(Happy new month of May!)
[YUZUKI]
Yuzuki knew it was foolish to hope.
She had come here to see Matsui, and now she could smell her, even with her feet in the water.
She had changed.
From her royal pink gown to the usual servant clothes that she had gotten used to long before she revealed herself as the queen of Kuramitsu. She just wanted a sense of normalcy, and her peach scent was out there in the open for everyone to sniff.
It was not new to anyone, because her people knew her scent, but there was a tinge of her scent that was only specific to Matsui's sensory glands. Which was why, when she heard the footsteps her way, Yuzuki didn't need to turn back.
Matsui had found her.
Ayami Araki had come.
That was all that mattered.
"Took you long enough," Yuzuki breathed as she played with the water.
She was hoping for more, and honestly, she was even in the wrong for daring to hope. That was all she had to offer, really.
Because right now, after the little break with Hirono, it was just a matter of time before Rinko called for her, and she had to go because that was what her duty demanded of her.
"Stay away from Aya," Yuzuki heard, and her smile faded from her face.
Then she turned to look at the only person who could have known about the scent of peaches.
Kujo Saori.
The Yamashita enforcer's second in command.
"You," Yuzuki said coldly as she looked at Kujo.
She had not thought that after waiting for so long, after risking so much, the first person she would see was Kujo of all the people. It made no sense, really, because now all she wanted was Ayami.
Her Ayami.
And Kujo being here was making her feel some type of way, and if Yuzuki was being honest, she didn't like it one bit. Never.
"I know who you are, Yuzuki," Kujo said.
Yuzuki stared, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that this woman was wearing clothes that reeked of Ayami. She hated the very idea, and yet somehow, as a servant, she was bound to be scared of the enforcer's assistant.
That was what nature demanded.
Yet for the first time, Yuzuki didn't feel like hiding who she was. She didn't feel like lowering her head in front of authority.
She was power.
She was way more powerful than the woman who had ruined her evening right now.
Yuzuki could burn Kujo's insides. No one would ever be able to say a thing because they would never know what it was like to be on that side of life, with Yuzuki.
But right now, there was a lot more that Yuzuki was looking at.
"You came all this far, with my mate's clothes, reeking of the scent of peaches I have been hungry for for over a year.
"And you come to tell me to stay away from the only reason I am not fighting you right now?" Yuzuki asked, her rage showing as her hormones whiffled the air slowly and subtly.
It was almost like a warning about Kujo just standing there, smirking at her like she knew more than she was letting on. Yuzuki didn't really care. She didn't mind if Kujo ever knew that she was Yuzuki Kuramitsu.
The only thing Yuzuki cared about was Ayami.
This daring warrior was trying to ruin her day.
"I warned you, Yuzuki. Stay away from Ayami. She deserves better than you," Kujo said angrily.
Yuzuki let out a soft laugh, like this was not even a spice of the madness she had been hoping to deal with today. It was like her life was suddenly a circus, and right in the middle of it was another clownery that needed to be attended to.
What the heck was Kujo on about?
"What happens if I don't stay away from her? You're going to what? Kill me? Tie me up? Tell everyone the servant of Kurayami is mingling with the most lethal enforcer of the realm?
"That Ayami is my mate, a lowly servant? Or what? You go to tell the realm about the girl who shows up once in so long, seeking the scent that you have just ruined? What will you tell them, Kujo?
"What will you do if I don't stay away from Ayami? Hmm?" Yuzuki taunted, her eyes still as cold as they had gotten the moment she realized that Kujo had laid her senses.
She hated that idea, really, because how the hell was this warrior here?
"I will tell the truth about you," Kujo said as Yuzuki stared at her in pity and something so close to disgust. She could not believe that this was what they had been reduced to.
That this was what they were going for, but love and life had never truly been as linear, had they? It was like everything was slowly coming to life, and yet in the most unhinged of ways.
It wouldn't make as much sense, but who the fuck was doing the count this time, yeah?
"The truth… and what, pray tell, is the truth, Saori? What truth is so important that you came here to piss me off on the one evening that I want to have peace with my mate?" Yuzuki asked, trying her very best not to snap.
She was losing her patience, honestly.
She was angry already, and she needed to keep herself in check because, as much as she didn't give a fuck about what Kujo thought of her, she cared a whole lot about what her Matsui did about her.
She couldn't take Kujo away from Ayami, because then she would just be breaking her beloved's heart. Yuzuki hadn't begged for reincarnation just to rip out the heart of the woman she had loved in all lifelines.
She just couldn't.
Which was also the only reason Kujo was still having a mouth to yap and legs to walk as she closed onto Yuzuki.
Kujo's steps were almost predatory, but Yuzuki was at the top of the list of predators.
She was the devil herself, and even Ayami was no match for her. Though if there came a day when she had to stand on the other side of things with Ayami, Yuzuki wouldn't lift so much as a finger against her.
Couldn't.
She wouldn't.
Even if that was the only way she lived. She would give up her life for her Matsui without thinking twice and fuck whatever everyone would want to think of them.
"You don't want me announcing it here, Yuzuki," Kujo said.
Yuzuki laughed again because this was the most absurd of games.
Perhaps there was something fundamentally wrong with Kujo. Had she come this far to play stupid games with the one woman who was not really in the mood for anything?
"You ruined my evening, and you think I am in the mood to play games with you?" Yuzuki asked, and this time, it was Kujo who laughed calmly, like that right there was the proof she needed.
"You are no servant, Yuzuki. The way you talk and everything about you contradicts. You don't even bow to power. Nothing that should scare a servant of any land scares you. I saw you.
"I studied you back in Yamashita when you came, and then at the Fukada grounds. Anyone should have been scared of Aya, or even, at the very least, me. But you stood your ground, only pretending when Rinko came because you needed to put on a show.
"Do you need me to spell this shit out for you?" Kujo asked.
Yuzuki sighed.
Not in exhaustion, but something, whatever she couldn't name.
Maybe because a part of her was so ready to slap the woman's head off her neck, and the other just wanted to keep it intact because she couldn't stand Ayami being sad because of this tool she called her assistant.
So, Yuzuki had to think of a better way out of this because otherwise, Ayami would really have to lose this sore excuse of a friend she had.
"No servant? I'm from Kurayami. You think you scare me, just because you have power. I am ruled by the devil herself. What makes you think I could be scared of anyone's power?" Yuzuki said boredly.