#so here she's 'fushiguro sumire'

[yuesya]

The doors slide open suddenly and abruptly, clattering roughly against the wooden frame.

Zenin Jinichi whirls around at the unexpected intrusion, tensing. ��Who–”

“Yo,” the young man standing in the doorway says. Zenin Toji, Jinichi’s little brother –and greatest headache. Who has the audacity to raise an eyebrow when he sees Jinichi, then snort dismissively and drawl, “Oh, you’re here, too? You can get lost now.”

… Any apprehension that Jinichi had felt at Toji’s unexpected appearance instantly vanishes. He can feel the vein pulsing in his temple.

“Show some respect, Toji,” he growls.

The irreverent young man rolls his eyes. “What? It’s not like you even–”

Surprisingly enough, however, Toji cuts himself off in the middle of his words. The pseudo-sorcerer glances backwards behind him, and Jinichi follows the line of the younger man’s gaze–

A woman?

Toji is tall, and well-built. Enough that his physical frame had been enough to completely hide the woman behind him from view. It’s clear that she’s not a clan woman. Her hair is short, cut in a style almost reminiscent of a man’s. She is not dressed in traditional attire, either. Nor does she conduct herself appropriately, tugging at Toji’s sleeve as she does… although Jinichi grudgingly supposes that he does appreciate her reining in his caustic younger brother.

“What are you here for?” Jinichi asks suspiciously.

“Not for you,” Toji rolls his eyes, and shoulders past Jinichi, dragging in the hapless woman behind him–

… No. Not hapless. Although it seems as if he’s dragging the woman along behind him, it’s clear that the hand wrapped around the woman’s wrist is careful, gentle.

But Zenin Toji, gentle?

Before Jinichi can think to stop him, Toji is already standing in front of the desk in the middle of the room. And behind that desk…

The white-haired young lady finally lifts her gaze and looks up from her work as Toji’s shadow falls across her. By all means, it should make for an intimidating image, but there’s no hint of fear or apprehension in her demeanor –only boredom, and perhaps a faint hint of irritation, although that does not change her placid expression.

Eighteen is young for a child to take over as the head of a clan –much less a female child– but there is no one who would dare look down upon her, the deadly sorcerer reigning as the twenty-seventh–

“Fushiguro Sumire,” Toji presents the woman he’d brought along with him with a grin. “I’m going to marry her.”

The woman blushes. Jinichi’s jaw drops open.

“T-Toji, you–!”

“And Sumire, this is Zenin Shiki,” Toji raises his voice to casually drown out Jinichi’s sputtering and complete the introductions. “My murderous clan head.”