Chapter Hundred Thirty

Owned

 

 

 

The evening in the Emerald Palace was tinged with bitterness. Abihiko's arrest and imprisonment, Nekohiko having to keep his head cool to not accidentally expose himself to all those many people who were looking for him.

Kataji's words...

Nekohiko let out a sigh.

"You may view me as you like, Kataji. If you think I behave like a... prostitute by merely coming here and asking for your kindness. Then sure." He lifted his eyes, tepid. "But I truly came here as your friend. While I still thought we were, to each other. That you view me as something else, and something so beneath you... that says more about you than about me."

"Of course." Kataji still toyed around with his fancy little teacup, his fingers rolling it softly to reflect the dim lights in the room. "Because you haven't just told me that I was always your maker and your master. How quickly you shift your stance. So am I your master or your friend, mmm? I thought these were contradicting things, according to you."

...

Nekohiko found himself shaking his head in dejection.

He didn't know. Anything, with Kataji. Only that their relationship had been doomed from the beginning -- by the mere shadow of Abihiko being in both their lives.

Kataji must have thought the same. With a tired smile, he rose from the table and beckoned Nekohiko to himself. But just as Nekohiko wanted to follow him, confused as to what Kataji wished to do next, he saw that...

The young man was undoing the ties of his luminous Imperial robes.

"To bedroom, then?" Kataji told him with a vengeful bite in his gaze. His lips, so much like Abihiko's, were slowly quirking up in a tormenting smile. "Since you clearly came here to trade for your hapless beloved. Well, then let's seal the trade deal. The way you whorish people do."

Nekohiko blinked, coolly.

What the hell, Kataji--

But he knew well how much this young man was prone to overacting and drama, no? When Kataji had discovered that Nekohiko was a murderer in Red Stone -- he had literally tortured him with whittling instruments instead of asking him upfront.

Then, hoisting up an undone doll of Nekohiko and talking to it as though to a real person. Then dressing up as Abihiko.

"Kataji, I see you have quite a flair for performances," Nekohiko told him, dry. "Have you ever considered a career in theater?"

"Tsk, I mean -- if you think I have a knack for performing, then you certainly have a knack for selling yourself. Maybe we both have our destined careers we have never considered before. Just think: you would befriend Kasuga, Mikawa, Morokata, Hibiki, me, Aomi, Abihiko -- at any point when you deem necessary. Then you would sell them out and betray them when we are not. Hey, at least most of those others got their share of benefits from you. Kasuga and Mikawa got a 'free out of Trial' benefit, Aomi got to sate her gossip tooth and desire to travel and entertain herself. Even dear Morokata and Hibiki got something they wanted from you. And..."

Kataji lowered his voice into velvety, even though Nekohiko picked up a trace of brokenness and desperation underneath.

"We both know what Abihiko got from you," Kataji murmured, subtly making a step forward.

Nekohiko didn't move. He wasn't afraid of Kataji. The man was weaker than a flower, and a non-Binder, to boot. The closer they were, the easier it would be to disarm and paralyze him if Nekohiko had to.

"Is that a fundamental injustice that I am the only one who got nothing? Nothing at all?" Kataji had gained more and more of Morokata's mannerisms, Nekohiko saw. The Young man tried to sound suave like Morokata, but so far -- he failed to maintain his composure.

The usual Kataji's unique flavor of resentment just couldn't help but peek through.

He stopped mere inches away from Nekohiko, acting seductively -- reaching out to tug at Nekohiko's sleeve, tilting his head, studying with his eyes Nekohiko's face.

Then Nekohiko's lips. Which was ridiculous because of how unnatural such behavior was for him.

"You want me to release Abihiko, right? You cannot go around breaking him out because you know there will be Towa Binders waiting there, ready to show the whole world how much of a criminal their true Emperor is. So you think you can do it quietly, by asking me to just let him go."

"Not really," Nekohiko replied. "I have no doubts that unless 'dear Morokata' allows you to do anything, you cannot do shit in this Palace. All I came here for is to ask you to help me. I will manage to break Abihiko out on my own without exposing myself, don't you worry."

"Of course, a being as powerful as you are," Kataji sighed.

"I want there to not be bad blood between you, me, and Abihiko. That is all," Nekohiko said. "Kataji. I am begging you to not play against us on Morokata's side. To not let Morokata drag you into this. Because if he does, and I have to fight you..."

I will not stop from hurting you.

That's just how it is.

"If you are my enemy, Kataji -- at least be aware of what that entails," Nekohiko told him solemnly. "From what you and all others heard about me on the Trial, you'd think you'll know I am not kind. I am fair and I don't attack unprovoked. But definitely not someone you should toy with."

"I thought, as my doll, you would not even dare raise a finger against me," Kataji whispered. "You are made with my very blood, after all."

...

Nekohiko averted his gaze, not wishing to respond to another provocation.

The Master status Kataji held over him was... not something Nekohiko was comfortable with. Especially with Kataji having abused the Orders once already.

Nekohiko was on guard now. His entire body was taut with tension, ready to strike at any moment.

"If you want to treat me as your doll, so be it," Nekohiko said. "But you will forfeit any good faith between me and you. You will not dare to guilt me ever again with how I supposedly abused you. Because if you cared about me deeply in the first place, you would never condescend to me as much as you do now."

His breathing got uneven from the proximity between them. Nekohiko was downright squirming next to him, especially seeing as Kataji was a bit taller than him. Made specifically to put this difference between them as though implying something with it.

And who was above whom in this relationship.

"Mmm? What exactly am I doing? I haven't done anything yet." Kataji mimicked the innocent look Morokata so often gave, then leaned in to catch Nekohiko's gaze. "Even though, technically -- I am in the right to do so. Am I not? Look at me, wearing my older brother's clothes, living in my older brother's Palace, owning my older brother's crown and sitting on his Throne. So many pass-me downs from him and leftovers, yet do I complain? Oh no.

"I am quite satisfied with that. I got his boyfriend now, too. Or should I call you his spouse? With how many things I have inherited from him, why not you too? Just another of so many of all those trinkets and toys he doesn't care about."

"Fuck you, Kataji."

Nekohiko was not going to listen in more to this farce.

He wanted to step away, but Kataji caught his wrist in his hand. Nekohiko's arm stiffened as both of them pulled each their way.

"Let me go--"

Out there, in the mazing hallways of the Palace, a sudden commotion sparked up. Noise. Cries. Panic.

A rumble of voices and noise that emanated from the southern wings of the Palace, judging by the direction.

Nekohiko flinched, cautious.

What was it?

And why were the people's voices, however distant and unclear -- so worried?

Worse still, as far as Nekohiko remembered, the southern wing of the Palace was where... the dungeons were. The prison cells for those few who had summoned the personal ire of the Emperor.

"Kataji, something is happening," Nekohiko tried to say.

Yet Kataji did not give a damn about anything outside this room. He didn't even react to the noise as though he was too caught up in his issues with Nekohiko.

Unable to think of anything else.

"You are his gift to me, did you know that?" Kataji said in a gruff tone, jerking Nekohiko back when Nekohiko turned his head toward the agitation outside the rooms. "Can you fucking listen to me and stop getting distracted by every single stupid thing around for a moment?"

"Kataji -- I think something is happening in the Palace's prison cells--"

"SHUT UP! Can you stop talking about your dumb lover for one damn second?!"

Nekohiko watched him in some bizarre stupor.

Never before had Kataji dared to raise his voice like this and scream at Nekohiko in such a deranged manner. The atmosphere in the room charged to the point of crackling, and Nekohiko felt both his and Kataji's breathings and heartbeats hasten in a panicked rhythm.

As though in the middle of a brutal fight.

Not merely an argument, like before.

This was serious.

"The servants and Binders and Hibiki will deal with it," Kataji hissed at him, shaken. "That is their job. And mine is to make sure that you, my fucking property, acknowledge that you have abused me! For months! You -- you nothing piece of garbage that even Abihiko didn't want!

"Because you know what? That log he had sent to the Red Stone. That utterly useless piece of trash he'd discarded because he no longer needed it. Do you know what was in the letter that accompanied that log? It said: Kata, take this and do whatever you want with it. It is very precious lumber so it'd be a pity to just burn it or to sell to the highest bidder in Nara. And since I know how much you love woodcarving, I thought you should have the first go at it."

With a disbelieving smile, Kataji chuckled, seeing the strained expression in Nekohiko's eyes.

"See? He didn't even need you and wanted to burn you or sell to whoever paid more."

"Let me go, I said."

"I was the one who actually needed you and who actually cared about you all this time," Kataji raised his voice and pulled on Nekohiko's wrist harder. "How can you not see this? Are you blind?"

Nekohiko snapped. "And are you deaf? I just said -- let me go. And dozens of times before, I have told you to not bother with me because I am just. not. interested in you in that way!"

"I gave you everything you ever asked for! And you... just such a..." Kataji struggled with precise words before giving up and spitting through teeth, "I knew you are made of wood, but is your heart made of wood, too?! Can you not recognize kindness or devotion or love when somebody throws it at your feet?"

It was as though something cracked inside Nekohiko at these words.

"I can," he said simply. Then his gaze flicked to where the sounds of some worrying activity clangored from beyond the walls of these rooms.

To where, he knew, Abihiko was.

"You whorish ingrate," Kataji whispered. "With how horribly he treats you, you still prefer him? Really? Is he that amazing in bed, or what--?"

...

Kataji tried to grab Nekohiko's face with his other hand, his fingers clinging to Nekohiko's cheek like a lover's.

In one fluid motion, Nekohiko twisted his wrist out of Kataji's grasp. With how untrained Kataji was with martial arts, that displaced him -- and he stumbled.

Nekohiko didn't lose his chance and kicked his boot under Kataji's knee. Not to hurt. Definitely not to harm him. Only to further topple him and leave in Nekohiko's full control.

"You--!"

He caught Kataji in a tackle and ripped the emerald glove off his free hand with his teeth, prepared to cast.

He didn't want to use any strong spells, afraid to leave a Binding Imprint that would be too visible to any of the people who were looking for him. But he knew a perfectly fine, simple spell that would work and wouldn't alert any of his enemies outside of Kataji's rooms.

The touch of sleep.

Like the one Abihiko had used on Kataji the last time the three of them met. Quick, painless, easy.

Kataji was so stunned by Nekohiko's sleek maneuver that he didn't have time to react. He only watched Nekohiko above him, dread drawn clearly in his eyes.

Dread, and betrayal.

Swift, Nekohiko placed the smooth, newly-fleshed fingers on Kataji's forehead, willing to take away the wakefulness aspect from the young man.

"Sleep," he ordered.

And yet...

...

Kataji still stared at him, unblinking. While beyond the doors and hallways, the commotion of the Binders and servants was only growing.

Nekohiko was losing time, casting the Sleep again. But somehow... it just didn't work.

Why??

Tentatively, Kataji smiled.

And Nekohiko only now sensed that Kataji's previous brief touch against his cheek -- had a lingering feel on Nekohiko's skin.

Suspicious warmth and... stickiness?

And the unmistakable smell of blood.

Nekohiko rushed to swipe the thin smudge of Kataji's blood off his skin, but it was too late.

And Kataji was already giving him an order.

A Master Order.

"You are no longer Nekohiko, doll. Your name is Itsuki," Kataji told him, trembling with profound mirth. "And I order you to be in love with me. And to freeze in place -- like a tame doll you are."

 

 

---

***

 

Kataji, no.

What are you doing...?

The thought flitted across Nekohiko's mind as he heard the Master Order being given.

Another was just as merciless and fast: I was first.

I cast a sleeping spell on Kataji first! It should have worked and spared me his blood orders! Why didn't it succeed?!

It was too late to wonder, though. His hand froze over his cheek, smeared with Kataji's blood: the only prerequisite necessary for the Blood Master to order his dummy to do his bidding.

Like right now.

Why Kataji, why...? You promised me you would never--

Everything in Nekohiko shuddered, preparing for the terrible compulsion of the blood magic starting to work on him. However...

He still had the perfect clarity of his mind and body.

And nothing in him wanted to respond to the base urge to follow the given Order.

Whatever this implied, for either of them.

...

Petrified, Nekohiko waited, unable to believe in what was happening and why he didn't feel any of the Master Orders taking hold of his doll body. He could move; he knew it. It actually took a lot of effort for him to keep his posture rather than change it -- because he didn't want to alert Kataji to the fact that the Order hadn't immobilized him as it should have.

In his arms, Kataji shifted, pushing Nekohiko aside to stand up and pat his clothes prim and proper again as Kataji tended to do.

He flipped his long hair behind his shoulder and only now gave Nekohiko a victorious glance.

"You forced me to use it, you see," Kataji told him. "I promised you I never would. And I fully intended to keep that promise, even with how deeply you have hurt me. But... you casting that fucking spell of sleep on me again? That is the lowest moves of the low, Itsuki. For that, I can and will punish you. As you deserve."

...

He has no idea, Nekohiko thought.

No idea his Master Order didn't work!

But... to be honest, Nekohiko hardly even accepted it, himself.

The Master Order hadn't worked? Why? HOW? He doubted he would be that lucky and the Order simply didn't go through on this one occasion.

Because before -- the Orders Kataji had given him had always worked. Hadn't they?

His mind thrashed, quick to flash back and forth, searching for any hints and guesses he could find. Ever since Nekohiko had become Kataji's dummy doll, Kataji had given him several Orders already.

The first one -- in the cat.

Nekohiko had felt with his core how deeply penetrative and debilitating that Order had been. It was real. Nekohiko still knew that the cat body could not break the rule Kataji had established inside it.

Then, in the human dummy doll -- Kataji had ordered Nekohiko to follow some small commands in The Doll Palace. To show Hibiki and Morokata that the doll worked as intended. Nekohiko remembered the clutch of the blood magic very deeply in that moment, too.

It was undeniably the same sensation as the Murder-proofing Order for the cat.

But after that... it was woozier in Nekohiko's perception. The orders Kataji had given Nekohiko right before the wedding -- about not attacking Abihiko, about having a crush on Kataji, about not hurting anyone in the vicinity of Abihiko...

A tinge of doubt clouded Nekohiko's thoughts for a moment.

These orders... they... hadn't exactly worked, had they?

Nekohiko had not had a chance to check the "having a crush" Order or the Dark Sisterhood's curse Order at the time. But as the days went by and he had grown accustomed to how his body worked, he'd begun dismissing the Orders altogether. As though they never existed.

He had taken it for granted that the Orders worked.

Even though they... didn't, really.

Only now, he realized this.

Those Orders hadn't worked. He had only convinced himself they had!

And so, now--

Stunned, he watched Kataji before him, smug as the young man was, and thought -- what is going on?

Why... Kataji's Master Orders made with his literal blood that was Bound inside Nekohiko -- aren't working?

...

But Kataji had no idea. And Nekohiko himself was only vaguely aware of the odd development. So he didn't dare fight it, yet.

He didn't dare expose this truth to Kataji.

After all, he didn't know if he could get rid of Kataji easily. If his sleeping spell hadn't worked, what if there were other spells that wouldn't work on Kataji now?

He had to be cautious.

And agreeable.

Just like a doll, tamed and fully owned by its Master.

"Yes, Master," Nekohiko uttered, careful. He wanted to wait. And see -- what Kataji, or anyone else on Kataji's side -- would make of this.

Kataji sniffed in derision. He was now standing before Nekohiko who was on his knees -- and all too vulnerably quiet under Kataji's gaze.

And Spirits, did Kataji seem to enjoy this disposition between them.

"I knew you, like any power-drunk Binder in existence, would not help abusing your powers over me," Kataji told him, gleefully. "Of course! Because why try to communicate with us non-Binders? Why try to explain? Why try to reach a compromise or treat us with respect worthy of human beings? Just overpower us, trample us, move us aside for your Binder-only fun! We, non-Binder people, do not matter! Is that not so, dear Itsuki?"

In a rush, Kataji ripped open the lapel of his robes, and in the thin sliver of his skin exposed under the inner silk shirt, Nekohiko glimpsed a few reddening scars of Binding runes, inscribed directly on Kataji's skin.

A spell array!

A dormant one, but a very effective one, seeing as it was made by engraving onto the skin itself.

Nekohiko only saw a bit of it, but he could guess what the spell array was.

A canceling spell -- specifically to protect First-rate Aspects in the body from being tampered with. Aspects like wakefulness. Or awareness.

Exactly the two Nekohiko had tried to toy with by putting Kataji to sleep.

"Hibiki was oh-so-happy! to incise these onto my chest, so... thank you for making use of it, Itsuki!" Kataji gushed, still unable to stop grinning at Nekohiko's supposed defeat. "All that pain and aggravation of making this stupid array now seems earned. Because of course you are a double-faced monster and wanted to get rid of me. Of course you did, you treacherous bastard."

Kataji rucked up his long robes to squat before Nekohiko in a smug pose of domination, looking into Nekohiko's detached face, studying his features. Longing and tenderness almost crossed Kataji's gaze a couple of times, but resentment always displaced them.

"So no, Itsuki. I do not feel bad for using a Master Order on you. Because you deserved it. You... made me use it. And now, I won't feel bad for ordering you to do more, too. You know why? Because, deep inside... I still want to believe that nobody would want to be such an unfeeling piece of wood as you are. And if you could be nicer or better as a person, Itsuki, I know you would choose to be one, too."

"..."

Argh, it took so much of Nekohiko's patience to not flinch or glare at Kataji saying all this.

But most of all -- to not want to shift his gaze over to the doors of Kataji's quarters from beyond which so much ruckus was coming.

So much... animation.

Even Kataji could no longer pretend he couldn't hear it all.

He whipped his head toward the noise, then flicked his fingers at the servant dummies at the entrance to the room.

"What the hell is going on?" he threw to them. "Get Nao or Hibiki here, quickly!"

...Nao.

Nekohiko gulped, already suspecting the Dark Sister to appear, but of course it wasn't time for that yet. The dummy dolls stood as motionless as before, but Kataji already turned away from them. As though he expected his commands to be followed as is.

Which begged the question: did the doll guards in Kataji's rooms operate exactly like Nekohiko? Not needing to walk anywhere physically, but merely shift their awareness from body to body?

If so, then... shit. Nekohiko had no clue how much of an issue these dolls would pose to him. He had to be very careful around them. He never knew if one of these dolls housed Hibiki's consciousness, watching greedily over everything that Nekohiko did while they were nearby.

"Stand up," Kataji snapped at Nekohiko, dragging him up when Nekohiko didn't move. "I Order you to stand up and go with me. Now. Also, unfreeze and... smile."

...

Nekohiko shot his gaze left and right in search of the merest hints of what was happening outside. He hardly remembered he had to act as though Kataji's Master Orders did anything to him.

Painedly, he smiled when Kataji cast him a look, checking if Nekohiko followed the Order.

Only then did Kataji stop pulling on his hand too hard and quietened down. A shade of satisfaction veiled his eyes.

His fingers twined with Nekohiko's and rather than drag him after himself, Kataji gave him a gentle tug. "Itsuki?"

...

"Yes, Master?"

It took a lot of Nekohiko's patience not to allow bitterness in his tone. Kataji winced.

"I Order you to call me Kataji. And to speak like you normally would with me..." Abruptly, he seemed to have realized something. "I Order you to forget that I ordered you anything at all. Now."

Spirits, Kataji...

At least he understood that no person would ever forgive something as horrific as a Master Order to fall in love with him. Though, the Order to erase Nekohiko's memory about that was even more shuddering.

Kataji went full-on with it, huh.

"Yes, Master."

"On that same note..." Kataji still ushered him to walk through the rooms of the ostentatious chambers, one room after the other, each more beautiful than before. And further away from the commotion in the hallways. "I Order you to erase all the memories you have of Abihiko. Including the one of me giving you this Order right now. Do it."

"..."

Nekohiko bit his lip, suppressing his desire to cry out, 'What is wrong with you, Kataji? What the hell are you even doing?' His resolve wavered, partly on the sickening shiver that ran through him at the thought of Kataji actually fiddling with his memory like that.

What kind of person would do that?

Then again, Nekohiko could swear Kataji didn't care about that part of Nekohiko's soul that knew Abihiko. Perhaps, Kataji thought Nekohiko would be a better person if he had never known Abihiko, in the first place.

Debatable, but... it was not for Kataji to decide.

"Yes, Master."

Kataji stopped in the doorway of the last room on their route. A... bedroom, it seemed. A beautiful bedroom, with a layout that was eerily similar to the bedroom in Abihiko's Imperial quarters.

One where Nekohiko and he had fought almost to death. Just a month ago.

Kataji turned to Nekohiko, his eyes touched with a hidden flame of hope. "I told you not to call me Master. Call me Kataji. Or... Kata. Or rather... do you have any pet name for Abihiko?" A frown crossed his forehead. "Do you call him anything special?"

...

Nekohiko blinked, feigning confusion. "Who?"

"Hm, good." Kataji nodded, then pulled Nekohiko into the room and gave one last glance to the halls behind them where the guard dummies stilled as though waiting for something. From so far away in here, hidden behind so many doors and walls and curtains -- none of the noises from the outside reached.

It was calm and peaceful here, exactly as Kataji must want it to be.

The bedroom that had once belonged to Sakami, was fluttery and breezy, all the ephemeral curtains in the dusty Hisome colors stirring in the incense-scented air. The tepid lights of the room only heightened the ambience of a cozy, intimate place.

"Itsuki?"

"Mmm?"

Kataji smiled, softly pulling the wooden doors closed. He turned to Nekohiko, and such a blissful expression was on his face, Nekohiko almost felt sorry for lying to him. Again.

This little monster was so happy about erasing Nekohiko's mind and memory.

So happy, it was almost heartbreaking to think he believed he was doing Nekohiko a favor.

"Do you like this room?"

Nekohiko gave the room a prolonged look, not knowing what Kataji wanted to do with this information. "I do."

"If you don't, I can make the servants change things in here..." Kataji walked forward, thoughtful. "Then again, maybe it would be easier to just Order you to like it. Do you want me to?"

...

"Itsuki, do you want me to Order for you to be happy? I can do that. I feel like I am the first person in the world who can actually... make another human being happy." In disbelief, Kataji shook his head and smiled at himself. "Can you imagine? How... good it feels. To give someone happiness even if you can never reach it yourself?"

Gods, Kata...

"What makes you so unhappy, Kataji?" Nekohiko asked, trying to sound tender even if he failed.

He was supposed to act as though he was in love with this confused young man lest Kataji suspected that he was faking his orders.

But truly, Nekohiko did not know what Kataji wanted from him. And how far he would take it.

And why.

It would not make him happy, either. So why was he doing all this?

"Just that he was always first, and all I get is his leftovers," Kataji muttered under his nose, slowly walking toward the bed and sinking at its edge. He turned his head to Nekohiko, beckoning him with his finger. "I wish I could erase my own memory, too. And pretend you and I were friends all this time... Just because you actually wanted to be one, for me. And not because you used me as a stepping stone for someone else you love."

Now that Kataji wasn't blaming him for anything or trying to make Nekohiko feel like shit, Nekohiko almost could understand him and the deep-seated pain in Kataji's heart.

He was saying these things calmly, without fervor. They cut much deeper and stronger than anything Kataji had tried to scream at him earlier.

"I now understand why you wanted revenge so much in your life even when I told you it is futile," Kataji said when Nekohiko strolled over to him and stopped a palm-length away. "I want revenge, too."

Kataji's hand reached out to Nekohiko's emerald breastplate, then slid down to rest against the clasps on his martial skirt -- as though to unhook the knots and ties and take the skirt off him. As though an invitation to undress.

Nekohiko's breath stilled.

With displeasure, he watched Kataji's lips slowly curl up in a smile that was not at all happy. Rather, it was tinged with bitterness and spite.

Kataji lifted his eyes, and Nekohiko saw just how red around the edges they were. As though burning.

"I will make you pay," Kataji told him. "For everything you did to me. I now get it, Itsuki. The desire for revenge and how quickly it can corrupt one's mind. I get it completely. I do not want you really, Itsuki. You... broke my heart. I hate you. All I want is to hurt you like you hurt me."

Nekohiko closed his eyes, feeling the heat of revulsion already sparking him to recoil. It seemed he would not get anything out of Kataji tonight without it costing him dearly.

No matter.

"Kataji, I do not like it," he said in the last attempt to dissuade him.

"I do not like being toyed with, either. But here we are. Now, I Order you to kiss me, Itsuki. No -- better yet -- I Order you to want to kiss me."

"Can you do a single thing to me without ordering?" Nekohiko asked, hollowly.

But Kataji was too deep in his own derangement to notice. "Is this real flesh, Itsuki? On your hands -- and -- I suppose everywhere else? Did you actually have someone coat your body with flesh, after all? Your chest, your legs, your... dick, too? I guess to please Him. Surely, no wooden dicks for Him--"

Nekohiko jerked his hand out of Kataji's fingers, but Kataji clung to it, not letting him go.

"And you said -- I would never need a real human body, Kataji! Yet look at you, Itsuki. You have a fully-human body, to enjoy life to the fullest with Him, but clearly not with anyone else. Because He is so different from everyone. So much better than anyone. Right?" To his whispery, rough questions, Nekohiko almost wanted to reply, but Kataji didn't even let him wedge in a word. His face went patchy with red, a feverish heat in each of his moves and words. "What is it about Him? Why? Why does He have everything, and I have nothing? He was born only a few years before me, yet he had taken everything from me. My title, my inheritance, the better body, talents and gifts in anything he had ever touched. Our parents! Who died because of him and his stupid mistakes. Even our sister who is on his side regardless of whether he deserves it or not. What do I have, Itsuki? I have nothing. Not even you. And I fucking made you from scratch! With my own hands!!'

"Aomi loves you both equally--"

She begged me, just hours ago. To save you and Abihiko both.

Both.

"Bullshit. I can't force her or Abihiko to share anything with me, or other people to acknowledge me, but hey -- I can have you! Because I made you. You are mine. Mine, you hear it?! I made you for myself, not for him, so he has no right to own you! COME here!"

And with a demanding yank, Kataji drew Nekohiko toward himself. Nekohiko swayed but did not move.

"No."

Betrayed, Kataji's face paled from the fervor of before.

His eyes widened, only now seemingly hearing that Nekohiko refused to do as told.

As though coming up from a dream.

But before he or Nekohiko could react--

The doors far off in the ante-chambers clanged open. And in the whirlwind of screams and panic that could be heard all the way in this closed room, Nekohiko sensed...

Abihiko's magic.

His Binding.

Here. Now.

Like a fiery tempest, breaking in from the outside and bringing destruction and clamor everywhere he went.

Nekohiko's first thought was -- he came here for me?

But how did he know I was here? How did he know Kataji would want to abuse me? How--

Of course it was merely a selfish, giddy thought. Contrary to Nekohiko's usual expectations, Abihiko's world did not revolve solely around him.

It encompassed other people in it, too.

And Kataji had been wrong, as well. Not only Aomi cared for him and his well-being. Abihiko did, as well.

Kataji was his little brother, after all.

He had come here -- for him.

"Kata! Kata, come here right now!" Abihiko's voice boomed over the empty rooms of Sakami's quarters. And with each step, his voice rang closer and closer. "Kata, we need to talk -- the Palace is under siege as we speak! I have to make sure you're safe! Please come out!"

...

The Palace besieged?

By whom? Since when--? Why??

No time for wondering. Abihiko was approaching very fast, and Nekohiko's heart only flamed up from the wild hope of seeing him so soon again. Regardless of the reasons Abihiko had come here for.

Perhaps, the two of them would get rid of Kataji as their enemy so much easier--

"Like hell he is," Kataji spat and sprang up from the bed to grab hold of Nekohiko's face in both his hands. And blindly and passionately, he pushed himself onto Nekohiko, planting his searing-hot lips on Nekohiko's mouth.

Argh!

Nekohiko managed to evade him only barely, even if the kiss still scalded the corner of his mouth. And the feeling of hatred that surged inside him -- only more so.

A few rough moves, and Nekohiko twisted Kataji's hands away from himself. His knee pressed against Kataji's chest, shifting the balance between the two of them -- and allowing him to overturn their position.

With Kataji slammed to the floor, right underneath him.

Stunned and scared.

Yep. Perhaps Nekohiko could not use his Binding, but surely he could still kick Kataji's ass physically. Every single time.

"I told you -- no," Nekohiko said through teeth.

...

The doors of the room smashed open.