Yamapi rolled on his side, pulling his blanket along to properly envelop him. It was cold, as expected in Hokkaido. But that wasn’t what kept Yamapi awake. If he had to be honest, his mind just wouldn’t stop thinking about Takki’s research. Yamapi was at least sure by now, that his Liminal soul had blended into his own soul. None of Takki’s books had convinced him otherwise. Yamapi started to doubt if he could ever get rid of the Liminal inside him. But part of him refused to give up. There must be a way to become a mere human again. He wanted to return to being only Yamapi. He wanted to face Jin again without feeling guilty, without hiding anything. He gripped his sheets loosely, trying to calm his own heart. Liminals are the initial creature residing inside someone that would lead to assimilation. Takki used to say that to them. Yamapi wondered if he actually reached a certain stage yet. He sighed deeply. What would Takki do if he was still here?

Yamapi blinked when he heard someone opened his door. Propping himself on his shoulder, he scrunched his eyes to see in the dark. The silhouette figure tip-toed approaching his bed, and Yamapi sighed, grinning as he sat up.

“What’s wrong, Ueda-san?” Yamapi asked.

Ueda paused, blinking in the dark. Hands letting go of the huge blanket covering his slender body, sliding down the side of his arms. “You’re not asleep?”

Yamapi couldn’t hold back his chuckle. “What did you plan to do Ueda-san? Trying to attack me in the dark while I’m sleeping? That’s dirty,” he teased.

Ueda pouted. “I’m bored,” his answer somehow surprised Yamapi. “I don’t know why but I felt weird sleeping alone. Did I always sleep with someone before?” his question made Yamapi’s heart jumped. Yamapi almost forgot the fact that Ueda was still a stranger to them. And that he might gradually remember things. It was just the matter of time. How they could ever get away with that, Yamapi still couldn’t figure it out.

“Well, maybe yes,” Yamapi hesitated. He paused to collect his senses before he shifted to the side of his bed. “Want to sleep with me tonight? It might help making you feel better,” he offered.

Ueda’s face beamed, hurriedly climbed onto Yamapi’s bed. Yamapi chuckled more when Ueda started to snuggle and made himself comfortable.

“Ryo’s probably right. You are seven years old no matter how old you look like,” Yamapi grinned, softly patting Ueda’s head, occasionally the copper hair.

“He hates me, that’s why,” Ueda closed his eyes, finally feeling comfortable with Yamapi’s presence.

“He doesn’t hate you. I can at least assure you that,” Yamapi almost mumbled in his slumber. “It’s been awhile since I see him very energetic after he lost Takki.”

Ueda hummed, nodding slowly. But something clicked in his mind, and his eyes shot open. “He lost who?” he asked, propping himself on his elbow with his eyes shining interest.

Yamapi blinked at the abrupt movement. “He lost... Well, his lover, simply said.”

“He lost...” Ueda repeated. “Meaning, that... What was his name again? Takki? Is dead?”

Yamapi sighed, hand reaching out to Ueda’s shoulder to pull him back on the bed. Ueda settled back down with Yamapi, but his eyes still speak. “Takki is dead before we even meet you. I’m not sure if you know him or not. But he is lovable, and a genius. Everyone loves him, and everyone depends on him,” Yamapi said in a low tone, as if he was telling a bedtime story to a little boy.

“Yet he chooses Ryo? He had such a bad taste,” Ueda huffed.

Yamapi laughed. “He loves Ryo. More than he loves his own life,” there was a hint of misery in Yamapi’s tone that he hoped would have gone unnoticed by Ueda. “Ryo had been carrying the guilt and had been blaming himself over everything, though he might act tough the whole time,” he continued. “Ryo is very strong. I wouldn’t be able to cope if I were him.”

Far inside Yamapi’s imagination, he thought he would’ve gone crazy if Jin died for him. He didn’t even want to think of that possibility. But he is a Liminal, and Jin is a Keeper. That fact between them just won’t change. He just hoped he could change himself before Jin even found that out.
 

“Hey,” Yabu greeted as he walked towards the cages at the back of his store. He bent down to push a cart full with pet foods and straightened his back as he sighed, looking at the Liminals caged in front of him.

“Well, well. Time for lunch,” he started, picking some raw meat, fishes and vegetables in his hand, distributing them according to the type of food the Liminals usually take. Then he averted his gaze to the merman in an aquarium, looking uncomfortable as if it suffered from something. It was a dry aquarium though. Jin didn’t allow Yabu to add even a tiny bit of water in it, and not to give the merman any drinks. Yabu thought it was pretty cruel at first, but he decided to abide anyway because Jin would never torture things without purpose. At least Yabu believed that.

“What would you like to eat today, Mr. Merman?” Yabu thought verbally, flipping through the foods in his cart. “Meat? Fish?” he guessed, occasionally stealing a glance at the merman’s expression. There was a change in its face when Yabu mentioned fish, so he assumed the merman wanted the fish this time. Just as he turned to pick a nice boiled fish, Yabu paused, noticing something small and shiny, almost like a fairy, flying around the cages.

“A fae?” Yabu mused after taking a closer look. The fae looked surprised that Yabu noticed his presence, and fled clumsily away, out of the window. Yabu frowned. It wasn’t the first time he saw the fae around his pet shop. It was obviously a tamed Liminal. Yabu just couldn’t figure out why the Liminal kept coming to his store. But much to Yabu’s concern, he thought the fae actually can ‘think’ to even return to his place a few times, unless that was just his imagination.
 

Ryo scribbled down a few things he found from the book he just read. Takki’s handwriting clearly seen at the side of the book; about how the core of Liminals occurred through a cycle of color changes – forming the perfection of the quintessence. There were various colors of Liminal souls, depending on what type of Liminals they were. But there were five main colors that could lead the color changes to the right path, and reabsorbed the energies released in initial emergence of the polarities – white, blue, red, golden and green. If Ryo wasn’t mistaken, white would be the equine Liminal. While blue is the fish Liminal, red is the bird Liminal, golden is the felines Liminal, and green... Ryo shifted his eyes towards Ueda, who was busy playing something that look like boxing practice with Yamapi. Green is the reptile Liminal, the dragon. If those were true, then it would be even more difficult to their side. How the hell are they going to use Ueda? What will happen if Ueda remembers the whole thing someday? Will he go back and tell everyone about them? Will Jin find out?

Ryo grunted, scratching his scalp roughly. His mind just couldn’t work well on this. Hold on, Ryo. There must be some other reptile Liminals you can take to your side. A basilisk maybe? Ryo blinked at his own thought. A basilisk. That would work. It may not be as strong as a dragon, but it could be at least strong enough to form the quintessence. The king of the sea, the fish Liminal, would be the merman. But if he wasn’t mistaken, Jin caught the merman long ago. Either they had to steal the pearl from Jin, or they find some other fish Liminal to replace the blue soul. A siren perhaps? Ryo mused.

Otherwise, if the five main pearl colors are forming color changes, it would probably draw a circle – from white to blue to red to golden to green, and back to white again. Ryo drew the arrows from one color to another on the paper, forming a circle with the cycle, trying to find the significance of it. If the circle formed by the color changes is the quintessence, there should be something that could lead them somewhere. Or maybe the color changes would form a new color instead? When Ryo turned the book to another page, he saw the picture of Takki, smiling to the camera, slipped inside one of the pages. Ryo couldn’t help but to smile to himself. Takki was always so bright. Carefully Ryo picked the picture. He still missed Takki so much, he could still remember how desperately he tried to save Takki back then. Ryo felt something clutching in his heart at the memory.

“Who is this?” Ueda hovered above Ryo’s shoulder, peeking the picture from behind. And Ryo swore he would’ve punched that guy away if it wasn’t Yamapi pulling Ueda’s collar aside. This stranger just couldn’t read the atmosphere he emitted, huh? Or didn’t he look serious enough?

“Ueda-san, don’t simply touch people’s things like that. It’s rude,” Yamapi reproachfully scolded, one arm rested on his hip mockingly. But Ueda managed to get a hold of the picture.

Ueda pouted. “It’s just a photo, you don’t have to be so stiff,” he paused when something clicked in his mind. “Ah, could it be this is the Takki you told me? He’s Ryo’s boyfriend?” he sounded excited over his new discovery.

Ryo’s eyes shot open, widely. Yamapi thought he would just kill himself the moment Ryo glared at him. Inwardly he wondered why Ueda being so blunt, as if he didn’t think about Ryo’s feelings at all. And he thought he made it very clear the night he told Ueda the story. Yamapi cursed silently.

“Ueda-san...” Yamapi’s tone was thick, signaling his warning.

“He’s gorgeous!” Ueda continued, oblivious with all the looks thrown at him. “Oh, don’t worry, Pi. Ryo is strong enough not to lose to a grief. He’s strong, that’s why he’s chosen,” he skipped outside, bringing along the picture with him.

Yamapi and Ryo exchanged glances. He’s strong, that’s why he’s chosen. The words sound familiar. Too familiar that the both of them were left astounded.

“Hey! I said don’t simply take things without permission,” Yamapi sighed. “I give up. This guy is fit. I wonder if I could ever catch up with him.”

Ryo chuckled. “Just turn into your Liminal form, then you won’t lose in term of speed,” he stood, trotting towards Ueda. “Hey, give that back! And you’re not going anywhere unless you won’t bring weird things home!”

Yamapi grinned at his friend before shifting his eyes to the papers full with Ryo’s writings. Slowly he sat down, reading the things his friend managed to figure out. The colors that formed a circle quintessence stole his attention.
 

Kame groaned, pushing yet another book into the stack on their office’s floor. Knotting his fingers behind his head, he stretched himself a bit. “Care to explain why I’m getting myself into this mess?” he complained. “Like, literally?”

“Uepi’s missing,” Junno answered nonchalantly. His hand was holding a few pieces of papers lazily as he scanned absent-mindedly through the words.

“That’s not an explanation,” Kame glared.

“Come on, we need to find one that fits Tatsuya’s quest. We have to find an equine Liminal that Tatsuya can catch without his weapons so we can trace him back,” Nakamaru coaxed gently. “I wouldn’t make it in time if I work on it alone.”

“But seriously, what was in Pomu’s mind?” Koki grumbled, scratching his head roughly. “He didn’t even call us, and he even went alone. He never last a day without calling me.”

“Yeah. That’s why I can’t help but to think something happened to him,” Nakamaru agreed, eyes never stop from reading his materials.

“You mean Uepi’s dead?” Junno shrieked.

“No, silly,” Koki whacked Junno’s head. “‘Something’ doesn’t always mean ‘death’. Geez, can’t you think outside the box sometimes?”

“You know what I think though,” Kame said, ignoring the bickering between Koki and Junno alone as he faced Nakamaru. “We really should work on the ‘why’ he went alone instead of which equine Liminal is the weakest. I thought he never left Taguchi behind before. It could be a useful lead.”

Nakamaru shrugged. “Perhaps Taguchi wasn’t interested enough to follow him because he was too engulfed in his game. And hunting alone is simply easier because you won’t have excess luggage and it’s easier to connect with the nature and...” Nakamaru paused there. Something was playing at a certain speed in his mind, then when it stopped, Nakamaru widened his eyes. “Wait,” he gasped, scrumming over the pile of books.

“What is it, Yucchi? Found something?” Koki asked. Kame and Junno frowned, watching how Nakamaru turned the book to a certain page.

“Yeah,” Nakamaru breathed deeply. “I figured it out already. Tatsuya is after the unicorn.”

“Unicorn?” Koki furrowed further. “Why would he be after the unicorn? How does that make any sense?”

“Unicorn is said to be the leader of all Liminals. It can tame even the king of the Liminals and control them. It’s the only unique Liminal creature that has that kind of ability.” Nakamaru explained.

“You mean, that’s the culprit behind all this Liminality? The one who control the Liminals?” Koki asked.

“Yeah, rumors said he can control himself even in his Liminal form,” Nakamaru nodded slightly.

“I see,” Kame rubbed his chin, thinking deeply. “So Ueda was trying to stop the bud from growing? It’s a brilliant way to stop this suffering. But how is that significant with him not bringing any weapons?”

“You can’t hunt unicorn with weapons,” Nakamaru explained. “It’s not an ordinary pursuit. Souls are changed and minds are transformed. It involves the purity of the soul. If you’re carrying any weapon, you won’t be able to find it.”

“Hold on a second!” Junno shrieked. “Let me get to straight. Uepi’s after the leader of the Liminals? Isn’t that super dangerous for him to go alone without weapons?”

“Yucchi!” Koki grabbed Nakamaru’s arm. Something inside his stomach was churning uncomfortably.

“Do you have any lead?” Kame sounded calmer, but Nakamaru can still sense the hint of worry in his tone. “You said the unicorn can control himself, that means he’s walking around. Do you know where he is?”

“The name is Hideaki Takizawa. I never met him, nor I ever found him,” Nakamaru admitted. “Rumors said he used to have a house at Hokkaido, but I went there once, he’s no longer there.”

“That would suffice,” Kame stood, grabbing his sunglasses. “We’re heading to Hokkaido.”


To be continued...