Chapter 10: The confession
Clinging tightly to the jar, Kasumi can barely open her eyes. Satoru carries her clutching her by the waist like a sack. He runs quickly over the tiles of the buildings as she watches people begin to come out of their homes to take a look at what is stirring among the streets of Gifu. A curse vanishes over her nose as Satoru unsheathes his katana and cuts it right in the middle of its core, so fast that to Kasumi it was but a blink of an eye.
In a flash, the fastest curses are after Satoru and Kasumi, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, like a pack of wolves. She doesn't know for sure when she glances back and sees a curse spreading like a tarantula, just as hairy, but with an almost human torso where its head should be. She holds back a scream as she sees it leap towards the next rooftop nailing its legs hard, sending roof tiles flying and collapsing half the house in front of her.
Satoru doesn't stop, he runs straight at the massive curse and Kasumi lets out a scream as he jumps and thrusts his sword into the middle of its body. He slices it up and down until his feet touch the ground and pauses for a moment to look at her.
"That thing, they're following it," Satoru says, confirming her suspicions. "Don't let go of it, or else we could be in bigger trouble."
More trouble than this? Kasumi wonders, holding on tightly to the last jar.
The samurai grabs her hand and starts running again. Kasumi turns over her shoulder only to see a myriad of curses swarming through the streets chasing every civilian and soldier in their path. Suddenly he embraces her again and with a leap he grabs hold of the tiles of a canteen, the edge of his sword caught between his teeth.
When they gain enough distance, Satoru stops and lets Kasumi's feet touch the ground, on the roof of a three-story building. But he still has one hand clinging to her waist, as if at any second someone is going to snatch her away from him and he's not willing to leave that opportunity open. They both look at what used to be Kamo-sama's house. Curses still fall overflowing the windows, spreading through the streets like ants.
Deformed beings of all kinds invade the streets among soldiers and men, women and children, running towards the outskirts of Gifu. Kasumi's grief-stricken face sees the horrified expressions and, as she's about to plead with Satoru to help them, he tightens his grip on her waist as if he knows what she's about to say.
"There are too many, even for me," he says, looking into her eyes, "and it's a little hard for me to admit it."
Her distressed face doesn't seem to need further explanation, the answer is in front of her eyes. The city is utterly doomed.
She nods and he takes her face in his free hand; he gently caresses her neck with his fingertips and cradles her chin with his palm. He smiles softly at her, as if that might give her some comfort.
"Did they hurt you?"
"No..." she says, suddenly short of breath. Her chest fills with a new and strange sensation as she feels his skin stroking hers and for an instant, she seems to forget that a massacre is taking place just a few meters away.
The spell is broken when he turns his gaze to the street and releases her face. He grabs her tightly again and starts running. Kasumi wraps her hands tightly over the jar, trying not to lose it after each sudden leap from Satoru, until he finally sets her down on the ground in the middle of the street and unsheathes his katana again.
Kokichi's puppets are all over the place, but Satoru ignores them and runs straight into a curse that launches itself at the carpenter upon finding him uncovered. He cuts it in half just as Kokichi covers himself with his forearms.
The figure of an elongated four-legged, two-headed curse falls to the ground and disappears a few seconds later.
Kokichi can't help but look at him with some resentment despite the fact that he just saved his life, but his gesture blurs when he notices Miwa's presence. She watches them interact for a moment; when Satoru rests his katana on his back and smiles at Kokichi to say 'you're welcome', in the most arrogant way possible. Such camaraderie certainly leaves her bewildered.
He ignores him and walks over to her with a slightly hopeful gesture, very different from most expressions she saw from him so far. But he stops and frowns again as he approaches and notices what Kasumi is carrying firmly in her hands.
"What the fuck is that?" He asks her as a bead of cold sweat trickles down his forehead, unable to overlook the amount of cursed energy emanating from within it.
Kasumi hugs the jar once more, purses her lips, not knowing exactly how to explain everything that happened inside that house in such a short time.
"I wanted to ask you earlier, but we were a little busy," says Satoru, standing next to the two of them.
"This is... something I have to take care of."
"That's no toy, Kasumi. The curses that were released in Gifu will come for it. It's very dangerous, we have to exorcise it as soon as possible."
Kasumi's eyes widen as she hears this and she instinctively recoils, clinging to Sanso as if he were a baby. She denies for a moment until Kokichi approaches her holding out his hands. Now these two are in agreement on something?
Before Kokichi's hand can land on her shoulder, Kasumi steps back. Satoru's sword is brandished next to her ear as a curse appears out of nowhere next to her chest, aiming one of its limbs straight for the jar. Kasumi turns to watch Satoru finish exorcising the curse and then they both look at her in that accusatory way that doesn't please her in the least.
"You don't understand! It's not just a curse!"
"It doesn't matter what it is, Kasumi... What matters is that they won't stop chasing us as long as you have it with you."
"There has to be another way..." she whispers, loosening her embrace.
"Please, just give it to him... We don't have much time," Kokichi continues and points with his chin to the street.
In the distance Kasumi sees a stampede heading towards them and, with a heavy heart, holds out the jar to Satoru. She turns away unable to see it with her own eyes and waits with her eyes squeezed shut until finally Gojo mutters.
"I can't," he says and Kasumi turns away perplexed.
He holds the cursed womb in the palm of his hand and looks at it curiously and suddenly smiles. He tucks the odd amorphous sphere into the jar again and hands it to Kasumi before her puzzled eyes.
"What do you mean you can't?" asks Kokichi raising an eyebrow.
Satoru shrugs his shoulders.
"There are some cursed objects that are impossible to exorcise. The best we can do is seal it with scrolls and take it to a temple where it's safe and out of reach of curses. Now we can only move away from the city, far enough so that it can create a veil that will enclose the curses and allow the humans to get out."
"You can do that?" Kasumi asks in a tone of admiration that quickly unnerves her. Trying to come to her senses, she clears her throat and continues. "Please do it. We may not be able to save everyone, but at least some people will be able to escape."
"Of course I can," he replies with confidence and a smile that leaves her speechless.
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Mounted on their horses, high on a hill, Satoru gazes with an absent gesture at the city of Gifu. A pair of dark clouds stretches into the sky, flames can barely be seen from his position. What he can see is an evil aura spreading across the length and breadth of the streets, crossing the bridges that rise over the three main rivers that cut through the city. The bridges of Gifu fall, one after another. Even from miles away, the cries of the locals can be heard.
Satoru raises a hand and makes a sign, utters an incantation and in front of Kasumi and Kokichi's incredulous eyes, a dark cloak rises from the sky, sliding down like a thick liquid until it falls over the city limits.
Oguri advances a few steps, Kasumi watches his sorcery with her mouth open and in the distance sees a young man run out through the veil to turn around to see a curse trapped inside.
"It won't last forever; the veil will last at least until midnight. After that the curses will be released."
"And what are we supposed to do now?" asks Kokichi.
"If the old council were still in place... They would summon the best sorcerers in the country to deal with this. The lower ranking shamans would be sent to the surrounding cities, as an emergency insurance. But, given the circumstances, I don't think Naoya would be interested in what happened here. In any case, the Kamo clan will send their best shamans, even though the city is already completely lost."
"Does that mean that these people will be abandoned?" Kasumi asks.
"If the Kamo clan doesn't do something about it, then yes. Gifu is located in a strategic location for trade, so... maybe... but I'm not sure."
Kasumi immediately remembers the name of that person. She hadn't realized it until now.
"Kamo-sama..." Kasumi whispers and Satoru turns around.
"I had my suspicions..." he replies and retraces his steps to climb on top of Oguri, taking the reins out of Kasumi's hands.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"My job, Kokichi-kun. Kasumi has a special grade curse in her hands that will end up attracting many more. I have to stay close to her... Besides," he says, craning his neck until his words caress Kasumi's right ear, "maybe she'll remember me faster this way."
Satoru hugs Oguri with his calves, pulling him forward and behind him Kokichi follows attentively.
"We have to hurry, Utahime's temple is not far from here. Maybe she can help us with the curse. Then... we'll go to Otari with your brothers."
Kasumi's back barely touches Satoru's chest after each step Oguri takes, it's not until he speeds up leaving Kokichi behind that she ends up leaning against him, hugging Sanso tightly.
She still doesn't quite understand why his name was the first one she thought of while trapped inside Kamo's house. When she thought she would die locked up there, his face came to her mind and the certainty that he would be the one to save her left her no room for any kind of doubt. Now, with him behind her she feels like she can finally breathe and all the exhaustion she had accumulated the last few nights makes her energy fade away and she simply lets herself be cradled in his firm arms.
As the sun sets, miles away from Gifu. Satoru stops Oguri's pace. Kokichi and the horses are behind them. He can still feel them following him. He must be cursing him in the distance for taking advantage of the situation like this.
After getting off Oguri's back he grabs Kasumi by the waist, as he had done on other occasions, but this time it is different. She is flushed and quiet, she evades his gaze and he can clearly see the way she swallows as her slender, snowy neck moves.
In the middle of the night, Satoru takes her hand and she looks up. Her big blue eyes no longer seem afraid of him and it makes him smile. He takes the jar in his hands and then searches through his things until he finds a scroll.
"It's not the right seal, but it will do for the moment," he tells her as he places the scroll on the wooden lid of the jar and then hands it back to her.
"He's human...", Kasumi whispers, "or at least half of him is."
"I didn't say it before... because we had to leave Gifu, but you're covered in blood," he tells her, takes her hand covered in dried blood flakes again and leads her to a small river not far from where they stopped.
He forces her away from the bottle, leaving it on the ground, and crouches down with her by the river. He takes her hands and cleans them while she watches him out of the corner of her eye. He hasn't stopped smiling the whole way. She watches him subtly, hoping he doesn't notice. And as he wipes her dirty hands she finds herself absorbed in the shape of his profile. Her little heart shudders, not from the chill of the current, not from the icy breeze, but from him. Kasumi knows that this man awakens a strange feeling inside her, though she does not yet know why.
When he raises his eyes and looks into hers, her heart hammers hard and she feels her chest fill completely, intoxicated by his beautiful stare. Then he lifts a hand and touches the lock of hair that Kamo cut off.
"It looks good..." he whispers to her. "When I met you, you had dull black hair. This looks much better, it matches the color of your eyes. Why were you hiding it? Don't you like it?"
Kasumi lets go of Satoru's hands and avoids his intense gaze, she feels that if she keeps looking into his eyes her heart will explode. She looks at the river and listens to its peaceful sound, then thinks for a moment more.
"I've never liked it..."
"Why?"
"Because it's not normal."
"I guess mine isn't either."
Kasumi turns to him, as if just realizing how particular he is. She looks at his hair shining like silver in the moonlight and then looks down again.
"Perhaps you wear it so confidently that it's the last thing one notices about you."
"You don't like my hair?"
"I-I didn't say that!"
"So, you just don't like to be noticed, do you?"
"Yes... I think that's it."
"There are some sorcerer families, like the Gojo family, who inherit certain physical peculiarities. Maybe in your family... you have some ancestor like that."
"I don't think so... My mother said my father was a fisherman who died at sea. She was just a peasant."
"Well... now that you mention it..."
"Hey! You! You left me miles behind! With YOUR horse! What are you doing alone with her? Are you planning to take advantage of her again?"
"Again?"
"I haven't forgotten that you attacked her when she was bathing in the river!"
"Hey! That's not true! That was just an accident."
"Yeah, right, an accident. Who do you take me for?"
"We were just talking, Kokichi-kun. Don't worry, I promise I won't lay a finger on her. Do you think so badly of me?"
"Who said you could call me by my name?"
Just when Kasumi was beginning to be glad that the two of them were being cordial to each other. Kasumi sighs, takes the jar with Sanso inside, and walks away ignoring the discussion to retrace her steps and start setting up a makeshift camp.
The night is cold and cruel. Not even the campfire in front of the three of them is enough. Kasumi shivers and the tip of her nose turns pink, covered in a blanket, she hugs herself hidden behind the towering trunk of a willow tree. Satoru and Kokichi look sideways at her, both completely chilled to the bone until the samurai stands up, walks over to her and sits down next to her.
"If we are together, you won't be so cold."
Kasumi looks at him, amazed by his closeness. Under the blankets she brings a hand to her heart as she mentally asks it to stop. She doesn't stop him though, she knows he's right, that they have a better chance of not freezing to death if they stay together.
Turning her face, she sees Kokichi a little further away, his brow furrowed and his gaze piercing Satoru's face.
"Come, you're cold too," she says softly.
"Come on, Kokichi-kun, I can make a place for you too."
He seems to ponder for a moment, grinding his teeth. It only takes him a few seconds to stand up. He's been shivering for the past few minutes and feels the cold seeping into his bones. He walks over to Kasumi and sits down next to her, lips pressed tightly together he leans against her arm and feels the heat of his own body ignite stronger than the campfire.
The only good thing is that at least it has stopped raining.
Eventually exhaustion wins over the three of them, their heads end up bowed next to the person next to them and the warmth of their bodies helps them rest for what seems like an instant, when the sun rises on the other side of the horizon and Kasumi opens her eyes.
The first thing she sees when she opens her eyes is Sanso; the jar placed in front of her and, next to it, the extinguished campfire. She can barely move with Kokichi to her right and Satoru to her left, both with their arms crossed in complete sleep. She glances sideways at him, first at one and then the other. But she ends up wasting her last seconds on Satoru. His face is tired, as if he hasn't slept in days. He has bags under his eyes and his skin looks particularly pale, like a ghost. Despite everything, he has proven to be extremely strong, after all, even in this state he managed to get rid of a dozen soldiers and curses alike.
The memories of Shinmachi make her stomach clench, it makes no sense for her to have trusted him so blindly after remembering those horrific scenes. However, sitting there with him asleep next to her, she does not find within herself the slightest desire to run away.
Suddenly he opens his eyes, Kasumi's watchful gaze traveling with him as she sees him standing up to take the hilt of his sword. In total silence, Satoru unsheathes as if he had slept with one eye open all night.
Kasumi moves her shoulder wordlessly, trying to wake Kokichi, who opens his eyes just as an elongated arm and a raspy voice echoes over his ears. In an instant, he throws Kasumi to the ground and Satoru's sword waves over their heads, exorcising a curse that had approached them cautiously.
On the ground, Kasumi looks at Kokichi's flushed face. He looks into her eyes for a moment, his gaze filled with panic and a few choked words in his mouth. He quickly stands up and walks away from her as if she were on fire and then turns to Satoru, who looks at him with a raised eyebrow.
Satoru crouches down to Kasumi and holds out his hand.
"We've rested too long already; the curses will continue to appear the longer we delay. Come on, let's go."
Kasumi takes his hand and he helps her to her feet."
"Where exactly are we headed? You haven't said a word about why Kasumi's brothers are in another village. You can spend at least a few minutes to give an explanation or two, don't you think?"
Kokichi stands up, shakes out his clothes and folds his arms next to Kasumi, looking determinedly at Satoru.
"Right... Well, I was hoping Kasumi would remember me by now, and it wouldn't be necessary to give her any explanations. But well, then... A little less than two months ago the emperor died... Since then, the Zenin clan has taken the throne, now Naoya Zenin calls himself shogun. This means that he has displaced the ruling council as well... His army attacked Yokohama shortly thereafter and Kasumi sent her brothers to the only safe place she knows, the village of her master Kusakabe."
"And you, what do you have to do with her brothers?"
"That's not a concern of yours."
"But it is mine," Kasumi interrupts. "I want to know why you want my brothers."
Satoru sighs.
"There's... a strong possibility that someone is behind them. Your Aunt Nami received money from the soldiers during the attack on the harbor..."
"What? Nami-san?"
"We've had this conversation before, it's a nuisance to have to repeat everything. Now come on, quick, get on the horses. I want to find at least one village so we don't freeze to death tonight. When this calms down, I'll give you all the explanations you want, but now is not the time to stay and talk."
It makes him extremely uncomfortable to see Kasumi nod and accept his help to climb back onto the back of the white horse, only to see him climb up behind her. Kokichi gets on his horse, taking the reins of the other one the samurai left behind and follows in his footsteps, lagging behind again.
He sees him whispering things in her ear and her shyly accepting his advances. From time to time, they both turn to look at him over their shoulder, and he gets the feeling that they wonder if he is still there, or if they just left him behind.
Hours and hours of travel pass before his eyes, feeling completely out of place. She has fallen completely under his spell, even if she doesn't remember him, even if she knows nothing about him. She follows him almost as if by inertia and a part of him tells him that Satoru is sincere, but he refuses to accept it. The resentment generated by seeing him touching her arms, caressing her shoulder with the excuse of chasing away the cold, almost doesn't let him breathe.
He sees her in the distance, as if he is losing her in front of his eyes, although these strange and possessive feelings have no basis. He barely knows her; she is a stranger he saved from death and in the blink of an eye he decided to go with her wherever the road takes them.
His chest feels heavy, when they reach the top of a hill and look from afar at the entrance to another city.
Satoru looks intently at the soldiers guarding the entrance to the walled city. He pulls Oguri's reins to stop him and looks almost expressionless at the guarded city of Nagoya. Tired, he climbs down from his horse to stretch his legs and smiles to himself, his gesture tarnished with irony.
"I don't think I can get past that wall..."
"Then Kasumi and I will spend the night there."
"We can't leave him here. He'll freeze to death!"
"You can't go into the city with that horrible thing," Satoru mentions, raising an accusing finger at Sanso. "Any curse born in the city will go after it, do you think Kokichi-kun can do anything if they're attacked?"
"We can leave the curse with you and since you're so good at it, I don't think you'll have any trouble taking care of it."
"You're leaving me the best part? Sleeping frozen to death waiting for any curse to come and attack me, what a gentlemanly boy you turned out to be."
"It's my fault we have to seal Sanso..."
"Does that hideous thing have a name?" asks Satoru genuinely perplexed.
"His mother gave it to him..."
"Wait, does it have a mother?" asks Kokichi.
"Well, that's not what's important now! The important thing is that it's my fault that we have to take care of him now. That's why I can't allow Satoru-san to spend the night here with Sanso. In any case, I'll stay here with him and you can go to town. You don't have to sleep out in the open because of me."
"I won't leave you alone with him."
"Then stay with us," Satoru replies. "I thought after I saved your life, you'd trust me a little more, but I see I wasted my energy," he laughs seeing him gritting his teeth and frowning. "I'm just kidding, don't take it so seriously," he says, ruffling his hair until Kokichi takes his hands off him with a rough movement. "I don't think we're going to come to an agreement."
"I don't think so," Kasumi mutters.
"Well, there is another option. But it's not one I'd like to use right now..." says Satoru. "Truth be told, we're in trouble. If the Kamo clan has reinforced the surveillance in the nearby cities... that only means two things, the first is that the Zenin clan's army is very close, the second is that someone sent word of my presence in Gifu and they're looking for me."
"You still haven't told us why they are looking for you."
"We are talking about something else right now, Kokichi. Please don't interrupt me. Anyway, as I was saying... We'll most likely encounter this same situation in the next town... and if the temperatures keep dropping, we won't have much of a choice. Besides, with that thing you're carrying there... any shaman in town is going to find you, Kasumi. The priority is to take that to Utahime's temple, seal it and hide it in a safe place."
"But... We're not too far from Otari, are we? And if the Zenin clan's army is nearby, that means..."
"That your brothers are in danger now."
"We have to go to Otari right away!"
"I know, but what about Sanso? We can't exorcise him and we can't leave him here either. If a curse takes possession of him... we could provoke the birth of a special grade curse."
"Wait," says Kokichi, "you said there was another option."
-Yes..." he says and sighs. There is a spell, but it requires a very large amount of cursed energy. We're talking about three people, three horses, a wagon full of cursed puppets and a... Sanso. Transporting them to Utahime village would leave me... I don't know, I never tried it with cursed people and cursed objects at the same time. It's a bit risky... since I don't know what we would find on the other side. If the soldiers of the Zenin clan are there... I don't know if I would have enough energy to transport us to another place, or even defend us.
-So... there's nothing we can do, is there?
-Yes there is..." says Kokichi.
They both turn to him, see his gaze wander across the floor as if searching for the decision he lacks. Then he gathers air in his chest and looks up to meet Satoru's eyes.
-I'll go to Otari and look for Kasumi's brothers. You guys go seal that curse, I think it will cause more trouble as long as we don't solve it as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll continue the journey.
-Kokichi... would you do that?
Kasumi's stare is so intense that he can't even hold her gaze for a couple of seconds. His cheeks flush and he purses his lips. His heart feels bruised inside his chest, as if someone had given him a direct blow to his sternum. The concern in her eyes was enough to make him make this decision, even though he's having a hard time answering her last question. Finally, when he has gathered enough courage, he looks up and looks straight into Satoru's eyes.
-You will keep her safe, won't you? If you find trouble where that priestess is, you'll take care of her. Can I trust you with that at least?
Satoru nods with a serious face, then smiles.
-I give you my word as a samurai, if I break it I'll have to kill myself.
-If you break your word, you don't have to, I'll do it for you.
-Sure... well, then this is where our paths separate. If when you get to Otari you think they should move, go to Awashimaura Island, we'll meet you there.
-What's on that island?
-A couple of friends. They will take care of you until we get there.
Kasumi takes a step towards Kokichi, hands the bottle to Satoru and without hesitation pulls Kokichi against her in a tight embrace. She makes a great effort to hold back tears and then smiles at him.
-Thank you for everything you have done for me, someday I will find a way to repay you for everything. Every single one of your favors... I will repay them. I promise.
-I'm not doing this so you owe me anything... I just... want... to do this for you.
Satoru wastes no time and retraces his incantation on the ground, drawing the runes without paying too much attention to the touching words that the couple beside him profess to each other. He must admit, even if it is a little hard for him, that he is a little relieved to have someone else on his side.
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On a small plate beside her, freshly lit incense smokes; it is a scent she has always loved, ever since she was a little girl. The sun is streaming down through the bamboo forest, coming through her window and filling the austere atmosphere with its orange and reddish light. She picks up her teapot and delicately pours herself a cup after an exhausting day, the tasks at the temple are not few for one person and although she would like to have an assistant, she quite enjoys her solitude.
She looks out the window with a slight smile, birds chirping pleasantly breaking the silence.
After the first sip of tea, she smiles. She feels the warmth of the infusion running down her neck and its sweet taste makes her sigh. Suddenly her cup drops to the floor and shatters as she feels a strong current of cursed energy next to her temple and she jumps to her feet. Alerted, she runs to grab her bow and arrow to go outside and aim her arrow straight at the energy.
A smiling face greets her on the other side of the narrow passage to her temple.
"Utahimeee!"
Satoru's voice is loud, chanting her name with so much excitement that even the birds nesting near the temple fly away in fright.
Utahime's face twists at the mere sight of him, she lowers her bow and arrow. A small grumble escapes from between her lips as he approaches, but her gesture is erased almost immediately when she sees that he's not coming alone. Satoru pulls the reins of his horse with a young girl riding on him.
When they are at the foot of the temple steps, they stop.
"Aren't you going to greet an old friend?"
"Friend? Last time you were here you almost burned down the temple!"
"Are you still holding a grudge over that? It's ancient history, besides, the temple doesn't look so bad. Maybe it needed some remodeling."
From Utahime's chest, a suffocating feeling wells up, filling her chest with helplessness and making her clench her fists so tightly that she could break her arrow in half. But the feeling subsides when the girl gets off her horse and, unlike Satoru, introduces herself cordially with a bow.
-I'm sorry we came to bother you, Utahime-san. My name is Miwa Kasumi and... I have come to ask for your help.
Intrigued by her words, the tight grip she has on her weapons ceases. She sees the way she gets off the horse and searches through her things. Her heart shrinks as she senses the evil presence she casually holds in her hands. The small creature inside stirs, floating in an amber liquid. Saliva clumps in her mouth at the mere sight of it and she swallows. Within seconds she realizes it all; Gojo Satoru could not have arrived at her door with a curse of this caliber if he could have exorcised it himself. Utahime lowers her shoulders and sighs.
"Come in."
Kasumi hugs the jar with Sanso inside it tightly. She seems to hesitate for a moment about whether she is doing the right thing or not, until Satoru places a hand on her shoulder. She looks up only to be met with a patient, warm smile that inevitably makes her blush. As if he has given her the encouragement she needed, Kasumi steps forward and climbs the steep stairs to the temple.
Upon arrival, Utahime lifts the pieces of a broken cup carefully and stands up leaving them alone for a moment. Kasumi looks around, though there is not much to see. She sits down next to Satoru, in front of the small table spattered with tea and a white teapot.
Soon after the priestess returns with a couple more cups. She sits quietly, carefully clears the table and arranges the cups in front of them and then serves them tea with a delicacy Kasumi had never seen in her life.
The aura of the temple is so clean that even the air breathes better. Utahime's peaceful expression brings her calm and, when she finally finishes her tea, she looks into her eyes.
"Does either of you intend to explain what you are doing in my temple with that curse in your hands?"
For an instant Kasumi feels a flash of anger shining in her brown eyes, her spiteful gaze settling on Satoru. But he doesn't seem to notice it at all, takes the cup of tea without a word and drinks ignoring what she has asked him. Then he looks at her.
"I don't even know where that hideous thing came from."
"Well..." Kasumi begins, her fingers suddenly clenched around the cup. "Recently... I met a woman. She... is the mother of this curse. I think Sanso..."
"Sanso?" asks Utahime.
"That's his name," replies Satoru.
Apprehensive about the priestess's disheveled face, Kasumi continues.
"Sanso is half human, half curse. There are more of them, his... father... left with the others. I think there are eight in all... there were nine of them, but... one of them died."
"What kind of sick person would do something like that?"
"Does the name Noritoshi Kamo ring a bell?" Satoru asks and Utahime holds her breath.
Her serene expression is completely erased. Her eyebrows are furrowed and she gazes intently at the being lying in Kasumi's hands.
"I see... Is that all you know?"
"Wait," Satoru interrupts, "you said 'one of them died'? How? This one is impossible to exorcise."
"Well... the other one... He wasn't like this one... He was physically the same as an ordinary curse, but he... thought and felt like a human. He was intelligent and during the time I spent with him I noticed that he had a very strong bond with his siblings and his mother."
"Why was that one different from the others?" Utahime asks and Kasumi shrugs her shoulders.
"I don't know..."
Satoru strokes his chin.
"Maybe the fetus must go through a process to reach its final form. Maybe its mother's human body wasn't able to finish its gestation, that's why it was born like this... It's like a premature baby, or something like that."
"I've never seen anything like that... I've never heard of anyone being able to conceive a curse. Not even in all my years of study have I ever heard of such a thing. We have to seal its power as soon as possible..."
"Utahime... do you think you could do something for us first?"
"What is it?"
"Could you give us something to eat? Tea is lovely, but if we don't eat something now, we're going to faint."
"Is eating really a bigger concern for you than taking care of sealing a curse of this caliber?"
"You wouldn't say that if you were the one who had been eating bites of dehydrated meat and stew of nothing but mushrooms."
Kasumi's stomach seems to react just hearing the mention of her last meals. Her belly protests indiscreetly helping Satoru's case and she instinctively brings her hands to her navel.
Utahime looks at them both, one at a time, with a reprehensible gesture. Kasumi's abashed face makes her desist from what she is about to say and after gathering a little more patience inside her chest, she stands up about to sigh again.
"If a single curse approaches the temple in search of that thing, you two will be solely responsible for it. Any damage you cause will also be your responsibility. I'll fix something to eat and tomorrow morning I'll see what I can do for you. If we're going to seal that curse, it won't stay here. It's too dangerous... So you, Satoru, will have to take it to a safe place. I'm not going to deal with the consequences of having something so powerful hidden in my own temple, understood?"
"Understood," they both say as two students in unison.
After finishing her tea, Kasumi is quick to walk behind Utahime and offer her her sincerest apologies, as well as her help in preparing dinner. She follows her through the wide corridors of the temple, looking out the windows at the thick bamboo forest. The light shines like an emerald through all the green her pupil can see. She realizes after a short time that there is no one besides the three of them in the temple, but says nothing. She is still embarrassed to have come here with such trouble literally on her hands.
Utahime moves in front of her with her back straight and her hands clasped under her white kimono. She moves as if she is floating on the wooden floor, without making it squeak. Kasumi notices her own awkward stance just by looking at her, she knows she has probably spent years training her posture to move like this. Her black hair is held in a white ribbon, it looks soft and shiny. If she is truly able to seal the curse she brought under her arm, she will become one of her most devoted admirers.
Arriving in the spotless kitchen, Utahime shows her where she keeps the vegetables and lights the fire to heat water in a couple of pots. Kasumi quickly rolls up her sleeves and grabs a knife.
"And you two, how did you meet?" The priestess asks softly, her voice worthy of a magical being.
Kasumi stops to think, not really knowing what to answer. She doesn't know whether to repeat the story he told her or whether she should tell her that the first time she saw him, she was naked, bathing by the river.
"The truth is that I don't remember. I hit my head hard and since then I've had trouble remembering some things."
"Are you feeling all right, was it something recent?"
"I'm fine, it was a few weeks ago... I was able to remember some things, not the things I wanted to. But I'm fine, the wound has healed."
"There are some ways to remember things you thought you'd forgotten."
"A spell?"
"No, it's something much simpler," she says, cutting a carrot into pieces. "Have you ever eaten something that reminded you of your childhood? Or listened to a song that brought back some memory, about the first time you heard it? For me in particular, it happens with smells. I can remember the first time I was taught to serve tea with the aroma of ginger. It's as if they were hand in hand, just smelling its scent the images come to my mind. Have you tried it?"
"No... although I wouldn't know what scent to look for, or what food to taste so I could remember either."
"Ask Satoru. None of the things he said helped you remember it?"
"Only some... although... I wish I could remember everything."
"I've known people who have lost their memories after a hard blow, or because of some special event. Usually... memories don't take long to come back. I have treated some people who have come to the temple with such conditions."
"And have you been successful in helping them to remember?"
"In some cases, when memories are lost because of a specific event... the mind refuses to bring them back. But it does so wisely... some things are better not to remember. In others, as is yours, many times meditation helps. At night I will give you incense, light it and meditate before you go to sleep. Have you ever done it? Meditate?"
"No... I don't think I've ever done it."
"Well, it's not difficult, anyone can do it. Just sit down when you're alone and clear your mind. The first thing you should do is concentrate on your body and what you feel, your hands, your skin, your stomach. When you have achieved that, simply breathe. Breathe deeply and focus your attention on the way the air enters and leaves your body. Surely... your mind will wander when you do this, that's normal. Your mind will go to different places, so don't be hard on yourself if you find it hard to concentrate. Just realize that you are wandering and bring your attention back to your breathing. Then... when you master that, search your mind for what you want to remember. But remember... you must do this in a warm way to yourself. Don't push yourself or punish yourself if you don't get the result you expected after one try."
Kasumi smiles as she listens to Utahime's words. Her serene face changes radically when Satoru's voice bursts into the room. His strident footsteps raise a vein on her forehead and cause a wrinkle to appear between her eyebrows.
"What's taking so long?"
Utahime's shouts stun her, but she doesn't interrupt the exchange between the two of them. Their dynamic doesn't strike her as overly polite for a pair who are supposedly old friends. She continues cooking, when a similar memory comes to her mind. Her brothers used to argue like this from time to time. It's normal for kids their age, and for her, often tired after a long day of struggling to get food home, it was normal. She often ignored them completely, turning her brain off just to keep working without losing her temper.
Maybe Utahime is right, she thinks at the end of the day when they both serve the food on the table. After her last day in the middle of the road, and a few more days traveling in the inclement weather, there's nothing she appreciates more than a warm plate and a roof over her head.
After what she talked about with the priestess, she can't help but look at Satoru out of the corner of her eye. His profile, his straight nose and white skin, his smile, are hypnotic. Any woman, perhaps except Utahime, would believe he is a god walking the earth. His warmth and his gaze are too familiar to let those memories fade into oblivion. She still feels there is something missing, that piece of the puzzle of her life.
Once alone and under Utahime's precise instructions, Kasumi lights the incense in a small dish that she leaves next to her before sitting down in the middle of her room. There is something that occurred to her, when Satoru left his clothes to take a bath and put on something clean.
Sitting in the middle of the gloom she closes her eyes and carefully perceives the sensation on her fingertips. It's strange at first, and she feels a little silly doing it, like that time when she was little and Kusakabe taught her with blows to the head how to control her cursed energy. It feels almost the same, the tingling of her skin, the energy moving slowly inside her body, she hears her heart racing and for a moment she wanders, asking herself why she feels the way she does. Then she frowns and tries to relax again. She breathes in, holds the air in her lungs, then breathes out and repeats the process over and over again.
After a few minutes of silent meditation, Kasumi's mind travels back to that day. The day when three bullies stole her last coins and her catch of the day. She remembers their faces and slowly something she hadn't thought of before comes back, one of them was carrying a curse on his shoulder. After exorcising it, they spared her life and she... returned home.
Her aunt's cruel words come back to her mind, flooding her with a bitter feeling. She can almost feel again the blows she gave her that day, but even more painful are the things she said to her. Then she learned that she had hit Sochi and...
-That day I decided that we would leave... -Kasumi whispers, her voice full of bitterness. Her eyes fill with tears before she gathers air back into her lungs.
At least she remembers a little more of her past. Fire and screams fill her mind, a horse rushing out and a sword pointed in her direction. The stifling heat of the fire seemed to brush her cheek as the second floor of her house collapsed. And then, she remembers his smile shining through the night, under the moonlight. His eyes covered and his words flood her mind. That day she tried to commit suicide and Satoru folded his dagger like a ball of paper.
Kasumi opens her eyes and looks at the garment in her hands. Her face fills with embarrassment, she feels so foolish that she is about to put it all aside, but her intrigued mind won't let her. She brings Satoru's kimono to her face and breathes in his scent.
With her eyes closed, she feels her heart pounding inside her chest as if it is about to burst. Her mind travels in all directions, but what fills her thoughts is him, lying down and her beside him. His chest serving as her pillow and herself, absorbed in the swaying of his breaths.
As if hidden in that hut swaying in the wind, Kasumi remembers sleeping next to him, touching his face, caressing his forehead. One by one, they appear later, the sound of his laughter, his harsh words regarding her idea of an untimely death, the fireflies, the hot springs, Ichigo's palace. Everything comes back to her like a stampede from which she cannot escape. Even the smallest thing, like the way he liked to stroke her head, or that last question he asked her before falling off the waterfall.
'Do you like me?'
With her skin bristling, Kasumi finally understands the reason for this feeling that fills her stomach, the reason for the intense pounding of her heart. Now she knows why when she's near Gojo Satoru all her skin feels hot up to her ears. It's because she is completely captivated by him, by the way he touches her, by the impetuous way he protects her. And even if he didn't do all that, the mere sound of his voice chills her to the bone. He has to do absolutely nothing but stare at her with that intensity that only he possesses to render her speechless.
All this time that thing she was chasing inside herself was him.
Kasumi stands up, unsettled by what she has just discovered. She needs to see him immediately, as she didn't see him in months. She walks out of her room in the middle of the night to find Utahime alone, drinking a cup of tea in tranquility.
With the cup dangling in front of her lips, she sees her arrive with a distressed face.
"Utahime-san... where is Satoru?"
"He came out for some air a moment ago, he said he found the smell of my incense unpleasant... He's so disrespectful, it's a very good quality incense. He doesn't appreciate the... Kasumi?"
Her hurried gait, her flowing hair shining in the moonlight. Kasumi runs in search of him almost breathlessly, runs along the paths made of wooden planks laid out along the bamboo forest. She walks until she sees him alone, standing there staring at the crescent moon.
He turns and looks at her over his shoulder, sketches a soft smile that makes Kasumi's feelings magically reborn inside her stomach, filling her chest with a warm, suffocating feeling. Kasumi swallows saliva and sees him as if she were behind an oasis in the middle of the desert, as if he could simply disappear.
With both hands on her knees, Kasumi stops. Her face completely flushed and words struggling to escape from between her lips. Her heart feels so intensely that, if she doesn't say it now, she feels it will simply explode.
He approaches her, walks a few steps until Kasumi breathes normally again and looks into his eyes. His light blue eyes seem to be able to cast such an accurate spell on her that she can't stop looking at him. She can't help but marvel at his smile again. She can't stop her pulses from traveling inside her body in all directions. His scent, his warmth, his closeness, all of it envelopes her until the words come out of her mouth without meditating for a single second.
"I remember!" She says, clenching her small white fists, "I remember everything! I remember...! I remember that day, when they attacked Yokohama and... I remember how you saved me from that curse. I remember Ichigo's palace and... how you rescued me from him too. I remember the trip and the riddles, I remember how you said you would gain my trust and also what happened in Shinmachi. I remember the hot springs and I remember when you fell from the poison of Maki Zenin's weapon. I remember it all... I also remember... that for quite a while now... my heart beats hard every time I see you, or when you lay a hand on me. I remember now... why I feel that something is missing when you are not by my side. That's because... because I feel something for you that I can't quite grasp but it's here, deep in my heart. And... even though I'm afraid of what you might think of me after everything I just said, I feel that if I don't do this... I think... my heart won't be able to take it another minute!"
Kasumi suddenly grabs Satoru's clean clothes and stands on her tiptoes to gently kiss Satoru's lips.
So fleeting is the brush of her lips and so rapturous is her confession, that Satoru is speechless. Bent by the small hands of the girl in front of him, he crouches down and lets their mouths touch for an instant until she decides to let go and looks into his eyes.
Satoru's heart pounds hard under his throat and he suddenly swallows. His face flushed; his eyes surprised. Without thinking too much about it, his mind completely blank. Satoru grabs Kasumi's shoulders and kisses her as only he knows how.
Hello readers! I hope you are doing great and even more I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. It finally happened what I've been waiting for since I started writing. I decided to post this chapter today, I might post the next one next Saturday, depending on how fast I progress with chapter 13 which is the one I'm currently writing. I don't want to make promises I can't keep.
At last, Kokichi left leaving the main couple alone, may the force be with you Kokichi, see you later. Now came Utahime who, while not one of my favorite characters in the series, I wanted to include her because I think her ability will be needed in the future.
Another thing I didn't mention in the previous chapter is that the names of the cursed wombs are the real names they have in the series, I'm not sure where that information came from, but in the sources I consulted the same names came out. It's not Itadori, it's one of his brothers that Kasumi has in her possession. I'm not sure yet if Choso will appear later on, but at least the basis is there for him to be included in the plot.
What did you think? I'm dying to know if you liked this chapter. See you soon!
