Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Heartstring

No matter how much he tried to listen in to Nagares talking afterward, no other conversation touched him as the last one.

If he was lucky to find the officers at all, they were never talking about anything relevant. The officers spoke of their tactics and strategy and the diversions that would help them throw the Towas or Hisomes off. It was useful to Nekohiko because it was all about his beloved Empire and its inner workings. So he listened to all such conversations, and the snake body hiding in the fulgurite pipes was incredibly useful for this.

Yet most of the time, he was wasting his efforts on nothing but smalltalk about tea leaves and the last ink someone had used in the general's office.

Thus, none of those could rival that one single conversation he'd overheard.

One that mentioned Kataji and how useful Etsuko and other Nagare officers found him.

It didn't even matter to him that Kataji's limbs being cut off would spell disaster for Kataji's ability to carve Nekohiko's dummy. Nekohiko hadn't even thought about it. All of his worries went into preserving Kataji's life and his wellbeing from ever finding out how gruesomely some certain Nagare people wanted to treat him if Abihiko wouldn't acquiesce to their demands.

And for that reason, his snake form still went on slithering through the pipes regardless of how successful or unsuccessful his efforts were.

But his cat form almost never left Kataji's side. The cat's was the only body that could cast offensive magic. Problematically, it was also the only body that wasn't allowed to kill, but that was a minor concern compared to the inability to cast the other bodies had.

He sat on the desk or lounged in Kataji's bed, ever-watchful and ever-twitchy when another sound of someone's footsteps approached their quarters and Kataji's room in particular. Whether it was Aomi, or servants bringing meals, or the cleaning dummy that tidied up the rooms. No matter. Everything set Nekohiko on edge lately.

In the end, because the snake and the cat were now so busy all the time -- the only body he could spare to escort Aomi anywhere became the ladybug. She grumbled about it because the ladybug wasn't quite as splendid a fashion accessory as the snake was. She put him on one of her ears and frequently barked at him in frustration when his small bug feet were too ticklish for her to concentrate on something she was doing.

Most days, she left him to crawl over the library books he read while she busied herself with her notes, but even that small activity no longer could take his mind off worries. Thus, his mind flickered between the ladybug, the cat, the seashell, and the snake.

And boy, he did not enjoy his consciousness being spread into four different directions every single day! This was torture!

How could one keep their psyche intact if they had to constantly switch between bodies to not miss something important happening in any one of them?

The only person who could relate to this even a tiny little bit was Mikawa. The Wind Listener boy also knew what split attention felt like.

"It is hard," Mikawa told him as he wandered under the pipes somewhere far in the castle corridors. "Sometimes I feel like I lose track of where I am and what my own voice is like. Listening to other people and other people's lives can make your own feel... insubstantial. Maybe even nonexistent." The boy paused to clear his throat. "Will you come out now, please?"

This small problem warranted an explanation, yeah...

As it usually happened, when Nekohiko was slithering through the pipes in search of Etsuko or other interesting conversations to spy on, he... got lost.

The fulgurite pipes weren't made for living beings to navigate effectively. They were built for the proper ventilation and the wind-whistling to reach its full velocity and potential at carrying sounds to Mikawa. Thus, Nekohiko often found himself hell knew where without a single idea on how to get out of there.

Miserable and helpless, he could only beg Mikawa to save him. Which also didn't happen very soon because the boy really wasn't listening to the random castle halls all that often!

He had better things to do and to listen to, and thus, snake Nekohiko had sometimes spent entire days trapped in some pipe waiting for Mikawa to come and fetch him.

"How many times have I told you not to slither?" Mikawa asked, disappointment clear in his weak voice. "And don't tell me you're bored again. If you're so bored, I can take you outside into the city. Please do not slither. It's weird. Also, you clog the pipes and my drafts cannot circulate the castle properly."

He clogged the pipes. How embarrassing.

"I'm sorry. I promise I won't," he said guiltily again. "And I don't do it because of boredom. I'm worried about my friends. I feel like this... Etsuko woman might do something bad to them."

"Commander Etsuko?" Mikawa stopped, surprised. The dislike in his voice sounded more like fear, but Nekohiko could tell Mikawa didn't have any good will toward Etsuko as well. "She wouldn't. She's very loyal to Elder Sister. Very loyal to Nagare Family. She would never dishonor this Kingdom with something so base."

Pfff. Not unless she believes the Nagare Kingdom can benefit from that.

Nekohiko drooped in Mikawa's arms, weary. While he wanted the young boy to trust him, he couldn't trust Mikawa himself yet. Saying that he'd overheard Etsuko threaten Kataji wouldn't fare well for him, he imagined.

Look at this young child in his fancy military uniform not unlike those of literally any other person in Nagare Nekohiko had ever seen! Even tiny toddlers in Kasuga's family were dressed in military vests and cloaks. So yes -- Mikawa was also a devout soldier of the Nagare Queen -- nobody should ever forget that. All Nagares viewed others who endangered or merely resisted their actions as foes and enemies.

Part of their doctrine. Part of their passion.

"Yeah," Nekohiko agreed feebly. "But just in case, if you suddenly hear that someone means harm to Kataji -- could you please tell me? Just to be safe."

The boy seemed alarmed even of the suggestion. But Nekohiko's plea moved him nonetheless.

"Mn. I wouldn't even need to tell you. I can just tell Elder Sister. She would never allow that either."

Nekohiko let out a laugh. "Well, Kataji is not Aomi. I feel like, with Aomi, your sister wouldn't be quite as lenient or generous."

"What?! Of course she would be! Elder Sister is the kindest person I know, and besides--"

Too agitated to concentrate on listening to the voices in the adjacent corridors, Mikawa walked right into a small gathering of noble Nagare Family members who were strolling out of the glass cage aviary hall.

Nekohiko had met most of the Nagare Family members -- Kasuga's birth mother and her sisters and an endless array of children. Kazuragi's disabled older brother and his own children and even grandchildren. Myriads of nephews, cousins, aunts, brothers-in-law. Too many for Nekohiko to bother with and too insignificant for him to remember their names other than for political reasons and diplomacy.

But those were Abihiko's current problem, and so, Nekohiko gave almost no thought to all these Nagares however pompous or self-important they thought they were.

The only thing he knew about any of them was that -- if they wore the Nagare surname, they had a claim to the Lord of the Skies' power. And through it -- to the Black Bow Netsuito and to Suzumegara. The claim was sometimes incredibly faint, but it existed nonetheless. So every single Nagare person either desired it or believed one of their illustrious relatives deserved it much more than the others.

And literally all Nagares believed that Taira Yakabe and Taira Mikawa -- had no such claim. Not in the world.

Even if the entire Nagare Family went extinct along with the rest of the world and only two people were left -- Yakabe and his son Mikawa -- to a true Nagare, these two would never be worthy of the Nagare Lord's powers.

So yes, Mikawa constantly had to defend a title he probably didn't even want, hiding and cowering in the outskirts of the Nagare Castle regardless of how successful Kasuga was at protecting him from the Nagare Family's wrath.

She had managed it only marginally. Her Family members didn't attack him or try to poison him outright. But they didn't tolerate his presence either. And they didn't much care whether Mikawa knew that or not.

"Ah, I almost gasped when I saw you, Mikawa, sweetie," one of the more flamboyant Nagare Uncles said, breezing himself with his feathery fan. "You look so pale like a ghost of a suicide victim, ha-ha-ha! Unless... you are? Sheesh, don't haunt us, please, if so!"

"Ah, don't be silly. We would have known it if he killed himself," the younger girl cousin replied with a chirpy laugh. "The drafts would start stinking after a while, no?"

Oh. Already a much more polite conversation than the previous one Nekohiko had overheard.

But today, Nekohiko wasn't in the mood for listening to something of this sort. He swooped into his ladybug, hellbent on calling for reinforcements.

"Aomi, do you want to terrorize some Nagare nobles in the corridor next to the library?" he asked her, trying to act coy to titillate her.

But Aomi didn't react. He had to tickle her ear with his feet for her to notice.

"Who do you think I am? As if I have nothing better to do with my life than to terrorize Nagares." She did ponder about it for a moment, though. "Unless there's Kasuga with them?"

"Alas. No Kasuga," he sighed. "But they are bullying me and so I thought--"

The murderous intent sparked wild and vivid in her gaze.

"Who's bullying you?!"

And this was how Aomi met Mikawa. Nekohiko was only slightly regretful about that. He truly wanted Mikawa to befriend someone other than himself because the boy would clearly never find friends in Nagare castle or on his own.

The only problem was that... it was Aomi he had introduced the boy to. Some amount of regret was understandable in this case.

Aomi found Mikawa on the same spot Nekohiko had left him in. As usual, Mikawa refused to run away and couldn't even answer the insults his Nagare relatives flung at him. He simply froze instead and was such an easy target for them, it wasn't even pitiful. Just disturbing.

The good thing was that Aomi didn't even need to understand what was going on and whom she was supposed to "terrorize" here. The mere sight of her already spooked the Nagare nobles away.

The whole Nagare gang shuffled their feet and cleared their throats politely as they slowly sidled out of Aomi's way.

Only Mikawa was left.

So Aomi directed her cold glare at him.

"And who the hell are you? And why are you holding my snake in your hands? Thief."

"I... don't know," Mikawa said helplessly. Shoulders raised, he propped Nekohiko in his arms and offered him to Aomi. "Please take him... I need to go anyway."

"Hurrying somewhere?"

Aomi was making a slow circle around Mikawa as if judging him. The boy twitched, visibly frightened by her pointed, greedy focus on him.

"Aomi, let him be," Nekohiko said soothingly from his snake form. "He's a friend."

But that really didn't help matters. "Itsuki! You have Nagare Family friends?" Aomi hissed, shocked. "The enemy?"

"N-no. I'm not the enemy," Mikawa cried, even more nervous now. "Just... take your snake back, please? And I'll leave."

"Why are you rasping so much?" Aomi asked as she pressed on him -- so close, their noses almost touched.

"I... have a condition." Mikawa became self-conscious and erupted in a fit of coughing that he couldn't resurface from for a while. Aomi, who had at first tried to grab him in her embrace for intimidation purposes, swiftly retreated because this coughing fit really didn't sound normal. "It's not contagious," Mikawa explained after it eased down a bit.

"Yeah, you stay away from me and my snake child regardless." She wanted to grab Nekohiko's snake body from his hands, but Nekohiko only twined himself tighter around Mikawa's forearms and shoulders.

Aomi's eyes went wide at Nekohiko's audacity. "Traitor!"

Notably, the first meeting between Aomi and Mikawa didn't go very well.

But it didn't matter. Because after all these regretful encounters in the castle, Mikawa only wanted to run away from Aomi's wrath. And the only place he felt safe enough to flee both her and the Nagare nobles was --

Ah, the glorious heavenly outside!

It was so rare that Nekohiko had a chance to see the world beyond the black castle walls, especially with all the worrying he'd done lately for Kataji's sake.

"We could go sightseeing?" Mikawa offered. "Since we're already outside..."

"Yes, please!" Nekohiko coiled happily around the boy's shoulder.

Why would he refuse? This trampled pipe-slithering and Etsuko-watching, for sure. Besides, Nekohiko never avoided another opportunity to become closer to Mikawa.

He'd never forgotten the true reasons he "befriended" the boy, to begin with.

***

Mikawa stopped every other minute to pacify his breaths and calm down his coughing even from just walking down the city streets. His health was seriously shit, huh.

Abruptly, Mikawa halted, craning his neck toward the building he passed.

"This cafe has an open-roof terrace and has such a delicious menu," he said dreamily. "Do you want to go? I think... you would like it there. Their air desserts are the tastiest."

Nekohiko knew what he was talking about. But since he was pretending to be in Nagare for the very first time...

"Air? What do you mean -- air?" he faked curiosity long enough for Mikawa to erupt into a rare, yet sweet smile.

"Oh, you'll see."

Making this boy smile with even the smallest of questions about something he cared about tugged at Nekohiko's lips and heartstrings, too. It lifted his mood after the gloomy castle life and the intrigues and backstabbing going on in there.

Sometimes, distractions like these were crucial.

The cafe had several stories and the most luminous roof in existence. Heart-shaped small tables stood on the shimmering roof tiles. The visitors sat straight on the floor, even without cushions. The hit of the sun was only slightly alleviated by the Bound clouds hovering about some of the tables, and the gentle breeze chased flower petals through the air. Mikawa bowed to and greeted every patron he met and was received very warmly by most Nagare citizens.

"Two sour air glasses, please, if you don't mind," Mikawa rasped at the waiter the moment they emerged to the top story. "With almond syrup, maybe?"

The boy let Nekohiko go after they reached the table in the sunniest spot on the roof terrace. The two of them sat down -- Mikawa with an expectant smile, Nekohiko coiling on the table with a wistful joy spreading deep within his heart as he peered around the cafe.

It was called The Heartstring in a reference to Netsuito. Nekohiko had been in this cafe once, years ago.

And he hadn't been here alone.

I wonder what's he doing now? he thought and immediately cursed himself for thinking that.

What did he care about Abihiko's boring daily life in the Emerald Palace? He only cared about some weakness Abihiko could expose to him on accident, or something unexpected and gossipy that no doubt went on in the hidden corridors of the Imperial life. But for this entire week, all he'd witnessed Abihiko doing was the same old -- councils in which Abihiko did everything wrong and annoyingly, courtly gossip and schedules that did nothing other than ceremonial, insignificant stuff Nekohiko despised, and lukewarm conversations Abihiko had with his future wife, Sakami, every time they met.

No, there was nothing important he was learning in Abihiko's life lately. Abihiko was alone. He was lonely. He had no real opportunities to talk to others and thus expose his dark secrets or his motivations about Nekohiko. Even when the conversation somehow touched Nekohiko, Abihiko said nothing of worth in it.

Ah, nobody did, actually.

Even Kasuga's research about Nekohiko's body was turning up dry. If Nekohiko truly wanted to propel his goals in this life, he had to do it himself.

Nekohiko hissed loudly so that Mikawa would stop gaping at the rainbow mists glimmering in a thin veil over the neighboring roofs. The boy turned, blushing.

"You can do that, too? Oh, I was always so intrigued by your purring, actually. I bet it's so nice to sleep alongside you when you're purring very loudly..."

The boy's ears nearly exploded from reddening once he realized what he said.

"I didn't mean it like... the way master Kataji says it," he began, trembly.

Nekohiko's hissing stuttered to a halt.

Ugh, don't remind me. My life is already too complicated to go there right now!

"There's no telling what I can and cannot do," Nekohiko said mysteriously. He wanted to blink in an elegant manner but remembered that snakes never blinked. In fact, they did almost nothing that could impress a person in a conversation. Ugh. Such a useless body shape -- snake. Only ever good for slithering through pipes -- something Nekohiko couldn't even do right. "Only your sister is really doing anything to research what my log body does. Is she really spending that much time in the Nagare archive?"

Mikawa nodded, grave.

"Thought so," Nekohiko sighed. "Too bad she probably won't find anything."

Mikawa's face fell. He leaned over the table with his arms crossed and blinked at Nekohiko in anguish. "What do you mean?"

With a sigh, Nekohiko began. "Something as specific and forbidden about Binding that almost nobody knows of this -- is unlikely to be found anywhere other than--"

"Izumo," Mikawa mouthed without sound.

"Maybe also the Emerald Palace, but even that -- I doubt," Nekohiko echoed him and Mikawa made an agreeing hum.

The two traded a few moments in silence while the waiter who brought them their order was bent on following the entire serving ritual of putting down their dining mats, and glasses, and spoons, and napkins into precise positions on the table. At least the man didn't ask why he was serving a snake dummy a real human delicacy. Nagare people's discipline in following their orders regardless of what was happening around them was truly admirable!

Mikawa had been so happy to share his favorite dish with Nekohiko before, yet now he took his spoon with resignation in his motions and picked at his dessert instead of relishing.

Nekohiko licked his twitchy tongue at the sour air piled in the glass like a froth of a seawave. He usually didn't eat because his body had no way to dispose of the food. But he sometimes fancied a lick or two at something delicious, just for the fun of it. Air was different, of course. He could eat this whole glass without worrying about disposing of it afterward. Heck, he could eat a bucket of air with the same results.

What a great dessert¹Lol, it's Oxygen Cocktail. It's a very tasty dessert in my country ^^.. Nekohiko's mood improved instantly.

"Don't worry, there is a way to help Kasuga with this issue without having to go to Izumo at all," he told the boy.

Mikawa brightened up. "Yes?"

"That Shrimp Spirit that had attacked the Queen of the Skies herself... is that not the fault of the Emperor? Shouldn't he be the one who is responsible for all the wild and Savage Spirits in the Empire?" Nekohiko used the moment to stun the boy with where he could possibly be going with this. "And in case the Emperor cannot be present to resolve the issue, who is the only other person in the Empire capable of answering for all the Spirits, especially if they attack someone as important as the Queen of the Skies?"

"The Izumo Head Priest."

Nekohiko gobbled up another sweet mouthful of fluffy air. "And while he's summoned here for an investigation, could he not consult your sister on a Binding matter mystery she struggles so much with?"

Mikawa was thinking, eyes lit and thin lips bitten. Nekohiko, of course, knew why. Kasuga wouldn't be happy a person from the Hisome Kingdom had come to Nagare while she was at war with all the Hisomes. But shouldn't the Head Priest be impartial to these kinds of things? Nekohiko wanted to believe he was, whatever blood was running inside the Head Priest's veins.

This wasn't even the first time he had thought about contacting Suminoe after his awakening inside the log. Only... only he was too conflicted about it. First, how would he, a nobody from nowhere, summon the Head Priest to the backside of the Empire without rousing everyone's suspicion about it? Besides, most such invitations would never receive an answer unless the person summoning the Head Priest was a very high-standing individual. And second...

There was this small issue regarding Suminoe's relatives and their complex entanglement with Nekohiko's previous life. Nekohiko didn't want to invite more trouble along with Suminoe however much he trusted his only real father figure in any of his lives.

Mikawa reemerged from his reverie. That same ghost of sweet trust glinted in his eye as he nodded, finally digging into his sour air with mirth.

"All right. Let's do this. Let's summon the Head Priest to Nagare to aid Elder Sister. I can send him a Wind Whisper right this moment."

Wonderful.

"You will send it from yourself, yes?" Nekohiko asked just in case.

This made Mikawa pause, uncertain. "I... suppose."

Doubly wonderful, Nekohiko thought to himself.

The boy had finally come to do exactly what Nekohiko had always wanted from him. And he even thought he was doing it on his own accord.

Nekohiko smiled. "You are a great brother. We're only helping your sister deal with her many problems faster, aren't we?"

***

Around them, the evening descended, slow and gentle, coloring the darkening sky above Nagare in the purpling shades of plum, very reminiscent of the sixth year uniform of the Izumo pupils.

Lounging on the roof after Mikawa had sent his Whisper through the breeze toward Izumo, Nekohiko felt... content. Lucid. He felt, for the lack of a better word, alive -- for the first time in ages.

So when he went to check on how Abihiko was preparing for his night in his Palace, he was giddy when he realized that Abihiko was taking the usual route through his chambers -- as he'd done every single day prior to this one. But today was special.

Today, Abihiko had put on a lower collar, one that easily opened at the front and let Nekohiko see outside so clearly, so openly. And when Abihiko stepped up to his monumental, gilded, heavy vault door in his bedroom, Nekohiko could barely suppress his excitement.

He would see what was inside the vault. Every day, he had heard Abihiko come into the vault. Every day he had heard him speak to somebody named Neko inside the vault. Every damn day!

He needed to see it. Tonight. Now! He had to. He was going insane imagining what exactly was hidden in there. Abihiko's hands swept across the door handle wheel as it rotated until the specific numbers were hit. Spokes clicked, mechanism withdrew with a clang. Abihiko lay his pale fingers on the handle to pull and--

"Visitor."

No.

No! Why now, of all times?!

The Relayer dummy's rustling voice called from the adjacent room. The dummy hadn't even peeked inside here yet Abihiko's reaction was too desperate for reason. He slammed the vault door shut again, rolled the wheel into random numbers, then turned around.

His heart was pounding into Nekohiko's ears.

"Visitor? Who?" Abihiko marched into the room the Relayer was in and took one glance into the humid night sky in the window. "At this hour? Did something bad happen?" he asked as if suddenly realizing. Fear crept into his tone and he rushed to the dummy. From the small tray the Relayer was holding, he grabbed a pin with the recognizable seal and tassels decorating it.

The wispy emblem of a Hi²ヒ letter, covered by a beautiful silk tassel in the tenderest hues of lilac.

House Hisome.

Abihiko's hand never reached the pin when the entrance of this great rooms flickered with a moving shadow. In the doorway, a person stood. His colors -- the same barely-visible tint of twilight, his face hidden in the darkness. Only his smile was visible, widening up so sweetly Nekohiko felt nauseated from just looking at it.

"Don't tell me you weren't expecting me," the young man said, husky. "I know I sent darling Cousin Sakami the letter a week ago yet you look so shocked."

Abihiko's heart dropped.

His skin went clammy. The way he went rigid all at once even translated to Nekohiko nestled safe inside his collars.

A reaction that, to be honest -- he understood perfectly.

His Majesty King Morokata was easily one of the most painful people either had ever met.

Queenfisher

Sorry-sorry the present arc lasted for so long without the cute chibis from the Flashbacks to dilute it up ^^. This chapter is the last one in this batch. What follows in the present arc is a bit... dramatic (war, +_+), so we'll have no more time for casual talks and scheming.

And don't worry! The insides of the vault get shown next Present arc chapter. ^^ I won't string you on for so long without a payoff. It's just that it would be much more dramatic with the creepy villain Morokata around when that happens!

As usual, the next chapter will be a Flashback and is another three-parter. Each part will also come out on consecutive days as all Flashback chapters tend to do ^^.

I am happy to put out another Flashback because it's so fluffy and cute, but this particular one will also have some... very sinister undertones, so be prepared >_<.