It didn’t occur to him until later that Hotohori actually knew that it was him. He had been sure that he had just been dreaming and struck by the way that Nuriko used Houki’s voice so that they sounded similar.

She spent most of the night in his arms, watching him silently, listening to him breathe, letting her eyes stray over the parts of his body that she could see without moving. She was warm, comfortable, and mostly happy, though she knew that it was almost over. When the sun rose…

Despite how hard she tried not to, bodies are frail, and she fell asleep beside him.

“Thank you, Houki-san,” he said quietly as he disentangled himself from the inner workings of her body. But she was asleep.

“Thank you, Houki-san,” he repeated as he slipped into her dream.

She smiled at him, her eyes kind and understanding. He could not meet them. “He knew it was you.”

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so. But…” Here he raised his eyes to her willowy form. “It was nice to dream for a night.”

She laughed quietly. “Nuriko-sama… he knew…” She gave him a wry grin. “You are a poor actor.”

He tried to look slightly insulted, but gave up and smiled half-heartedly. “I’ll leave him to you then,” he said, moving over to her and giving her a light kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

And he was gone.