Chapter Ninety-Three

Alive

 

Nekohiko dithered, caught between shock at his own stupidity and the desire to postpone this unnecessary discussion for later. Or forever. If possible.

Himself, Kataji also had experienced a change of appearance. He was no longer trying to copy Abihiko with his garish, flamboyant manner of dressing and hairstyle. Instead, Kataji was dressed in misted periwinkles of such tender hues, he looked like a dewy flower at the cusp of the morning.

Hisome fashion, huh.

His hair was pulled back, some strands braided and pinned with sage stalks, framing his face in an open, honest manner so fitting Kataji's fine features. A very tasteful appearance, but one that left Nekohiko wanting to run away faster. It just reminded him so much of Morokata...

Now Kataji's usually earnest eyes were clouded with distrust. His teeth slowly found their way to gnawing his lip, and Nekohiko panged at the idea.

As usual, Kataji expected the absolute worst. Only this time, he was actually correct about the origins of Nekohiko's clothes.

He cleared his throat, desperate. "No, I just bought this dress at the souvenir shop back in Izumo. And the crown... Also a novelty fake. They sell them there for... the Imperial wedding festivals."

Kataji squinted. "My brother's dress? Sold in souvenir shops?"

"Yeah, I almost wanted to buy a Sakami-inspired dress instead, but then I remembered that I am a man, so..."

What was Nekohiko even saying? He was rambling from the top of his head, so lame everything he said sounded...

Kataji was frowning even deeper, and Nekohiko had to hurry.

"Green suits me, doesn't it? And your brother's clothes had impressed me so much during the reception two weeks ago that I was obsessing over this color all this time and couldn't pass an opportunity to buy myself one." Using the opportunity, Nekohiko twirled, arms spread. "Pretty, isn't it?"

If anything, Kataji now looked sour. "No. It's... so gaudy. As everything about my brother is. I can't believe you actually like something so flashy, Itsuki. And the crown... is overkill, don't you think?"

Nekohiko quickly tugged the gold crownlet off his hair, trying his best to not sound stung. "Every person wants to feel majestic once in a while, you know."

"Not when it makes you look so... ugh. Anyway, what happened to you? Why didn't you come back when you promised?"

"Khem-khem." Nekohiko's forehead beaded with fine sweat as he fidgeted with the crown in his fingers. He was just glad Kataji wasn't asking any more questions about Abihiko's clothes. And he didn't want to go into heavy details about his made-up trip to Izumo, either.

The fewer lies he fed to Kataji, the easier it would be to, one day, stop lying altogether.

Unfortunately, today wasn't that day.

Nekohiko didn't know if this day would ever come with the amount of lies already between them...

He nodded at Kataji, passing him by to step up to Mikawa. "I'll tell you once everything else gets resolved first. Mikawa, you said someone else is in danger?"

The young boy had observed Kataji and Nekohiko's interactions with a dark expression on his face. Mainly, he looked aside, curling his lips inward as if barely holding himself off from blowing up with pent-up frustration.

No wonder. He knew Nekohiko was lying to Kataji and overall... his perception of Nekohiko must be very, very low by now.

But he still needed Nekohiko's help; that was obvious.

"Can we talk somewhere else about it?" Mikawa asked Nekohiko, indicating Kataji with his glance as though Kataji was an obstacle to their talking openly. "Sorry. It's Binder business," the boy explained.

And Kataji could only roll his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Just hurry up, we have a lot to talk about!"

Nekohiko could only thank Mikawa in his mind for distracting Kataji for a little while. He didn't know how he would get out of Kataji's questions about where he'd been, why for so long, and what had happened there. Damn it, even as Kataji politely stepped out of the alley and toward the bakery to see what they were offering, Nekohiko still felt his spine stiffening with the chill of trepidation before what would come.

Him and Kataji being together... talking... alone.

It was bizarre, this feeling that crested over him when he was with Kataji. He didn't feel at ease. He always felt as though under attack, too self-conscious about what he was doing and how -- to not lead Kataji on, to not act in a way that would seem suggestive, to not -- by chance -- make it seem as though he was flirting with Kataji back. It was like walking on eggshells.

Because even though the Master Order had seemingly made him attracted to Kataji, Nekohiko also... didn't feel at all like it.

From having been near Abihiko these last few days, he could compare now. His mind's reactions to Abihiko and Kataji were so drastically different. Perhaps he wasn't physically attracted to Abihiko either as he never had been. But he was at ease with Abihiko.

With Abihiko, he felt like... himself.

"Hungry?" Kataji called from over the alley's mouth, then pointed to the bakery. "I'll buy us a fish cake."

"N-no need," Mikawa started saying, but Kataji shook his finger at him.

"I've hogged all of your time these days and I know how little you eat." He gave Mikawa a brotherly nod, then headed to the bakery. "This one's on me."

After he left, Nekohiko couldn't help but ask. "How long ago had he asked you to search with your winds for me?"

At last, they were alone and Mikawa no longer needed to pretend civility.

His eyes flashed up to Nekohiko's in pure anger. "Have you any idea how worried he was?! He was going insane, thinking something terrible happened to you! He tormented Morokata and even went to The Doll Palace to ask its master to aid him in looking for you! Of course they couldn't help him, so he latched onto me!"

Gods.

I had no idea, Mikawa...

"You could have sent him a message through the cat or that ladybug Aomi has! Yet -- nothing! You just ignored us all while all hells broke loose?!"

Nekohiko wanted to wedge in a word about that, but Mikawa was too busy fuming to let him speak.

"TELL HIM!"

Nekohiko halted as though hit. Mikawa had never yelled at him before. Or... at anyone.

His heartbeat sped up just from the realization.

"Tell him the truth or I will! He's in love with you, madly!" Mikawa said, eyes burning with a treacherous gleam, his hands in fists. "He does not deserve you lying to him!"

"Mikawa--" Nekohiko began. His gaze dropped to the ground, so conflicted he felt. "I did not invite him to love me. I never gave him any reason to..."

I don't know what I did wrong!

It had all spiraled out of control...

"Just release him," Mikawa said, lower. "So he and you can both be free from each other."

"I can't! Not yet," Nekohiko snapped, getting angry himself. "It will open up too many questions I won't be able to answer! The Empire will be endangered, my throne -- everything we have worked for with the wedding plan!"

Okinaga's desire to pursue Nekohiko no matter what. Morokata's attempts to conceal whatever was happening inside the Palace. Sakai's and Iokirihime's involvement... Kasuga's trial! Above all -- the hideous mess that was Suminoe's situation...

Nekohiko couldn't allow more stuff on his plate right now!

It was already too frenetic for him to make sense of.

Resigned, Mikawa shook his head. "All you care about is the throne, and you don't even notice how many people you trample to ascend it..."

...

Spirits, this hurt to hear.

Why did this sound so familiar to him even five years after he'd been told this already?

"Kasuga will be fine," Nekohiko said, voice hardening despite his nervousness. "I will not leave her alone on the trial. She has my backing, I promise you that."

Mikawa closed his eyes. His nostrils flared as he spoke. "Elder Sister will survive, sure --"

"What about you?" Nekohiko grabbed hold of his shoulders. "I heard that Morokata had caught you wearing Arata's Mirror Image disguise -- is that true? Did you get hurt?"

"It's not me or Kasuga I am talking about!" Mikawa broke out of Nekohiko's grasp. "I was fine! Aomi and I have been living in Lord Hira Okinaga's mansion for the past week, protected from everyone in there! I know the Towa news-exchange said I was caught wearing Arata's disguise, but I was always out of danger -- Elder Sister made sure of that! The information about me wearing that Towa bodyguard's disguise did not come from me. It came from... that man's memories."

Oh.

Of course. Arata had indeed been tortured with invasive memory spells to plunder every detail from the painful fight in the Spring Sunlight dressing-room.

What else had Nekohiko expected?

"And that lady's memories, too," Mikawa said suddenly. His tone rang hollow, as though lost. "Sakami."

...

Nekohiko gaped, unsure what he was hearing.

Sakami... hadn't she been taken away to safety by Kotone and Haehime? As Nekohiko had asked them to do?

Mikawa must have guessed his thoughts because the boy raised his reddened eyes at Nekohiko. Actual tears were brimming there now, barely on the verge of breaking.

"That lady that you had trampled all over to get to your throne. Kotone and Haehime wanted to take her with them, but she refused. She refused and fought them -- I know because I listened to them with my winds. I was so worried about her wellbeing after what we had done to her. She was so... broken. So... shattered."

Nekohiko was afraid to breathe.

Gods, his heart ached, too, as though stabbed with each and every word out of Mikawa's mouth.

"She fought them off and refused to leave with them. And then..." At last, tears spilled down Mikawa's cheeks and he turned aside angrily, wiping them off with his sleeves. "All those people rushed into there and caught her. And she didn't even resist. But they took her into that horrible Doll place along with the Towa bodyguard... and..."

The boy let in a shuddering breath, unable to keep speaking without breaking down.

Nekohiko could well predict what he wanted to say.

Why would anybody be taken into Hibiki's Doll Palace other than to torment them there -- punish, abuse, torture, discipline in some bizarre and horrible ways?

The prospect itself was scary, even without knowing what actually went on in that place.

"Mikawa," Nekohiko whispered, wanting to give the boy a reluctant hug.

But Mikawa backed away, wary. "Don't!" he said, rubbing the last traces of wetness out of his eyes and cheeks. "Just go and help her! Save her! You owe her that, at least!"

...yes.

You are right.

Save... Sakami from this terrible injustice. Even if she refused to be saved. Even if she hated Nekohiko's guts and would rather fight him than accept his help... He still owed it to her to try.

"She is innocent and you... used her like you use everyone else!" Mikawa plunged that same knife deeper into Nekohiko's very soul, and carved it through. "Some of us are fine, but others need you to take care of them and deal with the consequences of your actions!"

...

Nekohiko clenched his jaws, nodding.

He lifted his eyes at Mikawa, feeling oddly as though he was looking at someone much older than himself. Someone he could rely on. Someone he could trust, like an equal.

"When did you grow up so much, Mikawa? You seem so much more mature than the majority of people I know," Nekohiko said, cautious.

"Marvelous lessons about some sucky adults around me recently," the boy spat back.

Abruptly, he seemed frightened and shy again, and Nekohiko realized it must be because Kataji was coming back down the alley.

True -- the aroma of the fish cake already wafted down the alley along with Kataji's approaching footsteps.

Before Nekohiko turned to Kataji, he could only slip a quiet, "Sorry," to Mikawa. And with it, an even quieter, "Thank you."

He felt ashamed. Stung. Yet somehow -- deservedly so.

He had always had his eyes on revenge and the throne and had forgotten that there were real people around him his quest for revenge and truth would hurt. No, not even someone like Daichi or Etsuko -- who had been guilty for his misery and death. On the contrary. People like Sakami or Mikawa or Kataji. People who were simply on his path and thus needed him to walk over them on the road to his goal, regardless if they were his allies or his foes.

He had always told himself it was justified. That he could right the wrongs later, after he'd achieved his successes first. But now that he had achieved his very first major one...

Wasn't this time to prove that he could right all those wrongs, in the end?

He stood dejected, waiting for Kataji to crumple down the sweet fluffy cake in the shape of an enormous fish into more or less equal parts and share it with Mikawa. Only after that, did they leave the alley and go down the street where Nekohiko led them. The two boys didn't mind him choosing the route because they were too busy with their meal. Both held their cake halves in the papery wrappers, wolfing down the sweet pastry as though the two had been, indeed, starved.

Though Kataji wasn't stopped by a mouth full of cake from wanting to ask Nekohiko questions.

"So, what happened in Izumo? Did you find what you wanted to? Why were you delayed? Did something happen? Because of these stupid war talks, right?" he slurred through his stuffed mouth.

Nekohiko walked beside him, silent. Pondering.

The truth wasn't convenient to reveal right now... it might never be, but now -- even less so. This, he had to lie again. But what?

"What I found out is that the truth about my death five years ago is kept somewhere... in The Doll Palace," Nekohiko said at last, grim. He and the others marched down the street, decisive in their pace -- toward The Doll Palace visible in the distance.

"I don't know the specifics, but there is this man, named Umino Arata who holds the information I need, and he is currently held hostage in The Doll Palace." Nekohiko didn't dare lift his head at Kataji. "I need to go there and find him, that's all."

Even without looking, he could sense how anxious Kataji became.

"Since I am a doll made in there," he went on, ignoring Kataji's attempts to squeeze in a word, "I can make my way in by asking about my body's maintenance. And once inside, I can search for that man on my own. No need to worry -- I have good control of my Binding abilities, so I'll be fine inside."

"No. You are not going to the place that creep Hibiki owns."

...ah, damn it.

Nekohiko had hoped he wouldn't encounter the classic Kataji stubbornness so early today!

However, Kataji didn't seem stubborn yet. He was oddly calm, if anything.

"At least not alone," Kataji said, resolute. "I am coming with you--"

"Kataji, no!" Nekohiko stopped in the middle of the street, glaring at him. "Trust me, you will only exacerbate my problems there, and I need to be as quick and unnoticeable as possible. I swear I know what I'm doing."

Kataji stopped as well. But strangely -- he had a smile on his face rather than his usual suspicious frown. "And that is exactly why you need me in there, Itsuki."

Huh?

Kataji's eyes crinkled up in a very uncanny resemblance to Morokata's. "For stealth. After all, did you forget that I live in Morokata's mansion now? As his most admired guest and, recently, his most favorite new relative?"

 

 

---

***

 

Nekohiko hadn't realized how tricky Kataji could be. Where had he learned this? From whom?

Please don't tell me Morokata is now your life teacher, he begged in his mind as he listened to Kataji weave his way through all of Nekohiko's defenses in their confused talk.

Kataji had quickly jumped in on Nekohiko's plan to infiltrate The Doll Palace. And his suggestions were quite astute and simplified almost everything about it.

Morokata's mansion guards and dummies let Kataji walk in and out whenever he wanted, bringing however many people with him as he liked. And these people's identities weren't even checked when Kataji brought them in.

Nekohiko suspected that wasn't actually the case and that Morokata probably monitored every visitor to his house, but in a subtler way.

Still, that got rid of so many complications thus far, that Nekohiko didn't care to refuse the offer.

What was much more important -- was that Morokata's mansion stood right next to The Doll Palace. And anyone in their right mind would know what that meant, yes?

The two buildings were connected under the ground.

And the secret passageways there could easily be accessed by any Binder proficient enough with Hisome magic.

Duh.

Nekohiko had stopped all resistance when Kataji had mentioned that. Why resist?

Kataji's plan was so much more perfect than anything Nekohiko had planned to do originally. They could infiltrate The Doll Palace without alerting Hibiki. They could slip in and out... unnoticed. And could have the guest protection of Kataji's as their trump card in case they were caught because Morokata himself was far away and wouldn't be able to communicate with Hibiki fast enough to deny this...

A brilliant plan, wasn't this?

It had almost no drawbacks to it. Apart from...

...it being suggested by Kataji.

Because now that Nekohiko had already accepted how much easier and efficient this plan was, Kataji could begin his bargaining about it.

He took a matter-of-fact pace toward the front gates of Morokata's mansion, not even pausing to check with Nekohiko if Nekohiko was following. Taken aback, Nekohiko went after him, and so did Mikawa. Albeit the boy looked very decisive, as if he was going into war.

The human guards of the mansion bowed low to Kataji's passing and didn't ask any questions when Nekohiko and Mikawa entered the mansion either. As though in his own home, Kataji strolled down the multicolored, dewy tiles of the front yard toward the main house steps. All the working dummies scattered around him, busy with their sweeping, sprinkling, and beautifying the garden, while all the Hisome house maids chimed their sweet greetings at Kataji. The Hisome girls had always looked impeccably dressed -- in flowery peach gowns, which were their local uniforms. But to Nekohiko, they were no different from wasps in their predatory swarms, only waiting to strike at someone who displeased them.

Yet they were friendly and tame with Kataji.

All in all, it felt as though Kataji was the leading actor in this whole plan, so all Nekohiko could do was rely on him.

And that was when Kataji struck.

With a flourish of his hand, he ushered him and Mikawa into the house. Nekohiko had already been here once, so he didn't spare much time to his surroundings. The same beautiful, serene atmosphere like inside a fragrant garden. Kataji, in his new tender-blue robes, fit here so perfectly.

Kataji let Mikawa in, nodding him to feel more comfortable in this unfamiliar place. But when Nekohiko was passing him, Kataji stuck a foot out, blocking his path.

Nekohiko halted, unsure.

Caught in the house's threshold, under the gazes of all the dummies and Hisome girls swooping on the background, it was a bit suggestive, to stand like this, wasn't it? Kataji holding the door for him, his arms slowly encircling Nekohiko from both sides to trap him within.

...ah, that was exactly it! An ambush on Kataji's side.

Nekohiko stiffened, blinking.

Kataji's face was intimately close to him now. His eyelashes lowered, his lips verging on a tender smile.

"Hey," Kataji told him. "I missed you."

Nekohiko gulped.

"I missed you too," he said, meek. "But perhaps talking about it right now isn't--"

"You made me a promise to come back to me no later than three days ago. Yet you didn't," Kataji spoke over him, a velvety undertone to his voice. "And you still didn't tell me why? Instead, we are going into Hibiki's hellhole of a lair, searching for some man? Do you really believe I would not ask any questions about that?"

...

Nekohiko should have known Kataji wouldn't drop this subject so quickly. Yet only now did Nekohiko realize how cunning Kataji had become. He knew Nekohiko would just shrug him off back in the streets or even make up some lie to tell him. Kataji wasn't an idiot. Aomi was his sister, no? Some level of smartness had to run in his veins, too...

Thus, he had preferred to play it nicely with Nekohiko while outside. And catch him here, now, when Nekohiko could no longer run away or dismiss him. Nekohiko needed Kataji to continue with the plan in motion, and this was the perfect opportunity for Kataji to bargain and demand Nekohiko's attention. At last.

A slight twinge of irritation crossed Nekohiko's mind.

He did not like being manipulated like this. Or blackmailed. Yet this was what this felt like. Being manipulated when he was already in the middle of enacting his plan.

"You seemed to have learned a few intriguing relationship lessons from Morokata, didn't you?" Nekohiko asked dryly.

"Morokata?" Kataji winked. "No, it was you, Itsuki. My best relationship teacher."

Gods, again? First, Mikawa. Now Kataji?

Did everyone have a bone to pick with him today?

Upset, Nekohiko did not intend to reply, so he simply stood in the cage of Kataji's arms and waited for Kataji to release him. It took Kataji only a few moments to see that Nekohiko could not be subjugated so easily, so Kataji's playfulness evaporated.

"So I guess that's a 'no' to my desire to know what the hell is going on and why you are searching for some random man in Hibiki's dungeon," Kataji sighed. "Indeed, why tell me anything? Why explain to me what's going on? Just use me for your benefit, then forget about me even though you promised not to--"

Nekohiko grabbed Kataji's forearm and squeezed it tight. "Kataji, we do not have much time. Trust me. Just, trust me. I need to find this man as soon as possible, and I will tell you why later. For now, can you just believe me that this man and the information he holds mean a lot to me?"

Kataji watched him with a deep frown but eventually dropped his arms from around Nekohiko. "Fine. I get it. It's another of your 'fun' schemes that you enjoy doing so much."

Eh?

Nekohiko had already stepped down the porch steps and into the room but turned to Kataji in a stupor.

Fun schemes?

"You and Aomi, constantly murmuring around, making your neat little plans," Kataji gushed, mimicking something like mice romp with his fingers wiggling in front of his face. "Then you and Mikawa in the Nagare castle -- snooping around all the time. Your secrets, games, conspiracies--"

"Excuse me?" Mikawa mouthed, shocked.

Nekohiko didn't even react yet, so caught off-guard he was.

"Then you and Kasuga, and you and Morokata," Kataji went on, gesturing with a flourish. "I get it, Itsuki. You like this kind of stuff. Adventure, conspiracies, schemes... fun, I suppose. Some people do. It's their nature. I bet you have always been the fun one at parties and in your previous life..."

Erm...

No, no, Kataji. That is the direct opposite of what I am!

"I am a boring person, I concede," Kataji continued, arms spread. "And I guess me telling you not to murder people or not to keep indulging your revenge quest is not something you have ever wanted to hear from me. Or from anyone. But I swear, Itsuki -- if you want me to change, I will. I can be fun, too," he finished brightly, his smile only a bit eerie on his lips because of how desperate he sounded.

Nekohiko gaped, speechless.

"I swear I won't ruin it for you or Mikawa," Kataji added, as though remembering. "I swear I won't be a burden. I just want... to be part of you all hanging out all the time. I don't want to be left out. I don't want to be the one you constantly hide stuff away from."

Ah, he looked so pained as he said that...

It was as if he was actually saying -- "don't leave me in the dark. Don't abandon me. Don't lie to me. Just please -- do not cast me away again like you always do."

And Nekohiko almost wanted to rush toward him and hug him. Press him in his arms and tell him that everything would be all right and that Nekohiko would not leave him -- as his friend. Ever.

He truly wished Kataji knew that and didn't misunderstand it again for romantic affection as he always did...

But, having just married his brother and lied to him about it, Nekohiko wasn't sure he could even hug Kataji as a friend now. He could hardly look him in the eye.

"Of course, Kataji," Nekohiko managed at last. He beckoned him close and attempted to smile. "We were never intentionally hiding stuff from you. It's just that... you're a non-Binder, and a lot of stuff we do is... dangerous for people like you."

"Not today, not here." With a secretive smile, Kataji stepped up to Nekohiko, almost brimming with pride. "In Morokata's and Hibiki's houses, I feel I'm almost home. If anything, it's you and Mikawa who should feel they're in danger when you dare to step in -- not me."

...ah?

Kataji's smile deepened. "There was nothing to do the first days after the wedding, and Morokata left us to go deal with the Nagare troubles -- so the only thing I could do here was to explore this mansion. And to abuse Hibiki's desire to teach me his superior dollmaking skills. Where do you think he took me to show off his mastery if not to his very own Doll Palace?"

Nekohiko exchanged a dubious glance with Mikawa.

"Come on, it's that way," Kataji said, taking the lead down the central hall.

So... casual. Even so carefree, he was.

Kataji hadn't been wasting his time at all these past ten days! Like Mikawa, too. Mikawa had been searching for Nekohiko and keeping his eye on Sakami. Kasuga had been dealing with Morokata the entire week. Even Aomi was at Okinaga's place, probably diligently researching something only she could care about...

Gods, sometimes Nekohiko felt that everyone around him was living lives no less intense or fascinating than his own. Actually, seeing as he had done nothing these ten days other than lounge about with Abihiko and make out a lot... it seemed that Kataji had led a far more interesting life than him!

Enough to become Hibiki's accidental apprentice?

"Wait, you actually befriended Hibiki?" Nekohiko asked in horror as he and Mikawa stumbled after Kataji through one of the side corridors.

"Befriended?" Kataji suppressed a cringe, turning a corner, deliberate on his way. He waved aside a couple of Hisome girl maids who passed them. The girls barely spared any mind to Nekohiko or Mikawa, which only intrigued Nekohiko more. Kataji groaned. "Please. A human cannot befriend Hibiki. Don't be ridiculous. But I did manage to strike a relationship with him based in making dolls. And based in... him demeaning me after every other word," he added much lower. "But that's enough to allow me to walk free through The Doll Palace and the secret passage between these two buildings."

Abruptly, he turned to Nekohiko and Mikawa with a very, very suspicious glint to his eye.

"So you like fun and schemes a lot, Itsuki, Mikawa?"

"Ah... no, I do not," Mikawa tried to murmur back at him.

Kataji did not intend to listen. He was oddly entertained by whatever he wanted to drag them into next.

With sudden worry, Nekohiko noted that the corridor they ended up in looked most like a servants' living quarter wing, judging by the far less sophisticated surroundings and the narrower spaces. And the door which Kataji was pulling open, with the rows of clothes and house uniforms and dresses hidden within it...

The servants' dressing backroom?

Why--

Kataji pulled a very clear-cut Hisome girl uniform from the nearest clothes-line. The faded-peach, beautiful gown all the Hisome girls serving the mansion wore. Then, with a dismissive flip, he tossed the dress at Nekohiko. And another one at Mikawa.

"Well then." Kataji narrowed his eyes, looking both indignant and satisfied with his 'revenge'. "We are infiltrating Hibiki's Doll Palace. Do not you think you should look the part, first?"

 

 

---

***

 

 

Actually, Nekohiko did not find changing into the Hisome girl robes objectionable. He found it very smart, especially with how showy Abihiko's green garments were. Thus, he was done changing quickly and emerged from behind the dressing screen as much a prim Hisome girl as he felt he could be.

Probably not as charming or sweet, but at least well-dressed.

He straightened his robes, then found the miserable Mikawa in the other corner. Also in the Hisome girl outfit. The outfit looked a bit bizarre on him, but solely because Nekohiko wasn't used to seeing Mikawa in such airy, gentle colors. He seemed especially vulnerable and meek in them, blushing away and hiding his eyes beneath the overgrown bangs.

"Done?" Kataji asked them from behind the dressing room's door.

The young man seemed hesitant about something, and quite a bit flustered as he ushered him and Mikawa down the hallway. But why?

Nekohiko only glimpsed a bit of the peach diaphanous fabric that Kataji hid within his roomy sleeves when they moved past the endless side corridors of Morokata's home. Nekohiko didn't dare ask Kataji anything while they walked because the other house servants in the distance might notice them talking to the young guest, which would be suspicious. Nekohiko and Mikawa wore veils over their heads. The beautiful lace only covered the upper halves of their faces, but since they dipped their chins, walking, the majority of people would never notice they weren't part of the Hisome household staff.

If they talked, though...

Kataji led them through the route that must be familiar to him, so Nekohiko trusted him entirely. Only once did he recoil in shock at seeing something bizarre in Morokata's dreamy, light-filled house:

In one of the inside gardens filled with flowering ivies and garlands and fountains brimming with petals instead of water, stood a pearly-white horse. With a single spiral horn in the center of its head. A beautiful, shimmering horse. It chewed some sweet grass from one of Morokata's flowerbeds and overall looked like it belonged here.

But Nekohiko still lurched back, almost stepping on Kataji. He had never seen horses with horns. He wasn't sure such bizarre Spirits even existed in his Empire!

"It's a foreign beast, a marvel one of the foreigner diplomats gifted Morokata once," Kataji explained to him and Mikawa with a chuckle. "It's actually very cute. Once we're done in The Doll Palace -- I'll introduce you to it. It's so sweet, you'll love it. But don't anger it. I heard its horn is mightily scary when it impales a person."

The strange new beast wasn't the last unsettling discovery Nekohiko met here today. Oh no.

Because the deeper into the mansion they went, descending down the narrow, tight little corridors that led from the mansion to The Doll Palace -- the more oppressive and even sinister the atmosphere here became. The tunnel itself was dry and cool, very tidy. Yet the image it evoked in one's mind was that of a decaying, rotting, mold-infested place, so heavy with the stench of evil, one could choke on it.

Brrrr.

Nekohiko had felt it the last time he visited The Doll Palace, too. It had been faint, because the front rooms of The Doll Palace had been built so far from here so as not to allow the spreading of the contaminated, demonic stench in the magical auras. But down beneath Morokata's mansion and the tunnels that led closer and closer to the sections that connected it to The Doll Palace, Nekohiko could sense it:

Just how thick and invasive the presence of the cadaverous energies became.

True, the Dark Sisterhood had a huge hold of this place! Nothing else could give this particular scent of corrupted Binding! But more than that -- the trace of the tortured and forcibly-removed First-rate aspects in the air... Not just the Dark Sisterhood. The human aspect contraband!

Everything was here, underneath The Doll Palace, clear as day!

Kataji wasn't bothered by it all, even though his mood seemed to drop the further they went into The Doll Palace's tunnels. But Mikawa was seriously shaken.

The boy heaved, clamping a hand over his mouth, so sickened he became from the miasma of evil that churned in this place. Even Nekohiko felt queasy the longer they went.

He had to stop and lean on the wall not to faint. "Gods, it's so much worse than that contraband hub we have found Hibiki in," he whispered to himself, nauseated. "I cannot believe Morokata had allowed this to happen so close to his home..."

"Allowed what to happen?" Kataji asked, perplexed.

Poor Kataji. He didn't know where he had been walking every day back and forth -- while he was busy "befriending" Hibiki. Although it was probably better he didn't know.

"Itsuki, are you all right?" Kataji came to Nekohiko, helping him up. But with gratitude, Nekohiko noted that Kataji leaned over to Mikawa as well, concerned about both their well-being. "Do you need help walking?"

"No, no. Just let's hurry it up, that's all," Nekohiko said.

"We can go into the registry of people staying here," Kataji said, busily pointing with his thumb toward one of the stairway corridors to their side. "There are so many people coming to stay in The Doll Palace for minor adjustments to their bodies, like making them better noses, or eyes, or hair... small cosmetic fixes to improve their looks. The person you are looking for it probably one of those--"

No.

No, Kataji. I seriously doubt that.

Nekohiko only had to give Mikawa a glance, and Mikawa understood. The boy closed his eyes and concentrated.

The damp, chilly drafts prowling the tunnel suddenly burst past them and up the corridors, bringing a windy howl out of the hollow spaces.

Clothes and hair on the three of them flapped and fluttered from the strength of the gusts.

Bating his breath, Nekohiko waited. The fastest way to find what they wanted was through Mikawa. Outside of The Doll Palace, the boy obviously hadn't been able to cast his Nagare spells without being noticed by the barriers and wards protecting the Hisome households.

But now that he was inside, safe and accepted by the house guards and the alarm systems, he could use his subtle magic powers without being detected.

They waited. Mikawa frowned and flinched as if in pain or in disgust, but didn't speak up -- whether he succeeded or not.

"Whoever you find first," Nekohiko told him, reminding.

Mikawa was far more worried about Sakami's fate than about Arata's. Perhaps, he was searching for Sakami first and foremost, and luckily -- the girl wasn't even in here at the moment?

A relief, that. But what about Arata?

"Found his aura," Mikawa said, voice sounding empty.

"Alive?" Nekohiko asked, hopeful. He had half-worried that Arata would succeed in killing himself before Nekohiko could see him.

"Mn. Alive. But... in some distress, I think. I can't come closer to sense him because there are spell wards on the door of the cell he's in..." The boy swayed, nearly falling if not for Kataji catching him.

His hand trembling, he pointed somewhere to the side and up.

Nekohiko understood. He and Kataji grabbed Mikawa from both sides and hurried through the tunnel to the stairs that led up a narrow shoot. Nekohiko didn't know where exactly it led because the stairway kept twining upward no matter how much they turned.

But wherever the place was where they were coming up -- there was a problem at the entry point.

There stood people.

Hisome guards' voices reached them when they were stumbling up the steps, and Nekohiko tensed up, unsure. But he remembered why he and Mikawa had put on this Hisome girl disguise in the first place. For a situation quite like this one.

Too bad Kataji wasn't dressed appropriately.

The three guards quietened down when they saw people coming up the stairs to the floor they were guarding. But if Nekohiko and Mikawa didn't call any of the guards' attention to themselves, Kataji became the immediate focus.

Perhaps it was even better like this. If all three of them had been dressed as maids, the guards would have put much more attention to their faces and might have seen they were pretending. But now...

Kataji's presence spooked the guards a lot.

"Young Master!" the nearest guard stammered, raising up his arms as though to push Kataji down the stairs if he dared a step closer. "Ha-ha, you can't be here!"

"Sorry," the other Hisome guard mumbled. "But this floor is only for the personnel. Not for the guests of Master Hibiki--"

"I am not his guest! I am his apprentice!" Kataji cried, huffy. "How dare you stop me. I'll tell him about how you treat me!"

"Shhh, shhh, please, Young Master," the first guard kept trying to placate him.

But the other two subtly ordered the helper dummies to come closer as though preparing to have these dummies escort Kataji away. Which was odd. Binders never ordered the dummies out-loud because they didn't need to. 

Too bad Kataji didn't care about any orders.

"I am going to complain!" he growled with all his usual might --

Nekohiko was very thankful for that. Because it completely took care of his and Mikawa's fast flight down the hallway to where Mikawa was leading him.

Nekohiko threw only one desperate glance at Kataji to motion him to keep quiet and not aggravate the guards too much. The clamor of the guards and Kataji arguing by the stairs was just so loud that he was worried. Regardless, he felt himself being pushed toward the corner behind which there was a niche in the wall with the door.

And from this door, such a heavy aura of wrongness emanated that Nekohiko instantly understood why these Hisome guards nearby weren't Binders.

Only non-Binders could tolerate such a heavy, oppressive aura swerving around. And even these non-Binders would probably die young from some terrible illnesses simply from spending so much time in this foul place.

Knowing that all the guards in the vicinity had to be non-Binders, Nekohiko didn't hesitate to use magic to break whatever locks and spell wards there were on the door. And once he did and dashed the door open to peek inside...

...

Arata.

He was here, in this cell, indeed. And he was alive, as Mikawa had said.

But...

...in many, many small containers.

And still, horrifyingly, alive.