2026-05-21 17:08:13
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CHAPTER 65: A SMALL AMOUNT OF GOLD DUST
A short while later, the rear courtyard of the Hashira estate had grown busy.Bodyguards and servants moved in and out without pause. A temporary altar had been raised in the middle of the yard, facing straight toward the main residence. Seven braziers of charcoal had been arranged according to the bearings Hikaru had specified. Yellow paper, cinnabar, raw rice, clean water, and the various improvised ritual implements had all been laid out neatly to one side.Hikaru stood in the center of the courtyard, the sleeves of his kariginu drifting faintly in the early morning wind.The sky today was not in good temper.Grey clouds hung low, the sunlight pressed into a thin, hazy glow. The Hashira estate had always been cold, but this morning it felt more like a great wooden box left out in damp fog, every corner faintly carrying the scent of age and rot.From the floor above, several members of the Hashira Clan were watching down through the windows.They did not bother to conceal the contem
CHAPTER 64: THE MORNING AFTER THE STORM
Hikaru woke to the sound of a ringing phone.The sound went on for a long time, sharp and steady, as if someone were tapping a needle, again and again, against the thin membrane between dream and waking. He opened his eyes, looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling for a while, and only slowly remembered where he was.The Hashira estate.Maruhi’s bedroom.And last night.Hikaru closed his eyes for half a second. Scattered images drifted through his mind. The warm fragrance on Maruhi’s skin, her brown hair spread in tangles across the pillow, eyes brimming with tears but still forcing themselves to hold his without blinking, her fingertips digging into his shoulder hard enough to nearly leave marks. And her trembling voice as well, somewhere between a plea and a confession too long held down at last breaking free from her chest.He let out a very faint breath.Insanity, truly.Last night had indeed been a little insane.Not the sort of madness that left one regretting it upon waking, but the
CHAPTER 63: A WET NIGHT
After Kaori quietly closed the door and left, Maruhi’s spacious bedroom fell into a heavy silence, broken only by the soft glow of the golden lantern and their ragged breathing. Hikaru sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes still carrying a trace of worry after tending to her.Maruhi stirred slightly. Her long lashes fluttered, then slowly opened. The moment her deep, captivating eyes met Hikaru’s, her previously pale face lit up with uncontainable joy and raw desire.“Hikaru… you’re still here…”Her voice was hoarse, laced with a vulnerability rarely seen in such a strong woman. Without waiting for him to respond, Maruhi sat up, her long arms wrapping tightly around his neck as if terrified he might disappear. Her tall 187cm body pressed firmly against him, her massive, soft breasts crushing against his chest, radiating warmth and the intoxicating scent of camellia flowers.She kissed him.It wasn’t a gentle, exploratory kiss — it was wild, desperate, as if she wanted to pour all the f
CHAPTER 62: Kaori (2)
Hikaru looked at her.This time, he was genuinely caught off guard.That afternoon, she had seen with her own eyes Nazekawa use the Serpent-Binding Blood Curse. She had seen with her own eyes Maruhi suffer until she nearly fainted. She had seen too his Shiratori take form, becoming a barrier of light that scattered the Yin Energy throughout the great hall. And yet here she was, telling him with absolute conviction that ghosts did not exist in this world.“Are you joking with me?”“No.”“Did you not see what happened this afternoon?”“I saw it.”“Then how do you explain it?”Kaori gave a small shrug.“It could have been some kind of mass hypnosis. It could have been a trick involving chemicals. Or some unrecorded type of neurotoxin in the air. As for that piece of paper of yours catching fire and turning into some sort of arch of light…”Her eyes narrowed slightly.“Perhaps a chemical reaction?”Hikaru felt his head ache further.“I am an Onmyoji,” he said. “Science struggles to explai
CHAPTER 61: Kaori (1)
Kaori’s finger rested upon Hikaru’s lips.Very lightly.But because the distance between them was so close, the gesture carried a pressure that was difficult to name. The cool fragrance on her skin drifted slowly into his lungs, neither heavy nor cloying, yet possessed of a strange pull, like a breeze after rain at the start of summer, clean enough that one unconsciously wished to draw it in just a little deeper.Hikaru did not draw it in.If anything, his guard rose higher.Kaori stood directly before him, nearly his own height, and with her long legs and the slight forward lean of her posture, her presence even tipped slightly into dominance. The deep red silk of her sleeping gown was very thin, soft enough that it clung almost like a second skin. Beneath the pale yellow light of the room, that fabric traced the mature, firm, vital lines of her body, revealing the strong yet alluring curves that ran from her bare shoulders, down past her slender waist, to the long, smooth white legs
CHAPTER 60: THE ONE WHO KNOCKS AT MIDNIGHT
Night fell quickly.The Hashira estate sank beneath a heavy layer of stillness. The lanterns under the eaves still burned, but their pale yellow light did nothing to thaw the cold of this place. Wind drifted through the trees in the courtyard, carrying the rustling of leaves with it, and now and then a dry, brittle creak slipped in from a wooden corridor that had stood for far too long.Hikaru sat beside the bed.Maruhi had not yet woken.She lay on her side upon the white mattress, her breathing steady but shallow. The kimono had been changed by the maids for a soft sleeping gown in pale blue, the collar a little loose, exposing the smooth white skin around her collarbone along with the black serpent mark, now considerably faded. Her long brown hair spread across the pillow, lending the face that was usually so mature and sharp a rare touch of fragility.Hikaru reached out and brushed his fingers lightly against her throat.The curse mark was still there.Shiratori could only suppres
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