Chapter Thirty-Nine

Victim

Part 3 of 3

Through the blur of tears, Nekohiko could see the torment on Abihiko's bloodless face. Nekohiko's heart panged. He had never seen Abihiko so scared and had never expected that it would be him Abihiko was so scared for.

"Lord Morokata, what are you doing?" cries came from the sides where the other disciples finally came out of a daze. "They're only children."

"Children who think they've earned the right to deal fatal blows," Morokata said quietly. "They have, of course. But that right comes with consequences."

Morokata hadn't been joking before. Because Abihiko was unable to decide what to do, Morokata did as he had promised. His fingers on Nekohiko's skin gripped tighter, nails digging in to grab hold of Nekohiko's very neck bones. 

Nekohiko arched his back to avoid the pain of his throat being crushed but Morokata held him securely. Slowly, his hands started twisting--

"Do not you dare!!!" Abihiko roared, aiming his strike.

The blast that he hurled at Morokata's head scattered the moment the Nagare energy left Abihiko's finger formation. Light and electricity dissipated in the air on the sudden lash of the misty wind that howled through the gathering. The house roofs creaked, the trees bent from the strain, the leaves and the grass surged up in flurries at the crowd's stunned faces. People hid from the wind, cowering.

Even Nekohiko had to squeeze his eyes shut, so harsh the wind's gusts were. And Morokata allowed him. The moment the wind swept the garden, Morokata pushed Nekohiko aside as though the two of them hadn't been standing close moments ago.

Nekohiko crashed to his knees and hands on the ground. He gasped when his weight fell on his broken arm and sagged down. He lay on his stomach, cradling his beaten, bloody face in his other hand. Everything in him shook with pain and fright. It took him a while to realize the mysterious wind had calmed down and the crowding disciples were unbending from their cowers to gaze at the center of the garden in trepidation.

Next, the footsteps of many disciples began pattering the ground as they tried to flee. But the wind slammed again. This time, to keep everyone inside a barrier. Its surface peeked high above like a ceiling, luminescent beneath the darkened skies. 

The Head Priest's Pearlescent Barrier!

Suminoe towered close by with Kotone and Sakami behind him, all three looking as though they had run here out of breaths. And still almost weren't in time.

Suminoe's presence brought chill upon the clearing however furious he seemed. For the first time, Nekohiko thought that the man did look furious. It didn't come across in his behavior, only in his deadly stare he directed at Morokata.

"Oh Spirits," Kotone gasped, not knowing whether to go to Nekohiko or Abihiko first. She turned to the stunned spectators, aghast. "What are you waiting for! These children are injured!"

Nekohiko shivered on the ground, in too much pain to stand up. On the side, he glimpsed Abihiko's swaying figure as the boy trudged toward him as though to make sure Nekohiko was all right. Kotone caught Abihiko by the shoulders and gently led to Nekohiko, supporting him. Sakami also clearly wanted to help but was standing petrified behind the Head Priest, grabbing his robes with her hands and watching her cousin with terror-stricken eyes.

Morokata held his hands behind his back with the air of casualness. He gave Kotone and Sakami a side-eye, then focused solely on the Head Priest. Slightly, he bowed, but not nearly low enough. "Your Holiness. These two Juniors slandered and attacked--"

"Nobody asked you."

"Of course," Morokata kept his head bowed, though his voice faltered. "Nobody asks in this place. Who's the victim and who's the perpetrator? People only care about judging others and attacking them based on that judgment, however fals--"

A hard slap rang through the air. Several Hisome girls harshly drew their breaths in.

Shocked, Nekohiko turned.

Morokata stumbled backward, holding his right cheek in his hand. Eyes huge and reddening, he gaped at the Head Priest. First disbelief, then rage flashed in his stare. "I didn't do anything!" he roared at the Head Priest. "She did it to herself as did these dumb kids, yet I'm the one who gets blamed! They attacked me first with the intent to kill! I only defended--"

Another slap. This one, Nekohiko saw.

Suminoe's hand was heavy. Morokata's raised arm could do nothing to stop him. From the second slap, the young man doddered on his feet again.

"Nobody asked you," Suminoe enunciated each word.

"This is unfair!" Hisome girls started crying out from the sidelines. "He's telling the truth! The Transparency spell is still working!"

Morokata let out a shuddering sob as he fell to his knees on the grass. He still looked at the Head Priest, trembling with either fear or fury.

But in his eyes, Nekohiko saw real tears, glinting. "But... What for--?! I am the true victim in all of this!"

With a sharp gesture, Suminoe pointed to the sky. Morokata cowered as though expecting another slap.

"You know what for," Suminoe said. "Why was I not aware of what is happening in the Shrine grounds? Tell me, Morokata. Who drew a Mist Dome around this place so that I couldn't sense that something dangerous was going on inside? Why were all the Spirits forbidden from coming in or out of this Dome? Why was it that others had to come and tell me that something wasn't right in my own domain?"

Morokata's gaze flicked to Kotone first, then stopped on Sakami. The little girl was covering her mouth with her hands, tears pouring down her cheeks as she watched Morokata.

Ah, this made so much sense...

Of course Suminoe couldn't have allowed someone to endanger his pupils like this inside the Shrine! Or Ashflake would have come and protected them! But Morokata had actually tampered with the Shrine grounds so that nobody outside knew what went on inside. No wonder Suminoe was fuming.

The only question that bothered Nekohiko was...

How come Morokata could trick Suminoe's own magic wards?

Kotone was hugging Nekohiko to herself with one arm while the other was wrapped around Abihiko. She directed small amounts of pain-soothing energy into their bodies, so gradually, Nekohiko's agonies were fading. Enough for him to reach out to Abihiko's hand on Kotone's lap and give it a squeeze.

"I'm sorry -- I couldn't do anything," he mouthed at his friend when Abihiko met his eyes. "You got hurt because of me..."

Abihiko held his hand tighter in response.

"You would be lucky I do not expel you for such a transgression," Suminoe told Morokata. "What would Great Lady Takarashi say if she knew the kind of son she has."

A few quavering heaves came out of Morokata as he absorbed the castigations. Suminoe turned away from him, sickened.

"Forgive me, Uncle," Morokata said, loud and clear. He dropped his gaze to the grass. But not in submission or admission of guilt. He was glaring at the ground, and he still spoke through teeth, trembling. "I happened to forget that not all Hisome domains are home. In my defense, I get confused sometimes with how Hisome mists are so conveniently empowering here at Izumo, you have to understand. And as in regards to Mother, I'm sure she wouldn't blame her younger brother for beating her son unjustly and disrespecting our family in front of commoners like this."

...

Slowly, Suminoe gave him a blank gaze.

Nekohiko held his breath. And he wasn't the only one. The silence that swept the gathered disciples in the garden was deafening.

Hisome?

The Head Priest was Morokata's uncle?

A blurry thought echoed in Nekohiko's mind: but of course. Look at them. They do resemble one another in some unfathomable way...

Yet at the same time -- the Head Priest was a Hisome? How was that even possible? The Izumo Head Priest was not allowed any affiliations with the Great Lords! And for him, to be related to one of them...? And to also hide it from everyone?

Even Kotone stiffened beside Nekohiko as she lifted her eyes at the Head Priest.

Himself, Suminoe did not show any reaction. After a moment of regarding Morokata who was smiling at the ground, content with the damage he'd dealt, Suminoe straightened his sleeves and turned to Kotone.

"Take them to the healer's wing," he told her.

The susurrus of people talking in shock at the news of Suminoe being a Hisome kept going during Nekohiko's wobbly attempt to stand. Abihiko helped him but both were too weak to walk on their own. Kotone had to support them all the way.

"Nobody is allowed to leave this garden until the teachers take everyone's name down," Suminoe raised his voice to be heard by all the mumbling around. "Kotone, send for Shirogane to detain Morokata for punishment."

"Yes, Your Holiness," Kotone whispered, too frightened to glance up.

In the distance, Morokata raised his eyes, clearly feeling even more wronged by the turn of events. But he didn't speak out this time. After Kotone led the boys away, Nekohiko still couldn't take his sight off Morokata as though expecting him to pull another wicked trick when he wasn't looking. But all he witnessed was Sakami rushing to help Morokata to his feet and him giving her a death glare as he stood up on his own.

Kotone passed Suminoe's orders to the few teachers she found right beside the ponds in front of the healer's wing. The small recovery room into which she took them was dark and cold when Nekohiko and Abihiko entered. Still shaken, Kotone lit the lanterns, then grabbed the healing salves and tissue patches in the jars from the shelves.

The jars jingled in her trembling hands.

"Kotone, I'm so sorry," Nekohiko began, unable to bear her pained grimace.

Her eyes glistened, but more in rage than in hurt like before. She shook her head. "Don't speak. I need to focus to treat you."

He felt ashamed, still. He understood that this whole fiasco had only brought more anguish to her. Even on an off chance he and Abihiko had succeeded in beating Morokata -- would they still not ruin Kotone's reputation in front of everyone?

And now, with how this whole mess ended up...

"We didn't mean--"

"I can stand up for myself," Kotone told him, blinking fast as she pulled Nekohiko's robe off his shoulder to see the wound. "I can fight, too, and I can decide how I want to deal with any of my own problems. I would never ask either of you to do it for me!"

Abihiko, previously defiant in silence, stirred. "But he's an asshole! He needed to be hit tonight! If the Head Priest ends up doing it -- fine by me as long as Morokata gets slapped hard enough!"

Kotone shot him a dark glance but went on with healing. "Can you think about someone else for a change other than what you want?" she snapped. Then let out a soothing breath, already sorry about her outburst. "Forgive me. Please. Next time, listen to me," she continued. "Please. Please, little ones. I can't even imagine what I would do if either of you gets hurt on my watch..."

"Kotone..."

She leaned in to give Abihiko and Nekohiko a kiss of the crowns of their heads, but a solemn figure walked into the room just then. And Kotone froze.

"Your Holiness," she whispered, bowing.

"Please, go," Suminoe told her gently, then waited while she got to her feet and made her way to the doors, only giving the boys an encouraging nod before she left and closed the door behind her.

Suminoe walked toward the boys and seated himself on the floor beside them. Suddenly, a great chill crept up Nekohiko's arms and legs from the floor. Judging by how rigid Abihiko's hand became in Nekohiko's hold, the other boy felt it too.

More than that, the faint whiteness of mists invaded the recovery room, enveloping both the boys in their grasp. And, really, after getting acquainted with the future Lords of the Mists' gruesome methods, Nekohiko wanted nothing to do with mists. Even the idea of Hisome magic made him flinch in fear.

"Ahhh!" he gasped, curling in toward Abihiko. Abihiko held him back, just as shaken.

Suminoe shook his head barely perceptibly. "Cold soothes pain. The mists will enter your bodies and fix your bones and wounds much faster than fusing them together with tissues or salves would."

"But... Hisome mists..." Abihiko mumbled, stiff.

The Head Priest's voice went down a tone. "Not all Hisome mists are deadly or tricky. Do not worry. I will not abuse your trust."

They didn't speak the entire time it took Suminoe's mists to trickle into the boys' skin, muscles, and into the bone. The mending process wasn't painful, indeed. The chill that penetrated Nekohiko's nerves was so deep, he actually lost all feeling in the spots that Suminoe was busy healing. So while this was happening, Nekohiko could focus on something else for a change.

On Suminoe's superhumanly calm face. His angular eyebrows, his deadened-looking eyes so unfit for smiling, his somber bearing. If, instead, Suminoe cared to smile at people charmingly and to peer at them from beneath the sultry eyelashes, his and Morokata's lineage wouldn't be so surprising at all.

"He was tricking the Transparency somehow," Abihiko blurted, grim.

Suminoe didn't react.

"Like he tricked me and her," Abihiko nodded at Nekohiko. "I don't know how it happened, but we wouldn't have lost to him like this. We are stronger than him in Binding. But he didn't even fight fairly!"

"Morokata is far stronger than he looks," Suminoe murmured.

"Well, of course. If he intentionally makes himself look pathetic, then yes!" Abihiko said. "Everyone knows Hisomes are great at lying and hiding stuff and being manipulative and--"

Nekohiko stuck his elbow into Abihiko's side, then ripped his fingers out of the boy's grasp.

Yes, the Head Priest had been lying to people about his family but... nobody would ever slander the Head Priest in Nekohiko's presence!

Ever.

"Do you know the true essence of Hisome method?" Suminoe asked, gaze flickering to the nearest window as it usually did when he was absorbed in his thoughts. "It is time you learned, and who better to teach you than a Hisome?"

"Lying," Abihiko cut. "Is the true essence of Hisome method."

And though Nekohiko preferred to keep silent, this would be the answer he would give, too. It was the answer teachers taught them during their introductory Hisome lessons, after all. Of course they also said it was all about illusions and concealment and glamors, but at the bottom of all of this were lies about the nature of reality. Deflection. Avoidance. Obscurity.

The Head Priest's forehead subtly creased. "They are wrong. The true core is selfishness."

...

Nekohiko straightened, confused.

"The reason Morokata defeated you so easily and would defeat any foe he meets. You think he lied or tricked you, but in reality, you lied and tricked yourselves. And he struck when you did. Really, most of Morokata's enemies would always surrender to him naturally without him doing a single thing against them."

"What?" Nekohiko jolted.

"Excuse me?!"

"When you came to him, did you feel you were in the right while he was in the wrong?"

"Yes," the boys answered in unison. "He hurt Koton--"

"That is not what I asked. I asked whether you assumed something about him before knowing the truth. When you began planning to attack him, did you assume he was weaker than either of you, too? When you asked for the Transparency to be cast, did you assume he would be weakened with it instead of strengthened?"

To all these questions -- yes. But also, to so many more. Nekohiko had assumed Morokata was glamoring his face to enhance it -- not to do the opposite. He had assumed Morokata would fight with the help of others, or at least with Binding -- not with martial arts. He had assumed many things. And every which one of them had turned out to be wrong.

"So he lied!" Abihiko repeated, louder. "Like I told you!"

"He hadn't exactly lied," Nekohiko corrected him. "We underestimated him at every turn. We... assumed."

"But you know he hurt Kotone, don't you?" Abihiko kept going.

That, Nekohiko didn't know. But he felt that this assumption had to be correct. Even if Kotone denied it. Even if Transparency proved that Morokata hadn't been lying.

Suminoe's features smoothed, gentle. "Trust me. Morokata doesn't need to touch people to harm them. I also believe that he hurt her. Such is my nephew. But to assume that he did is to give him the greatest weapon to attack you with: your mistaken, wrongful assumptions. Your lies about him. And the more unjust these assumptions are, the stronger he becomes because he feels in the moral right to strike you down for misjudging him. Feelings of injustice drive Hisomes to punish their enemies -- in righteousness and truth. Which is ironic with how our family is most famously known for conjuring up nothing but lies."

"I don't understand," Nekohiko whispered. "We can't make assumptions about him or he'll turn them against us?"

But then... how to even talk or think about Morokata?

A person had to assume something to interact with others, no?

"Far off in the northern seas," Suminoe mused, "there float the treacherous mountains made of ice. Only the barest tips of those mountains peek above the water. When ships encounter them, they have to make a fast judgment about the actual size and threat of those mountains. In short, they have to assume. Or they would crash and die. Humans in general aren't that much different from those mountains of ice. We never really know everything about each other, do we? Most of what we do know -- we assume for we cannot do anything better.

"Hisomes channel this inability of humans to truly know and understand each other -- into Binding. Everything people think they know about others is only an illusion, only a lie we tell ourselves to not go insane with distrust and doubt. When Hisome method is used, it is not to create new illusions or to weave new lies. It is to access those that people already spin around themselves. So when the two of you --" Suminoe pointed at each of their noses by turns "-- think you know which is the illusory Morokata and then get surprised you were mistaken, he doesn't have to do a thing. You've already made his illusory copies to fight for him. You've given him chances to strike you down by using your own illusions against you."

Abihiko gaped at the Head Priest, nauseated.

"That is why Hisomes are the deflectors and avoiders. Not aggressors. Our enemies usually make the first move. And all we have to do -- is wait, then deflect their strike back at them." With sadness in his gaze, Suminoe smiled at Nekohiko. "I saw that you were confused when I said what lay at the core of Hisome method. You disagree with my lesson?"

"No, I only..." Nekohiko dithered. "Last time you taught me the Nagare method, you also said that at its core was selfishness. I don't understand, Your Holiness."

"Easy. Nagare essence is 'I want' and 'I need'. The Hisome selfishness is 'I am entitled' and 'I deserve'. Or even better -- 'I am wronged'. All Hisomes do is feel appalled by others' perceptions of us. It helps us channel our magic into power. But some of our Binders, like Morokata, enjoy forcing their opponents into intentionally wronging them. They want others to misunderstand them. It gives them even greater amounts of power. Like I said -- selfishness. A desire to abuse, to overpower, to trample -- and all of it morally justified. That is the core of Hisome method."

"And what about..." Nekohiko dithered, creeped out by the very question. "He swore to kill me. And I felt it. I felt that he could... even though all the Laws of the land forbid the hurting and killing of the Binders our age. I don't understand..."

Suminoe inclined his chin. His jaw flexed with subtle motion as though it was hard for him to speak. "A true Hisome can not only trick other humans but the Spirits themselves." His voice dropped even lower. "It is not something we are proud of, or something we pursue, or something we even use often. But it's possible. Since the Law of not harming or killing Binding children is based on a person's intent to harm or kill -- if one can lie about that intent, it can be done."

Nekohiko exchanged unnerved glances with Abihiko. His own breath chilled his mouth with dryness.

"What a... cheat! How do we defeat him, then?" Abihiko said.

It was apparent there was nothing he cared about more.

"You. Don't." Suminoe's coolness flashed harsher. "You will never again antagonize Morokata."

"Tsk, of course. He's your nephew," Abihiko mumbled under his nose, still throwing vengeful looks at Suminoe.

"Not because he is my nephew. But because you will lose. Morokata will destroy both of you. I am not saying this to impress you or to amuse you. I want you two to swear you will never again go after Morokata. He is not up to your skills. Do you understand me?"

"When I'm Morokata's age," Abihiko began, pained. "We'll see what my powers will be like! Let alone Nekohiko's! She's already leagues ahead compared to others--"

"Nekohiko is the future Ruler of this Empire and in potential, the most powerful person alive, yes," Suminoe agreed, cold. "Yet she and you combined are still going to be what Morokata wipes the floor with however much you grow up and power up. Because unlike you two, Morokata does not rely on his powers or his status or his martial arts. He relies on his brain. And on his knowledge of human nature and what weaknesses and flaws drag people down so he doesn't have to. Is this clearer to you now, Abihiko?"

An utter chill clasped Nekohiko's heart and lungs. He was afraid to so much as blink.

Did... the Head Priest just...

Abihiko leaned forward, eyes narrowed and mouth agape. "Wh... what? Nekohiko is... what?"

"The Supreme Divine Majesty of this land," Suminoe replied as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. His gaze shifted to Nekohiko but more to make sure that Nekohiko was on the same page rather than to see if he accepted Suminoe's decision. "I chose to tell the truth because you two have almost made an enemy tonight. Morokata isn't petty to remember either of you with such minuscule offense, so he will probably forget about you soon enough. I have offended him much greater, after all. So I will be the focus of all his grievances for the nearest future. But that doesn't make what you two did tonight -- not stupid. As the future ruler, Nekohiko needs more protection, more care. More thinking and reason. Less rash decisions and high emotions. You two should not endanger yourselves like this from now on, understand? You have more uses to this Empire than you can fathom."

"...so you're telling me solely because... you think I endangered her?"

Suminoe lowered his eyes, solemn. "Do not assume the worst, Abihiko. The answer is much simpler than that. You two are often together, aren't you? So what reason is there to hide the truth anymore?" He nodded his chin to the doors and the bustling noise that came from afar as the teachers and the disciples guilty of the duel were filling the halls of the adjacent administrative buildings. Even here, behind the closed doors, the hushed whispers reached in which words "the Head Priest" and "Hisome" were said often and resentfully.

"The Truth always comes out sooner or later," Suminoe went on, resigned. "Even my position might be endangered because of it. Alas. I have to go and face the consequences now."

And with this, he rose to his feet.

What?

Suminoe might not be the Head Priest anymore?

Nekohiko reached out. The healing mist spell had already done its job and that his limbs were mended back together with only the dimmest of pains still lodged inside. "Your Holiness! Please don't go!"

"Even as a Hisome, you aren't exactly bad at your job, are you? You're like the only person brave enough to slap a future Great Lord in his stupid face, at least," Abihiko grumbled, throwing dark looks at him and at Nekohiko. "Why would they sack you? You are clearly unbiased even to your own family."

Suminoe ignored both. "You may wait here till you're comfortable to venture out. I won't be long, whatever happens."

Without the Head Priest, the recovery room seemed colder even though the physical temperature seemed to have drawn up without his ever-present mists. But everything appeared alien and wrong, especially now that Nekohiko wondered if Suminoe would no longer be allowed to be the Head Priest of this place.

He and Abihiko had scrambled over to the wall to lean their backs against it. Abihiko sat with his elbows on his raised knees, picking the frayed hem of his sleeves and thinking about something intensely. He hadn't spoken at all after Suminoe left.

Nekohiko was afraid that Abihiko hated having been lied to for such a long time. Not that Nekohiko had ever lied to him. He simply couldn't tell the truth before. But that still didn't mean that Abihiko could accept it as easily as that.

What if... he hated Nekohiko now?

The thought hurt. It made Nekohiko's breath hitch on a needle in his heart.

"Are you angry that I am the--" Emperor, he wanted to say. But in the last moment, he chickened out. He couldn't even explain why. "--that I'm the Empress?" he said instead.

"What?" Abihiko stirred. "No, why would I. It doesn't change anything, does it, really?"

Nekohiko smiled.

Abihiko was indeed not a very thoughtful person. But that was why Nekohiko enjoyed being around him. Sometimes obliviousness and lack of care felt refreshing. Even endearing.

"Though now that I think about it... you're in my way to the throne if I ever want to have it, huh? You'd be one of those twenty-five people between me and the Emerald Crown, no?"

Nekohiko's lightened mood faded just as quickly. "Do you ever want to be the Emperor?" he asked as quietly as he could.

Because that would imply that... Abihiko would want to kill him one day?

"Nah, never even thought about it. Emperor. Such a boring way to live. You won't be allowed to go out whenever you want or marry anyone you love. No, thanks. But if I ever truly wanted... I mean, I'd find a ridiculously easy way in."

...?

"If you know what I mean," Abihiko told him almost menacingly.

The way he looked, Nekohiko felt that Abihiko was a bit unnerved by finding out the truth about Nekohiko's identity in this manner. But the boy also didn't want to show it. Didn't want it to appear as though their friendship would ever suffer from Nekohiko's superior status or lineage.

Yet it didn't mean Abihiko didn't feel stung. Or betrayed.

"I don't know," Nekohiko said honestly to placate him. "Which ridiculously easy way would that be?"

Abihiko lit up. "I'd just make you my wife and be the Emperor through marriage, ha-ha!"

Never before had Nekohiko felt so...

...flabbergasted.

So disrespected.

Blood rushed to his head. "How dare you."

"Just kidding, dummy. Not like I'd ever be interested in you in this way."

That wasn't the point!

"If anyone should ever be the wife, it's you," Nekohiko spat, then turned away, appalled. "If you want that crown so much, you'd have a better chance by murdering me than by marriage. Trust me."

Somehow, the silence on the other side now felt stunned.

Or maybe even hurt.

Abihiko hunched lower. "...don't joke like that, Neko. When Morokata held you hostage, I almost... I flung my sword into you and him both. If the Head Priest hadn't come and stopped it, I'm afraid it would have hit you."

Oh. Nekohiko hadn't meant it like that.

Of course he didn't believe Abihiko would ever want to hurt him, even by accident. He had just been so flustered with the whole "marriage" joke.

"I understand," Nekohiko hurried to reply. "But Morokata would have killed me otherwise. I felt it. He wasn't kidding."

Abihiko's gaze on him was uncharacteristically firm and grave. "But I would have hurt you nonetheless. I just wanted to apologize. To tell you that I didn't want to but I simply didn't know what else to do to save you from him."

All right, this was getting too intense for Nekohiko's liking.

He turned aside, unamused. "Hey, someone killing me versus you wounding me, however deeply, sucks no matter how I look at it. But I still prefer to be hurt and survive than to be nobly killed by Morokata. So don't bother about it. As long as I'm not dead and we both end up fine afterward, you have nothing to apologize for."

"Really?" Abihiko shifted to sit before him, eyes lighting up with hope. "You're not mad?"

"Really."

"Phew. It ate at me like hell. I didn't want to you think it was easy for me to harm you. It's not. You're my best friend."

Was he? Nekohiko had never heard a person say something like that to him.

"For real -- I would rather die myself than kill you," Abihiko said next, and Nekohiko found it hard to respond with anything other than a blank face.

He had never heard anyone say this to him, either. If he hadn't already received his Birthday present today, he would absolutely accept just these words instead.

"--because who else am I going to bully and harass and humiliate if you're not there?"

...aaaand all the cozy feelings in Nekohiko's chest evaporated in a flash.

He closed his eyes with disinterest. But that only made Abihiko so much more excited about all three activities he had just named. He licked his palm and put it into Nekohiko's face as though to touch him. But not actually touching. Just hovering it a hair-breadth away from Nekohiko's cheek. The worst of tortures in the entire world!

"I reconsidered. I am actually mad after all," Nekohiko said after pushing him away didn't work.

"Oh yeah? Try this, Supreme Divine Highness. For your Birthday," Abihiko said and...

"NO!"

He stuck out his tongue now to try and lick Nekohiko with it. What a grand conclusion to what seemed to have almost become a serious conversation!

"Haffy Birfday, Your Highneff," Abihiko lisped, tongue out.

"You already gave me your gift hours ago!"

"It was a rotten Hisome spell, so I'm taking it back! Now this one is an Abi family technique, so please accept!"

Nekohiko hoped that the Head Priest wouldn't be able to read this recovery room's memories after he came back and see how utterly and devastatingly the future Emperor was defeated in his very own domain. 

Queenfisher

Ah, I meant to put another chibi drawing of A&N around here, but I'll keep it for the next Picture Dump instead. Like, I want to share fluffy chibis a lot, but I also know that this whole flashback chapter is seriously intense and I don't want to downplay what happened with fluffy chibis.

Which is the same weird doubt I have about drawing Morokata as well. Like, I have drawn him several times to get a better feel of his persona, but only in pencil. He is a scum character and it kind of makes me uncomfortable of actually drawing and putting out his pictures in the book, especially because my drawing style always leans a bit to the cuter side.

(And I don't want Morokata to appear cute, +_+ He doesn't deserve that).