Chapter Text
mizu’s not exactly what she’s expecting to find after she heard rumors of a woman being moved to marry a so-called “alien”.
maybe she’s expecting to find a room full of prostitutes, in it for the money. maybe she’s expecting a man in there as a cover up, one the alien needed. a nobleman, perhaps. maybe she’s expecting it to be completely empty or filled with guns or gold.
but whatever it is, she needs to eliminate its threat to her mission
it wasn’t all that hard to get inside the inn they were keeping the cargo in. they’d raided in and threatened the inn keeper to let them in without pay.
all mizu had to do was pay her way in and she could keep an eye on the mercenaries all she wanted. they seemed amateurish and naïve. she’d been tailing them for a couple days now and every night they had a chance they’d gotten drunk. they hadn’t even caught her tail.
tonight was no different. the second the sun started setting they began drinking to no end, in the lobby no less. mizu has to squeeze past them in order to just make it into the inn hallways, the inn keeper obviously too terrified to tell them to pack it up. their laughter and commotion echoed from down the halls of the inn. there was no one even watching the door to the cargo. if it really IS a woman, they sure don’t think she’s capable of escaping by herself, or at all.
the room is quiet. oddly quiet. no giggling women, at least until she gets closer. the rowdiness of the men drowned out the small sniffling coming from behind the door. either there’s a sick nobleman in there or there actually is a woman being married to an alien behind this door.
the door is locked, but mizu’s blade is so sharp it cuts straight through the wood.
there’s a small scream from the other side. it’s a woman, alright. mizu steps into the room, hand on blade, ready to interrogate the woman planning on marrying the man she’s after.
but her steps are stopped like she stepped into glue. what she finds isn’t what she thought she would. it’s not a middle aged noble man or woman who’s important to the aliens' cause. it’s not a room of yūjo. it’s just a woman. no older than herself. she’s short and beautiful. long black hair cascades down her neck and shoulders. her big dark eyes gaze up at mizu with a terrified look she’s grown accustomed to seeing in the face of her victims.
she has a black eye and, yet, despite that, the woman is gorgeous. the prettiest woman mizu’s eyes had ever registered. no wonder the alien wants her as a wife. her family must be connected to his somehow. mizu’s grip on her hilt tightens a bit.
“what do you know of the alien?”
“who are you?! oh, god, don’t hurt me!” her wide eyes are instantly filled with tears. shaking and backing up. as far as she can with the big, fat, rope tied around her ankle. it’s sailor knotted to the table. the table is a bit further from its original place, but with the heavy weights placed on it it’s obvious she couldn’t move it anymore.
mizu’s hand slides off her hilt, hanging by her side. the woman. she’s not someone to interrogate. she doesn’t know anything. her hysterical crying at even the thought of being hurt makes that apparent.
the poor woman is terrified, her breathing shaky, her peach cheeks stained with salt ridden tears as she begs for her life over and over.
mizu is used to this. from men. men she didn’t give one damn about. men she killed seconds later.
this woman…
“i’m not going to hurt you.” mizu says, gingerly talking a step closer to her.
the woman takes a breath, only to let it out in another sob.
“i’m not a flesh trader. i only came to-“ mizu sighs, pressing her lips together. “i’ll let you out. just- stop crying.”
“you.. you’re here to… help?”
“yes.”
the woman’s breathing gets tighter, calmer, as she whines and pushes down all of her sobs. mizu strides over and, even though she flinches when she reaches out, the woman allows her to untie her ankle.
mizu stands and holds out a hand for the woman. “up. you have to move and you have to move fast or you’re not getting out of here.”
the woman nods, “y-yes, okay.”
mizu keeps a tight hold on the woman’s hand, keeping her close.
“stay close.”
the woman nods, doing as she’s told. but she begins freaking out when mizu makes her way over to the room her captors booze in.
“nononono! why are you taking me to them?! you said you were going to help!”
mizu puts a hand to her shoulder, shushing her.
“i’m not taking you to them. that is the only way out. besides, they’re flesh traders. despite their unworthiness, they must meet my blade.”
the woman breathes heavily, blinking up at her. “what?”
mizu puts her hands on the woman’s shoulders, pushing her into the wall. the woman whimpers, looking up at mizu.
“hey. what’s your name?”
“n-nene…”
“nene, stay right here and don’t move until i tell you too. understood?”
“understood.”
“good.”
nene nods as mizu walks away, hand resting on the hilt of her katana.
“excuse me.” she says and the men turn to look at her. “would you mind keeping it down?”
nene’s not sure if what she’s hearing is her savior's blood and guts, or if it’s the blood and guts of her captors.
the screams of men, sounds of footfalls and bodies thudding against the floor, and the spray of blood against the walls tells her, in some capacity, the man who saved her is winning the fight.
she can barely keep her breathing quiet.
a week ago, nene never would have thought she’d be at the side of a mysterious man after he saved her from being sold to a european man.
nene jumps when the orange glasses of the man who saved her slides out of the room. covered in blood. she begins to shake. had her savior died? is she going to be taken again?
nene takes a deep breath, slowly peeking around the corner in the room. she thinks she’s going to see the man in the blue on the floor, surrounded by the men who’ve kept her for all these days.
what she does see is the man in blue, surrounded by the bodies of the flesh traders. those that are left charge at him with no remorse and those that try join their comrades around them.
he’d covered in blood, his black hair shines with the hot red substance like highlights. his back is toward her, but still she can see his shoulders heave up and down.
nene whimpers, hiding behind the wall once again. she gently kicks the orange glasses into the doorway, then slides across the mats before they stop just into the room.
when nene hears a thud for the final time she’s hopeful its the man who saved her winning the fight. the footfalls that make its way toward her
she shakes, praying to god that her savior has won and she’s going to be free of those soon.
the footsteps stop at the door and the man bends over to retrieve the orange glasses. nene lets out a sigh when they return to his face and he turns to look at her.
“y-you…”
“come quick.”
nene nods and follows the man, who once again grips her wrist and pulls her along. she moves as fast as she can next to him. the bodies of men, the stench on metal as they run through the now blood stained room. nene almost wants to throw up.
“who are you?”
at first the man doesn’t answer. his lips twitch as if debating to speak.
“mizu.”
“thank you...”
mizu stays silent for a moment again before he nods. “you’re welcome.”
the next few days are filled with nene trying to convince mizu to allow her to stay with him. she’s normally not so forward, she normally doesn’t speak at all around men, however she had decided she was not going to drop this. not until mizu had agreed to let her come along.
sure she was weak and slow and didn’t know any self defense but she had been targeted by this alien, this white man that mizu had sworn to kill, and some part of her… some part of her wanted in on that.
she never believed that she would be like other noblewomen. she thought her father loved her, that he’d never sell her off to some older guy or random man, even to a prince was questionable. but to a white man?
nene can be mad at her father, but she can’t kill him. she can kill the white man—well, mizu can kill the white man—and if there’s some part of that that nene can help with? by god is she going to try and help.
that is what she told mizu and what finally caused him to cave. he wasn’t very empathetic or sweet to her, but he was moved, nene could tell. if he wasn’t, she’d have been dropped off in kyoto without so much as a goodbye and mizu would’ve wandered off into the horizon.
but he didn’t. he agreed to take her along. why? nene has no idea, but she’s thankful for his kindness.
“on three conditions.”
whatever those conditions are, nene will take them.
“first; you will listen to me and do as i say, no matter what it is i say to do, even if it sounds crazy, you will do it, no questions asked.”
sounds easy enough. nene already did that in osaka. as is a woman’s role in society. do as she’s told, stay quiet unless spoken to.
“second; you will stick by my side unless i say otherwise. i don’t want you leaving my sight, you’re important to the white man and he will try to get you back.
third; if you ever and i mean ever get in my way, question my reasoning, or try to talk me out of this, i will leave you where you stand and if you follow i will kill you. understood?”
nene gulps, but nods. “understood, sir.”
mizu seems to falter for a moment, face heating under his orange spectacles. “just call me mizu.”
nene nods once more. “understood, mizu.”
mizu nods too, sighing as he pushes his glasses up his face, looking mizu up and down.
“we’ll also have to get you a working kosode… and maybe a manto.”
she’s no longer tied to osaka by her father, no reigns by a ring. just mizu. and mizu nene feels is one of the good ones. he makes her feel safe and comfortable and despite how frozen her feet are and how much her calves hurt he never complains about her.
she’s only known mizu for less than a month, and he’s always the best man she’s ever known.