I had imagined that I could be the only evil the Okiya would encounter, and even so, I had made an effort to become less. To require less, to hate less. I wondered if evil was simply in me, running next to my blood in my veins, and maybe it had been there so long that by then it had already fused with me. I had become it. I couldn't have expected a greater evil.
"Seishin!" A piercing cry through the darkness. My name. I woke to the sound echoing inside my head, spinning around, crashing together. My eyes snapped open and I searched, listening for a source, waiting for another cry. It came again, far away, but within my head, I was certain.
"Seishin!" I rose to my feet, unconcerned with what room I was in, what body was beside me. I began to walk, letting the sound the echo in my mind lead me. I heard sobbing, a familiar tone and vibration. Though she had never called my name with such fear before, I had caused Mori an overwhelming amount of tears, and I could identify her cry, quiet as it was.
Outstretched, my fingertips could easily brush the walls on each side of the hallway. A faint candle light flickered under the doorframe of a room, the orange glow giving away the location I was being beckoned to. Bouncing off the walls, I heard Mori's sobs and pained moans, and they echoed within the walls of my head as well. There was no other light. No other sound. I threw back the sliding door to the room.
"Seishin!" The first thing in my sight was Mori. Her expression hopeful, she cast her eyes upon me steadfast as if I was her saviour. Her eyes ice blue, the colour made even brighter contrasted by the red of her skin, flushed in her efforts. Behind her, and all around her, holding her with arms and legs, the Geisha Sakura. A glint of light, in her hand a long pointed hair pin held against Mori's throat. I was a man of few words already, but even the simple words escaped me in that moment.
"Seishin. Whatever it was you said to my sister in the bathhouse has shamed me in this house." Sakura spoke with disdain, a threat, and she held Mori tightly as her body writhed in her grasp. "So now I have your Kitsune. If I have to endure such shame because of you, then maybe you'll repair my reputation. Or, I could wound your Kitsune. Just a wound, this time. It'll heal, this time."
Such evil I had been unprepared for, but the evil in me was greater still. I had been right, there was no greater evil than myself in the Okiya. Worthy rivals could come and go, but they would always go, and I would always prevail. I stepped into the room slowly, skimming my bare toes against the smooth floor, flowing like water. I positioned myself beside the candle on the floor as Sakura watched my motions, and I kept my gaze locked on her. The training embedded in my bones from welding a katana, from floating in a fan dance, gave me mastery over the element of surprise. Without warning or extra movement, I kicked the candle toward Sakura, and it flew with power, causing her to fold toward Mori's body to avoid it. The flame was snuffed as it clattered against the wall, the sound reverberating and causing Sakura's already enraged senses to become confused. Instantly, I used my body atop the Geisha to hold her, my fingers enlaced in her collar, and in my hand, the hair pin that was her chosen weapon.
"Mori, look away from me."
She had seen enough of the monster in me. I had no desire for her to witness any more. Any time she looked into my eyes I knew she could see it there, and I wanted to burry it so deep that it couldn't claw its way back out again. But I had a use for it, after all. Sakura did not struggle in my grasp, frozen with fear, I had done something she could never had prepared for. I held her face close to mine.
"If you do not wish to be spoken of, then do less things to bring attention to yourself." I spoked deeply to Sakura, finding the commanding tone of my voice. The demon was emerging and I fought less and less to keep it contained. I wondered how loud I could make her scream. I dropped her, releasing the hold I had on her collar, her eyes remaining wide, afraid, exactly as I wanted to see them. With my fingertips I dragged her bottom lip back away from her teeth, with intention hooked my finger between her teeth to pry her mouth open. Her resistance was strong, her fear fuelling her, but my anger was stronger. I could feel Mori's eyes boring into my back, even as I had told her to look away, yet she offered no protest, no sound.
I placed my knee atop the Geisha's chest, sitting my weight heavily, unconcerned if I made it difficult for her breathe. I held her jaw with a grip of iron, her mouth agape, and swiftly I stabbed the hairpin clean through the flesh of her cheek. She did her best to scream. I saw tears immediately welling in her eyes, overflowing and running toward the tatami. I leaned closer yet.
"Do not ever put your hands on my Kitsune."
Dawn was breaking, and through the bathhouse doors left half open, I could see the how the sky matched the city in shades of tan, deep brown, gold, and red. The steam rising from the hot bath water created a relaxing fog in my vision, the water droplets clung to Mori's hair twisted atop her head. I took great care in my motions as I washed the skin of her back, feeling the heat radiating from her body both above and below the water. She was pliable under my touch, taking pleasure in the simple fact that she was close to me. Her knees were tucked in to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and she let me work.
"I don't know what happened between you and that Geisha, Seishin, and I know you won't apologize. Thank you for coming when I called."
She turned her chin to her shoulder, letting her eyes wander further to steal a glance at me behind her. Without thought I leaned forward to place my lips against the small mark on her neck created by the sharp tip of the hair pin. I wanted to tell her a great many things in that moment. I wanted to tell her that I would always come if she called me. I wanted to tell her that I would always remove her from danger. I wanted to tell her that the love I felt for her caused me to cherish such slow moments with her. But I was a man of few words, after all.
"What will happen to Sakura now?"
I could only smile. "We'll see."