Tsukai had no idea what to do now.
It had been hard enough trying to make the decision with Hidan being the only one asking her to choose, let along with Katashi trying to do the same. One was telling her to stay; the other was saying she should go. It’s not that she liked Katashi—anything but—but it was the idea of leaving all of this behind. She was so connected to the temple, the forest, and, of course, the wolf pack. She wasn’t about to uproot Yoru and the others for the sake of it. This was their home. It had been her home for the entirety of her life, too. There wasn’t a single place in the forest she didn’t know, and all the herbs and plants, animals and landscapes…
But there came a time for everyone to leave home.
For so long she had dreamed of getting away from this place. Hidan was right, and she had known it all along—the village and temple were in the middle of nowhere; there was nothing to do, no way to experience new things and meet new people…it was just a black hole. Back then if she had considered the idea about someone coming and offering to take her with them back to real civilisation, she would have imagined she’d say yes immediately, and get the hell out of there without a look back to see if anything changed. But now she was actually in the situation, things became complicated, and she wasn’t sure where to turn to figure things out.
Not to mention Tsukai had Hidan to think about. They’d had sex now; they were mated for life. That bond couldn’t be broken or there would be consequences for the both of them. Immortality wouldn’t matter when it came down to this power—it could stripped away as easy as anything, and neither of them could survive. It’s not like she didn’t want to be with him; she did. The village had treated her like a freak from when they first met her and knew she existed. But to find someone who understood the kind of things she believed in, was as passionate about the temple as she was and treated her so sweetly…she wasn’t about to let him go.
So what was it that was making it so hard to decide?
It had to be something calling her back.
Staring straight back into Hidan’s eyes, he saw the uncertainty there, and she bit her lip to further emphasise this. Sighing, Hidan considered knocking her out and taking her through with him, becoming frustrated at how she was being so difficult. It wasn’t until he glanced across at the temple, remembering how she had become so angry at Katashi when he had launched the attack; that he realised how severe this decision was. How much of an impact on her life this action would have. It wasn’t just leaving behind her childhood home—it was leaving behind the connections she had formed with the very earth itself. He couldn’t leave her behind. She was his partner now, and he would never let anything happen to her—even if he was working for the Akatsuki. He’d give it all up if it meant being with Tsukai. So thinking things over, he tried, quieter now,
“Tsukai…baby…I know how connected you are to the temple; to the forest, seriously. But there are ways around that. The wolves will always be there for you; regardless of where you fucking are in the world. The temple can take care of itself—the higher power will build up and destroy anything that threatens it existence.”
Pausing, he glanced away, closing his eyes for a moment, and then continued with a half-hearted laugh,
“And the connection you feel to the forest…it’s not just that, is it? Tsukai, it’s not the forest your fucking connected to…it’s the very earth itself, seriously. But if you haven’t noticed, the earth extends a lot further than that shit hole of a village…then the temple and the forest. If you’re worried you don’t want to lose that connection, you don’t have to be. Because the earth and that higher power is all around you, wherever you are.”
Smiling properly now, he added,
“You taught me that. And I even feel it now. It must be stronger for you—maybe even pulling you to stay…but I doubt the temple wants you to remain here all your life. How are you supposed to truly understand that power if you never experience things outside this place? Tsukai, please. I don’t want you to be unhappy…I—I don’t want you to be without me.”
Gazing into each other’s eyes, Tsukai smirked a bit at his words, having never imagined he’d say anything like that and knowing if they got out of this it would be something she’d tease him about constantly. Then noting something was heading their way, she jumped back and Hidan followed, cursing when an exploding tag went off a second later and threw them farther away from each other. Scowling now, she stood, furious, and building up power in her arms, she yelled viciously back at Katashi,
“Th—that was ridiculously stupid, you asshole!”
Before unleashing her own explosion back at him, a portion of runes lighting up around her as the power was activated. Clenching her fists as the cloud of smoke dissipated, she quickly jumped back up to the podium to see if Hidan was okay, sighing in relief as she saw him grinning at the power she had just revealed to him. Shrugging a little bit at him, not quite fully confident with her abilities yet, she stepped forward to talk to him again, needing to converse a little more before she could finally make a decision, only halting as a huge pool of light formed behind him.
Widening her eyes, Tsukai realised that by using the power that the temple itself channelled, she had merely speeded up the portal’s creation, and now it was fully developed. Hidan hadn’t noticed it at first, simply walking over to meet her to see if he could fully convince her to come with him. She was wavering, he could see it, and killing Katashi wouldn’t take long; he’d wait around for that if it was what she wanted to do before leaving this place. Though when he saw the look in her eyes he froze in place, unsure whether to move, as he recognized that look from somewhere, but not quite knowing where it was from.
Then suddenly it hit him.
When he had been in the temple with the Akatsuki; searching around for any runes that could give them power; and he had started up the portal. When he tried to get out of there and had gotten caught by whatever power he had activated, and they stood and watched him get pulled into the portal…the look in Tsukai’s eyes was the same look the Akatsuki had had. An incomprehensibility of what was going, combined with shock and a knowledge that there was nothing they could do now to help him—he’d just have to try and help himself, wherever he ended up.
But this was different; he wasn’t with the Akatsuki anymore, he was with Tsukai. Gritting his teeth in a sense of déjà vu, he knew what was going on, and slowly turned his head to reveal the same kind of portal he had seen before. Once again he didn’t want to get sucked into it; he didn’t know what would happen with Tsukai. From the look on her face, things didn’t seem as comfortable and easy-going as he had thought they would be, and as he felt that power take over him just like it had done in the other temple, he was wondering if things were ever going to go right.
Running towards him, Tsukai called out his name, trying to reach his hand so she could pull him out of the way. Hidan returned the gesture and tried to do the same, attempting to avoid the suction affect the portal was having on a lot around them. Holding on to something with one hand, Tsukai stretched out, and with Hidan doing the same on the other side, their fingers brushed against each other, and smirking in happiness, she knew she was just about close enough to grab him and pull him back in.
The only thing she hadn’t counted on was Hidan getting hit by shuriken from Katashi and being fully thrown into the portal.
Screaming out and lunging for him, a huge light flashed and blinded them both.
Neither of them had a clue what was going on.
