at the end of this road is a paradise

It was you, wasn't it?

[ wherever he can track down Eichi (before he's presumably off to go ravish Akechi), Hikage finds him and stops him. His voice isn't accusatory; it's simply matter of fact.

The moment he looked at that leg, he knew. ]

[ after finding his mirror displaced, Hikage's been on the lookout for any other items he might have spontaneously misplaced and not realized. Which is really the only reason he has to go into the puppet theater. Does anyone even go in here unless they have to?!

Probably not. So maybe he's enlisted Belph's help in looking for things, if he has no other reason to be here. Hikage's about to leave when he finally notices his own puppet, strung high up towards the ceiling, and with something strange reflecting right stuck to its face. ]

... Do you see that?

... You're in danger.

[ it's not until Sunday evening that Hikage tracks down Akechi, wherever he might be. To be honest, Hikage still looks like garbage; his pants and some of his sleeve are stained with blood from dealing with Stephanie's grievous injury earlier in the day, and he looks more like a dead man than he ever has, his skin pale and eyes dark. The manic energy buzzing in his pupiles when he talks to Akechi is essentially absent - or it might be more accurate to say it's diffused across his whole body. He's taught with some kind of stress.

Basically, he looks bad. But he's not dead. Which surprises him, considering how close Stephanie got to dying this morning and how close he came to taking care of himself last night. For some reason, he's still clinging to survival. ]

[ so he'd been doing a pretty damn good job avoiding her this week, all things considered, but Hikage does need to go back to their room sooner or later. After the investigation is probably a good time - there will be something to talk about. Something that isn't a moment of passion under the influence. The love potion has long worn off, but the damage to Hikage's pride hasn't.

(Nor have the memories of... actually enjoying it. When you haven't truly experienced love or happiness in so long, it sticks with you...)

But he's not worrying about that right now. He has to concentrate on survival and figuring this out! When Steph enters the room, she'll see him looking through a nightstand where he's been storing some of his few belongings - and she'll also see him jump a mile when the door opens. ]

Oh -- S-Stephanie. Uh...

[ ok, good first play, hikage ]

[ Hikage... is tired. And it's not even mostly because of the trial, to be honest - although that didn't help matters. Belph is marginally easier to talk to than Steph, on account of not being a pretty girl (something about her that only makes her more confusing to Hikage), so he finds himself at Belph's doorstep after the trial.

In fact, he probably loiters around outside for a good minute or two, deciding if he should actually knock or not. Hopefully, no one passes by and sees him looking sketchy. But, eventually, he does knock. ]

Belph. It's me.

[ once Ion's gone, the evening progresses fairly normally; Hikage has his tea, they discuss today's unfortunate goings-on, he fusses over Steph's injuries (or the ones she has left, really), and, eventually, they go to sleep. He's become quite used to sleeping on the floor now. His back hurts, and the recent drop in temperatures has made it even less comfortable than before, but he endures. He's been through worse than this.

Tonight, though, he tosses and turns. His heart pounds; his fingers and toes feel cold; his mind won't stop racing, going through today's events until they're nothing but a skipping, tattered reel. It must be the adrenaline. Strange to think that a man without a real physical body could still feel such a visceral reaction to anything... then again, he still bled and cried like anyone else, too. Maybe it's a restlessness of the soul ailing him more than an effect of his body. He needs something to soothe it.

Why he goes to her bed, then, he doesn't know. But he stands, and quietly walks around to the side that's still vacant, and, wordlessly, slips himself between the covers. His mind feels blank. The mattress, however, feels comforting. Hikage lays on his side, looking at her silhouette in the gloom of the room. She probably woke up from that, knowing her. ]

Don't say a word.

[ he mumbles a defense, and his hand wanders to rest on her side as he does so, experimentally. ]

[ he's very glad that the mechanics of this space are similar to that of his manor, in some ways - for example, when he thinks that he'd like to speak with Tiger hard enough, that familiar door appears, and he strides through it easily.

He doesn't think of her in any special way, not particularly. It's simply that he's been acting the part of Hikage for so long tonight when the Master is threatening to practically burst from his throat. And it does, when he enters the room - a peal of laughter announces his presence as much as anything. He sounds like he's in on a dirty secret and can hardly contain his amusement.

And, well. Isn't he? ]

Hahaha... hahaha! What a great show! You're perverse, to set those fragile hearts against each other. Did you see how Akechi cried? I could hardly believe it! And the girl may as well have already been dead. [ he giggles a little bit. it's almost as if he's talking to himself, with Tiger just as the audience. ] What marvelous despair! I almost feel alive again.

[ akechi's had a long night already, and there's no doubt that it's going to stretch on even longer for a while yet. Hikage is sure that he's already met with plenty of people, some of whom no doubt want to kill him. He's glad that by the time he finds him - much later into the evening - Akechi is still breathing. ]

Still alive? [ that's his greeting... sorry, akechi ] I was wrong about you.

[ it could be accusatory, but it's not; his tone is neutral, and when Akechi turns to look at him, his eyes are crinkling slightly in that almost-smiling way. ]