Chapter One Hundred

Always Assume

 

Nekohiko shuddered, a surge of hatred rising inside him harsher than any Dark Sisterhood's curses.

Because this one was real, and unbridled.

How dare he use Suminoe's body like this? How dare he taint it with his vileness?

Suminoe put his chin on the heel of his palm, giving Nekohiko a long, veiled look. He seemed so utterly comfortable, even languid in his pose that most people would find nothing abnormal in his appearance.

After all, Suminoe was a Hisome. It was natural for him to have the grace that fit so well with the Hisome beauty. But the Suminoe Nekohiko knew would find such poses too informal for his liking, and too human.

The real Suminoe would never sit in such a manner nor smirk at Nekohiko with this level of artificial sweetness.

Everything about him set Nekohiko's nerves on edge.

"Stop-- how dare you disrespect his memory!"

Suminoe's eyes went big for a brief moment as Morokata feinted shock. "Who? Meee? Ah, Neko, aren't you cute? To blame someone for disrespecting a fucking corpse when you were the one to do that, in the first place?"

...

Even Morokata himself rarely swore. Not his style. This was solely to jar Nekohiko further with how alien such words felt, coming out of Suminoe's pristine mouth.

"Yes, I suppose your feckless husband has already told you everything about what he thinks happened. Or what he tells himself happened, no matter to me." Suminoe flapped a hand majestically, sitting back in his floor chair behind the desk. "Tell each other whatever childish lies you like -- I don't care. Just..."

Slowly, he assembled his fingers into the spell formations and snapped them.

Each spell for each word he said. Torture spells, for inflicting pain on others.

"Keep. Away. From. My. Stuff."

And as he did -- a searing pain crested over Nekohiko's dummy twin body.

Mmmnfffg!

He froze in agony, trying to take control of his limbs and recoil away from the pain. Yet even though his vision showed him his body was still intact -- arms, legs, and torso -- he could not access them in any way.

Argh, it had been a mistake to come here! It was better that he didn't know or care what happened to this body -- the most he could do now was abandon it and never come back.

But the far worse mistake had been forgetting about this body's existence, in the first place. He had gone too carried away by his and Abihiko's newlywed life.

He should have been more careful.

He should have paid attention.

Now that this body was in Morokata's hands, even if Nekohiko abandoned it, he still knew Morokata would be able to make use of the body.

But how? And for what? To track him?

That was a major disadvantage, of course, but not so much that he and Abihiko couldn't deal with if they were careful. Other than that, Nekohiko could not come up with any real use for this body.

It was simply not that efficient for anything.

Even tracking was only a threat because Nekohiko didn't want Morokata to find him or Abihiko while they were hiding before the Kasuga trials. Besides, how hard was it to self-destruct and prohibit any use of this dummy twin's body for anyone?

Nekohiko had done the same thing with his snake body once. To keep it from being connected back to his other bodies. Yes, self-destruction. Always a good plan.

If only he knew how to do it in this body now!

Because there was simply no way he could move his limbs. No matter how much he tried, and he'd tried so many times by now.

He couldn't understand.

Why? Why???

Why was this body so immobile if it seemed whole?

He skewed his eyes low to find traces of Utsuro Splitting magic on his hands and feet. Maybe his body had been dissected and left unconnected to keep him trapped and unable to do anything about it?

But the Split must have been so clean that he could not see it with his eyes. Only with his Binder's aura if he dared to use it to check. 

...

Should he, though?

"What do you want from me?" Nekohiko squeezed out once the last bits of pain passed.

But no reply came.

Not even a hint of one.

He flicked his eyes at Suminoe and found him writing something with ink on the manuscript. Huh? Actually, now that Nekohiko took care to notice, he saw that Suminoe was filling out some papers on his desk. He was... working.

And the way that he worked in was so... blank. So mechanical. The longer Nekohiko observed him, the more he felt like watching a dummy work on the chores that had been set up for it in advance.

More than that -- Suminoe's motions were now decidedly his own, not Morokata's. His face was not as indifferent as Suminoe's usually had been, but instead utterly empty, devoid of any thought or human awareness.

So Abihiko's description of Suminoe's body was correct.

This was a dummy, a human dummy that held the remnants of Suminoe's innate personality and behaviors. Morokata could use it for his bidding whenever he wanted, but that didn't mean this body was a full Puppet of Morokata's. Otherwise, Morokata wouldn't have time to live his own life in his original body, having to devote all his time to performing Suminoe's existence.

No, this Suminoe had some traces of his agendas, and thus, could be left to his own devices while Morokata was busy elsewhere.

But judging by how blank-eyed and unconscious Suminoe's gaze was when he was doing it, there was no awareness behind these empty gestures. Just a dummy, doing what it had always done. Meaningless, bureaucratic work.

Nekohiko decided to try his luck.

Morokata wasn't here anyway, so why not try to take care of this body in his absence?

Maybe if Nekohiko found a way to channel his motions and spells in an aimless manner, he could self-implode this body and get rid of it?

His aura twitched to prod his limbs. To try and find out why the hell they weren't moving to his will, but just then--

Like a snare, Suminoe whipped his hand toward him and grabbed Nekohiko's wooden wrist.

The flurry of his clothes flapping and his hair fluttering was so fast, Nekohiko could hardly blink before he was nose to nose with him, lost and confused.

"Got you," Suminoe whispered, smiling.

...

What the hell.

"You got my body already, what else do you need?" Nekohiko tried to lie, but Suminoe was not up to that.

He lifted Nekohiko's own wrist and shook it in the air. The fingers swayed back-and-forth limply, the Split essence of Utsuro magic swirling within them.

"Now not only do we have the physical mark of your other bodies, but your magical imprint as well. It wouldn't take us any effort to find you now, and almost no effort to have you and your feckless boyfriend in our hands."

Damn it!

"Did you really expect that I was gone?" Suminoe asked him, chin tilted to the side as he neared Nekohiko as if to sniff seductively at his face. Then at his ear, slowly trailing down the junction of his jawline. "Did I look quite wooden and blank to trick you into thinking I've abandoned this body and was busy elsewhere? Awww. My acting skill is mere copying. I was making an impression of you. Was I that good at playing an impassive Puppet? It was solely because of the good example you set, love."

...

Damn it, damn it, damnit!

Nekohiko needed to flee. To hell with this body! Forget it exists and focus on others. Maybe he and Abihiko would be able to do something about hiding his magical and wooden presence against any tracking.

But at the same time, he wanted... to make use of it, too.

After all, Abihiko wasn't telling him all the truth about his past. Maybe... Morokata...?

Yes, why not?

Morokata knew things about the past. No doubt he would want to tell them to Nekohiko. If not to set him against Abihiko, then simply to mentally torment Nekohiko with the truth.

No?

Instead of leaving or pushing away from Suminoe, Nekohiko steadied himself and accepted their proximity. Aaaargh, it was so terrible to do. Suminoe still looked exactly like himself from all those years ago.

Just as confident, just as graceful. Just as cold.

Not from five years ago, even. From ten years ago. The very first time Nekohiko had got to know the Head Priest of Izumo. The very first days where he had started to suspect...

...to feel a connection with him.

Like a family member he'd never had. A man whose mere presence had always filled Nekohiko with asense of security and calm.

Now warped so horribly, Nekohiko's skin crawled at even the idea.

He hardened his resolve against his squeamishness.

"As they say -- never assume anything about a Hisome," he said, looking Suminoe in the eye.

Suminoe cocked an eyebrow elegantly. He still didn't shift away from Nekohiko, almost pushing himself against him. His cool, mint-sharp breath brought chill out of Nekohiko's skin with each soft-spoken word. "Good boy, knows so much about the truths of this world."

"I just repeat what others say, without much thought. But, to be honest, I never really understood what this saying meant," Nekohiko said, watching past him in faked dismissal. Suminoe's long hair tickled his face, so close Suminoe was bending against him. Nekohiko's heart lurched in pain from their closeness and he wanted to recoil, but of course this body was trapped by Morokata's Utsuro spells.

He could not move away.

"This saying makes no sense, actually. I've always assumed that you are a vile bastard, my Lord Morokata, and so far, I seem to have been correct. What would be the point of me not assuming that?"

Suminoe slid lower, squatting before Nekohiko with his face raised, eyes lit with a seductive flair.

"Well, people assume I am vile to them first. That they have done nothing to warrant my vileness, and -- thus, because they are the victim and I am the bad guy -- that they are in the right and will win in the end," Suminoe spoke tenderly, a concerned emphasis on each word. The way he enunciated them made him move his lips and the tip of his tongue against his front teeth in such a mesmerizing manner, even Nekohiko felt the lure of it. Nervously, he gulped, watching Suminoe's perfectly-cut lips as Morokata spoke.

"They assume that I care enough about them, in the first place. All this ends in an unequal disposition of powers. One that benefits me and disadvantages them. It is amusing. But somehow, they keep digging themselves in and I don't even have to do anything.

"Or in other words, dear Nekohiko, you all exhaust yourselves trying to think of what I want to do and why and how to tackle me down -- while honestly, all I do is wait for others to mess up. Which happens more often than you would think. Most of the time, I am not even aware why people dislike me so. But oh well."

Biting the edge of his lower lip, Suminoe gave Nekohiko a ravishing smile. His eyes crinkled up and such an expression of a genuine warmth spread over these icy features, that Nekohiko wanted to scream at him to stop.

Sitting between Nekohiko's immobile legs, Suminoe slowly leaned his elbows on Nekohiko's knees -- one on each side. Then, as though unintentionally, his forearms fell along Nekohiko's thighs. And with his eyes velvety and still smiling with that hidden promise in them, Suminoe inclined his torso forward.

He forced himself in between Nekohiko's legs and Nekohiko--

--couldn't do a thing about that.

And all the while, he was smiling. Coldly, as only Morokata could -- but charmingly.

...

Sure.

This was such a vile method of torture...

To disrespect both Suminoe's and Nekohiko's bodies like that.

Almost screaming inside, Nekohiko attempted to smile back. Solely to not show a single hint of how unnerved he felt.

"See?" he said. "I would have believed that if I weren't taught to never assume you'd be telling truth when asked. I guess they're right when they say to just leave you people alone and never engage with you. That's what I would like to do, thank you very much. Now, if you'll allow me--"

And he closed his eyes as though to imply he would be leaving this body now.

"Your mistake was wreaking havoc in my own home, though. My mansion, my Doll Palace, my Emerald Palace. Do you really believe you can go away safely from me now? That I wouldn't rebound?" Suminoe's long eyelashes grazed his cheeks as he studied Nekohiko's features up close. "You know the second saying about us Hisomes, don't you? That we never attack first. But that we always rebound when we are struck."

"Reclaiming my throne or wanting the truth I am owed is not anything personal, Morokata. Likewise, taking back the body you are abusing so thoroughly -- is not an attack on you. And I don't mean my own body here, trust me."

His hateful stare down Suminoe's features was more than enough to scream his feelings.

But Suminoe only grew more languid and easy in his motions as he smiled. He embraced Nekohiko from the front, and his teasingly-scented breath chilled Nekohiko's skin. "Who said your throne was yours, to begin with? Or that truth belongs to you? Is Abihiko giving you a hard time with spitting about five years ago? Is he? Of course. That poor sweetheart would never dare to tell you.

"The truth will destroy you. Him. Both of you."

...

...huh?

Nekohiko suppressed a shiver and the hardening of his muscles deep in his stomach. Just hearing this... what Morokata said... thrust him into panic he did not know how to handle.

But part of him also hoped that Morokata was, once again, lying to hurt him.

"Isn't that what you would want to do? To destroy me and him?" Nekohiko murmured. "You can just hasten this if you tell me the truth right now."

"Ahh."

Suminoe leaned away, just enough to make it feel like a rejection. But he still wasn't drawing back to give Nekohiko privacy or comfort -- and lingered in his vicinity. "But then I'll miss the beauty of the slow breakdown and decay of seeing you two deteriorate. If I tell you the truth, it will not have the same impact. You and he will unite against me, perceiving me as the aggressor. As the common enemy for both of you. That is not what I would like, not at all. Because I am not your enemy. Never was."

His hand reached out to caress Nekohiko's hair, so frailly -- it felt like a blossom's touch. Suminoe's slender fingers dug into Nekohiko's hair and brushed down, landing on Nekohiko's jawline, the thumb gently rubbing against the edge.

Nekohiko stiffened under the touch.

"Abihiko is not your enemy either, but trust me when I say that you two will never be with each other. Your fate is sealed forever to be apart and in pain when together. I am merely sparing you further agony, helping you to realize that."

"Abihiko said that everyone five years ago believed that you and I were--" Nekohiko stammered. "That Suminoe's body and mine were... doing..."

He couldn't say this!

Couldn't even dare to...

"You and I were what?"

Suminoe's deep-black eyes scanned Nekohiko's features, touched with mystery and wistfulness. The way they were close lit all the nerves inside Nekohiko and set them afire.

He hated this with passion. And Morokata knew that. This was why he chose to speak so tightly close to each other.

Nekohiko's thoughts couldn't even focus, so agitated he felt.

"What, love? What do you think Suminoe and you did while nobody else was watching? Mmm? Tell me your thoughts. I am very fascinated to hear what you think."

Nekohiko's mind flashed to the wedding when Okinaga had told him about Nekohiko having "cheated" on Abihiko five years ago. Cheated! Broken Abihiko's heart! And while Okinaga had been saying that, he'd been looking at Suminoe's very body.

What else could that mean?

N-no, it was too painful to even imagine.

"You are disgusting... you abused Suminoe's body to make everyone think something vile about me and you! You abused it to drive a wedge between me and Abihiko," Nekohiko breathed, barely restraining his fury. "Then you lied to me about it, a mere week ago! When you and I met in the Spring Sunlight Shrine and you told me about how jealous and unruly Abihiko had been -- totally without any reasons! You lied! And you keep lying! Are you insane thinking I would trust even a single thing you say?"

"Your loss, love. I am an easy-going person. I don't hold grudges. But seeing how much resentment even this pathetic copy of your doll form has, I feel you are a very bitter and vengeful person. Which is why it will be so amusing to watch you stew in your own hatred and, eventually, self-destruct. Abihiko will, too, being so close to you. Like I said, I won't even have to do a thing. Only wait."

With that, Suminoe rose up. He drew backward, step by step, watching Nekohiko with a hidden coy joke in his eyes.

And that was all the more painful.

To not only be a doll, but to be viewed as an actual toy. Not even played with -- only watched from afar like a messy performance Nekohiko had no idea he was in.

"Let me go! If you want me to fail, why don't you just let me go, then! Why don't you abuse me then right now?! Torture me for information! Let me go!"

Nekohiko groaned and spit in rage, struggling against the immobility of the dummy twin body. But there was nothing he could do. Not even a tiny little gesture.

Only heave and gasp in futility.

And Morokata observed it all from the distance, gaze soaked through with anticipation.

"Raaaaaghr, let -- me -- go!"

"No," came the silky reply. "I hold many trump cards in my sleeve. I do not owe it to anyone to release them sooner than I need to. Do you know the strength of the Hisome method? It is to not make moves when others can make them for us. This body of yours will come in handy. You can trust that even if you say otherwise. But what will it do for me now? Nothing. Just making you squirm in fear and expectation of what I will use it for is enough."

Darkly, he smiled.

"It will drive you insane, knowing that I have it, and it will drive you to act desperately and rashly. Please do. Hisomes are great at waiting. We will appreciate your next misstep. Eagerly."

Nekohiko stilled.

We.

Who--?

Another Hisome...? Or only Hibiki? Maybe Iokirihime?

Unless Morokata had even more allies Nekohiko wasn't aware of.

Suminoe winked, then waved his hand.

"Come by anytime. And send my regards to sweet Abihiko. Ask him -- if he is aware that the door is always open? It might sound like gibberish to you. But believe me -- he'll understand."

Disinterest colored Suminoe's face quickly after he said that. He descended to the floor behind his desk again, spreading his sleeves wide and assuming his usual work-like poise, reading and writing.

It felt like twisting the knife already within a gushing wound. To be dismissed like this.

To be swept aside as though he was nothing.

Nekohiko had never felt so shitty, coming back to his real human dummy body.

So... toyed with.

 

 

---

***

 

When he came back to Abihiko's side, he was shaking with anger.

He wanted nothing more than to snuggle up close to him and ask for a shelter to think, and calm down, and rest in. But even before he asked--

Abihiko had been sitting beside him, watching him with an unreadable expression. When he noticed Nekohiko come back to his senses, he lay down, wrapping his arm around Nekohiko's shoulders.

The heat and solid weight of it was like a blanket. A securing, reassuring touch that went through all Nekohiko's defenses and soothed him in an instant.

Or maybe it wasn't even the touch itself. But the fact that Abihiko didn't need to be asked to do this. That he understood Nekohiko tacitly like only he would.

"We are in danger?" Abihiko asked after Nekohiko's breaths calmed down and he could stop clinging to his side, trembling.

"No." Nekohiko shook his head against Abihiko's collarbone. "He won't go after us. He says he will wait for us to--"

"--fuck up on our own, I know." Abihiko let out a long sigh. "He is lying. Please do not tell me you trust a single word he said."

...

"I don't know what to trust, with him."

"Good."

Nekohiko felt Abihiko's subtle brush against his hair, a brotherly touch. He stilled, savoring it, but it was a tad too faint and quick to disappear.

"Neko?" A trace of genuine worry came through in Abihiko's voice. "That dummy twin is in Izumo right now, yes?"

Why would he ask about that?

"Yes."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

Nekohiko could even smell the Izumo air lodged in his nonexistent lungs, so achingly familiar Suminoe's office had been.

"Definitely sure."

"Every last part of the dummy twin's body?"

...

What an odd question. "I think so...?"

Nekohiko dismissed the odd chain of questions, but for some reason, Abihiko was very, very obsessed with it. "Can you try to prod your body parts to seek a part that disconnected from it and somewhere... around Nara, instead?"

What the hell, why so specific?

"I have a cat form in Nara. And Aomi has a ladybug," Nekohiko said, thoughtful. "And Mikawa and Kataji have some... wooden chips, I think. But I tend to ignore most of them, so I can focus on the bodies I currently inhabit--"

"Aomi has a ladybug and Mikawa and Kata also have parts of you?" Abihiko sounded downright scared.

Oops.

Belatedly, Nekohiko realized Abihiko's agitation and felt embarrassed for not realizing it sooner.

Abihiko must have wanted to connect with his siblings and see that they were healthy and safe. Damn it, how had Nekohiko forgotten about them like this?

He had become too overwhelmed by his issues in this body, ignoring every other one!

"Ah yes. I will check on Aomi and Kataji as soon as I can," he began.

But Abihiko could not have looked less enthused. "Neko, check every single body you have in Nara and get it out of there! Check if Morokata has any of your parts Split from the dummy twin so that you wouldn't notice! If any of your parts is carried by him to Nara--"

"Why are you so worried about my bodies being in Nara? I have been there for several weeks, and nothing bad happened to me while there."

Nekohiko grew scared, himself, at Abihiko's overreaction.

Abihiko grabbed his head with both his hands. "Because now, I am not there to make sure nobody abuses you. You have got to take care of any of the body parts of you he has! And never let him gain the imprint of your Binder's aura in that body, or--"

...

...

"I already did," Nekohiko whispered, hushed.

Everything in Abihiko stilled as though thunderstruck. 

"Why does it matter so...?" Nekohiko shook his head in disbelief. "Why-- What do you mean with this?"

Rather than reply, Abihiko looked over to where they had come from -- in the direction of Nara, and further than that -- probably to the Hisome Kingdom and Izumo.

He licked his parched lips, looking every bit determined, even murderous. "I need to go back. I need to take your dummy twin body away from him. Whatever it cost me." He gave Nekohiko a subtle glance, then nodded off toward Ise where they were headed. "You go to Ise alone, Neko. Make sure you heal and recover in their Springs. I will... handle Morokata on my own."

"Are you insane?" Nekohiko stared at Abihiko starting to pack up his things, then grabbed a hold of his elbow. Rudely, he jerked him to himself. "I am coming with you!"

"No, you're not. You are too vulnerable next to Morokata. If Hibiki can control this body of yours, I do not doubt Morokata also can when he's close to it. Don't worry. I won't have to face him, really. Just destroy your dummy twin so that he cannot use it against us..."

It was all so stupid!

Nekohiko didn't even understand what was going on, but he knew for sure that if he asked, Abihiko would never tell him. At least not honestly.

But even so, he still found a way to ease down and sigh with relief.

"Ah, that's it? Just destroying that body? Trust me, I thought about it too. And I actually think that I can destroy it without even going there myself."

Abrupt silence came over Abihiko as he froze over the bags he was packing.

He didn't look any less stormy, but at least he was willing to listen.

"I can't destroy the body from within it, of course," Nekohiko went on, sitting down back in his makeshift bed. "Morokata made sure of that. But there is... this method... one other method I thought of..."

Abihiko's silence only grew graver.

"Remember, when you fought Hibiki and you couldn't really hurt him? When he'd shifted his mind across different doll vessels he could embody? And how he reflected all the pain and damage you dealt him -- into his other bodies?" Nekohiko saw that understanding arrived at Abihiko, bright and intense, and held his hands together, decisive. "I wonder if I can do that, too. To myself. Because, really, if all we need is to destroy the body, what method better than to self-destruct and make sure no part of it remains?"

Plus, then, we won't need to separate.

And can keep on going together.

The half-gathered bag of Abihiko's stuff flew to the ground. He sat down beside Nekohiko, deep in thought.

"This technique doesn't seem too easy to work out," Abihiko said at last. "You might end up severely injuring yourself just by trying."

"We can try the simplest damage transfer at first."

Quick, Nekohiko rummaged in one of their saddlebags and fished out a small knife. "We can try to transfer only a bit of damage across my other bodies."

"No." Abihiko seemed queasy at the idea. "You cannot harm your bodies, Neko. Please don't--"

"I'll just do it to one of those many wood chips that Mikawa or Kataji had gathered." Nekohiko waved him off. "It's time I got rid of those. Too much unnecessary clutter. It blurs my perception in all the other bodies, too, because I have so many. See?"

And before Abihiko could do a thing about it, Nekohiko stabbed himself in the pinkie of his left hand.

Pain blossomed wild and splintery within him, and he suppressed a cry.

"Fuck," he hissed.

He had not expected this to hurt so much. He'd even forgotten to try and do something about this pain. Like, say... transfer it to another body as he'd planned to.

He dropped his hands in fists, forcing the pain of the stab down.

"I don't think I understand how he does it, though. Hibiki," Nekohiko said to himself in dejection. "When I tried to flee pain before, it simply forced my abandoned body to become dead matter. So... how does he do it?"

With a sigh, Abihiko put his hand on top of Nekohiko's wounded fingers and rubbed off the subtle smear of blood that seeped out of the splinters.

"Neko, we are Binders. Can't you separate the aspect of pain and damage and--"

Nekohiko flicked the fingers of his healthy hand, as though struck by inspiration.

"--and Split it off into the redirecting sequence!"

Half of the sentence, he said along with Abihiko, but Abihiko dwindled out once he realized Nekohiko also got it.

They stared at each other, somehow awkward with the feeling of their thoughts being so in unison. Then Nekohiko's giddy smile gradually faded.

"Hells, I haven't brushed on my Binding Theory in so long..." he whispered. "Which equations are used for the redirection of Aspects?"

...

This was a bit embarrassing.

The School years were far away, and so were the theoretical parts of the Binding studies. Nekohiko of course knew all the most potent spells -- but only because he found them useful. And only because in his years of Wayfaring, he'd used them often, in combat, or in healing, or survival.

But the complex, highly-calibrated spells improvised from scratch?

Those needed basics and some technicalities. And a lot of brushing up the rusty memories of endless days spent in classrooms.

"Please tell me you remember Aspect equations and the shortcuts," Nekohiko begged Abihiko.

But it seemed that Abihiko also wasn't such a great fan of magical theory.

Tsk. A fighter, just like Nekohiko. Not a scholar.

"They sell Binding scrolls and books in any big crossroads posts," Abihiko told him gently. "We'll find one tomorrow and... well, study. Damage redirection seems like a very intense spell to create on the sly."

"Yeah." Nekohiko slumped.

"But we do have a chance. I think..." Abihiko smiled. "I think we can manage. The idea is very good, Neko. It's very smart."

Tch.

Why do you sound so surprised that I can come up with a "smart" idea?

"Well, someone has to, around here," Nekohiko mumbled under his nose as he and Abihiko lay back down into their covers, the danger of their separation averted.

For now, at least.

"I only worry about Morokata, still," Nekohiko said after a bit of quiet in the wake of their relief.

"Just forget about what he does and focus on what we do," Abihiko said. "We have a big day tomorrow and we cannot let Morokata get into our heads. He isn't even here."

True.

Absolutely true.

"By the way, just so you know... about the truth," Nekohiko spoke up, all of a sudden. "Don't worry. Morokata didn't tell me anything, even though I asked."

...

He shouldn't have said that.

For a few heartbeats, he could sense Abihiko's frustration surge up.

"Shit, Neko. You shouldn't have asked him, of all people," Abihiko said with a barely restrained growl in his undertone. "But... sure. Sure, makes sense that you would."

"Hey, don't be angry at me! I just want to know--"

"You really want to know it so much, you would ask literal people who had always wanted to hurt you and murder you?! Is that it?" All of a sudden, Abihiko sat up and avoided Nekohiko's hand when he tried to grab him. "Gods, sometimes you can be just so..."

"Yes?"

"Fucking stupid! Everything we have gone through in these years, erased with just a bit of your impatience and inability to trust me when I tell you -- you do not want to know the truth!" Abihiko shook his head, then pointed back to the pillow. His glare had a burning quality to it. "Sleep. Tomorrow is a hard day." 

"I wouldn't believe everything Morokata would have told me," Nekohiko said. "I know how to filter other people's bullshit, trust me."

Abihiko's teeth ground in his mouth loud enough that Nekohiko could hear.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Nekohiko snapped, "because I'm dealing with yours right now, and I feel perfectly capable of not punching you in the face even as we speak!"

Nekohiko's voice boomed across the plain, and in the distance, all the other travelers resting near their campfires quietened in shock. The burr of some late field grasshoppers roamed the silence while Nekohiko assembled a better, fluffier spread for himself to lie down on.

Abihiko loomed a bit away as though fuming.

Well. Let him fume.

Who cared, anyway.

With a huff, Nekohiko crashed on his pillow and turned to the other side, glowering at the dark horizon and the curling smokes from the other people's campsites.

His sleep was not at all sweet tonight. And not at all warm.

He had never felt colder after he'd gotten married. And he hated how quickly he had gotten used to sleeping in a warm, protective embrace and how much he missed it even for a single night.

 

 

---

***

 

Morning brought an unpleasant, or... better to say, humiliating surprise.

Nekohiko woke up because Abihiko shook him awake, with such a timid, even worried expression on his face.

"Neko, it is time to wake up."

Nekohiko squeezed one eye open with displeasure. He'd had such a wonderful, sweet dream just now -- though he could not recall it in the moment. He just knew he didn't want to wake yet.

"Whassthe-reason? Are we under attack?"

...

Only aggravated silence was the response, and Nekohiko slowly awakened enough to realize that Abihiko was under attack.

From Nekohiko.

With some choice grinding against him and some... groping.

Wh-what?

Instantly awake, Nekohiko lurched and wanted to sit up. But then he realized that even such a small motion would expose some... wardrobe malfunction happening in his lower regions, and he didn't want Abihiko to know.

Even though, judging by Abihiko's face and how flustered he looked...

He probably knew.

He most definitely.

Knew.

"..."

Spirits. With a jolt to his heart, he recollected the dream he had just been having...

Him and Abihiko, young and doing...

Oh no.

He had never experienced dreams so... utterly suggestive. It was the fault of yesterday! All the running around and kissing and escaping Hibiki together! No wonder his mind thought they were back in their youth, fighting Demonic Spirits together!

But why did his mind have to go down this route instead of giving him the dreams inspired by something... less embarrassing?

"I..." Nekohiko said, not wanting to admit the downfall of his image.

"You don't have to say anything. It happens to everyone," Abihiko murmured, carefully trying to extricate himself from Nekohiko's grasp.

"No, you don't understand--" Nekohiko said, not knowing what he even meant by this.

What! What could Abihiko have possibly not understood about this?

"Neko, I know it's an accident -- don't--"

"Who said this is an accident?"

...

For the first time in his life, Nekohiko was grateful for his numb, blank expressions. He stared at Abihiko's half-pale, half-flushed face and his slightly open lips as though he wished to say something and failed.

"Huh?" Abihiko's eyes widened. "I don't understand--"

Good.

Now it was Abihiko who was more embarrassed and confused.

Perfect. As long as Nekohiko appeared as though everything was under his control.

"In my nightmare, I was angry with the Dark Sisterhood again, so I decided to relieve myself and soothe myself down. Like this," he explained.

...

Abihiko avoided meeting his eye. "By humping me?"

"Yes. It helped, didn't it?"

With that, Nekohiko turned on his other side, turbulent, and pretended to go back to sleep.

But his heart was thundering in his chest and his thoughts were in disarray.

Shit, did he just... act as though he wanted sex from Abihiko?

Tsk.

Ugh.

Grrrrrrr.

It took Abihiko a full minute to rustle down and lay beside Nekohiko, seemingly preparing for sleep as well. And though neither of them said anything, desperately pretending they were asleep again -- it was nigh impossible to fall asleep now.

Especially because that boner in Nekohiko's pants was still just as hard and painfully strained as it had been while he was asleep.

And judging by what he had groped around for, he wasn't alone in his misery now either.

 

 

---

***

 

The ride to the next village came brisk and foggy, and all of their clothes felt perpetually drenched, perpetually cold. Which only added to the feeling of being perpetually lonely even though Nekohiko was rubbing his back against Abihiko's chest.

They did not speak.

Ever since they'd woken up officially, they hadn't exchanged a single word.

Both pretended like the morning mishap or that the last night's argument hadn't happened. But Nekohiko felt that the coldness came entirely from Abihiko's side. Not from him.

Nekohiko wouldn't mind talking about it, if anything. But of course Abihiko minded. Look at his stiff, straight shoulders and grim face.

Ugh.

They found the first crossroads post they saw. There, they raided the nearest shop with Binding supplies and the worn-out Binder manuals for half a rice coin. Not much, since these Binding manuals were probably for the First or Second-year Binding students. But either of them knew this stuff already; they only needed a bit of a reminder to get it right.

"We go to that inn across the road." Abihiko nodded outside the shop, without looking. He was too absorbed in skimming the scrolls they'd bought. "We write down all the equations we might need, then we leave for somewhere safe and away from prying eyes and try--"

Yeah, yeah. Nekohiko got it already.

"Abihiko, about this morning," he began, shy.

Abihiko rustled the paper scroll loudly. "--and there, we try to test our theory. And if it doesn't work still..."

"It will work." Nekohiko began feeling cranky from all this business-like behavior. "I just wanted to say sorry about the morning. You don't have to act all dry and cold with me now. I didn't mean what happened."

He observed very carefully all of Abihiko's changes of expression, but Abihiko maintained his facade perfectly.

"No problem."

"It's just that, last night, when I was with Morokata... he was trying to seduce me," Nekohiko hurried on, more annoyed than ever. "He was very charming and very... seductive. You know how he is. He touched me in places and I guess that put my mind into this mood--"

There it was.

The sudden, fierce, overpowering jolt to his heart coming in through the Marital Bond.

Abihiko was livid.

No doubt about that.

"And that is why you had erotic dreams this morning? Because of Morokata?" Abihiko's lips quirked up in the most menacing smile Nekohiko had ever seen on him. He spoke through teeth even while smiling. He shut the books and scrolls with a loud bang. "Well, congratulations. I am very happy for you two."

And with that, he turned on his heels and marched out of the shop and to their horse to check it into the stable nearby, looking every bit as though he was heading to war.

...

All right, Nekohiko might have made it worse.

But at the same time, he didn't mind that he did. Somehow, he even enjoyed this. He strolled over to Abihiko and the horse, hands behind his back. "You sure put a lot of attention to that rather than ask me about what else Morokata and I talked about, huh."

"Whatever it was, it's lies." Abihiko slung the saddlebags from the horse and over his shoulder. "So I don't need to hear more."

"Maybe, maybe not. He told me to ask you about some door..." Nekohiko mused, recalling. "About whether you know if the door is open? I wonder what that's all about. Some bizarre code between you two? And about some other Hisome allies he has... Like, for example, I dunno -- Sakami?"

If the mention of the mysterious "door" brought Abihiko's motions to slow down in sudden anguish, the mention of Sakami put him to a halt.

"Huh?" he blinked at Nekohiko, instantly forgetting he was mad. "Sakami? What do you mean?"

"Mn." Nekohiko cocked his head. He had thought quite a lot about Morokata's words about other tricky and manipulative Hisomes. Plus, the usual proverb -- about never assuming anything about Hisomes one knew.

Nekohiko cocked his chin. "So, how much do you think you know about Sakami?"