Tsuki’s bleak smile turned upside down, into a visible frown, when the woman recounted something she must have read in a sacred text. The kind of texts priests sold copies of to the masses so the clergy could continue living in luxury. She did not care for the overly religious, and the thought to shoot the woman on pure principle went through her head. Not too kill, but maybe a bullet in the stomach or leg would bring her down a notch. It’d definitely give her more trouble than it was worth though. 

She scoffed when the woman clarified that she wasn’t there to tell her what not to do. Damn right she wasn’t, especially if she wanted Tsuki to keep the door open and listen to her instead of slamming it in her face. It was still tempting to slam it shut, but there was a high possibility that the woman worked for the clergy and had enough wealth to make it worth Tsuki’s time to listen. She had recounted the passage about being drunk a bit too well and automatic for your average worshipper. There was the mention of “official capacity” as well. Besides, it’d be awkward if she slammed the door shut only to have the glass break and still be face to face with the woman. 

Right… Tsuki thought to herself when she said how it was a simple question. There was no simple question that had people show up at your office in the middle of night. It had to be of some importance and maybe even urgent, or she could very well have waited until morning the next day. It did make her even more curious.

Seers of the twelfth hour? It rang a bell, but the amount of seers in the world was large, whether they were actually legitimate or charlatans didn’t matter much. People would give money to them anyway, believing it’d help them in life to know the future. Admittedly, Tsuki was a kind of seer herself, but she knew that few wanted to know how they would die.  

She remained silent for a while after the woman had finished talking and opened a box for her to take a paper from. Tsuki hadn’t known her neighbours all that well, but even if she had she didn’t feel like telling this woman anything about them or their children. Why would someone from the clergy be asking such a strange question in the middle of the night? The child was obviously important in some way, but whether it was to the child’s benefit or not was another question entirely. She didn’t hold it above the religious to kill infants if seers had told them the child would end or change the world to their disadvantage. It sounded as if it was right up their alley.

“Nope, sorry, can’t think of anyone like that.” Tsuki said eventually. “I may be willing to help you find them for a fee though.” Assuming they even exist in the first place, she thought, but didn’t say it out loud. She’d make sure to get paid in advance.

Tsuki turned her attention to the box that the woman still held in front of her. She noticed the moon and sun symbol on the box, which made her look at the septum again. It was a sun too, wasn’t it? “Funny…” She muttered amused, as if she had realized someone was playing a prank on her. The woman would be the sun then. Her own name may mean moon in Japanese, but it was a very common name in a world where the moon goddess was one of the main three in all versions of the same religion. Did she go around bothering everyone named “moon” because a seer had told them too?

She figured there was some kind of magic bullshit going on with the papers, but picked one up either way as it shouldn’t affect her. These things rarely did what they were supposed to. It was set ablaze and went up in flames faster than her drunk self was able to react too, leaving her left hand vulnerable to the heat. She dropped the paper, shouted in pain and swung the door open revealing the gun in her other hand. 

“What the fuck?” She asked, without shouting as she didn’t want to draw attention if more people were nearby. Tsuki kept the gun steady and aimed at the woman, holding it with both of her hands. Her left hand may hurt, but if she was going to shoot someone while drunk she didn’t want to risk missing by using only one hand. “Who set you up to this?”