Neither Kyoko or Kanae said anything as the warrior led them to the safe room. Kyoko's heart was thumping too loudly for conversation anyway. Her mind swam with pieces of the day; the sounds of fighting, fire from Murson's burners with medicine bubbling away, blood on her hands as she stitched together a man's stomach, the whisper of help from a soldier ordered to kill her. And now this. Kanae, her amulet broken in the caves and her miraculous survival despite the exposure.
She'd seen the "bodies" they'd brought back from the caves. She'd heard the eyewitness accounts. It would be easy to close her eyes and see Kanae's body blackened to an unrecognizable state. It would be easy to see them all like that.
They reached the safe room, Kanae shoving the door open. She held it for Kyoko who stepped in, still silent, but the second it closed she grabbed her friend's wrist.
Kanae let out an involuntary grunt of surprise but didn't comment as Kyoko tore off the vambrace and pulled back her sleeve. Kyoko pressed her fingers to the skin, noting old scares and burn marks she'd never noticed on her Kanae's forearm. But other than that, nothing. No lingering presence of dark magic. No coils of dark marks. She was clear
Still unsatisfied, Kyoko grabbed Kanae's other arm, doing the same with the sleeves and vambrace.
"Oi," said Kanae, her tone annoyed. "I'm fine, there wasn't even a real fight in the caves."
"Not the fight," grumbled Kyoko. "The amulet. I heard it came off."
"Came off, is not the term I would use. And would you stop?" Kanae yanked her other unblemished arm from Kyoko's grip, poking her in the back toward the bed. "Get your butt in bed and sleep you workaholic."
Normally Kyoko would resist the prodding, but she was too drained, physically and emotionally to fight back. Then Kanae's finger traveled a little too far up, poking one of the hardened marks on her back.
Kyoko hissed in pain, causing Kanae to immediately stop.
"Shoot, sorry," said Kanae
"It's fine." She tried to smile but it definitely came out as a grimace. The spot was still throbbing. "The pain is a recent thing, you didn't know."
"It's also spread." Kanae swept her gaze up and down Kyoko's frame with an air of holding something back. She sucked her lips into a frown. "The marks didn't use to be that far down your back."
Now that she mentioned it, that had seemed rather low.
Kyoko marched over to the small mirror mounted on the wall. She tugged off her shirt as she walked, leaving her in her strapless undergarment. One look in the mirror told her even that was covering most of the crystalline marks spreading across her chest and back.
She grabbed the back of her undershirt and tugged it off as well, bunching it in front of her chest to preserve some modesty, even if it was just Kanae. Not that it mattered. The second she turned to examine the extent of the marks on her back, her heart stopped.
It was worse than she'd suspected. She'd felt the slow hardening of her skin as it extended to her elbows and changed into a long sleeve shirt to compensate. What she hadn't felt was the spread down her back. The overlapping crystalized skin came to a point halfway down her spine, originating from her shoulders. The transition from skin to marks was jagged and rough, no clear line visible. She turned slowly, noting that while the front hadn't spread, it had changed.
The five points on her shoulder had deepened to a murky purple. They shone and pulsed stronger than the other marks, seeming to infect the surrounding pure white clear crystal with their magic. It was getting worse.
The world went black.
A moment later, Kyoko felt her conscious return.
"Freaking-! Breathe Kyoko. You forgot to breathe."
"Oh."
Regaining her control, Kyoko felt Kanae heaving her limp body to the bed. Kyoko didn't even have the state of mind to protest. Every limb felt so tired and heavy. A spike of pain brought back some consciousness as Kanae accidentally brushed a mark. Kyoko clenched her teeth to stop from crying out and worrying Kanae even further.
"Sorry, I just-"
"Stop talking and put your shirt back on. Here."
Now safely on the bed, Kyoko dressed, sinking into the pillows. Melting would have also been an appropriate term to use. Despite the discomfort of fabric pressed against her sensitive marks, she felt she could fall asleep instantly. Had her mind not been buzzing she just might have.
She recognized the darkening purple marks on her shoulders. They were the same color and consistency of the spell that had killed Sozen after Cain had struck him. Sozen's whole body had been covered in the marks until he became a statue and shattered. She had never heard if there had been remains or even what had been done with them. She'd never taken the time to find out and her reasoning was simple.
She'd feared this possibility. She was afraid that if left alone, her marks would spread and encase her as surely as they had Sozen. But now she knew. Now she had proof that her worst fears were realized.
"Every physician has their tipping point. Everyone needs a break. I guess this is the world saying that I need to take one."
Her seven-year-old self hadn't really understood her father's words at that time. She'd just seen her dad's sad smile and thought "of course you need a break! You're sick." But now, she thought she finally got it. She could finally see the hidden exhaustion behind his stormy eyes. Years of atrophy had taken away details of his face, but she would never forget his eyes.
They had been a dull gold, kind and patient, even when her mother was everything but. She used to tell him she'd inherited his eyes. That while she got mommy's hair color and chin, her eyes were his. Now she knew why he'd never agreed with her. Why he'd smile and change the subject to medicinal plants. Because she wasn't his real daughter.
"Don't worry, I'll be better soon Kyoko, and then I can teach you more about tying a proper suture knot."
Her throat burned. Kyoko clamped her eyes shut, fist bawled into her sheets as she struggled to hold it all in.
"Are you in pain?" said Kanae. "Should I get Hiroaki?"
Kyoko shook her head, keeping her eyes closed. "No. You need to see him. You were exposed to whatever is in the caves. We need to make sure there won't be any lingering effects."
"I'm completely fine. I've already checked."
"But what if you aren't?" It came out more strangled than she'd wanted. She couldn't look at Kanae, afraid she might start dissolving before her very eyes. "What if there's a delay like with the first men that came back? You should be wearing a new amulet right now. Take that tincture just in case to see if we can prevent anything worse from happening."
"Kyoko…"
Kanae ran a soothing hand through Kyoko's hair. Startled by the action, tears sprung involuntarily to Kyoko's eyes. She blinked them away, unwilling to admit just how much she needed this comfort.
"Nothing is going to happen to me," said Kanae. "So relax. You've had a hard day."
"You don't know that. If you did, then you wouldn't have bothered with an amulet in the first place. You could have died today."
Kyoko could hear the eye roll in Kanae's voice. "And I could have died any other day of my life. But I didn't, so stop wasting energy on things that didn't happen."
"Don't linger on the ones you couldn't help. Learn the lesson and move on. Otherwise, you won't be fit to heal the next person that needs your help."
She knew why her dad's words were surfacing so much today. Why her mind kept wandering back to his words. He'd been her foundation. Her initial drive to become a healer just like him. But then he'd died. Died just like she was dying, from an unknown illness.
I guess I really am following in his footsteps, even if we weren't related.
"Kyoko? Hey, are you okay?"
It was the open worry that pulled Kyoko from her thoughts. She shakily whipped at her tears, attempting a smile.
"Sorry, just thinking of some things. I'm just…"
Conditioned as she was to blood and death, every physician had their tipping point. Even the most seasoned surgeons would eventually experience that one death. That one failure that would make their hands quake and their hearts shatter. Kyoko had been lucky. It hadn't mattered how gruesome the injury or how sad the death; she could keep going. So why, even after seeing so much in her relatively short life, was she falling apart now?
The corner of her mouth shook, her smile crumbling along with the rest of her strength. The fatigue hit suddenly, draining the strength from her limbs. Even as she recognized some of her own emotions mingling with Rosa's feelings of being trapped, she couldn't truly separate them from herself. She felt it all. Felt so tired.
"It's not like I haven't been sick before," said Kyoko. "It's funny, isn't it? That I only now feel any fear after hearing you should have died. That we're lucky you're still here."
It wasn't like they hadn't all had their share of close shaves. That Cain hadn't nearly been lost to her at the palace, or that Chiori had been crushed to save her life. So why now? Why was she feeling so scared?
Kanae's hand returned to her hair, the motion lethargic as if it was more of an afterthought.
"You know, you and I are pretty similar," said Kanae. "We're both scared of being left behind. Of being alone. My solution has always been to be the one that leaves first so that the separation can be on my terms. You, however, are like mold. You stick to others, grow into their hearts until they can't get away. You fight every second to keep them near." She paused. "It's not a weakness to be scared of death."
"I don't want to die."
There it was. The truth. Raw and real now that she'd spoken it. She felt safe admitting it to Kanae, even if doing so brought with it a crushing fear. She hated the idea of dying. Of moving forward into that unknown part of the cycle of life. But even then, she feared most the idea of failing everyone. Of leaving them all behind to deal with everything themselves. She didn't want to put them all through that pain, especially Cain.
She felt Kanae shrug. "We'll all die eventually. Better just to accept it when it does come."
Kyoko let out a breathless laugh, one that didn't shake away her ill feelings. "Aren't you supposed to comfort me? Promise 'I won't let you die' or something like that?"
"You know I don't coddle. What, are you five?"
Kyoko hummed, closing her eyes as Kanae continued to run a hand through her hair, the action soft compared to Kanae's harsh words. No, Kanae didn't coddle. As Kyoko's first and best female friend, she'd always been bluntly honest about who she was and her opinions. Her steadfast personality was always a comfort.
A comfort she'd been avoiding lately.
"I'm sorry, Kanae," said Kyoko. "I shouldn't have stayed mad at you I should have—"
"Should have what? Said you'd forgiven me, even when you hadn't?"
The hand stopped and Kyoko finally raised her head. She was met with that same sharp gaze she knew so well, the gray's softened at the edges. Kanae's clothes were still dusty from traveling through the caves, the fading red line of a cut running across her cheek. She hadn't taken the time to clean up or even see to her injuries. Instead, she was here, taking care of Kyoko and making sure she was safe.
"I tried to take you away from the man you love and left him behind to die," continued Kanae. "We both knew it would take a while for you to get over that."
"But you could have died!"
"Well then, did it help you forgive me sooner? Because if so, then it was well worth the risk."
She said it like it was a joke. Her intense features often made it hard for others to detect her humor, but in this instance, Kyoko didn't see any signs that it was one. She was serious.
"Don't even pretend to joke about that," said Kyoko.
"I'm not." Kanae leaned forward on her knees, intense eyes boring into Kyoko's. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise. You don't need to worry about me. But… I am glad. I'd be happy if we could be friends like we were before."
The smile came immediately. Kyoko nodded firmly, making her head spin a little at the intensity of it.
"Yes, Please. I'm sorry. I just couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if you had died and we still hadn't made up properly."
She had never gotten to talk to her father about her real parentage. Why hadn't he told her? He knew he was going to die, and he still hadn't brought it up. Had he just wanted to keep it a secret forever? Had it even mattered to him?
Well, Kyoko wanted to make sure she never made her father's mistake. She might be a physician like he was. She might even die from an incurable illness as he had, but she was not going to die holding on to words that should have been spoken.
Kanae pressed a finger to her collar right above the marks, pushing Kyoko back into the pillows.
"Sleep," said Kanae. "You're getting all weepy on me. It's disturbing."
Kyoko gave a wet chuckle. "I love you, Moko-san."
Surprised flashed through Kanae's eyes at the nickname, then they softened, her features gentle as color crept into her cheeks. "Yeah, I know you embarrassing thing. Love you too."
Kyoko was asleep before Kanae had left the room. She shut the door, her lips sliding down into an irritated scowl.
This was not good.
For once in her stubborn life, Kyoko was acknowledging she was ill. Voicing fears about death and spouting words of forgiveness as if she were afraid she'd never get another chance to say them. While they might have finally reconciled their disagreement, they'd traded that discomfort for something worse.
They needed to find a cure for Kyoko, and fast. Hiroaki said they had a few weeks. Kanae thought they'd be lucky to get one.
Two men approached, garbed in armor and gray tunics. She quirked an eyebrow at them. It was Horiuchi and Yukie. After all the chaos, she'd forgotten the two were getting released for duty today. There were still a few bandages peeking below the armor, but they looked healthy enough.
"You two are looking better," she said. "Glad to see Murasame didn't kill you both."
Yukie scoffed. "No thanks to you. I think they'd have let us die if you hadn't come back."
"You knew the risk, don't blame me for your incompetence."
Yukie muttered something about "not even coming to see us."
"Is Lady Kyoko in there?" said Horiuchi, pointing to the door. "We've only seen her once since the rescue."
Kanae nodded. "She just fell asleep. She's had a long day and needs to rest."
"So do you from what I've heard."
She regarded him, looking for any pity or suspicion. She found none, instead only seeing confusion and something that looked suspiciously like respect.
"What have you heard, exactly?" said Kanae.
Yukie popped in to answer. "We heard you survived going through the cave without protection and was the first person to come back alive. Well, besides the prince. What happened?"
While it wasn't exactly the truth, it was close enough. Also, could they like, not drop the fact that Cain was the prince in an unprotected hallway? It was a good thing that place was fairly secure as it was.
"I could use some sleep, yes," said Kanae, choosing not to answer their question. "Are you two here to take over protecting duty?" They answered in the affirmative. "Good. I'll send one other person down to help as well. I doubt they'll do anything so soon after failing but I'd rather be careful."
They didn't press, and she headed for her rooms, leaving the two to guard Kyoko.
That was one thing she hadn't taken the time to think about. Why had she survived when other men had died instantly in those caves? It made sense that Cain was alright. He was an Accursed. A being that created dark magic. If Hiroaki and Kyoko's theories were to be believed, then the rot was likely caused by dark magic. And if the rot and the tree were connected, then it only cemented that theory. Well, if that's still where they were with it. Kanae wasn't too up to date with their progress since things changed so often now.
That came back to her original question. Why was Kanae alright? It wasn't like she was immune or anything. Or maybe she was a little. Maybe hanging around the broody dark hero and fighting other Accursed had caused her essence to adapt to the pressure of dark magic. If something like that was even a thing.
Either way, she wasn't going to complain. She was alive and didn't have to use an amulet to venture into the caves. Which meant she'd probably be asked to go more often than the others. Which meant less time guarding Kyoko. But it also meant more time looking for possible solutions near the roots of the tree.
Kanae gave her hair an irritated tug, threads of the braid sticking out. She needed to redo the thing but hadn't had time. No, better just to take it out, sleep, and deal with this all tomorrow. She felt disproportionately tired, despite doing little else but walking and worrying all day. She just hoped Cain and the stooges he placed in charge would be able to clean this all up.
Cain stared at the metal basin, not really seeing the undisturbed water resting within. The impulsive part of him wanted to dunk his head in the thing just out of sheer frustration. Not at the situation, Kyoko's illness, the rot or anything else that really mattered. No, for once in a good while, his frustration was directed exclusively at himself.
How difficult was it to just activate the thing and talk to the person on the other side? Really freaking hard apparently. He knew the time for the regularly scheduled meeting had passed 5 minutes ago, but Cain had yet to answer the still blinking gem signaling a waiting call. Maybe he should have let Kuresaki handle it like he always did.
No, he'd come seeking answers. Comfort. Something. He needed assurance and knew he would find it here, but he feared what else he'd find.
The peridot continued to blink, mocking him with its soft green light. He could face Accursed all day but couldn't manage to answer one simple call. With a surge of annoyance, he slapped his hand on the stone before he could talk himself out of it again.
The water swirled with a sudden pull as if the bottom had dropped out. It slowed as features finally came into view, revealing the face behind it. A man aged by the lines of his face came into focus, a small circlet resting on his brow. It was hard to see details with how dull the world was, but the king looked about as haggard as Cain felt.
"I was starting to worry," Kuu said, speaking before taking a proper look at Cain. "After we got reports about the coup I—"
He stopped, squinting at Cain. His expression shifted to surprise, suspicion, then slowly, like the sun rising from the horizon, it morphed into stunned surprise.
"Kuon?" he said. "Is… is that you?"
Of course his father would recognize him, even in this form. He almost managed a smile. "Hey, dad."
"It is you!" Relief broke across the king's face. "Gods, I can't believe it. It's so good to finally see you. I've been so worried. Do you know how much hell your mother has given me? Especially after that first note you sent us, she kept accusing me of hiding others as if you'd sent us more than one. You should have kept in touch."
"Ah," said Cain, taken aback by how… normal, the exchange was. He couldn't muster the brain power to form a proper response. "I was busy."
Kuu huffed. "You know your mother. She won't listen to that excuse. It was like when you went off with Lory all over again. At least we knew you were safe then thanks to him sending us personal reports. Shoot, she's going to kill me when she hears I saw you when she wasn't here."
"It's not as if she could come with you," said Cain. "Last I heard she was still in bed."
"She's walking now, thank the light. I can't tell you how many guards asked for a vacation after listening to her moan all day about how she was going to die. Stressed them out. Uh, don't tell your mother I said that. My angel is perfect, but sometimes other people don't understand that."
A dry laugh pushed itself out of Cain, surprising him. It had come so easily, loosening some of the tightness in his chest that had built over the time spent staring at the relaywell.
"I'm glad to see you're doing better," said Cain. "Last time I saw you, you were…" Bleeding, knocked unconscious as Lory tried to heal you while I was drunk on power killing our soldiers.
He had ignored most if not all thoughts about his parents and the people he'd left at the palace. The memories were too painful.
Kuu offered a kind smile as if he could read Cain's thoughts.
"I am doing well," he said, ignoring the fact that Cain probably knew this. Kuresaki kept them all up to date after all. "What about you? I've heard a lot of things, but I wasn't sure how it would affect you, changing. You know?"
He was talking about becoming an Accursed. Cain didn't answer, stuck between lying and breaking his father's heart with the truth. It didn't matter as Kuu seemed to read between the lines anyway.
"You've always been a sensitive child," he said. "Which was good for light magic. Made you stronger, but I'm guessing it hasn't helped with, uh, now that things are different."
"Now that I'm an Accursed."
Kuu frowned deeply, lines nervously tugging at the corners of his mouth. "We really should come up with a different word for you. It's not like you're on their side. You just have a contract with the Djinn. Maybe we should call you that. A contractor."
"Sounds like I'm going to redesign a house."
Cain placed his chin in his hand, staring at his father. It was reassuring to finally see Kuu uncomfortable during their exchange. The casual normalcy at the beginning was great, but it felt like his own nervousness was unwarranted. This validated his hesitance. His dad was just as unsure how to handle this as he was.
The reason hit him suddenly and hard. Kuu being weird wasn't because he was mad. At least, not to the degree that required shouting. Maybe he was disappointed or frustrated or a whole host of other things. But those other feelings took a backseat to the one slapping Cain in the face right now. Kuu was scared. Unsure how to approach the topic of him being an Accursed out of fear of hurting Cain. Because his father loved him.
"Is General Kuresaki alright?" said Kuu. "Usually he's the one that talks to me after something big like this. Not that I'm not happy to see you," his father hurriedly added. "I was just, under the impression you were avoiding me."
"I was," said Cain, choosing to be truthful. The swell of love and gratitude he felt for his father was helpful in opening up to him again. "But after the attack, I decided —I really wanted to see you and mom."
"Oh." His father beamed, the light of it coloring Cain's usually gray vision with soft yellow. Then it faded as Kuu clumsily attempted to hide his delight. "I'm glad. I'm happy to see you as well. The general doesn't know you and he can't give me accurate reports on how you're doing. You are doing okay?"
"Yes dad, you've already asked." Then he paused, actually thinking about his answer. "Actually, no. I'm worried about Kyoko."
"Ah." The change to serious concern was instantaneous. "How is she? I was told she wasn't hurt during the scuffle."
"No, her men did a good job guarding her, though they could have done a better job making sure she stayed in bed afterward." Cain clasped his hands together, gathering the courage to speak his fears out loud. "She's getting worse, dad. Hiroaki won't tell me the details, but I can tell. I see things differently now. The world is swaths of grays, blacks, and in Kyoko's case, brilliants whites. But that light is starting to fade. Every day it feels like it might go out. I don't know what to do."
Kuu placed a hand to his chin in thought, taking a moment to consider. Cain appreciated the moment, knowing that empty platitudes weren't going to help his anxiety. He needed answers and solutions, not soothing words. His father had always been able to tell which one he needed given the circumstance.
"Do you think that light could be the Phoenix?" said Kuu. "Or is it how you see Kyoko compared to everything else?"
"Both, I think. I can see if people have light magic or not, but no one has an aura as strong as Kyoko's, even now."
"Then it probably is the Phoenix. If that's so, then nothing may happen to Kyoko if the light goes out."
Which was only partially comforting, because it would mean they had lost Rosa. Still, Cain shook his head. "No, I do think it's both of them. Kyoko has become a strange pseudo vessel for Rosa's soul, even if she's dead at the moment."
Which still brought them back to the question of what they were going to do. He hadn't mentioned the dark curse originating from her shoulders that he could see eating away at that light every day. He'd rather not address where that had come from.
"I'm sure the inhibitor will help," said Kuu. "Yours will be done in what, four days? And we're bringing our own so that should help. The auras do become stronger as they overlap."
"That's true." He'd honestly forgotten about them, so worried about the day to day stuff.
"Trust Hiroaki, he'll find something," said Kuu. "And Trust Kyoko as well. She's a fighter if I've ever seen one. You sure do know how to pick 'em."
That brought a smile out of him. "Yeah, that she is," he said, his fears only somewhat placated.
They talked for another few minutes on inconsequential things, trying to find a new equilibrium. It was messy and not perfect, but it was better than Cain had hoped to find. There was still a lot of explaining and apologizing Cain needed to do. His mother especially would need to hear it.
Eventually, they moved on to official business, Cain aware that Kuu needed his sleep. He let Kuu give his report first. Their situation in Mosall would probably take more time to discuss.
"We've actually gained on the monsters," said Kuu, not looking nearly as delighted as he should be. "Which is saying something because they've also picked up their pace. If they keep at it, they'll reach the city a day earlier than anticipated."
Which meant they'd be there in six days. Well, five now that it was past midnight. Today had been long.
"I think we'll be fine," said Cain. "As long as the inhibitor is up, we should be able to hold them off until you arrive."
"I should hope so because in four days you're going to have some help," said Kuu. "We're taking a different route, coming around the east side of the mountain range. We'll be there in four days. We're sending some of the champions along with some others through the hills and across the desert to reach you right before the beginning of the fifth day. It should help bolster the cities morale and strength quite a bit."
"Really?" he felt his heart racing at the thought. This was great news. "Who are you sending?"
"Hiou Uesugi, Tsuyoshi Momose - he's worried about his sister – Hmm, I'm still thinking about Jelly. But Lory wants her close for obvious reasons. Zahir. Shin—"
Cain couldn't help a snort. "I'm not sure how much help Shin will be."
"Nonsense. He's very interested in Mosall's wellbeing." At Cain's flat stare, the king hastily amended. "Well, okay, he might have a thing for Kanae but I only know that because that separation is also giving Julie heart attacks. She wriggled a lot of information out of that poor boy when he came to visit her while she was recovering."
"That's... wow, I'm surprised." Shin was apparently that interested in Kanae? Why had no one told him? If he was coming here that implied it more serious than he'd imagined. At least for Shin. He'd have to find out details from Kyoko. He dreaded asking either of the two involved parties for clarification for entirely different reasons.
"You and I both," said Kuu. "I'm just glad it's someone we like, even if they'll have some issues in the future."
"Every couple has issues, even you and mom."
"What are you talking about? Our relationship is perfect," huffed Kuu.
"We're getting off track," said Cain, cutting his father off before he started waxing poetic about the virtues of his wife. "Anything else to report on?"
"Oh, no. Just a few more skirmishes but nothing of importance. Now, tell me about the coup."
So Cain did, taking close to an hour going through not only the attack, but who had been behind it, their decisions, and also about their attack in the caves. Adding Kyoko's apparent discovery about the rot being a poison, it had been a busy day for everyone.
"I'm more worried about those that we didn't catch," said Cain. "With the little time we've taken to investigate, it's obvious there are more people involved than the ones we caught. I'm afraid the random attacks will increase, the people emboldened by the lack of response from our side."
"Maybe it's time for you to try a different approach," said Kuu. "I keep trying to convince Kuresaki, but the man has no idea how to take care of the general population. Why haven't you sent out an official message?"
"I've thought about it, but we were hoping that the fear would make people stall longer than they have. At this point making an official statement will just confirm most people's fears that I've taken over the city. No one would take seriously an Accursed's propaganda." Especially with the rumors about him so terrible.
"You need to start combating it somehow," said Kuu. "Talk to the duke's daughter, Itzumi Momose, since she's going to inherit her father's position. She might know how the people will respond."
As always, his father was right. If Cain had taken a second to think about this he might have thought about it as well. Cain grimaced, feeling disheartened at his ability to lead.
"You're right, I should have been working on it," said Cain. "I'll have a team start working on it tomorrow."
"Hang in there, Son," said Kuu shaking his head. "You've had it rough, with little support and enemies on all sides. Don't be so hard on yourself, we'll be there as soon as we can to help."
Cain wished the words helped more than they did.
Kuu paused, suddenly awkward as he shifted behind the rippling water. "So I heard some things, um. That apparently you and Kyoko are married?"
Thanks for reading!
I am back from vacation. Yay! That was fun. Now onward to glory! (Sorry it's a day late.)
Updates are every other Tuesday, life and writer's block permitting.
-Blushweaver
Why hello peeps! I'm sorry to have disturbed so many fabulous readers with my lack of alternate titles for the last chapter, but Blushweaver named it all by herself! I never got my last minute panic call to think of a chapter title! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
-Imouto