A Promise from the Departed ones

"It's been almost a year since then…"

"…"

"She's still in the middle of it, huh?"

"Yes. Your observation earlier was right. It seems like she's still floating between the realm of her past and present life… she's in between the life and memories of Arata Chikako and Aoyama Chiyo."

Inside the room that contains the most advanced medical equipment in this new world which was imitated from the spaceship that brought Mizuki Rin to this world, a lone young woman lies asleep while three people are sitting near her with anxious expressions.

"Her consciousness seems to not be able to discern what memories she had back then and have right now in this new life… If this continues, she may take another year just to regain her consciousness for mere minutes."

"This is something inevitable given that she almost lost her chance to fulfill her destiny again…"

"Being with Hiroshi-san, huh?"

"Right… It was the thing that allowed for her soul that should've dissipated already in the past world to have the slim chance of reincarnating… and it did come to pass."

Ever since we met back in Kyoga sanctum and they told me that the two people that I was trying to find through summoning was already here through reincarnation, both Kurumi-san and Reiha-san has been helping me look after Chikako and regularly communicate with Hiro in my stead.

At first, I thought about directly speaking with Hiro and tell him about what happened in the past world after his untimely death… but it seems like the Shogun and some objects that was brought from the other side has already told him about it… Besides, he seems to be very busy now as a Daimyo and a warlord against Miyazono Keiji.

"I always forget to ask about this… but what really is your relationship with Hiroshi?"

"Hm? Well, we're childhood friends who has been together since we were toddlers. I remember my mother and Mrs. Miyazaki always bringing us to each other's houses to play around… We also attended the same elementary and middle school and most of the time, we were at the same class section."

"Middle school? Then that means you two weren't together anymore by high school?"

"No… Not anymore. After having his first year in Old Tokyo academy, Hiro was nominated for the quarterly Promotion Party and was sent to New Tokyo academy. People thought that he worked hard like that after losing his parents and becoming the one who has to take care of his two siblings… but in truth, it was because he fell in love with Chikako and wanted to be at the same school as she does."

"Her? That was his reason?"

"Yes. She was the reason why he single-mindedly did all that he can to enter New Tokyo academy… and later on, even followed her to her death."

"…"

I don't know what expression I have right now for Kurumi-san to look at me with a distraught face, but I guess even years after all of that happened and even after I saw all kinds of horrible things in the past world, a small corner of my heart still cannot let go of the indifferent feelings that I had about my dear friend's obsession to this girl.

"Even after she died, Hiro was so protective of her that he asked me to bury her body away from anyone's knowledge. A place where her body cannot be disturbed after its death… while he bought me some time to escape before dying shortly afterwards as well."

"I guess that's something admirable about him even if it may seem very foolhardy."

"You're right… I guess that's a fault that I can't really call him out for."

As I stared at the sleeping face of Aoyama Chiyo, the reincarnation of Arata Chikako, I remembered something that a certain someone spoke to me before in the past world.

"Love makes and breaks things. One's love towards their own country can push them to either invade or defend the said land. One's love towards those dear to them can make them break or preserve someone's welfare. One's love towards their ideals can make them decimate or sustain the dreams that people have…"

"What?"

"…And so, I believe that if there is anything that will one day destroy this world, it would be a time when mankind has no more love in their hearts, and the momentum that sustains humanity's existence comes to a grinding halt… where only a cold and meaningless life awaits everyone who still exists in such a bleak future."

After hearing my words that came from that person, both Kurumi-san and Reiha-san looked at me like I did something wrong.

"W-what's wrong…?"

"Those words that you just said…"

"Huh?"

"Reiha, didn't Inari-sama say such a thing before as well?"

"You're right. I can somehow remember it… I think it was during Tome-dono's wedding. At first, dear mother said that it was just Inari-sama saying things to remind us of the outside world's dangers. But after her husband attempted to break out of the Sanctuary, dear mother said that it seems to have always been a warning to her husband whom she suspected to be one of those who wanted to escape from the Sanctuary and probably jeopardize the secrecy of its location."

"I see…"

"Wait… the fox goddess said the same thing?"

"Hm? Yeah."

"Word-for-word?"

After I asked them if what Inari-sama said was truly spoken word-for-word, the two looked at each other before nodding towards me.

"There might be some difference in the use of archaic words, after all, she's a spirit that has been living for hundreds if not thousands of years. But the meaning of the statement is the same as what you just said."

"W-What…?"

But those words were spoken by Ephraim in the past world… How can those messages be the same here and there? Is this just a coincidence? A realization that is uniform in both realities?

Before I can make sense of what all of this means, all three of us sensed something from Chiyo's body.

"""-!!!"""

"H-Hey…"

"Did you sense that too?"

"Y-Yeah."

We approached her bed and peered through the dome of glass to see her body that are pierced with IV lines in several veins that supplies her unconscious body with necessary nutrients.

"Chiyo… Please don't kick the bucket now…"

"Please don't tell me that she…"

"Stop your thoughts right there, you two worrywarts."

"W-What did you just say, you racoon-"

"My sensory abilities are sharper as a Mujina... Focus again and look into her aura. This isn't something to worry about."

Reiha-san castigated both of us before telling us to take a deeper look into the aura being emitted by Chiyo.

"That-!"

"This feels familiar…"

"Mm. It sure will be like that to you, Kurumi. You've done something like that before with Tome-dono but only partially."

It would be too complicated to describe it properly… but to put it simply, it seems like Chikako and Chiyo's egos, memories and even a portion of their spirit are being made to meld with each other.

Perhaps, this was the reason why she hasn't woken up after so long and had a chance for her life to be snuffed all this time.

Because if she cannot sort out the two identities and people in her body, she will become what Ephraim called as an aberration of reality.

An .

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So, that was how it ended for us, huh?"

"Yep! It's quite bittersweet, really… By the time that we decided to forget about the pointless pursuit of appeasing our parents and to believe in Hiro's love for us, we died."

"Yeah… it sure is bittersweet."

I don't know how long it has been since I woke up inside of my own mind. It was a surreal experience… especially when you had to talk with someone that told you that she is you from your past incarnation.

All of this started when I asked something to her that I shouldn't know but can somehow remember and can't help but ask out back then.

"Chikako-san… You said that you've always loved Hiro-san, right? Why did you distance yourself from him if he may not affect your studies too much?"

"…There's a reason why I needed to be renown as an intelligent woman. I believe you said that you're a girl from the feudal era?"

"Yes. I'm living at a time where the Shogun is the ruler of the country and provinces are still ruled by Daimyos."

"Hmm… Then I believe that political marriages are also a norm?"

"Yes. It's still widely used."

"Then I guess my reason would make sense to you."

I listened carefully to what she said after a short pause, and I felt a sharp pain in my chest because of that reason.

"I needed to be seen as a competent person, be married off to an influential and powerful political family… and spend the rest of my life as nothing more but a soulless doll beside my husband."

"…"

"My parents' objective by pushing their desires on me is to one day rid me of my free will… and by that point, I can be the perfect wife for someone who needs fame and the people's support for him. I will be a doll… a toy that can be shaped and dressed into someone that can be eye-catching… but never having any power or right to decide about things for my own sake."

"That is… horrible."

"To my family and their ceaseless desire to climb back to power and fame, it wasn't… The family comes first, and you will do everything that you can to return it to its former glory before its ideals was rejected by the people. That… that was everything that you amount to for everyone."

Power… As someone who lived in the time of lords and warriors, such a thing is nothing but the norm. Political marriages with no true love nor passion from both sides. Smiles that are plastered on their faces when in their hearts, they are broken and wish to live freely.

"And… that was the reason why you didn't want to involve Hiro-san with yourself?"

"Except for the fact that I cannot return his love because I will inevitably be married off to an heir of a political family, there is also the side of my heart that still shouts to me that this isn't the kind of life that I desire to have for the rest of my life… Every time I see him, and he asks me why I am avoiding him, I am reminded that I can escape all of this just by taking his hand…"

"…"

"I can escape that horrible life and future if I just take his hand and face what will be ahead of us… but I guess that I was smart enough due to the pressure that my parents put on me to realize that it wouldn't be for the best."

"What do you mean?"

"It's something that you understand and bitterly choose for your own sake. I can either follow my family's wish and be set out for life with nothing to worry about other than the death of my own free will… or I can escape from all of that and never know what will come for me and him in the future…"

I see… Chikako-san was made to believe by his family that the only viable future for her is the one where she has to live only as a doll with no freedom. She was following orders all her life that she yearns for a chance to choose but cannot handle its unsure consequences.

"It was already too late for me when I had a chance to escape that kind of thinking… I was kidnapped by some powerful people to participate in this sick gathering that they call as "The Festival of Flesh"… I overheard a conversation of the guards that are holding me along with a few other kidnapped female students that my family arranged for this so I can meet and hook in a minister's son that was attending the party… to put it bluntly, they took their own daughter and sold her out to someone they knew would someday be a powerful person."

I can hardly contain the pain that I sensed by empathizing with her story. It was beyond horrible… In the arranged marriages that I know, the family of both the groom and bride at least sets it up so that the two will know each other enough and would explain to them the importance of their union. Though it usually still is a loveless marriage purely done for the sake of practicality for the two families, I believe that it is still better than the cruel way that it was done for Chikako-san.

"When I was almost out of any hope and I am ready to finally lose any figment of my own will, Hiro came and pulled me out of that place. He's nothing but a normal guy, he belongs to no prominent or rich family, and he won't be faulted for giving up on me too… But he still drove in there, wreaked havoc, fought through layers of guards and security barriers, only to save us who was kept there… At that moment, I felt both happy and ashamed."

"Happy and ashamed? Why?"

"Because I gave up on us… and yet, he didn't. He knew that the chance of us meeting again and being together is beyond slim… probably even lower than zero, and yet, he charged forward just to be with me again. I was glad to be saved… and ashamed that I didn't have faith that he will save me."

"…"

"At that very moment, I forgot about everything that my parents forced me to believe in and from the bottom of my heart, I admitted that I loved that man whom I have always adored but was never able to admit my devotion to."

"Then… about your death…"

"Right. That was my regret before I kicked the bucket…"

She has talked about her death in a bittersweet way before. But it was only right now that she fully opened about it.

"It was after the security group in that party reorganized that they tracked us across the mountain forest. Instead of recapturing us, the organizer of the party said that we should be killed. Hiro did his best to bring me and one of his female friends back to Old Tokyo where we can hide out, but I was shot by a sniper and bled out while he is carrying me."

"And all of that happened just an hour after you broke out?"

"Yeah… we were no expert escapees. We left a lot of tracks on the forest while we're trying to find a car to escape in. They found us and I was shot… Hiro lifted me on his shoulder and told me that everything will be fine… but…"

She breathed out with a bitter smile before saying the rest of the story.

"I hugged him while he's starting a car and told him that I'm sorry for not taking his feelings seriously all this time. He told me not to say things like that when we have just met again and promised to be with each other… but I knew that I can't live for too long. I gave my first and last "I love you" and closed my eyes. Before I died, I heard him tell his friend to bring and bury my body at a place where no one will find and dig me up, and that he will stay behind to buy us time."

"So, in the end…"

"Yes… he must've known something about those people for him to ask his friend to hide my body. He then stayed behind and probably died because for him, I was no longer in that world."

After she finished narrating her story, the two of us fell silent after so long. While I was talking to her, I felt like time never passed by… It was only now that I felt how long we have been telling stories like this to each other.

"Say, Chikako-san…"

"Yes?"

"If you were given the chance to meet again, what would you do just to meet Hiro-san again?"

"…"

"I mean, both of you regret never being able to be a couple and live for each other's sake. If there is any justice in this world, I believe it is just fitting that you two be able to fulfill that kind of regret."

I wanted to say those words simply to console her after what she went through, but she soon smiled and told me something that caught me off-guard.

"That's something that you and the man that you love have to do for us."

"Huh?"

"Aoyama Chiyo… I'm glad that I received such a name in the new world."

"W-wait, Chikako-san! What are you talking about?"

At that moment, I felt a warm feeling on my chest. I placed my hand over it and when I raised it to my eyes, my hand was stained with blood.

"Wait… this is…"

"We're one, Chiyo."

"C-C-Chikako-san…"

And when I returned my eyes to her, she too, has the same bloodied bullet hole on her chest as I do.

"You are what I am in your new world built atop my old one. You are my second chance to fulfill the fate that was broken between me and Hiro."

"B-But I don't understand! I am Aoyama Chiyo! I can't possibly be the same as you and your bittersweet story with the man that you loved!"

"Exactly, Chiyo."

"Huh…?"

"You and I will not have the same life, because unlike me, you have lived a life that even if you didn't fully enjoy in your youth, it was still something that you didn't regret."

At that moment, she placed her bloodied hand on my own bloodstained hand in a way where they perfectly matched each other and spoke to me with a smile that radiated true joy.

"It was regret upon regret that destroyed my life. I hated doing things and I kept on regretting it. But you… you hated things, but you never regretted doing it because you learned from them. I didn't think in the same way as you did… and I never got to learn and grow up as a person like you did."

"Chikako-san…"

"So… I will be leaving everything to you now, new me. I… I received a second chance to meet and love Hiro. And meeting you right now and hearing about your love towards Hiroshi-san makes me confident that things will turn out in a good way now… for both me and him through you two who are our reincarnations."

"Ah-!"

Chikako-san embraced me tightly before she slowly turned into particles of light.

"Love that man and bring this world to a future different than ours… that… is what I believe would bring everyone's fates back to what they should have been."

And so, I returned her embrace as well before the bright space around us dimmed and I felt like I was being returned to my body.

"Haaah-!"

"C-Chiyo!"

"Chiyo-dono!"

I can barely make out who it was that are beside me. It seems like my eyes that has been closed for a long time is yet to return to their usual state.

"Wu… Wuu…"

"She's trying to speak!"

"What is she saying?"

"Shut up for a second, you two! Leave this to my sharp fox ears."

Unable to say these words in a proper way with my faint, raspy voice, I whispered it instead for them to hear.

"Where is… Hiroshi…?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"This used to be a bustling harbor city populated by over two hundred thousand people… Now, it's just a pile of rubble and charred buildings… that are still hiding the bodies of hundreds of people."

It's almost been a year since the day when someone that I trusted to be my ally and friend turned her back on me and made an attempt on the life of the person that I love. She also perpetrated the start of a war in the midst of the safe haven of our alliance… all in order to bring it under her control.

"My lord, it's time for us to leave."

"…"

"Our return to Kiko is of vital importance. We cannot afford to show discourtesy to our guests today."

Suffice to say, I had my own misgivings in my heart about what should be done against them. They are still my friends, and I am still at shock about what could be the reason for them to do something like this.

But after talking and making an attempt to reason with her, I learned that there really are times when I have to forget about what I personally feel and instead, decide about things in a way that a leader does… no matter how cruel it may turn out to become.

"Let me just breathe in a bit more of fresh air before we head to Naka… It's not every day that the army researchers don't conduct tests here… and besides, I need to reflect on what happened here sometimes."

"…If that is what you wish, my lord."

Kise… a province that is now under Kiko's grasp. A land who lost three-fourths of its population in the span of a week… and those who survived are now forever ostracized as traitors by everyone who knows about what happened inside their borders.

"You were cursed to follow your family's fate as this world's conjurer of the past world's horrors… I don't have any true ill feelings about you except for the fact that you almost killed Chiyo, Reika. So, stop appearing in my nightmares and rest your soul in Yomi already."

Her voice still echoes in my ears whenever I sleep… I can still remember how she beckoned to me as if I am the god that her family wishes me to become.

"Besides, since I will continue towards the kind of end to this war that I am envisioning… your voice will be drowned out by the other people who will surely not let me rest for the remainder of my life."

I have already decided… Since it seems like none of these people are willing to side with us through the mutual belief in the pursuit of the greater good, I will unite them in the only other way that I know.

"This country will bow down to order… or it will burn down to give way to order."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I'm back!"

"""Welcome back, Master Shinju!"""

"No need to welcome me back! Come with me, all of you!"

Today has been a long and tiring day for me…

"Master Kazuya! Over here!"

But all of my tiredness was gone after I received a call from my house which made me come back here as soon as possible.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"A little bit more, ma'am! Just a bit more push!"

"HYAAAAAA!!!"

"Masami…"

Today is a happy day for me, my wife and everyone in our abode.

"I-I-It's out!"

"W-Wait! Doctor, the other one is following through!"

"A-Alright! Nurse, take and clean this one."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

One of them has already come out, and soon, the other one followed and both of them gave out their cries that filled the house's corridors with cheers.

""U-Ungaaa! Ngaaa!!!""

"Master! You have twins!"

"I… I…!"

I can't believe it… no matter how much I tried to think if this is just a dream, this really is reality.

"Sir! You can enter the room now!"

"A-Alright!"

After the doctor let me into the room, I quickly sat down beside my two newborn children that are resting their heads on my wife's chest.

"Kazuya..."

"I'm here, Masami. I'm here…"

"Ahahaha… I thought you would be late. Today is a busy day for you, right?"

"Don't joke around like that. You know that I can't possibly be away when you're giving birth."

"Sure, sure… Thank you, dear."

I kissed her on the forehead as she looked at our children that has stopped crying and are now sleeping on her chest.

"Twins… The doctor did say that your belly was too big for a single birth, who could've known that we're really having twins."

"I'm just as surprised as you are. This is my first childbirth too…"

I took one of our children from her and cradled it on my arms. I peeled off the blanket that it was wrapped with to see what gender it is.

"Hehe! It's a boy! I've got a little man now."

"The other one here's a girl. I can already tell."

"How?"

"She has my nose and lips. My mother used to say that it runs on the women of our family."

"My, my… we each got our own mini-mes', huh? We're gonna have a good time dealing with these two from now on."

"Right… right…"

"Masami?"

While we are talking about looking forward to our new life as parents, Masami suddenly took in a few labored breaths before closing her eyes.

"Masami… Masami! Doctor!!!"

I was worried about her as she doesn't respond to my words at all. I shouted for the doctor to come and as soon as he and his nurses came, they quickly checked on her while I was cradling our children on my arms.

"Sir, she's catching her breath! Let's set up an oxygen line now!"

"Mm! Do it while I'm checking for her vital signs!"

"Masami… please be alright. Not now… please don't do this to me."

My heart was eaten bit by bit by anxiety as there was no confirmation yet about what is happening to her.

"Oxygen line is set, sir! Her breathing is also stabilizing!"

"She's unconscious but there's nothing wrong in her vitals."

"It seems like she's just very tired after her delivery… Master Shinju, Lady Nagisa just needs some rest."

"I-I see… Thank goodness."

"Shall we bring baby beds for your children and let them sleep beside their mother?"

"Y-Yes, please."

I handed my twins to the nurses who cradled the two before their beds came and they were tucked into them.

"We'll look after them properly, Master. For now, let's give the three of them lots of time to rest and we will inform you once Lady Nagisa is awake."

"Thank you… Thank you, everyone."

I left the room as the doctor opened the glass window of the bedroom so that the rest of our house's staff can finally see inside without disturbing them.

"It's twins!"

"Look over there, head maid! Lady Masami gave birth to twins!"

"They look adorable!"

"Hush now, everyone! Look over there, Nagisa-sama and the children are sleeping. Don't wake them with your shouts!"

While I am looking at our house's staff, I can't help but smile after seeing them treat us like a true family rather than maintaining a non-personal master-servant distance.

I wanted to look after the three of them for the rest of the day, but it soon was cut short when I received a call for immediate summons to Naka castle.

"The sender is Iwasawa-sama himself, master… He understands that you wish to look after your family in this special day and that it would be truly rude to call for you…"

"…"

"But he asks that you pardon him this time… you really are the only person that he can depend on about this thing."

"…I understand. Please tell Iwasawa-sama that I will be there within the hour."

"Understood, master."

After reading through the letter of summons and understanding the situation, I told the messenger to communicate my response to Iwasawa-sama and tell him that I will come within the hour.

"Darn it. Even though you lot are already rotting in jail, you're still bringing problems to me and the rest of the family."

"Master, what shall we do?"

"..."

Years has passed by, and yet, these people still bring shame and hardship for us in the Shinju clan.

"Take what remains of the records left by those traitors and bring them along with my luggage. I intend to clean our family's name now that the right time has finally come."

"As you wish, Master…"

I arrived at Naka castle at the exact time that I spoke about and quickly made my way to the audience chamber of Naka castle where I was summoned to.

"Congratulations and welcome to the dad's club."

"Oh, Minister Kurogawa! How did you hear about it?"

"My wife was talking to Nagisa-san earlier on the telephone when she suddenly began to shout in pain. We thought something happened and I called the main phone of your house, only to be told by your head maid that she's going into labor."

"I see… thank you for your regards, sir."

"No problem, kid- I mean, Shinju-san. It's awkward to call you as "kid" when you're a father now."

"It hasn't sunk in yet for me too. I think it would take a while before I get used to it."

"Take your time. All of us dads went through that too."

Our conversation was cut short when the castle crier shouted Iwasawa-sama's arrival.

"His Highness and Kirin Lord, Iwasawa Hiroshi! Entering the throne room!"

"""Welcome back, Iwasawa-kou-sama."""

"Thank you, everyone. Let's be seated now and proceed with the subject at hand. Time is of great importance right now."

We all took our seats and without any of the usual courtesies, went straight to the topic of our meeting and the reason why I was here.

"It's no longer a secret… the colonial countries of the west have discovered us and are waiting for the outcome of our war against the Northern Coalition. One of them in particular is someone that we have, to some extent, have already formed a relationship with even before my enthronement. Shinju Kazuya, are you here?"

"I am, my lord."

"Mm. First of all, I wish to say sorry for summoning you here when you should be beside Nagisa-san right now. But with the situation as it is, we need your attendance here."

"Please let it not bother you, Kou-sama. I am always at your beck and call."

After our appropriate exchange, I took out the old scroll from my luggage case and presented it for all to see.

"This is the ledger containing the Kawasumi clan's trade deals with a foreign nation that they simply call as "red-robed, white men". From the language used to sign these old invoices, I can confirm that it is indeed the Kingdom of Britain that they have encountered and traded with at this date."

I reached out the scroll to a servant who brought it near Iwasawa-sama and inspected it for a moment before speaking the words that we never expected to hear today.

"Everyone… it seems like we now have the world's eyes set upon us."

"""W-What?"""

"We cannot afford to lose against the Coalition… not just for the sake of preserving our nation's unity but also to protect its very existence."

Our nation that was once clouded in mystery from the rest of the world… is now being watched by everyone who wishes to encroach into it.

"We must make haste. The disorder being brought by the Coalition can no longer be allowed to exist for long."

The next words that he gave brought shock to our ears and would probably haunt us for the rest of our lives.

"If we cannot win as soon as possible, I believe that we will have to fight against the entire world itself."