"He's what?" he croaked.

"My master. He's really, really nice."

Terazuma felt confusion grow.

"He challenged you?" he blurted.

Tenkou scrunched up her little nose. "Silly, no!"

"But..."

"My father challenged him and lost. So when he lost, my brother Kijin and I became Tsuzuki's shikigami, too. I like Tsuzuki. He's really nice and he loves me." She beamed again, clearly adoring the shinigami who was her master.

Her father had done what! Terazuma could only think. Since when did shikigami go around challenging shinigami?

"Who's your father?" he wanted to know.

"He's the Protector of the East. He makes everything work around here. That's his palace." She gestured at the main building of the central GensouKai part.

It was a huge palace, one Terazuma had noticed right from the first day on. It was colossal but still an architectural masterpiece, and clearly the palace of the ruler of this place.

Tsuzuki is master of the ruler of GensouKai?

And his kids?

His thoughts were whirling. Of course, Tsuzuki commanded four Gods, one of them the Protector of the East, but Terazuma had never really given it much thought.

A small hand tugged at his sleeve. "Come. I'll show you my home. You can visit my father with me."

Like in a trance he followed the child, unable to comprehend the full implications. Tsuzuki commanded the Protector of the East and his two kids, and this shikigami had challenged him? Why?

Tenkou kept talking, about this and that, about her father, her brother, and about Tsuzuki. There was a child-like adoration like Terazuma had never heard it before. This kid clearly loved the amethyst eyed man. They entered the palace and nobody stopped them. Those he encountered just bowed to the child, giving him no second look, and Tenkou ignored them.

"Uh, you really think we can just walk in here?"

"Sure! I come here all the time. Sometimes daddy's busy, then I leave, but sometimes we play a little."

Well, he wasn't here to play with Tenkou's father and Terazuma wasn't really sure he should just waltz into a place like this, meet the ruler of GensouKai. Especially not if he was also Tsuzuki's shikigami.

"What's your father's name?" he asked.

His knowledge of shikigami and Gods was abysmal. If not for Byakko's frequent appearances he wouldn't even know his name. He only knew him as a God and Protector of the West. He had no idea who Tsuzuki's shikigami were, aside from those he called upon in battle.

"He's Sohryu," Tenkou declared proudly. "The Sky Dragon."

Terazuma felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach. With steel-plated shoes.

Sohryu.

The Sky Dragon. The Azure Dragon and Protector of the East.

A God.

One of Tsuzuki's shikigami.

And the list went on.

He had slept with...

The shinigami stumbled in shock. No, impossible! There had to be another shikigami with the same name!

But the blue hair... Tenkou's hair... and she was his kid...

He had slept... with one of the four Gods. He had...

Shii-it!

Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

And it had felt so good. So wonderful, so... nice... great... incredible...

I slept with a God...

Unnoticed they had entered the great hall that was the main office and heart of the palace. Terazuma blinked.

It was pure chaos.

People were running around, talking with each other, creating a hubbub of noise that seemed to drown out the rest. There were computers, monitors, scanners, whatever. It looked like the heart of a business company. In the middle of the array of screens and computer was a slightly elevated throne-like chair. In front of it stood a heavy desk, laden with paper, and people were still depositing more on it.

And there, in the middle of it all, stood a tall, well-known figure. The dark blue hair was bound back in an elaborately styled knot that kept it out of his eyes and piled it higher up on his head. Golden clasps and tresses, needles and other decoration adorned it. Long strands fell heavily down the back. The robes were multi-layered, hiding a figure Terazuma had touched before, had seen in all its glory. Each piece of clothing spoke of expensive tailoring, of power, of representation. The sleeves alone were large enough someone could use them as a bedspread.

He stared at the figure, disbelief crowding with awestruck amazement.

Sohryu.

This was the real Sohryu.

The man he had slept with. He had slept with a God.

"There's daddy," Tenkou interrupted his shocked thoughts. "He looks busy..."

Terazuma was a silent and awed, as well as stunned witness to the sheer work it meant to be the head of GensouKai. Everybody seemed to want a piece of Sohryu and while there were assistants, people still flocked toward him.

Suddenly the powerful shikigami raised his head and blue-gray eyes met blood red ones. Terazuma froze, caught in the act of spying, and tried to shrink back into the shadows. The smile that briefly graced the almost haughty and arrogant features let him stop, though.

Tenkou waved, smiling brightly, and she received a nod. For just a moment there was warmth, then it was wiped away as someone demanded Sohryu's attention again.

Terazuma exhaled slowly, then slid out of the noisy room, his ears ringing a little. His senses were overloading with the input and not even his shikigami could dampen the signals.

Tenkou was skipping at his side, talking about something or other, then she suddenly waved and ran off, her red ball still clutched in her hands. Terazuma felt his head spinning, all of it too much and too sudden.

He walked along the corridors, breathing deeply, hands in his pockets.

What now?

He had slept with one of Tsuzuki's shikigami, with the Protector of the East! Well, shit, he couldn't stay here!

"Going somewhere?"

The voice made him whirl around and he gasped as he discovered the very person he had thought about right in front of him. An amused expression danced in those blue-gray eyes.

"Home," the shinigami snarled and tried to turn.

He didn't get far. A strong hand clamped down on his arm and pulled him into a room close by. The door snapped shut and he was alone with his lover; well, Sohryu.

Red eyes met serene blue-gray ones. Terazuma was seething with anger, but it wasn't the anger of before. It wasn't that cold rage, that feeling of injustice, that feeling of... betrayal...?

He felt betrayed right now. Deceived. But differently.

"You lied to me!" he growled.

"No, I didn't," Sohryu answered softly. "You never asked."

Terazuma snarled, eyes narrowing. "You're the goddamn leader of this world and Tsuzuki's shikigami! You could have lost one word about it, but no! You played me like a fiddle! You used me!"

"No."

"Yes! What am I? Just another toy? A possible conquest? Never fucked a shinigami before? Was I a novelty!"

The Black One was stirring, but he was confused as to why the target was Sohryu. His respect for the more powerful shikigami was deeply ingrained.

"Hajime..."

"Don't call me that!" he spat. "Don't even try to explain yourself! I know what you are! You're a liar! You used me to fulfill your desire. Well, guess what? I don't need you! Go and find someone else!"

And with that he left the room, banging the door shut behind him. Anger and disappointment dominated his thinking as he fled the palace, unseeing, feeling only the betrayal and lies.

How could I have been so stupid? How could I have trusted him? I slept with a man... I'm not gay! I slept with a God... I'm not GAY! I don't prefer men to women... but it felt so good. I trusted him. I trusted the bastard! He lied to me!

Thoughts chased each other, one worse than the next.

He finally arrived in Byakko's palace and shut the door of his room behind himself. It was where he spent the next two days, glumly staring out of the window. Thankfully no one tried to talk to him. Thankfully Byakko was busy and Touda wasn't around. Thankfully...

And it hurt so much. The lies, the misled trust.

You were never a good detective, Hajime, he thought sourly. Or you would have seen through his façade. He used you for his own pleasure. He's the top dog, can have anyone, and he fucked the novelty.

Congratulations.

He left GensouKai on the third day, right on the appointed time. He felt nothing as the gate swallowed him. Nothing at all.

° ° °

Sohryu sat in his private quarters, leaning back into the large pillows of the couch, eyes distant. A tea set stood next to him, the liquid cooling, untouched. No one dared to disturb the dragon and he was thankful for it. His headwoman had shot him worried looks, but he had ignored her. He didn't want to talk, nor did he want to hear good advice.

Terazuma had left GensouKai. Just like it had always been clear that he would do one day. His stay had been limited. But the circumstances how he had left deeply disturbed him.

I never lied to you, Sohryu thought, sighing. I never wanted to betray your trust.

He just hadn't added the small side note as to who he was in this world. It had been of no importance nor consequence to him. It had been to Terazuma.

Why didn't I tell him? Was I afraid of his reaction? Why? It was just an affair, just a mutual agreement to give each other a good time.

So why did it hurt so much?

tbc...