The Abe house had been empty to begin with, and now its abject isolation washed over Akiko like never before. In her own home, in the hose of Fujiwara, there were occasionally days where she seldom saw anyone but her own servants. Even though the family members lived in different courtyards, she didn't feel isolated or lonely there. But the house of Abe was different... she had never felt so surrounded by the warmth of others.
Everyday, she saw Masahiro off to the bureau, she helped out around the house here and there, and picked up a few new skills in the process. With Seimei's seemingly endless stories, time went by even more quickly, and before she knew it, Masahiro was home, and she greeted him at the door, daily and without fail. Sometimes, she would stealthly leave her quarters at night to see Masahiro off to his nightly patrol. But that life was a mere memory now.........
"Is Lady Akiko lonely?" Tenitsu asked without looking up. Startled out of her thoughts Akiko was quick to shake her head, yet after a moment, she looked away and then ever so slightly, nodded. They remained like this for a beat, the silence that stretched between them broken at last, by the sound of tears striking the fine woven mat. She yearned to see his face once more,... if only in dreams....
In the silence of the night, the hissing of the lantern seemed unusually loud, every hiss and gutter taking on a voice of its own.
It was a minute before Akiko turned away, drying her tears with her silken sleeve. "I apologize for this indignity." she said with her back to Tenitsu.
Tenitsu only smiled sweetly. Her's was a gift of warmth and calm, her aura pervades like the warmth of spring, quelling the deepest of fears and calming storms of fury. Perhaps it the same gentle touch that inspired others to open up to her.
The book was closed with the bookmark untouched.
Akiko stood.
"It's late. Seimei will worry if I don't retire." She faced Tenitsu as she spoke, her eyes still glittering with tears, as she pulled open the door to the hallway.
__________________________
A dark solemness pervaded the air, a forbidding, oppressiveness that only a cloudy starless night could inspire. Akiko sighed as she stared out into the moonless, starless night as she slowly made her way into the courtyard,
"Hey! Lady!"
The sudden voice seemed to echo through the darkness. Akiko started, looking around frantically as more voices piped up around her.
"Lady! Over here!"
"Hey!"
"Over here! Look over here!"
Her gaze settled on the outer wall of the Seimei manor. There, at the top of the wall, countless small mononoke and spirits perched and struggled at its edge, craning their necks and waving their paws to capture her attention. Akiko stare in shock as one such small creature called out to her, " Hey! How about...." He trailed off as he slipped back along the incline of the tiles at the top of the wall, a flurry of scrabbling claws and a crackle of dry brambles announced his landing in the bushes outside. Seconds later, he was back again, pushing and shoving the others at the top of the wall. "Can you let us inside?... Because ... out here...." and he was gone again.
It was a second before he hopped up to the wall again. "Seimei's barrier starts here."
Gone again...... and back "We can't enter without explicit permission"
"Please?"
"Please?"
The small crowd of mixed spirits and monooke continued to chatter and shout. Most people wouldn't have been able to see or hear them, to passerby mere inches away, they would be as calm and quiet as the night air. Akiko, however, found them hard to ignore. Should she invite them inside as requested?
"Um....I... Uh... I have to ask Lord Seimei. "
"There's no need for that, If anyone causes any trouble, I'll see that they die gruesomely."
Akiko spun around in fear at a slight rustle behind her. The air shimmered as the tall figure of Suzaku appeared beside her.
Suzaku cast an imposing look at the crowd of small creatures with his golden eyes, before he blinked in annoyance.
"Tenki and I are present to guard the manor, but we need not trouble Tenki with such trival annoyances...."
He paused as he suddenly turned to look back at the house, his voice losing its imposing edge as he continued.
"...ah... um...well, you don't have to get up... you can ..uh... go sit over there."
Inside the room, Tenitsu smiled as she once again took her seat.
With that, Suzaku once again turned to gaze at the small spirits.
"If you want to let them in, go ahead... We don't have the right to make these decisions, but the lady is not subject to these restrictions."
"Why?"
Was it because the Shinshou, as the servants of Seimei needed express permission from their lord to act?
Suzaku crossed his arms and took on a stern look before he replied.
"In time, Masahiro will inherit this manor. As one of the city's primary outposts for observing demonic activity, the spells and barriers of the manor will naturally also fall to his care. So, it's of no consequence."
'Of no consequence' ?!? What kind of logic was this? Under normal circumstances, only Seimei or Masahiro had the right to make these decisions.
"But what about Lord Yoshimasa? "
"These decisions are to be made by Yoshimasa in the absence of Seimei and Masahiro. However, since we (the shinshou) are here, a decision from the lady will suffice as well."
__________________
Unable to muddle through Suzaku's bizarre logic, Akiko cast a troubled glance at Tenitsu through the open doorway.....but she only smiled back at her warmly.... perhaps she agreed with Suzaku? It was difficult to tell.
At the other side of the wall, having heard the exchange, the spirits whispered amongst themselves....
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