Corpse March

Chapter 21

Tomoe sighs to herself and retreats back into the room. Jessica follows along close behind her. As she leaves, Haru thinks she hears her whisper ‘Good luck’ under her breath. Then, it’s just her and Tsuki. In this near lightless place. 

“So, what was it you wanted to ask me?”

“Tell me, girl.”

Tsuki circles around Haru, swaying with every step she takes. 

“Did Tsumugi kill Kentomi?”

“What?”

“I want to hear it from someone who was there when it happened. Did Tsumugi kill Kentomi?”

“Before that, I must ask. Do you want the truth, or do you want to hear what you want to hear.”

“Neither. Give me your answer.”

“...then no. Tsumugi did not kill Lady Kentomi.”

There’s a long silence. Longer than an eternity, longer than a hundred eternities. 

“Good.”

Tsuki steps away, her face twisted in a shark’s smile. 

“Any ally of Tsumugi’s is an ally of mine. Nice to meet you, Sister-in-law.”

She gives Haru a playful nudge on the shoulder. 

“Oh huh, I suppose that does make us in-laws, huh? It’s nice to meet you too.”

Tsuki extends an open hand. Though, it’s not like any kind of hand that Haru’s seen before. Her skin is made of segmented plates with a sheen like porcelain. At the seams where her jigsaw-like parts meet, she can see what lies beneath. A puzzle of clockwork gears instead of muscles and tempered steel where her bones should be. Haru takes her hand and shakes. She tries to maintain a firm grip but her fingers are delicate, like if she squeezes too hard they might shatter. 

“You know, I was getting worried about when big sis was getting hitched. I even considered marrying her myself.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Looks like you took care of that problem for me, though. I’m glad that she ended up with you instead of marrying some other schmuck to ‘strengthen political alliances’ or whatever.”

Haru opts to withhold the truth behind her wedding. 

“Does that happen often?”

“Too often, in my opinion. But that’s enough of that. We can gossip later, right now, there are more pressing matters to discuss.”

“Uh-huh. Like what?”

“Tell me… What do you like about Tsumugi?”

“Huh?”

She heard her clearly enough to understand, she’s just grasping at straws to buy time to figure out an answer. All the while, a puppy-like excitement engraves itself into Tsuki’s eyes. What a strange girl. In a good way, of course. 

“Umm… She’s kind?”

“Very true. What else?”

“She’s smart.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh. What else?”

“Um… She’s really pretty. I like how her glasses hide her eyes. I can never tell what she’s thinking. She’s mysterious like that.”

“Right?”

Only after she says those words does she realize that she’s being honest with herself. Maybe it’s just because her brain’s making the best of a bad situation, but if so, then what’s this fluttering in her chest?

“Big sis Tsumugi is just the absolute coolest! I’m so happy I finally found someone else who thinks the same!”

“You’re really fond of your sister, huh?”

“Yup! I love her and she loves me! Even if she has a roundabout way of showing it…”

Her tone dampens as she says that last part. 

“But no matter, no matter. It disappoints me that I couldn’t meet my dear sister today, but even then, I’m quite glad to have met you, Miss Hamamoto. I think we’ll get along just fine.”

“Oh, well, thank you… should I like, bow or something? Um, Lady Tsuki?”

“Nah, no need. We’re family now, remember? There’s no need to be so formal. You can just call me Tsuki.”

“Then please, call me Haru as well.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Haru.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Tsuki.”

Tsuki turns away from Haru to re-enter the room. 

“Oh, yeah, one last thing. I suggest you be very very careful from here on out.”

“Am I in danger?”

“Sort of. I think that you and I both have figured out who really killed Kentomi.”

“Gleam…”

“Exactly. But the others don’t know that. To them, Kentomi was captured, freed by Tsumugi and then killed. Even from an outside perspective looking in, it’s obvious Tsumugi didn’t do it.”

“Of course, we know this already, why are we going over it again?”

“Be patient. The point isn’t that Tsumugi’s innocent, the point is that simply by virtue of being in the same place Kentomi died, she’s a suspect. That’s more than enough for Gleam to make a case against her. Logic be damned, the public’s going to latch onto whoever looks worse. In other words, this is a game of who fires first. So be wary. The instant you step across those double doors, be prepared for the chance that everything goes from bad to worse.”

“Got it.”

“Good. You got this champ. Try not to make my sister look too bad.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Haru hopes that Tsuki can’t see her rolling her eyes through the darkness. There’s that swaying again as Tsuki slips in between the double doors and back into the banquet room. 

“Alright, Haru, you got this.”

She slaps herself on the cheek. 

“No pressure, no pressure.” 

Deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in, then in she goes. Back into the brilliant orange glow of the chandeliers and the smell of delicious food gone cold. 

“You’re late.”

“My bad.”

Haru shrugs off Nui’s comment, much to the latter’s chagrin. Nui looks like she’s about to launch into a lengthy lecture when Kuroko cuts her off.

“If I may interject, there is a topic that Lady Gleam wanted me to bring up during this meeting.” 

“Go ahead.”

Tomoe waves her hand at Kuroko’s general direction, prompting her to stand. 

“Based on the circumstances, Lady Gleam has concluded that Lady Tsumugi is either accomplice or directly involved in the murder of Lady Kentomi.”

Pin drop silence smothers the room. All eyes turn towards Haru.

“On what grounds?”

There’s a fighting spirit in Haru’s words that wasn’t there before. She was sent here by Tsumugi to speak on her behalf and by god if she isn’t going to let her wife down. Wife… she’s really starting to get used to this whole marriage business. She isn’t sure how to feel about that.

“All other councilors save for Tsumugi were accounted for within Takakumo. It’s more than likely that she made contact with a third party, and coordinated the murder then.”

“And who would this third party be?”

“Security Specialist seventeen, AKA Tot-The-Rocker of Girls Won’t Cry, Haru Hamamoto.”

“That’s outrageous.”

“I must agree with Hamamoto.”

Tomoe rests her elbows on the table and forms a cradle with her fingers. 

“But why would Tsumugi go through the trouble of saving Kentomi from the Monarchs only to have her killed anyway?”

“Lady Gleam’s theory is that the Monarchs were never involved. Her capture was simply a facade concocted by Lady Tsumugi to cover up the fact that she was kidnapped, brought outside Takakumo, and then killed–”

“THAT’S BULLSHIT!”

She's gone and done it now. Haru slams her fist on the table.