ZQER

Homura trotted along the familiar path toward Yotei's Shadow Inn at the edge of the grasslands, his hooves pressed into slush where the snow had begun to melt along the way, leaving the ground damp and dark beneath.

Atsu smoothed a hand over the horse's neck when they slowed to a stop and gave him an apple to chew on after leaving him at the hitching post. She pulled her fur cloak tighter around her shoulders as she approached the old Inn. Warm lantern light spilled through the paper windows, glowing softly against the drifting snow and mingling with the hazy sunlight against the wooden walls. From inside, laughter and music leaked out into the chilly afternoon.

The Inn was lively, much more so than when Atsu first visited it all those months ago. Kojiro stood by Isaburo's cart near the fence, talking animatedly with the cartographer; both waved at Atsu upon seeing her, and she greeted them from afar with a smile and a nod of her head.

The moment Atsu stepped through the main doors and into the Inn, warmth wrapped around her like an embrace. The air smelled of cooked rice, sweet incense, and sake. Men and women crowded around low tables, voices overlapping in drunken cheer, and paper lanterns swung slightly in the draft whenever someone pushed through the door.

And there, seated on the raised mat near the back wall; Oyuki.

The lantern beside her cast warm light over her figure, illuminating the curve of her shoulders and the smooth motion of her practiced hands as they moved across the shamisen’s strings. The instrument rested comfortably in her hands, polished wood gleaming in the golden light. Her posture was calm, poised, completely at ease in a way that only appeared when she played. The shamisen’s sharp, clean notes cut gently through the hum of conversation, pulling attention toward her without ever demanding it.

Atsu had seen Oyuki play countless times over the past months. In the quiet evenings at the homestead. Beneath the ginkgo tree, while Kiku tried to mimic the melodies her own way. On long winter nights when the wind howled across the grasslands. And each time, it still enraptured her just the same.

Atsu found a place on a secluded corner of the room, leaning casually against the wooden wall; blending into the background was a habit that was hard to shake. A cup of sake appeared in her hand soon enough—some helpful waitress must have placed it there—and she let the warmth of alcohol seep into her chest as she watched, with a smile ghosting over her lips of its own volition.

It struck Atsu suddenly how strange it felt to remember a time when Oyuki had not been part of her days. The memory of that emptiness had blurred at the edges. It existed somewhere in her mind, all distant and pale; early mornings spent alone tending the fire, quiet meals broken only by Kiku’s voice, the heavy silence that followed every night after Kiku fell asleep.

It had only been a few months since the beginning of winter. Since that quiet night when Atsu had asked her to stay. And yet the thought of Oyuki not being there—of waking up and not hearing her humming softly as the tea brewed, not seeing her composing songs in the afternoon light, not feeling the quiet pull of her presence in the evenings—felt almost impossible now.

Life had rearranged itself around Oyuki so naturally, that it seemed as though she had always belonged there.

From the other side of the room, Oyuki’s gaze drifted through the patrons as she played. Ever attentive, like a fox in the wild. Her fingers moved effortlessly along the shamisen strings, the melody calm and precise, weaving through the chatter of the Inn like the dancing smoke of incense.

Then, her eyes found Atsu.

For the briefest moment, the music faltered; not enough for the audience to notice, but enough for Atsu to catch it. A small smile touched Oyuki’s lips. She glanced down for a beat, and then back up.

Atsu returned the smile without thinking. Soft in a way that was only allowed for a single pair of eyes.

The exchange lasted only a second before Oyuki looked away again, continuing the song. But warmth settled somewhere deep in Atsu’s chest, with a feeling part of her was still afraid to name.

Then a voice cut through the music.

"Well now," someone said loudly as soon as they pushed open the doors and walked in. "If it isn’t the little songbird here again."

Atsu’s eyes shifted sharply, her brows already pinched together in annoyance. The voice belonged to a ronin. Atsu recognized him immediately; he had been here before.

Tall, broad-shouldered, and wearing the careless swagger of a man who had gone too long without someone reminding him of his place. His hair was tied loosely behind his head, and a crooked grin lingered permanently on his face. He stomped in like he owned the place, but the obvious eyeroll from a waitress told another story. The ronin chose a table nearest to the back wall, nearest to Oyuki.

Atsu shifted uncomfortably where she stood, grip tightening around her sake cup. That man had no right to look Oyuki up and down the way he was doing, with that wicked smile and rude attitude. Atsu began to count her own breaths, lest she'd unsheath her katana and repeat the slaughter of the first time she set foot in this place.

"Play something livelier," the same ronin called out, spilling sake on his hand as he raised a full cup at Oyuki's direction. "A woman with hands like that must know a few love songs." A few patrons chuckled awkwardly at his suggestive tone.

Oyuki did not react, not to any of it. Her fingers continued moving across the strings, the melody steady and controlled. Her eyes were softly closed, and as Atsu observed her, she wondered how many times Oyuki had to tolerate men like this treating her like that.

The room continued its drunken chatter, most people paying little attention to the exchange. But Atsu’s focus had narrowed completely. Her gaze burned into the back of the ronin’s head, and her lips were turned with a permanent frown.

Oyuki’s music continued. Yet Atsu knew her well enough by now to see the tension hidden beneath her composure. Her features weren't as serene as they had been moments ago, and the strum of her bachi became quicker, as if urging the song to come to an end.

The ronin leaned back on his hands, clearly enjoying himself. "Maybe you should join me for a drink after this, little songbird, what do you say?" He spoke, almost predatorily.

The song ended. Polite applause rippled through the room.

Oyuki lowered the shamisen with quiet grace, offering a small bow to the crowd with a little grateful smile on her lips.

And the ronin stood.

Atsu straightened instantly. Her empty sake cup clattered on the wooden floor when she unceremoniously dropped it. She pushed away from the wall, already huffing in anger and gripping the handle of her katana out of habit. Out of second nature to protect something precious, even if the weight of the weapon at her hip had become almost strange nowadays.

Atsu's footsteps were sharp and heavy against the wooden floor as she hurriedly closed the distance between her and Oyuki.

But she was a step too late.

The ronin had approached Oyuki, weaving slightly from the sake and invading her space without hesitation. One hand reached out and grabbed her forearm, fingers lingering too long and too tightly.

"Well played," he said, his breath thick with alcohol.

Oyuki exhaled sharply, closing her eyes as she did so, to try to avoid making a scene at her place of work for the season. "I'd advise you to let go," Oyuki spoke, voice even but stern. She tugged at her arm to no avail, but her gaze shifted to something over the ronin's shoulder, and then back at him. She raised a brow at the man; "Now."

"You know." He ignored her entirely, murmuring suggestively, with a voice slurred like someone who was already too deep into his cups. His hand slid slightly down Oyuki’s arm, and he leaned disturbingly closer, "A woman who plays like that deserves-"

No one could know what he was about to say, for the man choked on his own words when Atsu grabbed him by the collar and yanked him backward. The movement was sudden and violent enough to attract the attention of patrons sitting nearby. The ronin stumbled, startled, only to find himself staring directly into Atsu’s cold, furious eyes.

"Take your hand off her," Atsu ordered, words cutting as sharply as the edge of her blade.

The room had gone almost silent. It had been months since the Onryō had been laid to rest, since the bounty on Atsu's head had been revoked. But stories spread like wildfire, and the one about the woman with the wide hat and the twin wolves katana was all too well known. And the price once offered for her head had been too high for it to be merely a myth.

The ronin blinked, trying to process what was happening. "And if I don’t?" he asked, his voice had already lost some of its confidence, but it seemed he hardly valued his life.

Atsu leaned closer, her thumb found the tsuba of her blade, and she pushed it up only slightly. Taunting, daring the man to keep his hand on her Oyuki just a second longer. There was something in Atsu's expression—something dark and very real—that made the man’s smile falter completely.

"I've killed better men than you," Atsu near growled, eyeing the ronin up and down with something like disgust, "for less."

The threat hung in the air like smoke. Heavy, and all too true.

A long moment passed, where the only sound was the ruffling of paper lanters in the breeze. The ronin studied Atsu's face. Then he noticed the katana at her side, and something in his face shifted. He pulled his hand away as if he'd been burned, and in the same breath, Atsu stepped in between the man and Oyuki.

She knew, undoubtedly, that Oyuki could handle herself against stupid men with her eyes closed. But Atsu was wholly incapable of escaping the tug in her heart that needed to see Oyuki safe. For so long, she had been a ghost puppeteering flesh and blood, and then came her Songbird, and suddenly, Atsu's soul had found a pathway back into her own body. She was not about to risk losing one of the few things she couldn't live without.

And her heart secretly softened in her chest when Oyuki took a step closer. The older woman's hand closed delicately around Atsu's elbow, staying her blade with but a single touch.

The ronin raised both his hands in surrender, backing away with an awkward laugh. "Alright, alright," he muttered. "No need to get so serious." He grabbed his cup from the table and retreated quickly toward the door, clearly deciding that whatever entertainment he had hoped for was no longer worth the trouble.

The door slid shut behind him, as if he'd never been there at all. Noise slowly returned to the inn, people's attention diverted back to their drinks and banter, and the waitresses breathed a sigh of relief that no blood was spilled today.

Atsu turned immediately to Oyuki, her eyes frantically skimmed up and down the woman's body with poorly contained worry. "Are you alright?" She reached out a hand, fingers grazing with a careful gentleness over where the ronin's hand had gripped Oyuki's arm.

Oyuki nodded faintly, the curve of her brows softening just for Atsu. Though her expression remained unreadable. "I am," she reassured in a breath.

But Atsu’s pulse was still racing. The anger hadn’t faded. And she could still feel the lingering heat in her chest as the valves of her heart worked overtime.

Jealousy. Raw and unfamiliar and impossible to ignore.

Oyuki caught the twitch of Atsu's lips, the scowling of her eyebrows as she huffed. She took Atsu's hand in her own, hiding the touch between their bodies, as she was all too aware of the number of people in the room with them. Oyuki's gaze shifted over the patrons sitting at the low tables, and her chest clenched with an unusual anticipation at how it wouldn't take a practiced eye to notice… whatever it was that was going on between them.

"Atsu, just let it-"

Before Oyuki could say anything more, Atsu's grip tightened decidedly around her hand. She interlocked their fingers together. "Come with me."

And then she was pulling Oyuki across the room. They slipped past the tables and the curious glances of the patrons, with Oyuki having to hop over the saya of a man's katana and mumble a few "excuse us" to people she almost bumped into to keep up with Atsu.

The former bounty hunter led them quickly toward a quiet hallway near the back of the Inn. The sounds of laughter and conversation faded behind them as Atsu pushed open a sliding door and stepped into a narrow, dimly lit storage area, filled with crates of sake and bags of raw rice.

The moment the door slid shut, Atsu had her lips pressed to Oyuki's.

There was no hesitation. No breath wasted on second guesses. Atsu's hands cupped Oyuki's cheeks, fingers pressing near the back of her head and pulling her body close as if Atsu feared she might disappear. She kissed her lips once, twice; her nose bumping gently against Oyuki's as her thumbs dragged along the edge of her jaw, digging softly into the skin there.

Oyuki gasped into her mouth, her fingers instantly gripping into the fabric of Atsu's clothes so tightly she worried she'd poke a hole through them. Surprise kept her from returning the kiss for no longer than a second, then all she knew was that she was sneaking her hands under Atsu's fur cloak and pulling the younger woman's body flush against hers, until her back hit the door behind her.

The kiss was intense, urgent. Possessive.

Atsu had never done this before; never dared to kiss Oyuki when anyone could have seen.

But right now she didn’t care. The thought of that ronin touching her—of anyone touching her—sent a sharp, selfish heat through Atsu's chest. And the feelings fluttering in her stomach urged impulsiveness to override caution.

Atsu kept their bodies close in a way that felt almost desperate. Her hands held Oyuki firmly, as though she needed the reassurance that she was truly there, in her arms, and was trying to convince herself through Oyuki's lips. That no one else could take her away. That no ronin's wandering hand could claim what was not his.

When air became an annoying necessity, Atsu pulled away just enough to keep her upper lip brushing Oyuki's. Her nose nuzzled against the other woman's cheek. Needy in a way she'd never admit to being.

For a hypnotizing moment, Oyuki allowed herself to melt into the woman who tasted faintly of sake but was infinitely more inebriating. Her hands pressed against the muscles of Atsu's back, and she shivered when Atsu's fingers buried in her hair, successfully ruining her updo and unraveling her composure.

The feeling of Atsu's lips against hers sent a rush of emotion through Oyuki's chest. Soft at first, then deeper. The world narrowed to the warmth between them. To the press of their bodies. To the quiet sound of Atsu's breathing and the comforting feel of her touch.

But something else eventually rose with it. Something heavier that closed around Oyuki's throat like barbed wire.

When Atsu tried to lean in again, Oyuki suddenly pulled back. Her hands pressed firmly against Atsu's shoulders, pushing the woman away.

Atsu blinked in surprise. Still breathing hard, her lips a little swollen. The familiar brown of her eyes was swallowed up by dark, blown pupils that seemed to devour Oyuki, drinking her in as if she were a daydream that might slip away at any moment.

Oyuki's breathing was uneven now, shaky and broken in a way that mirrored her unsteady hands gripping at Atsu's shoulders. Her eyes were bright under the faint sunlight that seeped through the single window; tears gathered at the edges, and she kept herself from blinking lest they'd certainly spill over her warm cheeks.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Oyuki could feel Atsu's concern and hesitation with how her touch faltered where she held her. Atsu's hand dropped from Oyuki's hair to her waist, nothing but a brush of fingers.

The confidence was gone in a heartbeat. Atsu drew in a shaky breath, shallow as her lips hovered open with uncertainty. Oyuki had never pushed her away like that. Atsu's heart dropped to her feet, fearing that the consequences of her impulsive actions had finally caught up with her.

Under the faded light seeping into the cramped storage room, Oyuki refused to meet her eyes; instead, focusing on something behind Atsu's shoulder.

"Yuki…" Atsu all but pleaded as her worry escaped her. Confused and lost and hating the tears that hung onto Oyuki's eyelashes. She wanted to pull the older woman into an embrace and hold her until those tears disappeared against her clothes, but now, she did not know if she had the right to, anymore.

Slowly, Oyuki's hands slid down from Atsu's shoulders. She bit her lip as if fighting something within herself. Oyuki’s voice broke the silence, soft and trembling;

"What are we doing, Atsu?"

The words fell from her mouth both as something she'd been dreading and couldn't hold back. Her fingers tightened slightly in the fabric of Atsu’s sleeves; her sudden fragility startled the other woman.

At last, Oyuki raised her gaze, searching Atsu's eyes for something she was afraid to find.

"What are we?"

And the question hung between them like the final echo of a fading song.

⋆* ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Next chapter will be out soon.

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