Akira sat on the ground and stared at his hand, trying to catch his breath while Kou and Shirogane argued over his head.
"-the hell did you think you were doing, anyway?!"
"Saving his life." Shirogane’s voice was cold. "He’d lost his shadow. He had to change to live, and would you care to tell me how you think I could have made him rei?"
Kou bared his teeth. "You should have tried to awaken him first!"
"Leaving him with even less power to use than he has now, while fighting for his life. Again." Shirogane folded his hands on the head of his cane, eyes glittering. "Oh yes, a fine idea."
"Excuse me," Akira finally put in, very evenly, "what the hell just happened?" His blades had turned into a huge long… thing. That wasn’t entirely there. And left him feeling like he’d been run down by a bus.
"You tried to manifest your real power," Kou said, savage. "Only Shirogane-san‘s contract with you is interfering."
"When he regains enough of his strength to sustain his true form, he will not be stopped by the mere seed of shadow I gave him," Shirogane answered, chilly.
"Quit arguing with each other and answer me!" Akira yelled.
Both of them stopped and looked at him, which was a good start anyway.
"You tried to bring forth the weapon you carry as Ryuuko," Shirogane said, finally. "But that weapon is one of light. You are currently shin, of shadow. The two can’t coexist that way."
"Uh-huh. And that’s bad?" He looked at Kou-nii.
"He should never have made you shin," Kou said, quiet and intense. "You’re rei. You’re the embodiment of light. It’s your nature."
They both said that. Only, apparently, he had two different natures, now, gee what fun for him. Akira sighed. "Anyway, that Sawaki guy’s gone now, right? We’re done?"
"For now," Shirogane agreed quietly.
"Akira?" Shirogane asked, as he got ready for bed. "You’ve been quiet this evening."
Akira paused in the middle of pulling his shirt off. "You know," he said to the wall, "I still don’t remember much of that time two years back, when I met Kou-nii. Or the other time you say I did that scythe thing." He hesitated for a moment. "Does that mean… when I’m Ryuuko I’m not me?"
Shirogane was quiet for longer than he liked.
"You are one spirit," he said, finally. "But as Akira you have sixteen years of memories, and as Ryuuko you have ages." After another long silence he added, "I suppose I probably haven’t helped. As Ryuuko, as the direct king of the world of light, you can only be rei. But, as Akira, you are shin." Very softly, he finished, "And my Child."
Akira stood with his shirt hanging off his arms, thinking. "Maybe I’d rather be Akira," he concluded, and tossed the shirt into his laundry basket.
Shirogane was staring, when he turned around. "You… would?"
Akira shrugged. "Well, I’ve seen all the stuff you have to do. If I’m Ryuuko, I have to do that, too, right?" He thumped down on his bed and over on his back, looking up at the ceiling. "Besides, you and Kou, you came to find me and got me into this because I’m going to be Ryuuko, right?" Yeah, and that was a great recommendation for the life of the rei king, wasn’t it?
Shirogane stood with his head down, eyes shadowed under his hat, for a moment. "I suppose we did." And then he smiled. "I’ve been glad I got to know you as Akira, too, though."
That was Shirogane’s end-of-discussion tone; after this long, Akira was pretty good at spotting it. So he tried another angle. "What does it really mean, that I’m your Child?" It was certainly the thing Kou seemed to be most ticked off about.
Shirogane tipped his head, giving him a considering look, but he did answer. "A Child has an affinity for light or shadow, but a limited amount of power. The contract allows the Child to draw on his king’s power to replenish his own."
"And now I’m drawing on yours," Akira said, slowly. Another thought was niggling at him. "And… Kou. He says I’m his king?"
Shirogane’s mouth quirked. "Yes. Kou is Ryuuko’s Child."
So Shirogane made him shin and fed him power because he didn’t have enough yet, but somehow he was also supposed to be supplying power, only of a totally different kind, and, in fact, Shirogane had done what he had exactly because Akira was supposed to be this super-rei king… Akira rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head with a groan. "I think I’m getting a headache. Can’t I just be one or the other?"
After a moment Shirogane’s hand came to rest lightly on his nape. "For now, you can be only Akira. My shin. When your spirit has recovered its strength, you can be only Ryuuko, my counterpart, Kou’s master."
"Still think I’d rather just stay Akira," Akira muttered from under the pillow.
Shirogane’s hand tightened and his voice turned dark and low. "Don’t tempt me."
A shiver ran down Akira’s spine. Shirogane had no room to talk about temptation.
The hand slid away and lips brushed his neck lightly. "Go to sleep, Akira-kun."
It was the end-of-discussion tone again. Akira sighed and put his head on the right side of his pillow, pulling up his blanket and reaching up to turn off the light.
Shirogane’s eyes gleamed in the shadows, watching him.
End
*grinning* Oh, very tasty. Shirogane really is too tempting for his own good.
He seriously is. And at this point Akira really has no clue how thoroughly wound up in him Shirogane is.
Like this a lot! Reading MF fanfiction is the best thing while waiting for more of the manga. ♥
Made me think that maybe Kou indirectly draws on Shirogane’s power? *g* I mean, obviously Ryuuko tries to manifest even though Akira is Shirogane’s child…hmmmmm.
Thank you!
Actually, I’m really wondering about Kou. I think there are some hints, in 29 or so, that he can’t draw on /anyone/ yet and it’s weakening him. *wibbles*
This is a really interesting take on the Ryuuko-Akira identity crisis debate. I really like how you are keeping Shirogane’s manga personality as well.
Thanks!
*nods* This was really where it took off into an arc instead of just lots of random porn (not that there’s anything wrong with lots of random porn of course).
So very delicious. Poor Kou doesn’t want to share his
sugardaddy, and Akira should in fact keep temping Shirogane, and temp him more. Shirogane so needs to loose control a bit and unwind before something spectacularly bad happens.Mh, in fact it makes me wonder what he would do if he caught, like, Kou groping/molesting/hitting on Akira. I bet I’d hear the resulting explosion from here.
Also, Aya/Lulu are so OTP.&hearts
*hearts* Yeah, Kou is just about green with jealousy and Shirogane isn’t much better.
…dude, that would be a huge explosion all right. *contemplates it with some awe*
They are! And there will be fic for them!
This fandom needs some yuri, yes.
I can totally hear Shirogane’s thoughts on the matter – “I’m gonna kill him. Wait, Ryuuko won’t like it at all when he wakes up. Do I have a good place to hide the body? No, no, he’d know it was me anyway. Maybe if I kill Kou a bit? Ryuuko can’t be mad at me for that long if I just geld him and cut off his legs, right?” Shirogane wouldn’t get drastic with Kou, but he’d come pretty close
Which brings me to a thought occurred to me yesterday – Akira is a special case since he’s human, okay, but he’s still got his rei powers in spite of being a shin. Plus I’m ready to bet that Sawaki was a rei and crossed over. So that means that a rei can turn into a shin or viceversa, right? Because if something went really, really bad (like, Kou finally running out of steam without Ryuuko’s powers to lean on and being on the brink of disappearing) and for whatever reason Shirogane had to contract Kou and make him a shin, his own Child… You know what? I’m not even going to finish that sentence. It’s too scary.
Can I has hawt Shirogane/Kou/Akira shin action?*thoughtful* You know… there have been some indications in recent issues that the rei/shin divide isn’t really as hard and fast as it has seemed. And certainly people can cross over (sawaki) and therefore back. Hmmmm. So, if Kou really were in need of a full-powered king, Shirogane could, theoretically, contract him temporarily, with the understanding that he’d be given back to Ryuuko when it’s possible.
*slow smile* You know, I have been wondering if there’s any way to get some Shirogane/Kou going, at least. I’ll have to consider this.
I’ve been thinking about that for a while, because the Sawaki thing really did bother me. Probably it’s a one-way ticket, you can cross over only once and very likely with some consequences, but the chance is most definitely there. Shirogane wouldn’t have made Akira his Child otherwise, because it would have meant losing his counterpart. It would have made more sense for him to let Akira die and wait for Ryuuko’s next incarnation, rather than trap him possibly forever in a shin form.
And then you mentioned the King/Child power relations, and reading the latest chapters it occurred to me that at the rate he’s going Kou won’t last much longer alone, or at least won’t make it until Ryuuko gets back to full power. As much as Shirogane dislikes Kou, I do think he’d try to help him out of respect/love for Ryuuko. And the thought of Kou being at Shirogane’s mercy, completely under his control? HAWT.
this is a good story please make more of these stories
Glad you liked it!