Status Updates From Blood Brothers Beyond

“I was innocent,” Daijiro protested.

“Of all things you've been in your life, innocent was never one!”

“I was innocent from a certain point of view.”

Ichiro stopped before the toori and met the fox's cool stare. He felt like the whole world was contained in that gaze; the four empires, the vast seas, the wild lands beyond, even the heavens and the stars themselves. At the same time, he also felt like its gaze was empty as the lifeless dead.

He thumbed over his shoulder towards the cart. The donkey looked up, as if it had just been caught with its hand on another man's sword.

There was only one rickety stool in front of the wine stall, so Daijiro pushed it towards Ichiro, then sat on nothing, holding perfectly still as though the show off wasn't holding himself up by nothing but a ridiculous display of core strength.