SUBMIT

22

"I see. So I did save Kunitake." Menreiki hummed as she poured herself a cup of warm tea that Nanami reboiled for them. Kuono was still yet to be found, but the sorcerer wasn't that worried since he heard him shuffling about in the upper level floors and muttering to himself with a cough. Nanami raised an eyebrow at her words, "You don't remember that?"

". . . No."

"So you were an unreliable narrator the whole time," He muttered with a click of his tongue. He looked over Menreiki, noticing how she seemed more reserved, yet open at the same time. There was a lighter tone in her eyes, those silver eyes transitioning into a translucent white color albeit there were starting to be thin dark circles hugging the bottom of her eyes. Her skin was restored back to its normal hue, and some hair was sticking out of its normal placement; she actually looked more tired than he had seen her before.

He looked away from her, tapping his finger lightly on the side of his teacup, "You're looking better."

"Hm?" Her eyes slowly slid over to him, and when he repeated his statement, she tilted her head, "Looking better? Did I look unsightly?"

"Just a little pale." Nanami watched as she cupped her face with both of her hands, a slight frown starting to take over at the sound of his words. Although, it quickly disappeared when he asked, "Are you sure it's okay to leave the masks by themselves in that room?"

"Yes," She nodded her head, tapping the side of her head. "They are here with me. So they will be inactive for quite a while."

"So, you can keep watch over them? Make sure they're not planning anything bad"

"Yes."

"I don't know how you can handle them all at once, but you have my respect." Nanami rubbed his forehead, sighing. The sorcerer couldn't imagine being able to stomach down his own emotions of hate and betrayal against the things that chained him down into immortality. He wondered how she had been capable of staying composed, but Nanami had seen many faces of the young woman, so he wasn't sure if she actually had in the past.

She looked at him curiously before blinking owlishly, "I do not do much."

Nanami hummed in disagreement, but failed to voice it out.

Menreiki had told him how she had gone through many troubles with them in that short amount of time she shared her memories with him. Their adamant behavior of them circling around her like a hurricane was them shouting in her head, demanding that she not utter a sound about her past. She said that they wanted to protect her from his judgement, and when he asked why she didn't listen to them, she looked at Nanami with a certain smile, "I felt like I could trust Nanamin."

The sorcerer watched as the curse turned her body around as she drank her tea, looking out of the window as she watched the flowers. Nanami had finally understood what she meant by wanting to thank the gardeners for these flowers. They might not have been the same flowers from many years ago, but this garden was created for her, and the gardeners who had planted them for her had worked hard to give her something to enjoy.

She could never express herself well in the past, he had noticed, but it seems that as time passed for her, she only wished to show more of her gratitude.

"I got it! I have evidence!" Kuono exclaimed as he harshly slid open the door, causing them to stare at him with confusion lingering on their faces. He held up a stack of journals and a few loose papers. "These are Kunitake's journals that we kept for safekeeping! We could flip through them and see that Menreiki did save him."