Session Six; Through the Woods

Katsumi sat cross-legged in the family room of Negisa’s house, silently waiting for the time to pass. Kitsuki sat across from her, not so rigid; he was lounging but also silent. He never seemed to have much to say to Katsumi, but that was alright, she didn’t like talking much and preferred if he didn’t hold a one-sided conversation. Not that she had known Kitsuki ever to hold a one-sided conversation. Besides, she wasn’t much in the mood for conversation either, all the things that had happened today, the things that no one should know outside of her family, those would be the things brought up by Kitsuki, and he wasn’t family. So, they sat with only Negisa’s shuffling around the house to fill the air.

He was looking at her, she knew even though her eyes were downcast. The way Kitsuki looked at her when he believed her to be lying. She knew the look because she could feel the weight of his gaze. It amused Katsumi at times because she hadn’t lied to Kitsuki since the one time in his tent, the morning after he learned about her curse, and he had caught her in it. Since then, it seemed like there was no point to lie. She wasn’t good at lying in the first place, and the fact that Kitsuki had seen through her first and only lie to him proved it was futile. There was a reason Katsumi didn’t enjoy conversation, besides being a bore most of the time, she didn’t trust herself to answer delicate questions in a matter that was acceptable to others, others like Kitsuki.

It was good that he was watching her, Katsumi thought to herself. It was keeping him from watching Negisa. That strangling grip that accompanied Negisa’s presence whenever Katsumi was near her tightened its hold. It was too late to take back her offer to keep Kitsuki here, but all Katsumi wanted now was to shove him out and keep him from discovering Negisa’s hidden talent. Negisa was warding the house, which was meant to keep Katsumi safe for the night, but the manner in which she was doing it made Katsumi feel farther from safety than if she were sitting in her own room where that thing had looked at her. She was using maho. A magic that was forbidden inside the Empire a long time ago; a magic that the Spider knew quite well; and a magic that used blood to call on the kansin, the dark and twisted kami who inhabited the world. If Kitsuki learned Negisa was practicing it inside the Empire - Katsumi inhaled sharply, she didn’t want to think of the consequences that would surely come.

Katsumi mentally thanked Fu Leng when Negisa finished her warding. Kitsuki hadn’t said a thing, which meant he probably hadn’t noticed. He was much better at reading people than taking in his surroundings. Locking himself in a library for the countless years before they met, and the last month since they met, had surely given him a false sense of security, disjointing him from the dangers that life held outside his safe little walls.

“What happened to your legs?” Negisa stood over Kitsuki.

“I was born this way,” Kitsuki answered timidly. Katsumi wanted to laugh at his reaction. Kitsuki was never timid. Negisa brought it out in people, she brought many emotions out in people, and Kitsuki like this was darkly funny.

“I could probably fix that,” Negisa offered. Katsumi clenched her jaw. You don’t accept favors from Negisa; Negisa always collects.

“How?” Kitsuki asked.

“We have ways,” Negisa joined them on the floor. “The Spider have been in some very unfortunate places in our times, we have found ways to heal just about everything.”

It was true, in a way. There were some amazing feats the Spider had accomplished with a power only they possessed, but it wasn‘t exact. They knew ways to defeat old age, to maintain beauty; they knew ways to be unseen in the middle of the day that would put the Scorpion to shame; they even knew ways to cheat death in a multitude of gifts, whether from magic or from Fu Leng’s blessing. The problem was, sometimes those ways cost them dearly in another way, and even worse, those who weren’t part of the Spider sometimes didn’t get the results they desired because their souls were too weak to accept the power Fu Leng could grant.

“Other unfortunate clans have tried their mystical ways also,” Kitsuki said unimpressed.

“Have other unfortunate clans figured out ways to cleans the taint?” Negisa smiled.

Also true.

“This isn’t caused by taint,” Kitsuki countered.

“It doesn’t matter. The point is we have the ability to heal things others believe to be unhealable.”

There was a pause; long enough for Katsumi to guess what was going to come next. No one refused after considering something for that length of time. The person had already decided, they just didn’t want to admit it, and for the sake of their own conscience they pause and pretend to wrestle with the possibility of saying no, knowing it will not come.

“What do you have in mind?” Kitsuki asked.

“I have to look at the legs first to determine that. So strip,” Negisa ordered.

That was Katsumi’s cue to turn around. She wasn’t embarrassed to see a naked man; it was more because it was Kitsuki. She wanted to offer him the semblance of privacy for his sake, so he wouldn’t feel awkward or develop any ideas about Katsumi that didn’t ring true.

“Katsumi,” Negisa said sweetly, “Go find Shiba.”

Katsumi turned to Kitsuki, who had only just begun untying his obi. “If it is okay with you, Kitsuki-san?”

“I’ll be fine,” Kitsuki nodded.

Katsumi was thankful for the excuse to leave the house. Dutifully she headed to her own home to fetch Shiba as Negisa had requested.

***

Anjin resumed his anxious undressing. All his life he had been burdened with this ailment, and most of his life he had been exposed to various procedures to correct his issue; none had succeeded as was obvious. However, for some reason he believed this time would be different. Maybe it was the claim that they had figured out how to heal the taint from someone’s body, a claim that may not have any validity, but it was a lofty claim and people didn’t normally throw something like that around. Maybe it was because Negisa was so straightforward about his problem and her belief she could do something to help; she was very steadfast in offering help. Maybe it was just that she was a Spider. They were the first people in a very long time who spoke to him candidly without forcing him to second-guess every word from their mouths. They had accepted him and his affliction, not accepted him and politely ignored his lameness.

“What have you been doing to my little sister?” Negisa glowered at Anjin.

“What do you mean?” Anjin was confused as to where the question even came from. Perhaps this whole offer to help him was just a ruse after all.

“She usually jumps whenever I tell her to do anything. This time she asked you for permission to do something I told her to do. What have you done to my little sister?”

“She is very protective of me. I can’t say I fully understand why,” Anjin tried to explain. He hadn’t done anything to Daigotsu, though now that Negisa had said something, Anjin could see the subtle change from when they first met to tonight. Obviously, he wasn’t the only one who noticed she was acting unusual.

“I don’t even fully understand why. Anyways,” Negisa’s voice lost the steely edge she had adopted after Daigotsu had left the house, “continue stripping.”

Anjin removed everything but his fundoshi while Negisa circled him, examining his body which including poking and touching when she wanted to. It was somewhat uncomfortable, having a beautiful woman inspecting his unsightly and unspeakable deformity. He wasn’t a gargoyle, but with a twisted spine and low functioning legs, he wasn’t exactly pretty in body, either.

“Sit,” Negisa instructed.

Anjin followed. That was when things became even more uncomfortable. Negisa straddled his shin and wrapped her hands around his thigh so her thumbs were pointed towards his torso; she applied pressure and ran her hands from Anjin’s knee to where his leg met his crotch and hip, then back down to his knee. She stroked his muscles and the most curious thing happened, he felt the muscles react. He didn’t feel much in his legs, that was part of his affliction, and he felt this. They crawled under his skin, and although it then brought on a whole knew experience of knotted and tight soreness, he felt it, that’s all that mattered. He marveled at the talent Negisa had as she repeated the process on Anjin’s other leg, with the same results.

He was stunned. Of all the things he had been put through; all the many different tortures and tonics and years of his father trying to fix him; this woman rubbed his legs and made improvements where none had been made before. It was amazing.

“What did you do?” Anjin breathed.

“The Spider have their ways,” she smiled coyly at him.

“Can you tell me more?” Anjin asked, trying to hide his desperation.

“It’s possible. It depends.”

“On what?”

“A lot. Mostly you.”

“What about me?” Anjin wasn’t sure where this was going. If she was going to ask him to join the Spider in order to keep whatever healing secrets they had within the clan, that was out of the question. However, if it was simply what he was willing to pay, he had many things he could offer, a wealth of knowledge and the ability to move people with his words; he could pay whatever it was.

“I need to know what it is that drives you. This technique isn’t something that is freely shared outside the Spider, and it is my job to keep it that way. So, tell me, Kitsuki, what do you want in life?”

He didn’t have to think on the question to know the answer. “I want balance to return,” He said. He wanted to be whole, to not need something else to make him complete, to be as balanced in body as he felt in mind.

“It’s obtainable, but to be balanced don’t you think there needs to be a restructuring first? Nothing can continue on as it was before with the same decisions and expect different results.”

“It depends on the cause of the imbalance,” He answered.

“With the way the celestial cycle sits right now, I think there is imbalance in Rokugan. I believe there is imbalance in the way many live their lives, and because of that there is imbalance in the people, including you.”

“The celestial cycle is not for me to question.”

“And there we have our first issue,” Negisa said pointedly. “Everything is for you to question; otherwise one would grow stagnant and weak. One would become imbalanced in mind, and eventually body. Would you not say the first Hantai deserved to be emperor?”

Negisa was treading through some very deep water. Anjin knew she was pontificating on some blasphemous topics, ones that, if anyone knew she and Anjin were talking about, would cause them to meet an end very quickly. In a way he wanted to stop the conversation, he wanted to stay where he had, within the laws of Rokugan, but that meant he would also stay the way he was. If talking about such ideas could lead to being a better person, there wasn’t much harm in it, as long as it didn’t go past that, Anjin reasoned.

“I don’t believe any man is deserving,” Anjin answered.

“But Hantai was not a man,” Negisa countered, “He was a Kami. He fell from heaven along with his brothers and sisters to establish the clans.”

How could he say it in a different way so it proved the same point? It wasn‘t for him, or anyone besides the Kami to decide who was deserving. Moreover, if one were to follow the rule of Hantai, the Kami who ruled the Empire, then one followed through faith.

“I don’t believe we live based on merit, but faith. Whether or not we deserve something is irrelevant. The Celestial Heavens decide what we are given.” That was a decent way to put it, Anjin thought to himself.

“And yet we have decided to maneuver the Heavens into our belief of what should be. The Spider have only just been recognized by Rokugani law as a great clan, and yet we are the descendants of a Kami as well, a brother of Hantai. It took 1200 years for man to allow us our rightful place, a place they would deny us if it were not for the Celestial Heavens speaking through Iwako who had made it so. The blood of Hantai runs through the veins of the son of our Dark Lord Daigotsu. Would not the blood of the Emperor deserve the right to the throne?”

“Sure,” Anjin agreed.

“So we should return the Emperor to his rightful seat, as is just and right. Would that not return balance?”

“Of course.” Anjin had never thought of it that way. It was known that Empress Iwako was chosen to be the voice of the Celestial Heavens by the Heavens itself, and it was she who declared the Spider a part of the Empire. However, he found it hard to believe that law had strayed so far from the path the Heavens wished. There was a reason the children of Fu Leng were denied entry into the Empire for so long, but now he wasn’t sure if it was by choice of man or the Kami. “But justice isn’t about working out imbalance. It’s about working out the best way for things to work out.”

“And what is the best way to balance things?” Negisa asked, leading Anjin into questioning the way Rokugan had been running.

“I don’t know… I know I’m not interested in putting blind faith into something as simple as the letter of law.”

“And so, what is it you want most?”

“Like I said, balance.”

“If you are true to what you have said, that you are ready to follow the path our Kami have forged for us without blindly accepting the law man has imposed, I can show you how to heal your legs. Is that the choice you are ready to make?”

Anjin swallowed hard. He wanted to walk. He believed the things she was saying, that somehow the Spider followed the will of the Kami closer than others did. It had been a very long time since any Kami but Fu Leng walked the earth, which meant it had been a very long time for men to impose their own beliefs into the system. He saw no flaw in her logic.

“Yes, very much,” Anjin whispered. “What is it that will return my balance?”

Negisa mouthed the word, she didn’t even breathe the sounds but Anjin heard those two syllables as if she had shouted it. They shot through his mind, and brought fear into his soul. Just knowing what she offered put his life in jeopardy, and he had agreed to learn, which promised him a swift, dishonorable death if anyone were to learn of it. He sat in stunned silence while Negisa pleasantly smiled. That word reverberating through his very soul. That word echoing in his ears. Maho.

***

Morasahi contemplated her next move. Her opponent was an intelligent and tricky one; she had no inkling as to what the next move would entail. Carefully she tapped her white stone on a junction trying to determine if the placement would bring about her loss or her victory. Her opponent was silent giving away nothing. She left the stone there and took another drink of shochu before shuffling to the other side of the Go board and picking up a black stone, spending just as much time as she had before factoring the best route to besting herself.

“Shiba-san?”

Morasahi twisted around to see Daigotsu standing in her doorway. She hadn’t even heard the door open and there Daigotsu was, staring at her. Staring at her like she always did. Probably judging and laughing at her behind that mask of hers. Morasahi hated that mask. Morasahi didn’t care for Daigotsu much either, but that mask… that was a terrible piece of clothing. Who would really put a uniform together with a mask?

“Yush?” Morasahi slurred. She had been drinking for some time, though, now that she thought about it, she didn’t exactly know what time it was, or how much she had had to drink.

“Negisa requests your presence,” Daigotsu said plainly.

“Why?” Morasahi was in the middle of a very challenging game of Go. If it wasn’t important, she would rather be left alone.

“If I knew, she probably wouldn’t have had a need for you in the first place.”

What did that even mean? Was Daigotsu trying to say that she was better at doing whatever task it was Negisa wanted her to do better than she was? Daigotsu didn’t make sense. She rarely made sense. She spoke a bunch of nonsense all the time. Like that Naga. Morasahi shuddered thinking about it waiting out there for her. And Asahina would just smile while it skewered her. Asahina liked weird things like that Naga. Asahina like making Morasahi’s job hard. She was certain he liked to see her struggle.

Speaking of struggling, Morasahi realized she was walking with Daigotsu’s arm linked with hers. When did that happen? Daigotsu was dragging her through the streets. It was dark outside. The air smelled sharp. It must be late. Was it even night still or had it rounded the hour to morning before the sun rose? There was something she was supposed to do when the sun rose… eat an early breakfast, that’s what Tsuruchi had said.

“Wharewe go’n’?”

“Why don’t you show me?”

Daigotsu stopped dragging her and allowed Morasahi to lead the way. Morasahi didn’t know where they were supposed to be going, but she knew it was to the left. Obviously, she was right because Daigotsu allowed her to stumble that way. She was often right; people just didn’t listen to her. And what was with the ground? It was so uneven she had a hard time not tripping and falling. If Daigotsu weren’t holding her, she would have easily fallen from the terribly uneven road. Maybe Daigotsu was leading her to every pit and bump on the road just so Morasahi would look silly. People liked to make Morasahi look silly, but that wasn’t Daigotsu. No, Daigotsu was worse than that. Daigotsu didn’t even acknowledge the follies of others, like she didn’t even notice. Like everyone was below her, or she didn’t care. She should care. Morasahi was worth caring about.

They rounded a corner Morasahi didn’t intend to go around and came face to face with a familiar door. Did all doors like this similar? Naw, that wouldn’t make sense. Every door was unique, like every kimono. Like her kimono that Daigotsu had ruined and burned. Who said anything about a kimono? Morasahi slowly blinked as the light blinded her from inside the building. Daigotsu was taking off Morasahi’s shoes, holding her up. In the room sat two people. One was nearly nude. Whoa, what did she walk into? Was this some sort of trick Daigotsu was playing on her? And the other…

“Heeey Neg’sa,” Morasahi waved and felt herself losing balance, tilting to the left but a hand grabbed her right arm. Daigotsu was still standing there. Didn’t she leave? Morasahi pulled her arm away and stumbled backwards.

“Shiba,” the nude man said to her. That voice was familiar, too. Morasahi squinted her eyes. Oh, it was Kitsuki. This had suddenly become much more awkward than just some random man with Negisa. She knew Kitsuki. She didn’t want to see Kitsuki in his underwear.

“Little Sister, it seems I have two students now,” Negisa said in her sugary voice. Morasahi was a little sister, but not Negisa’s. Did Negisa know that?

“You will all be staying here. I like to protect my students and my family, for the most part…” Negisa kept talking but Morasahi stopped listening. She liked to protect people too. Negisa was like a taller, bustier, and much prettier version of herself. Morasahi could be pretty too, but not in those clothes. They were all weird and that was just not something she wanted to wear. She liked her kimono. The one that had burned was one of her favorites. Why did they burn it again?

Negisa led her to an empty room and began undressing her. Apparently, Negisa wanted to help her go to bed. Morasahi wasn’t sure how she felt about this. She could undress herself but didn’t really feel like it, so Negisa doing it wasn’t a problem. That was until she started touching Morasahi. Negisa’s warm mouth engulfed Morasahi’s nipple, and for a moment, Morasahi swam in her drunken haze not sure if this was some strange dream or if this was really happening.

Negisa pushed Morasahi down onto the futon and forced her knee between Morasahi’s. She was above Morasahi, her arms like bars on either side of Morasahi’s shoulders, and her legs pinning down one of Morasahi’s. It was a little frightening and brought on a moment of understanding that this wasn’t a dream and Negisa was about to ravage her. She pushed Negisa with as much effort as she could muster, which wasn’t much since Negisa didn’t budge while Morasahi was pushing at her. However, the message must have gotten across because Negisa rolled to Morasahi’s side and covered the both of them with the blanket.

This was okay, Morasahi thought. Negisa actually felt nice. She was warm and soft and wrapped her arms around Morasahi.

***

Meintaro enjoyed the silence the morning before dawn brought. He enjoyed his breakfast. He enjoyed the quiet company of Asahina. Then he was reminded why he was up before the city began stirring by the agonizing scream of a cow, and he wasn’t enjoying the day any longer. Needless to say, the fact that Kitsuki, Shiba, and Daigotsu all were not in their rooms, and hadn’t shown for breakfast also put a damper on his morning. They were supposed to leave by five, yet not one of them was even there to leave. Meintaro shook his head; it was their loss in the end.

“Right, let’s go. I don’t know where anyone else is,” He said to Asahina.

“Yeah,” Asahina agreed. “We don’t have time to track them down. We have to head out.”

***

Katsumi nudged Kitsuki with her foot. It baffled her that he was still sound asleep even after she had come into his room to wake him. Normally, whomever Katsumi was attempting to rouse would have opened their eyes as soon as the door made any sound at all, but not Kitsuki. Now, however, with her nudging him, Kitsuki rolled and made some sort of groaning sound as if to say he wasn’t ready to get up yet.

“Kitsuki, get up. It’s time to go,” Katsumi pushed.

“Where?” Kitsuki sounded groggy and didn’t even open his eyes when he asked.

“Do you not remember? We’re going into the woods. You wanted to investigate the Naga.”

“Oh,” Kitsuki said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Yeah. I forgot,” He yawned loudly, “About that. I’m feeling kind of tired.”

Katsumi could tell. Though she hadn’t ever seen Kitsuki in the early morning, believing he was like Matsu and woke later when the sun had already risen. Agreeing to a dawn departure was probably the worst choice he could have made for his little adventure into the woods, Katsumi thought to herself.

“Get dressed,” She said, “We’re supposed to leave at dawn, and it’s already dawn.”

Katsumi promptly left the room and allowed him to dress in private, which took less time than she believed he would have taken. He was surprisingly quick for someone with his condition. She then indicated it was time to go and they sneaked out of the house, leaving Shiba and Negisa to sleep the early morning away in the other closed-off room. The walk to their joint home was a short one, but at Kitsuki’s slower than usual pace it took them more time than Katsumi had scheduled out in order for them to meet with Tsuruchi and Asahina. They were already late, but Katsumi couldn’t imagine the others wouldn’t wait, surely they understood that Kitsuki wasn’t the fastest of travelers especially with his obvious fatigue. Why was he so tired after all?

Katsumi hadn’t been afforded a room last night, which wasn’t a problem, she had slept in worse places than the living area of a house; it was actually pretty comfortable. But staying there had given her the opportunity to steal away in the night and procure a few more bones she needed for her new set. It had also made it easy to monitor the rest of those inside the house, since they would have to pass by her before leaving. So, she was certain Kitsuki hadn’t left his room, which made his sluggishness more curious than the easy explanation of a long night with company.

“I trust you had an interesting night,” Katsumi prodded without actually asking him about it.

“Very,” Kitsuki said slowly, “Your sister is a very interesting person.”

“Yeah…” Katsumi agreed, eyeing Kitsuki. That wasn’t the way most people describe Negisa, even in polite terms interesting wasn’t the first thing that came to Katsumi’s mind.

“I had the strangest dreams last night,” Kitsuki recalled, “Then there was something else that I could only believe to be a dream because it was well beyond the realm of possibility. But this morning…” Kitsuki trailed off.

Katsumi could only guess what sort of deal was struck between Negisa and Kitsuki last night. She had called him her student, which meant she was teaching him something. Unfortunately, Negisa knew a great many things, more than Katsumi could even comprehend, so the pool to choose from was near limitless.

“Was all of last night a dream?” Kitsuki asked absently.

Katsumi shrugged, “I can’t tell you if it was or not since you haven’t yet told me what you are referring to.”

Kitsuki scanned the area as if he were making sure no one could possibly hear this conversation, and then he whispered, “Maho.”

Katsumi stopped in her tracks. Of all the things Negisa could share, she chose to share maho with Kitsuki. This was very dangerous for both of them. Kitsuki had no idea the power Negisa held with her blood magic, but Katsumi did. She had seen it in action, even experienced it herself when Negisa felt the need to prove a point. It was not something to be taken lightly, and not a power that just anyone could handle. What Kitsuki could do with it, if he could even handle it without going mad as so many others had before him, scared Katsumi. And then there was the price of it all. This was not going to come cheap. Kitsuki had just indebted more than his life to Negisa and somehow believed it was a good idea.

“I don’t think you realize what you have gotten yourself into, Kitsuki.”

“I don’t think I do either,” Kitsuki confessed.

Katsumi shook her head slowly. There was nothing that could be done now. “I can’t help you,” She said and began walking again.

She wanted to leave the conversation there; she wanted to leave Kitsuki there. He had now made it impossible for her to keep him safe. Maho was a dangerous magic that required harming oneself in order to appease the kansin. Kitsuki had made the choice to offer up his life, and if he were to try to change his mind now, his life would be forfeit to Negisa. He was on his own now. Katsumi lacked the capability to protect him from himself.

***

Morasahi opened her eyes to a room that was not her own. The door was on the wrong side of her bed. The walls were also not the same, but that detail came to her later. The most obvious of a give-away was that someone was behind her, naked, with an arm draped over her waist. Morasahi prayed it wasn’t who she thought it was, only remembering bits of Daigotsu linking arms with her through her spotty drunken memory. Whoever it was stirred. This was it, Morasahi thought; this is what Daigotsu had gotten her into by dragging her out of the house last night. The woman leaned over Morasahi’s shoulder, and although it wasn’t Daigotsu Katsumi, she didn’t actually feel relief.

Negisa smiled and kissed Morasahi on the cheek. “Good morning, Sweetheart,” Negisa purred.

Morasahi didn’t move. It wasn’t fear that held her, simply the hope that she would wake up in a moment with this all being a dream. She closed her eyes and willed the scene away. The sound of Negisa’s movement promised her that whatever happened last night actually happened. There was no getting out of this.

She blew out her breath, not realizing that since Negisa had kissed her she had been holding it. Morasahi opened her eyes and watched Negisa walk through the bedroom door into the bright living area. It was very bright outside, much brighter than it usually was when she woke up, which wasn’t surprising since she had obviously drank herself past good judgment. But there was something about the daylight that tugged at her, she was supposed to be somewhere, she recollected foggily.

Morasahi scrambled to her feet. She was supposed to accompany Asahina and Tsuruchi on their hunt today! They were leaving at five, a time that had long since passed by the amount of light in the house. She rushed to get dressed and sprinted out the door without saying a thing to Negisa. Into her shared home she ran, noting that Asahina and the Naga had departed, indicating that Tsuruchi had probably also left. She had to catch up to them.

Morasahi dashed back out of the house and towards the woods. To be honest, she had no idea where they had headed, but she believed she could retrace the path they had come form yesterday. Hopefully she would run into them somewhere along the way.

***

Mikoto woke to an empty house. She knew Asahina, Tsuruchi and Shiba were headed out to go hunting again. It appeared that Sara had joined them, to her dismay. She wanted to play with her some more, Sara was so interesting. After investigating Katsumi’s room, it was clear she hadn’t returned during the night, leaving Mikoto alone save for Hikaru and Hinata. Despairingly, Mikoto walked back to her room. She wasn’t feeling so well, something that had started recently in the mornings, so she decided she’d return to bed until either she felt better or Katsumi came home, whichever was first.

Sliding her door open, she jumped at the presence of someone else in her room. Mikoto had only scouted the house looking for Katsumi, so she hadn’t been gone more than a matter of minutes. Apparently, that was enough time for Negisa to sneak in the house and make herself at home in Mikoto’s room. She had a series of scrolls with her, laid out on the floor, and smiled, bright-eyed at Mikoto when Mikoto opened the door.

“Come on in, Matsu,” Negisa gestured for her to sit on the futon, “We have only your duties as a wife to go over today, then everything will be complete.”

Mikoto sighed inwardly. She had listened to Negisa talk half the day away yesterday, about everything she needed to know about the clan. Now she imagined this would be just as boring and she really couldn’t stand another round of one-sided conversation, even if Negisa did have a honeyed voice. Grudgingly, she sat next to Negisa reminding herself that this was it, there was no more after this and then she could spend time with Katsumi.

Negisa untied a scroll and unwound it across the floor. Mikoto blinked. There were naked people on it. Naked people that were twisted together in some unbelievable designs. What kind of wifely duties - and then it clicked. Negisa meant those kinds of wifely duties. She took a deep breath wondering if this really was part of the pre-wedding rituals, but didn’t want to question Negisa, who was dedicating her time and concern to Mikoto.

“The first thing you need to know are the basics of sex,” Negisa began.

Lightening crashed in Mikoto’s mind as flashbacks to Katsumi’s first medical lesson came to mind. Katsumi had said precisely the same thing just replacing the word sex with life.

“I know you understand sex, I was there with Asahina and I know my brother, so he as probably bedded you by now. We can skip the boring talk of what goes where under normal circumstances and begin on the more advanced sections. Come look at this,” Negisa pointed to the unraveled scroll.

Mikoto leaned closer to better see. The woman in the painting was on her back with her legs in the air. The man was on his knees between the woman’s legs, leaning over her.

“This and this are variations of each other,” Negisa pointed to the first and second picture. The second picture was much like the first, except the woman legs were pulled to her chest with her feet near the man’s shoulders; the man was more inclined using his arms for balance. “We’ll start there.”

Negisa turned to Mikoto and waited. Mikoto glanced from Negisa to the scroll, confused on what was going on. She thought they were looking at pictures and Negisa was going to teach her about - Oh.

“You want us to…” Mikoto pointed towards the scroll.

“Yes,” Negisa said bluntly. “Lay down.”

Mikoto laid on her back while Negisa loosened Mikoto’s obi. She didn’t remove any clothes, which was a relief to Mikoto, but she did position herself between Mikoto’s legs as the man in the picture had been posed between the woman’s legs. Negisa pressed her pelvis against Mikoto’s and angled Mikoto’s legs precisely, aligning everything as had been pictured.

“This is the Yawning Position; it is less about pleasure and more about enticement.” Negisa then hooked her shoulders under Mikoto’s ankles and slid close to her chest, rolling Mikoto’s hips to the air. “This is the Variant Yawning. It allows for deeper penetration while keeping the erotic element of your legs being in the air.”

Negisa pulled back and put Mikoto’s feet back on the ground. Negisa was positioning her while only giving few instructions on how to move, while pausing once the arrangement had been completed so she could explain the name and the benefit of each pose. Mikoto couldn’t help but feel like the way Negisa was instructing her was almost identical to the way Katsumi had run her lessons. It made her miss Katsumi, especially since she would rather be learning from Katsumi with this type of hands-on approach that the sisters seemed to share.

***

Katsumi rolled her neck while Kitsuki spent his time looking over the ash pile and surrounding site of the fight. She had offered to help but Kitsuki had stubbornly turned her down. He had been brooding and pensive all morning, starting with the talk they had and being left behind by Asahina and Tsuruchi only further drove him into his silence. She watched him stumble around the small clearing; his crutches not made to go off the beaten path. He made several circles, retracing his steps on more than one occasion, and closely examined the trees near the bodies. She could have told him what had taken place but decided it was best to allow him to figure it out on his own, since he had been more than a little snippy when she offered her help.

Katsumi sifted through the ash while Kitsuki did his thing, plucking out a rib and a vertebrate from the remains and sliding them into her pouch for later use. Kitsuki also poked at the ash, but he seemed to be looking at the skull of the one whose head had been decimated. Katsumi sighed at the waste of it all. It would have been easier for her to explain what happened from what she had found yesterday, but Kitsuki seemed to believe anyone but him would be wrong when identifying what had taken place in the area. She shrugged to herself, listening to the wildlife in the surrounding forest and hearing the patter of someone running, staggering through the woods from the way they had come.

Katsumi turned and squinted her eyes, attempting to see who or what was coming towards them. That’s when Shiba’s red and exhausted face came into view, and Katsumi couldn’t help her smile. Apparently Shiba had wanted to follow, but being Shiba, hadn’t said a thing about it. When she realized everyone had gone, she probably chased after them so she wouldn’t be left behind with only Matsu to tail. Katsumi was pretty sure that Shiba and Matsu didn’t like each other very much. They never really said a nice word between the two of them.

“Shiba-san, you’re looking lively today,” Katsumi smirked when Shiba finally made it to the clearing, panting heavily. Shiba just waved a hand in response.

That’s about when Kitsuki started explaining how each Naga had died and his theory on the fight. It was much of what Katsumi already knew, and Kitsuki was long-winded so she only pretended to pay attention while he spouted each piece of evidence he found and what it entailed. He probably needed to feel like he was contributing, but explaining how the Naga died did nothing to solve the problem that had occurred in the forest. They already knew that the Naga they had found alive was the one that brought on the deaths of the other three. However, whatever it was that tainted them still remained at large, and Katsumi had a feeling they wouldn’t find anything more than what they had already discovered yesterday.

“So, do you see any tracks?” Kitsuki asked.

Katsumi blinked and looked around. There were lots of tracks. “Besides… what exactly?”

“Besides the Naga,” Kitsuki huffed. He probably figured out she wasn’t listening…

“Oh. No. There’s nothing new from yesterday, except that Asahina and his pet came through here.”

“I suppose we should follow,” Kitsuki suggested, throwing the idea out there. Katsumi didn’t care if they did or not, this was all a waste of time anyways. However, Kitsuki wanted to follow the others, so Katsumi led the way based on Asahina, Tsuruchi, and the Naga’s new tracks.

***

Sara had led them directly back to the campsite her previous band had been residing at, that is, before she killed them all, Meintaro thought. The last part was pretty important, seeing as how he wanted to be rid of this one and hoped there were others around somewhere. Others that Sara could join up with and leave the town in peace. This was as good a spot as any, Meintaro shrugged. Maybe she’d be able to retrace her steps from this camp back to where the four of them had come from.

He waved his hand to get her attention and began to go through a series of movements to express that they were looking for more Naga. Perhaps he was getting better at this, or she was learning how to better interpret, but it seemed to work the first time through without the need for Asahina to join in. Sara pulled an arrow from her pack and fired it at a tree to the southwest.

“Think we should go that way?” Meintaro asked Asahina. Asahina was in charge of this scouting party after all.

“Yeah,” Asahina nodded.

I wonder… Meintaro thought to himself, wondering if he could split Sara’s arrow from the distance they were. He shifted his feet and notched an arrow, attempting to strike the same spot Sara had. He let loose and watched proudly as his arrow sunk right next to hers. Unfortunately, it didn’t touch hers, but being only a hair off was still nothing to shake a stick at.

He watched as Sara slithered to the tree and withdrew both arrows, inspecting them. Meintaro joined her; curious to see what she was up to and he also wanted to see how close he had been to splitting hers. As he thought, the tips had punctured nearly the same spot, a little more to the left and he would have nailed it. She handed him an arrow that was most obviously hers and not his, and then quickly continued down the path by the tree, out of sight.

Meintaro didn’t understand the point of being given an arrow that wasn’t his. It had already been used and it wasn’t as if he didn’t have many more where that came from, more of his own. He tossed the arrow to the ground and before he could take a step to follow the path Sara had gone down, she was there, in front of him, snatching the arrow back up and putting it back in his hand.

“Sssarata,” Sara demanded. Whatever the significance was, it was obvious it meant much more to Sara than Meintaro understood. He smiled and put the arrow in his quiver, Sara waiting for him to let go before turning back around and following the trail once again.

“Right, we should probably follow her now,” Meintaro said to Asahina as she stepped off into the woods.

***

Daigotsu led Anjin to an abandoned campsite. It hadn’t been abandoned for long, there was boar encased in something, some sort of preservation method the Naga must use. They had obviously intended to come back here. It was here that all four of them must have lived for some time due to the large amount of animal waste that was piled in a pit they had dug. There was also a large fire pit, as well as several racks for stretching leather. The last part Anjin had only figured out because there were skins pulled across two of them. Besides the fact that the group had left in a hurry, there really wasn’t much to deduce from this area.

“Did you see this place yesterday?” Anjin asked Daigotsu and Shiba.

“Yeah,” Daigotsu answered, standing by the edge of the campsite as if waiting to move on.

“Is anything different?”

“No. But they went this way,” Daigotsu titled her head towards a small path she was next to.

Anjin shrugged. There really wasn’t much to see here, and if they could catch up with Asahina and Tsuruchi before long, he could figure out what they were up to. They kept going deeper and deeper into the woods, and this trail took them even further from the city. There must be something out there, he thought to himself.

The slow movement of amber caught his eye just as he was about to step past the edge of the clearing. Anjin stared at the tree, not sure exactly what he had seen, but he knew something was off. As he neared it he noticed it was weeping, two small punctures dotted the tree, looking the same size and shape as arrows and obviously fresh since the tree hadn’t scarred yet. There weren’t any arrows around, so whoever it was had removed them before moving on. This was kind of like the Naga in the last area whose head had been smashed in. With no tracks indicating someone else had been there, but an obvious second assailant on the scene since the manner of death was so drastically different from the other two Naga.

Anjin shot a curious look at Daigotsu, “Why do you think they’d be firing arrows here?”

Daigotsu shrugged and tossed her bisento from one hand to the next, then back again. “They weren’t attempting to hit anything besides the tree, so I’d have to assume… fun?”

Daigotsu was being no help at all. Maybe there was something that had been there, something that could move about without leaving tracks. Maybe the group had missed and gone after it. The possibilities were endless when it came to why they had loosed arrows at a tree, and then removed them before continuing on. Possibilities he hoped to figure out before they met with the same strange circumstances that both the Naga and his forward party seemed to be facing.

***

Meintaro couldn’t believe something like this was so close to their town. Granted, close was being generous since it had taken them all morning to reach where they now stood, a good six hours since they first set out. However, six hours wasn’t that far, if he wanted to go back to town right now, he could easily make it before nightfall. But it was still something to behold. Stacks of ancient rocks dotted the wide clearing, trees had taken root around them, some inside the semi-circle formation, but very few. They were at the site of some ruined… whatever it was, but it was something someone made, that was clearly defined by the stones which had been cut into shape. Normal wear wouldn’t have made their faces so flat and their corners so sharp.

Sara began darting in and out of the forest, piling up firewood at the edge of the circle. Meintaro glanced at the sun, it was only noon, either they were stopping for lunch or she wanted them to stay there for the night. The later sounded more reasonable judging from the location and whatever this formation was.

“I think we’re supposed to stay here,” He informed Asahina who had been silent most of the trip.

Asahina took a seat by the fire pit Sara was creating. “Interested in lunch?”

Meintaro was very interested in lunch. He was ready to go hunting and bring back a prize for Asahina and him to share, and of course, Sara would probably eat it as well. However, before he could express his excitement, he heard the familiar sound of an animal bleating its final cry. And almost instantly, Sara returned with a dead deer, literally dropping it on Meintaro’s lap. He sighed and dragged it over to a tree, hanging it to begin bleeding it before he skinned and butchered the thing.

“Tell no one you saw this,” Meintaro demanded of Asahina who threw his hands up and shook his head as if to say he saw nothing at all.

He then proceeded to clean the deer for supper, it wouldn’t be ready before lunch, and an animal of this size took some time to skin correctly. Sara joined him, but not to help, instead she tore strips from the removed skin and began tying sticks together, creating some sort of frame. She quickly became as messy as Meintaro, his hands now covered with the deer’s blood and small pieces of sinew.

Meintaro was probably halfway through the ordeal when Sara dropped her sticks and sprung into an offensive posture. She snatched her bow and notched an arrow, staring into the woods from the same direction he and Asahina had come to reach this place. Sara must have been having a hard time finding whatever it was that spooked her, because she never aimed, nor fired her arrow. Instead, she started almost dancing, swaying from side to side watching the woods.

Meintaro scanned the tree line. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did we learn yesterday?” He dropped his knife and moved in front of Sara, blocking her view from the Phoenix, Spider, and Dragon he saw waiting in the forest. She had almost shot his friends… again.

Sara returned her arrow to her quiver and pointed at her palm. “Whoa.”

“Right,” he responded, happy she was starting to understand that an open hand meant for her to stop. Meintaro flashed Sara a thumbs up, indicating a good job, which meant to her that she should look up. He sighed heavily, “Please, let us find some Naga soon.”

***

Mikoto skulked around the house. Katsumi hadn’t come back yet. No one had come back yet. She was still alone in a house that was supposed to be full of people. She was going to be getting married tomorrow, and her supposed friends had all abandoned her to go hunting again. At least that’s where Shiba, Asahina, and Tsuruchi were. Katsumi, though, Katsumi was just gone. She was starting to believe that Katsumi was avoiding her. Maybe this whole marriage to Katsumi’s brother was more of a big deal than she previously believed. It didn’t seem to have mattered when they were betrothed, that’s when Katsumi snuck into her room and spent those wonderful nights with Mikoto. But now, now since Yanagi had returned, she hadn’t seen Katsumi for more than a few minutes at a time. She hadn’t come into Mikoto’s room, and hadn’t even come home last night.

This wasn’t going to go on any longer, she decided marching to Katsumi’s room. Once entering she began shuffling through Katsumi’s clothes, she was bound to have susoyoke somewhere, which would be perfect for Mikoto’s intended use. Strangely, she didn’t find any. Mikoto stepped back and furrowed her brow. Come to think of it, she had never seen Katsumi undress, she was always just naked to begin with, or already wearing her sleeping robe, which was simply that, a sheer kimono. She shuffled through Katsumi’s clothes once again, pulling out a few white folds of cloth. Maybe this was Katsumi’s shozoku, which would work just as well, she decided and skipped back to her room.

“Hikaru, Hinata, smell,” Mikoto ordered as she held out the cloth to her lions. They took in the scent, Hikaru even attempted to rub against it. Mikoto frowned. That lion…

“Find Katsumi,” She smiled as Hikaru began prowling around the house. Obviously checking every corner that Katsumi had been in inside. Hinata, on the other hand, just waited by the door until Hikaru joined her and off they went through town.

Why hadn’t she thought of this before? All those times she had wandered around looking for Katsumi, and the whole time she could have had Hikaru do it for her. Now that she had two lions, it would prove to be twice as easy. She was going to find Katsumi, and they were going to have a talk about what the wedding meant for the two of them.

***

Kyuzo stood to greet the rest of the group as they entered the outcropping of ruins after Tsuruchi had disarmed Sara. Now, it seemed, Sara was more than happy to see the three walking towards their camp, even though yesterday she had threatened to kill two of the three.

Sara zipped to Shiba hissing, “Harasssnada,” and began patting her on the head without regard to the cleanliness, or lack thereof, of her hands.

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” Tsuruchi waved to everyone before returning to the deer.

“Good afternoon,” Kitsuki grumbled.

“Make her stop… please,” Shiba pleaded.

“Glad you guys could find us,” Kyuzo said, still annoyed that they didn’t show for this morning’s departure. They must have not been far behind, though, seeing as how he and Tsuruchi had only been here for an hour or so.

“It wasn’t difficult; Daigotsu is quite a capable tracker. Have you guys found anything?” Kitsuki inquired, but Kyuzo was busying watching Sara. He’d let Tsuruchi answer this one, since there wasn’t much to report on. Sara had moved from Shiba and attempted to touch Daigotsu on the head, an action that Daigotsu didn’t seem to want. Daigotsu had ducked away and leaned back, she was shaking her head at Sara with a hand outstretched to prevent Sara from touching her.

“Hey, Sara, calm down,” Kyuzo called weakly. He didn’t get much sleep last night, and continuously correcting her was beyond tiring.

“Yeah, we’re supposed to stay here,” Tsuruchi answered.

“Why?” Kitsuki scoffed.

“I don’t know. She tried to sit us down. She’s either making a camp here, or something is coming,” Tsuruchi shrugged only giving Kitsuki glances over his shoulder between his carving of the deer.

Sara began pointing at Daigotsu, trying to convey something. She pointed at Shiba, then Daigotsu, and then reached for Daigotsu again.

“I don’t know,” Kyuzo waved his hand for her to come to him, “She’s okay. Just leave her alone.”

“We found two arrow marks in the trees a while back, what was that from?” Kitsuki asked. Nothing got past him, it seemed, though it was a strange thing to focus on, Kyuzo thought.

“It’s their means of communicating. Pantomiming directions,” Kyuzo explained.

Sara held up her hand towards Daigotsu, she obviously wasn’t interested in leaving her alone. “Whoa,” Sara said as she pointed at her own hand, and then put it on her head, “Yesss.”

“Close enough,” Tsuruchi commented.

“I see you’ve been teaching it to talk,” Daigotsu said not taking her eyes off Sara.

“No, that was Matsu-san,” Asahina shook his head.

“Whoa. Yesss,” Sara began petting Shiba on the head.

“Make her stop?” Shiba whimpered, shrinking away from Sara who actually stopped petting Shiba on her own accord.

Kyuzo was beginning to think that things were easier when it was just Tsuruchi and him with Sara. He was glad the rest of the group showed up, but at the same time, Sara had begun to exhibit behavior she hadn’t when it was just him and Tsuruchi. Kyuzo wasn’t going to be able to keep her from constantly touching Shiba, and constantly trying to touch Daigotsu. That was a headache waiting to happen. Daigotsu didn’t seem to fear what Sara was capable of doing, which meant that both Sara and Daigotsu were unpredictable and allowing them to interact with each other was very dangerous. For now, Sara kept her distance from Daigotsu, watching her, perhaps even studying her. Kyuzo could relate, he didn’t understand Daigotsu either.

“So, Kitsuki,” Kyuzo beckoned now that he didn’t have to prevent Sara from inappropriate touching, “What do you make of all these stones, and this structure?” Kyuzo pointed at the semicircle around them and the manufactured stone that stuck out of the overgrown grass.

“Let me see…” Kitsuki drawled as he hobbled towards the blocks. He spent a good amount of time inspecting one, and then another, sometimes running his fingers over an edge thoughtfully. “It looks like a very long time ago there was writing on these stones. But now it’s almost impossible to make out.”

That didn’t help decipher what the area was used for, or why they were waiting there. They were exactly where they had started; sitting in the ruins of something, in the middle of the day, and with no clue as to what was going to come next. Tsuruchi had asked Sara to bring them where there were more Naga, but there weren’t any Naga here. It was just… empty. Kyuzo was starting to believe she was alone out here, the other three Naga being the only other ones awake, and now they were ashes and dust.

“Daigotsu-san, could you help me by starting a fire to cook this thing?” Tsuruchi called.

Daigotsu was kicking around the edge of the forest and waved a hand in response. Kyuzo watched her attempt to light the large woodpile Sara had stacked on the edge of the semi-circle. Sara, of course, pushed her away.

“I think she expects us to eat this raw,” Daigotsu deduced. Apparently she didn’t understand snakes, Sara needed that pile to keep herself warm when night fell.

“What? She won’t let you light the fire?” Tsuruchi looked over his shoulder.

“She’s going to use this to keep her warm tonight,” Kyuzo explained.

“Why are we stopping so early?” Daigotsu finally asked.

“I don’t know.” Kyuzo was tired of not knowing.

“She wants us to stay here,” Tsuruchi turned, done with his part in dealing with the dead animal.

“I think we need to be here tonight,” Kitsuki added. Daigotsu looked from one to the next, as if considering their answers then walked to the edge of the circle and took a seat.

“I feel like this has some kind of celestial significance. What other purpose do stone structures have?” Kyuzo tried to reason why they were spending the rest of the day in the remains of the old ruins.

“That’s a good point,” Kitsuki chimed in.

“They’re not oriented in any sort of cardinal direction, maybe they line up with the stars or something,” Kyuzo shrugged. Whatever was here, it wasn’t here while the sun was up. Maybe it was a map to more Naga.

“Do you know someone in town who might know ancient languages?” Kitsuki inquired. They had already taken care of that.

“Someone from the Phoenix, perhaps. But we already sent for the most knowledgeable of the Naga linguists,” Kyuzo explained.

“And that was last night,” Tsuruchi added.

“We don’t know that it’s Naga,” argued Kitsuki.

“What else could it be?” If a Naga brought them to a place and there was old writing on old blocks, it was pretty much guaranteed it was Naga.

“Well, we did ask her to bring us to someplace where there were more Naga. I don’t know whose this is, but it is not her stone circle in the middle of the woods,” Tsuruchi voiced what Kyuzo was thinking. That ended that conversation. It was still strange, though. Kitsuki was supposed to be this intelligent investigator, and he couldn’t see what was right in front of him.

***

Meintaro finally got a fire started, no thanks to Daigotsu who sat idly by while he gathered the wood himself. She was carving something. Apparently, the Spider were more like the Crane than he had thought, at least when it came to art. Whatever she was whittling could have waited until the food was set up. It would take a while for the deer to cook, and having to do the cleaning and setting up was just a terrible use of his time. It wasn’t until he had managed to set the deer up on a spit that Daigotsu did show to help, but everything had been taken care of by that point. All that was left to do was watch it cook, a job apparently she wanted to do. Of course, she didn’t do any of the labor, just wanted to sit around, and now she was doing the same thing. She wasn’t making a good impression on Meintaro.

Meintaro’s disapproving look was interrupted by Sara jostling him. She started pushing him from the cooking fire rather forcefully. He threw up his hands and backed up.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Meintaro cautioned. He had been trying to get it through to her over the last day that aggression was not the first line of communicating. Drawing bows on people, pushing people, neither of those were needed in order for her to get her point across. Granted, she wasn’t exactly clear when she communicated through other means, but it was better than shooting someone.

“Whoa,” Sara said raising one hand.

“Whoa,” Meintaro repeated, holding both hands up. He wanted to see if she could transition from one hand, as she had been using, to two, as he had since he first met her.

“Whoa,” she continued without adding her second hand.

Meintaro took a step forward and nudged Sara with his open hands, not even enough to move her, then he took a step back, holding his hands up, and again said, “Whoa.”

It didn’t occur to him that it was a bad idea to touch the Naga. It didn’t occur to him that she might not understand what he had been indicating in the first place. It didn’t even occur to him that she was unaware of her own strength compared to humans until she shoved him with such force he was knocked off his feet and flew a short distance before falling to the ground hearing Sara repeating, “Whoa.”

Meintaro rose, he deserved that, he supposed. After dusting himself off, he vowed never to touch her again in order to explain something. He was going to keep his hands to himself, which he now raised and indicated for her to cease and desist by saying, “Whoa.”

Wrong choice of words.

With lightening speed, Sara coiled around him, grabbing his arm and squeezing his body. Meintaro struggled to break free. She must have thought it was some sort of game, because the more he struggled, the more he felt her entwine him. He was going to die wrestling with a Naga because he tried to teach her how to not touch people. Perfect. Then she let up. She just let go of him and lifted Meintaro out of her coiled prison as if he were no heavier than a doll, gently setting him down on the ground.

Meintaro eyed her, unsure of what just happened. She could have accidentally murdered him with ease, but she stopped and he was none the worse for wear. Sara withdrew a dead rat from a satchel on her waist and held it out to Meintaro like some sort of apology gift. That… was not something he wanted.

“No,” he declined her gift.

“No,” Sara mimicked, pointing at her belly.

Meintaro sighed and walked away. He hoped with every fiber in his being that they would find some Naga tonight; that they were staying here because it would be some sort of Naga meeting ground; and that he never, ever, had to have the pleasure of wrestling with one again.

***

The sounds of the fire, the sizzling of the deer, Tsuruchi reprimanding the Naga, all of it barely pierced Morasahi’s consciousness. She was meditating, shutting out the world around her and focusing on the here and the now. Finding the emptiness of the Void and escaping into the place of nothing. After the last twenty-four hours, she needed to find her center again. Starting with the hunt yesterday and their new guest, things had just continued downhill. However, now that she had time to just sit and forgive those that had done her wrong, hope had returned to her and the understanding that things were going to work out when all was said and done. Then there were hands touching her, hands unbraiding her hair. Morasahi lost that inner peace she had just obtained as she opened her eyes to see Sara coiled around her and shaking out Morasahi’s hair, letting it fall loose.

“Yes?” Morasahi tried to pull away from Sara but there was nowhere to go.

“Yesss,” Sara responded and began brushing Morasahi’s hair with a beautiful coral comb. It was horseshoe-shaped, pearlescent in color, and had a small shell placed at the top of it. Too fancy for Morasahi’s taste, but it worked all the same.

Sara brushed her hair, picking out the dried blood she had matted into it earlier. Sara brushed until Morasahi’s hair shone like silk. It was actually rather nice, Morasahi thought. When Sara had interrupted her meditation, Morasahi had first believed something dreadfully uncomfortable was about to take place, as always did when Sara was near her, so this was a nice change of pace. No one brushed Morasahi’s hair for her.

“It’s a good bonding experience getting your hair combed by a snake,” Tsuruchi mocked. Morasahi didn’t pay him any attention; he wasn’t going to ruin her enjoyment of Sara’s company for the first time since they met.

Next Sara began braiding, but not the usual maiden’s braid Morasahi wore. It was a series of several small braids that Sara began weaving together, pinning up Morasahi’s hair in an ornate style. Braid after braid, hairpin after hairpin, she was certain that by the time Sara was done she would have the fanciest hairstyle she had ever seen. Probably the fanciest anyone there had ever seen.

A small smile brushed her lips. Sara hadn’t done this to anyone else since she arrived. Morasahi was the first to spend time with her like this, and Sara had chosen her. She glanced at Asahina who was watching the two of them, charcoal in his hand working on the paper he had brought. Even Asahina knew this was a momentous occasion; he was drawing Sara and her so it had to be a sight he hadn’t expected.

***

Sara pinned Shiba’s hair again, adding another braid to the woven cluster on top of her head. It was beginning to look like Shiba belonged in a court rather than guarding someone; all that hair pinned up like that was bound to get in the way. Katsumi shook her head as she turned back to the deer roasting over the fire. It was silly to do something like that out here. Granted, they seemed safe enough, but all it would take is one low branch to get caught up in it and then you’d have a tangled mess on your hands. Not worth it.

Sara peered around Katsumi’s shoulder, circling her a few times to coil her tail around her. Apparently, Shiba was done being groomed by the Naga and now it was staring at Katsumi.

“Uh uh,” Katsumi said, understanding what was going to come next. She shook her head and ducked out of the way, taking a step over Sara’s long body. “Not happening.”

The Naga switched her gaze between Katsumi and Shiba who was standing behind her as if to say it was Katsumi’s turn. Katsumi slowly shook her head. There was no way Sara was going to make up her hair into some inconvenient style, let alone touch her hair. No, there was too much of a risk on her part, trusting someone she had only met, that was not going to happen.

Sara tried offering Katsumi the comb. Not happening. She even tried bribing Katsumi by tossing a rat at the ground near her feet. Still not happening. Lastly, Sara brushed a few strokes in her own hair in an attempt to explain what her intentions were. Katsumi didn’t care, it wasn’t going to happen. However, it was beginning to look like she wasn’t going to get out of this without offering something else for the Naga to entertain herself with.

“He has lots of hair,” Katsumi whispered as she pointed to Asahina with a nod. Sara just stared in response so Katsumi ran her fingers through her hair and pointed again at Asahina. The Naga picked up the rat and slithered to Asahina. It actually worked, Katsumi thought. Brilliant.

She watched as Sara grabbed Tsuruchi’s hand and placed the comb in it, and then pushed him towards Asahina. Tsuruchi, completely missing what the Naga had intended, handed the comb to Asahina. She snatched it back and forced it in Tsuruchi’s hand again, this time raising Tsuruchi’s arm and trying to get him to brush Asahina’s hair.

A steady “No,” came from Tsuruchi while he held the comb out to Sara. Sara pointed to her belly. Katsumi raised a brow. What was that supposed to be? Whatever it was must not have been important because Sara took the comb and raced to Kitsuki, offering it to him. Kitsuki took it without thinking and was quickly pushed towards Asahina. He almost fell over from Sara’s nudging, confusion painted on his face.

“She wants you to brush Asahina’s hair,” Katsumi explained to him, “Didn’t you say she wasn’t very fond of you?”

“Maybe she changed her mind. This is strange,” Kitsuki hurried his step towards Asahina to keep Sara from knocking him over.

“Why do you think she’s not very fond of you?” Asahina asked.

“It might be because she drew a bow on him,” Tsuruchi grunted.

“She draws a bow on everyone,” Asahina lamented.

“Right,” Tsuruchi agreed. “I hate to admit I was wrong, but we should have never brought her.”

Katsumi smirked to herself. Sara wasn’t so hard to deal with. That was the third time now that she had convinced the Naga to do something other than its original intent. You just had to control the situation through will and strength. That was what made them different from her; she didn’t fold under the desires of Sara.

Katsumi poked at the deer, it was perfect.

“Dinner is ready,” She called to the others, giving them a break from the Naga’s overpowering demands.