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The fox leaped down from the window and followed her, his tiny claws tapping against the tatami.
    Izanagi was gone, no doubt waiting on the other side of the pure white pillar. How Izanami hated that square column, that monument that had destroyed everything. She barely had the desire to paint anymore, the
naginata
spear standing idly in the corner of the pagoda, the golden ink choking the blade like crystallized honey.
    Izanami gently lowered the basket into the swirls of the ink ocean. Hiruko drooled as he grinned at the fish, whose tails already slapped against the woven sides of the makeshift boat. He reached into the waters, the slippery silver darting between his fingers, wrongly sized and stubby.
    “Go to a safer place,” she said, her fingers resting gently on the side of the basket to steady it in the waves. She gave it a push, and then it was on the backs of the school of fish, leaping and diving as they rocked it upon the inky waters.
    The bitterness bled her heart dry, until nothing was left inside her but kindling to the flame.
    She stood and walked toward the pillar as the fire burned.

Chapter Six
    Tanaka fumbled with the buttons on his school blazer, shaking his head to try and get his hair to stand up evenly. The motion sent his glasses tumbling down his nose, and he pushed them up with shaking fingers. Why was he so nervous? He spent every minute of every school day with Yuki, anyway. He was pretty sure she felt the same way. So why was his heart pounding against his chest?
    Because this was everything, he thought. It was the moment his life had drawn him to, the warmth he’d been following when he hadn’t even realized where he was going.
    He slid his school slippers on and headed up the stairs into the main hallway. The other students chatting and laughing on their way to class stifled him in a way he’d never felt before. He wanted to turn around, but he couldn’t. His sister was right—he was a total nutcase.
    He stood at the entrance to the classroom. Yuki was already there, her hair pulled into a ponytail that fell gently against her back. Her eyes had that gentle warmth to them, that genuine kindness that Tanaka had always tried to protect. He swallowed and took a breath.
    Two classmates pushed past him, mumbling good-mornings as they squeezed past. Tanaka stumbled, clutching his book bag handles so tight his knuckles paled.
    “Tan-kun!” shouted Takeshi, one of his baseball teammates. “
Ohayo!
”
    Yuki turned in her seat, smiling to see him there.
    Oh god.
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t tell her. She was too good for him. He’d only ruin everything. “M-morning,” Tanaka stammered back.
    “Did you get through the English homework okay?” Yuki asked.
    “Huh? Oh, yeah, no problem,” he said, lowering himself into his seat.
Abort mission.
He couldn’t do this. “You?”
    “Please.” Yuki rolled her eyes. She reached into her book bag for her textbook, the tiny
kitsune
charm on her bag jingling against the metal snap. “My English is better than yours.”
    That and everything else
, Tanaka thought, staring at the fox charm.
There’s no way I could get a girl like you.
I’m lucky enough to be your best friend.
    “Hey,” Yuki said when he didn’t reply. “I was only joking. Are you okay?”
    His throat was dry. He could pretend. He’d done it before. “Fine.”
    “
Ne
, did you guys hear the news?” Takeshi said.
    “About the Yakuza?” Yuki chimed in. She was always the first to know any gossip. “Scary, huh?”
    “Right in Sunpu Park.” Takeshi nodded. “My dad’s coworker saw it happen.”
    “What?” Tanaka said. He’d been in his room all night rehearsing the hundreds of possible ways Yuki could reject him.
    “Another gang member died,” Takeshi said. “This time the rival gang left a graffiti tag near him. A crow or something.”
    “I heard it was a raven,” Yuki said. “And it said ‘Kami Arise.’”
    Tanaka raised his eyebrows. “In Sunpu Park?