Walking through the winding terrain of the silent forest near the village, a young woman with long black hair dressed as a priestess and carrying a bow in her hand keeps her gaze forward, showing no interest in looking at the one following her.
"Brrr, so cold, and that's considering I came to help you without any ulterior motive."
"Did I ask you to?"
"Good point, although I don't think it's very smart to let a sick person worry about another. So here I am, an attentive and handsome helper."
Caressing his bright golden hair with one hand while lifting his head proudly, the young man dressed in a long white shirt and black trousers (transformed) struts behind the girl.
She is not surprised by such behavior, instead keeping her eyes fixed ahead as a small, almost imperceptible smile grows on her lips. This smile is cold, sharp, and carries a hint of jest, just like the young man's behind her—and yes, it truly was.
"An attentive and reliable helper who runs away from a little girl. Quite the qualities."
"Ouch, sharp as a rose, Kikyo."
"A rose, Asahiko?"
"You know, a rose… the flower… here, let me make you one."
Extending his hand toward one of the many green leaves carried by the afternoon wind, Asahiko takes one between his index and middle fingers, then runs a few steps ahead of Kikyo.
Once there, standing in front of her and forcing her to stop, Asahiko makes an exaggerated bow and turns his back for a few moments. Of course, Kikyo easily notices the movement of his spiritual energy, minimal to an almost absurd degree, but she remains vigilant nonetheless.
"Ready…?"
"As ready as I can be after losing five seconds of my life."
"Then… ta-da!"
Making the sound effect himself with his mouth, Asahiko quickly turns around and offers Kikyo a large bouquet of flowers. This bouquet is made entirely of roses, both real ones such as red or black, and unreal ones in golden or blue colors, turning the bouquet into a work of art.
The situation genuinely surprises Kikyo, who always keeps her expressions under perfect control, whether due to the vibrant colors of each rose or the faint sweet scent they give off, causing her lips to form a slight smile without the sarcasm or calculated coldness she usually wears as a mask.
"It's…"
"Beautiful, right?"
"It's a waste of time."
Walking around Asahiko while giving him a cold response and not even a second glance, Kikyo manages to take a few steps before a hand on her shoulder stops her.
This makes her turn around quickly in an attempt to attack or defend herself, though what greets her abrupt turn is the touch and scent of a rose against her nose. This rose is a beautiful deep purple color, almost black, far more detailed than any other and imbued with enough spiritual energy to even serve as a talisman.
"And this?"
"A gift. I think it really suits you."
"You can keep it; I don't need it."
"Hahaha, say that without looking away. What if I tell you what this rose means? I'm sure even you will agree that it suits you."
Laughing sincerely at Kikyo's unconscious gesture of averting her gaze while refusing, Asahiko takes her hand and forcibly places the rose into it. Of course, he knows how stubborn she is, so he proposes something symbolic.
"So, what story do you have to tell?"
"No story, it's simply the meaning of flowers and their language… an art someone I knew liked."
"A lover?"
"What, no! That was the only hobby of the old man who took care of me when I was little, though I learned it much later than I would have liked."
Shaking his head at his last words, Asahiko coughs a couple of times to clear the dark clouds surrounding him and prepares to speak, but Kikyo simply turns around and walks away.
"I'll keep it. It might be useful as a repellent for other weaker yōkai."
"What, but I was already preparing a whole story."
"Wasn't it not a story, and just meanings?"
"... Hahaha, joke, joke."
…
After spending the entire afternoon searching for various medicinal herbs in the nearby forest, Kikyo, who had offered to act as a healer to repay the village's kindness, returns and begins a round of treatments.
The treatments were entirely herbal, whether for headaches, sunburns, muscle pain, or fatigue. Of course, there were some bad herbs mixed in, but a single look from Asahiko or Kikyo sent them back where they belonged.
"Hahaha, I think you took a few years off his life, Kikyo."
"Better than yours. Tomorrow that really will count as an illness."
Watching Asahiko burst into laughter beside her after both of them leave the house, Kikyo narrows her brown eyes and speaks coldly, though with far less rigidity than in previous days.
"They're just compulsive sneezes; that illusion will fade at midnight and he'll have an example of what happens if he behaves badly… Um, everyone wins!"
"I suppose you really are a fox."
"I don't know why, but I feel like I should be angry right now."
"Relax, your fox instincts are working properly."
Attacking Asahiko once again, who still doesn't seem to be on the same page as her, Kikyo maintains a small mysterious smile and they continue on their way without thinking too much about their actions, but she stops when she notices that Asahiko does.
That was a simple social reaction, like when you synchronize your walking with someone close, or at least that's what Kikyo's ever-stoic mind wants to believe. Of course, while she thinks that, things don't stop—Asahiko, who is behind her, begins looking around, drawing her attention.
"You're going to have to talk to her at some point. It's best if you're direct and merciless."
"I'm trying to talk to her, not kill her. Besides, you're not one to talk—you took the whole afternoon to apologize to Akemi for almost attacking us that time."
"One afternoon; you, on the other hand, have been avoiding her for almost three days. It's best to tell her directly—you don't belong here… just like I don't."
Finding a strange similarity in their situations despite how different they are, Kikyo keeps her face free of any emotional trace and gives Asahiko some advice.
That advice was laden with meaning, at least for her, since as a priestess Kikyo had to renounce several simple pleasures, so something as crude as acting first and thinking later was never something she thought she'd say.
"Um… ha… ahhh! You're right, I'll do it. It's not my style to overthink it this much."
"So, what are you doing?"
"Obviously you're coming as backup. I'm not facing her alone after leaving her aside for a couple of days—I'm not that stupid."
Being taken by the hand with enough strength to urge her to follow rather than force her, Kikyo is dragged by Asahiko toward the village chief's house, more due to her confusion over the situation than any external force.
Halfway there, after passing several houses and encountering various people, Kikyo finally processes what is happening. She is being led by the hand—obviously—against her will, perhaps. Did such things matter to her? Not really.
"An apology works better when you do it yourself, especially with a small child like tucas Akemi."
"Oh, you're alive! Hahaha, jokes aside… I know! But this is actually an execution, Kikyo!"
Frowning her lip for a moment, Kikyo refuses to show any expression at Asahiko's exaggeration, so she ignores his words and considers the situation logically.
But surprise—Asahiko doesn't seem that crazy. Akemi's actions don't resemble those of someone who has been avoided for days, but rather those of a fisherman waiting for the perfect moment.
"Does she already know?"
"Maybe? Her father was a hunter on the outskirts of the village, so she should be able to sense these things… But—"
"But unlike him, you're not coming back."
"... Yes."
Noticing how the fast pace slows to a simple walk, Kikyo adjusts her posture and then her appearance with her free hand, before looking at the incomprehensible person walking beside her.
Over the past few days, she had completely ruled out him being a yōkai, either due to his spiritual energy being different from theirs or because of his actions, which are good yet strange.
Good because he helps the villagers whenever he can, but strange because it's only after doing so that he actually considers it. It's as if his nature were good, but his consciousness has yet to fully reason it.
All of this leads Kikyo to believe that what stands before her is a fox deity—that is, a common fox or demon that was worshipped by humans until it became a deity irreconcilable with what it once was, like river or mountain gods.
"Sooner or later you'll have to do it. Take advantage of the fact that I'm here."
"Kikyo…"
"Move aside and walk."
Separating their hands, which had remained joined for more than enough time, Kikyo takes the lead and silently guides the way toward Izayoi's house.
The walk wasn't long, since Asahiko had been wandering around the area, so in less than ten minutes they were inside, and in less than five they stood before Akemi's room door.
"Uff, uff, I'm going to do it. I'm going to—"
"I'm coming in, Akemi."
"Wait, Kikyo, I'm not—"
Paying little or no attention to Asahiko, who was mentally preparing himself right behind her, Kikyo opens the sliding door to Akemi's room and enters with her head held high, leaving Asahiko standing alone at the doorway.
"Big sister Kikyo, and… Asahiko."
"Ha, ha, ha, what a nice day it is, right?"
"It's night, big brother."
"Kikyo… help."
Reading Asahiko's desperate look and subtle lip movement as "Help," Kikyo stares at him for a few moments and finally walks toward him—only to pass him by and leave through the door.
The final nail in that metaphorical coffin was her closing the door as she left, leaving the two of them locked inside to sort it out once and for all.
With that done, Kikyo stares into nothingness for a few moments, then walks through the silent corridors until she finally leaves Izayoi's house without alerting anyone.
"... They really are a group of wicked souls, envying a child and her opportunities."
Raising her lips into a cold smile as she speaks to herself, Kikyo easily feels the agitation of the souls within her stirred by her words, but she ignores them and continues walking to a secluded area of the village.
Here, on the outskirts where the forest begins, Kikyo lifts her brown eyes to the sky and extends her hand into the darkness of the night. Responding to her call, multiple white beings resembling serpents, with red eyes, dragonfly wings, and an ethereal presence, appear.
These white serpents carry white spheres beneath their bellies—some large, some small, and many misshapen or fragile.
"What tragic destinies… deceived, forgotten, abandoned, murdered… and all for their lovers. Join me, serve as fuel for this wretched body, let me fulfill the vengeance you never could, and attain eternal rest."
Speaking to the souls carried by those strange serpents, Kikyo extends both hands into the air and carefully takes one of those souls, bringing it before herself before beginning to merge with it.
The fusion occurs without issue, since despite being souls of other people, they are actually filled only with negative emotions rather than memories or anything similar—negative emotions Kikyo is quite attuned to.
"So this is what you were doing every night when you went out?"
"You… what are you doing here?"
Turning her body, glowing in a pale white tone from absorbing a soul moments earlier, Kikyo stares at Asahiko and moves her right hand, causing the white serpents to draw closer.
The tension in the air is clear, at least to Kikyo, who seems ready to attack at the slightest movement, perhaps as a manifestation of her internal guilt and what makes her see this situation as evil.
"Well, you left me hanging back there, you know how hard it was to talk to Akemi… Stop. I don't care what you're doing."
"Even if I'm feeding on innocent souls? I'm even worse than the ogres you fought."
Clenching her hands while acting intensely, Kikyo doesn't try to justify herself as good, but instead seems to want to be seen as a monster.
"Sometimes people just want to justify themselves, whether for good or for evil, Kikyo. I'll tell you plainly—right now, you're more important to me than those souls, so I don't care what you do to them."
"You're cruel… you know that?"
"Didn't I tell you, Kikyo? I'm human, and as such I'll never truly be fair or impartial—I'll be fickle, swayed by my thoughts or feelings."
Looking at Asahiko's slightly self-critical smile, which seems to hide some deeper truth, Kikyo closes her brown eyes and then looks at the lonely moon hanging in the night sky.
Many thoughts swirl within her at that moment, from doubt over the illogical actions of Asahiko—who is 'good'—to the small spark telling her that it's okay to live. In the end, she closes her eyes again and calms any overflowing emotions.
"Very well, Asahiko. Setting aside your humanity, tell me—what do your instincts tell you to do?"
"Do you think I would ever consider you something evil, Kikyo? Then I'm sorry, because even my instincts tell me this is the best outcome for everyone."
"For everyone?"
"Yes—for you, who are recovering; for them, who gain a means to take revenge and pass on; and for the world, which is freed from dozens of souls filled with malice."
Considering Asahiko's explanation, which is logical even taking into account his 'natural' kindness, Kikyo looks at him briefly before returning to her task, which amounts to absorbing the remaining souls.