DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me.
I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale.

This Flash Fic was also written with a Word count of 300


Forgotten Beginnings
By firewolf
May 2008

With the episode of Kou's opium addiction long in the past, Reishin and Youri were relieved to discover that Kou's memories of his childhood as a slave practically disappeared as well. It seemed he couldn't even recall how they really met.

In spite of the cause, Reishin was impressed with Kou for his street lottery efforts. So he delicately reinforced this incident as their first meeting to Kou.

However, Reishin made Youri quite furious with him when he also accidentally implied that he took Kou off the streets because he wanted to imitate his elder brother's adoption of Seiran. Unfortunately, the damage was done, but Youri was placated with the thought that this traumatic revelation was a 'safer' excuse for Kou's inherent insecurity than his memories as a child prostitute.

Before Ran Shuuei could attempt to start an affair with his best friend Li Kouyuu, Kouyuu's mother called him to a secret meeting. The General (his rank earned a second time) was to discover that Youri hime was as sublimely scary as Reishin dono and even more fiercely protective of her son. She certainly dared him to protest when they moved to discuss at length his unsavory reputation regarding the red light district and his previous unrequited crushes.

Youri was impressed enough to assure Shuuei of her blessings, and support in keeping her husband from sending assassins.

Despite the hair-rising experience, Shuuei was grateful he ran the gauntlet. It only strengthen his confidence that he really wanted to move beyond their rather volatile though comfortable friendship.

However, Shuuei also knew that this was probably the easier obstacle. Now he had to convince Kouyuu as well and Youri refused to share any details of Kouyuu's childhood which could explain why he was so terrified of any attempt at close proximity.

owari


Thanks for reading.
Cheers, firewolf