「 ✦ KΛI ✦ 」

The three of you made your way through town without fear of being followed. Regardless of the supposed safety, Mizu made sure to hold up an arm for you to lean on, seeing you hobble around dug the blade of guilt ever deeper into her heart. It made her feel like an old man, helping his wife through town to collect their groceries together, hand in hand every week for the rest of their lives. 

A group of younger boys shove past you, one ducking between you and Mizu in order to get past “Come on. It’s going to be a blood bath. Hurry up!” Your wife secures another hand on your hip, preventing either of you from slipping. There's a brief scowl brewing on her face before you thank her with a soft pat on the shoulder

The crowds drew you closer to the commotion, Mizu especially. “Ringo?” you turn your head back and wave the boy to follow, seeing he had stopped to read the signage. He tries his best to weave between people “it's a duel. A death duel.” nodding you turn back, keeping your eyes on the men in front. 

The first man seemed confident to say the least. His eyes were on the audience gathered, clearly full of pride instead of honour. The second was calm, chilling. After reading the contract he simply bowed, yet no one applauded him. Holding a breath you press a chilled cheek into Mizu’s arm, who seems captivated by the inevitable victor. 

As soon as it had begun, it was over in one swipe. Clean and graceful, an honourable death for a dishonourable man. The blood sprayed while the man fell, painting the white ground in a red crescent, sword clattering. “The Painter's Signature. Immaculate.” rubbing your frozen nose you ask “do you think he requested the duel” Peering up at Mizu, you find her grinning, casting her face down to look at you “most definitely.” 

“Should I find us an inn for the night?” It was so sweet watching Ringo trying to be helpful “No. I need a brothel” sighing, the sun slowly sets and Mizu heads towards the entertainment district, illuminated by warm rose lanterns hanging from above. “Master. Master? You do know what they do in brothels?” talking to Ringo over your shoulder not missing the opportunity to tease your wife “oh, he knows.” the boy glances over to you then back to Mizu, clearly growing concerned that you might take insult to blatant infidelity “Master?”

Inside you are greeted by the owner, a man sipping away at his filled cup of sake, paid for on the backs of women unable to escape their binding contracts. It sickened you. This place, it sickened you. Most, if not all, women here had no choice in where they ended up today, their bodies used to make men richer. Brothers, husbands, even fathers. You would have been one of them. “Welcome sir, welcome. We are pleased to have you select us from options. Do you happen to have an appointment? I’m afraid we’ve just taken in a new girl so if you intend to sell it will have to be arranged for another time.”

This bastard. Eye twitching, you could feel Ringo’s gaze on you, judgement. You could tell Mizu wasn’t exactly happy with the man’s tone but you had a mission, with no other choice but to shake off the words of a pig. Mizu didn’t see you that way. You didn’t matter to anyone else, so why should anyone else’s opinions matter to you? 

“Madame Kaji is the proprietor here. I would like to see her.” The man's smile was weak but polite, Mizu was not going to make this easy for him, she rarely did. “Madame Kaji’s clients book months ahead. If you prefer older women, we cater to every taste.” Why did he have to look at you when he said ‘older women’? 

“My taste is to be seen by Madame Kaji.” Unyielding, Mizu’s persistence had proven fruitful. The incense clouded the main room, it was difficult not to choke on the heat the fires inside provided. Women danced and poured drinks, pressing themselves into pigs trying not to turn their noses up in disgust from their filth. You were seated in a corner, some screens blocking the more active acts of depravity. Mizu sits beside you, using herself as a shield, lacing her fingers with yours as a quiet comfort. 

“Ringo, this will be some time. If you would like to explore the harbour…” you sink against the wall, Mizu subtly wraps an arm around your waist to guide your slow descent into her shoulder. Her eyes hardly left your face, except for scanning the other patrons and Ringo “An apprentice should stay with his master.”

The three of you had been waiting for hours, the owner becoming increasingly desperate to satisfy Mizu with any of the other girls, not aware of the true reason for requiring their services. After the albino girl is sent to your corner Mizu stands, pulling you up with her. The woman was beautiful.

Before you could reach the owner a man blocked your path on his hands and knees, sucking his thumb like a toddler. Lip curling in horror, you glance up at Mizu, who appears to share your distaste. The worm then returns to a paid ‘mother’ for a spanking “if that’s to your liking, we have other mothers to keep you company.” your wife sighs, managing to peel her eyes away from the once respected samurai from earlier “I asked for Madame Kaji”

Later a woman approaches, this time draped in a gold thread kimono. “I said ‘no thank you’ to company.” The woman stayed standing tall despite kneeling beside the small table “the gentlemen asked for me.” she offers a polite bow before speaking “I understand not one of my girls caught the gentleman's interest. If it is boys he is after, he need only ask. Many famous samurai prefer the stamen to the pistil.”

“Madame Kaji’s teahouse is known for catering to peculiarities.” The woman continues to look your way, staring into your soul “Nothing desired is peculiar. Any woman can study woodcuts and master the 12 and 20 positions. I offer what the rare heart hungers.” another one of her girls approaches, setting down a warm glass “For your woman’s pain” offering a mumbled thanks. You begin to lightly sip on the drink, it tastes bitter “Strong men come here to be weak,uncentered. They make themselves fools.”

Ringo deflates at his master's words slightly, you pat his knee with your shoe offering a kind smile which he returns half-heartedly. “I hope the gentleman isn’t one of those monkish samurai who cares only about the sword. Isn’t it said to master the way of battle one must become acquainted with every art?” bringing the glass to your lips meant you could somewhat hide the heavy blush rising to your face “Sex? An art?” Madame Kaji’s eyes remain fixed on the girl tucked into the corner of her room “The gentleman was wise to seek me” 

You mourn the heat of Mizu’s hand entwined in your own, watching as your wife disappears into a dark hall. “Master will be fine, I’m sure of it.” Ringo watches as you pick the loose threads from your kakumaki “I know.” he stands offering you a hand up “do you want to get some udon?” smiling you respond quietly “yeah.”

Madame Kaji leads Mizu forward, intent on finishing her lesson “There is an art to sex, yes.” The older woman found it hard to hide her amusement at the gentlemen’s obvious predicament “Done correctly, it may be a form of worship. The bud honours God by blooming. Some bloom to sun, some to rain.” Mizu’s mind drifts back to your late nights together, the closeness. Huddling for warmth on winter nights and the feeling of your soft skin under her cold hands, pillowed flesh always welcoming her connection. Madame Kaji opens a small peep hole, disguised from the other side. “What is it?” your wife pushed back her thoughts of you, believing you deserved better than for her to treat your memory as any common man would. “A window, a mirror.” 

Raising a brow, it's obvious Mizu isn’t quite convinced just yet “Desire is beyond the need of my purpose.”

“I am sure the gentleman's lady friend would disagree. If you are only a sword, are you even a man or a mere demon?” allowing curiosity to get the better of her the swordsmen kneels, looking through the window before continuing down the halls to another, then another. “‘The floating world’. That's what they call the pleasure quarters. Where one must travel to reach heaven. To cut out desire is to cut out a corner of your own heart. To sever a limb and still expect a true fight.”

Inside the last is the samori. He was with a woman, and a man. Mizu’s eyes widen in surprise, surely they would share the woman, one not finding pleasure in the other. She was wrong. The men kiss and Mizu realises something. 

“He was honest with his desire. That is a swordsman who knows the shape of his soul. Now, tell me what you want.”

Ringo had followed you to a small noodle bar, the shop was half empty due to the bad weather but the hot broth should do you both some good. “That’s how you met my master?” chewing on your noodles you nod, attempting not to get food all over your face “Not the best introduction, my father had always been a swine, this was a new low. Even for him.” Ringo slows down, taking a moment to swallow before responding in a tone you don’t often hear him use “I understand, this one time a customer spilled chili noodles all over the place and I got in trouble because the oil stained the floor. I wasn’t even in the main restaurant, I was in the kitchen.”

“You deserve more than that Ringo.” His eyes dampen slightly, wiping them on his sleeve to promptly change the subject “Well now I have more. I have you and my master.” you then drop an atomic bomb of tears into the boy by saying “I like having you with us” he sits up immediately, staring at you like a child with big damp eyes. He asks his next question, almost scared of the answer “Really?”

“Yes. I think it's good for Mizu, like socialising an anxious pup. She might bite less with you around. It proves that some people aren’t after her head. it's just the two of us for so long, sometimes I worry.” Ringo puffs out his chest with a look of determination “I won’t leave you then, not until my master has completed his mission!”

Back inside the brothel Madame Kaji escorts Mizu into a small room “You can rest here until it is time. No eyes will watch you. Can I send you anything?” she stands by the door, skillfully holding herself together “The woman I was traveling with. Other than her, only privacy.” the pair exchange a final look “Before you open the door to heaven, I want you to face Kinuyo and make this sign. She will know you are there as my hand, and she will be at peace.”

Sitting in front of the polished mirror Mizu removes her glasses, there's a knock and the swordsman calls your name softly, ready to confide in a wife’s loving arms for the violence yet to come. “May I serve you?” Mizu does not hide the disappointment in her tone as it returns to its usual level of monotone “I said I don’t want any company” but the woman outside persists “Please. If you don’t let me in, Madame will beat me.” 

Returning her glasses to their rightful place, Mizu allows the stranger to enter with what she thought was a tea tray, staring at her from across the room earns her a gasping “Your eyes!”

Walls up, ready to defend herself, Mizu pushes the lenses further up the hooked bridge of her nose “Whatever clever insult comes next I assure you it is not as clever as you think.”

“They’re beautiful. A colour I’ve never seen outside the sea and sky.” sitting back on her heels Mizu raises a brow, surprised with growing suspicion of this girl's ill intent. After all, what pleasant business could a Princess have in a place like this? “Huh. I see. Seems you share the same sentiment as my wife. Your madame explained how it’s some essential part of the soul that draws men to brothels when it’s only naked flattery. Do men usually fall for this?”

Akemi offers a fake smile in attempts to save face “The ones I’ve known. Yes.” raising the cup to her lips then catching the scent of ginkgo seed extract , Mizu frowns “I thought it was tea. I don’t drink.” this girl wanted to drug her, she was trying something “Madame thought you might prefer sake to help you relax. Maybe just a sip.” With raised suspicion Mizu pours another glass, pretending to exchange pleasantries “If you’ll join me. I have ugly business coming. Suddenly, I'm glad for company.”

Steam evaporates off the surface of the liquid “Hot” the Princess continues her attempt at reassuring the man that took away her desired future “Where I’m from, that's how the men prefer it. Kyoto.” 

Setting down the cup, Mizu branches into another kind of conversation, one to test who would crack first "I've only been there once, recently.”

“Beutiful isn't it?

“Dirty and crowded. Full of puffed up crows posing as swordsmen, my wife hated it. They were so weak even she could defeat them. I beat the most ridiculous samurai there. I cut off his chignon. Then he came chasing after me demanding a rematch, saying I ruined his engagement. I think he was angrier about his hair than his marriage.” pretending to mull over Taigen's name, as if it had just slipped from her mind “What was his name? I can’t remember. Anyway, he's dead now.”

The princesses' disguise shattered, voice raising in concern for her lover “What?” grinning for winning the mini game Mizu had been playing, the woman repeats herself “Oh yeah, I killed him.”

Akemi lunges forward with a small -once concealed- blade in hand, only to be disarmed immediately and shoved to the floor. Mizu pinning her down as she squirmed underneath “Stay down.” her voice echoed down the hall, giving you something to follow once Madame Kaji informed you that Mizu had returned and was requesting your presence “Let me go! Get off me!” hand shoving the royals face into the mats Mizu finally confronts her inconsolable attacker “You think I don’t remember you? Princess Akemi of the Tokunobu clan. You drugged my cup.”

As soon as the words leave her mouth the shoji screen slams open and you are standing in the doorway “Mizu. Off her, now.” the girl continues to thrash and wale under the weight of your wife “I wish it was poison. Oh, Taigen.” looking over at you then back at Akemi, Mizu sighs. Retracting herself. “Oh, shut up. I didn’t kill him. I left him with his life and a contract to fight.”

Grabbing her arm, you take her chin to gently pull her face to look at you “What were you doing?” The woman blinks rapidly, stuttering then gestures over to the woman sobbing below “She tried to drug me, she’s Taigen’s Princess” tilting your head, rightly confused and frustrated "She's here for Taigen?” the woman looks up at you both through fat tears staining her cheeks “He’s alive? Where is he?” Mizu rolls her eyes and you whack her arm.

“You came all this way to save a doomed engagement?” half rising to the girls defence, but mostly enraged that the one time you don’t accompany Mizu she ends up on top of some teary-eyed rookie assassin Princess from Kyoto. All the interesting stuff. “Taigen seemed just as determined, I guess”

“Her father probably lined up a nice handsome replacement lord to marry.” She seemed so young despite being around the same age as the two of you, perhaps it’s the money. They must age slower, like vampires but instead of being allergic to garlic they're simply cursed forever with ignorance and sheltering. Though this one had probably already travelled more than most, if you had that much coin you’d never leave the estate. “The shogun's son.” She stays on the floor, not able to pick herself up just yet “Women in our world don’t have a single good option. Except you. Like some magical forest creature, you could have anything you want, and then you beg to eat trash.”

Mizu leaves to go find some rope, and you sit across from the Princess in front of the door, not quite trusting her not to run.

There's a moment of silence as the two of you stare at one another, trying to keep a neutral look on your face. It was simple enough. She had seemed to recover quickly from her little outburst. Looking down at the spilled glasses and iron kettle you asked ever so softly “Did you drug the whole pot?” The girl looks down at her folded hands, quietly responding under her breath, defeated.

“yes.” 

“Such a shame, I would have liked to drink tea with you.” Akemi is quick to correct you before thinking over her words properly “It’s sake.” humming passively you turn your gaze back to the girl across the room, stating plainly “Mizu doesn’t drink alcohol.”

Bowing her head in agreement the Princess grinds her teeth, not sure why you are making conversation “I’m aware.”

“What was your plan?” she glances at you quickly, pulling up her head as if hooked on a single string “What?” you smile, it wasn’t a happy one “I'm curious. Indulge me. If you had gotten him to drink the sake, what would you have done?” in the silence you continued “Would you have cut his hair, as he did Taigen?”

“I–I…”

“Or would you have killed him?” the girls hands tighten into fists before you “I don’t–. I” pointing over at the stump of a blade she had carried with her, thrown to the side carelessly by Mizu “Would you have killed him with that?”

What alerted her most was the fact you seemed angered but showed no signs of it, As a child she'd been trained to read others and calculate a response mirroring their own. But you gave her nothing, so she could say nothing “No, I just-” you ensured to cut in smoothly, overwhelming her with questions while she was already floundering “Then why bring it?”

Holding out your hand, silently asking her to stop, you get to the point. “In some distant dream, in a world where I came into this room, only to find my husband dead. Know that I would not kill you, but I would find you. In this distant dream I would take your eyes last so that you could witness what would become of your body with this blade.”

Taking out the reflective knife from your sleeve, you lay it on the mat in front of you. Displaying it like an offering, or an option “This blade was given to me by my husband, and I want you to look at it.”

Nothing is said after that, just the sound of the shoji screen opening once more, allowing the trapped tension to escape. Mizu kneels, pressing a quick kiss to your brow before securing the Princess in the centre of the room with rope. Neither of you dare break eye contact until Ringo follows in after his master.

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