The Eighth Imperial Princess is a strange person.
Perhaps it's to be expected from someone whose mother was a prostitute, who gained the luxury of living in the palace's wing simply because the child she gave birth to is clearly the Prince's daughter.
Deep red hair and pink eyes, the one Princess who bears the name Crimson Jade, as given by the Prince the very moment her existence was discovered, is a quiet child with a strange gaze. She's a cute child, albeit very small even for her tender age of four, but even the chubby cheeks and round eyes can't make the maids and servants around the wing let it pass so easily.
Princess Kougyoku is a very, very odd child.
Her round eyes seem to see everything and nothing, sometimes focusing on a scenery or a person for a long while until the poor subject is sweating bullets, before moving on to something else for her gaze to settle onto. Other times, she seems to see something other people can't see. Superstitious people will say she's seeing ghosts; which is perhaps understandable with the belief that animals and small children are more aware of things that can't be seen by the naked eyes. But even so, her gaze always seems to either focus on something or move around following something.
It's fair to say that some of her personal maids and servants are rather… disturbed by this.
But other than that, she's a joy to be around.
Perhaps it's because of her cute face, puffy cheeks and round eyes, but other than her strange demeanor, she's fairly polite, even for someone her age. Her bluntness is still there and her servants have tasted such blunt words coming out of her mouth before ("You are being rude" or "I don't want it, so you can have it"), but it's strangely endearing. She doesn't demand much, for she's a quiet child. Her servants take this as the Princess being shy which, for them, is adorable. And yet even so, there's this energy that seems to bounce off the Princess to her surroundings, especially when her bright pink eyes seem to find something else worth giving her attention to. Her smile is small, sometimes bordering polite, but the servants take it as an honor for their usually quiet and reserved small Princess to give them a smile.
(Some of them find themselves thinking that the Princess is treating them as an equal).
(They sometimes find themselves shaking their head, wondering exactly why do they even think like that? It's unbecoming, especially from mere servants as them).
(The daughter of a former whore or not, she's still the Princess of Kou and there is never a chance that she'll have her servants as her equal, no matter her age).
(But still, sometimes-)
(Sometimes, when the Princess hold their hands, when the Princess smiles at them, when she gives them her dumplings and candies, when she offers them her precious jewelries—)
(They can't help but to think that their Princess is truly, truly strange).
(And kind).
(She's very kind).
The Princess loves new things, the servants are quick to realize.
While jewelries and cute toys given by her mother will take her interest, such interest is bound to dwindle down very quickly, and soon enough she will bounce to another thing that catches her interest.
Books, though, oh how much she loves books.
Her mother doesn't seem to realize this just yet—understandable, think some of the more stuck-up servants. She was a whore, after all. What does a prostitute even know about books?—but the Princess' servants are very much aware of this fact.
(Considering that one of the soldiers guarding the Lotus Wing where she resides in had been dragged by the Princess herself to teach her to read and write at the tender age of three, well, it's a fact that is very hard to overlook).
(Now it's even weirder that the Princess' mother hasn't realized this yet).
(They live in the same wing for God's sake).
Their Princess is very smart, but even that is a bit strange considering children her age will prefer playing other than sitting in her room and practicing her writing.
But Princess Kougyoku is a smart, cute child with a kind smile, and her servants love her regardless of her strange quirks.
Now if only she'll stop wandering around and making her personal maids get replaced or worse, executed, they'll love her more.
He and his mother are shunned.
He and his mother aren't exactly loved.
He and his mother aren't exactly needed.
Even so, his mother smiles as if nothing is wrong.
She smiles merrily, laughs the laughter similar to chimes of bells that scratches his ears. His mother loves him dearly, hugging and patting him, humming and laughing as she dresses him up, plays with his hair and simply having a whole lot of fun.
Kouha, well, he endures.
His mother is happy (is she? Is she really?) and that is enough for him, he supposes. But mother can't take care of herself, which is why he takes it upon himself to take care of her while he lets her play.
It doesn't matter that he's only four. He knows what he's doing and there are servants—afraid and full of pity his four year old pride and bitterness does not want to receive—helping him in taking care of his mother.
He knows what he's doing.
(He knows he's abandoned).
(He knows his mother is abandoned).
(He knows).
(He knows that, so it's a surprise when he finds a girl in his wing).
Chubby cheeks, hair near the shame shade as his, pink eyes.
It does not take long for him to realize she's his sister, from whichever woman that ape Koutoku led to his bed.
(He knows).
It does not take long for a hateful sneer to make its way onto his face either.
The girl blinks in surprise, round pink eyes slightly going wide, clearly not expecting such a harsh welcome.
Kouha, well, he does not give a shit.
Hateful words come out of his mouth, ones that he knows will either make the girl cry or angry or scared enough for her to run the hell away from this side of the palace, and he's even prepared to scratch that pretty face until it scars, as a bonus.
He does not expect for her to be calm.
He does not expect her to soften her gaze and looks at him with understanding that shakes him to the very core.
(It's not pity, he realizes).
(Why isn't it pity?! He knows how to deal with pity, but it's not).
(It's not pity, it's understanding and it's strange because surely, surely it's only his mother who has this illness that causes them to be shunned from everybody else, so why—)
"Mania?" She says a word that he does not understand. She licks her lips, suddenly looking grumpy at the lisp she has while uttering the unfamiliar word and her eyes are settled on his mother who is crouching and writing things on the wall, and Kouha feels his shackles rise.
"You—"
"Mm, izz eet?"* She says again, perhaps purposefully ignoring him, and Kouha has to wonder if the girl is insane too, because what even. "Kent rilly sey, have tu puroperuli diaknos eet. Das tis pelese even have psikolojist? Meybi, dukun? Sims mor laik eet."
She taps her chin with her finger, finally settling her gaze on him again, and there's this glint in her eyes that he doesn't know whether it's something he should be wary of or not.
"Hello," she says to him, properly this time, her hands clasped together and hidden under her robes as she smiles pleasantly, the polite yet kind and honest smile looking a bit strange on her chubby cheeks, "you're my brother," she says matter of factly.
Kouha narrows his eyes at her, miffed and suspicious.
"Who are you?" He says, still harsh. "You're not my sister, whatever that dumb Koutoku may say."
The Princess tilts her head to the side, her gaze assessing. "Prince Koutoku," she starts, slowly and politely, "hasn't really said anything to me, other than giving me a new name."
Kouha doesn't bother restraining his snort. "Oh, really now?"
"He doesn't really care," she says bluntly, "though my… mother does get called to his chamber sometimes." She blinks a few times, looking blank despite her cute looks. "I don't really care."
Kouha feels a sneer making its way onto his face once again, his jaw muscles twitching in annoyance. It's jealousy he's feeling, he thinks, because she doesn't care and he does and it's annoying.
"Hey," she cuts him off before he can even start his rant, and Kouha really wants to gouge her eyes out considering how she's looking at him straight in the eyes with no hesitance or fear whatsoever, "Can I spend time with your mother?"
"Haaa?!" Forget gouging her eyes out, he's going to stab her face. "Why are you asking that? Kouha doesn't want to spend any time with you, so piss off!"
She blinks. "Kouha?"
"That's Kouha," he points at his mother, "and I'm Kouha's mother. So I get a say in who Kouha gets to spend her time with! And it's a no."
"Okay," she agrees easily enough, seemingly totally unperturbed which is, seriously, what. Her hands move from their hiding place as one of them raises up to poke his cheek, much to his surprise. "But I'll still think of you as Kouha, if it's alright. Kouha is your name, right? Or you have a name before Prince Koutoku gave you Kouha? Hm."
"What?" He finds himself at a loss for words, staring at her in confusion. But she simply smiles, tilting her head slightly once again.
"For me," she says, pointing at him, "you're Kouha, my brother, and that's your mother." She points at his mother.
"Say, Kouha," she continues as he remains silent, a strange feeling of warmth creeping up in his chest as she smiles at him, "what do you say about trying to make your mother feel better?"
Kougyoku, he learns, is a miracle worker.
She talks with mother, which is weird enough of its own—because people generally try to avoid interacting, much less touching his mother. There's a reason why Kouha used to think he's his mother's sole caretaker after all—and she actually makes her mother slowly, painstakingly slowly, to interact back with her.
At first it's the same old mother who is too hyper and happy about everything.
("It's going to be slow," she told him, "and she's probably never going to recover, ever.")
("But do you still want to try?")
But then, she's suddenly able to be reasoned with.
(He said yes).
She still acts like the mother he knows of since he was born but she's also different.
Kougyoku has said about never learning medicine and not knowing about chemiikals or whatever it is, so that she can only provide words and encouragement. But… She helps. Her methods help, even if only for a very small fraction.
Mother is still mother, but—But now he can be Kouha, he thinks.
At least, in front of his half-sister, he can be Kouha.
("You'll still be Kouha, my brother, for me.")
Princess Kougyoku of the Kou Empire is an odd child.
After another pair of maids get executed for allowing the Princess to wander off for so long that she ends up in Kouha's wing, which is in the exact opposite of her wing and obviously very far away, she is thrust with an assistant and guards who follow her 24/7.
Although seen to be slightly put off, the Princess shoulders it with grace and simply allows the guards to follow her as she regularly visits another oddity within the palace, where a mentally ill mother and her violent son live in.
It takes one to know one, some people suppose. Princess Kougyoku is, after all, rather strange, despite being a well-mannered child.
Some people wonder if the oddity will continue on until her adulthood.
Some people wonder if she'll pick up more odd people along the way.
The Princess herself, however, doesn't bother with the people around her nor on how they're a bit perturbed by her newest friend and brother.
She simply looks up, and where normal people won't see anything but a blank white wall, further cementing their beliefs that their eighth Princess is a bit strange, she sees small flying things, in the shape similar to poorly drawn birds or butterflies, shining with a yellow light, chirping and circling.
Kougyoku smiles.
I… have no argument to defend myself. I got sucked into Magi (again. Why do I keep on getting sucked into my old fandoms?!) and then got frustrated at the lack of SI or OC fics that I can genuinely like. Therefore, out of spite, I am writing this.
Oops.
I won't be abandoning my other stories, obviously; I'm just into Magi at this moment. Will probably shift back to Naruto or AssClass soon enough. Let me indulge myself, would you?
Anyway, as you can see, this is a Kougyoku SI fic. (Not completely SI, so maybe more of a semi-SI?) Let's hope I can make this into a wonderful fic and change some canon (coughSinbadcough). Lots of aspects about Kougyoku won't be shown until later on in the story, in hopes that I can create a mysterious atmosphere.
I hope you can like this story! Review, please?
Next time: He wonders if it's okay to steal the Princess away. Surely, her father won't mind. He has a lot of children, after all.