Only the sound of water trickling down the bamboo tubes greeted Omi. The garden courtyard was deserted, devoid of all life with the exception of herself. Not even the wind wished (or perhaps, dared) to blow. But as beautifully desolate as the place was, the Espeon still found it alluring peaceful. She always came there every time they did not want her.

Frowning, she shook her head. Not they. Only he; He was the only one that did not want her, annoyed not by her presence, but by the mere knowledge of her existence. Stubborn, frustrating, prideful, hateful, no-good boy. The lavender fur on the back of her neck bristled, though calmed and smoothed back out a few moments later. What could she do? Otomé loved him, cared for him, was unshakably loyal to him, only him. He made her happy (though how was beyond even Aruseus' guess), and that was the task Integra had charged her life-long friend with just moments before her death.

'Omi! Take care of Otomé! See to it that she is safe, and happy!'

Though in retrospect, Jet was both a curse as well as a blessing. He may hate her, the Eeveelution, with as much passion as he hated Nightmare or Shadowflare, but he was unwittingly making her task easier, fore the longer her charge spent with him, the more her charge came to depend on him (and less on her, Omi). Smiling humorlessly, for the umpteenth time did the Psychic-Type discovered that both she and the Dragon Trainer were slowly shifting the Articunomorph's attention from her mother's Espeon, and instead over unto himself.

Soon, he would take over fully, not just as Otomé's protector, but also as the only thing that stood between who she was, and what she could become.

"Well, well, well. You run away, but you always come back…"

Omi did not so much as flick an ear at the slightly accusing, slightly amused, feminine voice. Every time, it was always the same. Hatsuya never grew tired of rubbing the Espeon's nose in her own hypocrisy.

"And here I was, assuming that this would cease to be anything new to you after the second time, Little Sister," the feline replied with a polite curtness.

Smirking, Hatsuya chuckled in that irritating, arrogant way that never failed to rub the Espeon the wrong way. Only two words could describe her mistress's younger sister, who had become lady of the House of Tamashii after her mother's demise, and they were 'greedy' and 'bitchy'. Omi always temporarily forgot her dislike of such a vulgar term whenever Hatsuya was within earshot.

"The maids tell me that every now and then, you'll appear here, dear Memory, staring out at the garden for random amounts of time, before disappearing again without a word…" The ivory-haired woman trailed off, looking pointedly down at the crouched feline and obviously expecting an answer. But Omi remained silent, and so Hatsuya pressed on, adding the simple question of "Why's that?" to what she had said previously.

"Because this place is my home as much as it is yours," the Eeveelution replied, still in that politely curt tone that aggravated the Lady (though she took care to not show it). "My mother was born here, my father was born here, their parents were born here, their parents' parents were born here… And it still rightfully belongs to Hanako-sama, even in death. Even Arisu was more fit to be Lady of the House than you'll ever be."

Hatsuya growled in annoyance, barely resisting the flaming desire to punt the lavender cat into the garden before them, as though she were nothing more than one of those Kantoan 'footballs'. But that would not be behavior befitting of the Lady of the powerful and influential House of Tamashii (and it'd only prove the damn cat right), so the woman resisted and instead put on an icy smile that was so obviously forced it was painful.

"So I heard that dear Arisu—Alma bless her soul," the younger sister sneered the prayer as though it were an insult. "—had a child… A…" There was a pause, of which Omi was most certain was fake. "… Daughter, I believe? She's… What? Six? Seven?"

"Seventeen," the Espeon corrected bluntly, as though it was something everyone in the world knew.

"Seventeen?!" Hatsuya's shock was clearly evident in her voice, but quickly, she cleared her throat and added in a suave tone, "I must've lost track of time… How silly of me." Omi rolled her violet eyes.

"Oh yes. Very silly."

The Lady narrowed her dark blue eyes as she glared down at the psychic cat. But in a poisonously sweet voice—a voice that oddly and suddenly reminded the Sun Pokémon of Shadowflare—she remarked, "But seventeen? Why… That's the right age for marriage… But I'm sure the poor girl's transcended being a filthy half-blood and is something even more dreadful… A fourth-blood perhaps?"

Inwardly, this angered Omi. That corruptive, little whore! How dare she speak of Otomé's genetics as though they were something to be ashamed of! How dare she reduce someone as lovely and flawless as Otomé to a sub-human status just because she was not fully-blooded!

Though outwardly, in a cool, slightly apathetic manner, the Espeon replied, "No, actually. She is nearly a full-blood. Her father was a half-blood and got most of his Osakan blood, as opposed to his Kanto blood."

"'Kanto blood'?" Hatsuya echoed in a slightly suspicious manner. "Who, exactly, is her father?"

The sun-worshipper was silent for a moment, before answering in a plain tone, "Akumi Yumé."

"YUMÉ!" The woman hissed savagely, her pretty face now contorted into an ugly snarl. "Figures! FIGURES dumb Arisu would chose HIM to bare a child to! Disgrace! Disgrace! That child is a disgrace! She will NOT claim Tamashii blood, or I'll kill her myself!"

Despite Hatsuya's outburst, Omi remained calm. "You forget, Little Sister, that if no one knows of her Yumé blood, she is still a salvageable piece of Tamashii blood. She'd be the black Mareep of the House, but she is still salvageable…"

The woman pondered these words for a few moments, before remarking to no one, "Boukyaku's sons nor Taiyou's sons will give her even a first glance… And if she is pretty enough, Eikou's sons or Ryuusei's sons might give her a second glance… But surely Seiki's, Hiyaku's, and Shousha's sons will clamor over each other for her hand…"

Instantly realizing at the first House name that Hatsuya was composing a list of suitors for the Water Trainer, Omi snorted and allowed herself to rudely chuckle.

"She already has a man and not even all of your Alma's power will sway her from him," the cat proudly declared.

"Oh? And who? Not another Yumé, I hope…"

"No, not a Yumé. I have no idea what House he is from, or even if he IS from a House, but he seems very Osakan…"

"'Seems very Osakan'? What do you mean by that?"

"He looks the part," Omi explained. "Silver hair, dark blue eyes like yours, tanned skin…" The cat was well aware that Jet's tan was solely the result of his many lonely months in Orre, but Hatsuya didn't need to know that. "I'd say he was a full-blood if I didn't know any better…"