Blackfeather Woods the assassin's road

then i pledge my sword to your service. for as long as that may last.

perhaps kikyo will be fortunate—his knives will find him one day, as they had in the past, and he would go and see who they had found. more heads would roll.

he dips his chin. it is an act of deference to masa, but not quite deep enough to be a bow, and does not expose his throat or his neck to either the man or the boy. with nothing else to say, kikyo moves to part from both of their company and seeks the rotted carcass.

he does not go far, though. a step, maybe two or three, before he stops and regards masa once more. do i have leave to finish my meal? one ear is turned towards the boy among them, but otherwise kikyo no longer regards them as an enemy, or a friend, or there at all.

masa is the one that matters in this moment.