A punch shot from the left. Seyru blocked it with her forearm, immediately responding with a right hook to Kurome's head. The mass of dark hair ducked below Seyru's vision and she swerved just in time away from an uppercut. Because her body was already beginning the motion, she continued to spin herself around, hoping to land a spinning hook kick.

Her raised left leg was grabbed, her opponent's bosom pressed against it. Not letting go, Kurome forced her to the wooden floor. With a resounding slap, Seyru slammed her hand to the floor, keeping her head raised and tilted away from the fall. Something pressed to her neck, and she sighed. Kurome's body was pressed against her leg, wooden training dagger on her neck.

"I give up, you win" she stated.

Kurome raised herself, sliding the wooden blade beneath her belt. She helped Seyru up, who grinned.

"I can never beat you, can I?"

"Hrm. I'm getting breakfast" replied Kurome, turning toward the ladder. They were in the lobby, it's cold made bearable by their sweat.

"Who's turn was it today?" Seyru asked, wiping her forehead. They had trained pretty hard today.

"Mine" Kurome answered, pausing at the foot of the ladder, gray morning light dancing in her dark eyes. "But I paid Bols to do it."

"Aww, shucks. Everyone loves your cooking, Kurome!"

"Shut up."

Seyru laughed, watching her ascend the steps. Kurome's long skirt swayed quickly with her movements.

She thought about finding a way out without breaking the ice Esdeath had created. If she made it out, she would be able to dive into the storm outside and relieve herself of the sweat. When she realized how stupid this idea was, she laughed to herself and turned toward her room. Besides, the snow now covered the first floor windows, and she didn't feel like getting on the ladder yet.

She pushed open the door to 102 and found Koro lying on the floor. His head was up, unassumingly looking to her. His stubby tail wagged gently, and she bent over to scratch the sides of his face.

"Hi, Koroo..." she crooned.

It was because of the dog that she couldn't get a room on the floor above. Since he followed her everywhere, it would be hard to remember to carry him every time she climbed the ladder. Because of this, it seemed she had the entire first floor to herself. After all, people usually obtained the rooms in the higher floors in places like this, it was only natural. Most of the time when someone roomed up on the first floor it was out of a lack of the necessary funds for another floor, and this time no one was paying for anything.

They hate you.

Koro sniffed at her slowly, as if in mocking. His stare became serious.

They don't like you, Seyru. They avoid you.

She patted his head, shaking her own.

"No, Koro. They don't hate me."

She regretted how weak her voice sounded.

They mock you. They even do so when you speak to them.

"No, Koro...they're my comrades...they-"

They're only with you because they have to be. If it weren't for our fighting skills, they'd have abandoned you long ago.

"But Esdeath...she's like a mentor to me. Just like Stylish...and Tank."

Something heavy tingled under her shut eyelids. Koro got to his feet and leaned against her.

What about Kurome? I can see the annoyance, even on her placid face when she speaks to you. And Tatsumi...he's the same way...

Warmth streamed down her cheeks. She rubbed it away.

"St-stop it. I don't like it when you do that, Koro."

Face it, Seyru. They don't like you. They just don't.

The voice faded away, but something inside her still stung. It was rare for Koro to speak to her, but everytime he did, it was always something she didn't want to hear.

She stood up and blew her nose on a spare handkerchief she was given by Stylish earlier. Raising herself, she gently slapped her cheeks with both hands.

"C'mon, Seyru. You've got this. Be strong, like Tank. Like Esdeath."

Her heart rose at the returning strength in her voice. Looking ahead of her toward the window she noticed her knapsack.

She had not finished unpacking yet.

Reminding herself to do it later, she reached in and assembled a change of clothes.

Earlier Kurome told her about the bathhouse a soldier found last night. River had to break up a small party there, which explained the noise that awoke Seyru in the middle of the night. Apparently, the round wooden door at the end of the hall her room was in led to the hotel's baths.

Seyru sniffed herself and cringed. After gathering her change of clothes and a towel, she strode out the room and to the baths.

...

Tatsumi wished he hadn't made eye contact with Stylish as he walked past. If he hadn't, they wouldn't be discussing doing another experiment. After the first experiment he was compensated with some money for his trouble, along with the promise of a free supply of the sense-heightening drug. However, he was still reluctant to follow through with another experiment. The possibility of altering his body and mind for Stylish's interests almost seemed stupid.

"You remember what happened that night? Regarding the whole getting stabbed by Akame and not dying thing, I mean."

Tatsumi and Stylish stood in the second-floor hallway, the doctor fingering a pocket watch in his coat and Tatsumi leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Tatsumi was bored; there was nothing to do but listen to the howling wind outside. He sniffed, expecting the aroma of Bol's cooking, only to find the dense smell of smoke from Stylish.

"I remember a lot of things" he responded indifferently. "Why?"

Stylish smiled, his left hand still moving in his pocket.

"Well...I find you're teigu interesting; I've told you before. I know that Scar kept Murasame's poison from destroying you, and I want to know how."

Lifting his left hand and reaching into his chest pocket, he pulled out a small, transparent pill. Inside was some white powder.

"I have an idea that Scar not only gives you ice powers, but also gives you immunity to poison" he continued. "And from our first experiment, I could tell from your lack of a hangover that the teigu may have protected you from the toxicities that plant had in high amounts."

He handed it to Tatsumi, who studied it in his palm.

"...though the sudden injection of such a high amount did knock you out, I remember" Stylish continued.

Despite Tatsumi's reluctance, he was aware that he knew almost nothing about his own teigu. How was he to prevent another "Wave" from happening without any good knowledge of how his teigu worked? He almost wished Esdeath stuck him with a simpler teigu, like that fancy bow he saw in the Palace's armory. Bows just shot arrows and could sometimes be used in melee combat. Scar gave ice powers, healed it's user sometimes, and said evil things in the user's head. A weapon like that would be too much for most people to handle, and Tatsumi had a hard time wrapping his head around it.

"Well? Up for it, ice demon?" prodded Stylish, a small smirk on his face.

A reluctant smile perked on Tatsumi's. He was feeling curious.

"What the hell, why not. Let's go ahead with it.

The doctor's smirk turned into a grin.

"Excellent. Now, where I was before I came back to the Capitol, the locals called a lot of their plants phool. Say it with me if you want to, phool."

A pang of annoyance shot through Tatsumi's spine.

"Just get on with it."

"Fine, okay. So, to distinguish a phool, they'd give a color to describe it. The plant you ingested before was called lal phool, meaning red flower."

He held up the pill again between his thumb and pointer finger.

"This here concoction is peela phool, or yellow flower."

"'Cause the flower's yellow, right?"

"Interestingly, the plant isn't even a flower, nor a plant, they just call it that. It's actually a fungi. For some reason, those people didn't seem to have a word for mushroom, it's like they just knew when you meant mushroom and not flower."

"What'll this 'peelafull' do to me?"

"Nothing, I think. It's a highly potent, though not lethal, toxin. I suggest taking it if you have nothing to do for a while, just in case you end up with crippling diarrhea."

The pill was handed to Tatsumi, who felt a slight injection of worry ooze into his stomach. The boy quickly shrugged it off.

"Risk in everything" he sighed, before turning to his own room. "See you later."

"I will. Begin the experiment at your own leisure."

Tatsumi nodded, smiling politely. Than he faced ahead and strode to room 211, to a waiting Esdeath.

...

Seyru had no idea why the bath was so warm.

She was sitting in the dark, bubbling water of the bathhouse underneath the hotel. If she had heard correctly, the hotel was abandoned three years ago due to unknown reasons, so how could the baths still work? She had heard of geothermal pools, which were naturally heated by the earth, but this part of the Empire wasn't volcanic. The closest volcano in the Shuang Range was supposedly dormant, which ruled out the geothermal possibility.

She guessed someone had used the water recently and left it at that; the warmth enveloping her body felt too good to think.

Seyru rested the back of her head against the circular pool's edge and sighed, her eyes peacefully shut. It was so dark she could barely see, and she thought about lighting the lanterns scattered about by the soldiers from last night. Than she found that she didn't really mind the dark; Kuro's words from before had put a damper on her mood and there was something harmonious about being in the dark water after his outburst. It was like the world around her was reflecting the dense feeling in her chest, and it felt good.

The underground bathhouse wasn't too large; the pool was about the size of a small garden. Outside, their roughness contrasting the comfortable smoothness of the pool, black stone walls surrounded her. Wet from vapor, they were set almost stoically, as if to protect her from the gray cavernous ceiling above. Small stalactites had formed from years of condensation, and made Seyru feel like she was in a cave.

She raised her head, blood rushing into it. Her vision went dark before lightening again, than she found her eyes had fully adjusted to the dark. At the far end of the bathhouse was a doorless opening that was even darker than the walls. She stared at it, almost transfixed. It was the only thing among the featureless black walls to stare at. The opening most likely led to another room, where one could find whatever heated the bath.

Her bare shoulders had gotten cold, so she descended further into the water, letting it mask the bottom of her face. She lazily blew a swarm of bubbles.

Than she felt it.

A slight fluctuation in the water.

She thought she imagined it, but it came again, stronger. Than again. Slight changes in pressure brushed against her legs, and goosebumps rippled across her body.

Something was moving in front of her, invisible below the water. Seyru quickly turned and climbed out, her vision briefly going dark again. Almost stumbling from the rush of blood to the head, she grabbed her towel and change of clothes from the stone floor in front of the wall. To her left was the exit, only a few strides away.

In seconds she reached the old wooden door. A hand gripping the green copper knob, she twisted. The doorknob gave reluctantly, it's metal sliding roughly against the door. Seyru pulled, but the door didn't open. She pulled again, and it only nudged slightly.

There was a splash behind her, and the sound of wet limbs moving across stone.

Seyru dropped her belongings and turned, ready to use her metal arms to full effect.

"I have trouble with that door too" sighed a voice emphatically.

Arms raised in a fighting stance, Seyru blinked. The half-naked young man in front of her was very pale, and had long, curly hair made dark by the lack of light. Suddenly he turned around, hopping back in the water.

"Why the hell're you naked?" he questioned cooly. "This isn't your own private pool, you know."

Seyru realized what was going on. It was so dark, she didn't notice someone else was with her until they started swimming nearby. It didn't seem he had noticed her, either.

"Who are you?" she asked, not taking her eyes off his back. She stalked toward her towel and wrapped it around herself.

The man rested his back where Seyru had just moments ago. He spread his arms out against the pool's edge and looked to the ceiling.

"Trooma at your service" he proclaimed. "One of Stylish's cronies, don't you know."

She could almost hear the amused grin in his voice.

"Sorry? I didn't get your name."

Trooma sighed, and the smile left his words.

"Trooma. Tee-are-oh-oh-em-ay! It's not as weird a name as everybody thinks!"

"Just didn't hear you, I didn't mean anything by it" she replied, troubled by his sudden change in mood, "I'm Seryu. Seryu Ubiquitous."

The smile returned to Trooma's voice.

"Seryu... Ubiquitous? Were your parents on drugs or something? No wait, I know. They wanted your name to have some kind of meaning or some shit, right? Like those people who try too hard to be unique, right? I fuckin' hate those people!"

Seyru's eyebrows raised; while a sense of relief had come over her when she heard he was with Stylish, there was still something off about him.

"It's a last name" she stated. "Nothing anyone can do about their last name."

Even though his back was to her, she could easily imagine the contorted expressions on his face. The body language in his shoulders and the way he waved his arms conveyed a lot. His head tilted every time he snorted in disbelief. However, all energy suddenly left his body. He resembled a balloon that had withered after a party.

"Sorry" he sighed. For some reason, the apology seemed genuine. "Got ahead of myself. You dressed yet, Ubiquitous?"

"Yes. Are you leaving anytime soon?"

"No. Are you?"

"Nope. I was hoping you'd leave first."

There was a moment of silence. Water dripped from one of the taller stalactites.

"Than we're in a bind, then" remarked Trooma. "Guess we both prefer bathing alone."

Seyru didn't answer, repealing her decision and opting to leave. She grabbed her things and pulled at the door. It didn't budge, and she realized her foot was in the way. That may have been why it didn't open earlier, either. Mentally chastising herself for being so stupid, she walked out.

...

"Have you been doing your homework?"

Tatsumi nodded, holding up his weapon's magazine. The hollow space inside was filled with ice.

"Done and done" he answered.

Esdeath nodded sternly.

"Good. Let's find a way out of here to train."

"How'll we do that?"

She pointed to the room's window behind her. Snow violently blew outside, and the wind groaned.

"Destroy it. In any way you see fit."

Esdeath moved away as he raised the pistol in his left hand. He pointed it carefully toward the small white rectangle and pulled the trigger. The loud clank of the mechanism sounded, loudened by the small room. To his dismay, the glass didn't shatter. Wind whistled through the hole in the now cracked window before Tatsumi decisively shattered it with his boot. Sliding the debris away from the windowsill with the pistol than holstering it, he climbed out.

Legs dangling out with hands gripping the ledge, he looked around. The wind had neither cold nor warmth, as if a million people were blowing at him. It was still strong enough to knock him over, so he kept his grip tight. Besides the muddy brick of the hotel, all he saw around him was white and gray. Looking down, he couldn't even see the ground.

"Jump down!" Esdeath shouted. "The snow's really high up!"

Squinting, he thought he could see pillowy dunes of snow below him. Before he could decide he was only imagining them, he let go, kicking the wall away with his feet. He unwittingly pencil-dived into the snow, feeling it reach up to his chest. His feet kicked and he sunk even further, up to his chin. He thought he heard Esdeath laugh before she shouted something. He didn't hear it.

Moving his limbs, he slowly began a crude swim through the snow. Some of it got in his sleeves and below his neck, but he payed it no mind.

Suddenly a weight slammed into him from above, shooting him deeper into the snow. He got a mouthful, and his eyes watered. Spitting it out, he yelled. The wind was louder, so he yelled again.

"What the hell did'ya do that for?!"

Her chuckle rang in his ears, much to his annoyance.

"I loove you..."

"Shut up! Get off me!"

"Why so pushy?"

Twisting to escape, he used his left hand to try to shove her. The icy snow grinding against his clenched cheek, the hand grasped something soft and supple. He could hear Esdeath praise him with an exaggerated moan.

Something dark and lecherous rose in his chest.

He looked to her innocently over the right shoulder and continued the movement, pushing quickly as he gave a sadistic squeeze. Esdeath slapped his face hard, making him spit to his left. Quickly she turned him over, sending them both even deeper into the snow. It was getting dark now, as their little tunnel had gotten deep. Almost frantically, Tatsumi placed a hand between her cleavage and tore it through the buttons of her uniform. Before the sight of her revealed body would reward him, she slipped her hands underneath his shirt.

"There's too much...snow..." grunted Tatsumi between lustful breaths. "Can't move..."

A sharp crack sounded over the wind's scream, and Esdeath's tongue slid over his bare chest. He brought her face to his and pressed his lips to hers, her tongue wrestling his. As she moved to pull away, he grazed his teeth against her lower lip with a smile.

"Fuck, Tatsumi..."

They looked at each other through the darkness, her silhouette dominating against the gray light behind. Tatsumi wondered if she could even see him.

They didn't move for some moments, the only sounds the wind and their heavy breathing. Suddenly they both broke into laughter.

"That really escalated, didn't it?" Esdeath said, still laughing.

Tatsumi smiled, placing his hands on her waist and moving them up slowly, slipping them under her unbuttoned uniform. When he couldn't see her, she was violently curvaceous.

"I thought we were training" he teased, hands reaching behind her chest. His fingertips played with the remaining cloth he wanted removed.

Suddenly a finger tapped his lips. He felt her breath warm his ear as she leaned in.

"My bra" she whispered. "Tear it. That is your training."

His member rose slightly. For some seconds he hesitated.

"I'll give it a go" he whispered back.

His right pointer finger slid between her shoulder blades, relishing her smooth, satiny skin. Eyes shut, he imagined a small blade. He thought about it's circular tang underneath the bone closest to the knuckle, and the short, curved edge, sharpened on both sides. He spread out his fingers so his middle finger wouldn't get cut. Like a cherry on top, he finished the image with a dainty, pointed tip, protruding from the right side of the finger.

Something pinched along the finger's side. Bending his fingers to the shape of a gun, he slipped the blade where the bra's fabric was thickest. In a quick, almost surgical sawing motion, her brassiere was severed. The skin of Esdeath's chest shivered at the warmth of his small sigh of victory.

Almost instinctively Esdeath reached a finger into Tatsumi's mouth, forcing his head back slightly. Something kept her from gripping his throat, so she settled for this. He sucked for a moment, making her sigh in pleasure.

"Good, Tatsumi" she praised as she removed the finger.

Caressing her waist with his palm, Tatsumi moved the knife hand across her back, toward the strap on her left shoulder.

As she felt him slice at her remaining straps, a feeling in her chest rose. Suddenly she wanted to laugh. She also wanted to scream in delight and pummel something's face in. A part of her wanted to see Tatsumi bleed. It was all too great, too surreal; if she didn't take him now, she didn't know what she'd do.

"Tatsumi..." she growled. "I want to fuck you."

Something in Tatsumi's drive wavered; she sounded menacing.

"Are you alright?" he asked, laughing slightly.

"I want to fuck you...I wanna fuck you right now, boy."

Tatsumi knew he was supposed to enjoy those words, but he couldn't help but feel threatened by that low growl. He briefly wondered if there was going to be any way out of this one.

Than a pressure gripped his throat. Her sudden movement caused her bra to fall to his chest, before she crudely undid his belt with her free hand.

"Gack...Esdeath...uck-" he choked.

Sharp crumbs of snow fell onto the both of them, some of it getting on his now exposed cock. Her hand let go of his neck and he gasped for air. Raising herself slightly to take off her skirt and underwear, her head grazed against the wall of the tunnel. More flecks of snow crumbled down, most of them getting on his face as he recuperated. After stimulating herself a little, she positioned herself on his member and let her body swallow it. Raising and lowering herself a few more times, she soon had him inside her. As her walls closed around him, she grabbed his neck again, not letting him recover.

She rocked herself atop of him, ignoring her own pain. Something in her mind wouldn't let her feel it.

"You won't run away" she growled. "All mine. All mine all mine all mine."

He wrapped a hand around her wrist to tell her to stop; he was having trouble breathing and her movements were pushing his neck into the hardening snow below.

"You won't run. You can't run. You never will."

"Ick...get...off!"

With her spare hand she pleasured her clit as gently her haste would allow. The wind and her own throaty groans filled her ears, not hearing Tatsumi's struggling voice grunting for her to stop.

Suddenly, adding to his grip on her arm, she felt his shaking touch loosen her pinkie. One hand on her forearm and the other on her pinkie, Tatsumi gradually pushed forward on her finger, threatening to break it.

Reflexively she pulled her hand back, tearing it from his hands. The hand slammed into the snow next to his head, making the ground around them shake and send bits of snow flying around them. Tatsumi began to gasp for air before she bellowed, almost like an animal.

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Tatsumi massaged the throbbing on the sides of his neck as he frantically tried to get more air in his body. Something was extremely off about her. Even in the dark, he couldn't shake the image in his mind of her face contorted and hot in fury. Her hair must have dangled barbarically around the sides of her head.

This time her hands grabbed his shoulders, holding both of them steady as she violently rode him. Every few of her grunts rose in pitch, as if in pain. In a raggedy, freshly-returned voice, Tatsumi tried to get her to stop.

"Esdeath...Esdeath!"

She was hurting him; he needed her off, quick. Their tunnel was now deep enough to reach older, harder snow, and it wasn't giving his neck a break.

Mustering as much strength as he dared, he brought his hand across her cheek. Tatsumi hoped the slap would bring her to her senses.

Esdeath's movement ceased, only to bring her fist down onto the spot she punched before.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT THE HELL UP!"

She punched some more before returning her hand to his shoulder, using the other to grasp the hair above his forehead. She continued rocking her hips as she pushed his head back as far as the snow allowed.

"Esdeath...you're hurting me!"

With a few staccato groans, Esdeath continued, starting to bounce on him. Encouraged by her sounds, and perhaps even by the pain, Tatsumi felt something warm from inside his crotch. He panicked; he didn't want her to think this was pleasuring him.

"No...Esdeath...Esdeath stop!"

He was shouting now. There was a desperation in his voice that embarrassed him.

In the dark, a grin spread across Esdeath's face. As her grip on Tatsumi's hair tightened, a chuckle soon gave way to wild laughter. She couldn't help but feel like she had succeeded in something important.

As she laughed, Tatsumi clenched his teeth. He let out something between a groan and a whimper as he came.

A wave of pleasure shot through his body from the crotch, ebbing a little at the aching in his neck.

Esdeath felt a peculiar, almost addictive sensation behind her navel. It was warm, and it was the second time she had felt it in her life. As she slowed, her laughter took on a more generic, comical sound. It sounded like a madwoman reading an onomatopoeia.

Hee hee hee hee...

Esdeath slowed to a complete stop and, even though she couldn't see him, looked to where his face probably was. Her Tatsumi, her beautiful Tatsumi, had just released himself inside her. If that wasn't good enough, this wasn't the first time. He was her Tatsumi. He was her Tatsu-bunny.

She tried to recollect the immediate events that led her to this. Feeling mischievous out of nowhere, she jumped on him, sending him through many feet of snow. Than she teased him a bit, asking why he was acting so pushy. She also told him she loved him, she remembered that. Than he grabbed her breast, it was her left one, she remembered. Next, they assaulted each other with their mouths. The tunnel got deeper as they went. Than she ordered him to cut away her bra. When she felt his fingers nimbly cut it away, she got excited and-

Her mind drew a blank. She couldn't remember what happened next off the top of her head. She must have been tired, she reasoned to herself.

"I..." said Tatsumi's voice. There was an unfamiliar sharpness to it. Why did he sound so angry?

"I...I..."

There such raw emotion in his tone. Did something happen?

She felt clothed arms smash into her side, shoving her into the wall of the tunnel. She gave a small gasp and felt warmth leak out into her right thigh. Briefly she wondered if it would freeze there before she heard the clattering of his belt buckle. She almost chuckled; Tatsumi still hadn't put on his pants yet. There was a sound of crunching as he scrambled up the tunnel, sending small avalanches down toward her.

Gaping and dazed, Esdeath stared after him, wondering what just happened as Tatsumi's seed froze on her right thigh.

...

Hands behind his neck, Tatsumi rested his back to the wall. The carpet below felt harder than usual, and the walls creaked from the wind. Outside, as usual, came the howling.

An hour ago, he had crawled out of the tunnel outside. As he climbed, he tried to lock the belt buckle properly but quickly gave up. He had wanted to get out as quickly as possible, but the powdery snow made him feel slow and clumsy.

When he reached the exit it caved in. Wind and snow whipped around him as he swam toward the hotel in a crude breaststroke. Snow got in the flanks of his pants and torn shirt.

Hanging from the shattered second floor window ahead was a rope. Esdeath must have put it there before jumping on him. It was secured over the windowsill by an unseen hook. After climbing it and staggering into the room, Tatsumi looked out the window again, letting the wind throttle his hair.

Somewhere among the depths of the screeching wind, he thought he heard his name. The faint voice almost sounded lonely, and desperate. Tatsumi chalked it up as a trick of the wind and left it at that.

The last of the short-lived sunlight was beginning to die; outside the whitish-gray day had taken a slightly green hue; as if a thunderstorm approached. The blizzard's whirling beard of snow danced chaotically. It was going to be his second night here.

"Tatsumi! What's up?" shouted a cheerful voice over the wind.

Slowly Tatsumi looked up. The room's door was ajar, Seyru standing straight ahead. She wore a thick white coat put together by many horizontal seams. The fat, ghastly pale jacket with Seyru's small head at the tip reminded him of a maggot.

Shivering, she quickly pulled a furry hood over her head. Mittens covered her hands.

"It's gotten a lot colder; how are you sitting like that? There's a hot bath downstairs past my room, if you'd like."

Tatsumi got off the wall and moved toward her; a bath definitely sounded good. After all, he felt a little dirty.

"I'm going" he said, not looking her in the eye. "Good idea."

"Thanks! But without a towel...? Oh, whatever...wait, the window!"

Passing her, he headed to the left end of the hall toward the stairs.

Esdeath propelled herself through the hole via ice pillar. It grew upward until she was chest-level with the shattered window. She formed a small platform to bridge the gap between her and the windowsill. Giving a slight crouch and walking in, she filled the empty window frame with a pane of thick ice. When she remembered the rope, she decisively abandoned it with an annoyed wave. It was a spare room; there was no need to clean up her mess.

The room's black door was ajar. She went through it, softly closing it behind her.

"Ma'am!" saluted a soldier.

She nodded in acknowledgement as he walked by with a long candle, heading to the nearest flickering lantern.

Down the hall was the room she shared with Tatsumi. She walked for a moment, stopping when she found a familiar dark stain on the wall to her right. In front of the stain, to her left was the room.

She pushed it open, not even touching the stuck knob. The hinges creaked before she closed it behind her with an elbow..

Esdeath sighed, leaning against the door. Something awful had just happened, and she didn't know what.

The tone in Tatsumi's almost-breaking voice had stabbed her in the heart; she had never heard that before. The way he hurried out replayed in her mind, sending dark regret curling through her body.

You hurt him, you hurt you're baby...

She pushed herself off the door, heading to the window. Suddenly the wind seemed to jeer at her, it's high wailing like that of a childhood bully.

"Don't fucking mock me" she found herself saying.

Outside the sky still held it's slightly green hue, the snow piling high. She was on the second floor, but the snow was almost high enough to reach the long icicles hanging above the windowpane. By tomorrow, she guessed, she wouldn't even be able to see out any hotel windows.

To her left in the small room was a large, open bedframe. Tatsumi had lain a few blankets on it the day before, but it was still uncomfortable. A sleeping bag on the floor would have been better.

She moved from the window to the mirror in front of the bed, racking her brains why Tatsumi acted the way he did. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember what happened.

The mirror wa large and used to be decorative. The glass was aged and stained, but there were no fractures anywhere on its surface. The artisan brown frame was chipped in many places, but it seemed it was supposed to resemble a bouquet of flowers. Centered at the bottom was a sculpture of a lion's head. In some other rooms where the mirrors were intact, there was a swan's head instead of a lion's.

You hurt him, you hurt Tatsu-bunny...

The wind mocked her outside as she blankly stared, her mind racing. Where was Tatsumi? Would he speak to her? Was he okay?

Suddenly a tingle went up her spine.

Someone else was in the mirror with her, at the farthest end of the room. Their face and neck peered over her shoulder.

Esdeath blinked.

The pale face began to smirk.

She quickly turned, drawing her sword.

No one was there. There was no way anyone could have been there; the bed was in the way.

Though she knew it was foolish, she glanced back to the mirror. It was empty except for her and the dark bed frame behind her. And of course it was; people didn't pop into the mirror for no reason. They just didn't.

Esdeath pinched her nose; she must have been tired. After a good nap, this would all be over. Tatsumi would be back to normal, and the blizzard will end by morning. With Bol's help, they would march on toward the City of Pain and win against the rebels, like how it's supposed to be.

Lying several blankets on the floor, Esdeath unstrapped her sheath and hung her cap on the bed stand. Undressing and getting into pajamas, she got on her back and closed her eyes, keeping the mirror out of her thoughts.

...

His torn clothes in a wet pile nearby, Tatsumi sat in the warm water, his back against the edge of the bath. Another person sat at the other end, yawning. Neither had acknowledged the other as Tatsumi stripped and stepped in.

The black ceiling pointed toward him with dagger-like stalactites. Vaguely he was reminded of the way icicles rained down from house roofs in his village. However, the dominant thoughts in his mind regarded Esdeath.

He could still feel her grip on his neck. It wasn't a playful one, she had deliberately tried to choke him. At one point, he remembered, he thought he was going to die.

The more he reflected, the more he realized; something was very wrong with Esdeath. She definitely had a sadistic streak, but was still a caring woman for those that mattered to her. The Esdeath he encountered earlier was not the lover he knew.

A thought made his heart sank; was she showing her true colors? What if Esdeath was nothing but the animal from earlier, who tried to deceive Tatsumi into becoming some kind of slave by playing the cute, affectionate woman?

He wasted away that thought; there was no way Esdeath would do that. She had wept when he was close to death on Mount Fake, and had professed her love for him many times. There was no way she was trying to pull something so hurtful.

Still, the idea of seeing Esdeath right now made him queasy. She was getting too domineering, and what if she lost control and tried to kill him again?

The fact remained: he had no idea why Esdeath had acted the way she did.

With an especially exaggerated yawn, the bather announced that he wanted a conversation.

"What's crackin', Tatsumi?" he said sleepily.

Tatsumi had heard this man's chipper accent before, but had never spoken to him. He wondered how he knew his name.

"Just chillin', same as everybody here" Tatsumi replied, voice dry like a scarecrow. If memory serves, this man had red hair.

"Excellent, excellent...good that we all feel comfortable here."

As he spoke, the young man's tone rose and fell in pitch, like an excited dolphin. Tatsumi lowered himself into the water, letting the warmth envelop his aching neck.

"Th' old medicine man seems to like you, don'tcha know."

There was an intrigue in the man's voice that seemed genuine. In the dark, there was no need for eye contact, yet they still looked each other in the eye.

"What d'you mean?" Tatsumi questioned.

The bather's arms crossed underwater.

"I mean that he likes what he sees in you. That's the reason people relate to each other, after all, 'cause they like what they see."

"...don't swing that way..."

The young man's dark head tilted, the smirk in his voice apparent.

"Really? Course you don't. What I mean is that you must be really interesting for Stylis' to make you a guinea pig."

"I've got a rare teigu, that's all."

"Hmm..."

Shoulders dropping a little, the man seemed to ponder something. After a few second's silence, he spoke again.

"Stylish's a wolf" he said. "Likes his meat rare, that he does. Take it from me and the others."

Tatsumi raised an eyebrow. Right when he was about to tell him to go on, the bather continued.

"The girl you spoke to at the stairs? Me, Trooma? Toby? We've all got reasons for working with Stylish...and none of them are natural talent, mind you. We've all got a past. I reckon Stylish knows something about you that you don't."

Arms resting on the wall behind, Tatsumi nodded his head and shut his eyes tight, observing the spectral, dotted patterns in his eyelids. He played Trooma's words back in his mind, wondering what they meant. Did Stylish really know something that he didn't? It was an interesting idea that also sent shivers up his spine.

Trooma's tone returned to a playful, jocular state.

"Haven't left the pool in ages. When you leave, don't tell Mimi I'm here, willya? Please?"

Eyelids relaxing, Tatsumi smiled emptily.

"Yeah. Sure thing."

Tatsumi scrubbed himself with his hands and left, still drying his naked upper body with a gray towel. Ignoring a glance from a passing soldier, he made his way down the first floor hall. On a whim he opened the door to room 102 and lay on the floor, pushing his feet against the empty, rusting bed frame.

"Stylish...and a past, huh..." he muttered.

Trooma's words buzzing round his head, Tatsumi reached into his newly dry left pocket. Pulling out the transparent capsule, he popped it in his mouth.