Another day's faint dawn light, beneath the verandah of the Shrine.
Kōbe Hikaru carefully wiped down that purple Thunder Beast's horn.
Not far off, Kikyō was arranging the gear for a journey.
Yes—a journey.
Though Kikyō was but the shrine maiden of Kaede Village, now and then she would accept commissions from nearby villages, venturing out to rid other settlements of demons and yōkai.
This was by no means the first time during this stretch that Kōbe Hikaru had gone out together with Kikyō.
…As her disguised shikigami, and still more as her utterly intimate lover.
And at this moment.
Listening to the stir over there, her hands paused slightly in their work, and those jet-black eyes shot a glance at Kōbe Hikaru, who was muttering on and on at a beast's horn.
That look in her eyes carried a rather strange quality.
At once somewhat amused, and somewhat exasperated.
In the time since the two of them had made their relationship official, Kikyō had discovered she'd gained a host of unexpected rivals in love.
Not other women—not even female yōkai.
But a horn, a scale, a claw—and that comb in his bosom which, after she had sealed away its yōkai power, could only tremble nonstop all day long.
This man—or rather, this oni—showed such patience toward these implements that at times even she, his lover, found it preposterous.
Not that Kikyō would truly grow jealous over it; for Kōbe Hikaru was, beyond any doubt, far more patient toward her, his lover, and placed her truly first—and she, in turn, held absolute trust in Kōbe Hikaru.
Still, there would inevitably be moments that left her speechless.
"Are you done?"
Kikyō walked over, her white robe and red hakama swaying gently with each step; the morning breeze traced the slender curve of her waist, and the long, faintly glimpsed contours beneath her hakama.
Kōbe Hikaru lifted his head and put the Thunder Horn away.
"Done."
He rose to his feet and, quite naturally, reached out to take the bundle from Kikyō's hands.
"That horn…"
Kikyō looked at his pack. "Can it really understand what you say to it?"
"No, it can't."
Kōbe Hikaru answered crisply. "But if I speak to it a little more, it'll probably come to feel my sincerity."
"Sincerity…"
Kikyō shook her head.
Though she couldn't understand those strange words from his mouth, this was simply Kōbe Hikaru.
A freak who could chat with stones.
A fellow gentle toward all things, yet who could just as readily raise a blade to cut down yōkai—even to kill.
And also her… lover.
He could grasp the vastness of heaven and earth, yet still perceive the depths of the grass and trees.
Only by treating all things kindly can one treat oneself kindly.
Kikyō thought so too.
She promptly took up Kōbe Hikaru's hand and said, as a matter of course:
"Let's go. That village's commission can't be put off."
"All right."
Kōbe Hikaru stood up and gathered his things.
It was a small village some thirty li beyond Kaede Village.
Not far at all—but in this age of rampant demons and yōkai, thirty li was enough to divide life from death.
The content of the commission was actually quite simple: just a few small-time lizard-yōkai had taken up residence near the water source, fouling the well water and frightening several villagers into sickness.
By Kōbe Hikaru's classification, the strength of those yōkai's yōkai aura was most likely only within the Second or Third Mutation.
For the two of them as they were now, a task of this level didn't even require Kikyō to draw an arrow.
The battle ended quickly.
Kōbe Hikaru employed not the slightest yōkai weapon; relying merely on the extension of his bone spikes, he pinned those several lizard-yōkai dead to the riverbank.
The whole process flowed like drifting clouds and running water, without a single wasted motion.
The villagers thanked them a thousand times over, bringing out the last eggs and brown rice they had at home as a token of gratitude.
Kikyō accepted only a portion before preparing to leave.
However, when she turned to look back, she found Kōbe Hikaru gone.
As if she'd anticipated it, she walked half a circuit along the village road, and sure enough found him beside a dry well at the village entrance.
That oni warrior in grey robes, with a head of pale long hair, was crouching beside that moss-covered dry well, palm pressed to the well's rim, his expression intent.
"The wear on your rim here has real character—looks like people used you often in the past."
"Though you've dried up now, this too is a kind of settling."
"Don't lose heart—maybe one day the underground veins will open up and you'll give water again."
Kikyō: "…"
She stood not far off, watching this scene, the corner of her brow seeming to twitch ever so slightly.
Although she had long since seen that Kōbe Hikaru was cultivating through this very method, strengthening his power.
But watching him face a dry well with such utter sincerity…
"Kōbe Hikaru."
A cool, clear voice sounded.
Kōbe Hikaru turned to see Kikyō standing in the shade of a tree, arms folded, dappled sunlight spilling over her; though that exquisite face bore no particular expression, her eyes plainly read: that's enough out of you.
"Leaving already?"
With some reluctance Kōbe Hikaru patted the well's rim. "The quality of this well is actually quite good—an ordinary thing, sure, but it's got some years on it…"
"We're going."
Kikyō stepped forward, reached out, and once again grasped his wrist.
Her fingers were faintly cool, yet soft.
"If we don't go now, it'll be dark soon."
As Kikyō pulled him along, Kōbe Hikaru didn't forget to turn and wave at that dry well.
"I'll come see you again next time!"
Kikyō's steps quickened noticeably.
"Must you bid farewell to every single thing you come across?"
"It's a form of courtesy."
Kōbe Hikaru spoke with full conviction—or rather, with conviction whether or not he had the right: "What if one day I need them? Like that stretch of land—keep up the rapport in ordinary times, and it'll save your life at the crucial moment."
Kikyō halted.
She turned around and looked at Kōbe Hikaru.
"And me?"
"Hm?"
"The way you treat me—is that also for saving your life at the crucial moment?"
Kōbe Hikaru was taken aback.
He looked at the shrine maiden before him.
She asked in earnest; though her expression remained calm, in those eyes there lurked a faint, almost imperceptible tension.
She trusted him deeply, yet still wanted to know the answer.
Some things—tacitly understood versus plainly stated—are still not the same.
Kōbe Hikaru smiled, and his smile carried even more of the air of a living man.
He turned his hand to clasp Kikyō's and drew her a little closer.
"It's different."
He said, "They are companions for a brief stretch of the road."
"But you—you are home."
Kikyō's cheeks visibly reddened, all the way to the tips of her ears.
She turned her face away, her long hair falling to hide her profile.
"…Smooth talker."
"Let's go."
Though that was what she said, she did not let go of his hand—if anything, she gripped it a little tighter.
The two walked side by side along the country path beneath the setting sun, their shadows stretched long and overlapping.
[Shikon Jewel — Naohi: favourability +1]
[It says: "I've eaten my fill of this lovey-dovey display."]
At the same time.
[Thunder Beast's Horn: favourability +5]
[Current favourability: 96 (Utmost Craving)]
[It is roaring, it is craving. Brief as that battle was, the bone spikes and blood-qi you unleashed have utterly ignited the fighting will still lingering within it. It no longer wishes to be a dead thing—it wishes to become a part of you, and even if it means destruction, to bloom thunder within your body.]
At last—it was almost there.
Kōbe Hikaru drew a deep breath.
It was much faster than he'd estimated—perhaps because he chatted with it tirelessly every day, or perhaps because these recent outings to exorcise demons and slay yōkai had let it taste the exhilaration of battle.
In any case, the moment was almost at hand.
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