Eidolon

Warning (PG16)

This episode contains adult themes. Reader discretion recommended.

He led them into the heart of the shrine, into a breathtaking stone chamber. Carved columns supported the high ceiling, and the floor was covered in sophisticated leather tatami mats. In the center sat a low wooden table where a pot of tea steamed, filling the air with the scent of green leaves and minerals.

As they settled onto the cushions, Reon issued his first commands, “From this moment on, you shall stay silent Kumi. Now, serve us tea Concubine.” Rei moved with fluid grace, her hands steady as she poured the pale green liquid into three ceramic cups. Every movement was economical and precise, her experience both as a hostess and of navigating corporate boardrooms in high-stakes social situations translating perfectly into this ancient ritual.

As she finished pouring, she instinctively began to move towards the cushion beside Takumi. “Concubine,” Reon’s voice was calm but firm. He patted the pillow directly beside him, “Here.” She hesitated for only a heartbeat before complying, settling herself next to the Ceremonial Master, leaving Takumi isolated across the table. For a moment, the only sound was the sipping of tea. Reon leaned in, his intense eyes studying Rei’s profile. “You truly are stunning,” he commented, his voice a low murmur, “The mix of Japanese and Italian is a rare trait, a rare treat.”

Across the table, Takumi’s knuckles whitened around his cup, but he remained a statue, obeying the order of silence. Rei met Reon’s fiery stare head-on. She tilted her head, a coy, calculating look in her eyes, “You’re quite dashing yourself, Reon.” His eyebrow lifted in mild surprise. Takumi set his teacup down with a soft click, his alarm palpable even in his muteness. 

Rei continued, unbothered, “You’re clearly very fit and have quite elegant facial features”, she let her eyes drift over him, a deliberate, appraising look, “Even if I can’t help but compare you to the old… friend… I mentioned. His features are uncannily similar to yours, just a bit more rugged and distinctive… more manly.”

She wasn’t bothering with politeness now. He had said she couldn’t do anything wrong initially; that she wouldn’t be penalized until a second offense. This might be her best possibility to test the boundaries and show him her rebellious spirit beneath her polished surface. Her expression was one of pure challenge. Takumi stared at her in sheer disbelief. Reon simply looked shocked. A flicker of fear shot through Rei. Had she gone too far?

Just as the dread coiled in her stomach, Reon burst out laughing. He edged closer on the cushion, his clean, sharp cologne filling her space. “You have spunk,” he whispered, his voice a mix of amusement and threat, “Testing the limits of my patience and command so soon? It seems this ritual is going to be quite interesting.”

His authoritative aura surged, a suffocating pressure that made it hard to breathe. Reon’s face was mere centimeters from hers, “Offending a Ceremonial Master is a serious violation. Comparing me to my cousin that way, will not stand. You should be very careful with unflattering comments going forward.”

Rei held his gaze, but the bravado quickly faded into genuine contrition. “I apologize, Ceremonial Master,” she said, her voice steady despite the proximity, “I realize I was rude. I was testing how far I could go. I promise not to compare you two again – or insult your looks…”, she offered a slight, conciliatory smile, “…in truth, when I first saw you, I did find you dashing – I thought you looked like a model or something. I intended that part as an honest compliment.” 

Reon laughed again, the sound richer this time, the oppressive energy receding slightly. Takumi, still seething, picked up his teacup again. “Compliments,” Reon declared, leaning back and giving her a final, appraising look, “are always allowed.” The first skirmish was over, and Rei had, against all odds, navigated it without complete catastrophe.

The tea was sipped in a silence that grew heavier with each passing second. Reon finally broke it, his tone deceptively casual, “It seems you were quite close to your… friend… my estranged cousin?” Rei’s eyes instinctively flicked to Takumi. The subject of Karasu was a landmine. While Takumi’s jealousy was a known, volatile entity, Rei had never explicitly confirmed the full nature of her past with the legendary Spider. But it seemed Reon, with the Oni’s vast intelligence network, knew everything with certainty.

She turned to face Reon, tracing the familiar lines of his face, the jaw, the shape of the eyes, all echoes of the man who had once been her entire world. Allowing the genuine recognition and a pang of old nostalgia to soften her expression, using the truth to armor her words she explained. 

“I was owned by him,” her voice was low but clear and unwavering, “A price for my father’s escape. But though I was, in effect, a servus… I was given work, training and protection”, she met Reon’s eyes squarely, “For years, Komorebi’s club was my home. A prison too, but… a better one than you might assume.”

Her stark honesty surprised both men. Takumi’s teacup stilled on its way to his lips. In his disdain for all things related to Karasu, he had deliberately avoided learning the details of her life at the Den. This was a chapter he had refused to read, and now she was reciting it aloud.

Reon turned fully toward her, his interest sharpening. He placed a hand on the tatami beside her, leaning in to study the sincerity in her face. Then he smiled, an enigmatic, slightly wicked curve of his lips, “And were you not also my cousin’s lover?”

A jolt, sharp and electric, ran through Rei. She hadn’t expected such brutal candor. An angry look sprang to her brows, her body tensing to pull away. But she caught the clear, dangerous warning in Reon’s eyes just in time. Instead of recoiling, she softened her entire posture, a deliberate capitulation. She placed her hand on the mat beside his, their fingers almost touching, and looked up at him, her voice a whisper, “Honored Master, what would happen if I didn’t want to reply to that?”

The atmosphere in the stone chamber shifted instantly. Reon was still smiling, but his charisma darkened, becoming menacing. His hand moved, covering hers in a grip that was hidden from Takumi’s view. “Then I would have to penalize you for disobeying a direct command,” he explained, his voice a low threat, “Or, you could answer everything without resistance. Any future stalling will have consequences.” He waited, the pressure of his hand a clear warning of physical reprimands.

Rei swallowed, her heart hammering. His hand was warm, heavy. She didn’t dare pull away. Instead, she turned her own hand under his, changing the position until they were holding hands, a gesture of strange intimacy and a static handshake, a pact. “Then I promise to answer all your questions going forward,” she whispered and took a trembling breath, the words feeling like a betrayal, both to her past and to the seething man across from her, “And yes, I was Komorebi’s lover.”

Across the table, Takumi set his cup down with an impossible, terrifying calm. The porcelain made no sound. Knowing it was one thing; hearing the admission from her own lips was an entirely different, exquisite pain. His grey eyes, fixed on the wall behind Reon, told a story of pure, undiluted fury. He looked ready to tear the very stone foundation of the temple apart with his bare hands.

Reon chuckled, a soft, triumphant sound. He gave Rei’s hand a final, condescending squeeze before retracting his own and leaning back. He glanced at Takumi, his expression one of cool amusement. “The ritual is going well, Kumi. You should be proud of her compliance despite her apparent fiery spirit”, his voice then dropped, laced with a new, severe authority, “And you should remember to stay in your place.” The test was underway, and the first wound had been expertly inflicted.

The moments that followed Rei’s admission were profoundly tense, filled with a vibrating silence broken only by the faint sigh of the wind outside the stone chamber. The air was thick with Takumi’s unspoken rage and Reon’s cool satisfaction. Then, Rei dared to speak, keeping her neck slightly bent, a picture of deference. “Reon,” she began, her voice gentle but sure, “May I ask a question? About the Oni traditions. I must admit I’m currently ignorant, but I’m eager to understand.”

Reon’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of suspicion and curiosity within them. “Normally,” he said, his tone measured, “the concubine has no right to ask questions, only to answer them. But,” he conceded, a sly smile playing on his lips, “I tend to have a more abstract interpretation of our rituals.” Rei looked up at him, her lips parting, head sloping, her expression openly questioning.

Reon hummed as deep in thought, the sound echoing lightly in the chamber, “The original format included, among other things, the concubine serving tea, which you did perfectly.” He turned his body fully to face her, his presence suddenly consuming her entire field of vision. Rei moved to face him too with rapt attention, but her peripheral vision caught the palpable tension radiating from Takumi across the table, her eyes furrowed with worry, glancing over at him. She saw the restraint stretching his features taut, a tempest contained behind his grey eyes.

Reon reached out, his fingers firm as they grasped her chin, forcing her face back to his, forcing her eyes to lock on his. “Focus all your attention on me,” he commanded, his voice dropping, “Act like Kumi isn’t even here – unless I instruct otherwise.”

Rei swallowed hard and gave a slight, compliant nod. Content, Reon released her chin. “As I was saying,” he continued, his gaze boring into hers, “The original ritual included serving tea… and the concubine performing sexual favors for the Ceremonial Master.” Rei’s eyes widened in shock.

This was the unspoken fear, the very source of the dread coiling in her stomach and the fury boiling in Takumi. This was a real, tangible risk. A protest rose in her throat, but before the impulsive words could escape, she caught a new kind of smile on Reon’s face, not one of lecherous intent, but one of amusement, as if he were conducting a fascinating experiment.