Yumi stopped in the middle of rising to her feet. She didn’t even look guilty for squandering her time in the courtyard garden.

“I clearly overestimated you,” Kuro said. “I pegged you as a sister with a big brother complex. Willing to sacrifice her soul for him. But clearly you can’t work up that amount of dedication.”

She sent him an irritated look.

“But I guess you see a sobbing girl as more important than defending your brother’s honour. Who knows what steamy items Ren’s stashed in his quarters by now.”

“My brother,” she elongated the word, “is above reproach.”

He arched a brow and laughed. No human male, aside from Ren, was immune from the call of female flesh.

“And I’m not gossiping,” she said. “I’m investigating.”

“Oh, of course! The Shogun’s confession must have been in the hair pin!”

She didn’t dignify his comment with a response. “My friend had been… involved with the Shogun’s page.”

“Involved? In what? Crime?”

“In—” Her cheeks heated. “They’re dallying.”

Poking her was just so much fun. “Dallying? Whatever could that be?”

“It’s… Well, er… When two people… I mean…” She glanced up at Kuro. Upon noticing Kuro’s smirk, she glowered at him. “The point is she’s thinking of breaking up with him.”

He still didn’t see how she felt so proud of herself. “So you investigated what? How good he looked under his kimono? Because you’re not going to find anyone up to par with Ren, and he’s unavailable.”

“Not at all—” Her cheeks flared red. She was so amusing. Worldly enough to know her desires, but not enough to keep from blushing furiously. “I meant the reason why she’s breaking up with him.”

“She caught sight of Ren?” Kuro inhaled. Now that was problematic, unless the maid had fallen instantly in love. Leaving the problem that Ren had been seen, and would likely be seen again.

“Are you going to let me tell you, or is this your method of distracting me from the Shogun’s trail?”

“I won’t need to distract you if you keep yelling about investigating the Shogun in the middle of his palace.” He waited for the implication to sink in. But since Yumi probably lacked the same instinct of self-preservation as Ren, he added, “He’ll execute you.”

“I know.” She glanced around her, fury brimming in her eyes and about to boil. “This way.”

She led him out of the courtyard.

“Are you sure you want to confide in me?” he asked. “I might go running to the Shogun.”

She paused mid-step as if the thought had just occurred to her. “His Imperial Highness will kill you.”

“And that’s another thing you shouldn’t say out loud,” he said. “The Shogun knows he’s alive.”

She turned, her eyes sharp and questioning.

“I didn’t tell him.” Her brother probably had. He was the Shogun’s onmyouji. Prophecy-telling human-headed calves were his jurisdiction.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She stopped in another section. Kuro listened, but the surrounding rooms were quiet. Abandoned. Good.

“Look, you told us a lot that you didn’t have to,” she said. “So I’m going to trust you with this.”

“Is that wise?”

She smacked him in the arm. “Do you want me to tell you or don’t you?”

“Fine, tell me about your friend’s loincloth—ow!” He rubbed his arm, but the little shock of spiritual power from her hitting him remained stubborn.

“She’s wondering how to shove him off—no, don’t!” She held up a fist before he made another comment to make her blush. “That doesn’t matter. She found me because she’s frightened. The world is falling apart, and she needed reassurance about my brother and the Shogun. She tried to find comfort in the page, but he kept droning on about how tiresome it is carving checkpoint passes.”

He raised a brow. “She should dump him if he’s that lazy. No one can get checkpoint passes. The Shogun won’t let anyone enter the Capital.”

“But he claims he’s making fifty, even a hundred passes every week,” she said.

His breath caught. Fifty checkpoint passes?

“Exactly.” She nodded. “If no one wants to leave the Capital, and no one is allowed to enter, then who’s using all these passes?”

“He’s selling them on the black market.” It’s what Kuro would have done if he could have gained a page position.

“He’s making them on the Shogun’s order.”

“So he claims.” Although stupid of him to whine to all and sundry about having to make his own goldmine.

“She was able to divert him a few times, just long enough for him to complain about the overcrowding in the riverbank.”

“All humans whine about that.” He paused, then corrected himself. “All humans of rank.” The humans in the Riverbank Settlement were just happy to be alive.

She arched a brow, hands on hips. “But do all humans whine about the riverbank when they could ‘comfort’ a pretty girl?”

He had to hand it to her. Not only had she said that with a straight face, but she’d also made an excellent point. “People are disappearing from there. Whole households disappear in the night. Ren—” He stopped. Ren had cared. Ren had wanted to investigate that.

“It’s very suspicious that just when the Night Parade attacks the Imperial Palace, whole people are being secreted out of the city.” She crossed her arms. “Have I passed your class, teacher?”

He quirked a lip at that. “Yes, very mistrustful.” Except the part where she trusted Kuro. “Except they’re probably being forced back to their farms before the empire runs out of rice.”

He hoped. Otherwise, the Shogun’s plans and plots were much bigger than he’d thought. The Shogun was plotting something, something more than just ridding himself of his last challenge to power.

“Perhaps,” she said. “But we should find out for sure.”

Not another righteous quest. He had enough of those to dodge thanks to Ren. If Ren heard about the checkpoint passes as well… Keeping Ren alive might be too big of a task even for Kuro’s cunning.

But still, it would be stupid to ignore it completely. “You’re right,” he said.

She brightened at his compliment. It was better than being hit, but a lot more confusing. He didn’t like it. He wasn’t sure he could handle being friends with her. Especially since she hated him on principle for being a ‘demon’.

But he didn’t need a friend, or even an ally. He needed the checkpoint passes. Better than coin. Even more untraceable. Merchants talked. Inn owners talked. But if they got a pass into the Capital and away from the demon hordes? They’d keep the secret to the grave. Admitting a checkpoint pass wasn’t theirs by right would only end up with that grave coming a whole lot sooner. And checkpoint passes were worth a whole lot more than five times their weight in coin.

“Did your friend say where the passes were being held?” he asked.

“Yes.” She frowned. “Why is that important?”

“Evidence,” he said.

“Because the Shogun would have his secret plans printed on them?”

“You’re getting better at sniffing out bullshit,” he said, a little proud. “But we need the passes to pass over the bridge.”

She stepped back, frowning harder.

“You wanted to investigate,” he said.

“We’ll have to find another way.”

“Why? Does he have a legion guarding them?”

She sighed. “Because I can’t use one of those passes.”

“I’m sure your big brother will forgive you.”

“Women need special passes,” she said.

He furrowed his brow. “Really?”

“Every noble must keep their family in the Capital.”

“He likes to control them.” Just like he controlled Ren.

She nodded. “Nobles have tried to sneak their wives and daughters out disguised as merchant women. Now all women need a special pass.”

“Not a problem,” he said. “Monk robes are easy to come by.”

She gasped, scandalised. “I can’t do that!”

“Did a demon curse you and your family to never be able to touch a monk’s robes without your skin melting off?”

She gaped. “Demons do that?”

Kuro ignored her question. “Then we’ll dress you like an acolyte. You’ll like that. It will be like all your sexual fantasies come true.”