72 Volume 3: Millennium Virgin

It really did look exactly like a twig. He tentatively reached out with a tiny bit of his power, very carefully, to see if there was something else there, but all he sensed was the general life force of a tree.

He frowned slightly. In her world, there were no 'real' trees; but this twig felt like a real tree. That didn't explain why she thought trees could talk, but if she'd really gone outside and brought something in....

That should not have been possible.

Walking over, he reached down and attempted to pull the twig out. The single tiny branch growing from the twig poked him viciously as he tugged. It remained stubbornly rooted, as if to further mock his efforts. He glared at it with his unchanging face.

"Even if this twig can't talk, there's something strange about it… I'm not letting it stay in here without knowing exactly what it is…" He muttered to himself and grabbed hold of it again. He was in the middle of trying to pull it out a second time when—

"What do you think you're doing!?!?!"

He immediately let go, feeling like a small child who got caught doing something naughty.

"First you reject my kiss and now you try to hurt my friend!"

"Your who??"

She pointed at the twig.

"My friend, Shuya! Right! There!"

"You named the twig?!"

"Yes I did! She asked me to, so I did!"

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"You don't make any sense! Your Uncle doesn't make any sense!"

He held his head, feeling almost dizzy from confusion, and desperately trying not to lose his temper.

"I told you the twig came from the tree, and the tree can talk! Shuya can talk! But not to you, she doesn't like you! And right now, I don't like you much either." She folded her hands across her chest and glared at him.

He let out a despairing sigh, feeling deeply wronged, but decided that fighting her on this point wasn't going to help anything. He needed to consult people on the outside about this oddity, but that meant leaving. If he left, that meant she was alone with the weird twig, which he'd somehow offended.

Even though it hadn't done anything to him directly, he couldn't help feeling a growing antagonism towards it.

"Can… can we start over?"

"Humph."

"Look, about that kiss earlier… I wasn't meaning to reject it."

"Yeah? That's not how it sounded."

"Please understand… I'm very careful in this place and around you. I'm very careful so I don't break anything. So I don't hurt you. I would love—" His voice cracked awkwardly and he cleared his throat. "—I would love to kiss you more. I really would, but it's not safe. You need… more time… to… to heal up first. From the poison."

At the mention of the poison, she hesitated. From Shuya's reaction, she knew the poison was really bad and most likely doing something more than just causing her to lose her memories.

"What is that poison doing exactly? You said it was making it so I couldn't remember, but is that all?"

"It's better if you don't know."

She frowned.

"I'm not stupid, you can tell me."

"No. It's not a matter of whether you're smart or stupid."

She tsked. Shuya had not wanted to talk of it either, so it'd only been a slim chance that Mr. Light would tell her.

"Fine, whatever." She huffed and then asked, "Do you really think I don't love you?"

"What?"

She bit her lip, which still stung a little from the second kiss.

"I love you, too. So when Shuya said you loved me, I was happy. I asked her what to do, and she said I should kiss you."

He sent a quick glare at the twig. Somehow, this was all the twig's fault.

Turning his gaze towards her, he said gently, "Thank you for loving me, even when you don't remember."

"Did I love you before… before I forgot?"

"You did."

"Oh." She suddenly looked awkward. "Sorry. I didn't know."

"No need for apologies. It's not like you forgot only me, you forgot everything, even your own name." He shrugged. "It'd be silly if I got angry about something you've got no control over."

"That's true." She kicked the ground slightly with her toes. "I suppose… that poison… is really in the way, isn't it?"

"Yes it is."

She scratched her cheek. "Well… I'll definitely get it all out of here someday. Definitely. I can do it without your help now, too, so I'm sure it'll be sooner rather than later—"

His back straightened. "You can do what now?"

"Hm? I can remove the poison without your help."

"Would you be willing to show me?", he asked incredulously and a bit excited.

She gave a shrug. "Sure."

They both went to the lake of poison where she showed him. After doing it a few times, she stopped and raised her chin proudly.

"See? I can do it without you."

He stood there dumbfounded. "Where did you…"

"Shuya. She taught me all kinds of interesting things."

"What did she teach you exactly?"

"About the nature of the Dao, Yin and Yang, stuff like that."

"…since when have you ever been interested in religion?"

"Religion? Is that what that teaching is called?"

"Yes."

"Hm, I don't know why I wouldn't have been interested in it before…. It's useful! Because I know about religion, not only can I get rid of the poison by myself using the yang in the air, I can even absorb that same yang to become stronger!"

"…absorb it? And what do you mean by yang?"

"Oh you know," She reached out, concentrated, and grabbed a small amount floating yang, "this stuff. And then I just eat it." She shoved it in her mouth and swallowed. "It tastes great, like spicy candy. Heh.."

She concentrated again and grabbed a little more yang from the air, rubbing it between her fingers. It felt very warm and soft, fluffier than rabbit's fur. It seemed to snuggle further into her hand as she played with it. "Now that we're on the subject, this is your yang isn't it?"

She raised her hand with the fluffy gold yang right in front of his face. His gaze followed her hand, or rather the yang, with laser focus until he almost went cross eyed.

"I wanted to ask… why are you stuffing me full of your yang? I don't think I could use it before, otherwise there wouldn't be so much of it. So what was the point? Shuya says you're smothering me with it, but why?"

The Light's serene face suddenly exploded in a brilliant shade of red. It looked like you could cook eggs on it; it was so bright.

"Woah! What's with that reaction?!"

He immediately covered his face with both hands and wailed, "You— You—! What are you doing so openly in your condition without any shame—! No, no, no! I can't take this—! I can't— I— I need to go! Gah!"

Before she could even ask what that was supposed to mean, his image wavered and he vanished. He'd completely forgotten about the twig.

She stood there, stunned.

"Hahahahahaahah!"

Shuya appeared nearby the moment Mr. Light was gone, laughing so hard she was on her hands and knees, wheezing.

Little Sister walked over to Shuya and cocked her head, eyebrows together.

"…what just happened?"

"Hehehehe… he was totally embarrassed..!" She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye while trying to regain her composure. "What do you bet, no one's touched his yang for hundreds of years? Bwahahaha! To suddenly get fondled like that without any warning— hahahahaha!"

"F-fondled! I wasn't— I didn't!"

"Oh yes you did! He's got so much yang he can't keep track of it all, but when it's being done right in front of him… there's no way he can't notice. Hehehehe! I wish I could see his face outside—" She suddenly brightened. "—maybe I can! Hang on, I'll be right back!"

And then Shuya vanished without a further word.

Little Sister found herself alone in her world. She sat down with a huff and then remembered the yang in her hand and started munching on it. Only the moon and stars were her companions as she ate.

She didn't fondle anything! She wasn't even entirely sure what fondling meant, but it sounded naughty. And she hadn't been naughty! Probably… she was pretty sure… at least it hadn't been on purpose!

…Maybe.

Well, anyway, this yang stuff was addictive. The more she had, the more she wanted; the fact that it tasted good and was good for her was a bonus. She kept repeating the act of grabbing yang and eating it, patiently waiting for Shuya to return.

——

Shuya was currently sneakily peeping out of her Little Sister's body.

Just like before, the young woman's body was lying on a canopy bed made of deep polished red wood. She wore a lightweight, undyed, cotton gown; with her long hair braided and artfully placed at her side. Her face was serene, as if she was sleeping, and a bit too pale to be counted as healthy.

The windows to the room were open and light was streaming in, the sounds of birds could be heard from the outside. Sometimes, there was even a hint of distant laughter. A gentle breeze swept through the room, reminding Shuya it was likely spring here.

A man was sitting next to Little Sister. It was Mr. Light, but he looked completely different. There were no antlers on his head or ivy running through his hair. Instead his face was tanned and masculine in appearance. Even though he looked young, his black hair had begun to gray, and there were streaks of white running through it.

Two blue-gold eyes were currently dimming, as if they'd been piercingly bright only a moment before. He was breathing heavily and half covering his face with a large calloused hand, looking shocked.

Yes, out here his face actually showed emotion.

"…ah!" He said to no one in particular, lowering his hand. "…that bothersome twig… I forgot all about it…"

After a bit he got out of the bed. He seemed to sway slightly, causing him to reach out and grab one of the artfully carved banisters of the bed for support.

"Even now she's just chomping away like it's nothing…" His face was starting to flush. "…I wish I hadn't noticed… ugh… hehe.. feels so good… heheheh...No no… don't think about it. Don't think about it…"

After several minutes of him arguing with himself like an idiot, his face's color went back to normal and he seemed to have calmed down. He nodded and took a few steps forward; then promptly tripped over his own feet and fell over.

He cursed roundly at his own clumsiness while Shuya silently laughed at him. Watching his reaction had been completely worth it!

Someone must have been just outside because at the clattering of his fall, the door opened.

"What on earth happened to you?"

A man who looked to be in his twenties walked in. He had a bit of a baby face, with large green eyes and long green hair, neatly tied into a ponytail at the nap of his neck. Apparently he liked the color green, because his clothing was shaded green too.

"I… I just got a bit of a shock."

The man in green immediately cast an anxious look at Little Sister's silent form.

"No, she's fine. I mean… she's as good as can be expected at least. I wouldn't be this calm otherwise."

"Say that first then!" The other man snapped but still walked over to help Mr. Light back on his feet. "Once again: what happened to you?"

"Hm… something odd is going on. I don't think it's dangerous. It might be helpful… but I don't understand it. So I was a bit surprised… en… just a little surprised… that's all. J-just… taken off guard…"

"…uh huh…" The other man sounded doubtful. "If it's not a problem why are you being so sketchy?"

Mr. Light simply grunted in response.

"Fine." The man in green sighed and then frowned slightly. "Well.. This whole process has been experimental from the beginning. There's a lot we don't know. Didn't the Doctor say there's going to be variables?"

"He did. That's why I need to talk to him… Ah, and I should probably talk to… to… I don't remember his name… that Wulin Master. All his dinky Sect has been doing lately is squatting on my land and taking up resources. Call him for me, will you? It's time he contributed something useful."

"…if the Lotus Valley Sect found out you STILL don't know their Master's name after all this time, they'd cry."

"Let the moochers cry! It's not like I've seen their Master more than two or three times at this point anyway. All he does is that door exercising thing."

"It's 'closed door training'." Came a somewhat exasperated reply. "And his name is Master Guanyu. Please remember it."

"Whatever." Mr. Light paused and then scowled. "He better not be doing that right now of all times."

"I don't think he is… I think I heard from someone he's taking a year to train his successor."

"Good. I thought I might have to find that door of his and break it down."

"It's not a literal door—"

They walked out of the room, closing an actual door behind them, so Shuya was cut off from their conversation. She was thinking of going back when the door opened again and a young man walked in.

He was teenager with peculiar glowing eyes: The left was solid blue, but the right had blue on the top and gold on the bottom. In his hands was a large stringed musical instrument. It was so large he could almost hide his thin frame behind it. He carefully brought it in and set it up next to Little Sister's bed.

"Mother, I think you'll like this song. Master Shen Zhou says it a good song to play during this time of year. I only just learned it yesterday though, so I might make some mistakes… Ah, of course I remember how you never minded when I made mistakes… I haven't forgotten…"

The boy was silent for a long moment, staring at the unmoving woman with a sad expression. He then shook himself and said cheerily, "…anyway, I hope you like it Mother."

As the boy began to pluck on the strings, Shuya listened to his song. The tune was meant to be cheery, but there was a melancholy undertone to it. At some point she felt her eyes getting watery and she sniffled quietly to herself.

She hadn't known Little Sister was a mother. She'd only taken a quick peek last time, just enough to realize Little Sister was a human. And even if Shuya had guessed she might have children, Little Sister didn't look old enough to have a teenage son. But there was no mistaking the family resemblance between the boy playing a happy song sadly and the silent, unmoving woman in the bed.

How long had Little Sister been like this? Trapped within herself and unable to break free? Forgetting everything and everyone that mattered to her?

Shuya silently slipped back into Little Sister's world, the tragedy of the outside overshadowing any amusement she'd gained from watching the punk fall all over himself.