He had hurt her truly. His words were a knife burning brightly. It left a clean cut but the wound sizzled and popped. She felt it dig into her and burn. Hoping Kazama did not give into the beast that prowled was one thing but to feel its bite upon her was another. His cool disregard, his anger in a voice deep and dangerous. She shivered in fear and sadness. He had hurt her again but in a much deeper way.

He was so far away, in a darkening plain. He seemed unable to look at her from his far away plain. He seemed too aloof, too preoccupied with whatever held him in that distance space. But did where he stand actually have a beautiful sky, a glorious night, a mountain tall and white, and a forest a verdant green? Was where he was the true paradise? Was she stuck in the darkened world? Were her worries for those he kept truly worth it? Were they truly protected or was that a delusion. Was she just ignorant of the world or was there truth in her concerns?

Kazama seemed to have an answer for everything he did. He was convinced, convicted. She felt like she was a piece of seaweed floating on the surface of the ocean, alone and disconnected. Was she the one truly drifting and everyone else rooted in the ground? She had questioned herself for what felt like hours. Her candles were dying and she did not care enough to get up and change them or to light more. A new light, however, began to show.

The moon shone its bright, cool light through the window. As it cast itself on her she felt what it might be like to fight with her other self. But it did not feel like darkness and light. It felt like she was just pushing against herself, that the true fight was not with anyone but her own mirror image. She lifted her head and pitifully looked out at the light shining clearly against the furniture and on her bed. The windows of Hideo's castle were much smaller, more moderate windows she expected in a building. She wanted to go to the light, to see its illumination cast itself on the world beyond but she did not have the heart or the energy. Let the moon shine down on her.

Let her lament in a way she had never done before.

She returned her head to her folded arms, away from the moon's light. It was like the story of the human who made a deal with the moon. She felt as though she was lamenting her woes to the sky but it did not answer. It merely looked on seeking its own problems. She could not stop thinking about Kazama and what they had both said. She could not stop running Hideo's words in her mind. Everything would not cease and she felt heavy. Was she right? Were they wrong? Were they both right? Could such a thing be possible? Chizuru saw injustice when she saw that woman be cast out. That girl who had transgressed against Kazama. She had survived, a blessing, but should that be so? Shouldn't it be that she was forgiven? Isn't that the blessing? People shouldn't be praised for sparing a life that never should have been brought into question of their existence to begin with. Hozin was glad she had lived but Chizuru was upset for more of the moral and principle governing that idea. Life was valuable, whether it was a human life, a half-breed, or a full-blood. Even saying it like that seemed wrong, cheapened. It made everything about blood, about lineage. Were not some of the greatest of men born from the simplest, and unremarkable of places? If Chizuru had not been a full-blooded oni, would she have been killed? Would she have been given to the dogs for food? She had never felt so confused and unsure. Maybe she had when she had first met Kazama but it did not change the fact that she did not understand. Her mind was pushing and pulling her. The world was grey and stormy. The light might be shining from her window but she could not reach it.

Chizuru registered a knock on her door but she did not move, she couldn't. She did not raise her head, she was too lost in herself. Debating. Questioning. She barely realized that someone was opening her door. She kept her eyes fixated at the wall.

It was all she could do.

Kazama was staring out at the night sky, leaning against the window seal, a pipe in his hands. It was not his own and it was plain and undecorated but it served its purpose. He sat in a much plainer kimono, his sleeping one. He watched the moon break from some clouds. The stars were out and though some were hidden behind clouds, most shone through in a quiet brilliance.

A knock on the door made him register someone wanted his attention but he said nothing. The presence made its voice known.

"Lord Kazama, do you desire anything?"

A servant.

Kazama sighed quietly. "No."

He hated having to voice everything out loud. Wasn't his silence from the knock enough? The presence had left and Kazama was gladder for it. He wondered in his drifting thoughts what Chizuru was doing. It was late, she should be sleeping but he had a feeling she was not. Thinking. Pondering. Wondering. Oddly, something his father had told him came into his head.

'She only sees things in light to do good. She is still selfish, I am sure, but she is conflicted by her need to do good unto others. She probably often loses sight of herself because she always seeks fulfillment in someone else in her attempts to do good. Her conflict is not with her desires, but with her very nature as something that is innocent and pure.'

She had cried. He had not seen that before, not truly. Some tears he guessed were in mourning of what was lost. Yet, most had stemmed from his reaction to her questions. He was distant; he didn't like to be questioned by ignorance. She had raised an interesting question he had not thought about pondering before: why did he keep the slave hunter female oni in his keep still? He kept them, he knew, because he desired to at least protect them from violation. Yet, besides the ones agreed to live with him, the others merely existed there. He did not wish to think his desires were not true and honorable.

He thinned his lips in pondering and in annoyance. She was good at stroking his ire and yet also in sharpening his convictions. He was always convicted, he was always determined. He was self-motivated. He did not need others to fuel his desires and his needs. However, Chizuru seemed the opposite. She got satisfaction from being in others company. How much more she would have struggled given her isolation from her family.

The Yukimura clan. It was a sad fate for them but yet their daughter lived, persisted. It made sense now why she had been wearing boy's clothing. It was a terrible job at hiding her gender but it was clear she was doing it to hide herself from others and have the freedom of a man to move around in society unquestioned.

Kazama had long forgotten his pipe in his thoughts and when he returned from them he looked down at it in dissatisfaction. Normally his pipe soothed his nerves but he felt no such relief today. He had hurt Chizuru that was sure. He had known his other attacks at her, unfortunately physical, would have hurt or shocked her. But she had seemed to recover from those well enough. However the blows she had received from him today were verbal jarring. She was tearing apart what she knew and accepted. He was making her war within herself even more.

He felt…guilty. He 'tcked' and looked out the window. It did not hold beauty to him this night. It was a cold, distant light. He did not feel the glory in basking in it anymore. Rising, he set his pipe on a low table. Adjusting his kimono, he walked out of his room. He was not going to apologize but he was going to make sure that Chizuru was sleeping. She needed to sleep. It would not do her any good to worry about something that only concerned him. What did it matter to her? Why did she care? It was irritating to have someone do things unexpected.

Her tears were unexpected. Her sobs that came out like a dying creature. It was like witnessing the death of something. He had never truly felt the sting of what he had said or done. It was…unusual. The feeling in his breast was different. He couldn't place the feeling other than to call it guilt but it did not seem like guilt.

He realized, after a moment, that he did not want to see Chizuru cry. It was like watching the clouds cover over a beautiful scene. It was like seeing one the cranes from the north break its wing. Something about it was just not right, strange. Kazama was not sure where this feeling welled up from but he was not sure he liked it. To care for this pitiful girl so much, at least to not see her cry, made him off-put.

He reached her door and knocked. He was not sure truly why he was here but he might as well follow through. This was servant's work but he had to protect her and ensure she did not die from her own stupidity. He opened her door when she did not respond. As he walked in he noticed that the room seemed off. It was not dark enough to be simply that she had gone to sleep. No, the candles were lit but they were almost spent. Their light was waning and the moon seemed to cast a sad, disheartening glow.

He walked further in and looked to the right to see Chizuru draped over her bed, her feet tucked her in a haphazard fashion. Her hair was now in ruins, falling and parting from its cords and pins. Her kimono was looser, and still she wore the one that his father must have given her for he did not remember such a kimono in his collection. Of course, he never kept a record of the female clothing. She was facing away from him and she was perfectly still. She did not even acknowledge he was in the room. She was not herself.

He approached her bed and stepped around her. When he caught her face he saw that she had at least cleared off her makeup. However, that seemed all she had done. Her eyes were open but seemed to be staring at nothing. She did not even blink. It struck him that she looked like she was dead. He knelt beside her and observed her closer. No, she was alive, but she was deeply withdrawn. Sometimes her eyes moved back and forth but they were unseeing to the real world.

He knelt there unsure what to do. His blank face showed more life and he looked at her hand that was loosely outstretched towards nothing.

"Chizuru."

She ignored him and he looked out the window. Finally, unsure of what to do, he shook her slightly.

"Get up."

This seemed to register with her and she blinked and looked over at him. She looked puzzled, confused, to find him kneeling beside her. He rose and took her with him, grabbing her gently around her right arm. She sucked in breath at the sudden movement but she slowly looked up at him, steadying herself. He kept his light grip on her so that she could keep balanced.

"You need to sleep. You cares can be cast into the morning light. Reflection of this sort is best left for waking hours not in the darkest part of the night."

Chizuru pulled from his grasp and backed away, cradling her hands to her chest. She looked down.

"…I don't think I can sleep."

Kazama sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. He went to where her window was and opened it. He perched himself up on it and looked out at the moon. He felt Chizuru's stare upon him. Finally he looked back at her.

"What makes you unable to sleep?"

It was an inquiry they both knew the answer to. She seemed hesitant to say anything, her eyes still misty from the remnants of past tears. He could see the streaks of the old tears as well.

"It isn't something I think you can help with. I just…don't know what to do anymore. I don't know what to think."

Kazama studied her a moment before looking out at the night.

"The world is a harsh place. It would be for the better you know where you stand amongst it now. Principles and morals are only as good as the passion and conviction you have to see them through."

She stepped towards him. "But just because I am passionate doesn't make me right!"

He smirked and looked back at her. "You are right, but I did not say that, did I?"

She looked at him in bewilderment.

"I told you that morals are only good so long as you have passion and conviction. What is the use of believing in something if you do not have the passion to see it through, to care enough about it to reach for it, to always keep it in sight?"

He looked at her as though testing something. Finally he looked out and lightly indicated with his head towards the mountains in the distance.

"I have passion to see my mountains of ambitions come true. I seek to be a true oni, an honorable and proud individual. I must make my name great. The Kazama name must run throughout the waters of time. It must not stop and become lost. Everything I do is to that end, that one goal. I have the passion and conviction to reach those mountains. I will not reach them through dishonest and dishonorable tactics. That is what I reach for. It is not a moral but it is a conviction I hold with all my being. I will not lose sight of it for anything. The choice you must make, Chizuru, is what to reach for and what to let slip. To be challenged in your convictions and morals is good for it creates a better honing of what one truly believes."

She looked down at his words. How could he be so resolute? She decided to chance the question.

"How can you be so resolute in your thoughts?"

Kazama looked outside. "Because I have lived long enough to truly determine that they were what I whole-heartedly desired. Moreover, I have had many, many voices enter into my life that tested those convictions. I am resolute because I believe with all my soul that such a belief will make me a better oni, a better man. Did you not expect me to desire to change and to grow as you do?"

Chizuru stepped closer to him.

"I must move forward."

He looked at her.

"I must move towards those mountains."

She came to stand beside him and look out past him at the mountains.

"I want to find a better me there. I want to reach them and discover that I have lived the best life possible. That I have helped the most people. That I have truly shown mercy and justice to the world in its purest sense. I will not be swayed from being open and honest. I cannot. My life, my convictions, they tell me and point me to be vulnerable. It is through my vulnerability that I see the most in people and learn the most from others."

Kazama heard the quiet resolve in her voice. He nodded slightly.

"Then walk forward. Attain them in small amounts. I cannot understand fully why you seek the mountains for such a reason but you have the resolve. Believe in something with conviction. You are always given the opportunities to nuance and refine them as you live your life. You are allowed to change your mind but be always sure that wherever you go—you go with pride."

Chizuru looked at Kazama.

"Thank you."

He merely glanced at her and said nothing.

Chizuru looked away from Kazama.

"It was…rude of me to speak to you in such a manner. I do not regret my words but I did not speak of them in the correct manner. It was dishonorable of me. For that…I apologize."

Chizuru, for once, did not look at him in surprise. After hearing what he told her she realized that this too could be part of Kazama. The side that sought to amend, at least in part, the damage he had caused. He was someone who sought to mend things in his own strange way. She was still unsure of where she stood at the moment in everything but he had helped her become determined again to be the best she could be.

"Thank you again. I meant what I said as well…I will stay and try to understand."

Kazama no longer looked at her but at the cold world.

"I wish to see what sky you look under."

He finally looked at her when she spoke.

"Very poetical."

She smiled.

"I think I am learning from the best."

Kazama smirked at her but remained quiet again. They both looked out at the world: Chizuru in a restless searching to truly find herself and Kazama in a quiet detachment now enveloped in the peace of the moment.

"Rest, Chizuru. You have been emotionally drained. You will be tired to make our journey back in this state. Sleep."

Chizuru nodded. "I think I can sleep now. Shouldn't you go to sleep as well?"

Kazama got up and began walking away. He left without saying anything more and Chizuru blinked when he was gone. She studied her hands and clenched and unclenched her fists.

"I think I am still hurt but...he apologized." She smiled at that. It reassured her that she was not the only one still seeking to move forward and become a better oni. She would think about her worries tomorrow when she had time to have good rest. She was at least calm enough now to not feel so alone and lost. She had gained conviction again, something she had lost in the unraveling of the moments before. Maybe she wasn't wrong, but there was still she had much to learn. Much to understand.

When Chizuru mentions "waving her sleeve" it is in reference to an old idea that to wave your sleeve was an attempt to bid a spirit return to you. This is often displayed in old Japanese poetry as a melancholic feeling as they do not know why the spirit will not return to them, often their lost love.

Well sorry that took a turn for the worse. But, uh, you know it is still a work in progress, these two. But at least they both know of the basis as to what they seek! I hope to do more "fluff" in the next chapter for everyone. (Hopefully no drama hahah. I write these things and they change twenty times by the time I reach the "end.")