Amiboshi had been in the palace for a little less than half a day. He was still wide eyed, in wonder of the new country. Konan was so different from his native Kutou that Amiboshi wasn't sure what to do with himself. The absence of a sea breeze made for a few adjustments in his easy-to-do hairstyle—he and his brother swept their hair to the side merely because the wind will do it anyway; better to make it look planned. He played with the rings in his pouch and looked around. He tried to keep a look of surprise and wonder upon his face—considering that he was to be a boy from a completely burned down village, this palace was to look wonderfully large compared to anything he had ever seen. Truthfully, however, it was less than half the size of the palace in Kutou. He hoped that no one found the two rings, as it might tip them off that something isn't quite right. When his parents died, they were each wearing two rings—the rings given to them by their parents and by each other. Amiboshi had saved both pairs that day, later giving one pair to his brother and keeping a pair for himself. He had his mother's wedding ring and his father's heirloom ring. He planned on, one day, using them for his own wedding rings, but for now they were merely a source of courage. His room here at the palace was much less cushy than his in Kutou, but he had had to share that room with his brother. Not for lack of space at the palace, but merely because his bother was a big baby and didn't like to sleep alone. He supposed that now that he was gone, Suboshi was sleeping cuddled next to Soi with his head between her breasts and feeding off of her maternal instinct just like he had wanted to so badly. But one thing that the palace at Kutou had not offered was his own personal servant. The emperor Hotohori had explained to him that this was only because he just lost his parents and had probably never been on his own. He said that this had been Chichiri's idea essentially, that Chiriko had not been away from his home often let alone his village, and was probably unused to not having a mother around. Amiboshi had wanted to laugh out loud. He had been taking care of himself and another person since he was younger than this stupid emperor was when he started wiping his own ass. Amiboshi, however, smiled demurely and thanked the emperor for this kind observation, and told him that his favorite servant-girl would not be overworked in his care. He could only wonder what made this girl the emperor's favorite.
Upon entering the room, he knew immediately why she was favored by the Son of Heaven. She looked foreign, with skin paler than Nakago's, and hair more unruly than his Shun's after he had been rolling in the fields. By the looks of it, however, she tried desperately to keep the pitch-black curls under control. Her dress was ratted and torn from toiling, and her shoes had holes in them. When she shifted from foot-to-foot, her ankles jingled with the sound of shackles, leading Amiboshi to believe that she was a slave rather than a servant. She let her gaze flicker from the floor to Amiboshi's eyes and then back down, and in that instant, Amiboshi was sure his heart stopped. Her eyes were a clear crystal blue like the oceans next to the Kutou palace in the evening. Her face was freckled, as were her arms, it seemed, from the amount of arm he could see through the rips in the top of her dress. She was gorgeous in some strange way, one that Amiboshi did not understand at that time. But it wasn't her looks, at first, that revealed her usage to the emperor, and it most certainly was not her physical strength, as she was a delicate creature, barely more than a waif, really. It was the strength from within that emanated from her aura. Amiboshi knew that the Suzaku seven were spiritually weak, except maybe the Chichiri one, and wouldn't have been able to tell that about her, but he could tell very well from the life-force coming from her. He could tell that she was trustworthy, someone that you could tell your biggest secret to, and that was what attracted the emperor to her. The poor lonely man had no one to talk to but, more than likely, this young girl. Amiboshi felt almost guilty about taking her away. Almost.
"Hello." He said softly to her, knowing that she would, more than likely, not speak unless spoken to.
"Hello. Very pleased to meet you. My name is Natalia. Are you Chiriko?" she asked him. Her voice was pleasant and not high or low, but just right. He smiled at her.
"Yes, I am Chiriko. And the pleasure is all mine." He bowed politely to her, and earned himself a very much deeper bow. "So, ummm, do you happen to have a nickname that is a little bit easier to say?"
"The emperor has dubbed me Tao-Lee. I suppose that would be easier for you to say, your eminence." She told him.
"Well, then, Tao-Lee it is, I suppose."
Later on that night, the seishi attended a banquet in their honor. Amiboshi kept mostly quiet, inwardly reminding himself to hate these evil people.
"Chiriko, would you like some of this velvet chicken ?" the emperor politely asked Amiboshi. He turned, and saw the emperor offering him a tray of food. The only time that the emperor of Kutou ever offered little boys anything was when he wanted to take them to bed and was trying to gain their trust. Amiboshi stared at the meat in question, not sure. "I suppose that you have never had it before, because this is a royal dish." It was true, the emperor at Kutou had never allowed the twins to have the delectable dish, mostly because they both denied his advances. But it was also to show everyone there that the emperor was the greatest, and most certainly could give and take at will. But this emperor… wanted to share? Amiboshi was certain that it was some ploy of some sort. He shook his head softly, almost frightened. The last time he had ever accepted food from another man, Nakago had found him silently crying, naked and beat, outside of the emperor's chamber. Nakago had thusly, luckily, forbade anyone including the emperor the right to take the two boys at will. At Amiboshi's refusal of the food, two guards sprung at him.
"How dare you deny the emperor's gracious offer?" they shouted in unison. Hotohori stopped them, however, before they laid a hand on the boy.
"No, do not harm him. Can you not see the fear on the boy's face? He is frightened of me. Why, Chiriko, do you fear your fellow seishi?" he asked him, not a hint of humor in him. He had expected to be laughed at.
"For a while, when we had no money, I worked in the Kutou palace, and… and the emperor is a horrible man." Hotohori, knowing the stories of the young men in the palace there, looked absolutely shocked.
"I would never harm you in such a way, Chiriko. Never, I swear it. You must never fear me in such a way again." Amiboshi nodded, not understanding. He had been told that this was a man to fear, someone he was to be sure to assassinate. The young emperor held out the plate again. "Here, just try a little bit." Amiboshi lifted his chopsticks to the plate, and tried a touch of the meat. It was very good.
Amiboshi walked slowly to the bath. He hadn't wanted to take a bath here, but he had no choice. They didn't quite have all of the seishi yet, so Amiboshi was stuck waiting. On his way to the bath, he thought fondly of his brother. Then he wondered if Suboshi had bathed even once since he had left. Amiboshi wrinkled his nose at the state he wouldn't be surprised to find his Shun in when he returned. Smirking softly, he scratched a message onto his arm.
'Hey, Shun, what up?' he felt a twinge of pain as he received his answer.
'nothing. Aniki, what do you need?' he should have known that Suboshi would get right to the point. Suboshi had an extremely low threshold for pain, and this was a very painful form of communication.
'have you bathed recently, Shun?' when no answer was immediately received, he opened the lines further between his brother and him. He narrowed his eyes at what was coming through the lines. Laughter and sarcasm.
'oh, everyday, Aniki.'
'this is no laughing matter, Shun, I am serious.'
'What is wrong with you?' he felt the same feelings through the line.
'I was just wondering about it…'
'Aniki, something is wrong. What up?' Amiboshi let his shoulders drop in defeat. He knew it was coming. Leave it to a twin with special powers to get to the root of the problem. Amiboshi heard someone coming, and ducked behind a tall wall.
'Sorry, Shun, guess I just really miss u.' he felt the feelings over the connection immediately change. They were sad, remorseful, and lonely. Just what he was feeling.
'Aniki… I'm sorry. I miss u 2.' Amiboshi felt his lips twinge into a smile. He smiled more at what happened next. His brother's feelings turned completely to love over the connection, and he felt arms around his stomach, like his Shun was hugging himself.
'Shun…'
'I miss u, Aniki. I miss u soooo much, I could die. Hurry up and kill the Suzaku seishi.' Amiboshi nodded, and hugged himself back. He felt mischievousness over the connection, and hands start roaming him.
'Shunkaku…'
'Hey, Aniki, I hope u r someplace private…' the hands found something else, and stroked softly. Amiboshi sat there, behind the wall, his face the very picture of ecstasy, while everyone passed unknowingly by, not knowing that the traitor in their midst was in the middle of a forbidden tryst from over 100 miles away.