We Can Figure This Out, Together

[TAMIKO]

"He's alive. I can feel his heart beating. They are slow heartbeats, but I can hear them. That brings me to the question of why? You are the lycan Lord and if you needed to go to war, you could have just done so without having to worry about anything. 

"Yet you went through the hassle of taking what was mine, harming what was meant for me, and taking the one thing that could give me hope of staying sane for a while. So I want to know why you did it.

"Why did you take the letters Kosta left me? It's not like he was giving me a reason to go look for him when he already left. So why?" Tamiko asked, ignoring the dark chuckles from the other lycans. 

He knew that he was still young and that he had no real power to make him mean anything, but if he was going to die because he challenged the lycan lord for intruding and not respecting his privacy then the young lycan was ready to do it. 

He didn't care that he would be hurt in so many ways. 

He didn't care that there was a lot that he needed to come to terms with and more than anything, he didn't care that they were headed to Kawai, or that there was a high chance that the lycan Lord would get bored and kill him. 

"I didn't do anything. You accuse me of so much and that is not fair, Hinata. I mean if I wanted your letters, which I didn't even know what they had, I couldn't have gone the long way. I could have gone to your KOSTA and told him to bring them to me. 

"I am his Lord Commander after all. Besides, last I heard, Chief Konstantin left Grealor earlier today. I have no reason to come after you, unless you did something that could put the security of the Kawai citizens," Lord Sadako said calmly, making the warriors stare blankly at the duo. 

The lycan lord that they knew may have been kind, but being this understanding with anyone who wasn't the lycan king, was not what they had expected or even gotten used to. 

This was new and they didn't even have the strength to sit and listen to the mad duo. So they excused themselves, woke their friend who had fake-died, and made their way back home, through a portal that they created a little too conveniently.

"You tell me. I am not the one who came to Grealor and demanded the impossible, or was I?" Tamiko asked angrily, now that they were left alone.

He knew that it wasn't fair, but he was desperate for answers. He was certain that there was a  lot he needed to understand, and that this was probably a power play. 

However, even in all that, Tamiko didn't understand how he could be any important. He was an outcast, one lycan who was abandoned in the land of the wolves. Sure, Grealor may have been full of shitty people, but they had made him into who he was. 

They had given him a home, however toxic and dangerous that home was. 

Grealor had cared for him in their sick twisted way and Tamiko was thankful that they cared enough.

"You're angry, Hinata. Sit, let me try to help you understand what is making you anxious. I promised I would always be there for you, remember?" Sadako said and Tamiko raised a brow at him. 

As he stood there with the lycan lord, as he watched the man carefully sit, Tamiko couldn't help but wonder why the man was so determined to get him to Kawai. There was just nothing that made sense to him. 

However, right now, the only thing Tamiko sought were answers. He was curious to know what was in those letters that Igor had decided was important to his vengeance. It was important to him and he wasn't going to pretend about it.

"If I sit, will you tell me the truth?" Tamiko asked, clearly not in the mood for bluffs.

"I would never lie to you, Hinata. That is a promise I make with my life on the line. Sit, son. Let's try to figure this out together," Sadako said earnestly and softly. He looked different from the man who had just walked into Grealor and had wanted heads to roll. 

Anyone would assume the lycan enforcer was bipolar. But then he was just a man who had missed his nephew for a long time and he would do whatever it took to make sure that Tamiko was happy. 

Sadako was determined to be the shoulder he had promised Tamiko.

"That's intense… But whatever. So what's the truth?"

"You had suspicions about the letters missing. And from what I read in Galya's mind, you asked her if she knew the handwriting. Let's both be honest with each other son, you suspected someone else. 

"You suspected someone whose handwriting Galya is familiar with no? Besides, no one has seen me hold a pen or even write anything for twenty-five years. 

"The last thing I wrote was the notice to announce that the queen of Kawai had fallen," Sadako said and Tamiko felt like he had just been punched in the gut. 

Of course, he was sure that Sadako wasn't telling him this to guilt trip him, but then hearing him talk about the situation made Tamiko's initial suspicions resurface.

"Well, it was just a thought. She knows many people so perhaps she could have known the person who wrote that," Tamiko defended and Lord Sadako burst into laughter. 

He knew that Tamiko was avoiding the truth, but now as they sat in the evening sun, and watched the sunset together, lord Sadako knew Tamiko was in denial.

"I could take care of the situation if you want me to. Someone invaded your privacy, and you know that someone. If killing them is an issue, I have people who wouldn't hesitate to ruin their lives. 

"After all, the relationship between Kawai and Grealor is tense right now. I could make it seem like they were collateral damage in a mindless game of death played by the lycan enforcer. 

"It's not like anyone has the guts to come after me or even take me to trial for being a psycho, right? It will be a clean and spotless one, no one will even suspect anything," Sadako said with a smirk and Tamiko stared at the enforcer.

For the first time, Tamiko wondered what the hell was going on in the enforcer's mind; and while he was truly curious, Tamiko didn't want to get in there. It was like a pandora, that much he could feel.

"No one is killing anyone today. I have lost enough people," Tamiko said and Sadako shrugged, as if to tell the young lycan that it was just a harmless suggestion.

But was it really?

"So you don't want my help in making them pay, damn son, that hurts," Sadako fake-cried.

"I will deal with her in my own way. Maybe she was nervous because Igor chose me for his erasthai. But that shouldn't be an issue. Igor is known to be openly gay right?" Tamiko asked and this time, the lycan enforcer let out peals of laughter and sat himself comfortably. 

He was going to enjoy every bit of this.

"Uh huh… Tell me more, son," Sadako said amidst laughter.