Chapter Hundred Fifteen 

Buried

 

 

"...?"

Nekohiko gawked, perplexed.

"Excuse me? You are a what?"

"I think I might be a blood-born Hira descendant." Aomi rolled her eyes as though talking to a child, and losing patience. "Not like Eldest Brother who is only Okinaga's Ward child. But an actual... blood-related child."

...

Nekohiko really didn't like what he was hearing, so he tried to distance himself from this. "I don't know... it doesn't seem to hold true--"

"My mom and Okinaga." Aomi gave him a deadly look, grabbing his lapel to not let him turn away. "I think they had a thing, and I am certain I might be Okinaga's daughter... I've been looking at him and trying to understand him all this while--"

"You and he have nothing in common," Nekohiko pointed out.

"Are personality traits passed down through blood? What does that have to do with anything?"

Well.

Nekohiko still found Aomi's claims disagreeable.

He knew about Asazuma's and Okinaga's relationship in their youth, but both of them had been married to other people afterward. Had children of their own.

Abihiko, Kataji... Nekohiko pondered this through, finding it odd that he had always seen more striking similarities between the two brothers than between them and Aomi, visually. Kataji did actually look like Abihiko in many ways which was why him dressing up as Abihiko had upset Nekohiko so much.

Aomi...

Nekohiko studied her face, wary.

Her face was more like Asazuma's, and so was her personality. But, really, what did it have to do with anything? Aomi's personality reminded him of Abihiko as well, and Abihiko...

Wait, he thought, shocked.

Was Abihiko Okinaga's child, as well?!

Abihiko had incredible Binding powers and had an affinity to Hira magic... and him being Okinaga's Ward, too -- did it mean something?!

Nekohiko's stricken face must have alarmed Aomi because she poked him in the cheek with her finger.

"What's wrong with you? You look demented."

"Is Abihiko, too--?"

Wait, no. Abihiko had such clear facial similarities to his father, Lord Kinashi! Like Kataji did, too--

Argh, Nekohiko was so confused!

"I don't know?" Aomi shrugged. "I doubt that. Abihiko looks very like our dad. But myself... I have always wondered."

"Aomi, no!" Nekohiko shook his head and wanted to go lie down in his floor bed. "This stuff annoys me. Who cares who is whose son or daughter? It is appalling to dig into these issues, and I refuse to participate. Why would you ever think to drag me into your petty family's drama when most of the people from it are long dead?"

But the girl grabbed at him. She didn't let him make even a step. "Because! Because it is important! Do you know about the secret vaults and hidden stashes each Great House has?! The safest spots where they keep all the things they would want nobody to ever discover and take?"

Nekohiko paused, perturbed.

Of course he knew. Abihiko had shown him one such hidden stash of the Abi Family just days ago -- in the Shiriya Castle. Like all such spaces, only the descendants of the Abi Family could access it.

Likewise, Hiras and any other of the Great Families would have one of those "vault stashes" as well.

When he looked down, he saw just how determined and serious Aomi looked.

Gone were her cheeriness, her derision, her mockery.

Only pure longing remained. Or something far more powerful than that -- hunger.

"I need access to such a vault in the Hira castle," Aomi said, hollowly. "I need it, you need it, Eldest Brother also does. Trust me."

...

Despite how much Nekohiko hated to take any part in the interrelations of one family, he couldn't refuse now. Aomi's sudden shift into solemnity was that staggering.

"Why?" he whispered.

The two of them sat on the floor beside the bed, talking. Aomi was rushing, throwing glances at the door as though expecting Abihiko to come back any second now.

Nekohiko failed to understand why, though. Some of the things she was saying made him feel Abihiko would find them interesting, too.

It must be the Hira Okinaga's and Asazuma's relationship, he figured.

With how warm and trusting the connection between two families had been throughout Abihiko's childhood, it might hurt him to realize something else had been going on underneath the surface.

But Aomi, on the contrary, didn't bother much about it.

Like she had said before -- she didn't care much about Okinaga. Only about the potential powers they shared and about some literal doors these powers could open.

"My dad, the one who raised me, is Lord Kinashi. Like Abihiko's and Kataji's," Aomi told Nekohiko after another of his questions whether or not she wanted to get closer to Okinaga. "I don't want and don't need any other father in my life. And I couldn't give less of a damn what Mom did with her life, either. Just, only how that can benefit me and my brothers. Nothing else."

"And you think you and your brothers would benefit from the contents of the Hira Family hidden vault?"

And here, rather than reply, Aomi stuck up a finger.

With a majestic flourish, her other hand fished out of her sleeve a small jade scroll, beautifully carved. And rather impressively-looking. Not anything recent, judging by its looks.

"Where did you get such a thing?" Nekohiko asked, intrigued. When he reached out to touch it, he got smacked by Aomi with a scoff.

"Where do you think! The Imperial Library, of course." Aomi began unrolling the scroll. "Unlike you two lovebirds, I actually did do some things in the first days of the honeymoon. Like, used one of the most complete and in-depth libraries in the Empire." Without bothering to note Nekohiko's appreciative gasp Aomi finally stopped skimming the scroll. "Aha! Here. Check this out:

"...and all true history records are buried for posterity, when the knowledge of of the actual events would no longer endanger the Empire's people at large."

She made huge eyes, shaking the scroll in her hand. "Don't bother with the rest of this document. It's all lies and boring, anyway. Note this specific phrase, though -- buried. Not erased! This is one of the rare mentions of the truth about Empire's history being guarded rather than destroyed."

Nekohiko still didn't speak, unconvinced.

"I have searched all the records or mentions of records about the Great Families' lineage because... well, it has always fascinated me," she went on. "But the thing is, most of them are broken off at some point, refusing to tell the deeper stories of where the Lords came from, and how they had even emerged from the other Binders. Just, poof, and the Great Lords appear. That's weird, right? So I dug and dug to find out more about this, and what I found out is that, on the few rare occasions, scrolls like these do mention the truth being kept for posterity. It isn't completely gone! Merely hidden and buried--"

"And how does Hira Okinaga's vault come into this?"

At last, Aomi slumped. "Just... that Hiras abhor uncertainty. Are they not the opposites of Hisomes who are the Lords of lies and illusions? Hiras value truth. Hiras define it, too, according to some Binding history books."

Mmmm.

Nekohiko could attest that there was a great symbolic connection between House Hira and their penchant for truth. Suminoe hadn't called them judgmental arbiters for nothing when he had taught Nekohiko about the method behind the Hira Binding.

"And besides, it is the House whose primary power lies in the earth. Under the ground. Buried, like the roots of the Empire," Aomi finished mystically. "I do believe that whatever is kept in the Hira stash that nobody but blood-born Hiras can enter -- is records of history deemed too dangerous to keep for the public knowledge. Neko? I need to see those records. And you are helping me get to them. Got it?"

...

When had this been decided?

"Like I said, I do not really like digging in the past," Nekohiko tried again. "Everyone has baggage and skeletons buried where nobody should see them. It feels a bit... immoral, to go and uproot that--"

Aomi struck him in the shoulder so meanly, he shut up in a flash. Though she hurt herself more than him by the smack.

He was wood, after all.

"Who do you think schemed behind your back all this time and managed to harm you and my Eldest Brother so deeply?" She flapped her injured hand, trying to shake off the pain. "Do you think it was a random person who only happened to harm you on accident? Or do you believe it could be a person with motives and goals geared specifically to frame and ruin you? Huh? Which one do you think it is?

"Just pure coincidence or an actual evil intent?"

...

From what Abihiko had told him, it had not been a coincidence, definitely. And from his odd memories of Suminoe being so worried about someone trying to drive a wedge between him and Nekohiko... ah, it did sound like a planned and well-organized attack rather than an accident.

Most likely, coming from Morokata.

But for now, all Nekohiko had was vague hunches. Not facts.

Even Abihiko, judging by the snippets of truth he had told him about the past -- only had pieced together what the scheme against Nekohiko could be. Morokata was, after all, unconnected to Nekohiko personally.

So him scheming against him all these years was... rather unpredictable. And hard to judge or assume anything about.

Maybe Abihiko knew what the schemes were. But Nekohiko doubted even he knew why the schemes had been born.

Could... Aomi actually find out why?

"I don't know..." He felt lost.

If Morokata's motives were in any way personal... then damn, Nekohiko didn't even know what to think.

Had Nekohiko truly been such an awful person all his life? To summon the ire and loathing of another human being to ruin Nekohiko's life so calculatingly--?

After the truth about the Black Ship Forest, he really didn't know what to think about himself anymore.

"Well, neither do I. But I hope we can change that! The Trial is only in a few days -- and I am afraid that you and Eldest Brother are a bit... well... not exactly smart when dealing with other people," Aomi said carefully. "You often lose sight of the bigger picture and only look out for your own obsessions. For Abihiko -- his passion is you. For you -- the Empire. You ignore so many, many details and crucial things beyond those!"

"..."

Oh well. Nekohiko had been the one to ask Aomi for help in preparing for the Trial with the Great Families' records. No? So while he might not be the most cautious of people, or the smartest in terms of scheming and politics, he at least knew his limitations well enough.

"I'll talk to Abihiko about Okinaga lifting your seal," he sighed.

"Phew. Good. After all, you owe me one!" Aomi cried, once again attempting to hit Nekohiko with her tiny fist. But she learned fast. Hitting him only injured her, really. So, with a dissatisfied growl, she dropped her hand. "I wouldn't have needed anyone to beg Okinaga to lift any seals from me -- iF you didn't destroy my poor cute snake dummy I made for you! You... moron."

Ehh?

"Snake dummy?"

How was it related to anything?!

His confusion only irritated her more. "Do you really think I chose a snake at random, huh? I have always wanted to gain access to Hira secret records about the Great Families. I mean, I do want to learn why the tensions are the way they are. And all the saucy gossip through the ages. And the moment I realized I could have a Bound dummy with incredible levels of awareness and one that owes me his life, so would do everything that I force it to do -- of course I had to make a dummy that might help me get into the Hira vault. But then you... grrrr... had to ruin it like that. Without even warning me! Argggh!"

All Nekohiko could do was blink rapidly, without understanding.

Perhaps Aomi was right. He wasn't quite as versed in social interactions because he could not comprehend how fast her mind jumped from topic to topic!

At last, she took pity on him.

"Neko, what are the animal Spirits that represent House Hira?"

...

Oh.

"Dragons and lizards and... snakes," he said cautiously.

"Duh." She rolled her eyes. "What is the Great Bizarre Beast of the Hira Family?"

Hinohebira.¹Means, "giant-ass fire snake", ^^. Yes, the "giant-ass" is part of its name, too. As all Kaijus have the "-ra" ending, which usually implies their monstrous size!

Like Suzumegara to Kasuga and Kazuragi, Hinohebira was the Bizarre Beast of Hiras -- the great Spirit defending and nourishing the power of this family.

And Hinohebira was... a giant fiery snake that traveled through magma deep under the ground.

"Hence the snake body," Aomi told him like to a stupid. "As a snake, you would have access to Hinohebira, and might have asked it for help in letting you and me into the vault. I doubt any of the Great Spirits would refuse you. No?"

"Aomi, your thinking is entirely on another level from mine," Nekohiko finally decided. "I admire you. Not because you are much smarter than me, because you aren't. But because you are so... chaotic and forward-thinking that... I have no idea what I would have done without you."

"Awwww. Also, I am smarter than you."

Sure sure.

I'll allow you to believe that, little girl.

"Thanks, Aomi--" he began saying, wanting to acknowledge the work she had done for him and Abihiko. But before he could, she feinted another hit at his arm.

But only feinted.

"No thanks. Just don't torment by brothers anymore. Both of them! All right?"

...oooof. About that.

"I wanted to check on Kataji, but I didn't want to make it worse, either."

"Nonono. Do not go to him! You did not see him when he woke up," Aomi said, hushed and scared. "He was... livid, but in this sinister, silent way. If you wanted to fix it with him, you should have done it earlier. Now, it's too late. You will only harm him and yourself more by trying. He needs to cool down and heal from your cruelty."

Cruelty...

Spirits.

"I did not mean it to be."

"Well, no one cares if you meant it or not. Maybe Abihiko does, but I certainly don't. So shut it and stop whining about it!"

The two of them sulked for a while only to start anew, with another tangent about what Hira Okinaga's vault in his castle might hold and answering Aomi's pleas to describe to her what their time in the Nagare city had been like. But by that time, all Nekohiko got from this conversation was a headache and a desperate longing to see Abihiko again.

Where was he?

Even Aomi got tired of squeezing trickles of information from Nekohiko when he was so reluctant. After another unsuccessful bout of questions, she finally got to her feet, flashed him a displeased mien, and said,

"You are such a dull person, Nekohiko. I have no idea why everyone is so obsessed with you."

...

Because I am the true Emperor?!

She sized him up and down, then went to the door. "I suppose you do have a cute face, at the least. But gods, does it mean that everyone around is so damn shallow. Tch."

And then, he sulked some more.

Only briefly did he check on Abihiko through his seashell, direly interested in what Okinaga and he were talking about.

The two men spoke in some dark cavern-like room, the flickers of fires so haggard and macabre on their faces. Half of their words, Nekohiko couldn't make out because they were talking about topics that weren't related to him. But once or twice...

"It's good that you care for your brother so much," Okinaga sighed, pacing the room again. "Family is the most important thing to you in the moment. Family, not... your obsessions..."

So, me.

"I told you countless times -- I don't know where he is." A metallic, stubborn note in Abihiko's voice. "You aren't the only one who lost any trail of Nekohiko's current existence. I just hope, out of the two of us -- that I find him first."

Okinaga turned. It took him a long time to start speaking. "Abihiko, is this the truth? Are you not lying to me right now?"

"..."

"You have lied before, when you conspired with us all against him. I wonder how hard it is to lie about him on any new occasion. Probably not at all. You would even sacrifice your body and life for him, after all." Like a month before, right before the wedding, Okinaga looked gaunt and tired with worry. His great wide shoulders slumped. "Do you not know what honor or duty or loyalty is? Are you not the Emperor? Why are you so... selfish, Abihiko? So obsessed with your own passions? So stubborn?"

"You raised me, maybe that's why--" Abihiko blurted, only to be rebuked.

"The Hira method is not about being so stubborn, you harm everyone else around you to get what you want."

"I am not hurting anyone by being with him," Abihiko whispered.

...

Deep inside, Nekohiko felt bitter at hearing these words. The two of them did hurt some very specific people by being together.

Kataji. Sakami. Probably Morokata.

But all these people had tried to break them apart first. Neither Abihiko nor Nekohiko had hurt anyone else, at the very beginning, back when they were only two kids liking each other. They had only wanted to be together. It was the whole world that had wanted to tear them apart.

Was responding to that offensively truly so evil of them?

"He is a Monster, and you standing by his side makes you one too," Okinaga said. "I would never want that for you, Abihiko. You deserve better than that."

"Debatable, but sure." Grimly, Abihiko smiled. "I understand what you are saying. And no... I don't think I would change my mind."

Another sigh from Okinaga.

"What did you expect coming in with you and me -- two Hiras -- arguing about opposite things?" Abihiko shrugged. "Any of us to change their minds? Pfffff. With how headstrong we both are?"

"More and more I see you aren't a Hira all that much," Okinaga muttered under his nose. "Too self-destructive for a Hira. Too vindictive."

"Well, I was born in the Utsuro land, so maybe there's that," Abihiko chuckled, and Okinaga could only shake his head in dejection.

Talking to Abihiko was sometimes, indeed, quite aggravating; Nekohiko could agree.

He flitted his consciousness in and out of the seashell, trying to get more information about Okinaga's plans regarding him -- and didn't notice how he curled down on the bed and drifted off to an anxious, light sleep instead. Only when Abihiko's lips and his hot breath over his earlobe woke him up, did he realize he'd dozed off.

"Mmm?" he asked, bleary with daze.

"Congratulate me, husband. Not only did I convince Okinaga that Kataji and the two Priestesses had been closely acquainted back in Nagare due to the wedding ceremony. So it was not at all strange they could have traveled together through the Spiritside to avoid Savage Spirits or Ezo barbarians at the borders..." Abihiko pressed on top of Nekohiko, slowly claiming him as though his own personal mattress. Not that Nekohiko minded. "But I also made sure he wouldn't bother you and me for the rest of our journey to the Adamantine Mountain."

Eeeh?

Nekohiko opened his eyes wider, watching Abihiko so close, Abihiko's face blurred before his eyes.

What wonderful news. But how?

"He is so very busy with the Trial and Kasuga, mmm," Abihiko told him. "So I prodded him to go and take care of those, as soon as he could."

His smile was pure joy and pride.

"So he did."

...

A bizarre wave of relief mixed with disappointment inside Nekohiko.

"Okinaga left?"

"Half an hour ago already. He and most of his troops rode back toward Nagare to finish the diplomatic mission they had in there. You and I are free and safe here, at last. Don't you worry, Neko."

...

I'm not.

At least not about my safety.

Okinaga is gone now, and I can no longer make up a way to lift Aomi's Hira seal off her. To unlock any of her bloodborne Hira powers, if there are any.

The only thing I'm worried about now is not being able to get to the Hira secret records -- before the Trial.

 

 

---

***

 

Aomi was beyond devastated.

The next day after she woke up and found out that Okinaga was nowhere to be seen, the first thing she did was demand an answer -- of why.

And when she got the answer, she...

"I love you, but you are an idiot, Eldest Brother!" she screamed, reddening in her face and almost breaking down in tears. Which was a first, for her.

Nekohiko had never before seen her so miserable and frustrated. She had been sad before, and deadly quiet, which had also been bizarre to witness. But upset to this extent? Ah, never.

Then again, he had never before seen one of her neat little plans go off course to such an extent and in such a tense moment. So he understood where she was coming from. The girl was simply unused to things not going the way she envisioned them to be.

Nekohiko stood between the two siblings and wanted, desperately, to vanish.

He hadn't even bothered to tell Abihiko about Aomi's plan, but only because it was irrelevant now. Okinaga was gone, what did it matter what Aomi had wanted from him before?

"Idiot, idiot, idiot!"

So yep -- Abihiko was utterly unprepared to be called an idiot to his face.

"Huh???" He stared at his sister's boiling tantrum, mouth agape. "Aomi, what--"

Too late. The girl already stormed off past the nearest Hira guards who were bustling about, readying for the squad leaving.

Speechless, Abihiko gave Nekohiko an inquiring look, but all Nekohiko mustered was a sour smile.

He wasn't feeling very cheery himself, today. Late last night, Abihiko had simply rolled over Nekohiko and slipped into dreams, one arm protectively around Nekohiko's torso. Though Nekohiko imagined that the hold was not so much protective -- as it was imprisoning, and dominating.

As though Abihiko hugged him to not let Nekohiko escape while he was asleep, rather than for warmth or tenderness.

They'd done nothing else, yesterday. No undressing, no talking. Not even something... more exciting.

Abihiko had been deathly tired after searching for Nekohiko without sleep for two days, and thus, he wanted little more than to sleep. But... Nekohiko wanted a lot more from him!

He wanted to talk, he wanted to discuss the Black Ship Forest, he wanted... intimacy, too.

He missed it after Ise, already. However absent his base desires and urges were, he still found them exciting, especially after such a long period.

He wouldn't mind a bit more... mmmm... exploratory activities together.

The closest he got so far was him and Abihiko sharing a Bound horse.

Which was odd since the Hira Binders had plenty of Bound horses to spare. But once again, like during the night, Abihiko hugged Nekohiko to himself with such possessive finality, Nekohiko squirmed just to let himself breathe a little freer.

"You're strangling me," he told Abihiko as their squad rode down the trade roads from the Towa Kingdom to Hira. "Gods, your arm must be so tense from pressing me so tightly to yourself all the time."

"It's fine." Abihiko did loosen it up to give Nekohiko more room to move. But not without a consequence.

Because now he clasped his hand with the reins around Nekohiko's wrists. Like a shackle.

"Do I look like I'm trying to escape?" Nekohiko snarled, exasperated. "We are in the middle of nowhere and I am on your horse, dammit. I am not running away!"

"Of course you aren't. Because I'm holding you like this," Abihiko murmured in his ear, gleeful.

...

Nekohiko knew why he was like this. Even though Abihiko had told him yesterday they were fine, they probably weren't. Abihiko was scared, and Nekohiko didn't want him to be.

"You think I went to Chinatsu and asked her to tell me the truth, don't you?" he said. "I didn't. I never asked her anything. I wanted to leave the restaurant when she said something about the Black Ship Forest and all those other people began saying rumors about it." He turned his face to peek at Abihiko behind him. "I trust you. You will tell me when it's time. I just want you to know that I never betrayed you, with Chinatsu."

"Yet you still betrayed me after. You left and went to see that forest and--"

"I regret that I did." Slow, Nekohiko twined his fingers with Abihiko's over the reins. "From now on, whatever you choose to tell me... is enough. I am unsure if I even want to know the person everyone is saying I was."

The Monster. The Calamity.

I don't understand him.

I am not him.

I... don't remember anything about him or his actions...

I am not a Monster.

Abihiko's arms once again grew stronger and tighter around his stomach. Almost demanding. 

"You are not him," Abihiko rasped, gently. "You are the kindest, sweetest, nicest person I know. You are my friend. My best friend. My best friend is not a monster or a calamity. Never think that again, Neko."

"But... the Forest--"

"No. That wasn't you. See? You don't even remember it, so it wasn't you," Abihiko stressed, sounding desperate. "Neko, do not think about it. You know yourself, yes? And I know yourself, too. Hold on to that truth. Do not let lies and miseries and other people's tall tales corrupt it. Will you?"

Ah.

How much Nekohiko wanted that. And it wasn't as though thinking about it helped, because Abihiko was right: the Black Ship Forest was like a nightmare Nekohiko had never even had, only told to him by others. He could never have done something like it...

And if Nekohiko simply had to wait for the horrible truths about it to come out -- then so be it.

He could wait.

Not much time left, regardless.

They arrived at the Adamantine Mountain by the afternoon of the next day. The sunlight sprinkled in amber rays across the somber slopes, and the blue backs of the other mountains limned against the sky. A dazzling day, yet the air cool and wafting of the first promises of late autumn.

But so far, it wasn't. For now, nature was still gentle enough that they could enjoy the sunshine before descending into the dark and claustrophobic reaches of the Hira Kingdom's capital.

It was even brighter inside, though. With the crystals, the shimmering gemstone, the reflected lights of the beautiful city of stone and rock. The same as Nekohiko remembered it. Blinding in its beauty and just as technically marvelous. The stone waterfall, gently lowering their entire squad on the hovering platforms, the fast-paced traffic of the lava canals in the city streets.

Nekohiko still preferred the outside.

There, he could still not think too much about what had been the main reason for him and Abihiko coming to this place: this was their last spot before Nara and the Trial.

And here, he and Aomi had wanted to dig through the archives of Lord Okinaga's vault to find some help for them in the said Trial. Thus, the lower their descent went toward the glittering city in the distance -- the more Nekohiko realized the depth of the many mysteries and schemes and hidden motivations he and Abihiko would be facing out there, in their eventual clash with the other Lords.

And how much, actually, he wanted Aomi to get to that vault of Okinaga's, after all.

Even if Okinaga was nowhere near.

 

 

---

***

 

The city and the castle were busy. Like in the Nagare city, everyone here frothed with activity and agitation before the Trial. News spread wildly through the restaurants, and parlors, and market streets. Even the usual blinding shine of the Hira capital didn't tire Nekohiko out so quickly as the glimpse into the rumor exchange around here.

The talks, the whispers, the clamor of the exhausting city!

A single ride through it wore him out and he arrived at the castle gates already in a foul mood.

Partly because the majority of people talked about Kasuga unfavorably. And mainly because all of them also cherished and admired and praised Morokata so much.

The presence of the non-Binding activists on the street didn't even register in comparison, but all of it ground his patience into mulch. Once he slid off the horse to the tiled courtyard of Hira Okinaga's family castle -- he was just as depressed and dark-faced as Aomi.

And just as reluctant to enjoy the view of the brilliant underground world above him.

The stars of sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and topaz high in the mountainous ceiling left no more impression on him than the achingly familiar sight of the empty Hira castle before him.

Last time he'd been here, it was different... perhaps not in the landscape or the furnishings, because so far, all he saw was the same drab, grey rock as always. Classic Okinaga's minimalism.

No, the place looked exactly like years ago. But it felt different.

No more laughter, no more life. No more joy in this cemetery-like place.

What had Aomi said about Hiras burying their truth deep underground? Yes. Like a grave. Which, Nekohiko guessed, this castle was. The remnant of the happy times past: of Asazuma, Awaji, Kusuhi.

So empty now.

"How is your stomach?" Abihiko asked him as he led him through the hallways to his old room. "Two days after you ate that rice. Do you feel anything funny yet?"

"Is this an appropriate question to ask people?" Nekohiko grumbled.

The room Abihiko was lodged in had its windows open into the obsidian stalactite garden outside, and the kaleidoscope of the distant city lights far away.

Instead of fires and lanterns, the room lit up with myriads of glowing gemstones embedded into the ceiling and walls like multicolored constellations. Around the corners -- only shelves and boxes and chests. But no clutter like back in Abihiko's home. Here, Abihiko had always been much more reserved for the fear of angering Okinaga with his frenetic tastes.

The bed rested on a dais, hidden within the veils of lava cloth -- fiery and emanating warmth, but not dangerous like real lava, and forever liquid.

Nostalgic thoughts poured in Nekohiko's mind as he sat down on the bed's edge, studying the room around him with a removed, wistful expression.

So much time had passed, and so much awful things had happened.

He only wished he knew the reason for it. So that he could, perhaps, return to something just as sweet and innocent as his first time in this place had been.

"Well, if you feel that well, maybe it's time for another meal? Hira-style? There is this adorable restaurant not far from here--"

"I am too tired. The city is frustrating."

But Abihiko was already half-out the door. He only turned back for a quick smirk. "Then we'll order out, and eat in the garden. The Trial is in two days, Neko! Do not you want to relax just before it?"

 

 

---

***

 

He did want to relax. But not yet.

Not when he and Aomi were so close to something even Abihiko probably wasn't aware of. A hint about Morokata's motives, if there were any.

So once Abihiko went to fetch those meals from his favorite Hira city restaurant, Nekohiko couldn't wait any longer.

He fidgeted a bit in their room in doubt but then got up. And crossed the hallway to where Aomi's rooms were -- and knocked on the door.

No doubts left.

The door slid open and Aomi's forlorn face peeked at him from within its gloomy darkness. "What."

"I am no snake, Aomi," Nekohiko told her, secretive. "But I am the true Emperor. Do you really believe I have no powers or means to access Hinohebira even without a snake body?"

She measured him with a heavy gaze, but her distrust somewhat lifted.

"When?"

And to that, Nekohiko could only smile.

"Now, of course. Right now."