Hello! This is just a preview for now. There's a bit before this that I may actually take out, so I don't want to put it in just yet.

If you are reading this, I have to ask you now to review. It's very difficult for me to keep confidence when I don't know if my story is any good. Of course, I won't hold it against you if you don't - I have a bad habit of lurking myself, so I can emphasize, though I'm trying to break that habit. However, it really does help to have some encouragement, especially if it comes in the form of constructive criticism. I would love to know stuff like

1. what you like about the story, and

2. what you don't like/think I can improve on and how (Anything is accepted so long as it isn't just I H8 YAOI1!111! Those will be given to my pet Ninetales Eclaireux in the back as fuel for her fire. We're making s'mores! That said, if there's anything you think would be good to change in the relationship itself, feel free to say so.)

In case you haven't noticed, I changed the title. I probably will again, too, because I suck at thinking up titles.

I think Ushiwaka was a little OOC in the last chapter. Hopefully I've rectified that somewhat here. He can be sorta hard to write, so please tell me what you think of his characterization!

The next afternoon saw Isshaku and me standing before a dilapidated fountain in an isolated part of the garden. It was an overgrown area, long since forgotten by time and gardeners alike since a row of mushrooms had been planted in front of it, and appreciated by lovers for that very same reason. I knelt down, brushing tall sprigs of moss aside as I searched for a particular crack in the fountain's wall.

"Is it going to be much longer?" I rolled my eyes at Isshaku-kun's impatience, neglecting to answer. "Ushiwaka?"

"Ah —found it." I wormed my fingers into the narrow crack until they reached a small button at the back. There was a faint rumble as the fountain moved back away from me, revealing a narrow staircase that reached down into the shadowed depths below. Silently motioning for Isshaku to follow, I began my descent.

Isshaku's POV

As I followed him, I couldn't help but look down at the stone beneath my feet with trepidation. The aging stairwell appeared to be falling apart at the seams, with entire chunks missing in places. Glowing lichen grew from the cracks in the stairs and plastered the walls, the faint green light giving the entire scene a strange, ethereal effect.

As I descended, I couldn't help but feel that I was leaving this world and travelling into another, like the realm of the faeries spoken of in a faraway land.

Eventually, crumbling stone faded to polished metal and lichen changed to strange lines and figures that lit up blue from within. I began to look at the walls and ceiling now, transfixed by the angular patterns. "What are these?"

"Not much longer, now." I glared at Ushiwaka's back when he brushed off my question. It was silent for several seconds before he spoke again. "The patterns you see are glyphs originally drawn by a people from far away. Of course, they're all dead now."

"Why? What happened?"

"They were killed by their own greed… Here we are!" We both came to a halt as the tunnel widened into a large chamber that was surrounded on all sides by metal and those strange glyphs. A man dressed in the garb of a warrior monk stood before a massive door that at first glance appeared to be part of the wall. Ushiwaka dipped his head in greeting. "Hello, Benkei-san."

"Ushiwaka-sama," Benkei intoned, giving a deep bow. "What brings you here today?" Sama? I stared at Ushiwaka blankly. That was certainly no way for a slave to be addressed.

"I have a potential... New member, shall we say?" he motioned me forward with his hand and I stepped into the light. Benkei glared at me suspiciously.

"Him?" It came out as a growl, and I fought the urge to shrink back. I didn't want to seem weak in the face of this new threat.

Ushiwaka just continued to smile pleasantly. "Oui. If you don't mind, could you ask the gatekeeper to open the door?"

Benkei pressed what appeared to be a well hidden button by the side of the door. "Yatagarasu," he announced in a gruff voice, still eyeing me suspiciously. "Open up."

Benkei stepped aside as the doors swung open quietly, revealing yet another passageway. This one was short and crowned by a large torii gate. I could see a second pair of guards on the far end. These two were both clothed in a strange white and purple outfit, and one wore a gold mask over his eyes. Gold mask kept his expression neutral, but maskless had a look of growing horror on his face as Ushiwaka and I walked forwards. "What's with all the security?" I muttered quietly to myself. When we were about eight feet in front of them, maskless apparently couldn't contain himself any longer and rushed at me with his spear, practically bawling.

"TAICHOOOOU!"

Ushiwaka stepped in front of me calmly. I wanted to shout out at him to move and was already preparing to spring into action, but maskless beat me to it by tripping and landing in a heap at our feet. I blinked in surprise. From where I was standing, the action had almost looked deliberate. I wondered if he was actually that desperate not to harm my Ushiwaka-chan.

Maskless turned bright red as he stared up at Ushiwaka. "U-um, hello, taichou," Ushiwaka chuckled (really, it seemed more like a giggle – I made a mental note to tease him about it later) and reached down a hand to help him up. Maskless stood, laughing sheepishly and staring down at the floor, embarrassed.

Ushiwaka smiled. "Abeno-kun," he nodded to maskless, "Kamono-kun," this time he inclined his head towards gold mask, who was still standing quietly in the corner with a tense grip on his spear. Kamono bowed deeply before straightening. "Could you two run ahead and tell our friends that I will be bringing a guest along? So far I'm afraid that he has been met with a certain amount of," his eyes flitted to Abeno, "hostility."

"B-but taichou!" Abeno burst out, clearly unable to contain himself any longer. "He's your… Your master!" he pointed his spear at me in accusation. "Did he hurt you? He forced you to bring him here, didn't he? I won't allow it! I won't let anybody hurt taichou!"

Gold mask – Kamono, I believe his name was – made a sound of agreement. "Taichou, I have to say I agree. If he's done anything to hurt you…"

Ushiwaka just raised an eyebrow. "Do you two really think so little of me? I would never let anyone force his way into the base, torture or no."

Kamono lowered his head in shame. "No, taichou… I'm sorry."

"But he's a master… And taichou…" at this Abeno's face went slightly red and a thin stream of blood dripped from his nostril. "Taichou is so pretty…!"

"Abeno-san!" Kamono sounded mortified. Ushiwaka, on the other hand, was laughing his ass off, much to my surprise.

"Ushiwaka-chan…" This really wasn't appropriate behavior for a slave of the royal family.

"Abeno-kun, I'm fine," he forced out between peals of laughter. "Kamono-kun, could you go ahead and inform everyone of our guest's arrival?" Kamono nodded and ran deeper into the passage until it opened up into a wide room, where he turned the corner and disappeared.