Ink Stained With Blood (Yokai!Ichimatsu x Reader)

Chapter 16

The morning had brought relief, a gentle prodding from Jyushimatsu to stir me awake before my nose caught a whiff of freshly baked bread and sweet creamed butter. I fed myself with the goods he bought while the inugami remained by the doorway as a guard, allowing me to pace myself both with the food and with getting ready for the day's travels.

When I ensured that I was ready, my brow furrowed when I patted the hiding place for my fude brush. It wasn't chilled, but I could feel an impatience from it, as if the monster within couldn't wait anymore to be released.

I could only pray that the seal keeping the yuki-onna in remained strong.

"Master," Jyushimatsu's voice was calm as we walked beneath snow-laden trees, the landscape echoing the wintery show of the storm that had passed in the night, "You seem to be worried about something."

"I am," I admitted, halfheartedly giving a smile while our feet pressed down the freshly fallen snow beneath, "The worry of fixing this problem will always be there for me."

"But why are you so fixated on this?"

My pace slowed for a moment as I processed the question, "I'm not sure myself. It's a mistake that I made in ignorance, so it's only right that I fix it...but it feels more like an instinctual drive to do it."

Jyushimatsu matched my pace perfectly while I spoke, "If it is instinctual, then could it be the yokai within your brush commanding you to obey?"

"I'm choosing to think that it'd rather be free than to imprison others again," I tried to laugh, though it came out in a nervous warble.

"If that is the conclusion that you came to, then I will not pursue other avenues unless you begin to have doubts," Our eyes met and he offered a gentle smile, to which I returned one gratefully.

Nagoya.

The sun had begun to lower beneath the horizon when we stepped foot inside the city's territory, its nightlife springing up and commanding the streets while its daytime residents settled in for rest.

I found a secure place to sleep for the night while Jyushimatsu stood guard by the inn room door, not moving from his post until I fell asleep.

In the morning, I steeled myself for a day of hard work.

Taking my battered journal, I walked the streets until I found a bookstore and perused their collections, trying to find any clue that would match what I had found in Osomatsu's decaying home. Jyushimatsu remained close by my side, seemingly never at ease when others walked by.

"Excuse me, sir," I flagged down the store owner, growing weary of the confused looks throughout the day, "Do you know where I could possibly find more information about cursed brushes?"

The owner paused in his writing, taking a moment to ponder before looking up at me, "Cursed brushes, huh?"

"I was just..." The expression he held warned me to tread carefully, almost as if he was testing what I knew. It was so different from the other reactions I had gotten that it surprised me, "I had heard of older families being able to create brushes that captured yokai, so I wanted to find more research about it."

His eyes betrayed no emotion as they wandered around my face before flicking towards Jyushimatsu standing on my flank, a swift understanding filling his hues as we locked eyes once more, "You're in need of those services, then?"