/
Kagura walked slowly through the dusty, sandy streets of the small decrepit town on the outskirts on the east of Yoshiwara. She figured this town must have been one of the major suppliers to the brothels. From what she could see of the place, there weren't that many women around or adolescent females. The town had probably been picked clean of available girls.
It was disgusting, with trash littering the streets in droves and haggard old women and people dressed in rags trudging along to their destinations. Utterly malnourished kids in their underwear played carefreely in the streets, enjoying the heat of the autumn morning. Basic hygiene probably wasn't a huge factor either, since the smell of body odor and feces clung to the air. The wood of the buildings and houses were rotting with gaping holes in some establishments. A man waved a knife at a kid, threatening to dismember him if he didn't return the goods he had stolen.
It was no wonder Tomoya had set up shop in this area. With people living in such poverty like this, people were probably always selling their belongings (and probably daughters and wives) for money.
"If your gaze is too astute, they'll know something is up. So, try to act like a… well, maybe vapid or something." Hijikata cleared his throat awkwardly before he turned away so others could say their goodbyes. "And uh, good luck."
"Thank you for all your investigating, Hijikata," she said.
He nodded rigidly before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it quickly.
A particularly rough breeze blew, pushing sand into her face, and Kagura shifted the broken umbrella she was using to shield herself from the debris. It barely protected her from the sun as is, but having her giant, trusty purple umbrella would draw too much attention to herself. But she could do nothing about the chill that had settled over her skin like a blanket when the cold gust of wind seeped into the holes of her tattered kimono. To emphasise the degree of her poverty, they'd all decided Kagura should wear a worn, old, too small kimono with patches and holes in various inconvenient areas. She wore no shoes either and had allowed her hair to get mussed and dirt to coat various visible parts of her skin. To finish the image, she had nothing on her person but her tattered umbrella.
It was the perfect disguise and by the end of their preparations, everyone pretty much agreed that she was the perfect example of a hidden beauty who'd been handed a bad deal in life and would be desperate to improve her life. If she could maintain the impression of an innocent girl struggling with life throughout the operation, she could probably become a very popular courtesan. And the sooner she could gain access to the head honchos, the sooner she could get this plan sorted out.
"Be confident in your appeal Kagura; you've grown up into an absolutely beautiful woman. But keep as low a profile as you can until you're one of the top girls," Tsukuyo said wisely as she puffed rather furiously at her pipe. Kagura could tell the woman was really starting to get anxious about this whole plan. "And I'm sor—"
"Tsukki." She squeezed Tsukuyo's shoulder to reassure her that she would be fine, though she wasn't altogether confident that she would be okay either. "I made my own choice to help you all. Don't feel guilty about this."
The blonde woman sighed and blew out a long stream of smoke, a small little smile of resignation on her face. "When you've completed this mission, I'll treat you to some dango, okay?"
"I'll hold you to that, then."
Kagura had a good support and backup system for this plan though, and that definitely helped her feel a bit more at ease about what she would have to do.
Although it was pretty hard to predict every aspect of their plan right down to things that could go wrong, Hijikata and the others involved had all brainstormed to think of any possible problems they could run into and ways to ensure their success and had done very well to install a network of informants to keep each other updated. They'd considered all angles and worked to make sure she had many Plan Bs and Cs while working to avoid running into dead ends or ending up in sticky situations.
Like how Lotus was known for gathering human looking, exotic Amanto as their courtesans. Her being a bright orange haired Yato was a near perfect match, so they had no doubt Tomoya would sell her to the matron of Lotus. And if he did not sell her to Lotus, they had Hinowa who could easily use her influence to get Kagura moved to Lotus.
"Don't fight any men. Or fight any of the women. Just try to keep your temper in check no matter how much someone pisses you off, you idiot,"Shinpachi said gruffly as he pulled her into a tight hug. The badly disguised worry in his voice made her anxious as well, and she swallowed down the tight feeling in her throat. His fears were breaking her heart.
"Shinpachi…"
"If you need me, I will be there right away. I won't let you get hurt." He whispered softly in her ear. "I promised Gin I wouldn't. And I don't intend to break that promise."
A drunk man pissing in front of a liquor store leered at her as she walked by. She defiantly refused to look directly at him, even when he catcalled her and turned to face her. In her peripheral vision, she could distinctly make out the motions of him stroking himself, grunting as he watched her intently. She minutely increased her pace, her cheeks flaming the slightest at the vulgar display. She wasn't incensed by his flapping member. Having travelled with her father and other Yato for a while doing alien hunting, she'd become quite used to men taking care of their business in random ditches or out in the open, but the blatant sexual harassment was something that made a shiver of disgust run down her back.
That was probably the kind of shit she would be experiencing at Lotus. Maybe worse. Even though she hadn't wanted to think about the potential abuse awaiting her, Tsukuyo had made sure to inform her of the kinds of dangerous men she could encounter. Men who beat the courtesans for even looking at them the wrong way; men who slipped opium or other drugs into their drinks; men who forced courtesans into vile activities. The dangers were endless and by the end of the lecture, Kagura knew damn well that she had to be extra careful not to bring harm her way.
Yoshiwara was supposed to be a woman's world, but they were controlled by the men who frequented the place. And for some brothels like Lotus, controlled by the Hitotsubashi faction and bakufu, the current most awful and volatile group in Edo.
"Stay safe, Kagura," Soyo muttered as she hugged Kagura tight, her face in her shoulder and her voice wavering a bit. "I want my best friend back in one piece when she returns, promise?"
Kagura's heart clenched in her chest when she heard the distinct sound of a soft sniffle coming from her best friend. Crap. Now she felt like crying too.
"I promise."
She gave Soyo a small squeeze before letting her go. Kagura then turned to Okita with hesitation. He'd been standing off to the side in relative boredom, watching the sky as it slowly turned from midnight black to a navy blended with purple. She didn't expect he had anything reliable to say, but when he caught her staring at him, he offered her a disarming smile. A genuine one that made her stomach flip upside down.
And then opened his mouth and said
"You should be worried, you know? Men eat virgins like you for breakfast, China."
There was silence as the others stared at Okita in utter shock and horror at the words, and Hijikata yelled at him to shut up, but Kagura felt any anxiety she had dissipate immediately, replaced by irritation and a desire to beat the crap out of something. Preferably his face.
"When this shit is over and done with, you're getting the beating of your life." She pointed the tip of the broken, puke yellow umbrella at him, wishing she had her more menacing Yato umbrella. As it stood, this ugly thing was barely threatening and it diluted her threat into some sort of incredulous, comedic comment.
His smile twisted into something sarcastic. "I'll be waiting."
Soyo's words and the long, warm embrace she'd given Kagura had wreaked havoc on her nerves, but Okita's words had managed to force most of the nerves out of her system so she could give them all a reassuring smile as she left the abandoned shack they'd been waiting in. She didn't have a real reason to be scared right now. She wasn't alone. Hijikata was stationed at a small dumpling shack nearby the pawn shop to make sure the first part of the operation went smoothly. And she knew Okita and Shinpachi would be tailing her path until she got to the brothel to ensure part two was seamless. And of course, Tsukuyo and the Hyakka were all over Yoshiwara, ready to pounce at any moment's notice should Kagura inform them of fears for her safety.
As she entered Tomoya's gaudy green shop, she shucked away the last of whatever reservations she'd been feeling. Hijikata hadn't been lying when he said she couldn't miss it. It was the only well-developed building in this whole neighbourhood. And in the distance, she could hear the noise of a bustling establishment, though she couldn't see anything a little further in the distance but stray houses here and there. She was close to the entrance of Yoshiwara. It was just across the bridge that lead to the outskirts of Edo.
The pawn shop was incredibly cluttered with an assortment of goods and products of all sorts and types displayed on shelves against the wall. Items from ratty stuffed toys to even a really expensive sword with fantastic handiwork lined the walls.
Tomoya himself was a small old man wearing large glasses and what seemed to be a perpetually jovial smile on his face. He was resting at a table near the wall, innocuously sipping from a cup of tea. He looked fairly unassuming, but with Kagura's heightened senses, she definitely could feel the aura of treachery coming from him. There was something a little alarming about him, and above that, she knew despite his nonchalance that he was watching her like a hawk.
Good. She'd caught his attention.
Kagura swallowed and tried to make herself as small and unassuming as she could as she walked over to him, even hunching over a bit instead of standing at her full height.
"Well hello, dearie." A sip of tea. "What can I do for you today?"
"I-I would like to sell this umbrella…" she muttered, holding out the ugly, useless umbrella to him with her head bowed. "It's all I have left, but I need money to buy a passage back to my planet. My family is gone, and I think I should try to start over back home. Please, I'm desperate!"
His eyes opened a fraction to slits, revealing all-seeing grey orbs that made goosebumps rise on the back of her neck.
"Planet, you said? You're an Amanto?"
She nodded, deciding to keep it to herself that she was of the Yato clan. Amanto were common in Edo, but Yato not so much and revealing her heritage would bring way too much attention to her too soon.
Tomoya took the umbrella and inspected it, turning it to and fro with a fake look of interest. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed two burly men saunter into the pawn shop quiet as mice, standing in corners. To the average person, they would look like customers, but they were tensed as if ready to strike at any moment and they kept subtly stealing glances in Tomoya's direction. There was another man directly behind her, and she could sense two more in the back room behind the counter. She was surrounded on all sides.
"I'm sorry, but this won't get you anything more than a stick of dango."
Kagura tried to look appropriately distraught. "Please sir. There's nothing here for me. Can I borrow money or something?"
"This is a pawn shop, dearie." He responded coldly, then Kagura saw him subtly nod at something behind her. She tried to keep her body from tensing to prepare for battle. It was an instinctual reaction to anything she deemed a threat, but she tried to keep herself from looking like her haunches were raised and that she could beat the crap out of everyone there with one hand tied behind her back (even though she could). "No items to sell, no money."
The man behind her bumped into her as he walked by then, his arm flailing sideways to catch his balance and smacking right into an expensive looking vase. It fell off the stand and crashed onto the ground and shattered promptly to pieces, leaving the room in deafening silence. Kagura turned and looked at the wreck of the vase, a brow raising in confusion. But when she glanced up at the man who'd knocked it over and the other men in the room, they were staring at her.
"It appears you've caused me to break it, Miss…" the man said lowly.
"What are you talking about?" Kagura asked hotly, actually kind of annoyed that he had the gall to pin the ridiculous ploy on her when it was clear who'd broken it. "You bumped into me!"
"My, my… There goes a really expensive vase." Tomoya's spine chilling grin spread as he gave Kagura an alarming look. "How are you going to reimburse me for this?"
"But I didn't break it," she asserted.
"I saw her run into him." One man said behind her.
"As did I." Another stated.
Ah, so those other idiotic henchmen were there to play witness and back up those dumb claims. Kagura could feel the shift in the atmosphere. A few of them had actually stepped closer and were clearly blocking any path she could have to escape from the pawn shop.
Tomoya tsked. "Lying isn't right, dearie. This was a priceless artefact and you destroyed it."
"…Well how much does it cost?" she muttered.
His smile turned into acid. A gold tooth of his glinted sinisterly from the light. "I doubt you could afford it, dearie. It's worth more than your life."
"Then how do I pay for it?" With her body, no doubt.
"Well, I could spill your blood right here. But I have a better option. I'll give you the opportunity to make it up by working for it. What do you say? It's a good place. Working wages. They'll feed and clothe you. You'll never go hungry again. And who knows, you might make enough to buy passage to your home planet."
The catch of course was that she would be selling her body to random men in hopes of fulfilling this debt. Girls who agreed to this probably never got to see the real world again.
Kagura nodded nonetheless, mentally preparing herself to throw away her freedom. "I'll do it."
/
If the goal was to make the women feel like cattle for purchase once they were sold to be a courtesan, they had utterly succeeded. Kagura felt like a stranger in her own skin, being poked and prodded and examined by the okaasan of Lotus, a woman who'd given her nothing but dirty looks from the minute she'd been pushed into an empty back room of the teahouse in Lotus. She was a rotund, short matron oozing sex appeal in the way she walked and carried herself. She was dressed elaborately, smoking on a kiseru and decked out in numerous expensive jewels and ornaments with makeup layered intricately on her face. And Kagura knew right off the bat that this woman was a bitch.
It'd been an uneventful trip after agreeing to Tomoya's terms. He and a few other men had escorted (although escorted was too generous) her to Yoshiwara before taking her to meet the woman who apparently would own her life for the next several years. Or as long as it would take for Kagura to finish up this mission.
"You seem to be rather developed." The old woman stopped pacing around Kagura and stood in front of her. "Remove those rags. I want to get a better look at you."
"What?"
She grabbed Kagura by the chin and yanked her down, glaring at her in contempt. "You would do well to learn to respond with a proper 'excuse me' or learn to hold your tongue, girl. I will not repeat myself again. Take off your clothes."
Kagura swallowed but refused to move. Her hands clenched into fists by her side as she glowered at a spot on the tatami.
Without a word, the matron snapped her fingers and the two bodyguards she'd brought with her each took hold of one of Kagura's arms, forcing her to stay in place as the matron approached. She yanked at Kagura's obi until it came undone, falling away easily because of how worn the material was. Then she tugged the front of the kimono sharply, and it opened, exposing Kagura to the entire room. The bodyguards let her go, and Kagura focused on taking slow, deep breaths to keep herself from shaking.
When the tattered kimono slipped from her shoulders and landed in a pool beside her feet, Tomoya and his goons began to catcall, whistling suggestively as they eyed her from head to toe, their gazes often lingering on her chest or the spot between her legs. Being stripped in front of random men and put on display like some livestock for sale had been an embarrassment that Kagura had not been prepared for. The leers on the faces of the men from her exposure was humiliating. The cold from the air chilled her body to the core, and goosebumps rose up on her flesh despite the fact that her cheeks were burning in shame. She felt dehumanised and wanted to hide herself or at least cover her most intimate parts.
"She's already grown. Ripe, I would say." The okaasan stared up at Kagura with her lip curled in disgust. "Her skin isn't bad, looks smooth, but that hair colour is hideous. Why do you think this street trash is worthy of work at Lotus?"
Kagura kept her gaze trained on the ground, though most of her wanted to punch the dumb woman. She'd never been disrespected this badly in her life. No amount of grovelling from any of her allies would ever make up for the atrocity of this situation. And to her horror, she realised this would only be the beginning. Things were bound to get worse from here on out, and Kagura wasn't ready for this. And it was too late to back out.
"But her hair is exotic. Plus she's an Amanto. Men always fantasise about sleeping with beautiful Amanto women," Tomoya explained. "She'll bring in big money."
"Oh?" The okaasan rose a brow in mock intrigue, taking a puff of her kiseru before releasing the smoke in a cloud in Kagura's face. Kagura tried to hold back her coughs, her throat seizing for a second from the pungent scent of the second-hand smoke. "An ugly, lanky thing like her? With dead, expressionless eyes like those and calloused hands?"
Just what was her problem? Kagura knew she had something of a blank faced look these days and the callouses were real, but she was definitely not ugly.
"I'm sure she'll attract a good deal of men," Tomoya pressed, rubbing his hands together as if he was a salesman trying to make a bargain with an uninterested customer. He smiled widely, the light reflecting off of a gold tooth in the front of his mouth. Kagura took an involuntary step back away, but one of the bodyguards pushed her back forward. "I can take her for a whirl if you'd like me to break her into the line of work."
"She is not to be touched until her apprenticeship. And her mizuage is for a high paying patron only. Come back in a month if you think you can afford her."
Against her better judgement, Kagura made eye contact with the vile man and he returned her an obscene smirk that made her want to vomit.
"I will be back." Tomoya turned back to face the matron. "Now let's discuss my payment for leaving you with this prize."
The okaasan rolled her eyes but approached him to negotiate. "You may put your clothes back on."
Kagura reached down and snatched on the flimsy piece of clothing immediately, trying to stop her trembling fingers when she kept fumbling with tying the obi. Her whole body felt violated. She swore if those Shinsengumi bastards didn't do everything in their power to be the patron for her mizuage, she would skin them alive and feed them to one of Prince Hata's stupid pets.
Once dressed, she craned her ears to try to listen to the soft muttering between Tomoya and the old matron of Lotus.
"I promise I'll bring a new crop soon. It's just that the location is running—"
"What good are promises when you've given me no reason to trust your word…" The woman drawled, blowing out smoke. Tomoya almost seemed to cower under her glare and he kept sending anxious glances towards the two large men standing partially behind Kagura. "I expected a better crop this month, Tomoya. If you fail me again I'll make sure you suffer."
"Y-yes ma'am."
"Take your money and get out of my sight. Your disgusting filth is making me sick."
Tomoya rushed away with his men, and Kagura quickly pretended to have been staring off into space when the okaasan turned around.
"I am the okaasan of Lotus' teahouse and the matron of the brothel," the matron said as she sauntered back to Kagura. "You are to address me as Mimori though. I am not a den mother or a mentor, so don't expect any sympathy towards a gutter rat like you. How old are you?"
"Nineteen."
"You're well past the age that most of my girls have their mizuage. But you're unrefined and I can't advance you. Here at Lotus, we need blossomed flowers, not unharvested seeds." She started pacing again, ticking points off on her fingers. "You need to learn proper deference, we need to fatten you up in the hips a bit more, you need more grace, and those lifeless eyes won't attract anyone if you can't use them to your advantage. Only then will we begin your apprenticeship. Of course, you understand that any resources we use on you will count towards your debt."
So that was how they kept girls in crippling debt. Kagura didn't even know how much Tomoya had sold her for or what the cost of that stupid vase was. Kagura quickly paid attention again when she realised Mimori had still been talking.
"It doesn't matter whether you're a virgin or not. All men want are virgins, so no matter who you service, you are always a virgin. Even after your mizuage, you are a virgin, understood?"
Kagura began to open her mouth to speak but Mimori cut her off before she could say anything.
"Shut your trap, girl! I told you you are to be seen and not heard!" Mimori barked furiously. "Get that through that ugly skull of yours."
Kagura fought the urge to roll her eyes to the sky at this woman's absolute desire for control. It would really take so much effort to keep herself from snapping at the okaasan.
"Come with me."
Mimori led her through a few of the sliding doors, past some girls being treated and checked by doctors and a few others lying sick in futons. They stared at her blearily as she walked through, and what Kagura saw in their eyes made her lick her lips nervously. It was the look of women who'd given up on life. Even without saying anything to her, she could see the clear message they were trying to tell her: your life is over now.
The matron stopped by a doctor who called her over, crouching low and speaking quietly as they discussed a vomiting courtesan nearby. Kagura only caught a few words like bloating, weight gain, and fatigue, but Mimori's grim order to "get rid of it", told Kagura all she needed to know about what was going on with the woman. She looked away and was glad when Mimori continued to lead them through these back rooms.
She bypassed what seemed like a steam room with futons, blankets, and parts of kimonos being hung to wash or hung to dry. A number of the futons had bloodstains on them and Kagura stared at them with a sense of foreboding and understanding as to why they had the blood. She didn't look away quick enough because Mimori saw where her gaze was directed.
"You're a curious one, aren't you?" Mimori said none too kindly. "Those bloodstains are from a lost maidenhood. We had quite a few mizuage recently. Well, that and some particularly rough patrons. Come."
It made Kagura sick to her stomach.
She took Kagura around more corners and past a kitchen with a marvellous smell coming from it. On cue, Kagura's stomach growled, demanding more food since she'd been neglecting it all day. The old woman either pretended not to hear it or ignored her nonverbal plea for something to eat. They rounded a few more corners in a quieter part of the brothel where women looked exhausted and the air was frigid with the subtle scent of fear clinging to the corners. They passed a closed door with some bloodcurdling scream coming from inside that chilled Kagura to the bone. What the hell was happening to the woman in there?
She tried to keep her expression neutral and followed Mimori into a different room a few doors down. It looked like a futon storage room of some sort save for the man in there with some kind a flogger and some looped rope hanging from the ceiling.
"This is where I leave you. Give her ten lashings for daring to defy my orders and talking back. Then lock her up in the punishment room until morning. Do not give her food." Mimori addressed the man in the room. Then she turned to Kagura with a sneer. "Let me make one thing clear to you: I don't like you. You Amanto trash don't belong on Earth."
Kagura clenched her fists, reminding herself fervently that she was doing this to help her friends and that once she was done with this shit, she'd never have to come back here again. But Mimori's vitriol had just put hr on the top of Kagura's suspect list. With a comment like that, how could she not be suspicious?
When Mimori left, the man with the flogger turned to Kagura. "Remove the top of your kimono and hold that looped rope."
Kagura did as she was told, shedding the upper part of her kimono and reaching up to hold the rope as the man walked behind her. He dipped the flogger in a bucket of water before slapping it sharply against her skin. She felt the sting, but didn't react, only keeping her breathing even as he went for her another time. She kept her gaze dead ahead, barely flinching with each strike of the flogger on her naked skin. There was never a time she'd been so grateful that she was born a Yato who could take a real beating. The hits felt like a small sting compared to the kind of attacks she'd suffered from powerful alien species she'd fought with her Papi.
Despite feeling no humour in the situation, she couldn't help but wonder what her Papi would do if he somehow found out about this plan. He'd probably destroy all of Yoshiwara just to find her. She latched on to that thought, refusing to fall into despair over the depths of cruelty this place allowed.
The flogger made sharp contact with her skin again.
/
Kagura was shoved roughly, pushed so hard she stumbled into the dark room and fell to her knees from the surprise of the violent motion.
"If you try to escape this room tonight, you'll suffer an even more severe punishment," the man warned her before slamming the door shut and submerging her in total darkness.
"Yeah, yeah… Fuck you." Kagura muttered, reaching over and under her shoulders in her kimono to feel the skin of her back.
Her back was stiff from her whipping and there was a splash of sore, raised welts covering her back. They would heal by the morning for sure, but she was irritated that she even had to go through this ordeal in the first place. The others had definitely underestimated the amount of sacrifices she'd truly have to make for this. If this was just the first day, how bad would the rest of them be? She was already so exhausted from the events of the day and the treatment she'd gotten from these people, and she hadn't even really gotten a full start on this mission.
Her stomach growled impatiently, a familiar hunger pang travelling through her body. She wished she'd had the foresight to eat as much as she could prior to leaving to go on the mission. If she had known this is what would happen, she would have forced food into her stomach, despite how much in knots it had been.
"You must be new," said a soft voice from another corner of the room. Kagura nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned in that direction. It took her a little bit to adjust her eyes to the darkness there, but she could just make out the figure of a young woman. "Don't worry. Mimori does this to all the new girls to see if they have the strength to endure the coming difficult training."
"That's nice to know I'm going to get beaten for the rest of my time here…" Kagura snarked. She settled for sitting straight backed instead of reclining against the wall. Putting pressure on her wounds made the material of her kimono chafe against her back and that made them itch as they healed. "Who the hell are you?"
"My name is Honoka," she said. "Mimori stops physically punishing the girls once we become apprentices. But you don't have all the time in the world. She only really allows you a week to meet the requirements for apprenticeship at Lotus. If you fail, you'll be kicked out."
So Kagura had a time limit. She was glad she'd worked with Tsukki, Soyo, and Otae to get better at this first. Otherwise she could have been in some sort of real pinch.
"The expectations are very high, but better this than working in some other brothel. Not all of them are nice places. Lotus is one of the most beneficial. Girls here get full meals and good rooms and clothes. And at least abuse of the girls by lower paying customers is dealt with properly…"
Tsukuyo had implied that Yoshiwara had been getting progressively worse thanks to the control the Hitotsubashi faction had over the place now, but Kagura hadn't realised it really was getting that dangerous for women. And these brothel owners probably had no choice but to accept the new status quo since opposing the shogun could result in horrible, undeserved consequences. Kagura could see more than ever now that the more outspoken and strong willed someone was, the more of a danger they posed to themselves as targets. She had to tread lightly.
"Why are you in the punishment room, Honoka? Are you also new?"
"No, I've been an apprentice for two weeks now. But I tripped when serving someone in the teahouse. I'm just not cut out for this at all!" she whimpered, sniffling suddenly as she started hiccupping. This girl was clearly the type who could get broken in an environment like this. "I don't know how I'll make it past apprenticeship, but I don't want to end up like that green haired girl!"
"Green haired girl?"
"She failed apprenticeship and then she disappeared from Yoshiwara. I think she was killed!"
That got her attention. "Why do you think that?"
The door opened before Kagura could get any other information though. Light flooded into the room, hurting Kagura's eyes as thy tried to adjust to the onslaught of light. A woman in a particularly decorative kimono for lounging walked in with a chilling smile.
"Honoka, your punishment is up. Come with me," she said.
Honoka gave Kagura a small farewell smile before scurrying out of the door of the dank room to her freedom. The other courtesan just stared at Kagura pensively for a moment, looking like she had something she wanted to say. They made eye contact briefly and for a second, Kagura could have sworn something indescribable was in the other girl's gaze, but it disappeared as soon as it was there. She spun on her heel and left. The door snapped shut with a bang and once again, Kagura was engulfed in darkness, kept company only by her thoughts and the growling of her stomach.
Between Tomoya selling girls, Mimori and her heavy distaste for Amanto, and the apparent vanished green haired girl, something untoward had to be going on here. And Kagura vowed to get to the bottom of it.