Sweet Burden (55 page)

“Do you hear that?” she asked.

“Hitomi, hush.” Obi let go of her hand and turned his head from side to side. She followed his eyes unable to determine where the sounds were coming from. The moon had disappeared again behind the clouds making it very hard to see anything. “Someone is coming,” he whispered before grabbing her and forcing her behind a tree. He pressed her back against the trunk as he smashed his body against hers.

The steps got louder as Hitomi tried to control her breaths. She found it difficult to concentrate on anything except his body pressed so hard against hers. Her nose was smashed into his neck and she closed her eyes breathing in his scent. Unexpectedly he pushed away from her and lept out from behind the tree.

“What are you doing?” Obi asked the unseen person. Hitomi glanced out from behind her hiding spot seeing Guri standing there in front of Obi.

“Trying to find you two,” Guri replied.

“Guri!” Hitomi ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re alright.”

“Of course I’m alright.” She looked up at him as he smirked. “I’m a little irritated you ran away from me though.”

“Sorry,” Hitomi replied simply.

“You’re forgiven.” His smile widened and he gave her a quick squeeze before letting her go. “We should get back to the others.”

“Is everyone okay?” Obi questioned giving another wary glance around.

“Depends on who you mean by ‘everyone’,” Guri answered as he raised an eyebrow. Hitomi noticed Guri and Obi exchange a momentary look.

“Domitori has been eliminated,” Obi simply stated.

Guri gave a nod. “They’re waiting for us.” He turned and started back through the woods as Obi walked over and took Hitomi’s hand again. They followed Guri until they were back where the battle had begun. Rediisu was standing in the middle of the area with a make-shift torch. The fire cast an eerie orange glow across the leaves and branches. Hitomi noticed Liam sitting against one of the trees. He stood up as they approached and crossed his arms moving over towards Rediisu.

“I found them,” Guri announced.

Rediisu stepped forward. “Are you both alright?” he asked glancing between Hitomi and Obi.

“We’re good. Where are Deiman and Kooisan?” Obi answered quickly.

“Kooisan was eliminated. As far as Deiman is concerned, we don’t know.” Rediisu glanced up into the sky as Obi removed his gun from where it was tucked in the back of his jeans. Rediisu returned his gaze back down and focused on Hitomi. “Where did the other man go?”

Hitomi shrugged as she noticed Obi become very tense again. “Obi, he was obviously on our side.” She laid her hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him.

“Of course I am on your side,” the man’s voice boomed behind her. Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and raised their weapons. However, Hitomi did not feel threatened. She stepped forward as Obi tried to grab her arm. She avoided his grasp and took a few more steps.

“Show yourself,” she demanded. The man stepped out of the darkness and moved towards her. Obi stepped up to her side with his gun pointed at the man, but he did not stop as he moved forward. “Who are you?”

“My name is Gareth,” he answered as he dropped down to his knee and lowered his head. “My lady.”

Hitomi instantly felt embarrassed by his display. She began to fidget and bit at her bottom lip. She turned and looked at the other three behind her. Guri gave her a warm grin and also knelt down to his knee. Rediisu and Liam were soon to follow him. She turned her eyes back up to Obi, who was watching the other three shinigami. He lowered his gun and turned to her. He took a deep breath and dropped down to his knee.

“Don’t do that,” she erupted as she grabbed at his arm trying to pull him back up. She was not going to have them start treating her like some god or queen. “I will not have you four bowing to me.” She tugged at him again, but when he did not move she rushed over to Guri. “Get up. You guys are never to bow to me. You are my friends.” Guri started to stand as she went over to Rediisu and Liam. “Stand up now. You are all being ridiculous.” Rediisu and Liam stood back up and she went back over to Obi. “Obi, please get up.” He did not move and she was quickly kneeling in front of him. “Obi?” Hitomi reached over and put her hand under his chin to make him look at her. When he lifted his head, his eyes appeared worried and sad. “You especially are never to lower yourself to me.” His eyes searched her face and they both stood up together. His lips trembled as she leaned up to him and kissed him. “You are always my equal.” She turned to the other three. “As are you guys.” She spun back around to the other man still kneeling and stepped closer to him. “Gareth, please get up.”

“As you wish.” He stood up and appeared even taller than before. He eyed the group of death gods curiously.

“Who exactly are you?” she questioned wondering what connection he had to Isbian. “I’m assuming you were sent by Isbian.”

“Yes.” He nodded and then glanced around. “I will explain everything once we have made sure you are back within the barrier. I suggest we get to the cabin.”

“He’s right,” Rediisu agreed. “We should go.” He walked up behind Hitomi and put his hands on her shoulders. “I will take you Hitomi.”

“I will take her,” Obi interjected.

“Obi, you’re not fully healed. It’s fine. I can go with Rediisu. I know you’ll be right there.” She smiled in an attempt to comfort him, but she could tell from his expression he was upset. Rediisu scooped her up in his arms and within the few seconds it took for her to get situated in his grip Obi had already taken off up into the sky.

“He’ll get over it,” Rediisu mumbled as his wings came out. They flapped once and they took off into the air. The night air was even colder up higher and Hitomi shivered. She watched Obi flying next to them and she could sense everyone else behind them. It was only a few minutes until they touched down outside the cabin. Rediisu set her down and Obi was immediately at her side. She took his hand in hers as Guri, Liam, and Gareth landed.

“Obi?” she mumbled.

“Hm?”

“Don’t let go no matter what, okay?” She smiled up at him. He gave a nod in response as the door opened to the cabin. Regina came rushing out and wrapped her arms around Hitomi, but Hitomi refused to let go of Obi’s grasp.

“Hitomi, thank god you’re alright. What were you thinking sneaking out of here and going off alone?” Her mother pulled away and rested her hands on her shoulders. “That was very dangerous. You can never do that again. You don’t know what you risked.”

“Yes, I do. I met Isbian in the woods earlier. He told me everything.” Hitomi stared at her mother, whose eyes widened.

“Let’s get inside.” She tried to usher Hitomi inside, but Hitomi would not budge without Obi.  Her mother let go of her glancing between them then turned and went into the cabin. Rediisu, Guri, Liam and Gareth followed behind her and the door shut with a thud. Hitomi shifted her gaze up to Obi.

“I don’t know if I can go in there knowing that I am the reason you put yourself in danger,” he said with guilt coming from every word.

“Obi, stop. I’m the one who shouldn’t have run away in the first place. You can’t blame yourself. Let’s go inside and get dried off. Everything is over.”

“Nothing is over.” He shook his head. “Everything is just beginning.”

Hitomi bit at her bottom lip and gave a nod. “I know. But we need to regroup and figure out where to go from here.” Obi reluctantly agreed as he squeezed her hand. She led him inside as everyone glanced up from their positions around the coffee table. Neither one of them said anything as they went into the bedroom. Hitomi shut the door and let go of his hand. She walked away from the door and across the room as she pulled off her sweater.

“I should go into the main room and let you change,” Obi stuttered over his words and when she turned back to him, he had positioned himself looking at the door.

“Since you’re staring at the door, you can stay.” She let out a little laugh and peeled off her soaked clothing. Hitomi quickly changed into her dry pajamas and slipped on some socks as she walked up behind Obi. She put her hands on his back and slid them around his waist. “I’m going to go out there while you get changed.” He gave a slight nod as he turned around still in her grasp.

“I love you. You know that, right?” he mumbled as he placed his hands on either side of her face.

“Yes.” She smiled as he leaned down and gently kissed her. But this kiss was different than before. She could feel the hesitation in his lips as they moved with hers. He was being too careful as if she was a porcelain doll about to break. After the kiss he rested his forehead against hers. She wasn’t sure what she could say to wash away Obi’s guilt, but she knew that it would take him some time to get over. Hitomi let go of him and went out to the main room where everyone was sitting and waiting quietly. She took a seat on the couch in between her mother and Guri.

“Are you doing alright sweetie?” Regina asked putting her arm around Hitomi’s shoulders.

“Yah. I guess. It’s a lot to take in. But I want to know how you guys knew there was trouble.”

Guri gave her a nudge as he smirked. “You’re not very good at shielding your emotions yet. I could feel the worry coming from you. But at first I figured you were just concerned about Obi, until I could no longer sense you. I knew you had left, but I thought maybe I would sense you and Obi come back shortly. When I didn’t, that’s when I knew something was wrong.”

Hitomi grinned at him. “Thank you Guri. I wanted to tell you what was going on, but they were threatening Obi’s life. I couldn’t put him at risk.”

“But he is your protector. It is not your duty to protect him,” Gareth said leaning forward from the chair across from them.

Hitomi’s brow wrinkled. “Who exactly are you?”

“I go by the name Gareth. I was previously an advisor to your father. When you were born, your father put me in charge of watching over you if anything should happen to him. We took certain measures to keep you hidden and safe and then I went into hiding myself after your father was killed. I came to this area knowing there was a barrier around it and found Isbian’s soul still roaming the Living World. I stayed here with him knowing that I would reveal myself when the time was needed. He has sent me to now be your advisor, my lady.” He bowed his head slightly causing Hitomi to twitch.

“You said there were certain measures taken to keep me hidden. What did you mean?” she asked.

“After you were born, we had the protector made for you but we had his powers masked with that of a death god’s. Then one of Isbian’s other advisors turned to the Afterworld and became one of the council members to be able to oversee everything going on within that world. If you were ever to be discovered, that council member was to make sure that you ended up on your protector’s list. Although, I’m not sure what has happened to him. He stopped contacting me only months ago. I would assume he is still on the council since everything seemed to work out. Regardless, once your protector made contact with you his role as your protector would automatically take over. We’ve had to hide many angels and protectors as death gods over the years.” Gareth glanced around the room. “Although, there are those that chose to leave the Heavens on their own.”

“After so many years though, why was I just discovered now?” Hitomi inquired.