Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal

by Forthright

  “I get it now.” Akira leaned up to kiss his best friend’s cheek. “That’s a nice idea. I like it better than what I thought you were suggesting.”

  Suuzu hummed inquiringly.

  “Well, with the story and all,” Akira said. “I was sorta worried that you were going to try to get me pregnant.”

  With an exasperated groan, Suuzu gave in to a fresh wash of tears. But at least this time, he was laughing through them.

  FORTY-SIX

  Rooftops

  Tenma had never been so scared in his life. Yes, his first day of school had shattered his courage, but this didn’t begin to compare. It was one thing to be surrounded by passive, peaceful Amaranthine. Quite another to know with dread certainty that one of them moved like a predator, and you were its prey.

  Were they to be the next kidnap victims? Would Ms. Reeves give Class 3-C the bad news tomorrow? No, wait. Beginning tomorrow, they were off for a week to observe the anniversary of the Emergence. But when their classmates returned, Sentinel Skybellow would grimly rehearse his safety protocols, reminding students to take extra care when leaving campus.

  Because Tenma had been foolish. He might even die. This thing driving toward them, it felt merciless and manic. A soul-tearing terror he could never hope to outrun on his own.

  Gradually, Tenma became aware that Inti was saying things, patting his face, stroking his hair. He was less afraid of Inti than of the monster in the darkness. Of course, the crosser wasn’t exactly Amaranthine. Tenma could see the split in Inti, two natures twining, both wild in their other-ness. Which made him curious if he could actually see the souls of reavers in the same palette of colors that filled his mind when he focused on a person. Maybe he should try it on Isla … if he survived the night.

  “Ten-ma, Ten-ma.”

  The teasing sing-song pulled at his attention, but another wild leap left him dizzy. All he could do was lock his arms around his friend’s slim shoulders and gasp for every breath. “I’m so scared, Inti,” he confessed.

  “Are you with me, Tenma? Can you hear my voice now?”

  “I hear you.”

  “Good, good, good.”

  Inti changed directions so fast, Tenma groaned in protest.

  “I know a place. I’m going to hide you there, then go for help. You’ll need to stay quiet while I lead the threat away.”

  Tenma fumbled to straighten his glasses. “Inti, is that you?”

  The crosser landed on the peak of a roof, slid down the opposite slope, and leapt over an alley. Coming to a halt, he met Tenma’s gaze. A playful little smile warmed his expression. “Inti is here. Inti has always been here.”

  “I guess you have.”

  Inti let him down, but Tenma’s legs quavered too much to hold him up. Even as he sagged to the ground, he caught Inti’s pant leg, afraid of being left behind.

  A warm tail wrapped around Tenma’s chest, its tufted tip tickling his nose. “Can you trust me?” asked Inti.

  “I do trust you.”

  “This way.” Inti levered Tenma onto his feet and guided him to the other end of the roof.

  He wasn’t sure exactly where they were in Keishi, but it was three stories above a busy street. Shops and restaurants were clogged with people already celebrating the international holiday.

  Inti crouched before a dark metal box, some kind of ventilation unit, and pulled a louvered grate off the front. “In.”

  Tenma crawled into the tight space, pulling his knees up to his chest to fit. His roommate bumped his forehead with a hasty kiss, then snapped the cover into place. Through the downward angle of the metal shutters, Tenma could only see dim slices of the gravel and tar roof, but Inti’s hand darted in and out of view, creating a pattern on the ground.

  A sigil? Had Inti warded his hiding place? Or marked it somehow? Since when did their class clown know sigilcraft?

  Further speculation was soon driven from Tenma’s mind. Their pursuer had caught up.

  Tremors rippled through his muscles, brought on by tension and by the cold. The monster was close enough, he was catching moods—gleeful, vindictive, triumphant. But he didn’t want to be noticed, so he tamped down on the urge to explore further. Tenma wouldn’t disremember this raw, reveling soul anytime soon.

  A moment later, the predatory presence veered away, chasing after Inti. And instead of being afraid for himself, Tenma was wretchedly frightened for his friend. Was the crosser cunning enough to stay ahead of something older and wilier?

  The panic vanished, which made sense. Without any Amaranthine in the vicinity, fear lost its hold over him. He slumped sideways in the chill space, queasy in the aftermath of all that adrenalin.

  For a long while, nothing else happened. But then a howl bit through the darkness, jolting Tenma’s heart back into overdrive. A second howl came, closer this time. Every hair seemed to stand on end, straining for any sign of a threat. Tenma went still, sure that something was coming for him.

  Even though the reasonable part of Tenma’s brain knew that Inti had promised to send help, its coming alarmed him. He was being hunted again. And he was trapped.

  Something landed on his rooftop and came closer, snuffling. Padding steps, and a pair of large black paws appeared through the slats, their claws faintly scraping the roof’s pebbled surface. A low whine sent ice down Tenma’s spine.

  It was stupid to be afraid. But he had to bite his lip to keep from sobbing.

  A voice came, speaking in a foreign language. English. Then what he recognized as a muttered oath before he could understand. “Sorry, Subaru-kun. In Japanese this time. You okay?”

  Familiarity did nothing to stave off the fear.

  “Tenma Subaru?” The person outside crouched as if kowtowing in apology, keen eyes peering up through the metal slats. “Aw, man. He’s so scared. Can you reach Hanoo?”

  The howl poured through his heart like ice water, and he shivered.

  “I’m opening the hatch, Tenma. Hang on, man. Nice and easy.” He’d reverted to muttering in English, but he moved slowly. Setting aside the flimsy barricade that had kept Tenma hidden, he made the sign for peace. “You know who I am, buddy?”

  “Ploom,” he whispered.

  “Yeah, it’s Ploom.” He gestured to the big wolf looming behind him. “And this is one of our Kith. You remember Cove? You met him in class, the Nightspangle wolf partnered to Reaver Armstrong.”

  He was babbling, just keeping up a soothing monologue, and he’d assumed such a submissive posture, he was almost groveling. Tenma closed his eyes. Ploom was his classmate, his friend. Easily as nice as Quen. Why couldn’t he accept the closeness he craved?

  A low call, the sound of running feet, and another voice. “Subaru-kun?”

  Hanoo had come.

  “Did something happen?” Hanoo frowned. “Hey, now. Where’s your seal, huh?”

  “Sorry,” Tenma mumbled. “Lost it. Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

  “Nothing to apologize for.” Hanoo sat on the ground, elbows on knees, hands hidden from view. “Bad news is … none of us knows beans about sigilcraft, so we can’t give you any relief.”

  Tenma nodded.

  Hanoo raked a hand through his hair. “Where is Quen in all this?”

  Ploom said, “The entire Starmark pack is at circle tonight.”

  “Got it. Okay, then. Guess we’re it.” Hanoo said, “I know this isn’t going to appeal, but the best way to get little reavers over their fear of us has always been touch. May I touch you, Tenma-kun?”

  Anything, as long as it worked. Tenma struggled to move his numb limbs and scooted awkwardly forward, to be met partway. Hanoo lifted and pulled, and Tenma collapsed into the young wolf, who’d traded his usual school clothes for a fur vest. By this point, Tenma was half-frozen, and some basic part of his nature had given up the fight. Limp and unresisting, he waited for Hanoo to put him out of his misery—one way or another.

  “You’re all jitters and jumps. Give your instincts time to catch up.”
Hanoo tucked Tenma under his chin and rubbed circles against his back. “Keep telling yourself I’m a friend. You’re safe now.”

  Safe. Tenma withdrew into himself, trying not to think about anything beyond his next heartbeat. Little by little, Hanoo’s presence took shape in his mind, heavy as a quilt, thick with comfort, a hushing darkness that rumbled like distant thunder.

  “Did something happen?” Hanoo asked softly.

  “Lost my sigil.”

  A hand stroked his hair, touched his back, and Tenma could tell it was Ploom, shining green-gold and shifting like sunlight through spring leaves. Tenma was sorry to have worried such a gentle, happy person.

  Hanoo said, “Something else, though. We’ve been patrolling these streets since dusk, and none of us has seen anything. We were closest, so we got here first. More are on their way. Only I can’t understand what you’re doing, stranded on a roof, quaking like a slope full of aspens.”

  Was he serious? “We were chased. Me and Inti. He went for help.”

  “You smell anything?” asked Hanoo.

  Ploom said, “Tenma always smells like Inti. Who was chasing you, Tenma-kun?”

  “Something … someone … umm. Not a wolf.” He was trying to sort out what he meant. Now that he was paying attention, he recognized an underlying similarity between Hanoo and Ploom. He noticed it because he was relying heavily on their resemblance to Quen. “Not a wolf or a dog. Not a bear or a horse. Nothing like our classmates.”

  “You can tell?” asked Hanoo.

  “A little.”

  Ploom murmured, “Yoota’s coming. He brought help.”

  “Surely, this is a false alarm.”

  The lilting voice had a peevish quality that sliced through Tenma’s fears. He knew this person, trusted him, wanted him.

  “The victims are always female. This one’s clearly male.”

  The approaching steps faltered, and there was a harsh trill of displeasure. An instant later, Tenma smelled perfume, and rings sparkled on the hand that caught his chin. He couldn’t help its quivering.

  “Hello, sealed boy,” crooned Lord Mossberne. “Or unsealed, it would seem.”

  “You know each other?” asked Hanoo.

  “Intimately.” Lapis unfastened one of his earrings, whispered something to the stone, and pressed it into Tenma’s palm. “There, now. Tell me you are impressed.”

  Oh, he was. He managed a noise. It wasn’t a very dignified noise.

  “Well, then.” The dragon lord snatched him from Hanoo’s grasp and assessed their surroundings with obvious distaste. “I do not care for the way the wind is blowing. Is there someplace warmer we can have this conversation?”

  FORTY-SEVEN

  Shambles

  Kimiko took the time to greet each of the guests to Kikusawa Shrine, which is how she noticed Lord Mossberne’s absence. “Are we missing a dragon?” she whispered to Hisoka.

  His step checked. “Ah. Lapis volunteered to stand watch. He’s perched on one of your stone dragons at the lower gate.”

  “Odd.”

  “Apt,” countered the cat, his gaze taking in those gathered.

  “Have you seen Suuzu?”

  “Yes.” Hisoka made an unobtrusive hand sign—stay where you are. “He and Akira have excellent seats for the proceedings. Which you may begin as soon as your representatives take their places.”

  Eloquence must have heard because he gathered up a sleepy Ever and invited her father to take his seat. An ornate bench flanked by heaters had been placed near Kusunoki’s base. Ever squirmed happily on his cushion, then clambered onto Mr. Miyabe’s lap. Eloquence tucked them both under one of the fur blankets provided by his pack, then moved into position.

  Their place had been marked, and Kimiko had to wonder who was responsible for the red chrysanthemum newly painted onto the ancient paver at their feet.

  She peered around, and conversations fell off. The balance between humans and Amaranthine was equal, thanks in part to the inclusion of Isla and her father. Dickon presided over the Miyabe women with the air of a bodyguard. Mama was beaming and dabbing at her eyes. Eloquence’s brothers looked on with matching expressions of pride. Uncle Laud hang back from the rest, leaning against Rise’s glossy bulk.

  Kimiko’s part didn’t require anything drastic. In truth, she could have offered a few sentences, kissed the boy, and been done in under a minute. But this first pledge was for show, so she’d worked out a few things to say in order to prolong the moment.

  Taking a slow, deep breath, she gazed up into the tangle of branches overhead. In this place, over the course of twelve kisses, her life would be changed. By chance and by choice. And by the one she needed to chase.

  “Ready?” she whispered.

  “As my lady pleases,” he murmured, assuming a receptive pose.

  She’d been fine throughout the evening, sticking to Suuzu’s careful schedule. It was easy to be poised with him and Hisoka in charge of extraneous details. Their calm was catching. But she hadn’t really thought about the fact that she’d need to look Eloquence in the eye while she said her piece.

  He actually seemed flustered.

  “Kith commentary?” she murmured.

  Eloquence gave a tiny nod.

  “Tell me later?”

  “Ask me eleven pledges from tonight.”

  She reached for his hands and supported them. “Is that a promise?”

  He was focused on her now, tuning out the other voices in favor of her flirting. And a smile teased at the corner of his mouth. He hummed an affirmative.

  Aware that their onlookers were waiting, Kimiko adjusted her stance and changed the set of her hands over his. Without really meaning to, she reached for the connection they’d shared yesterday. Just a touch, but he reached back, a fleeting nudge that assured her that on some level, this was a private moment. Theirs alone.

  Firelight glinted in his eyes, and Kimiko allowed a small, smug part of herself to admire his beauty.

  Eloquence’s eyes widened somewhat, then quickly lowered.

  Kimiko began to speak. “In the Amaranthine folk tale known as ‘The Wolf and the Moon Maiden,’ a single encounter reshapes the hero’s future. He never planned to meet the beauty who steals his heart. And he’s equally awed that she would welcome his suit.”

  With a glance, she addressed herself to Harmonious and Anna. “Naturally, the moon is protective of her daughter and will not immediately entrust her to the wolf. She sets a series of tasks, requiring pledges and patience from the suitor. Beneath the branches of the tree where they met, he completes his courtship through a series of kisses, for in wolf tradition, a kiss cannot lie.”

  Murmurs of interest and approval made it feel as if she were in a dialogue with their guests.

  Kimiko returned her attention to her intended. “Eloquence is no more a maiden than I am a hero, but I chose this story for the elements that hold true. Our encounter was unexpected, yet I’ve been warmly welcomed. I am pleased by his kindness and calmed by his strength. Eloquence has my trust. Here, I will prove my devotion, beneath the branches of the tree that … watched over … my childhood.”

  She trailed off, for the crowd was stirring, distracted.

  Eloquence’s head turned. Kimiko shaped her fingers into a plea for information, which he answered with a similar hand signal—hold.

  “Someone is at the gate,” he said. “And they are very loud.”

  “I don’t hear anything.”

  Eloquence answered distractedly. “The barrier has noise dampening properties. I had not realized … the city is full of noise. Elderbough’s trackers are on a scent.”

  Kimiko watched his gaze turn fully inward, and she assumed he was listening to the distant voices of Kith. Off to one side, Rise had begun to growl. Eloquence’s face suddenly shifted into alarm, just as a lone figure dashed into the courtyard.

  Even at speed, she recognized him. “Inti?”

  The crosser hurled himself at Hisoka, who caught him wit
hout a fuss and strolled over to Harmonious. Eloquence’s brothers joined them, and soon, Inti was standing on Hisoka’s shoulders, gesturing broadly while he talked.

  “What’s happened?” asked Kimiko.

  Eloquence said, “I’m not sure, but Tenma needs me.”

  Two trackers—Elderboughs by their coloring—hurried over to Adoona-soh, whose face betrayed nothing of her thoughts.

  Kimiko whispered, “Do you need to go?”

  He didn’t budge. “My place is usually with Merit. My eldest brother and I help to coordinate the movements of our pack as they patrol the city. This is especially important when they are tracking something.”

  “So you need to go,” she surmised, loosening her hold.

  Eloquence firmly declared, “I will not rebuff my suitor on the very night of our betrothal.”

  “But it’s an emergency.”

  “Then kiss me quick, Kimiko.”

  Formalities. Her pledge wouldn’t be complete without the requisite kiss, and if he left without one, his clan could consider her spurned. Up on tiptoe, she brushed her lips quickly across his. Only when she tried to back away, he caught her wrists and pulled her back.

  “I was in a hurry to begin the kiss, not to end it,” he chided. “Besides, I don’t think Ever was watching.”

  At the sound of his name, the little boy’s ears pricked.

  With both representatives looking on, Kimiko kissed Eloquence again, soft and slow.

  He hummed against her mouth and even stole a tiny taste. Boots began stomping, coming from the direction of his brothers. And Rise broke into a howl that set off every other canine in the vicinity.

  Pulling back, Eloquence whispered, “Do not make me wait too long for your next pledge.”

  “In a hurry?” she teased.

  He stole a quick kiss, then hurried over to Merit, Prospect, and Valor, who welcomed him with much back-slapping and roughing up of hair.

  Kimiko was about to go see if she could help Isla calm down Inti when she realized that Anna Starmark was striding her way, talking over her shoulder at Harmonious, whose whole posture was placating.