Ink Stained

30: let it begin, let it end*

それが終わるてみましょう、それは始めましょう

Standing near the top of a large, sturdy tree and easily hidden behind the thick cover of interwoven leaves, on a densely knotted branch that easily held his weight, he smiled.

A breeze wafted through the forest, stirring up the leaves that still clung desperately to the stronger trees deep within the forest. His nine tails shifted over each other as they tasted the scents in the wind. The early morning winter sun shone on him as though he stood under a limelight, at the centre of attention. The light brought out diamond specks of brightness in the silver fur of his tails. Lines of black circled the ends of each tail.

Deceptive, he idly thought. Just like he tended to be.

Though his tails looked no more dangerous than on any other living creature's, if he so willed it they could turn hard as steel, as hard and sharp as uncut diamond, easily able to pierce through a body all the way through like so much paper. They acted as a shield, preventing anything shot at him from actually reaching him. Over the course of his long, long life, many things had been aimed at him with the intent to kill.

He let very few of the ones who'd done the aiming live.

There was a light jingle of a small bell that twinkled sweetly as a cat with two sleek tails twining around each other landed nimbly on the same branch he stood on. Its fur was black as midnight, with white sock-like patches at each of its four pink paws. Around the cat's neck was a dark blue strap that held a single silver bell on it that alerted him whenever the cat was near. Long ago, an Onmyoji had spelled the bell so that only those the cat wished to hear it would be able to.

"Kage-chan," it said in greeting, a male and human voice coming from the throat of the Bakeneko.

He scowled down at the cat as it sat neatly by his feet, two tails wrapping neatly around its legs as it lifted a single paw and began cleaning its face. The cat didn't seem concerned that one of the most dangerous Hengen alive was glowering at it as it continued to wash itself. But then again, it knew that there was really nothing the man could do to it. They had been through far too much together for him to even try. His eyes were closed, even, speaking to how at ease and totally unbothered he was.

"I told you not to call me that, Sato." He reminded blandly. "Multiple times, if I recall."

Sato paused with his paw mid-air. One glowing red eye opened to look into the almost matching red eyes of Kagetora. The pupil was a black slit outlined in a thin line of golden yellow. "Do you think I care?"

"You should, if you don't want your fur burned off like last time."

Both of Sato's eyes opened at that, and his lips pulled back over his fangs in a mock-hiss. It had taken Sato almost a year to grow back the singed-off fur along his spine after Kagetora had used his kitsunebi to chase a yowling Sato around after he refused to stop calling him 'Kage-chan'. Even thirty years later, the fur there was still shorter than that along the rest of his body.

It pissed him off. "I still haven't paid you back for that."

Kagetora's lips kicked up in an amused smirk. "You can't get the jump on me, is why."

"Too much energy to waste on an idiotic jackass who's too full of his own supposed intellect, is why." Sato shot back.