Shibuya's Aftermath

Chapter 13: Introspection

Part II

"Here, take this."

Shoko leaves on the palm of his hand a small container, which Gojo then inspects. They are eye drops. His friend's suggestion forces him to look in the nearest mirror. Little crimson creepers run across his eyes and it's not as if he's spent the last two days crying. However, not sleeping also has its consequences. He has small bags under his eyes that he had only seen once before, that time when he was entrusted with the care of Riko Amanai.

Without complaint Satoru opens the bottle and puts a drop in each of his eyes. Then he hands it back to her and she sits down next to him.

They are in one of the corridors of the school, a few meters from the room where Kasumi is unconscious. She had lost so much blood when she arrived at school that they were forced to perform a transfusion. Fortunately Miwa is AB+ which makes her a universal blood recipient. The only positive from Satoru's point of view, being factor O. Not only is he the most powerful being today, but his blood type is one of the rarest.

And so it was that both Satoru and the rest of the school staff and students lined up in a long line to donate blood to their colleague. Including Ren.

"I think we owe each other a conversation," Shoko tells him. "There's been so much going on in the last few days that I haven't had much free time."

Satoru nods, but doesn't say anything.

"Are you going to explain to me why if you needed to blow off some steam you went looking for a group of strangers in a bar instead of coming to me? Besides, you don't even drink, what was that all about?"

"I just went with the flow, I guess... I didn't plan it if that's what you're implying."

"So, you're going to talk to me?"

"I thought that's what we were doing."

"I mean talking, not just chatting. You're in trouble, aren't you?"

He nods again.

"Well, spill it."

Satoru shrugs.

"Do you really think it matters now? Kasumi still hasn't woken up."

"Relax, it's only a matter of time. She's stable and out of danger. Is it because of the arranged marriage? Are you that nervous about the situation?"

"Do you think I should just kill them all?" Satoru answers with a blank stare. "Kill my parents like Geto did, sweep away all my uncles and cousins and leave not a single one standing... Just like what happened to the big shots... What do you think? Does it seem excessive?"

"I wouldn't want you to feel like you're walking in Geto's footsteps, but if your clan becomes a threat to your life... you're the only one who can do something about it. The real question here is another, could you live with yourself if you did?"

Satoru deliberates for a few seconds while a movie in which he is the protagonist plays in his mind. He sees himself walking through his family's huge temple, raising a hand to create a sphere of energy on his fingertips. It would be as simple as that and without realizing it he raises his right hand and joins his ring finger with his thumb. Shoko raises her hand and with her palm covers Satoru's hand, forcing it back into his lap.

"Would you find it scary if I said yes?" he replies sincerely. "Not everyone is so bad, though..."

"Maki did... when Mai was taken from her."

"Then there's someone else I should exterminate first, for almost taking Kasumi from me. Do you have any news on that?"

"The net you brought seems to have been created in the same way as the one Miguel used on you before. About the body I couldn't gather much information, he died of a heart attack a few months ago and the spell that kept him moving behaved as a kind of parasite, as well as slowing down his decomposition. After that... we have nothing, we can only be sure that it is a team. Although I don't know why they would have left the corpse alone with her. They may have seen you and fled, or Ren's warning may have been enough to scare them off, a rescue team was supposed to be heading to their position. Maybe she can tell us more when she wakes up."

"How long did they take?" Satoru asks suddenly.

"About thirty minutes, give or take."

Silence fills every space around them again. Shoko knows that Satoru won't be satisfied until Kasumi opens her eyes again and for the first time ends up fully accepting his feelings for her. She pats him on the back and smiles in his direction.

"It'll be all right," she tells him, although she finds it a little strange to have to give comfort to the most powerful man on earth. "Why don't you stay with her? There's a very comfortable couch where you can get some sleep. She'll still be there when you wake up."

Satoru seems to be overthinking and this makes her uneasy. He hardly looks her in the eye and keeps the same icy expression she's rarely seen on him.

"Shoko... if you could have a normal life... would you?"

His question takes her by surprise and she deliberates for a few seconds before giving him an answer.

"I don't know, I've never considered that possibility. Besides, I don't think it's useful for me to ask myself that kind of question. This is the reality in which we live and we can't change it."

He remains seated, practically expressionless. Shoko wonders what else is going through his head right now, but she's sure she won't be able to get more out of him, Satoru just doesn't know how to talk about his feelings.

"Next time... although I find it even stupid that I have to remind you... just call me. I probably don't have all the answers to your questions, but... don't forget that I'm your friend. I couldn't bear for you to carry something so heavy that you think you can't talk to me. We already lost Suguru... I don't want to lose you again too."

Satoru turns to look at Shoko. Her eyes permanently tired. Her soft smile. Her pale, thin face. He smiles at her and nods.

"I haven't forgotten... that you're my friend."

She nods and then stands up. She stretches her hands interlocking and turns to him one last time before walking down the corridor.

"I'm going to take a shower. After so many blood draws, even my fingers are sore."

Alone, still sitting in that uncomfortable triple chair, Satoru musters up some courage to get up and go to the bedroom where Kasumi is. What Shoko doesn't know, and he does, is that Ren is in there. He's been sitting there all day and isn't sure how good an idea it is to meet face to face.

When he opens the door the first thing he encounters is her lying on a bed completely set up like a hospital. She has an IV in her right arm through which she is being given medication and an oxygen mask. To her right, against the wall, a machine that monitors her vital signs and emits a sound every three seconds that makes him slightly nervous. The only thing that brings him some calm is the way her chest rises and falls gently.

On the other side of the room is him, arms crossed, looking directly at Kasumi.

Satoru keeps his grip on the doorknob and looks at him with the same absent expression he had for Shoko. Ren raises an eyebrow and looks him in the eye.

The last time they crossed a word was to question him about what had happened that afternoon.

Transporting the body of Kasumi's captor wasn't too difficult. Obviously he didn't plan to carry it, nor, even if thanks to infinity there was no physically possible way to make contact. Satoru opted to trace a circle on the ground and teleport the body to the outskirts of the school of sorcery in Tokyo. From there on he has only two options left, continue searching for the culprits or return to the school.

Given Kasumi's condition, he has no choice but to return. And in doing so, he encounters a commotion among students and assistants. Shoko and Utahime give orders left and right. Megumi on the other hand tries to organize his students so as not to hinder the situation, but everyone wants to see what is going on.

On one side is Kasumi, being transported on a stretcher with Shoko on one side and a group following in her footsteps listening attentively to all the instruments she needs. On the other side is him, with an open wound under his shoulder, his clothes stained with blood, tirelessly asking if she's all right.

"You're going to save her? Is she all right? What's going on!"

Utahime seems to have sensed the dismal manner in which Satoru is watching him and steps into his path as she sees him take his first steps in that direction. She puts a hand on his chest and stops him. Satoru looks into her eyes, her brown eyes framed in a serious and accusatory gaze.

"Don't make a scene, not now" she mumbles to him, avoiding raising her voice too much so as not to cause a scandal. "It's not the place nor the time."

"Can't you see I'm not in the mood to take orders from you?"

"What you're planning to do won't do Kasumi any good, so keep your childish jealousy to yourself and behave like an adult. I think someone needs to remind you of your age around here."

"Utahime... step aside."

"Are you capable of pushing me?"

"I'm capable of too many things at this very moment."

Utahime is speechless, Satoru's eyes fixed on her for an instant, sending a shiver down her spine. But before she can think of anything to say to dissuade him, a third party intervenes.

"It's you, isn't it? You're that idiot everyone's talking about, aren't you? Are you Gojo Satoru?" Ren asks, standing up with one hand covering the wound on his chest.

To his surprise, it takes Satoru no more than a second to reach him without touching a hair on Utahime's raven head. The assistants warn Ren not to move too much, although Shoko's cursed technique is already in action, it won't be able to prevent him if he were to cause more damage. But he ignores their words and doesn't seem to be afraid of Gojo's presence.

"What were you doing when she was taken away?" asks Satoru.

"And what were you doing when she decided to go on a suicide mission all alone? I thought you were loaded, enough toAHH-."

Ren yelps in pain as Satoru puts a hand on top of him, thumb pressed exactly where he was injured. He forces him to sit down in the same spot he was in.

"Satoru!" Utahime shouts.

The rest of the staff seems unable to stand in the way of the encounter. One girl shrieks in terror and suddenly steps aside. Another stands transfixed watching the scene.

"You didn't come here to ask questions, but rather to answer them. And now what you're going to do is to give me a description of the guys who did this... and for your sake I hope you're very precise."

Ren spits saliva and blood on Satoru's face, in vain, his spit falls to the ground between the two of them.

"I'll tell you one more time," Satoru says, pressing again. Ren grits his teeth. Utahime grabs his arm, but her attempts to stop him are fruitless. Satoru is completely obsessed with getting whatever words he deems necessary out of him, even if it means torturing him lightly. "Tell me what they looked like and where they went. Now."

Satoru's memories at the moment are a bit jumbled, about their first and last meeting all he remembers is Megumi's intervention and a list of characteristics. He knows their approximate height, has a vague idea of their cursed techniques and only knows that there were two of them. One of them with a blowgun, scrawny, dressed in black and light-skinned. The other of more muscular build, average height and a tattoo on his forehead. The latter seemed a little easier to recognize at first glance.

"You can leave, she's out of danger."

"Thank you, but no thanks. When she wakes up I'll say goodbye to her and you'll have her all to yourself. Don't worry about me."

Satoru closes the door.

"I wasn't, sorry if I gave you that impression."

Ren smiles at his cynicism.

"I can see why she was so in love, you're a prince charming."

"I see she told you about me," Satoru says before leaning back against the foot of Kasumi's bed, preventing Ren from laying his eyes on her. "I haven't been fortunate enough to hear anything about you."

"I'd rather they had nothing to say about me than have to carry around a past like yours."

"A past like mine?"

Ren shrugs.

"I've never had to resort to taking advantage of a woman's innocence to get her into my bed in the first place."

"Wow, that's not fair. You must have plenty of material to make fun of me, while Kasumi didn't mention a word about you, except that you didn't end on good terms, is there something you're hiding? Maybe it bothered you that she couldn't stop talking about me despite the years. It must be complicated, right? Being with a woman who can't stop talking about her ex."

"Yeah, I admit it's pretty annoying that not only her but every damn sorcerer in this country has something to say about the great Gojo Satoru. Although having you in front of me you don't seem as awesome as everyone said you were anymore. Gojo Satoru can do this, Gojo Satoru can do that, and yet the most powerful person on the whole fucking planet is incapable of finding two little minions in a deserted city. At least I have a good excuse, I got my ass kicked, what about you, did the alcohol breath you had on you block your senses? What good does it do you to have fifty eyes if you couldn't keep one open? Asshole."

"Are we calling each other loving names yet? I've got a couple of those for you too. Useless good-for-nothing."

"Arrogant piece of shit."

"You know, there's one thing I never quite understood. -Is it arrogant to brag about things you can actually do? If I were to say... I don't know... that I can rip you to shreds without laying a finger on you, does that make me arrogant, or does it make me sincere?"

Ren smirks and a weak chuckle churns his chest in pain.

"I find it hard to believe that Kasumi, of all women, could fall in love with someone like you."

"How nice to find something in common."

"Well, let's stop flattering each other. You came to run me out of here? Well, I've got news for you. No matter how much you insist. When she opens her eyes, it'll be time for me to go."

"Why do you bother? She's more than safe here."

"I made her a promise, maybe you don't know how they work, but one is supposed to keep them."

"Ah, a promise, huh? -What did you promise each other?"

"I promised her she'd come home alive."

Satoru smiles.

"If that's the case, remind me not to put anyone else's life in your hands."

"Relax. I have no other intentions. Kasumi doesn't interest me, not like you, not like that... At least I know what dignity is. And no, I'm not scared of you or your powers, or your money, or your position in this stupid jujutsu hierarchy. I know very well that there is something between you two and I don't plan to be here long enough to see it, I have neither the time nor the patience to endure it. Do you even know what it feels like?"

"To see her with someone else? Yeah, I have a little impression about that. I don't recommend it."

"Wow, Kasumi sure knows how to play with men. Who knew? The big eyes and friendly smile disguise it all too well."

"So, I was the reason?"

"For what?"

"For breaking you two up. I don't know, call me crazy, but I sense a little animosity between the two of us. Don't tell me you still resent me for what happened a couple of days ago?"

"Do you want to know the story? Where do I start? The time she found me badly hurt and spent days bringing down my fever, treating my wounds, feeding me in my mouth? Or when we met again in the city and went for lunch, then dessert, then a movie? Do you want me to tell you about the first time I took her to my apartment? Or when she helped me pick out the furniture for my house? Maybe I could tell you about our first kiss, that's a cute story. I still remember how she blushed when I took her hand and—"

"You're playing dirty, Ren."

"I know, I thought the rules of the game were clear."

"I have many stories about Kasumi if that's the way you want to play. But let me tell you, there's nothing better than the first time, those you can never forget."

"I guess the first time you seduced a student must have been memorable."

The door opens behind Satoru. There stands Maki, silent and invisible even to the great Gojo Satoru. She spends her time watching the two of them, one at a time. Even with a blindfolded eye one can sense her frustration and displeasure.

"Are you two done? Or do you also have intimate photos to share? Aren't you ashamed to talk like that in front of her? Have some respect and shut the fuck up, if you want to compete about who is the worst between the two of you you can do it outside or where no one can hear this disgusting conversation. Get out, out! They're going to check Miwa-san's medicine."

Satoru, tight-lipped, has nothing to say and goes out after Maki's order with Ren behind him. Both quiet, slightly embarrassed. They stand in the hallway as an attendant enters the room where Maki decides to remain as the door lock.

In the corridor they both lean against the wall, side by side.

"She's right, we're bastards, -comments Satoru, barely tilting the corner of his lips."

"I may have gotten a little carried away... a little."

"I'll apologize to her when she wakes up."

"Tell her sorry for me."

"You're not going to tell her personally?"

Ren denies.

"And stay to see her call your name? No thanks, I'd rather call a cab and go home. I've had enough."

"No need, the school will take care of you. Don't worry about it."

"Ah, well... excellent service, I guess."

"I'm sorry I attacked you like that. I know you did what you could. The important thing is that she's alive."

"I'm not sure I'm sorry for what I said," he says and smiles. You had it coming.

Satoru nods.

"Maybe under different circumstances we could have gotten along. I guess we have more in common than we think if we fell for the same woman, don't we?"

In a strange way, Satoru seems to have recovered his spirits slightly. Ren gives him a sidelong glance, but he's prouder than Gojo enough to admit he's right.

"Haven't you ever wondered why she likes you so much?"

"What?"

"Did it never cross your mind? It's no accident that you have everything she never had. The money, the talent, the power. At least I know perfectly well that she liked me because of who I am. Are you so sure? Do you know if Kasumi fell in love with you because you're Gojo Satoru? Or if she only fell in love with Gojo Satoru, the man?"

Satoru doesn't know how to answer that question and suddenly the image of Geto comes to his mind.

Are you the strongest because you are Gojo Satoru? Or, are you Gojo Satoru because you are the strongest?

At first that question was nothing more than nonsense coming out of the mouth of someone who had slowly and quietly lost his mind. But over the years the question unveils something intrinsic that Geto had asked himself over and over again without finding the answer.

At that moment, a new weight falls on his shoulders that he did not know he was carrying. A terrible epiphany that opens lethargic eyes. A fantasy that is destroyed, exploding like a balloon being touched by a pin.

Does Kasumi have any real reason to fall in love with him?

"She's awake," Maki announces in a soft tone, opening the door.

Satoru turns to Ren and he nods.

"I entrust it to you," he says and looks him in the eyes, but Satoru is not sure if he is entrusting his apologies to her or what he really means is that he is leaving him the task of answering his last question.

Ren nods in Maki's direction and turns to leave. Out the door comes the assistant with a small smile and Maki remains standing by the frame with the door open. Satoru approaches and the two meet eyes for the last time.

"Behave like an adult," she tells him through gritted teeth.

He nods and walks through the door frame and Maki closes the door behind him. Once inside he can see her, sitting against the pillow, the bed slightly reclined for her. She drinks a glass of water and watches him enter out of the corner of her eye. He walks slowly in her direction, watching everything with extreme attention. He watches from the crown of her head her hair shining under the cold light, soft locks the color of the purest lake, the large eyes looking in his direction. Sometimes blue, sometimes with a light blue gleam, at others, dark with violet tints, the colors of the ocean painted behind her pupils fixed on him. Long eyelashes, thin lips.

Kasumi sets her glass of water down on the table.

"My lips are dry," she tells him and smiles, avoiding Satoru's intrusive gaze. But she can't avoid it for long as he sits on the bed beside her and looks into her eyes once more as he tucks her hair behind her ear and leans over her to give her the warmest kiss on her forehead.

She is speechless, lost in his sparkling sky eyes. The whole universe is in there and all that returns his gaze is her own reflection. Sad eyes watch her longingly, he caresses her cheek with the palm of his hand and does not say a word to her. His heart suddenly feels full, so full that it seems to overflow with warmth from within. His entire chest is filled with something that bounces and grows as he looks at her.

How can you not fall in love with her despite having absolutely nothing?

Ren is right, there is no love more sincere than the one he feels for her now. There is nothing she could give him in the world that he didn't already have, she is not a goddess on earth, nor are there any great feats of Miwa Kasumi to tell. But no one has ever succeeded in captivating him in this way, totally and completely.

How could he not fall at her feet?

Kasumi's soft skin melts under Satoru's hand. Feeling her warm body again feels like a breath of clean air, filling his lungs. And yet, for some reason, he feels deeply sad. Wretched even.

"Forgive me," he says softly.

She, blushing, cannot take her eyes off him. His magnetism keeps her constantly pursuing him with her every thought. And she can't deny that as she opens her eyes once more all she could think about was seeing him once more.

He comes closer, touches her forehead with his own while still caressing her neck. With his other hand he takes hers and caresses her snowy bare knuckles. He runs his thumb between Kasumi's fingers without saying much more than what he has already said.

"Forgive me Kasumi."

"Why..." she asks almost breathlessly, unable to finish the sentence.

It's fire, emanating from her belly and wandering all over her body. Her hands burn, the hairs under her neck stand on end. Her cheeks burn and her heart hits her chest hard, like a door with someone on the other side demanding to get out.

"For everything, I guess..." he says and smiles, "For not taking care of you the way I should have, for leaving you, for not being completely honest, for being afraid of my feelings, for not knowing what it is to do things right. Forgive me... please."

He no longer looks into her eyes, his gaze is lost in her slender fingers as he continues to caress them. If he were to look up he would see Kasumi's eyes full of tears, trapped, straining not to fall on her cheek.

"I'm one of those people who have to lose everything to open my eyes and learn a thing or two... But you can be sure," He takes Kasumi's hand and pulls it to his chest. She can feel his heart galloping inside his warm chest and their eyes meet again. He smiles a soft smile. He looks at her tenderly, his tired eyes unable to hide his devotion. He lets go of her neck and wipes away the first tear that falls on her cheek. "I still make you cry..."

"No..." Kasumi sighs.

"It's okay... I'm not going to cause you any harm anymore."

She opens her eyes even wider, the words feel like a dire farewell, like a final goodbye. Another tear falls as she begins to feel that he is about to get up and with what little strength she has she takes his face between both hands. Kasumi kisses him softly and weakly, barely caressing his lips, as if it were slipping through her hands.

Satoru stretches his long eyelashes, astonished by her sudden outburst.

"Don't go..." she whispers, her voice cracking.

He watches her quizzically, lying still on the bed with Kasumi's hands caressing him. Attentive to her next words. Her restless fingers roam his neck, his jaw, his ear, stroking the short hair at the nape of his neck. Kasumi's lips twist like those of a child doing her best not to cry, but to no avail, her eyes moisten and another tear falls down her face.

"Don't leave me..." she begs, already stripped of her shame, "Marry me, stay with me, don't go away."

He looks at her in disbelief and amazement. Her plea catches him off guard, but he ends up smiling softly at her. He takes Kasumi's hands, tangling in his hair, and holds them between his. Kasumi still twists her lips and her pale, flushed face fills with tears.

"I wasn't going to leave," he tells her with a smile, "I was going to get up to refill your glass of water, you said your mouth was dry..."

She opens her eyes and her face begins to burn up to her ears.

"But..."

Kasumi can't get another word out. Satoru kisses her with the delicacy of someone touching the petals of a delicate flower. Then he looks at her and strokes her hair, entangles his fingers in the strands that fall over her shoulder and smiles again.

"Should I take your words seriously or are you delirious?" he says, leaning his forehead against hers once more. "You seem to have a bit of a fever," he remarks, though he's almost certain it's nothing more than modesty being reborn within her body as she gains strength. "What do you think?"

"I do," she stammers. She purses her lips and looks furtively into his eyes before continuing, "I... w-what I said..."

"Will you be my wife?"

She nods shyly.

"I need a real answer."

"Y-yes."

"Now without stuttering."

"Yes."

"Say it in full, to be sure."

Kasumi frowns.

"Yes... I want to."

Satoru widens his smile, brushing aside Ren's petty words.

"Well," he says before standing up in front of the watchful eyes of the one who is now his fiancée. He takes Kasumi's glass from the table and walks to the other side of the room to fill it. As he turns his back to her, using the purifier, he suddenly feels overwhelmed. As if up to this point all the marriage talk was nothing more than a joke that became real with the snap of Kasumi's fingers. "Before discussing the matter further you should take some time to rest. Your wounds were deep, Shoko's technique is still working on your organs. But anyway take it easy..."

"What about my..."

"Your family is fine. I talked to Kano this morning and dissuaded him from coming... I didn't want Sochi and the others to see you in that state. I convinced him to stay with them, I hope you don't mind that I made that decision," he says, extending the full glass to her. She denies.

"That's fine."

Satoru sits down on a chair he drags next to the bed. Kasumi looks deeply embarrassed.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel fine... A little tired. But well, what happened with Ren? Is he okay?"

"He's fine, better than fine. He had enough energy to insult me," he says while smiling at her, but Kasumi doesn't seem pleased to hear him, "He stayed here until a few minutes ago, when he knew you woke up he left and asked me to apologize for him, for not staying. He stayed by your side all this time, he's a good guy. You know how to pick them, Kasumi-chan."

Kasumi blushes again.

"You didn't talk about me, did you?"

"We did talk about you."

"Oh..."

"I'm sorry about that too."

"Is there anything else you should tell me?"

Satoru thinks so, rather something he should ask her. But that question finds no way to leave his lips. Why has Kasumi fallen in love with him? However, he gently shakes his head.

"No... Kasumi. Is there... anything you remember about the guys who attacked you? I don't want to overwhelm you with questions, but I really need to know everything you remember about them, where they went, what they looked like, did they say anything special?"

Kasumi's fingers tighten against the crystal of the glass she's holding. She pauses for a moment to think, bringing her mind back to the last events she remembers.

"I remember the feeling in my legs when one of them attacked me. It was the same one that pinned Ren... It was like a cramp at first and I was able to stand for a moment before another one attacked me. Then came the other one... the one that got me inside the net..." Suddenly she opens her eyes in his direction. "Did you kill him?"

Satoru denies.

"He was dead when I got there. He was useless. Anything else?"

She rummages through her memories, most of them still fuzzy.

"One of them said... I hope this one works. Something like that... I don't know what he meant by that."

Leaning back in his chair, he folds his arms.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking these things right now. Are you hungry? I'll get something to eat. Here," he says, handing her her cell phone. "Call your family, tell them you're okay and that you'll be home soon."

"Should I... tell them the rest?" she asks, blushing again. "I-I mean, how d-do we go from here?"

"I think we should both tell them, don't you think? But before that, I already know what your answer was... did you really think it through? I don't want to put pressure on you, this will involve more than just the two of us."

She nods.

"I don't... I don't want to listen to what anyone has to say anymore. My... my heart tells me it's the right decision and if in the end... it wasn't... I'll still be satisfied that I chose something that made me happy."

"What about the children?"

"They will be safe and that's the most important thing. I will not let anyone hurt them, I will not let any clan make them think they are less important because they are not shamans. Mai and Maki had no one... they will have us. Right?"

"Right. It is decided then. You'll join the Gojo clan."

Put that way it feels incredibly ominous. Gojo walks out the door with a heavy feeling in his chest that suddenly dissipates as he remembers her plea. She wants to be his wife, she wants to stay by his side, and that certainty brings a pleasant, warm feeling to his chest. The idea of starting a family with someone else had never been a priority in his mind. But after experiencing firsthand the sensation of losing her, a feeling was born inside him and grew into a beautiful what if...

What if he allowed himself to live a quiet life within the Gojo clan and transform it from within with her by his side?

What if he decided to have one or two children, or four or five? How bad could it be for them to live in a clan with a mother like Kasumi? A Kasumi who didn't have to worry about the food she put on the table, one who could devote her time and strength to caring for her family as she had always dreamed.

If only Kasumi didn't feel the compelling need to be on the battlefield, even though there is little she can contribute, perhaps she would be content with a quiet life in a temple. Perhaps she would be able to create warmth in the coldest and cruelest place he knows.

Perhaps...

N/A: Hello readers! Thank you very much for the comments you've left on all the platforms where I uploaded this story. I would like to answer you all personally but the truth is that I'm short of time and I try to use my little free time to write this story and read the ones I have waiting. Don't think I don't read you, I read each one of you and you make me very happy. This chapter is a little shorter than the last one but I hope you like the way it's going. Have a nice week!

PS: I am sorry if there are grammatical or spelling mistakes!