Main World.
Year 29 of Konoha, summer.
Imperial Palace, Mikoto's Side Hall.
It was late at night.
The lights in the Training Ground had gone out. The Spirit-Slaying Giant Tree's branches and leaves swayed gently in the moonlight. The motes of light from the dissipating spirits had long since risen into the night sky, drifting toward who knew which star. The children had returned to their rooms, and the consorts had dispersed. Only the chirping of insects and the faint, distant bustle of the New Capital at night remained in the garden.
Mikoto stood before the dressing table in the Side Hall, wearing a dark green qipao. Toyotomi Yinglang had sent someone to deliver it. It was silk, with high slits and knotted buttons running from the collar to the waist. She looked at herself in the mirror, her face faintly flushed. It was not embarrassment; she simply "wasn't used to it." She had grown used to maid uniforms, to black and plain white clothes without any decoration. The qipao was too bright, too tight, too unlike "her."
But she did not change. Because Toyotomi Yinglang had told her to wear it.
The door opened. Toyotomi Yinglang walked in, wearing dark gray loungewear, his long black hair hanging loosely over his shoulders. He carried two cups of tea, handing one to her and drinking from the other himself.
"Let's go."
Mikoto took the cup and sipped. The tea was warm, just right. "Where?"
"To bed."
Mikoto's fingers tightened slightly. She did not ask, "What are we going to do in bed?" She knew. She simply followed him into the bedchamber. Then she saw Kaguya.
Kaguya sat beside the bed in a silver-white qipao. Its fabric was silk, its knotted buttons were white jade, and its slits reached her waist. Her