Arc VIII Chapter 11
<strong>VIII</strong>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<strong>━━━━━━┓???┏━━━━━━</strong>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<strong>Arc VIII Chapter 11
</strong>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<strong>━━━━━━┛???┗━━━━━━</strong>
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
The day ended, and the sun set on the horizon. Thest rays of the daylight vanished, reced by frozen darkness and theing night. The temperatures fell, and the city turned hostile to human life.
Yuki''sbreath congealed in the cold airas they were searching for a warm ce to spend the night. Her body shivered. Her body was freezing, and herpanion was useless.Tobi was a natural idiot. His unreliable sense of direction got themlost over and over again. They were even forced to ask for directions.
The wrong street. They wrong shabby inn. Theprices were daylight robbery.The food quality dubious. No running water. The rooms didn''t befit nee-san''s standing andstatus.
“...”Yuki clenched her fists, determined to achieve her goal. She would find the best inn in the entire city and make Nee-san proud. Nee-san deserved nothing less than the best.Theyseededeventually and located a suitable ce. They even organisedsome foodas they were both hungry. The day was long,and their stomach roared.
Tobi enjoyed his sweet dangos, whilehis mountain of empty tes grew.
“...”Yuki disapproved.The spendthrift wasted Nee-san''s money.
Tobi''s mouth was stuffed full of dango sticks. “Sommmething wronmmmg, Yuki? You don''t look happy.”
Yuki turned her head.“Never mind. Nothing important.”
Tobi tilted his head. He was confused. “Really? Tobi doesn''t think so. Tobi thinks you should tell Tobi! Talking helps!”
...
...
...
Yuki crossed her arms, disagreeing. “...”
“Hmm ...”Tobi rubbedhis chin, thinking.“Tobi has a solution.”
He presented her with his brilliant solution, a dango. “Tada, dangos help against worries and mild depression!”
“...” Yuki narrowed her eyes. No wonder, Nee-san loved hitting Tobi. The same urge befell her. Tobi was indeed the ideal punching bag. “I doubt a simple dango will help ...”
“...”Tobi poked her cheeks with his dangostick.
He poked her.
He poked her.“Are ~ you~ sure~?Dangos ~ are ~ really ~ tasty ~.”
...
...
...
“...”Yuki epted his dango to stophis incessant nagging.She was hungry, and she liked sweets.Her mouth consumed thesweet joy.
Tobi waved his arms, wildly gesticting. “Tell me,Yuki, what''s the matter?You can trust Tobi!Tobi is reliable!”
“...” Yuki gave him a nk stare before epting his offer. She trusted him for once. “I am worried about Nee-san. I am worried Nee-san won''t return.”
“...”Tobi blinkedbehind his mask, confused by her question.“You areworried about Asami? How so?”
Yuki lowered her gaze. “I know Mistuhiko. He can''t be trusted.”Her uncle was a dangerousman. Shedidn''t want to lose Asami as well.
Tobi reassured her with a smile. “Don''t worry, Yuki, senpai will return. I am sure. Senpai~ is strong.”
Yuki wasn''t convinced. “Are you sure? Nee-san doesn''t strike me as particrlystrong...”Her words provoked an instant reaction.
“Eh ...Eh ... Eh ...”Tobi nearly choked on his tango. He couldn''t believe his ears. “What?Really? Are you sure you are not mistaken?”
“...”Yuki nodded. Nee-san was hugging, huggling, cuddling her on a daily basis. Nee-san treated her like her personal teddy bear. Nee-santuckedher in at night. Nee-sanenjoyed pinching her cheeks.Nee-san was the older sister she never had. Nee-san was sweet, fluffy, and cuddly. Nee-san couldn''t appeardangerous, not to mention strong.Because her Nee-san was far too cute and gentle.
“...... ...” Tobi, meanwhile,was left speechless. He was openly lost for words, and Yuki had no idea as to why. Had she said something strange?
Tobi scratched his head. “Tobi thinks Yuki-chan doesn''t need to worry about Nee-san ...”
“...” Yuki didn''t react. Her frozen eyes stared into the dark, cold night.
Tobi followed her sightand fell silentas well. Curious spectators gathered onthe empty streetsasthe entire horizon glowed purple. Burning ash and smoke illuminatedthe night. The fragrance of burntwood permeatedthe air.
The column of smoke rose skywards, fuelled by the wrathful mes. zing purple mes consumed the castle. Nothing could ever withstand the voracious fire, the raging, mysterious purple mes.
Tobi''svoice turned sober. “It seems that your worries were ... unfounded, Yuki-chan.”
“Indeed.”A vice cut him short.
Yuki recognised the voice. “Nee-san!” It was Nee-san''s sweet, melodic, angelic voice. Her face blushed.
<hr>
<strong><b>━━━━━━┛</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>?</b></strong><strong><b>┗━━━━━━</b></strong>
<hr>
Asami strolled through the streets with an oversized gold neko in her arms.Her lips smiled. “Yuki-chan, Tobi, it took me some time to find you.I was already wonderingwhere you had gone...”
“Nee-san!”Two tiny arms curled around herhip. Yuki hugged her, and Yuki had no intention to stop. The hug continued and time passed.
“...”Asami greeted her with a warm smile. Her heart was d to see Yuki again.“Tobi,take care of my cat for a moment.”
Asamihanded Tobiher new feline friend. Looting the castle was a profitableaffair.Sadly,thefire imed the majority of herspoils, but she was able tosave thecat.
“Understood, senpai!”Tobi salutedbeforeeptingthe statue. He regretted his decisionimmediately.The weight of the gold pulled him down.The statue was heavy.
Asami smirked. “Be careful,Tobi, don''t damagethecat.It is precious.”
Tobi groaned under its weight. “I will try my best ...” He dropped the cat, and the statue hit the ground.
“Tobi ...”Asami rewarded Tobi with an annoyed re.
Tobi scratched his head innocently. “Sowwy, senpai.”
“...” Asami fumed. As usual, Tobi was the epitome of ipetency. He dropped the cat, breaking it, only to reveal ... a scroll ... hidden inside the hollow torso ...
“...”Asami blinked. Her hands were quick to retrieve the withered scroll. The scroll was old, not say ancient. A scroll from the distant past whose purpose had been long since forgotten. Only a cat pawdecorated the seal.What a curious find.
<hr noshade="noshade" size="1">
<strong>━━━━━━┛???┗━━━━━━</strong>
<hr>