"Hey, Kouryuu - wake up." The boy's eyes slowly opened, then closed again. "Wake up, my child." The same voice stated. With great effort, the boy managed to open his drooping purple eyes. He rubbed at them, trying to steady his vision as he was not yet completely awake.
"M-master?" He said, letting out a yawn. The boy clenched his fists, and stretched with a slight smile. His master had just opened up a shade, letting the sun's rays seep through the large window. Night's general - the moon - had just been defeated by the raging inferno, which was was holding up flags of purple, pink and orange across the sky.
The boy shoved the covers of the bed off to the side, and went to join his master at the window. The master often watched the sunrise and set at the window next to Kouryuu's bed. Often they sat down together and told stories until the sun did as it needed to do. At that point, the master would bend over and kiss his student gingerly on the forehead.
The master sat but three feet away from him. He seemed to have had a late start that day - as he was just finishing his braid now. Kouryuu watched as the master carefully put strand on top of strand and pulled tightly so not a single piece of hair would be out of place. The master has graceful fingers - Kouryuu thought to himself. He smiled slightly, and took his usual place beside his master.
"Kouryuu, could you hold the end of my braid for a second? I need to find a hair tie." Kouryuu nodded and grabbed the end of the graying cascade of hair. Gracefully, the master rose and moved toward the dresser on the near right. He picked up the small black tie on the dresser, took the braid from his student's hands, and put it in the end. Kouryuu watched as the long braid fell to to the ground like a waterfall. "Thank you, Kouryuu." He said, ruffling the small boy's blonde hair. Kouryuu smiled.
"Look over there!"Kouryuu said, pointing at the sky. "Look at all the colors!" The master looked up. The pastel colors still overtook the blue mass.
"That's one of the greatest gifts of all, Kouryuu." The master said, looking down at his student. Kouryuu seemed confused - there was no gift in color, was there? The master chuckled when he took notice of the small boy's confused glare. "Colors, Kouryuu. Just like when we made those paper airplanes."
"The orange ones, right?" The boy interrupted. "When we were supposed to be in temple - and I was sweeping. You were making airplanes out of paper!" The boy looked up towards his master looking for a yes or no answer.
"Supposed to be? Kouryuu - you do what you think is right. I didn't attend because they didn't want to have anything to do with me... They just respect my title - not Koumyou." The boy blinked puzzled. Koumyou sighed. "Its all about what you are, not who you are. But yes, that was the day. Orange brings out the blue in the sky. Its a simple thing to learn, really. Blue and orange, Purple and Green... That's why the sky looks so pretty now - it knows the secret of color. So many different colors at once, each one enhancing the other's beauty... Ah!" The master said, suddenly with a slight smile. "Its like people, Kouryuu. A cruel person will make a kind person seem all the more pleasant."