Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Konomi Takeshi does. I'm merely playing with them for the moment.
A/N: I first wrote this story last summer when my ankle was injured. A computer crash destroyed all of it, but since then I have rewritten it.
The story as a whole has an M rating for language and thematic reasons, but the individual chapters are rated everything from K to M.
The pairings implied or included in this story include but are not limited to TachibanaAtobe, TezukaOishi, SaekiItsuki, TakaFuji, AkutsuSengoku, Kisarazucest, MuromachiDan, MizukiYuuta, IbuKamio, IshidaSakurai, Data Pair, Dirty Pair, and Silver Pair. The schools involved are Seigaku, Rikkai, Rokkaku, Yamabuki, Fudoumine, St. Rudolph, and Hyoutei.
Miracles
Chapter 1
Oishi woke up with a gasp, drenched in cold sweat. For a moment he could do nothing but just lie still, staring up at the pure white ceiling of his room, dimly lit by what little light the curtains would let through. As he finally managed to get his racing heart to settle down, a knock on the door called him out of his thoughts.
"Come in, please," Oishi called out, sitting up on his bed. The door was opened right away, a young boy in a set of simple white robes walking in.
"Blessed morning, Father Oishi," the child greeted him, smiling brightly as he pulled aside the curtains before the windows. "I hope you slept well!"
"Blessed morning to you, too, Dan-kun." Oishi somehow managed to summon a smile onto his lips. "I wish I could tell you I did, but my rest was somewhat... disturbed."
"Oh?" The child frowned, momentarily pausing in his task of pouring water into a bowl for Oishi to wash his face and hands. "Another dream, Father?"
"I'm afraid so." Oishi sighed. Ever since he'd been a mere boy of ten, himself, just another apprentice running on errands for the older monks, he'd sometimes found his dreams to be prophetic. Over the years he'd come to be able to distinguish those dreams from the regular ones -- and the one that had shaken him awake so violently was certainly one of those.
"Something bad, I presume?" Dan didn't cease to frown even as he set out a full set of robes for Oishi, then quickly started to make his bed as Oishi finally got up to change his clothes. "You seem quite... unsettled, Father desu."
"...Something like that." Oishi shook his head in a somewhat futile attempt to clear it. "I can't recall its details too well, though, I'm afraid... But I do know it promised something bad." He didn't believe in the blessings of ignorance in retaining innocence, especially when it came to this child. He would tell to Dan-kun anything he would tell any of the other monks, sometimes more.
"...Well, unless you remember the details, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, ne?" Now, Dan smiled brightly, quick as ever to recover from bad news. "Guess what, Father? Brother Itsuki said that since it's his turn to lead the service tomorrow, I get to assist him!"
"Really? That's great." Oishi smiled, sincerely happy for Dan. Much though he didn't always want to admit it to himself, Dan wasn't a mere child anymore. It was good to see he wasn't the only one seeing the signs of maturity in their youngest little Brother.
"Isn't it, though?" Dan grinned, then turned serious again. "Ano, Father... has Brother Inui changed his mind yet?"
"I'm afraid not yet, exactly." Oishi shook his head. "He still insists he doesn't need any help... but I really think he's saying it more out of pride than anything. I'll try and talk him over; I'm sure you would be well suited for library work."
"Thank you very much desu!" Dan bowed quickly, beaming at him. Then, after a few more comments about how the weather seemed to be very fair and how Brother Jirou had wanted to see the Father about something concerning the morning service and really Father you know Brother Kawamura gets so sad when you're late for breakfast, he was away.
Oishi was left to his own thoughts, the returning silence bringing with it one sentence, on single line he could recall from his dream. Mouthing it to himself, half aloud, he suddenly felt very cold.
"There shall be blood."
* * *
"Ah, blessed morning, Father." Oishi had only just got out of his room as he was already cornered by Brother Inui. "You seem somewhat more worried than is customary for you, if you'll allow me to say that."
"Blessed morning, Brother Inui." Oishi smiled faintly. "I'm afraid your observation is correct. I'm not exactly... well rested this morning."
"Truly, now?" Inui raised his eyebrows in a way that might have been a sign of sympathy or worry or just simple curiousity, one could never truly tell with Inui. "Another dream?"
"Your mind truly works in ways similar to Dan-kun's. That was his first assumption, too." Oishi chuckled slightly. "And just like he, you are correct."
"You can rest with mentioning Dan-kun to me, you know." Inui sounded somewhat amused. "I'm well aware that he would like to be my aid, yet I still claim I need no help."
"When I was an apprentice," Oishi pointed out, "we always had two librarians. How is the situation different now?"
"Well, for one thing, we only have half the monks we used to. I can manage the library by myself; Dan-kun's efforts are needed elsewhere. If there were even two or three more of us, I might consider his request, but at present..." Inui shrugged. "So, what was your dream like, to disturb you so?"
"I'm... not sure." Oishi sighed. "I cannot recall the exact details, only that it left me very anxious and unsettled. There is one line, though, that I recall very clearly." Giving Inui a serious gaze, he added, "'There shall be blood.'"
"...Most interesting, indeed." Inui nodded slowly. Somewhere within his beloved library, Oishi had been told, Inui held a tome filled with nothing but detailed reports of his prophetic dreams. Some had become true quickly, some had taken more time, but none had yet to be proven untrue. "Don't you have any inkling as to the other parts of the dream?"
"I'm afraid not. I only know it'll be something very bad -- not merely a minor wound or injury."
Another nod. "You don't think it might have something to do with the war? The border does run rather close to our peace, and I have received words of skirmishes just nearby."
"Perhaps, though it doesn't seem too likely. After all," Oishi sighed again, "we aren't exactly desired as shelter for the village people." Yet he refused to do anything that would solve the situation.
"Indeed." Inui gave him a wry smile. "Well, let us hope your dream doesn't promise anything too grievous for us, hm? I can imagine quite a few horrifying scenes quite within the realm of possibility..."
"Oh, quiet, Brother! There's no need to call such bad luck upon us." Oishi glanced briefly upwards. "We can do nothing but trust in the shelter and guidance of the gods. They have always cared for their own, have they not?"
"That much is true, at least." Inui nodded in agreement.
Oishi managed to summon a smile once again. "Now, unless you had something else to discuss, I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me," he said. "I have a meeting with a breakfast plate that I would hate to miss."
"Oh, indeed." Inui smiled in return. "It would be most regrettable indeed to miss Brother Kawamura's cooking. I shall see you in the morning service, then?"
"At the latest, yes. Have a blessed day, Brother."
"A blessed day to you, too, Father."
* * *
"Ah, Brother Jirou? Might I trouble you for a bit?"
"Huh? Oh, sure!" Jirou grinned, turning towards the man at the door. "What is it, Sakurai-san?"
"There seems to be a tear on the left sleeve of my robe." Sakurai presented him a folded outer robe. "Sorry to come to you with something so small, but, well..."
"Oh, it's no problem!" Jirou happily took out a needle and some thread, quickly finding the tear and getting to work. "And it's not like I was even busy or anything at the moment. Always good to have something to keep me awake!"
"Too true." Sakurai chuckled slightly. "You do have something of a talent for sleeping, if you don't mind me saying that."
Jirou made a face. "Nah, I'd be lying if I said otherwise. Too bad it's not me who has the dreams, or I could claim to be working!" He glanced at Sakurai. "What have you been doing all morning? I haven't seen you since the service."
"I was helping Brother Itsuki water the garden," replied Sakurai. "While I certainly don't mind the sun and warmth, apparently his vegetables disagree somewhat."
"That's their problem! They need sun to grow anyway, so how can they get too much of it?" Jirou yawned, then grinned sheepishly. "I obviously wouldn't have the patience for gardening. I wouldn't stay awake."
"So it seems. How exactly do you stay awake while sewing? I'd think the longer seams would get somewhat repetitive."
"Easy, easy." Jirou chuckled. "I just make sure to prick my fingers with the needle often enough. Pain's the best cure for sleepiness!"
"You're cruel to yourself." Sakurai shook his head with a slight, amused smile. "But then, I guess you have to, with your little weakness."
"We all have our burdens," Jirou replied calmly, somewhat more serious than usual for him. "I have certainly one of the lightest loads." With another quick glance at Sakurai, he added, "I'm sure you would agree."
"...To each their own." Sakurai shook his head again, but this time his smile wasn't quite as cheerful.
"Indeed." Jirou yawned, then muttered a silent, "ow" as his skin was pierced by the needle once again. After a moment, though, he ended the seam, quickly looking over his work. "Okay, here you go! All set."
"Thanks, Brother Jirou." Sakurai nodded in thanks, taking the robe back. "I have to get back to the garden now... Have a blessed day, Brother."
"Blessed day, Sakurai-san."
* * *
It was some time in the afternoon that Oishi found Dan in the inner garden -- the one with the carefully maintained pebble paths and flowers rather than vegetables. The apprentice didn't notice him at first, crouched beside the spring in the middle of the garden, his fingers reached down to barely break the surface.
Walking to his side, Oishi smiled a bit as he looked down. "Is the water cold?"
"Ah, Father!" Dan seemed somewhat startled and almost guilty. "I'm sorry for being so lazy, it's just that I finished my chores already and --"
"Oh, calm down, please!" Oishi chuckled. "If you're done with your chores for the moment, then all is well, right? It's not like it's a sin to take a moment of rest. I'm sorry if I startled you."
"Ah... yeah." Dan grinned sheepishly, standing up. "I was just... thinking desu."
"It certainly seemed like you were deep in thought, yes." Oishi smiled briefly before turning more serious. "I... talked with Brother Inui, again."
"Oh?" Dan's eyes widened just a bit. "And what did he say?"
"That if we had even a couple of more monks, he would consider accepting your help, but at the moment you are needed in other chores." Oishi shook his head. "And, sadly, upon further thought I cannot help but agree with him."
"Too bad the chances of us getting new apprentices are rather slim at the moment." Dan nodded seriously. "I understand desu."
"I really am sorry, Dan-kun." Oishi himself had little desire to bury himself in the dusty tomes of the library; if only it had been possible, he would have been glad to grant Dan-kun his wish simply because it was such an unusual one. "However, perhaps with some time --" He paused as he saw something startling. "Dan-kun? Have you hurt your hand?"
"Huh?" Dan looked puzzled, then paled as he looked at his hands. The right one was smeared with blood. As he turned it over, he found a still bleeding gash. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Father! It must have been when I helped Brother Kawamura chop vegetables, I just can't understand how I could have missed it --"
"Oh, please calm down, Dan-kun." Oishi smiled soothingly. "Just clean it up and I'll take care of it."
Dan obediently crouched down to wash most of the blood off in the spring, then offered his wounded hand to Oishi. Murmuring a quiet prayer, Oishi sent his thoughts into Dan-kun's hand, just a touch of power, nothing much.
"There you go," he then said, smiling. "You might want to wash it again, but it's all healed now."
"Thank you, Father desu." Dan smiled, looking somewhat flushed -- most likely embarrassment for not noticing the wound earlier. "...I really am sorry."
"Oh, don't worry about it. At least it wasn't anything worse, right?"
Nevertheless, as he walked away, leaving Dan to cleaning his wound, Oishi sighed.
Yet another thing for him to worry about.