Chapter Fifty-Three

The Cat Prince Needs Clothes

The last thing Nekohiko saw before his consciousness dimmed inside his newly-Bound body was the face of the Binding Expert who had put him together.

Out of the hundreds of parts Kataji had made -- this, a well-fitted, working body of a human doll.

The procedure itself hadn't taken long. But the research and preparations had. The Binder needed to get acquainted with the parts, needed Kataji's endless schemes and blueprints to understand how everything would work and where each small ball or joint went. So while Kataji and Nekohiko had decided upon the animal tissue materials almost immediately -- they'd picked the most basic ones that were offered in the store -- the actual search for the Binding expert to put it all together was much harder.

Only a few Binders were willing to work with such complex dummy body parts. Kataji had gone... overboard in many of the carcass details.

But not because of his incompetence. He had merely been worried about stiffness and inflexibility of wood and wanted to give Nekohiko the bodily experience as close to the human one as possible. He had never argued with Nekohiko when they were choosing animal tissue parts, though, which only proved to Nekohiko that Kataji only had Nekohiko's best interests in mind. Not his own.

And yet, a four-hundred-part doll was simply too unwieldy for most Binders to fuse together in one go. An average dummy body only had a hundred, or a hundred and a half at best.

Thus, the majority of Binders had rejected them outright.

Kataji had spent two whole days on just finding a Binder willing to help them! And the one they had settled on was quite a shady person. But it didn't matter to Nekohiko as long as he did exactly what he was tasked to do. Maybe Kataji couldn't check him during the Binding spell, but Nekohiko definitely could.

Just a few hours earlier, they had come into a small lousy room in a courtyard apartment building on the Flowerers' Street. Kataji had taken out all of the Nekohiko body parts and put them in place on the floor before the Binder.

The Binder was a nervous-looking young man with a prominent mustache and bushy eyebrows. He nodded gravely at each new body part Kataji took out of his bags, and his brows knitted ever so slightly.

"Mn," he kept mumbling. "I see, I see."

Kataji finished with the wooden body parts, then reached for his bag of animal tissue he had bought for Nekohiko the first evening they were in Nara.

It wasn't much. Nekohiko had refused a full-body fat and skin treatment and only agreed on the tendons for his limbs and on the fat and skin applied to his face.

Why his face? Well, the wooden dummy's skull was indeed not much different from any real human's skull. Only creepier because it still possessed the nose, but not the lips or the eyeballs. It looked eerily lifelike yet also so artificial. Nekohiko's body was no better with all the hinges, slits, and exposed ball joints -- but at least his body would be covered with clothes most of the time.

With his face, no such simplicity. He either had to walk around looking like a freakish mannequin, or to agree and have the animal fat and skin on his face. So he chose the most common combination the animal tissue stores offered: mutton fat, calfskin, some fish intestines texture for the lining of his mouth, some plant-based textures for lips and eyelashes, ceramic veneer for the wooden teeth, and obviously human hair.

And that was it. Thus, compared to the intense amount of body parts, the amount of animal tissue was unimpressive. Even the Binder thought so.

"There's only enough for the face here," he told Kataji, confused.

Kataji sighed, then nodded. "And that is what this doll needs."

He was only slightly exasperated, of course. He had asked Nekohiko whether he truly didn't want to have the full-human body experience with the rest of the skin and fat parts, but Nekohiko was adamant.

He didn't want any. Why would he? He didn't plan on undressing and showing anyone that his body was made of ball-jointed wood. So why waste time and animal resources on that?

The fact that Kataji wouldn't argue with him didn't mean Kataji didn't have a different opinion. But oh well. Nekohiko didn't care about his opinion on this matter.

"This doll is fine with just the human face," Kataji stressed.

"But isn't it... a sex doll?" The Binder squirmed, uncomfortable, throwing Kataji suspicious looks.

Tsk.

Technically, yes. Nekohiko was a sex doll. No Bound servant or guard needed so many body parts, to begin with. Only dolls that had to approximate human motion and feel did.

And the only dolls that did that -- were those created for the private entertainment of their masters.

"Why does it matter what this doll is?" Kataji replied, paling with distaste. "Just do your job."

"Mmm, unless exposed ball joints is the fetish you are into--" the Binder began, unsure.

Nekohiko was fine with the insinuation. It didn't matter much to him. Though of course it mattered to Kataji. A lot. Kataji became flushed and hot at the merest suggestion and now looked at the Binder as though the Binder was his personal nemesis.

"The doll is for other purposes, thank you very much," Kataji gritted out. He crossed his arms on his chest and regarded the window defiantly. "I only need to know if you can do it or not."

"Mn. Not until I study all the parts first," came the answer, and that was how the majority of Nekohiko's morning passed.

In the young Binder's scrupulous examination of his parts.

Nekohiko didn't complain. He understood how complex and grueling the Binding spell would have to be to hold together so many moving parts at once. He would advise the Binder the exact calculations and how better to approach the spellcasting but knew he shouldn't expose himself to a complete stranger so carelessly.

When the Binder finally made the equations he would need, Nekohiko was more than ready.

He was excited.

Ecstatic.

Lively. Hopeful! Brimming with agitation!

He had come so far and at last -- this! He was getting himself a human body!

The Binder told Kataji to step aside, then flicked around the first preparatory spells to warm up. It was clear he was nervous and maybe even inexperienced in this. But Nekohiko believed in him. He'd seen all the young man's calculations written on a piece of paper -- and they had all been correct.

Go, stranger Binder, he prayed, perking up at how still and concentrated the Binder became when it was time to cast.

All five of the Great Lords' techniques flashed in the young man's finger signs. He finished them off with the powerful gesture of the Imperial Fusion spell.

-- and with that, Nekohiko's disjointed wooden parts slowly began pulling closer as though magnetized to one another.

He was being drawn together.

***

He didn't see what went on in that apartment room. His consciousness couldn't handle the intensity the spell had wrought out of him. Like before, when his cat body and his other bodies had been Bound together, he wasn't needed inside those bodies to participate. He would better stay away while the Binder worked on him, lest he moved or gasped when he shouldn't.

So he fled. The "getting-settled" in the new body probably wouldn't happen fast anyway, so why waste time? He could do something nice about it.

When had been the last time he visited Aomi?

Oh, the shame sparked at the mere reminder. Aomi! Kasuga! Even Kotone -- he had simply forgotten about them with how hectic his two recent days in the capital had been!

Throughout these past days, Aomi had bothered him a couple of times to help her research Spiritside management and recovery issues. But, truth be told, Nekohiko had been too distracted to be useful. So he'd mainly directed her to some great guidebooks about Spiritside in the Nagare castle library. And after he'd done that, he... would usually simply abandon the girl to her own devices.

Agh, so rude of him...

Tentative, he poked his consciousness into the cat's form now. He squeezed open his eyes and judged where he was and why.

These were the same rooms that Kataji and Aomi had lived in, two days ago. But now they were empty and quiet. Depressingly so.

Nekohiko felt even worse for the young girl as he crept out of Kataji's bed and strolled through the halls of the Nagare Castle, getting reacquainted with the layout. He had been so busy in Nara, he almost felt like this place belonged in a whole different world. Eerie, quiet, menacingly smooth and slick and cold in its black hues.

He shivered, speeding up past Nagare soldiers as he swooped into the library. He'd checked the war room before but hadn't found Aomi or Kasuga inside. He surely hoped the girls weren't way down below Suzumegara, working on the Spiritside gash personally! That was a gruesome job, and Kasuga had done enough of it in the last days.

She would kill herself if she pushed it so hard.

Luckily, Aomi's voice soon reached him.

She was whispering.

"...here it says that Legendary Lord Hinoo could power up through any kind of heat," she said, rustling pages. "So if we make Hiras and Nagares use fire and lightning and channel this heat through the pipes, then we get our one-person reactor going without having to devote so much time and manpower individually."

"But Kasuga is not Legendary Lord Hinoo," Kotone's mild voice responded, also whispery. "What if she can't handle so much power in one go?"

Nekohiko sat down on the floor, not far from Aomi's pacing figure. She folded her book under her arm, thoughtful.

"Then just ask her," Aomi said. "She knows better than anyone what she can and can't do. And I bet she would appreciate the inventiveness of it!"

"Shhhh," Kotone said. "She's sleeping. Don't disturb her."

Yes, there she was. Kotone was sitting on the floor by the desk with dozens of manuscripts on top. Alongside her, Kasuga also sat -- but she had collapsed onto the desk some time ago and was sleeping, head buried in all the books, her face a bit ill-looking, frail, and tense with some dream she was having. Kotone's outer robes of pearly grey covered Kasuga like a blanket, but even from under it, Nekohiko still saw her usual stiff uniform peeking.

He jumped onto the desk to check the content of manuscripts they had been researching but didn't know what to do next. Everything seemed well-investigated and much deeper than he could glean so quickly and participate. Even if he wanted to help, he had two big concerns looming:

That when he came to his senses in the human dummy, he wouldn't have time to spare here once again. So should he begin if he couldn't commit?

And two -- Kotone.

She still didn't know that he could talk or that he was a live being and not a dummy.

He settled opposite her, studying her face as she reached out her hand to pet the cute little kitty. What a kind, tender gaze and a familiar smile she had... He leaned into her touch. A subconscious purr escaped him.

"Came back, huh?" Aomi grumbled from the side. "Furry little traitor."

Kotone rubbed his ears, delighted. "Aren't you cute, little furball? Come here, come." Nekohiko didn't mind that she took him on her lap. In an odd way, he even enjoyed it. The proximity, the warmth, even her flowery scent he had known and grown to enjoy all those years ago. "Now, what is your name, cutie?"

He glanced up, purring. "Nekohiko."

He didn't use his real voice, of course. He murmured, trying to sound neither male nor female. After all, he didn't want to expose himself to Kotone yet. Only to prod the surface -- whether she would react, whether she wouldn't. And in which ways.

But Kotone only blinked, smiling wider. "Oh, how charming! It talks!"

The one who did react to him speaking out his real name was Aomi.

The girl stopped pacing and gave Nekohiko a very dark, pouty gaze. But when he tilted his head at her as though challenging, she turned away with a huff and began pacing the floor again.

"I am not an 'it'," Nekohiko said. "I am a Cat Spirit, meow."

Anything to get Kotone to interact with him without having to cringe about how come a cat dummy spoke with a human voice. A Cat Spirit possessing a dummy might just be a valid explanation.

"You're Aomi's little kitty, yes? Nekohiko," Kotone said, hugging him. "Such a Cat Prince¹Nekohiko ("Tree Roots Prince", 根子日子) sounds exactly like 猫日子, which means "Cat Prince"). , aren't you? Of course you are. Look at how majestic and cute you are!"

"Ugh," Aomi sniffed. "His Highness Cat Prince is finally in the mood for talking to us mere mortals, huh."

Nekohiko reveled in Kotone's joy, himself happy because -- she did not react! His real name didn't summon fear, or rage, or doubt in her like it would evoke in those guilty of his death. Kotone was innocent and not his enemy! The only concern he had was that she also didn't seem saddened.

Did she not miss a certain young girl she'd known by this same name?

"My name is very rare and special," Nekohiko told her, still whispery. "I bet you didn't know anyone with such a beautiful name before."

Abruptly, Kotone's expression grew calmer. But not sadder or pained. She merely looked thoughtful. "Oh, but I did, Your Cat Highness."

He lounged back in her lap. "Mmmrrrm?"

"She's a nice young girl... a young woman now, I believe." Kotone kept quiet for a moment, then shrugged. "She had always been a bit distant and preferred Spirits to humans. Last time I heard, she had gone Wayfaring and into the Spiritside. But then..."

Nekohiko waited, hushed.

"She had been gone for a long while, hadn't she?" Kotone nonetheless didn't seem too worried, and Nekohiko could relate to that in part.

There were plenty of legends and stories about people Wayfaring in the Spiritside for years, sometimes decades, before coming back out. A couple of Wayfarers had been gone for centuries while never realizing how much time had passed in the real world. And as long as the Wayfarer was experienced and competent enough, there was no real need to worry about their safety.

Only about those loved ones they had abandoned in the real world.

But it seemed that Kotone didn't think five years was a time worth worrying about. Exactly as Abihiko had described her. The longer she worked in the higher positions in Izumo Shrine, the less-connected she was with human wants. The Spiritside had long marked her as one of its own.

Which was perfect for him. They'd be on the same page mentally, wouldn't they?

Plus, her reaction only showed that she had indeed not had any hand in his assassination. An ally! A real ally of his! Excited, Nekohiko rolled in her lap, growing cozier and cozier in her presence.

When could he tell her? He was almost itching with wanting to share his miserable fate with her and have someone he knew and trusted to commiserate.

A sudden jolt to the desk made Kotone and him flinch back.

"...the Spirit wells!" Kasuga shot up from her uncomfortable pose, a book's page imprinted on her cheek, her eyes bleary, her hair in disarray.

"Nobody touched your Spirit wells!" Aomi growled from over the aisle. "Go back to sleep, control freak."

Kasuga gave the library a dazed glance, then forced herself up, swaying. Aomi threw her hands in exasperation while Kotone sighed, giving Kasuga an elbow to rely on as she stood up.

"Need more... work done in the seventh Hamamatsu sector..." Kasuga said, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles. "Where are Commanders Junpei, Hoshiko, Akimitsu?"

She wanted to raise her voice and call her aides, but Aomi interjected.

"You are going to kill yourself. If you want to do so in a dramatic fashion and solve the issue once and for all --" She tapped her book meaningfully "-- then I have a better suggestion for you. A Legendary one."

Even with how plausible or efficient Aomi's plan was, Nekohiko was aghast at the thought that Kasuga -- in her deranged state -- would be able to employ it.

The girl could hardly stand.

"It is possible to heal the gash in the Spiritside by using two Bizarre Beasts dragging it closed from their respective sides," Nekohiko whispered, to Kotone's and Kasuga's stunned silence.

He didn't care to impress them. Only to help heal his ravaged Empire faster. And since this method existed...

"So since Fuji area is not far from both the Hira and Towa Kingdom borders, if you take your Suzumegara and ask the help of Hira Okinaga or Iokirihime's Spirit Beasts--"

Kasuga frowned even before he mentioned Iokirihime.

"No Towa help is needed," she said.

Tch.

Of course.

"It would work better if Iokirihime's Beast was used, but at least try with Lord Okinaga's," Nekohiko finished with a sigh. "Will you?"

Amazed, Kotone gave Nekohiko a more thorough look. "That seems such an odd idea. Would that even work? How do you know?"

"I am a real Spirit, so I know things," he answered, testy.

However, Kasuga wasn't convinced just as quickly. "A Spirit, hm. Last time I asked, you were a little boy trapped in a wooden cube. Now you're a Spirit inside a cat dummy? And then, perhaps, something so small it's invisible to the eye -- who gives people advice at random?" She narrowed her eyes, still swaying. "Makes sense."

"Hey, don't question my cat," Aomi huffed. "Let him be. He's not dangerous or anything, is he?"

"Maybe dangerous. Maybe not." Kasuga pointed, turning to Aomi with a combative gleam in her eye. "It is the same exact person that's in your brother's wood, yes? What other forms does this person possess? One time, during the Fuji battle, I heard a voice -- a very recognizable voice of a certain person -- coming out of thin air. Advising me."

...

Ooooff, this was bound to come up sooner or later. Might as well now.

"As long as he helped," Aomi drawled, crossing her arms on her chest. "What does it matter what forms he has? He hasn't hurt anyone yet, so what's the big deal?"

"He advised me to take the Emperor hostage," Kasuga said, trying to stay calm no matter what. "And now he's right next to my little brother. Mikawa tells me everything this person does in Nara and I am very, very interested in hearing all about it.

Wait, huh?

Mikawa was spying on him for Kasuga?

Nobody to trust, was there, in this world? Traitors, traitors everywhere.

"Right now, your cat, Aomi, is off to get himself a form of a human doll, for instance. Forgive me for being skeptical about this... person's motives and goals."

All this time, Kotone swiveled her head between Aomi and Kasuga. Her hold was gradually slacking around Nekohiko until she dropped her gaze at him, utterly confused.

"The Cat Prince seems helpful," she said timidly. "And taking the Emperor hostage did resolve the issue at stake, didn't it?"

Kasuga let out a patient breath, closing her eyes. "Not the point. I just don't want there to be schemings and undefined threats around me and my family. I hope you understand. My brother, after all, is kept far away from me, among strangers. And I have no time to check on his wellbeing other than to get a few Wind Whispers he casts. But if he's being mistreated, he would never even tell me to keep me from worrying. So..."

Nekohiko understood.

She was tired. So tired of dealing with so many troubles her Kingdom was in. She had no time to devote to investigating him, even. Let alone to her own brother.

"Queen Kasuga, the method I suggested will definitely help Bind together the Fuji gash faster. Please talk about it with Lord Okinaga. And in regards to Mikawa -- he's safe. He hadn't left Lord Okinaga's mansion at all these two days. I will make sure nothing worrisome will happen to him there in the future either."

With a resigned delay, Kasuga dropped her hand from her brow. She studied Nekohiko a moment. "Master Kataji had made you a human body and I assume you are being Bound to it sometime soon. Are you seriously telling me you'll have time to spend on my brother when you will have a human body of your own at last?"

Oh, this wasn't easy to answer.

Because, truly, Nekohiko did have many things to take care of when he could settle back in his fully-formed human body. Mikawa was... one of the lesser concerns he had. But since Kasuga was so worried and he felt a certain tenderness toward the boy...

How could he say no to that?

"I promise you I won't leave your brother without guidance or guardianship for our entire stay in Nara," he said solemnly. "Even when I'm human."

Especially then.

As an adult-sized man with a reasonable mindset, wouldn't he finally have all the poise and elegance he needed to be a good role model for young people? No longer a slithery mess, no longer a furry ball without a tail, no longer a minuscule ladybug. A solid, imposing human man.

He couldn't wait to give it a try.

"Now please," he said again. "Talk to Hira Okinaga about his Bizarre Beast. I'm more than certain that he will agree to help. And if he does, and you'll see the results -- maybe even Queen Iokirihime's--"

Kasuga didn't gift him a single second more of her attention. She flicked her sleeves and marched away, followed closely by the stormy-looking Aomi. And finally -- by Kotone as well.

Kotone stood up, stretching her limbs that cracked lightly at the joints from all the sitting. "Do you want me to carry you, Cat Prince, or--" she suggested before going after Kasuga.

Yet Nekohiko only shook his head at her.

"Go without me. I'll read the books you left. They seem interesting."

The footsteps of three girls soon faded out into the halls, and only then did Nekohiko feel comfortable enough to leave. He curled his body right in the middle of Kasuga's scrolls like inside the nest, then put his chin on his folded paws.

He was ready.

He wondered if his human body also was.

***

"...he looks ill," Mikawa said faintly. A tinge or anguish in his voice. "Why is he so pale?"

"Hmmm," Kataji answered.

A bizarre assault of sensations washed over Nekohiko.

The air felt so unrestricted and smooth flowing into his throat, the expanse of his chest so huge compared to the cat's or the snake's, the limbs...

Oh, the limbs!

His fingers twitched and his toes curled from the electric feeling of euphoria surging through him. Without a single creaky or squeaky wooden sound, the joints moved so sinuously -- well-cushioned with animal fat and muscles in between all the balls and hinges.

Mikawa and Kataji must have noticed him waking. They shut up and shuffled feet, backing away.

It took some time to settle in the body fully, but once he did, Nekohiko gulped, reveling in the familiar feel of the laryngeal bone twitching in his throat. Then he squeezed open his eyes.

They were made of his wood as their carcass, but painted and covered with gelatinous fibers of sea creatures to mimic the proper, gemstone brilliance of the human eye. His eyelids, fringed with thick, long eyelashes fluttered up.

Only slightly irritated with blinding sunlight coming through the window, his eyeballs rolled in their sockets, getting used to the motion.

They took in the room -- Kataji's room in Hira Okinaga's mansion.

Dust swirled in the air before his nose, and Nekohiko's eyes focused on it. A feeling of caramel-like happiness spread through him as his gaze flitted over the wooden ceiling and toward the window awash with amber sunlight over the windswept skies.

An awed breath huffed out in the corner of the room, and Nekohiko swung around to look.

Mikawa stood behind Kataji, cupping his mouth and nose in his hands, watching Nekohiko in mirth... or maybe horror? while Kataji beside the boy was only smiling.

Such an unabashed, unrestrained, stupid smile on his face. And his eyes, lightening up with a disbelieving glint.

"You are moving," he breathed. "You are moving, Itsuki!"

Yes.

Seems so, doesn't it?

Nekohiko wanted to lift his hand to touch his face but realized something strange.

What was this fabric rustling? What was this alien feeling of added weight on top of his body? Itchy, irritating rags?

Clothes, the answer came, sudden and unnerving.

Clothes! He'd almost forgotten what it was like -- to need to wear clothes, or even to feel ashamed not to!

How uncouth of him, to have forgotten something like that...

But now that he recognized the importance of clothes, he also thought of something else. Something just as embarrassing as forgetting decency.

That somebody had dressed him in these familiar, blue-tinted robes. Kataji's robes, were these? Oh yes. They were.

While he'd been naked and unconscious, Kataji had dressed him up. Every single part of him.

Another gulp spasmed in his throat. He gave Mikawa and Kataji a skittish look.

To Kataji, mostly.

"I can't believe this. At last. Like I promised you." Kataji walked over, reaching for Nekohiko as though to turn him over and give him a good, proud look. "You are, at last, your own human person, Itsuki."

"Yes," Nekohiko said, hoarse. "I am finally my own human person."

And being his own human person, the first thing he needed to do was -- establish some privacy boundaries between him and a certain overexcited woodcarver.

Queenfisher

Yaaaay, congrats to the Cat Prince for stopping his exhibitionist, naked lifestyle and finally putting on some clothes ^^. Although, I bet some certain characters would rather he didn't... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)