Okay. He could handle this, Hakkai repeated to himself. WORSE THINGS have happened.(Not that this was anything too bad...) THIS was just an oddity borne of consequence. Deja vu in the eyes of a stranger... And he didn't like it, bodily pleasure or not.

Wrapping the sheets around him and padding to the door, he said through the cracks, "Just let me shower, okay?" he said with as much composure as he could muster up.

He felt like he hadn't showered in days...even though he distinctly remembered going to the bath house last night and having a nice long and well deserved soak.

From the other sound came a choke as if the other had swallowed the smoke of his cigarette. "Geeze, don't /do/ that without warning me first! It's, like, really freaky."

"What? Surprising you like this?"

"No, saying that you're gonna take a shower."

"So are you saying that I shouldn't? Is that how things are done here? What strange customs...And while you're at it, could you please tell me where I-"

"Take the damn shower, Tenpou. Even I won't let you see Kanzeon-sama smelling like sex."

Like...sex? But he didn't even...what was...and why was...

Hakkai had a vague idea, and the only piece of solid ground in the whole thought was the fact that he was absolutely positive that Tenpou Gensui was dead. As surely as Hakkai breathed, he knew that Tenpou Gensui was a pile of five hundred year old ash.

And then he found a mirror...

***

Chapter 4: Without A Trace