This Masquerade - 2

    A familiar voice echoed over the temple grounds, bringing all action to an abrupt halt. The intricate poem that Amefuri was carefully transcribing onto a new scroll had its last sentence smudged beyond all recognition when her cringe allowed her sleeve to drag into the still-wet ink. She cursed and jumped to her feet to examine the damage the ink had on her new kimono. Fortunately, the ink would wash out and leave almost no trace of its presence. Amefuri had learned to start buying ink that could be washed out of clothing easily shortly after meeting Yorukai. 

    "What was that?" Kouhei looked up from his chess game with Mikata. 

    "...A nuisance." Amefuri growled as she piled all the breakables in the study into her arms. "Open that box." She ordered Kouhei, who obeyed with quite a bit of confusion. Amefuri carefully lay the objects inside, locked it shut and replaced the heavy concrete sculpture on the top. 

    "Should I ask...?" Kouhei scratched his neck and glanced in the direction the noise had come from.

    "No." Amefuri stared at the once pristine scroll that she had spent the last two weeks transcribing. "I won't be long. Stay here. I will deal with him."

     "You won't do anything foolish, will you?" Mikata stopped Amefuri before she had a chance to stomp out of the room. She tried to pull away but his grip on her wrist was deceptively light. Mikata calmly held her in place with one hand while he moved his pawn to capture to Kouhei's knight with the other. "Check."

    "Let me go," Amefuri said, punctuating each word by trying to pull free.

    "I know what you're going to do and I can't allow it." Mikata replied, "Your move Kouhei."

    Kouhei frowned at the pawn. "Oh come on! It's not fair for you to move while I was helping Ame-san!" 

    Mikata shrugged and smiled calmly. "Are you really such a poor player that you can't free yourself from a simple check?" He look a sip of his tea while Kouhei gaped at him. After a few seconds of sulking, Kouhei tucked his hair behind an ear and concentrated on the chess board again. The two seemed oblivious to Amefuri's forced presence at their side. She frowned and tried to free her wrist from Mikata's hand once more.

    "I have to find Chikawa! He's going to break something, I know it!"

    "He won't cause any trouble," Mikata said. "And you had better not start any, Ame. I don't know who this Chikawa guy is, but I doubt that he will be that much to worry about."

    "You don't know what he is capable of," hissed Amefuri. "He doesn't cause trouble, he is trouble!"

    "Perhaps he is," he agreed absently. 

    Mikata waited while Kouhei studied the pieces on the board. If he didn't think this next move through carefully, then Mikata could easily win the game and add another victory to his already long list. Then again, Kouhei could choose to sacrifice a piece in order to change the balance of power. The possibility of a surprising loss was one reason that Mikata loved playing games like this. 

    Kouhei slowly reached out and moved the black rook to capture Mikata's pawn, placing the king in check before he leaned back with a satisfied smile. 'Mikata won't be able to escape this one,' he thought, 'especially now that his attention is divided between playing the game and arguing with Ame-san'. Kouhei spared a moment to watch Amefuri stubbornly attempt to pull free through force, only to fail miserably once again. 

    "If Chikawa sees you, I'll be the one that has to deal with the consequences!" 

    "I seriously doubt that one person could cause that much trouble." Mikata smiled patiently at her and moved his knight to capture the rook and threaten Kouhei's queen. "Why don't you give a little credit to this Chikawa person's intelligence? I'm sure that he's not as bad as you believe." Amefuri growled in irritation as Kouhei, once again, gaped at the board in disbelief. 

    Just as Amefuri was about to retort, the sound of footsteps vibrated through the floor boards, a sign that Yorukai was approaching the study. For one heart-stopping second, Amefuri froze, completely unable to think of how to react. Just as the door began to slide open, Amefuri lunged for the door and slammed it shut on Yorukai's fingers. She ignored Yorukai's anguished yelp and renewed her attempts to get Mikata and Kouhei to leave. Unfortunately, they seemed to be completely absorbed in their game and therefore quite opposed to leaving before they finished. 

    "Kei-kun! Mikkun!" Amefuri hissed at them as she braced herself against the door, quite unaware that Yorukai's fingers were still caught. "Get out of here!" She growled as they ignored her. "If you're not going to leave, at least hide!" 

    "AME~~!" Yorukai yelled. "It hurts~~! Please let my poor fingers go!"

    Kouhei paused and looked up from the board to stare at the door. "That voice..." He glanced at Mikata and gestured towards the deck. "We should get out of here before Chikawa-san gets in." Mikata looked between the two and gave a long suffering sigh before climbing to his feet and moving towards the deck.

    "Very well. I'll see you later, Amefuri." Mikata said.

    "Where are you going?" Amefuri frowned.

    "I should get back to the manor; I still have many things to do." Mikata glanced at the door then smiled at Amefuri. "Take care." Mikata grabbed his coat from a chair and stepped onto the deck before disappearing from view. As soon as he was gone, Kouhei reached across the board to pluck his queen out of harm's way before rising to his feet. The queen was carefully placed beside the pieces that he had already captured and shrugged on his jacket. 

    "You're leaving too?" Amefuri glared accusingly at Kouhei, who offered a weak smile and ruffled up her hair before moving away. 

    "You heard him," Kouhei spread his hands helplessly. "There are things that need to be finished." 

    Yorukai had taken advantage of Amefuri's distraction to pry his fingers free and open the door. Amefuri quickly blocked his entry to the room by grabbing his shirt and pulling him down to her height before accusing him of spying on her while she was changing. Yorukai's reaction was immediate. The fear and embarrassment that filled his face was almost worth the risk of letting him enter the room. Yorukai waved his hands in what he hoped was a pacifying gesture while desperately trying to convince her that it was all a misunderstanding. 

    "GET OUT!" Amefuri tried to shove him out of the room before any damage could be caused but it was too late. Yorukai yelped and pushed his way past Amefuri and into the room before Kouhei could leave or find a place to hide. Amefuri was sorely tempted to throw caution to the winds and flee the scene but that would only create more problems later. 

    "You..."

    Yorukai stared hard at the silver-and-red haired stranger standing next to the open doors leading to the deck and gardens. Kouhei's eyes flickered with fear and surprise before he pushed his emotions aside to present a neutral expression. A eerie peace filled the room.  Just beyond the door, the warm afternoon sun covered the garden in a surreal glow while small brown birds greeted one another with cheer as they returned from a long day's journey. The birds flit from branch to branch in an attempt to find a sturdy seat before the breeze blew them off.  

    Kouhei cleared his throat and glanced at Amefuri. 

    "I'm sorry that I can't stay longer, I would if I was free to." He paused to look at Yorukai, who watched him with an unreadable expression. "I wish that I could stay and get to know your friend, but I hope that we can meet some other time." Something about the way Yorukai was looking at him made a small thread of irrational fear creep into Kouhei's heart. It was impossible that this stranger could know who he was, right? 

    "It was nice seeing you," Amefuri replied, "But you should really leave before it gets too late."

    "You're right," Kouhei nodded and turned, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He stared at the hand, trying to figure out how it got there before carefully peering over his shoulder to see Yorukai attached to the hand. "C..can I..." Kouhei shook himself mentally and gathered his wits. "Can I help you, sir?"

    "Who are you?" Yorukai said in a low voice. 

    Amefuri briefly considered trying to distract him, but something told her that it would not work. The careless grace that usually dominated Yorukai's frame no longer appeared to be the by-product of his over abundant enthusiasm. A frown marred Yorukai's normally cheerful face; his eyebrows were drawn low over narrowed eyes in an expression of pure hatred. Kouhei only shrugged the hand off his shoulder to smooth the wrinkles out of his jacket and delivered a biting response. Yorukai stepped back with hands upraised in surprise, shifted his weight to the leg he slid out behind him, then casually lowered his hands to his sides. 

    Normally, nothing would seem amiss with Yorukai's awkward pose; it was one that Amefuri had often seen Yorukai adopt when she threatened him. It was only the unusual circumstances today that forced Amefuri to study Yorukai's actions closer than she normally would. She came to the sudden realization that Yorukai had just made an invisible transition to a defensive stance. Judging from the ease which he had performed the maneuver with, coupled with the fact that he had been doing so in front of trained eyes for months without alerting her suspicion, there was certainly more to Yorukai than she was led to believe. 

    "I am an old friend of Ame-san, nothing more." Kouhei replied with a smile. He was quite certain that all he would have to do was distract him in some way and make a run for it. If  Amefuri managed to keep Yorukai under control, so why couldn't he? "I'm afraid that I can't stay longer, I must be leaving." He bowed slightly and moved quickly towards the door.

    "Liar," Yorukai said. "Why are you really here?"  

    "Chi- Chikawa! Don't be so rude!" Amefuri protested, then turned to Kouhei. "Please don't answer him. Just go. Now."

    "No, it's okay," Kouhei held up a hand and smiled at her. "What harm could there be in answering him?"  He noticed that Amefuri did not look the least bit reassured by his words. Never the less, she only gave him one last distrustful frown, then stepped back to allow the two to speak. Kouhei realized that the worst thing that could happen at this moment was for the two of them to get into an argument. Especially now, when Yorukai was in the room and glaring at them. 

    "So, Chikawa-san was it?" Kouhei coughed uncomfortably. "I'm only here to visit Amefuri and to see if she's faring well. No more."

    "Then why don't I believe you?" Yorukai said, "Especially when you said yourself that you don't trust her, and that you wanted to take her 'home' so you could keep her from getting into more trouble." At this, Kouhei started and shot a worried look in Amefuri's direction. Yorukai followed this moment with a smile of satisfaction and tapped his chin with a finger as he focused his gaze on Kouhei. "Wherever you call 'home', it's certainly not Ame-chan's home. Not anymore." 

    "Yorukai...." Amefuri whispered in disbelief. 

    Kouhei stared at the stranger in front of him. 'What is he trying to do? Could it be possible that he actually does know why we came back?' Kouhei swallowed hard and shoved his shaking hands into the depths of his jacket pockets. He had to maintain a certain image for Amefuri, after all. 'If she saw how close Chikawa came to revealing the truth...' Kouhei fingered a silver talisman in his pocket and steadied his breathing. 

    "So, Keisotsu Kouhei, why don't you do the smart thing and leave us alone?" Yorukai smiled darkly. "What do you say?" 

    'How does he know my name?' Kouhei quickly pushed that thought out of his mind and plastered a calm smile on his face. "I say, it would be best if you could please leave us alone. Ame-san is my responsibility, not yours."

    "Oh, really?" Yorukai slowly raised a hand and brushed some hair out of his face. At the momentary look of alarm that crossed their faces, Yorukai had to suppress a smirk of satisfaction. 'Really, they're making this too easy,' he mused to himself. 

    "Chikawa! What do you think you're doing? Threatening Kouhei?!" Amefuri responded in the only way she knew. Rage. "Are you just stupid, or playing hero to prove something?! Well, if you're thinking about trying to 'save' me, forget about it! I don't need a champion, especially one as... as... moronic as you!"

    In a blur of motion, Yorukai twisted his gaze around to focus on Amefuri's face, stunning her to immobility. She was his target. Eyes, as cold as broken ice, burned into hers. The dancing light of an electric tempest screamed through the walls of her mind until they crumbled to dust. Suffocating water crashed into her, grabbing her arms, pulling her down. Deeper. Deeper.  Wrenched down into the blinding depths where already numb limbs were pierced with ice. Burning ice. Then, a silver blade fell and shattered the world; the glistening shards spun away and faded from sight.

    Then Yorukai's gaze passed over her, and the world phased into view. 

    Kouhei stood with his dark trench coat tied shut and stood before the open door leading to the peaceful gardens that she should see just past his shoulder. The remains of his chess game with Mikata sat, undisturbed, upon the low table on the floor, separating him from the other person in the room. Yorukai. He stood by the door to the temple's halls with a slight frown on his face. Perfectly ordinary.  

    ".....me-chan~! Are you okay? Please answer me, Ame-chan!" Yorukai leaned over her with an expression of worry and fear on his face. "Are you still in there? If you are, give us a sign that you're still you! C'mon! Anything!" Yorukai's eyes shimmered with tears. "I'll even take a punch to the head!" 

    Amefuri slowly shook her head and gathered her courage before meeting the eyes of the men in the room. Yorukai seemed to be asking her something before being pushed aside by Kouhei, but the words were lost in the screaming winds of the tempest. She distantly wondered why their clothes weren't being disturbed by the wind and rain. But as soon as she completed that thought, the storm died and the only sign of its passing was a haunting memory. 

    "Of course you can, your head is thick enough to take it." Amefuri said to Yorukai and then smiled thinly at Kouhei. "Please don't worry about me." She carefully pushed herself up from the ground and reached out to pat Kouhei's head. "I'm fine now, so don't worry."

    Kouhei released his breath with a hiss and nodded in relief, before grimacing at the scene before him.

    Yorukai hovered over Amefuri, acting as if he honestly cared about her health. Perhaps she didn't notice, but he certainly couldn't miss the smug looks that Yorukai threw in his direction every time he tried to approach Amefuri to help, only to be waved off. The only thing that could possibly be considered good about this situation was that Mikata was not here to see it. 'If he saw how Chikawa-san was treating her...' Kouhei suppressed a shudder and forced himself to pay attention.

  "Chikawa, I'm fine. Now please go away." Amefuri said, "I've got a lot of things to discuss with Kouhei before he has to leave." 

    "But AME~!" Yorukai whined pitifully, "Why can't I stay? I promise that I won't do anything to scare him away!" 

    "NO!" Amefuri shouted with more force than necessary. "No, you have to leave." She smoothed out her clothes and repeated in a composed voice. "Leave, Chikawa. You're not welcome here."

    Yorukai shoulders slumped in defeat and he nodded slowly before turning to leave the room. Pausing at the door, a quick glance over his shoulder told him that Amefuri's attention was already focused on something, or rather, someone else. Kouhei spoke to her in low tones, occasionally looking up to see if Yorukai had left the room yet. Amefuri seemed to agree with what he said, if somewhat reluctantly, and dismissed him with a nod of her head. Kouhei looked like he was going to protest, but decided against it and quietly left the room. 
 

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