Chapter Seventy-Seven

A Bachelor's Party?

 

 

Nekohiko leisurely strolled down the winding path that led from the Spring Sunlight Shrine, stopping only to admire the savage beauty of the breaking sunset that spilled in blazing orange over the Nara horizon. The trees around him wafted of beautiful, shimmering pine scents, the woodpecker's beat far away reverberated across the path. Yet, placid as the scenery was, Nekohiko knew he wasn't alone.

He was being watched, every step he took.

The chill of discomfort coursed up his spine, but he refused to let it show.

Suminoe? Was this how much he worried about Nekohiko? Nekohiko didn't mind it that much, really. His whole childhood and youth had been spent under Suminoe's watchful gaze. Yes, even the moments when Nekohiko had thought he was at his wit's end, or at the cusp of danger...

However painful this was to remember, it was true. Suminoe had never not paid attention to what Nekohiko had been doing.

Never. Not once. Not until Nekohiko had found that out and--

Oh. Better not to go down those painful memories.

Simply put -- Suminoe was a cold person. To the point of cruel indifference to the lives of anyone who was not Nekohiko. People weren't lying or exaggerating when they called him that.

But being indifferent to literally everyone in the world, and being indifferent to Nekohiko were two opposite things. Thus, though Nekohiko would never in his life call Suminoe a good, moral person, he would also never not appreciate the watchful care Suminoe had always given him.

It even made him feel safer, to imagine that nothing had changed and his life was still being closely monitored by Suminoe as it had been ten years ago.

Yet times had changed.

Imagining that this was ten years ago only made him ache because he knew how illusory this idea was. Nothing he could do about it.

So no -- he was a different person. And perhaps, being followed and spied on did not feel as safe or as benevolent to him anymore.

Clasping his hands behind his back, he descended the steps, bowing to passing monks and Shrine visitors. Before he even reached the bottom of the path, the winds around him swept with a harsh howl of a starting hurricane.

But it was no hurricane because the winds calmed down just as quickly as they had risen.

Only the tree branches around him groaned from the strain, and his clothes and hair flapped about violently.

"Your Majesty Kasuga."

Nekohiko turned to regard her, only a bit intimidated by the severe stare she gave him.

"What was that!" she demanded, pointing back at the Shrine from which she had just flown to here.

Ah, his escape hadn't lasted even a single path-long? He had hoped that Kasuga and Aomi would be held off by Kotone's insufficient explanation for a bit longer than this.

Then again, at least Aomi was nowhere near Kasuga. Already better.

He could maybe handle Kasuga's scorn, but not Aomi's rotten-minded insinuations about Abihiko and him! Ugh, he could already imagine...

Plus, the delay was probably enough for Kotone to have explained something to the girls. So Nekohiko wouldn't have to. All of it was Kotone's duty as it befitted her -- being the administrator in a Shrine School -- to care about and educate the future generations about the important matters of the world.

And because of that, Nekohiko could skip most of the discomfort of the explanations and quicken the moment when he could go to sleep!

Wasn't this so smart of him? He was awfully proud of himself and didn't mind seeing how stormy Kasuga looked at him.

"Ah, that?" he tried to sound delighted. "Yes, sorry I abandoned you and Lady Abi without waiting for you two. It was my time to return to my Master, Kataji."

Kasuga frowned, starting to say something, but Nekohiko struck first.

He gave her a heavy, intense stare, then mouthed, barely audibly.

We are being watched. And probably listened to, he said, knowing well that Kasuga's wind powers could catch and amplify sounds to hear almost anything she wanted.

Without making it seem obvious, search me for foreign spells and dispose of them, he mouthed next, continuing his slow walk down the path as casually as his body could walk.

Kasuga was a reliable girl, he always knew. Like Mikawa, only so much more forward. He felt the snaking chill of a wind spell climb up his ankles and thighs, grasp around his abdomen, his chest, his arms, rustle through his hair and long sleeves, searching.

With a dismissive flip of her hand, Kasuga flicked something that looked like an insect off Nekohiko's shoulder.

"Ah," Nekohiko said, trying to act surprised. "What are you doing, Your Majesty?"

"I don't like hive and swarm insects like what Hisomes tend to enjoy so much, just so you know," Kasuga told him, descending the steps alongside him. "And that thing on you was a bee."

"I hope it wasn't a spying Hisome bee!" Nekohiko gushed. "Good thing Your Nagare Majesty feels so much safer now in my presence!"

But underneath all this mindless chatter, Nekohiko murmured his new directions at Kasuga.

Raise a wind shield around us so that nobody who follows can tell what we're talking about.

Subtly, Kasuga nodded, then caught the trail of what Nekohiko was saying before. "Alas," she said, "I still do not feel comfortable enough. The capital seems an awfully suspicious place to me. Care if I raised a shield to not be eavesdropped on by my enemies?"

"Would we be discussing military secrets?" Nekohiko made big eyes, hopping down the next step.

Kasuga's eyes turned to slits. "Maybe. Probably." A flashing snap of her fingers, and a translucent bubble of energized air erupted around her and Nekohiko like a shield. Nekohiko felt the security in the sound traveling inside almost immediately.

The outside world's sounds and winds came through Kasuga's bubble easily, but everything inside it was heavily filtered for the outside perception. Sound? Muted. Visuals to prevent lip-reading? Distorted.

Like a fine sieve, catching everything Kasuga wanted to keep to herself.

"Definitely," Kasuga finished saying, and finally felt safe enough to grab Nekohiko's elbow meanly. "Now explain yourself. The Emperor's Bride."

Nekohiko lifted a finger. "Not the Emperor's Bride. I am the actual, true Emperor, forgot? If anything, it's Abihiko who's the Bride, all right? Please take note and do not mix these up again."

Kasuga looked irritated. The subject matter probably did not interest her in the slightest and she would prefer to drop the topic altogether. But an immature desire to be proven right...

"You'll be wearing a white gown and would be given off to him to marry," she went on arguing. "What else is that but not a Bride? You'll carry his last name and would go into the bridal chambers first to wait for him there to--"

"I am so sick and tired of all this Bride's side stuff," Nekohiko snapped, stomping down the last steps and onto the stone pathwalk that led down the street into a livelier Nara neighborhood. "I was there with you and the others in that horrid little tea-room when everyone kept talking about Bride's this and Bride's that. Can we please talk about something else for a change?"

With a commiserating nod, Kasuga fell beside him into a leisurely saunter. "To be honest, yes. Please. That room and the entire evening in there talking about nothing else but the wedding..."

"Ah, you weren't alone like this. I don't think Iokirihime or even Kiyoko were all that interested in the conversation either. Kiyoko mainly used it to bully everyone. And Aomi used it to show her disregard for the topic overall. Really, now that I think about it -- I don't remember anybody enjoying that meeting aside from the Izumo priestesses. And they only enjoyed it because it was an opportunity for this scheme tomorrow..."

"That does make it a little bit more exciting, yes," Kasuga admitted wearily. "But in a detached way. As in -- I don't want to participate in some bizarre trick when I don't know why it happens. But I concede that it might be fascinating to watch from the sidelines."

Nekohiko halted. "You opt out of it?"

No, no, no. Many parts of the plan depended on Kasuga's participation!

"Kotone told me so, so much about true love between you and Abihiko once you left--"

Oh. Um.

"She's exaggerating." Nekohiko winced.

"Yes, that's the point. If this was really a true love why hide it from Abihiko? And if it's not then why lie about it? All in all, it's just a bit too convoluted and potentially too dangerous to get involved in if I don't understand the stakes."

The two of them strolled over to the calm streets with houses on it. Not many people around, plenty of time to think and walk in peace just the two of them.

Nekohiko took in a deep breath. "Abihiko is also being followed and it's much harder to shield him from the spies. And in regards to this involving his true love... I genuinely have no idea why Kotone thinks that. What I can promise you is that it's putting the right person on the throne and will bring peace to the torn and suffering Spirits across the Empire. True love? Who even cares about that kind of thing?"

"Kotone does," Kasuga said, thoughtful. "And Haehime does. And Aomi does, too. Actually, Aomi had told me countless times about her Eldest Brother and his long-lost love and how she wishes for the two of them to reunite to make him happy. But then, when you told me and her that you'll be the Bride... she smiled after the first confusion wore off. And she seemed so ecstatic to chatter all about it with Kotone." Carefully, Kasuga gave Nekohiko a suspicious glance. "Do not tell me you were the person she'd been rambling to me about for weeks. With the whole epic love story between you and her brother."

Epic love story?

Ah, part of Nekohiko felt bad for disappointing all these people so much. This marriage wouldn't bring Abihiko happiness. And no part of it would involve "love" of any sort. That had long become obsolete in this entire depressing relationship.

"What is even true love?" Nekohiko scoffed. "Personally, I do not believe in it, so it's useless to even discuss it with me."

Kasuga wanted to speak up but Nekohiko went on in agitation.

"We are all mature people here. The Empire is at stake, and all everyone cares about is love? Come on. Do you really think I'd make such an elaborate scheme just to marry Abihiko -- out of love? That is just preposterous."

"I was only--"

"And it's not like Abihiko believes in true love himself! Do you have any idea how many people he had dated in his lifetime? He can't even remember most of them."

"Yes, but--"

"I did not take you for a person to pay so much attention to love stories others tell you about," Nekohiko ended, displeased.

Kasuga measured him with a heavy stare and walked side by side with him in tense silence for a long while.

"You're aware that you are the one who'd just talked several minutes about true love and not I, don't you? Your vehement protests are... suspicious."

...

Tch.

Nekohiko didn't want to act even more suspiciously about it, so he just pretended he did not hear that.

Kasuga shook her head. "And regarding what Kotone and Aomi told me about it -- I hardly ever listened. But you know how impossible it is to tune Aomi out when she's spending whole days on buzzing around you, yes?"

"You must have suffered a lot."

Yet Kasuga was not in a good mood for any kind of friendly teasing. "I did. Now you owe me an explanation of why. This bizarre drama between you and Abihiko is the dullest thing I've ever heard and I want to get past it as soon as possible. But if your feelings are really involved, then... whatever. I wouldn't mind helping. I just need to make myself care, that's all. So if it's just some political intrigue thing, then I'm out. And if it's not--"

Nekohiko gave her a pissed look. Who would have thought that the moral question of "feelings" was so important to someone like Kasuga, of all people?

But then, of course, it hit him.

Why -- of all people -- Kasuga would stand by two people who wanted to be together in spite of everything, struggling against the entire world to let them be.

Her fathers. Of course. She must have witnessed a lot of the injustices against Kazuragi and Yakabe by the Nagare family. This must hit too close to home for her to just dismiss it.

She walked beside him, averting her eyes as though sensing what he was thinking. Just like before, one day, when she had asked Nekohiko if he could be the reincarnated Kazuragi -- a faint trace of vulnerability crossed her gaze, instantly shut down by her competence and desire to seem put-together.

But Nekohiko could see clearly that she yearned for understanding and guidance without which her early-deceased fathers had left her.

"You once told me that you have known my fathers when you were young and that you owe them your life," she said. "You know, that was exactly what Abihiko had told me once as well."

Figured he would. Nekohiko nodded.

"And when I was around six or seven, my dad told me about getting me acquainted with the Imperial Princess who will have so much in common with me and that he hoped we could be friends with her. He also said that Mikawa should hurry growing up so that he could snatch that Princess before some nasty bratty Hira boy got to her first."

Princess? Really?

And also -- Mikawa...?! Out of all people, had Kazuragi actually wanted to marry Nekohiko to Mikawa while he'd believed he was a girl?

After what happened yesterday night, this news was, frankly, terrifying.

"But as years went by, he stopped mentioning the Princess and instead told me how I'll be married to the Imperial Prince. By the name of Nekohiko," Kasuga kept going, solemn. To Nekohiko's frightened grimace, she shrugged. "That never came through, even before my dad died. Because Yakabe and Kazuragi fought about it all the time. Kazuragi fought because he believed the Nagare family could only succeed against the other Houses by marrying into the Imperial family. While Yakabe believed they just needed to be on the Imperial Prince's side, in all senses of this word, and that it would be just enough. And that the Imperial Prince is probably already snatched by that Hira brat and wouldn't marry anyone else regardless of what people around them did. They were talking about you, weren't they? And the Hira brat was... Abihiko, right?"

"I'm afraid so." Nekohiko felt guilty as hell. Kazuragi and Yakabe fought about him? Gods... not something he had ever even imagined...

"Why are you afraid?" Kasuga frowned, pondering. "Because I said they fought about it? Do not feel bad about that. Most Nagares have very impulsive natures. My mom and dad fought all the time, too, but differently from how he fought with Yakabe. With Yakabe, they disagreed solely about exterior things. While with everyone else, Kazuragi's arguments were... you can imagine."

They walked in silence for a while, with Nekohiko trying to come up with something to say and failing. Which was horrible. Kasuga also clearly didn't enjoy speaking this much, but at least she was doing her best to combat that! And out of the two of them, Nekohiko was the grown-up.

But at the same time, he just didn't know what to say.

Such intimate, personal things shredded his soul. He didn't want to talk to anyone about Abihiko and the whole... "true love" thing. The less said about it, the better.

"So, would you please help me with my plan tomorrow?" he said awkwardly at last.

"Yes." Kasuga noted his surprise and tapped the right side of her chest. "My fathers would have wanted this if it was so important for them to argue about. And besides, the Nagare power comes from the heart. Remember? From powerful emotions. Like 'true love' would have to be, whatever it is."

Aaaaagh, now he felt doubly, triply bad. Not just Kotone and Aomi who already believed they were taking part in some beautiful love story and thus didn't even need Nekohiko to lie to their faces about it. But also Kasuga? He did feel awful for having lied to her.

And when they all would find that out after he'd taken his revenge on Abihiko... It would break their hearts.

"You are the weirdest Nagare I've seen," he confessed after a moment. "You and Mikawa. With how you say all Nagares are so impulsive and emotional--"

"Impulsive and emotional has nothing to do with making your feelings apparent to everyone else." She waved him off, annoyed. "I think both the Head Priest and Abihiko blamed me quite a lot for being too impulsive on the battlefield, for example. That I do not show it doesn't mean I do not feel it."

Suddenly, she stopped, gaze turned aside as though in deep reverie. "Unlike someone like Towa. Her Majesty Iokirihime is... truly admirable in that respect, isn't she? Nothing really gets to her," Kasuga whispered, perhaps only to herself.

"Huuuh? What do you mean?" he stammered.

"I mean, I wish I had a bit less of Nagare in me and a bit more of Towa," Kasuga said with a sigh. "Inertia, apathy. Or at least a bit more of whatever Aomi has that helps her seem so invulnerable in front of others. Please do not tell her I said this."

"I... I won't," Nekohiko squeaked.

Then, before Kasuga could shut in again, clearly not having gotten the consolation and helpful guidance from Nekohiko that she longed for -- Nekohiko decided to act on it. And to provide some... grown-up encouragement to the young girl. She was down, she was miserable. She was wistful for the time with her dead fathers...

She needed a kind interaction with a fellow human.

So, like a fellow human, Nekohiko extended his arm to her and rigidly gave her a half-hug, crushing her to his side. Kasuga tensed up, shoulders raised. His motions stiff, Nekohiko patted her on the back three times which he felt was an appropriate amount.

"There-there," he said fatherly. Or at least he hoped his emotionless voice sounded fatherly enough.

Then, before it became too unbearable for both of them, he stepped away and poked his chin at the side street where the bustlier and livelier crowds began. "Let's go talk more about our plan in that small tavern. I'll buy you noodle soup there while we talk."

Kasuga stayed behind, looking very much startled. "W-why?"

Because I care about you, he wanted to tell her, irritated with her inability to get it. Because I want to act like a father figure for you since you don't have a real one. Just shut up and let me!

"Because it's delicious," he ended up saying out loud, turning and starting down the road on his own. Not even glancing back to see if she followed or not.

After a while, she did. And she didn't mind the soup either.

 

 

---

***

 

Kasuga wasn't staying in the inn Mikawa and Kataji rented. She also wasn't staying in the official Nagare estate in Nara. Why? Because Mikawa would not be welcome or safe there, and so, why would Kasuga even consider that place?

After she and Nekohiko had had their small impromptu dinner in the egg noodle tavern, they took a twisty route across the districts adjacent to the Spring Sunlight Shrine, and it was on one of the particularly calm and friendly streets there that Kasuga found a good place to stay for her and her brother.

Nekohiko was busy checking them in with the keeper of a beautiful small inn called The Freckled Sun while Kasuga sat in the inner courtyard, seemingly meditating. In actuality, she was sending Mikawa a Wind Whisper with the address and the directions so that she and him could be reunited shortly.

On the table before her, Nekohiko put the paper talisman that protected the rooms like a key, then sat down beside her.

"I advise you and Mikawa to go to bed early," he said. "Tomorrow is a hard day."

Kasuga raised her eyes at him. "Mn. What about you?"

Eh?

"I still have a couple of chores to do before I go to bed myself," he said, yawning and sprawling over the tabletop. "But I'll also do my best to depart early."

"But isn't this the last single day you'll spend in your entire life? Going to bed without celebrating it even a little bit would be inappropriate," Kasuga told him sternly. "This is the reason both Sakami and Abihiko needed to have their small parties for the Bride and for the Groom today. To signify the good will each of them brings to their eventual union tomorrow."

Nekohiko gaped at her, numb and baffled.

"It's bad luck for the Bride and the Groom to not actually celebrate and say proper goodbyes to their single life before the wedding," Kasuga went on, appalled with his confusion. "It shows you won't take your married life seriously as well."

The girl seemed very angry at him for not agreeing immediately. Yet he still could only gawk, unsure of what to say.

"My fathers made a big deal about it before they got married, so I know what I'm talking about," she said. "And since you're not actually a Bride -- you need to celebrate like a bachelor, Nekohiko. Like my both fathers did last day before their marriage."

"I am completely unaware of what you're talking about," Nekohiko stuttered. "This is the first time I've ever heard of such a tradition!"

The glare Kasuga gave him felt very menacing. But he didn't acquiesce. He disliked even the concept of parties, especially when ones were thrown for him!

It was at this point that Mikawa finally came into the doors, waving at Kasuga amiably and only stiffening once he saw Nekohiko beside her. What was much more troubling was that Mikawa was flanked by Kataji.

Both of them carried Mikawa's bags with books he'd bought in Nara and a tiny bit of his clothes. They passed the luggage to the carrier dummies the innkeeper had called over, then hurried into the inner garden where Kasuga and Nekohiko were the only people present.

"Mikawa, tell him, do people not celebrate their single life before the wedding?" Kasuga asked, looking very grim and demanding.

"I think they do. Fathers did, after all," Mikawa said.

Satisfied, Kasuga cocked her chin at Nekohiko again. "Yes, and our fathers took their marriage very seriously. Or do you imply that tomorrow wedding -- is not a serious endeavor in your eyes?"

What the--

Kasuga!

Nekohiko dropped his head. "Yes, it is." But as Mikawa and Kataji were settling down at the table, Nekohiko used the chance to mouth into his chest, hoping that Kasuga would hear,

Kataji doesn't know about the plan and neither does Mikawa. Please...

When he lifted his head again, he met Mikawa's eyes.

The boy looked back at him, very sullen, very frustrated.

Oops. Yeah, Nekohiko had forgotten that Mikawa could hear his whispers just as proficiently as Kasuga could. Probably the young boy did not like how fishy it all sounded, huh?

Sorry, Nekohiko mouthed at Mikawa only to have Mikawa avert his eyes with vivid displeasure.

"Tomorrow wedding?" Kataji asked, oblivious, then turned to Nekohiko. "Wait, you're coming to it? I thought you said you wouldn't."

"I am not. Kasuga was merely talking about Sakami because we've just come here from her Bride's side meeting. By the way, how was the Groom's side meeting at your brother's?"

Instantly, Kataji's face darkened. He sucked on his lips, very obviously wanting to avoid the conversation. "Nothing interesting. You know him. He tried to talk to me and apologize, but of course there were so many people around that he just ended up staring at me with a stupid expression the whole day. It wasn't enjoyable in the least." Kataji slumped over the table, sighing. "Gods, I hope tomorrow won't be the same. I'd hate today's uncomfortableness to repeat..."

Suddenly, Mikawa leaned to Kataji. "Your Eldest Brother -- did he look all right today?"

Kataji glowered at him from over the table.

"Not wounded or hurt or ill?" Mikawa added, a bit less certain. "I hope he's healthy. He isn't a bad person at all, Master Kataji. Please don't torment him."

"I torment him?" Kataji growled. "Oh please. If anything, it's the other way around, and the only thing that saved me from him today was that there were His Holiness the Head Priest, King Morokata, King Sakai there, among other nobles and councilors. And that most of the topics were about the state of foreign politics and something just as boring..."

Kataji went rambling on, but Nekohiko grasped onto the mention of Sakai. And the complete lack of Okinaga at the party. Which was so strange. Okinaga should have been there first and foremost as Abihiko's ward father, no?

Plus, Sakai.

Damn it, Nekohiko should have checked out Abihiko's Groom meeting just for a glimpse of the King of Utsuro. Sakai was usually so mysterious and withdrawn that he appeared in public only rarely. Nekohiko wondered what that haggard, menacing man even looked like nowadays.

"Yes, and to commemorate and say goodbyes to your Eldest Brother's last moments of being single," Kasuga told Kataji at some point, snapping Nekohiko out of his reverie and back to the small table, "let us celebrate tonight."

She flicked a meaningful gaze at Nekohiko, and he understood.

She meant him, of course. Nekohiko. But since she couldn't say it in front of Kataji and Mikawa...

"Cheers," she said with utter solemnity. She raised a hand to the room attendants who loitered about the entrance to the inner garden. "We will return after dusk," she informed them, then got to her feet, very much implying that the rest of the gathering did the same.

"Wait, what would we be doing to... 'celebrate'?" Nekohiko cried, panicked. "What do you mean we return after dusk? You, young lady, and you two young men -- are too young for that kind of activities!"

"Activities?" Kasuga blinked at him slowly. "I was merely taking us back to the Shrine to meditate and chant prayers for the happy and fulfilling marriage tomorrow. What activities were you talking about?"

Ah. Oooh.

"I thought we're going to participate in the Nara Night Parade and the Spirit Fun festival in honor of the wedding," he said, huffing in relief.

But to his sudden horror--

Mikawa's eyelashes flapped as he looked to the darkening sky with longing. "Ah, a once-in-a-lifetime event. And when the Elder Sister is finally with me so I don't have to be afraid to go see the sights..."

Kataji winced at the idea at first but seemed to also appreciate it after a moment. "Come to think of it, yes. It is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Would be a pity to completely miss it."

No, no, come on, people! We all have to go to bed early tonight! he pled in his mind, trying to look as miserable as a kitten in Kasuga's eyes.

But Kasuga was also contemplating it, he saw. Nothing he said or did would change that reverent glow that lit up inside her eyes. She tapped her fist into the palm of her other hand and said with all the famed Nagare resolve:

"All right. Let's go celebrate the Spirit Fun festival and see the Parades!"

Kataji smacked Mikawa on the shoulder. "And call Aomi to come, too! I mean, she will ruin the festival for me, I am sure of it -- but I bet she'd love to see it as well!"

And this was how Nekohiko ended up going to what he very much avoided calling his own Bachelor festival, hating and yawning through every last bit of it.

Which was odd. He was not a marriage-minded person, but really -- he wished he was already married instead and didn't have to spend his time on any kind of a Bachelor event. Especially such a noisy and aggravating one as the Parade in the glowing, shimmering, and chaotically-giddy Nara.

 

 

---

***

 

The majority of the Parade was the usual fare. Hovering platforms with dancing dolls and idols representing Shrine Spirits, people dancing, running, singing, chanting, banging pots and small drums everywhere one looked or turned a deafened ear. Streamers and fountains of snowflakes exploded at the corners of the streets. Music blared from every other establishment whose doors were all ajar, letting the customers pour in and out. In the burning-indigo night that had descended on the city a few moments ago, the streets were blazing up with thousands of lights to push the darkness away. All this kaleidoscope of life was simply head-spinning.

The only things missing would be the free drinks and the light show in the skies complete with the theatrical performance of the wedding love story in question and the foreign fireworks just to spice things up a bit. But both these elements would be there tomorrow, after the wedding came through. Free food, free drinks, free opportunities to brawl and to spar and to gamble all across the Empire!

It still didn't mean that tonight was any less joyful or impressive.

Nekohiko did not know much about holidays and celebrations, but judging by the fact that he was near blinded and near deaf from all the noise and exploding colors, and by the fact that his brain had gone numb and blank after only half an hour on the Parade -- this was a very good party, indeed.

Kasuga and Mikawa tuned out most of the ruckus they didn't like with their Nagare powers -- lucky brats! -- while Kataji fended off the over-exuberance of tonight's Nara with his usual aura of scorn and dismissal of everything that he didn't care about.

The four of them waded through the throngs of agitated people, checked out the stalls with the fair goods and the festival games on display. Mikawa and Kasuga mostly dawdled around the air-puff stall with their selection of singing birds for the game winners to choose from.

Kataji, on the other hand, was very much obsessed with catching a goldfish for Nekohiko. Nekohiko had tried to reject the offer several times, but Kataji was adamant.

Why?

"Because I am still a bit worried about that Master Order you made me give you this morning," Kataji told him after he and Nekohiko had finally secured themselves a small goldfish inside a floating Bound bubble on Nekohiko's palm. Kataji bought a string of spongy candy and now fed small bits of it to the fish as the two of them hid behind one of the street corners from the fire-dance performance a mere dozen steps away.

"The Order to have you be physically attracted to me. I am still a bit iffy about that Order," Kataji said, doubtful. His cheeks flushed with a faint shade of pink as he struggled to look anywhere but at Nekohiko. "Are you sure you still want it and don't need me to lift it off you?"

Throughout the beginning of the Parades, Nekohiko had walked side by side with Kataji, wondering the same thing.

Was the Order actually working?

Was he attracted to Kataji now? And if so -- and he didn't seem bothered by that in the least -- did it mean that the Order wasn't as big a deal as Nekohiko had at first thought it would be?

So he shook his head at Kataji lightly. "No. The Order is fine. I do not mind it."

"Oh. Right."

Kataji smirked to himself at something then finally lifted his eyes at Nekohiko.

In their warm, caramel-tinted brownness, lit up the myriads of lights of the surrounding streets. And among these lights -- loomed Nekohiko's face, reflected so brilliantly in Kataji's longing gaze.

"I'm happy, if so," Kataji said.

His hands slipped from the candy string and gently landed on Nekohiko's palm. Trembling with uncertainty, Kataji twined his fingers with Nekohiko's, and his shy smile only deepened when Nekohiko showed no desire to reject him.

Though Nekohiko wanted to.

He didn't like being touched.

Being given an order about Kataji's attractiveness would never change this fact. Yet, tonight, Nekohiko felt he shouldn't fight it. After all, he wanted to preserve his and Kataji's friendship for as long as he could, especially since he was bound to disappear for a few days due to the whole... being-married-to-Abihiko-tomorrow issue. More than that -- he still had to deal with the promise he'd given to Suminoe earlier. About him leaving for Izumo with Suminoe's convoy after the darkness descended on Nara.

If Nekohiko hoped to not rouse any suspicions from Suminoe during the wedding -- then he had to get rid of this small obstacle tonight. Whatever it cost him.

Thus, Nekohiko simply had no time to dawdle with this.

The terrible sense of guilt in his heart grew heavier with each tender moment that Kataji thought their hand-holding meant something more than it could. 

"Kataji," Nekohiko said, at last. Kataji smiled at him, curious.

Nekohiko tried to sound as gentle as he could. "I have to tell you something. But I'm afraid you will not like it. At all."

His heart twinging in his chest and his lips curling in, he added even before Kataji could ask:

"Sorry."