Venshiro stayed silent.
The Black Vein didn't speak. That worried him more than its whispers.
"How far is the town?" he finally asked, voice low and wondering.
Rin didn't look back. "Not far. We'll reach it by sundown."
The second time I lost control…
The words rang in his head.
It wasn't the fight that haunted him. It was the moment after — when the assassin stared at him with real fear. That was worse than the blood.
He glanced down at his side. The Black Vein rested quietly in its sheath. Cold. Still. But he could feel it, like a second heartbeat just beneath his skin.
Rin slowed her pace slightly. "You're quiet again."
"You always say that," he replied.
"It's always true."
Venshiro hesitated. Then, "I don't know what's happening to me."
She stopped. Turned slightly, just enough for her fox-like mask to catch the fading light. Her eyes studied him. Not judging — just looking.
"You're changing. The sword is a curse. But also a mirror. It reflects what's inside you."
"I didn't ask for this," he muttered.
"No one does."
The wind shifted. Somewhere far off, a crow cried. Rin began walking again.
They reached the outskirts of the town just as twilight bled across the sky. It was small — smoke rising from crooked chimneys, a few wandering lanterns glowing warm in the cold blue night.
Rin pointed toward a narrow alley between two stone buildings. "There's a chef here who owes me a favor. And he doesn't ask questions."
They slipped into the alley, and for a moment Venshiro's guard dropped. The smell of roasted meat and warm broth with rice curled through the air. It reminded him of home. Before.
The chef was a round man with eyes like black olives and fingers coloured from spices. He didn't ask anything when he saw Rin. He just handed them two bowls and waved them off.
Venshiro sat against the alley wall, steam rising from his food. The taste hit like a flood — salt, fire, and memory. He ate in silence. Rin watched him for a while, then turned her look to the street.
"You're going to ask eventually," she said quietly.
He glanced at her. "Ask what?"
"Why I haven't told you more."
"…Why haven't you?"
She didn't answer right away. She let the silence stretch.
"Because once you know," she said, "you can't unknow. And knowledge is the weight that cracks people open. You're already cracked."
Venshiro said nothing. He finished the last bite and set the bowl aside.
A chill passed through him — not from the night air, but from something else. Something behind them.
He stood slowly.
In the distance of the alley, two figures passed — cloaked, hooded, faces eaten from shadow. Just townsfolk.
But something about their walk. Their shoulders. It was off.
Rin stood beside him.
"You feel it too?" he asked.
"Yes," she said.
And again — silence from the Black Vein. No whispers. No talking. Just the sense of something waiting.
That night, they found a quiet something like motel near the edge of town. No names. No questions. They took a room with 2 bedrooms.
Rin-left corner bed ; Venshiro-right corner bed.
He couldn't sleep.
When he closed his eyes, he felt the sword breathing beneath him. When he opened them, he thought he saw movement in the shadows.
At some point, Rin spoke softly.
"You know you're not ordinary, right?"
He blinked. "Yeah ..maybe. The kids in my village were calling me weird"
She turned her head, eyes catching the moonlight.
"That blade didn't just choose you. It responded to something inside you."
"…Like what?"
"I don't know yet," she admitted. "But I know this. People like you… the ones tied to the old powers… they always leave a trail behind them. Fire. Ash. Questions."
He looked upset . "That's comforting."
"It's the truth."
She looked out the window. The town was asleep. The world, for now, held its breath.
"Tomorrow," she said, "we go west. There's someone I want you to meet. A Seer."
"What can she do?"
"She sees the roots."
"…What?"
Rin turned back to him.
"Everyone is born with a Vein Root. Elemental, spiritual… sometimes cursed. You don't know yours yet. But she might."
Venshiro looked at his hand. There are still traces of the dark veins from the fight. The ones that weren't really his.
"Will she tell me what I am?"
"If she's not dead yet," Rin said, lying back. "Goodnight, cursed boy."
Venshiro: "How to you sleep with that mask?"
Rin:"Shut up and go to sleep?"