Chapter 60: Sweet Dreams

Shizuka

The champion of Stasis sat on the tile floor, one hand testing the water, the other holding an unconscious Mio from drowning in the tub.

She had lit candles on the counter, dimmed the lights, cast an ice wall that muffled all noise in and out. There would be no interruptions.

“You’ve been to the other side now, haven’t you, Mio?”

She grabbed a bucket and washed the grime from Mio’s hair. Ash and dried blood swirled into the water.

The girl muttered something.

“Come again?”

“If… you’re planning to drown me, do it… already.”

“Mio-san. It is my day off. Besides, it wouldn’t look good on my paycheck.”

The girl blinked. Their eyes met. Green and pale. Then Mio finally relaxed, muscles unclenching. She floated in the water.

“What was it like?”

Mio stared at the ceiling. Water lapped at her chin.

“It has three moons.”

“Only three?” Shizuka poured another bucket over her head. “Yenling-san must have taken down the fourth.”

“Huh?”

“Long story. Sorry, honey.”

Mio’s fingers found the edge of the tub. Gripped it.

“What was that place anyway?”

“What’s to come.”

“War?”

Shizuka wrung out the washcloth.

“Genocide.”

Mio went quiet.

Shizuka kept washing. The water ran brown, then pink, then clear. How much of this was Mio’s blood? How much belonged to whatever she’d killed over there?

She reached for the shampoo. There were five of them, all the same strawberry cheap ones. She did a retake. Yep. Five strawberry dispensers.

“Which one do you want?”

“The one that says my name.”

Shizuka checked the labels. Four belonging to Nana, and indeed one for onee-san.

“Oh.”

She grabbed the nearest one.

“Should I even ask why there are so many?”

“Nana likes to hoard stuff.”

“Oh.” She squeezed shampoo into her palm. The strawberry smell intensified.

Shizuka worked the shampoo into Mio’s scalp. The girl’s eyes were half-closed, drifting.

“I’m surprised the old geezer let you girls into the heart of the beast.”

No response.

“But now that you know about Nami-san, there’s no more room for house play.”

Mio’s eyes opened. “What do you mean?”

“You met death boy.” Shizuka rinsed the suds. “He’s an asshole. What did he do to you?”

Mio’s right arm emerged from the surface. She clasped the fingers together. “He said he could bring someone back.”

Shizuka’s hands stilled in Mio’s hair.

“Yeah. Called it.”

“You knew?”

“Ezra makes the same offer to everyone.” She squeezed water from Mio’s hair. “He’s Kharon-Marked. Death and passage. Resurrection is his sales pitch.”

“Is it real?”

Shizuka worked through a tangle. The girl hadn’t brushed her hair in days.

“Does it matter? Even if he can, he won’t do it for free. Nothing from death boy comes without strings.”

Mio’s jaw tightened. Shizuka watched her swallow whatever she was about to say.

“Ezra said there was a monster worse than Kagami.”

The warm water paused. The steam froze mid-rise.

“Is that so?”

Mio watched her face.

“Any idea who?”

The tub edges were frosting now. Shizuka’s breath came out white.

“Nope.”

They held eyes.

Then Shizuka reached for the conditioner, letting go of Mio in the process.

The girl sank like a stone. Arms flailing, legs kicking at nothing, water rushing over her head. She came up sputtering, grabbed for the edge of the tub, missed, and went under again.

Shizuka watched. Counted to three.

She caught Mio by the collar and hauled her up.

“Oops. Sorry.”

“You—” Mio choked out water, coughing. “You did that on purpose.”

Shizuka examined her nails.

“Did I?”

Mio spat water.

“I can’t swim, especially with Can weighing a hundred pounds.”

“Oh.” She actually hadn’t known that. “Noted.”

Mio glared. It would have been intimidating if she wasn’t naked, half-drowned, and shaking like a wet cat.

“You owe me a rematch.” Shizuka pulled her upright. “Mori-san wants one too, but I called dibs.”

Mio coughed up more water.

“I almost died.”

Shizuka shrugged.

“You didn’t.”

Mio’s breathing steadied. The water was cooling now. Shizuka’s fault. She adjusted, pulling the cold back into herself.

“Is Gaian as beautiful as the murals suggest?”

Mio thought about it. The cathedral. The Marrow. Those dark eyes watching her.

“I guess…? She looks more like Ivory’s mother.”

Shizuka raised an eyebrow.

“Huh.”

“What about Stasis?”

“Oh, you’d love him. He’s a hottie.”

Mio blinked. “Him?”

Shizuka grabbed a towel from the rack.

“The Vestiges have a long history together. After all, they’re God’s children.”

She saw Mio make a face.

“What’s their deal? Gaian’s deal—”

“They don’t explain themselves to us. We’re tools. Soldiers. Sometimes pets, if they’re feeling generous.”

“That’s depressing.”

“That’s reality.” She stood, shaking out the towel. “Segawa-san promised to tell you things once you’re level 30. You may or may not be surprised.”

Mio frowned.

“That’s not an answer.”

“You’re getting a lot of those tonight.”

“I heard tomorrow you’ll be deployed on your first outing with an official squad.”

Mio blinked at the subject change. “You’re not coming?”

“No.” Shizuka wrapped the towel around her, lifting her from the tub like she weighed nothing. “I’ll be doing other things.”

“What things?”

Shizuka smiled.

“Things.”

She bundled Mio in a second towel. Then a third. The girl looked like a cotton cocoon, arms pinned to her sides, hair dripping onto the tile.

Mio wiggled.

“I can walk.”

“Can you?”

Mio’s legs buckled the moment Shizuka let go. She caught her before she hit the tile.

“Thought so.”

She carried her out. The ice wall dissolved behind them, cold dispersing into the hallway. The living room was dim. Someone had turned off the main light.

Dino nuggets were scattered across the floor. A K-drama played on low volume, two actors arguing in a hospital room. Nana was asleep on the floor, head pillowed on Ivory’s lap. Ivory was frozen mid-stroke, fingers still tangled in Nana’s white hair. Sweat beaded at her temple.

Her violet eyes went wide when she saw Shizuka carrying the bundled Mio.

She opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

Shizuka put a finger to her lips.

Ivory nodded frantically.

“Make sure you stay full, Marrow girl.”

Ivory nodded faster.

The elf sat on the coffee table, cutting up newspaper with her toothpick daggers. Precise strips, laid out in neat rows. She didn’t look up. Didn’t care. A tiny assassin practicing her knife work on the morning edition of the Asahi Shimbun.

Shizuka set Mio on the couch. Adjusted the towels so they wouldn’t slip. Brushed a strand of wet hair from her face.

The girl’s breathing had gone slow and even. Her lips were slightly parted. She looked younger like this. Softer. Like the seventeen-year-old she actually was.

“Sweet dreams, little sprout.”

She straightened. Looked at Ivory, still frozen. At Nana, still sleeping. At the elf, still cutting.

Shizuka walked to the door, stepped into her sandals, and left without another word.

The cold went with her.

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