cursebound. (Earinor & Akira)

The rain didn't bother Genji, although it poured down upon him relentlessly. The storm grew quite heavy and at the outskirts of the hill the earth was washed away by the masses of water. His clothes were soon drenched and they got dirty too. They were borrowed, so maybe he should have taken better care, but right now he didn't think, all he did was bury corpse after corpse. Some of them missed limbs, searching for the right ones was impossible and thus Genji didn't bother playing a giant puzzle of human remains. Maybe they deserved better, but on the other hand, he didn't want them to wait any longer than necessary. For each grave he built a cross with some wood he found and rope. He plucked it in the earth. Nameless graves for all of them. If Mikuni wanted, he could write down their names or maybe Genji found records in the mentioned library. That was a task for later though. Genjis body ached, but he didn't pay it any mind, this was the least he could do and not at all a suitable punishment.

The rain was so loud that Genji didn't notice the light footsteps that sneaked up on him. Only when he was touched he noticed the other persons presence. He quickly turned around, about to grab the intruder, but he knew better and he stopped himself. Instead he simply looked at Mikuni, or was it him? No, the pattern of speech was different and the voice, albeit the rain, sounded different too. "Otoha...?", he asked slowly as if he once more had only awoken from a dream. "You're getting all wet...", he mumbled, knowing that whatever he did, this body would remain with him. They needed to go back inside, and so he softly took Mikunis wrist to pull his body back inside with him. Even in the halls the rain could be heard loudly. Genji stopped not far from the entrance and turned towards the other person. The wet clothes nestled against Mikunis body, revealing the shape in surprising detail. Otohas curves were missing. The chest was flat, so were the hips and the limbs seemed a bit slimmer too, still they somehow looked alike. Genji was surprised to be able to picture Otoha how she once looked like. The hair color was the same, the face seemed similar too, only the sex and the skin tone differed greatly. Genji pulled his gaze off of Mikunis body and instead took the blanket from his shoulders to drape it around the body in front of him, softly and a bit hesitantly.

Having a new, physical form after so long felt horrible - Mikunis pain came through to her, bot emotional and physical, and yet Otoha was better equipped to deal with it all than anyone around her; even if it simply was someone that shared her entire being with and a lover from yesteryear, that had long since lost any significance to the world surrounding them both. For now, nothing more than the currents of wet wind and the ever falling rain were watching and listening to them, telling her what she could and could not do, and came up with its own solution to all of her problems - some she neither agreed with, nor seriously denied, though, it gave her enough of an excuse to simply sit idly by and look at Genji, at him and the mess he'd become, and be reminded of the man he'd once been. A force of nature, that now found himself to be reduced to nothing more than a bit of ash, swaying in the wind and being told to be on the lookout for those that haunted him. He'd seemingly cast aside his pride, his long hair, his clothing and his own ways, simply to become someone he no longer wished to be, and still somebody he'd have loathed years ago.

"In the flesh, Genji.", she replied, a smile taking her lips hostage. Mikunis elongated body was a weird one - he was somewhat taller than she remembered herself being, and yet, he had no cushioning anywhere, he was all lean meat and barely any muscle, or fat for that matter, and as flat as a board. If she had to be honest, she would have prefered another body, but there was no time to complain as Genji guided her aside, seized up her broken body and hid it beneath the blanket she'd brought for him. "I will get no cold, don't be silly. You, however, are not exempt from sickness, are you?", she chastised her enstranged lover before she offered him the blanket back, wrapping it around his drenched form. They both had had better times, ages ago, when they were simply nothing more than mortal and together. That had stopped at some point, almost as soon as she had died, and now, Otoha stole a hug from Genji. "You haven't changed that much.", she admitted, as she wrapped her arms around his body, seeking out every last crease she wanted to map out, but all she did was press the wet clothing against his body and skin, against what little scars remained then and there. "We should take a warm bath, or would you rather huddle in front of the fireplace for old times sake? Just like back then ..."

Genji wondered if this body could go on forever with just Mikuni and Otoha switching consciousness, or if it needed a break too. It healed itself, from everything, so it was probably fine for them to be awake when the other one slept. She was right though, she couldn't get sick and even if she was, her body would heal from whatever befell her, unlike Genjis. The only thing that wasn't mortal about him was the fact that he didn't age, but that didn't mean that he couldn't get a cold and even die from one. The blanket however, was of little use. The short time in the rain had it soaked as much as Genjis clothes that were dirtied by mud. As an answer to his question he let out a short grunt and nodded his head a bit. He took the rather useless blanket, there was no discussing with this woman. He still remembered her actual form somewhat, she'd been smaller, Genji was sure that when he looked at her, he looked downwards, even when he slouched just as now. Not only had she been much smaller when they first met, but also once she'd become a grown woman.

Suddenly she hugged him and Genji didn't know what to do. Only after a little while he raised one arm to put his hand on her shoulder. It just lay there without pulling her closer and without stopping her from leaving again. He felt their cold body against his own, though after one more day of rest, it seemed like it had blood circulating through it again and therefor also warmth. Their skin also had taken on a healthier color than before. "I haven't...?", he asked. Was he still the same person he'd been 400 years ago? Her suggestion however made him take a slow step back to look at Otoha. This body still was a bit smaller than his but not much. "Back then...?", he asked, but soon after shook his head, it didn't matter. "This body not only belongs to you. I doubt Mikuni-no-Homare would be fond of your ideas.", he told her. Even though he couldn't remember her or their time together at all, the thought of being close to her sounded very appealing to Genji. He felt so strange when talking to her, he was able to hear his heart pounding in his head and his mouth felt dry. It was hard to not fulfill her every wish immediately after she voiced it, as if she cast a spell on him.

Her gaze almost ravished her own knight in shining armor, except he really wasn’t that. Ever since Otoha had known him, he’d killed for a living, had taken women as his own when he pleased, and to her, had been nothing more than quite the womanizer from the moment she laid her eyes upon him on that very day. Times had changed, and so had her body - she was no longer her own self, but rather a joke compared to who she’d been years ago. Holier than thou was nothing she liked to pretend to be, and yet, it had become a daily occurrence. Breathing the air, looking at the sky, being human - none of those things were real to her before she’s slipped out of Mikunis mind and into the forefront of his body; she liked the unknown feelings she experienced, those that she’d cast aside a long time ago, and yet, Genji seemed to shy away from what he’d missed so long. For every step she took forward, he seemed to take two backwards - towards the wall that was behind them. If Mikuni were a little taller, with those lanky limbs of his, she’d maybe have used them to take advantage of her former lover, but it all felt so weirdly wrong. Before long, she was smiling at him and trying her earnest not too get any closer, though, she liked what she saw and always would - Genji was hers, she was his, that hadn’t changed in all those years, had it?

“What are you so shy for? I thought you’d be happier to see me, after you got mad at Mikuni.”, he laughed. There it was, her all-knowing, all-realizing self that, for the better half of the last century, listened to any and all emotions that were shared with her, simply to stop being nothing more than a faceless, emotionless entity that had forsaken all purpose in a world that wasn’t keen on keeping her around in the first place. No matter how hard Otoha had tried, she’d always come second, one way or the other - and right now, she was nothing more than a vile beast in the form of a scared priest, seeking some sort of support from a man that could hardly help himself. “He’s dead asleep, what’s he going to say? We’re just trying to help, and you need a wash - you’re sopping wet and caked in mud, besides …”, Otoha reached for his hand anyway, taking it into her own. “You should he happy to have me back after we’ve looked for each other for all those years. So, what do you say?”, she teased Genji. There was nothing she truly wanted, but a bath sounded like a nice idea in all this tepid, disgustingly heavy rain. Why wouldn’t he just join her? The Goddess had a few ideas, though. “Are you afraid I’ll like his body more than yours? Or afraid that I’m not who you want me to be?” Otoha placed Genjis hand on Mikunis chest and chuckled. There was nothing to grab here. “I miss your touch, you know.”

"You heard that?", Genji asked Otoha once she talked about Mikuni. He thought she'd been asleep, in the very least she didn't say anything, also not to Mikuni. "He suggested you were okay with those people sacrificing others for you... is that true?" She told him something different before, that she didn't want it, but that Mikuni wouldn't leave, because he had nowhere to go and was scared. It sounded plausible enough, but after hearing both of them share their thoughts nothing seemed to make sense. Genji wished he'd be able to remember, he wished he'd know who Otoha really was and who he was himself when he knew her. There were little fragments to go by. She'd been a child when he first met her, saved her, he remembered that girl even before he realized Otoha lived inside of the priest. He didn't believe he stayed with her, their paths crossed otherwise again and she'd become a woman by then while Genji hadn't changed one bit. He still looked the same as he did when he was human, frozen in time, while the world moved on without him.

Otoha reached for Genjis hand, pulled it up and put it on their chest. A feeling not at all familiar, but he didn't mind. Why did he feel so excited yet calm at the same time when she was around? Her presence alone was enough to stop him thinking of all the death he caused. "I just mean.. he... he's been mad before, when he woke up. I don't want to upset him. He doesn't want to be close to me, he's scared, rightfully so." It felt wrong to force himself on Mikuni, even if Otoha gave him permission. It was their shared body, not hers alone. He didn't care that she looked different now, that was not the point. Besides, she too was better off without him and maybe he would be better off without her. He didn't want to hurt her, immortality or not and he didn't want to bring them any danger or harm. When she admitted she missed his touch, Genjis gaze fled to the side and he pressed some air out of his lungs. He missed her touch as well, even though he only remembered it from this morning, but he wasn't an animal, he could distinguish right from wrong and it felt wrong to give in right now. "What if I just prepare a bath for you and you relax a bit. This body isn't fully healed yet, is it?"

“I hear everything, I’m omnipresent.”, she laughed. Maybe not everything, but even then, she was still a goddess - one that had no creations of her own but simply took from those around her, the ones that not only were less fortunate deities, but also dictated whatever or not she even had something as simple as a few ants to rule over. “I’m not, but I never implored Mikuni to stop them. He tried, they didn’t listen, they liked to do things their own way and worship me as someone I never was. All that lead to was that I awakened from my slumber after a while - nothing more.”, Otoha explained to Genji. His warmth had left his body, one that had forgotten how to shiver a long time ago, and who’s rising and falling chest was almost unnoticeable, not because of his age, however; he’d simply learned so, years ago, to rid himself of those that crossed paths with his blade. Genjis long, slender fingers, at times calloused when he held those daggers for what seemed to be weeks on end, were, what Otoha missed the most on her body - something she couldn’t have back on what was now nothing more than a rotten corpse, if anything.

No warmth radiated through her cold clothes, clinging to her very form - she simply placed a muddy hand on her still clothed chest, Mikunis to be exact, and looked at Genji, expecting something, anything, even if it was little more than an illicit reaction that nobody would make in retaliation to something so stupid. “He won’t know, and he was mad because he woke up next to you, yes? We simply have to make sure that it’s me who wakes up again, or to not share a bed for the night, if I’ll relinquish the body back to him. As easy as that.”, she cackled, not wishing for Genji to escape her grasp. They both had locked eyes more than once - they didn’t even share the deep blue hue of their own, not in this life or the last, but the golden iris that Otoha now called her own was much nicer in her opinion, if a strange color. The goddess moved her hands, from the back of Genjis hand, all the way up his arm, until her dancing fingers reached his shoulder and she once again was pressing her assets - or lack thereof - against the trained, dirtied body of an assassin. This ought to be fun. “It is not, but you should stop looking out for others like this all the time. Let us be together for a bit, how does that sound? We needn’t share a tub if you feel uncomfortable, though, it’s simply a wash to warm ourselves up. And you’re dirtier than me, worked harder than me - I should prepare you a bath, not only for old times sake.”, Otoha cooed in a soft voice, as she guided him away, deeper into the monastery - they’d merely need to find a fitting place and Mikuni would not mind, he had the desire to wash up himself. “My father won’t hunt you down this time, just because you dare take a peak. You aren’t afraid of him any longer, are you?”

"Everything?" Did she really hear everything all the time? Mikuni said she was sleeping, but maybe she heard it in her dreams and when she woke up she remembered everything as clear as day. It was different for the priest, or at least did he not listen in when Genji and Otoha had their first conversation together. "Is he hearing everything too?", he still asked, just to make sure. There was no point in hiding anything rom either of them if both of them knew exactly what the other was up to all the time. "What slumber? How long since you regained consciousness...?", he wanted to know. Was there others carrying her eye, or only Mikuni? "He does somewhat look like you... if I remember correctly." maybe she needed to wait for the right host, someone that shared something with her and there was a resemblance if only in their looks. Still, a lot of things didn't make sense to him and he had more questions than he could ever ask. Most of them he didn't want to voice, because he didn't want to come off as if he questioned the goddess he kind of knew.

Again Otoha made him touch their body and he looked at her, past his blonde, wet and dripping her, trying to make out what it was about her, that was so very different. "Should we really lie to him...?", he asked, but he didn't shy away either, not even when soft fingers crawled up his arm, all the way to his shoulder and the feeble body demanded another hug. "Old times sake...?" Genji couldn't remember anything, but he nodded eventually. She won, she'd always win. Should they get fresh and dry new clothes from somewhere? Hang and wash the ones they now wore? Otoha would chastise him if he brought it up now, so he kept quiet and let himself be dragged after her towards the next available tub. "I don't remember. That doesn't sound like me...", he told her. Maybe his human self, but if he knew Otoha then, he'd remember it, of that he was sure. When he was still young he used to sleep with girls left and right, but he never had any meaningful connections. Much like for his victims, he didn't value those fellow humans either. In fact Genji cared about nobody, in turn now he cared for the whole world as it seemed. He failed at protecting it too. Scared however was a word he rarely used for himself. When he was still human, he definetly wasn't scared of anything. After his masters death he felt like he owned the world. Nowadays he was merely scared of what he and the curse were capable of, of who he'd hurt, but he couldn't remember an instance of being afraid of someone else. Then again, he didn't know much in the first place.

"Everything. Nothing is safe from me.", he declared. That it wasn't, and that much she was aware of. Whatever Genji liked it or not did no longer matter, not to her, not to anyone else, and almost certainly not to Mikuni. While he couldn't hear their back and forth, not when he was passed out like that, he'd wake up eventually and have more questions for Genji than he had answers. It was but a simple life they shared in one body, if at least they didn't have a likeminded goal. The longer she thought about it, the more she felt like she had to compliment the husk they both shared; it took everything so well, it was almost scary - almost made for her, not for Mikuni. "No, he is fast asleep right now. If he were awake, he would be able to hear you, but he has chosen rest. I do not blame him; his mind has to heal at some point.", she told Genji. They both had a rocky road ahead of them, and while Otoha was more than glad to help, she also new that Mikuni-no-Homare hat his own baggage to take care of, not just hers - it would never be just hers, that much was for certain. "Years, tens of them. Maybe hundreds. I don't know exactly, though, I doubt it has been that long. I awoke when they fed me - my vessel, not this one - their holy blood. However, I was weak and maliable, confused and but in my infancy as a ghastly creature beyond human comprehension.", Otoha explained to Genji in the easiest words she could find. What did it matter, though? Now she was here, and she wouldn't leave Genjis side as long as he willed it.

"Somewhat, though, the differences are apparent. I was no man, shared no body with one. My hair might have been shorter, my eye color a tad bit lighter, as was my skin, and frankly, I probably packed more of a punch than the body of a priest ever could.", she reminded Genji. Taller she had gotten, her curves were something she had started to miss, and yet, it had just been like it always should have been - she awoke, someplace faraway, devoid of any purpose, with the realization of treason at the back of her mind. There was no Genji to heed her every beck and call, no beloved man, nor woman, and all she had was a body that clearly had not been hers, struggling to tickle any kind of feeling out of her. "We are not lying to him if he simply does not realize what we are doing. If he'd rather not take part in any of that, he can tell us, but for now, he's silent. Thus, for old times sake, I declare we should just enjoy ourselves.", Otoha demanded of Genji. She'd take no no as an answer and had already taken off with the blonde to seek out a tub, one of few, which she meticulously started to fill with water; the aqueducts still survived the test of time as it seemed, from the moment forward that she was meddling with the pipes. It would take a bit for the water to heat up, though, that was of no concern to her. "You don't remember a lot, do you now? How about your hundred wives, the women you took and never gave back, that had been yours for all your life? You told me about them, yet, I was too young to see them for myself.", Otoha mused from beyond the tub as she slowly slid out of her clothing, seemingly not in a haste. "Or how you claimed you'd make me one of them, though, you had none to show? I'm sure you'd been quite the womanizer."

"He seems... to do okay, even though he yelled at me. He was right to do so. I destroyed your family, your home. I am sorry...", Genji mumbled ashamed. Shame was not enough of a feeling in a situation like this. Mortified more likely and yet it hadn't been the first time. He'd reaped whole villages before and the stories told about Norochi spread far and wait. Even if he was to forget, the stories would reach him again and he'd e remembered of what he'd done. "Fed...? Blood? What vessel...?", he furthermore asked, ut eventually shook his head. "I suppose it does not matter. You're here now and I will see you two save before I leave." They'd find a good place, could live somewhere else without any sacrifices and in peace. Did Otoha even have any goals? What was one supposed to do with immortality if not fighting an endless bettle for control like Genji? He didn't have time for wishes and goals in fact and right now he had given up on finding a cure. Maybe he's skim this library here, but not today or tomorrow.

"You were a fighter, not a priest... but the shape of your face, the hair and the look on your face look... familiar.", he admitted, being dragged into a rather dark room. Genji himself didn't mind the dark and the shadows. In fact, his body was free from corruption or at least was cleansed once the curse took over. Shadow magic was always something he had used, for all his life, be it to hide away, or to see in the dark without being spotted himself. At this point he rarely noticed when he used it, because if the curse had any benefit at all, it was that he was free to use however much magic he wanted to. "Otoha... you make it easy for yourself...", Genji mumbled but she'd not give in would she now? She already let the tub be filled while Genji still stood in the same room annd felt awkward. Especially when Otoha started to get rid of their clothes, slowly as if she put on a show. Genji averted his gaze. "That... also doesn't sound like me... When I was human, I would have never married... and I'm sure I only met you after. I would remember you otherwise..." He would have sex as much as he liked, but he never had any meaningful connections when he was young. He'd not marry and carry the responsibilities of having a wife and he'd not brag about it either. Just who was the man Otoha claimed to know? Maybe it wasn't Genji after all... "I feel like... it was you who came after me..." Just like now. She'd given him... purpose...? "Otoha... Have I killed for you?"

Eons ago was, what all of this felt like. When she’d been a young girl, the impressionable daughter of a rich man, she’d had everything she ever could have asked for - a roof over her head, enough food on the table for days, all the toys she could get her hands on, as well as the finest clothing that her parents tailors managed to procure. Now, after so many bodies she’d shared, after lives she’d lived, there was hardly anything left of that once rather self-loving brat. She’d matured, in many ways, and most of them the worst ones yet; but she did her earnest, in a way, even after ascending. As Otoha looked at her dark reflection in the abyss of water that filled a tub, she stopped with what she had been doing - she was quite lean like this, and the foreign eye that contained so much of her felt like it was glowing, radiating little of an already small room. “Do not worry for me, pity him. This is neither my home nor my family, but it was his, if not voluntarily.”, she declared as she examined what little features the waters surface reflected back at her. Without a doubt, she’d been right - this accursed body of hers was closer to her old self than she would have it, but even then, it had taken many years for her to even realize.

The goddess furrowed her brows as she looked back up at Genji, her hand clamored into the fabric of her clothing. “A fighter? You remember that?” Her alert gaze shifted to annoyance, then softened. Otoha had always taken this man as a worthy opponent, rarely underestimated him, but always told him a tad bit too much. After not sharing one anothers path for years, they had drifted apart and changed, in many more parts than just their appearance. “What? Mikuni isn’t in control of this body, he wanted me to have it, and besides, I’ve watched you lie with men if that is what concerns you. I know you hardly care, and I was never insinuating we do more than wash one anothers backs - you’re a pervert.”, the goddess concluded and then chuckled about it. Someone like Genji had to have desires, locked away deep within himself - and judging by his reaction, there truly was nothing going on in that small brain of his, not a single memory was making its way through his mind. She came closer. “You told me the same, back then. You called them your wives, though, because they were all at your beck and call, admiring you and willing to indulge in the finer things of life at any point where they felt like you might have been in the mood. And you reeked of alcohol, too. In my opinion, a drunk sex-addict isn’t what I’m into.” Those were from days worse than the current ones, though, and Otoha couldn’t help but grin as she placed one of those large, cold hands on the soft skin and pliant meat of her missing chest, right onto where the scar - currently stitches - would have reached if Noroichi had decided that he needed to rip Mikuni apart for real. “Came after you? My, what if I had? Though, doesn’t it sound quite absurd, considering I was a young lady and you a seasoned assassin that my father desired to hire?” His head had come clean of, without as much as a single word of protest. Otoha placed her hand on Genjis cheek, caressing it softly with but her thumb as she lost herself in those eyes. “Killed for you? Don’t be silly. You did many things for me, good things, but killing for me … do you think so? You might have, though, out of your own desire to do so. I never asked you to.”

"I assume you still want a place to call home? Somewhere to return to...?", he asked her, but maybe she didn't. Genji did. What he once called home didn't exist anymore, neither the place, nor the time. There was no family he could miss and he didn't miss Otoha, not consciously, until he found her again. Wasn't it strange to just find her here? Many things didn't make sense for Genji and Otoha didn't answer all his questions. She was no bloodgod, but what gave her power and who killed her? And why? Why had she dreamed of it before she even became a higher being? The more he talked to her, the more he seemed to remember though. There was fighting, lots of it, together. Genji believed that he wanted to be at Otohas side. Not from the start, not at all, but she'd been persistent and eventually he enjoyed her company. Was she never afraid of him and his curse? If he killed, supposedly it wouldn't have been a problem in the first place though. Was that who he was? Someone that gave into the curse after years of strife to not ever hurt anyone again? Was that who he could become again? He didn't like the thought.

Genji didn't know why he deserved a stern look like that all of a sudden. Did he say something wrong? It seemed like there were certain bits Otoha tried to hammer back into his head, while she didn't want him to remember others and the more she pushed a narrative on him he couldn't relate to, the more he asked himself if he could trust her every word. He had had a strange feeling in his stomach from the start. Love? Fear? Something inbetween? He felt vulnerable around her and it worried him. If he felt so strongly about someone who he'd completely forgotten about only a week prior, what did he feel for her when he knew her still? "We both fought... together... I remember that... somewhat..." There was nothing much to go by, but it wasn't just a fight for survival, it felt like it had a cause. It felt like there was war, but Genji was unsure if it had been a personal one, or a real occurrence in history. "I... I'm sorry...", Genji mumbled once he was named a pervert and then wondered why. He didn't say anything, just that she made it easy for herself to disregard Mikunis feelings and wishes. Maybe he didn't want to undress infront of or monster and didn't want to touch him as well. "I haven't been that person since the curse... I think...", he replied, his blue eyes following Otohas moves in the dark somewhat. With no light source and the moon being covered by dark clouds, Otohas godly eye stuck out even more. It emanated light by itself and was reflected by the waters surface. His hand was placed on their chest once more, on the still broken body that he ruined so very much. "I'm sorry I put you through this...", he mumbled, his hand trembled slightly. Then he looked up again at her eyes, or at least the one blinding one. He didn't know what to say and the more they talked the less everything made sense. He couldn't remember Otoha as a lady and she quite frankly didn't seem like one. Strong opinions, a goal and a sense of leadership, that is what he got from her. "I lay down the mantle of assassin a long time ago...", he mumbled and yet it seemed like he became her knight, or something like that. Maybe she didn't ask or order him to kill, but that didn't mean that he didn't do it for her. Why was she this cryptic and didn't just tell him what it was...? "Don't you want to get in the tub...?"

"Wherever the wind takes me. I have no desire to call a place home that I'll be whisked away from at some point - this body is not eternal, my soul is, and the moment this body fails me through old age, that'll be it. I can only prolong ones life for so long; I am not made for human flesh.", she elaborated to Genji. She'd grown beyond what a normal human body could contain for a lon period of time, was eating away at the cells of a man much like a parasite, one that he'd described her as anyway, all the while she was stumbling through the world, trying to fit pieces together that made up Genjis life. Why had he forgotten so much? Was it simply because of his age? Otoha tilted her head in confusion as she let her own fingers wander the foreign form of man, her forlorn partner in all things physical. "Or do you wish to settle somewhere with me?", Otoha chuckled. Just like back then, tens or hundreds of years ago, when they felt like the world lay at their feet and nobody was able to stop them; before she forcefully had been ascended, ripped apart from the only man she ever cared about, but that was no longer an issue. She was safe, just like that, now that she had him back. Somebody had to guide this flesh chassis, this involuntary form, and if not Genji, who else fit the bill? "Do you now? Do you also remember who we took down, what riches we amassed, how obsessed we were? We loved like no other ever could."

She snickered in amusement - Otoha felt at home right now, in Genjis presence, her very own kind of hell - she deserved all of this, though, Genji also deserved to remember her and the lavish lifestyle they once had. Right now, they had nothing, as he'd rid her of all her earthly posessions, of all those priests, and she simply was hanging on by a threat. She soon tugged on the blondes muddy clothing, just a bit, to make it come lose; it need not stay on his form, for old times sake as well, but truth be told, she was trying her utmost to hide her excitement about sharing a moment of skinship with her most loyal of followers. "You need not worry, it hurt but my body, not my mind. I've endured worse. Do you know how it feels like when flames consume your entire being? That is truly horrible, no matter how you try to frame it.", she murmured and, once she'd managed to peel Genji out of what little clothing he wore on his upper body, smiled at him. Her fingers searched for a trace of the curse, in much anticipated darkness, but all she found were old wounds, healed gashes and cuts, from beyond her time - the curse was a remarkable, if a loathsome healer, and the skin beneath her fingertips defined, at parts calloused and rough, but there, where the curse had spread, it was soft and free of sin. Reborn anew. "Huh, needed a change of pace in your life ... what were you up to this past few years - merely seeking atonement?" Otoha halted in her endeavours and smiled as Genji was behaving like an idiot that knew nothing of modern life, simply to disarm her charming ways. "My, Seimei did a number on you ... and that I do, but with you; you are still wearing pants, though."

"What will happen to you when Mikuni dies?", Genji asked. What about that eye of hers, or was it just a manifestation once her soul possessed a body? What distinguished a god from a curse like Genjis, if she was willing to kill? The curse wasn't sentient, not as far as Genji could tell, but Mikuni was right when he labeled them alike. This poor boy was trapped with another being inside of him, one that made up his life and decided his path. One that wouldn't let him die before his time, even if he was tormented. Now he was stuck with Genji, whom he was scared of, but at the same time he was scared of being alone. Otoha didn't seem to be a suitable companion in his eyes. "I can't stay with you...", Genji mumbled and shook his head. He was too dangerous and a body that couldn't be killed shouldn't be around him. He'd only hurt them again and again, when the curse won over his body once more, it was only a matter of time. "The man you describe doesn't sound like me. I don't want to be that person either." It sounded like him when he was still human, though he never had grand ambitions about ruling the world, he just wanted to maintain some form of standard. Either way, he didn't want to disregard any life anymore, he needed to repent and he wanted to find a way to stop the killing, that was all.

Their fingers wormed themselves in Genjis clothing and opened it up. He just stood there and let it happen while he looked at her like a lost puppy. She removed the dirty clothes and revealed his skin, besides the bandages that wrapped itself around Genjis shoulder and covered the wound Seimei left on him. The muddied, soaked clothing fell to the floor and Genji wondered, if he shouldn't have gotten fresh sets for both of them. There were towels in this room, but that was about it. "I've tortured you for hours... no matter what you endured before, I added that pain onto both your plates. He'll not easily recover from this, even when you disregard it.", Genji answered and finally lifted his hand to put it on their cheek. He let his head fall forward a bit, until it softly touched their forehead. Otohas presence was soothing and exciting at the same time. Genji closed his eyes, he was tired, his body didn't have much strength left after all the labor he forced upon himself today and the fact that he was still wounded too. Every muscle in his body ached and he felt it with every little movement he did, even if it was only breathing. "I just want to stop killing... even if it costs my life. I've already lived for too long... I am not a god, I am just a cursed human after all. I start to believe that immortality is nothing a human mind can stomach. Time has become but an abstract concept for me, it halts and races as it pleases. Minutes and hours run past and I won't notice it, until I realize that a new day has started as if it was only a second long." The scars of days past, he couldn't even remember where they came from. None of them belonged to his human life, the curse has taken hold of almost his whole body at least once and swept away what remained of that man. Genjis resolve faded, his resolve to adhere to Mikunis wishes too. He let his head sink further down and placed it on their shoulder, but soon enough realized, that he wasn't sure how much longer this body could manage to stand on its own. He stood up straight again and stopped trying to tell her, that he'd just muddy the water needlessly and that the tub was a bit small for two people. She wouldn't stop and Genji was tired and wanted to sit. He slipped out of his boots that he dirtied the floor, he previously cleaned, with by seeking support against the cold wall.

"I will slumber, until I acquire a new body, a new form - a vessel, fit for me and no one else. Why would you ask? Are you unable to stand the thought of me leaving you so soon again?", Otoha beckoned with a smile. There was zero recollection of days past in the hazy ends of her mind; Mikuni said nothing and heard nothing, he'd holed himself up elsewhere at the back of their shared consciousness and was currently trying his utmost to sleep, as it seemed. She, on the other hand, was free to do whatever she desired and currently, it was to grin at Genji and caress his body, eternal even long past his intended death. "You can, you just have no desire to, is that what you mean?" For however long would a god live? Otoha could hardly tell and was to be merely content with spending years in dreamlike states if she could find no one to hold onto; Genjis body wasn't one she wished to call her own, not after knowing how much he hurt all the time, just because of Noroichi. No curse was sentient, but if one came close, it was this thing - vile and hungry, as it sunk its claws and tendrils into human flesh, then their souls, to proclaim them as their own. "You were that person, even if you have long since forgotten that. They called you many names and most of them fit you without a doubt, though - as much as you'd hate to admit. I was with you for a considerable amount of time, but, you know, the fact that you never aged, always were more beautiful than I could ever be - it made me quite jealous at times.", she informed him with a smile.

Hundreds of years had passed for sure - Otoha felt as if she had made more mistakes than she was willing to admit, but now, it was too late for that - the two of them were different people, one quite literally and the other one somewhat technically, and right now, they were staring at each other like their life depended on it. "Nobody was talking about him. Now that I'm awake, you won't hurt him any longer, just his body; one that I can heal in a few days, if given the time. Noroichi is no match for me, you should stop worrying so much.", Otoha chastised Genji and watched him, let him do as he pleased, all the while she kept track of his movements, the way the hair on his arms stood on end, or the simple touch that gave her goosebumps all of a sudden. She felt as if she'd been truly blessed to come back to a man that she once called her dearly beloved, someone that she wanted to have back in her arms and could now call her own. "You've lived for too long, but don't fret.", she tried to cheer him as he was struggling with what little clothing he wore. She watched, amused. "We'll find a cure, one way or the other, and then I shall dig you a grave next to mine and we can be together forever, how does that sound?", she suggested. Otoha was tired of arguing about bathing with Genji, tired of having to deal with her own mortal struggles. Right now, she simply reached out for him and offered him her hand, the moment she figured he was undressed; she herself was casting aside what little clothing her form still wore and waited for Genji to get into the steaming tub, before she did the same. It was quite cramped, that much had been true, but it didn't stop her from taking apart Genjis already soaked bandages, only so much so that she could scrub off the crusty blood that had oozed out in small droplets. "Why would you ever exhaust yourself like this? Do you think this is your just punishment?", she asked, dumbfounded, as she tried to think about nothing more than the rain and what it was whispering to her, as it carried the stench of fire and death away - the only thing left to decay was the monastery.

"I just want to know you're save...", Genji answered. What if her soul got trapped or she found herself in someones body that meant harm? Genji didn't know how any of this worked, Otoha had to tell him, but either way, he was worried about her. Mikuni-no-Homares life was short, very much so compared to Genjis or Otohas. For him, with his age, it felt like the life of a fly felt to a human. So short and what would you even be able to accomplish in such a short amount of time? Why care about that thing, that would vanish in what felt a blink of an eye. Why did he care about Otoha back then? Why let her close when he knew, even if she grew old, she'd vanish and was only a split second with him in what dragged on for all eternity? "I'm too dangerous... The man you describe might not have been, but he was killing regularly, was he not? I do not and with no one else around I will, no... I am going to hurt you again. There is no way around that." He couldn't beat the curse, never, whatever he tried. Once it got a hold of most of his body, it would move at it's will. Even when he dragged it out months and his whole body was covered in the black, smoke-ish appearance of the curse, it would find a way back to any living soul eventually.

"No Otoha... people were jealous because you chose me over them. Wasn't it so...? But none of them is around anymore." They were both all alone. "I don't know how you drove my course back, but... when you first got in touch with it, it weakened you, did it not? Don't underestimate that thing.", he told her worried still. There was no arguing with her about her plans and Genji fought himself out of the rest of his clothes. He needed to hold on to the wall to not fall on his ass, as he felt like if he would, he wouldn't get up again anytime soon. "Haven't we tried to find one when I knew you...?" Maybe they didn't. Maybe since he was content with killing, it made no sense to cure him. In change maybe Otoha searched for immortality, to stay with him forevermore and if that was the reason for her suffering, Genji had even more reason to apologize. She grabbed his hand and led him to the tub. He tried to slowly let himself in, but his body gave up and he probably looked less elegant as he hoped to. She got in herself and tried to find a suitable position, then started to get rid of the bandages around Genjis wound too. Genji himself let his head hang a bit and his arms were placed on the edges of the tub. His body reacted to the slight sting that was caused by Otoha caring for the wound. He felt tired, more so now that he finally sat down. Even just curling his fingers hurt and let them tremble. "They've been out there for too long. They deserve to rest, not be picked at by crows and rodents... It's the least I can do and still not enough." And meaningless with their souls being held hostage by his curse. But at least their bodies deserved some decency...

The goddess sighed, sounding somewhat amused as she did. "I am save now, and if it worries you so much, you may pick my eye from this corpse once it is nothing more than that. However, you have to stay around for Mikunis decay, then, and that could take years of living in isolation on this mountain. That won't get you much closer to your goal.", Otoha reminded him. She was right, but she also wished to remain here, if only for a few more months. Someone would eventually come here, seek answers for questions they hadn't even asked in the first place, and then determine who exactly was at fault for the decay of this place. How long would it hold up? "Dangerous? Mikuni told me he thinks of you as a kitten throwing a tantrum, and to me, you look like an abandoned puppy that looked for the bones of his mother in a pile of dirt. Looks can be deceiving, I know as much, but you must realize that no matter what, you are not it and it isn't you. Genji, you are so very human, it almost hurts to take a look at you.", she tried to hammer home. The flow of the water, one that turned to the color of rust and then muddied up, was no wonderful one, but she could simply pull rid herself of it as she please, and cleanse the water with magic - something that the world loathed to use. "I do not mind that, however. We should figure all of this out together, with one another, not apart from each other."

Now that she had him where she wanted him, she leaned against him as he'd done before - Genji seemed tired, and Otoha wasn't, as it had been before. "Was it? I don't know, but I'd never pick anyone over you, you know?" Not even someone like Mikuni, and if she could, she'd most likely enjoy getting closer to this man as well. They weren't made for each other, but in a way, it was like they'd been glued together. "Weakened? Bold. It startled me, I didn't expect it to be so obsessive and venomous, that is all.", she lied through her teeth. Even as a goddess, she was too weak to fight this stupid thing it seemed, and Genji was still seeing right through her. Otoha hated it, hated that she had to deal with all the hardship that this world offered her and her lover, while she could simply enjoy rubbing her face against his chest, his skin, and wash the dirt of todays work off of his back. "We were content back then, there was nothing for you to look for. Sometimes it ailed you, but it was so small, so well-fed that I could drive it back if it ever wanted a piece of me. Though, I did not live forever, and as it stands, it apparently got worse over time.", Otoha confessed as she wrapped her arms around his body, pressed her chest against his own, and chuckled a bit. One of her ears was soon enough pressed against the heaving and falling chest and she obsessively looked for a heartbeat, or maybe two. "It is enough because there isn't more you can do. I shall help you once the sun rises, but for now, let us forget them for a bit, enjoy ourselves as we should and ... Genji, do you remember what the nightingale sang for us?", she implored the forgetful man, but didn't wait for one of his answers. "We are but children of this earth, and to it we shall return. One way or another."

"You want to stay here...?", Genji asked surprised. This place was fit to live at if Genji finished cleaning it up. There was food, water and a sturdy roof, but it was lonely. besides that, someone would eventually come here and blame who was left for the vanishing of the other priests. Albeit now save, this place would become dangerous eventually and Otohas new body didn't know how to fight and defend itself. Being immortal didn't make them immune to pain and if one cut off their limbs, what would they do then? Even if Otoha controlled this body and fought for them, the strength she once possessed was missing. "Human? Me? I am not anymore. I've lost my rights as one and if I am honest, I never was a good person in the first place. My soul has been corrupted even before I'd been cursed.", he told Otoha. Right now he was nothing more than a broken shell that harbored an unending curse, one that probably got angry at him for not dying already, if it could. Staying alive was all he needed to do and yet he barely was. "But I mind and Mikuni does too.", he told her. No, he couldn't stay with them.

He wasn't sure if the water felt nice or not, much as he didn't taste anything at all. All joys of human life seemed to have fallen off of him, but at the very least he was able to feel Otohas touch. He gave into it and closed his eyes. It was odd, he could see and even feel her former form right there, as if her ghost overlaid Mikunis body. As if they were two different entities that curiously couldn't exist at the same time and place. "It overexerted itself in fighting you... but it also spread faster than it should have. I should have been able to contain it at least two more weeks." But he was weak too and once the betrayal was complete, he caved in like a house of cards. Still, it had grown into his ace when it shouldn't have. "Now it's surprisingly quiet... I don't think it has started growing." it was a mere spot on his back that could have been mistaken for a mole. he felt Otohas face rubbing against his chest and her body nestling up to his, as if they were two puzzle pieces fitting together. The soft rubs on his back and shoulders felt good, even though he hadn't expected it to. She didn't need to care for him like this. "I should have never killed so freely...", he voice toneless. Not for her and not for anybody else. The souls he took were trapped, a faith worse than a simple, normal death. She managed to get Genjis might occupied with other things however, as she came closer and Genji finally wrapped his arms around her. Why did he continue to resist the comfort she offered? How long since he received a simple hug, or simply compassion and understanding? He held her tightly this time as if she'd vanish otherwise. "It's my responsibility. You've done enough by bringing them outside...", he told her, that kind of help he didn't need and also didn't want. The words that meant to bring comfort did not. His grip tightened even more. "I'm not her son anymore. I've stolen her children and my own soul is shattered. My body is corrupted and vile, more so than any demons could be. I won't return to her, whether my life ends with her destruction, or with only mine..." The man Otoha knew hadn't realized that yet or he forgot, or he chose to forget. Maybe he'd been angry at his fate and realized that a few more souls in an undead army wouldn't matter at that point anyway. Maybe he'd been right, but the man Genji was now disagreed. His chest felt heavy as he leaned forward a bit so he could press his own head against that that lay on his chest. A dam broke and he wasn't able to hold back some tears that rolled over his cheeks and on top of her head.

"For a while, is that so alien to you?", she wondered. Mikuni definitely didn't want to leave just yet, even if it brought misfortune to them both, and she wished to honor that request, if only for a limited amount of time. Otoha could not blame a child that was forced into a role he never thought to call his own, could now speak on Mikunis behalf and blame him for any of their shared wrongdoings, and would not even think about it for longer than a second. The mere thought hurt, to believe she'd failed a child so young, but it also had gathered many more followers around her, children that were eager to follow their priests teachings. "Genji, do not be harsh on yourself. You may abscond humanity, or not feel yourself worthy of calling you one and the same as them, but you still are, if only at your core, you.", she reprimanded him. How many times more she'd have to try and make him smile, that wasn't something she could tell, but for the time being, she had done a fantastic job it seemed, and at least cheered him up so much so that he would accept a discussion about himself, rather than loathe being someone he could not ever go back to. They both had left their simple lives behind, but that didn't mean that it would stay that way indefinitely. "We should talk with him tomorrow, does that sound good? If he wishes you away, I will no longer interfere, but be aware that I would never wish something like that upon you, not when I just found you.", the goddess gasped.

Deadly warmth spread through her tingling body as Genji finally came closer, finally embraced her in a hug that probably could end a thousand wars, and almost made her weep. This, however, was not her turn; it was that of a man long lost to the endless way of life, suddenly sobbing, holding tight and crashing down after he'd endured too much, too many times. Otoha could not blame him, for she never willed her own death, though she could comfort him and rubbed his back, his shoulders, keeping him close while closing her own eyes. "Shh, all is well. You are here now, aren't you?", she reminded Genji. There was no battlefield overrun by demons waiting for them, or an angry mob, just dark thoughts from yesteryear, that still haunted them almost half a millenia later, if not less. She wished, for once, that she had been born out of love and would be able to heal those wounds inflicted through hate, but alas, she had not been and existed merely in an absolute delirious state of someones failing mind. "What is done is done, we cannot change the past anymore and only hope we attain better morals for the future. You are trying, but I know that the past is hellbent on sinking its tendrils into you, to make you a piece of history, and not let you life a day without realizing what agony you've brought.", she reminded him. Genji was lost, in a world that could not help him. "There is no need to talk about yourself, however - you've brought good upon this world, you've loved me, loved others; your love bore fruit, even if you do not recall. You shall return to her and meet with all those you've missed at some point. For now, for long as you live, let your feelings reign, let them all out ...", Otoha implored Genji, patting his back as her own hug grew tighter and a smile crowned her expression - she pressed her forehead and nose against Genjis, and softly rubbed the latter against her lovers own. One hand let go to catch some tears on his cheeks, the other remained to spend much needed comfort. "She loves you, still. You need not be afraid of her, of me - of life. You're safe here, with me." This curse was nothing more than a cruel joke, and Otoha would rid Genji of it, one way or the other.

2no... it'll just become dangerous eventually...", Genji answered, but it didn't matter right now. He'll stay until both of them were better and felt ready to leave. Only then he'd find a suitable and save place for them, one he was sure they both felt comfortable at. Then he'd have to leave. It was not save, whatever Otoha said and the curse would call out to him again, reach it's dirty claws into his mind and force him to kill again and again. Even if he didn't try to kill them, he'd put them in danger as death followed him wherever he went. He was lonely and lost for ages he believed. His mind was foggy and nothing made sense. Otoha was once so dear to him and now he simply forgot her and not only that, he questioned her words and decisisions, when he should simply trust her. She loved him, maybe even still and he loved her long ago at least. He loved her enough to have a child, or multiple, children he didn't remember and didn't exist to him. They would be long dead with a dead mother and a monster as a father, one that would never age, nor die.

Genji didn't dare open his mouth and let out weeps and cries, instead he kept quiet, silently letting his tears flow and pulling Otoha into a hug that maybe was a bit uncomfortable for her. His limbs had little strength left in them, which was her saving grace and kept her from being crushed in those strong arms that wanted nothing more but someone to hold onto. He wasn't one to cry, he did not remember he did in the past couple of hundreds of years. His fate was gruesome, yet he felt worse for those he killed. It wasn't his right to cry about his fate, because he knew, that in some way, he deserved the torment of eternal life and the whole world on his shoulders, but now, with Otoha, he suddenly felt different. He felt like all the weight grew too heavy and that he should be allowed to die already. That no human being deserved a life of suffering like his for things he'd done in his youth. Gruesome things he deserved death for, or maybe a curse that only befell him, an eternal life in a dark prison, but not one that took innocent victims and let the burdon grow and grow. If he'd still be the monster he was as a human, he wouldn't care about the lifes he took, but he did.

"And I'll be here to support and stop you, as I should. There is no chance in hell I would ever kill you, though, I know there is one that I might just subdue you for the time being.", she declared, patting Genjis cheeks. There were so many tears that fell from above, onto her cramped form that found its way into the arms of a now-fellow man; Otoha couldn't deny someone like Genji even a simple request, and as it seemed, he was nothing more than a man of his word, a human that, despite everything, had nothing more than a hardened exterior with a softened core. "Who or what are these tears for?", she silently questioned. Otoha knew little of the world as it seemed, or at least not enough about humans that surrounded her, but even then, she tried her best to keep someone like Genji engaged in the real world, in conversation that he'd otherwise try to flee. It was good that he let it all out, that he pulled her so close and enjoyed every singular touch he could share with her; it was better that he didn't loathe her, or declare her his mortal enemy, just because a curse told him to. No, he was enjoying all of this far too much and she felt happy for him and all that his life entailed. Otoha could not and would not have it otherwise. "I won't let you be hurt again."

The world stood still for a moment - only the water beneath them moved in small droves as Genji got closer, then backed off again, and then seemingly came closer again. Otoha was still caressing him, his lone figure, wiping away any and all tears that she figured to be those he cried without a specified reason, one which he did not need. In fact, if she could still feel, she'd cry with him, but this had never been about her. It always was about a broken man that, despite everything, was merely trying to get by, even if it meant to break down in the simplest of situations. "Now now, Genji ...", she whispered and pecked the forehead of the crying man, as best as their current situation permitted her to. Like this, they were forever together, one and the same, so close and yet so far from one another. Mikuni wasn't waking from his slumber, had nothing to say about what was happening, and Otoha took it as a sign to push on, to merely assert herself some more and give Genji all that he longed for. Those long arms would no longer wrap themselves around Genji, they were busy drying his tears, while her voice was calling out to the forlorn man. "All will be better eventually, with me by your side. You need me, as much as I need you."