Kunikuzushi frowned faintly.
Something about this tofu shop seemed different from the last time he had seen it.
He could not say exactly what.
Perhaps it was the two new lanterns. Their red glow dyed the silhouettes of white sakura in the courtyard a warm crimson and lent the little shop a livelier air.
Or perhaps... it was something else.
The old wooden sign still hung before Kiyono's Tofu Shop. That, at least, had not been replaced in centuries.
Kunikuzushi wore a white veiled kasa. He lowered its brim to conceal his face, then knocked upon the wooden door.
"We're closed today~"
Of course they were. Every employee had gone on vacation.
The fox lady's languid voice came from within, followed by a small yawn.
"Not opening the door."
"It's me," Kunikuzushi said calmly.
"Still closed~" Yae Miko drawled. "A day off is a day off. I wouldn't open this door even for Ei."
"I want to speak with you about Kiyono Fugin."
"Not interested," Yae Miko replied dismissively.
Kunikuzushi rested one hand against the wooden door. With the slightest exertion, he could force his way inside. Ordinarily, being refused entry would already have ended with him blowing the door down.
"By all means, try brute force," Miko's teasing yet cold voice said from inside.
In the end, Kunikuzushi lowered his hand.
Not because he feared Yae Miko. He simply did not want to damage this ancient wooden door.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue. After a moment of thought, he spoke as though reaching a decision.
"I saw Kiyono Fugin's heart."
He had decided to reveal part of what he knew, though he was not certain it even counted as a clue.
The tofu shop went silent.
An inexplicable weight settled over the courtyard. White sakura drifted down like fine snow and came to rest upon the puppet's shoulders. A thick layer had already gathered across the steps.
Creak—
The wooden door slowly opened.
Yae Miko peered out. Kunikuzushi's face was reflected in her pale violet eyes. Her lips parted, her expression utterly blank.
"...What?"
"I saw Kiyono Fugin's heart," Kunikuzushi repeated, meeting her gaze directly. "Can we have a proper conversation now?"
Miko watched him warily.
She had every reason to. No matter how much Kunikuzushi owed that old bastard who refused to die, he remained a Fatui Harbinger. To Yae Miko, the Fatui would always warrant suspicion.
Especially when they were still searching for Kiyo Seigan.
But he had mentioned Kiyono Fugin's heart...?
"Where did you see it?" Miko asked softly.
"So," Kunikuzushi said, brushing the sakura from his shoulder, "may I come inside now?"
"We are not enemies, Yae Miko. I am not your enemy." His voice remained calm. "There are simply things I want to know."
The fox lady pulled the door open.
"Where was it? Who had it?"
"La Signora."
"The Fatui's La Signora?"
...
The sky grew darker. Between the last yellow of dusk and the fading daylight, pale rain descended in slow lines. It pattered through that hour poised between evening and night, blooming into one tiny splash after another.
The rain showed no sign of ending.
Leaden clouds stretched without limit. The world seemed reduced to black and white, its cold sky drowned in mist. Torch after torch illuminated the shrine as brightly as day.
Torachiyo's eyes shone just as brightly.
Brilliant gold burned in the cold night as a bestial growl rose from deep within her throat. One look at her told Kiyo Seigan that this would be difficult.
Kiyo had once been consumed by karmic taint himself. He knew exactly what it felt like to lose control.
To want to bite and tear apart everything before you.
"Calm down," Kiyo said softly. "Something isn't right."
Something was wrong.
Kiyo had noticed it.
La Signora was not among the soldiers.
...Had the Fatui truly come for him?
He had never registered his presence anywhere in Inazuma. Neither his appearance nor any other information about him had ever been exposed. The only clue La Signora possessed was that he came from Liyue.
Even the Yashiro Commission had failed to trace him. If the Fatui could do so this easily, Snezhnaya would have conquered Inazuma long ago.
If they had not come to capture him, then why deploy so many soldiers?
The answer came easily.
Perhaps their target was Torachiyo—or rather, the "monster" of Chinju Forest.
Kiyo would not let them take her. Neither Ioroi nor Torachiyo was a monster. What great demon survived by playing a cute stone statue in exchange for food? They even resorted to stealing village chickens when hungry. Real monsters ate people!
The Fatui were no charitable order of monster slayers. Kiyo knew that better than anyone.
He had no fondness for the things they did.
Though they stood in a foreign land—in the nation of Inazuma—the Fatui acted without the slightest restraint.
They were studying corrupt creations such as Delusions. Perhaps they had found traces of what lurked within Chinju Forest and, under the righteous banner of slaying a monster, had taken an interest in Torachiyo as a rare specimen who survived corruption. That would explain why they had sent soldiers to capture her.
It was the likeliest answer.
They needed to get Torachiyo away without revealing that she still lived. They could not allow this to become a larger incident.
Otherwise, not only would Torachiyo be exposed; Kiyo's own whereabouts would be revealed as well.
He was about to explain this to her, but Torachiyo had little reason left to appeal to.
She hated them.
She hated the figures outside the door: their strange, ugly masks; the scent that did not belong to this land; the alien language they spoke; their weapons and their revolting eyes.
Instinctively, she loathed them.
To an Inazuman general—especially one who had fought five hundred years ago—the soldiers standing upon Inazuman soil were invaders.
And those Delusions...
They smelled exactly like the filth from five hundred years before.
It was as though she had returned to that old battlefield.
She hated that smell.
The oni girl's lips curved upward, revealing a white tiger fang.
She tilted her head. Tassel-like hair spilled across her magnificent jūnihitoe, and one pale hand had already settled upon her crimson tachi. The night wind rose, sending the robe and the maple leaves before the courtyard swirling together, its opulent patterns beautiful enough to steal the breath.
"Seigan." Torachiyo looked back at him, golden eyes trembling with excitement. Her smile was like a red maple—brilliant and dangerous.
"Dance!"
Dance.
Dance?
Kiyo blinked. Before he could react, Torachiyo vaulted through the window. Her bare feet struck the wet earth and sent water splashing around her.
The moment the Fatui saw Torachiyo—especially the horns that marked her as an oni—they cheered as one.
That confirmed Kiyo's suspicion.
The Fatui had indeed come to hunt Torachiyo.
Their leader, an executioner, let his gaze linger upon those horns. Narrow eyes gleaming, he began imagining the rewards Lady Signora would bestow upon him. A faint smile rose unbidden to his lips.
It froze an instant later.
The crimson blade punched through his brow and burst from the back of his skull. Blood sprayed, yet not a drop clung to the steel. Mikoshi Chiyo twisted and swept the blade free in one graceful motion, sending his severed head spinning into the air.
The entire exchange lasted only a few breaths. Even the maple leaves had not yet reached the ground.
Beautiful... Kiyo could not help thinking.
That executioner had been at least Level 60, yet she had killed him instantly.
Torachiyo was not even at full strength. Filth still lingered within her.
"Waaah!" Little Ioroi covered his eyes. "You can't do that...!"
...Blood had already been spilled. They had no choice but to fight.
The Fatui were his enemies anyway.
...They still had a bounty on him.
Torachiyo had invited him to dance. He might as well accompany her for one song.
"Don't be afraid, Ioroi." Kiyo drew his sword as well and called to the little tanuki, "Hide inside. Whatever happens, don't come out."
"I-I...!" Ioroi trembled all over, yet stubbornly forced courage into his voice. "I'm not afraid!"
"Ioroi is very brave."
With that, Kiyo followed close behind Torachiyo. Pale rain struck his thin kimono and spread through the fabric in rippling rings.
The Fatui recovered from their shock and cast aside their contempt. Delusion after Delusion flared. Corrupt, malignant power began reshaping their bodies, burning away their lifespans to force out their full physical potential.
Their auras grew darker and more sinister. Cold light shone from beneath their masks.
Now they looked more corrupted than Torachiyo did.
Kiyo lowered his stance. Kamigiri swept across the field, first severing the horses' legs. Mounts and riders crashed in a chorus of screams. He moved between rain and rearing horses, blade rising and falling. Successive cuts flowed like a storm, trailing layer upon layer of afterimages. Everywhere he passed, another Delusion shattered.
[You have defeated a Delusion Soldier: Lv. 40]
[You have defeated...]
[Current Level: Lv. 35]
"Dance!" Kiyo's figure shone within Torachiyo's eyes. A wild, delighted smile rested upon her lips. "Dance!"
The Fatui archers loosed in unison. Countless arrows wrapped in the power of Delusions covered half the sky, descending like a bank of storm clouds.
Torachiyo's crimson blade struck the rain of arrows. Steel collided with steel in a brilliant eruption of sparks.
"Monster!" the Fatui cried, staring at her in terror.
She moved faster and faster. When her blade surpassed the falling arrows, Torachiyo began weaving directly through the rain. Her dazzling jūnihitoe streamed across the night sky, bare feet stepping upon maple leaves as she descended upon the Fatui.
"Dance!"
Just as she had five hundred years ago.
Kamigiri trembled softly. Fine serpents of lightning coiled around its edge, and it began to resonate with the crimson blade.
Kiyo followed Kamigiri's guidance. His sword moved naturally, tracing the steps of that dance, and his mind fell effortlessly into stillness.
[You are learning Fudō Ittō (from Kamigiri)]
It was a dance. The rise and fall of swords formed its rhythm; the rain striking earth marked its rests. Crimson maple leaves entwined with pure-white lightning. Maples fell. Thunder flared and vanished.
When the rain stopped that night, not a single Delusion remained.
[Kiyo Seigan: Lv. 39]
Kiyo slowly exhaled. Even he was exhausted—utterly exhausted. His clothes were soaked through with rain and blood, and dried streaks crusted his face. He sat down weakly upon the ground and released Kamigiri.
A puddle lay before him.
He studied his bedraggled reflection and thought, Lumine is going to lecture me again.
They had caused such a commotion in Chinju Forest that Miss Lumine was probably already on her way.
Kiyo looked helplessly toward Torachiyo. Sensing his gaze, Chiyo raised her eyes.
She did not appear to understand the concept of exhaustion.
To Kiyo's relief, the filth had not left Torachiyo forever lost in slaughter. The eyes with which she watched him remained clear and clean.
The rain had stopped, and the moon emerged.
Mikoshi Chiyo stood bathed in moonlight, her head tilted slightly, tassel-like hair pouring down and mingling with the silver glow. She lifted one pale arm and licked the blood from her wrist like a cat washing its face.
This had become troublesome.
"We have to leave." Kiyo repeated his request, coaxing her patiently. "The Fatui know where you are now. You can't stay here anymore... All right?"
He was beginning to feel like an abductor himself, carrying on Big Sister Blondie's proud tradition by kidnapping a stray cat from the forest.
Before Kiyo could finish speaking, something cool touched his cheek. The sensation was soft, damp, and gentle as it passed carefully over his skin. His eyes widened.
Mikoshi Chiyo was licking the blood from his face.
She was so close that their cheeks nearly touched and their warm breaths mingled. At that distance, Kiyo could see skin so pale it was almost translucent and irises of brilliant gold.
Kiyo knew that animals—cats and lions, for example—sometimes helped their companions wash.
But she was an oni.
And Kiyo could not break free. The oni girl was astonishingly strong. She forced him down, held his face still, and carefully licked away the blood. Once his cheek was clean, she moved to his neck, then his collarbone.
Throughout it all, her face remained cool and calm, as though this were the most ordinary thing in the world.
Since the corruption, she acted with complete, innocent instinct.
"Dirty," she said, sparing every word. "Must wash your face. Don't be naughty."
Which one of them was being naughty?
"You still understand washing your face. Does filth wash its face? Do monsters wash their faces?"
Torachiyo tilted her head.
"You were never a monster, Chiyo." Kiyo finally managed to free himself and looked at her with complete seriousness. "You are my friend."
You were never a monster. You are my friend.
"You're only ill, and I'll be the one to cure you."
"...So stop hiding in these mountains. It's boring here." Kiyo looked at Torachiyo. "You go hungry too. There's nothing good about it."
"Bring Ioroi and leave this place with me."
Kiyo looked into Torachiyo's eyes, brilliant and clear as a wine-red sunset.
"I'll bring everyone together. I already buried the wine—a jar of sakura wine I brewed myself. It's really, truly delicious. I can make tofu too, wonderful tofu, so you'll never go hungry again..."
"Hanachirusato is going to leave us." Kiyo paused. "We need to say a proper farewell to her."
Torachiyo could not understand his words. Most of her reason was gone, leaving only the instincts of an oni. Yet simply looking at the boy before her filled her with an inexplicable sorrow.
She pressed her lips together. After a long silence, Torachiyo slowly nodded. Her lips parted—but before she could speak, her eyes widened.
Kiyo's figure was reflected in their brilliant gold.
A strange crimson butterfly had alighted upon his shoulder.
It was unlike any butterfly she had ever seen. Its wings moved softly, trailing lines of flowing fire through the air. It was beautiful enough to be a work of art.
The hunting instinct unique to the oni made her pupils contract.
Torachiyo shoved Kiyo away.