smooth as eczema

Iki's world had been turned upside down. Her whole short life, it had been hammered into her head just how important family was. Family, heritage, honor, it was everything. But was it really? Their father had thrown all of those ideals in the mud when he abandoned them. Ikigai felt utterly betrayed. Not only that... she was angry. Enraged even. These were emotions that she'd never dealt with before. They were foreign to her and they made her feel sick to her stomach.

As she lay on the open porch that had once been the enclosed space of the shrine, the raucous call of Oki met lynx-tipped ears. Initially the girl pulled those ears back and thought about not answering him. In the end, she couldn't be like her father. Family and honor was still important to her even if it wasn't to him. "I'm over here," she called out, but there was a lifeless defeat to her tones. She didn't sound like her normal, serene, ladylike self at all.

"X"