MAIDEN OF STRINGS ❪ okkotsu yūta ❫

ONE: THE FUKUZAWA HEIR AND THE CUT OFF ZEN'IN.

Fukuzawa Akemi breathes in, closing her eyes and tangling her fingers in the fabric of her kimono. The silk slides smoothly beneath her fingertips, acting as a soothing balm as she tries to calm her enraged mind. It takes minutes for her to reign in her temper before she gathers the strength to reply to the ostentatious man in front of her. "Naoya-san," she says after a moment, opening her eyes and smiling at the vile man. Akemi's mother once told her that one's personality, their soul, were visible in one's appearance, something that greatly applied to the supposed heir of the Zen'in Clan. Naoya Zen'in is arrogance accumulated into a being. There is no denying that he is handsome on an aesthetic level with his smooth, blonde hair and chipped eyes, but it is the amount of slyness in those eyes that makes all those who are attracted to him stray away.

"Naoya-san," she repeats. "I'm afraid this lady will not be a good match for you at all," the smirk on the man's lips slides away. The expression on the men around her mimics the man, stern and unimpressed. Akemi despises each and every one of them, with the cocky raises of their eyebrows and the way they look down at her just because of her gender. Despite standing in her family's shrine, they still possess the ability to act arrogant, and she wishes she could raze them down where they stand.

"Why would you say that, Akemi-chan?" she wants to bristle at the affectionate prefix added to her name for Naoya is not someone she ever wishes to call her with it. Instead, she smiles sweetly, demurely like they expect and explains.

"Sayuri-san is a sweet girl, but her line does not match yours. It shows that she has a wilful temper and that she will not work well with the prestige of your clan," the words coming past her lips are ones that have to be forced out. What she really wants to say is something more along the lines of, 'I know what you do to women in your clan, you selfish, uncouth bastards,' but the prestige of her clan and her position refuse to let her do so. She can feel the ghost of her mother's fingers on her shoulders, never forceful but always reproachful, and she forces her smile to sweeten even further, praying that she doesn't have to explain further. Naoya's once annoyed expression smooths out at her words, and he smiles widely, making her prickle. 'Like a snake, the way he sheds his skin and changes so quickly,' a voice in her mind whispers.

"You're always looking out for us clan heirs, Akemi-chan," he laughs and looks around for his fellow clansmen to share his amusement and joy. "I hope the next woman I can bring to you is someone who you feel will suit me," they take part in a stare-off, both of them smiling with undertones of emotions under them. Maybe Naoya does know the words running through her mind, but he will never do anything right now. Akemi has spent years building attachments to men of power, and her position means that Naoya can only stare at her with knowing and suspicious eyes instead of doing something. Akemi keeps the smile on her face, bowing to the Zen'in Clan as the members exchange bows with her, noting and hating the fact that they're low and disinterested. She sits back down on her pillow when they leave, sighing in aggravation as she pulls the heavy golden crown out of her magenta hair.

"Done kissing some ass?" Zen'in Maki leans against the door, smirking at Akemi. Her dark hair is wound up in a ponytail, her sharp features made even more daunting by the absence of hair that usually curls around her face. Akemi startles at her unexpected presence before smiling back at her, this smile more genuine. It has been five years since Akemi met the girl after being reintroduced back into Jujutsu society as the daughter of the once-famous Fukuzawa Sakura.

Maki had once looked at her scornfully, watching the way Akemi's smile had been saccharine and her bow just as polite, but she had caught Akemi later on swearing up a storm at the 'stupid Zen'ins'. They bonded over being women born into powerful clans, but holding no power themselves because of their genders. At least, that was the way it was at first. Now, Akemi holds significantly more power, but the sneers and scoffs that accompany her name are still as numerous as the day they were when she took her position at the Fukuzawa Alter.