Eitsu's Nine Lives (永津の九生) [yuri/GL yokai reincarnation story]

16 - Kikuryuu

A/N: We're back! I didn't get as much done as I hoped. Trying to edit four stories, write new chapters, move house, work full time and still have a life was... perhaps a little too ambitious.

Anyway we're here now. Let's go!

CW: abuse.

***

Bright sunlight streamed in from a window somewhere out of view. It shone on the luxurious threads of a pile of cushions, temptingly soft. Even closer was a plate on which sat a steaming grilled eel, the scent almost physical in its pull.

The cage crouched over her.

Eitsu sat miserably in a corner, her face pressed against the bars as if she might turn liquid and flow between them. Her ribs lifted and fell quickly under thin grey fur.

"Eitsu-sama... please... please eat something," the woman whispered, kneeling by the cage. Eitsu ignored her.

"Eitsu-sama, why won't you eat? I'll do anything..."

"Let... me go..." Her voice was as thin and harsh as her fur.

"Anything... but that. Please... I can't..." The woman was crying, but Eitsu simply put her head down and closed her eyes. She didn't know who this woman was, who had seized the kitten Eitsu had been at the time, and placed her in this cage several months ago. This woman who whispered Eitsu's true name over and over, who cried, who would not let her go. They had screamed at each other frantically through the bars for the first few months.

Now, the warm sunlight fell on Eitsu's thin body and she did not feel it.

When the eel grew stale, the woman replaced it with a rarity – thinly sliced beef. And then with fresh salmon. And then tuna belly. And on and on as Eitsu refused to eat. She had been starving for months now, and yet her body still hadn't given in.

Once, the woman tried to forcibly feed her. She'd gotten a severe scratching and biting, and even now her hands were covered in bandages. The next day, she had also been sporting some livid bruises on her neck, like fingermarks, that covered even the pink, heart-shaped birthmark on the right side of her throat.

And the day after that, she appeared wearing multiple kimono, their collars climbing her pale neck and hiding the injuries.

"Do you remember me, Eitsu-sama?"

Remember? What the hell do you mean? Just let me go...

"I know... one day you'll regain your powers and leave. This cage will mean nothing. But even so... I wish you would understand. If I let you go, you'll die."

I'll die right here, you fool.

"And if I let you go... and you go back to him..."

Eitsu lay on her side, not even strong enough to sit up anymore.

"Please! Please eat! Eitsu-sama!"

Fuck you.

Towards the end, she could barely see any more. She could still smell the outside, a breeze coming through the open window, carrying the scent of autumn – rotting leaves, the coming cold, roasted sweet potatoes. The scent of freedom.

The woman opened the cage.

She crawled in on all fours, and strange sight for a beautiful woman. Eitsu could no longer resist. The warmth of the woman's body held her, and a faint floral scent brushed her nose. Something warm splashed on her fur.

I hate you. I hate you so much. Why does it feel so good to be held by you?

"Eitsu-sama... I'm sorry." The words stuck. Eitsu could hear the woman's sobs.