35 Who are you?

"What's the rush?" I said as both me and my grandpa made our way to the garden, leaving Ashikaga alone in the infirmary.

"Just shut up and follow me." He snapped.

"No seriously, why are we running?" I asked as we walked at breakneck speeds.

He only spared a glance in my direction as he walked in front.

"There's something I need to talk to you about. It can't wait, and it cannot be done here." 

As we rounded a corner, my grandpa opened a sliding door leading out into the wisteria filled garden. 

"Just this way." He pointed to a spot in the forest.

It was just as I remembered. The vibrant purple hues of the wisteria, the luscious green of the undergrowth, the crystal clear fish ponds and the neatly paved path cutting through its center. Truly, if I had somewhere I'd want to spend the rest of my life in, it would be this place. Perhaps that's why he spent so much time here.

We walked into the trees and after a few steps, I found myself face to face with the same large boulder my grandpa always says on.

"Wait a second." He said while making his way up the boulder. "I think best when on this rock." 

"Sure. So what is it?" I asked.

"Shut up, I'll ask the questions." 

'Why's he so agitated?' I thought, looking at my grandpa who was unusually apprehensive. 'It's not like him.' 

"Were you at the village?" He suddenly asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What village?" 

"The one on the mountain." 

"I was." 

He took a brief pause.

"Did you encounter any demons?" 

"What's with the interrogation?" I asked, taken off guard by the sudden questioning.

"Did you or did you not." He snapped.

"I did." 

His eyes narrowed as he took a deep breath.

"I received an interesting report, you see. About a little brat fighting a lower moon and losing his arm. Or something along those lines. 

Now, I am not accusing you in any way, but, what are the chances of two young breath users being in the same place at the same time? So, was it you?" 

I hesitated for a moment.

"It was." 

He scoffed.

"Of course. But that does leave me with a glaring problem. The report mentioned a severed arm with all its blood vessels ruptured, so then, how do you have two arms?" He questioned, pointing at my intact left arm.

'Shit. I didn't think he'd find out.'

"A magician never reveals his tricks?" I answered.

"Cut the crap kid. What the hell happened up there?" 

I shrugged.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Take a look at this." 

I opened the sack I had been carrying around all day and tossed him the book containing the observation and control techniques. Even if someone were to somehow achieve the first stages, without any biological knowledge, it would be borderline useless.

He opened it and began reading. After a few seconds though, his curiosity turned into pure shock.

"How the…" He muttered. "Where did you find this?" 

"The old guy had it." I answered.

"You… did you actually learn this technique?" He said, his voice unsteady.

"It took me a whole year." 

My grandpa didn't even attempt hiding his surprise anymore. He shifted his gaze between me and the book before tossing it back to me.

"Listen, that technique you just learned, it's not supposed to work. That crusty old fossil only came up with it as purely a theoretical exercise, it was never meant to be used. As far as I know, he and I are the only people who even know of its existence." 

"Then, if you knew about it, why didn't you learn it? Surely you must've recognized its potential." I asked.

"That's easier said than done. It's supposed to be impossible, a pure fantasy thought up by a man with more than a few loose screws. That is to say, it is impossible. Yet, as you stand before me, I realize it is not." He placed his chin in palm. "Not only that, you seem to have gone beyond even that territory of impossibility and ascended into a completely different realm."

"Thank you for the high praise, but I just got lucky. I was only able to learn it because of some extraordinary circumstances." I replied honestly.

My grandpa raised a brow in suspicion.

"You call it luck, I call it a miracle." He muttered.

"Is that why you called me? To ask me about the stuff I learned?" I asked.

"Haha, of course not, I couldn't care less, I'm not a slayer anymore. No, I was going to warn you, the corps are on high alert about any new members who happen to be missing an arm or two. But since you have both, I guess there's nothing to worry about." He said.

"About that, how do I join?" 

"Hm." 

He narrowed his eyes again and scanned me from head to toe, making sure to not overlook a single detail. When he met my eyes, he stared into them for a good while as though trying to see what lay behind them.

He nodded with a smirk on his face.

"Good." He suddenly spoke out. "You're ready. Whatever happened up there, something is definitely different. I just wish it would have done something to fix your personality. Well, you can't have them all." He pensively said.

"I see you didn't change much either, you old geezer, you should try to amend you know? You don't have much time left. Next time I come back, I'll make sure to bring some nice flowers for your grave." I mocked while crossing my arms.

"Unfortunately for you, I still have a few good years in me. As for you, just make sure you don't get your head bit off." 

I rolled my eyes.

"So, how do I join the slayer corps?" 

"I'll tell you when the time comes." He said.

"Huh? Yea, alright." I knew better than to argue with his antics. I was sure he had a good reason so I didn't say anything more.

"Not gonna argue? Did you lose your spark, little boy?" He raised a brow.

I felt a vein pop on my forehead.

"Nevermind, I'll kill you myself." 

"Yea yea, just head back inside and go to sleep. Don't forget to show up to training tomorrow, we'll be joined by all the other numbskulls too." 

"Right, see you tomorrow." I said.

"Oh right, I assume you got stronger after all that training." He added.

I thought about it for a bit with my head pointed towards the sky.

"Hmm. I guess." 

"Then, I'm looking forward to it." 

"It's nothing special. If that's all, I'm leaving." I said as I turned away and began walking out.

"Oh, one more thing, kid." He said.

I turned around to face him.

"What?" 

"It's good to see you again. Everyone missed you." 

I paused for a moment.

"I missed everyone too. It feels weird to be back, in a good way."

He gave me a warm smile.

"That's right. And don't forget to show up to training tomorrow."

"Yea, tomorrow then." 

After saying our goodbyes,  I walked out of the clearing and made my way back towards the infirmary. It was really late, I didn't have a clock or anything, but by the pale moon hanging in the sky, I could tell it was.

To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was expecting from our reunion. It wasn't like grandpa would suddenly turn into a kind hearted person, regardless of how much time passes.

'He was probably born as a bitter old man, I can't really picture him acting any other way.' I thought with a chuckle.

I opened the door to a much quieter and calmer infirmary, most of the beds were taken up by patients simply resting, with a few medical staff alternating between them.

I looked over to where my area was, the curtains still drawn and no nurse going in or out.

Moving the curtain aside, I spotted Ashikaga mulling over something as she played with the chess pieces on the bed.

"Why are you still here?" I asked, surprised by her presence.

"Huh?" She stammered out, equally surprised by my appearance.

"Don't you have stuff to do? As the head of the household I mean." 

Queen piece in hand, she twirled it around for a bit before sighing and regaining her composure.

"I would go, if not over half the guards I brought with me were in this infirmary." She said.

I looked behind me at the patients, there were more than a few faces I couldn't recognize, yet I thought it was because they were new.

"So, what are you gonna do?" 

She laid back on the bed with her head facing the ceiling.

"There's not much I can do right now. There are, however, a lot of things I need to do. But I guess that can wait." 

"Aren't you too relaxed right now? Don't tell me you became the head of your household so you could take it easy?" I questioned, not really minding the words coming out of my mouth.

Her eyes shifted from the ceiling to me. Her brows were ever so slightly knitted together to barely form a frown.

"And what's wrong with that? I didn't go through all those things so people like you could tell me how I should live my life. The whole reason…" She paused. "The whole reason I did what I did is so that I could finally be free, to live and think the way I want to." 

I quickly realized the weight of my words. I shouldn't have said what I did, especially not to her.

"Yea, sorr-" 

"It doesn't matter. You didn't go through what I did, and I didn't go through what you did. Neither of us should have a say on how the other lives their life." She interrupted.

I paid the interruption no mind, I wasn't in the mood to squabble over things like that. And even if she did sound high strung, her words held some truth to them. Though, something about what she said took me off guard.

"And how do you know I've gone through anything?" I asked.

Upon hearing my question, she moved her gaze and met mine. She peered into my eyes and I stared back. Inside her own pupils, a heavy, black liquid that swirled in a strange whirlpool pattern tugged at the vast ocean hidden inside her blue eyes. 

"Your eyes." 

"My eyes?"

She sat up and propped her head against the wall.

"Yes, your eyes. As beautiful as they are, they contradict themselves. As if they themselves do not know who they belong to. I can't quite tell for certain…" She trailed off. "Who are you really?"

I took a step back. 

All throughout my new life, I tried very hard to not think about my past life. And for the most part, it worked because after all, I didn't have a reason to. That is, unless something happened to remind me of who I was. Tonight was one of those times. It made me sick.

"Sorry I-" I stuttered.

I felt my emotions rise to an unbearable point. Nothing in this world could make me react like this, it truly was my one weakness. I would've thought that after all that time, I would stop acting like that whenever I remembered my past life, yet obviously that wasn't the case.

Immediately, like cutting a thread, I disconnected my mind from its emotions. The feeling of overwhelming emptiness returned, but even that was quickly stifled out.

Then, a voice echoed out.

"There. They're different now, almost hollow." 

Her remarks were strange. I didn't know if she was just guessing or if she had some magical intuition that enabled her to see right through me. Though none of those things bothered me at that moment.

I looked at her, mimicking the neutral face she always wore and she looked back. We stared at each other for what felt like a few minutes before the silence was finally broken.

"No need to look at me like that. You look like you're going to kill me. I was just curious, that's all." She shrugged.

I kept my eyes on her.

"I'm serious. It's nothing." She reaffirmed. 

Even in that state, I felt relief. Relief that she hadn't somehow found out what I truly was. I reattached my nodes and let out a heavy sigh.

"You're scary, you know that?" I chuckled, the intense negative emotions from earlier completely gone.

"That among other things. Anyway, I've decided."

"On what?" 

"I need to be here tomorrow anyway, so I'll be staying here tonight. My brother can handle the rest." 

"Are you sure?"

"Certain." 

"Speaking of, is your brother older than you?" I asked.

"Why do you ask?" 

"Just curious."

"Hm, he is younger than me, but not by much, around your age I would guess. Though, he does remind me of you somewhat."

"How so?" 

"Your obsession over fighting. Now that I think about it, it's almost uncanny." She said.

"Really? I'd like to meet him one day." 

"Maybe, who knows. Wait, never mind that, what are you going to do about my accommodation?"

"Right, follow me. I'll show you to one of the guest rooms." 

"Do you know where those are?" She asked.

"Good point." 

"Air-head" She muttered under her breath.

"Idiot." I replied, my enhanced hearing picking up on her words.

"Whatever, I'm going to look for my servants, at least they're more competent than you." 

"No need, also it's weird that you're just walking around here by yourself." 

"I don't particularly like having a security detail follow me around everywhere." She replied.

"Just stay here." I said.

I walked towards one of the nursing, who was actually a regular servant.

"Lady Ashikaga says she is tired and needs to rest. If you could show her around and prepare a bath for her, that would be great." I gently requested, but none of the servants could deny any of my requests except for maybe Ano.

"Certainly, young master." 

'She's been in this household longer than Ashikaga has been alive, so it should be fine.' I thought as I watched them walk off. 'Well, I guess I should clock out too.' 

I walked back to my room and crashed on my futon. I was excited to sleep on a proper bed for the first time in years. But even that excitement was short lived, because as soon as my head hit the pillow, I instantly fell asleep.