Chapter Fifty-Six — Abihiko, Dummy
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Chapter Fifty-Six

Abihiko, Dummy

 

Another swing and another handspring in the grass. The morning dew clung to Nekohiko's body the longer he practiced and tumbled and fell. How much time had it been?

The whole night. He had chosen to never depart for sleep and had slunk out of the house the moment he was sure Kataji drowsed off. Then he'd took off his fancier outer clothes and staggered through the hallways and out into the garden. He'd needed to support himself with a Bound dummy he found in the corridors so that he could train on his walking. And after the first few hours, he'd gotten a hang of it. He still occasionally limped and swayed uncontrollably, but at least he could move through space without relying on others.

But then came the bigger problem. Walking was only the beginning. What would he do to Abihiko if the need arose to defend himself? Would he just walk away dramatically because that's the only thing he had trained for?

Please.

He had to train this body into submission so that he had gained his martial art skills back! His running, his jumping, and dodging and kicking and... everything, really.

But when he had started doing all these, it became clear to him.

He wouldn't be good. Not even with the best of training routines and years spent on re-mastering and regaining his skills. Probably ever. The Bound dummy bodies were simply not made for this kind of stuff. Their movements were slow and gentle, sinuous, languid. No matter how much he tried and raged at himself for not being able to force his body to move exactly as he wanted it to... it was moot.

Because apart from making snappy motions with his arms and feet, the harshest kick-in-the-groin realization he'd received was that he couldn't make swift and precise movements with his fingers.

Which ruled out complex Binding techniques.

He would probably have the access to regular Nagare and Imperial, maybe some of the easiest spells in the other Kingdom techniques. But the ultimate Imperial skills that he had mastered in his previous lifetime and the Splitting Utsuro magic were closed off from him along with middle-level and higher skills in all the others.

Seriously, being a human dummy had given him even less control over Nagare than the cat body had managed! This ridiculous sex doll body would be too mellow and tender to overpower his cat form in a one-on-one battle!

What scam was this?!

Tired but stubborn, he sank into the grass and clasped his knees to his chest. This had often been his favorite position when he was human, but he hadn't realized how much he missed sitting like this in his cat, snake, ladybug bodies. This pose was perfect for sulking.

And sulk, he did.

He had to get himself a better-Bound body. To break this one apart and Bind it anew. Simply no way around it because there was an obvious cap to this body's potential. This body would never stand up against Abihiko in a fight. It would work for casual interactions and maybe freaking Abihiko out with some choice comments Nekohiko could make while in this form, but that was it.

If he wanted to one day confront Abihiko, he had to be ready to fight for it because all his previous attempts to interact with other people who had participated in his assassination had ended in deathmatches. So if he fought Abihiko -- he had to be able to win.

With a groan, Nekohiko reclined on the dewy grass and stared up the gradually-pinking pre-dawn skies. The songbirds in the trees made gentle music and the wind rustled so wonderfully through the chiming pebble-stone canopies.

For the Emerald Palace reception tonight, this body worked fine, of course. But Nekohiko yearned for something more. He wanted... power. To feel capable again. To feel equal and as skilled and as strong as Abihiko was, if not stronger. How tiring it was, to be eternally weaker than him...

He pushed himself up and glowered at the pair of guard dummies he'd snuck out into the garden from the front courtyard.

His arms and legs in battle-ready position, Nekohiko ordered the dummies to act.

"From both sides," he said. And the dummies followed the command, lunging into melee with wooden training swords swinging.

"Oowww!" Nekohiko roared again and again when he missed hits and punches. Because... ah, even the Guard dummies had faster reactions than his pathetic sex doll body.

And they looked more like wooden cubes than people and were made by bulk -- without any real care or great skill required!

Seriously, where would he find himself a Binder that would dare to give him a lifelike shape AND the ability to move fast enough all while preserving his sensations and consciousness in his body?!

Of course such experts existed. One of the most famous examples -- Hibiki. But as a person, Hibiki was such a bag of snakes into which Nekohiko truly didn't want to stick his hand.

Luckily, Nekohiko had enough time to find someone with the same skillset but not as freaky. He had all the time in the world, being an almost-immortal piece of wood, ha-ha, so no need to rush his search for a better doll-Binder, was there?

He swept another lashing kick at the dummies and managed to disarm both. Wooden swords flew in an arc into the nearest koi pond. But then, into his knee, a painful jab flew. And once Nekohiko staggered, the second dummy flung its foot into his back.

With a pathetic plop, Nekohiko kissed the ground. Again.

But this time, he had a witness.

"What the fuck is going ON?! Stop it, stop it now, you pieces of wooden trash!"

Out of the mansion's balcony on the second floor, Kataji sprang out. The young man wasn't trained in any martial art, so his legs weren't used to jumping from such heights. His knees buckled the moment he landed, and he fell to his fours.

But his hate-filled face still glared up high.

"You!" he commanded the dummies. "Disassemble yourselves and throw yourselves into the garbage!"

Kataji, Nekohiko sighed. Don't overdramatize.

"They helped me train," he said.

But Kataji was already on his feet, limping toward the dummies with a decisive glint in his eyes. "Start the disassembling sequence, I command you!"

And since Saeko, the House Lady, had Bound some of the dummies in the mansion to follow all of Mikawa's and Kataji's orders while they were guesting, the two Bound guards reached their clumsy arms to each other and actually began the process of deconstruction.

Ah, this was horrifying to witness, especially while being a wooden doll himself.

Nekohiko was extremely glad to see Saeko rushing into the garden with the most panicked look on her face.

"Master Kataji, this is cruelty toward the dummies!" she cried.

And Nekohiko fully agreed. At least someone willing to protect dummies from the abuse by their masters!

Not that Kataji cared what happened to the offending dummies after he had fetched Nekohiko out of the garden and back to his rooms. There, he questioned him about the state his body was in -- did it need maintenance, did those dummies hurt him anywhere, did he require adjustments in his balls or joints -- that Nekohiko was overwhelmed in a flash.

He'd thought his and Kataji's boundaries had been resolved yesterday night, but apparently not.

"I swear I won't harm this body by mere training sessions," Nekohiko repeated for the tenth time. "I know my limits, and the training helps me a lot. See? I can already walk by myself, and it almost looks natural. Still a bit slower than when I crawl on four limbs, but sufficient enough..."

"You have to crawl on four limbs?" Kataji asked, stunned.

"I am more used to four-legged balance after being a cat for so long," Nekohiko said, shrugging out of his grass-stained inner clothes and into the clean ones Kataji had laid out for him behind the room separator screen. "So if I get too tired of balancing on two feet, getting down on fours works fine."

He pulled his hair from under the outer robes he put on, then turned.

From beyond the screen, Kataji peered at him, wary. He slowly stepped closer but preferred to keep the separator between them. "I am so sorry you have to crawl, Itsuki," he whispered, his cheeks brightening with sudden color. "It's horrible. My crafts at making your spine and legs steady must be so inferior if your balance is off to such a degree..."

"It's fine. I'll get used to it." Nekohiko strolled out of the screen, proud to display that he could. "It's only undignified, but I can handle some loss of my dignity after purring, lounging on people's laps, and slithering across the floor for months. Trust me."

The day was only beginning so Nekohiko had plenty of time before the reception. He wondered if he should spend time with Mikawa while Kataji would be gone, having to pay his matchmaking visits to the houses of the young ladies whose families showed interest in him. But Mikawa didn't seem in dire need of his companionship. Besides, Nekohiko had more pending issues to address in Nagare. So... great.

Except that when he sat on the floor, patiently waiting for Kataji to finish his dress-up and go out the door, Kataji paused in the doorway, his face expectant.

"Mmm?" Nekohiko tilted his head.

Kataji's eyes narrowed. "You will be training again, and so soon after your poor body was tossed and flung to the ground. Won't you?"

"I will be visiting Kasuga and Aomi," Nekohiko replied honestly.

But that was a mistake.

"Kasuga," Kataji said, a thin smile making his features sharper than they usually were. He tapped his folded fan against his hand irritatedly.

Agh, was he reminded of that piece of Nekohiko's wood Kasuga had taken from him?

"Apart from the walking and fighting lessons, don't you need some social training as well before the Palace?" Kataji said. "We're visiting my Eldest Brother tonight, after all. I am not saying that your manners need some refreshing, but Palace life is gruesome, Itsuki. Not many people can take it. Have you ever been to the Imperial Palace before? Perhaps you come from a known aristocratic family?"

Uh.

"No! I've never been to the Palace," Nekohiko hurried to reply. But then he realized this had been a trap.

"Good. You are dressed appropriately for day visits." Kataji beckoned him with the fan. "So let's go have some high-class social lessons, Itsuki."

So that I can keep my eye on you at all times, Nekohiko added in his mind vengefully but still followed after Kataji into the beginning, crisp sunny day in Nara's fanciest houses.

Perhaps, the young man was right after all. Nekohiko's social skills had never been stellar, but having been a log, a cat, and a snake for so long might have plummeted those skills entirely.

 


***

 

The first two houses were pretty average as the Nara noble houses went. Spacious, breezed with fragrant woodland scents, glasslike walls to filter the light in iridescent hues. Minimal furniture for proper appreciation of sunlight and fresh air prowling through the halls.

Kataji and the young women's parents, aunties, and sometimes grandparents drank teas and conversed on vague topics such as poetry, the beauty of nature, and Spiritway news from all over the Empire.

Obviously, Nekohiko only perked up when the Spiritway news was concerned. The Nagare Queen had clashed with the Izumo Head Priest. Queen Iokirihime of Towa is coming to Nara with all her entourage. The Binding of the Spiritside rip in the Fuji region had lately taken a drastic turn for the better.

For the last couple of days, King Morokata had been seen with the Emperor like a leech, never leaving his side.

Oh? Nekohiko hadn't bothered to eavesdrop through the seashell because of how useless that had been to him before, and how painful. Now he became intrigued with the news of Morokata's clinging to Abihiko and what punishment Morokata must have unleashed upon Abihiko for running away to Nagare without warning and then for immolating all of Morokata's pleasure boys like no big deal.

But no. If anything, Morokata's presence in Abihiko's life only repulsed Nekohiko so much more from wanting to spy on the two of them. He doubted they would talk about anything relevant to him, and moreover -- he would be there in the flesh with both of them this very evening.

To hell with Morokata. And to hell with Abihiko. Who cared about their petty squabbles anyway?

Nekohiko slowly fanned himself with Kataji's paper fan while Kataji listened to the tasteful conversation, sipping tea. Nekohiko's gaze wandered over the bamboo mats lining the floor and sometimes stopped on the pretty young women who eyed Kataji out of the corner of their eyes.

Kataji was an attractive young man, true.

But his features resembled Abihiko to an uncanny degree, so Nekohiko preferred to never take a good look. When the women would make some inspired comment regarding a quote from their favorite poet -- about the weather or the vagaries of human life -- Nekohiko saw how Kataji tensed up.

And for a moment, how his eyes would skitter to Nekohiko's as though in a silent plea to rescue him.

But it was in the third and last house for the day that Kataji almost had a mental breakdown.

It was a more modern house, with more flamboyant colors and a lot of exotic furnishings and decorations on the subtly-glowing walls. The young mistress was a pouty, dramatic young woman who loved frills and lace and a lot of ribbon bows in her hair Bound to be turquoise.

Turquoise hair, ah!

The contemporary youth had no regard for simplicity, it seemed.

The girl was even sitting alone with Kataji, only surrounded by her dummies because her parents were as modern-thinking as she was. That allowed for a less rigid atmosphere around the tea table but also allowed for far less sophisticated courting actions.

A cloud of perfumed air breathed at Kataji's face along with glowing butterfly illusions the young lady Bound to impress him. Little did she know, Kataji was not impressed.

"I... do not like Binding," he told her after another of her flourishes. "I'm sorry."

"Eeeeh?" She put down her teacup, genuinely upset. "But aren't you the Younger Brother of the most powerful Binder in the world? You even look like him, only shorter and... um... less dashing."

Nekohiko could clearly see Kataji's jaw tensing. "Thank you, my lady. I'll take that as a compliment because he is, after all, my Eldest Brother and my role model."

"You know, I was only fourteen when they announced his engagement to Lady Sakami of Hisome Family," the girl went on, oblivious. "I cried for days. Your brother has such a heartbreaking face, ah. But now, see -- the matchmakers said that his Little Brother is looking for a wife, and they were giving out your portraits to everyone. And..." She smiled adorably. "Here we are! You do look like a... tsk, what's the word, like a toned-down, more accessible version of him. Like, if you can't get Abihiko, you are the next best choice, naturally! Most girls in my circle are interested. You'll be getting all of their invitations soon, I bet."

If Kataji's face could get any paler, Nekohiko failed to imagine how.

"Thank you," Kataji ground out as politely as he could.

"Ah, don't be sour, my lord," she sighed, flapping her fan boredly. "People of the older generations are polite, but they are also fake-polite. They hide the truth, so you might as well accept that they're lying most of the time. Isn't honesty better? Of course people would always compare you to your brother. And the comparison might not work in your favor, I guess... so you don't like Binding? And you are not a Binder yourself, I understand?"

"I am not."

"Haaaah. That's too bad. You don't look like a martial arts adept either. Are you? Or maybe you're a scholar?"

"No. No," Kataji's voice rustled. He kept staring at the floor, forgetting to drink his tea and only holding the cup in front of his face as though paralyzed.

"Too bad, isn't it? You aren't good at anything to make you stand out compared to your brother?" the girl drawled sadly.

"No, I am not. The word you were looking for when you wanted to describe me was 'second-rate', I believe," Kataji said, finally gulping down from his cup. He held the tea in his mouth for a while before swallowing, then set the cup on the table hard.

"See?" The girl smiled like sunrise. "At least we both appreciate honesty."

"Kataji is a genius artist and also one of the kindest people I've met," Nekohiko broke in, his gaze heavy on the girl's disinterested face. "Also, there is such a thing as honesty and then there is such a thing as viciousness. I would suggest you learned the difference, young mistress."

Yet his outburst did nothing to shake her. She didn't look offended at his words, merely at the fact that he dared to speak.

"You are a sex doll," she said, wincing. "What business do you have talking to humans?"

...

Nekohiko knew what would follow.

This young lady had woken up the beast without even knowing, hadn't she?

All of Kataji's previous manners dissipated in an instant. His face snapped up, eyes burning as he rushed to his feet, pulling Nekohiko up as well.

"And you are an asshole! What business do you have talking to humans?!" Kataji spat at her, then dragged Nekohiko to the entrance halls of the house.

"Wait, where are you going? Your outburst finally made you so attractive!" the girl cried after them, prompting Kataji to run to the doors that much faster.

"Never talk to me or my dummy again!"

Outside the house, they didn't stop running. At some point, Kataji wanted to slow down, but Nekohiko took it over from him, pulling him by the hand in turn.

First of all, running as a human was amazing. Second of all, he had noticed the expression Kataji's face had when he contemplated stopping. However impassive and gentlemanly he usually wanted to seem, the girl's words had to hurt. Deeply. Not only was Kataji the second son in the family, but also the only non-Binder, with no parents, and no friends due to his Eldest Brother's desire to protect him from the harsh relationships between people and the pains they caused.

No wonder Kataji resented Abihiko so much. Abihiko might have meant well but... damn, if anyone should not have ever been isolated in his life, it was Kataji.

"Come on, keep running," Nekohiko told Kataji as he pulled him on through the dinning streets. But Kataji was already panting and couldn't keep up.

"Enough!" He leaned onto Nekohiko, forehead on his shoulder. "You weren't the one who had drunk ten cups of various tea blends through the morning. I am going to throw up if you keep pushing me."

Nekohiko hugged him, feeling tender. Like with Mikawa, he was very protective of Kataji in this hellish city. But Mikawa's issues with people stemmed from bullying and abuse. It was enough for him to just be kept away from all this toxicity, and the boy's outlook on life already improved.

With Kataji, it was more difficult. Because, in part, Nekohiko knew he was one of the most guilty of abusing Kataji's trust. If only he could have picked someone not as vulnerable to latch onto and manipulate into getting his bodies and connections to Abihiko...

But it was too late. He was already to blame.

The least he could do was to be a good friend to Kataji before the truth ever came out.

"Kataji, I wasn't lying to spite that girl," he said. "I truly believe you are a great artist and that you are probably one of the best people I've met. Not just kindest -- but actually 'best'." 

Weary, Kataji lifted his face off Nekohiko's shoulder. "Sure."

Nekohiko lowered his voice. "You are not by any means 'second-rate'."

"Compared to Abihiko, I will always be. It's no problem, Itsuki. I have accepted this long ago. Everyone who looks at me sees him. Everything I've ever wanted, he'd had first. Every talent or skill I was marginally interested in, he'd excelled at before me, forcing me to pursue skills I wasn't into just to prove that I was different from him. Yet I was still always drawn to what he did, just because I felt that I can't have it. That hurt, you know? I've always only had his hand-me-downs, but that's understandable." His lips twitched into a mirthless smile. "What else are younger siblings for?" 

Gods, so much ache in Kataji's eyes.

Nekohiko's hands around him tightened and guilt swelled in him. "Stop it. Anyone who doesn't see the difference between you two is an idiot. As a person, you are so much above him, it's not even up for debate--"

And before Nekohiko could finish his thought, suddenly Kataji's lips were on his own.

Kataji kissed him.

Kataji, no.

What are you doing?

The touch was swift and only glancing, unsure. Kataji's lips were dry yet soft, pressing on Nekohiko's for a fraction of a heartbeat. Nekohiko didn't even get to react and Kataji already withdrew, his face flushed, his eyes closed in a grimace of embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry, Itsuki! I have no idea what came over me! This won't repeat," Kataji breathed into his hands and turned away. He spent a few moments recuperating, straightening his clothes and gathering his long hair away from his face as though he needed a distraction. Hard as it looked, he forced a calm demeanor on himself though his face was still blazing. "I promise it won't happen again."

Nekohiko didn't speak. To be frank, he was even afraid to think.

"Saeko asked me to come back home early so that she can prepare us for the Palace reception in a proper way," Kataji muttered, avoiding looking at Nekohiko. "We should go, then. All this bathing, hairdressing, clothes, accessories will eat up so much time, we better hurry up."

Stiff, eyes downcast, Nekohiko followed after him. "Mn."

Kataji glanced back once but focused mainly on Nekohiko's hands peeking beneath his wide sleeves. "We need to go buy you some gloves before we go to the Palace," he said, tongue clicking. "That girl in the last house and all the others treated you so much worse than they would a human once they saw your obviously fake hands."

"That is a great idea," Nekohiko said quietly. "Thank you for suggesting."

Gods, he sounded so choked. So... dumbfounded after what had just happened.

Even if it wouldn't repeat like Kataji said -- it was still so dramatic and sudden...

Why a kiss?

Whyyyy?

No! Don't think about it. Not now. He had better things to do than overthink a young man's vulnerable moment that turned into an impulse Kataji was already clearly regretting.

What Kataji suggested to do was indeed brilliant. Gloves. So simple, so efficient! After all, Nekohiko wouldn't want to be introduced to the one and only nemesis of his life as a sex doll, would he?

Hello, Abihiko, this is my dummy.

Dummy, Abihiko.

Nonsensical, truly.

Nekohiko spent the entire time till the evening mumbling such stupidities in his mind. Just to distract himself. Saeko unleashed all of her courtly knowledge upon him and Kataji and oiled, powdered, brushed, made up, hairdressed, clothed, schooled, and otherwise tortured the two of them through the entire afternoon.

Nekohiko had received the brunt of it due to him wanting to dress as a young lady, to Saeko's utter horror.

But it was done. He had pushed through all of that to come to this moment. Just to ascend into the Bound covered carriage alongside Kataji, fully dressed and made up to look most presentably for the grand night among Nara's best people in Abihiko's Palace.

Yet none of these distractions helped him clear his head.

He still sat beside Kataji with his back rigid and eyes looking down at his lap, on his gloved hands fingering a round feminine paper fan as though not knowing what else he could do during this long ride to the Emerald Palace.

The silence in the carriage was... agonizing.

But then again, unlike Kataji, Nekohiko didn't need to sit in the carriage for the entire ride, no?

He had other bodies and other places he could go to. Other frustrating issues to overthink. The ride would last for no less than half an incense hour, so what better to do than to prepare all his facts before facing Abihiko right after this ride ended?

 


***

 

"Kasuga?"

Nekohiko the cat slunk through the half-closed doors of Kasuga's private library room he had frequently found her in.

The girl would spend all her evenings here, but at least now, she managed to crawl back into her own bedroom for the night. With the help of Suzumegara and Lord Okinaga's Bizarre Beast, Kasuga had pushed the gruesome gash in the Fuji's region Spiritside to draw somewhat closed.

It wasn't closed yet and still needed many hours of her time to monitor the recovery process by the Binder squads, but it was still a vast improvement. One that finally let Kasuga sleep peacefully at night.

Nekohiko hadn't bothered her at all in the last days. He'd had his own things to do in his human dummy body, so he'd had no time and neither had she. Occasionally, he would check on her and Aomi -- to suggest something new they hadn't tried yet or to commiserate with their thankless jobs researching and mobilizing resources for the recovery of the torn Spiritside. But the girls did fine without him.

He could trust them. With how much Kasuga loved her people and her Kingdom, he knew this part of his Empire was safe within her hands.

So while he had itched to ask her about the promise she had given him last week about telling him whose Binder's aura was used at the moment he had been made into a tree -- there hadn't been an opportunity for him to do that. At first, Kasuga had been busy with the battle with Towas, then busy with tidying up the aftermath. And on the rare day when he had approached her with the subject, she would coldly dismiss him because --

"Now is not the time, Emperor's Cousin Itsuki. I have promised to give you the information in return for your use in military research. So tell me, what kind of military research are you being used in, at the moment?"

Sometimes, she sounded downright Aomi-like. Or just horrifying.

But right now, when he had nothing better to do and hoped neither did she...

...maybe?

Please?

He didn't want to go back to Kataji's carriage with that awful, depressing silence reigning inside!

Swift and silky, Nekohiko dashed across the floor and to the desk behind which Kasuga was sitting alone, for a change. With not as many books as usual and a small jar of strong tea steaming by her elbow.

She held her cheek in her hand and skimmed through a scroll she was reading when he hopped beside her.

"Yes?" she said numbly, not taking her eyes off her scroll.

Not much time before the Palace. He better not waste it on pleasantries.

"That promise you'd given me. About the Spiritside readings of the auras of powerful Binders being imprinted in it for years later," he went straight to the chase. "I want to know. Please. Who that person was who had made me into a tree."

Kasuga reclined in her seat, giving him an unamused look.

If she was Aomi, he knew he'd already hear something like this: "Is there no 'hello', no 'how's it going?', not even 'you're alive? Great!', Itsuki? What am I -- the Ministry of Public Records for you?"

"Please, I'm in a dire hurry and I need this information right now, please, Kasuga!" he mewled as pitifully as he could. "I will come useful to you as a log, I promise! I'll even tell you how exactly the cutting of my wood works because Kataji hasn't given you full information in hopes that you would screw it up and not be able to use me in your research!"

Kasuga blinked, trying to say something else, but Nekohiko was faster.

"Mikawa is fine! He is healthy, he is well-fed and above all -- I saved him yesterday from Morokata's invitation to have dinner together!"

At last, that did it.

Kasuga let out a relieved breath, her lips curling up in such a minuscule manner, it was hard to tell she was smiling. But she was.

"Wait here," she told him, then went out of the library, her footsteps fast and decisive on the glassy floors. It wasn't long before they were returning, drawing closer, one by one.

Nekohiko breathed. In and out. In and out, slowly getting himself to calm down.

But his heart could not.

He would find out. In only a moment -- who had done it. Who had saved him after he'd died and who had Bound his soul to a tree.

...

He genuinely had no idea who could that person be.

 

-___- I know everyone who reads this thinks that Nekohiko is ridiculous levels of stupid and the answer to his question is obvious, and that's why this chapter is called that!

But, to be fair, it will be explained next why he cannot believe it'd be Abihiko. He does find out the answer about who put him in a tree and gets his promised intense meeting with Abihiko in the next chappy anyway, so all is well ^^.

...

Also that Kataji kiss... (ಠ_ಠ). Do not worry about it or how it will influence the main couple of the story. It's part of the plot development and is meaningful for later, but Nekohiko will only ever be with Abihiko. And Abihiko only with Nekohiko.❤

That's a given +_+. Everything else is kind of an obstacle, ¯\_(⌣̯̀⌣́)_/¯

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