"So you're from Toyokawa Tori-chan? That's cool! It's really close to here." Rin stated enthusiastically upon hearing where Tori was from. Morohira and Togashi shared a glance at such an exchange. The suspicion had been planted, but now, after sharing it with each other, it had grown into something more.
"Yup! How come you were on the boat though, Tori-chan..?" Morojo allowed his voice to travel an octave higher, and spoke a little more childishly, hoping to get the information they all wanted out of Tori. But she shrank back, and looked fearful, clutching onto Akiko's arm.
Rin and Akiko shot him a dark glance, warning him not to pursue it any further. And that was that, he had to relent.
"Are you okay, Tori-chan?" Rin asked gently, stroking her head to try and comfort her.
"Yup!" She responded cheerfully in response to her touch – the two seemed to be getting on rather well.
"Would you like to go back to Toyokawa?" She continued.
"Yup, Tori misses mummy."
Morohira's lip twitched at that. Her age was apparent from her physical appearance – around twelve – yet she spoke as if she was six. It was too odd for him, and he certainly did not like it. Togashi was of a similar opinion.
The two moved away from the rest to discuss the happenings further.
"…You agree, it's suspicious then?" Togashi asked, as they walked toward the jetty, unnoticed by the rest.
"It is. There are too many things that make me itch. Just something about this all isn't right. Yet it's not as if we can just a kill her, can we?" He asked. Perhaps if Togashi had confirmed that killing her was fine, then he might have gone ahead and done that. But that would be at the risk of causing friction within their crew. At least half of them were smitten by the child, and if they were to kill Tori out of nowhere, then they would look very poor indeed.
"She was below deck on the way here. She hasn't seen enough for it to be useful. We can simply return her to Toyokawa blindfolded." The bearded man suggested the most ethical path forward.
"That'd be us basically announcing that she's suspicious – the rest will never agree," Morohira warned. He did not look forward to their complaints.
"Depends on how you phrase it. Say its not because you don't trust Tori, but because you don't trust others. If Tori has memory of how to get to the cove, then she's placed in danger."
"Heh…" Morohira muttered, as he patted Togashi's shoulder. "You're just as insane as me, aren't ya?"
"…Not quite, I hope." Came the measured response.
Back around the campfire, arrangements were already being made in order to bring the little lady back to her family.
"Ishi, you'll be going to Toyokawa tomorrow, won't you? In order to get information? Then, you can take Tori back with you, can't you?" Akiko realized, offering hope to their young companion.
"Ishi..?" Tori repeated, looking around.
"That nice lady over there." Rin pointed, picking out Isabella, who looked thoroughly uncomfortable with the way things were developing.
"But I don't know where in Toyokawa she lives…" She attempted to protest, but was swiftly rebuked by Rin and Akiko who seemed unable to see just how reluctant she was.
"That's okay, Tori will know the way, right Tori-chan?"
"Yup! Tori knows, Tori know!" Tori confirmed with rapid nods, as she stumbled to her feet, and ran over to grab Isabella's arm.
"Yayyy! Ishi's going to take Tori-chan home!" She announced, in that childish way of hers that was in no way appropriate for her age. If they had been able to put aside their maternal feelings for a second, then perhaps Rin and Akiko would have recognized that too. But they were not the only ones taken up by Tori. Sasaki was quite taken by her as well.
Isabella looked down at the young girl clinging to her arm. More than anything she wished to shove her aside, and run away. It was too unpleasant. The memories. The guilt. But in front of all these people, she could not. They had come to trust her, and rely on her. She did not want to ruin their opinion of her, not through something so trivial.
"…Okay, I'll take her."
…
…
"WHAT? YOU'RE MAKING POOR TORI-CHAN WEAR A BLINDFOLD, AS IF SHE HASN'T BEEN TRAUMITISED ENOUGH?"
Rin raged, hearing Morohira's announcement, as they gathered round atop the cliff to send Isabella and Tori on their way. The sat together, on the same horse, with Tori sitting in front of Isabella.
"Now now, this is for Tori's protection. If someone were to find out that she had some connection with the cove, or us, then she would be placed in danger, would she not? If we get rid of her knowledge of the cove's location, then it will be safer for her." Rin stared at him suspiciously. Such well-reasoned words were certainly not his own.
"It's okay… Tori-chan is fine wearing a blindfold." The young girl spoke up for herself, sending them all a sweet smile. It was an announcement that surprised both Togashi and Morohira, but the captain still moved forward to tie the blindfold around her eyes firmly, so that she would not be allowed even the smallest of peaks at the landscape around her.
Because Tori had consented, neither Rin or Akiko could protest any further. Especially since it seemed that – at least on the surface – Morohira's intentions were coming from a kindhearted place.
Soon after the farewells were bid, and the two were set off on their journey.
"…Do you think we made a mistake?" Togashi asked Morohira quietly. The child's response to the blindfold had been rather baffling. If her intention had been to map the landscape around her all along, then such plans were ruined, and she would not have been able to maintain such an unflinching smile.
"Meh, it doesn't matter. As long as we keep our secret safe, then I'm fine making a couple of mistakes like that." Morohira decided.
…
…
Tori behaved appropriately as they travelled, and never made a single attempt to dislodge her blindfold, so that she might see more of the surroundings. Quite the contrary. She focused entirely on conversing with Isabella.
"Onee-san, you're really pretty. Do you think Tori-chan will ever be as pretty as you?" The young girl asked her.
"…I'm not nearly as pretty as I look." Came Isabella's bitter response. Having such a conversation on served to worsen her guilt.
"Tori-chan doesn't understand… Onee-san is really pretty!" She protested, seeming to hear, or at least not understand, the bitterness that was dwelling within Isabella's voice.
"…Thank you." Isabella said with a sigh, hoping that would be the end of that line of questioning. But conversation swiftly drifted elsewhere, as she was assaulted by question after question from the young girl, and she held not the resolve to tell her to be quiet.
It was with great relief that she saw Toyokawa in the distance, and she mentioned as much to Tori.
"Yup, Tori-chan can smell it!" Tori confirmed, surprising Isabella.
"What a keen scent of smell you have." She remarked.
"Yup!"
She gently undid the blindfold that was covering Tori's eyes. It seemed pointless to have it on now, since they were so far away from the cover. Her fingers lingered longer than they should have, as she marvelled at the softness of her young hair.
'It's like that, I suppose…'
She thought, remembering back to how her own hair felt when she was that age. But for someone like her, such recollections were not want to be pleasant, and soon she became so absorbed, that she missed what Tori had said.
"Onee-san! Onee-san!" The girl called out to her repeatedly, trying to recapture her attention.
"Ah… Sorry. What is it?"
"If you take Tori to the port, then Tori knows where to go from there, okay?"
"Okay." Either way was fine for Isabella. She was merely fulfilling this task as a favour to Rin and Akiko.
They entered the town on foot, as Isabella saddled her horse elsewhere. Tori seemed rather excited, as she ran to and fro, with her feet beating against the cobbles as she repeatedly called out to Isabella. Doing her best to keep up with the child's energy, Isabella forced a smile, and continued down the steep hill, and down into the port.
"Well Tori… This is the port."
"Yup. Thanks Onee-san. Bye bye!"
The little girl spoke from behind her, and she was forced to turn round to bid her fairwell.
"Good by-"
But when she turned to look, Tori had already disappeared.
"Hah…" She sighed, exasperated. She truly was an energetic child.
'Well, I suppose that's that done with… I had better continue to the port, and see if we can find any new sh.i.p.s.' She spoke to herself, trying to push the little girl out of her mind.
They were still fishing the debris of the burnt sh.i.p.s out from the sea, and bodies lined the shore, as people came forth, attempting to identify them. Such a sight caused her mind to drift toward a certain person. The one who had orchestrated such disaster, such chaos.
'I wonder if he has suceeded in his task..?' She pondered. The days were slowly slipping into weeks, and it felt like a long time since she had last met with him. He was often spoke of by Akiko and Rin, so it was hard to forget him. Not only that – she was learning more about him, and it excited her to some degree. She felt as though she was beginning to understand him. She looked forward to his return, so that she might try to approach him more… normally.
But the path he walked was rather different from what she was envisioning. It was rather different from what he too had envisioned. He was in the process of mastering a terrifying amount of power. Power that defied what should be humanly possible. And so the gap between them – the one that she dreamed of closing – was only likely to grow wider. But she could only hope.