Where Wolfsbane Bloom and Peonies Rot

Chapter 13: Himitsu Fuzen

The moment felt somewhat refreshing seeing someone familiar in a new place where everything seemed to be ignoring each other.

"What are you doing here?" Kana said in sync with 'Moody Eyeballs' though they both sounded rather disappointed than rejoiced.

"Hey! Stop speaking to each other like that! Can you two be friendly with each other even once??" Aiko announced.

The two gave each other questionable looks like they were trying to communicate with their noses. Kana was clearly disapproving of their 'friendship' and side-eyed Moody Eyeballs, on the other hand Moody Eyeballs looked uncomfortable and wanted to get away from Kana.

Aiko crossed her arms and then took a look at Moody Eyeballs, and soon noticed something different.

"Oh! You have a weapon?" Aiko gasped in excitement, "I didn't know you could fight! What weapon is it??".

"Is it what you are going to use to kill me? 'Cause that 'stick' isn't gonna do a thing to me." Kana blurted out silently, just loud enough for Moody Eyeballs and Aiko to hear.

"Kana-chan, I said to stop this useless rivalry!!"

Kana said nothing after that, it was like she had enough.

"So? What is that weapon of yours? Answer meeeeeeeeee!!!" Aiko beseeched.

"Fine. Once I found out about the bounty hunting world, I decided to join in..."

"Like you could even survive..." Kana mumbled under her breath so no one could hear.

"... so, I decided to steal this naginata."

After explaining his weapon's backstory, Moody Eyeballs pulled out his naginata and showcased it in the increasing crowd, making sure no one gets poked by its sharp blade.

"But I'm pretty sure naginata are for the onna-musha (female warriors), aren't they?" Aiko interrogated.

"Yes, but I was considered fairly weak since birth so I'm not the best at any fist fighting, but this naginata is quite easy for me to master."

Kana scoffed at the sentence and was nudged by Aiko to shut up.

Another wave of people continued to budge through to the front to see the commotion and that made Aiko Kana flashback to what they were originally doing, finding bounties.

"Wait, aren't we meant to be looking for wanted posters?" Kana said leaning forward toward Aiko.

"Oh yeah! Wanna join us Moody Eyeballs-kun?"

Kana groaned at frustration after hearing the offer, but Moody Eyeballs decided to agree.

The trio shoved or got shoved to the front and saw the board, multiple wanted posters were pasted at the front and some news articles too. But one specific paragraph caught the attention of Kana the most.

'Assassin Ayakashi Kana has officially been stripped from the title of being a member of the Bushida Clan.'

Kana's eyes widened and her pupils shrank as she swung her head towards Aiko if she saw it. Kana was completely unaware of what Bushida had been doing while she was gone. 'Has he really decided to kick me off? Out of the blue, without even trying to hunt me down??' Kana thought the trauma from her clan embraced her tightly, so tight that she couldn't even breathe.

Aiko seemed to notice Kana's change of attitude and leaned over to see what Kana was intensely eyeing.

After reading the short paragraph Aiko gave a hiccup of noise and turned towards Kana, " Soo he really did kick you out," she said leaving a short pause to think, "well he didn't deserve you anyways."

There was another long pause, Kana took a moment to process what Aiko was saying and pushed her eyebrows together. Aiko gave a warm smile that crawled up her cheeks and made her squint her eyes before she turned around to check on Moody Eyeballs.

Kana rested her face and sighed, maybe Aiko could be considered a friend after all.

On the other side of the trio, Moody Eyeballs scanned the sign holding many different posters. Until one of them caught his eye, a wanted poster with an outrageously high bounty, and on the top of it was an illustration of a woman with long black hair, a stern face and daring eyes.

"So this is your name, Ayakashi Kana," the boy said aloud.

Kana had to lunge at him and shut his mouth with her hand to ensure he didn't spit anything else out.

"Don't say that Eyeballs, are you stupid??" Kana aggressively whispered.

Aiko dragged Kana back and quickly apologized and warned Moody Eyeballs of the dangers that may appear if they get caught.

A vein began to grow on Kana but she stayed silent and continued to forage for high bounties with crossed arms.

Aiko raised her head and sighed, "All of these posters don't have very high rewards, they'll only last a few days if we go on a low budget.".

"What if we just kill everyone." Kana suggested innocently.

"What?! What did this crowd ever do to you??" Aiko said, flinching from the shock.

"No, what if we just kill everyone that is currently wanted and pile up all the money. That'll last us quite long."

"Oh... sure!" Aiko grinned.

But little did Moody Eyeballs know that he was in for a wild ride.

Day by day the two girls would hunt down multiple thieves and murderers with Moody Eyeballs straying behind them. The massacre didn't stop there though. He would barely get his hands dirty because the girls would have just sped run the entire thing. Blood was continuously poured and the floor around them would be drenched with dark red liquid, flesh hanging from walls and dangled lifelessly.

1 week had passed and every single wanted poster had been ripped off or crossed out by the trio and money drizzled around them like the rain after the drought.

Kana managed to rent an inn where they could stay and convinced Aiko not to buy an expensive mansion (which they could not afford). And even though Kana warned Aiko not to get into fights or gambles, she still went there carelessly and stole a few pockets worth of jewelry under their noses, of course with Kana secretly monitoring like a mother in the corner. Moody Eyeballs was quite chill and never bothered them, rather staying in the inn instead of following Aiko's dramatic stealing spree.

Another two weeks passed without any news or surprising events, the citizens on the other hand were shocked by the downgrade of illegal activities and began to live their lives more laid back.

Speaking of laid back, Kana couldn't rest her thoughts at all, even though her emotionless face showed no remorse for her victims and never seem to speak of anything personal. Her Shoulders would tighten, and she would clench her teeth and her dark thoughts swallowed her whole, it dragged Kana to the depths of hell and drowned her with its toxic thoughts. Kana had always had eye bags and had always looked sickly pale and sleep deprived but something changed about it. Her sickliness felt like it grew more obvious and every night it would be nurtured generously with nightmares of her torturous clan.

Aiko had caught up to this and always asked about Kana's insecurity, but her concern was always coldly rejected by Kana's ghostly face and low toned voice.

In the same week a new bounty had hung itself on the stand, like the others it was quite low and didn't seem to worry the trio at all (anyways, Moody Eyeballs already knew the girls would have just sped run the whole thing).

"Himitsu Fuzen, Bounty: 14,200 yen." Aiko read out.

"This'll be easy."