Eeeee!! This is wonderful! So perfect; such stunning and utterly right details (the traces of blood when Muraki touches the condensation on the tank; the sharp chill of the fuda; the glimpse of Tsuzuki); the Smoking Man finally serving some useful purpose by arriving just in time to become a, erm, volunteer, and thus averting the entire Kyoto Arc disaster -- I could go on and on and on, but then I'd just be repeating the whole story.

And of course, Snape. I would never have thought of that, never in a hundred million years, and it's perfect.

Thank you so, so much! I am happier than I can begin to tell you, and more grateful.