Himejima Akeno

I take a deep breath, basking in the cold night air as blood pours down from the hundreds of stabs and cuts on my body.

It's over. The lifeless corpses of the pursuers lay on the soil, accompanied by rocks, soot, and blood.

My body feels hot. That burst of Primal Energy has left its toll, and I grit my teeth as my heart burns. Steam is still rising from my body, and my breaths come out as puffs of smoke.

I turn around, and I see Akeno sitting on the bench. Her eyes are wide, and I can see both relief and horror in them. "H-Hyoudou-san…" She says, eyes roaming over all the injuries I've acquired. She looks close to tears.

I manage a small smile as I pull out a 'Healing' Ofuda and stick it onto my chest. The characters light up a brilliant white, and a cooling sensation spreads all across my body as my wounds begin to heal. "I'm fine." I say, and my smile only grows at her surprise. "I'm pretty durable, and I can heal pretty quickly too."

Slowly, she stands from the bench and walks up to me. There is great awe in her eyes as she watches the wounds on my body fade, the skin and flesh knitting together as the Ofuda on my chest slowly burns away.

I reach forward, and I gently pull away the Ofuda on her forehead. Her invisibility falls away, though she hasn't moved, still staring at me with no small amount of wonder. "We're fine now." I say. She makes a small nod, still silent as she stares intently. "Himejima-san?" I ask. She doesn't respond, eyes wide as she watches something I can't seem to see. "Hime-?"

"It's so bright…" She whispers, mystified.

I blink. "What?"

"Your soul," she looks up to me, and her violet eyes are unnaturally bright. "It's brighter than any I've ever seen."

Distantly, I realize she must have some sort of special power. Much like I do. "Is that a good thing?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "I don't know." She says. "Souls get brighter as people get older, like mama's and pap-" She cuts herself off there, and for a moment I see a scowl pulling on her lips. It quickly disappears. "But your soul is the brightest."

I frown. That is…strange. If one's soul becomes brighter as I age, then surely there'd be others with brighter souls than me. I may have lived a previous life, but I wasn't insanely old then.I mean, the leaders of the Five Principal Clans are older than me and my previous life combined.

Unless my eyes are factored into that. I've always had some suspicion that these eyes of mine are conscious in some way. Which opens the possibility that these eyes came from someone.

That person is possibly God. I mean, it's in the name and all. Then again, who knows?

"So…" I ask. "What're you going to do now?"

And at that, Akeno goes silent. She looks confused. Happy and relieved, but confused. As if she never really considered what to do after she is no longer pursued. Or maybe she never really expected this at all, always assuming that her clan would do all it can to kill her.

In the spur of the moment, I recall that I still have a melon bread back in my room. "Do you, uh, want to come with me?" I ask with an awkward smile. "You look pretty hungry, and I have some melon bread back home. And, well," I glance down at my bare chest. "I don't think I can walk into a restaurant looking like this."

She giggles, and then nods.

And so, fully healed and with Akeno following me, we begin making our way back to my house. It feels a little strange to walk around without a shirt, but Akeno doesn't seem to mind, and nor do I.

(Shame isn't something I feel easily. Not anymore.)

Occasionally, I'll glance at her to see if she's doing alright. After all, she is a survivor of a truly cruel clan, and she's been running around Japan for quite a while. No one comes out from that unharmed, especially someone as young as her.

Except she's...fine? Much like Aika, there's hardly any distress in her. Sure, my eyes tell me of some repressed trauma she has, but she's completely fine about all the struggles she's had ever since she got kicked out of her clan. If anything, she's more occupied at staring at my soul than anything else at the moment.

It's weird, right? I mean, anyone would surely feel something more than simple relief after getting rid of their tormentor. Or am I the weird one? Are the people of this world just more resilient to suffering and trauma or whatever?

(Looking back, that statement feels a little ironic. I mean, if the me of the past saw just how much pain I'm putting myself through just to get stronger, I think he'd send me to a mental hospital.)

So instead of pondering over this world's mental strength, I decide to just introduce myself. My name, my age, my grade; the usual things I'd mention to anyone new. She nearly trips when she hears that I'm actually younger than her. I can understand her surprise—I am abnormally tall for my age—but she just smiles after a minute and moves on.

She introduces herself as well. Himejima Akeno, daughter of Himejima Shuri. Once a part of the Himejima Clan, she was later kicked out of her clan. She's been wandering around for almost a year and a half before she stumbled into Kuoh and met me.

I notice she hasn't mentioned her father, and considering the words I heard earlier…

I suspect her father's got something to do with her being kicked out. Though I'll find out more with my eyes later.

After that though, the slight distance between us fades, and suddenly I find myself being attacked by a barrage of questions. She's curious about a lot of things; my Ofudas, Kanada, my durability, and more. I answer to the best of my capability, careful to omit my use of Primal Energy, and I find myself taken aback at the shine in her eyes as she satisfies her curiosities one by one.

It hits me then. This girl is still a child. She's still young. And yet here she is, still capable of smiling and giggling despite everything she's gone through.

Could I have done the same? Could I have maintained that same optimism after going through everything she did?

(The answer is no.)

At some point, Akeno begins talking with Kanada. Or, well, it's more of her talking and Kanada occasionally shaking. She's very curious about the Tsukumogami, and Kanada is more than happy to indulge her.

And as they talk, I ponder. We're heading back to my house; that hasn't changed. But what then? I have school tomorrow, and it's not as if I can just hide her in my room or whatever. 'Invisibility' Ofudas are only a temporary solution, my mother comes into my room from time to time.

Or maybe that's it? I mean, Akeno is practically homeless right now, and I don't really want to leave her outside. If I introduce her to my family, maybe they can have her stay together with us? We don't really have another room, but Akeno can always just sleep with me. It's not as if I sleep all that much these days.

I nod to myself. It shouldn't be too hard to convince my parents. They're kind people, almost painfully so.

Eventually, we make it to my house. "We're here." I say. She nods, and then blinks in confusion when I hop over the short fence. Her confusion only grows as I beckon her to follow, but she soon turns up to see the open window leading to my room.

She hops over the fence, and I quickly walk behind her. "Hold tight." I say, and she yelps as I sweep her into my arms. Then, with a small burst of Primal Energy through my legs, I make a silent leap up towards the opened window.

We make it through, and just like that, I'm back in my room. I gently let the girl down, and she looks around in awe. This is the first time she's ever been in a house like this it seems, and it shows.

As promised, I hand over the melon bread that's been sitting on my desk for the past few hours to Akeno. The girl stares, genuinely surprised at the food. She begins tearing up as she tears the plastic open, and she silently cries as she bites into the melon bread.

I gently pat her head, smiling sadly as she stuffs her cheeks. The girl is starving, and it's clear that the one melon bread won't be enough. So I quickly put on a new shirt and leave to grab more from downstairs.

But before I can, Akeno pulls me by the arm. "D-Don't leave." She says through her tears. "It's okay. I-I don't need more."

I smile sadly. "You're hungry, and I have food to share."

She shakes her head. "D-Don't. I'm fine." She smiles brightly. "Thank you."

There's a retort building in the back of my throat, but it falls away. "Thank you," she says. I've heard that many times before, but there's…something about the way she said it. It feels warmer than normal. More gentle.

It feels right.

I want to give her more, but even without the Eyes of God, I can see that she's stubborn; she won't let me leave. So I silently sigh. "You must be tired." I say instead. "Come on, let's sleep."

Her tears begin anew at my words, but she nods. She's a little hesitant at approaching my bed, but I gently bring her close, and she practically sinks into the pillow as she lays on the bed. Her eyes begin to droop, and her bright smile dips into a peaceful one as she finally falls asleep.

With her asleep, I walk over to my window and shut it, pulling the blinds over it and plunging my room into darkness. I then grab one of the many 'Healing' Ofudas I'm keeping in my desk's cabinet, and I gently press it onto Akeno's forehead. The Ofuda begins to glow, and the scars and bruises hiding under her rags begin to fade.

With my job well done, I finally sit down on my desk chair, smiling slightly as I watch the 'Healing' Ofuda work its magic.

And slowly, as the Ofuda burns away in a shower of bright sparks, I find my exhaustion creeping up to me. The weight settles in my bones, and my eyes begin to droop.

Before long, I fall asleep.