Chapter Hundred Thirty-Six

The One Who Gives Orders

 

 

The view from the seashell on Nekohiko's neck was just as horrific. But now, the crucial thing changed.

Nekohiko had the full scope of his emotions. And he could see everything as it was, not through the lens of complacency.

And this hurt. All of it.

Abihiko was down, Nekohiko was... under complete control from Morokata. Worse -- the one who had beaten Abihiko down was he, himself! And likely, with Morokata's Orders, Nekohiko would fight against anyone else, too.

Anyone. Regardless of how Nekohiko felt about it, the doll body would follow the Orders and carry them out. Of that, he was sure. How?

Because even though his mind was clear and let him finally see the full devastation of his and Abihiko's plans -- he could not do anything about it.

Morokata kept talking to the dummy doll, giving it some inconsequential Orders, and the doll body... followed them. With or without Nekohiko's consciousness inside.

"I heard Kataji gave you some wonderful Orders tonight?" Morokata tangled a strand of Nekohiko's hair on his finger. "I find them unbelievably clever, actually. Not just telling you to be happy, but also to fall in love with him. Ahh... that young man is so talented. He has no idea, yet. Dolls who are happily in love with their Masters never pose problems. It is the most perfect defense against them betraying you, see? Tell me, doll -- do you not agree?"

"Yes, Master," the body replied in Nekohiko's blank voice.

While Nekohiko's mind, safely within the seashell, only descended deeper and deeper into desperation.

...

This was almost as awful as when Abihiko had murdered him.

Almost. But Morokata, being in control of him so thoroughly came very, very close.

Nekohiko's mind wanted to unravel and descend into a stupor from which he knew he wouldn't be able to resurface for a long while.

He wanted to.

Gods, how he wanted... Abihiko's agony, his own uselessness... the fact that this ended up being so stupidly simple for Morokata to have caught them here!

And after Nao had told them there was no way to escape Morokata's traps in this Palace! No way! ARGH! They had walked right into this one. Not that there were no others. But still...

That bitch could have been more specific in her directions, Nekohiko thought vengefully. What had he expected of her, though?

Now all he wanted to do was to laugh madly and weep at the same time. Everything was moot. Everything was coming undone right before his eyes.

...

Everything. In vain.

But he snapped his mind back into focus.

"Collect yourself, dummy," he snapped in his mind.

You follow so many Orders. You get tricked so easily and diverted so often. Even before coming under Morokata's control -- were you not dancing to his and other people's strings all your life?

Even to Abihiko's? Perhaps Abihiko is doing this all for your own good, but...

Stop being such a useless Puppet, Nekohiko!

Stop doing what others want you to do!

You are the Emperor!

You give orders!

Not anyone else! Damnit.

...

"So how about it, baby doll?" Morokata's seductive whispers stirred Nekohiko's long bangs, so close he leaned. "I Order you to be in love with me. Madly, deeply. Without a single doubt. Will you?"

Nekohiko didn't even bother to hear what the dummy doll's body would reply to that. Or how quickly it would snap its entire body and its inner workings to do exactly as Morokata wanted it to.

Alas, it had no choice but to follow.

Nekohiko's mind -- his soul -- didn't have to.

He heard the echo of the doll's voice saying, "Yes, Master" in his ears. But he refused to go back to that body to check what its inner reactions to such an Order would be.

Instead, he went to his other bodies. So many to choose from.

No?

 

 

---

***

 

 

Within the next few seconds, he realized that he didn't have that many.

How many had he had before? He would struggle to count, but at least two dozens. Several woodchips always around Kataji and Mikawa, the wooden block Kasuga had secured... and of course the ladybug, the seashell, and the cat.

That was plenty as far as he could tell.

The thing was...

Kataji had destroyed all the body parts of Nekohiko he'd owned. And the moment the Nagare siblings had learned about Nekohiko's involvement with Kazuragi's death... it was obvious what they would do, too.

Nekohiko wasn't too surprised to find no plethora of bodies his mind could bounce off to.

The realization was harsh nonetheless. However much he searched, he simply could not find many places to go to. Only the ones that drew him in the most. His biggest and most capable bodies.

The cat. The ladybug. The human doll.

Nothing else.

"For hell's sake!" he yelled at himself, almost losing his concentration once again.

Kasuga and Mikawa had seemingly destroyed those body parts of him they had. Which were the most of the bodies he had!

Gods, just--

Aaaaaaaaaaaaagh!

But rather than reel and wallow in his dejection, Nekohiko chose... not to.

It wasn't an easy choice to make, but he couldn't let his life be taken away from him again. With such methodical precision, with such forward momentum.

This was his life.

It had been taken from him away once already. By the same exact people. The first time, he hadn't been aware of their ploys, but now he was.

To hell with them all. With Morokata, with Kataji, Nao, Kasuga, Mikawa. He did not owe anyone anything. Only himself -- to keep his mind and his Empire.

He owed something to Abihiko, too.

But nobody other than that.

His consciousness crashed into the cat, settling in with the fierceness of not having anything else to lose.

Immediately, he knew he was being held in someone's arms. A familiar scent, a warm hold against a young girl's chest. Good. At least someone still by his side.

"Aomi, I need Kotone here, now," he growled.

Only to realize that Aomi was a few feet away. A scared little child, not Aomi he knew. The girl still wore the clothes he'd seen her last in -- jittering in front of the large open doors of a darkly-wooden room. The doors opened up into a porch and a garden beyond. The garden was filled with stone and wooden lanterns -- and of such familiar shapes!

This whole room with its hallowed incense and the hushed atmosphere evoked reminiscences. The night in the garden and the woods around was that of a sacred place, one Nekohiko knew dearly.

The Spring Sunlight Shrine!¹The one that is called 春日大社 (Kasuga-taisha). But no connection to Kasuga's name even though they sound the same (they are spelled differently, though).

The place where he and his former teammates had schemed against Morokata and his stupid wedding.

And the person who was holding Nekohiko in her arms--?

The young woman, not a girl -- held Nekohiko up to look him in the eye. On her face, a mixture of worry and sadness splayed like shadows over the quiet lake deep in the woods.

Both a calm and despairing expression.

"I am here, Nekohiko," Kotone told him, grave. "Why do you ask?"

Ah... perfect. Perfect.

Not just Aomi, but Kotone, too. And probably Haehime -- as long as the Priestess had managed to arrive in Nara, which Nekohiko doubted.

Still something he could work with.

Someone to count on.

"Everything is awful. I need so much help..." he began.

But he caught himself off, not knowing what he even wanted to say.

How would Kotone and Aomi, of all people, help him? Yes, he needed help. But not against Morokata and Hibiki -- those two monsters in human form. And probably not against all those colossals like Okinaga, Kasuga, Sakai, and Iokirihime.

There were simply too many people against him with immense power and influence. Two young girls, one of whom wasn't even a real Binder -- were nothing in comparison.

He could not ask their help in this.

"I need a few quiet moments to think," he ended. Already, he buried his furry head in Kotone's elbow, as though trying to drown out all the noise and the strange agitation he was hearing from beyond the walls of this room.

Sure, he had perceived the Shrine as hushed at first, but only compared to the clamor and endless chaos that was the Emerald Palace under siege.

After getting used to the Shrine's ambience, he could tell that even the Spring Sunlight Shrine was not as calm as he'd wanted to believe.

So much noise here, too.

That pissed him off.

He had to think, all right?! Clearly and calmly -- for a few damn moments! Was that so much to ask for?

"What the hell is going on out there?" He raised his head from Kotone's arm and gave her a glare. "Is the whole world ending tonight, or what!"

Kotone cringed, drawing her shoulders up as though to shield herself from an unjust attack. In the diffuse light, she seemed ashen with anguish. Nekohiko pained at seeing her like this, but he really needed to know what was going on.

She knew that, too. "The city is revolting, Nekohiko. The people are... in turmoil. The Palace was besieged, the fight between two Great Lords broke out. It's hell out there, tonight." Grim, her tone dropped. She slowly strolled on toward Aomi, lifting Nekohiko in her arms as though to let him see the awful sight outside the garden. "So yes, the world is ending. Or so it seems."

...

He did not want to see whatever she would show him.

He had no time for this.

Luckily, the Spring Sunlight Shrine was located so far away from the center of life that were the main streets of Nara, shielded by rows of trees of the small deer woods around the Shrine grounds. So almost nothing of the city life would reach here.

On a normal day.

Tonight, the noise of the boiling city reached this place. Tonight, even the sanctity of the Shrine's silence was broken.

Nekohiko could not see much beyond the flickers of dim lights through the dense foliage and the rising grey pillars of smoke far against the horizon. But he could imagine it well enough.

He seethed.

The afterimages of fire and brimstone colored the dark skies. Aomi came to nuzzle his head with her nose, pulling him into a hug against her.

And then her question...

It snapped him out of his daze, so frustrating it was. "Neko, are my brothers all right? Is everything good with Kata and Abihiko?"

...

Even compared to the utter chaos that was Nara on this maddening night, any reply he made about Kataji or Abihiko would be so much worse in comparison.

That said, he did want to know about the situation in the city.

It was his city.

If he defeated Morokata and took it over from him, he had to make sure there would be something to take! From the looks, it might not be much after tonight.

"Kotone, fill me in with everything that's going on in Nara," he commanded, his voice cold. "And quickly. I don't have time and need to go back."

From one firepit to another.

Oh well.

 

 

---

***

 

The Shrine was a mess, too. Nekohiko had never seen so many Spiritway priests and monks darting through the hallways of a Shrine, crashing into each other, demanding answers and spreading panic all around. Most Spiritway people were attuned with Spirits. They had tranquil dispositions and carefree outlooks on almost everything that went on around them.

Yet somehow, tonight exposed that... no. Not all Spiritway people were as collected about the prospect of a revolution right at the gates of their cozy Shrine, as one would expect them to be.

They frothed with anxiety and frenzy as anyone else would, with only a rare exception among the older members of the Spiritway.

Elders and senior Priests still maintained a placid attitude, but nobody listened to them or paid them attention. Almost everyone gravitated toward those in charge.

And here, the one in charge was the person closest to the position of the Head Priest of Izumo. In other words, Hifumi.

Suminoe's stand-in.

"Please, let me talk to him once more?" Aomi jerked the edge of Kotone's robes to make her turn around as the two girls threaded through the Shrine crowd. "Neko! Neko, please! What about my brothers?!"

Gods, Aomi. Not now!

There are thousands of innocents in danger -- I need to know what is happening! Nekohiko wanted to snap, but instead only dug his talons deeper into Kotone's forearm through her sleeve as though spurring her to move faster.

The Priestess weaved deftly through the throngs of the monks and scholars filling the inner stone garden. Everyone talked, sparks of Binding energy surging here and there as they showed to each other their spells. Likely, something to gauge the general unrest of the Spirits in Nara's vicinity, or the cast of the Binding Imprints from the Spiritside. Anything that could demonstrate to others the sheer scope of the troubles they were dealing with.

"They are storming the Quiet Palace and the State Hall as well," someone complained in horrified whispers.

"The Main Shrine of the city has fallen! The marauders got to it--!"

Gasps and cries of fright washed over the gathering, and even Kotone stilled, turning her head to listen to the news.

In the center of the closest huddle of Priests, a Hira fire spell burned, its flame tongues flickering every which way. In it, the images of people swarming the streets and the empty squares of the Quiet Palace were like a shifting nightmare.

Nekohiko couldn't take his eyes off it.

"What is going on?" Kotone asked the nearby Priest.

His expression darkened as he nodded at the fire. "The group of non-Binders reacted so fast when the first explosions came from the Emerald Palace. Some went to storm the Emperor's home for the fear that Emperor Kataji would be hurt by all these Binders."

"But they met the rage that was the fight between Kasuga, Iokirihime, and Okinaga," another person continued, shaking her head. "And so many of them fell. Being non-Binders, they weren't even noticed in the Binding fight. And so..."

Oh.

Nekohiko had a good enough understanding of what such a downfall would cause in the city that was already brimming with hatred, and anger, and distrust toward its Binders.

And with those pesky non-Binding rebels everywhere...

He wanted to curl into a ball and not deal with any of this shit for now. But of course nobody asked him what he wanted.

"They are here!"

"They are coming to Spring Sunlight, too! The non-Binders and some of the renegade Binders united!!"

"They want to throw down the Shrines! The mob is coming here!"

"What?!"

"Ahhhh!"

The panic was so abrupt and imminent that Nekohiko didn't have time to react. He clung to Kotone, only that much more confused about everything than he'd been before coming here.

This was hell!

Today. An utter nightmare, not a day!

He'd wanted to find a safe, quiet place to mull over the terrible circumstances of his and Abihiko's capture at Morokata's hands, but instead -- he was dealing with a damn revolution on his hands?!

"Give me a break." He nearly sobbed into Kotone's chest as he cowered away from the noise. "Why is everything going down at once?"

Indeed, why.

"Spiritway Priest Hifumi!" Kotone's voice rang high and steady over the clashing roars of the crowd.

Her hands clutched Nekohiko to herself, hiding him from the world and keeping him safe even amidst the elbowing, frenetic crowd. She was running past the others, refusing to get swept into their panic as she made her way to where she needed to go.

"Spiritway Priest Hifumi! What are our actions?" she cried once she managed to get away from the epicenter of the ruckus in the Shrine's yard.

Hifumi halted at the stone steps leading inside the Shrine.

"Ehh? Ah? Oh..." Hifumi's voice, as usual, had a tinge of insecurity and disinterest.

Not what a person others looked up to should sound like. Around him, several other Priests -- from Izumo or local ones -- stood, casting doubtful glances over the flaming horizon. A few tried to sneak in some suggestions at him, but the small group of Hisome representatives scowled in their direction as though contesting their very desire to speak up.

Among this crowd of reluctant or apathetic Binders, Hifumi didn't seem all that odd.

"Cast the arrays and barriers to protect the Shrine," he finally managed. "That should keep the rebels away and not cause more trouble--"

"The city is burning," Kotone told him. "The Spirits suffer, cannot you feel it? The Spiritside is in flames, too!"

The Hisome delegation shifted their focus to her. Not a single receptive expression among them.

"What do you suggest, Spiritway Priestess... who? What is your name, Mistress?"

"If we go out -- should we take part in the mayhem? We are not insane," another of the Priests mumbled under his nose.

"Spiritway Priestess Kotone, you are hysterical," some other Priestess scoffed. "Please calm down."

With all this tepid support, Hifumi felt justified in not doing anything. He shrugged at Kotone lightly, making a miserable face as though he didn't disagree with her, but didn't hold a strong opinion either. Then he turned to walk away.

And Nekohiko simply snapped.

"Kotone. No." The fur on his back rose. He climbed over her arms to peer into her face, demanding. "Make them understand! Save my damn capital, Kotone!"

Only a few people around them noticed a cat in Kotone's arms that was screaming at her so harshly. Silent questions appeared on their numb faces, but Nekohiko didn't give a shit.

He dug his talons into her robes and the skin beneath, not caring if it hurt or injured her.

She had to listen to him! Someone did!

"What the hell is this thing--" someone began asking. "A cat toy?"

"Shut it!" Nekohiko clanged with his bronze teeth, then turned back to Kotone. "Take me away from here, now. Anywhere quiet!"

"This cat is talking! Wait, is it a dummy or...?"

"Mn!" Kotone responded solely to him as she shouldered past the pesky Priests who blocked her way. "The inner Shrines are quiet enough."

The ramblings and inane questions rose behind them as Kotone fled. Yet the overall distress of the crowd grew further away as Priests and regular Binders were gathering to go down the Shrine paths and raise spell barriers.

Boiling with anticipation, Nekohiko jumped off Kotone's arms and skittered before her, leading the way down the dark hallways to any room they could use to talk. He flew inside one, dashing up on the table to be at least somewhat on the same level as Kotone. He needed to talk to her about very important issues.

"Kotone, you are now the Head Priestess of Izumo," he said.

The young woman didn't even walk into the room before he stunned her with his proclamation.

She froze in the doors, blank with confusion. "Nekohiko?"

"Come in, quickly! I have no time for this." He began pacing the table, his paws unable to stomp as he would like to do. His breath came strained and huffy through his whiskers. "I am making you the official Leader of Spiritway in the Empire, Kotone. I, the Emperor, can. The Spiritside will align with my choice, and we both know it."

"But... Hifumi," Kotone stammered. "His Holiness Suminoe--"

"Suminoe is dead and Hifumi is incompetent." Nekohiko cast her a glare, his ears twitching.

The truth was... harsh. And usually, Nekohiko would not want to say it out-loud like this. But tonight -- with how many things were going to hell, neither his manners nor his patience could handle it.

He said it as it was.

"And these bureaucrats and cowards will unmake my Empire right under my eyes if we let them! You are now Your Holiness, Kotone."

"I do not know if I am competent enough either," came a thoughtful reply.

Nekohiko shook his head, nearly growling.

"Your suggestion to go down into the city and pacify the Spirits was a good one. People will die tonight if this clash between the Lords persists. The Spirits within the city will expand, fueled by hatred and resentment. To the size of Savage Beasts. They will start destroying everything in their sight!"

"I fear some of them already are." Kotone's brows at last knitted with dismay. "I cannot believe the Spiritway officials allowed it to come to this stage without interfering."

"Well NOW you are officially in the right to do so!"

...

"Oh. All right."

Kotone didn't seem that reluctant, in the end. Wasn't she the one who had told Nekohiko how she spent the last five years training under Suminoe to help him take care of the Spiritway concerns? And unlike Hifumi, she was much more Spiritually-attuned! Who better than her to be the new head of the Spiritway?

At least she would be better at it than Hifumi.

"Haehime would also work, but--" Nekohiko scoffed. "I guess she isn't here yet?"

"She rides here from the Adamantine Mountain and will probably only arrive tomorrow or a day after, depending on how weak her health is."

"Spirits, nevermind." Nekohiko cocked his chin as though checking. "Can you show your Binding aura now? As the Emperor, my orders are law to the Spirits. But just in case..."

"Mn!"

Kotone finally unglued herself from the doors and knelt before the tea table on which Nekohiko stood. Closing her eyes and putting her hands together, she breathed slowly. With just a flicker of the Spiritside dark wind crossing her frame, dislodging her clothes and hair in a flutter, she phased in and out of the Spiritside.

The luminance of her aura was such a healing sight to Nekohiko's frustrated mind. A gentle hue he recognized so well from their years together back in Izumo. Within it, was something new.

Power.

His own power, linked to hers through the Spirits that was hard to ignore to any Binder who would take the merest glance at it.

The connection to the Spiritway. Like several Bonds, sort of Spiritual threads that converged within Kotone's body as though drawn solely to her. They weren't bright or even visible, but Nekohiko felt it.

This was the hue of Binding power very similar to his own and unmistakably similar to Suminoe's. To Suminoe's of five years ago. The mark of the Head Priest...ess.

Kotone was truly the Leader of Izumo now.

No ceremony, no ritual. Just Nekohiko's command was enough to count.

Although, with how pedantic those bastards outside were...

"Come here, I need to mark you with my Binding Imprint, too. To shut all of them up once and for all."

He leaned his forehead to hers for a brief moment. His aura manifested barely enough to linger on her and leave a mark. Anyone daring to question her claims to being the Head Priestess would only need to see her Binding Aura and the mark of the true Emperor on her.

Good luck arguing with both of these, you morons.

Kotone giggled, rubbing her forehead where it had touched Nekohiko's. "Your fur is tickly." Then she cast a glance to her arms and the streaks of faint red peeking in through the shredded robes on her chest and forearms. "And your talons are vicious."

"Go and save my city from the madness that is tonight," Nekohiko replied, firm. "I don't care if you don't know how. I don't care what you need to do to argue and convince those idiots out there to help you. I order you -- as your Emperor -- to do it. You understand?"

"Mn!"

With a profound nod and a fist to her palm, Kotone assumed a decisive expression and wanted to run away to do as told. But Nekohiko had something else on his mind before that.

He knew he had no time.

Already, something was happening to his human doll body and he had to go and check on it. The few glimpses he had made while being here were from within his seashell. He saw that Morokata was still making bizarre adjustments to Nekohiko's looks and that he still gloated about Abihiko's state at the same time.

Also, Hibiki was there now.

Which... aaahhhhh. Nekohiko's talons curled into the table surface, wishing to shred it. Or anything! He wanted to thrash and ravage around just from the idea of Hibiki being so close to his defenseless body and to Abihiko. But he had to take care of one last thing.

Here. Now.

"Kotone, I need you to help me link the Master Order in this cat body to any other doll body I have," he said. A shiver of doubt coursed through him, but he didn't let it overtake his tone or his resolve.

"Huh? What--"

"This body. It has a Master Order Bond in it. I need to be able to stretch it -- the Bond -- into other bodies," he explained. "Please. I beg you."

"Nekohiko! That is complex First-rate Aspect manipulation, and would require a ton of time to prepare for and do. I have no idea if something like this can even be done."

"It can be." He was sure of that. "Because I and Abihiko have done it before. During our journey to Ise, we have managed to make a spell like that. It let me link such First-rate Aspects as pain and damage across all of my doll bodies."

Kotone's mouth hung open. She tilted her head, thinking about it. "That sounds... very bizarre. How did you even think of something like that?"

I... didn't.

I am not that imaginative. It was all Hibiki.

"Nobody even has several bodies to do such a spell in, let alone to come up with such a curious stretching of First-rate Aspects!" Kotone gushed on, entranced.

"I have it," Nekohiko said. "Inside me. This spell already works, and it works well. I can link all my bodies with pain and damage. When one body is hurt or destroyed, I can channel the pain and damage to another body instead. It's perfect. It lets me control which of my bodies gets destroyed or harmed. But now I want you to link the Master Bond inside it as well. Can you?"

He didn't have access to casting such fine spells in this cat body. Cat paws just couldn't do magic that well.

But this had to be done. If his guesses were correct, this was the only thing remotely close to helping him defeat Morokata's claim over his human doll body.

Just as Nao had told him.

That bitch... hadn't lied to him, exactly. She had told him there was no way he could escape the Emerald Palace tonight without Morokata catching him into one of his traps.

Nao had said -- several traps. And that all of them were geared toward assuming control of his doll body.

She hadn't been wrong.

He didn't want to rely on her words so thoroughly, but... right now, he didn't have much of a choice. He had to grasp at something to work with. Because without this, his fight with Morokata over the human doll body was already lost.

Now and forever. This was defeat. Nothing could be done about that.

But he couldn't let it go like this!

He had to fight! He wanted to. He wanted his city to survive this night, he wanted the Lords to stop destroying his Empire with their clashes. Above all, he wanted his body back and for Abihiko to not... die out there, collapsing with exhaustion or from sheer despair of their situation.

He chose to face this as it was.

Regardless of the hurdles in his way.

Thus, Nao's words about the Master Bond inside the human body -- that it was specially made, and that the only way to get rid of it was to have Morokata destroy it personally...

It sparked up hope inside Nekohiko.

It let him dream for a way to make use of this information.

To trick Morokata in his own game. To return the favor.

Morokata wasn't stupid. He would never destroy the Master Bond inside Nekohiko's human body. It belonged to the true Emperor. It was useful like no other. Even without Nekohiko's mind inside it... the body was like a perfect tool to use whenever Morokata deemed it necessary.

And a person like him -- should not have access to a tool so powerful. Never.

"Can't you just let me destroy the Master Bond inside this kitty to let you be free from it? That would be so much easier and will do what you want anyway?" Kotone asked him softly. She wanted to stroke his fur to placate him, but Nekohiko jerked away from her. 

"No. This Master Bond that Kataji put inside me -- stays. I do not want to be free from it," he hissed, talons twitching in and out of his paw pads like a nervous tick. "What I want is for you to connect it to that other spell I and Abihiko have made. The one that lets me link my First-rate Aspects across all my bodies. One that will let me work with the Master Bond in the same manner! Kotone -- I need this. I need to be able to manipulate Master Bonds inside me even if I am incapable of removing them! 

"That's why I am not asking to destroy it, but to connect it to the other Master Bonds in my bodies.

"Can you do that?"

...

His ranting, heated cry for help was like a stab to Kotone's heart; that was clear. Her eyes glimmered with oncoming tears as she gulped, lifting her hands to assemble a formation of a Fusion spell -- one of the first ones she had helped Nekohiko to learn, so many years ago.

"I am ready to Bind together your Master Bond and the spell you and Abihiko had made," she warned him. "Are you ready, too?"

...

Always, Kotone.

"Good luck," he said.

To her, to himself and above all -- to Morokata.

Because if this worked as intended...  Then truly, good luck, Morokata.

With that, Kotone began casting.

 

 

 

---

***

 

 

"...and the retards cannot even assemble a formation to keep that Hira asshole's army in check!" Hibiki raged in the room when Nekohiko shifted his mind back to the Emerald Palace.

He didn't dare to go into the human body with all those Orders Morokata had been giving to him while he was gone. He knew he had control over his emotions and thinking while avoiding that body. But once he would go inside... he wasn't so sure he would be able to handle it.

Even the single Order to be happy had rendered Nekohiko too indifferent to his previous plans. With the new Order to be in love with Morokata, Nekohiko had no idea how he would fare.

And, really... he didn't want to check.

Already, his doll body was leaning against Morokata. A bit too close, a bit too comfortable in Morokata's possessive embrace. But even that wasn't the greatest issue.

Hibiki stood over Abihiko, holding one of Abihiko's arms outstretched as though checking something on the skin of his wrists and forearms. Seeing such a scene hurt Nekohiko much more.

Do not touch him.

Do not you dare, Nekohiko wanted to scream but held himself off.

Revealing that he was not inside his doll body was unwise. He had to keep his disguise. Had to endure this... torment.

Abihiko's calm, if defeated demeanor only heightened the feeling of despair. The way he didn't raise his eyes and didn't resist whatever Hibiki was doing to him -- was painful, too.

Gritting his teeth, Nekohiko watched.

"Go and take care of them, I said!" Hibiki suddenly roared at the few dummy dolls who stood several feet away. "Those stupid Hiras are a nuisance --"

Abruptly, he turned over to Morokata. "Did you know they are constantly splitting cracks in the earth beneath the Palace?! Even keeping this place whole is impossible!"

"Shush." Morokata chuckled, slowly beckoning Hibiki to himself with a finger, grace and finesse in every single gesture. "You did well, Hibiki. The Lords fight with the non-Binders now which is perfect for us."

...

Hibiki brightened up like sunrise.

"I did?"

"Mmmhm. Now do as Hibiki says," Morokata commanded to the dolls, too. And they bowed to him like they never bowed to Hibiki and finally deigned to hurry and leave. To do their job that Hibiki had given them.

Yet only Morokata could command them to begin.

Not that Hibiki noticed. He bounced on his feet, excited like an eager puppy. He flicked Abihiko's hand free from his grip, leaving Abihiko to kneel on the floor in the hunched pose, his eyes staring before himself with an apathetic gaze.

Hibiki wanted to run over. Oh, he so wanted.

Yet he didn't let himself. Instead, he only gave Morokata pleading glances while his hands trembled in front of his chest as though craving to grab something. As though to get hold of it, at last.

"Do I get my reward, then? Mmm? MMM??" Hibiki asked, timid with almost childish anticipation.

...

Oh, Nekohiko did not have a good feeling about what this monster desired so much.

He hated when Morokata's hand fell off Nekohiko's shoulder to release him. Immediately, Nekohiko felt the lack of Morokata's protective touch. The aura of security he felt next to him when they had been hugging.

Because, however loathsome Morokata might be... Nekohiko saw Hibiki as someone much, much worse.

Morokata stepped away from Nekohiko and freed Hibiki's way with a flourish of his hand.

"Please. As promised, child," he told Hibiki, proud, tender. "Your most favorite and most coveted doll. Do whatever you want with him -- but do not sexually assault him. All right? That is just distasteful."

...

"Now say 'thank you', Hibiki," he added, pompously like a concerned mother. "Do not you dare forget your manners!"