"Can't you tell Teru and I are sick of hearing you go on and on about how hard you have it?"

Despite being the oldest sibling, Murasaki Teruko had burst into tears long ago. Kind, amiable Teru. Always the pacifist, always wearing her heart on her sleeve. Always the first to crack at the first sign of conflict, even if the matter didn't directly concern her.

"Don't listen to her, Arisa," she whispered, clinging to her youngest sister's arm in a preemptive attempt to hold her back. "You know she doesn't mean it – she doesn't. She j-just hasn't been like herself lately..."

But all the seven-year old could do was stare blankly up at her older sister, a mixture of shock and confusion churning at the pit of her stomach. She couldn't think of anything to say, really, because the Misa she knew was never like this. Of the three of them, Misa was supposed to be the cool, level headed sister. The dependable one, the calming ocean tide that tempered Teru's boisterous spunk and Arisa's childish sulkiness.

Something must have changed after the accident that rendered her incapable of competently wielding her beloved katana for good, after her childhood dreams of becoming a high-ranking Navy officer had been dashed to pieces at the base of the local school's fire escape landing. Or maybe not. Maybe the resentment had always been there, always lying dormant beneath a facade of manufactured calm until she was pushed past her breaking point. Because unlike the long-suffering Teruko who clung to the belief that nobody was beyond redemption, Murasaki Misato had never truly forgiven the Commodore for betraying her mother. She'd never forgiven Uzuki Towa for destroying her parents' marriage and rending apart the perfect image of familial harmony which had once encapsulated the entirety of the Murasaki household.

And though she likely would never say it aloud, she would never forgive this trembling, wide-eyed slip of a girl standing before her for merely existing, because her presence served as a permanent reminder of her mother's grief and her father's infidelity.

"Has it ever occurred to you how...how embarrassing this is for all of us?" Misa went on, her unbandaged hand balling into a trembling fist. Her large brown eyes glistened with unshed tears. "You know the reason why Mom went to bed crying every night ever since you were sent here? Why she ended up leaving me and Teru?"

"Shut up," Arisa said hoarsely, voice cracking. Something also burned at the corners of her eyes, but she fought to ignore it, to throttle it back savagely as she might extinguish a stray flame. Because crying was weak, crying was pathetic, and didn't Mother always say how important it was to hide all weaknesses, to exhibit nothing but strength to the world?

"No, I won't!" Misa shrieked back. The angry tears glimmering in her dark eyes finally spilled over, cascading down her cheeks in uneven rivulets. And then just like that, all three of them were crying. Just three insignificant kids reduced to a mess of hot tears and gulping hiccups and runny noses, bawling uncontrollably, failing miserably to make sense of their parents' mistakes. "Because how is any of this supposed to be fair? Why do you get to whine on and on about having an overbearing mother, when we don't get to have one at all anymore? Why do we have to deal with everyone at school calling us that family?"

"Misa, stop!" Teru sobbed.

But Misa didn't stop. She took a deliberate step forwards, eyes glowing with righteous indignation as she jutted an accusatory finger at her step-sister.

"It's all because of you," she seethed. "You and that disgusting whore!"

Rage. Even at the scant, tender age of seven, such potent sentiment wasn't entirely foreign to Arisa, and now, she felt like her heart would explode under its white-hot intensity. Because even if Misato was her sister, her own flesh and blood, how dare she, how dare she malign Mother's name?

How dare she imply that Mother was anything but perfect?

An angered scream tore past her throat, thick and guttural.

"Say that again and I'll rip out your tongue!" she spat, struggling to lunge forwards against Teru's restraining hold. Fingers curled into gaunt fists, little arms thrashing, heart throbbing madly with the intent to claw her sister's eyes out, to make her hurt just a fraction of the agony that was currently on the verge of tearing her apart inside out -

Teru's grip tightened around her waist, dragging her further back.

"Both of you!" she cried. "Please, just stop....!"

──────────────────

MARINE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE

VALERIS ISLAND HQ - ARCHIVES

OFFICE OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINER

CASE NO. 2306-4837

AUTOPSY REPORT

Nyles Everett, M.D.

Chief Medical Examiner

Davion Bismuth, M.D.

Assistant Medical Examiner

Date and Time of Death: [REDACTED], 1523; 0103 HOURS

Date and Time of Autopsy: [REDACTED], 1523; 0955 HOURS

Name of Decedent: STYNARD JASHA

Age: 24 YEARS

Sex: MALE

Length: 190 CENTIMETERS

Weight: 73 KILOGRAMS

Eyes: AMBER

Hair: BROWN

ID by: FINGERPRINT COMPARISON

Present at autopsy: SENIOR INSPECTOR LISLE FLORENCE; JUNIOR INSPECTOR VINDLAND MARIUS

ANATOMICAL SUMMARY

I. Incised wound to the right lateral and anterior neck: Penetrating and perforating the skin, musculature, and cartilage; causing transection of the right interior jugular vein and incision of the right carotid artery.

II. Stab wound to right anterior and posterior shoulder: Penetrating and perforating the skin and musculature.

III. Multiple abraded contusions to upper back and chest.

IV. Multiple incised wounds to hands and upper extremities (defense wound).

V. Multiple abrasions to hands and upper extremities (defense wound).

TOXICOLOGY

I. Blood carboxyhemoglobin: Less than 2% saturation

II. Blood drug and novel psychoactive substances screens: Negative.

III. Blood volatiles: Negative.

CAUSE OF DEATH:

INCISED WOUND TO THE NECK.

MANNER OF DEATH:

HOMICIDE.

──────────────────

As she watched the sun break over Yamizo Island's western bay, it was all too easy for Arisa to imagine that she was back at her step-sisters' home island, to relive a trove of forbidden memories which all may as well have taken place in a separate lifetime. She could very well close herself and imagine, if for a fleeting moment, the security of Jasha's presence at her side, the wordless comfort purveyed in his smile.

It was during these moments of quiet she found herself faltering in her self-imposed oath to maintain a strict emotional detachment from the mission. Her great-uncle had been right. Jasha's death - the turbulent events leading up to it, the inundating mystery of the incident itself - all of these things still prevailed at the forefront of her thoughts like a lingering plague. Her grief, though no longer potent as it had been during the immediate aftermath, had long metastasized into a quiet desperation for answers - a desperation which bordered along the lines of paranoia.

Arisa was no stranger to loss. The life of a yōgari was a difficult one. Suzume, Shina-san, Mother... Jasha's name was one more entry in a fast-growing list of loved ones who'd met their premature ends to the tides of violence which marked this present age of strife. Any yōkai hunter worth their salt was brought to understand the magnitudes of brutality which prevailed outside Amenoka-ji's walls, to accept with grim stoicity the realities behind their profession. Death came to all; it was as inevitable as it could be senseless.

Yet in this case, it was ironically for the very opposite reason that she was doomed to suffer.

Senseless. As terrifyingly void as her recollections had been of that night, Arisa knew that the incident had been anything but. A senseless death was a drunken brawl gone out of hand, a stray bullet fired into a crowd. A robbery gone wrong or a spree killing. Instances of spontaneity - preventable yet overlooked - inducing tragedy and havoc even amongst the most mundane of existences. These were the cases looked upon with a grimace and a shake of the head to accompany declarations of pity and muttered exclamations that the act committed had no rhyme nor reason. Yet there had been a sinister purpose behind every inch of that second smile slashed across Jasha's throat. A purpose which evaded Arisa to this day, leaving the question of her own complicity up in the air.

This was where Misokatsu had been wrong in his assessment.

You didn't do it, Chidori.

Yet Arisa knew very well what she was capable of. What she could be capable of. There was already blood on her hands – and not all of it spoiled by the taint of Kyōki. One mission gone wrong at Sabaody Archipelago six years ago was one particularly salient example of the depths she was willing to sink to if it meant ensuring her own survival. Perhaps it was due to the scars she'd attained then that there still remained a persistent voice at the back of her mind which cast a shadow over her presumed innocence, hissing into her ear each time she surfaced from her nightmares:

It could have been you... couldn't it?

In this current undertaking to find and identify the latest KakuKaku no Mi user, Arisa could at least harbor a semblance of a hope in shattering this self-imposed limbo. How to proceed beyond that was a question of her own guilt. No matter what, the choice remained binary - between closure and retribution.

Arisa wasn't sure which possibility frightened her more.

Wincing, she banished her wandering thoughts and drew in an impatient breath. The scent of ocean brine pervaded her senses as she riveted her attention back to the matter at hand. From here she was lent an uninterrupted view of the island's harbor. To her back was the treeline hemming Yamizo Island's cliffed coastline. The forest floor pitched sharply at an angle from where she resided and ended abruptly in a depression of naked clay clotted with hoary protruding roots. Beyond that, a sheer dropoff down to the rocks below. It was as if a good chunk of earth had been ripped wholly away in a recent landslide. There was another cliff to her right which loomed dozens of meters higher and was cleft from a lighter, chalkier material. Possibly limestone. Its crest formed a sizable plateau which served as Yamizo Island's highest point of altitude. Furthermore, its position - at the tip of a thin peninsula flanking the main harbor - made it an ideal spot for a lighthouse. Of which there certainly was, of course.

The cold grit of the stone outcropping digging into her elbows, Arisa shifted her weight and raised a pair of binoculars, squinting through the lenses as she glassed the surrounding ocean. Empty, save a scattering of fishing boats situated in the far distance. Her attention roved back down to the shoreline - towards the base of the limestone cliff. Barely visible from around the corner of the protruding precipice was the stern end of a ship. She didn't even need to see the Jolly Roger; its bulky, ironclad design was more than enough to confirm her suspicions.

The Basilisk Pirates had returned to their hideout.

Arisa lowered the binoculars and went still for the better part of the next minute, her mind racing. With the recent battle between the Navy and the Noir Pirates having taken place just a couple islands north of Yamizo, she and Riyu had been counting on the odds that the risk-averse Reis Gavros would delay his crew's voyage by taking a more roundabout way to avoid authorities. His safe return undoubtedly threw a wrench in their plans.

Unlike several of their past targets, Gavros had no history of forbidden Kyōki manipulation, much less interacting with any known Kyōgui. Which meant that as far as the leadership at Amenoka-ji was concerned, a kill order would be unnecessary, though not expressly forbidden. Even then, Gavros was a known Devil Fruit user – a mythical Zoan, to be more exact. The last thing Arisa wanted was to risk her and Riyu's safety engaging with something of that caliber if she could avoid it.

Her conversation with Hachinobe Tatsuhito suddenly resurfaced. He would no doubt agree.

But to pass by this opportunity was unthinkable. Gavros was rumored to be involved with the Joker's Devil Fruit sales on the black market. If there was anybody who had information on the Kaku Kaku no Mi, it had to be him.

Making the matter all the more pressing was the fact that they were on a definitive time limit this time around. In a little over a week, Hachinobe Mototatsu and his family were set to arrive for their visit with Uzuki Donabe and the Amenoka-ji elders. Most of the active yōgari in the order was expected to be in attendance to pay their respects to the Amatsuki clan representative.

If she was able to break into the Basilisks' hideout and acquire the required materials by the end of that day, she and Riyu would have more than enough time to make the voyage back to Amenoka-jima to make it in time for the arrival. With the expectation that Reis Gavros and his men would be away, such a time frame was more than feasible – more than that, it would have been a breeze to make. Now, his unexpected return made things all the more riskier. If they managed to make it undetected, fine. If not, a prolonged fight would be guaranteed to occur. Who knew just how much they'd be thrown off schedule?

Arisa rubbed at her temples, already feeling a headache come on at the prospect. She glanced up at the sky, before digging through her satchel for a thermos of barley tea and the parcel of onigiri she'd prepared for herself and Riyu earlier that morning. Unfolding the dried bamboo leaf, she selected one of the three rice balls and bit into it halfheartedly. The sweet-salty taste of the marinated seaweed filling pervaded her senses as she chewed methodically, blue eyes narrowed into knifesharp slits as she studied the ship below her.

Presently, she sensed Riyu's noiseless approach with a cursory sweep of Kenbunshoku Haki. Sure enough, the Mink's head soon popped up from behind a nearby bush in a small explosion of leaves.

"Hey, aneki!"

"You came just in time." Her terse expression easing somewhat, Arisa moved over to make room next to her as the younger yōgari came bounding over to the stone outcropping.

"Whatcha mean?" Riyu plopped down next to her, dislodging several stray leaves which had grown stuck on her fur. Her nose immediately rimpled, whiskers twitching as she immediately zeroed in on the two leftover onigiri. "Ooh. Can I have one?"

Arisa nodded and slid the bamboo leaf over.

"Thank you!" Riyu gave a closed-eyed smile and selected one rice ball. "What flavor is this? Salmon? Umeboshi?"

"Tsukudani," Arisa answered absently. She waited for the Mink to finish chowing down her first bite before holding out the binoculars. "Take a look down there when you're done."

Riyu hurriedly crammed the second half of her onigiri into her mouth and took up the binoculars, her cheeks stuffed.

"Mffhrr?" she vocalized, voice thoroughly muffled as she peered critically through the lenses.

Arisa pointed towards the base of the peninsular cliffs.

"There. Do you see it?"

Riyu looked accordingly with one last valiant gulp to down the rest of the rice. She stiffened in recognition, before straightening and lowering the binoculars, whiskers twitching. A small frown had etched over her features.

"They're... back already? It's the worst possible timing!"

Arisa nodded.

"Even if they're only here to restock, we don't have the luxury to wait around for them to leave..."

Riyu puffed out her cheeks childishly as she lapsed into thought, her frown only deepening. Though unvoiced, her reservations were as clear as day.

Arisa visibly hesitated. It felt wrong to even voice the idea nagging at the back of her mind. With Hachinobe Mototatsu's diplomatic visit looming closer and closer, rushing into a potential confrontation with a mythical Zoan user could be considered about as selfish as it was shortsighted. Had this been anything like their usual assignments, Arisa herself was sure she would have erred on the side of caution and postponed the entire venture.

But this was no ordinary hit on a rampaging yōkai or a Kodera Ikki operative. There was nothing usual about this case - not when the prospect of finding the Kaku Kaku no Mi could very well lurk around the next corner, dangling just so out of reach as if by some cruel and fickle machination of some whimsical higher power. Not when every day wasted was eclipsed by a night made sleepless with macabre recollections – muddled visions of shattered glass and his unseeing eyes, her own hands slick with his blood as she'd held his body close and screamed.

The truth of the matter was that Arisa herself didn't know how much longer she could take it anymore – this fragile charade of calm she'd mustered as a way of burying her grief in her routine, the insubstantial reassurances, the pity, the endless cycle of questions and accusations which threatened to drive her to distraction. It was a miracle she'd lasted in this state as long as she did. But now, the prospect of having to delay further was staring her straight in the face. The situation felt so cruel that it bordered along the lines of ridiculousness.

"Normally I'd say we should give it up for now..."

"Shouldn't we?" Riyu raised her chin. "Hachinobe Tatsusada-sama's visit is next week, right? If something were to happen to either of us before then, it'd cause a major headache for everybody back home. 'Sides, they'll probably be gone the next time we come back. It'll make things easier for us."

Arisa didn't answer right away.

"Aneki?"

"....I don't know." The words fled her lips before she could help herself. "There may be no next time. That's what I'm worried about."

"What are you-teia talking about?"

"Remember what Kurowashi-sensei suggested at the last council? Uncle is still considering reassigning us both. If we come back empty-handed this time around, Yanjirō-dono might use that as a pretext to convince Uncle to call off this whole thing."

"Sensei didn't mean that seriously – you-teia said so yourself! We should have faith in the lord to have understood that."

"Still..." Arisa trailed off as a glimmer of an idea surfaced. But Riyu caught the look on her face. Her expression immediately hardened.

"No," she snapped, folding her arms obstinately.

Arisa narrowed her eyes.

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking, aneki. Don't even try thinking that I'll let you-teia go down there alone!"

It was a warning given far too late. Arisa gritted her teeth in frustration.

"It'd be for your good as much as it'd be for mine," she argued. "You'd avoid getting into trouble for missing Tatsusada-sama's arrival."

Riyu raised her chin defiantly.

"Youknow that I don't care about that sort of stuff!"

"Wha-? Aren't you the one who brought it up as a reason to leave?"

"Yeah... but obviously I'm not gonna give a crap about that if you-teia insist on going after them alone!" Riyu gesticulated vaguely towards the Basilisks' ship. "Don't be stupid - you're gonna need someone to back you up. That guy's a Zoan user, right?"

"Him being a Devil Fruit user is precisely the reason why I don't want you with me!" Catching the startled look on the Mink's face, Arisa softened her voice. "This is my own reckless decision, Riyu. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt on my account."

Riyu stared at her long and hard before shaking her head. A humorless chuckle broke past her lips

"Yeah. That's what you-teia always say, isn't it? You worry so much for everyone else without ever taking yourself into account. Without even considering how it might feel the other way around when you-teia are the one who ends up getting hurt!"

"If something happens to me, it won't be anyone's fault but mine."

"You know that isn't what I mean! I just... I don't..." Riyu clenched her fists. Her bottom lip trembled a little as she blurted out the following words. "I don't want to repeat what happened at Sabaody, alright?"

Arisa felt her breath catch at the back of her throat. There it was again. The Sabaody incident. Even after so many years had passed, the horrors that had transpired in one lonely, abandoned warehouse in the archipelago's 54th zone still enacted as the loathsome embodiment of her nightmares, evoking the scents of rusted metal and stale blood; the pricks of half-moon crescents digging into perspiration-glazed palms, the sight of jutting bones and navy-hued veins roped prominently beneath hyaline flesh. Terror ensnared its cold, skeletal fingers into the fragile veil obscuring her memories and gave a vicious tug, threatening to cleave the meager barrier into irreparable shards.

They're dead. They're dead.

He killed them all, don't you remember...?

Arisa set her teeth, banishing the flickering images from her mind's eye.

"This won't be anything like Saboady," she heard herself say.

"You don't know that -"

"I do!" The insistence came out sounding more desperate in its forcefulness than anywhere close to reassuring. Reading the doubt on Riyu's face, Arisa hastily tried to backtrack.

"This... this isn't the Kodera Ikki we're talking about," she continued in a rush, nearly stumbling over her words in an attempt to overcompensate for her shaken composure. "These are pirates who couldn't even make it to the New World without using Joker's influence as a crutch."

"Their captain's mythical Zoan abilities, too," Riyu said pointedly, shooting her a sly look.

Arisa drew in a tired breath, immediately picking up on the subtext.

"Riyu -"

"No!" The Mink bristled and shook her head, folding her arms obstinately like a child. Had she been standing Arisa had no doubt she would have stamped her foot for a good measure. "I don't care what you say, aneki! If you're free to make your own decisions, then so am I. You can try pulling all the tricks you-teia want, but I'll still figure out a way to follow you! And guess what - that'd probably end up being more dangerous for both of us, right? So there! You shouldn't even waste your time trying to argue with me!"
Arisa clenched her jaw, fighting to subdue the familiar surge of annoyance which stirred in her chest. If there was one incorrigible quality about Riyu that singled her out as a true Kushihashi, it was her obstinacy. Experience told her that the Mink would do everything in her power to keep her word, even if it got both of them killed in the process.

"Fine then," she ground out, scowling. "But don't you dare come complaining to me when we both get into trouble for this later!"

"As if!" Riyu mirrored the expression, glaring back as if to accept the challenge.

The stare off lasted for about another five seconds or so as the tension rapidly dissipated. Riyu broke first with a small snicker, to which Arisa relented with a weak smile.

"Even if I did end up following you-teia secretly - you probably wouldn't have been able to notice with your lousy Observation, would you?"

"....shut up."

──────────────────

"...a marriage proposal?"

It was rare for Takagishi Yoshikazu to raise his voice – even rarer for him to sound so aghast, which really spoke to the precedence of the proposition just presented.

"I implore you to contemplate it seriously, Misokatsu-sama." Uzuki Donabe was smiling as per usual, though there was not a trace of humor to be found within the keen dark eyes that appraised both elders over the rim of his sake cup. "It isn't likely that we'll see an opportunity like this again!"

With the weather reverting back to its usual tempestuousness, all veranda doors at the shrine were kept shut that night. All that could be heard from beyond the shōji panels was the murmur of rainfall and the occasional rustle of windswept foliage.

With one side of his face bathed in the quivering lamplight, Uzuki Misokatsu's frowning visage appeared almost skull-like as he poured another serving of rice wine into the younger Uzuki's cup. The latter nodded in thanks and took a drought before clearing his throat. But it was Kurowashi who beat him to the chase.

"It's unnecessary. The Amatsuki and the Uzuki are already on amicable terms - my daughter's marriage with Hachinobe Mototatsu was proof of that!"

"Such a union may extend to the Amatsuki and the Amenoka-ji Uzuki, yes," Donabe enjoined, raising the sake vessel for emphasis. "But your affairs are entirely separate from ours at Tenkū-jō."

Kurowashi bristled.

"By doing so, you betray what little trust you and your father have in your own allies."

Donabe's laugh reverberated throughout the empty corridors of the wing.

"Don't take it so personally, Yoshikazu-dono! We are only asking for what is fair. Mainly that the Amatsuki extend the same gesture of goodwill they showed you."

Misokatsu remained pointedly silent, his scowl deepening as he shifted his gaze repeatedly between the pair. His smile only widening, Donabe retrieved the glazed clay sake bottle and leant over to pour another serving into the latter's cup.

"I don't see why there is any reason to fret!" he went on, voice buoyant. "Another marriage - and this time with a Tenkū-jō retainer - why, surely that will deepen Uzuki's ties with the Amatsuki and encourage the other clan remnants to cooperate amongst one another. We would be one step closer to unification!"

"Hmph!" Misokatsu downed his sake and let out a deep sigh. "You may very well have a point about unification. Though I fear that such a drastic gesture may compromise our relations with the Osoegawa."

"Confound the Osoegawa!"

"Even so," Kurowashi intercepted, folding his arms inquisitively, "I am struggling to understand your aim in consulting us of all people. If an alliance with the Amatsuki is what you seek, bring it up with Mototatsu-dono when he arrives. Like you said - Tenkū-jō's affairs are completely separate from ours at Amenoka-ji. I fail to see how there is anything to consider on the lord's end since the matter doesn't directly concern us."

For the first time, a flicker of unease perturbed Donabe's expression. His sharp eyes flickered over to meet Kurowashi's distrustful scowl. It was with great propriety he posited the following:

"The hunter who presented Tobari's head at the last council. She is of marriageable age, is she not?"

Misokatsu's hand, bearing the sake vessel to pour into Kurowashi's cup, froze midair.

"Do you really mean to suggest that we give up Chidori-dono?" Kurowashi snapped. "Are you out of your damn mind?"

Donabe bowed his head low. "I beg you to give careful consideration, Misokatsu-sama!"

"Arisa is already an Uzuki by blood! What the hell would we even accomplish by sending her to Tenkū-jō?"

"With everything that's going on with Chidori-dono at the moment, I hate to suggest this myself. But..." Donabe shook his head and lowered his voice. "Listen carefully now! Should our talks with Hachinobe Mototatsu go as intended next week, the Amatsuki will no doubt suggest we arrange a marriage to solidify the alliance. Therein lies the problem - you know how my old man can get! There's no way he won't renege on the offer, given how little he trusts outsiders. But he trusts you, Misokatsu-sama; he'd have no issue with someone from Amenoka-ji." He turned to the head elder, face resolute. "Forgive my frankness, but Chidori-dono really is the only person who can fulfill this role. Yoshikazu-dono is right - she is an Uzuki from her mother's side. But her father is still a Murasaki! A marriage between her and one of our retainers would still be considered a union binding the Amatsuki with the Tenkū-jō Uzuki. It is the only means by which we can secure this alliance."

"All of this...on account of Hiyamugi's paranoia?" Kurowashi scoffed. "Nonsensical! If you think we'll stand to be treated as mere political pawns, you'll be greatly mistaken."

"Hear now; I am only being realistic about the situation, Yoshikazu-dono!" Donabe exclaimed. He turned searching eyes to Misokatsu. "My lord, you of all people should be cognizant of the importance of this alliance. Unlike the Osoegawa Uzuki, the Amatsuki have long shed their delusions about retaking Wano. They are focusing on building a future outside that cesspit, and their influence in the New World grows stronger by the day! Their cooperation is absolutely essential in order to defeat the Kodera-Ikki - and that is precisely why I ask for your permission to present this opportunity to Chidori-dono, Misokatsu-sama!"

The outburst was accompanied with another earnest bow of the head. His frown deepening, Kurowashi also turned to Misokatsu.

"If I may, my lord -"

Misokatsu wordlessly hemmed the impending rejoinder with a wave of his free hand and leaned in to refill the younger Uzuki's cup.

"You don't need to justify yourself so frantically, Donabe-dono. I understand your position." He leaned back with a small sigh, thinning his lips in contemplation as a faraway look momentarily dulled his eyes. "The enmity between the Amatsuki and the Uzuki is a blight on our shared history. In all my life, I never expected that we'd get so far in mending relations. Rest assured I fully comprehend the importance of this alliance.

"However..." He trailed off as he set the clay sake vessel down on its stand by his cup. "...I need you to understand that you are requesting something that is impossible for me to grant."

Kurowashi's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Donabe drew himself up sharply, looking as if he were about to interject. But Misokatsu forged on before he could.

"No, it's impossible," he repeated firmly. "I would have been happy to entertain any other proposition. But to send Arisa..." He gave his head a small, terse shake. "That is the one thing I refuse to do under any circumstance."

Donabe's face had long grown closed off.

"Even if it means that we lose this chance forever?"

"Even so. That girl has suffered enough for the Uzuki name."

"Had she expressed a desire to retire from her duties as yōgari after Saboady, we would have granted it in a heartbeat," Kurowashi uttered quietly. "Even now, the only reason the lord permits her to continue as before is because she insists on it herself."

Misokatsu nodded once as he raised his cup to his lips.

"I'm sorry, Donabe-dono. But my decision is final. I cannot bring myself to ask any more of her."

Donabe sank into a helpless silence, looking repeatedly between the solemn faces that attended him. Presently he sighed and set his cup down with an air of aggrieved finality.

"Then I suppose there isn't much more to discuss tonight."

"I am very sorry," Misokatsu repeated. He lowered the cup after taking a draught, nodding briefly in acknowledgement as the younger Uzuki rose to his feet and gave a frigid bow before exiting the room, closing the screen doors firmly behind him.

The elder waited until the sound of his visitor's footsteps dwindled away into the far distance, before letting out a troubled sigh and setting the cup down at his side. Kurowashi shook his head and reached for the sake bottle to pour another serving for his superior.

"It's simply nonnegotiable."

"I know."

"The nerve of them to ask for Towa-san's daughter! Though I can't say that I'm surprised. That's the Tenkū-jō Uzuki for you, after all."

Misokatsu hummed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"As brazen as he was in his demands, I suspect that Donabe-dono was telling the truth about his father. Which means we're still left with quite the dilemma. Unless..." He paused abruptly, eyes slitting almost imperceptibly as an idea suddenly struck.

Kurowashi caught the look and immediately straightened.

"Unless...?"

The elder's face remained a study, wavering swatches of firelight masking his features stark and ominous against the darkness as he took one final sip of sake.

"Who is handling training tomorrow – you or Tatsuhito-dono?"

"Tatsuhito, my lord."

"Then arrange for one of your other apprentices to fill in for him in the afternoon. There is something I would like to discuss with him."

Translations:

Umeboshi (梅干し): Pickled plums.

Tukudani (佃煮): Seaweed marinated in sweet soy sauce.

Thanks for reading

-shiba