𝑬𝑴𝑷𝑰𝑹𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑮𝑶𝑳𝑫 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐋𝐈𝐈𝐈 - 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑, 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑

"WHAT? ABOUT ME KILLING MY OWN BROTHER?"

The doctor shuffled uncomfortably, silently regretting the comment. Maybe she'd been too brazen, and now that she was watching her friend's expression changing into something far more darker, Shoko realized she really should have kept her mouth shut. Well, it was too late for that now, so might as well spill the truth. It wasn't like Mikazuki wouldn't eventually figure it out, and it was better if Shoko was the one to tell her instead of whatever rumours were floating around.

"Yes, some people find your return and the circumstances of his passing a tad bit suspicious." The doctor fidgeted with the foil of the bottle. "But don't worry, I'm sure it will blow over soon. Besides, it's not like this is the first time your clan goes through these allegations."

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say, because as soon as the words left Shoko's lips, Mikazuki stilled, her eyes growing wide.

"What?" She asked, her voice clipped as the string of gold she'd been playing around turned sharped, the coil hardening at the anger still palpable in her tone.

Shoko hesitated once again, but upon watching the gold shift mid-air, she was quick to resume her speech.

"It was a while ago, before either of us was born, but nana told me all about it." She paused, her brown eyes colliding with Mikazuki's molten gold ones "Apparently, there were rumours that your dad might have killed his sister." The silence that followed was deadly, and Shoko was quick to retract her words. "Look, it's not a big deal, and I shouldn't have brought it up, I'm sorry."

But Mikazuki was already gone, the gold trailing behind her like a sea of needles around her head, almost like a crown of the morning sun.

Kinzoku Mikazuki didn't even bother crossing the crowded ballroom, opting to summon the gold between the folds of reality and reappearing beside her father. Asahi didn't even blink, excusing himself from whatever meaningless conversation before turning towards his daughter. He noted the gold around her head, like a crown of golden rays all pointing at him in the most violent display he'd ever witnessed from Mikazuki, not that her sudden tantrum surprised him in the least. In fact, he'd been expecting it for quite a while now.

Asahi smile, the veiled threat behind his almond-shaped eyes visible enough that the gold around Mikazuki's head quickly melted back into the cracks in her arm.

"I believe it's time my daughter and I have a talk, if you'll excuse us." The Kinzoku clan head bowed his head, hand tightening around Mikazuki's elbow as he guided her towards a secluded hallway.

Once the man made sure no one was around, he turned to face his daughter, the placid expression previously plastered on his face replaced by hard lines of disappointment and something Mikazuki wasn't quite sure how to identify. Still, that wasn't the reason why she appeared there in the first place, so without further ado, Mikazuki quickly got rid of her father's grip before fixing the man with a hard stare.

"Did you kill Miyazaki?"

Mikazuki never had the opportunity to meet the woman, yet the tales of the power she possessed survived the sorceress, living on for many years after her passing. Asahi stared at his daughter, their golden gazes colliding momentarily before he let out a loud laugh, the sound echoing against the walls and carrying down the hallway. Mikazuki inspected the man's face, looking for something – anything – that would give him away, but Asahi was a skilled liar, and so the sorceress turned her hands into fists, repeating the question.

"Did you kill Miyazaki?"

Asahi's cackle soon turned into a smile, and as he turned to face his daughter, the gesture morphed into a somewhat devilish grin, the glint on his golden eyes reminding her exactly of the kind of man he was.

"Did you kill Keisuke?" He countered, delighting himself as he watched Mikazuki's defences faltering, the flicker of her Eternity proof enough of the internal battle currently raging in her soul.

The sorceress stood in the middle of the highway, hands clutching the hem of her dress as she looked at her father, as if she was seeing him for the first time. Asahi stared back, completely unbothered by her expression ever as he saw her face shatter at the realization. It wasn't his face what betrayed him – Asahi was too good of a liar for that – it was his pride.

It was in that pride that Mikazuki saw it for the first time, a glimpse of who he truly was, a window into the evil that dwelled inside of him like a poison corroding his soul. Mikazuki wasn't naïve, even back then, and she'd always known the man in front of him was not good, yet even then, some part of her perception of him had been clouded by whatever few good moments they spent together. However in that single second, all those moments evaporated into thin air and Mikazuki was finally able to see the truth.

Mikazuki stared, mouth agape as the words failed her.

"Oh my Gods, you did." She muttered, stepping away from the man, thoughts still swirling around her mind as the pieces finally fell into place like a puzzle she'd been trying to put together her whole life. "You killed her, you killed your own twin."

Asahi reached out, hand falling short as Mikazuki stepped back until she was flush against the wall, eyes wide as she continued to stare at her father.

"How many people have you killed? Was the– did you kill the Edamura, too? The Hellfire Clan?" Her words faltered, the small nod Asahi gave nearly toppling whatever little self-control she had left. "You're a killer. A cold-blooded killer." She spat, the word drowned in disgust and disbelief, even though Mikazuki did not doubt for a second the kind of man he was.

Kinzoku Asahi smiled, adjusting the lapel of his suit before fixing his daughter with another stare. He was calm, now. Mikazuki's little tantrum was nothing to him, she was just a spoiled kid in his eyes, and whatever power she possessed, he could easily snuff out with his own.

"Like father, like daughter."