Shadows are falling ~ Reprise
~ Chapter Eighteen ~
~The Truth will always be malleable. Because of Kaguya's interference in time, a new, more convenient "Truth" has taken hold. The actual past long eroded to nothing ~
Silence. 'I see, not even the chains were enough to crack that mask...' His widening barrier of Adamantine chains holds stable, but preferring his Ice, Shiroyuki finds the drain on his Chakra reserves annoying.
Kyou remains still. Making no move to speak, he may as well be a statue.
' An interesting reaction,' Shiroyuki is amused but also growing increasingly restless.
' I'm starting to see where exactly Sakuya gets her... unfortunate tendency to be indecisive under pressure. Heredity is a powerful thing indeed, but this attribute is unattractive enough coming from her. From Kyou Uzumaki, it's somehow worse? Unsightly. He's a grown adult.'
"..."
' If this flimsiness is the kind of leadership Uzushio deals with on a daily basis, it's no wonder they lost to Kumo... Unless that's just my bias... hm. Maybe that isn't completely fair, Kumo led the attack, but it was very much a three-pronged assault.
' Yes, it took the combined might of three nations to obliterate the Uzumaki, and even then there were a few survivors.'
Shiro's thoughts are obstructive, and though his mullings are filled with certain fascinating implications, at this exact moment Shiroyuki isn't really in the mood for introspection, "What Ifs" or speculation in general.
'It was already decided by Mother, I will look into ensuring their continued safety, but right now the future of Uzushio isn't an issue. We're wasting precious seconds considering something that won't be a real problem for decades- Wait, Kyou STILL isn't saying a word?'
Realizing just how long the silence between him and Kyou has lasted, Shiro is annoyed. 'Ugh, Thankfully for me and Reiji, these are deliberations better suited for another time.
' What matters now, is that since Father is in no hurry to react, I guess it's on me. Let's get a glimpse of his hidden thoughts' Shiroyuki decided.
~
"If you're only going to stand there 'Sir', I'm making the first move." Announced Shiro. ' Straight to the point, no sense dragging this mellow drama out any longer.'
"I won't stand by and let you claim Oasis for Aika. Not my sibling's blood either. You won't harm a hair on their heads!" His words are deliberate, hoping to force a reaction out of "his wayward father"
~
'What, for Aika? What does he mean?' Kyou Uzumaki is jolted out of his panic-induced riviere. Despite a lack of visual cues, (perhaps out of respect for the shrine?) Kyou can feel as the unleashed burst of Shiro's Ice elemental chakra impacts the very air around them. The ripples frost his shaky breath into wisps of light fog.
' "His sibling's blood"? Is that why he thinks I'm here? - What am I thinking, of course he does. What other reason could he imagine?' He thought between shivers.
Attempting to contain his warmth, Kyou even spreads his chakra across his body. To his relief the effect is immediate.
' We four clearly parted on horrific terms and now here I am out of the blue. Intruding upon the beautiful life he built with... Reiji and Sakuya.'
' From his traumatized viewpoint- Oh, it's getting easier... Saying their names. It almost feels... right. Could it really be that I chose them? With this "Sora" I mean.'
' There is ample evidence suggesting the half-Uchiha woman, discovered preserved in Aika's quarters... ugh, Wagamaru I know it had to be reported but I still can't get over that awful find.
Well it's plenty apparent that this Sora and I were deeply attached. I saw my own writings, the embarrassing poems. The excited if excessively detailed day by days of her pregnancy.
' One of the dates in my supposed journal implied we indulged in a playful argument over the boy's names, but the entry didn't elaborate as to which of us "won". '
' I hate that I could be so sappy to anyone. It's undignified conduct, yet the delighted tone speaks for itself. I was very clearly I was looking forward to their birth.'
Wanting information straight from the source, the newly emboldened Kyou asks quickly.
"Wait! I... I just want to talk.'
The beautiful young man bearing his blood halts. Lowering his Icy Senbon needle, Shiroyuki's delicate lips frown. He tilts his pretty head in exaggerated curiosity. "Oh? Well, I'm dying of suspense here, go on then."
Disregarding Shiro's affronted sarcasm, Kyou can't take his eyes off the younger man before him.' He had to have inherited that polished face from Sora. The long eyelashes as well...'
' I'm not remotely ugly, but this delicate, smaller-framed beauty could only be Uchiha. Kyou concluded. Already interpreting events to his decisive favor. ' I suppose it's true what they say. About more subtle androgyny holding universal appeal.
No longer even trying to hide his staring, Kyou Uzumaki takes in each and every detail of Shiro's unblemished form. ' I see he has my hands too, and my chin- wow. It's all so clear.'
Caught up in his belated close-up examination, Kyou notices the many smaller ways in which Shiro resembles him. Indeed, the sleek pale hands clutching the Ice-born Senbon needle are identical in shape and proportion to Kyou's own. ' Perfect for a Fuuinjutsu brush'
His discomfort apparently back in full force, Shiro interrupts Kyou's observations.
"Why are you here, what could you POSSIBLY want? After all these years pretending I-" Shiroyuki seems to catch himself. "Pretending my siblings and I don't exist?" Heated words that Kyou knows could only be the result of more than a decade of pent-up frustrations spilling from Shiro's lips.
Finally certain, a resolved Kyou speaks firmly. "I had no idea you existed at all. I still don't, but I promise there is an explanation."
"What nonsense-" Shiro interrupted again. Kyou Uzumaki sees that the boy's agonized vitriol could not be more clear.
"I want this over. You want "answers"? Take them and leave! Mother DIED for you. She took her time getting us to safety but even then she refused to accompany us. She was so certain."
The remorselessly spoken words pierce Kyou's vulnerable heart like the icy needle still in the young man's hand.
"Reiji and Sakuya don't know but, she believed to the end you would come to your senses. That you would come for us together."
"I can only assume it wasn't till the very end did she finally see that there was no use. -How dare you show your face to me."
"I truly can't remember." Kyou defended. "Whatever my wi- Whatever Aika did to me, it must have erased that day. Everything."
Kyou's desperation is at an all-time high. His desire to "fix" whatever was happening is written all over his face.
"All I know is it was some kind of seal, Aika was always gifted in "Fuuinjutsu". More so than most, but I never knew it could be applied in such a monstrous way."
~
"From what the investigation uncovered, she used some kind of overlay.
"Genius work, by binding it to the preserved corpse of... Sora, the concentration of power in her hybrid Uchiha/Senju veins... "
"It allowed Aika to accomplish a truly reprehensible deed. You have to understand. All our people were violated.
Due to Aika's seal, the entirety of Whirlpool believes her lies. The twisted overlay she created links-"
' And here we go.' Shiroyuki thought victoriously.
Listening closely" to Kyou's hasty overview of "what must have occurred" Shiro's expression shifts from vague curiosity to the necessary emotions demanded by such weighty "revelations".
He perfectly restrained the ugly sneer threatening to mar his marvelously cultivated face.
'Oh Aika, who knew your abrasive, volatile side would be such a wonderful gift to me and Reiji?
Aika's well-publicized pride in her abilities... The repeated eager willingness to alienate friends, family, and even allies for her own personal interests...
' Why such self-involved traits belonging to a person in such proximity... Yes, this is the greatest offering I could have ever wished for.
' Because of her stubborn attitude all the "evidence" (even the tangentially related more circumstantial sort, which Reiji and myself could never have possibly accounted for) fell into place so perfectly!
Shiro truly is impressed by their good fortune.
' No wonder Kyou is so thoroughly convinced. Taking everything together the narrative seems so very plausible!
' Truly, If I didn't know better, I'd think this "explanation" was the truth as well. '
As his father finishes sharing everything he knows, all the grisly details of Wagamaru's investigation, finally he goes silent.
Breathing deeply in pace with Kyou's energy, Shiro chooses an appropriately dramatic reaction.
Collapsing to his knees in apparent horror. In wanting to really sell the moment, Shiroyuki ensures his expression looks all the more distraught.
His Ice Senbon needle vanishes into nothing. Shiroyuki's following words are increasingly panicky. As though he can barely breathe, looking up at Kyou in a daze Shiro lets out, "She did that to Mother? No, No, NO!"
"I am truly sorry for your loss Shiroyuki, Wagamaru, my investigator, his people found her beneath Aika's private library.
She is contained in a strange coffin etched in seal work keeping her preserved. Aika must have spent months preparing."
"Then all hope is truly lost." Shiro mumbled. His defeated, tenor voice wobbled. ' A fine scapegoat indeed.' There was no trace of Shiroyuki of Oasis's true intent.
"What? Why ever do you say that?" Asked Kyou. "Surely if we cremate her remains-"
"It's been too long." Shiroyuki said in despair. " You said Ma- Mother was preserved by chakra...
I'm no expert in Fuuinjutsu, but even I am aware the longer a seal is kept active through potent blood, the less reversible it becomes."
"Even if you'd done so immediately after finding her remains... By now it's too late. Our memories of "before" are lost forever.
"You'll never remember... How much we loved our family."
The resignation in his eldest son's voice cuts Kyou to the core all the more deeply.
"It's all her fault... She took Mother from us all."
Silencing his end of the connection with Reiji, Shiro knows his performance thus far has been effective, but he has a final tactic in mind.
'It would be such a shame to waste it.'