Jouryuu POV
Current Location: Somewhere in Mato
I simply crossed my arms and closed my eyes, not moving an inch, remaining perfectly still while a certain black-haired sibling of mine lay in her room, stewing in a truly foul mood.
She had only said she was going out for a walk.
Yet she returned far too quietly, slipping back into our place without a word before heading straight to her room. Rairen and I exchanged confused glances when, moments later, shouting and furious cursing erupted from behind her door.
That was why I came to check on her.
Deciding I couldn't ignore it any longer, I walked over to her bed and sat at the edge.
"So, did something happen while you were out?" I asked. "You're acting strange, Shikoku."
"Tch. I'll crush that arrogant bastard to shreds," she spat through clenched teeth. "I'll make her regret ever challenging me and saying those words to me."
"Disrespecting me—calling me such filthy names. What does she mean, we're the Eight Voyeurs?!" Shikoku raged, a lone black snake slithering lazily across her body. "How dare that mongrel sully the divine title Mother bestowed upon us!"
"HAAAAA! I WANT TO RIP HER FACE OFF!" she screamed, gnawing viciously at her nails. "That annoyingly beautiful face of hers will be the most satisfying thing to ruin!!"
"Shikoku, are you even listening to me?" I said, watching her with an expression that didn't change in the slightest.
"She said she'd beat us? That she'd stand beside humanity? Ha!" Shikoku scoffed. "She'd better keep saying that when I start kicking her while she's begging for mercy like a dog!!! You mongrel—learn your place!!!!"
"YOU WILL FUCKING PAY FOR INSULTING MOTHER!!!!!!!!"
Still ignoring me, she continued to thrash about, throwing a full-blown tantrum.
Honestly, the way she was acting right now was nothing like the calm, composed demeanor I was used to seeing from her.
I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing but either way, it was new. I had never seen her this furious before.
Deciding not to let this drag on any longer than necessary, I raised my hands and gave a sharp clap. The force sent a gust of wind sweeping through the room, the crack of it snapping loudly against the walls.
That finally made her stop.
Shikoku turned toward me, eyes wide in surprise.
"Ara~ when did you get here, Jouryuu?" she asked, rising from her bed as if nothing happened.
"You're only realizing I'm here now?" I let out a slow sigh. "I've been here for most of the time you were busy cursing up with your mouth."
She shrugged and stood up, stretching her body lazily. I waited patiently for a good minute, letting her clear her head before attempting an actual conversation.
"So… mind telling me why you were acting like that?" I asked once she seemed fully back to herself.
"I can," she replied, "but first… let me show you something." She raised her index finger, gesturing for my attention.
Jumping out of bed, Shikoku spun around and fixed me with a stare. She opened her palm, revealing something resting upon it.
"A feather?" I asked, my voice edged with confusion.
"This came from the woman we've been watching," she said, closing her fingers. The feather vanished as if swallowed by thin air. "Just as we suspected. She wasn't human."
As Shikoku recounted the details, I learned of an encounter that had unfolded without Rairen or me noticing.
A hostile one, by her description. Honestly, it was remarkable she managed to listen without launching herself at the woman on sight immediately.
So her name was Ankh?
According to Shikoku, the woman's body was extraordinary in how it operates, those strange metallic objects within her behaving almost like entities of their own.
What intrigued me most was not Shikoku's deduction, but Ankh's own words.
Shikoku said Ankh openly claimed she was a manifestation of desire.
Even repeating it in my head felt fake, yet Shikoku relayed it without hesitation or doubt. She believed Ankh meant every word that came out of her mouth.
And Shikoku was not someone who could easily believe some empty words.
If that claim held even a fraction of the truth, then we were no longer dealing with just an unusual opponent.
We were facing an entity we could not afford to underestimate.
Even so, I found myself sharing Shikoku's anger when she mentioned Mother. That was a line I would never allow anyone to cross, no matter how detached I tried to remain from such words.
When Shikoku finished, silence settled between us.
Then she smiled.
It wasn't warmth.
It was absence.
"Have you ever had someone you simply wanted to destroy?"
"No… why?"
"Because that's exactly how I feel right now." Shikoku pressed a hand against her chest. "That urge to watch someone suffer, to drag them through the worst imaginable fates… anything to bleed this hatred out of me."
Hugging herself, she wrapped her arms around her own body and closed her eyes.
The snake coiled around her neck began to hiss, the sound unfurling like a melody awaiting its diva's cue to begin the performance.
"That woman named Ankh…"
Her hands began to move, slow and deliberate. She stepped forward with a fluid grace, dancing across the floor with the poise of a noble.
From her lips flowed a voice both haunting and commanding, as though she were chanting an ancient folklore meant for an enemy awaiting judgment on the battlefield.
˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀ She talks real loud for a bird already broken,
All beak, no bite, just noise she's choking.
All I hear are threats with no foundation,
No discipline, no spine, just frustration.
She better peel that vile disguise from my vision,
Duck and hide, that's her only decision.
Cause she's provoking a force beyond measure,
A god who will dismantle a fool at leisure.
I'm first in order, the throne never shaking,
She's last in the gutter, constantly breaking.
Lower than a cockroach, lost in the rubble,
Crushed by the weight of the storm she is brewing.
And beside me stand the gods of calamity,
Moving in sync like divine profanity.
Blessings of ruin, negativity delivered,
Go ask my brethren if I'm just talk,
They'll answer in thunder, ⋆.𐙚 ̊⛩
As the slow, haunting melody faded, she opened her eyes. A wide smile bloomed across her face, stretching into a grin that felt far too sharp.
"I'll remember this humiliation you've dealt me, Ankh," she hissed, venom saturating every word. "I will tear you apart, limb by limb, and let my snake devour you slowly."
I sat here, completely dumbfounded. I knew Shikoku loved to sing, but never, not even once, had I imagined she would wield that talent of hers for this.
Then she laughed.
Not with amusement, not with triumph, but with something unhinged.
Sorry, Taikyoku-nee.
By the name of our Mother.
Shikoku had, beyond any shadow of doubt, officially lost her mind.
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"Hachoo!" Isadora sneezed, shivering as a strange, crawling sensation ran along her spine.
"Is there something wrong?" the cashier at the pizza place asked, tilting her head with curiosity as she handed Isadora a slice.
"Nah, it's okay," Isadora replied with a polite smile, thanking her before stepping out of the shop, an all-meat pizza clutched in her hands.
But her mind wasn't on the pizza.
There was only one thought looping relentlessly in her head:
What the actual heck was that weird feeling?
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Author's Note:
Should I make an Isadora vs. Shikoku rap battle for an Omake?