"Kyourin!" came a hiss, so light Aku wasn't entirely convinced she had heard it.

It was a strange noise, at that. For as long as she could remember, everything had been softness and light, everything swirling about on the currents of insatiable happiness. It was hard to remember the outside world existed. But there was that whisper. It wiggled in the middle of her deliriously happy non-thoughts, calling at her attention. It was a whisper full of things she really didn't want to think about—urgency, fear, anger. Bad things. She just wanted to float in her warmth and happiness forever.

"Kyourin!"

With a sigh, Kyourin opened her eyes. To her astonishment, the whisperer, right there at the side of the bed, was Kashou. It was hard to tell exactly what the expression on her face could mean. It was conflicted, much like the whisper had been. But it was very clear she didn't think Aku should be sleeping there, half on top of Touke like she so enjoyed. Aku just blinked at her, frowning slightly.

"What are you doing?" Kashou said in her hiss as light as the wind. "Get away from there this instant!"

No, Aku mouthed.

"Kyourin—" A low grunt came from Touke, from Kyou-Ou. Laying on Touke's chest, Aku could feel it more distinctly than she heard it. Kashou's face paled. Maybe she was worried what Kyou-Ou would do should Kashou have woken her up, or possibly what she would do when she saw and felt Aku. Aku suspected Kashou thought she was there without permission, that she had crawled into bed with her master all on her own. It was pretty well-known among the nyosen that she hated sleeping alone. Apparently that wasn't all that uncommon for Kirin, raised as they were by touchy-feely nyokai; some even slept in piles of shirei like Aku used to, and still sometimes did. Half-awake, Touke did move a little: she shifted in place slightly, turned her head. Then her arm came up over Aku's shoulders and hugged her closer to the owner. Aku kept her brilliant smile aimed at Kashou.

Kashou, with her own frown, turned and left the room. Aku was left to her happiness for a few more minutes.

Before long, Touke let out another grunt, and followed that with a long yawn. When Aku turned her head to look up it was to find Touke blearily watching her. "Hey, there," she muttered with a sleepy voice.

Aku was pretty sure her smile couldn't get wider. "Hi."

They lay in silence for a few seconds, watching each other. Then Touke said, "Hey, when should we getting up?"

"Someone should come for us soon."

"Right." Another pause. "Shouldn't you be, um…" Touke gestured to the divan with her eyes.

Aku considered for a moment. A very short moment. "Are you ordering me to?"

"No." Touke seemed almost disgusted by the thought.

"Then, no." Aku hugged tighter into Touke, burying her face in her neck. "I'm not leaving until I have to," she mumbled directly into her skin. Touke let out a low laugh. She was perfectly happy there for some time. Then she started thinking about how warm Touke was against her, how smooth her neck is. Her thoughts wandered, and before long her body started reacting in ways she had recently grown to recognize. She was gripped by an impulse she could not control. She pulled back a little, then forward again, kissing Touke's neck. A few more times. She opened her mouth enough for her tongue to touch skin and nearly shuddered. Touke always tasted good. She was soon debating whether to travel up to Touke's mouth or down under her clothes.

"No," Touke said. "Stop." Her soft voice sounded somewhat strained, more than a little reluctant, but it was very clear.

So Aku had no choice, no matter how much she wanted to continue. "Why?" she asked after a moment. Did Touke not like her like that anymore? Just the possibility made her—no, actually she barely noticed at all. Even shut down like this Touke made her too happy. The problem was, she wanted to make Touke happy too, and she wasn't sure Aku had the same effect on Touke she did on her. She was closer to sure she didn't. And sex made people happy, so why not?

"We'll get caught."

It was the first time she'd heard it. It wouldn't be the last.

It didn't take much longer for more people to show up. A group of nyosen came in, heads bowed low, saying it was morning, and if Kyou-Ou wished it they could prepare her breakfast. Aku immediately perked up and asked if she could bring Touke along to their breakfast. The nyosen considered that for a moment, glancing between each other, and either because of Aku's exuberance or Touke's slight interest decided to go along with it. First though, it was time to get Kyou-Ou dressed. The nyosen told Kyourin to go home and change while Touke was getting dressed herself. Aku hesitated a long moment. Eventually Touke told her to go, that she could do without her for five minutes.

Aku ran there and back as fast as she could. When she came back she was a little out of breath, but it was worth it to see Touke even a little sooner. Even a Touke that looked incredibly uncomfortable. She wasn't used to nice clothes.

Soon they were eating breakfast with the other Kirin. When they walked in the room and saw Enrin sitting there and Renki just running in, Touke almost dropped to her knees; Aku caught her by the elbow. "You're Kyou-Ou," Aku hissed to her. "You bow to no one but the Gods." Touke nodded at the words and took a shuddering breath.

Enrin was polite enough to pretend she hadn't noticed Touke's slip. She was halfway through introducing herself when Renki was suddenly between the two women, hopping up and down a little. Aku remembered being Renki's age. She knew she had been equally intolerable. She could only hope she had been half as adorable. The precious ball of golden energy fired off a litany of questions too quickly for Touke to answer then gave a deep nod as though satisfied and ran off to tug at Fuu's skirts. Touke took the cue from Enrin and Kyourin to ignore this. The introductions were finished. It was pretty funny watching Enrin and Touke. They were both polite and awkward, as though not sure how to treat the other or how to hold themselves in the other's presence. Aku had to withstrain the urge to laugh out loud.

Breakfast was little different than it usually was. Aku tried to get Enrin to talk more, while Enrin stayed her reserved self. Renki blathered on about everything and nothing at all. The three of them tried to include Touke too, but she mostly just stared blankly at her food, and when looking up just stared blankly at the Kirin. Apparently a few days around Aku wasn't enough to get her used to the idea of being around Kirin. And she probably wasn't the most Kirinly of Kirin either.

They pretty much sat around and did nothing for a while after eating. Renki ran off to Koukai. When Aku had said that's where he was going, Touke's face had gone white, and she had yelled something about them having to go after him. The two of them had had to remind the human that they were Kirin, and running around in Koukai was hardly that troublesome for them, even that young. Aku launched into the story of how she had pacified Nansou, when she had been about Renki's age. That story didn't seem to reassure her much.

For a few hours, the three of them talked. Well, Aku did most of the talking, while Touke and Enrin mostly stared off into the distance. They were very similar when they were uncomfortable. A couple times, Enrin attempted to ask Touke a question. That would widen Aku's smile. Touke would just give a half answer of a deflection, and return to staring at nothing. Aku's smile would narrow a little. It seemed Touke wasn't destined to get along with any of the other Kirin.

They had lunch in a meadow, and by this time Aku's spirits were sinking about as low as they could get with Touke around. This was such a disaster. She had hoped that Touke would have fun at her home, that she would like her fellow Kirin, the nyosen, the people she had grown up with. It didn't seem to be turning out that way. She was sure that were their roles reversed Aku would be ecstatic. She sighed. Then she had a thought that hadn't really occurred to her before. "Hey, Touke," she said, "do you have family around? We can bring them up to the palace when things settle down."

Touke, food halfway to her mouth, gave her a look. "Not anymore. They all died a long time ago."

"Oh, right. Touke was a sennin for a while," Aku said to Enrin.

"No, before that. My older brother got sick and died. My dad died in the army. My mom died working in the fields during a heatwave. All this happened when I was young. I was raised in a rike."

Aku stared at Touke. She was sure there was a look of shock and horror on her face. She should have expected Touke's family was dead, what with how old she was. But she never would have expected something that terrible. It occurred to her she knew almost nothing about Touke, what she had experienced, what her life had been like. Her passions, her beliefs. They had only known each other for a couple days. They were practical strangers. The thought actually made her a little sad, even through the happiness she was always floating in since she had found Touke. "I'm sorry." A glance at Enrin revealed a similarly sympathetic expression.

"It's okay," Touke said with a wave of her hand. "Happened a long time ago." Aku didn't think, no matter how long ago it was, something that horrible could be okay. "These sort of things happen all the time," she added to their depressed expressions.

"It doesn't make it any less sad each time it happens," Aku insisted.

"I guess not."

Enrin recited, "To become complacent to tragedy is to lose the Way."

Aku finished, "Indeed, each tragedy should only multiply our distress."

"What's that from?"

"A philosophy treatise by Hanki."

"The current Hanki?"

"No, a long time ago."

"Hmm." Touke paused for only a moment. "This is why you guys not having names is really confusing. It's impossible to know who you're talking about."

"If I said he was the twenty seventh Han Taiho would that clear it up at all?"

"Not really."

"So why does it matter?"

"I guess it doesn't. But I still think you should have names."

"I do have a name," Aku said with a wider smile. She rather liked her name.

"You do? I thought Aku was just something you told me to hide who you were."

Aku thought for a moment. "Well, that's why I originally picked it. But that was back when I was eight. I really do feel like it's my name now. I only think of myself as Kyourin when I'm doing official Kirin business. Otherwise, I'm Aku."

"Okay then. Then Enrin should have a name."

Enrin blinked at her for a moment. "I am En."

"What?"

"I am my kingdom. I have no need for a name. If my king should give me one, or maybe if his subjects should do the same, then I will wear it. But at the core, I am still En. I'm sure the same is true of Kyourin."

Aku shrugged. "I guess. Inside I am Kyou, and Aku is a role I play on the outside. At least that's what it feels like sometimes."

"You Kirin are weird. I don't mean to be disrespectful," Touke added immediately.

"It's okay. We're not mad. At least I'm not. You know Enrin; she's a very angry creature." Enrin didn't respond to that at all. Boring.

After lunch they were separated. Aku protested very strongly, saying they would have to drag her away again. Then they said Sekto was waiting for her with their usual board game all set up. Now Aku was conflicted. It would likely be the last time she would be able to see Sekto for a very long time, if not ever, but Touke. Seeing her indecision, Touke ordered without ordering that Aku go. Apparently Gyokuyou wanted to speak with her one on one anyway. Aku still found it very difficult to walk away, and even with the thought of her final few games with Sekto her feet dragged heavily against the ground.

By some miracle, she made it. Sekto was indeed sitting at the table waiting for her. She smiled as Aku approached, though Aku thought the expression seemed a little more forced than normal. "Good afternoon, Aku." Sekto was one of the few nyosen who called her Aku. "Have a seat."

Aku's spirits managed to lift a little. Being separated from Touke wasn't pleasant, but if she were with Sekto it couldn't be so bad. "Hi." She placed a stone immediately after sitting, starting their game.

After a short while playing, Sekto said, "So, you found your queen."

Aku smiled even at the mention of Touke. "Yes, I did."

"So what kind of person is she?"

Aku realized after a moment of thought, again, that she barely knew Touke, not really enough to answer the question. So she went through quick what she knew about Touke's history.

"That's what she did, what happened to her. I want to know who she is."

Aku's smile faltered. "Well, I don't really know, do I? We only met a few days ago."

"What do your instincts tell you?" asked Sekto, with the slight smile on her face that Aku always took to mean she was being silly.

"Well. She's humble."

"A humble queen."

"Yes. She's been nothing but nice to me. She's so nice to me the thought of ordering me to do something seems to disgust her."

Now Sekto was frowning. "That's not good."

"Why not?"

"If she can't even order you to do anything, how can she possibly run a kingdom?"

A need to defend Touke immediately rose in her chest. "She practically ordered me to come see you." It was the only thing she could think of to say.

"Possibly, but you wanted to anyway."

"Well, yes," Aku admitted.

"Would she be able to order you to do something you didn't want to?"

Aku grumbled, "I'm sure she could."

"Hmm." They played a few turns before Sekto spoke again. "They say she shared her bed with you."

Aku found herself smiling again. "Yes. Two times now, since we've met."

"You really shouldn't be sleeping with her. You won't be able to at the palace."

"Why not?"

Sekto gave her a funny look, like that should be obvious. There were probably a few reasons she could use, but the one she said was, "What would the people think? You know the servants would see you."

"But…" She couldn't get the words out. She didn't know how to translate what she was feeling. It was like there was a vise in her, squeezing her chest so tightly her heart couldn't beat. Her head started to hurt as well, though more as a stinging. The vise worked up to her throat as the seconds passed. The only coherent thought she could make was that after leaving Houzan she would never be able to sleep with Touke again. There wasn't room for anything else.

When Aku didn't place a stone for a while, Sekto looked back up at her. She immediately looked stricken; Aku supposed her expression must look as crushed as she felt. "I'm sorry, Kyourin." Kyourin. Not Aku. "I didn't mean to make you sad. It's just, there are certain realities you have to remember, and one of those is the proper relationship between a Kirin and her master."

"But I just found her." Aku's vision started blurring, and she knew, as the tightness in her throat had suggested, she was about to cry. She hated crying, but she couldn't stop herself. It was like a great pressure bearing down on her, that something she loved so much was going to be taken from her so soon, and there seemed to be only one way for the pressure to release itself.

"Oh, Kyourin." Sekto stood up and came around the table, and soon had Aku in her arms. As soon as Aku found herself in the warmth of Sekto's embrace she lost what little control she had and suddenly burst into loud sobs. She unconsciously clenched and unclenched fistfulls of Sekto's robes as she cried into her chest. It had been so long since she had cried she had almost forgotten what it felt like. This wasn't pleasant. Her throat hurt, her chest hurt. Before long her face felt hot and she felt like she was getting a headache. She hadn't missed crying. "I'm sorry, my little Kirin."

Eventually she settled down enough to talk. Her voice was still wavery and hoarse. "I won't be able to sleep with Kasshi either, will I?"

"No, probably not."

"Or my shirei."

"I'm sorry."

Aku started crying heavily again.

It took a long time for Aku to settle down. Eventually Sekto wiped Aku's face off on her clothes—Aku said she was going to get them dirty, but Sekto argued there was nothing dirty about a Kirin, and it would wash out—and she returned to her seat. They resumed their game. After a while playing, Sekto said, a little cautiously, "You know why, don't you?"

"It's because I'm a Kirin," Aku grumbled.

"Yes. People are going to be worried—we are already worried—that Kyou-Ou is taking or is going to take advantage of you. That's not an impression you want to give people. It wouldn't be good for you or your master."

"Yes, I understand. It's not fair."

Sekto let out a nostalgic smile. "Many things aren't. I know you know, somewhere in that head of yours, that you two sharing a bed is a bad idea. That's something family and lovers do, and since you are neither, since you are master and servant, it just isn't appropriate."

"Well…" Aku hesitated. Did she really want to tell Sekto about that?

It turned out she didn't really have to. "Well, what?" asked Sekto, frowning at her a little. Then her eyes widened. After a short moment staring, her face fell into her hands. "Aku…"

"Yes?" she said, trying to sound innocent. It probably just come out reproachful. She didn't want to be ashamed, but Sekto's tone cut deep into her. This conversation would be easier if she didn't respect Sekto so much.

"I can't believe you did that. No, it didn't happen. I refuse to believe it."

"It happened. You don't have to believe it, but it happened."

Sekto, her face still in her hands, let out a long, strained groan. "I think this is the worst thing you've ever done."

There it was again, that razor straight into Aku's heart, deep enough to make it hard to breathe. Her eyes were tearing up again. She hadn't expected losing Sekto's approval to hurt so much. Sekto hadn't reacted like this to that thing with Mei. While this was different than that, it was different in a good way. She could sort of understand that what she had done was wrong, but it was the sort of understanding she got from reading something and not really absorbing it, so distant from what she had felt and still felt. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it."

"How do you not help that? I understand Kirin are attached to their lords, but still…"

"It's not surprising, considering my revelation." Sekto looked up at her, a confused expression on her face. So she explained. "My revelation came as sexual attraction. Very, very intense. It made me dizzy. It's almost like Tentei told me to."

A look of distaste with that theory crossed Sekto's face before vanishing again. "And you're sure it's her?"

"I wasn't at first, but I am now."

Sekto considered that a moment. "It's okay, don't cry again." With a long sigh, Sekto straightened herself, staring Aku down. "Never again. You had your fun once, but you can never, ever do it again. You might get caught. There's no telling what will happen if you get caught."

"I understand."

They returned to their game, played a few moves in silence. Before long the pain and water in her eyes receded. After a few more moves, Sekto said, "You know, my indignation probably isn't completely righteous."

"No?" said Aku with a frown.

"I kind of hoped I'd always be your favorite."

Aku smiled. They played for a while. She and Aku of late have been more or less evenly matched in this game, the victor alternating from match to match. Aku suspected Sekto was playing at her full capacity now, but still could hardly beat Aku. It had taken many years to catch up, but she had, just before it was time for her to leave. She looked up to Sekto and saw a strangely serious expression there. Sekto was usually pretty serious, but this expression made her freeze. "Sekto?" she muttered after a moment.

"Yes, Aku."

"You're sad."

Sekto froze herself, and after a short moment looked up to meet Aku's eyes. "Yes, Aku, I am."

"I'd really rather you weren't. I don't like seeing you sad."

"There's really no helping it," Sekto said, gesturing back at the game with her eyes.

Aku didn't feel like it. She didn't like seeing Sekto said, and she wanted to address it before continuing with their game. It would bother her too much to play. "Is it because of me?" she asked after a moment of thought.

Again Sekto glanced up, pain heavily shadowed in her eyes. "You know, Souki was the first Kirin whose care I was directly involved in."

"The current Souki?"

Sekto nodded. "One day he chose his queen and he left. And the day he left I cried." Aku blinked in surprise; Sekto was so strong and immovable it was hard to imagine her crying. "Yes, I did. It's very hard seeing someone you're that close to go. Even nyosen are not immune to such emotion. I'm told it gets easier the more Kirin you send off."

"Does it?"

"I wouldn't really know," Sekto said with a shrug. "They removed me from intimate contact with each Kirin after that. They wanted me to adapt to being a nyosen for a while, to get more used to the idea. I wasn't supposed to get this close to you, either. We didn't expect you to enjoy these games this much."

"Oh." Aku considered that a moment as a few turns slowly passed. They weren't thinking about their moves so much than thinking about how they were soon to be separated. "I don't want you to cry for me. I don't like that I can hurt you like this."

"There are different sorts of pain. As far as pain goes, pain out of love isn't so bad."

"I guess. I still don't want you to cry for me. I'm happier than I've ever been."

"And that's saying something," Sekto said with a thin smile. "I'll just have to adapt to you not being here. It will be difficult, but I can handle myself."

Aku thought through a few more turns. She supposed there was really no way to make Sekto feel better about her leaving, at least nothing that was within her power. Sentiments were hard things to fool. Now that she was separated a short distance from Touke, so the bliss of her presence wasn't interfering, she found she was a little depressed herself. This had been her home, and she was leaving. She had played this game with Sekto every day since she was seven, save for a few missed days every once in a while, and she never would again. She wouldn't see the inner palace, with its beautiful gardens, running streams, artfully designed pagodas, rugged walls of rock. She would never see any of the caring, gentle, intelligent nyosen. Kashou would never chastise her again. The thoughts almost made her cry some more. "I'm not exactly pleased with this myself."

"I thought you were happy."

"When Touke is gone, I'm discovering just now, reality returns."

"Her effect on you is that great?"

Aku decided to try her hand at describing it for her. She didn't expect to do very well. "When she's around, it's like there's nothing else but her and how I feel. And how I feel," she said with a little sigh. "It's like swimming in happiness. Like everything is perfect, and forever will be. And she's the most beautiful person I've ever met. The way she moves, the way she talks, the way she breathes. It burns in me. I want to touch her, I want to make her feel good, make her happy. I feel that if she be happy everything will be okay. I'm not describing this very well."

"I think I understand." Sekto let a short silence pass while she considered her move. "So. Happiness and sex."

"Happiness and sex," Aku confirmed.

"Strange. But you still can't do it again."

Aku sighed. "Yeah, I know." They played a couple turns in silence before Aku spoke again. "It is both a blessing and a curse."

"What is?"

"That the signs aligned so soon. On the one hand, Touke and I will be able to get to Kyou that much quicker. On the other, we have less time to say goodbye."

Sekto pulled on a rather wry smile. "It doesn't matter how long we have. Goodbyes are just as painful drawn out as sudden."

Aku guessed she might have a point.

When they were done with their games, Aku stood to make her way back to Touke's pagoda. Sekto stopped her, and explained that she wasn't going to be there when Aku ascended the mountain. She said she would probably cry. She didn't want to put that kind of damper on the occasion. So they said a very brief goodbye. They said they would miss each other, then they hugged.

And Aku left.