Before entering the portal to Wraith’s home, Wraith gave Izumi his robe, pulling the hood over his eyes and warning him to keep his gaze low. Trying to explain to his entire faction Izumi’s situation was too much work, and the more people that knew about him, the more at risk he was. The red robe was enough to mask Izumi’s human scent due to its magical properties, yet at the same time Wraith was grateful for any opportunity to see Izumi wearing it. Upon entry, a legion of spirits entered the hall and bowed, humbly greeting Wraith before he sent them on their way once more. Dahlia and Neio, who were previously watching over the neighboring town to Hodaira per Wraith’s request, took Faelan in order to give them a tour of the grand estate as well as briefing them on Izumi’s case, since Faelan already met him. The interior of the manor was similar to that of a Victorian palace of ages, which explained Wraith’s lack of amazement at modern structures. It was several stories in height and Wraith’s bedroom was located on the top floor at the far opposite end of the estate. Strangely enough though, Wraith’s room wasn’t really furnished at all in comparison and it lacked the same variety of colors that the rest of the home had, consisting primarily of shades of blacks and reds. The room itself was of black marble, which per Izumi’s question of it, Wraith only noted that it was easier to clean, although he was still unsure what that meant. In addition, there was a set of couches surrounding a glass coffee table which never lacked alcohol and accompanying glasses. Located on the far end of the room was an enormous circular crimson bed draped with a near opaque canopy, the likes of which could fit at least ten Faelans, likely more. To the left was a door which led to his private bathhouse, which was beside a few dressers; while on the right...nothing. Somehow, Wraith’s room met Izumi’s expectations in a weird way, but they were also below them. It most definitely was in character for Wraith to have a simultaneously simple yet in some ways extravagant bedroom, but the rest of the estate was undeniably more of a sight.

“What, you don’t like it?” Wraith ruffled Izumi’s hood and sank into a couch. Back to the bed, he lit a cigarette, Izumi nearly chastising him until he remembered that it’s his home, and his room, so he could do what he wanted, including smoking indoors. There were only the two of them in his immensely spacious bedroom for the time being, as Wraith requested Neio to bring Izumi dinner when he finished with Faelan.

“I mean it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just…”

“Not what you expected?”

“Kind of?” Izumi continued to look around the room, while Wraith sat unbothered, not even watching him. “It is but isn’t. At the least it is very...you in its own way.”

“That sounds like an insult.” Wraith jokingly scoffs.

“It’s not! I kinda like it…I guess? Could use something that isn’t...you know...red or black.”

Izumi made his way to the bed, gliding his hands across the fabric. A feeling of fluffy comfort tempted him into relaxation, as the cloth was unimaginably warm and soft, almost pulling him into its homely embrace. Suddenly, through his mesmerization, he felt a hand against his own, jumping in surprise. Wraith had made his way over unbeknownst to Izumi, since he was so absorbed in the texture of the bed, caressing the back of his hand, delicately trailing up his arm. Resting the other on Izumi’s waist, Wraith whispered into his ear, “But...you seem to like the bed, right?”

“I mean...it’s nice…” Unsure how to react, Izumi only awkwardly accepted Wraith’s advances. Although he was previously upset with him, Wraith did apologize then, and he also said that upon Faelan’s return he would explain himself. So...perhaps it’s fine...Izumi had little resistance when it came to Wraith as well, especially in matters such as this.

“Could you believe there was a time where I needed a bed this big?”

Words contradicting his actions, Izumi stiffened at Wraith's touch. Now with both hands lightly holding his waist, Wraith pulled Izumi closer, pressing against him. “Are you still upset with me?”

Izumi whipped around to face Wraith to protest his statement, now torso to torso. “No! And before you ask I’m sure.”

A relieved sigh. “I’m...sorry again anyways. Seeing you cry just…” Tore me apart, he wanted to say, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull the words out. Why? Why did he struggle? Why did he act so differently with Izumi? Why did he care what Izumi thought of him? Why did Izumi’s tearful expression hurt him? Even now, his heart ached, Izumi’s cry etched into his mind, and even now, he couldn’t answer these raging questions in his mind. Wraith swallowed hard, drowning his worries for the time being.

“Then,” Wraith leaned in, waiting for Izumi to close his eyes first before he gave him a peck. “Do you want to see how comfy the bed really is?”

The answer comes in the form of another kiss, this time from Izumi. Onto the bed they slowly inched with each exchanged kiss, their hands overlapping until-... the doors opened. Izumi felt a lump in his throat as his soul fled his body, too stunned to even move. Through the large set of doors came Neio, Dahlia, and Faelan along with maids which carted in Izumi’s dinner and a set of cool drinks, placing it all on the table. They came to slowly discern the scene which they interrupted, making the situation even more unbearable for everyone.

Boisterously, as per usual, Neio burst through the doors. “Hey Bo-OOOOOSSSS WOAH OOPS!!” Dahlia groaned at Neio’s overt reaction, which didn’t help in the slightest. “Would you prefer we leave and come back later orrrrr….?”

Wraith closed his eyes, imagining Izumi’s crying and his scolding, taking in an aggressively deep inhale at the same time before smiling with clear hostility, “It’s fine.”

  Pulling Izumi’s hood lower to cover his inflamed face, Wraith held his hand and led him to the living area, Izumi standing behind Wraith as much as he could. The maids had wheeled out the food carts by the time Wraith sat down, Izumi beside him. Across from the pair were Neio and Dahlia, Faelan sitting on the floor beside their couch. The three were too ashamed to even pick up their drinks, while Wraith on the other hand had to drink to quell his violent compulsions that were simmering to a boil the more he had to watch Izumi fold into himself. To try and ease the tension, Wraith had suggested for Izumi to eat his food before it gets cold. Neio vigorously avoided eye contact with Wraith, already knowing that he was in for it later if Izumi didn’t pull some strings, and luckily he did. The delicious food effectively saved Neio’s hide as Izumi felt his embarrassment fade the moment he took a bite.

“I know you said you practice but it’s still amazing to me that you’re this good at cooking without ever having tasted your own food!”

Neio fails to suppress his obvious relief, his eyes clearly giving it away even through his hearty smile. “I’m glad you like it as always, it’s always a pleasure to cook for you little Izumi! It’s like cooking for the boss, except I don’t cook for the boss since he can’t eat, so it’s a good substitute.”

Tapping his glass, Wraith deafened their voices, trying to come to terms with the fact that there will never be a proper moment for him to speak up about the matter he called them here to discuss, but it was an inevitability. So, with a heaved sigh, he began.

“I...should explain to you why I got so upset earlier, Izumi.”

Izumi’s eating came to a slow halt, trying to give Wraith his full attention.

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“It’s fine if..?”

“They know. And now I suppose you do as well. I told you once that I was the only specter that knew how to change someone’s physical appearance, and that still stands. But...the reason behind that is because I had changed my own.”

“I thought you said specters could shapeshift though?”

“They can, but they still have a true form regardless, which is whatever they looked like at birth. Obviously you’d be more comfortable in your own skin than in the shape of an animal or anything. In my case I…Let’s just say if Faelan thinks that he looks like a monster, I’d be your worst nightmare.” Izumi isn’t sure if he should ask the questions which arise in his mind, unsure to which extent Wraith is willing to unveil his past, but Wraith sees this to his luck, as he knows how curious Izumi always is about their world. “You can ask, I’ll answer what I can, or what I’m comfortable with.” In truth, he wasn’t comfortable disclosing this information period, yet fate had forced his hand.

“Then...why did you change it?”

“Most of the world’s hate for me comes from who I am now, but it’s also rooted at who I used to be, at least in terms of rumors. No one is really sure when this version of me came to be, but the common consensus is that the ‘old me’, that is my true form, was a different specter altogether. They believe that the specter of despair before me had died and then I came, which in truth, I was both. And...there aren’t many records of my old self to begin with. I avoided being seen by the public and if I had I’d kill whoever did. At least usually. It wasn’t necessarily for the reason you may be thinking, but I don’t want to say anything else about that. I was…scared, is honestly the best way to put it. Scared that other people would know who I once was. There was something I did at the time and…” Wraith pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to step around the topic, “...nevermind. Maybe I’ll tell you one day, maybe I won’t. Just if anyone knows about that then there’s the chance they know something else. I guess...in short....I wanted a fresh start. Funny enough, it was because of Lavina. After I met her, I wanted to change and leave my past behind me, and that was the best way to do it.”

For love. Although it wasn’t entirely for that reason, the thought still made Izumi smile a little. Mainly the fact that even someone like Wraith was capable of the emotion, and to theatrical extents.

“What is it?” The weirdly timed smile had caught his attention.

“I don’t know, I just thought that it was kind of funny that even you do strange things for love.”

Hurriedly Wraith denies the accusation. “At the time yea but I don’t love her anymore and haven’t for a long time, but still.” Recalling his innocent days, he softly smiles. “She’s still important to me in her own way.”

Wraith’s expression at the mention of Lavina sets off an unfamiliar feeling in Izumi’s chest, like a knife had been twisted through. Fingering the hem of his sleeves, he looked away to avoid the growing ache within him as he searched for an answer. Am I...jealous? Izumi thought to himself. But they broke up forever ago. Still though...he loved her enough to do a complete 180…I...wish…

“Izumi?”

“Y-Yea?”

“Are you alright?”

“Yea, I’m fine…” He was jealous, but he couldn’t admit that. He had nothing to be jealous over, they weren’t even in a relationship anymore. Nonetheless, Izumi couldn’t stop the emotion from taking hold.

  In an attempt to change the topic, Neio swooped in with a story of his own. “Welllllllll I don’t suppose I ever told you how I met the boss, right?” Izumi shook his head, Wraith returning quietly to his glass. “SO, right, what happened was there was this HUUGE war, I’m talking world scale, any and every spirit and specter alike knows about it, most ghosts do too, depending on when they died. You’ll hear it called The Great War a lot, pretty self explanatory right? Well, anyways, after the war there was basically no specters. No specters meant no factions. No factions means that spirits just did whatever the hell they wanted, but that’s not important for this story. I was damn right on the door of death when the boss found me, was right after this battle that annihilated the specter I used to follow and basically everyone else along with it. And you know what he did? Sat next to me, who was bleeding out and all, and asked if I wanted a drink. Can you believe that?” Roaring with laughter at recollection of their meeting, Neio held his sides in delightful pain. “A drink! A doctor would’ve been nice!”

The repetition succeeds in getting a chuckle out of Izumi, until he realizes a flaw in his story. “I thought you said that there were no specters or factions though? So how come Wraith was there?”

“I said basically no specters. Thing is, him and Lavina were still around, but neither of them had factions. Lavina still doesn’t, never did. The boss though, he didn’t have a faction for a reaaaallly long time, when I had met him he looked like what you see now, so if you were curious, none of us ever saw his true form. I think Lavina knows what he used to look like though.”

Wraith takes a sip of his drink, approving the statement with a nod.

“So...obviously you didn’t die, so what happened?”

“So you ARE interested.”

“Yes yes I am please keep going.” Izumi impatiently ushers on.

“Well, I had thought to myself well shit I’m already dying, would be nice to have one last drink, so he gave me a bottle which he claims he so happened to have on him at the time and we shared a drink. I had even dropped it at some point because I was so weak! Honestly, I didn’t even know he was a specter. Didn’t recognize him and maybe I was too frail to even discern the aura, or maybe it was because he was so informal. I genuinely felt relaxed when he talked and drank with me. In the end, I was happy to accept that it was my time, since my supposed last moments were so joyful. Obviously though, he asked me to join his faction and I leapt at the opportunity since he made such a convincing case by just being himself and the boss healed me after obviously. And here I am today! First of the nation actually.”

“Does that make you the second…?” In an attempt to get Dahlia to reveal their side, he directs a transition to them.

“Yes. I was.”

“Dahlia’s story is nowhere as good as mine though.” Neio puffs, Dahlia only sighing.

“He found me after The War as well. Spirits were running rampant at the time, killing not just humans but other spirits as well. At the time I was quite pathetic. Weak. I couldn’t fend for myself, or even speak for that matter. A cluster had nearly ended me when he found me. Put me to shame in an instant. Reducing them to splatters on the wall. I thought he was like the rest until he wiped the blood off before offering me his hand. Something in my heart told me then that I wanted to follow him, and he had asked me to anyway. He noticed I couldn’t speak, so he offered to take me under and teach me how to use telepathy so I could communicate.”

“You didn’t always know?”

“No. I was completely mute before. Only being heard in my own thoughts. So for that and my life, I’ll always be indebted and thankful.”

A collection of broken people. Faelan was the same. He was a lost spirit who thought that his road had reached its end, then Wraith came and paved a bright path forward. As heartwarming as it was to learn this, Izumi was puzzled. Why did Wraith pride himself about being such a terrible person? Sure, he’s done horrific things, but he’s done plenty of good as well. In his own words, not everyone was clear cut between black or white, so why did he believe that he was only in the wrong?

Another thought had crossed Izumi’s mind, one that he held since their initial meeting in his bedroom forever ago. “Dahlia, do you mind if I ask…um…are you—what gender do you um-”

“Neither. I never felt like either, so neither.”

“Faelan…?”

The undead wolf-deer had remained fairly quiet yet attentive during their conversation, speaking once ushered to. “Male.”

Izumi wasn’t sure if he expected their responses or not, but at the least his curiosity was satisfied.

“What, you’re not gonna ask me?” Neio pouted.

“You’re obviously a guy too, have you ever seen yourself in the mirror?” He sneered jokingly, even getting a slightly smirk from Wraith as well.

“Hey you’re starting to sound like the boss now! Is he rubbing off on you?” The infamous wide grin adorned his face and his tease caused Izumi to bashfully sink into Wraith’s mantle at the suggestion.

Deducting the end of their welcome, Neio stood up, ushering the others to leave.

“We shouldn’t take anymore of your time though, right guys?” Neio emphasized the end in hopes of them realizing the previous scene they interrupted. Rapidly agreeing, the trio rushed out of the door, leaving the couple to themselves.