“So, that bride is your little sister, Miharu?”
“Eh!? What are you doing in my room!?”
The night after I had been thrown into the prison, I returned to my room after finishing the day’s work, only to find Tsubaki lounging there as if he belonged.
“This room is quite small. Well, it is a storage room, so I suppose it can’t be helped.”
“It’s not a storage room…”
“It is. It was originally built for that purpose.”
He stated it so matter-of-factly that I had no room to argue. Well, considering how long he’d apparently been alive, it wouldn’t be surprising if he actually knew how this mansion was built.
“Even if it was, having a room of my own is better than nothing. Anyway, yes, Karen is my little sister.”
“I see. Even if it’s an oni’s instinct to choose a bride, that was quite the choice of a woman, wasn’t it?”
Tsubaki chuckled, shoulders shaking with amusement. I sat across from him, watching. The room was so small our knees nearly brushed.
“What standard do oni use to choose their brides?”
“Physical compatibility.”
“Wha—!?”
I choked on my words. Tsubaki continued his explanation as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“What do you think the purpose of taking a human woman as a wife is? It’s to bear strong oni offspring. Naturally, choosing a woman who is physically compatible makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Well… I suppose that’s true. But they have to live together, right? Shouldn’t personality compatibility matter too?”
As I stumbled through my protest, Tsubaki burst out laughing.
“Humans die in barely eighty years. What’s the point in worrying about personality compatibility? Even if she’s unpleasant, just endure it for a bit and she’ll die on her own. All that matters is that she bears strong children.”
“So oni spend endless years living without anyone they can truly trust?”
The thought of living alone through the endless flow of time sent a chill through me. Even for a being like him, could that truly be possible?
But Tsubaki dismissed the idea casually.
“No, not quite. Oni often choose other oni or yokai as companions. Beings with similar lifespans share similar values and it’s more convenient that way. I believe Loki had a yoko—a fox spirit—for a partner once. Akabane, I think her name was. He boasted endlessly about how beautiful she was.”
“Ah, I see… Wait, so there are other kinds of beings besides oni?”
“They simply don’t show themselves in public. Oni mingle with humans because they need human women, but other species that have no need for humans have no reason to do so.”
“I… see…”
I was completely taken aback. I was now absolutely certain, I absolutely do not want to become an oni’s bride.
“I’ve heard that oni love their brides with great devotion. That the stronger the oni, the more evident their devotion is.”
“To prevent their brides from bearing children with other oni, they promise them a life of luxury and comfort in human society. What complaint could there be? That is the oni’s form of love. Miharu, oni and humans are not the same.”
His voice was firm, almost admonishing. I lowered my gaze. I understood what he meant, but it still felt hideous. That wasn’t love, it was possession. I wanted to say that, but I knew he wouldn’t understand.
Then an idea struck me.
“I was thrown into that prison because I had proof that Karen was cheating and when I tried to expose her, we fought.”
“Was the other lover an oni?”
“No, a human.”
“Then Loki likely doesn’t care. If it were another oni, he wouldn’t forgive it. But a human? It’s insignificant. He might be irritated if she became pregnant with a human’s child since it would delay bearing his own but there are… ways to deal with that.”
Even without him spelling it out, I understood what he meant and wished I hadn’t. If a human child in the bride’s womb was an inconvenience… No, I didn’t even want to imagine the rest.
“Did you ever have a bride, Tsubaki?”
I asked quickly, wanting to steer the conversation elsewhere. He lifted his head.
“Me? Of course not. I’ve never had a bride.”
“Really? Even though you’re an oni?”
He frowned when I tilted my head at him.
“I am not an oni. Something similar, perhaps, but not one.”
“But you produced those blue flames—like will-o’-the-wisps… So what are you, then?”
“I am something that even other oni tried to seal away in that prison. Though, as you can see, they failed.”
He looked oddly proud of that, and I sighed.
“If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine. It’s not like we’ll be stuck together forever, just until Karen’s wedding.”
“Your sister’s future in-laws are my acquaintances, you know. I imagine we’ll be seeing each other for quite a long time.”
“Once I graduate high school, I’m cutting ties with my family.”
“…Hm?”
He tilted his head, and I told him flatly,
“My relationship with my family is awful. I’m done with them.”
“Ah, I see what you mean.”
He nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied, and while helping himself to my tea, said lightly,
“Even so, we’ll still be seeing each other for a long time. I’ve decided as much.”
“What!? Please don’t!”
I gaped at him, but Tsubaki’s eyes gleamed with mischievous amusement.
“It’s been ages since someone returned from that prison. Naturally, I’m curious about how your story will end.”
That reminded me, I still hadn’t learned what that “Prison of No Return” really was.
“What exactly was that prison? I was thrown into there for no reason.”
“How to explain it…”
Tsubaki’s gaze drifted off into the distance, and he fell silent for a moment.
I waited quietly, sitting with my knees drawn up. When he didn’t speak, I found myself staring at him. He really was a beautiful man, unearthly, even. That inhuman elegance seemed common among oni, but his was sharper, more dangerous, as if it could rob you of your senses if you looked too long. If he wasn’t an oni… then perhaps he was something even more ominous.
Our eyes met, and my heart jumped. I quickly hugged my knees tighter.
“That darkness was a spell created to seal me away. To put it simply, it’s nothingness itself. It erases self-awareness, consumes life, and returns all to the void.”
I had a rough idea of what he meant. I’d felt it too, the terror of losing my sense of self in that endless darkness.
“Normally, anyone who steps into it goes mad and dies. They wander forever through the void, not even realizing they’re dead.”
A chill ran down my spine. So the feeling I’d had—that of souls endlessly drifting—had been right after all.
“Well, it did make for a convenient source of food for me.”
“You have terrible taste.”
“Leave me be. In any case, there’s only one way to escape that darkness. By resisting the void and affirming your own existence. Tell me, Miharu, what were you thinking at that moment?”
I fell silent. There had only been one thing on my mind then: making those who had hurt me pay.
“You should know yourself well enough. That fierce, vivid passion was powerful enough to shatter the void. Impressive, truly. It even woke me up from three centuries of sleep.”
“…And what does that have to do with us being ‘tied together for a long time’?”
I asked in frustration, but Tsubaki only tilted his head.
“I’m simply curious to see what becomes of such passion. Will it consume you in the end or will it reduce everything else to dust? Either way, it should be quite a sight, don’t you think?”
“So you’re saying you plan to watch until I destroy myself. I think I finally understand why you were sealed away.”
“And do you realize what you’ve awakened? I can promise you this much, it won’t be boring.”
Tsubaki smiled, eyes narrowing with satisfaction. I could only slump my shoulders, already dreading the trouble he was bound to bring me.
