I'm horrible. My internet's worse. Whatever.

Longer chapter because. This one ends Hitsugi's arc.

Disclaimer: Why on Earth would anyone believe that I could own Akuma no Riddle is beyond me. Everything else in here, sans lyrics (once again, courtesy of chirigirl13, except the line about poison that I don't remember where it came from) is mine.

Of Hitsugi's confession, Chitaru's reaction and Tokaku's first kill.

The Azuma Clan: part II

Hitsugi of Azuma didn't mean to fall in love. Really, she didn't. She had early on her life understood that her future wasn't something she could choose freely, but only with her House's and the Empire's best interests at heart (in that order), and so she'd been letting herself be courted by dozens of noblemen since the day after she turned a hundred and sixty years, waiting until someone proved himself good enough to be her husband, support her as she ruled over the Empire and father her successor in the throne.

That was until she met the lycan named Chitaru, whose gentleness towards her and her younger sister seemed so out of place in a world ruled by war that she felt inevitably attracted, knowing that if her feelings evolved it could only end in tragedy.

[Even still, I met you, and so
The world changed into something comforting]

She took her sister to the town time and time again, always hoping to meet Chitaru and nearly every time seeing her wishes granted. Eventually, even Tokaku stopped being so wary around the one she'd identified as a lycan by the end of the first meeting, as she could see her older sister wasn't worried, and her inherent cuteness made Chitaru herself completely relax around the pair.

All in all, everything seemed to be going smoothly, even if the redhead had absolutely no clue that the sisters were vampires.

And then it happened. Chitaru finally told her, one time that Tokaku was sparring with an older boy by the lake, that she was a lycan. That show of trust alone was enough for the Crown Princess' heart to beat so fast she was sure it'd jump out of her ribcage, and made her understand the source of the warm, strange feeling that made home in her chest whenever she crossed gazes with the younger female or their hands touched briefly.

Nearly two years after their first meeting, two months after finding the nobleman worthy of being her husband and a week after first accepting his advances, Hitsugi of Azuma understood she was in love.

She simply smiled at the redhead, answered that she didn't care she was a lycan and called her little sister (who had just beaten the boy's pride to the ground) to eat.

And she truly didn't care. At least, not until they got closer than before and Chitaru showed her the tattoo in her heel that proved her allegiance to the rebel faction. Because, at that moment, Hitsugi had to smile as she screamed inside.

With Chitaru being a member of the lycan resistance and Hitsugi being part of the vampire royalty (and a very important one, at that), there was simply no way any honest relationship between them could be possible. Not with the hate that shone in Chitaru's eyes every time she heard any allusion to the vampire race, and especially not with her past.

When she heard about the reason behind Chitaru's hate, Hitsugi felt like crying out in grief, recognizing the story before it started with only the name of the attacked settlement. She had always felt so proud of being a daughter of the Imperial House, but now... now, there was only shame.

For a moment, she only wished to have been born anywhere else, as anyone else other than who she was... But then her little sister came running up to her, whining that she was thirsty, and she couldn't imagine a life not being Tokaku's big sister.

Had it been up to Hitsugi, Chitaru would have never found out about her. But that was simply no fair to the younger female, for the vampire to be leading her on knowing nothing would come out of it. Because yes, she had noticed that the redhead was attracted to her, and she felt so damn guilty about everything...

And eventually, Chitaru knew. The setting was, admittedly, rather horrible. And it was the one reason things turned out the way they did.

[That day I followed the wrong path]

That day, they were on the same park as the first time they'd met, their favorite place to meet as it allowed a calm ambient for them while Tokaku played around and they talked about everything and nothing. It was nothing new, to meet in that spot, even though they'd sometimes been in the town itself (especially the few times Tokaku remained in the Imperial Palace).

The sun was setting, making the lake glint as if it was one polished diamond, as Tokaku threw rocks and exclaimed happily every time she made it skip a few times. It was really easy to please the child, as the lycan had found out when only a promise to teach her kendo about fifteen months back made those bright blue eyes light up in excitement. Which was understandable, considering the lack of titles awaiting her for when she grew up (only a Regency for their clan after their grandmother's death, and even that she could decide not to accept if she decided to dedicate her life to the military). She wasn't waiting for anything big in her life, and the smallest things could make her happy.

After Tokaku's sudden need for them to watch as she got the rock to the middle of the lake vanished, Chitaru found her eyes drifting to the young woman at her side, marvelling in the way the fading sunlight and her perenne love for her sister made her eyes twinkle warmly, loving the tiny smile that etched her thin lips as the little girl did something funny, the way her slim fingers put some of her hair behind her ear, the other rising to politely hide a laugh as the girl miscalculated and stepped into the water. Without knowing what was going on with her own body, Chitaru found herself leaning closer to the smaller female.

Hitsugi turned her head to look at her and froze for a moment that seemed eternal before she also leaned in, though the redhead didn't realize this as she was too busy paying attention to Hitsugi's face.

But then, only five centimeters before their lips touched, Hitsugi halted. Four later, she raised her hand and gently pushed the lycan away.

"I can't do this" she said, averting her eyes under Chitaru's confused gaze.

"I'm sorry, Hitsugi-san. I don't know what I was thinking. I just–" she sucked in a breath and messed with her hair. "Sorry. I'll leave now... and I'll understand if you never want to see me again. Just say the word."

The smaller female's grip was surprisingly strong as her hand shot out to grab her wrist before she could even begin to stand up.

"It's not you, believe me, it's just..." she looked away, not seeing when the other glanced at her. "I want to. I really do. But I... it can't happen. I'm sorry."

"Why not?" asked Chitaru, looking so much like a kicked puppy it was fortunate Hitsugi wasn't looking in her direction. Still, her emotions reflected in her voice, and the princess contained a grimace.

Hitsugi cursed in her mind, wishing to swallow her words, but there was no way out. Especially after she made the mistake of glancing at the lycan. "I... I have been betrothed. It is to be announced formally next week" at Chitaru's betrayed look, she quickly explained, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head that told her this would end very badly. To all three of them. "It's... a political thing. The throne line is traditionally required to–"

"... Throne line?" interrupted Chitaru in a weak voice, hand slowly returning to her lap. "I... I don't understand."

Hitsugi looked down at her hands, a frustrated cry from her sister the only thing keeping her mind with her. Well, she had to break things off anyway, and this was just too good a way to make sure she would move on. Even if that slip of the tongue had been completely involuntary amidst the out of character rambling.

[Now, the truth shows itself]

"I don't believe I ever talked about my family, did I?" Hitsugi managed a small, shaky smile, and joined her hands in her lap to keep herself from playing with her hair as she normally did when she was nervous.

"You've mentioned them, but..."

The older female took a deep breath and straightened her back even more. "I'm Crown Princess Hitsugi of Azuma, daughter of Crown Princess Karami of Azuma and Archduke Daisuke of Inukai, and granddaughter of Empress Karami of Azuma" she took another deep breath, forcing her eyes away from the lycan as she noticed with pain the betrayal making itself more and more evident with every word spoken. "I am the heiress to the Azuma Clan and the Imperial House of Kuzunoha, as well as the niece of Duke Eisuke of Inukai and Duchess Manami of Inukai... the commanders of the vampire troop tasked to destroy the lycan settlement of Namatame fifteen years ago."

At that, her voice broke, and Chitaru choked simply because of all the emotions conflicting within her heart, forcing the air out of her chest.

(It suddenly made so much sense to the lycan, that the sisters hadn't seemed to change since she'd met them, which was weirder for Tokaku than it was for Hitsugi. It wasn't that she hadn't noticed because she'd seen them very often, but because they had not changed. How had she, a lycan specialized in reconnaissance, failed to notice she'd been seeing vampires for more than two years? How had she missed the (now obvious) signs?

[You laughed innocently, like an angel
But suddenly it was as if you changed into a devil]

She couldn't believe it... It had to be a dream. A nightmare. They were both so cute and sweet– they couldn't be part of them.)

Hitsugi felt more than heard her love's reaction, and knew she had to get out of there before she started crying.

She needed to get her sister to safety... she wouldn't put it past Chitaru to attack them right there and then, nor to try and kill a child (even if Tokaku was technically older than the redhead, and Chitaru knew that now). And by the way Chitaru's face was contorting with many emotions at once... This place was no longer safe. Why on earth had she thought it'd be a good idea to ask the bodyguards to stay a little bit farther? There was no way they'd arrive in time if a conflict arose, and she didn't have any confidence whatsoever in her fighting skills– she was a poison mistress for a reason, damn it...

She had to get Tokaku out of there.

With her decision firmly in mind, the vampire stood up and gathered the picnic basket before walking towards her sister.

"Tokaku?" she called. "We're leaving, please put the rocks away."

"But ane-ue, I still don't get any to the other side..."

"You can do it other time, Tokaku. We need to leave."

Maybe it was because of the tense air, or something on her face, or the way her voice sounded so strained, but Tokaku immediately stopped complaining and bounced up to her sister. Hitsugi kneeled in front of her and, under the guise of straightening her hakama, slipped a pair of real deal knives into her clothing, receiving a surprised look from the younger girl. But then she glanced behind her, and something seemed to click.

"What do you want me to do, ane-ue?" she asked in a low voice, suddenly serious.

It wasn't the first time she was handed knives, and they were always accompanied by some kind of instruction. That this time the blades were deadly sharp only pointed that this was important, not a practice anymore.

Hitsugi's gaze darkened. "If you are attacked, retaliate with deadly force. Do not hesitate."

Tokaku's expression was once again that of a confused and honestly lost little kid. "I thought you loved each other."

The older sister managed a gentle smile, but the younger still caught the pain in her eyes. "She knows who we are now."

That was all the blue-haired vampire needed to understand the reasoning behind the newest instruction, and she nodded once to show it. Even being a child in her people's eyes, she was still old enough to understand what was going on: with the lycan being aware of their nature, there was no telling if the feelings she'd developed for her sister would remain the same, nor if they would stop her thirst for vengueance.

Hitsugi stood up, brushing her sister's hair back into place, and extended her hand. Tokaku took it, looking up at her with worry, and they started their journey back to safety.

They would never make it, though.

They had only walked a few steps when they heard a cry behind them. Hitsugi's golden gaze took on a panicked glint, and she turned around to see the lycan rushing at them knife in hand. She cursed under her breath.

"Run, Tokaku!" she instructed, letting go of her sister's hand and whirling the basket at the approaching lycan. It hit, but she knew even before throwing it that it wouldn't be much help. "Now!"

The child hesitated, looking between her sister and the lycan, and took a step back, away from them.

"TOKAKU!"

"ANE-UE!"

Hitsugi looked back to the front, eyes widening as she saw how close was the redheaded woman, gaze following the arms until she got to the trembling hands around the leather-covered grip, and to the cross guard directly in contact with her body. She felt something warm falling down the corner of her lip, and she coughed blood.

Chitaru looked panicked.

"Hitsugi..."

The older woman's eyes were red slits on black field now, the kind that showed when a vampire was the most dangerous, something that no lycan had seen for almost a century now (only the less deadly variants instead). They held Chitaru's wide eyes calmly, as if she knew the outcome of everything and she was fine with it.

"Leave, Tokaku" she said, voice calm and commanding.

"Ane-ue..." whimpered the little girl.

Chitaru couldn't bring herself to look away from the frightening gaze of the girl (vampire) she'd thought she loved, and so she couldn't see Tokaku taking another step back with tears falling down her face and eyes reflecting all the sadness and betrayal of the world, nor the corners of Hitsugi's lips quirking up with the bitterness of someone amused at a cruel irony.

Hitsugi held Chitaru's upper arms with a tight grip, and she broke eye contact. The lycan didn't realize what was happening until she felt Hitsugi's breath on her neck, followed by sharp fangs grazing her skin. It didn't take a genius to know what was going to happen, but she was too shocked (at Hitsugi's true nature, the current situation, her own actions) to panic.

"There is a special kind of poison that we, the pure vampires, carry but rarely use" she whispered against Chitaru's ear, her breath warm. "It is essentially what turns humans into impure vampires, but–" she coughed again, and the lycan felt something warm trickling down her neck. "You are not a human, Chitaru-san."

Then, Chitaru screamed. She screamed long and loud, pained and surprised, all her senses focused on the fangs piercing through skin and flesh until they reached her vein, something wet pressing against her skin just before something started entering her system through the fangs, slowly mixing with her blood and carrying an agonizing pain all through her body.

The volume of her screams intensified.

She was much too conscious of the fangs retreating, and the blood that followed just before the vampire licked the wound with cold gentleness, her saliva instantly closing it and ensuring the poison remained inside to pump its way through the rest of the body.

"Goodbye, Chitaru-san."

True to the rumours, the poison was quick, and immediately she felt so weak she fell to her knees, dragging Hitsugi down with her (or was it the situation? She couldn't be sure). But Hitsugi's fall didn't limit to that, and soon she was on her back with Chitaru's blade buried deep in her chest. Golden eyes searched around until they rested on her sister's still paralyzed form, and her lips formed a gentle smile.

"I'm sorry, Tokaku" she whispered, before closing her eyes.

For a minute, the strong wind was the only thing either of them could hear, along with the weakening heartbeat of the Crown Princess of the vampires. Both had their eyes locked on the still figure, both frozen in shock at the recent events and tears slowly falling down their cheeks.

Somewhere in the distance, echoed the first rumbling thunder. When the rumble was no more, neither was the heartbeat.

"Ane-ue..."

That word broke the silence, and Chitaru flinched both because of the pain caused by the poison and the pain in the childish whimper of the girl who was younger yet had been born before her.

Reddish eyes slowly tore away from the corpse and moved to the younger sister of the one she'd just killed. Tokaku was on her knees, eyes wide and locked on her sister's body, tears streaming down her cheeks and face contorted in pain.

Chitaru flinched again.

When the first raindrop touched Tokaku's head, something seemed to snap inside her and she shot to her feet, hatred taking over the pain in her features. The lycan was then reminded that the sisters were younger to the vampires than she was to the other races, and so it was likely they'd never done anything wrong. Especially Tokaku, who was only a child.

Was it alright to kill innocents, even if they would some day be as guilty as the relatives whose faults were charged upon them?

When the vampire held the lycan's gaze with her own, Chitaru's rear met the ground as she felt a sudden rush of fear.

The normally happy bright blue eyes were now a menacing red in black, cold and unforgiving, hateful and betrayed. Eyes that once showed trust, now glinted with the kind of brightness that was normally reserved to someone you knew would stab you in the back the second you turned it to them because they had already done so before.

Another short scream left Chitaru's lips, both from the poison and the pain of knowing herself the cause of such a change.

Tokaku brought her hands into her clothes, and retrieved the knives her sister had given her.

It was evident that she had no intention of obeying her sister's last instructions. Which was no surprise, really, considering that the Imperial House of Kuzunoha had a reputation of being extremely vengueful. That this part of their character had lost importance in the face of their bloodlust was clearly a mistake on their enemies' part.

Chitaru felt incredibly weak now, enough that even staying seated demanded an impossible amount of energy from her. But she wanted, needed to get away from the child that was slowly pulling the knives out of their scabbards.

Not for fear of her life, but Tokaku's.

There was something about lycans that the girl clearly ignored or wasn't paying any mind to, and it was something that would probably get her killed if she acted on her apparent intentions.

But when the blue-haired girl leaned forward as if to rush in her direction, the lycan knew everything was over now. Because she could feel her poisoned blood beginning to boil, the only advance notice a lycan had that their primary nature, the one that differenced them from humans and vampires, would soon gain control of their bodies in a last desperate attempt to save their lives.

Then Tokaku took a step forward, and Chitaru felt her body explode.

The change wasn't instantaneous, but it was very quick. And when Tokaku's knife was through Chitaru's shoulder, it wasn't a human shoulder, but the equivalent of the wolf form.

The lycan yelped and twisted away, taking the vampire's blade in the process and forcing the smaller female to take a few steps back. The daughter of the Imperial House of Kuzunoha didn't bother taking a look at her injured arm, and instead took a step to the right and kneeled to gently tear the knife off her sister's chest, wiping off the blood with a handful of grass with her eyes still on the lycan that was trying to use its muzzle to get the blade off its shoulder.

"She loved you" said the vampire, not realizing her voice came out steady and sure, cold even. The lycan whimpered, giving up on its attempts to get rid of the weapon, and the vampire's eyes blazed with hatred. "Yes, you stupid mutt, she loved you. She loved you, and you killed her."

The red-furred beast whimpered again and took a step back. There was denial in its eyes, and it trembled with some emotion the vampire couldn't quite bring herself to care about. She knew she was hurting her oponent with only words, and that it'd die anyways thanks to her sister's last move, but only words wouldn't have been enough.

Tokaku of Azuma needed to feel the mutt's blood in her hands before letting her sister rest in peace. She needed to avenge Hitsugi of Azuma as viciously as possible, to honour her sister's memory and the traditions of the Imperial House of Kuzunoha.

Chitaru would die by her hands, not her sister's poison.

And even though she knew she had to make things quick to be sure it would be her the one ending Chitaru's life, she had enough time to slip a few cutting remarks here and there.

That filthy lycan had to suffer for what she did to her sister.

"Ane-ue knew from the start you were a lycan" she said bitterly, advancing towards her target. "She knew, and she didn't care. She came to love you even though she knew what you were from the very start."

"I loved her!" resonated the lycan's voice through the clearing.

"You loved the idea of a human her!" yelled Tokaku, tears resuming their fall. "Had you truly loved her, you wouldn't have cared that she was a vampire! You wouldn't have killed her when she told you!"

The new Crown Princess took another step forward, one knife absently twisting until she was holding its blade, ready to throw it at the cowering beast. For a moment, Tokaku thought she could see regret in its eyes, that it hadn't intended for things to happen like that. For a moment, she wanted to just yell at it, get rid of her sister's poison and abandon the lycan while she left with her sister's corpse to give it proper burial, but she promptly shook it off.

The beast in front of her wasn't the lycan she'd come to love as a sister. It was a treacherous thing, the responsible of her sister's death, the one who'd turned against them as soon as she knew of their nature.

Tokaku couldn't allow herself to be weak. Not right now.

"The Hitsugi you met was the same as Hitsugi of Azuma. The way she acted here was the same as she acted behind closed doors, when she didn't have to follow all the etiquette and could just relax."

Tokaku palmed the knife, knowing for the blade's shape that it was the one given to her by her sister, and pondered on the best place to bury it so the silver would hurt more than normal without actually killing it instantly. She hadn't studied on lycans yet, but from what she could see the shoulder wasn't that good of a choice. The back, maybe? Or would it be better the stomach? The base of its spine? That place between its shoulders? Its muzzle? That seemed like a good idea.

"Tell me something before I kill you" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "Had you known from the start she was a vampire, what would have you done? Would you have killed us on the spot? Or would you have wormed your way in to gain her trust, so she could introduce you to some of our relatives? Maybe some of our cousins? I heard that lycans like to take revenge on the relatives of those they see as guilty. Especially the ones that can't defend themselves. Is that true? Because, you know, many of us don't have a hundred years yet. That makes us... ten at most? You lycans kill children?"

"That's not true!"

"Oh? But ane-ue was a hundred and sixty-three when you killed her. And she didn't exactly enjoy getting her hands dirty. I think she preferred politics and other such subtle movements. She would've been an excellent Empress... except for the little detail that, you know, she's dead."

"I didn't want for things to end like this" whimpered the lycan. "I loved her, I swear."

"And yet you killed her. You know, I'm worried for your enemies. If you could do that to the one you claim to love, what if you had my cousin Otoya, daughter of the co-commander of the attack against the Namatame settlement, in front of you? She's about six, in your terms."

"I don't kill innocents! I just– I haven't killed anyone!"

"Except my sister, of course. Did I mention that she'd never killed anyone? Or that she wouldn't have killed anyone unless really pushed?"

The lycan whimpered and stepped back. It stopped suddenly, with a wail of pain, as the silver knife with the crest of the Imperial House of Kuzunoha somehow got vertically through its muzzle from top to bottom. The vampire pretended a sympathetic grimace.

"Ouch, that must hurt. Hey, just out of curiosity, is it true that silver can cauterize a wound in a lycan? You know, since it burns and all."

Chitaru didn't answer.

"Oh, well, have it your way."

In a blur of movement, Tokaku was in front of the lycan, slashing with its knife at its front legs. She formed a deep gash in one, probably to the bone if the sound was any indication, but she was violently pushed back before she could complete her assault. Tokaku faintly registered the pain in her left upper arm, and resisted the urge to look.

Hadn't it been for the situation, her grandmother would've scolded her later for having her clothes torn up when she returned home. As it was, no one would care about the state of Tokaku's clothing when she returned to the palace. There'd be more pressing matters.

The vampire wiped at her mouth, idly noticing she must've bitten herself in a moment of carelessness, and frowned thoughtfully in the direction of the cowering lycan. It was limping backwards, dragging its injured leg and moving its head from side to side as if trying to keep itself from opening its mouth.

But there were the three good knives. Thankfully, she'd fallen near the picnic basket, which had opened when Hitsugi threw it, and the training pouch was peeking out of it. It wouldn't be as effective as the three blades buried in the lycan's body, but they would still help.

Plus, she was more familiar to them than to the three she'd used.

Chitaru was closer to the basket than Tokaku, but the redhead was injured so it was unlikely it'd get there before the vampire. It was worth a shot.

The girl rushed forward, startling her oponent, grabbed the pouch and rolled away, narrowly escaping a bite that was followed by a pained howl.

When Tokaku looked at the lycan again, she found it with its muzzle half-opened, tears falling down its cheeks.

"I didn't want it to end like this, Tokaku!" it yelled with a howl-like tone. "I wasn't thinking! I'd take it back if I could, but I can't!"

"And what do you expect me to do?!" shouted the young vampire. "To let you live?! No way in hell you're leaving this place alive after you killed my sister!"

Chitaru was crying too, and not only because of the pain caused by the knives in her body. They say guilt is one of the most dangerous things in the world, and now she was experiencing it for the first time in her life. She'd never regretted anything before in her life, and she would die regretting her last minutes.

She could feel a sharp pain that wasn't related to Hitsugi's poison, but to her worst action ever and its horrible consequences. Instead of being consumming and maddening, the poison running through her veins provided an odd sort of relief, a distraction from her guilt.

[Even the poison that eats away at me is sweet]

Tokaku tied the pouch around her waist without taking her eyes full of hate away from the lycan, but always conscious of her sister's body just a little off ways. She had to keep clear of there, else the body would sustain some kind of damage, and she was not in the mood to clean mutt's blood off anything, much less the corpse of the one she was trying to avenge.

With ease gained from practice, the vampire took four knives out of the pouch and held their blades between the fingers of her right hand. She had limited resources, and it wasn't safe for a child to get that close to a grown transformed lycan as she had personally checked. Though, if the mutt couldn't open its muzzle, and it had one leg practically useless...

She was going to win. She knew it. There was no other possible outcome.

That knowledge gave her an odd feeling, mixture of pride and despair.

Tokaku exhaled through her nose and narrowed her eyes, calculating her next hit and clearing her mind of all other thoughts. The blades in her pouch were common steel with thin veins of silver near the edges, made for practice but also as emergency weapons if any vampire in training were to cross paths with an hostile lycan. Not as effective as the pure silver blades of the twin knives her sister had given her, but they would still hurt. And if she played it right... she could made the lycan suffer – a lot.

The legs were good choices. It'd hinder its movement even further, as it had one blade in its shoulder and another in the opposite leg, and that would make it easier and safer for her to get closer. There was the risk of the lycan dodging, but she wasn't that worried about the possibility: she had, after all, killed a butterfly flying seven meters away from her with only six training knives two years ago (the day she met Chitaru, but she was not going to think about that); aiming at the legs of a wounded lycan three meters away was a piece of cake.

She could do this.

And she did. The first knife buried somewhere between the elbow and front paw of the leg with the injured shoulder, causing the lycan to fall muzzle first, disrupting the silver knife and eliciting another howl of pain. The second knife found the base of the spine and the third the left back hock. The lycan was, with that, rendered virtually unable to stand or crawl. A fourth blade to the back made sure it wouldn't be able to roll.

Tokaku took one calming breath and relaxed her posture as she pulled one more knife out of her pouch. She walked forward and kneeled by the lycan's back, pressing her left knee against its neck with enough force to disrupt its already difficult breathing. The knife in her hand met the only uninjured leg with vicious strenght.

"Tokaku!" howled the lycan through its whimpers.

"Shut it" grumbled the girl, tearing her sister's silver knife off its leg. She made a face at the flesh and skin that came with the blade, ignoring the howl that was loud enough to make her ears hurt. "Uh, so it was true that it cauterizes" she mumbled, taking another knife from the pouch to clean the silver blade with it.

"Tokaku, please!"

"I told you, I don't care. You killed my sister. Be thankful I'm the one killing you– the House would make your life hell" Tokaku eyed the knife with disinterest. "I'm doing you a favor, really."

Before the lycan could plead mercy again, the Crown Princess buried her training knife handle-deep into her prey's stomach and twisted. The subsequent howl almost left her deaf.

"There is a tradition of vampires" she started talking again, as she took another training knife while contemplating where to put it. "It might be older than the second dynasty, although no one really cares when it was born. It's... a little like a tradition of the humans that call themselves Japanese, I think. There is a night every few years, when there is only one red moon in the starless sky, when we gather to pray to our ancestors" she slammed the knife through what she hoped to be some internal organ, although she wasn't sure. "We pray for their eternal rest and thank them for what they have left for us, ask for their blessings for the children who are living their first red moon so they have long and honorable lives, and raise one wish each, the most impossibly desperate wish in our hearts."

She was quiet for a moment, remembering the past red moon and tracing her finger along the edge of the silver knife. Each celebration was grand and luxurious when it came to the dead, and solemn when it came to the living. The dead deserved all the riches in the world for helping their people become what they were, and the living needed to remember that the material things were left behind when they departed from this world.

Her sister's favorite weapons, the twin blades that had been a gift from their grandmother to their parents for their wedding, had been left behind. It was almost a given that it would've been one of the only things her sister would've taken with her to the afterlife if she'd been able to.

"The last one was two months ago, a little after you told her about your... allegiances" she continued. "Her wish..." her breath caught in her throat, her sight blurred, and she faintly heard the familiar footsteps of her uncle, rushing in her direction with two more vampires as company. She had to hurry.

Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard her uncle yell her name, followed by her sister's.

The sister that would never, ever look at her with those impossibly gentle golden eyes of hers again. The sister she had loved so dearly, her most precious person, her protector, confidant, best friend, favorite teacher, personal teddy bear and cuddle companion and anti-nightmare lullaby-singer and...

The sister who had fallen for a lycan, knowing it could only end in tragedy.

She who had poisoned the one she loved to save her.

"Her wish was to be with you, for you to love her despite being a vampire..." she chocked on a sob, and angrily wiped away the tears that didn't let her see. It was useless.

She hadn't understood the enormous implications of her sister's wish at the time, and she hadn't dared asking because she wasn't even supposed to have heard in the first place. A vampire's most impossibly desperate wish was something intimate, and overhearing one wasn't polite under any circumstances (she hadn't meant to, honest, but she'd been so close that she had accidentally heard).

But now she could understand the words muttered by Hitsugi of Azuma in her last red moon. She had only wanted for the lycan to be able to see past her race, past her name, and look only at her. She had wanted Chitaru to see her for who she was, instead of her family.

Had she been ashamed of being a daughter of the Kuzunoha? Of being the Crown Princess? Had she been ashamed of their family, their uncle and aunt who'd led an army against a settlement, their impure uncle who'd directed them there in the first place?

Had her wish included not being Tokaku's older sister?

[The past, the present, the future, all of it
If only we could stuff it into a box and burn it all]

Forcing herself to clear her mind of such doubts (as they distracted her from her goal, and distraction in battle could be fatal), Tokaku of Azuma raised the silver knife that had belonged to her sister and many Azuma before her, not really seeing where she was pointing but feeling it with the confidence of a true weapons master. She knew where was her target... and she was going to destroy it.

"YOU WERE HER WISH!"

With one last, angry, wordless cry, she brought the knife down with all the strenght her small forty-three-years-old body could muster, piercing through skin and flesh and bone until her blade rested just through the madly beating heart of the lycan responsible of her sister's death.

When Chitaru's last howl vanished, cut short by the knife through her heart, an equally desperate, heart-breaking cry tore through Tokaku's throat as tears streamed down her face and she screamed her pain to the heavens above.

That day, three hearts were torn apart. So it was decreed by Fate.

[Souls seek out one another
That was probably what ours did]

I don't remember if I've said this before, but just in case: if anything doesn't make any sense to you, be it the way I write (a word, my grammar) or simply something about the story itself, please do point it out. So long it's worded politely, I won't mind and even welcome your input.

Now, I don't like to do this, but please let me know what you think?

As mentioned above, this chapter ends Hitsugi's arc. Next up: Isuke.