Meifu's Gate ::Fourth Maki::

by VraieEsprit

Juu & Shun are seniors, but already there are those who resent Juushirou's position as Anideshi. Meanwhile, a bloody murder in District Six threatens to unravel 3 generations of Kuchiki secrets - as a figure in the shadows works to bring down the Clans.

30. Silver Blade, Golden Shadow

Chapter Twenty Nine: Silver Blade, Golden Shadow

The walk through the forest towards the local Kuchiki manor was a longer one that Shirogane had first realised. Flanked by cream and emerald clad retainers on either side, he mused ruefully that it felt as though they were walking forever - that the trees they had plunged into were a never ending row of trees on trees with no visible exit or entrance. This was the forestland he had planned to spend the night in, and looking at it as they moved, he realised that it would indeed have been a good place - for in places the trunks were planted so closely together it was difficult for the three men to slip through. On one occasion they had had to go through single file, and although Shirogane had been roughly grabbed by the arm and pulled through the gap, he had made a careful note of this for future reference.

He had not given his companions any indication that he still planned to escape. On the contrary, he had kept his head down and his thoughts to himself, following without a murmur of complaint although his body, unused to so much exercise without being able to draw on his reiryoku resources, was already beginning to ache and protest at the effort. Twice, and then three times they squeezed through narrow spaces, and each time Shirogane obeyed his companion's instructions to the letter, wanting to throw them off their guard as much as possible.

He would have only the briefest of opportunities to pull away from them and flee into the woodland, and he was already at a disadvantages, for he did not know this area at all well and he might as easily deliver himself to Kinnya's door as manage to turn the other way and head for the coast. But one thing had struck him at the very least, and as they had walked, he had pondered greatly on its significance.

The soldiers had come to find him on foot.

Doubtless, he reflected, as he narrowly avoided tripping over a tree root, Seiren's men had come to the area on horseback. Given the head start Shirogane had had, they would have had no choice but to saddle up and ride through the countryside to make up time. Probably they had only just arrived in these parts - yet they had decided to conduct their search on foot.

That means they're not the main part of Seiren-dono's retinue, I suppose.

Shirogane furrowed his brow, focusing on this fact carefully.

I imagine they - and the horses - are at the manor. Kinnya-sama's manor. Which implies...what? That some people were sent to try and sweet talk the old hermit into supporting the hunt for me? Kinnya-sama famously doesn't get involved in anything these days, so doubtless Seiren-dono would have expected his men to be delayed during his process. Precious time in which I might escape. So...

His eyes narrowed.

Seiren-dono is more tactically intelligent than I realised. He sent the main part of his force to the manor on horseback, whilst slipping a few dismounted soldiers into the forests unseen in order to try and smoke me out in the meantime. He hasn't been counting on Kinnya-sama's men taking his side - even the shinigami. He hasn't needed to. I let my guard down and didn't realise even this far out, my actions would be traceable. I'm underestimating my enemy, and it's brought trouble on my head. If I'd known this was Kinnya-sama's land, I would have realised already that there'd be no chance of help here. The hermit never leaves his house. And he'd have no reason to stop Seiren-dono's search - if just to get rid of people from the main house.

He stole a sidelong glance at his companions, both serious and expressionless as they concentrated on navigating through the heavy undergrowth.

Do they know where we're going? Do they have horses tethered somewhere, waiting to hurry me away to the main house? How far has this been planned? I can't delay my escape much longer - I can't risk being properly taken prisoner if Seiren-dono is really thinking on that level. If he wants me that much, he must be serious about eliminating me. That means I have to be serious too, even if there is danger.

As they reached another difficult stretch of woodland, Shirogane took his chance, sticking his foot deliberately into a thick patch of scrub and tumbling over, bringing one of his captors over with him and down onto the ground. The man landed heavily, and Shirogane cast him a covert glance, noticing with satisfaction that he appeared motionless.

Out cold. Good. One down, then.

"What are you doing?" The other man was on him in a second, grabbing at his kimono in an attempt to haul him up, and Shirogane slid his fingers around Ginkyoujiki's hilt, bringing the silver blade swiftly and without hesitation from its dark sheath and slicing it through the air between them. The soldier cursed, springing back and drawing his own weapon, and as the cold steel of the basic katana clashed against Ginkyoujiki's fine silver veneer, Shirogane felt a sudden sense of hollowness run through him.

Normally, in a fight like this, his adrenalin would merge with the spirit of his sword, and there would be a soft humming at the edge of his senses as the magnetic zanpakutou primed itself to do battle. But this time there was nothing. It was as though he was fighting with an asauchi blade - Ginkyoujiki might be speaking, but with the cuffs at his wrists, Shirogane could not hear him.

"You still think you can escape us?" The soldier demanded. "Even with your spirit power shut away? Your movements are slow and I can counter them - that sword is heavy and dead without your reiryoku, isn't it?"

Shirogane's eyes narrowed.

"I can wield this sword, even half dead." He said softly. "Ginkyoujiki will always answer my command and fight for me, whether I can speak to him or not."

"Shinigami and their swords." The soldier snorted, neatly parrying Shirogane's next swing with his own weapon. "The truth is you rely far too much on what the sword knows and not enough on your own body. Seiren-dono's said that - that a shinigami is never a soldier, because of his reliance on that power. You're slow, Shirogane-dono. This kind of movement wouldn't have hurt my comrades, now would it? I can disarm you - and will - so you should surrender now and give up your sword. If not..."

"If not?"

"If not, you will get hurt." The soldier drove his sword forward, and Shirogane cursed, only just managing to swing his body out of the way of the weapon's thrust. As he recovered his balance, there was a sudden sound from his left and he swung around, only catching the briefest glimpse of a glint of light dancing across a blade before the second soldier's katana made contact with his body.

As the blade slashed through the fabric of his dusty kimono, Shirogane could not prevent himself from crying out, the cold metal slicing through his flesh and into the tissue beneath. So focused on his confrontation with the first man, he had assumed that the downed soldier had been removed from the battle and so had dismissed him, but now he knew his mistake. Without his spiritual wits, he had overlooked the other man's movements, and had been taken completely by surprise.

Desperately he slid Ginkyoujiki's blade between his torso and the second retainer's weapon, pushing his assailant away from his body with as much force as he could muster. He took a step or two back, his gaze flitting from one soldier to the other. He felt the hard trunk of a tree come up against his spine, and he realised that fleeing this place would be next to impossible now. Though they had fallen into a small clearing of grass and flowers, the trees that encircled it seemed exactly alike, and Shirogane could not tell which path they had taken in. Which way was the coast? Which way was Kinnya's manor? As pain throbbed through his body, Shirogane found it impossible to focus his thoughts, and panic flitted through him. Blood trickled from the wound, running slick and unchecked through the torn fabric and Shirogane fixed his gaze on the red-stained tip of his enemy's weapon.

A moment more and that sword would have gone right through me to the other side. Foolish, Shirogane! Because you couldn't sense him, you forgot that he was there. But you can't sense anything like this. They outthought you, and took the element of surprise from you. And not only that.

He glanced down at his zanpakutou's blade, noticing the faint scuffing against the normally polished metal.

It's much harder than I thought, fighting with Ginkyoujiki sealed. There was a time I was good with an asauchi, but I've become complacent about my sword skills. Though it's more than that. I've always had reiryoku in abundance. I've always used that instinctively to help me fight...just as any shinigami would. But right now I'm not any kind of shinigami, and it means I have nothing to answer these soldiers with. These men train with their blades to compensate for their lack of spirit power. One of them might prove an adversary for me. Two may yet overpower me. Has my gamble gone too far?

"You should have just come quietly, Shirogane-dono." The first soldier lowered his blade, but Shirogane knew that in a split second he could raise it again and drive it forward with ruthless precision and force. "We weren't going to hurt you, so long as you cooperated - simply take you back to the manor and hand you over to those who want to speak to you. You've made it worse for yourself - first you attack our comrades with your zanpakutou, and now you want to do the same to us."

It seems you really can't fight smoothly if your reiryoku is cut off, though." The man with the blooded sword shook his weapon clean with an impatient glance. "You couldn't notice my attack because you had no senses to tell you I was there. I've heard that before - that those who have spiritual power are helpless without it. They rely on it for everything, and prove quite dull without it. Sometimes they can't even stand, being so used to it driving them forwards. You seem more sluggish a swordsman than I thought you'd be - but if you hand over Ginkyoujiki now, we'll escort you quietly and someone can tend to that wound before it becomes septic. Seiren-dono would prefer to have you alive - even if we have scores to settle with you for our comrades."

"If I let you hand me over to Seiren-dono, he will have me tried and convicted for treason and murder, and I'm not guilty of either." Shirogane said flatly, tightening his hold on his sword. "My only choice is to fight you and escape from you if I want to have a chance to clear my name. If even Guren-sama has been persuaded to this slander, I have no choice but to act on my own to prove my innocence. I don't want to meet blades with you both, either. Nor did I want to hurt your comrades back at the main house. But if you won't let me go, my only options are to fight and die, or fight and escape."

"If you are innocent, you have nothing to fear from Kuchiki justice." The retainer spoke firmly. "Your words and evidence will be heard and you will be free. Why fight, if you are innocent? Only a guilty man runs away."

"Only a hunted one does." Shirogane corrected, swinging Ginkyoujiki down towards his companions once more. His body felt tired and heavy, once more unprepared for such swift movement without the spiritual energy that made up a large part of his constitution, and the soldier who had stabbed him neatly parried his blow, turning his weapon around in a heartbeat and thrusting the pommel firmly against Shirogane's solar plexus. Despite himself, Shirogane gasped, pain richocheting through his slashed body at the force behind the blow. He stumbled back onto the ground, his grip on Ginkyoujiki loosening, and as the weapon fell onto the grass, one of the retainers bent to pick it up.

Shirogane knew that if only he had been able to hear it, his proud zanpakutou would be protesting furiously about falling into such powerless hands.

"This is the last chance." The other man said quietly, levelling his weapon at Shirogane's exposed throat. "Agree to come with us, or I will have no choice but to do you serious harm."

"Dare you kill me?" Shirogane challenged. "You just said yourself that Seiren-dono wants me brought back alive. I may be under suspicion, but those suspicions are far from proven. You've spoken to me as though talking to a lowborn wretch your equal or inferior, but I am still the grandson of Senaya-sama and the son of lady Masane. Even under captivity a Clansman should be treated with respect. I doubt you will kill me - I doubt you would dare."

"For the wounds inflicted on my comrades in arms?" The man arched an eyebrow. "You would have killed them. Do you think I would be merciful with you, given you were seeking our death just moments before?"

"I sought escape, not to kill. On both occasions." Shirogane spat back. "But I should expect no better from that man's retinue - is this how Seiren-dono instructs you to treat me, a proper born son of the Kuchiki house?"

"Traitors are not awarded special status." The retainer's eyes became hard. "Not even if they come from good Kuchiki blood. I have already warned you about speaking ill against Seiren-dono in our presence - your disrespect to your Lord Uncle is also treason."

"Treason is against Guren-sama. Not the shadow who seeks to manipulate his decisions for him!" Shirogane shot back.

"You are nothing but a prisoner at present, Shirogane-dono." The retainer said calmly, and Shirogane saw the unpleasant glitter in his eyes once more. "You have no right to complain. There is evidence at the main house - evidence enough for even Guren-sama, who favours you, to call you to answer before him. The writs for arrest are already drawn up, the Kuchiki court in readiness to pass judgement over you when you are brought back. But if you are not brought back...if you resist and continue to flee..."

He paused, pushing the weapon against the flesh of Shirogane's neck.

"You've always spoken down to men of the guard," He said lightly, "and released your weapon on them as though you didn't care what damage you did. But now the tables are turned and you are in our power. Seiren-dono understands what it is to be a real soldier, and treats us with equanimity and care. He commands great loyalty from his men - do you know why that is?"

"Because he pays you to do his dirty work for him, I imagine." Shirogane muttered, and the retainer's eyes darkened.

"When he was young, Seiren-dono trained with men like us." He said softly. "My father. Other soldiers. He worked with soldiers of common birth, to establish himself as a swordsman when he could not fight as a shinigami. He learnt the skills you fail to learn - how to be a real soldier, as opposed to one who relies on a sword to give him his orders. We follow him because of his honour and his determination. And because he gives orders that make sense to us. A Clansman who assaults a woman is not a man but a coward. Such a man should be led through the main house in chains. Shibata-dono said that, and when we heard it, we agreed. Our orders are to bring you back alive, but there are a lot of levels of pain and degradation between alive and dead. Now you've given us the opportunity to fight with you, Shirogane-dono - we'll reply in kind. To attack you in self defence is a forgivable action - given the way you sliced up our friends a few days ago."

He raised his weapon, and despite himself Shirogane flinched, half expecting to feel the sharp pain of metal burrowing through his body once more.

The next instant, however, there was a tremendous flare of light that lit up the whole copse, and the man holding the sword suddenly toppled forward, his upper body charred and blackened and his expression one of complete surprise.

His companion started back, dropping Ginkyoujiki and raising his sword as he gazed around him for any sign of the perpetrator. Shirogane took the opportunity to scramble into a sitting position, stretching out a hand to retrieve the weapon, but he could not quite make his trembling fingers reach the sword's fine hilt and at length he gave up, half-scared himself at the unexpected blast of energy that had suddenly robbed his tormentor of his life.

It had been Kidou.

Shirogane's eyes narrowed as he processed this fact.

There was a shinigami nearby, and with his powers sealed, he could not sense or read their reiatsu. Yet he had recognised the golden spell all the same.

Oukasen.

Shirogane could almost hear Kazoe's voice in his head as he had lectured to them so many years earlier on the three Fire spells and their relevant uses.

"Sanjuu ichi - Shakkahou. Sanjuu ni - Oukasen. Sanjuu san - Soukatsui. Of the three, Oukasen is the most difficult to fire with perfect accuracy. Most shinigami favour Soukatsui or Shakkahou, because they are so much easier to control. However, a pure flare of Oukasen energy is perhaps more beautiful than the other two combined - and ruthlessly vicious if used to its full potential."

That blast had undoubtedly been crafted by someone with the ability to fire at that high level.

But were they friend or were they foe? The lines had been blurred so much in Shirogane's mind now that he no longer knew what was what.

"Come out! Come out and show yourself!" The second guardsman was beside himself, half dancing around his dead friend, half staring around him in apprehension and fear. He had all but forgotten Shirogane, but before the young nobleman could work out how to move to somewhere safer, there was the sound of hoofbeats against the soft earth and then the swish of a tail as a man riding a dark brown horse broke through the forest and into the clearing.

He was an old man, with hunched shoulders and a straggling tail of grey hair hanging loose and limp down his back. His brows were grizzled and his face lined, yet his eyes glittered like those of someone far younger, and Shirogane was struck by the colours and emblem that this newcomer wore.

The surviving soldier was clearly just as surprised, for his eyes opened wide in dismay and astonishment, his mouth dropping open in disbelief.

"K...Keiichi-dono?" He whispered, and Shirogane searched his memory in vain for an identity to fit that name.

There was a long silence, and all thought of escape forgotten, Shirogane's gaze flitted from the old man to the scared youngster still wielding his sword desperately as if to ward off a second blast.

Had this old man fired that Kidou?

Shirogane glanced ruefully at the silver bands that encircled his wrists. Without his spiritual awareness, he would probably never know.

The silence threatened to become terminal, and then the old retainer spoke.

"This land is peaceful." he said quietly. "For the sake of the people hereabouts, spilling blood will not be tolerated."

"Our orders came from Seiren-dono." The guard seemed to find some courage at this, puffing his chest out as he faced the mounted enigma. "We have instruction to take Shirogane-dono and bring him back to the main house. Men were dispatched to the manor here to explain our presence. You had no right to kill my comrade. He was just doing his job."

"He was acting in a way contrary to the continued peace and unity of this region of District Six." Keiichi's tone had not changed, but Shirogane saw something cold in his eyes and he knew that this man, old though he now was, had most likely spent most of his life with a weapon in his hand.

"In order to capture the wanted fugitive, Seiren-dono..."

"Seiren-dono is not Lord here." Keiichi seemed unphased. "The Lord of this area is a man who chooses to live in peace. He does not like blood spilt on his grass."

He raised a worn hand, gesturing in Shirogane's direction.

"Your prisoner is hurt and bleeding. My Lord may have given his permission for you to enter this land, but only in order to search. Not in order to maim, hurt or kill. In this your companion was in breach of the law."

"If you stand in his way, Seiren-dono will take action against you and your master." The young man threatened, and a frightening smile came over the old man's face.

"Then let him." He said simply. "I am sure that we will look forward to such a time."

He tugged on the reins of the horse, as if making to leave, but as he did so, the young soldier lifted his sword arm, launching his weapon with some force at Keiichi's upper body as if to stab him right through the chest and topple him from his horse.

What happened next, Shirogane was not quite sure, but the speed with which Keiichi pulled both himself and his steed out of the weapon's trajectory once more told the dazed shinigami that this was no ancient noble retainer living out his days in quiet obscurity somewhere at the distant coast. The next moment, though, a second flash of light filled the copse, this time Shakkahou, and Shirogane's heart skipped a beat as he registered the blood redness of the sudden surge of flame. He had fired many blasts of this spell himself, but he had never seen one so dense and resolute, every spiritual particle focused on meeting and destroying its eventual target.

The second soldier was engulfed before he could move, falling in ashes to the forest floor and Keiichi sighed, reining in his startled horse and patting it gently on the neck.

"A little much, perhaps, for one day." He murmured, just loud enough for his companion to hear him, and as his gaze rested on the wounded fugitive, Shirogane realised with a jolt that he was now the only one left alive.

"Did you...just...Kidou?" He managed, and Keiichi smiled, a distant, unconnected smile as he shook his head.

"I'm just a old man on a horse. I can't fire Kidou." He said evenly, riding his steed towards where Shirogane was huddled up against a tree. "I suppose you're Shirogane-dono, Masane-sama's son. I see it in your eyes."

"Mother?" Shirogane stared. "You knew my mother? But..."

"I am an old man. I have met many people." Keiichi said dismissively. "A lot of people are looking for you, so I hear."

"Two of whom are now dead." Shirogane's gaze flitted to the charred corpses of the two men, and Keiichi nodded.

"So it seems." He agreed, quite unconcerned by the whole situation, and Shirogane felt suddenly on his guard.

"What about you?" He challenged. "Those colours are Kuchiki colours - you're a retainer for the Clan, just as they are. Are you going to take me as your prisoner, now, instead?"

"No. I don't think I'll do that." Keiichi shook his head thoughtfully. "My Lord would not approve if he was pulled into sudden and unexpected chaos. This land is peaceful. The people here live quietly. All these soldiers are unwelcome in such a place - you've brought them here, and so I felt it my duty to ask you to stop doing so."

"I didn't ask them to come after me." Shirogane said sullenly. "I didn't do anything wrong in the first place. Seiren-dono set it up to get rid of me because he sees me as a threat to his son's future. That's all."

"Ryuu-sama?" Keiichi looked surprised, and Shirogane nodded.

"Yes. Ryuu. My cousin. One of the few people with any sanity left in this crazy family farce."

"You should not speak so freely before strangers." Keiichi clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Loose lips can condemn you in front of the wrong people."

He smiled.

"Not everyone is afraid of Seiren-dono's disfavour, however." he added lightly. "This part of District Six is a place where he can never take control. He knows it - no matter how many orders he sends, there is nobody here who must obey his commands. The Lord here prefers to be left alone - and so I have come here to ask you to leave this land as soon as you can. We will not try to stop you."

He gestured towards the trees at Shirogane's rear, as if indicating a path of escape.

"It would be better for you and for all the people here if you were to leave District Six completely. Do you understand?"

"You want the soldiers to leave, so you want me to leave." Shirogane's eyes narrowed. "But you don't care about handing me over to Seiren-dono, so you're not going to try and take me prisoner?"

"Something like that." Keiichi's eyes twinkled. "You seem smart, and you quickly understand. Do we have a deal, then? There are only so many days our soldiers can control the invasion from the main house. If you were to leave this area quickly, there may not be any further unnecessary sacrifices. But my Lord is not bound to protect you. He might not choose to spare your life again. This time he intended for us to talk like this, so I could make known to you his views. But the next time..."

He shrugged, and Shirogane got unsteadily to his feet.

"I understand." He said softly. "I'm heading out of this land anyway. I intend to cross into a foreign District and leave Six behind me until I can prove my innocence. I won't ask for help, or involve you or your people in my problems any further. I never asked for you to save me, and nor will I again."

"Wait a moment." As he turned to go, Keiichi drew his animal closer, pulling a razor sharp katana from the sheath at his side. Shirogane started, and the old man smiled, flicking a finger towards the young man's wrists.

"Hold out your hands." He said softly, and as if compelled to do so by the expression in the old soldier's eye, Shirogane did not resist. Slowly he did so, and Keiichi lifted his weapon, slashing neatly through the spirit bands that had stifled Shirogane's reiryoku. One strike at each sliced them cleanly through, and Shirogane shook his arms slightly, watching with a mixture of amazement and bewilderment as both cuffs fell harmlessly onto the forest floor. He raised his gaze to Keiichi blankly, and the old man nodded.

"It is harder to conceal yourself without your magic." He explained softly. "You will more likely be caught, which will no doubt cause more fuss and trouble for the people here. You have your reiryoku back, and even if if flows madly for a moment or two, you should go now. I do not want to see the path you take."

Shirogane stared at him for a moment. Then, as his spiritual magic flooded once more through his body, he hastily muttered the words to a Kyokkou spell, turning on his heel and fleeing into the forestland beyond.

The wound across his body stung more and more with every movement, fresh blood spilling from it as he ran, but he was free. Despite the growing pain that radiated through his torso and into his chest, Shirogane revelled briefly in the sensation of escape - allowing his spirit power to run unchecked through his body once again.

His Lord? That badge was definitely not Seiren-dono's, nor Guren-sama's. And so...

As he ran, he pictured the emblem once more in his mind, trying to work out where he had seen such a distinctive yet unfamiliar badge before.

And then, in a moment, he knew.

Kinnya-sama. Lord of the Coastal Regions. The hermit Kuchiki. That man wore his badge...no, more than that. He came on his master's orders, to give me a message. Leave the land and take my pursuers with me. But...he could easily have killed all three of us. And if he objects so much to bloodshed, why kill Seiren-dono's men? Surely he'll have to answer for that. That retainer didn't seem afraid, though, at that threat. He almost seemed...to relish it. But Kinnya-sama is a hermit. So...what?

Shirogane frowned.

Perhaps Lord Kinnya doesn't like Seiren-dono very much either. If so, that's worked in my favour, for now, but I don't intend on falling on the mercy of his men again. Who fired those spells - I don't know, and I don't suppose I ever will. I only saw one man - the man on the horse that that soldier called Keiichi. When my reiryoku flooded back through me, it was all I could do to manage a spell and escape. I didn't have a chance to work out spiritual footprints. But...that second time...I don't think it was him. It was as though there was someone else with him...someone I could not see. Kinnya-sama has shinigami among his retinue. Perhaps that's why.

He clutched a hand to his injured body, wincing and glancing at the blood still gushing freely from the wound.

This is a bad slash, though. Deep and through significant blood vessels. Perhaps worse, if it's grazed against a lung. It will slow me down a good deal if I'm not careful. I need to find a safe place to treat it. But...

Keiichi's words flickered through his thoughts.

"My Lord is not bound to protect you. He might not choose to spare your life again. This time he intended for us to talk like this, so I could make known to you his views. But the next time..."

He frowned.

I should not linger here more than I have to. Wounded or not, I must make it to the coves tonight, otherwise the next blast of demon fire I encounter may be coming for me.

---

"Well, my Lord?"

As Shirogane disappeared through the trees, Keiichi sheathed his sword, turning and watching as the Kyokkou spell hazed and faded, revealing his cloaked and hooded companion sheltered beneath the trees on his own dark coloured steed. Slowly the other lowered the black fabric from his head, turning to survey the scene with a soft tut-tut.

"Blood and death in my territory." He said regretfully. "I had hoped that Seiren's men would respect my wishes to avoid violence. Now there are two corpses and a bleeding youth fleeing for his life. Keiichi, is it my imagination or has the Clan become ever more reckless in the last several years?"

"With all respect, sir, I believe this Clan has always been a little reckless," Keiichi observed wryly, "and yourself among them. How long has it been since you used Kidou? You tell me your body is weak and feeble and incapable of doing anything of worth, yet you've been lying to me. Those spells were just as they were in the past - you won't fool me again with your pretence of frailty."

"On the contrary, I haven't pretended." Kinnya looked ruefully at his hands. "Perhaps I reacted more instinctively than I should. I don't intend to protect Shirogane, or ally myself to him when I don't know why he was driven to flee the Clan. However..."

"However?" Keiichi looked quizzical.

"I do not intend on acting as Seiren's pawn." Kinnya spoke quietly. "I never have intended that. I may support his son, and because of it, he feels he can now use me and my land and men as he sees fit. But I have no intention of letting him dictate to me what happens in land bequeathed me by my father."

"Seiren-dono is presumptuous, and his men too." Keiichi looked thoughtful. "Still, are you sure you acted wisely today, my Lord? After so long in the shadows - this is tantamount to war. You told me you intend to protect the Clan unity your brother believed in - but like this...?"

"If Seiren was to find out two of his men died on my land, I would have difficult questions to answer." Kinnya agreed, absently spreading his fingers out towards the two corpses, and Keiichi watched as both glimmered for a moment, then dispersed into tiny fragments of spirit dust. "I'll destroy the evidence, and hope for the best. You know I would not have killed either if they hadn't been threatening life - but this is the violent age we seem to be living in. I don't know what it is, Keiichi, but since Ryuu's visit and then all of this, I've become ever more certain that nobody else in the Clan must be allowed to die just yet. In fact, I'm certain that we just witnessed is tied in to the things that young boy was so afraid of when he came to my manor."

"Just yet?" As his companion turned his steed, Keiichi brought his own level, casting his master a confused look. "I thought you wanted to keep out of things. Kinnya-sama, you realise..."

"As you know, I have another, deeper duty to uphold." Kinnya responded with a sigh. "This family's unity is the oath I swore to my brother, and I believe in keeping it if I can. Ribari may have been murdered by a Kuchiki, but I'm not so sure. I don't think that this was at all the way it seems. When Ryuu came to see me, the seeds of doubt began to be planted in my mind. And now, with all this...they're beginning to grow. Now I have seen Shirogane for myself, I do not believe him capable of orchestrating something like this."

"A boy who gets caught by soldiers, cuffed by them and almost killed? No indeed." Keiichi sighed. "He has not inherited your brother's ingenuity, has he?"

"Well, he is very young. Not much older than Ryuu, despite being a Vice Captain already." Kinnya shrugged. "But you mistake me. I was speaking not of his ability so much as his sense of pride - whether he could devise such a scheme, he did not strike me as one who puts his stock in betrayal to move himself ahead. Shirogane is young yet, and young people need time to grow into experienced older Clansmen. I think you expect too much of him too soon, Keiichi. He hasn't lived long enough to have learnt everything yet. Besides, a grandson can't aways be like a grandfather. Or like a mother, for that matter."

"Like a mother?"

"Senaya-nii always said that Masane was the only one of his children he found difficult to fool," Kinnya said reflectively, "yet she fooled most everyone into believing her weak and feeble. True, she was frail, but she was adept at getting her way and she slipped her only son into Guren's notice in just the way I would have expected Senaya-nii to act with one of his own children. More, that son may have questionable rank, but is recognised as Second Degree nonetheless. Senaya-nii manipulated the family tree to suit his own ends - manipulated those outside it to bring the Clan together, and created an entirely false perception to hand on to the next generation. Even his sons, who knew him and adored him, did not realise that side of him. But Masane did. Masane who did not speak out of turn, and who spent much of her time closeted away with illness, knew every thought that turned through her father's head. Even when he died...Masane knew the truth. Nobody told her, but she knew and she took that truth to her grave. That was how she was."

"I see."

"And that boy is her son."

"A shame, then, that he lacks more of her guile." Keiichi chuckled.

"Well, as I said, he is young. Also, he is headstrong." Kinnya mused. "Arrogant too, I imagine, to assume he could fight two armed men without a shred of spiritual power to fall back on. But arrogance isn't a reason to see someone killed, even if he does have much still to learn about himself and the world in which he lives. There's something else to this, too. You heard it, didn't you? The way he spoke to those soldiers before you interfered. The indignant behaviour of a wronged Clansman."

"I did." Keiichi acknowledged. "But even so..."

"If you won't let me go, my only options are to fight and die, or fight and escape." Kinnya quoted softly. "Those were the boy's words, with defiant fire in his eyes. And it occurred to me then that simply watching from the shadows this time would not be enough. When he visited, Ryuu raised...things that should have remained buried. What if Shirogane too has surmised something of this past? Proud young men who are accused of things they did not do normally stand their ground and defend themselves before their Clan leaders, confident in what they know and believe. But what if Shirogane doesn't have that confidence? What if there's something in this that bothers him - something that, like with Ryuu, has driven him to extremes? Ryuu was sensible. He came to me and spoke to me cryptically but in terms we both understood. I don't think Shirogane is the same kind of man - but Keiichi, from how he spoke to those soldiers, Shirogane is a boy of ideals and convictions that he will follow regardless of what the kin around him think or say. Even if that kin is the Clan leader, Guren himself. I have to say it struck me for a brief moment - that young as he is, perhaps this son of Masane's is as close as the Clan has to a Senaya-nii at the present time."

"God help the Kuchiki if that's the case." Keiichi murmured, and Kinnya laughed.

"Yes, my brother did create an inordinate amount of work for everyone else," He agreed reflectively, "but he also did everything in his power to make this Clan stable and great, even at the cost of his own life. He always followed his own path and his own conviction, regardless of the chaos it left me to fix in his wake. And more...there was something in Ryuu that I recognise in myself - a desire to be detached from the intrigue, even when caught in the midst of it. Perhaps it's foolish of me, Keiichi, but I think Senaya-nii would want to keep Shirogane alive. If he was here to push me about the way he always used to with his games, I'm sure that's what he'd say. Besides, while Shirogane is alive, his actions attract attention away from Ryuu. I think Senaya-nii would accept Ryuu's blood right to be considered the true heir to the family. Perhaps he would even have favoured Ryuu over Ribari given the unique circumstances, and therefore to protect that heir..."

"Shirogane-dono's actions provide a diversion?" Keiichi questioned.

"Keeping Shirogane alive and feeding that idealism makes him so." Kinnya smiled. "If Seiren's troops are hunting him down, they are not at the main house, causing trouble there. Senaya-nii loved Seiren dearly, but he would be the first to admit that his position in this Clan should be to shadow Guren, not give orders to supersede him. Shirogane is Guren's Vice Captain. I think that speaks for itself. Guren does not hate Shirogane, and has not ordered his death. Therefore...for now, Shirogane should live. Probably the future of this family...is him and Ryuu, working together. Both have seen something that their superiors have not. The Clan's stability rests with the two of them - providing both are allowed to live. Ribari's death is a loss to Guren, of course. But to the Clan...I'm not so sure. Not while those two still exist."

"And so Seiren-dono's retainers are dispensible." Keiichi pursed his lips. "I've never doubted your ability to read people before, Kinnya-sama, and so I won't doubt it now. You see Shirogane-dono as support for Ryuu-sama, not as his enemy - and when you say it, you are persuasive. Certainly the boy did not sound as though he considered himself Ryuu-sama's opposition when he spoke to me just now. But you should be careful. You sound like a strategist once more planning for war. This is no longer Senaya-sama's era, and you are no longer at the heart of court. Things - perhaps people - change."

"That's why I don't intend on going to the Kuchiki court or taking any further action." Kinnya shook his head. "If I've vexed Seiren and saved a kinsman's life, that is enough for me for now. I am returning to the manor, and I will not think of this any longer. Intrigue tires me and makes me remember why I retreated here in the first instance. Enough blood and tears, Keiichi. Let us go back home and leave the children to play their own games from hereon in."

"If only I believed you meant that." Keiichi sighed, but obediently brought his beast up to a canter to match the other man's. "But I suppose we'll see just how much control Senaya-sama has from his 'castle on the moon!'"

---

"I suppose it could have been much worse."

Ryuu cast a resigned glance up at the list of grades pinned firmly to the Senior noticeboard, letting out a sigh of defeat. That morning results from the Senior exams had been posted on the study wall, and although the Kuchiki boy knew that his and Mitsuki's Zanjutsu grades had not yet been added to the mix, in the end it had hardly mattered.

"Coming back so late, I couldn't expect to hold on to my normal rank. But despite that fact...I cannot say this ranking gives me any pleasure to read."

"You're being too hard on yourself." Juushirou cast his friend a smile. "You and Mitsuki didn't attend any of the early lectures and even from notes, you only had a few days to revise things. Plus you got hauled out of that exam...so..."

"Yes, I know." Ryuu's gaze flitted back to the board. "Oh well. I shall simply have to prepare better next time."

"If you come to it, I didn't do as well as I could have done, either." Juushirou admitted, resting a reassuring hand on Ryuu's arm. "It's all right. None of us are quite where we expected to be this time out. It's a new class and a new set of grades."

"Yamamoto managed to beat Ukitake." Kai set down the letter from home that he had been reading, casting the white haired boy a sympathetic smile. "You just about won at swords, but it looks like he's still not going to be easily pushed down, doesn't it?"

"Mm." Juushirou's brows knitted together and he nodded, turning his gaze back to the board. "In those respects, I still have work to do, too. As Anideshi, I ought to be able to rank as highly as possible. And whilst I've never beaten Shunsui...this is...different."

"I don't know how I feel about that arrogant Yamamoto whelp slipping in between us either." Shunsui agreed, gathering together the shougi pieces and placing them carefully back in the box. "But don't take it to heart, Juu. You said it yourself. It's a different class. And a lot's happened. You missed some days before the exams too."

"No...it's not that." Juushirou grimaced. "I wasn't concentrating in my Sakusen exams. Zanjutsu especially. And it had an overall knock on effect."

He frowned, reading down the list once more.

"Shunsui, top. Yamamoto-kun, second. Me third. Souryou-kun fourth. Kai-kun fifth. Hirata sixth..."

"Ouyoudou always holds Hirata back." Kai interjected. "His Kidou and Hohou grades are better than mine, but he can't match up with swords, not even in Zanjutsu. I need to keep an eye on him, though, and up my game some, else he'll be overtaking me before long."

"Michihashi-kun seventh. Sora eighth. Mitsuki ninth. Ryuu tenth. Amai-san and Shikibu-san tied in eleventh. Enishi...was only a half mark below them."

Juushirou completed his reading, letting out his breath in a sigh. "Sora finished lower than she usually does too, though there's a gap between her and Mitsuki, and she's only about six marks down on Michihashi-kun. Also, Enishi would have been higher if he wasn't still struggling with Kidou. His other grades aren't that bad, but Kidou is a borderline pass."

"Well, he and Hirata have trotted off to go over a few principles this morning, so that might yet improve." Shunsui pointed out. "And he's fine with his position. He only cares about passing this year - he's said that to me already. So he isn't going to bother about ranking last."

"I've never beaten Ryuu in a class ranking before." Mitsuki murmured. "But you and I do have Zanjutsu essay grades still to come. You might yet overtake me."

"Maybe. But even with those marks added, I cannot overtake anyone else." Ryuu groaned. "It is all right. I concede. This exam period was a bad one, and I will improve by the time the next one comes around. Truthfully, I was not concentrating at all on any of my examinations and I did not know enough to get a better mark. I will change that for the next time."

"Competition is tighter, now, though." Kai said thoughtfully. "Souryou and Michihashi aren't pushovers, and obviously there are reasons why Yamamoto was top of his year last year."

"He wasn't happy, when he saw this list." Shunsui's eyes twinkled. "He said something about beating you, Juu - but he cast me the most awful glower you could ever imagine when he saw I'd pipped him by three marks overall. I swear, if looks had been lethal, I would have been laid out on the floor by the time you people got here."

"He's not a very good loser, is he?" Mitsuki observed, and Ryuu snorted, shaking his head.

"He's lost to Ukitake in swords - albeit by fluke luck more than skill - and now Kyouraku in academia." He said ruefully. "I can imagine his current mood is less than companionable."

"Well, I didn't do it on purpose and I told him so." Shunsui shrugged his shoulders.

Kai laughed.

"How did he take that?" He wondered. "I bet it didn't go down too well."

"Not really." Shunsui agreed cheerfully. "But Souryou thought it was funny. I rather like him, you know. Even if he and Yamamoto are best buddies, I think Souryou's not the kind to be easily dragged into a fight."

"He reminds me a bit of you, actually." Juushirou said thoughtfully. "He's quite laid back about things in general. And you're right. I like him too. He's straight-forward - you can believe what he says."

"That comes of being Sora's kinsman, probably." Mitsuki suggested, but Juushirou shook his head.

"Kamaki Azusa is also Sora's kinsman, and the way he treated the kid Tsukabishi is unforgivable." He said grimly. "You can't put it down to that, Mitsuki."

"Well, he's serving his time in confinement, and I'm sure Sensei railed through him and his friends too." Kai reflected. "That'll be lesson learned - he won't do it again."

"Where is Sora, anyway?" Shunsui glanced around him. "I haven't seen her since breakfast - Mitsuki, you room with her. Usually she's the first to come devour rank lists. Why isn't she here?"

"She and Naoko are doing something else." There was a faint edge to Mitsuki's voice, and Juushirou frowned, coming to sit down beside her.

"You and Shikibu-san haven't made up your argument yet?" He asked gently, and Mitsuki sighed, shaking her head.

"No. And I'm not going to put Sora in the middle of it, so I said it was all right and she should go help Naoko." She said heavily. "It's to do with the 2nd year camping trip. Apparently Amai-san woke up with a bad headache this morning, and Naoko needed someone to stand in. Sora offered...then got all flustered about it when she remembered we weren't speaking. So I told her to go. And I'm all on my own as a result."

"All on your own, except for us." Shunsui shot her a wry smile. "You really know how to make people feel valued, Mitsuki-chan."

"I didn't mean it like that." Mitsuki coloured. "Just...maybe I'm being possessive. But...I suppose I missed Sora a lot, when we were at home."

"You and Ryuu have both have been a little off-colour since you came back." Shunsui pursed his lips. "I know you can't talk much about the Clan, but..."

"And we probably should not, still." Ryuu met Juushirou's gaze gravely. "You know that the messenger that hauled us out of the exam came from Father, and that things are still chaotic at home. Without putting too fine a point on it...I don't believe we should be divulging too many details of things beyond our control."

"But if you bottle everything up, your grades will only be one of the things that suffer." Juushirou pointed out. "And you're both worried about something. Since that messenger came the other day...you've both been...bothered."

"Yes..." Ryuu chewed on his lip, then, "Father's messenger brought news of our cousin and senpai that...shall we say...concerned us both greatly."

"Cousin and senpai?" Kai's ears pricked up. "Nagoya, you mean?"

"Yes." Mitsuki glanced at her hands, and despite himself Juushirou stiffened, taking in the sudden change in her body language. "The details aren't clear, but...it seems he's in some trouble at home."

"Trouble of what nature?" Shunsui's eyes narrowed.

"Hard to say." Ryuu admitted. "Perhaps for knowing too much, or for not knowing enough. Apparently my father seeks to put him under arrest. Senpai has escaped his attentions - for now. But...the messenger brought a warning. That Shirogane-senpai had disappeared from the main house, and we were to consider him dangerous."

"Which is stupid." Mitsuki muttered. "Because Senpai didn't do anything to Ribari-sama, or to anyone else. Seiren-dono is being unreasonable, that's all."

"Mitsuki." Shunsui's eyes opened wide with surprise, and Juushirou bit his lip, taking in the genuine concern in his classmate's expression. "You're on Nagoya's side now?"

"In this...maybe." Mitsuki pinkened, nodding her head. "I mean...he really hasn't done anything wrong, Kyouraku-kun. He's just...Ryuu's father doesn't like him, and there's been misunderstandings. Seiren-dono's overreacted. That's all."

"But if there was a messenger here, someone thinks Nagoya will come to District One?" Kai asked quietly. Ryuu shrugged.

"It's highly unlikely, because border patrols will almost certainly stop him if Father does not. But we were told that if that happens we were not to get involved." He replied evenly. "And I am only telling you of this for that reason. Nobody should get involved. Senpai will have to take care of himself. Getting involved in Kuchiki business is a bad idea and would not be easily forgiven."

"Seiren-dono has some level of influence, huh." Shunsui's eyes became slits, and Ryuu sighed, nodding.

"He's Guren-sama's right hand man." He agreed wearily. "And someone who one should not think of crossing as blatantly as Senpai has."

"So if he comes here, you guys are going to just ignore it?" Kai asked.

"What else can we do? Orders are orders." Ryuu said simply, but Juushirou saw Mitsuki flinch slightly and suddenly he had the feeling that she intended on doing the exact opposite, no matter how great the danger. "You especially, Shihouin. Believe me, anything you did to interfere in my family would be taken in entirely the wrong vein."

"Nothing new about that." Kai shrugged. "Your Clan leader hates us. It's not a secret."

"It's a little more than that now, Shihouin-kun." Mitsuki raised her gaze, a troubled look in her eyes. "I've said nothing, and nor has Ryuu-kun. But...if you were to do anything...you really must not. Just in case. Because we don't know...what might happen."

"What are you talking about?" Kai was immediately on his guard. "Wait...are you saying that because a Kuchiki was assassinated, you suspect my family of being involved?"

"It's not a suspicion." Ryuu said flatly. "There are those who would place the Shihouin at the scene of the crime."

"What?" Kai's eyes almost fell out of his head, and Shunsui tut-tutted under his breath.

"That's a little paranoid." He chided. "Even for the Kuchiki, even given the past. I don't think Midori-sama's at all interested in killing Kuchiki heirs, nor in past grievances."

"Yet I have heard it myself." Ryuu responded quietly, and Juushirou knew his friend was deadly serious. "An eyewitness account that claims Ribari-sama saw the silhouette of a Shihouin before he died."

Kai's brows knitted together.

"Meaning..?" He asked softly. "That you genuinely think my Clan were responsible for your cousin's death?"

"There are those who say it's so."

"I see." Kai bristled. "I'd thought we had a rough level of understanding between us this year, Kuchiki, but obviously not. I can tell you right now, whatever those witnesses saw, the Shihouin haven't any involvement in Ribari-sama's murder. None at all. All right? Neesama has no interest in the Kuchiki in any regard, and certainly no reason to start slaughtering its members. The idea is stupid - why would we risk our standing to do something so foolhardy?"

"I have not said that I suspect you or your sister of anything. Nor have I said that I consider the Shihouin culpable." Ryuu shot back. "Just that this is what I have heard said...by one who was also struck ill when Ribari-sama died. In fact, by Shirogane-senpai himself."

"That's what you meant, then." Shunsui murmured. "That he knew too much about something?"

"Perhaps." Ryuu agreed wearily. "Shihouin, you are quick to jump to the defensive, but I already told you that Mitsuki and I have not said anything to our Clan about it. Nor has Shirogane-senpai. We all believe something else is at work. But it is hard...to completely disperse those accounts all the same."

"Could Ribari-sama have seen wrongly?" Juushirou wondered, and Ryuu nodded.

"More than possibly." He said heavily. "Mitsuki said she thought the poison had a hallucinogenic edge to it, and they were disorientated. Some of them spoke very strangely before they came back to their wits and only Senpai remembers anything at all. In that circumstance, there is every likelihood that Ribari-sama hallucinated such a figure."

"Oh. Hrm." Kai pursed his lips. "In that case, they have no grounds to make those kinds of accusations, do they?"

"There are...some." Mitsuki put in softly. "There was a random attack on some of the grooms of the stables, and all of them were killed. Before he died, one of them spoke to me of a gold eyed demon striking them down. But he was incoherent and he didn't survive - so I didn't say anything about it except to Ryuu."

"A gold eyed demon." Kai looked troubled. "But...does that have to mean a Shihouin? It's still...very...vague."

"Extremely." Ryuu agreed. "But...the kind of reports that would feed Kuchiki hysteria. Senaya-sama was a much beloved and revered Clan head. If people thought history was repeating, there would be a huge outcry. Although I am sure such a hypothesis would steady the trouble the family is currently undergoing...we did not have evidence enough to make such a report."

"So you'd like us to become a neat scapegoat for your family's domestic trouble?" Kai wrinkled up his nose. "Nice. Thanks."

"Again, I have not expressed that this is my belief." Ryuu said stiffly. "I do wish you would listen, rather than jumping to immediate conclusions. If I thought that the Shihouin were plotting against my family, do you think I would tolerate sharing a chamber with you like I am?"

"That is something else." Kai's eyes narrowed. "Given all of this, why haven't you asked to change rooms? A simple matter of personal dislike Sensei probably wouldn't listen to - it's fairly certain he did it on purpose knowing that we don't get along in order to make us learn something or other. But with this political situation...I wouldn't have thought you or your family would want the risk of sharing a room with an assassin. But you haven't even raised one complaint."

"I do not find your company pleasant." Ryuu said bluntly. "But I do not consider you an assassin. I do not believe my throat will be slit in my sleep if I happen to share a chamber with you for a few months together. And besides, I thought such a situation might prove opportune. I had intended to speak of this to you in private - but I don't suppose anyone outside of this room will leak the words spoken within, and it may be better to have more points of view."

"That's almost a compliment." Shunsui spoke up at that moment, finally fastening the ribbon properly around the box of shougi pieces. "There. Got it. That Ryuu trusts us enough with Clan secret stuff to let us eavesdrop on something like this."

"More likely he wanted objective witnesses to the discussion." Kai snorted, shaking his head. "Though he's probably right. What do you think, Kyouraku? Does any of this make sense to you?"

"None of it." Shunsui said cheerfully. "But at least four years at school together has taught Ryuu that you're not about to kill him. I'd call that social progress."

"No...Kai-kun has a point." Juushirou said thoughtfully. "Ryuu-kun might have wanted to change rooms and we expected him to complain about it when he came back - but he hasn't, nor has he spoken to Sensei about changing. In fact, it's the other way. It's as though he's gone out of his way not to create a reason to change his room. Almost as if...he was making some kind of a point."

"You have realised, then?" Ryuu grimaced. "Perhaps you are right, Ukitake. Truthfully...yes, perhaps you are right."

"What, so you're saying that Kuchiki wants to room with me now?" Kai looked flummoxed, and Juushirou shrugged.

"It's one way of saying that he doesn't believe the Shihouin are guilty." He said quietly. "Isn't it?"

"I suppose so." Kai pursed his lips. "So...you really don't think we're involved in all of this, then, Kuchiki?"

"I don't know." Ryuu said simply. "But I am quite sure that...you individually are not. And for the time being, whilst we are students here, none of us are so tied to our Clans that we have no choice but to draw lines and react to outside events."

"That's quite a turnaround in opinion, even for you, Ryuu-kun." Shunsui put in casually. "Are you sure there isn't another reason you feel that way?"

"Kyouraku?" Ryuu turned, startled, and Shunsui grinned.

"You said there were others who might have wanted Ribari-sama dead." He said lightly. "I would say that, if you're so sure that the Shihouin are not guilty...you have a better idea of who is. And it is someone within the Kuchiki, meaning that you have no reason to suspect Kai-kun's Clan. Not even if your kinsfolk do."

Ryuu's expression became one of consternation, and Juushirou frowned, noting the sudden clouding of the other boy's grey eyes.

"Shunsui's right, isn't he?" He murmured. "Ryuu, you do know something about this?"

"I know nothing about anything." Ryuu said flatly. "And that is the absolute truth. You should know that I am not one who tells lies easily. I have spoken entirely truthfully and I do not appreciate the implication of it being otherwise. I do not suspect the Shihouin-ke ordered the assassination of my cousin. You are reading more into it than there is."

"But with the death of Ribari-sama, the two candidates left to be heir to the Kuchiki were you and Nagoya, aren't they?" Shunsui was not at all put out by Ryuu's sudden defensive ire. "Which might explain why your Pa's suddenly so keen to get rid of Nagoya, but it doesn't exclude you from the bigger picture. As a second degree Clansman, Ryuu, there must be things you've seen or heard that other people might not have. If nobody else heard about these Shihouin, then surely there are other things..."

"Shirogane-senpai is not eligible to inherit the Clan." Mitsuki said softly, and Juushirou had the distinct impression that she was trying to divert the conversation, her gaze flitting towards Ryuu as she spoke. "His claim comes through the female line, and so Seiren-dono cannot view him as a threat to Ryuu. Their conflict is a misunderstanding. Nothing else. That's why so much of the pressure is falling on Ryuu. Seiren-dono knows that it's the best chance he has for his son to be named as successor."

"Mitsuki." Ryuu glanced at her, and Mitsuki reddened.

"I'm sorry." She murmured. "But you know it's true. He hasn't made a secret of it. Seiren-dono was fond of Ribari-sama and you know that he was upset when the boy died. But since Ribari-sama's death...he's begun to act decisively in your favour. Shirogane-senpai probably kept crossing him - and so...this happened. And the messenger was dispatched to tell us we should now consider Senpai our enemy. Which is ridiculous, but the only explanation."

"Yes. Perhaps." Ryuu rubbed his temples. "Though I can't understand Guren-sama going along with such an idea. He is fond of Shirogane-senpai. More so than anyone else."

"Which brings us back to the Kuchiki themselves." Shunsui reflected. "Ryuu, don't take this amiss. I'm not accusing you of lying - none of us are. But if you're so certain that a Clan you hate are innocent...the only solution is that you suspect someone else more than you do them. And that person must have done something to create especial suspicion in your mind, if it's overcome your natural prejudice."

"You should not try to understand a Clan that has absolutely no connection to you or your own, Kyouraku." Ryuu said coldly, getting to his feet. "And if you are simply going to cast such aspersions, then I will go to the library and begin on the Kidou report that we are supposed to be compiling."

"There." Shunsui folded his arms across the chest. "That face. Don't you think so, Juu? Kai? That's not the usual kind of face we see from Ryuu when talking about the Kuchiki. Something's up, and it isn't just Nagoya's disappearance into the blue yonder."

"It looks like you just upset him to me." Juushirou murmured. "Ryuu-kun, sit down. Nobody's meaning to jump to conclusions, and we're not accusing you of lying. We'll change the subject, so don't walk out. You're right. This really isn't our business."

"Ukitake..." Ryuu started, staring at his friend, and Juushirou saw a faintly ashamed look enter the grey eyes. Slowly he sank down onto the floor once more, and the conversation lapsed as an uneasy silence fell over the group.

At length, Kai sighed.

"The truth is, I jumped to the defence of my kin just as easily." He said softly. "Because they're my kin, and I have pride in my bloodline, just as Kuchiki does. And this has happened before. When Guren-sama's father died...the blame fell on us then, too."

"It does seem to be a repeat of that occurrence." Ryuu nodded his head slightly. "Though in that instance, I was led to believe...the Shihouin did have some involvement."

"I wasn't alive to know, and I don't really care because anyone who was involved is dead now." Kai said acerbically. "It's history and we all know far too well what digging up ancient history does to a Clan. It's very possible that there was a connection. I won't deny it. But that Shihouin and this one are not the same. Still, because there's an apparent precedent, blaming us might stick. And...because there's a precedent..."

He shook his head.

"Neesama isn't like other leaders of the Shihouin before her." He said at length. "She's said several times that she wants to use the Shihouin skills more positively and she's begun to put particular effort into a squad who use those stealth abilities for the greater good of Soul Society. When I graduate, it'll be my job to take charge of those secret operatives and sort out their place in Seireitei, so I know more about this than most of you do. Those are the people - the skills - that were once used simply for assassinations and other shadow acts. But Neesama's dream is to legitimise them and make them a force to support and work with the Gotei. And that's what she's done. Not a single one of those people who she is now training would dare defy her, nor can I imagine them wanting to. Midori-neesama doesn't want the Shihouin to be known for covert killing any longer. And so that era...that mindset...little by little is fading away. You might say it started to die when Uncle was put to death...but it's continued to crumble and change since that point. Before we came back here, I was training largely with those people...and I'm quite sure, Kuchiki. There aren't any members of Midori-nee's forces who would carry out such an act."

"Rehabilitating a Clan reputation is a big job." Shunsui remarked. "But if anyone can do it, I imagine it's Midori-sama."

"Nobody here suspects the Shihouin-ke's involvement, Kai-kun." Juushirou said softly. "You don't need to worry...if you say that, we believe you."

"If the heir to the Clan can't be trusted, who can?" Shunsui supplemented lazily. "It's all right, Kai. Juu's right. We believe you."

"Mm." Kai pursed his lips, this time looking directly at Ryuu. "Good, because what I'm about to say I don't even really understand. It may have nothing to do with this. Probably it doesn't. Honestly, I'd dismissed and forgotten it as irrelevant till now, because it seemed so ridiculous to think it could be important in any regard. I can't see how it could be even remotely connected to this. But...I don't want to be accused of having hidden something that later turned out to be significant. If I want people to trust the Shihouin, then I have to prove there's nothing for us to hide. And it will come out anyway...so I might as well be the one to say it."

"What do you mean?" Ryuu shot him a confused glance, and Kai bit his lip.

"Nagoya's not the only one missing in action." He said softly. "Tomoyuki has also disappeared."

"Tomo...yuki?" Ryuu's brows knitted together, and Juushirou frowned.

"Onoe-kun." He realised. "That's who you mean, isn't it, Kai-kun? Onoe-kun is Tomoyuki. Your cousin - Aitori's nephew who tried to kill you when we were first years."

"Yes." Kai nodded soberly. "That's who I mean."

"Onoe, huh." Shunsui's eyes narrowed. "But wasn't he comatose? Four years and not a peep out of him - where could he have wandered off to? Did he wake up or something...?"

"No. He hasn't stirred once." Kai shook his head. "And even if he did, he'd have no memory of anything that happened before. The chances are that, given so long unconscious, he wouldn't even know his own name. His spirit power is non-existant now thanks to the Eiminyaku and Unohana-sensei said quite clearly when Neesama took him home that if he did awaken, he would be a shadow of who he had been before. His guilt and innocence would be completely washed from his mind - along with most everything else."

"Yet such a person has managed to disappear?" Ryuu's brows knitted together. "On his own? Without a trace?"

"At first, Neesama thought that Tomoyuki's father had finally snapped and had enough and had done something with him." Kai said quietly. "He and his wife...have never really agreed on how to deal with what happened. His mother cried a lot and clung to him - his father disowned him and even threatened to sever his life by his own hands because of the shame he'd brought on the Clan. Midori-neesama told him such an action wouldn't be forgiven, so so far he's not done anything. But...with him vanishing so unexpectedly, the question was asked. And that was...our initial thought."

"But...?" Shunsui looked quizzical, and Kai nodded.

"Onoe's father had an alibi for the night Tomoyuki disappeared." He said heavily. "He was in the company of my brother and two other Shihouin lords within the manor, going over some settlements of land and other details. Since Yanagi-nii was there, Midori-nee had no alternative but to believe him innocent. And the truth is, had he really intended to destroy his son's life, he would have defied Neesama sooner. He'd have had far more opportunity to act when Midori-nee was at Council meetings or helping in District Seven or doing anything else that might have taken her attention away. So...probably it had nothing to do with him. When asked he said that he had long since considered his son dead and no longer his concern - and I believed his words."

"Then where did he go?" Juushirou murmured. "And how?"

"It's still a mystery." Kai responded. "And it probably has no bearing on the Kuchiki at all, since Tomoyuki would not only have lost his spiritual skills but all memory of his stealth training and anything to do with the assassin laws he learnt when following Aitori's lead. He'd be a literal blank slate - confused and lost - which suggests most likely he woke up, didn't know where or who he was and wandered away somehow without the guards seeing him. But although there have been searches, he's not been found. And that's all."

"Such a person seems an unlikely assassin." Ryuu said thoughtfully. "But I am glad you told me. As you said, it probably bears no connection to our family at all - I do not believe that one so damaged as that could slip into Kuchiki land unseen and undetected and could possibly conspire to kill an important member of my family without being apprehended - let alone bringing down most of Sixth Squad. But to have concealed it might have caused suspicions and misunderstandings further on."

"Yes." Kai agreed. "And I've no desire for the Shihouin-ke to be raided again because Guren-sama's got it into his head that we've taken his son from him in the same way we allegedly took his father. So as we have nothing to hide, I'm not hiding it."

"Guren-sama's father was also my Grandfather." Ryuu said quietly. "And his death was quite a pivotal one for the Clan at the time, since there was an amount of unrest and dissent among senior members of my family then. And now, with the succession of the Clan once more blurry, I fear such a thing will occur again."

He sighed, rubbing his temples.

"I am going to the library, in the hopes I can use study to clear my thoughts." He admitted. "From those grades, I obviously need to spend some time with my books. I will speak to you all later on, I have no doubt."

With that he was gone, and Juushirou let out his breath in a rush.

"Ryuu really has got a lot on his shoulders, hasn't he?" Shunsui observed, and Kai grimaced.

"Probably there's stuff he didn't tell us then, just as you thought." He replied wryly. "But you can't pry it out of him - there's just no doing it. Whatever he thinks or suspects about all of this, he's not talking about it."

"But there's no hiding the fact that Ryuu is a potential blood candidate for the Clan inheritance now." Juushirou said, his expression troubled. "And Ryuu...you can tell one thing from how he's reacted so far. He really doesn't want anything to do with it."

"But if Nagoya's really not important in the Clan, why has Ryuu's Pa gone so nuts about locking him up?" Shunsui wondered. "If the boy has no claim, it seems a drastic thing to do. Mitsuki-chan, are you sure that nobody in the Kuchiki sees Nagoya as competition for Ryuu? He's a Vice Captain and a favourite of Guren, isn't he?"

"You underestimate Clan tradition, though."Mitsuki said quietly, shaking her head. "Shirogane-senpai's father was only fourth degree. He was only allowed to marry Masane-dono by special permission given him by Guren-sama himself. Shirogane-senpai's bloodline isn't considered equal to Ryuu's in most respects. He's clever, capable and Guren-sama's favourite. But tradition still speaks in cases such as these. Most of the time degree is determined by the father's bloodline. Senpai's status as second degree was a favour to Masane-dono. In most people's eyes, without Guren-sama's good opinion, he might be considered lower rank even than me."

"Even so, though, for the stability of the Clan?" Shunsui asked. "If Ryuu is so opposed to the idea, wouldn't Guren-sama be able to make an exception in the circumstances?"

"This is the Kuchiki." Mitsuki said simply. "Things don't work that way. Seiren-dono knows that his son is the only heir, and so does Ryuu. That's all."

"I wonder about that." Juushirou's mind flitted back to Genryuusai's words from before term had begun.

"Him alone. Not his children, Juushirou."

He sighed.

"I get the feeling this isn't about Ryuu's opinion or about Nagoya-senpai's, either. Nor is it about their track records or their abilities. Ryuu's never looked quite so bothered before - I can't help but think there's something more to it that we don't know yet."

"Ryuu knows that no matter what he says, most probably it will fall on him and he can't escape it." Mitsuki sighed. "But...he really doesn't want it. Not at all. And I think that's bothering him more than anything else. He'd like to find out who killed Ribari-sama. But most...he wants to stay in the shadows of the Clan and out of Seiren-dono's manipulation."

"Ryuu's father is ambitious..." Shunsui pursed his lips. "And he can't inherit for himself, can he? So Ryuu is it. Poor Ryuu. If he hates the idea that much, it's going to be a hard path."

"But for now, the Clan is still in flux." Mitsuki sighed. "And I'm worried about Senpai. I'm worried that he's okay."

Juushirou glanced at her, taking in the genuine emotion in her grey eyes, and despite himself his heart clenched in his throat.

Was Shikibu-san...right?

"Juu?" Shunsui cast him a quizzical glance, and he shook his head, offering his friend a faint smile.

"I was just reminding myself why I'm glad not to be Clan." He said ruefully. "It carries so many burdens."

"It does." Kai said grimly. "I would have mentioned Tomoyuki before, if I'd thought it relevant...but..."

"Onoe-kun was broken." Mitsuki shook her head. "I saved his life, but only really his body survived."

"So it probably is unconnected." Juushirou reflected. Shunsui frowned, his eyes becoming slits as he considered.

"Coincidences aren't usually as coincidental as they appear." He murmured. "I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that what you've said today is something we're going to return to again, Kai-kun. Also, what Ryuu said. I don't know what, but it seems as though something big is beginning to move. And...we just haven't seen what it is yet. But whatever it is...we should watch out for it. Because...I don't think that, if someone like Ribari-sama can be killed, it would be a problem for other people to die, too."

"Meaning?" Juushirou shot him a questioning look.

"That Ryuu and Mitsuki are right." Shunsui said grimly. "This is bad. And we keep out of it. Especially you."

"Why me?" Juushirou was taken aback, and Shunsui's eyes darkened.

"Because you're the one who's best at getting into stupid and dangerous situations." He said simply. "And this is one I don't think you should get into. If the Kuchiki are killing each other, that's one thing. But if something outside the Kuchiki is taking them on...then it's definitely something you shouldn't be getting involved in. None of us should. It has a bad air about it - I just have the feeling it's going to get much worse before it gets better."

---

"Yasuhiro-dono, may I please speak to you for a moment?"

In the busy stable yard of the Kyouraku estate, a voice cut through the bustle, and Yasuhiro turned, a frown crossing his features as he registered the tentative expression in the young soldier's eyes. He nodded, handing his horse's reins almost automatically to one of the stablehands on duty, who bowed, scurrying away to rub the beast down after a long day out on patrol.

As Tokutarou's right hand man and most trusted servant since the Lord's childhood, Yasuhiro had soon settled into life in District Eight when his master had made the move from Five several years ago. Many of the young soldiers now under his command had been trained by him in one way or another, and so he knew without asking them that he commanded a good deal of their loyalty and obedience. Although he could be strict and demanding, there was a mutual respect between him and his subordinate military officers, and Yasuhiro was proud of what he had achieved in the time he had been resident here.

District Eight's military mentality had lapsed quite a lot with the previous two incumbents, but Tokutarou was a different kind of master, true to his samurai roots and a man Yasuhiro understood - a soldier, not a spiritual warrior with a down to earth manner. Yasuhiro prided himself on every one of his young charges being a skilled and capable swordsman ready to die in a heartbeat to defend his Lord's land. Yet that afternoon, there was a look he had not seen before in Takeshi's troubled eyes, and he frowned, taking his companion by the arm and leading him across the yard to one side.

"What is it?" He asked quietly. "You look like a man lacking sleep."

"I suppose I haven't had a lot, lately." Takeshi ran his fingers through his thick dark hair, inclining his head in acknowledgement. "I'm sorry, sir. I just...I wanted to ask you something. It's...a bit of a strange question, but...but the other day...well..."

He faltered, as if trying to work out how to form the words, and Yasuhiro's lips thinned as he absorbed the tension in the young man's frame. He had trained Takeshi since the other was a boy of only thirteen or fourteen, sent from his family's farm to make a life for himself in Tokutarou's service. In that time Yasuhiro had come to know the soldier's manner and demeanour as well as if Takeshi had been his kin - and this hesitant, somewhat withdrawn countenance was one he had not seen in the boy before.

Almost as though he doesn't know how to ask the question. Or he is working out what question to ask whilst concealing the true heart of the problem.

"Well?" As the silence threatened to drag on, Yasuhiro raised an eyebrow. "You and I both have many other things to attend to - and your wife will doubtless want to see you this evening, since you're not scheduled for late night guard duty. If you have nothing to say, Takeshi, then I'll dismiss you and we can both go about our tasks."

"No, please sir...please not yet." Takeshi looked anxious, and again Yasuhiro was struck by the unfamiliar expression on the young man's face. "I just...I think it might be...an impertinent question, sir. That's all. Not something that's really...well...the business of a soldier like me."

"But you want to ask it anyway?" Yasuhiro's curiosity was piqued. "Very well. For this once I'll overlook anything impertinent. What is it that's troubling you?"

"I just...I wondered if...Lord Tokutarou was...entertaining any Shihouin-ke guests at the present time?"

"Shihouin?" Despite himself, Yasuhiro was taken aback. "Takeshi, what do you mean? Why would that matter...why would you need to know something like that?"

"I'm sorry." Takeshi lowered his gaze. "It's very hard...it's sort of a...personal matter. And...well...I..."

"A personal matter?" Yasuhiro was foxed. "You'll forgive me for not understanding at all what you mean. But to the best of my knowledge, there are currently no Shihouin visiting the Lord nor any due to come in the forseeable future."

"I see." Takeshi recovered his composure a little, offering his commander a faint smile. "It's just...my wife thought she saw somebody in Teika-chou but...if you say not, then she must have been mistaken. I'm sorry to have taken your time, Yasuhiro-dono."

"In Teika-chou?" Yasuhiro's expression became thoughtful. "It's no secret that trade relations with District Two have increased in recent years. But no, Takeshi, your wife must have been quite mistaken. Though I can't see why that would concern you anyhow."

"I'm sorry, sir." Takeshi bowed his head. "For troubling you with such trivial things."

"That is all you wanted to ask me?" Yasuhiro asked, and Takeshi nodded.

"Yes sir. Thank you sir."

"Very well. You are dismissed, then." Yasuhiro gestured towards the main barracks and Takeshi saluted hastily, before turning on his heel and heading swiftly across the cobbles to join the other soldiers inside.

Yasuhiro watched him go, a troubled look on his face.

Subtlety hasn't ever been your forte, though you're strong and you work hard. There's something else behind this awkward question of yours - but what, I wonder?

"Yasuhiro-dono, is something wrong?"

The voice of another soldier broke through his musings and he turned, offering the other man a thoughtful glance.

"Your family live close by to Takeshi's, don't they?" He asked softly, and the soldier looked startled, nodding his head.

"Yes, sir. Why? Is something amiss?"

"I don't know." Yasuhiro admitted, his gaze flitting back towards the main barracks. "I hoped you might tell me. He seems unusually out of sorts today - quite unlike himself, and it bothers me."

"I see." The soldier bit his lip, glancing around him and then lowering his voice.

"There is a rumour, sir." He said softly. "But...I don't know how true it is. My wife's been occupied with the baby, and you know I've been working a lot, so...well, it's just something I've heard. But maybe it's true."

"A rumour?" Yasuhiro's eyes narrowed. "I see. Would you tell me this rumour, please? It may be nothing, but I don't like it when something other than Tokutarou-sama's safety and instructions are preoccupying my men. If something is wrong, I want to get to the bottom of it as soon as I can."

"Well, as I said, sir, I don't know if it's true." The soldier shrugged helplessly. "But some of the men are saying that there's trouble at home where Takeshi's concerned. A couple of them are certain they saw a prostitute going into his house...and the lad on gate duty said he's certain he let one of the town prostitutes into the complex that same night."

He reddened slightly, then,

"Tisn't uncommon for those who ain't married to take up with a courtesan and mostly folk look the other way." He added. "But Takeshi's married, and his wife's young and pretty t'boot. There doesn't seem to be any reason unless they're having problems of a marital sort."

"Marital trouble?" Yasuhiro rubbed his chin ruefully. "That is decidedly not my forte, unfortunately. But you believe there to be some truth in this tale?"

"I don't know." The soldier admitted. "I only know the bits I've heard. It doesn't seem very much like Takeshi. But his wife's been in and out of the local towns and villages a lot lately. I don't know on what errand, but...I'm sure I saw her asking around after one of the prostitutes, and well, just this morning Takeshi asked me if I'd seen any Shihouin when out on town patrol. I thought it an odd question...unless...his wife's taken up with some foreign visitor of late and he's trying to hunt the man down."

"I see." Yasuhiro digested this information carefully. "All right. I understand now. Thank you - please don't discuss this matter any more. It's not good for morale and if Takeshi's problems are indeed of that nature...it seems better that I keep an eye on things and make sure he doesn't act out of line. I've seen it before, in men in that situation, so it won't hurt to be careful."

"Yes sir." The soldier saluted, withdrawing to tend to his own horse, and Yasuhiro leant up against the wall of the stable, running the conversation over in his mind.

You were certainly tense and unlike yourself. And definitely hiding something. This story is disturbing - whilst I have no issue with my men entertaining prostitutes on their own time, if it's a bigger, more complex situation then I don't see what to do about it. However, I can't just let it lie. I've seen it before - good men broken by jealousy turning their blades on the person they feel has humiliated them. Their wives, the other parties...

His gaze drifted towards the barracks, where changed and groomed, Takeshi was now emerging. There was still tension in his frame, Yasuhiro decided, and the young man did not even look towards his commander, clearly deep in thought as he made his way towards the gate that led towards the soldiers' housing.

Inwardly, Yasuhiro made up his mind. Casting a glance around the yard to make sure everyone had obeyed his orders to the letter, he gave a series of swift instructions to the most senior of his men present and then turned back towards the house, making his way purposefully through the halls towards Tokutarou's study.

If it were any other man...but this man is different. His status is the same as the others, but Takeshi...is different.

He rapped on the door of the Lord's chamber, waiting to hear his master's voice call him in. Tokutarou was alone, and going over a list of property tax reports, but at his entrance he set his brush down, casting his manservant a tired smile.

"I trust today's patrol went well? Nothing amiss?" He asked, and Yasuhiro nodded.

"Everything in much the way it should be." He agreed. "Now that the last of the refugees have left your late Uncle's manor, there has been some talk of rebuilding the land and constructing more healthy settlements there. You know that only about half of the refugees have returned to District Seven - and the population in Eighth has risen as a result. Babies are still being born - and fortunately, deaths in this region are not high."

"It's something that I'm looking over." Tokutarou nodded. "The warden of that manor sent me some paperwork to review, I just haven't reached it yet. Tax reports are due...and tomorrow I have to meet with the representatives from across the District and hear what they've been doing with our revenue."

"I'm sorry." Yasuhiro bowed his head apologetically. "I've sought to disturb you with a trivial matter when you are busy."

"A break is always welcome." Tokutarou assured him. "What's wrong, Yasuhiro? You look troubled."

"I confess I am, somewhat." Yasuhiro sighed. "My Lord, it concerns one of my men - Inazaka Takeshi."

"Takeshi?" Tokutarou's brows knitted together in confusion. "You can't tell me that he's become insubordinate because I won't believe you."

"No, but something is troubling him." Yasuhiro frowned. "Recently he has been a little distracted, although it hasn't really affected his work. Then out of the blue today he asked me some strange questions...and from one of his comrades I've gleaned that there may be serious problems in his married life. I realise this is my problem as a commander to resolve and not yours - but I also know that Takeshi is known to you by name and so is his wife...because of Shunsui-sama's friendship with Ukitake Juushirou-dono."

"Yes." Tokutarou became grave. "Chihiro-dono was a guest of this manor for some months when Juushirou convalesced here after he took that bad injury - in fact, that was when she and Takeshi first became acquainted, if I'm remembering correctly. Though I don't choose to favour particular men among my retinue, it's been impossible for me not to be aware of them because of the reasons you've said. Chihiro-dono comes here from time to time too - Rae-hime likes her company, and she seems popular about the manor. She has good manners, despite her level of birth - and since Takeshi has such a good record of service, I was considering assigning him over to Shunsui when my idiot brother graduates the Academy. He'll need someone he can call on, even if he's going to take up the haori and Captain in District Eight."

"For that very reason, I suspect, Shunsui-sama will need someone." Yasuhiro said dryly. "But then you understand why I have brought this to you. The stories are unsubstantiated ones at best, but Takeshi did ask me whether or not any Shihouin were currently in District Eight."

"Shihouin?" Tokutarou looked startled.

"Yes. And he was uncomfortable about raising the subject, as though there was something he did not want me to know."

"And his comrade told you that this was a marital issue?" Tokutarou asked softly. Yasuhiro shrugged.

"I am not married, and so I don't really understand." He said honestly. "But there seems to be a rumour among the men in the barracks that a prostitute visited Takeshi's house recently. And that Chihiro-dono has spent a good deal of time in the town - possibly meeting with this unknown Shihouin."

"But Shihouin are Clansfolk...surely..."

"Yes. But Chihiro-dono has connections to such Clansfolk through her brother's friendships and education." Yasuhiro pointed out.

"That is true." Tokutarou acknowledged.

"It troubles me." Yasuhiro sighed. "I have not forgotten the last time one of my men had such a controversial marriage breakdown - or the tragic consequences of that fact. That man was a good man too - and so..."

"The incident you're referring to was more than a year ago now," Tokutarou frowned, "but you're right. A good soldier with a good record who lost his wits and slashed his wife and her lover to pieces before turning the blade on himself. None of us saw it coming. And...though I can't imagine Takeshi being that kind of soldier...Shunsui would not forgive me if anything befell Juushirou's sister. Regardless of any blame or guilt in the equation. Still, though, Takeshi and Chihiro-dono seem to be a close couple."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded his head.

"Being that the situation is so complicated, I will speak to Takeshi myself." He decided at length. "Providing the matter doesn't go to extremes, I don't intend on interfering in the private lives of my retainers, but what you've said is enough for me to at least see him face to face. I don't want another tragedy like the last one, and a soldier's life is a heavy one when all is said and done."

"Thank you, sir." Yasuhiro looked relieved. "Rumours and whispers upset barrack morale, and so if you wouldn't mind..."

"No. In the circumstances, it seems proper for me to handle it." Tokutarou reflected. "Especially if he's a man I'm considering for my brother's guard - I'll assess what the situation is for myself and try and get to the bottom of things before they spiral out of hand."

---

Author's Note

We have the return of Tokutarou this chapter!

A lot of people have asked questions about the gold eyed assassin and also about Onoe Tomoyuki. This chapter opens up the answer to a few of those questions that might not have been clear up to this point. A little bit of useful information sharing between Clansfolk here :)

For anyone who hasn't guessed, the silver and gold in the title are Shirogane and Kinnya ;) I suppose it's fully out of the bag now that Kinnya's not quite the quiet, sweet old hermit that he's maybe seemed up to this point. Though he chooses a remote life now, he was once at the heart of the Kuchiki court and the right hand man of the previous Clan leader. There's one other bit of data about Kinnya that even young Kuchiki aren't readily aware of - possibly data which some members of the Council of Elders also do not know.

Also, in case anyone is confused, Senaya is absolutely dead and so isn't actively manipulating anyone. As referenced in an earlier chapter, Senaya believed when he died that he was going to take over the moon and dictate from the night sky. Therefore Keiichi and Kinnya like to joke about his moon castle - his 'Tsukijiro'.

Finally, I feel I should offer my thanks to the folks still reading, reviewing and supporting this story and Meifu as a whole. I've been crazy busy lately, especially with work and study, and so I've had less time to write Meifu...but people's support is keeping me going towards finishing the writing of this story before Christmas. Your support and reviews always make this Vraie happy, so thank you and let's keep it going!