2. You Must Seek
2
YOU MUST SEEK
T he Sakura tree that used to stand lush and proud now looked dull and barren with only about a quarter of its beautiful cherry blossoms left.
And that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
The connection between tree and boy had been strong, but between tree and man, it was now weak.
Where the sacred tree had become frail, Ryu had grown into a man worthy enough to carry the Tei family name. It was as if he had stolen its life force with each inch he had grown, and now that he stood at six foot six, with a strong enough build to take down any Komainu, there was not much else to take besides the remaining blossoms still holding their glory.
Nor time to spare.
“It’s dying,” Ryu spoke once he heard the footsteps. He’d never heard the footsteps approach behind him before, but like Ryu and the tree before him, his father had aged over time as well.
When the heavy footsteps paused beside him without a response, he looked at his father. Being able to visibly see how much time had passed on the tree, he was able to pay attention to just how much time had actually passed on his father’s features. Time had at least been kinder to him than the tree, but his father’s light feet weren’t the only things that had changed, as silver sprinkled the sides of his once jet-black hair.
“I have looked into the eyes of every woman in this village three times over,” he began, pleading for his father to hear him for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Then tomorrow, you will do it for the fourth—”
“There is no time left!” Ryu’s thundering voice echoed out so strongly that three cherry blossoms fell with it. Staring down at the precious, scarce pink flowers, he took a shuddering breath. “There will be no village if our lineage dies out. Father”—he waited for him to finally look at him—“are you willing for me, your son, to be the last Tei in existence?”
The response he was finally given was one Ryu hadn’t expected.
“It is time to see Itako.”
T he front door was open before they even approached, and if that wasn’t telling enough that they were already expected, the old woman sitting at the tiny table in the darkened home only confirmed it.
“Ryu, I’ve been waiting for your visit for a long time now.”
Quickly adjusting his eyes after entering, he understood why she made no qualms about getting up to greet them when he saw the all-whites of her eyes.
“Itako.” He bowed respectfully before he took the waiting seat across the table from the blind lady. “Thank you for seeing me.”
“I have been waiting,” she repeated with disappointment while somehow looking straight at his face before her hunched- over body managed to turn to his father, who was still standing at the door. “Come in, Tatsu. I’ve been waiting many moons for you, too.”
It wasn’t a coax but a command, leaving Ryu stunned. It had been a long time since he’d heard his father addressed in that manner, and even though Tatsu didn’t seem to falter as he royally entered, Ryu could sense the uncomfortable fear within as he watched his father be the one to bow to someone else for the first time.
“You’ve avoided coming to see me,” Itako spoke with an otherworldly wisdom. “Let us see what your insolence cost us, as there is no time to waste.”
Ryu’s hands that he had clasped together on the table were suddenly grabbed by thin, withering ones.
“Ahh,” Itako breathed, as any remaining candlelight in the home disappeared before it slowly returned. “I see now.”
It was Tatsu who eagerly asked, “What is it? What do you see?”
The look on the blind lady’s face told them she would roll her eyes if only she could. “It is not only a fated mate that you must seek, but a soul mate.”
Ryu gave his own look, clearly confused. “Are they not one and the same?”
Itako merely laughed. “No.”
“I don’t understand,” he said when she didn’t go on.
“A fated mate are two souls destined to be together in this lifetime,” she began explaining. “A soul mate are two souls destined to be together in every life.”
“I see.” Tatsu wiped an exasperated brow that was beginning to sweat. “So, it’s even harder to find.”
“Eh.” Itako shrugged nonchalantly. “Fated mate, one in a million. Soul mate, one in two billion.”
His father had to finally take the other chair.
“Oh …” Ryu breathed, knowing exactly what his father was feeling at this moment. “Now, I see.”
“Told you.” Itako palmed the back of Tatsu’s head that was finally in reaching distance to her short stature. “Should have come to me sooner.”
Rubbing the back of his head, Tatsu clearly thought better than hurting a hundred-year-old blind bat. “You know why I didn’t want to come.”
“Yes,” the woman answered, all knowingly. “She told me you wouldn’t.”
Both Ryu’s and his father’s skin went pale.
“The spirits of the dead want us to honor them, Tatsu, not fear them,” she said, placing a frail hand over his now. “Or have you forgotten your faith after all this time?”
With glistening eyes, he shook his head. “I have not.”
“Then you must trust in Kana to protect your son, as you know his fated mate is not here.”
Tatsu cleared his throat as a tear streamed upon his cheek from hearing his late wife’s name for the first time in years. “I will.”
“You will?” Ryu asked as shock overtook the depths of sadness from the topic of his mother.
“He must,” Itako said simply, “or village life as we know it will cease to exist, along with the Tei family name.”
Reluctantly nodding his head in agreement, Tatsu finally gave his blessing for his son to leave the village.
Every day, every single day, Ryu had questioned, doubting his mate had even been born in this village, but his father had assured him they always were. But if that was true, then: why now?
“It has happened once before to a Tei,” Itako spoke clairvoyantly, reading his mind. “Ka Tei also had a soul mate who wasn’t a child of this village, yet she somehow wandered into it.”
“How?” he fervently asked, only more confused.
She gave another shrug, as if it was all so simple. “Ka Tei’s mate said she could see it.”
Both father and son looked at each other, knowing that wasn’t supposed to be possible … but still, hope shone in their eyes.
Tatsu let out a sigh of relief that maybe his son didn’t have to leave after all. “So, she could wander in any momen—”
“No.” The blind bat swatted him again. “His soul mate’s different.”
It looked like he was contemplating hurting an old witch this time, but then she continued.
“She’s broken, ’cause he waited too long to go find her,” Itako scolded him again. “Should have seen me sooner. All your fault.”
His father guiltily rubbed the back of his head where he had been struck. “Oh.”
Broken? Ryu suddenly grew concerned for a woman he had yet to meet.
“Yes, broken,” Itako repeated clearly so he would begin to understand the girl who awaited him as she placed her thin hands over his strong ones again. “In every life, you have sat on a throne, Ryu. Together, as your two souls become whole.”
Chills went up his arms, starting from where she touched. He didn’t know if it was from learning he was always a king or …
Does that mean … I’m broken?
This time, Itako didn’t answer his thought out loud, sparing him his dignity in front of his father by quietly nodding her head.
Everything Ryu thought he knew about himself changed in a single moment, knowing one thing to be true.
It was better to never be a king at all than to always be a broken one.