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I will also leave it on the comments.
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The men of the Himejima clan left the place with difficulty. They had travelled a distance of about five hundred metres when I looked at my companion.
"Kuroka, finish them off."
The order was clear and straightforward, with no room for doubt. Kuroka looked at me and nodded, realizing what I meant.
She created fifteen [Kasha] and hurled them silently at the men of the Himejima clan.
But before the [Kasha] reached the hundred-meter mark, another fifteen lightning bolts struck and destroyed them.
"Why are you doing this, Barakiel?"
He had been the one who destroyed Kuroka's [Kasha].
I still don't understand why he doesn't do anything against the Himejima clan members.
"I can't kill them, neither can you, and neither can Kuroka. None of us can massacre the members of the five great clans. We don't have the power to fight those who support them from behind."
Barakiel lets out a slight sigh.
"Who's behind them, so that someone like you won't make a move?"
"Takama-ga-hara"
So it's true.
I thought it was a joke, but it's not. The Shinto gods are behind the five great families.
"The Shinto gods do not pay much attention to the human side and have left all their work in the hands of the five great clans. At the same time, they left a sacred beast in each clan so that they could protect themselves. They will do nothing if you merely beat them as I have done before, but it will be different if I kill them. Although I am not afraid of the gods, I cannot protect my life and my wife and daughter at the same time."
Barakiel and I were silent. Shuri kept trying to calm Akeno, who was in a state of shock after what happened. Raynare and Kuroka did not speak either, it was not the best time to do so.
"Mommy, why do they want to kill me? Why can't I live?"
"Akeno..."
Hang in there, Drako. Now is not the time to make enemies with the gods. I have time, plenty of time to make them my own.
For now, I think calming Akeno is the most important thing.
I go up to her and stroke her hair.
"Drako?"
She looks up, staring into my eyes.
"Why couldn't you live? We all deserve the opportunity to live, grow and experience a future. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something, ever. If you want to live, live. If you want to die, die. Don't let anyone decide for you, Akeno. Only you can decide your own actions, and suffer the repercussions of those actions taken by you. Do you understand?"
"Hmm" Akeno nods her head.
Shuri looks at us with soft eyes. She releases Akeno and pushes her towards Barakiel.
"Honey, why don't you go inside the house with Dad?"
"What about you, Mommy?"
"I have something to talk to Drako, we'll follow you in soon."
Akeno looks at her mother and looks at me. I nod my head, and she smiles at me, after which she runs into her father's arms.
"Kuroka, Raynare, why don't you come in too?"
Barakiel seemed to know something that Shuri wanted to talk to me about. Raynare followed him without hesitation, but Kuroka seemed to doubt whether to follow him or not.
"Come on, this seems like a big deal."
After telling him that, Kuroka doesn't hesitate any more and follows Barakiel, Akeno and Raynare into the Shrine.
The only ones left on the outside are Shuri and me. She lets out a sigh as she sits on the wall of the Shrine. I followed her actions and sat next to her, barely three feet away.
The current Shuri did not look like the gentle housewife. She still had that tender look in her eyes, but she looked much more tired and sad.
"I am sorry you had to suffer that embarrassing scene, even you have suffered grievous insults. I know it's very presumptuous of me to say forget it, but I'm saying it for your sake. The gods... we can't do anything in front of the gods. I don't ask you to forgive them, because I don't forgive them, and I don't ask you to forget, because I don't either. Just... don't commit actions against the Himejima family."
I did not respond to Shuri's words. I can't promise that I won't do anything against the Himejima family.
"I won't do anything... for now."
I'm not stupid, I can't face the gods. Unlike those monks, I don't have anyone that strong behind me.
I have Tiamat, but I do not know if she would be willing to face an entire pantheon just to defend me. At the same time, I don't want to depend on her to act freely.
That's why I have to become stronger, stronger so that no one can reproach me for my actions. Strong so that situations like this don't happen again.
"That's good. This incident will be lost in your memory over time."
No.
You're wrong, Shuri.
Suou Himejima has to die.
Shuri was silent as she looked at the sky. She sighed again.
I... I don't know what to say to Shuri right now. Her family situation is complicated, and they're the kind of problems I'm not good at solving.
I have a headache just thinking about it.
In some ways, it's a relief not to have "family" in this life.
"Hey, Drako. Will you look after Akeno for me?"