Sunday morning - Maki

"Khm." Maki suppressed a groan as pain shot through his shoulder.

" Is it bad?" Yoshio paused with a cotton pad in hand. He stood behind Maki, who sat backward on a chair.

"No. It's fine, the cut is a bit deep." He frowned, as he felt Yoshio touching the wound.

"Yes, it seems to be not so good-looking. I hope it heels faster. It’s weird that I can’t heal it more than that. They might have used some weird type of weapon."

"Similar to kogitsunemaru?"

Yoshio stilled for a moment. "Perhaps, I won't be surprised if that killer is going around, just giving away powerful weapons." He paused to put the cotton pad down and took the clean one out. "You said you knew that other guy? Have you encountered him before?"

"I mean, I think, in a way, "Maki hesitated, his face flushing. He knew exactly who it was from the moment he saw him. Even with half of the man’s face hidden by a scarf, he recognized the guy who kissed Kōga. That handsome model. Their fight had been more intense than it needed to be because Maki let his emotions get the best of him. He hated how he’d lost control, how he couldn’t get a single hit on the man’s perfect face. He could not believe that Kōga might be involved in this whole mess too. And after his mother… No. He needs to find out first.

"I saw him once on the street," Maki muttered, avoiding Yoshio’s gaze. "Thought he was a model or something. He was... near the host district."

"Hm, interesting, "Yoshio seemed not to react at the fact that Maki was in the host district, "maybe he is a host, you should investigate that. Do you remember the club you saw him next to?"

"Hm, no, I think..." the painful memory flashed in front of his eyes, "I will come there to see, maybe I will recognize it. Also, I have an acquaintance working there..."

"Oh? That’s convenient." Yoshio sounded genuinely impressed. "You think you can go tomorrow?"

"No, I’ll go tonight, Yoshio-san," Maki replied firmly.

Yoshio raised a brow. "Your shoulder doesn’t look great. You sure about that?"

"It'll be okay, we do heal faster anyway..."

"Okay. Then, let's talk about all the things from this week."Yoshio finished bandaging Maki’s wound. "First, we have the bully attack the girl, then the killer makes himself known, again after many years of silence, when he attacks Hideki-sama. Then, a snake yokai threatened to eat the girl, and as if by coincidence, we meet the bully, who is now a yokai with a powerful weapon in his hands, fighting other yokai clans in broad daylight, full of resentment aura. The blade," he walked somewhere, returning with it in hand. He put it on the table in front of Maki, "I checked, it has power collected inside of it, not too much, maybe ten yokai of medium powers were killed. But it seems to be the original one. You see here, " He pointed to the intricate silver fox on the handle, with ruby eyes gleaming with dark aura. The nine tails were all around him, as were other intricate details made for decoration purposes. "Which raises the question—why would anyone hand over such a treasure to someone so... incompetent? And on top of that, we’ve got this mystery model who’s a skilled fighter with another powerful weapon."

"It also looked like a short sword," Maki said, recalling the brief glimpse of the blade during the fight. "I’ve never seen one like it."

Yoshio nodded. "Do you have anything else?"

"I mean, Kōga... He saw the killer too, and he knew about Sora's power, and you mentioned before that the snake also knew somehow about the power that Sora has, that it can be profitable to consume it, as, I assume, all the other less powerful yokai who have been harassing her through the years. Kōga mentioned he wouldn't need to eat it because the amount she has is so small in comparison to his real power it won't give him much. I still don't get why other yokai seek it."

"It's appealing, don't you find it appealing somehow?" Yoshio frowned.

Maki looked at him, embarrassed, "I guess it is, but... Well, it's not like one can not not want it."

"Yes..." Yoshio looked unbothered, however inside he was questioning everything. He spent the week with her, and the more time they spent together, the more problems he started to notice - he was convinced it all was due to her power. He wanted to spend more and more time together, it seemed. He found her personality so interesting, which was definitely due to her power, nothing else, right? Maki telling him it was not that powerful seemed like a surprise. Maybe it's affecting different yokai differently? No way he would turn out to be the same as those, who are following her like creeps. He shivered. Makio looked at him, perplexed.

"M-master? Are you cold?" Maki stood up.

"What?" Yoshio returned to his senses, "Uh, no... maybe. Doesn't matter. I cleaned the wound. I will go to my room now. You should rest, at least until the evening, it's still very early."

"Of course. I will prepare dinner, and leave then."

"If you wish. I will take my time going through some internet history archives. No need to let me know when you leave." He paused, and added, "maybe draw the model, and show it to your host-friend?"

Maki felt heat on his cheeks, "She is not a friend.."

"Of course, as you say. Drawing him would help in any case."

Yoshio disappeared, leaving Maki alone in the kitchen. He stretched cautiously, the pain in his shoulder rising. Now that he had a bit of time, he needed a distraction. He wondered whether he could casually ask Himari for some advice, especially that now it was an official-business-related meeting.

Maki stood up, and put on his shirt, walking towards the fridge. He then took out mushrooms, some carrots, and tofu. He glanced at a lonely bell pepper and cringed at the sight, clothing the door. He hated bell peppers, how did it even get there?