Leaning over the delicately cut marble banister of the palace, Touda let his arms hold him into place. It was difficult to discern where he was staring, with the visor completely masking the upper side of his face. For anyone watching him, they would have decided he was staring at the dark horizon, or even nearer, to the misleading forest that lay thickly around the palace.

Or maybe his eyes were trained to the two figures standing next to each other on the open land with only the moon and the candles placed over evenly-spaced towers as light.

A rustle came from behind him. He quickly averted his gaze but the other had probably seen what he was looking at, or else knew him.

"I am not engaging with another fight with you," he said in a voice that was as cold as the night. He recognized that scent. Naturally. He almost groaned aloud.

But the voice replied back, just as grimly, "I am not challenging."

"That would be a first." Touda turned to face Suzaku, still dressed in her normal robes. Her arms were crossed over her breasts, her unruly hair only caught and held by an elegant bow falling over her shoulders, and her face wore a frown. He had not seen her smile for a long time; not at him, anyway. "What do you want?"

"You're always brooding," she told him, smirking. Making her way towards him, she too leaned over the railing, although careful to put space between them, to catch sight of what he observing. "I see."

"Do you?" he said bitterly, not helping himself.

Below them, on the marble clearing near the garden, Asato Tsuzuki was explaining something to an intently listening Hisoka Kurosaki. Both were dressed in beautifully designed Oriental clothes. Even in the meager light, it was intriguing to watch them: the older man standing before the boy, using his hands to gesture as he spoke, for once, with a serious, yet delighted expression. With his head tilted back, Hisoka sat on the garden banister, eyebrows creased slightly and his mouth sometimes forming words to ask questions whenever his elder paused. Their exchange had been going on for hours; neither had noticed that the moon was climbing higher and the candles were burning lower as the night waned on.

Touda had been watching them for a long time.

"This--it's so beautiful," Suzaku sighed, resting a cheek over her right hand.

Touda covered his laughter with a polite laugh but the female shikigami quickly turned to him crossly. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied, giving one last cough. He had never known Suzaku to be sentimental.

Perhaps it also entered her mind. Suzaku straightened and glared at him. "Tsuzuki being here is what's beautiful. And that he actually has a currently long-term partner. It's--oh, what's the use of trying to explain?!" She threw up her arms.

Touda did not answer. It was no use, since he could not understand. Instead, he gave up staring at the two shinigami and turned to lean instead of the railing so that his back was to the night. Despite their distance, he could still feel Suzaku's furiousness with the rising temperature. It did not bother him. They were both fire shikigami, after all.

"Is it too reckless to hope you regret?" then came a quiet question.

The male shikigami stiffened and caught himself in time before he turned to his companion. He scowled. So, it always came back to this, and he knew enough to know what she was talking about. "Yes," he said. "I will never regret."

As expected, Suzaku was beside him, long fingers clenching his neck. He did not move as she leaned over him, face contorted in rage. "You," she hissed. "You would kill him in an instant, you heartless bastard! You do not understand his pain, you will wear him down!"

His heartbeat was increasing at her words. He could feel her heat, temperature rising in anger, and felt his own respond in equal fury. If he was not careful, this argument would end like the rest of them: destroying half of the palace, wreaking havoc and gossip, and risking Souryuu's wrath crash over them like a tidal wave.

Still he could not help the biting retort, "I understand him more than you ever will understand him!"

"Liar!" she snapped. "You think only what is best for you. You have no respect for him as a master. You--ah!" She gasped when his arms left the marble and grasped her wrists, pushing her away from him with all his controlled fury. She cursed him and tried to pull away but his fingers tightened. She would bruise tomorrow.

"No," he told her. He tried to keep his anger in check but found that he could not. No one, not even this goddess, will understand. "It is you who are selfish and disrespectful to his wishes. You think only what is best for you, what is best for everyone but him!"

"You would have killed Tsuzuki!" Suzaku cried.

"Then I would only have been granting his wish!" Touda gave her a small shake but she would not give another sign of surprise. He was quaking with anger. "I would have mourned him as you would�but you only wanted him to live so you won't feel guilty. Your own happiness is more important then his own!"

Suzaku was scowling. "You're twisting the situation," she countered. She gave a final tug and was surprised to find Touda releasing her. Stepping back and gingerly rubbing her wrists, she shot a glare at her adversary. "I never stopped hoping..." Her voice cracked; she cleared her throat, looked away, and continued, "�never stopped hoping he would find happiness despite everything he felt." She cast him another vile look. "I gave up my pride to protect him, and I love him for it."

"Don't think I don't love him as well," he retorted, turning again to the lower garden where the two shinigami were sitting together now, still talking. His voice became wistful and quiet. "I love him as well," he repeated softly.

"I know," Suzaku interrupted. She still sounded angry as she caught her breath but she was calming. The temperature surrounding them was returning to normal. "I only wish for you to apologize."

Touda's grip on the marble rails tightened and his knuckles were almost white if it had not been too dark to be seen. He answered, instead, "Apologizing was never an option. You know that."

"I never stopped hoping despite my knowledge," she retorted.

Below them, the two figures had realized that the candles were already molten wax over the trays and were now making their way towards the entrance with Hisoka dusting his robes from the stray twigs and leaves that fell on him. Beside him, Tsuzuki was laughing and picking some small flower buds that caught on Hisoka's hair, fingers entangling themselves through the lightly colored hair.

Not helping himself, Touda also made his way towards the entrance, intending to leave Suzaku to brood over the night horizon with everything unfinished between them.

But she spoke again: "I hate you for what you would have done."

Touda lifted the transparent curtains leading inside and, without turning, replied crossly, "I know." He ducked and entered.

"And I won't forgive you."

At this he paused. If Suzaku had seen his face, or if he faced her, she would have realized that his skin paled or that his fingers clenched at the words. Harshly, as if a misleading greeting of 'good evening', he retorted, "I never expected you to."

His heels made sharp sounds as they clicked over the floor.

Suzaku bit her lips and closed her eyes, remembering not for the last time the nightmare of flames engulfing her master and her own helpless anger.