Chapter 51: I Know You're Not a Good Person
Fuji Kazue pulled her coat tighter, tugging her hat brim low. A mask covered most of her face.
Her footsteps were hurried yet deliberately quiet as she navigated the city's street corners. When she stopped at her front door and pulled out her key, she discovered the door was slightly ajar.
In an instant, her heart seized as if someone had grabbed it.
A burglar?
Or worse... had she been discovered?
Fuji Kazue's hand froze mid-air. Cold sweat immediately soaked through her back. She held her breath, pressing her ear against the crack, trying to catch any sounds from inside.
Silence. Terrifying silence. Only her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Should I run?
Just as the thought formed, the door suddenly opened on its own.
No lights were on inside. In the darkness, she could vaguely make out a figure sitting on the sofa, facing the entrance. The face remained invisible.
"We meet at last, Kazahana Koyuki. Please, come in."
This was supposed to be her home...
Koyuki thought this even as her legs moved involuntarily, carrying her body inside. The door closed softly behind her. When she regained control of her movement, she leaned against the door, legs weak, barely able to stand.
The shadowy figure rose and walked toward her.
In the dim light, Koyuki saw a young woman with blue hair adorned with a paper flower.
"I know what you're thinking." Konan stopped walking, maintaining her distance. "But you don't need to be afraid. I'm not sent by Kazahana Dotou."
Koyuki didn't relax at those words. Her body remained pressed against the door, voice hoarse. "Do I look that easy to fool?"
"I have no reason to deceive you. I'm here to help."
"Help?"
Koyuki laughed. What kind of help broke into someone's home, controlled the owner's movements, then announced their good intentions from a position of power?
"Help me what? Help me find peace sooner?"
Konan realized her approach had been wrong. After a moment of silence, she continued. "Help you get revenge."
The air froze for several seconds.
Then Koyuki laughed again, the sound carrying numbness and despair. "You don't need to go through this much trouble to trick me into going back... Oh, I understand now."
She reached for her neck, unfastening the necklace she'd worn constantly. A hexagonal crystal pendant that caught what little light existed in the darkness. Her father's final keepsake. The only thing she'd taken when fleeing.
"This is what you came for, isn't it?"
She threw the necklace at Konan, the motion rough, as if discarding something worthless rather than a precious memento. "Take it. This is the only thing of value I have. The only thing the Land of Snow has."
Konan caught the necklace smoothly. The cold, hard surface somehow felt faintly warm. This was the key to the Land of Snow's geothermal device.
Mission accomplished.
She tucked the necklace into her robe's inner pocket, next to the notebook, and turned toward the door.
Seeing Konan move to leave, Koyuki's tense body finally relaxed. Like a puppet with cut strings, she slid down the door and collapsed on the floor.
Konan heard the dull thump behind her. Her footsteps stopped involuntarily.
Watching that suddenly still shadow, Koyuki's brief relief vanished. In her terrified gaze, Konan turned and walked back toward her.
Still... won't let me go?
She closed her eyes in despair. But what came instead were hands sliding under her arms, lifting her entire body from the cold floor.
Koyuki's eyes flew open in shock, meeting Konan's gaze directly. Those amber eyes seemed familiar somehow.
Right. She'd seen them before. In the mirror. Just like her own eyes.
The eyes of someone who'd lost something irreplaceable.
"What do you really want?" Koyuki's voice no longer trembled. Only calm inquiry remained.
Konan's mouth opened. The words she'd prepared stuck in her throat.
What do I want?
She released Koyuki and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, the Fire Country capital's countless lights spilled like a river of stars. Streets teemed with people. The scene formed a stark contrast to the Land of Rain in her memory.
In the movie, Princess Gale was heroic and spirited. When her father was assassinated, when enemy nations invaded, when ministers looked down on and tried to manipulate the naive princess, she fought alone with a single sword, defeating all enemies. Then she burned down the palace that had imprisoned her and walked out into the sunrise, becoming the Storm Queen.
The movie ended. But...
Then what?
Princess Gale was Princess Gale. Fuji Kazue was Fuji Kazue. Kazahana Koyuki was Kazahana Koyuki.
So who was she?
Was she Konan, or Akatsuki's White Tiger?
Akatsuki's purpose was bringing peace to this world. But... then what?
Only in this moment did Konan suddenly realize Akatsuki didn't need the geothermal generator. The Land of Rain wouldn't change because of it. The journal had already given her the answer. Peace wasn't the story's ending. Akatsuki had already failed.
So why had she come here?
What should she be doing?
Feeling frustrated, Konan pulled out the hexagonal crystal necklace. She handed it back to Koyuki along with the paper flower from her hair.
"I'll come find you again."
Before the words fully faded, she'd already turned toward the door. As it opened, Koyuki's hoarse voice came from behind.
"I know you're not a good person. But I didn't expect you're not a bad person either."
Konan's footsteps hesitated imperceptibly at the threshold. She didn't look back, letting the cold wind lift the hem of her robe as her figure gradually dissolved into the swirling snow.
Night deepened. Even the prosperous capital gradually fell silent. Lights along the streets extinguished one by one, leaving only scattered streetlamps swaying in the cold wind, stretching Konan's lonely shadow long behind her.
She wandered aimlessly through empty streets like a homeless ghost.
"Young lady, I've seen you pass several times now. Still out this late? Are you lost?"
An elderly voice interrupted her thoughts.
Konan returned to awareness, following the sound. At the corner, a simple dango stand radiated warm orange light.
Behind the stand sat an elderly man. His clothes were simple, his hair white with age, but his eyes were clear and kind with gentle concern.
Konan froze slightly. For some reason, her long-frozen heart rippled faintly.
"Yes..."
Her voice was so soft it nearly scattered on the night wind.
"I'm lost."
"Young lady, when you're lost, don't keep walking. If you get too tired, you won't be able to move when you finally find your direction." The old man pulled out a small stool from under his stand, patting off the dust.
"If you don't mind, sit and rest a while. Have some dango to warm yourself."
The charcoal fire crackled. Konan watched the dancing flames, hesitating for a moment. Finally, she walked over and sat down.