❛ 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃 ❜ ━━━ (𝗸. 𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗶𝗿𝗼)

021

You walked through the halls of Kyogoku House. Zenitsu—Zenko—was off playing the shamisen for the other courtesans of the house.

"Y/N, could you lend a hand here?" One of the courtesans asked.

You stopped in your tracks and looked at the direction from where the voice came. You looked into the room and spotted three other women cleaning up an array of wine and cups among other things.

"Sure," You smiled and stepped into the room.

You grabbed the nearest tray and began stacking the cups and empty plates neatly. As you did so, the other women started up a conversation with you.

"Why did you come here, Y/N?" The first woman, Emi, asked.

"I came here to look for my older sister," You lied, making up a story. "Her name's Hinatsuru. She wrote me a letter saying that she was here in Kyogoku House and that I should visit her soon. The first time I came, I couldn't find her, so I felt something was wrong. I've been looking for an answer to her whereabouts."

"Hinatsuru's your sister?" The second woman, Fuhua, gasped in surprise. "I never would've known. Although, your personalities are quite similar."

You smiled in return, "I've been told that a lot. I was hoping any of you knew where she's gone?"

"She was sent somewhere," The third woman, Nako, said. "We heard she was sick, so she got sent to a lower-class brothel to get better there."

"What happened?" You asked.

Fuhua shook her head, "We're not sure either. Hinatsuru's one of our best, so we were quite taken aback by the news."

"Although, it wouldn't be surprising if it was that witch's fault," Emi muttered.

"Witch? Who?"

"She's the top Oiran here at Kyogoku House. Her name's Warabihime," Nako told you. "She's super scary. Whatever she says, goes. Okami-san's husband does what she says."

"What an unfortunate thing to happen to our Okami-san," Fuhua said. "She died two days ago. Fell from our building. The thing is, just before that, she was with Warabihime Oiran."

"So you think Warabihime has something to do with all the deaths and incidents in Kyogoku House?" You asked.

The three of them shook their heads, "We don't think it. We know it."

You nod your head, "This is great information. Thank you."

"Wait, Y/N, you're not thinking of confronting Warabihime, right?" Nako asked. "She's dangerous! We wouldn't want you to be her next target."

"Don't worry. I've dealt with people like her before," You assured them. "I'll make sure she doesn't cause harm to the brothel anymore. Now, let's continue cleaning up!"

After you helped clean the room up with the three women, you looked for Zenitsu to share the information with him. He was wandering the halls as you were previously, so it wasn't that hard to find him.

"Zenko, I've got some information about Hinatsuru," You said, muttering under your breath so only he could hear you.

"W-Wait," Zenitsu said. "I hear someone crying."

"Crying?" You repeated. "Lead me to them."

In a minute, you were following Zenitsu around the different hallways of Kyogoku House. You went up the staircase, going to one of the rooms near the back. You heard crying and slid open the door, seeing a little girl sobbing on her knees.

"What? It's a mess! What happened in this room?!" Zenitsu exclaimed. "Was there a fight in here? Are you okay?"

The little girl turned around, shocked that you and Zenitsu were by the door, before going back to crying.