Page 45 of The Tainted and the Tamed
“Then why does he stay away from the Diet?”
Again, Momoko smiled that distant—no,knowingsmile. “Because he thinks he’s a monster.”
Murasaki sat back, her brows knit together. “But he isn’t. He saved me. He helped you.”
“You’re right,” Momoko replied. “He isn’t.”
Then, to Murasaki’s deepening puzzlement, the doctor’s wife shrugged.
“We are what we are,” she said. “Let’s change your bandage.”
Even as Murasaki turned her body to give Momoko easier access to the bandage on her neck, Murasaki sighed. She was so tired of being a patient.
A cry from outside saved her from Momoko’s ministrations.
At once, both women stood. Momoko was out the door first, calling to her husband at his desk. Dr. Setouchi hurried out at such speed, Murasaki’s heart skipped a beat.
How can he be so quick? Almost as quick as that thing that attacked me.
That thing with the face of a woman.And the clothes of a castle maid.
A masked man rushed inside, Haruki’s body hanging between his shoulder and the doctor’s. Haruki was covered in blisters and burns—as if he’d rolled into a fire in his sleep.
Murasaki bit down on a gasp.
“I got him down the mountain as quickly as I could,” the masked chairman said. An angry rash on the side of his face said he hadn’t returned unscathed, either—but he wasn’t even out of breath.
None of this made sense. Murasaki stared at Haruki’s singed body, her heart pounding as he groaned in pain.He’s alive. Despite all that, he’s alive.
While Murasaki stood there, stunned into silence, Momoko rushed by her to get supplies.
Dr. Setouchi knelt beside Haruki. “You fool, what did you do?”
“Stopped her is what,” the masked chairman answered sharply. “Don’t scold him, I’ve done it enough for us all.”
Dr. Setouchi pulled open Haruki’s kimono. Though it was intact, the burns continued where it should’ve covered his skin.
“Did you really kill her?” Momoko asked, worry etching lines around her nose in her otherwise immaculate face—almost like whiskers. “Are we really safe?”
“Thanks to him.” The chairman grunted.
“At such a cost.” Momoko shook her head.
Without pausing his work, Dr. Setouchi hissed at her. “Ms. Mukai—”
“Ms. Mukai already knows,” Momoko rejoined, already on her way to boil a fresh pot of water. “And if she doesn’t, she’s about to.”
The chairman visibly stiffened. “Even if that’s true, that’s a problem for later.”
At last, Murasaki found her voice. “I won’t tell anyone anything, I promise. Just, please—help him.”
Dr. Setouchi’s kind eyes found her briefly. “Don’t worry, Ms. Mukai. A lesser man would be dead already. He was helped by his—age.”
Murasaki nodded, eager to understand.
And then realized the chairman’s mask faced her. She couldn’t see his nose, but something told her he was sniffing—as if she could hear it.
“My god,” he exclaimed. “Ms. Mukai, is it? When did he turn you?”
