The First Thing
A blinding light.
"ARGH! MY EYES!"
Dazzling, painful, relentless light
Then the pain came.
"ARGH! MY BODY!"
Unbearable—made worse by the light still drilling into my skull. Eyes shut. Deep breath.
*'Breathe. The pain is all in your head. No pain, no gain.'*
Several minutes passed before the worst of it settled. Then, despite the pounding in my head, Observation Haki spread outward.
Nothing. No one within range. It deactivated just as quickly—holding it any longer in this state wasn't an option.
Eyes opened slowly, blinking against the brightness until the room came into focus.
A bedroom. Not a hospital—a house. Sunlight filtering through the curtains at a low angle, soft and amber. Evening, probably.
*'Where am I?'*
The million-dollar question.
Sitting up sent a fresh wave of pain through everything, but it was manageable. A glance downward confirmed what the skin already felt—yesterday's clothes were gone, replaced by layers of bandaging.
Alarming. But not the priority right now.
*'Is the cursed spirit dead? Did the little girl make it?'*
Getting out of bed took longer than it should have. Every step toward the door came with a cost, and breathing remained difficult.
*'Well. The ribcage did get basically blown apart, so that's fair.'*
The door opened with a soft click. A hallway beyond—empty, at least to the eye. With Observation Haki out of reach, the senses would have to do. A careful look in both directions confirmed nothing.
One step out, silent—
"You should probably stay in bed."
A woman's voice, right beside me. The body reacted before the mind could—a sharp lurch away, and then the pain caught up instantly.
The floor came up fast. Hands clutched at the ribs, breath gone.
"Easy. You're going to reopen your wounds."
Footsteps approached, calm and unhurried. Looking up revealed her clearly for the first time.
Blonde hair. Chocolate-brown eyes. A striking resemblance to a certain little girl.
Absolutely stunning.
She crouched down and lifted me without ceremony, carrying me back into the room as though the weight was nothing. A chair appeared beside the bed, pulled close, and she settled into it.
Silence filled the space between us. It stretched for several minutes before either of us moved to break it—and she got there first.
"First of all, I want to thank you." Her head dipped low, voice thick with something genuine. "Thank you for saving my daughter."
The embarrassment was immediate and overwhelming. "I-It's nothing, ma'am. P-Please, raise your head." Six years of isolation with only a brother for real company had done serious damage to anything resembling social grace.
She didn't move. "No. It has to be said properly. Without you, my daughter would surely have died. Without her, I—I…" Tears tracked silently down her face. "…I don't know what I would have done. So thank you."
Asking again felt wrong. So the thanks was accepted in silence.
"Sigh. Very well."
She straightened, and a small smile crossed her lips.
"Now that that's settled—" The warmth left her face as quickly as it had appeared. A pressure radiated outward from her, filling the room. "—we need to talk."
No Observation Haki available, but the read was clear regardless. Cursed energy.
*'A sorcerer. Or a curse user.'*
"Who are you, kid? And what were you doing there?" The softness from moments ago was completely gone.
GULP.
Fighting her in this condition would be suicide. That much was obvious. Still—standing firm, staying quiet, refusing to give anything away—
…
You really believed that?
Everything came out.
Where I'd come from. Why I'd been there. All of it, laid out plainly.
The only thing held back was how the cursed spirit had actually been defeated—partly out of instinct, partly because the honest answer was: no idea. Consciousness had ended the moment the final blow landed. Even now, believing that strike had actually killed it felt like a stretch.
The most likely explanation was that I'd stalled long enough for this woman to arrive and finish the job. The only thing that made sense.
Every instinct said she was powerful. Powerful enough that fighting her at full strength would be a death wish—let alone now.
"So you're telling me," she repeated slowly, "the Zen'in Clan sent a six-year-old to kill a Semi-Grade 1 spirit?"
"No. They falsified the mission details so I'd go there and get killed."
"That's not exactly better, you know." Both hands pressed against her forehead. "Sigh. I should seriously consider retirement. That still doesn't explain how you lasted that long."
"No cursed energy. A Heavenly Restriction—traded away in exchange for extraordinary physical ability."
Her eyes narrowed. "There are several holes in your story." The words landed like stones. "But for now, I'll believe you."
The pressure eased. A breath finally came out in full.
Questions remained.
"How long have I been here, ma'am?"
She refocused. "Hmm. About three days."
"What?!" Upright in an instant, pain ignored entirely. "Damn it—Toji's been alone with them for three days. I have to go back."
An arm blocked the way before a single step could be taken.
"Where exactly do you think you're going in that condition?"
"Home. My little brother is waiting. Leaving him alone in the Zen'in Clan isn't something I can do."
Something in her expression shifted—the sharpness softened, just slightly. She stepped back.
A long pause followed before she spoke.
"Fine. I'm driving you."
She lifted me again without warning, and this time the embarrassment hit harder than the pain.
"I-I can walk."
"Be quiet. Your bones were basically mush when I found you."
"B-But—"
"Be quiet. Or I'll make you."
That was enough. The rest of the ride was endured in silence.
---
**Zen'in Clan Estate**
The estate appeared quickly enough. Just as gloomy as ever.
Both doors opened. She stepped out the same moment I did.
"This is where we part ways," she said evenly.
No response—just a turn toward the gates, moving fast—
She stopped me again.
"WHAT NOW?!"
It came out before anything could stop it. Instant regret. But she didn't seem offended.
Moving quickly to the trunk, she retrieved something wrapped in cloth and held it out.
Katanas. Unmistakably.
"It was with one of those that you defeated the cursed spirit."
*'Wait—I actually beat it?'*
No time to ask. She was already back in the car, door shut.
Almost at the gate when the window rolled down.
"By the way! What's your name? My daughter hasn't stopped asking since you saved her."
The realization that something so basic had been completely overlooked this entire time was mortifying. A hand met my forehead.
"Sorry about that. Zen'in Zoro. A pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure's mine. Tsukumo Hyo. I'll pray for our next meeting."
The engine turned over and the car pulled away.
'Tsukumo. So the little girl was…'