There had been a time when Tsubame had dreamed of marriage. When she'd fantasized about meeting a wonderful man, someone kind and clever and beautiful in her eyes that would revel in her presence as much as she did in his. She wasn't sure when those daydreams had stopped but somehow it felt as though they were lifetimes ago, even though she was barely a girl of sixteen. Maybe those hopes only felt distant because they'd already been crushed by the stroke of her father's brush. A deal made with an eager young businessman that hardly looked at her when he came to their estate.

Tsubame sighed, laying her head against the beam of the porch. She wasn't illusioned. She'd known since she was very young that her marriage wouldn't be her choice. Her father was far too powerful. Too rich for her to live a life as anything but his tool. It was just that she had thought she would have longer.

"Tsubame?"

She turned, finding Tsugumichi leaning against the door frame. He was out of breath, the hand on the doorframe holding most of his weight instead of the hand wrapped around the head of his cane. She moved on instinct, starting to stand but he grunted, "Don't bother just. Give me a minute."

She paused, cautiously hovering half out of her seat in case he fell. Slowly his breathing regulated and he put his weight once again on his cane and slowly moved toward the steps where she sat. He held his hand out without looking, grasping hers when she reached for them and using her for support and he adjusted himself to sit on the steps beside her.

He let out a long sigh, "So it won't be long now."

"No.." she said, looking out over the estate's grounds, "it won't."

"Then he'll live here."

There was a bitter edge to his voice that made Tsubame look at him only from the corner of her eye. Her elder brother had been born with a twist in his back that worsened every year. It caused him to walk with an off-gate, half hunched and using a cane to keep his balance. Sometimes it seemed as though the bend in his back made it so he couldn't take a full breath. Though there was little they could do for his condition Tsubame thought he managed well. He was bright and clever. Well-mannered and very keen about social and political goings-on in the town. He had worked incredibly hard to impress their father, hoping their whole childhood to maintain his rightful position as heir. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to speak to him now. Unable to think of any comfort she could provide and afraid to come off as condescending.

"I suppose…he will," she admitted. She wondered if her childhood room would become their marital chamber or if she would have to move to a new room with him.

"...Soon?"

She shut her eyes. Taking a deep breath before opening them again, looking out over the ponds before them, "I don't know."

"So that's it then?" Masao asked, leaning back on his heels and setting the brush down. He smiled at her father, eager like a boy about to receive a gift. Tsubame knew what her father expected so she only looked at Masao through her brow, keeping her head angled low toward her lap. It was her father that Masao sat across from. She was cast to his side, sitting behind his shoulder, in some ways, it felt as though she might as well not even be there. Perhaps it wouldn't feel that way if Masao seemed interested in her at all. She wasn't entirely sure what was wrong. She had been told she was attractive, and she was certainly well taught, her mother had made sure of that much. She knew how to manage a house. She could play fine instruments and recite poems. She thought she was a reasonably good conversationalist, even if she often found herself bored with the task. Looking at Masao, a man that didn't bother or didn't know how to hide his intent she knew she didn't particularly desire him. His affection, his companionship, none of it was of any real interest to her but he didn't have to be so overt about his lack of interest. Having someone nearly a decade her senior marrying her just to be her father's heir was insulting enough. He could at least do her the kindness of feigning interest.

"Tsubame."

Tsubame's head snapped up, looking into the harsh expression of her father, "Why don't you show Masao around the grounds?"

"If it would please him," she bowed her head politely. She could tell her father turned to Masao. Probably smiling as though his pet had performed an interesting trick.

"That would be all right," Masao said, standing and going to the door before her.

Tsubame stood, awkward under the weight of the lavish kimono her father insisted she wore to honor the day they'd come to an official agreement. It wouldn't be long now and she'd be married off. Just a few announcements and parties. Then the wedding. Then she would belong to Masao and he would take the Takizaki name and replace her brother as the official heir to the trading company.

Her father lingered behind. Disinterested in pleasantries as always. Masao was many steps down the garden path by the time she got to the porch, leaving her following after him despite his unfamiliarity with the space.

"The sakura trees are near blooming if you'd like to-"

"Ah," he sighed, stunning her to silence by being so rude, "I've never been much interested in those. I guess…they just get old. You know?"

"I…" she blinked, he hadn't offered something else to discuss. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Are you someone that goes in for that sort of thing? Looking at flowers?" He turned and looked at her. Half amused. An expression that only vaguely veiled some disdain she didn't think she had done anything to warrant.

"I try to spend some time every day enjoying the beauty of the world around me," she offered, forcing herself to smile ever so slightly. The demure barely present tug on her mouth that he mother had trained her to do as a girl, "I find there is something new to appreciate every day."

He snorted, faking a cough poorly that left her frowning off to the side to try and disguise her expression until he turned and continued up the path, "You girls are such funny little things."

She let him walk. Waiting to see if he turned to look for her. If he cared at all about her. They had known for most of their lives that her father's greatest dream was to marry her to an heir for the company. He'd never been able to accept her brother for his disability, no matter how hard he worked to gain business acumen. He wanted someone who looked the part to his mind and Tsuguchi didn't fit into his narrow definition of what was right for their business or their family. Still, it was hard to believe someone who so flagrantly cast his fiancee aside would do. Perhaps Masao had other assets she wasn't aware of. The actual structure of the family business was intentionally kept shrouded from her and the wide majority of Masao's visit to the estate had been to see her father rather than her. Even knowing that it felt he could at least humor her. He could feign interest. Even if just to save face in front of whispering servants and from Tsuguchi who sat, cloaked in the shade of a nearby tree, eyes never wandering from Masao as he marched proudly through the garden he seemed to already consider his.

What mission was this in a row? Four? Six? Kyōjurō was sure it was an even number. So far they hadn't been awful but his muscles were starting to ache. His sword was covered in nicks and dents. He hadn't had his uniform properly laundered in days. It was nothing he couldn't bare but he was eager to rest after this. Even if only long enough to repair his things so that he might best protect people.

"Caw!" The Kaname called from where he circled above, "The demon has moved to Nagoya."

"I see!" Kyōjurō called, "Thank you! Do we know of any reason for the move?"

"No! Caw!" Kaname cried, swooping into a tree before Kyōjurō on the path, "He has been hunting young women, it is believed he is moving to find less prepared girls!"

"Ah!" It made sense. Demons were wretched creatures. Even in their terrible underhanded deeds, they didn't have a work ethic. As such as soon as it became difficult they gave up and found new, unsuspecting victims. "I best hurry then. Please tell headquarters I am on my way and I appreciate the information. I would like to play it safe! Have them send Kakushi to all of the demon's known locations to help with any damages and please have some sent to Nagoya now as well. By the time they reach their destination, I will have handled the demon!"

"Caw! Understood!" Kaname cried before bobbing his head and flying off through the trees. Rengoku took a deep breath, faced the path before him, and ran as fast as he could hoping he could prevent any more havoc if he could just get there in time.

The dinner had gone about how Tsubame had expected. Masao had spoken with her father the entire dinner. Tsuguchi had glared from the end of the table. Her mother had sat, reserved and silent. An expression that made it clear she knew her input would never be sought and she had no intention of offering it. She wondered if it would become that easy for her one day. If she would join her husband and his guests at dinner and feel no impulse to speak. She hoped that simply being present was enough for her eventually. For now, she still wished her opinion was sought. She still felt she had clever things to share. She was sure her mother did too. She wondered if it had been painful to give up the dream of being treated as an equal. Or if her mother still held any small flicker of hope.

"We'll hold the wedding in a few weeks, I think," her father said, drawing her attention back, "I've already printed an announcement. I would like to throw a celebration beforehand as well."

"Is that really usual, Father?" Tsuguchi spoke, "I…I've never heard of such a practice."

A flash of aggravation passed over their father's face. A twitch of aggression that would have resulted in screaming if he weren't trying to impress his guest. His new son. A man that grimaced at Tsuguchi as though he was a dog starving in the street.

"Perhaps not," her father shrugged, "but I run a trading business. If I'm going to deal in foreign products then I should deal in foreign customs too. Making a big to-do over weddings is popular. It's an important sign of wealth and financial stability."

Her mother looked up, looking into Tsubame's eyes for a moment before speaking, "Is there anything, in particular, we should prepare for the celebration?"

Her father waved his hand, "No, I'll hire people. We'll only be hosts. Take the girl shopping soon and find a new kimono. Something…expensive and elegant but not gaudy."

"Very well," her mother said, bowing her head back down and seeming to sink away from the conversation.

"Still," Tsuguchi spoke, "I understand what the Takizaki Company does but we are still selling foreign products to Japanese people. If we adopt the customs of foreign countries too quickly our own people might distrust us or doubt our motives. I just don-"

"Enough!" her father nearly shouted, making them all fall into a tense silence for a moment. He swallowed hard, forcing his anger down, "Get out."

Tsuguchi sat in silence, his hand gripped tightly by his dishes. He didn't look up but his eyes were stern, focused on the center of the table. Despite his defiance, he didn't speak. Their father had broken him of that long ago. A fear that settled in them both no matter how much they tried to shake it.

"Out!" he yelled, slamming an open palm on the table.

Tsuguchi grabbed his cane. Forcing himself up in a painful-looking rush, stumbling due to the speed he was trying to move despite the pain it caused him. Tsubame reached out, trying to help him but he swatted her hand away wordlessly. He rushed from the room, leaving the door open behind him as he marched off, scorned and boiling from their father's harsh indifference.

Tsubame turned back. Stunned again by her father's coldness. By the disregard for his own firstborn's feelings. She was sure she could see a small smirk on Masao's face that made her feel nearly sick. The rest of the dinner passed slowly as her father and Masao seemed to enjoy their own company more than each other's and Tsubame strained her ears trying to listen for the sound of her brother moving through their cavernous house.

It was far into the dark of night before the dinner finally ended and Tsubame was able to sneak onto the porch and to the door of Tsuguchi's room. She couldn't hear anything from inside. For a moment she thought her brother might perhaps be asleep and she would be better off coming another time. Maybe her presence wouldn't be comforting anyway. When they were children they'd often run to each other when their father was angry. There were many nights when Tsuguchi had slept in her room after crying over their father's cruelty. Over things Tsuguchi could do nothing to change. But as they'd aged, as it became more and more clear that her marriage was the tool her father would use to effectively banish Tsuguchi from the family, they had grown more distant.

"I can hear you, Tsubame," her brother called from inside.

She swallowed, slowly sliding the door back, "Are you-"

"It's fine."

She frowned. Brushing her hair over her shoulder as she thought. Tsuguchi was sitting up by a small brazier, reading a book as he often did. A practice that made his eyesight notably poor but his wit ever sharper. She smiled, trying to appear as nonthreatening as she could, "Would you like to go for a walk?"

Tsuguchi looked up, his scowl slowly fading, "All right."

He huffed as he stood, pulling himself up with his cane and walking out the door past her without looking back. She followed after him and soon they were out in the city streets. The world around them was chilly and quiet, with only small dots of light leaking out from the homes around them. They walked for a long time before Tsuguchi spoke.

"I hate him."

"Father or Masao?"

"Both."

She smiled softly. She understood. Maybe she felt that way too. But she'd had to learn how to tamp her own emotions a long time ago. Perhaps it was a mistake to abandon so much of herself in order to become a tool her father needed. If she hadn't she wondered what sort of person she would have become.

"I suppose that makes sense," she sighed, "I'm…my apologies mean nothing, I know, but…I think…father is making a foolish mistake."

"You're right," Tsuguchi said, without looking at her, "it doesn't mean anything for you to say that."

"Tsugu-"

"If you want things to be better you could reject Masao," Tsuguchi said, turning to face her suddenly making her stumble back to avoid walking into him, "you could refuse the marriage and give me more time to-"

"It's been nineteen years," she blinked, "I"m not…father is the-"

"If I had more time then-"

"Tsuguchi, it isn't that simple. I don't want to marry him, if I'm speaking honestly but it won't change the way that Father is and-"

"You!" Tsuguchi screamed, "You have…never…understood the difficulty of my life. You have no idea what my life is like living like a prize on a shelf!"

It felt as though a cavern was opening up between them. A divide she would never be able to traverse now. Broken too wide by their father's hate and ambition. She could feel a pang in her chest, a tug on her stomach as she remembered the little boy she played with so often.

"How tragic," an unfamiliar voice called behind her.

Before she could turn she felt a hard impact on her chest, the air pouring from her mouth so quickly that a stream of spit streaked through the air as she moved backward. Her head felt fuzzy, a hot sensation and a graying at the side of her vision that made her sure she lost consciousness for a moment.

Finally, she stopped moving. She could feel something holding her around the chest tightly, but she could seem to turn in a way that allowed her to see. She struggled, trying to twist herself around to see, panicked and moving like a fish in a net until she caught sight of her brother before her, far on the ground below. He stood still, staring up at her with a gapped mouth. Her jaw dropped, struggling to process how she could be so high up so suddenly.

"Even if she's your sister," the voice said from beside her, "I don't understand how you could fight with such a beautiful woman."

She twisted, looking up beside her and shrieking at the face of the creature that was holding her. It looked near human, it had a head, a face, hands, and arms but it wasn't a man. It couldn't be with the rotting blue complexion and long teeth that its horrid black lips couldn't contain. His fingernails were as sharp as his teeth and they dug into her skin through her kimono as he tightened his grip around her. She struggled on impulse, spurred on by the pain.

"Well," the creature said, drawing a nail along her chin, "I'll save you the suffering. I'll take your sister away."

She thrashed but it felt useless. It was as though she might as well not even be moving with how little it affected the creature's grip. Below, Tsuguchi stood still, a strange, blank expression on his face.

"Tsuguchi! Please! Get help! Help me!" she cried, desperate tears clouding her vision as the creature pulled her up from the rooftop, her feet kicking wildly searching for a foothold, desperate for anything that might help her free herself.

Tsuguchi stared. His eyes hard set on hers for only a moment longer. Then he turned his head away, unwilling to watch as the creature dragged her away ignoring her as she cried out to him until she could no longer see him and she was alone in the cold night air with the terrifying creature's cackle filling her ears.