----------------------------------------

Morning comes quick, and I rise from my dreamless sleep to find Aoha lying down in the same spot she was. Looking at her face, it's strange to not see her expression as one of anger or distrust but instead of peace, like the sleeping face of a child.

Remembering our situation, I get out of the cabin and grab my clothes, putting them on and adjusting the bow on my back. The lack of sun in the sky tells me we still have about two hours before needing to keep on towards Yoshiwara, which means it's time to hunt breakfast.

Rabbit meat? If that's what I get, I'll have to grab some wild carrots and herbs to make soup. That will keep my stomach and my companion full for the walk. The forest is not unknown to me; there are many tall trees, herbs, and small animals.

The coldness of the dirt against the soles of my feet is a familiar feeling that serves to ground me in my instincts. This early in the morning, most animals must be near the river, drinking water, as the big predators who hunted at night go back to their holes to sleep.

But in which direction was it again? Smelling the air, my sensible nose helps me determine the path. It helps that most herbs here grow near a steady water source, so I'm able to catch their scent easily.

The sound of flowing water soon reaches my ear and grows, making me slowly arch my back to grab an arrow and my bow. Holding the arrow, I use my thumb to keep the arrow on its side for a quick draw.

One step at a time, I manage to make little to no sound. Just as I thought, I spot two bunnies drinking water from the river; one is small, probably the male and the other is quite fat, definitely the female.

'Maybe I'll be able to get both with one shot. If I find a good position', with that in mind, I start scanning around for a tree to climb. It's easy to find one that looks relatively easy to climb and has branches long enough for me to find the perfect spot.

Keeping my silence, I reach the tree's side and put my bow on my shoulder and the arrow between my teeth. The first thing you learn when hunting is that whoever has the high ground has the advantage. Using trees to move around the forest makes it easy to escape predators and shoot prey.

The thin, scaly tree trunk is very easy to climb, unlike those thick, tall trees from the north, those are a real challenge. Once my legs are tightly secured around the branch, I analyze the bunny's position. 'I'm a little higher than I should be to get the two of them, hum.'

Well, there's always a way for those who seek it. Closing my quiver so the arrow doesn't escape, I prepare my bow and arrow as I let my body fall, making me upside down and having to hold my body weight with my legs, which my strong legs easily do.

That's more like it: perfect position; now I just need to make the perfect shot. Pulling the arrow, I align my shot, taking a deep breath, and holding the strong string, threatening to escape my hold.

One, two, and three seconds go by before the female rabbit raises her head to check her surroundings—exactly what I needed.

*Phow*

The strong string launches the arrow at such speed that the sound of the air being cut is audible across the river. Before the rabbits can react, the arrow pierces both of them and pins them to the dirt. Nice.

Without losing any time, I climb down the tree and rush to grab my breakfast. Both move erratically before stopping all movement altogether.

Grabbing the arrow piercing them, I start to look for the next thing I need: herbs.

After the hunt.

----------------------------------------

Everything was a success: two bunnies, a carrot, and a bunch of editable herbs. The last-cut logs start to burn and heat the pot as I work on preparing the meat.

Having no knife makes things harder; when I get to the city, the first thing I'll do is buy a new one. For now, the arrowheads are sharp enough to cut the skin and keep the hide in a good state to sell later.

The herbs go first, and after the water is boiling, I put the cut meat cubes alongside the carrots to cook. The smell of stew starts to take over the air, and even my companion seems to catch the smell as I see the shadow of someone moving inside the cabin.

"Look who decided to wake up." Smiling at Aoha, I gesture for her to sit near the pot. "Come on, sleepyhead, breakfast will be ready soon.

"We will have to fill up before going; the walk will take three hours or more, depending on the patrols.

"The guards will be on the lookout for us, so we need to get to the city as soon as we can to get you some more... normal clothes."

The spirit girl kind of nods her head before approaching the pot, looking at what's inside.

"Before you ask or not ask, it's stew. Rabbit meat, some chopped carrots, and herbs."

To my surprise, I see the same thing as yesterday. Like a puppy, her eyes light up, and quickly, probably remembering I'm here, she composes herself.

"I'll see if I can get a plate for us." I rise from the ground and walk to the house. This place is perfect; it's a shame we need to keep on moving. I could renovate it to make it at least more comfortable.

Plans for later, I guess. Entering the cabin, I search inside the only piece of furniture there is left in this place: an old cabinet. Opening its door, I find some hand-made wooden plates and even two wooden spoons. The only problem is that one's handle is broken in half, but it's still usable.

Leaving the cabin with the items, I hand the girl a plate and the not-broken spoon. "Eat up; we have only a few minutes left."

She doesn't wait for me to finish before dipping her plate in the pot and gathering as much as she can before starting to devour the extremely hot stew.

While I'm here, I take my time putting off the fire, cleaning up the evidence that we were here, and then eating some of the stew, or at least what's left of it.

She must not have been fed while in the guard's care, because damn, this woman has an appetite, okay. Better not to complain; I grab my share happily and eat quietly.

Soon, the pot is clean, and the place appears to be abandoned once again. No trace remains of our stay.

The quiet, long walk starts with us following the river's path as I try my best to remember the way back. Luckily for us, the city's new constructions opened a lot of dirt roads across the forest to other parts of Japan, so it's easy to find one and follow it towards our goal.

"Keep your head down when we reach the city; your face is bound to come back to the public after yesterday's incident."

My companion nods her head, and I notice that her gaze becomes more alert to anything that might appear on the road.

Red, orange, and yellow leaves that were stacked on the path become less and less apparent as we enter the rock main road, it seems like someone had the job to clean all of them up.

Another thing that changed is the number of people on the road: samurais without katanas, girls with season-colored kimonos, and a lot of merchants transporting their stuff to the city.

Passing by the group of well-dressed girls, I hear one of them whisper to another. "Isn't that?"

"Yeah," The other, more punchable, replies with a snort. "It's *her*."

Aoha appears to hear it too, lowering her head further at the thought that they could have recognized her. I lean closer to her ear and whisper carefully.

"Relax. It's not about you they are talking about."

The girl by my side looks at me with a frown before looking back at the girls, seeing those disgusted, hateful eyes plastered on my back as we pass by.

Aoha opens her mouth to ask something, but I clearly see her shrugging her curiosity away. With a terrifying smile on my face, I turn my head slowly to the girls, who, in response, hug each other and start to walk faster away.

I really thought that after three years away, people might have forgotten about me; after all, I'm very different looking now. My hair is bigger and more messy, and my kimono isn't red anymore. I bought a blue one to trick people, but it clearly didn't work.

As I finish sighing and scratching my head, my eyes fall on a familiar sight. The front gate of the city, the big golden, flowery-patterned arc, and the wisely chosen trees in the central area all serve one purpose. To hide the true face of this place.

When the sun still lights the streets, everything is as normal as you would expect from a place this big: people going by their days, merchants selling hand-made house stuff, and food stalls.

But when the moon is high up, the true nature of this shithole is revealed. A city full of brothels filled with young girls that became payment because of some fucked-up parents who managed to screw up on a poker night and suddenly were drowning in debt.

So they sold their daughters, or sometimes wives, to quit their debts, managing to keep their freedom in exchange for their families.

Entering the city, we walk down the central road and reach the place I wanted to get to: the house where my sisters work. We stand at the entrance of the 'tea house'; of course, it's not a normal place, but more on that later.

Sliding the light paper door, the strong smell of green tea and ginger assaults the not-prepared nose of my companion. Walking to the front desk, a woman with long red flowing hair, scarlet-lit eyes, cat ears, and great 'assets'.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my little sister. She has a tail, paw hands, and a very, **very** cute face." My words grab the attention of the cat girl, Ume.

She turns her eyes to me as if I were a customer, ready to tell me off before recognition strikes.

"Zero? Is it really you?" Ume rushes from behind the counter and wraps her arms around my waist tightly. I even feel her soft, fluffy paws warming me. And as usual, she uses the opportunity to trace my curves. "You've grown up so much, hehe."

Raising my hand, I give her a smile before punching the top of her head, to which she cutely lets out a painful mew.

I feel that someone has gotten it wrong, and looking at Aoha, my feeling is revealed as truth.

"Before you get any wrong ideas, we call ourselves sisters, but that's just how courtesans and their servant's relationships work; we are not related."

The look in Aoha's eyes still tells me she doesn't believe me. I guess I'll have to live with this shit now.

"I'll get Koori and Midori; they'll love to see you," Ume says and rushes upstairs loudly.

Some uncomfortable, silent seconds pass by before we can hear the movement of people getting down from the second floor. Koori is the first to appear, scanning with her gray eyes for me, and when she locks them on me, she rushes my way without a second thought.

The cold, pale lamia wraps her tail around my legs, and soon, in the blink of an eye, I'm fully wrapped up by her. Her black hair is kept under a white veil with some stones hanging in the front, and her body is cold as ice.

"Zero is back," Koori states with her emotionless usual tone, but even so, she nuzzles the end of her tail against my head. Koori has always been an oddball; she acts all uninterested, but she's the clingiest person I've ever met.

Midori shyly approaches, looking at me with her big Cyclops eye and extending her arms to me. I'm able to free my hands from Koori's tail and grab Midori, pulling her small form up.

"Hey, Mii." I brush her green hair out of her face and watch as a smile grows on her lips. "Missed me?"

She vigorously nods her head before hugging me tightly. I even see Koori and Midori stare at each other, possessively trying to keep me in this literally killing hug.

"All right, you two. Calm down before Zero passes out." An old, hoarse voice orders, and I hear both Koori and Midori pouting before letting go.

I take a deep breath and look at the voice's owner: Old Madam Uba. Knowing her, I'll get a slap on the face as soon as I-

*Slap*

Yeah, I knew it. Her fragile, calloused hand hits my cheek, making it sting a little, but the slap hurts her more than me, I'm sure.

"Good to see you again too, Granny."

"You girls, stay here; I'll have a talk with dear Zero here." Granny orders and starts to pull me by the ear towards her office.

"I'll be back in a few." That is all I'm able to say to Aoha before Uba closes the door of her office.

Inside Granny's office, I see her let out a heavy sigh and pull out her kiseru pipe filled with the worst-smelling tobacco ever.

"Girl, you have some explaining to do." Uba closes her eyes and starts to light up her kiseru.

"I know that already," I sit in front of her and watch as she takes a deep drag before letting go of the smoke. "But you know that I had no other option but to go.

"If I stayed and the emperor guards learned that you had hidden me in your place, things would have turned to shit."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Uba shakes her head and crosses her legs, taking yet another drag of her pipe.

"Those girls cried for half a year when you decided to leave, and worse yet was when they saw your face painted in a bounty from the emperor's son."

Shit, I knew going away would leave them sad, but the emperor's guards made sure to terrorize them—one more reason added to my list.

"I'm sorry, and I'm more sorry for what I will ask you.

"But I need you to let me sleep here tonight, just so I can get my friend some clothes and talk plans." I do my best puppy face, and of course, I have a card up my sleeve.

Without even waiting for her to talk, I drop my bag of coins on the table—almost all the money I got by doing some unethical jobs for some organizations.

As expected, Uba's face contorts into a smile. This old smoker loves her girls, but more than anything, she loves money.

"Well, I'll grab the key to your old room." She extends her hand to grab the coins, but I stop her only to add one thing.

"Half this money is for the girls, so buy them some sweets, let them spend on some clothes, or whatever."

Uba nods her head, and I let go of her hand. Quick as the wind, the pouch of coins disappears from sight. Granny then opens the drawer on her table and throws me the key.

"This time, I don't want you to return it. If anything happens, you need to remember you have a room here, you beetle-head." It's sweet of her to say that.

It's hard to imagine that this old hag used to hate me with all her guts. That's why she gave me the job of guarding the girls: so I could get beaten up and leave.

It is easy to say that it never happened, and she never expected me to win all of the fights.

"I'll remember that, thanks." Rising from the chair, Uba gestures, allowing me to leave her office, and so I do.

My second coin pouch is a lot lighter, but I should have enough money to buy the things Aoha needs, but after that, I'll be broke. Later, I will think of ways to make more money; maybe I'll go after Nezumi again.

As I get back to the shop, my arms are pulled by Ume, who pouts in unison with Koori. "Aren't you staying?"

With a smile on my face, I pet Ume's head, managing to calm her slightly. "I'll just go buy clothes for my friend; we will be back for dinner."

I'll wait for later to tell them that I won't be able to stay past today; it will be best to talk to each one individually about that.

"Okay, I'll buy some more ingredients for today then, and I'll cook for us." Ume grins widely, and I'm able to see Koori and Midori shrink at the thought of having to eat Ume's food.

Koori moves her tail and brushes the tip casually against my hand to grab my attention. "I want to eat that curry again."

Curry? Oh, I think she's talking about the one I made for her when she had her first shed. We spent all afternoon carefully removing all the old skin from her tail.

In the end, she got so embarrassed that she locked herself in her room and spent the rest of the day there, and so, to cheer her up, I made some curry. It was the only thing she wanted to eat for a whole month, even if I just used the leftover rice for that.

Looking back at Ume, the cat girl is already drooling at the prospect of my cooking; now I'll have to get home a little sooner to prepare all of it.

Tugging at the sleeve of my kimono, Midori eyes me expectantly. Seeing that, I pick her up in my arms and watch as she tries to hide her small smile.

"I can help you cook; Bāchan taught me how to do it last summer."

"Really?" With a proud expression, I start nuzzling Midori. "You're such a good girl; you learned how to cook, unlike some other two people I know."

I can practically hear the other two grunting over my words. Putting down Midori, I look at my companion, who looks out of the shop window to pass the time.

"You ready?"

Aoha nods her head; it looks like she was waiting for me to say something. She walks to the door and looks back at me, so I wave to my sisters.

"I'll be back in time to cook dinner then; bye."

The three girls wave and disappear as the door closes; now I'm left alone with Aoha again.

On the streets, I close my eyes to make a mental map of the places we need to go and their order.

We take the main street and go to the weapon maker, get what we need, turn right, reach the clothes store, and finish things by showing her the nightlife of the city. Okay, the plan is solid.

"Follow me; let's get you a weapon." I start walking, earning a frown from my companion, who follows me quietly.

I always forget that this time of the year a lot of people visit the city, so seeing a lot of sea of merchants shouldn't be a surprise, but what is a surprise is that most of the ones, the good types, I knew don't seem to be here anymore.

Looking at their stalls, I see many overpriced items, like rice, meat, sweat, and vegetables. All the things you could buy with some small copper coins being sold for almost silver prices are fucking ridiculous.

I know that the emperor's taxes have been rising for some time, but this amount is worrisome, to say the least.

Pushing the thoughts away, the hot, familiar smell of iron reaches my nostrils, both comforting and pleasing. The smell of a good forge is one that you don't forget.

Reaching the front of the open store, I squint my eyes and find my favorite blacksmith of the whole world, the daughter of the oldest and best weapon maker of this era (according to himself): Tome.

As my eyes fall on Tome's black hair and yellow kimono, I waste no time rushing towards her. "Tome-chan!"

My enthusiasm is met with a well-placed punch in my stomach, making me almost fall to my knees as Tome's black hair covers her vision because of the sudden movement she made. "There was no need for that."

"You sure?" Tome swipes the hair out of her face and crosses her arms, looking with disgust at me. "Cause last time I remember you stealing a bow from my store and disappearing for three years."

Well, shit. I was pretty sure she would have forgotten by now.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I left the payment here when I did." Well, half of the payment, to be more precise. The other half I pocketed for myself, knowing I would need it.

"That was not the problem; you know, I only make weapons on demand, and the bow you stole was a request from a well-known hunter. I had to spend all morning crafting another of the same quality because of what you did."

Tome, finally taking a couple of deep breaths, notices Aoha and rapidly bows her head. "I'm sorry you had to hear this, ma'am."

"It's okay; at least it was fun to watch." Aoha comments, looking at my painful face. I'm sure there's a small grin on her lips trying to surface, but that grin quickly disappears.

Grabbing some chairs, Tome sits me down and offers a seat for Aoha, who takes it gracefully.

"So, what do you need?" Tome asks, still tightly crossing her arms.

"Why does everyone assume I have something to ask for? Couldn't I be visiting a friend?"

.

..

...

"Okay, okay, sheesh." Sighing, I grab my coin purse and a single silver coin. "I want a knife and a katana, please.

"I'll be leaving tomorrow morning, so I'll need it done as soon as possible." I change my tone to a more serious one, which Tome catches on to and uncrosses her arms, knowing that I only talk like this when the situation requires it.

Tome's eyes travel across the forge as she mutters some words that seem to be her counting the materials she will need and the time to make everything.

The silver coin in my hand disappears, and Tome quickly pockets it. "Tomorrow morning it will be done, and don't even think of asking for the change."

It's only fair, I guess. I did steal the bow, paying only half of the price, so I won't complain. "Thank you, Tome."

"Now leave; I need to start now if you want it ready in time."

With a nod of my head, I get up from the chair and gesture for Aoha to follow me to the next place: the clothing store.

On the way, Aoha walks slightly faster until she's beside me. And when I start thinking that she may be trying to be a bit more friendly, I see her stopping at a sweet's stall.

A man, probably in his forties, stands behind the stall while preparing something that looks like a dango. Aoha's eyes gain a different kind of flame, a more childish-looking one.

"You want one?" I ask, and Aoha freezes, thinking between abandoning her pride and accepting or refusing and keeping her honor.

In the end, her answer comes with an almost unnoticeable nod of her head, making me grin in response.

"Can I have two dangos?"

"Two dangos are coming right up." The man grabs a fresh batch of the sweets and raises them so we can grab ours. "It will be three coppers."

I slide the coins across the stalls and grab both dangos, handing both of them to Aoha, who looks curiously at me.

"I'm not the sweet tooth type."

Aoha nods her head and starts devouring the sweet without even thanking me—not that I need her to; I see in her eyes how grateful she is.

We reach the clothing store soon after Aoha disappears with both dangos. The movement in this part of the city starts to lessen; only some workers pass by us, carrying boxes with materials and items for the night activities.

At the door of the small store, the owner, a cat boy with dark yellow eyes, grabs a heavy wooden box and starts carrying it inside.

Using the opportunity, I grab the other side of the box and help him raise it from the ground so we are carrying it rather than dragging it, avoiding giving the old wooden planks more marks than they already have.

"You should have told me you would be back in town." The cat boy: Kenji, without even looking at me, already knows it's me; his cat senses are something else.

"I didn't have time; I just got here not an hour ago." The box is not that heavy, but still, the way to the back of the store makes the easy task a bit of hell, as we have to dodge many bumps and corners.

Finally, we get to the room at the back and lay the box down. I lay my head on the box and take a breather alongside Kenji, who looks worse than me.

"Thanks for the help, but don't expect any discounts," Kneji says with a tired smile.

Damnit, he knows me very well. "Okie dokie." Regaining my energy, I stretch my arms high, hearing the loud crack sound that my back produces and the alleviating feeling it brings.

Looking into the store's main room, I see Aoha already looking at some clothes, even grabbing some and putting them close to her to see how they would look. My coin purse is almost reaching its end, so while she looks for clothes, I'll do what I came here to do.

"Kenji, are you still buying animal hide?" I ask, already pulling the spoils out of my bag and resting atop the box.

The cat boy nods his head and grabs both rabbit skins, taking a good look. Kenji can be a bit of an ass with prices, but he always pays the rightful amount for things.

"For the smaller skin, I can pay four small coppers, and for the big one, I can pay three big coins."

"How about we do something differently—a trade—the clothes she chooses for the hides?" With a smug look on my face, I start praying that the clothes she's picking aren't too expensive.

Kenji takes a look at Aoha, seeing the pieces she's choosing. After some consideration, Kenji extends his hand to me. "Deal."

"Thank you; this will make my coin bag less of a depressing case." I grab his hand and firmly shake it.

"Go back to your friend; I'll unload this box in the meantime. And as it's already paid for, I just need you to show me what she gets to make sure the price is right."

Back with Aoha, I see that she is between getting a red girl kimono with flower patterns or getting one like mine, which is more masculine and less detailed.

"I think you should go with this one." I point to the flowery-patterned one.

Aoha gazes upon my face, seemingly looking for any utter motives. "And why do you think so?"

With a big grin, I prepare myself for the cheesiest thing one could say. "Because it's prettier, and it would go well with your beauty."

"I see." Aoha puts the flowery kimono away and chooses the opposite one, ouch.

I grab it and wave so Kenji can see through the door frame, and with his approval, we are good to go. Only one thing more.

Aoha, by my request, goes to change into the new clothes. It takes some time, but when she returns, it's a really good sight. The more masculine vibe of the kimono goes well with her firey eyes.

She has the shoulder armor atop the kimono and the robes behind her arms. One more thing to get later: a backpack. I should have one in my room back at Uba's shop.

With luck, I'll find more things I left behind that can help, as I stole many things at that time, so the dungeon, which is the empty space below my bed, is filled with stuff.

"Let's go back; when we finish eating dinner, I'll want to show you one more thing in the city. I promise that I won't make you walk much."

Aoha doesn't answer, but she doesn't seem to object to my request either. Then, I guess, everything is settled.

We leave Kenji's store and walk back to Uba's 'tea shop'. My stomach already makes room for the curry I'll make, and after so much time on the road eating cooked meat, it'll be a good and rare chance to eat something with rice in it again.

----------------------------------------