Shion resisted the impulse to look away, fighting down the wave of nausea which threatened to break from his body.  This man deserved that much, at least.  Watching the torment on his face reminded Shion he was still alive, and in terrible pain, with a wound no one would ever be able to heal.

He dropped to his knees before the dying man.  Blood soaked into his clothing, into his skin.

Shion put a hand on his quivering shoulder.

"You have served your lord well," he murmured softly.  "Be at peace.  This is a suitable apology, and I accept it."

The man's hand fell gratefully over his own.  Shion stayed there, at his side, as his skin grew icily cold, as his breaths grew small and further between, until finally he collapsed and his pulse stopped completely.

Shion knelt there, increasingly saturated with blood and viscera, praying silently, until he was startled by a light touch at the base of his neck.

"Come away.  There is nothing more to be done for him."

Lord Teru's voice was surprisingly gentle.  Shakily, he tried to stand, nearly slipping on the bloody pool which had formed around him.  Teru caught at his arm, and he fell clumsily against the man's body.

"My lord," he began immediately, "forgive me.  Your clothes-"

"It is a small price to pay to feel you against me."

Shion blushed.  What a shameless thing to say to someone utterly drenched in blood, just having witnessed such a painful and terrible death-

"Everyone, clean this place up.  Dispose of his body however you will.  He was Kamui's to the end, and none of us who belong to Lord Hatori have any right to interfere."  Teru kept Shion pressed close against him as he spoke.  He desperately wanted to escape those arms which held him, but there was nowhere else to go.

"Come with me, Shion.  You cannot remain as you are."

Teru was right.  His skin and clothing were absolutely rank.  If he stayed like that much longer, he'd surely cause himself to vomit.

"You know," Lord Teru murmured as he led him away, "I find you very surprising.  I half-expected you to turn and lose your stomach.”

“As did I, my lord.”

Teru paused.  "Do you think Kamui would have lived if that man had kept his word?"

"Yes. I do not doubt it at all.”

“How unfortunate.”  Lord Teru shook his head.  “Strictly speaking, he did nothing wrong.  Any soldier in his position would have been suspicious of such a gift."

"Perhaps, my lord, but- Kamui would not have approved of him misleading his own people in such a way, even if that person was only a peasant.”

Teru sighed.  "Then the lord he served was a fool, and that man died a foolish death."

Shion stopped walking.  The samurai turned back to regard him with a cruelly misplaced smile.

"How can you say such a thing?  Even if it was a foolish thing to do, it was what he considered right.  He was loyal to his principles and to those of his lord, to the point of dying for them.  Is that not a thing you samurai admire?"

"I admire those who live.  Who survive."  Teru reached out and took hold of his chin, forcing Shion's head up and back.  The man gave him a lingering look.  "Those," he murmured, "who are strong."

"Then, what in the world do you want with me, my lord?"  Shion had lost his last ounce of patience with this man.  He had no right-

"Has the scent of blood crazed you so much you have grown reckless?"  Teru’s hand caressed Shion's throat.  He hardly dared to breathe, for fear it should tighten around him.  "It seems I can hardly blame you."  The man sighed.  His fingers drifted away.  "It appears to have made me reckless as well."

"At any rate," he continued, walking again with that deceptively careless gait, "your little maneuver back there has likely gained you countless allies.  Well done, Shion Kaito."

"Allies?"  He frowned, not quite understanding.  "But if I had simply granted my forgiveness, as he'd asked, that man would still be alive-"

"Do you think the entirety of Kamui's men would have been so generous, once the truth of the matter was known?  This was the only way to settle the matter, once and for all."

Shion lagged behind him, preoccupied with his own thoughts.  Did Lord Teru actually approve of what he'd done?  Even though someone had died because of it?

"Listen, Shion." The man stepped back and leaned in closer.  "You will survive here and even thrive if you can only learn to use your intelligence properly.  Do not allow the consequences of your actions to be accidental.  You must direct them towards what will be most beneficial for you."  The man glanced down at him with an encouraging smile.  "Contrary to what most of those men might tell you, battles are not won by brute force but by strategy and determination."

Strategy.  Determination.

What was it, truly, that Lord Teru wanted from him? 

Shion gazed up at the man beside him.  The samurai didn't seem to mind his inquisitive stare.  In fact, he seemed to almost enjoy it.

"Sometimes you must watch and wait until the time is right,” Teru said with a meaningful smile, as if to answer his unspoken question.  "Bad timing will lay the best of plans to ruin."

They stopped before a small structure just inside the gate, and he motioned Shion towards it.  "The bath is inside.  The water will likely be cold and none too clean, but it will be a vast improvement from your current state.  I will find some clothes and bring them to you."

Shion bowed to him.  "Thank you, my lord."

With that, the man turned and left him.  Shion pushed the screen aside and entered the small chamber.  The water was no colder than that of the stream, nor was it particularly unclean.  The blood had dried on his skin, and he had to scrub to get it off.

Where was Kagamine?  Had he managed to escape Lord Hatori's men?  Did he even still wish to?

And what of Hatori?  What kind of man was he?  Judging from what Shion knew of his soldiers, this new daimyo must not be much like Kamui at all.

The screen opened slowly, and Lord Teru stepped inside.  He'd cleaned himself up a bit and held a small bundle of fabric pressed underneath his arm.

"Are you almost done?  The blood must have been difficult to clean."

Shion nodded absentmindedly.  "My lord-"  He hesitated.  "What were Lord Yuma and the other men doing in the mountains?  Were they looking for Kamui's messenger?"

"Do you know him?"

"I only met him once," Shion answered, hoping not to draw undue attention to their tangled relation to one another.  "He brought me the news of Kamui's death.

The man placed the bundle on the edge of the bath, paused, then sat beside it.  Thankfully, he had the decency to turn himself in the other direction.

"It is little wonder Yuma took pity on you.  He never quite got over that man.  I have no idea why he was so fixated on him.  My cousin did turn him down, after all, several times-"  Teru shifted position, as though something about the subject made him uncomfortable.  "Regarding the boy Kagamine, we were sent here to retrieve him.  Lord Hatori suspected he might attempt to flee, and so he had, but we found him easily enough. Not that I can particularly blame him.  A daimyo might earn the right to certain vices, but Hatori has been obsessed with that boy longer than is at all proper.  I hope, for Kagamine's sake, that he remains a virgin."

"Should I ask what will happen if he does not?"

Lord Teru answered Shion with a bitter little smile.

"I halfway wish I had stayed in the mountains," he murmured quietly.

"Sometimes I am also tempted to leave the insanity of men far behind.  Then I remind myself there are certain things I want to accomplish and certain people I wish to protect."

He stared down at his reflection in the still surface of the water.  Lord Teru seemed as though he regarded the world and everything in it as little more than a game, but Shion felt he could at least trust the man's sense of reason.

"I know the situation you find yourself in is difficult," Teru murmured, leaning in until their faces were so close they nearly touched.  "But you can make your way through and come out on the other side."

"And what is on the other side, my lord?," he whispered, staring into those piercing eyes.

"All the things you long for, Shion.  Whatever those are, only you can decide."

For some reason, he found himself holding his breath.  The man gave him a soft, secretive smile before drawing away and pulling himself to his feet with a sigh, leaving Shion feeling strangely foolish.  Why had he had such a reaction?  What exactly had he expected to happen?

Lord Teru left him alone there without another word, without so much as a glance in his direction.  He leaned his head back, closing his eyes, grateful for the sensation of something real and solid.  Shion knew he was but another piece in the game Lord Teru was playing, and yet, even still-

Once, he'd longed for Kamui.  That had been his whole reason for existence.  He’d devoted himself to nothing else.  He would’ve gladly died if it meant his lord might be saved.  After that, he'd longed for his freedom, and all that desire had led him to were cold, lonely nights, half-starving, running from the approach of human footsteps like a wild and fearful beast.  He'd longed for survival, and so he'd come to the fortress and found himself among strangers who regarded him as a harmless curiosity at best and, at worst, as something that might be owned and obtained.  Only Kagamine had ever seen him as an equal, and he'd abandoned that poor boy to his wretched fate, swearing allegiance to the man who meant to imprison him here and make him his personal slave.  Shion felt as though he'd betrayed him as thoroughly as that guard had betrayed Kamui and even less unwittingly.  What right did he have to continue existing?  What meaning was left to his life?

That man died a foolish death.

Teru's words bit into him accusingly.

I admire those who live.  Who survive.  Who are strong.

No.  There was absolutely no way those words were meant for him.  But- he had survived this long, hadn't he?  Even though he'd fallen very ill, even though he'd lost his parents, even though he'd been beaten and neglected and suffered every insult the world had thrown his way, even though he'd lost all ties he'd ever had to another human being- he continued to survive.  Why?  What did Teru see in him that he couldn't?

Shion pulled himself out of the water with a sigh.

What did he want to accomplish?  Who did he wish to protect?

He wanted Lord Kamui's projects to be successful.  He wanted the villagers to be safe and healthy, to enjoy a good harvest and continue to prosper.  Above all, he wished for Kagamine's happiness, and even, if it might yet be allowed, his own-

He had no idea how to make any of it happen, nor if he even could.  He was, after all, only a peasant.  He would always be something less than the men he found himself living among.  Lord Teru knew this as well as he did.  Otherwise, there would've been no need to offer Shion his protection.  But why had he done that?  What purpose could Shion possibly serve?

Despite his teasing, the man hadn't so much as glanced at his naked body.  For a moment, he’d actually thought Lord Teru meant to kiss him, but he hadn't done that, either, even though, Shion admitted to himself with some hesitation, it wouldn't have been particularly unwelcome.

He dried himself, shaking his head.  Perhaps Lord Teru was right.  Perhaps the scent of blood had indeed awakened something within him, something he sincerely wished would go dormant once again.  It would not do to return to the common chamber crammed full of all those men in such a receptive state, but what other choice did he have?  If nothing else, a filling meal and his own exhaustion might drive it from his mind.  He smiled to himself.  At least no one would come to offer him sake-