Chapter Forty-Nine — Boys to the Left, Girls to the Right
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The promised picture from the last chapter, but since it applies to this chapter as well -- here it is! Under the spoiler ^^.

Spoiler

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Chapter Forty-Nine

Boys to the Left, Girls to the Right

 

 

A weird dream, truly.

The caress of Abihiko's dry lips was feverishly hot, his breath -- scalding. A spark lit up across Nekohiko's skin, settling deep in his spine, tingling all the way up his scalp.

He didn't close his eyes, watching Abihiko up close in a vague blur.

But he wasn't angry. Or repulsed. Or indifferent.

He was... dissolving into the kiss. Disappearing.

Nekohiko leaned into the kiss even though he didn't approve. He never had. People's desire to touch one another was never that exciting to him, but Abihiko's hopeless joy was so infectious he couldn't help but want to share it.

Their breaths shallowed between them as Abihiko covered Nekohiko's skin with agonizingly slow, soft kisses. Nekohiko had no choice but to surrender. But when the tenderness and doubt of the first contact became unbearable, Nekohiko gripped Abihiko's back and drew him in. For a deeper, needier feel. To lose himself completely.

As though in response, Abihiko's breath hitched up in a soundless moan. He pushed Nekohiko back, sliding onto him from the above, pinning him to the dreamland grass.

His mouth opened around their deepening kiss, his tongue gently prodding Nekohiko's lips apart.

Nekohiko's first impulse was to let him.

But then he remembered that this was extremely inappropriate. Who dreamed of such things? Only loose, wanton individuals, and Nekohiko wasn't one.

"Mmm... enough, stop it!"

Abihiko's eyes shot open, hazy with longing. "Huh?"

"Do not disrespect me," Nekohiko said, pulling away. "How dare you? We are not some animals in heat."

Abihiko's smile that had almost faded a moment ago, lit up brighter. "This is so lifelike. Even your words, the sound of your voice. Your tone..."

He tugged Nekohiko closer again, but Nekohiko was ready this time.

"Is this how you behave with your best friend! Sticking a tongue into my mouth the moment you see me. Irreverent--"

The bizarrity of this statement made him stammer.

Best friend?

They hadn't been "best friends" for years. Not after that knife in Nekohiko's throat. Why was he still thinking of him in this way?

Heck, why was he falling back into comfort and even intimacy with this person?

Was it so easy to overshadow and forget every bit of pain and agony Nekohiko had suffered because of Abihiko's actions after his nice, sweet smile or his gentle, moral attitude toward others?

Was he allowed Abihiko to charm him back into familiarity after literally murdering him?

Shame and anguish boiled inside Nekohiko like bitter, toxic poison.

"Get off me," Nekohiko whispered, disturbed. "Don't touch me."

"Neko--"

"I said get away from me!"

Abihiko gasped when Nekohiko slapped his hands away. A hot spray of blood breathed at Nekohiko's face from that one strike.

He froze.

Both Abihiko's wrists were shredded by something sharp, something barbed and cruel. Only... Nekohiko had no weapon in his hands. He knew that for sure.

Even now, as he dropped his gaze, all he saw were his own hands. But from within his skin, there came needles. Of such brilliant, luscious green, his eyes hurt just from looking at them.

The Emerald Fir needles?

His skin broke, revealing more of them before his horrified stare as they rose, unfurling from beneath his flesh, his muscles, his pinkish bones no thicker than twigs. It wasn't painful, but the sight itself plunged him into torpor. He was shaking and heaving. He had never been so afraid in his life.

"What-- why--! Abihiko!"

Everything in him was breaking apart and twisting, distorting, becoming monstrous.

Abihiko gripped him by the shoulders. "I'm here. Neko -- look at me! I'm here!"

"I'm so scared! I don't... understand anything that's happening!"

Instead of replying, Abihiko drew him in and hugged him.

But the harder Abihiko held on, the more of his blood trickled down Nekohiko's needles. There was simply no way to prevent this. Emerald Firs were stingy to the point of being vicious. Only an idiot would try to hug one without bearing the consequences.

But this wasn't even the worst of it. The small grassy clearing around them had grown so cold, Nekohiko didn't notice when it had begun until it was too late and the air was freezing. As it was for all dreams in the Spiritway, the cold was never just cold on its own. It meant something more.

Snowflakes twirled past his eyes, and Nekohiko knew.

Towa. The Towa Spirit manifested as snow most of the time. But where there was Towa, there would be others, too.

Indeed. The red maple trees around them had faded out into a thick white pall of mist that only crept closer.

Hisome.

No more fireworks or starbursts high in the skies -- only the turbulent, jagged lightnings overhead.

Nagare.

And beneath their feet, no more steady grassy ground. Only the cracking, fissured dead rock that threatened to swallow them up and grind them into fine mineral dust.

Hira.

Everything wanted to hurt him; he knew it. Everything was an enemy.

Among so many menaces, Abihiko was really... the closest thing Nekohiko had to something kind, familiar. Friendly. How cruel that was, to find solace in one's actual murderer...

Abihiko held him tight to himself. Shredded, torn, his limbs were just as strong as always. The smell of blood was so high in the air, it choked Nekohiko, dizzying his thoughts. "I'm here. You don't have to worry about anything."

"...except you," Nekohiko said, sickened. "I don't have to worry about anything except you!"

You! Out of all of them, you are the one who had hurt me the most!

He broke the already-torn arms apart, finally freeing himself from Abihiko's embrace. He wanted to run, but of course the freezing air, the milky wall of fog, the ruined earth, and the violent winds that rose around him wouldn't let him run far. They would catch him all too easily.

He tripped and fell.

His legs had always been roots -- where would even run?

He screamed in horror and agony, but his mouth was tree bark -- who would he even call or plea to?

No eyes, no ears, no heart to feel the loss with.

Because after all four of the Great Family dream symbols, came the symbol of the last -- the fifth Great House.

From within the mists, winds, ice, and stone, emerged House Utsuro and its most powerful, most final symbol. The dark pit. The bottomless, hungry void.

Death.

...

 


***

 

Nekohiko had never had true nightmares. But this was the closest to it. Falling endlessly into the utter nothingness lurched him into panic, shock, terror.

He wanted to squirm or scream to wake up, but a small seashell wasn't going to flail itself awake. He was paralyzed, unable to escape the void that was swallowing him up.

Yet suddenly, he was slapped awake with the rudest and most potent method.

A splash of chilly water doused him --

-- and it was as though a malignant shroud of darkness was swept off his soul.

His mind jolted awake. Panting, miserable, confused.

He was hanging off Abihiko's neck as before. But Abihiko was sitting up on the floor and cold water trickled down his throat and face, drenching his clothes, soaking all through the blanket he was wrapped in.

In his hands, he held a pitcher of water. After the last greedy gulp from it, he overturned the rest of the water on his face.

Nekohiko got another splash of water on himself. And he was thankful for it.

It was what had woken him up. However meaningless or harmless dreams could be, he wasn't sure this one was such. There was something about that dream that didn't seem harmless whatsoever.

He was still trembling blearily, but so was Abihiko.

"Was that a hell of a nightmare or is my brain frying up already," Abihiko huffed after a few hastened breaths he took. He rubbed his face and turned to the windows beyond which the night had lightened up into the early, blueing morning.

"Already tomorrow," Abihiko whispered to himself with such weariness, Nekohiko could only ache at the thought in agreement.

Already the next day...

This life never gave either of them a chance to pause and rest, did it?

After Abihiko shook the empty pitcher checking it there was any water left, he put it down dejectedly.

Then, as though instinctively, his fingers found Nekohiko's seashell and clutched it. Still shaken, Nekohiko didn't mind it and didn't flee to his other bodies.

It wasn't any kind of a hug, but he needed -- he wanted -- to be held after what he'd seen in his dreams. Just a little hug. Just for a moment or two.

This didn't mean he forgave Abihiko or that he trusted him...

It only meant that... a human heart was weak. Leaning back into comfort was sometimes the only way to go on living without going insane or apathetic.

For today, it was allowed, he told himself. This wouldn't repeat the following night. This wouldn't repeat ever. This tiny little hug he accepted didn't change or solve anything and didn't automatically make Abihiko a good person on his eyes.

And he had no idea how right he was.

Because by the end of this very day, allowing himself to get comfortable or nostalgic in Abihiko's embrace ever again would be the most abhorrent thing he could imagine.

 


***

 

"Please don't tell him," Nekohiko said for the tenth time this morning.

Kataji was packing all his log forms into the bags and boxes for the loaders to carry. They were setting out for the travel back to Nara today, so a lot of packing was in order.

Nekohiko was still a bit tense from how he'd been woken up and from what -- so his mood wasn't the best. What didn't help was all this stuffing him into tight places and fondling him as Kataji was trying to not hurt him during the wrapping. And what made Nekohiko's mood plummet entirely was the never-ending suggestions to introduce him to Abihiko in a "proper manner".

"Come on, my brother isn't that bad," Kataji said as though mostly convincing himself. "He can understand your situation. He can even help. He's... not a nice person, I'll give you that, but he has connections and he has power. I still don't get why you don't want him to help you, and so vehemently."

Instead of answering, Nekohiko remained silent. If Kataji hadn't heard him before, he wouldn't hear him now. And passive-aggressive silence always worked for Kataji's purposes when he was arguing with others. Why shouldn't Nekohiko also use it?

And it worked like magic.

Clearly feeling guilty, Kataji threw him desperate looks and avoided talking about it again. How easy this was. Nekohiko only wished convincing himself was just as simple.

As a cat, all too often he raised his head when someone mentioned Abihiko coming over. He was torn between the desire to jump at Abihiko and threaten him and demand answers--

Or to just stick his talons into him as a way to hurt him.

But then he reminded himself he was in no better position than he was as a mere seashell on his neck. What would a cat do to Abihiko? At best, he could catch him off-guard and spook him. At worst, he would engage in a death match with one of the strongest Binders in the Empire -- and one that could snap his fingers and use the ultimate Emperor's Binding powers, eradicating his enemies with just his thought!

And on an off chance Abihiko was his ally and wouldn't want to hurt him...

Damn it, he'd murdered him! What else was this? Could he gamble his only chance at life and valid revenge just on a hunch that Abihiko might not want to finish his business and kill him, after all?

This was a harsh gamble, if so.

What Aomi had told him was still the most reliable way to go about this: knowledge. Not rushing, not making stupid mistakes! Preparing and gathering all knowledge he could access.

Besides, he would have a human body soon. With just the addition of real human fingers for complex Binding techniques, his power would reach that of Abihiko's at his lowest points. Then, he wouldn't be so defenseless anymore.

He only had to wait about a week or two to become humanoid. Why gamble his life away on an unproven bet if he could wait and strike with much more certain chances of success?

But it didn't mean he couldn't strike earlier, either. Nothing major, and nothing suspicious. Just to sate his resentment.

Abihiko had visited Aomi and Kataji early in the morning to tell them to pack and wait for the departure from Nagare. He needed to settle some issues with Kotone and Kasuga before that, but he was more than certain they would leave soon enough.

The journey back to Nara would be long and might even pose additional threats with how flimsy his Imperial Bodyguard convoy was -- but not if they hurried. He and his guards had arrived at Fuji in a span of two days. They just didn't rest at all -- which Abihiko didn't see as a huge problem for him to pull off now with Aomi and Kataji in tow.

Aomi was more than exhilarated about two sleepless days of horse-riding -- but Kataji was of a different mindset, and the two argued about it for a good half an hour!

And during it, Abihiko had to sit down because taking Kataji's rant while standing up would be too tiring even for his inhuman stamina.

Obviously, Nekohiko didn't allow this chance to go to waste.

"...but my logs cannot be shaken by the horses like that! What if something breaks?"

"For the last time, every other vehicle is too slow," Abihiko said, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "I am not going to spend several days in journeying, Kataji."

Nekohiko the cat zeroed in Abihiko's lap as he prowled through the room. He couldn't speak to him and couldn't attack him with Binding without exposing himself. But he could do something more than just glare at him all the time.

Just enough to satisfy his bloodthirst.

Abihiko flinched when the kitty landed on his lap but quickly regained his composure. Ah, that same paranoia about unfamiliar people and dummies getting too close to him. Nekohiko tilted his head and gave him an innocent look so that Abihiko calmed down.

Then he turned on his purr-box.

Only after Abihiko did a double-take at Nekohiko's torn-off tail did he put his hand behind Nekohiko's ear on the years-learned reflex of all people interacting with cats.

He wasn't even realizing he was doing this because most of his attention went into arguing with Kataji.

"...hey, just be happy we're getting out of this place," Abihiko was saying, rubbing Nekohiko's chin with his finger. "Or do you enjoy staying here?"

"I do not." Kataji finally stopped packing in a frenzy. He noticed Nekohiko on his brother's lap, getting petted.

And this sight was, apparently, too shocking for him to remember what the topic of the conversation had just been.

"Er..." he said, lost.

Nekohiko understood the confusion. Had he been human, this would be an incredibly inappropriate thing to do, to just casually plant his butt on someone's brother's lap without introducing himself and get a free massage from them. But Nekohiko didn't do it for laughs or enjoyment.

This was a malevolent ploy.

All of a sudden, he struck. He snapped at Abihiko's hand the way he'd seen cats do all the time. Without any explanation or reason. His teeth closed around Abihiko's thumb and part of his palm. Blood spurted in his mouth, and one of Abihiko's finger bones gave in so sweetly under the pressure of his jaws. When Abihiko stiffened to wrestle his hand out of his mouth with a hiss on his lips, Nekohiko struck him with his claws, too.

Slash, slice, bite some more.

All in a span of a single moment.

Then he jumped to the floor and skittered off, heart pounding. He found it hard to explain his own behavior, but... ah, it was what it was.

He could not easily ignore his urges to punish Abihiko for existing if he had a chance.

Kataji's eyes could not have gotten huger even if he tried.

"I am so sorry! I swear it's a completely normal dummy cat. It's just... um, nervous when it meets new people."

Abihiko didn't yet Bind his wound back together, only peering at it in confusion. His eyebrows lifted. "Nervous? A dummy?"

"Well," Kataji faltered. Then, angered, turned to search Nekohiko with his eyes. "Come back here. You ridiculous cat!"

But Nekohiko was too far away under the bookshelf for Kataji to ever find him. From there, Nekohiko threw vengeful glances at Abihiko and licked his muzzle spattered with his enemy's blood.

It didn't pay off for having been so weak and soft-hearted at night, but it entertained him nonetheless.

However.

"Kataji, dummy cats aren't supposed to attack anyone," Abihiko said gravely. "No animal instincts should ever arise in properly Bound dummies."

"Well, uh--"

"I think your cat is broken." Now Nekohiko only saw Abihiko's legs because Abihiko got to his feet and strolled through the room. Closer...

Closer?! Wait, why was he getting closer to him now?

Abruptly, Abihiko's feet stopped a bit away, then he got down to one knee. Then put his palms on the floor, one still bloodied from the bite. Matter-of-fact, he bent down, his face peeking at Nekohiko under the bookshelf with an amused glint to his eye.

"It's all right," Abihiko told Kataji brightly. "I can fix your cat no problem."

...

Um...

No?!

Nekohiko stared at him, flashing his eyes with the most defiant expression he could summon. His purr-box had turned off some time ago. Instead, he tapped into his catlike power to hiss and rumble deep on his throat as a way to intimidate his opponent.

But Abihiko's mood only improved from that.

"What a ferocious beast," he said to himself impressedly.

You. have. no. idea, bastard.

"Eldest Brother! Please, uh, please don't! I like this cat exactly as it is," Kataji stammered, also getting to the floor and turning his face sideways exactly like Abihiko to peer at Nekohiko under the bookshelf. Kataji's eyes gaped terrified and he kept mouthing something at Nekohiko, but Nekohiko had trouble focusing when Abihiko's despicable smirk was right there -- right in front of him!

This vile person had cornered him and was now smiling about it!

Classic Abihiko behavior.

He clicked his tongue several times to draw Nekohiko out, to which Nekohiko only hissed louder, his ears flattening against his head. Did Abihiko think he was an idiot or what?

"Please, please, don't Bind anything on my cat," Kataji pled him. "I know h's a bit savage, but that's what I like so much about him. Don't neuter him, Eldest Brother, don't tame him."

Neuter... Kataji, please don't use words like that when you talk about cats!

"Aww, I would never neuter or tame anyone. That would just be wrong," Abihiko said. After he toyed with some cute little fluffy trinket of Aomi's he had found on the floor, it became clear nothing would trick Nekohiko to come out on his own. So Abihiko extended his hand under the bookshelf to grab him.

"Don't hurt him!" Kataji whelped.

And Nekohiko sure hoped that by this cry Kataji meant "don't hurt my Eldest Brother!" because that was exactly what Nekohiko was going o do now. As if he'd allow Abihiko to grab himself without counterattacking, pff.

Enraged beyond measure, he snapped his teeth at Abihiko's fingers once again. But this time, Abihiko was ready.

The moment the teeth sank into his flesh, his fingers curled inward -- into Nekohiko's mouth, taking hold. In one motion, he jerked his hand out from the bookshelf, dragging Nekohiko on his hand like a fisherman would drag a hooked fish.

Nekohiko didn't even have time to react to such a vile method of baiting him -- and already Abihiko got hold of him. He clasped him at the crook on his elbow while holding Nekohiko's muzzle in his other hand.

Playfully, he tugged at his fingers, but Nekohiko was too panicked to let him go.

He had not expected to be dragged out and then held in such a stupid manner. Like hell he would let go!

Blood washed inside Nekohiko's mouth and he went on gnawing on Abihiko's fingers to punish him for this and free him. Too bad Abihiko didn't seem fazed whatsoever and still pressed him to his chest as stubbornly as before.

"My, what a wild cat you have. Holds me so tightly," he sighed. "You should get it a chew toy. Maybe it was not a cat tissue but a dog tissue they sold you inside this dummy?"

Kataji's ashen face looked nothing short of petrified.

"Uh-huh," he said, then opened up his own arms shakenly. "Give him to me, please. I will calm him down easily."

"It's a 'he', hm?" Instead of giving him up, Abihiko propped Nekohiko in his arms to take a good look at him. "Does he have a name, too? I bet it's something cute. Cat Lord? Cat King, ha-ha?"

"Dooone!" Aomi cried, barging into the rooms with a giant bag of books stashed under her travel cloak. "I'm packed with Nagare souvenirs. Now I'll go pack my five cases of dresses and jewelry."

She shut up once she saw the scene before her eyes. But by that point, the cat incident was quickly pushed to the background of Abihiko's attention. He gave up Nekohiko to Kataji and turned to Aomi, flexing his jaw.

"Aomi, we don't have room for several cases of clothes on our Bound horses. Nor the weight capacity for the third bag of books you've prepared!"

Nekohiko could only sigh in relief in Kataji's arms.

"You have a lot of explaining yourself to do, by the way," Kataji whispered at him vengefully, then released him to the floor.

"Yeah, but there's room for Kataji's wooden toys?" Aomi huffed at Abihiko in return. "The log-istics of this is awfully unfair, don't you think?"

With a crushing sigh, Abihiko moved past her to the door. "That's it. We're going to Kasuga to make a proper arrangement for our departure."

Both Aomi and Kataji paused in their frantic puttering.

"What do you mean?" Aomi asked carefully. "Why does it sound so intimidating to me?"

Abihiko shook off the pain in his bitten hand, already by the doors. "You'll see. You can both come. I feel the discussion of the arrangement will involve you both as well as your consent."

Now even Nekohiko became curious.

"Consent?!" Aomi cried in horror.

 


***

 

It didn't take long for all three Abi siblings to find Kasuga and Kotone, but it took much longer for Abihiko to send the guards for Mikawa whose presence was also necessary for the arrangement. Apparently.

Aomi hugged Nekohiko's cat body to herself in the corner of the war room in which, instead of the usual strategic and tactical map of the territory, floated a visual aspect of the general landscape view of the Fuji region with splashes of angry black to indicate the patches where the Demonic essence had corrupted the Spiritside due to the battle that had been fought there.

"Why do they need Mikawa for?" Aomi asked Nekohiko as though expecting him to answer. "Why was Eldest Brother fondling you in his arms when I came? What happened? I am intrigued, very."

But he only purred, spying over Abihiko and his nervous pacing alongside the map on the table. On both sides of him, Kasuga and Kotone stood, slowly whispering to each other something about the refugees and reinforcement Binders arriving from Hira and Utsuro tomorrow.

The terrible night had given both Kotone and Kasuga a beating with all the Spiritside work and management of the disaster zone. From what Nekohiko had glimpsed of both of them throughout the day and Abihiko's rare visits to speak to them, Kotone hadn't slept at all, and Kasuga had slept only recently -- for two brief hours before she had to go on with her Kingdom's miseries.

Now, both were having a small break in between their meetings with the Binder groups. Abihiko had brought them food and tea and was currently helping them sort through some of the paperwork Kotone was proofreading.

Anyway, this was as good -- or as bad -- a time to discuss the Emperor's departure from Nagare as ever. Kasuga simply had no free time for anything at the moment. But a tiny pause during eating? At least it didn't distract her from her Kingdom duties too much.

"Young Master Mikawa," the Castle chancellor announced to the war room, letting a very spooked, very pale Mikawa in.

"Everyone is gathered as you wanted. What did you want to suggest?" Kasuga asked Abihiko once the door was closed and Mikawa plopped onto the chair next to Aomi and Kataji.

Abihiko shuffled closed the scroll he was skimming. "For the Tribunal to sway to your side, you have to show your good will. I'm afraid it would be best that you came to Nara with us and stayed there for the entire period it would take to summon the Tribunal."

"...which can take months," Kotone said softly.

Kasuga didn't even need to speak. Her stone-faced expression spoke for itself.

"But because you cannot leave your people in such a dramatic moment," Abihiko went on, not discouraged in the slightest, "you can show your good will by letting your own brother go to Nara in your place and--"

"No. Mikawa won't go to any place where Hisomes swarm as densely as they do in the capital," Kasuga said.

"He can stay in Lord Okinaga's mansion rather than in the Emerald Palace," Abihiko agreed. "Kataji and Aomi would have stayed at Lord Okinaga's anyway. It wouldn't matter much if one more person is added."

"Still no." Kasuga put down her brown dumpling, only half-eaten, as though she'd had enough and couldn't force a single bite more. "I am not sending my brother to such a decadent, vicious place when everyone wants to weaken Nagare and split us apart. What guarantee would I have that this is not another sneak attack?"

She shot a metallic glare toward Aomi. Squirming, Aomi raised Nekohiko in her arms as though to shield herself behind him.

"Mikawa had been threatened once already," Kasuga said.

"Elder Sister," Mikawa mumbled, his voice trembling. "It wasn't like that, I swear..."

"I do not care for something like that to repeat, thank you."

Kotone's eyes flickered between Kasuga and Abihiko, impassive. Ah, he was exactly as she'd said about herself yesterday. Utterly without allegiances. As neutral as weighing scales.

But Abihiko didn't look defeated yet. He pointed at the small group of Kataji, Aomi, and Mikawa with his finger.

"But what if I leave you one of my own blood siblings as leverage that Mikawa won't be mistreated or used against you? For your good will toward the Tribunal -- my good will toward you. What do you say then?"

Nekohiko felt it. The pain of betrayal high in the air.

Aomi and Kataji both tensed up.

"What?!"

"What!"

Oh yes. Abihiko would backstab any of you so easily, Nekohiko commiserated. Treachery was just like saying "hello" for someone like him.

And yet, Kasuga seemed intrigued all of a sudden. "Which sibling?" she asked. Then, before Abihiko could decide or ask Kataji's and Aomi's opinion, Kasuga hurried to make her own demand. "Kataji. You may leave Kataji with us."

"Excuse me?" Kataji ground out. "I cannot stay! I have a doll to make in Nara! And besides--"

"Oh, you're so quick to dispose of me, aren't you," Aomi grumbled at the same time, giving Kasuga the stinkiest eye. "As if I care!"

"Mmmm," Abihiko drawled, peering back at his little brother and sister. "Alas. The exchange wouldn't be remotely equal. Kataji is seventeen while Mikawa is thirteen. Kataji can be hurt and even killed by the law of the land. Nothing would stop you. But Mikawa is protected from either by the Spirits."

Kotone nodded profoundly to these statements then recoiled when she saw the dark glower Kasuga gave her and Abihiko in response.

"Hey, I don't make the rules," Abihiko said. "That's the only way to solve this whole issue with the Tribunal and your charges. We take Mikawa. You take Aomi--"

"Traitor," Aomi hissed from her spot, then hissed again, this time at Mikawa. "And you too. Traitors everywhere! How long do I have to stay in this backwater?!"

Kasuga gave the map of the Spiritside on the table a pained look, then glanced at the time-counting incense stick in the niche in the wall. The time was up. She had too many things to do. Arguing about something so minor didn't even seem relevant.

So she sighed. Then she nodded.

"Wonderful," Aomi said, jumping off her chair and darting to stand beside Kasuga and Kotone. All the malevolence in her gaze was now directed solely at Kataji, Mikawa, and Abihiko. "But I'm taking Itsuki with me! You cannot have this kitty no matter what! Right, girls?"

"...girls?" Kotone asked, eyelashes fluttering in amusement.

"Uh-huh. Let them all these disgusting boys go together into their decadent, perverted capital with their... stupid sex dolls and stuff," Aomi spat into Kataji's direction. Then she leaned toward Kasuga and Kotone as though to hug both of them. Nekohiko was unceremoniously squished between Aomi's tummy and Kotone's shoulder. "And we, the girls, are staying here. In our military heaven. As though we care what happens to all of you in that cesspool of sin, pfff."

"We have a lot of work to do," Kasuga told her with irritation, trying to distance herself from the "girly hug".

But Kotone didn't mind it at all and gave Aomi a hug right back.

"Decadent... perverted... cesspool?" Mikawa mouthed miserably at Kataji.

Kataji shrugged him off without a second thought.

Abihiko was ready to turn to Mikawa with the suggestion for him to start packing. But Kasuga snatched it from him first:

"There is no way I'd allow you or anyone to travel with Mikawa for days when our foes are waiting for us to make a misstep on every corner."

"No, no. Not 'for days'," Abihiko hurried. "We will use the Bound horses and travel without stopping for rest. We can make it in two days tops if we're going light."

Kasuga exchanged meaningful looks with Mikawa, then gave him a subtle nod.

"There are much, much faster ways to travel in this world," she said. "If you are Nagare, that is."

And Nekohiko instantly knew what she meant.

Lord Kazuragi's speed when he had zoomed from one coast of the Empire to the other was that of a blazing meteor if he wanted. He hadn't been called the Lord of Lightning for nothing.

Nekohiko had little doubt Kazuragi's daughter had inherited at least some of that talent along with the rest of her powers.

Hehehe, I have a cat-huggles picture as well, but since this chapter already has a pic in it, I'll... put this one up in the next chapter, again. It's not smexy like the one here, but it's fluffy and cute. Obviously ^^. Hope you'll like it.

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