When the alarm rings, I find myself even closer to and more entwined with Hibiki than when I fell asleep. He sits up readily when I do, and I wonder if he slept at all. When I rise, fixing my yukata, he does the same and sways.

"Hibiki?" I catch him by the shoulders. "Are you well?"

"Mm… I'm lightheaded," he answers, looking sheepish. "I'm really hungry."

Oh. "My apologies. How inconsiderate of me."

Of course he would be. He only just hatched, and he's already used so much magic to protect and heal me, maintaining this form on top of that.

Just how powerful is he, really?

I guide him back to sit on the bed before going to the small fridge. "You need not have maintained this form."

Hibiki shakes his head, smiling. "I think you were cold… and I enjoyed holding you close like that."

Again, I'm surprised by his selfless affection.

"Do you want to eat meat raw or cooked?" I ask, unwrapping the pack of beef cubes I bought.

His brow furrows. "I don't know. Maybe we should try it raw first, since cooking can't be undone."

Nodding, I empty the pack onto a ceramic plate for him. He reverts into a Dragon and flies over.

Or tries. He flounders. Fortunately, he hasn't left the bed, so the landing is soft.

I sigh, carrying him to the stone table. "Hibiki, you must not foolishly overextend yourself like this. I cannot afford to have any harm come to you."

Who knows if my next Dragon will be as powerful or devoted. He may well be the only one of his kind.

He merely curls his tail around my arm as I set him down and takes a piece of meat, swallowing it whole. Then he shifts a bit, keeping his back to me, before blowing a small burst of flame onto the plate and proceeding to wolf down the seared beef. I guess that answers the question.

With the last of my supplies, I fix myself a simple breakfast. I chop up all the vegetables I have —mountain yam, radish and leek— into a small pot and boil them with some dried fish and miso paste. After he finishes, he comes over to look at what I'm making. I think to warn him that it's hot, but then realize that he just crawled out of magma.

Hibiki peers into the pot for several moments, then squeezes my arm with his tail again before flying outside. He doesn't return till I'm eating the stew, landing on the bed with an agile spin.

"It's really beautiful here." He's transformed again.

"Yes, the sunrise view on Mount Fuji is especially beautiful. Many people come to see it during the warmer seasons."

He embraces me from behind. "Will you not come and see it then?"

"I saw it every morning of the two weeks I stayed here waiting for you," I reply, continuing to eat.

"All the more reason to see it with me then," he reasons. "Can I try that?"

"Are you still hungry?"

"No, I'm just curious about your food. I caught a bird earlier while I was out flying, and I ate that too. It had a roll of paper stuck to its foot." He goes back to the bed to pick it up and gives it to me. "Here, I brought it back."

My new friend intercepts carrier pigeons for breakfast and even thoughtfully roasts everything but the message.

As I untie and unroll the small scroll, he helps himself to a spoonful of my stew. "Oh, this is quite tasty." He takes another spoon.

"Don't finish it," I tell him as I read.

"Of course not," he replies, sounding scandalized. "You need to eat. I wouldn't deprive you."

I roll the scroll back up, turning to face him. "But you like human food too?"

"I do."

He's still naked and gorgeous, and a part of me wants to take him back to bed, but I only resume eating faster. Today is a good day to return home.

The North has begun to move.

When we return, the elders confirm my suspicions — no one has seen a white Dragon in longer than anyone can remember. Unfortunately, that means there's also a dearth of information about them. They seem fascinated by Hibiki, though, as he flits around me, asking what he can do, if he's hard to train.

"Other than breathe fire, I don't know," I reply, not wanting to tell them he can shapeshift. "But obedience has not been an issue." I hold out my arm. "Hibiki?"

He lands lightly on my forearm, wraps his tail around my upper arm, and lets me rub his chest.

"He also seems highly intelligent. He caught a carrier pigeon for food and brought back the message of his own accord."

I hand them the tiny scroll, and the four old folks peruse it, then confer in hushed tones for several moments before turning back to me.

"You have both done well," says Elder Takiyasha, the youngest of the four. "Tell me, do you know why it is the Egg that chooses the Rider?"

"Because the Dragons remember their spiritual journey before they came to this world." It's in the lore books I've studied since I was a child.

"Indeed, so honour him with kindness and respect, for fate has brought you together even before this life," she instructs. "Does he please you?"

"Yes." I bring in my arm, and Hibiki flops against me to let me cradle him. "Very much."

"Then remember that even when he doesn't, you may have others, but he only has you. You are dismissed, Rider. We will call a clan meeting when we have analysed the movements of the North Star Alliance."

I bow and leave. Outside the hall, I run into the vixen.

"Oh, is that the magnificent creature that has managed to satisfy even my insatiable brother?"

Before I can respond, Hibiki flies up to bop her lightly on the nose, and she gasps, stepping back. I hide a smirk, but then, as she reaches up to rub her nose, he wraps his tail around her wrist briefly, as if to say he didn't mean it badly.

Crossing my arms, I reply, "He is indeed rather magnificent. I wonder what yours will be."

It will be Miyako's turn to find her Dragon next, and of course I expect that she will find one worthy of the Hotsuin name, but I also hope that she won't find anything like Hibiki. My Hibiki, unique in all the world, should not have anyone to be compared to.

"I expect my Dragon will be friendlier than me, if yours is anything to go by."

I hear what sounds like a snort from the white one hovering beside me and frown. "Well then, we shall see when you return."

Hibiki flies after me when I walk towards my wing of the mansion, circles my room and the adjoining garden to explore when we arrive, spinning midair in obvious delight at the new surroundings. Still, he is quick to follow when I take a fresh set of clothes from the cupboard and head towards the bath. He perches on the edge of the tub and watches with curiosity as I undress and start washing my hair.

Suddenly, warm arms slip around my waist to pull me close. "What time is dinner? I'm hungry."

"It will be ready when we finish our bath. And," I douse him with a scoop of water, "if you are hungry, you should cease this wasteful use of your powers."

"Weren't you going to honour me with kindness and respect?" He kisses my shoulder as I rinse my hair. "So respect my decisions on what are and are not worthy uses of my abilities. And I'm not as hungry as I was this morning because you fed me such a good lunch."

"Mm," I agree, leaning into him. "You will be well fed here. Hunting around human settlements is strictly prohibited."

"No? Not even for other pleasures?"

I turn to glare at him. "You would dare?"

Hibiki chuckles — indulgent, placating. "Your sister is a lot like you." He takes the soap and begins to lather the suds on my arms and shoulders.

"We are twins. Naturally, there is a physical resemblance."

"No, not just physically."

I think to argue, but then realize that he may well be right. Our commonalities have bred the fierce rivalry between us.

He runs his hands down my sides, lining himself up so we fit together perfectly, and suddenly, I'm hyper-aware of his hands on my skin. As he soaps his way back up my torso in circles, his hands rub over my nipples, and a jolt goes straight down.

"Oh? Here?" He goes back to them, rolls them between his fingers, and I know he felt my hips twitch although I bit my lip to silence myself. Before I can chide him, he moves on to washing my legs, crouching with his face by my groin — teasing. He presses a kiss to my inner thigh with a grin, nuzzling higher as his soapy hands cover more ground, and my breath quickens. Then his fingers dip down past the small of my back, and—

"Hibiki!"

"No?" Hotter than the steam rising from the bath, his hands rub up my back. "Would you like to wash me instead?" He smiles slyly as he rinses me off.

"You're no Dragon," I tell him grudgingly as I take the soap from him. "You're a minx."

He gives me a coquettish glance over his shoulder. "Don't I please you very much?"

"You—" Either his spiritual journey before he came here wasn't very spiritual at all, or I've utterly corrupted him. "Never mind," I sigh, lathering soap all over his snowy skin.

This one will be trouble if I don't find a way to gain more control. I find myself tracing the strange black sigils on his back again, and he sighs with pleasure.

"Do you think they're beautiful?"

"Yes, mysteriously so. Is it true that you remember your time before you hatched?"

Almost imperceptibly, he tenses. "Yes, but not in much detail. Is there something you want to know?"

Is there a secret there? Would he lie? "Would you tell me?"

"If I can. Would you believe me?"

He's too sharp, too devious for one so young. "Tell me. Where did you get the grounding to be this way?"

"Grounding?" He laughs. "Yamato, the pursuit of pleasure is natural. I didn't need to be taught."

"It's good that you're intelligent, but don't dodge the question." My hands slide up his legs, and he trembles a little. "Oh?" I move back down, caressing the back of his knees, and his reaction is visible. With one hand, I trace soapy circles up his inner thigh, and he moans, gripping my shoulders for balance. "Something got your tongue?" I switch hands, and he leans more heavily on me.

"I— We were lovers," he answers breathlessly, and I stop, glancing up in surprise, but his blue eyes are guileless. "This comes naturally to me. I sensed my soulmate and called to you, not knowing we would be of different species or that our lifespans would differ so greatly. You may think this a wasteful use of my powers, but this ability that allows me to be close to you is most precious to me."

I fall silent, rinsing him off. This is… unexpected, to say the least. Yet, he is right — this comes naturally. I don't usually enjoy physical contact with others, but his has never felt intrusive or unwelcome. Without another word, he turns and steps into the bath — my silence must have misled him.

Following him, I pull him into a kiss as I step into the hot water, and he catches me readily, kissing back hungrily, fingers teasing my entrance like he'd always known my earlier outburst wasn't a protest. I moan into his mouth, lifting his legs to my hip to stroke a path from the back of his knee up his inner thigh, and he gasps when I end behind his sacs. Applying some pressure makes him whimper, so I retrace that path on his other leg, and he ducks his head to close his lips around my nipple.

Crying out, I pull away. "We shouldn't defile the bath," I explain, tugging him out along with me, and then we're tumbling into a graceless tangle of limbs on the floor, hips rocking into each other, near-frantic. He grabs me to kiss me again, thumbs a nipple roughly, and—

We're a mess when I blink away the haloed lights.

My white Dragon rolls languidly off me when I move to rinse off, growls grumpily when I pour a scoop of water on him too, but he does slink over to rejoin me in the bath, winding his long neck around mine above the water.

"You need to figure out how to stop transforming back, Hibiki. You won't be this size forever."

A contented rumble is the only answer I receive, and I close my eyes, relaxing. I don't know how much time passes before I hear footsteps. It's my father, and I wonder if the air smells like sex, but if it does, he doesn't remark on it.

"How sedate," he says instead as he begins washing up. "Fafnir used to play and splash vigorously."

If only he knew. "He got tired of that," is the half-truth I go for, lifting Hibiki out of the water with me as I stand. "It's almost his dinner time."

I set the Dragon down on the edge while I dry myself off with my towel, and he shakes himself before spreading his wings and breathing fire on them. Then he's flying towards me, and I hold out my towel for him to land on. Obediently, he dries the rest of his body on it.

"Well done, Yamato," Father remarks with a hint of pride. "You've already made such progress in training him."

"Of course, Hibiki is a fast learner." I fasten my yukata, then bow to my father to take my leave. "Well then."

When I return to my room with Hibiki perched on my shoulder, dinner is already waiting. Also waiting is my assistant, Sako Makoto. She, too, is a Dragon Rider, and her Athena is a heavily armoured medium-sized species.

"Good evening, Sir." She bows politely. "Would you like to have dinner while I make my report?"

"Certainly." I sit down as Sako uncovers the trays. "I wouldn't want to starve him."

Hibiki carefully climbs down to the floor when I extend my arm and approaches the largest platter. It's an assortment of grilled meats and offal. Then he looks curiously at the many small dishes on my tray. Well, Sako is here, so I merely begin eating.

"Oh, how well-mannered," she remarks with some surprise, and I raise an eyebrow. "Your Dragon, Sir. It waited for you to start eating first."

Right. "Your report?"

"Yes, Sir. The first matter is that your sister will depart for the Deserts of Destiny in the morning."

"Acknowledged."

"The second is that the elders have arranged for formal training to begin next week."

"I see." We have a few more days to rest then.

"The third matter is that of the border towns. They report an increase in missing people and livestock and are requesting an investigation into their security."

"Hmph, there is no end to civilian troubles. Very well. We shall depart for the border towns at noon."

First, in the morning, I shall show Hibiki the archives. As he can understand our language, he might be able to study our arts. The lore suggests that Dragons use magic very differently from humans, but I doubt anyone has tested the theory with a Dragon that could read before, and theoretical knowledge has its own merits regardless.

"Yes, Sir." Sako bows and backs out of the room. "That concludes my report. I will make the preparations for tomorrow's journey. Please excuse me."

No sooner has she left than Hibiki starts stealing from my tray. Resignedly, I feed him a piece of everything, but he only perks up with delight at the dessert.

Great — a Dragon with a sweet tooth. Somehow, I doubt Dragons are even supposed to eat anything but meat.

"If you fall sick from indigestion, I will leave you to your misery," I warn him sternly, and he slinks away dejectedly to curl up on my futon.

Still, when I eventually lie down to sleep, Hibiki settles into the crook of my arm, and it's warmer than lighting a brazier.