𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 // Akaza x reader (+18)

Chapter 38 | A clover-shaped crown

You travel at first light. If Akaza returns, he will find you.

The mountain is brutal. Jagged rocks, tangled roots and paths that barely exist. You let the terrain bleed you a little. You deserve that much.

Every so often, you catch yourself thinking: Did I imagine him?
The way his voice rasped your name. The warmth in his touch. The choice he almost made.

No. You couldn't have imagined that kind of grief.

By midday, the wind sharpens. Birds circle above—high, wide, dark shapes against a pale sky.

You barely glance up. Until one flies lower. Slower.

A flicker of pink. A flash of a clover-shaped crown.

You freeze.

It circles once.

You don't move.

It circles again, closer this time. Her black eyes scan like glass knives. She's not just looking. She's recognizing.

Mitsuri's crow.

A long moment passes. Then it lets out a sharp, echoing kraaah!

Your stomach drops.

The crow wheels hard and banks west, vanishing into the thinning clouds.
And just like that, the thread you've been walking snaps.

It saw you. It knows you.

It will reach Mitsuri within hours. They'll search. Question. Hunt. Because Mitsuri's crow is loyal. And you?
You broke something. Or started to.

You touch your chest—right where Akaza touched your hand. You can still feel the heat there. Not threatening. Not cruel. Just real.
And now the world will demand answers for it.

Your legs don't move for a long time.

The wind tugs at your clothing. The trees creak, oblivious. But all you can hear is the echo of that crow's cry—ringing like a temple bell across your ribs.

You are not supposed to be alive.

To the Corps, to the world, you were already buried. Not in body but in memory. Another name carved in grief. The last anyone saw of you, you were locked in combat with Upper Moon Three. And then you were... gone.

Taken. Dead.

And now? Now you're alive.

Alive and walking under open sky. Not bound. Not broken. Just walking. And Mitsuri's crow saw it all.

The road ahead suddenly feels like it's tightening around your throat.

You know what they'll think. What they'll have to think.

"She's been turned."
"She's under his control."
"She's consorting with demons."

Because if you're not dead... you must be compromised.

You take a few steps forward, boots sliding in loose shale. The pain grounds you. But it doesn't clarify anything.

Hakuji.

Even now, saying the name in your head draws blood and warmth in equal measure.
You remember the way he looked at you by the fire—not as prey. Not even as an enemy. Just... someone who saw him. Someone who let him be seen.

You should be running.
You should be hiding.

You remember your dreams. Rengoku.

You whisper, voice swallowed by wind:

"They'll come for me."

***

Mitsuri receives the crow just before dusk.

She's resting, camped along the riverbank with Obanai, who immediately senses the shift in her breathing when the bird lands.

Her hand trembles as she listens to her bird.

Then again.

Obanai steps closer. "What is it?"

Her mouth opens. No sound comes out.

Then:

"She's alive."

Obanai stiffens. "Who?"

"...[Y/N]."

The silence is instant and vicious.

Mitsuri translates for her crow, her voice barely more than breath: "Saw her today. Eastern slope. Moving alone. No signs of pursuit. Alive. Not injured."

Obanai's voice is cold enough to freeze water. "It's a trick."

But Mitsuri is already moving. Her face is pale, eyes wide.

"She's not a trick."

"Mitsuri." His tone sharpens. "If it's true... and she was alone so long, not caring to inform the Corps... she's not coming back clean."

"I don't care," she says, fierce and sudden. "I'm going to find her."