(Yeah like hell I'm going to leave.) Sakume thought as he sat on the roof. He's got a plan. He's going to attack her when she lets her guard down. Then he'll arrest her and bring her in.
Inside, Faith was getting ready for bed. She walked to a certain room and kneeled before a black and white picture of a man. The man had an unshaven beard and black hair.
"Good night, father." said Faith. "I will continue to protect this land tomorrow. I won't let you down."
Sakume was hiding behind the wall in darkness. He can hear her coming to the exit, and that's when he's going to ambush her. Thud thud thud. She's walking closer and closer, and he got ready. Once she was at the exit, he revealed himself and slashed, Faith ducked. Whoosh. He slashed and she blocked with her sword in the patch, and it got knocked away. She jumped back.
"You!" Faith yelled. "You said you wouldn't come back!"
"Yeah right. I don't make promises with ghosts."
She ran away and he chased. Crash! She jumped through the wooden wall and they were in the hallway. While running, he grabbed her shoulder, she turned around and punched, he blocked and hit her in the stomach. Thud. She almost fell as her back hit the wall. Sakume swipes his sword forward, Faith ducked and hit his arm, knocking the sword away. She kicked, and he stepped back to dodge it. Whoosh.
It was dark and quiet, and the only sounds in the building were the sounds of those two fighting. Whack! Wham!
Faith was losing without her sword. It's clear he's physically stronger. She stepped back cautiously. Sakume took a step forward, also very cautious. He charged and she ducked his punch and kicked him into the wall. Crash! He's now under a pile of wood. Thinking it was over, Faith took a deep breath, sighing in relief.
Suddenly, Sakume jumped out from the rubble and gave her quite a shock. He grabbed her hands and they lost balance and he fell on top of her. Thud. Their faces were mere inches away from each others. They both stared into each other's eyes in shock.
Faith's eyes were big and bright and lively, something he only noticed up close. She gasped in fear and turned her head to the side and shut her eyes. A tear drop appeared in the corner of her eyes. A truly evil person would not cry like she does.
Sakume suddenly felt bad about attacking her…he ambushed her out of anger but now his senses have returned to him. He broke into her place and now he's lying on top of her and this position just seemed wrong. If a third person were to witness this, he would say Sakume is the bad guy.
He got off her and she remained on the floor, sobbing silently. Twenty seconds later, she sat up.
"I'm sorry." he said quietly.
It was already dawn and the sun was rising. The two are at the balcony of the shrine. "Are you ready to talk?" asked Sakume.
Faith stared at the beautiful sky. She has seen many sunrises with her father. But he's not here anymore and she's been living alone ever since.
"Do you realize what you're doing is a crime, Ms. Lin? The police are investigating the matter of people running into a so-called ghost at this place. Why are you dressing up as a ghost and scaring people away?"
Faith looked at him with a frightful expression. She wanted to say a lot, but no words would come out. Her eyes are sad and regretful. Looking at her eyes, Sakume regretted talking to her with his tone of voice.
"Look, Ms. Faith-"
"This shrine belongs to my family…"
The rugged middle-aged man patted his daughter's head. "Remember Faith," he said, "This land belongs to our clan."
"Our clan?" replied the curious little girl.
"That's right. It belongs to our family and it always will be. One day you will be the protector of the shrine just like I am. If one day I am not here anymore, I expect you to do a good job watching over this place."
"Mmm! Faith will do a good job."
"You promise?"
"I promise!" the girl replied enthusiastically.
"I am a descendant of the Lin family." said Faith. "My family has been watching over this shrine for seven generations. We won it from an ancient war against the tribes that used to roam this land. My father passed away and before he did, I promised him I would protect the shrine no matter what."
"I'm sorry." said Sakume.
"But now the government claims the land for itself. They deny that my family has been living here the whole time. When he passed away, the government saw their chance wanted to claim this land. What am I to do? Just let them take it away? I tried to talk to them, but they won't listen to reason. So I did what I had to do." She clutched her fingers tightly. Sakume can see that she's really angry. "I decided that if I can scare people away, then the government will not want this land anymore. That is the only reason I did it. Otherwise, how will I keep my promise to my father?" Tears dripped down her eyes.
Sakume is finally getting to see the other side of the story. Faith has her own reasons for doing this.
"All I want to do is scare people away. I never intend to hurt anyone. *Sob sob* "
"I did not know…you had such a burden. I'm sorry." replied the detective.
"If you arrest me now…then I will lose everything. I will lose my father's land. Officer…" She grabbed his hand. "Can you please make this one exception? I have no other options. I…I don't know what to do."
Sakume has already made his decision. "Very well. Your story has convinced me, Ms Lin. I will drop this ghost case. And I will also see the mayor to see if I can convince him not to take this land."
"R-Really?" Faith replied, as if that's the nicest thing anyone has said to her.
"Really."
"Thank you." she replied gratefully with a smile. "You don't know how much this means to me."
"Well, I'm off. My job is done here."
"You have to go?"
"Yeah."
"Will we meet again?" she asked.
"Probably." the detective replied.
"What's your name?"
"Sakume. Shikura Sakume."
"Shikura Sakume…" she repeated to herself.
Suddenly, police officers showed up. Some of them were hiding on the roof, others in the building, and some were on the ground. Two of them pointed their swords at her neck.
"What is the meaning of this?" she inquired.
Officer Saito stepped forward. "Ms. Faith Lin, you are now under arrest for dressing up as a ghost and causing a disturbance in our town."
Sakume turned around and saw what happened, and he gasped. He quickly ran to them. "What is this? Officer Saito?"
Saito put his hand on Sakume's shoulder. "You've done well, Sakume. You were able to get past her disguise. Now we can arrest her and bring her to trial."
Faith was pissed off to hear this. "So this was part of your plan?"
"No, it's not like that."
"Stop lying! You said you'd help me, but you lied! You never intended to help me in the first place. You're nothing but a pawn of the government! You're despicable! You traitor!"
Sakume felt a thunderbolt hit his heart when she said those angry words. That nice lady he met a few moments ago was no longer here. In her eyes, he's nothing more than scum.
Saito said, "That's enough out of you. Take her away."
The two officers took her down the hall.
Sakume felt extra guilty about this. He really was going to help her, but things turned out like this, and he can't do anything about it. Arresting a criminal is supposed to be a good thing, right?
Sakume wandered the streets of Mistle Town alone, as usual. He felt guilty about what happened to Faith. He just couldn't forget her harsh words and the look on her face. "You traitor!" was the last thing she said to him. Sakume really wanted to help her, and just when he gained her trust, he lost it instantly. It wasn't his fault…was it? But how can he help her now? Maybe he should do something unusual and out of the blue, like going to see the chief of police.
"Sir," said Sakume, "Is there anything you can do to convince him?"
"Hmmm." said the chief. He was a fat man who eats a lot but he has principles. He's been in charge of Mistle Town when he was still young. "The mayor can be a stubborn person. I can try to talk to him, but it is doubtful. By the way…"
"Yes?"
"Why is that land important to you? It has nothing to do with you whatsoever."
"I just don't want the government to take the land, that's all. I think we should leave it the way it is. It is a sacred land that once belonged to a powerful clan." Sakume then left the room disappointed.
When he's depressed, it's back to the bar. Sakume drank a big cup of alcohol. Kyone noticed that he's in a bad mood. "What's the matter, Sakume? Still worried about the ghost problem?"
"No…it's not about that anymore. What I have is a human problem. More specifically, a girl problem"
"Oh? One of those."
Sakume pushed his cup from side to side. "We had a good thing going on, and she trusted me. But I betrayed her trust. Now she sees me as a hated person. I am supposed to be happy when a criminal is arrested, but I feel like crap."
"Sakume, when you lose someone's trust, it is extremely difficult to get it back. The only way to get it back is to prove that you're trust worthy, and you do it through your actions." said Kyone.
"Through my actions, huh. I guess my actions are pretty loud and clear."