“Where are you going?”
“She looked upset.”
Rei nuzzled her neck. “That human will be okay. Stay here with me.” His hands began to roam her body.
“I think I'd like to check on her first.” Eitsu peeled his hands off her and rolled away. “I'll be back.”
“Why?” Rei's light brown eye was fixed on her.
“Why what?”
“Why are you following her? Who is she to you?”
Eitsu blinked. “Good question. Why do I want to follow her?”
Rei smiled crookedly. He leaned against her bare leg, stroking her calf and planting light kisses on her thigh. “Stay...”
His hand lightly pushed at the back of her knee and she folded back into his arms. Holding her tightly, he hungrily kissed her neck again, hands sliding between her legs. “Hm... Your thighs are still sticky...”
She closed her eyes, feeling him pressed up against her. He lifted her slightly so he could push his way back inside, his tongue caressing her ear. She shivered as she felt him enter, arching her spine.
“Mm... but...”
“Eitsu, stay.”
“... How do you know that name?”
She hadn't really meant much by it. It was her name after all, and Tsubaki seemed to know it as well, yet Rei froze and the world seemed to hold its breath. His arms grew tighter around her.
“... Is that so important?”
“Apparently it is. What was with that reaction?”
“Aren't we a little... occupied with something else right now?” he murmured warmly in her ear.
“We won't be if you pull your dick out right now.”
“What if I don't want to?” He rolled forwards, pressing her against the cold ground from behind.
“Are you really going to be like this? I thought kitsune were supposed to be good at seduction. You're going to use force?”
“And how do you know that? Doesn't that seem suspicious too?”
“And why would that be? It's common knowledge, isn't it? Not like my name.”
Rei continued to move within her as if they were not currently having a fraught conversation. Eitsu's hands and knees were freezing, but her back was beaded with perspiration. She squeezed tight and straightened her legs, drawing a huge shudder and gasp from Rei. Barely pausing, she slipped out from under him, transforming midway into the little fawn-coloured cat. She had barely taken a few steps when a huge, clawed hand descended on her, cutting off her escape.
“You think you can run from a kitsune?”
Forget about running, she couldn't even turn to look behind her. A long claw dug into the ground either side of her neck, and she could feel two others against her sides.
“Wow. You're a disgrace to your kind. Who taught you to 'seduce' this way? Your father? Your mother?”
The claws dug down suddenly, forcing Eitsu flat to the cold ground. She struggled to breathe.”Are you a cat or a fox? What are you playing with your prey for? Pluck my fur out, chew my stomach open.”
To her surprise, the claws relaxed a little.
“I won't kill you.”
“Why not?” Eitsu asked, as casually as she possibly could given the circumstances.
“You're coming with me.”
“What if I say no?”
“You're coming with me.”
She twisted her body and sank her fangs into his paw. The kitsune yelped and flinched, and it was enough for Eitsu to run as fast as she could, ears flat against her head. It occurred to her, faintly, that she was running in the same direction that Tsubaki had disappeared.
Not that she would ever make it to the performer's side; a pair of snapping jaws appeared before her and she tumbled backwards, away from the gaping mouth of the nine-tailed kitsune that blocked her path. With a snarl that split his face in two, Rei stood over her, the bone of his skull exposed across the left side of his face, as if the fur and flesh had burnt away. His whole body was daubed with burns.
“What... happened to you?”
Rei laughed like a dying animal. “You've forgotten so many things, Eitsubyou no Mikoto. I hate it. I hate it. Stay with me. I won't let you forget.”
“Hm... Yeah... No... Tsubaki's prettier than you, I think I'd rather go with her, thanks.”
She had only tossed the dancer's name out randomly, but a fury seemed to seize Rei that made her cower against the cold ground.
“YOU'RE MINE!” he howled, his breath blasting her face. His pupils were pinpricks.
In spite of everything, Eitsu grinned recklessly, even as fear gripped her stomach. “Yours? Where did you get that stupid idea? You're second-best at most, no matter what. Why would I follow you when I have Tsubaki-”
“I GOT TO YOU FIRST THIS TIME!”
Eitsu pushed this strange statement aside, some strange compulsion driving her on. “So? Did you think I was a lolly? You were the first to lick it so you get to eat it? You've lost to a human, idiot. You'll always lose no matter what-”
Oh, shit. Why did I-
The jaws of the kitsune snapped down on her.
Eitsu groaned and rolled into the fetal position, hugging herself tightly. It took a moment to convince her senses that everything was intact and that she was unharmed at that present moment. Her heart hammered and her skin stung with sweat.
“Eitsu-sama.”
Tsubaki was awake. She leaned over the edge of the bed and stared at the kaibyou rolling around on the floor.
“Ah, sorry. Did I wake you up? It's okay-”
Tsubaki's hand gently patted Eitsu's damp hair. “Come up on the bed.”
Eitsu slowly crawled up, limbs shaking. Tsubaki lifted the covers to let her in, and they snuggled close.
“Sorry, I'm all sweaty.”
“I'm used to it.”
“Ha.”
“Well?”
“Well what?”
Tsubaki dug her fingers into Eitsu's ribs.
“GAH!”
“Well?”
“Are you... Ugh, I've got shudders now. Are you sure you really want to know?”
It was the dead of night. The only sounds that reached Eitsu's sensitive ears were the shuffling of sentries at the Sect walls. In the faint light of the crescent moon, she could see the contours of Tsubaki's face.
“You... have no idea, do you? How much I've wanted to know. You never told me anything.”
Eitsu gently tweaked Tsubaki's nose. “You're a human. It wouldn't be something easy for you to hear.”
“Do you think not knowing anything, and being left behind every time you die, is easier?” Tsubaki gritted her teeth. “It's easy for you, forgetting every time!”
Eitsu pressed her face into Tsubaki's neck and purred soothingly.
“Why are you trying to comfort me... I just yelled at you, and you... you're the one that's been... I didn't tell you anything either...”
“Do you want to hear?”
“... yes.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. If we don't do it now...”
“I don't remember the first day I met you.”
Tsubaki closed her mouth.
“I wish I did. I wish I knew that it was the start of something. But by then, it was just another day, another day like so many others in my life.”
They lay in each other's arms, Eitsu speaking, as if to herself, or laying silent for long periods of time. Tsubaki didn't say a word. The stars turned overhead.
The dawn rose pale grey and damp. The silence that had stretched for several incenses-time was finally broken by Tsubaki.
“Sorry.”
“Why is that the first thing you're saying?”
“I'm merely reflecting on my own selfishness.”
“That's a bit much. How were you supposed to understand?”
“Should I just act as if I did nothing wrong?”
“Oh no, I want you to give me a big kiss of apology-”
Tsubaki grabbed Eitsu's face and planted their lips together.
The kiss was warm, and then, faintly salty. Eitsu pushed Tsubaki back a little.
“Don't cry, Tsu-bo.” Tears pattered on her upturned face like tiny kisses. “You're... really ugly when you cry.”
If she hoped her words would make the dancer laugh, or get angry, she was disappointed. Tsubaki just cried silently, her head bowed.
“What are we doing?” Eitsu murmured. “Why are you still here, Tsu-bo? Why are you crying for me?”
Tsubaki curled away, covering her face to try and hide her tears. Her shoulder shook.
“Do you really like me that much, Tsubaki?”
“Why are you still here, Eitsu-sama?” Tsubaki scrubbed a hand across her face. “Why are you trying to make me understand you?”
Eitsu laughed ruefully. “I guess I just like you that much. Come here?”
Tsubaki's body trembled. Fear and hope battled across her her face, and both emotions propelled her into the kaibyou's arms.
“Sorry, I made you wait for a long time, didn't I?”
“I don't believe you.”
“That's fair. I wouldn't believe me either.” Eitsu pressed her lips to Tsubaki's forehead.
“When you gave me all your luck to keep me alive... and all that insanity with it... I really was insane, for so long. And when you took the insanity away from me, I thought... Finally. Finally, I can rest. And then you left me again and I...” She gritted her teeth again. “Ah, gods, I thought that I was still insane. Eitsu-sama, if you die again...”
“You'll kill me?”
“... no...”
“Hey, you'd better not be thinking what I think you're thinking. Tsubaki!”
“I'm really tired, Eitsu-sama,” the woman said, and that weariness was ingrained in every word. “Would you deny me a rest, after all this?”
Eitsu couldn't answer that.
“Sometimes I wished Rei had just killed me.”
“Don't say... huh... You're right. Why didn't he?”
“What are you suggesting?”
“I didn't mean it like that! But... seriously...”
They exchanged quizzical looks.
“You're a weak human that kept getting in his way. He could have snapped your neck without even blinking. So why didn't he?”
“He did try to kill me at the auction.”
“Yeah, but I was there. His chances of killing you were much lower than if he just turned up one night when you were alone. Why didn't he do that? Why play these weird games?”
“Maybe he's a pervert.”
“Well yeah, he absolutely is but-”
“I don't want to hear about it.”
“Would you rather hear about my perversion?”
“I know about your perversion.” The dancer stared at Eitsu as though she didn't know what to do.
“Tsu-bo?”
“I've finally gone crazy for good, haven't I?”
“Uh... no?”
“I used to hear your voice sometimes, when you weren't there. I would see you in every cat that crossed my path. I'd hear your voice in the street or spot you in the audience of my shows. And you weren't there. You were never there.”
“I'm here now, Tsu-bo.”
“What if-”
“I'm here, Tsu-bo.”
“Eitsu-sama...”
“I'm here.”
“So what am I supposed to do now? I've been chasing you all this time. Now what?”
“You let me chase you now? You take long naps with me in the sun and eat good food and fuck like crazy?”
Tsubaki's expression filled with loss. “I just... Just for tonight, could...”
Eitsu held out her arms. “What do you want? Tell me.”
“Just... a hug.”
“You're in luck, I have one custom-made hug right here for you.”
Tsubaki fell into her arms with complete abandon. Eitsu drew the sheets over them, entangling her legs with Tsubaki's. The dancer's face pressed into her neck.
Light rain thrummed soothingly on the roof.
“Seems like a perfect day to sleep in.”
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