A/N: A received a good number of rants for my cliff hanger…hihi...truth is, I had already thought about this part even before "La Belle Lucie." This was supposed to be a part of the previous chapter. I have decided to exclude this from La Belle Lucie because of the differences of the solitaire types. And well, I like a fair short chapter(evil grin). Wah. I am about to be done. I hope you'll hang on there…

Disclaimer: I don't own any (nor do you) just the fic. I wish I could own Tokiya Mikagami in real life though.

Solitaire 5: INTELLIGENCE

He took a big breath. He was still alive. He could still fell the drizzle on his face. He could still see the dark trees against the even darker skies. He had thought that he would win the battle. However, at the point where he had been sure that he was going to destroy Fuujin, he had felt cold. He remembered seeing a tall water spout that looked more like a column of ice. Waterspout? He did not know that the Fuujin could create such. Then, she defeated him. How, he was not sure. One thing he was sure of: he was still alive.

He could feel his arm tingling. As he sat up to check it, he barely saw the dead eye of his madogou, the Raijin, one of the most powerful madogous ever made, before it totally turned into dust.

He sighed, a happy and contented one. At last it was finished.

A movement from the side of his adversary caught his eyes.

He saw a tall, long-haired someone, holding a sleeping Kirisawa Fuuko in his arms. How he missed seeing that peaceful sleeping face. How long had it been when he rescued Fuuko from the stupid reservoir. Hadn't she said something about a prince saving her? Hadn't he promised himself to be that prince?

To avoid being eaten by his own bitterness, he looked at the person holding his hime. That person had been the one who also helped Fuuko in the last battle. That person was also the last one that Raiha had expected to do so. Tokiya Mikagami. "You?"

The silver-haired bishounen glared at him.

"Anou, I mean…you?"

A sweat drop appeared on Tokiya's forehead. He had to admit that he found it difficult to comprehend such "meaningless" reaction from a seasoned ninja. Was it just him or people around him become more and more perplexed? "So?"

Raiha's started to chuckle. "Gomen. It is just that I did not expect you to do this much for Fuuko. All along, I had been expecting Domon-chan or Recca-kun…but looking back at it, how would Fuuko create waterspout in the first place?

"So the Ensui can also get its source from the rain?"

"It's water all the same," Tokiya stoically answered. Are you really this baka? "To satisfy your curiosity which you didn't even put an effort to hide, I think I am the most informed, next to Kagero, about the unspoken battle between the Raijin and Fuujin."

"Not to mention that you are the most observant—"

"Isn't it quite ironic that it came from you?"

"No, it isn't. Because I am quite observant too. I saw you reading books about the Hokage ninjas…"

Mikagami nodded. He had been able to get his hands on some books about the Hokage. In addition to that, Kagero had been so kind enough to tell him stories about the clan. At the time that the other members of the Hokage Team were fooling around, he was having a good conversation with Hanabishi's okaasan about the ninjas who had deserted the seventh generation leader as he fought tooth and nail against the clan's pursuers.

And Raiha was a descendant of those cowards. "That was why I was already expecting for something like this to happen."

Another deafening silence reigned. The fluttering leaves created small noises. Small rumbles of thunder from a dying storm resound from time to time.

"If that is the only thing you want to say then…" Tokiya easily lifted Fuuko, nodded at Raiha and started to make his way to the castle.

"Matte."

Mikagami stopped from his tracks and half-turned, giving the purple-haired guy a side-way glance. The Uruja ninja smiled, a solemn one and when he spoke, his voice was of a person who had resigned from a losing battle. It was hollow, an echo of an unspeakable past.

"Please take care of Fuuko-chan."

The Ensui master deliberated with himself about the best response to this. After all, Tokiya Mikagami was a walking ice-block. It was not his hobby to throw comforting words to anyone who needed them. He faced Raiha squarely. "Do you know the difference between a ninja and a prince?"

Befuddled, the purple-haired ninja looked at him.

"There is a big difference between a prince and a ninja. A prince can only serve the princes as long as he holds the title."

"Or as long as he chooses…"

"That is an OR. A ninja serves a princess as long as his vow takes him AND as long as he chooses to. There is a big difference."

"I see what you mean, Mikagami. A prince can lose his title. But a ninja does not break his oath."

Mikagami nodded. A short silence followed as a breeze passed by. "The question is: what are you, a ninja or a prince?"

Raiha looked from Tokiya to Fuuko. She used to call him prince. He used to feel that way. He could still feel it and after that life threatening battle between the Fuujin and the Raijin he thought he could finally summon the courage to be her real prince.

My prince.

His usual calm and sometimes warm features were streaked with pain. However, before he could answer, Mikagami voiced his thoughts out. "You don't have to answer."

"What about you Mikagami?"

"Nani?"

"Are you a prince or a Ninja."

"I may look like a prince…but I am a ninja…a Hokage ninja," he added the last one as an after thought. Somehow, he felt as if Raiha was trying to drive something. "Please don't have the idea that I have a romantic reason for doing this."

"Iie, I am not," Raiha replied with a shake of his purple tresses, but his eyes glinted a different meaning from what his lips had said. "The wind cannot be owned by anybody."

"So desu ka. It goes anywhere it wants to."

Tokiya left Raiha with, "I have to get going. She's getting heavier," said in a monotone that was natural to the Hokage's Iceblock. Raiha laughed. But when he was alone, his laugh turned into a mirthless one. He still had to learn many things about being a man. The passing wind sighed, as if in agreement.

…

"Where have you been all this time?

He was welcomed by anxious faces upon his return. He was still deciding whether he should be touched or not when he heard Domon Ishijima's howl.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FUUKO-CHAN? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER?"

"Ishijima, my ear I'm afraid is not the shape of a telephone receiver. Don't you yell at me."

Domon grabbed the collar of the bishounen to the horror of the other Hokage ninjas. "What happened to Fuuko?"

For the first time in history Mikagami saw death grinning at him through Ishijima's eyes. Must be the new contact lenses. He decided not to push his case of democracy to someone who was obviously and exaggeratedly concerned for the Fuujin Master.

"She was just battered by the rain outside. She needed rest…my arms, not to mention my neck, need it too."

Domon loosened his death grip on the collar of Mikagami's expensive looking suit. He doubted whether he could pay for it with the money he could make from selling flowers. Aside from that, Mikagami himself was at the last straw of his patience. He was the one who saw and returned Fuuko in the first place. And he was still carrying her.

Mikagami was slightly surprised when the burden on his numbing arms grew lighter. He was barely aware that the bigger guy already had Fuuko in his arms.

"I'll carry her. You look weak…" Domon muttered, avoiding the Ensui wielder's eyes. "Yanagi-san, can you cure her?"

"I'll do my best."

Yanagi followed Domon to Fuuko's room. Before the rest could follow, Domon let out another ear-splitting howl.

"MIKAGAMI!"

"Domon-kun is so fired up, neh?" Kaoru said, scratching the end of his nose. "Why is he especially annoyed at you, niichan?" He looked up at the taller guy who was then trying to hide his fatigue.

Tokiya meanwhile was trying to remember what he did to make Ishijima so angry. He used to not mind if the other guy was pissed of him but surely, this time, Fuuko's number one male fan—since Ganko was the number one female fan—was extremely angry. The poor Ice-block suffered the fatigue that he had been hiding since he learned about the trip, looking for Hokage's history, trying to think like Kurei to decipher the latter's plans, and scrutinizing each action showed by the Uruja. He suddenly had a mental block.

Then, as abruptly as his mental block started, he saw a note on his mind, posted on the ceiling, written with determined penmanship:

Oi, mi-chan. Who gave you an idea that you can act? Hehe…Take care of Ganko for me. Arigatou.

K'so… Fuuko's note.

He had left it earlier to tell Fuuko that he did not like receiving notes, no matter how clever they were delivered to him. He had planned to let her get her own trash. He had not expected that it would cause trouble in the part of the Gorilla.

"Why don't you just tell them what you have discovered?" Kagero encouraged him.

Everyone looked at Mikagami, promising him that it was going to be a long night.

The story went not as bad as he thought it would be. Recca tricked Domon not to listen to the discussion by saying that Fuuko needed him the most.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him!" Recca gave a thumbs-up to the group who nodded their approval.

Kagero filled in the gaps where Mikagami refused to continue. The latter thought it best to trust intimate details regarding Fuuko and Raiha's relationship to the one who could see and say them objectively. Even so, his teammates congratulated him for his discovery. Heaps of the praise came from Koganei, tons of gratitude came from Ganko, and loads of back thumps came from Recca. The best reward came from Yanagi who emerged from the patient's room.

"Arigatou for saving and returning Fuuko-chan to us, Mikagami-senpai," she smiled as she held him by the hand, beads of tears held back at the corner of her eyes.

"So you are saying that Fuuko doesn't know anything about Raiha's bloodline yet?" Recca said to bring the conversation back to the topic and partly to detach his hime from his possible love rival.

Mikagami, sensing Recca;s intentions answered with his usual stoic façade, "Yes. More importantly, it's better for her neither to know nor to remember anything."

"I agree with Mikagami. It is best for her not to dwell in what has happened."

A familiar voice said from the shadows in the room. The host of the trip deliberately welcomed himself to the Hokage's conversation. He strode past them toward the hall's window and drew the curtains himself to let the first rays of the sunrise come in the room.

"Kurei…"

Kurei only smirked at his half-brother's surprise. Ganko rushed to him and begged to be lifted to see the sunrise better. He carried her on his shoulders, not minding how tightly the little girl clutched a handful of his hair.

Then it was his turn to be surprised as Kaoru ran to him and shouted, "Hey, hey, Ganko-chan, it's my turn!"

…

She could hear their frantic voices trying to wake her up. She heard Ganko's sob beside her. She heard Kaoru's jokes and comforting words… Yanagi's sniffs…Domon's endless bawls of endearments and romantic promises, Recca's admonishments and news.

However, she did not open her eyes. She did not know for how long she pretended to sleep. She just felt she did not want to see anyone in particular. It was a battle of her feelings, a battle against herself. Surely, she could handle this battle on her own.

There was only one voice she wanted to hear… the voice that used to comfort her… the same voice that told her that she was about to die.

When she felt that there were no prying eyes that would try to assure her that everything would be all right, she opened the lids that cover he violet orbs. It was dark, possibly night time. She was alone. Yanagi had asked Ganko to sleep with her earlier.

That Yanagi…she sure has her own heroic times…

Then she let everything in her heart pour out. She shed tears that she did not know she could shed. Geez, I could fill a dams…I wonder if I could donate these tears to Mikagami so he could use it for his Ensui…she humored herself, trying to contain an internal storm. It was impossible…and she was losing.

"Who gave you an idea that you can act?"

She choked a sob as she sharply inhaled. Someone was in the room, someone she did not expect to be there. "Mi-chan?"

The room's corner near the foot of the bed glowed with the light that had just been turned on. It was indeed the know-it-all, bishounen Ice-block of the team, sitting at the soft chair, his hand raised to show her a deck of cards.

"Let's play poker."

…..

"Oh? Nanda? Fuuko-neechan's room's lights are on?" Ganko noticed as she passed the corridor to get to the comfort room. Yanagi put a finger on her lips to hush the child up.

"Hey, Ganko, do you want to play?" Kaoru yelled from the far end of the hall. He ran toward Yanagi and Ganko in a playful manner, as if he was to beat them up with his Ensui. "I am not yet…sleepy." He finished his sentence with a subdued voice after receiving a rare glare from the healer.

Yanagi pointed a finger at Fuuko's room and Kaoru understood. She then opened her room's door and let the children in. The rest of the Hokage were also there.

"Why can't we still see Fuuko-chan?" Kaoru asked. "I think she is awake now. Tokiya-niichan is with her, right?"

"Just let her be for now," Recca said, stifling a yawn. "Why don't we just play here?"

"It is unfair! How come Mikagami is talking to my Fuuko? I was the one who took care of her. Why is Mikagami there?"

"Because we all think that Fuuko can only say anything she has to say to someone who will not pity her," Kagero quietly said while looking in her Ekai ball, deciding whether she was going to use it or not to look at how things were going in the other room.

Domon scrutinized each of his friends' faces. The youngest members of the group looked at each other. Kaoru untied the handkerchief from his hand and gave it to Ganko who started to become teary eyed at her neechan's situation. Yanagi as usual, in emotional times preferred to hide her face in her hands. "Kisama, Recca do you believe in this?"

Recca solemnly nodded. "I am afraid I don't have the ability to pretend that I don't care that much." He clenched his fist so tightly that Domon was forced to keep his mouth shut.

"Er…last question…."

All eyes were turned to him. "Why do I have to be tied?"

In fact, all along Domon Ishijima was tied down by Recca, the latter holding the end of the rope that would send the first free.

Recca started to grin. "First, for you not to disturb Fuuko…"

Kaoru gave his senpai a toothy smile, baring his cat-like fangs. "Second, for us to have something to play with."

And with that, the two look-alike bounced here and there and try to knock out their "prisoner" to Yanagi's horror and to Ganko's amusement.

Kagero only smiled at her son's childishness and hid the Ekai ball. Nope. She did not need it.

…

"Are you sure of your decision?"

"Hai, Kurei-sama. I think I could do with some rest."

"Well, there is nothing I can do about it…aside from that I don't want a weakling as my ally," Kurei said it too nonchalantly that his conversation partner looked up at him abruptly. He chuckled. "Get back as soon as you feel like it."

Raiha bowed to his master for several years. He turned to go when he heard him speak again, "By the way, have you bid your princess goodbye?"

Raiha smiled. He took a step to the door…and another…then three succeeding steps then went out of the mansion completely, walking away from his master, his companions, away from Fuuko. With every step, he weighed his courage and the possibility of going back to what he would leave behind.

…

Fuuko lifted her head from the tear-stained blanket that she was using to wipe her tears. Her emotions had been gushing like water from a broken dam ever since she decided to open her eyes. She felt better knowing that it was Mikagami who was seeing her tears and not the rest of the gang. Somehow, she was not destroying the image she had been trying to put up in front of her friends. Recca, Kaoru and Domon knew her to be a tough girl. Yanagi, Kagero and Ganko believed that she was a strong girl, a woman who could protect not only herself but also her friends. She did not want them to think that she was a cry baby. Tokiya always had seen her as just an annoying monkey. It would not be much of a difference. With that in mind, she liberated herself from the chains that had wanted her to hide.

Anyway, she learned that the sun shines the brightest after a storm.

TBC

A/N: I am not fond of happy endings, but I sure love a satisfying one. Last chapter coming right up so stay tuned…

Intelligence-a version of La Belle Lucie which focuses on the aces as foundation…Aces remind me of Raiha and Mikagami, that's why…hehe