𝑬𝑴𝑷𝑰𝑹𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑮𝑶𝑳𝑫 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐕 - 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃

AKARI DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK OF HER NEW MISTRESS; Kinzoku Mikazuki didn't need help dressing herself, she cooked her own meals, washed her own clothes and rarely asked anything of the four servants the clan elders had assigned to her. As the senior servant of the household, Akari was tasked with most of the responsibilities around Kogane Manor as well as managing the rest of servants, although the other two rarely did anything these days considering their mistresses' independent nature.

Mikazuki was very different from anyone Akari had served before – and she had served quite a lot of people in her short thirty years of life. The sorceress wasn't particularly kind, yet she wasn't cruel either. She liked to do things herself, not to rely anyone. Sometimes Akari couldn't help but wonder if this was the result of ten years in isolation, or if this was just who she'd always been.

It had been two days since Keisuke's funeral. The paper lanterns had illuminated the starless night, drifting into the air and commemorating the young soul they'd all lost. Keisuke was a good man, far more gentle than any of his parents, always looking out for the servants despite his family's tendency to overlook them and treat them as another piece of furniture.

In those two days, nothing particularly interesting had happened aside from a couple of meetings she was not privy to and the arrival of the rest of Mikazuki's stuff from Argentina as well as what had been left at the hotel. Still, Akari could tell the place didn't feel like home to the sorceress. It probably never had.

Since the two week mourning period required by tradition wasn't over, no outsiders were allowed within the bounds of the estate or the grounds that surrounded it. In the same fashion, no one was allowed to wander outside except for a bunch of servants she was not part of to restock the supplies needed at the house.

Bored out of her mind and with little else to do, Mikazuki spent the majority of her time in the gardens, sometimes she trained, other times she rearranged the flowers on the windowsill and those planted around the wooden deck, picking an assortment of hydrangeas and white peonies. While gardening kept her occupied, it didn't settle her soul like fighting did. Akari could see it in the woman's face, the way gold would lift up from her skin and hover in the air, looming over her like a shield.

It was unlike anything Akari had ever seen before.

Akari had kindly agreed to help her set everything into place, the training space behind the manor had been unused for almost three decades, meaning some work needed to be done. Akari strung together a bunch of hay and twigs, creating some mildly acceptable targets to practice on before unpacking a set of Mikazuki's knives.

Akari inspected the blades, noting the delicate features engraved on the hilt before admiring the sharpness of it. The handle was made of pure gold, as was the rest of the blade, though it was less ornate than what she had come to expect from the Kinzoku.

It was while she was cleaning the blade of one of her daggers that Akari realized she was being watched. The redhead snapped her head up, her hellfire brown eyes meeting Mikazuki's golden ones halfway. The two stayed like that for a couple of seconds, a heavy silence settling in the clearing.

"You're one of us, aren't you?" The sorceress asked, not missing a beat as she sat on the garden wall, her exposed arms and chest covered in sweat from the work they had done setting everything up.

When seconds passed and the servant didn't answer, Mikazuki clarified herself

"A Kinzoku, I mean."

Akari stilled, her movements halting as the knife tumbled from her grasp and fell to the ground, blade hitting the sand soundlessly. For a second, nothing happened, the two women simply stared at each other, the air so still it could be cut with a knife. The redhead finally relaxed, shoulders slouching as she leaned against the half-wall. She looked younger, almost the same age as Mikazuki.