Corpse March

Chapter 56 Clockwork Girl

“Have you ever felt less than human, Tsumugi?”

“I don’t like to think about it.” Tsumugi sits down on the chair next to Tsuki’s bed. “I am who my choices make me just as much as I am who my blood makes me. I am… me.” 

“What Tomoe said yesterday really got to you, didn’t it?”

“It wasn’t just Tomoe…” She closes her eyes and sees the crowd in front of her, their jeers still echoing in her ears. Tsumugi tilts her head, as though emptying the thought through her ear. “And you?” 

“I try not to think about it.” Tsuki gestures at her body. “But it’s getting harder and harder to not notice with my condition.” 

“I see.” Tsumugi nods, maybe a little too much, but she wants to let Tsuki know that she’s absolutely listening. “Do you want me to tuck you in?” 

“I’m not five. I can tuck myself in.” Tsuki tries to sit up but her strength fails her. 

“...” 

“Almost got it.” 

“...”

“Alllllmost.” 

“...”

Tsuki lies back down and sighs. “Alright. Fine.”

 “You don’t have to be ashamed.” 

“I’m a grown-ass woman being tucked in.” 

“I used to tuck you in all the time.” 

“That was then. This is now.” 

“Don’t lie, you’re enjoying this.”

“I’m not!” Tsuki says, a soft blush forming on her face. Tsumugi didn’t know Tsuki could blush. Mainly because she doesn’t have blood but she can, apparently. “By the way, is there something between you and that… Haru girl?”

“Something between us?” Tsumugi innocently tilts her head. “We’re married, that's all.” 

“I know, I know you’re married but I mean like… Do you like her? Like, in that way?” Tsuki makes a ‘You know what I mean’ gesture with her eyes. 

“...errr…”

“Are you two banging?” 

“Wh–what?! No, no I’m not! We haven’t even…” Kissed. She wants to say ‘kissed’ but they have. They have. Oh god, what was she thinking when she did that? Tsumugi covers her mouth in embarrassment. 

“So there is something between the both of you.” Tsuki raises an eyebrow. 

“Well…” Tsumugi shrugs. “Fine, yeah, you got me. But we haven’t had se… seeee… seee… we aren’t ‘banging’, alright?” 

“Okay, okay, no need to get so defensive!” Tsuki smiles with schadenfreude pleasure as she watches Tsumugi squirm. “I just… think you could have done a little better.” 

. There’s something more important that I have to talk to you about.”

“Something important?”

“I’m dying, Tsumugi.”

Tsumugi’s expression freezes, as though if she doesn’t acknowledge it it will just go away. She swallows her smile but not completely, the remaining dregs growing bittersweet.  “I know.” 

“I still…” Tsumugi bites her lip, desperately trying to keep herself together for Tsuki. “I’m sorry that we couldn’t figure out a cure.” 

“I don’t blame you.” Tsuki sighs as she sinks into her bed. “From the very beginning, I’ve been living on borrowed time.” 

Tsuki takes a breath before downing another vial of stabilizer. She used to only have to drink one of these a day. Now she’s drinking them every hour or so. “I never thanked you for that, now that I think about it.”

“For what?”

“For giving me a home. For letting me sleep in this big house. For letting me eat all this good food. For introducing me to all these big people. And for always being there for me. Thank you, for everything.” 

“It’s what you deserved. They made me muse just because Lady Tsubame was my mother.” Tsumugi looks down at her feet. “The circumstances of my birth gave me my position. Why should you be any different?”

“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds a lot less charitable.”

“I was… angrier back then. Angry at the world for how it worked. But I’m happy that, at least, something good came from that anger.” 

“I’m glad too. Otherwise I wouldn’t have the best big sis in the world.” 

“And I wouldn’t have my…” Tsuki raises an eyebrow as Tsumugi hesitates. “...adorable little sister.”

“Damn straight I’m adorable.” Tsuki weakly forms a finger gun and points it at Tsumugi before letting it fall back to her side. 

“Don’t overdo it.” 

“I know, I know.” Tsuki rolls her eyes. A bad habit she’s never managed to kick. Or rather, a bad habit that no one’s managed to persuade her to kick. “Anywho, I didn’t call you here just to say my goodbyes. I have something important to tell you.”

“Yeah?” 

“It’s about the traitor.” 

“You’re not about to say that it was you all along, are you?” 

“What? No?” Tsuki makes a face like ‘really?’. “What gave you that idea?”

“Okay good. Sorry. My mind just jumped to the worst possible outcome.”

“Jeez. You really do love worrying, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Anyway.” Tsuki breaks into a hacking cough, leaving Tsumugi in suspense. “If I’m killed, Tomoe is a traitor.” 

“...I understood what you said the first time. But I want to hear you say it again to be sure.”

“If I’m killed, Tomoe is a traitor.” 

“And if you don’t?”

“Then I was mistaken.”

“How do you know this?”

“Do you trust me?”

“But–”

“Do you trust me?”

“...With every ounce of me that’s me.” Tsumugi swallows. “I trust my little sister.” 

“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear.” Tsuki relaxes into her bed. “Now get outta here. Let a girl rest for a minute.” 

“Thank you, Tsuki. For telling me all this. I’ll be here again tomorrow. But…” Tsumugi hesitates, grasping at words and stringing them together. “But if you die before then… I’m glad that we could talk as sisters one last time.” 

“I’m glad as well.” 

Tsumugi painstakingly takes her eyes off of Tsuki, fearful that she might die the second she does. As she walks out the room, she glances at Tsuki one last time. She looks so small, so frail, so unlike the fearsome beast she fought just under an hour before. 

“Tsumugi.” She jolts from the sudden voice. Turning around, she comes face to face with a pair of glasses and a nonchalant expression. Tomoe.

“How long have you been listening?”

“As it so happens, I too have something to discuss with Lady Tsuki.”

“Don’t try anything.”

“Try what?” Tomoe tilts her head. Tsumugi doesn’t know if her ignorance is real or feigned. 

“I’ll be on my way.” Tsumugi’s gaze lingers on Tomoe for just a moment longer before she turns and walks off towards her room. As she walks away, she listens to the sound of Tomoe opening and closing the door to Tsuki’s room.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Tomoe saunters through the door and into the room. She busies herself by examining her bookshelf. The books on it are dusty, having never been used. “That was a sweet heart-to-heart.” 

Tsuki doesn’t answer, her eyes are staring at the clouds outside the window. Birds fly by, skipping in the wind. She wishes she could be like that. Free as a bird, free from this useless body, free to live just like a real girl. 

“I’m not going to mince my words here.” Tomoe’s sneakers make soft padding noises as she walks in between Tsuki and the window. The soft colors of the landscape are replaced by Tomoe’s long shadow. “Why did you lie to Tsumugi?”

“...” 

“You know as well as I do that I’m not the traitor. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t put it past you to have already figured out who the traitor is.” 

“...”

“Why’d you do it?” 

Tomoe takes off her jacket and drops it onto the ground. 

“Why’d you do it?”

She climbs on top of the bed, straddles Tsuki’s body between her legs, and places her hands on Tsuki’s neck. 

“Why did you lie, Tsuki?”

She squeezes. As hard as she can. Tsuki’s deadpan eyes look as though they’re about to pop out of her head. Her chest begins to spasm from the coughs trapped in her lungs. But through it all, she says nothing.

“Tell me.” 

Tomoe’s eyes are unflinching, unwavering as she strangles the life out of Tsuki. She presses down harder. Finally, Tsuki’s eyes seem to focus on Tomoe.

“Tell me!”

“That…”

“Hm?” 

Tomoe loosens her grip slightly to loosen Tsuki’s lips. 

“...that… all… you… got?” Tsuki smiles. 

“...” Slowly, Tomoe lifts her hands off of Tsuki’s throat. An eruption of laughs bursts from Tsuki’s mouth, one that she does nothing to stifle. 

“Is this truly that funny to you?”

“If that’s all you wanted to know, you could have just asked nicely.” Tsuki says, ignoring the fact that Tomoe did ask nicely. “I said nothing more than what she needed to hear.” 

Tomoe walks away from the bed and picks up her jacket. “What exactly are you trying to get her to do?”

“Only what’s best for her. If she wants to succeed in this numbers game, she needs to learn to make sacrifices.” Tsuki manages to sit up. “She’s stronger than you know. All she needs is just one little push.” 

“We shall see.” Tomoe turns around to face Tsuki. “My name is Tomoe Kuroihoshi and I have a duty to protect this city at all costs. The secrets of magic must be contained, by force if necessary. I failed once, I will not fail again.” 

“That’s an overcomplicated way to say that you’re scared. Scared and ashamed.” 

“...hmph.” 

“Even if you do succeed, it’s not going to work. It’s not going to keep anyone safe. But you knew that already.” 

“It will… It has to.” Tomoe bites down on her thumbnail. “I have to at least try.”

“Then try it.” Tsuki smiles. “And you can all see who the whims of fate favors more.”

“Indeed.” Tomoe opens the door and almost slams it on the way out.  

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Tsumugi almost barges into her room. Haru doesn’t look up from her guitar practice. “How’s Tsuki?”

“She’s dying.”

“That’s… that’s not good.”

“Yeah thanks.” Tsumugi rolls her eyes. Or at least, Haru assumes that she rolls her eyes behind those thick glasses of hers. She closes the door behind her and sits down on her armchair. Though, she feels no comfort from it. “But this is also an opportunity.” 

“How so?” 

“The way Tsuki talked to me made it sound like the traitor’s after her. If we manage to play our cards right, we can catch them in the act.” Tsumugi bites her lip.  “I don’t like making risky plays… but I fear that bringing a full complement of guards will only alert the traitor towards what we’re doing. Which in turn just gives them more time to sidestep our defenses.” 

“So, we’re setting a trap? With Tsuki as bait?” With a heavy sigh, Haru stands up and swings KANNIBAL over her shoulder. 

“Yeah… I don’t like it, but it seems like that’s our best move right now.” 

“Makes sense, she’s going to die either way. At least this way she can be useful on her way out.” 

“Fucking hell, Haru.” Tsumugi stands up from her chair and turns indignantly.  

Shit. She’s really done it now. “What? Was it something I said?” 

“I feel bad enough for using her as bait. You didn’t have to make it any worse.”

“I see…” Haru doesn’t really get it, but she pretends she does anyway. She stops strumming her guitar, stands up, and wraps her arms around Tsumugi. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay.” Tsumugi sighs. “I’m just…” 

“No, no, you don’t have to act like that. I want to make it up to you.” 

“What did you have in mind?” Tsumugi smiles, however weakly. 

“How about a date? After all this is over.”

“A date, huh?” 

“I just realized that we got married, kissed, and moved in together, all without ever going on a date.”

“Huh, it is strange now that you bring it up.” Tsumugi raises Haru’s hands so that her arms are resting on her shoulders. “Alright. That sounds nice. I’ve already got a date idea in mind.”

“Okay, good cause I was drawing blanks.” 

Tsumugi smiles, lifts Haru’s hand to her mouth and plants a kiss on it. “I love how you can always make me laugh.” 

“Oh it ain’t no thang.” She’s thankful for Tsumugi facing away because otherwise she’d see how badly she’s blushing. 

“Anyway, let’s save the date for after we catch the traitor.” 

“Ah, right, I’d almost forgotten about that.”

“I think the plan is simple. You hide somewhere near Tsuki’s room and just watch for anyone who enters. Your hearing should tell you that something’s wrong just by listening.” 

“Huh, seems simple enough. You want me to start now?”

“Not quite. I want someone else with you.” 

“Who?” 

“...”

“Oh.” The answer clicks in place. “OH nonononono– NO. You can’t make me!”