That only made his panic worse. Did that mean...
“We’re... all dead, aren’t we?”
“No. No,” Takara quickly assured him. “Nothing like that.”
“Yeah, but...” Koichi’s voice trailed off. That made Ryuichi even more nervous, as Koichi had never been shy around him before.
Takara bit her lip before she answered. “They called their meeting.”
No, not the dreadedthey. Not the dreaded meeting where they’d demand his head.
“And?” He held his breath as dread filled him.
Takara sighed and refused to meet his gaze. “You should see for yourself.”
It must be even worse than he feared.
What are they going to do to me now?
That one question left a lump the size of Fuji in his stomach.
Against his better sense and will, Koichi waited for him to get up and dress while Takara waited outside, near where her father and others had set up a makeshift tent they were using as a council chamber.
Every step toward it seemed to take forever, and the instant they entered, everyone gathered there grew quiet.
Suddenly, he wished his father had killed him and spared him this newest humiliation.
When the voice of an old man rang out, he wished they’d remained silent. “That boy is too dangerous to be kept here. Who knows when they’ll come back for him. And come back they certainly will.”
Things were getting tense.
Ryuichi wanted to shrink into his clothes until he was as invisible as they used to make him feel.
“He burned down our school,” another man said.
A younger man spat on the ground near Ryuichi. “Ryukage’s mutt. He should be put down like the rabid dog he is!”
Well, this wasn’t the homecoming he’d wanted.
Suddenly, they were all shouting at him to such a point that he couldn’t understand a single word or insult.
“Everyone! Everyone! Enough!” A woman’s voice rang out over all the others.
They settled down to a tense silence so that they could glare at her.
Kasumi.
His enemy was his defender? That didn’t make any sense. Confused, he frowned at Koichi, who shrugged with the same puzzled expression.
“Let’s not focus on casting blame. We have to find a solution.” She swept her gaze toward Ryuichi. “While it’s true that he’s Ryukage’s child, we have to decide what to do with him.”
Give him a break?
Only he felt that way as an uproar began again.
“He’s too dangerous to be kept alive.”
“He’s a threat to not just us but the entire world.”
