Moon and Star: Book One Read Online Free PDF Page B

looked down at the fruit to find he no longer held it. His stomach growled, again.
    “Don’t worry about your stomach. The fact it’s growling like that means it’s working.”
    “What did you give me?” Kaito asked.
    “A fruit not native to Jakai. I traded with some foreign merchants to acquire it. They say it decreases your appetite.”
    “What’s it called?” Kaito asked.
    She shrugged. “It had some strange foreign name. It doesn’t matter. Your stomach will quiet down in a few hours. Why don’t you help me crush these berries?”
    Kaito took a handful of the berries and crushed them in one hand. Their juices oozed through his fingers and dripped onto the grass. He took another handful and repeated, this time snatching it out of Mayumi's hand. She looked at him and sighed.
    “I realize you’re angry.”
    “At them , not you,” he said, continuing to squeeze the berries.
    “Why aren’t you mad at me?” Mayumi asked.
    “Because,” he said, standing up, “you didn’t lie to me. You’ve been up front with me from the start and I appreciate that. Back there, I was living a glorified lie. I can’t believe how stupid I was, believing that I could ever become Shogun. But that’s all in the past.”
    “Your past is what defines you,” Mayumi said. “Don’t dismiss it so quickly.”
    Kaito scoffed at the remark. What did she know about it? She wouldn’t even show him the blade after she promised. She had ample time to do it. Frankly, that was one of the main reasons he was still following her.
    Night approached. The fire grew in brightness as everything else turned dark in comparison.
    “Kaito, come here, I want to show you something.”
    He walked over to Mayumi. Her hands were on her belt, grasping not one, but both swords. She unsheathed the blades. One of them was smaller, probably used for indoor fighting. She stabbed the tip of the short tachi into the hilt of the larger one. In a flash of light, the two swords became a single tachi. The same one from the night before they left: a stacked double-crescent blade with a gap in the middle for the grip. She help her fist so that her knuckles faced him. The two tips—one for each side of the crescent were stacked on top of each other. The end of top edge dripped blood while the bottom glowed white. It was hard to see from the current angle.
    “This is tsuki no ha-ken,” she said. “Also known as the lunar blade."
    "Lunar blade?" Kaito asked. "It looks like an ordinary crescent blade, just … thinner. In fact that's the thinest sword I've ever seen."
    "You should've seen her just after the new moon. It was half the width of my smallest finger."
    Kaito raised an eyebrow.
    "You mean you've never heard of the legend?" Mayumi asked.
    He shook his head. "Out of all the story's father told me, the legend of a 'tsuki no ha-ken' wasn't one of them. Is there something special about the sword?"
    She nodded. "As the name suggests, the power relies directly on the moon. It has the ability to control any substance with water in its composition and can drain bodily fluids with a single prick and absorb them. I bet you're wondering why I didn't show you this earlier like I promised."
    "Well, … yeah?"
    "This blade cannot be summoned when there's a new moon.”
    "I'm usually asleep when the time the moon comes out."
    "You weren't lying," Mayumi said. "Your father really didn't teach you much."
    “You're telling me," he said. "So the sword is at its strongest when the moon is full, right?"
    She nodded. "You catch on quick. Shame your father didn't take advantage of that mind of yours more often. Maybe this hostility could've been avoided."
    “How long have you known my father?” Kaito asked. “I mean how did you two meet?”
    “We were supposed to be married. A union of clans. But I suppose a more accurate term would be partners.”
    “Partners?” Kaito asked. “What kind of partners?”
    “Your father and I were the ultimate tag team. No one could stop