Queenfisher

I wanted to share with you a small problem I had. In my beta-reads with people, they told me the original Part 3 of this chapter is rushed and kind of abrupt because the main scenes that happen here are: 1) Neko arrives at Hira Okinaga's city, 2) Abihiko tells Neko about the Kitten's Paw seashell and what it represents. 

And it seemed rushed to my betas.

But I didn't want to add any filler to this part because these are the only things I originally wanted to discuss here. So to make this episode's flow smoother without adding filler, I took a scene from a later Flashback chapter and put it in the middle of this one because it fits well enough chronologically. But because it was not originally meant to be here, it might read a bit like an Extra rather than a real part of this chapter. For starters, it features Kazuragi and Yakabe because it was intended for the storyline in which A+N live with the Sky Lords. Also, because it's a whole separate scene in the middle, it makes Rockhard 3/3 longer than a normal chapter length, so I have to divide it and publish around the same time if you want to read just the original Rockhard 3/3 in one day.

So... read it as you see fit. Original Rockhard 3/3 is the same length as all my usual chapters. I will mark it in text where the Extra begins and where it ends and you can skip it if you wish to only read Rockhard 3/3. But I would advise to not skip it since it deals with N+A issues with inequality and how they both decide to become Spirit Wayfarers who save people.

Anyway, it's up to you how you prefer to read it ^^. Enjoy, especially that Kitten's Paw segment for later!

Chapter Forty-Five

Rockhard

Part 2,5 of 3 (+extra)

The Hira Castle was less of a building and more of an entire world. An underworld, that is.

When Nekohiko had glimpsed the mountain called Adamantine¹金剛山, or Mount Kongo in Osaka. from afar, he was a bit disappointed with its height. He'd thought Lord Okinaga's home would be the tallest mountain in the world. But it was rather... normal. It was the tallest mountain in the vicinity, but nothing extraordinary.

Little did he know, it wasn't what was on the outside of the mountain that mattered.

"And here's the no-walk floor," Abihiko threw to him dismissively.

Nekohiko recoiled. "No-walk? Then how--"

"Silly. It walks for you, so you don't have to. See?" And the boy hopped onto the granite-tiled floor that looked as any usual floor would. Except when Nekohiko stepped onto it with Asazuma's prodding, the floor began to move really, really fast!

Abihiko laughed at Nekohiko's face, grabbing him by the elbow to keep him steady.

The tiles under their feet weren't moving per se -- the landscape around them did. The floor was like a river made of pure, hard granite that flowed smoothly through the cavernous tunnel deeper and deeper into the mountain.

When the darkness beyond the tunnel's end opened up in an abyss -- Nekohiko clutched Abihiko's hand firmer. He thought they'd fall because there was no ground past the precipice the floor had taken them to. But instead, the floor assembled itself into a granite waterfall cascading down the inner mountain side in the same slick, gentle current. Only the small area around Nekohiko, Abihiko, and Asazuma was horizontal. Like a small cup of granite, keeping them safe as the floor under them rushed down the slope.

All of Nekohiko's attention fixed on the world inside the mountainous abyss.

It was... dazzling.

He had never imagined there would be so much space and light under the ground because, surely, Adamantine Mountain wasn't so tall to allow such endless territory underneath! This had to be below the earth's core.

In the distance, tinged with mist, the tall buildings rose to the unseen black ceiling like a city of towers. Made of stones and gems, the towers glimmered in rich, sophisticated hues, reflecting the light from the glowing crystals that covered the walls of the inner mountain side.

Every crystal was Bound with sunlight. The impact of so many light sources bouncing off the gemstone city was breathtaking. Nekohiko had a hard time understanding what went on around him -- let alone listening to whatever silliness Abihiko was telling him as the boy pointed at the city excitedly.

"...the baths there are amazing! Your skin gets Bound with itch before you go in and then the bubbly water massages it all off you -- it's to die for!"

The Binders that greeted them at the bottom of the granite waterfall were dressed in Hira black colors trimmed with gold that shifted into fiery, lava red under Nekohiko's eyes. The soldiers gushed when Asazuma stepped off and started telling her about completely random stuff -- someone's newborn, someone's apothecary opening down the main street, someone's squabbles with the Hira city council. So familiar, so friendly everyone was with Asazuma and Abihiko! Some of the people slapped palms with Abihiko the moment he jumped off the no-walk floor, exchanging rough, kicking greetings and some fresh news from Lord Okinaga's shelter for the rescued Demonic Spirits.

"He even got a Stellar Spirit?!" Abihiko roared at another mention of a recently discovered monster. "In the underground?! I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes!"

Frankly, Nekohiko's head was going dizzy with all this commotion and gossip-sharing.

He was too busy for wasting his time getting acquainted with the new people. Instead, he studied the Hira cityscape they were passing on their roomy boat that swam down the lava canals. The flowy lava had given him a fright at first, but soon he realized it wasn't hot. The Hira Binders had removed the heat aspect out of it while leaving its fluidity and appearance. It worked like any water canal, yet dipping one's hand in it was still inadvisable because lava was viscous, sticky, and corrosive, even when cool to the touch.

The boat floated smoothly through it, though. So much fascinating stuff about how Binding worked in practice! So many new ways to use it.

The city's canals were narrow, interspersed with carved gemstone bridges everywhere he looked. People and dummies went through the streets, too busy to notice anyone around them. The lava market square was brimming with merchant boats and endless hawking for customers. Music and smells of incredibly succulent meals wafted through the air.

Sweet, tangy, spicy, creamy -- simply drool-worthy!

Abihiko's impromptu tour about all the sights of the Hira city barely registered in Nekohiko's ears in comparison.

"And there is the hospital where they make puppy cats! And there's the famous Naked Dragon parlor -- I told you about it, remember? Oh, and look -- look over here, Neko -- here's the crime boss's alleged lair! So dangerous. Mom! Let's go to the circus!" Abihiko announced when he spied a lively circus performance in the place that looked like a cage over the bubbling magma lake. The acrobats pranced on the thin metal bars, unbothered by the magma underneath them, and Abihiko's attention immediately went there.

Until it got distracted by the giant Bound spider dummy that hauled wagons of ore from some dark, eerie-looking mine shaft away from the city's life and across one of the many digging holes high over the inner wall of the mountain. In fact, Nekohiko had spotted many giant machines and automatons delivering loads from the lower tunnels.

"Daichi! There!" Abihiko ordered Daichi to reign in their boat through the canals.

Asazuma waved her fan in front of her face, stirring her hair strands to dance in the breeze. "We're going to Oki's castle. We're not stopping anywhere else."

Abihiko only smiled. "Yeah, but there's where Lord Okinaga is." He pointed, very content with himself. "Down that mine shaft."

That made Nekohiko finally take his eyes away from the city's bustling. "How do you know?"

"Oh, I know. I know."

And he did. Only half an hour and a whole lot of lava canal rowing later, they were standing in front of the spider machine loading platform, waiting for the mining Binders to arrive from the shaft depths. Asazuma let Abihiko lie with his head on her lap as they waited. She brushed his short hair with her fingers and threw enigmatic glances at Nekohiko's short hair close by, even if she never attempted to touch it.

The woman's knowing smile didn't sit well with him. Why did she look as though she was realizing something strange about him and her son?

Nekohiko turned back to his book about tax policies, dismayed.

The lines of Bound metal wagons rolled up the crawling pathwalk by the platform. Out of them, rows of Binders sprang, flexing their arms and easing their tense shoulders and back. They were all dressed in work clothes of grimy martial pants and shirts -- both men and women -- and all had signs of Binding exhaustion in their overworked auras.

"There's some problem with the coal deposit from the tunnel fourteen," someone called. "Might be a Spirit Curse taint?"

Abihiko sat up when one of the grimy-looking men strode away from the rest. The man made his decisive way toward the coalstone wagon loaded onto the Bound Spider.

"Lord Okinaga!"

The man turned, one hand sweeping the jelly-goggles off his eyes. The imprint of dirt left only the area around his eyes clean, and those eyes were as dark and as stern as Nekohiko remembered them.

The man was hardly surprised to see Abihiko and wanted to wave him off, too busy with the urgent coal issues. But then his eyes found Asazuma.

Asazuma gave Okinaga a smile Nekohiko thought looked exactly like Abihiko's when the boy was too excited about something. And after seeing that smile of hers, Okinaga stopped at once.

"Sir, our coal from tunnel fourteen!" the workers called again.

Her smile widened.

"Your coal is waiting, Oki," Asazuma chuckled. "Go."

"He didn't even notice me," Abihiko told Nekohiko begrudgingly after Okinaga hurried off to see his workers. "And I wanted him to ask how I knew he was here..."

Nekohiko felt bad for the boy who was genuinely happy to be next to his foster father. So he played into it. "I want to know. You can tell me."

Abihiko's previously sullen face lit up, if only a little. But he still didn't say a thing. Mainly because the explanation required Nekohiko's understanding of what kind of person Okinaga was. And that was something that he discovered on his own only a few moments later.

Once their little reunited party had finally abandoned the mines and settled back in the boat that traveled through the city canals, Nekohiko got his closer look at the famed Lord of the Mountains.

Okinaga was tall and muscular. The man's long hair was gathered in a tight knot on his head, but his heavy mining headgear covered most of it anyway. His eyes were the most distinct thing about him -- night-black but burning as though from within.

It didn't matter if they fixated on Abihiko's laidback grin, or on Asazuma's indolent expression, or on Nekohiko's blank stare. Okinaga regarded everyone with the same level of grim intensity. Only the length differed. He did watch Asazuma for much longer stretches of time than he did anyone else.

"Nekohiko is my best friend in School," Abihiko told him as their boat sailed under the canopies of jade tree branches heavy with chiming gold and silver blossoms.

For a moment it seemed as though Okinaga was displeased with something around him. Then his attention went to Nekohiko, and next -- to Abihiko with a tinge of disappointment in his tone.

"I know. You sent me a letter about you and her coming, a month ago."

Abihiko dug his teeth into his lip.

"Do not waste breath on redundant information," Okinaga told Abihiko with the same fatherly strictness. He nodded to Nekohiko as a way of greeting, then quickly returned his gaze to the vistas they passed.

The gorgeous, splendid banks of the Hira city canals. Yet all this splendor of jasper, and amethyst, and malachite, and obsidian trees and buildings and fountains with liquid metals pouring out of them -- only seemed to annoy Okinaga. The expression of distaste never left his face when he contemplated anything outside of their boat.

"You wouldn't need to waste your breath on redundant information of telling sweet Abi to shut up either if your methods of education were as good as you think they are," Asazuma sighed. She put her cheek on her palm, watching Okinaga out of the corner of her eye. "Alas. You're only teaching him to be a boor who cannot communicate with others to save his life and frowns at the pretty buildings as though they'd personally killed your parents."

Okinaga visibly thawed. "Teaching frugality of mind helps stabilize one's Binding," he said, far less strictly and more haughtily. "Helps get to the core of things, bypassing all distractions."

"It also teaches him to be bo-ring and inflexible." The woman's eyes crinkled up in crescents as she kicked Okinaga's knee with her toes. "Go on, Abi. Chat away all you want! Some people's Binding benefits from blaaaaa."

"Blaaaa..." Abihiko seemed frustrated with both adults equally. "I'm not blaaa. Am I blaaaa?" he asked Nekohiko, suddenly scared.

Well. Maybe a little blaaaa.

But Nekohiko had no heart to tell him that.

"Not Hira Binding, no." Okinaga made it as though he had been talking to the children only, educating them as any responsible adult should. "Only the rockhard assurance in what matters and what does not can give one access to true Hira power." He struck his huge calloused, dirty fingers at Abihiko's chest, then at Nekohiko's. "Set your foot down. Find your ground. Find your core, your axis. Truth. Never waver, however much flicker the world throws at you. The flicker will pass. The ground under your feet will not."

Ah!

The lesson on Binding from one of the Great Lords himself! Nekohiko listened, wide-eyed.

"None of this superficial glamor." Okinaga nodded at the banks of the canals dismissively. "If it were my choice only, I would have this city look exactly as it is in reality. Rough stone and impure ores. But..."

"But your people would rebel if you did that!" Asazuma groaned, reclining against the boat's edge. She shrugged when Nekohiko trailed his gaze to her. "Truth is all nice if you want to see drab and dull and lifeless all around you. The thing is -- most people can't tolerate truth to such an extent."

Okinaga was still shaking his head even though he didn't try to argue any longer. Abihiko commiserated, also assuming the expression of derision as he contemplated the glamorous city they passed -- so drastic compared to his previous looks full of awe at the sight of the bustling streets.

"As you can probably imagine, most of the splendor of the Hira city is made with Hisome method. It's all illusions and glamor," Abihiko whispered at Nekohiko at some point. "No one really has so many gemstones and gold to waste on building facades and fountains, you know."

Oh.

Now Nekohiko fully understood Okinaga's dislike of his own city's appearance.

Like Nagare was a natural enemy of the Towa method, the Hira method of solidity and going for the innermost core of things contrasted wildly with the Hisome's affinity for illusions, trickery, and dream. Likely, there were some actual gemstones and precious metals in Hira city, but of course not to such an extent as the citizens would want it to be. Multiplying the visibility of the already-existing resources was Hisome's primary glamor technique, and it was this technique that made the Hira city look so magnificent and breathtaking.

No wonder Lord Okinaga disliked that.

It wasn't even the Hira city's real appearance. Only a dream of it.

Which gave Nekohiko the clue he wanted. "Is this how you found out where he was?" he whispered at Abihiko back.

Solemn, the boy nodded. "There are always fewer glows and crystal glamor on the streets where he had gone through since most Binders know he doesn't fancy them."

Made sense.

The man's castle wasn't intricate or architecturally impressive either. It was rather boring-looking -- plain, square shapes and rough surfaces. The colors, too, were minimalistic. Black, grey, sometimes whitish where quartz and mica peeked through the drab facade. But deep within all this dullness, burned heat. And sometimes, the fiery red glow escaped the cracks in the unkempt floor tiles in the yard, reminding one of the beauty and power of dreaming volcanoes.

Far behind the castle, the gorgeous lavafall cascaded down the inner mountain side, casting the castle's insides into the crimson, flickering haze.

But neither Abihiko nor Asazuma were charmed by the sight they no doubt saw hundreds of times.

"I made that crack in the wall last time I trained using fireballs!" Abihiko announced to Nekohiko the moment they walked into the yard. "Can't believe this place wasn't fixed the whole year!"

"Year? I think that pile of crushed obsidian had been lying in that corner for over a decade," Asazuma scoffed, giving the courtyard a good look as well.

"I like it," Nekohiko tried defensively.

From beyond one of the grand front windows of the house, a mousy woman with a sickly complexion peeked out. Bleary, she regarded the big group of Hira Binders led by Okinaga -- but as soon as her eyes found Asazuma and Abihiko beside her -- the woman's face lit up.

Mirth sparked within her eyes, and immediately, she didn't seem so ill anymore.

"Sis Asazuma! Ah, I've been waiting for so loooong!"

Asazuma flinched from the woman's cry, then squealed, waving at her maniacally, to Okinaga's distaste. "Poor Sis Awaji! How are you surviving this hellhole of boredom -- I have no idea!"

"She's not really Mom's sister," Abihiko slipped to Nekohiko quickly. "But they treat each other as sisters, so..."

"She's Lord Okinaga's wife, yes?" Nekohiko asked.

"Yaaah, she is," Asazuma sang above Nekohiko's ear. Then elbowed Okinaga in the shoulder, passing by. "And he really does not deserve her!"

"He does not!" Okinaga's wife lamented, and both women exploded in chortling at Okinaga's expense.

Caught in the excitement of all this screaming and laughing, Abihiko dragged Nekohiko by the elbow toward the Lady who was still hidden in the house. Oddly, but however happy she was to see Asazuma or Abihiko, she wasn't standing up to come out -- but instead waiting for them to approach.

And up close, Nekohiko noticed just how sallow she looked. He remembered what Abihiko had told him about her in a flash.

Miscarriages, illnesses, stillbirths.

Yet she was still smiling at Abihiko with such tenderness, flapping her arms to beckon him closer.

"Lady Awaji!" Abihiko yelled with all his lung power. "I brought a girl friend! Look, look! Like I promised I would one day! And you said I'm never gonna be this lucky -- ha! She's crazy about me, too!"

The woman named Awaji laughed so delightedly, Nekohiko didn't feel offended at Abihiko's ridiculous lies. Abihiko abandoned him halfway through the yard and ran toward the window from which Awaji was leaning out. When he reached the window, Awaji had to lift herself to catch Abihiko's face in her palms and plant a kiss on his forehead.

"Ah, aren't you so tall! Aren't you so grown up!" she gushed, sounding a bit teary. From beside her, a little girl's head popped out the window, too, and that head had a very, very loud mouth -- just like Awaji, Asazuma, and Abihiko himself.

"Abi! Abi! Kiss me too! Where is your girlfriend?! Let me see!"

Brrrrr, all this noise!

"Not my girlfriend -- only a girl friend," Abihiko barked at the little girl, then nodded his chin toward her. "Neko, come over.  This is Kusuhi. She's a-do-rable. Yes, even though she bites. So if you mistreat her, I'll feed you to the Magma Hounds, got it?"

Erm...

Why would Nekohiko mistreat any little child? He didn't like children, but he wouldn't go out of his way to actually mistr--

"Aaaaah!" Nekohiko cried when someone's sharp little teeth closed around his fingers for no real reason -- and with no real warning!

And that was how he met Kusuhi -- Okinaga's and Awaji's five-year-old daughter. She was that child he had once seen back in Izumo when Okinaga and Abihiko's parents visited them during the first year. Obviously, now Kusuhi was a bit older than that, but not much smarter.

"She bit me," Nekohiko told Abihiko, betrayal like a stab to his heart.

Most of all because Abihiko laughed so meanly at seeing Nekohiko's utter shock. Some friend, to laugh at Nekohiko's misery like this!

All in all, the first few days in Lord Okinaga's house were quite hectic for someone like Nekohiko. Noise, Abihiko's exhilaration about all his toys and all his treasure stashes of candy throughout the house, Kusuhi's hunt for something else of Nekohiko's she could bite -- books, clothes, hair, kneecaps. Pure nightmare.

Yet, scarily enough, he might have even begun to enjoy such cozy, routine games or the chitchats as the ones Lady Asazuma and Lady Awaji constantly had in the enormous, echoing rooms of the house -- about their toddlers, about the prices for salt and pepper, about council hall meetings in the Hira city. Nekohiko listened to those from afar, and a feeling of comfort spread through him, lulling him into serenity.

Was this what summer breaks were about?

Was this what families were about?

Was this what... happiness felt like?

┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒

Kind of an Extra

(but not really ^^. Anyway, skip if you only want to get the original Rockhard 3/3)

┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚

***

In the second week of Nekohiko's stay in the Hira castle, Asazuma announced that they were all going on a Spirit Wayfaring mission.

Yes. This easily.

A Spirit Wayfaring mission! One of those grand adventures only the adepts of Izumo School were doing in their fifth and sixth years of study!

All Binders were taught to communicate and purify and placate Spirits for this reason only. Not to fight in wars, not to mine matter, not to craft objects with their Binding. No. The true -- the original -- purpose of all Binders was to minimize the damage the malevolent or simply confused Spirits did to the people and the environment. Nevertheless, most Binders who had graduated, went on to better-paying jobs, like becoming dummy-makers, or construction workers, or harvest-enhancers. These jobs were quiet and they weren't filled with dangers to one's life. They didn't require a lot of travel across harsh lands. In truth, there were very few Spirit Wayfarers who devoted their lives to going around the Empire and using their magic to help Spirits and humans.

But the disciples of Izumo weren't paid for their services. They were volunteers. And the scroll of graduation from Izumo necessitated a certain amount of hours spent Spirit Wayfaring.

Frankly, Nekohiko couldn't wait. Everything in him burned with the yearning for traveling through his beloved Empire and helping people personally. And he wasn't alone in this dream.

This was Abihiko's dream as well. The boy didn't care as much about helping anyone, but he certainly cared about glory and fame such adventures could bring.

Asazuma suggesting it so freely was the biggest and sweetest surprise Nekohiko had ever gotten. To receive such experience even before reaching the fifth year?!

Yes, please!

Even his favorite weighty tome about city sewage systems didn't make him as excited. He folded his books away and was on his way after Asazuma in a pinch.

Where Asazuma and Okinaga led them out into the open air outside the Adamantine Mountain -- it was night, starry and waving in humidity. Okinaga went through a night wood in the front while Asazuma made up the rear, feeding Abihiko and Nekohiko bits of information about what they would be doing and why.

In short -- Nekohiko and Abihiko would be watching only. Not talking, not asking questions, definitely not running around -- and absolutely no fighting! Only observing.

"Blaaaargh," Abihiko moaned all through the short walk in the dewy, cloudy pine woods. He kicked the trees they passed and tore twigs to lash them at trunks in his disappointment. "We're good at fighting. We can help! Just how dangerous is the Demonic Spirit that I can't handle it?"

"It's only first level," Asazuma said. "The Wayfarer who dealt with it says it's not very strong, but incredibly resilient. They can't get rid of it no matter what, hence they summoned every powerful Binder in the vicinity and --" she spread her arms to herself and Okinaga who trudged on in the front "-- we decided to help. It's just a quick minute for us, but since all those other Wayfarers can't handle it..."

"What?! Only first level--! That's like... kiddie level!"

"What did I tell you? Observe. And no talking, Abi."

"But Moooom!"

"Abihiko," Okinaga called in his usual no-nonsense, grave tone.

That shut Abihiko up nicely. But not for long.

The rest of the way, Abihiko was sulking and exploding in grumbles by turns.

At the heart of these woods, stood a small castle, long abandoned and grown over with roots and weeds. Nothing special about it. But the ghost that haunted it had spent so many years tormenting people in the nearby villages that they would occasionally hire Spirit Wayfarers to get rid of it.

But it never stuck.

The ghost simply returned to haunt the place again. He wasn't malicious and wasn't harmful. Only annoying. Only unwanted and inconvenient. Alas.

The ruined front garden of the haunted castle opened up from beyond the gnarly trees. Ivies and mosses had claimed the stone, and cracks and weeds covered the ground. A woody, slightly sweet scent permeated the garden. In its center, a large maw of a stone well drew Nekohiko's attention. The pitch-darkness of it evoked a vague menace, but the starlight around was so crisp and sublime that Nekohiko quickly forgot about the hideous well. Bathed in the gentle light, the hulking mass of the crumbled castle made an oddly serene, even magical picture.

Which was shattered by a very rude exclamation.

"Tsk, what?! Who the hell is coming over here?! Get out!" a brash male voice snapped at them from inside the tangled gazebo at the side of the garden.

Okinaga stopped, and Nekohiko and Abihiko bumped into him.

That voice... so familiar. Curious, Nekohiko poked his head from behind Okinaga's shoulders and--

Ah! Lord Kazuragi and Lord Yakabe! Together! Here -- in such a beautiful place and... busy with...

Oh no.

Nekohiko poked his head back behind Okinaga, pretending he didn't see anything.

"Have you no shame?" Okinaga asked with the most tired of tones. "This is a haunted place for Wayfaring missions."

Luckily, the gazebo was well-hidden from the front gate where Nekohiko and Abihiko stood. But it was no wonder Kazuragi was so enraged someone had walked out on him and Yakabe during...

...activities.

"Yeah?" Kazuragi growled, sinking onto the gazebo's steps to give Okinaga a glare of his own. "And we were Spirit Wayfaring here. So please remove yourself--"

"Lord Okinaga, nice meeting you," Yakabe said, his face darkened with intense grief. He was fully dressed and looked proper as usual, unlike Kazuragi who was only... half-dressed, Nekohiko supposed.

But none of that mattered. Okinaga was still gravely offended at the two Lords and turned aside, shaking his head.

The only person who wasn't either flustered or appalled was Abihiko.

He all but jumped in exhilaration as he darted through the garden and toward the gazebo. "Hiiii! We are Wayfaring, too! Nekohiko and I are having our first mission, and you know what? We're only second-years! Tsk. Amazing, right? Wayfaring at this age. Who would believe something like that--"

Kazuragi's face was a perfect picture of a baffled wince. "Huh? Who the hell are you?"

Abihiko dwindled out, speechless. "Who the hell am I?! I'm Abihiko! You and I had dinner last year and you taught us Binding at School for a week afterward! You even told me I'm crazy good at Nagare!"

"And you are. Hello, Abihiko, hello, Nekohiko," Yakabe said, striding from behind Kazuragi into the garden. He cleared his throat politely. "I like your new hair."

But Kazuragi was still lost. "Uh? ...who?"

"ABIHIKO! When will you remember?"

Okinaga was busy surveying the area with the Spiritside vision spell, and Nekohiko gravitated toward him simply because he wanted to be far away from Abihiko and Kazuragi when either would start their eventual brawl. Thoughtful, Yakabe also sidled toward Okinaga. But then--

"Who is making my son scream his own name so shrilly?" Asazuma finally found her way into the garden from the woods.

And Kazuragi who had begun telling Abihiko something no-doubt-aggressive, froze over like a rabbit in the presence of the wolf. He got to his feet, ready to bolt.

"Is this your mother?" he asked Abihiko in abject horror.

Asazuma squinted.

Then a predatory grin wormed its way on her lips. She slunk toward Kazuragi, arms open for a hug. Or a mean headlock. "Ah, don't tell me it's cute little Snot Nose from School! How's life, Snot Nose?"

"Don't come close to me, woman! Okinaga, restrain this witch!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Asazuma slapped her knee in laughter, leaning on Abihiko's shoulder as she observed Kazuragi's swift retreat toward Okinaga and Yakabe. "Classic Snot Nose, always hiding behind the best boys. Just like in School."

Nekohiko didn't even get to sigh at the ruckus. He was becoming used to it in Hira Okinaga's household as well as to the incessant bullying. Okinaga himself didn't react to Kazuragi's hiding behind him. Only Yakabe looked somewhat concerned since it was his lover who was being harassed so brutally, but he preferred to keep quiet as well.

Probably fearing Asazuma's commentaries about his and Kazuragi's ruffled-up clothes. Nekohiko fully understood the two men's predicament. As well as Yakabe's desire to change the topic.

"We have checked the perimeters for signs of ghostly or Spirit activities prior to... Khm-khm. But really -- the place is clear," Yakabe told Okinaga who was furrowing his brow as he turned toward each corner of the garden to scan the surroundings for ghost presence.

It was clear Okinaga also wasn't finding anything.

"Indeed. Nothing seems out of ordinary," Okinaga said. Both he and Yakabe gave the garden another thorough scan, but in Nekohiko's opinion, they were looking in all the wrong places.

"What about that well in the center?" He pointed to the round stony hole in the moss-ridden yard.

From within the well, something like pure undiluted darkness was seeping out. He had thought it was some marshy water at first, but the substance was hazy and surreal. It didn't linger, dissipating into the air like a very tainted mist.

So obvious.

"Huh?" Abihiko chimed in from the side. "What well?"

Asazuma and Kazuragi who had been wrestling with each other in the corner a moment ago, suddenly stilled. Carefully, Okinaga stepped around Nekohiko, exchanging worried glances with Yakabe.

"Nekohiko, you see a well here?" two or three of them asked at once.

Um...

"...yes?"

"Neko, there is no well," Abihiko whispered.

A crawling chill rose up Nekohiko's spine as he realized that nobody but him could see the well that was right in front of them. His hand trembling, he pointed a finger at it. Just to make sure.

"...you don't see?" he started asking.

Swift, and dark, and clammy, a tendril of black fog lashed at Nekohiko's hand out of the well.

A clutch caught him. Tight and bone-cold.

Then a wrench of his wrist that he didn't even feel, so fast it was -- 

-- and the fog tendril yanked him off his feet and dragged into the pitch darkness of the well.

"Abihi--!!!" he yelped.

The black water swallowed his cry in an instant.

(The Extra's continuation and the Original Rockhard 3/3 are in the next chapter split for length)

Queenfisher

Thank you for reading! I'll publish the end of this chapter once I finish editing, which should be around 20-30 minutes from now ^^