The Rise of the Ronin

Allies

...

Dark as a bottomless pit, his eyes lacking luster. His face devoid of expression. He does not smile even at the sight of the coins glinting in the moonlight, slipping into an elegant sack. He hears the chime inside the cloth bag and thinks of only one thing. He watches with chilling indifference as the man hands him his reward. The blood that binds them, tight as nail and flesh, feels alien. Jinichi Zenin glances at the soulless man before him and recognizes a remnant of what was once his brother. In body he is the same grizzly bear, his indifferent attitude is the same as he remembered, but his spirit somehow feels sullied.

"I heard you left the name Zenin," he says and watches her dark pupil turn to him.

He doesn't want to admit it, but even though he's a little smaller than himself, Toji gives him the creeps.

Maybe it's because he never knew for sure where he was. Jinichi could see curses and feel them creeping up in the pit of his stomach, but... as he turned the corner Toji would appear like a ghost; unheard, unseen.

"I took my wife's last name," he replies dryly, "If I were you..." he adds before leaving and a twisted smile curves his lips in a particular way, "I'd seal Gojo Satoru somehow, it won't be long before he wakes up and I don't think he'll be in a good mood."

"You think we can't take care of him?"

"I'd like to be here to see the trouble he's gonna cause you. But I don't have time for that right now..."

Toji turns away. Jinichi watches him as he walks away, the straw of his shoes worn out, with a sack on his back and the skin of an animal as his only coat.

"The poor bastard doesn't even have enough coin for a horse..." Jinichi mumbles before returning to his camp.

His words, carried by the icy winter breeze, reach Toji Fushiguro. His brother is right, he thinks as he clutches the reward for taking Gojo Satoru alive in his palm. If only that horse had not turned out to be so fierce and faithful to its owner... he would already be at his wife's side.

...

The animal's black eyes stare at her. To her this seems nothing more than a dream too lucid, long as a curse. The minutes pass and she cannot get out of her shock, it is too much, an idea so immensely far-fetched that it is practically impossible for her to comprehend it. Kasumi moves after a few minutes of total bewilderment; she stretches her neck towards the path. In her mind an idea takes force; Satoru will appear at any moment through that path together with the other one he was entrusted to rescue. Perhaps they are chatting so animatedly that Oguri grew tired of them and their slow pace, perhaps this blood is that of an enemy. She forces a smile, as if encouraging her imagination, waiting for the scene drawn in her mind to materialize. But the seconds pass and little by little the corner of her lips drops and then she notices the accelerated pace of her own heart. But it's impossible, it has to be a dream.

Kasumi turns, restless, touches Oguri's fur; hardened and emanating a nauseating smell, the putrid stench of death. She hurriedly checks the luggage and finds to her horror that it still contains half of his supplies, which means that something happened with Satoru, perhaps more than a month ago.

A strange pressure floods her chest until she feels like she is going to break in half. She grabs Oguri's reins and walks inside the walls thinking about what she should do now, but not a single idea comes to her mind. She ignores her own trembling hands as she walks and frowns, bites her lips and thinks but no idea comes to her other than the irrepressible desire for him to return.