The Day of Thunder

Kumori stood on the elevated porch of the home of their guests leaning on the railing and looking out into the dark streets of the village.

Her visage shined in the encircling darkness… Her grandmother’s favor still clinging to her as the night descended.

This was the last night… The Dawn was to bring trouble with it in the morning…

Odd to have the fears of the night and the fears of the day switched in the last moment…

For now she enjoyed the darkness… the cool air… and the quieting village.

Norikage's approach to the house that night wasn't signaled by the crunch of dirt beneath his sandals, or the smell of his pipe or the sound of him whistling an annoying tune. He merely came out of the darkness, exposed by the blessing of Lady Amatarasu.

He quietly crossed the rest of the street toward her, taking off his hat as he ascended the porch. Silently he stopped next to her and stood for a quiet moment.

"Not the best night", he said eventually. "Thoughts to share?"

She looked around the village, panning back and forth slowly.

“There are worse nights…” She began.

“No noise… No storm… No Thunder until you walked up.” She said with a soft smile out of the corner of her mouth.

Well we come right to it then.

"I'm as surprised as anyone." He said after a long quiet of staring into the foggy, cold night. "There's probably some people who see this as glory, or a prize, or some kind of recognition but..."

More quiet. His eyes cast down.

"You know my whole life others with more power have been telling me what to do, I couldn't have been happier. I was a beaten dog, hungry to please their master", he said finally. "A drunk causing trouble, a madman overcome by their nightmares, a merchant gouging prices, whatever it was, I was told to take care of it because they knew I'd deal with it, happy to be useful."

a snort and he shut his eyes, smirking. Then went on.

"Just one point, I thought it'd be different. When my lord called for me, I'd been waiting to hear from him. I spent a day waiting for the audience, i sat in a dark room for hours, obediently waiting. Then he appears, those cold eyes stared at me with a purpose. I thought this was it, this is why everyone asks me to do things, my lord has been watching. Now he was going to tell me to do what my father did, do destroy and kill at his word, to remove the unsavory things that don't belong in Shiba's empire." He shook his head. "He told me that one day he'd have a battle for my to fight, but it wasn't that day. And he sent me to Kashouji to serve Miyako Mitsuki, not even a member of his house. It felt like platitudes, I thought he'd forgotten about me. I even felt a little insulted when Mitsuki-sama told me I would be protecting some ronin. The battle my lord wanted me to fight didn't cross my mind."

He looked back at her. "And now I'm here, with you, this is where it all lead. I just wanted to say, that...well, whatever happens, I'm glad I came here with you."

“Uncle Bayushi has a way of knowing things… He’s real good at contingencies.” She replied with a nod.

“I… honestly am not.” She said with a chuckle.

“I came here thinking I’d be the Thunder… I’d do whatever it takes to be the one who saves the world. I even thought to ask you to marry me so I could take your name… and take my Uncle’s family’s spot in the final battle.”

She looked down to the street a short distance away.

“But my fate is different from that… I had no idea what would happen… No contingencies in mind to bring me here. Just my heart and my feet.”

She raised her gaze up to look beyond the streets.

“And when I ask you to marry me… It won’t be to steal your name.”

When...

He looked away to gulp.

Then he cleared his throat. "Well...that's..." he looked back at her and nodded. "Right...just like that. Not even going to give me a chance to embarrass you first. I see how it is."

“You’ll have plenty of chances to embarrass yourself after…” She said with a smile.

"Yeah...", he said after a while, staring into the starless night. "Though right now is really the only sure thing."

He reached out and took her hand.

Her fingers entwined themselves between his… her own warmth amplified by the warmth of Lady Sun’s light still lingering on her.

She held his hand tightly, “You do whatever needs to be done… but once its done… if you’re still able to move… Just keep moving. Remember I’ll be waiting.”

He returned the hands squeeze. "You don't have to tell me twice. Though...after hearing about a lot of things, now I wonder. What exactly are we going to do? Fighting a dream or nightmare? Is that even something a sword can accomplish? Feels like there's more in store than just a fight."

“The Rat deities said you would need to… ‘beat up the body’… but that it would take more than sharp sticks to do so because the Dream World and this World would overlap…” She replied as she continued to hold on to his hand.

"So we're fighting in it's territory", he realized, and smiled beneath his mask. "Our dream against it's dream..."

“It’s just as foreign to Yume-do as us… The realm of dreams has always invited humans into it… I doubt that when push comes to shove it’ll support Jigoku’s invasion.” She replied.

“We have lots going for us.”

"Not arguing, just worried it's worse than we think", he answered. "As much as I like sleep, I've never thought of dreams as anything but something you forget when you awaken until now. We do have a lot of support though, we aren't only doing this for these villagers, it's for everyone. It's hard to wrap your head around."

She nodded, “It can be a bit much, isn’t it?”

She smiled softly, “I find it’s easiest to condense the big mass of faces into ones that you know and care about… Turns it from a weight dragging you down to a weight heavy enough to crush an enemy’s skull. You just gotta swing it.”

"That...is surprisingly good and easy to understand advice." He eventually chuckled. "Actually really good. I wonder if that means you're more of a meathead than I am, or just better at relating to idiots."

“I suppose I would need to be quite a meathead to fall in love with you.” She said with a smile.

"Well, I'll take it, I'll take it", he said waving his other hand. Then he turned and faced her, taking her other in his. "Earlier today, I spoke with Ryoshun-san. She'd calmed down quite a bit, she was much more herself. We had a good chat, I explained some things to her and she listened, she told me what she thought and I heard her...but part of that talk made me think. So, I'll ask you." He met her gaze. "You've suggested just a moment ago, what may come after this, but do you mind telling me what you really want? Assume a perfect ending."

“Perfect ending?” She asked.

“Well… for now… more time together. Another day… and another day… and another day.”

She paused.

“I don’t think we were put together just by Bayushi… Nor by random chance…”

She looked him in the eyes.

“I want to get better at… us… for as long as we can.”

She finished, “I can see it going a long time… a lifetime if we keep at it. And other lifetimes to follow us after we’re gone.”

A part of him wanted to chuckle, the cynical part that writes things off as childish or crazy.

He told it to shut up. And the easiest way to make that happen was to use his stupid mouth for something else.

So he did.

When he was done, he stayed close and held the girl. He really couldn't believe she was so sure.

"That's a lot to live up to for someone like me", he said, stroking her hair. "But..sure, I can do that. Happy to." He gave her a squeeze.