CHAPTER 359: LEAVE A LIGHT ON... PLEASE

[TAMIKO]

"Do you understand me now?" Sanji asked Tamiko, who was staring into the distance, thinking of the Erasthai he had promised to come back for. Time was going by a little too fast, and he had to think for both of them.

He had to find out who Yilena was, and when he did, then he would try to figure out which part of his life he was about to sacrifice for Kosta’s happiness. It was a selfless decision, one that would ruin his life.

Yet even then, he had agreed to it regardless.

There were so many risks that seemed to be surrounding this Yilena personality, and it made no sense that he would be set up like this. It would have been easier if the woman had challenged Tamiko to figure out who Yilena was, but then she wanted Yilena dead.

She wanted Yilena gone so they would be free, which was slowly becoming an understandable choice because Tamiko had never seen Sanji this terrified of a person, much less a woman who was believed to be a ghost.

Ghosts didn’t haunt the living for so long, but Kawai seemed to be haunted by this particular ghost named Yilena.

"I made a vow, and I have to keep it. If you know who Yilena Sidorova is, then let me know. I will go after her myself if you think it is too much of a risk for you," Tamiko said in earnest.

Sanji laughed humorlessly, again. He couldn’t believe that this was what they had gotten to at the end of the day. This was madness, and the sheer audacity that came with the binding truths was something that Sanji couldn’t quite understand.

The risks were already there. Everyone by now knew that Sanji had been picked up by the prince of Kawai for a certain mission, seeing as Tamiko had insisted that Sanji be armed.

There was no way for them to come out of this without fucking up the very things that kept them sane for long. The choice had to be made and Tamiko stood right in the middle of the good and the bad; only that this time, he was honestly verily fucked.

"Oh, me? I am not leaving. This is my chance to see you fuck up royally because of the mate bond you believe in so much. I am very glad that you brought me along, Your Highness. Because this right here is my salvation.

"If Yilena gets to us and kills us, at least I know I won’t be a dead man walking like you had me stirring up the impossible earlier. It is just going to be you and me, your highness. Buckle up, because this is about to get bumpy as fuck.

"That reminds me; do you have a deadline for this suicide mission you agreed to?" Sanji asked, his humor never reaching Tamiko’s ears. Tamiko was thinking a lot about what he needed to do.

There was a higher stake already and for a moment he wondered why the fuck he had been cautioned against informing his uncle and father of what he was doing.

If this was the easiest mission, then wasn’t it just right that his family was aware of what he was about to get himself into? Wasn’t it just alright that they needed to be on the same page in case Tamiko needed backup?

But why did it feel like there would be so many unexplainable things happening between now and sundown then? Was this the right choice?

Could Tamiko turn back time?

Well, these were questions whose answers wouldn’t do Tamiko any good, and he knew it a little too well. No matter what choice he made, he would have to live with the haunting truth of his reality, whether he had Kosta in his life or not.

It was a small price that he could have unwillingly bargained into, and the deal was long sealed.

Yilena Sidorova had to die.

"Well then, where the fuck is this Yilena?" Tamiko asked, knowing that this excited Sanji more than the fact that they would possibly be swallowed into a phantom zone that knew nothing of mercy or forgiveness.

As it was, the two of them weren’t exactly the best kind of beasts right now. They had screwed over so many and murdered many in the name of what they believed in.

Perhaps in another timeline, Sanji and Tamiko would have been good friends-in-arms, and they would have had each other’s backs. It was just a pity that this was happening right now.

"What is our deadline, kid?" Sanji asked, dropping all the formalities. They were dead anyway – if Yilena got to them first – so there was no point for him to try and act like life was all good for both of them.

No one knew what the future held. However, somehow in the middle of all that madness, Tamiko hoped that the world would only end after Kosta had enjoyed happiness, even if it wasn’t with him.

It was a psychotic way to think, but Tamiko wasn’t about to give up just yet.

"Sundown," Tamiko said, making Sanji come to a stop.

"She knew you wouldn’t be able to find Yilena in that period, and even kill her. She knew you couldn’t do shit about it, that was why she baited you. That is not even enough time to go to where Yilena was last seen, let alone portal through the timelines to find her.

"You are in a losing game. Go find Igor. Spend whatever time there is left before sundown with your Erasthai, and hope that someday you find a way around the dare you were given because this is not winnable, not today.

"And I am not telling you this because I want you to lose so badly, but because you have joined the great game. And in the great game, you have to have a few tricks up your sleeve. This is not even about wars anymore, Tamiko.

"Your intelligence has a chance to show up, because otherwise, you are screwed. If you go and pick a fight with her, she will never let you see Konstantin again, and Konstantin might never want to see you.

"Be smart about this. You can either spend time with your Erasthai or waste that time trying to fight the ghost that no one has ever been able to find," Sanji added, insisting on Tamiko making a smarter choice.

It almost seemed like a trick, but Tamiko could hear the sincerity in his voice. Maybe the kid was so insane that he was leaning towards trusting Sanjiro, but this was the only thing he could pay attention to right now.

No one knew what lived beyond the terrible, horrible future that awaited them.

It was the first time that choices had to be made in the most harmless of ways. Then perhaps it was not the best of things, but why did it seem like this was the first time that Sanjiro was smoking a lot?

"I can’t. I promised I would only go back if I had Yilena’s head. If I go back empty-handed just because I want to spend a few fleeting moments with Kosta, he will never look at me the same way.

"Since you are so sure that I can never win against the idea of Yilena Sidorova, how about you tell me about her?" Tamiko asked.

Sanji’s mouth opened and closed like he was a fish on dry land. He couldn’t believe that of the options the kid had, this was what he was choosing to go with.

Either Tamiko was the bravest kid in the realm who was sure the moon goddess had his back, or he was making the worst of gambles in all of history, and that too because he was listening to someone who was a master of chaos.

This was not okay, and Tamiko knew it, but what other option did he have this time?

"You are a sucker for that barbarian, aren’t you? It is interesting how you are polar opposites, yet you fit each other so well. Oh, you are so fucked for him," Sanji mused.

Tamiko rolled his eyes at the man before him.

"Coming from a traitor who had probably misled me because I chose him, eh? Who do you want me to believe, Sanjiro? You haven’t given me a reason to trust you, and clearly, the realm is safer without you in it.

"Whatever gamble you play, you are always going to end up dead – if not by my hands, then by the hands of father and uncle. Or is this supposed to buy you favor with me and time?" Tamiko asked.

Sanji just stared at him like this was getting even more interesting. And it was pissing Tamiko off.

He hadn’t bargained for a situation like this.

He hadn’t banked on the possibility that life would be this fucked up for the both of them and now he was here with the man he should have murdered and the same man on whom he had cast an immortal-pain spell to keep alive.

It was not what he had thought of when he had woken up this morning, and it certainly wasn’t what he had wanted to imagine right now. But then here he was, with the traitor, trying to think of possible options like they had been the best of friends.

"Touché. Anyway, we need to head East, because that is where Yilena was first spotted; or rather, where people assume she lived before she died – if she’s even dead," Sanji said earnestly.

"Lead the way."