Chapter 122: 191. Adoption

The white cat spirit paced on top of the tea table, casually knocking over empty cups, bowls, and other objects that Yoshika was certain hadn’t been there a moment ago—they disappeared before hitting the ground. It would have been almost comical if not for the rather tense atmosphere. Yoshika and Rika had taken a seat on the vacant couch while the agitated cat spirit kept them waiting. The rat atop its back simply fixed them with a stare the entire time. When Yoshika couldn’t bear it anymore, she tried to break the silence.

“Um—”

“We’ve stopped following the steps. Foolish. Arrogant. We wear a pretty coat and think it makes us beautiful. Weak! Ugly! Stupid! The child deserves better.”

Yoshika crossed her arms and stared flatly at the fragment of her spiritual ancestor as it berated her. Rika leaned over and stage-whispered.

“Do you normally get chewed out by a weird cat when you come here?”

Yoshika rolled her eyes.

“Tsk, every single time. She’s always like this—cryptic and insulting. I completed the Steps of the Stalker, so I have no idea what she’s talking about.”

The cat sniffed haughtily, and Yoshika hated the way Jia’s voice sounded with such an attitude.

“What an ugly name. We have as much sense as we do beauty. But we can fix it, we can make this vessel perfect and set a proper example for our kin. Follow the steps.”

“There are no more steps! That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”

“None that we can see—a kitten that has barely opened its eyes, yet thinks she can see all. Mediocre. We shall surely perish under the false impression that we have already reached our peak—such a tragic fate. Perhaps our next vessel will be blessed with the capacity for thought.”

Rika snorted, prompting a withering glare from Yoshika that just set her off giggling even more. That gained her the attention of the spirits, and two pairs of eyes—red and gold—settled on her.

“And you! Insinuating yourself into this place with no understanding of it. You think that sharing our experiences will improve you? You are not our kin. Why should we share ourselves with you?”

Rika wilted under the intense scrutiny of the spirits, her eyes searching for a way out of the interrogation. Her gaze settled on the garden courtyard.

“Wait, what about Yue? She’s not exactly family either, right? If she can be here, why not me?”

“The moon gave herself freely, expecting nothing in return. It is her sacrifice that allowed us to let you in at all, yet you seek only to take—to know us without being known in return.”

“Hey! That’s not fair! I want to help Yoshika, but I can’t do that if I’m so weak that I just hold her back. Besides, isn’t it her decision to make?””

The cat scoffed, turning her gaze back to Yoshika—the rat continued to glare at Rika.

“These aspects are not the ones you should fear. They consider you kin already, it is true—yet can you gaze upon the ocean’s surface and understand its depths? Allow us to demonstrate.”

The eyes of the cat took on a predatory glint as it lowered itself. Yoshika held her hands up nervously.

“Wait, what are you—”

Before she could get any further, the cat pounced.

 

---

 

Rika jumped to her feet as the cat—so perfectly white that it was impossible to see any definition—leapt towards Yoshika. With a yelp of surprise, Yoshika tried to fend off her spirit half, but it passed through her arms as if it was a ghost, and entered her chest as if possessing her. Rika had to avert her eyes as Yoshika glowed with a brilliant white light. When the light faded, and Rika blinked the spots out of her eyes, Yoshika was gone—replaced by Jia and Eui.

No, not quite. Rika noticed subtle differences. Jia’s hair and tail were too long, and her skin and eyes glowed with a soft light. The hagoromo that Yoshika had been wearing was now on Jia’s shoulders, and she wore a thick but beautiful robe that covered her entire body. The gentle smile and otherworldly beauty reminded Rika of the Lady Tennin, back in Urayama where she had first been reunited with Yoshika.

The changes in Eui were even more dramatic. Her eyes glowed a deep crimson, and carried a malicious glint—more than usual. Instead of covering her right eye, her violet hair was swept back to prominently display the glossy black horn where her brand would have been—the same horn that Yoshika had. All of these dark colors stood in dramatic contrast to the deathly pallor of her pale white skin—quite a lot of which was visible on account of her rather daring outfit. The look was completed by the sharp claws on her hands and the vicious-looking jagged blade at the tip of her rat-like tail.

Rika glanced between the two of them in confusion, her gaze lingering on Eui’s demonic-looking form.

“I’m not going to lie, Eui—that’s a pretty hot look.”

Eui rolled her eyes and snorted while Jia gasped in shock.

“Rika!”

Rika flinched back from Jia’s admonishment—she sounded genuinely hurt.

“Sorry! I was just—um, actually I don’t know. I’m really confused right now. Who—or what are you two?”

Eui scoffed and rolled her eyes again.

“Someone hasn’t been paying attention. We already told you—everything here is us. The floors, the walls, the ground, the sky, the people, you, me. We’re all parts of one greater whole. Aren’t you the one who gave us our name?”

Rika frowned.

“Wait, hold on. Me!? I get that you two are like—representative of something. I’m slowly getting the hang of this dream logic thing, but I’m not part of Yoshika. I’m just me?”

Eui clicked her tongue irritably and Jia placed a placating hand on her shoulder before looking up at Rika.

“The fact that you are here means that you are. Not all of you, of course. Just a piece of you crossing the bridge between our souls to give life to the bond that we share.”

Rika grimaced.

“I’m so confused.”

Eui grinned at her, revealing a mouthful of razor sharp teeth.

“You’d better get used to it, because you’re never leaving.”

Rika went pale, but Jia slapped Eui’s shoulder and let out a cute little huff.

“Don’t say that! I’m sorry, Rika, she doesn’t mean that.”

“I absolutely do.”

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Jia shook her head ruefully.

“Well, I suppose if it was up to her you wouldn’t be leaving, but it’s my job to reign in her hunger.”

Eui jabbed Jia in the side hard enough that it looked as if those claws should have done serious damage, but Jia just squirmed a bit as if it tickled.

“And it’s my job to make sure this brainless moron doesn’t give away everything we’ve worked to create to the first pretty face that happens by.”

Jia blushed, but didn’t protest. Rika looked from one to the other, comprehension dawning.

“The cores. You’re her cores! Eui’s demonic core and Jia’s—”

Rika gestured vaguely towards Jia, who shrugged.

“Tennin, apparently. Lady Tennin said it was both her name and title, and it’s the closest we’ve got to a word for it.”

“Okay...so—why? Why did you two come out, and what happened to Yoshika?”

Eui growled in a more bestial manner than a human throat should have been able to produce, slashing at the air with a hand.

“Are you stupid!? We already fucking told you—we are Yoshika! This is ridiculous, we should just eat you and get it over with.”

Jia flicked Eui’s horn and pouted.

“That’s all you ever want to do. Rika is an important friend—we can’t hurt her. Rika, the reason we’re here is to discuss your request.”

Rika took a deep breath to steady herself. Eui’s threats were terrifying, but she was beginning to understand that as long as Jia was here, she’d be safe no matter how terrifying they were. She decided to try talking mostly to Jia, since she was more reasonable.

“My request—about joint cultivation? Did Yoshika—did you know this would happen when you suggested trying the Melody of the Dreaming Moon first?”

Jia shook her head.

“No—at least, not exactly. This isn’t really happening at all—it’s a dream. There’s no actual, physical space in our soul, and you’re not really here per se. The Melody links our souls and allows us to commune in this way. My other half and I went through a similar experience when I was born.”

Eui scoffed.

“Almost died in the process.”

Jia nodded solemnly.

“Yes, but that was a much more intense intertwining of our beings. The Melody is gentler—a bridge, rather than a fusion. What you are experiencing is only an interpretation.”

Rika nodded along, trying to understand.

“Alright, I guess that makes sense if this is some kind of dream. So then, about the joint meditation thing—”

Eui cut her off by bringing the jagged blade at the end of her tail up to point at Rika’s throat menacingly.

“What’s in it for us? We’ve already got a balance—if you come in and throw it off, why shouldn’t we just consume you to bring it back?”

Rika smiled stiffly, trying to give Jia a pleading look, but Eui’s bladed tail blocked her gaze.

“Don’t look to her for answers. She’s keeping you safe now, but if you give your soul over to us, she’s not above accepting it as tribute. As it stands, we will tear you apart. So, in your own words, why shouldn’t we?”

Rika wracked her brain—where was this coming from? She’d never seen this side of Yoshika before. Eui could be abrasive, and Jia could be ambitious, but this demonic Eui seemed to exaggerate all of her worst qualities. Perhaps that was the point. Yoshika had let Rika into the deepest part of her soul—bared her true self, including the darker impulses that she normally kept private. It was a show of trust, and Rika had to meet it in kind.

“Nothing, right now. I can admit that. I’m useless to you. If you help me, I’ll have nothing to give in return. My techniques are too unrefined and incomplete to be worth trading—hell, that’s why I need your help in the first place. But you said it yourself, didn’t you? If I’m here, it means I’m part of Yoshika too. If I get stronger, so do you.”

Eui scowled and crossed her arms—a familiar gesture—but she lowered her bladed tail, apparently satisfied with the answer. Jia leaned forward enthusiastically.

“Good answer! But I can see there’s more to it. My other half only understands taking, but giving is my domain, and I know that this is about more than just what you can take from us, or what we can take from you. What can we give you? What can you give us?”

Rika frowned, trying to understand.

“What’s the difference? It’s an exchange either way.”

Jia pouted, looking hurt.

“Not at all. I don’t mean in a transactional manner, nor am I making demands like my counterpart. In truth, I don’t even need an answer—I was merely curious. For my part, the answer is obvious. I would give you a place—here, as part of our family.”

Eui sneered.

“Too much! You can’t just give that away for free.”

Jia turned up her nose and looked away—a bizarrely snooty gesture for her.

“I disagree! In fact, I would say it’s the only way to do it at all! To do otherwise would make the gesture false.”

Rika felt herself growing misty-eyed.

“You—you’d do that? I’ve seen how much you care about your sisters. I don’t—how could I possibly repay something like that?”

Jia stood and reached up to cup a hand against Rika’s cheek.

“You don’t. That’s the difference between giving and taking. If you give, you must give freely, without expecting anything in return.”

Before Rika could respond, Jia’s body was enveloped once again in blinding white light, and when Rika’s vision cleared she found herself back in the wagon in a meditative circle with Yoshika—Jia and Eui’s bodies separate once again. They cracked their eyes open at the same time and regarded Rika with looks of consternation. Rika was certain they were still connected, because when they spoke, it was in that eerie chorus that they used sometimes.

“What just happened?”