After The Rain: Aiko and Haru
I really really was cross with myself for having so casually killed Aiko off in my references for Dying Tree. She turned out to be a pretty fun character to write and I felt that some of her spirit ended up in Ryoko. I also regret it for another reason - that the true Haru Kamiki Jurai was somewhat killed when his sister died. This snippet is the conversation that, in some respects, haunts Haru and is part of the reason for his mad protectiveness of Ayeka and Sasami. As twins, he and Aiko had a special bond which I think has been touched on in After the Rain. This is also, probably, the conversation that confirmed Aiko's tragic fate. (And the proof that, whatever Jurai's official reports say, Aiko did not take her own life.)

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"Aiko?"

Aiko raised her tearstained face to her brother's concerned one, melancholy flickering in her ruby eyes as he sat down beside her, sliding a gentle arm around her shoulders. Above them the branches of Aiko's royal tree swayed and juddered, delicate beams of rainbow light dancing occasionally onto the ground below, and he put a gentle hand to the tree's trunk, sensing it's agitation.

"What is wrong, sister?" He murmured gently. "I've been looking for you all morning, and so has Azusa. Where have you been - here, all the time? And why are you crying? This isn't like you!"

"Haru." Aiko tried in vain to stifle her sobs, burying her face in her brother's shoulder as the tears wracked her body. "Oh Haru, what have I done! What have I done to Jurai?"

"Aiko-chan?" Haru stared at her, nonplussed as he stroked his sister's thick curly hair. "I don't understand. What do you mean? What's happened now? Something I should know about?"

"I can't..." Aiko's voice was muffled. "It will be worse...if I do."

"If you do what?" Haru pressed gently. "Aiko, please...talk to me. You know you can trust me. We're twins...you always have trusted me."

Aiko drew a shuddering breath into her lungs, raising her gaze to her brother's and Haru could see the hopelessness in her eyes.

"I don't want anything to happen to you." She whispered. Haru frowned.

"Why would it?"

"Because you have no magic to protect you." Aiko gulped, and Haru fumbled in his pocket for his hankerchief, handing it over.

"Here. Dry your eyes and we'll talk." He said gently. "We're quite alone here, noone will hear us and your tree will protect us - she'll tell you if anyone comes this way. Won't you, Sayuri-san?"

He brushed his hand against the trunk once more, and Sayuri's leaves glittered as if in agreement. Aiko glanced up at the branches for a moment, then she sighed.

"I'm afraid to." She admitted. "Haru, I've been such an idiot. I've done so much wrong, and they say that sins catch up with you eventually. I never listened, but they do. And now..."

She faltered.

"I don't even know what to say to you." She admitted. "Or if I even should try. I...I don't know what will happen if I do."

"You could try." Haru said softly. "And whatever you say, Aiko, it's between you and me. Noone else will hear of this conversation, except Sayuri, and you know she won't do anything to hurt you. It's quite safe here. Really."

"All right." Aiko swallowed hard. "But Haru, you must promise me something."

"Of course." Haru frowned. "What?"

"If anything should...happen. To me, I mean...whatever it seems to be...please know that I didn't want it to." Aiko raised frightened red eyes to his alarmed maroon ones. "Haru, I need you to know that. Because strange things have already happened on Jurai and...and...I don't want you to think..."

She swallowed again.

"I don't think I will be alive very much longer." She whispered. "And if I'm right, I want you to know that it...wasn't my choice."

"Aiko?" Haru's eyes widened with horror. "What are you involved in?"

Aiko toyed with the hankerchief between her fingers, folding it and unfolding it absently as she did so.

"I...he said that if I ever told anyone anything, he would come and kill me." She said softly. "And that he didn't want to, but that he would have no choice. He said he's gone too far...and he has, Haru. I have seen it. He's not the man I knew any more. Something's turned inside of him and he's a stranger...even to me."

"Who are you talking about?" Haru's brow creased in confusion. "Someone has threatened you?"

Aiko sent him a look that almost broke his heart, nodding her head slowly.

"Kagato." She whispered. "My son...my beloved son..."

"Kagato?" Haru stared. Aiko nodded again, burying her head in his shoulder once more as the tears returned.

"He's woken Jurai's power." She sobbed. "And it's made him...someone else, Haru. He knows...he knows the thing I swore I'd never tell him, and he..he's made it worse than I could ever imagine. He...he was the one who went through my things, and he found out who..."

She faltered, then shook her head.

"He knows that the man was from Airai." She whispered. "And he's begun using that to help bolster his magic. Arian dark arts have turned my son into a monster and I don't know how to turn him back! Haru, he wants to be Emperor of Jurai, and I don't know how to stop him!"

Haru held her tightly as her body shook with her grief, a swirl of emotions flooding his mind as he digested her words. At length he sighed, stroking Aiko's hair soothingly.

"It must have been a shock to him...he was probably angry." He said at length. "I know that if I thought I wasn't Father's son, I'd be angry and I'd probably go after the one who'd kept the truth from me. Are you sure that this isn't just a petulant rage, and that he meant what he said? About killing you?"

"He meant it." Aiko swallowed hard. "Haru, he...he's already spilt blood. I didn't want to have to tell anyone this, because I love my son and I don't want to turn against him. Even with what he's done, I love him. And I believe he's not doing this because he's really an evil person. I think the magic has taken control of him and he doesn't know what he's doing. I want to help him but I'm afraid and I don't know how to reach him any more. He's getting stronger and stronger and I...I think he really means it when he talks about being Emperor of Jurai. He s...said that if I betrayed him, he'd turn on you and Azusa and then come after me. So I didn't say anything. But I'm scared, Haru. Other people have...disappeared. People who crossed him. And...and I know he...he went to Airai."

Haru's heart froze as he realised the implication of her words.

"Lord Akito is still missing." he murmured. Aiko shook her head.

"He's not missing. He's dead." She said bitterly. "Kagato told me so himself. That he'd done it to 'protect my secret'. My fault, Haru. All my fault. All because I was a silly young girl and I didn't think before I acted!"

"Oh, Aiko..." Haru bit his lip. "Does he know you were still in contact?"

"Yes." Aiko admitted unwillingly. "I think that's why he did it. I think he knew I still had...affection for him, even though our letters are only as friends these days. And he was afraid that someone would expose the connection, so he got rid of it. He doesn't want anyone to know he's not a true Prince of Jurai, and he's willing to go to any lengths to ensure it."

She looked troubled.

"Haru-chan, there's more." She murmured.

"More? In what sense, more?" Haru asked. "What you've already told me is bad enough, but it gets worse?"

"Yes." Aiko reached up to wipe her eyes as more tears spilled down her cheeks. "I think...I think that Misaki-chan's illness...that...I think that...."

Haru's heart stopped as he stared at his sister in abject horror. Anger flared in his eyes.

"Are you saying that he tried to kill my wife?" He asked, his tones dangerously low as he fought to keep his temper in check. "And that he failed, but he succeeded in killing my child and heir?"

Aiko looked heartbroken, nodding her head dolefully.

"I don't know for sure - he hasn't told me." She added. "But I know he sent a gift to Lady Misaki to congratulate her on the baby - a lot of people did. And considering everything, I...I think he...he..."

She faltered, and Haru closed his eyes, fighting his emotions.

"You must not tell that to Misaki." He said quietly. "Especially if we have no proof. But if that is true, Aiko, he's no nephew of mine. I did not mind him as your bastard son - indeed, I would never have told Father anything about it. But I will not have my wife endangered because of his naked ambition. This can't stay between us - people need to know what's going on."

"You promised it was between us!" Aiko exclaimed, pulling away. "Don't you see, Haru-chan, he'll kill you and Azusa and maybe even Grandfather and Misaki too if he knows I've told you!"

She bit her lip.

"I think he might...might kill me, anyway." She admitted. "He hasn't so far, because he said he doesn't like killing people he's close to. But I think...I think he'll decide me too much of a liability. I know too much. I...am too much. I think he...I think he might."

"Then you must leave Jurai. Tonight, if we can arrange it." Haru got to his feet, pulling his sister up with him. "You can take Kanaye, and leave Sayuri here, to confuse him. And I'm sure that somewhere in the universe will be safe, until we can work out a way to stop him from whatever he's decided to do."

"No...I can't leave Jurai." Aiko sighed. "Then you would all be in danger for sure. Haru, I have to try and go on like nothing is wrong. It's just breaking my heart. My one pride and joy in life has always been my bright, clever boy. And now...and now...he may be the ruin of us all."

"I won't let him hurt you."

"It might already be too late." Aiko said sadly. "But Haru, I won't see him hurt you if I can help it. If you want to send someone from Jurai, send Misaki. Have her somewhere safe - call it a convalescence. Listen to me...Haru, Kagato has already had one prominent scientist killed and another exiled for things they discovered while on Jurai. A third is suffering severe mental symptoms from some experimentation or other. He's murdered his birth father and other nobles who have always looked down on him have been disappearing from court. I will probably be next - and if something does happen to me, you must find a way to stop him. I'm doing my best to rein him in, but I don't think I can."

"Aiko..."

"Promise me." Aiko put her finger to his lips. "After all, I brought him into this world. I almost deserve the karma to fall on my head. But you and Azusa do not."

"I promise, but I won't let him hurt you either." Haru said blackly.

"Kagato has Tessei and Tetta in his pay." Aiko said softly. "I don't know what he's promised the toadying twosome, but something that overrides their loyalty to father in favour of his own aims. Yesterday he sent them away from Jurai - and I know they're up to something. He's been desperately searching for something - although he won't tell me what - and now I think he thinks he's found it. Whatever it is, it's not a good sign."

"And you don't know where they went?"

"No, but from the little bits I overheard, I think someone else is going to die for his cause." Aiko looked troubled. "And there's nothing I can do to stop it."

She swallowed hard.

"I considered trying to poison him myself." She admitted. "Shameful admission for a mother to make, but I thought about it anyway. But I don't think I can, Haru. He's so strong - and then he'd know for sure that I was doing something to get in his way. He's not nice when he's angry, not these days. And I...I don't know what to do."

Haru frowned.

"I think you should try." He said quietly. "If it puts Azusa and I in danger, then it does. Kagato needs to be stopped and I'll protect you, you know I will."

"I know." Aiko sighed. "Perhaps. I don't know any more."

"I'm also going to speak to Lord Yosho." Haru said quietly. "I won't tell him you're my source, Aiko-chan, but Yosho is the strongest soldier on Jurai and he's the only one who might be able to handle Kagato properly. They're classmates, cousins, he knows Kagato as well as anyone, if not better. But it;s well known that Yosho's potential exceeds even Father's skill - it's why Father dotes on him so much. We may need him."

"Yosho might not help - he's as much against Jurai as he can be right now." Aiko said sadly. Haru pursed his lips.

"He will." He said at length. "I know where Haruna is, and I'll make a deal with him regarding her. If he can stop Kagato, then I'll make sure he's able to leave Jurai without a trace."

"Father will be livid."

"Better than dead, and Father doesn't care about me anyway." Haru said frankly. Aiko sighed heavily.

"All right." She agreed. She hesitated, then kissed her brother on the cheek.

"I love you, Haru." She said softly. "And whatever happens, I'm sorry for burdening you with my stupidity."

"You're never a burden, sister." Haru assured her. "And we'll stop Kagato. You'll see. We will."