Kin was seated outside the bars of her cell, a sheet of rice-paper and some charcoal sticks spread out before him. The girl sat opposite, legs crossed, spider limbs curled at her back.
“You look better with eyebrows,” he smiled.
“They feel strange.” Ayane rubbed her forehead, frowning.
“Well, they suit you. Very distinguished.”
When she stuck out her chin and wiggled an eyebrow in dramatic fashion, they both laughed. Just like real people.
“I had a dream last night,” she said. “It is the first one I have had aside from my Awakening in as long as I can remember. Has that ever happened to you?”
“No.” A small shake of his head. “I only have the one. Over and over.”
“Awful is it not?”
“I’m used to it.” A shrug. “What was your dream about?”
The girl stared down at the fingers entwined in her lap. A faint blush lit her cheeks.
“You,” she said.
Kin was unsure where to look. He cleared his throat, lips twisting into something between a grin and a grimace, feeling his own cheeks flush. Embarrassment stole over Ayane’s face and she gave a short, uncomfortable chuckle, eyes searching the room, finally seizing on the paper spread out at his feet.
“So … this is your infamous defense perimeter?”
“Ah, it is…” He nodded, lunging toward the new topic as fast as his lips would take him. “A schematic, anyways. The real thing is almost complete. We salvaged seven heavy shuriken-throwers from the ironclad ruins, set them up near the pit traps. I’ve modified the feeders to work on hand-cranked power, but we’re still getting pressure loss in the firing chambers.” A shrug. “I can’t figure it out.”
“I do not know why you are asking me.” Fingers curled beneath her chin, earth-brown eyes scanning the drawings. “You are Munitions Sect. I am just a False-Lifer, remember?”
“You were a False-Lifer.”
Bumblebee lips curled in another small, embarrassed smile. “I confess I am still getting used to thinking like that.”
“Another set of eyes always helps. Besides, you have a way with machines. I can tell.”
“It would be easier if I could see the modifications firsthand. Instead of just plans.”
“I’m working on it,” Kin shrugged. “The Kagé have other things on their minds.”
“Arashi … I mean, Yukiko?”
“It’s been eight days. She should be back by now.”
Ayane looked at him through the bars, head tilted. “Are you concerned?”
“A little.” A sigh. “But she’s with Buruu. He’ll take care of her.”
“Do you miss her?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, just…” Ayane sucked her bottom lip. “Just the way you speak about her, is all. I thought perhaps she was special to you.”
“Would you mind if we didn’t talk about this?”
“I am sorry.” She reached through the bars and placed a gentle hand upon his knee. “I am certain she is all right.”
Kin gave her fingers a soft squeeze, turned his eyes to the blueprints.
“Isn’t this a pretty picture…”
Ayane started at the voice, Kin turning more slowly, cold fear greasing his insides. They were standing in the doorway—three boys around his age; sword-grip hands and battle-hard stares. He felt a surge of adrenaline, the instinctive reaction of a trapped animal, flight and fight tumbling over one another inside his head.
He pulled himself to his feet, jaw clenched, staring at each boy in turn.
“Hello, Guildsman.” Isao ran a hand along the thin stubble on his chin, up through the topknot of long, dark hair. His face was angular, cut rather than molded by the Maker’s hand. Short sleeves showed burns where his irezumi used to be, hard muscles and tanned skin.
Two other boys crowded the doorway behind him. Kin knew their names: small and wiry Atsushi, the boy who’d found Ayane in her pit. His big crooked-faced cousin Takeshi, who’d interrupted Yukiko’s kiss in the graveyard. Arms folded, jaws set, goggles hiding the flint and steel in their eyes. Both growled salutations ending with the word “Guildsman.”
“My name is Kin,” he said.
“Your name is shit,” Isao spat.
“What do you want, Isao-san?”
“You gone, whoreson,” Atsushi growled.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Isao stepped forward, fists clenched. He was a little younger than Kin, but bigger. Weatherworn and battle-tested.
“You’re going to the Yomi underworld for what you’ve done to these islands. You and this little spider-legged bitch.” He gestured at Ayane, pale and wide-eyed with fright. “You and all your kind are poison.”
“They’re not our kind, Isao.” Kin licked his lips, tried to keep the anger from his voice. “You have no idea what it cost us to be here. You don’t know anything about us.”
“I know you’re a traitor.” Isao took another step closer, just a few feet away now. “A liar who sold out his own kind. And now you’re up here spreading your cancer among my family. The little toys you make for the children. Your marvelous machines spitting poison into—”
“They’re not chi-driven, you imbecile,” Kin spat. “The shuriken-throwers are just hydraulics and gas-power. You don’t need to burn lotus to—”
“What did you call me?” Isao’s lips pulled back from his teeth.
“You heard.”
“Please…” Ayane began. “We want no trouble.”
Isao spit on the decking, glaring at the girl. “My mother and father both died of blacklung from the poison your machines shit into the sky. Takeshi’s mother was executed for sedition when he was six. Atsushi’s sister was burned at the godsdamned stake by your bastard Purifiers.” He narrowed his eyes. “You think we give a shit what you want?”
“We’re going to hurt you, Guildsman.” Takeshi scowled at Kin, crooked jaw, cracking knuckles. “Until you squeal.”
“And we’re going to keep hurting you until you see you don’t belong here,” Isao said. “Until you and this bitch crawl back to your five-sided pit and leave us the hell alone.”
“Stay away from us.” Kin kept the tremor from his voice, raising his fists. “I mean it.”
Isao laughed, looked at the other boys. “Look out, he means—”
Kin’s strike took him on the jaw, rocked his head back on his neck. A bone-hard ball of knuckles, landing heavy enough to split the younger boy’s lip. Isao staggered back as Kin grabbed his collar, swinging wildly with his free fist. He got in another solid hit to Isao’s temple, knocking his goggles askew before the others tore him off.
The gut punch knocked his breath loose, and his legs were swept out from under him. He fell back, cracked his head on the bars, bright stars bursting in his eyes. Ayane screamed as two kicks thudded against his ribs, curled him into a ball. He lashed out blindly, caught one of the boys on the shins.
“A little fight in you, eh?”
Isao rolled Kin onto his back as Takeshi grabbed his feet, held them in place. The younger boy sat on his chest, pinned Kin’s arms with his knees. Blood from his split lip spattered against Kin’s cheek. Isao drew a blade from his obi, tore Kin’s tunic open, pressed the knife-point into the bayonet socket beneath Kin’s collarbone. Kin felt the cable move beneath his skin as Isao twisted his blade. The metals made an awful sound as they kissed.
Skrrrritch. Skrrrritch.
“Stop it!” Ayane screamed. “Please!”
“You’re going to pay for that.” Isao licked his busted lip. “And maybe when we’re done, we’ll unlock this cage, play with your little sister here? You think she’d like that, Guildsman?”
A mouthful of spit sprayed into Isao’s eye.