Page 19 of Son of Shadows

Hardly the kind of place befitting the son of a goddess and the Ryukage.

That was fine. Ryuichi never expected much. For most of his life, he thought he came from nothing. He wasn’t sure anyone even noticed him or remembered his name.

“Don’t look so disappointed, Ryuichi-san. This room isn’t meant as an insult.”

And here he’d thought he kept the disappointment from showing. He’d have to practice masking his emotions more carefully. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll need to be trained more to fight Orochi and his forces. I won’t have you distracted by decadent trivialities. This room will keep you focused.”

“May I have some food before we get started?”

“Of course. We have rice available.”

That was a good starting point, but he was starving. “And?”

Katsu looked confused. “And what? Rice is good for the body, mind, and soul.”

His stomach rumbled. “Just rice?”

“Just rice.”

“Katsu . . .”

“Yes, young master?”

“Would it be too much to ask for you to stick me with that sword of yours. Not a whole lot, just enough to kill me.”

The tengu blinked twice. “No.”

A beast of many words . . .

And with that, the stoic tengu left, thus ending their conversation.

Sighing, Ryuichi glanced about his barren room. He was just about to feel lonely, when a sudden shadow appeared in the corner.

Immediately on alert, he braced himself to fight.

The wispy smoke slowly solidified into a shape he knew well.

“What are you doing here, Masaru?”

“Thought you might miss me.”

He was sad to admit it was true. But he’d never let Masaru know it. The kitsune’s ego was large enough.

Masaru scanned the room, a look of disgust spreading across his face. “They don’t believe in creature comforts, do they?”

No, they didn’t, and Ryuichi knew he didn’t need to comment on the obvious. Instead, he had a question of his own. “How’s your room?”

“Not quite as bad as this, but not what I’m used to.” Masaru sat down cross-legged on the mat Ryuichi assumed was his bed. “There’s something not right here.”

“I noticed that.”

Manifesting a nashi with a wave of his hands, Masaru started to bite into it, until he caught the desperate look on Ryuichi’s face. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

Masaru tossed him the pear-like fruit, then created another one for himself.