cursebound. (Earinor & Akira)

Genji nodded a little, glad Mikuni found some rest. He wasn't sure how much time they had to chat and rest, he didn't know how long it would take for someone to come after them and how quickly they'd find them. All he could hope was that the forest provided enough cover to get away, dispersing into any direction, either way they wouldn't be able to predict it. Considering Genji took their goddess though, they would have a non inconsequential number of people looking for her, that was for sure. "How is your body? Can you keep walking through the day?", he asked him, not trying to put any pressure on him, but Otoha didn't exactly give him anything to work with, claiming they'd be fine either way, when Mikuni still had a human body that felt pain and fatique, much like Genji did, despite the curse. The only difference was that he was used to a harsh life, sleeping on the floor, if at all and traveling as far away from everyone as possible.

Mikuni drank some of their water and Genji did so too, he needed to drink and eat like anybody else. Mikuni also wanted to share the food and Genji took a few bites despite not being hungry, but the stronger he was, the better his chances to stay sane. Afterwards he started to pack up, but stopped when their conversation kept going. "You have every right to though. I won't blame you.", he answered, then looked at the man that housed his former lover, his wife even as far as he knew and shook his head. "I see her in you much more than you'd think. I see her face when I look at you, or at least what I think she looked like when I knew her. I feel her presence too, not now, but when she takes ahold of you. Yet I seem to know nothing of her. I can't remember my past with her, I only know what I once felt for her, but the man she describes me as feels nothing like me, as if she talks about a stranger. Neither do I know who she turned into after what have to be... more than a hundred years. There was not much time to find information in your library and what I found felt wrong to me. I suppose asking you about her will yield similar results as you've only been taught what those books told you." Genji took a short break before asking his next question. "If you don't mind me asking, how do you feel about her?"

What an odd pair those two were, no? Mikuni didn't quite envy their bond, but it made him curious all the same - the fear of making it worse on Genji by being someone that he wasn't, or giving him false hope for a future that never would come to pass, it ailed him, even if it wasn't his own decision to make, his shot to call. Otoha was the one that was using him to their own advantage, asking for nothing much but his cooperation in exchange for her love, or perhaps her attentive personality, keeping Genji in check and giving him renewed purpose by their side. Mikuni already missed her, the voice in his head that always knew what to do, that would make this morning somewhat less awkward. "I think it's fine. I'm not going to be as fast as her, but I can walk ... nothing hurts all that much, except my back, but that's from not being used to this." His legs also ached, not a lot but a bit, enough to notice. How far had they wandered yesterday? Mikuni could only fathom, his mind a fragmented mess of memories that were more akin to puzzle pieces that didn't fit together, at least, as if Otoha had taken half of them, and refused to share with him. How mean this woman could be at times.

"It'd feel odd, to hate you for killing people that would have likely done the same to me, were it not for you intervening. I was never much liked, nor utterly beloved - they considered me a burden more than anything, and that I was.", Mikuni admitted, folding the blankets that they had spent the night on, as small and neat as he could, before packing them as well. Meanwhile, the stranger turned friend waxed on, with Mikuni seemingly having kicked something loose by asking about things that were none of his business - that was on him, entirely, but he didn't mind, and rather listened to a man that, at times, claimed to be so eaten up by madness, he was not to be around anyone, while his human heart clearly ached. "That's interesting to hear. None of her vessels look the same, she picked me for no reason at all, and yet, to see her in my features, to know of her like that, you clearly love her, still, even if you can't recall her much. That life of yours sounds like a sad one, one I don't necessarily wish to share if I can avoid it, but mine isn't a long tenure anyhow. As long as she makes you happy, I can't blame you.", he responded in a kind notion, nodding his head in understanding, only to be stopped by Genji. Mikuni blinked at him, with two eyes that couldn't be any more different, somewhat confused, then slightly determined. "I don't mind her, she's the goddess I serve, and I'm the vessel she has to put up with - it's a temporary arrangement, nothing more, I guess it's like sharing a room with a stranger that sleeps a lot? I'm curious about her, have no way of knowing more than I already do. The only thing I don't quite like is that she can just shove me aside whenever she really wants."

Genji still didn't know what to do with both Mikuni and Otoha. She clearly wanted to stay at his side, but it wasn't save, yet she demanded so much in exchange for her power. Maybe he ought not question a goddess and her powers, maybe a price needed to be set for any miracle asked for, but on one hand Otoha claimed she loved Genji still and on the other she let him continue living like this. There were things she didn't remember herself, or rather wasn't around for and there were certainly things about her that changed and all the while Genji felt like there was something she didn't tell him on purpose and he was very sure that their goals didn't align. Something felt off, he felt this before, but he couldn't say what it was. "Please tell me if it gets too much, I don't want you to get hurt because you are getting tired.", was all he could say to Mikuni. His problems were his own after all and in case Otoha would know, he'd rather not ask too many questions.

"I also hurt you. I apologize, but I know that's not enough.", Genji replied. Maybe Mikuni wanted to forget, but Genji owed a lot to him, no matter what he or Otoha were saying. "It's not that you look like her in a lot of ways, maybe it is her powers making me see her more clearly. As for my life... I don't remember the things she tells me. All I remember is hundreds of years in the past, long before I even met her.", he tried to explain. It was difficult for him, there was a big black hole, so many years lost forever as if he never lived. Mikuni then recited what he probably was taught all his life, but Genji wouldn't blame him if he was rather left alone by Otoha. "I know how that feels..." All too well, the curse took ahold of him as well, Otoha probably did it less violently, but losing control over ones own body felt terrible, even for a vessel. "I'll try talking to her about it. I doubt I have much sway over her though. Likewise I am sorry she keeps putting your body into situations you are uncomfortable with. I... don't really know what to do about it..."

What was it with this man? Mikuni wished he knew, couldn’t say or tell any of it apart from the usual demeanor, but he was quite certain that something was on his mind, something he couldn’t pry for because it wasn’t his place to ask, or because he possessed enough dignity to simply understand that, why, Genji had to deal with some of this stuff himself, unable to even form words that Mikuni could understand down to their core. “I’ll let you know before it’s too late, but I admit, I think I’ll be fine. I apologize in advance if I’m not as fast as her.” This was a fall he’d have to take, even if he knew his own body better than Otoha knew it, she was the one with the limitless power and the reserve of magic within her core, not Mikuni, who likely could heal someones scrape or light a torch if need be, and yet, otherwise, he’d not be able to do much else. Pathetic, it was, that display of his that not only led nowhere but also only bolstered his own understanding in the mundane, yet majorly fucked up. “Don’t worry about me getting hurt, either. It will be alright.” Everything had to be alright.

“Genji, I know it will take some time to fully forgive you, for all that has happened, but please rest assured that I bear no ill will toward you.” Not that much anyway. Mikuni was neither overtly distraught nor pained, his emotions melting away into a fine river of something, likely soothed by the likes of Otoha and taken care of by his own mind. “How strange, but maybe that’s just how gods are - it’s how religion works, after all. There’s cathedrals everywhere, for those with eyes to see - or so it goes. Perhaps she’s everywhere for you, too, in a sense, even if your memory is a curious one.” What had swallowed the rest of Genjis life? That beast he so loathed? It seemed likely, or it was his brain failing him after so many years, unable to keep up with the bulk of things he should be remembering, the longer he barely aged and the longer the list seemed to be getting. “I … thank you, but don’t sweat it. I know you’re infatuated with her, and I know you have your own set of problems. I rather you be comfortable, as much as can be. I will be fine, really, and now let’s stop dillydallying around, or we’ll have a bunch of paladins on our heels.”

"No need to apologize. I know you do what you can and nobody prepared you for this... Otoha wants to come with me, but what about you? I'd feel much better if I could leave you somewhere safe and set out to find what she asked on my own." But he wouldn't be able to protect them if he wasn't around and Otoha didn't seem like she wanted to be housed by this order anymore. Around him they weren't safe either however. For now he was fine, the curse still dormant, but it would return. He coud only hope it stayed still for longer, now that he killed so many people at once... In the grand scheme of things those priests were only a speck in the vast canvas Genji painted with blood during his life, but it didn't get any easier for him. "If not for your sake, it'll slow us down if you get hurt.", he replied with some logic applied. Otoha could heal a broken ankle, but for that she needed to be awake, which she wasn't right now. Maybe she used up too much of her power after all.

Genji couldn't say anything more, he simply nodded accepting Mikunis answer, even though he didn't believe him fully. He wished he could have spent more time in the library, learning something about himself or Otoha. She wanted him to retrieve her bones, but they didn't even know where to start looking. Traveling back to what was once both their home was the best idea he had, but he didn't remember anything about it and he somehow didn't want to get close to there. "Right now I don't see her in you, I can tell she lays dormant within you." Maybe it was also Otohas wish to reunite with Genji that made him see her so clearly sometimes. "There is no reason to offer your body to either of us, despite you being her vessel. Maybe if I find her bones you can be free as well.", Genji proposed and took one of the backpacks to put on his shoulders, then he swiftly fished the other one out of Mikunis hands as well. "You're right though, let's go. Set our pace if you will."

“Me?” When was the last time someone gave even a single damn about his opinion? His father had always asked gently, he recalled as much, but aside from that, few of the priests surrounding him once cared - if he was clothed, warm and fed, perhaps entertained, then he was fine, that seemed to be the line by which they judged everything. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t so, and Mikuni wound up being alone, sad and perhaps even a bit sour over the fact that he was nothing but Otoha’s vessel. For Genji to ask something like that, it seemed so very odd. “I would like to see more, and keep you company for a bit. If you’ll have me, that is.” Something that didn’t seem so very possible between them right now - Genji had his own baggage, and Mikuni carried some of it with him, in the form of another being that this man loved once upon a time. Would it be right to keep pestering him with her? “I can fix minor injuries myself. Anything else, I suppose we’d need Otoha for, but … let that not be a concern for now.”, he mused, looking at Genji with those two very mismatched eyes of his - Mikuni couldn’t see anything from one of them, which seemed to be a clear sign that Otoha was fast asleep.

“And I can only see half your face, so she’s really asleep.”, he murmured in response, letting Genji in on that little predicament. Well, whatever - he still had the eyepatch that Otoha kept taking off, and he made use of it for a good reason. Why dawdle around when there was so much to be seen, heard, felt? “Me? Be free? I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad, maybe then I can go back home, if my father will have me - if he lives, still.” Would he? The man was likely still cutting wood to support his livelihood, perhaps he’d remarried the woman Mikuni darkly recalled him fancying, maybe he was but a speck of dust on the expanse of that mans mind - it only seemed likely that he moved on, that he had forgotten about him after all, that death awaited Mikuni at the end of their journey. What grim thoughts those were, and how unbecoming they sounded. Was he doubting himself? Or Otohas promises? The priest sealed his lips, tightly so. “You’re right. What direction?”, Mikuni asked sheepishly, then set out with Genji in tow, trying his utmost to make it at a pace that, while not breakneck speed, wasn’t slowing to a crawl. Slow and steady won every other race but this one.

Mikuni seemed surprised that Genji asked for his own opinion and feelings and it took him a while to formulate an answer. Genji waited patiently for him to make up his mind, but he did believe that he answered not for himself, but to make Otoha happy. She was his goddess after all, while it was hard for Genji to see her as such when she didn't act like one around him and when the feelings he recalled for her were much too normal and as if he knew her all his life. In a way Mikuni made him feel like he was one of their children, he wanted to protect him, while Otoha disregarded him most of the time. "You should be save around me for now... but not for a long time.", Genji honestly answered. He wasn't able to kill Mikuni before, but it was painful nonetheless. He didn't want to hurt him more, or put Otoha in any danger. He wasn't sure if her power was limitless and he wasn't sure if there wasn't a way to hurt her after all. The curse seemed scared of her. "I'd rather you not get injured at all. When you feel tired tell me, I don't want you to hurt your ankles or trip on a root."

Genji looked at Mikuni once more, Otoha was fast asleep and for some reason he felt happy about it. It was hard to keep her advances at bay, for Mikuni, herself and Genji. "Maybe it would be saver for you if we brought you to him, you and Otoha and if I find something I can come back." So he had a place he could stay at? He much rather had him there. The paladins of Otohas order were on their tail, but they wanted Genjis head and them to be safe. Maybe they shouldn't run in the first place, but Otoha didn't want to stay with them. "Downhill.", Genji eventually answered and let Mikuni go ahead so he could set their pace. Genji followed him silently, making sure he was okay. They walked for quite some while, finally trying to reach the hills foot. From there? He didn't know where to go yet, maybe Otoha had more of a plan, they just needed to get away for now. They had rations for a while and Genji wanted to avoid other people. Eventually they found a small winding dirt road. Genji didn't want to stay on it for long, but Mikuni welcomed the break. He agreed to follow it for a bit, his plan to retreat into the underbrush however was thwarted soon when they heard a woman calling for help. Mikuni rushed ahead before Genji could intervene, only for them to find a tipped over carriage. There was a man trapped underneath and a woman spotting them and pleading for their help. The goods they were transporting were scattered about and their horse struggled to get up.

Genji raised valid points that Mikuni understood - however, he hardly raised them to a sane man, if he were, he’d have simply agreed and chosen the easier route; a way home, a way out, not one deeper in. Did it hurt to think that he’d not the smallest shred of expertise on his own blood, would it come down to it? Not a word slipped from his mouth, no, he was almost uncharacteristically silent for the rest of their long, endless walk, as he considered his options. To rest someplace he could call home was nice enough, an almost sweet promise that he wanted to partake in, and yet, Mikuni couldn’t. No matter how much he wanted to, the moment he went back, even if he were accepted with open arms, it wouldn’t take long for those that had taken him in the first place to find him again - and Otoha? She, of course, didn’t want that. Much less did she want to let go of Genji, who had slipped through her fingers time and time again, year after year, vessel after vessel - to separate them now, after so much time had passed, seemed wrong, almost freakish.

Their path continued, a long-winding road stretching endlessly before them - they followed the pathway, just for a bit they compromised, but of course, Mikuni couldn’t and wouldn’t stop being curious. It had to be just their luck that they weren’t alone out here, that someone actually needed their help. The tipped over carriage said enough to pique both his interest and concern, he looked at Genji with pleading eyes, befitting of a small child, or perhaps a starving mutt. “Could we lend them a hand? Please? Just this once.”, his voice was soft, a bit shaky, as if he felt genuine sorrow over what transpired right in front of their very eyes. Whether or not they would was up to Genji, not that Mikuni would be much of a physical help anyway; no, though, maybe they had to figure that out together, too. As his thoughts spiraled, following absolutely nothing and everything at the same time, the panic the woman expressed slowly settling in, he took to her side, assuring her they’d help, that she needed to give them just a short second, and it’d all be done and dealt with. “Genji … I can help you help them?”, he suggested as he returned to his side, unsure still as to what the blonde would even have to say.

Genji wasn't opposed to helping people, nor did he derive any joy from seeing others suffer, he simply did believe that most of the time he did more harm than good, proven once more with what happened at the monestary. If they were seen it was easier for their pursuers to find them and maybe they'd harm these people to for aiding them, not stopping them, or whatever they could come up with. Still, Mikuni was already talking to the crying woman holding the mans hand who was visibly in pain. Genji looked at the situation, then at Mikuni as he came back and after one more moment of hesitation he nodded at him and came closer himself. He'd stayed at a distance for the whole time Mikuni talked to them, he didn't like being around people anyway and he didn't want to disturb the horse either, though it seemed the curse didn't effect it for now. He took a closer look at the situation, then eyed Mikuni and the woman. "I'll try and lift it and you two pull him out, alright?"

With those words he inspected the carriage one more time to find a suitable angle, one which didn't need too much strength and one that additionally wouldn't compromise the integrity of the carriage, he didn't want it to collape fully over the man. Maybe they could somehow save the whole thing, but the man had priority for now. Once he found a good spot he put his strength into it to lift it up a few centimeters. It wasn't all too much, but enough to free the man. "Pull.", he instructed the two who did as he said and dragged the man a bit away on the ground. Once they were far enough away, Genji let go of the cirrage again which crashed down once more. He let Mikuni talk to them and do what he felt was right over there, as long as they didn't need Genjis help. He meanwhile took a look at the horse which was trapped by its harness and the tipped over carriage. It seemed able to walk otherwise and so Genji tried to untangle it and with the help of a larger branch he found, got it out. He snatched the reins while the horse still struggled to get on its feed so it wouldn't run away. With a few soft noises he tried to calm it down before leading it back to the rest of the group. With it maybe they could even save the carriage, but he wanted to see how the two were doing first.

Genji offering them any sort of help - while not unexpected - overjoyed Mikuni, who took the reins on pulling out the man, that became trapped underneath the very carriage he’d been guiding through the beaten path not too long ago, he could merely assume. How did such a thing even happen? There was no need to discuss it right about now, but he grew curious nonetheless as they freed the stranger and sat him up elsewhere, with Genji remaining by the horse and the carriage itself. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”, the woman exclaimed, overjoyed and relieved as she was looking the man over. Mikuni eyed him, the injuries, and shook his head at the woman instead. “No need - I’m glad we could help.” “No need? I would’ve never been able to save him on my own! Now’s not the time to be humble!” Mikuni gave her a weary smile, overwhelmed by the thankfulness he’d never once seen another person express before, especially not toward him. Was this what it felt like to do good things, not because he was taught to do so, but rather he felt like helping others? Starved for an answer, they both seemed to stare at the man a bit too intensely, who only looked back in confusion.

“Are you alright, dear?”, the woman asked, clutching the mans face with desperation in her eyes. Mikuni watched her pale fingers hold onto him, the way her sleeve rode up slightly, revealing the details of a dark ink mark. “I’m alright, I’m alright …”, the man returned, blearily, and Mikuni’s observant gaze shifted into one of worry. Without Otoha, there was little he could do - more than nothing was better, still. “May I?”, he gingerly offered his help, the woman moving aside for him to lay his hands on the man. His knowledge on magic was a scant, his power almost inexistent, but it was enough to heal some scrapes and to make him feel better, hopefully. Mikuni mumbled something under his breath, seemingly vitalizing the man just a slight bit, before taking his hands back to himself. First, he blinked odd, making the priest believe to not have had an effect, but soon after, he got back up on his feet. “I have no idea what that was, but I’m feeling much better already.” “Yuto, sit back down!”, the woman fussed. “I feel fine, Himari.”, the man beamed. A short fight seemed to break out between them, namely about whether or not the man should continue to rest before they journeyed on or not, only to be broken by them both looking at Mikuni. “Thank you for helping us.”, Yuto finally fessed up, and Mikuni bowed slightly, shaking his head. “It’s fine. Really.” “No, no, please, we owe you for this … I don’t have anything on me right now, but if you want, we are from the village down the road - just follow the path, we’ll clean up here and catch up to you in a bit. If you ask for the Kato residence once you reach the village, someone should be able to point you into the right direction. Please just wait in the yard!”, Yuto insisted, as Himari rummaged through her pockets and procured a small charm, a token, of sorts. Then, she stuffed it in Mikunis hand. “That should be enough to prove the legitimacy of your claim. Thank you again.” Before Mikuni could object, they both already smiled at him again, urging him to go on. Without much of an option, he trudged over to Genji, tugging at his sleeve against all odds. “They want us to come over.”, he whispered, showing Genji the charm. “Thank you for helping him. I’m glad they’re fine.”

Genji didn't dare step too close, he kept his distance, not looking at the two people directly and focusing mostly on Mikuni. He did well when it came to talking to them and calming them down and it seemed he also used a bit of his magic to help the man with his injuries. They seemed overjoyed, rightly so. Genji didn't know how this happened, but it was probably just the wheel getting stuck somewhere and tipping the whole thing over. They were unlucky it seems and it was yet to show if they were lucky or unlucky to come across Genji and Mikuni. Genji just saw them giving something to Mikuni, but not what, he only learned more when the young man came over to him. Genji looked at him, listened and thought about it all. "We are being followed. They might check nearby settlements, we might even get them in trouble for just talking to us...", Genji let out in a quiet whisper. He would be fine around people for a few more days, maybe even weeks, but that didn't mean he didn't pose a danger for those people.

"Don't worry about it... you helped too.", he mumbled, unsure how to receive praise like this. He was barely used to speak to people, let alone help them or be thanked for something like this. "If we tie the horse to the front and push at the back, maybe we could even save their carriage.", he suggested, they were already in the middle of helping these people, they might as well do it all the way. For a moment this felt awfully familiar, but the feeling was gone pretty soon and Genji had already given up remembering anything worthwhile. The life he led, the one he did remember, had been very different. He would have never done anything like this, he wouldn't even have stopped for them. Often times he wondered if he simply deserved this curse, for who he was when he was still human, but why punish other people along with him? Innocents who died by his hand and would die if he was to ever give his life.

Accepting help and kindness was never the wrong choice, that much he had learned over the years, been taught by his father when he was a small child. Mikuni was soft and loving, always had been, never could not be - prospered like a dying bloom, frostbitten and overwatered, persisted against all odds at times, only to lay his fate within the hands of men and women alike that never saw past his one eye, that thought of him as a contianer for something that they revered, adored beyond believe. Genji was different, despite knowing his fate, his reason for being, saw him as his own person, where others struggled, could not, would not. Was it not saddening him all the same? "I know.", Mikuni retorted, silent as can be, not wanting to attract any sort of unwanted attention. "But they seem sincere, and the worst that could happen would be a stern talking to.", he bemused the other man, hoping incrediously that Genji would see eye to eye, quite literally, with him on this. Would he, though? Not once had he been able to see beyond the fog of his demeanor, struggled against the empty gaze like he found himself in an uphill battle, desperately seeing what could and would stick - sometimes it softened on its own, other times it didn't.

"I- Still. I couldn't have done that by my lonesome, any of this. Thank you." Behind that layer of nothing, of unknowingness, of misunderstanding, or failure to understand, Genji was just like him - and he was eager to help, to please, to make sure everyone was alright, too - Mikuni ascertained that, from the ease of talking him into the act, to his flawless execution and fluid motion in it all, even if he could be wrong, deathly so. "Hm, I suppose you're right. They said they'll catch up to us, so I assumed they were wanting some ... alone time?", he suggested to Genji, who's sleeve he still tugged on, like a lost toddler trying to make heads and tails of whatever situation this was. Had he truly seen what he thought he had, or was it his weary mind and eyes playing odd tricks on him? Was it Otoha messing with him? There was nothing he could say for sure, and his mouth, agape for a second, closed again. This was none of his business. "I also have ... something I want to make sure of, so if we could spare whatever little time around them, I think that would help us both?" It wasn't like him to play the secretive, fearmongering role in any scenario, but his interest was piqued and his sorrows barely alleviated. "Just for a bit."

Genji wondered if some of Otoha washed over to Mikuni. He stood fairly close, for being scared of him, for good reason, not too long ago. He even held onto Genjis sleeve while he pleaded with him and looked up to him as if Genji was his older brother. The gaze was alien, nothing he was used to, not that he could remember anyhow and in his previous life nobody would have trusted him like this either. "Are you sure those Paladins won't do more than that if they found them?", Genji asked, with little idea about the world he lived in. Rarely did he engage with other humans and his memory was patchy at best. He didn't know today customs, he didn't know the order that prayed to Otoha or what they would do to find her, not did he know if they wanted revenge for what Genji did to all the priests in the monastery. Genjis eyes only shortly lay on Mikuni before he shied away again, as if his gaze alone was enough to hurt him.

The blonde nodded shortly, accepting the Thanks as best as he could. He didn't feel like he did much and he wasn't sure if he would have helped if Mikuni wasn't here. He probably would have felt too scared to approach those people. Mikuni said they'd catch up, with the horse they would be faster no doubt, it seemed to still be able to carry them just fine. For a moment there was silenced and Genji raised his gaze again. Mikuni really wanted to go to this place, being as cryptic as Otoha, but Genji might have not understood what this was about anyway. The blonde still felt indepted to Mikuni, terribly so and he didn't dare refuse him, nor did he know how to argue or fight. He hesitated for a moment longer, then nodded and handed the horses reins over to Mikuni. "You should bring her back to them.", he told him, seemingly wanting to keep his distance still. The village was their goal then, surely it was at the end of this road.

Whatever inner turmoil the other man had to fight with, it missed him completely - if there was any to begin with, in general. Mikuni was never not a man of grace, of his word, of promises made, even by others, even against his will, but he could see when he was being somewhat unreasonable, right now for example, when he asked the impossible of someone who's existence was the same. Impossible. Why was he even thinking about that? He was sure Genji wasn't much happier about him making excuses to not chide himself over even asking for so many things all at once, when he'd do them for Otoha anyway, but that was exactly the issue. He'd do them anyway, especially for Otoha, but not Mikuni himself, for they had no relation of that sort to begin with. "I'm positive they won't be that harsh. After all, they're just civilians who did nothing wrong, and if we never tell them who we are, and they never ask either, I doubt there's anything they could accuse them of, aside from not being an asset to their ongoing investigation into the matter at hand.", he pointed out, more than matter of factly - his usual soft and straight demeanor seemed mildly different today, tinted by something else, maybe from within.

Wistfully gazing at Genji would neither deliver him to an answer, though, and holding onto him while looking as if he had seen a ghost, a silver of happiness, and was asking his ancestors for persmission to chase after it within this instant. His expectations were low to start with, knowing they were trying their utmost to be as secretive and illusive as potentially possible, but his eye lit up as Genji handed him the reins of the horse he'd held onto for the time being. "Mhm. Thank you, Genji. Again.", the priest mused with a smile. Not a second later, he already brought the horse over to Yuto and Himari, who looked at him like they had long since expected him and Genji to be on the road, to already have left them behind, giggling among themselves as they noticed that they, after all, where not alone yet. "Oh!", Himari mouthed, extending her hand for the reins Mikuni held, taking ahold of them in the flash of an eye. "Thank you!" "Do you need help with the ca-" "No, no. We are fine here, we know how to deal with this. You two can go on, we'll meet you there!", she insisted, so much so she already cut Mikuni off, who nodded. "Alright, please take care." "We will! You too.", Yuto urged him, as he came back to Genjis side, waving at them. "We are good to go."

Genji knew nothing about Mikunis brothers and sisters, so he was aware that he should probably trust Mikunis opinion. On the other hand, the young man seemed sheltered, maybe even naiv. Genji didn't want to be the cause of other peoples pain, be that by his own hand or anothers, but he relented and nodded once more. Mikuni seemed excited when he led the horse back over to the couple who insisted they could take care of the rest on their own. Genji found that to be odd, but nothing else. Mikuni came back to Genji, told them they were ready to go and Genji, rather unwillingly, nodded again as they started to follow the road. If it was up to him, he'd avoid any road, be it big or small. Maybe he was just paranoid from avoiding people for so long. He couldn't remember the last time he spoke this much, nor did he remember the last time he slept in a bed, aside from the time in the monastery.

Together they followed the road, Genji again let Mikuni set the pace and let him go about a meter ahead. Genji meanwhile was deep in thoughts and imagined all of the negatives things that could happen to them in this village they were headed towards right now. Maybe he was too pessimistic overall, the man Otoha described he was seemed to have led a much simpler life, one around other people and one where he was able to settle at least for a while. His hunger was satiated then, but now Genji couldn't imagine adding more souls to the pool he already collected. The curse grew stronger, he knew, and sometime, maybe, he would break completely, give up and finally die. What then? Would the world end with him?

Long winding roads were common in the countryside, Mikuni could recall them for what they were, for what path they offered, but he couldn’t know what lay at the end of them, if it were the maw or belly of a beast, or if it was completely fine to ignore Genjis protests and just focus on what was important: Namely, doing right by other people. No one would applaud them, their deeds, or remember who they were - their names, faces and lives themselves condemned to the flow of time, making them but specks on the lifespan of a god. What would his own fate be? Soon, she’d be weary of him, he figured - she’d look for a new vessel, and then, what he’d do with freedom he’d never had, safe for a scant few years during his childhood? The air between him and Genji seemed heavy as they trudged along the beaten path, both of them lost in thoughts that seemed to spiral, then tighten like a snare, the rope burning their skin with every move. “Genji? What’s on your mind?”, Mikuni found himself blabbering out loud, raking over the unreadable expression on the pale face in front of him, akin to a pile of fallen, rotting leaves in the churches courtyard at the end of autumn.

Mikuni didn’t know why, but he stuck closer to Genji today than he’d done this morning, than he’d genuinely ever wanted to be after what happened. Somewhere, there was a spill, of emotion, of trepidation, of daring - his emotions were and weren’t his own, his fear bleeding into blind, foreboding trust that never, not once, should get a hook into him. Yet it did. The pace he’d set, while almost hurried, was still slow enough to call it not overtly urgent, meaning that the village wasn’t far, already came into view after they crossed a small bend on a hill, revealing the quaint spot among the lush fields, wedged between a set of cliffs. Wasn’t this a nice place to be? Well, as nice as nature could be - they still walked there, despite their unease, until Mikuni finally felt like fessing up. He leaned closer to Genji, his hand deftly resting on the older mans shoulder, as his lips were a breaths width away from his ear. “The woman had a marking on her arm, but I didn’t see the entire thing. I want to know what it actually is - humor me for a bit?”, the priest finally mumbled, then let go of Genji, putting one, then two steps between them and shot a glance back at him, complete with a warm smile, radiating warmer than a thousand suns as they were close to the village entrance. “What’s the glum look for?”

As they trudged down the path, Mikuni broke the silence eventually, pulling Genji out of his own head. "I uh... nothing important.", he mumbled, not wanting to put his negative thoughts on the priest, who seemed to like the prospect of being around other, normal people maybe. Or maybe he just hoped to sleep in a bed. "Maybe I should just wait at the edge of the village.", he suggested. Genji didn't think he was a danger to anyone right now, nor in the next few hours or even days and yet, he didn't feel comfortable being there. He felt like he was disrupting everyones lives and they invited a monster into their midst without knowing it. Maybe he was only the carrier of said monster, but it was still true. Mikuni and Otoha would be fine on their own, surely, she knew how to protect herself and she was able to take over Mikunis body if she needed to. They didn't need Genji as their protector at all times.

The village was in view soon enough and Mikuni eventually stopped and told Genji why he wanted to go there so badly, only trhat his explanation didn't help much, not at all actually. He looked at him, while the priest already walked onwards again and Genji soon followed. "What kind of mark?", he asked. Was it friend or foe, or what was he to make of it? He didn't know much about the customs in this time and age, about different groups or factions, anything really. It was like he was a stranger to this world, thrown in from the past, hundreds of years ago. Right now he wished Otoha was awake to just explain to him what was going on, but she could be secretive as well...

Nothing imporant? Mikuni wasn't someone to press the issue - he never did, actually, and in fact, why would he, ever? Many times over he'd learn to accept things as they were - not his to question, not his to ask about - and Mikuni wasn't going to fundamentally change who he was overnight because of that. Sure, there was something wrong with him, much like there were things wrong with Genji, and yet, they had each other to stick it out with. "Why? Are you afraid you'll hurt someone? It will be fine, I'm sure of it. We'll leave before it gets too bad, promise.", he decided, grabbing Genjis hand as if he were Otoha, as if this was natural, and as if a single squeeze was enough to become a soothsayer that whisked away all the worries that the blonde carried on his back. Was it, really? Mikuni was no god, no great mage, that had the ability to cast the devil back into the shadows, not like the goddess that possessed him, that loved Genji dearly. "There's something that's bothering you, isn't there? I'm not her, but you can share those worries with me, too, you know.", he ascertained both of them. Despite being weak, despite being brittle, Mikuni was nothing more than a man of his word, among other things.

Painterly was the expanse laid out before them, spread bare for all those with eyes to recognize its beauty, but it didn't seem like the beaten, winding path down there, into the maw of the exquisite location, was well-traveled or even staked out the right way. Even now, the dirt road looked barely like one, yet, the town their eyes lay on even had the makings of an older one - a temple stood there, amongst it, it's tower unmistakable from the rest of the scenery. "Black, with tendrils snaking around the wrist, but I only caught a snippet of it. I can't say for sure what it is, but it's like it were calling out to me, like it was meant to be seen, in a way? Is that weird?", he mumbled, then finally let go of Genjis hand, like it was an iron, out to burn him to a definite crisp. Why was it so hard for him to draw a line for what he wanted of the other man, and what he could endure, and why was he himself coming closer than he ever had to? Mikuni bit his lip, the town coming closer, and closer, and yet even more closer. "Do you miss her? Miss ... remembering her?"

"I usually try and stay away from others, especially settlements...", he answered. Unless he really had to get something, he didn't go near them. It only showed in the monastery that it was better he was only around one unlucky soul at the time the curse forced him to kill, rather than a whole group of people. Sometimes he needed food, or ways to fix his clothes if not new ones altogether and he mostly had to steal those things. He didn't have any money, didn't dare take on any jobs for anyone, no matter what it was about. Luckily he was good at hiding, he'd killed people without anyone noticing in his previous life, stealing a few apples was no problem as long as the curse didn't overtake all his thoughts. "Bothering me?" About Otoha? No, that's not what Mikuni meant. "No, there is really nothing to talk about... I simply don't want to hurt anyone else and being around a lot of people, only makes it worse than it needs to be... like in... well..." He didn't need to remind Mikuni.

With the village in view, Genji noticed a temple of sorts, not that he knew much about any of this. In the time he grew up in, gods and religion weren't as prevalent, but in turn a lot of demons, or rather corrupted humans roamed the land. A village like this one, without a wall around it to keep it save, would have never stood a chance. Cities were cramped, overcrowded, everyone wanted a place inside a sturdy wall and soldiers to fight off the horrors outside. Now, with magic being banned from normal use, that problem was almost not there anymore it seemed, but Genji couldn't claim to know a lot of todays society. "I don't know, as a priest and maybe also with Otohas power sleeping within you, you might be more open to have some form of premonitions. It's not weird.", he answered Mikuni who finally let go of Genji, who already felt awkward enough to begin with. His next question caught him a bit off guard and Genjis eyes darted towards the young man. "The moment I remembered her name I realized I missed her all this time, even though I forgot her entire existence before that... It is still a bit odd, I feel like she's never been away, but when she tells me about out past, it seems like she is talking about someone else, someone I don't recognize, someone I can't imagine I've been, not with the curse already haunting me. Before that... I was a very different man, not someone who would have met someone like Otoha either, I assume and she'd not been born for another 80 odd years or so."

“I know, but I promise you’ll be fine. I can feel it.”, Mikuni spouted, so very uncharacteristically of him. Was change brewing in his mind? In his heart? Either one of these things ought to be true, maybe even both, or … what if Genji was just peeling him out of whatever cocoon he had been stuck in? Right, he knew he’d not take flight then, like a moth with wrinkled wings never would, even when it was preferable to an untimely death. After all, god only saved those that saved themselves for a reason - who had use of weak soldiers, of mindless acolytes and soothsayers without a brain behind those gleaming words, ready to be forged into weapons that both spread one persons greatness and drove fear in the heretics hearts? None. Zilch. Null. “At … I get it, it’s fine. Things happened, they weren’t within your control. But you feel fine now, right? Besides, the moment something’s off we’ll be gone, be it dusk or dawn, or in between. And Otoha can make things right if need be, too.”, he assured Genji with a small chuckle, a smile that encapsulated those eyes he closed for a moment, only to shed it all like a snake disposed of its skin and walk ahead.

Tethering between want and need was never an easy task, taking and giving wasn’t, either - Mikuni didn’t know what awaited them beyond this path or if there was anything at all. His curious mind dragged him into the unknown, into reckless abandon and Genji trailed after him, like a loyal guard dog that was happy if one threw him a little bone and pointed in a direction to walk. “Premonitions? Hm, haven’t had one once, but I know what you mean. There’s been vessels and messiah’s and what not before that could see the future, or a glimpse of it. Not in this church, or faith, though - that’s not what Otoha is known for.”, he mused, his arm stretched and hand extended to comb through the untended reeds at the side of the road, grabbing at a fistful of them and yanking one out of the ground. “That’s odd, in a way, isn’t it? But it just means you remember things that you don’t actually consciously can recall, in a way. Doesn’t that annoy you, if only so slightly? It feels like some puzzle you’re missing a big piece of but you have splotches of it, know the big picture of, in a way? Or maybe it’s more like … you understand, even if you don’t know why you do.”, Mikuni suggested, plugging whatever weed had sprouted from the reed within his hand, only to blow it into the air and let it scatter on the floor, followed by the stalk he’d torn away from it’s roots as well. The town inched ever closer, not long now.