Title : Tonic With Plums

Disclaimer : I don't own Saiunkoku Monogatari. It belongs to Sai Yukino.

Rating : T

Genre : Family/Friendship

Warnings : Yaoi

Pairings : Reishin/Kijin, Koyu/Shuei

Summary : The serving of herbal tonics, especially when sweetened with preserved plums, is one sure way to show love! ^_^

Time-fit: After Silk Pants. In relation to Twin Irises, this fits in between Chapter 2 and Chapter 3.

Koyu stared at the bowl of evil-smelling concoction.
"No."

He watched Reishin's very beautiful hand slide the saucer of three sweetened plums closer to him.
"The sweetened plums will take away the bitterness, Koyu."

Wavering in his resolve, Koyu bit down on his lower lip to stop himself from smiling. Not trusting that his amusement wouldn't show in his voice, Koyu answered by shaking his head vehemently.

"It's not going to work, Dumpling. He's not a child anymore."

Letting out a hiss of frustration, Reishin gathered his skirts and flounced off to sit down in a huff, favouring his adopted son with his most venomous side-long glare.

"Koyu, for once I agree with Reishin, you really need to drink this."

"I'm not drinking anything, Lord Kijin, not until I get a clearer answer than 'Because it's good for you'."

"What if I say that Reishin and I take this same tonic everyday too?"

Koyu stubbornly shook his head.

Kijin turned to Reishin, shrugging.
"Over to you, Dumpling."

Reishin uncrossed his legs, angled his body to face Koyu, and spoke slowly and deliberately.
"If you are going to soil your sheets four times a night, Koyu, your body is going to need help replenishing itself."

"I . . . you . . . how . . . Aunt To told you!"
Koyu hid his face in his hands.

[Flashback]

Reishin hesitated. It was not nice to spy on his son. And really, it was nothing out of the ordinary for Koyu to bring his own laundry to the laundry-room. He had done that since he was a child. It was one of his quirks.

But Koyu's manner was almost stealthy. And there was something else not right about the picture of Koyu walking past Reishin's room with his laundry in his arms. . . if he could just put his finger on it . . . The puzzle fell into place. Reishin hurriedly left his room and trailed Koyu.

From his vantage point, Reishin could both see and hear what went on in the laundry-room.

"Master Koyu, good morning!"
Aunt To smiled warmly. Koyu was popular with the servants.

"Morning, Aunt To."

Why is Koyu separating his laundry?
He's handing everything to Aunt To except his sheets.
Sheetsssss.
I was right about that, there are too many sheets!
That was what was wrong with the picture of Koyu with his laundry in his arms.

Koyu squatted at the wash area, and started on the first sheet. He scrubbed and rinsed a segment of it, wrung it dry, set it aside, and reached for the second sheet.

Aunt To hovered nearby.
"Aiya, Master Koyu, no need, no need. Master Kijin and Master Reishin's sheets are many times worse . . ."

"STOP!"
Koyu blushed.
"Please, Aunt To, I don't need to hear that."

Aunt To cackled, the gaps in her teeth showing.
"Yes, yes, of course. Aiya! Four sheets today! One more than yesterday! Tsk! Master Koyu should visit Koga House . . ."

"Aunt To!"

Reishin slipped away silently.

"Drink."
Watching Koyu closely to make sure that he drank every last drop, it occurred to Reishin that perhaps Koyu's pained expression was not so much due to the bitterness as from humiliation. Reishin almost felt bad about what's to come next.

"Now, Koyu, what's causing this recent increase in nocturnal emissions?"

"Whaa . . ."
The three plums, and their pits, went down Koyu's throat.

Still hoarse from coughing, Koyu protested.
"I refuse to answer that! Besides, I'm young and healthy, aren't I?"

"The operative word here is RECENT. You've been young and healthy for a long time, Koyu."
Reishin's hazel snake eyes stared long and unblinkingly at his prey.
"Who is he?"

"I didn't say it was a 'he'!"
Koyu went a deep red. His brows furrowed.
"Or did I?"

Kijin laughed.
"Just give up and spill your guts, Koyu. You are no match for Reishin. He noticed the pants you have been wearing the past few days. The make is different from that of our family tailor. And we both agree that no girl would be bold enough to give her boyfriend silk underpants!"

"No, no, they're his own!"

Reishin gasped.
"You two wore each other's pants by mistake? Oh my god, the rice is cooked!"

"NO! That's not it! He lent them to me, while my new ones are being made, that's all! And he's not my boyfriend!"

The hazel eyes became speculative.
"Interesting. The pants fit you perfectly. That would put him at about your height, wouldn't it?"

"He's taller."

"Taller?"
Reishin spun around to face Kijin.
"Oh Kijin! Thank goodness! It's not that snot-nosed emperor that Koyu is tutoring!"

"Indeed, that's a relief. Getting involved with royalty is never a good thing. Well, I guess that's all we need to know, right, Dumpling?"
Standing up, Kijin lifted his lover bodily from the chair.

"Oh, alright, I get it! I wasn't going to dig any furthur!"
As he was being bundled out of Koyu's room, Reishin threw a warning over his shoulder.
"Koyu, I will send Aunt Chen with the tonic from tomorrow, and you know she is totally loyal to me, so don't try any tricks . . ."

Koyu studied Shuei's inscrutable face. He hadn't realized it before, that his friend's face was almost never still. There was the wide silly grin, where the eyes would disappear into crescents. And when Shuei laughed, the fine brows would lift, the violet eyes sparkling with amusement. And then there was the rare lopsided smile, with down-turned brows and crinkled eyelids.

The closest thing to stillness was when the violet eyes darken, when the smouldering intensity would make Koyu's breath catch in his throat. But that always passes quickly. And then the features would once again move, breaking into a smile or laugh.

This inscrutable face, what is he thinking?
Is it too much to ask that of him?
Koyu watched as Shuei's brows moved, arching mockingly.

"Li Koyu, do you seriously expect me to drink an unknown herbal brew? Without any explanations whatsoever?"

"I did ask if you were currently taking any medicines or tonics! Just in case of incompatibility or overdose. And you did say it wasn't a problem!"

Shuei gave Koyu a strange look.
"Fine. I'll drink it."

Watching Shuei start on the bitter brew, Koyu contemplated the situation they were in. They were friends. As a friend, Koyu was concerned that the three hours at Koga House every night would take a toll on Shuei's body. He had asked Aunt Chen to use a larger medicine-pot to brew double the amount of tonic. He had brought Shuei's portion, and warmed it up in the Archives' kitchenette. And since Shuei was willing to drink it, Koyu intended to do this on a daily basis. That's all fine and good, as friends.

But Koyu didn't want to remain just friends! And he suspects that Shuei felt the same way. But if that were true, how could he still be going to Koga House for paid sex with women? Koyu didn't know what to think. And now, he was as good as supporting Shuei's sexual exploits with nourishing tonics! The situation was bizarre, to say the least!

Shuei had recognized the smell of the tonic straight away. He took it everyday. He had told Koyu that it wasn't a problem for him to drink it. And truly it wasn't, he would drink the tonic Koyu brought, and stop his own servant from brewing his daily tonic.

Shuei paused in his drinking.
"Koyu, did you brew this tonic?"

"Huh? No, Lord Reishin had a servant brew it for me. I asked her to make double."

Keeping his eyes fixed on his friend, Shuei said casually,
"I see. Did Lord Reishin tell you what the tonic is for?"

Koyu's deep blush told Shuei that Reishin did. More to the point, the blush told Shuei that Koyu felt there was reason for him to be taking the tonic. Shuei felt a stab of jealousy. He had assumed that Koyu was a virgin and sexually inexperienced. That was why he decided to take it real slow when he realized that he desired his best friend.

And now I find out that Koyu has a sex life!
And given his personality, it wouldn't be casual sex.
It's either I was wrong in my assumption, or I waited too long.
Either way, I'm out of the picture.
All I'm left with now is this bitter tonic!
His lips thinning out in a tight smile, Shuei brought the bowl to his lips, and gulped down the remaining tonic. His nose tickled, and his eyelids stung. Shuei kept his eyes closed a little longer to overcome the threat of tears.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself looking down at three plums nestled in a piece of waxed paper, held in Koyu's outstretched left hand.

"Sweetened plums, to take away the bitter aftertaste."
Koyu chuckled.
"You should see the expression you had on. You're such a baby."

His own sense of loss, or the warmth in Koyu's chuckle, or maybe the simple fact that no one had ever offered him a sweet titbit as a reward for taking bitter medicines; whatever it was, Shuei couldn't stop his tears.

"You're crying?"
Koyu's voice was a strange mix of amusement and concern.

Wiping his tears with the edge of his sleeve, Shuei laughed self-consciously.
"So I'm a baby."

Grinning, Koyu re-offered the plums.

"Oooh, are those sweetened plums?"
Ryuki, who had just walked into the Archives, reached for the plums in Koyu's hand.

"THEY'RE MINE!"
Shuei snatched the plums off Koyu's palm.

Koyu laughed.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. Shuei feels he's earned them, for taking a bitter tonic."

Ryuki took in the scene. He looked at Shuei eating the plums, his gaze noting the receding flush, and coming to rest on the wet eyelashes. His brows rose at the lingering smell of a tonic that he himself was very familiar with. And lastly, he glanced at the laughing Koyu, who was packing away the crockery into a food carrier.
What on earth is going on?

"Koyu, could you make some tea before the lesson starts?"

Having packed Koyu off to the kitchenette, Ryuki pounced on Shuei.
"Alright, you have exactly ten minutes to tell me why Koyu brought you a tonic to replenish your sexual energy, and why that made you cry."

The telling took a while, as Shuei needed to be prodded every so often. By the time Ryuki got the full picture, Koyu was already walking out of the kitchenette with the tea-tray.

Ryuki bent and whispered into Shuei's ear.
"You imbecile. Haven't you ever heard of masturbation? I'll bet my royal status that Koyu is not in a sexual relationship. I'll prove it to you."

Straightening up, Ryuki grinned at his tutor.
"So, Li Koyu, I heard Lord Reishin has ordered the Man-Tonic for you. Even so, you wouldn't want to overdo the D-I-Y thingy, you know."

Koyu flushed, torn between ignoring the question and the need for information. The practical side of Koyu's nature won.
"What would be considered over-doing, Your Highness?"

Ryuki laughed.
"Give me a number, and I'll tell you if that's too many."
He laughed even more when he heard Shuei's laughter joining his.

Giving the emperor a very insubordinate death glare, Koyu retorted,
"You're not tricking me with that, Your Highness!"

The lesson went by uneventfully.

The moment Ryuki left, Koyu turned to Shuei, his pale grey eyes wide.
"Is four too many, Shuei?"

Shuei's eyes disappeared into crescents.
"Not at all, Koyu. Any other questions?"

Blushing furiously, Koyu's question came out in a rush.
"You recognized the smell of the tonic so you must be taking it regularly so why did you drink it and why didn't you tell me not to bring you anymore?"

Shuei smiled, the warmth reaching his violet eyes.
"Your tonic comes with plums."

[The End]

Notes :

(1) For the story of Shuei lending Koyu his own silk underpants, you have to go read Silk Pants. ^_^

(2) The expression "the rice is cooked" is a translation of the Chinese saying sheng-mi-yi-cheng-fan (生米已成飯) , which means "what is done cannot be undone". Often (but not exclusively so), "rice is cooked" is used in the context of a loss of chastity/virginity.

(3) Having something sweet to counter the bitter taste of Chinese herbal medicinal brews is a common practice. My personal choice is candied winter melon.