Tsubaki sighed and closed her eyes. "I apologise, this is..." She frowned and emptied her teacup, turning it in her hand once she was done. Servants of the performance troupe, mostly young girls in training to become dancers, scurried quietly in the distance as the packing continued. Eitsu's golden eyes watched the back and forth of the red kanzashi¹簪 (kanzashi) - Japanese traditional hair ornaments, often adorned with fabric folded and starched in the shape of flowers. in her hair as her head moved. Camellias.

Tsubaki produced a small object from within her sleeves. "There's an illegal trade in legendary animal goods and services. Sometimes at banquets, rich foo- clients try to impress me by bragging about things they own. Once or twice one of them has mentioned the... fur rug they have, made from the pelt of a mountain god. Or a wealth charm holding the bones of a hikyuu²貔貅 (hikyuu) - perhaps better known by its Mandarin name píxiū, a mythical creature with the head of a dragon and the body of a lion, wings, a split tail and antlers (one for male, two for females). These auspicious creatures are thought to attract wealth..

"I didn't believe it at first, but after my performance last night, one of the patrons gave me this..." The item she held in her hand was a small badge. It was extremely simple, a black circle with a gold rim and the shape of a fox's face in the middle, also in gold. "He said that the organisation that owned this badge could procure rare animals and... parts, at a price. He had a hakyuja³白 蛇 (hakyuja) - a white snake, a creature of luck and messenger of the Goddess Benten (patron of arts and literature). bracelet hiding in his sleeve."

“Who are you?”

Golden eyes met dark brown. Tsubaki frowned. “What do you mean, exactly?”

Without a word, Eitsu stood and stalked from the room.

It took a moment before she remembered that Mitsui Toi had kicked her out, so she aimlessly stalked the narrow streets, feeling light-headed. Annoying thoughts kept intruding her mind - What had happened to her, in her previous lives? Who was Tsubaki really? Was it mere coincidence that a customer just 'happened' to tell her about a black market for legendary animals, just after the two of them had met?

Who are you to me?

People walking past her on the street gave her a wide berth. She was an attractive young person provocatively dressed in only an inner robe, but an intense energy permeated the air around her, making people shake and twitch oddly. Only the most stupid of people would approach her.

"Eitsu-dono?"

And yet the man who hesitantly called out her name looked anything but stupid. Not recognising the voice, Eitsu turned to look.

The owner of the voice was a tall man, easily a head taller than anyone else on the street, and well-built, his black robes flatteringly designed to emphasise his broad chest and shoulders, and long legs. His short hair was an unusual dark grey, with a hint of blue, but his appearance was that of someone in his late twenties or early thirties and a long fringe covered his left eye. The face under this hair was nothing short of attractive, dark smooth skin with high cheekbones, and the one visible eye an unusual light brown, lazily lidded, and ringed with thick lashes. In absolute contrast to the slovenly-dressed Eitsu, he was well-covered, with an undershirt that reached up his neck, and a pair of cloth tekkou⁴手甲 (tekkou) - a kind of gauntlet that protects the back of the hand. Can be leather or cloth. covered his hands.

In short, even Eitsu had to admit that this was an ikemen⁵イケメン (ikemen) - essentially, a good-looking guy.. His expression gently brightened as Eitsu turned. "Eitsu? Is it really you?"

He didn't rush forward, but half-held his arms out in tentatively welcome. "It's me, Rei⁶零 (rei) - literally, zero, although there are a few other words pronounced as 'rei'.... Do you... remember me?"

Eitsu approached cautiously, ignoring the curious looks of the people on the street. She stopped just shy of the man's reach.

"I don't."

"Ah, not yet." The man lowered his arms with a rueful smile. "Well... How are you, Eitsu-dono? Are you staying somewhere? Can I walk with you?"

Eitsu shrugged. She stepped a little closer, subtly sniffing the air. This man smelt familiar...

Pines?

Her heart beat a little faster.

"You're... welcome to stay with me while I'm here. Are you hungry? Oh, you look cold! Come back to my place and get warmed up - Ah, wait, you haven't even said yes..." This handsome man was visibly flustered now, in contrast with his lazy expression. Eitsu smirked, but stalled his stress by placing a hand on his arm, and Rei's expression changed from anxious to blessed.

"Rei, was it?"

"Yes."

"I'll come with you."

Rei's eye widened, then he gripped Eitsu's hand tightly and hurriedly began to walk through the streets. Eitsu had to trot to keep up. Some kind of intense emotion was radiating off Rei, but she couldn't see his expression.

They hurried for long enough that Eitsu was tempted to complain, but then Rei halted at a townhouse, pulling open the door in a careless rush. The surprised servant at the door managed to hurriedly bow as the pair flashed past him. Rei swept aside a few more servants with imperious haste.

"Everyone is to stay away from my quarters until I call for you. Prepare the bath."

The inner room was unlit, and it was here that Rei finally halted after pulling the door shut, crushing Eitsu suddenly tight to him. Eitsu could see with the light diffusing through the paper door, and the fall of Rei's hair, and hear his heart hammering in his broad chest. They stood together in the dark, Eitsu breathing deep of his scent, the smell of fresh pine filling her lungs. To her surprise, her own pulse began to soar too.

"Eitsu... I've found you."

She twitched at this choice of words, recalling a figure with empty eyesockets and a clinging grip. That's not what he meant. What he meant was...

Their lips sought each others' in the dark. The first greedy pokes of Rei's cool tongue into her mouth made her heart skip wildly, then she lost all sense of control. She was helpless in Rei's hands, unable to tell when Rei had undone her robe, only aware that she was being touched all over. She tried to say something about needing to wash first, but Rei dragged some sheets out from a cabinet, and laid Eitsu down on them, pausing only to discard his own outer robe.

He didn't seem as concerned about removing all of his own clothing as he was with Eitsu's, the latter stripped completely bare. She could feel the soft rub of Rei's undershirt against her naked skin as they kissed over and over. Rei rolled, allowing Eitsu to sit atop him. His hands moved up Eitsu's thighs until they found what was swollen and warm, and Eitsu trembled and twitched under the touch, feeling the bump of the finger loop of Rei's tekkou, since he had apparently kept them on. She stared hazily at Rei's outline, acutely aware of Rei's hardness below her, the firmness pressed up against her maddeningly.

She leant forward and bit Rei's lips, moving her hand down to guide Rei in. Rei slipped his fingers further down, apparently testing how much lubrication there was. Eitsu whimpered in anticipation, her heart still beating furiously, as the searching fingers moved in and out with a soft squelch.

At last, Rei slowly guided her down. In the darkness, Eitsu's heightened senses made her almost incognisant. Rei chuckled and paused, his refreshingly cool hands roaming Eitsu's body from lips to thighs. He pulled Eitsu down for another round of kisses.

Slowly, he began to move again, raising Eitsu up a little for more drive. Adding his fingers to the mix, he rubbed her tenderly as his thrusts became more fierce, driving into Eitsu until, sinking her teeth into Rei's shoulder, she came. Rei seized Eitsu tight, rolling them over in one quick movement, crushing Eitsu against the floor and driving into her again and again until it was almost painful, until he came too, a deep growl rising in his throat as he did. They lay together amongst the sheets, tightly entangled and gasping for air.

Eitsu thought her heart rate would never slow. Rei chuckled again and tenderly kissed along Eitsu's jawline, separating himself.

Wrung out, exposed, Eitsu shivered helplessly on the sweat-drenched sheets. She could see distinctly the smile of satisfaction on Rei's bitten lips, and then Rei had picked her up and carried her from the room to the bath.

There were no lanterns here, only candles. By their light, Rei attentively washed Eitsu head to toe, apparently unconcerned that his own clothing, which he had not removed, was getting wet. Eitsu tried to remove them, but Rei just caught her hands and kissed them, before returning to his ministrations, paying particular attention to Eitsu's lower half. Despite her exhaustion, under Rei's hands she came again.

Thump thump thump went her heart.

Rei set her, too tired to protest, carefully in the waiting tub of warm water, humming to himself as he massaged her arms, although he was remarkably tone-deaf. Eitsu fought to stay awake. She had so many questions, but her tongue wouldn't form the words.

Finally, Rei lifted her from the tub, dried her, and carefully carried her back to the sleeping room, where the futon had now been properly rolled out. He tucked Eitsu in, and kissed her one more time.

"Sleep well, my treasure."

Eitsu dropped almost instantly into a dream.

---

"Shika⁷鹿 (shika) – deer.!"

A little girl, richly dressed, toddled around the garden, calling.

"Shika! I want to show you to Tou-san's⁸父さん (tousan) - father, less formal than お父さん (otousan). guest. Come here!"

Eitsu slipped out from under the house and meowed back. The little doll of a girl scooped her up easily, so she had to be very small this time. A small piece of fresh fish was secretly pushed into her mouth, and she devoured it quickly as the little girl walked back inside.

"Tou-san, I found Shika!"

The little girl's father smiled with gentle adoration, and patted the cushion beside him. "Sit here, musume⁹娘 (musume) – daughter.. Let our guest see your cute pet."

Eitsu looked across the table. The father and the guest had been conversing and sipping tea amicably, and now the guest turned to look at her. This guest was young, and dressed in an androgynous style, with a variety of blues and simple patterns that swam and flowed in the strange way of dreams.

Above the collar peeked a small, heart-shaped birthmark on the guest's neck.

"This is Shika," the little girl announced, lifting Eitsu high. The guest seemed to be smiling as they spoke.

"How lovely. Would I be able to hold her?"

The little girl nodded eagerly. The guest rose with a single fluid movement, knelt by the girl's side, and carefully took the little cat as if they were cradling someone's hopes in their hands. Eitsu stared up at them. Why can't I see your face? Please, let me see your face.

“Of course.”

She scratched desperately. The little girl cried out in surprise as Eitsu twisted frantically, trying to escape the horrendously strong fingers that suddenly gripped her tight.

“Look at my face, Eitsu...”

She didn't want to look, but it seemed that no matter where she turned, those horrible eyeless sockets were before her, and the fingers dug into her flesh so hard she would surely bleed, but instead only a strange dark fluid flowed out. Her vision wavered in and out, stuttered, cracked and fell apart.

"Eitsu-sama!"

She woke to find Tsubaki's frantic face above her.