So he did the only thing he thought was right to do: Nothing.

Well.../almost/ nothing.

This time, the situation just felt...how would you call it...spine tingling?

So he did the only thing he knew was wrong to do: He reassigned the general elsewhere then played the ignorant when it happened, just like he was feigning sleep now. It was hard to be passive and selfish at the same time.

Now thirty men are gone. And now his general is thirty men short without any idea why.

Thirty soldiers. Sacrificed for the sake of discretion. For the sake of their marshal's obsession with secrecy. For the sake of their general's life.

Tenpou heard the soft scuffle of boots heading towards the door. Heard it stop and hesitate, then go back...must have forgotten something.

Surely, had Kenren been there, things might have turned out differently. Or they might have not. Kenren could have saved them or could have disappeared as well. And that wouldn't have been good because Tenpou needed him...politically of course.

And Tenpou was selfish.

And not a better man.

And because Tenpou was selfish and not a better man, he was starting to wish there was a better man for this job.

He felt Kenren's presence by the bed. Quiet. He was staring again...

Someone with the compassion to love this hell hole more than his own life.

Because Tenpou, despite his love of war, hated death...and so...thirty...

Relaxing his muscles, the marshal tried not to cringe when he felt the warm kiss at the nape of his neck. Felt it retreat with the footsteps, growing cold on his skin with each passing second.

God, Kenren was going kill him.

The door opened...

A laugh. "Tenpou, I know you're awake."

...then closed. And after that, Tenpou didn't remember much, except for the snow and the fact that the room was getting colder and colder.

***

Did they return yet?"

"Yes, Litouten-sama. Two days ago."

The bureaucrat smiled over his papers, steepling his hands. "And?"

"Tenpou Gensui was unconscious when they arrived."

"Good. And the mirror?"

"Broken, sir. By the general."

"Excellent."

"Why so, sir?"

"A body without a soul can't live very long. He'll never wake up."

***

"Kanzeon-sama, what do you find so amusing that you laugh out of the blue?" demanded Jiroshin while quizzically looking from Kanzeon to the lily pond, from the lily pond, back to the Goddess of Mercy.

Another all-knowing malicious smile snuck its way onto her lips as she replied, "Strange times, Jiroshin. But good times."

"What in the world do you mean by that?"

Silence and a shrug. The smile faded and Kanzeon leaned boredly back into her throne. "I believe that the Marshal with have a temporary substitute standing in for him sometime soon."

"Why? Is he going somewhere?"

"Yes he is."

"And who is this substitute?"

The boddhisvata grinned again as she took a sip from her cup of tea. "A better man, I believe. A better man."

Jiroshin seemed ready to ask for a clarification, but Kanzeon immediately stuck the cup in his face and demanded, "Please change it. The drink is tepid. And boil the water well this time."

"You'll burn your tongue Kanzeon-sama!"

"But I like tea. Those who like tea shouldn't mind the heat, wouldn't you say? And those who do mind it, shouldn't drink it."

***

Life was strange. First you start hearing things while driving. Then you start seeing things. Yes, and then you wake up and you're naked in a room that you are dead sure is not your hotel room.

Kinda makes you want to think things through a bit, but Hakkai wasn't even given that luxury when he heard a bellowing voice he could have sworn was Gojyo's yelling out, "Tenpouuuuu! Rise n' shine!"

Then said voice was proceeded by a sturdy kick to the door and a raven-haired man garbed all in black pranced into the room, throwing a heap of freshly smelling clothes in his face. That's. Not. Gojyo.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? If you were gonna sleep in oh great, almighty, Tenpou Gensui, then you shoulda told me. I would've stayed instead of going to that boring ass military briefing!"

Tenpou...Gensui...

So Hakkai, being the highly self-conscious and highly courteous man that he was, immediately pulled the covers higher around him and asked the question of the millennium, "And you are?"

There was no way in hiding the fact that he sounded completely scandalized.

"Deserving of more compensation in the future, dammit." the man retorted, his anger only half hearted as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and proceeded to light it. "That is...after your meeting with Kanzeon-sama."

"Kanzeon..." The pieces of the puzzle were slowly...and painstakingly being put together. Kanzeon. was here, which meant that there wasn't any immediate danger. That was a good thing, he hoped. But back to more pressing matters: