14. Insubordination.

T: A day late but I'm hoping the fact that this chapter's slightly longer, as well as the fact that I've squeezed another chapter out of this fic, will make up for this fact!

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"I believe I owe you a story."

"You don't have to feel like you need to tell me, Tsubaki-kun."

"It's alright, Hijiri-kun, truly." She allows him a moment to absorb the truth of this statement and then says, "My mother had a weak heart and the stress of carrying, then giving birth, to a child was a little more than her body could cope with. Her death haunted my father and when he learned that I had inherited the condition, he took me away from the 'real world' and the stresses it held. Slowly I forgot what it was to be a 'normal' child, fell into the fantasy world that father had built about me and took my place, as it's 'princess'". The memories begin to catch at her as she spins the tail, the nostalgia placing a desperate sort of sadness in her heart that she has no want to dissuade, that is, for the moment at least, proof that she is 'alive'. "The first day that I saw him I believed him some sort of angel and, as I grew, that belief morphed into something akin to love. It was an affection that he did not return and that he began to use to gain power over me…power that he used to kill innocent people." This is a truth that she has carried with her since dying, a truth that she spent the first years of her existence as Shinigami trying to disprove. Eventually she had accepted that Eileen's spirit had passed on years before the attacks, had accepted that she was wholly responsible for the 'massacre' that had occurred aboard the Camellia and had turned her 'new life' into a form of retribution…had begun to travel down the same dark path that had lead to the near tragedy at Kyoto.

She'd believed that particular part of herself suppressed in the aftermath of that incident and yet as the memories course again through her mind she can feel the familiar mix of guilt and inadequacy settling in her heart.

The warmth of Hijiri's fingers as they settle onto her shoulder's are as an odd sort of ground and, eyes fixing onto the other, she says,

"Despite all that he has done to me, despite the scars he has left on my soul, part of me still feels attached to him…still believes itself 'in love'."

"It is understandable, Tsubaki-kun and you can not hate yourself for that attachment, nor can you continue to hold onto the sins of your past…to the lives that were lost simply because you existed." There us the oddest of notes in Hijiri's voice and, had she been in a more 'natural' mood, she would have pushed a little into the matter and yet, feeling as she does now, she lets it slip by without comment, lets the silence wrap about her as some odd comfort.

"I've got him." Hijiri remarks after what seems but mere seconds and which must, in reality, have been a good half an hour.

"Where are we going?"

"Ebusu."

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The workings of the spell that will be as an end to everything marked deep on her mind and a nervous, desperate, feeling bubbling close to his chest, she comes into the shadow of a sleek, high class, apartment building.

"He's in the penthouse suit." Hijiri remarks as he gestures in the general direction of the room in question. "Though I'm not all to certain how we're going to get up there."

"I let you up." The monotone harmonic of this familiar voice comes from their left and, turning her head in that direction, she meets with the impassive features of Tetsua Keigo.

"I gather, by the expression on your faces, that you believed me 'bound and gagged'."

"Indeed we did, however, now that I think on it, I realise how pointless such a thing would be, realise that you do not have to be his side to be caged by him." The Onmyoji fixes his gaze onto her a moment and then enquires, "Are you coming?" as he begins to walk towards the building.

But a breath later they are crossing into the luxurious surroundings of the penthouse suit and the smooth, snake like, charm of his voice is remarking,

"This is an unexpected surprise, Princess."

He looks precisely as he had the last that she had seen him and, though she hates herself for the fact, her lips stretch out to voice the word, "Sensei."

Hijiri tenses at her side and, moving to stand just a little before her, he enquires,

"So what happens next?"

There is a long moment of silence and then, irritation clear in his voice, Hijiri says,

"You brought us here right? Left the hair in Tamaki-san's fingers so that we'd know that you killed him. You wanted us to find you and I want to know why, want to know what your 'next step' was."

"I have no interest in either yourself or the Princess." The words sting, as had clearly been the intent and yet this hurt does not serve to weaken her, but rather to help her find 'herself' once more.

"You had someone watch the cult, didn't you, protecting your interests and feeding you little snippets of gossip? I wonder what went through your mind when you first heard the description of the cults two newest recruits, wonder how quickly you decided to use the necessity of Tamaki-san's disposal to gain you the 'reward' of Tsuzuki-san's interest. I wonder also how you must have felt when you learned that you had been mistaken in the identity of one of the duo, when you learned that 'Ishida Ryuichi' was not, as you had believed, a cover for Kurosaki Hisoka."

"It seems you still have an active imagination, Princess." He remarks before informing her, "My interest in Tsuzuki-san perished with my brother."

"It seems you are still able to tell eloquent lies, Sensei, however I'm afraid that I no longer believe them," She remarks as she moves to stand at her partner's side.

Stretching out she takes the other's hand into her own and begins to chant the spell that will also be as a beginning to so many things.

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T: To be safe I'm saying next (and final) chapter wed/thurs, though I hope to have it up earlier! Review?