The Rise of the Ronin

Azaleas

After taking a step back, under the watchful gaze of the man lying prostrate at her feet displaying his katana for her, Kasumi feels her stomach turn. As if she had sunk into a lake, the air quickly escapes from her lungs. Step by step she walks away, her face becoming more and more disgruntled by the second. Satoru watches her with growing concern; he whispers her name, but the words do not reach Kasumi's confused ears.

With her head beginning to spin. Kasumi leaves the room before Satoru can stop her. He reaches out his hand towards her clothes, hoping to avoid the certain commotion she is about to cause, but his hands miss their target, Kasumi vanishes into thin air.

Running past him, looking for some air and a place away from him, she runs down long corridors until she pushes aside a door. On the other side she's greeted by the winter cold at its peak, but contrary to what she expected, it feels as pleasant and necessary as a sea breeze in the middle of summer.

With bare feet she walks on the snow leaving her footprints marked among the freshly fallen snow. She doesn't even seem to realize how strange it is that she catches her breath instead of shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. She can't, as her mind is too busy repeating Satoru's words over and over again. They run through her mind like a curse, but despite having heard them inside her mind a dozen times they still sound like nonsense.

"It's cold," Satoru's patient, warm voice says.

Kasumi doesn't want to turn around, her sad gaze watching the frozen lake, fish trapped under a thin layer of ice. The moon is barely hidden behind the clouds, its dim light stingily illuminating the surroundings, leaving enough space for the shadows in which Mei-Mei's crows hide.

After a strange, awkward silence, Kasumi watches him over her shoulder.

Satoru's face is serious, not smiling as he has done almost tirelessly the last few days. He watches her for a moment before holding out his hand.

Her winter cloak.

Kasumi's lips twist, though she resists the urge she has to cry bitterly. Satoru's recent confession has left her so devastated that she couldn't even describe with certainty how she feels. All she knows is that her stubborn heart flutters at him.

Kasumi's small, delicate, snowy hand reaches out in his direction and without hesitation he closes the distance, takes hold of her hand and pulls her to him sheltering her from the cold with his own arms.

"Do you want to take it out on me for hiding it from you? Do it, but don't scream, someone might hear you and I wouldn't want to put you in danger again. The crows are watching us... I'll take you away, to a place where you can tell me whatever you want, so you can insult me as much as you wish."

Kasumi buries her face in Satoru's chest as he embraces her in a protective way. Her hair disheveled, her makeup ruined by tears, her lipstick smeared, her kimono disassembled. As much as he wishes he could give her time, it's cold and she's one slip away from ending up naked. Her bare feet are damp and her body shivers with cold, though she doesn't seem to mind. Carefully he wraps one of his arms around her and carries her back to the palace and slowly drags her into her room. She has not responded to his offer, has said nothing but sobbing with every step, only to continue sobbing lying on a bed.

She seems to have no desire to look him in the face, rolls over on the bed and turns her back to him as fast as her spine touches the mattress. Satoru doesn't move, he can't, he can't find the will to do so after hearing her pitiful cry.

"I was going to tell you when..."

"Leave me alone."

Satoru still does not have the strength to stand up. He remains seated next to her for a few more seconds and, when he's about to answer her, she stands up. Her sad eyes, wrapped in anger, meet his surprised ones.