Author's Corner
This fic has somehow hit 400 favourites! From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much. The characters and this story are all very important to me, so it's incredibly uplifting to know that it's not just me screaming into the void. (It definitely feels that way sometimes lmao.)
If you're looking for more Sess/OC content, I've actually written another fic called Serotonin, which you can find listed amongst my other stories. It's set during the modern era and is more of a slice of life with supernatural elements. It's also way shorter than this monster, and not to mention complete, so there's nothing standing in your way of reading the whole thing from start to finish. Feel free to give it a read if that sounds like something you'd be interested in.
With that being said, please enjoy the chapter! I've attached a TW to this one as it contains a scene that some readers may find upsetting.
Trigger warning: attempted rape.
EIGHTH BLOOD
Chapter 86: A wolf in sheep's clothing
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For the first time in years, Rin paid full attention to Master Jaken's rambling. The room they were in was warm and stuffy, but at least the walls didn't have swarms of lilies smothered all over them. Her thoughts no longer felt like wasps buzzing around inside her head, threatening her sanity. She felt like herself again. And it was all thanks to Master Jaken.
She just hoped that he would be able to follow through with his promise. There were only two days left until the duel, which gave her very little time to set her plan in motion. Until Master Jaken managed to procure the akai shi flower, all she could do was bide her time and wait.
The imp was forced to step out for a moment when one of the soldiers appeared in the doorway and signalled him over. Rin listened intently as they spoke in muffled voices behind the closed shoji, but no matter how hard she concentrated, she simply couldn't make out what they were saying. Perhaps Tsunayoshi required Master Jaken's assistance with the Nintoujou again. But why? What was he seeking this time?
A loud bang thundered from the other side of the room, shattering her train of thought and prompting her to study her surroundings carefully. The only difference she could spot was an incense holder that had seemingly toppled over and landed on the ground. Whilst it was possible that it could have fallen on its own, it was more likely that something had knocked it over.
She opened her mouth to shout Master Jaken's name, but paused when she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye. A patch of darkness skated across the floorboards, sticking close to the wall in an effort to blend in with the existing shadows.
Scrambling to her feet, Rin chased the apparition through a second exit and down a series of dimly lit hallways. She'd never been in this part of the castle before, but sightseeing wasn't exactly high on her list of priorities. The shadow raced across the ceiling and veered left at the junction between two corridors. Her stomach sank when she rounded the corner and was greeted by an exasperatingly empty passageway. The apparition was nowhere to be seen.
It didn't take long for the panic to set in. Tsunayoshi was already suspicious after what had transpired in the jail sector. There was no telling what he might do if he found out she'd been skulking around the stronghold unsupervised, but it would probably end in more bloodshed. She needed to come up with one hell of an excuse before Master Jaken inevitably took the fall for her actions.
The room at the end of the corridor seemed like a good place to start. It was barricaded from the outside with thick wooden beams and excess furniture. Rin thought that was rather strange, until she considered that it had likely been done not to keep something out, but to keep something in.
The deep scratches on the floor and along the walls implied that there had been a struggle of sorts, but that didn't explain the barricade. Nor did all the blonde hair that had accumulated in between the floorboards. She followed the trail of fur to the edge of the barricade and cleared a path small enough for her to squeeze into.
Sliding the door open a crack, she slipped into the room and held her breath, praying that whatever was inside wouldn't automatically view her as a threat.
A low-pitched growl drifted into her ears, causing the hairs on her arms and neck to stand up in anticipation. The room was pitch black, so she had no idea what was making the awful noise, but it sounded like it was coming from somewhere up ahead. Steeling herself, she decided to open the door a little more to allow some light into the room, and moved to do so.
The darkness parted slightly, revealing a long metal chain that was attached to the wall facing the door. The growling became louder as the light from the corridor illuminated a large paw and a hint of mane.
Rin covered her mouth with her hands to muffle the sound of her gasp.
The nekomata rose from her sitting position and stalked closer, still emitting a coarse rumbling sound from the back of her throat. The chain scraped along the floor behind her, prompting Rin to wince as the shrill sound of metal rubbing against wood assaulted her eardrums.
"Kirara?" she called out faintly. "It's me, Rin. Are you—"
The words died in her throat when she noticed a pair of inky black eyes in the place of Kirara's scarlet ones.
Before she could even begin to process what she was looking at, the door slid open fully and flooded the room with light. Kirara snarled and backed into a corner, whereas Rin had never felt more relieved. She turned and locked eyes with one of the soldiers. He would undoubtedly take her straight to Tsunayoshi and have her explain herself to him, but at least she wouldn't end up like Kirara.
"You shouldn't be in here," the soldier said calmly.
Rin's gaze shifted to the nekomata, who was still snarling ferociously. "What's happened to her?"
"That doesn't concern you."
"Does our lord know about this?"
"He was the one who gave the order."
Of course he was.
"Well?" she asked, hiding her fear with false bravado. "What are you waiting for? I'm not supposed to be in here, right? Don't worry, I won't waste your time trying to convince you to cover for me. Take me to him and let's get this over with—"
"I could be persuaded."
Her brow creased. "What?"
Placing his naginata on the ground, he encroached on her personal space. She forgot how to breathe when her back touched the wall and his hands descended on her waist. "Why should he have you all to himself?" he murmured, leaning in to sniff her neck. "I won't tell if you don't."
Trembling, Rin forced herself to nod. She doubted he would have listened even if she'd told him no. She stayed motionless as his hands slithered down to her hips. Don't struggle, she thought absently. The girls from the pleasure house had told her that fighting back only made it hurt more, especially if it was your first time. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she closed her eyes and braced a hand on the table to steady herself. Her thumb inadvertently brushed against something hard and smooth, urging her to reopen her eyes. It was a small ceramic teapot with edelweiss shrubs painted on it. Her fingers instinctively closed around the handle.
Breathing hard, she waited until the soldier's hands were preoccupied with untying her obi, then bashed him over the head with the pot. The force of the blow sent him floundering sideways, where he landed within reach of a ravenous nekomata, who immediately pounced on him and plunged her teeth into his upper torso. He screamed in agony as blood gushed out of him like a fountain, soaking the fur around Kirara's mouth.
The sound only lasted for a handful of seconds. By the time she began eating him, he was already dead.
A sense of calm washed over Rin as she watched Kirara bite into him like a steak. Two people were dead because of her. The first had been a spur-of-the-moment decision made during the chaos of the invasion, whereas this had been carried out with perfect clarity. She might not have delivered the killing blow, but she was still responsible for his death. The knowledge was like releasing a breath she'd been holding since birth. She'd spent her whole life feeling weak and powerless. The shattering of that belief was somewhat liberating.
Assuming a crouching position, she reached out to stroke Kirara's head. "Thank you—"
The nekomata stopped gnawing on the soldier's arm and snapped at her. Rin snatched her hand back just in time to avoid having her fingers bitten off. Her eyes were wide with terror as the creature inside Kirara stared at her with a hostile expression, before resuming its meal.
Rin took advantage of the distraction and fled, slamming the sliding door shut behind her. She ran for as long as her lungs would allow her to, before dropping to her knees and burying her head in her hands. What had she done? Even if no one ever found the soldier's remains, someone was bound to notice that he was missing and report his disappearance to Tsunayoshi. What would she tell him then? If she told him the truth, would he believe her? Would he even care?
Get up, the entity in her mind whispered urgently.
"I can't!" she sobbed. "What are you? What do you want from me? Why won't you just leave me alone?"
We cannot. It is our duty to protect you.
"I already have a protector."
And yet he left you here. Alone.
"He didn't know this would happen."
Then he is as foolish as he is reckless. But enough about him. You must stay strong. Your place is in the sky. Not grovelling on the ground. Now, child of the heavens, stand up and fly.
Exhaling slowly, Rin refastened her obi and smoothed the knots in her hair. Whilst she didn't fully understand the butterfly's cryptic words, the meaning behind them couldn't have been clearer.
She couldn't afford to give up now.
She rose to her feet and carried on navigating through unknown waters. As she walked, she noticed a tiny blood splatter on the hem of her junihitoe. It was relatively well hidden within the repeating crane pattern, but that wouldn't be enough to fool anyone with a keen sense of smell. If only she weren't surrounded by hordes of immortal beings with enhanced senses.
Crouching, she plucked a pin out of her hair and drove the sharp point into her ankle. She winced as a bead of blood formed where she'd pricked herself, then gathered some onto her fingers and rubbed it into the existing stain. By the time she'd finished, her hand was wet and slippery—and not to mention bright red. Whoever crossed paths with her now would most likely assume that she'd been in some kind of accident. At least, that was the outcome she was hoping for.
Of course, the worst-case scenario had to come true instead.
Tsunayoshi appeared at the opposite end of the corridor and locked eyes with her from across the extended space. Her pulse skyrocketed and she balled her hands into tight fists. He looked surprised to see her, but his expression quickly changed from shocked to one of fondness.
When he resumed walking in her direction, she realised that he wasn't alone. Shippo trailed behind him with his head lowered submissively, and Rin's heart broke all over again when she saw the cloth patch that he was wearing to hide his mutilated eye socket.
"What a pleasant surprise," Tsunayoshi said after they'd finished bowing to each other. "Freedom looks good on you. It would seem that the imp was right, after all."
"Thank you, my lord. It feels good to stretch my legs."
His eyes strayed down to the overabundance of blood on her kimono. "Are you injured?"
She lifted the countless layers of fabric to reveal her ankle. "Oh, this? It's nothing."
"What happened?"
She smiled sheepishly. "It's kind of embarrassing."
"Tell me anyway."
"Well . . . I asked Jaken-sama if we could take a break from studying for a little while, and he said yes. Because it's so nice out, I suggested that we play a game of hide-and-seek. We used to play it all the time when I was young. Anyhow, I cut myself on a thorn whilst I was hiding from him in the gardens. I tried to stem the bleeding, but as you can see, I just made it worse."
He was silent for a moment, prolonging the tension, before he burst out laughing at her expense. She breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled. Shippo took the opportunity to look at her then, and his one remaining eye conveyed all that she needed to know. For some unfathomable reason, he didn't blame her for what had happened yesterday. He had every motivation to, but he didn't.
"My bride is so foolish," chuckled Tsunayoshi. "She ought to be more careful in the future."
"I will," she assured him. "It won't happen again, my lord."
He lowered his voice and asked, "I take it the imp is still searching for you?"
She nodded.
His eyes flashed mischievously. "Then as far as I am concerned, you were never here."
Rin forced herself to smile wider. "Your discretion is greatly appreciated."
She waited for him to continue walking, but he merely inched closer and reached into his robes for something. It was his mother's locket. The last time she'd seen it, it had been around Shippo's neck. The usurper gestured for her to lift her hair, then fastened the clasp above her nape.
"There we are," he said. "It's finally back where it belongs." He tilted his head and addressed Shippo directly. "Isn't she stunning?"
"Yes, my lord," the kitsune said earnestly. "Her beauty is unprecedented."
Tsunayoshi turned her palm over and licked the blood from her fingers. Once he was done, he cradled her hand in his and said, "Come to my chambers just before sundown. There is something I must show you before we are officially wed."
Her face fell. Had he changed his mind about waiting to take her virtue?
Sensing her fear, he leaned in close and whispered, "Don't be afraid. I will not dishonour you."
She swallowed. "I know."
"Good."
The usurper released her hands and retreated from her personal space. Bowing in farewell, she walked past him and Shippo with her dignity still intact. Tsunayoshi might have eased up on his mistreatment of her, but that didn't change the fact that she couldn't wait to kill him.
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