TABERU ─ Fushiguro M.

69 | Give and take

'They could be hiding the weapons where it's not expected..' you thought, 'but i'm sure a cursed tool has even the tiniest trace of cursed energy.'

And you, someone whom eats anything with curse energy, would know that.

You huff, "I wanna see Megumi now.."

Something then catches your attention as you enter the left hallway. It was the sudden increase of cursed energy. You click the roof of your tongue out of annoyance as you see three rooms in the hall.

It wouldn't hurt to check all, right?

You sigh, hesitantly entering the first room. You were greeted by a futon on the ground. You looked around the room, your eyes finding a portrait on the ground.

You pick the frame up, revealing a picture of a mother and her child. She seems to be smiling, and her baby was making grabby hands at her.

. . ?

"She's crying.." you mutter, now focusing on her pretty features; Dark hair.. Red eyes-

Wait..

A chill runs down your spine and you suddenly look up from the picture frame. Eyes wide, you take another glance at the room. It was messy, stuff scattered on the ground, and the closet's open and empty. It looked like..

Like someone ran away.

As the realization began to settle in, you turn your attention back to the picture frame, hands lightly shaking.

You were at a loss for words. So that's why this woman had looked familiar to you.

After getting over your shock, you then look over to the futon, now having an idea as to how to pay your respects to the dead mother and son.

"This.. This was probably days before she was executed."

You gently place the picture frame on the futon before covering it with the blanket.

You had already pieced two and two together; it's Seikatsu's deceased mother on the picture. You didn't dare to take it with you since that's probably the only thing he had in memory of her.

The only thing he can share with his mother. You felt bad seeing that he was probably stripped of his own childhood and innocence, however, that still doesn't justifies his actions.

"Sad.." you sigh, "Though i should keep going."

You exit the room, now feeling a bit nervous. Two more rooms to go and you can finally leave Kyoto. The next one you choose to look inside is the room in front of seikatsu's.

As you enter the second room in the hallway, you were greeted by a single portrait and nothing else. Unlike the one you had recently seen in Seikatsu's room, this one's huge and it seemed to be a wedding picture of two people you don't recognize.

After spending a few more minutes inside, you then left as nothing seemed to be worth looking at.

You take a deep breath and made sure you were focused. And finally..