John's mind blanked.

For a moment, there was nothing; no thoughts put to words, just an overwhelming sense of worry. The fugue didn't last long, though. Something snapped deep in his core as he took a deep, shuddering breath, fighting down the sudden incandescent rage that threatened to burn him up from the inside out.

How dare she? What gave Kiku the right to come stomping around here like she was the queen of the universe and ruin everything like some god damn drunk driver? Things were actually getting better for once!

Perhaps he was right, and that every bit of brightness came with a hidden dagger, waiting to punch its way right into your guts. He shouldn't have let his guard down so much.

He—he was going to fix this. Somehow. The problem would be resolved, and Kiku would never dare set foot in this region again by the time he was done with her. He had to make sure that there was nowhere to hide, nowhere where she could go to catch her breath.

What frustrated him the most was the question of how. It was impossible to fight a shadow, and for all her flaws, Kiku was maddeningly evasive, with her presence more felt than seen.

He took in air deeply and shuddered, violent energy once more trying to violently escape as he felt the urge to put his fist straight through the nearest wall.

John turned to Yuki. "Pardon me for a moment, I might be a bit loud," he shakily said.

A smile, so faint that he almost didn't notice it, graced Yuki's face. "Please, go ahead."

He opened his mouth and intended to curse Kiku out with words that had never been spoken on this world, he really did. Instead, what issued forth from his lungs was more of a primal, pained roar as he screamed his frustrations to the aether, reverberating off the walls.

It stretched on unto eternity, and he didn't know he could shout that long as his lungs burned and stars danced at the edges of his eyes, but it turned out his lungs could hold more than expected. By the time it was over, he was a heaving, panting mess, and he had to roughly clasp a hand onto wood shelving to make sure he didn't tip over. His lungs burned, his eyes watered, and his throat hurt from the sheer exertion.

Yet, his mind felt clearer and more focused than it had any right to be.

"Better?" Yuki asked.

After a moment, he nodded. "Surprisingly? Yeah." He felt more ready to act, at least.

Now that he thought more about it, everyone upstairs probably had questions, and the couple were probably scared half to death by his banshee-esque shrieking. Nobody came rushing down the stairs, though, so Rin probably knew he was fine, somehow.

"It's fine, we can deal with this," he sighed. "Now that I think of it, it isn't quite as bad as I thought, although we might have to take some cuts." John stopped, glancing around at the various sealed containers containing the more volatile foods. "The jars are still sealed, so Aiki physically couldn't have spoiled those, but everything else? We can't test it without knowing what she might have put on it." He paused for just a beat as something came to mind. "Wait. You said that there was no way she'd be able to use a poison that would disable me and still affect you, right? What about Rin?"

"I'm unsure about Rin, but in the short term, she should be fine," Yuki said, "If she spent months eating tainted products, whatever it is might build up into affecting her."

"So, the town is, in theory, safer for Aiki and Haru right now than here now that the priests put those wards up and the tax collectors are dealt with, right?" John asked. "Should we drop them and, uh, that tax collector we still have locked up? I think his name was Kaito? None of them knows anything secret, and odds are that anything that Kiku could get out of them she already got from her alone time with Aiki. That alone already cuts our food load in half, plus you can still eat the potentially spoiled stuff." He paused, just for a beat, as a new worry bloomed in his mind. "What if she expected us to see this? After all, you don't shed, so neither does she; thus, that hair may be there as bait, somehow."

"No, it'd be too likely to blow away or get lost. If I were her, I'd leave better, less unstable bait, like a mysterious bag of coins that happened to have a hair in it," the kitsune mused, shaking her head. "It's possible that it came loose during our last fight, and only fell off now. Nevertheless, I'd carefully wash everything in the kitchen, too. Dropping some poison in a cup would be terribly easy and not arouse much suspicion. Perhaps she tried to poison the well, but your curious system of filters should handle most common poisons she could acquire locally."

He didn't even think about that. He really, really should have.

"Besides that point, your idea has merit. I enjoy Aiki and Haru's presence, but they're liabilities right now. About Kaito…" Mischief flashed in her eyes, and a wide grin crossed her face as she made a big show of scratching her chin. "We have some money now, and his kind may still think him a traitor. Perhaps he could hire him as a food taster."

A vision of the man they held captive, weeping over a bowl of vegetables as Yuki loomed over him, forcing him to eat under the shroud of her intimidating presence flashed through his mind.

"Yuki, no," John said. "We don't need another person who is too scared to have a conversation with us hanging around."

"You're right, we could keep him in the room to avoid having to pay him," she admitted, sighing dramatically. "Either that, or we could feed him a selection of tainted foods before we send him on his way and see if he dies on the walk back. If we're lucky, perhaps he'll get fed to the Greater Nameless and get it sick."

"Please don't," John groaned. He was fairly sure she was messing with him, but the kitsune was a natural actor, even if that put-upon sigh seemingly gave the game away. Of course, there was always the chance that some "Haha, just joking… Unless…" shenanigans were in play, but he refused to believe Yuki would stoop to the level of some of the most desperate souls he had seen online.

"We could solve a few issues with a single choice," she mused, before finally shaking her head. "No, you're right. It's best to have a loyal food taster. Empress Mariko died that way back in my time; the head of the previous dynasty, whom she used as a shield against plots by his loyalists, managed to poison himself so completely that even his saliva was enough to taint the young empress' drink, starting another succession war."

For a moment, John just stared unblinkingly at his companion. If nothing else, that was an admirable level of commitment, even if it was surreal to imagine how long ago that must have been.

"Yeah, that makes sense," he muttered in response, unsure of how else to respond, pausing for an uncomfortably long time. "How the hell did you end up so nice when Kiku's so… like this?" John hesitantly asked.

Yuki's smile did not flicker, but she turned to John and stared at him with uncomfortable intensity.

John broke eye contact first, looking away and cringing. "Sorry. I didn't think what I said through."

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Yuki gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched at the unexpected contact. "I ask the same thing, sometimes."

John opened his mouth, unsure if he should say anything. He hadn't thought about it much then, but in retrospect swore she dropped a hint. How much could he trust his memory?

"Kiku did mention something about a betrayal, but she didn't elaborate," John said once he gathered his courage.

When he finally looked up, he saw that Yuki's gaze was boring into him with uncommon, steely intensity. "Are you sure she didn't mention anything else?" asked the kitsune.

"Yes," John said, shaking his head. "She seemed bitter about it, though. I don't know why I didn't think more about it before." Could some trauma be the reason behind the sister's ill temper? Perhaps more importantly, was it something from Yuki's earlier years or just before she was cast down and locked away? With the assorted mix of memories each of the kitsune sisters seemed to have, it could easily be either.

That gentle hand drifted along his neck before patting him on the head. It was his turn to glare at the kitsune, even if there was no heat to it.

"You were preoccupied. There's no shame in that," Yuki stated.

John broke eye contact first. "We should let them know. Maybe we'll bring them back tomorrow, if this storm lets up." Of course, this might be some kind of attempt to lure them into the open with fragile non-combatants to protect, but that was too conspiratorial, even for John, and if he locked himself up thinking about every "what if" he'd never get anything done.

"Of course. Do you want to deliver the news, or should I?" she inquired.

John paused. It was tempting to say no, to squirrel himself away on a project and not think about how much they may hate him now, but something in his heart wouldn't let him. Was it guilt? The sneaking suspicion that they feared Yuki even more than him? He didn't know.

What he did know was that he had to do right by them. They needed a proper explanation, and he could only pray he was strong enough to give it.

"I'll do it," John replied.

"Then I will inform our captive," Yuki said, turning to leave, although she lingered on the edge of the room, as if waiting for him to disagree.

He didn't, and she didn't stay long. John waited a minute for her to leave before following, closing the heavy door behind him as he left.

What a mess. Part of him was tempted to stay down here for a while to calm himself and clear his head, but fate awaited, and they were doubtlessly marinating in their own stress up there. Every minute he spent down here probably took a month off the couple's lives.

With that in mind, he finally trudged up the stairs, emerging into a room much the same as he had left it. Aiki and Haru were already tense, the couple borderline huddled together and already staring in his direction as he came back up. On the other hand, Rin was standing by the door, inside but still out of the rain, intently focused on it, like a threat may come through at any second.

"Lord John!" the couple echoed as one, deeply bowing. Rin spun, dipping as well, but not as deeply.

"Welcome back, sensei! Lady Yuki told us that you had something to say!" beamed Rin, snapping back up with her hands politely crossed down by her gut.

"Yes," he cautiously said, slowly walking away from the stairs, over to Aiki and Haru. The two, understandably, began to fidget as he got closer, but he didn't stop until he was a few feet away, although still not in their personal space. "First, though…"

John took a deep breath and then bowed deeply in return.

"Sensei!?" Rin shouted, but he ignored her. She could be weirded out by this all she wanted, but he was going to give the couple a proper apology.

"I'm so, so sorry, you two. We could have handled that a lot better, and there were ways we could have done that without terrifying both of you," John murmured. "If you don't want to forgive me, I entirely accept it, and it will not change how I treat you both."

The room was as still as the grave, the quiet hanging in the air uncomfortably, like he had a breakdown in an elevator crowded with strangers. When he looked up, Aiki was frozen in place like a deer in headlights, Haru's jaw dropped, eyes wide, and Rin was downright mortified, cupping her face in her hands, looking through her fingers like she couldn't look away.

"Would you two like a drink? I shouldn't, but I think I have some sake around here, and you two might need it after today," John said, breaking eye contact to glance around the shelves. Ah, there it is! Ten bottles, right next to the fabrics.

"Thank you, Lord John," Haru finally said, albeit slightly haltingly, echoed shortly after by Aiki.

He nodded, quickly grabbing a bottle, a tray, and two small cups before kneeling by the firepit, cracking the wax seal and pouring two cups. Awkwardly, Haru settled across from him, and then Aiki.

They shared a very unsure look before Haru moved first, grabbing one of the cups and sipping at it.

"So, I have a reason for earlier, even if it isn't an excuse. Aiki. Do you really recall nothing about what happened?" he asked, leaning in.

"No, Lord John," Aiki nervously muttered, eyes glued to his cup as he took a drink of it, wincing at the flavour.

Was he really going to do this? He should, but did he have to? He chewed the inside of his cheek, an awful habit, but he needed something to distract him before he started having second thoughts. No, they should know why he and Yuki reacted like that. He opened his mouth, but a shiver wracked him as the thought of Kiku's arms around him resurfaced, his thoughts crumbling like sand in her grasp.

Terror seized his heart, and he looked up, glancing around the room as if she might be hiding around any corner, waiting to jump out at him, but no pink furred figure slinked out of the shadows to claim him like she threatened, no, promised.

He was still at the fort. Still safe.

"I hope you never do. I've been through it; it's awful," John muttered. He wouldn't mention that Kiku was the one who did it, of course; an Unbound was supposed to have an Aegis that would protect them against that. "I saw it in novels when I was young, but I always thought, 'Pssh, that's it? That stuff wouldn't work on me,' but…" He trailed off, huffing, gathering his thoughts once more. "It doesn't work like that. It isn't a thing you can just power through. There's no tell that some of your thoughts aren't yours. One moment, you're yourself, and the next, you're an imposter wearing your own skin. Thinking and doing things you would never in a million years with a smile on your face." By the end, the words were racing out of him, and his tone was more erratic than he preferred. He stopped before he made a further fool out of himself.

Nobody else seemed to want to break the oppressive mood that had settled over the room like a wet blanket, so it was up to him. He never really looked away, but at some point during his rant, he had stopped paying attention to the world around him, and only now did he notice the looks of absolute horror everyone had trained on him. However, he had reason to suspect it was for entirely different reasons for Rin than Aiki and Haru.

"We're lucky that it wasn't something long-lasting and seemed to have faded when she was done with you, but that brings us to our next topic," John said, the high of uncalled for fear slowly fading into the background. "The tax collectors who plagued your town are either dead or have been absorbed into the local militia, and the priests have set up some kind of ward against yokai around town. Truth be told, you're probably safer there than here now. If you wish, we can have you home tomorrow, or perhaps a bit later, depending on when the storm ends."

Despite everything, of course, it was still an offer. If the couple didn't feel safe enough to head back yet, John was happy to keep them here, although with strict orders to stay away from the walls.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, the two of them were back on their feet, hugging, hooting, and hollering as they spun around one another like a pair of binary stars. They weren't saying words, at least as far as John understood them, but perhaps they were just too fast for him to catch; he was still not the best at this language, after all.

He rose and stepped toward the door. "Come on, Rin," he said as he passed her, "let's leave the lovebirds to it." She nodded, hesitantly, casting one last glance before them as she followed him out. "I'll stop by to get stuff for dinner later!" he said before closing the door.

It was, of course, still pouring outside, the rain hammering into the ground like bullets from the sky.

What lovely weather this place has sometimes.

"Sensei, what happened with the food? Wasn't that why you and Yuki went downstairs?" Rin asked.

"Ah, right," John said, subconsciously scratching his chin. "Well, it was inconclusive, so Yuki and I will have to come up with a plan, but all the sealed stuff is fine. Aiki… he's been through a lot today, you know? He didn't need that eating at him, especially when we had good news."

Hesitantly, she nodded, casting a glance at the door before turning back to him. "And the… other things you mentioned, sensei?"

The mind control. Kiku. Her hand, muffling every word he wanted to say as he dug deeper and deeper into—

"All true," he stated. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to run something to Yosuke. Please, enjoy the rest of your day. Rest up, it's been a long one."

Dipping his head to keep his eyes out of the rain, he made his way to the main building alone, the cold biting into his flesh. First, he had an umbrella to run to the poor bastard patrolling in this weather, and an invitation to come warm up inside later.

Second, he needed some time in the workshop. There were a few things he wanted to test out.

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