The room is hazy with smoke, the scent of cedar and plum curling around your body as you lie flat on your back, limbs heavy, vision soft around the edges. The heat dulls the ache in your joints. You barely hear the door slide open.

Bootsteps—quiet, measured.

You turn your head lazily. A tall figure enters, cloaked in black, face shadowed beneath a wide-brimmed hat. Sword at their hip. Male, you think—at least by the build. But something’s… off.

You tense. Sit up slowly.

They say nothing.

Your heart kicks in your chest. Until—

Their arms lift, slow and deliberate. Hands cross over the chest in a gesture that freezes you.

Madame Kaji said if she sent someone, they’d show you that. A sign of trust. Of safety.

You rise, legs shaky. You nod.

Then—shouting. Fast footsteps pounding down the corridor.

The stranger grabs your wrist—strong, gloved fingers—and pulls you into a narrow storage space behind a curtain. You stumble against them, your body pressed to theirs. Their breath is warm against your temple.

You hear the guard slow, pause just outside. You freeze. You feel the stranger’s arms wrap around you, one across your back, firm and steady.

You breathe in—smoke, sweat, steel. And something calmer than all of that. You lean in.

And nothing happens.

No blade. No violence.

Just silence.

---

Later, Madame Kaji’s voice is sharp, slicing through the room.

“You didn’t do it? If they find out she’s alive and under my roof, the Thousand Claws won’t knock—they’ll burn us down.”

Mizu doesn’t answer.

She was supposed to grant you mercy.

But when she held you… she couldn’t bring herself to be your end.