The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon

. I'm the one who ran off and left you behind."
    "I blame myself for that as well. I really messed up." The rat smiled bitterly. "And a good thing you did run. If the guards had arrested you, then what? Better if I had told you myself and given you the purse, but I kind of got myself knocked out cold."
    "Rakushun . . . . "
    "I was really worried about what happened to you after that. I'm glad to see you're okay."
    "It's not like I abandoned you because I had to."
    "Really?"
    "Really. The idea of traveling with another person gave me the willies. I didn't think I could trust anybody. I thought I was surrounded by no one but my enemies. That's why."
    Rakushun twitched his whiskers. "Does that include me now?"
    Youko shook her head.
    "All's well, then. Well, let's get going."
    "Don't you hate me for double-crossing you?"
    "I might think you a fool for doing so, but, no, I don't have any particular reason to hate you."
    "I even thought of going back and killing you."
    Rakushun started to walk off, still holding her hand. He stopped in his tracks. "You know, Youko . . . . "
    "Yes."
    "To tell the truth, when I realized that you had gone off and left me there, I was a little let down. Only a little. I knew that you didn't trust me. The whole time, you were worried I was going to try and pull something. Still, along the way, I had hoped the truth would sink in. When you ran off without me, I knew you hadn't. So I was a little disappointed. But if you've finally come to your senses, then it's all good."
    "It's not all good. You've got every reason in the world to tell me good riddance and send me packing."
    "Whether I do or not, that's up to me, isn't it? I wished for you to trust me. If you do, then that makes me happy. If not, then not so much. But that's my problem. Whether you trust me or not, that's up to you. Trusting me may be to your benefit or to your loss. But that's your problem."
    Youko humbly bowed her head. "Rakushun, you're-- awesome! "
    "Hey, hey, what's this all of a sudden?"
    "It's just that I get myself into these snits and convince myself that I have no friends in this world."
    "Youko." Rakushun tugged on her arm with his small hand.
    "I am so totally messed up."
    "No, you're not."
    "Yes, I am."
    "You're not, Youko. After all, I'm not the one who was washed ashore in a strange land and then chased around it from one end to the other."
    For a moment Youko stared down at Rakushun's face. Rakushun looked up at her and laughed. "You've really pulled yourself together, Youko. You're in a fine fettle."
    "What?"
    "I knew it as soon as you came off the boat. A blind man couldn't miss it a mile away."
    "Me?"
    "Yes, you. So, shall we get going?"
    "Go where?"
    "The prefecture building. If you're a kaikyaku and get yourself properly registered, people will do what they can to help. The officials will write letters of introduction for you, or so I've heard. You were taking your time getting here, so I did a bit of wandering about myself and went to the local prefecture building and checked it out. That's what they told me."
    "Rakushun, you're unbelievable."
    For whatever reason, one by one, doors now seemed to be opening up to her.

Chapter 49
    " T his is one happening town."
    The crowds of people bustling back and forth and proprietors shouting out their wares from the storefronts only added to the lively atmosphere.
    "You're surprised."
    "Yeah."
    "I'd heard that En was a wealthy kingdom, but when I saw Ugou for the first time, even I was taken aback."
    Youko nodded. The streets were wide in the same way that the dimensions of the whole city were big. The castle walls that surrounded the city must be a good ten meters thick. On the city-side of the walls, shop stalls had been hollowed-out of the stone and businesses were thriving there as well. They very much resembled under-girder kiosks in Japan.
    The buildings were made of wood and reached three stories. The ceilings were high and every window was glazed with glass. Here and there was a huge building made of brick and stone. A "Chinatown-like atmosphere" by itself was not enough to describe the strange and curious ambience the place created. The streets were paved with stone, with drainage ditches running down both sides. There was a park and public square. None of this had she ever seen in Kou.
    Youko said, looking at her surroundings, "I feel like a country bumpkin."
    Rakushun laughed. "I thought the same. And I am a country bumpkin."
    "Just how many layers of