Chapter Ten: My family guardian tells my true identity

The things that have happened so far in our missions:

(1) Some crazy, bald, toothless, half-bodied old man told me that I have somehow endangered everybody

(2) I meet the storm god who tried to kill me and calling me 'sister' when it's pretty obvious that I'm not related to him in any way

(3) He summoned this golden dragon that tried to turn me into Kris-ka-bobs!

(4) A weird looking rabbit - that happened to be an ayakashi – showed up and saved my sorry ass

(5) The ayakashi that saved my life turned out to be a god who pissed Susanoo off and made him turn on his tail and leave

What else could happen?

The red-haired god folded his wings and then they glowed, disappearing a second later. He ran his hand over his spiky hair and fixed his gaze at me. Something about this guy seems so familiar.

"Hmph! Troublesome as always."

"Troublesome's my middle name, buster." I slowly got up. The guy in front of me let out a light chuckle.

"Definitely your father's child." He grumbled under his breath. A jolt of pain shook my body and I rubbed my sides. Damn! My ribs hurt like Yomi! I'm not an expert in medical ninjutsu and I'm least ten miles away from my team mates. I wonder if uncle had transported the villagers to the kingdom yet. I sure hope he did. It'll be all my fault if any of them were harmed, my team mates included. I was too distracted by the pain to notice the red god kneel at the same level as me and eyeing my ribs. "What's wrong?"

I jumped back at the proximity he's in. He still had a bored expression on his godly face. "Uh…" By the gods, he's hot!

"Are you in any sort of pain?"

"A few broken ribs. Luckily, my spine wasn't split in half after I was knocked over a row of trees by the dragon's tail whip." I pointed at the row of trees I just mentioned to him. I didn't expect him at all to look amused when he saw the sight of it.

"Of course, your spine wasn't broken. Not by that kind of attack anyway. Now let me see your injuries." I gasped when I felt his hand rubbing my sides. His hand glowed and warmth started coursing into my body. He's using some sort of medical ninjutsu to mend my broken ribs. In about ten seconds or so, the pain subsided and my ribs are fully healed thanks to him. He straightened and placed his hands on his hips. "Feeling all better now?"

"Yeah. Thanks, um…?"

"Suzaku," he answered. "Lord of the Southern lands."

"Okay. I'm Kris, then." I answered.

"Some damage you caused in this forest. We better fix it up, eh?" he snapped his fingers and everything was engulfed in a bright light. When I looked at my surroundings, everything's back to normal – like there had been no attack at all!

"Wow." I was speechless, needless to say.

"Let's head back to the village now, eh? The Uchiha brat will go hysterical with worry if I don't bring you back any time soon. And FYI I've undone the seal now." He sauntered off towards the direction of the village with me following right behind him. I didn't keep my eyes off his back while we made our way back to the village.

Suzaku, huh?

His name sounds awfully familiar. Where have I heard his name before? It feels as though we've known each other for a long time. If I wanna find out now's the time to ask.

"You know," I began. "You haven't told me who you really are yet."

"I believe I have told you my true identity, Kris."

"Yes, yes. I know! You are the mighty Suzaku, Lord of the Southern Lands who made the storm god turn tail and run. Do me a favor and cut the silly act. I know you know what I meant."

He stopped and turned with a sly grin on his handsome face that made shivers run up my spine. "Really?"

I nodded in response. "You must have some reason to save me. It's not like a god such as you to save a mere mortal like me without any reason."

"I don't quite follow you."

"Do you have some sort of… connection with my family or something?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. I am the patron of the Domanashi clan." I had to stifle a laugh. This guy is so blunt with his answers. There's no way a guy like him can be the god my family pays tribute to. It's just impossible.

"You're the patron of my clan?"

"You must have some difficulty in hearing, I suppose, but yes. I am the patron of the Domanashi clan."

"Got any proof?" I challenged him.

"What is the symbol of the Domanashi clan, Kris?"

"A wing." I answered.

"A Phoenix Wing." Suzaku corrected.

"Phoenix Wing, whatever. That still doesn't…" The realization hit me a like a punch to my face. Suzaku turned on his heels and continued walking. I followed after him. "So… how long have you been my family's patron?"

"Ever since your ancestors found the Domanashi Clan. So I'd say I've been your family's guardian for a very, very, very long time now."

"I see." There was silence for a few moments before I asked another question. "If you're my family guardian… does that mean you've been keeping an eye on me all this time?" he nodded gravely.

"I have been watching you for a long time." I wonder if I said something wrong. "… Ever since you were born." He added. I stared at him in mild surprise.

"Ever since I was born?" Suzaku nodded again. "Then how come I never see you around?" I asked.

"You ask too many questions, girl. Let's just head back to the village now. I will answer your question later." He does have a point. I bet Soren and the others must be worried about me sick. It didn't take us long to arrive back in the village. Everyone's been transported out of the village in time. The first person I spotted was my sensei and I called out to him.

"Sensei!" everyone turned to look at the direction of my voice. They all ran to me. From the looks on their faces, I'd say that they're worried about me.

"Where have you been, you silly girl?" my sensei growled with anger and concern.

"Sorry about that."

"We were worried sick about you, you know. There was an explosion in the forest so we came after you. But a barrier stopped us form going any further. Even with sensei's expertise in breaking barriers, the barrier was too strong for him." Yue explained. The barrier must be Susanoo's doing. He managed to lure me into his trap.

"Did you also sense a very strong chakra nearby?"

"That's the reason why we came after you!" Soren brought it up all of a sudden. "Your chakra signatures tell us that you were fighting with whoever that person is so we ran to help you. Unfortunately, that barrier came in the way. When the sky lit up, I can tell that wasn't a good sign at all." Suzaku caught his attention and the two of them had a little glaring contest. I noticed Yue and sensei grabbing their weapons. I can't blame them. Suzaku's chakra signatures make you think he's also an enemy like Susanoo. I smiled reassuringly to them. Yue and Sensei relaxed a bit, but Suzaku and Soren still had their glaring contest for another full minute. Yue leaned close to me and whispered.

"I believe you have to put an end to this, Kris."

"Yeah…" I whispered back. The sooner I did the better. I mean! This is getting too awkward even for me. "Are you two just going to glare at each other all day, you two?" I asked. It took a while for their little contest to end. My fiancé then turned back to me with a resentful glare.

"Wow," the raven said. "We've only been dating for six months and you've already cheated on me." He said with mocked hurt.

Suzaku was flabbergasted. "Di immortals! I don't date twelve year-old klutz girls!"

It was my turn to be flabbergasted. "I'm not a klutz!"

"You are too." Soren jumped in.

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Are too!" Everyone watched us like a tennis match.

"Anyway," sensei decided to butt in before this fight of ours escalated to higher levels. "Let's talk this over with some tea and dangos."

We went to the next village (not destroyed so this one doesn't count, ok?) and ate at the dango shop; sensei paid for everything. I told them about my encounter with Susanoo while they eat their dango, including Suzaku. He filled them in with the rest of the things I forgot to mention. Yue even commented that it was a miracle that I was able to hold my ground against an opponent like Susanoo until Suzaku showed up to come to my rescue as my knight in shinning armor [as sensei puts it]. Finally I came to the end,

"After my ribs were healed, we back to the village where I found you guys searching for me."

"So you didn't run off with this guy, then?" How many times does he have to ask that question before he's satisfied?

"No, Soren. I just met him earlier in the day when he saved my life from Susanoo. And he's my guardian for the love of Kami." Soren's shoulders seem to relax a little. Yue had to stifle a laugh at the sight of it.

"Who would've thought that the storm god himself would come after you?"

"And I can't believe he called you 'sister'. He's not your long lost brother or something, right?" Soren said.

"No he is not!" I hissed at the Uchiha. He shrugged it off and drank his refreshing mint tea. "He summoned another thunder ogre in an attempt to kill me, ya know?" I heard a chuckling noise from my right and saw Suzaku with an amused smirk plastered on his face.

"I thought you brats graduated from the academy. Those creatures are called Zanki."

"Zanki? But they're lightning oni. The ones we fought can summon thunder as well."

"Yes, it's a lightning oni but an ordinary Zanki would not have the ability to summon thunder as well. The one you fought at the palace came from the Underworld." He calmly folded his hands on top of the table and looked at us. Everyone sat still like stone statues. The news was too much to process for our brains. But sensei and the other two digested it faster than I can.

"Whoa! Whoa! Back up!" I rose from my seat and sensei and the others peered at me.

"What's the matter, Domanashi?" Yue asked. I flinched at the sound of my last name. For crying out loud! I made it very clear to everyone that not to call me by my last name, did I not? I gave him an undignified look and he hushed up, much to my satisfaction. I faced Suzaku once again.

"Zanki from the Underworld? You've got to be kidding me!" I whispered tightly.

"I'm not." He answered.

"Tell me more about them, then." I demanded but Suzaku held up his hand.

"We'll talk later. You guys look tired. We'll find an inn to stay for the night." He declared.

"I agree. Let's call it a day for now. And besides, we can't have a good conversation with such a noisy and crowded place like this." Sensei gave a quick side glance to the table behind us and we all nodded. After paying for the meal, we left and stayed in a little Japanese inn where we reserved two rooms. Yue and Helia-sensei occupy the first room; while Soren and I occupy the other. It left me wondering as to why sensei didn't reserve a third room for my family guardian here.

"What about you, Suzaku?" I asked.

"Don't worry about me, Kris. I'll be seeing you guys later. I just need to check something out."

"And what would that be?"

"Something important." With that, he disappeared. We went inside our rooms and started unpacking. Dinner won't be ready until seven so we decided to head for the hot springs. The hot water washed away all of my body pain and I let myself be soaked. Staying too long will cause you to collapse of heat stroke so I got out of the ladies bath after twenty minutes. Traditionally, you just wear a plain blue or white kimono if you're staying at an inn. While I was busy getting dressed, one of the inn workers knocked on sensei's door.

"Come in." at the sound of his voice, the worker pushed the door gently to the side.

"Good evening, sir. I was wondering if you would like us to get dinner ready."

"Please do." The woman nodded and closed the door again. When sensei sensed that the woman is a good distance away from the room, he pulled out his iPhone and dialed in a particular number. He waited for a few moments. And then he heard the person pick up the call. "Hey there!"

"Hey." The voice on the line replied. Whoever that person is, he sounded bored.

"How's your mission? Did you find him yet?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid. That sneaky bastard gets the fuck away from it all."

"Watch the language! You might end up being a shitty bad influence to your team mates." Sensei teased whoever that person was on the other line. Said mysterious person on line 2 chuckled.

"Tch! This coming from a man who's a shitty bad influence to his team mates himself. Did you call me for the sole purpose of asking me if I was a bad influence?"

Sensei gave some thought to it. "Hmm… Not really! The reason why I called you is because Kris has just encountered him." Guy#2 stiffened at what sensei said. He was trembling with rage and gripped his phone a little too hard; but luckily, the phone didn't break.

"She encountered him of all people?" the voice demanded.

"Easy there, tiger!" the guy eventually had his nerves cool down and started rubbing his temples. [Can't you just tell me who this mystery guy is already sensei? … Sensei said that I have to wait until he officially makes his appearance. Ugh!]

"How close did she get to him?"

"Not that close, really. But close enough to describe him precisely. I don't need to mention further, now do I?" he smirked. The guy on the other line is getting irritated. He managed to calm his jumping nerves down and took a deep breath.

"He looks just like him, huh?" he asked quietly. And his voice was unbelievably soft.

"From the way she described him, it's a yes. What are you going to do if you encounter the guy?"

"Catching up with him is out of the question. You know what he's like, don't you?"

"Oh, yes I do. Anyway, I'm gonna eat dinner. Talk to you some other time, then." After that, he hangs up. To say that it was a great dinner would be an understatement. The moment we got into the room, it was a feast laid out before us.

"Whoa…" Yue let out.

"Don't just stand there and stare at it! Sit down and eat."

"Ok!" I immediately sat down with Soren at my left and Yue at my right. Across the table, sensei sat with Suzaku beside him. I never imagined a god looking so… human. His hair wasn't spiked up anymore. Did he put on wax or something?

"Go ahead and eat." Sensei said. Oh right.

"Itadakimasu!" we chorused and grabbed our chop sticks. The food tastes so good! I'll remember to ask uncle to hire these people after the mission. We ate in silence. Not that we don't mind. It was comfortable this way. We always discuss the mission after dinner but I still have a lot of questions to ask Suzaku right now. Deliberately, I put my chop sticks own and wiped my mouth clean with a table napkin.

"Suzaku…" he immediately looked at me at the sound of my voice. "You haven't answered my question from before."

"Whaf kind oopf quephtion?" Yue asked with his mouth full. Soren had to hit him on the back so that he'd swallow his food. More like choke his food down. "What was that for?" the silver-haired young prince demanded but Soren just glared at him.

"Suzaku," I began. "If you were my family guardian, why weren't you around the entire time? I mean! Don't you care about me at all?" At my question, he silently put down his chop sticks and eyed me.

"Believe me, Kris. I do care for you just like I did with your dad years ago. But there are certain rules that need to be followed. At least now you're father can rest in peace knowing that I have fulfilled my promise to him."

"A promise to my father?" I inquired.

"That's right. I made a promise to him to tell you everything by the time you're twelve, because if we hide the truth from you any longer, it'll be too late for us to do anything. It'll even be too late for me to do anything to help you."

"Will you please get straight to the point? What is it that I needed to know so badly?"

"Centuries ago, a Great War between the gods ended in a disaster."

"What happened?" my fiancé asked.

"After the war, three gods went missing. Two were found reincarnated safely inside their new bodies at Clow Kingdom. Susanoo disappeared for while. It took him twelve years to seek out the other two missing gods, but now he's found one of them. She happens to be the princess of Clow Kingdom by the way." All of them, including me, got the picture.

"So that means-"

The lord of the southern lands nodded his head. "You're not that dense after all, eh? Susanoo was after Kris from the start. Or should I say… Lady Amaterasu?" he smiled slyly.