Chapter Seventy-Six

Honesty

 

Nekohiko blinked, stunned.

He had expected that Suminoe knew who he was, but for Suminoe to not only be here rather than in the Palace -- but also to approach him and talk to him face-to-face?

After what Etsuko had told Nekohiko about Suminoe's role in his murder?

Nekohiko stood up rigidly. This dummy body didn't reach Suminoe's full height, leaving Nekohiko a bit below just like a child while he had remembered perfectly that he and Suminoe had been equals at some point five years ago. But their even heights had never really stopped Nekohiko from looking at Suminoe from the below-facing angle.

Suminoe was just that grand, that solemn, that impressive to Nekohiko's eyes.

Like a displeased but utterly fair god. Or like a father...

Him, saying he was proud of Nekohiko... it almost summoned that same ache of wanting to impress him from all those years ago. It turned Nekohiko into a little boy before him even faster than noticing their height difference.

"Your Holiness," Nekohiko said. "I... don't understand... What do you mean -- you wanted me to come back to you?"

"That I was the one who had planted your soul into the Emerald Fir tree, Nekohiko," Suminoe answered, tranquil. "With the sole purpose of preserving you there safely till you are ready to come back to me. And fight our foes alongside me. For the sake of the Empire and all of its Spirits."

Oh.

Nekohiko dawdled, unable to comprehend.

Suminoe... had been the one to save him? Not Abihiko?

But...

Kasuga's scroll had told him otherwise?

Yet at the same time, Kasuga's scroll had also not shown Suminoe's aura at the siege at all whereas Nekohiko distinctly remembered Suminoe being there. So what if Kasuga's scroll had made a mistake? And more than one?

"I don't understand," Nekohiko repeated, panicked.

He wanted to believe him.

He found it much easier to believe Suminoe than he did in Abihiko's saving him. Why? Nekohiko struggled to explain it even to himself.

He guessed, he just couldn't accept it. That Abihiko could have heartlessly slit his throat like that but also wanted to save him.

These two things simply did not mesh together in his mind.

And probably never would.

"Of course you don't understand," Suminoe said, gentle. "Let's take a walk, Nekohiko."

A stray ray of sun pricked through the dense foliage of the maple trees above them, lighting up Suminoe's face in a filigree pattern of swaying leaves. His dark eyes shone amber where the light touched them, and so close beside him -- Nekohiko could almost smell the evanescent aroma of camellia blossoms on Suminoe's clothes and hair.

Ah! Another lurch to the past and the days spent in Suminoe's office! Nostalgia caught Nekohiko off-guard, but so did Suminoe's kind, thoughtful nod to the small path winding around the Shrine.

"Come," Suminoe told him and waited for Nekohiko to follow.

Together, they strolled silently for a while, with Nekohiko observing Suminoe from the side, heart in his mouth, his breath stiff in his chest. Just in case this was an ambush or another trick against him -- he was prepared to strike. Fully prepared to be betrayed again.

But so far, nothing rang any suspicious bells in him. Suminoe inhaled the crisp autumn air freely, nodding and bowing to all the novices and priests who passed by until he and Nekohiko were far away from anyone's hearing.

The stone lanterns here amassed entire lantern trees with the same eerie magical glow inside them. Suminoe finally spoke, slowing down.

"You want to know the reason why you were murdered so cruelly, don't you?" He turned aside, detached. "That is not something I can answer in all honesty, Nekohiko. I myself do not know. I merely found out about the Great Lords' plotting and scheming behind your back and how they wanted to gain access to you through Abihiko. Which does seem obvious now that I think about it. He is Hira Okinaga's ward and his family comes from the Utsuro Lordship. Of course he would have more loyalties to them than to you or to me. And of course he fell to their manipulations sooner or later." Suminoe's gaze now felt especially chilly on Nekohiko's face. "A man in the prison of his own emotions is a weak target for schemers."

Nekohiko listened, a subtle shiver raking through him.

What... was Suminoe even talking about? A prison of one's... emotions? Abihiko had more loyalties to the Great Lords than to... Nekohiko?

No, but...

No.

Never.

Yet Suminoe went on, and Nekohiko didn't have time to think about it deeper.

"So when I found out about their plot -- all I could do was to come up with a way to save you from the certain assassination, and in such a way that they would not suspect you were still alive."

Nekohiko shuddered, drawing back. Anger, sudden and unstoppable, stabbed right through him. "You could have warned me!"

"Warn you? And do what?" Suminoe's usual coldness resembled cruelty to Nekohiko's agitated mind. "You are not a good actor, Nekohiko. If you knew you were to be killed, would it have looked as believable to all of them when it actually happened?"

Well.

That made sense. Some perverse, twisted sense. Yet Nekohiko could not just accept that. If Suminoe had allowed such tragic agony of five years being trapped inside a numb tree to happen to Nekohiko simply because he thought Nekohiko's acting skills sucked -- that was no less painful than being stabbed all over again!

His mind flashed back to those days before the Emerald Palace siege after which he'd been killed. Nekohiko tried to grasp at any small detail that would show him -- this day or this night would have been perfect for Suminoe to have told him the truth, or that other day could have been when Suminoe had warned him, prepared him -- or had done anything to ease Nekohiko's eventual pain.

But, oddly enough, as Nekohiko mucked around his memories of his fifteenth year of his life slowly drawing in to his sixteenth birthday, he realized...

...that the entire year was a bit... fuzzy in his mind.

A bit short, too. Flashes of battles and dangers popped at him from that time, a lot of blurry outlines of the Spiritside, but other than that -- not much sense or meaning he could easily discern.

How strange.

"Your Holiness, when was the time I have opened my last seal, the Utsuro one?" Nekohiko suddenly asked. "It was half a year before I died, right?"

He could not be sure, though. He knew well how foggy his mind became after he'd unlocked his power seals. Nagare and Hira were first, and they had also been the easiest ones for him to adapt to.

But later, the Towa seal had devoured a lot of his time on getting used to the powers that came with it. And after that, the Hisome seal had taken an even greater toll on his mind back then.

He still remembered the circumstances and the depressing reasons for why he'd had to unlock these seals. However, the memory of unlocking the Spiritside seal that Suminoe had himself put on Nekohiko was the worst.

Nekohiko didn't even want to recall that event.

It was probably the shittiest day in his life back then -- just as bad as the day he'd died. Because, driven to the ends of despair, right after unlocking Suminoe's Spiritside seal, Nekohiko had demanded the lifting of the last one -- the seal of Utsuro. A chain of events far too hideous led to that.

But now, with a clear mind, he recognized how stupid he'd been to unlock two seals at the same time -- and two such powerful ones! That couldn't have been good on anyone's psyche, right? Nekohiko remembered only the barest glimpses of what went on in his mind when that had happened, but it hurt nonetheless.

"Why do you ask?" Suminoe's brow creased.

"You told me once that the times I've opened my seals, I would always blank out for a little while afterward, simply to get used to the new powers. So this whole plot of the Great Lords... I must have completely missed it because of that side effect. I don't remember a lot of things in my last half a year before sixteen," Nekohiko said, bewildered. "I remember... you. And I remember all those endless war councils I and all the Lords had during our campaign. I remember Abihiko... I remember the foreign fleet that had come to aid the Usurper. And that I fought against it... and that we... won, apparently."

Suminoe's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes. We did. What else do you remember?" he asked, cautious.

"I remember the siege of the Emerald Palace best," Nekohiko said. "But, to be honest with you, I do not remember much after I died even though, obviously, I never even died. The five years trapped in that tree... they passed by fuzzily, too. Like the last half a year before that." He suddenly raised his head at Suminoe, pleading. "It was all due to the side effects of unlocking the two last seals?"

Suminoe kept quiet a moment.

"Absolutely. Like I told you -- warning you about the Great Lords' plotting against you wouldn't have accounted for much. You weren't really yourself during that time, Nekohiko. I had to pretend to be with them to get even the slightest chance of succeeding in saving you."

...hm.

Nekohiko tilted his head, cold with trepidation. "When you say I wasn't myself during that time... what do you mean? Both Daichi and Etsuko had called me a 'monster' who deserved to die, you know? I always wondered what they were talking about since that never made any sense to me. I have never done anything wrong or immoral in my life. I have not actually deserved to be plotted against." Breathless, he stared at Suminoe like a drowning man would at the saving branch. "Yes?"

"You were spacing out, Nekohiko, as you tended to do after unlocking any of your seals," Suminoe said with a graceful wave of his hand. "But nothing substantially worse. Trust me. The plot against you was vile treason and struggle for power. And nothing beyond that. You have to remember this. Will you?"

Relief felt like a tide of fresh, cold water on Nekohiko's pained mind.

Even if he still had his doubts, he found it impossible not to get drawn into Suminoe's soothing tone. He blinked, eyes pricking with uncalled tears. But this time -- tears of hopefulness.

"So you think they were all unreasonable when they backstabbed me?"

"Of course. Why would I ever think otherwise, Nekohiko? Had I not raised you to be exactly the person you are now or were five years ago?" A subtle shade of an unfamiliar emotion crossed his face as Suminoe leaned to hug Nekohiko from the back, and for a moment, Suminoe almost felt like a completely different person to Nekohiko.

But... who?

"If you are at fault for anything the Great Lords claim you to be, then no doubt I am at fault, too. And that is simply not possible, mmm?"

This sounded so mocking, like only something a person who hated Suminoe and wanted to insult him would say. Yet the words had come out of Suminoe's own mouth...

Nekohiko gulped, unsure, but the moment passed. Suminoe went on with his slow pacing of the lantern-tree glade, once again assuming the cool, indifferent mien that suited him so well.

"Now that you're finally here, we can dispose of that traitor on the throne," Suminoe kept going, hands behind his back. "I will make sure your revenge is satisfied with him. But before you try to do anything -- anything at all, Nekohiko -- you have to consult with me. You do not know many things that go behind the scenes in this snakepit of nobles and power struggles." He halted, casting a glance at Nekohiko. "What are your plans for the nearest future?"

...

Nekohiko dropped his gaze, also pacing the clearing to distract from his nervousness. "My plans? About the throne? I'd wish to take the throne back as peacefully as possible. Without any confrontations..."

"I see, I see. That can be done, especially since after the wedding, Abihiko's usefulness to the realm would diminish."

Huh? In which way?

"Sakami getting pregnant with Abihiko's child would pass down the bloodline to her, and he himself would no longer be needed. And for that, do we need him for longer than a few days after the wedding?"

However little Nekohiko cared about Abihiko's marriages, this... hurt him to hear.

Was this how insignificant Abihiko truly was to everyone in this place? Just a breeding stallion, easily discarded?

"The Imperial bloodline is thin, Nekohiko. We have to take as many chances as we can to prolong it. There are not many descendants left, after all. Apart from you, Abihiko, and Abihiko's siblings -- almost nobody. Didn't you know that?"

What???

Wait, how?!

"Weren't there like... twenty people at the least between me and Abi family's claim to the throne? Besides the fact that Abi family is incredibly weakly-related to the Imperial dynasty at all?"

A grim smile touched Suminoe's lips. "Yes, Nekohiko. There were. How else do you think Abihiko got to the throne? Do you really believe none of those twenty-seven people would have disputed his claim? Please."

...

Did that mean...

"He killed all of those people?!"

"Well, he killed you as well, so what do you expect? For him to stop from murdering some other innocents to get what he wanted?"

Twenty-seven people...

Innocent people most of whom probably didn't even want to lay claims on the throne, to begin with! And out of all those twenty-seven people... were there no elderly or... young children either?

The last time Nekohiko had heard about the number of people between the throne and the Abi family, there were twenty-five people. If there had been twenty-seven in the end, it meant that two of them were new.

Essentially newborns.

Oh gods...

N-no...

Stunned, Nekohiko looked before him, yet his eyes saw nothing.

"He wouldn't do that," he said at last, his voice a croak. And as soon as he said that, he felt that it was the truth. Abihiko... killing innocent children? To get to the Emerald Throne?

That bastard didn't even use his powers to rule! He sucked at it. He looked as though he didn't enjoy it in the slightest and would rather do anything than be the Emperor!

"No, that doesn't sound like Abihiko at all," Nekohiko said, louder. "For all his faults, he is a rather simple person. He is not a schemer..."

Sudden, Suminoe caught Nekohiko by the elbow and drew him near. His face leaned close -- unbearably close to Nekohiko's. "Yes? And that simple non-scheming person ended up slitting your throat. Do you not remember, Nekohiko?"

Ah, why were they standing so close...?

Nekohiko stepped away, but Suminoe followed, not letting him out of his grasp.

"B-but Abihiko is really bad at ruling and doesn't seem interested in the Empire. Never did! I just don't get what would possibly be the reason for him to scheme with the others against me--"

Nekohiko's back hit a massive stone lantern-tree. Seized by Suminoe, he felt trapped between the Head Priest and the lantern, more so because Suminoe didn't care that Nekohiko had nowhere else to draw back now.

He leaned to Nekohiko even closer. His breath was cool on Nekohiko's cheek, like a hiss of sleet in winter. "His reasons? Easy, Nekohiko. Tell me, what did you perceive Abihiko as, your whole life? Your best friend? Well. I bet he perceived you as something else entirely."

What?

No. Abihiko had never hidden from Nekohiko that he wanted more from their relationship. But he had also never demanded it or even expected it.

Nekohiko tried to argue, but Suminoe's face dipped closer. Now not only his breath but his actual lips caressed Nekohiko's ear as he murmured, "Do you not know what your and my relationship looked like from the outside perspective, Nekohiko?"

Nekohiko's breath choked in his mouth. "You are my primary guardian. My... father figure. I was the closest thing to a son you've ever had... You told me this yourself, years ago. D-do you not remember?"

"Oh yes, I do. But do you actually believe that was what Abihiko or others saw when you and I spent all those long, quiet nights meditating and talking about Spirits together? Sometimes weeks without leaving the inn rooms where we stayed during the campaign, Nekohiko." Gentle, Suminoe coiled a strand of Nekohiko's hair on his finger and tugged it from his ear. His unreadable, frigid gaze lingered on Nekohiko's face as though drinking it in. "To you and me, being close just meant that we are very similar and can only find solace in each other. Like most Spiritually-minded people are. But to an outsider, you and I, together, it would look like something quite different."

No. Please don't say something like this...

It... hurts to hear. To even imagine.

Nekohiko trembled, wanting to flee Suminoe's proximity. But luckily, Suminoe did not intend to pressure him further. He slipped aside, leaving Nekohiko behind, lost and shaken.

"So yes. Take Abihiko's jealousy, his distrust, his obsessions, and being rejected by you so often -- and you get resentment, bitterness, even loathing. Not only for you but for everything that you represent. Including your dreams of ascending to the Emerald Throne," Suminoe told him lightly, as though content with the argument he was making. "It's no big wonder why Abihiko became such an easy target for all those scheming nobles." He glanced back, once again his usual, collected self. "Which only proves how great his betrayal actually is. We should punish him. We should take our revenge, Nekohiko."

In his mind, Nekohiko kept denying everything Suminoe told him.

It didn't make much sense. Abihiko... jealous? Obsessive?

Were these even Abihiko's qualities? Because Nekohiko for sure knew that Abihiko had never been jealous or obsessive toward him in his life...

But at the same time, what other reason could it be? Nekohiko didn't know.

Suminoe's explanation was at least something he could grasp for.

"But for that revenge to succeed, you do not make any moves unless you tell me about them first, you understand?" Suminoe cut, grave. "We let the wedding happen -- for the good of the realm in continuing the lineage of the Imperial House -- then you and I will make our claims to the throne. Not sooner. Got it?"

Numb, Nekohiko nodded.

"You will leave Nara today and go to Izumo where you will be safe for the duration of the wedding and the festivals. I'll give you an escort of Spiritway priests and Wayfarers and some dummies to make sure you're safe and reach your destination without bother."

Ehh?

When had Nekohiko agreed to that, though?

That sounded less like an escort and more like a convoy.

"I have some other things to do in Nara," he began saying, but Suminoe jumped on the statement instantly.

"What? Tell me. I need to know everything, or you and I will lose against these sneaky, treacherous nobles." When it took Nekohiko too long to come up with an answer, Suminoe stepped up again. "Tell me your plans, Nekohiko. Were you going to do something during the wedding or after it?"

Spirits.

Nekohiko felt trapped and too confused to function. He wanted to tell everything to Suminoe just because that was what he had always done in his life. Relied on Suminoe's advice, on his superior knowledge of what was a smart decision and what wasn't, on Suminoe's deep care for Nekohiko's dreams and ambitions.

So how was now different?

Yet he felt it was.

He was too stricken and dumbfound to formulate even to himself all of the things he had just found out from Suminoe. How could he make a decision to tell his true plans to him in such a shaken condition? What if some of Suminoe's explanations needed him to mull them over before he acted on them?

He couldn't make such a decision right now, could he?

Suminoe was bound to understand. Nekohiko had never been a rash kind of person anyway.

"I don't... know. It's all so sudden and confusing," Nekohiko said.

Suminoe's hands lay on Nekohiko's forearms, giving him an encouraging squeeze. "Well, while you think it over, I'll take you to where your escort awaits. They'll keep you safe and you just tell them when you're ready to go pick up your things from the inn where you're staying -- and then to leave Nara."

Hhhhaaaah! Escort? Already?!

What was the hurry?

"No," Nekohiko said, politely extricating himself from Suminoe's clutch. "I need to say my goodbyes to Kataji and Mikawa first. Please. I do not want to be escorted to hang out with my friends. That would arouse suspicions."

"Hm. All right. No escort," Suminoe said. "Do Kataji and Mikawa have any private knowledge of your plans or your true identity? Because if they do, I'd like to know that--"

"No! Of course they do not. And nobody does," Nekohiko lied. "You were the first person to realize."

Even Suminoe's quick agreement to not give Nekohiko an escort filled Nekohiko with doubts.

There would still be people tailing him everywhere he went, wouldn't there? Unlikely that Suminoe worried about his safety so much yet would agree to leave him be so easily...

"Good." Suminoe once again reached his hand to touch Nekohiko's hair, but never actually did. This was such a familiar gesture of denied gentleness between the two of them that Nekohiko almost felt bad for lying to him. "You are a good boy, Nekohiko. You may go for now. But please -- before the wedding ceremony begins tomorrow morning, I'd like to see you off from Nara personally. Just to make sure you're safe while I'll be busy with the rituals."

"I'll come see you before the wedding," Nekohiko promised.

He felt Suminoe's heavy gaze on his back as he walked down the path back to the entrance to the Shrine. He thought that this gaze never left him even when Suminoe was nowhere close.

And only after he'd gotten even further away, did Nekohiko suddenly realize how spent and how weak he felt after this small encounter. As though sapped of all energy, both physical and mental. He couldn't understand or believe even half of what he and Suminoe had talked about.

But one thing he knew for sure:

This body could not interact with anyone on whom his real plans for tomorrow depended. He could not expose his actual allies like that.

So, no more hanging out with Kasuga, or Aomi, or Kotone, or Haehime for his wedding plans. In fact, this body had to keep as far away from them all so that he could conceal his involvement with the wedding for as long as he could.

Because really, nothing of what Suminoe had just told him changed his plans in any way. He did not need someone's guesses on why Abihiko had done what he did. 

He wanted Abihiko's explanation. And nobody else's.

The wedding plan had to commence as scheduled.

 

 

---

***

 

 He escaped to the entrance of the Shrine, expecting to be followed. He needed to go back into his cat form to eavesdrop on the Bride's side meeting, but he had no opportunity to simply abandon this body wherever. Most priests and monks would think something bad happened to him, and Suminoe -- if he still was around, would even think Nekohiko needed help recovering after the intense conversation.

So Nekohiko came up with the perfect distraction. He slipped into the prayer hall, sank to his knees in front of the incense lantern altar and assumed the pose of a dutiful believer in the middle of meditation.

He did need some time to recover after what he'd learned, but that time was not now. He had too many things to do to rush with the new information.

His eyes closed, his hands lay serenely on his lap. He bowed a couple of times, then finally left this body and fled to the cat.

Needless to say, what the cat saw around him was not in any way a meditative experience.

The tea room was like a vortex of menacing, negative emotions. Nekohiko was on Haehime's lap, being petted for so long and so diligently, he wondered if the Shrine Maiden hadn't yet rubbed most of his fur off his back.

From her lap, he had a clear view of the enormous table and the tea sets placed at its corners. Haehime and Kotone sat opposite each other, eyes curious and somewhat indifferent behind the cups from which they sipped all too often. Both young Izumo women threw amused glances to the other two sides of the table:

On one side was what Nekohiko called in his head "The Morokata faction".

A very skittish and humbled Sakami with eyes hidden beneath lowered eyelashes, one her right -- that nasty lanky Hisome girl who was her main bodyguard, Kiyoko. Kiyoko's eyes flashed at Kasuga and Aomi by turns and her knuckles twitched every time Aomi did something random. As though readying to repel a strike or to attack, which, Nekohiko didn't doubt Kiyoko would do if she suspected anyone in foul moves against her beloved Sakami.

On Sakami's left -- sat Iokirihime. The Queen of Towa.

Which was funny because five years ago, Iokirihime had been betrothed to Nekohiko instead. The second of his potential wives.

Even after years of not seeing her, Nekohiko had no problem recognizing her divine features because Iokirihime hadn't changed one bit. Not only physically. Her utter lack of involvement also was uniquely hers. With her usual elegant flair, she sat half-reclined in a magnificent pose, her face as blank as the surface of water on a cloudy day. It was hard to say if she even listened to anything that went on around her, so Nekohiko struggled to call her part of "Morokata's faction."

And yet, she was. Always had been. A peculiar alliance between her and Morokata, wasn't it? Such an engaged and lively young man and such a nonexistent, dull young woman...

Nekohiko had always wondered what benefits Morokata's alliance gave to her, but then -- she did get her army to attack Kasuga as soon as he had called. Some part of her had to care. Some part of her had to despise the Towa's ancient rival and foe -- House Nagare, even if Iokirihime did not show it at the moment.

Across the table from "Morokata's faction" sat what Nekohiko could only call "The Little Girl faction". Seeing as both Aomi and Kasuga were the youngest people present and both were below sixteen and thus officially labeled as "children" by the Spiritside laws... yeah, what else could he call them other than "little girls"?

They looked the part, too.

However scared Sakami was, however pissed was Kiyoko, however bored -- Iokirihime, and however fascinated Kotone and Haehime, all of these young women looked adult. They looked like they belonged at a Bride's party before the big day. They wore fancy yet appropriate clothes and held themselves with the poise of the mature.

The two little girls in their military outfits and their exaggerated miens to try and seem more grown-up than they were -- revealed a stark contrast to that. 

Aomi sat in a flamboyant manner as though trying to threaten the other women with her puffed-out chest and highly-raised chin, while Kasuga sat straight as a stick, her hands fidgeting with the tea set before her as though she didn't know what else to do.

From the little of the ongoing conversation Nekohiko heard, it was nothing of great interest to him. Kotone was consulting all the ladies on their roles in the ceremony, with Haehime interrupting her constantly with her own quirky additions.

"The Hisome family is responsible for petals and bees floating through the air," Sakami told them breathily when they asked about the decorations. Her meek words required everyone to quieten down in order to hear her.

"No bees," Kasuga said into the empty teacups she was lining up before her in fervent anguish. "The Nagare family provides moths and butterflies."

"Oh. Of course," Sakami said, trembling. Then, as though realizing as should, she bowed, "I am sorry, Your Majesty, that I even suggested--"

Kiyoko's eyes flickered with hidden fire. 

"Thank you dearly, but this is a Hisome wedding, so bees it is," Kiyoko told Kasuga in her usual acidic tone. "We do not want the enemy magical elements spying on the guests at our event!"

"Spying?" Kasuga paled. "Why would--"

"O-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Aomi exploded beside her, leaning her head on Kasuga's shoulder. "Yes, because we, the Nagare, are apparently so untrustworthy that we might use our moths to spy on you!"

We, the Nagare? Kasuga's lips mouthed as she gave Aomi a frustrated look.

"But of course you the Hisomes are sooooo trustworthy!" Aomi went on, flipping her hair as she reached for her teacup to sip from it majestically. "And your Hisome bees will not at all spy against everyone else--"

"Nobody asked Hiras," Kiyoko told her, teeth bared.

"I am not a Hira, only my Eldest Brother is," Aomi replied with the same level of teeth showing in her predatory smile. "I am an Utsuro, if anything, because we live in Utsuro Kingdom. Just so you know."

"Utsuro Kingdom is weird. So far away, so cold," Haehime said dreamily. "But its apples are very delicious, mmm. I want an apple now."

"Me too!" Kotone gushed, suddenly erupting into clapping. "Oh, we can all pitch in what traditional cuisine is in every Kingdom and bring it to the feasting table after the ceremony!"

"What a marvelous idea," Sakami squeaked somewhere in between everyone's chatter. "I love it!"

"Aren't we already doing that?" Kiyoko glared at both the Izumo priestesses. "And I wonder what will the Nagares bring other than air, pff."

"Air, mmm. Also very delicious," Haehime murmured under her nose, squeezing Nekohiko to her chest.

Nekohiko had had enough of it. He slipped out of Haehime's lap and found his way under the table and onto the cushions between Kasuga and Aomi. To Aomi -- because the girl was really gearing up for another thinly-veiled attack on Hisomes and Nekohiko wanted to bite her to stop her from going on with it, and to Kasuga -- because...

...because Kasuga looked as though she might cry any moment now.

Nekohiko had never seen her in this state before.

Kasuga was strong, she was reserved and collected and completely able to stand up to anyone who would launch an attack on her. But here, amidst the courtly lounging and tea-drinking and constant jabs at each other, and in the presence of both her nemeses -- Iokirihime and the Hisomes... Without being able to go into her preferred battle mode of dealing with her foes, Kasuga was slowly drifting off into a subtle mental breakdown.

She stiffened, her small fist on her lap twitching with tension as did her other hand lying on the table along her compulsively-assembled lines of teacups. One wrong move, and Kasuga almost overturned another of the cups onto herself, spraying some tea dregs onto her pretty uniform.

Nekohiko felt so bad for her.

He hated these kinds of social gatherings as well and wanted nothing more than to leave. But he was an adult and he should do better than that while Kasuga was really just a child. A child whose father died very early, leaving her to fend for herself against such formidable and unforgiving people as Towas and Hisomes.

He did bite Aomi while passing her by, then poked his furry head into Kasuga's knee. In what he hoped was the best "hang in there" gesture he could afford.

"Ow," Aomi gasped, pinching Nekohiko's butt in response. "Stupid cat."

"Also, do not talk poorly of Queen Kasuga's help in the ceremony," Kotone slipped to Kiyoko in a loud whisper. "You are in her Shrine¹Once again, this is a mere word-play pun on the fact the Spring Sunlight Shrine they are in sounds like "Kasuga" Shrine in Japanese ^^ ., after all. This is not nice to offend the Spirits of the Shrine."

Kasuga froze. "..."

But Kiyoko only scoffed. "This is not her Shrine, are you insane, Spiritway Maiden Kotone?"

"You never know," Haehime hummed blissfully. "Names mean things. This Shrine may have much more in common with Lady Kasuga because of it. I would be much more reverent if I were you."

Aomi was busy dabbing a handkerchief over the spilled tea on Kasuga's chest and collar, but she nodded on to everything Haehime and Kotone were saying. "Yep. Yep, absolutely! And, also -- it's Your Majesty Kasuga," she added to Kiyoko specifically. "Please remember that."

"Please remember that from tomorrow, you would be referring to Her Supreme Divine Majesty Sakami as well then," Kiyoko answered, eyes narrowed. "And I see nothing wrong with referring to a war criminal with a diminished title. After all, isn't the Trial for Queen Kasuga's war crimes against the people of the Empire happening a month from now?"

Poor Kasuga.

Nekohiko could feel how Kasuga trembled, dropping her chin low. Her collarbone-length hair covered her face from others, but from so close up, Nekohiko could see that Kasuga bit her lower lip down. Hard.

Aomi probably saw it too, because the girl suddenly gave Kasuga a hug from the side. And Kasuga was too rigid and uncomfortable to push her away in time.

"It's snowing," Iokirihime said in the prolonged hush that erupted, her eyes watching somewhere out of this room with the most deadpan expression on her face.

The problem was -- it was early autumn. And she was looking at the wall when she said that. So nobody really wanted to argue or dispute her words, simply going on with their organizational duties as needed.

Though, a bit later, Haehime did lean toward Iokirihime and said with the merriest grin on her lips, "I know, right? Hope it won't be a blizzard."

 

 

---

***

 

 

The meeting ended up being utter chaos and Nekohiko had forgotten most of it after it ended. Sakami had trembled and smiled guiltily through its entirety, Kasuga was curling inward, refusing to participate, Iokirihime was... herself, while the chatting Izumo priestesses only sometimes overtook the conversations from Aomi's and Kiyoko's verbal sparring -- with the classic Izumo statements about Spirituality.

Nekohiko disliked it all immensely.

Only after the "Morokata faction" had left late in the afternoon, did the real Bride's meeting begin.

Nekohiko presided over it in his cat form. In the shadowy room, with long stretches of burnished red sunset glow striping the table and the floor from the window.

He talked, a lot. To Haehime and Kotone mostly, but to Aomi and Kasuga as well. Only to tell them what would happen and what their roles would be.

But not why. And not with whom.

The only thing he told the Little Girls for now was that somebody -- not Sakami -- was marrying Abihiko tomorrow. Thus, the girls didn't pester him with too many questions during his elaborations on the exact plan of how things would go. If anything, Kasuga looked slightly bored while Aomi looked very much confused.

But they listened. Instead of making shocked or overly excited faces at him -- the two Little Girls listened and even agreed to lend their help in the convoluted plan.

Though Kasuga still appeared a bit disgruntled by it.

"...and this would benefit the Nagare Kingdom -- how?" she asked once Nekohiko made her and Aomi repeat to the exactness the details of their personal participation in the plan.

"By the Bride not being a Hisome?" Nekohiko told her, annoyed.

"By the Bride being the best possible match for the Emperor and the Empire that you can imagine!" Kotone sighed from over the table.

"Why would I care who's the best match for the Emperor?" Kasuga asked.

"Because he's my brother and we want him to be happy?" Aomi snapped in disbelief.

To which Kasuga could only give her a blank look. "We? You said 'we' awfully much tonight, didn't you? But I still don't understand what this 'we' refers to..."

"We are all the children of the great Spirits of the Land, drinking the milk of its wisdom and beauty with each breath we take," Haehime intoned mysteriously from another corner of the table.

...

Nekohiko shook with tension, so cranky he was getting with the endless tangents this conversation was taking.

He was just trying to lay out his plan without interruptions. Was it too much to ask? Tomorrow was a big day for him. He had to go sleep at a reasonable time tonight. So much depended on him tomorrow!

"You do not need to know who the Bride is, just what you need to do to get her to that altar alongside Abihiko!" he lashed out, at last.

"Yes, but I think I would only really get on board if I knew who the Bride is," Kasuga said with a shrug.

And Aomi echoed her. "Yes, who is the Bride? Please, pleeease tell us. Do I know her? What if she's ugly? What if she's a bore?"

"We don't have much time," Nekohiko replied. "In fact, this is it. I need to go -- I have a full-night's sleep before me because my role in the wedding is also quite crucial. I would appreciate it if you cooperated with me right now."

Aomi put her elbows on the table, intrigued. "What role, Itsuki? Can you at least tell meeee?"

...

Actually, he hadn't been lying. He had fully prepared to leave already. And now that he had...

Was there any purpose in hiding the truth from both of the girls?

It wasn't as though he'd be the one to deal with their reactions because he'd just leave his cat body behind and skip all of the innuendos and elaborations he'd have to endure!

So, politely inclining his head to Aomi and giving her a very, very mean eye, he said,

"Well. Aomi. That is because, Aomi, I am the bride. Aomi. I am the one who marries your stupid brother tomorrow, all right? Happy? So please if you can -- just -- do -- what I ask of you both tomorrow -- that would be great. For the Empire, at least. Got it, Aomi?"

Aomi slowly blinked while Kasuga straightened, her face losing color very swiftly.

Time to leave.

"Good night, bye!" Nekohiko mewled and fled from his cat body and into his human one just in time before the Little Girls' resounding "WHAT" reached his ears.