A piercing scream tore through the night, one that would have all who heard it come running in an instance.

Katsuragi Amayas eyes flew open as she threw herself upright, her heart racing so fast it seared in pain, and her eyes wild with relived horror.

Again, Amaya found herself waking up in the memorial grove, her form rigid and drenched with a cold sweat, stomach rolling so violently she had a hand desperately clamped over her mouth to try stop the bile from rising and escaping.

Again, she found herself with tears pouring down the sides of her face.

Seven years of this - She wondered if it was ever going to get any easier.

She wondered if she was ever going to let this go.

The day was the 9th of June, a Friday, and just two days before Amaya was due to head back to Tokyo.

Still in the early hours of the morning, there was no sound, and certainly no life around her. The air was still, with the tiniest edge of decay and the faintest scent of burning incense.

After many long minutes, the rolling of Amaya's stomach settled down enough for her to take her hand away from her mouth, and for her to begin to calm down.

She slowly took in her surroundings, her trembling fingers pushing her hair out of her face as her eyes adjusted to the world around her.

The memorial grove for the most part was the same as it had been last she was conscious - all stonework cleaned from grime and moss, weeding done, and all the plants that had overgrown their normal trimmings were returned to a neat organization.

The differences were that the six oil lanterns that lined the memorial grove were all lit, and the five stone plaques that also surrounded the hexagonal granite pillar in the centre had a bouquet of flowers set on the ground just in front of them, and each had incense burning.

One of the plaques in particular also had an offering of anpan set in front of it - The one directly in front of her, which happened to be the one dedicated to Yukariko.

The place where her remains were laid to rest.

Amaya would have been frightened by the changes around her, had this been the first time it had ever happened.

She looked down at herself after a few long minutes, to find an earthen brown Haori resting over her lap, and her little ocarina was sitting on the ground just a few feet away.

Just as she had begun to expect.

Carefully, Amaya lifted herself from the ground at the base of the memorial pillar, neatly folding the haori up and setting it over an arm before she picked up her ocarina.

She began to make the walk back towards the dust-filled building the rest of her belongings were in.

Along the way, Amaya could pick up on other signs that showed a presence within the walled off property, small things that wouldn't have come to her notice, had she not been so familiar with the way this place was supposed to be.

The smell of freshly cut herbs weeping in the air, mixing with the scent of wood smoke, and in the inky darkness ahead of her, she could also see the faintest hints of incandescent light up ahead.

She never turned the lights on, except if she was checking for running electricity in the building.

As Amaya reached the courtyard the pergola stood within, she noticed that the sliding doors of the tatami room had all been completely opened up, giving her a perfect view inside.

The room was illuminated by soft, incandescent light emanating from a bottled candle set upon a square table in the centre of the room.

A large, familiar form sat on a mat on the right side of the square table, a cup in front of him, and a book was held in his time-worn hands.

The form of Shigure, the man from her nightmares sat comfortably, at ease.

He didn't appear to even notice Amaya's presence, though she knew better than to believe that.

He noticed her in amongst the people and the rain all those years ago, after all.

Amaya slowly made her way through the courtyard, being careful to step only onto stepping stones, or to make very much noise.

It was as she stepped onto the veranda that Shigure turned his head at the sound of her arrival.

'Greetings, little one.' Shigure spoke, a kind smile across his face as he gazed at Amaya. 'You're just in time - I was about to brew some more tea. Would you like some?'

Wordlessly, Amaya nodded her head ever so slightly as she averted her gaze.

'Very good.' He responded, lifting himself to his feet as he began to walk out of the tatami room. 'You should make yourself comfortable - After all, this house may as well be your own.'

Amaya winced at those words, however she did as she was told.

She settled herself on the second mat opposite where Shigure had been seated, carefully setting the haori on the table.

Minutes passed while Amaya sat in silence, her gaze tracing the many lines of silver that ran over the backs of her hands. The many nicks and cuts she'd gained through scuffles had left a mess of silver over her knuckles, her fingers and up the backs of her hands. The lines only showed up in soft light like this, where the uneven lines in the skin and the silver caught the light - in normal light, the whiteness of her skin would blend the scars.

Her arm had stopped aching, but she wondered if it was healed enough for her to start using her arm properly.

Amaya could hear Shigure's footfalls in the next room, the sounds of clinking plates and the sliding of cupboard doors.

She inwardly wondered what it was he was up to, though she didn't go to pry.

The relationship between Amaya and Shigure was one of strange ties and mutual understanding, put simply. She'd met him a few times before the day Yukariko left the world, apparently, however since then, she met Shigure every year, just like she had right then.

She'd wake up in the memorial grove to find that there were incense burning and a haori resting over her to keep her warm.

It was a rare, but periodical set of circumstances that neither spoke about.

In mutual understanding that had never been discussed, Shigure very rarely asked her anything about her life beyond the small inquiries as to whether Yuta and Reiko were doing well, and Amaya to Shigure. Their exchanges were short, whimsical, almost entirely pedestrian and forgettable.

And yet to Amaya, it always felt like there was a specific reason the strange man came to the abandoned house like this. That there was something in the way that he spoke and the way that he'd just let things play out how they will that there was something in it for him.

There was no telling what true motives Shigure had for turning up on the 9th of June every year, but there was of course a reason. From what he'd mentioned a couple of years ago, he was never actually in Japan at all, until the first half of June rolled around. He came back only for those two weeks, and he only ever spent one whole day of that here at the abandoned house.

Amaya always wondered why the strange man made a point of spending the 9th here, every year.

But like every year, she would not ask him why.

'I trust you haven't fallen asleep, Amaya.' Shigures voice spoke up from the door all of a sudden, startling Amaya out of her train of thought.

She turned her head to look up at him as he walked past, to see that he not only had a serving tray with two cups and a teapot, but he also had brought out a plate of snacks, too.

Like he always did.

Amaya maintained her silence as Shigure gently set the plate of what looked to be a form of small anpan on the table, as well as the cups and pot of tea.

It was only as he set a cup of tea on the table in front of her, that she spoke.

'Thank you...' Amaya spoke, her head still slightly hung as she stared down at the cup of tea he'd set in front of her.

'It's no problem at all.' Shigure responded as he sat down on the other side of the table, setting his haori on the floor next to him as Amaya glanced up at him. 'There's no need to be formal with me, Amaya.'

'Sorry ... habit...' Amaya hedged, though her words didn't appear to do her any disservice.

On the contrary, Shigure seemed to smile just a little more as he lifted his cup of tea and took a sip.

Just what kind of person was Shigure?

Amaya still didn't have an answer at all.

'Are Yuta-kun and Reiko-chan doing well?' Shigure spoke up after several long and awkward minutes, breaking the silence that had descended the room.

Amaya glanced up at him for a second, before she hesitantly reached out for one of the snacks in the middle of the table.

'Yeah ... they're staying at a friends house right now...' She responded, hesitantly taking a bite of what turned out to be a spicy anpan. 'Yuta got elected as head boy for his school, and Reiko's starting to enjoy being separate from him a little more.

Shigure nodded slightly as he set his tea on the table.

'And yourself? Are you enjoying your last year in Middle-school?' He asked.

She hesitated.

In all honesty, Amaya didn't know how to answer his question, and it wasn't because of the huge secret about Koro-sensei and the moon, or anything like that. She really didn't know whether she had been enjoying her school year at all.

Sure, she made a couple of friends and the majority of her class were actually kinda starting to warm up to her, and her to them in turn. She'd found that she was enjoying the actual lessons more than she did back at the main campus, pranking Irina and getting to torment Ono during midterms was actually the most fun she'd had all year.

But aside from that?

Aside from all that, everything had been chaos.

Everything had been a nightmare that had her so miserable she'd gotten sick.

'Schools been good.' Amaya eventually spoke up in answer, fixing Shigure with a smile.

'And living in Tokyo?'

'Much better than last year.'

Both were lies of course, but there wasn't much else she could say.

Shigures smile didn't waver, and in fact all he did was lift a spicy anpan for himself. He instead seemed to remain silent, almost as if he was thinking on something.

'You should try harder if you want to fool me, Amaya.' Shigure eventually spoke, lifting his gaze from his anpan to look at her.

'S-Sorry?'

'A different question, or perhaps I should word it in the way you're using your own words?' He remarked, as if Amaya hadn't of spoken at all. 'Has something good happened? Or many good things, perhaps?'

'Huh? What are you...?'

'Come now, something good has surely happened recently.' He responded, pausing for just a second as he took a sip of his tea again. 'I can't recall to have ever seen such clouded eyes in anyone so young, before.'

Clouded eyes?

Shigure straightened up slightly, setting his tea aside as he fixed her with a look that contained no smile nor any other emotion - It was blank, entirely devoid of anything to decipher.

It sent chills down her spine to see that.

'You don't say very much about yourself, Amaya.' Shigure surmized, his gaze sharpening as he watched Amaya's motionless form. 'However that doesn't mean I don't know anything about you, either.'

'H-huh?'

'To start with, I know you tried to get yourself expelled from your current middle-school just the first week in by assaulting your homeroom teacher, regardless of the fact that he very well deserved it.' Shigure remarked, crossing his arms as Amaya stared silently. 'I also know that even after a month in your new class, you've been having trouble getting along with the other students, even after a trip to Kyoto amongst other things. And how do you think I know this?'

Amaya refrained from flinching at those words.

'The answer is simple - While I might not be in Japan for more than a mere two weeks every year, that doesn't mean I don't contact your school and apartment manager just to check up on you at least once a month.' Shigure answered as he lifted himself to his feet, his humorless gaze still upon Amayas frozen form. 'I am also fully aware that the Japanese Government had actually approached you to have you join your new class, and as well as the reason why.'

'Th-the reason why...?' Amaya hedged, uncertainty rolling around in the pit of her stomach as Shigure began to walk to the outside veranda.

'An unkillable creature that's responsible for the destruction of earths moon, no less.' Shigure answered, his expression still sharp. 'I believe you call it Koro-sensei, of all things.'

Amaya stared at Shigure, mouth agape as she tried to figure out what was actually going on.

Just who the hell was Shigure, anyway?

It wasn't a breach of that agreement if Shigure already knew, right? She wasn't going to have her memories erased for something she couldn't help?

'I have also heard that you appear to have a problem with controlling your anger.' Shigure remarked, turning his head to look at Amaya. 'Is this correct?'

Too much - He knew too much already, and she hadn't even said anything.

However she didn't know whether it was to her detriment if she continued to avoid answering anything.

So she nodded her head ever so slightly.

'Now that is interesting.' Shigure remarked, turning to approach Amaya. 'You've never had a problem with it until recently, and neither sides of your blood-line have any natural history of anger, not even your mother.'

Not even Yukariko?

That can't be right.

'Before your mother met your father, she never lost herself to anger in the slightest.' Shigure began, crouching down next to Amaya as he spoke. 'I've been informed that the anger started coming out after this so called treatment your father insisted that she required.'

So that really was her fathers doing?

'Your mother was a fool to have agreed to marrying him, though.' He stated simply, as if they were talking about the weather, though his gaze was still upon Amayas face. 'Even though it was a proposition from the father at the time, she very well could have said no. But she didn't, and look where it got her.'

Amaya grit her teeth as she stared up at Shigure, an incling of anger began to appear inside of her.

'Don't you say that about my mother.' Amaya seethed.

However Shigure only raised an eyebrow.

'Unlike that careless teacher you put in hospital, I am perfectly aware of the circumstances.' Shigure responded, not the least bit bothered about Amayas words. 'Your mother was a fool, ignoring the many warning signs in preference for making her father happy. She forewent her own happiness at the behest of a decrepet old man who's only interest in life is in creating powerful connections.'

More flickering inclings of anger began to build up within her, to the point where she had to close her hands around the material of her skirt to stop herself from doing something stupid.

'How would you even know?!' Amaya demanded, her brow furrowing as she stared Shigure down. 'You were never around to see anything!'

'You're right, I wasn't around. But that doesn't mean I wasn't aware of what was going on, like how your mother took in two infants from another marriage at the mere request of the assistant of her husband. Geniviere, I think her name is.' He remarked, tilting his head ever so slightly. 'She took them in, obeying every whim at a moments notice. And in doing so, all the trouble, heartache and pain that you've gone through is entirely her fault.'

And then an unreadable look flashed across his face.

'Like a worthless fool, she got what she deserved in the end.' He told her.

Amaya's anger bubbled over in an instant at those words, and she was seeing red.

She moved all of a sudden, her body completely ripped out of her control.

But before she even knew what had happened, her back slammed hard against the floor, and her vision was completely obscured by a hand pressed over her eyes. The force of her sudden crash to the floor had the two cups of tea on the table to tip and spill everywhere, and for the spiced anpan to scatter across the room as her knees hit the underside of the table.

She tried to resist against the hand over her face, however not only were her wrists pinned to the floor above her head, but a knee was pressed firmly into her stomach, keeping her pinned in place.

Though just like when Karma had held her back from killing those delinquents just before her transfer, the anger began to melt from her remarkably fast, and within thirty seconds, she felt that familiar numbness begin to take over.

'I see.' Shigure spoke, knee still pinning her to the ground while he kept a hand over her eyes. 'The uncontrollable anger that you experience, the type has you lose control of yourself and yet you can easily be calmed down when you are rendered blind. It's not a natural illness, nor is it a genetic trait you inherited from either of your bloodlines.'

Gently, Shigure lifted his hand away from her face, allowing her vision to return once again.

'This illness is a side-effect of the water you had been kept in for so long.' He told her, gently releasing her wrists and lifting his knee from her chest. 'It's the same illness your mother lost herself to, in the end.'

'H-huh?' She gasped out, completely bewildered.

Shigure then cast her a rather apologetic smile.

'I apologize for my words just now.' Shigure told her, lifting a hand to massage the side of his face as Amaya blinked in surprise. 'I would never think such things of your mother.'

As Amaya stared at the man kneeling just next to her, a sudden thought appeared in her head.

And then the situation suddenly made perfect and coherrent sense to her.

'Great ...' Amaya managed to get out, lifting a hand to press it to her forehead gingerly. 'Why the hell didn't you say you were gonna make me mad?'

'Because if you had known you wouldn't have gotten angry now, would you?' Shigure responded with a knowing smile as he lowered his hand.

A sigh escaped Amaya as she let her arm flop to the floor next to her.

'So ... what? I'm gonna go insane by the time I'm twenty? Like my mother?'

Shigure let out a breath as he lifted himself to his feet.

'Not quite.' He responded, holding a hand out towards Amaya, to help her to her feet.

She eyed him for a second before she accepted the hand up.

'Then what?'

'Well, there's no guarantee that the damage is permanent, and in fact it very well might be reversible, since your condition has been caught so early.' Shigure surmized as he turned to begin cleaning up the spilled consumables. 'For the time being, until we can ascertain whether you can be cured, measures will have to be taken to limit the possibility of further damage down the track.'

Amaya ran her right hand over her face as she let out another breath, ignoring the painful tingling that had appeared in the knuckles of her hand.

It felt like she'd just punched something, but she had no recollection of even doing so.

'Like what...?' She asked.

Shigure didn't answer at first - He seemed to pause for just a second in his motions to clean, before he glanced at Amaya.

'To begin with, I'll have to make arrangements to take some time off work.' Shigure remarked, returning his gaze to the task at hand as Amaya began to gather the anpan scattered across the floor. 'From what I saw of your mothers condition that day, it appears that psychological pressure is the main cause of damage. So on your side, you will have to make changes to limit this.'

'Psychological pressure?' Amaya repeated in question.

'Stress.' Shigure responded without hesitation.

For what felt like the tenth time in so many minutes, Amaya sighed.

Again?

Why the hell was everything wrong with her caused by Stress?

'When do you leave for Tokyo?' Shigure questioned, glancing at Amaya once again as he finished cleaning up.

'Umm ... Sunday night - The train from Hongu leaves at about ten...' She answered, blinking in surprise as Shigure took the anpan from her hands to set them on the tray on the table.

'I suggest you get some sleep upstairs.' He remarked as he straightened up, fixing Amaya with a particularly commanding look. 'We need to discuss arrangements for your treatment in the morning, so I will be waking you up at first light.'

Amaya remained silent, her brow furrowing as she watched Shigure take the items he'd gathered into the kitchen.

She didn't know what kind of arrangements he was going to discuss with her, or even what had really just happened over the past ten minutes.

But the numbness had taken a firm grip of her, and exhaustion was soon to follow.

So Amaya began to trudge upstairs, to head to the room that had long since been allocated as her own at the end of the hall.

She'd lost herself to slumber the very second her head hit the pillow.

---=[Authors Note]=---

Chapter 44 all done for you guys :) It's been about a week since my last update, so here is the guaranteed once a week update for y'all.

I HAVE A SUPER AWESOME GREAT ANNOUNCEMENT THAT'S SO OMG!!!

MARIONETTE HAS REACHED 1,000+ VOTES, 13,700+ VIEWS AND 1,900+ COMMENTS! AND 100 OF YOU ADORABLE, WONDERFUL SPECIAL PEOPLE HAVE FOLLOWED ME, TOO! THANK YOU ALL SO VERY VERY MUCH!! XD <3 <3 <3

*Ahem* I'll stop with the caps locks, cause well, that'll start getting obnoxious xD.

As your flailing, ecstatic penguin writer here, I have another announcement! Christmas is coming up, as I'm sure you're aware (I'm one of the few that learned of this through everyone elses announcements, so I'm terrible, haha). I have three wild-card spaces left on my Oneshot Christmas Set :) Soooo within the next three updates, I will have a question for you all! First one to get the question right will get a 3,000-4,000 (about the size of this chapter) word oneshot written just for them for Christmas, with an Ansatsu/Assassination Character x Reader pairing of their choice :D I will announce the winner of that question at the next update :)

Anyway! First question! An easy one, of course (And a test to see who's been paying attention :P)

WILD-CARD QUESTION #1 !!! Why did Yuta pick Purple as the colour for Amaya to dye her hair? Bonus points if you have a theory as to why ;)

Anyways, thanks to everyone who's reading, voting, commenting, you're all awesome, and hope you have an awesome day :D

Answers in the comments section please :D

Translation notes for Chapter Forty Four of Marionette:

Ao - Translates as the name of the colour blue, which is written as 青 in Japanese