My hands trembled as I picked it up.
The paper felt strange. It wasn’t quite silk or rice paper, but something that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. I knew this texture. I’d felt it once before, on the night a shadow-wrapped figure had first whispered promises of power and purpose.
With infinite care, I unfolded the crane.
The creases resisted, as if the paper itself begged to maintain its shape, to keep its secrets hidden. Inside, silver ink shimmered and shifted in the dim light.
Remember your vow. Your time comes.
The paper slipped from my now-numb fingers, drifting to the floor like a feather.
My vow.
The words I’d spoken in desperation when the shadows had offered me a way to survive the House of Petals, a way tobecome more than a whore for wealthy men. I’d thought they were merely words then, a price for the training that had kept me alive, but as Sakurai had said, the shadows never forgot a debt, never released a tool once forged.
I sank onto my bedroll, the black paper stark against the floor beside me.
What did they want? And why now, when everything at Suwa had finally begun to feel like home, when Yoshi needed me more than ever?
The memory of Prince Haru’s demonstration flooded back—that terrifying beauty of controlled power. Yoshi would become like that, perhaps even greater, but what if the shadows saw him as a threat?
What if my “time” meant—
No. I couldn’t think it.
I picked up the black paper again, studying the silver words.
Your time comes.
Not “has come” but “comes.” In the future. It was preparation, not a command.
But preparation for what?
A soft knock at my door made me shove the paper beneath my pillow, heart hammering.
“Kaneko?” Yoshi’s voice, concerned. “You’ve been up here a while. Are you all right?”
I forced my breathing to steady. “Fine. Just couldn’t find my clean clothes in the dark.”
“Want some help?”
“No.” The word came out sharper than intended. I softened my tone. “No, I found them. I’ll be right down.”
His footfalls retreated, and I pressed my palms against my eyes.
How could I protect him from a threat I didn’t understand? How could I honor a vow that might demand his destruction?
I grabbed my spare clothes and headed for the door. The black paper remained beneath my pillow, but its message burned in my mind like silver fire.
Remember your vow.
As if I could forget it.
As if the shadows would let me.
I found Yoshi waiting at the bottom of the stairs, his face creased with worry despite his exhaustion. “You look pale.”
Tell him.The words pressed against my teeth like caged birds.Tell him about the training in Bara’s shadows. Tell him about the coin that burns cold against your chest even now. Tell him about the crane and the vow and the darkness that owns a piece of your soul.
