Shuuei
Kouyuu dropped his brush, staring at Shuuei. “You’re what?”
“I’m transferring.” Shuuei leaned back and looked out the window of Kouyuu’s office. “I think I’ll be more suited to the military.”
And Koku-daishougun had caught him practicing with Sou-taifu and pounced on him like a wolf on tasty prey, and he still wasn’t positive that Sou-taifu hadn’t set the whole thing up. But he wasn’t saying that part; it would be bad for his image.
“But you’re about to be promoted!”
“Was I?” Shuuei smiled. Perhaps that explained why he was transferring to such a high starting rank. He’d let Kouyuu find that out on his own, though.
“Well,” Kouyuu sniffed, picking up his brush again, “at least I won’t have to see as much of you.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” Shuuei purred, and laughed as Kouyuu glowered at him.
He didn’t want to lose his favorite friend, after all. Where else would he find someone this pure?
Or this much fun to play with?
Ryuuki
“Thank you, Shouka-sama.”
Ryuuki watched with interest; Kouyuu was one of the only people who came to the Archives who was respectful to Shouka or stayed to talk with him. Today, though, he seemed a little distracted.
“I’ll come back for the second set of these,” Kouyuu said quietly, laying a hand on a stack of books.
Ryuuki was bored, and Shuurei wouldn’t be here until much later; today was her afternoon on that job she wouldn’t talk to any of them about. So. “I’ll help with them,” he piped up, coming to take the second stack.
“Oh.” Kouyuu blinked at him. “Ah. Thank you, Ryuuki-koushi.”
“It’s okay. Aniue won’t be out of the Council for hours yet, probably.” Ryuuki hitched up his stack and stretched his legs to match Kouyuu’s strides down the halls. He glanced at the distant look on Kouyuu’s face and decided against asking him what he was brooding over. “Why do you call him ‘Shouka-sama’?” he asked instead.
“He’s Reishin-sama’s older brother,” Kouyuu explained. “Reishin-sama respects him very much.”
“Reishin,” Ryuuki murmured, trying to place the name among the horde of officials he was just starting to keep straight these days.
“Kou Reishin, the Secretary of Civil Affairs.” Kouyuu smiled, the way he did sometimes that made him look a lot younger and nicer than usual. “I came here to serve him.”
Ryuuki cocked his head; he heard something in Kouyuu’s voice. Something that seemed kind of familiar. “Did he save you?”
Kouyuu stopped short, staring. “How… did you… ?”
Ryuuki shrugged. “You sound the way I feel about Seien-aniue. Aniue saved me. I just wondered.”
Now Kouyuu’s eyes were a little strange. “What did he save you from?” he asked slowly.
Ryuuki looked away, shoulders hunching. He didn’t like remembering those years. If he did, then he remembered the dark, and if he remembered the dark he’d have to ask if he could sleep in Aniue’s room tonight… He started at a hand on his shoulder.
“Never mind.” Kouyuu squeezed gently before drawing back to balance his stack of books with both hands. He looked like he understood about bad memories. Ryuuki nodded, relieved, and they walked on quietly.
A few halls later, Kouyuu started to turn left and Ryuuki stopped, startled. “Aren’t we taking these to Finance?”
“Of course.”
Ryuuki pointed right. “Finance is this way.”
Kouyuu flushed and then glowered and then stomped past him and down the right-hand hall. “Why do they keep moving these halls around?!”
Ryuuki couldn’t help laughing, no matter how Kouyuu glared. When he caught his breath he ran after Kouyuu and paid more attention to guiding their turnings.
“So… what should I do if I want to serve Aniue?” he asked, discreetly nudging Kouyuu left.
Kouyuu glanced down at him, expression softening again. “Well, first I suppose you should learn how the courts work, so you can advise him well and do the things he needs done.”
Ryuuki nodded, intent. “And then?”
“Learn the people.”
Ryuuki thought about this as he slipped ahead to open the right door. It made sense. “Can I… ask you about things?” He ducked his head a little, glancing up at Kouyuu; he didn’t want to be a bother and make Kouyuu want to get rid of him like almost everyone else always had. He breathed a sigh of relief as Kouyuu grinned at him, companionably.
“Sure you can.”
Ryuuki grinned back. “Okay.”
“Ask later, though,” Kouyuu added, as he reached for the next door. “The Secretary of Finance is a little short on patience.”
Ryuuki nodded and tiptoed in after Kouyuu, setting himself to watch and learn. For Aniue.
TBC
Shuuei and Kouyuu cute for the win! And of course, Ryuuki is love.
Most favoritest part is Shuuei’s description of events….Koku pouncing on him like tasty prey…….yum *amused*. Sou Taifu so set it up. He and the high generals have an arrangement, you see, so that those who can actually practice with him get hijacked by the Uringun…
<3 and squees,
Majo
*hearts* Thank you!
I would in no way put it past Sou; all three of the grand advisors just love to meddle in people’s lives. I think it must be some kind of prerequisite of the job or something. *snerks* Makes you wonder what Kouyuu and Shuuei will be like, in forty years or so.
I imagine Shuuei would be high-general or a Taifu himself, elegantly and handsomely finding and tormenting new recruits to the Uringun. Kouyuu would be as eccentric as Kijin in one of the Sr. Secretary positions…
And hopefully be important uncle-figures helping Shuurei and Ryuuki in keeping Seiran from SPOILING THE LITTLE ROYAL
BRATSHEIRS ROTTEN.One can hope, right?XD *hugs shiny OTP*
Majo
*laughing* I can just see the two of them, all white-haired, still sniping at each other.
And, good grief, Seiran /would/ spoil the kids rotten, wouldn’t he? Oh man.
Seiran’s heaven is a big, sunny garden overrun with mini Shuurei’s and Ryuuki’s. ::nods definately::
*laughing* And a never-ending tea pot for Shouka, so he never has to /make/ any.
*laughing* Oh, Kouyuu is adorable. And Ryuuki is king of adorable. *dotes mightily*
*snerks* Kouyuu is totally not admitting to sulking over Shuuei being (somewhat) gone; it’s so cute.
Oh dear, here we go again… As if the Ryuuki Cuteness wasn’t enough, you add some Kouyuu in the mix as well. I just— I love you ♥
*basks in the love* Thank you!
They’re just so cute together, I couldn’t resist. Really, Kouyuu is kind of Ryuuki’s slightly older brother, to go along with his somewhat older brother (Shuuei) and quite older brother (Seiran). And they /so/ act like youngest and next-youngest!
Ah, Shuuei, you smug bastard. As if you needed the ego boost, here you are being press-ganged into the armed forces via red carpet. No wonder you’re so insufferable at the moment, poor Kouyuu. Well, at least you’re making it easy for him to pretend to be annoyed at you to cover up how he’s going to miss you.
::is always amused by the antics of Kouyuu and Shuuei::
And once again, Ryuuki scares the heck out of someone with his straightforward perceptiveness. ::amused:: I think this Ryuuki is less likely to garner Kouyuu’s ire than the one in-series, since he’ll have his determination to help Seien there to keep his inclination to slack off at bay. 😉
Chibi Ryuuki angst! ::sob:: So cute, so angst! I approve! As much as I approve of adorable snuggling brothers cuteness, oh yes indeed. So Kouyuu gets a hint of Ryuuki’s fears, although I guess the only one who really knows the truth of that time is Seien. And Shouka, of course.
Ryuuki being all uncertain about whether or not he’ll be accepted by Kouyuu is also adorable beyond belief. Huzzah for Ryuuki having friends, the poor kid’s been deprived most of his life . . .
Much happiness for this installment, oh yes. I need daily infusions of Ryuuki for my continued mental health. 😀
*hearts* Glad you liked it!
*snickering* I had to explain how Shuuei gets to be the way he is somehow.
*wry* And, really, poor Kouyuu. Not only does one infuriating friend move to a different area, but he gets another who’s very in need to a cool head to direct him. Fortunately for Kouyuu, Ryuuki won’t be slacking off because he’s love-lorn for another handful of hears yet. ^_^
Ryuuki brings Cute to all our lives! Really, it /is/ addictive. Normally uber-cute eventually palls for me, but Ryuuki is so very sweet about it.
Okay. I think I just officially fell in love with Shuuei now. ^__^ He didn’t want to lose his favorite friend, after all. Where else would he find someone this pure? Or this much fun to play with? = LOVE♥♥
Also, Sou Taifu–scary. I mean, seriously. Those three advisors/administrators…they are *so* puppet masters! Although, that does sort of make me wonder and think what Sou Sa will now be getting up to since Seien’s back…
Ryuuki is just cute. I love how he’s missing Shuurei already. (he’s so whipped >.<). Still… The “capable falcon that hides his claws,” eh? Ho wold is he at this point? 13 – 8 is 5 plus 6… that would put him about 11, right? Old enough to start distinguishing himself if he’s anything like Seien, which I think he is, at least a little. It’s nice to see him not so perfectly cunning yet, though. Loved seeing him subtly guide Kouyuu. Was a bit surprised he didn’t know the head secretaries’ names yet–but then, so many names overlap and Kouyuu did use Reishin’s given name without his family name…
It’s good to see Ryuuki taking an “early” interest in his governement, even if it’s for his brother’s sake. The two of them working together–it should prove good for the country (if not necessarily all of the officials–I have a feeling they might try refreshing things a bit!).
“The Color of the Phoenix’s Tail” represents the color of the different families, so named because of the enlightened ones, I thought. Kou (either Shuurei or Kouyuu), Kou (mask-man), Ran (which is what color again?), Shi (Ryuuki, I’m guessing)…. the colors are what? Red, yellow, blue, green, brown, purple… white and black? Like the two generals?
Speaking of which, I’d forgotten/not thought of that–Shuuei is an official, but he’s also a member of the military. Rather interesting, that. Not to mention, he’s also a shougun….
*grins* Thank you! I’m quite fond of Shuuei and his attitude.
I haven’t quite decided what Sa will do, in this AU. There will definitely be /something/ though.
*thinks* Ryuuki is about 15 by this point. Old enough to be getting involved in politics, even though Aniue came home and kept him from /having/ to get involved. He’s such a caring little thing.
Yep, those are the colors. I do kind of wonder whether Haku and Koku traditionally field generals for the palace or whether that’s just coincidence.
Ryuuki’s *15*!!
…wow… I’m still picturing him as a cute little kid, not an semi-akward teenager. ^__^;;
Even so, I’m surprise his willingness to help his brother didn’t prompt him into action sooner than this….
How old was he then in the scene when Kouyuu busted in on him and Seien in the court garden? Or when Seien came to find him in the archives?
Hn. We haven’t met each of the color reps yet in the anime, have we?
One of Sa’s goals in the anime was to bring Seien back; that or to attain more influence, I thought (remembering how he invited Ryuuki to enjoy his granddaughter…). He was fueled by his desire to do better/be better than the one guy, right? But, wasn’t there something else that prompted him to take the measures that he did…? I can’t remember, but I’ll probably end up watching those episodes again sometime this weekend. ^__^
Awwwwwww. *basks in cuteness*
*beams* Thank you!
This series is fantastic. I really like the alternate viewpoint/plot points. And you have nearly all their voices incredibly autentic.
One little niggle point. At the start, you used ‘pen’ to describe the writing impliment that Kouyuu uses. I think that the period piece that you’re writing in, ‘brush’ would be more appropriate? Just a thought. ^_^
Thank you! Really, trying to match a plotline as complex as KokuMono gets to be, I had to get into everyone’s head; it’s fun to play with them all, too. ^_^
Drat! ‘Brush’ /is/ the word that I use for these stories; this one slipped by me at revisions. Thank you for pointing it out!
To be honest, I feel like Kouyuu sometimes because I have a poor sense of direction.
Ryuuki is such a gem. And Shuuei… sneaky in a good way.
Oh dear; not /as/ bad, I hope!
Glad you liked it! *grins* Shuuei really does know Kouyuu and his moods.
Awww poor Kouyuu. I love how Shuuei reassures him while pretending to be teasing him. That’s Shuuei-the-big-brother for you :D*
This story totally wins at life! *nods nods*
Thank you! I really think Shuuei makes a very good big brother; the perfect friend for Kouyuu the only child. ^_^
Yep, I’ve been discussing this side of Shuuei with several other fangirls (poor, poor fangirls), and I’ve come to the conclusion that Kouyuu is, in a way, a “replacement” for Ryuuren in Shuuei’s mind… because Kouyuu is a genius, just like Ryuuren, but Kouyuu also has a vulnerable side (which Ryuuren doesn’t have), which makes him perfect “little brother material” for Shuuei, who, I’m sure, totally regrets that Ryuuren can take care of himself ^__^
Well, for the most part, these are a Ran brothers’ fangirl’s fantasies, but hey. *coughs*
*nods* I can definitely see that. Ryuuren might /have/ a vulnerable side, but he sure as heck doesn’t show it to his brothers. And Shuuei is such a caretaking sort of person, under all the sardonic lightness. I be he really loves being able to be a guide, not only for Kouyuu, but for Ryuuki.
*suddenly laughing* Oh dear, no wonder Seiran is so hard on him!
Ryuuren’s vulnerable side probably comes from his loneliness (before he found Shuurei and Eigetsu, particularly). Shuuei hints at this at some point in the anime, how he has always been alone because he was so different.
Shows how caring a big brother Shuuei is, to have understood this ^^ *fangirls*Ryuuren doesn’t appear to be affected by it, but Shuurei notices how rare it was to see him smile at all… awww *hugs Ryuuren*Yeah, there is this whole competition for “who is going to be the best big brother figure for Ryuuki” between Seiran and Shuuei. AND the interesting thing is that (in the anime at least) Seiran tries to steal the role of Kouyuu’s big brother at some point (when he asks Shouka to talk to Kouyuu about Reishin), which Shuuei is jealous about ^^;; *loves*
1. Ryuuki and Kouyuu are enough crazy cute to BLIND people. O.O
2. …no seriously. Bitty kouyuu teaching bitty Ryuuki how to serve the person who saved him!! The parallels are even BETTER in this AU. I would love to see reishin/seien’s reactions to this dynamic; I bet it slays. <3
*huge grin* Aren’t they?
And, truly, this Ryuuki has a positive kink about serving Aniue. If I ever get back into it and rewrite canon proper, it’s going to come through really clearly in that first arc.
I. Um. I’m pretty sure my thoughts on that can be tidily summed up as “OHGODPLEASE. O.O”
Er. Bribes?
*rueful* Well, if you can bribe C1 to sub any faster, so I can get a solid shot of canon, I might be able to get them going again. I just feel like I need to know the family entanglements and politics before I can see where the arc would go from it’s current stopping point.
… though I may be able to do some nice sidestories without that. *considers this and prods her muses* Hey, maybe I’ll get that Seien/Kouyuu bunny back, because this Seien? Tops freaking everyone.
Well… I don’t know how many eps season two’s going to be in total? But they just put episode 32 up on crunchyroll today, and given the length of season one, I wouldn’t expect it to be much more than that….
And I would be very interested to see how you got seien and kouyuu into bed. :/
Oh, I do hope so.
As best I recall, Seien pulled a Shouka on Kouyuu–turned his head inside out for his own benefit. And then got his Protectiveness on, and my Kouyuu is kind of a sucker for that. *eyes the fic-underbrush* Here bunny, bunny.
Oooh… that DOES sound shiny. What was it they were talking about? And Protectiveness is what big brothers do best! Right?
Lol-Ryuuki’ll never forgive him(and let me know when you’ve seen 32; I expect there’s something in that one you’ll love, and I’m waiting excitedly to squee with someone over it. <3)
*claps hands* Oh, I forgot about crunchyroll! *bounces off to skip ahead and watch 32 right away*
*bounces back* Eeeeee! Oh, they’re getting to one of the best arcs yet!