In The Darkness. Damantha Makarova

rune.

      «That’s right!» Itsuki smiled. «Remember how strong you are! Don’t let that demon win!»

      «It hurts…» Kara whispered, touching the rune that was hidden under the bandages.

      «It hurts being strong! But we endure it to fight our battles and win!» Itsuki cupped her cheek and made her look at him. «And I will lend you my strength any time you need it.»

      Kara studied his sad, gentle eyes and nodded.

      «Thank you.» She whispered, covering his hand on her cheek with her palm.

      She looked at his left hand and saw that it was bleeding. Itsuki noticed that and squeezed his hand into a fist.

      «Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.» He said, pressing his forehead to hers. «It looks worse than it is.»

      «I’m sorry.» Kara reached out and he allowed her to hug him, pressing her against his chest again.

      «And I am sorry that I wasn’t fast enough to stop him from burning you.»

      «It’s not your fault.» She smiled faintly.

      He kissed her, feeling her shivering a little, and embraced her once more, before letting go.

      «Never forget!» Itsuki touched her left arm, where she had her motto tattooed. «Gods favour the strong. You are strong. Don’t ever forget that, Nakano.»

      «I’ll try not to. I promise.»

      «I will remind you if you will.» He smiled, caressing her cheek.

      «Thank you.»

      «I suppose you won’t be able to sleep, so, maybe, you can join me in circling around the village while most people are still sleeping?»

      Kara nodded, finding it very hard to admit what made her wake up in such a violent manner. A distraction was welcome, and she definitely needed to clear her head.

      «On one condition…» she whispered, taking his left fist into her hands. «You let me bandage your wound.»

      Itsuki sighed and agreed with a sad smile.

      After Kara cleaned his palm and bandaged it, feeling very guilty for hurting him, she stood up, grabbing her katana. But Itsuki, rising next to her, caught her by the shoulders and embraced again.

      «I love you, Nakano.» He whispered to her.

      «I love you too, Inei.» Kara pressed against his chest, grateful that he was so gentle and understanding.

      As they left into the chilly night, Itsuki stayed near Kara – yet he was vigilant and ready to face any demon that could appear.

      Things still felt very calm – people were slowly waking up, as the sky on the horizon already began brightening. Very soon, the street was filled by people that began their usual morning routines – gathering their things and going to the fields, setting up the shopping carts to sell their goods, starting their trade and going about their business. Children appeared too – running and playing before their parents would hurry them to begin with their chores.

      Kara and Itsuki studied the people closely, finding them quite mundane and not dangerous in any way. Even though her arm hurt from the burn she had suffered at night, Kara kept herself collected and tried to see everyone who lived in the village.

      At some point a group of children surrounded Itsuki and Kara and ran around them, playing tag. Itsuki didn’t mind them, but Kara suddenly tensed up, as her burn began aching more than a moment before. She looked at the children, trying to figure out if it was one of them, who could have triggered it, but the children giggled and ran off, too busy with their game to notice anything.

      Wincing at the pain, Kara gently rubbed her burn.

      «Are you okay?» Itsuki asked, glancing at the children.

      «My burn hurts again. Badly…» Kara sighed, noticing how the pain started to lessen its grasp on her injury. «I’m okay. I’ll live.»

      They continued their way and spent a couple of hours investigating the village and speaking to some of the people. However, everyone seemed to be in great spirits and not knowing of anything strange happening.

      Finally, they approached an old woman, who was sitting near a small shrine and looking at the children that were playing nearby.

      «Hello, young ones.» She said with a small smile, greeting Itsuki and Kara. «I’ve heard there were travellers in our village. Have you come to pray at the shrine?»

      «No, grandmother.» Itsuki replied. «We wanted to ask you if you have seen anything strange around here lately.»

      «Oh, there’s a lot going on nowadays. Demons hunting in the forest… kitsune sighted near our village…» the old lady answered. «But who would believe an old woman like me?»

      «Tell us.» Itsuki sat down next to the old woman and Kara stepped aside – towards the shrine, to examine it.

      «A month ago a little girl came to our village. Before she arrived, we only had one creature living in the woods and killing deer and sometimes wolves.» The old woman started her story. «It ate all our dogs too…»

      Kara did notice that this village was strangely lacking dogs or even cats.

      «But after the girl came and Akiko took her in…» the old woman shook her head. «We are having more and more trouble. And a kitsune seems to be running about at night.»

      «What trouble are you talking about?» Itsuki asked.

      «First, our chickens began disappearing. Then Akiko’s husband fell sick and died. Now Akiko herself is sick. Our fields are infested… And the children are having nightmares almost every night.»

      Kara stepped up to the shrine a little closer and noticed a small girl glancing from behind it. When the young woman approached, her burn burst with a new wave of pain, confusing her of the unusual way pain seemed to be coming and going in an unexpected manner.

      Trying not to show how much pain she was in, Kara leaned in towards the girl.

      «Hello, little one.» She said with a friendly smile.

      «You killed Kaito!» the girl hissed quietly, surprising Kara.

      Before the woman could do anything – the girl ran off, disappearing in the thicket. Puzzled at this strange encounter, Kara glanced to Itsuki and wondered if she should interrupt his conversation with the old woman. She decided to wait, cradling her aching limb and watching the thicket, where the girl seemed to be hiding.

      Finally, Itsuki thanked the old woman and walked up to Kara.

      «Did you find anything?» he asked her.

      «A strange girl…» she replied, feeling her burn stop aching. «A very strange girl.»

      «How’s your burn?»

      «I’m not sure…»

      «What do you mean?»

      «One moment it hurts like it did when I got it, but a few moments later it’s as if nothing’s there.» Kara shrugged her shoulders, not understanding what was happening to her.

      «I’ll ask one of our mystics to take a look, when they get here with Lord Ryuu.»

      «Don’t bother them. I’m sure they have enough on their plate as it is.»

      «Nakano, I am only worried for your well-being. If that demon poisoned you or cursed you – we need to know.»

      «Fine. I’ll see the mystic.»

      «Thank you.»

      «Meanwhile… Can we set up someone to watch Akiko’s house?» Kara whispered to Itsuki, hoping that the girl is long gone and not listening in to their conversation.

      «Oh, so you were listening!»

      «More than