[ Watashi ]

[ Tomodachi ]

[ Saint Seiya ]

[ Clamp ]

[ Fanfiction ]

The feeling of Bran's weight resting against him was oddly pleasant.

Shifting a little to ease his left leg before it could cramp, Shunsuke fought back the exhaustion that had claimed his body. Bran was free, healed as much as he could ever be after the ordeal he had gone through, but it hadn't been easy. When he had felt the house's wards shift violently in the storm, he had known that something was very wrong and, when he had faced the wind, he had felt fear rear its ugly head inside his heart. What had stalked Bran had been far worse than cutthroats or workers angered by the presence of a gaijin in their midst. It had been an Onmyouji, and a very powerful one at that.

Still, Shunsuke hadn't understood the full extent of the harm that Bran had suffered before he had looked into the grey eyes.

Haunted.

Bran had held on to him, to the sound of his voice to remember where he was, to focus on his surroundings. Despite the wards guarding the mansion, Shunsuke had immediately been aware that the other Onmyouji hadn't released her hold on his friend. A well of power and strength, it was what she had glimpsed in him--an easily controllable, pliable source of energy she had tied to her, to be used whenever she so much as directed a thought his way. There were not many ways to ensure complete mastery over another human being's spirit, not if one wanted that person to live. What the woman had done had a name.

Rape.

Despite himself, Shunsuke hissed softly in the silence of Bran's room. When he had gazed into the grey eyes, he had almost recoiled, his heart wrenching at the sight of the wreckage that Bran had been in that moment--the shell of a person, and the worst of it had been the understanding that Shunsuke had seen there. Bran had somehow grasped what was being done to him, and he had tried to fight it. The wards that Shunsuke had set around him hadn't helped him, that wasn't what he had willed them into being for. And, Shunsuke admitted to himself with a frightening calm that served only to hide bright, helpless rage, it may be that I'm responsible for what befell him. I set these wards on him, a beacon clearer than the ancient imperial palace's lights in the night--a beacon that may well have drawn that Onmyouji. How a living, breathing sentient being could do something that evil, Shunsuke didn't understand, but he knew one thing.

If he met the Onmyouji one day, he'd kill her.

Bran shifted in his sleep, instinctively picking up the violent emotion, and Shunsuke quickly stifled it. When he had turned his mind toward finding a way to help his friend, he had wondered whether it could be done. Such a healing demanded absolute trust, it demanded touch, and Bran had always been more than shy regarding physical contact. It was possible it was because of his instinctive awareness of the spiritual that he was so wary of being touched. Physical contact could send very unpleasant jolts through one's body if one didn't know how to shield oneself and control one's own power. Bran was too old to ever be taught, and he could have developed his reluctance to touch as a means of defense. That was what Shunsuke had feared.

That was why he had waited, trying to find another way.

That was why he had asked for Bran's consent, half-expecting the other to refuse.

But Bran had nodded in assent, with the same strange understanding shining in his eyes. And so Shunsuke had reached out, and he had reclaimed Bran from the other Onmyouji's claws. Bran had directed his whole awareness toward him, instinctively offering what the other woman had tried to steal and tear away from him. Shunsuke had thought to ignore the precious gift, but Bran hadn't let him. Shunsuke had wanted to be as gentle as he could be about the healing, mindful of the fragility he had always perceived in Bran but the other had drawn him in, dropping defenses and shields and inviting fire in his soul. It had been as if Bran had wanted the marks of the other Onmyouji's tampering with him burnt, forever erased from his spirit.

It had hurt.

He had known it was bad when Bran had collapsed against him, his body shaking like that of a fevered man's. Steeling himself, Shunsuke had just held his friend tight, then he had set out to work. He had gone deep, as deep as he could, but at the core of Bran's heart, he had found walls so high and dark that he hadn't dared do more than touch them.

Cold, like the jewels of silver Bran wore.

Cold and haughty and ancient.

Winter, he had thought as he had brushed against them. So, this is how Winter truly feels. The crazy thought had faded at once, and Shunsuke had withdrawn, praying that what he had done had been enough. Once he had fully regained his body, he had gazed down at the young man huddled against him and known it had been. Calling Bran's name might have helped, although he hadn't thought it necessary. The Shadow in him had stirred when he had first looked into Bran's alien eyes, and it had risen, speaking out the name three times.

Calling.

Claiming.

Binding.

But not as the other Onmyouji had done. Never that. It was an anchor he had offered Bran, sounds to hold on to. The use of his name had steadied him in ways Shunsuke didn't really understand. Gently, he ran a hand through Bran's hair, and then caught himself. What am I doing? he wondered, and why did he let me touch him so deeply? Why did he just rest against me like that, as if he were a woman in need of comfort and tenderness? Despite what they had both experienced, Bran remained in many ways a mystery for Shunsuke. There was he something odd about him, beyond the walls in his heart--something he couldn't name.

"Shunsuke-sama!"

He stifled an annoyed sigh, recognizing Hiroko's muffled voice on the other side of the sliding panel. "Send them away, I have no time to waste, and I'm tired," he retorted more tartly than he had intended. Hiroko wasn't at fault, his worthless cousins were. Twice already they had come asking worried questions about the tampering of the wards, pleading for reassurances that everything was all right. Let them rot at the door if they wanted, it was all they deserved anyway. Discarding the unwelcome disturbance, he once again turned his thoughts toward the sleeping man he was holding in his arms.

The wards around Bran were secure now. He had woven them anew, giving them all the strength he had. They'd protect him, the other Onmyouji would ever have another chance at him again. Warmth spread through Shunsuke, unexpected, as he remembered the moment when he had at last released Bran and softly bid him sleep. The young man had smiled at him through a haze of pain and exhaustion, and he had rested his head against Shunsuke's shoulder, abandoning himself, trusting so completely that Shunsuke hadn't had the heart to move away and go to sleep--a sleep he was in dire need of himself.

What are you to me? he quietly wondered as he watched himself reach out and soften Bran's hair in a caress. A friend certainly, and more. Kin, perhaps, in ways I don't understand. We are bound to one another, you and I. There was a strange finality in that last thought. It was both frightening and serene.

"Shunsuke-sama, I think you should come now." He blinked, hearing the urgency in Hiroko's voice, and reluctantly he decided that he'd better do as she asked. Careful not to wake Bran, he set him down on his futon and drew the blankets over him. He'd be all right now, he just needed to rest. After ensuring himself for the thousandth time of the wards' strength around Bran, Shunsuke at last rose from his sitting posture and exited the room.

I should knew better than to sit like that without moving for hours. The stupid cramp's pain was reaching up from ankle to knee, echoing through his body. Shunsuke grimaced as he slid the panel shut and turned toward Hiroko. "What's going on?" he asked wearily.

"You have guests," she replied with joyful laughter in her voice. "And even though I suppose it could wait until the morning, I think you'll want to see them right now." Taking in her beaming smile and her obvious happiness, Shunsuke found himself wondering who could have come calling at this hour that he'd welcome.

Hiroko led him in brisk strides, not to the reception room as would have been proper, but to the second main room of the deserted wing he had moved into.

As if the guests were family.

He never welcomed other clan members, he-- He froze when Hiroko opened the room's door, his heart beating madly in his chest. For a fraction of a second, he hesitated on the threshold, then he went in.

"Mother!" The cry of pure joy escaped his lips before he could control it. Flinging himself forward, he caught her in a tight embrace and laughed as he felt her arms come around him--laughed as he felt the familiar touch of her spirit. "You're back!" he whispered fiercely. "Back!"

They both let go in the same time, and then Shunsuke turned toward the stern man who was waiting in silence like a sullen shadow on her left. "Father," he said with a small nod, and then impulsively he hugged him. He felt the Wolf of Mibu stiffen and then forcefully relax. Saitou Hajime wasn't one for emotions' display, but right now Shunsuke didn't give a damn.

"Rushing headlong at people when you have no grasp of balance is sheer stupidity." The Wolf rolled his eyes and sighed. "There's a bit more muscle on you than when we left, and you've grown again. I suppose that's something," he said gruffly. A hand that had been callused by years of sword practice suddenly ruffled Shunsuke's hair and then he was pushed back. There was nothing in Saitou Hajime's amber eyes beside mere annoyance at his son's childish behavior, but Shunsuke knew how to read beyond that mask.

As he stepped back, he looked at them. There were too many things to tell them, too many things to ask. There were lines of grey in his mother's hair--grey he guessed she wouldn't dye, not giving a damn about mere appearances or behavior imposed by society--but the light in her eyes was bright, as bright as he remembered it.

"You need to sleep, you're exhausted," she remarked all of a sudden. The beautiful, luminous smile left her lips and she added in a quiet voice, "We'll talk tomorrow once you've rested, but before that I need to ask you a question. When we came in view of the city, I felt a terrible unbalance in it. The cause of that--"

"The work site, most likely," Shunsuke supplied for her.

"It may be," she waved the subject aside, "but worse than that. While we were making our way through the city, something ripped through the seals and touched the wards of this house. Something strong enough to wake every Onmyouji in Kyoto. Who," she asked, low anger seeping into the tone of her voice, low and very dangerous, "who dared attack the Sumeragi clan?"

"Nobody, mother," he reassured her. She still loves them so, he thought bitterly. They don't deserve her. Discarding that painful truth, Shunsuke explained, "What you felt was someone trying to take control and draw untamed energy from a friend of mine."

"A friend?"

"Yes." Shunsuke nodded. "Asano Bran is my friend, and a guest of my house--which I'm convinced the Onmyouji who went after him didn't know. It's a long story," he added as he saw the questions shining in both his parents' eyes. "Suffice to say that Bran is safe and asleep." He moved to lead them to rooms, and then paused. "Father," he said quietly, his gaze set on the Wolf's, "he's my friend. Let him rest, he needs it. There will be time for questions and their answers tomorrow." Saitou Hajime shrugged, but Shunsuke saw the beginnings of a smile on his father's lips, and knew he had been right to tell him to stay away from Bran. He would have gone straight to Bran's room and demanded answers;

Typical of the Wolf.

With a weary shake of his head, Shunsuke led his parents to spare rooms in the abandoned wing, trying without success to prevent a smile from creeping up his lips.

The trees in the inner garden looked like they were wearing magnificent jewels of crystal.

Frost.

It shone with the first lights of dawn and gave the garden a feeling of faery. I smiled at the sakaki trees, reaching out to the small green leaves that were cloaked in a thin mantle of ice. It was hardest for the sakaki, the tree preferred the warmer climate of Kyûshû, it was no friend of winter. Still, the ones surrounding the small shrine in the heart of the garden endured. I carefully cupped one of the leaves in the palm of my right hand and closed my eyes. There was life pulsing beyond the cold. Quiescent, almost asleep, but life nonetheless.

At peace.

Eventually, I turned away from the sakaki and stepped back toward the deserted wing that was Shunsuke's home. My son was still asleep, I had felt his presence as soon as I had awoken. As I had extended my awareness toward him, I had sensed nothing but deep, dreamless slumber. He wasn't hurt, just truly exhausted. What had happened the night before had been bad indeed, and I needed answers. Softly, I walked to the room next to Shunsuke's.

The room defended by proud, shining wards.

I smiled as I reached out to them and gently bade them let me in. They were incredibly strong, and fierce also--like Shunsuke. He must really care for this Asano Bran, I thought as the wards rippled and parted before me, recognizing me as the master of the house. Yes, he must care deeply, for him to give so much of himself in those wards. Soundlessly, I slid the panel open and stepped inside the room. Shunsuke would be angry, I knew and I couldn't blame him, but it wasn't a matter that could wait. I knew of only one Onmyouji who could send the Sumeragi mansion's ancient wards rolling and recoiling in such a chaos. Only one person other than myself or Shunsuke could have disturbed the wards so.

The Sakurazukamori.

I clenched my teeth, refusing the low fire of dread that rose to embrace me as I silently voiced her name. It didn't make sense for her to be in Kyoto. She was after me, and Hajime and I had spent the last four years leading her a merry hunt all around Hokkaido. For her to have come here before we did was impossible. There was no way she could have known we'd come back. The circumstances of the clan were a secret known only to its members, and they were safe from her. She could never touch any of my family.

Only me.

And yet, when I had seen the extreme weariness in Shunsuke's eyes.... With a shake of my head, I discarded the useless conjectures. I'll know soon enough, I told myself as I knelt down beside the futon set in the center of the room.

Strange, but not unpleasant to look upon. I smiled in spite of myself as I looked at the sleeping face. He was young, as young as Shunsuke if not younger. The jet black hair and the brow were Japanese, but the nose and the lines of his mouth were not. His mixed heritage was obvious when one laid eyes upon him but, while it felt weird, it was in no way repellant. On the opposite, it leant him a certain charm--the charm that came from mystery and danger, and never failed to catch young, gullible girls in its snare. There was also an odd sensation of fragility that one would get when watching him--perhaps because of the alien unbalance of his features.

He was asleep, as deeply as Shunsuke was at least. I heaved out a soft sigh as I noted the small lines that marked the corners of his eyes and mouth. Weariness and pain, to be sure, and strong emotions that hadn't wanted to release him, even in his sleep. It was wrong to disturb his rest, but I had no choice. Gently, I reached out to him, and I froze when I touched another set of wards that enfolded him like a mantle of stars.

Shunsuke.

I blinked back sudden tears of pride and joy. So strong they were, defiant and beautiful. They were the essence of Shunsuke's being, freely given and set to defend the young man sleeping on the futon. How precious you must be to my son, I thought as I reached beyond the glittering shield and touched the sleeper's brow. "Awaken," I told him softly.

"Shunsuke?" The voice was full of sleep and thick with unfinished dreams. He held out a hand toward me and I clasped it.

"No," I replied in a quiet voice, refusing to deceive him. It would have been easy: still half-sunken in slumber as he was, he had mistaken my touch for Shunsuke's. We were much alike, my son and I. It was a natural confusion to make in such a state. As the sound of my words reached him, his eyes snapped open and he tensed violently.

Westerner bastard, I thought as I stared into eyes as grey as clouds heavy with snow. That explained the weird first name that Shunsuke had given me for him. Just as the bristling strands of raw power writhing around the young man explained much about his being a target for another Onmyouji's greed. If one was ruthless enough, one could draw strength from him. All it required was to bind him to one's will, and ensure he'd keep feeling all the violent emotions that caused spiritual energy to spill away from him. Even now, I could feel fear choking the air, kept under control by the wards so they wouldn't disturb the house's balance. It could easily have been worse: the young man was fighting for mastery of it with all he had. In truth, after what must have happened to him, I'd have expected raw terror to poison everything. And I was the cause of the turmoil in his heart.

"I'm sorry to have woken you," I said as gently as I could. "I am--"

"Shunsuke's mother," he sighed as he released his breath. Freeing his hand from mine, he sat up on his bed, gathering his old kimono around him in a self-conscious gesture, and looked away. "I'm sorry I reacted that way. When I saw you, I thought she had somehow won through Shunsuke's shields and I--"

She.

That single word sent a cold shiver running up my spine. Savagely, I denied the panic that wanted to come over me, and refocused my attention on my son's friend. He had stopped talking and was staring at me steadily. Sensitive, I thought distantly. He's extremely sensitive, and what it must have taken to sever the leash set upon his soul, I'm not sure I want to know. The other Onmyouji would have woven her spell with the young man's essence, and to free him from that....

Pain--pain and absolute abandon, trust in Shunsuke's touch.

All of a sudden, I realized that the grey eyes were still set on me; their gaze was dark and murky, like troubled waters after a flood. There was nothing to be read from them.

Nothing but a Shadow, darker than last night's winter storm.

I stared back at him, sustaining his gaze, and felt something that might have been dread rise within. "Do you know who she is?" he asked softly.

He was too perceptive for his own good--and mine. "It's possible." I shrugged. "Could you describe her for me?"

He bit his lower lip, turning away in a brisk movement, and abruptly I remembered how young he was, how vulnerable he was right now. Oh yes, vulnerable, the familiar inner voice sniggered, young and ancient, fragile and deadly. Ruthless. Merciless. I nodded to myself, acknowledging the truth of my perceptions, and pushed, ignoring the young man's obvious distress. "I need you to tell me what you saw of her."

During a long minute, silence was my only answer. Then he drew in a deep breath and said, refusing to look at me, "I can't tell you much. She kept shifting, her shape was blurred. I say she's a woman because I heard her voice in my head, because I--" he faltered, and clenched his teeth, "I felt her inside of me. The only thing I clearly saw of her were her eyes." A cold smile suddenly twisted his lips. "Black irises, as black as a starless night."

So, it had been she who hunted me who had so viciously attacked the young man--she, who had stalked him and pursued him to the very gate of the clan's house. "The Sakurazukamori," I said in a whisper that chilled the room's atmosphere. "The one who was after you is a master assassin, she's the shadow of our clan, and she's stronger than any other Onmyouji I know." Slowly, reluctantly, Asano Bran turned to face me.

"Did she go for me because she was aiming at Shunsuke?" His voice was a hiss, tight with emotions he was fighting to keep locked within.

Refusal.

Horror.

Fear.

Guilt.

He cared for Shunsuke, and deeply. Still, that question demanded an answer. Quietly, I told him the truth. "No. But now that Shunsuke has risen in your defense and protected you, she might turn her eye on him and decide to notice his existence. It's not likely she will," I added when I saw Asano Bran stagger as if I had struck at him. "No, most likely she'll keep away as long as Shunsuke's wards shield you. She has more interesting quarries to hunt," I concluded with a joyless smile. I could only pray that what I had just said was true.

I could only pray that she wouldn't turn on my son.

If she did.... Wearily, I sent the thought away. We would deal with what the future would bring as best we could. Now wasn't the time to lay out plans. I had come to this room to get answers, and I had two of them, but I wasn't done yet. Beside me, Asano Bran was waiting in silence, his hands set on his thighs. I looked at his straight back and measured the stillness in him with a faint smile. He had been well educated, his family had seen to that despite his mixed blood.

"Who is the guest my son brought in the clan's house?" I asked at last.

The grey eyes met mine, and something that might have been bitterness or mockery flashed in them. "I am Asano Bran, Sumeragi-sama, son of Asano Kikue." He bowed, as was proper, and I nodded at him. Asano Kikue was a younger sister of Asano Nagakoto, the man who had brought good fortune to his family by his position and opinions during the Meiji Restoration. The young man's was a powerful clan these days.

There was one question left to ask. It was a harsh one, but I couldn't let the matter rest, not after having glimpsed the darkness lurking in his gaze.

"What are you?" I kept my voice neutral as I said this, and I set my face in a mask when I saw him flinch, almost imperceptibly. He remained silent for a while, his jaw set and his lips drawn in a thin line. His eyes were distant, and he was giving the perfect illusion of serenity. I knew better: I had felt the brutal shift in his aura. It hadn't lasted for more than a heartbeat, but I had clearly perceived it before he had had time to master it savagely. Words could sometimes hurt far worse than blows, I was very much aware of that.

As I thought I'd have to force an answer out him, he looked up at me and smiled. "I am the last of the O' Sullivan clan, and I'm my father's heir."

Inwardly, I shivered as I saw that smile and the unreadable light in his eyes. It was the truth, phrased in a way I couldn't understand. It was all I'd get from him unless I coerced him, and I didn't want to do that. Even though I had envisioned it a moment ago, I now knew I mustn't. It would have been a grievous mistake. However, the answer he had given me asked for another question. So I looked Asano Bran right in the eyes. "Do you intend to harm my son?"

"No!" he hissed, anger and fear warring in his voice. "No," he bit his lower lip and bowed his head, adding in a whisper, "I warned him, but it doesn't have to be this way. No, I'll never hurt him if it's in my power to prevent it."

I considered the young man's bowed figure, noting all the fluctuations in the wards shielding him and in the threads of power streaming from him, then I bowed my head as well. It was all that I'd get and, I suspected, all that he could give. "Thank you," I said softly as I straightened and went for the door. As I moved to slide the panel shut, I paused and whispered, "I'm sorry." With that, I closed it and walked away from his room, hoping he could get some more rest but doubting he would after what I had told and asked him. A bitter smile curled up my lips as I thought I wouldn't get anymore rest either--not when the sight of the grey eyes as he had bowed his head at my last question lingered in my mind.

Dark grey eyes veiled with tears.

"Bran isn't here." Shunsuke's quiet statement of the obvious brought a grin to Saitou Hajime's face. He knew that tone of voice, it was the same that his wife used when she was trying to stifle anger. When Shunsuke had entered the main room and wished them good morning, the Wolf had been relieved to find that most of the exhaustion had left his son. The boy had been a mess when they had laid eyes upon him last night, and he had known at once that something important had happened when he had seen Tokio's eyes widening in alarm. What she had glimpsed, he couldn't guess, but he knew enough of the power wielded by the Sumeragi clan to realize that the matter wasn't a small one.

It had even prompted Tokio to seek out their son's guest at dawn, even though she had known he was sound asleep and still not whole after what had happened to him. She had gone to shake answers out of a weakened man who was a guest of her house--a harsh thing he had thought her incapable of doing.

"No," Tokio replied in a voice as quiet as Shunsuke's had been. "Hiroko will fetch him later. For now we have family matters to discuss, and it's better that he rests until we truly need him."

A humorless smile revealed Shunsuke's teeth as he nodded. "Indeed, it's not necessary for him to be here while we discuss family matters--while we discuss him, mother." The amber eyes flashed with anger as they set on the Wolf's wife. "I know you went to him at dawn, to demand answers--and before you ask," he gestured irritably, "he didn't come to me to whine or complain. I felt your touch in the wards and asked him." The gaze Shunsuke had set on his mother was both reproachful and accusing. "I expected it from father, not from you."

Saitou Hajime scoffed at that, but both mother and son ignored him. The Wolf observed them both while the silence stretched between them. Quarrels between them had been extremely rare in the past, and while the fact that Shunsuke was bringing his wife's earlier actions into the discussion was consistent with his defensive attitude of the last night, the Wolf couldn't help thinking this argument had odd roots. It seemed to him that Shunsuke was over-protective of that friend of his. Still, when he saw that Tokio merely heaved out a weary sigh, he discarded the matter. If she didn't dispute her son's words, it meant there were reasons to support them, and that was enough for him. In matters of the spiritual and arcane magic that were the Sumeragi's domain, he had learned to refer to her. It was much wiser to do so, even if at times Tokio needed an outsider's point of view to correct her perspective.

"Be that as it may," Tokio stared at their son steadily. "Before we start, I must ask you this." Her hands closed into fists at her sides, but her gaze didn't waver as she said, "What have you brought into our house, Shunsuke? Is it friend or foe? When the time comes, will this egg hatch a snake or a hawk?"

So, she had envisioned that possibility as well. Good. The Wolf nodded to himself. As soon as he had heard the stranger's name, he had seen a likely game unfold before him. It could be Shunsuke was being played like a pawn in a confrontation with high stakes--no, it was likely. Shunsuke was no fool, that was true, but there were things he had no knowledge of, deliberately or not.

"I don't know." Saitou Hajime refocused his attention on his son, surprised to hear the quiet acceptance in his voice. "Bran warned me away, mother, and I gave him my friendship aware of the risk he represents. If there is a game underway, it's a fair one. I took him in knowingly." There was a strange serenity exuding from Shunsuke. The patches of green in his eyes had widened to almost eclipse the amber-gold that normally was the dominant color. The Wolf whistled softly as the words faded into silence around them.

This changed matters, and in the same time it didn't. Warned, hey? Saitou Hajime mused silently. All of a sudden, he was curious to see who and what Asano Bran was.

"But if you want to hear my guess," Shunsuke continued in the same calm voice, "I think that what we'll see revealed in the end will be Bran. Simply Bran."

Tokio smiled at that, and bowed her head in defeat. "Very well, but be careful." Tension seeped into her voice as she said, "I suppose he told you about what I discussed with him."

"No." Shunsuke's voice was flat. "The rotten fool wouldn't tell me, he said it was between him and you, and it was yours to disclose if you so chose. Stubborn idiot, he even lectured me on how I should trust the head of my clan to know what's best. Damn him!" he snorted.

Interesting. Either it meant that there was loyalty and honesty in the gaijin's heart, or that he could swim on dangerous waters and adapt to sudden changes. Yes, either way it looked most interesting.

"Well," Tokio said, unable to prevent a smile from creeping up her lips at the sight of their son's sulking pout, "from what I've been able to gather form what he remembered, I think it's almost certain that the Onmyouji who went after him is none other than Sakurazuka Keiko--the Sakurazukamori herself," she finished softly.

Saitou Hajime sat very still as that name echoed in the main room and seemed to cast a shadow in it despite the bright morning sun. So, that was what Tokio had felt when they had stopped in the storm. That was what she had suspected all along, as well as the imperious reason that had prompted her to rouse a guest of her house with questions. Forcefully, the Wolf relaxed the muscles in his body, denying the tension that the name had triggered within. It wouldn't help. This foe wasn't one he could challenge with a katana, but even so there were other ways to deal with that particular spider. Allowing emotions to cloud his judgement would only impair him, and endanger those who were his.

He didn't intend for that to happen.

"How can this be?" Shunsuke shook his head, the light in his eyes a troubled one. "I could easily chase her away. True, the house's wards flared to life in a fury I had never known, but--how could she have come here before you?" he asked softly. "She's after you, how could she know you'd be here when even I didn't?"

That was a most interesting question.

One whose answer might have saved them a lot of trouble, had they been able to grasp it. As it was, they had no way of knowing , so Saitou Hajime smirked. "You forget that she has her own eyes and ears. She also has people who commission her to do their dirty work for them--people in high places. Who knows whether rumors of what brought us here don't haunt Edo-jo's corridors right now?" Who knows if she wasn't commissioned by someone who doesn't wish the Sumeragi to answer the emperor's summons when it comes? That thought, the Wolf kept to himself. As soon as they were done here, he'd get out of the house and find Cho.

Then he'd have answers.

"And what brought you here, mother?" Worry was plain in Shunsuke's eyes. He gave a weary shake of his head, then added, "When I saw you last night, I was too tired to ask. I was hoping you had either settled the feud with her or defeated her, but now...." their son's voice trailed off into silence, and he looked away. It was easy to guess at his thoughts--easy to guess at the pain in Shunsuke's heart, pain at knowing they hadn't returned because was no more. Didn't that mean that they needn't have gone away and exiled themselves in the first place? Oh yes, it was easy to guess at Shunsuke's thoughts.

Brat, Saitou Hajime thought, though not unkindly. You're still a cub, no matter how tall you've grown. That heart of yours hasn't hardened enough. As he was about to tell his son that it was his own damn fault for being stupid enough to have letters burnt without even reading them, Tokio pivoted and glowered at him in a threatening fashion. Damn woman! he chuckled inwardly, she knows me too well. He grinned at her.

"We came and risked bringing the Sakurazukamori back to Kyoto because the clan's survival might well be at stake." Tokio stared at their son steadily. "Did you receive Yuta's letters?"

Shunsuke shrugged. "I keep receiving junk mail," he observed pleasantly. "Hiroko is kind enough to dispose of it for me without wasting my time with it."

"Read letters before you decide to discard them, Shunsuke," Tokio rebuked him. "Inquiries have come from the imperial palace, requests for an interview with the clan head. Yuta needed you, Shunsuke. This wasn't pointless harassing. Now things have gone to the point where the summons will come directly from the emperor himself. We must answer him when it comes, my son. We must, or our name will be no more."

Shunsuke smiled at that, sustaining his mother's gaze. "And why should I care about that?"

Saitou Hajime found it hard not to burst out laughing. The boy was sincere, and blunt about it. Well, perhaps he had developed more of a backbone than he had given him credit for. Beside him, he felt Tokio's shock in the abrupt tension of her body and refused his instinctive reflex to reach out to steady her. It was her clan, her family, and he knew it was something she had to deal with herself.

Not that she'd have accepted his help in this anyway.

"No matter how you feel the elders and Yuta have betrayed me, your cousins had nothing to do with it. They're our kin, Shunsuke. That should be enough," Tokio retorted with studied calm.

"It's not," Shunsuke countered at once. Anger that he had long kept locked within was coming to the fore, rushing to engulf him like a black flood. "They abandoned you. Where was their loyalty when you needed it? Let them rot!"

"Enough!" The violence in that exclamation startled Shunsuke and unbalanced him. Tokio's eyes were shining with anger. She heaved out a loud sigh, closing her eyes for a moment as if to gather calm around her. Then, she said quietly, her gaze set on Shunsuke's, "We cannot 'let them rot' as you say. They never abandoned me, Shunsuke. I abandoned them--I abandoned you." The smile that came to Tokio's lips was full of pain. "Had I chosen to remain, the clan would have risen to support me--risen against the Sakurazukamori, thus breaking the balance that our ancestors have kept with their blood during countless years, and bringing chaos to our world. I couldn't let that happen. I could even less allow it because it was my own mistake--my surrendering to hatred, even if only for a moment--that started this feud. I had to leave, and I did. Nobody but your father knew. I made my decision alone, Shunsuke, and I was gone before the clan could make me stay. Yuta would have opposed me with all he had, if he had known my intent."

Shunsuke stared at her for a long time, silent, then he stood. He stepped over to the threshold of the room and looked out at the terrace and the garden beyond it. It was cold, but they had left the panel half-opened nonetheless. Their son's breath was rising in small clouds in the crisp winter air.

"I suppose I'm a fool," he said softly at last. "I suppose I refused to understand the words you had written in your letter because they hurt too much. They annoyed me too, you know." He shook his head. "The elders kept saying that I had to take charge now, but I couldn't let them act as if you had died. They wouldn't leave me be, uncle Yuta kept badgering me, lecturing me about the duties and loyalty to the clan when I knew that they hadn't stood by you in the past--when I knew they had demanded you cast out guests you had welcomed under your roof and refused to help you because they were afraid of the risks for their own small selves." Shunsuke turned to face them, a hard, bitter light shining in his amber eyes. "So I shut them out. I moved to this wing of the mansion and told them I wouldn't have anything to do with them anymore." A feral grin split his face. "I told them that, if they dared step into the space I had claimed for myself, I'd curse them. Somehow, that made them listen to me."

It must have been something to see, their son telling off the holy Sumeragi clan like that. Mistake though it had been it had been a honest one. Shunsuke had a good heart, and the courage that went with it.

"It would seem I erred," he sighed. Then a smile crept up his lips, and he added, "But it looks like it's not too late to set things right. I won't regret scaring them away, it gave me four years of peace and fun." A mischievous glint shone in his eyes when he said that, then he sobered quickly. "If you want to tell me about the situation, I'll listen and do what I can to help, but now that you're here, both of you, I'm not letting you go." He looked at each of them in turn, and whispered, "You're not going away again."

Staring into the pure emerald gaze of his son, Saitou Hajime found himself sighing in defeat. That last sentence had been a solemn promise, and he knew it'd be extremely difficult to fool Shunsuke. As he had once before, he saw again the inhuman strength in those eyes as well as the utter vulnerability in them. Despite himself, the Wolf nodded at his son, and sighed when he saw the brat's smile light with happiness.

"So, you're Asano Nagakoto's nephew," the Wolf said speculatively.

"That, I am, to his and the whole family's chagrin." There was contempt in Asano Bran's voice, and bitter mockery as well. Saitou Hajime was unsurprised at the young man's reaction. It was exactly what one would expect from a bastard son raised at least partially in one of the important clans of Japan. The fortunes of that small family of samurai had changed dramatically and made them rise in society. All that Asano Bran was broadcasting didn't bring any information that could be useful, but there were other trails to follow.

"You're far from Tokyo," he remarked casually, knowing full well that the Asano had no residence here in Kyoto.

"Indeed," his son's guest stared back at him steadily with the ghost of a smile hovering on his lips. So, you want to play, the look in those eyes seemed to say. Well then, let's have fun. "I'm here at my father's request," he gave a slight shrug, "to help him at the work site. He had always made it clear with my mother's family that I'd have to get back with him one day."

The Wolf snorted at that. "And the Asano danced to his tune, just like that? I'm amazed, your father must be an extremely influential and powerful man." Let the boy find a way to answer this, he mused. What should have been a quiet discussion and a good way to gauge who Asano Bran was had quickly turned into a battle of wills between the gaijin and he. Grudgingly, Saitou admitted that he was enjoying himself for the moment.

The boy could play.

It was no random stranger Shunsuke had run into. There was a design behind that meeting, a clever one to be sure, but one that hadn't had the Wolf in its plans. It was easy enough to guess at the hand that had placed Asano Bran in this house and the reason for it. Showing the boy that they weren't fooled and getting answers from him would help his wife and son to make a decision when the time came.

"My father is a ruthless man, sir," Asano Bran said softly, quietly. His face was set into a mask of stone, and the grey eyes were dark, forbidding pools of ashes. "He also wields a lot of power in his domain, and I have no doubt he used it to see that his will would be carried out. I'm certain the Asano clan head had no wish to see further shame cast upon his name if the matter of my existence was breached in high circles."

No, of course not. The boy was an embarrassment to a family such as the Asano. Saitou Hajime allowed himself a smile as heard the calm with which Asano Bran talked of himself as a thorn in his kin's side.

A stain that needed cleaning but could never be wiped away.

Asano Bran was a good opponent, there was strength behind that apparently vulnerable facade--strength, and hardness. Strange, how the mixture of Japanese and westerner features made it hard to read him. There was something odd in the way he walked and moved--something Saitou Hajime knew he ought to recognize. It nagged at him, infuriating.

"Your father is one of the people in charge of the work site, then?" Tokio suddenly intervened.

"Yes," the young man nodded. "He's one of the two chief engineers. Gwenaël O' Sullivan. I help him by acting as a liaison between him and the workers' representatives." That was more information that what Tokio had requested, as if he had wanted it to be over and done with--as if he had wanted the subject to change. Saitou Hajime grinned.

"When I arrived in view of the city, I felt a great dissonance in the seals guarding it." Tokio was talking about spiritual matters as if she expected the gaijin to understand. As he noted the clench of Asano Bran's jaw and his hands closed into fists, the Wolf wonderingly conceded that she was right. Thoughtfully, he moved that pawn to the higher gameboard and considered the question that his wife has asked earlier, before they had invited Asano Bran to join them in the main room.

What had their son brought into the Sumeragi clan's midst?

Just how dangerous was that falsely fragile young man?

"Shunsuke told me the source of the unbalance was the work site, and since then I've been able to feel it for myself. It's growing--it keeps growing even as we speak," Tokio said in a frighteningly quiet voice, "it cannot be mended by our power alone, not any longer. It's too strong. I'm sure it has started to manifest itself in small ways already, but that is nothing. Nothing," she repeated in a low whisper, "compared to what will happen if it continues and the balance of the city is ruptured for good. The spiritual and the mundane are linked as the body and the soul are. The threat that I feel isn't one that can be ignored. Whatever it is that's causing it at the work site must be stopped. It must be stopped now. If need be, I--"

"Don't waste your time, Sumeragi-sama," Asano Bran interrupted Saitou's wife with a weary wave of his right hand. "I know nothing of balance and seals, but I know what the source of the disturbances in the city is. Nothing you or anyone can do or say will change it. Hopefully, it will last a few more days, perhaps a few weeks at most, then things will come back to normal."

"That won't do." Tokio's flat pronouncement cut through the air like a knife. "If those who're in charge are such fools that they can't see what they're doing to the city or just don't care, I'll pay them a visit and make them stop."

Saitou Hajime chuckled silently when he heard those words. She would, she'd do exactly what she had just told the boy, and she would let nothing stand in her way. That was who Sumeragi Tokio was--a delightful bully.

A strong, generous woman with a mind as sharp as the best and a reckless courage to go along with it.

In front of her, their son's guest blinked, taken aback, and then he confronted her. "That won't do you any good." Again, there was that mask on his face. The young man's voice was devoid of emotion as he said, "Nothing you can say will convince my father. The only thing that matters to him is the respect of the schedules established with the companies and people who commissioned the work. There has been a lot of delay due to the nature of the terrain, and now everyone is bent on catching up, no matter how. Even though I cannot feel things in the way you do, I've seen the discontent among the population, and I've heard the workers' complains. There's a lot of anger there--too many frustrations, justified or not. Believe me, I understand exactly how volatile the whole situation is. Just as I understand," he reached for the steaming cup of tea set beside him.

There.

In that movement.

In the careful swing of Asano Bran's body.

Transfixed by his sudden discovery, Saitou Hajime watched their son's guest, and somehow managed to master the laughter bubbling up his throat. He should have seen it at once--that it had taken him this long to figure that little secret out was a credit to whomever it was who had schooled that kid into becoming the young man sitting before them. He should have found out sooner, though, simply because he had once been fooled in a similar way once. Even though that had happened almost twenty years ago, still the thought of having been tricked twice in the same fashion rankled.

"Just as I understand that trying to move my father is a waste of time," Asano Bran said quietly. "I confronted him with the problem days ago. He's aware of it, he just doesn't care." There had been the slightest trace of anger in that voice, just enough to make Saitou believe that what he had heard might be true. "As to forcing him to stop, unless you can sway the companies which set those schedules, don't even think about it. My father is a westerner, Sumeragi-sama," the smile that twisted Asano Bran's lips was as cold as ice, "he won't heed your words. He won't respect you or your name. You have no authority over him. The only ones who do are those who commission him to do his work."

Indeed. And, again, that was the truth, although one could interpret the words in many ways. The Wolf nodded imperceptibly, quite sure he knew what was now sitting before them. Oh, he didn't have any proof, and he was certain he'd never get any except for the small deception he had unmasked. No, it was just intuition, but he knew better than to discard it. For a moment, he toyed with the idea of revealing what he had found. It might unsettle Asano Bran enough for him to get more answers, but it might also make this interesting guest flee their house. That would mean they'd lose a connection to the players involved in this game, and that would be most inconvenient. Moreover, the knowledge Saitou Hajime now held might reveal itself to be a very efficient weapon later, depending on how the situation within the Sumeragi clan developed. Better to keep Asano Bran's secret safe.

For the time being.

Beside him, his wife clenched her teeth. "You mean that if I moved to tell him to stop tearing the city apart, I'd just be adding to the unbalance myself." Because even though Gwenaël O' Sullivan wouldn't even listen, the Japanese workers would notice the Sumeragi, and would react to her coming to the work site. She might even be the spark that'd start the fire. Tokio's eyes were alight with barely repressed fury.

"Yes." Asano Bran bowed and set the now almost empty cup of tea down, staring at it as if it was the most fascinating sight in the world. Saitou smiled despite himself. A pawn, that one was, but it was a smart one and perhaps, just perhaps, their son's guest could be more.

It was time to see whether his judgement of the bowed figure had been correct. "Tell me, Asano-san," he asked suddenly, "do you have any idea why the Sakurazukamori attacked you last night?" The grey eyes widened at that, and Asano Bran staggered, as if hit by the simple question.

Once you've seen the enemy's weak point, attack there with all your strength. Saitou Hajime smiled, satisfied that he had indeed found the flaw in the half-blood's armor. The Wolf lifted his right arm horizontally in a halting gesture as he saw Shunsuke lean forward to defend the one he had welcomed under his roof.

"I'm a source of power she can use, as Sumeragi-sama told me." The voice was steady, but the grey eyes betrayed the Asano bastard. Memories haunted them, and raw fear stalked them. "Isn't that reason enough?"

You're brave, Saitou Hajime thought. Brave and intelligent, but you're too young for this. Too young to face me. The Wolf couldn't fault Asano Bran for being afraid. What had happened to the gaijin would have scared witless even the most seasoned warrior, and yet the kid could face it and keep in control, even though it hadn't yet been a day since the attack. No, he couldn't fault the half-blood, but he wouldn't spare his son's guest either. "No," he said, locking his gaze with Asano Bran's. "It would be true for anyone else, but we're talking about the Sakurazukamori. She leaves nothing to chance, and every single of her moves is calculated. Every single action of hers has a purpose, and gaining more power can't be a goal for her. She's powerful enough."

As he felt his wife start beside him, Saitou realized that she hadn't considered this. She hadn't had the time to master her feelings and go back over what had happened yet. It was a weakness in her, but he knew the reason for that. He knew how terribly she had been wounded, long ago. She still had scars from that time, and she'd never truly heal. Sternly, he mastered the instinctive response that wanted him to lay the palm of his hand on her left thigh. Instead, he waited until he heard her release her breath in a hiss, and then he went on.

"She went for you, Asano-san. I'm sure that your being delicate food to please her palate came as a pleasant surprise, nothing more." Shock registered in that alien face, but Asano Bran didn't look away. Sitting very still, the gaijin stared into Saitou's eyes, the hands set upon his thighs closed into tight fists--so tight that the knuckles were white and that droplets of blood could be seen at the junction of each finger with the hand. Blood, drawn as Asano Bran's nails dug in the tender flesh of his palms. I have you, boy, Saitou Hajime smiled, a feral smile that he had used so often in the last weeks of the Bakumatsu.

"So," he said in a conversational voice, "what do you suppose her reason for picking you as a target was? Aren't you curious?"

"She's the shadow of the Sumeragi clan," Asano Bran retorted at once between clenched teeth. "It's well known in the city and among the workers that I live under your roof. Going for me would be a very convenient way to get at Shunsuke." Droplets of blood had stained the brat's night blue hakama.

The truth, once again, and maybe even as Asano Bran perceived it. But now that the game had started to unfold before Saitou Hajime's eyes, he saw beyond the next move. "Perhaps," he replied thoughtfully, "but couldn't she have aimed for you because of what you are?" The Wolf watched as a shadow darkened the grey eyes and then was gone. "It seems the Sumeragi clan is about to find itself in the center of a crucial matter involving not only this country, but others as well. In a game with stakes as high as these are likely to be, it wouldn't be surprising to find that one of the factions approached the Sakurazukamori and decided to use her--it wouldn't be surprising that westerners place their own pawns on the gameboard, to observe if nothing else."

"Father!" Shunsuke half-stood, but Saitou Hajime ignored his son.

"If you were such a pawn, wouldn't the Sakurazukamori's targeting you make much more sense?"

"It would."

The Wolf started as the reply came even before his own words had time to fade. Asano Bran's gaze had darkened again, the grey in those eyes now as deep as charcoal. "But you're mistaken in one thing, sir." A cold, frightening smile came to the half-blood's lips. "I'm not the western governments' tool."

Looking into the alien eyes, Saitou Hajime found nothing to belie those words. The truth once more, he thought to himself, but a truth that again has more than a single meaning. Asano Bran had phrased that reply in a very precise fashion. Grudgingly, the Wolf conceded that this was an opponent stronger than he had first imagined. He was not done, however. Nodding, he said, "If you were our enemy, I would ask whose tool you are." With unusual gentleness, he asked, "Are you an enemy of this house, Asano-san? Are you a danger to the people living under this roof?"

Asano Bran recoiled under those words. Greyness had claimed the gaijin's gaze, almost covering the white of those eyes. For a fraction of a second, Saitou Hajime glimpsed naked despair and pain there, then Asano Bran looked away, head bowed.

"Father, enough!" Shunsuke snarled, standing up and going to his friend's side. As he knelt beside his guest, he turned to face the Wolf, fury burning in eyes where the patches of green had again almost eclipsed the gold. "Bran is my friend, and I forced him to accept my hospitality. I told you he warned me away, I told you I chose to welcome him under my roof knowing that. This questioning is over!" he added in a voice bristling with anger. "You've pushed him far enough!"

"Shunsuke, don't!" Asano Bran reached out and closed a hand over Shunsuke's closed fist. "He's your father, he has a right to ask." Shunsuke snorted at that, obviously unconvinced. Then Asano Bran straightened and confronted Saitou Hajime. "I'm my father's son and heir," the half-blood said, unable to keep tension from seeping into his voice but still remarkably in control. "When people look at me, they think I am Asano, but I am not. I am the O' Sullivan heir, and that's all I am."

Words that held a powerful meaning, obviously, but the Wolf had no key to decipher the message that was hidden there. Perhaps passing that name on to Cho might give him more information, but he doubted it. There was just one thing Saitou Hajime had learned for sure.

Asano Bran might be a spy placed in their midst by a western government, but that kid had another agenda. As he caught the glance that the gaijin threw his son--as he noted that the hand that Asano Bran had laid upon Shunsuke's was now clasping it firmly, both youths' fingers intertwined, Saitou Hajime heaved out a sigh. They had neatly ensnared each other, these two. Perhaps Shunsuke could win them Bran's loyalty, perhaps the bond growing between them would be enough to protect them and the clan from harm. If not, Shunsuke would be the one who'd suffer the most. With a shake of his head, Saitou Hajime stood and left the main room, aware that exposing all that he had grasped about Asano Bran would have been a bad mistake. It was too late for that.

Far too late.

Sumeragi Yuta set ink and paper down, and sighed.

It was late into the night, late into the year--late for everything. Wearily, he rubbed at his eyes and wished he had had enough brains to request a second lantern before he had started writing. He had stalled for as long as he could, but finally the palace's officials were moving. He had received word in the morning that, failing a reply from the Sumeragi clan head, they'd present their request before the emperor's closest cabinet. It might take a few weeks, a month at most, but the summons would come. There was no avoiding it. With this last letter, Yuta hoped to delay it for a few days, but that was all he could do. The usefulness of his residing here in Tokyo was past.

It was time he returned to Kyoto.

It was time he returned to the Sumeragi mansion and confronted Shunsuke face to face. No matter how justified Tokio's son's anger against him and the elders was, it was the survival of the whole clan that was at stake. It was no longer time for petty adolescent games. A sudden gust of cold wind made Yuta shiver, and he turned toward the panel he had left ajar. He had waited since sunset, but winter had been the only guest to accept his invitation. She won't come, he thought. She's not here anymore.

She, the woman who had drawn his eyes and held his heart. Keiko, the strange, fey woman whom he loved. She had another name, he knew, and he knew how lethally dangerous their relationship was. Impossible, he smiled softly in the small study. Impossible and insane. We're mad, the both of us. The most incredible thing was that she had allowed it to happen--not the lovemaking, but the blossoming of a fragile emotion she had never voiced out to him. She didn't need to. Had the elders known, they'd have disowned him or ordered him back to Ise.

Had Tokio known, she'd have been appalled. She'd have been afraid.

She'd have let him try.

Had Tokio known.

How I wish you were here, ane-ue. Yuta bowed his head and closed his eyes for a time, listening to the cold northern wind. Keiko was gone from Tokyo, he was certain of that. There had been rumors in the imperial palace's many corridors, of factions gathering around the matter that would be presented to the Sumeragi--rumors that some would go so far as to hire a master assassin's services to ensure the decision that would be made would be to their liking.

Keiko would go to Kyoto if she wasn't there already. Eventually, Yuta straightened and got up, taking the letter he had just written with him as he exited the study. He needed a few hours of sleep. Tomorrow at first light, the letter would leave.

Tomorrow at first light, he'd embark on a ship bound for Osaka.

Yuta was going home.

End of chapter 5.

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