The second incense contest was held on the Emperor's orders one week later. It seemed no one could remember the evening of the first contest, due to the bad cold that had spread amongst the courtiers and affected their memories. The Chancellor blamed Seimei for setting the date for the first contest on such an inauspicious day. Seimei's reputation did not suffer, however, as he prescribed a sweet-tasting concoction that brought renewed energy and vigour to the ailing courtiers.

The individual incense balls were discovered in crumbled, powdered pieces all around the Empress' garden. At first the servants were blamed, but then Hiromasa recalled that there'd been an abnormally strong wind that night. Doubtless the weather was to blame for both the colds and the scattering of incense. Everyone agreed with him.

While the courtiers recovered their strength and squabbled over ownership of the rescued incense balls, Seimei and Hiromasa went to Nose's hut. They gathered together her remaining scents in both liquid and solid form and mixed them all in one large jar. Hiromasa added in his and Seimei's scent, then stirred the combined fragrances until his eyes watered from the stench.

Seimei opened the door of the hut to let in some fresh air. Wrinkling his nose, he said, "Amazing, Hiromasa. From some of the most beautiful perfumes in existence, we have managed to replicate the smell of the cesspit."

The idea of presenting to the court incense that smelled of the cesspit made Hiromasa giggle. He formed the sloppy mixture into a ball and dried it near a fire.

Seimei refused to attend the second contest, and so was not present to see Hiromasa's triumph. The Chancellor and the Empress praised his cesspit-incense in extravagant terms. Even the Emperor liked it.

Startled by his victory, Hiromasa listened to the ladies and gentlemen describing the evocations of the cesspit-incense. Everyone smelled something different, and he came to the conclusion that, like Nose on the night of the first contest, each person had smelled only their individual scent rather than the repulsive whole.

Winning the contest made Hiromasa more popular than usual. Winter Moon, sensing competition from other ladies-in-waiting, practically took up residence outside his quarters in the palace. His former lovers trailed after him whenever he went about his business at court. New admirers, male as well as female, approached him with coy smiles and invitations. He was showered with so many letters and poems he feared it would take him until the New Year to properly answer them all.

Panicked by such attention, Hiromasa told everyone he'd gone on a pilgrimage and then locked himself in his house. He hadn't stirred from the safety of his estate since.

Now he lay stretched out on a mat in an inner room, close beside an unscented brazier. He watched the coals glow and breathed in the roughness of the smoky heat. Outside, rain pattered on the roof-tiles and stained the edges of the veranda with damp. Occasionally, through the standing curtains and dividing screens, he caught a glimpse of a servant gliding past, their footsteps silent.

His flute sat, discarded, at the edge of the mat. Earlier, he'd played until his fingertips were sore: a medley of court tunes, Chinese songs, and the melodies he'd composed in the forest. The music had modulated into something sad and pensive, and he'd stopped before it could reduce him to tears.

He ached for Seimei, an actual physical pain that wouldn't shift no matter what he did. At night, Hiromasa would wake suddenly, conscious of his loneliness. He missed Seimei's warmth curled next to him. He'd never imagined he'd become so accustomed to sleeping beside a lover that he couldn't rest without him.

They hadn't been together since they'd returned to the city. The last time he'd seen Seimei had been the day they'd made the cesspit-incense. He'd sent letters, even ventured a few poems, but Seimei hadn't responded.

Hiromasa had dispatched his pageboy to listen to gossip. The news came back that the Bureau of Divination, including Seimei, was closeted discussing a series of omens concerning the Hase Temple. Hiromasa took comfort from the fact that Seimei was busy rather than avoiding him. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

With a sigh, Hiromasa sat up. He warmed himself by the brazier a little longer then stood and went onto the veranda. He gazed at the garden, at the plants withered by winter. The sight made him angry.

Gathering his silks close to him, he strode inside to his study. A pile of unanswered correspondence taunted him, but he ignored it. He knelt before a chest and pulled open a drawer. After a moment's searching, he found what he was looking for hidden beneath a sutra. Hiromasa lifted it out and balanced it in his cupped palms.

The spirit-summoning incense.

The pale blue paper covering it was now creased and worn from repeated handling. He'd taken it out and looked at it a few times since the first incense contest. At first, he was unwilling to believe that the crumbling, blackened ball could have so much power. More recently he found himself remembering what Seimei had told him that night when he'd given him the incense.

It works on the living, too.

He stared at it, wondering if Seimei had spoken the truth. If he lit it, would it bring his heart's desire, or would he be like Emperor Wu, taunted by an illusion?

Hiromasa closed his hands around the incense and got to his feet. He carried it back into the other room and dropped it onto the brazier.

For a moment, nothing happened. The fragmentary ball remained cold. He took a poker and stirred the coals, building them up to surround the spirit-summoning incense. He crouched and blew gently, encouraging the embers to spark. With a hiss and a pop, the outer edges of the incense ball caught in a brief flare of light.

Hiromasa drew back, his face hot. He knelt on the mat and watched as a thin ribbon of blue smoke rose from the incense. Doubt made him anxious, and he tried to recall from Seimei's story what he was supposed to do next.

Focus. He was supposed to focus on the thought of the one he loved. Taking a deep breath, Hiromasa closed his eyes and summoned Seimei to mind.

It was more difficult than he'd expected. He couldn't think of just one single image of Seimei. His memory was crowded with images, from the day they'd first met to the more flagrantly erotic recollections of their time in the forest. Hiromasa attempted to control his thoughts, tried to concentrate, but gave up with a groan of despair.

He opened his eyes. The blue smoke had thickened and the strange, unidentifiable scent of the spirit-summoning incense filled the room. While he hadn't succeeded in summoning Seimei, Hiromasa was glad he hadn't managed to call on any other passing spirits, either.

Perhaps the incense had lost its power. After all, it was over a thousand years old if it had been made during the reign of the First Emperor of China.

The gentle scent wrapped around Hiromasa, relaxing him. He watched the tendrils of blue smoke move and dance in the draught. It was almost hypnotic. Feeling at peace, he decided to try again. This time he didn't consciously think of an image of Seimei; instead, he spoke his thoughts out loud, addressing the smoke.

"I failed you the night of the first incense contest, didn't I? You wanted me to acknowledge you as my lover and I didn't. I avoided it. I'm sorry I was such a fool."

He waited, feeling a little embarrassed to be talking to an empty room. When no servants came to see if he needed anything, he continued, his voice lower: "It would be easier if this was just about desire. I understand that. I thought I understood love, too. You know how I am about love."

The incense smoke thickened and twirled. Hiromasa gave a nervous laugh and rubbed his hands over his arms. "I thought I could make you happy. I thought I could persuade you into accepting my version of things. We could make love all day and not think about anything or anyone else while we were together. That's me; that's my idea of a relationship. But that's not you, is it?"

Hiromasa sighed. "Half man, half fox… and all you want is one single certainty. No half measures, just one thing. And I was too much of a coward to give it to you." His next laugh cracked into sadness. "Oh, Seimei. I'm too much of a coward to say this in front of you. Perhaps the smoke will drift and tell you the truth. I love you. Give me another chance to prove it to you."

The coals popped in the brazier. Hiromasa looked up, startled, and let out a yelp as the blue smoke took on a distinct shape. At first it seemed like nothing, just eddies and swirls, but then it came together, the smoke filling out to create a human form.

Hiromasa whimpered and fell over. He retreated to the other side of the mat and knelt low on the floor, unable to tear his gaze from the image gathering depth and colour within the smoke.

The figure came forwards, dressed in a white hunting-costume over deep blue silk. Hiromasa gasped. "Seimei," he whispered, and reached out. He was afraid to touch, afraid that, like Emperor Wu, he'd be left grasping nothing but smoke, but desire drove him onward, made him rise to his feet and approach the brazier. "Seimei!"

The smoke cleared, sweeping back and then curling in coy tendrils around Seimei, who looked surprised but not displeased to be there. He smiled.

"Ah, thank you, Hiromasa. You've saved me from an extremely dull meeting at the Bureau of Divination." Still standing in the brazier, with flames licking at the hem of his hunting-costume, Seimei put out his hand. "Help me down from here. It's rather hot."

"Seimei." Hiromasa's mind seemed stuck. He couldn't think of anything else to say. He lifted Seimei from the brazier then stood there, his hands still on Seimei's waist. He glanced down at the flames, unsurprised when they vanished, leaving the hunting-costume immaculate.

He raised his gaze and stared at the familiar face, pale and beautiful and lit with a fox-smile. "Seimei, is that really you?"

Seimei pressed closer. "Touch me. Am I smoke?"

"You're real." Hiromasa ran his hands over him, first of all to satisfy himself that Seimei wasn't an illusion, and then again just because he enjoyed it. "You… Seimei, this is my house. Why are you in my house?"

"Because you summoned me."

"No, I mean… you never come to my house." Hiromasa was aware he was talking too fast. "You said it yourself. You don't like being in the city. And yet you're here."

"You wanted me here." A flicker of uncertainty showed in Seimei's expression, and he drew back. "Am I unwelcome?"

"No. Stay. I want you to stay. I mean, stay with me, Seimei. I want you." Afraid that Seimei could disappear again as easily as he'd arrived, Hiromasa grabbed him and held tight. He lowered his head and brushed his lips against Seimei's cheek. "Just promise me you won't vanish in the morning."

"As long as you promise the same thing." Seimei chuckled, soft and low. "It will be a novelty to wake up beside you in your house."

"A novelty? Can you be serious for once, Seimei?"

"I am being serious."

Hiromasa snorted. "Of course you are. Well, I'm serious too. Very serious." He took Seimei's hands and began to lead him behind the standing curtains towards his bed. Then he hesitated, a thought coming to him, and he turned back. "Wait. I should dampen down the incense. Since foxes don't like smoke…"

"Leave it burning." Seimei smiled up at him. "It smells sweet."

完