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The Kamo estate was a fortress of power made of wood, paper screens, and lush greenery. Tonight was the first night of Spring, and the cicadas hummed in harmony as Mizuki sat by the bench on her private balcony.
Mizuki Kamo. The name echoed with great power within the Jujutsu world. Naoya initially despised her for it. He thought the sheer audacity of a woman showcasing such strength was absurd. But one day, at a special clan gathering, Mizuki had punched his ribs so hard he was hospitalized for a week.
He had a hard time distancing himself from her since then.
Suddenly, her strength was a potent drug to him. When she unlocked her blood-filled domain expansion when they were just sixteen, he gifted her a ruby Cartier necklace. When she was re-classified to a Special Grade, Naoya had closed down a Michelin-star restaurant just to celebrate with her (or to comfort her, given that being re-classified also meant giving her the biggest target on her back).
She was, undoubtedly, one of the most powerful women in Jujutsu society. A fact that was supposed to deter Naoya. A fact that should have made his skin crawl out of sheer disgust, and yet…
Next to her on the balcony sat the Zen’in heir-apparent himself, Zen’in Naoya.
These nights had become a norm for them. Naoya, with his superior Projection Sorcery, would routinely sneak into the Kamo estate just for a few moments of quiet with Mizuki. To the rest of the world, Mizuki was the prized possession of the Kamo clan, their sole Special Grade in history, while Naoya was the top dog of the Zen’in clan, leading The Hei unit.
But tonight, they were just two old friends enjoying the quiet.
Mizuki lit up her joint, the flame from her gold lighter softening her features in the night. She had pale skin, with the same set of narrow grey eyes as her brother, Noritoshi. Her long black hair flowed freely and fell down to her back.
She took a deep huff of her blunt and passed it to Naoya. “Fresh batch. Fresh from the Kyoto mountains.”
Naoya smirked, his usual arrogant air softening just a bit in the presence of Mizuki. He took the blunt and took a hit. “I expect nothing less from you, princess.”
He took a deep breath and exhaled. “My old man’s been bugging me about settling down again.”
Mizuki scoffs and shakes her head. “Again? As if putting out every day on the battlefield to deal with curses for our goddamn clan honor wasn’t enough.”
He leans on the backrest of the bench. His eyes were distant, as though his gaze were going beyond the stars themselves. “Beats me.”
There was a moment of silence between them, and then Naoya turned to her. “Hey…”
Mizuki looks at him curiously. “You’ve got that look on your face again, Zen’in. What is it?”
“What if I just courted you?”
For a moment, Mizuki just looks at him, as if he had just said the most absurd thing in the world. She laughs and scoffs, feigning indifference. She then looks at him. “Did you have a concussion on one of your missions? Or have you just gone absolutely insane from the stress?”
Naoya just looks at her, his expression giving away nothing, but he was waiting for her to acknowledge the possibility of him and her.
“Shit. You actually mean it, don’t you?” She takes the blunt from him and takes a deep hit. She sighs and looks at him. “Okay… okay. Dare? Go to my father and present yourself as a suitor.”
Naoya grins and gets the blunt from Mizuki’s hand. A dare. This was familiar. This was something they did on the daily. Whether it was taking down a new sorcerer who acted out, or humiliating an aristocrat with no special abilities. The thing with Mizuki and Naoya is that they would never back down on a good game. And what Mizuki was proposing wasn’t just a regular hunt – it was an apex predator daring another apex predator.
“Deal, princess.”
Naoya didn’t waste a single day. There he was the next day, by the grand receiving hall, sitting in perfect seiza posture in front of the Kamo clan head. Beside the clan head was the heir Noritoshi Kamo.
“You wished for an audience, Zen’in Naoya?” The Kamo clan patriarch said, his voice a monotonous baritone. To a normal sorcerer, this would have made them flinch or bow in fear.
But Naoya wasn’t just another sorcerer.
“I am here to present myself as an official suitor for your daughter, Kamo-dono,” he says, his voice a perfect mix of respect and audacity.
The Kamo clan’s patriarch sits still, his eyes twitching for a fraction of a second. Noritoshi beside him clears his throat, a nervous habit. He was about to say something to Naoya, when his father started speaking again. “And what makes you think… a Kamo would choose a Zen’in?”
Naoya bows for a fraction, his expression becoming serious. “There’s no reason, Kamo-dono.”
“I am aware that our clans hate each other’s guts. I am aware that a union between me and your daughter would be asking for a death wish for us both.”
He then looks up at the Kamo patriarch and at Noritoshi. “Except… she’s not just a Kamo. She’s Mizuki. And I’m not just a Zen’in… I’m Naoya.”
“I have known your daughter before she wielded her domain expansion, and even before she was even re-classified as a Special Grade. And even then, our bond has been… inevitable. She belongs with someone who can keep up with her, and I deserve a woman who doesn’t cower at every move I make.”
The Kamo patriarch’s mouth twitches. He simply stands. “I see.”
He turns to Noritoshi. “Noritoshi, find your sister, tell her to see her… friend… on the way out.”
Mizuki kept a straight expression on as she reached the front gate of the Kamo estate. As soon as the rest of the servants dispersed, she let out a huge sigh and slapped Naoya on the shoulder. “You idiot! What were you thinking?! I was joking when I said to go to my father!”
Naoya rubs his shoulder and keeps his smug expression on. “Couldn’t resist a good opportunity, princess.”
“Opportunity?! You realize what you’ve just done?! If this reaches Naobito-dono, it’s going to be a huge political headache on both our ends. You don’t think, Naoya! You just do everything on a whim without even thinking of what to do next and how to commit to it–”
“What makes you think I haven’t been thinking of this?”
Mizuki pauses and looks at him, her narrow grey eyes opening wide and focused on just him. “Wh…what…?”
He steps closer to her, invading her personal space completely. “You think… all these years, that I just sneak in your dusty old decaying estate just to smoke weed with you and drink your stale sake?”
“Well, you’ve always been a freeloader–”
“You’re an idiot, Kamo.”
Mizuki furrows her brows and slaps his face this time. “Take it back, you pig! I am not an idiot! I have an IQ of a hundred and–”
“This isn’t a game to me, Mizuki! Not anymore.”
Mizuki stops. Not just in talking. She just… stops. She stops breathing, focusing, thinking, and functioning, perhaps for a good five seconds. “Huh?”
“I love you, you stupid woman,”
“You can’t mean that. You’re the most manipulative, chauvinistic pig I have ever known, and I–”
“Shut up,” he says, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Just… shut up, Kamo.”
And then, his lips met hers. Her perfume, a floral scent with a subtle powdery undertone, filled Naoya’s senses. As for her, Naoya’s clean cedar scent filled her, as she felt his tongue move towards her lips, urging for entry. Their tongues then meet, both fighting for dominance as they devoured each other. Even in their first kiss, the two were still battling for dominance. She grips the front of his haori and moans softly.
Naoya is the first to gently break the kiss, resting his forehead on hers.
“You’re insufferable, Kamo.”
Mizuki chuckles softly, opening her eyes to meet his. “And you’re a pig, Zen’in.”