Chapter Sixty-Six — Apologies on the Menu?
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I actually said in one of the comments that I'd give some elaboration on why Kataji's behavior changed so dramatically at the end of last chapter, but rereading this draft while editing, I realized I don't need to.

I don't think it requires an elaboration because Kata's behavior in this chapter still seems perfectly in-character for me... (✿◠‿◠) But I still wonder if it comes across weirdly to any of the readers, so please tell me if you think Kataji's behavior is OOC. I'll leave my original ramblings about Kataji's character traits at the end of the chapter in a spoiler just in case you still think his behavior is weird and not elaborated well here!

Hopefully, you won't need it, though! ^^

 

 

Chapter Sixty-Six

Apologies on the Menu?

 

Nekohiko's mind switched over to Abihiko. Even without deciding to, he wanted to see Abihiko and how he was going.

Would he expect Kataji to come today to have breakfast with him? Would he expect Nekohiko to be there, too?

At night, when Nekohiko had still been tossing around his bed and resting after a troublesome day, he had wondered about how Abihiko's late night was going on and if Abihiko had finally gotten to sleep as well.

He got his answer now.

Because Abihiko was still fast asleep as Nekohiko could see very clearly from within his collars.

He was in the empty concubine's bedroom where Abihiko had put the wooden sculpture in. The light was dim, filtering in through the translucent curtains from the garden and drenching the room in an aching, frustrated light.

Across Nekohiko's field of vision, the long, black strands of Abihiko's hair flowed as though a waterfall and just to both sides of Nekohiko's seashell, the high, stiff collars of Abihiko's Imperial dress perked up as they usually did.

Which meant this person had actually fallen asleep in his daytime robes? Without changing? What kind of Emperor's life was this?

And why did Nekohiko see the bed so freely before him and the faint silhouette of the creepy sculpture of himself in the far end of it?

With displeasure, Nekohiko understood that Abihiko was sleeping in one of the bedroom's lounging chairs. So, not only fully-dressed but actually while sitting. And while guarding the wooden mess, apparently. His head drooping down, hair hanging all over, this person's life was the epitome of depressing.

Wake up, wake up, you're embarrassing me and the Imperial line with this behavior! Nekohiko wanted to grumble at him, then gave another look to the bed on which the wooden sculpture lay so serenely and perfectly.

Across its torso, stomach, legs, and even hands, the crisscrossing threads of alarm arrays were set. Like tiny trap strings. Abihiko must have put them up to feel it if the wooden human moved at any point. Yet none of the arrays were broken. The thing was clearly motionless and dead.

And somehow, that made Nekohiko even sadder. Abihiko had sat here all night, busy with work judging by the unfurled scroll squeezed in his fingers with its long end far on the floor. He must have waited for the creepy human to wake up, to give him a sign. Any sign that it was actually conscious and alive.

Yet -- nothing.

And when Abihiko would wake up and go to his breakfast hoping to see Kataji and Nekohiko there -- he would see nothing there, too.

One last time, Nekohiko glanced up at the outline of Abihiko's jaw leaning low above him, then he left.

When he came back to his senses inside his human body, his heart was heavy with dismay. He found it very hard to explain why.

"...when?" Nekohiko asked Mikawa who was still only poking around the tray with the sugar treats on their tea table. "When did Kataji receive the invitations? When did he burn them?"

Mikawa averted his eyes. So much fatigue was in them, Nekohiko half-wondered if Mikawa now wished he was back at home in Nagare rather than here, with all this scheming and dealing behind each others' backs. Kataji and Nekohiko must be so exhausting to him.

"The Imperial messenger tracked Master Kataji down by Binding a blood compass trained to seek out His Imperial Majesty's relatives in Nara. She arrived here with the escort of Binding officers. At first, I was wary of them and so I spied on all their moves as soon as I noticed them entering the district. But they also clearly knew I was watching them," he said, shrugging defensively. "Like I told you -- my Wind-Binding is not exactly very easy to hide from professional Binders... So the messenger woman left her military escort at the entrance to the district and came here alone.

"She even spoke to me in the wind, saying that the Emperor was aware Kataji didn't want to see him and would run if the Emperor's guards persisted on catching him. So instead, the Emperor wanted to make peace and not escalate the issue. Which was how the messenger woman entered the Petals in Amber Inn -- only to leave the invitations with the innkeeper. After which she swiftly left, so I saw no reason to warn Kataji or you about it. You were both sleeping so quietly and deeply, I could not care to bother you."

Nekohiko could almost see what had happened next even without Mikawa describing it.

To be on time for his dinner with Morokata, Kataji had woken up, shaken his grogginess and stiffness off, slowly dragged himself to his feet and waded through the room to prepare himself for the social outing. Had Kataji thrown a sympathetic glance at Nekohiko, still sleeping soundly on the bed? Probably.

Kataji had probably even smiled or cared to cover Nekohiko with the blanket before he went out. It wasn't that Nekohiko would expect Kataji to do these things to him while he slept, but for some reason, such an image came all too easily into Nekohiko's mind. Of Kataji worrying too much about him. Of Kataji being overbearing. Of Kataji wanting to care for him regardless if Nekohiko asked him to, or even wanted that -- or not.

"Down in the garden, I was readying to send the Elder Sister another of my daily Wind Whispers when I saw Master Kataji out with the innkeeper. And those invitation letters in his hand." Mikawa squirmed, his eyes flicking to where Kataji now had gone off from the dining room as though he was afraid that Kataji would hear this. "He... did not like seeing these invitations. His face looked so cold, and his breathing and heartbeat... I was a bit worried about his well-being like you told me to -- in case he might harm himself. So I ran over. He already began reading them, but even before he got to the middle of the first invitation, he started tearing them apart.

"I... distinctly saw that one of them said 'Itsuki' on it," Mikawa forced out, growing more and more reluctant, "so I asked Master Kataji if this was appropriate since the letter was obviously meant for you to read, not for him. And he said, 'Yes, so?' and threw them both into..." Mikawa jerked his head to the side of the dining room where the inn's entrance hall was. "Into the burner in the corner."

Nekohiko listened, grim. He raised eyes at Mikawa when the boy finished, and for the moment their gazes met, he could swear they were both on the same page about it all.

"Kataji is a... passionate young man," Nekohiko said as a way of conclusion. "His brother did insult him and me very deeply at the reception and after it, with the whole persecution thing."

"It's understandable. But... I still think Master Kataji should not have burned the letter meant for you," Mikawa said faintly.

"He shouldn't have. Thank you for telling me." Nekohiko glimpsed Kataji's bright-blue outfit flashing in the doors of the dining room as the young man returned. "And then, he went to Morokata's and returned already like this?"

Mikawa followed his gaze, perplexed. "Not like this. But he was fuming when he went to His Majesty Morokata's estate -- whereas when he came back from there, he was very much... relieved and even playful. As though he had a very good time in the estate and forgot all about His Imperial Majesty's offense. But then, this morning..."

And Mikawa gave Nekohiko the most anguished look in existence. Which could only mean -- look at him now. Look at the horror this morning had brought!

Nekohiko sighed. He agreed, one hundred percent.

"The innkeeper said we can bring the table out into the garden and drink the tea there," Kataji announced when he neared. "What were you two talking about so heartily?"

Annoyed, Nekohiko wanted to confront Kataji about the letter-burning. But he knew better than to do that. If Kataji was already in a cranky mood about anything that concerned Abihiko, mentioning the invitations would only worsen the situation. Plus, Kataji would be angry at Mikawa for snitching, and Nekohiko did not want these two to upset each other. Both boys had suffered enough from their own families. No need to destroy their relationship with one another as well.

"We were talking about you and your new best friend Morokata," Nekohiko told him instead. He helped Kataji lift the relatively-light tea table and carry it through the room to the open porch leading into the garden. "Apparently, you were so happy yesterday after spending an evening with him, you even whistled and... well, look at you now."

Kataji cocked an eyebrow. "Look at me now? Oh, please suit yourself if you like it so much. But what for, Itsuki, other than to confirm how attractive I am?"

Oh.

Oh gods. What.

"Please do not tell me this is what you think flirting is."

"Why? Would you care to educate me on what flirting is, Itsu? You seem very well-versed in it, yourself."

Nekohiko huffed in aggravation. "Whatever it is, it's not that."

"Oh?"

"I really think we should stop standing here in the garden with the table in our hands while everyone is watching," Mikawa said very quietly, his face -- an image of flustered shock. 

Indeed, they had carried the table out some time ago but kept bickering without putting it down. Nekohiko released his side and turned away, then slowly sagged to the grass after Kataji made sure the table was properly horizontal.

"What did you and Morokata do during that dinner, seriously?" he wondered out loud. "You seem like a completely different person today."

This time, Kataji did not act out. He merely sized Nekohiko up and down, somber. "We talked. I told him how I find Binders extremely frustrating when they abuse others just because they're stronger than them. And Morokata told me that some Binding techniques channel people's insecurities rather than their strengths. Hisome magic, for example, allows one to access what we find lacking about ourselves and what we think others would want to see in our place. And how doing exactly that -- feeding into other people's expectations of you can sometimes give you necessary will to grow stronger." He flexed his jaw, then smirked in his new fake way again. "I found it extremely educational."

"So you think being loud and pushy will make people respect you more?" Nekohiko asked, sour.

"Yes!" Kataji beamed. "That is exactly what I think. It works so great for some other people we both know, doesn't it? No need to be caring and kind to others. Just push them around and steal other people's earned relationships or things -- and bam! Respect." He gave mortified Mikawa a glare, then nodded to the waiter girl who brought them tea and set it on the table before them.

"I have zero ideas what you're talking about," Nekohiko snapped, getting too irritated to monitor his mood. "I think I'd rather go and spend my time elsewhere. Mikawa -- let's go."

"Um..." Mikawa shivered. "Why me... I didn't do anything..."

"Please feel free to," Kataji told them charmingly. Probably something he learned from Morokata. "I have an entire day booked with visiting my matchmaker's young ladies, so I guess, with all the flirting I am bound to suffer throughout the day, I'd rather you backed off, too. This conversation is getting a bit too passionate for my liking, Itsu."

Gods. It was impossible to talk to him when he was like this.

Nekohiko got to his feet and stormed off, but not before narrowing his eyes at Kataji's serene face as the young man lifted his teacup to his lips.

"This conversation is not remotely over," Nekohiko said. "You are in for a very serious talk later, young man!"

Ugh, why did Kataji's smug smirk look so freakishly like Abihiko's?!

Nekohiko seethed when he went out of the garden and back into the Petals in Amber's main hall, only relieved to find Mikawa a few feet away, looking so downcast, Nekohiko's head cooled down in an instant.

"Your opinion of Kataji and me must be very low right now."

"Honestly?" Yet Mikawa only shook his head, surrendering. "Don't worry. I'll survive."

"Which burner is it?" Nekohiko asked him, pointing his chin at the main room's burners beside the doors. "Where did Kataji burn our invitations?"

"Hm, that one?"

Yet doubt was apparent on Mikawa's face even when Nekohiko stepped toward the burner, slowly rucking up his sleeves to properly cast.

"Why?" Mikawa still followed him, leaning to the bronze burner that was extinguished during the daylight hours and the sad little pile of ashes sitting at the burner's wide carved mouth.

Nekohiko didn't respond. His fingers slid and morphed the formations through Hira and Utsuro combination to reverse the effects of fire, Nagare and Utsuro to reverse the effects of air aiding in the burning process, the scattering effects he reversed with Hisome and Utsuro combination, then the Towa memory Binding to pull back together the parts that had been incinerated.

A complex, mind-numbing sequence Nekohiko wouldn't be able to use unless he had gotten his body's usual mobility back. The formations themselves weren't even the biggest obstacle. It was the powers needed to use such a complex sequence.

And the monstrous amounts of high-level Imperial Fusion to put the invitations back together exactly as they had been before they had been destroyed.

Most Binders wouldn't be able to do even a single spell in this sequence. But Nekohiko was not most Binders.

Slowly but imminently, the scrambled ashes of the two letters Kataji had burned, came back together, the effects of the fire gradually wearing off them like dirt sliding off something pure. Then they pulled the solidifying chunks of torn paper together, then crumbled back into their ripped-apart quarters, then into halves, then to their full original size.

And thus, after only a few minutes, in his fingers, Nekohiko held up two perfectly preserved letters with the Imperial seal on them.

And the majority of people around them wouldn't even notice he had cast such a powerful spell because of how minuscule the area of its application was.

Mikawa, however, noticed. His mouth popped open, but Nekohiko already turned to walk out of the inn and to the morning-busy street.

He unfolded the invitations and read them through, first Kataji's, then his own. The double... no, triple name greeting addressed to him cheered him up for some reason.

Kataji's doll friend, Abi Itsuki, Kinouchi Nekohime.

Abihiko had been very thorough not to be misunderstood in regards to whom this letter was meant for.

The contents themselves were not interesting. It was a very formal type of letter, only slightly more meaningful and intimate in Abihiko's message to Kataji, but that -- Nekohiko wasn't comfortable with reading too closely. Abihiko sounded very regretful and wanted to make amends to his brother, especially since his wedding was coming up. His letter to Nekohiko was marginally polite and very, very vague. As was appropriate between people who supposedly did not know each other beyond their connection with a mutual friend.

But while the contents of the messages themselves weren't useful, the actual invitations enclosed were of utmost importance. Nekohiko folded down Kataji's letter and stashed it inside his robe, but held on to his own invitation. His mood improved so much by now, he didn't mind fanning the invitation before his face as he strolled down the street, gawking at the store windows and the open food stalls.

Mikawa's hand lay on his shoulder to pull him to a halt in the middle of the street.

The young boy's face was so... baffled, even scared, that Nekohiko regarded him with great kindness. "Yes, Mikawa?"

"Who... are you? That spell you just did... it was..." The boy failed to come up with a proper descriptor. "Only the people of incredible powers could even consider..."

"You already know the kind of person I am, don't you? I am your friend, Mikawa. That, I can promise you." Nekohiko didn't like the idea of hugging someone first, but this time, he felt he should. He was a grown-up who didn't like being hugged or close to others. But Mikawa was just a scared young boy who probably needed support and care at this moment.

So Nekohiko conquered his phobia and reached out his arm to hug Mikawa over the shoulders. "But if you want to know my real name, even if it won't tell you much, then here -- it's Nekohiko."

The boy's lips repeated the shape of the name as his eyes skewed to study Nekohiko's face as though seeing it for the very first time.

"I do not mind that you know as well as your sister. I already told her my true name," Nekohiko said as they walked side by side down the alley shadowed by trees with chimes and ribbons hanging off their branches. "But please do not share it with others. I still need time to trust them first, especially when they are being as... disagreeable as Kataji can be. He is not being helpful. At all."

Mikawa did not speak, only listening. Absorbing the torrent of new information, probably. But his features eased down, and he no longer looked at Nekohiko as though he was seeing a stranger.

"Speaking of helpfulness." Nekohiko stopped under a rustling ginkgo tree whose leaves had already become gilded with autumn colors. The breeze sent ornamental leaves fluttering down and onto his and Mikawa's heads. Nekohiko caught one leaf and twirled it in his fingers thoughtfully. "I remember I asked you about any of the Emerald Fir trees in the Empire that your wind spells could find. And you told me that there weren't many, and that there definitely weren't any big ones from which a log as big as my own could have been cut."

"Mn," Mikawa finally responded. "They are all either tiny and young or had been dead and cut many years ago. I thought that maybe I could find some further away, but... it still didn't work out. There are no trees that would fit the one you're looking for."

Nekohiko's eyes flicked past Mikawa's head to the sky in the direction of the Emerald Palace, now unseen behind all the tall buildings nearby. "And what about the Emerald Fir in Nara?"

"Oh. They are so young and small, it's unlikely your log would have come from them--"

Sudden, Nekohiko's attention snapped back to the boy. "I meant the Spirit Tree in the Emerald Palace. But wait -- are you saying there are several Emerald Firs in Nara?"

Taken aback, Mikawa dithered before nodding. "Yes. Like five or six very young trees growing somewhere to the west from here." He waved his hand there vaguely. "Which is weird. Nobody really grows them, but apparently, somebody still does. And if you're talking about the... Spirit Tree in Emerald Palace, then..."

The boy bit down his lip and swooped his eyes up and down Nekohiko's face as though wondering if Nekohiko was joking.

"Isn't it -- right there? For everyone to see? And has always been? How could anyone have cut such a huge chunk from the very bottom or middle of it without anyone noticing...? That would be a sacrilege."

Yeah, yeah. Nekohiko shook his hand to mean he understood.

"But have you actually let your wind spells go beside it to check it?"

"Of course!" Mikawa stammered. "Not too close because the Palace is obviously protected by spells from any intrusion, but just close enough to get a mental image of what the area is like. The Emerald Fir in the Palace is still standing as it has always been. It seems untouched and unharmed."

Hmmm. Now this was interesting.

Then why would the garden in which the tree stood be locked down from anyone peeking inside?

"Thank you, Mikawa," Nekohiko said and wanted to leave, but Mikawa stopped him.

"Are you suspecting something about it? Do you need my help with it?"

"Yes, please. Albeit not right now -- now it would be too visible since it's daylight," Nekohiko replied with what he hoped was a gentle smile, his brain already overworking with the pending plans for the direct future. The tree would have to wait. Till the nighttime, perhaps.

He squeezed Mikawa's shoulder in his fingers. "Thank you for offering nonetheless. And sorry Kataji and I are driving you crazy with our petty squabbles. I'll deal with him later as well, I promise. Oh, and please make sure you go back to the inn and order some breakfast, all right?"

"I'm not hungry."

...Nekohiko sighed with fatherly annoyance. "I don't care if you're not hungry. You have to eat something more substantial than tea. Ask Kataji to give you money for a... noodle soup, for example. You haven't eaten yet and my and Kataji's issues almost distracted me from that fact. Go! Eat!"

"...fine," Mikawa mumbled at last. But he also noticed just how animated Nekohiko was. "Are you hurrying somewhere?"

An observant boy, and so polite!

"Mn." Nekohiko lifted the Imperial invitation in his slender fingers, trying to look apologetic even though his emotionless face probably failed to convey that. "Sorry I can't stay with you much longer. Maybe later tonight? Because, right now, I kind of have a dinner date to attend."

 

 


***

 

He was obviously unfashionably late for the breakfast visit to Abihiko. But maybe not the dinner one?

Nekohiko took a decisive pace down the street before the usual fabulous row of Hisome guards blocked his way. He no longer had the Hisome pendant seal with him, but he did have the two Imperial letters in his hands. And that counted for at least something, did it not?

Since Morokata was very close with the Emperor at the moment and the preparations for the Imperial wedding went on everywhere and with great pomp, especially in all Hisome properties across the land -- the Hisome guards could not dismiss someone who came to see their lord while waving two very important-looking Imperial orders in his hand.

So it didn't take Nekohiko much time to go from standing awkwardly at the gates of Morokata's estate to standing no less awkwardly inside Morokata's luminous, breezy greeting room in one of the main halls of his house.

Unlike Hibiki's Doll Palace and its contrast of darkness and light, silence and echoes -- Morokata's mansion gave the impression of something fluffy and ephemeral. Like gentle clouds in the last hours before sunset, or like the beautiful early morning mists clouding the calm seashore. Pastel colors were so airy, they almost looked sheer. All surfaces of tables, seats, statues, and even potted trees were translucent -- yet also matte or opaque like glass touched with fine mist.

A calming, tranquil place. No wonder Kataji had come back from here so enlightened and fulfilled. Nekohiko hadn't spent here more than a few minutes, and he already felt as though he had sat inside a calming hot spring for an entire day.

"If that is not Itsuki, my proverbial lost doll son!" Morokata's husky voice gushed from the doors. "Finally returned to your Daddy as you should, tut-tut."

Ah, yep.

So this was exactly where Kataji had picked all his annoying new quirks from.

"Your Majesty." Nekohiko inclined his head, then straightened to give Morokata an inquiring look because Morokata halted in the doors, befuddled. "It is a pleasure to finally have a real acquaintance of you."

"Mmm." Morokata tapped a finger to his lips, suddenly seeming entertained. "So you can talk. Huh. Are you a messenger from Cousin Kataji?"

"No. I am here on my own business, if I may call it that." Nekohiko once again tried to look somewhat guilty, which amused Morokata even more. "I have a favor to ask you, Your Majesty. And as your very own and the only... 'doll son', I hoped that you would not mind helping me. Just a little."

"Not only talking but also thinking for yourself, mmm." Morokata took a slow, deliberate walk around Nekohiko in the middle of the heavenly-cloudy room, his eyes ogling Nekohiko without any reserve. "What a surprising development. You were barely functional a mere day ago."

"Very understandable," Nekohiko replied, looking straight before him and not showing any fear about Morokata studying him so closely. "But hopefully, you'd think my choice to appear barely functional yesterday is also very understandable. You see, if I were acting the way I am now -- Your Majesty and Master Hibiki would have spent twice if not thrice the time on working with me and making sure I was no danger to you or to the larger society. In short, I simply wanted to be reBound as fast as possible. Without any unnecessary scrutiny about my persona or anything else of the sort...

"Wouldn't you do the same if you could?"

It took so much titanic effort from Nekohiko's unwieldy facial muscles to force out a pleasing smile.

And when Morokata saw it, he suddenly stopped pacing. A smile of his own bloomed across his face. "You know what? I actually like the gall you have, baby doll! I think I would act exactly as you have if I were in your place."

"See? I know you would appreciate it, Your Maje--"

"Daddy." Morokata stepped up to him. His expression grew very, very solemn, even menacing. His tone -- as well -- as he leaned closer to Nekohiko's face, his eyes icy even though his lips were still smiling. "Daddy, baby doll. Why all these formalities between us now, especially when we're getting rid of all the lies and little tricks that keep us apart?"

Nekohiko didn't flinch. He only let out a forced chuckle as he allowed Morokata to get uncomfortably close. Morokata's breath was minty yet tinged with intoxicating bitterness of something no-doubt deadly.

"So what was that favor you wanted to ask me, my tricky, lying baby doll?"

At first uncertainly, Nekohiko lifted the invitation he had. Morokata took it after savoring Nekohiko's sweet bashful expression for a while. But he only skimmed the letter before his eyebrows arched most majestically.

"How interesting. His Supreme Divine Majesty invites you, his brother's sex doll, for a breakfast today?" Morokata cast an exaggerated glance at the window. "Well, aren't you a bit late for that date?"

"That's the issue, My Lord," Nekohiko said tamely. "I am late and thus have offended His Supreme Divine Majesty deeply, and without even sending him any message to explain myself. But yesterday, I heard it when you said that you have dinners with the Emperor daily. So I thought... perhaps... since I am already invited to a meal with His Majesty..."

Morokata once again began pacing, circling around Nekohiko with his graceful, idle steps. "And sweet Cousin Kataji? Could not he take you to the Palace as well?"

"Unfortunately, no!" Nekohiko pushed himself to sound forlorn. "Kataji has so many things to do today and tomorrow, needing to find a date among his matches for the wedding ceremony. Alas, but he's too busy to help me."

"Tsk, you're breaking my heart, child." Without any warning, Morokata's hand lay spectrally yet somehow shackling on Nekohiko's elbow. "How could I say no to this cute little face I helped craft?"

Nekohiko didn't even get to thank him before Morokata told him, grave-serious, "Your dressing style is atrocious, though. Do not tell me you intend to humiliate me by accompanying me to the Palace looking like this."

 

 


***

 

 

By the time Morokata was finally satisfied with the way Nekohiko looked, it was indeed much closer to a late afternoon dinner than to any kind of breakfast. Nekohiko wondered if Abihiko had sent new invitations and apologies to Kataji who wasn't even in the inn to receive them, and if Abihiko's hopes of ever seeing either his brother or his brother's doll were slowly dissipating the more daytime chores and governmental issues were piling up on him, needing his participation.

Morokata spilled some truths about what the political and courtly life in the Palace was like while he and Nekohiko boarded the luxurious floating carriage that would bring them to the Emerald Palace in the fanciest way possible -- across the skies over the festive streets of Nara.

Morokata wore the tender hues of mint in his floaty, ethereal robes and in one tasteful thin, yet long ribbon tying his hair half-up. Fine silver ornaments decorated his sleeves and collars and the sides of his hairdo above his ears, giving Morokata some Spiritlike quality.

He had ordered his beautiful Hisome girls serving his estate to dress Nekohiko in the pale shade of pink over the dark-brown inner robes that peeked out in thin slivers from under the outer gown. Like a blossoming tree with cherry petals hiding the somber darkness of the tree bark beneath. Nekohiko's hair... was harder to manage because Morokata was displeased whatever the Hisome girls suggested.

In the end, Nekohiko had his hair simply brushed and tossed to one side -- no additional ornamentation. Morokata still gave him side glances full of vague displeasure, but nothing that Nekohiko couldn't dispel with a bit of his acted joy about the sights they passed in their airborne carriage.

"Ah, the streets are so glamorous with the preparations for the wedding celebrations! Oh, the Sky Tree Towers are shimmering so brightly -- my eyes cannot handle the splendor! Oooooh, is that a Bound waterfall made of the periwinkle clouds above that side of the city???"

"Yes, yes, and yes," Morokata answered to everything, instantly gratified with Nekohiko's feigned interest in the city Morokata had helped beautify for the oncoming festivities. "Now back to the Palace life. Make sure to nod and smile instead of bowing, or sometimes only wave your fan at them like this. If you keep bowing and kowtowing to everybody we'll see, you'll embarrass me."

This cloud ride to the Palace over the noisy city was one of the nicest experiences Nekohiko had had lately. He was even slightly sad when it was time to alight and descend from the carriage and onto the top of the long Emerald Palace entry stairs.

Yes. This time, Nekohiko had simply skipped going up these agonizing steps.

How lucky.

"As if I would ever force myself to walk all the way up here," Morokata scoffed when he noticed Nekohiko's attention to the infamous steps. "I have better things to do with my life than run up and down this demonic slide on several occasions each day!"

"I completely agree, Your Majesty," Nekohiko gushed.

Last time, Nekohiko had walked through these halls with trepidation and curiosity brimming in him. The Palace had been splendid in the dark, lonely hallways far away from where most people were and the searing lanterns and commotion in the reception hall that night.

But today, the Palace lay dreamy and soft in the background bustling of the councilors and servants and dummies snooping here and there in the hallways. Where Morokata passed, it was only clean and empty, as though hushed and waiting for something grandiose to happen soon. Even the Emerald of the walls and floors felt subdued today -- airy and scattered in the afternoon haze.

The enormous double doors of the dining hall where Abihiko took his meals opened to let Morokata and Nekohiko in. Only at the threshold, finally -- did Nekohiko began to feel a slight tremor up his legs.

He clenched his silk fan in his fingers and waved it at his face to clear up his mind from worry.

His dinner date.

With both him and Abihiko knowing who he was.

Ah, why was he getting nervous all of a sudden?

"His Majesty King Morokata of House Hisome and--" the royal announcer dithered when he realized that Morokata had deliberately not given him or the other servants any indication of who his date was or what name they should state. "--and his companion!" the man managed at last.

From so far down the dining hall, Nekohiko did not see Abihiko's expression.

As countless days Nekohiko had spied him in this room, Abihiko sat at the far end of the hall alone, on a small dais before his dining table, solemnly picking at his food with chopsticks. Below the dais, on both sides of him, two rows of dining tables began, but every one of them empty.

Nekohiko guessed that was because Morokata would choose his own table, and only that table would be served. But it was odd, too, because the Emperor had already begun eating, yet Morokata had only walked in and hadn't even been served.

The relationship between these two allowed such breach of rules of Imperial conduct, apparently?

Very impressive.

Morokata flicked his fingers at two tables to the right of Abihiko, and several servants immediately ran out of the hall to bring Morokata's trays there.

But then Morokata passed both the tables he had chosen for him and Nekohiko. He walked straight up to the dais on which Abihiko sat, chewing his food without much thought as his eyes scanned another roll of a document before him. Only when Morokata stopped right before him, Abihiko tore his gaze from his papers and raised it at Morokata.

"You're late," he said without much feeling.

"I was picking up a date," Morokata sighed. "Eating with you is one of the dullest things in the world, future Brother-in-Law."

"Mmm." Abihiko wanted to return to his document but then...

His eyes fell on Nekohiko behind Morokata.

Nekohiko slowly removed his fan from covering his face and bowed just a little bit, while keeping his eyes on Abihiko's petrified face.

"Your Majesty," Nekohiko murmured pleasantly.

Morokata must have also noticed Abihiko's sudden pause of breath, so he flapped a hand at Nekohiko as dismissively as he could. "My date, Abihiko. Don't stare at him like that. Apparently, that's exactly what you did last time you met him and why you had to apologize for it later in your stupid invitation to this poor thing. You traumatized him."

Nekohiko twirled the said invitation in his fingers. "Forgive me for being so forward, Your Majesty -- but this letter says you wanted to give me your apologies in person for having wronged me. So --" he smiled in his most genuine, probably creepy manner Abihiko had always found so mesmerizing "-- I am here, Your Majesty. Now, where are my apologies?"

 

The following spoiler was not a picture originally, but I realized that I only put pictures into my "spoilers" in this book, so some of you might be disappointed that there isn't any +_+.

So there's a picture as well! At the end of the spoiler -- the picture of Abihiko, one of the drafts of him that I made at random ^^. But I guess you can imagine it can also be Kataji when Kataji copies his brother, lol.

Spoiler

Here's the breakdown of Kataji's character traits across the published story in case you want to remind yourselves of what he's generally like!

Kata has had a flair for drama since the beginning, going into two modes of behavior whenever he was pissed/hurt.

  1. shut everyone out and refuse to communicate with them (Ch 7, "Splitting Apart", Ch 24, "Punished", Ch 26, "The Emperor and the Tree", Ch 32, 'Enamored with Fictions").
  2. freak out in the most dramatic manner and even appear somewhat dangerous and... well, deranged (Ch 24, "Punished" (he slices Neko up just to punish him for lying), Ch 28, "Murder-proof" (abuses his Master Order for the first time to restrict Neko's choices), Ch 47, "Spread Too Thin" (creeps everyone out by making it seem as though he's too busy talking to a lifeless dummy in his room after the Fuji battle)).

So him dressing up and mocking Abihiko is not a big departure from his usual mode of handling anger and frustration. This one is actually mild and won't last long. He is, after all, only a teenager who's striking out at something that hurts him but he doesn't understand exactly what and why and how he can deal with the pain in a healthier manner.

 ໒( •́ ∧ •̀ )७

I understand that his overreaction is a bit painful to witness, though.

(But also amusing because he is being very cute when he thinks he can copy his Eldest Brother!)

The promised picture!

Is it girly as well, mmmm?

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