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Chapter Text

Chapter I: The death

Permanently alert, he walks almost wandering through the polished stone paths silently meditating. And although his thoughts are of an ominous nature and extremely disturbing for any chonin, the darkness does not manage to take away his smile. The gloomy ideas that are created in his mind are embodied in a person and without realizing it he clenches his fist on the hilt of his katana.

As he passes, he conscientiously ignores the admiring glances and a few envious ones, although the light female laughter manages to curl the corners of his lips even more. Perhaps he can't actually see them, all the people wandering around the market, and it's almost a miracle that he doesn't bump into any of them without a cane pressed under his palm. But, it's just that this fellow is not one of the bunch and it is evident to see him strolling among the common people with a kamishimo, black and gray, to the unknowing eye. However, the merchants, who know the fabrics much better than the common people, can recognize the purple flash beneath the weave of that fine cloth. The silver embroidery running down his sleeves like a vine must have cost hours of hard work by hundreds of seamstresses and their pricked fingers.

After a while of walking, he stops in front of the store of the best blacksmith in the imperial city and leaves his katana on the table while the blacksmith works with his back to him.

“I need to give it a sharpening. The blade is a bit deteriorated, but it's my favorite, could you have it for tomorrow? I need it urgently.”

He recognizes his voice, and does so with some annoyance. He doesn't let go of the activity at hand, but gives himself a second to look over his shoulder at him.

“I can sense your annoyance all the way over here," he says again, twisting his lips.

“Couldn't you have come here a week ago? I have work here, I know you hear my hammer clearly.”

And he hears the burning embers releasing sparks, and smells the wood burning with frightening precision.

“I thought I was the only one giving work to this crusty old blacksmith.”

“I'm the best blacksmith in town, that's why you always come here.”

“I'll come early tomorrow morning for it, take good care of it. Did I tell you it's my favorite? “

“Maybe I'll test the edge of that sword on your neck, boy?”

“How funny you are when you're busy, has your wife made you suffer the pregnancy?”

“Gojo-san... I don't want to commit any crime...”

“See you tomorrow, Kataba-san. Send my sincere compliments to your wife, consider my name if you have a boy," he replies with a smile painted on his face.

As he turns around, he can still hear his voice, mingling with the others in the main street of the market. He mumbles profanities, diverse and colorful, so entertaining that he tries to memorize them in case he has to use them in the future. Although he doesn't think he'll be able to replicate his mental acuity when it comes to uttering an insult.

After leaving his favorite weapon in the hands of the blacksmith, he continues on a very clear route that he has been planning for some time now. The list is not too long, dried meat, dried fruit, clothing for cold nights, rope, arrows. Only the absolute essentials. After strolling for the last time through the crowded streets of the largest market in the Imperial capital, he turns to the place that has been his home for the last fifteen years.

It tastes bitter to him that such a long journey ended this way, although he is not entirely sure what his expectations were in the first place.

In the stables he strokes his favorite horse, leaves it saddled and hides what he has bought in the market behind a pile of hay.

The palace gates open as he peers in, wide open, drawn by four guards from each end. He raises a hand and salutes with a smile. Most of these soldiers owe him their lives after he saved them on some excursion, the newer recruits greet him with the admiration one has for legends. But he feels he has done no more than necessary and that had already begun to bore him.

The air inside the palace feels different, clean, not like the market where the smell of charcoal, blood and urine prevails. Here you only occasionally smell gunpowder mixed with flowers.

The women inside the palace are what smells best. They bathe daily and spray themselves with the most provocative perfumes. As if they know or suspect that he has slightly sharpened the rest of his senses by voluntarily blocking his eyesight. Although from time to time, caught by intrigue, he lifts his blindfold to glance at them or a plate of food. More than once, however, he has been disappointed by letting his expectations fly high after sensing a captivating scent. Which is why it is increasingly rare to be able to meet Gojo Satoru's eyes.

Neither the food, nor the women, nor all the money that the emperor offers him manages to calm the anxiety that grows day after day inside him. A foreboding throbbing in his chest leaves him sleepless, wandering like a soul in sorrow through the corridors. And although he knows he has many friends inside the palace, he can't help but perceive cursed energy growing inside the walls, as if a damnation were about to fall upon him at any moment.

There is no need to wonder where it comes from, he knows it with such certainty that it makes him nauseous.

Then he turns to the one who saved him from an unfortunate fate. The parched skin pales and reveals the veins that run through his body like a vine cluster. Convalescent, wandering between two worlds, the Emperor enjoys short periods of lucidity. Fortunately, so to speak, he is not forgotten.

Sitting beside the bed that will be the scene of his death, he waits patiently for him to take his last breath. He knows perfectly well that he doesn't have much time left, perhaps a matter of days or hours. He can hardly fall asleep because, when the Emperor sleeps, he remains with his eyes open to the swaying of his chest and the hissing coming from his nose. Each time he himself falls asleep, he awakens startled with a single thought clouding his mind, «Is he alive?»

“When I was little, I used to play with my older brother...we would sneak around and wander in the marketplace until an innkeeper's sons picked on my brother not knowing he was the heir to the throne. They beat us up and when the guards found us, my father almost cut off the innkeeper's sons' hands, but instead he gave the two of us five lashes on our hands. Have I ever shown you the scars, Satoru?”

“No, you haven't," he lies, as he has told him this story at least six times. He stretches, sitting cross-legged on the floor and glances at Taishō's scarred hands and feigns a surprised expression that he has been practicing exclusively for his master. Satisfied with the slight smile of his master, who still wanders in memories that have been lost in his mind for decades, Satoru sits back down in his seat.

“What did the doctor tell you?” he asks, not knowing that he has already asked this question three times.

“That you have little time left, maybe you will die today. Maybe tomorrow... You shouldn't waste your energy telling these stories again...”

“Wow... how indelicate you are, Satoru. Women don't like rough men like that, so promise me you'll try to improve that aspect of your personality, that's an order. The next woman you meet, you must treat her with great respect. When I die, I will do my best to accompany you with my spirit and send you a patient woman.”

“Even if I promised you, you would not remember it later.”

“How cruel," he says and then laughs, "but it's true," he sighs and sits up on the bed, seeming to remember that his mind has been playing tricks on him. His long silver-gray hair falls like a huge waterfall behind his back and he groans for a moment, his back hurts from spending so much time in this bed. His eyes suddenly don't look as lost as they did a moment ago, almost hidden behind his many wrinkles. He stops to think about something, meditating silently, watched by Satoru's attentive eyes.

“I have very little time left, don't I?” he asks and Satoru nods. Then he sighs and smiles slightly under his thick mustache. “The Zenin clan must be sharpening their fangs, waiting for the moment when I die," Satoru folds his arms and doesn't feel like answering his question, but Taishō smiles bitterly just seeing the way the corners of Gojou's smile slowly turn down. “In that case... you should leave the region as soon as possible... The first thing he will do is try to turn you into his lackey and we both know how that conversation will end. If you don't want any trouble... the best thing to do is to leave now, before I die. Take your things and go, they are going to force you to perform seppuku.”

“I am a bushi. Do you want me to sully my own honor by hiding like a rat? I'd have to perform seppuku anyway and I think I'm too young for that anyways.”

“You don't even practice all the virtues of bushido.”

“Huh? Don't I seem virtuous enough to you?”

“You have courage, no doubt, absolute honesty, honor and loyalty... but you still don't practice respect, compassion and righteousness?”

“No one does, I have not met any samurai who follows the way of the warrior to perfection.”

“Why do you think there are so few? Child, you still have a lot to learn. When you take off that blindfold you will realize how much you have to live for. That's why I want you to leave now. Anyway... I'm going to die.”

“As long as I'm alive... you'll only die of natural causes.” 

“I release you..." he pronounces, raising a hand to touch his shoulder, "from your promise, Satoru.”

“Are you delirious again, old man? Maybe I should take you for a walk to get some fresh air and stop your hallucinations.”

The Emperor bursts out laughing, unable to take offense at the disrespect of his most loyal lackey.

“Now that you mention it... yes, I could use some fresh air...”

It comes as a surprise that he wants to leave his quarters, but he prefers not to mention it, simply standing up and stretching out a hand to help him out of bed. After Taishō refused his help to get up, he extends a cane to him and escorts him to the door that slides open as soon as the Emperor makes his way out. The two young maidservants waiting on their knees on the other side of the door can't help but smile as they see the Emperor's favorite escort walk past them.

Taishō looks up and squeals once they both reach the palace gardens. He seems to have suddenly become annoyed and Gojo wonders what he has done now to put him in a bad mood.

“A few years ago, I used to be taller than you, at what point did you stretch yourself so far? I should have issued an edict about it, I should put you in jail for being taller than your Emperor," he says and uses his cane to hit Satoru in the calf. And he, as loyal as he is, can't move despite anticipating the attack and gladly takes the Emperor's blow.

“You haven't shrunk that much, it's the hump," he comments, stroking his back as if it were a magic lamp.

“What nonsense, you know you can't treat me with such familiarity.”

“Why do you let me treat you that way then?”

“I guess I've gotten used to how inappropriate you are... Besides, you're too strong to lose you. You've served me very well, Satoru. One simply has to learn to tolerate you.”

“Where are we going?” he asks as he notices that his master changes course and suddenly leaves the gardens and walks to the family cemetery.

“To see my son.”

With great effort, the emperor sits on the ground, his knees have become particularly fragile. Satoru imitates him and watches him join his palms together to raise a last prayer and then remain silent for a few seconds.

“I think it's time, Satoru. These are my last days... so I will use the strength I have left to ask you one last favor..." His servant waits attentively for his master's words. I want you to go to Yokohama and look for a small family..." Among his clothes there is a handwritten letter, written on an old and wrinkled paper, yellowed by the passage of time. "I won't say another word, I'm afraid this will reach the wrong ears".

“Do you have bastard children? I have suspected it," he answers, smiling again, "I haven't overlooked your little trips.”

“Oh, have you? Perhaps I haven't been as subtle as I would have wished... I need you to protect that family, though I regret having to resort to putting you back in charge of someone else's care. You just need to get them to safety. Once you do that you will be free of me forever.”

“You said you were releasing me from my promise, are you asking me to serve them?”

“There is a small fortune hidden in the temple of Ichijō-ji. Consider it your last job... Make the children safe and take the money... just give them enough to survive. Could you do that?”

“Ichijō-ji? That region is full of curses...”

“No one better than you to get there.”

Satoru smiles to himself, he knows he is unable to let go of what is probably his master's last wish and scratches the back of his neck while meditating on everything that will be triggered by Taishō's death.

“How do they look like?”

“You'll know who they are without much trouble... The girl has hair the color of the sea. As vibrant as the clearest sky your eyes have ever seen.”

“Blue?” Satoru questions incredulously. "I've never seen anyone with hair like that."

“There's only someone else like her... But it's not someone I want near the girl. If you should happen to cross paths with that person on your journey... Tell him I kept my promise.” 

“So after all these years you've kept a couple of secrets, old man.”

“Will you?”

“Well, when you die, I'll have a lot of time on my hands... I'll have to think about it. I don't much enjoy the idea of taking care of a bunch of children... It sounds exhausting... Besides, I'd have the Zenin clan on my heels. If I decide to help you, I hope that small fortune you speak of is not so small... I'd like to continue having this lifestyle once you're gone. Hey, can you hear me?”

He turns his gaze to his Lord and finds him frowning, looks back and forth among the tombstones and sacred temples, turns to see the torii adorning his own son's grave and his eyes mist over as he reads the name written there.

“Did he die? But... when did this happen? Satoru?”

He hears Taishō's broken voice and raises a hand to caress his back.

“A few years ago...” he looks at him confused; his eyes soaking wet. “But... don't worry, I'll protect the rest of your children.”

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Between comings and goings, and in a matter of only two days, Taishō's condition worsened considerably and his delusions became so violent that Satoru was forced to subdue him to administer his medicine. He went so far as to smash a door with his old sword and threatened a young servant girl whom he mistook for a curse sent to collect his soul. Then, as if nothing had happened, he told Satoru about old battles with curses from his most terrible nightmares. But he never mentioned anything about them again, those he entrusted to him in the temple where the remains of his only legitimate son lie.

At times Satoru wonders if that was just another delirium, or if those words were the last shred of lucidity he had left. Whatever the answer, he knows that he has to leave the palace the moment his master takes his last breath, before that little madman proclaims himself the new Emperor of Japan.

Sitting cross-legged, he looks under a dark blindfold at the way his chest is rocking gently and with such difficulty that it is even hard to see it. He finds the idea that someone as powerful as Taishō ended up becoming this senile old man incredible. Especially, having met him at his peak of recognition.

Having stayed awake for the last two nights, he has a strange feeling that he must not close his eyes even for a second. Something inside him tells him that he cannot leave this bed for a moment, that he cannot miss his last breath for anything in the world. As if death was waiting for his next blink of an eye to take him away from the world of the living.

Taishō's forehead glistens with sweat that a maidservant insists on wiping with a damp cloth until he raises his weak and pale right hand to stop her.

“Retreat yourself... I want to be alone with my son,” he suddenly says to the maid.

Satoru looks surprised and the girl looks at him, slightly confused. They both know perfectly well that Gojo is not Taishō's son and he is most likely delirious again, as dementia has not given him a minute's rest in the last few hours.

Without saying a single word, the girl apologizes, gets up and leaves the room, leaving them alone. Behind the door waits the most renowned physician in the empire along with the most important men in the entire region. They mutter tirelessly about the future that awaits them after the emperor's inevitable death.

The emperor extends his hands towards him, lying on his bed, and Satoru hesitates for a moment before shaking

“Promise me, my son, that you will find a good woman... You have spent a long time alone...” he says and coughs.

“You shouldn't stress yourself," he reminds him.

“My son, my boy. You've grown so much," he pronounces slowly, his voice hoarse, and caresses Satoru's cheek. He gets a lump in his throat; he is used to play along so as not to provoke any more unpleasant emotions during his last moments of life. However, he forces a weak smile, "So strong and brave... So stubborn..." Satoru suddenly smiles and lets out a light laugh. "Don't laugh at your father's words, I'll be watching you from the other side, do you hear me? I'll be watching you every step of the way... Every decision I'll be there with you and I'll find a means to guide you if you lose your way. Thank you for taking care of this old man for so long...”

“It's my duty," Gojo answers, trying not to break the fantasy in which he finds himself, imagining that he is talking to his late son.

“Of course it is... Satoru...” His name slides softly across his tongue and his head sways to the side. Satoru suddenly wipes away his smile, "Not a day goes by that I am not thankful that I crossed your path, I often wonder what would have become of you... If you had made good decisions even when you were alone... I gave you everything I could give you, and taught you everything I had to teach. You were my greatest comfort, after I lost my blood... I still had you by my side. So hungry to learn... You have mastered it all... I wish I could leave you in a more gentle, less wicked world... That's my only regret... Just... take care of them...”

Uttering the word with a last breath that leaves Satoru mute. The knot that lies beneath his neck tightens, the emperor's chest does not rock again and he looks down at the hand that falls limp on the bed. He closes his eyes for the last time, his lips parched, his temper calm. And he never breathes again, never again.

He has been waiting for this moment for a long time, however, upon seeing him lifeless, he cannot get out of his astonishment and his lips twist for a bitter moment in which he tries to hold back a feeling that begins to tear at his chest very quickly. Despite this, after a few minutes, he stands up, ignoring the whirlpool that consumes his skin and walks towards the exit, but not before giving a last look to his master, to leave the palace. After his exit he doesn't say a word, but the doctor and the feudal lords enter the grounds in a hurry, only to confirm what they have patiently waited for.

Just as he takes the reins of his horse is that the bells begin to ring throughout the imperial city, waking the citizens in the middle of the dawn. But, as Satoru knows perfectly well what awaits him, he mounts on the back of Oguri, a white-coated thoroughbred, and rides out of the city at full speed in the opposite direction to the pilgrimage that begins to form in the streets.

The doors of the houses open to the sound of bells and Satoru knows that there is something inherently wrong with marching in the opposite direction of the palace. But there is nothing more he can do, as avoiding the new Emperor is the smart thing to do. There is no heir and the northern army has been preparing to take the palace for months. In fact, perhaps suicide by seppuku would be more pleasant than staying and waiting for what the Zenin Clan plans to do with him.

The lump in his throat does not loosen, even outside the imperial city wall. Not even when alone in the dim moonlight in the middle of a thick forest. Not even by pulling hard on Oguri's reins can he let out a little of the helplessness that gnaws at him. So he stops by the river when he hears a shriek.

Umibozu.

A black slime, thick as oil, with eyes running down his body as they watch from one place to the other. Hundreds of eyes watching him from the water, clustering one on top of the other. The curse that sinks ships. It pierces through the hulls of ships and feeds on the shipwrecked.

Satoru climbs down from Oguri's back and walks slowly. Umibozu's countless eyes begin to point at him. It is not common to see this curse come out of the river, it prefers to hide in the depths, form an eddy with its own body and swallow entire boats. However, he has heard of some people who have seen it come out to swallow some distracted fisherman.

As Gojo's tabi soak up the river water, Umibozu stands up. His eyes wide open, so wide open that from a distance you can see black veins like clusters covering the curse's eyeballs. Rising like a wave, Satoru feels the current of the water sweeping inward, swirling as if the curse could swallow the water within itself.

He calmly grips the hilt of his sword and waits silently for signs of his attack. The air around him, the evil energy concentrating and growing in front of him to launch itself like the dizzying wave of a tsunami.

The sword shrieks against the scabbard as Satoru unsheathes it mere inches from the curse. It cuts precisely into its core, the place where the most cursed energy is concentrated. He feels the water falling on the skin of his face like a pleasant summer drizzle. He feels his outstretched arm numb; his muscles so tight that he has nothing left to do but laugh at himself. This has not been remotely enough to end the disdain that lies within his chest.

Satoru sits down on the banks of the crystal-clear river and removes the bandage from his face to pour himself some water from a canteen he has hidden under his clothes. He stops to contemplate the forest and looks up at the moon.

Perhaps it is intentional that he has chosen this route that goes straight to the city his Lord mentioned to him earlier, the one in which those he believes are his illegitimate children are hiding.

He smiles to himself, not even asking their ages or anything else that might help him find them. Perhaps the only piece of information that could really help him is that the girl has a very particular hair color. But at the same time this seems highly unlikely to him. If such a person existed, he would probably have already heard something about it. Which makes him think that all this was just one of his delusions. Then he takes the parchment out of his pocket, it is a letter written by someone with bad handwriting, probably a child. It doesn't say too much, only that he likes to watch the ships leaving the harbor in the morning and that he occasionally eats at the inn of Kota-sama, who makes the best chohan in town. The letter is torn, Taishō has only given him a fragment. It has no signature or address. But Satoru knows that it is enough of a clue to start his journey so he ends up getting back on Oguri's back and gallops quietly towards the port city of Yokohama.

As the days go by, he even contemplates the idea of going to the temple at Ichijō-ji. Perhaps, if the whole story of his bastard children was nothing more than the invention of an unbalanced mind, the part about the fortune hidden in the temple is something true and he could even leave the country and seek a life elsewhere. In fact, exorcising a few curses to get to the temple doesn't seem at all complicated, a strange force under his hands begs him for a fight at this moment. In fact, exorcising a few curses to get to the temple doesn't seem at all complicated, a strange force under his hands begs him for a fight at this moment to shake off the grief after the death of his dearest friend, the one he has even come to feel more like a father than his own parent.

He strokes the coat of his horse, which is already beginning to complain after such a long journey. He does him the favor of getting off his back and takes the reins to guide him as he takes his first steps in the city of Yokohama. He does himself a favor by seeing the first peddler dragging a cart with his bare hands and for a couple of coins takes a woven straw hat. He quickly replaces his bandana with a pair of glasses with black painted lenses and puts his new hat on top.

Twenty days have passed since Taishō's passing and he has already begun to hear the news from the imperial city. The announcement of the surrender by the former emperor's Minister of War was something he anticipated. As well as anticipating a considerable price on his own head.

Perhaps it would be easier for him to keep a low profile if his hair were not so conspicuous.

Several days have passed already and his stomach grumbles more than Oguri. His body works too quickly and he usually can't tolerate long journeys without feeling that he will starve to death if he doesn't eat a good bowl of rice and some eggs, fish and soup. Having lived so many years in the palace, he is not at all amused to go back to his days of hunting for survival. The hard meat of a rural rabbit is no match for the fine herb-flavored dishes of the imperial palace.

Satoru sighs, his days as a street rascal have begun again. If Taishō's firstborn had not died of a mysterious illness, right now he would be protecting him and the empire until his last breath.

The city of Yakohama is as vibrant as the imperial city in Kyoto. The port makes its market the nest of export products. There are so many merchants advertising their offerings that, amidst the hustle and bustle, not even he with his nearly two-meter height manages to cause much of a stir. Hundreds of people walk around him while he hides his face under his straw hat, tugging at his horse's ropes as he looks for a face friendly enough to approach.

It is not until he sees a painter that he stops. The canvases he spreads on the small walls of his store are painted in black and red ink. Beautiful faces of courtesans mostly, women showing shoulders, a leg, a slight blushing smile. Smaller ones are spread out on the counter. Satoru recognizes the figure of some curses and in front of them what he assumes must be sorcerers. Below are some much more explicit drawings that make him smile.

Among them there is one that captures his attention more than any courtesan, it is a warrior with light blue eyes. The light blue ink stands out against the grayish canvas and the black lines. The delicacy with which he has drawn the samurai warrior's features makes him a little proud. If notices have already been made with his face, he hopes they are as flattering as this one.

“How much for this one?” he asks the painter.

“Do you know who that man is, young man?”

“No idea, but he looks all right," he says, a little hunchbacked. A long, mischievous smile tugs at his lips. He can't help but let his vanity grow as he waits in anticipation of what the painter will answer.

“He is the ronin of the Gojo Clan. The masterless samurai.”

Gojo's smile fades as he hears his answer. He takes from a small pouch under his clothes a couple of coins that will be more than enough payment for his painting.

“You are very generous!”

“It's a good painting... You know, I'm passing by and I'm looking for an inn. Could you tell me if Kota-sama's inn still exists?”

“Otsune Kota? Sure, where it has always been.”

“Could you refresh my memory? I've been in Kyoto for a long time and this city has grown so much, I hardly recognize the harbor anymore.”

“Just follow the road to the fishermen's wharf, continue along the river and you will see Shibiki-sama's pottery workshop, it has two kilns next to the door, it's easy to recognize. After the next street you will find Otsune's inn. There is no way to get lost.”

“Thank you, and here. An extra for your time," he says, bouncing a coin with his thumb into the painter's lap.

Following the instructions to the letter, Satoru soon finds the pottery workshop. The sun has already set and hides behind the horizon, taking its rays with it. As he walks, he sees a sturdy man coming out of a two-story building, lights a torch that he leaves in front of the inn and turns around to go back inside. Satoru reads the name of the inn carved on a wooden sign hanging from the last roof tiles. The Sea Inn.

He ties a knot in the reins by the entrance and gives Oguri's face one last caress before pushing open the door.

"They probably aren't used to seeing samurai." Gojo thinks after closing the door behind him.

Their gazes fixed on him and the sudden absence of voices around him, trying with little concealment to hide their astonishment. Pupils travel quickly across his costume composed of several layers of cloth that manage to hide his attire. His sword barely peeks out from his waist, but its hilt is too ostentatious to overlook.

Satoru sits at a small wooden table, making no effort to hide from the stares that eventually drift away and the conversations that were going on prior to his arrival continue. However, he still senses the air of distrust that has been hanging in the air, he can even breathe it.

A stout man with a dark, bushy mustache stands in front of him and Satoru raises the arches of his smile, ready to place a rather extensive order. But his smile is slowly erased when he sees the expression of this guy, who seems to be the owner of the inn.

“We don't want any trouble," he says, glancing sideways at his katana.

Satoru tilts his head; he should have known that displaying a weapon in this way would only bring him inconvenience. But he was so used to everyone in the imperial city knowing exactly who he was that he overlooked it.

“Don't worry, I have special permission from the emperor," he says as he searches through his pockets until he finds a small edict signed by Taishō, which he then displays in front of the inn owner. I won't be here for long. “Maybe you can help me with some information."

Of course, the Emperor's name and signature leaves him dumbfounded and he stammers a response in a kinder tone and then bows to him.

It is normal for the locals to fear him almost immediately when most samurai have been imprisoned or punished by death after decades of horrendous acts and abuse of authority. Having repealed the laws that allowed them to even test the edge of their katana on any opponent, Taishō made a few enemies. At the same time endearing himself to many of the people of Japan.

“Of course," he says, lowering his head to him. “How can I help you?"

“First, I want three plates of whatever they're preparing in the kitchen," he replies, turning his nose toward the place where the smells that won't leave him alone are nesting. “And a room for the night.”

“Right away, sir," he replies in the same friendly tone and leaves his sight too quickly for a man of his size and build.

Gojo can hardly believe that this guy can fit through a door and smiles at the sight of him walking with such haste. His smile widens even more when he sees him return with a girl behind him and the three plates he has ordered. The girl even seems intimidated by his presence, so much so that she fails to raise her eyes to his face and focuses all her attention on the glass of water she's pouring for him.

“Anything else I can help you with?”

“Sit down," he orders her in a rather light tone, taking his chopsticks to start eating, "I don't want to draw any more attention from your customers, I think I've caused a little commotion... No one takes their eyes off me," he begins in a lower tone, hoping that his words don't reach anyone else inside the inn.

“This is a big city; the port has brought much wealth to the locals... but it has also brought along undesirables... Before the Emperor banned the practices of the samurai... they had taken over the city. If they wanted something from us and we did not comply... they threatened to try new swords on our sons. But... if the emperor allowed you to continue the practice that means you're not that kind of person" Satoru nods. "It's a pity that he passed away without leaving an heir..."

“I know... And before I make the people at your inn more nervous, I'll get to the point. You are Kota Otsune, right? I know your chohan is famous in this part of town."

“Is that why you came? You should have said so earlier, I would have prepared one especially for you. Any friend of the emperor is a friend of mine.”

“I wish the reason that brought me here was that simple. I'm looking for someone...”

“Who?”

“That's my problem... I don't know her name. All I know is that she's a girl with unnaturally colored hair...”

“Unnatural? Like... yours?”

“A little more particular, it's like the river that runs around the city.”

“I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone who looks like that.”

“In that case... is there a child you usually give a plate of chohan to from time to time?”

“Children?” asks the man, leaning subtly across the table. His bushy eyebrows meet in the middle of his forehead.

Satoru nods with a mouthful of rice after taking his first bite of food. The truth is that, as the days have gone by, he has only convinced himself, more and more, that this whole story about bastard children is nothing but a fabrication. If it weren't for that fragment of a letter he would be absolutely sure.

“Oh, the Miwa children, yes. They live on the other side of the bridge, right across from the pier. It's only a few minutes from here. Their mother died many years ago and they live with their aunt.”

“What about their father?”

The innkeeper shrugs.

“I don't know anything about him.”

A half-chewed cue ball hangs in the middle of his throat at that answer. Satoru swallows and looks again at the man's pleased face. He doesn't notice that he even has a few grains of rice stuck on his lips.

“I can take you there in the morning," he continues, to his surprise. "It's very late and I'm sure you must be getting tired. They often come here, occasionally playing with my son, Chiro.”

Satoru remains silent for a while, too long for his own liking. Realizing that it wasn't Taishō's delusion makes all this even more complicated. He could have left here the next day had he only known that these children didn't even exist, but now he must carve out an even more extensive plan to get them safe from whatever the new Emperor has planned.

“You'll have to wake me up," he tells him, smiling again. "I've always had trouble with schedules."

“First thing in the morning it is," he says, standing up.

“Better a couple of hours after first thing in the morning," Satoru replies.

With a full stomach, having paid extra for the attentions, he follows the innkeeper's daughter to his room and once alone, he plops down on the bed that squeaks to receive him. There is a world of difference between these sheets and those of the imperial palace, though this bed is definitely better than sleeping in the middle of the forest hidden under the shade of a tree. He sighs as he places both hands behind his head and crosses his legs as he thinks about the strange encounter the next day holds for him.

The death of his Emperor has been so recent that he has barely had time to get used to the idea that he is no more. Nor does he have much time to do so, since he will have to present himself to these children and take them out of the city without knowing exactly where to take them, or with whom, or under what pretext. Perhaps, for the time being, the safest thing to do would be to take them to some island. Maybe he'll end up visiting some old friends, cash in on a few favors and finally go for his small fortune once the children are safe and sound, as promised.

Satoru wonders if he'll be able to recognize them just by looking at them, if they will have inherited their father's features. Although the mention of his hair is something that begins to intrigue him. What is the reason for such a characteristic?

“Blue like the sea and the clear sky...”

He suddenly gets a headache, probably because he anticipates a long trip with kids he doesn't even know. In fact, he's not even sure they'll go with him when he shows up. The worst thing would be if he had to kidnap them. This promise he has made is starting to sound more and more complicated, the more he mulls it over.

Be that as it may, he won't have any answers no matter how hard he tries to think. He closes his eyes still listening to the bustle in the dining room and tries to enjoy the small comfort this bed offers him. For this may be the last time he will have one for quite some time.

He doesn't know how many hours have passed when he opens his eyes again. The voices in the dining room rise in pitch, no longer conversations; Satoru hears shouting. He rises quickly on the bed and pushes back the curtain. The streets are ablaze.

Women with carrying children run in dozens through the streets, but from his position he can't see what they are running from.

Satoru grabs his things and adjusts his belt with his sword before pushing open the door and descending the stairs. The innkeeper carries buckets of water next to his daughter as men and women alike come in and out carrying them. Gojou catches the scent and hears more shouting crowding through the streets.

He runs quickly through the front door, dodging those trying to help collect water to put out the fire that is beginning to take over several houses.

Oguri moves frantically, about to break his own reins when Satoru takes them in his hands and doesn't waste a second to ride on his back. He lifts his chin and contemplates the thick black cloud rising in the sky like a snake, indicating a course he can deduce.

This can't be a coincidence.

"Otsune!" Gojou shouts, holding on tightly to the reins to slow Oguri's steps. "Is that the direction of the house?"

The innkeeper watches in astonishment and stammers a reply, then tries to regain his composure and nods. But before he can put it into words, Satoru jerks the reins and rides down a narrow street where he assumes the children's house is.

Dodging villagers, Satoru looks among the houses for some clue, anything that might help him distinguish the place where the children might be. The only thing he remembers is what Otsune Kota mentioned to him, that the house is located on the other side of the bridge.

He presses his ankles against Oguri's belly and the animal gallops with strength and determination. The fire spreads and the heat explodes the window panes. He ends up covering his nose with a sleeve as the smoke spreads like poison through the streets. And he doesn't stop until he finally manages to see a small bridge and in front of it a two-story house that has already begun to collapse.

He has no choice but to tie Oguri's reins to the same bridge that helped him find the house. But he keeps his distance as he sees a barely familiar face on the other side of the street, handing a woman a small cloth bag.

.

.

.

.

.

His hands calloused, hard as rocks after bleeding for hours. With a fishing rod in his palm and two medium-sized fish on his back. His hair is in a ponytail and his back is painfully straight. His perfect posture is nothing more than a facade he has grown accustomed to despite the inclemency of his girdle.

The dark-haired young man walks on the stones filed by the passing of the stream. Barefoot, his feet pale as those of a dead man. He walks briskly across the gravel to the first patches of green on the ground, at the foot of a massive oak tree on which he has hung an old pair of socks. Below, among the roots sticking out of the ground like crooked fingers, his waraji, the straps made of straw about to break, so he takes care of them as if they were the emperor's sandals.

His brow furrowed, anticipating what will happen once he gets home with no more than two fish to feed four mouths. There is a sad look in his eyes, his round, dark eyes surrounded by a crescent of bluish skin. He pauses for a moment in the solitude of the forest, listens to the river crashing gloriously against the rocks and gathers enough courage to puff out his chest again and set out on his journey.

He walks carefully so as not to end up breaking his sandals and thinks about how much he has in his pocket, then adds that to the coins he hides under a loose board in his room, but in the end, he doesn't think it will be enough to buy a new pair.

Crestfallen, he does something he would be ashamed to confess he does all too often. He imagines his feet clad in the fluffiest socks and smiles to himself, wrapped in a pair of getas carved from the most exquisite wood in the region. Walking on lacquered maple planks down a hallway filled with kneeling minions as he makes his way wearing a red kimono filled with handmade embroidery by the most expensive dressmakers in the empire.

"Birds and cherry trees..." he imagines engraved on the fabric in golden thread, shining like gold.

He stops. A pair of feet appear in front of him, nails dirty and toes bruised, a shadow stretches over him and he is suddenly forced to look up. Under a straw hat a man watches him intently. Two beside him, smiling. They surround him and he merely reaches a hand to his waist to unsheathe a wooden sword.

"Idiot," the larger one rasps and before he can draw, he hits him in the head with the saya of his katana.

The blow is fast and precise. Still confused by the impact, he makes a slight gesture to flee, but a second later he falls to the ground after being kicked in the back. The straw laces of his sandal break and immediately a stabbing pain disables his ankle.

He looks over his shoulder as the third guy carries away the carp he has spent all afternoon trying to catch. At that moment, his vision blurred, he sees a third member of the group.

As they pick his pockets and laugh at his misfortune, the leader watches with satisfaction as a fourth smirks behind him. On his neck, small and wide-eyed, two large eyeballs dangle from two pale viscera that connect them to the rest of his small body.

He doesn't know it, he doesn't know that the creature is sucking blood from his body with slowness and a voracious appetite. He does not know that minute by minute that being invisible to his eyes is getting stronger.

Lying there, after miserably receiving a few kicks, without a coin on him and without dinner for his brothers, he gets strength from somewhere to bring his trembling hand to the hilt of his wooden sword.

"Do you still think you can hit me with that?" laughs the one who does not know he has been cursed and steps forward a few paces, laughing at the imprint of his victim.

 Crouching down, face to face, he looks at him and smiles. He extends a silent invitation to land a blow, if he can. But to his surprise and to the amusement of the other two standing behind him, the boy lands a punch in the air, just over his shoulder.

Cacophony of laughter in the air erupts beside them, so loudly that the two thieves end up rubbing their bellies in pain. The poor beggar, beaten and full of dirt, has not even managed to land a blow with him in front of him. They don't even notice that their boss isn't smiling, they don't watch him as he strokes his shoulder and rotates it over the joint with such intrigue that it perplexes him. His brown eyes go from his shoulder to the boy and back again. He sways from foot to foot, backing away until one of his henchmen bellows 'let's finish him off'.

"Wait..." he interrupts at once. The boy's ultramarine blue eyes are fixed on him with a frown, and after watching him for only a couple of seconds, he averts his gaze. "Let him go..."

"But he saw our faces."

"Let him go! Don't you listen? Are your ears so dirty, you stupid pieces of shit?"

Submissive, they apologize and lower their heads like subdued dogs and that man who bastardizes them looks at him again for the last time, barely getting up from the ground. The debt that only they know has been settled, although none of them will say a word. Only they know what has happened, though perhaps the bandit leader has only a suspicion that made him uncomfortable enough to spare his life.

After leaving the trio that has left him with his sandals broken and his clothes in tatters, he gets up using his wooden sword as a cane and pitifully walks the remaining stretch to his house. His right ankle is swollen, as is his lower lip. His cheek is bruised and there is a lump in the middle of his head where he was first hit.

He should have been more grateful when he thought he only had a couple of carps for dinner and the worst that awaited him was his aunt's reprimand, he thinks as he trudges to the door of what he wryly calls 'home'.

-Didn't you bring anything?

Surprisingly is the first thing he hears as he enters. His gangly appearance is not the first thing that catches his aunt's attention, but rather, his empty back. The question catches him by surprise for a confused moment in which he finds no immediate answer. She has chosen to ignore the obvious bruises on his face, as well as the way he uses his wooden sword as a crutch.

She, with her face wrinkled and her brow furrowed, twists her lips in a gesture that does nothing more than blatantly confess her disgust at the sight of him. Her foot sounds impatiently on the old wood of the floor and she crosses her arms to reiterate her question.

-You didn't bring anything? -She says louder, as if he'd had a hard time hearing her the first time.

-No, aunt..." he answers in a whisper that ignites her wrathful side. She really dislikes the shyness of his tone.

Her aunt steps forward, grabs his dark hair in a fist and pulls without knowing that her whole head hurts, nor does she care.

-What do you want your brothers to eat now? It's your responsibility to feed them, not mine! What are we going to do now?! -she screams and spits while she shakes him by the hair until she throws him to the ground.

The boy, just like those obsequious henchmen, bows his head like a dog that seems to beg for forgiveness.

-I'm sorry... I..." he whispers and feels a blow on his shoulder.

She has a broom in her hands and doesn't hesitate to give him a second blow.

“This is your fault! Your fault and your mother's fault for getting pregnant! I should be living my life, married to a good man! And I'm here! -She screams as she gives him blow after blow- -It's your fault, damn it! It's your fault that I have to take care of you! I couldn't even marry you to get you out of this house! You're nothing but a burden! A little monster who does nothing but steal the air from the rest of us! Aren't you going to say anything? Aren't you going to answer me?!”

“I...”

“You've got nothing to say! -I've done nothing but put my life on hold for you, you filthy brats!”

“We're leaving!” he shouts and prostrates himself at her feet. A tear rolls down his cheek as his aunt slaps him on the back with the broom straw. "We'll leave here in the morning... we'll take our things and go, the three of us together. We won't be a burden, I can take care of them...”

“Who are you going to take care of? Look at the state of you, covered in horse shit. You can't even take care of yourself, let alone take care of them. You're useless, you're dressed like a man to learn how to use that damn sword and instead of using it to defend yourself you've come crawling with it. You're useless, and I'm ashamed of you. Your mother must have died from enduring the shame of having you alone, not even your father wanted to take care of you.”

Every word has pierced into her heart like an arrow full of poison. It expands inside her filling her with pain and one after another, tears fall from her dark eyes.

Her aunt doesn't even deign to give her the last lunge, she simply throws the broom to the ground and disgusted by the pitiful sound of her crying and walks away.

“Do you intend to go away and leave me alone? After I wasted my youth taking care of you like a real mother? There is no doubt that you are an ungrateful, miserable scum. How dare you propose such idiocy to me? You have to stay here and pay me back for my years of sacrifice. That's the least you should do."

She would like to refute, but she is nothing more than a dog that obeys despite hunger and violence. She nods and apologizes while trying to keep her voice steady. Slowly she gets up, gathers her strength without panting and wraps herself up as if giving herself the hug she'd like to receive, but the aunt leaves without saying much more than a threat: 'You'd better be here when I get back.'

She's probably gone into town to get something to eat, since again she failed and they have nothing to eat for dinner. This time she will have to make do by gathering leftovers to cook a stew for the boys.

A potato cut into small cubes, a carrot, half a green onion and a piece of dehydrated rabbit. She doesn't whine aloud while her siblings eat without asking what happened to the fish she promised to catch first thing in the morning. Nor dare they ask why she squints her eyes when she moves or stretches her arms.

“I guess I scared the fish away.”

“You have to be quieter, next time we'll go with you. You make too much noise.”

“Are you gonna help me? You'd better spend your time learning a real skill. Mr. Matsube was very kind when he offered to teach you blacksmithing. I imagine you're making the most of it; soon you'll be making a sword for me.”

“Yes," says the youngest after sipping the last of it from the pot. “A real one, not like the one you have now.”

The older one nods.

“A real one," she says.

“It's not that easy, it will take a long time and Mr. Matsube won't let us waste anything. We can't make any mistakes..." says the middle one. "Maybe with cheap steel...".

The little one grimaces, somewhere between annoyance and weariness. Then he scratches his ear with his little finger.

“Sometimes you're as annoying as Aunt Nami...” The sleeve of his kimono slides down and his barely tanned skin shows, catching his older brother's eye, but the little one makes a quick gesture and hides both hands under the table and smiles about to say the first thing that comes to his head.

“Is that a bruise?”

“What? You got hit?!”

“It's nothing!”

The eldest of the three takes hold of his wrist and uncovers it. On the tanned skin, drawn in dark ink, five fingers are perfectly visible, and although the little one has not pointed out the culprits, they assume it is none other than aunt Nami.

“That old hag," says the one in the middle.

“This has gone too far..." replies the older one. “I can tolerate her taking it out on me, but... Sochi, why did you hide it?”

“I didn't want you to fight with her... I didn't want her to hit you again. You never fight back...”

“I don't do it because I don't want to complicate your lives! Don't doubt that I would defend you with my life!” she exclaims and gets up from her seat. With clenched fists she turns and climbs the stairs to grab the first cloth bag within reach. Behind her, her siblings walk barefoot up the stairs at a brisk pace. They watch as she chooses the essentials and then lays them at her feet. "That's it, tomorrow we'll leave town. You two go to sleep, I'll wait for Aunt Nami to tell her myself."

“Don't do it alone! She's going to take it out on you again!”

“Why don't we just leave without saying anything to her?”

“She's taken care of us for over fifteen years..." he replies, adamant. "Maybe she doesn't deserve much in your eyes, but she could have let us starve to death or live on the streets. It's the least I can do.”

They fervently object, but their older sister forces them to be quiet and obedient. This time it's different, she thinks as she sits waiting by the stairs. This time she has laid a hand on her younger brother and that's where she draws her boundary. She mentally promises herself that she won't let her hit her, she's had enough hitting for the whole month. She holds on tightly to the wooden sword her master gifted her the last time she saw him, before promising her that if she got a little better, she would gift her a real one. Sadly, she's sure he hasn't earned it yet.

A particular sound breaks the night silence, full of tadpoles and crickets. It is the sound of horses' hooves pounding against the stone path in front of their house. He gets up from his seat and with the help of a small wooden bench manages to see into the street through a crack between the door and the frame. There is no illumination other than that of the moonlight, which leaves everything around her covered in a bluish mantle. He can see the houses of the neighbors, who are probably asleep. After a moment he manages to see them, at least three men on horseback and in the shadows a woman is visible. She strains her eyes only to realize that it is her aunt.

The fortuitous encounter tastes strange to her, so she remains hidden and almost by instinct she clenches the hilt of her sword in her fist.

She sharpens her ear when the horses stop and a man with a white beard and sharp features gets off one of them.

“Are they inside?” He asks without introducing himself, so smugly that he lifts his chin and looks at her with tired eyes.

“What exactly do you want them for?” she asks, arms crossed, looking over her shoulder.

“Do you want the gold or not?”

She purses her lips, ponders for what seems like half a second, then nods. The sharp-featured man gestures to one behind him and he drops a small bag into her hands.

“Two boys and a girl, right?”

“Yeah, yeah," the aunt replies, her gaze lighting up in the middle of the night as she peers inside the cloth bag she's been handed.

She gasps, her eyes wide as plates. The white-bearded man walks slowly to the door and, on the other side, covers her mouth with both hands so as not to let out even the smallest of sighs.

“Do it quickly.”

She climbs down from the bench and frantically looks around, finding only a spice rack large enough to obstruct the door. She walks quickly and pushes it with her back until she drops it, so close to the door that just by dragging it half a foot she manages to leave it locked. On the other side, voices are raised and she runs as she hears an argument starting to break out. But she wastes no time in looking around, and by the time she reaches the second floor she finds her brothers awakened by the noise.

“Take what you can carry!” she yells, grabbing the youngest by the arm. "Kano! Saddle the horse!“ Cries without room for a reply.

The boys don't even have on a pair of sandals, all they managed to take in their hands was the cloth bag they had prepared for their departure and a blanket.

Breathlessly, as the front door rumbles to the rhythm of the kicks of two strangers, she picks up a torch and quickly lights it in the warmth of the embers she used to heat the supper. Then she reaches for a bow and arrows and goes out the back door where the boys wait impatiently for her on a horse. The animal moves from side to side, unsettled by the rumbling and shouting that begins to be heard from afar.

“C'mon, hop on!”

“You go, I have to stop them so you can gain distance. Do you remember the way to my master's village? Do you remember, Kano? Go with him, he'll get you to safety.”

“No! We can't leave without you!”

An unrepentant grin tugs at her pale lips for an instant that vanishes into thin air, just before she gives the horse a good punch in the gut, sending it running away with the children on top of it. She's almost completely sure that she won't make it out of here alive, and she's even more sure that it's okay like this.

“Go with my master, I'll catch up with you!”

She says and the words choke in her throat at the end, certain that the time has finally come for her to put an end to such a miserable existence. Shoulders slumped, she turns around and from the outside she watches the door give way to the force of the intruders. However, a foreign glance sets her nerves on edge and she turns to the humble stable.

On the roof, leaning against the wood of the second floor walls is a man with crossed arms gazing fastidiously at the horizon, his eyes hidden behind dark glass spectacles, tracing a route she fears is that of his brothers. Alerted, she throws the torch towards him, but with a smooth gesture he manages to dodge it and it falls on the roof. The flames soon consume much of the thatched roof and the young man sighs at the sight of his lost prey. He climbs down from the barn with a single step and falls like a feather to the ground. It has taken him no more trouble than breathing, and he walks to her position like an angel who dazzles at the drop of a hat. But, despite this ethereal apparition, she wastes no time and before half the house can fall at her feet in flames, the young woman unsheathes a dagger.

The angel smiles mockingly, a machiavellian gesture even. His teeth gleam like pearls as he smiles and his face is half lit by the moonlight on one side and the warmth of the fire on the other. He raises an eyebrow in amusement and his eyes glint with sly amusement after inspecting her weapon.

“A dagger? I assume you have no idea who you're dealing with..." he says as he walks slowly, closing the distance between the two.

“I-I don't know who you are, I don't care either! What do you want the children for? What good are they to you? They're just children!”

“Their importance to me is not for you to decide. Now tell me where you sent them, did I hear you talk about your teacher? Point in the direction and maybe I'll spare your life.”

The fire rises up beside them with such force that the younger one's forehead begins to sweat. But her terrified look, the stuttering of her voice and the trembling of the hand that raises her dagger are nothing more than the unguardedness of her inexperience. That other standing there, exuberant with confidence, is unaware of the firm conviction that lies within her.

“Let death come first!”

Satoru finds this comment deeply funny, but time is pressing and he stifles a small laugh.

“You're not going to kill me with that...”

“I know," she says and swallows.

The demonic angel frowns for the first time, realizing the contradiction of her words. For, of course, she was not speaking of her own death. The hand holding the dagger points at the wielder and watches the boy close his eyes tightly as she lifts her chin, exposing her unblemished neck.

He opens his eyes, perplexed. He really intended to slit his own throat in front of him and finds it so curious that he gets excited. But, the young man who was expecting the sharp sensation of the dagger's edge on his neck, opens his eyes a couple of seconds later to see the blade bent in such a way that it now looks like a marble.

Perplexed, she drops it to the ground and looks up to find the hidden eyes watching her enveloped in a kind of glee. He smiles softly and she quickly draws a conclusion.

"Sorcerer... " she says and takes a few steps back.

Satoru hears the front door of the small dwelling collapse and the air that enters with that push wildly fuels the fire. The house crumbles and each collapsing piece raises a cloak of heat, sparks and smoke. The strange sorcerer turns after hearing footsteps circling what's left of the house, turns his piercing eyes to the suicidal man and extends a warm smile.

"I guess you'll have to show me personally where they are."

Without wasting any more time, he puts his thumb and forefinger to his mouth and whistles loudly, on the other side of the wooden fence the sound of a neighing horse can be heard announcing its arrival. It's all he needs for that anxious-to-die man to turn around for a moment and carry him under his arm, he jumps almost two meters in the air and falls on the other side, barely bending his knees. Then he gets on his horse and grabs the reins, gives a whip and rides on regardless of the extra load.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Ichigo's palace

It doesn't take long before she decides to give up. She is not strong enough to get this man off her back, nor does she have a weapon to take her own life on the spot. From afar she sees the city of Yokohama disappearing in the distance. Dark clouds rise over the harbor and she can only imagine what has happened and if this man who kidnapped her has something to do with it.

She looks at him from below, perched on the back of his horse. His skin white, icy as snow. His eyes hidden behind impenetrably dark glasses. His hair can barely see it, made of silver, similar to his horse's coat. He hasn't spoken a word since he took her in one arm and rode away from the city. Instead, he placed a gag on her, screaming for help did her no good.

They ride for hours, so far that she doesn't know where she is standing when he decides to drop her from the back of his horse. He leaves her lying on the ground and gently takes the reins of his horse to lead him to a small lake to cool off.

The girl watches him out of the corner of her eye, uneasy at the obvious way he decides to ignore her. Without thinking too much she breaks into a run as she rips the bandage from her mouth and stops as she feels the air and the sound of steel traveling past her face. A sword sticks in the nearest tree and she sees strands of her hair floating in the air for an instant before she turns around.

The man who kidnapped her stares at her, standing a few feet away. He is so tall that he forces her to lift her chin to look at his face. Despite having his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, she is sure his gaze is stern. His lips are suspended in a straight line and a shiver runs down her spine now that he is no longer smiling.

“I'm tired," he confesses as he takes his first steps towards her, leaving her completely frozen. “Don't make me have to look for you," he says as he pulls the katana from the trunk of that tree as if it were stuffed in butter.

“What do you want from me? I'm not going to tell you anything, so don't waste any more time," she says with her heart pounding under her chest. As if bowing to him, she leaves her head at the man's disposal and closes her eyes tightly. "Kill me!"

Satoru arches an eyebrow as he sees her prostrating herself, begging him to be her executioner. He positions himself in front of her and when she hears his footsteps she opens her eyes to see his feet standing in front of her. Her body trembles involuntarily and silently accepting her fate, she closes her eyes again, her eyelids tightly closed.

She can't stop trembling even as the seconds tick by, until finally, intrigued by how long it is taking him to end her life, she opens her eyes.

He is crouched in front of her, smiling at her with his katana in his palm. His calmness exerts an overwhelming terror on her.

“I'll give you some time to come to your senses.”

“What?”

“Why are you protecting them?”

“Because... I-I won't tell you anything..." she answers, rising to her feet.

He stands up and she lifts her chin in the direction of his face.

“You're not going to escape me, you're my only clue. Nor am I going to kill you, or torture you. Just because you are willing to give your life for them. What's your name?"

“Ka...” She's about to say ‘Kasumi’, but stops. “Kai.”

“Kai?”

She hesitates for a moment; she doesn't know who this person is or why she is looking for her siblings with such conviction. She nods after deciding not to reveal her real name to him.

“Kai, I'm not going to hurt them if that's what you're worried about. I promise you they will be safe with me. We are on the same side.”

He has a nice, wide smile. But she's met too many liars to be swayed by a sympathetic face. She keeps her mouth shut and averts her eyes. If her own aunt was willing to sell them, for who knows what purpose, what will this stranger be capable of? He's probably just trying to trick her, convince her to reveal where the children have gone and then betray her. But why would someone like that want the children?

“What do you want to do with them?” she asks softly, meaning every word.

“Someone important to me asked me to protect them.”

She opens her eyes wide. She would like to know if there were any way to determine how much truth there is in his words, but finds none.

Satoru turns toward the lake and walks over and then sits down against the trunk of a walnut tree. He lets out a heartfelt sigh and folds his arms.

She, on the other side, senses that escaping at this point would be pointless. Not after seeing the way, he threw his katana at her, almost sparing her life. She timidly takes her first steps and ends up sitting a little more than a meter away from him. She watches him out of the corner of her eye taking off his hat, revealing his messy hair.

“Who... who were they?” Satoru raises both eyebrows. “The ones who went looking for them. Did they come with you?”

He denies.

“They were soldiers of the new emperor.”

“And what did they want them for?”

“It's too late to answer questions, Kai-chan. I paid for a bed I won't be able to sleep in tonight and we need to get some rest to leave first thing in the morning. Sleep. Tomorrow we'll see if I'll answer your questions or not.”

Incredulous at the ways of her own captivity, the one called Kai remains still as her captor leans back against the trunk of the tree he rests against and folds his arms. She cannot tell if his eyes are truly closed or if in fact he is testing her. When in doubt she stands still, waiting for any sign.

The horse that led them there, drinks from the lake quietly, then lifts his head by stretching his neck and looks at her through his dark eyes.

Above her head, the sky fills with gray clouds, so thick that they do not allow her to see the stars and gradually cover the moon almost completely. In the middle of the night the only thing her ears can hear are the songs of small nocturnal insects and the soft movement of the leaves of the trees touching each other.

Perhaps an hour has passed since he asked her to go to sleep, maybe a little longer. She can't be sure, so as she tries to move from her spot, she does so with her eyes riveted on him. With extreme care she manages to get up without making too much noise and when she is finally standing, she can feel her heart about to burst out of her chest. His chest moves quietly, she could almost bet he's completely asleep.

This is her moment.

She takes a step back and waits for a reaction, however slight. And seeing that he doesn't change the gentle rhythm of his breaths she takes a second step, then a third, then a fourth. Her steps are slow and cautious. When she is ten feet away she turns and runs as if her life depended on it. She runs hard ignoring the pain in her knees, forgetting the bruises on her back. She slips through the dark forest pushing branches that pinch her skin, barely able to glimpse her next step. She runs until she is out of breath, until she can't feel her own legs.

Her legs tremble, her belly aches with hunger, she is thirsty and feels like she is going to faint from lack of air. But she keeps running. She runs until she leaves the lake behind and until she feels a couple of drops falling on her nose.

She runs until she hears a particular sound that freezes her blood. Her legs go numb at that very moment. Even surrounded by forest she can feel it inside her, it is so close that she reproaches herself for not noticing it before.

She swallows saliva and listens to its song, a soft humming like that of a mother to her newborn child. But, despite the comparison, it does not convey any calm. It is deeply frightening.

At this moment she feels afraid even to breathe too hard, as if she dreads that she'll fall victim to what's watching her if she moves a muscle. After a few torturous seconds of listening to its humming, she manages to see it. She sees it barely out of the corner of her eye. It is the figure of a woman dressed in a traditional kimono; her hair covered by a thin cloth. Her face is pale with a greenish hue, like mold. It has no eyes, only two dry sockets where they should be. Her mouth is wrinkled and long and her hands are two dark claws that caress each other as if they were tasting something delicious.

She senses that she will be the food of this specter, of this curse.

The immensity of its power bends her, her right-hand trembles when she tries to take her wooden sword and ends up giving up when the apparition throws itself on her with a sinister scream. Like a mouse, she throws herself down and crawls on the ground trying to save her life. She has no choice but to ignore the pain, hunger and exhaustion. She runs again, knowing perfectly well that a blow from her katana will do no good.

Unable to see beyond her nose, she ends up with her foot tangled in a protruding root and falls face first to the ground. She turns around as fast as she can and as she turns around its face is there. Right in front of her.

The empty hollows in its face stare directly at her and she feels as if an abyss is about to swallow her up. An obtuse, twisted tongue sticks out of its open mouth, forcing her face to pucker at its fetid stench. It caresses her pale cheek with the tip of its tongue and her taste seems to have pleased it, as it puffs its body over her like a black cloak. Kasumi closes her eyes expecting a quick death but a shriek hurts her ears.

When she opens her eyes the first thing she sees is the tip of a sword pointed at her forehead, it pierces the curse's deformed and fetid face and it vanishes into thin air a few seconds after screaming in agony.

When the curse vanishes, it leaves the sword bearer behind. It's her captor, standing over her. He resheathes his sword calmly and offers her his hand to help her up.

“It seemed to be Agubanba...” he comments in a thoughtful tone. “He usually stalks girls who are about to come of age,” Kasumi blushes when she hears his words. “Maybe it eats children too, who knows... You don't really have to look for too many explanations with curses. By the way, did you see it?”

“Yes...” she answers still with her cheeks flushed.

“That's good, not many of us can see them. It's a useful skill if you're in a place like this.”

Uncomfortable with how casual their conversation sounds, she makes an effort not to meet his face head on and turns away, avoiding her gaze.

“You're not going to... punish me?”

“For running away? I was hoping you would. Maybe by now you've realized that I'm not the most dangerous thing in this forest. But, just in case..." he says and raises his left hand.

Kasumi sees a rope tied around his wrist; she follows the rope with her eyes until she finds another one tied in her own hand.

“W-when?”

“You'll have to sleep with me, boy. Ah... I was hoping to sleep comfortably today.”

The rope is not too long, the man's long steps drag her to the trunk of another tree and she looks in all directions wondering how dangerous it might be to sleep there. He sits down on the ground and she stares at him. She has never slept with a man before, except for her younger brothers. Suddenly he reaches up and pulls his hand until she falls between his legs.

With a blush on her face, she looks at him, his soft skin and his smile look like something out of a legend. She has never seen a prettier face than his in her life and is ashamed to have such thoughts at this moment.

“It won't be a comfortable night for either of us," he tells her in a soft tone that makes Kasumi's heart pound. She purses her lips and averts her gaze, turning over ready to sleep lying on the floor at his feet like a dog. But he touches her shoulder and forces her to look over her shoulder. "Come, I'm no sadist."

She sits up, she understands perfectly well what he has implied and although she would like not to follow his instructions to the letter, she ends up giving in. She rests her back against the firmness of the man's chest and ends up moving rocked by his breaths.

“By the way, my name is Gojo... Gojo Satoru.”

Kasumi is so tired that she can barely hear what he has just told her. Exhausted from a tragic day, following the swaying of the chest that welcomes her with its warmth, she closes her eyes and falls fast asleep. Perhaps she has also fallen asleep so quickly because somehow, she knows that this powerful man is not in danger even if he is asleep.

When she opens her eyes again, she is lying on the floor, saliva drips from the corner of her lip and her vision is blurred. She can barely see two feet next to the four legs of the horse and suddenly, as if all at once, all the memories of the previous night come back to her.

He had the faint hope of opening her eyes to discover that it had all been a terrifying dream, the result of the blows her aunt had given her in the head. She jumps up and Satoru turns around with a smile.

“Good morning, I didn't mean to wake you. You were drooling so much I figured you were still tired. Help yourself to something before we leave. We've got an interesting trip ahead of us.”

Kasumi follows the distinctive scent of firewood. On it Satoru left a cooked impaled fish. The coals still look warm and she, despite the slight dislike she still feels for her captor cannot control her impulses and crawls over to the food. She picks up the branch he used to impale the animal and takes her first bite. Her stomach growls and she looka like she is about to cry. She was so hungry, but not just because she hadn't eaten the night before.

“You're too thin," Satoru comments. “You can't protect anyone with such scrawny arms.”

Kasumi doesn't answer, though she can't help thinking he's right.

“How old are you? Fourteen?”

She looks up, chews slowly, then swallows.

“Seventeen.”

“Seventeen?! Wow... You look very small for your age," he remarks as he fixes his horse's saddle. “I can tell you eat quite badly.”

She can't deny the latter. But she is almost certain that he has not realized that she is in fact a woman. Nor does she make any effort to rectify it, it has always been safer for her to pretend she is a man. Her only regret is that she hasn't had time to take off the girdle she's wearing and it's starting to hurt her chest.

“Where you plan to take me?”

“Are you gonna tell me where the kids are?”

“Never.”

“I figured, so we're going to go see an old friend.”

She wants to ask him about this friend, where she is and how she can help him. But she's afraid of what kind of answer he has to give her. She eats her fill and wipes the corner of her mouth with the sleeves of her kimono. Then she drinks water with a bit of desperation as Satoru waits for her by his horse. Seeing her finish, he throws some dirt on the coals and she walks carefully until he picks her up like a child and lifts her onto the back of his horse.

His horse's coat is soft and shiny, you can tell his feed is different from those she has seen in Yokohama. Which makes her think that Gojo probably belongs to a wealthy family. His clothes are of good quality, his sandals are leather and his horse's saddle is one of the most elaborate she has seen.

When Satoru shakes the reins of his horse, Kasumi still caresses the embossed leather with her fingertips. The movement of the horse makes her move backwards until she feels Satoru's chest. The muscles in her petite back tense and she quickly settles in, sinking her hands into one of the curves of the horse's saddle to keep her distance.

“His name is Oguri. You like him?”

“He's very gentle... I can tell you take good care of him.”

“He behaves like that because he likes you.”

She can't help a soft smile on her face as she listens to him, but it doesn't take long for it to fade. The memory of her brothers leaves her speechless for much of the ride, which fortunately turns out to be quiet. She sighs as she recalls the events of the previous day and cannot credit what has happened and how much her life has changed in less than twenty-four hours. The black clouds of smoke over the city come to her mind and a question she asked the night before comes back out of her mouth.

“Who were the ones who attacked the harbor last night?” she asks interrupting the silent ride adorned by the pounding of Oguri's hooves against the path. “Last night you said you were too tired to answer... you said they were the new emperor's men... What did they want?”

“I'm not sure. The Zenin clan took over the palace after Taishō-sama's death.”

Kasumi is struck by the familiar way he refers to the former Emperor, but she doesn't question him about it. There are more important things she wishes to hear now.

“I'm sure he has revoked some edicts, especially regarding samurai and shamans. They're going to take everything they can, that's why it's important that we find the children before they do. You know what I mean?”

“They are normal, ordinary children... They are not shamans.”

“And you? What's your relationship with them?”

“I... am... a friend of the family. They are orphans.”

“Just like you?” She nods. “I see... Well, Kai-chan... trust me. I told you; I'm not going to do them any harm.”

“And how do I know you're not looking for them for some other strange purpose? Like a reward or something.”

“How clever, I guess I'll have to wait for you to find out for yourself what kind of person I am.”

“And what kind of person are you?”

“Exceptional.”

She snorts at the word and he chuckles behind her.

The sun falls in front of them and Kasumi hears Gojo sigh next to her ear, she looks at him out of the corner of her eye and notices an almost childish expression. His lips are pursed and his eyebrows are curved in a sad expression. But as they climb a hill his face lights up.

On the other side of the hill, he finds a small fortress of stone and wood. Its perimeter is enclosed by a wall almost three meters high. Located on the edge of an even larger mountain. Satoru sees a mine in the distance, but there are no workers around it.

“I wasn't looking forward to sleeping out in the open again. What do you say? Shall we go and ask for shelter?”

“You think they'll agree to give shelter to a couple of travelers?”

“Not a couple of travelers, a couple of shamans.”

Kasumi frowns, she doesn't understand what he means and is even more surprised when she notices that Satoru doesn't lead his horse towards the gates of the small castle. But towards the entrance of the mine. She lifts her chin when she hears a rumble in the distance, the firmament is almost completely filled with dark clouds. The clearest announcement of the approaching storm. And even though she wants to ask him more questions, she remains silent waiting to see with her own eyes what he plans to do. She is certain that Gojo does not plan to sleep in that mine, so as they get closer to it she gets more and more puzzled.

Arriving at the entrance that opens like a ten-foot-high mouth, Satoru leans in. It looks like an abyss, dark and dank.

“Hello?” he says, raising his voice, and the sound is repeated again and again until it fades inside.

He smiles, seemingly satisfied at not receiving an answer. She watches him intently turn back to Oguri and pull out something hidden in a cloth bag. Kasumi's eyes widen as she watches him pull out a jar with a paper tape sealing its lid. She can't read from her position all the words engraved there but she quickly realizes it's some sort of talisman. A seal that keeps a creature trapped inside. Satoru retraces his steps and places the jar in front of Kasumi's nose, showing her the curse trapped inside.

“An old friend taught me how to trap curses when I was young," he says before turning to the mouth of the mine and removing the seal.

“Are you going to release it?” she asks him on the verge of stuttering.

He smiles broadly allowing her to appreciate the pearly whites of his teeth. After removing the seal, he takes the little creature between his fingers and throws it into the mine.

“It won't take long," he comments with Kasumi standing beside him gaping. He turns around and gets back on the back of his horse.

“But why did you do that? You're a shaman! Your job is to exorcise curses, not release them.”

Above Oguri, Satoru hears Kasumi's voice and it sounds innocent.

“Trust me, nothing bad will happen.”

He holds out his hand to her again, like the day before when he saved her from Agubanba. Everything around Satoru seems too strange to fully trust him, however, a force inside her leads her to take his hand. He lifts her up as if she were a feather and pulls her back up next to him. She does not know whether she has become easy prey to his charms, or whether she has come to the irrefutable conclusion that she has no other way out.

“The mines are plagued by cursed energy," Satoru tells her, gently pulling back the reins of his horse, now on his way to the castle. “There are many deaths from cave-ins, others die of suffocation from lack of air. There are men who are driven mad by perpetual darkness. If a curse enters their interior to feed on the energy that has been anchored in there, it will grow in a matter of hours.”

“Wait, you gave the curse energy so it could grow? Are you out of your mind?” Kasumi asks in dismay, looking over her shoulder at him.

“Exactly, but now I want you to be quiet and let me work. You said it yourself, remember? Shamans exorcise curses... for a small fee.”

Kasumi can barely conceal her discomfort. In the end, Satoru is not a trustworthy man at all. But she knows she can't utter a single word of this, and all the more reason to find a way to escape from him as soon as possible.

The castle wall is made of carved stones. The front gate is of two wooden panels as high as its walls. It is the largest fortification Kasumi's eyes have ever seen in her life and she gawks as she admires the details of its architecture.

“Hello, can someone greet us?” Satoru shouts next to her, leaving her perplexed. If there was a proper way to introduce herself to a feudal lord, this was not it.

His manner, though it manages to embarrass her, is effective. The door opens, but not completely. A knight steps out along with a pair of guards and a small-framed man who walks behind their footsteps. Kasumi runs her eyes over the waists of all of them, each one carries a sword and the guards have their hand firmly on the hilt. Instinctively Kasumi takes a step back, almost hiding behind Satoru.

“What have you come for? We don't house beggars in this house.”

“We are sorcerers," Satoru replies with a big smile. “My name is Kentaro Masamichi and this is Kai... just Kai. We noticed an evil presence inside the mine behind the castle and wanted to offer our services to exorcise it. In return we will only ask for shelter and food for tonight. A storm is brewing.”

“A curse? What nonsense are you talking about? Are you trying to make fools of us?”

Satoru raises both eyebrows, hardly surprised by the reaction.

“Nonsense? Well, if you have a window, you can see it, we're not lying," he says and points with his thumb in the direction of the mine.

At that moment, the man standing behind the general steps to the side and forward to see them face to face. He flashes a smile of mock and smugness.

“I am Lord Tsune's shaman," he says, lifting his chin, "and for twenty years I have been in charge of keeping the curses that approach his castle at bay. If there is a curse in the mine... we have no need of your services.”

“Perhaps it's too strong for an old man as weak as you," Satoru grumbles and Kasumi looks at him dumbfounded, incredulous at his lack of courtesy. “I'll go with you, I don't want you to get hurt.”

The shaman in the service of the feudal lord laughs incredulously at his words.

“This brat is nothing but a charlatan," says the shaman. “Bring the horses," he orders, looking at him with contempt.

A pair of guards appear through the massive gate at the entrance with two horses each and without paying much attention to Satoru and Kasumi, who are now Kentaro and Kai, they quietly follow the path to the mine carrying a pair of torches. Behind them are the other two shamans who have been called charlatans. Kasumi's brow furrows and she sighs with her heart thudding under her chest. Suddenly she feels Gojo's breath brush against her ear and looks at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to them. But let me have some fun, after all they have insulted our honor..." he whispers softly and then straightens up again.

Kasumi presses her lips together, her heart pounding. She does not know if it is because she fears for the lives of those men who have gone in search of the curse, or if it is for another reason.

The path to the mine is not too long. It takes them no more than an hour to reach the entrance. The sun has already completely disappeared and the only thing that keeps them illuminated are the torches held by the feudal lord's soldiers.

Getting off his horse, the castle shaman feels his hands trembling slightly. The cursed energy that has accumulated in the mine is too great to control, which makes no sense since he has taken it upon himself daily to purify its energy.

“N-no... it can't be... I myself have been in charge of placing the talismans so that this wouldn't happen... It's impossible.”

“What are you saying?” The general shouts and gives him a push that leaves him inside the mine. Satoru quickly gets off his horse when he sees him, "You're the one in charge of dealing with the curses, do your damn job.”

He knows that both his life and his honor are at stake, but as he grips the hilt of his sword he wonders if it will be enough, if this simple artifact embedded in his cursed energy will be able to deal with the monstrosity in there. It is so powerful that it chills his blood and makes his hair stand on end, he even feels his muscles tingle and his head spins as if he had drunk two bottles of sake.

“Why are you stopping? Do it!”

The shaman turns for a second to look at the one giving him orders, but a vibration leaves him completely frozen. The clatter of a first step echoes against the walls of the mine, small stones fall from the walls like drizzle. His footsteps are slow and loud, one after the other getting louder and louder.

The soldiers' mouths unhinge when they see it looming. One of them drops a torch to the ground and falls flat on the ground. Stuttered words are heard over the insane growl of the curse that emerges with a voracious appetite.

Kasumi opens her eyes, dumbfounded. The curse is so large that as it emerges from the cave it stretches its neck out, it must be at least three and a half meters tall and so long that only its two front legs can be seen. She has never seen such an immense creature and apparently neither have the others present. All except Satoru.

If there was an adequate description of what a demon is, this would probably be it. Three long claws the size of their swords protrude from its legs, its scaly body is a dark purple color and its head is shaped like a hammer with two horns protruding from its crown. Its eyes are dark with a golden glint within them. And standing there, salivating, it looks like the guardian of the gate of hell.

Without a word, Satoru slaps twice on Oguri's back and the horse bolts, barely giving Kasumi time to take the reins.

She watches from afar until Oguri stops a safe distance away as she wonders if he has done this to get her to safety. However, she can't help but worry about what will happen to the rest.

The curse opens its mouth letting its fangs glow in the light of the torch flame and, as the first soldier runs in the direction of the castle screaming at the top of his lungs, the curse's dark tongue wraps around his chest like a toad catching a fly.

The soldier feels his feet leaving the ground and closes his eyes, but opens them as he falls face first to the ground. He turns quickly to see the gray-haired shaman standing between him and the curse, cutting off his tongue.

The creature screams in pain and writhes, so angry that it sends all the soldiers running for their lives. The curse's claws make a furrow on the ground as it prepares to ram them and the only one there with his legs completely immobile is the shaman of the feudal lord. But Gojo takes him under his arm at the last instant, pulling him away from danger.

“Oh no..." Satoru lets go as he sees how the beast continues running with only one goal in mind and he has no choice but to unsheathe his katana as he did the night before, "Stay still Oguri!”

Kasumi sees the monster charge at her and then Satoru's words. For some reason she takes hold of Oguri's reins and before squeezing her feet to force the animal to walk, she closes her eyes and remains completely still.

The night regains its natural calm, neither the chirping of crickets nor the breeze rustling the treetops can be heard. No scream is heard in the surroundings, nor the intense onslaught of the curse.

When Kasumi opens her eyes, the creature is completely petrified in front of her, tempering slightly with a sword stuck in its neck. It barely takes a couple of seconds for it to fade away as did the curse that attacked her the night before. The next sound she hears is the sound of steel hitting the ground as the curse disappears completely.

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She still can't believe that Satoru's improvised plan has worked, nor that she is now in the main hall of the castle at the foot of the mountain. With the feudal lord Ichigo Tsune next to her, with Satoru on the other side eating whatever dish he wants.

It's still hard for her to enjoy the food at her disposal, maybe it's because she has come face to face with death once again, or because the shaman who used to work for this castle has been fired because of them, maybe it's also because she doesn't completely agree with the methods Satoru has employed. She makes an effort to smile when the feudal lord's courtesans appear bringing with them more food than she has ever seen anywhere. She suddenly wonders if her brothers will have eaten anything these days, or if they're safe. Will they remember the way to Master Kusakabe's village?

All this uncertainty leaves her with a sharp pain in her stomach. She swallows as one of the courtesans caresses her shoulder and slides her fingers across her neck, flattering her boldness.

“There's something I don't understand, my men have never seen a curse before, why could they see this one?”

Kasumi looks at him in sorrow. The man is in his fifties, but he has little gray hair. Instead of a neck he has a beard-covered double chin and can barely close his black kimono. From her position she can see his fat swollen pectorals. He has rice grains scattered on his face which his courtesans completely ignore.

She had thought the wealthy men were more refined than the sailors in the harbor, but she doesn't find much difference. She is also uncomfortable with the excessive amount of food at her feet. With this she could feed her family for at least three weeks.

“That's because, my dear Ichigo, they were about to die. It's a good thing we were passing by, otherwise it would have been a massacre.”

Gojo's words cause Kasumi so much embarrassment that she has no choice but to turn away. On the other side of the table four courtesans dance ignoring the way their attire falls off their shoulders. A fifth woman is behind them playing a four-stringed musical instrument.

“That's because I am a very lucky man, the gods have given me their favor," he says and laughs and at the same time all the courtesans join him.

Kasumi is not amused and drinks her sake to hide her discomfort. She is even more uncomfortable to see Satoru letting himself be touched so casually by two women who seem extremely enthusiastic about him. They have opened his kimono and from where she is sitting, she can see his firm pectorals, very different from those of the feudal lord.

She blushes when one gives him a kiss on the cheek and laughs softly. She leaves her lips marked next to his ear and upon seeing her, the one sitting to his right does the same. Satoru laughs and eats as if it doesn't bother him in the least. In fact, she feels like he likes it. Satoru loves the attention.

“Relax Kai," Satoru tells her, "Hasn't a woman ever been attentive to you before?” Kasumi blushes and ends up shyly denying. “Then make the most of it, we have a long journey ahead of us and we must take advantage of the few moments of fun we have.”

The courtesans next to her are not as effusive as the ones above Satoru. Probably because she is stiff as a brick. All she cares about right now is filling her belly and going to sleep. Taking a bath sounds a bit ambitious to her.

Ichigo seems to notice; he looks sideways at her constantly and fills her cup more than once. When he finishes eating, he asks the woman who plays the instrument to play his favorite song and the courtesans invite Satoru to get up.

“Why don't you show Sir Kentaro to his room?” He says with a smile, "You too," he says to the ones next to Kasumi.

They nod smilingly, laugh softly, hiding their lips with their hands, and the group leaves the room. Then she turns and looks at the last girl who stands up with her instrument and bows to her master before leaving.

Kasumi sees Satoru retreating with the women, takes two of them under his arms and disappears through the door frame. It is only a few seconds that the castle corridors are graced by their enthusiastic voices until they finally disappear. Kasumi sighs.

“You're not very fond of female attentions, are you?”

Kasumi opens her mouth trying to find an excuse, but stammers out a reply before she can gather her thoughts. The feudal lord's question leaves her uneasy.

“I-I meant no disrespect, sir. Please excuse me, it's been a very long journey and I'm a bit... tired. I only have enough strength to eat.”

“Your master doesn't look tired at all.”

“My master? Oh, yes... well he... is someone exceptional," she answers remembering the way he described himself, "I thank you very much for your attentions and I apologize for my lack of courtesy," says Kasumi before prostrating herself before him.

Ichigo pats her shoulder and she raises her head, looking at him intently. He has a big smile painted on his face, among the pieces of food that have been left forgotten on his beard.

“Easy," he tells her softly. “Eat, you're thin. I can tell you've been through a lot. Does your master take good care of you?”

Kasumi doesn't quite know what she should answer. If she tells the truth, that he has kidnapped her, Satoru might be able to release another curse to force her to go with him. She can't risk the lives of more people, especially the life of someone as generous as this man.

“He always protects me," she replies, finding a way to reply honestly.

“I could protect you better. You have the rough, calloused hands of someone who has worked hard, but you have the innocent look of someone who has lived absolutely nothing. You have thin arms and a small back. Your clothes are old, your sandals are worn.”

She looks at him in surprise, he still has a hand on her shoulder.

“I just lost my trusted shaman, why don't you stay with me? You will have a safe place to sleep in exchange for doing the same work as my former shaman. You'll be able to eat like this every day, I'll dress you in the best cotton and give you a sword worthy of someone like you, what do you say?”

Kasumi gives a slight smile. At another time she would not have hesitated for a second to answer this question even if she is not a shaman of Gojo Satoru's characteristics. But now, in her condition, she has no choice but to avert her gaze gloomily. Although Satoru is not a person she trusts completely, she must continue on her way as far as possible to find her brothers.

“Besides... I know you're like me," Kasumi furrows her eyebrows and looks at him again with slight confusion; what can she have to do with a man like him? “I know you have no interest in courtesans, not like your friend Kentaro... No, no, you're different.”

“Wha-what?”

“They made you uncomfortable... I know, they make me uncomfortable too. I have them here because I like to entertain my guests, but the truth is..." he says and leans against her, "I like young men like you much better, tender boys.”

With the light touch of his hand, he lays her on her back and climbs on top of her. Kasumi can barely move; her arms hardly respond.

In another room, a courtesan with long silky hair, dark as night, removes the first layer of Satoru's kimono, another lays his sword aside while three others undress and kiss each other. One more kisses his neck and he closes his eyes.

“You are so tall and strong," the one clinging to his chest whispers between kisses.

“The master will have a lot of fun today, tomorrow he will be in a good mood," comments another one, already completely naked and ready to join the group.

“I see that he likes visitors," replies Satoru smiling, taking the face of a courtesan between his hands.

“Yes, especially when they are young..." comments another and the group bursts into laughter.

Satoru's smile fades. He doesn't need much more to realize what's going on, and in an instant he reproaches himself for having fallen into the most obvious trap. There could be no better distraction than this. Suddenly he raises both hands and grabs his clothes at full speed, then his sword as he does his best to delicately shake the courtesans off.

Perhaps he is mistaken and when he returns to the hall, he will find Kai chatting animatedly with the feudal lord, and then he can return to the chambers to finish what he was about to start. But he regrets opening the door and finding what he had suspected.

Kai is on the ground, crawling. His clothes pulled up from his ankles and Mr. Ichigo on top of him with his kimono open. Before he intervenes, he hears a whimper, Kai is crying.

Like a storm, Satoru grabs the feudal lord by the beard and throws him against the wall breaking the wooden panels. His body runs through the next room and the courtesans who ran after him begin to scream in outrage.

Satoru picks Kai up, his limp body unable to stand and he looks with distrust and a furrowed brow at the sake jug he has been serving him all night. He takes Kai in his arms and sighs.

“I'm sorry," he tells him before leaving Kai leaning against the wall to turn around and pick up the sake jug with one hand.

Kasumi sees Gojo's angry stride and although her training is basic, she can clearly feel his enormous power growing like a storm. He walks determinedly towards Ichigo, who still can't recover from the blow he has landed on him. She cannot see the feudal lord's expression of terror at the sight of Satoru's face again, she can only hear the pleas of his courtesans and their cries of despair. Running half naked through the corridors of the castle in search of help.

Satoru crouches over Ichigo's body and looks at him with an absent expression.

“Do you want to die?” He asks him and he, stripped of all dignity, with his kimono completely open and his genitals in the air, whimpers a plea lost in mucus and tears.

The shaman ignores his plea and with his left hand opens his mouth while with his right he forces him to swallow all the sake he was pouring into Kai's cup that night until there is not a single drop left.

Then he stands up and retraces his steps until a guard arrives to whom he throws the jug and knocks him unconscious in an instant.

“You, gather all the food," he orders the concubines. If you are not going to pay us with hospitality at least we'll take this," he says and takes Kai in his arms again.

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After setting up a makeshift tent with nothing more than a five-foot fabric, Satoru settles against the trunk of a tree and takes Kasumi in his arms, who has not yet recovered from the effects of that drink. He places her on his chest and rests her head against his dark hair.

The rain falls heavily on them, they are protected by nothing more than the thick trunks of the trees around them. Above their heads they hear thunder and lightning. However, Kasumi feels safe, so safe that she can lie down to sleep on her captor's chest while he converses with her, even though he knows she cannot answer him.

“I'll have to be more careful next time. I got carried away. At least we have enough food for the next few days. I hope you don't mind sleeping like this after what happened... I'm glad I got here in time... I'm very glad.”

Chapter Text

The scent of wet gravel is the first thing she feels when she wakes up. And the gentle beat of his heart against her ear. His warmth has her wrapped between both hands; his scent mingled with hers. The breeze gently moves the leaves of the trees and the sound of a river hitting the stones with its cause can be heard in the distance.

Kasumi looks up and sees him. She can barely see his eyelashes and eyebrows, just a little darker than his hair. From this angle she notices that his hair has purplish tints, although in the sun his hair looks almost white. His profile well defined, his eyes hidden behind black painted glasses from which one can see absolutely nothing, like a moonless night.

She wonders how he can wander through the world without a cane. At some point even questioned whether he was blind, but it can't be possible for him to navigate so fluently in the world if he really can't see anything around him. He is extremely particular, as he himself said.

She smiles to herself as she remembers how vain he is and at some point, as she watches him sleep silently, she remembers the way he defended her the night before. Her heart pounds, never had anyone cared for her like that. If it were up to her aunt Nami she probably would have given her up for the right amount of money. She knows not to get her hopes up too much about this idea, as he needs her for a special purpose and guilt sours her expression at the memory of it.

While she is here, nestled in the arms of a stranger, her brothers are somewhere unknown in the region.

Slowly he opens his eyes and then yawns. Kasumi feigns, flushed from having spent so much time marveling at his profile. She breaks away from him shyly and conscientiously avoids his gaze as he stretches.

“How do you feel?” he asks softly and she turns to look at him.

“I couldn't say it last night... but thank you for coming back for me. I know you were excited about the girls and...”

“Hey, no, wait. Don't say that... None of that was important.”

His delicate, sincere smile makes her feel something strange in the pit of her stomach and she instinctively brings her hand to her abdomen.

“Hungry?” he asks her, beginning to rummage through the food they pilfered from Ichigo's castle.

Kasumi nods, though she's not entirely sure if it's hunger. It feels strange and different, a feeling she's never experienced before and it doesn't go away even after she's eaten her fill.

Satoru gets up to stretch his legs and pulls out a map from among his things to check the way to their next destination. She feels more and more inclined to ask him about that friendship that will help him find the children, and more inclined she feels to tell him the truth and stop wasting time. But her lips are tight, not a word comes out when he turns with a magnetic smile to tell her to get ready.

It's only been a day, but she's almost used to being lifted like a little girl for him to hoist her onto Oguri's back. She doesn't feel strange, almost, riding with him, occasionally brushing his chest with her back. It's even kind of nice to see new sights having lived all her life in the port city of Yokohama. Satoru has told her that they are heading towards the city of Yuigahama, a small town that next to Sagami Bay.

If they go further north, following the Sagami River, they will arrive in five days at the town where her former teacher, Kusakabe-san, lives.

Kasumi meditates during their journey, though this time Satoru doesn't seem willing to go quietly. Sometime in the middle of the day he began to sing a song.

Cherry blossoms

Cherry blossoms in bloom, cherry blossoms in bloom,

In fields and villages

As far as the eye can see

Is it mist or clouds?

Fragrant in the morning sun.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,

Blossoms in full bloom.

She does not know the lyrics of his song. She listens to it with a slight melancholy in her heart and wonders if she has heard it before. She is sure that her aunt Nami never sang it to them and she's not sure if her mother ever sang it to her. Maybe when she was a baby. She doesn't remember quite that well.

After getting tired of singing, Satoru sighs.

“I don't like long trips. How about playing a game?”

“A game?” He nods. “What kind?”

“How about riddles? Do you like them?”

“I don't think I've ever played that.”

“It's not too hard, you just have to think. Let’s start with something easy… Listen carefully... If I have it, I don't share it. If I share it, I don't have it, what is it?”

Kasumi is speechless, mentally repeating what Satoru just said over and over again. After a while she shrugs her shoulders.

“I don't know...”

“It's a secret," he answers while smiling.

“Oh..." Kasumi replies and without realizing it she's smiling too. A shy laugh escapes her lips.

“Here's another one. If a rooster lays an egg on top of a mountain and the wind blows from east to west, which way will the egg fall?”

“West!”

“Really?” he asks, leaning over her shoulder, so close that she can see her reflection in the lenses of his dark glasses. "I thought roosters didn't lay eggs.”

The heartiest laugh comes from Kasumi's chest as she listens to him. She was so immersed in his story that she didn't realize what she was saying.

“Your turn.”

She goes completely blank for a moment. But then she begins to think. She looks at the clear sky above her head and the almost endless path ahead, then sweeps her gaze over the flowers growing beside the path and at their figure silhouetted against the earth.

“I know… It crawls on the ground, but it doesn't get dirty, what is it?”

“It crawls on the ground..." Satoru repeats, an m crawling inside his throat as he deliberates his answer. “I give up.”

“A shadow," Kasumi answers proudly.

“I like it, I'll write it down later.”

The idea of someone as strong as Satoru having a notebook in which he writes down funny things makes her feel a strange discomfort in her stomach again. She has suddenly imagined it and finds the image so funny that she can't help but chuckle softly.

By the time they finally arrive in Yuigahama City the hours have flown by. Satoru has many witticisms to pass the time and at some point, he ends up confessing to her that she has made their trip more entertaining than he expected, making her stomach sink once again.

Yuigahama is not as small a town as she expected, it surrounds the coast like a crescent moon and is full of trees and small houses. It reminds her a bit of home. Satoru puts on his hat before walking deeper into the town and Kasumi gives him a sideways glance. After stopping in front of a farmer, he shows them the way to the market and where they will find a place to sleep. They ride past a large Buddhist temple and she looks at it with admiration. Then, as they ride down a hill, her eyes sparkle at the sight of the open sea glistening in the sun's rays.

When they reach the market, he helps her off Oguri and sets her down on the ground.

“Don't go too far," he tells her and she stares at him as he walks through the small market. She is a little surprised that he gives her free rein even though he knows she could use the opportunity to run away. But for some reason she doesn't; her legs don't beg her to run off in any direction, even though she knows perfectly well how to get to the village where Kusakabe is located.

She takes Oguri's rein and pulls him along with her as she walks around looking at the merchant stalls. There are fish hanging on shelves she has never seen before, shimmering shades that look like rainbows when the sun hits them from a certain angle. There is a variety of clothing and tools, pot sellers and ceramists, but it is not until she sees a sign posted on a signpost indicating a detour to another nearby village that she stops dead in her tracks.

Drawn on that parchment is a face that she has memorized, below it is written his name and further down a number so large that she is not even able to imagine so much wealth.

WANTED

Gojo Satoru

Dead or alive

She tears off the sign warily and looks around. Suddenly all the confidence that had been built up vanishes from her hands, as if by taking the sign everything disappears in the blink of an eye. Could this be the reason why he wants the children? Could it perhaps be that he wants to atone for a crime he has committed?

After tearing off the sign she folds it and hides it in her clothes, but as she does so she sinks to her knees in pain. The girdle she wears to pretend to be a man starts to hurt and if she doesn't take it off soon, she is sure it will cut the skin over her ribs.

It's not hard for Kasumi to keep an eye on Satoru. He wanders down a long street lined with shopping stalls and from a distance she can still see him and make out his hat. And, being alone, she knows that this is the ideal time to warn someone about his presence. However, just as she has a hard time telling him where the children have gone, she can't find a way to approach someone to alert them to Gojo Satoru's presence.

She would like to know why he is wanted, what kind of crime has he committed? It must be an extremely serious one to offer such a large amount of money for his skin. Then she remembers the way the new Emperor's soldiers took over the port of Yokohama and doubt plagues her mind. What kind of person will the new Emperor be?

With her heart shrinking inside her chest, she forces her steps to follow Gojo's as she takes the reins of his horse with her. Satoru seems to be asking for directions and has a huge smile on his face, a smile that turns her stomach.

As she approaches, she sees him handing a coin to an old woman who then squeezes it over her hand and bows to him. Satoru turns around when he notices her presence.

“Aren't you dying for a bath? There is an inn a few miles away and hot springs in the same direction.”

Kasumi smiles and nods enthusiastically at the idea until, a short time later, she realizes what he is saying. She can't wait to get that girdle off, but she's not remotely ready to confess to him that she's a woman. Satoru helps her mount Oguri and then climbs on taking the reins between her arms. At this point she can only think about how she will tell him, or how she can continue to hide it. There won't be much to say when she's completely naked.

“Are you nervous?” he asks and she suddenly fears he can read her mind. “You're tense, your back is stiff and you're very quiet. You've never bathed with anyone else?”

“N-no, I've never been in hot springs. And no... only when I was very little.”

“Well, I haven't shared a bath with a man in a long time.”

“Have you done it... with women?”

“Of course, among other things. You're a virgin, aren't you?”

Kasumi gasps and is thankful that at this moment he can't look at her face, otherwise he would notice the heat emanating from her chest to her ears.

“Y-yes...”

“Don't be ashamed. It's normal, besides, you're very shy. I noticed it with Ichigo's courtesans. Do you at least know how it's done and where you have to put it? I had an idea, quite clear actually... and yet I made a couple of mistakes.”

“I-I think I know... how it's done. I've seen some paintings..." she admits embarrassed.

“It's a little different from what you see in the paintings, but I guess you'll have to do it to learn. If you want, we can visit a brothel, it's on me.”

“N-NO! No need! I-I... I'm fine like this...”

“Do you like men?”

Silently, Kasumi clasps her hands in her lap. Her heart is pounding and she becomes extremely conscious of the way her body rubs against his with every little hop she takes after Oguri's footsteps.

“I still... don't like anyone.”

“That's normal, too.”

Near the end of the village, on the shore, stands a small residence with a high thatched roof. Satoru hurries to leave a paid room for the two of them and asks for directions to the hot springs before the sun finishes going down while Kasumi waits for him above Oguri, trying to come up with some convincing excuse.

When he returns, she hasn't made anything up. The truth is that she does smell bad, and that she needs to free herself from her girdle, if only for a moment. Satoru hastens his pace and excitedly announces to her that they are not too far away and that on horseback the trip will take only a few minutes. Moving away from the open sea, they take a small detour until they reach a torri with hanging amulets.

The rock-strewn landscape is clouded with steam all around, like thick cotton clouds. Satoru gets off Oguri with a broad smile painted on his face and before Kasumi can get off, he has already removed the top of his yukata. She sees him for less than a second and turns away, perplexed, embarrassed and with her heart racing wildly inside her chest, but the image has been etched deep in her mind. There are a couple of scars on his ribs and abdomen, but the most striking thing is his amazing physical condition. Kasumi has never seen such an attractive man in her life. As she is about to give him a second glance out of the corner of her eye, he is pulling down his pants and she is completely petrified.

With her mind totally blank, her heart completely out of control. Kasumi wishes she could touch the inside of her own chest to calm the pounding. She wishes she could sink her head into snow so her cheeks would stop burning like this. Why does she feel this way at the sight of him? Why does her chest feel like it's exploding? She closes her eyes tightly until she finally hears the calm of the water breaking.

Satoru, completely free of any complexes steps into the hot spring and lets out a heartfelt sigh as he closes his eyes and feels the warm water embrace him.

Kasumi, still on Oguri's back, enviously observes the cloudy landscape and convinces herself that maybe she can hide enough from him. It's so thick that with the right distance he probably can't see her-though if she thinks about it a little more, she doesn't even know if Satoru Gojo can really see.

As she gets off the horse, Satoru stretches his arms out on some rocks and drops his head in complete relaxation.

“Won't you jump in, Kai? Make the most of the time we have," he tells her as she looks for a hidden spot in the trees, away from his gaze.

Carefully and quietly, looking over her shoulder, Kasumi removes her clothes exposing layers and layers of cloth that wrap around her torso like a tourniquet. The skin brushing against the bandages is suffocated, red and swollen. Delicately she begins to remove the cloth and as she removes the layers, she feels her lungs inhaling more and more air. Finally, when her breasts are completely uncovered, she closes her eyes and lets a breath of air into her lungs. Then, covering herself with her hands and crouching down, she helps herself with a huge rock to hide from Satoru by putting one foot into the water.

The sensation is so pleasant that she has no choice but to go ahead and, in a few seconds, she puts her whole body in up to her chin. Her long hair stretches out over the water and her sore skin thanks her for the stimulation. For a moment she forgets Gojo's presence just a few feet away, letting herself be carried away by the way the warm water wraps around her. However, something terrifies her and she opens her eyes to hold her hair out of the water. Stretching out her hand she searches desperately for a branch in the gravel and when she finds it, she adjusts her hairdo. Then she smiles and sighs as she strolls gently in that bathtub created by nature.

“Ah..." sighs Satoru and she seems to remember his presence, so she turns her back to him and keeps a low profile, with her nose just peeking out of the water. "What's wrong? Are you still embarrassed?” he says, and from the slight movement in the water she knows he has stood up.

Kasumi lifts her face over her shoulder and sees him moving slowly towards her and she is paralyzed, she can't pronounce a word and all she can do is squeeze her chest between her arms. If she gets up or moves away from him, he may end up chasing her through the water and eventually he will notice.

“Is it because of the bruises? Are you self-conscious about that?” He asks her and she only then remembers the beating she received days before.

First it was those three little thieves, then it was her aunt Nami. Though even she doesn't know the severity, not until she feels a wet finger brushing her back and she lets out a slight whimper.

“Does it still hurt?” She nods without saying a word. “Who was it?”

The strange and surprising touch on the sensitive skin of her back leaves her uneasy, suddenly short of breath. Satoru's voice is calm and so magnetic that she shivers.

“A few days ago... I was fishing near home and... some guys robbed me.”

“You got hit pretty hard, but someone else was hurting you, right? Here's a pretty deep cut," he says and drags his index finger along an old scar that runs from her rib to her trapezius.

What starts out as a tingle ends up sending an electric charge through her entire back all the way down to her toes. Kasumi lets out a shriek and dives into the water, as an instinct she turns around and with her right foot kicks Satoru, but she does not manage to move him from his place, she only manages to gain momentum to get away from him. Underwater, panicked, she opens her eyes only to find a cloudy image of Satoru below the belt. Even more shaken, she screams again, the water fills with bubbles and she pulls her head out to find Satoru's perplexed face.

This time she cannot take her eyes off him. He's wet, from his hair to his fingertips. And for the first time since she met him she can see his eyes without the glasses or a blindfold on his face. She becomes absorbed in the color of his pupil, which glows like the lightest sky she has ever seen in her life.

Her face is painted pink up to her ears, as she can't help but think how beautiful he is. Every inch of Gojo Satoru is a marvel. His long neck and the white skin that tightens his sinews to his collarbone, his pecs and inhuman abdomen that her gaze passes quickly and frantically over, and his large arms and hands.

Suddenly she closes her eyes, incredulous about everything she has just seen. She corners against the rocks surrounding the hot springs like a frightened rabbit. She listens to the gentle movement of the water and when she stops shivering, she timidly opens one eye. He is on the other side, sitting, looking at her with curiosity and a small smile.

“I'm not going to look at you, don't worry. I'm sorry if I was too familiar, it's a bad habit... Are you okay? Did I scare you? I've been told I can be a bit unpleasant.”

“I'm fine..." she answers with her mouth under water.

Satoru chuckles at the sight of the bubbles coming out of her mouth and the way Kai frowns and avoids his gaze. It makes her a little uneasy that she suddenly feels the desire to refute the latter, she's not supposed to feel that way towards someone who kidnapped her.

As he sees him so frightened, hiding from him and his touch, Satoru wonders for a moment if every rose Kai has met has been violent. Perhaps that is the reason he behaves in this particular way. Maybe it's just a reflection of the abuse he experienced.

Suddenly an idea comes to his mind, one that might help cure Kai's dread of his nakedness and the hands of strangers. He lifts his face and thinks about how far he will have to detour to get to Osaka. If he thinks about it carefully, it is not that far. It's on the intersection of several major routes so he won't lose many days if he decides to go.

-Hey, Kai, how about a little detour to a really fun place?

Kasumi becomes incapable of saying anything else, she tries to bathe slyly, hiding her body with the distance and the steam. Satoru for his part does not make much effort to disturb him, as he would do on another occasion. And, as the night sets in on them, Satoru gets up and announces to her to dress at ease, he won't look at him. For some reason, Kasumi trusts him. Especially, when she sees him taking Oguri's reins to move a few meters away from her. This gives her the freedom to put her girdle back on and quickly heal her wounds. She squeezes the bandage tightly under her chest until she feels like she's going to run out of air once more and then dresses her kimono and old sandals.

When she returns to Satoru's side, she does so with a smile on her face and takes his hand unceremoniously to climb onto the back of his horse. But her calm doesn't last long, as Satoru stretches his nose to the curve of her neck and inhales.

“You have a particular smell, you know?”

“A-a smell? Do I smell bad?” she asks uneasily.

“Yeah, I don't know. You don't smell bad... you just smell... weird.”

Kasumi knows exactly what smell Satoru is referring to, but revealing it was never an option for her. It's the pigment she puts in her hair every month that helps her keep it as dark as possible, to hide the birth defect that would have made her a freak.

The inn awaits them by candlelight, their room consists of a small square of two square meters, tatami floor and a small window overlooking the path by which they returned. Satoru unbuckles his belt and as he does so he pauses to look at Kai's face, but he is already lying on a small blanket on the floor, face to the wall. He smiles, takes off most of his clothes and lies down.

He doesn't know that Kasumi is still awake, with the image of Satoru burned into her mind. Her heart is unbridled, and in that contradiction, she reproaches herself. What kind of feeling is this, and why does it burn so much inside her body?

In the middle of the night, she turns over and finds him peacefully asleep. His eyes are closed, he has left his dark glasses by his pillow and despite how dark the room is, Kasumi can see his face partially bathed in moonlight.

Blushing, she looks at his face and can't help but think how cute he is. She has never seen such a beautiful smile, such kindness in his eyes. Like a magnetic spell she keeps her dark blue gaze on him for longer than she would like. She sighs, her heart still pounding, and closes her eyes again to roll over on the floor. 

What she should really be thinking about is the whereabouts of her brothers... So, before she sleeps, she says a prayer to whatever God is listening to her, praying that they have reached their destination safely.

In the morning, they both eat at the inn to leave for the next destination as soon as possible.

“Why are we going on a detour? I thought we were going to see an old friend of yours... didn't you want to find the children?”

“If you tell me where they went, we can do this faster," he replies, mounting up behind her, but Kasumi's lips seem to stick together. “I figured, well... I guess it's okay if we're a little late. Did you send them somewhere safe?” Kasumi nods, "I'll have to settle for that. I could have tortured you for information, you know that?”

“What kind of torture?”

“I could strip you naked and look for the place where you feel the most ticklish." She turns her face away, deeply terrified, and seeing his expression he bursts out laughing. I could..." he repeats, "And if it were extremely necessary, I would be obliged to do other, more extreme things. But I prefer to earn your trust. In time you'll realize that I'm a good person, I'm excellent at my job... I'm probably the best. But... I can also be other things if I need to be.”

An assassin?... Kasumi wonders silently remembering the sign she saw with his name on it recently and before leaving the village she takes one last look at him, wondering if she should warn Satoru. Has anyone else besides her noticed? While Satoru walks around wearing a hat that covers a good part of his face, it's not very common to see samurai walking around the villages. And this one in particular... is not very reserved.

At times it seems that he doesn't really care what is going to happen. She doesn't know for sure if he's foolish or if he's so powerful that he's not afraid of what might happen.

Satoru resorts to his list of riddles again, but this time he pulls out a small notebook to which he turns when nothing comes to mind.

“I'm always in front of you, but you can't see me... what am I?”

“My dreams?”

“N-No, but that's a nice answer... The correct answer is 'the future'.”

“Do you have many?” Kasumi asks and he puts his notebook in front of her. The soft touch of his cheek against hers surprises her, but she doesn't say anything. She prefers to take the notebook in her hands and reads aloud the things Satoru has written down. “I can't talk, but I always answer when someone speaks, who am I?”

“Echo.”

“Do you remember them all?”

“Almost all of them.”

“This is a long one... Everyone who travels the trail ends up stopping to rest. But my path never ends and I can't stop. I endure a perpetual journey that years cannot stop. That nations and empires cannot stop.”

“Do you know the answer without reading it?”

“The rivers?”

“Almost, the sun. I have one in mind that I haven't written down yet, do you want to try to guess?” She nods enthusiastically. “What can be touched, but can't be seen?”

Kasumi thinks for a moment. This one is particularly difficult. A couple of answers come to her mind, but none of them seem right after she analyzes them. Giving up, she denies.

“A heart," he whispers in her ear, making her shudder.

Instinctively she puts a hand to her chest and thinks about it for a moment. She smiles without him being able to see it as she feels her heart leaping inside her chest. It is true.

As time goes by, she realizes in which direction they are going, she saw a couple of signs that clearly read 'Osaka', but she knows nothing about this place, other than that it is a renowned location. Nor does any idea come to her mind as to what Satoru thinks they should do there.

Satoru is a bit tired; it was noticeable during the last few days. He has a pair of dark circles under his eyes that she has seen from time to time, when he takes off his glasses or the bandage on his face to pour water on his face. Maybe he's not sleeping as peacefully as she thought.

For some reason she knows he is smiling at their fate, relieved to be able to sleep under a roof and not out in the open as they have been doing a week ago. He must be used to another lifestyle, Kasumi thinks. While for her this is more pleasant than living with her aunt Nami. She doesn't have to fish anymore; Satoru is so skilled that he comes up with enough food for three days every time he rolls up his sleeves and goes into the river. And, although she has tried to copy his technique, she can't replicate his speed. It has been easier for her to spend her time foraging for wild herbs to spice up the food or teaching him the best ways to skin an animal. Or how to make a meal yield when there's almost nothing left.

Kasumi can almost confirm that Satoru is used to the good life, just not a fan of doling out complaints if he's not entirely comfortable. He seems like the kind of guy who is able to go with the flow and make the best of every situation.

This city is big, big enough to see even from miles away. The river that surrounds it, manipulated by the hand of man, curls around a castle as tall as Mount Fuji. Its perimeter is surrounded by miles of immense walls and watchtowers, so high that Kasumi cannot imagine how they were built. It seems rather, made by the hand of the gods.

“Who lives in that castle?”

“No one important," answers Satoru.

Osaka is full of life; Kasumi's eyes cannot see the end of it. It grows at the foot of the castle, on the other side of the bridges over the rivers. People hurry past them and before she can utter a word, Satoru gets off his horse and guides Oguri's reins. This time he doesn't seem to need directions, he moves fluidly through the stone streets at a steady, precise pace. And, despite having half his face covered Kasumi realizes that he has begun to attract the attention of some young girls. On the other side of the street, she feels a glance upon herself and as she lifts her chin a geiko smiles at her.

Kasumi blushes, however, she smiles back shyly. She is completely dazzled by her clothes, floral prints have always been one of her favorites, although she has never been able to wear one. Her face is well made up and her lips seem to draw a tiny apple, as red as blood. And on top of her distinguished hairstyle, she wears a floral arrangement with golden earrings that sway gently along with her movements.

“Such beautiful women... so pretty," she says, marveling at a small group of courtesans on their way to the market.

In the middle of the street, she hears a man singing and another beside him playing an instrument she has never seen before. They walk past them and the group of people crowding to hear him. From her height Kasumi sees them leaving coins in a bag on the ground until she loses sight of them.

Satoru walks with haste until they reach a district whose perimeter is closed by a high stone wall, painted red, guarded by a couple of guards.

“We're here," Satoru finally says, after half an hour of absolute silence.

“Where are we?”

“Shinmachi. Have you ever heard of it? It's famous," he says with a sly smile on his face and is surprised to see Kai shake his head. “No? Well, just take a deep breath and stay calm.”

Puzzled by his directions, she frowns. She is even more surprised to see him walk away from the front door and slip through one of the side walls. He shoulders the luggage on Oguri's back and then looks around until he is completely sure. Suddenly he grabs Kai's waist and leaps up to grab the edge of the wall with his right hand.

Puzzled by his indications, she frowns. And she is even more surprised to see him move away from the main door to sneak around one of the side walls. He shoulders the luggage on Oguri's back and then looks around until he's absolutely sure. Suddenly he grabs Kai's waist and leaps up to grab the edge of the wall with his right hand.

“Why don't we go through the door?!” Kasumi, completely perplexed, clings to Satoru's forearm with both hands, watching the ground move away from her feet.

“Cause they would have forced us to give up our weapons,” says Satoru and smiles at her again until he climbs over the wall, letting himself fall on the other side, in a dark corner.

Kasumi feels herself being dragged by the hand; he holds her close to him, so close that she could fall on his chest after the first stumble. Satoru hides in the shadows as if he were part of them, watching the wide main path that separates the Shinmachi district into two parts. The street is well lit with paper lanterns, painted with letters in red ink. Kasumi gazes at the wooden structures, all painted a vibrant red, the moldings exceptionally worked, dark shingles on firm wooden structures. And, from a distance, behind Satoru, she sees what she considers to be some sort of women's cage.

Inside the red wooden cage are at least twenty women, all of different ages and sizes, wearing colorful kimonos and exquisite hairstyles, adorned and made up, reaching out to the men walking in front of them as if at a market.

At that moment Kasumi realizes that this is, in fact, a market; a sex market.

“Where did you bring me? I told you that I didn't want to...”

She doesn't manage to finish voicing her claim when Satoru drags her with him through the shadows cast by the buildings inside Shinmachi. When they are safe and well hidden, he grabs Kai by the waist and presses him to his chest. Kasumi, eyes wide open, suddenly hears Satoru's heartbeat. She swallows saliva, then lifts her chin and sees him, always smiling.

-If they see us, it could cost us our heads..." he says subtly as if it were one more of his riddles. He hides his katana under his clothes and Kasumi, with trembling hands, does the same. Now, walk quickly behind me. Don't step away from me.

A second later he comes into view under the warm lights of the paper lanterns that adorn the street and continues his stride with utmost confidence. Behind him Kasumi is about to fall to the ground, but she makes an effort to remain calm, as he told her long before. She tries to hold her breath and follows him at a brisk pace as he pushes open a door and welcomes himself into one of the pleasure houses.

She thinks her heart will burst out of her chest at any moment. She has the impetuous assurance that the next man who turns to see her will know. They will realize she is a woman.

However, despite her fears, no one turns to look at her as she crosses the threshold of the door along with Satoru. The samurai walks across the room as if it were his own and removes his hat before sitting down in a corner. He crosses his legs on the floor and Kasumi mimics him, though she cannot copy the calmness with which he moves.

“What are we doing here?” Kasumi whispers.

“You'll see," he replies with a smile.

At least five women are in there with them. They are much prettier than Ichigo's courtesans, and much more skilled in the arts. One of them sings a beautiful song that manages to convey to him a bit of the calm she is missing, another one dances in the middle of a group of men drinking alcohol, lying on the floor. The other plays a board game with an older man, sitting impeccably, not a hair on her head moves when she makes a move. For Kasumi, these are things she had never imagined existed.

Behind the door frame appears another courtesan with a thin face and elongated eyes. Like all the others she wears her face as white as the foam that forms at the foot of the sea, her eyes are outlined with pink pigment and her eyebrows are sharp. Her kimono is black with red details around her neck, her obi is also red, like the flowers attached to a comb that complements her up-do. She brings with her a delicate teapot and walks with short steps to them.

“Welcome, are you travelers? Shall I fill your tea cups?” she asks and gasps as she sees Satoru lift his chin. “Oh, but if it isn't...” she suddenly looks around and stands up, straight as a board. “Our most select customers are served in another room," she says with a small smile tugging at her crimson lips. “Come with me.”

He doesn't say a word and stands up, forgetting his things behind him as Kasumi gathers them roughly and follows him, wondering in horror how adept he really is at this kind of entertainment.

She follows him at a brisk pace down a dimly lit corridor to a room on the other side of the inn. The courtesan drags open a sliding door of wallpaper painted with figures of wild animals and he enters bluntly. Behind him, Kasumi can barely see what's on the other side, with a pile of things in her hands she can only hear a commotion and as she sets the things down on the floor, she finds Satoru surrounded by women excitedly pouncing on him. Half dressed, half made up, Kasumi feels totally out of place.

“Where have you been so long?”

“Why haven't you visited us?”

“You're taller than the last time we saw you!”

“You look great! Look at you!”

“You finally deigned to show up!”

All the female voices shriek inside the room until a woman, emerging behind Kasumi, breaks through and they all shut their mouths in unison, even though she hasn't said anything.

The woman who has just entered carries a black fan with gold embroidery over her hand, she is wearing the most elaborate kimono she has ever seen in her life, trailing on the floor like a cape. Her stern face flattens as he turns and meets her eyes, her lips barely managing to curl in his presence as Satoru steps before her. After a long second in which they share a complicit glance, she disarms in a warm embrace, abandoning her stoic expression and pulls him into her arms. Then she releases him and presses her pale hands on his arms.

“You look strong, Satoru, you look very well...” she tells him, almost moved. “Hurry! Bring something to eat for our guest! And you know! Not a word!”

Everyone seems to be oblivious to her presence. Satoru radiates his own magnetism in such a way that Kasumi becomes invisible, not a glance passes by her person, no one has turned to see her except that woman who held him in her arms. For some reason Kasumi sensed a hint of distrust from her in particular, though her eyes rested on her for just a second.

Kasumi shrugs, feeling as small as ever and resents almost instantly that Satoru has forgotten about her. In the blink of an eye he has been taken to another room and a long table has been spread out for him and his companions. Kasumi shyly moving behind him without releasing a single word.

He sits at the head of the table and eats whatever is served. A courtesan hurriedly brings a three-stringed shamisen and sits beside him to show him how much she has mastered this instrument. Another one comes to his right and begins to ask him endless questions about his adventures. One more asks him to tell her about the imperial palace.

On the other side of the table, Kasumi reaches across the table for a small glass of what she thinks is water, but it is alcohol. Despite her surprise she makes an effort to drink and not draw attention to herself, though her efforts are to no avail, no one is looking at her.

“I'm glad to see that everyone is well," Satoru says after recounting stories he hasn't told Kasumi during his trip, although it hasn't occurred to her to ask, "I'm glad to see that everyone is well. Actually, I wanted to introduce you to my friend Kai.”

Kasumi has a swig of sake in her mouth when Satoru mentions her by her fake name. She balls the alcohol inside her throat and swallows it hard, running out of air. All eyes turn in her direction and she stammers a greeting.

“Thank you for your hospitality," she says, bowing to them.

The courtesans smile kindly at her, all but one.

“Hamari, I come to ask a very special favor," he says to the only one standing with her icy gaze fixed on Kasumi.

She laughs suddenly, with a hint of mockery in her voice.

“I should have suspected that the famous Gojo Satoru couldn't just come for a visit. All right, when you finish eating, we'll talk in my office. Now enjoy the food and conversation, remember... Don't serve sake in Satoru-kun's cup.”

A strange feeling fills Kasumi's stomach. It grows uncontrollably with every female laughter and expands through her chest. It is uncomfortable and somehow painful. She looks askance at the way Satoru converses so effortlessly that she can't help but imagine how long he has visited this brothel to be greeted this way. How many of them has he slept with? How much money has he squandered on them?

She begins to resent sitting there with them. She feels detached, alienated from everything around her, so much so that she can't even listen attentively to the outlandish stories Satoru tells as if he were in a theater.

When the squid, octopus and whale meat disappear from the table, Satoru rubs his stomach and thanks. He pulls a small velvet cloth bag out of his pocket before Hamari stops him.

“Your money is no good here.”

“I'll have to find another way to pay off my debt," he says with a smile that manages to unnerve Kasumi's heart. “Now we're getting down to business, aren't we?”

The girls groan as Satoru and Hamari get up from the table, touching his clothes begging him to sit down again while Kasumi sees everything from the other side of the table. Like a reflex her blue eyes pass by every hand that touches him urgently. The strange feeling grows like a cancer, so warily that she even begins to resent the perfect smile Satoru directs in her direction. But, to her surprise he asks her to join him.

This time there are only three of them. Hamari leading the way, Satoru in front of her, and behind Kasumi with a completely blank mind.

Hamari's office is spacious, decorated with a couple of small trees blooming inside the room. She has a small desk as tall as the dining room tables. She sits on a cushion and the two of them mimic her. She then pulls out a kiseru from a drawer and then inserts fine strands of hair-like strands into it. She takes a dry branch and places it over a candle that lies lit on the table and inhales the burning tobacco until smoke comes out.

“I'm a little intrigued, I must admit. What could bring the great Gojo Satoru back to his humble beginnings?”

“Kai is a virgin.”

Hamari looks at him in horror and after a few seconds laughs softly, with enviable elegance.

Satoru pats her back as she dips her head between her shoulders, not even daring to look her in the eye.

“I want someone who treats him well.”

“Kai-chan... you must like him, right? I'm not giving away any of my girls, no matter how much of a friend Satoru is. The price of my girls hasn't stopped going up since you left.”

“I couldn't think of not paying for the services. Besides, I think it will do him good... He needs to relax a bit. I'm working on gaining his trust," he says with a smile as Kasumi seems unable to intervene while they talk about her as if she were not present.

“Kai," Hamari calls out to her and she looks up uncomfortably in her direction, "Is that really why you're here?”

“N-No! I-I...! I mean no disrespect to your... distinguished establishment... but I have no interest in being your customer...”

“Did you bring him here under false pretenses?”

“Hey, you're not planning on becoming a eunuch or anything, are you?”

Completely blushing from ear to ear, Kasumi looks straight into Satoru's eyes, hidden behind his dark glasses.

“Leave it to me, I know what I have to do.”

“Will you take care of him?” asks Satoru.

Although she finds what he has asked outrageous, she can't help but feel slightly moved by his words.

“We're experts at that..." she says and looks at him out of the corner of her eye. “Leave it to me. Now go, have fun with the girls. They must be stinging the time you're spending here with me. I'll take care of Kai personally.”

“You? Aren't you too old?”

Kasumi makes a great effort to hide her laughter at his comment.

“Don't be disrespectful, you cheeky rascal," she says as she picks up a thick black leather book to hit him over the head. “Now go away, you're making me regret opening the doors for you. Do you know how much it can cost us if you're here? Now get out. Leave us alone.”

Satoru laughs, his smile wide and amused. He gets up and says goodbye, but not before wishing Kai good luck.

When the door closes behind them, Hamari waits for a few seconds until Gojo's footsteps disappear in the distance. The patroness of the brothel rises from her seat and Kasumi mimics her. She looks her up and down with a strange gesture and raises her chin smugly.

“You and I know exactly what's between your legs.”

Unmoving, Kasumi watches the woman with panicked eyes. His dark eyes are stern, she looks into her eyes with intensity and she feels like a little girl. With no way to hide, Kasumi lowers her gaze, admitting defeat.

“I don't know for what purpose you're hiding it from Satoru, but if you've already come this far we'll give you a chance to confess it to him yourself. What I won't admit is that you fool him in my presence, not under my roof.”

Kasumi nods.

“It wasn't my intention to hide it...” she answers without looking up.

Hamari takes Kasumi's face in her hands and inspects her blue eyes carefully while she looks at her with attention and a bit of fear.

“How did you manage to hide your bleeding from him? Don't you bleed? He would have noticed.”

Kasumi looks down again.

“I... I don't bleed very often.”

“Wow," she says, letting go of her. “That would be very useful here.”

A moan catches Kasumi's attention and makes her blush so much that she purses her lips.

“You like him, don't you? Are you in love with Satoru?”

“What? -No, I'm not...”

“We haven't spent much time together, but I have a good eye... I know perfectly well when a customer is falling in love with one of my girls. And you, I've seen the wariness with which you've looked at Satoru since you arrived and the way you blush when he touches you. He's very cute, always has been. And very strong, the strongest of all men. Do you have any idea how many women have felt the way you feel? We could fill an entire village with women who have fallen for Gojo Satoru's charms and you would be just another peasant girl. The girls here are forbidden to offer their services to Satoru, they have begged me for years to change that rule... But I know what he is like and what kind of life he leads... I know perfectly well that Satoru won't buy their freedom nor does he intend to marry any of them. I'm not going to risk them or lower their price for him... Although it's not like he has anything against that rule... So, Kai... or whatever your name is... What interest do you have in him?”

Kasumi doesn't know how to describe how she feels about him, but she has already realized that every single thing he does makes her uneasy from the inside. This is the only explanation for her stomach pains and the way she runs out of breath every time she sees him.

“He... has captivated me, yes. I feel things for him that I've never felt before... He makes me...”

“Hot, doesn't he?” Kasumi suddenly blushes and this only serves to confirm what Hamari just told her. “Satoru thinks you're a virgin, is that part true?”

She nods.

“I was very comfortable pretending to be a man all this time until I met Gojo-san... And he has confused my feelings... He has protected me on several occasions during our journey and taken care of me. His presence makes me feel strange... I don't know what to call that feeling since I've never felt it before. It makes me uncomfortable and at the same time...”

“It feels good, doesn't it?” Kasumi nods shyly. “Well, since you were honest with me, I'll do you a favor that not many mothers do for their daughters... From your expression and how prudish you are I think you have no idea what's going on in here. But if you're going to confess to Satoru who you really are... I know it will only be a matter of time before you have sex with him. He's not the kind of guy who takes his time courting a woman, you know?”

“I-I... I don't plan to...”

“Shush... be quiet and follow me.”

Hamari turns, walking in short, quiet steps and slides a paper wall to one side revealing a wide corridor on the other side, hidden from the rest's view. She turns just barely to observe her face and raises her index finger indicating her to keep quiet and takes her first step inside.

A perverse cacophony is heard on the other side, everywhere, grunts and groans, screams and moans, slaps and blows. There are sounds that Kasumi has never heard in her life, but out of curiosity, she follows Hamari's footsteps in total silence. When she stops Kasumi notices a candy-colored lightning beam coming out of a small hole towards which Hanami points and she cranes her neck to peek through the hole.

She gasps as she sees what happens on the other side. There is a stout man, his clothes tossed to the side and a woman on the ground clinging with both hands to his legs. She had seen her brothers naked several times before, and recently Satoru as well, but she had never seen a penis shaped like that, erect and hard. 

The girl prostrate in front of him swallows it completely, again and again and faster and faster. The man moans and lifts his chin in an upraise, after a while he grabs the courtesan by the hair and forces her to swallow his dick whole until she gags. He grunts loudly and his whole body trembles until he finally releases her and she gasps for air in desperation.

His penis drips white tears.

Is this what they do in here? Kasumi wonders, horrified.

Hamari gently touches her shoulder and points her to the location of the second hole, pointing in another direction. She feels she has seen enough, however, Hamari's gaze is severe, forcing her to muster up the courage to peek an eye over the peephole. She swallows saliva and moves forward. She raises both hands to her mouth, stifling a shriek of surprise. What she has seen there is something she would never have imagined, not even in her most perverse dreams.

It is another man, but this one is being subdued by a courtesan while she sticks a finger up his ass.

This hole she doesn't want to see it again, one can see it on her face and the way she paled.

“Some men have different desires, but all are worthy of respect here. Sex comes in many forms... It's a matter of discovering which one you like best.”

Hamari takes her by the hand as if she were her disciple, stepping over the corridor towards the next peephole hidden on the other side with a painting hanging on the wall. By this point, Kasumi is too afraid to look through to encounter some male desire she would never have imagined, one that would turn her stomach or leave her with a graven image to repeat in her nightmares. But this one, unlike the previous one, makes her feel warm; a warmth similar to the one Gojo Satoru makes her feel.

From the angle from which she watches she can see a completely naked courtesan, moaning at the top of her lungs, both hands clutching the fabric of her clothes strewn across the floor. The man with her is lying on the floor with his face between her legs. He reaches down and squeezes her tits, plays with her swollen nipples and pinches them until she screams and squirms. He licks with vigor between her legs and doesn't let go for a long time, so long that the courtesan rolls her eyes. She rolls on the tatami floor, pushes her body away from him with what little strength and sanity she has left, but he seems bent on savoring her to her last breath.

That woman's expression begins to worry Kasumi and when she turns to warn Hamari, she smiles at her and leans down to her ear.

“He's one of the girls' favorite customers. He can do that for hours... That expression is that of raw pleasure.”

Kasumi looks at them again, trying to recognize the difference between pain and pleasure. A tingling invades her and, at the same time, makes her uncomfortable. She swallows again uneasily at the way she feels, at how her heart beats and her body heats up.

The next is the loudest, it is so loud that Kasumi anticipates something resembling a massacre, but is startled to see a thin man on top of a courtesan howling as if she is being killed. Kasumi notices the size of the soldier's penis and blushes. It is as small as her thumb.

-All the men here are like Gojo Satoru, in our imagination.

Kasumi doesn't know exactly what she means by that comment, but she guesses it has something to do with size. This being the first time she's seen a pair of hard penises now she knows how much bigger they grow compared to their dormant state.

The last of the rooms is not so noisy, inside she can clearly hear constant patting and on the other side Kasumi finds a man penetrating a courtesan. Right in front of the painting that disguises the peephole is him, an ordinary man spreading a woman's legs, thrusting hard. Kasumi can see it all from where she stands, the hands squeezing her thighs, the woman's breasts jiggling after each thrust, and him fucking her.

Then, surprisingly, after ejaculating he takes her face in his hands and kisses her with desire and urge. Kasumi is speechless to see them kissing in that way, so passionately that her lips tingle as if they were kissing her. She remembers then, as if it were a novelty, that she has never been kissed.

By the time the tour ends Kasumi feels her body burning, however, and without saying a single word, she quietly returns to her seat in Hamari's company and squeezes her legs tightly together.

“So... that's how it's done..." she whispers embarrassed and Hamari nods, "For what purpose... did you show me all that?”

“If you really like him, I suppose the result will be inevitable, but don't expect too much from him. Given the circumstances and with the Emperor's death so fresh... I almost certainly believe that this journey you both began is not a mere coincidence. When Satoru sets his mind to something it is very difficult, I would say impossible, for him to divert his plans for a woman. He might sleep with you, but he will be blinded by his own goals and he might not be able to see you, not really, not as you would like.”

“I... I have no pretensions..." replies Kasumi with her voice hanging by a thread. “I don't even know what these confusing feelings are and... besides... I have my own goals too. Gojo-san is still a mystery to me. I realized that I don't know much about him...”

“Satoru is someone very special to us. His mother worked here," Kasumi's eyes widen and her heart freezes. “His mother died of syphilis, his father didn't recognize him... but when he was born everyone named him after him, Gojo. It was irrefutable, especially when he realized he was a sorcerer. The Gojo clan tried to take him away when word spread, but he escaped. He came back here some time later seeking refuge and we took care of him... and he took care of us for a while. That's why I'm not going to let you leave here without first coming clean. I know you must have your reasons, all of us here have had tempestuous lives... It's nothing personal. Don't take it the wrong way. I don't think you have bad intentions...”

-I-I... started pretending I was a man to learn how to use the sword. My master recruited me when I was little... but he told me I couldn't train a woman. I also can't marry because of my condition...

“Your condition? Are you infertile?”

“Well, I don't know..." she says, shrugging her shoulders. “My aunt said it's a birth defect and that I should hide it...”

-I don't need to know that.

“I-I have no intention of lying anymore," she replies with her head down. “It's just... I haven't found the right time to say it, nor have I found a reason to do so. I don't think Gojo-san will care what I am.”

“No, but he will care about your sincerity. And he's like a son to me, so I don't want to see him leave this town with a liar under his wing.”

“I'm begging you... give me a little time... I don't know how to start that conversation.”

“That I can give you. You have until dawn first thing in the morning. Now we'll have to pretend... How long should it be? I guess about twenty minutes will be fine, too long for a virgin, actually. We don't want him to think we ripped him off, do we? Come," she says extending her free hand over her head, ruffling her hair, "At least for him to believe momentarily that we've fulfilled his request.”

Kasumi smiles softly as Hamari's hand moves over the crown of her head.

When they return to the hall where the courtesans are waiting for them with Satoru, Kasumi feels more relieved. Her way of looking at him has changed and she no longer feels that strange discomfort in the pit of her stomach at the mere sight of him surrounded by women. Everything makes more sense after talking to Hamari. The way they take care of him and the familiarity in the atmosphere.

Satoru looks at her with a wide smile on his mouth, with a hint of excitement in his eyes, which is enough for both of them. He still doesn't suspect anything.

-It's done," Hamari announces with a hand on Kai's shoulder making Kasumi blush with embarrassment.

The night becomes more active as the hours go by. The girls go in and out of the small salon that welcomes them to attend to their customers. Then they sit back down to listen to the fables Satoru tells and for some reason Kasumi doesn't know if she should believe everything that comes out of his mouth. It sounds too fantastic to be true.

She looks at her small wooden carved cup with the sake inside and when she finally feels calm, she furrows her brow. The liquid inside her glass moves gently even though she is perfectly still, as if an invisible drop fell inside making the surface shake. Then she realizes, the floor under her body vibrates and that's when Satoru stands up.

The music stops and the voices are silenced. On the other side of the wall, the dissonance of horseshoes hitting the cobblestone can be heard; like a stampede.

Satoru slides open one of the windows facing the main street and pokes his head out. The guards over the gate abandon their weapons and run as they see the galloping army approaching like a dark wave.

“All of you, take cover!” Satoru shouts. “Kai…” he says without looking away from the window. “Take care of the girls.”

“Me? But!”

Satoru doesn't hear a word, he doesn't take his eyes off the soldiers who begin to raise their weapons against the men running in panic through the district. Kasumi sees his stoic profile, shaken by the hoarse roar of his voice. The girls run at full speed, clutching their clothes in their hands to the rhythm of Hamari's shouts as Kasumi struggles with the trembling of her own hands.

“Follow me, you know where to go!” shouts the patroness and they all follow her footsteps in desperation.

Kasumi takes one last look at Satoru before leaving behind the group of women, but he is attentive to the chaos erupting in the streets. Without crossing words, she continues to follow the same path she walked a moment ago.

Under Hamari's office desk is a hidden door, behind a dark red carpet. As the girls quickly descend into that hidden basement, Kasumi takes the hilt of her wooden katana. She brought it with her from Yokohama and had so far only used it to practice what her teacher taught her. She follows Satoru with her eyes as he detours to the main hall where she watches all the customers stumble out the door, some pulling up their pants. When no one is inside, with Kai watching him intently behind the door frame, he unsheathes his katana.

“Give me your sword," he says in a stern tone. The demanding tone of his voice is not enough for Kasumi to let go of her sword. Distressed and confused, she takes the wooden sword and holds it out in front of him, but her heart stirs as she watches him take the wooden sword and hand her steel one to her.

It is so heavy she can barely hold it, and without understanding what her eyes see she watches Satoru wield the wooden sword as he waits impatiently for the soldiers to enter the brothel.

“You'll need it," Satoru tells her, his voice icy and his countenance impassive. “Now go.”

Kasumi gulps, the words clench in her throat, and an impulse compels her to approach him. But Satoru doesn't need her presence, he tells her with a single glance that makes her retrace her steps.

A massacre has already begun on the other side of the door. She can hear the screams emanating from the street as if the gates of hell itself have been opened. Women and men alike. Horses neighing around the inn. Fire raging loudly.

“Kai!” Hamari shouts and she is forced to retrace her steps, leaving Satoru behind even though her heart begs her to stay with him, even though it would do no good.

All the women are huddled in hiding and Hamari is the last one, waiting impatiently to be able to close the door.

“Hurry! Come!” she shouts desperately, stretching out her hand towards her. But, as she is about to approach, Kasumi hears a clatter on the other side of the room, in the room where Satoru is. The front door has fallen and behind it, the footsteps of soldiers can be heard. Her heart stops for an instant as she contemplates the thought that Satoru is completely surrounded and outnumbered, but her anguish is interrupted by another, closer rumble. Glass is bursting all around her, windows are being smashed to get in.

“There's no time," Kasumi says to herself as she sees the table and the carpet at the side of the room. “They're going to find them..." she whispers and then runs to Hamari, pushing her down the stairs, ignoring her shouts and claims. She sets Satoru's sword aside and grabs the door to close it, pulls the carpet and arranges the table next to it when a soldier pushes open the office door.

Kasumi, on the floor, watches in horror. He is almost as tall as Satoru and wears a shaved head with a lock of hair pinned at the nape of his neck. He sees her with a gesture full of malice, arches the corners of his lips and stretches his mouth in a wicked grin.

Intimidated by his expression, she hesitates for a moment hoping he doesn't suspect where she has hidden the women. But he doesn't give her much time to think about it and raises his sword against her as Kasumi reaches out to take the katana and interpose it between them.

If it had been her wooden sword... Kasumi would already be dead. She feels between her hands the residue of cursed power still hidden in the blade, as if Satoru were there beside her.

The steel grinds, the soldier throws her against the table, pushing her with the weight of his own body and Kasumi's small hands tremble beneath him, yielding inch by inch. She grits her teeth and breathes in agitated gasps, the eyes on the other side of the steel look at her with a macabre smile, dark eyes riveted on her tender face. Terrified, she hits him with her knee between the legs making him flinch for an instant that gives her the advantage. She gathers her strength as Kusakabe san taught her and uses the energy released from her body, gathers it in the sword and pushes him against the paper wall that breaks instantly.

The soldier falls into the peephole corridor. He looks surprised that such a small boy could have so much strength, although she knows she has only taken him by surprise. Hand-to-hand he doesn't stand a chance. Her frantic gaze darts from side to side of the room until she spots a dark bowl and, if it is what she thinks it is maybe she has a chance.

She grabs it quickly as the soldier stands up and before he can throw himself at her again, Kasumi throws the contents of the jar at him.

He looks down at himself, his hands and his face. The thick liquid gets inside his eyes and hangs on his eyelashes, it is enough with a moment to carve his eyes that Kasumi takes the opportunity to kick him in the abdomen. But, to her surprise she hasn't moved him an inch.

Kasumi sees her own sandal in the middle of the soldier's gut and looks up at him in bewilderment. He laughs, he is so amused that a chuckle escapes him and when Kasumi has both feet on the wood of the floor, he raises his katana high and lunges at her head with such force that he is sure it will split her skull in half. His smile is erased when an invisible force rises in front of his nose, that's when everything goes dark around him and a supernatural force impacts against his sword. The blow he has struck the little boy feels like it is propelled by a gasp despite having pawned all his strength. He hears the steel of both blades as they clash and sees the watchful eyes, blue and large, watching him intently. With a hard jaw Kasumi has uttered the key words of her incantation, taking her opponent's blow to nullify it in such a way that his katana flies across the room.

Now, with nothing to fall back on and at the mercy of a small boy with the powers of a shaman, there is nothing he can do but retreat when she jabs his stomach with the edge of her katana. So sharp that she could split a watermelon without any difficulty, or perhaps even a skull.

His first steps are slow, attentive to the movement of the sword brandished in his direction. The corridor is too narrow to devise a counterattack, so the soldier quickly recognizes that his chances are slim. He dashes against the paper-thin walls and ends up throwing himself out a window, with Kasumi following him like a storm. But, upon reaching the street she freezes.

Part of the streets are burning; the other part is covered in blood and corpses. Stained kimonos and disfigured men. The sound of hoofbeats can still be heard fading into the horizon. And in the midst of it all is he. Satoru stands among a pile of corpses, his profile glowing the amber of fire. Alone and with a wooden sword dyed red in his hands. He gasps with each breath and when he notices her presence he directs his tired gaze to her.

“Satoru..." Kasumi utters in a whisper.

Chapter Text

The hot air from the flames warms her face as she watches motionless as the figure rises in the midst of the battle that could have lasted the blink of an eye. Breathless, with eyes mesmerized by the man who emerges victorious, but with a deeply shadowed face. His eyes sparkle like a diamond amidst the darkness.

Kasumi can only utter his name in a faint whisper that does not reach her ears. Completely incredulous, unable to recognize what her own eyes see as true. But it can't be, it's inconceivable, no one can be so monstrously powerful.

The soldier she pointed Satoru's sword at watches in terror as he falls near a pile of corpses and recognizes in one of the disfigured faces a comrade. His hands tremble and his legs barely respond when he tries to start his escape and Satoru's dark pupil chases him like a fly, but before crossing the walls that separate the red district from the city of Osaka, he falls collapsed on the ground.

Kasumi has not even had time to turn her face, but it was enough for Satoru to take an ownerless sword and throw it right in the middle of his skull.

She hears the body fall and closes her eyes tightly, unable to continue watching such horror. And when there is nothing but silence interrupted by the sparks of the fire that begins to make the district disappear, she feels his blue eyes on her. She opens her eyes and he watches her for an instant, when the table in Hamari's office turns over with a bang and the voices of the girls force her to turn around.

Women and men pile out of the pleasure houses, at least those who survived. Everything seems to indicate that most of the conflict centered on stopping Gojo Satoru.

Behind Kasumi the courtesans begin to gather to see with their own eyes the first signs of the war that is approaching over the whole country. Hamari makes her way through the women and stands next to Kasumi, her face exhibiting a stern expression. Kasumi is struck by her temper and the way she looks at the corpses and at Satoru. She notices that they both share a complicit look and nod at the same time.

“Gather your things, bring whatever horses and carriages we have. Take only what you can carry. We're getting out of here.”

Just like Satoru's friends, the rest of the Shinmaki women start working almost immediately, without saying too many words, they all seem to share the same thought. In less than thirty minutes they have managed to extinguish most of the fire and the sun begins to rise on the other side of the horizon. Satoru has not addressed a word to her so far, and she has spent her time helping the courtesans load their carriages, avoiding at all costs to see the bodies scattered along the street again.

Outside the walls of Shinmaki Kasumi finds Oguri, waiting for them and upon seeing her the animal stretches its head demanding a petting. Kasumi hasn't said much during the last few hours, but she dares to imagine that this is not the only massacre this animal has witnessed. He is too calm to be inexperienced. Far from running away from danger, he moves almost inviting her to climb on his back. Satoru's hand reaches over Kasumi's head to stroke Oguri's fur and she looks up to find his smiling face. He looks calm and judging by his smile one might assume it's a normal day.

Kasumi slides her gaze down his neck, small black drops clinging to his white skin. The blood has already dried, on his skin, his hair and clothes, but he doesn't pay too much attention to it.

“We have to leave, you ready?” he asks her and she nods.

“Hey, Kai," Kasumi directs her gaze to the caller. Hamari on the other side, standing next to a carriage pulled by two horses watches her and invites her to approach one last time. As if asking permission, she looks at Satoru and, after seeing him nod, walks towards her. Her mouth is tight, the time has come when she must keep her word and confess the truth to Satoru. Reluctantly she walks up to Hamari and with her head down she waits for what she will demand of her. “You were very brave," she says in a soft tone and she looks up. “You took good care of us... and that's why I'll give you the chance to tell Satoru the truth on your own terms, when your heart is ready. But don't take too long...”

With one less burden on her back she sketches a hopeful smile that barely fades when Hanami takes her face in her hands and leaves a soft kiss on her lips.

Blushing, she looks into her eyes in disbelief. Hanami laughs and opens her carriage door, then stretches out a hand to wave to Gojo.

“Take good care of him, we'll entrust him to you!”

Satoru watches the exchange with surprise and for a small moment his cheeks flush red. The girls open the carriage windows and wave as they take their leave, blowing kisses to Kai as they drive away. Their flattery doesn't reach her ears. Kasumi has a hand over her mouth, her face ablaze with flames.

“I think she liked you," Satoru says beside her. “Hamari never goes to all that trouble... I don't want to know what you did last night, but did you have fun?”

Kasumi purses her lips, unable to shake off her feelings of modesty. She turns to climb on Oguri's back by herself while Satoru begins to ask her the most indecent questions in her ear.

“We can do it again in another city..." he says, pressing her. “If the girls are so happy with you, they must have a good reason. I wonder what Hamari told them, then I'll ask you what your tricks are, maybe I'll steal some from you," he continues, about to burst out laughing.

He doesn't know the effect his words have on her, not after seeing with her own eyes the things that transpire inside the red-light district and the way sex really looks. Kasumi squeezes her legs over Oguri's back enduring Satoru's indecencies.

“Do you want me to tell you what my first time was like?”

Kasumi's heart stops in the middle of the trail, to her mind travels an image that gives her goosebumps and twists something in the middle of her chest. This feeling she is forced to admit... it's jealousy.

“No," she says in a whisper.

“No?” asks Satoru behind her.

“No! I don't want to know!”

“Well... it was just a topic of conversation. What do you want to talk about?”

Kasumi doesn't know if she should mention the attack on the Shinmaki district. At times she thinks that his carefree manner is a kind of mask. No one can be so cold as to murder at least thirty soldiers and not say a word about it.

“How do you feel?” she asks in a soft tone. “I mean... a lot happened last night and I just... Would you let me clean your clothes? They're covered in blood and...”

“It smells bad, I know," he answers. His face is stoic. “We have to stay away from Osaka for at least one more day. We don't know how many soldiers are nearby or if the Zenin clan's army has moved from the imperial city.”

“Were they heading for the castle we saw in Osaka?”

“Maybe they were looking for me. Or perhaps Naoya intended them to swear allegiance to him, but they can never enter the castle, it is impossible. It's an impenetrable fortress.”

“Last night... I listened to several of your stories. You never told me you served the former emperor.”

“I didn't? -And you... never heard of me?”

She denies.

“How disappointing, I expected at least a few songs to be sung about me by now.”

“So why are they looking for you?”

“I'd bet all my money that they intend me to serve the new empire as well as the old one, and since I fled the imperial palace... maybe they'll say it was treason.”

‘Treason is punishable by death,’ Kasumi thinks with her heart squeezed inside her chest. She suddenly doesn't feel like asking any more questions. Maybe all the ideas she had gotten about him are not true. But to fully trust him she knows she has to keep her promise to Hamari and be completely honest. With the decision firm in her chest, Kasumi decides that she will find the ideal moment. It will be when she can look him in the face, when she will tell him what she has been hiding since she met him.

“I got you a sword, I hope you don't mind that I killed its previous user. Your sword wasn't of much use after last night... I have a feeling you'll need something sharp.”

She looks over her shoulder at him in surprise.

“It's okay... I-I don't mind... too much.”

“It'll be temporary... when we get to the next town, we'll look for a blacksmith who can make you one according to your size. Mine is too long and heavy for you, isn't it?”

Kasumi nods.

“By the way... When we were evacuating the district, I noticed a trace of cursed energy... the kind that forms when you use an incantation. Do you have an innate technique that you didn't tell me about?”

“N-not exactly... There is a technique that my master taught me, but to use it I must make a binding vow.”

“How interesting, I've always been very curious about them, you know? Did your master teach you that revealing your ritual to another sorcerer can make your incantation stronger? It's a double-edged sword, revealing the ritual can make your opponent figure out how to defeat it, that's why you must be quick. You shouldn't waste a single second after revealing it.”

“My master mentioned it to me, but I never felt the need to use it in a real combat until today.”

“You know what I find most interesting? The vow can take many forms, but you can't make a deceptive contract. That is, you must offer something in exchange for something else. I guess your spell isn't too risky, but if you were to give something really important to you... like your body or your heart, the result must be just as important. Also, I imagine there is something on the other side capable of listening to you, otherwise how would the power be obtained, right? For example, if I wanted to, I could sacrifice my right hand in exchange for a technique that would allow me to do incredible things, but... what if I only give a finger? Would that mysterious force on the other side give me the technique I desire, or the strength I implore? It's something I often wonder... Anyway... am I rambling?”

“No... actually... it makes sense. In my case... I just have to keep my feet on the ground.”

“Sounds very like you, Kai-chan," he says and stretches his neck to see her face, a playful smile painted on his lips.

She should feel strange riding alongside a man capable of committing a massacre and still wear a smile on his face, but she doesn't. Her confidence grows with every step Oguri takes and her heart begins to accept the nature of her feelings. Although she constantly questions whether what is born within her will last, and whether it is right to feel this way given the circumstances, all doubt is dispelled when she sees him smile. She finds herself swallowing when he sets up camp in the middle of the woods and stares for too long at his neck and his Adam's apple bobbing after every word he utters. She gets a knot in her stomach when he gets too close, invading her space with his magnetic, unpredictable aura. All it takes is a pat on the shoulder, his hand ruffling her hair, or the slightest rose to take her breath away. And as she watches him sleep another night she wonders if it will make any difference that he knows she is actually a woman.

After all... it's Gojo Satoru. And he could fill a town with all the women who have fallen prey to his smile. However, she slowly gathers courage and the next day when they stop again to give Oguri a break, Kasumi makes up her mind.

This will be the day of truth.

“It's not necessary, I can do it myself," says Satoru handing his haori to Kasumi, but she denies and he is stunned for a moment to see the sweetness of her smile.

“I want to do it; I'll have it very clean. I promise.”

It's become his habit to put his hand on the crown of her head and ruffle her hair as she melts under his touch, even if he doesn't realize it. Kasumi can't even see him, as it is now, bare torso and skin glistening in the intense sunlight.

“I'll bring something to eat for both of us. I won't be long," he promises her, and she nods with a smile so wide it could touch both her ears.

With Satoru's clothes in her hands, she watches him walk away, following the river. Then she carefully walks down a slope until she reaches the shore and gets down to work. Although Satoru doesn't know it, this is not the first time Kasumi has had to clean blood from her clothes. Her first bleedings took her by surprise while training with her teacher Kusakabe and more than once she has been badly beaten, leaving her crawling. And although the passage of days complicates her work as the blood is dry and stiff as stone, she tries her best as if she were going to give this haori to a nobleman.

Kasumi, completely immersed in removing all the stains from Satoru's clothes, rubs the cloth against the stones incessantly. She wipes the sweat from her forehead again and again until the stains begin to disappear leaving behind pink haloes.

She doesn't notice a pair of watchful eyes on her.

After wringing the clothes tightly until the last pink drop falls into the river, she retraces her steps and trudges up the hill, the haori slung across her back.

Fortunately, Satoru always brings ropes with him to hang the haori, holding it between two trees. She stretches out the clothes with a smile, with the sun as intense as it is today it won't take long for it to dry completely. Perhaps he can put it on by the time they finish eating. She dries her hands on her skirt and turns to prepare the firewood, figuring it won't be long before Satoru returns.

When she finishes, she sighs, looks off into the horizon wondering how much longer it will take. He doesn't usually take so long, it's easy for him to fish.

“What a pity, I thought you'd be together.”

The voice behind her chills her to the bone and, turning around, Kasumi finds a woman leaning against a tree. Her sharp smile gives her chills, how could she get so close without making any noise?

She quickly takes the katana that Satoru offered her and unsheathes it without hesitation in front of her rival. With her fingers tightened on the hilt she points the blade towards the woman who smiles at her and she walks confidently shortening the distance. The cadence of her body exudes more confidence than that of Gojo Satoru himself; her steps are intimidating, as is the smile on her face. However, she is surprised that she cannot sense any trace of cursed energy.

“Who are you?!” Kasumi exclaims and for a moment she fears she is surrounded by enemies hiding in the forest.

“Black hair, blue eyes. It's you, isn't it? Gojo Satoru's companion.”

“He's not here! He's gone!”

“And... he's not planning to come back for his clothes?” she says and smiles, pointing at the freshly laid clothes with her thumb.

Kasumi sees her feline eyes fixed on her. She diverts her blue eyes to the forest with the thought that she can't be alone, but she sees no one. Then she discovers a weapon she carries at her waist. It is a cursed weapon, the kind Kasukabe has told her about. But she perceives nothing in her, not an ounce of energy. How can she be able to hold it? So many doubts cloud her mind, but she is forced to come to her senses quickly when she throws the blade in her direction. Its shape resembles that of a bat's wing and it moves so fast that it almost cuts her cheek. Had it not been for the sword Satoru left her she would have been decapitated.

Drawn by a chain, the sickle returns to the woman who threw it.

“I'd be pitiful to kill you," she says with an almost bored gesture, "just tell me where he is and I'll let you live.”

Kasumi's lips are tight, as are her hands on her katana. The disadvantage is clear and perhaps her only alternative is to wait for Satoru to return. She can only resist.

“You're not going to tell me? Would you really give your life for that idiot?”

“He's not an idiot!”

She opens her eyes as if she's surprised.

“He's your master? He's really lousy at his job!” She shouts at her with a laugh as she hurls her cursed weapon at Kasumi again and again, forcing her to retrace her steps.

The steel trembles, Kasumi feels her sword quiver in her hands after each thrust. Kasumi's cursed energy is the only thing holding it together, the steel at any moment will snap.

Cornered between the cliff to the river and the woman who subdues her, Kasumi sees her intentions etched in her brown eyes. Her sinister smile widens as she throws the weapon once more and she is forced to use her only recourse.

“New shadow style, unsheathe!”

The dark field that spreads around her fills her with energy and with her sword she manages to shake off her enemy's accurate strike. But when it vanishes a second later, she is at her side, so close that she can see her face to face. This time, without a weapon, with nothing but her fist, she strikes straight at Kasumi's face and sends her tumbling down the slope several feet.

She rests a hand on her waist after seeing her knocked out, her katana lying by the river and the young man unconscious.

“I expected more from Gojo Satoru's disciple..." she says and chirps as she walks away without paying any more attention to him. “I guess he wasn't as strong as everyone said...”

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With three salmon on his shoulder and a pair of new sandals he got from a traveling merchant, Satoru retraces his steps following the river. The sky is clear and the sun is beating down on his back and drying his damp skin with its heat. After each step he plans his next destination and what will be the best route to reach the village where his old friend lives. He is so focused that he has not noticed that for some time now he has not heard any birds singing, there is nothing but silence around him, nothing but the sound of his own footsteps.

Suddenly a wave of curse energy comes from behind him, so quickly that he barely has time to pull his sword out of the scabbard. The weapon passing by his nose after screeching against the steel of his sword leaves a small cut on his forearm.

Incredulous, Satoru concentrates his attention on the energy around him, but he can perceive absolutely nothing. Forced to remove his glasses, he sees her as if she were a mirage.

A woman in a green sleeveless kimono, shaking on her right hand the cursed weapon chain while with her left hand she holds a large link chain.

“And you, what are you exactly?” -Satoru asks intrigued. “Do my eyes see the outcast of the Zenin clan?” he asks smiling.

“Humpf!” she blurts out, twisting her face. Her smile fades and she frowns. “I'll show you who I am, you idiot!” she yells, throwing her deformed and obtuse weapon.

Her expression transforms again. Confident from her previous fight, she forgot for a moment who was in front of her. Alert, she watches the way Satoru smoothly dodges her attack, the edge of his weapon slips through the air and before she can pull the chain to try a second strike, the samurai thrusts his sword into one of the links of the chain as if time was running slower for him.

The movement of the links through the air stops so suddenly that it manages to knock her off balance and before she can realize it, Satoru manipulates her weapon and pulls the chain and drags her across the ground.

“How fun! It's been a long time since I've had a real fight!” Satoru exclaims. “Too bad we don't have an audience. I would have loved to have a couple of spectators, but what the heck!”

“Yeah!" the woman shouts, planting her feet on the ground, "Too bad your disciple isn't here to see us!”

Satoru falls prey to her words for an instant, or so she is led to believe when she retrieves her weapon victoriously.

“Are you talking about Kai?”

“I didn't give him enough time for introductions. You're a pathetic teacher! He didn't last me more than a couple of seconds.”

“Wow... so that happened, huh? Well, you've made things very difficult for me if what you say is true. I have no choice but to murder you.”

In the blink of an eye, she feels the air caress her cheek. She sees him out of the corner of her eye, as quick as lightning. She has no use for a weapon of that caliber in a melee, so she throws it without a second thought and jumps before receiving Satoru's accurate blow.

“So deep down you're as sentimental as anyone else. Who would have thought it! I thought you were nothing but a bootlicker when you abandoned the imperial palace and your lord.”

“And I thought the Zenin had banished you long ago for your... disability. But it seems they still send you on their errands for them, you must know what it feels like to be a bootlicker, don't you?”

She clenches her teeth and pulls a red, double-edged cane out of her back, she rests both feet firmly on the ground and with both hands she lunges at Satoru, but he dodges each blow with the greatest lightness until he finally decides to stop her with his sword. She looks him in the eye, unnerved by the smugness of his smile. He has only one hand on his katana and yet he was still able to parry her attack. And, before she can make the next one, Satoru uses his left hand to flick the cane and hit her in the middle of the forehead with it. Again and again, like a taunt, until she jumps up and away.

A red thread runs out of her nose and down her chin. A drop of blood breaks on her sandal. Eyes fixed on her opponent, she wipes her face and spits. She gathers air in her lungs and launches into her next attack, but this time he simply retraces his steps deflecting her weapon with the gentle touch of his hands until with a slap he drives the weapon into the ground. He takes the staff in his left hand and slides around the woman, moving across her back until he grabs the other end to point it in her face with its edge.

Out of breath, she watches him intently, and coughs a soft laugh.

“So... you were strong.”

“The strongest," he replies and takes the staff in both hands before breaking it over his knee.

To the Zenin clan woman's surprise, Satoru tosses her one end of the staff and smiles at her. He is daring her to continue to the end. He doesn't plan to give her a quick death and that manages to bring a smile to her face.

“What an arrogant idiot.”

“That's what I've been told," he answers with a smile spreading across his lips.

They both raise in the air a part of the cursed staff, as if they were two swords. With a dueling stance they both look each other in the eyes before taking their first step forward, but without her being able to see it, Satoru slides across the ground and makes a deep cut in her rib.

'There's no comparison,' she thinks before dropping her weapon and falls to the ground on one knee, clutching tightly over the cut. 'It's impossible, there's no way to stop him, he's too fast.'

He pushes her onto the ground and she falls backwards. Satoru's figure eclipses the sun above her.

“It's not fatal, at least for now,” he says looking at her with empty eyes. “Did the Zenin clan really send you?”

She spits.

“N-no... I just wanted to... do the job I knew they couldn't. I wanted to present your head to Naoya and say to his face 'see? I could do it'..." she says surrendered, laughing, her face stained with blood. “I wanted to see what the bastard's face would look like when I did it.”

“Revenge?”

“Pride.”

“I get it. What's your name?”

“M-Maki...”

“Any last words?”

She gives a soft smile, diverts Satoru's gaze to the river flowing a few feet away.

“When you kill Naoya... release my sister.”

Satoru raises his eyebrows as he listens to her, slightly interested.

“Okay. What's her name?”

“Mai, she's my twin sister. Naoya has her in his harem. I've been trying to free her for a long time, I thought maybe if I killed you, I could finally take her with me...but...here we are.”

Satoru gathers air into his lungs and then sighs.

“You understand why I have to kill you, don't you? I respect your motivation, but... you killed Kai.”

“The boy? You still have time to see him... if you hurry...”

Satoru looks strange, opens his eyes wide and searches through her expression for a hint of a lie. He wastes no more time. He sheathes his katana and leaves without another word.

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She can hardly get up from the ground, her arms are shaking and she feels a prominent pain on her cheek. Her memories blur, a moment ago she was washing Satoru's clothes in the river and a second later....

The sound of footsteps puts her on alert and Kasumi rolls over onto her back completely terrified, trying to think in less than half a second where she threw her sword. When her vision clears she sees him in the eyes. His eyes the same color as the open sky look at her with concern and he hurriedly grabs her arm and turns her over on the ground looking for something. He feels her body without asking permission, everywhere, Satoru's big hands run over her, they grab her face stretching her neck, looking for something she doesn't know. Kasumi doesn't know what to say, he inspects her and touches her everywhere until she gathers enough strength to push him away. Her expression startled, her skin exuding heat from every pore.

“What are you doing?!”

“Aren't you hurt?” he asks with a frown, as if it bothers him.

She lets her guard down and repeats Satoru's work on her own body, slides her hands from chest to hip and then denies, but he doesn't seem satisfied. He looks at her quizzically and stands up straight looking off into the horizon. Then he smiles to himself and lets out a small laugh.

“How clever..." he says to himself and turns to look at her, lying on the ground, then holds out his hand. “You survived Maki Zenin, Kai-chan. Well done.”

“I rather think she spared my life..." she replies embarrassed, standing up, shaking off her clothes.

They don't need to cross many words to understand that they have no choice but to set up their improvised camp and look for another place to spend the night. Although Maki was not sent by the Zenin Clan, Satoru is certain that they are on his heels.

The afternoon falls reddish over them. They break camp so quickly that Satoru's clothes don't dry completely. Before saying much more, they both mount on Oguri's back and march briskly to gain distance until the sun begins to fade.

Kasumi listens to Satoru's account of his fight with Maki with incomparable admiration. She can almost imagine his movements despite never having seen him fight with her own eyes, but after seeing what his unimaginable strength leaves in its wake she has no room for doubt. Her small chest limited by the sash she hides under her kimono fills with pride, and not a drop of envy fits inside her.

“It was a good way to make me doubt, making me believe that she killed you.”

“She did?” Kasumi asks, her heart shrinking in her chest. “I guess you wouldn't be able to find the children without me, would you?”

“I know I'd find them eventually, otherwise. But it would complicate me quite a bit if we're talking about time. But that's not all, you know, I'd feel really bad if because of my carelessness someone hurt you.”

Kasumi blushes so much that she feels like she has a fever, everything burns, her cheeks, her ears, her neck, her chest. Something strange fills her chest, as if she is drowning from a feeling that leaves her breathless.

“Thank you for coming back for me... again," she says, trying to live with the permanent feeling of warm suffocation that Satoru provokes in her.

When the night arrives, starry, Kasumi feels her eyes heavy. Oguri walks slowly, probably tired after such a long journey and so little rest, but he does not stop. He is a strong, feisty animal, like his owner. She listens to crickets chirping in the grasses and lifts her chin, watching the stars in total silence. She smiles, imagining that probably, when they stop to rest, she will have to confess her lie. The thought leaves her shy, tight-lipped even though she has finally accepted that it is time.

“Kai-chan..." Satoru murmurs and lets his body fall gently against her back.

Stiffly, Kasumi whispers his name. Incredibly his closeness never ceases to amaze her. Gojo's breath caresses her ear and ruffles her free hair under her ponytail. She shifts her shoulders, uncomfortable, but he doesn't move from her side. He's glued to her, almost hugging her, encircling her with the reins of his horse and she trembles like a leaf. She swallows saliva, unsettled by the wild pounding of her own heart.

Satoru suddenly falls off Oguri's back against the trail in the middle of the night and the horse is shocked. She holds onto his fur, trying to grab the reins that Satoru let go.

“Gojo-san! GOJO-SAN!”

Hastily she climbs down from the horse and crouches over Satoru's body. His forehead glistens cold sweat, his whole body feels icy. Kasumi touches his forehead, shakes it hard as she screams his name that echoes in the forest as if nature is screaming for him, until she finally finds the reason for his condition.

Kasumi gasps as she sees a gash over his right arm, a purple creeper breaks away from the incision and spreads across his forearm.

“Venom...” says Kasumi breathlessly and turns in all directions searching fruitlessly for help. There is nothing around, nothing but trees, mountains and river. No smoke from a campfire, no sign of a nearby harbor. Kasumi sees Oguri as if it were an insurmountable mountain. Satoru is at least thirty centimeters taller than her and maybe even forty kilos heavier. “Oguri... I don't know if you understand me... but I need your help... We have to get him to safety.”

Oguri snorts and moves a few steps back and forth. He may not understand Kasumi's words, but he has understood her tone. The animal lies down on the ground before the incredulous blue eyes watching him. Her gaze moistens, touched by the way the horse wheezes as if telling her to 'hurry up'.

“We're in this together, Oguri..." she says, taking Satoru's long arms to carry him on her back.

She cannot extend her legs; he is even heavier than she had imagined. It must be the clothes and the sword. Kasumi crawls with Satoru on top of her, panting her breaths. She barely manages to leave him on Oguri's back when she falls flat on her back on the ground and the horse gets to its feet.

After mounting his back and making sure he was safe, she fiercely takes the reins in search of an uncertain place, anywhere that would serve as a refuge, perhaps a hermit's home, perhaps a small village.

In her despair tears run down her cheek and fly in the distant darkness of the night. Hopelessness invades her after a few minutes of a deserted trail, the illusion of finding a nearby village with a healer, fades by the minute.

Her heart vibrates at the sight of a small house, battered by the inclement weather. Devastated, she analyzes her situation for a moment and soon after decides that she has no choice but to accept what little fate has given her. She drags Satoru on top of her and leaves him sitting inside the small hut. It doesn't look like anyone has lived there in many years, the wood on the walls looks deteriorated and the roof about to fall off after the next gust of wind. But for now, it will do to keep him hidden.

He takes her hand, her face distressed, her heart squeezed.

“I'll come back with help, hold on a little longer..." she promises, taking his hand firmly and before leaving she feels him squeeze it tighter.

When she turns around, he opens his eyes, barely separating his eyelashes. He looks at her with gentleness despite his convalescence. Kasumi sees through his gaze a hint of resignation.

“You tried to escape a couple of times..." he begins almost breathlessly. “This is your chance... look through my things... there are a couple of talismans there... they'll keep you safe on your journey. You can leave, there is no village nearby... It's too late.”

He lets go of her, closes his eyes and lets himself fall against the wall of the hut without saying anything else, he closes his eyes and drops the hand that was holding Kasumi's on his stomach.

She has no words, she wants to say something, but she doesn't know what. The wind whistles behind them bringing icy gusts. She, living every second with extreme slowness tries to sort out her thoughts. If what Gojo says is true and there are no villages nearby perhaps there is nothing she can do but wait for the poison to consume the rest of his body. The idea twists her lips, tightened so as not to prematurely mourn his death.

There is no point in throwing herself into his arms to cry, she needs to do something, anything. With trembling hands she removes an old wooden bucket, lying in the middle of the hut, cleans the earthen pit used to build a fire, and hollows it out to quickly go out and gather all the firewood she can find. Old dry leaves and yellowish grasses. She builds a pyre and takes two flat stones in her hands. She strikes once, twice, three times, four times, but her hands don't seem willing to stop shaking. She cannot create a spark strong enough and not to be extinguished by the autumn breeze coming through the absent door.

A strong flame appears in front of her eyes and gradually consumes leaves and grass, then branches and trunks. Kasumi turns her moist eyes to him. Satoru smiles softly, his hand outstretched towards the pyre and a sign still throbbing on his fingertips.

Hope blooms within her and, as if he could embrace her in the distance, Kasumi feels her chest calm and her hands stop shaking. Without a word, she walks out of the hut in the middle of the dark and cloudy night with an idea in mind. She climbs on top of Oguri with the bucket in one hand and sets off on a journey through large pine and cedar trees, heading dangerously deep into the forest.

The dense foliage of the tree canopy blocks the moonlight; she can barely see in front of her nose, but she moves forward without stopping until she finally finds a pool of water.

Many years ago, Chiro —the son of Kota, the innkeeper—, was bitten by a coyote, Kasumi, only eight years old, accompanied the local doctor into the forest. The bite was not Chiro's problem, but the infection that swelled his leg and, in order to avoid having to amputate it, Kiosuke, who was also an apothecary, suggested treating the leg with leeches. Kasumi's job was to find them, as many as she could in the shortest possible time.

Thanks to that Kasumi knows that under the stones of stagnant water there may be a remote possibility of finding them. Perhaps, if she tries hard enough, maybe fate will lend her a hand.

With her hands blue with cold, her legs wet and her clothes damp, Kasumi sees drops falling on the water. It looks like it's raining, but Kasumi is actually crying. She can't see anything thanks to the lush forest around her and the density of the standing water. She blindly plunges her hands into the water until she can't bend her knuckles and ends up cursing like she has never done before in her life.

Her scream echoes through the forest and scares away the birds resting on the treetops and when she can no longer move her hands, she climbs out of the water and falls to the side of the pond. On her knees, bent over, she weeps bitterly at her own uselessness. She throws one of the stones from the pond, unable to control the restlessness that overwhelms her, then screams at the top of her lungs and after a last pitiful sob, sits down in the middle of nowhere letting the tears fall freely down her face.

Clumsily wiping her face, she lowers her gaze; her knuckles pale, bluish. Her hands tremble restlessly. Suddenly, like a sign from the gods, a small insect lands on her skirt.

Clumsily she wipes her face, lowers her gaze; her knuckles pale, bluish. Her hands tremble restlessly. Suddenly, as a sign from the gods, a small insect lands on her skirt. A dragonfly. It slowly moves its tired wings and then flutters away and as she turns her face following its trail she sees a swarm of fireflies.

With tired eyes she sees their light pulsing softly, quietly, like a breath, they fly with their translucent wings toward the pond. Turning around, Kasumi sees with surprise the fireflies that have emerged from the bush she threw the stone at, illuminating the night and warmly giving her a little breath.

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'Dragonflies are the symbol of the samurai' Kasumi recalls with a smile. Her bucket full of water, with six leeches she hopes will buy Satoru a little more time. Hopefully she thinks back to an afternoon when she looked for Kano at the blacksmith's house. He had a helmet hanging proudly over a fireplace where he was heating his hammer to shape armor. She asked him that day...

'Why does that helmet have dragonflies engraved on it?'

‘They are the symbol of the samurai. That's... because dragonflies only move forward. They never move backward, they always move forward, whatever the circumstances. They are the symbol of strength, courage and perseverance. And also good luck. That's why they are called 'kachi-mushi,' the victorious insects.’

Chapter Text

Hope isn't enough, it is erased every time she raises her gaze to his face; he is sweating copiously and breathing heavily. He doesn't even seem present when she takes his arm and uncovers it to find the poison advancing mercilessly along his flesh. The virulent color of his skin makes her fear for a moment and an idea chills her skin. If this doesn't work she will eventually have to consider giving him a tourniquet and amputating his arm at the shoulder.

One by one and carefully, by the light of a single candle, Kasumi leaves the leeches on the most compromised veins, the most swollen and vibrant shade of purple. Then she takes a piece of cloth and moistens it inside the bucket of water to wipe his forehead.

Helpless, as if trying to lift her own spirits, she begins to speak to him, not knowing if he will be able to hear her.

“The gods are on your side, Gojo-san. They helped me find these leeches in a very special way. You'll see... they'll help me remove that poison from you while I look for a healer nearby. You just have to resist..." Satoru's bare chest moves extremely slowly, she looks at him with deep regret for a moment before continuing, as if she fears she will shortly witness his last breath. “I've never seen so many fireflies, they lit up the lagoon like an oil lamp... I wish you could have seen them too. Also, I saw a dragonfly... I know they are the symbol of the samurai... that's why I know they were sent by the gods for you. They favor you, Gojo-san. That's why you are so strong, they have given you their blessing.”

A velvet-soft laugh caresses Kasumi's ears and she sees him sitting up torturously slow, sitting across from her, their foreheads almost touching. He smiles in a way that makes her skin crawl, his eyelids narrowed and the look in his blue eyes glaring into her heart.

She would first like to beg him not to look at her that way, but she's breathless, stunned by the strength that holds him and dumbfounded by the intensity of his gaze. Then, if she had words, she would ask him not to strain, but she says nothing. His laugh, like an evil purr, leaves her perplexed and blushing.

“Do you know why... they are the symbol of the samurai? That's because we don't have long lives... By tomorrow... probably... the dragonfly you saw today will be dead.”

“B-But... you are... exceptional, Gojo-san," she replies shyly, mustering the strength to hold his gaze at such close range. “That's what you said that day, right? You're not like other men, and you're not like other samurai either.”

Satoru's pearly forehead rests against hers. Kasumi feels his nose nuzzling hers and suddenly all she can hear is her own heartbeat, as if pounding hard to get out from inside her chest.

“That bitch... now I understand what she meant when she said 'you're still on time'," he says before falling on top of her, losing consciousness.

“Gojo! Gojo-san!” she calls out hugging him with both hands, clinging to his bare back tightly.

Satoru's dead weight is too much for her, though she somehow manages to leave him lying there. She touches his forehead gently, shaking his damp hair upward. One more caress escapes her without premeditation, concerned at the way his temperature seems to keep rising.

For a moment Kasumi looks down at her own hands, her slender fingers, her bony arms. Satoru told her so a while ago, but she never gave it much thought. She is extremely thin for her age, even thinner by normal male standards, which is what she pretends to look like. Always prioritizing the feeding of her siblings, she has slept without eating a bite pretending to be full on more than one occasion, on others she pretended to have eaten something outside the house. But at this moment, after having to carry Satoru on her shoulder more than once, she realizes that if she wants to help anyone else, she will first have to help herself. None of them will get out of here alive if she doesn't fill her stomach first. Nothing would be worth it if the next day she can't get out of bed or if she falls down defeated in the middle of the trail completely famished.

Before going to sleep she takes Satoru's morning catch and prepares a pan full of the few ingredients they have brought with them. She serves herself a portion, obligingly, despite having a completely closed stomach and then sets the pan aside to allow the fire to fill the small hut with its warmth.

Countless times she has wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, unable to stop fighting the symptoms of his poisoning. However, after hours have passed and with tired eyes, she decides that she must sleep at least a couple of hours, if she can, but before doing so she feels Satoru's skin temperature for the last time. His cheek is cold, almost icy. So cold is he that if he didn't have a pulse, she would think that what she is looking at is a corpse. Without a second thought she leans against him, trying to transmit a little of her warmth to him, just as she did with her brothers during the cruelest winter nights.

Her uneasiness grows, there is no room left for modesty when Satoru's life hangs in one thread. Not a moment's thought is given to the way she embraces him as she makes a silent plea to any God who might hear her. She tries to trust in him, in his overwhelming vitality, but it's hard when the when the body she clings to so tightly seems to be losing its life, second by second.

Unable to close her eyes, she reaches out to him and with her right hand strokes his forehead once more. It is warmer than last time or so it seems. Shivering, so immersed in her own thoughts, she doesn't realize that he has raised a hand until he squeezes hers.

Kasumi's eyes widen as he utters a name.

“Mei-san..." he whispers.

Her heart skips a beat as he, with the strength hidden deep within him, turns from his lethargy and climbs on top of her. Kasumi, speechless, sees his face dimly illuminated by the flames of the small fire that struggles to keep burning.

He looks at her with his tired eyes, straining to crook a smile.

“Go-Gojo-san...?”

“Your noble birth is something that... doesn't allow me to continue. You know? The virtue of women in your position... is something that a man in mine... can't afford," Satoru whispers and she quickly realizes he's hallucinating.

“Gojo..." she repeats with a frown. “It's the fever, it's making you see things that...”

He gently plops down on Kasumi's chest, smothering her with warmth.

“But you're so warm that... maybe...”

“N-no..." Kasumi replies, shaking her legs.

Part of her refuses to be a part of his delusions, while another part is completely absorbed in the tone of his voice, soft and husky. With both wrists trapped between Satoru's large hands, her body imprisoned beneath him, rigid as a marble statue. The words to refuse him come so softly out of her mouth that they don't seem convincing at all.

“No?” He asks with a hint of amusement in his tone. “Your fiancé... will ask for my head, Mei-san. Is it worth it?”

Her stomach churns as another woman's name slips off Satoru's tongue, and it unnerves her so much that she ends up struggling against him until he leans his head against her heated chest.

“Get off me, please. Let go of me...”

With her breath hitching, trapped and with Satoru's hair brushing her chin, Kasumi gives up for an instant. Gojo's body feels warm again and she wonders if this will be the way to maintain his temperature, even if it costs her so dearly. Is it such a terrible sacrifice to offer him her body as shelter for a night? Is it so terrible to pretend to be Mei-san to fill him with warmth for a moment?

“So soft..." he tells her, his words rumbling against her chest- "How can I refuse? But... I've already done it many times…”

“Refuse?”

“Yes... but today... you're so warm that...”

She swallows, her legs go slack and she feels her own body go up in flames trying with all her might to forget everything Hamari showed her in Shinmachi, though it proves to be impossible. Bizarre images surround her mind in such a way that she can't even shake them off with her eyes open.

Satoru hugs her, lets her hands free from his grip and clings to her chest falling completely asleep. Kasumi lets her hands free in the air to then leave them at the sides of her body, stiff and uncomfortable. Then she looks at him out of the corner of her eye, he looks calm, sleeping peacefully and although a minute ago she was completely enraged, the feeling doesn't take long to die just by seeing his expression.

Maybe it wouldn't be bad... Maybe she'd sleep more comfortably if she just hugs him instead of pushing him to the side. Anyway, with those scrawny arms she can't fight him, even being drained of almost all his life force. Or perhaps, what she tells herself to convince herself, is nothing more than a sinister excuse to do what her heart so urgently demands of her.

Kasumi wraps her arms around his naked torso and ends up tangling her fingers in his soft pale hair. Her stubborn heart drums furiously, her body burns and she wonders if this feeling that invades her from every pore is nothing more than lust. Dirty and shameful. She doesn't know for sure, but she knows that tonight she won't find the answer. She fights against her thoughts and reminds herself what her only mission is at this moment; to save Satoru's life.

Perhaps if she had allowed herself to navigate her life as a woman, at this moment she would be able to put a name to the feeling that won't leave her alone. She never had the opportunity to let herself be known as a woman. Not even in the port of Yokohama or in the village of Kusakabe-san. And, as Hamari told her, maybe it's just natural to feel this way about Satoru. Perhaps these strange feelings that are born in her chest, churn in her stomach and tingle in the south are nothing more than a consequence of having Gojo Satoru so close.

She finds herself stroking his soft, messy hair as if he were a child. Lying on her chest oppressed by the girdle she constantly wears. She looks at him after a while, when the suffocation of his closeness begins to fade and the perverted thoughts die down. His forehead no longer sweats as it did before, the temperature of his cheeks feels more normal to the touch.

Kasumi reaches out a hand to take the few blankets they have at their disposal and covers him, still pinned to her like the leeches on his skin. Then she watches him sleep and smiles to herself in a soft, almost motherly way. Now that he looks better, with his skin regaining color, Kasumi feels the weight of the fatigue carried all day fall on her like a pile of bricks. And, before she knows it, she falls completely asleep.

Opening her eyes, listening to birds singing outside the hut, Kasumi finds herself still holding Satoru. Everything seems to point to the fact that they have been cuddling all night and that eventually their embrace slipped under the covers to a more comfortable position.

She raises herself up on her elbow, her hair disheveled and her face tired. She looks at him, touches his face and sighs. The fever is down. She gets up stealthily so as not to wake him and stretches and yawns outside what has been their shelter. She may have only slept for two hours, but she feels strong enough to endure a trip.

Rummaging through Satoru's travel bags she finds enough money to survive at least one winter. She comes out of her surprise soon after, supposing that working directly for the emperor must guarantee some comfort she is not even able to imagine. She takes only what is exclusively necessary and prepares to leave before checking on the swollen leeches that continue to swallow the poison in Satoru's blood.

Oguri waits anxiously for her, strengthened by a night's rest; he swings his paws from side to side as Kasumi finally emerges from the hut ready to leave.

They set off in the direction led by a single trail and travel along the coast for at least half a day. Every hour they spend on the trail is an hour in which Kasumi's mind fills with dire thoughts that she must constantly shake off. For despite having placed Gojo's talismans around the hut, she still fears that someone might find him. He will only be protected from the curses that may inhabit the area, but if 'Maki Zenin were to find him at this moment...'

Kasumi shakes her head as if she can shake off such fatal thoughts, constantly reminding herself that Gojo Satoru has the favor of the gods. He's special, he was touched by a divine hand.

Hope is reborn in her heart when she finally sees in the distance the smoke of a bonfire stretching across the sky and stops at the sight of a farmer working on a rice crop.

“Sir!” She cries out to him, "Sir, please, I need help!”

He immediately abandons his task and goes to the boy who calls him so urgently.

“My friend... he needs a doctor, a healer, an apothecary. Anything!”

“Mr. Yamagawa is in town assisting a pregnant woman, go straight to town! You'll find him at the Toshiba family home!”

Waving the reins, Kasumi waves goodbye shouting a thank you, wasting no more time. The Toshiba family house must be the one in front of which a group of people are gathered. The cries of the parturient make it even more obvious as she approaches. She jumps down from Oguri's back and bows breathlessly to them.

“Please, I beg of you, I need to speak to Mr. Yamagawa... My friend... he is...”

Yamagawa stands there beside them, listening attentively to the words of the boy who pleads with his head down, crying out between gasps.

“I'd like to help you, but Mrs. Toshiba will have her son any minute and I can't leave her side. What happened to your friend?”

“He was poisoned. He's dying, please help us!”

“Poisoned? And what are the symptoms? Was it something he ate?”

Kasumi denies.

“A cut," she answers, trying to catch her breath. “Swelling, fever, chills, loss of energy ... hallucinations. I put leeches on the most affected area and it worked... it gave him a little more time.”

“Good, good, you did well... The first thing you want to do is stop the poison from spreading through the bloodstream... Well, I can't go with you and we don't have much time... Come with me, I may have an antidote for you.”

It proves rather hard to follow his slow pace with the impatience Kasumi feels coursing through her body; the old man practically drags his feet to a box with two bands and opens it before her eyes. It has dozens of small labeled bottles, carefully stored in their compartments. He reads the labels one by one and pronounces them, but their names are somewhat unpronounceable to Kasumi. He opens another almost hidden door and the glass shakes, revealing even more bottles.

“Atropine... maybe this one will work for you," he says as he holds out the small bottle. Three drops at night and three in the morning. For three days.

Kasumi takes the bottle, nods and immediately takes out a handful of coins and drops them into the apothecary's palm. She doesn't have time to turn to look at his unhinged face, she simply climbs onto Oguri's back and frantically makes her way back.

On another occasion she would have asked in advance the value of the antidote, but now, with Satoru's life depending on the contents of that bottle, any sum would seem insufficient.

Her head keeps thinking; imagining chilling scenarios of what she might find in that hut with half a day's journey ahead of her. Oguri doesn't stop to rest, nor does his rider. She might collapse under other circumstances, but fear and hope mingle inside her, pushing her onward.

When she finally sees the hut again, the sun accompanies her with its last rays. It looks intact, exactly the same as the one she saw before she left. It is not engulfed in ashes or surrounded by curses or soldiers. She sighs as if a weight has been lifted from her shoulders, however, all is not yet said and done.

Startled, she pulls back the thatched curtain as she reaches the hut and finds Satoru sitting against the wall. His eyes barely open and his lips dry. She hurries to his side, roams every inch of his face with her pupil until finally he turns his light blue eyes in her direction and his lips curl softly into a slight, long-suffering smile.

-Drink some water, please," she begs him, takes her pilgrim's gourd and brings it to his lips. It comforts her to see his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallows. He is still there. I found an apothecary! -she tells him enthusiastically even though inside terror won't let her stop trembling- "I have the medicine! But... first you have to eat something.... You'll be fine, you'll see. Three days and three nights... You'll see that it'll work and you'll be fine," Satoru looks like he's about to tell her something. No! Don't waste any more strength! Please! Just... concentrate on getting better. You need to get better... Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Stay strong!

Satoru can barely curl the corner of his lips. He watches Kai prepare a meal to then feed him in his mouth and wipe his lips. He is so weak that he then simply falls asleep.

Kasumi looks at him, her heart less in turmoil now. He has eaten only enough, but it is better than nothing. She takes the dropper from the bottle she received from the apothecary and lets three drops fall onto a wooden spoon and then gently asks Satoru to open his mouth for her. She carefully drops the medicine. She wants to waste absolutely nothing. Then she picks up the dishes and sits down to eat while Satoru sleeps.

She can't stop watching him out of the corner of her eye every moment. The fear that his chest will just stop moving is so great that it keeps her from swallowing. She forces the food into her mouth; she has to gain some weight. Who knows if she will have to carry Satoru again to get him on Oguri's back.

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In the morning, she wakes up, hugging him again. The first thing she does when she opens her eyes is to jump up, her hair in disarray, and places one hand on his forehead. He moves so little that she puts her ear over his nose and one hand on his chest. With a frown she waits in silence until she hears the hiss of Satoru's soft breathing. Then she gets up, takes the dirty dishes and the bucket to go out to the river. He washes the dishes and brings fresh water. She adjusts her clothes and takes a moment to step away from the hut and take off her girdle. Behind a tree, all alone, she leans back and takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and says her first prayer of the day.

'May my brothers be safe and may Gojo-san recover. Please.'

After gathering her strength, Kasumi wraps the bandages around herself again. She squeezes the knot tightly until she flutters. Then she retraces her steps and searches through Satoru's things. She finds a bow and a few arrows, perfect for hunting some wild rabbit. Before heading out the door she carefully gives him a drink in his mouth, even if it's just a few drops while he's still asleep.

Heading into the forest she wonders how hard it will be to hunt. She's only used a bow once or twice in the past, but she didn't have the strength in her arms to draw the string. But too much time and too many things have happened since those days, when she arrived in Otari village together with Kusakabe when she was six years old.

Thinking back, she remembers his most precise instructions, when she finally sees a small rabbit eating in front of the dragonfly pond. First of all, not to make a sound. Kasumi stands completely still in front of her small opponent. The second thing, take aim. She stretches out the string, with the index finger of her right hand pointing directly at her prey. The image of Kusakabe taking a breath comes to her mind, and she imitates him. With the air held in her lungs she launches the arrow and it pierces the rabbit smoothly.

Kasumi's lips spread into a smile. She jumps in place a couple of times, celebrating a victory of sorts, before running off in pursuit of the rabbit. Suddenly she can't wait to tell Kusakabe, what would he tell her? That she had done well? No, Kusakabe would tell her that it was 'about time'.

After skinning the rabbit and retrieving the arrow, Kasumi cooks, feeds, medicates and hydrates Satoru.

She then carefully shifts the leeches around, replacing the more swollen ones with smaller ones that bide their time in a bucket of water. With nothing else to do but wait, Kasumi takes the bow and arrow and goes out to practice until she can barely lift her arms. Then she returns to the hut and repeats everything she did in the morning.

She relives the campfire at night, sitting in the middle of the hut with Satoru by her side. She watches the fire for a moment until she hears him cough. She moves quickly to the pilgrim's gourd and puts it to his lips until she sees him swallow willingly. He swallows, shaking his Adam's apple. He swallows until he lifts one hand to hold the bottle by himself, down to the last drop. Then he sighs and looks at her with tired eyes.

“You haven't left already?”

“N-No! How could I? Don't talk nonsense Gojo-san.”

“Satoru... You can call me Satoru. After all... I've always called you Kai.”

“Gojo-san... I...”

“At least lose the 'san', so much formality... reminds me of the capital.”

“All right... Gojo.”

Satoru smiles faintly, looks at her for so long that she starts to get nervous. She has no idea why he stares at her like that, for so long. She's looked away from him a couple of times already, but every time she raises her eyes he's there, watching her with a small smile plastered on his face. Is he delirious again? The thought pulls her against him. Gojo's eyes widen as he sees Kai pounce on him to put a hand on his head.

“You don't have a fever," Kasumi murmurs.

“No, but I'm a little hungry...”

Kasumi lets go, hardly embarrassed by what she has just done. She has gotten used to touching him at her whim in a very short time, after all, he was unconscious. She swallows as she reaches for the plate on which she had kept the morning's leftover rabbit.

“I should have cooked it in a pot, but we don't have any more vegetables. It's a bit dry... and hard. There's a village half a day away, I can go tomorrow! Maybe they'll sell me some rice.”

“No, stay here.”

Kasumi feels those words creep into her body to squeeze her heart. It's so dark that he can't see the blush on her face before it disappears, as she approaches him with a plate in her hands. Satoru makes the effort to sit up, surprised to be out of breath. He looks down at his own arm and at the leeches clinging to his skin.

“Eat, please," she says, extending the plate to him. She gasps as Satoru's cold fingers brush hers for an instant, but manages to regain her composure as she watches him put the meat in his mouth. “Tomorrow I'll try fishing..." she says. Satoru's teeth clench on the meat. Then he chews, chews so much that Kasumi starts to feel embarrassed at how tough the meat is. “I think I overcooked it...”

“Yes, it feels like a stone," replies Satoru, or so Kasumi understands. He still has the first bite of rabbit in his mouth. Then he swallows and smiles, "But it doesn't matter, I have no right to be picky.” 

“Tomorrow I'll do better.”

If he had the strength, at this very moment, he'd be stroking Kai's head. Instead, he simply cocks a smile as he looks in his direction.

“Thanks for sticking around, Kai. I really thought you would take the opportunity to leave, I wouldn't have blamed you. After all I was the one who kidnapped you... But here you are, even though you know someone could show up at any moment to kill us. I appreciate that, you're brave for such a skinny and weak kid, you know?”

Kasumi can barely swallow, her lips are tight and her face is flushed from ear to ear.

“Gojo... I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.”

Satoru lets out a laugh and chuckles until the permanent tiredness in his body reminds him that he hasn't recovered.

“It didn't sound very good, I admit. But it was a compliment... Being brave is easy for someone strong and powerful. Being brave is much more valuable when you are weak. Although I also doubt if you're brave or stupid, maybe it's one and the same when it comes to the weak.”

“Well, thank you...”

“Are we going to sleep snuggled up tonight?”

“Heh?!”

“It's cold so don't overthink it. Besides, it helped me sleep better, I don't usually sleep many hours... in case you hadn't noticed.”

He plops down on the floor after leaving his plate on the side. He's eaten all the rabbit left and is ready to sleep. He stretches the thick cloth covering him and looks at Kai again. His eyes, despite looking so tired, look amused.

“Come, I'm cold.”

Kasumi swallows. She has no words, there is nothing in her but embarrassment. But that too goes out the window as she crawls over to Satoru, heeding his words. With her face completely flushed and her heart fluttering after every step, Kasumi is reduced to obedience.

'Anyway... I was planning to do the same tonight.'

Satoru wraps her in a hug.

“If only you didn't have that weird smell in your hair... Did you take a bath?”

“I-I haven't washed my hair in a while...”

“It must be that, I promise you that in the next town I'll pay for a nice place where you can bathe in peace. You don't like being watched naked, do you? Has anyone ever tried to take advantage of you? Is that it? Are you afraid of me?”

“N-No! Of course not! I... I'm not afraid..." she answers with her face hidden. She doesn't look up to look at him, she cannot.

She feels so ashamed that she suddenly wants to tell him the truth. But how? This is not the idyllic moment she had hoped for to confess the truth. What would he think of her if she told him now? Would he think she was taking advantage of the situation?

“I..." Kasumi continues. “Once I was... someone tried to take advantage of me. On one of my trips to Kusakabe village, a group of men found me. They tore my clothes... they touched me... but I had my sword with me and I was able to use the technique my master taught me to escape. I was thirteen years old when that happened and that's when Kusakabe...”

She was about to tell him the rest of the story until she bit her tongue. She can't tell him that that was the moment when Kusakabe forced her to dress up as a man to see him and remained that way until the present day.

“What...?”

“He scolded me... for being so... careless.”

“I understand. Well, it's important that you take a bath. For the moment... I'll try not to smell you.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Silence.”

The next day Kasumi got up early. She tried to catch some fish and got nothing more than a couple of small tuna. It's too little compared to what Satoru usually eats in a single day. Then she took the bow and arrows and went hunting. After several fruitless hours she managed to return with two seagulls. A few mushrooms and tubers, and a bunch of wild berries.

This afternoon finds her with more hope. It is the second day of medication and Satoru's arm has regained much of its natural color. The most important thing now is rest and food. After skinning her prey and fetching fresh water, Kasumi prepares a stew.

Feeding Satoru in his mouth no longer seems really necessary, but he doesn't mind. He opens his mouth like a small child and swallows and then smiles. He seems to like the food today better than yesterday. His expression makes her feel something particular, different from the warmth and tingling. Seeing him happy makes her feel strangely happy.

The last night, when Satoru swallows the three drops prescribed by the apothecary, he finds Kasumi completely exhausted. The hours that Gojo has used to recover his energy, she has spent practicing with her bow. Her arms ache, they feel fatigued. And although sleeping in Satoru's arms feels strangely pleasant, her mind cannot completely forget that he has been poisoned and wakes her up during the night to ask if he is all right.

Just as she is about to go to sleep, having filled her stomach well with food, Kasumi feels herself shivering. A chill runs down her spine and she instinctively turns her face toward the dilapidated door of the hut.

“It's out there," Satoru says, trying to get up.

“Will it be able to get in?”

“No, the talismans will keep him out... But it's waiting for us to come out. I think it's been watching you in the forest, how good are you at hiding your cursed energy?”

“I'm still working on that... I may have... been so worried that... I let it out.”

“It's been feeding on you.”

“I made it grow?”

“Yeah... now... let me take care of this.”

“No!" she yells at him, holding out her hands to stop him from getting up. “It's my fault, I'll fix it.”

Kasumi turns to look for the sword Satoru gave her, the one that belonged to a soldier of the Zenin clan. She adjusts it on her hip and, when she is about to draw it, Satoru stops her.

“Take the bow and arrows as well. That curse is strong, or at least for someone like you. You're tired and you won't be able to wield that sword for long, it's too heavy for you. It's not made for someone your size. The best thing to do in your situation is to fight from a distance. Just as you fill the blade of the sword with cursed energy, do the same with the tip of your arrows. If you find you can't take him, just come back here. Don't take too many risks, we don't need you to be brave right now.”

She nods.

As she leaves the hut an icy breeze greets her. She can feel the presence watching her hungrily, hidden among the trees, inside the forest.

Rarely has she felt self-assured as she does on this occasion. Perhaps it is because this is the first time, she has someone else to protect besides herself. She has the feeling that if she leaves Satoru to deal with the curse on his own, it will end up delaying his recovery, and that's something they can afford. She isn't so naive as not to realize that every day there, is a day won for an enemy invisible to her eyes. She could not protect Satoru against someone similar to Maki.

She strokes Oguri's fur, as if asking his permission to use him in this task. As she mounts him, she sighs.

“This is my fault... I was so worried about him that I completely forgot to keep my cursed energy inside my body. My master would be very upset with me if he knew, I'm sure he'd give me a good smack upside the head.”

She shakes Oguri's reins, facing away from the forest, waiting for the creature to come out of hiding to go after her. Puzzled, she waits. She knows it is there, but for some reason it doesn't come out. She fears then that it's behaving like a scavenger, waiting for Gojo Satoru's death.

Confronting him inside the forest would give it the advantage. It's dark and she doesn't know how strong it is or how fast it moves. Her bow won't do her any good at close range and Satoru is right, the sword is too heavy for her scrawny arms.

Determined to draw him to her, Kasumi lowers the barriers of her cursed energy. She lets it burst from her pores just enough to get its attention. She sees the leaves of the trees fluttering, the creature is moving among the canopies like a giant spider. But it still doesn't come out of its hiding place.

“You bastard..." whispers Kasumi starting to get angry and suddenly the treetops shake harder. That's it! I have to... I have to think of something bad. Bad enough to make me angry.

If the cursed energy is composed of negative human feelings, then the most logical thing to do would be to bring to her mind everything that has hurt her in the past and resent it with all the strength of her heart.

Her Aunt Nami is the first thing that comes to her mind. All her malicious words pop into her head along with her face, sketching a petty smile.

'You useless, good-for-nothing bitch. Stupid bastard, do you know why your hair is that disgusting color? That's because your mother wished you to die in her womb. Who would want to bring something as dull as you to life? And now I have to take care of you and your little rats of brothers! I can't even marry you off! I'll sell you to the first fisherman drunk enough to overlook your birth defect. Or better yet, maybe some concubine house will give me a couple of coins for you. But don't think you'll be able to get anything there, every man who has the stomach to screw you won't give more than a bag of rice for you. You'll die of syphilis eventually, or by aborting the child of some poor idiot who wants to sleep with you.'

Kasumi's heart fills with sadness just remembering the harsh words Nami said to her almost every day, when she didn't bring enough food or the house wasn't clean enough for her standards. But sadness is not as strong a feeling as anger. Why is it that she can't get angry with Nami despite the harshness of her words? Is it because she believes them to be true?

Kasumi closes her eyes trying to find something that made her feel anger, anything. From burning the food to getting scolded by her master. But nothing makes her feel that which gives birth to the greatest curses in history.

When was the last time she was upset?

Suddenly she remembers.

'Mei-san'

It echoes inside her mind and she opens her eyes. That's it! That bothers her to death! That name... She hates it!

'Your noble birth is something that... doesn't allow me to continue. You know, the virtue of women in your position... is something that a man in mine... can't afford.'

Gojo's sweet voice turns bitter in her ears as those words that made her legs shake appear in her mind. Him touching her, whispering to her, resting on her chest... mumbling another woman's name.

A woman without a face, but of noble birth, a woman Gojo Satoru cannot afford. So unattainable to him that, to Kasumi, she is light years away. So much does she loathe the memory of him that her brow furrows, so much does she loathe the name that it repeats over and over inside her mind that her small hands twist Oguri's reins. He desires her so fervently that he dreams of her, wants her in his bed and seeks her in his sleep... Bastard! How dare this man touch her like this! How dare he sleep in her arms while thinking of another woman!

Kasumi's cursed energy overflows and she feels the creature rejoice in bliss. It lowers a four-armed log, its head turned upside down, its piercing eyes gazing in her direction.

.

.

.

.

.

Retracing her steps, she's finished. Five arrows and only the last one hit the target. Fortunately Oguri did not move an inch from his place which helped her aim. Which is strange to her as usually animals are able to see or perceive curses. But, thinking about it carefully, she shouldn't be surprised since it's not the first time Oguri stands still in front of a curse in the middle of an attack.

Satoru waits, his face barely intrigued.

“How did it go?”

“It's done," she says to him in a cold tone and sits on the other side of the hut, away from him.

“You okay? You look upset, was it too hard?”

She denies.

“I noticed," he continues, "that you released a lot of cursed energy out there. May I ask why?”

“I wanted to attract it to me, in an open field it would be easier to aim. So, I tried to remember bad times to grow my cursed energy.”

“And what did you think of?”

“Someone... who made me very angry.”

“A girl who rejected you?”

“Something like that, more or less.”

“Ah... Yeah. Love is the most powerful curse. You did well, but be careful. That trick won't work on the smarter curses. Instead train, the cursed energy is the same as the body or the mind. If you study hard, if you train your body, you'll get stronger. There are those of us who are born with a natural talent that gives us a kick start, but it is no more than that... if you don't exploit your potential, you could be just as strong as someone who has trained all their life.”

She nods, almost as if ignoring his words. Her heart is still enervated by the fresh memory of Satoru's words, during his hallucinations.

“Come, you're tired. Sleep.”

“I'm fine here.”

“Are you sure? It's cold.”

“Yes. I'll... sharpen the arrows... they're a little worn.”

Not satisfied with Kai's excuse, Satoru decides not to insist. He turns away and closes his eyes while Kasumi takes a stone and starts working on her arrows.

In the morning, she opens her eyes stretching a hand between the covers. She drags her digits where every day she found Satoru's chest to find absolutely nothing. Alarmed by his absence, she jumps awake and searches for him in the gloom of the small hut. She doesn't remember right away that, in fact, she didn't sleep with him. The blanket over her body was not on her when she closed her eyes the night before.

Desperate at not finding him, she stands up and goes in search of him to see him standing in the middle of the plain with his sword in his right hand.

A sigh of relief escapes her lips and with one hand she touches her chest. Her heart is comforted by the sight of him bathed in the first rays of the sun, training as if he had not been between life and death just a few days ago.

He notices her presence and stops his training. He sees her out of the corner of his eye and smiles at her. His gesture full of confidence, arrogance and just a hint of sweetness, just enough to appease the demons growing inside Kasumi's heart.

He approaches at a slow pace, sheathes his katana and stands in front of her. He raises his hand as he has done several times before and gently strokes the crown of her head. She knows that this gesture is nothing more than a thank you, however, her stomach clenches and that strange feeling he knows how to provoke in her is born again with more strength.

“Are you ready to go on?” Satoru asks in a soft tone that is not able to sweeten Kasumi's ears.

Her blue eyes widen in panic.

“Now? But!... You just woke up... Why don't we wait a couple of days for you to fully recover? I-If you push yourself too hard, I'm afraid...”

“I'm fine now," he replies, spreading his smile. “I'm very happy.”

“Happy? Why?”

“Because I haven't felt this way for a long time.”

“What-what?” asks Kasumi. An invisible knot tightens her throat.

“It's been so long that I thought it would never happen again. I can finally say that I would trust my life to someone else. I thought you would leave and I would die there, in that dirty old shack, but you stayed by my side until the end. I'm happy, I'm glad I spared your life when I met you. After you let the children go, the thought of killing you crossed my mind... But when I saw that you were willing to die to keep them safe, I had a hunch. In the end I was right to let you live. Now... I can say that I trust you completely, Kai.”

Kasumi's big eyes get even bigger with every word that comes out of Satoru's mouth and the strange feeling that lives inside her stomach grows bigger; it grows uncontrollably after Satoru's confession and then mixes with something else.

Guilt, Kasumi knows it much better. Right now, the lie she told him begins to weigh on her like a stampede of oxen, pounding at her chest from the inside and swirling shudderingly with that other strange, warm feeling. The promise she made to Hamari comes to her mind, but when she tries to say it, the words don't come out of her mouth.

Kasumi chews on her confession. She looks down, unable to hold Satoru's gaze. His smirking expression only makes her feel even guiltier, his trust undeserved.

“Get your things ready. The Zenin girl was probably acting alone... that's why no one found us until now," he says suddenly and turns around until Kasumi stops him, grabbing him by the wrist.

She lets go after a moment, suddenly aware of his closeness, as if she hadn't spent nights sleeping hugging his body.

“The children..." she begins in a whisper. “The children are with my teacher... Kusakabe-san. They are in Otari village, in Nagano. If they arrived safely... we'll find them there.”

Satoru's smile widens and with both hands he grabs Kasumi by the shoulders, shaking her tightly.

“I knew you'd eventually end up trusting me! See? I'm not as bad as they say, now hurry up. We must go, we're in danger here.”

With a lump in her throat, Kasumi runs out of answers for Satoru. She nods, diligently loads her things onto Oguri's back and, before she can realize it, they are already leaving for Otari village.

Satoru checks his map on the way, tracing a route with his finger as he says a couple of things she can't quite understand. He talks about a transporting spell and sighs mentioning the amount of cursed energy he'll have to use; he mentions some insecurity about whether 'he' will still be there. Kasumi doesn't interrupt his musings, locked in her own mind.

“You know what? When all this is over, I have a treasure to look for, do you want to come with me? It'll be complicated, it's full of curses, but the reward... if it's as big as Taishō said... it'll be enough for you to have a full and peaceful life. You haven't mentioned it to me, but I sense that you've had a pretty hard life and you deserve a break. What do you say?”

“But... what about the kids?”

“I'll find a safe place for them. I could go for the treasure by myself, but lonely trips are so boring... Think about it, we still have a long way to go.”

Kasumi nods and a question around a name she hasn't been able to get out of her mind comes out of her mouth without a second thought.

“Gojo-san... did you dream something while you were unconscious?”

“Dream?” he wonders, lifting his chin to the sky. “Yes, as a matter of fact... Did I say something strange while I was sleeping?”

Turned into a nervous wreck, almost regretting her own question, Kasumi mumbles the first thing that comes to her mind.

“A-Ah... Something... about a person of noble birth?”

“I dreamed of my days in the Imperial palace. I met many noble people there, did I mention anyone specific?”

Kasumi manages to regain her composure without Satoru noticing, intrigued about what those days would look like for him. She glances sideways at him, her heart seized with curiosity. She suddenly wants to ask, wants to get a better idea of who he is, though the reason she doesn't fully understand. She simply wants to know more about Satoru.

“Nobody in particular...” she lies, unable to hear the answer she would have if she were sincere. “Gojo... Who are you really? I mean, I know you used to work for the emperor, but... what exactly did you do?”

The question takes him by surprise. He points a finger at himself and makes an almost childish gesture with his lips.

“I... used to exorcise the biggest curses that came to the country. Whenever something serious happened, I was the one they called. I worked for him for ten years. He... found me when I was living on the street, I was a vagrant apprentice swordsman. My family was trying to hunt me down like a dog so I left the brothel I grew up in and traveled far away until he found me. I was wounded and hungry, I was starting to make a living exorcising curses with a friend until he came along.”

“You're not friends anymore?”

“I don't know, I sent him letters, but he never answered them. After that I worked for the empire under the command of the Minister of War, although it was a little difficult for me to follow orders to the letter. I was used to working on my own, collecting my pay and leaving. Politics and protocol are something I never quite got used to. I don't like it at all if I'm honest with you, so many clans, so many feudal lords, so much palaver and politeness... I just wanted someone to point me in the direction and go do my job. It was so boring...”

“If it was so boring and tedious as you say, why did you stay there?”

“Because of Taishō. He's the link to the other side, or he was. He had a special relationship with the other world and his life was extremely valuable, more valuable than mine and yours. He maintained the barriers of the curses that dwell between the two worlds, as he became weaker... the curses became stronger. The cursed energy of everyone in the country was controlled by his presence alone, as a kind of cursed energy suppressor. Now, without him... the truth is that we don't know what will happen to our world.”

“What do the children have to do with all this?”

“I can't tell you that.”

“I thought you trusted me already. Can't you at least tell me why those soldiers were looking for them that night?”

“That I can't know for sure, maybe they just wanted to scare the locals. Intimidate them until they got the message, that the Taishō era ended and the Zenin era began. Maybe that's why they attacked the whole city.”

“But... I saw my... Nami-sama,” she corrects herself, “I saw her receive a payment from the soldiers before they attacked.”

“Then this Nami must know exactly what they wanted.”

The revelation bothers her, though she can't say she hadn't figured it out early on.

“I hope she got something out of it..." she replies frustrated.

“I doubt it very much, the children escaped. Her head must have rolled before she finished counting the coins.”

Satoru remembers her well; he saw her at that very moment. That dark night when Naobito Zenin himself delivered the payment. The thought leads him to think that maybe she could have also tried to save her life by telling him where they could have gone. Perhaps Kai is not the only person who knows of the children's whereabouts.

“I think we've wasted too much time..." says Satoru shaking Oguri's reins to quicken his pace.

“Can you tell me... who asked you to protect them?” asks Kasumi, still pondering the strange motives that drive Satoru to her brothers.

“I told you I can't tell you. I'm not going to risk your life with that information.”

“I've already shown you that I'd give my life for them. Do you think if I knew the reason I'd tell them?”

“I know you would give your life, but part of me wonders if the reason is because you have no attachment to your own life. That time, when I first met you, you didn't hesitate. You didn't even try to fight to the death... I would have more respect for you if you had fought tooth and nail until your last breath until I was the one who decided to take your life. Instead, you left your neck at my disposal, you begged me to end your life. In any case, the story would be completely different if you had been in front of a member of the Zenin Clan. Do you have any idea what they would do to you if you gave up just like that? Maybe they wouldn't waste their time if you were just any chonin, but you are a shaman... and that a shaman would be so weak is, in their eyes, the most unforgivable sin.”

Unable to refute his words, Kasumi remains silent. Her crestfallen face barely hidden behind a lock of dark hair.

“They would take you with them, torture you in such creative ways that your innocent mind could never conceive. I have heard that in their castle they have a pit, full of curses trapped by a powerful spell. The only form of mercy they would show you would be to pull you out of there when you were on the brink of death, only to tend to your wounds and throw you back in there, until you simply gave up.”

A shiver runs down Kasumi's back.

“What... should I do if they catch me?”

“That won't happen as long as you're by my side. I'm going to protect you.”

“But... if it did happen. How could I...?”

“Kill yourself? If you didn't have a weapon, if you were under torture... I suppose the most effective thing to do would be to bite your tongue until you cut it off.”

“M-My Tongue?!?”

“Yes... it would bleed so much that you'd choke on your own blood. At least that's what I would do if I were that weak and wanted to end it all. Would you have the guts to do something like that?”

“I don't know...”

Satoru laughs and pats his back.

“Relax, at least you can be thankful you're not a woman. In the Zenin clan it's a worse sin to be a woman than to be a weak shaman. Besides, you have nothing to worry about, I'm by your side and I'm the most powerful sorcerer to date...”

“Either way... you can tell me. You can tell me the reason why for sure... even if they decided to torture me in more horrible ways than you describe... I would still give my life for them without saying a single word. No matter what they might do to my body... no matter if they manage to break my spirit, I would welcome death as a friend...”

“That's what I like least about you.”

Her chest tightens.

“Are there... things you don't like about me?”

He nods.

“Of course, why should I like that you see death as a friend? Don't you see? You put so little value on your life that your death would mean nothing at all. It's detestable, it nauseates me that you think that way.”

“Is there anything else about me that you don't like?”

“The smell of your hair," he replies, stretching a smile.

It's the seaweed mixture Kasumi uses to dye her hair every month, which she knows in a few days she'll have to prepare again if she doesn't want anyone to notice her biggest flaw.

“I didn't know you disliked my personality so much.”

“It's not that I dislike you. On the contrary... you took care of me all these days even though I was the one who deprived you of your freedom. I don't know how normal it is that you stayed, but I appreciate it. I know you used your body heat to keep me warm. I had few moments of lucidity, but I still remember the expression on your face, you were so worried that you looked like you had aged a few years. You are warm and kind, innocent, patient, most of all forgiving. I just wish you valued your heartbeat as much as you do others. I think you fought harder to keep me alive than you would have fought for yourself... and I dislike that immensely.”

“I'm sorry... I didn't... I didn't realize it.”

“Don't worry about it. I have my own list of faults... But, anyway, stop contemplating these gloomy ideas, you dampen my spirits. We're close to finding the boys and we can go treasure hunting. Stop asking me so many overwhelming questions, how about playing a game?”

She doesn't find within herself the same eagerness that Satoru has to put aside their conversation to exchange jokes and riddles. She weighs over her mind and heart the sorcerer's harsh words and finds little room to deny it all. How to disprove to him that she has really been waiting so long for death? Until now, when she silently ponders her reasons for continuing to breathe, she finds that they have a name of their own. They are Sochi and Kano her only reason to continue and have been for a very, very long time. When they told her that her true hair color was an aberration to nature and should be hidden, when they forced her to dress like a man in order to receive training from Kusakabe-san, they only made that immense detachment for herself grow.

Vague memories of her childhood, before she arrived in Yokohama, flash through her mind like a nightmare. Children from a small village chasing her to throw stones at her, with no one daring to intervene. Horrible names sent in her direction, are words that were etched in her memory forever. No one wanted to be friends with the girl with the cursed hair.

Even if she confessed to Satoru that she was actually a woman, would she have the courage to confess the other?

Anyway, no one would marry a defective freak like her, not with that weird hair. What good would it do her to be openly a woman so far? It was just something she accepted without complaint. It was a way to stay with her siblings longer and spare them the worst of Aunt Nami's punishments. Otherwise, she would have to leave with some suitor her aunt would choose for her. Someone forgiving enough to accept her birth defect, if such a person could exist.

It wasn't just the safe travel, or the training, or the kids. It was so much more.

Kasumi feels like ripping off her girdle and stop pretending to be something she is not. Inside her mouth vibrate the words that will give her the freedom she suddenly craves, but Satoru's voice interrupts her musings.

“Don't you want to play? You're tired, aren't you? Sorry, I didn't realize. Sometimes these things slip my mind... You took care of me for several days and you've slept very little.”

Hamari had mentioned it to her and now she remembers. Satoru may have her next to him, but he won't really be looking at her.

“It's true, I didn't sleep much... but... that's not what's bothering me.”

Satoru pulls on Oguri's reins to make him stop. Surprised, Kasumi sees him get off the horse and stand in front of her.

“Let's stop for a moment to stretch our legs. Wanna take a piss?”

That question has been asked a dozen times during the trip and the answer is always the same, Kasumi looks away and her cheeks light up. Then she looks for a place too private for Satoru's taste, where he can't see or hear her, and urinates.

“I know, I know, your bladder is shy," he says with a smile, holding out his hand to get her off Oguri's back.

She stops to watch his gesture, his hand stretched out in her direction and his soft smile are enough to make her blush from ear to ear. She hesitantly accepts his help and climbs down from the horse. Next to the path is a forest that extends to the foot of a hill, so lush that its end cannot be seen even from the highest part of the path. On the other side is a river, the Tenryu River, down a steep slope.

Kasumi begins to feel extremely conscious of Satoru. She did not miss the touch of his hands, nor the smile, nor the way he looks at her or speaks to her. Even the tone of his voice begins to make her hair stand on end. As she walks far enough away from Satoru she wonders if this exaggerated analysis of him is because there is something else she should confess to him.

How many confessions will Gojo endure?

Kasumi sighs as she pulls up her pants and adjusts her belt. The walk back will be her last moment to think about which way she will tell him. With both hands clasped over her chest she walks at a slow pace trying to sort out a series of words.

'Gojo... I have something to tell you. The truth is that I am a woman, and... the strange smell you've noticed is a mixture that helps keep my hair color dark and dull. And... actually... I...'

“Are you ready?”

Kasumi looks up. He's arms folded leaning on Oguri's hind legs. She swallows and blushes again at the sight of him.

“I... I have something..." she begins and immediately tires of stuttering every word out of her mouth. I have something to confess!

Satoru uncrosses his arms and his smile fades. Suddenly he shortens the distance between them and bends down a little until his face is at Kai's level.

“Do you like me, Kai?”

Her little speech falls apart in the blink of her eyes. The blush spreads throughout her body, so much so that her throat goes dry and not a word leaves her lips.

“Is that it?” he asks spreading a smile, his tone is playful and his eyes widen further as his glasses slide down the bridge of his nose. Kasumi can't answer, though he waits for her answer with little patience and ends up stretching again, then sighs.

“That's not what I was going to say," she says, a bundle of nerves.

“No? It seemed to me... was I wrong?”

Kasumi looks down, thinking about how to explain to him that he's right. This is perhaps the hardest thing she's ever had to do in her life, harder even than learning to control her cursed energy. Confessing so many lies even makes her feel nauseous. She gathers her courage and raises her face, expecting to find Satoru's eyes fixed on her, but they are not, he is looking intently at the horizon, behind the thick forest and the mountain.

“They are close," he tells her in the same hoarse tone with which he ordered her to take care of the girls in Shinmachi.

Kasumi turns and sees on the other side a thick, black cloud beginning to rise, staining the clear sky.

“We have to go on," he tells her and without further ado takes her by the hand to put her on Oguri and mount in one leap.

The horse's pace is fast, so fast that she has to hold on tight to Oguri's saddle and duck her head so that the wind doesn't hit her full in the face. She can barely open her eyes, her confession lost in the breeze.

Kilometers ahead there is another small town turned to ashes. It is the clear path of the Zenin clan's army.

Oguri's pace slows as they approach and she sees with horror completely charred bodies, barely recognizable. The blood freezes inside her body at the sight of a woman hugging her son, no older than his younger brother. Her big blue eyes water, unable to conceive of such cruelty.

“Why did they do this?” asks Kasumi, her voice hanging by a thread.

Satoru gets off his horse and walks through the blackened streets. Absent of expression he observes the vestiges of what was that town wondering the answer to what Kai has asked him, but what he has to tell him doesn't seem pleasant at all.

“I don't think there is reason enough to do something like this," he says as he walks around exploring the streets.

Kasumi covers her nose, the smell of burning human flesh is something she could never have imagined. It is a smell that will live with her for the rest of her life. Some of the bodies are still smoking and noticing it turns her stomach so much that she is about to get off Oguri's back to vomit.

“It's recent..." says Satoru leaning his hand against a column about to collapse. “It's warm. We have to hurry.”

“We should bury them, we can't leave them like this!”

“There's no time for that, it would take all day.”

“But!”

“I said no.”

Swallowing her words, Kasumi nods and watches Satoru get back on his horse to continue on his way following the path by the Tenryu River. The sun begins to lower behind them, taking with it a red watercolor painting. The night begins icy, so cold that her nose freezes in the blink of an eye. Her hands are pale and her knuckles are almost blue.

Satoru does not say a single word, he is silent, concentrating on the path that stretches almost infinitely in front of them. It's as if he knows something is about to happen and he hasn't said anything to her.

A sound new to Kasumi sweeps across the firmament, like a hundred whistles spreading across the sky, like carrion birds swooping down on their prey. She lifts her chin with half-opened eyes and sees with surprise a mantle spreading over them, countless arrows sent in their direction.

“GOJO!" she shouts pointing in the direction of the arrows, but he doesn't seem to hear her.

Without looking away, Satoru takes his sword in his right hand and before the arrows can touch them, he swings the steel and cuts them. Others fall around the ground sticking mercilessly into the ground. Then he re-sheathes his katana and shakes harder on the reins of his horse.

Suddenly they stop and Kasumi turns her eyes to the front to discover with horror the path split by another river, so wide that not even winning race Oguri could bypass.

As they approach at a slow pace they discover the fall of a waterfall, so high that its end is impossible to see. Satoru gets down to inspect the surroundings and, as if experiencing the most entertaining situation of his life, smiles to himself.

Oguri's hooves sway back and forth, hesitating after each footstep. Kasumi holds on to his reins, tightens them tightly as she stretches her neck across the rocky slope. The horse is nervous, restless, sensing something she is incapable of.

The water cascading down the waterfall disperses like a heavy drizzle. Nothing can be seen on the other side but a thick cloud of dewdrops and before it the falling waterfall. Satoru says something to her about his technique, but the sound of the current breaking against the rocks is too intense to hear clearly.

As soon as she turns around, she sees them emerging from the forest like a pack of wolves. Between the trunks and bushes, torches rise across the width of the forest, emerging from the shadows, illuminating the soldiers' helmets. Oguri's frantic movement does not let her see carefully, feeling dozens of eyes on her.

In front stands Satoru; he looks from side to side mentally counting all the soldiers. He crouches down quickly and with his finger traces a circle and inside it some runes.

“There are too many and I haven't fully recovered yet," he says in a serious tone.

“But... you said you were fine!”

“Yes, I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. I didn't think it would come to this so quickly.”

Kasumi feels the ground beneath Oguri's paws cave in and looks down the slope again. Standing on the edge of the cliff, making the earth collapse under its own weight. The sliding of the rocky ground echoes in her ears and Kasumi looks up into Satoru's eyes with a completely frozen heart.

Satoru's alert light blue eyes see her for what lasts no more than a second as he extends his hand towards her and Kasumi reaches out to take it when suddenly an arrow charged with cursed energy hits him in the shoulder and pushes him away before he can take her in his hands.

Oguri's whinny echoes above her ear as she falls into the void, as the rocky slope finishes cracking beneath her feet and they are both lost in the spray.

With an arrow piercing his body, Satoru turns to Kai's voice shouting for him, and sees Kasumi and Oguri disappear in the thick drizzle with his face unhinged. He contemplates the idea of throwing himself behind them, but it is too late to save them from that fall. Whatever happened to them is irreversible.

Standing on his legs, listening to the soldiers' relentless pace disturbing the night silence, Satoru takes the tip of the arrow to break it and tear the shaft from his back.

Naobito's voice breaks the silence and Satoru turns to see him. His face shadowed, his energy stirring violently within him.

“What cruel weather, maybe if it hadn't rained so much the last few nights... the earth wouldn't have given way like this," he sighs and relaxes his shoulders. “Gojo Satoru, the shogun is waiting for you to appear before him. We have come to escort you to the Imperial palace.”

“Shogun?”

“Naoya finds that term more fitting for his reign, don't you think? Now come, he awaits for you.”

“With arrows and torches?” he asks, smiling again. "Naobito, is that you? I almost didn't recognize you with that huge suit, it looks a bit heavy, can an old man like you still wear that kind of thing? You'd better take it off, you'll make things very unfair for me if you can barely move. I don't want to kill a poor decrepit old man in such a pitiful way.”

Naobito bursts out laughing and with a smile answers him.

“I have always enjoyed your sense of humor, but this is no time for jokes. Come with us voluntarily and there will be no more bloodshed.”

“Are you going to burn down all of Japan until I set foot in the Imperial palace? Is that the plan?”

“More or less," he replies with a shrug, calmly scratches his mustache and continues. “Or would you rather keep running away like a rat?”

“After what you just caused...” he says, turning his face in the direction of the waterfall, “I assure you that I'll take a moment to visit him. You especially Naobito, but I'm busy right now. You will have to wait, my apologies to the 'shogun',” he says raising his palms making an ironic gesture to then disappear in front of their noses.

The runes on the ground disappear along with him.

Satoru frowns and covers the bleeding with his left hand, looks up at a Buddhist temple and observes it with tired eyes. His energy consumed by his sorcery and in his mind the firm idea of retracing his steps.

“Satoru?”

He has not heard the sound of his voice for over a decade, but his soft, courteous tone is unmistakable. Satoru turns and sees his slitted eyes intent in his direction. Suddenly his lips curve into a soft smile.

“Suguru...”

Chapter Text

The morning sun wakes him up, pierces through the old curtains of his home and he gets out of bed with his hair in disarray. After dressing in his linen yukata, he walks out the door, beginning to feel the cool autumn breeze. He looks up at the trees with orange and yellowish leaves beginning to fall from the canopy. He picks up his axe, stuck in a trunk cut from the base of a tree with large and extensive roots, and sets it down on a small two-wheeled cart. He rolls up his sleeves, grabs the ends and takes it to a small stable he built many years ago.

His old horse waits for him, strokes his head and serves him water that he has collected from a well the day before. Then, when the animal has finished drinking, he takes him out of the stable and puts the cart on his saddle.

Mounted on its back, he rides in complete silence along the path that leads to the forest where he has been working for the past few weeks. The Okaya forest is full of cedar trees, and is so deep that once he enters it, it seems as if the sun has gone down.

He spends hours felling trees, his axe steeped in cursed energy so as not to tire too quickly. His thin body is covered in sweat and he ends up stripping off the top of his clothes. He selects the best logs, from which he will get the most out of, and also gathers branches and dry weeds that will help him build a campfire later.

Birds fly out in a hurry when he drives his axe into the next log, alerted by the sudden blow. He wipes his brow again and again until finally the wagon is full, but not so full as to exhaust his old horse.

The sun begins to set by the time he emerges from the forest. He often loses track of time inside this forest and it never ceases to amaze him. He calls it a day, his gesture stoic and constantly bored. He climbs onto the back of his old companion and sets out on his return journey along the same path he traveled to get there.

At a slow and gentle pace, with the sun setting in front of his nose, he begins to think about what he should build. He recalls the request of the merchant who usually does business with him and glances at the cart wondering if it will be enough or if he will have to return to the forest the next day when the neighing of a horse catches his attention.

Maybe it's the merchant, he tells himself since these trails are not regularly visited. The last time he saw a stranger was just under a year ago. Perhaps he has come to ask him for something else, some special request.

It is still strange; the trip is a bit long from the nearest town to return before the agreed date just for a request.

The horse's neighing is constant and after a while he realizes that it isn't coming from the trail, but towards the river that flows into Lake Suwa.

The entire lake is surrounded by vegetation, bushes and trees. Intrigued by the animal's roar, the carpenter leaves his horse on the path and ventures toward the lake, pushing through the branches and bushes until he finally sees a white-backed steed struggling against the mud at the foot of the lake.

Such a beast looks like royal cavalry. Its imposing bearing makes him doubt whether he should approach it or not, a single kick from the animal could leave him paraplegic. However, when he notices its presence, he becomes even more savage. He fiercely lifts his forelegs back into the mud, bogged down to the point of not being able to advance a single inch.

The thought of staying with him crosses his mind, but to free him he would have to remove the cart from his horse's saddle and tie the reins of this other one to him to help him out. With that in mind he approaches carefully, raises his hand in its direction extending his fingers hoping it can understand his intentions. The animal stirs in the mud, but not so much as to be dangerous. He smiles to himself when he finally manages to take one of the reins between his hands and pulls it tightly, but it is heavier than he expected.

He gets the impression that it's stuck on something and it's not until he pulls with all his might that he sees a pale hand gripping the other side.

The carpenter falls flat on the ground, startled by the apparition, but soon after he realizes that it's the horse's rider.

Hastily he rushes into the water and pulls hard on the reins until he sees an arm and loads a lifeless person on his chest.

The horse jerks back and forth in the water as he drags the person to shore and is perplexed as he lays him on the ground. The strands of his hair above the fingers of his right hand glow a light blue.

His pale, almost blue face is the clear sign that he has drowned. He approaches his face, with his ear as close to his nose as possible hoping to hear the faintest hiss, but nothing is heard.

He assumes he has a cut somewhere, as he has inadvertently stained his hands with blood.

With some annoyance he looks at his hands, ready to leave the body there and take the horse with him when the beast roars in annoyance behind him.

“He's dead," he says to the horse in a hoarse voice. How long has it been since he last said anything out loud? It must be since he last saw the merchant.

The horse doesn't seem to understand and insists, such attachment to his master makes him sigh... maybe he could make one last attempt.

He kneels again in front of the cold, bluish body of that person and this time rests his cheek against his chest. He opens his eyes in surprise after hearing a faint, almost inaudible heartbeat. A sudden desire to hear it better seizes him and he stretches the fabric of the drowned man's kimono to find a tourniquet of bandages tightly compressing his chest.

Without a moment's hesitation, he pulls a dagger from his belt and cuts the girdle with a single jerk. Kasumi's breasts swell in front of his surprised eyes, as she takes a gasp of air as soon as she is released from her girdle and vomits up all the water she has swallowed, throwing herself to the side.

He, having fallen backwards after the surprise of seeing her naked, stands perplexed as he hears her coughing. Incredulous, he waits for her to finish spitting out all the water she has swallowed, but when she finishes, she doesn't move, lying there, unconscious.

With one hand he wipes the sweat from his forehead that has suddenly left all the heat that rose to his face, it's the first time in his life he's seen a naked woman and the image sticks in his mind for longer than he'd like.

After recovering from his shock, he stands up and looks from side to side, the bogged down horse and then at the unconscious woman. He furrows his brow and then sighs.

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Fuzzy dreams, faces peeking out from her memories, strange and distant. A strong and constant pain wakes her up. She feels as if her head will split in half and when she gets up completely immersed in pain, sitting on the bed, she feels an icy breeze on her chest. When she opens her eyes, she finds herself naked, her chest bare and her tits exposed. Where is her girdle? She wonders, grabbing the blankets covering her to wrap herself up.

When she looks up, she sees an unfamiliar face, sitting in front of a fire with a piece of meat impaled, his mouth open and his face completely flushed.

Kasumi crawls, covering herself, until she feels the wall against her back.

“Who are you? What... what have you done to me?” She tells him, wrinkling the sheets between her hands and her stomach turns at the thought of the answer.

“My name is Kokichi... Kokichi Muta," he says in a soft tone, attentive to the quick movements of the woman who probably considers him a deviant, an idea he doesn't like very much. "I found you a few hours ago with your horse, drowned in Lake Sawa."

“Sawa Lake? Where are we? And... where are my clothes?”

“They're wet... I had to undress you or you'd freeze to death," he answers, looking away. You're welcome."

For some reason, Kokichi doesn't seem like a threat. He can barely hold her gaze and she senses it's because he saw her naked. From a distance she can see her clothes hanging by the campfire, dripping on the wooden floor. He can't wipe the blush from his face, gives her a fleeting glance and, despite her confusion, it doesn't take her long to realize that she's not in danger.

“What happened to you? Did you fall in the river?” he asks her suddenly.

She goes completely blank, blinking a couple of times trying to find an answer to give him.

“I... I don't remember. Did you say Sawa Lake?” He nods, "How far are we from Yokohama harbor?”

“Yokohama?” he asks with a frown. “Quite; it must be a four- or five-week trip. Did you lose your memory? You hit your head..." he says as he raises his index finger and points to the exact spot on his own black-haired head.

Kasumi raises a hand and touches between her hair feeling under her fingertips the bandages that Kokichi put on her.

“I think so... The last thing I remember is... I was fishing and then I was attacked...”

“Well, I guess you owe your horse your life," he says and gestures with his chin towards the window next to the bed Kasumi is lying on.

She cranes her neck, runs her fingers along a thin linen curtain and sees a white horse she doesn't recognize on the other side. She frowns, as she expected to see the old dark brown horse they've had in the family for the past ten years.

“That's not Oshi..." she whispers with a frown, unable to understand what has happened in what seems to her to be the blink of an eye.

She wonders if perhaps those three thieves left her for dead and threw her body into the river, although she doesn't understand how the current could have carried her so far away. Besides, that horse she has never seen in her life.

“You had your hands firmly on its reins when I found you. He's a bit wild... I couldn't get him out of the water by tying the reins to my horse, I had to leave half the logs I cut today so he could rest his legs on something firm... Besides, I wouldn't have room for you in the cart if I didn't...”

“I'm sorry... I'll try to pay you back... I just have to get home.”

“Your horse is exhausted; you'll have to give him some time...”

Kasumi blushes. She is completely embarrassed for being in a stranger's house and causing him so much trouble. She doesn't know what to say or what to ask. She is so bewildered that she simply keeps silent trying to sort out her last memories.

“Eat something," Kokichi tells her, standing up to extend a skewer to her.

She looks at his face, he has a scar on his cheek, and dark eyes. The way he looks at her is not very expressive, however, his cheeks are slightly flushed. After accepting the skewer, he puts something on the bed.

“Put this on until your clothes dry," he tells her before sitting back down by the campfire, his back to her.

He listens carefully to the movement of the cloth behind his back and a small part of him feels inclined to look, but he doesn't, he has already seen more than he would have expected. He remains silent as he eats and waits for her to dress and then lifts his face as he watches her walk up to him and sit beside him.

He looks away from her rather quickly, not pleased with how it feels to see her face, probably from having to put himself in the situation of undressing her while she was unconscious.

“Thank you very much for helping me," she says with a smile, holding the skewer in her hands. “I'm very sorry for the trouble I caused you... Could I repay your help in some way?"

Uncomfortable by her smile brimming with innocence, Kokichi swallows saliva. She is too close for his liking and for some reason it's very unsettling to see a woman dressed in his clothes. They are too big for her and he can still see a small portion of her chest from where he's sitting.

“No need," he replies to her, stinging at every word that comes out of his mouth.

“I couldn't eat your food and abuse your hospitality without giving you something in return... I don't have any money, but I could help you with anything else you need. Then I'll see about going home to my family.”

“I don't want you to do anything," he tells her, his voice rough and his brow furrowed.

Kasumi averts her blue eyes to the floor and purses her lips so effectively that Kokichi suddenly feels like he should apologize to her. Did he inadvertently belittle her?

“I mean... I-I don't need anything. I live here alone and my job is... I mean... I don't...”

“It's okay. I understand.” She replies with a warm smile that leaves Kokichi's words hanging in his mouth. A lock of cyan hair falls over her cheek and she tucks it behind her ear.

Maybe it's because he doesn't usually go to town much and hasn't seen such a pretty woman in years. But Kasumi makes him so nervous that he really doesn't know how to continue this conversation. He'd rather be alone, as he's used to, but he assumes he'll have to put up with her presence for saving her. Maybe he should have ignored the horse and left her there until she finished agonizing?

“You live alone?”

He nods.

“There aren't many houses here... are there?”

He nods again and Kasumi smiles uncomfortably. She frowns, how hard can it be to have a casual conversation? For her it's not that complicated.

Kokichi clears his throat as he eats and she mimics him, both of them silent. Kasumi doesn't stop thinking even for a second where the silence stretches between them making the house feel smaller than it actually is. She looks sideways at him, at his tools and his house in general.

“Thank you for the food," she tells him and he nods again.

Surrendered, Kasumi refrains from making any further comments. It seems that Kokichi is a man of very few words.

“You should go back to rest," he says suddenly, without looking her in the eyes.

She turns her gaze to the small mattress on which she was sleeping and realizes that there is no other mattress for him.

“And you, where will you sleep?”

“On the floor, I guess.”

“It's not necessary... I...”

“I don't mind. Gather the strength you need to leave.”

Kasumi blushes, not because Kokichi's words are tender in any way, rather because she feels completely out of place and has understood that he simply wants her to take off the way she came.

She nods, in the same manner as he does, and gets up to go back to sleep where she was lying a few minutes ago. She turns her back to him as she covers herself with her blankets. It is night and she is too far from home, she doesn't know which direction she should take to return and feels exhausted. Her body is fatigued, as if she had trained without rest for three days straight. Her head still hurts, her joints can barely bend.

He's right, if she wants to leave quickly, she has no choice but to rest. She'll figure out how to repay Kokichi for saving her life later.

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The icy breeze gently ruffles his hair; long, dark as night. His face holds an expression of astonishment that quickly changes and mutates, his lips move in a sweet way, barely inclined in a peaceful smile. He looks at him as if not a single day has passed, as if only yesterday they had crossed paths. But the passage of time is more noticeable to Suguru than to Satoru, his eyes a little more tired than his, despite having been sleeping outdoors for quite some time. He is taller than he remembered, though Satoru is still the taller of the two. He's wearing a rather baggy monk's outfit and his hair is half up.

Satoru can't help but smile at him, despite the injury to his shoulder.

“A monk with long hair? That's new," he says, as if he didn't just appear out of nowhere.

Suguru laughs loudly and the sound makes him nostalgic. He laughs so hard at his comment that he ends up wiping away a tear, then walks over to him and puts an arm around him.

“Always so extravagant, couldn't you just come on horseback? -he says to him, forcing him to walk along. “Come in, it's cold and you look tired. Then you'll tell me what brought you here.”

Satoru sighs.

-I wish there weren't so many stairs....

Suguru laughs again.

“Come on... it's not that far. Have the years made you whiny?”

“Actually, I haven't complained for quite a while...”

“I heard what happened with the emperor. I'm very sorry, Satoru.”

“It's okay. It was something that would eventually happen.”

After a long staircase in the middle of the mountain, surrounded by a thick forest, a torri rises imposingly in front of them. In the middle of a stone path lies a small red temple with dark wooden walls. On one side a water well, on the other a small prayer space.

“Don't make too much noise," Suguru asks him. "The girls are sleeping."

Hugging his best friend, Satoru continues to walk slowly along the stone path until he reaches the temple gates. Gojo keeps silent as Geto asked, they walk through the darkness until they arrive in a small room where Satoru sits down.

“I'll go get something to treat your wounds," he says before leaving.

Satoru, alone and in the darkness of the room, can't shake off the image of Kai falling into the void. After some thought, he can't see any way he could have gotten out of that situation alive, neither he nor Oguri. A melancholic smile is drawn on his face, sorry for having failed. He had promised to protect him. At this instant he doubts even if the lives of Taishō's illegitimate children will be safe.

Suguru returns a short time later with a tray in his hands and on it some bandages, a bowl with a substance and needle and thread.

“Do you have female disciples?” Satoru asks, interrupting the silence.

“They are my daughters.”

The samurai raises his eyebrows when he hears him.

“What a lustful monk.”

Suguru laughs.

“No... It's a long story," he replies and sighs, "What happened to you? I felt the cursed energy emerge very close to here and recognized it immediately. Why did you come? It's not that you're not welcome, but I can't help but wonder.”

“My spell takes me wherever I want to go, but I must know that place... I can't go to places I've never been. But... when I had to activate it... the only place I remembered was this one.”

“I imagine you're in big trouble. Naoya's after you, isn't he?” Satoru nods and Suguru sighs as he pulls back the fabric of his friend's yukata and sees his wound. What's he after? Cutting off your head?”

“I guess so, or have someone else take it to him...” While Suguru cleans his wound, Satoru looks at him. He wears a sorrowful expression. "You never answered my letters," he says suddenly.

“When our ways parted... I found my own. I have started a family and am developing my own discipline, just for sorcerers. For the first time in a long time, I felt that my work made sense, that I'm in a place where I'm needed...”

“I needed you.”

“No. You have never needed anyone, Satoru. Still... I felt that if I answered your letters, you would eventually come looking for me and try to convince me to leave with you. Forgive me, for being so selfish... but I have a family of my own to take care of now.”

“You could have had it anywhere.”

“No, anywhere by your side I would have been an extension of you... I needed to be myself without you.”

Although his words make sense, Satoru does not feel completely convinced. Perhaps because he simply doesn't want to understand it, maybe because he would have looked for a way to make the two purposes coexist at the same time. He remains silent for a while as he places an ointment on the arrow wound, stitches it, and then wraps a bandage over his arm and shoulder. When he finishes, he puts the items back on the tray and leaves, but not before asking him to wait for a moment longer.

Satoru finds himself unable to smile. He sits against the wall and waits as he listens to Suguru's soft footsteps moving through the temple. Maybe he's right, he thinks to himself. Maybe he had clung to him in such a way that he left him no room to be himself.

An uncomfortable feeling lodges in his chest. Seeing Suguru again stirs him from within in such a way that he doesn't know exactly if he is happy at all.

When Suguru returns, Satoru makes a poor effort to smile. He has returned with a tray full of food, and when he sees a bowl of hot soup on the tray, he understands what has taken him so long.

“I brought you ohagi," he says in a soft tone. “Have you tried it?"

Satoru bends his face taking the dark ball the monk served him, its irregular shape doesn't look appetizing to him, neither its opaque purple color.

“What does it taste like?”

“Just try it.”

He pops it into his mouth without another moment's hesitation, chewing it slowly, expecting something completely different. His lips curl into a wide, strange smile. An m crawls the length and breadth of his throat and he chews slower so as not to miss a second of its taste.

It is so sweet that it fills his chest with joy.

Suguru does his best to hold back laughter, but it's very difficult after seeing the way Satoru wriggles in pleasure.

“I knew you were going to like it. Now, well... Tell me what happened.”

“What a way to ruin the moment. I was enjoying it so much that I even forgot the mess I'm in," he says, recovering his spirits. He takes a sip of water and clears his throat while he takes the chopsticks to start eating. “I think Taishō has illegitimate children... He entrusted me to take care of them before he died. I traveled from Kyoto to Yohokama and from there to Osaka until the Zenin army found me, so that's how I ended up here.”

“What about the children? Did you find them?”

“No, but I know where they are. They're in a small town called Otari, in Nagano. That's where I should go now...”

“Something tells me you're not sure. You don't want to continue the journey anymore?”

“I don't know, I should. I promised...”

“But you're not convinced," Suguru answers, surprised by his old friend's tone.

Satoru smiles.

“I lost someone when the army caught me.”

“Did they catch him?”

“No, but he's probably dead.”

“I see..." he says and sits down next to him. “You were fond of him?” Satoru nods as he eats. "It's a difficult decision. On the one hand, you gave your word to the emperor, on the other... I think you still have hope to find that person alive...” Satoru nods again and they are both silent for a while. "I have a little experience on that... you know? Leaving a loved one behind. When I did it, I thought about it for a long time, I wondered if he would be okay without me and I realized that this person was invincible. He was a jerk, yes, self-centered and reckless. And not only that, that person had the most important man in the country by his side. The answer to my question was much easier to find, would he be okay without me? Now you ask yourself the same question, are the children safe?”

“Maybe, they are supposed to be with a guy named Kusakabe. I don't know who he is, but if the children got to him, he may have kept them safe even without knowing who they really are.”

“And that other person? Will he be able to survive without you?”

“I don't think so. If he survived, he must be about to die.”

“And that doubt, knowing if he's dead or not... will it stop haunting you?”

“No... I think I will always wonder if he survived. Besides, not long ago he saved my life. I have an important debt to settle...”

“Maybe you'll lose everything if you go after him, maybe you'll lose time and you won't find the children. Maybe at the end of it all you won't achieve any of your goals.”

“That doesn't sound encouraging. Are you giving me advice or crushing my spirit?”

“I don't want to lie to you. But either way you will carry a regret with you. One is the promise you made; the other is abandoning a friend who needs your help. In any case... if it were me in your shoes... I couldn't rest until I saw the body. I would at least settle for giving him a barely dignified burial and have a place to visit him. But that's for you to decide, which of the two burdens would weigh less on you?”

“I...”

“Don't make the decision now. Whatever the answer you must first rest and regain your strength, eat, sleep, and tomorrow... with your heart a little less restless, choose your own path.”

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When she wakes up, she is once again surprised by the strange environment in which she finds herself, she looks for the disheveled hair of her brothers and soon after she remembers that she isn't in Yokohama. She sighs and gets up, Kokichi isn't there. She was so tired that she didn't even hear him leave in the morning.

She wears his clothes, gets up, changes into the old clothes hanging on a rope, which were soaked the night before, and gets dressed again. It's pretty battered, a little more wear and tear and the fabric will rip the next time she washes it. The straw on her sandals falls apart after every step, the water did it no favors.

As she leaves the hut, she finds the white horse that saved her life and approaches him cautiously. She realizes after approaching that it is not fierce, on the contrary, it is meek and gentle. He stretches his head under her hand when she extends it in his direction, looking for a caress.

“You're very docile," she tells him in a soft tone.”

‘He behaves this way because he likes you.’

The response her mind sends back to her is sudden and confusing. Was it something she heard before or is it a guess she's pulled out of thin air? She is unsure and uncertainty creeps inside her, as if it has planted a seed.

Unable to find a clear answer, Kasumi takes the horse's reins and leads it to the stable she saw a few feet away. She takes a wooden bucket filled with water and fills the animal's bowl. She strokes the horse's back as she wonders what its name will be. His fur is dull, however, just by looking at him one can tell that it has had special care, it is strong, tall and looks well fed. The embossed leather reins are puffy, ruined by water. However, it is enough to see them to know that they are not cheap, the reins, the saddle, the pretal, everything seems to be made for an imperial soldier.

The uncertainty grows, how could she have ended up with such a specimen and such a saddle? The animal must have belonged to someone with hierarchy, a feudal lord, or something similar.

Tired of occupying her mind with questions she can't find the answers to, Kasumi retraces her steps and takes a look around Kokichi's hut. Everything is pretty tidy, because he doesn't really have a lot of stuff. However, it is a bit dirty. She rummages through Kokichi's things until she finds a brush and rolls up her sleeves ignoring his request to rest. She gets down on all fours on the floor and scrubs the wood until she removes layers and layers of accumulated grime. Then she cleans the walls, glass, shelves and tools. She goes out to shake out the sheets and takes the dirty clothes she finds to wash them in the river next to the house.

She covers her face with one hand, looks up at the sky and wonders if she will be able to hang the clothes in time to dry in the sun.

She loads the clothes and a board to remove the stains and walks to the river. Its current is gentle, but when she puts a hand in, she finds it completely freezing. She peeks her face above the water and finds her reflection, but her eyes widen like plates when she sees the color of her hair. She brings both hands to her head and takes strands of hair for a closer look. It is dull, with black streaks. The water not only played a trick on the horse's reins, but also on her hair.

Desperate, she reaches into the river and pulls out whatever seaweed her hands can find, then looks under her trembling hands to say 'no' and 'no' over and over again. Could it be that this algae, doesn't grow in this region? Unwilling to give up, she continues searching until the cold forces her to go out. Barefoot, lying on the riverbank, she looks down at her pale, shivering feet, so cold she can barely bend her toes. She plops down on the gravel and sighs. What else can happen to her now?

Maybe that's why Kokichi is so reluctant to talk to her.

When she finishes washing the clothes, she leaves them lying in a spot where they catch the sun's rays. Then she retraces her steps back to the hut and stands there trying to think of something else to do. Whether he likes it or not, she is going to repay the favor he has done her.

She grabs a rattan basket and heads out again. She walks down the path and curiously hears the white horse's footsteps walking behind her. She smiles at the sight of him, at least she isn't as lonely as she thought.

“Whoever you are, I thank you," she says to the horse whose name she doesn't know.

Not everything dies in autumn, it's the best season to pick mushrooms and fungi. And Kasumi knows particularly well a species of mushrooms that taste excellent in soup. She knows almost perfectly where to find them and spends most of the afternoon picking them until the rattan basket is completely full.

By the time Kokichi pushes open the door, she is sitting in front of the fire tasting the soup. She smiles warmly at him and welcomes him.

He, speechless, attracted by the aroma that came from his own home, cautiously looks around every corner. His favorite kimono was lying on a string outside, clean of mud stains.

The wooden floor shines in such a way that, with a little more effort, he could see himself reflected.

Unsettled by the smile of the girl he rescued and her warm welcome, he sits down across from her. Kasumi holds a wooden spoon and seems intent on getting him to taste what she has prepared. Kokichi stretches his neck cautiously and slurps the soup with the obedience of a well-trained dog. Unfazed by the noticeable change left by her mere presence, he glances sideways at his home as he slurps the soup.

It's the best he's tasted in a long time. It's not too much of a compliment, though, since he's not very good at cooking.

“It's fine," he says with a slightly embarrassed look on his face, and she just smiles. His terse reaction seems to have been enough for her.

“I figured you'd be hungry... you were out early. Are you tired? You're a carpenter, right? I saw some things stored in the stable. You're very talented, did you have a teacher or you learned on your own?”

“I see... you got your energy back.”

Kasumi's verbiage is funny to him, but his stoic gesture doesn't show it in the least. She on the other hand is an open book, her white cheeks turn pink almost immediately and he feels a bit sorry for his words just by looking at the expression on her face.

“Am I talking too much?” she asks and laughs awkwardly. “I'm sorry... I didn't ask your permission and I touched your things. It's just... I couldn't lie around all day and I wanted to thank you in some way.”

“It's okay..." he says. His voice is husky and masculine. “I-I like... the soup... and the house is clean. T-Thank you.”

She regains her spirits, her smile grows as she listens to his terse words, and it makes him deeply nervous and uneasy. A part of him hoped that she would not be there when he returned and that his life would continue as he knows it. The hermit's life is simple, if laborious. So, a hot meal after working for hours is quite a relief. At least he can recognize that. Returning every night to a cold, dark house is very different from this.

His gleaming house, a meal and a smiling woman waiting for him are things he had never imagined. Especially such a beautiful one, almost fallen from the sky.

Kasumi serves him soup in a wooden bowl and holds it out to him, he hears him thank her and pours one to accompany him.

“Are you feeling better?” He asks her and she nods enthusiastically.

“My head still hurts a little from the blow, but I feel better. I'm stronger than yesterday and I think I'll be able to go home in a couple of days.”

It is strange for Kokichi to feel suddenly shaken by her response, yet he says nothing.

“Do you have any idea which direction you should take? It's a long trip.”

“I was hoping you had a map I could borrow. I'll pay you back, somehow... I don't know, I could clean all your clothes... I can't think what else I could do. I don't have any special talents. I could cook for you every day, I'm pretty good at it. I know how to cook a casserole with just a few ingredients.”

“You don't have to do anything... But I don't have any maps to give you. The nearest market is a day's journey north and it's not too big either. But I could take you and buy one there.

“Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?”

“I wouldn't mind," he says without thinking.

She smiles again, and a strange feeling fills his chest. He swallows saliva and looks away, completely suffocated. He eats trying to ignore her pretty face, unable to extinguish the heat of his own face.

“Do you want to go tomorrow?”

“Yes!" she replies so rapturously that she ends up laughing at her own exaltation. “Please... yes, I would like to.”

“Can I... ask you a question?”

Surprised by Kokichi's sudden interest, Kasumi nods, looking at him intently. Excited by the idea that the carpenter has the slightest desire to converse with her.

“Why is your hair that color?”

“Ah... yes... that? Well... I don't know, it's just like that. I don't know the reason. It just... well... does it look really bad? do you dislike it? I tried to look for the seaweed I use to dye it black, but I couldn't find it. I don't think they grow in this region. I'm sorry, I know it's not very pretty.”

“Dislike it?”

She nods shyly and loses all trace of her cheerfulness.

“It's not. It's... cute," he answers and swallows.

Kasumi opens her big blue eyes in his direction, strokes her hair, a little nervous, intimidated by his words. He can't hold her gaze for even half a second, turns his black eyes towards the fire and continues to drink his soup.

“Really? You're not just saying that so I won't feel bad? If so, don't worry! I can tolerate it! I'm used to it; you don't have to be nice to me.”

“I'm not being nice," he says with a frown, sinking his face into his bowl of soup. “It's different and a little strange, that's true... but... it suits you. You look like... a tennyo.”

“Tennyo?” she asks, tilting her face to one side, with a confused expression.

“You don't know what they are?”

“No.”

Regretting his words, Kokichi doesn't know how to explain to her that he has compared her to a being out of legends he was told as a child. How to tell her that in his eyes she looks like a courtesan from the heavens? Like an angel who tripped and fell at his door.

“Never mind," he replies, "Don't worry about your hair, it's fine like that. Don't darken it, it's not necessary. Much less do it because you think I dislike it.”

“Thank you...”

This is the first time in her life that someone has said that to Kasumi and it feels like a caress straight to the heart.

“They used to tease me a lot about the color of my hair when I was little..." she says reminiscing about her past. “I remember being stoned... by a group of kids. It was horrible... When my mom died and we moved to my aunt's house with my brothers she said I was a freak. She told me I had to hide it or everyone in town would start talking about our family. We found a way to dye it black and no one turned to look at me again, not like they used to. So, I continued to do it for the rest of my life. But... she said I could never get married anyway, if my husband found out he would leave me. She said my hair was cursed and my children would inherit my curse.”

“Sounds like a bunch of peasant bullshit.”

His words are few, but effective. Kasumi has nothing more to say and settles for his answer. She doesn't need to ask anything else and for the first time in her life she feels completely at ease with herself. Kokichi seems sincere, he has no reason to tell her something just to comfort her. He doesn't seem like that kind of man.

In the evening, after eating, Kokichi didn't say much more. He left the cottage to work on the logs he brought from the forest and then, hours later, returned. He looked tired and again relinquished his bed to her despite her insistence to the contrary. His response was simply to lie down to sleep on the floor away from her, and Kasumi had no choice but to lie down to sleep in his bed.

Wordlessly, Kasumi extinguishes the last candle that remains lit inside the hut. In the middle of the night, questions about what has happened come back to her mind. Kasumi can't help but think that there is something missing. As if she had gone somewhere to look for something only to completely forget what it was. Like a missing piece of a puzzle, an essential piece that shapes the picture. It makes her uneasy, so uneasy that it's hard to sleep. What could it be? she wonders. She has a strange feeling that it's not just because there's a chunk of time, she has no memory of, it's something else, something more important. Something is missing.

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In the morning, he wakes up to another tray of food next to the bed. Sleep was particularly difficult, especially after his last conversation with Suguru.

The childish voices of Suguru's daughters are heard enthusiastically through the corridors of the temple and with them the laughter of his friend. Their laughter soothes him, reassures him that all this time he has been fine, though a part of his heart feels tinged with bitterness, he really didn't need him and it hurts his ego.

After filling his stomach, he gets up to find him sitting on the ground enjoying the morning sun, just outside the temple. The girls are further away collecting flowers in a small basket as he watches them with a pleased smile on his face.

Satoru sits on the steps of the temple and sees from afar the girls turn to look at him, giggle and continue their search for the flowers.

“Their names are Mimiko and Nanako. Their family banished them when they began to exhibit the first signs... They are shamans, though not very powerful. They're a bit unruly, but…”

“They look friendly. Sometimes I wonder if I could be a father, it doesn't seem too complicated to me. I like children.”

“You could, you have what it takes, but try to find a mother who has all the responsibility you lack," Satoru nods, "Are you ready?” he asks.

“Are you?”

Suguru doesn't seem to understand what he means. His cryptic question is accompanied by a sly smile.

“We have long allowed ourselves to live the lives we wanted. Me, protecting the most important person in the country and you, finding yourself, living away and forming a family of your own. But now things are different, Taishō is dead and with him the barriers that kept the cursed energy in check. I imagine you've noticed how much the energy waves have grown, the curses will get stronger eventually, the shamans, the cursed users, it will affect us all... to a greater or lesser extent. To top it off we are on the verge of a civil war, it will only be a matter of time before they come to destroy everything you have built with your own hands. One day the soldiers will fall on your doorstep and you will have to take sides.”

“I will do whatever I have to do to protect my family. There is nothing I wouldn't do for them. I'm all they have. And if things get serious... I'm prepared to do whatever it takes.”

“When the time comes... if you need shelter... meet us in Nagano. I'll wait for you.”

“If all this ends as you're imagining... you know you have another option on your hands, don't you? Claim your place as leader of the Gojo Clan and use their soldiers to your advantage.”

“And what happens after overthrowing Naoya?”

“You could become the next shogun. Or wait for the children to reach the age where their cursed technique manifests itself and pray that they have inherited their father's technique. That way you will have someone to sit on the throne and become their loyal servant again.”

“I won't be the shogun. No way.”

“And you have nothing to say about the other thing?”

“If so... if they inherit his cursed technique... Then yes, it would be my duty to put him on the throne.”

“You'll need allies. Many.”

“And you, are you one of them?”

Suguru laughs.

“I don't know... I'll have to see how this all plays out before I make a decision. There are many things I have yet to learn about my profession. I haven't fully mastered the concepts of Buddhism... Because even if Japan were to go up in flames in front of my eyes... all I would care about would be the two of them. My heart is tainted with selfishness, my soul isn't pure.”

“That makes two of us. Taishō used to reproach me for not following the concepts of bushido, but ultimately no one does. Anyway, if you were to abandon your dream, your family will be safe with me. I will protect you too.”

“You can't protect so many people.”

“What choice do I have? I couldn't refuse the request of a dying man, what kind of samurai would I be if I did that to my own master? I have no intention of performing seppuku, I prefer to keep my word to the end.”

“And what if none of the children inherit Taishō's technique? With no emperor, there would be no choice but to overthrow the current shogun and put another in his place. How long do you think it will be before Naoya begins to stir the waters among the lords of Japan? His army is strong, but the other clans are not going to bow their heads to him.”

“After making sure the children are safe, I was planning to go look for a treasure that Taishō hid. But I don't think it's possible to just ignore the whole conflict, is it? -he asks as his lips tighten into a smile. The truth is, I would have preferred to leave the country... I didn't think things would become so serious in such a short time. Naoya is wiping out the smaller villages. Naobito told me they will continue to do so until I present before him. The sick bastard is holding me directly responsible for their slaughter.”

“The fiefdoms will be affected quickly and will have to take sides.”

“That means they'll help him turn me in.”

Suguru nods.

“Which makes the idea of taking over the leadership of the Gojo clan the smartest option.”

The girls' laughter is heard closer as they both run in his direction. They intertwine the flowers they collected into a wreath, selecting only the brightest ones, the ones with full petals. Then between the two of them they place the wreath on Suguru's head while he smiles and looks at them in a way Satoru has never seen before.

It is a particular love, tender and devoted. A love Satoru has never felt before.

After watching them play together, Satoru stands up ready to say goodbye and reiterate to Suguru that he will wait for him. He asks him to hold on for a moment and disappears, only to return shortly after with the reins of a horse.

“You have a long journey ahead of you. I wish you the best of luck, my friend. Perhaps we will meet again soon.”

Satoru smiles and nods. He walks to the gravel and in the same way he got there, he draws a circle and some runes on the ground. He gives his old friend one last smile and raises his hand to bid him farewell, though his restless heart hopes to see him again. The girls greet him enthusiastically and after a blink of an eye they disappear.

The sound of the waterfall returns, lapping against the rocks behind its mighty cause. It is the same place where he last saw Kai, but the forest is gone, now nothing more than a vast collection of dark trunks, turned to ash and charcoal.

His smile fades. He turns to the waterfall and wonders how far it could have taken him, how far he could have traveled with the current?

He sighs, climbs onto the back of the horse Suguru lent him and sets off in search of Kai, setting aside the promise he had made to Taishō before he died in the hope that he will be able to forgive him.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Kai's identity

He can't help but look at her out of the corner of his eye, her strange and particular hair, her profile, her little button nose. And, though he's not used to having women around him, he likes her. He likes her quite a bit, actually. Despite being so different from him, so friendly and helpful, he must admit that after two days of knowing her he likes her, quite a bit... quite a lot. He likes her so much that he has begun to resent the walk to the market to buy a map for her.

What will happen to her being alone? The ideas that come to his mind are so terrible that without much thought he understands why she was wearing a girdle when he found her. What would happen if a lowlife found her on the road? He would probably do whatever he wanted with her and she doesn't seem to have the physical strength to resist. They will rob her, rape her, kill her. All these ideas don't leave him alone as he rides his tired old horse with her at his side. He looks at her constantly out of the corner of his eye as atrocious ideas come and go in his mind and, at the same time, he wonders why the fuck he should care what happens with a stranger.

She, on the other hand, doesn't seem too concerned. She goes smiling and hopeful that she will see her brothers again soon. In fact, she spent the whole morning telling him so much about them that even without having seen their faces, he feels like he knows them. Kokichi now knows everything from their worst habits to their virtues.

“I haven't traveled much; it'll be interesting to see a new city. I've only traveled from my hometown to Yokohama and then to my mentor's hometown, Kusakabe-san.”

“Mentor?” Kasumi nods.

“He's a shaman," she replies, her head held high as if full of pride. He's a bit of a slacker, though... I don't even know why he's in the teaching anyway. He's lazy and quite fond of smoking, he used to stay asleep until noon, and he doesn't like to cook. He would make me wake him up in the morning, but would scold me when I did. I spent most of my time cleaning his house and preparing food for him. But I had to do it to pay for my stay and his classes. He recruited me when I was little, on one of his trips.”

“Are you a shaman?” He asks in surprise, almost ignoring the rest of Kasumi's story.

“Yes... though I've only exorcised small curses. Kusakabe-san said I wasn't ready for something bigger yet, he taught me a defensive technique for the weak... to protect myself if I encountered a higher-level curse. But he told me that I was forbidden to teach it to anyone else. He said it was a technique only taught to followers of Sadatsuna Ashiya.”

“And why did he teach it to you?”

Kasumi shrugs her shoulders.

“I don't know, I never asked him. I can show it to you when we get back, though I've never used it in real combat..." she says, beginning to drag out her last words as if she's not entirely sure of what she's said.

Kokichi nods, then falls silent, though he would like, for some reason, to have a topic of conversation to share with her for the rest of the trip. He doesn't know what to say to her, or how to act, so he feels strangely uncomfortable and with a newfound need to fill the silences with words.

He has never been much of a talker because he has never really been interested in what others had to say, but with Kasumi it is different, now he just wants to know a little more about her and on more than one occasion he opens his mouth before thinking of something to say, but there is nothing. He can't find something interesting enough to tell her, and the few stories he has up his sleeve he has no idea how to bring them up. Suddenly he feels that his life is so uninteresting that he's a little embarrassed.

“I-It's a nice day... isn't it?” He says and then regrets it, but she nods enthusiastically.

“I like autumn, the best mushrooms grow this time of year. It's not so cloudy so the sun is quite bright, but it's not as warm as in summer thanks to the cool breeze.”

Kokichi smiles as Kasumi doesn't seem to mind that his company is so terse.

“I... like autumn too.”

An idea runs through Kasumi's mind and a few words come out of her mouth without thinking about it.

“Shall we play riddles?” She says with the feeling of having lived this moment in another occasion.

“Riddles?” Asks Kokichi and she nods. “Okay...”

“What... what can be touched, but cannot be seen?” Comes out of her mouth without thinking too much, like a reflex.

Kokichi frowns and thinks carefully. What could it be? He wonders about to close his eyes, stretching out his fingers in search of something imaginary. He starts imagining things he can't see, like the wind or the seasons, time, the past, the future, he stirs abstract concepts in his mind, but soon after he realizes that none of them can be felt.

“I don't know.”

“A heart," Kasumi answers in a soft tone and wonders where she learned that riddle.

Was it her brothers? her aunt? Was it something Kusakabe told her? No, it's too romantic to have come from her teacher's lips. It must have been someone else. Maybe she heard it from some stranger at Kota-san's inn, when he invited them over for a plate of food. It must have been something she overheard out there that, for some reason her mind brought back to the present.

Not finding the concrete answer leaves her uneasy.

Half a day's journey takes forever when she no longer knows what else to tell Kokichi. Her life suddenly seems particularly boring to her. She has nothing but anecdotes about her brothers and the occasional fishing trip on the river. And she doesn't find it appropriate to tell him about the saddest parts of her life, nor about her aunt Nami's mistreatment, hunger and poverty.

Fortunately for both of them, when they feel that the silence is already becoming a fellow traveler, they see the city of Okaya appear in front of their eyes. It is not as big as the port where Kasumi grew up, the term city is too big for it, and village is too small. However, the market seems to be its biggest attraction. There are cloth and kimono merchants everywhere, grain and seafood vendors, so many items that Kasumi couldn't even list them.

Kokichi notices that Kasumi brings a hand to a lock of hair that falls over her ear insistently. She strokes it and then tightens her hand on it and Kokichi senses that his words were not enough to appease her insecurities.

A couple of people glance sideways at them as they arrive mounted on their horses and gradually all eyes turn to look at her, the girl with the strange hair. Nothing around her catches her attention when Kasumi feels dozens of eyes on her, as if everything starts to become extremely silent. The eyes are so insistent that she ends up lowering her gaze, like she has done something worthy of public condemnation.

“Don't pay attention to them," Kokichi says in a low voice with the same equanimous gesture as always. “It's normal for you to draw their attention because you're not common. Let them be, they'll have to get used to it. Raise your head and don't let them think it affects you. If they think you're weak, they'll watch you with more impunity. I'm sure if you look them in the eye, they'll look away and duck their heads.”

Kasumi nods and tries to smile, takes his advice and ignores the stares in her direction, difficult as it may be. But she can't abide by the second piece of advice, she can't look straight into the eyes that inspect her curiously.

As she gets off her horse her blue eyes go straight to the kimonos hanging across the main street and she marvels at their colors. The flowers drawn on the fabric seem beautiful to her, peonies, tulips, cherry blossoms, all finely stamped on cotton and silk fabrics. Kokichi, on the other side, dismounting his tired horse, looks at her out of the corner of his eye for a moment. She seems completely captivated. The truth is that she has always envied women, for being able to wear such colorful and delicate clothes.

“Stay here, I'll get the map. I won't be long," he asks her and she nods with a smile on her face. A smile that she feigns willingly until he disappears among the people and she is left alone among all the stares.

He knows the way perfectly and wanders nonchalantly, with his constant impassive expression. It doesn't take him long to get the map Kasumi needs to return home. After paying for it, he looks at it carefully and, as he walks, traces a line with his index finger following countless miles of road to the port of Yokohama. He sighs, unable to even imagine the countless obstacles Kasumi may encounter after such a long journey. And especially after having witnessed with his own eyes the stares that her mere presence arouses.

Then he looks up and sees something strangely familiar, so much so that he stops to stare at it.

Hanging above a billboard with advertisements from the townspeople, among orders and important notices is a sign with a face drawn on it, with a sum of money so large beneath the face that Kokichi could not spend it even if he lived three lifetimes. An uneasy feeling comes over him as he looks at it with growing curiosity. A frightening certainty fills him; he has seen it before, somewhere.

Suddenly remembering it, he hastily pulls out of his pocket something he found among Kasumi's clothes the day he saved her from death and unfolds it for comparison. The sign she was carrying is blurry, few parts of the notice can be read clearly but, comparing them side by side, he realizes they are the same.

WANTED

GOJO SATORU

DEAD OR ALIVE

Intrigued by this coincidence, he looks at Kasumi across the market with a gloomy thought in mind. The strange conditions in which she appeared, the large horse, the idea she has of returning to Yokohama and now this ominous notice he holds over the palm of his hand. It all gets tangled up, without explanation. Kokichi knows this is part of the puzzle that is Kasumi Miwa.

She, meanwhile, is standing next to a woman who insists that she try on a kimono and she raises her hands in the air trying to tell her that she doesn't have the money for it. Kokichi counts the coins in his pocket without realizing it.

What is he doing? He wonders after seeing the coins on his palm, feeling like an idiot. He puts the coins back in his pocket, but before leaving he takes the notice on the billboard with him.

As he walks to meet her, intrigue gnaws at him. There is something behind Kasumi that even she doesn't understand but hasn't questioned aloud. Her path seems simple, back to her home. But there is much he doesn't understand and the certainty that she was running away from someone else is irrepressible in his mind.

“The map," he tells her, handing it to her once she has moved away from the clothing stall. She thanks him and her eyes seem to sparkle, so much so that Kokichi gets a lump in his throat. I'm going to... buy some supplies. Could you buy some food, please?

Kasumi eagerly takes the money, as if receiving a task was some kind of reward. She takes the reins of both horses and turns around to fulfill his request.

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At the top of the waterfall, he stoically watches the fall. He circles the slope following the current until he reaches the lowest point, where the water violently hits the rocks. A sigh escapes from his throat at not finding a body smashed by the rocks and a sudden fall. At least they didn't die after the first impact, he allows himself to think for a moment.

He looks warily at the speed of the torrent, imagining how much more they could have been swept away by the riverbed. How many miles they could have traveled in a night and half a day. It must be a lot, he assumes.

Satoru climbs on Suguru's loan horse and pulls hard on his reins to beat the time he has lost, keeping his eyes on the river, looking for some sign, anything that might give him a clue to their whereabouts.

As he rides, he wonders if he will find a river fork ahead, if he will have to choose between one stretch or the other, if he will have to guess where the current has decided to take him. But he discovers, many hours later, that the river flows into a huge lake, as big as the entire city of Osaka. He sighs, he doesn't know how long it will take him to go all the way across, but is consoled by noticing a sole-colored object clinging to the intruding root of a tree rising in the middle of the water.

He climbs down from his horse and picks up the buckle of Oguri's saddlebags, a piece of leather spun in reinforced thread. He smiles to himself regaining hope, maybe they made it this far after all. When he gets back on the horse, he realizes that it doesn't want to continue, the animal complains and stays in place, bucking despite Satoru's orders.

“Weak old fart," he says and gets down, " You want to take a rest? Just now? When we finally find a clue...?”

He hadn't noticed until now, but the sun is falling down on the other side of the lake. It seems that the horse is carrying his owner's orders and is demanding that he takes a rest. So, without protesting too much, Satoru improvises a camp on the shore of the lake.

He watches the horse go to sleep after grazing for an hour while he sits watching the sunset wondering if he will find the bodies of Oguri and Kai, or if luck will smile on him as it has done so many times before. With both hands behind his head he lays back on the ground and watches the stars begin to re-emerge behind the night cloak and closes his eyes waiting for the hours to pass faster than usual. He doesn't allow himself to recreate dire scenarios and tries to heed his intuition, even though it has failed him a couple of times in the past. Kai and Oguri are alive, he repeats to himself over and over again as he tries to sleep.

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In the morning, Kasumi gets out of bed faster than Kokichi. She goes out to greet the white horse and adjusts its reins and worn saddle. She looks at the map a thousand times until Kokichi comes out of the hut with pursed lips.

He walks up to her and she smiles at him with more enthusiasm than the days before.

“Good morning, Kokichi-san!” She says to him with a voice full of energy.

“Are you planning to leave today?” He asks, unable to say good morning, and she nods. Uncomfortable, he doesn't know how to let her know his concerns, nor does he feel he has room to do so. He purses his lips and conscientiously avoids her gaze. Her big, captivating blue eyes make him nervous all too easily, especially smiling like that.

“I feel much better now, I think I'm fit to travel. I thank you so much for everything you have done for me... Not only saving my life, I also thank you for offering me your home, your food and your clothes. You have been so good to me that I feel I can never finish repaying you.”

“Are you sure...?” He begins with his voice hanging by a thread, but he doesn't know how to articulate what he's thinking and takes it back in mid-sentence. “Are you sure you're feeling okay? I mean... the wound in your head hasn't finished healing and... if you wanted to stay a few more days... I wouldn't mind. You could stay here as long as you need, besides winter is coming and...”

“No, I can't abuse your hospitality. My brothers must be very worried about me. I must return as soon as possible.”

“I see..." he says defeated and lowers his head. “Then... here.”

Kokichi extends over his hand the same cloth sack he was carrying in the market. Kasumi's puzzled eyes go from the bag to Kokichi's dark eyes that instinctively avert her gaze. Kasumi takes the sack and as she opens it her eyes widen. With one hand she pulls out the red kimono with white flowers inside and is speechless. Suddenly she swallows saliva.

It is the first time someone has given Kasumi such a beautiful gift and the thought of it shakes her heart to tears.

“Thank you," she says, so moved that she would be capable of hugging him, but Kokichi doesn't seem like the kind of person who enjoys that kind of gesture. Although she would like him to.

“It's the one you liked... right?”

Kasumi nods once and several more times. She wipes the corners of her eyes before an embarrassing tear falls down her cheek and he can see it.

“It's beautiful! I love it... Thank you so much Kokichi. I'm going to put it on!... Huh... but, first I should take a bath to get all the ink out of my hair. I'm afraid that if I wear it like this, I might end up staining it. I hope it doesn't look too bad on me, maybe the color of my hair is what will end up ruining it if I think about it.”

“Nonsense..." says Kokichi without thinking about it and is unable to control the blush on his cheeks when he sees Miwa's eyes on him. It's cold... so if you're going to bathe in the river do it quickly or you'll end up getting sick.

“Yes, I'll be brief. Thank you very much again Kokichi, thank you for everything. I think... I'll definitely never be able to finish repaying everything you've done for me.”

Kokichi nods without saying anything and watches her leave with the kimono in her hands. He sees her out of the corner of his eye and sighs feeling like a coward like never before. What kind of idiot can't put into words something as simple as 'don't go'? It's selfish, inconsiderate, but it's what he really wishes he could say and doesn't simply because he's afraid. And he, until this moment, was a complete stranger to fear. He doesn't know how to act, or what to say, or how, but time is slipping through his fingers and every minute that passes is a minute that she is closer to leaving.

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Maybe he hasn't even slept for two hours, maybe less. His sleep feels caught in the blink of an eye as he gets up and opens the sack Suguru left in his horse's saddlebags. He smiles to himself as he realizes that he sent it with enough provisions to last him a couple of weeks, and a couple of ohagis wrapped in cloth. He tosses them into his mouth without hesitation, their sweet taste spreading across his tongue and he closes his eyes as if he might enjoy it even more. Then he strokes the head of the stubborn horse he borrowed and climbs onto its back while drinking water from a pilgrim's gourd.

He continues his course following the path by the lake for a few hours. He looks carefully at the surroundings hoping to find some other lost object, but there is nothing floating on the lake to catch his attention other than a couple of ducks bathing.

The sun travels with him, his shadow cast to his right until the star is positioned over the crown of his head. He wishes he had something warmer to wear, but regrets remembering that all his things were lost along with Oguri. The autumn chill begins to be felt strongly over the region.

As it advances, the forest around him grows, from counting one or two trees per mile to ten or twenty, then they become countless. Satoru watches the orange leaves fall gently zigzagging in front of his tired eyes. It seems like yesterday he left Shinmachi, and it seems like two days ago he kidnapped Kai. But it's been a little over a month now, and much longer since the emperor's death.

The afternoon advances so slowly, like the pace of his horse's legs, so much so that for an instant he loses hope and sighs wondering if all that he traveled was worth it, or if he should retrace his steps to go in search of the emperor's presumed sons.

“Are you angry with me for following my instinct?” he asks the air.

The horse stops and goes to the lake to drink water. It needs to rest much more often than Oguri, but that is to be expected, it is just a common animal that is not used to anything more than a trip to the market once a month. Oguri has the strength of five of his kind and he had become ill accustomed to it keeping up with him. He never thought he would miss him so much even without being the most careful rider.

Satoru leans against a tree trunk while the horse drinks water and grazes for over twenty minutes that feel like torture to him. But he can do nothing but wait. He looks up at the sky and sees a flock of birds crossing the firmament, perhaps escaping the winter that is beginning to nip at their heels.

“What am I doing?” He wonders, beginning to smile ironically. “Forgive me, Taishō... I know you asked me to look for the children, but I can't go on without knowing if they are alive. It's my fault that... Well, did you want me to be responsible? It's your fault if I think about it. What was it you told me that day? What was it... Respect... Compassion... Righteousness. I'm being compassionate in seeking them out, aren't I? I am applying the rules of the warrior's way. And who can really define what righteousness means. Something that is not bent or twisted, can someone be naturally twisted... upright? I don't think so, then..." He shrugs. "What do you want me to do? Give me a clue, I need some guidance.”

He picks up a stone from the ground and waves it over his hand, watching it go back and forth over and over until he ends up throwing it into the lake. The stone skips at least four times before sinking to the bottom of the lake. Then, dissatisfied, he picks up a second stone and shoots it even farther, counts seven jumps and continues. The third stone has a destination, unlike the previous ones. He sees a thicket growing in the middle of the lake and throws the last stone in its direction, so far that a normal human could only reach it with an arrow, shot by a professional archer. He sends it with such force that the water splashes and separates in its passing.

It is fifteen jumps until it hits the thicket. A group of sleeping birds fly off in all directions and a swarm of insects do the same. Satoru sees them in the distance.

“This is so annoying... I could be far away from here or maybe I could have stayed to bother Suguru a little longer... Come on, don't be lazy, move around, you drink so much water that you end up stopping to pee every hour of the day," he says to the horse, with both hands in his pockets, pushing his butt with the tip of his foot.

The horse ignores him, no matter how much Satoru complains and grumbles at him. He returns to the trail and kicks a stone on the path, unable to control the intense boredom. Kai was definitely a good traveling companion.

“You said you were going to help me if I lost my way, you old liar. Did you lose all your power on the other side? Huh?!”

A dragonfly flies in front of him, solitary. The little insect flies up to Satoru's shoulder and he stands completely still, looking at it out of the corner of his eye. After a short rest, it takes flight once more across the narrow path through the forest by the lake.

“Thank you!” He shouts to the sky, using both hands to boost his voice. “That's enough for me..." He turns to the horse that approaches him as slowly as his perished mentor.

Satoru climbs onto his horse and continues through the forest in search of his lost companions. No questions reappear in the darkness of his mind, he just continues on until the horse's gallop becomes faster, beginning to get used to his pace. Satoru smiles, about to congratulate him on his effort when a small flash of energy appears in the distance.

Satoru blocked his eyesight at his short eight years old. When the Gojo Clan first sought him out. One of his father's emissaries mentioned something to him that he could never forget, and that is that he has the strongest cursed energy of any member of the clan to date. But he was reluctant to leave with them that day. His mother had died and now they were telling him about a powerful and wealthy father who never wanted to acknowledge him, despite being the spitting image of him. Being the son of a prostitute in a sleazy brothel was nothing to be proud of for the leader of the Gojo clan, but it was something Satoru didn't care about. It wasn't until his soldiers started wreaking havoc in Hamari's brothel that he decided to leave and seek a life on the streets, away from Osaka.

If the cursed energy inside him was as immense as they claimed, so much so that they never dared to lay a hand on him, he had to make the most of it. He had known for a long time that he could see things that ordinary men could not, but it was not until he met other shamans that he realized he could see much more. Impairing his sight was part of his own training, an impromptu one that helped him hone his supernatural abilities as much as possible. He thus discovered that the cursed energy of each object was unique, unmistakable. Every cursed object, every living thing, even nature had its own energy.

And so, he also memorized each of those energy impressions. The emperor's, Suguru's... and also Kai's.

Hurriedly, he presses his heels against the horse's skin making it neigh, accelerating his agitated pace feeling closer and closer that energy that seems extremely familiar to him. So familiar that he can't be wrong, he never has, ever.

The forest becomes so intense in front of him that he ends up getting off his horse in one leap to walk through it on foot, anxious, holding his breath as he goes. He takes off his glasses without realizing that his heart is beating with the force of a hurricane. With his hands he pushes the weeds that block his path until he reaches the shore of the lake.

His eyes open wide, his pupil fixed on the figure bathing on the other side.

She, naked from head to toe, squeezes her hair tightly until she becomes aware of his presence and looks up.

Both silently look at each other holding their breath.

Satoru looks at her in dismay. He observes her completely, from head to toe, then turns his gaze to her blue eyes, contemplates the shape of her face and her uneven bangs. Puzzled, he can't take his eyes off her.

Satoru looks at her in dismay. He observes her completely, from head to toe, then turns his gaze to her blue eyes, contemplates the shape of her face and her uneven bangs. Puzzled, he cannot take his eyes off her.

Her slender waist, medium breasts, slim, small frame. That... she's definitely a woman.

“Kai?” he asks her quizzically, doubting for a moment his own abilities.

She comes out of her surprise and her ultramarine blue eyes reflect distrust. She reaches for an abandoned garment on the floor and discreetly covers herself.

“What do you want?” she answers him.

Satoru takes a step in her direction and she steps back.

“Kai, is that you...?” he asks again.

“That's not my name. You... mistook me for someone else.”

His heart sinks into his chest as he realizes what he has discovered. The revelation hits him like a pile of bricks.

'What do they look like?'

It echoes in his mind; his own voice echoes inside his head as the memory of Taishō comes back to him like a flash of lightning.

'You'll know who they are without much work... The girl has hair the color of the sea. As vibrant as the clearest sky your eyes have ever seen.'

Satoru can barely blink, unable to believe what his eyes have discovered to be true. Taishō's words blend with reality and unveil before him Kai's secret.

“All this time...?” He mutters to himself, disgruntled. “Yes, it is," he then insists, coming out of his reverie. “I can't be wrong. You're Kai... You're... the one I was looking for.”

Satoru observes her once more and silently understands the words his mentor told him before dying. In fact, he was right. He had never seen that color in the real world, he has only seen it through his power-lit eyes; it is the same color as the cursed energy.

“What do you want? I don't have anything... Please leave," she implores him with tight lips.

“You are Kai, even if you say you're not, my heart doesn't lie to me.”

“Your heart?” She asks in surprise.

“That's right," he says, taking a step closer, "Why are you lying? Kai, it's me!”

He frowns as he sees her back away and cover herself more. Her face unhinged, as if she's looking at a complete stranger. But it can't be possible, she knows him perfectly well. She knows him very well!

“Are you afraid of me?” He asks deeply displeased and the answer of her eyes disconcerts him even more.

“Please...”

“Come here, Kai. Let's talk..." he says, holding out his hand.

Suddenly a wooden figure appears between the two, throwing a punch straight at Satoru's face and he retraces his steps. He looks confused at the object bathed in cursed energy, a wooden puppet in humanoid form, standing in front of him. Satoru jumps as another figure tries to strike at his heels, then another appears swinging a fist straight at his chin and he intercepts it in mid-air to shake it off in a spin, pushing the other two away.

Before he knows it, he is completely surrounded. The puppets hang from the trees around him and are ready to launch themselves in his direction.

One by one, they go after him, forcing him to back away until he loses sight of her. They edge him back to the path until Satoru decides to unsheathe his sword, brandishing it in front of the dolls.

“Show yourself, you coward," he says to the sorcerer hiding in the shadows.

A boy appears, his serious gaze fixed on him. He stands firmly among his puppets and stares defiantly at him. Behind him she hides, dressed in a red kimono. Satoru cannot look away from her puzzled blue eyes even for a moment.

Another time, perhaps Satoru would stop to congratulate him on such an elaborate cursed technique. But now, as he stands between him and Kai, he feels no desire to profess flattering words to him. After such a long time of travel, he can't even be glad that he is alive. Now Kai seems to be another person almost entirely. His tender gaze and warm smile are completely gone.

“Step aside, or I'll do it for you.”

He ignores him, turns to Kai and speaks softly.

“Run as far away as you can.”

Kai squeezes the stranger's clothes and Satoru's chest fills with a strange feeling that eats away at him. He watches intently her small hands crumpling his linen clothes, her face worried for him.

“I can't leave like this!”

He smiles softly at her, with a goofy gesture that makes him nauseous.

“Go, I'll be fine.”

“Hey, don't talk like I'm not even here!” Satoru says to them. “Kai, I've been looking for you. What are you doing? You really don't know who I am? Come on! Stop playing around! I'm starting to get a bit cranky...”

The puppet boy looks at him suspiciously, so much so that he gets the impression that he really knows him. He raises his hand and points in his direction just before a dozen puppets hurl themselves at him, but they are nothing but butter before the edge of his katana. Satoru doesn't need to move too much to dodge them, as if they were mosquitoes. He slices them quickly, although they keep moving when he cuts them at the waist. He mutilates them unceremoniously, but they appear one after another, so annoying, countless, wasting his time as Kai disappears running across the path to a small house not far from his position.

Annoyed at the delay they caused him; he brandishes his sword overloaded with cursed energy and shakes it over his own radius. The cursed energy shoots out like a shockwave pushing them all away. Once free, he runs in her direction in a matter of a blink and grabs Kai by the wrist, leaving the other boy behind.

She turns and looks him in the eye. Now he is absolutely sure that he is her, she is the one he had been looking for all this time and the memories of their first meeting come back to him like a stampede. It all makes so much more sense now.

“I'm sure it's you. I don't have a single doubt.”

“Please let me go!”

“Don't you recognize me? It's me! Satoru... Kai, why don't you remember me?”

“My name is Kasumi!”

“Maybe that's your real name, but you're still Kai! What the fuck is wrong with you? Why don't you recognize me?! Look me in the eye and tell me you don't know who I am!”

Her frightened look seems to change for at least a second where she looks him straight in the eyes. As if he is searching for something in the back of her mind, as if she really wants to know who he is. The spark of his memory leaves her paralyzed, confused, as if she can recognize something about him, just one thing, but not him completely. Those eyes she remembers, somehow, she knows she has seen them before, those eyes so unique seem to momentarily trap her in a kind of spell.

Satoru leaps to the side, letting go of Kasumi's wrist as the boy lunges at him with an axe.

Disconsolate, he sees Kai again, now Kasumi. She still hasn't said anything and, in her eyes, he still sees the reflection of distrust. The way she watches him makes his stomach clench and he suddenly feels a growing resentment towards the boy wielding a rusty axe at him.

“Hey! You! What did you do with him?”

“Him?”

Satoru tosses his hair in annoyance.

“Her! What have you done with her? Why doesn't she remember me?”

“What do you want from her? Answer!”

“You're in no condition to ask questions, haven't you figured it out yet?”

“I'm not going to answer anything to a criminal," he answers. “Kasumi..." he says and searches through his clothes, next to his chest, without taking his mean look away from the samurai. “Read it...” he says, handing her the piece of paper he took from the market. “I think you were running away from him. He's a wanted criminal...”

Kasumi carefully spreads out the sheet and immediately recognizes the man who attacked them. Satoru half-understands and their conversation begins to unnerve him, so much so that his energy swirls rumbling inside him. Kokichi notices and feels it to the bone, to the point that his forehead sweats at the mere sight of it.

“Hey, kid. I'm not your biggest fan right now and you're really trying my patience. Let Kai go... Kasumi, wow, that's going to take quite a bit of work..." he says to himself and cocks a wry smile. “Let her go and maybe, just maybe, I'll be merciful to you.”

“I don't need your mercy!” he says, raising his axe.

“So, you crave the taste of my sword's edge? Huh? Well, what the heck! If you want to die here and now so badly, I'll do you the favor, though I wouldn't want to kill you in front of her eyes. She's looking at me in a way I don't like very much and I'm afraid that when I cut your head off, she'll start looking at me with hatred instead of fear. Or who knows? Maybe when your head rolls the spell you cast on her will be lifted and she'll see me again like she used to.”

“What the fuck are you yapping about? What is it you want from her?!”

“I made a promise that I have to keep. I'll tell you one more time in case it's not clear to you! Step aside, or my sword will do it for you.”

Kokichi lunges at Satoru with a piercing scream and Satoru with a simple movement goes around him to hit him in the back. He falls pitifully to the ground, dropping his axe, but when he tries to pick it up Satoru kicks it away from his grasp. The edge of Satoru's katana touches Kokichi's neck and he grits his teeth, glaring spitefully at him.

Satoru is ready to end his life when Kasumi pushes him away and steps between them. Her tear-filled eyes look at him in terror before prostrating herself at his feet.

“I beg you to spare his life!” She cries out to him with such force that it tears her throat. "Please, I beg you! I beg you!” She continues as the first tears fall down her white cheeks. “I will go! I will go with you! But spare him!”

He clenches his hand on the hilt of his sword, unable to continue after hearing Kasumi's plea for mercy. His throat closes up, as he sees from his height Kasumi kneeling at his feet. After hearing her pitiful plea, he remains silent and then lets out a tired sigh from his lungs. He bends down and tries to do something he has done a dozen times before, but when he reaches out his hand to caress the crown of her head, she pulls away from him as if in fear for her life.

Satoru's fingers, extended in the air, retract.

He can't take her away like this. Not for now, at least. Not in this heartbreaking way.

“No, Kasumi. You can't go with him," he tells her, touching her shoulder in such a way that Satoru feels the sudden urge to cut his hands off.

“Don't worry, Kokichi. I'll be fine...”

“You don't know that!”

“Sir, at least..." she says, turning to Satoru. “At least let me say goodbye to him.”

Satoru sheathes his sword without saying anything, steps aside and stares at them, expressionless. Kasumi nervously carries Kokichi over her shoulder and slowly walks him into the hut. The blow struck was enough to knock him out momentarily; his body is tremendously weak, even though his cursed energy is so immense.

The samurai watches them warily as they walk away towards the hut, the boy in a cold sweat, holding onto the frame. Satoru would like to listen to their conversation, but makes no effort to approach and simply waits for her to retrace her steps.

They both watch her carefully on her return, and as she does, Satoru suddenly feels like an idiot for not noticing sooner. He wonders if Hamari knew and why she didn't tell him that night in Shinmachi and then wonders why Kai would have kept something like that from him even having risked his life to save him.

“What did that boy do to you?” Satoru asks her in a hoarse voice when she finally stops in front of him.

“He didn't do anything but save my life," Kasumi answers without being able to look up. “I-I'm sure you... are mistaking me for someone else. I'm not who you think I am...”

“No, you're not who you think you are. But... still...” He says, almost regretting what he's about to say, “I can't take you with me, Kasumi... Not now, not like this. Believe me though, I'd like to take you not before I cut that little jerk's head off. I don't know what he did to you or how, maybe it's a spell. But you know me and trust me, you just haven't realized it yet.”

She looks at him again, impressed by the softness of his words.

“You have two brothers, although until now I thought you were just their friend, you grew up in Yokohama... You have an aunt who treats you like a dog...” he starts making her open her eyes wide. “You use a cursed technique that your master Kusakabe taught you and the binding vow you use to activate it doesn't allow you to lift your feet off the ground. Besides... You have a scar on your back that starts at your third rib and ends at your dorsal,” he says, drawing it in the air with the tip of his finger. “And you have never bathed with a man, except with me,” he tells her softly hoping that Kokichi can hear it for some strange reason that he doesn't even ask himself.

Flushed and perplexed, Kasumi looks at him trying her hardest to remember, but to no avail.

“He's trying to trick you! Don't fall into his game!” Kokichi shouts at her, coming out of the hut to then fall on his knees.

How can it be that with a single blow he has affected every part of his body? Kokichi wonders about to hit the ground with his fist.

“Will you shut up! We're having a conversation here!”

“S-Sir...”

“Satoru," he replies softly, crossing his arms. “That's what you used to call me," he lies to her.

“I'm sorry, I don't know how you know these things about me... but I... I can't remember. I'm trying and I don't... I just can't.”

“I'll give you some time... What do you say? Anyway, my mission was to take care of you especially. I'd like to take you right now, but I'd already worked too hard to earn your trust to take you with me like this. I couldn't bear for you to resent me for the rest of the trip. Maybe if I give you a couple of days and you try really hard, maybe you'll remember me... Oh, I know," he tells her and takes something out of his pocket. He extends a small book in front of her. Maybe it will help you remember something.”

Kasumi takes the book and looks at it before turning her gaze back to him.

Satoru sighs.

“Don't take too long. Or I'll have to take you by force... again.”

Chapter Text

After closing the door behind her, trying her hardest to gather her thoughts, she doesn't notice Kokichi's expression. He watches her with an arched eyebrow and decides to slide the wooden window to the side to see the guy who attacked him leaning against a tree, his gaze riveted on his small cabin. His smug expression twists his stomach and he grits his teeth clutching the window frame as if he were about to collapse to the ground, which unnerves him even more.

“What the fuck is that guy thinking?” he mutters without taking his eyes off him.

“He said that... he's going to give me a couple of days to...”

“For what? What does he want?”

“I'm not sure what he really wants, besides me going with him...”

Kokichi turns his narrowed gaze to Satoru and, though his eyes are covered with dark glasses, he gets the creepy feeling that they're watching each other. He sees him cocking a self-satisfied smile and feels his own cursed energy churning in the pit of his stomach.

“What's he playing at?” he wonders without taking his eyes off him. “He's too strong and we won't be able to get to the horses while he's there. I have to find a way to distract him long enough to get to the stable... If he hadn't given me that blow, I know I could run while I entertain him with my puppets... But if I try hard maybe I can give you enough time to run and... What are you doing? You're not thinking of leaving with him, are you? Are you?”

Turning around he finds Kasumi preparing her small bag of supplies. Her face is shadowed, she is wrapped in a pessimistic air. She looks up at him for just a moment and then turns her blue eyes in the direction of her own hands, holding the sack.

“I can't stay hidden here forever and... I have the impression that, if we try to escape one more time, he'll be able to kill you.”

“You're going out now... with that lunatic out there? He's a madman! Do you trust his word? Do you think he'll let you leave, just like that?”

“Not that I trust him... But what else can we do?”

“He'll seize the opportunity the first moment you're alone... And who knows what he has planned for you?”

“I don't think he will... I mean, he's already had the chance to do that. He could walk through that door right now and..." she sighs, "We don't even know the extent of his power, but from what we just witnessed... we know he's far superior to us, especially me.”

“He caught me off guard, if I had been prepared for his attack, I could have...”

“No," she interrupts him. I think we both know he held back. “That one hit he gave you knocked you out. If he could do that with a fraction of his strength, with just one hand... He'll have no problem finishing you off if he really sets his mind to it.”

Kasumi walks with determination to the door until she feels Kokichi's hand stopping her. He grabs her by the arm as if by instinct. She turns around and finds a plea in his expression.

“I don't care," comes from his lips without a second's thought. “I won't let you leave like this... Not with him behind you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I'll go with you.”

“You can't! What will happen to your house? And-and with the order the merchant gave you... You've been working too hard to...”

“I told you I don't care!”

Kasumi's face flushes as silence lingers after his shout, Kokichi's exudes warmth from every pore. Neither can hold the other's gaze and he ends up releasing her, realizing his own boldness. His own audacity leaves him speechless, though he does not regret the words he has already said.

“I could not sleep peacefully knowing that you left with that lunatic behind you..." he adds quietly, as if he could erase his last cry. “I’ll go with you to Yokohama... In the next town I will send a letter to the merchant. The house will be safe, I have traveled a few times and when I returned it was intact. Nobody uses this road after all...”

“Are you sure?”

“You... want me to come with you?”

Kasumi smiles at him.

“I'd like that very much.”

.

.

.

.

In the middle of the night, cold and silent, Satoru smiles. Leaning against the trunk of a tree, he stares at the cabin in which Kasumi and that other, little idiot are hiding. He begins to wonder what kind of spell he might have used on her, and especially for what purpose. Does he want to hide with her forever in this secluded place? Could that be his goal? After all, there is nothing else here and, no one else knows that Kasumi is possibly Taishō's illegitimate daughter.

No one else knows, or so he had convinced himself. But, now that he finally saw her for who she really is, he begins to wonder if that will be entirely true. After all, at her birth, Taishō couldn't have covered it all up by himself. Someone had to take her mother elsewhere, and she probably worked at the palace at some point. Would it have been before or after the other two children? Would they all be Taishō's children, or would it only be her? If indeed in those three children runs the blood of the late emperor, someone else probably knows the truth. Someone took care of them, to send them to a distant village where they would be out of reach of their enemies. So, who else knows?

Oguri approaches him when things finally seem to have calmed down. Stretches his head against his shoulder as if he's waving at him. Satoru smiles to himself and strokes his white fur, his chest heaving with pride at finding him alive.

“Congratulations, you survived. You did a great job... Forgive me, I felt the need to replace you momentarily with that old man over there. But you should know, there is no better horse than you. Don't take it personally, I know you're a little jealous... Now you have another task, your job will be to take care of Kai... I mean, Kasumi. Did you know that? I feel like an idiot for not realizing it before," he says and smiles. “Now... I wonder why Hamari didn't mention it to me, maybe she gave her a convincing excuse and decided to cover it up with that kiss... I guess she'll have her reasons. Ahh... now that I think about it carefully, all the evidence was there. That's why that night she was there, that's why she takes care of the children like that. She was their sister! If only Taishō hadn't referred to them as 'children', I would have contemplated the idea of them being teenagers or even adults. Of course, to an old man like him, we're all children... Well, whatever. I just have to give her a little time and she'll remember everything she experienced together with me, yeah... she can't forget me just like that... Although I could just break that door and take her to Otari, find her brothers and leave them in a safe place... the only problem is that boy, if I kill him in front of her... She'd probably end up hating me. Everything I tell her will seem like a lie, there's no choice but to wait... Ah... how I hate waiting... You'll have to have a little more patience, Taishō. You know I'm usually late for all important appointments. You should have guessed that something like this would happen.”

Suddenly the door to the cabin opens and he sees them both, Kasumi and that other one, carrying some small sacks on their backs. He arches an eyebrow as they walk towards the stable where another chestnut-backed horse awaits them. Oguri leaves his side and walks straight to Kasumi and she greets him with a smile. She looks up and Satoru and Kasumi's eyes meet again.

He still feels the distrust tinging her expression. She no longer greets him with a warm smile as she always did. She watches him from afar as she strokes his horse's face and with effort climbs onto his back.

Both of them, mounted on the horses, depart in front of his nose without stopping to look at him once more. Satoru is a little amused by the situation and turns to look at his tired old horse. At least she has Oguri with her and that gives him a little more peace of mind. 

After a little while Satoru mimics them, he follows the tracks left behind him by the boy's cart which is filled with sacks of puppets wrapped in cursed energy. Of course, the little bastard wasn't going to leave without them. He is unaware that he has made things much easier for him; following the trail of a cursed object is much simpler than following the trail of a person.

.

.

.

.

.

She can't help but look back every moment, expecting to see the samurai behind them. But he's not there, or at least she can't see him. She can't even feel his cursed energy. His words have left her with doubt implanted, taking root inside her. This man knows about her siblings and about her Aunt Nami, which is disturbing. Why could he be interested in someone as irrelevant as her?

Curious, she rummages through her things until she finds the small notebook he handed her. She looks at the hard cover, worn by the passage of time, and finds nothing in particular that brings to her mind any memory. When she is about to open it, Kokichi interrupts her.

“Don't pay attention to his words. He's playing with you, he's completely insane. Don't let him make you fall into his games.”

“But he... he's not following us.”

“Of course he is. He's behind us... he's been following us all night long; you just haven't noticed. Put that away and forget his words, he's a wanted criminal who will only end up entangling you in his troubles. For the sum being offered for him...I don't want to imagine what kind of atrocity he has committed. So, remember that when they find him, they're going to cut off his head, and yours will roll too if you go with him.”

Upset and uneasy, Kasumi decides to heed Kokichi's words. She keeps the small book among her things despite the inclement feeling that has her suffocating. It is the missing piece of the puzzle and she is almost certain of it, but there is no way to refute the carpenter's words. Everything he says is true, and now her only priority is to return to Yokohama with her brothers.

Kokichi is really puzzled by the whole situation. From the reason why this samurai follows Kasumi so suspiciously and the way she came into his life. However, he doesn't say it. Even if that man had a reason to take her away, he couldn't allow it. Since the most important thing to him now is simply to protect her, even if he had to hide her from the rest of the world to do so.

After three days on the road, Kasumi hasn't had time to look at Satoru's notebook. Kokichi has his eyes intent on her and the road behind them; as if he is waiting every second for the samurai to appear to attack them once again. But that doesn't come to pass, not even when they reach the city of Miyagawa.

The city is not too big, more like a passing town. Kokichi had already mentioned to Kasumi that the road where his house is located is far from the main commercial roads. Tucked inside the forest, between Lake Suwa and the steeper mountains of the region.

As in the town further north, the one they visited to obtain Kasumi's map, the locals are quick to cast their curious eyes on her. They stare at her, mounted on her dashing white horse and gossip shamelessly while pointing at her. Kasumi can already hear among the whispers and surprised voices the number of ideas they have about her. She can almost imagine what they are saying, and nothing that comes to mind is pleasant to her.

Feeling fingers pointing in her path, hearing incessant murmuring, Kasumi ends up sinking her head between her shoulders, wishing she had something to cover herself with. She again resents the unnaturalness of her hair and wishes she had at least a cloak or something to help her hide.

“Don't mind them," Kokichi tells her, as if he can read her mind. “They're just curious.”

If only Kasumi felt the same way, after all, curiosity isn't nearly as unpleasant as rejection.

“Maybe we should move on... How about sleeping on the outskirts of town? The weather's not too bad and...”

“We'll freeze to death. Last night you were by the fire until the last second before you went to sleep. If we go on like this, you're going to get sick.”

It's impossible for her to refute his words. He is absolutely right so she will have to endure the dozens of eyes that turn in her direction with every step she takes. Then, when her stupor is so great that she can't even look up, the samurai slips into her thoughts. She turns again to watch the path behind her hoping to see his face somewhere, but it's not there.

He is sad to see Kokichi spending his money to pay for a room in a small inn, behind a canteen. But she says nothing, she doesn't have a single coin at her disposal. After leaving her things in the small room with oak wood floors, Kokichi suggests to her to go eat at the canteen. After all they are both exhausted after three full days of travel and it would do them no harm to eat a hot meal without having to prepare it themselves. So, despite the embarrassment, Kasumi accepts.

“I'm not very pretentious," he says, taking a seat at a table by a window inside the canteen, "but I wouldn't have put up with one more night sleeping out in the open. “Besides, you look tired, you have dark circles under your eyes...”

“Really?” she asks, holding both hands to her cheeks. “Well, I have a feeling I haven't had a full night's sleep in quite some time.”

“Was my bed too hard?”

“N-No! It's not that! On the contrary, your home is very warm. Although I have to admit that you are a bit careless about cleanliness. My aunt is extremely strict, but that helped me become an expert.”

Although the town is quite small, the canteen is completely full. At each table there are at least five people. Most of them are whispering about the outsider's strange hair color. Fortunately their chatter doesn't last too long and eventually the curious eyes turn away from her and concentrate on their own business. They drink merrily and laugh loudly. A musician arrives at the canteen shortly after a middle-aged woman has left two plates of food in front of them. They liven up the atmosphere so much that Kasumi finally manages to forget how strange the color of her hair is.

On the other side, in the opposite corner of the canteen, is he. He is wearing his hat, his katana hidden in the layers of his clothes, where no one can see it and cause a commotion as happened to him at Kota-san's inn. He drinks from his glass quietly as he watches her, she laughs at the way the others act inside the canteen and, at some point, makes a comment to his current companion that makes him blush, but she doesn't seem to notice. He instead does notice; he watches him carefully analyzing each of his expressions and it doesn't take him long to realize that this boy is completely hypnotized by her.

Satoru has never been so annoyed to see someone smiling. His foot wiggles under the table, where no one can notice it, not even himself. From the waist up he is an ordinary fellow, a traveler looking for a hot plate of food and nothing more. Below, he is a bundle of pent-up nerves.

He eyes her warily as she takes a piece of food and sets it down on his plate while they converse. He doesn't seem to be someone of many words, he speaks little, just enough, but he doesn't take his eyes off her at any time. She on the other hand keeps chattering on about who knows what and Satoru begins to wonder just how much they could be talking about.

He has to have cast a spell on her, Satoru can't find any other answer. Days ago she was curling up in his lap, touching his forehead, stroking his cheeks with the most distraught face he'd ever seen in his life. She brought him medicine, cooked for him, and was by his side until the last moment just to make sure he was okay. All of that couldn't have vanished overnight. But, that plea, that desperate plea...all for him to spare that boy's life, seemed genuine. It is as if Kasumi had erased Kai's existence completely. Well, almost. It's the same Kai he knew, of that he's sure. Kasumi has the same noble nature and the same lack of judgment when facing a powerful enemy.

At some point the boy's dark eyes settle on him. He can feel it on his skin. As he looks up their gazes meet, his own hidden behind his dark glasses. The wariness he feels for him is evident and somehow, it is mutual. Satoru smiles at him and raises his glass to salute him, if he could see his eyes, he would even be able to wink at him just to tease him.

Kokichi berates himself for not noticing sooner. He doesn't even know at what point he entered the canteen or since when he's been watching them, he moves in such a sneaky way that he fears they'll never be able to get rid of him. Fortunately, Kasumi doesn't notice anything.

“I'm very sorry you spent your money on the inn and the food," she tells him in a soft tone that interrupts his musings.

“Forget about that, okay? I'm here on my own free will, it's not like you forced me. In fact, you didn't even ask me. This is something I chose myself, all right?”

She nods.

“You're very kind, Kokichi. No one has ever been so kind to me before.”

After saying those words, Kasumi feels confused. It's as if she's lying, though she doesn't recognize a lie among her words. It makes her uncomfortable, makes her feel again that something is missing, something she left forgotten somewhere.

“Except for my brothers... of course," she says, believing for a moment that this is what it's all about. She feels she's not giving recognition to someone who deserves it. Maybe she's thinking about Kusakabe, but he's really not very nice if she thinks about it carefully.

On the other side of the canteen, Satoru sighs as he looks at the last of the coins left in one of his sacks. It's enough maybe to live comfortably for another week, but not enough to afford this detour and then a trip to Kasumi's teacher's village. The rest of his gold went with Oguri in that waterfall and has probably ended up scattered in Lake Suwa.

“What else can I offer you, young traveler?” asks the barmaid, pulling him out of his own mind.

He smiles and looks up.

“You can help me with something specific, do you know of anyone who needs a shaman?”

His days of scavenging on the street seem to be back.

The barmaid looks at him for a moment, as if surprised to find herself in front of a shaman after a long time. Then she smiles softly and nods.

“In fact, I do know someone. You should talk to Kiosukke, one of the fishermen in the village. He lives by the river; his hut is the only one at the end of the road. He's been having some trouble with a curse that lives inside the river so his sales are way down. Maybe you can give him a hand, I know he'll pay you well.”

Kokichi sees him as he gets up from the table after talking to the canteen owner. Satoru greets her with a smile and disappears out the front door. Kokichi frames an eyebrow, uncomfortable that he doesn't know exactly what he's planning. He has no idea what he might be thinking and it turns his stomach to such an extent that he feels like he can't finish eating. With his left hand he slides his plate of food towards Kasumi.

“Eat, you're too thin," he tells her.

“Sure? What's wrong? You didn't like it?”

“I'm full," he says with a soft smile that he sketches with effort.

She nods, unable to perceive the lie behind his words. When she finishes her second plate she feels her stomach clench and wonders if she really should have accepted, but she is not one to waste a dish that has already been paid for. In the middle of the night, at the height of the canteen, they both get up and politely say goodbye to return to the inn.

The room is small, but there are two mattresses on either side of the room. Kokichi doesn't usually converse much, but on this particular night he simply lays down to sleep after wishing her goodnight. Kasumi still has her eyes wide open even though it's so late. As if she has a lot of things left to say. Having to squeeze words out of Kokichi in dribs and drabs isn't very enjoyable. She is used to the incessant chatter of her siblings at all hours, especially the younger one, and for some time now she feels deprived of it, as if she is not used to complete silence.

By the light of an old oil lamp, Kasumi sits thinking about them and how much she misses them. They must be worried to death, wondering where she got herself into. The idea that they think she abandoned them twists her heart and just to distract herself she searches through her things for the notebook the samurai gave her. The same one that Kokichi asked her not to read.

She takes it in her hands, barely managing to read the words written there. His handwriting is quite good, it is obvious that he studied calligraphy. She only knows how to read because her teacher taught her when she was little, after taking her from Yokohama to train her. His lessons, of course, were not kind at all. He gave her more blows to the head for not knowing how to read than for not using her sword properly.

She didn't know what to expect the moment she read the first few pages, there are some freehand drawn maps, a couple of funny drawings, but certainly a lot of riddles and jokes was not what she expected. What kind of man is this who is chasing her? Nothing makes sense. Or it doesn't until she gets to read one that she herself told Kokichi less than a week ago.

‘What can be touched, but not seen?’

Kasumi reads with a shrinking heart - it was him! It's something he told her, she senses it, but she doesn't remember it clearly. The words are written there and she doesn't know exactly what to do with this information.

A sudden desire to know more invades her and she can't sleep a wink. She gets up and looks out the window, as if expecting to find him on the other side, smiling at her. Now she wants to talk to him, she wants to know why she remembers this, how she met him and why she ended up at Lake Suwa. But she feels that Kokichi wouldn't allow it, rather she knows.

She goes back to bed after putting the book away, she curls up and stretches her fingers through the sheets looking for something that isn't there. Her heart is pounding, is she worried about him? Where has he gone? Why isn't he on the other side of the window? An uncomfortable feeling fills her completely, but she makes a huge effort to sleep for a couple of hours at least.

When morning comes, Kasumi feels like she hasn't been able to sleep a wink all night. She hears Kokichi yawn and listens to him as he leaves the room. She gets up when he's gone, feeling that she will eventually go crazy if she doesn't talk to that samurai this very day. But the moment Kokichi returns she doesn't know how to explain to him, will he take the riddle seriously or will he tell her that it's nothing more than a coincidence?

“Do you want to go downstairs to eat before continuing our journey?”

She nods and gets up, gathers her things and they both return to the canteen from the night before. All the while she looks over her shoulder, searches through the crowd and watches every face for his.

He promised to wait for her, but seems to have vanished into thin air.

A bowl of ramen in front of her, her stomach twisted and her face worried. Kokichi looks at her, he doesn't know her too well, but it's obvious just by looking at her that she's worried. Her brow is creased and her lips are pursed, she sighs every now and then and looks sideways at every person walking past her. Perhaps the most worrying thing is that she hasn't said a single word all day.

“Are you feeling well?” He asks her and she looks up. Her eyes are tired. She looks at him for a moment and then that gloomy expression returns.

“I was thinking... Maybe... Maybe I could talk to that samurai to find out what he wants.”

“Are you out of your mind?” He whispers, moving closer to her so no one else can hear them. “Have you forgotten what he did? He almost killed me.”

“Well...”

“Besides... he took advantage of the moment when you were bathing to attack you, what kind of sick person does that?”

Kasumi stirs the noodles on her plate with her chopsticks.

“Do you think that was intentional?”

“You don't think so?”

“I don't know, I just have a feeling that if I talk to him, I might understand what happened to me. Kokichi, you said it yourself. Yokohama is only weeks away; how did I end up here? That white horse, you said I owe him my life, but I have no idea where he came from. It's all very confusing and besides... I have this terrible feeling that I've forgotten something very important to me. I need to know more and he has the answers that...”

“What's more important to you? Knowing what this criminal has to say... or returning safely to your family? If you don't care about your safety at all, tell me. I'll give you some money so the trip won't be so hard and we'll say goodbye here. Had I known that you valued your own life so little, I might not have helped you at all.”

Kokichi senses that nothing but lies are coming out of his mouth, but he seems to be willing to tell her anything to keep her safe.

“Yes... you're right... The most important thing for me is to return to Yokohama as soon as possible.”

“Then let's finish eating and get the hell out of here.”

Kasumi swallows reluctantly, drinks every last drop of soup and then hurries off behind the quick steps of her traveling companion. He places his things in his horse's saddlebags so quickly that Kasumi barely has time to untie the reins of her horse. She makes an effort to keep up with him, but can't help but keep looking over her shoulder without finding anyone on the other side, or at least not the one she's waiting for.

The carpenter shakes the reins of his old horse while Kasumi is barely mounting Oguri's back. She trails after him feeling that she owes him some sort of apology for daring to mention the samurai. He is hurrying along and she wonders if they might have lost him, or if he finally has no interest in taking her as he had said.

Kokichi's silent company is hard to bear, it makes her feel strange, as if she has done something wrong. He hasn't said a word to her since they left the canteen and she is forced to follow in his footsteps all the way out of the small passing town.

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After exorcising the river curse, Satoru collects his pay. It was difficult to get him out so he ended up spending all night looking for a way to force the activation of the ritual until he finally succeeded. Getting into a fishing boat, throwing a net and then singing a typical sailor's song turned out to be the way to activate it. He then advised the fisherman to beware of the competition, such an obvious trap could only be the work of a cursed user who had been given a couple of coins to devise such a plan.

Seeing the sun rising on the other side of the horizon, Satoru sighs. He hasn't been able to sleep a wink all night and the pay is paltry compared to what they used to pay him at the imperial palace, but at least it will secure a hot plate and a roof over his head in the next town.

On his way back to the inn where Kasumi and Kokichi stayed, he perceived the cursed trail of the puppet user's wagon scattering down a dirt road. They're already on their way out of town and he begins to wonder where the fuck he's taking her. The thought of simply kidnapping her again creeps into his head. If they get too far out of the region they'll end up with a much longer journey to the village where the kids are, and he doesn't sympathize with that in the least.

Kasumi is running out of time; if she doesn't remember quickly, he'll make her do it.

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After one more night sleeping outdoors, having hated the cold autumn weather to the bone, Kasumi finally sees the city in the distance. Gifu is large, the city stretching between several rivers that flow out of Ise Bay. Wooden bridges stretch wide across the Ibe, Nagara and Kiso rivers, spanning the city far and wide. Carts come and go, and as they approach the epicenter, they see more and more people traveling from one end to the other. Merchants of all kinds make their way to the center of the city, but what catches their attention the most are the soldiers. At first it was just a couple, then it was dozens. Dark armor and men carrying swords. Helmets on the ground, some of them sitting talking. They are everywhere, everywhere they turn their pupil can see more and more of them. In every corner of Gifu.

Kokichi seems just as surprised as she is, he watches them warily, though he says nothing. He doesn't trust soldiers, never has, but he doesn't share his concern with Kasumi so as not to further disturb her mind. She has barely been able to get a word or two out of him since their last discussion in the canteen.

“Why are there so many?” Kasumi asks quietly, their horses walking in lockstep.

“I have no idea.”

After asking for directions, they follow the dirt road to the first inn they find. Kokichi goes ahead and by the time Kasumi enters carrying a single sack with her, she overhears him talking to the inn owner.

“They are the soldiers of the Kamo Clan. There has been a lot of trouble in nearby towns, the shogun's army is wreaking havoc in the northern villages and the people are afraid... We feared an attack in Gifu, so the merchants demanded a response from the clan. The Kamo clan, who rule these lands, ordered their soldiers to patrol the streets, now we feel a little safer. You, are you just passing through? Did you see the shogun's army on the way here?”

“No, I... I didn't even know that they had displaced the council and the emperor.”

“The emperor passed away some time ago... you and your wife live somewhere far away? I'm surprised you didn't know.”

“My wife?” Kokichi asks, unable to suppress the sudden heat that rises to his face.

He nods, wiping away his worried expression.

“Your wife is very pretty, and what an eccentric hair color!”

Both blushing from head to toe, they don't know what to say. Then Kokichi mumbles an extremely stunned reply, completely abandoning his stoic expression. They walk out almost shuffling their feet until the bustle of the street greets them on the other side. Kokichi scratches the back of his neck with restless hands and avoids looking into her eyes again at all costs. Kasumi tries to pretend she hasn't heard any of the latest, but what has surprised her the most was the news of the emperor's death.

He sighs, tired from the long journey, and when he turns to Kasumi to explain in detail that he did not introduce her as his wife, he finds her with wide-awake eyes gleaming in all directions. Fascinated with the vibrant Gifu streets, Kokichi lowers his shoulders. He glances around and counts at least ten soldiers patrolling the streets from side to side. So crammed with steel is the city that he is certain the samurai would not dare look at Gifu even from afar. No one in his position would.

“Do you want to take a walk?” he says to her and she turns around with a smile.

It's been a while since he's seen her smile like that, probably since he gave her the red kimono with white flowers she's wearing right now. A pleasant feeling fills his chest, so beautiful that he almost completely forgets that he embarked on a trip he wouldn't have even considered a couple of weeks ago. Her warm expression makes him forget that he has a maniac nipping at his heels.

Kasumi looks at the extravagant hairstyles of the women of Gifu and the carriages pulled by dashing steeds, the men wearing silk kimonos and the children running around the streets. It seems to him a perfect place to live and for a moment her expression fills with melancholy as she remembers her brothers.

Kokichi holds out a skewer of fish he just bought from a street vendor and she receives it with a smile. He walks by her side hoping that she has completely abandoned the nonsensical idea of talking to the samurai, but something tells him that this is not the case.

He instinctively turns around with the pressing feeling of being watched, but he can't find that idiotic grin anywhere.

A sudden gasp catches his attention and he turns to Kasumi to find her with her mouth hanging open.

“A play!” she tells him.

In front of them, at an intersection where a huge yellow-leafed tree stands, a crowd gathers in front of a small red-curtained booth. With paper lanterns strung between the buildings, the night doesn't feel so dark even though the sun set just minutes ago. Children shout and clap as they wait for the play to begin, seated around the booth. People stand blocking her view and her path, and Kasumi seems about to tug at his clothes to go and join the crowd.

“Go, I have to look for some things at the market. I won't be long.”

Kasumi retracts her fingers when she hears him and nods without another word. She watches him leave, going around the crowd and she hears the narrator's words starting the play. She hurries, squeezing through the crowd to get a closer look at the play and ends up sitting among the children.

It is the first time she has had the opportunity to see something like this and she doesn't plan to miss it for the world.

When the play starts, she hurries to finish the skewer and then puts both hands on the floor. The people around her are silent as the music starts, a shakuhachi sounds, like a prolonged whistle until it is interrupted by the beat of a drum.

“This is a story that began hundreds of years in the past!” says a thick voice, driven by a paper megaphone.

The dark curtain opens wide and a puppet appears from one side. A group of soldiers carrying a blue flag emerges from the right and from the left another group with a green flag. 

“At that time, the country was torn by constant wars. Feudal lords fought over territory, leaving in their wake only desolation and sadness, death and tragedy. Peace was unheard of! When one war finally ended... another one began.”

The soldiers leave the scene and behind them trees emerge, but among them one stands out.

“However... there was a majestic forest that not even countless wars could bring down! The forest was full of life, flowers, juicy and sweet fruits and exquisite perfumes. The forest served as a refuge for those tormented by war. No matter how many conflicts there were, none dared to sully the beauty of its nature.”

The candle lights around her are extinguished one by one and attention is focused on that different, special tree.

Kasumi is so immersed in the story that she doesn't notice when a stranger sits down next to her.

“But, despite its majesty... there existed within the forest a tree that could not blossom. Although it was full of life and its branches were long and its roots extensive, it was never able to bear a single flower. Compared to the rest... it looked dry and sad, as if it were dead. But it was not! It was doomed not to enjoy the color and sweetness of fruit!”

She looks at him intently, at the lone tree figure. Moved by the story almost immediately.

“Neither green grass grew at its feet, nor did the animals seek shelter in its shade for fear of catching its terrible disease. The tree remained in the company of loneliness for many years. Until one day...”

A magical figure of a long-haired woman wearing a long kimono appeared on the scene with one hand raised in the air.

“Moved, a forest spirit appeared before him!”

Fingers brush hers and Kasumi is distracted from the story to turn to her right. Satoru's light blue eyes look sideways at her. He raises a hand and with his index finger asks her to be quiet. Disgruntled, Kasumi turns back to the play. Her heart gallops hard from the center of her chest. She holds her breath and heeds his request without knowing exactly what else to do. Fearing a terrible outburst, she remains completely silent. Her lips tightened and her eyes intent on the play.

“Dear Tree, you look so old yet you are still so young!” says a feminine voice. “I want to see you full of life, I want you radiant and beautiful. I will help you! If you want my help... but... to do so, you must listen to my proposal! With my power I will give you twenty years to experience what a human heart feels, so you will know the emotions and maybe... you will be able to bloom once again!”

“The tree accepted the forest spirit's proposal and its body became human!” says the narrator.

The puppet of a man appears next to the fairy.

“You can change your shape and become a tree again whenever you wish. But if after twenty years you fail to regain your vitality, you will die immediately," adds the female voice.

The background of the small box changes and moves with the passage of the small human. Kasumi looks sideways at the samurai, attentive to the play with a small smile on his lips. She then slides her gaze to their hands, barely touching each other, and dares not remove it from where it is.

“The disappointment of the tree was immense! War and devastation everywhere! No matter how much he looked for something to make his heart beat with excitement... he only found more loneliness! So, the months passed and then the months turned into years. No human who crossed his path changed his destiny, until one day a ray of hope found him.”

The background of the box changes again when the curtains are lowered and opened again. There is a river and a sun and, next to it, a woman.

“The young woman he found was so beautiful that she left him mesmerized! Impressed by her beauty, the tree approached her. And she asked him his name. Yohiro! The tree answered and then asked her what her name was. Sakura, she answered.”

The curtains come down and open again to reveal on the other side the characters walking side by side.

“Sakura was very kind to him, they shared stories and also read poems, wonderful books and sang together. They talked about their sadnesses and their angers. But... above all they talked about their dreams. They shared their great illusions with each other. Day after day they enjoyed each other's company. The more time Yohiro spent with Sakura, the more he wanted to stay by her side.”

The curtains close once again to then reveal Sakura and Yohiro holding hands.

“One day, Yohiro did not endure anymore and confessed to Sakura his eternal love. And he also confessed his secret... Yohiro was actually a tree enchanted by a spirit of the forest, tormented by loneliness. He told her that his death was near since he had failed to bloom. Sakura, shocked by his confession, kept silent.”

Sakura's puppet leaves the scene, leaving Yohiro alone.

“Upon the twentieth year, Yohiro returned to take the form of a tree, feeling invaded by a very deep sadness.”

Yohiro disappears and in his place returns the figure of the tree from the beginning of the play.

“But... one day, Sakura returned to his side. She embraced him and confessed her love! She did not want Yohiro to die alone! Then... the spirit of the forest returned.”

“Sakura...” says the female voice. “You will have to choose if you want to remain a human... or if you want to merge with Yohiro in the form of a tree.”

“Sakura then chose without hesitation. Convinced that together they could create something beautiful in the midst of a world full of wars. And so it was that the two merged together forever, transforming into a single tree. A tree that then... finally blossomed.”

Suddenly a bunch of pink petals fell on their heads, scattered by the cast members.

Kasumi smiles watching the petals fall on her head and suddenly feels the samurai's hand taking hers. Amidst the applause and effusive shouts of the crowd, Satoru stands up and takes her with him through the streets of the city leaving the play behind. He has her by the hand and Kasumi feels like he could drag her with one tug, however, he is delicate. He takes her with him into a dark corridor and looks down the streets from side to side before turning to her. Hidden under his broad hat, she sees his darkened face and cannot understand why her heart is racing and her cheeks are flushed.

No survival instinct tells her to get out of there. Her feet are firmly on the ground and her eyes are fixed on his, which look like a storm in the middle of the sea.

“I have... I have to ask you something.”

He is silent, as if waiting for her to continue. He watches her attentively from a very short distance. Both hidden in the shadow cast by his height and broad back. Her right hand still held over Satoru's long fingers.

“Why did I know what was written in your notebook? Have we met before? W-Why was I with that horse? Why am I not in Yokohama?”

He sighs and raises a hand; she is petrified when he places his hand on her head and caresses it while smiling at her in a particularly tender way. A sensation runs through her from head to toe, the wild pounding of her heart stuns her, but she isn't afraid of him. He is so deliberately delicate that she feels strangely protected under his shadow.

“Am I so easy to forget? While I was so worried about you?”

“Worried?”

“Of course, you've been my partner for quite some time. I wasn't going to leave you, just like that... besides..." he says as he crouches down to whisper in her ear, "it turns out you're the one I was looking for.”

Kasumi shudders as she feels Satoru's warm breath brush against her skin. With his face just inches from hers. She looks into his eyes, his beautiful face unmatched. His eyes have the firmament trapped and end up being terribly hypnotic. They seduce her to such an extent that her skin crawls, without fully understanding the meaning of her own body's reactions.

“I'm going to explain everything, but we have to get out of here. There are too many soldiers and I had a little trouble dodging them all. Luckily that little prick left me the perfect opening. Now come on, there's no time.”

“B-But... you said you'd give me some time to remember you.”

“I know, I'm sorry. I've always had a little trouble keeping my promises. It wasn't in my plans for you to start traveling south. Besides, what else can I do? If you didn't end up remembering me by reading my book, what choice do I have left? We are surrounded, your friend must be looking for us everywhere. Come on, come with me now and I promise I will help you remember every detail about me.”

He tightens his grip on her hand, ready to leave the corridor, but she stops him.

“Wait! What about Kokichi?”

“Kokichi? That doesn't matter now... Whatever he did to you I'm going to undo it, but we're getting far away from Otari and...”

“Otari? What's Otari got to do with all this?”

Satoru sighs again.

“Your brothers, don't you even remember that? Kusakabe and your brothers are waiting for us there. Shit..." he suddenly lets go with his gaze fixed on the other side of the street.

Kasumi turns only to find a squad of soldiers waiting for him. Satoru drags her to her back and with his thumb pushes the guard of his katana. The steel gleams in the night moonlight and Kasumi feels a sudden deja vu that leaves her uneasy, but she doesn't have time to stop and think about it as the hoarse voice of a guard echoes through the walls of the buildings.

“If you surrender voluntarily, there will be no bloodshed!”

A drop falls on Kasumi's nose, then another and another. The sudden rain makes people run through the streets seeking shelter, unaware of the fight that is about to start.

“Kai, run away," says Satoru, "I'll come for you later. Wait for me, please.”

She nods, as if the name is not too strange to her. She doesn't really understand why she's agreed so quickly to his request, as if her own body knows something her mind doesn't yet.

She steps out into the street retracing her footsteps, heading towards the huge tree in the square only to stop at the sight of a group of soldiers marching in her direction. Kasumi turns as she hears the clang of clashing steel and an urgent desire to return to warn him forces her back.

No more than a few seconds have passed when she turns back only to find the soldiers on the ground and him in the middle, towering like some sort of demonic apparition. His tired eyes are pointed at her and she gasps. Images of Shinmachi swirl in her mind and the memory of the disfigured soldiers return with the red district, confused and chilling. Kasumi steps back, terrified by the image of Satoru drenched by the rain and by the blood of his rivals.

Satoru feels his heart twist as he sees Kasumi's unhinged gesture of terror and her consequent flee and, just as he is about to extend a hand in her direction and shout her name, more soldiers appear behind her blocking the way.

With her stockings soaked through and her kimono splattered with mud, Kasumi runs breathlessly in the rain recalling the image of Satoru standing in the middle of a pile of corpses. The image of a katana flying through the air comes to her mind and sticks in her as it did in the skull of that fleeing soldier. The chilling apparition leaves her terrified, gasping her breaths, looking for the farthest place.

The distinctive sound of clashing swords echoes through the streets of Gifu and the people fleeing the rain, at first, run in terror from the soldiers and samurai fighting to the death.

The rain quickly intensifies, filling the streets with mud. In the distance she sees a child fall screaming for his mother and the fear that he might be crushed to death by the crowd invades her. She picks him up with both hands and holds him tightly, wipes his face, pausing for a moment and he looks at her with tear-filled eyes.

“Son!” shouts a woman who reaches out her hands in his direction and quickly grabs him by his arms to run away.

Kasumi is distracted for a moment when she sees the hooves of the soldiers surrounding the samurai, making him retrace his steps until she loses sight of him. The commotion near the square soon spreads everywhere, women and children run in panic all around, as she cranes her neck in search of Kokichi's face until someone pushes her away to make her fall on someone's chest.

Kasumi looks up to find a pair of dark eyes completely devoid of any human emotion. So lifeless is his stare that it makes her shiver, like a helpless rabbit in front of a wolf. The man takes her by the waist and shelters her under his red umbrella. Then he looks up at the commotion in which all the soldiers of the city are gathered and then back at her. He takes a lock of her hair between his hands and Kasumi senses how a curious feeling is born in his soulless eyes. 

He smiles a devious grin.

“How interesting.”

Chapter Text

Drowsy, she opens and closes her eyes a couple of times. A warm atmosphere envelops her, the walls are lit orange and on the roof tiles she hears the tiny patter of raindrops. The first thing she can see clearly are candles, many candles, all lit and scattered around the room. Some scrolls stuck one on top of the other with different inscriptions that she doesn't know and that she can barely see clearly. The wax from the melted candles is scattered under the lit ones.

Kasumi's eyes widen and she jumps up. The last images of the streets of Gifu and the commotion flash through her mind like lightning and, turning around, she sees a hideous creature staring directly at her. It is almost two meters tall and gasps for breath. Its elongated, purple-skinned body is deformed and scrawny. It has four arms, two small ones at the front, in the middle of its torso, and two larger ones at the sides. His mouth is closed, but from the corner of his lips spills a black saliva with the texture of oil, with a dreadful smell of coagulated blood.

A scream chokes between her gagged lips and as she tries to run, she falls next to the candles. Confused, she looks down at her hands and feet, bound to a shackle on the wall.

The curse looks at her with curiosity, approaches a few steps making her crawl against the wall. Kasumi closes her eyes tightly as the curse smells her skin so closely that she feels the air of his breaths brushing her cheek.

“Tanso..." a soft, sweet voice calls out to him, "Don't scare her, please...".

The curse turns and Kasumi realizes she is not alone. A woman dressed in a pink silk kimono is sitting on the other side of the room, amidst countless lit candles. Her bulging belly catches her eye, her pregnancy evident. Her hair is tied back, dark and neatly arranged in a simple hairstyle.

Tanso retraces his steps and walks until he is standing in front of the woman sewing a pattern with red thread on a cloth. Then the curse sits beside her and watches her as she hums a song. It is the cooing of a baby.

The chilling scene leaves her trembling. She slowly brings her hands to her mouth in an attempt to remove her gag when suddenly the evil spirit turns its neck and looks her straight in the eyes. Kasumi's eyes widen, sensing the evil energy of the curse pointing directly at her.

The woman, with a kind and tired face, looks first at Tanso and then at her. Then she sighs.

“You can take it off, but don't scream. If you do Tanso will have to kill you and Kamo-sama would not be happy.”

Slowly, with trembling hands, Kasumi removes the gag from her mouth just enough for it to fall onto her neck.

“K-Kamo-sama?” She utters in terror. She's heard this name before, but she's so confused and terrified that she can't remember where.

She nods with a warm gesture on her face that manages to leave her just a little calm.

“Our lord, Kamo-sama. He brought you with us so you'll have to wait for his return. I don't think he'll be long.”

Tanso turns his neck again in the woman's direction and, after a while listening to her humming, Kasumi stops trembling. Then she looks around. She's inside a house with wooden floors and low ceilings, so low that the curse had to bend its neck to stand. There is a door to one side and, next to it, a bookshelf. Kasumi's heart skips a beat at the sight of what lies stored there. More than half a dozen jars of twisted, deformed little creatures, throbbing with cursed energy.

“What... what is that?” Kasumi asks with her voice hanging by a thread, unable to take her eyes off the jars.

“That?” The woman says with a smile.

“Brothers," Tanso replies.

Kasumi swallows, her lips tight. A shiver runs down her back and her eyes turn in the direction of the woman's belly, getting a dark idea.

She senses his eyes, abandons her needle and thread and caresses her belly with both hands. She smiles tenderly and then caresses Tanso's deformed face.

“They are my beloved children.”

Her body looks frail, she is so thin that she looks like she could break in half if she just stumbles. She makes an effort to get up while Tanso holds her arm to help her. Kasumi couldn't tell which impresses her more; the pregnant woman's build or the worried face of the curse.

She walks holding onto her son to the jars and stops in front of them. She lifts her slender, snowy hand to the first one.

“He is Choso, the eldest. This one..." she says, pointing to the next one, "is Noranso... This one is Eso, he is Kechizu, he is Sho-oso and this last one is Kotsuso.”

She stops, turns her face to Kasumi and she feels the sudden obligation to introduce herself.

“My... my name is Miwa," she says and bows a little. “Nice to meet you," she adds uneasily.

“My name is Akemi. Miwa-chan, are you hungry? Tanso was about to prepare dinner.”

The idea of the curse cooking and behaving like a human makes her think that perhaps she is living a lucid dream. Puzzled, not really understanding what they expect of her, she is at a loss for words. She looks from side to side, first at Akemi's kind face and then at Tanso's disfigured one. However, she understands that the first thing she must do is to free herself from her bonds.

“Y-yes... do you think you could free me? I'm sure this is a confusion," she continues, panicking, "I-I shouldn't be here, I'm a simple peasant girl who lives in the port of Yokohama. My family is waiting for me, I'm sure they are very worried about me. If you let me out, I promise I won't say a word, I swear! Please! Let me go!” 

Akemi's smile slowly erases as she listens to her every word. She looks at her with disdain and the warmth in her eyes fades in such a way that Kasumi feels she has made a mistake.

“You can't leave here unless Kamo-sama orders you to.”

“B-but...!”

“It's no use, please don't insist anymore. Now Tanso will serve dinner for our lord.”

“Mother," says the curse, craning her neck to look out a small window. "The soldiers..."

“Tanso! What did I tell you?! You can't! They could see you!” she scolds him, becoming agitated after a couple of words.

She clenches her hands on the fabric of her kimono and gasps.

Alarmed, Tanso apologizes deeply to her, again and again, to exhaustion. Akemi clutches at his arms as if she is about to collapse and her son, or whatever that is, helps her sit back down next to her sewing tools. She is breathing heavily and even in spite of the dim light in the room, Kasumi can see her perspiring.

“Tanso...” she dares to say and he turns fiercely to her.

In the blink of an eye the curse is in front of her and she senses under his throat the fierce roar of a wild animal.

“It's your fault, you made mother feel sick!”

“N-No! I didn't mean to!” Cornered against the wall, she faces the furious curse. Your mother... she's just worried about you..." she says in a whisper and Tanso's look is placated. Intrigued by her words he turns to look at his mother for a moment and then at Kasumi. “She's afraid... that someone will see you and hurt you. Let me help her... if you let me go... I can help your mother.”

“Is that right? You can help her? You're not lying to me?!”

“N-No! I'm not lying! I'm a woman, just like her... I can understand how she feels. I can take care of her; she looks like she's about to give birth. She shouldn't get up; she has to rest until her baby is born.”

The curse looks disgruntled, his eyes reflect the same concern as any human. He looks at his mother again and then moves his hands. Distressed, he makes a quick decision and unties the knots of Kasumi's bonds.

“Thank you..." she says in a whisper. She caresses her sore wrists and tries to get up when the curse is directed at her once more.

“If you try anything strange, I will kill you.”

His words freeze her blood, she nods and carefully gets up. She walks over to Akemi measuring every step she takes and crouches down next to her stroking her back. She can feel the vertebrae beneath the fabric of her kimono and can't help but feel a very deep sorrow for her.

“She needs food, Tanso. Your mother is very weak...”

“Food!” Tanso blurts out and pushes the door and rushes out through a dark corridor.

Intrigued, Kasumi gets up to follow him. Moving through the gloom she steps through the door frame and walks slowly with her heart racing and her eyes wide open. It is so dark that she is forced to lean one hand against the wall to continue, while she hears the clatter of pots and pans rattling not far away.

Crossing the hallway and descending a staircase, she comes to another small room where Tanso is preparing something to eat. Kasumi looks around, dimly lit by the light of an oil lamp. In the middle of the room is a wooden table with a pile of food, half of it spoiled. Tanso cuts an onion into chunks and stuffs it, skin and all, into the pan as Kasumi approaches. The curse moves from one side of the kitchen to the other, frantic, with a knife clutched in one of his front hands.

“Tanso...” she says to him and freezes as he turns to her with the agility of an animal. Kasumi feels her heart stop inside her chest. "Let me prepare the food... I know how to do it."

“I know how."

Trembling, Kasumi lifts one hand and slowly extends it to Tanso's, to which he holds the knife. She gently touches his hand and makes a gigantic effort to smile at him.

“I'll prepare something delicious and nutritious for her, Tanso. Can you trust me? -he says and swallows as he feels the cold sweat trickling down from her forehead to her cheek. The husks are good in an infusion... but she won't be able to eat them in a stew, you know what I mean?”

The curse looks straight into her blue eyes, unmoving, he watches her for a few seconds that go on forever until he finally puts the knife down in her hands.

When he steps aside from the kitchen, she feels like she can finally breathe again, she even feels like she could hyperventilate at any moment. She looks around and begins first by removing the rotten pieces of meat from the table and then throwing them into a bowl under Tanso's watchful eye. She then takes a piece of cloth and cleans the kitchen well to begin. She rummages through the drawers looking for whatever they have and then removes the pan from the heat to strain the water and remove the remains of the peel and take use of the onion that he cut up.

She carefully cuts the vegetable feeling Tanso's eyes penetrating her to the core. His energy is so immense that it makes her feel like he could kill her at any second. The back of her neck burns from the mere sensation of his gaze.

“Bad meat can make your mother sick, Tanso," she tells him softly. "She needs lots of vegetables, peas and eggs, rice is good too! And one fruit a day...."

Tanso nods after every word, though he says absolutely nothing. He stares at her so intently that it makes her feel like he could decapitate her in one move at any moment. Kasumi can't stop breaking out in a cold sweat.

“Tanso..." she calls out to him carefully. “You should bring pillows for your mother... Help her to lie down, could you do that for her?”

He nods again and hurries out with a worried face. Watching him leave, Kasumi finally sighs and leans back against the table taking a deep breath. She then looks from side to side looking for an exit, finds a door which she tries to open, but it is locked. The larger windows are boarded up with wood and talismans. And, as she reaches over to remove one to see the other side, she feels a stream of cursed energy hitting her fingers.

There is no way out of there.

Horrified by her discovery and Tanso's imminent return, Kasumi retraces her steps to finish the stew. She clears a couple of plates and pours several bowls onto a wooden tray. By the time Tanso retraces his steps she has finished cooking and offers him the tray. He takes it carefully and glances at the food and for a moment even seems to smile. Kasumi bows to him and accompanies him down the dark corridor carrying the lamp with her, and it is in the corridor that she sees one more door, hidden in the shadows just before she reaches the staircase.

Tanso walks with such enthusiasm towards his mother that he may not notice if she opens this door. Kasumi takes her chance and slides the door aside and slowly enters a completely dark room. As she enters it, after three steps, she feels an intense shiver run through her from head to toe. A cursed aura leaves her speechless, breathless, her body completely frozen. Kasumi looks down at what lies beneath her feet. It is a door completely covered in scrolls and on the other side she feels something scratching.

Kasumi jumps back and sees the amount of scrolls laid one on top of the other, it could be hundreds. The door shakes and she feels the multiple evil presences trapped on the other side.

Such is the strength of the trapped curses that she feels she is suddenly drained of energy, overwhelmed by their power.

A shadow is cast in front of her and Kasumi turns to see again the man she met in the streets of Gifu.

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Amidst the commotion, the rain and the immense deployment of soldiers, Kokichi runs through the streets looking for her without success. The last time, when he left her in the square, he thought she would be safe in a place completely covered with soldiers, women and children. But, when the commotion broke out along with the storm, she was nowhere to be seen again.

With soaked clothes and muddy feet, he returns to the inn in the hope that she has come back looking for him. Gojo Satoru could not have taken her, not with so many soldiers patrolling the city exits. Gifu is completely surrounded.

As he opens the door to the room he rents, he sees a figure on the other side, standing by the window. His worried expression immediately changes. He grits his teeth and frowns, but just as he is about to say a word, he speaks to him.

“Come in, we need to talk. And if you get the bright idea to use your puppets or shout my name, I won't hesitate for a second to decapitate you. Did you hear me clearly?”

Kokichi knows he's short of options and, although he would like to do all that, he knows it would be pointless. He enters the room and closes the door.

“Good boy," he says with a smile so wide it shines in the dim moonlight streaming through the window. “Now tell me, where is she?”

He raises an eyebrow.

“What kind of sick game is this? You didn't take her like you promised?”

“Do you think I have her hidden in my pocket? Why would I be here if I did?”

“So... she's not with you.”

“And neither is she with you, which leads me to the conclusion that you lost her.”

“None of this would have happened if you hadn't unleashed chaos in the streets!”

“Hey, keep your voice down. Or do you want me to keep my word and take your head off your neck? It would be easy and quick, so quick that not a drop of blood would splash on my clothes, do you want to try your luck today too?” he asks, playing with the guard of his katana with his thumb.

“It's you who should have been beheaded. How many soldiers does it take to kill you?”

“It was you, wasn't it? You went with the guards to warn them of my presence," Kokichi takes a step back. “Ah... right... That's why you left her alone in the square, was that your great idea to get rid of me? Don't you have the slightest idea who I am?”

“What? Are you famous?” says Kokichi in a mocking tone.

“You could say so, but that's irrelevant now. Because of you I don't know where Kasumi is," he says, drawing his sword to point it at Kokichi's face. I can't even feel her cursed energy, she disappeared without a trace. And thanks to your meddling I can't go outside to look for her, so you'll have to help me.”

“Why would I help you? Do you think I'm stupid?”

“Do you want me to answer that honestly?” He answers, extending his threatening smile. “I don't know at what point you thought I was giving you a choice... Besides, I'm the least of the evils she could encounter, hadn't you thought of that already?”

Kokichi looks away. He understands right away that it's either his head or helping him find Kasumi. He can't admit out loud that he's terribly worried about her and Satoru's words intrigue him, nor he can't sense her cursed energy, so is she alive?

“Do you think the soldiers... did something to her?”

“It's possible. I have to admit that I thought of that possibility too. In that case someone must have seen something, a girl like her can't go unnoticed, can she?”

Surrendered and worried, Kokichi lowers his shoulders.

“Yes... it's true. But now... there's nothing but soldiers roaming the streets," he says, slowly approaching the window.

Satoru sheathes his sword again.

“We'll wait until morning to go out again. But you'll have to do the talking, I don't have that luxury anymore, thanks to a certain idiot who came up with a brilliant plan to get me captured. Kokichi, right? She mentioned your name when we talked...”

“I'm not usually cordial to people who try to kill me.”

“Try? Did I do that?” He questions with a hand on his chest and a mock-surprised expression.

“Do you think playing dumb will make me want to help you?”

“Oh, no, you misunderstood me. I never try to murder someone; I just do it.”

“What a smug guy," he mutters. “Well, what exactly happens when we finally find her? She leaves with you, even if she doesn't want to?”

“Assuming she's safe and sound, yes. I can't afford to waste any more time and let you travel any further south.... The rest is none of your business and if you want to live a little more of your pathetic, boring life, it's best you don't know about it.”

“Do you think I'll let you take her away, just like that?”

“She will leave with me... by her own means, I hope. Sooner or later, she'll end up remembering me, I may have to force some memories, but that doesn't matter. What are your intentions? Why are you determined to take her so far away? The Kasumi I know would never stray so far from her family, or doesn't she remember that her brothers aren't in Yokohama?”

Kokichi's eyes widen warily, which makes Gojo smile even wider.

“So that's it, huh? She doesn't know. Well, when I tell her the truth she'll go with me without hesitation. And where does that leave you, little Kokichi?”

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Sitting next to Akemi, Kasumi looks sideways at Kamo-sama. He has a cold face and hard features. She can barely glance at him a couple of times and the scars on his forehead do not go unnoticed, despite the dim candlelight and the light coming through the boarded-up windows.

Akemi is lying on the floor as Tanso carefully feeds her in her mouth, while with another hand gently wipes the corner of her lips. He is so devoted in the way he cares for her that Kasumi realizes the immense bond that unites them despite having a curse in front of her. The scene is so inconceivable that Kasumi ends up pinching her hands, convinced that this is nothing more than a gloomy nightmare.

“She's about to give birth..." says Kasumi to Kamo, trying with all her might to keep her voice from cracking. “She needs medical attention urgently...".

Kamo-sama walks to the window and looks at the streets on the other side. Soldiers walk around every corner and he smiles in a macabre way. She has no idea what he might be thinking or what this place she has fallen into or what he brought her here for, but she dares not ask.

“Apparently Gojo Satoru is in town... I thought I could see for myself, but he's elusive as a ninja. Maybe we can hold out a little longer until he's killed, I'd like to be here for when that happens..." he says as if talking to himself. “You..." he suddenly says to Kasumi, "can you take care of Akemi? She's had many deliveries and a few miscarriages; I think this will be her last. I need her to give birth no matter what.”

“But... sir, I don't have experience... I wouldn't know how.”

“You're a woman, you must instinctively know how to do these things. She'll open her legs when the time comes and push. But, if it doesn't come out, stick your hands inside her and pull out what she's gestating. It doesn't matter if she dies.”

“Father!” Cries Tanso. “Don't let mother die!” He begs, putting aside the tray of food to prostrate himself in front of Kamo's indifferent gaze.

He smiles in a strange and particular way when the curse kneels at his feet, as if he finds this situation extremely amusing. His dead eyes do not accompany the sweeping curve of his smile and it makes Kasumi's heart shudder to the point of being petrified in place.

“I have no control over that, Tanso. If Akemi is not strong enough to withstand childbirth, there is nothing I can do. Now stand up and gather your brothers.”

“My brothers? Where are you taking them?!”

“To a safe place, Tanso. Calm down. They'll be fine, but if the soldiers come here, they'll be in trouble. They'll take them from our side to who knows where. Do you want them to split up?”

“N-No! I want to protect them!”

“Then do as I order you.”

One by one, with his four arms, Tanso picks up the jars that hold inside them the strange creatures he perceives as his siblings. Akemi is so exhausted that she barely has the strength to stretch an arm in his direction, as if pleading with him not to take them from her.

When the two are alone, Akemi exhaustedly caresses her belly and a tear falls down her cheek. Instinctively, Kasumi places her warm hand on Akemi's icy hands and squeezes them hard enough to get her attention. Akemi turns her brown eyes to the blue ones that look at her with determination and a warm smile.

“It will be all right, Akemi-san. You have to be strong; I will help you give birth to your child.”

Akemi smiles faintly and another tear falls down her cheek.

“I... I don't... I want to stop being pregnant... Not yet, just a little longer.”

“Don't be afraid, you'll have your child without any problems.”

“It's not that..." she whispers and the sadness in her eyes deforms. “It's that... when I'm pregnant... he doesn't touch me," she says with a horrified face.

A shiver runs through her from head to toe. Kasumi doesn't fully understand the dynamic between the three of them, but she senses that Akemi is just another victim of Kamo-sama, as is Tanso. Who could imagine feeling sorry for a curse, but Kasumi's heart shudders just imagining the sinister details surrounding this affair.

-Please gather all the strength you have left to give birth. Eat and rest. I will be by your side, you can count on me.

Akemi tries to smile, but more tears fall down her cheeks uncontrollably.

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The rain does not stop, the cloudy sky doesn't allow the sunlight to pass through and the streets of Gifu continue to be filled with soldiers. The bodies of their comrades are slowly removed and the blood stains join the mud that litters the streets. Kokichi walks through the market, questions each person he saw describing Kasumi in detail with Satoru following him cautiously hidden in the shadows. He tells them her height, age and, above all, the particular color of her hair. The rest of the locals remain hidden in their homes, following the announcement of a wanted criminal roaming their streets.

After half a morning of searching, Satoru meets with Kokichi with no news.

"I may have to knock door to door," says Kokichi. His voice is no longer as petty as it was the night before, he looks tired and with bags under his eyes. He's soaked with rainwater and his sandals are dirty.

Despite having both slept in the same room, they haven't crossed too many words. Kokichi has almost completely forgotten the advice he gave Kasumi; if you get involved with him, your head will roll too. He looks him in the eye, putting aside his grudge.

By that time, they have already raked almost the entire city without a single sign of Kasumi and he seems to be slowly losing heart.

“We'll find her, she's a lucky girl. Somehow, she manages to survive... And if not, she always finds someone willing to give her a hand.”

He pats his back with a smile that Kokichi finds slightly offensive, but doesn't respond or complain, he simply mulls over his words and hopes deep in his heart that he's right. This does not imply that he has earned his trust by any means, they just share the same goal.

“Knock on a couple more doors," Satoru asks him. "We're going to find her. Don't worry.

Kokichi freezes as he feels Satoru's hand ruffling his hair as if he were a five-year-old child. Taking advantage of his own height and long legs, he doesn't stay to listen to his protests. Kokichi can't shout, not when he's in the company of the samurai that every soldier in Gifu is looking for. He sighs after a moment and, when he is finally alone, turns around to walk the streets again.

He knocks on five doors and asks for Kasumi, to no avail. It is not until the sixth door that a woman gently opens it for him. The wooden door opens just a few inches and a dark-haired woman with a frightened look sees him on the other side.

“Excuse me, ma'am... I'm looking for someone, a friend. I haven't found her since last night," he says in a soft, deliberate tone. She looks him up and down and then opens the door a little wider. She's this tall and has blue eyes... her hair is... like the sea.”

“I saw her last night," says a childish voice, hiding behind his mother's skirt.

“Ah... yes. The girl who helped Shimpei..." the woman then replies.

“Did you see her?” Kokichi asks as a feeling fills his chest. “Do you know where she is? Where did she go?”

“She went with the man with the red umbrella," answers the boy.

“Do you know his name?”

The woman's face crumples. Her eyebrows draw together on her forehead and Kokichi's heart sinks with a bad feeling.

“We don't want to have anything to do with that man. Please leave.”

When the door closes, Kokichi stops it with one foot and pushes with his body.

“Please tell me where he lives! I need to find my friend! At least tell me what he looks like so I can find him!”

“Please go away!”

The door closes on his nose and Kokichi decides to knock a few more times, but no one answers. He leans his head against the wood and, for the first time in his life, begs.

“I beg you... I need to find her... Please, I'll give you all the money I have on me. Just tell me where this man lives and I'll never say it was you who told me. I beg you, please...”

The rain falls relentlessly on his back, the water runs down his neck and soaks his dirty kimono.

“That man..." the boy's voice on the other side whispers and Kokichi crouches down and rests his cheek against the wood, "he has a mustache and always carries his red umbrella.”

The sakura petals are still scattered in the arteries of the city, wrapped in mud, floating in puddles. Kokichi quickly retraces his steps looking between the streets until a hand pulls him into the shadows. Satoru seems to have overheard their entire conversation and looks him in the eye with determination.

“Go to the outskirts of the city and look for him. If you find him, just make sure you know where he lives. I'll do the rest. Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger, we don't know why the townspeople are afraid of him.”

Kokichi nods and, although he finds it quite hard to follow his orders, he sets off for the outskirts while Satoru concentrates on the last place he saw her. Their paths diverge, searching with what little information they have in every corner of Gifu.

Hidden among the tiles, Satoru looks down from above at the corridor he dragged her into the night before, remembering with some sadness the disjointed way she looked at him as she ran in the opposite direction. The bodies are gone, but the evidence of their battle is still there. The blood of the soldiers stains the walls narrating the certainty of his movements. Not even the inclement rain has been able to completely erase the blood.

He searches every corner, every face he sees makes him wonder more and more what this man who took Kasumi will look like. As long as everyone is hiding in their homes, fearing for the fugitive that the Zenin clan is looking for, it will be more difficult to find him.

Suddenly he feels a cursed presence so strong that it forces him to open his eyes and frown. He moves quickly across the rooftops, following the presence like a hunter. It is so strong that it cannot be just one, so powerful that it makes him grit his teeth.

After reaching a narrow street and seeing a house with windows locked from the inside, Satoru stops. He remains still in place as he sees a man placing a box on a small cart, pulled by a single horse. The box emanates an exorbitant energy, the man places a scroll that diminishes the power of that presence before Satoru's expectant eyes. Then he covers it with a blanket and shields himself from the rain with a red umbrella.

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Akemi moans and writhes on the floor, writhing from the contractions. She brings her hands to her stomach as if she wishes she could rip the skin off and pull her child out of her with her bare hands.

With cold sweat running down her face, Kasumi throws a sheet to the ceiling and leaves it hanging from a wooden strap. She takes Akemi's hands and asks her to pull the sheet, then puts another piece of cloth inside her mouth so she can bite it.

“It's going to be born any minute now," she says in a whisper, her face in grief, feeling completely useless as she can't help Akemi control the pain. “Tanso..." she says to the curse sitting next to her mother. “Can we talk in private?”

In the dark corridor on the other side of the room, Tanso stands in front of her as Kasumi thinks hard about how to tell him what's on her mind. Despite having witnessed his feelings for Akemi, she can't help but shiver every time he lays eyes on her.

“Tanso... you... are you afraid of Kamo-sama?” He doesn't answer, but Kasumi notices something change in his strange expression. “Has he... hurt your mother?”

He hesitates, turns around when he hears another shriek from Akemi and, as if deeply upset, decides to speak.

“After mother gives birth to another one of my brothers... Kamo-sama enters the room and... does horrible things to mother.”

Kasumi guessed it and yet her blood runs cold when she hears it in Tanso's clumsy words.

“I hate him..." he confesses to the young girl's surprise, "I hate him very much, but I can't kill my own father.”

“Tanso... maybe I can help you, and between the two of us, if we combine our forces! If you give me a weapon maybe I can help you get out of here and find a doctor for your mother. But we have to hurry, she has very little time left. The contractions are coming more and more often and...”

“If Tanso tries to harm Kamo-sama..." he says and turns to the staircase, as if he is looking directly at the first floor where that door is, on the other side of which something is lashing out, the one covered with scrolls. “He will release the seal of the basement and the curses will kill mother.”

“There is someone very strong looking for me, so strong that I know he could defeat any curse. He could end Kamo-sama before he releases the seal!” Tanso hesitates and she intuits that he believes that everything she says is nothing more than a lie, he continues with his gaze fixed on the second floor of the house. “I understand you better than you think, Tanso. I have younger siblings too... I know how you feel. My mother died when I was little and I've taken care of my siblings ever since. I would give my life for them and I know you feel the same way. You just want to protect them all...that's why you must believe me. Kamo-sama can be defeated, help me find a way out of here and I will bring..."

“No! You want to abandon mother!” He shouts at her, pushing her back on her heels, cornering her against the wall.

“You're scared Tanso! But I promise I want to help you!”

“How?! Kamo-sama has my brothers!”

“We'll get them back...”

Tanso turns around and paces restlessly down the corridor, in an endless back-and-forth. He holds two hands to his head as he babbles, in the background Kasumi hears Akemi's moans and feels completely trapped.

“My brothers and my mother, I have to save them," the curse babbles, "my brothers, mother, Choso, Eso, Kechizu, Noraso, Sho-oso, Kotsuso and... the last one doesn't have a name. I have to save them. Kamo-sama must die, he hurts mother. He has taken them away, my brothers. The woman, she cannot escape, mother will give birth. I must stay with mother. I must stay with mother, I must stay with mother... I must stay with... He came back," he says suddenly straightening up and turns around to retrace his steps back to Akemi's room.

Kasumi hurries after him and sits down again in front of the makeshift bed where Akemi will give birth. She hears the approaching footsteps creaking the wood of the stairs and then the pine boards of the corridor, shuddering in his wake. She holds her breath as she sees him cross the door frame and walk up to her. He crouches down and places a jar filled with a yellowish liquid in front of her.

“When it's born, put it in here," he says, staring into her eyes, and she slowly takes the jar in her hands.

As she looks at the strange liquid contained in the jar, she doesn't notice how he extends a hand towards her head. She is completely petrified when he takes a lock of her hair from the left side of her face between his fingers. He strokes it with his fingers and looks at it intently. Then he pulls a dagger from his belt and Kasumi sees her own head reflected on the blade. She grits her teeth as he uses the blade as if brushing and cuts the lock at the level of her ear. Kasumi instinctively closes her eyes and slowly opens them to find Kamo examining her hair carefully.

“How disappointing..." he says to her and then sighs. “I was very intrigued as to why it looks this color... but there seems to be nothing special about it. I was hoping it would be stronger, that I couldn't cut it with a regular dagger, but in the end, it turned out to be just hair. Do you have any interesting cursed technique?”

“N-No sir, I don't have any...” she answers in distress and her conversation is interrupted by another shriek from Akemi.

“You reminded me of someone, for a moment... Someone very powerful... I guess it's nothing more than a coincidence.”

Kasumi's lock of hair falls unceremoniously to the ground.

“I-I'm sorry..." Kasumi says and ducks her head, overwhelmed by Kamo's chilling presence.

“If I had more time I'd like to experiment a bit with the rest of your head. If I dissect you, I might find something interesting... but we don't have much time," he sighs. What a pity.

Kamo goes out into the corridor once more and, out of sight of Tanso and Kasumi, looks out the window. A rumble catches his attention in the distance, where he sees a group of soldiers entering a house and his curiosity is aroused. After a few minutes they come out and repeat the procedure in the next house. He realizes at that moment that they will eventually reach his door and stops to contemplate his options. He looks up at the door frame and, after a little deliberation, shrugs with a smile and walks down the stairs.

Akemi clutches the sheets tightly and opens her eyes so wide that even Kasumi can feel the pain coursing through her. The sheets between her legs suddenly become soaked and Kasumi hurries to accommodate her legs.

“It's time, Tanso," she says to the curse waiting beside her, but he is not attentive to his mother as she would have expected. Without having time to look for explanations, Kasumi holds Akemi's legs as she begins to push.

Kasumi's voice echoes loudly inside the room as Tanso stands up and walks to the window where his father was standing. Rarely does he look through the small slits that groan open between the wooden boards blocking the window, usually at night. But this time he walks intrigued by the din heard outside in the streets.

His father stood there for a moment until he decided to leave the house, which seemed strange to him. He had been waiting for his younger brother with great eagerness. Tanso sees a group of soldiers gathering in the street, in front of the door. There are at least ten of them, while others do the same in the nearest houses. They knock on the door with a firm fist a few times without getting an answer and then simply decide to push it, again and again.

Tanso retraces his steps with his face darkened, more than usual.

“The soldiers will enter the house," he says, distracting her for a moment from Akemi's delivery. “Take care of mother, please. I will protect you while she gives birth to my brother," he says without hearing an answer and slowly descends the stairs to position himself in front of the door. He carefully takes the scrolls that surround it, certain that they can no longer hide, not when Kamo has left with the rest of his siblings.

When the first scroll falls, burning his skin, Tanso grits his teeth. Then he continues with the next one and the one after that until he feels an electric current tearing his muscles apart. When only one of them is stuck on the door, Tanso opens his mouth and more hands made of dark blood come out of it, piercing the wood and with it the scroll, and on the other side of the door he impales at least three soldiers.

Kasumi hears only the screams of Akemi who pushes with what little strength she has left. His deafening screams quell hers, as Kasumi tries to comfort her as she sees a small sphere burst from her body. Liters of blood stain the floor as the last curse comes out and Kasumi grabs it, her heart restless and her hands trembling. The strange creature she holds moves, stretching out small misshapen hands, its head larger than the rest of its body and the very image of the half-human curse leaves her paralyzed.

Akemi's head falls onto the pillow and her languid hands fall to the sides of her body. Kasumi quickly stuffs the curse into the jar and puts the wooden lid on it before realizing that Akemi won't stop bleeding. She grabs the few cloths she has trying to stop the bleeding, but the blood doesn't stop gushing out, quickly staining everything in its path. The wood turns red and soaks her legs.

“My son..." says Akemi's weak voice and Kasumi looks up. She quickly holds out the jar and she takes it in one hand, squeezing it to her chest as the last of her tears fall down her cheek. "His name is... Sanso."

The foundation of the house shakes, Kasumi looks around as dust from the rafters sprays them and the walls shake. She stands up and cranes her neck through the door frame only to hear swords clashing and screams everywhere. Bloodstains spread with such force that they stain the walls of the second floor inside the house.

Horrified, she walks over and tries to look out the window, seeing nothing but chaos breaking out again in the streets. She quickly turns and sits back down next to Akemi. Her lips dry and her eyes slowly lose their shine.

“Take care... of my son..." she tells her in her last breath before dying.

Not knowing what to do, without a weapon at her disposal, Kasumi feels her heart shudder, holding back the urge to cry. She quickly gets up with the jar in her hands to run down the hallway, but Tanso is there, fighting tirelessly with the soldiers who pile up in dozens in the streets. She then retraces her steps back to the room where Akemi's body lies and tries to remove the boards blocking the window.

Near the outskirts of the city, on his wagon, Kamo retreats at a leisurely pace listening to the riot that rushed upon his house. Slightly disappointed at having had to abandon the last cursed womb, he makes a sign with his right hand lifting the seal of the cellar, for, if he will not be able to have it, he would rather that no one else does.

An even greater tremor shakes the house. Kasumi feels the wood of the floor shaking under her feet and with it the beams and rafters, the tiles and the walls. The cursed energy locked in the basement is released and the curses begin to come out. She feels it in her bones even though she can't see it, it is so overwhelming and eerie that it leaves her frozen.

Barely recovering from the surprise, she pulls again on the wood with all her strength, with only one hand while with the other she holds the jar with the curse inside.

Paralyzed, she looks to her right. Down the corridor at least ten curses are walking, crawling on the walls, on the floor and some even on the ceiling. All their ghoulish eyes fixed on her, stretching their deformed bodies, babbling unintelligible words.

Overwhelmed, with nothing in her favor, Kasumi screams through the window something her heart implores her.

“SATORU!” She shouts with all her might through the window and the timbers fly out with a single blow.

Kasumi covers herself and then opens her eyes. He is on the other side, his feet firmly on the window frame. He watches her with a smile and pulls her by the waist to his side.

“I found you," he says before turning to the curses that are rapidly approaching them like a stampede.

Without hesitation, he hugs her and takes momentum with his feet at the exact second when the curses invade the room. Satoru falls on the roof of another house, holding Kasumi in his arms. She looks over her shoulder and watches the curses pile up until they burst the wood covering another window. They fall one on top of the other in the middle of the street and Kasumi watches with regret as they surround Tanso until they cover him completely.

Before she can say a word, Satoru stands up and runs to the opposite end of town.

Chapter Text

Clinging tightly to the jar, Kasumi can barely open her eyes. Satoru carries her clutching her by the waist like a sack. He runs quickly over the tiles of the buildings as she watches people begin to come out of their homes to take a look at what is stirring among the streets of Gifu. A curse vanishes over her nose as Satoru unsheathes his katana and cuts it right in the middle of its core, so fast that to Kasumi it was but a blink of an eye.

In a flash, the fastest curses are after Satoru and Kasumi, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, like a pack of wolves. She doesn't know for sure when she glances back and sees a curse spreading like a tarantula, just as hairy, but with an almost human torso where its head should be. She holds back a scream as she sees it leap towards the next rooftop nailing its legs hard, sending roof tiles flying and collapsing half the house in front of her.

Satoru doesn't stop, he runs straight at the massive curse and Kasumi lets out a scream as he jumps and thrusts his sword into the middle of its body. He slices it up and down until his feet touch the ground and pauses for a moment to look at her.

“That thing, they're following it," Satoru says, confirming her suspicions. "Don't let go of it, or else we could be in bigger trouble."

More trouble than this? Kasumi wonders, holding on tightly to the last jar.

The samurai grabs her hand and starts running again. Kasumi turns over her shoulder only to see a myriad of curses swarming through the streets chasing every civilian and soldier in their path. Suddenly he embraces her again and with a leap he grabs hold of the tiles of a canteen, the edge of his sword caught between his teeth.

When they gain enough distance, Satoru stops and lets Kasumi's feet touch the ground, on the roof of a three-story building. But he still has one hand clinging to her waist, as if at any second someone is going to snatch her away from him and he's not willing to leave that opportunity open. They both look at what used to be Kamo-sama's house. Curses still fall overflowing the windows, spreading through the streets like ants.

Deformed beings of all kinds invade the streets among soldiers and men, women and children, running towards the outskirts of Gifu. Kasumi's grief-stricken face sees the horrified expressions and, as she's about to plead with Satoru to help them, he tightens his grip on her waist as if he knows what she's about to say.

“There are too many, even for me," he says, looking into her eyes, "and it's a little hard for me to admit it.”

Her distressed face doesn't seem to need further explanation, the answer is in front of her eyes. The city is utterly doomed.

She nods and he takes her face in his free hand; he gently caresses her neck with his fingertips and cradles her chin with his palm. He smiles softly at her, as if that might give her some comfort.

“Did they hurt you?”

“No..." she says, suddenly short of breath. Her chest fills with a new and strange sensation as she feels his skin stroking hers and for an instant, she seems to forget that a massacre is taking place just a few meters away.

The spell is broken when he turns his gaze to the street and releases her face. He grabs her tightly again and starts running. Kasumi wraps her hands tightly over the jar, trying not to lose it after each sudden leap from Satoru, until he finally sets her down on the ground in the middle of the street and unsheathes his katana again.

Kokichi's puppets are all over the place, but Satoru ignores them and runs straight into a curse that launches itself at the carpenter upon finding him uncovered. He cuts it in half just as Kokichi covers himself with his forearms.

The figure of an elongated four-legged, two-headed curse falls to the ground and disappears a few seconds later.

Kokichi can't help but look at him with some resentment despite the fact that he just saved his life, but his gesture blurs when he notices Miwa's presence. She watches them interact for a moment; when Satoru rests his katana on his back and smiles at Kokichi to say 'you're welcome', in the most arrogant way possible. Such camaraderie certainly leaves her bewildered.

He ignores him and walks over to her with a slightly hopeful gesture, very different from most expressions she saw from him so far. But he stops and frowns again as he approaches and notices what Kasumi is carrying firmly in her hands.

“What the fuck is that?” He asks her as a bead of cold sweat trickles down his forehead, unable to overlook the amount of cursed energy emanating from within it.

Kasumi hugs the jar once more, purses her lips, not knowing exactly how to explain everything that happened inside that house in such a short time.

“I wanted to ask you earlier, but we were a little busy," says Satoru, standing next to the two of them.

“This is... something I have to take care of.”

“That's no toy, Kasumi. The curses that were released in Gifu will come for it. It's very dangerous, we have to exorcise it as soon as possible.”

Kasumi's eyes widen as she hears this and she instinctively recoils, clinging to Sanso as if he were a baby. She denies for a moment until Kokichi approaches her holding out his hands. Now these two are in agreement on something?

Before Kokichi's hand can land on her shoulder, Kasumi steps back. Satoru's sword is brandished next to her ear as a curse appears out of nowhere next to her chest, aiming one of its limbs straight for the jar. Kasumi turns to watch Satoru finish exorcising the curse and then they both look at her in that accusatory way that doesn't please her in the least.

“You don't understand! It's not just a curse!”

“It doesn't matter what it is, Kasumi... What matters is that they won't stop chasing us as long as you have it with you.”

“There has to be another way..." she whispers, loosening her embrace.

“Please, just give it to him... We don't have much time," Kokichi continues and points with his chin to the street.

In the distance Kasumi sees a stampede heading towards them and, with a heavy heart, holds out the jar to Satoru. She turns away unable to see it with her own eyes and waits with her eyes squeezed shut until finally Gojo mutters.

“I can't," he says and Kasumi turns away perplexed.

He holds the cursed womb in the palm of his hand and looks at it curiously and suddenly smiles. He tucks the odd amorphous sphere into the jar again and hands it to Kasumi before her puzzled eyes.

“What do you mean you can't?” asks Kokichi raising an eyebrow.

Satoru shrugs his shoulders.

“There are some cursed objects that are impossible to exorcise. The best we can do is seal it with scrolls and take it to a temple where it's safe and out of reach of curses. Now we can only move away from the city, far enough so that it can create a veil that will enclose the curses and allow the humans to get out.”

“You can do that?” Kasumi asks in a tone of admiration that quickly unnerves her. Trying to come to her senses, she clears her throat and continues. “Please do it. We may not be able to save everyone, but at least some people will be able to escape.”

“Of course I can," he replies with confidence and a smile that leaves her speechless.

.

.

.

.

.

Mounted on their horses, high on a hill, Satoru gazes with an absent gesture at the city of Gifu. A pair of dark clouds stretches into the sky, flames can barely be seen from his position. What he can see is an evil aura spreading across the length and breadth of the streets, crossing the bridges that rise over the three main rivers that cut through the city. The bridges of Gifu fall, one after another. Even from miles away, the cries of the locals can be heard.

Satoru raises a hand and makes a sign, utters an incantation and in front of Kasumi and Kokichi's incredulous eyes, a dark cloak rises from the sky, sliding down like a thick liquid until it falls over the city limits.

Oguri advances a few steps, Kasumi watches his sorcery with her mouth open and in the distance sees a young man run out through the veil to turn around to see a curse trapped inside.

“It won't last forever; the veil will last at least until midnight. After that the curses will be released.”

“And what are we supposed to do now?” asks Kokichi.

“If the old council were still in place... They would summon the best sorcerers in the country to deal with this. The lower ranking shamans would be sent to the surrounding cities, as an emergency insurance. But, given the circumstances, I don't think Naoya would be interested in what happened here. In any case, the Kamo clan will send their best shamans, even though the city is already completely lost.”

“Does that mean that these people will be abandoned?” Kasumi asks.

“If the Kamo clan doesn't do something about it, then yes. Gifu is located in a strategic location for trade, so... maybe... but I'm not sure.”

Kasumi immediately remembers the name of that person. She hadn't realized it until now.

“Kamo-sama..." Kasumi whispers and Satoru turns around.

“I had my suspicions..." he replies and retraces his steps to climb on top of Oguri, taking the reins out of Kasumi's hands.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

“My job, Kokichi-kun. Kasumi has a special grade curse in her hands that will end up attracting many more. I have to stay close to her... Besides," he says, craning his neck until his words caress Kasumi's right ear, "maybe she'll remember me faster this way.”

Satoru hugs Oguri with his calves, pulling him forward and behind him Kokichi follows attentively.

“We have to hurry, Utahime's temple is not far from here. Maybe she can help us with the curse. Then... we'll go to Otari with your brothers.”

Kasumi's back barely touches Satoru's chest after each step Oguri takes, it's not until he speeds up leaving Kokichi behind that she ends up leaning against him, hugging Sanso tightly.

She still doesn't quite understand why his name was the first one she thought of while trapped inside Kamo's house. When she thought she would die locked up there, his face came to her mind and the certainty that he would be the one to save her left her no room for any kind of doubt. Now, with him behind her she feels like she can finally breathe and all the exhaustion she had accumulated the last few nights makes her energy fade away and she simply lets herself be cradled in his firm arms.

As the sun sets, miles away from Gifu. Satoru stops Oguri's pace. Kokichi and the horses are behind them. He can still feel them following him. He must be cursing him in the distance for taking advantage of the situation like this.

After getting off Oguri's back he grabs Kasumi by the waist, as he had done on other occasions, but this time it is different. She is flushed and quiet, she evades his gaze and he can clearly see the way she swallows as her slender, snowy neck moves.

In the middle of the night, Satoru takes her hand and she looks up. Her big blue eyes no longer seem afraid of him and it makes him smile. He takes the jar in his hands and then searches through his things until he finds a scroll.

“It's not the right seal, but it will do for the moment," he tells her as he places the scroll on the wooden lid of the jar and then hands it back to her.

“He's human...", Kasumi whispers, "or at least half of him is."

“I didn't say it before... because we had to leave Gifu, but you're covered in blood," he tells her, takes her hand covered in dried blood flakes again and leads her to a small river not far from where they stopped.

He forces her away from the bottle, leaving it on the ground, and crouches down with her by the river. He takes her hands and cleans them while she watches him out of the corner of her eye. He hasn't stopped smiling the whole way. She watches him subtly, hoping he doesn't notice. And as he wipes her dirty hands she finds herself absorbed in the shape of his profile. Her little heart shudders, not from the chill of the current, not from the icy breeze, but from him. Kasumi knows that this man awakens a strange feeling inside her, though she does not yet know why.

When he raises his eyes and looks into hers, her heart hammers hard and she feels her chest fill completely, intoxicated by his beautiful stare. Then he lifts a hand and touches the lock of hair that Kamo cut off.

“It looks good..." he whispers to her. “When I met you, you had dull black hair. This looks much better, it matches the color of your eyes. Why were you hiding it? Don't you like it?”

Kasumi lets go of Satoru's hands and avoids his intense gaze, she feels that if she keeps looking into his eyes her heart will explode. She looks at the river and listens to its peaceful sound, then thinks for a moment more.

“I've never liked it...”

“Why?”

“Because it's not normal.”

“I guess mine isn't either.”

Kasumi turns to him, as if just realizing how particular he is. She looks at his hair shining like silver in the moonlight and then looks down again.

“Perhaps you wear it so confidently that it's the last thing one notices about you.”

“You don't like my hair?”

“I-I didn't say that!”

“So, you just don't like to be noticed, do you?”

“Yes... I think that's it.”

“There are some sorcerer families, like the Gojo family, who inherit certain physical peculiarities. Maybe in your family... you have some ancestor like that.”

“I don't think so... My mother said my father was a fisherman who died at sea. She was just a peasant.”

“Well... now that you mention it...”

“Hey! You! You left me miles behind! With YOUR horse! What are you doing alone with her? Are you planning to take advantage of her again?”

“Again?”

“I haven't forgotten that you attacked her when she was bathing in the river!”

“Hey! That's not true! That was just an accident.”

“Yeah, right, an accident. Who do you take me for?”

“We were just talking, Kokichi-kun. Don't worry, I promise I won't lay a finger on her. Do you think so badly of me?”

“Who said you could call me by my name?”

Just when Kasumi was beginning to be glad that the two of them were being cordial to each other. Kasumi sighs, takes the jar with Sanso inside, and walks away ignoring the discussion to retrace her steps and start setting up a makeshift camp.

The night is cold and cruel. Not even the campfire in front of the three of them is enough. Kasumi shivers and the tip of her nose turns pink, covered in a blanket, she hugs herself hidden behind the towering trunk of a willow tree. Satoru and Kokichi look sideways at her, both completely chilled to the bone until the samurai stands up, walks over to her and sits down next to her.

“If we are together, you won't be so cold.”

Kasumi looks at him, amazed by his closeness. Under the blankets she brings a hand to her heart as she mentally asks it to stop. She doesn't stop him though, she knows he's right, that they have a better chance of not freezing to death if they stay together.

Turning her face, she sees Kokichi a little further away, his brow furrowed and his gaze piercing Satoru's face.

“Come, you're cold too," she says softly.

“Come on, Kokichi-kun, I can make a place for you too.”

He seems to ponder for a moment, grinding his teeth. It only takes him a few seconds to stand up. He's been shivering for the past few minutes and feels the cold seeping into his bones. He walks over to Kasumi and sits down next to her, lips pressed tightly together he leans against her arm and feels the heat of his own body ignite stronger than the campfire.

The only good thing is that at least it has stopped raining.

Eventually exhaustion wins over the three of them, their heads end up bowed next to the person next to them and the warmth of their bodies helps them rest for what seems like an instant, when the sun rises on the other side of the horizon and Kasumi opens her eyes.

The first thing she sees when she opens her eyes is Sanso; the jar placed in front of her and, next to it, the extinguished campfire. She can barely move with Kokichi to her right and Satoru to her left, both with their arms crossed in complete sleep. She glances sideways at him, first at one and then the other. But she ends up wasting her last seconds on Satoru. His face is tired, as if he hasn't slept in days. He has bags under his eyes and his skin looks particularly pale, like a ghost. Despite everything, he has proven to be extremely strong, after all, even in this state he managed to get rid of a dozen soldiers and curses alike.

The memories of Shinmachi make her stomach clench, it makes no sense for her to have trusted him so blindly after remembering those horrific scenes. However, sitting there with him asleep next to her, she does not find within herself the slightest desire to run away.

Suddenly he opens his eyes, Kasumi's watchful gaze traveling with him as she sees him standing up to take the hilt of his sword. In total silence, Satoru unsheathes as if he had slept with one eye open all night.

Kasumi moves her shoulder wordlessly, trying to wake Kokichi, who opens his eyes just as an elongated arm and a raspy voice echoes over his ears. In an instant, he throws Kasumi to the ground and Satoru's sword waves over their heads, exorcising a curse that had approached them cautiously.

On the ground, Kasumi looks at Kokichi's flushed face. He looks into her eyes for a moment, his gaze filled with panic and a few choked words in his mouth. He quickly stands up and walks away from her as if she were on fire and then turns to Satoru, who looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

Satoru crouches down to Kasumi and holds out his hand.

“We've rested too long already; the curses will continue to appear the longer we delay. Come on, let's go.”

Kasumi takes his hand and he helps her to her feet.”

“Where exactly are we headed? You haven't said a word about why Kasumi's brothers are in another village. You can spend at least a few minutes to give an explanation or two, don't you think?”

Kokichi stands up, shakes out his clothes and folds his arms next to Kasumi, looking determinedly at Satoru.

“Right... Well, I was hoping Kasumi would remember me by now, and it wouldn't be necessary to give her any explanations. But well, then... A little less than two months ago the emperor died... Since then, the Zenin clan has taken the throne, now Naoya Zenin calls himself shogun. This means that he has displaced the ruling council as well... His army attacked Yokohama shortly thereafter and Kasumi sent her brothers to the only safe place she knows, the village of her master Kusakabe.”

“And you, what do you have to do with her brothers?”

“That's not a concern of yours.”

“But it is mine," Kasumi interrupts. "I want to know why you want my brothers.”

Satoru sighs.

“There's... a strong possibility that someone is behind them. Your Aunt Nami received money from the soldiers during the attack on the harbor..."

“What? Nami-san?”

“We've had this conversation before, it's a nuisance to have to repeat everything. Now come on, quick, get on the horses. I want to find at least one village so we don't freeze to death tonight. When this calms down, I'll give you all the explanations you want, but now is not the time to stay and talk.”

It makes him extremely uncomfortable to see Kasumi nod and accept his help to climb back onto the back of the white horse, only to see him climb up behind her. Kokichi gets on his horse, taking the reins of the other one the samurai left behind and follows in his footsteps, lagging behind again.

He sees him whispering things in her ear and her shyly accepting his advances. From time to time, they both turn to look at him over their shoulder, and he gets the feeling that they wonder if he is still there, or if they just left him behind.

Hours and hours of travel pass before his eyes, feeling completely out of place. She has fallen completely under his spell, even if she doesn't remember him, even if she knows nothing about him. She follows him almost as if by inertia and a part of him tells him that Satoru is sincere, but he refuses to accept it. The resentment generated by seeing him touching her arms, caressing her shoulder with the excuse of chasing away the cold, almost doesn't let him breathe.

He sees her in the distance, as if he is losing her in front of his eyes, although these strange and possessive feelings have no basis. He barely knows her; she is a stranger he saved from death and in the blink of an eye he decided to go with her wherever the road takes them.

His chest feels heavy, when they reach the top of a hill and look from afar at the entrance to another city.

Satoru looks intently at the soldiers guarding the entrance to the walled city. He pulls Oguri's reins to stop him and looks almost expressionless at the guarded city of Nagoya. Tired, he climbs down from his horse to stretch his legs and smiles to himself, his gesture tarnished with irony.

“I don't think I can get past that wall...”

“Then Kasumi and I will spend the night there.”

“We can't leave him here. He'll freeze to death!”

“You can't go into the city with that horrible thing," Satoru mentions, raising an accusing finger at Sanso. “Any curse born in the city will go after it, do you think Kokichi-kun can do anything if they're attacked?”

“We can leave the curse with you and since you're so good at it, I don't think you'll have any trouble taking care of it.”

“You're leaving me the best part? Sleeping frozen to death waiting for any curse to come and attack me, what a gentlemanly boy you turned out to be.”

“It's my fault we have to seal Sanso...”

“Does that hideous thing have a name?” asks Satoru genuinely perplexed.

“His mother gave it to him...”

“Wait, does it have a mother?” asks Kokichi.

“Well, that's not what's important now! The important thing is that it's my fault that we have to take care of him now. That's why I can't allow Satoru-san to spend the night here with Sanso. In any case, I'll stay here with him and you can go to town. You don't have to sleep out in the open because of me.”

“I won't leave you alone with him.”

“Then stay with us," Satoru replies. “I thought after I saved your life, you'd trust me a little more, but I see I wasted my energy," he laughs seeing him gritting his teeth and frowning. "I'm just kidding, don't take it so seriously," he says, ruffling his hair until Kokichi takes his hands off him with a rough movement. "I don't think we're going to come to an agreement."

“I don't think so," Kasumi mutters.

“Well, there is another option. But it's not one I'd like to use right now..." says Satoru. “Truth be told, we're in trouble. If the Kamo clan has reinforced the surveillance in the nearby cities... that only means two things, the first is that the Zenin clan's army is very close, the second is that someone sent word of my presence in Gifu and they're looking for me.”

“You still haven't told us why they are looking for you.”

“We are talking about something else right now, Kokichi. Please don't interrupt me. Anyway, as I was saying... We'll most likely encounter this same situation in the next town... and if the temperatures keep dropping, we won't have much of a choice. Besides, with that thing you're carrying there... any shaman in town is going to find you, Kasumi. The priority is to take that to Utahime's temple, seal it and hide it in a safe place.”

“But... We're not too far from Otari, are we? And if the Zenin clan's army is nearby, that means...”

“That your brothers are in danger now.”

“We have to go to Otari right away!”

“I know, but what about Sanso? We can't exorcise him and we can't leave him here either. If a curse takes possession of him... we could provoke the birth of a special grade curse.”

“Wait," says Kokichi, "you said there was another option.”

-Yes..." he says and sighs. There is a spell, but it requires a very large amount of cursed energy. We're talking about three people, three horses, a wagon full of cursed puppets and a... Sanso. Transporting them to Utahime village would leave me... I don't know, I never tried it with cursed people and cursed objects at the same time. It's a bit risky... since I don't know what we would find on the other side. If the soldiers of the Zenin clan are there... I don't know if I would have enough energy to transport us to another place, or even defend us.

-So... there's nothing we can do, is there?

-Yes there is..." says Kokichi.

They both turn to him, see his gaze wander across the floor as if searching for the decision he lacks. Then he gathers air in his chest and looks up to meet Satoru's eyes.

-I'll go to Otari and look for Kasumi's brothers. You guys go seal that curse, I think it will cause more trouble as long as we don't solve it as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll continue the journey.

-Kokichi... would you do that?

Kasumi's stare is so intense that he can't even hold her gaze for a couple of seconds. His cheeks flush and he purses his lips. His heart feels bruised inside his chest, as if someone had given him a direct blow to his sternum. The concern in her eyes was enough to make him make this decision, even though he's having a hard time answering her last question. Finally, when he has gathered enough courage, he looks up and looks straight into Satoru's eyes.

-You will keep her safe, won't you? If you find trouble where that priestess is, you'll take care of her. Can I trust you with that at least?

Satoru nods with a serious face, then smiles.

-I give you my word as a samurai, if I break it I'll have to kill myself.

-If you break your word, you don't have to, I'll do it for you.

-Sure... well, then this is where our paths separate. If when you get to Otari you think they should move, go to Awashimaura Island, we'll meet you there.

-What's on that island?

-A couple of friends. They will take care of you until we get there.

Kasumi takes a step towards Kokichi, hands the bottle to Satoru and without hesitation pulls Kokichi against her in a tight embrace. She makes a great effort to hold back tears and then smiles at him.

-Thank you for everything you have done for me, someday I will find a way to repay you for everything. Every single one of your favors... I will repay them. I promise.

-I'm not doing this so you owe me anything... I just... want... to do this for you.

Satoru wastes no time and retraces his incantation on the ground, drawing the runes without paying too much attention to the touching words that the couple beside him profess to each other. He must admit, even if it is a little hard for him, that he is a little relieved to have someone else on his side.

.

.

.

.

.

On a small plate beside her, freshly lit incense smokes; it is a scent she has always loved, ever since she was a little girl. The sun is streaming down through the bamboo forest, coming through her window and filling the austere atmosphere with its orange and reddish light. She picks up her teapot and delicately pours herself a cup after an exhausting day, the tasks at the temple are not few for one person and although she would like to have an assistant, she quite enjoys her solitude.

She looks out the window with a slight smile, birds chirping pleasantly breaking the silence.

After the first sip of tea, she smiles. She feels the warmth of the infusion running down her neck and its sweet taste makes her sigh. Suddenly her cup drops to the floor and shatters as she feels a strong current of cursed energy next to her temple and she jumps to her feet. Alerted, she runs to grab her bow and arrow to go outside and aim her arrow straight at the energy.

A smiling face greets her on the other side of the narrow passage to her temple.

“Utahimeee!”

Satoru's voice is loud, chanting her name with so much excitement that even the birds nesting near the temple fly away in fright.

Utahime's face twists at the mere sight of him, she lowers her bow and arrow. A small grumble escapes from between her lips as he approaches, but her gesture is erased almost immediately when she sees that he's not coming alone. Satoru pulls the reins of his horse with a young girl riding on him.

When they are at the foot of the temple steps, they stop.

“Aren't you going to greet an old friend?”

“Friend? Last time you were here you almost burned down the temple!”

“Are you still holding a grudge over that? It's ancient history, besides, the temple doesn't look so bad. Maybe it needed some remodeling.”

From Utahime's chest, a suffocating feeling wells up, filling her chest with helplessness and making her clench her fists so tightly that she could break her arrow in half. But the feeling subsides when the girl gets off her horse and, unlike Satoru, introduces herself cordially with a bow.

-I'm sorry we came to bother you, Utahime-san. My name is Miwa Kasumi and... I have come to ask for your help.

Intrigued by her words, the tight grip she has on her weapons ceases. She sees the way she gets off the horse and searches through her things. Her heart shrinks as she senses the evil presence she casually holds in her hands. The small creature inside stirs, floating in an amber liquid. Saliva clumps in her mouth at the mere sight of it and she swallows. Within seconds she realizes it all; Gojo Satoru could not have arrived at her door with a curse of this caliber if he could have exorcised it himself. Utahime lowers her shoulders and sighs.

“Come in.”

Kasumi hugs the jar with Sanso inside it tightly. She seems to hesitate for a moment about whether she is doing the right thing or not, until Satoru places a hand on her shoulder. She looks up only to be met with a patient, warm smile that inevitably makes her blush. As if he has given her the encouragement she needed, Kasumi steps forward and climbs the steep stairs to the temple.

Upon arrival, Utahime lifts the pieces of a broken cup carefully and stands up leaving them alone for a moment. Kasumi looks around, though there is not much to see. She sits down next to Satoru, in front of the small table spattered with tea and a white teapot.

Soon after the priestess returns with a couple more cups. She sits quietly, carefully clears the table and arranges the cups in front of them and then serves them tea with a delicacy Kasumi had never seen in her life.

The aura of the temple is so clean that even the air breathes better. Utahime's peaceful expression brings her calm and, when she finally finishes her tea, she looks into her eyes.

“Does either of you intend to explain what you are doing in my temple with that curse in your hands?”

For an instant Kasumi feels a flash of anger shining in her brown eyes, her spiteful gaze settling on Satoru. But he doesn't seem to notice it at all, takes the cup of tea without a word and drinks ignoring what she has asked him. Then he looks at her.

“I don't even know where that hideous thing came from.”

“Well..." Kasumi begins, her fingers suddenly clenched around the cup. "Recently... I met a woman. She... is the mother of this curse. I think Sanso...”

“Sanso?” asks Utahime.

“That's his name," replies Satoru.

Apprehensive about the priestess's disheveled face, Kasumi continues.

“Sanso is half human, half curse. There are more of them, his... father... left with the others. I think there are eight in all... there were nine of them, but... one of them died.”

“What kind of sick person would do something like that?”

“Does the name Noritoshi Kamo ring a bell?” Satoru asks and Utahime holds her breath.

Her serene expression is completely erased. Her eyebrows are furrowed and she gazes intently at the being lying in Kasumi's hands.

“I see... Is that all you know?”

“Wait," Satoru interrupts, "you said 'one of them died'? How? This one is impossible to exorcise.”

“Well... the other one... He wasn't like this one... He was physically the same as an ordinary curse, but he... thought and felt like a human. He was intelligent and during the time I spent with him I noticed that he had a very strong bond with his siblings and his mother.”

“Why was that one different from the others?” Utahime asks and Kasumi shrugs her shoulders.

“I don't know...”

Satoru strokes his chin.

“Maybe the fetus must go through a process to reach its final form. Maybe its mother's human body wasn't able to finish its gestation, that's why it was born like this... It's like a premature baby, or something like that.”

“I've never seen anything like that... I've never heard of anyone being able to conceive a curse. Not even in all my years of study have I ever heard of such a thing. We have to seal its power as soon as possible...”

“Utahime... do you think you could do something for us first?”

“What is it?”

“Could you give us something to eat? Tea is lovely, but if we don't eat something now, we're going to faint.”

“Is eating really a bigger concern for you than taking care of sealing a curse of this caliber?”

“You wouldn't say that if you were the one who had been eating bites of dehydrated meat and stew of nothing but mushrooms.”

Kasumi's stomach seems to react just hearing the mention of her last meals. Her belly protests indiscreetly helping Satoru's case and she instinctively brings her hands to her navel.

Utahime looks at them both, one at a time, with a reprehensible gesture. Kasumi's abashed face makes her desist from what she is about to say and after gathering a little more patience inside her chest, she stands up about to sigh again.

“If a single curse approaches the temple in search of that thing, you two will be solely responsible for it. Any damage you cause will also be your responsibility. I'll fix something to eat and tomorrow morning I'll see what I can do for you. If we're going to seal that curse, it won't stay here. It's too dangerous... So you, Satoru, will have to take it to a safe place. I'm not going to deal with the consequences of having something so powerful hidden in my own temple, understood?”

“Understood," they both say as two students in unison.

After finishing her tea, Kasumi is quick to walk behind Utahime and offer her her sincerest apologies, as well as her help in preparing dinner. She follows her through the wide corridors of the temple, looking out the windows at the thick bamboo forest. The light shines like an emerald through all the green her pupil can see. She realizes after a short time that there is no one besides the three of them in the temple, but says nothing. She is still embarrassed to have come here with such trouble literally on her hands.

Utahime moves in front of her with her back straight and her hands clasped under her white kimono. She moves as if she is floating on the wooden floor, without making it squeak. Kasumi notices her own awkward stance just by looking at her, she knows she has probably spent years training her posture to move like this. Her black hair is held in a white ribbon, it looks soft and shiny. If she is truly able to seal the curse she brought under her arm, she will become one of her most devoted admirers.

Arriving in the spotless kitchen, Utahime shows her where she keeps the vegetables and lights the fire to heat water in a couple of pots. Kasumi quickly rolls up her sleeves and grabs a knife.

“And you two, how did you meet?” The priestess asks softly, her voice worthy of a magical being.

Kasumi stops to think, not really knowing what to answer. She doesn't know whether to repeat the story he told her or whether she should tell her that the first time she saw him, she was naked, bathing by the river.

“The truth is that I don't remember. I hit my head hard and since then I've had trouble remembering some things.”

“Are you feeling all right, was it something recent?”

“I'm fine, it was a few weeks ago... I was able to remember some things, not the things I wanted to. But I'm fine, the wound has healed.”

“There are some ways to remember things you thought you'd forgotten.”

“A spell?”

“No, it's something much simpler," she says, cutting a carrot into pieces. "Have you ever eaten something that reminded you of your childhood? Or listened to a song that brought back some memory, about the first time you heard it? For me in particular, it happens with smells. I can remember the first time I was taught to serve tea with the aroma of ginger. It's as if they were hand in hand, just smelling its scent the images come to my mind. Have you tried it?”

“No... although I wouldn't know what scent to look for, or what food to taste so I could remember either.”

“Ask Satoru. None of the things he said helped you remember it?”

“Only some... although... I wish I could remember everything.”

“I've known people who have lost their memories after a hard blow, or because of some special event. Usually... memories don't take long to come back. I have treated some people who have come to the temple with such conditions.”

“And have you been successful in helping them to remember?”

“In some cases, when memories are lost because of a specific event... the mind refuses to bring them back. But it does so wisely... some things are better not to remember. In others, as is yours, many times meditation helps. At night I will give you incense, light it and meditate before you go to sleep. Have you ever done it? Meditate?”

“No... I don't think I've ever done it.”

“Well, it's not difficult, anyone can do it. Just sit down when you're alone and clear your mind. The first thing you should do is concentrate on your body and what you feel, your hands, your skin, your stomach. When you have achieved that, simply breathe. Breathe deeply and focus your attention on the way the air enters and leaves your body. Surely... your mind will wander when you do this, that's normal. Your mind will go to different places, so don't be hard on yourself if you find it hard to concentrate. Just realize that you are wandering and bring your attention back to your breathing. Then... when you master that, search your mind for what you want to remember. But remember... you must do this in a warm way to yourself. Don't push yourself or punish yourself if you don't get the result you expected after one try.”

Kasumi smiles as she listens to Utahime's words. Her serene face changes radically when Satoru's voice bursts into the room. His strident footsteps raise a vein on her forehead and cause a wrinkle to appear between her eyebrows.

“What's taking so long?”

Utahime's shouts stun her, but she doesn't interrupt the exchange between the two of them. Their dynamic doesn't strike her as overly polite for a pair who are supposedly old friends. She continues cooking, when a similar memory comes to her mind. Her brothers used to argue like this from time to time. It's normal for kids their age, and for her, often tired after a long day of struggling to get food home, it was normal. She often ignored them completely, turning her brain off just to keep working without losing her temper.

Maybe Utahime is right, she thinks at the end of the day when they both serve the food on the table. After her last day in the middle of the road, and a few more days traveling in the inclement weather, there's nothing she appreciates more than a warm plate and a roof over her head.

After what she talked about with the priestess, she can't help but look at Satoru out of the corner of her eye. His profile, his straight nose and white skin, his smile, are hypnotic. Any woman, perhaps except Utahime, would believe he is a god walking the earth. His warmth and his gaze are too familiar to let those memories fade into oblivion. She still feels there is something missing, that piece of the puzzle of her life.

Once alone and under Utahime's precise instructions, Kasumi lights the incense in a small dish that she leaves next to her before sitting down in the middle of her room. There is something that occurred to her, when Satoru left his clothes to take a bath and put on something clean.

Sitting in the middle of the gloom she closes her eyes and carefully perceives the sensation on her fingertips. It's strange at first, and she feels a little silly doing it, like that time when she was little and Kusakabe taught her with blows to the head how to control her cursed energy. It feels almost the same, the tingling of her skin, the energy moving slowly inside her body, she hears her heart racing and for a moment she wanders, asking herself why she feels the way she does. Then she frowns and tries to relax again. She breathes in, holds the air in her lungs, then breathes out and repeats the process over and over again.

After a few minutes of silent meditation, Kasumi's mind travels back to that day. The day when three bullies stole her last coins and her catch of the day. She remembers their faces and slowly something she hadn't thought of before comes back, one of them was carrying a curse on his shoulder. After exorcising it, they spared her life and she... returned home.

Her aunt's cruel words come back to her mind, flooding her with a bitter feeling. She can almost feel again the blows she gave her that day, but even more painful are the things she said to her. Then she learned that she had hit Sochi and....

-That day I decided that we would leave... -Kasumi whispers, her voice full of bitterness. Her eyes fill with tears before she gathers air back into her lungs.

At least she remembers a little more of her past. Fire and screams fill her mind, a horse rushing out and a sword pointed in her direction. The stifling heat of the fire seemed to brush her cheek as the second floor of her house collapsed. And then, she remembers his smile shining through the night, under the moonlight. His eyes covered and his words flood her mind. That day she tried to commit suicide and Satoru folded his dagger like a ball of paper.

Kasumi opens her eyes and looks at the garment in her hands. Her face fills with embarrassment, she feels so foolish that she is about to put it all aside, but her intrigued mind won't let her. She brings Satoru's kimono to her face and breathes in his scent.

With her eyes closed, she feels her heart pounding inside her chest as if it is about to burst. Her mind travels in all directions, but what fills her thoughts is him, lying down and her beside him. His chest serving as her pillow and herself, absorbed in the swaying of his breaths.

As if hidden in that hut swaying in the wind, Kasumi remembers sleeping next to him, touching his face, caressing his forehead. One by one, they appear later, the sound of his laughter, his harsh words regarding her idea of an untimely death, the fireflies, the hot springs, Ichigo's palace. Everything comes back to her like a stampede from which she cannot escape. Even the smallest thing, like the way he liked to stroke her head, or that last question he asked her before falling off the waterfall.

'Do you like me?'

With her skin bristling, Kasumi finally understands the reason for this feeling that fills her stomach, the reason for the intense pounding of her heart. Now she knows why when she's near Gojo Satoru all her skin feels hot up to her ears. It's because she is completely captivated by him, by the way he touches her, by the impetuous way he protects her. And even if he didn't do all that, the mere sound of his voice chills her to the bone. He has to do absolutely nothing but stare at her with that intensity that only he possesses to render her speechless.

All this time that thing she was chasing inside herself was him.

Kasumi stands up, unsettled by what she has just discovered. She needs to see him immediately, as she didn't see him in months. She walks out of her room in the middle of the night to find Utahime alone, drinking a cup of tea in tranquility.

With the cup dangling in front of her lips, she sees her arrive with a distressed face.

“Utahime-san... where is Satoru?”

“He came out for some air a moment ago, he said he found the smell of my incense unpleasant... He's so disrespectful, it's a very good quality incense. He doesn't appreciate the... Kasumi?”

Her hurried gait, her flowing hair shining in the moonlight. Kasumi runs in search of him almost breathlessly, runs along the paths made of wooden planks laid out along the bamboo forest. She walks until she sees him alone, standing there staring at the crescent moon.

He turns and looks at her over his shoulder, sketches a soft smile that makes Kasumi's feelings magically reborn inside her stomach, filling her chest with a warm, suffocating feeling. Kasumi swallows saliva and sees him as if she were behind an oasis in the middle of the desert, as if he could simply disappear.

With both hands on her knees, Kasumi stops. Her face completely flushed and words struggling to escape from between her lips. Her heart feels so intensely that, if she doesn't say it now, she feels it will simply explode.

He approaches her, walks a few steps until Kasumi breathes normally again and looks into his eyes. His light blue eyes seem to be able to cast such an accurate spell on her that she can't stop looking at him. She can't help but marvel at his smile again. She can't stop her pulses from traveling inside her body in all directions. His scent, his warmth, his closeness, all of it envelopes her until the words come out of her mouth without meditating for a single second.

“I remember!” She says, clenching her small white fists, "I remember everything! I remember...! I remember that day, when they attacked Yokohama and... I remember how you saved me from that curse. I remember Ichigo's palace and... how you rescued me from him too. I remember the trip and the riddles, I remember how you said you would gain my trust and also what happened in Shinmachi. I remember the hot springs and I remember when you fell from the poison of Maki Zenin's weapon. I remember it all... I also remember... that for quite a while now... my heart beats hard every time I see you, or when you lay a hand on me. I remember now... why I feel that something is missing when you are not by my side. That's because... because I feel something for you that I can't quite grasp but it's here, deep in my heart. And... even though I'm afraid of what you might think of me after everything I just said, I feel that if I don't do this... I think... my heart won't be able to take it another minute!”

Kasumi suddenly grabs Satoru's clean clothes and stands on her tiptoes to gently kiss Satoru's lips.

So fleeting is the brush of her lips and so rapturous is her confession, that Satoru is speechless. Bent by the small hands of the girl in front of him, he crouches down and lets their mouths touch for an instant until she decides to let go and looks into his eyes.

Satoru's heart pounds hard under his throat and he suddenly swallows. His face flushed; his eyes surprised. Without thinking too much about it, his mind completely blank. Satoru grabs Kasumi's shoulders and kisses her as only he knows how.

Chapter Text

With his right hand he caresses her soft, warm face. His thumb feels beneath it, right in the middle of her neck, her tireless throbbing. His mouth joins hers, shy and calm. The confession has left him completely captivated, so much so that for an instant he forgets who she is and why they have come this far.

The sound of their kisses is interrupted by a faint moan from her inexperienced mouth and it seems that this simple, unthinkable sound awakens him from his trance.

When he separates from her and sees her between his hands, breathless and with her lips parted, he realizes the mistake he's making. Perplexed at having fallen prey to his lower instincts, he grabs her by the shoulders and slowly pulls her away from his body.

She watches him, waiting for something, anything, but he says nothing. With his face on flames and eyes wide open, Satoru thinks for a moment of some sort of explanation, or an answer to give her, but nothing comes to his mind.

“I'm going to..." he says in a low, barely audible tone. He clears his throat, releases her, and continues, "I'm going to see that everything is in order in the temple. We don't want any curse to come near, do we? Utahime would kill me if... Well... Good night, Kai-I mean... Good night, Kasumi.”

He breaks away from her without further ado, even though he knows his excuse was the worst one he's ever given in his entire life. He usually has much more convincing quips, even when cornered. He has never been a man who has trouble with words, but for some reason, at this very moment, he has nothing good to say to her. He scratches the back of his neck as he walks away, restless, taciturn.

Satoru takes advantage of his long legs to get out of there as quickly as possible and, after entering the temple, takes the jar with the curse inside and leaves for the bedroom Utahime pointed out to him earlier. Once alone, he stands by the door waiting, he waits for quite some time until finally Kasumi's slow footsteps are heard in the corridors. She seems to have returned to her room and, after a prudent time and hoping not to cross paths again, he leaves his room and crosses the corridor to the end to end up in front of the door to Utahime's room.

He knocks softly and whispers her name a couple of times until she opens the door. Her hands are clutching her clothes tightly, her hair just a little disheveled, and she looks at him with an unfriendly expression.

“I need to talk to you," he says in a whisper and covers her mouth with one hand as he enters her bedroom so she doesn't make a sound. "Don't say anything, I don't want to wake Kasumi..." he says before releasing her.

“Do you wish to die? How dare you enter my room like this! Are you crazy?” She questions trying with all her might not to scream.

Satoru wastes no time and sits down on the floor, puts down the bottle he brought as an excuse and relaxes his arms on his knees. He scratches the back of his neck, agitated, strangely nervous, and then looks at Utahime in a weird way that leaves her uncomfortable.

Still clinging tightly to the clothes she wears to sleep, she sighs and then sits down across from him. She looks at him with an obfuscated expression, a mix between tiredness and anger. However, she senses from the way he presents himself, the way he moves and evades her gaze, that something is wrong.

“Does it have to do with that thing?” Utahime asks, looking sideways at the curse that seems to be watching her.

“That? Nah... I just brought it with me to... Never mind, it's something else. I didn't know what to do so I came to ask for your advice.”

“Advice?”

“If you have time...”

“I was going to sleep, I've had a long day, you know? Although I don't think you care too much at all... Go on, say what you're thinking at once.”

“Kasumi kissed me.”

“Did she?”

“Yes.”

“So? What's the problem? You should be happy, she's a very pretty and kind. In fact, I think she's too nice for someone like you.”

“You think so?” he asks, erasing his expression, replacing it with a smile impregnated with irony.

“Come on, what's wrong with it? Is that all you've come to tell me?”

“Actually... She's a very special person.”

“Are you in love?”

“That's not exactly what I mean.”

“So, you didn't reciprocate.”

“Well...”

“Are you going to tell me what's really bothering you or not?”

“I guess it'll be all right if I tell you the truth. After all no one would come after you for information, you're too irrelevant for that to happen.”

“You came here just to insult me? In my own temple!?”

“Hey... keep your voice down. She might hear you...”

“Then say what you came here to say and stop beating around the bush!”

“Ah... where to start?”

“How about if you try from the beginning?”

“Okay... You see, I... Before dying... Taishō gave me a mission. He told me about some children he wanted me to get to safety, it was his last wish. His directions led me to Kasumi and her siblings. These children... I suspect they are Taishō's illegitimate children.”

“That means...?”

“That Kasumi is probably the illegitimate heir of the late emperor.”

“I understand...”

Utahime's face softens. Suddenly Satoru feels a hint of pity circling her brown eyes and that expression, for some reason, causes him a bit of amusement.

“You feel sorry for me?”

“I don't know, I don't know how you feel about her. But that's the last thing that matters now, you know that, right? You were the sworn sword of the emperor and his family, therefore... you are now his protector. And given the circumstances... with everything that's going on in the country...”

“I have few options.”

“Restoring the empire is one of them.”

“Do you think it's even possible? She doesn't possess the Taishō technique, I don't even know if any of her brothers have it.”

“But if she is the emperor's daughter, the technique runs through her veins. You have an obligation to put her where she belongs, all three of them. Until one of her children or even grandchildren inherit the technique.”

“And what do I do in the meantime? Naoya will continue to cultivate his army while Kasumi and her siblings wait for one of their descendants to inherit his cursed technique. How many children would she have to have until that happens? If it happens.”

“In any case... that's not your decision. What if she decides she wants nothing to do with all this? Have you ever wondered?”

“If she wanted to live a quiet life away from the empire... I'd support her decision.”

“Do you know what would happen if this reached the Zenin clan?”

“They'd hunt her down... even worse than the one that's going on right now over my head. But I would still protect her and the children. It is the last wish of...”

“Even if you would protect her, even if she didn't want to be a part of all this... she already is. She has to take sides and...”

“And what? Restore the council and overthrow Naoya? She would have to get the rest of the clans on her side and get them to support her right to Taishō's throne.”

“Do you think it's impossible? Naoya is a usurper.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“For starters... if she really is who you think she is... An alliance by marriage would be ideal. Kasumi must preserve her chastity until she finds a powerful ally, I'm sure if any of the leaders know about her ancestry they will want to secure her by marriage. Her siblings too, at the appropriate age.”

“I knew you would say something like that.”

“Is that why you came here? So, you could hear out loud what you were already thinking? When I heard what happened with the emperor... I figured you weren't going to stand idly by. What are you really planning to do, Satoru? Even if you know that she may reject all this... it's not just her future that depends on it. People are suffering daily from Naoya's reign. The whole country has begun to collapse since he usurped the throne and the clans are not going to bow their heads and accept it. The country will begin to fracture before long.”

“The clans don't care about anything but how much power they can get, Kasumi will be nothing more than a piece in their game... They're going to use her and... I can't allow that under any circumstance.”

“Is it the attachment you feel for her that's speaking now?”

“No, it's just... her freedom. Maybe she will agree with everything you say, and if she does, I will stand by her side and make sure they don't take advantage of her inexperience and naivety. All she wants is to know that her brothers are safe.”

“She doesn't know yet?”

“No, I haven't had a chance to tell her. I was thinking of doing it now, since we are a bit calmer... But she came to me, with such a touching confession that... I couldn't resist. I kissed her without even thinking about it and then... when I realized what I had done, I ran away and left her alone. She must have felt bad, I'm sure, she's very... sentimental. I don't know how much courage she must have mustered to declare herself the way she did... But she finally said everything she felt and... it was very... nice, if I'm being completely honest...”

Satoru smiles with some longing.

“In any case... you made a promise, didn't you? If you're still loyal to your master, you must respect that promise you made to him. Taking care of her and keeping her safe... I don't think it includes sharing her bed.”

“I wasn't planning to, not under these circumstances.”

“Would you do it if it were different?”

“Maybe, probably... There's a reason I stopped myself when I did it and that was because of the promise I made to him. That has to count, doesn't it?”

“So, what do you plan to do?”

“Just pretend?”

“Tell her the truth.”

“I'm not going to push her to claim the throne if she doesn't want to.”

“Are you going to let the country sink under the reign of the Zenin clan?”

“I didn't say that... There must be another way.”

“Until you find it... Keep your hands to yourself.”

“Is it too hard for you?”

“What?”

“Celibacy.”

Utahime's eyebrows meet in the middle of her forehead; if she had Satoru a little closer she'd even dare to hit him. With a slightly flushed face, she evades his question and continues.

“I doubt there is any other way to unite the clans again. Restoring the council and securing alliances through marriage... is the soundest way.”

Satoru brings both hands to his face and takes a deep breath, as if he might be able to remove all the thoughts invading his mind. Utahime looks at him again with that expression that he doesn't like too much. Then he stands up and forces a smile.

“Thank you for the talk,” he tells her before leaving.

When he's under the doorway, she speaks to him again.

“Be careful, what you do can jeopardize the future of an entire country. If you give in to your own desires... you may ruin the whole country's chances for peace.”

“Good advice.”

How to sleep after such a conversation? Satoru lies down unable to appreciate the softness of a mattress against his back and a firm roof over his head. He wonders why he didn't reject Kasumi's kiss earlier, even having thought ahead of everything Utahime told him. She's right, he was just looking for someone to remind him of his reasons.

In the morning, as the sun rises, Satoru's tired eyes watch the sun rise through his window. His tired face sees the rays shining through the long bamboo trees. He doesn't even know what he will say to Kasumi this day, or if he will ignore everything as if nothing has happened. He takes some time alone to continue thinking as her words from the night before completely flood his mind.

He has already said it, she was so nice and sincere that, he just couldn't resist. Who in their right mind would have? Even the noblest man could have fallen prey to such sweet words. And, even if he were to repeat that a thousand times over, it doesn't lighten his burden. When he's finally ready, he leaves his room, tightening a smile on his face.

Utahime's and Kasumi's voices are heard not far away. After sliding open the door, he sees the two of them sitting across from each other sharing a cup of tea. Their soft laughter is muffled when he sets foot inside the room and, far from feeling uncomfortable about it, he ignores it and sits down between the two, picks up the teapot with one hand and pours himself unceremoniously a cup in an empty cup on the table. Kasumi is wearing a traditional miko outfit, identical to the one Utahime used to wear.

“Good morning, girls, did you sleep well?” He asks this question without thinking; after it comes out from between his lips, he regrets it.

Utahime clears her throat and then drinks from her cup of tea without answering him, she can't say in front of Kasumi that she had a lousy night thanks to Satoru.

“Yes, Gojo-sama...” Kasumi replies, she avoids looking at his face and, like Utahime, hides in her teacup.

“Well, will you seal the curse today, Utahime?”

“I'd like to, but I'll need help from you two. Since the apprentices from my temple have left on their pilgrimage and won't be back until after winter, I have no one to play the song I need for my incantation. You will have to learn to play it perfectly since we don't have time to travel to find a musician and bring him here.”

“Wait, I have to learn to play an instrument?”

“I've never played one...” replies Kasumi, with a distressed face.

“You'll have to learn if you want this to work. Weren't you desperate to seal this curse? The longer it stays here, that weak seal will lose its power and the curses of the forest will come for it.”

“Well, I guess we have no choice. Which instrument will it be?” Satoru replies.

The priestess stands up after leaving her cup of tea on the table. She walks silently to a cabinet against the wall and takes out a red sandalwood shamisen. Utahime puts the three-stringed instrument in Satoru's hands and then hands him the plectrum; it has a square base, one end wide and flat like a spatula. Shortly after, she hands Kasumi a nine-hole bamboo flute.

“You will practice immediately, all day long, with short breaks. You'll do it until you play the song perfectly. Don't look at me like that! You're the ones who brought the curse to my temple! And don't break it, Satoru. I'm warning you, it's the only one we have.”

Kasumi sees out of the corner of her eye the amused look on Satoru's face, starting to use the pick on the strings to listen to the sound coming from them.

Utahime sits back down and asks Satoru for the shamisen, then rests it on her body; the instrument occupies her torso completely. She takes the plectrum with her right hand and with her left hand she puts three fingers on the strings.

“This is how you should hold it. The height of your fingers will change the sound of the strings. I will teach you the simplest melody since it is the first time you play an instrument. But pay close attention and don't fool around, I'm watching you, Satoru. I don't want to have to repeat this too many times, and we also don't have the time to teach you to read the music written on paper, so you'll have to memorize it.”

Concerned, Kasumi watches carefully as Utahime skillfully plays her melody. Although she does it slowly so that Satoru can memorize it, it is too fast for Miwa's inexperienced eyes. Then, when she finishes and returns the shamisen to Satoru and he almost immediately begins his practice, Utahime takes the bamboo flute and places it crosswise to her face. There are two holes into which she must blow, but it is very difficult to remember the order of the position of her fingers at the same time.

After half an afternoon of practicing the tune in parts, Utahime leaves them alone so they can continue practicing while she retires to cook something for the three of them.

It is almost fortunate for her that he is so focused and she herself is too busy to think about what happened the night before. As she practices until her fingers are marked by the holes in the flute, he plays tirelessly until he misses a note and starts over from scratch once more.

She looks sideways at him, with all her attention turned to her instrument, and suddenly remembers Hamari's words. As long as Gojo Satoru has a mission at hand, he won't see you, he won't really. And perhaps, at this moment, it's the best thing for both of them.

Her heart feels lighter than before, at least she can be thankful for that as she tries not to think about him and turn her attention back to the flute and the melody she has to play. Kasumi closes her eyes, blows until the position of her own lips hurts and her fingers are fatigued from moving in positions she's never used before.

When the sun sets and they abandon their task momentarily to eat, Kasumi is still repeating the melody mentally. She hasn't even learned half of the song yet and is exhausted. Her legs ache from sitting for so many hours and her arms ache from having them raised in the air constantly.

Satoru doesn't seem to have as much trouble as she does. He is wearing a black ribbon across his chest so that the sleeves of his clothes don't get in the way of his work on the shamisen strings and is now eating voraciously while chatting animatedly with Utahime about the process of the ritual.

He wastes no time, when he empties the dishes, he goes back to practicing more fluently than before, as if one afternoon had been enough for him to master much of the song Utahime taught him, while she barely feels she can hold the flute properly.

“You're not even going to say thank you for the food?” Utahime complains as she begins to lift the dishes.

“Let me help you, Utahime-san,” says Kasumi about to take an empty bowl in her hands, but she stops her.

“You keep practicing some more. We need you to learn that song as soon as possible.”

Kasumi's frail fingers retract and she sits back down, uncomfortable. She reluctantly picks up the flute and watches Utahime leave the room carrying the dirty dishes and empty glasses with her.

When she's left alone with him, while listening to his melody, she brings the flute back to her mouth and tries to keep up with him, but fails. She does not completely cover the holes of the flute and a wailing sound comes out of her instrument. Then she gives up, lowers her arms, and suddenly she hears Satoru's shimasen go out of tune. Looking up, he has his lips parted. He looks at his right hand intently.

“I cut myself.”

Kasumi looks at the red drop that breaks through his white skin and slides across his wrist. She immediately pulls a piece of cloth from her pocket and takes his hand without thinking. He surrenders his hand without reproach and watches her closely. She wipes away the blood and then cuts the cloth to wrap around his finger and stop the bleeding.

“You've tried too hard,” she tells him softly, tying a small knot with the cloth.

Then, realizing how close she is to him, she looks up. Her wide eyes meet with a soft smile and he moves his fingers under hers, wrapping her hand around his. He turns her palm over and inspects her fingers.

“You're not lagging behind,” he replies, noticing the circles drawn on her pink fingertips.

His thumb caresses the soft skin of Kasumi's hands and she begins to feel the unbridled beating of her heart again. And, for an instant, she feels a magnetic energy slowly pulling her to him, again.

The door opens and Kasumi is quick to retract her hand, leaving Satoru's skin behind. Utahime is standing on the door frame with towels between her hands. She looks at the samurai with an accusatory gesture, though she can't see Kasumi's, as she turned in another direction pretending to take the flute in her hands again.

“I'm going to take a bath, will you join me, Kasumi?”

“Sure.”

He gets the impression that Utahime has created a convenient excuse to take her away from him, when she finally dared to look him in the eyes once more. He has nothing to reproach her for, of course. Satoru looks at the tip of his bandaged finger, a smile creeps on his face and he wonders when the time will be right or how he should respond to her confession. There is no doubt in his mind, he must answer, sooner or later.

While he is still pondering her words, Kasumi walks with her face lowered, blushing. She follows Utahime's footsteps to the steamy bathroom. They both undress and it is only at this moment that she realizes; she had never bathed with another woman before. She was so absorbed in the way she feels when she's next to him that she didn't stop for a moment to think about this. However, Utahime doesn't seem to pay attention to her naked body. She walks over to a small wooden stool and sits down.

“Come, I'll wash your hair first. Then you can help me with mine.”

Kasumi nods, her lips pressed together. She sits across from her and feels with relief the warm water running over her head and caressing her bare back. Utahime strokes her hair and massages her scalp gently. She has delicate and soft hands; she must do this often with her students.

“You have very nice and shiny hair, Kasumi-chan.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, it's soft and its color is vibrant. I like it very much.”

“I... I like your hair too, Utahime-san.”

“Yes? I don't pay much attention to it. I just try to keep it tidy, brush it at night before I go to sleep.”

When she's done, she scrunches it up and places it on Kasumi's shoulder. She holds her breath for a moment, looking through the steam at the small scars on her back. A sad thought crosses her mind, but she says nothing, simply turns and waits for Kasumi to clean her hair. When she finishes, Utahime gives her a hairpin to hold her hair and gets up to enter the wooden tub filled with hot water. Kasumi mimics her, sitting in front of her, letting the water cover her up to her collarbone. She sees the priestess settle against the wall and relax her head on a towel folded like a small pillow.

Alone and silent, with no more than the sound of the water gently shaking between their bodies, Kasumi can't help but wonder about Satoru again. The kiss from the night before still burns her lips and keeps her permanently confused.

“Utahime-san...”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever... fallen in love?”

She opens her brown eyes and finds Kasumi's face a nervous wreck. She hugs her knees under the water and sinks her face into her bare, wet legs. Utahime knows exactly what she's talking about, but at the same time she knows she can't share with her the conversation she had with Satoru during the previous night.

“No... we priestesses can't have that kind of relationship. Not if we want to continue practicing our profession. I've never fallen in love with a man...”

“I see...”

“Why do you ask?”

“I... I confessed my feelings to someone and...”

“To Satoru, right?”

Kasumi nods, completely blushing.

“But he hasn't answered me.”

“Give him some time, I'm sure he must be thinking hard about his words.”

“And is that a good or a bad sign?”

“I don't know, I have no experience in that.”

“But you know him, don't you? He said you were friends...”

“He uses that word very loosely. I met him on a mission many years ago, we've shared some moments working together, but I don't know how he relates to other women. I've never seen him with one, actually. I know that some women tend to be attracted to him, I'm not blind either, although I don't know what they see as special about him. I've seen how they look at him and how they talk to him, but when he's working, he doesn't usually pay attention to those things.”

“He is... very nice, and funny, he is witty and very strong, he can do everything well. Unlike me... he seems to get everything right.”

“That's why you like him so much?”

Kasumi nods again.

“Be patient... And, take care of your heart. Kasumi, he has a very important job to do and he may not... respond to you the way you'd like him to. It's good that you've been honest with him, after all, it's what you feel. But be cautious... He's in a delicate position. Actually... the whole country is. He has an important role to play and I know you can't control how your heart feels, but trust me... if he doesn't reciprocate, you'll be fine. No one dies of a broken heart. You were brave to tell him how you felt about him, now you just have to wait for his response.”

The peace inside the bathroom is interrupted by two knocks on the door. Utahime frowns almost immediately and jumps up with one hand clenched into a fist, pouring the water out of the tub.

“Would you mind giving us a little privacy!?”

“I'd like to, but you have guests.”

Puzzled, Utahime stands up and wraps herself in a robe. She opens the door a few inches and, from where she sits, Kasumi can just barely see on the other side a tired-eyed woman holding up her palm. The priestess pushes the door open with a shove, leaving Satoru aside, immediately rushing into the embrace of that waiting woman.

For an instant, Satoru turns to look at Kasumi, sunk into the tub before closing the door.

After drying her hair a bit and putting her apprentice outfit back on, Kasumi leaves the bathroom and walks to the room where she practiced with Satoru all afternoon. Utahime's raucous laughter fills the walls. Satoru is standing, arms folded, listening to the talk by the door when Kasumi enters.

He sees her as she passes him, her hair still damp, pulled back. Her spotless neck catches his eye for an instant as she walks past him and ignores him to introduce herself cordially. She bows and looks at the small cups arranged on the table. Utahime pours her a cup of sake and invites her to sit next to them. Only a few minutes have passed, but the priestess seems to have drunk at least two cups.

On the other side of the table, her friend smiles at her, barely curving the edges of her smile.

“When you said you'd be spending the winter alone I decided to come and join you, so you wouldn't die of boredom.”

“Shoko! I missed you so much! You have no idea what Satoru has put me through! When you see the thing these two brought to my temple you'll understand!”

“Don't worry, I've come to give you a hand. But... I really didn't expect to find him here. How have you been, Satoru?”

“I've had better times, but I'm fine. How many years has it been since we last saw each other?”

“About six?”

“That long? Time has flown by.”

“Aren't you going to sit and drink with us?” Shoko says to him, picks up the jug and pours it into a small wooden cup.

“I don't drink,” he says, walks a few steps closer and grabs Kasumi, clasping her shoulders in his big hands. “Take care of Kasumi for me tonight. I'll go to sleep."

“So early?” asks Shoko. “The sun has barely set."

“I know, but I didn't sleep much last night. I need to get up early to continue practicing with the shimasen. You don't mind, do you? I'm sure you have some catching up to do.”

“Not at all, go away. We have a lot to talk about!”

Knowing already how adept the two of them are at drinking, Satoru knows the night won't be a short one. Even in his room he hears their voices and loud laughter. Whenever she drinks, Utahime stops being herself and becomes the loudest woman he's ever met in his life. But what he said before he left was not an excuse. He really hasn't slept for quite some time and feels that, if he doesn't close his eyes for at least a few hours, his senses will begin to fail him.

Even amidst the bustle, the sudden sound of the flute and the shimasen, Satoru manages to get enough sleep to crack a smile in the morning. He yawns and stretches, ruffles his hair, picks up his glasses from the floor and puts them on before getting up.

It is certainly a surprise for him to find the trio spread out on the floor the next day. The empty serve bottle is lying on the small dining table. Utahime is lying with her hair disheveled and on top of her, curled up next to her, is Kasumi. On the other side of the room Shoko stretches out and only to carve her eyes. Then she sees him, standing between them, watching the scene with raised eyebrows.

“Why don't you take Kasumi to her room? I'll take care of Uta.”

He turns and sees her lying at his feet, without protesting he takes her in his hands and feels the intense and nauseating stench of alcohol on her face. She settles on top of him, still asleep, stretches her neck to his chest and inhales his scent with a smile on her lips. Satoru smiles, retraces his steps until he reaches her room and, when he closes the door behind him, he looks at her again with more attention.

He would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it before, that before she kissed him, the image of their first encounter being 'her', hadn't crossed his mind a few times. However, he had never thought about it with a clear idea in mind. It was simply a memory that crossed his mind at certain times of the day. But, now, having listened to her beating her heart out of her chest, he cannot suppress the memory.

He stretches his neck over Kasumi's head, wondering if it has changed or if it will be the same. He breathes in the scent of her hair with a smile. He closes his eyes and fills his lungs with Kasumi's natural scent, sweet and pleasant, just like her.

He leaves her lying on the bed, but before leaving, he removes the hairpin from her hair and it falls like silk behind her back. The scent of her hair, clean of the ink she used to darken it with, fills the room and he breathes deeply again, as if he were smelling a rose in spring.

Satoru watches her sleep, the imperious decision he has made pulsing inside his body. Whatever happens, he is going to protect Kasumi.

When he finally returns in search of the shimasen, Shoko is there, smoking with a thin, elongated pipe, similar to the one Hamari uses. She smiles at him with tired eyes and he walks over to her, opens a window and shakes his hand in front of his nose.

“It's worse than Utahime's incense.”

“I'm sorry. I like to smoke on cold days.”

“How was your evening?” He asks, sitting down next to her, just far enough away so as not to smell the stench of tobacco.

“Fine, I'm sorry we got your friend drunk. Utahime can be very insistent when she has a few drinks on her.”

“Never mind, at least she seems to have had a good time.”

“She was a little upset that you still haven't responded to her love confession.”

“So, I was a topic of conversation.”

“Of course, what did you expect? You don't just leave a girl who has confessed her feelings just like that. What she doesn't know is that she's probably the emperor's daughter.”

“Utahime told you that?”

“Only to me, when Kasumi fell fast asleep. Did you think she wasn't going to tell me?”

“I feared it for a moment, but I guess I can trust you too.”

“I promise not to tell her, but when do you plan to tell her? You're taking your time.”

“I will, at some point... When it's convenient. Right now, we have something more important to take care of.”

He reaches for the instrument he's been practicing with and puts it on his lap to start playing again the melody he's memorized almost to perfection.

“Satoru, when things get really ugly... Count on me.”

“Would you go to war with me?”

“Sure, did you have any doubts about that?”

“Not really,” he replies with a smile. “You'd be the most useful on the battlefield.”

The strings mark over his fingertips, Satoru isn't the type of person to abandon a task just because it's hard. He continues for a few more hours until Utahime appears in the room with an annoyed expression that is barely erased when Shoko greets her. She eyes him warily and closes her eyes, as if each chord hits her in the middle of her face. This does not dissuade Satoru from continuing his practice, on the contrary, he finds it extremely funny that Utahime's hangover is so terribly affected by the sound of his instrument.

She can't complain, not when it was she herself who ordered him to participate in the ritual. Right now, she would be willing to travel for a decent musician just to spare herself the martyrdom she gets from the sound of the shimasen.

Later Kasumi joins them, her face embarrassed with shame for having passed out from so much alcohol. She doesn't want to ask how she got to her bed the night before, or what exactly she said while conversing with Shoko and Utahime, although she doesn't remember her words exactly. All she remembers is herself, whimpering the love monologue she recited to Satoru.

He greets her with a smile, not neglecting the three-stringed instrument. He looks at her as he has always done, with a smile and a cheerful look, which leaves her completely confused. He doesn't seem angry with her, nor is he indifferent to her, it's as if absolutely nothing had really happened. If not for the awkward way he said goodbye to her after kissing her, Kasumi would have even believed that his whole confession was nothing more than a delusion.

When Shoko leaves the room, with Utahime behind her, Kasumi picks up her bamboo flute and continues her practice, going out of tune every four chords, forgetting half the melody. Satoru stops playing and simply listens to her, sees her distressed face and hears her countless sighs over and over again until he decides to intervene.

“You're overthinking it," he tells her and holds out his hand for her to hand him the flute.

Their fingers barely touch as she hands him the instrument, but it's enough to make Kasumi hold her breath. She blushes as she watches him take the flute into his mouth, as if he is indirectly kissing her and doesn't realize it.

Satoru blows, even his lungs are stronger than hers. He seems to have memorized the song just by watching her practice. He closes his eyes and plays it in full, it seems that it is even easier for him to play the bamboo flute than the shimasen. Maybe that's why Utahime distributed the instruments this way.

“You're constantly thinking that you're going to make a mistake," he says as he finishes.

“And that makes me make a mistake?”

“It's easier to make a mistake when you think you're going to. It's like... when you think you don't want to trip, and you end up tripping anyway. Instead of thinking you can't, think the opposite. If you make a mistake, don't start over, just keep playing. Eventually that note you missed will come out right. Here, try again, I'll accompany you.”

Satoru hands her the flute and puts the shimasen on his lap. He waits while she tries to control the heat she feels from placing her lips on the same place Satoru did, just a moment ago. Then she nods and closes her eyes.

The strings of the shimasen sound, ringing over her ears in the dark atmosphere of her closed eyes. Kasumi blows as she has done countless times the last few hours. When she goes out of tune because her fingers don't completely cover the holes of the flute, she continues just as he told her trying to repeat to herself over and over again that this time she will get it right.

At the end of the song, after getting it wrong a few less times than in her previous practices, she opens her eyes and sees him. His warm smile is enough for her. Although she hasn't mastered the melody and her hands and wrists still hurt, his gesture is enough for her to feel she has done better.

“You were right.”

“Kasumi..." he says, puts aside the instrument, leaning it against the wall and turns to her. His smile disappears and her heart suddenly shrinks. The way he has pronounced her name is different from before, his voice serious and husky, leaving her swallowing saliva. “We haven't had time to talk alone and there's something I need to tell you.”

She senses his impending rejection; Utahime had tried to warn her about this moment, when Satoru would finally decide to answer her confession. But she doesn't feel like she's ready to hear it yet, not now when she finally feels like she'll be able to play that song perfectly if she keeps practicing. Her stomach churns almost instantly, a stabbing pain in the pit of her stomach inclines her to bolt.

“I think I'm about to get it! If I keep practicing...!” she stammers nervously and puts the flute back in her mouth.

Satoru's hand reaches out to her, grabs her wrist gently and forces her to put down the instrument. Kasumi looks into his eyes, completely overwhelmed with terror.

“We need to talk, it's important.”

“B-But isn't it more important to seal Sanso? Utahime-san said that the forest curses would appear at any moment, and we've already been here two days. The seal you placed on him is losing effectiveness, so we shouldn't waste time. I-I think I'll be ready to play the song tonight, what do you say we talk later? Maybe tomorrow morning, I wouldn't want Utahime to think we're slacking off when we should be practicing. I'm about to make it! What do you say? Heh? Tomorrow...?”

Satoru lets go of her arm and sighs a little wearily. The words have come out of Kasumi's mouth so fast that he barely understood half of them. After hearing her tireless chatter, he decides to give up. Perhaps deep down she is somewhat right, nothing will change if he tells her now that she is the emperor's daughter. Perhaps, on the contrary, the news will leave her so perplexed that she won't even be able to concentrate on the flute again.

“In fact, I think I could use some air. I'll go outside and practice, maybe it will help me concentrate better," she says after standing up, then hurries off without even turning to look at him.

Satoru arches an eyebrow as he watches her leave the temple and remains seated there until he loses sight of her.

Once outside the temple, walking on the polished stone path, she hurries down the stairs. She doesn't even notice when she starts running in the direction of the sun. When she can't even breathe anymore, she stops. She crouches down and brings both hands to the crown of her head.

“What are you doing? Why did you confess your feelings to him if you weren't willing to listen to what he has to say? Are you such a coward? It's just feelings! Nothing will happen if he rejects you!” She sighs and looks up at the bamboo canopy and a small hanging monkey catches her eye. She's never seen one before and her curious eyes compel her to see him before he jumps over another trunk and eventually disappears into the green landscape. “It'll just be a little awkward... It's all very sudden for him too, after all... not long ago he thought I was a man. I haven't even apologized for lying to him. I didn't keep the promise I made to Hamari... I'm a fool! Why did I tell him everything like that? I should have waited, first I should have told him the truth, first I should have told him that...”

Suddenly she realizes something she overlooked. So much has happened in the last few days that she hadn't even stopped to think about the obvious. How does Satoru know that the children they've been looking for are, in fact, her brothers? Kasumi turns and looks in the direction of the temple with a choked question. It can't be possible, maybe he just assumed it when he found out she was a woman, but it doesn't make too much sense. Satoru told her that night, in the dark corridor between the streets of Gifu.

‘You're the one I was looking for...’

Doubt plagues her mind, stirred with the words Satoru spoke in her ear. He has yet to tell her why he searches so intently for her siblings, nor why he was looking for her in particular. The strange circumstances surrounding the samurai leave her speechless, her mind searching through every memory for some answer. 'Someone' entrusted him to look for the three of them, the reason why Satoru assumes they are siblings is completely unknown to her. The only thing she can assume is that he discovered it in her absence, those days when she ended up in Kokichi's company. Or was it when he learned she was a woman?

Confused and with less desire to see him again, Kasumi walks to the place where she kissed Satoru, at the foot of a small hill from which the horizon can be clearly seen.

.

.

.

.

.

Hours pass and she does not return, Satoru has been especially attentive to her cursed energy, moving through the forest. She hasn't even returned to eat even though Utahime went out to look for her a couple of times. The priestess only returned to take food and then retrace her steps with an untouched wooden tray. Kasumi's excuse was simply that she wasn't hungry, but Shoko's and Utahime's eyes are pointed in his direction with an expression full of suspicion.

“We left you alone with her for a few minutes and now she doesn't want to enter the temple," says Utahime drinking from her teacup with her eyes closed.

“I hope you weren't too cruel to her. She doesn't deserve your contempt. The least you could do if you were going to reject her was to tell her gently. She's a sweet girl," says Shoko, pouring herself a cup next to the priestess.

“What could you expect from him? He was probably very hard on her...so hard that she hasn't wanted to eat all day. I don't even want to imagine what he said to her.”

“You have to learn to talk to women like her, Satoru. Especially when they've confessed to you in such a lovely way. I bet you've never had someone profess words of love like that to you before.”

“And why are you so sure that I did that? What have I done to make you think so lowly of me?” Satoru answers with a tired frown, tuning the strings of his instrument.

“It's easy to guess.”

“It would be the most obvious conclusion.”

“I didn't get a chance to say anything to her. I wasn't planning on answering her confession right now either... I was going to tell her the truth about her origins, and she ran away.”

“You must have gotten off to such a bad start that she knew you were going to break her heart," Utahime reproaches him.

“It's like I could imagine it.”

“Well, how would you do it? Enlighten me, since you seem to be experts on the subject.”

“You must be delicate," Utahime replies, a murderous look in her eyes.

“Considerate.”

“Yes, very considerate.”

“You must be sincere.”

“But not too sincere!”

“If you're too sincere, you'll end up hurting her feelings.”

“Watch your words.”

“Tell her you appreciate her.”

“That you're flattered.”

“Very flattered.”

“But that right now...”

“You can't reciprocate her feelings.”

“Wait, that sounds like... eventually I'll be able to reciprocate her feelings. Wouldn't I be giving her false hope if I put it that way?”

“Well...”

“Maybe...”

“Tell her that you'd be honored...”

“But that you don't... feel the same way, right?”

“Right?” asks Satoru.

“You don't feel it, do you?” asks Shoko and they both turn their attentive gazes to him.

“I don't think so...”

“You don't think so?” they both question in unison.

“Well, what am I supposed to feel?”

“Have you never been in love?”

Shoko's question leaves him wondering, has he ever felt anything like that? Satoru puts a hand to his chin and thinks carefully.

“If you have to think about it that much, I guess not..." the priestess comments.

“Then, what do you feel? Are you attracted to her?”

“She's pretty, and besides, I saw her naked. But that was an accident!” He says, noticing the horrified way the two of them look at him. “It wasn't intentional, I promise," he adds and raises a hand in the air. “She's cute, yes. I admit it. But what else should I feel?”

“Does it really matter? Everyone here knows who she is, so before you answer that question you should tell her the truth. If she chooses to take the emperor's place, you will never again be able to say aloud that you saw her naked, in your entire life. At least it was nothing more than a confession... that puts my mind at ease.”

“He said she kissed him," Utahime adds.

“Did she? And you, did you reciprocate?”

“Well... yes, a little.”

“He's an idiot..." mutters Utahime.

“Well... it's just a kiss, isn't it?” asks Shoko. “Is it really that important? As long as 'something' else doesn't happen... I guess it's not THAT bad, I guess it's harmless.”

“This is going to give me a headache," complains Utahime, with a hand on her forehead.

“That's the hangover," replies Satoru.

The door opens in front of them. The three of them, with a shared expression of panic, watch Kasumi arrive. When she crosses the door frame she seems not to have heard their conversation. She brings the flute over in her right hand and raises it with a soft smile.

“I've learned the song.”

A sigh of relief leaves Satoru's lungs. He watches her as Utahime scolds her for not having eaten all day and together with Shoko takes her out of the room, as if they want to somehow protect her from him. The idea that they think he would be able to hurt her bothers him. He doesn't understand why people constantly make the worst guesses when it comes to him, but he doesn't digress too much into it and simply continues to tune the strings of the shamisen.

As the sun sets, Utahime gathers them together. Shoko lights her pipe and stands by the window as she watches them. Kasumi lights the lanterns one by one outside the temple while Utahime prepares her costume. She has told them that the full moon will be auspicious and give her spell greater effectiveness.

When the stage is set, Kasumi brings the jar with Sanso inside. It is the first time Shoko can lay her eyes on it and she looks at it rather curiously. Everyone seems to agree that it is simply horrifying, but Kasumi pats the jar with a slight smile. Strangely, she has grown accustomed to his appearance and the fact that he is half human makes her feel a little sorry for him. Perhaps she even has a bit of respect for his existence, though she wouldn't know how to describe it in her own words.

Satoru has a smile on his face, he stands next to Shoko as Utahime explains the final details of her enchantment to Kasumi.

“Have you seen it before? The incantation?”

“A couple of times, you?”

“Dozens, I like to watch her dance. Although I've never seen her dance in the moonlight before, it will be a sight to see.”

“Maybe you should have been the one to explain to me how it feels to be in love with someone," he says in a whisper, leaning close to her ear.

Shoko smirks, inhales from her pipe and then lets the grayish air out, tilting her lips to fill Satoru's face with smoke.

“I guess it's the same as having a best friend. One you want to kiss 'til you're out of breath.”

Satoru shakes the smoke from his face, then brings both hands to his pockets and purses his lips for a moment.

Suddenly it seems that, in the middle of the night, no nocturnal animal song can be heard. The crickets have completely disappeared and it is only until this instant, when the bells of Utahime's kagura suzu ring out echoing through the night, that he notices. Not even the icy breeze is present, not even the sound of the leaves of the bamboo trees swaying, not even the whistling of the wind, there is nothing.

The lanterns are blown out simultaneously.

“Shoko..." says Satoru. “Bring a sword.”

Her light blue eyes wander in all directions. It seems that just getting Sanso out of the temple was enough to finally make the curse decide to attack. It is watching them, from somewhere in the vast forest.

“Kasumi!” Satoru shouts and throws his own sword at her.

She is so close to the jar that he fears she will be the first to be attacked. She quickly unsheathes and stands in front of Utahime, brandishing her sword, waiting for the curse to finally manifest.

In the shadows, Satoru sees an eye open; it glows in the moonlight and blinks. Its reddish iris watches him as he receives a new sword from Shoko's hand and places her on his back, making her step backwards until they reach Kasumi. A few seconds later he sees another eye opening in his direction, the trees move, the branches sway over their heads and, in the blink of an eye, the eyes become dozens.

Kasumi swings her sword from side to side, when she sees scaly hands grasping at the bamboo, slowly lowering down to the ground. She holds her breath as she sees the first face, its mouth opens, elongated like a crocodile's, reddish and slitted at the top, hairy underneath. Its blue lips part, letting out a grotesque roar from within, saliva dripping from its sharp, protruding fangs, pointing in all directions. Its breath materializes in front of its nose and, above its mouth, a single eye.

The animal-shaped, baboon-like curses appear in a herd, surrounding them. On one side, Kasumi and on the other Satoru. Shoko and Utahime remain in the center, with Sanso separating them.

Their proportions are chilling, they walk cautiously leaning on their knuckles, all following each other's footsteps at the same time, surrounding them like a spiral.

“Kasumi, take care of the girls, I'll leave them to you for a minute!”

She can barely begin to turn to look at him, when he raises his sword and slashes the first one's face. One jumps over her head and Satoru slides down its legs, slicing through the middle of its abdomen.

At Satoru's sudden attack, curses are hurled at him.

Satoru cuts off the arms of one while another appears to hang on his left arm. Before he can bite his face, the samurai thrusts his sword through his mouth and lifts him into the air, impaled. He swings his sword so hard that the curses fly off into the trees, shattering their trunks and one of the temple walls.

Satoru's face twists at the sight of the broken wall, but he ignores it when he sees a curse hurling directly at Shoko. With his own eyes, he sees a halo of blue light break through Kasumi's legs and, with an accurate swipe of her blade, splits the curse's teeth.

He smirks and grabs one in mid-air to then pin it to the ground, thrusts the katana at it and then with a flick of his wrist, spins it in the air and grabs it again. Anyone watching would swear he is having fun, even after exorcising five more curses he continues with a smile on his face.

When everything finally seems to calm down, Satoru walks around looking for one last curse. He stops in front of the staircase, stretches out his hands and clasps them together in a confident gesture.

“I think there's another one coming," he says shortly before opening his eyes and turning to his right, just before a curse the size of a wall hits him hard and carries him out of sight.

The steel of his sword vibrates as it hits the ground. Kasumi shouts his name and runs towards the sword, grabs it in her hands and keeps running after him, while being dragged by the imposing pace of the curse that moves like an anaconda through the bamboo forest.

The creaking of the splitting trees, crushed by their passage, hitting him in the back, leaves him completely deaf. He can barely move his hands, yet this little predicament he finds himself in makes him smile even more.

Rare are the occasions when Satoru can really put his supernatural abilities to the test, and he doesn't plan to waste this one. His arm muscles clenched, Satoru raises a hand and quickly grabs a piece of log and then stabs it into the curse's snout over and over again, as fast as he can until finally the curse shrieks and writhes. It lifts its gigantic visage into the air and thrusts at him, lifting him into the air in the middle of the night.

Splitting the moon in half, Kasumi watches Satoru's figure burst into the night sky to fall into the mouth of the curse she chases.

Her light blue eyes do not credit what she has just seen. She stops breathless, both swords in her hands. Her wrists tremble helplessly, a rage mixed with impotence fills her entire body, right down to her fingertips. She drops one sword and, as she is wielding hers with the intention of attacking the curse, she stops again.

With the trunk cut into a sharp point, Satoru funnels his energy into it and uses it to cut the curse's flesh from the inside. As he falls and cuts, with his improvised weapon held by his two arms, he feels a chaotic thrill corrupting him from within.

The flesh disappears back into ashes that blow away in the wind and, behind it, there's Kasumi. He does not know how to define the emotion that crosses her eyes, he does not know if it is fear, admiration, uncertainty or curiosity. The only thing certain is that she looks at him with her mouth half open and it seems impossible to take his eyes off her.

That way of looking at him fills his chest and he becomes indigested by his own ego swelling inside him. She smiles at him, her heart racing and her breaths slightly agitated. His haughty gesture disappears in the blink of an eye, launching himself against her to wrap her in an embrace before snatching the sword from her hand and hurling it against a curse that spits at her.

Spittle splatters on the ground before he stumbles down, dissolving the plants around him. Satoru's maneuver frees them from the poison, but not from tumbling down the slope, taking more trees and brush with them, rolling to the end of the forest.

 The world stops spinning. He opens his eyes and sees her beneath his body.

Her hair disheveled, her blue eyes wide open and her face filled with a sweet peach color. Maybe it's because of the adrenaline of the fight, maybe that's why he feels his heart pounding so hard inside his chest as he looks into Kasumi's blue eyes. As if discovering her colors for the first time, the color of her eyes is not as blue as he thought, rather it is the color of a quartz and shines as such. Satoru is breathing shakily on top of her and makes no attempt to get up, this may be because she is looking at his half-open lips so intently, or also because her suit was loosened by the fall and from his position, he can clearly see the shape of her collarbone and a small portion of her shoulder.

Kasumi's nervous gaze wanders across his face, from his lips to his eyes and then back to repeat the wander. Could that be the reason why he does the same? Suddenly he finds himself watching, slightly uneasily, the color of her lips.

She sits up on her elbows and the fabric of her suit loosens a little more. Satoru lowers his gaze still on her body, glances sideways at the bare skin and then turns his gaze back to her mouth. Now that she stood up, they are a little closer, so close that Satoru's breaths touch Kasumi's cheeks.

Shyly, she stretches her face towards him, barely, in an almost imperceptible but very obvious way to him, so much so that he is suddenly inclined to do the same.

“Hey guys, are you all right?!”

The echo of Shoko's voice wakes him up and he stands up. Kasumi avoids looking up and, as he shakes off his clothes and she arranges her kosode, Satoru replies.

“We're fine! You?”

“Also! But hurry up!”

Completely ignoring what just happened, Satoru holds out a hand to Kasumi and she takes it after deliberating for a few seconds. A small whimper escapes her lips as she tries to stand up. Immediately, Satoru squats down and pushes aside the hakama planks. He feels Kasumi's hands clutching his back to keep from falling, him inspecting her ankle, injured and just a little swollen.

Kasumi feels his hands around her knees without asking permission.

“N-No, no! Please! Wait!”

“Don't you want me to carry you? You're not even heavy.”

“N-No... I can't... be so... so close to you right now. The truth is... I find it hard to look you in the face lately. I can hardly stand it.”

Kasumi's sincere words leave him completely speechless. He relinquishes his grip on her body and stands in front of her. There is something particular about her words that provoke a very raw reaction in him, one that he now feels almost unable to restrain. Perhaps if it weren't for the fact that he has to hurry, he would answer her differently, but now with the curse inside the jar being the focus of the forest curses, Satoru swallows and turns away. He drops to one knee and looks over his shoulder at her.

“How about if I carry you on my back? Then you wouldn't have to look at my face.”

Kasumi's heart knows no peace, not when he looks at her or touches her, much less now when Satoru offers her his back. Carefully, she rests a hand on him, trying not to think about how wide it is or the way her chest hugs his back. Nor does she want to think about the hands holding her legs or the smell of his hair. Kasumi entwines her arms around Satoru's neck and dares to lean her head against his, a huge smile painting her face.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: Harmless comfort

(...)

“What exactly did you tell him? Maybe you weren't clear enough and that's why he hasn't answered you yet.”

“I think I was clear... Although maybe... my words might have sounded a bit scrambled, maybe I said it too fast. Maybe I should have been more specific. I don't know, I'm not sure anymore!”

“Men aren't like us; they don't notice certain subtleties about our behavior... especially Satoru.”

“I don't think I was subtle... I told him that I felt my heart burst when he's near me... And it's true, many times I can't even look him in the eyes because I feel the air escapes my lungs, I stutter and I blush very easily. My chest hurts when something bad happens to him, like a constant sorrow, it hurts so much that I feel like I could die from this pain. But.... at the same time, I feel something warm that is born inside me when he is near... And... when he takes care of me, I feel so much happiness that it's unbearable. If he touches me, if I feel his breath close to my skin, it suffocates me. It's torture! But at the same time... I feel it's beautiful, sometimes I can't even take my eyes off him. I like everything about him, I like his laugh, his eyes, his voice, even his smell. I feel like I'm going to go crazy every time he's too close to me and the worst thing is that he does it so often. I don't even know if he realizes it, he doesn't see that I could just fall apart in his hands when he hugs me.”

“Did you say all that?”

“Something like that...”

The alcohol has their faces reddened, but if they hadn't had a single drop they still would be. Shoko and Utahime look at Kasumi holding a breath. Their gazes completely moved. She can't see them; her eyes are riveted on the wooden planks on the floor. Then she pours herself another cup of sake and drinks it, unable to look up.

“I think I'm deeply and completely in love with him.”

(...)

The smile on her face is uncontrollable, fortunately for Kasumi he can't see it as he carries her on his back. Her slender arms entwine under his chin, her head drops against his, so comfortable that she could make the rest of the trip there hidden from the world. The smell of his hair, shining like silver in the moonlight, fills her lungs. Her heart thumps hard each time Satoru's hands settle under her legs as they climb the slope they both fell down.

Satoru doesn't say a word, he watches the path in the middle of the night trying to find the firmest places where to lean. However, for a moment he wonders what happened to him down there.

Maybe it's just a product of adrenaline. He must admit that he can't always display and show off his skills and that feeling always leaves him a little more animated than usual. It must be that coupled with the fact that no one had kissed him in a long time. Since his master's health began to deteriorate, he didn't waste time on superfluous distractions, how could he? He would have felt like complete garbage.

It must be that Kasumi's tender kiss simply awakened something that lay dormant, lethargic in the back of his mind. Though he's not entirely sure, since it wasn't too long ago that he was willing to sleep with Ichigo's courtesans.

The doubt doesn't leave him calm; it makes him think something that leaves him uneasy. Perhaps, after all, the companionship he felt for Kai has transformed into something more.

Upon returning to the temple, Utahime and Shoko immediately go to Kasumi. Fortunately, Shoko's sorcery works quickly on such a superficial injury. A sprain is nothing when she has healed even fractures and punctured organs.

“Let's do this quickly, before more come," says Satoru.

A short time later, Utahime takes her staff with twelve bells on it and he and Kasumi sit down to play their melody. Kasumi doesn't detune once until she finally finishes dancing and the energy of the seal increases until it glows in front of her eyes. Kasumi watches, eyes full of admiration. She sees Utahime smile and wipe her forehead. Then she takes the jar in her hands and walks over to them.

“Now tell me, Satoru, how do you plan to repay me for destroying my temple, again?”

She can only laugh as she watches them argue. She feels the tobacco smoke waft around her and turns to Shoko, who hasn't wasted a second to light her pipe.

“You're not leaving this thing here!”

“Where do you want me to take it? I'm a fugitive, do you think they'll let me into any temple with that hideous thing in my hands?”

“That's not my problem! We had a deal!”

“Can't you do this for me?”

“Of course not! I've already done you too many favors!”

“It's already sealed, I don't know what you're complaining about! Look at him, look at his one eye! Are you going to tell him that you're not a little sorry to throw him out on the street?”

“You're so inconsiderate! And stop putting that curse on my face! You're not going to move me!”

“It'll be all right, Utahime. Don't overreact. Why are you shouting so much? You're making me dizzy...”

“Overreacting?!? You think I'm overreacting?!?”

“I have a suggestion," Shoko interrupts before letting smoke escape from between her lips.

The trio turns to her.

“I heard something about a temple outside of Edo. Some pilgrims tried to recruit me a while back, maybe you could go see what it's all about. I know they have some shamans, it's a religious group called the 'Star community'.”

“The Star?” Satoru asks.

“A scholar, they call him The Star. Apparently, it's their deity.”

“Sounds like a cult," Utahime mentions.

“I know, but the Danish pilgrim I met didn't strike me as a lunatic. On the contrary, although he was a bit reserved. He and his student came to me with serious injuries after exorcising a curse that was ruining some farmers' crops.”

“Don't tell me you intend to send us to make sure it's safe to go," Satoru replies and Shoko just smiles at him.

“If they have shamans, it might be worth it to see what it's all about," Kasumi replies.

“I think it's a good idea," adds Utahime.

“You'd say anything to get Sanso out of here, wouldn't you?”

“What other choice do we have? We promised we would take Sanso to a safe place..." interrupts Kasumi. “Maybe they’ll help us, if they're in the business of exorcising curses then how bad can they be?”

“I guess we wouldn't lose anything by trying... Besides, I have to admit that it's made me a little curious. A deity, you said?”

.

.

.

.

.

After a promise to repay the losses at the Utahime temple, Satoru saddles Oguri and prepares the supplies to start their journey again. Kasumi puts back on the kimono that Kokichi gave her, the priestess left it as good as new during the time Satoru and Kasumi practiced, although she had a hard time getting rid of all the blood that had stuck to it. With a bow and arrows as a final gift, Kasumi climbs onto the back of the dashing white horse and extends her hand, bidding farewell to Shoko and Utahime, crossing the thick bamboo forest.

The masterless samurai's arms encircle her, he takes Oguri's reins, holding them gently and pressing his ankles against the horse's skin.

Both silently listen to the morning song of the turtledoves. The breeze barely shakes their clothes, icy. The sun bathes the clouds above the sunrise in orange watercolors. Kasumi appreciates the stillness, with him at her back, the calm fills her with hope. A smile tugs at her lips.

Even though she has yet to hear an answer, she feels reassured. Satoru doesn't seem inclined to fill the silence with his tireless chatter, as if he shares with her this sudden appreciation for quiet. Who could blame them? They've hardly had a quiet week since they met.

Hours pass in pure silence until finally the forest ends and Kasumi can see the shore of Edo Bay. If she strains her eyes a bit, she can even see a couple of islands scattered along the bay.

She wants to ask him how many days of travel they have ahead of them, but dares not interrupt the stillness. She fears that, if she starts talking to him, they will eventually end up in the same place as the previous afternoon, when the sudden fear of his rejection forced her to end their conversation. So, she remains silent even as she begins to die of longing to hear his voice.

Satoru, for his part, has not stopped thinking about what will happen after telling her the truth. Perhaps, as Utahime said, Kasumi will simply surrender to her own destiny and choose to become her father's successor. Perhaps this innate sense of doing the right thing will leave her with no room for retorts and she will simply bow her head. For someone with so little appreciation for her own life, that sounds like the only right choice. After all, what other future could she have?

“Kasumi..." he says in a particularly hoarse voice, having kept his mouth shut for so many hours. “What is it that you would like to do?”

“What you mean, what would I like to do right now?”

“I mean... What future do you see together with your siblings... when all this is over?”

Kasumi is silent for a moment, deliberating what to answer him.

“Maybe it's something modest... I don't have many aspirations, no talents either... I'd like to live on the coast, I've always liked the sea breeze... Maybe I could make a living if I learn to sew, or some other trade, I don't know... I doubt anyone would pay for my services as a shaman, after all... even if I've trained, I could only exorcise the lowest level ones. I would settle for making a decent living and being able to pay for a place where my brothers can live comfortably. I think... all I aspire to is a peaceful life.”

“Have you ever thought of... getting married?”

Her heart flutters as she listens to him, heat rising to her cheeks. A sudden pain in her lower abdomen leaves her uneasy. It twists her stomach and leaves her wondering how he can pull this off with a simple question.

“Marry? Me? W-Well, I've thought about it, but... You see, I... Uhm... I could never have done it in Yokohama. Everyone thought I was a man... although I didn't intentionally intend to deceive any woman to sustain that lie. A couple of times... I had to turn them down. I didn't want to pretend...but, when Kusakabe recruited me and... certain things happened...I made the decision to live like that. Besides, my aunt never stopped reminding me that no man would ever marry me, as I would inherit the curse to my descendants…”

“What curse?”

“The one on my hair.”

“You must be kidding, did she really tell you that? It's absurd... Yes, it's a little weird, but I'm sure you would have found a man willing to marry you. Kokichi would be first in line.”

“Kokichi?”

“He's madly in love with you, didn't you notice?”

“No... he was just being nice to me...”

“Who in their right mind meets a woman and leaves their home to accompany her on a weeks-long trip? Not only that, the boy left you alone to go and look for your brothers, who are the most important thing to you.”

“He never said...”

“There are men who prefer to let their feelings guide their actions, and not their words. Haven't you noticed? Kokichi isn't very good with words, though he turned out to be a nice guy after all.”

“I'm glad you ended up getting along with each other. I wonder how he's doing...”

“I put half my money in his pockets when he wasn't looking," Satoru confesses with a smile, Kasumi suddenly turns around, surprised. The samurai shrugs his shoulders. “I knew if I offered it to him, he'd turn it down. He's a proud boy, but he has a good heart..." For a moment they are both silent. “If he offered you the stable life you're looking for... would you accept it?”

Kasumi buries her head between her shoulders, her skin covered in a burgundy cloak.

“I couldn't... I... have feelings for someone else. Wouldn't it be cruel to accept something like that even... when my heart beats so strongly for someone else?”

“Marriages don't have to be based solely on what one person feels.”

“No?”

“No, I know many people who have married for other circumstances.”

“Noble people, right? I understand that, but we ordinary people have no such restrictions. A woman can take any husband, regardless of his lineage, even his assets. But I know that noble women have no such privileges. Although they in turn do not have to go through the hardships that we peasants go through. The truth is that I have often fantasized what life would be like for them living in palaces, with hundreds of servants.”

“And hundreds of rules to follow?”

“I admit I'd rather follow a lot of rules than see my brothers go hungry and cold.”

“So... would you prefer a love marriage over one that makes your life easier?”

“I think so, yes... I'd rather love the person who spends their life with me, even if it's difficult. I know I could manage to make a living... Besides, what nobleman would marry someone like me?” she asks, letting a soft awkward laugh escape from between her lips. “These questions... are they pure curiosity?”

“Yes... you've been silent for a long time. The good thing is that, at least today, you can look at my face. I know my face is so pretty it makes your heart stop and I wouldn't want to carry you fainting all the way to the next town, what would they think of me if I carried an unconscious woman with me? That would draw a lot of stares in my direction, don't you think?”

Kasumi smiles without denying his words. She'd rather he take the situation with humor than have a serious conversation with him regarding her feelings.

“It would look a little bad," she admits, suddenly aware of how close they are to each other.

During the rest of the trip he thinks about whether or not to restart the conversation from the day before. He knows he has to tell her the truth eventually, as well as answer her confession. However, he finds it particularly difficult when he hears her speak to him without tangling her tongue, without stammering her words and becoming a nervous wreck. He prefers her this way, more relaxed and comfortable with his presence. They still have quite some time to travel to Edo and from there to Otari, if they don't run into any trouble along the way.

When night sets in and they find no village, he is thankful he didn't say anything to her. It would be very difficult to convince her to sleep on his lap, wrapped in the fur of an animal.

Even with the fire burning in front of her nose, Kasumi trembles hiding in his arms. Satoru hugs her and rests his chin on the crown of her head, as if he can hide her a little longer from the cruel winter that is beginning to make its way along the shores of Japan.

She says absolutely nothing, her lips are too tight to get a single word out. In fact, she feels that, if she does say something, it will come out of her mouth so haphazardly that no one could understand her. What protest could she utter as he stands holding her like that?

It is probably not his body that protects her from the cold, but the suffocating sensation of his presence alone. Every part of her body feels profoundly warm, especially her face and ears. At another time this would be something terribly embarrassing, but when the night lashes with cold gusts, he is her best refuge.

He can't help but look at her with some pity. If indeed Kasumi is his master's successor, it is terribly disrespectful to condemn her to such calamities. If she had been born in the palace she would never have experienced cold or hunger. Perhaps he would have had his head cut off if it had occurred to him to embrace her in this way, if only to shelter her from the cold.

Seeing her curled up on his chest, he can't help but think of him. All the loyalty he once swore to him is now hers. And, although she has not been recognized as his rightful heir, he silently promises himself to care for her as such.

In the morning, as the sun rises and the coastal breeze hits his face, Satoru watches the sun rise with tired eyes. He wakes Kasumi and she quickly rises stammering a good morning greeting that amuses him. She says it so awkwardly that he can't help but watch her with a bit of tenderness, sure that if she had been born in the palace more than one nobleman would have proposed to her even before she reached the proper age.

She doesn't have the inculcated elegance of the women of the court, but she does have the innate delicacy of one and a benevolent temperament. She would have made an excellent princess; one he would gladly have cared for and protected until his last breath.

Suddenly, his alarms go off when he sees a few drops of blood on the floor. Without a moment's thought, Satoru lifts Kasumi's skirt only to observe the red trail drawn on one of her legs, trickling down to her sock.

She looks down, horrified. Their gazes connect for an instant as they both understand what is happening. Kasumi grabs her skirt and jumps away from him, stammers something again that neither of them understands clearly, and she takes off running quickly towards the shore, stumbling on the way, but not falling to the ground.

Satoru sees her in the distance, sighs, and then searches through his things for a bundle of cloth. He then slowly walks over to her, trying not to look too much at the way she tries to wipe away the blood that won't stop dripping between her legs.

“Please! D-Don't come any closer!”

“Take it easy, it's not the first time I've seen blood in my life. In fact, I've probably seen more than you," he says and lays the cloth on the ground at a safe distance, then turns around and waits. He hears her footsteps approaching and hears the fabric of her kimono stirring.

Kasumi had not menstruated once since he met her, so this must have taken her by surprise. However, there is some relief growing inside Satoru as, to him this is perhaps an indication that she is healthy. Not bleeding is a real curse among women, especially if she will eventually end up betrothed to a nobleman. Though, come to think of it, perhaps it would have been better for her not to menstruate at all.

“Are you ready to continue?” he asks her still with his back to her, after hearing nothing but the sound of the waves lapping the shores of the bay. Hearing no response, Satoru turns his face barely over his shoulder.

“I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize... I thought the pains were due to something else.”

“You were in pain and didn't tell me?” Satoru asks, turning to look at her completely. Her fragile snowy hands wrinkling the skirt of her kimono, her face hidden, full of modesty. “Don't apologize, it's natural. I don't mind at all... Remember that I grew up among courtesans. The only thing that worries me is that you didn't trust me enough to tell me that something was bothering you so much.”

“It's just that... when I'm around you... I often feel something strange in my stomach. I don't know if it's pain, it's like a bird fluttering around inside me, tirelessly... I've gotten so used to the feeling that... I didn't realize that this time it was different. I just thought it was... because of you.”

Her sincerity leaves him unarmed, no witty retort. He wants to say something funny to lighten the moment a bit, but nothing comes to mind. An uncomfortable feeling, like a shin stuck in his chest, twists him enough to leave him suddenly out of breath.

“It won't happen again..." Kasumi adds before she nods and leaves, walking straight towards Oguri.

A slight blush paints his cheeks, then he smiles looking out over the bay. Perhaps he's never felt so flattered before, and that's why it's a little hard for him to retrace his steps. But it's not as if this is the first time a woman has professed words of love to him.

When Satoru finally sighs and turns around to get back on top of Oguri, he begins to remember all the times a woman has confessed her feelings to him. They have all agreed on something before, how handsome he is, how strong and brave, even educated ladies of the court have delivered poems to him with their maids, without truly looking him in the eye. None of the noblewomen really knew him, and none of the women he had slept with had spent more than two nights at his side. Perhaps it is for that reason that Kasumi's words carry more weight than any other.

As he takes the reins of the horse, with her in his arms, he feels his chest fill with a pleasant sensation. He's not sure if it's his chest swelling with pride, fueled by Kasumi's sincerity. But, for some reason, he suddenly feels even more desire to protect her.

If there is one thing he has begun to admire about her, it is this strange bravery in baring her heart. Perhaps because he doesn't know how to do it himself.

His chest is pounding, though he says nothing. He thinks it is simply his ego, constantly inflating after each of her statements. If she keeps this up, he may have to stop her or he won't be able to tolerate himself.

His smile fades little by little, as the path to the next town becomes shorter. From far away he can hear the riots, the exaggerated laughter and shouting. The lights fill the small town completely even though they have arrived past midnight. Satoru pulls on Oguri's reins to stop him when they can finally clearly see the town crowded with people wandering the streets.

The stench of alcohol can be smelled from feet away. Drunken men shout, joke and fight in equal measure.

Satoru pulls a cloak from his sack and drapes it over Kasumi's shoulders without saying anything to her, then covers her head with a hood and leans over her shoulder.

“I want you to be very careful tonight. We don't need any more trouble so move cautiously and stay close to me.”

Kasumi nods and Oguri continues his pace. Satoru adjusts his hat and hides his hair, but as he is about to hide his katana he realizes he is not the only one in this town carrying one. The gleam of steel is covered by the amber of the lanterns hanging around town. Female voices flood the streets and, when he finally lays eyes on what he thinks is a courtesan, he realizes what is really happening.

He gets off his horse and walks beside her holding the reins, moving carefully, watching the women opening doors and windows, calling out for new customers. Kasumi blushes at the brazenness, so different from Shinmachi's red light district. The women have their kimonos so open that she can even see their nipples, of all sizes and colors.

The night's chill matters little when alcohol runs rampant in the streets. Right now, Satoru's biggest fear is that someone will notice that Kasumi is a woman. He wouldn't want to have to draw his sword right now and have them both end up sleeping out in the open once again, not when Kasumi has bent over in pain a couple of times on the way here.

As he searches for some slightly friendly face, Kasumi watches with a shrinking heart the way a couple kisses, hidden behind a dimly lit corridor. The courtesan's white legs come into view as he lifts the fabric of her kimono. He kisses her neck in a grotesque way as she subtly stirs his pocket, grinding her hips against his. Then, when she carefully takes a few coins with her, she says a few soothing words in his ear and leaves the corridor. It is not until the light from the lanterns illuminates her face that she can finally see her.

Her heart stops as she recognizes her face, her mischievous smile fades as she realizes that the hooded woman is watching her. She eyes her suspiciously before tucking her loot between her breasts, then continues walking towards one of the houses surrounded by men in search of a night of pleasure.

She doesn't even notice when Satoru stops to talk to someone and, as if she has no choice, slowly climbs off Oguri's back.

Kasumi walks, at first with slow steps, but then, as she watches her walk away, she hurries her gait until someone pushes her to the ground. Her hood slips over the crown of her head, but she pays no attention to it as she gets up and continues running after the shadow that has already disappeared.

Breathlessly, Kasumi looks in all directions, hoping to find that face again. It is not until a hand drags her into the darkness that she sees it again, just inches from her own face. Her frown, her disdain, the disgust she feels for her is still present pulsing in the depths of her eyes.

“Aunt Nami...”

“It's you!”

“Aunt...”

“What are you doing here?” She asks, and then an idea quickly crosses her mind, making her sketch a sinister smile. “Did you finally realize that this is the only place where you could be of use? Have you come to look for the coins that some poor wretch offers for your scrawny body?”

“N-No, I...”

“No? Well... who would pay for a woman all bones? Just look at you, that damn hair and that gangly body... I should kill you right now... Or are you going to play dumb like always? You love playing the innocent child, don't you?”

“Of course not! I!”

“You can't even say two words without stuttering like a fucking idiot. What did you come here for if not to sell that scrawny ass? Haven't you done enough to ruin my life? And what's that you're wearing? Did someone buy you and bring you here to put you up for rent?” She questions her, making her smile more evident, lifting her cloak to look at the kimono she's wearing. “You were my property before, so what you're carrying is mine too. Come on! Take out the coins you have in your pockets if you don't want me to tear them out of your clothes.”

Kasumi resists as Nami rummages through her empty pockets. Suddenly Kasumi plucks up her courage and takes her cold hands in hers and their gazes meet once more.

“Aunt... did you really sell the children?”

“The children? The only one I was going to sell was you! The kids might have been good for something, but you were a waste of space and food. All the time watching me as if you thought you were better than me, constantly pretending you were a saint. If you hadn't destroyed my house and disappeared everything would be fine and I wouldn't be here! Aren't you going to give me the money? Stop asking stupid questions that no one cares about, aren't you going to pay me back for all the damage you caused me? Ever since your mother brought you along you've done nothing but destroy my chances of having a happy life! You owe me a life, if I have to give your ass to a hundred horses to get back what you took from me, I'm going to-“

The edge of Satoru's sword suddenly lands under Nami's chin. The rancor in her gaze fades, replaced by a deep fear. She sees the samurai with disoriented eyes. It was enough for him to hear only half of it to draw, even though he would have preferred not to. If anyone had dared to utter a single insult towards his former master, it would have cost him his head. For that reason, he considers that he is acting with too much clemency.

“Don't scream," he whispers, pinching the skin on Nami's neck with the tip of his katana. “If you scream I'll cut your vocal cords in less than a second, but I wouldn't want to stain Kasumi's clothes. The kimono she's wearing was given to her by a good friend... I wouldn't want to ruin it.”

Nami nods nervously and, when Satoru's sword comes down, she puts a hand to her neck as if she's suffocating.

“Don't ever speak to her again, or next time there won't be any warning at all.”

Without further ado, Satoru takes Kasumi's hand and quickly leads her to the inn where he has rented a room. Before arriving, he covers her hair again and hides her behind his body, not without first seeing over his shoulder the way Nami watches them in the distance.

Kasumi looks shocked, seeing her aunt again certainly left her practically catatonic. Her words seem to carry with them the formula to break her. Even being inside the small room Satoru rented for the night, she can't seem to get it out of her mind. Satoru sees her, distraught, her face defeated.

Sitting against the wall, effusive, lewd and lush sounds filling his ears, yet Kasumi seems to hear absolutely nothing. Of course, he can't read her mind, but he doesn't need to when he knows her so well. Nami's words flutter inside her mind, bruising her spirit. While, on the other hand, the same words fill Satoru with intrigue.

“Stop thinking about what she told you,” He says, sitting down next to her. “You couldn't ruin anyone's life, not even if you tried.”

“Do you really think that?” she asks, lifting her chin to meet his eyes. “But... since your path crossed mine there has been nothing but misfortune.”

“And you don't think that's my fault? I'm the one they're looking for.”

“No... I've always caused trouble. If it wasn't for me, the children wouldn't have run away from Yokohama...”

“Did that woman hurt you with her words?”

“I think so...”

“That's because you think she's right. But take it from me, believe me, can't you? You're nothing like what she said. There's nothing but venom in her words...”

“No, there are some truths too... She said she only sold. It was me they were looking for... And I think you know why, since you were looking for me too.”

Satoru is silent and that seems to be an answer for her.

“I wouldn't want to tell you any lies, Kasumi...”

“Sometimes I'm afraid to ask you...” She says, avoiding the magnetism of his gaze. “I'm afraid to know what the truth is and what they seek from me, or what you want from me... I'm afraid that you'll tell me and it will be something bad, or that when I know, our paths will part.”

“Our paths are intertwined. I won't leave your side, that I can promise you.”

“I think I've clung to you too much, Satoru... you know?” she confesses, hugging her own legs, burying her chin between her knees. “I haven't told you, but... even when my mind didn't remember you, my heart did... Without knowing who you really were I could feel deep in my chest that you were someone special. Not just because of how strong you are, not just because you are someone important and renowned... In the square, when your hand touched mine, I could feel it, you make my heart beat so hard that I have even come to wonder if I will die or if perhaps, I have some condition. With time I realized that it's just you, that the emptiness I felt inside when I didn't remember you was nothing more than your absence.”

“Do I really have that effect on you?” he says and smiles in a way that makes Kasumi's heart shudder. “I'm really flattered, but when you say things like that, I don't really know what to say to you...”

“I don't need you to say anything. In fact... I think I could bear your rejection, but my heart could not tolerate your distance. If the feeling I have about what you're hiding from me turns out to be true and in the end, our paths part... I don't think I can bear it.”

“Why are you telling me these things now? Do you want me to tell you the truth?”

“No, not yet. I don't want to know, I'd rather you didn't tell me yet, could you do that for me? I think I'm happy not knowing... at least for now. I just want to stay by your side for a while longer... I just want to be with you, am I asking too much of you?”

Kasumi's eyes sparkle, filled with tears, when she looks up again to ask him that last question. The shin in Satoru's chest twists at the mere sight of her and the only way his heart finds to give her some comfort is to kiss her forehead.

He kisses her gently, closes his eyes and breathes in the scent of her hair. Such calm he does not get even after years of meditation, not even sitting alone in the gardens of the imperial palace, surrounded by rose gardens and cherry trees.

Kasumi leans her head against his shoulder and a tear falls down her cheek. He puts his arm around her and gently squeezes his fingers on her clothes.

The thought of taking her by the chin and kissing her until she forgets everything she heard today crosses his mind, maybe it would make her happy. Maybe if he gave her something more than his company she would forget her aunt's cruel words. But he can't, he mustn't, it's not right, or is it? Doubt plagues his mind as he turns his face to her and finds her mere inches from him. Suddenly he finds himself contemplating the exotic gleam in her eyes and the pale pink of her lips. He holds his breath for a moment. Someone had told him, hadn't it been Shoko? Just a kiss, she said, it's 'harmless'....

Their lips meet in the gloom. Softly and slowly, tender as a first kiss. A kiss in which he tries to convey to her a little calm, something to heal her wounded heart. Their noses brush slowly, without any hurry. He closes his eyes and lets himself be carried away by her sweet way of kissing him.

Her inexperience fills her with doubt, her heart suffocates. Kasumi feels like she could be completely consumed in the next few seconds, like a tiny match turned to ashes by a small flame.

Satoru feels his heart pounding hard against his neck. Not a rational thought passes through his mind as he brings his right hand to Kasumi's cheek and strokes her skin with his thumb.

A sigh escapes from between Kasumi's lips, one that makes his body pulse. Heat begins to work its way through Satoru's fair skin. Just as he is about to caress Kasumi's lips with the tip of his tongue, he stops.

She opens her eyes, his caresses still lingering on her cheek. She is there, in his arms, waiting for him. She separates her long dark eyelashes and looks at him with a completely blushing face. He looks at her with a certain tenderness, a strange feeling that makes his heart shrink just by looking into her eyes. Then he kisses her forehead once more as he embraces her. He stands up and smiles at her as if nothing had happened.

“I'll be right back. Try to sleep, tomorrow we leave at dawn.”

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Hidden amidst the gloom he waits, sitting in a corner. He's been following her through the early hours of the morning and knows she'll eventually return to this room reeking of lewd sex. He only hopes she returns without a customer. His already drawn sword waits its turn patiently on his legs. Satoru sees his reflection in the blade, his eyes glow in the dark and his own impatience begins to unnerve him.

When she finally enters the room alone, he looks at her neck, her hair pulled back with a cheap ornament allows him to clearly see the neck he wishes to cut. The door closes behind her and it is at that moment that she notices his presence. His smile shines reflecting the dim night light that streams through the window.

He makes a gesture that leaves her mute, petrified, she steps back.

“Shhhh..." Satoru whispers with his index finger resting in the middle of his lips.

She stumbles, tangling her feet in the fabric of her kimono; she falls backwards and crawls on the ground on her elbows, mumbling a ridiculous plea.

Satoru rises to his feet, towering out of the shadows with his sword clenched under his palm. His tall figure looms between her and the door through which she has entered. Scarce moonbeams trace half of his face. His gaze shines, his lips tight, narrowed into a straight line.

“Please, I beg you... I'll do anything..." she says and crawls to his legs, burying her nails in the fabric of the samurai's yukata.

He watches her expressionlessly, barely stretching his mouth and raising his eyebrows at the sight of her, wondering for a moment if she had the audacity to offer herself to him.

“Will you let go of my clothes? You're wrinkling them.”

Nami moves her trembling hands away from him and, just as she is about to make another plea, he squats down in front of her. The prostitute's terrified eyes wander from him to his sword. Copious beads of sweat fall from her forehead to her neck.

“I just came to ask you a few questions," he says softly. Why did you sell Kasumi to the Zenin clan?”

“It was just a few coins... I gave it all back! I-I swear, I-I didn't keep anything.”

“I don't think you understood, I don't care how much they paid you or what you did with the money. Just tell me, what did they want from her?”

“She's the daughter of someone important, isn't she? Th-That's why I handed her over, I had debts to pay! I couldn't keep feeding so many mouths, it's not my fault that her father abandoned her!”

“Don't you know who he is? Her father?”

“I-I had a suspicion... they wanted to make sure!”

“Why don't you tell me everything you know? All this stammering is beginning to wear on my patience and I don't want to leave Kasumi alone in this small town for too long. Tell me absolutely everything you know about her," he says and raises his sword to touch the sweaty skin on her neck. “Now without stammering. And if you even think of telling a single lie, I'll find out, do you want to test me?”

“M-My..." she begins and feels the edge of the sword pushing against her aorta. “My sister! My sister... she brought the child from another town. She moved to Yokohama when the youngest was just born. She came alone, she said her husband had died at sea... but the girl, the girl was different. Her hair is not like her brothers' and although I asked my sister who her father was, she maintained until her last breath that she was her husband's daughter. I never believed her. My suspicions grew when one day a man arrived, he came alone and dressed elegantly. I realized that he had an important position... That day he left money for her and, once a year, someone would come to leave a little more...”

“So, you were stealing Kasumi's money all these years, right?” he asks as he moves the tip of his sword over Nami's white skin. A drop of wine slides down to her collarbone. “Who was that man?”

“His name was... Yaga," she answers and swallows.

Satoru releases his grip on his sword for a moment. His eyebrows rise and then meet in the middle of his forehead, furrowing his brow.

“Yaga Masamichi?”

“Yes, his name sounded like that. Then came that other man. Kusakabe... he took her with him to his village and returned her a few months later. Every year she traveled to see him. But... it was strange, you know? Why would anyone want to train the useless Kasumi? One of them two was her father, I'm sure of it.”

“That's what you told the clan soldiers?”

“If she was Yaga's daughter, then they could use her to get information out of him. That's what they told me. They needed her to...”

“Extort him.”

“Y-Yes! What they did with her didn't matter to me, they stopped sending the money years ago, and I was sick of it. Sick and tired of seeing her face, I know deep down she thought she was better, she thought she was special. But she is nothing more than the bastard daughter of a nobleman, the daughter of someone who didn't want her. If she had been someone important, they would have come back for her, but no... Do they think that with a couple of coins we could survive the whole year? She wasn't even my daughter, none of them were. But her... her face, her smile, always pretending to be a good person, humble, self-righteous, made me sick.”

“I really don't care about that. Tell me, do you know what they wanted to get from Yaga?”

“I'm sure... they were looking for the emperor's ronin. He must have known where he was hiding.”

Satoru loosens his grip on his katana and stands up. Nami touches her neck, staining herself with the drop of blood still oozing from her skin.

“I'm so sorry you're Kasumi's family, because I don't know if she can forgive me for what I'm about to do. But you already sold her once, and I can't afford to leave you alive after seeing her again. Nothing could guarantee that you wouldn't open your mouth for a couple of coins, right?”

“What?!?!” she asks in a shriek shortly before she feels the steel piercing her chest. Straight to her heart, the sword pierces her body from side to side. Her mouth fills with blood and drops from the corner of her red lips. Her terrified eyes turn to Satoru, wielding the sword so close that she can see him clearly in the eyes, as his glasses fall over the bridge of his nose.

Satoru sees Nami's eyes go out in front of him. He slides the sword away and Nami's body falls to the ground. He expressionless at all.

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Retracing his steps, without many hours to sleep, he finds Kasumi sound asleep and his body crawls over to her to lie beside her. Embracing her body, breathing in the scent of her hair, Satoru is unable to close his eyes for the rest of the night. This is probably a secret he will take to his grave. Kasumi sleeps peacefully, smiling sleepily as she feels his protective arm around her. Her warm body rests unaware that next to her sleeps a murderer.

And while she wonders if that last kiss was, as he said earlier, the action that speaks for itself, perhaps the answer she was waiting for to her confession of love. He wonders if, if she knew what had happened that night, Kasumi's eyes would look back at him in terror.

Chapter Text

He doesn't know how long they have until someone discovers Nami's lifeless body. Blood must have already swollen the wood on the floor and the smell of iron must be noticeable. He knows it all too well; it is frighteningly overpowering. He just hopes that the prostitutes are tired enough, and the clients drunk enough not to notice, or at least that they sleep so much that the two of them are already far away from there when they discover it.

Kasumi suspects absolutely nothing; it's evident by the beaming smile on her lips when she wakes up. She watches him shyly, her cheeks flushed, barely able to hold his gaze for a couple of seconds, but at the same time she's full of hope, so much so that it hurts his heart a little just to look at her. So much so that he ends up wondering once again what exactly happened to himself the night before. 

In the end, he feels that he himself is more like Kokichi than he expected. Not because of the nature of their feelings for Kasumi, but rather because of what they are willing to do to spare her a truth that could hurt her. Though perhaps he is the only one truly safe in hiding so many things, keeping her ignorant of her own aunt's death, hiding the truth about her lineage from her. But, if Kasumi still doesn't want to know the truth about herself, he has no way of explaining to her that he has done this for her own good.

For that very reason, she will not say a word about it, perhaps until his dying breath. Lying to her to get a smile in return seems better to him than telling her the truth and causing her much more grief. After all, what could she possibly feel for a being like Nami other than despise? Seeking her approval was a waste of time from the start, for no matter what Kasumi did, she would never live up to her expectations.

When the first ray of sunlight touches the ground, Satoru and Kasumi are already riding on Oguri. The streets are deserted, just as he expected. There is no laughter, no horrified screams, nothing but the sparrows welcoming a new day. No one has discovered the corpse he left behind him.

“What happened for this village to end up like this? -asks Kasumi on the outskirts.”

“They probably lost their homes to the civil wars. These women must have lost their husbands and this is the only way they found to survive. Some of them must even have mouths to feed... If I'm honest, it's not something that surprises me.”

“It's not like Shinmachi, these women are not like the courtesans of the red light district.”

“No, they're not courtesans. They are just prostitutes. Courtesans don't sell their bodies just like that, they entertain men in other more creative ways, this is nothing more than a desperate act... Word spreads fast during hard times, this has become a no man's land... that's why men carry swords, soon everyone in the rest of the country will. Farmers' lands will be taken, merchants suffocated by higher and higher taxes. Managing so much land is a difficult thing, the constant search for balance between the common people, merchants, nobles, is not something the Zenin clan is very good at... Not when they consider more than half of the population as inferior beings.”

Kasumi turns away when the village is but a speck on the horizon. Perhaps, had she been in their shoes, she would have ended up the same way. Without a trade with which to make a decent living, without a plate of rice, or a relative who could help her... Perhaps she would have resorted to the same thing to keep her siblings alive.

The memory of Nami leaves her pensive, she remains silent for a while until he whispers in her ear.

“Feeling all right? Still in pain?”

“No, I feel much better... Although I still feel a little uncomfortable. These days... I usually stay at home... You know, to avoid accidents.”

No idea crosses his clouded mind, Satoru releases one of the reins and brings his right hand to Kasumi's belly. She sees, embarrassed, Satoru's long pale fingers, his thick knuckles and clean fingernails. He reaches out and gently caresses the fabric, sinking his fingers until she feels his digits touching over her navel. His warmth soothes her little by little, yet at the same time leaves her speechless, a sigh lost between her lips. Kasumi senses the energy emanating from his palm, over his fingertips; it spreads across her abdomen like the small wave of a spring, it feels warm like the hot springs they bathed in together long ago.

After his indecent display, he wonders if this has gone too far, or if his loyalty to her includes this kind of behavior. Every tiny move he makes in her direction he questions only after the fact. To then find a reasonable explanation that gives him peace of mind and doesn't bruise his honor, or hers.

As long as she's happy, as long as it's in her best interest... maybe it's okay.

A hot drink was what the girls used to ask for at Shinmachi whenever this time of the month came around, but all he has now to offer her some warmth are his own hands. He mourns inwardly, for not having a firm roof under his head, nor a fire pit, nor a warm plate, or a nobler shelter than his own arms.

The questions in his mind are erased when he feels Kasumi's hands hold his, holding him there, close to her. He feels her abdomen swaying with each breath. He swallows when he finds his own thumb stroking the fabric over the pit of Kasumi's stomach, toying in an almost promiscuous way.

The thought of touching some more crosses his mind, and when he does he feels his heart betray him. Not because of a feeling growing inside him, but because of the baseness of his own nature. So many chaste kisses would have to take their toll sooner or later.

The blood pumps inside his body and makes it suddenly pulse in a way that unsettles him. It disturbs him so much that his thoughts begin to fight with each other, convincing him that he is stronger than his own body's inappropriate responses.

Kasumi's back is pressed against his chest, her open legs constantly sliding and rubbing against his, as they have for a long time. But suddenly, everything feels completely different.

Everything has changed since he learned she was a woman, but he pretends with every fiber of his being that it's not true.

All he can do now is think of something unpleasant, horrifying enough to make his heart desist from his baser instincts. As if he has a grimoire in his mind, hidden among his memories, he begins to think of the foulest curses he has ever seen in his life. He imagines in detail their obtuse limbs, their wild eyes, their texture and smell. The image of Sanso appears, his one eye watching him as if he knows what he is doing and what he would rather think about.

After a while, Satoru gently releases her and takes back Oguri's reins, again, as if nothing had happened. His mind clouded with thoughts prevents him from plotting his next plan. All he can think of is her lying against his chest and the smell of her clean hair intoxicating his lungs. Then he remembers some hideous curse, the kind that drips dark saliva and utters words in unnatural tones. The warmth of Kasumi's hands and the taste of her kisses. A curse with huge misshapen teeth and scaly skin. Kasumi's naked body, bathing in the river, wringing her hair, the water sliding across her figure. Over and over again, in an endless loop of desire and disgust, with a bit of mental self-flagellation in between each one.

“How about we take a break? I'd like to stretch my legs. Wouldn't you like to stop for a moment and... check that you haven't had an accident? We'll stop here, yeah, yeah, it looks like a good spot. Do you need some fabric for that... thing of yours? Or maybe you want some privacy? I'll leave you alone for a moment, I won't go far. So many hours on horseback leave me a little... fatigued. I'll be right back.”

Jumping off the horse, Satoru finally feels like he can breathe again. The icy air feels like a razor on his skin, but he doesn't care. He walks through the forest until he leaves her behind and with her to the warmth of her body. Kasumi's warmth fades step by step and slowly the more deplorable thoughts in his mind do the same. 

It must be because it has been too long since a woman has touched him. There can be no other explanation. It is the most logical. That must be the reason. And nothing else.

Satoru smiles softly to himself as he mentally drills himself with those words, hoping that by repeating them constantly, over and over again, all this misunderstanding will end once and for all and he can fulfill his mandate without further inconvenience. He looks up at the sky as if expecting a bolt of lightning sent by his former master to split him in half, but nothing happens and it ends up being slightly disappointing. Where is the sign he had promised him in his last moments?

Satoru doesn't need to delve into his own heart, he doesn't need explanations, nor more excuses, not when he has such an important mission in his charge. And the sudden memory of Taishō manages to put him on track and clear his mind, the clean air of the mountains of Edo fills his lungs. He takes a breath and lets it out slowly, hands on his hips, looking at the distant landscape full of frost-covered trees. A crow watches him, standing on the fragile branches of a fir tree.

After stretching his legs and finding some relief from his discomfort, he turns around and retraces his steps. Kasumi is standing next to Oguri, her worried face has an unexpected effect on him, his heart shrinks inside his chest and for a moment he is about to bring a hand to his chest, as if he is suddenly afraid of suffering some kind of sudden illness. But no, he knows that this is nothing more than a symptom of the guilt that is beginning to plague him.

What would Suguru say to him at a time like this? Now, when he really needs advice. Most likely he would give him a good smack, so hard that it would bring out all his unseemly thoughts. Then he would look at him in a condescending way and lecture him so long and tedious that his only response would be a yawn.

Accustomed to stretching a smile over his face, he does so in the hope that this gesture will leave her more at ease after his sudden escape. He strokes her hair and ruffles it like he used to do when he called her 'Kai' and she ducks her gaze and smiles covered in flush. The overpowering feeling on his chest vanishes into thin air when he sees her expression.

“Are you ready to continue?” he asks and she nods, he helps her onto Oguri's back and remounts behind her. He grabs the reins and shakes them to get to the next village quickly, before Kasumi's closeness overwhelms him again as it did a moment ago.

Gradually the path blurs in front of his nose.

The trail disappears over a bank of mist that forces him to slow his pace. The damp cold quickly soaks into his bones, even under the layers of his clothes. The sun disappears completely through the clouds and there is nothing left but a grayish wasteland stretching as far as his eyes can see.

Something about the haze doesn't feel quite right, not when he knows they are near the temple Shoko told them about.

Intrigued, Satoru continues carefully, closes his eyes and searches his surroundings for anything, but finds absolutely nothing.

“It's a barrier," he says hoarsely to Kasumi. “It's made to allow shamans to pass through, so we'll be fine. I think they've welcomed us.”

“Only shamans? But... aren't they afraid of shamans with bad intentions?”

“You're finally getting a better understanding of how the world works, Kasumi. I guess it's a risk they're willing to take. Maybe they think that by opening the door to any shaman, even if they end up welcoming someone like Kamo Noritoshi, they'll show their good will. I find that interesting, if it were me I would do exactly the same.”

“Even if it was dangerous?”

“Of course, how else would you find strong allies?”

The thick wet layer of fog begins to dissipate only after an hour of travel. Satoru suspects at some point if this is more of a loop than a barrier, until he finally sees among the mountains what appears to be a temple.

Tucked away in the deepest recesses of Mount Mitake is the temple of the Star community. A five-story tower is the first thing he can see from his position, hidden among the dry trees. As he approaches, he finds the stairs, so long that he easily guesses that the first flight is a hundred steps, only as far as his eyes can see.

Satoru gets off his horse and takes Kasumi by the waist, sets her down on the ground and looks her in the eye before turning to the steps that will lead them to the temple. Kasumi takes out from Oguri's saddlebags the vial containing inside the curse that she herself helped to bring to life, then walks behind Satoru, as if unconsciously waiting for an attack coming from any direction.

Satoru on the other hand moves with ease, he has such a wide grin on his face that two dimples sink into his cheeks. Perhaps it is because he himself perceives no threat nearby that he is so confident, or perhaps it is because he is excited to learn what kind of shamans have gathered here and why. Whatever the real reason that moves Satoru's feet with such enthusiasm, she is unaware of it, she tries to keep up with him despite how short her legs have turned out to be compared to his and stops perforce to catch her breath after the first fifty steps.

Not wanting to tell Satoru to wait for her after seeing him continue without shedding a drop of sweat, Kasumi breathes in hard and then continues behind him trying to keep up. When they finally reach the outer walls of the temple, it starts to look more like a fortification. If it weren't for the red wooden gate —as wide as the one in Ichigo's palace—, he would think they are not welcome after all.

“Don't you get the feeling that they are already waiting for us?”

“Yes," says Kasumi panting, "it's... creepy.”

“It is," replies Satoru with a huge smile.

Without waiting any longer, Satoru rests his long fingers on the door and pushes it. The old hinge creaks loudly. Finally, when the red door is pushed aside, they both get their first glimpse of the temple in its entirety, or almost.

On the right side there are two small buildings, on the other side two others that seem to be a mirror replica of the previous ones. In front of them a man with blond hair and sharp eyes, his hairstyle with just two unkempt locks from the winter breeze.

The man sweeps the floor quietly and then looks up at the two of them, then sees for a fleeting moment the jar Kasumi is carrying in her hands. He stops his work, holding the straw broom in his hands, and waits until Satoru continues his walk to stand in front of him.

From afar he can hear conversations, whispers hidden within the walls of the temple. He senses eyes watching from all directions, but nothing feels threatening enough to raise his guard.

“Tengen-sama is waiting for you, Gojo-san," the blond says, his voice hoarse and monotonous. He barely cranes his neck to look at Kasumi. “You too.”

Kasumi nods, knowing her name wouldn't resonate with any sorcerer in the country.

“And you? Are you the sorcerer who tried to recruit Shoko? The Danish one?”

“Half Danish, half Japanese," he corrects, "My name is Nanami, and yes. I met the lady a few months ago, I hope she's still considering the proposal.”

“That will depend on what I have to say about you. What exactly is this? A cult?”

“A school.”

“Erudites?”

“Sorcerers.”

“Well, where are all these sorcerers?”

“In their classes, studying. The younger ones are in the east wing, the third year and up in the north wing.”

“And this... Tengen-sama, where is he?”

“Walk with me, I'll show you.”

Nanami turns around and leaves his broom leaning against the nearest wall, he circles the small building before reaching the main temple while Satoru and Kasumi follow him. The samurai leans into Kasumi's ear and whispers.

“A bit of an uptight guy, isn't he?”

“Yeah, a little. Do you think we gave him a bad impression?”

“Nah, maybe he's got another broom hidden where we can't see it.”

The blond gives them a scathing look, barely over his shoulder. A small bead of sweat runs down Satoru's face assuming he heard him. Nanami continues walking without saying anything. Inside the temple he walks down stairs even longer than those outside, dimly lit by lanterns. Kasumi watches his steps and the trio walks silently deeper into the temple. Satoru gets the impression that the rest of the temple is built under the mountains, in a place that holds a special kind of energy. Everything seems to indicate that this site has not been chosen at random, but was chosen specifically for this reason.

When they reach the bottom of the stairs, they are both surprised to find another temple built in a dark cave, it is not as large as the one on the surface, nor as elaborate. The structure looks practically new, as if they had just recently finished mining the mountain.

Nanami pauses to the side, his lips pressed together and his icy gaze fixed on Satoru.

“The morning star awaits you.”

Satoru can't help but pout his lips when he hears the ceremonious name Tengen has been given. All this preamble leaves him even more curious, so much so that his next steps are taken in long strides until he opens the sliding doors of the temple.

The smell of ginger wafts through the air. In front of them Tengen pours two cups of tea from a white teapot with painted lotus flowers. The room, not very large, is extremely austere; there is nothing but a small table and two cushions. Tengen pours a cup of for himself and looks up. His dark eyes can barely be seen through his messy hair; his forehead full of straight locks, long down to his hips. He wears a white kimono that is a bit too big for him. He is a small person, but at first glance Satoru cannot tell whether he is a man or a woman. The androgynous appearance and petite build leave him hardly disappointed even though even he can't tell what exactly he was expecting.

“Sit down, I've been waiting for you.”

When Tengen speaks, several voices resound simultaneously, all with different pitches and tones. His presence alone leaves them surprised; however, they remove their shoes by the door and then walk towards Tengen and sit down in front of the table.

“Were you watching us?” Satoru asks in a pleasant tone.

“In a way I know you. You... you come from the Gojo Clan and... you, wow... I didn't expect that there were still descendants of—.”

Satoru clears his throat and Tengen looks up.

“And you're the 'Star', right?” he interrupts and picks up the teacup.

Tengen nods.

“Have you come to join us? Having someone from your family among us would be great, Gojo-san. You have an impressive amount of cursed energy, and since your master passed away, I've noticed it's grown a bit more. Have you noticed it too?”

“Yes, I have. How interesting, so you can sense other shamans?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, I regret to inform you that no, we didn't come to join your group. I don't even know what this is all about, the only thing I heard about you is that you are some kind of kami to them.”

Tengen smiles.

“People tend to call anything a kami these days, but I have to admit it has helped my cause. So, what you have there... has to do with the reasons that brought you to my temple?” Kasumi nods and anxiously sets Sanso down on the small dark oak table. “And, your name?”

“My name is Kasumi, this is Sanso... It is a curse that was born from the body of a human woman. A man named Noritoshi Kamo... put a curse in a woman's womb and she gave birth to... well, this.”

“What a heinous act," he replies with a mournful gesture. “We will take good care of him here; it would be dangerous if he completed his transformation and became a complete curse.”

“His transformation?” Kasumi asks.

“How do you know? Have you seen one like him before?”

“No, I just know.”

Satoru smiles.

“You just know? How come you just know?”

“I don't know, Gojo-san. How come you know to breathe? There are things I just know how to do. How does a shaman know what his innate technique is? It's in our blood, we sense it, there's something inside us that dictates certain things without us being able to understand why.”

“And what exactly do you do? What is this 'school' all about?”

“We take in all the shamans we meet to help them exploit their talents to the fullest extent. They are all different and unique in their own way, we categorize them, instruct them in all kinds of defense and combat techniques, as well as a variety of weapons.”

“You're raising a small army of shamans, in the middle of a civil war? I know someone who won't be too happy to know.”

“No, I have no interest in the hierarchies or politics of the country. My mission is to create a world free of curses, or at least to fight them. Do you know how many shamans there are in the country who don't even know they are shamans? Their cursed energy overflows from their bodies to create new curses that kill innocent people while the three of us are here, drinking a cup of tea.”

“And what a delightful cup of tea, by the way.”

“Thank you, Nanami-san chooses the herbs very carefully for me.”

“Tengen-sama..." Kasumi mutters. “I thank you very much for agreeing to have Sanso in your temple, I hope I am not causing you too much trouble by doing so.”

“We have more than enough shamans to protect us from any attack, you don't need to worry about it, he will be in a safe place. Would you like to stay here for a few days so that you can get to know in detail what we do? Get to know the teachers and the students, maybe you will come to consider this place as your future home. Who knows, maybe Gojo-san would like to teach his skills to the students, we could use someone so educated and experienced.”

“All this altruism is a bit suspicious, Tengen. All this just for the sake of Japan? What about your personal interests? What is it that you want?”

“I harbor no personal interests.”

“None at all? Sounds hard to believe.”

“No, any hint of personal feeling went away years ago. After my sixth assimilation I have hardly any memories of my past lives, the few I still possess are mixed together and I can't even differentiate which life each one comes from anymore.”

“Assimilations? Is that why I hear the voices of three women and four men every time you speak? What are you really?” asks Satoru, setting his empty teacup on the table.

“I am... something more than a human. I am immortal, but to stay alive I must assimilate a vessel compatible with myself, I am not immune to the passage of time. My disciples are in charge of finding them, they have done it for a long time until this temple ended up becoming what it is today.”

“How long..." Kasumi starts with her voice hanging by a thread, "How long are we talking about exactly?”

“I think it's been three hundred years..." Tengen sees the girl's disheveled face and gives a slight smile. “Don't be afraid, I just want a peaceful world for all humans.”

“Do you read minds?” Kasumi asks.

“I don't need to when you have such a sincere face," Tengen replies. And no, I don't have the ability to delve into other people's minds. Go ahead, finish your tea. Then Nanami will give you a tour of the school and show you where you will spend the night. You must be tired after such a long trip. You will always have room and food here, so make yourselves comfortable and enjoy your stay. I'm sure the students will be happy to have such a renowned sorcerer like you among them, Gojo-san. And you, Kasumi, leave your worries outside the temple, you don't need them here.”

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“Why should we believe in this idyllic dream? Why are you so sure that Tengen really is three hundred years old?”

Satoru's question seems to slightly annoy Nanami, who walks ahead of the two of them through the sprawling staircase of the Sorcery school's underground. He has said absolutely nothing since they left Sanso in a room full of cursed objects. He watches him with a weary gesture, barely opening his eyes to direct his pupil pettishly in his direction.

“I met Tengen-sama when I was five years old. My powers had just awakened. I didn't understand what were the horrible creatures that I could see, but that my father was unable to perceive, even if they landed on his shoulder. At that time... he explained to me that I possessed abilities that many people do not have and helped me control my cursed energy. I didn't see him again until I was in my twenties. I made a living as a butcher in a small town outside Nagoya. Back then... Tengen-sama had the same appearance as the person I had met fifteen years before, he had barely aged. He remembered me perfectly, I had not forgotten any of his teachings and thanks to Tengen-sama I was able to survive some situations that would have sent me to the other world.”

“But he said he was not immune to the passage of time..." says Kasumi.

“He is not, although he ages very slowly. Every time he goes through the assimilation of the stellar plasma vessel he regains his youthful appearance. If it weren't for him I wouldn't be here today, that's why I decided that this would be my destiny. To live and die as a sorcerer.”

“So, if you recruit young people and dedicate yourselves to educating and training them, how do you finance it? I don't want to question your good intentions, but..." asks Satoru.

“We charge for the jobs to finance the costs of keeping the school going, feeding the students and teachers. But that doesn't detract from our work. We don't do it to get rich, in fact, we can barely afford the cost of living for all the people who depend on this organization. We also receive donations from followers of The Star, ordinary people who are not shamans but who believe in our work. We have tried to establish relationships with some clans, but they refuse to accept Tengen-sama as the leader of the school. They don't want their children to be educated here since we have not been recognized by the Emperor in the past. For the time being, we need powerful sorcerers to raise the status of the school.”

“And have you been successful?”

“We have several prodigious students. Yuki Tsukumo and her student Todo Aoi are at the top of their class. They should be here soon. Would you like to come to the dining room? I will introduce you to the students.”

Between several large tables, the students crowd in. They waste no time in asking their questions while Kasumi listens attentively to Satoru's outlandish stories. She watches him out of the corner of her eye as she eats and listens to his words, closely appreciating his smile and the tone of his voice.

A few young girls, the freshmen —as they introduced themselves— surround him. They look at him with more admiration than Kasumi herself. Their eyes sparkle every time Satoru's glasses slide down the bridge of his nose and catch a glimpse of the dreamy color of his eyes. The sophomore boys are standing around, asking about his most chilling adventures.

“Then I dropped down and gathered my energy on a sharp branch... It was the only thing I had on hand. I cut its intestines from the inside down to the core and when I opened my eyes... the curse vanished from under my feet.”

Kasumi watches him curiously; he has such a wide smile that two dimples are marked on his cheeks. Maybe this is the biggest smile she's ever seen on him.

The door opens in the dining room Nanami has led them to and all the laughter and whispering dies down simultaneously. Footsteps are heard approaching. A gigantic, bare-chested boy crosses his arms in front of Satoru, ignores Kasumi and watches him warily. He has the hairdo of a warrior and the bearing of a grizzly bear, both imposing and terrifying at the same time.

“I wasn't expecting a man with such skinny arms," he says without greeting. “Satoru Gojo!” He shouts, pointing at his face, "Answer me! What's your type of woman!”

Perplexed, Satoru blinks a couple of times as if this strange boy pointing his finger at him might disappear.

“My kind of woman?” he asks as if he hadn't heard correctly.

“Or man, it doesn't matter. What's your type?!”

“You caught me a little off guard, but... well, I guess a good person.”

The boy's face unhinges, his jaw drops and then he snorts. His expression looks disgusted, like he's stepped in shit.

“A good person?”

“Yeah, I guess so. What's the matter? You're not satisfied with my answer? You have to admit, your question was a little ambiguous. Did you want me to describe the physique or the personality? You didn't make it very clear. If you don't like my answer maybe you should think about rephrasing your question and doing it a little better.”

A slender hand rests on the boy's shoulder and a woman wearing a tight-fitting dark suit steps forward. Her long hair reaches to her hips and she wears a wide smile on her face.

“Quiet, Todo! This is no time to harass our guests! You're going to end up scaring them away. My name is Yuki Tsukumo, and welcome.”

“And you?” he asks with a look full of contempt, observing Kasumi. “What's your type?”

“I think he didn't get the part about being more specific," Satoru mutters.

“M-My type?” asks Kasumi, intimidated by Todo's ugly stare. “I guess... my type is... Satoru Gojo.”

Suddenly Todo widens his smile.

“I think your disciple is more interesting than you, Gojo-san.”

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He flutters like a butterfly around the campus, glides with his long legs through each room and asks question after question, one more intrusive than the last. As if his hunger for knowledge is insatiable.

Kasumi watches him from afar, under the shadow of the temple where the star's followers leave their offerings and perform their prayers. She sweeps up the fallen leaves next to Nanami, watching out of the corner of her eye the animated way in which Satoru converses with the younger group.

She sighs, sweeps, watches him, then sweeps again. She chews a few words inside during the lingering silence, barely interrupted by the straw caressing the stone floor.

“Nanami-san," she says, and in her voice, there is a slight hesitation that makes her pronounce his name cautiously. “A lot of common people come here, don't they? That is, people who are not shamans.”

“Yes," Nanami says in a husky voice. “They come here when some curse haunts their villages, to leave the money they collect or to pray. Some come on pilgrimage from far away...”

“But I haven't seen any.”

“In winter they don't usually visit the temple.”

“None of them work for the school?”

“No. It would be impossible to support the school's expenses by recruiting people who cannot see curses. There are certain people who can see curses, but they don't have enough cursed energy to exorcise them. Tengen-sama calls them windows, they usually send messages of their sightings, but they do it independently.”

“I see...”

Like an open book, Kasumi's gesture withers. Nanami senses it quickly, though he's not too inclined to ask her what's wrong. Were it not for the fact that Kasumi has been cleaning the temple alongside him, while her companion has spent the whole time wandering the premises without lifting a single plate, he would refrain from asking. Nanami sighs.

“Why do you ask?”

Kasumi's blue eyes widen, shining with a slight glint of hope.

“What's going on is! I think Satoru feels very comfortable here... but I... You see, my brothers are in another city with my teacher. Maybe he'd be willing to come here too if he knows what it's all about. Everyone would be safer sheltered in this place, even my friend Kokichi! He's a great sorcerer! The problem is...”

“Your brothers are not shamans.”

With her head down, Kasumi nods.

“In that case they can't stay here. Gojo-san, your friend, your teacher and you would be very useful to us, however, if your brothers are not sorcerers, we have no room for them.”

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Certainly, the school of Sorcery seems to be a nice place, just as Tengen described it to them. Satoru is the most surprised, almost captivated by this new idea and lifestyle he has been introduced to. Kasumi sees him constantly chatting with the younger ones, laughing along the corridors, showing off his skills. Like a fish in water. She, on the other hand, simply feels at ease, although she is extremely anxious about her future.

The days inside the school are mostly spent assisting Nanami-san's chores, as if she can pay for her stay and their meals.

After two days inside the Edo School of Sorcery, Kasumi and Satoru return to walk the trails on the back of Oguri, after a warm farewell from the entire school team.

Satoru keeps looking over the treetops, miles away from the temple, smiling as if he knows something Kasumi does not. He stops when he finds a raven, its dark fur reflecting the whiteness of the snow around it like a rainbow. Its small head turns to the side, its empty eyes watch Kasumi intently and she feels slightly uneasy about him. Then it emits a squawk and flaps its wings. It flies over their heads and disappears from their sight.

The horse follows the direction Satoru points as he watches the bird fly overhead, and after a few hours of travel the birds multiply. What was at first a lone crow became a flock so gradually that when they become dozens, Kasumi hardly notices and is surprised.

“Why have so many gathered? Are they going to attack us?”

“No, they're just watching us. We are close to their home.”

“Where exactly are we going?”

“To see an old friend.”

Satoru has so many friends that Kasumi ends up remembering Utahime's words. He uses that word very loosely, so much so that she ends up wondering if he actually knows her well or if she's just an acquaintance with whom he shared a few hours of work. Whatever it is, she is thankful that they will soon arrive somewhere to take shelter from the cold and the apparent approaching blizzard.

The fir trees shake around her and she can barely open her eyes when the wind begins to whip, the hail hitting Satoru's back relentlessly. Not even sheltering under the skin of an animal can hide from the biting cold.

The cawing of crows fills his ears; it's all she can hear besides the flurries. With her eyes closed for more than half the journey, Kasumi doesn't notice when they finally reach their destination.

A castle, larger than Ichigo's, at the foot of the mountain. Its high walls guarded by guards and above them hundreds of crows, all watching in their direction, their bulging, dark eyes riveted on them.

Arriving at the door, Satoru removes his hood and smiles, lifting his chin high. Kasumi sees him out of the corner of her eye, but nothing happens. However, Satoru's confidence does not fade even after a couple of minutes of total and complete silence. The crows watch them without losing sight of them, quietly.

Kasumi is about to ask him if this person he's talking about really was his friend, when the palace doors open wide and Oguri's paws advance on a brushed stone path covered in a white cloak.

Inside this palace not a soul is to be seen, save for the pair of soldiers guarding the gate, who have not spoken a word.

The shrubs in the garden are covered with snow and the ponds are frozen. The mansion stands before them imposing, so opulent that Kasumi feels she's about to meet royalty.

A young servant girl approaches as they are about to reach the front door. Satoru gets off his horse and grabs Kasumi by the waist and sets her down on the ground. The maid quickly grabs her things without saying anything and then takes Oguri away while Satoru wastes no time and heads for the door.

Again, the doors open for them and the warm atmosphere inside hits them. Their clothes drip on the wooden floor before more crestfallen maids approach. Kasumi hands over her coat and thanks them, though they seem deaf. It is not until a servant woman much older than the previous ones appears before them; her face covered in wrinkles and her hair neatly arranged in a modest hairstyle. She wears a more elegant kimono than the rest of the servants and when she comes to stand before them, she bows politely.

“The lady will join you in a moment. Please come with me," she says softly and with a warm smile.

Kasumi walks behind Satoru into a small room. On the other side of the wall there is a cushion and some tapestries hanging, with figures of ancestral animals painted on them. The smell of incense fills the air, wafting from two small plates placed next to the cushion, on a slope.

Satoru sits on the floor with one knee bent. Kasumi, hardly perturbed by her companion's impolite way of sitting, takes a seat with a straight back and a posture more appropriate for the occasion.

After an interminable wait, the door finally opens and a woman enters. Kasumi gasps at the sight of her unparalleled beauty; her pale skin looks like that of a ghost, her light hair falls down her back like a waterfall, long, fine and straight. She has a few locks over her face, covering half. Only one eye can be seen, her eyelashes long and dark. Her lips, painted crimson, curve into a soft, delicate smile.

She walks dressed in a long kimono, replete with embroidery, yet she does not wear it like most women in her position. Her collarbone is noticeably uncovered and her voluptuous body seems to escape from the fabric of her attire.

The woman smiles all the way to sit in front of them, then gestures with her right hand and the women who accompanied her vanish in a flash.

“Satoru Gojo, how many years has it been already? What a surprise to have you in my fief.”

“Can it really be a surprise if you've been watching us since we left Edo?”

She laughs like a feline, with ominous delicacy.

“Did I misunderstand your invitation?” asks Satoru.

“Not at all, and... who is your friend?”

“My name is Kasumi, ma'am," she says and bends down almost to touch the ground with her forehead. “Thank you for welcoming us into your home. You are very kind.”

“She says so because she doesn't know you," Satoru adds, to Kasumi's surprise. “What happened to your husband? How come you're the master of this house now?”

“He died a year after our marriage and my younger brother UiUi inherited his fief and fortune, so I manage it for him.”

“What a convenient situation for you.”

“Do you have anything to say about it?”

“No, he was quite old, wasn't he? How did he die?”

“A mysterious illness.”

“Those happen a lot these days... Congratulations, Mei-san.”

The name leaves Kasumi completely frozen. Suddenly one of the nights she spent with Satoru comes back to her mind and Satoru's words pass like a flash. She turns her gaze to the imposing woman in front of her and feels as if her heart begins to shrink inside her chest.

“I heard that your master died too. You are now a dog without an owner, would you like a new leash?”

“Actually, I just came to ask you for a favor.”

Mei-san leans forward, her gesture completely captivated with curiosity.

“You know I don't do favors for charity.”

“Is a favor from Gojo Satoru worth nothing to you?”

“It sounds interesting, but you've come at a bad time. I just came to welcome you. I have some business to take care of right now. Would you mind waiting?”

“I guess you've become a very busy woman. All right, mind your business, Kasumi and I will take a walk around the palace.”

“Try not to get lost. The palace is quite big.”

Mei-san stands up and vanishes behind the thin doors she entered through. When she withdraws and only the thin strands of gray smoke from the incense are left, wandering around the room, Satoru stands up and with a smile turns to Kasumi. She on the other hand, does not smile. Her mind slowly collects all the words Satoru said to her that night, mistaking her for the woman who just left.

How not to understand the nature of the relationship they had in the past? Just by looking at Mei-san is a pointless question. Two people like them would obviously be attracted to each other. Both so exuberant in their own way. And she, now a widow.

Kasumi looks up warily without realizing it, at the same time wondering if now that she is a free woman, all the objections he once had to sharing her bed will have disappeared.

“What favor have we come to ask? You didn't tell me anything about it.”

“You don't have to worry about that, enjoy the roof for as long as it lasts. And keep a sharp eye out, with Mei-Mei you're never sure which side she's playing on. Don't trust her.”

Surprised by the serious tone of his voice and the macabre nature of his words, Kasumi stands up. Satoru places a hand on her shoulder and squeezes her body with just enough force to put her on alert.

“I'm serious, don't trust her.”

Kasumi nods.

After a slow walk through the gardens, with a group of four young ladies escorting them a few meters away, Kasumi uneasily observes the surroundings. The walls around the palace teeming with crows, so much so that she remembers the samurai's words about having been watched all along the way.

“She can see through them," Satoru tells her as if he had learned to read her mind. Although after talking with Tengen, he assumes that this is because she can barely conceal her own thoughts.

As she observes the cloudy landscape, the frozen rose gardens and the lakes turned to ice, Satoru mentally counts the number of soldiers and memorizes their locations. Shortly after they begin their short walk, hail begins to fall again from the sky, first slowly, and within minutes a snowstorm begins to lash the region.

Despite Satoru's warning, Kasumi can't get the words he uttered that night out of her mind, seized by fever. The expression of desire she heard coming from his lips is not something he has professed to her so far, and the jealousy that twists her insides becomes almost unavoidable. Can one desire someone one cannot trust? Or could it be that Mei-san proved her lack of loyalty after becoming entangled with Satoru?

The lack of answers to her questions leaves her equally, if not more, uneasy than before. Returning inside the snow-covered palace, her feet wet and the edges of her kimono damp, Kasumi doesn't have many words to share with Satoru.

The matters Mei-san had to attend to have taken longer than either of them expected. Night comes early in winter and the escorts tell them the location of the rooms where they will spend the night. But before they enter their room one of the girls informs Satoru that Mei-san is 'ready to receive him'.

On her small bed, Kasumi leaves the few belongings she still has. Her bleeding is over and the pain is gone with it, replaced by the discomfort of this whole affair that she really has no idea what it's all about. The hours pass and although she knows she can walk -almost- freely around the palace, for some reason she cannot move from that place. Intrigued by the meeting that is taking place and that does not include her.

Once alone, a young girl knocks on her door much later and after sliding the door she finds her kneeling, bowing her head.

“Mei-san asks if I would like to share a bath with her.”

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There are no words to refuse her invitation, though she wishes she could make them up as she stands before her. The tub is so large that it could fit fifteen people comfortably. Steam rises in the room where several women pour buckets of hot water.

Mei-Mei looks asleep, her eyes closed and her head resting on the edge of the tub. She can just barely see her perfect profile, her red lips untouched, her prominent cleavage barely concealed under the water.

When Kasumi takes a step forward, Mei-san's profile turns and directs her sharp eyes towards her and her lips tighten into a smile that makes Kasumi's heart race.

“Take off your clothes," she orders her in a hypnotic tone and Kasumi nods, obediently.

With tight lips and a completely suffocated face, Kasumi undoes the knots of her kimono in the back and lets the fabric of her attire fall down to her heels. Despite the intense heat of Mei-Mei's private bath, Kasumi shivers as she gathers the strength to take a step forward. Before she can pick up her clothes, a girl takes them in her hands and steps back without turning her back.

Kasumi wonders what she will have to wear now that her kimono has been taken, then turns to Mei-san, who watches her amused as if watching a puppy taking its first steps and stumbling. The blush on her face intensifies as Mei-san's feline eyes slide from her face to the rest of her body.

Covering herself would be pointless, she had already seen Utahime naked and her siblings as well. Perhaps this is the first time in her life that she feels so aware of her feminine attributes, which until now had remained hidden like a terrible secret.

When Kasumi finally enters the tub and the hot water covers her up to her shoulders, she may feel a little relieved. Perhaps this is because she chose the opposite end of the tub to sit on, as far away as possible.

“Are you afraid of me?” she asks her, and laughs. Come a little closer, I'd like to get a better look at you.

Without a word, Kasumi slips slowly and cautiously through the water. Small waves form around her until she stops at least three feet away from her, close enough to see each other clearly in the eyes, but far enough away that she can't touch her.

“Are you always so quiet?”

“I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't mean to seem rude... I just don't know what to say to you. W-why did you invite me to share the bath with you? Do you... do you do it with all your guests?”

“Do you see Satoru here with us? Would you like us to invite him? It could prove to be something very interesting.”

“N-NO! Please! That's not what I meant!”

Mei-san laughs again.

“I know, I just wanted to spend some time with you alone. Is that a bad thing?”

Kasumi reluctantly denies. Suddenly she leans back in her direction, her light hair falling over her face covering most of it. Yet she sees her clearly, her flushed cheeks and slender body covered with small scars. Before Kasumi's startled eyes, Mei-Mei makes her way through the water until she is standing in front of her, just inches away. She raises a hand in the air, dripping, and tucks Kasumi's wet hair behind her ear, leaving her completely petrified. She looks into her eyes in a way that makes her shudder and her heart beats like a bolting horse.

“You're very pretty, Kasumi-chan. Do you get that a lot?”

“No..." she whispers, her voice hanging by a thread.

“You're thin. Doesn't Satoru feed you well?”

“Actually... I've gained a little weight since I met him. I used to be much thinner...”

“I see..." Mei-san murmurs as her eyes carefully roam over every part of Kasumi's face. “Are you fucking Satoru?”

“What? N-no, I-I don't...”

“Why not? Haven't you tried?”

For some reason, hearing this question, a conversation she had a long time ago now echoes through her still messy memories. Hamari told her that time, that sleeping with Satoru would end up being unavoidable. Puzzled by that memory and by Mei-san's sudden question, Kasumi frowns.

“Why are you asking me that question?”

“It's curious to see Satoru accompanied by a young woman. I just assumed... he has earned a certain fame that is not at all related to his skills as a shaman. Didn't you know that?”

“No... what fame are you talking about?”

Mei Mei smirks, Kasumi's naivety taking her by surprise.

“Satoru can do certain things that would make any courtesan cut off her pinky.”

“And what does that mean?”

Mei-san seems to choke back a laugh. She laughs for such a long time that it makes Kasumi feel like she's asked the stupidest question.

“You see..." continues Mei-san when she finally catches her breath. “When a courtesan falls in love with a client... the best way to show her loyalty is to cut off her pinky finger as a gift. That way the other men will know that she belongs to him, forever.”

“Would women do that for him?”

“Wouldn't you?”

“I don't think he'd want me to...”

“If it would deter any other man from laying a finger on you, if it would tell the whole world that your heart belongs to only one, would you?”

Kasumi's eyes widen in surprise. The question makes more sense and, although she doesn't like to admit it, she ends up nodding.

“Yes, I would...”

“So... what's the reason why you haven't slept with him? How long have you been traveling together?”

“I met him... I think it was during the last spring nights.”

“Where?”

“Yokohama.”

“And what's the reason for your trip?”

After Satoru's warning, Mei-san's questions begin to sound extremely suspicious.

“He's just helping me reunite with my brothers.”

“Really? The Satoru I knew wasn't too keen on taking care of such weak people. Especially with your trip being so long... You said Yokohama, right? You've been going all over the country? Yokohama is not so far away that it would take you so long to get here, especially if you have come from the Edo route, there is a more direct way, you know?”

Cornered by her questions, Kasumi purses her lips tightly. She doesn't know exactly what to answer. It is not until Mei-Mei's warm, moist palm caresses Kasumi's obfuscated face that she is able to open her mouth, yet she says absolutely nothing.

“You don't have to tell me the truth if you don't want to," she says to her before releasing her and standing in front of her.

Mei Mei's naked body drips in front of her, her pale silhouette leaving her speechless for a moment as they both gaze into each other's eyes. Then she turns around and walks up the steps until her entourage covers her and she looks over her shoulder.

“When you finish grooming yourself come with me.”

For some strange reason, Kasumi heeds her every word. She carefully cleans her hair and as she gets out of the tub she is greeted with the same attention, wrapping her in warm towels and then escorting her to the next room.

Mei-san is sitting on a stool while two women comb her long hair. She is waiting for her with her undisturbed expression.

The room, filled with candles and oil lamps, gives the wooden walls an orange hue. On one side, on a small piece of furniture, a kimono with the most sophisticated accessories Kasumi has ever seen awaits her.

“I would like to continue our conversation. I don't often have visitors and it's nice to chat with another woman from time to time. You must have a lot of stories to tell, traveling with Gojo Satoru must be very interesting, right? Tell me, I'd like to know why you haven't slept with him, are you a virgin?”

“I'm more intrigued why you want to know those details, Mei-san..." says Kasumi trying to keep her tone steady, while two girls undress her and dress her in the kimono she just observed. “I'm not an important person, I'm just a peasant, why are you so interested in knowing about me?”

“Why wouldn't I want to know about the woman who travels with the emperor's former lackey? It is unavoidable for me to wonder what is the reason for you to travel together in the midst of civil wars. It is extremely dangerous to interact with him at this time and you do not seem to be a person who can defend yourself against an attack. More to the point I am intrigued if you are not sleeping with him, what interest could he have in you? That's what I'm wondering.”

“Would it be enough for you to know that even I don't know the reason?”

“Then there's a reason.”

“I'm not sure.”

“Leave us," says Mei-san in an authoritative tone. The women leave the combs on the table, perfectly arranged in a specific place, abandon their tasks without complaint and go away, leaving them alone. Then she crosses her legs and rests her graceful face on her right hand.

“And what is your interest in him?”

She has answered this question before, expressed in different ways. So she has no qualms about being honest, even though Satoru's warning still keeps wandering through her mind.

“I am... deeply in love with him.”

Mei-san smiles.

“So you're making him wait?”

“Await?”

“That man should learn patience. Although... if you haven't agreed to sleep with him yet, then maybe he's more patient than I thought.”

“Our relationship isn't like you're imagining..." Kasumi answers with a slight smile curving her lips.

“Didn't you say you were in love with him?”

“However, we haven't gone that far.”

“So, you have come to something, what's stopping you from continuing? Is he the one who's not interested in sleeping with you?”

Doubt plagues her mind; it takes deep roots inside her heart thanks to the memory of Hamari's words. It leaves her thinking for a moment.

“How fast... should it happen? I have no experience at all, so I don't know... how it's supposed to be. I've never kissed anyone before him, and... I don't even know if I did it right. I'm not sure, he seems receptive at times, but... I confessed my feelings to him a while ago and he still hasn't replied... I feel closer to him than ever though. That confuses me a little... Should he have answered me? If he had tried to go further, would that be the answer I'm looking for? How long... does it take a man to take that step?”

Kasumi falls prey to her own inexperience, standing in front of a woman whose remarkable attributes intimidate her. Wondering if perhaps she has the answer to the uncertainty that still lives in the back of her mind.

“That depends, the first man I slept with tried to be cautious. He ended up being pretty quick though, we went from kissing to sleeping together within a week. The second one was even faster than the first. Once you've done it, you don't miss a beat. How many times have you kissed already?”

“Just a couple of times...”

“Then maybe it's time," Mei-Mei says as she stands up. “Perhaps with enough encouragement Satoru will fall for your innocent charms. There are some men who certainly find a delicate, naive woman attractive, as if they want to take away her innocence. It seems a bit sadistic to me, but who am I to judge a man's tastes? Maybe it's the opposite, maybe he finds you too innocent for his taste and is waiting for you to be a little more upfront with him. There are men, like Gojo Satoru, who are so used to taking the lead with everyone, that they end up longing for a woman who is able to... take the initiative.”

“Someone... like you?”

Mei-san laughs again.

“Like me? Kasumi-chan... Do you want to know what I would do in your place?”

As if the breeze propels her feline movements, Mei-Mei stands up and walks softly over to Kasumi, a hand on her shoulder, wraps around her back and hugs her. Kasumi's blue eyes look over her, her brown eyes alight. Mei-Mei's pale hands slip through the arms of the young woman who looks like a rabbit caught in the spiral of a snake.

“Seduce him," she says slowly into her ear and before she hears a reply she continues. “What you have under this kimono is enough to disarm any man if you know how to use it." With her thumb she stretches the fine silk of the attire Kasumi is wearing and caresses the skin of her collarbone until her shoulder is exposed. The younger woman's heart thumps her chest hard, her cheeks covered in blushes as deep as roses in the middle of spring. “Show him what he's missing, I'm sure he's thought about it a few times. That's how men's minds work, even eunuchs. Someone like him, especially. A kiss or two will be enough to light a small flame. But the fire dies even with the best kindling if you don't feed the heat with something else. You have the kindling and he has the fire, you just have to... blow," A deliberate sigh leaves Mei-Mei's lips, caressing Kasumi's ear until she shivers.

“I don't know... if I'm capable...”

“Don't you want to? Haven't you wondered what it feels like to have him touch your most sensitive places?”

“And how will I know what are... my most sensitive places?”

“Haven't you explored it yourself?” she asks as her hands roam over her torso, wander over her abdomen and end up caressing under her breasts, Kasumi sighs under her hands, uneasy about the strange sensations that start to throb all over her body.

“No...”

“Then let him show you... or would you like me to show you?” she asks and her right hand begins to trace an accurate path to her lower abdomen.

“No..." Kasumi whispers, squeezing her legs together.

Mei-Mei smiles.

“Do you lack courage? You want me to give you some?” The hands that wrap around her like a vine gently retract. Mei-san turns away from Kasumi and walks to a small piece of furniture, opens a drawer and takes a small object wrapped in cloth. On her return, she takes it out of its wrapping and takes it with two fingers. "Open your mouth, this will arouse you a little..."

“What is it?”

“Chocolate, I brought it back after a trip abroad. It's invigorating... Don't worry, I'm not going to poison you," she says and smiles, holding the piece of chocolate waiting for Kasumi to heed her orders.

The blue eyes locked on Mei-Mei's little energizer. The heat pulsing from inside her body. The memories of what she saw in Shinmachi behind a dark corridor. Everything swirls inside her mind and without much deliberation, Kasumi opens her mouth. Mei-Mei's fingers become soaked with her saliva and she takes her time to pull them out of her mouth, caresses her blushing lips and then releases her. For a small moment, her smile widens and a petty laugh is lost inside her throat.

.

.

.

.

.

He didn't expect that when he finished his conversation with Mei-Mei, a table with no other guests but himself awaited him. For some reason, he can't finish enjoying dinner knowing that his hostess has taken Kasumi away to who knows where, to talk about who knows what. All he can do is hope that she will take his warning about her seriously, that she will be cautious for once in her life.

Even though each bite is slower than the last, he hasn't taken enough time to give them room to arrive and share dinner with him. The plates disappear from the table and there is no sign of either of them.

Satoru sighs, there is nothing he can do to prevent whatever was happening between the two of them. The night rises over the sky hours ago and at the end, when he decides that it will be in vain to wait since Kasumi will probably end up going to her room to sleep, he leaves himself. He walks down the corridors shuffling his feet with two women following his every step. He takes one last look at them before entering his room and opens the windows despite the night chill. He looks out at the palace gardens completely covered in snow after the evening blizzard. He then turns and sits against the window, reminiscing about the conversation he had with Mei-Mei and how he will explain to Kasumi what that was all about. He smiles to himself wondering how angry she will be.

Suddenly the door of his room opens and, covered by the dim moonlight, the figure of Kasumi appears. He is surprised to find her wearing a pink and light blue kimono, full of floral patterns, made of bright and delicate silk. When she comes a few steps closer, after closing the door, he notices the color of her lips, the color of a mature peach. Her eyelids are finely made up and her hair is barely pulled back with a flowered hairpin.

She doesn't say a word, her lips are pursed and her cheeks flushed.

Satoru stands up and walks over to her. Kasumi's big eyes widen in surprise as he raises a hand and touches the hairpin.

“Mei-Mei made you wear this?” He tells her and slides the hairpin out of her hair causing it to fall to the side of her face. The intoxicating scent of her clean hair fills the room completely, quickly getting into Satoru's lungs, unnerving him for an instant.

Kasumi can't utter a single word, with the sweet taste of chocolate still lingering on her tongue. His body so close intensifies the throbbing in her body, she stares at him intently until he takes his attention off the hairpin to look into her eyes again. There is nothing but silence and cold, though Kasumi feels like she is about to burst into flames.

Satoru swallows, the atmosphere in the room suddenly changing just by seeing the intent of her gaze. Then, as if he has fallen into a trap, he looks at her lips, his heart pounding. And, despite his better judgment, he can't help but move a little closer to her until their lips part as if he is waiting for something.

“Satoru..." Kasumi pronounces in a special way that makes his skin crawl.

He has decided not to move another step, he knows well that all this luxurious presentation has Mei-Mei's signature and her intentions put him on alert, however, his body quickly betrays him. His mouth salivates like a dog's and it is not until he feels Kasumi's warm hands touching his cold cheeks that he feels himself falling into an abyss. She pulls him into her mouth as soon as their lips caress, he loses what little self-control he has left. When her hands ruffle his hair, bent over her figure, sighing in an almost desperate kiss, he wraps his hands around her for the first time and pulls her tight against him.

The curve of her waist tightens with the restrained strength of his hands, as if carefully and madly measuring the way he touches her.

Satoru's hungry tongue pushes through, nudging Kasumi's teeth until he tastes her mouth. Her sweet taste is a very pleasant surprise, so much so that he suddenly feels the enormous desire to push her against the wall and taste her every nook and cranny.

At some point, when his hands got lost in her clothes, the path of his kisses got lost, finding him on her neck, kissing it, nibbling on it, hearing at the same time Kasumi's heated sighs echoing over his ear.

But, when Kasumi hesitantly pushes at Satoru's clothes trying to remove them, he stops. Their breath turns into a small cloud of steam between the two as their lips disconnect. He smiles sideways, looks her in the eyes and stands upright again.

Kasumi's puzzled and aroused look makes him swallow saliva, then he takes her hand, the one with intentions of undressing him and surprisingly brings it up to his face for a small kiss.

Satoru's unbridled heart and the constant throbbing of his body reproach him for having stopped so abruptly. His clouded thoughts force him to close his eyes, he sighs to clear his mind and opens his eyes only when he feels Kasumi remove her hand from between his.

He hears something fall to the ground and looks between his feet and hers, the red string knotted like a flower she wore over her obi. Before he can look up, Kasumi's obi is there. Bewildered, with a wave growing inside him, he watches Kasumi at the precise moment she drops her entire attire to the ground.

Satoru gasps and with a growing hunger in his eyes, one she has never known before, he slides his light blue eyes slowly across her figure. He descends from her eyes that watch him fiercely, her cheeks burning, her lips half-open, breathing rapidly. Then he wanders down her long, snowy, unblemished neck to her collarbone and bare shoulders.

Eyes scan the size and shape of her breasts, deeply tempted to touch them. Firm, moving in time with her breaths, snatching what little sanity he clings to with each sway. Her nipples, swollen, pink. Satoru salivates with the idea of biting them. Then he observes her waist, her ribs barely visible. Her small hips and between her legs....

Satoru closes his eyes and collects his thoughts.

“Would you like to... touch me?”

Satoru chuckles at her question and looks up to avoid all those thoughts once again.

“I'd like you to... help me discover... my most sensitive places.”

“What?” Satoru asks as if he doesn't believe his ears. His body immediately reacting to the outrageous request just made.

The blood rushes like the torrent of a waterfall through his body, leaving him so hot that for the first time he feels he might explode at her next provocation.

“Don't...” he pleads and Kasumi takes a step closer to him, erasing the distance that separates them.

Satoru raises his hands as he feels Kasumi's naked body pressing against his body, his erection pressing against the fabric that separates them. His chest sweltering with heat and her naked tits. He looks down, about to give up, she tugs at his clothes and stands on her tiptoes until she reaches his ear.

“Please..." she begs, blowing on his earlobe.

A shiver runs through his body and he feels himself beginning to lose the reins of his self-control. Before he knows it, his own hands roam her bare back, his mouth hungry for chocolate finds Kasumi's. He grips her hips and sinks her against himself until he makes her feel what she is begging for so much.

Her soft skin fills with reddish marks, Satoru's fingers outlining his passage, from her back to her ass, squeezing it; more and more inclined to take his touches further and further. But he can't, he promised. This is not what he must do, no matter how much he wants to, no matter how good her skin and her warmth, her kisses and her taste feel.

When a small glimmer of lucidity passes through his mind, Satoru seizes it. He grabs Kasumi by the shoulders and pulls her away from his body just enough to halt her advances.

Shadowed he stops her for a few seconds. He takes a deep breath and then releases her. Kasumi has gone completely cold after his sudden regret. Even more so as she watches him bend down to the ground to pick up her clothes, gathering them between her feet to cover her up again.

It is only until this moment that Kasumi feels truly naked. Not before, when taking off her clothes, but now, when Satoru has put them back on.

“Why?” she asks.

Satoru senses some animosity in her tone, though he's not ready to answer her yet. Not when he's regretting what he's just done. He can't give her an answer until his body stops throbbing so hard.

“Why?!” she screams at him and takes him by surprise.

“Because I can't be that for you," he replies and it feels like a dagger straight through her heart. Satoru can see it; he can clearly see the pain reflected in her eyes and it's enough to make all excitement almost completely disappear.

Kasumi suddenly turns around to leave and he stops her, turns her against him and holds her close to his chest again, but this time her gaze returns something completely different. There is horror, sadness, shame, helplessness, all wrapped up in the beautiful color of her blue eyes.

“You asked me not to tell you, you asked me to give you a little more time. But you just made things terribly complicated for me, you know? I didn't expect you to decide to do something like this, things could have been exactly the same for much longer... But you decided to put me on the spot so now, whether you like it or not, you're going to have to hear the truth.”

Petrified, Kasumi listens to his every word.

“I think you're Taishō's daughter. Only you, not your siblings, no one else. You are probably his only heir. And I... am your lackey.”

Kasumi shoves Satoru, her brow furrowed, her heart aflame.

“What are you talking about?!”

“It's the truth you didn't want to hear.”

“You're lying!”

Satoru stares at her for a moment. He looks aside at his sword and takes it up to unsheathe it before the perplexed eyes that watch him intently.

“It's for the promise I made to your family that I must fulfill an oath.”

To her surprise, he crouches at her feet, lays the katana on the ground and then raises his chin.

Bathed in moonlight, Satoru removes his glasses.

“From this moment on..." he begins in a low voice, "I am your winter coat... I am your shelter in the storm. The shade in the summer. I'll be your boat when sea tide rises. I will be your sword in war. I will be the slayer of your enemies. Your words in my ears shall be orders. I... Gojo Satoru, will be your guardian until my last breath... but I cannot be the man who shares your bed.”

Chapter Text

After taking a step back, under the watchful gaze of the man lying prostrate at her feet displaying his katana for her, Kasumi feels her stomach turn. As if she had sunk into a lake, the air quickly escapes from her lungs. Step by step she walks away, her face becoming more and more disgruntled by the second. Satoru watches her with growing concern; he whispers her name, but the words do not reach Kasumi's confused ears.

With her head beginning to spin. Kasumi leaves the room before Satoru can stop her. He reaches out his hand towards her clothes, hoping to avoid the certain commotion she is about to cause, but his hands miss their target, Kasumi vanishes into thin air.

Running past him, looking for some air and a place away from him, she runs down long corridors until she pushes aside a door. On the other side she's greeted by the winter cold at its peak, but contrary to what she expected, it feels as pleasant and necessary as a sea breeze in the middle of summer.

With bare feet she walks on the snow leaving her footprints marked among the freshly fallen snow. She doesn't even seem to realize how strange it is that she catches her breath instead of shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. She can't, as her mind is too busy repeating Satoru's words over and over again. They run through her mind like a curse, but despite having heard them inside her mind a dozen times they still sound like nonsense.

“It's cold," Satoru's patient, warm voice says.

Kasumi doesn't want to turn around, her sad gaze watching the frozen lake, fish trapped under a thin layer of ice. The moon is barely hidden behind the clouds, its dim light stingily illuminating the surroundings, leaving enough space for the shadows in which Mei-Mei's crows hide.

After a strange, awkward silence, Kasumi watches him over her shoulder.

Satoru's face is serious, not smiling as he has done almost tirelessly the last few days. He watches her for a moment before holding out his hand.

Her winter cloak.

Kasumi's lips twist, though she resists the urge she has to cry bitterly. Satoru's recent confession has left her so devastated that she couldn't even describe with certainty how she feels. All she knows is that her stubborn heart flutters at him.

Kasumi's small, delicate, snowy hand reaches out in his direction and without hesitation he closes the distance, takes hold of her hand and pulls her to him sheltering her from the cold with his own arms.

“Do you want to take it out on me for hiding it from you? Do it, but don't scream, someone might hear you and I wouldn't want to put you in danger again. The crows are watching us... I'll take you away, to a place where you can tell me whatever you want, so you can insult me as much as you wish.”

Kasumi buries her face in Satoru's chest as he embraces her in a protective way. Her hair disheveled, her makeup ruined by tears, her lipstick smeared, her kimono disassembled. As much as he wishes he could give her time, it's cold and she's one slip away from ending up naked. Her bare feet are damp and her body shivers with cold, though she doesn't seem to mind. Carefully he wraps one of his arms around her and carries her back to the palace and slowly drags her into her room. She has not responded to his offer, has said nothing but sobbing with every step, only to continue sobbing lying on a bed.

She seems to have no desire to look him in the face, rolls over on the bed and turns her back to him as fast as her spine touches the mattress. Satoru doesn't move, he can't, he can't find the will to do so after hearing her pitiful cry.

“I was going to tell you when...”

“Leave me alone.”

Satoru still does not have the strength to stand up. He remains seated next to her for a few more seconds and, when he's about to answer her, she stands up. Her sad eyes, wrapped in anger, meet his surprised ones.

“I want to be alone!”

Satoru nods, though slightly puzzled. She returns to her previous position, her back to him, and he sighs once more. Satoru covers her as if she were a sick child. He is at a loss for words. He does not refute his lady's first order. Then he stands up to go back to his room and tries to rehearse an explanation that he should probably give her in the morning.

This is one of the most complicated nights. Satoru finds out shortly after his head hits the pillow. He can't sleep thanks to the growing concern he feels for Kasumi, at the same time as his mind constantly betrays him, reminding him that, had his decisions been different, he would be spending the night in a much more rewarding way, though he would eventually end up just as mortified.

What's worse is what happens the next day, when Kasumi finally learns what his meeting with Mei-Mei was all about.

For the first time in a long time, his stomach hurts. But it's a particular pain, it's the one born of uncertainty. He hasn't felt it since he was twelve years old, when he was just a kid making a living on the streets. He didn't feel it even when he knew that the attack on the imperial palace was imminent, nor when he massacred the Zenin soldiers in the red district of Shinmachi.

His stomach aches just thinking about what Kasumi will have to say to him the next day. Will she refuse his protection?

In the morning, as the sun rises and crows swarm over the windows, Kasumi moves swiftly between the corridors. Satoru barely catches a glimpse of the reflection of her hair before she disappears behind a hallway. Such haste only makes him think she wants to lose sight of him.

Kasumi probably got up so early to eat that he's sure, like him, she didn't sleep a minute all night. By the time he got to the dining room, her plate was empty and Mei-Mei was just getting ready to drink her first cup of tea.

The disappointment in his gesture is so evident to Mei-Mei that she can't help but smile as he sits down and sighs, barely looking up to see her and bid her hostess good morning.

“How was your night? Did you find your room comfortable?”

The words 'poisonous snake' are about to come out of his mouth, but Satoru swallows them and smiles.

“It was your doing, wasn't it? -Satoru says with some disdain, as if there was no point in knowing the answer. How did you convince Kasumi to do something like that? It's not her style at all...”

“Didn't it please you?”

“Not at all.”

“Strange, I thought you'd like it. Have the years changed you that much? In another time you would have jumped at the chance without a second thought. What happened? Have you changed your preferences? It's a pity, Kasumi-chan seems to be fond of you.”

“That doesn't answer what I asked you. I know you didn't incite Kasumi to do what she did out of the mere goodness of your heart, or your romantic desire to see two people together. I know you well enough to know that there is only one thing in the world that moves you, maybe two...if you have an ounce of a heart. What do you gain from all this strange display? Are you so bored that you decided to manipulate her in this way? Be careful, Mei-Mei... Kasumi is not a pretty doll that you can dress, make up and do her hair as you please.”

Mei-Mei laughs softly after hearing Satoru's words and threatening tone.

“That I know, save your threats for your real enemies.”

“So?”

“Now I am even more convinced of what she is not. She's not an ordinary woman that you can screw and go on with your life as if nothing happened. She's different, she's special, so special that you didn't dare touch her with your filthy hands. You're keeping her pristine, pure, for someone else, aren't you?”

“What a lurid way you have of forming your theories.”

“Is she noble? For I don't know how else you would care to preserve her virgin at the cost of your own desires. I don't think it was an easy task to refuse her, she was dying to explore her intimacy with you. She was so eager to learn that I was about to teach her myself.”

“You have already confirmed through your questionable means that Kasumi is, in fact, someone important to me. By the same token, I don't understand why you think I would hesitate to test the edge of my sword on that long, slender neck of yours if you dared to sully her honor. After all... my hands are not the only filthy ones in this room.”

“Don't waste your breath, Satoru. Kasumi-chan still possesses some autonomy, or have you already promised her to someone without her consent?”

“Kasumi has the freedom to choose her own destiny.”

“Then she will be the one to decide which dirty hands will sully her honor, Satoru. That will be completely out of your hands.”

“Do you plan to continue putting ideas into her head?”

“A mind as hungry as hers should not go to waste... All I did was open her eyes to the truth about the world and her own desires. What's the matter? Are you afraid to leave her with me and when you return you'll find a woman far more determined than the one you left behind?”

“I trust that when I leave you will keep your word and keep her safe, and that you are smart enough to spare yourself from a—."

“You're leaving?”

Satoru turns, Kasumi is standing in the doorway watching him with wide eyes. A reply tries to escape his lips, but dies on his tongue.

“How should I interpret your silence, Gojo-san?” she says again.

Before answering, Satoru glances sideways at Mei-Mei. His expression alone becomes an affirmation to her, and the reality weighs on her back like a ton of stones. Unable to bear it, Kasumi turns around and quickly walks out through the door.

The samurai stands up and looks quizzically at the place where he thought she had eaten breakfast. Then he hears Mei-Mei's laughter.

“UiUi likes to eat very early in the morning," she tells him and picks up her chopsticks to start eating, heedless of the little scene she has witnessed.

Finally, the moment has come. Satoru walks dejectedly, with a pessimistic air over his head. He searches through the corridors until finally a girl tells him that she has seen Kasumi enter the library.

Entering the room, he can't find her. Neatly arranged books adorn the walls, square partitions in dozens and a small wooden staircase behind which she's hiding.

Satoru walks slowly, as if she were a wounded rabbit that must be approached delicately so that it doesn't escape. Kasumi hides her face between her legs.

“When were you going to tell me you were going to leave me here?”

He decides to sit next to her and after a moment of silence answers.

“Today.”

“And when do you plan to leave?”

“As soon as possible.”

Kasumi turns around, her expression disarmed at Satoru's sudden response. He has no expression at all, he lost them all, the night before after their last kiss.

“Why didn't you ask me if I wanted to stay here? Why are you making these decisions without talking to me first? Don't I have the right to know what's going to happen to my own life?”

“I didn't tell you because I knew we would have an argument.”

“It doesn't make any sense to postpone it!”

“I did what I thought would be best for you... I knew this would...”

“Why did you decide to go without me?”

“Because the place where I'm going is too dangerous.”

“We've encountered danger every place we've gone! Why should this be any different?”

“Because on all previous occasions, the danger was chasing us. Where I'm going now... rest assured, they'll be waiting for me.”

“Where are you going?”

“You don't need to know.”

“I'm coming with you!”

“No, you won't.”

“You can't stop me!”

“You're going to get in my way!”

Satoru feels his heart quiver, Kasumi's eyes reflecting her every emotion so accurately that he knows almost certainly how much his answer has hurt her.

“You're weak and slow," he says despite his master's gesture, "you couldn't help me out there, you'd slow me down, I can't do what I have to do and take care of you at the same time. My duty is to protect you, but there is something I must do... Something I left unfinished when I left the Imperial city. Mei-Mei will take care of you, you'll be safe here and that's all you need to know... but under no circumstances tell her who you really are, no matter how much she inquires... no matter what she offers you, don't tell her. I will come back, I promise.”

“When?”

“I'll be back... before the azaleas bloom," he says and gives a slight smile.

Kasumi's small fists turn pale, she clenches them so tightly that they begin to tremble. Then she looks at his lopsided smile, meets his eyes and remembers his words to her the night before.

“Then I order you to tell me the truth.”

Stunned, Satoru does not believe what he hears.

“You order me?”

“That's what you said last night, right? You said that my words would be an order to you. Now speak, now I... I-I am your master, or were you lying to me?”

Satoru laughs.

“Don't make fun of me!”

He clears his throat.

“I think I should have chosen my words better...”

“If I really am who you think I am and you have made a promise to serve me, tell me the truth. Say it right now or I'll take my things and get out of here alone. Tell me or I will go get my brothers and you will never hear from me again.”

“Did Mei-Mei teach you to make threats?”

“Mei-san has nothing to do with this! Just one more word that doesn't explain the reason for your trip will be enough for me. I don't want to hear any jokes, not a single irony from you, tell me the truth for fuck's sake!”

“Well... wow... I didn't know you had that temper in store...”

“I'm not playing!”

Satoru sighs.

“Recently... I heard that there is a person, a good friend... who is being tortured by the Zenin clan to get information about my whereabouts. Mei-Mei is helping me right now to find out where he is. I have to help him escape... He has no idea where I am, but he is smart enough not to tell. I don't think they would kill him if they think he has information. That's why I have to help him escape. Once that problem is solved, I'll come back.”

“And then what? What about me? What do you have planned for me?”

“I know very well that I must give you certain explanations... And that you deserve them... However, I don't want to do it within these four walls. I'm afraid there are more ears here than you think... My offer to take you away so that you can curse me still stands.”

“That's fine. I'll allow it... but... one more lie and you can be sure I wouldn't mind dying on the way, I'll walk out of here. I swear it.”

Riding on Oguri's back, after the gray clouds dissipate over the sky, Kasumi sets off with Gojo to the outskirts of the palace. Through the periphery of his gaze, Satoru can see the iridescent flashes of the plumage of the crows that tirelessly follow him. He follows the path that traces the nearest trail and then turns off toward the open sea. Kasumi ducks her head, dodging the branches. She is about to ask why he has chosen such a makeshift path when they emerge from the forest and a cawing sound catches her attention; a pair of crows perch on the branches of a snow-clogged pine tree. As they approach the sea and leave the crows behind, Satoru slows his pace.

Already far from the reach of those animals, they both get off Oguri's back.

“We are far away... but be careful with the tone of your voice anyway," says Satoru, looking sideways at Mei-Mei's walled castle, which stands out among the density of the forest. “Well, let's resume... I have nothing 'planned' for you... But, given the circumstances, you have several options. I'll support the one you choose.”

“Wait... Why are you so sure that I am... who you think I am?” She says, lowering the tone of her voice, “Satoru, I am not special in the least. My existence has been nothing more than an accident, my mother was a chonin and my father...”

“A fisherman... So they told you, but it was the emperor himself who sent me to find you. And it's indisputable that the description he gave me doesn't fit anyone else but you, Kasumi...” He says while he takes between his hands a lock of her hair. “That's why I didn't recognize you the first time we met, when your hair had another color... There's no one else but you. I know you want another answer, you prefer something more ambiguous, don't you? Something you could easily refute. I'm sorry, this is the only answer I have for you.

“Did he say I was his daughter?”

“No, but I can sense it. Maybe he didn't want you to get involved in everything that's going on and just sent me to get you to safety, that I can't know for sure. His mind wasn't quite right when he gave me that task and I must admit that, at first, I also harbored doubts. But... recently... I was able to confirm that someone else knows about your identity.”

“Who is it?”

“The person I'm going to look for.”

“But no one's going to believe it, what's the point? What do you expect me to do with this information? I'm of no use to anyone. What am I supposed to do now? Knowing something like this doesn't change anything about me, I don't know how to do anything particularly well, I don't have any education other than what Kusakabe gave me. Why are you behaving as if this changes anything at all? I'm still the same irrelevant person you met months ago, why don't we just forget the whole thing, we'll put it behind us! Let's just pretend that last night... never happened..." she utters, avoiding Satoru's watchful gaze.

“But it did happen. And I can't behave as if I don't know who you are, even before I knew of your existence I had sworn to serve the royal family. If Taishō's legitimate son had not perished... I would be by his side. If you want to keep it a secret then I'll take it to my grave... Though first I'll have to apologize to you since... I may have mentioned it before.”

“To whom?”

“Shoko and Utahime.”

Kasumi lets out a sigh, then raises her tired gaze to his; his expression is exactly the same as always, his eyebrows are just a little lower than usual. He looks at her expectantly.

“You mentioned something about my options... I assume one of them is to keep this a secret, what are the others?”

Satoru presses his lips together, looks back at the crows watching him in the distance and continues.

“Since the blood of the former emperor runs through your veins, so does his cursed technique, therefore... your future heirs and their heirs will be able to manifest it, perhaps.”

“Perhaps...” Kasumi repeats in an ironic tone.

“Yes, perhaps. This is not as accurate as you might imagine. As in my case, the leader of a clan inherited his family's technique to an illegitimate son. They don't care who the mother is, or whether or not a ceremony was performed to consummate the marriage, or the act, as long as they secure a powerful technique. In fact, the very manifestation of the technique is the only thing that could legitimize the heir. In your case... Taishō's could restore the previous order, suppress the growing cursed energy in the country, both in curses and shamans. If the clans know of your existence you will have many offers of marriage... The manipulation of that technique has more value than you could imagine. If it were to fall into the wrong hands... Well, that's an option.”

“Option? You call that an option? How is that different from what Noritoshi Kamo did to that woman, Tanso's mother? What you mean is that I could sell my own body for the use and benefit of some clan member... until one of my heirs perhaps inherits a cursed technique. And what if the technique doesn't run through my veins? Would they banish me after having used me like a farm animal, after seeing me give birth who knows how many times?”

“Kasumi, believe me when I tell you that I would never allow you to be used like that. Even if I had to get my hands dirty again.”

'Again' echoes over Kasumi's ears.

“'All I'm saying is that you are invaluable and you could analyze every single proposal that comes in, carefully. I would help you choose the most suitable candidate and you would be assured of a relatively quiet life. You would never have to worry about hunger or cold again, nor would your siblings.”

“That's not what I consider a quiet life. What's my other option?”

“You've already mentioned that one. Running away.”

“Run away?”

“Yes. Ignore everything, join your brothers and forget what you've just learned. Live somewhere far away, an island probably, a hidden and forgotten place. When I get Taishō's treasure I'll give you your share and you'll be able to choose the life you want. You'll be able to do as you wish... as was the emperor's will before he died. Personally, I would prefer that you choose the second option.

“Why mention the first? Let's do that! Run away with me! We'll get the boys and Kusakabe. You said you'd take care of me, so you have to come with me. I want to forget all this and live in peace, away from the clans and the shogun. And I want you to be by my side...”

“Are you sure? Remember that I can't reciprocate your feelings.”

Gojo speaks with a lightness and rootlessness that inevitably makes Kasumi shudder.

“Why not? I've decided to forget everything! What good are such promises to those who are no longer here? I'm here! I've confessed my feelings to you in every way possible.”

“Your feelings..." says Satoru as he rests his palms on Kasumi's shoulders, "are nothing but confusion. I understand that your life has been very hard and that perhaps my affection has... clouded your mind. You will see that in my absence it will diminish and when you see me again you will see nothing more than an old friend.”

“Friend? My heart could never beat so strongly for a mere friend.”

“Your heart? Kasumi... a heart can beat for many reasons and that doesn't mean it's important. Wasn't your heart beating fast when we met and you tried to take your own life? Wasn't it beating fast when Naobito Zenin hunted us down and you fell down a waterfall? It sure was pounding when you saw your dear Aunt Nami again and it will pound when you embrace your siblings again. Kasumi, your body and your heart won't always be wise in telling you which path to take in your life.”

“So it doesn't mean anything? What I feel doesn't matter?”

“What you feel should not hinder your decisions. I have a mission... And just like you, I won't always be able to have everything I want. Those are your choices; if you decide to marry and make your lineage public, I will be the one to endorse it. You need not fear, not all clan members are complete pricks... That's what I'll take care of. If you decide to turn a blind eye and live the life you had planned all along, I'll be there for you. But you have time to think about it, you don't have to have an answer now... I'll go away and you'll be calm for a while, take advantage of it to meditate on all this. Maybe the easiest answer is not the safest one, remember that Mei-Mei suspects you. If you decide to leave, I will be by your side, not as you would like, but I will continue to protect you.”

“What about the Zenin Clan? Are you going to let them continue this tyrannical reign? What about your friends? What will happen when they learn about Tengen-sama?”

“The first of my duties is to you. If you decide to send me away, I will do so after I have made sure that you will be well. If you decide to release me from the servitude I swore to your family... you may do so.”

“Would you follow that order if I gave it to you?”

“The answer to that question will only be given to you if one day you decide to give me that order.”

Kasumi lowers her gaze. She knows that her time with him is shortening second by second and that returning to the palace will only be the preface to his departure. However, they are both speechless, there is nothing more between them than the sea breeze.

Satoru glances off into the distance, taking advantage of Kasumi's momentary silence. He feels the direction of the wind and carefully observes the movement and appearance of the clouds. He looks from side to side and sighs, anticipating his plans ahead of the news he expects to receive from Mei-Mei.

“It's cold and you haven't eaten anything. Let's go back," he says and she nods.

Oguri's slow pace gives Kasumi time to think things over a bit more. A question comes softly from her lips.

“What was he... like?”

“Him?”

“Yes... I mean, is there anything about me that reminds you of him?”

“Not really, you're quite different. While he was a quiet person, he was very determined. His hand never trembled when making a difficult decision, I never saw him hesitate. He was compassionate and kind in a very fair measure... Perhaps so that no one would consider his kindness as a sign of weakness. But, to his enemies he was...someone to be feared. But don't get carried away by my words... A man is not born that way, he is made.” 

…

After eating in solitude, in a room overlooking the inner gardens, Kasumi sighs and hopes that an answer to her situation will come to her quickly. She fears that Satoru will receive Mei-san's message at any moment. On the way back he told her that she was looking for the location of the nearest Zenin Clan camps.

It is impossible for her to quench her desire to accompany him, but she has no words to refute his reasons. Being a burden is not at all pleasant, but Kasumi is quite used to feeling this way. That's why she didn't and won't say anything at all. She simply waits for the news to come, for the location Satoru desires to finally appear so that he will leave her side.

How many crows will she be able to manipulate simultaneously? How far will her field of vision reach? Will her power also have grown since Taishō's death?

“You are my sister's guest, right?” Kasumi looks up and finds a boy about ten years old, as tall as her younger brother. He is wearing a navy blue kimono with birds embroidered on the sleeves, with a bright light blue thread. “She's wonderful, have you bathed with her already?”

Kasumi blushes as quickly as the boy utters his question, but he doesn't give her time to answer it and starts laughing softly, just as Mei-Mei usually laughs.

“I also like to bathe with her.”

A few words get stuck in Kasumi's throat. Not knowing exactly what to say, she stands up and bows to him.

“You are the lord of this land, aren't you? Excuse my manners, my name is Kasumi... I hope I won't cause you too much trouble with my presence.”

“My sister told me that you would stay with us for a while... What do you like most about her?”

“Huh? -Her? Well... She... is very... intuitive,” Kasumi answers the first acceptable one that comes to her mind.

“Right? I really like her smile and the smell of her skin.”

Kasumi smiles awkwardly and nods.

“If you're going to stay here, I don't want you to take away my time with my sister. I like being alone with her and having her stroke my hair. But, if you want, you can spend time with me. Winters are usually very boring and my sister has been very busy with Gojo-san's request. Besides, using her cursed technique for so long has her exhausted. I want her to be able to rest properly.”

“Sure... I... would... be glad to spend time with you.”

“You can call me by my name, I'm Ui-Ui.”

As the days go by, Kasumi dreads Mei-Mei's words more and more. When she approaches with her coaxing cadence, Kasumi trembles inside waiting for her to tell her that she has finally found that thing that Gojo is looking for so much. It is not until the fifth day that, in the morning, she speaks the words that will finally separate her from Satoru.

“I found the settlement late at night. On Toshima Island, to the south. Thirty soldiers, at least two shamans.”

Her words cut through the morning silence like a dagger, but Satoru's countenance does not change a millimeter. He nods, finishes his meal and then excuses himself to withdraw more hastily than usual. Kasumi can only force the food down her throat, completely oblivious to the morning conversation between Ui-Ui and Mei-Mei. She makes a superhuman effort to finish her plate and before she finishes uttering her apology, she finds herself pacing the corridors of the palace in search of him.

Her heart stops when she finds him, shouldering the sack in which he carries his few belongings, leaving the palace.

The sudden trembling of her hands is not an impediment to grab him by the clothes and pull him, as if she were somehow begging him to stay. Satoru stops his steps and turns to look at her over his shoulder. Big, round, bright eyes, filled with tears, greet him. A crooked, forced, tight smile. Red cheeks and in her chest an ache that has her shivering.

“You're leaving," she says.

“That's right.”

“In the middle of winter? Why don't you at least wait for spring to start?”

“No one will be expecting me to move in winter, it might take them by surprise.”

Kasumi looks him in the eyes trying to find the right words to convince him, but there are none.

He lowers his shoulders and lays the sack on the floor. He strokes the crown of her hair as usual and without realizing it his hand slips to her cheek. With his thumb he strokes Kasumi's soft, warm skin. Then, before he can think about what he's doing, he bends down to her and kisses her forehead gently.

“Will you come back before the azaleas bloom?”

“Yes, I promise, and I always keep my promises.”

A smile that is born in her heart curls her lips. Kasumi closes her eyes and feels Satoru's fingers slowly roam over her cheek. But her heart squeezes as the contact between them breaks and she looks up to see the samurai's confident smile.

He extends his palm, riding over Oguri. He waves in the distance and she does the same from the palace gates. She shouts to him, when he is far enough away, that she will be waiting for him. Kasumi smiles and stands there alone for over an hour, even though Satoru is but a speck in the distance, lost among the trees and mountains.

Clinging to his promise, Kasumi doesn't allow her heart to waste away in sadness at his absence.

As the sun dips below the horizon and Oguri's footsteps are blotted out by the snow that begins to fall, Kasumi decides she will have to return to the palace. When the wooden doors close behind her and two guards stand watching the entrance, Kasumi feels that at any moment she will awaken from a bad dream and he will be there beside her. She would like to pinch herself and realize that this is nothing more than a fantasy.

As if her childish desire to walk in a palace and wear silk kimonos has turned against her, Kasumi begins to disdain everything around her. Wrapped in apathy, she ignores her body's plea for food and water and simply locks herself in her room to stare out the window.

No matter how cold the breeze, she cannot miss his triumphant return for the world. When he arrives riding Oguri and brings with him that person who knows her precedence. He will return smiling, with one more fable up his sleeve with which he will captivate any listener and seduce the ear that is willing to listen. Full of laughter and confidence. And if he carried a bit of bad luck maybe he'll bring one more scar.

The snow stops falling.

Ui-Ui teaches her how to properly use a bow and explains the why of each of its parts. The sky clears and the frost melts, and Kasumi finds a new callus on the finger on which she lands her arrows.

“You're mediocre at melee fighting, and you're mediocre with ranged weapons," Ui-Ui tells her with some annoyance one night of rain so heavy that the gardens are flooded.

As the sun rises and dries the rainwater, she carries with her a desire that keeps her distracted from the window. She would like to be good at something by the time he returns. But her heart shudders as she leaves the palace in the morning to find that almost all the snow inside the palace has melted.

She often goes out into the forest to test her aim on some moving target, but this time she goes out in search of winter. She looks for snow, frost and dark clouds, but there is nothing but green beginning to resurface, a clear sky and a bright sun overhead.

Perhaps the island is farther away than she imagined.

Weeks later, Kasumi discovers to her horror a small marigold blooming in the garden. The rose bushes are not yet ready, they don't even have buds. There are no bees among the flowers. There is still time.

When she finishes training, she wanders through the gardens and orchard with incipient dread growing in the pit of her stomach.

Hydrangeas bloom, orchids bloom, carnations and magnolias bloom.

Ui-Ui finds Kasumi sitting gazing intently at a marble pot. She sits cross-legged, as if she does not want to miss a moment of something he cannot see. Her face is distressed and on her right hand a bandage covers her palm as she holds her bow.

“What are you looking at?” he asks and squats down next to her.

Kasumi does not look away.

“All the plants have bloomed... except this one.”

“Of course, azaleas are the last to bloom.”

Kasumi's suspicions are confirmed. Her heart squeezes. How many weeks have passed?

“Then there's still some time left.”

She can barely lift her arms, feels her shoulders burning. She has overdone it in her recent training, but she just can't control her own mind and this has been the only way to turn off her terrible thoughts.

Kasumi keeps training, morning, noon and night. Until her hands shake and she still intends to hit the target.

The most dreaded day arrives forty-seven days after Gojo Satoru's departure. The azaleas have bloomed.

Kasumi looks at the flowers for a long time; she sees them during the early hours of the day, as she has become accustomed to. The first bouquet is small, but it blooms continuously, day by day. She still clings desperately to an idea, perhaps he will arrive when the last flower finishes its process. That way he still has time to keep his promise.

Sitting in her room, preparing the arrows for her next training, Kausmi looks up at the window when she sees something that stops her heart. She runs down the stairs and pushes open the doors without putting on her shoes. The guards step aside, letting her out of the walls. Breathless, Kasumi sees Oguri standing in front of her; his fur dirty and foul smelling. Kasumi feels her stomach contract as she notices the horse is soaked in dried blood.

...

A slow, tired blink, his eyesight cloudy, wet. A warm sensation runs across his forehead, stains his white eyelashes and falls down his cheek to his chin, delineates a path amidst the bare, cold skin. It gushes with vigor and does not stop.

A face comes to his mind, fleeting like a flash of lightning. His empty gaze disappears into his thoughts like a ghost, so fast that he would like to reach out his hand to stop it. Elusive as a ninja, yet big as a grizzly bear. The true outcast of the Zenin clan; the man who defeated Gojo Satoru.

He is trapped. Naked. Cold.

The hint of what could be defined as laughter comes from his sore throat, tastes like iron and burns like sake. His tired arms hang over his head and as he lifts his dulled eyes he finds a myriad of talismans plastered on the ceiling and walls. He can barely read the inscriptions, but a single glance is enough for him to conclude with full determination that getting out of here will be no easy task.

And even though he tries to scratch through his memories, it all happened so fast that he didn't even realize it. He has no idea where he came from, or what his first attack was. He only remembers his dark hair and his twisted smile shining in the moonlight.

Now all the rumors about the bastard make more sense. Maki Zenin is not even a shadow of what this other one is, moving with the speed of twenty horses. A blink of an eye at the right moment was enough to capture him, to strike the right blow.

Satoru is not sure if he should thank him for not killing him. Perhaps the price for such a job involves a vastly higher sum for his head attached to his neck, and that can only mean he will face a torturous fate.

Chapter Text

...

Dark as a bottomless pit, his eyes lacking luster. His face devoid of expression. He does not smile even at the sight of the coins glinting in the moonlight, slipping into an elegant sack. He hears the chime inside the cloth bag and thinks of only one thing. He watches with chilling indifference as the man hands him his reward. The blood that binds them, tight as nail and flesh, feels alien. Jinichi Zenin glances at the soulless man before him and recognizes a remnant of what was once his brother. In body he is the same grizzly bear, his indifferent attitude is the same as he remembered, but his spirit somehow feels sullied.

"I heard you left the name Zenin,” he says and watches her dark pupil turn to him.

He doesn't want to admit it, but even though he's a little smaller than himself, Toji gives him the creeps.

Maybe it's because he never knew for sure where he was. Jinichi could see curses and feel them creeping up in the pit of his stomach, but... as he turned the corner Toji would appear like a ghost; unheard, unseen.

“I took my wife's last name,” he replies dryly, “If I were you...” he adds before leaving and a twisted smile curves his lips in a particular way, “I'd seal Gojo Satoru somehow, it won't be long before he wakes up and I don't think he'll be in a good mood.”

“You think we can't take care of him?”

“I'd like to be here to see the trouble he's gonna cause you. But I don't have time for that right now...”

Toji turns away. Jinichi watches him as he walks away, the straw of his shoes worn out, with a sack on his back and the skin of an animal as his only coat.

“The poor bastard doesn't even have enough coin for a horse...” Jinichi mumbles before returning to his camp.

His words, carried by the icy winter breeze, reach Toji Fushiguro. His brother is right, he thinks as he clutches the reward for taking Gojo Satoru alive in his palm. If only that horse had not turned out to be so fierce and faithful to its owner... he would already be at his wife's side.

...

The animal's black eyes stare at her. To her this seems nothing more than a dream too lucid, long as a curse. The minutes pass and she cannot get out of her shock, it is too much, an idea so immensely far-fetched that it is practically impossible for her to comprehend it. Kasumi moves after a few minutes of total bewilderment; she stretches her neck towards the path. In her mind an idea takes force; Satoru will appear at any moment through that path together with the other one he was entrusted to rescue. Perhaps they are chatting so animatedly that Oguri grew tired of them and their slow pace, perhaps this blood is that of an enemy. She forces a smile, as if encouraging her imagination, waiting for the scene drawn in her mind to materialize. But the seconds pass and little by little the corner of her lips drops and then she notices the accelerated pace of her own heart. But it's impossible, it has to be a dream.

Kasumi turns, restless, touches Oguri's fur; hardened and emanating a nauseating smell, the putrid stench of death. She hurriedly checks the luggage and finds to her horror that it still contains half of his supplies, which means that something happened with Satoru, perhaps more than a month ago.

A strange pressure floods her chest until she feels like she is going to break in half. She grabs Oguri's reins and walks inside the walls thinking about what she should do now, but not a single idea comes to her mind. She ignores her own trembling hands as she walks and frowns, bites her lips and thinks but no idea comes to her other than the irrepressible desire for him to return.

She does not know where to begin, nor what her next move should be. For a moment she even loses track of where she's standing.

Kasumi moves slowly, step by step, crestfallen and with the reins tightly clenched in her hands, across a path of rectangular stones.

The anguish in her gaze meets the cunning in Mei-Mei's slitted eyes. Kasumi pauses, she is standing over the entrance to her palace with Ui-Ui at her side. She doesn't have the intriguing smile she is so accustomed to, but rather wears a barely dismayed expression. Her countenance serious, with her eyes resting on the horse and then turning to her. Then she sighs and turns around to go back inside. Mei-Mei doesn't need explanations or time to accept the truth.

Kasumi wants to run after her to ask for her help, but stops after taking a step as she quickly falls back to a terrible conclusion; how could such a useless person like herself help Satoru?

“Gojo-san has fallen?” Ui-Ui asks her in a tone so cold it chills her blood.

A myriad of macabre ideas rush through her mind, Kasumi closes her eyes tightly trying to erase them.

“No... It's impossible... It's Gojo Satoru. No one can defeat him. I'm sure he got separated from Oguri and he simply sought his way here. Satoru can't be dead... He'll come back... He made me a promise. He is the strongest, there has to be an explanation for his absence... I know, my heart tells me he will come back. I believe in him Ui-Ui-san, don't you?”

After the last word, all the excuses he just uttered begin to crumble. It seems extremely unlikely to her that Oguri simply voluntarily parted ways with Satoru, and for some reason she feels that he has returned to ask for her help. Kasumi turns and looks straight into the abyss that is the horse's dark eyes and sighs, wishing she could know everything this animal has seen.

“I'm not so sure,” Ui-Ui replies and shrugs. “And if he died, he can't pay off the debt he owed my sister. I don't like that, I hate it when my sister doesn't get what she wants.”

“The debt... The promise he made her?”

Ui-Ui nods, then turns around and disappears behind the main doors of the castle.

Realizing she will have to come to terms with reality, she closes her eyes and feels her shoulders slump. Under her palm Oguri's head twitches, seeking a caress with a hint of impatience. Kasumi smiles loosely and caresses the horse's long head, then hugs him tightly holding back the tears that try to well up in her eyes.

Ui-Ui's words begin to sting her insides; the possibility that Satoru is dead at this very moment makes no sense to her. She vehemently denies it inwardly, her heart screaming out to her; Satoru is alive. Despite the fact that he has described this natural reaction rising from her chest as nothing more than confusion, Kasumi is completely certain. However, she knows little about what she should do.

The confusion between what she longs for and her own hopelessness leaves her immobile, but she chooses to keep moving after a while in the stables. Casting aside her own doubts and with her hands empty of options, Kasumi quickly begins to rummage through her mind for ideas. Satoru is alive and maybe Ui-Ui is right about something; he has been ambushed and probably needs her help.

“Don't worry, I'll find him,” she says firmly to Oguri before walking through the palace gates.

Kasumi walks quickly to the room where Mei-Mei usually spends her time together with her younger brother, playing mahjong. She bursts in and they both look up in her direction, a sudden warmth rushing to her cheeks. She has come so fast that she hasn't even stopped to think about what she is going to say to her.

“You have to help him,” comes from her lips without premeditation. She walks quickly to stand in front of them, to one side of the table where their chips are stacked. "Satoru is alive, I know it, I can feel it in my bones. We must help him.”

“And why...” asks Mei-Mei taking a couple of chips from the board... “should I help him?”

“Well... because it's the right thing to do. He needs our help, isn't that reason enough?”

“Satoru Gojo contracted a debt with me that he hasn't been able to repay yet. Whether it's right or wrong doesn't answer my question, the real answer lies in where I find my benefit.”

“I'm sure he will pay off his debt if you help him get free.”

“I don't know why you think I would benefit from being publicly involved with the most wanted man in the country. What would the Shogun do with me if he knew of my involvement? -she says and smiles, quickly imagining her own answer.”

“I-I... don't understand politics very well, but I'm sure that once we free Gojo-san he'll know how to protect you from the Shogun.”

“You don't know about politics, but you'll end up smearing me with it if you insist on involving me. I'll explain something that Ui-Ui at the age of four could have understood without trouble. My fief is small. At most we have at our disposal one hundred and fifty trained men. What is one hundred and fifty men against the Shogun's army and those of his allies? They would wipe us off the map in a matter of minutes. Even if you wanted me to settle his debt, I would end up losing far more than he owes me. So... dear and tender Kasumi, I will ask you this question again and I hope you will find a better elaborated answer to give me... why should I help him?”

“Because I am begging you,” Kasumi answers in a breathy voice and kneels at Mei-Mei's feet, bows her head to the floor until her forehead touches the wood and closes her eyes. "I don't have the physical strength, or the skill, or even the intelligence or the education. I have absolutely nothing to offer you in exchange for your help... But, if you find some mercy in your heart, please at least tell me where he is. I know that with your skills you are the only one capable of finding him. I will do the rest, even if I end up dead for trying. I'll do it alone... But please, use your power to find him, I beg you!”

Silence stretches across the length and breadth of the room. Mei-Mei watches her, prostrate on the floor. Her unmoving expression suddenly disarms as she curves her red lips.

“I'll do it on one condition.”

Kasumi feels her heart filling with vigor. She lifts her chin and looks into the eyes of that peculiar woman; her eyes filled with restrained tears.

“Whatever it is, I'll do it. Just name your price,” Kasumi pleads.

“Tell me, child, who you really are and why Gojo Satoru protects you so much...”

Open-mouthed, the promise she made to Satoru comes back to her mind. Under no circumstances should she reveal it, but since Satoru hasn't been able to keep his word either, Kasumi decides to speak up.

“I-I... am the illegitimate daughter of the late emperor.”

Mei-Mei spreads over her lips a smile that makes Kasumi's fragile heart tremble.

...

His mouth and his breaths taste like metal, like liquid iron. It hurts to breathe, as if one of his ribs is about to pierce a lung. He's thirsty, so thirsty he could go mad. His eyes and mouth are dry, as if he had swallowed sand.

His arms no longer hurt, but that's simply because he can't even feel them anymore. An oil lamp hanging next to the only door of his prison illuminates the cramped environment just enough to notice the presence of someone else.

Satoru turns his tired eyes and smiles to himself. A chuckle escapes his mouth like a sigh. Irony breathes around him.

Yaga Masamichi, trapped next to him inside a makeshift hut and heaped with seals. Unlike him, his hands are tied behind his back against a wall. His torso is naked, full of reddish marks of healing wounds.

“I was waiting for you to wake up. Was it part of your plan to get caught?”

“I was actually improvising.”

“Shit...”

“Relax, I'll find a way to get us out of here.”

“Before claiming victory, why don't you read the scrolls? Or better yet, count them. If your master taught you anything about history, then you'll know who wrote them just by looking at them. Naoya and his soldiers took possession of all the cursed weapons stored in the cellars of the imperial palace, and with them all the seals that had been kept, waiting for the appearance of something dangerous enough to use them.”

“I never thought that danger would end up being me.”

...

Kasumi puts away her belongings, which are not many, and as she walks down towards the stables she hears a particular clicking sound. After wandering through the corridors, intrigued by that sound, she notices that a candle remains lit inside Mei-Mei's enclosure. She carefully slides the door open and finds her alone, placing one coin on top of the other in a pile, then counts them and makes a few notes with a quill.

Her heart stops when Mei-Mei's eyes suddenly point in her direction.

“Do you like to spy on people Kasumi-chan? Why don't you just come in and keep me company?”

“I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to spy! I saw the light and...”

“Shhh... keep your voice down or you'll wake everyone up.”

Kasumi nods, lowers her head and slowly walks over to Mei-Mei, takes a seat across from her as she carefully counts the coins.

“Do you know what I love most in life?” she asks her suddenly without neglecting her work.

Kasumi looks at the golden coins shining in the amber candlelight. If she hadn't spent so much time with her already, she probably would have answered something related to Ui-Ui. Months of her company have not only served her to train her archery skills, but to get to know her better.

“Money,” Kasumi answers without a second thought, and Mei-Mei smiles.

“And do you know what I hate the most?”

This answer she doesn't have and it's evident by the way she opened her eyes, like an open book.

“Taxes...” she says without waiting for an answer. “Someone decides that the payments of the feudal lords are insufficient, so my tribute is doubled. I have to raise taxes on my own fief, and the people who work the land and trade live on less than before. And it is not that I am ashamed that they go hungry or live in misery... But that does not make my coffers grow. A starving peasant is someone who will no longer pay his taxes. And do you know what happens when a war breaks out? People flee or die, those who die usually die in dozens, and if there is no one left to bury the dead, the plague begins. Land is ruined, crops are lost and die, peasants can't eat, diseases abound, men can't work, women and children become prostitutes. It is a long chain of the consequences of bad political decisions. That's why taxes should be a fair amount, enough so that people can pay them and at the same time live and invest in the land. That makes the economy thrive. Of course...while I understand the utility, I hate them. I hate parting with the money I have so carefully earned. I hate the moment when I have to count my earnings to give a share of mine to someone else. But even more I hate someone who doesn't know the fair measure of what a tax should be charged. That's why I'd like to see the Shogun dead, Kasumi-chan... And for a moment I thought that if I bet on Gojo Satoru... he'd eliminate Naoya for me.”

“I'm confident that he's alive.”

“What gives you that confidence? Do you have anything besides the feelings your heart so obviously harbors?”

“I know it would be unwise of me to admit that I am empty-handed, and that there is nothing tangible I can offer to prove he is alive... But perhaps you are able to understand that there is something inside me that is crying out to me. Have you ever had that feeling? That unequivocal certainty about something, anything, without a proof? without having absolutely nothing?”

“You might be surprised to hear that I have... Beyond mere observation, it can be called instinct or intuition. But it can also be nothing more than a simple longing... But don't be sad, Kasumi-chan. I already agreed that I would look for him for you, and I know that, even if I only find a corpse you will go for him. But tell me, do you have something in mind?”

“Well... now that you mention it... I was thinking of traveling to a temple we visited before we came here. It's not far away, I still remember the way. Maybe... if I explain the situation... they will agree to help me. Also, there is a favor I would like to ask Mei-san, I know I've been piling up favors from you for a while now, but I have nothing to lose.”

“Just say what you want.”

“Could you send a message? I would like to ask for the help of my master Kusakabe. If I'm lucky I'm sure Kokichi has met him and they're waiting for me. I'm sure they will come if I ask them. Besides... there's a priestess who...”

“Utahime?” Kasumi nods. “You don't have to say more.”

Mei-Mei smiles, takes a second pen from her inkwell and holds it out to her, then hands her a piece of paper.

“What are these people like? To save time I will not send a messenger, but a raven. But you must describe Kusakabe and Kokichi to me.”

“Well... Kusakabe is a few years older than Gojo-san, the last time I saw him he had a little beard, but no mustache. He has a strong nose and his brow is almost always furrowed.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Huh? Well, Kokichi is younger, with dark hair and a thin build. He's probably riding an old horse and carrying a wheelbarrow full of puppets.”

“Easy to distinguish.”

“My brothers are with them... two boys, I don't know how to describe them... I haven't seen them in a long time.”

“All right, the description of the other two will suffice. Tell me what town they're in and I'll take care of the rest tomorrow.”

“Otari. They were supposed to wait for us there. Thank you Mei-san... you have done so much for me that I feel that just by sleeping under your roof I am abusing your goodwill.”

“Ui-Ui wouldn't like to know that I threw you out to sleep in the stables. He likes you, you've kept him company.”

After writing a small letter to Kusakabe and handing it to Mei-Mei, Kasumi makes a short bow before getting up and saying goodbye, but as she is about to walk out the door, Mei-Mei's voice stops her.

“I'll make you a suggestion, just because I hope Gojo Satoru keeps his promise to me...” Kasumi turns and looks over her shoulder. “The best allies you'll find in critical moments like this are those with goals in common with you. If I were you...I would visit the Gojo clan.”

...

Constant fatigue makes it difficult to open his eyes. When he wakes up, he detects a presence next to him, but it doesn't surprise him, at least at first. He blinks a couple of times and then regains consciousness, Kasumi is curled up next to him, her head leaning against his chest. Snow falls around them and they both find themselves covered in the fur of an animal.

Satoru looks at the snow-covered path and the trees that surround him and barely protect them from the frost. He tightens his embrace on Kasumi's small body and presses his digits on her cold skin. He turns to look at the way her nose is tinged pink and the rest of her skin pales from the cold temperatures.

Then he sighs, staring up at the sky, and on his next blink the night darkens so much that it looks as if his eyes were still closed.

“You were dreaming,” his companion's voice tells him.

Satoru feels that his shoulders are going to dislocate in a few days. His limbs hang over his head.

He savors the memory of his master and lifts his chin in the direction of the shackle that imprisons him and, before Yaga's surprised gaze, he holds himself firmly and turns his body with a jump. With both feet resting on a wooden beam that spans the roof.

“What are you planning? This whole hut is covered in scrolls...” he whispers to him. “Even if you took off those shackles, we couldn't get out of here. Do you know how many guards are outside?”

“I guess we'll eventually find out, but don't worry, it won't be today,” he replies with effort as a bead of sweat rolls down his cheek and breaks against the floor. “I'll just loosen it; the time will come... In the meantime, there's something I've been meaning to ask you.”

“Do you want to ask me how I was captured when you escaped from the palace like a rat? Or would you rather ask me what kind of tortures I was subjected to in order to extract information about your whereabouts?”

“No,” he says and a small laugh escapes from his throat, “it's about something else.”

“Do you think this is an opportune moment to laugh? There's no emperor to protect you from me anymore, Gojo Satoru.”

“Actually...” he says after loosening the shackle, putting his feet back on the ground. “I want to know... No, I need to know... about Kasumi's provenance.”

“Huh... That name...” Yaga says in a whisper, putting aside his irritation for a moment. “I guess we're thinking of the same person, but I haven't heard from her for many years. He... talked to you about her? What did he say?”

“I suppose you were the one who took her out of the palace. Her and her mother.”

“Her mother? No, I never met the girl's mother. She was a little less than a year old when Taishō entrusted her to me.”

“What? So, her mother didn't work at the palace? I thought that... Well, anyway, what did you do? What did he tell you about her?”

“He didn't say much, which only left me with more doubts... He had gone on a long journey, fought some battles and visited his feudal lords. But when he returned, his company had dwindled to zero.”

Satoru listens to their conversation in complete silence, so much so that for an instant he even forgets to breathe.

“He was traveling in the company of my predecessor, the former minister. But at some point, his caravan was attacked by a curse and only he survived. I was leading the search party the night I found him... I didn't realize he was carrying a child until he put her in my arms. Silent as a mouse... That day he told me... to find a distant village, to give the child to a good woman and never to tell anyone about her. But now that we both know about her existence... I guess he shared his secret with you.”

“He came back from his trip with a bastard daughter?”

“Maybe, in all these years I haven't imagined any other answer.”

“What did you do then?”

“Taishō promoted me to minister when I returned. It took me a few months to find a couple, they seemed honest, their voices sounded sincere as they swore they would never mention how the girl came to them. They received the sack of coins the emperor left me for her and moved to another village. Every year... Taishō would hand me another sack and the only thing he would say to me was... 'make sure she is alive'. He never asked me about her, or her new family. I thought he did it out of respect for his wife, I thought he wanted to hide his adultery... So I didn't tell him when I learned of the death of Kasumi's adoptive father, nor did I tell him when I returned to the village to discover that her adoptive mother had also met her death. I met the aunt who took them in and handed her the money...like every year, but that day I knew that little girl would never see a dime. The glint and intrigue in her aunt's eyes made me desist from returning after a couple of years. She was asking too many questions and I figured that as long as the girl was alive as he had requested, I would be keeping my word...”

“Then you abandoned her to her own luck.”

“No. It wasn't like that, Taishō knew that the girl had to defend herself. He didn't say it, but I know he thought it...”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because six years after he gave me that girl... he asked me to find someone who could train her. He gave me clear instructions... it had to be someone unknown, in a remote place, someone I could trust and above all, someone who wouldn't ask too many questions.”

“Kusakabe.”

“Do you know him?”

“No, but Kasumi told me about him.”

Yaga's eyes widened, staring at Satoru in disbelief. Then a sigh full of relief escapes from his lungs and a soft smile curves his lips under his mustache.

“Then she's safe.”

“Something like that.”

“How? Where... did he tell you?”

Satoru nods.

“Shortly before he died... I was supposed to leave her in a safe place, and I think I did. Before I was captured for coming to look for you.”

“What a relief...”

“Your conscience wouldn't leave you alone? I guess I had something similar with you, after all we both set another person adrift.”

“You don't know how things were back then.”

“Yes, I do know. Her aunt abused her for a long time, she went hungry, cold, she had to pretend to be a boy to avoid being raped every time she went to visit her teacher. Do you have any idea how many ways she's been abused since you left her in Nami's hands?”

“And what was I supposed to do? I was the minister of war, what would people say if he had gone to take a girl from her home without explanation? Did you want me to draw more attention to her? You know perfectly well that only the emperor's sworn enemies would have been interested.”

“Well, the time for sermons is over. What's done is done... Now, just shut your mouth.”

Yaga is about to shout an expletive at Satoru, but the door suddenly opens and a man stands under the doorway. The moonlight outlines his huge figure before he takes a step inside. The candlelight illuminates his face, a scar in the shape of an X in the middle of his forehead, his face coarse, dressed in ochre and brown. He raises his bushy eyebrows and gives a wide grin, folds his arms and lets out a laugh as he looks at Satoru's pale face.

“Is this the infamous Satoru Gojo? I see nothing but a bag of bones, look at those branch-thin arms and pigeon calves. Who knew! I imagined something much more worthy.”

“Uhm... I guess the talismans weren't necessary. How about we take them out of the equation and I'll show you why I became so infamous?”

“If it weren't for the cursed energy your Gojo blood inherited, you'd be nothing but a scrawny, petulant boy. I'm not stupid enough to fall for your provocations.”

“Oh, I see, then you just have the face of an idiot. Too bad, you look like someone who took a lot of blows to the head when you were a kid. Or am I wrong?”

Jinichi growls like a dog when he hears the scathing words sliding off Satoru's tongue. However, he stops himself before taking another step.

“Pledge your allegiance to your new lord, the Shogun, Zenin Naoya.”

“I'm sorry, I've already sworn myself to someone else.”

“A dead man?”

“Loyalty is a bond that goes beyond death. Maybe one day you can understand it first hand, I'd like to be there to show you.”

“Then you choose torture.”

“Any day now.”

“Good,” he replies with a smile. Go ahead, take him away.

Satoru smiles too, though his gesture is short-lived, unraveling as soon as the zenin clan soldiers enter the hut to take Yaga with them.

“No, no, stop, I said I accepted torture, stop!”

Jinichi, by the door, turns and sees Satoru over his shoulder.

“I never said it was you we were going to torture.”

...

Every hour since Oguri's appearance has passed with painful slowness, at least that's how it feels to Kasumi. With a sack ready and a horse rested, Kasumi prepares herself; she fastens her hair with a white ribbon and places on her back her bow and arrows, and on her waist she adjusts her katana. As she saddles the horse her mind travels back to the past, to that moment when her eyes fell upon a magnificent castle, surrounded by a wall that separated it from the river and the rest of the city. There, near the old Shinmachi district that burned to the ground, is Satoru's family.

She didn't know it at the time, but she knows it now. Just as she knows that the Gojo clan has wanted to get their hands on Satoru for a long time. Perhaps Mei-san is right. The hours pass and the thought that her forces will be insufficient becomes more and more a reality. How many men must have been employed to capture Gojo Satoru? If he is lucky Kusakabe and Kokichi will come to his call, perhaps Utahime will find a place in her heart to do Satoru a favor despite having ruined her temple twice.

With all her hopes pinned on the shamans of Tengen temple, Kasumi climbs onto Oguri's back and holds his reins tightly, stopping him as she notices Mei-Mei's presence. She approaches with her pale hair cascading like a waterfall around her slender face, holding something small in her hands and wearing a soft smile on her lips.

“Don't get off your horse,” she says quickly, “There's no need for a farewell if you'll be back soon to join your friends here. I just wanted to give you something before you set out on your journey.”

Kasumi receives a small glass bottle, as tiny as her little finger. Puzzled, she looks at Mei-Mei waiting for an explanation.

“You are traveling alone in a time of war, and even though the Zenin clan's army is not occupying my lands at the moment, that doesn't mean you won't encounter any danger along the way. Violent times bring out the demons that live within men. Drink this if you find yourself in a delicate situation and wish to preserve your dignity.”

“You think I should kill myself?”

“I think there are horrors that one should not know. But, in the end, it will be your decision.”

“Thank you... I appreciate it very much Mei-san. I don't know how to repay you...”

“It's a gift, woman to woman. You don't have to pay me... this time. Just come back alive or Ui-Ui will worry.”

Kasumi nods with a forced smile and then takes a breath, stows the small bottle safely in her clothes and leads Oguri out of the castle.

...

Every day it becomes harder and harder not to bow his head, not to give up and swear allegiance to the Shogun. Watching Yaga go in and out of that hut, his wounds getting deeper every day, his screams more agonizing. Satoru feels miserable listening to the stammered words from his companion's parted lips, he can't even make sense of what he says anymore, and shame won't let him look him in the face. He no longer knows if it is a blessing that he has fallen asleep, as he wonders if he has really only lost consciousness. All he can hear is the sound of a drop breaking on the floor; the sweat on Yaga's forehead. Behind the walls that enclose him, he hears nothing, except sometimes the whisper of distant laughter and footsteps. In the mornings he can barely hear the muffled chirping of sparrows.

Satoru moves his fingers; his hands are constantly numb as they hang above his head. The pumping of his heart does not seem to be enough to send blood to his fingers, so he makes the effort to move his hands, touching his fingers with the thumb of each hand as a daily exercise that also serves to take his mind off the boredom of his constant confinement. However, the creaking of the only door in front of him stops him.

He fears for an instant that it is Jinichi, for some reason has not had enough of the daily tortures and has decided to take Yaga with him again. Satoru has an offer, or rather a plea, ready; exchange places, just once, under the promise not to use his cursed energy to protect his body. However, the words get stuck in his throat as moonlight sneaks into a small space when the door opens. A hint of light shines for an instant on the crown of her hair and the blue glint of it shines out, leaving him dumbfounded.

Unmoving, he watches the door closing quickly and her small figure rushing toward him. Her arms wrap around his naked torso, her warmth burning his skin.

He frowns suddenly as she looks up and they meet eyes.

“What are you doing here?” He asks her in a whisper and then looks up, full of concern. “How did you get here without being seen? You can't be here.”

“I couldn't leave you!” Kasumi answers him, her big eyes shining, full of tears. “Do you know how worried I've been about you? I had to find you; I was afraid something bad had happened to you. I couldn't sleep at the thought of what you were going through. I waited for you to keep your promise! I waited for you every day until the snow melted and the gardens bloomed!”

Satoru looks up and pulls with all his remaining strength on the shackles, managing to free himself. He wraps his arms around Kasumi as he wonders how she has managed to get in and pass smoothly through the seal. But before he can ask his next question, Kasumi wraps her arms around his neck. Satoru suddenly closes his eyes and wraps his arms around her waist, a smile curves his lips as he smells the scent of her hair and feels himself melt into her arms.

“You shouldn't have come,” he whispers in her ear.

“But I cannot be separated from you, I belong to you, Satoru...”

Yaga spits blood again and again, Satoru opens his eyes and looks to his right to find him regaining consciousness. But as he blinks in the darkness, he realizes that the heat that enveloped him has completely disappeared and he is still bound in shackles to a column on the ceiling.

Disgruntled, he quickly realizes that Kasumi was never really there and wonders what reason his mind would have for playing these tricks on him. He sighs and then wonders about her, what will become of Kasumi being all alone.

…

The warm weather accompanies her on a trail that looks very different from what she remembered. Pine trees that were recently covered in snow and frost now protect her from the sun's inclement rays.

What once gave her a chill, today feels like a pat on the back; a raven follows close behind as she steers her course to Tengen's temple. Oguri walks at a brisk pace, as if to get there as quickly as possible and then find her master.

What was more than half a day's journey in winter turns into a handful of hours. It feels like a blink of an eye when they finally manage to see the walls of the temple surrounding the foot of the mountain. It looks even bigger than before, probably because the last time she saw it the walls were covered in a white cloak.

During the whole trip Kasumi hasn't stopped thinking about what condition Satoru will be in, he doesn't escape her mind even for a minute. She crosses the threshold of the door quickly and in front of her nose runs a group of students. Their laughter fades as they disappear behind one of the temple's wings.

Kasumi walks briskly to the front door where she saw the blond-haired Danish shaman standing, but in his place is a boy with big, brown eyes. His smile is like sunshine, so pleasant and warm that Kasumi has no choice but to return the gesture before greeting him.

“Welcome! My name is Yu. Are you coming to join the Star School?”

“She is Gojo Satoru's companion,” Nanami interrupts him. He brings the sleeves of his haori rolled up to his forearms and shakes his hands. “How can we help you Kasumi-san?”

Kasumi smiles at the sight of him, bows, and then straightens up with the words piling up in her throat.

“I would like to talk to Tengen-sama again,” she replies trying to sound determined, she makes such an effort that she frowns without realizing it.

Nanami sighs and looks at his hands for a moment.

“I was working in the orchard just now, Yu was supposed to help me, but I find him loitering here... Do you want to wait for me to change so I can join you? I won't be long.”

“You don't have to accompany me if you're busy. I don't want to take up too much of your time, besides I remember the way.”

The dane doesn't seem convinced, but after a few seconds of silent meditation he decides to step aside, leaving the way to the front door clear.

“I guess it's okay since you're not in Gojo Satoru's company and you seem like a responsible girl,” he says and then grabs Yu's haori by the collar and tugs on it. “You're going to harvest cabbages until your fingernails bleed,” he says to Yu, but turns a second later to look at Kasumi. “You can spend the night here if you like, before you go on your way.”

Kasumi nods and watches them leave. She goes through the door shortly after and follows the path she once walked with Satoru. The stairs become endless for her, and when she reaches the room where Sanso is, along with other cursed objects, she stops. Sanso's energy isn't felt at all, thanks to the seal enhanced by Utahime's ritual.

Kasumi's feet move forward again and before she knows it she is in front of the small red-painted log temple. Kasumi clears her throat, as if to let Tengen know that she's there, which seems a bit silly to her afterwards, since Tengen probably already knows.

After leaving her shoes by the door, Kasumi enters the small temple erected inside the mined mountain. Tengen is there, this time with her pale hair combed and her face more rested. She is wearing a white kimono and looks at her as if she has been waiting. In fact, she has a cup of tea already prepared for her on the table.

Kasumi shyly takes a seat and swallows as she looks up and her eyes are caught under Tengen's strange gaze.

“You've come to ask me something,” she says to her with her set of voices echoing at the same time and making Kasumi shudder.

“Do you know everything?”

“No, I'm just guessing.”

“Could you tell me... if Gojo Satoru is still alive?”

“Ah...” It comes out of her throat and she looks up as if searching for something in the confines of her own mind. “I... I can't feel him...”

Suddenly Kasumi feels like she's been punched in the stomach, hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Tengen looks down and notices Kasumi's unhinged expression.

“But that doesn't mean he's dead. There are other causes that can suppress a shaman's cursed energy, including himself. But that's not what you came here to ask, is it?”

“No, no... it is not. But... it does have to do with the question I asked you. You see... Satoru has disappeared. I know we'll find him soon; one person is currently trying to locate him. The problem is that he has probably been captured and...”

“You want the shamans of my school to come to your request for help.”

“Yes! I know that with the skills of the members of the Star school we will be able to free Satoru from the Shogun's soldiers.”

“I'm sorry to have to tell you that we cannot be part of this conflict,” she replies calmly and then takes a sip from her cup of tea.

“What...?”

“I think I told you before, didn't I tell you? I don't intend to be part of the politics of this country. My mission here has nothing to do with that kind of ambition. I have transcended that kind of desire for recognition and adulation. That means nothing to me. Besides, what good would it do my students if I decided to take part in a war.”

“B-But... Gojo Satoru is the strongest shaman you've ever met! How can you leave him to his own fate?!”

“If someone could catch Gojo Satoru, is he really the strongest shaman?”

Kasumi is speechless, but suddenly stands up with anger flooding her lungs, as if she's been the victim of the worst insult she's ever heard in her life.

“What do I have to do to...?”

“Nothing, because my decision is final.”

“It's a matter of time... Right now, it has been Satoru's turn, but his victory over him will only inflate his ego and eventually the Shogun will knock on your door to recruit your shamans. Will you be indifferent then as you are now?”

Tengen smiles so suddenly it sends shivers down her spine.

“If he comes to us... we will be ready. But we will not be the ones to start the conflict.”

“The conflict has already begun, but it was not you who received the first blow.”

Immediately after uttering her last words, Kasumi turns around to leave. However, she stops, mentally reproaching herself for her little outburst. She turns back on her heels and bows to Tengen in farewell, then shoots off towards the stairs.

Once out of sight of the small temple, behind a pair of massive wooden doors, Kasumi finds herself alone again. Savoring Tengen's indifference and the uneasiness of seeing her plan fail in front of her eyes, she remains standing unaware that she is once again standing next to the room where they store the cursed objects. When she looks up she sees the dark door, extremely tall and full of engravings.

A reckless thought crosses Kasumi's mind, the memory of Tanso, his human-like intellectual capacity and supernatural abilities. Having run out of allies, Kasumi makes a drastic decision.

As she rushes out of the temple, she feels that her feet are going to stumble at any moment. Her every move becomes clumsy and abrupt, she is nervous and overthinks her every step. So engrossed is she in not falling down the stairs, that she doesn't realize she has gone outside until she runs into someone.

Nanami looks at her slightly surprised and takes her by the arms to prevent her from falling to the ground.

“Are you all right?” He asks her in a serious tone and she just nods, unable to lift her chin to look him in the face.

Suddenly she feels an enormous desire to hand him the jar she has hidden under her clothes, she wants to apologize and explain the strange reasons that led her to steal from them, however, her hands do not move an inch and not a word comes out of her mouth. Something stops her, something stronger than herself.

“I-I would love to stay, but I want to make the most of the daylight to continue my journey. I appreciate your hospitality Nanami-san. I hope we meet again soon,” she says and darts off without looking back.

She can barely breathe again when the temple doors close behind her back and she finds Oguri again, waiting for her return. Kasumi takes out of her clothes the vial she gave Tengen and wonders if she has committed the greatest stupidity of her life, or if Sanso is the ally she has been looking for.

Chapter Text

Her heart cramped under her chest and a jar hidden among the food and clothing in Oguri's saddlebags. Never had her hands touched anything foreign, not even when Sochi was dying to eat a piece of bread fresh from the oven at the neighboring inn. Not even when the boys who used to play near her house forgot their toys on the floor and she wondered if she would ever have a doll. Now, guilt gnawed at her, especially after talking to Nanami-san.

Her tight, lying lips do not allow a single word to come out of them. The first few miles, as she walked away from Tengen's temple, she felt inclined to turn around and return Sanso. However, the very thought of retracing her steps empty-handed managed to dissuade her. If she has no one, at least she has Sanso, who could potentially be just like his older brother, Tanso, or who knows what else he could be. While she also doesn't know what kind of ritual will have to be performed to change his form, she prefers to take him with her and find the answer along the way.

Now, when she should return to Mei-san's palace, Kasumi stops between the fork of two paths as she ponders whether she really has the courage to kneel in front of Satoru's family. Will her poor manners be enough to prostrate herself in front of the leader? Or will she simply see the impenetrable fortification from its outskirts, as she did that time, upon arriving in the Shinmachi district.

Be that as it may, Kasumi ends up realizing after much meditation, that it is preferable to return empty-handed after having tried everything. After all, it takes an army to rescue Gojo Satoru.

...

Days and days go by of eating the same shit; half fish, tasteless, and a little rice. It seems enough to keep him alive, but every second that passes, cooped up there in a dark hut, unable to see daylight, unable to feel the breeze touching his cheeks, is a second in which his body weakens.

He has not managed to count the days either, it is difficult to do so without sunlight, when the visits of the one who feeds him are so inconstant. For a moment he wonders if they do it on purpose, so that he loses whatever sense of orientation he has left, that's why they appear at any time of the day, sometimes the door opens and light is seen, sometimes it seems like night, or maybe it's about to dawn.

The only thing he has been able to guess is that it has been at least five months since he left Mei-Mei's palace. He guesses by the length of his hair, shoulder-length. He just hopes the guards don't notice that detail and cut his hair, or he'll lose count.

They've found some pretty creative ways to torture him, and perhaps the worst was the bucket.

From the very moment he was locked up, he was given a metal bucket to use for evacuation. Of course, after living half his life in the imperial palace, it was not at all pleasant to take turns with Yaga to use it. The only thing they could do to spare themselves the humiliation was to avert their gaze and simply not talk about it.

Then someone would come in, take the bucket full of shit and leave. The same bucket would always arrive empty to be used again as a transport for excrement. The objective was clear, to strip him of all pride, to rub his face in the fact that he had become nothing more than a prisoner, stripped of all rights.

However, up to that moment this humiliation was tolerable. Not until the day Jinichi Zenin himself entered the hut with the bucket under his right hand, a broad, twisted smile on his face. Satoru was puzzled that he had the nerve to bring it himself knowing full well what that bucket usually had inside. But it wasn't until he set it down in front of him that Satoru understood why he was carrying it with such glee.

The smile on Jinichi's face grew bigger as he saw Satoru's surprised expression. The surprise then mixed with horror, disgust, and he couldn't hold it a second longer. Satoru pushed the bucket with his knee and the water fell to the ground.

Standing over the puddle, Jinichi laughed. He did it so loud the birds in the trees around him flew out of place. And when he could calm himself, he looked down to see Satoru's light blue eyes, bent, dirty, thin, humiliated, and with anger churning inside his body, spitting it out through his icy fire gaze.

“You don't want to die of thirst, do you?” Jinichi said to him before bending down to pick up the bucket. You dropped it, you need to be more careful, let me fill this up again for you.

He was still laughing when he left, he could still hear him when the door closed that day, or morning, maybe it was in the afternoon.

“He doesn't know...” Satoru whispers with the little strength in his starving body. “He doesn't know yet, he must not even picture it. How would he? If I could see myself in this state, I couldn't bet on it either, but... that's a dead man walking. I hope he makes good use of the time he has left, breathing in the scent of his sun-dried clothes, filling his belly like the filthy pig he is, even looking at his hideous reflection in the water. I hope he makes good use of the time he has left, because if not today... maybe it won't be tomorrow either. Shit, it may take years to figure out how to outwit these seals. But the day I get out of here... I'm gonna get my sword dirty with his blood.”

“You're starting to sound like someone who's lost his mind.”

“How bad would it be if that really were the case? Maybe I'll find my way out if I leave the confines of sanity, won't I? Don't you know that phrase... 'the mad create the paths that the wise later walk'?”

“Satoru, stay calm. Don't let his games get to you. What he just did with the water... he's just trying to play with your sanity. Do you really think it was the same bucket? Do you really think he's stupid enough to make his most valuable prisoner sick?”

Satoru is silent for a moment.

“Why do you think they didn't take us to the imperial palace?” he asks Yaga in a calmer tone.

“I think... he's afraid that if he moves you two things will happen, that they won't be able to maintain the strength of the seals... or that someone else will know where you are. I don't think a Zenin clan caravan would go unnoticed for long.”

“And how long do you think they'll keep us here?”

“Long enough to break us.”

...

What exactly will it be? Kasumi wonders at night, under the cover of a willow tree. Oguri sleeps and she seems unable to close her eyes completely. She worries, however, Utahime's seal seems to work perfectly. Not a single drop of curse energy escapes from the crystal, but for some reason, Kasumi can't get it out of her head. Perhaps out of guilt, of having stolen something she had willingly given up, or perhaps because of the idea that wanders through her mind and reminds her of the father of the hideous creature she holds in her hands. Not a trace remains of Akemi in that mass that from time to time turns and watches her, floating in a greenish liquid.

Perhaps, that twisted idea that wanders through her mind is only a product of Noritoshi Kamo, it is something that only someone like him would be able to do. Whether that gloomy idea that comes to her mind is only because of his memory, or if it is something else in the back of her mind that is telling her, she doesn't know. The idea that this transmutation she imagined it for herself creeps her out, it gives her the creeps.

For some reason, something Tengen said tries to come back to the present, but she doesn't fully remember it, and she doesn't know what connection it could have to Tanso's transmutation either.

After convincing herself that there must be a less grotesque way, Kasumi manages to find a way to sleep, or maybe she's just been won over by exhaustion.

Day after day, night after night, walking alone along the abandoned coastal paths of southwestern Japan, Kasumi gathers the strength to stand up to a powerful clan. She mentally lists her reasons for rescuing Satoru, memorizes them so as not to stutter, so that her conviction permeates the ears that will listen.

After half a month, Kasumi sees from afar the golden sea of a rice field, so vast that it takes her breath away. Its smell, the movement of the rice paddies mimicking that of the waves. Behind the field a long row of trees as tall as the Tengen's temple, and behind the trees the first signs of a village.

She can't hold back her smile and looks forward to finding an inn where she can spend the night, and hopefully a hot meal.

A dark stain runs across the yellow rice paddies, catching her attention. Kasumi turns to see two small hands holding a basket full of grains atop his tousled black hair. Behind him is something else, small, but vicious.

Oguri quickens his pace according to Kasumi's orders and they speed down the path to the foot of the crop field. The boy runs, trips and falls to the ground, and with him the bowl of straw and rice. He turns and opens his mouth, ready to scream as tears well up in his eyes, but just as he is about to cry out, a fleeting, celestial light passes in front of his eyes.

The flash of sunlight on Kasumi's katana blinds him for an instant, but when he opens his eyes there is only the girl, both feet planted firmly on the ground and her sweet, wide-eyed gaze watching him over her shoulder.

The boy's mouth is still open when she crouches down beside him. There's nothing more ash floating in the air, but he was sure it was going to catch him.

Kasumi smiles to herself, the boy is missing a couple of teeth and it reminds her of the last time she saw her younger brother. A few days before their separation, he had proudly told her that he had lost one more tooth, as if that made him 'more of a man' than before.

“Are you all right?” she asks the astonished boy and offers him her hand to get up. And although he hesitates for a moment, he accepts her help and broadens a smile. His brown eyes reflect a strange excitement.

“Are you a sorceress?” he asks her, his eyes sparkling.

“Something like that...” Kasumi answers without the confidence or experience necessary to accept that name, a profession that has people like Gojo Satoru or Atsuya Kusakabe could never have a Miwa Kasumi.

“Great! Did you come for the notice? Hurry! Let's go to the village! We've been waiting for you!”

Before she could cross another word, the boy grabs Kasumi's hand and drags her along with him, leaving the rice and his straw bowl behind.

The forest becomes less thick as the trail progresses, and a few minutes later, Kasumi sees a group of women in the center of a small village of at least ten houses.

“Mom! It's a sorceress! She's come for the notice!”

As if it were big news, the brown eyes of all the women widen, some of them sigh, as if those words bring collective relief. One of them, with her hair tied back and several marks of age on her face, quickly approaches her. She is wearing a burgundy kimono, worn and folded for work.

“I'm so glad you've finally come!” she tells her and her voice cracks, she takes Kasumi with both hands and her chest squeezes when she sees that she is about to cry too. “I know the reward is not much, but each of our families has contributed. This is all we have to offer, please help us!”

Kasumi doesn't know what to say, or how to refuse the contract that everyone thinks she has accepted by her mere presence.

Uncomfortable, she takes the hands of the woman who looks at her with hope bathing her eyes and smiles at her with all the sweetness she has to ease the blow.

“I'm sorry... I didn't come here for any contract...”

“What?” the woman mumbles.

“But you're a sorceress! I saw you exorcise that monster!” shouts the boy suddenly, clenching his hands tightly.

Kasumi opens her lips to explain herself when she feels the woman's hands moving away, then sees how her expression has changed.

“I'm sorry, you were just a traveler and my son brought you here. Forgive him, we've been waiting for a shaman for a long time.”

“I... I am not very powerful... But if you explain to me what is going on maybe I can help you,” the eyes of the women around her light up again, “if it is something that is within my reach I will not accept for pay anything more than a place to sleep and a plate of food.”

“If so, then come with me and I will explain why we need a shaman.”

After taking the reins of Oguri again, Kasumi follows the slow pace of the woman and beside her her son. A question looms in her mind, where are all the men? In violent times like the present, she would not be surprised if they had been recruited as part of some kind of guerrilla and that is why the boy next to her was working in the fields.

The woman's house is modest, but it is clean and seems to have everything she needs for her small family. She takes a seat and politely tells Kasumi where to sit.

“My name is Amame, and this is Ohma. Weeks ago Ohma traveled to the nearest villages to leave ads, but no one has come and we haven't been able to harvest the rice. If we go on like this we will starve to death.”

“That's why you were in the field? The women are afraid of being victims of the curse and you went in to get food for them?”

“What?! Ohma! Is what she says true? You went into the rice field?!” Amame shouts at her son, shaking him by the shoulders.

“I just wanted to bring you something to eat! We can't even get to the sea with that curse there! I couldn't just stand by and do nothing! Besides... I can see them mother, I can escape from them.”

“That was very dangerous,” Kasumi interrupts, ”the one that attacked you was small, almost harmless. I don't think it could have killed you with the energy it had. However, it could have hurt you if it latched onto you. Please don't do it again.”

“I'm sorry...” Ohma whimpers, clutching her mother's kimono tightly.

Amame abandons her annoyed expression and softens it at the sight of her child pursing his lips, straining to keep from crying. Then she lifts a hand and ruffles his hair, his stubborn, messy hair again reminding her of Sochi and Kasumi can't control her nostalgic smile.

“What has the curse done so far?”

“It murdered three women, one of whom was pregnant. At first it appeared when the sun began to set, so it killed the first two. Since then we have been careful to harvest when the sun is high. However, the last victim... happened at noon. My friend Himari was there, she said she could see the curse... although she has never had that gift. That day she said she saw it clearly, her partner... Cho... didn't notice anything.”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like a woman... with long, dark hair, dirty and tangled. She has a hat similar to the ones we wear, and her body... it's as if hundreds of worms were joined together, forming her legs...”

“First... I'll have to wait for it to appear. I must go to the rice field and wait for it to manifest. There are still a few hours of sunlight left so I'll take the opportunity to investigate before it gets dark.”

“When you're done you can spend the night here.”

Kasumi nods and as she gets up she can feel that Amame-san is about to say one more thing, however, she stops herself. After mounting back onto Oguri's back, she regrets having delayed her trip. She wishes she could ask Satoru, wherever he is, to hold on a little longer. Even if she could find the right words to leave, she could never utter them and leave a group of distressed women to their fate. When Kasumi returns to the path where she encountered little Ohma she is surprised to not feel a presence like the one she was described, leading her to think that perhaps there is some sort of ritual that must be fulfilled for the curse to manifest.

Kusakabe spoke to her at some point about these types of curses, he told her that there are even shamans capable of cursing people, so she would have to be especially careful.

While taking the scabbard of her sword, Kasumi walks carefully accompanied by the sound of the wind rocking the rice fields. When her feet touch the fertile soil, she feels in the pit of her stomach an immense emptiness. Something tells her that this must be part of the ritual and it seems obvious to her now, she has to harvest the rice.

“Be careful, I don't want another woman to die in this village!” a childish voice shouts at her and she turns away.

“Ohma! Whatever happens, don't step on the rice field!”

The boy nods. He clenches his fists and stares at her with a frown.

Kasumi takes a leaf from the waist-high plant and with her sword cuts off its stalk. She takes the stem between her fingers and pushes the grains with the back of her katana. The grains fall next to her feet. The feeling of emptiness in the pit of her stomach becomes more incipient, like a spiral growing inside her. A shiver runs across her skin and as she looks up, on the other side of the field, she sees it.

The curse is more horrifying than Amame's description, perhaps because she didn't see it with her own eyes, or perhaps because she knew that if she told her how it really looked, she would end up refusing the job.

Seeing her wild-eyed, though, she understands how difficult it would be for anyone to describe it. His humanoid eyes almost bulging out of their sockets, swollen and wrapped in red bouquets, like a spill of blood surrounding his pupils.

Most disturbing probably is his extensive smile, so large that you would have to stretch both arms to measure it. The long, blackened teeth, like those of a geisha, but at the same time spouting a dark liquid, like coal mixed with oil. 

She moves on many feet made of insects, ocher-colored, dark and even in the distance she can see how they move and rearrange themselves to form new limbs.

In a fatal instant, Kasumi finds herself absorbed in its ghastly appearance and forgets to look for the core of the cursed energy. And in the blink of an eye the curse pounces on her, taking advantage of the speed of its multiple legs.

His head twitches and turns a hundred and eighty degrees, yet he does not lose sight of her.

Kasumi grits her teeth and leaps backward, raising her sword fast enough to protect her torso from the attack of one of its sharp legs, which resemble those of a praying mantis.

The impact sends her far away, crawling through the grassland. Losing focus for an instant has cost her dearly, she realizes this when she feels blood running down the back of her ear. She is a little dazed and her first instinct is to see Ohma, hanging over the branch of a tree surrounding the rice field, pointing fervently.

Half a second passes when she turns her face and finds the curse above her, so large, so immense that it covers her completely. Its black hair surrounds her, not letting her see anything, not even the sun that begins to descend to hide.

If Satoru were here, she would not have handled things so clumsily, but he is not here. There is no one, there is only her.

What advice would Kusakabe give her in a situation like this? Perhaps he would remind her of the basics.

She should look for the place where the most cursed energy is concentrated, perceive it with that extra sense that only shamans have, as if it were a scent, it's unseen.

Thick, greasy hair rises from her ankles to her neck. Kasumi feels an imaginary hand slowly strangle her, so much so that it seems like the curse enjoys every drop of fear that is released from her skin.

And the moment she feels she is about to lose consciousness; she can sense it. The core was not in her face as she thought, but higher up. As the curse lifts her into the air, drooling with pleasure at the sight of her life slipping away, Kasumi raises her sword and cuts the straw hat.

The sword falls to the ground, and then she falls, still choking, spitting and coughing up her own blood. The last thing she manages to see with her blurred vision is someone's shadow, hidden by the contrasting sun. Then she loses consciousness.

...

Jinichi returns at night, when there is not a speck of light that can sneak through the door. An idea comes to his mind as he watches him pass, that this door must contain a special seal, one that lets certain people in and out. But such sophisticated sorcery must have been created by someone extremely virtuous, or perhaps whoever enters must be wearing some other kind of amulet. The answer to that question he has asked himself entertains him so much that he even forgets to pay attention to the bucket of water Jinichi has brought him.

He realizes it only when he notices that the monkey doesn't move, it is there, arms crossed between him and the door. Satoru looks up with annoyance, he is waiting for a reaction like before, to horrify him for having to drink from the same container that contained his excrement and urine. But this time he's not going to succeed, because when Satoru looks down he notices that the container is intact and the one Jinichi took had the mark of his knee.

He is about to smile and mock, when Yaga interrupts him.

“Do you want to kill us with an infection?! You son of a bitch! You stupid ape! Don't you realize that if we drink that we're going to get sick, or is your head so full of shit that you can't understand what I'm saying?!”

Satoru's eyes widen, not only at his sudden intrusion, but at his colorful language. He had long ago heard a rumor that Yaga Masamichi had extremely foul language, but that he controlled it by being part of the emperor's court. He only manages to snap out of his surprise when Jinichi starts moving again, this time plotting an accurate course towards Yaga.

“You just shut your mouth, you idiot,” was the last thing Yaga mumbled before being dragged away by Jinichi.

“I think I get it...” he whispers once alone with the bucket of water.

If Jinichi realizes that they both know that this is not the same bucket for their shit, he will find some other less metaphorical way to torture them. Satoru smiles and then crouches down, his arms motionless above his head, his fingers nearly dead, numb and dangerously pale. He drinks like an animal as he stares at the door and imagines how he will get out of this place in one piece.

...

When she opens her eyes again, she is still tired. Her immediate reaction is to bring her right hand to her head and feels with the tip of her digits a bandage. Then she realizes that she is lying in front of the warmth of a fire, inside Amame and Ohma-chan's house. With effort she manages to sit up and immediately feels a couple of glances. Amame serves food in a wooden bowl while Ohma plays with two rag dolls. Ohma's enthusiastic, gap-toothed smile makes the corners of Kasumi's lips curl up. Amame's warm expression comes with a plate of hot food and the young sorceress feels her stomach growl, as if to thank her. Eating on the side of the path doesn't compare to something fresh in any way. Perhaps her long stay with Mei-Mei has managed to spoil her.

Kasumi smiles and sips from the bowl, then relaxes as she feels the warmth of the broth traveling down her abdomen; payment for a job well done, or sorta.

“You look very tired, please stay with us while your wounds heal. We can't let the person who freed us from such a horrible curse leave without the promised payment and with wounds all over her body...”

Kasumi is about to speak, but her throat hurts so much that she regrets it a second later. She remembers that she was about to be strangled and accepts the invitation by nodding softly.

In silence, Kasumi eats and swallows with difficulty. For an instant this small hut reminds her of those nights she spent taking care of Satoru, after falling from Maki Zen'in's blade poisoning. Her heart squeezes, but there is nothing she can do now. She has to get the Gojo clan's help and prove to herself once and for all that she is not really useless.

Despite the discomfort, Kasumi finishes her plate quickly and decisively. Surprised, Amame offers her a second plate and she accepts. If she wants to leave as soon as possible, she has to eat to recover, no one would pay attention to an injured and weak girl.

Slowly, one plate of food at a time, Kasumi speaks again. It's only been two days, and what's two days after so many months? The marks on her neck are still there, more visible than the first day. They have turned dark, maturing different colors. The cut on the head has almost completely closed. And somehow, removing that curse in exchange for so much food and care doesn't seem right to her.

On the third day Kasumi gets up despite Amame-san's retorts.

“Don't worry, I'm stronger than I look,” she replies with a weak smile and takes a basket of herbs to help harvest the rice. After seeing them work so hard to care for their children and cultivate the fields, a blow to the head seems insignificant. “Let me repay your kindness with work, at least for one last day. Tomorrow I plan to continue my journey.”

“Then I will put a sack of rice in your horse's saddlebags. I won't stop you if you want to help us some more, the field is too big for us... But at least let me share some of our only wealth with you.”

Kasumi nods and then strides off into the golden field of rice paddies. Ohma plays with other boys, having heard him several times telling his friends about the brave sorceress who exorcised the curse from the field. The boys listen to him with fascination while Kasumi feels like a fake, yet a part of her feels good.

A small smile creeps over her face as she walks and wonders if Sochi and Ohma could be good friends. There are no boys Kano's age, they probably get recruited young. But eventually, maybe, one day everything will go back to normal and this place would be a good place to come back to.

She could guard the village from future curses, help the men with hunting or the women with childcare. After all she likes them, and unlike the children she has met in the past, they do not disdain her supernatural abilities nor have they questioned her about the strange color of her hair.

Perhaps because they know she is a shaman, because they know she is different.

She leaves her katana with the rest of her things, in Oguri's saddlebags. Then she adjusts her hair and walks quietly through the meadow, with the sun on her head. With a small tool Kasumi cuts the stalks into sickles, one after the other, until her basket is full. She ties them into bundles and sets them aside to continue.

After a few hours, Kasumi wipes her sweaty forehead. Oguri stands by the path, watching her carefully.

“I think I overestimated my own strength...” she says to herself.

She looks to the side and sees two more women working beside her, the breeze tousles her hair and brings her some relief. A little nap under the shade of the trees begins to seem like a wonderful idea.

She just needs to regain a little more strength.

After sitting against the broad trunk of a tree, she closes her eyes with a smile and falls asleep soon after.

Dreaming of Satoru has become a routine from which she cannot escape. Somehow it makes her feel that he is alive, waiting somewhere. But this time the dream is not like the previous ones, when she would open her eyes and find him sleeping next to her like so many times.

In her dream it is dark, damp and lonely. Satoru is wounded and she can only be a bystander as another guy fiercely grabs his hair to face him, his eyes empty.

In this dream Kasumi has no voice, no matter how many times she screams his name he cannot hear her. No matter how hard she tries, the desperate feeling of not being able to part her lips drives her mad.

From the shadows a beast approaches, from behind his back, where he can't see it. It opens its maw so wide it could swallow him whole in one bite. Its saliva drips onto Satoru's shoulder and only then does he notice its presence.

Kasumi screams so loudly that the wounds in her throat reopen. Satoru's name echoes across the field and the birds scramble out of their nests.

The sun turns orange as it touches the horizon line and the moon rises prematurely behind it. The sky mixes blue and pink, orange and black. But, as Kasumi emerges from the initial dread of her own nightmare, she realizes that the colors of the horizon and the sky above her head are unnatural. The black line bursting over the firmament is a black cloud of smoke, and judging by the direction of the wind, it is coming from the village.

There are no more women in the field, there is only her. Quickly she stands up and without a single thought, Kasumi runs in the direction of the village. But when she arrives, her eyes do not believe what she sees.

The entire village is on fire.

The young sorceress stops her steps, her big eyes reflect with horror the fire that is making its way through every thatched roof, through every wooden structure. Everything burns, the tools, the baskets, the clothes lying in the sun.

Her hands tremble at first, when confusion prevents her from thinking clearly. Then a question comes to her mind; where is everyone? After taking a breath of air, Kasumi continues to run, covering her face with the sleeve of her kimono so as not to breathe in the smoke. She runs to the house she has slept in for the past few nights, and despite seeing it in the distance, beginning to be consumed by flames, she keeps going until she opens the door.

The incoming air suddenly fuels the fire and pushes Kasumi to the ground. At first she struggles to see, but, when she sits up her eyes widen like plates as she recognizes the lifeless body of Amame-san, embraced by her son. There is blood everywhere, her clothes are in tatters, torn to shreds, completely disfigured.

Kasumi feels tears welling up in her eyes, she covers her mouth with one hand and with the other she steps back on the ground until she bumps into something, warm and soft. A shiver runs over her skin as she turns her face and meets the dull gaze of a neighbor, so brutally stabbed that all that is left of her face are her eyes.

Crawling shakily along the ground, she ends up hidden between two houses that have not yet fallen victim to the fire. After screaming Satoru's name so loudly, she cannot scream again in horror at all she is seeing.

The children, the women, who did this? Who was capable of such an atrocity?

A laugh echoes through the sparks of the wood and the burning of the fire. So creepy is it for Kasumi to hear it that she is completely petrified, her eyes wide, almost wild. With no air in her lungs, Kasumi listens intently.

“I found it, the reward... Here it is. How stupid are those women.”

“All this... for a stupid reward?” comes from Kasumi's lips unable to control the impulse.

The man watches her emerge from her hiding place with a shadowed face, hidden behind her uneven bangs. Then she looks up, her teeth clenched and her brow furrowed.

“All this...” she repeats, gnashing her teeth, “For a few fucking coins!”

Kasumi feels the blood in her throat stain her mouth, her tongue fills with iron.

“And this one?” says the guy, stout, with his hair cut in a traditional ponytail, wearing a ragged suit that goes down to his knees. He raises his hand and whistles loudly, and after that call Kasumi hears footsteps approaching, the steel of his swords clanging against the scabbards. In an instant, she finds herself surrounded. “Guys, is this the only one left?”

“I killed all the ones I found.”

“There were no little girls?”

“Only boys.”

“And what did you do with them?”

One of them shrugs his shoulders with a smile.

“Then we'll have to share,” replies the one who found the bounty.

“This one is... just the way I like them,” says one more and steps forward.

“Me too.”

“And me too.”

“I want to go first,” says another with a smile.

“No, the one who was last in the previous village gets to go first this time. The woman was practically dead when it was his turn. If we don't respect each other, no one will respect our band.”

“You...” Kasumi whispers, “You people are worse than curses!”

Kasumi's confidence vanishes in her hands as she reaches for her katana, not realizing she doesn't have it with her. She doesn't even have the harvesting tool, or a knife, or a dagger. She has absolutely nothing. Her face pales and the gang leader seems to notice, his smile widens as Kasumi's eyes are enveloped in the most intense horror she has ever felt in her life.

Before she knows it, a man grabs her by the wrist. As she is about to strike the first blow, another one stops her and immobilizes her left arm.

“No!” shouts Kasumi and kicks, but a third man grabs her right leg, “Don't touch me!” She screams again and feels she can't move her left leg, “GET OFF ME! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! DON'T TOUCH ME! ENOUGH! STOP! STOP IT!”

Subdued, Kasumi feels foreign hands run over her body as they walk down the path to lead her to the field. She clenches her knees, tears streaming down her face as she continues to scream and anger quickly turns to fear, and somehow ends up begging this group of wretches for mercy.

“Please! I beg you! Don't do this! No, please!”

As they lay her on the ground, she denies and closes her eyes tightly. Suddenly she remembers Mei-Mei and regrets not even having that bottle of poison to end her life right then and there.

This was supposed to be for him. This would only be for Satoru.

At the precise instant that one of the bandits kneels between Kasumi's legs, she completely loses control. She screams and jerks so hard that the entire gang must hold each of her limbs tightly. Anger returns overcoming her resignation and when she finally thinks all is lost, Oguri's furious whinny breaks through over the bandits.

But she doesn't care if she ends up dead under the horse's hooves, she wishes with all her might that this group of men would share her fate. But none of these unfortunates want to die as much as she does at this moment and that is why they all let her go at once when the horse, like a black storm, jumps over Kasumi's body and continues on to stop on the other side.

Kasumi turns and runs with all her might without looking back. She almost stops when she hears a sword's scabbard grind and someone shouting “kill the horse”, but she can't control her own legs, all she wants to do is run away.

Her body is full of marks, every part hurts. Tears fall from her eyes as she runs through the forest. She cries for Ohma, for Amame-san, for the women of the village, she cries for the dignity they were about to take away from her, she cries for being weak and waiting for Satoru to come out of his confinement to rescue her. She cries because she wishes all these men would die a terrible death. She cries from helplessness, uneasiness, fear, all mixed together so terribly that curse energy begins to overflow from her small body.

Tears blur her eyes and Kasumi ends up falling to the ground, to discover with horror that they are not too far away. Their voices call out to her, echoing through the forest, hunting her like an animal.

With an injured knee, Kasumi tries to stand up, but her whole leg buckles with an electric sensation. With no air in her lungs, no sword over her hand, Kasumi refuses to die this way. If she found a nearby cliff she would even be able to throw herself off and die from the impact, but suddenly Satoru's words appear in her mind.

'You place so little value on your life that your death would mean nothing at all. It's detestable, it nauseates me that you think like that.'

She furrows her brow as she hears Satoru's voice rumble in her ears. She looks around for something, anything, and all she sees are trees around her. Without a second thought, Kasumi grabs a branch, plants her foot on the trunk and forcefully breaks it off. Now at least she has a stake, and if she stuffs it with cursed energy, at least she has a chance. And... if that's not enough....

~

“What... should I do if they catch me?”

“That's not going to happen as long as you're by my side. I'm going to protect you.”

“But... if it did happen. -How would I...”

“Kill yourself? If you didn't have a weapon, if you were under torture... I suppose the most effective thing to do would be to bite your tongue until it was cut off.”

“My tongue?!?”

“Yes... it would bleed so much that you'd choke on your own blood. At least that's what I'd do if I were that weak and wanted to end it all. Would you have the guts to do something like that?”

~

“Yes, Satoru... I have the guts...” she answers him in a whisper and hides behind the same trunk.

The sorceress tries to control even her own breathing, just so she can focus her senses on the footsteps around her, on the voices calling out to her as they laugh and boast about what they plan to do to her. Kasumi feels her heart begin to shrink as they approach and, as if her body is growing smaller, she presses her arms against her body, her makeshift weapon in her hands.

So many steps, so many men. At least twenty of them against her alone. She doesn't want to sound pessimistic inside her own mind, but maybe she should start saying goodbye to her loved ones.

She would like to be somewhere else, where no one could see her. Hidden in a meadow, in a small house. With Satoru, even if he was only her guardian. With her family, living a simple but happy life.

She doesn't realize it, but the more she wants to disappear, the more her cursed technique manifests itself.

The mist born from Kasumi's body spreads so quickly through the forest that the bandits have no way of finding her. But she, with her eyes closed, cannot notice it. The men lost in the immensity of the mist cannot see each other, they can no longer distinguish the path they have come from, nor the direction of the village, nor the moon itself.

They can barely see beyond their own nose. But for Kasumi, as she opens her eyes again, it is totally different. Yes, there is fog, but somehow she can see through it. The men wander beside her and do not see her, do not hear her breathing, do not perceive the terrible beating of her heart.

They look confused and for an instant she is fine with the idea of killing them from behind, taking advantage of the moment, seeing them raise their hands in the air in fear of banging their heads against a tree.

But she doesn't know how long this mysterious fog will last, nor that she herself has caused it, so she fears wasting her time in revenge when she should be escaping.

The answer comes when she sees Oguri in the distance, as confused as the bandits themselves.

Chapter Text

Oguri's gallop doesn't overshadow the fervent sound of the flames that flood the small village she leaves behind her. To Kasumi, who does not look back for a single second, it seems that the fire has spread voraciously over the forest, perhaps over the rice field as well. She feels the heat like a blanket that leaves her crouching on her horse's hide. The overwhelming sound of the flames completely fills her ears. She flees, her hands clenched tightly on the reins, until her nails hurt the calloused palms of her hands. The spreading heat hugs her back, she feels suffocated, almost surrendered, but Oguri manages to pull her out of danger.

Then, when she no longer hears the creaking sounds of nature being devoured, when her ears can no longer hear a single crack, and the night rises like a protective veil, she hurriedly climbs down and runs to a small lake surrounded by trees, covered with aquatic plants and thrushes.

At each desperate step a garment falls off; first she takes off her shoes and plunges her right foot into the swampy lake. Then she undoes her belt and casts it casually on the grass, taking two more steps until she wets the edges of her kimono. Her own chest seems to burst into flames, tearing so many layers of fabric from her skin with the desperation of someone drowning.

The water is calm, the moon watches her patiently and the cloudless sky lets her see a cluster of stars, but for Kasumi the battle is not yet over. The storm still dwells within her. The glow of her inner fire cannot be calmed, even when she is miles away, even after several hours have passed.

This is the only thing that comes to her mind, the only way to extinguish it. Kasumi dips to the crown of her head and holds her breath. With her ears plugged and her eyes closed, Kasumi feels again for a fleeting moment... a bit of calm. She remains there, hidden, until her lungs call for oxygen and she comes out to take a breath. Then, without understanding exactly why, with her own hands she scrubs her arms, her legs, her abdomen, her breasts and her back. However, no matter how much she scrubs, she still feels deeply dirty.

Everything is cold, dark and sad.

She stays there until her lungs demand air and she goes out for a breath. At least the stifling heat has died down. The skin on her chest is gently caressed by an icy breeze that blankets her, slightly soothing the stinging of her skin.

Kasumi wants to burst into tears, but instead she clenches her teeth tightly and continues to scrub until her skin reddens. Unsettled by this terrible need to clean herself and the dissatisfaction of the result, she forces herself to continue her arduous task. Until her fingers are wrinkled, until her fingernails become sensitive, until she shivers with cold.

The feeling of being dirty has not gone away. It's still there, latent, foul, sticky and invisible.

She's not so dumb as to not understand what's going on. She covers herself with both arms, frustrated, reddening with anger, and then... when she stands up, she is suddenly ashamed of her nakedness, of not knowing how long she has been whittling like a maniac, and looks up in search of curious eyes that are not there.

The moonlight paints her skin a bluish hue, and for an instant her eyes, hair and skin become one with the night.

Drops fall down her back, reclaiming the creases of her sullied skin.

As she nears the shore, Oguri stretches his head and from his throat comes a soft sound, a coarse, deep growl, strangely comforting. Kasumi hugs his elongated head, leans against him still naked and thanks him.

“If it weren't for you... I'd be dead now, or worse... Satoru would be proud of you, don't you think?”

After a few moments in total silence, with regret in her chest for not being able to return to the village to bury the families, Kasumi dresses and mounts on Oguri to continue her journey carrying with her a new regret. She doesn't know it, but her face begins to change. Kasumi looks at the path with eyes a little emptier than yesterday.

There is no joy within her chest as she recognizes the city, hours later, when the sun shines on her hair at noon. The immensity of Osaka is much more overwhelming than the first time she visited it. Perhaps it is because that time she arrived from the west and the first thing her eyes saw was that imposing fortification.

Now, from the top of a hill, Kasumi observes the immensity of the port city in its length and breadth. Far behind and without losing a bit of its formidable appearance, stands the castle in which Satoru could have grown up, but instead he did so in a pleasure district.

For an instant Kasumi holds tightly onto Oguri's reins, she looks down at herself, dressed in a fine, but dirty kimono. As if no matter how hard Mei-san had tried to make her look presentable, in the end she would always end up looking like a poor peasant. She trembles with dread at the thought of even addressing a member of the Gojo clan, if she ever finds a way to be granted an audience, but she can't go back without trying, at least once, she can't rescue Satoru on her own.

This time she is not so dazzled by the appearance of the fine women of the region, nor by their extravagant and colorful clothing. In fact, for a moment it seems to her that the city does not look as lively as on her previous visit. The atmosphere feels different, as if covered by a gray cloak.

The headdresses don't seem as extravagant as before, and the women don't carry their foreheads high with a mixture of elegance and arrogance. Perhaps it's the mud that so spoils the city; rain clouds still wander high above it.  Or perhaps it is the imminence of civil war looming over every corner of the country.

The horse's hooves splash mud as it walks through the wet streets of the city. Kasumi and Oguri see from afar what used to be the Shinmachi district, the smell of coal still wafts around it. It is still exactly the same as the last time she saw it, dark and abandoned, which for some reason makes her a little sad.

As she approaches the castle of the Gojo clan, Kasumi realizes that there is only one access. Surrounded by small fortifications, separated from the city by a bridge, the six-story high main castle stands in the middle of a small island. Even getting to the bridge is an odyssey, as another fortification protects the entrance.

Kasumi counts at least thirty guards wandering around, she sees them one by one, mentally counting them as Oguri slowly advances down a deserted street.

Completely absorbed, between the counting of guards and the majestic way the sun sets on the horizon, reflecting pinks and oranges over the sea, next to the castle of the Gojo clan, she does not notice an old man falling before her horse's feet. Oguri neighs and rears up on two legs immediately and Kasumi lets out a shriek as she holds on to the reins to keep from falling as the huge animal backs away.

Appalled, Kasumi hops off her horse and rushes to the man, losing count of how many guards she had counted so far.

“I'm so sorry! I was distracted and didn't see you come by! Are you all right?!”

To his right another man approaches, one who has come out from behind a door made of hanging sticks, from a small store that fills the street with the smell of celery soup.

“My lord!” he says and takes him on one side while Kasumi holds him on the other.

He doesn't look distressed or hurt, rather he smiles at the sight of his dirty clothes and mud-covered face.

Kasumi doesn't hesitate to try to wipe his face with a piece of cloth she had tucked in her clothes, but stops when the old man laughs. The other one, the one who came out behind him, looks much more distressed than the old man, looks at him with pity and then sighs.

It is only at that moment that Kasumi hears the bustle and her gaze shifts to her right. At first glance they have both come out of a tavern, and when the old man takes the piece of cloth from Kasumi's hand to wipe his face, Kasumi notices that he is completely drunk. His face is so red that it looks like he has been burned by the sun's rays in a field of hay, but his hands are not even remotely calloused enough to suggest that he is a farmer.

He laughs and looks at her in a special way, glances at her hair and laughs again, but when he is about to say something to her, the other one forces him to get up and gives him a lecture.

“My lord, please go to sleep. You've been here for two days... You're starting to cause me trouble again. I don't want what happened last time to happen again, I beg you... get some sleep. In the morning I'll have breakfast ready for you... Don't make things more complicated for me... we are very close to the palace and the guards will show up if they hear any more disturbances.”

“It's my fault...“ Kasumi begins, uncomfortable for interrupting them, ”I'm sorry I didn't see you. I was distracted and... well... I'm really sorry.”

The old man stands up, but he's not as small as she thought. If he didn't have such a hunched back he would probably be as tall as Satoru. For an instant she is reminded of him, by his gray hair that shines like silver. He pulls a pair of orange glasses from his pocket and puts them on before smiling at Kasumi once more.

“You heard her, it was her fault.”

Something resembling a word gets stuck in the middle of Kasumi's throat, but before she comes out of her little astonishment, the old man's knees give way and he falls on top of her.

“How strange you smell,“ he mumbles in her ear, ”of ash... and something else.”

The tavern keeper seems to be apologizing to Kasumi with his eyes, while she has the old man on top of her, his chin and nose rubbing her neck.

“Please, sir, don't cause any more trouble! Leave the girl alone...”

“On one condition!” The old man says, suddenly turning around, still smitten with Kasumi, “that the girl takes me to my room.”

The innkeeper sighs and then looks her in the eyes, begging her to agree, and she, true to her nature, cannot refuse. Amidst the hubbub, her insides twisting with hunger at the aroma wafting from the kitchen, Kasumi walks up the stairs with the old man she just met to the room the innkeeper pointed out to her.

A futon and a jug of water, and a window overlooking the rest of the city. Kasumi leaves the old man asleep on the floor and pauses for a moment, wondering, as she so often does, how he is doing.

Will he eat? Will he sleep? The uncertainty shakes her so much that she can feel her chest twisting in a seemingly endless spiral. Suddenly she opens her eyes, big as two plates, lowers her gaze and grabs him by the wrist.

“You're a pervert..." she says to the old man who had just touched her ass, and who still had the nerve to continue pretending he was asleep.

Disturbed, Kasumi stands up quickly, gathering her strength not to use her katana at a time like this. After all, this is just a pathetic old man, drunk and alone.

With a quick step she leaves the tavern only to hear the same voice of the tavern keeper calling out to her.

“Miss!” He says to her several times before she stops, it had been hard for her to silence the insults that she had been handing out to the old man in her mind, as to listen to him.

Kasumi stops and manages to calm down at the sight of this other man's kind smile.

“I am very sorry for the trouble Mr. Sato has caused you... He is... someone special, I beg your forgiveness for his rashness.”

“Mr. Sato... is a scoundrel. And I hope this is the last time I have to deal with him.”

“Ah... well, yes, I know he tends to take advantage of some situations. But I promise he's not a bad person. In fact, he's helped me a lot. He brought a lot of customers to my tavern and... Well, that's not important. What I meant is that I would like to reward your help, are you a traveler? You look a little tired, would you like a hot meal?”

As if breathing fresh air, Kasumi breathes in before answering.

“Y-Yes, please! I'd love to have something to eat!”

“My name is Isamu, come, and if you want to leave the horse behind the tent, there's some hay.”

Maybe crossing paths with that old pervert wasn't so bad after all, she says to herself, thankful that she didn't cut off his hand just then. She eats gratefully for a moment before guilt hits her and she remembers Satoru again.

The window was open that night, the one he has thought about so much since his confinement began. The icy breeze had filled every corner as he thought of one plan and then another, a thousand and one ideas on how to keep her safe and how to explain to her that he planned to leave.

It repeated like a loop, the same memory.

Then, the creak of the door opening and with it her soft footsteps.

Satoru turns and turns off all his inner voices suddenly when he sees her. At first, her figure is dimly perceived, then she walks slowly and softly as the women of the court do. He stands like a soldier, and gradually she is illuminated by the moonlight, as if a veil has fallen from her face and this is the first time he can really see her.

The saliva in his throat becomes heavy, he swallows and his pupil wanders back and forth, wandering awkwardly on Kasumi's face and the kimono she is wearing. The scent wafting from her skin completely fills the room and he feels unsettled by this whole presentation.

Somehow, Kasumi feels like a gift ready to be opened.

Satoru's right hand reaches for Kasumi's face, but he stops himself and deflects to the flowery hairpin on her head.

“Mei-Mei made you wear this?” It escapes his lips, though in truth he would prefer to remain silent for a moment.

Without hesitation, he gently removes her hairpin as if removing the first layer. He gazes intently into her eyes as her hair falls softly over her shoulders and the scent of jasmine soap wafts from it.

An uncharacteristic hunger flares inside him, his eyes shadowed, his breathing heavy, something in his throat, stuck, waiting to get out. Satoru takes a step forward before he feels invisible hands stop him, but he's close, he's so close he could touch her, so close her mouth to his he could taste her.

“Satoru...” she utters so softly it feels like a plea.

Her lips painted a soft peach color, her eyes shining under the moon adorned with lilac and pink. He cannot move, cannot leave his own body, though his heart is urgently calling out to him, beating louder and louder.

Kasumi's long fingers are tangling in his hair. Her soft hands cradling his face, her pleading mouth breathing on his.

Once the spell that kept him bent is broken, Satoru feels her, pulls her close against his body hugging her desperately, tasting her lips and losing himself in the hunger she has awakened in him.

Kasumi's small pale hands move, inexperienced, clumsily and sweetly. They stroll across his chest, feeling its unbridled throbbing, wander along the curve of his shoulder and slide down his arms. Then, full of hesitation, her trembling hands venture toward his clothes.

He should let her continue and heed her plea. He looks into her eyes, and his dark gaze finds an invitation he would love to accept. He would like to allow it, to let her hands make and unmake him, as she pleases, as many times as she wishes.

But, like a spell he has begun to hate, Satoru's hands push hers away and he takes a step back.

Overflowing with heat, desire and helplessness, he sees her a step away without being able to touch her.

«Do it», he hears in his mind, «Do it», over and over again, «Take one more step», «Take her», «She belongs to you»

However, his body continues to be alienated from his own heart.

Kasumi's clothes fall to the floor, slowly, like a ritual she has initiated to bring him out of his self-absorption, to break the will that Satoru knows, he no longer desires.

Her naked body, her face flushed. Satoru feels his body covered with invisible chains that bind him to a promise that no longer makes any sense. He opens his mouth, the stunned words, stuck in his throat, make him look like an inexperienced youngster. His heart glowing with heat, his whole body covered with desire.

He wants to tell her, he wants to tell her that he treasures her, that he desires her, that he misses her. He wants to confess to her that he misses the warmth of her body during so many winter nights, that even today when he sees a glimpse of the night sky in that hut, he remembers the deep color of her eyes, and the clear morning sky to the vibrant color of her hair.

Satoru opens his eyes and looks up, sees the shackles and fully awakens.

“Huh...” he mumbles, becoming aware of his own feelings for the first time.

After hours of analyzing her alternatives, looking carefully at the palace of the Gojo clan, Kasumi comes to only one unequivocal conclusion: she will never be able to enter by force. There is no possible human way to enter the palace without being killed by the guards, and waiting for any member of the clan to get out would be hoping for a miracle.

If she had more time, perhaps her best option would be to infiltrate as just another palace employee, but Satoru doesn't have that luxury at the moment.

Given the circumstances, Kasumi knows well what her only option will be. She walks at a steady pace to the gate that connects the island to the city and stops when she sees the guards by the gate, both carrying a sword each. She plucks up her courage and takes a step closer, but the guards are quick and move in sync, unhesitatingly obstructing the gate with their weapons.

“I-I," she says with a crack in her voice, then curses herself, clenches her fists and hardens her gaze. Kasumi gathers air into her lungs and speaks with determination: “I request an audience with the leader of the Gojo clan!...” Silence spreads around her, “...Or a member of the clan, that would be fine, too.”

The guards lower their weapons and one of them looks at her doubtfully, up and down. At this point, Kasumi would have liked to have clean clothes on her.

“And who precisely are you?”

“My name is Kasumi.”

“Girl, get out of here. No member of the Gojo clan is going to waste a second of his time with you. Go away, I don't want to have to beat you with your own sword.”

“But... I have something important to tell them! It's about Gojo Satoru!”

The laughter was not long in coming.

“Of course! And I'm the heir to the late emperor! Get lost, you dirty brat! Stop wasting our time or we'll cut out your tongue for talking nonsense!”

“It's not nonsense!”

Kasumi barely managed to hear the screech of steel as he drew his katana. Under her chin the cold edge caressed her throat. Oguri's whinny behind her, claiming with impetus, trying to break free of his own reins.

She throws up her hands and swallows her words, recoils in silence until she sees the sword lower and return to its sheath.

“And stay away, that was just a warning.”

Defeated, she retraces her steps before looking once more at the impenetrable palace. She returns to the tavern gathering a couple of coins and orders a small bowl of soup. To her misfortune, she is not the only one there. The old man from the night before seems to have finally woken up and comes down the stairs stretching his arms.

He looks cleaner, Kasumi thinks as she glances at him out of the corner of her eye. He is wearing a black yukata, dark as night. He yawns as he reaches the canteen and turns to look at her, but she turns her face away hoping he doesn't see her.

“But if isn't the girl with the weird looking hair, the one who smells like ash,” he tells her and proceeds to sit down across from her.

Kasumi sighs, doesn't respond, and continues to sip her soup. The old man, who doesn't seem to have noticed her obvious apathy, raises his hand to order something to eat.

“A plate of Kobe for the girl," he says, to her surprise.

The growl her stomach is about to utter prevents her from refusing. Even though she detests this man, she has never tasted a piece of Kobe.

“After all the trouble I caused her, it's the least I can do. What can I say? When I drink I'm not myself, and unfortunately for girls as pretty as you, I love liquor. I also adore young women, but I don't want you to get that idea about me. It was nice of you to escort me to my room, although I'm not very grateful for how you dislocated my wrist," he comments while rotating his right hand.

Kasumi doesn't know whether to smile or not. She looks at the man who was a rag doll the night before and almost doesn't recognize this other, more serious and less stooped man. His amber eyes, hidden behind his orange glasses are calm, his pronounced mustache is neatly trimmed and tidy. He sketches a broad smile and raises his hand again.

“I'd also like a bowl of rice," he shouts to the innkeeper. “You're a little thin... have you come a long way?”

She swallows, wipes the corners of her lips and sighs.

“Yes, but I think my journey has been in vain." The sound of a bottle resting on the table cuts off her train of thought, a bottle of sake and a glass. The old man takes the bottle that has just been brought to him and pours himself a drink.

“Nothing like good sake to start the day.”

“So he's an alcoholic,” Kasumi thinks.

“What's your name, young lady? You can call me Sato.”

“Kasumi.”

“Well, why do you say your trip was in vain? Didn't you like the city? Osaka has many attractions...” sigh, “although the greatest of all was taken away from us some time ago by that dreadful clan.”

“How terrible, what happened?” she asks with sorrow in her tone.

“They started a fire in the Shinmachi district.”

“The... pleasure... district... was the biggest attraction in Osaka?”

“Of course, all the girls fled the city. Now there's nothing left but pretentious upper-class women who don't enjoy spending their time with a gentleman like me. The Shinmachi girls sure knew how to entertain, my dear Kimiko sang like a nightingale. And beautiful Sakoto danced like incense smoke... I miss them so much, do you by any chance dance, play instruments or sing? I could pay you good money for something like that.”

“I didn't come here to entertain men,” Kasumi replied, pursing her lips.

“And why did you come here?”

She wonders too.

“My friend... he... needs help. The Zenin clan has him trapped...”

“I'm very sorry, do you know any samurai willing to rescue him?”

She denies.

“I think I was very naive to believe that the Gojo clan could help me.”

Sato stops moving for just an instant at the mention of the clan, as if he heard a fingernail dragging across a blackboard.

“Why did you think those bastards would help you?”

“Because they are his family.”

He is the heir of the clan, they searched for him for years, tried to convince him to join the clan for a long time. I thought if they heard that he was in big trouble they would come to his rescue.

“Are you talking about Gojo Satoru?”

“Do you know him? Well... You must know him, if you used to frequent the Shinmachi district you've surely met him... Yes, that's him. It's because of him that I'm here, but I haven't even been given a chance to have an audience... Do you think I gave up too soon... Do I sound too pessimistic?.... I seem to have given up before I even started. Sure, I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but I'm all alone and I'm desperate. I just want to see him again, I need to know he's okay.”

The Kobe arrives, smelling so delicious that Kasumi doesn't hesitate for a moment and sticks her chopsticks into it and then takes a bite. Sato looks at her slightly surprised and at the same time a little disgusted by her poor manners.

“But...” she says while chewing, ‘if I want to help him, I have to try again or die trying,” she says decisively. “I can't leave here empty-handed. I have to be persistent,” she says and bangs her fist against the table, ”maybe I'm not strong, nor am I very brave, nor so smart, but if there is something I can be, it's insistent. Thank you for the food, Mr. Sato,” she says as she puts rice in her mouth, ”I promise I will use this energy to pursue my goals. Goodbye.”

Sato sees her get up in a hurry towards the palace and then sighs, takes off his glasses to clean them with the cloth of his yukata, pours himself another drink and another, until the sun goes down and leaves the tavern. The girl's horse is there, grazing peacefully, and on the other side of the street, next to the stone path where the carts enter and leave the palace, she is there.

The old man is surprised to see her sitting on the ground, with her katana in front of her.

“Mm...”  it comes reluctantly out of his throat and he goes off in the opposite direction, to buy tobacco for the pipe he bought recently, brought from the west.

He treats himself to an apple and then retraces his steps. Another dusk, a grimace of displeasure at the sight of the clan palace again, he takes the apple from his sack and as he is about to put it in his mouth, he sees it again. The girl, Satoru Gojo's friend, is still sitting there, patiently waiting.

“What does she plan to do? Protest until someone deigns to know what she wants?”

His apple crunches over his hand. He turns his face in surprise, only to find Oguri devouring his fruit. He sighs, smiles, strokes it, then returns to the inn. He takes a seat and returns to the routine that he hoped would lead to an early death that never came. He orders bottle after bottle until the room spins and then, when a rare moment of sobriety leaves him still, he turns in the direction of the door.

“Will she still be there?” he wonders and before he knows it he gets up to look out the window.

It has started to rain and she is there, under the watchful eye of the guards.

“Bah...” he says and returns to the table to finish the last bottle of the night. Then he staggers back to his futon, and thinks of her as he listens to the raindrops hitting the roof tiles.

The next day, when he opens his eyes, he thinks of her again and wakes up with a lethargic body, the taste of vomit on his tongue. He drags his feet to the nearest window and opens his eyes like wide plates to see her there again.

“The only thing you're going to get is killed, but... that's not my problem.”

Sato walks down to the saloon and orders a jug of water. The barkeep seems distracted, he has the jug in his hand, but stretches his neck to look out over the window. He's worried, he's thinking the same thing he is. He knows that the Gojo clan is going to behead her in front of their door without hesitation.

“Don't interfere, it's not your problem,” he says and looks at her. Sato knows what he is saying with his expression alone, “and neither is mine.”

His routine, which until then had seemed to satisfy him, became dreadful. Turning every moment to see a death foretold became unpleasant. He mistakenly believed that she would repent by the second night, wondering at the same time if she would have taken some food with her. Otherwise she would die before the clan guards drew their weapons.

The third night he could hardly sleep, the alcohol didn't help, instead of bringing him happiness it brought him more and more misery. Constantly waiting for the screams of the women who saw the exact moment when the girl would fall to the ground on one side and her head on the other.

It is undoubtedly a pity for him; pretty women have always been his greatest weakness. And to think that one as pretty as her could be killed by the Gojo clan for another Gojo makes Sato nauseous.

Four days had passed since that morning when he had wordlessly talked her into this stupid plan.

The guilt had begun to consume him, she just wants to be heard.

Sato walks towards the palace, at a slow and tired pace. He walks until she sees him, standing beside her. Her face looks tired, her eyes slowly losing a spark he thought he saw at some point.

“Get up,” he tells her and she denies.

“Not until someone listens to me.”

“I'll make them do it, but if they refuse, I want you to leave.”

Kasumi doesn't understand why Sato keeps walking and why the guards step aside and open the doors for him. She doesn't understand until he turns around and the glasses fall down the bridge of his nose. She only understands what's happening when she sees a reflection in his eyes, recognizing the same unmistakable color as there is in Satoru's.

Her heart thumps hard against her chest, as if she had just seen him there, hidden in Sato's gaze. She jumps up and grabs her katana, watches the guards out of the corner of her eye and runs after the old man.

She wants to ask all kinds of questions, but doesn't, as she is too amazed by the huge structure looming over the island. By the countless number of guards and maidens watching her out of the corner of their eyes.

Sato walks, catching the intrigue of everyone there, causing babbles that he ignores. Behind him she cannot see the gesture of annoyance nor perceive the way he shuffles his feet.

“Thank you, Sato-sama,” she says with a smile and flushed cheeks.

“Don't thank me, if you had been ugly I would have let you die. But... you'll see how to repay me for this favor later.”

This comment gives Kasumi goosebumps and she ends up taking a step away from him.

“Yes...” she murmurs and turns her face away, as they walk through a huge garden, full of yellow roses.

“I hope you've thought about what you're going to say, because there's still a chance that you're going to say something so stupid that they'll end up beheading you anyway.”

One by one the officials appeared, of whom Kasumi had no idea who they were or what function they performed. The first ones wore different shades of black, then followed those in yellow, then red, blue and finally came the most important ones, those in purple suits.

“Daitoku,” Sato called him, ”this is a matter that may be of interest to the family, so it will be a matter discussed among the family, not with their officials.” 

The minutes passed very slowly, in silence, looking from time to time at the face of the old man who looks attentively at a door, waiting for it to open. Kasumi would like to know what is going on, as if she wanted to peek behind the curtain and see the strings that pull the puppets.

Slowly, more and more people begin to arrive, all gathered around this room where she will present her petition. She had absolutely no idea of all these formalities, and for a moment she looks down at herself only to realize how dirty she is after so long out in the open. She lowers her gaze, hoping that the curve of her bangs will hide her from the prying eyes that constantly seek her out. She interlaces her fingers and purses her lips, beginning to hide behind Sato's back.

It isn't until he sighs, so heavily that it catches her attention, that the doors open and a large portion of the officials enter the compound. They both stand in silence until Sato takes the first step and Kasumi follows behind him; she follows him as he glances sideways at all the people sitting neatly around him, until he stops and sits down on the floor in front of another group of men who happen to look just like him.

Satoru told her once, that traits such as hair color are usually a relatively normal thing in sorcerer clans. And, like him and Sato, the men sitting across from them have similar hair.

At first she had mistaken Sato's hair for gray, but now she realizes, he is like her, and like the other four in front of her.

The one in the center catches her eye the most, probably because he is as beautiful as Satoru. His hair is long, pale as snow, shining like silver. He brings it combed back, pulled back and lined up, each of his hairs completely perfect.

Kasumi flinches when his gaze falls on her, which is not even remotely like Satoru's. His eyes are not like his, more like an iceberg, cold and inhospitable.

The glacier in his eyes slides from her to Sato, a chuckle escapes his thin lips.

“Satomaru, brother... I thought you had sworn never to set foot on this palace again.”

Kasumi should have imagined that the palace gates would not open for just anyone, but having the brother of the Gojo clan leader beside her takes her by surprise.

“I was hoping you'd remind me, Ginmaru. Don't worry, I didn't come to cause you any trouble... I came to make you listen to this girl.”

“Ah...” he says and turns his expressionless face towards her, ”the one who has been in front of the palace the last few days. Go ahead, you can talk.”

Kasumi brings her face towards the wood of the floor, until her forehead touches the floor next to her hands. It takes her a few seconds to calm her heart, she thanks him for accepting her and then sits up, trying to hold his gaze.

“I have come to ask, no, to beg for your help. My friend...” she stammers and then swallows her stunned words to begin again, ”Gojo Satoru has been captured by the Zen'in clan. I have tried to gather a group of sorcerers to free him, but I fear we will not be enough. His life... is in danger. My lord, I beg you to...”

“Satoru has turned down every opportunity he has had to be part of this clan, in so many ways that we should have sought him out to cut out his tongue. Only to then use the name of our house to his advantage, refusing responsibility but boasting on the power bestowed by our blood.”

“Ginmaru...” Kasumi's host interrupts him, ”don't you find it shameful that the Zen'in clan has your son? It's a disgrace to the entire clan.”

Murmurs are heard in the corners.

“Don't you find it insulting that he let himself be caught?”

“Maybe...” Kasumi replies sheepishly, ”the Shogun wants to prove something to the nation by holding him captive...”

“There's something you haven't told me yet, child... Who are you? You come here unannounced, without introducing yourself, demanding that I send my men to a place I don't know. And worst of all, wearing rags in front of a clan leader, without respect or class.”

Kasumi lowers her head again, prostrating herself on the ground.

“I'm sorry, I beg your forgiveness, but I find myself in a desperate situation. Gojo Satoru is someone very important to me... And if I didn't come with a presentation, it's because there is none, my lord. I'm nobody, I'm nothing, I'm just a peasant girl from a fishing village, with no education, no class and no manners... as you have confirmed. I know you have no reason to believe me... but I am sticking my neck out just standing here in front of you, and I will do it again if you refuse my request... when I go to the place where he has been caught to try to free him.“

“And what is your relationship with him? Last I heard, he had made a name for himself and had become the emperor's sword. Did he have time to make friends with peasant women from fishing villages?”

“He is very important to me; I owe him my life.”

“Are you also going to omit the fact that you are a shaman?”

“Only because I am an insignificant shaman, my lord... My skills are unimpressive.”

Ginmaru is silent. The absence of words twists Kasumi's stomach as she waits for the leader to deliberate.

“The only reason I would release Satoru Gojo would be if he agreed to join the clan, but I doubt you have the power to convince him, do you, child?”

She doesn't, Kasumi knows that Satoru could die peacefully after rejecting this proposal. At her lack of response, Ginmaru continues:

“If you can't get him to agree, then... what's in it for this clan to help him?”

“I...”

Satomaru sighs, extends a hand on Kasumi's back and when he's about to touch her to convince her to withdraw, she sits up.

“I! You have me!”

“You? And why does this clan want a peasant girl?”

“Not me exactly, I have nothing special, nothing particular... But... my blood may be of interest to you. I am... the illegitimate daughter of the emperor.”

“Blasphemies...” Ginmaru whispers with his face clouded with disgust, then he points his finger at Kasumi and the guards who were patiently waiting for his signal unsheathe their swords. Satomaru stands up and steps back, the officials do the same, the room is suddenly filled with bustle. 

“It's the only reason Gojo Satoru saved my life! He received orders from the emperor to take care of me. Please, my lord, think about it... why else would he have protected me? There is none, because I am nothing and no one... but he claims that I am the emperor's daughter.”

“I had no idea,” says Satomaru raising his hands in the air.

The soldiers stop at the sight of the clan leader raising his palm. He stands up and walks at a slow pace to Kasumi, she raises her face; he is taller than Satoru, which is surprising. He stares into her eyes and then speaks softly in a husky voice.

“Are you lying?”

The soft voice of the Gojo clan leader is not caramel like Satoru's, it is husky and threatening, so much so that when Kasumi hears his question, her blood freezes.

“No!” she says after Ginmaru takes her face in his hands to examine her.

“I'm intrigued... I have to admit it. Out, I want everyone out, except you, Satomaru... I want you to stay here.”

The soldiers and officials rush out upon hearing their leader's order. When the doors slide shut and nothing is heard inside the room, Ginmaru releases Kasumi's face.

“The only way to know for certain if what you say is true... it will take some time. Sure, any of the clans would like to make sure they have that technique in their lineage. To have the power to limit another sorcerer's cursed energy? It's tempting enough to make you an offer.”

“An offer?”

“Of marriage. The only way this could work in my favor is if you have children of the Gojo clan. The more the better. But you won't be able to be the first wife of any of the top members, since we don't know if you're completely sincere. But, if you are, one of your children will inherit the technique and that could be the next leader of the clan. He could even regain the power of the Empire... I offer you marriage to one of my nephews, in exchange for two men.”

“Only two?” Kasumi murmurs.

He laughs softly in such an arrogant manner that Kasumi feels sudden regret for having opened her mouth.

“What makes you think you're worth more than two Gojo clansmen? -He questions Kasumi with an arched eyebrow and a smile that automatically makes her look down. “You,” he says to his brother, “don't think you bear no responsibility in this. If she is lying and has wasted our time, then you will answer with her, Satomaru. Since you have decided to be her host and have also ignored your responsibilities to this clan... and I have allowed you to do so, you will help your nephew. You will leave tomorrow, together with Genshiro. If you try anything strange, either one of you...”

A glance brings them together, Kasumi's grief does nothing to alter the annoyance and weariness on Satomaru's face. The old man sighs again, then removes his glasses to clean them once more. His brother clears his throat and invites one of his staff with whom he holds a hushed conversation, only interrupted to inform them that they may withdraw from his presence.

Kasumi bows to him, as does her companion reluctantly.

Once outside the palace, after a long walk in full, they both return to the dock.

“I guess I'll go enjoy my last night off from clan orders, I believe I owe you a thank you for that,” he says to her, glancing at her sideways.

Kasumi immediately lowers her head.

“I'm so sorry, I'm sorry you got involved in this.”

Another sigh.

“Now, now, lift your head up. At least I'll have something nice to look at on the trip.”

“I... I can introduce you to a very beautiful woman! She has long hair and... impressive attributes. And I know another woman who can dance very well! Maybe she'll do you the honor of showing you her skills.”

“Really?”

“Yes! They are extraordinary women!”

“Well,” he says with a smile, “well...” he says again as his gesture blurs. “I'll go get a bottle... I think I'm going to need it.”

Kasumi's excitement slowly dies down as she watches Satomaru walk away, then, when she sees Oguri walking beside her, she realizes what she just did. Did she just promise herself to the Gojo clan?

Chapter Text

He is one of his nephews, Genshiro. Sato-sama told her this the night before, when she asked him about the other clan member who would accompany them.

« “Why did he send only one person from the clan?

"Because Genshiro is worth ten men.” »

Seeing him face to face in the morning, she didn’t think so. Kusakabe is more robust than him, although less tall. The boy, a member of the Gojo clan, wears his hair half up, with a purple ribbon that matches his kimono perfectly. The beauty of his skin and the exact shape of his face is undeniable, so much so that it seems to be an attribute of the clan itself; it seems that being beautiful is another characteristic of the Gojo men.

He looks like he is made of porcelain and could pass for a divine being, were it not for the constant expression of disgust on his face and the particularly unpleasant way he looks at her, from head to toe, focusing at times on her worn clothes.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Kasumi. Thank you very much for your colab—.”

“Satomaru, lead the way and let's get this over with as soon as possible.”

Even the tone of his voice is beautiful, especially when he uses it to make her feel so small.

Kasumi is still in a bowing position when Genshiro mounts his horse and begins to gallop toward the outskirts of Osaka. Then she stands up and sees the tired expression on Sato-sama's face. He gestures with his hand and mumbles something, intending for her to ignore his nephew's poor manners. Kasumi remains unperturbed, not caring how much Genshiro wants her to understand that she is far beneath him. She has only one goal in mind.

Kasumi understands that her social position makes her undesirable to a lord of Genshiro's caliber. She quickly climbs onto Oguri's back and gallops hastily to catch up with her new companions.

They leave Osaka behind in no time, and so she also leaves behind in the back of her mind the promise she made to the leader of the Gojo clan. ...

His dark gaze, empty as a glass sphere, makes him uneasy. He feels surrounded, constantly watched by those animals that had been following them for the last few days. Although he is sometimes grateful not to be Kusakabe, the crows harass him day and night, as if they were scavengers waiting for the last breath of a sick goat. They watch him while he changes his clothes, while he trains, when he eats and sleeps. He has seen him throw stones at them so he can relieve himself in the bushes in peace.

When they arrived at the designated spot, they understood the reason, which left Atsuya Kusakabe with a wine-colored blush covering his entire face.

Kokichi pressed his lips together and blushed for a minute, but then his mind returned to the most important thing.

“Where is Kasumi?” he asks Mei-Mei, who can't take her feline gaze off Kusakabe.

When she seemed to have grown tired of intimidating Kasumi's teacher, Mei-Mei turned to the boy and looked down at his right arm, which was covered with a bandage. Then she looked up and smiled in a creepy way.

“She has traveled to seek allies, but she will be back very soon. My crows are following her very closely.”

A group of maids invite them to their rooms, and Kokichi walks behind Kasumi's brothers, following in Kusakabe's footsteps. He can't help but smile when he hears the Miwa boys excited about seeing their sister again after such an abrupt farewell.

That night, the day they arrived at the palace, Kokichi slips out of the room like a wild cat and disappears into the corridors. When he finds a door and slides it open, he meticulously checks that there are no guards near him.

Alone in a garden filled with ceremoniously placed stones, surrounded by swept sand forming furrows around them, Kokichi slowly unwraps the cloth that hides the lacerations on his left arm.

It began shortly after he left Kasumi and Satoru and grew considerably before he arrived at the villa where he met Kusakabe.

“Do you think it will kill you?

Mei-Mei’s voice is soft but venomous.

Kokichi turns to her, blushing immediately when he sees her kimono open over her bust and the fabric fall off one of her shoulders. He quickly looks away and returns his gaze to the wounds on his white skin.

“I don't know... But don't worry, ma'am. It's not contagious... I don't think so.”

“I noticed...” she says with a smile. She crouches behind him and whispers in his ear, “You're cursed.”

An old blind shaman he met in a village while traveling had already told him so.

« “The power that is born in you kills you at the same time. It grows like weeds, taking everything, even your soul, and it will consume you until your last breath, forever. No prayer will save you from your destiny. It will be your blessing and your curse at the same time"», she said mysteriously that day.

« “Who cursed me like this? Why? For what purpose? Tell me!” » he demanded.

« “The heavens.” »

« “The heavens?” » Kokichi snorts with laughter as he remembers.

«"They chose you to give you a wonderful power, but its cost is very high. It will cost you both love and flesh. Will you be worthy of your own destiny, Kokichi Muta?" »

“Someone called it a heavenly...”

“Restriction...” Mei-Mei finished, sitting up. “I've never seen one in person before. It's fascinating...”

“You find skin that rots while still alive fascinating? You are a strange woman...”

“Just a little. What I really want to know is if you can still fight in this state.”

“It may not seem like it, but strangely, the weaker my body becomes, the stronger the range of my cursed technique grows. I could reach that island without standing on it, almost like you and your crows.”

Mei-Mei looks up and finds herself surrounded by puppets, all standing on the highest walls of her palace, watching her intently.

Far from feeling threatened, Mei-Mei sees this as an answer to her question.

It isn't long before someone else arrives. He sees them across the courtyard while training with Kusakabe; they are two women, one of whom is a priestess.

Later, there is a ceremonious introduction that he doesn't want to know much about, and before going to sleep, he excuses himself from the room he shares with the boys to take a bath.

He prefers to do it alone, as he has done all his life, but in recent months he has found another reason. He carefully changes his bandages after applying a homemade ointment and is horrified to discover that the lacerations are growing faster every day.

It is not long before a new guest arrives, accompanied by two little girls, the same age as Kasumi's younger brother.

He seems stranger than the others, perhaps because of his overly pleasant expression, so much so that it makes him suspicious. Or perhaps what makes him feel so strange is the repertoire of cursed energy he hides up his sleeve, as if he were sharing the energy with other creatures he cannot see.

Kusakabe is much more comfortable than he is in this environment, greeting this new guest, Geto Suguru, and keeping him under his gaze until he seems to have become accustomed to his presence. Kokichi can't help but constantly watch him out of the corner of his eye, as if he fears that if he lets his guard down, he'll end up stabbing him. He simply can't trust anyone, although he's grateful that Mei-Mei decided not to share his little secret with anyone. Although he doesn't know if it was a favor or if she simply doesn't care if this curse ends up killing him, as long as they get Gojo Satoru back.

“She's coming with two more sorcerers,” Mei-Mei says during dinner, her eyes closed, focused on the gaze of other eyes.

“Eight shamans against how many soldiers?” Utahime asks. “I know Geto-san's abilities are impressive, but they will greatly outnumber us, considering that two of us don't specialize in hand-to-hand combat. I don't even know why I'm counting Shoko; her ability is too important to risk.”

“We don't need to defeat them all, we just need to buy enough time to get Satoru out of wherever he is,” Suguru replies.

“And how are we going to get to him and get past all the soldiers?” Kusakabe asks.

“We'll just have to do the best we can with what we have at our disposal,” Suguru looks at everyone sitting with him at the wide, low table. For a moment, his dark gaze lingers on Kokichi, and he smiles at him. “I know we don't know each other, and that we've been cautious enough not to reveal our cursed techniques. But if we don't do it, if we don't trust each other, we'll only put our lives at risk.”

“And why should we trust each other?” Kokichi asks.

"Because we are united by two people we care deeply about. Shoko and Utahime-san are here for Satoru, while you two are here for Kasumi-chan."

“And I'm here for the money,” Mei-Mei adds in a purring tone.

“And I'm here for my sister,” Ui-Ui says next.

“When Kasumi returns, we'll be ready, and I hope everyone here understands that what is about to happen will be considered an act of war.”

The days pass slowly as he constantly watches the crows gathered on the outer walls of Mei-Mei's palace, his strange hostess. He almost feels his heart leap out of his chest when she walks beside him, looks out toward the outskirts, barely seeing the blurred edges of the distant mountains, to tell him one thing.

“She'll arrive tomorrow morning.”

Her smile was soft but sinister. Then she turned and disappeared from view, her footsteps silent, almost absent.

He found it impossible to fall asleep knowing that Kasumi would arrive in a few hours, so when a young maid opened the door to the room he shared with the others, he could clearly hear Kusakabe getting up from the futon.

The sun peeking over the horizon; Kokichi gently pulls back the curtain with his fingers so as not to wake the children with the sun's rays. His heart was pounding in his chest, and a warm feeling welled up inside him at the mere thought of seeing her again.

Unfortunately for Kusakabe, the boy was sitting up when he opened the door, and they came face to face. If his messy hair wasn't enough evidence, the stains on his neck certainly were.

Kokichi raises an eyebrow, and Kusakabe Atsuya's most natural response is to hide his face, avoiding eye contact. He can do little to hide the blush on his face, but he frowns as if Kokichi's mere gaze were enough to make him feel as if he were on trial. But the other man has not uttered a word, not even an accusation, just a look.

“Do you have anything to say?” he asks in a harsh tone.

Kokichi simply turns his eyes back to the window, as if hoping to see Kasumi arriving in the distance.

“No... I suppose we could die tomorrow, so I have nothing to reproach you for taking advantage of what could be your last moments of life.”

Kusakabe slumps down on the futon, glances sideways at the children sleeping soundly, and sighs so heavily that he seems to have regretted the last few hours.

“Maybe I'd prefer you to judge me a little.”

“Maybe Kasumi will if I tell her.”

“If you do, you'll feel the edge of my sword.”

“It's her...” he whispers. “She's here!” he exclaims, opening his eyes wide. He jumps to his feet and pushes aside the curtain to confirm what he has just sensed.

Jumping and stumbling, Kokichi wakes the children, who are so dazed that they don't notice the reddish spots on Kusakabe's skin. The three of them run out so quickly that they barely have time to adjust their clothes. By the time they reach the first floor and go out into the garden, she has already entered.

As beautiful as the last time he saw her.

Kasumi smiles in a way that will remain etched in his memory for the rest of his life, privileged to be the witness to a reunion she has been longing for for almost a year. Her soft hands cling tightly to them and her laughter breaks, the intensity of her feelings twists and she releases her tears into her younger brother's hair, hugging them as if they were about to vanish from her hands.

Then she looks at them, one at a time. She cups their faces in her hands, checking the rapid changes typical of their age. She touches their long, messy dark hair and finally checks her brother's muscles with surprise. She is filled with amazement at how tall he has grown, compares herself to him in disbelief, and then smiles more calmly. Kasumi wipes the tears from her cheeks, and he stands on the other side watching everything as he feels his heart grow warm, as malleable and soft as raw dough.

When she looks up and meets his eyes, he could swear that the world has come to a complete standstill. Uncomfortable, like someone who has been caught spying on something intimate, Kokichi averts his gaze, consumed by an internal burning sensation that then turns into hell when she quickly moves forward to hug him tightly.

It takes his breath away. The world disappears completely for a few seconds.

Her scent, her warmth.

The indescribable feeling of holding her in his arms, becoming softer and softer, warmer and warmer, and malleable, and detestably weak, leaves him so speechless that he feels like a complete fool.

He can only swallow his own saliva when she speaks into his ear.

“Thank you for taking care of them.”

He, so unfamiliar with this closeness, is unable to do what his heart is crying out for. He cannot wrap her in his arms as she does with him. He tries, but his body does not respond, ignoring him, completely focused on the untamable beating of his heart.

Given what happens next, he doesn't know whether to be grateful or offended by such a sudden interruption. Kokichi hears a sharp blow, Kasumi loosens her embrace and jumps back, covering the top of her head.

Next to her is Kusakabe, with his fist raised and looking at her suspiciously.

"You're thanking him? You fool; I've been taking care of your brothers for months. Who do you think has been feeding them? And those two eat like sumo wrestlers. Do you have any idea how much I've had to spend?”

“Thanks!” Kasumi exclaims, grimacing in pain. “But why do you have to be so hard on me?”

“You're still asking me why? Look at yourself... It doesn't look like you had a good time. You're dirty...” he says, taking her by the chin and pinching her cheeks. "Your hair... How are you going to go unnoticed like that? Why aren't you wearing the band like I taught you? Don't you know what could happen to you if you attract attention?"

A subtle change in the gleam in her eyes... Just before she throws herself into his arms. With both hands in the air, overwhelmed by something that has just entered his mind and he would like to erase. A terrifying question pops into his head, but he presses his lips together so as not to say it out loud.

Kusakabe hugs Kasumi with the regret of a man who couldn't protect a girl.

She doesn't cry; her brothers are watching her, and she knows it. She doesn't want to worry anyone; she doesn't want pitying looks. She just wants to put into action the plan she has been dreaming of since the moment Oguri arrived alone at Mei-Mei's palace.

Muta, connecting the same dots as Kusakabe, stays on the sidelines, trying not to imagine a scene too sinister, or he won't be able to sleep, or live with the regret of having left her alone.

Meanwhile, another gaze—less interested in her and more in her two companions—peeks out stealthily like a shadow. His sharp eyes do not reveal his position for a moment, analyzing them from afar. Suguru Geto knows Satoru's past and his relationship with the Gojo clan perfectly well, so seeing two of his relatives standing there without explaining their presence seems at least intriguing to him.

The older man quickly clears his throat to remind Kasumi of his presence, and it is at this moment that Geto takes the opportunity to step out of the shadows and introduce himself with the friendliest smile he can muster.

“I wonder what could have interested the Gojo clan enough to send two of its members,” he says in a friendly tone.

“We...” Satomaru begins.

“They will help us get Satoru back,” Kasumi quickly finishes, with a presence that leaves Kusakabe impressed. She has never answered in such a loud or determined tone in her life.

“And what will be the payment for such a generous contribution?” Surugu asks, without taking his eyes off the two clan members.

“And you are?”

Suguru opens his eyes, barely surprised by the distrustful way she looks at him. Then he softens his expression and walks directly toward her, crouching down slightly to be closer and looking at her intently.

"You're right, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Surugu Geto... a friend of Satoru's.“ Kasumi's eyes widen, finally putting a face to the person Gojo once told her about. ”You must be Kasumi. He told me about you... Once, a while ago, when he thought he had lost you, but his heart told him you were still alive. But at the time, he didn't tell me you were a girl, let alone such a pretty one."

“I apologize for my impertinence, Geto-san!” Kasumi blurts out, bows, and then stands up once more. "About the Gojo clan... I beg you to be patient, we will tell you everything once we get Satoru back. I just want you to know that Satoru will have no obligations to the clan, if that is what you were wondering. The rest... is not the most important thing right now."

“I think it's important to know, what agreement did you reach, Kasumi?” Kusakabe asks her in a low voice, approaching her and looking suspiciously at both the old man and the other tall boy who is watching him as if he smells like manure.

“I reached an agreement, and that's all. None of you will be affected, and I'm not going to waste another second discussing it. The point is that Genshiro-sama and Sato-sama are here for Satoru. And they are willing to help us. We are in no position to refuse anyone, and even with their help... The situation will be hard.”

“That's fine with me,” Geto replies, though he lies with an affable smile. "Come in, everyone. You must be tired after such a long journey. Please, our hostess is waiting for us in the lounge. You must be hungry... We will leave the palace first thing in the morning, so take advantage of these last few hours to gather your energy."

...

Kasumi sleeps hugging her younger siblings, stroking their hair as the moon descends across the sky. She can't get him out of her mind, wondering if they have both developed the ability to sense each other's presence. If so, that feeling that his heart is still beating would be a certainty.

Geto mentioned it to her, as Satoru was sure she was lost, even after her spectacular fall. Perhaps, after all, they are connected.

That makes her smile, even if the gesture is weak.

She doesn't even know if she has slept at all when the sun rises again.

After much persuasion, Kasumi convinces her brothers to give up the idea of accompanying her and forces them to accept the task of looking after Geto-sama's daughters. If something goes wrong and no one returns, they will be responsible for them. This seems to calm them down, the obligation filling the void left by Kasumi; with a kiss on the forehead and a flood of tears welling up in their eyes.

Her older sister ruffles the youngest child's hair, who gets upset and reproaches her for treating him like a baby. Then she approaches the older one and squeezes his shoulder while looking him in the eyes, framing her gaze under her slightly furrowed eyebrows, and he just nods. 

He understands; the unspoken promise, the responsibility that falls from one to the other when their paths momentarily diverge again.

Kasumi walks toward the stables; Oguri waits for her, shifting anxiously. She arrives to calm his agitated steps with the soft sound of her voice and a caress. She is no longer surprised that he knows what is happening without her having said a single word.

The stable boys have loaded the horses, and almost all the shamans are preparing to leave.

“I'll go with you, if you don't mind, Kasumi-san,” says the now familiar voice of Ui-Ui.

She looks down and sees him, dressed in a dark traditional suit and a wide hat that hides his face well. Kasumi nods and helps him climb onto Oguri's back, then watches him adjust a handkerchief, also dark, over his face.

Kasumi feels Mei-Mei's frivolous gaze on her back and when she turns around, she finds her under the frame of a door, hidden in the shadow cast by the opulent roof of her mansion.

“If anything happens to Ui-Ui, I'll have to kill you, Kasumi-chan.”

Kasumi nods, certain that this is no joke.

Her sensei walks with his head down, and when Mei-Mei's eyes follow him like a snake, he moves as if he has just had a chill. He feels so suffocated by her mere presence that when he mounts his horse, he quickens his pace and is the first to leave the palace.

In the blink of an eye, the group travels along the most hidden paths, with a flock of crows following them. They circle Sagami Bay through Shizuoka Prefecture, without stopping until they finally reach the small port of Futo.

It is dawn when Kasumi dismounts from Oguri and looks at the distance that separates them from the island where they believe Satoru Gojo is trapped. The distance is so great that she cannot imagine how they could get there without boats at their disposal, and even if they had them, the lookouts would find them immediately.

This entire plan depends purely and exclusively on the ability of that boy who hides his face under a hat.

Geto watches him for a moment, distrusting his ability, but when he sees his cynical smile—a faithful copy of his sister's—he realizes he shouldn't question him. If someone like Mei-Mei-san would bet her fortune on this little boy's shoulders, then he will bet his life.

"We haven't even had time to test him; we should have at least seen him in action. We could have asked him to take us from one side of the wall to the other, or from one end of the palace to the other," murmurs Kusakabe, hidden behind the thick trunk of a walnut tree.

“I'm not too sure about this either,” replies Kokichi, frowning as he watches Ui-Ui.

The young man says nothing, does not defend himself, nor does he show any sign of annoyance at hearing them doubt him. He is so confident that he simply takes off his cloak and shows it to his audience.

“Who's going to be first?” he asks with a smile, and the only one there with complete confidence in her gaze is Kasumi.

However, before she can say anything, Geto steps forward. The astonishment of his companions and his affection for Satoru compel him to use himself as an example, even though he doesn't really know if he wants to know the details of a technique as risky and confusing as Ui-Ui's.

In a second, Ui-Ui's cloak descends upon him, and he sees nothing but the deepest black his eyes have ever seen, as if he were looking into nothingness itself, trapped inside a tunnel that has completely stopped his heart. A blink of an eye passes, and it is just him and the boy, who widens his smile even more.

“It will take me a few minutes to gather the rest,” he says before covering himself and disappearing before his astonished eyes.

Geto can hardly believe his eyes, but he forces himself to snap out of it and hides while trying to find the guards.

“Fascinating,” Geto hears behind him, and when he turns around, he finds Genshiro, amazed by the possibilities awakened by Ui-Ui's cursed technique.

“And you, will you tell me what it was? What she offered in exchange for your help?”

Genshiro glances around and then smiles smugly.

“It's not something your peasant ears need to hear. Now, where do we start?”

Despite her insistence, Kasumi is the last to arrive on the island.

Shoko and Utahime hide on Toshima Island in case something goes wrong. They are at a distance that will keep Shoko safe, as she and Ui-Ui are their most important resource.

Kasumi has her right hand near the hilt of her sword, walking slowly behind the others, with Kusakabe sticking to her like a fly.

Geto leads the group and before giving his first order, he turns to Kokichi and stares at him.

“Are they here yet?”

“They're close,” he replies. He stops and takes a deep breath with one hand on a tree trunk.

“We won't have much time before dawn.”

“Let me concentrate...” he says, almost as if he were spitting out the words.

Little by little, they emerge from the waves, like an army sent by the oceans. Kokichi's improved puppets, with metal plates on their bodies and heads, without eyes, without expressions.

Sato-maru opens his mouth for the first time all day when he sees the technique of that lanky boy in action. Genshiro smiles.

“This is going to be more interesting than I thought,” he says to his uncle.

“And it's just beginning,” he replies.

Kokichi feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to find Kasumi's warm smile and worried expression.

“Are you okay?”

He nods, unable to shake the feeling that he is a liar. Because even though his cursed energy is growing inside him, minute by minute, his body is weakening.

A crow arrives, perching on a branch in the same tree Kokichi is leaning against. It looks him in the eye, shaking its head from side to side, and then flies away.

“Follow it...” Geto orders, and Kokichi moves his puppets in that direction.

The soulless bodies follow the instructions, hiding under the shade of the trees so that the glint of their makeshift armor does not give them away. They hang from the cliffs like spiders, jumping from tree to tree to the other end of the island. Until they can see the peaks looming over the beach and a small group of soldiers there.

“Stay with him, in case they discover him. We'll go for Satoru,” Geto tells her before starting to climb the slope that leads to the center of the island.

“But...”

“Follow the plan,” Kusakabe replies. “And if anything happens, shout my name. I'll come for you.”

Kasumi nods and stays there with Kokichi, who has ended up sitting down to better concentrate on his puppets.

“What's that?”

“What?”

“That,” he says, pointing.

“It's an owl.”

“No, it's not an owl. It's something else...”

“A curse,” he replies mockingly. “What's wrong, Toshiro? Is all this time on the island starting to scare you?”

“Don't be a moron!”

“We'll tell the general that his subordinate is scared of a minor curse surrounding the camp.”

“You fool, can't you see that it's an animal and it's watching us?”

“You're a baby. What's wrong with an animal watching us a little? What do you think it is?” he says, raising an oil lamp. “Can't you see? It's just a little crow.”

The oil lamp falls to the ground, and a few seconds later, so does the body of the Zen'in army soldier. Behind him, in the shadows, a deformed figure rises, covered in metal and blood. It stands up, shaking the entrails from a silver arm, and turns its expressionless face toward the other.

A sharp cry, cut short when another puppet pierces its chest, is lost in the icy night breeze.

By the time the other soldiers rise from their tents, five of their own are already dead, lying on the ground with contorted expressions. And behind them rises a black cloud that spits fire in its wake.

The puppets appear in every corner, unleashing chaos.

No signal was needed; a dark cloud and the reddish glow of the flames are more than enough for Geto, who leads the group following a flock of crows.

Alarm signals sound around the island, and the footsteps of soldiers running toward the flames make him think that security must be tightening. So Geto decides it's time to attack.

Genshiro grimaces when he sees him vomit a sphere of smelly, unpleasant oil. But his expression changes when he sees the ball take shape as he throws it toward the path, unfolding into a black cloud to reveal its true form, just as terrifying.

One by one, the group sees the curses rising before them to serve as the first wave of attack.

“Do you want to stop?”

“And what else could we do with our time?”

“I don't know, but do they have to be riddles? Can't you think of anything better?”

“Ugh, I don't know, Yaga, you've got me tied up.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you're not as funny as you think you are?”

“Did you hear that?”

“Is that another riddle?”

“No, I'm serious... I heard something.”

Satoru stands up and remains silent. He does so in such a serious manner that Yaga immediately focuses his attention.

“An explosion?” he asks.

“Yes, I think so... Do you hear the footsteps? They're mobilizing the soldiers, something's going on out there.” He turns around, standing on his head, presses his bare feet against the strap holding his shackles, and pulls hard, with all the strength he has been saving for this moment. “Come on...” he says, trembling.

Yaga watches him fall hard to the ground and winces in pain, but he gets up quickly. 

“Are you ready?” he asks with a smile.

As fascinated as they are terrified, they watch the curses make their way through the first camp. They remain still, hidden under the dense forest, and do nothing when the severed limbs of a soldier roll at their feet.

Kusakabe sees the tip of his shoe and frowns. He turns to the old man and sighs before realizing that he is not carrying a katana, a bow and arrow, or a knife.

“How do you plan to fight?”

Satomaru ignores him, wearily watching the massacre in front of him and deciding to put an end to it.

“Wait, old man!” says Geto, trying to grab him by the shoulder before Genshiro stops him.

“Leave him, so we don't waste any more time.”

The old man closes his eyes, exposing his position. His kimono moves, fluttering with the energy surging inside his body. He concentrates, counting one by one, piercing them with his tired gaze, and then raises his hands.

As if he were an archer, he shoots a beam of light into the dark sky, and it explodes in several directions.

Everything in the camp falls silent. Only the terrifying splattering sound of a curse can be heard as it devours the entrails of one of its victims.

He turns to Geto.

“There's no need to be so grotesque,” he says, his tone dripping with disgust.

He is exhausted, but the puppets move in the shadows like ninjas, without falling, without resting. He regains strength when he feels Kasumi's gentle hand wiping the sweat from his forehead. He looks at her and a small, shy smile escapes him. He is here to help her save another man's life, and yet he persists at her side, his heartbeat pounding beneath his ribs.

He ended up sitting against the trunk of a fir tree, breathing heavily and feeling the sting of his wounds growing, claiming his body as the price to pay for this great power.

But he says nothing. Not a word. Not a complaint of pain.

Kasumi is crouched next to him, looking with a pained expression at her friend's exhausted features.

“You can do it, Kokichi. Just a little longer until the guys find him...”

Suddenly, he opens his eyes, sensing the murderous intent stalking them.

The fir tree falls, split in two lengthwise. Kasumi screams as she falls, Kokichi holding her tightly.

When they look up, they see him, rising in the darkness like a brown bear. So big and muscular that he looks like a curse. A man with unkempt hair and a rough face, thick eyebrows, and a jaw covered with a light beard. His jet-black gaze drops on them with contempt, and then a twisted, macabre smile spreads across his mouth.

Kasumi gets up and stands between him and Kokichi, raising her katana high, but he laughs at the sight of her, as if she were wielding a wet branch.

“No, no, girl. Don't protect him, he's already dead.”

She just clenches her jaw and presses her hands on the hilt, positioning her feet on the ground, waiting for his first attack.

“I won't let you!”

“No... That's not what he means, Kasumi,” his voice rough, his energy focused too far away to help her. “Just run!”

Instead, she plants her feet firmly on the ground. She looks at the blade of her opponent's weapon, as wide as his torso, as long as a katana, and curved like a bow.

In the blink of an eye, the silver blade moves with force, pushing the air current. Kasumi raises her katana, activating her ritual, and receives the full force of that single blow, helping her sword by bending the blade so she can hold it with her other palm.

But the blow is brutal. Something shifts inside her body, her shoulder makes a noise she has never heard before, and in an instant she is crossing the field covered with fir trees, breaking their branches with her back, displaced with the force of a hurricane, dragging with her a cry of pain.

“KASUMI!” Kokichi shouts, but she can't hear him.

Everything is dark.

Noisy.

The pain stings like a needle.

The world spins violently, so much so that she could vomit.

Her first blink is slow and heavy, as if she had woken up five days later. Then, a second later, everything comes back to her, right after she hears the sound of his voice.

“Don't worry about the dying man, girl. He would never give me the kind of fun you can!”

Barely able to stand, she grabs her katana with her left hand and runs with strenuous effort in the opposite direction of the voice laughing at her.

Her shoulder is dislocated, her back covered in scratches. She runs breathlessly and hides behind a deformed tree whose trunk grows like a snake.

“Come out and play, girl! Let me see your pretty face one more time!”

She holds her breath.

“I want to see what you're hiding under those clothes!” 

Kasumi listens.

“Dirty... like a filthy rat. So small that I could crush your head with one hand...”

She trembles.

“I enjoy women like you, small, defenseless... Do you think your friend would be happy if I gave him your head as a souvenir? I can't wait to see his expression, one dead corpse horrified by another corpse. Ha! Come on, girl, come on, come out of your hiding place, little mouse!"

The nerve-wracking sound of steel cuts through the air above her head, and Kasumi screams as the tree that served as her shelter begins to fall on her.

Her heart is pounding in her neck, her left hand trembling on the hilt of her sword. Her hair glistening in the moonlight as she runs, the cruel, merciless laughter echoing behind her.

Kasumi stops suddenly when she sees the fire spreading in front of her. Half the island is ablaze.

She turns around, with the overwhelming certainty that there is nowhere to run. She clenches her jaw and looks him in the eyes again.

His empty, demonic sockets glow with the heat of the flames in front of him, his pupils fixed on his prey; tired, wounded... and weak. A smile full of stained, yellowed, crooked, large teeth.

Kasumi raises her katana in the air and frowns. Perhaps there is no chance of killing him, but at least he will take a few cuts from her.

“This is where the path ends...” he says, widening his smile even more.

And that's when she feels his protective presence surrounding her, like a cloak of cursed energy. Kasumi doesn't need to look up to see them, to be sure they are there. Jinichi, on the other hand, does.

He opens his mouth in surprise. One, two... four, eight. All of Kokichi's puppets abandoned their mission to get here. And before he can utter a single word, all the puppets launch a coordinated attack.

Kasumi watches as he is cornered, how in one movement he has cut a figure in two. But they don't stop, the puppets keep walking. Pouncing, subduing him.

The puppets turn their faces toward her in unison, watching her as if to say something, as if to say “now,” “do it,” “kill him,” once Jinichi retreats and ends up falling to the ground, with all of them crushing his limbs. But she can't even lift her sword.

“Let go of me, you fucking cheap trinkets!”

The puppets move according to Kokichi's will. They prevent Jinichi from grabbing his twisted sword and leave his chest exposed, in full view of Kasumi. They cannot speak, but if they could, they would say:

“Kill him here, now. Hurry up.”

Jinichi's scream leaves her trembling. She will never forget the sound of a broken bone; the puppets have broken his right arm, and now he and she are on equal footing.

However, when Kasumi raises the katana with her left hand and lifts it in the air to deliver the final blow, in the middle of his chest, she stops.

Jinichi's dark eyes see her completely, her face darkened above him, her frightened gaze and her eyes that seem about to shed a tear.

“You're afraid,” she says and laughs loudly. “You're afraid, little mouse. You're afraid of becoming like me. What will you do now? Will you kill a man who can't defend himself? DO IT, WHORE! DO IT NOW AND GET IT OVER WITH!”

Kasumi's sword falls hard, Jinichi screams and curses her, spitting, shaking under the puppets' arms.

She has hit him in the leg, piercing the muscle. Her jaw clenched, she feels she has made a mistake. But no human force could convince her to do otherwise.

Kasumi is still not capable of killing another human being. And in the end, she runs around the fire until she finds a path.

Screams of pain, of death, of horror. Commandos that miss the air, hidden among the sparks given off by the charring wood.

On one side, there are soldiers who band together to fight the shamans, another group of shamans focuses on curses, others run, abandoning their posts.

The stench of charred human bodies takes her breath away. A figure runs through the forest, arms in the air, body covered in orange flames, leaving behind a cloud of black smoke mixed with the agonizing sound of his desperate voice.

Dismembered bodies, soaked in blood on a reddish clearing, at the feet of a curse with long hands, sharp fingers, long, dark, thick, dirty hair. The viscous sound of fresh flesh splattering.

Kasumi sees the chaos so close that it leaves her paralyzed, her knees shaking so much that she is about to fall to the ground.

The true face of war, staring at her and reveling in the feeling that weighs on her soul. ...

They arrive in dozens, as if they had stirred up a hornet's nest; the Zenin soldiers guarding Gojo Satoru's prison.

He watches them die at the mercy of his curses, listening to the sharp echo of their screams reverberating inside his ears, penetrating deep inside him. But the cost of his rescue is worth every life that slips away from the clutches of the abominable beings he constantly keeps inside him, poisoning him.

One arrow after another is aimed at him, and he backs away, dodging them with ease, taking long strides backward until a presence makes him turn around. An evil smile shines in the reddish gloom, a pair of battle-hungry eyes stare at him, and above his head rises the gleaming steel.

The sword falls hard, like a hammer, splitting the stone beneath his feet. Geto jumps, and in the next second he feels the steel tearing his cheek like the scratch of a paper.

A barricade of soldiers prevents them from approaching the center of the island. And on the other side, the flames continue to devour everything in their path.

Satomaru's invisible arrows surround Kusakabe before he is attacked by a dozen soldiers, who fall lifeless to the ground before they can take another step toward him. Kusakabe turns to the old man and makes a small gesture, bowing his head in his direction. Recognizing him for the first time as a drop of sweat falls from his forehead to his cheek.

But the soldiers keep appearing in well-organized squads. Like an endless plague.

Outnumbered fifty to one, completely overwhelmed, they receive the first blow.

When the sky turns red and orange and a trail travels to his position. Kusakabe is struck by an arrow in the back.

Distracted by the sudden fall of the shaman, Suguru lowers his guard for a second, during which his opponent throws a poisonous dagger at his stomach. The poison is fast, effective. It stuns him for a second, during which his heavy gaze can barely lift to see his attacker.

The smile fades when young Gojo appears behind the decapitated head of soldier Zenin. It rolls to his feet like a ball, with a contorted expression, and when Suguru looks up, he sees the boy's blue eyes. They share nothing more than a slight smile before turning back to continue the fight.

It's as if Satoru were fighting alongside him.

Kusakabe, on the other side, falls to the ground. He pulls the arrow from his back and throws it aside before rolling onto his back, only to see the dark sky lit up again by flaming arrows. And before he can get up to activate his technique, there are three members of the Gojo clan, identical.

Genshiro deploys his copies around Kusakabe and with three replicas of his swords raised in the air, moving at high speed, he cuts the arrows that fall heavily on them.

Kusakabe watches the burning pieces of wood extinguish themselves on the ground. ...

Hidden in the shadows, she continues toward the center of the island, evading soldiers, toward the place where he is waiting for her.

She sees waves of soldiers walking in groups, she sees archers and swordsmen, but she cannot help her companions, not with one arm missing. She would only be a hindrance.

Behind the shadow of a tree, Kasumi bites a branch as she tries to adjust her arm, pushing herself against the trunk. Tears fall down her cheeks when the socket finally fills with bone and a crack is heard inside her. She stifles a scream, writhing, muffling it with the damp piece of trunk in her mouth.

Kasumi looks at her trembling hand, moves her fingers, her tendons pulling at the flesh, and the sensation sends a shiver through her chest. But she can finally wield her sword again with her right hand, not as well as before, but at least she is not completely defenseless.

Crouching, with one goal in mind, Kasumi continues to evade guards and traverse the thick forest, trying to reach him. The faster she frees him, the faster this madness will end.

And when she finally sees the small hut guarded by a group of guards, her heart beats fast. She knows it, she feels it in her bones, he is in there. He is alive.

But he is surrounded by guards, and the commotion of the battle has not reached this far. All she has is a bow and a few arrows, a sword she can barely wield, and a technique that is only good for defense.

And her only advantage is being hidden under the shade of the trees.

“How can I distract them?” she wonders.

Tension begins to take hold of her when she sees the fire approaching her position, although after a moment she turns to look at the flames as if they were an ally.

She moves quickly until the heat of the relentless fire beads sweat on her forehead. She takes a thick branch and wraps it in a piece of her kimono. She approaches and, with a torch in her hand, retraces her steps.

The camp surrounding Satoru's prison is full of alcohol, so much so that they are the perfect target. Kasumi hopes they won't hear the first arrow breaking a bottle, as they are busy arguing, then she throws the torch forcefully onto the pool of alcohol and watches intently as the flames rise and shatter the rest of the bottles. The explosion sounds like a howl in the middle of the night.

“WHAT WAS THAT?!”

“Grab something to put out the fire!”

“Where did it come from?” says one, wielding his sword in the air.

“What do we do?!” shouts another.

“Where's Jinichi?!”

“I'm getting out of here!”

An arrow pierces his chest.

“Deserter! No one abandons their post! Anyone else want to follow him?!”

“We're going to burn to death! We don't have any water to put out the fire!”

“WE HAVE TO JUMP INTO THE SEA!”

“Are you going to desert too?!”

Once chaos breaks out, the only door is left unguarded. Kasumi moves with a mixture of stealth and anxiety, her stomach churning, her heart pounding. Her heartbeat fills her ears as she approaches the door, and when she raises her pain-covered right hand, a spark drives her away.

Kasumi looks at the seal affixed to the door.

She has no techniques, nor does she have time. Soon the soldiers will notice her presence, soon the fire will reach her position.

With determination, Kasumi raises her palm, this time her left, grabs the seal, clenching her teeth, feeling an electric current run from her fingertips to her shoulder and chest. Completely shaken, stunned with pain. Kasumi holds back her scream between clenched teeth, staring at the seal that begins to peel off, smelling her own flesh burning.

In the end, she can't take it, not without screaming. She feels that her skin will soon explode, that in seconds the suffocating pain will kill her. But she doesn't let go.

And it is at the last moment, when she finally manages to lift the seal, that a wave of cursed energy breaks free and pushes her into the air, when she has no strength left.

...

A storm breaks out, tearing the door into hundreds of pieces. A halo of blue light blinds him for a moment. He covers his face with his forearms, and when the cataclysm ends, he looks up.

A clean, clear path. The cursed energy returning to his body, revitalizing his veins, swelling his numb muscles.

Satoru smiles, breathing in the air that enters through the threshold of the vanished door. His sharp teeth gleam, hungry for revenge, burning from the center of his body.

He emerges from his captivity and looks around. He rejoices in the screams of the soldiers who see him emerge from the dark smoke like a beast, like a death sentence in human form. His eyes burn like Antarctic ice, his gaze searching for them anxiously. His pupil sees them from afar, piercing their hearts.

Unhinged, with a wide smile on his face, he glides swiftly across the battlefield. His pale, naked torso moves with the agility of an animal. Inhuman, Satoru crosses the space that separates him from his future victims. He picks up a fallen sword and raises it, the energy pulsing through his veins traveling from his torso to his fingertips, and from his fingers to the blade, making it untameable.

With a single swing, he cuts them in half, four at a time. Everyone stands, staring at him, perplexed, bewildered. Lost gazes that begin to fade. Torsos fall to the ground one by one, sliding through their visors with Satoru's clean, precise cut.

Yaga leaves the prison and glances sideways at the bodies. The blood spreads like a crimson lagoon, staining Satoru's bare feet.

His gaze sends shivers down his spine, his eyes like two sparks glowing between fire and shadows.

“Satoru...” comes out of his lips in a whisper that is lost, hidden among the sounds of the forest dying around him.

“Don't you feel it, Yaga? Haven't you been dreaming about it all this time?” he says, walking with his feet stained with wine and blood. “My heart is beating fast, asking me for something... Isn't yours?”

“You want revenge, Satoru... But you're not seeing clearly. Don't let yourself be intoxicated by those thoughts.”

“No, you don't understand...” he says, looking at his hands, unperturbed by the bloody pool spreading beneath him. “Don't you feel what I feel? The energy flowing? I feel better, much better... I feel so powerful... It's as if the universe is giving me a gift. I feel it at my fingertips, I can almost see it...”

“Satoru! Wake up!” Yaga shouts, approaching him. “We have to get off this island as soon as possible.”

“Yaga...” Satoru says, as if a bubble had just been popped. “How was the seal lifted?”

“I don't know...” he whispers, “but look around you... Listen, there's a battle going on. Save that energy to help us get out of here. Now let's go, maybe we'll find Jinichi on the way and your wish will come true, but don't let your feelings cloud your judgment. Keep your eyes open.

She can barely breathe, she doesn't even have the strength to open her eyes, but she does because, despite the blow, she still remembers. She feels it in her heart, in the blood running through her veins. She has to get up and keep going.

Kasumi feels the weight of her entire body resting on her right arm, which was recently dislocated. Her left arm is almost completely burned, and on her fingertips is the seal created by the previous emperor, intact, as if it had just been written.

Her legs tremble, her knees barely holding her up. But as she does so and looks up, with a trickle of blood running down her forehead, she finally sees him.

He is standing in front of the hut, with his back to her.

Her heart beats strongly, as if it had been injected with life again.

Everything is suddenly erased from the world, everything except him.

Kasumi smiles weakly, holding onto the tree trunks to move forward slowly, opening her mouth to try to say his name, but the words come out tired, like whispers lost in the wind. She doesn't have the strength to tell him she's there.

“Sato... ru...” comes out of her lips and the words hide from him.

She watches him walk away from her. She watches him leave, his broad, bare back, his hair long to his neck.

Kasumi moves forward clumsily and desperately, pronouncing his name in syllables that do not reach his ears. And when he is too far away, she reaches out as if she could touch him and falls to the ground with his name hidden in her last breath.

It feels like a stab in the heart, an energy that holds him back and prevents him from taking another step. Satoru can feel it, suddenly, as if lightning had split him in half. His heart shrinks and he turns toward the darkness of the forest.

“Why are you wasting time?”

Yaga's words don't reach him. Satoru turns on his heel and runs in the opposite direction, searching for that little flash of energy that left him breathless.

With his eyes wide open, he moves through the forest, pushing aside the wild growth, his gaze searching in all directions. Until he finally finds her.

“KASUMI!” he shouts when he sees her.

Unconscious, lying on the ground with one arm darkened and her heart beating weakly, as if her life were hanging by a thread.

Satoru quickly kneels down. He takes her in his arms and pushes her hair aside, revealing her pale face, stained with soot and blood. The smell emanating from her body makes him turn to look at her left arm, and his heart sinks when he sees the seal she is holding tightly.

Desperate caresses run across her face, his sky-blue eyes searching her face desperately, anxiously.

He pats her face, whispers her name, and she does not respond.

He feels his vision suddenly cloud over and squeezes his eyes shut; it won't let him see. A tear falls and breaks on Kasumi's cheek, a single tear.

“Wake up, please...” he begs softly, “Silly girl, why did you do that?” he asks, shaking her body. “Damn it, how did she say it was? Shoko told me once, WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER?! The reverse technique! How does she do it?! HOW?!”

“Satoru...”

Yaga's voice makes him turn around, clinging to Kasumi's body as if afraid she would disappear.

“Do you know? The reverse ritual? Answer me! Quickly!”

“No! I don't know! But you have to get her out of the forest or the smoke will suffocate her! She needs air!”

Satoru blinks, as if trying to regain his composure. He takes Kasumi in his arms and stands up. Once out of the forest, when the clouds in the sky dissipate and the moon illuminates Kasumi's pale face, he carefully approaches her face and sighs with relief when he hears her faint breathing.

Chapter Text

As Yaga advances along the path, following the sound of swords clashing, screeching, and grinding their steel, Satoru follows him. He walks slowly and deliberately, unable to take his attentive gaze off her. He fears that an invisible dance of fortuitous events swirling around them has entangled Kasumi. Somehow, all of this is his fault. Every step he has taken up to this point has been wrong.

Breathing in the clean forest air, far from the smoke, she finally opens her eyes. The movement of her eyelids is so slow and tired that he doesn't notice, only realizing when she lifts her chin in his direction and she sees his profile outlined by the snowy moonlight.

He is as imposing as he always has been. Despite the torture and hunger, he still looks like she imagines the gods do. So perfect, so outrageously spectacular. Still captive, still hungry, even with blood on his wrists and calluses on his hands. Gojo Satoru walks as if the whole world belongs to him.

Kasumi smiles weakly, enchanted by the warm sensation his closeness leaves on her body; by her immeasurable love. She could die peacefully in his arms, with the calmness of a monk. She could fill her lungs with the scent of his body and intoxicate herself until she lost her mind.

When his blue eyes finally find hers, he stops. The air in his lungs disappears in a soft gasp, the sounds of the battle fading from his ears. There is nothing but her pale face, her sea-blue eyes, and her gentle smile.

“Am I alive?” Kasumi asks in a whisper, and he sighs, then smiles and feels his muscles relax for a moment.

“Do you belive someone with this face would welcome you to the other world?”

“Maybe...” she smiles, letting herself fall against his chest, looking at him with captivated eyes. “I guess I imagined something like this to be on the other side.”

“You're alive,” he says with a smile. “By pure miracle, by the way,” he replies in a soft voice, like a caress. "What you did was completely stupid. I've never seen a shaman get rid of a seal so... rudimentarily. But I'll have time to scold you for that later. Right now, I need you to focus all your energy on staying alive. Don't strain yourself. Yaga and I will protect you from now on. I don't want you to talk or move, just breathe and wait for me. I promise this will be the last time we're apart."

Kasumi wants to ask him not to make any more promises that can be broken, she already has too many of those in her collection. But she has lost the right to reply. She remains silent, saying nothing as Satoru continues to walk stealthily, only letting her face fall against his bare chest, cold, yet warm at the same time.

The footprints of the Zenin soldiers mark a safe course to the place where the battle rages fiercely. As they advance, their footsteps mix with blood and the oil used to light the arrows.

It is not until Yaga raises his right hand to signal Satoru to stop that he holds her tighter than before. It is as if he is regretting what he's about to do.

He leaves her at the foot of a tree, hidden among the bushes.

Satoru's palm finds Kasumi's cheek and cradles her face, wiping away with his thumb the blood that slowly falls, staining her white skin. She smiles, barely, holding back the urge to cough up her own blood so as not to worry him further.

But he sees everything, looking into her eyes in a particular way, as if seeing her for the first time, as if he could really see inside her. It's so intense, so overwhelming that she can't hold his gaze, and following his orders, she doesn't say a word.

“At least you still have enough strength to blush, that's good,” he whispers before getting up. “Don't worry, nothing will happen to you now. I won't let anyone near you, you hear?”

Kasumi nods and he turns his back on her.

The path descends a hillside and from where he stands it's not difficult to see the soldiers, all dressed in red and black armor, with wooden and iron helmets.  

He arrives and brings the storm with him. The first drops fall without ceremony, without warning, so slowly that no one had noticed it was starting to rain. It is only when He bursts in like lightning that everyone realizes it; it is like a typhoon.

Satoru advances from the rear, grabbing a sword from the first soldier he encounters—one who was trembling as he attempted to aim a flaming arrow. The experienced samurai reaches across his waist, grabs the hilt of the katana hanging from his belt, and stretches it along his back to execute his comrade.

The first soldier doesn't even notice the maneuver, even when he sees his comrade's head rolling at his feet. He lets out a cry mixed with an insult, drops his bow and arrow, and reaches for the sword Satoru stole from him. He opens his mouth, filled with astonishment, and the last thing he sees is Satoru's face splattered with the blood spurting from his own mouth as his  sword pierces his skull from the soft area of his chin to the parietal bone.

Satoru feels his feet moving on their own, as if he were born for this. He doesn't feel the broken glass under his feet, as if it weren't touching him at all. The cursed energy reproduces inside his stomach in spurts, hot, wild. He grabs a spear and shoots it at a soldier in the distance, one who lunges at a stranger who then stares at him wide-eyed in the distance.

Kusakabe barely recovers from his astonishment when the elderly Gojo grabs him by the shoulder and drags him back. Blood still drips from his abdomen, and he gasps as he moves, one hand over the wound.

He can barely see him, like a ghostly specter, a blur, so agile that he leaves no footprints behind. Blood is the only witness, splattering from piercing wounds, from stolen weapons he takes to continue clearing his path. The soldiers' bodies fall like flies, dismembered, decapitated, Satoru's imagination growing with each step, each death more creative than the last. The blood of his enemies splatters his face like fireworks, and then the drops fall and mix with the rainwater. His skin slowly stains, his chest filling with spots.

Not a single one must be left alive. That's what he thinks as he cuts their throats, one after another, without wasting a second. Mercilessly, without looking back to see Kasumi's face, who watches him move across the battlefield as if he were death itself.

He stops at the foot of a rock resting on the mountain's precipice, surrounded by trees. Satoru turns to Yaga, who hasn't had to lift a finger, looking with disdain at the bodies of his fallen enemies. The samurai says nothing to him, but he understands everything. To continue descending and fighting, he will have to take care of Kasumi.

Suguru feels it, vibrant, wiping the blood from his face with a smile, still under the effects of that strange drug. He raises his face and looks above his head, he is there, in the distance, watching him, replicating his confident smile.

Just a little more.

He is exhausted, but these are the last soldiers left standing. They will be nothing more than a handful for Satoru. He gasps for breath, his lungs and knuckles ache, his arms tremble, but he gathers what strength he has left and summons it. No one will know that he's feeling faint. All those present who die by his hands will do so with the idea that Gojo Satoru is invincible.

Yaga returns, takes Kasumi by the arm, and helps her walk away.

“They're waiting for us at the foot of the mountain...” she says, as if it hurts to breathe.

He nods, glances sideways at Satoru, and slips into the shadows while Satoru unleashes the pent-up fury that kept him alive for so many months. The slaughter does not stop, not even when he picks up a shield from the ground and covers himself from a rain of arrows, nor when he crushes the head of a soldier who lost his helmet with his own foot.

Kasumi sees Satoru's white skin from afar, his long, tousled hair soaked with water and blood, and she gasps. It was as if he himself were losing himself in the fun of annihilating his enemies.

She hadn't expected this to be what she would find when she rescued him. She naively believed that she could have freed him and escaped from the island. But no, Suguru had mentioned it to her over dinner the night before.

“We don't know what they've done to him, we don't know if he's dying. But... if he's alive, if he's saved his energy for the moment when he can get out... we don't know what kind of Satoru Gojo we're going to find.”

He was so sure when he said those words, and she was so confident that Satoru would be the same person who left that winter morning.

Suddenly, Suguru's curses stop. Just as animals sense the arrival of a natural disaster and migrate, flee, and hide, the curses recede, giving the soldiers a false sense of victory. They raise their weapons in the air and shout in unison, but it doesn't take them long to realize. Suguru smiles despite the poison, smiles with eyes so tired that he could collapse on the ground right there. And he does so because he knows perfectly well that the coming storm does not dwell only in the sky.

He continues on his way, guided by the sound of steel, by the whistle of arrows. He pushes aside the bodies blocking the path and pushes his own legs to keep going. At first, fatigue slows him down, but as he frowns and picks up speed, he feels himself moving again by pure inertia.

He appears on the scene like thunder, so fast that his own allies cannot see him if they blink.

Satomaru watches him approach, mouth agape, two swords in hand, his blue eyes like two lucers drawing a trail in the air behind his frantic steps. His hands tremble; he could even kneel before the legitimate heir of his clan at this moment. As if he were witnessing what the leader of the Gojo clan should really be, and the fear he instills with his mere existence.

Genshiro pushes a soldier and a copy of himself stabs him in the chest, but he himself, meters away, is left breathless by his monstrous presence. He barely moves, as if afraid that he will find him and mistake him for an enemy. His explosive cursed energy leaves him motionless, as if he were a curse, the most evil he has ever seen in his life.

But it is not, it is only Gojo Satoru, the son of a prostitute from a seedy brothel that the leader decided to fuck one night.

He swallows hard, gathers his copies, and backs away to the old man, who is as incredulous as he is.

“What the hell... is that?”

“He's the new leader,” Satomaru replies without thinking.

Kusakabe is alert, one hand on the wound that continues to gush blood. He watches him with the same fear as everyone else, as if he were a wild and untamable creature. He looks at him, wondering if this is really the man Kasumi was so determined to free. And at that moment, as he trembles with fear, feeling crushed by his wicked energy, he realizes that this guy is the only one who could dethrone the Zenin Clan.

Satoru finishes off thirty soldiers in the blink of an eye, then unexpectedly stops. Everyone is watching, intrigued. Satoru smiles and leans on a sword to stay upright. His knee gives way and he falls heavily to the ground, and at that moment everyone fears the worst.

“Protect him!” Suguru shouts, starting to run in his direction.

Kusakabe, Satomaru, Genshiro, Suguru, all stand like pillars on each flank. Kusakabe grits his teeth, one hand on his sword and the other stopping the bleeding. Genshiro and Satoramu are drawn by the call of their own blood.

Kasumi sees him fall, exhausted, breathing heavily, and pulls on Yaga's clothes to stop him, but he doesn't. He continues on his way, following a small trail of cursed energy, small and precise at the foot of the mountain.

The young woman glances sideways at the final moments of the battle. There are still at least fifty soldiers left. Satoru has almost completely exhausted his energy, but they do not give up.

The wild rain falls in buckets, stirring the stones on the mountain, turning the ground to mud. Suguru sends one of his curses in a desperate attempt to end this battle, but not towards the soldiers. The snake-shaped curse burrows into the earth, travels through the roots, loosening the trees and making the ground unstable.

Before they know it, it begins to fall from above. The island itself collapses, the earth slides. Suguru throws Satoru over his shoulder and they begin to retreat as they hear behind them the earth swallow up the last soldiers of the Zenin clan's army. Feeling the earth shake beneath their feet.

“Don't you think... this is a little excessive?” Satoru whispers in Suguru's ear.

“After the show you put on, I couldn't be any less,” he replies with a friendly smile.

Kokichi slips and falls on his butt, landing next to Ui-Ui in his hiding place.

“What happened to your puppets?” the boy asks him, and he wonders the same thing for a moment.

He doesn't know, he only knows that they are gone.

Yaga brings Kasumi with him, barely conscious. Behind them are Kusakabe, the two members of the Gojo clan, and Satoru, dragged along by Suguru.

Kokichi quickly helps Kasumi to her feet, shocked by the look on her face, her hand burned up to her elbow, and the blood running down her hair. Kasumi is more concerned about Satoru, who is smiling wearily, watching her from afar.

Satomaru feels a chill; it is Satoru's presence, suspicious, wondering with every step what they are doing there. He swallows, fearing what might be unleashed when the answer is revealed.

Ui-Ui is ready, his face clean from the rain thanks to his black straw hat. He looks up and smiles.

“Who will be first?”

“Kasumi,” Kokichi replies quickly. “That woman's technique... will help her.”

“And you should follow her...” Satomaru replies to Kusakabe.

Ui-Ui nods, Yaga lets her sit next to him, and she makes an effort to breathe. Finally, it's all over, but for some reason, it feels incomplete. The rain is slowly extinguishing the fire, and the night disappears behind her, revealing the first rays of the sun. The horizon casts a pink palette over them. She should feel happy, but no, she feels anxious.

Kasumi looks for him before disappearing from the island. She sees him next to his best friend, smiles weakly, and then, seconds later, her expression disappears. It vanishes as soon as she sees HIM. Kasumi's eyes scream before her throat can.

Satoru's smile fades when he hears a muffled scream behind him. Drops of blood splash onto his shoulder, and when he turns his head, he sees the blade of a wide, curved sword piercing Suguru's chest. His body falls through the mud; Jinichi kicks him with his foot. His stained smile hits Satoru like a stab, like mockery.

But before launching his attack, he kneels before Suguru's body and watches him vomit his own blood, his eyes fading so quickly, a convulsion, an instant. And suddenly he is nothing more than an empty body, but he is not ready to accept it. Not so fast.

“S-Suguru?” comes out of Satoru's broken lips.

For a moment, his hands stop responding, he turns Suguru's body over and yells at Ui-Ui.

“TAKE HIM TO SHOKO!” he spits, boiling inside. “JINICHI!” He turns and chases after him, like a dog, blind, relentless. “JINICHI!” he shouts again until his throat hurts.

He is there, not far away, barely having the energy to move. He has no cursed energy, he's exhausted, and he knows that even if Gojo weren't there, he'll die tonight. Satoru feels his own body burning inside, like a volcano. Just seeing Jinichi flash a cynical smile is enough to seal his fate, if months of torture hadn't already done so.

Jinichi laughs slowly and softly, preparing his body for Satoru's final blow. However, the way he is giving him victory feels... insufficient. He hasn't suffered enough, he has to pay for what he just did. He has to feel the same thing he does!

“But you could never... No, I could never make you feel this,” he murmurs, one hand on his chest.

Suguru's killer frowns, barely able to hear a whisper coming from Satoru's lips. But as he strains to listen, he feels his chest twist. He has wounds all over his body, courtesy of Kokichi's puppets and the curses Suguru unleashed on the island. His lungs are burned from the inside, from breathing the hot smoke that fills the forest.

“Do it now... Or you'll lose your chance,” he says, with a smile that drips the blood he just coughed up.

Jinichi is enjoying having taken away his revenge, and that only makes Satoru's body tremble, drunk with frustration and anger. Angry, eager to extend his life just to torture him, Satoru looks up and can only see one thing, something that floods his eyes and his heart.

Complete destruction, annihilation, the absence of everything.

“Red,” he utters, captive to an urgency harbored in his heart, a spell cast on himself. Something he does naturally, like birds migrating, an internal call that compels him to raise his right hand and extend his palm, giving him the gift he has been waiting for.

A sphere of red energy manifests itself on the palm of his hand, so small that he could hide it if he closed his hand, but as powerful as a hurricane.

Jinichi's smile disappears as quickly as the sphere is projected in his direction, shaking everything in its path, opening a crack in the earth beneath his feet.

His entire body disappears, absorbed by the energy of that void that crosses the island in all its width and length, opening a hole where there used to be vegetation.

The small sphere disappears into thin air, taking Jinichi's existence with it, leaving Satoru behind, still unsatisfied.

Everything is chaos that he can barely remember. In the blink of an eye, he is on another island, covering Surugu's wound with one hand. Ui-Ui appears and disappears, and with each blink, there is another person looking at him out of the corner of their eye.

Shoko doesn't say much, doesn't say anything really.

“You have to do something.”

“There's nothing...”

“There has to be a way!”

“Satoru... You can't reverse death.”

“Teach me the technique! If you can't do it, maybe I can.”

Shoko holds Satoru's hands, covered in his best friend's blood. She looks at him in a way that makes him feel like an idiot, looking at him as if she feels sorry for him. Her brown eyes, as tired as ever, seem ready to shed a petty tear.

“Please stop... The others need me too. We can't do this now, we have to get out of here or we'll all be in danger.  And you're not going to save anyone else's life in this state. Do you understand?”

Satoru's blue eyes avoid her, wandering among all the other faces watching him with regret and fixing on Kasumi, who can barely lift her gaze. She is so exhausted that she has turned pale, she is wet, wounded, burned, and yet she has not stopped.

Satoru steps aside and walks away from the group. He walks until he reaches the open sea, to a place where he can clearly see the island from which he was taken. He wants to scream, he wants to curse, he wants to tear the earth beneath his feet with all the cursed energy that emerges from the pit of his stomach, uncontrollably, relentlessly.

Satoru's power grows, so much so that he can barely keep it within the confines of his own body.

The reverse technique tickles her, like scars when they are healing. Its effect is almost immediate, filling her with a warm sensation, relaxing her as if she no longer had an ox lying on her chest. Kasumi looks at her practically charred hand and finally feels that she can move her fingers.

“Don't strain yourself too much,” Shoko says, interrupting her thoughts, “my technique is active... but I can't guarantee that you'll recover completely. You may be left with scars, or you may not regain full mobility in your limb.”

“It's okay, I'm not worried about the scars,” Kasumi replies and stands up so that Shoko can see Kusakabe and Kokichi's wounds.

She walks slowly under her teacher's watchful gaze. He follows her with his eyes as she follows Satoru's footsteps. However, she is afraid of who she might encounter. She doesn't dare to look at him, contenting herself with being a little closer to him.

Kusakabe feels Shoko's hands working on him, takes off the top of his robe, and allows her to use her technique, as grateful as he is impressed by her skill.  Then he turns to look at the other two members of the Gojo clan, who haven't said a word since they arrived here. He looks at them suspiciously, whispering things between them. Then he looks wearily at Suguru's body on the ground, still losing liters of blood. And he can't help but think of his daughters.

“I wish one of those two had died,” he whispers, and Kokichi hears him.

He has been watching them too. The truth is that as long as Kasumi got off that island alive, he wouldn't have cared who died. But now that Kusakabe mentions it, yes, he would have preferred it to be them.

“Did you lose something, kid?” Genshiro asks him, noticing the unpleasant way Kokichi is looking at him.

Kasumi turns around when she hears the exchange.

“I was just wondering something.”

“What?”

“Why haven't you left yet?”

Genshiro smiles, raises his chin, and crosses his arms.

“And what makes you think someone of my status would have to answer questions from a dirty peasant like you? Don't kid yourself, we're only working with you because of the grace of our clan leader. If it had been otherwise...“ he says, widening his smile and looking down on him, ”we would have left you there to die."

Kokichi snorts a laugh, the only thing he has enough energy for. However, he stands up and looks him straight in the eye.

“Calm down, kid,” Kusakabe says, stepping in between them. Shoko sighs, unable to finish her work. “Don't you think it's time to set the record straight? Geto-san gave you the opportunity to keep this matter private, but given the circumstances, I think we all deserve to know what you're doing here. Why did your honorable leader give you the task of coming here to collaborate with us?”

Satomaru clears his throat.

“Perhaps it would be best to discuss this calmly when we return to...”

“If the reason were as simple as wanting to recruit that lunatic we just rescued, it wouldn't have been a secret.”

“Let's not discuss this now. I don't think this is the right time...”

“No, let's clear this up right now,” interrupts Satoru, walking calmly toward them, his chest covered in mud and blood. A violent splash on his neck, his hands covered in the dried blood of his best friend.

Kusakabe glances at him out of the corner of his eye, smiles slightly, and turns back to face the old man, who doesn't seem very pleased, shifting nervously and clasping his hands together. He doesn't look up, nor does he rush forward despite the obvious threat that Satoru poses. What he does do makes him uneasy; he looks up at Kasumi, who looks back at him knowingly.

“Kasumi?” her teacher says, and she responds by lowering her head. “No... It can't be... Tell me you weren't stupid enough to make a deal with the Gojo clan... Kasumi!” he suddenly shouts, startling her. “Lift your head and answer me, coward!”

“Please! This isn't the time! When we get to Mei-san's palace, I can explain everything!"

“Explain?” Satoru murmurs.

There is something in Kasumi's eyes, a particular sadness that floods her gaze. He sees through her, by the way she can't hold his stare, by how she slowly backs away as he approaches. She is on the verge of tears, so close to throwing herself to the ground that something inevitable comes to mind. An idea so inconceivable that he denies it as he listens to her argue with Kusakabe.

“Speak now, you idiot! What the hell did you promise them?!”

“Calm down, Kusakabe! Please! You have to understand!”

“Tell me now or I'll get it out of the old man by force! Speak up, damn it! What was it?!”

“It would be best to calm down and...”

“Shut up, Satomaru. We don't have to explain anything to...” Genshiro swallows the last word before uttering it. The edge of Satoru's sword caresses his neck in less than a second.

The silence becomes so thick that they can't even hear each other's breathing.

Utahime steps between Shoko and the group. Kusakabe is ready, one hand on the hilt of his katana. Kokichi becomes Miwa's shield, another pillar between them and Kasumi.

“Did you see what happened on that island?” he asks with a slight movement of his head, his voice slow and soft, so threatening that his Adam's apple moves as he swallows. Genshiro watches the island out of the corner of his eye, still smoking, with a crater visible in the distance. "I only have to wish for it for a second, that's enough for me... For you to become what you see over there... ashes and dust, nothing more. You won't even have time to suffer or regret talking to us as if we were shit under your shoe. You will be nothing if I so desire... There will be no Gojo clan to protect you from me here and now."

“W-Wait...” Genshiro blurts out, slowly backing away, his blue eyes turning to Kasumi, like a plea he doesn't know how to utter. He raises his hands in the air, holding his breath.

“Why are you looking at her? Are you hoping she'll save you from me? DON'T LOOK AT HER! You have no right to look at her!”

The tip of Satoru's sword twists on Genshiro's pale neck, pinching his skin. Young Gojo frowns, a dark drop running down his long neck and disappearing under his exquisite kimono.

“Satoru! Please stop!”

Kasumi's voice does not dissuade him, doesn't break their eye contact, even though it seems as if her throat is breaking after every word.

“Don't let her come near,” Satoru orders Kusakabe and Kokichi.

“I wasn't going to,” says Kokichi, and Satoru smiles slightly.

“Stop, Satoru! This is crazy!”

“Shut your mouth, Utahime.”

Satoru's intention hangs in the air, in the deadly tone of his voice. The sword moves forward firmly, its movement interrupted by Kasumi's scream.

“I'LL TELL YOU! I'll tell you everything, but please stop!”

He doesn't move when he hears the scream that has scared away the few birds that inhabit that tiny island. He looks into Genshiro's blue eyes, then slides his deadly gaze to the old man and decides to take a step back.

Satoru's sword lowers, his prey breathes again, with one hand on his neck stopping the small bleeding. The samurai turns around and sees her, distraught, a bundle of nerves. Kasumi trembles at the sight of Satoru's empty eyes, so different from those she had seen after freeing him on the other island.

“I'm also interested in what you have to say,” Kusakabe mentions.

"I would like... to be given the opportunity to speak with him alone first."

“Everyone leave.”

“Did you say leave?” Kusakabe asks, raising an eyebrow. But before he can approach him, Utahime's hand stops him.

“They want privacy,” she says softly, but with determination in her eyes. “The horses are waiting for us on the coast. The soldiers who managed to escape will send a signal soon. If reinforcements arrive, we'll be at a great disadvantage without Geto. We have to leave as soon as possible."

“The young lady is right...” adds Satomaru, swallowing the rest of his words when Satoru turns in his direction. He is immobilized by the severity of his gaze. A chill runs through him, a death threat that was never uttered.

Resigned, Kusakabe agrees. He distrusts the samurai, but he ducks his head and reluctantly returns to Ui-Ui.

They both wait patiently, watching all their companions disappear from the small island. They even wait for Geto's body to leave, hidden under a cloak, leaving behind nothing but the remnants of a cursed technique and a pool of thick, coagulated blood. Not even the crickets dare to interrupt them; the only things capable of breaking the silence are the raindrops falling miserably.

She doesn't know how to begin, she doesn't have the courage to look up and face his empty eyes, his lack of a smile. It's as if a part of the Satoru she knew had died on that island. And it's not his promise that weighs most heavily on her heart, but rather what she didn't have the courage to do when she had the chance. Because if she had acted then, when Kokichi hinted at it, if she had killed him at that moment, Geto would still be alive.

It's her fault and she knows it, but she doesn't know how to tell him. She doesn't know how to tolerate his contempt.

“I-I...” she begins, her voice hanging by a thread. “I don't know how to start... I...”

The island is completely silent. Satoru, standing in front of her, looks at her, waiting for her to say what he is imagining. Kasumi, head down, playing with her fingers as if that would help her escape the situation, trembles under his scrutiny.

“What does the Gojo clan want?” His voice comes softly from his lips, like a quiet whisper, but although it should be comforting, it feels like a threat.

Her shoulders slumped, raindrops rolling down her tired face. She looks at him for a moment and finds this other Gojo again, exhausted, dead inside, his voice not even sounding the same. She takes a deep breath, her lips trembling before she begins to cry.

“Me,” she whispers.

“Speak louder,” he replies in a roar.

“Me!” she replies in a scream. “I promised them that... that I would join the Gojo clan...”

“And why would they have any interest in you...”

“Because I promised them... I promised them Taishō's illegitimate daughter!”

Kasumi lowers her chin, unable to look at him again after what she has said. A tear falls from her eye and breaks on the ground at her feet.

Satoru says nothing. Kasumi waits with a heavy heart, one hand clutching the fabric of her shirt across her chest, her head bowed. The tears mix with the rain and mask her sobbing. And then, just as Kasumi braces herself for the harsh blow of a response, she feels Satoru's hand touch her shoulder. His other hand gently holds her chin, pulling her up to meet his gaze.

“Are you betraying me?”

The question tears her apart inside, the wound it has inflicted reflected in her eyes.

“What?”

“Me? After everything we've been through, you've broken the only promise that mattered to me. How could you? You disappoint me so much... If that was the price of my rescue, I would have preferred you to leave me rotting on that island. If you hadn't... —he begins and stops—. How could you go behind my back and make a deal like that? I would have given my life for you, and this is how you repay me!"

“No! No! I didn't want to betray you!” she cries desperately, her hands on Satoru's bare chest. “Please! Satoru! Forgive me! I didn't mean to!” she begs, crying like a heartbroken child. “I didn't want to break my promise, but you broke yours first! I waited for you! Day after day I waited for you! I counted the days! I dreamed of you at night! But they bloomed and you weren't there as you promised! I just wanted to get you back! I would have done anything to see you again! I don't care what happens to me! I just wanted... to see you alive!"

Kasumi cries, the tears won't stop flowing, and she hides in Satoru's chest. It hurts so much that she feels like her chest is going to explode, the words come out like a painful waterfall, and then she whimpers like a little girl until he strokes her hair and she begins to calm down.

“You're right...” he says, and finally a faint smile appears on his lips. "It's true, I broke my promise first. This is my fault... I wasn't as strong as I should have been, I did everything wrong from the start and forced you to drag everyone here, because of me.“ He looks carefully at Kasumi's face, running his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the tears that fall uncontrollably. ”Even so... I won't allow it, I won't lose both of you on the same day."

“What are you saying?”

“I'll have to kill them.”

“What?”

“I'll start with those two when Ui-Ui comes back for us.”

“You can't do that,” she says. Satoru looks her in the eyes and frowns.

“Why not? Did you... Did you make a binding vow?”

“A what?”

“Tell me you didn't,” he says, taking her by the shoulders. “Tell me you weren't that stupid.”

Kasumi freezes when she hears his words. This is the first time she has seen him so upset, the first time he has insulted her like this.

“Answer me!” he shouts, digging his fingers into her skin. Kasumi can feel the vibration of Satoru's cursed energy stirring beneath his fingers. “Tell me what you said!”

“I don't know! I don't remember!”

“Damn it... DAMN IT!” he yells loudly, letting go of her and turning away. He paces back and forth, thinking and running his fingers through his hair. “Do you have any idea what the consequences are of making a binding vow and then breaking it? What the hell are we going to do now?” 

“I'm sorry! I don't understand what you're talking about!”

“Damn...” he says and sighs. “Everything is going wrong... But don't worry, I'll think of something. I still have some time... When we're at Mei-Mei's palace, we'll...”

“There's nothing.”

Satoru looks at her, calmer, still, with defeated eyes.

“There's nothing...” she repeats.

“You've given up... is that it? After all... is this what you needed to give up? Or is it an excuse? An excuse to stop fighting and be protected from the Zenin Clan, is that what you want? Really? What about your brothers? Have you already forgotten them? What kind of life do you think two peasants are going to have in there? You didn't think about it, did you?“ Each word brings him closer to her. She is so close that he can feel her breath. ”I won't allow it, no matter how much you beg me to stop, no matter if you think there's nothing I can do. You're mine... before anyone else, didn't you say that? Have you already forgotten all the love you professed for me? How easily your feelings have been erased. I thought you were incomplete without me, that your heart simply couldn't tolerate my absence... And now... you come to tell me that you're fine with joining that clan and leaving me forever to marry a complete stranger?"

“No! It's not that! No matter what happens to my body, my heart... everything else has always been yours.”

“And what use are feelings to me if I don't have the body to show them?” he says, taking her by the shoulders again. “You've done nothing but tell me over and over again, in different ways, that you love me... And you're not disturbed by the idea of giving yourself to another? Doesn't it disgust you? The mere thought of it makes me nauseous! I'm going crazy just thinking about it! How do you think I can allow it?"

“It was the only way, we wouldn't have survived the night without their help!”

“You shouldn't have come in the first place! Look at yourself! How do you think I feel seeing the scars on your hand?”

“How could I live without knowing if you were alive?”

“I'm the least important thing in this story!”

“You're wrong!” she replies in a shout that makes her tremble, that fills her throat. “You're wrong... Of course... I don't want to get married,” the tears come again, "I don't want to... I want to be with you, even if you don't see me as a woman. Even if, for the rest of our lives, you prefer never to touch me. I would be happy just to be by your side. But you have to understand that I would have died inside if I hadn't come for you! Why don't you understand? It's not because my feelings have faded! I did it because those same feelings compel me to do anything for you!..."

Her weary heart beats strongly, Satoru's hands envelop her face, and when she looks into his eyes, she finds something different. The walls that Gojo built with the promise he made to his old master collapse before her. Kasumi trembles as she senses his intentions, wrapped up in the trees that shade them on that small island, completely alone, soaked with rainwater and dirt.

Satoru's bloodied hands drag her toward him, unable to contain the desire he has been hiding for so long, the one that became evident after believing he would never see her again.

“Wait...” she says, about to change her mind, just as he is inches from her face, his eyes narrowed.

“Right now?” he whispers, “Right now you're asking me to wait?”

“There's something...” she continues, her whole body trembling with fear. "There's something else... I have to tell you that might... dissuade you from what you're about to do."

“Then don't tell me because I don't want to stop for another second.”

Kasumi takes a step back. She can't allow it, she can't let him do this without knowing what she's done.

“It's my fault... that Geto-san died.”

Satoru's eyebrows connect for an instant, like a tic, his face looks upset and he even laughs for a second.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“I... Tonight I had the chance... to kill that man,” she continues, her head bowing again, her voice low and full of panic. "And I didn't... Kokichi had him pinned down with his puppets, and I... I had a sword and... I didn't do it. I couldn't! He was... I... I don't know! I should have done it! I should have killed him! But... I've never taken another human being's life, and my hands... I just couldn't. And... I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! If it weren't for me..."

“Why... are you telling me this now?”

Kasumi looks up, Satoru looks genuinely upset.

“I'm telling you because... I can't let you kiss me without knowing what I did. I can't hide any more things from you...”

“Do you want me to hate you?”

Kasumi opens her mouth, but nothing comes out except a breath of air. She really doesn't know what to say. Maybe she does, she thinks, maybe she does deserve his hatred after the cowardice that took Geto's life.

“I killed your aunt, Kasumi.”

She doesn't know what to say, she just sees his face becoming more and more expressionless with each word. As if he no longer cares what he causes.

“I killed her in cold blood and then slept holding you without telling you anything.”

“What are you saying?”

"I hid it from you all this time because part of me was afraid you would hate me if I confessed, but she was a threat. She would have sold you out at the first opportunity. I had to do my job as your protector and make sure she couldn't open her mouth again. So I left you alone to go after her, waited for her in her room, and killed her after getting a little more information about you."

Kasumi doesn't respond, doesn't say a single word.

“Do you hate me now?” he asks, taking a step forward. He takes her by the chin and only then realizes that he has stained her pale cheeks with the blood of his best friend. “Tell me... because right now I have no idea how I feel about you.”

“I don't hate you...” she replies in a whisper.

“Don't you think I'm a monster?”

“No... I don't know.”

“You doubt it?”

“Are you... trying to hurt me for what I did?”

“Maybe. Maybe I want you to feel something similar to what I'm feeling right now, knowing that you could have prevented Suguru's death and you didn't. Maybe I hate you a little right now... I don't know, I'm not sure."

“You... hate me?”

"I've been dreaming about you a lot lately. I missed everything about you, your smile, the smell of your hair. Maybe I was so lonely and felt so miserable that I thought the only thing I had were my memories of you. Maybe that's why I came to think for a moment that I was actually deeply in love with you. But now... Right now I want to... break my promise just to get as far away from you as possible."

Satoru's cruel words feel like a dagger in the middle of her heart, like a direct blow to the pit of her stomach that leaves her breathless. All she can do is pull Satoru's hands off her and push him away as if gasping for air, but he won't let her. He grabs her wrist and pulls her so close to him that she can feel his body trembling with pent-up emotion.

“But I can't...” he continues, "because at the same time I feel like I have to rip my heart out of my chest to stop feeling this burning inside me. Is this what you wanted? Did you want to drive me completely insane? Explain it to me, what was your goal in telling me that? I would have preferred to die without ever knowing because now I do nothing but hate you and desire you at the same time."

Without warning, he takes her face in both hands and kisses her desperately, pushing her against a tree trunk and holding her wrists. Kasumi resists at first, but she has been longing for this so much that she can't help but melt when she feels his lips. The taste of iron on his lips, the pain his words cause her, the desperation to hold him in her arms—it all comes together and swirls inside her heart with such bitterness that she can't stop crying.

“You hate me...” she says plaintively, her eyes closed, unable to stop kissing him.

“Look what you've done to me...” he says hoarsely. “If I take you here, maybe the Gojo clan won't want you anymore...” he whispers, lifting her clothes with one hand. “A bastard child of mine will be enough to ensure you belong to no one else.”

“No... please, Satoru... not like this.”

“I'd rather have you with me and hate you than give you to someone else.”

“Please, stop.”

Kasumi has no strength, not only because of the battle, but because she feels the same desire as him. However, every word he says, every reproach that comes out of his mouth, is like another stab in the heart.

“What should I do then? Should I hand you over?” he asks, grabbing her chin so hard that all he can see is the terrified look of the woman he swore to protect. "They could decide to marry you off to a disgusting old man like the one accompanying you. If you're lucky, you'll marry someone like the other one, the one who looks like a cheap copy of me... I don't know what drives me crazier, the idea of being with you for another second or seeing you married to another man."

“Enough!”

Ui-Ui clears his throat. Satoru turns his face, barely looking at him over his shoulder. The boy is standing a few feet away with both hands clasped behind his back, a mischievous smile on his face.

“We don't have any more time, we have to leave immediately. My honorable sister's crows have spotted troops heading in our direction.”

Satoru moves away from Kasumi, who is still cornered against a tree. He looks at her as if giving her an order, and she approaches to take Ui-Ui's hand, who is waiting for her as if he hadn't heard the conversation.

It doesn't take long for everyone to be on their horses, but this time, unlike all the previous times, Satoru does not offer her his lap. Kasumi rides behind him, watching his back all the way to Mei-Mei's palace. Kusakabe offers to ride a few extra laps on his horse to distract anyone trying to track them, and then, when night falls again, they find themselves back in the same place where they last saw each other.

Mei-Mei has been eagerly awaiting them, smiling broadly when she sees Kusakabe return unharmed, with Satoru behind him. She laughs when he passes by her and stops.

“You look awful,” she says. “You're so thin, you must weigh the same as Muta-kun.”

Satoru snorts a hollow laugh, doesn't answer her even though he has something to say, and keeps walking. He knows exactly what he has to do first and doesn't waste any time. Someone has to tell the girls that Geto is dead, and that unfortunate job is his.

Satoru hears them running toward him with two other boys who throw themselves into Kasumi's arms. Finally, he sees them together, after so many stories. His chest tightens as the little girls stretch, searching with their eyes among the faces entering the palace one by one. He sighs, crouches down to their level, and forces a smile he doesn't feel. His lips are so dry that the smile hurts.

“Come with me, I have something to tell you,” he says in a soft tone and takes their hands with a delicacy he has never shown before.

It's not easy to say it out loud, it's like acknowledging something he wants to continue denying. But once it leaves his mouth and becomes reality again, he feels relieved. The girls ask questions, which he answers one by one, and he goes blank when one of them asks:

“And now... where will we go?”

He strokes her hair and smiles softly again.

“To a safe place,” he promises them.

Then, when they finally understand that they will never see him again, the tears begin to flow. And that's when he decides that he's had enough. He leaves them alone to share their grief and retraces his steps to find the rest gathered in Mei-Mei's great hall. He sits down and slumps wearily against the wall. He is calmer than he was a few hours ago, but when Satomaru and Genshiro appear behind the doorframe and sit down in front of him, he can't take his eyes off them, plagued by irritation.

"Which one of you is going to do me the honor of explaining how Kasumi managed to meet with the leader of the Gojo Clan?

Satomaru looks up, swallows, looks down, and tries to find a way to explain it to him without his head rolling in the attempt.

"I was the one who introduced them."

“Why?” His voice is stern, almost as stern as his gaze.

“She was determined to see him. If I let her continue what she was doing to get his attention, they would have ended up killing her in public. I didn't know what the girl was up to. I just secured her an audience; the rest... was her doing.”

Kusakabe is sitting on the other side, listening attentively.

“And what were the exact words the leader used to secure his deal?” asks Kasumi's teacher.

“Let me think...” he says, swallows, closes his eyes, and a drop falls from his forehead.

“Tell me if it was a binding vow,” demands Satoru.

“That's all we needed...” murmurs Kusakabe.

Everyone except Kasumi is inside the palace. The only one to notice is Kokichi, who leaves the interrogation to retrace his steps. He searches for her slowly, without a lamp in his hand, craning his neck until he finds her sitting in the stables next to Oguri, combing his hair.

He can't say he's happy after learning along with everyone else that Kasumi has been promised to a member of the Gojo clan, and after hearing Satoru's last question, he wonders if a curse like the one he suffers would fall upon her if she decided to break her promise.

“Are you okay?”

She's not good at hiding her feelings. She raises a hand, wipes away a tear, and nods.

Kokichi doesn't know what they said to each other, alone on that island. But it was enough for him to see Kasumi's face when she returned, her cheeks stained with blood, to know that the conversation had been devastating for her.

“You did what you thought was necessary...”

“Don't try to comfort me, please... I don't want your pity...”

Suddenly, she looks up and meets her eyes for the first time since the battle ended. Her eyes are red, swollen, with dark circles under them. She continues to cry uncontrollably.

“I should have done it then, right? It's my fault... It's my fault that those girls don't have a father, that Satoru lost his best friend.”

Kokichi looks down, knowing exactly what she is talking about. He could feel it at that moment, through his puppets, he could feel how she had immobilized him. Just as he could feel her energy drifting away.

“You can't blame yourself for not being able to kill another human being. You're used to curses... This is completely different.”

“But if I had done it... I wouldn't have broken Satoru's heart.”

“Did you tell him?”

She nods.

“How could I hide something like that from him?”

The question comes out of her throat overflowing with pain, so much so that Kokichi feels his legs move on their own to go to her and hug her tightly. He holds her in his arms as if he were the only thing keeping her from falling apart. He listens to her cry bitterly, her face buried in his chest, and with his own heart shrinking inside, he holds her, rests his cheek on the top of her head, and waits patiently. There is nothing but gentle caresses, innocent, cautious, and a man in love who has chosen to be the martyr in this story in which he is not the protagonist.

"He'll understand... Sooner or later he'll realize. If you had known the outcome, you would have done anything to save his life. This isn't your fault. We all knew we could die... Calm down... Breathe... You're not alone, I won't leave you no matter what happens."

Far away, but close enough to hear, Satoru smiles bitterly. His ears caressed by Kokichi's sweet words, so different from the ones he himself said to Kasumi that morning.

He turns around just to see Shoko smoking, looking for him in the darkness. He doesn't want to interrupt the little encounter between Kokichi and Kasumi, so he signals Shoko to be quiet and walks over to her without making a sound.

“We could walk miles away and still hear her crying for you.”

“She's in good company.”

“The boy is cursed, did you know that?”

“I could feel it, yes... He wasn't the last time I saw him.”

“What could you have said to her to leave her so upset?”

“Nothing but the truth.”

“You didn't have to be cruel to her.”

“And what about her to me? You don't profess your love like she did to me and then marry someone else.”

“And that's what bothers you the most? I thought it would be not being able to keep your promise to the late emperor."

Satoru lifts his face, staring blankly at Shoko.

“I don't know what bothers me the most, to be honest.”

“Are we going to pretend we don't know what your next step will be? Why are we acting as if that option doesn't exist?”

“When I have the chance, I'll tell her..."

“Given the circumstances, it's the most logical thing to do if you want to save her from whatever awaits her in the Gojo clan.”

“Of course I want to do that.”

“You don't sound convinced.”

“I don't like that the option is being imposed on me...”

“No one is imposing anything on you.”

“Somehow, I think they are. Now, if you'll excuse me... I have something to do.”

Satoru leaves Shoko and walks toward the palace. Before closing the door behind him, he can still hear Kasumi's cries and can't help feeling guilty, even though at the same time he can't stop blaming her for what happened.

He continues walking through the corridors, his eyes tired and his legs begging for rest. He continues until he finds her, glancing through some notebooks with a smile that gives him the chills. He leans against the doorframe and crosses his arms. Mei-Mei is alone.

“Checking your fief's taxes?”

“Something like that,” she replies, tucking her hair behind her ear, and he snorts in disbelief.

“I don't know how...” he begins, “although I think I can guess why... you're responsible for all this.”

“What exactly are we talking about?”

“Kasumi, promising herself to the Gojo clan. Your signature is all over it... She left here with the idea of recruiting them to help me because she had no one else... A bunch of shamans against hundreds of soldiers wouldn't be enough. You did it, you manipulated her, you made her believe it was her only way out.”

“Do you think so little of her?”

“No, but I know you. You're ambitious, you're capable of playing with her like a puppeteer, and she's so... ignorant... she couldn't see beyond your intentions.”

“Does she feel the same way?” asks Mei-Mei, glancing down the hallway, but there's no one there anymore.

If Kasumi was there, she's already left. Maybe it's a way to distract him so he doesn't continue the conversation, but it's enough for Satoru to go out and look for her.

He finds her behind the hallway, pressing her lips together to keep from crying. He looks at her out of the corner of his eye, exhausted and annoyed by all the crying.

“Stop crying, I'm tired of listening to you.”

She swallows, blinks back her tears, and nods.

“You don't have to worry,” she says coldly. “I'm going to take my place in the Gojo clan, and we're going to get married. That will free you if you made a binding vow without knowing it... You won't suffer the consequences of a curse...”

Kasumi looks at him, there is no sweetness in his words, it is just another contract.

“Are you going to marry me, even though you consider me ignorant... and hate me?”

“Yes, I am going to do it. But I am not going to consummate that marriage... so we will share a miserable marriage and a miserable life...” he says, and a half-hearted laugh escapes his throat. Then he leans in, brushing her ear with the tip of his nose to whisper, “Thank Mei-Mei... or Mei-san... as you like to call her.”