Chapter Forty-One

Fuji in Snow

 

Nekohiko was mortified for having blanked out on Mikawa right after their "date" in the cloudy restaurant. He had a tendency to space out with how many bodies he had and how he switched to make sure each was fine. First Aomi and Kataji, and now Mikawa were aware of that fact. Most of the time, they didn't mind and let him be, taking care of his dazed body in their vicinity.

Then again, he had never before abandoned someone for such a long time and without saying a single word to explain why. He wasn't very familiar with the boy yet. But with Nekohiko pulling shit like this -- disappearing for hours without notice? -- befriending Mikawa was unlikely to ever happen.

He reemerged in his snake form in Mikawa's arms.

The black, velvety sky above them was spangled with lucid stars. Nebulae and rare clouds only highlighted the serenity and depth of the nightly abyss. But even more splendid than this was the sea of darkness underneath.

Mikawa must have taken a ride on a sky boat after the restaurant. Nagare city and other towns and castles in Nagare Kingdom had a natural affinity to sky-surfing vehicles. Boats, ships, crystalline birds and dandelion-like clouds of fluff Bound to hold human weight -- everything as long as it let people roam the skies. So while most people lived fine on Suzumegara without ever wanting to leave, some others liked to float around like small flies around a sunlit spot in a woodland glade. They were Binders who ensured that the citizens had a constant supply of water and air, and others who were concerned more about keeping the dome of warmth around the city, they were Nagare soldiers who kept vigil of the possible threats -- all kinds of people floated around in boats or on tiny airborne Binding spells even now, at night.

But they weren't the only ones. Most nightly boat-riders were lovers and tourists, of course.

Nekohiko didn't know which one Mikawa was supposed to be seeing that he had rented a typical sightseeing boat with the transparent floor to see the wind-swept landscape below. Perhaps, just a typical romantic.

"Could you go forward? I want to see Fuji," Mikawa told the boater who stood at the bow holding what looked a giant rake instead of an oar. The rake teeth were made of swirling wind that glowed white every time the boater pushed it against the surrounding air currents. The boat slid forth smoothly, as steady in the air as it would be on water.

Nekohiko had always been unnerved by the heights, but all his attention snapped to something else now.

"We are near Fuji?" he asked, animated.

Mikawa flinched, not expecting him to be awake. Then smiled, eyes twinkling. "Yes. Kasuga prefers to keep Suzumegara around Fuji."

Must be for some tactical advantage. Or because of the research for her military advances she was so obsessed with. Or because it allowed her to be in the center of the Empire.

"She really likes the view," Mikawa said, secretive. "And who would disagree?"

Ah, Mount Fuji -- and so close by! Nekohiko still felt a bit silly to marvel at it but he always did. On any clear day, back from his first home in Tanzawa mountain hut, he could see the lone peak through the blue horizon and dream about reaching it one day. He had reached it, several times in his previous life. And he hadn't been alone when he'd done it.

But seeing it for the first time in this wooden life was just as exciting. Especially from such a novel vantage.

Mikawa crouched by the boat's edge, peering at the foggy peak in the distance with a dreamy expression on his face. It wasn't snowy now -- never was unless it was winter, but even without snow, it was an inspiring image. Nekohiko was sad he had to ruin such a nice mood with his issues.

"I'm sorry I spaced out through the entire evening."

Mikawa shook his head and mn-ed, almost making it sound carefree. "I'm used to people not paying attention to me. I prefer it that way, honestly."

Nekohiko wanted to argue but Mikawa waved him off. "So why were you? Did something important happen to your bodies elsewhere?"

Seriously, what a way to ruin everyone's night. Alarming the entire kingdom to an impending doom... Nekohiko sighed.

"I have intel that the Towa army will be coming here soon. And not only Towa. They are backed by the King of the Mists himself."

He had left out Abihiko coming as well because of... reasons. But he guessed it didn't matter which army came here to battle and why -- the gist was obvious even without Abihiko mentioned.

Mikawa's mouth slowly dragged open.

Sorry, Mikawa.

He had to do it. Not because he was of such a high opinion of Nagare that he was on their side in this petty conflict. No. As the true Emperor, he had no sides to pick from. He had to make sure his Empire was Bound back together whatever happened. But as of now, what he wanted most was to gather information about himself.

Who had Bound him to a tree? Who had kept him alive these years? And for what reasons? -- et cetera, et cetera.

Before he gained this information, he had no interest in being rescued by either Abihiko or Hisome. Heavens save him, no! If anything, he would rather stay in Nagare for a long, long time. He had an ally here -- Mikawa! He had Suminoe coming over -- a chance to talk to someone truly powerful and knowledgeable without someone else ruining it for him.

To hell with Abihiko and Towa army. He was on Nagare's side in this!

Mikawa paid triple for the boater to drop him off as close as possible to the castle grounds. The boy's boots hit the stony tiles, and his Bound magnetic servants assembled back beside him soon enough. But they weren't fast enough, and Mikawa dashed up the steps and through the castle gates without waiting for them.

The walls shifted into a stairs and the columns groaned with transforming stone blocks to make way for Mikawa's shortcut to the hallway in which Abi siblings were kept. Obviously, Mikawa could tell where his sister was even without checking in with others.

Nekohiko stirred, worried. "Is Kasuga there right now?"

"Mn."

Oh, this wasn't good. Kasuga hadn't talked to him at all during the last week -- she was too busy in the library and with her governing. That she was back with Aomi and Kataji only meant one thing...

She had found out something about Nekohiko she thought was important.

He prodded each of his bodies in the quarters, trying to discern which one could hear and see Kasuga close by. Found it! One of the wooden blocks in the main room.

Kasuga and Aomi were speaking a bit away from him.

"...so clearly, if he's going to have a human doll body of his own as you two are building one, it implies that it doesn't matter which form he can embody," Kasuga said. "Log, or a human. Or a cat. Or a snake. Yes?"

Nekohiko had expected this revelation to come quite a bit later than now. But apparently Kasuga had arrived at it already.

"Which brings me to this: I don't see that strange snake you always carry around. Where is it now?" Kasuga gave the rooms a rigid wave of her hand rather than act it out like Aomi would do.

And that display of Kasuga's usual calm and reservedness made Aomi more annoyed than it should.

"Is this the smartest thing you had discovered in a week?" Aomi huffed, palms on her hips. "No wonder Nagare has such problems with the other Kingdoms. With the Nagare Queen's intellectual skills being slow like this..."

"Nor can I see him in any of the log parts. Why isn't he answering? Is he even in this room?" Kasuga went on, her voice even. She finally turned to Nekohiko who -- he just realized -- was sitting on Kataji's lap all this while.

How did he realize it with Kataji being so quiet and dejected? Because the moment Kasuga's stormy eyes took him in, Kataji hugged the wooden block to himself protectively.

"What do you want?" Kataji whispered at her.

Kasuga lifted a small piece of paper in her gloved fingers. "I did discover something intriguing about the Spiritside disturbances of five years ago. The amount of Binding power needed to tie a human soul to an object in its full capacity would be so enormous that there has to be a mark it left on the Spiritside."

Yes, like all Binding auras leaving an imprint. But... from five years ago?

Nekohiko was less than convinced how this was useful. Until--

"Of course, it happened a long time ago, so it would have been impossible to trace that now. Would have been," Kasuga stressed. "The Nagare research technology has made significant advances in recent years." Subtly, she waved the piece of paper. "I used our high-sensor arrays to detect relics of huge amounts of power used in the Spiritside. Even from five years ago. Here are the results."

...!

Nekohiko felt breathless.

He needed to know what was on that piece of paper!

And yet... there seemed to be a catch to it, wasn't there?

Aomi must have read his mind. She slid toward Kasuga menacingly. "Buuuut...?"

"But first, I want these logs for myself," Kasuga told Kataji.

Even through all the layers of clothes, Nekohiko could feel how Kataji's body tensed. "No."

"Not all of the logs. Just a couple."

"NO." Kataji pushed his wheelchair back with his foot as though trying to flee Kasuga who was slowly approaching. However impassive she looked, her slick military uniform, her leather gloves, her dark feathers and her pale face cut an intimidating image of someone too far beyond human concerns.

"This country needs more technological prowess to protect itself, and this log might help us in the military research," Kasuga said coolly.

"You are just being greedy and selfish," Kataji snapped. "Our country isn't fighting anyone at the moment!"

If the sudden deadening of her voice meant a change in her emotional range, it had to be anger. Or the closest thing to anger Kasuga had ever shown. "What do you know about who and why our country is fighting. Nagare people are at the forefront of the battle. We are the first line of the Empire's defense. Most of the things that we fight, you -- the rest of the Empire -- will never even see or know of." Slowly, she pointed a finger at her own chest. "Because we keep you away from harm. By sacrificing ourselves."

Behind her, Aomi flicked her eyes at Kasuga with a strange hue of attention she rarely gave anyone.

"Who are you to tell me I am greedy or selfish when all I look for is a way to protect my people?"

But none of this made it to Kataji's ears. "Oh, so because you're so important and grand, it's fine to steal from and blackmail and threaten others? For the sake of the Empire? For the good of your people? What do you intend to do with Itsuki? Force him to do something he doesn't want? Experiment on him? Use him in surveillance like a tool?"

Kasuga gave him a perplexed once-over. "Why are you answering for him about what he wants to do or not? Are you sure you're not using him as a tool yourself?"

Kataji sucked in a breath. "A tool of what?"

Nekohiko couldn't help but drop his gaze.

"I'm here, Your Majesty. I heard everything you said. And I..." he hesitated, struggling with his thoughts. "You want to use me for research, but what would that require of me?"

Pain? Humiliation? Immoral choices?

"That's a military secret."

Tsk.

If he were the Emperor, he would have a claim for that. But for a nobody-kind-of a log, the rules were quite different.

Despite that, being allied with Kasuga on a personal basis was a very attractive idea. The promise of vital information, even in exchange for something he might regret later felt like a worthwhile deal. Most of all because he could abandon the parts of his body he didn't like residing in -- the parts Kasuga used wrongly, for example.

Nothing would stop him from abandoning a body part, no?

"As long as they are not my future human doll body, I don't mind--" he began saying.

Kataji exploded on him. "Are you insane? No. You don't have to do that, Itsuki!" He snapped his head at Kasuga once again. "No. Over my dead body!"

The threat didn't impress Kasuga much. But it did impress Aomi who now watched Kataji with her eyes open wide in cringe rather than surprise.

"Kataji..." Nekohiko sighed.

"It is his body and he says yes," Kasuga told Kataji.

"This is not a fair proposition and you know it. This is blackmail! And if so, then..." Kataji threw helpless looks around him, then grabbed the whittling knife from The working apron that hanged on the back of his wheelchair. To both girls' confused stares, he lifted the knife to his own throat. "I can blackmail, too. What do you imagine will happen to Nagare if the Emperor's own brother was driven to suicide under your watch!"

Oh, Kataji -- you don't want to ask such questions when so many Nagares actually want to mutilate or kill you!

How fast this went out of control.

Nekohiko's mind jumped back to his snake form in Mikawa's hands. Where was this boy?! Whatever was happening in the rooms, it would dispel once Mikawa barged in and told Kasuga about the Towa attack. Nekohiko didn't want Kasuga to know he was the one to provide Mikawa with this information, so he really didn't want to be the one to tell her.

Yet Mikawa...

...hadn't gotten far. The very first line of Kasuga's bodyguards had stopped him at the doors of Kataji and Aomi's quarters. Nekohiko woke up in the snake and right into the guards having a frustrating argument above his head.

Although it was less of an argument and more of a mental beatdown.

Mikawa was trembling. His voice faltered. "It's important. I need to talk to Elder Sister right now!"

"Her Majesty's orders were to not let anyone inside. A top governmental secret only for Nagare family members," said the brutish man who was clearly in charge. "Please stand back and wait."

"But..." Mikawa stuttered. "I am a Nagare family member."

The silence and the dismissive gazes of everyone present didn't require a reply.

Mikawa's hands tightened around Nekohiko -- but not in the same way as Kataji's had done a few minutes ago. Kataji's touch had been protective. Mikawa's was the opposite. It was as though he begged someone for protection, knowing full well it wasn't coming.

"It involves the Towa army advance," he mustered, reigning his emotions in. "Trust me, Her Majesty needs to know about thi--"

"What is the problem, officers?" Etsuko's dry voice called from down the hallway.

All the guards clinked their metallic garments, rounding to greet her with military salutations. The brutish guard leader nodded at Mikawa. "Her Majesty Kasuga demanded to not be interrupted by anyone in the middle of her governmental business with the enemy. Young Master Mikawa wasn't aware of that order, so we explained to him." He turned back and gestured for Mikawa to step aside. A polite yet utterly cold gesture. "Please, young Master. I am sure Her Majesty won't be long."

Nekohiko thought that this was where the issue would exhaust itself with Etsuko in charge but Mikawa didn't dare to beg her.

"I would get her the message myself with the Wind Whispers," he said, eyes flicking, too afraid to focus on one specific person around him. "It's the message of utter importance! But you Bound the impenetrable sound barrier around these rooms! Please allow me to enter! She needs to hear! It's about Towa--"

"Young Master Mikawa. Don't throw a tantrum, please," Etsuko said with a detached sigh. "Only the Nagare may have the audience with the Queen uninvited."

"I am Nagare," Mikawa whispered.

The collective dismissive hush in the hallway had the impact of a punch.

"No, you're not," Etsuko said. "You belong to House Taira. A noble family in the Nagare Kingdom, yes -- but not a Nagare. And not meant for any of the powers of the Spirits of the Skies. Please do not forget that."

Nekohiko seethed.

Kasuga's soldiers would even sabotage their own intel resources to not allow Mikawa to have a say? Even Etsuko, the most loyal of Kasuga's aides. No wonder the boy always avoided everyone in the castle and clung to Nekohiko as though drowning!

Aggravation spurred Nekohiko to act. Right back to his log form and to Kataji and Kasuga having their bizarre face-off in the middle of the room.

"Your brother Mikawa is being mistreated right behind these doors," he told Kasuga. "And all he wanted to do was tell you that we are all going to be attacked by the Towa army soon."

He paused for a more dramatic effect. "Just so you know."

Aomi had to jump out of the way when Kasuga swung around and marched to the heavy stone doors that dissolved open at the flick of her hand.

Pressed tight against Nekohiko's log cube, Kataji's chest rose and fell in turmoil. His hand with the knife dropped to his lap, weary. This young man was only getting more and more frustrated in his life, wasn't he? Now threatening suicide, and for what? To prove something to Kasuga?

Yet Nekohiko had no time to spare to him now. Even Aomi hurried to join Kasuga's side because the young Queen stepped in front of her guards who had such avoidant looks on their faces, this scene would clearly bring much happiness to Aomi's little torturer's heart.

From behind the guards' backs, Mikawa raised his tear-filled eyes at Kasuga, a limp snake in his arms. "The Towa army and the King of Mists are coming!" he cried.

Kasuga gave him a nod.

"Your Majesty." Etsuko saluted, and so did the others. Mikawa, too, with a delay.

"You don't need to salute me," Kasuga said to Mikawa. "You are the Nagare Lord, too."

"I'm not," Mikawa whispered but slipped in past the guards when Kasuga beckoned him.

She hugged him with one arm and gave the guards a thorough, cold look. "Why was this intel restricted in getting to me as soon as possible?"

"The way Master Mikawa could have possibly gathered such intel is unclear," Etsuko cut in a sharp voice. She was looking down as though a Bound dummy that recited manuals on command rather than a human being. "All enemy's military secrets are soundproofed, so it would be impossible for the Wind Whisperer to gain any information of such sort. The only ones that can be gained as easily are the ones the enemy uses as a trick or a diversion. Having weighted all the options and arrived to a conclusion, I chose to--"

Mikawa shook his head. "It's a trusted source..." he mumbled.

But only Kasuga heard him. Her grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Track the Towa movements and check our spies in Hisome," she said to Etsuko, then nodded the rest of the guards to follow the protocol of superiority. "Get the preliminary report to me. Fast."

With a rough motion, she Bound the dark-glass walls of the entrance closed and resealed with sound-proofing spells.

All this time, Mikawa was only shivering in her arms while Aomi was leaning on the doorframe, absorbing everything that went on with such a greedy, delighted look in her eyes. She flinched away from the Bound wall when Kasuga turned away, but her gaze never stopped being lit with excitement. Only now this excitement was directed solely at Kasuga, and no one else.

On her part, Kasuga was fixated on Nekohiko's snake form most. A subtle frown crossed her brow. "What is your source exactly, Mikawa?" she asked.

"...Not important." Could Mikawa be even more blatant? The boy clutched the snake to him and shook his head vehemently. "But the source wouldn't lie to me about this. I swear it's true."

"Mmm," Aomi said, leaning her elbow on Kasuga's shoulder as though suddenly her best friend. "And how exactly would the King of Mists come over here fighting? Do you know how stupid that sounds? King Morokata never fights. Everybody knows that."

Good thing nothing could displace Kasuga. She hardly noticed the fraternizing lean. But she noticed something else. "Do not talk to my brother in this tone," she told Aomi, then turned back to Mikawa. "Are you sure about the Morokata part?"

"I can try and focus on listening to King Morokata or his surroundings if you want me to verify," Mikawa replied to Kasuga.

She gave him a subtle incline of her head.

"No matter. We will figure it out on our own later." Finally, she turned to Aomi. With a grave deliberation, she extricated her shoulder from under Aomi's elbow. She then assumed a businesslike mien and wanted to speak to her and Kataji in an official manner.

Aomi gasped, straightening up a few broken magpie feathers her elbow had ruined on Kasuga's epaulets. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. Although you probably wouldn't worry about such petty things as your outfit, yes? With how honorable and high-minded you are?"

Kasuga stilled. "Indeed. I have a war to fight. Immature concerns are the last thing in my attention span. I now have Hisome and Towa to worry about, apparently. One of me against the two of them."

"Yet you are a child nonetheless." Aomi fluttered her eyelashes. "And we children sure have some advantages the adults do not, yes? For example, Morokata and the Towa Queen are all grown up. They're fair game if someone wants to kill them. Yet you and young Mikawa over here..."

Nekohiko didn't like the direction of this tangent. Children Binders of course were forbidden to be killed by the laws of the Spirits. And due to that, for many people, that made them the most attractive soldiers in the Empire.

"That's... not a bad idea, actually." Mikawa brightened at his sister. "I can fight alongside you, Elder Sister! That would make it two on two, at least?"

But he met the force of utter indifference.

"I won't use my brother in battle," Kasuga said.

"As if any danger will come to him there..." Aomi strolled back to Kataji who hadn't spoken once or even raised his face through the entire conversation. "Your choice. All I'm saying is that it would be real stupid of you not to abuse that small loophole of Spiritlaw. Then again, it's you we're talking about," she added much lower, eyes rolling up. "What am I expecting, truly?"

"Put the snake down. We're leaving. We have too much work to do now." Kasuga watched as Mikawa reluctantly knelt on the floor to let Nekohiko down. "Master Kataji. Please consult with Itsuki in regards to the proposition I've made earlier. The proposition was made for him, though, so his is the only answer I am interested in hearing. But I hope you and he can arrive at an agreement that satisfies both of you before he gives me his final answer. I do not want any misunderstandings between House Nagare and House Abi." She pointedly ignored Aomi, then pulled Mikawa after herself as the two left.

But Mikawa was still waving at the siblings and Nekohiko discreetly before the doors of the room resealed themselves after the two left.

A heavy silence erupted.

And Aomi quickly grew gloomy. "I miss Kasuga so much already. The two of you are just as stupid, but also far less entertaining," she said dragging her feet to her room. She stopped in the doorway and sneaked a miserable wink of her eye at Nekohiko-the-snake. "Good night. Try not to kill yourselves. All right, Kataji?"

Finally, Kataji stirred.

"Mn-hm." He even gave Aomi a polite and a clearly-forced smile until she disappeared into her room.

"Wake me up when there's a Towa-Nagare battle but not earlier!" she yelled from behind the closed door.

Nekohiko started speaking. "Kataji, I don't mind becoming a tool, especially for the sake of the Empire."

"Mn-hm." Kataji put his hands on the handles of his wheelchair and pushed it toward his own room. "Sure. Go ahead."

Any other day and from any other person, Nekohiko wouldn't take such toxicity, but this time, he had to put his foot down.

Or... his tail. Whatever snakes could put down.

"Kataji, if you have a problem with me, tell me outright."

The young man remained quiet but Nekohiko slithered after him and blocked his room's entrance. "I really have a lot on my mind so the quicker we can resolve this, the better," Nekohiko warned him.

"Great." Kataji drummed his fingers on the block of wood on his lap. "It's great that you have many things to do -- with Aomi, with Mikawa, with Kasuga as well, it appears."

"Is your issue that I interact with others too much for your liking?" Nekohiko didn't mean to sound so cold but oh well. His emotional vocal range had never been good. Most things he said did end up sounding harsh.

Kataji smiled. "Not in the way you view it, no. It's just that I am the sole person responsible for your future body. For your autonomy. For making you live the life of a real person. But it also seems that... you're not that interested in that life. You're more interested in scheming with Aomi, or sneaking around with Mikawa, or... hells, probably doing something illegal and immoral with Kasuga for the benefits of the war. I have zero ideas of what you want to do once you get a body. Sometimes this lack of knowledge scares me. Other times it makes me feel guilty to even doubt you or your intentions."

Nekohiko kept quiet for a moment.

But his consciousness ate at him.

"...I warned you that this is going to be our relationship from the start," Nekohiko said. "You have to trust me completely that I won't abuse your faith in me. And I have to trust you completely that you won't abuse your control over my body. It's not an easy relationship, true. Did you expect it to be? You are my maker."

"I thought I was your friend."

When Nekohiko wanted to reply, Kataji drew a hand up in profound tiredness. "I don't want to talk about it more. I'll do my best with your body. Then you'll be free to do what you want. We can treat it as a business relationship from now on, don't you worry."

Well. A business relationship implied a payment on Nekohiko's side of the deal. Yet so far, it appeared like Kataji was working for free.

But was he, really?

Nekohiko didn't feel like bringing it up, so he let Kataji depart with nothing more than a sour "good night" passed in between them.

 

---

***

 

All of this drained him. Kataji's doubts, Kasuga's intensity, even Mikawa with Aomi when they were trying to find a topic to talk to him about and he didn't feel like it. The next couple of days passed like this -- in endless pressure and lack of respite because, yes, the Nagare kingdom was at war. And the looming threat of the enemy forces drawing near never stopped grinding down on the city and the castle.

There it was, spread out before him with dimmed lights and much fewer signs of typical Nagare life outside the grand window of the hallway. The city and the castle had entered the emergency mode of living. Almost all life faded away, and only the outlines of the distant ground and the solemn, snowy peak of Fuji loomed to the side of Suzumegara's faintly-glowing wing.

Nekohiko sighed.

Abihiko had put on a rigid leather armor with a high collar the moment before he left the Emerald Palace. The only thing Nekohiko was aware of in Abihiko's life was the intense, dashing journey on the Bound horses Abihiko and his guards were taking.

They were rushing toward Nagare Castle as though trying to arrive here before the Towa army did. Abihiko didn't have time to rest, let alone  speak about it to others or take off his armor to let Nekohiko's seashell see the outside.

A boring, unsettling lifestyle.

Worse still -- Kasuga and Nekohiko hadn't had time to talk about her offer either, so busy the Nagares were with the preparations and strategic ruminations in their drab, cold war rooms far away from where Nekohiko wanted to be. It was his Empire these people were mishandling so! He wanted to participate!

But he still had time, yes? If Suminoe came before the inevitable battle began, and if only Abihiko stopped putting on such tight, rigid armors and cloaks on himself...

...then maybe all these worries about Towa and Morokata had been in vain altogether.

But then--

He had been staring out the window for a long time and only now realized...

Fuji was covered in snow.

In early autumn.

Staring with his eyes wide open, Nekohiko angled his head to peer below Suzumegara's translucent wings. The ground. The hills and the plains far below. Everything covered in the tenderest layer of white. And slowly, out of the cloudless, azure skies, out of nowhere -- the small white flies of the swirling snow were coming down.

Oh no.

Only one real explanation, was there?

"Towa Binders," Nekohiko breathed -- and as the response, the dismal alarm horns of the Nagare castle began howling.