Three days until departure, and I couldn't stop thinking about Kyoto.
Where had he gone after our training sessions ended? Was he still somewhere in the forest, or had he moved on to whatever wandering people did when they weren't teaching techniques to village boys?
I wanted to thank him. To tell him that his lessons had helped me at the Academy Trial. He'd been nice to me when no one else would train with the village failure, and that meant something.
The problem was finding him.
I'd checked the forest clearing where we'd trained, but it looked like no one had been there in days. No footprints, no signs he'd ever been there at all.
Then I remembered how much he loved those dumplings.
The village had only one place that sold dumplings with blue cliff honey—old man Watanabe's stall near the market square. If Kyoto was still around, he might show up there for more food.
"Haven't seen anyone like that," Watanabe said when I described Kyoto, but his eyes lit up. "Though someone bought my entire batch of honey dumplings two days ago. Paid extra for the good honey too."
That sounded like something Kyoto would do! I bought a few regular dumplings and sat at one of Watanabe's small tables, hoping maybe my teacher would come back.
He didn't show up, but I wasn't alone for long.
"Still can't believe it's been seven years," said a voice behind me.
I looked over to see Elder Nakamura sitting with Elder Sato and Elder Fujiwara. They were talking quietly, not paying attention to me eating dumplings in the corner.
"Seven years since that terrible Iron Crown incident," Elder Fujiwara agreed, shaking his head. "Time goes by so fast."
Iron Crown. That was one of the guilds Yuki had told me about. I kept eating but listened, curious about guild stuff since I'd be heading to the Academy soon.
"Poor Captain Tetsuo," Elder Sato said sadly. "Such a good man. And those other guild members who died—all because one person went crazy."
Someone died? That sounded really bad.
"I still don't understand what happened to Kazuki," Elder Nakamura continued. "He seemed like such a nice young man before he... you know."
"Madness, probably," Elder Fujiwara said. "Sometimes people just snap. Attack their own friends for no reason."
I frowned. Someone named Kazuki had attacked his friends? That was awful. Why would anyone hurt people they cared about?
"Thank goodness Captain Izuma was there to stop it," Elder Sato added. "If he hadn't been around, who knows how many more people would have gotten hurt."
Captain Izuma! That was the Academy guy who'd helped me and Mina stay together. He'd stopped someone from hurting people? That was pretty amazing.
"Made him the youngest guild captain ever," Elder Nakamura said. "He's done a great job leading Iron Crown these past seven years. Really turned things around after that tragedy."
"Still," Elder Fujiwara said, lowering his voice, "I wonder what really happened that night. The reports didn't explain much."
"Some things are better left alone," Elder Sato said firmly. "Captain Izuma handled it, and that's what matters."
"You're right. I just hope that Kazuki person is far away from here now. Dangerous people like that shouldn't be wandering around near villages."
They finished eating and left, talking about other village business.
I sat there feeling confused and kind of sad. Someone named Kazuki had hurt a bunch of guild members seven years ago, and Captain Izuma had stopped him. That was terrible, but at least Izuma had been there to help.
It made me feel a little better about going to the Academy, actually. If Captain Izuma was the kind of person who stopped bad people from hurting others, then maybe the Academy really was safe. Maybe he'd arranged for Mina to come along because he was just a good person who helped families stay together.
I finished my dumplings and headed home, still thinking about Kyoto and hoping he was okay wherever he'd gone. The forest could be dangerous with all those Akuma around, and he'd seemed like a nice guy despite being kind of weird.
Maybe I'd see him again someday. Maybe after I got stronger at the Academy, I could find him and show him how much I'd improved with the Flame Threading technique.
That would be pretty cool.
Three days until we left for the Academy. Three days until everything changed again.
But at least now I knew Captain Izuma was a good person who protected people from dangerous situations. That made leaving the village feel a little less scary.
Whatever happened next, at least Mina and I would be somewhere safe.