Note: Reading this chapter is optional and you can continue the story without this chapter.

Day after their "date" on the "Gourmet" Dimension

Moon was walking back and forth in front of the door to Kazuki's lab, she felt guilty about the argument she had with Kazuki yesterday after they came back from the dinner he made. In her need to win an argument she brought up a subject that she probably shouldn't have and she may have upset him. So she came here to apologise since Kazuki left to cook a bit more for those that arrived late at the feast he brought to the clan and she didn't know how to apologise to him.

Moon spent the rest of the night and most of today's morning and afternoon thinking on what to do while Kazuki spend most of that time reading Hon before going to the lab, he might not display it but he was capable of feeling hurt. She stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, but before she could knock the door opened.

Kazuki was standing in the middle of the lab with his arms crossed as his assistants seemed to be keeping an eye on some ongoing experiments, some were simply keeping an eye on some of the creatures on the tanks, others were taking notes while looking at some machines and others were just transporting items of different nature from one place to another.

“So, have you finished organizing your thoughts?” asked Kazuki.

“Yeah, can I talk to you in private?” asked Moon and Kazuki sighed before taking off his lab coat, gloves and safety glasses showing his white kimono with the sleeves tied. Then he gave the items to an assistant that was waiting beside him before untying his hair and the sleeves of his kimono.

Then Kazuki offered a hand to Moon as the diamond dog went to put the items back into storage after they were washed/decontaminated/sterilized, then Moon touched the hand and they were teleported to Kazuki's room through the Hiraishin no Jutsu, the room happened to be the master bedroom –not that Kazuki used the room that much.

The place was japanese –neighpanese in this world– style room, it was big with a futon(布団) big enough to hold two dragons in their anthro form that were bigger than Song or Jewel –the futon was of that size to ensure that if he needed he would be able to rest while using a spare body, more specifically any of the dragon ones– and with pillows of many sizes on it, the futon was on the left side of the room from the entrance on a low frame made of dark wood and the entire floor was covered in tatami(疊, straw matting).

Directly on the left of the entrance was a wardrobe, on both sides of the bed a small bedside table with a traditional Rikka (立花 standing flowers) could be seen and on the furthest left corner was a shelf with scrolls and books. Directly in front of the entrance hidden by two layers of curtains, one to keep the lights from entering completely and another to just partially stop the lights, was a double door made of glass framed by dark wood that led to the balcony.

Directly on the right of the entrance was another door –this one leading to the bathroom– and after that in the middle was a study cabinet with many compartments while on the furthest right corner from the entrance was a smaller square pillow like seat –zabuton(座布団, sitting futon)– and a small round cushion –zafu(座蒲, sewn/cattail seat)– not far from where the walls met, which was a place where a shelf with many types of incense boats and burners could be seen, Moon also assumed that additional incenses and herbs were in the cabinet.

As Moon looked at the room she took note of the colors in its interior, which were white, green, orange, red, yellow or multiple shades of brown, the white was from the sheets and curtains as well as the decorative lanterns hanging from the ceiling emanating a soft light, the green were from the plants and the borders of the open scrolls, the fiery colors were from the paintings in said scrolls and the light brown tones were from the wood on the walls and ceiling as well as the tatami while the dark brown tones were from the wood of the doors, doorframes and bedframe. Also there were two really big scrolls that occupied the spaces beside the bed and almost went from the floor to the ceiling, on them were to ideograms that were so masterfully written/painted that they almost seemed gracefully otherworldly.

While Moon was observing the room that once belonged to Celestia Kazuki went to the wardrobe and took another zabuton and a scroll, then he placed the zabuton in front of Moon before placing the zabuton that was in the corner not too far in front of Moon and sat on it in kiza(跪座 / 跪坐, kneeling) before assuming seiza(正座 / 正坐, proper sitting), then he placed the scroll between them and opened showing a seal and a puff of smoke later a small low wooden table –chabudai(卓袱台 or 茶袱台 or 茶部台)– appeared before and in-between the two, then he motioned for Moon to sit.

“Would you like some tea?” asked Kazuki as Moon sat on her zabuton just like Kazuki and nodded. So Kazuki created a Kage Bushin that went to the cabinet to choose a blend of tea.

Moon looked at Kazuki and noticed that he was without his geta, then she looked at her hooves and saw that she was without her sandals. She looked at the entrance, more specifically at a square in front of the door that was a section without tatami showing the stone floor below, just before the step to the tatami floor was her sandals and Kazuki's geta. Then she looked at Kazuki and raised a eyebrow silently asking why was that, his answer was simply, "No shoes inside."

“Why do you place so much emphasis on these neighpanese traditions, especially considering that you pride yourself of being efficient? Traditions that you taught them in the first place,” asked Moon as they waited for the tea, with Moon occasionally fidgeting since she wasn't used in sitting in seiza position.

“You can sit however you like,” said Kazuki and Moon sighed in relief before sitting in anza or agura(胡座, cross-legged/barbarian sitting), which annoyed Kazuki a bit, but he let that slide and answered, “Those traditions serve a purpose, you can tell so much about one's body, mind and spirit if you observe carefully. Also it's less about priding myself of being efficient and more about really disliking needless waste of anything. Besides I like to relax and appreciate art from time to time.”

After Kazuki answered Moon there was a awkward silence while she tried to find the right words to say, luckily after a while the silence was interrupted by Kazuki's clone as he placed two yunomi(湯のみ, teacup) made of ceramic in front of them, the one that Kazuki was using had a white upper part with gray and brown shapes at the bottom creating a picture of snowy mountains, the one offered to Moon had a dark blue background with white dots and a moon creating a image of the night sky.

“Let us drink and relax first, then we can talk about what troubles you,” said Kazuki before placing his hands together and say, “Itadakimasu.”

Kazuki gracefully picked the cup with his right hand making sure that his fingers didn't touch the rim, then he immediately placed his left hand below the cup before bringing it to his mouth and then drinking the blend of tea, all that made with a grace and fluidity befitting of a member of nobility.

Moon followed Kazuki’s example and drank her tea, it was hot and bitter without sugar but as she slowly drank it helped her relax and warm her body. She paused when she noticed a curious smell and didn't take long for her to notice that the clone placed some incense on the burner. Both of them enjoyed the tea in comfortable silence before finishing the tea and placing the cup back on the table.

“Gochisousama deshita,” said Kazuki after he placed his hand together as he did before drinking and Moon awkwardly follow his example, then the clone came and took the cups back before placing them on the desk part of the cabinet and soon after he dispelled himself.

Kazuki remained silently and patiently waiting for Moon to talk. Moon who despite being more relaxed was still somewhat nervous, so she tried to delay the conversation by asking another question, “How come you got such a nice room?”

“I made all the decorations myself. The place has good fūsui(風水, wind-water), the building not so much,” answered Kazuki not even commenting on her obviously trying to delay whatever she wanted to say.

“Fūsui?” asked Moon confused.

“Fūsui or fēngshuǐ is a way to structure any kind of construction in a way to achieve spiritual balance and flow of natural energy, the fact that you don't know isn't all that surprising considering how narrow-minded you equestrians are when it comes to magic,” said Kazuki before placing his hand on the table and summoned a chessboard, a game to help taking Moon’s mind off of whatever was on her mind. Then he started by moving one of his pieces since he chose the white ones.

“What do you mean by ‘considering how narrow-minded you equestrians are’?” asked Moon feeling a little offended –she was a equestrian after all– as she made her first move.

“What you define as magic?” asked Kazuki as he made another move.

Moon raised an eyebrow but answered anyway after moving her piece, “It's the manipulation of one's –almost always a unicorn– internal reservoir of energy that we call mana, a spiritual energy we gather passively from the environment, to affect the physical world.”

While Moon was explaining Kazuki made a move and Moon made another, so Kazuki asked another question as he made another move, “And what about Ninjutsu?”

Moon raised an eyebrow once again but she still answered, “It's the manipulation of one's internal reservoir of energy that we call chakra, a energy made of the combination of physical energy and… spiritual…energy…” Moon trailed off as she stopped to think about the similarities between Ninjutsu and Equestrian Magic.

“So you finally noticed, the reason your control translates well into chakra is because half of its foundations is based on the same foundations as Equestrian Magic. A whole new style of magic with the simple addition of physical energy, it makes you wonder how many more are out there doesn't it?” asked Kazuki as he move another piece.

“Is there a way to used just the physical energy? And how many styles are there?” asked Moon.

“Yes there are multiple just as there are multiple for the use of spiritual energy. Trying to understand every form of magic using just Equestrian Magic as a base is foolish, something that even Starswirl failed to understand when he tried to translate my abilities into Equestrian Magic,” said Kazuki answering the first question. Then he paused to make his move before answering the second one, “Not even I know how many styles are, but even then everything I mentioned to you falls under a single category or branch of the greater scope that is magic itself.”

“Really?” asked Moon no longer paying attention on the match.

“Hai, everything I told you falls under egocentric –I know, the name can be misleading– magic, which is the manipulation of internal energies,” said Kazuki before getting up and carefully putting the board away without disturbing the pieces, he placed the board on the desk part of the cabinet since he doubted that Moon would finish the match now.

“How many more categories or branches are there?” asked Moon excitedly.

“Oh, it seems you have the same curiosity that Luna had when learning magic from Starswirl, it was cute how you and Celestia would come and ask me for hints for 'Old Swirly's boring lessons’,” said Kazuki, which caused Moon to blush at the comment, but then he said as he leaned on the cabinet and crossed his arms, “Anyway, that is a lesson I intend to teach you after rescuing your potential new sister and giving her a new body.”

That caused Moon to pout childishly, but her pout disappeared when Kazuki asked, “I think we delayed it enough. So what do you want to talk to me about?”

“I…I wanted to apologise for what I said yesterday, I didn't mean to bring out painful memories,” said Moon as she turned to her left to face Kazuki, then she lowered her head until she was facing the floor, then she faintly heard Kazuki’s steps as he approached and she felt like a filly that was about to be punished. However Kazuki just stood on her left before he placed his right hand on Moon's head and as she looked up with tears in her eyes she felt Kaziki hug her head against his chest despite her being seated since she was almost twice Kazuki's size, of course being careful with her horn –not that being stabbed by it would kill him– as she pressed her ear against him.

“There is no need to apologise, I made peace with what happened long ago, besides they got what they deserved,” said Kazuki with the last part said in a rather sinister tone, but after that he just kept running his hand over Moon's mane, eventually she calmed down since she had her left ear placed on his chest and heard the strangely comforting heartbeats of his alien hearts.

“Kazuki,” said Moon as she looked up at Kazuki's lilac pupil-less eyes before pausing for a moment. Then she said, “Yesterday you asked what kind of relationship I wanted to have with you."

"Indeed," said Kazuki.

"This is my answer,” said Moon before she kissed him.

Author's Note

Futon(布団) – is a traditional Japanese bedding set consisting of both a shikibuton(敷き布団, spreading futon) or mattress and a kakebuton(掛け布団, covering futon) or duvet.

Tatami(疊, straw matting) – is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made using rice straw to form the core, but nowadays is composed of boards made of compressed wood chips or polystyrene foam, and with a covering of woven soft rush straw.

Rikka (立花 standing flowers) – a Buddhist expression of the beauty of landscapes in nature through a specific style flower arrangement. The key to this style are nine branches that represent elements of nature, this is a style of Ikebana (生け花, living flowers) or kadō(華道, the way of flowers), which is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.

Zabuton(座布団, sitting futon) – a normally square cushion about 20 to 30in especially made to be used on the foor, but it can be used on a chair as well.

Zafu(座蒲, sewn/cattail seat) – a normally round cushion about 14in in diameter and 8in high when fluffed. Normal placed on the zabuton and is used as a utilitarian accessory or for zen meditation.

Seiza(正座 / 正坐, proper sitting) – A position where you fold your legs underneath your thighs, sit on your heels with your ankles turned outward as the tops of your feet lowered in a slight "V" shape and the tops of your feet resting flat on the floor sometimes with your big toes touching or overlapping.

Kiza(跪座 / 跪坐, kneeling) – A position where you fold your legs underneath your thighs, sit on your heels with the balls of your feet touching the floor and toes flexed forward. (A position impossible for ponies and other hooved anthros because of their hard hooves)

Chabudai(卓袱台 or 茶袱台 or 茶部台) – is a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes. The traditional chabudai ranges in height from just 15 cm to a maximum height of 30 cm. People seated at a chabudai may sit on zabuton or tatami rather than on chairs.

Anza or agura(胡座, cross-legged/barbarian sitting) – is the Japanese term for the position normally referred to as sitting cross-legged where you sit on the floor or cushion set on the floor with your legs out in front of you, with the knees bent and each foot crossed beneath the other leg. It is generally considered unfeminine and uncouth for women to sit in the agura or anza position. It's also rude and uncouth in general depending on the situation.

Yunomi(湯のみ, teacup) – a form of teacup, typically made from a ceramic material, being taller than wide, with a trimmed or turned foot. The yunomi is made for daily or informal tea drinking.

Fūsui or fēngshuǐ(風水, wind-water) – Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing everyone with the surrounding environment. It is closely linked to Taoism.(fūsui is the Japanese reading while fēngshuǐ is the Chinese reading)

If you are curious about the styles of magic that were mentioned this chapter click here.
I already have a name in mind for the Kazuki's clan, but I might change if I find a better suggestion.