When Shou Yousei stopped in to see how his newest Emperor was doing, he expected to find Seien in a bad temper. The boy seemed to compensate for his smooth public face by snapping in private, at least until his brother or the Kou girl showed up.
He did not quite expect what he found.
“Look at this!” Seien brandished a file as if he’d like to throw it. “This is what you call a working government? They leave out half the details, a good third of them have no sense of how to organize their words, and how am I supposed to tell whether they’re concealing things or just bad at reporting?!” He glared at his handful of paper fit to set it on fire, and added, “Most of their handwriting is dreadful, too.”
Yousei couldn’t help a chuckle. Who’d have guessed the boy would be such a perfectionist? “I suppose you could make them do it again until they get it right,” he suggested. The vision of agony and outrage among the lazier officials was one to warm the heart. To warm his heart, anyway.
“Then I’d never find out what’s going on this month,” Seien noted acidly. He dropped the files back on his desk and fixed Yousei with a narrow eye. “You’re supposed to be in charge of these people; can anything be done?”
“Hmm. Perhaps.” He smiled as Seien eyed him. He was actually quite pleased the boy was finally learning he couldn’t do everything himself, but needling the royal family was one of his few remaining entertainments and he had no intention of stopping.
Before he could prod the Emperor any more, though, a muffled thumping interrupted them. It sounded rather like someone knocking on the door with his toe and Yousei’s brows rose as he reached back and opened it. The door revealed a stack of paper above a long, blue court robe.
“This is all of them,” the stack announced, edging carefully in the door. “Ryuuki-sama is still looking for the last of two years ago.” The stack thudded down on Seien’s desk, revealing an unusually rumpled Ran Shuuei.
Seien sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “All right.” He gave Yousei a distracted wave of dismissal, already reaching for the top scroll. “Soon, if you please, Shou-taishi.”
“Of course,” Yousei murmured and took himself out, closing the door behind him.
Then he leaned against the wall and had a good laugh. He hadn’t seen a Ran that discomfited in decades. This emperor looked like one to keep, which was a good thing; breaking in new ones was so wearing.
Kou Reishin looked at Yousei steadily over the edge of his fan. “And you want Kouyuu reassigned to assist our new Emperor?” The fan flicked like a cat’s tail. “Why are you asking me, instead of him, Shou-taishi? You certainly don’t need anyone’s approval to reassign an official.”
Yousei snorted. “Don’t play that game with me, boy. He’ll do exactly as he thinks you wish, and you won’t wish unless you think it will be a good place for him.” He cradled the tea he’d been offered in his hands; the heat felt good against his knuckles.
“And will it be good?” Reishin looked out the window with a fine show of disinterest.
“If he makes it good.” Yousei lived by that philosophy, though a great many officials here at court seemed to miss it. “He already knows Ryuuki-sama, doesn’t he? Don’t worry, your boy will fit right in.”
“Hm.” Reishin’s eyes were cool. Finally he snapped his fan closed. “Kouyuu will retain his rank as my assistant,” he declared.
“Done.” Yousei figured he’d gotten off easily, really, though Protocol might kick a bit over this.
Reishin waved at him. “Go ask Kouyuu, then.”
Yousei had to smile, as he left. Reishin might think he concealed his care for that foundling of his, but for such a manipulative man to let a son and underling have his head so completely? That was the telling point.
Yousei should know, after all.
“Shou-taishi!” Seien looked downright indignant. “This is completely unacceptable! You can’t just drag him away from Reishin-dono.”
Yousei bit back a grin as Reishin’s boy suddenly looked a lot less stiff and formal, and those young eyes of his softened with pleasure. He’d thought these two would get along well, with their strenuous notions of loyalty.
Seien was still carrying on. “And what am I supposed to do if Reishin takes offense?”
A very good point, Yousei had to admit. No one held a grudge or got revenge like the Kou. “You don’t trust me to have thought of that?” he prodded, and had to stifle a laugh as Seien snorted. Well, better this than that the boy rely on him too much, at this stage.
Kouyuu finally stepped forward. “It’s all right, Majesty.” He actually smiled. “Reishin-sama agreed to this. So did I.”
Yousei rolled his eyes at what an afterthought the boy made that last bit sound. At last his new Emperor stopped glaring at Shou and paid attention to his prospective advisor instead.
“You’re sure?” Seien sat back, anxiety and relief flickering behind his eyes. “Another experienced eye on these reports would be very welcome.”
Kouyuu spread his hands. “I am a civil official, and you’re the Emperor,” he pointed out. “I’m at your service.”
“Hm.” Seien smiled faintly. “Well, if nothing else, Ryuuki won’t have to go as far to visit you.”
“Ah. You, um, know about that.” Kouyuu clasped his hands, looking faintly nervous. As anyone would, who had ever seen Seien with his brother, to be sure. Even Yousei kept his hands off Ryuuki.
“I know everything that has to do with my brother.” Seien smiled, a bit crookedly. “Now it’s my government I need to find out about.”
The prospect of a meaty job to sink his teeth into gave Kouyuu back his composure immediately. “Of course.”
Yousei left them bent over Seien’s stack of papers and took himself out without waiting for thanks. He didn’t expect any, not yet.
“So?” Enjun asked, pouring tea for all of them. “How is our Emperor doing?”
“Settling in nicely.” Yousei sipped appreciatively. “If we’re lucky, Ran and Li will give him some practice at actual leadership.”
Sou snorted. “I still say it would have been easier to put him in charge of a military expedition or two.”
“You just wanted to go along on those yourself,” Yousei observed, and chuckled as Sou shrugged, not denying it.
“And it’s officials he has to learn how to lead,” Enjun added with a thin smile. “As opposed to herd.”
“A difficult lesson,” Yousei murmured into his cup. “But one every Emperor has to learn. So we’ll find a way to teach him.”
Enjun laughed. “Ah, that’s our Shou, all right. Don’t you ever think of anything but the good of the throne?”
“I think of a good drink.” Yousei lifted his cup and bit back a sigh at the flash of warmth and anger in Enjun’s eyes. “We were lucky, though,” he added casually. “This time we had two excellent candidates to rule. It’s almost a shame they can’t both be emperor, really.”
The heat hidden at the back of Enjun’s eyes turned calculating, and Yousei stifled his flinch harshly. If this is truly what you wish, I will take you there, he told his friend in the silence of his heart. But oh, Enjun, couldn’t you have chosen another way?
The head of the Sa clan was not choosing another way, though, and Yousei listened to his companions chuckling over the idea of co-Emperors, and steeled himself. He would follow both his promise and his heart, and if it killed him to do it, well. Perhaps he would not regret that.
End
Almost I feel for the calculating old bastard.
*chooses instead to dote on Kouyuu*
*wry* I still think he totally deserved to catch a loaded Eiki full on, but yeah.
*judicious* I do kind of feel for Shuuei, since he’s now going to be caught in an office with /two/ workaholics. *snerks*
Kouyuu: *totally feels that this will be good for Shuuei. Character-building, even*
Also, did I mention that I really loved the description of Reishin’s fan flicking like a cat’s tail? He is completely feline. *hearts it muchly*
*giggling* Isn’t he? He /uses/ the thing like tail-and-ears!
Plus, can’t you see him spying on Shuurei and falling out of the tree or such, and doing the “I meant to do that” thing?
*hearts and squees incoherently*
Too many things that are my favorites here..@_@ It’s like, how did you hit all my Saiunkoku fic buttons!? (all the nice ones, anyway) *squees*
As always, my eternal devotion to Seien, but I gotta admit Shou gave my fangirly heart a bit of a doubt here. Ah, gotta love those sly old foxes…
Majo
*heartsback*
This was a fun one to play with; the stories where the characters go politicing are usually the most amusing ones. ^_^ Shou is a wicked old guy, and I do like him quite a lot. I have this image of him and Eiki sitting on a porch somewhere, snarking at each other happily. *grins*
Huzzah I win! ::boogies:: I win every time you post more of this, it fills me with glee. And this one especially, because I’m an absolute sucker for brotherly cuteness and there are lovely tantalizing hints of it here.
Shou also amuses me very much– I enjoy the way you write him, all manipulative and calculating and inhuman-but-not-inhuman. Seien is more open and emotional than I might have expected, but I’m having fun seeing his perfectionist nature come through. And already working poor Shuuei harder than he’s ever had to work in his life, I’d imagine (well, maybe).
And a very nice lead-in to some of the in-series events at the end. I look forward to seeing what you do with it; addressing that particular turn of events is something that has given myself and![[livejournal.com profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
majochan no end of difficulty in Omnia. 😉
*laughing* Glad to provide more win for your day!
I really do have to get around to one of the stories that shows Ryuuki at his own desk in Seien’s office. The two of them together are a gaurantee of instant cavities.
I have to admit, it’s hard to find a good balance for Seien; his decision to take the throne, in and of itself, indicates that he’s more of the world, in this world, than in canon. But he’s still himself, and probably slow to open up. *grins* I do think he trusts Shou more than he realizes himself.
*bounces and looks forward to more Omnia*
::much amused:: Ryuuki with a desk in Seien’s office? I’d be amazed if they managed to get any work done. What with all the cute that would go on . . . I’m sure it would make them happy, though.
I love it when you’re on a posting phase–I just hate it when I’m not home to enjoy these bits of platnium. So much love for this piece. I like Shou. I think I’m starting to get a better understanding of him through your writing. Yeah, he’s a calculating-bastard, but that’s his job, and he’s good at it.
And Reishin–I swear, I would probably just love on about any fic that included him, in-character, as his wonderful self. Great imagery between the fan and a cat’s tail. Definitely spot on with that.
[stiffles giggle] Shuurei… lock in between Kouyuu and Seien…. will he ever survive? It should be interesting to see Kouyuu and Seien interact, though. There’s always been a bit of resentment on Kouyuu’s part in the anime because of the circumstances of his adoption and all. It should be interesting to see how, if at all, that will play out in this story line.
Co-emperors…? Was that ever done?
So, Enjun’s still on a self-distructive path then, eh?
Oh, well. To each his or her own, I guess.
Hope to see more soon!
Thank you! Yeah, these have been on a real roll; now pausing as I try to coax bunnies out from under the bushes, of course. ^_^;
I do rather like Shou. He’s got a pretty rough deal; I’d be snarky too, if I was him, especially with his dearest friend set on self-descruction. Reishin, on the other hand, seems to come by it as a natural talent. *snerks*
Shuuei will probably find a way to twit both his office-mates, in revenge for being worked so hard. I mean… it’s /Shuuei/.
To the best of my knowledge, the closest they ever got to co-emperors in real life was emperor and regent. Hence the old geezers having a chuckle over the idea. *wry*
Perfectionist Seien…how could Shou not have anticipated that? *laughs* Nice to see someone who can make Shuuei work. Also, any Reishin appearance wins points XD
Glad you liked it! *grins* Reishin makes such a wonderful accent to any story; he’s great fun.
Hey, I read the few parts for this arc at the Saiunkoku Monogatari community and liked it so much I checked to see if you’ve written more. I hope you don’t mind? I’m adding you as well. ^^;
I don’t mind at all, welcome! *wry* This whole arc is currently on hold while I wait for more canon to tickle my bunnies out of the underbrush, but I do hope to continue it. Glad to hear you liked it!
…Seiran will KILL them. There’ll be nothing left but old-man-shaped smears on the palace floors. You’d think people would learn, after he went through all this for Ryuuki, to keep their hands off the kid. O.O
*wry* I think he’s gonna make a really good try at it, yeah, if he realizes. If Ryuuki doesn’t get there first. *kind of likes this thought, in an evil way*
Hallohallo! I just came by to visit and re-read everything in the Age of Silver arc, because it’s all so very, very good and I am so very lacking in good Saiunkoku fanfiction to read. ::siiiighs:: I’m hoping that I was halfway decent when I responded to these when they were first posted, and managed to contain my idiotic fangirl squeeing enough to tell you what I liked seriously. 😉
That being said, somehow I failed to remember that you ended the whole thing on such a cliffhanger. ::wants to die all over again:: I know you’ve probably moved on to other shiny fandoms for the time being, but I always hold out hope in my heart that you’ll return to this one and give us more. I’m probably not the only one desperate to see where you might go with this new situation you’ve set up, but, well. I guess in the meantime I shall continue to eat my own liver in agony while I endlessly rehash the tantalizing snippets of brotherly cute.
Pathetic? Who, me?
::siiiighs:: but of course.
. . . that was me, Thea, by the way. grey_damaskena over at livejournal. Not quite sure what happened to the header on my entry . . .
*sparkles* Hi again! Are you kidding, your comments were a big part of what got me this far in the arc. Which I do still harbor hopes of getting back to someday, but the bunnies are being shy. *sighs also*
*plays with your comment header info* Ah, I see. It doesn’t know what to do with the url. Hm. I’ll have to see about fixing that somehow.
At any rate, thank you for reading again! I still love SaiMono and Emperor Seien in all his really ruthless glory. ^_^ Maybe if I rewatch it all this spring I’ll be re-inspired.
Now that I have read all this, I’ll join the ranks of people begging for more. Really, it makes me insanely happy to discover, only about a month after finishing watching Saiunkoku, that one of my favourite authors has written this much. And now I’m seriously addicted to this story, please pick it up again! I’m willing to offer crappy fan art, stories of my own and e-cookies.
Because I love how spot-on you write them~
Thank you so much! It’s really wonderful to hear that you’ve enjoyed the arc!
I’m currently embroiled in Katekyou Hitman Reborn, but I still have hopes for this one; the bunnies stir in the underbrush every now and then…
*lays out bunny bait*
….I LOVE it!!!! I just finished reading this arc, and I think it’s absolutely fantastic! You have quite the talent for writing, that’s for sure! This is definitely my favorite Saiunkoku Monogatari fanfic so far. I really love the idea of Seien being the emperor, it’s a shame that more people write out that scenario…Seeing how Seien adjusts to becoming an Emperor and how he is still so protective over Ryuuki…so adorable! XDDD Oh, I just love their brotherly love, I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of it. And I agree with the other commenters here, Seien will KILL Enjun if he messes with his brother (I kind of want to see that…XD I love it when Seien is so fiercely protective of Ryuuki). Especially since Ryuuki will probably be heartbroken and terrified at the prospect of being used against his brother, especially after that bloody mess with their siblings. And I really like the idea of Ryuuki and Kouyuu becoming friends, since that have that common bond of wanting to serve the people whom they love very much. I have no doubt that Ryuuki would be a great help to Seien under Kouyuu’s tutelage, after all, he’s brilliant in his own right. Though, he would probably pull the act of a “stupid lord” in order to protect Seien’s position as emperor…Gosh, I love Seien and Ryuuki, they’re so adorable!! If those plot bunnies ever start to nibble again, I would definitely love to see where you take this story!!
*sparkles at you* Thank you so much! I loved writing this arc, and it’s wonderful to hear other people enjoyed it too. I keep laying out carrots for more bunnies, but they haven’t come back yet, alas.
*grins* I love the idea of Ryuuki acting silly for public consumption while being Seien’s intelligence gatherer behind the scenes. And in this timeline he can actually marry Shuurei, since marrying a barren public official would take him right out of the “good emperor candidate” pool. And then they can share Seien even more easily!
“Hm.” Seien smiled faintly. “Well, if nothing else, Ryuuki won’t have to go as far to visit you.”
“Ah. You, um, know about that.” Kouyuu clasped his hands, looking faintly nervous. As anyone would, who had ever seen Seien with his brother, to be sure. Even Yousei kept his hands off Ryuuki.
“I know everything that has to do with my brother.” Seien smiled, a bit crookedly. “Now it’s my government I need to find out about.”
That’s right!!! No one messes with Seien’s little brother!!!!!!! XDDDD It’s one of my favorite parts of the series!
That’s so true!! Yay, Ryuuki can be happy!! Oh, plot bunnies, come soon!!!! There are so many elements to this story that I am completely in love with (the top one on the list being the Seien & Ryuuki brotherly love…so cute! As well as Kouyuu & Ryuuki being friends…and Reishin still being protective of Kouyuu behing the scenes…and Shuuei & Kouyuu…too many to count! XDDDDD), that I would be sad to see it end…:( I especially love that even though this story is AU, everyone is still so in-character! Everyone’s personalities and reactions are just how I imagined them to be if this story had actually been canon. Very nice. 😀