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Kantai had always been aware that Shoukei was a pretty girl. After all, Shoukei had long hair, nice skin, and large eyes. However, back in the day when he had first met her, he had been mostly preoccupied with other things, like a rebellion, a missing queen, and not having enough weapons for not enough rebels. And so, both of them had been quite fond of simply roaming around in whatever clothes they could find that was relatively clean and relatively hole-less. Her hands turned callused with brooms and sponges, while his always smelled faintly of leather and metal. Neither noticed when even her beloved hair bleached and grew split ends underneath the harsh sun.

And then Youko returned to the Imperial Palace of Kei.

While ribbons and rice flew in the air for their new redheaded queen, Kantai slipped into his new role as Captain of the Imperial Guard with a smirk and a mischievous grin. Though his new station originally required ridiculously ornate robes and uniforms, Youko's preference for practical and simple clothing had made dressing-down less of a social gaffe than it used to be and Kantai took full advantage of it, just like he took full advantage of personal stable youjuu and tailored weaponry. All in all, life was fairly pleasant for Sei Shin despite the pointed looks that were forever directed at him.

If Kantai slipped into his new role with a smirk and a mischievous grin, Shoukei settled into her own new role as imperial scribe with a sigh and a pout. To her surprise, she found herself sharing some of Youko's sentiments overt ornamentations and excessive luxury. On her first night back at the palace, Shoukei found the silk covers too cold and almost too slippery to sleep comfortably in, so accustomed was she to cotton and wooden pallets. Even her stomach roiled at the rich Imperial food, and more than once, Shoukei found herself longing for the simplicity and tastiness of home-cooking

Still, despite everything, Shoukei took to court like a fish. The court etiquette Youko found so complicated Shoukei instinctively performed, as instinctively as she intuitively nosed out the shady grades of status and authority. And there was really nothing like a proper court robe of silk and satin.

Despite the fact they were both close friends that operated in nearby quarters, Kantai was surprised to find that a full month had passed before he finally saw Shoukei. Youko, who still had vestiges of her old personality shining through whenever she was faced with awkward situations, relied on the girl like a crutch when it came to social interactions and Shoukei was often occupied with extraneous duties.

Remembering their last encounter which had involved tears and slight awkwardness on his part, Kantai had warily approached the girl from the back, trying to gauge her emotional status discreetly. She seemed fine with her back upright and her hair tied in an elaborate yet neat ponytail, but that didn't mean he didn't hold his breath when he tapped her on the shoulder….

"Kantai!" Shoukei smiled.

Kantai fumbled. Maybe chocked on his own breath a bit. "Hello."

Kantai was not unfamiliar with women. With a chiseled face, remarkable height, and bright eyes, he was considered a very handsome man, and women flocked to him. But to Kantai, beauty was just beauty, and besides a quick, easy romp, preferably with a professional that knew better than to make a scene, Kantai had no interest in entangling affairs.

But then there was Shoukei, smiling.

"How are you?" she drew close. "I haven't seen you for a while!"

Kantai took a half step back. "Oh you know, just moving in..."

Her hair was perfumed, Kantai realized. Lilies?

"Is that your uniform? You look good." She had the barest of powders on her eyes, and her lips were as pink as her cheeks.

"So do you," Kantai managed. That robe was doing interesting things to the curve of her waist...

Endo coughed. "Shoukei-san, there's a scroll Her Majesty wants to see-"

Kantai hadn't even see the old man come into the room.

"I can come by again, when you're more free," Kantai managed before he bolted.

He didn't hear what Shoukei said, but he definitely thought he heard the old man chuckling.

If she had had that effect on him then, Kantai was darkly sure that Shoukei was out to kill him now. With her lips painted a vicious red (as if he'd bitten them) and her hair let down in a very decisively modern hairstyle that makes him suspect Youko wasn't as innocent as she claimed, Shoukei was deadlier than even a thousand armies to Kantai at this moment.

And she was wearing red too. A very tight red, that wrapped around her chest, hips, and covered up way too much.

"Kantai-san!" she said, her voice gentle. Her lips curled upwards as she raised her hand to wave childishly. For a moment, for a brief moment, Kantai thought he would get through the night relatively intact.

And then she giggled. Kantai watched, fascinated, as her lips parted, her teeth gleamed, her eyes crinkled, and then there was her chest heaving in gentle chortles...

Damn.

He had it bad.