Yuka smiled. It was not a nice smile. Grief had filed it sharp.
The noppera-bō’s blank face rippled—uncertainty, perhaps, or fear. yuka scattered shard of yokai
The kappa took one step forward.
“Let’s make a deal,” she said. “You tell me who killed my mother—and I mean the real thing, not the sickness—and maybe I don't turn this whole bridge into a cage made of your own forgotten name.” Yuka smiled
The fragments—so small they were almost dust—caught the wind like frozen fireflies. They spun once, twice, and then sank into the river. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Yuka almost laughed at her own foolishness. yuka scattered shard of yokai