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"I don't think I could even if I wanted to." Kazuhiko admitted with a quiet air of defeat. "It's like amnesia... I remember what it felt like... but... I can't get that feeling back. It's like my body forgets...."
He was distracted by the Emperor (as he always was with new people), however, silently watching him browse the libraries for a time. Oddly enough, the simple act of watching him seemed to calm him down a great deal; he sighed softly, although he sounded happy.
With this new emperor, he only had one world to worry about inheriting, even if he still had to take care of the souls from both Earth and Tarnbsei....
But that being said, he hadn't checked on the status of Tarnbsei's souls in a thousand years. It intrigued him, the thought of what they were like now; did anyone survive? Did any of the souls merge with other, stronger ones?
Were the ones that made Grandpa crazy still in there?
"Whatcha lookin' at?" Kazuhiko blinked a few times, "Oh, the books? Do you need help reading them? I think my Da's read most if not all of them.... A thousand years.... I'm surprised the language hasn't changed dramatically, but the writing has. You guys lost all the history before a thousand years back, haven't you?"
He had to focus on something, anything; he knew that until he was preoccupied with something else, sleep would not come easily. The boy didn't move, however; he just kept watching with a rapt, feline-like stare. "Da can tell you the history I bet..."

Kaguyo took her tea and sipped at it quietly, looking out the window by Aled's bedside. "Hmm... Well, thank you for all your help." she sighed, keeping her back to him as she thought.
It appeared that she would have to scope out security tonight... Breaking into the vault where all the old tomes were kept couldn't be that easy....
She would have to be incredibly careful not to get caught.
"Um... Hikaru-sama..." she turned around, "What do you do with incredibly dangerous prisoners, like Ainsu-san? I've been having doubts as to whether or not the ability cuffs and a set of bars will be enough... He's quite resourceful... I... I just don't want him escaping or harming any of us, especially the Emperor... and I worry that you underestimate his strength."
While she was worried about that, she was moreso hoping that he could give her a good idea of what she'd have to break through if she was caught.... although, knowing what was between her and Ainsu was important for her sanity.
She wasn't going to give him an easy time, that was for sure, but in the same breath she didn't want to poke the bear too many times. He could easily kill her if he so desired...
After all, he'd only been studying---and improving---her fighting style over the past year.
"I'm sorry if I'm so nervous..." she took a gulp of tea, exhaling softly, "He just frightens me a great deal, and I didn't expect him to follow me here."

A special prison, he said...?
Well, perhaps Kaguyo would have to find out the location of this 'special' prison. If she had to, she'd knock Ainsu unconscious and leave him there herself.
On second thought, that might be a touch more difficult that she expected...
"Damnit." she whispered, sighing, "Alright. I suppose I will deal... Just keep him away from Aled and I please."
Then again, if worse came to worst, perhaps Ainsu wasn't such a bad ally to keep around.
Perhaps. She could at least consider it, even if she didn't jump for joy at the thought.
"You can at least order the guards to do that, can't you?"


"Burnings?" Kazuhiko asked quietly, blinking twice at the emperor, "Lost with time? What would you consider of critical importance? What is your basic history? Do you know someone who can tell us?"
It was a shame that Kazuhiko's ability to sense souls was going haywire; had it been working, he would've noticed Aoki's presence in the kitchen. Just under ten feet down the hall, a few dried elephants were being planted in the bag Po-ar was apt to munch on... Unfortunately for Po-ar, they were same elephants he had used earlier to suck up the poison gas.
Aoki being the air, it was no problem drying them out; he figured that this was the best way to prevent anyone from leaving the portals. With Po-ar and especially Kazuhiko out of commission, that would give him incredibly free reign to do as he pleased...
Well, save for Ainsu, of course, and perhaps maybe even the Muse if he could find him. Hopefully the Muse would be much more open-minded that Ainsu about killing Kaguyo; she would be out of the picture, but he could keep his friendship.
It seemed like it was an easy enough solution to everything...
After all, what could go wrong?
Replacing the bag within the cupboard, he dissipated into the air, returning to his invisible vigilance.

It wasn't hard for Kaguyo to read Hikaru's expression, sighing. "He tried to kill Aled-sama, and almost killed Aoikage, our friend with wings... What he did to this planet, time-wise.... What he did killed my family." she added, crossing her arms. "I don't want him near Aled again... I don't want to chance that he'll try to finish what he started. Most of all, the man... He may be caring, to a point, but he can be extremely controlling, if not possessive... He acts more like a father or an elder brother than a friend. It doesn't even matter that we've known eachother for so long..." she shook her head, "He'll always treat me as a child or something to be fussed over, protected... It's smothering... And with the way he's been acting lately, being near him is the absolute last thing I want. After all he did...."
It was obvious that the loss of her family had wounded Kaguyo a lot deeper than she had let on. Sure, they had never been very close... but...
Well, any chance for that was long, long, long gone now.
"Do you know why he was worried about 'my unconscious friend here', Hikaru?" she turned to face him, ignoring the clouds gathering outside the window, "Because he's been living with the thought that for the past year that he abandoned people to die, put them in those circumstances instead of doing the right thing. And he's right---he did. The fact that Aoikage and Aled survived all this time means he's only guilty of murdering my entire lineage.... The fact he left the Muse on this planet when he did almost guarantees their passing was violent and extremely painful... The Muse and I have a long history as well," she looked quite sober and tired at this thought, "I know he killed them all... Oh... and, I forgot to mention, this Muse was born of the man you just imprisoned. Ainsu used to be his host... He couldn't control him, couldn't keep control of himself even...."
But most importantly was the fact he would interfere with her plans, without a doubt. He wouldn't want her going ANYWHERE by herself----after all, he followed her here, didn't he?
Even if it wasn't solely for her sake...
"I'd rather be nowhere near him..." she insisted, "I don't want him anywhere near Aled either."

Kazuhiko seemed very intrigued by this. "Oral history, hmm...? Do you think you could get him to tell us some of it?" he tilted his head, watching the Emperor curiously. "I bet he'd do just about anything you'd ask of him, wouldn't he?"
If there was one thing Kazuhiko inherited from his father, it was his love of knowledge and stories. Even if it wasn't in a book, a good story was worth a great deal; it allowed him to figure out the atmosphere of the culture they now found themselves in.
Hopefully they weren't very vindictive... but then again, this was an empire thrust into power via conquest....
Most likely, it would all be propaganda.

Kazuhiko looked at the elephants and turned green; within a few seconds he was staggering off to puke. Something about the smell just wasn't agreeing with him today...
Which was a shame, because like his father, he was practically addicted to the treat. The man didn't know it, but he practiced stealth by stalking the poor things...
Nothing like hunting to make you appreciate what you eat, and hone your skills.
But while he was off defiling his mother's favorite vase, Aoki smirked to himself, ever always in his gaseous state.
He didn't intend to get Aoikage as well, but that was a bonus... The less people involved, the better his chances were of getting away with everything without getting caught....

Kaguyo nodded, sighing softly as she closed the door behind Hikaru. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Hikaru-san...."
He was right; tired wasn't even the word---exhausted was closer to the state she was in. Physically, she was energetic, even skiddish... But mentally, and emotionally...
Well, a nap would do her well... but she couldn't sleep without another cup of tea, at the very least, and she had to use the bathroom.
Which reminded her---the way things were looking around here, she wasn't going to be afforded the luxury of a flush toilet, was she...?
"Sumimasen..." she peeked out the door, creeping out and facing the guard, "Where could I use the bathroom...?"
How embarrassing....

"OW! Why don't you watch where you're go-...ing..."
Kaguyo just gaped for a few moments, clearly taken aback--she knew who it was the second she saw his shoes. "Ai... Ai..."
But she couldn't even finish his name, lifting her stare in disbelief; she paused a few moments on his hand, before meeting his eyes.
God, how stupid could she be?! He wasn't even TRYING to hide his ki.... and yet, she'd been too caught up in her own thoughts to have even noticed it.
For all the training she had gone through, she felt like she was getting lax....
"Ai..." she gulped, slowly backing away and rising to her feet, "Ainsu..."
Her chest ached; she was glad that he couldn't sense it, even if her eyes betrayed it for a fraction of a second. She did her best to gather herself, but she didn't have the forewarning to prepare. In truth, it was pretty obvious, or at least it would've been to Aled or Ainsu respectively.
"Why... why can't you leave me alone?" she asked, voice trembling like dry autumn leaves, "You don't know when to stop, do you?"
Good gods, she was completely unprepared. It seemed like she had thought of a thousand things to say for when this moment finally came to pass; for the life of her, she couldn't remember one of them.
It didn't matter, though... both she and Ainsu knew the answer to his question.
She had done it trying to buy herself time...
"You're not my caretaker... Not my family..." she looked to the floor, unable to look at his eyes any longer. They were too piercing, and made her feel uncomfortably transparent... "What do you expect of me, Ainsu?"

Kaguyo sighed softly. "How do you know how they died, Ainsu?" she asked him quietly, finding herself unable to come up with much more to say. "And no... no... I'm not happy. Far from it."
She stood in silence, staring at the ground. Even now his focus was intense; his ki was another matter entirely...
Even if she wanted to run, it would be hard to get started. It was getting harder to even stand upright; even if he was trying to calm down, she could sense his ki rising ever higher... It was hard to think straight.
"It's hard to forget that you made me like you." she finally added after a long period of silence, "But at least you have a mother... a father... odd as it is... but you have them. They're alive. You have a chance. I don't. I never will again. So no... no, Ainsu... I won't be happy until all of this is over."
She had to run. If his ki went up even a couple more levels, she would be brought to her knees; while he had trained with her, he clearly had done a large amount of improvement without her. She didn't ever remember him being this strong before...
At the very least, she wanted to keep some dignity in front of him.
Backing up a few steps, she took a long, shaky breath. "This... this is just too much for me, Ainsu..." she shook her head, turning around and bolting down the hall.
One couldn't help but notice that for once the air around her wasn't icy cold. Clearly she was too startled to even remember them, or perhaps how to use them; whatever it was, it was odd that her favorite defense mechanism was absent... Paired with her reaction, it could only mean one thing:
Ainsu had the upperhand.

The second Ainsu released Kaguyo she plummeted down, pale and struggling to maintain herself before the man.
Good gods... his power was absolutely astounding...
"It's not that." she whispered, "Your ki..."
Suddenly her running made a little bit of sense. "Baka... It's too much for me..."
She was tired, and trying to keep her own ki down was an endeavor in itself. Trying to keep it down, and simultaneously handle Ainsu's....
Well, it wasn't easy.
"I know you wouldn't hurt us again..." she stared at her hands, her knuckles white against the floor just trying to hold herself up, "But you did what you did... You can't expect me to just get over that. I need time to grieve, Ainsu."
She didn't sound scared, or angry... she just sounded sad. "You used to be an orphan, Ainsu... Our roles have reversed now. And yes... you're right... we need to continue..." she swallowed the lump in her throat, "But it's not something you force.... I... I don't hate you, Ainsu..."
She was just afraid to let him get too close... and at the moment, she just wanted time to process how the place that had once been her home had changed.
"Maybe you don't care...." she struggled a bit, looking up at him, "But everything---absolutely everything---I knew is gone, Su-kun. It hurts. Don't you understand? I don't want you to see me like this... so please... let me keep my dignity, lower your ki, and I'll let you heal Aled, alright??"
She lowered her gaze again, but with her arms weakening, it was hard to tell if it was from shame or exhaustion. "Please..."

Kaguyo's arms seemed to relax a little with Ainsu's actions; his words, however, angered her deeply.
"I never got to say goodbye... Never got to apologize. You never had a family to begin with, yes... But those were the people that raised me. That was where I grew up... You took my chances away from me without even a warning. I still get dreams, baka..."
It was true that Kaguyo had been tiring more and more quickly by the day. Upon closer inspection, she looked like she hadn't slept in a good while; more importantly, that exhaustion was in her expressions. Angry as she was, she was too tired to raise her voice, or even glare at him.
"Slow down, a*****e." she sighed, exasperated, "Do you want your cuffs off or not?"
Approaching him, she touched the cuffs until they were nice and frozen.... With the flick of her fingers, she shattered them with barely an effort. "You're welcome."
She seemed to glide ahead of him, silent and ever yet refusing to meet his eyes. "You can't just put a time limit on grief... Maybe if it had just been one person, Ainsu... But everyone...! Everyone... You judge me as you want. If you want to fault me for my regrets, and don't understand why those memories are especially painful returning here, then you're just as cold hearted as the Muse."
She opened the door to Aled's room, sighing again; her tea was undoubtedly cold at this point...
Perhaps it didn't matter. In the long run, she had a feeling she would have found herself with a frozen kettle before the day was over...