"I'm coming in, Kouryuu. Master Sanzo wants to see you." Shuei knocked on the door to the boy's chamber and warned him that he was about to enter the room, his voice lacking the luster it usually held when he spoke. There was much on his mind. Just a mere hour ago he and the other monks of the temple had witnessed the river orphan, as he'd been harshly nicknamed, communicate with a rampant bear and drive it off of the property, only by speaking to it. Seconds later, rumors began developing that the thirteen year old was a demon, like a Shura or a Rasetsu, and Shuei himself was unsure whether or not to believe it. After all, only someone who possessed great, inhuman powers could talk to a bear and have it obey him, and there seemed to be no other possible explanation.
Shuei turned the handle of the door and pushed it open, peering inside hesitantly as if he expected to see the boy with a few extra legs and arms, crawling all over the walls and ceiling. What he saw instead was something quite contradictory to the rumors floating about the temple, something more beautiful than any angel, it seemed. His dark, glittering russet eyes widened as he saw Kouryuu sitting there, his lips parting just the slightest to allow a startled gasp to pass through.
He was by the window, appropriately enough on the window seat, gazing down at the moonlit compound below. He was leaning back with his hands behind him on the window seat for support, one of his knees bent gracefully - that leg turned to the side a bit, resting against the edge of the polished wood he sat upon. His other leg cascaded down from beneath the loose robe he always wore, his toes just barely able to touch the floor.
Shuei noticed that the boy had his head turned completely toward the window and seemed to have not noticed his opening the door at all, as if in deep thought. He waited awkwardly for a few long moments before Kouryuu finally turned to look at him, a pensive aura about him as the hint of a tiny smile lit up his boyish yet handsome face.
"Sorry... I must have spaced out there. Say again?" He asked softly and hopefully as if he were doubtful that the man would repeat his message for him, having not heard it properly the first time. He could not help but notice that the clerk abbot was looking at him differently, strangely... and that he seemed surprised or startled by something. This confused the young teen but he said nothing and pushed it aside, waiting for him to speak again.
"I... said Master Sanzo is calling for you." Shuei managed after a pause, during which he gathered his bearings and fought against his urge to stutter, only then noticing the racing of his heart and the heat rising to his face. He was excited, and he didn't understand why... it'd been such a long time since he'd ever felt these sensations, and he'd certainly never felt them toward another man, let alone a thirteen year old boy.
"Yes, of course." Kouryuu nodded his understanding and got up from the window seat, going out into the hall with Shuei to walk to Master Sanzo's quarters. He had not expected the man to walk with him, but he was glad, he did not overly enjoy walking alone at night. But then, he did not think it was for that purpose, to necessarily keep him company, because Shuei seemed to be in thought, or rather, seemed to be thinking of something to say to him as they walked down the roofed balcony that was the hall.
"Someone said you were an evil spirit, but just now... sitting in the window, you looked like... something else." Pausing to think of what he wanted to say next, Shuei found himself with a rather odd image of the boy in his mind. Not odd because he looked differently, but odd because the boy was not wearing any clothing, standing amidst beautiful white flowers, the lucid moonlight pouring down onto his slender form from above.
"The way the moon created a... a halo around your golden hair, and your eyes... like violet, just like..." He trailed off for just a short moment, unable to see the rosy blush coloring Kouryuu's face, and he was unable to finish his statement because the boy decided to speak up. He wanted to stop Shuei from continuing on and creating an awkward feeling between them, seeing as he was already feeling strangely about the man's words, and where this conversation was going.
"Shuei, I have something for you." He said, holding out his garland of rosary beads for him to take. It was a sudden impulse but it seemed completely right, he wanted to give the clerk abbot something in return for his faith in him, and dare he say, the friendship they seemed to be kindling. Shuei looked down at him in questioning, feeling his heart begin to race faster, and a flush of crimson tainting his finely featured face.
"But... these are the beads they found on you in the river... ar-are you sure?" He asked, finally stuttering, as he had wanted to before.
"I've never given anyone anything before... I'm sure. But guard them well." Kouryuu slipped the beads into Shuei's hand and offered him a full, warm smile with both his lips and his amethyst eyes, turning from him before he said anything he'd regret and he walked down the hall away from him, toward Master Sanzo's chamber.
Staring down at the rosary beads left in his hand by the boy, Shuei felt the overwhelming desire to just pick him up and hug him, and maybe even kiss him. Freezing, he blinked a few times at the thought of kissing Kouryuu's soft, pink lips and having him return it, the Clerk Abbot feeling a strange new emotion. Shuei felt a stirring between his long, brawny legs as his thoughts progressed and developed into a more vivid and mature image of he and the boy making love secretly in his own chamber, a few concentrated gushes of blood surging to his penis. Shaking off the image and pretending that nothing was going on out of the ordinary, he clasped the beads tighter and looked up to watch Kouryuu walking away, a small smile casting itself onto his face.
"I promise..." He murmured quietly so only he would hear, a sudden thought coming to mind. He wanted to give Kouryuu something in return for his gracious, thoughtful gift, to give him something he would never forget and would hopefully enjoy immensely.
"Kouryuu!" Shuei called out, just before the boy reached the doors to their master's quarters, watching him as he turned around to look at him questioningly. He raised his empty hand and waved it in a gesture that told that he wanted him to come back, noticing that his heart was still pounding in his chest. He couldn't help but be nervous... what if he didn't feel the same way?
"Yes? What is it?" Kouryuu asked softly and curiously as he stepped up in front of Shuei again, looking up at him seeing as he was a good foot and a quarter taller than he was.
"I... I wanted to give you something in return for your beads. Will you come back to my chambers with me? It's... there." He hoped deep down that he didn't sound too forward or that he wasn't making it too obvious to the boy what he wanted to give to him. Though what it was in actuality was himself, he refused to take Kouryuu anywhere else but in his bed, if the boy would allow it in the first place. He had his doubts.
"Will it take long? I don't wish to keep Master Sanzo waiting for too long, he might become angry if I'm late." Kouryuu expressed his concern for disappointing his master but as worried as he was about angering the Sanzo, he also felt the want to go with Shuei and see what the man wanted to give him. There was something about being taken to his chambers for a purpose that almost excited him, though he wasn't sure why, it being the chamber of his only friend... his male friend.
"I don't know how long it will take, Kouryuu," he shook his head, rolling his shoulders back in a shrug. "But if you are late, Master Sanzo will not be angry with you, because he sent me to fetch you. Come on," Shuei motioned for the boy to follow him and he had no choice but to follow, his instincts telling him to forget about his master this one time and allow himself to do what he felt was the right thing. Moreover, he felt the right thing was to see what the abbot had in store for him.
So they went to his chamber, and Shuei told him to sit down on his bed while he shut the door and found his 'gift', though all he did was close the door and turn around, hesitating. Kouryuu noticed this and cast a glance all around the one, small room, and finding nothing that he thought he could be given, blinked. It couldn't be... no, Shuei wasn't like that... was he? The boy glanced behind him at the neatly kept bed he was sitting on before looking back around at the slowly approaching man, realizing quite quickly what this gift of his probably was.
"Sh-Shuei, what did you want to give me, exactly?" He asked hesitantly, his fingers kneading and pulling at the sheets on the bed. Shuei could tell that the boy had an amount of understanding in him of what he wished to do, and that he was becoming nervous, almost as nervous as he was for approaching someone so young to see if they might share a night together... not to mention a male.
"Kouryuu... when I saw you sitting in your window tonight, I realized how I really feel about you... I think that you're beautiful, like an angel from heaven..." He admitted softly, revealing to the teenager his thoughts and some of his feelings as he came closer, his hands creeping down to the strip of cloth around his waist that held his robe closed. Kouryuu blushed vibrantly and watched in a state of stupor as Shuei paused and stood before him, untying the cloth around his waist and letting it drop, stopping in order to speak.
"I know this might seem scary to you, and strange, but... this is what I brought you here for. This is what I want to give to you." Taking in a deep breath, Shuei slipped his fingers underneath the cloth of his robe and pulled it back, letting the garment drop to the floor as well. He felt himself blush as he stood unclothed before the boy, seeing those soft violet eyes widen in surprise and shock, felt those eyes viewing his nakedness in sheer curiosity and wonder.
"I want to give you my body, Kouryuu, I want to take your virginity and in turn, give you the pleasures forbidden of a formal monk. I want you to experience love making, I want you to understand how I truly feel about you... I want you. I love you." Shuei uttered the three words that he knew Kouryuu had never had spoken to him in all of his life, kneeling in front of him on the floor.
"Will you accept my advances, Kouryuu?" He asked quietly, bowing his head in respect as he waited for the answer. The boy was in shock. Staring down at his friend who wished now to become his lover, he blinked several times before he could begin to form coherent thoughts and words. He said he loves me, Kouryuu mused, a tiny smile threatening to take his lips.
"I... I accept your advances, Shuei." He forced his words all at once and took in a deep breath, becoming nervous for a different reason now. He'd never so much as kissed another person before, he'd never masturbated before or even thought to, and he'd certainly never seen another naked man before. It was a little stressing; all of this coming down on him at once, but the man's words kept running through his head.
I love you...