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The autumn festival was one of Nene's favorite times of the year. The weather was cooler, bringing with it the scent of crunchy leaves and ripe apples. The trees slipped from their verdant green, exploding into a riot of scarlet, gold, and if she searched hard enough, violet.
The days got shorter, and the nights got longer, and Aoi's stories became whispers as the shadows crept and crawled from the woods. It was unwise to speak of them too loudly now, when the creatures could reach out and snatch you away before you could draw a breath to scream.
It was what happened to a girl in their class last year. She'd mocked Aoi's stories and careful tales and all they'd found of her was a bloody shoe. Or just a few weeks ago, on the first full moon they'd been able to see clearly in months, someone had said they'd seen something stalking from the treeline; the only thing visible beyond the twisting shadows was a sharp white grin.
So Nene was excited. She and Aoi got dressed up, tied ribbons in each other's hair as was tradition, and hurried off to the festival as Akane followed behind them. She should have known that her good mood would sour quickly.
She had barely bitten into her first candy apple when a group of girls had wandered past and told her to be careful, all that sugar would go to her fat ankles. The sweetness had turned bitter immediately, but she couldn't throw it away.
It was bad luck to discard food tonight when the apparitions who died of hunger would haunt through the crowd at moonrise would find the wasteful mortals and consume them instead.
And Nene could feel the Veil lifting as dusk fell to darkness. As the shadows got longer and deeper, and the wind whispered if you listened too long. Her skin chilled quickly in the autumn air despite her thick sweater, seeping into her bones to make them rattle as she hurried to find Aoi.
There were still tears clinging to her lashes from another altercation when she spotted the orbs. They were pale white like starlight, with little pops of color at their center that she couldn't quite make out. They swept low over the grassy field behind the stalls as if they were searching for something.
Or someone.
It was dumb and foolishly reckless, but she crossed the boundary wall despite all the warnings they'd gotten tonight, and froze as both orbs did the same. They tumbled around each other before streaking towards her. Nene raised her arms and waited for the pain, but it never came.
Instead, the little orbs curled around her waist, bumping into her hips and bag. Maybe they weren't malevolent spirits; perhaps they were just lost souls. Nene opened her bag and drew out the once bitten apple before she crouched down, the little orbs spinning around it almost excitedly.
"I know I took a bite, but you can have it if you'd like. They're very sweet and very good."
She could see now that one had a red core and the other blue, not that she knew if it made a difference. The blue one swished around her head as the red one took the apple from her fingers, and they darted into the trees as Nene jumped at the far off call of her name.
She brushed the dirt from her stockings and hurried back over the boundary line, a sharp tug in her belly made her turn back as icy fear trickled down her spine. In the shadows not twenty feet away, something smiled at her. Sharp white teeth stretched in a macabre split, and she could see something red begin to stain them.
Nene tumbled over the line back into the festival, gasping as warmth rushed over her skin as though she'd submerged herself in the bath. Her fingertips were nearly blue from the cold, and her body ached as if she'd been immobile for hours instead of minutes.
She ran her hands over her arms, trying to draw the heat back into her skin as the first prickles of unease teased over the nape of her neck. She'd be fine once she found Aoi. She'd be alright after a cup of warm cider and something to eat.
She'd be okay if she could banish that menacing grin from the back of her eyelids.
Nene made it back to the bonfire without feeling like she was being watched, and turned in circles for a moment before she found Aoi hurrying towards her. Then her best friend stopped dead in her tracks and folded her hands over her mouth with an expression so full of horror Nene was sure that creature must be behind her.
"Nene-chan, where is your ribbon!?"
Her hand flew to the side of her head, where Aoi had tied the red and gold ribbon earlier in the night only to find it gone. The little blue orb must have taken it when she was distracted. Fear nearly drove her to her knees. She couldn't go back through the gate if she didn't have her ribbon. They had to be burned at midnight in the bonfire for the protection spell to carry them home without being stolen by the shadows.
But that was exactly what had happened.
Aoi fretted before she told Nene to stay put. The Minamoto’s were here, maybe they knew of a way to get her home safely without a ribbon. She and Akane disappeared into the golden light of the stalls, and Nene waited for a moment more before she took off for the darkness.
It was as though they were waiting for her as she tripped over the boundary, her boots oddly heavy as she chased the orbs across the field to the tree line. The air felt different here, as if nothing beyond the bark and twisting branches had breathed for a very long time.
Nene squared her shoulders, took a trembling breath, and stepped through the Veil.
It was a bit like jumping into a pile of leaves and not knowing which way was up for a minute. Everything felt real, but there was a feeling creeping over her, trying to wiggle into the soft spaces between her bones, that said she wasn't meant to be here.
Nene turned around, spine seizing as she was met with an endless misty wood instead of the soft rolling field she had just stepped from. She dug her nails into her cheeks as Aoi's story echoed in her ears as she tried not to hyperventilate.
'If you cross the tree line on the night of the festival, you get taken to the center of the Far Forest. You have until before sunrise to get yourself free, or you'll be lost to the shadows forever.'
She spun in place as watery moonlight trickled down through the branches, highlighting fears and hiding her way home. Part of her wanted to run, to sprint like there was a lantern glowing in the window of her bedroom and she was only steps from the door.
But that would only draw the creatures to her. And more than anything she wanted to avoid the specter that she had seen at the edge of the wood. Whatever it was, it would be nothing but trouble.
Nene picked a path, a little overgrown but not terrible, and set off. Maybe there was a good spirit here that would be willing to barter to lead her out. Perhaps if she had seen the eyes that watched her from above she would have taken a different path.
Not that it mattered. Yashiro Nene had sealed her fate. The apparition wove her ribbon through his fingers before he tied it around his wrist, and leaped silently to the dry leaves scattered beneath him. He made no sound as he stalked through the trees, his pretty little prey none the wiser as she twisted and turned and made herself thoroughly lost. He was excited about this little chase. The last kid he'd stolen had only cried until he'd pointed them in the wrong direction to let his brother have some fun. But maybe she'd put up a bit of a fight.
Nene scrunched her skirt in her fingers as she tried not to cry. She'd passed the same tree with an “A” carved into it seven times now, and the chilled feeling of being watched met her at every turn.
Stupid. She’d been so stupid. She should have listened to Aoi. She should have waited for the Minamoto’s. She shouldn't have followed the lights into the woods.
Now she was lost.
Everything was swallowed by the mist creeping over the forest floor, and there was no sound but for the thundering of her heart and the hiccup of her breath. Even the moonlight seemed to have abandoned her in this eerie stretch of heavy silence.
A scream lodged in her throat as two golden eyes peered from the darkness, a wide cruel grin stretching beneath them. That very same grin that had materialized what must have been hours ago now.
"Well well well, look what's caught beyond the Veil. Are you lost? I can help; for a price."
Nene took a step back as the figure moved forward, and she paused. It looked like a boy, just barely her age if not younger. His red sweater was too big and rumpled, his dark hair choppy as if he’d cut it himself. He was actually kind of cute, though he had nothing on the eldest Minamoto son.
She blinked and he was suddenly at her side, nose nearly touching her own. She couldn’t help the blush that stole over her cheeks as he smiled, but this one was more boyish than the wicked grin she had seen earlier. He moved around her, poking at her arm and her bag before he was back in front of her again.
“Do you need help? Pretty daikons shouldn’t be beyond the Veil, especially not tonight; something might eat them.”
He snapped sharp teeth closed around the final word, and the bubbling anger Nene felt vanished instantly as she realized that he wasn’t just a boy, wasn’t just another spirit. There was a cold emanating off him that not even the darkest winter night could bring, something so terror-bound that Nene knew that she might not make it out of this alive.
“I-I do need help. Something stole my ribbon earlier, and I was trying to find it. And now I’m lost.”
The boy’s head tipped almost playfully, and she watched as the twin orbs she had seen earlier materialized around him, spilling their soft starlight around the two as they made lazy loops around her.
“Ah yes. I’m afraid that was our doing.”
She watched as he pulled back his sleeve to reveal her ribbon, tied in a sloppy bow around his thin wrist. There was the fleeting thought that her ribbon was always supposed to be bound around his wrist, just like a lover's secret promise, before she shook her head and stepped forward. He pulled his hand back even though she knew better than to try and take it from him.
“I’ll give it back later since you did bring me a treat earlier. Thank you for the candied apple; it's been so long since I've had one I didn’t have to share.”
Who he could have possibly had to share it with she didn’t know, but she knew she couldn’t ask. The more she asked, the more he could demand from her. And she needed to get home. Nene curled her hands in the strap of her bag with a nod, watching as he folded the sleeve back down and stepped towards her again.
“Now. I'm sure you would like to get home. We’ll have to hurry a bit since it's just past midnight now.”
She followed his eyes towards the canopy, though she could see nothing past the twisting branches and leaves. Perhaps since he was a supernatural, he could see through them.
“And...the price?”
His eyes snapped to hers, and there was a fear so great that stole through her she was surprised she didn’t die on the spot. His eyes were not the playful amber they had been, big and round like the harvest moon that guarded over the festival. These were wretched swirling shadows captured in his pale face, every nightmare that had been dreamt from the beginning of time with none of the kindness of blissful sleep.
Then he blinked, and they were back to warm honey. He waved his hand between them, as if to dismiss her question as one of the little orbs nudged her back and pushed her closer to him. It kept at it until she was pressed nearly to his chest, and he curled his hands behind his back as he leaned far too close to her.
“We can agree on a payment later. There are some things I’ll need to take care of as we head to the Veil, so the more you help me, the less your payment will be! Now, what should I call you?”
Nene knew better than to give him her name. Knew that to tell him was to hand herself over to the Far Shore with no hope of ever escaping. She shook her head, and she watched that cruel grin split his face again, tension winding like ivy up her spine to strangle her. He reached out and caught a strand of her hair around his fingers, tugging gently before he let it flutter between them.
“Actually, nevermind.”
He flipped his sleeve back, running one sharp nail over the ribbon and Nene paled.
“Nene, right? You may call me Hanako. We should get moving, lots of ground to cover before morning!”
She stumbled after him into the mist, numb to the chatter that filled the air around them as they wove through the trees. He’d known from the beginning. Knew that she’d carefully stitched her name into the golden thread with a strand of her hair to make the spell stronger. And now she was caught on the wrong side of the Veil, in the hold of a creature that she wasn’t sure she could trust.
He led her here and there, over rises and into ravines; her terror loosened the farther they moved from the heart of the woods. Hanako teased her about her ankles, and she chased him around a tree for several minutes trying to hit him with her bag.
He had a high, sweet laugh as she finally caught him in the shoulder and he tumbled into a pile of leaves as she stood over him. She shrieked as he grabbed her ankle and pulled her down with him, and the second she spit her hair and stray leaves from her mouth she turned her fists on him. His eyes slid to something over her shoulder and he froze, catching her wrists in just shy of a bruising grip as he jumped to his feet and hauled her up too.
“We should keep moving.”
She glanced back as he hurried them away, finding nothing but a “T” carved into the tree they'd just been under.
Nene was shown things that not even Aoi’s stories could have prepared her for. There was a pool of silver in a fallen tree that showed her tall and gorgeous, her ankles as slim and cute as Aoi’s. A great tangle of cobwebs full of tiny fuzzy spiders made her shiver until Hanako lifted one of the little creatures into his hand. It scampered up her arm and settled on her shoulder and refused to leave even when he tried to grab it.
She was sure she saw the sweeping forms of bodies dancing in the mist, gowns made of gossamer moonbeams and suits of stitched shadows. Hanako led her through a few steps as they came close enough to hear the haunting music, though they hurried away as one of the skull masked creatures turned to look at them.
She realized that their path through the woods was twisting, that they had doubled back several times. His pace was leisurely as they passed trees marked with “A’s”, but he gave her no time to catch her breath when they came upon the bark torn away in the shape of the “T”. She didn’t ask, pretended not to notice his eyes darken and shuffle through the shadows around them until they were back in the moonlight.
It was almost fun, as he teased her, and let her ramble on about her life in the village. She had Aoi, and Akane to some extent. And the little group of friends that she had been pulled into. But she had always been on the fringes, always been made fun of for her ankles, or the fact that she had her head in the clouds so often.
Being here was almost familiar, in a way. The little orbs, which Hanako called Haku-joudai, settled in her palms, letting warmth spill into her fingers when she realized she was freezing. And the little spider wove her hair into braids as they paused for her to rest, Hanako pouting after she’d punched him when he twisted her hair into a radish tower.
She’d miss this when she went back to the village.
She’d miss the way he clung to her hands, tugging her along over rocks and trees, miss the way he’d turn those bright eyes on her with his full attention when she spoke. Maybe she could come back to the edge of the forest with gifts for him. He said he liked candied apples; she could make them and bring them as a thank you for getting her home.
But Nene had forgotten, in his happy presence, that darker things were lurking in the woods.
She was telling him about the little garden she had when he tensed suddenly, and before she could ask what was wrong, she was dragged back into the shadows with a scream. She hit the dirt and scrambled to her knees, pausing as she took in the sight of the girl before her.
She was gorgeous, in an ethereal and haunting way; perhaps a few years older than Nene herself. There was a purple and silver ribbon tied in her green hair, wove through the braids that framed her pretty face. And her gray dress, with its high lace collar and hems, made Nene think that she must have come from a very wealthy family.
The girl kneeled down, and the closer she came made Nene wrinkle her nose. Something was clinging to her, a scent like decay, like the leaves rotting beneath their feet. The wind whipped through the trees above them and Nene screamed as the moonlight washed over them.
She rushed to her feet and let her fear carry her into the trees, each of them violently slashed with “T’s”. The shadows reached out and snagged at her skirt as she ran, tears blinding her as the silence gave way to quiet laughter. But it was not the joy that she had shared with Hanako only a short while ago. This was relishing in her horror and it made her clumsy.
Nene tripped over a raised root, crying out as she hit the ground and rolled. She raised her hand to her forehead, fingers coming away warm and sticky with blood. But she couldn't stop, not with the image of the girl in her mind, with the voice echoing louder and louder in her ears as she ran.
She slid to a halt as the girl appeared before her from the haze, skin peeled back along the right side of her face. She reached for Nene, hands dripping blood where the muscle was torn away clear to the bone. But what horrified her the most was the gaping hole in her chest, like a window into her ribcage where her heart still beat.
Nene screamed and turned on her heel, ignoring the way her hair pulled as it was caught on branches and those pale reaching hands. She could see those sorrowful green eyes in the mist, pleading for an end that would never come.
She crashed into something in her blind terror and struggled as two arms came around her, pinning her to a cold chest. Her head shot up, and Hanako smiled down at her. She pressed her face into his sweater, hiding in the purple wool as he stroked her hair and shushed her.
“It's alright. You have nothing to be afraid of. We just want you to play with us.”
Nene tensed, trying to push away as his fingers dug into her arms hard enough to bruise. Hanako’s voice wasn’t that high, his hands not this rough with her. She leaned back to find his face, and it could have been Hanako’s but for the manic glee in his eyes.
“Oooh, you’re a quick one! It took the others much longer to figure out.”
She tore herself from his grip and ran, ran until she thought she’d be sick from exhaustion and terror. Ran until she thought she couldn’t anymore, and then kept going as those horrible giggles followed her. Just when she thought she could go no farther, a pair of arms reached out and caught her.
“There you are!”
She couldn’t even struggle as she was lowered to the forest floor, bright eyes finding hers as the moonlight tangled in the trees.
“I see you’ve met my brother.”
Hanako’s hand brushed her cheek, the cuff of his sleeve mopping up the tears that were still falling as he crouched beside her.
“I was trying to get you out before he could find you, but it seems like that was a bust. He always takes my favorite things.”
Her heart stopped in her chest as his fingers curled around her cheek, his eyes darkening as his head tipped. Here was the wide, cruel grin that had haunted her from the edge of the woods this evening, that should have kept her firmly within the festival bounds no matter what.
“Come now, we have things to do.”
She rose at his command as if she were a marionette, and he curled her fingers through his as they walked. Each tree they passed was marked with an “A”, and the laughter that had followed her was silent. Hanako dipped into the shadows here and there, returning with items for her to tuck into her bag for safekeeping.
She tried to peek through the canopy to find the moon, to try and guess how long she had until morning. It felt like ages since she’d first met Hanako, when he’d said it was just after midnight. It had to be nearly dawn now.
They entered a clearing, and Nene noticed each tree was marked; alternating between “A” and “T” around the circle. She tightened her grip and moved closer as the shadows seemed to stretch from the trees, reaching out their clawed hands to grab her. Haku-joudai swirled around her, and the shadows pulled back with a hiss as Hanako tugged her closer.
“Amane!”
The boy from before entered the clearing, and Nene flinched back as he smiled widely at her. Just behind him was the girl, beautiful until she stepped from the shadows into the moonlight.
“Tsukasa. Sakura.”
The girl dipped her head in greeting, and the boy, Tsukasa, turned to look back at her.
“Oh no, Sakura! Let me fix that.”
Bile rose in Nene’s throat as he slid his sleeve back and tore open his wrist with his teeth. Blood fell and stained the grass before he guided the girl's head to the mess of his arm. And Nene watched with morbid curiosity as her body stitched itself back together; the hole in her chest shrinking as the fabric folded itself over the wound, her skin creeping over bone and muscle as though she had never been injured. Tsukasa spun back around, mouth and teeth stained crimson before he trotted across the grass.
“Ne, Amane; aren’t you gonna let me play with your toy? She’s fun to chase, and you were doing it earlier.”
Nene tensed, eyes shifting between the boys. Hanako didn’t so much as blink at the accusation and tightened his grip on her hand when she tugged.
"No, she's mine. I gave you that boy just yesterday; don't tell me you already killed him?"
Tsukasa shrugged and threw his arms out, and Nene muffled a cry as his blood splattered across her face. Hanako sighed as she sank to the grass, but didn't release her.
"Well, you can't have her. The Veil will fall soon, so if you want anything, besides her, you should get it now."
Tsukasa pouted but nodded, turning on his heel to skip back to Sakura and take her hand. The back of his sweater was stained with blood, beginning right where his heart was. Just before they disappeared into the shadows of the trees, he spun back to look at them both. All Nene could see clearly were their eyes, glowing in the gloom.
"Bye-bye, Nene! See you soon!"
She couldn't ask how he knew her name, if perhaps he'd overheard her and Hanako talking as he trailed them through the woods, or if he had just simply known. Couldn't bring herself to speak as Hanako dug through her bag for a handkerchief to wipe her face.
She concentrated on the odd seal that sat on his left cheek, the same as the one that was set upon his brother's right. They looked familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before. He tucked her handkerchief into his pocket and pulled her to her feet, tugging her from the clearing back into the woods.
He didn't speak to her, only tightened his fingers around her own when Tsukasa’s wild laughter rang through the trees, interspersed with terrified screams. That was supposed to have been her fate. To be chased until one of these two got bored and killed her.
"Were you ever going to take me to the Veil, or did you lie to me?"
He didn't look back.
"Monsters lie, Nene. It's what we do best."
She couldn't help the tears that tumbled over her cheeks as he led her on. There was no point in letting go of him now; better to stay with him than to put herself to the mercy of the woods. At least here, with him, she could pretend to be happy.
He led her to a little glade, and she couldn’t help her gasp as he stepped aside so she could enter. Mushrooms as big as her cottage released a soft glow over the area, tiny lights floating between them and wearing between the strands of her hair.
The water in the pool was clear as crystal, and she clung to Hanako's hand and they jumped across the rocks to the little island floating in the center. There was nothing but a tree upon it, tied with hundreds of ribbons and scraps of fabric.
She recognized the red and purple wool of the twin's sweaters tied around each other in a lopsided bow, and Sakura's amethyst and silver ribbon tied neatly beside it.
"The forest took us in when we were abandoned."
She turned her head to Hanako, but his eyes were in her ribbon around his wrist.
"Tsukasa and I were left to die in the wilds, and we became what the woods needed us to be so we could survive. We lure in new souls to feed the darkness, to keep you safe. There are much worse things lurking than what you've seen tonight."
And Nene could believe that. Aoi's stories always held a shred of long-forgotten truth, and the Minamoto’s would not be as revered as they were if their town was truly safe. Hanako untied the ribbon and very carefully secured it in her hair.
"If we hurry, I might be able to get you out."
They tore back through the glade, back into the towering trees as the wind whipped through them. Tsukasa’s laughter was silent now against the howling screams drowning everything out. Nene's eyes darted around them as the shadows began to heave, the cold stinging much worse now.
Between the gaps of the branches, milky moonlight was giving way to the golden touch of dawn.
She could see the field now as they rounded a path, the low boundary wall sturdy and familiar with the tents of the festival behind it. She was almost home, this nightmare was almost over. She reluctantly slowed to a walk as they got closer, Hanako clinging to the shadows nervously.
She would miss him, even though he had lied to her, she would miss him. He was still young like she was, still barely more than a child when he'd been taken from the world. She threw her arms around him, giggling as he gasped when she pressed her lips to his cheek, and his face flooded with color.
"Thank you for getting me home, Hanako. I had fun, despite everything," he shuffled and dropped his eyes from hers, and she squeezed his hands, "I'm going to miss you."
He nodded, amber eyes peeping through his lashes, and she smiled brightly before she turned and stepped to the edge of the trees with a deep breath. Home. Warmth. Sunlight. With her back to him, she missed the blooming stain that soaked the front of his sweater.
"For what it's worth, Nene; I would have missed you too."
There was a sharp pain between her shoulders before she stumbled through the Veil, darkness and dirt rising to meet her.
They found her body propped up against the trees, a soft smile on her face as the dawn painted her in sweeps of pink and gold. It almost distracted from the crimson puddled beneath her, seeping into her skirt and sweater from the wound in her back.
Aoi cried for days after they'd burned Nene's body in the bonfire and buried her blackened bones beneath white and black seals so she couldn't come back to haunt them. Cried as they took her bag and dumped all her things on the ground.
They destroyed the pretty glass bubble that was full of falling snow, dumped the vial of swirling silver into the ash, and stabbed the little spider that tried to scamper away into a bloody mess.
They let nothing of Nene remain in the village, and her parents were gone before the week was out. Their cottage abandoned, the little garden their daughter had worked so hard on torn up and the food left to rot.
The only thing they had not found of Nene's was the ribbon she had been wearing. Aoi had explained that Nene had lost it while the moon had still been up, and Teru had thought he'd seen it tangled in her hair when she was discovered. But they could not rest easy until it was burned.
If even one piece of her existed, she could come back and tempt another soul into the woods. And Aoi kept her eyes on the trees, watching the twisting shadows as winter rattled the windows and piled snow along the streets. She watched and waited as green caught in the canopy and wildflowers ran rampant over the field.
Aoi kept her violet eyes on the sun-scorched boundary, on the haze of heat that made everything flicker as if it was underwater. And then autumn came again, cool and sweeping as the festival rose again.
She tied her ribbon tightly in her hair and didn't let go of Akane’s hand all night. And as the moon rose high overhead, they kept their eyes on the gentle ticking of his pocket watch until midnight struck. Aoi let her ribbon fall from her fingertips, the bonfire glowing purple and orange for a moment before she stepped back into his arms.
The chill was worse as they headed towards her house, and they froze as laughter echoed over the field. She slid from his grasp before he could stop her, hurrying to catch her as she jumped the wall.
Nene was weaving through the trees, her giggles high and bright as three other forms chased behind her, more happy laughter tumbling from the shadows. And when Nene turned and caught sight of Aoi, the smile on her face made her glow.
She hurried across the field, and Aoi stepped back, horrified as her best friend came to a halt before her. She had not seen Nene's body before they burned it, wrapped as she was in a shroud of white.
Had not seen the hole that was ripped through the girl's back, where the twist of a knife had plunged deep enough to carve out a jagged heart on her front.
"Aoi! Oh, I missed you. And Akane too! You better be taking care of her, she deserves all the love in the world."
Before she could go on, the shadows called her from the treeline, and only Akane’s arms kept Aoi from falling to her knees. Three sets of glowing eyes and sharp, cruel grins manifested in the darkness, and their soft calls made Nene's delicate features twist to match. She reached out and curled a strand of Aoi's hair around her finger before Akane dragged them both back.
"I won't hurt you, either of you. You mourned me, and no harm will come to either of you, so long as you protect her Akane. Keep her happy, and you shall have nothing to fear of the darkness."
Nene turned on her heel and headed back, and they watched as one of the shadows caught her in their arms and swung her around. They didn't wait for them to disappear or try and come back; Aoi and Akane flew back to the safety of the village, even as panic began to descend.
Nene giggled as Hanako nuzzled her neck, watching as the group of kids dumb enough to cross the Veil tonight started to cry and argue. He tugged on her ribbon for a minute before he pulled away, leaning over her in a way that might have frightened her if she hadn't known how soft he actually was.
"Well, off we go? Let's see if we can get them to scatter; Tsukasa wants to hunt. And I know Sakura wants to see how well you've practiced."
She nodded and took his hand, letting Haku-joudai settle in her palm as she willed the shadows to snatch and grab at the children as they screamed. Even better was that the littlest Minamoto had been pulled along into the group.
She had a rather pretty pink ribbon in her hair that Nene thought would look lovely tied beside her own on the tree. She let her smile split her face as Hanako pressed a kiss to her temple and jumped to the leaves beneath them, fading into the mist with a low chuckle as the kids tittered nervously.
The Minamoto girl's eyes flickered to Nene and widened as she realized just who she was. And the fear rolling off her was heady and decadent as Nene leaped to the ground, all of them falling over each other to get back as Sakura joined her from the shadows.
Their screams were a symphony as they shot off in different directions, Sakura's lazy smile promising pain as the moonlight twisted her form as Tsukasa’s wicked laughter echoed around them. And Nene waited until she and the littlest Minamoto, pale and trembling like a leaf, were alone before she caught that pink ribbon between the tips of her fingers; her pretty sky blue eyes filled with tears as Nene's bloodstained mouth formed one haunting word.
"Run."