Kirins United
Disclaimer: Juuni Kokuki belongs to Ono Fuyumi. I hope she continues writing the novels soon.------------
Quite a long time ago, the wise Empress of Kei, Sekishi, came up with this idea. She wished to keep the twelve countries united, bound by a strong friendship and understanding. However, rulers were busy people, tied to lots of works and constraints. What better ways there were besides having their Kirins gathered in harmony instead? (After all, sometimes rules couldn't help seeing their Kirin as a whining, nagging protester of their policies). Other emperors saw her idea as a wonderful one, and since then, every year for one single day, Kirins from all countries would gather at Mt. Hou to celebrate their friendship and to greet each other. Kei-Ou named the gathering 'Kirins United'.
At first Gyokuyou refused to accept them. "This is not a place for Taihos. This is a place for Kirins to grow up."
However, the Taihos insisted, saying they would like to borrow only one single shrine out of hundreds of shrines in Mt. Hou. After a long coaxing and begging, finally Gyokuyou gave in. She asked permission from Seioubo, and the goddess, seeing nothing wrong with the plan (since she wouldn't be the one to deal with the mess the Kirins would surely make), gave her permission.
So once a year, they would charge into the sky in their Kirin form, and celebrate their gathering in a shrine in Mt. Hou, usually in their human forms. This year was no different.
The beautiful Kirin of Han gave her opening speech, and also presented Han's best jewelries, as gifts from Han-Ou for other emperors. The other Kirins were impressed by the beauty of the gifts, and told her their masters would surely love the gifts. She then informed them all that there's a rare, small discount for purchasing jewelries for all emperors and important officials (because gems from Tai came abundantly that year).
Lots of fruits and juices were available for the Kirins, along with cakes and salad. This was truly a party for Kirins. Nothing much changed during the years, so every year the Kirins were running out of new things to do. Exchanging gifts and greetings naturally didn't take that long, and they were craving for new things to do. Found none, they eventually made smaller groups and started to chat about nothing important.
At one corner, Hanrin was pouting at Taiki. She grabbed his long, steel colored mane rather jealously. Her emperor always said he preferred Taiki's color, so she couldn't help pulling Taiki's dark hair rather forcefully every time they met. The Kirin in a fine, young man's form patiently let her do as she liked, for the time being.
Suddenly someone called for their attention. It was En Taiho, and he was making a sound with his glass using a silver spoon. "May I have your attention, please? I have a new game!" The crowds cheered. So he continued. "We are Kirins. We are famous for being compassionate and merciful. But we're not so famous for being brave. So today, let's have a contest of guts!" The crowds cheered wilder.
"This contest is easy. We should give a single word description of our Emperors. A word that suits them well, describes them well, but has to show their negative traits. Exaggeration would be appreciated. Kirin with the boldest, demeaning description would win." The younger Taihos gaped in awe seeing the brave Taiho of En, while the older Kirins, who knew full well that En Taiho had never had any problems badmouthing his emperor, raised one eyebrow. Anyway, it was decided that the contest should be begun immediately.
I shall start! Enki exclaimed. "En-Ou! Lazy, selfish, smug, perverted, two-faced, useless scum!"
The crowds were praising and cheering loudly for his bravery. Enki smugly accepted the praise, failed to realize that he had lost the contest instantly for getting too excited and mentioning a lot more than one word. He was simply cursing his master. It seemed like he had a heated 'argument' with Shouryuu before leaving En. He might also have too much pineapple juice that made him forget the rules of his self-made game only after a few seconds. Anyway,
Taiki the Taiho of Tai entered the light. Being a bright Kirin, the wrong example didn't take him away from the contest's one word rule. "Tai-Ou…is… Scary." More cheers from the crowds. Hanrin could see Taiki's lips trembled a little. For some Kirins it's definitely painful not to say good things about their master.
It's Renrin's turn. She braced herself and started. "His Majesty is… Common." This time the cheers were mingled with stifled laughter.
Next, Keiki's turn. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something. But then after two minutes, no sound came out. He simply couldn't think of anything. But to others it was a clear proof of him lacking guts, so he got a crystal clear booing from his fellow heavenly creatures. "Boooooo!" Keiki hung his head and stepped away from the spotlight dejectedly.
Kyouki gulped and thought hard. He felt that 'scary' would fit his master best, but Tai Taiho had already used that description. "Her Majesty, Royal Highness of Kyou… is… is… spoilt." The crowds gave appreciative claps.
Hanrin combed her hair before stepping into the light. "Han-Ou… He's really gentle. You all know he has extraordinarily fine taste. He also has perfect manner and he's very graceful. He fits well with flowers and skirts…" Someone had already pulled her out of the spotlight, though she tried hard to stay.
So the Kirins took their turns, bravely went against their nature and badmouthing the persons they might actually respect the most. Young Kirins all did surprisingly well.
Then it's the turn of Sairin, the softest Kirin of all. She's holding a branch of plant like always. "Sai-Ou." She said gently, "…Wrinkled."
There was silence. Sourin, being the oldest of them all, stood up and clapped her hands. The others followed. They had found their winner, who gave the boldest and the meanest description of all.
Sairin was very surprised and happy that she won, for she didn't recall ever winning any contest before. But when she heard that the prize was a private tour to En's Royal Palace, guided by Enki himself, her face fell obviously.
So that's how the Kirins United ended that year.
----
Note: Thank you for reading. Please take the time to review, let me know what you think about this story, or show me typo/other mistakes. No need to be too kind with your comment just because there are (truly) too few Juuni Kokuki fanfics around:)