Chapter Fifty-One — The Infernal Emperor
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Chapter Fifty-One

The Infernal Emperor

 

All breath ceased in Nekohiko.

Even the idea itself... Abihiko, his own murderer, Binding his new body together?

Too ironic not to be laughable.

"No! Don't touch it!" Kataji slid in between the bag and his brother. His chest also rose and fell as though he found the concept of Abihiko's help too abhorrent not to hyperventilate. "You'll ruin something."

"What? Why? You're going to spend money on a Binder anyway, and I can do it for free." Abihiko got back up to give Kataji space and not loom so threateningly over the poor log parts. But he didn't move far, still keeping beside Kataji, trying to seem harmless and even supportive. "What wouldn't I do for my little brother?"

"Thanks, but no," Kataji replied hollowly. He tucked in all the wooden parts that were poking out and slung the bag over his shoulder.

It was clear that Abihiko wanted to prod more but didn't want to intrude. Kataji had this affinity to push people away and only double down when they tried to squeeze their way back in. As his older brother, Abihiko probably knew best what that meant.

As the two finally joined Mikawa who waited for them at the edge of the gallery, Kataji gave his explanation. Albeit forcedly.

"It is my project, and I want to control its construction every step of the way. A paid worker will allow me that. A relative... will not."

"Hey, I could do exactly what you tell me," Abihiko said.

Kataji did not hide the roll of his eyes.

Nekohiko had always enjoyed the calm atmosphere of Lord Okinaga's home back in Hira Lordship, but he had never stayed in his mansion in Nara. When Nekohiko had lived in Nara in his youth, it had always been a very specific place -- a small house he would rent from an old woman down the Shinglers' Street. A sweet, homey place. He wondered if that house still stood...

Lord Okinaga's mansion had several buildings and several gardens stretching between them. Unlike his sparse living under the Adamantine Mountain, here, everything seemed to be built to impress and even intimidate with luxury. Columns of translucent amber with fish Bound to swim inside them, floor tiled with polished bronze and cooper pebbles, and, stretched between the arches -- curtains of Bound undrying raindrops beaded together to form transparent, shimmering fabric. Nekohiko had always loved water Bound into solidity because when one touched it, it still had the consistency of water, but kept its Bound form nonetheless. Beautiful and magical.

But only the capital-dwellers could afford so many Bound frivolities. Not like they had a choice. In Nara, most people would be treated no better than peasants if they couldn't show off some Binding trinkets to their guests.

Nekohiko guessed, Okinaga didn't make the rules so he had to adapt, however much he hated such superficial stuff. Ah, typical -- for the life in Nara.

With a gentle smile, Abihiko greeted the servants that poured in waves into one of the gardens they passed. But he didn't ask them where to go and if he could. He used the main house as he would his own: opening doors, turning corners, not bothering to check whether he was welcome.

"The Master is not home, Your Majesty," one of the young house ladies told him when she almost bumped into Abihiko in the inner halls. She didn't seem too surprised to see the Emperor strolling through. "He went to Nagare to aid in the Spiritside healing and..."

She suddenly frowned as though only realizing.

"...and to meet with you," she finished, dumbfounded.

Abihiko gave her shoulders an encouraging squeeze as he stepped around her. "Great. We're here to eat and sleep, not to see him."

"Erm... that way...?" the woman wanted to point, but Abihiko already knew where to go.

"Oh, and also," he called to her, then nodded to both of his guests behind him. "Nagare Mikawa and Abi Kataji. Please take care of them, Saeko."

Kataji and Mikawa fell back to properly bow and murmur their greetings to the house lady while Abihiko slid open the doors of one spacious wooden room, and then the one next to it. He sauntered over the bamboo mats lining the floor to the window and pulled the shutters open to reveal to Nekohiko's seashell the gorgeous vista beyond.

The view of Nara from the Three Shadow district Lord Okinaga's house was in.

Drawn against the sky, Bound boats and sails floated, with trailing mists of foggy light following them behind like ribbons after a kite. In the slowly-creeping orange dusk, the city sprawled below like a dark network of tree roots from which rose the spires and curved roofs of myriads of mansions and houses of the capital. All along these darkening streets, the firefly flashes of street lights and house lanterns and shrines sparked up.

At night, these lights would form continuous glowing rivers amidst the darker buildings, and looking at the city then would be an even more inspiring sight.

Nekohiko couldn't wait.

"Which room is mine?" Kataji asked, matter-of-fact.

Abihiko turned. In the corner of the room, Mikawa already knelt by the stone lantern as though to pray to the Spirits.

"I guess your room is the other one," Abihiko told Kataji.

Mikawa stirred. "I... did not mean to... claim this room. I only was so excited to see the real Bound water screen..." he mumbled, pointing at the lantern's glass.

As everything in Nara, even the lantern sides were a very sophisticated type of Binding. Water Bound into a thin sliver of a transparent surface that protected the fire inside the lantern from being snuffed out and kept all the smoke in.

Abihiko understood. "The window also has one. Check it out."

But Mikawa didn't dare. He only looked at Abihiko from the floor, eyes huge, but lacked the courage to move. "Yes, Your Supreme Divine Majesty..."

"I'll leave you to relax and get used to your room, then," Abihiko said after Mikawa still didn't do anything. It was clear the boy wouldn't until Abihiko left.

So Abihiko did exactly that.

In a sense, Nekohiko ached for Abihiko's loneliness. When Abihiko poked his head to see if Kataji was getting comfortable in his own room, Kataji tensed up, trying to hide the log parts he was pulling out of his bag, and gave only monosyllabic answers until Abihiko stopped bothering him, too.

Now alone, Abihiko made his way out of the house and through the arcades -- to the street. He nodded and waved at the servants who kowtowed or prayed to him when he passed. But Nekohiko could feel the utter desolation he must be in. So distanced from others, so unwanted.

But you're not alone at all, Nekohiko suddenly thought. You have me.

Hanging off his neck, seeing what Abihiko saw and trying to read Abihiko's thoughts -- was else was this other than "not being alone?

Abihiko picked his path to the Palace through the district, taking in the sights and smells and bustling noises of the city streets -- and Nekohiko couldn't help but bask in all of this.

In Abihiko's presence -- most of all.

He no longer even felt conflicted about it. Yes, this was his murderer.

And yes -- Nekohiko still enjoyed being next to him. And even enjoyed their skin-close proximity. It didn't feel right to him -- yet he couldn't deny how happy it made him.

So when he wondered about his human dummy's main goal -- he started to doubt he even wanted revenge, to begin with.

 


***

 

Thus, when Kataji poked his wooden parts to ask him a question about going to the dummy store right this moment, Nekohiko was reluctant.

Kataji's room was dusky, with the sunset glow coloring the air reddish. In it, Kataji's usually wan face looked so lively, so excited.

"We're finally here. In the capital," he told Nekohiko when Nekohiko shifted his consciousness back to the dummy. Kataji waved the list of stores in the air. "Are you ready to gain the human body? If we go and check out what kinds of animal matter they offer, we'll be able to make you a body in the next couple of days. Isn't that wonderful?"

Nekohiko was a bit disoriented.

His thoughts were still somewhere around Abihiko and the sights of the capital Abihiko was walking through. Everything in Nekohiko wanted to go back there and drown himself in memories.

Was it so bad that he wanted to spend more time with Abihiko? Even the human dummy wasn't that important to him in comparison.

"Maybe not today," Nekohiko said, distracted. "It's already a bit late."

"I bet we can manage to get one last look before the stores close," Kataji said.

...yes. But...

"I'm a bit tired." Nekohiko faked a yawn. "Maybe we could go tomorrow instead?"

Kataji's face grew distraught. "You... don't want to have a human body as soon as possible? Is it because my craftsmanship doesn't feel adequate to you? I know I am no great master--"

"No! No," Nekohiko hurried. "I love everything about the dummy."

"Then... why? Don't you want to walk around the capital on your own feet? See the sights, hear the music, dance? Enjoy your second life to the fullest? Go wherever you please, have the full freedom of movement?"

...

What he wanted to do was to go and walk around the capital with Abihiko. The last chance he would get before Abihiko would be, once again, trapped inside his Palace and the Emperor's duties that drowned him in misery.

Because being here, with Abihiko, was almost like being here in the past -- when Nekohiko had had his own, fully-human body. The dummy was a great substitute, but it was only a fake. A mockery of something real.

And Nekohiko wanted real. A gulp of life, a touch of the happy memories he'd once shared with Abihiko in this city. If just for a little while. No dummy experience would ever come close to it. And the dummy had always been instrumental anyway. Nekohiko had only wanted it to enact his revenge.

Not to enjoy this... subpar simulation of a "second life".

"Of course I do," he said. "Can't wait to live fully as a human person. But it's still too late and I'm tired from the journey. It's already too much to absorb in one day. I don't want to rush things and pick the wrong materials in the store. Such crucial choices demand time and focus. Don't you think?"

"Oh. You are right, I suppose." Kataji sat back, deep in thought. "Sorry for pushing you. I was just so agitated about finally coming to Nara..."

"It's all right," Nekohiko said, already itching to go back to Abihiko. But Kataji had something else to say...

"I can't wait to make an itinerary for all the places I want to take you once you're human. I have some ideas already. Do you want to see?"

"Kataji. I feel like Mikawa might be terrified there, all alone." Nekohiko made his voice sound just the right amount of pitiful. "He's far away from home for the first time. In a place full of strangers. I can't... go to him, obviously. But would you -- please? Instead of me? I hate to bother you like this..."

"You are right. Of course." Kataji stood up fast. The gaze he gave Nekohiko was that of such secretive tenderness that Nekohiko felt doubly guilty for getting rid of him in such a manipulative manner. "I'll go ask the servants about food and give Mikawa a visit. Rest away, Itsuki."

It took Nekohiko incredible amounts of patience not to switch to the seashell straight away while Kataji was taking off his outer clothes before going into the hall. He wanted to give Kataji all of his attention. He owed him that.

And yet, the moment the door of the room closed behind Kataji, Nekohiko's soul snapped toward Abihiko so fast, he was half afraid it made a thunderclap in the Spiritside like Kasuga's lightning-speed travel did.

Where were we? his mind wanted to ask as the seashell blinked out from within Abihiko's collar. Before Kataji had distracted him, Nekohiko was enjoying the blinking performance lights on the Cupbearers' Street, and wanted nothing more than to continue.

Yet he had just missed it.

No blissful joys of the Nara streets, neither the dark, fragrant serenity of Nara's parks and gardens. Abihiko was trudging up the Emerald Palace steps -- that horrid, endless staircase. And each guard that stood vigil on every other step flinched in rigid awe, then saluted to Abihiko as he passed them.

Nekohiko was too late. They were already in the Palace. And Abihiko's heart was already quiet and unstirred in his chest, probably feeling just as trapped in this somber place as Nekohiko's memories did.

The fuzzy, happy evening the two of them had just shared ended up being so short...

"Your Supreme Divine Majesty!" A flurry of nobles and Palace servants rushed toward Abihiko from the side galleries.

Before they could reach him, he snapped his fingers, and the closest array of Bound dummies shielded him from the oncoming courtiers as it usually did when he was in the Palace.

"You have departed so suddenly and arrived, too!" the Superior Palace Servant wept, bowing and bowing to Abihiko's passing as though genuinely ashamed of his inadequacy. "We did not prepare, Your Magnificence!"

"No matter. Leave me," Abihiko replied, disinterested. "I can find the way to my rooms by myself."

"As it pleases you, Your Majesty!" several voices murmured.

The dark hallways of the Emerald Palace sailed by to Abihiko's steady footsteps. But the closer he came to his rooms, the slower his pace grew. Abihiko turned as though checking something and paused, sniffing the air.

Nekohiko tried to get a sniff himself, but his seashell wasn't created with great smell reception in mind, was it? His drawn nose was tiny and didn't work as well when the aromas in the air weren't obvious. Yet to Abihiko, they were. His heart quickened just from the scent alone.

A flowery kind of smell. Whose was it?

"Damn it, Morokata," Abihiko murmured under his breath then marched on willfully.

Nekohiko perked up, intrigued yet guarded against another encounter with the infamous Mist King. Yet when Abihiko stormed past his guard dummies in the ante-chambers of his rooms, the doors opened up to a...

Yep.

Another gathering of slutty Nekohikos.

Only this time, they weren't as slutty-looking or behaving. In fact, every single "Nekohiko" here was dressed appropriately and not at all drunk. Most sat on the lounging chairs and benches while the Ringleader from the last time was sauntering back-and-forth through the room, arms clasped behind his back.

Their faces were grim, even bored. When they were all stuck together in the room with such businesslike miens on their faces and in their official Lordships' colors, the atmosphere seemed less like a gathering of people and more like a... gang ambush.

Abihiko didn't give them a chance to speak -- he raised his arm to order his dummy servants to get rid of all these people. But his Binding command didn't work.

The Nekohikos sat around in the same exact poses and same exact dull faces that slowly quirked up in triumphant smiles or raised eyebrows when Abihiko tried to summon his servants again. And failed, again.

The Ringleader tilted his head to the side. "King Morokata had disabled all of your dummies, Your Majesty."

Abihiko swung around to the entrance doors to call the guards from there. But the Ringleader flicked his fingers with a loud snap.

The doors clanged closed right before Abihiko's nose. Neither the Bound guards nor the human ones outside so much as blinked, standing as they did before, ignoring Abihiko as though he wasn't even there.

Slowly, Abihiko turned to the Nekohikos.

Even those who had been sitting, had now stood up. A few took off their outer robes, but not in a seductive way. More like masons or carpenters who were readying to do some dirt work and needed their clothes out of the way.

Abihiko stepped back, but the closest Nekohiko shook his head.

"Shh. You knew what you're getting into, dismissing the King's orders like that."

The Ringleader called from the other room. "Get him here. He doesn't like it the nice way, hmmm. Well, there are plenty of other ways to please a person, aren't there?"

Abihiko struck away the hands that tried to grab him by the shoulders, but the Nekohikos were so many and so synchronized in their actions that he had to resort to actual martial arts to fight them. Only he didn't.

Because the Ringleader added, louder, "The choice is as always, sweet little Abiko! Are you sure you still want to resist and have us put on some other faces you will definitely hate or are you doing to behave?"

"I can walk on my own," Abihiko growled at the Nekohikos and pushed through them to where the Ringleader was.

The bedroom.

With a tense sigh, Abihiko studied the room and the Ringleader's sly smirk as the young man climbed into the bed, beckoning Abihiko with a finger.

"Our King had given us the exact images of faces we can use to punish you with for misbehaving. But I disagree with him," the Ringleader said secretively. He winked and bit the side of his lip. "You are such a nice boy, deep inside. Why would we punish you? You can learn to be nicer to us, surely. No need for punishments." He patted the bed beside him. "Come."

"What did I tell you last time?" Abihiko took a slow walk toward the dais on which the bed was. "Do you remember?"

"Mmm..." The Ringleader chuckled, then made a gesture to the other Nekohikos. "Not sure. But just so you know, Our King has also given us means of preventing you from acting out, so... yeah, please educate me."

Seashell Nekohiko threw a cautious look around even though Abihiko didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

What was the reason so many Nekohikos were here? They were all Binders, no doubt. And this formation they were now taking as they spread out in the room...

It was one of the easiest Restricting Barriers to guard against one's Binding. It wouldn't stop the Binding attack if it happened, but it delayed it and notified everyone in the formation about the intent, direction, and the exact spell that would be used. Most found it easy to deflect or protect themselves from Binding when outside the Barrier.

Especially when there were so many Binders here -- against only one of Abihiko.

"I told you that if you wear this face one more time, I will treat you as the face's original owner, have I not?" Abihiko told the Ringleader, oblivious to the other Nekohikos maneuvers.

The Ringleader's eyes widened, coy. "Ohhh, and how did you treat the original owner, My Lord?"

Gracefully, Abihiko sat on the edge of the bed, reaching his hand to cup the Ringleader's pale cheek. Gently, like a lover. So close to the Ringleader, Nekohiko resented seeing his own face that wore such a vengeful, predatory look in his eyes.

The reflection of Abihiko in those huge eyes, on contrast, was so tender.

"Remove this glamor now, or I'll carve this face off you with a knife," Abihiko said softly.

Ringleader rolled his eyes in deep pleasure. "Ah, your flirting might use some work--"

But a bout of coughing interrupted his words. The young man had trouble breathing after Abihiko's fingers slid toward his throat. Yet more than that -- a terrible stench of something burning filled the area around the bed.

Retching, The Ringleader grabbed Abihiko's hand with both of his, but Abihiko's hold was very firm. The young man's eyes stared at him in horror, then flitted to the other Nekohikos. His mouth gaped ajar, gulping for air.

A blueish trail of smoke escaped his lips as he heaved in vain.

Two Nekohikos rushed to his aid while the others still gawked, unable to understand.

The Barrier hadn't alerted them to Abihiko's Binding. But that didn't change the fact that it was Binding.

The Hira's Burning Heart technique.

"Release him!" One of Nekohikos yelled, forming the simplest force-pushing signs with his hands to separate Abihiko and The Ringleader.

But Abihiko countered it easily. The second Nekohiko tried to manhandle Abihiko off the suffocating Ringleader. With such physical attacks, Abihiko had always been better than most. Parrying martial arts strikes hadn't been a problem for him ever since he was ten years old.

He lurched to the side, then kicked the unlucky Nekohiko in the knee so hard, the poor man's leg audibly cracked.

Abihiko hauled The Ringleader closer to him by the throat. "Your pathetic Barriers would do nothing against the King of Mists's own techniques to trick them, would they? Well, please tell your master that I am a good pupil. He has taught me so much over the years. Did he believe I wouldn't learn at least something?"

Blood spattered The Ringleader's lips. Dark, steaming blood.

Nekohiko's soul felt frozen.

Because The Ringleader was still wearing his face. Nekohiko's own face, slowly being choked out of life in Abihiko's hand.

"Stop it!" Another Nekohiko roared at him. He and the rest assembled an attacking array, but Abihiko lifted The Ringleader up, propping him before the others as though to show him off.

Abihiko shook his head at them. His fingers twitched on the young man's neck, tightening, and The Ringleader squirmed more, clawing at Abihiko's arm.

"This person can survive this spell, trust me. As long as he and all of you do what I tell you," Abihiko said. "Remove the glamors. The face you were told to wear angers me very much every time I see it. Please refrain from putting it on ever again."

The Ringleader's Nekohiko features washed away into a smooth blur before his true face showed. But even that happened in such a drastic, ragged manner. The young man could not exercise good control of his powers, and his glamor-removal was sketchy at best.

But Abihiko accepted it. He didn't care to see if the others followed through, instead letting the Ringleader slide to the floor without dropping him. There, he released his chokehold. Patient, he stroked the Ringleader on the top of his head while the poor young man coughed up dark spatters of baked blood onto the floor.

"You should never poke a dog without expecting it to snap at you, you know?" Abihiko said as the young man shuddered away from his touch. "It never ends well."

"Do you even understand what will happen when we tell King Morokata about this?!" one of the other young men hissed at Abihiko from the back.

Abihiko spread his arms in the way of a shrug. "Yes, please do tell him. But he is a different level than any of you. You can't expect me to treat you with patience when you keep gnashing your teeth at me." Suddenly, his voice dropped. "Who do you think I am? A cuddly bear? Your mom? A saint?" He jerked his chin to the doors. "Leave."

"And who do you think I am? A floor-wipe?" The Ringleader croaked, eyes bloodshot on Abihiko's face.

Abihiko didn't give him a second glance, only focused on the remaining Binders who were slowly stumbling backward from his approach.

But that was a mistake.

Fabric rustled when The Ringleader swept the cover off a small bundle on the floor beside the bed. The thing had been waiting there all this time as though a trap.

Something ceramic shattered on the tiles, and Abihiko swerved around to see.

His breath clogged in his chest when he did. He cast a frightened look toward the massive door of the vault on the side. And there, Nekohiko could see it clearly.

The vault door was open just a tiny sliver. No light was coming from the inside. Which was understandable. The only thing that needed light in that vault was here --

-- in The Ringleader's bleeding, shredded hand that gripped the slender trunk of the Emerald Fir so tight, most of his flesh had been pierced by the unforgiving needles.

The ceramic pot lay broken on the floor, soil strewn over the shards. The Fir's roots hanged pitifully, a few of its needles crushed and broken by The Ringleader's hand.

Abihiko's heart wound faster and slower by turns in an erratic cacophony into Nekohiko's ears.

The Ringleader reveled in what he saw on Abihiko's face. "Do you believe we weren't told exactly how to make you behave?! How hard would you say it is to rip this fucking tree apart?!"

Abihiko hesitated only a moment. "I don't know. How hard was it to slaughter my best friend? Not at all. I would even do it again if I had the chance. When people have no choice, many things previously impossible become so easy for them to do."

The Ringleader faltered. He recoiled, numb confusion on his face, but he didn't let the tree out of his fist. The shaking fingers of his other hand already stilled in the blasting Nagare sign to strike the small tree away at any moment.

Nekohiko followed the scene detachedly.

His hearing rang and his blood chilled. The words Abihiko had just said kept reverberating in his head, over and over.

Did he actually say...

If I had the chance, I would do it again?

...

"Give me the reason," Abihiko warned The Ringleader in a velvety voice Nekohiko hadn't heard in ages. "Leave me no choice. Come on, don't be shy."

The Ringleader's heavy breaths were the only sound in the room. But he didn't dare move.

Abrupt, one of the Nekohikos struck Abihiko from the back, forcing him to take his eyes off the tree for just a second. But a second was enough.

The Ringleader used it as his opportunity to conjure up a hate-filled Nagare blast aimed at the Fir.

It was exactly what Abihiko had been waiting for. In a blink of an eye, the view before Nekohiko flared up in searing crimson.

A blazing inferno roared up, swallowing the room at once in a hellish cascade of spitting, devouring fire.

Flames.

The stark smell of burning hair lodging in Nekohiko's nose when Abihiko ducked to the side and the edges of his long hair caught on fire.

The heat surged up so high, the wooden core of the seashell felt as though it would spark up as well. Nekohiko shut his eyes and fled to his other forms -- any forms his consciousness could find -- just to escape the peaking temperatures.

Which form did he hide in? Didn't matter.

Nekohiko was nothing but a small ball of awareness trying to hide away from what he'd seen.

...!

There had been just a glimpse but --

Oh, that hapless Ringleader youth, he...

He'd been immolated on the spot. The stark silhouette of a human inside a blazing fire.

Nekohiko shuddered, trying to push the image out of his head.

His heartbeat thrashed and his skin crawled throughout. With lurching disgust, he realized there was a resound to his pounding pulse -- and that it came from the seashell's side.

Abihiko's heartbeat was just as fast as his. They were almost synchronized together.

Rage and bitterness swelled, and Nekohiko switched back to the seashell. What he found there, was exactly what he had expected to find.

Eleven human bodies had been burned to char in a room that looked like a tomb of fetid smoke and air waving from such high temperatures. The walls, the bed, all the shelves and wardrobes had been burned to black coal. Nothing remained, not even the marble floor tiles that had cracked and exploded from the overheating.

A scorched rafted beam crashed to the floor from the above, shattering the tiles even further and sending clouds of embers into the air.

Splashes of fire still nibbled at the charred chunks here and there, but amidst all of this, Abihiko's clothes seemed so utterly unharmed.

The sides of his collar screened the seashell's view. Abihiko's long hair hung like a veil over the rest of the gruesome picture.

But Nekohiko still saw the state of the bedroom. Still smelled the aftermath of the incineration magic Abihiko had always been so good at casting.

...he hadn't changed at all.

He hadn't changed!

Abihiko still saw no big deal with murdering people if they made him angry.

He still laughed at the idea of "murdering his best friend". He still said that he would do it again if he could... No regret, no guilt.

Nothing.

Nekohiko blinked the blur out of his eyes.

Something hot and wet tickled his seashell face. His small wooden cheeks. For the first time since the day he'd gained the ability to see with these drawn eyes, he was crying. Again.

Because of Abihiko.

Again.

Flinching, he glanced at the small Emerald Fir tree -- the only other thing Abihiko had spared in this room aside from himself. Abihiko turned the small tree in his hands as though trying to find any injury or crack on its trunk, even if doing so sliced his fingers bloody. 

"Shhh, nothing will hurt you, don't worry," Abihiko told the tree in an eerie, hollow whisper like a complete madman. "I'm here, Neko. I'll protect you."

But neither this sight nor the words could change Nekohiko's mind.

Nothing ever would.

Abihiko was still the same asshole who had slit his throat five years ago. Nekohiko had almost forgotten about that for today and yesterday... simply because being in Abihiko's presence had brought on so many warm and sweet memories back.

But with "sweet and warm" also came the bitter and maddening. And explosive, and unrestrained.

And deadly.

Frankly, Nekohiko was grateful for the reminder.

 


***

 

"Kataji?"

The room back in Okinaga's mansion was dimly lit with the amber lantern. The window was open, letting the tranquil wooden chime music from the lower roof eaves trickle into the room along with the distant sounds of singing from one of the theater streets down the district.

Kataji lifted his head from the book he was reading.

In the tempered darkness, his face was especially soft, especially attentive as he smiled at Nekohiko.

Nekohiko could still imagine the aftertaste of tears in his mouth as he gave Kataji the look filled with regret and shame.

He really didn't deserve this young man's attention and efforts to make his life a little bit better. A little bit happier...

"Is your offer to go check out the dummy store still available?"

Kataji's eyes eased up into crescents.

"I... changed my mind," Nekohiko said. "I want to clear my head and maybe... finally begin my second life. The sooner the better."

And that revenge against Abihiko?

The sooner the better, too.

He wanted to be done with the man once and for all. Then he could start living his life away from even the memories of Abihiko.

 

Ah, TT__TT. Sorry about this chapter and Abihiko becoming all murderous again. But this won't keep them apart too long and is actually beneficial for the story because it hurries Neko to become human faster and go meet Abihiko in person sooner ^^.

If he hadn't seen him "in action" one more time, he would probably be perfectly content just hanging off his neck for days and wouldn't bother to do anything else because he's so comfy there, lol.

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