After washing and conditioning Osamu’s hair, Hima switched off the water and opened the shower door. The steam trapped inside came rushing out and blanketed the right side of the room in its strawberry-scented mist. She gleefully skipped to the bath tubs, her sopping wet hair sticking to her back and butt.

“Time for the best part! A long, hot bath!” Hima sang.

“So, what exactly is the Yakutsk Council?” Osamu asked, watching Hima test the bath water with her index finger.

“So quick to bounce from one subject to another…” Hima scoffed. “You know, you’ll never win the war if you can’t learn to relax.”

“Our enemies aren’t relaxing, Hima.”

Hima sat on the edge of the center tub, crossing her legs as steaming, hot water poured from the faucet. “They’re not exactly ready for a fight, either. Just take a moment to kick your feet up. Congratulate yourself on a job well done.”

Osamu sat beside her, leaning forward as he swept his wet hair back with his hand. “There’s just so much to do. I’m not exactly sure how to relax. You certainly aren’t helping at all, either.”

Hima’s expression soured as she leaned back in shock. “Huh?! I treat you to shower and a bath and you say I’m no help?”

“Do you always bathe with guys you’ve just met?”

Hima’s laughter echoed throughout the room. “Oh, please! You’re no longer just a guy, Osamu. You’re the glue that holds all of us together. That’s exactly the kind of quality a nation-builder needs.”

The doors to the baths slowly creaked open, the noise reverberating in every direction. Shinju, the Shoku Twins, and Taeko slipped through the opening and shut the door behind them.

“Welcome! Showers are over there to your right!” Hima hollered. “I’m getting the bath filled up now.”

The girls looked up, down, and all around in absolute astonishment. Though her kingdom was no more, Hima certainly lived like a queen. The dazzling display of color beaming in from the stained glass left the girls with their jaws on the floor. They each threw aside their modesty towels and took quick showers. The twins showered together while Shinju and Taeko showered separately.

Both Osamu and Hima noticed the deafening silence between the girls. Shinju wouldn’t even look at Taeko, let alone speak to her. He didn’t know if it resentment, fear, or if she was still in shock over what happened. Being the loyal confidant she was, Shinju agreed to stick by Taeko’s side without knowing the details of her plan, a decision that clearly came back to haunt her.

Shinju hardly moved once she was in the shower. She just sat there as the water rained down upon her, her head hung low. Her expression was hidden beneath her wet, voluminous hair. Osamu had always known Shinju for her beaming energy and her twinkling eyes. She used to a woman that was filled with life and vigor. Now, she was like a wilted flower.

(I doubt Shinju knew just how many people would die back there. If she did, she might not’ve agreed to follow Taeko. Taeko and I both lied to the people we loved to make this possible. They’re all scared and in the dark. Even if we drip-feed information to them, it might help keep their spirits up until…)

Hima clapped her hands together and stood atop the corner of the center bath tub. “Okay! The water’s ready!”

The girls stepped out of their showers as soon as Hima made the announcement. Osamu chuckled to himself as he saw Taeko, Shinju, and the Shoku Twins naked in front of him. In his normal life, a scene like that would’ve been a huge shock. After everything they’d all been through together, seeing his friends naked meant very little to him.

Hima’s eyes were glued to Taeko’s nude body and the myriad of scars decorating her skin. The discoloration from her Mu-Onna curse meant that her left arm, shoulder, leg, and left breast were as pale as a corpse compared to the rest of her vibrant, peachy skin tone.

“Well then, we almost have everyone.” Hima said as the girls joined her and Osamu in the tub.

“Almost? Is Camilla coming too?” Akatsuki asked.

“Yes, plus one.” Hima answered as she sank her body into the warm, relaxing waters of the tub.

The doors to the bath creaked open yet again. Everyone turned their heads towards the door, seeing Carmilla step inside with a white towel wrapped around her body and her long, black hair tied into a neat bun.

Her emerald eyes sparkled as they reflected the light coming in from the stained glass and bouncing off of the shiny, checkered floor. Next to her was a young, blonde girl around Hima’s age. The girl was quick to throw off her modesty towel and sprint towards the bath.

“Annabel, don’t do it!” Carmilla shouted

“Cannonball!” Annabel screamed as she leaped into the air, her shadow hovering over everyone in the bath.

“Damn it, not again!” Hima cried and she covered her head with her hands.

Everyone ducked and turned away as Annabel came crashing into the tub, splashing water in every direction. She poked her head out of the water and let out an amused laugh as she settled in with everyone else. Carmilla sighed in disappointment as she calmly walked towards the tub, dropping her towel before slipping into the water to join everyone.

“I’m sorry we’re late, and for Annabel’s antics.” Carmilla groaned, sitting next to Osamu.

“You just had to do it, huh?” Hima asked, gnashing her teeth.

“Oh come on, that was my best one!” Annabel giggled, sitting next to Shinju.

Annabel sniffed around and pointed her index finger at Osamu. “You’re the one!”

“Me?” Osamu asked, pointing at himself.

Annabel nodded. “Osamu Ashikaga, right? I can tell by your scent.”

“What? Do I stink? I just showered…” Osamu sighed.

“That’s not what she means.” Hima interjected. “We vampires can smell the blood within people and animals. It’s how we identify everyone. Since you have the blood of a goddess in you, your scent is incredibly strong. I was able to pick up a faint whiff even while you were in Japan. That’s how strong it is.”

“It’s a good scent though, we promise!” Annabel sang.

“Right, since we’re all here now, we can begin.” Hima said. “I suppose some introductions are in order?”

Carmilla raised her hand and went first. “Taeko and Tsukiakari already know me, but my name is Carmilla. I was Lord Dracula’s right hand and I’ve been Hima’s guardian ever since his passing. When Hima becomes Queen, I’ll be there for her the same way I was there for her father and mother.”

“Carmilla was also one of the co-founders of the original Vampirical Monarchy.” Hima added. “She’s fought in many battles, had her fair share of wars, and helped organize the Yakutsk Council following our defeat in the Second Great Holy War. She may not be a queen, but she wields the same respect as one. Please, treat her as such.”

“Me next!” Annabel squealed. “My name is Annabel! I was born in the Holy Roman Empire and share lineage with Charlemagne! I was a member of the Catholic Church before the big split and defected from them to join Dracula.”

“The big split? You mean the Great Schism? Or was it the Protestant Reformation?” Taeko asked.

“Neither!” Annabel answered. “There was another split between the church and us vampires.”

Annabel’s answer came as a surprise to Taeko, Shinju, and the twins. However, Osamu had picked up on the relationship between vampires and the church as he walked through the halls of Moonglow Castle.

“That explains the stained glass.” Osamu said. “So you’re saying that vampires and the church were once allied? That’s quite a shock.”

“We were all united by our European heritage and Christian faith.” Carmilla said. “After all, most vampires were originally just ordinary humans before they were bitten and transformed. Others were born to vampire parents, like Hima, Annabel, and myself. That makes us pure-bloods.”

“Long story short, the church found it difficult to annihilate us since we could make humans transform into vampires as well.” Hima explained. “Having that ability meant that vampires live in human society and most people didn’t even notice. Killing all of them would be like finding needles in a haystack, so the church decided to just ally with us, on the condition that we devote ourselves fully to Christ.

“We had a great relationship for a while, but the church grew into some weird, grandiose bastardization of itself and became a political machine more than a religious institution. Mixed in with some complicated politics and Christianity suffering several major splits into different denominations, the relationship soured.

“My father founded the Vampirical Monarchy and gave our people their own nation to live in. We operated out of Romania and Siberia and expanded southward towards Japan. I think you all know the rest.”

“Anyway, we’re not here to talk about the past. We’re here to talk about the future.” Carmilla said. “You’ve all agreed to help us found our new nation. We need to discuss exactly how we’re going to do that. We’ll be on a time limit, of course. Once the world realizes Osamu is no longer in Japan, they’ll start searching for him around the globe.”

“There’s also the fact that you stole the Shoku Twins from the pantheon.” Hima said, smiling. “It’s the equivalent of stealing two nukes from a country. Everyone must be on high alert right about now.”

“Osamu and I knew exactly what we were doing with that attack.” Taeko said. “It’ll take them a while to recover from such a deadly attack on their own soil. The world’s governments aren’t equipped to handle supernatural enemies. It’s why some of them have exorcist branches.

“America and South Korea will probably aid Japan with recovery and security, but Japan will need to rely on the exorcists to search for us. If you think finding vampires in European society was like searching for a needle in a haystack, just think of what it must be like trying to search the whole world for just two people.”

“Still, we’ll want to put everything together before they can recover from this.” Carmilla said. “Hima, Annabel, and I have a strategy we’d like to try.”

“Of course. We’ll hear you out.” Taeko said.

“First, I should explain what the Yakutsk Council even is.” Hima said, leaning her head back. “My father’s death during the Second Great Holy War transformed the nature of the war itself. It became more of a cold war than anything, as well as a culture war. We brought with us Western technology, religion, and a distinctly Eurocentric way of life. Japan ended up adopting that, but our chain of command fell apart before we could take advantage of it.

“This happened because no one knew that Dracula had an heir, but it had to stay that way. If my existence was revealed while I was still a newborn, I would’ve been targeted by the Shinto pantheon. Carmilla couldn’t take over as interim queen because she was the only one who could look out for me. Fights for the throne ensued.”

“Yeah, classic succession disputes.” Taeko chuckled. “Saw the same shit during the Onīn War myself. I know exactly how those go. I assume this dispute splintered your kingdom until nothing was left.”

“Exactly.” Hima said. “However, Carmilla and Annabel were able to preserve a small nugget of our kingdom. They rounded up the remaining vampirical lords, all of whom were loyal to my father. Carmilla instructed six of them to take refuge in what was left of our nation in Siberia, while Annabel instructed two lords to search for and repatriate any scattered vampires roaming the world. Those vampires were guided back to Siberia.

“Yakutsk became a city of vampires. Well, humans live there too, but it’s mostly us there now. Once Yakutsk became a stable home for vampires, four of the lords we stationed there joined the other two in the search for more vampires. They wanted to cover more ground. At Taeko’s request, Carmilla located the six missing lords and had them return to Yakutsk to join the other two. We now have eight.”

“Custom requires that in order to effectively lead a nation, we need a monarch and twelve lords.” Carmilla explained. “The other four died in the Second Great Holy War. It’s why we haven’t re-founded our nation. There simply weren’t enough lords to cover the all the ground we’d need.”

“Until today!” Annabel added. “Carmilla and I can officially join the ranks and become lords. That makes ten lords total. The last two are none other than Osamu and Taeko, bringing us to the full twelve. With that, we can establish Hima as the true heiress and make her our monarch.”

“Normally, the role of a lord is only for those who have pure-blood heritage. However, given that our race is nowhere near as big as it used to be, as well as the extreme circumstances we all find ourselves in, I’m sure we won’t have much trouble convincing the council to accept you as lords.”

Taeko’s eyes widened in surprise. “Did I hear that right? You want us to become lords?”

Annabel nodded. “I think it’s a splendid plan! That way, we’ll have all the personnel we need to run a country and fight the Third Great Holy War! Pretty smart, huh? Carmilla helped me cook this one up!”

“There’s just one little problem.” Carmilla interjected. “See, the reason why Hima and Annabel look so young is because they haven’t been feeding on human blood. In Hima’s case, she needed to abstain from creating human victims because we didn’t want to be discovered. We also didn’t want the Shinto pantheon to find out that they didn’t completely wipe our race out like they thought.”

“And in my case, I wasn’t allowed to feed on human blood while I was with the church.” Annabel added. “That changed once I sided with Dracula during the split, but I never got the chance to do it. That’s an issue, because whether Hima is Dracula’s heiress or not, it’ll be hard for the lords to accept her as the monarch if she’s still so underdeveloped.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Which is why I’m the key part of all of this.” Osamu said. “Hima and Annabel need to feed on my blood so they can mature into adult vampires. Am I right?”

Carmilla’s tongue brushed against her top lip as she gazed at Osamu. “Handsome and perceptive…”

“So that’s why Annabel thinks they’ll accept us as lords, despite us being humans.” Osamu said. “I have the blood Annabel and Hima would need to mature into adults. Taeko can get in by pure virtue of the fact that she helped you guys pull all of this together. Vampire or not, you guys owe her.”

“We also owe her girlfriend quite a favor. Any friend of Tsukiakari’s is a friend of ours.” Annabel declared.

“Hold on, if you take Osamu’s blood, won’t he become a vampire as well?” Shinju said, her eyes darting back and forth between Osamu, Taeko, and Hima.

“We knew you guys wouldn’t want that, so we decided that we’ll just extract Osamu’s blood via syringe.” Hima said. “That way, he doesn’t have to transform.”

“My worry is that you’ll end up receiving some of Inari’s power if you drink his blood.” Shinju chided. “I don’t think anyone should have that power. Not even Osamu.”

“The only way to absorb Inari’s power is to take all of her blood, as well as her heart. The latter is the most important part.” Osamu clarified. “Simply taking some of my blood won’t give Hima the power of Bloodcraft.”

“Un-fucking-believable…” Shinju grumbled.

“If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to go back to Japan and wait until the exorcists butcher you.” Osamu growled.

Shinju bit her tongue, stopping it from spewing venom at Osamu. Instead, she turned to the Shoku Twins. “You two are okay with this as well?”

“We’re with Osamu in all things. Sis and I have already made up our minds on this.” Omagatoki answered.

“No matter how vicious this war gets, we won’t let the Shinto pantheon kill our Big Brother Osamu.” Akatsuki said.

“Even if that means killing children, huh?” Shinju murmured.

“Yes.” Akatsuki answered confidently. “That is how much he means to us.”

“Listen, I don’t want Osamu to die either, but what you’re all planning to do…what you’ve already done…” Shinju began. “It’s nothing short of evil. How many thousands of innocent people did you send to hell back there? How many wives are without their husbands? How many parents have to bury their children because of you two?

"How many names and portraits are they going to broadcast on television, telling the world that those people are missing or dead? I want to protect Osamu, I truly do! But why does it have to be at the cost of so many innocent lives?”

“I’ve killed children before as well, Shinju. You still follow me.” Tako said.

“Because I thought you were trying to become a better person!” Shinju protested. “But you’re still just a mass murdering psychopath!”

Omagatoki stood up and aimed her palm at Shinju. Everyone suddenly went silent. Shinju stared up at Omagatoki, not seeing even an ounce of hesitation in her eyes.

“Osamu…just say the word. Just tell me to kill her and there won’t even be a skeleton left behind.” Omagatoki growled, taking deep, angered breaths.

Taeko raised her hands and spoke in a quiet, calming voice. “Hey, let’s all just relax. Omagatoki, it’s okay. Sit back down. We’ve all been through a lot today. And remember, Osamu and I left Shinju in the dark. That was wrong of us, but we still did it. I understand that she’s upset.”

“Are you really going to kill me, Omagatoki?” Shinju asked, her teeth chattering.

“…Not today.” Omagatoki sighed, sitting back down in the water. “I know she’s your partner, Taeko, but if she does anything to undermine Osamu…”

“I know. She won’t.” Taeko said. “Like I said, I understand why she’s upset.”

“I’m sorry.” Shinju said. “I’ll hear you guys out too.”

“It’s okay. We know you guys have been through a lot.” Carmilla said. “At any rate, it seems we have our plan. Anna and I will become lords. Hopefully, Taeko and Osamu will also be granted lordship. That makes twelve lords and one monarch. We’ll have just what we need to found our new nation.”

Hima looked at everyone around her, a big smile on her face. “Well? Are we in agreement?”

Osamu nodded as he raised his hand. “Yeah. I’m on board. Let’s do it.”

Carmilla, Annabel, the Shoku Twins, and Taeko raised their hands as well. It seemed the vote was unanimous.

“Very well. Then that’s how we’ll form our new nation. I’ll have to think of what to name our country, but I suppose we should work on founding it first.” Hima said, clearly getting a little ahead of herself.

“Question.” Shinju said. “How is Hima supposed to prove she’s actually Dracula’s heiress. I mean, is your word enough, Carmilla?”

Carmilla turned around and leaned on the edge of the tub. She laid her arms down flat and rested her head on top of them. Osamu couldn’t quite tell if it was a deliberate way of showing her butt to him.

“I think my word will get us pretty far, but to convince the lord to follow us into a war on top of that?” Carmilla began. “Thankfully, there are a few ways we can prove Hima’s lineage. We already have one of them here.”

“The bones of my mother and father. To this day, their faint scent lingers over their remains.” Hima said. “Carmilla cremated them after they died, but she kept a few of their bones.”

“Of course…” Osamu said with a slight gasp. “That faint scent…it must be the blood in their bone marrow.”

“I like Osamu! He catches on quickly!” Annabel giggled.

Hima leaned the side of her head on her fist. “Indeed he does.”

“What’s the other thing we need?” Taeko asked.

“The Sword of Vlad Dracula.” Hima said. “Vlad III is a national hero of Romania, and one of the most prominent vampires who ever lived. He’s also my grandfather. His sword is a family heirloom and is proof of my lineage.”

“So…where’s the sword?” Shinju questioned.

Carmilla turned around and swam over towards Osamu. “It’s in here. Grab it.”

Carmilla opened her mouth nice and wide, her fangs sticking out like tiger teeth in her mouth. Everyone was completely baffled at what she was doing.

“At least take me out to dinner first, Carmilla…” Osamu recoiled.

“No, I mean you have to stick your fist down my throat. You can grab the sword from there.” Carmilla explained

“Wait, what?!” Shinju squealed.

Confused, Taeko thought back to what she knows about Carmilla from Tsukiakari’s account. Her gaze slithered down Carmilla’s body and spotted an usual, cross-shaped scar on her stomach. Taeko leaned forward as she realized why the sword had to be grabbed via Carmilla’s throat.

“The scar on your stomach…” Taeko began. “It’s a Seal of Avarice. Or at least, it’s the European version of it. When the seal is planted, the victim cannot consume what they care about the most. In most cases, we used it to stop other exorcists from drinking or taking drugs.

"In some extreme cases, we branded spirits with the seal as a precaution so that they didn’t eat any corpses. The seal teleports specified substances to a pre-determined location, like a ditch or something.”

“That’s exactly right.” Carmilla said. “I was branded with this seal as punishment for killing a clergyman around the time we were about to split from the church. They thought that by giving me this seal, they’d starve me to death.

"Dracula undid it for me. Before his death, he re-opened the seal but made it so that I could transport objects with it. Objects we’d need later down the line. One of those objects was Vlad III’s sword.”

“So, uh…I have to stick my hand down your throat?” Osamu asked, the hairs on his arms standing up.

“Please do.” Carmilla said.

Osamu looked to Hima, who gave him a nod of approval. “Well, here goes…”

Osamu stuck his hand into Carmilla’s mouth, slowly sticking his whole arm down her throat. The sound of her tongue and squishy throat wrapping around Osamu’s arm made everyone’s face scrunch up in awkward disgust. Seeing a man’s entire arm down a woman’s throat definitely was one of the weirdest experience of their lives.

“Huh? I feel a hilt! And…dirt? A slight breeze too!” Osamu exclaimed, shocked that it actually worked. “You okay, Carmilla?”

Carmilla’s eyes were red and filled with tears, but she gave Osamu the thumbs-up he needed to proceed. He slowly pulled his arm out of Carmilla’s throat, dragging the a sheathed, steel blade out of her mouth. The golden pommel had a red tassel attached, while the scabbard was made of black, hard leather with a golden locket and chape.

“Well…that was certainly…something…” Akatsuki mumbled, in awe.

Taeko rubbed Carmilla back as she coughed and wheezed. Carmilla wiped the tears from her eyes and the beady strands of saliva from her lips, slowly catching her breath.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” Taeko asked.

“Never better! Now we’ve got the sword!” Carmilla hollered. “We have the ashes here in the castle as well.”

“Just lay it on the sidebar behind you, Osamu.” Hima instructed.

“Y-yeah, sure…” Osamu mumbled, putting the sword down. “Where was that thing, anyway?”

“Buried in Hokkaido. I had to keep it safe after the Second Great Holy War.” Carmilla said.

Hima let out a barrage of satisfied laughter, her red eyes sparkling with joy. “Now we have everything we need for the founding! Annabel, be sure to arrange our travel to Yakutsk after this.”

“Sure thing, Hima!” Annabel saluted.

(That…was an experience I’m not sure I want to have again…)

“Now then.” Hima began. “We know how we want to build our nation. What about destroying one? How do you want to handle our war against the world?”

“This is where we run into our biggest issue.” Carmilla said. “A war of this magnitude requires a lot of manpower. Even if we mobilized every citizen in Yakutsk, we wouldn’t have enough men to fight.”

“We have some pretty powerful individuals on our side, but even they aren’t enough.” Hima said, stroking her chin. “How many troops does that woman Manami command?”

“She has men hiding within the Exorcist Program, but it’s not like it’s that many.” Taeko answered. “We can’t have them do anything right now. The men involved in the attack should’ve already fled the country by now. They’ll want to lay low for the time being.”

“Is it possible to hire a private military company?” Annabel questioned. “Taeko, you managed to bring the bulk of Satori’s legacy with you, right?”

“Yeah, but hiring a PMC is out of the question.” Taeko said. “The world is going to brand Osamu and I as international criminals. PMC’s won’t jeopardize their relationships with their home nations to help us. Besides, they won’t be of any help in a Great Holy War.”

“I already know where we can get the manpower we need.” Osamu said. “Leave it to me.”

Hima and Taeko looked at him with a confused expression. They couldn’t fathom how Osamu knew where to pull an army that massive.

“May I ask where you’re going to get this manpower from?” Hima asked.

“You’re just going to have to trust me.” Osamu said, closing his eyes.

Carmilla leaned forward after exchanging glances with Hima and Annabel. “Osamu, if we have any hope of convincing the lords of the Yakutsk Council to join us in this war, we need to have this ironed out. Are you sure you can get us an army in such a quick amount of time?”

“It’s a bit of a gamble, but I’m positive I can make it work.” Osamu said. “I can tell you more once I know for sure that it’s happening.”

Goosebumps riddled Shinju’s skin as she watched Osamu speak. It was the fact that not even Taeko knew what he was planning that scared her.

“Let’s discuss this together some other time, Osamu.” Taeko said.

(Fine, but you’re not the one I need to speak with, Taeko.)

“Well, we can’t exactly move forward on this until we’ve figured out where our army is going to come from.” Hima yawned, stretching her arms towards the ceiling. “Osamu, if you think you can do it, then do it. But we need to act fast. How quickly can you get it done?”

“Just give me a few days at most. I’ll have an army by then.” Osamu answered.

Annabel chuckled to herself, her eyes narrowing as she gazed at Osamu. “You’ll make a splendid lord indeed.”

“The long-term issue is that this army would need to sympathize with our cause to some degree.” Carmilla interjected. “Are you sure the army you’re thinking of fits the bill?”

Osamu nodded. “I don’t see them having any particular feelings about you vampires, but I know for a fact that, like all of us, they have a bone to pick with the pantheon. This war will be their opportunity to strike back. The best part is they’ll be able to stay hidden despite their huge numbers.”

“Hidden? How on earth does a nation hide a huge, standing army?” Shinju asked.

A crooked smirk formed on Osamu’s face. “That’s the thing. It won’t be on earth.”

Sensing Osamu had something up his sleeve, Hima cracked a devious smile. “Very well, then. Our first order of business is to secure this army. Do that, Osamu, and we’ll have ourselves a deal.”

Osamu nodded. “Okay. Leave it to me. Also, there’s something else I want to discuss with you. This will be the most important part of the plan.”

Taeko’s expression darkened. She knew exactly what Osamu wanted to discuss.

“Oh?” Hima sang. “Do tell, my dear Osamu.”

Osamu took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. When he was ready, he opened his eyes and flashed the brightest, most genuine smile anyone had seen him give. “There’s something I want you to do for me…”

While plans for the war were being finalized in the baths, Yoko and the rest of the girls sat in their bedroom in the left wing of the castle. Yoko and Tsukiakari sat with Izanami on the king-sized bed, both of them rubbing her back as she cried softly. Amatsuki leaned against the red, stained glass window while Kagutsuchi sat in petrified silence at the round coffee table in the corner.

“She made it out…” Izanami wept. “Amaterasu…”

“I…I think we need to have a serious talk about Osamu.” Amatsuki said.

“Yeah…” Kagutsuchi grumbled.

“He said he wanted to stop all future Great Holy Wars, right?” Amatsuki asked. “Why does he think starting a third one is going to help? And just how many people died back there in Kyoto? Did he and Taeko really plan all of that together? What the hell are they fighting so hard for? What cause is worth Chiya’s life? What cause is worth nearly killing Amaterasu and plunging the whole world into a massive war?”

“Not to mention he went behind Mom’s back and undid the seals on the Shoku Twins.” Kagutsuchi said. “Then he managed to talk them into murdering all those people…”

No one really knew what to say. They couldn’t fathom what was going through Osamu’s head. They thought they knew everything about their husband, that they understood the grief and darkness he was going through. That day, they learned just how little they knew. Osamu’s mind was going places they couldn’t humanly understand.

He was no longer the flawed, but golden-hearted man they fell in love with. He was a man completely driven by his cause. Whatever lied on the other side of this war, Osamu was willing to sacrifice anything to see it.

“Thinking about it, I don’t think Osamu had any good options.” Yoko said, her head hung in grief. “The pantheon elected to kill him, and he knew they’d be using our kids to do it. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was in his situation. I can guess that Taeko wanted this war in order to protect us and Osamu, but what about Osamu?

“I know he said he wanted to end all future Great Holy Wars, but what exactly does victory look like to him? Does it look like Kyoto right now? A mess of bodies and flames? I don’t understand what’s going through my own husband’s head.”

“It’s not like I don’t understand him.” Tsukiakari said. “The Senkumo clan’s goal was peace. It’s just that peace wasn’t some instantaneous possibility. We knew we had to end the war that was going on and plan to take the reins of post-war Japan.

"So, I at least understand why he thinks conflict will lead to peace. But to end all future Great Holy Wars? I can’t even imagine what he’s planning if that’s his goal. How do you end all wars? What kind of horrible change do you have to inflict upon the world to achieve something like that?”

“We need to talk to him. There’s no getting around it.” Yoko said. “Once he’s back from the baths, we need to ask him these questions. We have to know what his plan is.”

“I’m not sure I really want to hear it.” Amatsuki said, her voice shaking. “What can possibly justify everything he’s done?”

“Mom? What do you think about all of this?” Kagutsuchi asked.

Izanami wiped the tears from her eyes and gripped her wrist. She swallowed the lump in her throat and drew a sharp breath. “Kagu, I don’t know if you remember, but when I thought the church had killed you, I killed a lot of people out of revenge.

"I tried my hardest to wipe Europeans off the planet. Gekko here has also killed a lot of people. So has Taeko, and now the Shoku Twins. And I’m sure as a former yakuza, you’ve got your own bodycount, Amatsuki.”

“What’s that have to do with anything?” Amatsuki questioned.

“Osamu knows this about all of us.” Izanami said. “He knows that the people he’s risked everything for used to be a bunch of good-for-nothing mass murderers. He knows all the horrific things we’ve done to get to where we are now, and not once did he ever shun us for it. I think that’s the reason I’ve come to love him so much. He did for us what Inari originally did. He saw us for the monsters we were and told us we were angels.

“He saved us all from ourselves, never judging us, never scorning our pasts. He believed in the good people we could become, just like Inari did. I don’t know what’s going through his head either, but I won’t abandon him so easily.

"I want to walk through this darkness with him. I want to share his burden. I believe in the good person that Osamu used to be and the good person he still is. So…I have to try. He deserves that chance.”

Izanami’s words plunged the room into silence. No one could deny what she was saying. Osamu had seen the horrid ugliness in all of their hearts. He saw how Yoko tried to atone for her guilt by trying to help Aika on her own, a mistake that nearly costed Aika her life.

He knew of Tsukiakari’s past as a war goddess, seeing every atrocity and vicious act of revenge she committed during that horrible time. He even saw the humanity in people like Satori, who the girls realized served as a forewarning of what Osamu was going to become, a man driven by his ideals and pushed to do whatever he felt was necessary to realize them.

Inari was perhaps the greatest example of Osamu’s ability to help people shed their past sins. He saw the best in her, despite the monster she was forced to become. Osamu saw the grieving mother and weary woman Inari was beneath all the hatred and bloodlust.

He saw a woman that missed her friends and wanted a second chance at love and life. Because of Osamu, Inari was able to prove to the world in her final moments that she was not the monster they thought she was. Her final act was proof of how deeply she could grow to love people.

“I agree, Izanami. I want to hear him out.” Kagutsuchi said.

Yoko nodded. “Yeah. I do too. He might need our help more than ever. Let’s be there for him.”

Their bedroom door suddenly opened, startling them. To their surprise, Osamu walked into the room dressed in black jeans and a black, unbuttoned tunic. His wavy hair was dripping wet, the heavy strands obscuring one of his eyes. The girls all stood up onto their feet with surprised gasps.

“…Osamu?” Yoko nervously mumbled.

Osamu’s eyes were as dark and cold as ever. It was like they were looking at a completely different person. “I need to talk to all of you.”

Kagutsuchi nodded, holding her hand over her racing heart. “Yeah, we were all thinking the same thing.”