Winter has come and gone. With the calming of the hustle and bustle of another new year, the warmth of spring is finally showing it's face. Flowers blooming and clouds moving about lazily in the sky, it's another peaceful and quiet afternoon in the prospering country of Saiunkoku.

"Argggg!"

Well...not quite so peaceful and quiet for some people.

Having walked around in circle at the same place for the last five times, Li Kouyuu is now quite lost...as usual. This however, was something the young man will never admit.

"Why do all the buildings have to look the same?" the young man grumbled under his breath. "I swear, I'm gonna give whoever designed this place a good yelling once I get my hands on them."

At that thought, Kouyuu decided whoever owns these abdominable infrastructures should be on the receiving end of his fury. The said owner of the place is none other than his best friend, Ran Shuuei. This, was also something that Kouyuu would never admit to.

Opening one door after another to every room he came across, Kouyuu is getting no closer to finding his way back into the main hall. 'I'm gonna kill Shuuei once I find him.' Kouyuu thought bitterly as he roughly opened the door to another room, stopping short of kicking it down in his fury.

'This...is Shuuei's room isn't it?' Kouyuu thought as he stepped inside. He had been in this room once before, there's no mistake this is Shuure's bedroom.

'Whatever, I'm tired of walking. I'll just wait here for him. He'll have to sleep eventually.'

With that thought in mind, Kouyuu proceeded to head to the table to pour himself something to drink. As he made his way over, he nearly tripped over something on the floor.

Cursing, Kouyuu looked down at the object that almost made him fall face first into the ground.

"How messy can he be, leaving things lying all over the place!" Complaining, Kouyuu bend down to pick up what seemed like a book lying at his feet. Plopping down on a chair, he examined the book in his hand. It was cream colored with intricate design lines woven onto the cover. The book had no title. Curiosity overtook Kouyuu as he flipped to a random page to see what's inside. Taking a look at the content, Kouyuu's eyebrows furrowed together.

Meanwhile...

Deciding that his directionally challenged friend has disappeared long enough since he had departed to go to the bathroom, Shuuei got up from his seat, a smile gracing his face.

"Well now, time to look for our lost kitten."

It took him but half an hour to locate the lost cat in his room. Kouyuu did not seem to have noticed his presence when Shuuei entered the room, appearing to be absorbed in reading the book in his hand. Shuuei chuckled, Kouyuu really loved to read.

"Hey Kouyuu, what are you reading so.."

Shuuei's sentence stopped short when he realized the what book Kouyuu was holding in his hand. Slapping his hand over his face, he mentally cursed his forgetfulness. He had forgotten to put the book back in place after reading it last night. Peering through his hands, he nervously eyed kouyuu, expecting the youth to yell at him any second.

"Hey Shuuei."

Shuuei gulped.

"Yes?"

"I don't understand this."

Shuuei paused. Could it be? Just to be on the safe side, Shuuei tried to make sure.

"Um, what don't you understand?"

"The stuff in this book of course!"

"Haven't...you read these things before?" Shuuei asked testily

Kouyuu shook his head. "Come over here and explain this to me."

Shuuei laughed. "I didn't think there'd be a day you'd be interested in these stuff." Walking over to Kouyuu, he patted the youth on his back. "Looks like you're finally growing up. I'm so proud of you."

Kouyuu batted his friends hand off as if annoyed. "Quit babbling and tell me."

"Okay okay. Anything you want to know, just ask. I'm an expert in this field."

Kouyuu pointed to the open page of the book.

"I can't decipher this. The style is wierd."

Shuuei leaned over Kouyuu's shoulder to take a look at the page. The content looked pretty normal enough to him, even basic. He couldn't understand what Kouyuu is so confused about. But then again, Shuuei figured, Kouyuu had never done something like this, so it would be reasonable to be confused about it.

"This is one of the standard forms used." Shuuei explained. "It's a pretty common position."

Kouyuu grimaced. "This is standard? But it looks so deep."

"Well, it's the best that way."

"How does he do it?"

"Um, it's not that hard..."

Kouyuu turned to face Shuuei, his face serious. "Show me."

"Oka...what?!" Shuuei almost choked on his own word. He couldn't believe his ears. "...Kouyuu are you serious?"

"Of course."

"But I can't. I mean..."

"You told me you were in expert at this didn't you?"

"Well, yeah but..."

"Then hurry up and show me how it's done!"

"R-Right now?"

"No, tomorrow, of course right now!"

Shuuei swallowed hard. He never done this with a man before. Leave it up to Kouyuu to ask for the impossible. Once the stubborn youth makes up his mind on something, there's no way to convince him otherwise. Shuuei looked the youths body up and down, as if inspecting every part of Kouyuu's slender body. Even with the constant frown on his face, Kouyuu is definitely nice to look at. Aside from the gender, Shuuei really can't find any other reason to reject Kouyuu.

A smile formed on Shuuei's lips. 'I think I'm going to enjoy this.'

"Hurry up, what are you waiting for?" Impatience was starting to show on Kouyuu's face.

"Alright, alright. Only because it's you."

From behind, Shuuei wrapped his arms around the Kouyuu's waist. With a sly smile, he whispers teasing into the youth's ear. "I'll teach you everything I know."

Kouyuu stiffened at Shuuei's sudden action. His surprised turned into confusion, then annoyance as he tried to free himself from Shuuei's embrace.

"O-Oi. What are you doing?"

"Hm? I'm trying to create the mood. It's necessary to make this good."

"I don't need you to create the mood. Just do it!"

Impatient as always."Okay, okay." Shuuei sighed, and released him.

But before Kouyuu can breathe a sigh of relieve, Shuuei began pulling at the sash on his waist. With lighting reaction, Kouyuu clamped his hands on top of Shuuei's, stopping the general from any further movements.

"What the hell are you doing!" Kouyuu screamed at him.

"You wanted me to get to the main thing didn't you?"

"What does pull my clothes off have to do with all of this?"

Shuuei sighed. "How do you want to do this then?"

Kouyuu shoved a brush into Shuuei's hand. "Use this."

Confused, Shuuei looks from the brush in his hand to Kouyuu. "Uh..."

"Write." Kouyuu commands, shoving a piece of blank paper in Shuuei's face.

Shuuei stared at Kouyuu stupidly. "Huh?"

"The poem. I've never seen this kind of style and writing structure before. Show me how this is done.?

"Eh?...Then when you were talking about the stuff in the book being deep and you want me to show you..."

"The poem in the book obviously. Explain what it means to me and show me how you write something like that."

"...Didn't you what me to show you the stuff the picture was depicting?"

"Huh? what picture?" Kouyuu was so absorbed with the poem in the book, he did not appear to have noticed anything else.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Shuuei heaved a long sigh. "Nevermind."

And so, another peaceful afternoon passes in the country of Saiunkoku.