"Shion Kaito," a voice whispered softly, from no distinguishable direction. The words were borne along on the breeze, as though the trees themselves had sighed it.

A dark silhouette stepped out from among the surrounding shadows. It was a head shorter than Shion himself, slender, completely enshrouded in black from head to toe. The only visible feature, its eyes, regarded him through the filtered sunlight like two sparkling emerald pools. Shion stared at them intently for a moment.  The youth regarded him with an odd mixture of curiosity and one-sided recognition, like a small woodland creature who had often passed him by unnoticed.

"I am Kagamine Len. I carry Lord Kamui's seal, and I've come to give you an urgent message. Here-" He produced a delicate scroll from somewhere within the folds of his garments. "Our lord's insignia."

Shion recognized the symbol. He’d seen it embroidered on Kamui's robes and on the standards of his men. For a moment, his pulse fluttered with a wild, exultant hope. Perhaps the daimyo had finally recovered his health and was sending the boy out to retrieve him-

No. If that were true, Lord Kamui would have come himself.

Shion felt a sudden sharp pang of foreboding stab at the pit of his stomach. "He’s dead, isn't he?"  His forehead furrowed in confusion.  “I don't understand. The medicine should have cured him-"

"What are you talking about?"

"The poultice I brought to cleanse the infection from his wound. Did no one apply it?"

The boy's calm stillness fell away. He took an aggressive step towards him. "Who told you about that?"

"No one." Shion shook his head. "I saw it for myself. Every day, on the practice grounds-"

Another step. The youth was becoming more agitated. "No one was ever admitted inside the gates. So I will ask once more, who told you about that wound?"

"No one," Shion answered quietly. "I swear on my life, I saw the damage myself. His arm was bandaged and splinted. He was practicing with his other arm, because he couldn't use it-"

The boy grabbed at his wrist with one hand while placing the other over his mouth. "We mustn't talk about this here." He turned away with stubborn determination, pulling Shion roughly along behind him.

"My lord is dead," he repeated, his voice trembling, as though he were sobbing. "He's dead. I couldn't save him-“

The dark silhouette stepped into the shade of the surrounding trees and shoved Shion up hard against one unobliging trunk.

"You absolutely have to be quiet. No one in the village knows what's happened yet, and it's important it stays that way. This is what Kamui wanted. Do you understand?"

Shion only halfway nodded, visibly distraught. The boy sighed heavily. He finally uncovered his face. "You're talking like all your wits have left you. I tended to Kamui the whole time since his return, and no one ever brought him medicine. His wound was indeed infected, and one day he went to the practice grounds and collapsed there. His fever was so high he was seeing things which weren't there and hearing voices which didn't exist. Neither the fever nor the hallucinations ever left him, not until he drew his final breath. Only death put an end to his suffering."

Tears streamed down Shion's face. He was ashamed of them, but every time he tried to stop, his body shook with another burst of incoherent sobbing.

The messenger-boy lingered there, in front of him, frowning in mute discomfort.

"I’m so sorry, Kagamine.  It must have been horrible watching him go through that.  Surely you must be hurting too."

This sudden outpouring of sympathy caught the boy off-guard.  "I have work to do," he muttered sullenly. "Please take a breath and explain yourself."

"I climbed the hill- to the east of the fortress. There is a certain spot where you can see over the wall facing the training grounds. Lord Kamui had been avoiding the village, a thing he wouldn't have done under normal circumstances. I was afraid he might've been injured, and I was worried about possible infection. It was obvious to me the wound was very deep, but he kept coming to practice, again and again, nevertheless, until several days had passed and I no longer saw him.

"I returned home and spent the next three nights preparing a poultice for the wound. The ingredients come from the mainland, so it's very expensive to make, but there's nothing better to cleanse and cure infection. I delivered it to a guard outside the gate once it was finished, and he assured me that Lord Kamui would receive it-"

"Poison," Kagamine muttered under his breath.

Shion stared out at him with wide, horrified eyes. "What- do you mean-?"

"I mean that someone suspected your medicine of being poison and emptied it out." He drew closer, forcing Shion to face him. "Tell me, who was this man? What did he look like?" There was an angry light in his eyes and a vengeful set to his features.

Shion averted his gaze. "I can't do that, Kagamine."

The youth folded his arms across his chest. Whatever calm resolve he'd come with had entirely worn away. Shion fully expected to be beaten for this insolence, but the inevitable blows never came. Kagamine simply grunted in irritated disgust before he turned away.

"I'm much too sober for this," he murmured. "Come, Shion." Those fingers closed tightly around his wrist once more. "We're going to get some sake."

"But you said you had work to do-"

"All my work concerns you," Kagamine answered brusquely. "And if I'm drunk it'll be much easier to handle."

The boy tugged at him insistently, and Shion allowed himself to be pulled along.  *All my work concerns you*- what did he mean by that? And why was the boy finding it so difficult to deliver Kamui's message?

The youth had been caring for the daimyo all throughout his illness. It must've been excruciating watching him succumb to the fever. He had probably buried his feelings deeply, as Shion had been forced to a hundred times-

He squeezed at the boy's fingers in quiet sympathy, eliciting a little gasp of surprise, or possibly agitation, as they hurried on their way, not pausing until they'd reached what appeared to be a tavern. Shion had never set foot inside such a place before, but his companion seemed to have come here frequently enough to be greeted by name and met at a habitual spot.

"Kamui didn't approve of me coming here, either," he mumbled, tossing some coins onto the table. "Four, to start." He turned to Shion. "You're drinking it, too. I'm not giving you a choice."

Shion thought he understood enough about the boy to know this was meant as a friendly gesture. "Thank you, Kagamine."

Those emerald eyes gazed out at him in confusion. "Why are you thanking me? I'm pretty much forcing you to drink with me."

"I don't want to be left alone right now, and I doubt you want it, either."

"I'm fine alone. I've always been alone, and I probably always will be." The sake appeared, along with little bowls from which to drink it. Kagamine disregarded them entirely, lifting the jar to his lips. "You're right. I want revenge, but not only for Kamui's sake. You risked a great deal in making that medicine." He wiped the back of one black-wrapped hand across his lips. "I've been following you for a long time, Shion, from the time Kamui sent me out to find you until he came back from the summer campaign. I've seen what that man does to you. I've heard what he says to you."

Kagamine took another deep, unhesitating swallow. "If you're angry about this, it's fine. You've a right to feel violated. But before you judge our actions, please understand, your master is a dangerous man. We both wished to protect you. You've lived with him so long and grown so accustomed to his treatment you cannot see the danger straight in front of you, but, Shion, I must ask you- what would happen if the old man discovered you'd stolen those ingredients?"

Shion lowered his eyes.

"Here. Please have a drink." The boy pushed the jar he'd been sipping towards Shion, who looked up and slowly took it. The taste was agonizingly bitter. It was like imbibing tears.

"I took the ingredients for the medicine because it was the right thing to do. Someone was sick, and it was necessary to save his life."

"The old man wouldn't view it in those terms." Kagamine sighed. "I know that 'someone' was his lord as well as yours, that it would've been his duty to help, had he known, but still-" The boy shrugged. "I don't think that'd be a convincing argument to use with him, either."

"It seems I have become a thief for nothing."

The boy reached across the table and grasped at Shion's hands. "Death is a possibility every samurai accepts. You're not the one who gave him that wound, and you're not the one who emptied the medicine onto the ground. It's not your fault, Shion. Stop blaming yourself."

It might've been the first time in his life he'd ever heard those words. Everything had always been his fault. Everything he'd done had always brought punishment with it. It seemed unthinkable that a failure as grave as this one should somehow go unpunished, and yet-

Kagamine's hands were so warm, and he spoke with such perfect confidence in what he was saying.

"What will you do now he's gone?," Shion murmured. "Now that you've lost your lord? Your home?"

"I haven't quite worked that out yet. The more important question is for you." The boy dug around in his garments, producing a piece of carefully wrapped cloth which looked oddly familiar. "Kamui left some things for you. There's more, but I haven't had time to retrieve them."

Kagamine handed him the cloth, and Shion gazed down at it in bewildered surprise.

"This is a piece of the kimono he ruined wading into the stream to get my flute for me-"

"There's a lock of hair inside it. Kamui could be very sentimental at times." The boy took another long drink. "There's also this-" He produced a bag heavy with coins and pressed it into Shion's hands. "Put it away quickly," he whispered, "but be careful not to draw attention."

"What is this-? Why-"

The boy gave him a lopsided grin. "That, Shion Kaito, is your freedom."

He swallowed hard. "But I have no idea how to obtain that, or even what it's worth. I honestly never thought I'd have the opportunity-"

"Don't worry." The boy pushed the bottle nearer to him, urging Shion to drink it. "I'll go to the apothecary with you, work out prices and the like. I won't let him take advantage of you. Once you're free of him, you can be whoever you want and do whatever you will. There's no respect like the respect men have for gold."

The alcohol was seeping into him. He was forgetting to be sad. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were shining.

"You should stop drinking, Kagamine. We'd best be sober if we're somehow supposed to broker a deal-"

"There's no harm in having a bit of fun before that." He smiled brightly. "You know, the more of this you help me drink, the less I'll have to put away myself."

Shion sighed. If nothing else, it might at least buy some time for the boy to sober up.

"Ah, there you go! Isn't that better?" The sake still tasted like tears and reminded him of sickness, but Kagamine seemed to thoroughly enjoy watching him tilt the jar to his mouth. "Kamui loved you, you know. His face lit up whenever I told him about you. I'd never seen him show such affection for anyone, though there were countless men he welcomed to his bed."

Shion took a long draught from the jar.

"Not that he’d been with anyone since coming to this province,” the boy added quickly, sensing his tension.  “You were the only one he wanted, the only one he ever thought of. No one else." Kagamine stopped shifting the jar with a sudden air of decision. “You were the only one either of us wanted, to be absolutely honest-”

Shion's thoughts were lagging.  The details of their surroundings had taken on a distracting sheen. It took longer than it really should have for him to grasp the implication of Kagamine's words.

"I followed you so closely for so long," the boy continued, with a sigh. "I watched you through Kamui's eyes, and I began to see you as he saw you. I would never have been so disloyal as to pursue you. I wished only happiness for you both. Please believe me, please-"

"I believe you, Kagamine.”

The sake had begun to taste less bitter in his throat. Everything was brighter, but nothing so much as the youth's vivid eyes. He stared at them in fascination.

"You don't drink very often, do you?"

"The last time I drank sake I was half your age. I was very sick and was convinced I was dying. I suppose the old man was tired of my complaining and wanted me to sleep, but when I awoke, my father had succumbed to the illness himself and I was left there all alone." It was entirely inappropriate, but for some inexplicable reason Shion began to laugh. "Sake reminds me of sickness and death and regrets."

The next moment, he found himself wrapped in Kagamine's arms. The laughter quickly dissolved into unruly sobbing. "I know I shouldn't cry, but I can't stop it."

"Cry as much as you like, Shion." The boy's fingers stroked at his hair. His heart beat steadily beneath Shion's cheek. As he sank into Kagamine's warmth, his breathing grew calm and quiet, although errant tears still streamed along his face. "In a week's time, a new lord will take possession of the province. It will likely be Hatori, as he was the closest thing Kamui had to an ally. It won't be a forced takeover, and I could safely remain as his servant, only I'm quite certain he'd have me serve him in an altogether different capacity."

Shion frowned at this, and the boy chuckled softly at his reaction.

"It's not as though he's a stranger. I've known him for most of my life. He's older than Kamui, but strong. He has influence even in the capital. A part of me rather likes the thought of living an easy life and being showered with a daimyo's attention."

Something in the boy's eyes was sad and not altogether convincing.  "And the other part?," Shion asked quietly.

Kagamine paused, carefully considering his answer. "The other part wants to run away with you to the mountains, to start living my own life and making my own decisions. We will probably be pursued, but even Hatori has to give up at some point, and between your knowledge of the terrain and my skill at passing unnoticed, it ought to be easy enough to evade his soldiers."

"And after that- what then?"

The boy's body shrugged beneath him. "Perhaps go to another province, have some adventures, enjoy a bit of fun-"

Shion raised his head. "In other words, you don't know."

Kagamine shrugged. "I'll figure it out as I go. There's a whole big world out there, Shion. It's not as though either of us have ties here any longer. Besides," he grinned, "can you imagine anything more romantic?"

Indeed he could, he thought bitterly, imagining Kamui falling to his knees before him, apologizing for his long absence and begging his forgiveness, all the while wrapping him in passionate embraces-

"And what if I say I cannot go with you?"

A shadow darkened the boy's ebullient features. "Then I'll return to the fortress and welcome Lord Hatori in. Perhaps if he finds me sufficiently pleasing, I might be allowed to travel with him to the capital. He won't station himself here forever." He gave Shion a tight squeeze. "Please don't look at me with such sad eyes. It's not much different from the life I've lived with Kamui, and it's far better than being left alone, a beggar, with no one to care for you. Hatori doesn't mind that I'm so young, or that I was born a twin or a peasant. Not once in my life has anyone ever chosen me. Even Kamui only took me with him because of his own twisted sense of guilt. The moment the man looks at me with those smoldering eyes, I'll feel altogether different about running away. Surely you must understand what I mean?"

"Yes," Shion murmured. "I suppose I do."

"You have a few days to make your decision. Please don't dismiss it out of hand." His hand ruffled lightly at Shion's hair. "Give me a chance to win you over.”

He didn't doubt the boy’s sincerity, but all his thoughts were stuck on another person entirely, and he couldn't see them coming unstuck in a matter of days, or of decades.

Kagamine sighed, sensing his hesitation.  "At least return with me to the fortress after we've seen to the business with your master.  Kamui has other gifts for you, and you can make a shrine there, and pray-"

He nodded silently, staring numbly down at the jar, and took another drink.