HE STANDS BEFORE HER LIKE A GHOST, and kokushibō could swear she feels old scar burning into her throat. a sense of danger that can not merely vanish, no matter how docile her twin appeared to be. it had been just the same, under that cursed red moon so many years ago.
a strange sort of truce perhaps, for she knows too well that she cannot win alone nor will she endanger the two she knows are likely hovering protectively nearby. and so, though a hand still rests upon the hilt of kyokokukamusari in comfort to herself, the eyes of the blade restlessly scanning their surroundings...it is not drawn.
there are beings more important than herself.
i wanted to see you echoes in her mind, turning over and over again. that damned flute hidden within her kimono practically burns in and of itself, as if it still carried the warmth from the sun. she can feel michikatsu within herself, a strange writhing beneath her ribcage where such things had long been buried.
in the end, despite her sharpness and growls, kokushibō is not so different from twin.
"and what do you hope will come of this?"
distrust is sown deeply within her still, both knowing yoriichi would be too honorable for such underhanded tactics and yet a gulf remains between the two, demonic blood coiling within kokushibō's veins. even as she is no longer held by that man's curse, it seemed even her own blood reacted to the other's presence.
but it is most telling that she has not yet made effort to chase yoriichi off.
as the next words come, there is significant pause, "--you searched for me?" if anyone else had told her, she surely wouldn't have believed them. the failure, the traitor, she had long believed that none would ever search for her. merely another missing person, another tally in the corp's logbook of the dead, nothing of note.
finally, finally-- "...follow me. i will lead you to the gardens." where they can sit under the trees, as much as kokushibō's hair stands on end. kyokokukamusari watches yoriichi closely.
