Happy New Year! Hope you guys are having a great new year and let's hope that this year will be better!
TW: Mentions of the possibility of abortion and discussions about rape. A stereotype about Russian women.
Episode VI - The One Who Casts Doubt
They're late.
Ayano scowled at the two empty dark purple zabutons next to her. She effortlessly sliced off a decent sized piece of her Ebi-Ten with a pair of chopsticks.
Even when Otou-Sama kindly invited them over for dinner...the least they could do was to show up on time.
The Heiress placed the piece of the deep-fried shrimp in the smallest bowl of her dinner tray. From the tip of her finger came a small flame that engulfed the shrimp.
Ayano said a quick, "Itadakimasu," to the Spirit King of Fire, who had a love for the smell of charred meat and fish.
Why do they have to be such assholes?
"Is something wrong, Ayano?" Ren asked her. "You look kinda mad."
"O-oh!" she giggled nervously. "Nothing's wrong. Are you kidding me?"
Ayano could tell that Ren didn't believe her, but all he did was give her a barely audible "Alright" and went back to his meal. She turned away from him, staring down at the Nameko Mushroom Miso Soup she was holding in her hand. Chunks of white, silky tofu overlapped with the golden-tannish mushrooms in a pool of a dark broth that reminded Ayano of the crisp, brown Autumn leaves enveloping the outside World. When she took a slurp of the soup, she was hit with an earthy, nutty flavor and creamy texture. When the Fuuga's departed, her Otou-Sama hired new cooks and housekeepers. Immediately when hired, the cooks have been dishing out delicious, mouth-watery meals for all of them to devour heartily.
The Heiress scanned the Meeting Room to see the Branch Family Head conversing with one another as their dinner trays were set in front of them. A few of the wives and daughters, who were all dressed in periwinkle-colored kimonos with pure white obis, poured the men cloudy-looking Sake. Even her father was enjoying a drink with a pleasant smile on his face.
She saw one of her cousins, Ogami Misao, pouring her own father, Cousin Masayuki, some Sake in his o-choko with a lovely tiny smile. Misao was only a few years older than her; she was a soft and gentle beauty. She had clear pale skin, a heart-shaped face with thin lips. Her hair was a dark blue hue akin to a moonlit night sky around a full moon. Her mane reached above her shoulders with straight bangs and a golden headband that looked like melded beads. Just like most of the members of their family, Misao had ember eyes.
Misao was the picturesque Japanese girl, a Yamato Nadeshiko. She was extremely kind-hearted and graceful. No matter the situation, Misao always provided a calming presence, reminding Ayano a bit of her Otou-Sama. Although, Misao wasn't the strongest Enjutsushi in the family. In fact, Ayano didn't want to admit it since she loved Misao and the young woman was one of her favorite cousins, but she was pretty weak. Even Ren, who was twelve, is stronger than her!
Taking her eyes off of Misao, Ayano settled on one man in particular. He was sitting down at the very end, across from her, not participating in any of the conversations around him. He was only eating his dinner quietly. He sported a black eye and a swollen right cheek. He was Ayano's Cousin Shinichirou, the Head of the Yuuki Family Branch. Similar to Cousin Shingo and Cousin Shinji, the older man had long, dirty-blond hair but with gray streaks and ember eyes. He had a square-looking face with wrinkles to show his age. He was tall and broad-shouldered with lightly tanned skin.
Just like his sons, Cousin Shinichirou radiated, with what Ayano finally realized, arrogance.
Or he did until her Otou-Sama smacked him in the face with his cane for victim-blaming the Fuuga Heiress, Kazamaki Hibari, who was, to Ayano's knowledge, pregnant with Cousin Shingo's baby. But the baby wasn't created out of love or passion. The baby was a result of rape.
The Kannagi Heiress didn't know if the Fuuga Heiress was keeping the baby or not. Personally, Ayano wouldn't. Not at all.
When Ayano heard the news, she was literally sick to her stomach. She wanted to vomit. Ayano didn't know what to think. All she could do was to stare at her father's stoic face when he told her of Cousin Shingo's vile acts. From the dullness in his eyes, from the bluntness in his tone, Ayano just knew that what he told her was the absolute truth.
Even though her and Cousin Shingo weren't close, they would take lessons together on how to properly lead their respective families, she never thought that he could do such a thing to someone. It just made her think of how she truly didn't know him or chose to ignore the bad parts of his personality.
It also made her think of how much she ignored the bad parts of her family in general.
The slavery of the Fuuga Clan and the misery the Kannagi's put them through for 300 years. She still didn't like the fact that some of her family members were killed or Ren almost being used as a human sacrifice, but it made her question if her family was truly 'great' as they told her. The same great Kannagi Family who dedicated their lives to fighting youma, just like their progenitor.
Now that she thought about it, Ayano questioned if their first ancestor would be proud of them.
When she heard a woman say, "We have some visitors," gently, Ayano snapped out of her thoughts to see Kazuma and Inuzuma standing at the opened shoji doors.
All of the conversations came to a halt as the Branch Family Heads stared at the two guests. Ayano saw the Branch Family Heads eyeing, no, judging Kazuma with narrowed gazes as if he was some released zoo animal. Inuzuma was standing beside him donning a navy blue leather jacket, a knee-length bright pink skirt, white stockings; those silver hooped earrings. She was holding some colorful gift bags. The Family Heads were eyeing her too.
"Well, it's about time." Ayano snarked.
"There you are, Kazuma, Amane-San." her Otou-Sama said pleasantly. "Please, sit down."
Kazuma's eyes darted around the room with his shoulders hunched and tight, catching that everyone's stares were mostly on him as Inuzuma only received a few glances. Inuzuma walked inside before Kazuma, who shut the shoji door, sliding it across the frame. The stares never ceased and followed his every movement. Kazuma ignored them. Inuzuma glanced at the Branch Heads for a few seconds before ignoring them too. Kazuma sat beside Ayano on the zabuton and Inuzuma took a seat next to the Fuujutsushi. Inuzuma took a look at the serving women and girls, holding her gaze on Misao for a second before turning to her father with a polite smile.
"Sorry we're late." Inuzuma said. "It's my fault. We were just walking around the city before buying some presents."
"Presents?" her father questioned.
Inuzuma held out a gift bag for one of the serving women to grab and give to her Otou-Sama. His graying-green eyes widened slightly. She said, "It's a Thank You gift for the Welcoming gift that you gave me and Kazuma when we moved into our new house. Honestly, I had some thoughts about you, but after your amazing gift, I think of you in a better light."
What's that supposed to mean? Ayano's brow twitched as she asked, "What did you give them, Otou-Sama?"
"Just some bottles of Mead."
"Which are delicious." Inuzuma chirped. "It was hard for me to find some decent Mead here in Japan. So, thank you for that, Kannagi-San."
"You didn't have to buy me anything, Amane-San," her father said calmly, but there was a small smile on his face. "but I appreciate the gesture."
Her Otou-Sama opened the gift bag, ruffled through the tissue paper and pulled out a red box. He opened the red box, his small smile stretched.
"What's in the box, Cousin Juugo?" Ren asked.
Her father pulled out a Sake cup protectively covered in bubble wrap before unwrapping it to reveal that the Sake cup was deep red and glossy with a delicately painted Urashima Taro riding a giant turtle on the golden sea waves as he held a fishing rod.
"I've been wanting some new Sake cups." Her Otou-Sama admitted. "And these are beautiful." He looked at Inuzuma with a wider smile. "Arigato gozaimasu."
"Dō Itashimashite. I got the children some presents too." Inuzuma replied.
S-she bought me and Ren presents? But why?
"I'm sure they'll like their gifts." her father told her before addressing the Branch Family Heads. "As you know, this young man is Yagami Kazuma and this young woman is Amane Komaki. We must all thank them for their invaluable assistance in dealing with the Fuuga Clan." the corner's of his mouth turned upwards slightly. "And we, the Kannagi's, are very happy that the both of you could join us."
Ayano almost snorted. With the looks Kazuma was getting from everyone, particularly from Cousin Shinichirou, it was very clear that nobody was even happy to see him.
The Heiress leaned over towards Ren with her eyes still on Kazuma and Inuzuma. She used her hand like a screen and whispered, "Invaluable help? We had to pay them."
When Ren didn't answer her, Ayano turned to see an empty zabuton. She whipped her head around to catch Ren hugging his older brother. The Meeting Room lit up when the brightest smile graced his lips as his emerald green eyes sparkled.
"Hey, Onii-Sama! I'm so happy you're finally here!" Ren gushed.
Ayano let out an annoyed growl. The asshole Kazuma didn't even return a hug to his own little brother.
"You're not happy to see me, Ren-Kun?" Inuzuma pouted. "I'm hurt."
"Oh, no! I-I'm happy you're here too, Komaki-San!" Blubbered Ren.
Komaki giggled, "Just teasing you, but we need to work on you to start calling Komaki, alright." She grabbed two gift bags and held them out for Ren to take. "Here you go."
Ren looked down at the gift bag, "You didn't have to giv-"
"Just accept the present, kid." Kazuma cut in.
"Oh, okay, umm, thank you." Ren stuttered, opening one of the bags and taking out the tissue paper. He gasped, quickly taking out a white and red Wrestling helmet. As fast as lightning, the young Enjutsushi rummaged through the bag and took out some more Wrestling equipment like some mouth-guards, knee-pads, and cleaning products to keep the gear clean and smelling fresh. When he opened the other gift bag and pulled out a shoe box, Ren let out an airy "No way" before revealing a new pair of Wrestling shoes in the same color as the rest of the gear.
"Are they the right color? I-" Inuzuma had her breath taken away when Ren jumped over, hugging tightly like a boa constrictor, shaking her wildly.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love it! I'm forever in your debt!"
"I-It's no p-problem, Ren-Kun." Inuzuma managed to say through Ren's violent shaking. "T-try-outs are in a few days, right?"
"Yeah!" Ren answered excitedly. But then he went quiet when he released Inuzuma, showing his frown to those around him. "But I'm worried that I won't be able to join. I'm not the biggest guy at our school."
"You'll do fine." Kazuma reinsured. "You don't need to be tall or have huge muscles to be a Wrestler. There's guys your size that are professionals. You just gotta do your best."
"I-"
"Wait, wait, hold on!" yelled Ayano. Ember eyes were wide like two moons, staring at her younger cousin. "You're joining the Wrestling Team?! When did you decide this?! Why didn't you tell me?!"
Lowering his head to avoid her blazing gaze, Ren stammered, "I-I don't want to be on the Swim Team this time. I want to join the Wrestling Team this Winter."
"Okay. But Why. Didn't. You. Tell. Me?" Ayano enunciated each word. Why did you tell her instead of me?
"W-well, remember, you were injured from Kazam-Lord Geiho and I wanted you to focus more on your recovery."
Oh, right. Her back was torn up by the sharp winds and sharper flying rocks, leaving scars. Now whenever she had to change her clothes for Gym, she could feel the eyes of the other girls on her. Ayano's been changing in a hurry then darting out of the Locker Room for days. "You could've still told me, Ren. I wouldn't have minded."
"...I know. It's just..." his green eyes darted across the Meeting Room to fix his gaze on the Branch Family Heads for a second. Ren leaned down and whispered, "We'll talk about this later."
Ayano silently regarded him. Whatever he wanted to say was something that he didn't want to say in front of the other Heads. The Heiress's curiosity heightened. She nodded, "Okay, Ren."
He sent her a thankful smile before gathering up all of the Wrestling equipment and placing them back in the gift bags.
"And here you go, Ayano-Chan." Inuzuma said, holding out the gift bag for her. The older woman's blue eyes shifted towards the serving ladies for only a few seconds. Misao served her own father a small bowl of Green Tea Sorbet for dessert.
Ayano just looked at the bag as if it was filled with spiders. She huffed, "I don't even know why you even bothered. You just used the money that my Otou-Sama gave you to buy us stupid presents."
Inuzuma frowned, something flashed in her blue eyes before quickly disappearing. "No. No, I bought these with my own money. Besides, I didn't buy yours, I made it."
That was a surprise. "...You-you made me a present?"
"Yeah, I did. And you won't know what it is unless you open it."
Ayano took the gift bag, opened it, took out the tissue paper and saw what looked like two cake boxes in different colors with ribbons. She pulled out a rosy pink box with a red ribbon tied in a neat little bow and the other box that was burnt orange with a white, curly ribbon. Ayano wondered what kind of sweets were in the boxes. Were the sweets chocolatey? Velvety? She didn't want to admit it, but her mouth started to salivate.
The Heiress opened the rosy pink box and what popped out the most to her was the little candied bees decorated on the tall cake. From what Ayano could tell, the cake was covered in thick white cream and dusted in golden-brown crumbs. She took a whiff and the scent of honey entered her nose.
"Ooh, what's that?" asked Ren, leaning over to get a better look at the cake with a hungry gaze.
With somewhat of a wistful smile, Inuzuma said, "Medovik. When I was young, my old cook back at home, Ms. Svetlana, would make this for me. Then I moved to my Babushka's place, she started to make this cake for me. It's basically a honey cake."
Ayano, along with Ren, found herself trying to repeat the foreign word. "Medovik. Medovik. Medovik."
When Ayano was about to open the other box, a scoff was heard from across the Meeting Room. The scoff came from Cousin Shinichirou, who was sneering and grumbling loudly, "Of course the Black Sheep of the family would be fucking a half-bred Russian whore. The only way for him to receive any woman's attention is if he pays for-"
A sharp gust of wind flew across the adorned room, cutting into the flesh of Cousin Shinichirou's arm. The serving ladies screamed as the Heads of the Branch Families jumped out of their zabutons, wide-eyed and horrified. Along with Ren, Ayano jumped to her feet.
"Kazuma!" "Onii-Sama!"
As the Yuuki Family Head clutched his arm, he let out a guttural howl. Dark red blood ran through his fingers like a river. Cousin Shinichirou shot up from his zabuton, his knee knocked over his serving tray, causing his meal to make an enormous mess on the tatami. His ember eyes were filled with so much hate towards Kazuma, who regarded him with his own hateful glare. The Yuuki Head harshly pulled away from a serving woman who came over with a cloth for his wound. The woman bowed her head and stepped back.
"Don't you call her that!" Kazuma threatened, hopping onto his feet. "You can talk about me all you want, but keep Komaki's name out of your mouth!"
"I'll say whatever I want!" Cousin Shinichirou shouted. "You all don't care that my sons are dead!"
"Oh, silly us." Kazuma mocked viciously. "So sorry that we don't care about a fucking rapist and an asshole!"
"They're family! My sons!"
"Then that should say something about you! You didn't teach Shingo to do the bare minimum of keeping his hands to himself!"
Cousin Shinichirou's face turned purple. "Why do you care about that stupid Fuuga girl anyway?! She's not family! Her family killed members of our-"
A thundering crack echoed, silencing everyone in the room. Cousin Shinichirou's cheek changed into a violent red. He slowly turned his head to look at Inuzuma standing in front of him, wordlessly; his eyes almost popped out of his sockets from how wide they were from absolute shock. Inuzuma dropped her hand, her palm reddened violently.
"Your rapist of a son is dead." Inuzuma started so coldly that Ayano flinched. The Heiress was brought back to the day when the older woman and Kazuma revealed Ren's kidnapping. Inuzuma's voice, her eyes radiated such ferocity that Ayano didn't want to admit to anyone, truly frightened her.
"Otou-Sama, I think it's the perfect time for you to-"
"There's no need for that, Ayano-Chan." Inuzuma's accent became more Hokkaido-ben as she continued to speak. "You honestly believe that anyone would care about him being dead." she scoffed. "Nobody cares. You need to live with that. But thinking about it, it's no wonder that your son turned out that way. Living in a household that owned people. Your son obviously thought that he was entitled to that poor girl's body, seeing as she was literally property." she turned, her piercing glare landed on the other Family Heads. Some of them were forming beads of sweat as the faint smell of ozone wafted throughout the room. "It's a downright disgrace for the children of this family to be raised in such an environment. You old cocks are just passing on your disgusting beliefs to them, continuing...this." she waved an arm, gesturing to the room, all of the Kannagi's with a spat. "I always tell myself to try and understand others, but what I can never understand is how terribly people can treat others with such..." she tightened her hand into a fist.
Inuzuma turned, whipping over at Misao, who jumped a foot up in the air and took a step back when the older woman stalked towards her. Ayano quickly reached Misao, spread her arms, shielding her cousin.
"Inuzuma," the Heiress said sternly. "I know your mad, but-"
"I'm not going to hurt her, Ayano-Chan." Inuzuma told her gently, as if someone magically pulled out all of her anger and replaced it with a calmer essence. "I promise. Just let me by."
"...Sorry, but no."
Ayano and Inuzuma held their gazes like they were fighting a long-lasting battle. Seeing that the young girl wasn't stepping aside, the Raijutsushi sighed. "Take the knife out of your sleeve."
Ayano felt Misao shiver behind her. "What knife? What are yo-" she felt small hands grip her arms before being shoved out of the way, knocking over a serving tray.
"Ayano!" she heard Ren cry.
While the tatami mats began to stain, the side of her loose cherry-red T-Shirt was soaking into the food. Ayano couldn't believe what she saw as sweet little Misao pulled a kitchen knife out of her kimono and lunged at Kazuma with a deranged wail. Inuzuma shot out her hand and sparks hit the knife, sending the weapon flying in the air, cutting into the ceiling. Misao's jaw dropped, her eyes and hands rattled.
"H-how?" Misao shakily asked.
"That knife was made out of a ferromagnetic metal. More than likely carbon steel like most kitchen knives. I sensed it the moment I walked into the room."
So that's why she's been looking at the women! She's been looking at Misao who was hiding a knife!
Sweet innocent Misao. The same Misao who was perfect in all things Japanese femininity had almost killed someone.
With trembling lips, Ayano asked, "M-Misao, w-why did you try to kill Kazuma?"
"FOR NII-NII!" Misao screamed hysterically. "IT SHOULD'VE BEEN HIM! OR BOTH OF THEM! WHY DID MY BROTHER HAD TO DIE?!"
Cousin Shinichirou decided it was a great moment to speak out and say, "SEE! SHE'S RIGHT! WHY DID MY SONS-"
"SHUT UP! NO ONE CARES!" shouted Misao, ignoring Cousin Shinichirou's offended expression, turned back to glare at Kazuma and Inuzuma. "BECAUSE OF YOU, MY BROTHER IS DEAD!"
"You're right." Kazuma said suddenly, coolly, causing Ayano to gasp. "Kazamaki Ryuya killed him, but I made it easier to do. If I didn't knock Takeya unconscious, Kazamaki might not have been able to pick him off so quickly."
"And if I was faster with my magic," Inuzuma started. Ayano heard a lit of guilt in her tone. "I could've prevented the beams from falling on top of him."
"Babe, I keep on telling you, it's not your-" Cousin Shinichirou interrupted Kazuma.
"SO, IT'S YOUR FAULT MY SON IS DEAD! YOU COULD'VE SAVE-"
Everybody screamed, "SHUT UP!"
When Cousin Shinichirou faltered, defeated, Kazuma said, "Look, sorry about Takeya. He was one of the good ones in this terrible family, but he was no match for Kazamaki. He was weak."
"Onii-Sama..." Ayano heard Ren murmured in disbelief as she was frozen in shock from the Fuujutsushi's words; from glancing up at Misao, she knew that the other girl was frozen too.
The Heiress bounced onto her feet, ignoring the white rice sliding off of her T-Shirt at a leisurely pace and pointed an accusing finger at Kazuma. "Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?! 'Cause if it is, then you have a bad sense of humor! How can you say something so disrespectful?!"
Kazuma was silent, not even sparing her a glance. She felt heat rising in her throat from anger.
Ayano continued, "Have you already forgotten how weak you were and how it felt before you discovered Fuujutsu?!"
Kazuma only responded with a "Are you done? 'Cause I am. Let's go, Komaki." he slid open the shoji door and walked out on the engawa with Inuzuma following him. But she stopped at the door frame, her head turned, looking over her shoulder.
"Thank you for the invite, Kannagi-San." Inuzuma said politely. She changed her focus onto Ayano. "In the other box, there's Vatrushkis and Syroks. I hope you enjoy them." she went quiet, staring at Ayano. When Ayano was about to bark at her, the older woman just said, "Do better, Ayano-Chan. A storm is coming tomorrow." Inuzuma walked out of the Meeting Room and slid the door closed.
After what felt like an eternity in silence, her Otou-Sama began to discuss Misao's punishment with Cousin Masayuki as he ordered a serving woman to take Cousin Shinichirou to the Family Doctor. Otou-Sama told the Yuuki Head that they'll have a chat about his crude behavior towards his guests when he's fully healed. Ayano swore that she never saw the color of someone else's face turn ghastly white so quickly.
Ayano listened to her father and Cousin Masayuki talk about Misao's punishment, the Ogami Head didn't even regard his daughter as he spoke, causing all of the emotions inside Ayano to turn into sadness for Misao. Although, as Ayano watched Misao, she couldn't help but to think about Inuzuma's words to her.
"Do better, Ayano-Chan."
Ayano was surrounded by a somber cloud as she walked with her best friends through the busiest neighborhood of Shibuya; school ended a while ago. Her mind was filled with not only yesterday's events, but all of the events that happened to her and the people around her since the arrival of Kazuma and Inuzuma. It was only at the end of October those two entered into her life and changed everything.
Her Otou-Sama even had her read a book he wrote accounting for their family's history. Just like he said, the Kannagi Family history was dripping in blood. Not long ago, Ayano didn't dream of questioning anything about her family, scoffing and ignoring every criticism about them, telling herself that the people who said those words were nothing more than jealous idiots. The only problem she had with her family was how male-dominated it was, but now...she was questioning everything.
She was questioning how can the family she loves and proud to be a part of, be different from what she believed. Her family owned and tortured people. One of her cousins was a rapist. And Misao...poor, sweet Misao.
Last night, when she visited the Ogami Quarters to check on her, hoping to sit down and talk to her, she was stopped by Misao's mother, Cousin Tomoko, who smelled like she just bathed in a tub full of Sake with mascara running down her cheeks, eerily and calmly told her to leave. Misao was forbidden to have company of any kind. Seeing how inebriated the Ogami Matriarch was, Ayano hesitantly left the Quarters and retired to her bedroom at the Main Family Quarters, eating the sweets Inuzuma gave her. The honey cake and the other sweets (Ayano found out that the other two sweets were cottage cheese-based) were the most delicious things she ever ate. Ayano even begrudgingly took photos of Inuzuma's sweets and posted them on her Instagram.
Ayano ceased her walking when she heard Yukari and Nanase mumble her name behind her. "Are you guys talking about me?" she asked.
Yukari, impishly as always, said, "Fess up, Ayano. There's something going between you and a guy, right?"
"Or a girl." Nanase added.
The Heiress sharply turned to her friends, "What? What are you even talking about? That's not even close to what's going in my head right now."
"It's no big deal. You can tell us." implored Yukari.
"Yeah," Nanase started. "Are they cute? What are they like?"
"Dude, enough!" Ayano shouted, tightening the grip she had on her messenger bag. Heat rose in her chest and neck.
Nanase, with a not-so-innocent smile, prodded. "Come on, just give it up. You know Yukari isn't going to give up."
"She's rig-"
A cord suddenly snapped. "THERE'S NO GUY! OR GIRL! OR ANYBODY! I DON'T SEE WHY YOU'RE SO CONCERNED! I HAVE SO MUCH ON MY MIND RIGHT NOW! IF YOU GUYS CARE SO MUCH ABOUT BOYS AND GIRLS, THEN WHY DON'T YOU GO AND HUNT DOWN FOR SOME DICK AND CLITS YOURSELVES!"
Yukari and Nanase shut their mouths.
"Well, what a surprise," said a familiar deep, masculine voice, breaking the stunned silence. "Ayano's causing a scene again."
The Enjutsushi quickly spun around, her long hair touched her cheek, to see Kazuma in an alleyway with a woman clinging onto his arm and head resting on his shoulder like a lover, dressed in a lilac-colored Women's suit, a royal purple blouse underneath the suit jacket with a knee-length skirt and pumps of the same lilac color.
A woman who was not Inuzuma.
Firstly, the woman was a bit older with lighter skin and lighter hair (pale blonde), which was styled in a loose bun. She had sharp, sultry lavender eyes, small lips painted in a bold red and a heart-shaped face, but just like Inuzuma, this woman had curves.
"W-what are you doing here?" Ayano stammered. Her frustration was suddenly replaced with confusion.
She heard her friend mutter something, but Ayano was too busy wondering who the hell this woman was and why Kazuma, a man in a relationship, was with her.
"You know, this might not be the place for you to be screaming about 'hunting down for some dick and clits'." Kazuma explained in his usual cool tone. "People will get the wrong idea around these parts."
When Ayano tilted her head, peering past their shoulders, her face went up in flames.
Behind them were a series of Love Hotels. Hotel Lumiere, Creative Hotel Romp Shibuya, Suck & Fuck; so many others, windowless with pink heart designs.
"O-oh," Ayano's lips wobbled. "I-I guess, I guess I didn't realize-"
"So," the unknown woman cut in. Unlike Inuzuma, this woman had the Standard Kantō-ben, but more low, rich, and smoky. "Kazuma, is she a little fangirl of yours?"
Fangirl?! Ayano growled as Kazuma simply said, "No, she's just my second cousin."
"Oh, really?" the woman tilted her head, studying her. "Why is she so angry?"
Kazuma shrugged, "Don't know. I think she was just born that way."
Ayano, feeling her temper rising, screamed, "I KNEW YOU WERE A DISGUSTING PERV, BUT THIS! THIS JUST TAKES THE CAKE! HOW CAN YOU BE CHEATING ON INUZUMA?!"
"I'm not chea-"
"YES YOU ARE! I HAVE EYES AND THEY WORK!"
"Obviously not well." Kazuma said plainly as he started to walk away with that woman. "You kids shouldn't be hanging around this neighborhood."
As the two were walking away, the woman had the audacity to look back and smile at Ayano. The Heiress grit her teeth. How could he do such a thing?! Cheating on his girlfriend!
"You know," Ayano heard Yukari say, "he does look like Ayano's type, but now I'm having second thoughts."
"Yeah, I mean, apparently he already has a girlfriend and is Ayano's cousin." Nanase responded. "That'd be weird if she was into stuff like that."
Yukari sighed as if a tragedy just occurred. "Guess it's back to square one. At this point, Ayano's never going to be dating anybody."
"Alright, that's it!" growled Ayano, spinning around to glare at her friends. "Tell me what you guys are talking about now!"
"About that guy, duh!" Yukari said like Ayano should know. "You didn't tell us he was your cousin! Now it's going to be harder for you to date!"
"Yeah, you have a tendency to scare people." Nanase added.
Letting out a frustrated groan, Ayano yelled, "I'm not even worried about dating now! There's a lot going on right now!"
"Like what?" Yukari crossed her arms and raised a golden brow. "You never tell us what's going on in your family. Yeah, we get it, your family's a bit secretive, but with the way that you're acting, you're more afraid to tell us."
Ayano went silent, staring at her best friends, the same ones who accepted her and her jutsu. The first time they saw her fire, Yukari and Nanase were in awe, asking her how and why. Ayano answered all of those questions with pride for her family. She told them all of her family's great feats, fighting youma, protecting the people of the Kantō region. But now with the rose-tinted glasses taken off, everything just wasn't so great after all.
Yeah, she was afraid. She was afraid of her friends looking at her in disgust. Rejecting her, telling her that she was just as bad, evil in fact, for sharing blood with those who committed such inhumane acts. They were going to tell her that she was going to be like them, or worse.
Ayano took in a shaky breath and said with unstable lips, "I-I don't want to say. At least, not now. I'm-I'm still trying to figure things out. I-I don't know what to do."
Yukari's crossed arms lost their tensity as Nanase's eyes were sympathetic. Nanase said, "It's okay, Ayano. When you get things sorted out, you can tell us when you're ready."
"Yeah, you better tell us." Yukari said, appearing to be serious, but her tone was playful.
Some part of Ayano was grateful that her friends could be so understanding. The other half though told her that Nanase and Yukari were too good for her.
"I will..." Ayano looked away sheepishly, playing with her hair. "and sorry about yelling at you guys about...you know, hunting for some-"
Yukari waved her hand, unconcerned, "It's cool. We're used to you yelling at us all the time."
"It does happen a lot." Nanase said matter-a-factly.
Ayano gave her two friends a glare, raising her voice, "I do not yell-" she stops when she sees their smirks. She blushes, "Oh, shut up."
"Yes, Ayano-Sama." Yukari bowed mockingly.
"Please forgive us for our disrespect." Nanase copied Yukari.
Ayano tried to fight off a smile, but failed. "Okay, okay, you have my forgiveness."
"Good. Don't know what I would do without it." Yukari said.
As her friends continued to joke around, Ayano remembered Kazuma being with another woman who wasn't Inuzuma. The thought just made Ayano boil.
She quickly told her friends, "I just realized that I got this thing I gotta do somewhere else, so I should really get going!" she started running in the direction where Kazuma and the mysterious woman did not too long ago. "Bye, guys!"
Kazuma wasn't going to get away with this. She was going to catch him in the act.
Ayano has no idea where Kazuma was.
She searched high and low, in alleyways, through the endless sea of people. Hell, Ayano even checked the dumpsters, because that's where trash like him belongs.
Ayano couldn't even begin to understand why Kazuma was with another woman, who was obviously way too comfortable with him. Hanging off of his arm like a girlfriend and walking out of an alleyway filled with Love Hotels. It didn't make any sense whatsoever, especially from what she saw between Kazuma and Inuzuma.
It was so obvious that Inuzuma was so madly in love with Kazuma. Ayano couldn't for the life of her understand why, but she was. She saw how the Raijutsushi comforted him, how her touch could bring him back down to Earth, and how she protected him.
And Kazuma...
He looks at Inuzuma like she is everything. He was just so protective of her, not allowing anybody to say anything bad about her. He joked with her, teased her, and comforted her. The guy practically worships her.
The two of them together made Ayano think: Is that how being in love is?
But that illusion shattered when Kazuma was caught red-handed.
Frazzled and frustrated, Ayano dug into her messenger bag and pulled out her phone, the latest Samsung Galaxy. After using her fingerprint to unlock her Smartphone, she quickly calls Ren.
"Oh, hey, Ayano." Ren said cheerfully. Ayano can hear his friends, Suzuhara and Serizawa, arguing in the background about what movie they should see. "What are you doing?"
"I need you to get over here now!" Ayano yelled, ignoring the stares on her and their whispers.
"Why?"
"JUST GET OVER AND HELP ME!"
"O-okay! Where are you?"
Ayano growled, "Shibuya!"
"...yeah, that narrows it down." Ren said sarcastically.
The Heiress let out an annoyed, maddening groan, scanning her surroundings to see bright neon-colored electronic billboards and signs with a cluster of people walking around either chatting or absorbed in their cell phones. She was at least six minutes away from Shibuya Station, standing next to a black board on an easel posted in front of a tall marble white building. The words on the black board was written in colorful Katakana. The words that stuck out to her were 'Specials at Raimundo's Shibuya.'
"I'm near a place called Raimundo's Shibuya," Ayano told Ren. "NOW GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME!"
"Okay, okay! I'm coming." Ren hung up his phone.
Ayano stood by the shop and waited, arms crossed, holding a scathing glare, daring people to come near her.
When Ren finally came, the two started to search for Kazuma and that mysterious woman. Ayano explained to Ren that he saw his older brother with another woman who wasn't Inuzuma, coming out of an alley filled with Love Hotels. She told him with a sneer that Kazuma was a two-timing jerk. It was obvious from Ren's frown and scrunched brows that he didn't believe her.
An hour passed since their search, looking high and low, in alleyways and cafés, but there was still no sign of Kazuma or that pale blonde-haired woman.
Ren stopped in front of StarBox Coffee, hunched over with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. "C-can w-we just t-take a break?" he asked, panting, licking his lips, "We're never going to find him in Shibuya. We don't have tracking skills like Kazuma."
With her hands on his hips, Ayano scoffed, "Sounds like the only skill you have now is whining, Ren."
"...Now that I think about it," Ren started, his hard breathing seized. "Instead of dragging me down around town, why don't we just call Kazuma?"
Ayano just looked at Ren like he told her to swallow a cockroach. "First of all, why would I have that jerk's number? Secondly, you don't call cheaters, you catch them."
"Why are you even doing this? I thought you didn't like Komaki-San."
Ayano's mouth thinned. She didn't like Inuzuma. Like she said before, the older woman was an enigma. Inuzuma was too pretty with curves and boobs, too smart that she had to spew out facts in long detail, too nice; too mysterious, too much...too many of a lot of things.
No, Ayano doesn't like Inuzuma, but even she doesn't deserve to get cheated on by a man she loves.
"I don't," Ayano said, frowning. "But cheating on your girlfriend is wrong and she needs to know so she can dump Kazuma's sorry ass. Or maybe even electrocute him."
Ren blanched, "Y-you shouldn't say things like that, Ayano."
Ayano shrugged in a way that said 'just telling the truth' before surveying the upper floor stores and cafés across the street, squinting her eyes and peering into windows.
Ren focused his gaze on StarBox Coffee, hungrily, as he licked his lips again. "Can we get something here? I'm thirs-" he paused. "Ayano, I-"
"Oh, just walk it off." Ayano waved him away. "We don't got time for-"
"I think I found him." Ren interrupted.
The Heiress whips around and sees Ren pointing upwards at an upper window of the StarBox Coffee. And low and behold, there was Kazuma sitting by the window, scrolling on his Smartphone, resting his head in his palm.
Ayano grabbed Ren and dragged him, while ignoring his whines, to stand behind a tree. Ayano and Ren peered behind the trunk, keeping an eye on Kazuma. But the Heiress noticed that the woman he was with earlier wasn't with him. He was completely alone.
Where is she? Is he hiding her? Ayano thought bitterly. Or is he done with her for today?
"Um, why are we hiding behind a tree?" Ren asked, bewildered. "We just spent an hour looking for him."
Ayano glared at her younger cousin, hissing, "Don't worry about it." she looked back up at the window. "Doesn't look like he's with that woman."
"But it does look like he's waiting on someone." commented Ren. "Maybe Komaki-San?"
"Oh, so he can lie to her about where he was all day?" Ayano raised a mocking brow. "Yeah, right. Cheaters always lie."
"Kazuma's not a cheat-" Ren paused, then exclaimed with a pointed finger at the window. "There she is!"
Ayano saw a woman who appeared to be around the same age as Kazuma greeting him with a smile. Her lips were painted dark red, her eyelids covered in a smokey shadow of gold with sharp winged eyeliner in black. She wore a lacy, wine-colored high-neck crop top that reached just above her stomach with something glittering in her belly button and a short, satin skirt in the same shade of red as the top. The woman had thin golden bracelets dangling on her little wrists and a headband of the same color that looked like melded beads. She also carried a pale pink frame purse.
A golden headband that looked like melded beads...
Clear pale skin, eyes in the hue of embers with short hair in a shade of Midnight blue.
Ayano gasped, "That's Misao!"
Sweet, innocent Misao. What was she wearing? She looked good in the outfit, no question, but Ayano highly doubted that Cousin Masayuki and Cousin Tomoko would allow their daughter to go out in such clothing. Cousin Tomoko would berate Misao and tell her "That's not what proper girls wear" as Cousin Masayuki would ask her, calmly, "What kind of attention are you trying to attract? Do you think it'll be good?" Just like Cousin Genma, the Ogami Patriarch and Matriarch would say comments about girls and women that made Ayano's skin crawl.
And when did she get a belly button ring?! Her parents would've definitely disapproved of that.
As soon as Kazuma and Misao left StarBox Coffee, Ayano and Ren followed them. While hiding her face behind her messenger bag and blocking out Ren's whining, Ayano scrutinized every single thing the two were doing. Misao had her arm around Kazuma's as he had his hands in the pockets of his jean jacket, chatting about something that the Heiress couldn't hear from her distance.
The two Enjutsushis found themselves walking through the Love Hotel alley and an attached Red Light District. They hid behind a stop sign, watching Kazuma and Misao stroll through a towering gate that led to a dumpy-looking building.
"A-are they going into a L-love Hotel?" asked Ren, his face was a bright beet red. He turned around to look at Ayano. "Seriously, Ayano, I don't want to see any of-" then the young Enjutsushi yelped, taking a step back.
Ayano had the darkest, hottest glare on her face as the stop sign's pole she was grappling on burned. Dark orange, bright yellow, and burnt black with the smell of melting metal spread.
"T-that pervert..." she growled, her shoulders rumbled like a volcano. "I can't believe he brought her here...to a place like this."
Misao was thrown onto a plush bed, she let out a little gasp. Her hair was spread wildly on a pillow as her fingers were curled, her hands rested on either side of her head. Her red lips were opened slightly, her eyes were glossy as her pale cheeks were flushed. She had her legs closed innocently.
"K-kazuma," she whimpered. "W-we shouldn't do this. You already have a girlfriend."
Kazuma's eyes were sharp with lust as his lips formed a smirk. He towered over Misao, placing a knee on the bed and his hands on her legs.
"Who says I can't have more women?" he husked. "And I want to have you."
Kazuma spread Misao's legs, she bit her lip, closing her eyes, her back arched as he leaned in...
"THIS-THIS IS..." her hand crushed the stop sign's pole. She felt the fire in her blood erupt, her ears only heard a roar. "THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!"
Ayano sprinted towards the Love Hotel, thinking of the ways how she was going to kill Kazuma. Burn his skin until it was pitch black and falling off? Or tearing out his heart with Enraiha and burning the organ into a pile of ashes? She decided that she was going to do both.
The Heiress felt a weight on her back, a pair of arms around her neck as she fell on the road.
"Ayano, please, calm down!" Ren pleaded.
She tried wrestling and wiggling out of Ren's tight grip, but his hold on her just tightened. When she was about to deadly force on her younger cousin by pinching his side, the sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the neighborhood. Ayano and Ren halted and caught each other's eye. Another gunshot was heard. Then another and another until suddenly a shower of gunshots followed by explosions that sounded more like grenades. Both cousins stood up and ran towards the hotel.
What caught Ayano's eye were several men in black suits and sunglasses carrying machine guns with clouds of dust and smoke surrounding them and Misao, who had her back turned away from her.
"Guess I was more of a threat to you, huh?" Misao said smugly.
"...You want to tell me what's going on here?" Ayano demanded.
Misao spun around to see Ayano and Ren standing by the gate. "Ayano? Ren?" she said surprised, but then her tone changed into a more calming one. "I was hoping to avoid having any witnesses, but I guess it's good that you're here. It's appropriate for a member of the family to gather his remains. Though, I doubt he'll be buried at the Family's Grave."
"He's what?" Ren's voice was almost a whisper as his green eyes narrowed.
Ayano scoffed, "Seriously? Don't tell me that you think a lame attack like that would kill Kazuma? I bet you barely even put a scratch on him."
Before Misao could do anything, a whirlwind came crashing down on the Men in Black, throwing them in the air, spinning rapidly as they screamed for mercy. The men slammed into the ground, either knocked-out or whimpering in agonizing pain. When the whirlwind cleared, Kazuma was standing with his hands in his jean pockets, stoically, unharmed.
Horrified, Misao pulled out her Smartphone from her purse with a shaky hand.
"Don't even bother." Kazuma said to her. "I already had a talk with your rooftop sniper."
"H-how could yo-"
"Don't feel too bad. It was a good idea in theory." The Fuujutsushi walked towards Misao, who froze. "Weapons are stronger than your magic. The only thing is, you need more guns."
Misao sneered at him.
Ayano thought she was seeing things when she saw a hint of sadness in Kazuma's eyes. "You changed," he said. "Did I make you this way?"
"Are you serious?" Misao responded aghast. "You haven't seen me in ten years and you think you know me well enough to even ask that?"
The corners of Kazuma's lips twitched upwards, sheepishly. "O-okay, you got a point."
What the hell is even happening? The both of them sounded like they had some history, but Ayano couldn't remember any time Kazuma and Misao playing together or hanging out with each other in the Kannagi Compound. Then again, she didn't really pay much attention to Kazuma when they were growing up.
"Alright, enough with the chatter." Ayano commanded. "Misao, you're coming home with me and you're going to explain everything you done to my Otou-Sam-"
Misao smacked her in the face with her purse, ignored Ayano's "Ow!" and took off running.
Ayano held her eye that was throbbing in pain and ran after Misao. "GET BACK HERE!" she shouted. Ren trailed behind her as fast as he could.
The clouds above them darkened as Heaven's drums started to beat. Misao ran through a dirty alley, knocking over trash cans and boxes, Ayano jumped over them and dodged a trash lid that was flying towards her.
"OW!" Ayano heard behind her.
She skidded in a stop, yelling, "Ren, are you alright?!"
The young boy held the side of his head, stumbling on his feet and nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Come on, she's getting away!"
Ayano casted a worried look before taking off again, this time with Ren running next to her. She saw Misao near an abandoned, dilapidated building, panting. Ayano was honestly impressed that Misao could run in those rose-gold stilettos.
"Don't move a muscle, Misao." warned Ayano. "Or I'll-"
Then Ayano saw something she didn't think was possible. Fire Spirits danced around her hands. With a ball of flame underneath her illuminated palms, Misao's feet rose up from the ground. She shot up in the air, flying, leaving a stream of fire in her wake.
Wide-eyed and marveled, Ren exclaimed, "I didn't know she could do that!"
"...Me neither." Ayano's voice was barely a whisper, the sound of awe was unhidden. The Heiress wondered what other mysteries she was about to unlock about her Ogami cousin. Hopefully she'll have answers, unwrapped and opened, all out on display for her to see.
Ayano and Ren found the abandoned buildings' flight of a thousand stairs and dashed up to the rooftop. Misao stood in the center, staring into a void of nothingness within the unclear clouds, quiet as the little mouse Ayano always believed her to be.
"You cornered yourself, Misao." Ayano said.
The Heiress heard Misao take in a flimsy, hollow breath, her body trembling. "You're chasing me like I'm some kind of criminal even when I didn't do anything wrong."
"I was standing right there." argued Ayano. "I saw what you did. You hired mercenaries to gun down an ally of our family and that's unforgivable." Standing tall, Ayano continued, "As the next Head of the Kannagi Family, I can't let you get away with this."
"So you're going to continue this family's sinful ways." Misao said, softly with no emotion.
Ayano felt like she was doused in icy water, stiff and frozen where she stood as her fire was put out. She moved her lips, but nothing came.
"This shouldn't even be surprising." Misao carried on. "Given the history we carry in our blood." the young woman spread her arms, her hands not fully closed with bent fingers. Gesturing with her right hand, she said, "Our ancestors after our founder enslaved a family of Wind-Magic Users. We believed them to be weak, but in truth, we were afraid of them, afraid of being snuffed out by their magic." Misao's left hand did the same as her right. "Cousin Shingo raped a girl. Repeatedly. She couldn't escape without leaving her family, who would've been punished in her place. She couldn't tell anyone, because who would believe her? She's a Fuuga, a part of our family's property. And if we did believe her..." Misao shrugged. "She's not a person, we can ignore her and continue to praise Cousin Shingo for his power."
"...B-but my father believed her. I-I do and-"
"And you also looked down on them." Misao listlessly stated. "You believed that you were above them, simply for having Fire-Magic." she switched her eyes, only her eyes, on Ren. "And you ignored them. Naively, blissfully. You only took notice of them when they kidnapped you. If they didn't, they would've still been faceless to you."
Stricken like he was just slapped in the face, Ren visibly shook. "T-that's not-"
"Did you even know any of their names?" questioned Misao. "Aside from the Kazamaki's."
Ayano's lips tightened, her hands balled into a fist as she turned away, her reddish-pink hair curtained her face. Ren fumbled with his words.
"U-um...t-there was, there was Ukyo-San." Ren answered with a stutter. "S-she would always make us cookies."
Misao laughed humorlessly. "Yes, that's right, she would. But do you believe that she made them for us because she wanted to? Or because she had to? To avoid being punished?"
Ren couldn't say anything as he became more interested in the rooftop's floor.
"She only made them for us. Not for her own children." Misao continued. "Did you even know that she even had children? She had them youn-"
"Is there any point to this, Misao?" Ayano asked, trying to sound stern, but her tone was just as small as she was feeling. "What does this have to do with you trying to kill Kazuma?"
"I'm just doing what our family does best. Punishing others."
"My Otou-Sama never laid a hand on any of the Fuuga's." Ayano said, once again trying to add heat to her words.
"My Okaa-Sama did. Behind closed doors. Just like the rest of them." Misao explained. "Being the perfectionist that she was, she would punish them if they couldn't do a task in the way that she wanted. Otou-Sama would just watch. Stoic as always."
"I didn't know you thought this way." Ayano admitted.
Misao let out a watery scoff, then a laugh that sounded just the same. The Heiress's heart squeezed. "Of course, you didn't. You don't know me at all either. I'm just weak, little Misao. Only thing I'm good for in this family is obeying others and popping out more little Kannagi's in the future. I'll be obeying my future husband next."
"No, you don't. It doesn't have to be-"
"You can say that, Ayano." Misao interrupted. "You're going to be the next Head of the family. You don't have to behave in a certain way. You can be yourself-"
"You don't think I'm not being judged? I hear what people say about me in our family." Ayano told her. "Some of them say I'm too mannish. That I'm not feminine enough. They said that I should've just been born a boy. But the others...I'll admit, praise me for my strength. But that strength I found out was due to the fact that I didn't act like a girl." Ayano shook her head, taking in a breath. "I don't even know what that means. Acting like a girl. I'm just acting like Ayano, who happens to be a girl."
Something was in Ren's eyes that Ayano couldn't place as his lips opened slightly. He was about to speak until a masculine, baritone voice broke through the second of silence.
"And here I thought that the both of you would be fighting." Kazuma said, flying high in the air, peering down at them, impassively.
"I got this under control, Kazuma." Ayano snapped.
The Fuujutsushi raised his hands in surrender, holding out a pale pink frame purse. "I'm just here to return this."
Ayano looked at him in disbelief. "That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard."
"Are you really going to punish Misao?" Kazuma asked with a tawny brown brow raised. "She didn't do anything to the Kannagi Family. She was trying to kill me. I don't see how any of this is your business." he set his feet on the rooftop's building.
No, I don't want to punish Misao, but... "Misao's actions-"
"Reflect badly on the family." Kazuma finished, jumping off of the rooftop's building and landed right beside Misao, who took a step back, surprised. "Once again, you guys only care about your image."
Ayano watched Kazuma place Misao's purse in her hand with a gentleness that the Heiress thought was only reserved for Inuzuma, but the act didn't have an ounce of romance in it. It was just a simple deed of kindness.
A kindness that Ayano couldn't understand came from Kazuma who was giving it to a girl who was hellbent on killing him.
"This is only between her and me. Just leave it alone, Ayano." Kazuma commanded.
Baffled, Ayano bellowed, "She literally tried to kill you! What if she tries again?!"
Giving her annoyed glare, Kazuma said, "I don't care. It doesn't matter anyway. She can't put a scratch on me."
Kazuma's tone wasn't insulting like the other times. He stated it like it was a fact. A fact that was, unfortunately, true.
However, Misao didn't take it that way. Her beautiful face twisted into an ugly visage of pure, unadulterated hate. She threw her purse off to the side and summoned a fireball, smacking it on Kazuma's chest. Kazuma stood, unburnt, staring blankly down at the young woman. Swirls of wind shielded him from another blast of fire. Another, and another.
"Misao, stop!" Ren begged. Ayano could tell that he was close to being in tears. "Just come home! We can fix this!"
"You're going to burn yourself out!" Ayano warned, wishing that the pitiful display would just end. "Just sto-"
"You took him away!" Misao said, hitting Kazuma with another fireball. "You took him away from me! It's not fair!"
Kazuma continued to stand and stare.
Misao's ember eyes glistened. She hit him on the chest with another ball of fire. "Why'd you kill my brother?! Why did he have to die?!"
Kazuma stayed silent as did Ayano and Ren. Nobody knew what to say to her. Nobody had an answer.
When all she received was still silence, tears streamed down Misao's cheeks as she let out a shrill. She wildly slammed fireballs on Kazuma's chest. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME! YOU TOOK AWAY MY PRECIOUS NII-NII! HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO LOVED ME! THE ONLY ONE WHO CARED ABOUT ME! HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO I LOVED! WHY DID YOU KILL HIM?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!"
When the rain poured down on them from the dimmed Heavens', the fire in Misao's tiny palms vanished. She crumbled down onto her knees and sobbed in her hands. Her wretched cries pierced Ayano's heart like a sword. The Heiress took a single step towards Misao, the back of her eyes burned, but paused her next step when she saw Kazuma take off his jean jacket and lay the piece of clothing on the crying young woman's shoulders.
Misao weakly pushed him away, sending the jacket down on the rooftop's floor; the jacket's material darkened from the raindrops.
"I'll never forgive you. Never..." Misao quietly swore to Kazuma. "I'll make you suffer."
Kazuma simply picked up his jacket, hiked it over his shoulder. His black button-up was getting drenched. "Do what you have to do." he walked away, heading towards the staircase, even ignoring Ren who voiced his concerns.
Ayano followed, but took one more look at the young woman on her knees. She was covered in rain water, appearing smaller than she already was. Ayano tightened her hand around the stair's handle bar as well as her lips, hoping that words, any words, would come out, would comfort Misao through her despair. But nothing came out as the Heiress watched Misao, who stopped her cries and hollowly stared at the rooftop's floor, motionless.
Regrettably, Ayano went down the stairs with the swords still in her heart.
Raindrops poured heavily on Kazuma as he walked through the bustling streets of Shibuya; the districts' lights illuminated, reflecting on the roads, glossing and shining. Idle chatter echoed around him, hurried feet brushed past him, his skin prickled as the raindrops stopped touching him with a shadow looming over his body.
Kazuma turned to see Komaki holding a bright orange umbrella, little white lilies appeared when the raindrops landed. She was wearing a simple and unzipped rose pink jacket with one of his gray T-Shirts that was too big on her and plain jeans. Colorful splatters and fingerprints of paint coated the shirt and hid under her fingernails.
Komaki's beautiful face mirrored his. "I said it was going to rain."
"Yeah, I know."
"You're going to get sick."
"Probably."
"...Pryanichek, do you want a hug?"
The world around him no longer existed as the space between him and Komaki closed when he wrapped his arms around her. Bending down, he covered his face with her shoulder. Komaki didn't say a word, she just held the umbrella over them, her other hand soothed the back of his neck, her fingertips grazed his hair.
They stood there like that for what felt like forever.
"What is that you wish for?" said a raspy, yet gentle voice from a man. "The death of another? Do you wish for vengeance? Or do you hunger for an unstoppable strength?"
"All of them." she said.
Laughter, "You're a greedy little girl." he purred. "Ambitious. If that's what you desire, then I will grant your wishes." his voice deepened. "Now, look at me."
She obeyed and saw beauty.