"The truth is-"
Kagerou barely finished speaking when-
*SMACK!*
A sharp slap struck his arm.
Not his face.
Not his chest.
His arm.
Kanae Kocho had slapped him with an open palm. Not enough to hurt. But enough to make her message painfully clear: "Don't touch my sister"
Kagerou blinked. "…Huh?"
But Kanae didn't even spare him a second glance.
Her hands were already on Shinobu.
"Shinobu. Shinobu, look at me. Are you hurt? Did someone touch you? Are you bleeding? Does anything hurt?" Her voice trembled with panic, her breath coming in shaky bursts between words. Her fingers brushed over Shinobu's cheeks, her temples, her shoulders, anywhere harm might lurk.
Shinobu's lips quivered.
"I-I'm okay, Onee-san… really…" Her voice was thin, fragile. "I-I got lost, and… and then…"
Her throat tightened, cutting off her words.
Kanae didn't let her finish.
She pulled Shinobu into her arms, holding her so tightly that Shinobu nearly lost her breath.
Kanae inhaled sharply, like someone trying to keep herself from shattering.
"…Don't scare me like that," she whispered, voice cracking. "Please… don't disappear like that again…"
Shinobu's small hands clutched at her sister's sleeve.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
For a long moment, nothing else moved.
Just Kanae clinging to the most precious person left in her world.
Just Shinobu crying silently into her sister's shoulder.
Kagerou looked away.
It felt wrong to watch like intruding on a moment that belonged to them alone.
He cleared his throat, scratching his cheek. "Uh… I really can explain, you know"
Kanae tightened her hold one last time before slowly turning toward him.
Her tears were still fresh.
Her fear is still raw.
And under that... A fury sharp enough to cut stone.
Not killer's fury.
Not warrior's fury.
The fury of an older sister who'd almost lost her sister twice in one lifetime.
But then, Kanae's expression shifted.
Her eyes widened.
Recognition flickered.
"W-Wait… Rengoku-san? You're… Rengoku-san, right?"
The fear in her eyes softened into a look of surprise.
Relief.
A hint of embarrassment mixed in.
Kagerou exhaled softly and finally lifted his kiseru, taking a long drag before letting the smoke curl lazily into the air.
"Yes. Rengoku-san here," he said, tapping ash from the tip of his kiseru with practiced ease. "...Nice to meet you?"
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Suspiciously calm for someone who had just been slapped.
Maybe it was the nicotine.
Maybe he was used to worse.
Or maybe he was just pretending he wasn't offended.
Either way, Kanae Kocho wasn't buying it.
Her eyes had softened, yes, no longer the blazing wildfire from moments before, but... The sharpness behind them remained like a blade just barely sheathed.
"…Explain," she said.
Gentle.
But unyielding.
Kagerou straightened on instinct, like his body recognized an authority his mind refused to acknowledge.
"Well, uh… she wandered into the bad part of town. Two guys tried something stupid. I stopped them. That's it"
Kanae's eyes narrowed.
"Stopped them?"
She glanced at Shinobu.
Shinobu nodded quickly, small hands clutching Kanae's sleeve. "H-He really did save me, Onee-san. If he didn't come, I… I-I don't know what would've happened…"
Kanae's shoulders loosened, barely. But enough to show the gratitude fighting its way through the leftover panic.
Then her eyes slid back to Kagerou.
"And the men?, she asked quietly.
Kagerou scratched his cheek. "…Gone"
Kanae blinked once.
"Gone?"
"As in, you don't need to worry about them," he clarified. "Permanently"
Silence hit the trio like a dropped weight.
Shinobu stared.
Kanae stared harder.
Kagerou coughed into his fist, trying to salvage whatever dignity he had left.
"Look, I'm usually more polite when meeting someone for the first time, but it was kind of an emergency-"
He didn't even finish before Kanae stepped forward.
Too close.
Kagerou leaned back slightly, instinctively cautious.
Her face was inches from his.
Her breath ghosted against his cheek.
Her smile was gentle.
Her aura?
Absolutely lethal.
"I appreciate you saving Shinobu," she said sweetly.
Too sweetly.
"But if you ever carry her through a dark alley again…" Her smile widened, serene, terrifying, holy, and homicidal all at once. "…I'll dislocate your shoulders. Both of them. And your jaw"
Kagerou blinked.
"…What? Carry her through a dark alley again?" He looked genuinely confused, completely unfazed by the threat Kanae had just thrown at him. "... Look, I don't know what happened there," he said, tapping his temple as he met her stare head-on, "but I'll explain it again. I saved her. It was an accident. I did nothing except rescue your little sister"
Kanae raised a brow.
"Then why were you there? In that place? The supposed 'bad part of town'?" Her tone didn't rise, if anything, it got quieter, which somehow made it worse. "I thought you were a better person than that, Rengoku-san"
Kagerou threw his head back slightly.
"Wait... Wait a minute," he said, massaging his brow, trying to process the sheer absurdity of the situation. "…Kocho-san, why does it sound like I'm the problem here?" He pointed at himself. "I did nothing except save Shinobu. That's all. Why do you sound like you're blaming me? This whole situation is unreasonable! Do you even understand my words? Do you believe them?"
'... How did I become the villain here? I literally saved her'
"…Believe your words?" Kanae let out a small, disbelieving snort. "Coming from the man who disappears without saying anything"
Kagerou froze mid-puff.
"…Huh?"
Kanae crossed her arms, eyes narrowing with a completely different irritation now, less murderous, more offended. Somehow, that felt more dangerous.
"Don't 'huh' me." Her finger jabbed toward him with surgical precision. "You left Mount Fujikasane that day without saying anything. I waited. I waited for hours. After everything you said, you could've at least said 'goodbye' or something. And now you expect me to believe your words?"
Kagerou stared at her like she'd spoken a different language.
Shinobu blinked at the two of them, confused.
Kanae tapped her finger against her arm, the rhythm sharp and annoyed.
Kagerou raised one hand slightly. "…Wait. There seems to be a misunderstanding here"
Kanae paused. "…Eh?"
But before the next misunderstanding could evolve into a homicide, Shinobu tugged lightly on Kanae's sleeve.
"Onee-san… Kagerou-san…" she whispered, voice small. "Um… everyone is staring"
Only then did Kagerou and Kanae finally look around.
A crowd had gathered.
A big one.
People whispered behind their hands.
Some giggled.
Some watched with that nosy curiosity only strangers in a marketplace could possess.
A few looked annoyed that traffic was blocked by… whatever this was.
And then, because every crowd always had at least one person who lived for chaos... "Please Don't Have Husband-Wife Arguments Here!" someone shouted from somewhere in the back.
Kanae's face instantly flushed.
Shinobu covered her mouth, mortified.
Kagerou inhaled sharply through his kiseru.
Of all moments… this one might actually kill him.