Yuki Inoue dragged a file along the edge of her red painted nails before adjusting her kimono and staring at the shuddering naked girl before her. The girl’s hands quivered at her sides as Yuki’s first hand Raiku translated Yuki’s words.

“Do not be scared,” Yuki roughly understood Raiku’s words.

“She is from the streets?” Yuki’s heavy Eastern accent echoed around the amber lit room.

“Yes, okaasan. The woman who sold her to me said she is a child of the Garden.”

Yuki’s pencil eyebrows slunk up her forehead in surprise. The Garden rarely cast away their children so what was so different about this one. Yuki motioned for the girl to turn around. Studying the girl, she saw nothing wrong with her; in fact, she was prettier than some of the vegetables at the Garden.

“What is wrong with this child?” Yuki probed. Raiku shook her head and whispered in the child’s ear.

“I… am cursed,” the girl whispered, as if the language was foreign to her.

“Nonsense,” Yuki smiled. “You, my girl, are magic.”