Behind the White Mask

Reina's wounds were healing, little by little. The pain in her body faded with each sunrise, but the ache in her chest remained — sharp, unbearable, and ignored.

Because Sayaka hadn't come.

Not even once.

A whole week had passed, and she hadn't seen her. No familiar footsteps. No voice at her door. No visit.

It wasn't just the absence — it was the silence that hurt most.

She wanted to see her. No, she needed to. And it wasn't just for gratitude or obligation. It was something else — something that throbbed quietly beneath her ribs every time she thought of Sayaka's eyes, her hands, the way she had carried her through the blood and dirt.

But Sayaka had locked her in this room with strict orders: "Don't leave until I say so."

The Kiryuu warriors obeyed those words like law.

Now, Reina lay back against the bed, staring up at the ceiling, her jaw clenched. Her body was fine now. She could walk. She could fight. She was more than capable of standing — but no one even bothered to ask how she felt anymore.

The silence had settled into her bones.

On the eighth day, Reina finally moved.

She slipped quietly from her room, her bare feet silent against the wooden floors. No one noticed her — or at least, no one stopped her. Sayaka's quarters weren't far.

But when she entered, a sharp ache pierced her heart.

Everything was in place. The bedding was neat. Her armor was gone.

She wasn't here.

And she hadn't slept here for days.

Then, from the corridor, Reina heard two voices murmuring.

"She's pushing herself too hard," one said. "Training since dawn."

"She has to. The Clan Leader Members Competition is coming."

Reina's ears perked. What?

"The Clan Leader Members Competition?" she echoed quietly.

Another girl turned, surprised to see her. "You're not supposed to be here. Sayaka-sama—"

"She allowed me," Reina lied quickly. "I'm fully healed. I just needed to stretch my legs."

The girl hesitated, then relented. "It's a trial. The Clan Leader chooses five elite warriors — the best, the most disciplined, the ones who reflect her values. It's not about strength alone. It's about loyalty, willpower... it's like the leader sees herself reflected in each of them."

Reina stood there, still.

"Why are you asking?" the girl continued. "Do you know someone who—"

But Reina didn't answer. She was already drifting away, lost in thought.

Back in her room, Reina sat beside the window, watching the pale clouds drift past the mountaintops. Her chest felt tight.

"So that's why..." she whispered. "You didn't visit me... You're trying to become someone your clan can lean on."

She looked down at her lap, fingers twitching. Her body wanted movement. Her heart wanted more.

And she was done waiting.

Without a word, Reina reached under her clothes and pulled out the one thing she'd kept hidden from everyone — her white mask.

"I'll see you, Sayaka," she whispered, her voice laced with a soft, dangerous longing. "Even if you won't say my name... I'll make sure you remember it."

She placed the mask over her face.

And stepped into the evening mist

The moon hung low, draped behind drifting clouds, casting a silvery sheen across the Kiryuu Clan. Reina moved like a ghost beneath it — quiet, calculated, her white mask pulled tightly over her face.

Tonight, she walked not as a guest or a wounded girl confined to her room — but as something else entirely.

A watcher. A seeker.

For the first time, she was wandering the clan.

And it was beautiful.

She hadn't known how breathtaking the Kiryuu Clan was until now. Lanterns lined the pathways like fireflies suspended midair. Stone bridges arched over koi ponds. Trees bloomed in silent grace, their petals falling like whispers. The entire village pulsed with quiet life, with discipline, with harmony.

It made her chest feel tight.

This place suits her, Reina thought. Sayaka belongs here.

But beauty wasn't what she came for.

She passed the quiet markets, the herbal stalls packed for the night, the guards making their slow, respectful rounds. Her eyes didn't linger. She wasn't here to admire the world Sayaka came from.

She was here to see her.

And nothing else mattered.

The competition grounds opened like a vast arena at the edge of the clan. Wood and stone structures ringed the area, each housing the chosen competitors. The central space was empty, but the tension in the air was electric — like storms waiting to burst beneath the skin of warriors.

Reina walked through them unnoticed, unchallenged.

She didn't look at them.

Not one of them mattered.

She crossed the training grounds. Past the competitors. Past the guards. Past the ranks of young warriors sharpening their blades in silence.

Only one face existed in her world.

And she hadn't seen it in days.

When she reached the northern side of the arena, she stepped into one of the large wooden halls. The room was meant for the elite — those selected to compete in the Clan Leader Members Competition. The space was quiet now, only the rustle of fabric and creaking wood breaking the silence.

Her assigned room was still there.

Untouched.

She entered it like she owned it.

No hesitation. No falter.

The door slid shut behind her.

It smelled faintly of sandalwood. Her things were just as she left them — folded, neat, unbothered. But Sayaka's presence was absent. Clean and orderly. Distant.

Reina stood in the middle of the room and said nothing.

Her heart — heavy.

Not desperate.

Not broken.

But something more dangerous.

A still flame that refused to go out.

She looked to the far window. The breeze stirred the paper blinds. She inhaled. Exhaled. Her mask still covered her face, but her fingers itched.

So this is where you stay, she thought. And I'm still invisible to you.

She reached beneath her robes — fingers finding the hidden cloth, the crisp feel of the white mask she had folded away so carefully. Her old self.

The self she wore the night she saved Sayaka.

She held it for a long moment.

Then, slowly, deliberately — Reina pulled it on.

And this time, her eyes burned with more than just want.

They burned with certainty.

"I'll come to you," she whispered under her breath, voice quiet but unyielding. "You're not going to ignore me anymore, Sayaka Kiryuu."

The tournament grounds were thunderous.

Drums pounded like war cries from the heavens, echoing through the sky. Clan members lined the edges of the arena, their cheers rising like waves. Warriors stood in perfect formation, blades gleaming, armor catching the early sunlight in sharp glints.

This was no ordinary event.

This was the Clan Leader Members Competition — a sacred trial. The moment when the Grand Leader would select five warriors as her second shadow. Five who reflected her strength, her loyalty, her will. Like mirrors to her soul.

Sayaka Kiryuu stood among the chosen.

Her name had been called first.

She was calm. Sharp. Commanding.

But her eyes — those focused, hawk-like eyes — weren't scanning for enemies.

They were searching.

For her.

The girl with the white mask.

The one who saved her.

The one who had haunted her ever since.

No one had ever touched her like that — not just her skin, not just her wound — but her soul. That night in the forest still echoed in her blood. The brush of fingers. The way their breaths had mingled in the cold. The ache of her wounds overshadowed by the heat in her chest.

And now—

She saw it.

A flicker.

A figure, cloaked in plain robes, face hidden under a familiar white mask, standing silently at the far edge of the competitors' row.

Sayaka's breath hitched.

She was here.

Like a ghost returning to its anchor.

Like a sin refusing to be forgotten.

Sayaka didn't blink. Didn't move.

She just stared.

And the girl — no, the woman — behind that mask?

She stared back.

Unflinching.

Unapologetic.

Unafraid.

Reina had no intention of hiding. She wasn't afraid of being recognized. She wanted Sayaka to see her. She needed Sayaka to know. Obsession had long passed the stage of secrecy.

Now it was bold.

Daring.

Unshakable.

The moment their eyes met, the crowd, the noise, the world — all of it disappeared.

The tension between them snapped tight like a string drawn past its limit.

Sayaka stepped forward instinctively, almost forgetting the ceremonial speech happening behind her.

Her heart pounded, but her face remained stoic.

Reina tilted her head, ever so slightly.

Sayaka's hand hovered at the hilt of her blade — not out of threat.

Out of instinct. Like her fingers remembered who had touched her soul that night.

"Who are you…" Sayaka murmured under her breath. "What are you doing here?"

Reina didn't answer, but her body said everything.

I'm here for you.

I'm not hiding anymore.

Come find me.

And in that single moment, with their eyes locked across the sacred ground, Sayaka knew — the tournament wouldn't just be a battle of blades.

It would be a war of hearts.

And she was already losing.

(To be continued)